Episode 111

On the black canvas, a line of text was roughly scrawled in bright red dye.

“An… ancient language?!”

Seeing the scene beneath the painting, I gasped and turned to Edwin in shock.

“This is…”

He, too, seemed quite startled, staring intently at the painting with a hardened expression.

‘I thought they were just looking for some kind of dictionary when they said they were searching for ancient writing…’

I never imagined such text would actually be hidden somewhere.

“Do you know what it says?”

At my question, Edwin, who had been staring blankly at the painting, suddenly turned to look at me.

For a brief moment, his golden eyes, locked onto mine, wavered.

“…No.”

After gazing at me with an unreadable expression for a while, he shook his head.

“I don’t really know. Do you?”

“Nope. Of course, I don’t.”

At my words, Edwin let out a small chuckle.

“Still, you recognized that it was an ancient language.”

‘Hey! I actually know more about this stuff than you do!’

I bristled at his comment but bit my tongue.

After all, it would be ridiculous for a five-year-old, who could barely write properly, to claim they knew an ancient language.

Of course, I only recognized its appearance—I couldn’t actually read or write it.

Not knowing what the words on the canvas meant was frustrating.

‘If I had known this would happen, I would’ve studied ancient languages with Diana in my past life.’

As I stared up at the strange, worm-like letters, regret filled me. Then, all of a sudden, a chill ran down my spine, making me shudder.

The more I thought about it, the eerier it became.

Ancient writing, hidden beneath a heretical painting?

‘Why the hell would someone hide something like this here… so ominous.’

As I turned back to the canvas with a wary gaze, a memory suddenly resurfaced—

The time I was trapped in the Chamber of Repentance.

The strange symbols drawn in red dye all over the floors, walls, and ceiling.

The whispers of an ancient language murmuring through the suffocating darkness.

For some reason, looking at the ancient text on the canvas brought back that exact same spine-chilling fear.

‘…Could Logan be a heretic?’

Just hiding ancient writing wasn’t enough proof, so it was too early to jump to conclusions.

But the mere fact that he displayed a painting of a goddess losing to a demon? That alone set him far apart from any devout believer.

Yet, assuming he was a heretic raised too many questions.

‘Dunkeski too? Even Magnus?’

If Logan, a temple spy, was truly a heretic, then everyone associated with him would be involved as well.

And not just any priests—if even a high priest was part of a heretical faction, it would be a truly shocking revelation.

Moreover.

‘…Diana?’

According to Ismail, heretics who worship demons used violet-colored dark magic.

But when I tried applying that to Diana, a hollow laugh escaped me.

‘The holy maiden of a saintess story… a demon worshiper? Does that even make sense?’

Leaving the original story aside, Diana had healing powers.

I had never heard of a dark magician who worshiped demons pretending to be a saintess and going around healing people.

‘…I don’t know.’

A fleeting memory of the violet light that once burst from Diana’s hands resurfaced in my mind.

But too much time had passed—I wasn’t even sure if what I saw had been real.

Had I truly witnessed it?

Since it was such a brief moment, I couldn’t be completely certain that my subconscious hadn’t projected something.

Logan, the heretics, the unknown forces lurking within the temple…

Everything was full of uncertainties.

“…Now what do we do?”

Before I knew it, those words slipped from my lips, carried by the overwhelming frustration welling up inside me.

“What do you mean, ‘what do we do’?”

A dry voice suddenly sounded beside me.

Startled, I snapped my head up to see Edwin, who had already shifted his gaze away from the ancient text, calmly summarizing the situation.

“For now, let’s clean this up and get out of here. We’ve made a mess.”

“Gasp!”

Following his gaze downward, I saw the floor in utter chaos, covered in shredded paper.

‘This… this is basically announcing that we ransacked the place.’

Seeing the tattered remains of the fake painting, I felt a wave of despair.

Any hope of a perfect crime was now gone.

Logan would realize the moment he returned that someone had broken into his room and tampered with the painting.

Since things had already reached this point, the best course of action was to take Edwin’s advice and escape before the owner of the room came back.

“I’ll put the chair back, so you gather up the shredded pieces into one pile.”

“Okay, got it!”

“Don’t throw them away. I’m taking them with me.”

I was nodding enthusiastically when Edwin’s additional remark made me pause in admiration.

I had assumed that the fake painting, torn into such tiny pieces, would be useless as evidence to prove Logan was a temple spy.

But Edwin planned to take the scraps and piece them back together like a puzzle.

‘I’m so glad Edwin is here.’

At first, his sudden appearance had been overwhelming and burdensome.

But if he hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have even found the ancient text hidden behind the painting. I would’ve left empty-handed.

Feeling warmth bloom in my chest, I crouched down to follow Edwin’s instructions.

Whoooosh—!

Suddenly, a violent gust of wind swept through the room.

Then—

BANG!

Logan’s door, which had been slightly ajar due to Edwin’s entrance, slammed shut with force.

I didn’t even have time to be surprised.

Screeech, thunk! Clack.

The window I had opened also moved on its own, slamming shut, and even locking itself in place.

“T-the door…”

Stammering in shock, I sprang to my feet and rushed toward it.

Clack, clack.

No matter how many times I turned the doorknob, the door wouldn’t budge.

“E-Edwin! The door won’t open!”

“…The window either.”

The moment he placed the chair back behind the desk, he walked over to the closed window and gave it a shake.

“…Looks like the room’s been sealed.”

“S-Sealed?!”

“Yeah. It seems like there’s some sort of magic set up so that when the painting is touched, the door locks automatically…”

‘Magic?’

Edwin’s words made my eyes widen in shock.

Ever since the religious war, unnatural powers like magic had been rarely used.

At most, they were employed in high-grade weapons or transportation devices for convenience.

But they were so expensive that someone like Logan, a mere commoner, could never afford them on his salary.

Besides, as far as I knew, the duke’s estate was built on sacred ground, just like the temple. Any power aside from divine energy wouldn’t function properly here.

This was also why medicinal herbs like Fairy Herb thrived unusually well in this land.

Yet, deep within such sacred ground, there was a magical seal?

It wasn’t something just anyone could pull off.

‘Could Logan be… a dark magician?’

As the unpleasant realization sank in, I stiffened.

Meanwhile, Edwin moved around the room, searching for any possible escape route.

But in a room where the door and windows were all tightly locked, there was no way out.

A sense of dread crept over me.

“A-Are we… stuck in here?”

“Unless we get caught, yeah.”

With those words, Edwin returned to where I was standing and suddenly lifted the chair he had just set down.

Then, with all his strength, he hurled it at the window.

CRASH! THUD!

Despite the loud impact, the glass remained completely intact.

Not only had the room been locked, but it had also been reinforced to prevent any escape.

We were officially trapped.

Panicking, I glanced at the clock to check the remaining time.

We still had about ten minutes left before the one-hour minimum time limit was up.

That meant we had to find a way out within the next ten minutes.

But—

Neighhh—

Before we could even start looking, a faint sound of a horse’s cry echoed from a distance.

A carriage was pulling into the estate.

There was only one person who could be arriving at this hour.

‘Why is he back so soon?’

My heart plummeted at the realization. Logan had returned much earlier than expected.

“W-What do we do, Edwin?! Logan’s back…!”

I shouted frantically at Edwin.

If he had heard the carriage as well, he didn’t show it. Instead of picking up the chair he had thrown, he simply approached me.

“Come here, Belze.”

He grabbed my arm firmly and pulled me along.

“W-What about the trash on the floor?”

“Leave it. If anything, he might think a thief broke in and rush out.”

That made sense.

Nodding quickly, I followed as Edwin strode to the wardrobe beside the bed.

He flung open the door, then lifted me up and shoved me inside before climbing in himself.

I was utterly bewildered by his actions.

“C-Can we really hide in here?”

“It’s better than standing in the middle of the room like an idiot and running into him head-on.”

That was true. Begrudgingly, I shut my mouth.

Creeeak.

At last, the wardrobe door closed, and complete darkness swallowed us whole.

Thump. Thump.

A heartbeat—whose, I couldn’t tell—echoed in my ears.

Right now, all we could do was hope that Edwin was right, and that Logan, upon seeing the ransacked room, would immediately run out to alert someone.

‘If that happens, we can sneak out.’

Step. Step.

Before long, faint footsteps reached my ears.

Whether it was because of my nervousness or something else, they felt even louder than when Edwin had approached me earlier.

Step. Step. Step. Step.

The footsteps quickened, almost as if the person was running.

Despite silently praying for him not to come this way, the sound came to an abrupt stop—right in front of Logan’s door.

Moments later—

Clack. Creak—

The door, which had been locked tight, swung open without any sign of it being manually unlocked.

Then—

“…Hah. You really wrecked my room, huh?”

A soft chuckle, tinged with amusement, accompanied the low voice of the room’s owner.

I had expected Logan to be furious.

Or, at the very least, shocked enough to run outside.

But he did neither.

Click.

Instead, the sound of the door closing echoed through the room.

He had stepped fully inside.

“There’s no way they got out of the room…”

“…”

“Well then, let’s see where the little rats are hiding.”

And with that, he began humming a tune.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are~”

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