Secret (1)
Secret (1)
Late breakfast time.
Before the meal began, Manuel scolded me with a stern expression.
"I heard you sneaked out last night. Don't you know it's bad manners to do that when you're visiting another noble's household?"
His voice was low, but he infused it with mana so everyone could hear him.
To the others, it looked like a textbook example of a noble youth lecturing his younger brother.
Perhaps that was why the Baron's wives stared at Manuel in surprise, while the Baron's son looked at him with admiration.
I knew Manuel was doing his best to imitate the Duke.
Unlike usual, I bowed politely to Manuel.
"I apologize for causing you concern. I'll be more careful."
"Y-yes. As long as you understand."
Manuel's voice trembled slightly at my response, but he quickly composed himself and apologized to the Baron.
"On behalf of my younger brother, I apologize for the disturbance last night."
"Haha, it's quite all right. It's not as if anything serious happened. I was merely worried there might have been an accident."
I raised my head slightly to observe the Baron and his daughter.
Contrary to his words, the Baron's expression was quite stiff, while his daughter looked at me with an amused expression.
Oops, we nearly made eye contact.
I immediately looked away and began eating the food that had just been served.
As I ate, the Baron's voice reached my ears once more.
"It's a long journey, so why not rest for one more day? The children might need more time to prepare, too."
Just as I'd expected, the Baron was doing his best to make us stay longer.
"Ah, I apologize. I'd like to stay longer as well, but there isn't much time left before the academy entrance day."
Oh, as expected, Manuel really knew how to speak properly when he was in noble mode. His education had certainly been thorough.
"Is that so... Then it can't be helped."
To my surprise, the Baron gave up easily.
Curious, I glanced at his reflection in my knife and saw him look toward his daughter as he spoke.
It seemed he still had some hidden agenda.
But having already died once, I had no intention of standing by and letting that scheme unfold.
After that, the meal ended without incident.
A short while later, the group gathered in front of the mansion again.
The soldiers and knights who had stayed in the annex were waiting outside the mansion with the carriage.
The Baron's son and daughter said goodbye to their respective mothers.
The son's farewell was no different from any other mother-and-son parting.
"Take care of yourself when you reach the capital, and write to me if you run into any difficulties."
"I'll manage on my own, so don't worry. And please stay healthy, Mother."
A worried mother and a confident son.
But the atmosphere on the daughter's side was strange.
"I'm leaving."
"Y-yes. Have a safe trip."
The Baron's wife stammered in response to her daughter's farewell.
It was as if she was afraid of her own daughter. What's more, there was a trace of relief in the lady's voice.
"Hmph!"
At that, the daughter snorted and turned away.
The son finished his farewells as well and headed toward the carriage.
The Baron didn't say a single word during the entire farewell.
It seemed he wasn't on good terms with his daughter—or with the rest of his family.
"Thank you for your hospitality. I'll do my utmost to look after your children while we're in the capital."
At Manuel's greeting, the Baron nodded with a satisfied expression.
On the surface, it seemed like a satisfactory farewell for the Baron as well.
Manuel and I both climbed into the carriage.
Unlike before, there were now four people inside, but, as expected of a carriage from the Gracia Dukedom, it was spacious enough.
"Wow, the high nobility really is different. It doesn't look that much different from the outside, but is this what they mean by having real substance?"
The Baron's daughter kept marveling as she looked around the interior.
The Baron's son also gazed around with fascination, while Manuel explained various things to them.
Meanwhile, the carriage left the town. After traveling for a long time, we had completely left the Baron's territory by the time the sun began to set.
"We'll have to make camp for the night."
As dusk fell, a mounted knight approached the carriage and spoke to Manuel.
Manuel gave his permission, and the carriage and the party came to a halt.
The servants and soldiers accompanying us set up camp, and we got out of the carriage as well.
As I watched them prepare dinner, I took the greatsword stored in the carriage.
"Why did you take out your sword?"
At Manuel's question, I grinned.
"My body's feeling a bit stiff, so I thought I'd go hunting."
"We have plenty of ingredients for dinner. And I don't think there'll be any game around here..."
A soldier preparing dinner nearby spoke up.
Just as he said, although a few trees could be seen here and there, we were in the middle of a vast, open field.
But I shook my head.
"It's just for training, as always. Well, if I'm late, go ahead and eat first, then go to sleep."
The soldier and the knight quickly agreed.
That was because, during the journey back from the Marquis's estate, I had often sparred with the Marquis's bastard son and gone roaming at night for training, just like this.
Manuel wore a displeased expression, but perhaps because I'd bowed my head during breakfast, he let it slide.
"It's our first night, so please eat with us. Yes?"
The Baron's daughter clasped her hands and pleaded from the side, but it only gave me goosebumps.
"I apologize. It's something I do often."
I bowed my head and strode out of the campsite.
As the campsite grew distant, I gradually picked up speed.
After running for a long time and getting far enough away from the camp, I turned around.
My target was the Baron's territory we'd left that morning.
I channeled mana into my legs and kicked off the ground.
Bang!
Since we'd traveled leisurely for half a day, it was a distance I could cover in about two hours if I ran at full speed.
I looked down at the mansion from the top of the hill where I'd spent the previous night.
Two hours in total. That was how long it had taken to get from the campsite to this hill.
Fortunately, I hadn't encountered anyone on the way. After reaching the outskirts of town, I took a long detour to avoid people before stopping on this hill.
It wasn't an exact distance, but it was nearly 40 kilometers. It felt like I'd run a marathon.
"If this were my past life, it might have been an Olympic record..."
Without mana, that speed would have been absolutely impossible, regardless of my age.
Sweat poured down my body like rain. I wanted to lie down and rest, but instead, I quietly circulated my mana.
As I spread the mana that had been heating my legs throughout my body, it permeated my rapidly beating heart and lungs, gradually improving my physical condition.
"Phew..."
After a moment, I took a deep breath. My body quickly returned to normal.
"Good."
As expected, mana was a cheat.
After checking my physical condition, I went down the hill.
It wasn't very late yet, and a few rooms still had their lights on, but it was a cloudy, moonless night—more than enough to hide myself.
I avoided the eyes of the soldiers standing at the main gate.
After scaling the wall again, I went through the maze garden and headed beneath the room where I'd slept, rather than toward the main entrance.
There was no way the main entrance would be open at this hour, and forcing it open would surely cause a huge commotion.
"Hup."
When I reached the room, I gathered mana in my hands and climbed the wall.
Perhaps because I'd done this several times in various places, I easily reached the window of the room I'd slept in the previous night.
Next, I placed my hand on the window and pulled with my mana-infused hand. The window came open with it.
The window opened with a faint creak.
Fortunately, the latch securing it was exactly as I'd broken it that morning.
I'd broken the latch before leaving, planning to return, and, as expected, they hadn't fixed it yet.
The window was unchanged, but the room had been neatly tidied.
In any case, all that mattered was confirming that no one was inside.
I passed through the room and walked into the dark hallway, heading toward the Baron's room.
I'd located the Baron's room before leaving. It was the innermost room, close to his daughter's. Like other nobles, he used the room by himself.
The hallway was quiet.
A day ago—no, since that was before I died, had it actually been even earlier?
Anyway, back then, even though people were sleeping, the rustling noises and sounds of human presence had reached my sharp ears.
Now, though, the mansion was enveloped in such a heavy silence, it was as if absolutely no one lived here.
Despite moving carefully, I didn't see a single trace of anyone in the hallway before reaching the Baron's room.
Surely it wasn't time for people to be asleep yet...
A moment later, I arrived in front of the Baron's bedroom.
After thoroughly preparing myself to escape, I carefully sent my mana flowing into the room.
'Shoot, is this a bust?'
I couldn't sense any trace of anyone inside.
I'd definitely heard that the Baron was always in his room at this hour...
Clicking my tongue quietly, I carefully opened the door.
Fortunately, it was unlocked.
Beyond the door was the Baron's office, which also served as his study. Inside, I could see a half-open bedroom door. The Baron was nowhere to be seen in the bedroom, either.
Just as I'd sensed from outside, no one was in either the study or the bedroom.
Had he acted differently than usual because his children had left on a journey? But I'd heard he was always in his room at this hour unless something major happened.
It seemed all the information I'd painstakingly gathered had gone to waste.
Even so, I couldn't search the entire mansion to find the Baron.
Officially, I was currently forty kilometers away, roaming the forest and hunting.
It would be troublesome if someone else caught me while I was looking for the Baron. Besides, since I was still young, a disguise wouldn't do much good anyway.
Just as I was wondering whether I should head back like this—
The empty study felt strangely off.
It looked like an ordinary study, but it definitely felt different from the Duke's office or the rooms in the Duke's mansion.
'Could it be?'
It was the exact same feeling I'd experienced at the Marquis's mansion, where there had been a secret passage.
"As expected, any proper noble's study must have at least one secret door."
I immediately began searching the study.
It was highly likely that some nobles possessed psychometry-like abilities that let them find secret doors or traces of people, but...
Unfortunately, I didn't have such an ability right now.
Mana, though, had given me a different ability instead.
Phew.
Taking a deep breath,
I channeled mana into my ears, eyes, nose, and even my skin—all five of my senses.
Hum.
The dim room brightened vividly, and I could make out various scents.
Hum.
Then sounds that had been inaudible just moments ago began to drift in: papers rustling faintly in a gentle breeze, a candle flame flickering, and air brushing softly past my ears.
Huh? The air is moving?
I'd closed the door after entering. The windows in both the bedroom and the study were definitely closed, too.
I stood still and tried to feel the flow of the air.
I focused my mind until every sense in my skin was awake, capturing even the movement of individual air molecules.
Faintly, I could feel the air flowing.
The air wasn't escaping through the door I'd entered or through the closed windows.
The bookshelf?
The air was moving toward a bookshelf packed with books.
Very slowly and carefully, I moved toward the bookshelf.
A faint, whispering breeze was flowing out from between the bookshelf and the wall.