"Then we leave now!" Ram shouted, her body already a blur as she bolted toward the door.
"We're coming too!" Felt raised her hand, pulling Old Man Rom along. "We've only been here a few days, but Rem took care of us. We want to help!"
Ayanokoji watched them. To exert effort for someone you've known for less than five days... an illogical expenditure of resources. To him, whether it was five days or five years, a tool was a tool. Unless there was a clear ROI (Return on Investment), personal sentiment was a defect.
"Go on. I must remain to guard the manor," Roswaal said, his voice a melodic drone. "My dear maid's tragedy suggests we are targets. We cannot leave the gates undefended—and perhaps I can squeeze some 'confessions' out of our guest in the cellar while you're away."
Ayanokoji looked at Roswaal. The clown makeup made it impossible to read his grief—if he had any. Roswaal likely saw Rem as a replaceable gear. Still, the logic held. They couldn't leave the manor empty, or Elsa might "walk out" of her restraints.
"Lia should stay here too," Puck interjected before Emilia could volunteer.
"What? But Puck—"
"Too many people in the village will just cause a stir," Puck explained, though his intent was clear: keep Emilia away from the potential Shaman. Emilia reluctantly agreed.
"Be safe, Kiyotaka!" she called out as the search party departed.
Arlam Village
"The village isn't huge, but there are still so many people..." Felt scanned the bustling morning crowds, looking overwhelmed. "How are the four of us supposed to screen everyone?"
"We don't need to screen everyone," Ayanokoji said flatly. "A Curse requires physical contact. The number of people who got close enough to touch Rem yesterday is less than twenty."
"You... you remembered all their faces?" Felt asked, stunned.
Ayanokoji gave a slight nod. It was a basic survival habit. On his first day, he had identified the village as a vital strategic node—the manor's "supply heart." He had memorized the layout and the inhabitants as a matter of course.
Why Rem and not me? he wondered. Targeting a maid instead of the candidate's primary supporter is a low-yield move. Unless... the contact wasn't human.
He replayed the previous day. Every shopkeeper, every elder. Only one entity had touched Rem but not him.
The dog.
Can an animal be a Shaman? He pushed past his "common sense" from the previous world. In this reality, the "rules" were different. He recalled the girl, Meili. Her clothes were "peasant-style," but the wear-and-tear looked artificial—like a costume.
"Kiyotaka-niichan!" The village children swarmed them. "Where's Rem-rin?"
Ram flinched, her eyes twitching. Her grief was curdling into a violent, impatient rage. She looked ready to blow the children away just to clear the path.
"Rem is busy today," Ayanokoji said, cutting off Ram's outburst. He scanned the group. One, two... six. "Where is Meili?"
"We haven't seen her since yesterday," Petra, one of the girls, answered.
Ayanokoji's mental "Suspect" file on Meili moved to the top. "Where does she live?"
The children led them to a small shack. Ram didn't wait. With a flick of her wrist, a blade of wind shattered the door into splinters.
Ayanokoji shook his head. Reckless. If she were the culprit, the room would be rigged with traps. Emotion is a poison to clear judgment.
They entered. The air was stale. Dust lay thick on every surface, undisturbed by even a single footprint. No one had lived here for at least a month.
"She was a ghost," Ayanokoji murmured.
If Meili had been here for a month, why wait until now to kill a maid? And why target Rem? The pieces didn't fit—yet.
"Felt, Rom—stay in the village. Search the outskirts. Look for that girl," Ayanokoji commanded. They nodded immediately; he was their savior, and his word was law. "Ram, if someone wanted to flee the village without using the main road, where would they go?"
"The forest... but that's Mabeast territory. No one goes there!"
"Mabeasts? Beasts with mana?"
"Dangerous creatures that cannot be tamed," Ram explained. "Master Roswaal maintains a barrier to keep them out."
"Can a Mabeast cast a curse?"
"Yes."
Ayanokoji had his answer. The puppy was a Mabeast. Meili was the handler.
"She wouldn't go into the forest," Ram insisted. "She'd be eaten."
"Unless she controls them," Ayanokoji countered. "We're going to the forest edge."
Ram hesitated, then nodded. In the midst of the manor's chaos—Emilia's indecision, Roswaal's cryptic distance—Ayanokoji was the only one providing a structural path forward.
At the forest edge, they found the barrier stones. They were shattered.
"The barrier is down!" Ram gasped. "How...?"
"Recently," Ayanokoji said, kneeling in the soft dirt. "If it had been down for long, the village would have been razed. This was done to facilitate an escape—or a second stage of the plan."
"What are you doing, Lord Kiyotaka?"
"Looking for tracks," he said, pointing to a slight indentation in the mud. "Footprints of a child. And the paw prints of a canine. They went deeper into the woods."
He stood up, looking into the dark tree line.
"Ram, we are entering. If the Shaman is still in there, we can end the curse's source. If not... we find the data we need to ensure the next target isn't you."
Next Chapter Preview:
Ayanokoji and Ram enter the Mabeast forest. In the darkness, Ayanokoji faces his first true magical combat—not with spells, but with the cold, lethal tactics of the White Room.
Follow-up Question:
Ayanokoji noticed Meili's clothes were "deliberately aged." This suggests a level of professional infiltration. Do you think Ayanokoji sees a bit of himself in Meili—a child trained for a specific, cold purpose?