NOVEL NEXT Chapter 54
And I repeated way more failures than when I was trying to unlock the entrance to the sewers.
Well, obviously! The lock was expensive enough that not just anyone could open it carelessly, but in the end, it was a lock that had to be exposed outside continuously. A simpler but sturdier lock that could withstand wind and rain exposure for a long time would have been better. The person who originally put that lock on probably never thought anyone would go down there. Still, they probably chose a reasonably sturdy yet cheap lock so that not just anyone could come and go.
But Mia Crowfield is the daughter of a Count, you know! Or rather, the security of the dormitory itself was quite impressive. The guards thoroughly checked and recorded everyone who entered, stopping any unauthorized person at the dormitory entrance.
The facilities in the aristocrats’ rooms were basically the same as those in the commoners’ rooms, but that doesn’t mean the quality was lacking. This academy is the ‘best’ after all.
Fortunately, none of the keyholes to the locks used Marmaros, nor were there any magic spells placed on them. In other words, the doors were not at a level where they couldn’t be opened with lockpicks.
…I did break almost thirty of them, though.
Still, if I hadn’t practiced opening various doors with lockpicks in the past, I would probably have broken over a hundred and still not managed to open a single door, so I believe my efforts weren’t in vain at all.
I might not feel much difference between thirty and a hundred since I can turn back time, though.
…
Well, anyway.
Pushing aside the emptiness I felt deep in my chest, I opened the door to Mia Crowfield’s room and stepped inside.
I had a fleeting worry that the owner might be asleep inside, but fortunately, that was not the case.
“……”
The room was clean. Well, it was that way in the original story as well. Most of the rooms of aristocratic students were tidy. They were raised like that since childhood. So no matter who might visit, they wouldn’t feel embarrassed. Even if the visitor were a maid or servant.
Of course, there were a few exceptions, but let’s skip over that for now.
In any case, the fact that Mia Crowfield was keeping her room this tidy in an academy where personal maids or servants were not allowed deserves some praise.
The layout of her room was the same as mine.
Beds, desks, wardrobes, and other furniture are originally provided by the academy, so there was no need to make a fuss over design. No aristocrat would throw a fit saying, “This furniture is of poor quality.” Since it was all prepared as top-notch.
However, the books on the desk and the bed cover… all the personal belongings clearly showed her preferences.
It felt a bit strange, yet somehow familiar. It was a sight I had seen many times while playing the game. Though the atmosphere was quite different from the poorly rendered room in the game, it was enough to stimulate the memories I had.
Most of the books on the desk were related to magic. Not a single book on swordsmanship or shooting art existed.
A training wand hung on the wall.
In fact, there were almost no decorations, so the overall atmosphere of the room was nothing particularly eye-catching—
Click.
“Huh?”
I turned my head at the sudden sound coming from the direction of the door.
At first, I thought someone had come in behind me. I thought it could be Mia Crowfield herself or someone else sneaking in after watching me pick the lock, but when I looked back, there was no one.
Of course, it wasn’t the sound of a ghost or any other supernatural entity.
…Unless you consider magic a supernatural phenomenon. After all, this is a steampunk world where history flows differently than reality, so nitpicking on such matters isn’t really important.
This is a place where the existence of ghosts is real, anyway.
“……”
I quietly approached the direction of the sound and examined the device.
A strangely shaped device was locked on the inside of the door.
The softly glowing red Marmaros was probably providing energy to the device through a faint warmth. I had a feeling there were a few magical devices involved too.
The device, resembling the lock mechanism of the front door of an old apartment in my old world, tightly grasped the door shut with a sturdy metal piece, preventing it from opening.
It looked like a mechanism designed to automatically lock if someone tried to enter without permission.
“……”
I don’t think there was any device like this in the original story.
*
After a few attempts to figure out how to open it, I gave up.
It was a mechanism that didn’t have a keyhole or anything. Unless someone who knows how to unlock this informs me, it was absolutely impossible to open.
Mia Crowfield probably had to directly infuse magic to open it.
“Hm.”
But I wasn’t in a rush. Even if Mia Crowfield catches me, well, I could just have a brief chat, extract some information, and then turn back time.
“……”
In that case, since I’m already here, should I take a little more time to explore the room?
I knew that Mia Crowfield often hid important items under the floorboards beneath her bed. I knew what was hidden there from the original story, but this room had a device I had never seen before. There might be something different inside.
I lifted the bedspread stretched beside the bed and crawled under the bed, where a person would barely fit.
Surprisingly, there was hardly any dust. If someone were constantly going in and out, the dust would inevitably gather on that very spot, so it must mean that Mia had cleaned it to ensure no traces remained. Anyone would suspect that she had obsessive-compulsive disorder, but for Mia Crowfield, that was probably enough.
There were no noticeable marks on the floorboards, but as I pushed a coin between the gaps, one of the wooden planks that composed the floor lifted up.
There wasn’t enough space to fit a large item. But there was definitely enough space to store Marmaros of various types.
“……”
Indeed. The Marmaros were sorted by element.
I didn’t find anything as ridiculous as the items I pulled out from the sewer boxes, but… when combined with a magic wand, they were enough to kill a person.
Looking at it this way, it was quite chilling.
In the original story, Mia Crowfield was portrayed as someone who secretly brought these in for her research due to her strong interest in magic… but in this world, she was starting at the academy as if she were taking her father’s enemies. It wouldn’t seem strange if she had collected them to seek revenge if she had the chance.
Moreover, the real problem wasn’t the Marmaros.
Next to the neatly arranged Marmaros, there was a small pistol.
It was a small gun that seemed rather unsuitable for serious combat, like the revolver I used. With a break-action design, it could hold one round of relatively large caliber ammunition in the two barrels that run parallel to each other. Strictly speaking, it was closer to a self-defense weapon.
But even if it was for self-defense, as long as you hit the rounds in properly, it was more than enough to kill a person.
“……”
I took the gun into my hand. It felt quite heavy for its small size. Well, it was practically a hunk of metal.
As I broke the barrel downward, I noticed two rounds already loaded inside.
There were no extras.
Had she judged that she could kill two people for sure, or had she thought there wouldn’t be time to reload even if extra rounds were available?
Or was she thinking of using one round for one person and the other somewhere else?
Click.
As I closed the barrel back up, the gun made a small sound.
It was a weapon that didn’t suit the original Mia Crowfield.
Well, then again, that might just be my prejudice. In the original story, it was possible to equip weapons other than the main weapon that each character used. But this is not a game; this is reality.
Sleeves, pockets… if you can hide it, sneaking in a small firearm wouldn’t be hard at all. It wasn’t even the age of metal detectors yet.
I crawled out from under the bed, still holding the gun.
I dusted off my clothes and sat myself on the edge of the bed.
And while holding that gun, I quietly waited for Mia Crowfield to return.
*
I was scared to go in.
Mia thought this as she stood in front of her room door.
Last weekend, she had been questioning how an assassin could be so careless while following Sylvia Fanggriffon.
But upon reflection, it seemed a bit odd.
It didn’t make sense that Sylvia Fanggriffon, who showed such a cool and collected face in front of everyone, would behave just like any other girl when there was no one around.
After all, wouldn’t she be gaining nothing?
Playing the part of a cold and calculating assassin would only raise unnecessary suspicions amongst those around her. If she really wanted to kill someone and assert her innocence, she wouldn’t have engaged in such “assassin-like” behavior in the first place.
Instead, she would have acted as a warm and friendly person, building relationships, and then gracefully slipping away with the help of others’ eyes and words when she sensed that her true self might be exposed.
That’s why Mia couldn’t understand.
What if Sylvia Fanggriffon knew that Mia was following her? Maybe she was deliberately acting to confuse Mia’s thoughts.
That seemed more plausible.
And so, Mia avoided making eye contact with Sylvia Fanggriffon all week. She had been acting like this until the weekend approached, so perhaps Sylvia had noticed something.
That was why she had begun taking action this morning.
The area around the academy was a residential district. And ever since the Industrial Revolution, all the housing buildings that had sprung up were narrow. When going up the stairs, if one person stood, the staircase was nearly blocked. If two people met from opposite sides, one would have to step up a few steps to give way in order to pass.
Sylvia Fanggriffon had gone up to the rooftop of such a building. A place Mia could not follow without getting caught, one that was very narrow.
The rooftop itself was probably not wide either.
If Mia took a little time before venturing up, there was no way she could avoid encountering Sylvia Fanggriffon up there.
And Sylvia had waited there until sunset.
Like a spider waiting with its web for prey to entangle itself.
Mia couldn’t bring herself to go up there.
After waiting for quite a while, Sylvia Fanggriffon casually came down from the building with a nonchalant expression.
She walked proudly toward the dormitory as if no one was following her.
…And with an equally indifferent expression, she slipped through Mia’s door.
Though it was set up so that the door would auto-lock if someone sneaked in.
However, if she opened that door and went in, this time Mia would be trapped in the same place as Sylvia Fanggriffon.
Even so, this was still a student dormitory.
Would Sylvia really try to kill Mia inside?
No, if it was Sylvia Fanggriffon, it wouldn’t be strange if she knew how to persuade someone without killing them.
“……”
Mia hesitated in front of the door to her room for quite some time before finally steeling herself.
Alright.
If Sylvia Fanggriffon wants a one-on-one encounter with me, then let’s give her one.
Even if I die, I’ll die honorably under the name of Crowfield.
Taking a few deep breaths, Mia pulled the Marmaros from her pocket.
Click.
She placed it against the door and unlocked it, then opened it straight away—
—Inside was Sylvia Fanggriffon, sitting on Mia’s bed and casually fiddling with the pistol she had kept hidden, waiting.
Mia almost fainted on the spot.