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The man stared at her in horror. Was she even human? This had to be a devil.
Even Troy and Hall went quiet for a moment. Neither of them had seen that coming.
Hall recovered fast. One second of silence, and he already had his wand out, chanting an incantation at the man.
Luo Wei felt the dark-element fluctuation before she saw the effect. The magical force struck the man's head with precision. A translucent gray soul was pulled free from his body, then snapped back just as quickly.
Her first time witnessing a human soul leave its body, and it happened like this.
Dark Magic tore a thin fragment from the soul. It drifted in the air for half a heartbeat, then dissolved into a dense cloud of dark-element energy.
So that's how it works. A human soul is made of memories and dark elements.
It suddenly made sense. No wonder Dark Magic could manipulate souls, could manufacture nightmares from the inside out. Richer memories meant a stronger soul. Clearer memories meant a more solid one. That's why newborns with no memories had no souls, and why the memory-dimmed elderly had such fragile ones.
But that raised a question. If human souls were built from dark elements, what did that mean for light-element Mages?
Light and dark elements didn't mix. Did that mean light-element Mages had no souls?
That couldn't be right. She just hadn't worked out the missing piece yet.
Luo Wei furrowed her brow, then let it go. She'd think about it another time.
She stood up from her chair. "Hall, thank you. I won't let this go unrewarded. Have Bella give you a gold coin."
Hall's face broke into a bright smile. "Miss Luo Wei, you're far too generous. Helping you is only right. There's no need for a gold coin."
"What should be given will be given," she said, and left no room for argument.
She had just quietly memorized his incantation. The next time she needed to erase someone's memory, she wouldn't need to call on him. One gold coin was fair payment for a stolen technique.
She watched Hall leave, then turned to look at the man on the floor. "Troy, get rid of him."
"Sure." Troy hauled the man up by his collar. "Where to?"
"Academy Street," Luo Wei said. "He enjoys watching my shop so much — it would be cruel to take that away from him."
"He's missing part of his memory," Troy said, frowning. "What if he figures out it was us?"
"Let him figure it out. He won't dare tell anyone." Luo Wei gave a soft, humorless laugh. "The Church doesn't employ good people. He knows that better than we do."
His operation had just suffered a catastrophic failure. Would he actually report that to his superiors?
He wouldn't. He'd bury it. And the next time something went wrong, without any prompting from her, he'd fabricate a surveillance report thorough enough to satisfy both sides. He'd have no other choice.
"Let's go. We're not done today."
She picked up the oil lamp from the table and climbed the cold stone stairs out of the cellar.
Troy hauled the man out through the back door. Luo Wei returned to the living room and settled into the chair in front of the fireplace.
Bella appeared with a cup of fragrant barley tea and set it quietly on the small table to her right.
"Sit down, Bella." Luo Wei nodded toward the low stool nearby. "You're the housekeeper. The fetching and carrying is for the staff below you."
Bella's fingers twisted in her apron. "Master, have I done something wrong?"
"Nothing like that. I have more important work for you." Luo Wei's voice softened.
Bella exhaled, visibly relieved, and perched carefully on the stool. "What would you like me to do, Master?"
"The wasteland outside the city I asked you to look into yesterday — any progress?"
Bella nodded. "It all belongs to the city lord and hasn't been granted to anyone yet. I spoke with his steward. He said we can rent it, as long as taxes are paid on time."
"Can we buy it outright?"
"No. The Duchy of Lenkos forbids lords from selling land."
Luo Wei remembered the law. Land was the backbone of any kingdom, and Lenkos wasn't unique in this , most countries prohibited outright land sales.
In practice, though, there was always room to maneuver. Impoverished lords who couldn't cover their expenses had to find money somewhere. The common solution was to grant land as a fief, effectively a sale, then recover the funds through rent. There were exceptions too: to make it easier to tax merchants, most states allowed commercial land within city limits to be leased and sold. Starfall Residence and the newly added courtyard behind it both fell into that category.
Buying the wasteland outside the city was possible. That wasn't the question. The question was price. Now that a real opportunity had landed in their laps, the lord of Heria would almost certainly gouge her.
And even if she paid a small fortune for it, the land would still sit inside someone else's domain. A convenient pretext and it could be seized at any time. Not worth it.
"We'll rent it," she said.
If it ever came time to leave, she'd chop down the mulberry trees, burn off the fields, scatter some grass seed, and hand the barren slope back to him exactly as she found it.
"I'll go this afternoon to arrange—"
"Tomorrow," Luo Wei said, taking a small sip of her tea. "Don't look too eager. That's not how you negotiate." She set the cup down. "One more thing , there's a small empty plot just outside the backyard, yes? Have someone turn the soil. I want to plant something there."
Bella thought for a moment. "I believe that land isn't ours, Master."
"Then buy it." Luo Wei set a pouch of gold coins on the table. "Tell me if you need more."
She paused. "Also, collect some manure and have it piled onto that plot."
Bella's mouth fell open. "Ma... manure?"
Had she heard that correctly?
"You heard me correctly. Manure." Luo Wei's expression was entirely serious. "I'm setting up an experimental field. Composted manure improves soil quality and increases crop yields."
She added the explanation deliberately. The last thing she needed was the staff inventing their own theories about why their master was hoarding dung.
Bella didn't know what an experimental field was, but the words increase crop yields hit her like a light switch thrown in a dark room.
"Yes, Master! I'll collect it right away. I'll collect every last piece of manure in the entire city!"
"...That really won't be necessary."
A mountain of manure behind Starfall Residence would make the whole building uninhabitable.
But Bella was already gone, nearly vibrating with purpose. Someone who had grown up in poverty and known real hunger didn't need more convincing. She wanted to see with her own eyes whether dung could actually put more food on the table.
The moment she left, Bailier and Chris materialized from somewhere in the corner. Their luminous eyes fixed on Luo Wei with barely contained longing.
"Master, your tea's gone cold. Shall this servant fetch you a fresh cup?"
"Master, shall this servant rub your shoulders~?"
Luo Wei's wrist twitched. Glancing up, she had a brief, vivid impression of having wandered into a spider demon's lair.
"No," she said firmly. "Didn't Bella give you something to do?"
Both girls wilted. Their heads dropped in unison.
"The housekeeper didn't assign us anything," Chris said softly. "She told us to stay back. But I really want to comb your hair, Master."
Bailier chose a more indirect approach. "Master, how did you find the barley tea? I was the one who made it. The housekeeper tried it and said it wasn't good enough, and now she won't let me make it anymore."
Luo Wei glanced at the cup on the table.
So Bailier had been the one behind this.
➤ Next: Don't Forget to Patrol the Perimeter
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