Chapter 84: 84
The Mysterious Girl
The door opened slowly without making any sound . At the same time, the smell of chemicals wafted in the air .
There was a short girl who wore glasses in the middle of the room .
Her hair was long and shaggy . Her clothes were hardly pretty, to put it politely .
She looked at me with suspicion .
“What do you want?”
Her voice was very quiet . And unexpectedly cute .
She was likely the same age as Shia and Serulis .
But her movements were completely different . This was not someone who was physically fit .
She was thin, with little muscle or fat .
“I would like to know what is going on here . The dog led me to this room . ”
“The dog?”
Her suspicion seemed to deepen .
I looked around the room .
It was dark and there were things scattered everywhere .
There was a lot of books that were roughly stacked up into piles .
On top of that, there were strange chemicals and laboratory tools .
“Well, I just happen to be quite bored right now . If you are curious, I may tell you something . ”
“Thank you . ”
“But first, close the door . I do not want to be disturbed . ”
She said, and so I closed the door .
Before closing it, I asked the dog, who was sitting there quietly, if it wanted to come in .
“It smells of chemicals, but do you want to come inside?”
Dogs had a sharp sense of smell, so it may be too much . That’s what I thought .
“…Woo…”
It howled quietly and then entered as if the smell did not concern it in the least .
And it immediately approached the girl .
“If it isn’t Tama!”
“Woo-woo . ”
Perhaps it didn’t want to draw attention either, because the dog answered her quietly .
Then it put its paws on her shoulders and started to lick her face .
Tama was almost bigger than her .
“So you were alive . ”
“Wooo . ”
“And you’re so thin… If you were alive, why didn’t you run away? You foolish dog . ”
Tama’s tail was wagging . And the girl was teary-eyed .
After the girl and Tama had calmed down, I decided to explain why I was there .
“I am called Locke . I am an Adventurer . ”
“Oh . An Adventurer . ”
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“There have been many disappearances around here lately . And so I am investigating . ”
“And you think that this mansion is suspicious? Since when were you spying on it?”
“Yesterday . Well, we really started looking into the missing people today . ”
“And you found this mansion in so short a time? I knew it from the moment you opened this door, but you must be very skilled . ”
“If you can, could you tell me what is going on here?”
“Hmm . My name is Philly Mastafon . I am the fifth daughter of this house . This is my dog, Tama . ”
Philly was the daughter of the Marquis . And yet she was locked up in this room .
“What is happening?”
“Before we get into that, Locke . Just how much power do you have?”
“As you saw, I’m a very capable Adventurer . Though, it’s a little awkward to say it myself . ”
But Philly could see the truth of it .
“I know that . What I mean is, how much power do you have with other Adventurers and officials?”
“I have friends that are brilliant Adventurers . The Grand Master of the guild is a good friend, and we often drink together . ”
“And officials?”
“I know the the district manager . I’m also very good friends with someone who is far above him . ”
Of course, I meant Eric . So I wasn’t lying .
When I said all of this, Philly seemed to relax .
“In that case, Locke . I want your help . ”
“I’m listening . ”
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And so Philly began to explain .
Two years ago, Marquis Mastafon had taken in an apprentice butler .
This butler was well mannered and incredibly gifted .
He went up in position rapidly, and in just six months ago, he had risen to become the steward of the house .
“Two years…no, half a year ago . That seems much too quick?”
“Of course it is . But things like illnesses and accidental deaths had killed the other candidates . ”
Well, that sounded a little suspicious to me .
“He was good as the new steward… But…”
He had suddenly changed last month . She explained that he had imprisoned her and her parents .
“And what about the servants?”
“The servants also changed completely . They don’t even seem like humans anymore . ”
And she added that the servants who did not change eventually disappeared .
“Were they fired by the steward?”
“I do not like to think about it, but he probably killed them . ”
Philly added that she had actually seen one of them being murdered .
This steward was likely connected to the dark ones .
And this mansion was being used as a base . I was sure of it .
“The only thing I could do was let Tama escape…”
But Tama had stayed and watched what the servants were doing .
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It must have been very hard without water or food .
A loyal dog indeed .
The servants must have not seen Tama as a threat since the dog could not speak .
It would just be dealt with as a stray if it escaped .
Even if it was lucky enough to be adopted, no one would know that it was from Marquis Mastafon’s mansion .
That’s why it had been left alone and ignored .
No interest had been shown to the dog at all .
That was incredibly fortunate for Marquis Mastafon .
Because it lead me to Philly .
“By the way, how come they didn’t kill you and your parents?”
“This may sound conceited, but I happen to be a genius . ”
“…Are you a Sorcerer?”
“No, I am an Alchemist . ”
Philly said that she had been ordered to prepare a mysterious metal by the steward .
And if she did not do it, then he would kill both of her parents .
“So, this mysterious metal . What kind of metal is it?”
“Here it is . ”
Philly showed me a piece of it .
It looked exactly like the material used for the medals inside of the vampires .
In other words, the same material as the Evil God idol .