Chapter 16

“I will go.”

Hamel drew his sword and stepped forward cautiously.

As everyone tensed and held their breath, a quiet stillness settled over the corridor.

It was when they passed in front of the dining room the monster had entered.

Crunch, creak

A chilling noise came from the dining room.

What would make that sound when chewed?

Just when it seemed like a sound he had never heard in his life was repeating rhythmically,

He heard the clatter of silverware falling to the floor.

What followed was, again, the sound of something being chewed.

Chomp, munch munch

The thing was chewing.

He didn’t need to ponder long about what it was eating.

Thinking of the piglet carcass with its entrails ripped open that they’d seen in the dining room made him nauseous.

‘Is it even gnawing the bones and swallowing them whole?’

It wasn’t only Hamel who noticed that fact.

Antonio and Daniel’s faces were equally hardened.

Hamel signaled for them to keep moving.

If the thing was focused on something, it would be easier to pass by.

The companions followed Hamel’s lead without complaint.

Walking carefully like that, they soon reached the kitchen.

Luckily, the monster never came out of the dining room.

Hamel exhaled in relief and scanned the surroundings.

His companions watched him with tense expressions.

“…”

Since when, he wondered.

Had he become the group’s leader?

Hamel felt a slight burden, but he did what needed to be done.

“Now we’ll enter the kitchen. Prepare yourselves.”

He knew it was he, the Exorcist priest Hamel, who had experienced situations like this the most.

At Hamel’s words, the group nodded without hesitation and readjusted their grips on their weapons.

Hamel left them behind and calmly turned the kitchen door handle.

The handle turned with a squeak.

Through the slowly opening door came the rhythmical sound of knife cuts.

Tap tap tap tap

There, a kitchen knife still moved on its own, trimming something on the cutting board.

“I have retrieved the tea ware.”

When Hamel stepped inside and spoke, the cutting stopped abruptly.

A brief silence passed.

Sensing the strange atmosphere, the group tightened their grips on their weapons.

As if ready to swing at any moment.

But at that moment.

“…Ah, thank you for your trouble. Please put it on the dining table there.”

The voice said calmly and resumed chopping.

When nothing happened, the deflated party quietly lowered their weapons.

Hamel also sheathed his sword carefully and asked,

“You had a promise to keep, didn’t you?”

“Ah, about how to get up to the upper floor.”

The kitchen knife stopped chopping and spun around briefly.

Everyone flinched when the blade pointed at Hamel, but, to their relief, it did not lunge.

The blade floated in the air, drifted over, and rang a bell that hung on one side of the kitchen.

And at that moment.

Rrrrrrrrr

A loud rumble of something heavy being dragged echoed through the mansion.

“If you leave now, stairs should have appeared.”

The kitchen knife said matter-of-factly, then moved back to the cutting board and continued cooking.

Hamel looked at the knife with a puzzled expression.

‘Is that it?’

No way.

The opponent was a demon.

It wouldn’t behave obediently and simply keep its promise.

It was certain it would try to strike them from behind.

Hamel shook off his hesitation and brought his hands together.

He planned to burn the furnace where it hid whole with the Azure Flame.

At that moment.

Thud

Someone grabbed Hamel’s hands.

“…Senior priest.”

“Let’s go, brother.”

The senior priest smiled kindly and slowly released Hamel’s clasped hands.

He then bowed his head slightly toward the kitchen knife in thanks and turned away.

Unable to understand the priest, Hamel asked in a stiff voice,

“Father. That is a demon.”

“I know.”

“Then why…!”

“Has it not kept its promise?”

“That… we don’t know yet.”

“If we judge and harm someone for what has not happened, how are we better than a demon?”

“…”

Hamel clenched his mouth shut.

Not because he agreed.

Frankly, the senior priest’s logic was idealistic and felt divorced from reality.

But Hamel followed the priest’s words.

Their companions were confused by the clash between the two of them.

“For now, understood.”

When Hamel relented, the senior priest placed a hand on his shoulder as if in thanks.

Just then, as the group was about to leave the kitchen,

“Wait a moment.”

the voice of the centipede maid came from behind.

‘Knew it.’

A demon wouldn’t just let humans leave.

Hamel half-drew his sword and turned, as if he had anticipated it.

And there was.

“…?”

A large platter floated in midair.

The kitchen knife was neatly set down on the cutting board.

“What is this?”

In response to Hamel’s question, a covered dish was offered.

“You’ll need it up there. Take it.”

“Why would you give this?”

“It’s a token of gratitude for helping with my work.”

“…”

Hamel nodded and took it absentmindedly.

That was all.

The centipede lady resumed her kitchen work.

She muttered about a broken teapot, but did not chase them with a knife.

Clack

As Hamel stepped out of the kitchen, confused, the senior priest smiled and spoke.

“Hamel. May I share a conclusion I’ve reached after a long life in the clergy?”

“Of course.”

The senior priest himself had long been a faithful servant of the order.

Hamel had no intention of disregarding him.

Hamel listened intently to the priest.

The priest expressed thanks and continued calmly.

“After experiencing all that, I felt only one thing: there is no absolute.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Demons and humans are alike—creations fashioned by God. There is no absolute evil, nor absolute good.”

“That contradicts doctrine, though.”

“Of course, it’s a secret from the outside.”

Seeing Hamel’s sour expression, the priest chuckled softly in response.

“See more, learn more. If you already lock yourself into a rigid way of thinking, you’ll miss what could be seen.”

Hamel found himself nodding without realizing it.

There was the weight of experience behind the old senior priest’s words.

After a moment, the senior priest asked, curious,

“So what is that, then?”

“I don’t know.”

Hamel shrugged and lifted the food cover.

Then he saw the dish on the platter.

“…It’s a cat.”

“…I see.”

Meow

“…It’s even alive.”

“…My God.”

When the priest turned away, Hamel quietly closed the lid.

The black cat, its paws bound, might be useless, but at least it didn’t look threatening.

“I hope the priest is right.”

Hamel muttered, thinking it unlikely.

It was then, while the two had been talking for a while,

“Hamel. I found the stairs. They’re nearby.”

Daniel stepped closer and said.

Indeed, stairs had appeared right beside the kitchen door.

“Good. Shall we go at once?”

Hamel nodded and casually handed the platter with the cat to Antonio.

“Hold this for me. I’m not very fond of cats.”

“Why me? Hamel? I’m afraid of cats.”

Antonio, holding the platter, looked between it and Hamel in grievance, but Hamel had already left.

“Ugh.”

Antonio groaned, nervously holding the cat thrashing on the leash.

Of all things, a cat.

And a black cat at that—doesn’t that symbolize witches?

Disliking cats above all, Antonio murmured a small complaint.

“Why bother taking this? Can’t we just leave it?”

Pouting, Antonio was about to climb the stairs leading to the second floor when—

Bang

Suddenly a door on the first-floor corridor threw open with force.

His heart nearly fell from his chest.

“Waaah!”

“Myaaaah!”

Startled, Antonio clutched the cat tight.

It wasn’t hard to tell where the noise came from.

Antonio slowly turned his head toward the sound.

He felt he knew what that sound meant.

“…”

Antonio turned his head with a creak of fearful prayer.

Unfortunately, his expectation was correct.

[Ahuaa]

A familiar, muffled utterance reached his ears.

That strange, unidentified monster.

It was the creature.

Antonio tensed, expecting it to run toward them, but it did not.

The monster looked around for a moment, then slowly moved toward the parlor.

As if it were tracking some trace.

And Antonio felt like he knew what the monster was doing.

“…Could it be following us?”

If it’s already at the parlor, the next is the kitchen.

“My God…”

Antonio’s face went pale as he began to sprint up the stairs.

“Hamel! Hamel!”

“Antonio. If it’s about the cat, we can talk later…”

“No, it’s coming!”

“…what is coming?”

Hamel asked, his expression hardening.

Antonio, barely breathing, blurted out,

“The monster from the dining room! It’s heading to the parlor now. It seems to be following us! Next will surely be…”

“The kitchen. Then it’ll come up to the second floor.”

Hamel frowned and muttered to himself.

He was curious about the monster’s nature, but at least its purpose had become clear.

It was a countdown.

If they didn’t clear the rooms in time, they’d face a time-based constraint.

That was the monster’s reason for being.

“Can’t we fight it?”

“You must avoid it.”

When Daniel asked in confusion, Hamel and David shook their heads in unison.

The monster didn’t charge them even after seeing Hamel’s group.

It was an entity that absolutely adhered to the rules of the arena.

Which made it all the more dangerous.

“Is it really that dangerous?”

“Can you stop the night from coming?”

“That could never be…”

“At least within this arena, it is such a being.”

He didn’t know the details, but if they were caught, they’d lose according to the arena’s rules.

If they could kill it, it’d likely be only after the arena was lifted, or by some other rule of the arena.

Hamel clicked his tongue and hurried on.

“We’ll sweep the second floor quickly.”

The order was the same as on the first floor.

From the leftmost room to the right in sequence.

There were four rooms in total: a dressing room, a laboratory, a doll workshop, and Hamel’s former room.

They would clear the rooms, and when the stairs to the next floor opened, they’d go up.

“Let’s start with the dressing room.”

“This won’t be easy, really.”

Daniel, at the head of the group, hurried and began running toward the dressing room door.

From now on it was a race against time.

Halt

Daniel, running ahead, abruptly stopped in front of the dressing room.

“This is…”

The others were the same.

Because written in blood on the dressing room door were characters.

Hamel frowned and read them aloud.

“Gather the broken mirrors?”

Hamel tilted his head in puzzlement but pulled the dressing room’s handle.

The door creaked open.

It wasn’t locked.

After a brief hesitation, Hamel spoke.

“Let’s go in first.”

They had to enter the room to understand the meaning of the phrase.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The dressing room was very dark, so each of them lit a lamp and held it.

“Entering.”

Led by Hamel, the party slowly stepped into the dressing room.