“I know the value of these items, and I don’t think 1 gold is fair. I’ll be going now.”
“W-Wait a moment!”
The pawnshop owner hastily grabbed me. With an awkward smile, he said, “Huff, I was just joking… How about 3 gold?”
“I’ll be going now.”
This guy, really! I know these are worth more than 5 gold…!
I refused to deal with a shop that lacked integrity. Shaking off the owner, I headed to another pawnshop.
“Phew…”
After visiting two more shops, I finally found one that paid a fair price, and I sold the items there. Now, I held a hefty sum of 5 gold and 30 silver in my hands. Yes, at this rate, I’ll be able to escape soon. But if Isaac keeps holding onto me at night, that might be difficult too…
As I pondered what to do, I moved on to my next destination. Since I was already out, there were many things I needed to take care of.
“Welcome. Are you here to buy a watch?”
“Ah, I’m here to get one fixed.”
My next stop was the watch shop. The shop, filled with all kinds of watches, felt like it was from another world.
“I’d like to get this watch fixed… It stopped working.”
I handed the watch I had kept to the shop owner. He examined it carefully before speaking.
“Hmm. Please wait a moment. I’ll open it up and let you know how long it will take.”
The elderly watchmaker began working on the pocket watch with his tools. I heard the sound of tinkering, and soon, he pushed his glasses up on his nose.
“It’s fixed. It wasn’t anything serious.”
“Wow, really? Thank you so much!”
“That’ll be 5 silver.”
After paying him, I took the pocket watch and left.
I wonder how much it’s worth now…? With a pounding heart, I checked the item information.
[Pocket Watch: A luxurious pocket watch with a special aura. Made of silver. An event will occur when certain conditions are met. Price: 10 gold.]
I was surprised by its higher-than-expected price. But at the same time, the item description caught my eye.
An event will occur under certain conditions?
“So it’s a special item…”
It was strange. This kind of item wasn’t in the original game, so why is it here?
Come to think of it, there was talk about a hidden item for unlocking the hidden ending. Could this be that item?
It was a shame, but since it was a special item, I couldn’t sell it easily. I decided to keep it for now.
As I was leaving the shop, I suddenly noticed a confectionery shop. Since I was out, I might as well do some shopping.
When I went inside, I saw various kinds of sweets. I decided to buy some to share with the maids. While picking out the sweets, I suddenly noticed jam cookies. These were Isaac’s favorites… Since he saved my life yesterday, maybe I should buy some for him.
After purchasing the sweets, I stepped outside.
“Hmm… the time…”
The pocket watch was now working perfectly. Although I wanted to rest, I had another appointment. I headed to the café where I had arranged to meet Lian. As I entered the café, I spotted familiar red hair in the distance. There were still ten minutes left until the appointed time, but he had arrived early. I wondered if he would recognize me.
I approached hesitantly and spoke. “Um… Lian, right?”
“Yes, I’m Lian…” Lian stared at me for a moment, looking bewildered. “Mia?”
“Yes, it’s me, Mia.”
He seemed quite surprised. Well, it was understandable to be shocked if a cat turned into a person.
After ordering our drinks, we sat down and faced each other. Lian looked at me for a moment before averting his gaze.
“It’s really amazing to meet you in human form. It must be hard staying as a cat at night.”
“A little.”
If I were in human form at night, investigating would be easier, but being a cat had its advantages too. It was easier to hide.
Meanwhile, Lian was fidgeting with his teacup, unable to meet my eyes.
Why is he acting like this?
“Sorry, am I making you uncomfortable? You keep avoiding my eyes.”
“N-No. It’s not that… It’s just…”
I noticed Lian’s ears turning red.
He rubbed his neck and said, “Actually, I didn’t expect you to be this beautiful…”
[Lian’s affection has increased by 10.]
[Current Lian’s affection: 18]
This guy is weak to good appearances, huh? Well, my face is pretty, after all. The protagonist sure has a keen eye.
I sipped my milk tea, feeling pleased. “Thanks. By the way, I don’t think we’ve properly introduced ourselves…”
“Ah, right! My name is Lian Spielman. My job… well, I guess you could say I’m a detective.”
Of course, that’s just his official job. Lian is the second son of the Marquis Spielman, currently estranged from his family for some reasons.
“I work as a maid.”
“It must have been hard to find time to come out.”
“Yes. Today is my only day off.”
[Lian’s affection has increased by 2.]
[Current Lian’s affection: 20]
Huh? What part of what I said that he liked?
Lian’s affection is rising more easily than I expected. If only Isaac’s would go up this easily…
“I’ve taken up your day off.”
He joked and smiled softly. It seemed that using my day off was what increased his affection.
I chuckled and said, “That’s true. Thanks for inviting me. I didn’t want to stay at the mansion on my day off anyway.”
“Was it suffocating because of work?”
I almost mentioned Isaac without realizing it. That man you encounter at night is actually my master…
But I kept my mouth shut. I wasn’t sure how much I should tell Lian.
The original goal of this game was to investigate the Dias mansion alternately by day and night and eventually confront Isaac, the mastermind behind all this. And I knew that killing Isaac would end all of this.
Even though Isaac had killed me and I was afraid of him, I didn’t want him to die. Of course, I didn’t want to be constantly dragged into the night world either. I wanted to persuade Isaac to find another way. That’s why I decided to keep the fact that I was living with Isaac a secret. Instead, I brought up another topic.
“It’s just that the mansion feels a bit uncomfortable.”
“…I see. I understand.”
Lian’s home situation wasn’t great either. Though I knew about his circumstances and why he was brought here, I pretended not to know and asked, “By the way, why do we keep getting drawn into that strange mansion every night…?”
“I know, right? I think it has something to do with my sibling’s disappearance.”
“Your sibling disappeared?”
Pretending not to know while actually knowing is quite a task.
Lian looked troubled as he explained. “A little while ago, my younger sibling went missing. While searching my sibling’s room, I found a piece of paper with a strange symbol on it… And when investigating what it was, all this started happening.”
That symbol belongs to the demon worshippers. It was also the mark of the demon that Isaac and his father follow.
Anyone who comes into contact with items related to the demon is drawn into the mansion at night. And there, it absorbs people’s fear, terror, and despair, eventually taking their lives as a sacrifice. That’s the rough gist of it… but I still don’t understand why Isaac is in the mansion at night.
I looked at him, pretending not to know anything. “Could that symbol be related?”
“It seems like it. That’s why I’m investigating.”
This investigation leads to the truth of the Dias mansion. In the end, Isaac would be killed… Sigh, it’s complicated.
While I was lost in thought, Lian spoke up. “Come to think of it, that strange silver-haired guy seemed to know Mia… Do you know him?”
How should I respond here? For now, I thought it best to keep things about Isaac hidden.
“I don’t know him. I think he mistook me for a cat he used to raise.” I decided to tell a little lie here.
Lian looked at me with pity. “You must have had a hard time dealing with that madman…”
…Even though Isaac is crazy, it didn’t feel good to hear someone else call him that. But objectively speaking. Isaac is a lunatic.
I took a sip of my tea before speaking.
Happy New Year everyone!ヾ(´︶`♡)ﾉ
Feel bad for Mia and isaac😭
aw man, what if Isaac sent someone to spy on her? 😭 also, happy new year!
Thank you for translating this story!