Chapter 93
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: The Cursed Mansion (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Rumors about bathing in blood to regain youth or achieve immortality were common.
Lee Eun-hee still seemed to be approaching the blood-based tonic with caution.
“I'll look into it for now.”
“Wouldn't it be better to just report it to the guild and get the data from them?”
“No, I can handle this much myself. It's better to do it on my own than to raise suspicion.”
“I'm counting on you for the report.”
“Got it.”
That concluded their conversation for the night.
* * *
The next day, newly ordered handmade furniture arrived, and the morning was a chaotic mess of replacing the furniture in the rooms.
Liz had a book club meeting with other young noblewomen, and in the late afternoon, she had lessons in social dancing and flower arranging.
Unlike yesterday, the atmosphere in the mansion was slightly abuzz today.
“What's going on?”
“The Duke is returning from the imperial palace.”
Of all the times, I had to arrive on the day Duke Paelia left for the imperial palace.
It wasn't very far, and he was only gone for two days, yet the entire mansion was in a fuss.
“Ah.”
I sensed a presence from down the hall.
Someone was approaching with very quick steps.
‘Hmm.’
I have a bad feeling about this.
*Thump.*
The door to the room where the flower arranging lesson was being held was flung open.
In this vast mansion, only two people could enter and exit any room without permission.
Helped by Lee Eun-hee, Liz rose from her chair.
“Father! You're back?”
“Oh! My beautiful daughter! Liz!”
Smiling brightly, Liz and Duke Paelia embraced.
The baroness who had been sitting across from Liz stood up and paid her respects.
“Did you have a good trip?”
“Of course. Elin packed a ton of gifts for you.”
“Oh, my sister did?”
“It couldn't be helped this time, but let's go together next time.”
“I'd love to.”
“Did I perhaps interrupt the lesson?”
When Duke Paelia looked at the baroness, she shook her head.
“Not at all. We were just about to finish.”
The lesson had over an hour left, but she wasn't so dense as to not pick up on the situation.
Unlike Liz, who was much more beautiful in person, Duke Paelia didn't look very different from his photograph.
“I will handle the wrap-up.”
“Very well.”
“Let's go, Father. I've prepared some new tea and refreshments.”
At Liz's words, the maids behind her, including Lee Eun-hee, moved quickly.
Liz and Duke Paelia moved to a suitable room, drinking tea and making small talk.
“This is Ruin, the new guard.”
“Oh, I've heard about you. I was told you're quite skilled. That fellow Rudie, he kept ignoring my requests for a man. To think he was preparing someone as talented as you. Hahaha.”
I gritted my teeth at the duke's words and forced an awkward smile.
“So the rumors are true, you cover one eye. I heard you had an accident as a child?”
“Yes.”
“If the opportunity arises, I'll look into a way to fix your eye.”
What a pointless concern.
Because, strictly speaking, it's your fault my eye is in this state.
I glared at Lee Eun-hee, who was trying to stifle her laughter behind me, before giving a suitable reply.
“Thank you for the thought.”
A moment later, the gifts sent by Empress Elin arrived in the room.
The topic of conversation shifted as they looked over the numerous luxury items one by one.
* * *
“Damn old geezer.”
“*Pfft.* Hahahahaha!”
“Is it funny? Do you find this funny?!”
“But still… *chuckle*, it really seems like the old man has taken a liking to you.”
“Aaaargh! I can't hear you!”
I covered my ears, trying my best to ignore the situation.
After laughing for a while, Lee Eun-hee's expression suddenly hardened.
“You were right.”
“Huh?”
“Muel wasn't the only one who disappeared from the mansion. Over the last few years, a significant number of people have left, making all sorts of excuses. Even accounting for those who quit normally, the number is abnormal.”
“Do you know what happened to them?”
“I don't know that much. The others didn't seem to know much about the ones who left, either. And Luria quit today.”
“Who's Luria?”
“You know, the girl Liz spilled tea on.”
She must have meant the blonde girl.
“She quit?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. According to Head Butler Iseph, she said she had to quit due to a family matter. He even gave her severance pay. The atmosphere wasn't right to ask more, so I didn't.”
Lee Eun-hee still wore a doubtful expression.
Head Butler Iseph was the type of person who looked at employees other than Muel as if they were insects.
The idea that he'd give severance pay to a stable hand who suddenly claimed a family emergency and quit was too convenient a lie.
“It seems things like that happen often.”
“When was the last time you saw this Luria? Did you see her leaving the mansion or anything?”
“This morning. I went to check on her because I was worried. They said she went home around afternoon… but she was perfectly fine this morning. She didn't seem like someone with a family emergency.”
“So no one saw her leave.”
“I'm not certain, but yes.”
“Nothing to lose by looking.”
“How are you going to find someone who's already said they've quit?”
“We just need to know if she's outside the mansion or not.”
If she left the mansion grounds, it was out of our hands.
Dealing with the matters inside was already a headache; we couldn't afford to worry about what happened outside.
“Hey, do you have any idea how big this mansion is?”
“You don't trust me?”
“Nope.”
You didn't have to be so blunt about it.
Ignoring Lee Eun-hee's unconvinced stare, I used Mana Detection.
‘Damn, it really is huge.’
I took a breath and slowly expanded the range.
Centered on the mansion, flames of various sizes began to appear before my eyes.
Luria was a third-class citizen.
Unlike fourth-class citizens, who couldn't even use artifacts and had no mana in their bodies, third-class citizens possessed a faint amount of mana.
I didn't remember Luria's name, but this was possible because I had memorized her mana signature.
“Are you meditating?”
“Don't interrupt… huh?”
“What is it?”
I retracted my Mana Detection and caught my ragged breath.
The Paelia duchy was located on the outskirts of the capital, surrounded by a forest.
It might make sense if it were in the south where the capital was, but sensing Luria's mana in the middle of the northern forest made no sense at all.
“I found her, but…”
“You found her? What the hell are you? What kind of skill did you use?”
“It's just something I have.”
“More importantly, what do you mean, 'you found her, but...'?”
As Lee Eun-hee stared at me in confusion, I pointed toward the northern forest, a short distance from the mansion.
“The forest?”
“Yeah. She's there… No, never mind.”
Luria's mana was incredibly faint.
It was as faint as a dying candle flame.
It was as if it was burning its last.
My personal thought was that even if she was alive, she might not truly be living.
‘No need to say that out loud.’
Lee Eun-hee looked ready to charge into the forest at any moment.
“Lead the way.”
“Alright.”
I crossed through the forest with Lee Eun-hee.
It was a bit of a distance to the northern forest, so we moved quickly, but Lee Eun-hee kept up without any signs of exhaustion.
‘Not bad.’
Unlike with Yoo Ji-han, I couldn't see Lee Eun-hee's status window since she wasn't my believer, but her stats seemed quite high.
‘I wonder which god she serves.’
The challengers of the Tower served various gods.
Though I wasn't an officially participating god, it would be a lie to say I wasn't interested in recruiting her.
‘That bow.’
The crimson bow she had briefly shown when we met Lurie was clearly a high-quality item.
It was highly likely she had received it from her god, not found it on a stage.
Lee Eun-hee cut in front of me.
The direction was right, so I had no intention of stopping her.
That is, until I sensed something.
*Swoosh.*
Moving quickly from behind, I grabbed Lee Eun-hee's arm.
“What are you— Mmph…”
“Shh.”
I pulled Lee Eun-hee with me, and we hid atop a leafy tree.
A moment later, Lee Eun-hee's eyes wavered as she spotted something in the direction I was looking.
‘Her eyes are sharp, too.’
I might have detected it with Mana Detection, but it was a distance an ordinary person couldn't possibly see.
I didn't know if it was a passive skill, but Lee Eun-hee's eyesight was clearly beyond that of a normal person.
*Crunch, crunch.*
The small light grew larger.
Liz approached, dressed in white.
Holding a lamp, Liz headed in the exact direction where Luria was.
Liz disappeared deeper into the forest.
She was out of my sight, but Lee Eun-hee was still watching her.
“She…”
I clamped my hand over Lee Eun-hee's mouth again.
Even at this distance, there was no guarantee our voices wouldn't be heard.
After all, Lee Eun-hee herself possessed unbelievable eyesight.
Liz's mana remained in one spot for a long time.
Lee Eun-hee tapped the back of my hand with her finger.
At first, I thought she was just getting impatient, but I soon realized she was trying to communicate something.
‘What is with this girl?’
What she was tapping was Morse code.
I had no idea how Lee Eun-hee knew Morse code.
Lee Eun-hee and I suppressed our presence as much as possible in the darkness.
I made an 'OK' sign with my fingers, then tapped the back of her hand.
《Wait.》
Finally, she pointed her finger downward, indicating that Liz had gone into a basement.
《Basement.》
Lee Eun-hee nodded.
We held our breath and stayed put.
Just as the morning sun began to rise, Liz started moving again.
Liz calmly walked back to the mansion.
《Time.》
I signaled to Lee Eun-hee again.
The sun was rising. To avoid suspicion, we had to finish our business and get back as quickly as possible.
Unlike me, a guard, Lee Eun-hee, a maid, had to start her day a bit earlier.
《50 minutes.》
Lee Eun-hee and I rushed to the spot where Liz had been, moving almost in unison.
After climbing down from the tree, Lee Eun-hee looked around.
She kicked aside some bushes with the tip of her foot, revealing an iron handle.
Pulling the handle revealed a large door leading underground.
“So Luria is in here?”
Instead of answering, I just gave a slight nod.
Unfortunately, I could no longer sense Luria's mana.
The stairs went much deeper than expected.
“Looks like a prison.”
“Seems like it.”
Below ground, a long series of unused prison cells stretched out.
There must have been at least several hundred of them.
“An unused underground prison.”
It wasn't a pleasant place.
Lee Eun-hee took something out of her item window.
A round orb of light appeared above Lee Eun-hee's shoulder.
“Oh, that looks handy. What is it?”
“You don't know what this is?”
“What?”
“Porong.”
“Don't give a pointless name to a glowing blob…”
“It's really Porong! A special item from Lumo, the God of Light!”
“Wait, Lumo, the God of Light?”
“Yeah.”
“Isn't the God of Light Lux?”
“Who's that?”
Lee Eun-hee tilted her head, indicating she'd never heard of him.
‘Is something different?’
Then again, thinking back, there was never any proof that the god Lux was the God of Light.
I waved my hand dismissively, saying it was nothing.
Lee Eun-hee began to investigate the endless row of cells.
“It looks like we should probably head back and come again tomorrow…”
“Hey.”
Lee Eun-hee, who had turned toward the cells, grabbed the hem of my clothes.
Her face had gone pale, and her hand was trembling.
When I turned my head, Porong was illuminating the inside of a cell.
Inside lay the mutilated corpse of Luria.