It didn't take long for Paul and his ladies to reach the noble district and see for themselves that the elders were over exaggerating a bit when they said that there were no mansions that were livable right now.
It was true that they were dirty and damaged, but they were far from being ruined.
-Alright, ladies, let's split up and see which of these is in the best condition.
Paul said, and they split into four groups to survey the mansions.
Two hours later, they went through most of the buildings, and it turned out that several of them were in decent condition, requiring only some maintenance, minor repairs, and some cleaning.
The best of these was discovered by Wei Lan's team, as it was a large mansion, and, to the best of their knowledge, it was in the best overall condition.
The roof appeared undamaged, and the walls remained intact.
The only things that were destroyed were the furniture inside, and it also looked like the place had been ransacked.
-This is indeed the best one yet, and I think we should take it.
Paul said after using the search magic to look around the place and finding only a few places that would need some repairs.
Additionally, this mansion had a big garden in which all of them could place their tents for now, as before, they were cleared out; the buildings were not in any condition to spend a night in.
-I think you just got used to staying in a mansion.
Su teased Paul a bit.
-That might be true, but this is also the best thing for all of us since there is no way for all of us to live in a normal house, and I very much doubt that any of you would agree to live in the neighboring house.
Paul answered with a grin, making all the ladies realize that he was right.
-Let's set up our tents and start cleaning this place out.
Paul said, changing the topic, and all the ladies agreed, not wanting to continue the previous one.
The garden was overgrown, but Paul, Natalie, and Irine took care of that with their wind magic.
-This is the first time I'm seeing anyone using wind blades to mow the grass.
Wu Yin commented on seeing their work.
While they were busy with the garden, the rest of the ladies went through all the buildings in the mansion and started removing all the furniture and trash, using their storage rings to make it easier.
Once any room was cleaned, Rina Rin and Ran got into it and started cleaning.
Thankfully, the three of them insisted on taking their cleaning tools and supplies with them, which were very useful in their situation.
By the afternoon, all the buildings were cleared out, and all the trash was swept from the floor.
By this time, they had also set up their tents in the garden, which looked much better after it was cleared out.
Paul also started doing some minor repairs here and there, repairing the front gate and the doors to the buildings, as well as manding a few small holes in the roofs by salvaging the roof tiles from other mansions, which were the most damaged ones as he expected that someone would most likely want to settle in the better ones when they saw that it was possible to make them livable.
Not to mention that he was certain that there would be many women wanting to live closer to them once the news spread that he was a man.
-I think that in a day or two more, we will be able to move into the main building; the rest of the buildings will take a while longer to clean.
Rina said while they were all enjoying a meal in the garden.
-The biggest problem is the furniture, since we don't have any, and we were unable to find anything usable in the other mansions.
Lia said as she and Nia were tasked with going around the district to look for any usable furniture.
-You don't need to worry about that.
Paul chimed in.
-If there is nothing useful in the other mansions, then I'll simply make the furniture.
He smiled.
-Or we can go around the city to look, since right now we haven't checked even half of the mansions in this district alone.
Nia suggested.
-That's also a good idea, but after the meal, the two of you and Su will go to the elders to tell them where we are staying, and while you're at it, you might as well ask when the next hunting trip will be.
Paul said suprising everyone.
-Why do you want to go on a hunting trip?
Irine asked.
-We have more than enough food for a year, and if we ration, then it can easily last us for two or three years.
She added.
-You misunderstand.
Paul shook his head.
-I'm not planning to go hunting anytime soon, but I want to go and get some wood, since the timber I brought with me from the mortal realm won't last long with all the repairs, and I'll need even more for the furniture and other stuff.
He explained.
-Then why go out with the hunting party, since the elders said that we can go out whenever we want to, and even better, why go out at all, when there are hundreds of trees in the city?
Anna asked.
As far as she was able to figure out, from the information they received, it would be the best idea to make this mansion livable and then focus on cultivating, while relying on their supplies, and ascend to the third realm as soon as possible.
-The main reason for it is to see what's going on outside of this city.
I doubt that we can simply escape, even if we used the transport spells, but at the same time, there is something wrong here.
-Tell me what's not wrong here?
Natalie asked, with a smile, while trying to lighten the mood, but stopped smiling when she saw Paul's serious expression.
-Think about it.
Paul said, ignoring Natalie's attempt at joking.
-The elders said that a few women from here ascended, so why didn't they contact anyone to come here and help the others?
We know that the imperial families can contact one another between the realms.
In the worst case scenario, they could simply descend again to another place in the beginning realm and inform the imperial family ruling this realm, or one of the guilds, about what's going on here.
Paul explained his doubts, making all the women think about it, and they had to admit that he was right.
It was almost impossible for the ones who ascended not to try to help the others.
Unless they either never ascended and just died trying to do so, or there was no way for help to arrive, even if they knew what was going on in this place.
Taking into consideration what they knew so far, the latter option was the most probable, which didn't bode well for anyone who wanted to try to escape.