!!??
“Embezzling money?” Zeldryn asked while staring at Hera.
“Y-Yes, Lord. But I don't know whether it's true or not... I only heard rumors from the servants and guards.”
“...”
Zeldryn narrowed his eyes.
‘Tch, I knew it.’
‘I told you. Every adult who was close to the old Zeldryn was definitely up to no good.’
Henry.
Aeglo.
And now, most likely Gerald too.
For some reason, every person who had been fairly close to the old Zeldryn so far always seemed to have something going on behind his back.
However, there was something else bothering him far more right now.
The head he had just hidden under his bed.
‘I still don't know for sure...’
‘But that head most likely belongs to the Head Administrator.’
The timing was too perfect.
Gerald had been found dead last night.
His head was missing.
And this morning...
A human head had suddenly appeared inside Zeldryn's room.
“...”
‘But who brought it here?’
!!
Zeldryn suddenly remembered something.
His eyes immediately moved toward the table.
The paper.
The note that had been lying directly beneath the head.
‘Wait.’
‘That note.’
If someone had deliberately left that head for him...
Then whatever was written there almost certainly explained something.
“HERA!”
!!
Hera immediately flinched.
“Y-Yes, Lord!”
“Look at the table. There's a piece of paper near the plate, right?”
Hera immediately looked toward the table.
“There's something written on it. Can you read it?”
Hera approached the table and began looking for the paper Zeldryn was talking about.
A few seconds later...
!!
She found it.
Hera picked up the sheet of paper.
Her eyes moved across the writing on its surface.
“...”
She seemed to read several parts over and over again.
“I-I can, Lord... but I think I'll have to spell it out first and read it slowly.”
“Read it.”
“Y-Yes, Lord!”
Hera lowered her gaze toward the paper again.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from NovelPhoenix. Please report it.
Her lips moved slowly.
“C-Con... gra...”
She stopped.
Then started over.
“Congra... tulations...”
“...”
Zeldryn waited.
Hera tried putting several of the words together.
However, because she had to sound out almost every part, she ended up misunderstanding the sentence several times.
“Congratulations... for... becoming a Level 1 Manholer?”
“No,” Zeldryn quickly replied. “Read it again.”
“Y-Yes, Lord.”
Hera tried again.
A few moments later...
“Congratulations on successfully becoming... a Manholer?”
Zeldryn began furrowing his brows.
“Wasn't there a word for candidate earlier?”
!!
Hera looked back at the paper.
“T-There was, Lord.”
“Then don't skip it.”
“My apologies, Lord...”
Hera began sounding it out from the beginning again.
This time, much more slowly.
One word.
Then the next.
Zeldryn simply stood there and waited until Hera finally began understanding the full meaning of the sentence.
“...”
A few moments later...
Hera's eyes widened slightly.
As though she was finally certain of what was written there.
Then she read it aloud.
“Congratulations on becoming a Level 1 Manholer Candidate.”
!!??
Zeldryn immediately fell silent.
‘Huh?’
A Level 1 Manholer Candidate?
“...”
‘Wasn't Kera the only person who knew that I'm a Level 1 Manholer Candidate?’
!!
At that exact moment...
Everything connected.
‘Wait.’
Zeldryn slowly turned toward his bed.
The human head underneath it.
The note.
The congratulations.
Kera.
‘I woke up this morning with a human head and a letter underneath it.’
At first, he thought it was some kind of curse.
But if the letter was actually congratulating him...
Then the head wasn't a threat.
It was a gift.
“...”
Zeldryn's expression slowly changed.
‘Yesterday morning, when we first met...’
Kera really had told him something.
He said he would bring Zeldryn a gift for becoming a Level 1 Manholer Candidate.
At the time, Zeldryn hadn't thought much about it.
But now...
The Mansion's Head Administrator had died last night.
His head was missing.
This morning, a head had appeared inside Zeldryn's room.
And along with that head was a congratulatory message for becoming a Level 1 Manholer Candidate.
“...”
‘It's obvious.’
There was no need to think any further.
‘There's a ninety-nine percent chance the head I hid under my bed belongs to Gerald.’
And the person who brought it...
“...”
A vein nearly appeared on Zeldryn's forehead.
‘KERA, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!’
‘That fucking psychopath!’
‘How the hell can he bring me a human head as a gift?!’
Zeldryn genuinely couldn't understand how that man's brain worked.
Normal people gave clothes.
Weapons.
Books.
Food.
Or anything else that could reasonably be called a gift.
Kera?
A human head.
“...”
‘Good thing I didn't call a servant earlier.’
Zeldryn immediately imagined what might have happened if he had.
He had just woken up.
Called someone into his room.
Then asked them to throw away a head that apparently belonged to the Mansion's Head Administrator, who had just been murdered the previous night.
“...”
‘If I'd done that, there would've been another misunderstanding one hundred percent, damn it.’
At the very least, his stupid decision to hide the head under his bed had somehow saved him from a much bigger problem.
However, once his irritation toward Kera subsided slightly...
Zeldryn's thoughts returned to Gerald.
‘But still...’
His gaze became slightly colder.
‘That bastard actually dared to embezzle my money.’
The money probably came from the main residence.
Technically, it wasn't money Zeldryn had earned himself.
But this Mansion belonged to the Giorry family.
Gerald worked here as the Head Administrator.
And Zeldryn was the only member of the Giorry family living here.
‘It's still my money, damn it.’
Then something else suddenly entered his mind.
“...”
‘Wait.’
Gerald had been close to the old Zeldryn.
He didn't simply know him.
From what Zeldryn had heard before, their relationship had apparently been fairly close.
And if the rumors about Gerald embezzling money were true...
‘Then everything makes even more sense.’
The old Zeldryn was just a child who had been separated from the main family since infancy.
No father.
No mother.
No siblings.
Only servants, guards, and the adults surrounding him.
Then Gerald appeared.
Someone who became close to him.
Someone who might have looked like an adult he could trust.
Maybe even...
‘Some kind of father figure?’
Zeldryn frowned.
But if Gerald had really been abusing his position to take money from the Mansion...
Then there was a possibility that his closeness with the old Zeldryn had never been genuine either.
‘Maybe he was just using that kid.’
Letting him behave however he wanted.
Never stopping him.
Maybe even making him worse.
As long as the old Zeldryn remained busy playing around, drinking, and doing whatever he pleased...
Who would pay attention to the Mansion's finances?
Who would question what the Head Administrator was doing?
“...”
‘All while secretly taking money from that kid without him even realizing it.’
Zeldryn fell silent.
He had no evidence for any of this yet.
But the possibility made far too much sense to ignore.
Hera, who was still standing beside the table, simply watched as Zeldryn suddenly remained silent for quite a while.
She didn't dare say anything.
Until finally...
!!??
“Excuse me, Lord Zeldryn... my apologies for disturbing you...”
A man's voice suddenly came from the doorway.
Zeldryn and Hera both turned toward it.
The bedroom door had remained open this entire time.
A guard was standing there.
His posture was straight, but his expression looked slightly tense.
“Who are you?” Zeldryn asked.
The guard immediately lowered his head.
“I am Pertaz, a guard.”
Zeldryn stared at him for a moment.
“Why did you come all the way to my room?”
Pertaz looked slightly hesitant before finally answering.
“W-Well, Lord, my apologies... have you already heard the rumors about Lord Gerald?”
“I have. I already know the important part.”
!!
Pertaz immediately nodded.
“V-Very well. Then I'll get straight to the point. Since you are the only official member of the Giorry family here, I believe you should come with us to Lerta Village to decide the punishment for Lord Gerald's family.”