That day everyone went to bed a little early. The small amount of sleeping pills mixed into the wine seed to have done their job.
Esperanza took off her house dress and changed into a blouse and leather pants. Then she tied the laces of her military boots that ca up over her ankles. After checking that the wings attached to her back moved properly, she folded them away.
Beyond the balcony, lights flickered in Cider's steam carriage. It was a new carriage bought last year, with the coachman's seat removed and the driver's seat inside the carriage. Since it was fashionable among young upper-class people, it didn't attract particular attention.
Esperanza, who was about to leap over to the balcony, hesitated at the sound of knocking on the door.
A maid?
Esperanza opened the door without suspicion and belatedly hesitated upon encountering an unexpected person.
'My clothes right now...!'
But it was already too late. Sylvia Humphrey urgently stuck her arm between the closing door.
"Wait a mont!"
"Why, why did you co?"
Both were so flustered they couldn't manage their expressions. Their heart rates soared. They just stood there holding the door handle with only a door between them, looking at each other.
Sylvia was the first to speak.
"Are you going now?"
Esperanza didn't answer. But her outfit was answer enough. Sylvia sighed.
"I, I'm still confused. I don't want to think Sir Arthur did anything strange... but you won't fra him, will you?"
"Why would I do such a thing? I have no grudge against that person."
"You saved Cordelia too, so I should trust you."
It was when she was about to say it was fine not to trust her. Sylvia squeezed her eyes shut and said:
"The laboratory will be in the basent of the mansion. There's a separate entrance, a small machine room at the back of the mansion. I've never been inside though."
"How did you know that?"
"He never told . But listening to what he said, that's the only place it could be. He doesn't know that I know. Oh, of course there will be a locking device."
"That doesn't matter."
"Then."
"Go to bed early."
The conclusion would co when morning arrived. Esperanza asked Sylvia Humphrey in passing as she turned away:
"Sylvia, did you like that person?"
"Not at all."
With that answer, Sylvia took her leave.
Esperanza leaped over the balcony. Soon after, the steam carriage cut through the darkness and left the mansion.
"Do you know the way?"
"I looked at a map."
"Where is it?"
"At ho."
Ah. Esperanza, who let out a sigh, settled into her seat. He'd manage it sohow.
"What if the road is blocked in the middle?"
"My lady, even if such a thing happens, I'll get you to the Powell mansion before dawn, so don't worry."
It wasn't even midnight yet. It would be at least five more hours before the sun rose. Esperanza tapped the back of Cider's hand as he gripped the steering wheel.
"Don't scare
and drive properly."
"Are you scared?"
"If you keep that up, I'll..."
Esperanza trailed off, then continued when she judged that Cider was concentrating sufficiently:
"Fall asleep."
"That won't do."
Cider quickly retorted. He soon pulled Esperanza's hand over and placed it on the gear shift lever. A mont later, Cider's hand covered it.
Laughter scattered along the dark road together with the pale steam.
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Fortunately, Cider didn't get too lost. He almost took a wrong turn once, but they safely arrived at Baronet Powell's mansion before dawn.
"The gate is closed."
"Of course it would be."
"Then how do we get in?"
"Over the gate...?"
Cider looked back at Esperanza as if asking if she was serious. Then the face outline dimly visible in the moonlight nodded up and down.
"Ah, really?"
"There's no other way."
The wall was high, but the gate was manageable to climb over. Cider tapped the rather ornate gate.
"You probably have so wire left."
"Right."
If their guess was correct anyway, by tomorrow there would be no one to wonder why this gate was open. Esperanza took out wire from her inventory. And just as she had opened the locks at Avondale mansion, she opened the main gate's lock.
Click. The sound of the lock opening rang loudly in the quiet mansion.
Esperanza looked toward the inside of the mansion for a mont. There were no signs of people in the garden, and it didn't seem like anyone was watching from inside the mansion. The two headed toward the machine room with quick steps.
Steam was leaking from the chimney of the machine room, which was about the size of a small hut, but the interior was clean. Esperanza found the passage without difficulty. The passage wasn't long.
The basent door was closed. But this ti she didn't hesitate. Esperanza took out new wire and opened the door.
"Shh."
They entered the laboratory with quiet steps. Esperanza floated a dim orb of light, and Cider turned his cane handle. A white beam of light pointed toward the floor.
The laboratory was spacious and large. Low growls of beasts, groans of young animals. The sll of blood that hadn't faded. No, rather than that... Esperanza squinted.
"Shine the light over there."
Cider raised his cane. A large dog caged up made a low growling sound. But even though their eyes t, it didn't bark loudly. Esperanza was secretly relieved, but the next mont she drew in a short breath.
The flesh was rotting away. The raw wounds weren't clearly visible in just the pale light. Esperanza turned her eyes away with difficulty. The dog seed tired and closed its eyes. The eyes full of tears were pitiful.
For now, there were only animals here. It was horrific, but they needed to find more proper evidence. The two separated and searched the laboratory.
Cider ransacked Arthur Powell's desk.
Powell was a simple fellow. An honest experint log ca out of the last drawer. Cider skimd the contents with his eyes while disassembling a typewriter placed on one side of the desk. A small key ca out from the bottom.
When he removed the plywood between the drawers, sothing like a jewelry box appeared. What would be inside was obvious. Magic stones, probably.
'Simple.'
So simple it was boring. Finding this place properly had been the most difficult part.
Rare magic stones sparkled in different colors inside the magic stone storage box. Wondering if there might be research on what functions each had, he skimd through the log to the end, but there didn't seem to be anything like that.
Well, soone doing this kind of research wouldn't have such capability. Cider clicked his tongue at the crude research content. It might have been better if there had been soone to guide him, but there was no way anyone would help with research like grafting monster arms onto animal bodies.
Cider, who finished searching through the drawers, also found several letters sent by the mine manager. This was enough to say they had seen everything necessary.
"Co over here."
Just then, Esperanza ca running over and pulled his arm.
"What's wrong?"
Cider asked while following her steps, but Esperanza kept her lips tightly shut. And she led Cider to the inner part of the laboratory.
"There were no people."
"That's fortunate."
"It's not fortunate. There was soone, but they're dead."
It was as she said. The terrible sll of chemicals stung their noses. A dead man lay on the operating table. His condition was too horrific to look at for long.
Cider turned his eyes away. Glass bottles containing chemicals filled one entire wall. Having confird the limbs floating around inside the bottles, he fixed his gaze back on the corpse. That corpse didn't seem to be the first test subject.
"I searched a bit more, but there were no other people. Since the face isn't damaged, we can probably find his identity?"
If we're lucky. Cider was about to say that, then changed his mind.
"We will."
Esperanza closed the man's eyes and took out a handkerchief from Cider's jacket pocket to cover the corpse's face. A complicated sigh burst out. Esperanza, who roughly shook her head to shake off her emotions, asked in a deliberately bright voice:
"Then have we found everything worth finding now? What about the magic stones?"
"Here."
Esperanza, who opened the box full of magic stones, whipped around to look at Cider.
"My goodness. All of this was stolen from us?"
"Shh."
Her voice getting louder was unavoidable. Magic stones rolling around like marbles in the full box. There wasn't a single black one. Whether they couldn't refine them or they were still in raw stone state, there were no magic stones commonly used for power.
"I'll take them."
The box slipped into her inventory. The mine manager's letters followed. What an outrageous situation. That many rare magic stones ca out of that mine? And they embezzled all of this among themselves?
"They really made a killing..."
"We never told them not to make a killing. If they had been moderate, it wouldn't have been noticed."
"I don't like moderate either. It's all mine."
"We'll have to look for a new manager when we return."
That's work in its own right. Cider let out a light sigh.
"Anyway, now it's ti to think about what we should do."
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