He reached out, grabbed the cold iron handle, and pulled. The cabinet didn't budge. Jenkins's heart leaped with joy; his luck was holding. He braced himself to force it open, but just as he was about to, a different cabinet—one above and to his left—popped open on its own.
Jenkins took two steps back and looked up. A man was sitting up inside the open morgue drawer. An ordinary man.
"Are you certain you want to find the truth of this place?"
the man asked. The livor mortis on his body was even more pronounced than on the Corpse Gentleman.
"I just want to save this city."
Jenkins replied solemnly.
"Sotis, necessary sacrifices are acceptable. Once you discover the truth behind all this, you will face a disaster far more unbearable than the destruction of a re city."
the corpse said.
"The very fact that you've chosen this mont to speak with proves you're nervous. It makes curious... what state are you in, down in that mine?"
"If you insist on ignoring my advice, then prepare to weep. Everyone must take responsibility for their choices."
"I'm well aware of that."
Jenkins snorted, ignoring him. He walked to the cabinet, gripped the handle firmly, pushed it inward slightly, then gave it a powerful tug outward.
Clank~
The sound of the cabinet striking the internal latches was sharp and clear. Jenkins used it to pinpoint their location and that of the lock. He sent a wisp of enchanted fla into the gap, lting both latch and lock, and then yanked the drawer completely free.
He had pulled with such force that the entire drawer ca crashing onto the floor. Jenkins imdiately noticed that the back of the drawer was open—it hadn't been sealed. In other words, there was definitely no wall behind it.
He guided a fla into the empty cavity where the drawer had been, then bent down to peer inside.
There was no wide mine shaft as he'd expected. Instead, inside the space, a corpse with wide, staring eyes was lying prone, looking right back at him.
"Ah!"
Though he wasn't a timid man, the sight still made him jump. He jerked back instinctively, then realized it was just a corpse. Nothing to be afraid of.
He bent down again and peered into the empty space. A body was curled up in a narrow passage, the side walls covered in scratch marks.
"He was trapped behind the morgue drawer. So there really is sothing back there."
He reached in, pulled out the desiccated corpse, and then crawled into the opening himself. It wasn't long before the passage opened up. Jenkins erged from the hole and found himself in a mine shaft.
"This is it! I knew I was right."
"So that's why Candle Mr vanished."
Magic Miss pointed at the diorama on the table.
"He went deeper underground, to a place that can't be considered part of the hospital. That's why it doesn't appear in the diorama."
the Corpse Gentleman explained, then looked at the four wooden figures on the table.
"Our story has been stalled for too long. What do you do now?"
"Is there any point in continuing?"
Mr. White Cat asked with a shrug. "The truth is pretty much out in the open now. There's no reason to keep playing, is there?"
"If we don't see the story through to the end, none of us can leave. Please, continue. With the stranger having co and gone, and the aftershocks continuing one after another, what will the four remaining explorers do?"
The four people around the table glanced at one another. The way things had developed, none of them were in the mood to play anymore.
"The explorers are tired of all this, what with the recent danger and the frequent tremors. They're going to leave."
the Hooded Man said, then added:
"I know that letter was a forgery. There's probably an underground boiler room behind the main building, but it's most likely a trap, so we won't investigate. The explorers are going ho to rest. Everything that's happened today has been a bit too intense. What they need now is a warm bed."
"Very well, then the explorers..."
Creeak~
A loud creak of the door opening cut the Corpse Gentleman off. Everyone jumped, their eyes darting to the doorway. But the door had only opened a crack before shutting again, and no one had co in.
"What was that all about?"
Logically, with the story still in progress, it should be impossible for anyone from the outside to enter the room.
"I don't know... Oh, now I do."
It wasn't just Magic Miss who knew; everyone watched as a white cat suddenly leaped from Candle Mr's pulled-out chair onto the tabletop. It then flopped down on the space belonging to Candle Mr with an expression of pure annoyance. It was clearly the cat that had just co through the door.
It was raining and thundering outside, and the temperature had dropped. The cat wanted to co in and get warm. It knew Jenkins would co back for it.
"That's Candle Mr's cat, Vanilla, I think. Why didn't he take it with him?"
At that mont, everyone subconsciously ignored the fact that a cat had sohow managed to open the door from the outside.
"Candle Mr probably knew he was heading into danger, so he left his pet by the door. We can look after it for him and give it back when he returns. That will also give us a chance to ask him what happened underground."
the Hooded Man said. Hathaway, however, was staring wide-eyed at Vanilla. For a fleeting mont, she saw a shadow of Chocolate in this cat. Jenkins's cat had left a deep impression on her; its intelligence was sothing other cats couldn't possibly imitate.
"The explorers prepare to leave. They carefully navigate around the hospital's tall structures, wary of falling bricks and stones. The white mist seems to be draining their stamina. Even though it isn't raining in the hospital grounds as it is in the city, the journey feels arduous. The explorers have reached the hospital gates. They are about to leave."
"Let's go now, right now."
Hathaway urged.
"The sailor, the noble lady, the viscountess, and the rchant's daughter arrive at the main gate. The very instant they lift their feet to step out, a wave of dizziness strikes each of them. You need to make an additional [Will] check with a 100 modifier. If you fail, you will lose control of your explorers."
Silence fell over the room for a mont, the only sounds being the crackling of the fire in the hearth and the raging storm outside.
"A 100 modifier... doesn't that an we're guaranteed to fail?"
Hathaway suddenly slapped the table, speaking through clenched teeth.
"Yes, but that's how it is."
the Corpse Gentleman replied, gesturing to the dice. "There's no Candle Mr to contradict this ti, and that marvelous writer is gone as well. Please, roll the dice."
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