Tap, tap, tap—
Round-toed shoes struck the floor of Roswaal Mansion, producing crisp, clear sounds.
Although night was about to fall, the mansion remained brightly lit.
Wall lamps resembling those from medieval Europe emitted a warm glow, adding a touch of humanity to the frighteningly enormous estate.
Shiro and Subaru followed behind Rem in silence.
It was not that they had no interest in using this opportunity to learn more about Count Roswaal and his household.
Rather—The girl named Rem walking ahead of them clearly did not welcome their presence.
Ram at least concealed some of her wariness behind her sharp tongue.
Rem, on the other hand, practically had "strangers keep away" written across her face.
Aside from necessary conversation and answering the occasional question Shiro asked, she maintained a cold expression and silently led them through the mansion.
Shiro even suspected that if not for the etiquette required of a maid, Rem probably would not have acknowledged them at all.
So rather than doing anything that might worsen her suspicions, he simply allowed her to guide them around the estate.
"Guest, we have arrived."
After introducing some of the mansion's facilities and dropping Subaru off in the room next door, Rem opened a large door in front of Shiro.
The room beyond was almost frighteningly spacious.
None of the furnishings showed any sign of having been used.
It was probably one of the rooms specifically prepared for guests visiting Roswaal Mansion.
"It is already late, so please rest here for tonight."
"If you require anything, simply call Rem's name."
"Night will soon deepen. For the sake of our guest's safety, please refrain from wandering around the mansion after dark out of curiosity."
After leaving behind what could practically be considered a warning, Rem bowed slightly and withdrew from the room.
However—According to Shiro's senses, her presence did not move far away.
She stopped directly between his room and Subaru's.
If either of them made any significant movement, Rem would probably notice immediately.
For ordinary guests, this treatment was clearly excessive.
More importantly, their arrival had been Emilia's spontaneous decision.
The owner of the mansion had not even known they were coming beforehand.
Which meant—
"Surveillance, huh..."
Shiro buried his head in the soft pillow and muttered to himself.
There was something far too strange about this mansion.
For one thing, despite its enormous size, they had not encountered a single person during their walk besides Ram and Rem.
But more importantly—There were the emotions Rem had accidentally revealed while introducing the mansion's facilities.
She had desperately restrained herself during the entire walk.
Even so, Shiro had caught the true nature of the emotion hidden in the occasional glances she sent their way.
Hostility.
It was no exaggeration to say that her hostility was so intense that Shiro would not have been surprised if she had suddenly attacked them while leading them to their rooms.
However—He was not its primary target.
Shiro had merely been caught in the spillover and disliked by association.
The person Rem genuinely wanted to kill was the man who had arrived with him and spent the entire journey endlessly chattering—Natsuki Subaru.
...
Night fell.
Inside a spacious room stood a long sofa intended for receiving guests.
A large pile of disorganized documents covered an ebony desk.
Seated behind it was a slender, pale-skinned man wearing strange clown-like makeup.
He was the true master of this mansion—Roswaal L. Mathers.
Having just seen Emilia off, Roswaal now wore an uncertain, gloomy expression.
His mismatched eyes, one blue and one yellow, repeatedly swept across the pages of a carefully preserved ancient book as though searching for something.
If Emilia were still present, she would undoubtedly have been shocked by his current state.
In her impression, aside from being somewhat perverted, Roswaal was almost flawless in terms of competence.
During their usual interactions, he always seemed to have everything under control.
Yet now—He actually wore an expression resembling confusion.
"Why are there... two of them?"
His brows knitted tightly together.
Even his voice had lost its usual frivolous tone.
At that moment—
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the study door.
"Lord Roswaal, Ram is coming in."
The pink-haired maid opened the door while carrying a steaming cup of black tea.
She walked over and placed it on the desk in front of Roswaal.
Then, at his signal, she sat on the sofa used for receiving guests and exposed her forehead.
A pink, diamond-shaped scar was clearly visible there.
"Ram, you've already met both of the guests Lady Emilia invited, haven't yooou?"
Roswaal returned to the peculiar drawn-out manner of speech Ram was familiar with.
At the same time, he skillfully pressed a finger against the scar on her forehead and began pouring mana into it.
"What impression did they leave on yooou?"
"Neither of them appears to be from the Kingdom of Lugunica."
"Even the thugs on the street know more about this country than those two."
"One of them looks hopelessly useless. Even by the time we reached the mansion, he was still fantasizing about meeting beautiful girls and beginning some kind of grand story."
"Compared to him, the other one behaved somewhat better."
"Although he might as well have written 'I'm gathering information' across his face, being so straightforward about wanting information somehow makes him difficult to dislike."
"Haha, you really are haaarsh."
Roswaal withdrew his finger from Ram's forehead and chuckled at her evaluation.
Then he lifted the teacup from his desk and took a small sip.
The warm, sweet tea slid down his throat and into his stomach, bringing a hint of warmth to the cold night.
At least—That was how it should have been.
The next instant—Roswaal's expression turned incomparably cold.
Even the surrounding air seemed to freeze under the shift in his presence.
"If your mana were completely restored... could you kill both of them?"
His expression was icy.
And the words leaving his mouth were equally merciless.
Ram simply closed her eyes.
Then she answered seriously.
"If that is Lord Roswaal's order."
"Ah, don't worry about it."
"I was only jooooking."
Roswaal's expression instantly returned to its earlier frivolous appearance.
He stared absentmindedly at the moonlight beyond the window—As though those cold words had never come from his mouth at all.
…