Chapter 9
“Let’s see…..”
The royal road was complicated because of the security of the main street.
As a result, the name Sol Arena also called Light was given because the lights in the central square did not turn off until late at night.
“So, I can’t go out of this manhole.”
I marked the manhole on the map with a X.
You’ll get too much attention and you’ll be accused if you open the manhole cover on the street with many passers-by. There is also a risk of being run over by a wagon.
“Melin, are you done marking?”
Tepeo asked me while he had been marking the wall of the blocked road on the other side with stones.
“It’s over. How about you?”
“It’s over here, too.”
I carefully folded the map that was going to fade.
“Let’s get out of here. The weather is bad.”
The sky outside the manhole was dark. Like it’s about to rain.
My guess was not wrong.
The raindrops began to fall when we came back to our room.
“We’re lucky.”
Tepeo muttered as he watched the rain flowing through the window glass.
“Yes, I’m glad the map isn’t wet.”
I answered looking at the calendar on the wall. The date is already the 20th of the month.
There were more than 15 days left until the scheduled death day.
The results have been amazing.
The map quickly became complete since Tepeo cooperated with me.
I took out the map I had in my arms and opened it. It had poor drawing skills, but its location was accurate.
Triangle marks that appear to be rare among the X marks.
The triangular mark like this was the route with the possibility of escape.
However, it was not an exit from the novel that Tepeo left.
【The Duke was so surprised by an unexpected guest. How did this little boy get in?】
In the novel, Tepeo is found in the duke’s residence after he escapes.
This meant there was a way into the mansion to escape the eyes of the guards in front of the mansion.
The outer manholes were so far from the duke’s residence, so they were not the route Tepeo used in the novel.
There was only one road left in the waterway that had not yet been taken.
It meant that the road I had not been to was chosen by Tepeo in the novel.
“Tepi.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s get out of here as soon as the rain stops.”
Fortunately, there has been no contact from Hope.
I thought the bishop’s visit stimulated him, but it seemed to have made him cautious.
Hope didn’t even look at me for a while.
Rather, it was Karen who I was watching. Karen has treated me like she can’t see me since the day I bumped into her in the hallway.
As if everything that had been tangled up was a lie.
Karen didn’t come to see me but we definitely saw each other often.
It was unavoidable because we always eat next to each other.
It was the same as tonight. I sat straight to my chair without looking at Karen’s seat.
She didn’t really seem to be looking at me.
As usual, the meal began with Hope’s prayer.
I held the tableware that was not proper for me. Hope doesn’t say anything to me anyway.
I should have.
“Melinia.”
Hope called me.
“Your manners are terrible. I’m annoyed by your towel.”
“……”
“Stay after dinner.”
It was a word of unknown reason but it was also an ominous word.
Why are you suddenly acting like this when you’ve never done this before?
By the time I thought so, Karen, who was sitting next to me, caught my eye.
While I was lost in my thoughts, Karen caught my eye.
I tried not to look at her so much, but I strangely saw her sign at that moment.
Karen was smiling.
I told you, you’d regret it.
The twisted corners of her mouth seemed to say so.
My heart beat wildly as if it would explode.
Melinia’s death day would not be today, but my instincts rang out a red warning.
It’s ominous. We have to run.
But it was still raining outside. It was obvious what the situation would be like in the underground waterway.
Unfortunately, the only way to escape here is through the manhole.
Security was always around the front and back gates of the nursery and the wall was so high.
The sky is still dark.
After the meal, the children disappeared, and Hope taught me table manners.
“That’s a dessert. Again.”
Hope made me grab everything back from the beginning whenever I got the wrong tableware.
It was already late and the clock suddenly announced nine o’clock. Hope slowly rubbed his palms together.
“I think we’d better stop here for today.”
It sounded like a sign to me.
The sound of the distant autumn rain. There’s a weird and heavy tension.
I pretended to organize the tableware and touched a knife between my sweaty palms.
I’ve read such a scene in 《Azley’s glorious misfortune.》
It was a scene in which Tepeo taught Azley self-defense because Azley was constantly caught up in dangerous things.
【”If you can’t use magic, you’ll have to use a knife.”】
Hope turned his back on me and started walking ahead.
【”Look for the vital point. Exactly, without hesitation, you need to do it.”】
The handle of the knife in my grip was slippery. So I grabbed it harder to avoid mistakes.
【”Or else you’ll die.”】
I looked back at Hope and imagined him falling down over and over again.
I thought I could run at any time, but I became stiff when I decided to run. I never have done the work of stabbing people.
While I was frozen stupidly, Hope called me.
“Melinia.”
Now? Is it now?
I was nervous so I could move anytime.
I was going to stab Hope right away if he wanted to kill me.
But what he said was an unexpected word.
“It’s late, so go up now.”
“Yes?”
“Aren’t you going to bed?”
It’s really out of the question now. Hope looked up the stairs as if he were telling me to go.
He really seemed to ‘just’ send me back.
So what was it all about? What about Karen’s smile? Why did you teach me table manners that you never taught me in the first place?
I climbed the stairs without solving that question. The wooden stairs screamed softly whenever I took a step.
“…..Ah.”
I suddenly think that Tepeo was still waiting for me.
He must be worried because I’m late without saying anything.
I hurried up to the upstairs.
Tepeo was not there when I came to the room.
“Tepi?”
There was no sign of him anywhere.
Anywhere.
* * *
“Melin’s late.”
Tepeo thought it was strange.
The other childrens who eat together came up a long time ago, but why didn’t Melin come up?
Tepeo got up, speculating that Melin might not have gone to the manhole because the rain hadn’t stopped yet.
I intend to go find it myself.
The hallway was quiet. Tepeo could not hear anything but his own footsteps.
Until someone shows up at the end of the hall.
“……Karen.”
“Te, Tepi, Hello.”
It was Karen with a distorted face. Tepeo’s face didn’t look good either.
Karen was the one who led his face to be like that.
“Are you lo, looking for Melinia?”
“……Do you know where she is?”
“Do, don’t worry, she’s at the di, director’s office at the annex.”
“What?”
“In the di, director’s office, is there anywhere she can go?”
Karen laughed when Tepeo asked back.
“It can be da, dangerous if you don’t go quickly.”
Melinia said that the director was a very bad person.
Tepeo remembered it and started running straight without hesitation.
At the annex to the director’s office.