Chapter 41: New Home
Shortly after his brief talk with the leader of House Stormbourne, Godric was already back on the outskirts, driven there by Gabriel, who hadn’t said a single word the entire ride back.
Godric stepped out of the car without a word either. His mind was too busy trying to figure out what the meeting with Lucian Stormbourne was truly about.
Great Houses weren’t simple. Nothing involving them was, so he knew better than to think the man would invite him to simply ’thank’ him for saving his niece.
He was almost certain it had something to do with Daren, the man’s son, rather than his niece, whom he didn’t seem particularly close to.
Daren Stormbourne, the rightful heir of House Stormbourne and a child who was banished from the family at an age most people don’t even awaken by. There were certainly things he knew, secrets that fell with him into the eternal flame and died in the dark city.
Or did they?
At that moment, Godric nudged aside the crooked door of his home and stepped inside.
The previously trashed inside of his home was back to its usual state, for the most part.
Things like mirrors or cupboards were still half broken, but items were back where they were supposed to be, put as neatly back as the place allowed in its current state.
’Seems like Mina had been busy.’
As he turned a small corner of the corridor and stepped into the kitchen, he saw Mina sitting by the kitchen table.
Her chair was half crooked, one of its legs held together with generous amounts of tape.
"You’re back," she said, her expression somewhat distant as she brought a cup of some warm beverage, most likely black tea, to her lips.
"Yeah," Godric said, stopping by the edge of the table. "They won’t be back here. Or rather, they won’t be anywhere near us ever again."
Mina looked surprised.
"What? But how? Don’t tell me you gave them the core fragments? What about mom-"
"I already paid for mom’s treatment."
Mina stared at him with a slight surprise written on her youthful face.
"It’s paid?"
"Yes."
"And the debt collectors?"
"Settled."
Mina frowned.
Their mother’s treatment, which cost a small fortune, was paid for. The debt collectors who had been terrorising their family for years were settled.
She didn’t know much about the awakened or the core fragments, only enough to know that they were valuable. But how could her brother, who hasn’t even been awakened for a month, have already gathered enough of them to turn their situation around this much?
As if that weren’t enough, Godric spoke again, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"While we’re on the topic of spending money... How about we go view some houses?"
After an hour, Godric, alongside his sister, was already viewing the first house available in the estate agency they’d gone to in the inner city.
It was much closer to Elyune Academy, with a wide range of other public schools around it, which would allow Mina to transfer out of her not-so-great school and into a place where her efforts would actually be acknowledged.
It was a semi-detached house, something the outskirts had never seen before, with a small garden at the back, two bedrooms upstairs, one bedroom downstairs and a spacious living room connected with the dining area and a large kitchen right after.
It was at least three times larger than their current house in the outskirts.
Mina gleamed with excitement, and she basically ran around the entire house, her mind already making plans on how to decorate it while their estate agent, Tom, looked a little sceptical.
"So, uhm, what do you do for work?" he asked Godric, who, despite changing into his second-best available clothes, looked a little out of place for this neighbourhood.
"My brother’s an awakened!" Mina replied excitedly.
"Oh?" Tom raised a brow. "Are you affiliated with any guilds, sir?"
’Sir?’ Godric almost scoffed.
When they first entered the estate agency, the man asked if they were lost. It took almost ten minutes of convincing the man that they were serious for him to even consider showing them the house they found most interesting.
"No," Godric replied after a pause. "I prefer to work alone."
"I see," the estate agent’s excitement died as fast as it arrived.
While Awakened had plenty of ways to make money, being affiliated with a guild meant a steady income, as long as one carried out their very occasional duties.
Of course, the Great Houses were guilds on their own, often snatching the best talents and taking them into their family before anyone else could, meaning that no matter how great a guild was, it still fell a lot shorter than any of the great houses.
As they climbed the stairs for the third time, the estate agent let out a slow exhale.
"This place is quite pricey, but we have a cheaper option available." The man swiped the screen of a device in his hand, looking at the list of places. "It’s a little closer to the... outer parts of the city, but it’s just as big. And it has a good amount of public transport nearby."
Godric paused for a moment.
He looked at Mina, who was staring into the massive wardrobe in one of the bedrooms with a bright smile on her face. He couldn’t remember the last time his sister looked this excited. While he’d spent his whole life focused on getting their family in its rightful place, his sister had indulged in constant studying, hoping to make enough money to take care of their ill mother.
"No need. We’ll take this one."
Tom blinked.
"We’ll need a two-month deposit and proof of stable income before we can finalise—"
"I’ll pay the year up front. That should be enough, right?"
The man stared at Godric in disbelief, then, realising he wasn’t joking, quickly nodded.
"Yes, sir," he said. "I’ll start the paperwork right away."