Chapter 1091 – Letter

000

Sometimes, I look back on my childhood.

This is me in my innocent days when I didn’t know anything.

When I was young, there were many things I wanted to become.

I wanted to become a novelist.

When I read many books, I was both the main character and heroine of that world, loved it, and enjoyed adventure.

I wanted to become a detective.

A hero-like person who finds mysteries and saves people in trouble.

I wanted to become a scientist.

I wanted to analyze the machines placed in the house, find out how they work, and create things that help people.

Every time I said I wanted to become something, my grandfather nodded and approved.

And, like joining in a child’s pranks, he participated in my role play.

When I, who couldn’t easily decide what I wanted to become, said I wanted to be a novelist, a detective, and a scientist.

He said he would become a reader, a criminal, and another evil scientist.

A small mystery play set in Descartes’ mansion.

My adventure to find the culprit of the disappearance of the snacks I had prepared for Kshat.

When I think about it now, I feel sorry for how many adults got caught up in a child’s immature story.

Conclusion reached by following clues-

‘Conclusive evidence’ that proves that my grandfather was the mastermind and culprit who planned all of this—

At the same time, when I found a ‘written note detailing every move of the crime’ addressed to me in his room.

What did I do?

001

It is from beginning to end.

It was a picture of Fleur that was packed in the album from the front page to the back page, without any gaps.

Various angles, various backgrounds, and various appearances.

Starting from when Fleur was so young that she had no memory of herself – up to relatively recent times, about a few months ago.

It could be said to be a collection of Fleur’s photos, taken day and night, from behind, from the side, from the front, from above.

Not only when wearing a gas mask, but also when taking off the gas mask.

Whether it is relatively rough clothing worn during daily life at home, or when it is outdoor clothing worn when walking down the street with Kshat.

Not only when I sit in front of my desk and read a book casually, but on the other hand, when I put on my pajamas and go into bed and lie down and read a book (although Kshat nags me when I see her like this)

There were so many photos that it was hard to tell how they were taken, and they were carefully stored there.

Of course, the technology of photography is not yet widely spread in this world, and Fleur is well aware that it is a technology that costs a considerable amount of money each time a photo is taken.

In other words, the moment I realized that the cost of this album was enough to build and tear down a noble house.

“Hi.”

Fleur felt goosebumps rising all over her body and dropped the album full of pictures of herself on the ground.

Sasha and Amelia were watching her from behind.

They were worried that if they entered, the cable would extend from above again, but they probably couldn’t stay still any longer when they saw Fleur’s strange appearance.

As she was, she stepped inside her room and approached Fleur to check her condition.

“Gwae, are you okay?”

“Uh, uhm… Yes, it’s okay. Just a little, she got goosebumps all over her body…”

Although the voice was so small that a mouse could crawl into it, Fleur answered Sasha like that.

“Kuon, Laila. Wake up. Kshat too.”

Then, Amelia uses her own magical power to use a weak recovery spell.

When the warm energy coming from her fingertips touches the three people’s bodies, the blocked breath will come back, and Lila will be the first to return.

“W-this place…?”

“Lila! Are you okay? This is Fleur’s grandfather’s room!”

When Sasha turned to Lila and called her name in a loud voice, Lila felt her ears ringing and frowned, then sighed, and nodded. It was

“Ah, ah. I remembered. Yes… That’s right. I went inside to check out the remaining rooms, and the moment I found an album that looked important and opened it…”

As she said that, she looked at the cables tied to her own feet.

It was already cut from her ceiling, but she frowned.

“I heard a sound like something was falling from the ceiling. I was trying to avoid it using the back tumbling I had mastered not long ago…”

“… So, she was grabbed by her legs and hung upside down from the ceiling.”

Amelia muttered as if she could imagine the scene, and Lila blushed at her words.

The story goes that she was caught quite foolishly.

“Aaaaa! What is this? Why are you using the same magic that Cleon used to burn magical power? On the subject of Cable!”

“Ugh…”

When Lila made such a loud noise and roughly untied the cables tied to her legs, Ku, who was right next to her, came to her senses.

It was the same with Kshat, whose arms were tied.

“K-Kshat are you okay?”

“Yes… Ma’am. My body is still a little numb, but it’s not unbearable.”

“What about Mr. Kuon?”

“Me too… However, I don’t think I’ll be able to use magic for a while.”

Kuon also shook his head, feeling something blocked in the nerves through which magical power flowed.

“Now that I think about it, this is the first time I’ve been hit by Cleon’s magic.”

“Uh, yeah…”

Rather, Lila is probably the only party member who has experienced Cleon’s mana shock directly.

Kuon said those words with ‘consideration’ and nodded his head.

“More than that. What album was I holding?”

And when Lila turns her head, she finds the album she was desperately holding before she lost her mind.

Fleur blushed and grabbed it and hid it in her arms.

Of course, it wasn’t an album of a size that could be hidden.

“What? Have you already checked the contents inside?”

“Yes, yes…”

Fleur would nod her head shyly, unable to hide her embarrassment.

Lila tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand Fleur’s reaction, but Fleur continued.

“Oh, there was no important information about my grandfather inside.”

“That can’t be right! Look at that.”

As Lila said that, she pointed to a drawer on the desk placed in her room.

Then, there was something like a melted safe inside that drawer.

“I found that album in that safe. Fleur, it’s your grandfather’s most important item.”

“Is that so?”

Fleur must have made a complex and subtle expression at those words.

Is it okay to believe that the thing her grandfather cherishes most is still himself?

“No. I think… That album is Camouflage.”

And at Laila’s words, Kshat, who stumbled next to her, spoke.

“Camouflage?”

“Yes. I have been looking after Old Burn for over 10 years. So, I understand what he is like to a certain degree better than most.”

Kshat says that and looks around.

“He never easily reveals his true feelings to others. He wears many masks on the outside, sometimes acting like a gentleman, sometimes mischievous, and sometimes with anger like a flame.”

At Kshat’s words, Fleur would come to her senses and nod her head.

Okay. He may completely hate his grandfather, but that doesn’t mean he can’t completely trust him either.

Is Oldburn Descartes, the helper of the ‘Regressor’, really his true intentions? A suspicion that cannot be erased.

Clearly, it was with the help of returnees that I was able to accumulate wealth at a young age.

It is certainly true that after that, he gained status, had a family, and returned the wealth and fame he had accumulated to the returnee.

But at the same time…

He plundered a lot of his personal wealth to revive Eratus, a small coastal town at the end of the continent.

He never abandoned his responsibilities as a lord and took a stance of respect for the royal family of the eastern country.

He told Fleur that it was the duty of the wealthy to help the less fortunate, and it was he who educated Kshat to learn ‘how to live with respect for others.’

Lee Yi-seong.

There are two sides to Oldburn Descartes, to the extent that one might think there are ‘two people’.

Among them, which one is the real elder or the grandfather?

Even before arriving at this mansion, Kshat and Fleur still had concerns about deciding that part.

To find out, he wanted to explore this room.

Perhaps what the album Lila found symbolizes is Oldburn as a ‘caring grandfather.’

“… If only the two people who knew him best…”

Lila then had no choice but to back down from the words of the two people who she was so confident in.

And at the same time, what on earth is left in this room? The question arises.

“I searched everything under the bed and inside the drawers.”

“The ceiling is probably full of the cables that just tied us up.”

“The first floor is just connected underneath the floor.”

If so…

“In other rooms, most of the devices were hidden in the walls…”

“Even if it’s a wall…”

At Kuon’s words, Laila placed her hand on her waist and then spun around to look around the room.

Unlike Laplace or Maxwell’s room, Descartes’ room at Oldburn had no decorations.

Sometimes I take a quick look behind furniture that covers the wall, like a bed or a desk, but the same goes there.

“After all, isn’t that the most suspicious album?”

Even Melusine points to Fleur’s album.

“Huh? Wait. Melusine, why are you back like that?”

“It’s long to explain. It’s because of Laplace.”

“If it’s Laplace, there’s nothing we can do…”

The explanation of the situation was also brief.

Then.

Kshat stood up from his seat as if he wanted to prove that his thoughts were not wrong.

Then he walked up to the nearest wall and buried his face in it.

He’ll ‘sniff’ and open his nose.

“Wow? Mr. Kshat!?”

“Shh. Please focus for a moment.”

When Sasha blushed and raised her voice in surprise, Kshat spoke as if to calm Sasha down.

“As you know, a shark’s sense of smell is several times stronger than that of a human. Clearly, something feels off…”

Sniff, sniff.

A tall woman, dressed in well-fitting black house clothes, had her face pressed against the wall, and the way she moved, groping along it, could only be described as strange.

Everyone gathered there, including Fleur, will hold their breath and try to move around Kshat until he is satisfied.

So, for a few minutes, Kshat moved along the wall-

“…─Here.”

The place where Kshat stopped moving was right next to the desk, which was empty like the other walls.

“This place smells a bit special… Citrusy? Similar to tangerines and fruit juice…”

“It’s different from the smell of wallpaper, right? … Maybe.”

Lila thinks about her words for a moment.

“Get out of the way.”

Then, after getting Fleur out of the way, she will extend her hand towards the wall.

Then-

“…”

Surprisingly, nothing happened.

“… Lila?”

“Wait, wait! I was trying to use magic to find something hidden…! Oh, that’s right! I guess the magic didn’t come out because I suffered mana shock a little while ago!”

Lila immediately remembered the reason why her magic did not activate and looked embarrassed.

“How long will it take for my magic to return?”

Melusine asks.

“An hour… Maybe a little longer than that.”

“I’m going to be wasting power for quite a long time. This is what I and the Half-Gwidae are like.”

“Is that what happened to the Anti-Ghosts too!? Then the only ones who can fight now are… Sasha, Amelia… And Quartz?!”

“I can fight too.”

Kshat frowns as she speaks at Laila’s words.

“You have to focus on protecting Fleur! And if you can’t use your magical power, your strength will be weakened!”

“Ugh. That’s right… But.”

“If you join Cleon, you will be heard…”

Kuon sighs like that.

“That’s right, I know what’s here, but I can’t leave it behind. Fleur. Don’t you know something?”

“…”

Fleur remained silent for a moment at Lila’s words, then raised her head with a ‘hot’ expression and stood up.

Then, I’ll quickly run outside the room.

“P-Miss Fleur?”

“Wait… Give it to me!”

Fleur said so to Kshat, who called herself, and-

After a while.

She returns into the room again, making a thumping sound.

What she is holding in her hand is a small lighter.

Everyone has seen this before, and it was Artis’ favorite item that he usually used when smoking cigarettes.

Fleur held it in her hand, pressed the button several times with a nervous expression, and finally started the fire.

“Ah, lady! Up, it’s dangerous!”

“It’s okay…!”

To Kshat’s concern over her overprotection, Fleur replied and took her lighter near the wall.

Fleur moves fire just barely touching the wallpaper.

Then… Part of the wallpaper begins to discolor.

It was unable to withstand the flames and the wallpaper began to burn-

─, It was a small puzzle hidden by the owner of the room.

“When heat is applied to the citric acid contained in the juice of fruits such as tangerines… Only that part changes color… It is a chemical action that often appears as a trick in detective novels.”

“Ah~! That!”

Lila would also nod her head as if she remembered Fleur.

“Uh, when I was young, I exchanged letters with my grandfather a few times… Well, I exchanged letters like that…”

Even as Fleur said that, she continued to move her hand, finally revealing all the messages hidden in the wallpaper.

Then there-

[Uhm~!! As expected, she is our granddaughter. She still remembers how she used to play detective! I am so thankful for this allowance because my granddaughter has grown up smart! But unfortunately, this woman must do everything in her power to help her returnee and resurrect Adam. She asks that she please stay hidden in a safe place with Kshat until everything is over. Jjaebi loves her granddaughter as much as her granddaughter loves her Haejaebi.]

“…”

─. A long letter from Oldburn Descartes was left behind, proving that the granddaughter was both a fool and a villain.

Lila, who saw this, made a dumbfounded expression, and Melusine and Kuon were confused whether they should be moved by this or angry.

“… You are a difficult grandfather…”

Amelia answered like that, and Sasha was tilting her head as if she was dizzy.

Kshat looked at Fleur in confusion.

Fleur…

Sreung. Then, without realizing it, he took out her dagger from her arms and held it in her hand.

“Aaahahahahah!?”

Kshat, who was so embarrassed that her voice broke, raised her voice towards Fleur.

However, Fleur left Kshat by her side, looked more determined than anyone else, and held a dagger for self-defense in her hand-

As it was, the wallpaper with the message written on it was torn apart.

“Pfft, Ms. Fleur!?”

No matter how disappointed you are with your grandfather, tearing down the wall is a bit…!

Sasha was trying to say the same thing.

“Hey, I remembered.”

However, Fleur smiled softly with a grin on her face, and she looked back at the group.

What you see beyond the torn wallpaper is-

─It was another ‘safe’ filled with numerous blueprints and notes.

“I think I tore up the letter her grandfather left…”

Because he could not endure being his own enemy.

And, to save him.