Chapter 281: The Widow

“Mr. Helag, please come in. I’m Lorna, Mrs. Wendy’s housekeeper,” Lorna quickly recovered from her surprise and invited Helag into the estate.

Helag nodded and followed Lorna into the courtyard.

The courtyard featured a large garden, where several workers were trimming the lawn and tending to the plants.

Some of the workers glanced at Helag before continuing their tasks, while others focused intently on their work, carefully pruning the leaves.

Lorna led Helag into the villa and up to the second floor.

Once inside, Helag noticed that the interior decor wasn’t as extravagant as he had imagined.

Instead, the house exuded a sense of elegance and sophistication.

Unlike many wealthy homes where every corner screamed of money, this place had a more understated, refined aesthetic, with a focus on overall harmony.

It was clear that the owner had a good sense of taste.

Lorna brought Helag to the second floor, where he met the lady of the house, Wendy, the widow.

“Madam, this is Mr. Helag, the wizard array master here to inspect and maintain the arrays,” Lorna said softly.

Wendy was sitting on the sofa, wearing a short skirt and crossing her long legs, revealing her fair skin.

Her hair was pinned up, with two strands falling on either side of her face. She turned to look at Helag and said, “You’re quite young. Can you handle the job?”

“Mrs. Wendy, I’m a first-level Wizard Array Master. Basic inspection and maintenance work won’t be a problem,” Helag replied confidently.

Wendy responded in a soft voice, “Then get started. The array control core is in the basement. Lorna will take you there.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Lorna said, leading Helag to the basement.

Wendy was merely checking if Helag seemed capable. If she had any doubts, she would have refused him the task.

Helag followed Lorna to the basement, which was secured by two thick iron doors.

The doors were also protected by a wizard array that required identity verification. Lorna placed her hand on the handle, and after the verification, the doors opened.

The array core was a book with yellow, fuzzy growths on its surface, floating in the middle of a small room.

This book controlled all the arrays in the estate, allowing the user to manipulate them as needed.

The book was also protected by an array, with a barrier surrounding it, making it impossible to approach without authorization.

After verifying her identity, Lorna temporarily deactivated the barrier.

Helag stepped forward and channeled his magic into the book, beginning his inspection of the arrays.

As his magic flowed into the book, Helag quickly sensed the presence of several arrays.

He counted a total of eight arrays, each serving different functions.

There were protective arrays as well as offensive ones.

Each array’s rune structure was independent, but they were all connected through the book at the core.

Helag quickly reviewed the condition of each array. The runes were intact, and the structures were in perfect condition, with no issues.

The arrays looked as good as new, indicating that they had been regularly inspected and maintained.

After recording the structure of each array and confirming that there were no problems, Helag withdrew his magic and said to Lorna, “Ms. Lorna, I’ve checked everything. The arrays are stable and in excellent condition.”

Lorna wasn’t surprised. Most of the time, the array masters they hired said the same thing.

“That’s good. Mr. Helag, please follow me,” Lorna said, leading Helag back to report to Wendy. Once everything was confirmed, they would settle the payment.

“That’s it…” Helag thought to himself, marveling at how easy it was to make money as a Wizard Array Master. It was much faster and easier than brewing potions.

If becoming a Wizard Array Master weren’t so difficult, requiring such high qualifications, many people would undoubtedly pursue it.

In fact, it was the scarcity of Wizard Array Masters that made the profession so lucrative.

If there were an abundance of them, no one would pay hundreds of magic stones for maintenance work.

“Madam, Mr. Helag has completed the inspection and reported no issues,” Lorna said.

Wendy was holding a peculiar wooden sculpture, examining it closely. Without looking up, she said, “Then pay Mr. Helag 300 magic stones.”

Since the arrays were in perfect condition and didn’t require any maintenance, the payment was the basic 300 magic stones.

If any repairs had been necessary, the fee would have been higher.

Lorna immediately took out her magic stone and transferred 300 magic stones to Helag.

Helag wasn’t particularly focused on the payment. His attention was entirely on the wooden sculpture in Wendy’s hands.

He could sense a faint, familiar aura emanating from the sculpture—an aura he knew all too well.

It was the aura of the Abyss Plane.

How could a seemingly ordinary wooden sculpture, aside from its strange design, carry the aura of the Abyss Plane?

Helag’s curiosity was piqued, but simply staring at it wouldn’t reveal anything more.

“Mr. Helag?…” Lorna noticed that Helag had been staring at Wendy for a while and felt a bit displeased, though she didn’t show it. She merely gave him a gentle reminder.

She had seen plenty of men become entranced by her mistress, so it wasn’t unusual.

Especially for someone as young as Helag, it wasn’t surprising that he might be captivated by such a charming woman.

However, staring for too long was impolite.

If Helag weren’t a member of Seranthiel, Lorna would have already thrown him out.

“Is there something wrong?” Wendy asked, noticing Helag’s gaze.

Helag hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Mrs. Wendy, I hope this isn’t too forward, but may I ask where you got that wooden sculpture?”

“A merchant gave it to me. Why? Is there something wrong with it?” Wendy asked, realizing that Helag’s gaze had been fixed on the sculpture, not on her.

She was used to receiving such looks, but it was clear that Helag’s interest lay in the sculpture, not in her.

Considering Helag’s status as a formal member of Seranthiel, Wendy began to suspect that there might be something unusual about the sculpture.

“Well… I can’t say for sure, but I’d recommend you get rid of it,” Helag said, feeling a bit awkward. The aura of the Abyss Plane wasn’t something most people could detect.

Helag could sense it because he had been to the Abyss Plane and carried the bloodline of the Abyss, making him particularly sensitive to its aura.

It wasn’t something he could easily explain to others, as most people wouldn’t be able to perceive it without special means.

“Get rid of it? I did find it a bit strange. From the moment I first saw it, I felt an inexplicable attraction to it, and I’ve been playing with it ever since. Now that you mention it, there is something eerie about it,” Wendy mused.