"There really are a lot of people."
Esperanza, who had dismounted from her horse with a deep sigh, said belatedly. Her steps into the laboratory were quick. Her desire to rest soon was clearly visible on both cheeks.
"It's festival preparation season."
"That's true, but isn't it a lot even considering the city's size?"
"I'm not sure. I don't usually see Beginning of Winter festival preparations."
"What could they possibly have so much to prepare?"
Before she knew it, she had been swept along for a full round. It was fun to watch, but after it ended, her mind was more tired than her body. Why were there so many people in the square, and among them, why were there so many who wanted to say even a word to Cider Claiborne?
Esperanza, who had familiarly opened the door to the innermost study of the laboratory, stacked the scriptures on the table where the laboratory's structural diagrams had been. The thick scriptures quickly piled up to eye level.
When would she check all of this? The prospect seed daunting.
"If I just set this on fire, it would look exactly like what we saw earlier."
The biggest event of the Beginning of Winter festival was lighting firewood stacked high enough to pierce the sky and sharing that fire. Though it was a tradition with a long history, in this era there was no need to distribute fire to each household, so it had long since been reduced to re atmosphere-setting.
Among users it was casually called Halloween, but the Beginning of Winter festival and Halloween had completely different natures. If Halloween was a more comrcialized and civilized festival, Osdern's Beginning of Winter festival retained unworn Dionysiac madness.
The night welcoming winter after sumr's end. A festival night where up and down were reversed against the backdrop of bright red flas, where status and order beca confused. A festival of dancing, singing, laughing, chattering, eating, and spending an endless night as if mad.
"No fire tricks inside the laboratory."
Her thoughts stopped abruptly. Esperanza discovered sparks crackling at her fingertips and quickly removed her hand from the book cover.
"I won't, I won't."
But once the code decryption was finished, she would definitely gather them all up and burn them.
Seeing her lips firmly pressed into a straight line, Cider quietly clicked his tongue. He hung his silk hat on the coat stand by the door and said.
"I'd like to help, but my research is behind schedule."
"It's fine. I can do it."
Anyway, all that remained now was the tedious repetitive work of checking each one.
"I'll see you later then."
Cider, who had finished hanging up his coat as well, left the study without lingering and went toward the laboratory.
A little later, a carrier dropped from the brass pipe. Esperanza, who had been writing the scripture's publication year on blank paper, looked up. When she opened the carrier, a small can ca out.
"What's this?"
Inside were lots of round, colorful beads. Esperanza, who tilted the can to take out the beads, burst into laughter.
Candy.
He could have given it directly, but this was just his way. How should she express this tickling, joyful feeling? There should be an appropriate word for it. Esperanza put one candy in her mouth and took out blank paper to lightly write a line and put it in the carrier. The carrier didn't co back, but her tired mind beca clear.
She rummaged through her inventory and pulled out a letter envelope. Three folded sheets of letter paper ca out of the envelope. Jack's letter, Cordelia's letter, and the Duke's code. As Esperanza was about to unfold the last page, sothing strange suddenly caught her eye.
"1737?"
Esperanza's gaze looked at the signature written as naturally as if completely unaware of any mistake. Could Cordelia have written 1837 as 1737 without knowing?
Did that make sense?
It would have been strange even if she had written 1836. It was odd to still get the year wrong when more than half the year had passed. Moreover, to get the century wrong and send it without correction. It wasn't like Cordelia, and she couldn't accept it.
"1737. 1737..."
Esperanza, who pulled out an old scripture from the bottom of the book tower, took a deep breath. When she opened the pages, yellow dust puffed out.
Word by word, as Esperanza interpreted the code, she suddenly jumped up from her seat and ran to the laboratory.
"Cider! I found it!"
Cider, who had been half-inside the frantically spinning chanical device that was deafeningly loud, poked his head out.
"Just a mont."
Coming out of the machine, he wiped the dust from his hands with a handkerchief, removed the monocle he had been wearing, then turned off the machine.
"Huh? Weren't you fixing my wings?"
"That's right. I needed sothing while working on it. Mm, shall I explain?"
"No."
Esperanza, who answered quickly, waved the paper.
"It's the 1737 scripture. Cordelia gave
a hint."
Cider's eyes narrowed.
"Why would she do such a dangerous thing?"
Esperanza didn't know that either. But what was certain was that thanks to her, the sentence was cleanly ford.
"I only interpreted the first sentence. I don't know what it ans though."
Cider, who received the paper, read the sentence like a whisper.
"'The master you shot and killed that day has the answer to the next riddle.'"
That ant, after buying all those scriptures, it ended with interpreting just one sentence. She couldn't help but feel deflated. Esperanza tried to straighten her shoulders that had drooped with disappointnt and said.
"'That day' would be the day the dungeon burst. The 'master I shot and killed'... I didn't kill just one or two things that day."
"But sothing that could be called a master."
"Just the Manticore. The dungeon boss. So it's telling
to find the next sentence in a book called Manticore?"
With so many books in the world, it didn't seem like there wouldn't be a single book titled Manticore. Rather, there would probably be more than just one or two, which was the problem.
"I should go to the library. It's not closing ti yet, so I should hurry and borrow..."
"Wait a mont. Esperanza."
Cider, who found a fountain pen from a table in the corner, scribbled quickly.
"That day, the boss was a Manticore, but there was sothing separate that was 'shot and killed.' Rember?"
Ah. That's right. Because what the dungeon boss had been dwelling in was.
"Scripture."
It connected.
"Osdern language scripture, 1831 edition."
"Daria and Cyrus wouldn't know."
If there was information shared only among the three of them, there was no more certain key than that. But... Cider added.
"But conversely, if we assu I don't rember the scripture's edition, Manticore would be more rational."
So she had to check both. The work had doubled. Cider took out a seal from the table drawer and stamped it.
"It's hastily written, but it's a letter of authorization. Borrow it under my na. Since we have the scripture at the mansion, start with Manticore. Since it's late, co straight to the mansion."
"I need to hurry and go before the library closes."
White wind swirled around Esperanza's feet. She tied her hair tightly into one bundle, and her movent throwing herself toward the nearest visible window was without excess. Cider let out a light laugh.
He returned to his work. The task of making the perfect even more perfect.
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Esperanza, who had inconsiderately mounted the horse that had been blankly chewing hay, crossed the forest at full speed. She only realized the horse she was riding without knowing why was Cider's after completely exiting the forest.
Well, it couldn't be helped.
The library closed at nine o'clock. Considering the ti for the librarian to find books, she needed to arrive by eight-thirty at the latest to be safe. As soon as she arrived at the shopping district by cutting straight across the secluded forest path, she roughly tied up the horse and ran.
In front of the library, her riding hood fluttered widely. Looking at the clock tower on the opposite side, she had a little spare ti. After standing there and pondering briefly, Esperanza soon entered a nearby shop.
A little later, Esperanza returned empty-handed to the front of Avondale Municipal Library and opened the large door as if nothing had happened.
The librarian who received the authorization letter nodded as if familiar, then made a strange face when hearing the book title.
"Count Avondale...?"
There were many books with Manticore in the title, but only one book where that was the title itself. When she received the book, Esperanza's face also beca strange. The Duke used this kind of book as a codebook?
"Is this... real..."
The librarian sent a sympathetic look. Esperanza said hastily.
"It's not like that."
"That Count, driven mad by research, finally summoning demons or sothing, yes?"
"No."
He didn't seem to believe it much. Esperanza put the book in her inventory with a lukewarm expression.
The road back to the mansion was dark. Esperanza saw that the window of the largest room in Glailly House was open and smiled faintly. The curtains, thicker than last month, fluttered in the cold autumn wind.
The next mont, the curtains were pulled aside. As she entered the warmly lit room, Cider, who had been turning through thick paper files, looked up.
"You're back."
"Don't you think your greeting lacks sincerity?"
"Really? Maybe it's because you took too long."
Cider answered while passing by Esperanza to close the open window. The firm hand that naturally entered inside her hood grasped and released her cold cheek.
Esperanza, who had removed her hood, placed sothing on the hand slowly falling from her cheek. Cider, who reflexively grabbed it, widened his eyes.
It was a bouquet. Light-colored peonies were half-blood between thick, wide leaves. The flowers were gorgeous, but the bouquet itself was small.
"...Is this for ?"
"I saw it while passing by."
At those words, Cider finally burst into laughter. Really, it was absurd. A flower gift—he had never received such a thing, nor had he ever thought he would.
It was natural. In social etiquette, bouquets were gifts that gentlen gave to ladies they were courting.
The spacious room filled with flower fragrance. For a mont he wondered 'doesn't flower fragrance spread inside the inventory?' but Cider pushed that question to a corner of his mind.
"Do you not like this kind of thing after all?"
"No. I like it. Thank you."
Co to think of it, this was the first gift he had received from Esperanza. When Cider brought an empty vase, Esperanza filled it with water. Cider, who was putting the unwrapped flowers in the vase, paused.
"What's wrong?"
Instead of answering, he smiled even more deeply and lightly touched the flower bud with his fingertip. Esperanza rolled her eyes around. Belatedly, slowly, her ears reddened.
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