The Viscounty of Cornwall, where Beaufort Ackerman, Cliff Ackerman's father, lived, was a small country estate, with little land and a small population.
It was just a small village, too big to be called a manor. The best building in the manor was just a three-story house with a high wall.
With little land to farm, the Cornwall people made their living by providing accommodation to travelers heading north.
“Are you on your honeymoon?”
"Yes?"
“Aren’t you newlyweds?”
We had been running for a whole day, first found a room at a suitable inn.
Since we only took one room as a matter of course, the innkeeper seemed to think we were a newlywed couple.
But when we hesitated, hearing this question for the first time, the innkeeper's expression changed mysteriously.
“...Then, is it by any chance a midnight escape?”
“No, no.”
I guess there were quite a few lovers who ran away in the middle of the night among the guests at this inn?
It was romantic, but I waved it off.
“Yes, we are a married couple.”
There was a time when I called Erne Honey to tease him, but now that I'm saying we're husband and wife, why is it so embarrassing? I blushed for no reason.
“This isn’t our honeymoon, we just came to stop by.”
“Where are you stopping by? Do you have any relatives living here?”
“Yes, he’s a distant relative, but he moved here not long ago. I wonder if you know him as Mr. Beaufort Ackerman.”
I already knew Beaufort's address, but since I was talking to the innkeeper, I wanted to hear how Beaufort lived.
If Beaufort had the fortune that Cliff stole, he would certainly live in luxury. If not, since the fortune was confiscated by the royal family, he would barely survive.
“Oh, that gentleman.”
But the answer I got from the innkeeper was completely different from what I had expected.
“He's not quite of sound mind, so I don’t know if he’ll be able to recognize his relatives."
“He's not in his right mind? Tell me more. It’s been a while since we last met, so I want to hear from you.”
I leaned toward the owner and whispered.
“We’re going to have dinner here too, so we have plenty of time.”
Originally, we had planned to go out for dinner at the most luxurious restaurant in the estate. However, I boldly gave up the fancy dinner to hear the innkeeper's story.
“Ahem, well, then.”
The owner opened his mouth as he put the dinner money I offered him into his apron pocket.
“At first, everyone was excited because they heard that a rich man was coming to our territory to recuperate. According to someone working at the lord Castle, the old man bribed him quite a bit.”
At first as if to live up to those expectations, Beaufort bought a large house on the hill and hired servants.
“Then he bought livestock. Small animals like chickens, goats, and sheep. Since he was old people living alone, he thought he would raise them because he was lonely, but that wasn’t the case.”
“Then did he eat it?”
“If that were the case, I would have thought that he was an old man who liked fresh meat, but the servants there say that’s not true. They say he performs some kind of ritual every night.”
Is Beaufort Ackerman really crazy?
After dinner, we headed straight for Ackermann's house up the hill, not intending to go in, but just to explore the atmosphere.
But, the moment they reached the hill, the servants from Beaufort's house came rushing out.
“If I didn’t have the money, I would quit right now.”
“Money is the enemy, the enemy.”
“I already have no appetite just thinking about cleaning it up tomorrow morning. What the hell is that mess every night?”
“Still, I’m so glad I don’t have to see that sight all the time. If someone had asked me to do something, I wouldn’t have had an appetite all day.”
The servants locked the gate outside and disappeared. We stayed close to the wall after they left.
At that moment, a short, loud scream rang out from inside the house.
I rubbed my goosebump-covered forearms.
“What on earth are they doing in there?”
“If you’re curious, should we go and take a look?”
Erne, who was estimating the height of the wall, asked playfully. When I hesitated and nodded, Erne quickly climbed over the wall.
As I was admiring the movement that seemed unaffected by gravity, a box came over the wall, large enough for me to step on and climb up.
“I didn’t think about jumping over the fence.”
I sighed as I climbed over the fence. The schedule had exceeded my expectations in many ways.
I planned to legally obtain the assistance of Beaufort and recover the property that Cliff had stolen.
In case Beaufort did not cooperate, Cain also prepared a search warrant-like document with the imperial seal.
If Beaufort remains uncooperative after seeing that, I even brought documents that could be used to request help from the lord.
'But what do you mean, a wall talk?'
It was just a small village, too big to be called a manor. The best building in the manor was just a three-story house with a high wall.
With little land to farm, the Cornwall people made their living by providing accommodation to travelers heading north.
“Are you on your honeymoon?”
"Yes?"
“Aren’t you newlyweds?”
We had been running for a whole day, first found a room at a suitable inn.
Since we only took one room as a matter of course, the innkeeper seemed to think we were a newlywed couple.
But when we hesitated, hearing this question for the first time, the innkeeper's expression changed mysteriously.
“...Then, is it by any chance a midnight escape?”
“No, no.”
I guess there were quite a few lovers who ran away in the middle of the night among the guests at this inn?
It was romantic, but I waved it off.
“Yes, we are a married couple.”
There was a time when I called Erne Honey to tease him, but now that I'm saying we're husband and wife, why is it so embarrassing? I blushed for no reason.
“This isn’t our honeymoon, we just came to stop by.”
“Where are you stopping by? Do you have any relatives living here?”
“Yes, he’s a distant relative, but he moved here not long ago. I wonder if you know him as Mr. Beaufort Ackerman.”
I already knew Beaufort's address, but since I was talking to the innkeeper, I wanted to hear how Beaufort lived.
If Beaufort had the fortune that Cliff stole, he would certainly live in luxury. If not, since the fortune was confiscated by the royal family, he would barely survive.
“Oh, that gentleman.”
But the answer I got from the innkeeper was completely different from what I had expected.
“He's not quite of sound mind, so I don’t know if he’ll be able to recognize his relatives."
“He's not in his right mind? Tell me more. It’s been a while since we last met, so I want to hear from you.”
I leaned toward the owner and whispered.
“We’re going to have dinner here too, so we have plenty of time.”
Originally, we had planned to go out for dinner at the most luxurious restaurant in the estate. However, I boldly gave up the fancy dinner to hear the innkeeper's story.
“Ahem, well, then.”
The owner opened his mouth as he put the dinner money I offered him into his apron pocket.
“At first, everyone was excited because they heard that a rich man was coming to our territory to recuperate. According to someone working at the lord Castle, the old man bribed him quite a bit.”
They expected a rich man to come and spend a lot of money.
“Then he bought livestock. Small animals like chickens, goats, and sheep. Since he was old people living alone, he thought he would raise them because he was lonely, but that wasn’t the case.”
“Then did he eat it?”
“If that were the case, I would have thought that he was an old man who liked fresh meat, but the servants there say that’s not true. They say he performs some kind of ritual every night.”
***
Is Beaufort Ackerman really crazy?
After dinner, we headed straight for Ackermann's house up the hill, not intending to go in, but just to explore the atmosphere.
But, the moment they reached the hill, the servants from Beaufort's house came rushing out.
“If I didn’t have the money, I would quit right now.”
“Money is the enemy, the enemy.”
“I already have no appetite just thinking about cleaning it up tomorrow morning. What the hell is that mess every night?”
“Still, I’m so glad I don’t have to see that sight all the time. If someone had asked me to do something, I wouldn’t have had an appetite all day.”
The servants locked the gate outside and disappeared. We stayed close to the wall after they left.
At that moment, a short, loud scream rang out from inside the house.
I rubbed my goosebump-covered forearms.
“What on earth are they doing in there?”
“If you’re curious, should we go and take a look?”
Erne, who was estimating the height of the wall, asked playfully. When I hesitated and nodded, Erne quickly climbed over the wall.
As I was admiring the movement that seemed unaffected by gravity, a box came over the wall, large enough for me to step on and climb up.
“I didn’t think about jumping over the fence.”
I sighed as I climbed over the fence. The schedule had exceeded my expectations in many ways.
I planned to legally obtain the assistance of Beaufort and recover the property that Cliff had stolen.
In case Beaufort did not cooperate, Cain also prepared a search warrant-like document with the imperial seal.
If Beaufort remains uncooperative after seeing that, I even brought documents that could be used to request help from the lord.
'But what do you mean, a wall talk?'
If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have wasted time preparing the documents.
“...I smell blood.”
We headed to Beaufort's house. The house was pitch black, with only a ray of light streaming in from the south-facing windows.
The curtains were drawn so that no one could see inside, but the windows were slightly open to let in the breeze.
Thanks to this, we were able to put our fingers through the crack in the window, slightly part the curtains, and look inside.
“...I offer you my heart to obtain the spirit, and my blood to obtain the flesh. Please appear here and enjoy the blood and flesh.”
They say he hold some kind of ritual every night, and it really was. A poor goat with a knife in its heart wriggled on the floor, which was decorated with many small and large inverted triangles. Blood continued to flow from the animal.
A single stream of blood began to pool in front of Beaufort as if a groove had been dug in the floor. Then Beaufort took out a pen and paper.
'Fountain pen and paper?'
It was a bit unexpected, but I continued to watch. Beaufort dipped the nib in blood and then took it out.
“Are you here? Your hand is here.”
Then he put the pen directly on the bottom of the paper.
“Are you here? Your hand is here.”
He recited the spell again, but nothing happened. Nothing, except for the blood that spread red across the paper.
“...Another failure, another failure.”
Beaufort threw his pen nervously. It bounced off the floor and hit the window frame lightly. Almost at the same time, Erne closed the window.
"...Ah."
If he were alone, he wouldn't have reacted, but with Judith next to him, he overreacted.
Inside the window, Beaufort was shouting, "Who is this?" and chaos broke out.
“I think it would be best to knock him out.”
I calmly pushed open the window and looked back.
“Just wait a moment.”
Erne, who entered while roughly pulling back the curtain, greeted Beaufort, who was chattering noisily, saying it had been a long time, and then struck him on the back of the neck.
As Erne dragged the sagging Beaufort to the corner of the room, I climbed over the window sill, struggling.
I briefly prayed for the poor goat's soul to rest in peace, then lifted the paper that Beaufort was holding.
“Real estate sales contract?”
A drop of blood fell from the edge of the paper.
“Isn’t it the capital if it’s 7 Tripal Street?”
My gaze scanned the blood-stained letters one by one.
“...Buyer Cedric Rhineland.”
Cedric Rhineland? So this is real estate owned by the Rhineland family?
I held the papers up to the brighter light, not caring that my hands were bloody.
The sales contract itself was ordinary, except for one clause added to the end of the contract.
“Erne, look at this.”
"Where?"
“Here’s the final clause. I hereby assign the sale and lease agreement to my legal representative, Cliff Ackerman, here.”
Is Cedric Rhineland crazy? Why would he sign a document with such a clause?
I guess it was true that he left everything up to Cliff.
I felt relief at finding my fortune, but at the same time, I felt angry at Cliff for having to pay off my debt. And there was a question that went through those two emotions.
“But why did this old man perform the ceremony using someone else’s real estate documents?”
"Well."
Our gaze turned to Beaufort, who was lying limp in a corner of the room.
“I just knocked him out, do I have to wake him up right away?”
***
Beaufort was an old man.
We were worried that if we tried to wake him up forcibly, they would end up cleaning up the corpse.
Eventually, after leaving Beaufort to fend for himself, we found a large amount of money that Cliff Ackerman had stolen.
I trembled with rage as I looked at the numerous sales contracts signed in Cedric Rhineland's name.
“My, my money was all here! Cliff Ackerman, you thief!”
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment