Axel

Chapter 336: Mecklenburg Estate

Added 2025-03-22 16:06:01 +0000 UTC

Charlot planned to transport the group of orcs to Cappadocia.

Goring Island, where Cappadocia is located, is vast in size but sparsely populated, with many undeveloped areas that could easily accommodate the Leopardmen.

Charlot hoped to bridge the gap between humans and orcs by having both practice the Beast God Transformation technique. If both humans and Leopardmen could master this technique, who would still be able to distinguish between human and orc? Charlot envisioned creating a new "nation," where distinctions like Behemoth people, Southern Seraphs, or Leopardmen, or any other group, would cease to matter. However, he could not predict what this new entity would ultimately become.

Charlot was aware that in this world, beautiful ideas often did not yield beautiful results. Nevertheless, he reminded himself that he was not an omnipotent god; doing as much as he could was enough.

Frederica, familiar with Machubi and having visited there before, also knew Dolores often worked there. Charlot’s arrangement suited her well, and she was delighted. She said with a smile, “With your reassurance, I’m at ease. I’ll inform them to head to Machubi.”

Sophia Gallanord waited patiently until Frederica was finished, then pointed to a stack of books. “These are all the materials I could find about the Holy Radiance Divine Kingdom. If there’s anything else you need, I’ll continue searching.”

Charlot smiled faintly. “You’ve already done quite a lot. Actually, there’s something else I’d like to ask of you both.”

After pondering for a moment, he added, “I borrowed a batch of books, but due to time constraints, I can’t go through them all. These books are also very precious. Would you two have the time to help me identify any valuable information?”

Seeing the books Sophia Gallanord had brought, Charlot was reminded of the underground library he had encountered on Saint Michael Island. He didn’t know exactly what was in those books, but he was sure he couldn’t finish reading them all in a short time. Furthermore, their value made it unsuitable to hire quick-reading clerks to assist him. Naturally, he turned to the two ladies for help.

Frederica looked conflicted. While she could read—after all, the Leopardwoman was a university graduate—she didn’t enjoy it. Sophia Gallanord, however, was enthusiastic and immediately agreed. “I’d be happy to help.”

Reluctantly, Frederica also agreed. “I can help too.”

This reminded Charlot of a manor he owned, a gift from the Empress. He had never visited it. While 58 Elysée Avenue was spacious, it clearly couldn’t hold such a large number of books. Baker Street, 221B, was even smaller. The only suitable place was the manor he had never seen before, to store the books transported from Saint Michael Island.

He first instructed Mrs. Nancy to visit the Central Government Office to notify Annie that he wouldn’t be able to join her for lunch. Then, accompanied by Frederica and Sophia Gallanord, he boarded Dark Luxury and headed to the manor outside the city.

The manor’s original name had been annulled by Annie and replaced with a new one: Mecklenburg Estate.

The estate primarily grew fruit, half of which was supplied to Strasbourg, while the other half was used to make wine. The estate’s fruit wines sold well in Strasbourg, catering to mid-range consumers through several restaurants.

Aside from farming and winemaking, Mecklenburg Estate boasted a large five-story residence with over a hundred rooms. The estate was home to fifty to sixty farmers and over twenty servants. When Annie took over, she had assigned five knights to the estate, taking up part of Charlot’s knight allocation.

The five knights were all veterans from the Bretagne family’s knight order. Though they were either older or injured and could no longer fight on the battlefield, their formidable strength and rich experience made them more than adequate for protecting a private estate.

During the last orc incursion, Mecklenburg Estate had escaped the chaos due to its remote location. Occasional wandering orc soldiers were easily driven away by the knights, with the help of the farmers and servants.

Charlot arrived at Mecklenburg Estate with the two ladies. After a brief inspection of the residence, he began moving the books. Frederica and Sophia Gallanord helped categorize the volumes and checked for any records related to the Holy Radiance Divine Kingdom.

This kind of sorting wasn’t exactly reading. It was relatively quick work, as they could determine relevance by glancing at the book’s genre or skimming its table of contents.

The three of them worked all day. Charlot calculated the time and realized it was nearing the end of Annie’s workday. Since he had missed lunch with her, he couldn’t miss the chance to meet her after work. He made an excuse, leaving the two ladies to continue sorting while he used Infinite Mirror World to return to Strasbourg.

Before leaving, he casually summoned a Mirror Spirit to leave a coordinate at Mecklenburg Estate.

Annie was visibly disappointed when she learned Charlot wouldn’t be joining her for lunch. However, when she saw him rushing over after work, she was overjoyed. “Are you done with your work?” she asked.

Charlot smiled. “It wasn’t anything major. You’re working on a bookstore and publishing business, right? I recently acquired a batch of books. You can select the most valuable ones to publish so your publishing house has material to print and your bookstore has more to sell.”

Annie was delighted. While she didn’t particularly care about these things—her publishing house and bookstore primarily focused on her novels—she appreciated Charlot’s thoughtfulness.

As they left the Central Government Office together, Charlot was about to ask where they should spend some time when Annie softly said, “Today is my aunt’s birthday. I want to visit her. Will you come with me?”

Charlot was about to ask which aunt, but his expression turned awkward as Annie added, “It’s Aunt Sophie.”

Charlot’s face froze, but he forced a smile. “It’s only right to visit her. Of course, I’ll go with you. It’s just unfortunate that your Aunt Sophie can no longer see the two of us together.”

Annie’s expression turned somber as well. “If it weren’t for the misunderstanding, I might never have met Mr. Mecklenburg. And without meeting you, I can’t imagine how I’d get through my days.”

She continued, her voice heavy with emotion. “I want to pay my respects and thank Aunt Sophie for touching the threads of fate that brought us together.”

Charlot replied firmly, “We should indeed thank Aunt Sophie.”