episode_0140

Because the useless story became longer, more time passed than expected. It wasn’t that much had passed, but I wasn’t feeling very good because I was wasting time doing something I didn’t want to do.

But I couldn’t let those personal feelings affect other things, so I left behind the worst encounter and emotions in many ways and went up to the top floor where Priscilla’s lab was.

In front of the door of the lab I visited last time, I stopped for a moment and took out the letter I had kept in my pocket.

“… … .”

The sealing wax stuck well, and it didn’t look like anyone had tampered with it. After confirming that there was nothing wrong with the letter, he put it back in his arms.

After letting out a short sigh, I knocked lightly on the tightly closed door of the lab and said,

“Professor Priscilla, this is Charlotte La Rochelle. I came to see the professor because I had some business to do. Can I come in?”

After saying that and waiting for a while for an answer from inside or for Priscilla to come out, I blinked at the strangely unresponsive figure.

It’s not that my voice was small. It must have been loud enough to be heard even if you were inside. Even if I was in the deepest preparation room, I would have reacted after hearing a knock that was louder than my voice.

After waiting for a while, I thought, ‘I don’t know,’ so I raised my hand again and knocked a little harder than before.

“Professor, this is Charlotte La Rochelle. I came here for urgent business. Is it okay if I come in?”

I said that and waited, but this time, just like before, there was no response.

At this point, I knew enough to know that there was no one inside without even having to open the door, so I sighed quietly and looked out the window.

Although it was said that we wasted time at the entrance to the academy, we didn’t do anything in particular and just had a conversation, so it took time. At best, it would have been about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, Priscilla left work… … .

“It’s a likely story… … .”

No matter how large the main academy building is, it doesn’t take more than 10 minutes to get out unless you go around the inside of the building.

Additionally, Priscilla’s lab is close to the north gate, so no matter how slowly you walk, you can leave the academy’s main building in 8 minutes.

“Ha… … .”

If today had been a weekday, I would have thought that I was away for a while for some business rather than leaving work, but the problem was that unlike weekdays, there is only a set time to go to work and no set time to leave work.

That means that Priscilla got off work while I was wasting time, or even before that.

“Do you mean that one way or another, we wouldn’t have met each other?”

I shook my head, moved away from the window, and stood in front of the lab door, intending to check one last time.

Standing in front of the door, I quietly reached out and placed my hand on the doorknob.

If Priscilla really came home from work as I expected, the door would be locked. If the door is locked, it’s a waste of time so you can just go back, but if not… … . You have to use that situation appropriately.

With that in mind, I lightly turned the doorknob, and the well-maintained doorknob turned smoothly without any resistance.

Good night――

Soon, the sound of a bolt opening was heard and the door opened.

‘It’s not locked.’

When I lightly pulled the door, it opened without a single creak, and the inside of the lab was visible through the slightly open door.

When I opened the door a little further and looked inside the lab, I could see that there was no sign of presence at all.

After quietly looking around, I opened the door and stepped into the lab.

“Hmm… … . Nothing has changed much since the last time I saw it.”

A blackboard with a combination formula written on it, research books scattered around because they weren’t organized properly, a drug recipe written in Priscilla’s cursive, etc.

I looked around and was surprised to see that the lab had not changed much from the last time I saw it.

“Yes… … ? That… … .”

As I looked around, I was able to find a small sign among the scattered papers.

There was something written on the sign, but because of the location, I couldn’t see what it was written on.

‘Sign?’

Why is there a sign out of nowhere in a place like that?

This item wasn’t there the last time I came to the lab… … . Did you take out the original item?

The fact that a fairly unusual item was in an unexpected place attracted a lot of attention, and after looking at the sign for a while, I walked over to the desk and read what was written on the sign.

[I have some business to do so I will be leaving for a moment. If you have any business for me, please come back later.]

Such words were written on the sign, which seemed to have been made recently and was clean without a speck of dust.

“Ha, something like this should be hung outside.”

I’m sure it’s possible, but did you forget to buy a sign and hang it outside? No, anyway… … .

As I looked down at the sign with a slight frown, I remembered that Priscilla was a much more clumsy person than I thought.

I sighed as I realized that the horse I had thought was not a horse, but something I had forgotten to hang up.

I knew he was like this, but he really woke me up… … . Still, the moment a purpose arises, this appearance disappears like a lie, so I will use it… … .

‘It’s a shame that I was killed by someone like this once.’

I sighed deeply, brushed my bangs back, turned my head, and looked at a place I had never set foot in before.

[Preparation room]

After looking at the sign with letters the size of a gate for a moment, I slowly approached the door.

After a moment of deliberation, I grabbed the door handle and turned it, and the door opened without any resistance, just like a lab door.

As soon as I opened the door, the only thing I felt was the strong smell of coffee and a strange smell of oil.

‘It’s dark… … .’

The inside of the preparation room was either covered with thick blackout curtains or there were no windows at all, so it was dark and hard to see except near the door where the light came in.

As I walked into the preparation room following the light coming through the open door, I could see that there were no curtains and that the entire room was a complete secret room except for the door.

“By the way, what kind of oil smells like this… … ?”

As I looked around the dark surroundings, I was able to find an oil lamp placed on a slightly charred wooden desk.

Is that the cause of this oil smell? When I slowly approached and lightly smelled it, there was definitely a strong smell of oil. However, this oil smell was a little different from the oil smell I smelled when I came in.

In the end, I thought there had to be some kind of light source, so I used the match next to the oil lamp to light the lamp.

As the light turned on with the sound of sucking in the wind, the lamp greedily ate up the surrounding darkness. At the same time, the interior of the preparation room, which had been hidden in darkness, revealed itself.

“ugh… … !”

There were faces there, a smiling face, a face smiling softly, a face looking blankly somewhere, a face smiling brightly, a face looking kindly, a face smiling shyly, a face thinking about something. , a sad-looking face, a happy-looking face, a tearful face, an angry face, a contemptuous face, an irritated face, a despairing face, a distorted face, a pained face, dead eyes. A face that is suffering, a face that is suffering――

There were countless ‘pictures of faces’. The expressions on the faces were all different, and the more they came down from above, the more negative the expressions became, but they all belonged to one person.

It also belongs to someone I know very well.

“Mother’s face… … .”

I, and no one else, was caught by the madness of the picture that, even for a moment, made me feel dizzy, and I burst into laughter.

I think the madness suppressed by a woman driven mad by unrequited love was greater than I thought.

“It’s amazing, really. So much so that I’m sick of it.”

I wondered where all this oil smell came from, and it turned out it was all coming from this painting.

No, wait a minute. These paintings must have had a while after being painted, so the oil smell must have disappeared, right?

I blinked, picked up the lamp, and walked along the smell of oil. In the innermost corner of the preparation room, I found a picture that had not yet been drawn.

“… … .”

It was a picture of languidly drooped eyes, gently curved corners of the mouth, a figure bathed in light coming from a window, and, as if it had not yet been drawn, short hair that reached the shoulder blades.

The overall shape and atmosphere of the face were similar to the other paintings hanging on the wall, but there were some parts that were very different from the other paintings.

“This… … .”

It’s the hair and eyes in the picture.

“It’s me… … ?”

The point is that it was painted a bright red color.