POTC - Chapter 82

"... Lady Presepe?"

As Presepe slowly walked away, Fenrir wore a slightly puzzled expression.

Soon, the place she approached and stood was in front of a crystal ball.

"You must not touch it carelessly. You might get hurt..."

However, Presepe's movements were slightly faster. Reaching out her hand, she snatched Ivan's crystal ball, which was shimmering with a dark light, without any hesitation.

Then, she started taking big strides.

Toward the opposite wall where the empty bookshelf was located.

"Grand Duke Fenrir, I'm sorry to bother you, but could you please move that bookshelf?"

Although he couldn't understand on earth why it was acting that way, Fenrir nodded instead of answering and immediately reached out his hand. Then, without much effort, he pushed it to one side.

"Here."

As she quietly looked at the wall reflected in the crystal ball, Presepe looked at Fenrir as if telling him to come over and parted her lips.

Fenrir approached Presepe and looked down at the crystal ball, following her gaze.

A small door was engraved on the wall reflected in the black crystal ball.

"..."

Fenrir frowned and shifted her gaze back to the wall, but unlike the reflection in the crystal ball, there was nothing there.

"...It seems the church hasn't grasped this much."

However, Fenrir did not press Presepe, asking, "Why do you know this?" It was because he already knew the answer.

Just as with the other characters, Presepe had also been subjected to drunken abuse by Ivan.

In a way, Presepe might be the person who knows Ivan best in Ateloia right now. For better or worse, Presepe must have spent a considerable amount of time with Ivan.

So, even though he knew it couldn't be helped, he felt a surge of anger for no reason. So, Fenrir bit his lip slightly.

"..."

Deep worry was etched on Presepe's face as she looked down at the crystal ball.

As far as Presepe knew, there were two secret places Ivan had hidden: one was Ivan's villa, and the other was the room beyond that door.

If Ivan had fled intentionally, he would have gone to that villa. He would have moved his important belongings there.

However, given the circumstances, Ivan was suddenly taken away and then suddenly escaped. Therefore, if he hid something that could serve as information, that place is the only location.

And the way Ivan went in and out of that door was...

[No one but me can enter here.]

"..."

[... Because I can only open it with my own strength.]

"Ah."

Presepe, who was lost in thought, muttered blankly.

"Look, Grand Duke, you said earlier. That objects like crystal balls are bound to leave traces of their user."

“Yes. That’s right.”

"Magical power would also be included in that trace, right?"

"...Maybe."

Hmm.

Presepe tightened her grip on the crystal ball.

Then, she threw it against the wall just as it was.

With a sharp sound, a faint light-like glow rose from the crystal ball that had struck the wall and shattered.

Not long after, incredibly complex patterns began to be etched onto the wall where nothing had been seen. The patterns soon became a door, and a doorknob appeared on the wall that had been named, as if by magic.

'Ugh.'

To think she would walk into that wretched place again. It made her feel nauseous, but this was much better than getting nothing out of it.

“I will open it.”

Fenrir, who had suddenly found himself standing in front of the door, yanked the doorknob without any hesitation.

But there was no need to go to such lengths to take the lead. To begin with, if they could just create and open a door, it was a space where nothing would get in the way. There were no dangerous devices either.

So Presepe stood quietly behind Fenrir, and as soon as the door opened, she strode inside.

"..."

The narrow, windowless room was exactly as she had seen in the ending with Ivan. Various objects related to magic, utterly impure from the Church's perspective. The murky air. Even the thin layer of dust.

And there was one thing she hadn't seen before.

It was a small box.

Presepe quickly reached for the box. Then, holding it tightly in her arms, she looked at Fenrir and asked.

"...But Grand Duke, what excuse should I give for that broken crystal ball?"

***

How did Ivan not visit?

Since she didn't know how to do that, Presepe pondered for a moment. But it was a needless worry.

As she left the room with Fenrir and closed the door, it vanished like a lie, as if it had never existed. Without a single trace.

As she left the magic tower, she saw the priest who had greeted Fenrir earlier. The priest asked if they had discovered anything special, and Fenrir replied that there was nothing of the sort, but Ivan's crystal ball had shattered.

Of course, he did not say that Presepe had just thrown it away. Instead, he said that Ivan's crystal ball suddenly began to glow faintly for no apparent reason, and then shattered into pieces on its own without anyone touching it.

If the owner of the Crystal ball had been someone else, it might have raised quite a bit of suspicion, but since he was an unprecedented madman who had even murdered the Archbishop and fled, it wasn't particularly strange even if he had set up some kind of device in his room.

Moreover, even in the eyes of the church officials, there was no reason for Grand Duke Fenrir to tell such a preposterous lie. For this reason, the priest let Fenrir and Presepe go, saying that he would gather the fragments of the broken crystal ball and investigate.

Presepe got into the carriage with Fenrir, and not long after, they returned to a place that was now familiar.

To Fenrir's townhouse.

"Presepe!"

No sooner had she stepped out of the carriage than a voice full of excitement was heard.

“Hannah.”

Hannah, smiling at me with her cheeks flushed red, looked just like a puppy left alone at home anxiously waiting for its owner.

Even so, is it really okay to welcome me this much more than the Grand Duke?

Although that thought crossed her mind, Presepe was just as glad to see her. Presepe smiled brightly and stroked Hannah's head.

"You've been well, Hannah. I missed you."

"Me too! But my goodness... you've lost half your size since I last saw you."

Hannah muttered with a sorrowful expression.

"You should go inside and rest right away. Or, although it's a bit late, would you like me to prepare a meal for you? You might also like to take a bath! I've already filled the tub. Whatever you want, Lady Presepe..."

“Hannah.”

Fenrir, who had been quietly listening to Hannah's chatter, called her name as if to stop her.

"Lady Presepe, I would recommend you open the box when I am with you. For your safety."

However, she didn't know what was inside, and seeing how Ivan had acted so disgracefully, she felt even more so.

However, there was no excuse to open it alone. Presepe looked at Fenrir as if he finally understood.

"Then how about opening it in the study? I think that would be the best place."

“Of course.”

She had absolutely no intention of handing over the item she had worked so hard to find directly to the church.

If they were lucky, they might be able to find out where Ivan fled and how he managed to escape. Then, they would just share the information with the church, chase down Ivan, and kill him.

"Excuse me, Grand Duke."

It was Hannah who stopped Fenrir as he was about to follow behind Presepe. Hannah lowered her voice slightly and spoke softly while standing on tiptoes.

"I have something to tell you briefly..."

"Later."

"But it is related to that strange man."

At the words 'that strange man,' Fenrir’s expression hardened slightly. He eventually stopped in his tracks and looked down at Hannah.

***

The study was quiet.

"...."

Presepe, sitting at the desk by the window, carefully placed Ivan's box on top of it.

"It seemed like they were following, so why aren't they coming?"

Presepe tilted her head and looked at the door, but heard no sign of anyone.

...Shall we open it first?

Fenrir suggested that they open it together for safety, but Presepe didn't think Ivan would have put any special devices on this box.

That crazy bastard, living for his own self-importance, probably never even dreamed that anyone could set foot in the hidden room of the magic tower in the first place.

'And there might be something a bit awkward to watch with the Grand Duke.'

Furthermore, Fenrir thought that Presepe was desperately searching for something because of her father. Presepe was the one who would be at a loss if an object related to the real male protagonist or the Demon King suddenly appeared, as she likely wouldn't even know such things.

"..."

Presepe, who had been silently staring down at the box, turned back toward the door. Then, after confirming that no one was around, she reached out her hand toward the box with a tense expression.

“What is this?”

The contents of the box were so unremarkable that it made her feel embarrassed for having tried so hard to be nervous.

So, piles of documents.

I thought you had hidden something really big. Presepe frowned slightly.

"Monster damage in the western vicinity. As of 997, the frequency of monster appearances increased by approximately 40% compared to the previous year, and damage to villages is severe."

Presepe, reading the report, had a very disappointed look on her face.

"As of 998, the types and number of monsters that appeared in the Forbidden Forest over the past three years. A report on the Forbidden Forest in 999 indicates that the frequency of monster appearances has decreased sharply. Compared to the previous year, 998, there was a decrease of a staggering 80%."

"I already know all of this," Presepe said, putting the report down haphazardly and starting to rummage through the documents inside the box.

In it was also a list of people who had frequented the forbidden forest for nearly 20 years. Including Vanessa, of course.

"So, after investigating all this, he intended to manipulate me," Presepe thought to herself.

"That crazy bastard just keeps blabbering without even having any impressive data..."

Presepe, who had been putting down the stack of documents, suddenly stopped.

It was because there was something that suddenly caught jer eye.

So, a worn-out ancient document.

And a sheet of paper that looked like a translation of an ancient document.

"...The Book of Prophecy?"

Presepe, having discovered the Book of Prophecy, wore a suspicious expression.

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