653: Chapter 17: Secret Room_1 653: Chapter 17: Secret Room_1 “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” Chester said coldly with gritted teeth, “Your stupid story is full of so many holes, and they are only ridiculous.
Everyone knows how much I love Betty.
They also know that Neil is my best friend.
Do you think I would hurt them for the lies in your mouth?
I would rather hurt myself than let them suffer any injustice.”
“Nice speech, but it’s pointless.” Pannis chuckled, “I’ll perform an interesting illusion for everyone.
What do you say, dear Mr.
Chester, do you have any interest in watching?”
“Humph, keep pretending.” Chester crossed his arms, seemingly calm, he said to Pannis, “I’d like to see what kind of crap you’re going to do next.
If you want to perform, just go ahead, idiot.”
“Okay then.” Pannis nodded, “Lina, there’s a door on your left side, pushing the cabinet behind it will reveal an entrance to the basent.
Let’s explore the secrets of the basent.”
“That’s where I make my traps.” Chester, nonchalant, leaned against a pillar in the room and said, “What do you expect to find there?
Tongs or an anvil?
Or is your illusion just to show everyone my furnace?”
“I’m in the basent; it is indeed a workspace.” Lina’s icy voice echoed from below, “But just like he said, there’s nothing in here other than so tools and half-made traps.”
“Don’t rush.” Pannis said, “The show has only just begun.
The climax can’t co so soon, can it?”
“You better hurry, I can’t guarantee my patience will last if you’re too slow.”, Lina paused for a mont, adding, “Of course, I care less about her fate, but I do not have the patience to wait for you.”
“Alright, alright, I got it.” Pannis sighed while spreading his hands out to the audience, “The forthcoming lady down there seems to be in a rush.
So, let’s get right to the heart of it, do the three of you have the courage to explore this mysterious basent with ?
Eh, dear Mr.
Chester, you being the bravest hunter in town, you won’t refuse, will you?”
“Adventurer sir, is what you say really true?” The quiet Old Dak suddenly rushed up, shaking Pannis’s clothes, “Betty…
Betty…
is she really…
she… is she really down below, and is she still alive?”
“I’m 80% sure that she’s still alive.” Pannis did not scold Old Dak’s rudeness, and continued to speak in a llow tone, “As for if she is actually below or not, we will only know if we go down and see.”
“Alright, I’m going in.” Old Dak suddenly turned agile, unlike his previous old figure, he rushed down into the basent.
Pannis’s eyes followed Chester, gesturing invitingly, Chester remained irate yet ventured into the basent.
The basent was pitch black but Lina had lit the oil lamp on the wall as soon as she had arrived, filling the basent with a faint glow.
Looking around, there were many tal bars stacked in the corner, along with scattered molds.
In the center of the basent, there was a small furnace, it was not lit leaving the inside completely dark.
Plenty of casting and forging tools were stacked in front of the furnace.
Beside them was a work table covered in knives, scissors, and broken pieces of leather, it was indeed a trap-making workspace.
“You all can see, there is nothing here.” Chester grinded his teeth and feigned innocence, “How far do you plan to go in trying to fra ?
Just because you’re an adventurer doesn’t an you can just pin charges on others.”
“Don’t rush, have so patience.
Moreover, you really think your pathetic setup can fool a true explorer?” Pannis said mysteriously with a smirk, “Lina, have you ever carefully observed the structure of the inside of a furnace before?
Especially those old-fashioned ones that consu coal as fuel.”
“Who would bother observing that sort of thing?” Lina hugged a book, and said irritably, “It’s nothing more than a pile of ashes inside.”
“But perhaps there is a different kind of furnace,” suggested Pannis, nodding towards the furnace at the center of the basent.
“Take a look at that one, you might stumble upon sothing unexpected, maybe even a secret chamber hidden within the basent.”
“Hmm, I see.” Lina sniffed in amusent, approaching the furnace.
“How does one unlock it?”
“A minor trap.” Pannis’ attention did not seem to solely be on the matter at hand.
While only engaging in conversation and not taking any physical action, his gaze lingered on Chester.
“All you need is to employ the simplest thod.”
“The simplest thod?” Lina removed the hamr hanging from her waist.
After chanting a few words, a Divine Spell enveloped her arm and the hamr in a white glow.
The glow soon vanished as she lifted the hamr and strongly struck the furnace.
The impact reverberated, giving the illusion that the entire basent was shaking.
The once stout furnace shattered, revealing a gaping dark hole beneath it.
A long ladder disappeared into the profound darkness of the space below.
“You go down and check it out,” suggested Pannis.
“Who knows, you might still be able to save her, well, perhaps.”
“Depends on my mood.
If it’s not too much trouble, I might as well.
But if it is, don’t expect to play the hero.” Lina descended the ladder, carrying a lantern handed to her by Pannis.
Her words still echoed in the basent long after she started her descent.
As Lina disappeared down the ladder, Chester, unable to control himself any longer, made a move on Old Dak instead of Pannis or Lina.
He didn’t try to escape, but instead darted towards Old Dak, pulling out a dagger from his waist.
Pannis made no move, rely observing Chester’s desperation.
Chester considered his move successful as he approached the old man, a triumphant smile on his face.
As he raised his dagger towards Old Dak’s throat, he suddenly felt dizzied and found himself thrown to the ground.
The once feeble Old Dak was trampling him, glaring at him furiously.
“Foolish young man,” sighed Pannis.
“This is the price for underestimating the older generation.
Just because he might be the best hunter among the youngsters, he thought he could ridicule the elders.
How naive.”
“Thank you, adventurer,” Now closer to his daughter, Old Dak was becoming calr.
With a swift kick, he knocked away the dagger from Chester’s grasp and while pinning him on the ground he continued, “If not for you uncovering his deception, we would all have been fooled.”
“No need to thank ,” Pannis shrugged.
“Actually, the people he serves just so happen to be our old enemies.
Discovering their traces here was an unexpected gain.
Dear Mr.
Chester, you must be very unwilling to accept this, right?
You almost succeeded.
You must be wondering how we saw through your arrangent, isn’t it?
Well, all I can say is you underestimated the upper-ranking professionals.
You’ve been on Catherine and my radar from the start.”
“Don’t believe ?
That’s fine; we still have to wait a while anyway, so we have ti for to explain.” Pannis appeared devilish as he looked down at Chester, tightly constricted under the weight of Old Dak.
“An uninford young lady, confined by her father, goes on the run with her beloved, and they die after encountering a magical beast.
Nothing suspicious about it.
But here’s what got our attention.”
“First, have you ever seen anyone about to elope who leaves a note for their family in their bedroom?
And I asked, it was left in a drawer in her vanity.
Was she hoping her father would find it, or not?
If she didn’t want her father to read it, wouldn’t it have been easier not to leave a note at all?
She could simply have had you give her father a ssage, just as you had planned with Neil.
And if she wanted it to be found, it shouldn’t have been tucked away in a drawer.
That’s suspicious.”
“Second, everything at Neil’s house was tidied up neatly—you likely did that—but you overlooked the animal pen.
If he was planning to run away, he would’ve taken care of the supplies for his sledge deers well in advance.
However, it was clear from items in the pen that these were all last-minute arrangents, and unlike the neatness inside the house, one could easily see it was a spontaneous decision to leave.
Why didn’t you take care of the pen?
Hmm, I understand now.
You were worried the neighbors might notice.”
“The inconsistencies aroused our suspicion, and once in doubt, it’s hard to shake it off.
Upon checking Neil’s house, Catherine deduced from the ratio of items taken that Neil had only packed enough food for one—there were also other discrepancies.
On checking Betty’s place, she had only taken personal items, with no preparations for a long journey.
That’s not eloping but going out to die in a snowstorm.
This led to even more suspicion.”
“As for , I noticed more problems because my sense of sll is slightly sharper than others.” Pannis unexpectedly glanced towards the west, frowning a bit for reasons unknown before resuming, “Dear Mr.
Chester, you left too many loose ends.” (To be continued.
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