The Mysterious Girl
The door opened slowly without making any sound. At the same time, the smell of chemicals wafted in the air.
There was a short girl who wore gla.s.ses in the middle of the room.
Her hair was long and s.h.a.ggy. Her clothes were hardly pretty, to put it politely.
She looked at me with suspicion.
“What do you want?”
Her voice was very quiet. And unexpectedly cute.
She was likely the same age as Shia and Serulis.
But her movements were completely different. This was not someone who was physically fit.
She was thin, with little muscle or fat.
“I would like to know what is going on here. The dog led me to this room.”
“The dog?”
Her suspicion seemed to deepen.
I looked around the room.
It was dark and there were things scattered everywhere.
There was a lot of books that were roughly stacked up into piles.
On top of that, there were strange chemicals and laboratory tools.
“Well, I just happen to be quite bored right now. If you are curious, I may tell you something.”
“Thank you.”
“But first, close the door. I do not want to be disturbed.”
She said, and so I closed the door.
Before closing it, I asked the dog, who was sitting there quietly, if it wanted to come in.
“It smells of chemicals, but do you want to come inside?”
Dogs had a sharp sense of smell, so it may be too much. That’s what I thought.
“…Woo…”
It howled quietly and then entered as if the smell did not concern it in the least.
And it immediately approached the girl.
“If it isn’t Tama!”
“Woo-woo.”
Perhaps it didn’t want to draw attention either, because the dog answered her quietly.
Then it put its paws on her shoulders and started to lick her face.
Tama was almost bigger than her.
“So you were alive.”
“Wooo.”
“And you’re so thin… If you were alive, why didn’t you run away? You foolish dog.”
Tama’s tail was wagging. And the girl was teary-eyed.
After the girl and Tama had calmed down, I decided to explain why I was there.
“I am called Locke. I am an Adventurer.”
“Oh. An Adventurer.”
“There have been many disappearances around here lately. And so I am investigating.”
“And you think that this mansion is suspicious? Since when were you spying on it?”
“Yesterday. Well, we really started looking into the missing people today.”
“And you found this mansion in so short a time? I knew it from the moment you opened this door, but you must be very skilled.”
“If you can, could you tell me what is going on here?”
“Hmm. My name is Philly Mastafon. I am the fifth daughter of this house. This is my dog, Tama.”
Philly was the daughter of the Marquis. And yet she was locked up in this room.
“What is happening?”
“Before we get into that, Locke. Just how much power do you have?”
“As you saw, I’m a very capable Adventurer. Though, it’s a little awkward to say it myself.”
But Philly could see the truth of it.
“I know that. What I mean is, how much power do you have with other Adventurers and officials?”
“I have friends that are brilliant Adventurers. The Grand Master of the guild is a good friend, and we often drink together.”
“And officials?”
“I know the the district manager. I’m also very good friends with someone who is far above him.”
Of course, I meant Eric. So I wasn’t lying.
When I said all of this, Philly seemed to relax.
“In that case, Locke. I want your help.”
“I’m listening.”
And so Philly began to explain.
Two years ago, Marquis Mastafon had taken in an apprentice butler.
This butler was well mannered and incredibly gifted.
He went up in position rapidly, and in just six months ago, he had risen to become the steward of the house.
“Two years…no, half a year ago. That seems much too quick?”
“Of course it is. But things like illnesses and accidental deaths had killed the other candidates.”
Well, that sounded a little suspicious to me.
“He was good as the new steward… But…”
He had suddenly changed last month. She explained that he had imprisoned her and her parents.
“And what about the servants?”
“The servants also changed completely. They don’t even seem like humans anymore.”
And she added that the servants who did not change eventually disappeared.
“Were they fired by the steward?”
“I do not like to think about it, but he probably killed them.”
Philly added that she had actually seen one of them being murdered.
This steward was likely connected to the dark ones.
And this mansion was being used as a base. I was sure of it.
“The only thing I could do was let Tama escape…”
But Tama had stayed and watched what the servants were doing.
It must have been very hard without water or food.
A loyal dog indeed.
The servants must have not seen Tama as a threat since the dog could not speak.
It would just be dealt with as a stray if it escaped.
Even if it was lucky enough to be adopted, no one would know that it was from Marquis Mastafon’s mansion.
That’s why it had been left alone and ignored.
No interest had been shown to the dog at all.
That was incredibly fortunate for Marquis Mastafon.
Because it lead me to Philly.
“By the way, how come they didn’t kill you and your parents?”
“This may sound conceited, but I happen to be a genius.”
“…Are you a Sorcerer?”
“No, I am an Alchemist.”
Philly said that she had been ordered to prepare a mysterious metal by the steward.
And if she did not do it, then he would kill both of her parents.
“So, this mysterious metal. What kind of metal is it?”
“Here it is.”
Philly showed me a piece of it.
It looked exactly like the material used for the medals inside of the vampires.
In other words, the same material as the Evil G.o.d idol.