The second day at the Delang estate.
Louis, who had stopped by the Illeston family's mansion on Simone's errand, returned to Delang estate early in the morning.
The rest of the group, except for Bianchi who fell asleep first, waited all night for the strange phenomenon in the mansion and finally fell asleep when Louis returned in the morning.
And late in the afternoon, Simone woke up exhausted and sat up in her uncomfortable bed, blinking.
She spent the whole night concentrating and casting detection magic, but in the end, she found nothing.
It seems that nothing special happened in the room of the Viscount of Delang last night, as nothing was detected, and not even the slightest commotion was made.
'He said it comes out every day...'
Simone absentmindedly raised her head toward the upper floor where the Viscount Delang was staying, then lowered it and headed toward the room where the group was gathered.
As they entered the room, the group also greeted Simone with very tired faces.
“Oh, you’re here...
"Good morning..."
“Did you sleep well?”
Even Orkan looked tired.
The only one who stopped by the Illeston mansion was Louis, who had just returned from sleeping at his own home and greeted them politely with the same face as always.
“You all look really tired?”
“Of course, since I stayed up all night. I’m so tired that I won’t be able to get rid of it with this much sleep.”
“By the way, Lu, Wren, did you bring us food?”
“I absolutely hate eating that tasteless, unidentifiable thing.”
“I brought it. I left it in my room right now, so I’ll get it when the butler comes out and brings the food.”
Louis took a peaceful look out the window and then said to Simone.
“They said they would send us meals from the Illeston Manor. They said they would secretly deliver them every morning, and anyone in the group could come out to receive them.”
“Thank you. Oh, and what about the reply to the letter?”
“He said he understood.”
"Great."
While Simone and her party were having a short conversation, there was a knock on the door and the butler and servants came in again today, carrying a tray full of food.
“...Oh, it smells delicious.”
The food still smelled mouthwatering, but compared to yesterday, the group's reaction was much colder.
Of course. This dish looks good but doesn't taste good. After all, they're going to be eating food brought from the Illestone Mansion.
The butler asked abruptly after the food was set up.
“Did you find out anything last night?”
“Well, I will tell you about that later when His Grace is present.”
"...I know."
The butler was really just curious, so he led the servants out of the room without saying much.
"..Wren."
As soon as Bianchi spoke, Louis jumped up.
“I’ll bring you some food. By the way, it’ll be much simpler than what you’ll get at the mansion, so don’t expect too much.”
“I know that much. Go ahead.”
Louis said in a coy manner and brought out some food that he had hidden in his room.
The group pretended to eat a certain amount, so they started to fork into the food of the mansion, but as soon as Louis took out the food, they pushed all the plates away and started to enjoy their meal.
“I guess we should keep this a secret? The phenomenon of food not appearing.”
Simone nodded at Abel's question.
“I think that’s what we should do for now. I don’t know if this is the birth of a new phenomenon that Viscount Delang doesn’t know about, or if he’s hiding something.”
The group had a late breakfast and shared stories from the previous night.
Simone and Orkan, who had been casting sensing spells all day, didn't get much out of it, but surprisingly, the rest of the group had quite a bit going on overnight.
First, Abel.
“I left you guys last night and went straight to the garden. The gardener was trimming the trees there.”
“That could be. In the mansions of nobles, they usually trim it at night or in the early morning when the employer is not using it.”
At Louis's words, Abel shook his head as if that wasn't the problem.
“That’s right. So I just ignored it and was looking for a place to hide without the gardener knowing?”
Abel frowned as he recalled the events of last night.
Although Abel had experienced many things while uncovering the Demon King's secrets, this was the first time he had ever seen such a strange sight.
Abel hid among the trees in the garden and waited for the gardener to finish his work and leave quickly.
'You've been working for so long. Aren't you sleeping?'
He was staring blankly at the gardener who was staying in the garden longer than he expected, and he let out a yawn out of fatigue.
“Huh? Huh? Huh! Eeeeeep?”
Abel, who was half asleep, suddenly came to his senses at the sound of a strange voice.
The gardener, who had just been pruning trees and watering flowers, started fidgeting and screaming for no reason until he finally threw down the watering can he was holding and started running toward the mansion.
'What's going on?'
When Abel, sensing something had happened, got up from the tree and was about to run in the direction the gardener had come from.
"That..."
Abel sat down among the trees on the road.
The gardener, who had just run away in fear, walks back as if nothing had happened, picks up the watering can, and waters the flowers.
Even though the water in the watering can has spilled over and was empty when he threw it earlier, he pretended to water the flowers as if the watering can be full of water.
Then, all of a sudden, he started yelling again and talking nonsense, then he threw the watering can and ran off somewhere.
And then he came back and repeated the watering can until the sun rose in the morning.
“Isn’t it a little strange?”
Abel asked his companions as if seeking their consent.
“He just kept doing the same thing over and over again as if he could only do that. I even memorized the timing of the screaming later on.”
“It’s definitely suspicious.”
Simone nodded with a serious expression.
“Me too! I had something weird too!”
Bianchi raised his hand and said.
“I was wandering around the mansion after you guys broke up last night, and that’s how I found out.”
“...”
“There is no Viscountess or Lady in this mansion.”
Last night, Bianchi saw the servants preparing a bed for their employer's family and inadvertently followed them.
They entered a large room separate from the Viscount's room, and after a while, they came out with the greeting, 'Take your rest, Madam,' and went down to the basement.
After all the servants had left, Bianchi approached the room and opened the door slightly.
Of course, she knew how rude it was to open the door of a nobleman without permission, but unlike Louis and Orkan, Bianchi was originally a person who did not know how to be polite.
So she opened the door and went in.
"Uh?"
There was no one.
Clearly, the servant who had just come out of here had gone to sleep well and greeted someone inside, but no matter where she looked, there was still no one there.
So does that mean the servant was pretending to serve someone alone in an empty room?
“That’s not the only strange thing. Something, something just felt off. While I was walking around the mansion.”
Bianchi shivered, wrapping her arms around herself as if she was getting goosebumps.
“Should I say it felt like dozens of eyes were watching me? I was clearly alone, and there was no sign of anything, but I kept feeling like someone was watching me.”
“I felt that too.”
When Simone spoke, Bianchi seemed relieved.
“I wasn’t mistaken. I thought I was possessed. It felt like someone was watching me, even though there was no one there.”
Simone is lost in thought. Repeated actions. Like an NPC in a game, they act repetitively as if they have been injected with something.
Simone looked at Abel and asked.
“Was there a context for the gardener running away screaming?”
Abel rolled his eyes, thought about it, then shook his head.
“There was no context. Nothing happened in the garden last night. He just ran away screaming out of nowhere.”
They repeat such behavior without context as if they were only indoctrinated with the behavior of 'run away screaming somewhere'.
Are they possessed by something? Or are they not human?
‘What is this weird situation...’
This mansion feels even creepier than the Illeston Mansion.
A tasteless meal, servants repeating the same actions without meaning, and the feeling of being watched by countless eyes, which Simone also felt.
“I have a rough idea of the situation.”
"Really?"
Simone nodded in response to the group's questions.
“First of all, don’t tell the Viscount about these phenomena. And I will sleep in the Viscount’s room today.”
Simone pointed to Bianchi.
“Bianchi, you have to move with me today, so come to my room at night.”
“Huh? Oh, I see.”
“And Orkan. Today, I want Orkan to watch over the outside from the garden.”
“Of course. I will try my best.”
“Then what about me? What do I do?”
Simone pointed at Abel and Louis at the same time.
“You two, please keep an eye on the movements of Viscount Delang and his servants today. They seem suspicious.”
“Okay. What should I watch out for?”
Simone responded seriously to Louis' words as if she was not joking.
“Are they alive?”
“...‘Alive’?”
“You just have to look at the movements of a living person.”
***
Scratch Scratch Scratch Scratch Scratch Scratch Scratch Scratch Scratch Scratch Scratch-
If you come to the beginning of the first month of the year, you will be able to hear the sound of the moon. If you come to the beginning of the year, you will be able to hear the sound of the moon.
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