Volume 1 Chapter 133

Volume 1 + Chapter 133: Leah Buys A House

After leaving Uncle and Aunt Pipim’s home, Chancelianne’s expression shifted between light and dark, difficult to read.

Based on what they had learned, Pipim’s uncle and aunt were not the sort of formulaic villains one might imagine—there had been no beatings, no starvation, no forcing Pipim out of the house, no embezzlement of her imperial subsidies. None of the clichéd “Cinderella-style” miseries had ever befallen Pipim.

On the contrary, Pipim had been the most doted-on presence in the household, treated like the very center of attention.

Because of the nature of Pipim’s parents’ work, her uncle and aunt—whose level of education was not particularly high—held them in deep respect.

As for the fact that Pipim’s father had died in an accident, and that her mother had been implicated and sentenced to death, they had been tirelessly seeking connections, trying to coordinate matters and file appeals, hoping for a retrial.

They firmly believed that Pipim’s mother should never have been sentenced to death.

Of course, this was all under the premise that they were unaware that Pipim’s mother’s so-called death sentence was, in truth, merely a smokescreen created by the Empire.

The reason Pipim’s uncle and aunt were not well educated was also tied to the past, when Pipim’s uncle was young, he had given up his own opportunity to attend school, so that Pipim’s father—who showed greater talent—could study instead.

At that time, the Empire had only just begun to take shape. Everything was in ruins, and poverty was widespread.

This was especially true in such a remote village…

Even so, Pipim’s uncle had chosen to yield the opportunity to his older brother. Yet when it comes to magical talent, if two people are true brothers, the difference in aptitude is rarely that great.

In other words, Pipim’s uncle had once had a chance as well—it was simply that circumstances did not allow it.

Once one misses a certain age window, magical training becomes fixed forever, with no further possibility of improvement.

For this reason, Pipim’s uncle and aunt had always taken exceptionally good care of Pipim’s family.

The house itself had been earned through Pipim’s uncle’s own hard work. After all, with an older brother serving the imperial royal family, it was only natural that said brother would remember the kindness of the younger sibling who had once funded his education.

In today’s increasingly powerful Empire, relying on ranching and the preferential treatment they received locally, earning enough to buy a house was hardly an impossible task.

As for the uncle who had yet to show his face, he had taken advantage of this relatively quiet period to head into town, busy petitioning on behalf of Pipim’s mother.

In their eyes, Pipim’s mother had devoted herself wholeheartedly to the Empire and truly did not deserve a death sentence.

From all this, it was clear that this family cared deeply for Pipim, and there was no possibility whatsoever of abuse.

In the end, Chancelianne did not mention the fact that Pipim had been wandering the streets of the imperial capital. To Pipim’s aunt, the story was simply that someone had arrived at their home in a very public manner and, under the pretext of taking Pipim to visit her mother, had brought her to the capital.

As for who that person was, Pipim’s aunt had no idea.

All she knew was that they bore the insignia of both the Imperial Church and the imperial royal family. With the Empire’s two greatest powers arriving together to take someone away, who would dare to doubt or refuse?

Yet, based on Chancelianne’s understanding of the Church and the imperial royal family, it would already be a blessing if the two sides didn’t start fighting the moment they met.

How could they possibly cooperate on the same matter?

“Should we head back now?”

Having found nothing at all, Eve’s mood was hardly any better.

One could say that after traveling such a long distance, aside from taming a big, stupid dragon, they had gained nothing.

Worse still, the trail had been cut off entirely…

Just who had brought Pipim to the imperial capital?

And how had His Majesty, the Emperor, known in advance that they would arrive here today?

All the obstacles and delays along the way—what did they really mean?

“I suppose… we have no choice but to return,” Chancelianne sighed. She looked out over the endless pastureland before her, then down at the handwritten letter from her own sovereign.

Even someone as sharp and perceptive as she felt lost at this moment. Surely it couldn’t be that Pipim had been brought to the capital on His Majesty’s orders? For what purpose… to have such a small child scavenging through trash in the imperial capital?

As absurd as everything sounded, Chancelianne had never once doubted Eve’s account.

When Eve said that Pipim had been pitifully picking through garbage on the streets of the imperial capital, Chancelianne believed her without reservation, without the slightest suspicion.

She had even entertained doubts that her own sovereign might be involved, yet she had never once doubted Eve’s words.

This level of trust left even the slow-to-realize Chancelianne somewhat surprised.

When had she… come to trust Eve so completely?

“There really aren’t any other leads. Let’s return to the imperial capital first and ask Pipim directly about what happened,” Eve said.

“After all, she was taken there by someone personally. She must have seen what the people who brought her looked like.”

“…That’s all we can do,” Chancelianne nodded, though in truth, the person she most wanted to see was still her own sovereign.

She wanted to understand what this letter truly meant.

……

“Oh my, young miss, you really do have an excellent eye. This house is quite something. In the imperial capital, where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold, a detached house with a small courtyard and two floors is extremely rare.”

“If it ever gets redeveloped, who knows—its price might skyrocket…”

“Cough, cough.”

Inside a cramped real estate agency, a middle-aged man with a thick beard, dressed casually in a slightly faded shirt, was leering as he sized up Leah, who sat across from him.

Accompanying Leah was Mira, the head of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce.

Hearing the man’s unmistakably profiteering tone, Mira worried that her precious charge might suffer a loss and quickly coughed softly to cut him off.

“Let’s leave the future for later. For now, let’s talk about the price in front of us.”

Compared to the agent’s ingratiating grin, Mira appeared far more seasoned and shrewd. As one of the main figures of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce, she had seen it all—she knew what words were worth listening to and what could be safely filtered out. She raised an eyebrow slightly, her gaze sharp and discerning.

“Miss, land in the imperial capital is worth its weight in gold. You understand that, don’t you?”

The agent’s voice carried a hint of flattery as he looked at Mira, his smile growing ever brighter. “Judging by your accent, you must be a local from the imperial capital, right?”

Mira did not reply, merely nodding faintly.

The agent continued, “You should understand this principle better than I do. Buying a small house like this now is simply waiting for it to appreciate.”

His tone grew more animated. “When redevelopment happens in the future, even the dirt in the courtyard will be counted by the gram!”

He beamed, as though already seeing Mira’s delighted agreement. Yet Mira remained unmoved, her eyes calm and unruffled. She knew perfectly well that these sweet words were nothing more than an attempt to drive up the price—and she had no intention of falling for it.

Besides, whether the house would ever be redeveloped had nothing to do with her.

As one of the principal leaders of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce, she understood the price distribution of every district in the capital better than anyone.

The reason she was here today was solely to protect Leah.

What surprised Mira was that Leah, so young and only just graduated from the Church Academy, already harbored the ambition to buy a house in the imperial capital.

Even if it was just an inconspicuous little courtyard, poorly located and quite old,

For someone of Leah’s age, merely having such an idea was astonishing enough.

And after hearing Leah’s reason for buying the house, Mira became even more determined to accompany her personally.

Leah had told her… that she hoped to have a home of her own, so she could move in with her mother and no longer live under someone else’s roof.

What a good child! Absolutely a good child—aware of how hard her mother had worked to raise her, knowing gratitude and how to repay it. Truly a wonderful child.

And as Leah’s direct superior, how could Mira not help with something like this? She would even be happy to chip in some money herself…

After all, Leah was now the darling of the imperial trade caravans, practically a treasure in every merchant’s eyes.

The image of her effortlessly throwing a dragon over her shoulder, sending it fleeing in disgrace, had been so shocking that even today many people still doubted it, believing it to be nothing more than a legend passed down through rumor.

With Leah present, imperial caravans could practically achieve zero losses.

Every trade deal yielded prices several times higher, and every bit of goods preserved translated directly into greater profit.

And the phrase “zero losses” meant that the Empire’s trade operations were already leagues ahead of all other nations.

While other countries’ caravans still worried about goods being damaged, lost, or plundered by dragons, imperial caravans could transport every item safely and steadily, suffering almost no losses at all.

Recently, Mira had been quietly plotting—already calculating when she might take Leah on longer international trade routes, expand into new markets, knock down a few more foreign dragons, and further strengthen the Empire’s dominance in foreign trade.

She knew that if this could be achieved, the Empire’s future would be brilliant beyond measure, standing firmly at the very pinnacle of the world.

Every time she thought of this, Mira’s smile threatened to stretch crooked across her face.

She had served as a leader for over a decade, even forgoing marriage for her career. Now nearing forty, if she didn’t push harder, her life might truly remain fixed at this point forever.

Thus, the more she looked at Leah, the more she adored her—wishing she could treat her as her own daughter.

And when a daughter buys a house, how could a godmother not help?

“Give us a firm price,” Mira said. “We’re sincere buyers, and the fact that you haven’t sold this place for so long means it has its own issues.”

“We’re all business people here. Let’s not make things ugly.”

Hearing Mira’s words, the agent withdrew his calculating smile, clearly weighing how much profit he could squeeze from this deal.

It was true that the house was hard to sell—but that didn’t mean it was cheap.

After all, this was the imperial capital, where land was priceless.

“Don’t be in such a hurry. Previously, a young girl about her age also came to ask about this house.”

“They say she was even a Holy Maiden of the Church… I don’t believe in the Church, so I wouldn’t know.”

“I’m just curious—this house was ignored for so long, so why are so many people suddenly interested in buying it?”

“What?”

Hearing this, Leah frowned instinctively.

“You’re saying Vivian—no, the Church’s Holy Maiden—also wanted to buy this house?”