A Story of Evil

Chapter 144: The Mansion

With the festival over, everyone went back to the usual routines. The streets weren't crowded anymore and, what little amount loitered around were simply the employees assigned to clean up the area. Picking up all of the trash and the mess; the fruit peelings, the empty containers and everything else.

People still had a lot of questions and worries in their minds. Of course king Jubilee promised them solutions but, for the moment, they were left to focus on their day to day lives. Functioning as proper citizens, just like in any other domain. Contributing what they could in order to better the society.

The only ones exempted from this were Sol and Alice.

With the festival finally over, the two had the chance to fix the manor which was given to them. A huge piece of land with various ornamental plants adorning it, With neatly trimmed grass covering most of the ground while those that were left had white cobblestone over it. Serving as a pathway, with a beautiful fountain in the middle and, leading to a large mansion which situated further back.

The house itself was grand and elegant. The pillars in front of it and the wide porch before the door itself also had plants, both placed on pots and hung on the ceiling. There were no servants for them, except for the head butler and maid. This is because, King Jubilee decided that the paladins should be able to handpick who they wanted for the job.

"Sol can you pinch me?"

"Why?"

"Just wanna make sure that this isn't a dream." Instead of a pinch, Sol patted the head of the female paladin. Offering her his sincerest smile as he answered:

"This isn't a dream."

As soon as Sol said this, Alice began running all around the place. She was happy beyond compare because, it was her first actual house. It wasn't the den of thieves. It wasn't a shack in the middle of the streets. It was an actual house. One which was secured from the rain, the heat, and the cold. One which had enough space for her to run around. And, one she could share with a person she held dear.

"SOL I'M GONNA CHECK INSIDE!" Alice said, already at the front porch of the mansion; getting a wave from Sol who agreed to follow her.

While Solomon also liked the fact that he finally had a house, his head was still preoccupied with the events that transpired last night. Specifically, he was focused on King Jubilee. Try as he might, his body couldn't forget the sensation when he tried [Analyzing] the king.

There was nothing but a mass of blurs. With [???] indicators even on King Jubilee's name. This meant one thing. That the king's level far surpassed his; to an extent that went beyond human.

Yet even as he thought of this, he could still function properly. He needed to because, his current state would keep on making Alice worry. Something which he also wanted to avoid.

Hence, he finally followed her inside.

The mansion was just as grand and as promising as it was inside. Since it is a newly constructed building, it followed the structural design of Lilia. The tiles on the floor were made with granite. The walls were a combination of new steel and hollow blocks put together by cement which ran over it. There wasn't much when it came to decoration. In fact, the whole mansion was bare aside from the white walls and the cream colored tiles.

"Boy genius up here!" Alice said in a gleeful voice, standing at the second story of the mansion. There were two ladders which could be used to get up there. One on the leftmost part and the other on the right. Sol decided to use the former simply because Alice was nearer to that spot.

"Faster!" Alice shouted.

"The house won't disappear Alice. You don't need to scream."

"Well that doesn't excuse your sluggish behavior." The girl said in reply, with Sol sighing as he picked up the pace. Reaching Alice soon enough.

"This better be important Alice."

"Of course it is. We need to chose our respective bedrooms."

"Don't they look the same?"

"Well...yes. But you see the positioning of sunlight hits different on the two rooms." Alice said, opening up one door which revealed a bedroom.

The place itself was spacious. Four times the size of the original house of the Bloodbournes. There was a large bed situated at the left side of the room; sticking to the wall. With a pair of windows just behind it. A small wooden stool and table were also near this bed and, a built in cabinet could be seen at the opposite side of the room. Next to this was a door which led to a small lavatory.

Sol then shifted his eyes to what Alice wanted him to see. That is, the sunlight she was referring to. The rays directly hit the bed, which made him understand what she wanted.

"Basically, since the mansion's side is the one facing the sunrise, only one room would get this much sunlight." Alice said.

"Let me guess, you want to get the room which doesn't get hit by this?"

"Yeah it gets a little irritating to the eyes in the morning." Alice said in a polite tone.

"What are you a bat?"

"Hey you know that my life before all of this was mostly lived in the dark. Of course I don't like the sun that much and, you can't force me to be a morning person." Alice defended herself.

"Goodness. Fine I'll be taking this room."

"Really? Aren't you mad?" Alice used her charms on Sol. Presenting puppy-dog eyes as she tried to look cute. An attempt which ended miserably as Sol gave her a sharp glare.

"Want me to take it back?"

"No I'm fine thank you." Alice said, backing away and running towards her own room.

"THIS IS MINE THEN!" The female paladin continued, standing in front of the room which was near the other staircase.

"You don't need to shout so loud! We're the only people here!" Sol reminder her, as he walked to where she was again.

"So what do we do now?"

"First we need to hire people to do jobs in this house, a single maid and a single butler won't suffice for a property this big."

Alice thought about this. How one maid would sweep the whole mansion, wipe all the windows and water all the plants. Meanwhile the butler would cook food, trim the grass, and perform functions requiring physical strength. Just thinking of two people doing all of this exhausted the female paladin.

"Okay I definitely agree with you."

"I think Miss Olivia would fit the role of a maid quite well. I can also place her under my protection if she stays here."

"So Eve would be coming along?" Alice asked excitedly.

"Of course, I can't leave that child to herself."

"Yes I agree." Was Alice's gleeful response which was purely biased.

"Right. So is there anyone you want to add on your end?"

"Oh! Can we get the thieves which we sent to prison?"

Alice thought long and hard about Lez's final journal entries. How depressing it was for the man to have died in a way which he didn't want. How the other thieves followed this fate, with the goal of redeeming themselves from all their sins. She thought how they didn't deserve it and that, if someone could give them a second chance, it would be her.

Alice also thought that Sol might be against this. They are thieves after all. This comes first in their resume and, no sane person would want to recruit a former thief.

"That's gonna be a problem." Sol said, making Alice a bit sad although she already knew that this would be the likely response of the boy.

"So it's not gonna happen huh."

"Huh? It will of course. I'm only saying that the paperwork required to release them would both take a hassle and a long time."

"So you agree with what I want?"

"Of course I do. You were also a thief once, just like them. And from what you've shown me thus far, people from the same line of work as you aren't innately evil."

Alice wrapped her arms around Sol. The male paladin could feel the gratitude and the happiness that came with the act. Making him chuckle as he patted her head again.

"You know, for a smart person you can be dumb sometimes."

"What are you talking about, I'm still gonna fire those guys as soon as they do anything suspicious." Sol warned, making Alice hug him even tighter before deciding to let go.

"So...do you think that would be enough?" Alice asked.

"Considering the number of people who would be living here, yup. Besides, we still need to test how well we can handle that number of workers. We can always add and, at the same time, their size assures us that we won't deduct from them anymore." Sol said, walking down the stairs with Alice following him.

"Let's get Miss Olivia and Eve first. Those hoodlums from the league of thieves could come next." Alice said, a statement which Sol gladly agreed to as they left their mansion.