Chapter 86
Cynthia swallowed dryly. What on earth did he want? With her mind seized by fear and confusion, she simply couldn’t come up with the right answer.
With a trembling face, she tried to select that choice, but suddenly a message popped up as if cutting in swiftly.
4- While Segleninde is washing up, briefly go outside and check the Third Floor Atelier. (This choice costs two strands of hair.)
“……”
Cynthia, swallowing hard, glanced nervously at the choices hidden behind the new one, then selected the hidden choice.
With that, all other choices vanished, and a stinging sensation pricked her scalp.
This was likely a choice offered by the teddy bear that had promised to help her. Did that mean she absolutely had to go there?
The sound of water from the bathroom continued uninterrupted. Cynthia, making as little noise as possible, headed for the door—then paused. She looked toward the bathroom and spoke.
“Alright. Next time things get dangerous, I’ll definitely call for you. And… I trust you, Sellie. Always.”
She could say that much without even needing a choice prompt.
The sound of water briefly quieted. Cynthia hurried out before he could come out of the bathroom.
She hadn’t noticed it when she entered the third-floor rest point, but there was a music box placed beside the door. Cynthia, listening carefully to the sounds inside, quickly placed her hand on the music box and saved her position.
Saved at Third Floor Master Bedroom.
As it happened, this was the very master bedroom Segleninde had mentioned before.
Instead of reminiscing about her memories with him, Cynthia headed toward the atelier. Whether Segleninde had really killed all the third-floor creatures or not, she roamed the three corridors radiating from the central hall for quite some time, but not a single creature appeared.
Only the Ghost Rats were occasionally visible. Cynthia tamed all the Ghost Rats on the third floor by feeding one of them mouse bait, thereby bringing all Ghost Rats in the mansion to her side.
Effect: On all floors of the manor, Ghost Rat attacks against you are weakened. Condition: Tame all Ghost Rats in the mansion from the First to the Third Floor.
Since the third floor was so vast, Cynthia had the rats search for the atelier.
While the rats scattered busily about, Cynthia took the teddy bear out of her inventory.
“Why are you telling me to go to the atelier? More importantly, can you even intervene in my choices?”
[And as for the atelier, there’s something there you’ll need.] [You bought the map in your inventory from the merchant, right?] [Burn it in the fireplace over there. That map is a fake.]
“…A fake?”
[If you keep the fake map, Segleninde can immediately track your location anywhere. Not only that, he can even move your location at will.]
The more she listened, the more outrageous it sounded. That meant even the suspicious move to the second-floor rest point earlier could have been Segleninde’s doing.
Cynthia, wary that even this thought could be read by Segleninde, acted at once.
She threw the map into the fireplace in a corner of the hall, and the map turned into a pure white flower and burned up.
Gazing at the flickering flames for a while, Cynthia suddenly asked the teddy bear,
“…Can I really trust you?”
[I have no intent to harm you, nor any reason to.] [Of course, I understand if you don’t trust me. I showed up out of nowhere and started spouting shocking things. It’s natural to be suspicious.]
The teddy bear spoke calmly, with an unusually serious expression.
[A long time ago, before you ever came here, I was one of the guests invited to this mansion.]
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