episode_0341

-Tiring!

▶You have entered the Duke’s study.◀

▶The risk level of this field is .◀

▶You must clear the mission within the given time.◀

[ Timer starts ]

[ Time remaining: 20 minutes 00 seconds ]

▶Find the three notes inside the study.◀

▶If you find all the notes within the time limit, you can move to the next location.◀

▶Be careful! If the noise gets louder, the library may be searched unexpectedly.◀

▶Warning! If you fail to clear the mission by not finding the note within 20 minutes, knights will storm into the study and a chase event will occur!◀

The study was a field I was very familiar with.

The study was visited for various reasons, from performing sub-episodes, to intimacy work, to academics.

However, the location of the note does not seem to be easily discovered.

If there was a note or something stuck to the bookshelf or corner, it would have been discovered by the maids long ago, but what does it mean that it hasn’t been found until now?

It means that it was blatantly hidden.

If there is a place for that, it would naturally be among the books in this study.

‘…So noise is the problem.’

There are three places where the note is hidden.

And there are hundreds of times more books to look through in this library.

You have to open a book without knowing what it is or where it is and find the hidden place.

In 20 minutes, three of them.

The conditions were tight.

Time is of the essence, so we have to be in a hurry, and we have to take that into consideration while also making noise.

There’s no way to find something like this other than searching randomly…

There’s nothing we can do. Let’s discuss it.

“There is a book stuck in this bookshelf. I need to find it…”

Harnie looked around and then looked at the clothes rack on the stand.

“Harnie?”

“…It’s a little weird. Why are there clothes like this?”

I know that it’s the clothes of the librarian who manages the study. It’s probably the clothes that a servant who manages a study would wear, but is there something strange about it?

-Swoosh. Swoosh.

She quickly approached the stand and began to examine the clothes, caressing them.

“It’s weird.”

“Yes?”

“Librarians don’t wear clothes like this. Since they manage books, they have to be especially careful not to damage them, but if they wear clothes like this, they can get scarred or torn.”

“…!”

“That’s not all. The material itself is not very breathable for clothes that librarians wear. Even if we assume it’s because of the winter cold, this is… strange.”

As Harni was a merchant who sold clothes, he would know the characteristics of clothes better than anyone else.

Considering changes in humidity, temperature, seasons, and even your occupation or location, this has significant implications unless you are wearing casual clothing.

‘Come to think of it… When I stopped by the study, there was no one wearing those clothes.’

It goes without saying that maids have nothing to wear.

I’ve never seen librarians wear them either.

They were always just hanging there, as if they were clothes without an owner.

That’s right.

-Tiring!

▶A mysterious item has been discovered.◀

◆Librarian’s clothing.

[Clothes that don’t fit the place or purpose. If you look through them, you might find something.]

I immediately started searching the stand next to me.

“I’ll take a look at this.”

“Yes!”

I moved my hands busily. I searched the inside carefully to see if there was anything inside, and sometimes I found something in the pocket.

▶You have obtained the Jjangdol.◀

…This is a blatant lie. It’s telling me to find something else.

▶You have earned a coin.◀

Why do I suddenly need money for nothing?

▶You have obtained a love letter left by someone.◀

…I don’t think I should read it.

▶I got someone’s underwear.◀

Harnie looks at me with a contemptuous expression. I take some time to explain myself. I am not the type of person to steal women’s underwear.

While I was continuously searching through clothes like that.

Something completely out of the ordinary was discovered.

“…What is this?”

▶You have obtained ???◀

At first glance… it looked like a piece of tile.

Harnie picked up the item and explained.

“This is a piece of key.”

“A piece of key?”

“Yes. It’s a special type of key piece that appeared in the South a few decades ago.”

This is a key. Then how on earth did the lock come about?

“The purpose of these keys is simple. They hide something.”

“…!”

“…I have something in mind for that. Carcein.”

Harnie walks a few steps, rubs the tile floor downwards, then lowers himself to try to sweep the teeth away with his hands.

…uh?

“The lock is usually installed on an inner wall like this. In a word, it’s a key that opens the wall. Ugh…!”

“I’ll take it out.”

“Ah. Yes.”

As Harnie lifted the inner wall with force and fitted the pieces together, they connected as if they were a lock and key, and a crack appeared in the space inside, allowing it to be opened.

Inside it…

“It looks like a memo… There are numbers and names written on it.”

[ Area 4, 12th bookshelf, 19th line, number 3. Page 37 of ‘Assen’s Adventures’ by author Dransen. ]

[ 23, 5th row, 7th shelf, section 22. Page 55 of ‘Milord’s Fairy Tales’ by author Fromen. ]

[Area 9, shelf 16, row 1, number 32. Page 200 of ‘On the Family Murderer, Arcus Felscream’ by Knight Royvan. ]

There was something I wanted.

***

“Ah. This is it.”

-Tiring!

▶You cleared the mission by finding three notes.◀

▶Clear the mission within the time limit to deactivate one of the pursuit triggers.◀

The three books were exactly where they were.

It didn’t take long to collect the books, which were written in detail, including the sections, shelves, and locations.

Now all that remained was to read these three notes together.

‘hmm?’

But for some reason, Harnie has his eyes set on one book.

That book… is the book that had the last note.

One is a fairy tale, the other is more of an adventure story or tale of bravery, but this book’s title itself is a bit more ominous than the other two.

‘I think the title was Arcus Felscream, the Family Killer.’

I had put the book aside because I thought it wouldn’t be of much help, but I still remember it to some extent.

Knight Royvan.

A retired knight who has caught a significant number of criminals.

The book was a memoir about a man the article never caught.

“Carcein. By any chance, are you and your family…”

“Yes?”

“No. Nothing. I guess I was being too hasty.”

Harnie tried to cover it up and told him to hurry up and read the note.

…is on my mind.

The moment he saw the book, Harnie bit his lip.

There will be something.

Her own circumstances that I didn’t know about.

‘…I’ll have to find out later.’

Let’s ask Harnie when the time comes.

-Tiring!

▶Three magic-inscribed notes were automatically combined.◀

▶Hidden Memory effect occurs.◀

‘Again, Hidden Memorial?’

With pure white light.

My gaze turned once again to the present.

Unlike before, it doesn’t rain.

What falls instead of rain is snow.

***

The knights who had been walking around the mansion from upstairs eventually went down, sweating profusely.

He felt like his master was being watched, and he was protesting, saying that this was not a form of discipline, so there was nothing he could do. It was the family’s custom to follow one’s master.

Meanwhile, Claire, who was walking down the stairs, stopped walking.

“…”

And then he looks back and falls into thought.

It was a very slim possibility.

Radiel, it’s true that I found out that Mark had hidden intentions and was attached to me as my escort, but that doesn’t guarantee that I’ll be able to make contact with him.

Also, even if those two convey Claire’s plan in its entirety, there is a question mark over whether they would be able to accept it.

And it is even more unlikely that all of this will work out so quickly that there will be anyone hiding here.

But all of that happened in the present tense.

It was a stroke of luck that I discovered a mysterious shadow entering the basement and a young woman disguised as a maid.

Claire asks the question with uncertainty and nervousness.

‘…I hope it went in okay?’

It was a really uncertain question.

The interior of the duke’s mansion is quite large. Even though it is only one floor, it is divided into several areas, and the number of knights wandering around here is by no means small.

How many people are left?

Could it be that a gap was created on that floor?

Is there even a little bit of time left to find a gap and sneak in?

Anyway, it’s difficult.

There is no way to know how much is left, how many gaps there might be, how much time is left to hide or escape.

Claire isn’t sure if all those articles were sent downstairs.

I want to go back and check.

I want to see and confirm it with my own eyes.

If not, I would have liked to at least hear the sound of the door closing.

I wanted to wait here and be sure of it.

Is that kid right? And is it right to listen to his opinion?

I wanted to know everything.

but…

“…”

Those desires are suppressed, and I hold on to the railing and turn my head.

Because Claire knows.

How hasty and choleric one’s personality is.

I remember clearly how many things I’ve messed up because of this personality trait.

I got sick of the stuffy feeling so I stepped forward, but that only made things worse.

I set out to get revenge and vent my frustrations, but I ended up ruining things instead.

They moved rashly, thought on their own, and took action without asking the person involved.

But for now, I’m trying to suppress that frustration.

I hate just letting it go like this, but I endured even that.

Calm down. Calm down.

I suppressed my impatience and tried my best to keep my composure.

‘…Yeah. The longer I stay here, the more suspicious I become.’

This doubt can’t turn everything upside down.

‘I’ve cleared out enough moving articles. You should be able to sneak around as much as you want.’

Just go down without making a fuss as if nothing happened, and no one will be suspicious of your actions.

‘Since you said it was a spirit of conscience, you must have had enough information. You must have heard it clearly.’

That kid is smart, so he understands everything.

People like me don’t have to worry.

Let’s go down. So as not to be disturbed.

Let’s get out of here. Don’t let your ankles get caught.

Don’t worry, we won’t mess things up because of this.

-Crunch. Crunch.

The sound of Claire’s shoes gradually grew further and further away from the stairs.