Chapter 89: Progress

That forest looked normal at first glance, and anyone without my senses would think the same. But if there was one thing that forest wasn’t, it was normal.

Mana traces floated in the air, and not ordinary mana, but one with a darker energy. I knew what that was, since one of my teachers back at the academy had mentioned it once. Necromancy. Or other dark-related arts.

Some people awakened powers related to those things, and because of it, their mana nature changed, taking on this darker aspect.

But who could it be? No one I had seen in the mansion had that kind of mana. The landlord, maybe? No, he looked fine too, and according to the file Zoen gave me, the man didn’t have a powerful ability, and it wasn’t even related to the dark arts.

The only way to find out more was to follow the mana traces, so that’s what I did, going deeper into the forest inside the courtyard.

Eventually, I reached the end of it and hit the wall surrounding the mansion. However, the mana traces went past that wall, to the outside. I crouched and pulled some of the vegetation aside, only to find a hole.

The wall had a hole, and not just an ordinary one in the construction itself, but in the protective barrier around the mansion too! This meant that, even though the mansion was ’locked’ and no one could leave, someone could slip through that gap.

This changed everything. The killer didn’t even need to be someone living in the mansion. They could be someone from the outside.

I thought about going back to report this to Robert, but didn’t. Instead, I crouched and passed through the hole, still following the mana traces.

The trail took me through the forest, basically the same one but now outside the mansion’s walls, and then it suddenly stopped. The mana traces were all condensed above something. It had to be a trapdoor, for sure.

I went to check, and sure enough, hidden among the vegetation was a trapdoor, sealed by some powerful artifact or ability, with a keyhole on it. Without the key, there was no way to open it.

But what about destroying the area around it? Maybe that could work, though the chances were practically null. No fucking way they hadn’t thought about that.

I tried attacking the ground, using my strength and my cube to break it. Nothing worked. The barrier protecting the trapdoor was so powerful that it extended to the areas around it. No point in wasting my time trying to open that shit.

Without clues or anywhere else to go, I returned to the mansion and called Robert for a private talk about my findings. He was quite shocked, pacing from side to side inside the room with his hand on his chin, then on his neck, scratching it to fend off the anxiety.

"This trapdoor must lead somewhere underground. Maybe even under the mansion..."

"Do you know if this place has a basement like that? One that not even the employees can enter?"

"No, not at all. I have worked here for years, exploring every nook and corner of this place, yet I never found anything like what you’re describing. But tell me, Harry, could the killer be from the outside?"

With the hole in the barrier, Robert wasn’t crazy to think that, but I didn’t believe that was the case. I firmly believed the killer was someone living in the mansion with us, someone who left during the night to go through that trapdoor, and unfortunately, the guard and the maiden saw strange movements and died because of it.

This was my theory, and it matched what Robert had told me.

"Maybe there’s something underneath the mansion, but to keep the employees from finding it, there’s no entrance. The only way in is through the trapdoor OUTSIDE the mansion."

"Makes perfect sense. But who left through that hole? Did you see anyone strange? I mean, your cabin is the only thing near that area. Everyone else is inside the mansion, except for the guards patrolling the courtyard."

"It could be anyone," I said, staring through the window at the guards patrolling outside. "The person responsible for this is certainly way more capable than we give them credit for. Skilled enough to kill without getting caught, hide their powers, and slip past all the guards patrolling outside."

I turned around to face Robert. "Do you have someone this capable working for you?"

"No, and that’s what makes this even stranger... Look, Harry, I have an idea."

"I’m all ears."

Robert came up with something clever to help me find out who the culprit might be. He talked to all the staff members and organized a special dinner outside, as an attempt to honor the dead.

Some didn’t like the idea of celebrating right after someone was murdered, but they were easily convinced when Robert mentioned the good food and drinks, as well as not having to work the next day. It wasn’t every day they got free time, so that was enticing.

The idea behind the plan was to get everyone out of the mansion, busy with cooking and organizing things outside, while I, with the master key Robert gave me, searched everyone’s rooms. He also gave me a map showing where each employee slept.

"If there’s a key to that trapdoor, then they must have hidden it inside their room. At least I hope so..."

Robert worked hard the entire day building a temporary kitchen outside, bringing all the ingredients they would use for dinner, to make sure none of the chefs had to enter the mansion.

The maidens were in charge of preparing the area outside, setting up the tables, the utensils, and so on.

I didn’t leave the mansion. Some staff members were asking about me outside, and I could hear them from the second floor with my enhanced hearing.

"Where’s Harry?" Joyce asked Robert. "I thought he would participate in this. You know, considering he just got released from the cell you put him in by mistake."

Her tone was quite aggressive. She really was pissed that Robert had put me in jail.

"He’s off resting," Robert said, kindly placing his hands on Joyce’s arms. "I’m so sorry. It was a mistake. Harry is innocent."

His voice was soft, and with his older looks, grey hair and frail body, Joyce couldn’t stay angry at him.

"I’m so sorry for my rude tone."

I paid close attention to what was happening outside, trying to see if any of the employees was acting weird. But no, everyone looked fine, and no one had dark energy around them. The killer was good at hiding, I had to admit.

Once night came and the lights inside the mansion were dim, almost non-existent, I made my move. Everyone was starting to eat outside, and not just eat, but drink alcohol too. I had a few hours to search everyone’s room. The mansion was big, sure, but that was enough time.

I started with the rooms in the area where both the guard and the maiden died. They worked there, but only the maiden had a room in that area. The guard lived outside, in a building made specifically for the people in charge of the mansion’s security.

The first room I tried to open was locked, of course. I took the master key from my pocket and opened it.

At first glance, it was a normal-looking room, with a single bed pushed against the wall, right in the corner, a tiny window that didn’t open fully, and a wardrobe to store clothes and other items. A desk with a chair to sit and think about life, maybe read a book.

Nothing else. Those were the only things inside the room. I started searching everywhere, doing my best not to make it look like the place had been searched.

I checked inside the wardrobe, under the bed, looking for hidden passages in the wardrobe or fake floor tiles. Nothing weird.

When I was going through one of the drawers and picked up a red pantie that belonged to one of the maidens, I thought how weird it was to be looking through that stuff, but it was necessary.

After the first one, I moved to the next, and the next, following the map Robert gave me. In total, there were around 30 rooms inside the mansion for me to search, plus the building where the guards lived.

But I didn’t need to search the security building, no. Inside the 22nd room I visited, I found something. Not the key, but the same mana trace I had found in that forest.

It had to be the room where the killer lived, or at least a room that the killer visited at some point. Either way, this place must have clues that I needed.

I searched through every corner of it, doing my best to find anything useful. However, even after searching for 30 minutes straight, I found nothing...

Then, footsteps. Coming from the corridor toward the room I was in.