Crossing the picket fence meant officially entering the interior of the Relic.
There was an abnormally vast difference in the concentration of Whisper elements between the inside and outside of the fence. While it wasn't as unbearable as the Fishbone Pirate Ship, the range of influence unique to location-type Relics still made Shade feel extremely uncomfortable.
It wasn't a violent headache or nausea, nor was it a constant harassment of fragmented whispers. He felt a... desire; his own chaotic thoughts became very easy to amplify here. In fact, Shade actually found himself thinking about retreating at this moment—a thought of fleeing that would normally be absolutely impossible for him.
"Oh, I need to concentrate more."
With his back to the picket fence, Shade closed his eyes and tapped his head a few times. Beautiful memories and thoughts could dispel those stray notions, but the problem was that beautiful memories also triggered more unsettling thoughts. For instance, thinking of Mia-cat made him think it would be more prudent to turn around and leave, and thinking of Luvia brought not only the sweetness of affection, but also—
As Shade realized the unusual nature of these chaotic thoughts, standing inside the fence, he felt the surrounding daylight dim in a trance. Dark clouds surged in to surround the forest clearing, and a bolt of pitch-black lightning streaked across the high sky, followed by a rumbling roar several seconds later.
The building, which had appeared clean and tidy under the autumn sunlight, became eerie as the light faded. Vast patches of shadow wrapped around the exterior walls like crawling monsters, and strange figures appeared in the glass windows. In the courtyard within the fence, the golden fallen leaves decayed into sludge, and the tree with the swing lost all its leaves within two seconds. The trunk and branches seemed to lose all vitality in an instant, their withered appearance resembling a giant grey hand reaching out from the depths of the earth.
A rustling sound came from behind him. Turning around, he saw the black iron of the picket fence crawling like snakes, interlocking until the entrance was completely blocked, resembling a spiderweb. A common characteristic of location-type Relics was that one could absolutely not leave without meeting specific conditions, a point Shade had already proven on the [Fishbone Pirate Ship].
The light was dim, and a cold wind carrying the scent of rot blew against Shade; everything around him was dilapidated. Now that the Relic had fully revealed its interior, Shade finally felt the headache and intense discomfort. Whisper elements affected any entity, physical or non-physical; such elements were the enemies of civilization.
"Though it's uncomfortable, it's still bearable. It seems my sins aren't particularly severe."
Shade frowned and pressed his head. He currently felt as if he had taken ten deep breaths in an alley full of trash and feces, then spun around in place twenty times.
But aside from the unpleasant sensation, he also felt his strength increase. All living beings entering the [Sin Manor] would receive a power boost based on their own sins; this could be considered the unique "field effect" of this location-type Relic.
"This feeling is already no less than wearing those witch accessories. Do I really have that many sins?"
He was quite puzzled, but shook his head
"Let's leave this place quickly. I hope Grandma Cassandra's intelligence was correct."
Glancing at the broken swing beneath the withered tree, Shade walked toward the entrance of the building that looked like a haunted house and knocked on the black door. It wasn't a metal door, but one of hardwood. However, the surface of the wood had not been finely processed, leaving the grain of the bark clearly visible.
Upon closer inspection, those twisted grains were clearly a translatable language. However, when Shade attempted to decipher the text on the door, a violent headache nearly made him lose his balance.
He leaned against the wall and rested for a while before feeling better. From this, he understood that the power possessed by the text on this door was no less than most of the scripts he had encountered in this world.
Without the sound of footsteps, the door before him opened silently. A hunchbacked old man with greyish-white skin appeared inside, carrying a horse lamp.
He looked at Shade with drooping eyelids, and Shade sensed an even stronger concentration of Whisper elements emanating from him.
"Are you a lost traveler?"
The man spoke in Draraion, his voice exceptionally raspy.
"No, I am a guest here for a trade."
Shade spoke according to the information provided by Grandma Cassandra.
The [Sin Manor] itself had been a mountain villa belonging to an unknown noble during the Third or Fourth Epoch. Later, something horrific happened here. Limited records from the Witch Council indicated that the owner of the villa had researched knowledge of Original Sin, which drew the Fires of Karma to burn everything away, forming this terrifying [Sin Manor] ruin.
Once outsiders were identified as playing the role of a lost traveler, they would be permanently imprisoned as prey by the manor itself. Only guests who claimed to be traders could enjoy courtesy. Experience showed that as long as one did not show hostility toward the [Sin Manor] itself, the Relic would not easily exert malice toward entering traders.
"Please come in."
The lamp-bearing old man said in his raspy voice, stepping aside to let Shade enter. Upon entering the foyer, Shade noticed that the faint light on the walls actually came from gas lamps, and there were even gas pipes running along the walls.
"This was a gift brought by a guest over twenty years ago. We used his soul to decorate the place."
The old man chuckled, leading Shade toward the interior of the building.
Outside the windows was a terrifying sky where black lightning flashed occasionally; the dilapidated courtyard easily brought to mind scenes from horror stories. Although there were dim gas lamps as light sources inside the rooms, the atmosphere remained extremely oppressive.
The light from the old man's worn glass-shaded horse lamp was slightly stronger. Following behind him, Shade observed the crack-like marks on the walls while attempting to ask
"Excuse me, is this lamp of yours for sale?"
If taken to the outside world, this lamp itself could be regarded as a Relic.
"For sale. Three complete souls, or bear a moment's sin of slaughter on my behalf."
The old man spoke raspily, then suddenly stopped and looked back at Shade
"Guest, there is no need to rush. The Trader will have everything you desire. I can see that the sins upon you are quite ample."
The two arrived at the deepest part of the foyer. From here, one could choose to go down the left or right corridors, or take the stairs to the second floor. But the old man stopped once more
"Guest, according to the rules, we must first verify the quantity of your sins before the trade."
"No problem."
Shade nodded and followed the old man down the right corridor, entering the first room on the left. The room was very spacious, with only a single, dimly lit gas lamp at the far end.
Beneath the gas lamp was a table, and behind the table sat a man with a blank expression, clutching a quill. He was dressed like an old-fashioned noble, though the craftsmanship of his red coat was poor, making one wonder if his family had long since fallen into ruin.
The old man stood at the door and signaled for Shade to approach. As Shade stepped over the threshold, the feeling of discomfort became even more severe than before.
Crossing the dim room to the table, the man with the quill spoke in an extremely wooden voice
"Press your palm onto the paper."
There was only a piece of parchment on the table with edges that looked scorched. Shade pressed his hand down. A few seconds later, the man behind the table suddenly lunged with the quill to stab Shade's wrist, but Shade nimbly dodged it.
The man glared at Shade, took the parchment back, stabbed his own wrist with the quill, and wrote on the parchment with the blood-stained pen. After finishing, he tossed the paper to Shade, showing no intention of communicating further.
On the parchment, written in twisted, earthworm-like script, was a record of Shade's "financial capacity"
[Complete Soul (Powerful · Flawless · Holy · Balanced · Dark)]
[Gluttony (Exquisite) 10.5 marks]
[Greed (Perfect) 9.9 marks]
[Lies (Common) 8.9 marks]
[Promiscuity (Common) 2.6 marks]
[seyu (Common) 1.3 marks]
[Bloodlust (Flawed) 0.7 marks]
[Blasphemy (Flawed) 0.6 marks]
[Infidelity (Flawed) 0.1 marks]
[Chains of Great Sin]
"Hiss, I have more sins than I thought."
His eyes lingered on the middle two lines, then looked at the end
"Even the Chains of Great Sin count?"
Shade was somewhat surprised, while the other items were all recorded in Grandma Cassandra's data.
Everyone possesses a soul, and the descriptors detailed the soul's characteristics. Among them, [Powerful] and [Flawless] represented the quality of Shade's soul, while [Balanced] and [Dark] represented its traits; this was likely related to Shade's participation in the Chosen Ceremony and his fulfillment of its requirements.
However, [Holy] was very unexpected for Shade, as it was said that only the most devout believers who spent their lives doing good deeds could obtain such a description.
"Perhaps it's because this 'life' of mine has been too short; I've stepped on fewer ants than other people. And while I'm not a good person in the standard sense, I truly haven't done many bad things."
He thought to himself with some satisfaction. The sins listed after the soul description only extracted the most prominent traits rather than listing everything. A normal person would not have more than ten types of sins worth listing; otherwise, that person would need to take a rest in a psychiatric ward or a prison.
"Marks" was the evaluation of the quantity of sin, while "Flawed," "Common," "Perfect," and "Exquisite" were evaluations of quality.
Although Shade possessed both the "Gluttony" and "Greed" spirit runes, the former had been drawn from the divinity of the [Lord of the Blood Feast], and drawn twice at that. Therefore, it was normal for the former to reach the highest quality rating of "Exquisite."
"Aside from Gluttony and Greed, Lies were inevitable, seyu is something any healthy person would have, Bloodlust is just a flaw and needn't be minded, Blasphemy is understandable, and Infidelity probably refers to the time I passed intelligence to an enemy nation for money."
Shade summarized his "medical report." The parchment in his hand should be considered everyone's deepest secret; after leaving this place, he would not tell anyone the result.
[You alone did not analyze "Promiscuity".]
A whispering sound echoed in his ear. Shade pursed his lips, his eyelids drooping slightly
"That... is indeed my sin."
She only chuckled softly and offered no further opinion.
Thus, Shade took the parchment and returned to the corridor lined with red carpets and gold wallpaper, presenting it to the old man with the horse lamp.
The latter looked at the parchment by the faint light, and emotion finally appeared on his mummified, grey-white face
"10.3 marks of Exquisite Gluttony? How do you maintain your current physique?"
He was utterly astonished.
"It's 10.5 marks. I can read this script," Shade reminded him.
The old man did not look embarrassed. He stuffed the parchment back into Shade's hand and suddenly leaned in. He raised the horse lamp in his withered right hand, his cloudy eyes scrutinizing the sword-bearing youth from a very close distance
"You can read it? Are you... an Original Sin Scholar?"