The magic mirror picked up the pen again and hastily scratched several extra lines over the words it had already written.
Looking at the blurred mess on the page, it still did not feel safe.
After thinking for a moment, it added a few more words.
"The mediocre diviner Grin Andersen was here briefly—haha, now there's no problem! The super-male Master will battle the evil loli while the great soul-devouring nightmare Wolgaroth watches from the sidelines! Hehehe…"
"What are you doing?"
A tired, suspicious voice rose from the darkness.
The magic mirror jolted and brightened its surface, reflecting Grin's still-drowsy face.
"N-Nothing, Master… How did you wake up from such a beautiful dream?"
"How do you know it was a good dream?"
Grin's sleepiness vanished instantly.
He had just been dreaming that a jade imperial seal descended from heaven, engraved with the words: "By the Mandate of Heaven, may you live long and prosper."
And just as he was about to ascend the throne, someone had called him mediocre.
The sheer rage of that insult had snapped him awake on the spot.
"Show me what you're hiding behind your back."
"N-No, really, there's nothing there!"
"Give it here. What could a little thing like you possibly hide?"
Grin snatched away what the mirror had been trying to conceal.
Then his face changed completely.
"You son of a bitch. You scribbled on Beatrice's Book of Wisdom? Holy hell—you even wrote my name on it!"
"M-Master… I… I can explain…"
"I must have had the worst luck in the world. This is going to get me killed!"
Grin's face went white.
If Beatrice woke up and saw this, she would absolutely murder him.
Thinking that, he immediately looked toward the bed.
Beatrice's delicate sleeping face was calm and peaceful, a soft little smile resting there as though she were dreaming of the happiest things in the world.
"Thank God Beatrice isn't awake yet. Hurry up and think of something!"
"A way, a way, a way… I've got it! Master, we can kill them all and cover it up!"
The moment the mirror saw Grin's expression turn murderous, it changed its tune in a panic.
"What I mean is—murder to conceal the crime is obviously not ideal. How about we tear this page out? The pages and cover of this book aren't very firmly attached. They're practically halfway loose already."
The magic mirror stretched out a translucent hand, pinched one corner of the page, and carefully peeled it back.
"Master, look. We only need to use a little force…"
One page came away, revealing the next.
But the words the mirror had written had already bled through.
The original lines were still clinging stubbornly to the paper beneath, even if the marks were much fainter now.
Grin clenched his fists so hard his knuckles cracked.
"Now you know how to use less force? Why didn't you restrain yourself when you were writing? It's already soaked through to the second page! Tear it out too!"
Rip. Rip.
After tearing out four or five pages in a row, there were finally no words left.
At least, no obvious words.
Some traces still remained, but in the darkness neither of them noticed.
Grin picked up the Book of Wisdom and flipped through it anxiously.
"Don't you think this book feels a bit thinner now?"
"An illusion, Master. This must absolutely be an illusion!"
"It's all your fault! Damn it, you made me have to destroy even more pages!"
Grin bared his teeth, crumpled the torn pages into a ball, and stuffed them straight into the mouth the mirror had conjured.
"Master… no… I really can't eat anymore… ugh…"
After dealing with the magic mirror, Grin crept over to Beatrice's bed and gently slid the book back beneath her pillow.
But just as he was about to withdraw, Beatrice rolled over and pinned his arm under her.
Her tiny hands latched onto him tightly, and she murmured in her sleep.
"Mother… please… tell Betty… who exactly… is That Person…"
The moment he felt the soft pressure at his fingertips, Grin froze completely.
Then he turned his head with all the stiffness of a wooden puppet.
"You damned mirror monster, do something!"
The magic mirror immediately flew over, hovered above Beatrice, and began casting hypnosis.
"Sleep now, my illiterate daughter…"
"What nonsense are you saying?"
"Master, my spell needs spoken words as a vessel for its power."
This time, the mirror increased the dosage of dream magic.
Beatrice's body gradually lost all tension, going soft and limp like a doll.
"Finally…"
Grin collapsed to the floor and panted, feeling the same kind of exhausted relief as someone finishing copied homework on the last day of vacation.
"Wolgaroth."
"M-Master… Master, you can just call me Magic Mirror."
The mirror shuddered the moment Grin used its full title.
It had the distinct feeling that it was one step away from being thrown out of the house permanently.
"You are not allowed outside for a while."
Grin grabbed the mirror, dragged it down out of the air, and with a thought recalled it fully into his body, cutting off its right to descend on its own.
Only after doing all that did he finally crawl back to where he had been lying before.
Then he closed his eyes and forced himself to rest, looking utterly spent.
…
Time passed quietly, and dawn slowly arrived.
At the very least, the night could be called peaceful.
No one had died in the dark.
Before the sun had fully risen, the maids in the mansion were already hard at work.
The kitchen rang with the sound of utensils, while the scent of milk and oatmeal slowly drifted outward.
"Rem, stir a little faster. Otherwise there will be lumps, and the texture will suffer."
"Sorry, Sister. Rem's wrist is a little sore."
The blue-haired maid carefully stirred the oatmeal porridge.
Having been tied up for a while the night before had left her wrists somewhat stiff.
"Let me do it. You add the milk."
Ram gave her sister a concerned glance, then took the spoon and switched places with her.
Tap tap. Tap tap.
Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the kitchen.
"Why is Betty doing this, I wonder? Stop shoving, you two idiots!"
An irritated Beatrice appeared at the doorway.
Behind her crouched Grin.
And crouched behind Grin was Subaru Natsuki.
Subaru clung tightly to Grin's clothes and hid there like a chick sheltering behind a larger bird.
"You agreed to it so easily, so you have to escort us safely to breakfast!"
Grin carefully peeked around from behind Beatrice to judge whether the situation was safe.
He was clutching the back of her dress with both hands and using her as a human shield.
This was a last resort.
One of them had stayed up all night, and the other was an injured patient. Both were starving.
Even Subaru Natsuki, who normally had skin thick enough to stop arrows, felt embarrassed right now.
"Grin-kun… is this really going to work?"
He lifted his head and stole a fearful glance at Rem, his face twisting at once as though the wound from the night before had begun hurting all over again.
Beatrice finally snapped.
At that exact moment, Grin happened to be crouching at the perfect height for her to strike.
Bang!
Beatrice raised her fist and planted it hard into his head.
Judging from the sound, it was a very solid hit.
"Ow!"
Grin rolled to the side and clutched his head, rubbing furiously at the spot.
"Hiss… what was that for, Beatrice? Can't you tell friend from foe?"
Beatrice gave Ram and Rem a brief look, then frowned.
She did not sense any killing intent from either of them.
"Betty does not think there are any enemies here. This is probably just idiot Grin imagining things, I suppose."