Souta found that something strange was happening inside the dukeâs mansion. The people that were guarding the dukeâs mansion could be counted in two hands. This place should have the tightest security in this dukedom. So why? He could only think of one reason.
That was the people that were guarding the dukeâs mansion were the most loyal subordinate of the duke or else the duke wouldnât let them guard here. As thereâs a possibility that the guard will discover his secret. Thatâs why the duke didnât let anyone guard this mansion.
"If itâs like this... Itâs easy to sneak inside." Souta said in a low voice. Itâs not that heâs complaining. Thatâs to this, it made his work easy than he thought.
He suddenly stopped as he saw that the soul he got in his earring increased. It increased by two souls. It seems that someone died right now. If he turned back now and roam around the dukedom. Thereâs a possibility that he will find the culprit.
âShould I go back or not?â He pondered what he should. It was then that Sayaâs voice sounded in his head.
âYouâre here so you should finish what you have to do first. Also, the chances of you finding the culprit in this huge place is left than fifty percent.â
Souta looked over and saw the guards were gone. Itâs time to proceed forward.
Souta stood up and swiftly went beside the dukeâs mansion. He looked up and saw the window on the second floor of the mansion was open.
He climbed up and when he saw that thereâs no person inside, he entered the room through the window.
"Whatâs with this room?" Souta muttered as he looked around the room.
The room looks normal. It has a simple bed and a table on the side but the interior design of the room was exquisite. As expected of the dukeâs mansion. Different books were neatly arranged in the corner of the room.
Souta walked towards the table and placed his finger on top of his. The dust was already formed on top of the table.
"Did they forget to clean this room?" Souta muttered a question. He didnât think that anyone would forget to clean this room.
He stretched out his hand and picked up a notebook on the side of the table. Souta patted the dust on it before he opened it.
"Iâm Soraya, a maid inside the dukeâs mansion. The maid here has different roles and my role is to take care of the dukeâs children. I like this job of mine as the children are kind and understanding."
Souta found that this was the diary of a maid that took care of the dukeâs children. He continued to read the rest.
"Today, I felt that something changed in this place. The duke got a sickness and the rest of his family. Of course, they didnât let the people know this. Only the maids and some of the guards knew the condition of the duke and his family.
"All of them are showing the same symptoms. The dukeâs personal doctor checked the condition of the duke and his family.
"And the result was stunning... The doctor said that he didnât know the disease of the duke and his family. The doctor hasnât encountered this type of disease for the rest of his life. Even the healing spell didnât show any effect.
"Some of the maids like me showed an expression that they will leave the dukeâs mansion. They are afraid that they will catch the same disease. They donât have money so itâs natural to feel that way. Me too, I wanted to leave this place but Iâm concerned about the well-being of the children."
Disease? Souta read it once again and didnât say anything about the symptoms of the disease. In the end, she was just an ordinary maid and didnât have much knowledge of the dukeâs disease. Thatâs the reason why she didnât bother herself taking it down in her diary.
âNext page... I think I have an idea about it.â Souta heard Sayaâs voice in his mind. He turned to the next page and continued to read the diary along with Saya.
"Today, a miracle happened. The duke and his family recovered from their illness. It was so sudden that they could already walk and talked like a normal person. Everyone was happy for them including me.
"Today, Iâve received a news that some of the people in the dukedom were killed. All of their internal organs were gone. I got scared when I received this piece of news but then I remembered that Iâm in the safest place in this dukedom so I donât have to worry about myself. Iâm sure that all the guards were going to capture the perpetrator in no time."
Souta frowned when he read this passage. It seems that the killings in this dukedom werenât ordinary. The internal organs of the people that died were gone. No sane person will do this. Even Souta will not do this to the person that he killed.
He will not hesitate to kill his enemy but taking their internal organs and using them for some kind of ritual. Thatâs insane.
âYouâre disgusting you know. What you did to the people that you kill was even worse than this. Youâre taking all of their soul and preventing to live another life. Thatâs the worse for me. Youâre sending them into oblivion.â Sayaâs voice sounded in his mind.
Souta ignored her and he continued to read the diary.
"Today, some of the maids that stayed here left the mansion. I donât know why. They just suddenly leave without telling anyone. At the same time, the killings in the dukedom appeared in my mind.
"Today is the dukeâs first wifeâs birthday. The maids were preparing for a banquet. Everyone should be happy on this occasion but I found that they all have the same plain face. They donât show any emotion including the dukeâs children. Itâs weird.
"Itâs weird... Everything is weird. I donât want to stay here anymore. Right now, only five maids were working here in the dukeâs mansion. The rest of the maids were gone and I didnât even hear anything about them. Itâs impossible for them, including my roommate, to leave without saying anything.
"Iâm going to leave this place... Actually, I found the dukeâs wife eating my roommate in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the mansion. It scared me. Even now while writing this I couldnât get that thing out of my mind... Iâm packing up my things and will leave this place tonight."
The diary ends in that passage.
Souta closed the notebook and placed it back on top of the table.
"Soraya, thanks for the information." He muttered in a low voice and thought that the maid was dead. If she knew that, thereâs no way that the duke will let her leave this place. The same must be said from the rest of the maids here.
They were all dead.
But Souta gained a lot of information from this diary.
The guards hid the thing that all people that died in the killings didnât have any internal organ at all. They were brutally killed.
"So why are they taking put all the internal organs? Also, why the made vanished in this mansion." Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. He then recalled something that he read in the diary.
The bas.e.m.e.nt. The place where the maid saw the dukeâs wife eating her roommate.
Souta walked towards the door and he decided to know everything now that heâs here in the duke mansion. Everything will come into light as long as he discovered the key information in these killings.
He placed his ear on the door and tried to sense if there were people in the hallway. After making sure that no one was in the hallway, Souta opened the door and exited the maidâs room.
This mansion looked deserted. It feels different inside than outside the mansion. The atmosphere here was chilly.
Souta stopped on his track as he felt the ground slightly shake. If he wasnât focusing on his surroundings, Souta wouldnât be able to sense it at all.
He frowned and looked outside the window. He guessed that the tremors came in the underground and the cause of it was his party members.
"It seems that something is hiding there in the ground," Souta muttered and he shook his head. He ignored the tremor in the ground and focused on the task in front of him.
...
Souta checked all the rooms on the second floor. He discovered that all the rooms here were abandoned for a long time now. No one was living here on the second floor of the dukeâs mansion.
He went downstairs and checked the first floor of the mansion. This place was the same as the second floor. Thereâs no sign of people living here except for the two rooms.
The dukeâs room and the wifeâs room.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Also, the children that were mentioned in the diary. Souta couldnât find them at all.