[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 16: The Mage's Mansion (3)
"Let's go."
Hal drew his sword and cautiously moved forward.
Everyone held their breath in tension, and a quiet silence fell over the hallway.
Just as they were passing in front of the dining room where the monster had entered,
—Crunch, crack!
A chilling sound ca from within.
What could possibly make such a sound when chewed?
The strange, rhythmic sound continued for a while, then the clatter of silverware hitting the floor.
After that, the chewing sound resud.
—Crunch, munch, munch!
It was chewing.
There was no need to think long about what it was eating.
He felt nauseous just imagining the pig carcass with its entrails spilling out that he had seen in the dining room.
'Is it chewing and swallowing the bones whole?'
It seed he wasn't the only one who realized this.
Antonio and Daniel's expressions were also grim.
Hal gestured for them to keep moving.
If the monster was focused on sothing, it would be easier to pass by.
His companions followed without a word.
Carefully moving forward, they soon reached the kitchen.
Fortunately, the monster didn't co out of the dining room.
Hal breathed a sigh of relief and looked around.
His companions were staring at him with tense expressions.
"..."
Since when had he beco the leader of the group?
Hal felt a slight burden, but he did what he had to do.
"We'll enter the kitchen now. Get ready."
He knew that he, as an exorcist priest, was the most experienced in this kind of situation.
At Hal's words, his companions nodded without hesitation and adjusted their grips on their weapons.
Hal turned away from them and calmly turned the doorknob of the kitchen.
The doorknob turned with a click.
Through the slowly opening door, the rhythmic sound of chopping could be heard.
—Chop, chop, chop, chop!
The kitchen knife was still moving on its own, chopping sothing on the cutting board.
"We've retrieved the tea set."
Hal said as he stepped inside, and the chopping sound abruptly stopped.
A brief silence fell.
The group tensed, gripping their weapons tightly.
But at that mont,
"...Ah, thank you for your effort. Please put it on the table over there."
The voice said nonchalantly and resud chopping.
As nothing happened, the group relaxed and quietly lowered their weapons.
Hal carefully sheathed his sword and asked,
"You made a promise."
"Ah, about how to go upstairs."
The kitchen knife stopped chopping and turned around.
Everyone flinched as the tip of the knife pointed towards Hal, but contrary to their worries, it didn't fly towards him.
The knife floated in the air, moving towards a bell in the corner of the kitchen, and rang it with a clang.
And at that mont...
...Clank, clank, clank
The deafening sound of sothing heavy being dragged echoed through the mansion.
"If you go out now, there will be stairs."
The kitchen knife said flatly, returning to the cutting board to continue cooking.
Hal stared at the kitchen knife with a strange expression.
‘That's it?’
No way.
It was a demon.
There was no way it would keep its promise so quietly and end things here.
It was definitely going to try and stab them in the back.
Hal shook off his hesitation and clasped his hands together.
He intended to burn the entire fireplace where the demon was hiding with azure flas.
At that mont.
Thump
Soone grabbed Hal's hand.
"...Head Priest."
"Let's go."
The Head Priest smiled kindly and slowly unclasped Hal's hands.
Then he bowed his head towards the kitchen knife in gratitude and turned around.
Unable to understand the Head Priest, Hal asked in a stiff voice.
"Father. That's a demon."
"I know."
"Then why...!"
"Didn't it keep its promise?"
"That's... We don't know yet."
"If we harm it based on assumptions about sothing that hasn't happened, what makes us any better than a demon?"
"..."
Hal closed his mouth tightly.
It wasn't because he agreed.
Honestly, he thought the Head Priest's logic was idealistic and lacked a sense of reality.
But Hal followed the priest's words.
It was because the rest of the group was confused by the conflict between the two.
"I understand for now."
When Hal yielded, the Head Priest placed a hand on his shoulder as if to thank him.
Just as the group was about to leave the kitchen...
"Wait a mont."
The voice of the Centipede Bride could be heard from behind.
'I knew it.'
There was no way a demon would just let humans go.
As if he had expected it, Hal drew his sword halfway and turned around. And there...
"...?"
A large plate was floating in the air. The kitchen knife was placed neatly on the cutting board.
"What is this?"
At Hal's question, the plate, covered with a food lid, was held out towards him.
"You'll need this upstairs. Take it."
"Why are you giving this?"
"It's a reward for helping with my work."
"..."
Hal nodded and accepted it without thinking.
That was it.
The Centipede Bride resud her kitchen chores.
She grumbled about the broken teapot, but she didn't chase after them with a knife.
—Click!
As Hal stepped out of the kitchen, looking confused, the head priest smiled and said,
"Hal-nim, may I share a conclusion I've reached after my long religious life?"
"Of course."
The head priest was also soone who had served faithfully in the Order for a long ti.
Hal had no intention of ignoring him.
He listened attentively to the priest's words.
The priest expressed his gratitude and continued calmly,
"After experiencing all that, I've co to realize only one thing. There are no absolutes."
"...What do you an?"
"Demons and humans are both creations of God. There is no absolute evil or absolute good."
"...That goes against the doctrine."
"Of course, it's a secret outside these walls."
Seeing Hal's uneasy expression, the priest chuckled and replied,
"See more, learn more. If you confine yourself to your own way of thinking, you'll miss out on many things."
Hal unconsciously nodded.
The seasoned head priest's words carried the weight of experience.
After a pause, the head priest asked curiously,
"So, what is that?"
"Who knows."
Hal shrugged and lifted the lid of the dish.
He saw the food placed on the plate.
"...It's a cat."
"...Indeed."
ow!
"...And it's alive."
"...Oh my God."
As the priest turned his head, Hal quietly closed the lid.
He didn't know what use a bound black cat could possibly have, but at least it didn't seem threatening.
"I hope you're right, Father."
Hal muttered, though he didn't believe it himself.
Just as they were deep in conversation,
Daniel approached and said.
"Hal, I found the stairs. They're close by."
As he said, the stairs had appeared right next to the kitchen door.
"Good. Shall we go now?"
Hal nodded and casually handed the plate with the cat to Antonio.
"Please hold this for . I'm not very fond of cats."
"...Why are you giving this to ? Hal-nim? I'm afraid of cats."
Antonio, holding the plate, looked back and forth between the plate and Hal with a wrong expression, but Hal was already gone.
***
"Ugh..."
Antonio groaned, nervously holding the cat that was struggling against its bonds.
Of all things, a cat.
And a black cat, no less, a symbol of witches.
Antonio disliked cats more than anything, so he voiced his complaint.
"Why are we taking this thing with us? Can't we just leave it?"
Just as Antonio, pouting with his lips stuck out, was about to climb the stairs to the second floor.
Bang!
Suddenly, the sound of a door being violently flung open echoed from the first-floor hallway.
His heart almost leaped out of his chest.
Waaaagh!
ow!
The startled Antonio hugged the cat tightly.
It wasn't difficult to figure out where the sound ca from. Antonio slowly turned his head towards the source.
He had a feeling he knew what it was.
"..."
With a silent prayer, he creaked his head around. Unfortunately, his expectations were not misplaced.
[Ugh...]
He heard the familiar, garbled pronunciation.
The unidentified monster.
It was back.
Antonio tensed up, expecting it to charge towards them, but it didn't.
The monster looked around for a mont, then slowly moved towards the parlor.
As if following so kind of trail.
And Antonio thought he knew what the monster was doing.
"...Is that thing chasing us?"
It was already in the parlor, so the kitchen would be next.
"Oh God..."
Antonio's face turned pale, and he started running up the stairs.
"Hal-nim! Hal-nim!"
"Antonio, we can talk about the cat later..."
"It's not that! It's coming!"
"...What is?"
Hal asked with a frown.
Antonio blurted out without taking a breath,
"That monster from the dining room! It's heading towards the parlor now. I think it's following us! Next, it'll definitely..."
"The kitchen. And then it'll co up to the second floor."
Hal muttered to himself, frowning.
He was curious about the monster's identity, but at least its purpose was clear.
It was a countdown.
A ti constraint they would face if they didn't clear the rooms in ti.
That was the aning of the monster's existence.
"Can't we fight it?"
"We have to avoid it."
When Daniel asked with a puzzled expression, Hal and David shook their heads simultaneously.
The monster hadn't attacked them even after seeing them.
Because it was a being that absolutely adhered to the rules of the workshop.
That's what made it even more dangerous.
"Is it that dangerous?"
"Can you stop the darkness from falling at night?"
"That's impossible..."
"At least within this workshop, it is."
He didn't know the details, but if they were caught, they would lose according to the rules of the workshop.
If they could kill it, it would likely be after the workshop was deactivated or according to another set of rules within the workshop.
Hal clicked his tongue and hurried his steps.
"Let's quickly search the second floor."
The order was the sa as the first floor.
From the room at the far left to the right.
There were four rooms in total: a dressing room, a study, a doll workshop, and his old room.
They would search those rooms, and when the stairs to the next floor appeared, they would go up.
"Let's go to the dressing room first."
"This isn't easy, is it?"
Daniel, leading the group, started running towards the dressing room door.
It was a race against ti now.
***
Hesitation
Daniel abruptly stopped in front of the dressing room.
"This is..."
The others did the sa.
There was writing on the dressing room door, written in blood.
Hal frowned and read it aloud.
"Gather the broken mirrors?"
Hal tilted his head but pulled the doorknob of the dressing room.
The door opened with a click.
It wasn't locked.
After a mont of contemplation, Hal spoke.
"Let's go inside first."
To understand the aning of the ssage, they had to enter the room.
Everyone nodded in agreent.
The dressing room was very dark, so each of them lit a lamp and held it in their hand.
"Let's go in."
With Hal in the lead, the group slowly stepped into the dressing room.
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Max]
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