Published at 11th of August 2026 7:14 am

Chapter 1920: Ownership

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The Paladin behind the counter had had the same conversation several times since arriving in the city.

And that was why, when it was time for Geneveive to get to learn the hard truth, her words did not sound sincere at all. They sounded practiced and bored.

"Firstly, every weapon and artifact must be declared and registered. Failure to do so is treated as theft of communal resources," she started in a mechanical tone.

"All artifacts carried by newly arrived adventurers are placed in the City Hall’s vault upon arrival. Ownership is recorded, but possession is transferred to City Hall until needed.

"Whenever an adventurer leaves City Hall on an assignment, they may withdraw one artifact from the vault. They have priority to withdraw one of their own registered artifacts. If there are none suitable for the mission, they may request to borrow a communal artifact—"

Michael cut her off, his voice stern and cold.

"No, you don’t understand," he said. "We were promised that our artifacts would be returned to us. A Mana Oath had been sworn!"

"A Mana Oath?" the person behind the counter quirked a brow, completely unbothered. "Then speak with the person who brought you in. These are the established rules, man. You cannot break ’em or go around ’em."

Genevieve was on the verge of losing her composure.

She hadn’t slept the entire night. Adam was somewhere out there, surrounded by monsters. And now, without warning, she was being told that her artifacts would not be returned to her.

These artifacts weren’t merely magical tools.

They had been gifted to her by her grandfather. They were the only memento she had of him.

And now she was being told that possession of those precious keepsakes would be transferred to the City Hall?

Unacceptable!

Something inside her quietly snapped. Her eyes narrowed, a cold gleam flashing within them.

"You will return those artifacts to me," she said in a strange voice.

The person behind the counter scoffed. She opened her mouth to rebuke Genevieve, but the words caught in her throat. The moment their eyes met, her expression went blank. Her eyes lost focus ever so slightly. Her lips parted slowly.

"I..."

She was on the verge of agreeing.

Then, as if jolted awake, she blinked repeatedly as confusion spread across her face.

At some point, Michael had stepped beside Genevieve and grabbed her arm. Then he hissed through gritted teeth:

"Are you crazy!"

Magic was prohibited within the City Hall, and yet, Genevieve had brazenly broken that rule. What surprised Michael even more was that he hadn’t even seen her weave any hand seals. Nor had he seen any magic circle.

How had she even cast her spell then? That thought gnawed at his mind. And suddenly, he felt a chill crawl down his spine.

Seeing how Genevieve’s face had lost all emotion as she stared at the clerk, Michael quickly understood that she wasn’t in the right state of mind. So he quickly stood between her and the clerk.

He forced a smile and said, "We’ll talk to Daerona."

"Huh?" The person behind the counter still seemed to be in a daze. "Uh, yes, whatever."

Michael dragged Genevieve away from the counter. They walked to a secluded corridor. When he noticed there weren’t people around, he looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.

"Are you trying to get us kicked from this place?!"

Geneveive beleatedly realized what she had done, and that her actions could have, as Michael said, jeopardized their stay in the City Hall.

"I’m sorry, Michael, I just..." She tried to find the right words to speak.

Michael waved his hand. "Please, don’t do something like that ever again. Not only will they throw you out, but also me by association!"

Genevieve lowered her head and silently nodded. "I know. I’m... I’m sorry."

Michael couldn’t help but sigh. He couldn’t even blame her.

Throughout their journey from Davos to this accursed secret plane, he, as well as the other party members, had naturally come to know about the deep relationship Genevieve shared with her grandfather. They also knew that the artifacts she carried had been a parting gift from him.

Thankfully, the clerk hadn’t noticed that she had been briefly put under a spell. Either she was too stupid to realize, or Genevieve’s spell had been simply too smooth.

Michael sighed again.

"Forget about it," he said. "Let’s go find that tiny elf. She probably hoodwinked us with the details of the Mana Oath. Come, let’s go."

With that, the two headed deeper into the City Hall to confront Daerona.

***

They found Daerona and her men in the open courtyard sandwiched between the City Hall building and the wall surrounding it.

The group was checking their weapons and supplies, making their final preparations before setting out on another hunting, or perhaps, scouting mission.

"You lied to us!"

Genevieve’s voice reached them before she did.

Daerona looked up from her preparations. When she saw Genevieve and Michael stride her way, she felt a headache coming.

"You lied to me," the elf said with a shrug.

Michael quickly stepped between the two. The last thing he wanted to do was wade the turbulent waters between the two women. He did not want to be put in that horrifying position.

He turned to the elf and said with a wry smile, "You were going to return our equipment to us only briefly, and then take it back, weren’t you?"

That way Daerona would have satisfied one of the stipulations of the Mana Oath between her and Adam.

The elf silently nodded. Deceit wasn’t something she preferred to employ. But Adam had left her no room. She had to abide by the City Hall’s rules.

"You lied to us!" Genevieve repeated.

Daerona looked at her deeply. She could see the raging emotions swirling behind the human’s cerulean eyes. She sighed.

"I’m sorry, Genevieve," she began. "But these are the rules. And rules are non-negotiable."

She noticed that Genevieve was still staring unpleasantly at her. Daerona had to set things straight.

"You must understand that artifacts don’t save lives sitting in private rooms," she began.

"They save lives in the hands of people living outside. We’ve had too many murders over artifacts. Too many survivors hoarding treasures while people like me went into the city and into the wilds empty-handed. Those days are over."

She paused, her expression turning solemn.

"If the City Hall falls, every one of us dies. Individual ownership comes second to the survival of the settlement."

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