Chapter 51
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Suspicious Request (4)
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In the end, I was the only one left at the mansion while the rest of the party headed out to investigate.
Seo Yu-ju seemed concerned about me right up until the end, but she couldn't object when the woman said she would support the guards.
She just shot me a look that said she wouldn't let anything happen to me as she left.
Once it was just the two of us, the woman's attitude became even more overt.
"Hehe... You don't need to worry too much about your party members. The guards will assist with the investigation, so it shouldn't be dangerous."
"......"
"More importantly... I prefer to chat one-on-one from the seat next to you. Would it be alright if I sat here?"
The woman sat down beside me without waiting for my answer. She flashed a sly smile with her eyes.
'Ugh... This is annoying.'
I started seriously considering whether to deal with her. From the looks of it, she definitely had some shady dealings in her past.
...But the words that came out of my mouth were the complete opposite.
"Haha... Having you sit next to me makes me nervous as a man."
"Oh? Should I take that as a compliment? Does that mean I'm that beautiful?"
"..Of course."
"Hehe... I like chatting side by side like this. It feels like we're really getting to know each other."
'This is insane...'
The way she slowly stroked my thigh while speaking was a sight to behold.
I might be a member of a major clan, but I'm still a newbie who's only been in this world for a short time. And this woman was the daughter of a border lord, so I couldn't treat her lightly. That fact alone irritated me.
"Haha... I see. More importantly... Didn't you say there was something I could help with? About that..."
"Right now, I'd rather just talk... It's not urgent anyway."
'Get your hand off me, damn it...'
I grabbed her hand as it crept higher up my leg and spoke.
"Your hand is so delicate, miss."
"...Oh."
The woman let out a startled sound, clearly not expecting me to grab her hand.
"They say hands reflect a person's heart. The more refined the hand, the purer the soul."
It was nonsense meant to stop her hand, but from the look on her face, she seemed touched. By that logic, every laborer doing dirty work would be scum. In other words, total bullshit.
I wanted to rip my own mouth off for saying such cringeworthy crap, but I had no choice. I needed to shift her attention elsewhere.
"Exactly. That's why those with dirty bodies... Ah..!"
She realized her slip mid-sentence and covered her mouth with both hands, glancing at me nervously.
Whether it was because she'd never done dirty work herself or not, she clearly had some twisted views.
It was the perfect opportunity for me. Time to redirect her interest and make her think I sympathized with her.
'Well, she's the border lord's daughter. If I play my cards right and gain her favor, she might be useful somewhere down the line.'
"No need to look so worried. I feel the same way when I see people who don't take care of themselves or have dirty bodies. It's just human nature, isn't it?"
Well, the statement was half-true. Humans value appearance more than any other creature.
Take Earth as an example: people squash bugs that are actually beneficial just because they look gross.
"..... Th-that's..."
"People with pure hearts like you are beautiful on the outside from the start."
If I played this right, I could use her. As the precious daughter of the border lord, she had high status... and she might be able to help me in various ways.
'If I manipulate her well, I could squeeze some use out of her later.'
A brainless woman like this could just be discarded when the time came. She had nothing to offer me besides her status.
"Y-yes, exactly. People with dirty minds look dirty on the outside too. You're absolutely right."
'This crazy bitch... I didn't say it that extremely.'
Watching her overinterpret my words on her own almost made me burst out laughing.
I didn't know why she was being so friendly toward me—probably my looks, with high probability—but it didn't matter. Her enthusiastic agreement was just amusing.
"Haha... It seems our minds are in sync, miss."
"I think so too, Lee Yun-seong. Maybe... not just our minds, but other things could sync up as well?"
'What the hell... what is she saying?'
I had no idea what "other things" she meant, but the way she eyed my body while saying it triggered an instinctive revulsion.
"Haha... More importantly, miss. Could you show me around the mansion? I'm curious about the place you live in."
'For now, let's check out the inside of the mansion.'
In any case, after spending time touring the mansion with her, the party members who had gone out to investigate returned the next day.
We were all gathered in the assigned guest quarters now. It had a large common room with individual bedrooms.
Originally, that crazy woman Tierra wanted to put my room near hers, but I vehemently opposed it. Obviously, spending nights like that terrified me.
"Yun-seong, nothing happened while we were gone... right?"
"Yeah. Nothing at all. How about you all? Everything okay?"
I didn't mention my personal interactions with the woman. They weren't that oblivious.
"Yes... We did go out to investigate, but it was surprisingly uneventful. We were a bit thrown off."
"Really?"
"Don't even get me started, bro. A few ghouls showed up, and that was it. The mansion guards could have handled it without us..."
'.... That's how uneventful it was?'
As I stayed silent, Kang I-seo spoke up.
"Hey, more importantly, that woman didn't do anything weird to you?"
"Ah... She treated me well. Seemed like a nice person."
Kang I-seo frowned at the words "nice person."
"Well, well? Nice person? Hah... She was clearly hitting on you, and you fell for it already?"
"...What are you talking about?"
"Damn, anyone could see she was flirting. Hey, don't fall for a slut like that. To me, she looks like a total whore."
"......"
I couldn't refute the "slut" comment. Her status window was proof enough.
"I think the same, Yun-seong. You should... keep your distance from her. She doesn't seem like a good person."
"Right! Right! See, I'm not wrong?"
'Weird for these two to agree.'
"Someone pure like Yun-seong might not realize it, but she's definitely sly."
Kang I-seo gave Seo Yu-ju an incredulous look at the word "pure."
"......"
I couldn't lift my head either, feeling embarrassed. I was the last person who could be called pure.
'.... What the hell did I do to Seo Yu-ju in the first round?'
I couldn't fathom what our relationship was back then for her to think I was pure. It was ridiculous.
"By the way, what did you do at the mansion, Yun-seong? She said she had something for you to do. If it was tough..."
'Hah... I wish it had been something tough.'
".... We just talked."
"...Pardon?"
".... I chatted with the miss, she showed me around the mansion, and that was it. Nothing really to call work."
Everyone just stood there dumbfounded after hearing me.
Kang I-seo spoke in a tone of exasperation.
"What do you mean?"
".... Exactly what I said. We just talked. She didn't ask me to do anything."
"Hah... That crazy bitch... She must be dead set on seducing you. Hey, did you do something to her?"
"...Do what?"
"Does that even make sense? You're strangers, right? Even if she's a slut, how does she act like that with a guy she just met? It doesn't add up."
'I'm more curious than you, damn it..'
"Damn, I didn't do anything. I don't know either."
"Crazy... Maybe you need plastic surgery on your face?"
"....."
'That's a bit...'
I hurriedly changed the subject.
"...More importantly, Yu-ju. Are you investigating again tomorrow?"
"Yes. The request is to identify the cause, so we plan to look into it thoroughly. The miss told us to rest today."
'...Nothing happening is making my head hurt instead.'
The lack of incidents was making me anxious. I'd recovered the chimera last night and listened to the conversations, but there was no useful info.
It had only been a day, so nothing suspicious had popped up yet, but the maid Shariss's daily routine was utterly mundane. Just everyday chats with some mansion staff.
The silver lining was that in three days, I could join the investigation too.
"Yu-ju. In three days, I'll join the investigation."
"Really? The miss..."
"She said she has schedules starting then. So I should be able to go out with you from that point."
"Great. Let's investigate together in three days."
"Hm... It's definitely nothing much."
We'd gone deep into the forest, but all we'd encountered so far were a handful of ghouls. Even as evening approached, there were no notable abnormalities.
"Yes. We haven't found anything unusual up to now either."
"Did you ask the territory's residents?"
"We spoke to a few, but... nothing different from what we heard. Nothing special..."
"...I see."
"Yes. So today, we're going a bit deeper than usual."
"Hm..."
"Bro, sis! Over here...!"
As we ventured further into the woods, Hyun-jin called us over, having spotted something.
"This is..."
What we saw upon approaching was an unmistakably eerie, unnatural ornament. Beast bones carved with unknown symbols and a dead crow skewered on a stick—clearly no normal decoration.
"This... looks like something used in an evil ritual."
"....We didn't come this far last time, so we missed it..."
"First time here?"
"Yes. We searched in a different direction before..."
"......"
A bit further from where we found the first one, more identical ornaments appeared at regular intervals.
The others just noted the recurring decorations, but to me, they looked like trail markers.
"Yu-ju, doesn't this look like it's marking a path?"
"....I was just thinking the same."
"Oppa, a path?"
"Ha-eun, we've seen quite a few of these ornaments so far, right? And they appear at regular intervals. Doesn't it seem like they're guiding along a path?"
"Ah... Now that you mention it, yeah..."
An idea struck me, so I asked Ha-eun for a favor.
"Ha-eun, could you summon a spirit?"
"A spirit?"
She seemed puzzled by the request. It made sense—no monsters around, so why summon a spirit?
"Spirits are basically benevolent, right? If this place has anything to do with dark magic or something off, maybe the spirit will react."
"Oh, that makes sense when you put it like that. Hold on."
Ha-eun finished speaking and promptly summoned a wind spirit.
"How is it? Feel anything?"
"..... Hm, the spirit seems a bit more uncomfortable than usual. Not severe, but... like it's uneasy?"
That was enough.
"Good. Keep it summoned. See if there's any direction it's avoiding more? Ask if there's somewhere creepy."
I'd heard spirit summoners could communicate basically with their spirits.
The better the summoner, the more detailed the communication, but even as a beginner, Song Ha-eun should sense basic moods.
".... I didn't think of that. Uh... this direction, I think."
Song Ha-eun began guiding us right away. As we proceeded, the ominous ornaments appeared more frequently.
'Damn... Wasn't this supposed to be an easy request?'
The mansion maid Shariss came to mind automatically.
'.... Did she do this?'
The problem was, it seemed odd for her to be behind it.
If she were the culprit, she wouldn't have come as an errand girl, even if her mistress was the client.
'What the hell is going on... Damn it...'
Following the strange ornaments deeper into the forest, Song Ha-eun suddenly showed an odd reaction at one point.