Chapter 61: The Butler and the Ghost...?
"Actually, to be more precise, he'd already given himself away before we even stepped into the castle," Haruto said with a shrug. "It happened the moment the 'butler' came to open the door for us."
He elaborated, "His footsteps were too steady, too slow. Think about it. If he truly were just a butler who knew a group of distinguished guests were stranded outside because of his master's mistake, why would he be so unhurried? He should have been rushing."
Haruto paused, letting the point sink in. "In reality, most people were just at a disadvantage because of where they were standing. Plus, Kaguya and I have slightly better hearing than average, which created an information gap."
As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Lin Xuelao. "Take Xuelao, for example. If she had been near the castle gate at that time, her hearing would have definitely picked up the butler's true pace. She would have made her own judgment instead of being misled by the performance."
Lin Xuelao didn't deny it. When it came to hearing, she was indeed far more sensitive than an ordinary person.
Yotsuya Miko's eyes widened with dawning comprehension. "So, Brother Haruto, when you took the initiative to swap seats with Xuelao... it wasn't just to protect her. You were also testing the 'butler's' reaction?"
"What else?" Haruto shrugged again, a picture of helplessness. "Didn't I say it back then? I just wanted to verify a few things. Having your personal seat taken by someone else... as the true master of the castle, you'd definitely be a little unhappy."
Miko was rendered speechless. She vaguely recalled him saying something to that effect, but at the time, she had assumed it was just his way of easing the mental burden on Lin Xuelao.
"Then... the book on the third floor," she murmured, connecting the dots. "You stopped me from touching it because my entire plan was based on the idea that the butler had murdered the master and taken over his room."
Haruto nodded. "Exactly. If your theory were correct, the murder would have been recent. The butler likely wouldn't have had time to discover a book hidden under the bed. He certainly wouldn't be taking it out to read, let alone notice if one or two volumes went missing. But that was never the case. From start to finish, he was the Castle Master. If we had touched his personal books, the risk of being discovered would have been extremely high."
Miko fell silent for a moment, her mind racing to reorganize the clues into a new, terrifying picture. Finally, she spoke.
"So, the truth is this: the Lady of the Castle turned into that ghost for some reason—the monster we saw crawling on the wall. The Castle Master discovered the blood-word clue and used our own assumptions against us. He deliberately told us the master wanted to replace the butler, making us believe he was a resentful servant who committed murder and was now impersonating his victim."
She took a breath, her voice gaining confidence. "Then, he used the other part of the clue—that the butler is on the players'side, that he's a'good person'—to trick us into trusting him. Once we saw him as an ally, it would be much easier for him to harm us. He probably wants to feed us to his wife... either because she's forcing him to, or because he thinks it's some kind of method to turn her back into a human."
Haruto nodded, placing the last, now-empty bowl of curry fish balls back on the dining cart. He flopped back onto the bed, leaning against the headboard and shifting until he found a comfortable position before speaking again.
"You should have noticed it too," he said slowly. "Despite the quilt covering him, you could still smell that cloying, dusty perfume on him. And that scent... it's identical to the one in the master bedroom on the third floor."
Hearing this, Miko frowned, not quite following his train of thought.
Kaguya, having just finished a box of fried tofu, delicately licked her fingers. She nimbly climbed onto the bed, pulled a corner of the quilt over herself, and looked at the confused Miko.
"Haruto's point is that he isn't being coerced," she explained. "He's doing this willingly, feeding players to his wife. There's no doubt that dusty perfume belongs to the Castle Master. So, think about it—why would the scent on that ghostly thing be just as strong?"
Listening to Kaguya's analysis, Miko went still.
'Staying in the same room?'she thought. No, that wouldn't be enough to transfer such a strong scent.'Did he spray perfume on his wife, too?' But why? The Castle Master only doused himself in it because he had to interact with them. There was no reason to do the same for the monster.
So... Miko's expression froze.
When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how ridiculous, must be the truth.
"...They wouldn't still be... kissing and hugging, would they?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"My dear girl," Kaguya sighed, waving a dismissive hand. "Your imagination isn't nearly wild enough."
The implication hit Miko like a physical blow. The thought brought no blush to her cheeks, only a surge of bile that burned the back of her throat. She hadn't seen the Lady of the Castle's current form with her own eyes, but from the descriptions, it was some kind of crawling, dragging horror. Its appearance was surely no better than the monstrous mermaid from the guesthouse instance.
And they still...
A wave of physiological revulsion washed over Miko. She shook her head violently, trying to banish the grotesque images from her mind.
Lin Xuelao, who had been mostly silent throughout the discussion, parted her lips slightly, an incredulous look on her face.
It was only the first day of the instance.
And this team had already unraveled the entire core narrative. While it was true, as Haruto said, that the others had simply lost due to an information gap... where did that information come from in the first place?
It came from active exploration and bold deduction.
Every player who had survived this long understood that principle. But who wasn't completely lost and confused on the first day? Who dared to act rashly? Didn't everyone usually wait, gathering clues, before making a move?
"Whew—"
Full and satisfied, Haruto felt a wave of sleepiness wash over him. He rubbed his eyes and pulled the quilt further onto his side.
"It's getting late. Let's all get some sleep. We'll deal with everything else tomorrow."
With that, he ignored the others, tucked himself into the covers, and within moments, his breathing evened out into a steady rhythm. He had really just... gone to sleep.
Miko, already accustomed to his habits, simply got onto the bed herself to prepare for rest.
But for Lin Xuelao, this was a new experience. An unreadable expression crossed her face. Shouldn't a normal person be tossing and turning, unable to sleep after everything they'd been through? How could he possibly feel sleepy?
And... no one was taking turns keeping watch?
After a moment's thought, Lin Xuelao brought her blind cane over and sat down on the floor, leaning her back against the edge of the bed. Her ears twitched slightly, alert. If there was even the slightest abnormal sound, she would be able to perceive it and react instantly.
Time ticked by in the heavy silence. About half an hour passed.
Knock, knock...
A faint knocking sounded at the door. The sound was kept deliberately low, as if the person outside feared being detected by something they shouldn't disturb.
Lin Xuelao was on her feet in an instant, her full attention focused on the movement outside the door.
At the same time, Miko, who hadn't truly been asleep, sat bolt upright, her eyes fixed on the wooden door.
Knock, knock, knock...
The knocking came again, followed by a young girl's timid voice from the other side.
"Brother Haruto, it's me... Are you... are you still alive?"
The frightened voice was familiar. Miko immediately placed it—it was Wu Wenwen, one of Xie Lin's teammates.
Miko didn't move to open the door. She couldn't be certain if the person outside was truly Wu Wenwen or a ghost in disguise.
She wanted to wake Haruto, but a glance in his direction revealed he was dead to the world. He was even clutching one of Kaguya's arms like a plush toy and, in his deep sleep, had taken a firm, experimental bite out of it, as if sampling some unknown delicacy in a dream.
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