{Chapter 36} Haunted House
Anna caught the girl who pounced on her with some effort, a wry smile appearing on her face:
"Helga, I’m still wearing plate armor. Aren’t you afraid of hurting yourself?"
"I’m not afraid! What haven’t I bumped into before?" Helga nuzzled Anna’s face before quickly hopping off her.
"Anna, you still remember me! I’m so happy I feel like marrying you on the spot!"
Louise, who had already been drawn over by the commotion and was now staring intently at Helga, instantly bristled upon hearing her declaration.
"Who gave you permission to marry my Senpai?! You suspicious, wicked woman!"
Louise dashed between Anna and Helga, raising her kite shield adorned with the Latimir family crest, as if Helga were some kind of enemy.
"Ha? What’s with this little kid?" Helga, noticing the hostility, gripped the "staff" in her hands with both hands in a stance that looked more like she was holding a warhammer than a staff.
"You two, why are you already fighting?" Anna, knowing full well that these two were bound to clash, hadn’t expected them to be at odds the moment they met.
She quickly stepped between them to mediate.
With Anna acting as the peacemaker, neither Louise nor Helga wanted to escalate the argument further, though they did glare at each other.
"Alright, alright. Let’s not fight right now… let me introduce—"
"No need for introductions; I already know her." Surprisingly, Helga spoke up first. "The eldest daughter of the Latimir family, Louise Latimir, right?"
"Huh?" Louise shot Helga a suspicious glance before narrowing her eyes. "With that complexion… you’re from the Bartham family, aren’t you?"
"So you both already know each other? That makes things easier..."
This wasn’t something mentioned in the simulations! So these two young ladies already knew each other?
It really is tough being from the fallen noble family.
"I was wondering why I hadn’t heard news about the Latimir family heir for so long. Turns out you ran off to join the Border Knights." Helga, having calmed down, remarked with a somewhat smug tone.
"...Forget it." Louise, seeing that Helga wasn’t pushing her buttons further, decided to let it go.
After all, she had at least heard of Helga’s name. There was no need to sour their relationship right at the start.
Then Louise asked a rather awkward question:
"Just now, there was an arcane missile that shot out from here… Where’s the mage?"
It was an excellent question, one that rendered both Anna and Helga silent.
"Uh, Louise," Anna began cautiously, trying to give her a gentle hint, "is it possible that Helga is the mage?"
"Impossible. Absolutely not." Louise dismissed Anna’s suggestion without a second thought. "How could the Bartham family produce a mage? I’ve never heard of anyone from the Bartham family taking up anything other than warrior-related professions."
"Who says we can’t produce mages?!" Helga declared openly. "Just look at my mage robes! Look at my staff!"
"Isn’t that a two-handed warhammer? And aren’t those robes just for keeping warm?"
"Who said that?! Look at the magic crystal on the tip of my staff!" Helga held up her staff to show Anna and Louise.
"There’s no magic crystal… Wait, there really is?"
Even Anna could see the magic crystal embedded at the hammer’s head.
"That’s really a staff?!" Upon confirming the existence of the magic crystal, Louise felt her worldview was being shaken. "So you really are a mage?"
"Hmph! That’s right! I am the Bartham family’s mage prodigy, Helga ‘Steel Tempest’ Bartham!"
"‘Steel Tempest’ sounds like a nickname you made up." Anna chimed in without missing a beat.
"Oh, you’re so mean! Just like when we were kids, always exposing me!" Helga’s expression shifted dramatically, and she lightly tapped Anna’s chest plate in mock annoyance.
"Hey! What’s the deal between you two? Why does my Senpai know someone from the Bartham family?" Louise stared intently at Anna and Helga.
"Helga… is sort of my childhood friend. Though I feel that’s not quite the right term for the bond between two girls..."
"But I think it’s great! Isn’t that what everyone calls us?" Helga naturally put an arm around Anna.
Since she was about the same height as Anna, the gesture didn’t seem awkward, though it certainly earned her another hostile glare from Louise.
"I don’t think I’ve mentioned it to you, Louise, but while I grew up in this town, I was actually born in the capital," Anna said, scratching her head as she caught a faint whiff of the sweet scent from Helga that hadn’t changed since their childhood.
"Back then, my house was right across from the Bartham family’s estate..."
"Wait, that haunted mansion was your family’s property, Senpai?"
Surprisingly, Louise even knew about the Garland family’s estate, though it technically wasn’t theirs anymore.
"The haunted mansion… Does that mean the Bartham family never sold it?" Anna turned to Helga.
"Of course not. Although Auntie said she’d leave it to us to handle, we never intended to take it. We still only hold custodianship over the property. According to inheritance laws, as long as you’re alive and claim it, it’s still legally yours."
The "Auntie" Helga referred to was Anna’s mother.
Most of the meager Garland family assets had been managed by Anna’s mother, though there wasn’t much left after paying for her father’s treatment and sending Anna to the Knight Academy.
"So… that’s how it is?"
So I still have a house in the capital?
"Then… What's the deal with the ‘haunted mansion’?"
"Just a little trick to keep people from trying to buy it," Helga said proudly. "It was my idea, you know!"
"Oh, claiming it’s haunted so no nobles would want to buy it, and people with no money wouldn’t consider it either..." Louise immediately grasped the logic behind the ploy.
"Exactly! That’s it." Helga grinned, looking rather pleased with herself. "You’re pretty clever, aren’t you?"
"I’m not some fool!"
"Why not just sell the house? Why go through all this trouble?" Anna couldn’t quite understand why Helga wanted to keep the mansion.
"To preserve our childhood memories, isn’t that reason enough?"
A simple answer. A simple reason.
Yet it made Louise’s internal assessment of Helga’s threat level rise to the maximum.
“Smooth talker, expert at flirting, this Bartham girl is definitely here to steal my Senpai!”