Chapter 57

Chapter 57. The Baron’s House (2)

Crash!

Contrary to my expectation that the window would shatter easily, I was thrown back again with an explosive roar.

This was no illusion.

Unlike the rippling, shifting floor, the window itself had remained unchanged.

But from the window, along with the scent of mana, I could feel a powerful force and a strong rebounding pressure.

Come to think of it, the rising floor, the walls, and even the distorted corridor had all carried the same mana.

And that mana bore the same scent as the mana flowing from the girl laughing behind the wall.

“Wow, I almost let you get away. They said you were knight-class, but you’re even better than that!”

Her voice came from behind the wall. She sounded absolutely delighted.

“Amazing! I’ve never seen a child like this before. Can’t I make him mine?”

The way she spoke to the baron sounded like a little girl begging her father to buy her a toy.

But the baron’s answer was firm.

“No. Kill him.”

“What a waste....”

Bang! Bang!

Even while she was speaking, I kept trying with all my might to break through the window.

Prepared to reveal more than I should, I poured mana into my sword and tried to cut through the window, tried to break through the wall, and even tried to smash apart the rising floor blocking my path to her.

But none of it worked.

The window would not be cut. The hole I made in the wall closed back up again.

And new sections of floor kept rising behind the shattered floor, so I could not get even a step closer to her.

“You really are amazing. But struggling is useless. This house has been declared my domain—my kingdom. Inside it, no one can defeat me!”

So all this absurdity really was her ability.

Some kind of “domain declaration,” perhaps? It was absurdly powerful.

Just as she said, it looked difficult to either catch her or escape this place.

The once-normal floor rippled again, and the walls, ceiling, and every object in the room attacked me.

They even intercepted my sword, though it was wrapped in mana.

As she had said, this room—no, this whole estate—was moving as though it were her own body.

I had already been swallowed by her, and now I was no more than prey flailing about inside her body.

The sight of it made all the effort I had put in feel pointless, and for a moment I was at a loss for words, but I kept resisting until the end.

To be honest, it did not look like a fight I could win, and I had no intention of winning it here and now.

But I did not stop fighting.

I did not need to win this time. It was more important to leave proper information for the next life.

I needed to find out how powerful it was, and whether it had any weaknesses.

“You fight well, and you endure well too. But I have to listen to Father, so I think I’ll have to finish this now. I’m sorry.”

As she spoke, the mana filling the surroundings thickened.

The air grew heavy, and it became harder and harder to move.

Damn it, was it possible for her to control the air and gravity inside her domain too?

Then, with my ears straining under the pressure, I heard her declaration.

“This house is my kingdom. I am the ruler of this kingdom!”

Boom!

At the same instant, I collapsed to the floor. My limbs broke, and blood burst from my mouth.

It felt as though all my internal organs had ruptured.

A fatal blow.

‘Ah, so that’s how it works.’

But thanks to that, I understood her ability.

Even so, one question still remained.

“Cough, why... why are you trying to kill me? Don’t tell me the Duchess ordered you to kill me? B-but if I die here, the Duke will know... know everything.”

Lying on the floor, coughing up blood, I forced out the question.

Inside the room, now returned to normal, the daughter shrugged.

“That’s exactly what I said. A young master isn’t some peasant. If something like this happens, what does Father think will happen? It really doesn’t suit him to be this careless when he’s usually so meticulous.”

Judging by her expression, she really did not want to kill me, even now.

But despite her words, the baron stared down at me.

Then he came closer.

“Cover your ears.”

“Yes, yes.”

After ordering his daughter back, he knelt down beside me on one knee and whispered the reason for my death into my ear.

“What an absurd reason....”

I laughed hollowly as I looked at the baron.

At the same time, everything before me slowly darkened.

[You have died. Returning to the autosave point.]

---

“Allow me to show you to your room.”

When I opened my eyes again, it was just after we had encountered the travelers in the lobby the previous evening.

We were all walking behind a maid as she guided us to our rooms.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

A worried voice came from beside me.

“N-no.”

My body did not hurt, but the aftereffects of the pain I had suffered before dying were still lingering.

Phantom pain, I supposed.

But that was not the reason my expression was poor just now.

It was because of the girl who had spoken to me.

The smiling girl who had addressed me was the very same baron’s daughter who had killed me just moments before.

No, perhaps I should say who would kill me shortly.

It seemed my acting all this time had been no more than a child’s game.

She had clearly already been told to kill me, and yet she wore that expression.

If I had not known her true nature, neither I nor anyone else would have noticed a thing.

Her ability—to become nearly invincible within a certain area, though I still did not know the exact extent of that area—was terrifying enough, but what frightened me more now was her acting.

I did my best to appear calm as well, but there was no helping it when facing a professional.

After everyone else split off and we reached the room assigned to me, I spoke to the maid before she could leave.

“If I am not in my room during the night, there is no need to worry. Sometimes, when the bed feels unfamiliar, I often go out for a walk.”

In truth, I had never once done such a thing, but I needed a firm alibi.

“Ah, it would be best if you did not wander around at night if you can help it. There was... a time when monsters used to carry people away during the night....”

At my words, the maid answered cautiously, looking troubled.

“Monsters? But this estate lies right in the middle of the baron’s territory. It’s right beside the village too.”

It was not a city-level domain like House Gresia’s, but the baron’s estate still stood at the edge of a fairly large village.

“No, no. It happened before. The baron dealt with it using the soldiers, and since then, such things hardly happen anymore.”

“What kind of monsters were they?”

At my question, the maid shook her head.

“I never saw them myself. The baron only said he had taken care of it. But after that, people no longer went missing because of monsters.”

“And were there people who went missing for other reasons?”

At that, the maid pressed her lips shut.

Her expression answered for her.

“Do not worry. You’ve heard the stories, haven’t you? Even though I’m still young, I have the skill of a knight. If a monster appears, I’ll kill it.”

At my spirited declaration, the maid gave me an ambiguous smile.

It was difficult for her to believe the words of such a young boy, and equally difficult for her to openly deny the words of an awakened noble child, even if that child was an illegitimate son.

In the end, the maid accepted my words and left.

I stepped into the room and opened the window.

Creak.

Unlike before I died, the window opened easily.

“Well then, shall I wait for nightfall?”

Leaning against the windowsill, I gazed outside.

Far away, crimson sunset rolled over the low mountain ridges.

Watching the fading light, I thought back to the conversation from earlier.

Monsters that abducted people at night.

“So... the ‘monster’ is the baron’s daughter, isn’t it?”

Thinking of what I had heard from the baron and his daughter before dying, there could be no other conclusion.

“After gaining her ability, the baron’s daughter abused it recklessly, and as people kept disappearing, the baron stepped in to smooth everything over....”

Why had she abducted and killed people? Was she simply a murderer at heart? Or had there been some other reason?

The thought got that far before I shook my head.

At this point, the reason no longer mattered.

The baron and his daughter were my enemies, and as long as they were enemies, it was enough to deal with them properly.

Outside, it grew dark.

There were enough clouds that an ordinary person would have trouble making out the surroundings without a lamp.

After enhancing my sight with mana, I tapped the dagger at my waist and leaped out the window.

I had died last time by prowling around the estate in search of answers, so this time I intended to leave the estate altogether.

Tap.

Though I jumped from the second floor, only a very small sound followed.

I crossed the garden before the estate on a run.

It was laid out like a maze, but since I had already observed it from the window before dark, I was able to find the correct path and move quickly.

After crossing the garden in an instant, I climbed the not-insignificant wall blocking my way.

In my previous life, there might have been CCTV cameras or electrified fences, but here, the only thing atop the wall was a row of pointed iron spikes.

Once outside the estate, I circled widely around it and headed for the hill behind it.

I assumed the baron’s daughter’s ability applied only to the estate, but if the range was wider than expected and included the village as well, I would be in trouble.

It was a low hill, covered in nothing but grass.

But once I climbed it, I could see both the baron’s estate and the village at a glance.

It was night, full of stars now that the clouds had thinned.

Under that starlit sky, the noble estate and the village looked almost like a painting.

It was completely different from the night views of my previous life.

A faintly bitter feeling touched me, but I immediately came back to myself.

Now all that remained was to wait for time to pass.

I sat down on a low stone, laid the dagger across my knees, and watched the estate.

Time passed.

One by one, the lights in the windows went out, until both the estate and the whole village were swallowed by deep darkness.

This was the hour when I had died.

For a brief moment, I felt mana ripple throughout the entire estate.

If I had not experienced it yesterday, I would never have noticed it.

The mana began in the inner quarters—in other words, the room of the baron’s daughter, where I had died—then swept through the entire estate, and at last lingered over the place where my room was before disappearing.

“So she was checking.”

Just as I had feared, her entire estate lay within her domain.

It was a good thing I had slipped away in advance.

After that, it seemed that a brief commotion arose within the estate, but it died away quickly.

That was thanks to what I had told the maid earlier.

After that disturbance, the estate remained quiet until morning.

Bathed in the morning dew, I returned to the estate.

Avoiding the soldiers guarding the wall, I climbed back over it, crossed the maze-garden, and walked toward the main entrance of the estate.

Since they already knew I had not been in my room, it no longer mattered if I came in through the front entrance.

“Where in the world have you been all night?”

The baron’s daughter stood before the door, her face tired.

Apparently, she had been waiting there all night.

“Ah, the bed felt unfamiliar, so I spent the night training with my sword.”

I tapped the dagger hanging at my waist.

“The soldiers at the main gate said no one had left.”

“Ah, I did not wish to trouble the soldiers, so I slipped out quietly. You were worried. I’m sorry.”

“Haah... no. Well, I suppose it can’t be helped.”

She sighed. It was a sigh mixed with disappointment and relief.

Resting a hand against her forehead, she went in ahead of me.

Like every other noble household, mornings at the baron’s estate started rather late.