A Restless Night
"Nothing."
After that, I searched every room and talked to every object that looked even remotely promising.
And yet, I hadn't found a single thing that fit the description.
Had that old guy tricked me?
Honestly, that seemed entirely possible.
The sun was already sinking, and the rooms were beginning to grow dark.
It was getting too dangerous to keep searching.
Just as I was about to give up, the house spoke to me.
(Dear guest, did you not find what you were looking for?)
"Yeah. I searched every room, but there was nothing."
(Oh my.)
Tell me about it.
I couldn't help letting out a bitter laugh.
But then the house said something I couldn't ignore.
(You haven't seen every room, though.)
"Huh? No way. I went through every room on the first, second, and third floors."
(But you haven't.)
… Wait.
"Is there a hidden passage or a secret room somewhere?"
(Why, of course there is.)
There is!? You could've told me that sooner!
(You never asked, so I could not tell you.)
".. .Fair point. Sorry."
(It's okaaay~)
Yeah... that one was on me.
Thinking about it, it made perfect sense.
A mansion this large wasn't going to be limited to only what you could see.
With the house guiding me, I headed for the hidden room.
It was located in the master's study on the third floor.
An overturned desk and chair. Bookshelves packed with old books. A fallen chandelier. Statues of the Goddess decorating each of the room's four corners.
Other than that, nothing seemed unusual.
"The hidden door's here?"
(Yeees~ Move the four statues.)
Move the four statues. Got it.
Standing before the statues, they each told me how they wanted to be positioned.
(I can tilt diagonally.)
(I'm in the mood to lean forward.)
(I wanna be pushed.)
(I'd like to nod.)
I adjusted each statue exactly as instructed.
The moment I tilted the last statue's head forward…
Clunk!
A heavy sound echoed throughout the room.
(This Bookshelf can move now.)
"The bookshelf...?"
I gave it a shove. It slid sideways with surprising ease.
Whoa… amazing. A genuine hidden door.
Behind the bookshelf was a staircase leading underground.
But it was pitch black. There was no way I could go down like this.
On the other hand, using a torch in here didn't seem like a great idea…
"Ah."
—
"Dyrel, I'm tired, you know."
I brought Lufen, who'd been relaxing at my house, back to the mansion with me.
It was completely dark outside now. The mansion looked even creepier than it had during the day.
"Sorry. But I need your help."
"!"
"H-hmph... w-well, if that's the case, then fine. It's not like I mind or anything."
She played with her hair, looking secretly pleased.
Lufen's skill was Light.
It came in handy whenever it was dark or we had to walk around at night, it worked like a portable light source.
"Were you just thinking of me as a walking torch?"
"I wasn't. I wasn't."
Something pretty close, maybe. How'd she know?
Lufen glared at me, then let out a sigh and looked up at the mansion.
"Still... this is a nice house."
"You think so too? I explored it during the day, and it's actually pretty impressive."
"Yeah. Why don't we just buy it ourselves? Even including repair costs, I don't think it'd be that expensive."
".. .Out of curiosity, how much are we talking?"
"Fifteen hundred gold coins."
"That's still insanely expensive!?"
Eh, what? Am I just completely out of touch with the world? That's an absurd amount of money!
"I don't mean right now, obviously. I mean after we've made enough from the business."
"... You really think we can earn that much?"
"Absolutely. Leave it to me. I've got carpenter customers too, so I'll haggle them down as much as I possibly can."
To whatever carpenter we'd meet someday… sorry in advance.
I apologize in our Lufen’s stead.
I silently apologized in my heart as we entered the mansion together.
Thanks to Lufen's Light skill, the inside was much brighter than it had been during the day.
Definitely a good call bringing her along.
"I-it really is huge..."
"Right?"
"... Hey, Lufen. Can I ask you something?"
"W-what?"
"... Why are you holding my hand?"
And not just holding it.
She had a death grip on it, like she absolutely wasn't letting go.
"B-because it's scary! What if a ghost shows up!?"
"There's no such thing as ghosts."
"But I'm scared! Please... hold my hand!"
Wow. Her eyes were actually watering. She must be genuinely terrified. It'd been a long time since I'd seen Lufen like this.
Maybe her Light skill had been granted by the Goddess because of feelings like these buried deep inside.
My Conversation skill seemed to have come from hating communication, after all.
"O-okay. Just don't let go."
I had no choice but to squeeze her hand back.
… It wasn't the first time I'd held Lufen's hand, but for some reason… I was nervous.
And there was no one else around. Just the two of us.
With my mind filled with strangely restless thoughts, we headed toward the master's study.
What do you think about this chapter?
