Chapter 253

Something strange? Ceres tilted her head to the side at the Duke of Schweiz’s out-of-the-blue remark.

Picking things up is usually my specialty, though.

“It was lying near your house, and I thought I should probably give it to you.”

“What is it?”

What could have been lying near her house? But, sir? Did you stop by our house first instead of coming straight to the Academy?

“Would you like to see?”

Curious about what the Duke of Schweiz had picked up, Ceres nodded immediately without any particular hesitation.

“Follow me.”

...You said you picked it up on the way here, but you can’t show it to me right now?

Halt.

The Duke of Schweiz, who had been heading toward the carriage, suddenly stopped as though something had occurred to him. He gave a brief order to the aide waiting in front of the carriage.

“You go on ahead.”

“......? Understood.”

Why aren’t you getting in the carriage? Though puzzled, the aide bowed without asking any further questions.

“Let’s use a teleportation scroll. The carriage is rather stuffy.”

“.......”

...You rode in it just fine on the way here.

A faint smile appeared on Ceres’s face at the Duke of Schweiz’s words. He had probably learned that she couldn’t ride in carriages.

‘But where are we going?’

Why did they need to use a teleportation scroll?

* * *

“This way.”

A short while later, the place Ceres arrived at after following the Duke of Schweiz was the ducal residence located in the capital.

‘...Underground?’

And the place he subsequently led her to was neither his office nor anywhere in the main residence, but a separate underground space beneath an annex.

She had visited the ducal residence several times before, but this was her first time seeing a place like this.

‘What is this?’

After descending deep into the underground space, the Duke of Schweiz finally stopped in front of a large door. What puzzled her was that the door had a padlock on it.

‘Just what in the world did you pick up?’

Had he actually locked it behind a door and kept it in a place like this? The more time passed, the more puzzled Ceres became.

Click.

After unlocking the padlock, the Duke of Schweiz opened the door and stepped inside first, briefly surveying the room.

Only after checking something did he move aside, allowing Ceres to enter as well.

“...Huh?”

As Ceres stepped into the room in the underground space, her eyes gradually widened.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about the room itself. If anything, it felt rather bare.

However, there was a bed against one side of the room, and someone was lying on it.

And Ceres recognized the person. She hadn’t realized who it was immediately because his glasses had been removed, but.......

“Teacher Daniel?”

It was none other than Teacher Daniel, who hadn’t been coming to the Academy lately.