Chapter 31

Odovish made a welcoming gesture. "Ladies first."

"Won't the magic circle left behind when setting up the door leave traces?" Elufiel asked.

Eugene answered her, "After the teleportation, the materials used for it will turn to dust and scatter in the wind. They won't leave any traces behind."

"We're staying here tonight?" The elf had a bad feeling about this. Why couldn't they keep traveling? They were using doors, weren't they? Maybe she should prepare a fear ward before bed, in case something suddenly appeared and scared her.

"Eluer." Odovish turned to glance at her. "You can go in and take a look."

Elufiel walked over to Odovish's side and peered through the door. Odovish raised his hand, and beneath the moonlight, his long fingers made Elufiel lose focus for a moment.

Odovish snapped his fingers. Lights lit up from the living room all the way to the bend in the upstairs hall. The interior's lavish decor stood in stark contrast to the house's dilapidated exterior.

Exquisite carpets, artfully designed stairs, heavy velvet curtains, and furniture that looked outrageously expensive.

Elufiel stepped back outside and looked again at the nearest window. It really was a broken window with shattered glass. She could not even see the light inside through it; it remained pitch-dark.

All right, she understood now. This house was a separate space.

"What a luxury," Elufiel said as she passed Odovish.

It was also Eugene's first time witnessing such a "spectacular" Arcane sight. His teacher had once told him that spatial magic, rare even in the Golden Age, usually produced spatial items that were not very large—not only because the materials were difficult to obtain, but also because the crafting process was incredibly complex. Spatial magic had always been one of the most difficult forms of Arcane magic to master, which was why spatial items were so expensive.

But the house before him was no ordinary "spatial item." The elf's words, "what a luxury," summed it up perfectly.

It truly was extravagant: a mobile treasure vault placed in an abandoned relay station.

Odovish showed little reaction. To him, this house was merely one of his countless experimental creations—one of the more successful ones. Since he had begun researching the Divine Ruins, he had used relic fragments acquired through all sorts of means to create many finished products. The large ones included houses and villas, while the smaller ones ranged in size from a single cubic unit to a grain store warehouse.

The deeper his understanding of spatial magic became, the more frightened he felt. Who had created the Divine Ruins? Did gods truly exist in this world? Where had they come from, and what did they want? More and more questions piled up deep within Odovish's heart, yet there was no platform where he could freely voice his doubts, no one with whom he could seek the truth.

Even among Arcane practitioners, Odovish fought alone.

"What are you thinking about, my dear guide?" The elf's voice sounded by Odovish's ear. He turned and saw her standing on tiptoe, trying to reach a cabinet above the sideboard.

If Odovish remembered correctly, it should have been empty.

"What are you looking for? It's empty." Odovish raised a hand and opened the cabinet door for the elf, showing her its bare interior.

"..." Elufiel pursed her lips at yet another empty cabinet. "I wanted to find some plates for our dinner. But the kitchen and dining room are completely empty, and now it seems the living room won't have the plates I need either."

"The kitchen should have pots." Odovish instinctively glanced toward the kitchen.

Elufiel looked at him the way an elder looked at a troublesome child. "But we can't eat out of pots, can we? Besides, there are three of us."

Odovish: "..." The mage fell silent. He had almost never traveled in such a "leisurely" manner before. Usually, he merely passed through relay stations to collect materials, and unless he was utterly exhausted, he would not stop to rest.

"All right, it looks like there won't be any plates here. Can you make some containers out of wood?" Elufiel habitually tossed the problem to the mage.

Odovish had studied profound magic and conducted complicated alchemical experiments, but he had never done this before. After a brief pause, he said, "I can try."

Thus, Eugene watched the elf say something to Odovish, after which the young Spell Saint headed straight into the night.

A little while later, Odovish returned. He entered the dining room and took a stack of small wooden bowls from his spatial ring. Elufiel set a soup pot on the table. Seeing that the mage had brought back the little bowls, she picked one up and examined it closely.