— Kyu!
Finally!
Wooden leapt through a slightly open window.
Fwoosh—he landed on a soft carpet.
The old room was empty. Just a small bed and a few pieces of furniture.
‘It must be a guest room. Wooden, get out of there.’
— Kyu.
Yes.
He checked the hallway for any presences and, after making sure it was clear, enlarged his body to the size of a child. He turned the doorknob and, shrinking again, slipped through the gap.
The hallway was empty.
— Kyu!
Hello!
He saw a full suit of armor displayed in a corner and waved at it, happy.
But since he got no response, he soon realized it wasn’t like him.
— Kyu, kyu.
A spirit. Like me. Another. Fun.
‘Do you have any idea how hard it is to make a golem like you?’
— Kyu!
I don’t!
Wooden answered proudly.
It was true, so there was nothing to be ashamed of. A spirit that knew something that complicated would be a strange one.
‘…Check the basement you mentioned.’
— Kyu!
Yes!
Was it this way?
Wooden moved down a corridor, but suddenly hid under the carpet.
“Did you finish hanging the laundry?”
“Yes. Now we have to prepare dinner.”
“The count is coming the day after tomorrow, right?”
“Yes.”
Four maids passed by chatting. Wooden sighed in relief.
— Kyu.
Almost got caught.
He wiped his cold sweat—even though he didn’t sweat—and continued on his way.
Several times, when a door opened or a dog ran past, he was almost seen, but managed to avoid everything. He finally reached the mansion’s central staircase and descended.
The basement had two levels with the same layout as above. However, what Fernan was looking for wasn’t there.
— Kyu.
No, not here. Further down.
‘We’ve checked every room on the map. Then there’s a secret room.’
He couldn’t force a hole open. Patrick Firandello must have a passage and an entrance.
‘Search more carefully.’
— Kyu.
Easy to say. You’re not the one doing it.
Snorting, Wooden moved through the area with his small body. He was nearly discovered several times but finally found a door that wasn’t on the maps—a storage room under the stairs.
The map showed nothing there.
Click. The door opened easily. Inside was a small storage room with scattered items.
— Kyu.
Nothing again.
‘No, you hit the jackpot, Wooden.’
— Kyu?
Where?
‘Look, there’s no dust buildup. Someone comes in often.’
If the whole place had been clean, one might think the maids cleaned well. But only certain parts of the wall lacked dust.
‘Move that, Wooden.’
When he moved the objects, a hidden door appeared. Click. It was locked.
— Kyu?
What do I do?
‘No magic circle. Make a hole next to it.’
Wooden nodded, gathered aura, and cut the wall. He made a hole so small it looked like a mouse hole.
Wooden entered and found a staircase descending endlessly.
— Kyu!
Here it is!
He hopped his way down. After quite some time, he reached another door with magic circles engraved on it and on the walls.
That was what had disturbed his senses.
— Kyu?
And now?
‘If you force the entrance, they’ll find out. Dig.’
— Kyu?
Like that one time?
He remembered the day Fernan dug a tunnel and found treasure. There hadn’t been circles on the floor either.
‘Yes, like that time.’
Wooden nodded and began digging. He wasn’t as fast as Fernan, but being a golem, he never tired.
After an hour, he had dug about 100 meters. Emerging, he lifted the floor of the secret room and poked his head out.
There were no corpses or monsters, as Fernan had feared.
‘Potions?’
There were massive amounts of potions and magic stones.
The walls were full of circles to conceal mana.
‘…What a treasure.’
— Kyu?
Take it?
‘No, wait.’
While Wooden investigated, Fernan thought from the hideout.
‘No corpses or monsters. Just potions and magic stones. That means something.’
The 71st-ranked demon, Seir.
He didn’t use blood or corpses, but rather the results of Professor Rosalia’s research to descend.
Magic stones or sacrifices, it didn’t matter—all were energy to pierce the dimensional barrier.
‘This is the same. They’re using potions and magic stones to summon the demon.’
And where had they gotten so much wealth?
It was obvious.
‘From the treasure of the Kingdom of Linelt.’
They had surely emptied it. Whether the second prince knew that his own treasury was being plundered or not—
It didn’t matter.
‘Taking everything would be foolish. Patrick Firandello would notice.’
They couldn’t raise suspicion yet.
‘Wooden, get out now. Cover the tunnel well. And then—’
— Kyu?
And then?
‘We go straight to the other mansions.’
— Kyu? Kyu!
Now? You said one a day.
‘Don’t be silly. Would you leave this and rest? Even if we can’t take it yet, we must prepare the way for when the chance comes.’
They had to explore all the mansions and open access routes. That way, if something happened, they could grab it fast.
— Kyu.
Liar.
‘Gathering this will help me create a friend for you.’
— Kyu?
A friend? Where?
Wooden departed for the next mansion.
***
Fernan opened his eyes.
The connection with Wooden had ended.
Seeing the smile spreading across his face, Hyde, who was guarding him, asked,
“You seem to have gained something.”
“It’s like digging to build a house and finding a gold mine.”
“Don’t tell me that gold belongs to the Kingdom of Linelt?”
“Since when does something lying on the ground have an owner?”
Even if Fernan took it, all the blame would fall on Count Patrick Pirandello, so there was no problem.
And if, on top of that, he received the secret treasure of Linelt’s royal family as payment for all this, then everything would be worth it.
“We need to find the first prince as soon as possible. Then, seal an alliance with Yuli Linelt and corner the second prince and Patrick Pirandello before they use up all those potions and magic stones—or worse, before they summon the demon.”
“…At least wipe the drool off your mouth while you talk.”
“It’s not shameful to be loyal to desire, Hyde.”
“I only ask that you don’t act like this in front of Yuli Linelt.”
“Do you think I’m a fool? Of course not.”
Fernan stood up. After hours of being still, his body felt stiff.
At that moment, a servant knocked on the door.
“Sir, a letter has arrived.”
“Come in.”
The servant handed him the letter and withdrew. Fernan opened it.
“What does it say?”
“It’s from Garrett. He says that, at the second prince’s request, he’s heading to what appears to be the hideout of the corrupt.”
“Isn’t it strange? That the second prince wants to eliminate the corrupt when he’s the one who allied with them to cause this whole mess.”
“It’s one of two things.”
A trap to catch the Mercenary King.
“Or he just used them and now plans to discard them.”
Fernan leaned toward the latter.
That’s how false humans are, self-interested. They borrow with one face and repay with another.
They had already squeezed everything they could out of the corrupt, and now that they no longer needed them, they were thinking of getting rid of them.
Although it was also true that, even if not for that reason, the corrupt were too dangerous to be left roaming free.
Whichever it was, it wasn’t a bad thing for Fernan.
The more conflict there was between them, the easier it would be to push through.
“Even so, we must be prepared in case it turns out to be a trap.”
Fernan doubted they could prepare something capable of killing the Mercenary King outright, but the possibility always existed.
Losing him here would be a fatal blow.
“Where’s Luina?”
“Are you going yourself?”
“The least known ones are Luina and me.”
Fernan put on a coat.
“And Gismond?”
“Shut up.”
“In that case, I won’t go.”
“Why not?”
At Fernan’s curious look, Hyde grinned mischievously.
“How could I interrupt two people about to spend some time alone? Besides, you have Wooden, so the risk is reduced.”
“…Disappear.”
“Yes, sir, I’ll withdraw. Don’t worry about this place. Anyway, finding the first prince will take time.”
“Didn’t I tell you to get lost?”
Hyde vanished.
“I said, even if you go, bring Luina!”
Fernan shouted in frustration.
***
“Stay still. Pretend you know nothing, hear nothing, see nothing.”
“Just be the beautiful princess of the kingdom, look at pretty things, do only pretty things.”
A chilling hand caressed her cheek.
“If not… I’ll leave your end to your imagination.”
A cold gaze.
“……!”
Yuli Linelt jolted awake.
The faint light of the moon streamed through the half-open curtains. It was dawn.
“…Water.”
She sat up. Her whole body was drenched in cold sweat. She drank from the glass next to the bed, her throat burning with thirst.
It had been a nightmare. A horrible nightmare.
“…Why that dream again?”
It had tormented her for years, to the point of exhaustion.
She thought she had already escaped it, at least partly.
Then she remembered the previous night.
The man who introduced himself as Fernan Pellenberg.
His appearance left no doubt—it was Fernan Pellenberg. She had seen him several times in the newspapers, alongside Aint Armian.
But the unsettling thing was why he had come secretly to the capital at that moment?
If it weren’t for what he said about the corrupt and the desperation of the situation, she wouldn’t have accepted him so quickly.
‘If Fernan really solves this…’
She had read about it in the newspaper.
Fernan Pellenberg, although not as much as Aint Armian, had defeated the corrupt several times and had even fought the demon that descended at the Academy. He was a hero.
If all that was true, if he really had come to track down and exterminate the corrupt—
‘Please, let him save this kingdom…’
Let him save it.
Whatever it took, she would give it.
If it was money he liked so much, she would give him as much as he wanted.
“Please…”
She prayed and prayed.
____
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