Chapter 2 (Part 2)

He had a gut feeling that if he didn’t do something, he would be completely drained. But the books he had searched through until dawn contained no useful information.

‘Even recalling all the knowledge I have, there’s nothing like this.’

However, since there was only one bathroom here, and he had to hold it until Grace came out, Leonardo sat at the table and reopened a book.

He continued reading from where he had left off yesterday when he heard a small noise.

Thinking Grace might be changing clothes, he paid it no mind and focused, but then heard unexpected words.

“Hey, there’s a guest.”

“A guest? What are you talking about—?”

Leonardo stood up, puzzled by her vague words. Then he walked towards the women’s dormitory where Grace was standing.

His large body stood at the door with his hands clasped together.

Just as he was about to ask Grace what she was doing, the loosely closed door creaked open with an unpleasant sound.

“Sir! —Will you greet them?”

Grace, whose face was somehow a little pale, stepped aside from the door and spoke to Leonardo.

Thanks to her, Leonardo could see who the guest she mentioned was.

In the women’s dormitory, where no one should be, sat a skeleton in a bizarre position, the bones long since turned to white.

Leonardo was startled by the unexpected situation.

Grace, the first to discover it, shrugged as if she knew nothing.

“As you said, Sir, wouldn’t it be better for a smart mage like you to investigate this than a brute knight like me?”

Though her voice trembled slightly at the end, Leonardo thought nothing of it.

Leonardo shook his head at Grace, who seemed to have moved further away from the scene. Then he spoke to her.

“How am I supposed to investigate without anything? It seems I need to gather some items.”

In response to his words, Grace quickly replied.

“What do you need? I’ll bring it.”

Hearing her voice, which was more confident than before, Leonardo turned around.

He hadn’t expected Grace to offer to bring the items, so he stared at her quietly.

Seeing her pale face, an absurd thought suddenly popped into his head.

‘Could it be… is she afraid of corpses?’

Grace tilted her head as if to ask why he wasn’t answering, while Leonardo, sighing for no reason, spoke.

“Just the basics will do.”

“Ah, well, would that be enough?”

“There shouldn’t be anything else.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Grace swiftly left.

As her footsteps faded, Leonardo turned back to the skeleton.

‘I didn’t expect her to be afraid of corpses.’

Shaking off his thoughts, Leonardo looked at the skeleton again. Such a clean skeleton.

If it were a skeleton formed from a decaying body, there should be a strong stench and the surroundings would be a mess.

Moreover, that smell doesn’t disappear easily.

‘It doesn’t become such a perfectly clean skeleton.’

This meant there was likely a ‘different’ reason.

To find out for sure, he needed to examine the skeleton, so Leonardo leaned against the doorframe and waited for Grace to return.

Meanwhile, standing in front of the supply closet in the reception room, Grace tightly clasped her trembling hands and squeezed her eyes shut.

The image of the skeleton kept resurfacing, making her dizzy and causing her vision to spin.

‘Don’t show it, Grace Lowell.’

Don’t let that man know you’re afraid of corpses. It’s embarrassing…

Struggling to control her increasingly ragged breath, she searched here and there for the necessary tools. But her fear-stricken body didn’t cooperate well.

‘Get a grip! The longer you take, the more suspicious Leonardo Fernandez will become!’

With eyes tightly shut, Grace slapped her own cheek once and took a deep breath before opening her eyes wide.

Desperately rummaging through the warehouse, Grace found the items and handed them to Leonardo.

“Does it take this long just to bring what’s provided?”

Leonardo’s sarcastic remark made Grace snap back sharply.

“And how quickly do you think you could find it? Even when I bring it, why is there still a fuss?”

At that moment, the excited face of ‘Grace’ from last night’s dream overlapped with her current face.

She used to put on a coy face if pushed a little roughly.

He thought.

And as he belatedly realized the absurd thought he had, Leonardo involuntarily flinched and turned his head sharply.

I must be crazy. What was I thinking with a person right in front of me!

“Now that it’s done, you may go.”

At his words, Grace nodded and went to the reception room.

But it was only for a moment before a sudden scream was heard.

“Ahh! What the hell is this body! At any time! Why is it doing this!”

Her voice, full of anger, made Leonardo’s shoulders flinch.

For some reason, it seemed that something went wrong with the body over there due to the brief distraction he had. And that was definitely.

“You said it only stands up in the morning! Liar!”

Hearing her voice as if she were scolding him right beside him, Leonardo swallowed hard.

‘I will definitely find out why.’

Sighing, Leonardo closed the door and slowly approached the skeleton. Then he carefully examined the surroundings.

‘No signs of intrusion… Rather, the skeleton is suspiciously clean.’

Then he found a notebook hidden behind the skeleton, near the pelvic bone.

Wearing the gloves Grace had brought, Leonardo picked it up. Considering the skeleton had turned to bone, the notebook was relatively intact.

‘…The skeleton is bone, yet the notebook is clean.’

Frowning, Leonardo took it outside and closed the door.

Having caused quite a commotion, Grace, with a flushed face, spoke curtly to Leonardo as he came out.

“Your body seems a bit strange.”

Leonardo pulled out a chair and sat down, pretending to know nothing as he answered.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I was just walking, and suddenly, well, anyway, that’s what happened!”

As if she couldn’t bring herself to say it stood up, Grace cleared her throat.

Leonardo, pretending to examine the notebook, replied.

“Didn’t you do something, Sir Lowell?”

“No, I was just walking, I told you?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

When Leonardo even told her not to slander a perfectly fine body, Grace, having nothing left to say, ruffled her hair.

Then she pointed at the notebook he was holding with her chin and asked.

“Is that a relic found with the body?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Grace, unable to do anything about his dismissive answer as he focused on the notebook, stood up.

Having made such a fuss, she was hungry and needed to eat something.

Arriving at the kitchen, Grace took out some preserved food. But seeing it, her appetite vanished.

“Ugh, I really don’t want to eat this.”

Normally, around this time, she should be eating delicious food and her favorite desserts in a warm home.

What was this mess, being caught up in such unlucky events?

Grace glared at the dry bread and instant soup in her hand. It really was food like an enemy.

But if she didn’t eat, she’d be hungry.

‘If only I were better at cooking, I wouldn’t have to eat this.’

Grace, looking at the storage room where fresh ingredients were likely kept, swallowed hard. Still, she suddenly felt that maybe something simple could be managed.

Finding an apron nearby, Grace opened the storage room door with a determined face.

Leonardo had long noticed that Grace was bustling about in the kitchen. But he wasn’t particularly interested.

“…What is this?”

Until she brought out something on a plate that was incomprehensible as food.

Leonardo stared intently at the plate until she pushed the chair and sat down. Then Grace spoke with an awkward face.

“I grilled some meat and bread. Since they were in the storage.”

Pointing with his finger at the large, charcoal-like lump, Leonardo frowned.

“I hope this isn’t the meat.”

“It is meat, though?”

“…Then surely… That dried log is bread?”

“Yes.”

Grace, speaking with an awkward expression, averted her gaze slightly.

She knew it didn’t look like meat at all. But what could she do? It really was meat she had just taken from the storage and grilled.

Feeling embarrassed by his shocked gaze, Grace cleared her throat and pretended not to notice as she cut the meat. Then a smell, whether it was burnt or something else, began to fill the air.

Leonardo, pinching his nose against the overpowering smell, spoke.

“It would be better not to eat that.”

Despite the odd pronunciation due to his pinched nose, his firm gaze made the meaning clear.

Grace quietly stared at the inside of the meat, which was oddly but acceptably cooked despite the burnt exterior. Then, as if accustomed, she cut off the outside.

Then, putting the meat in her mouth, she replied.

“Well, it’s cooked well enough.”

“…Pardon?”

“Before, only the outside was burnt, and the inside wasn’t cooked at all. But this time, the inside is somewhat cooked, so it’s edible.”

As Grace continued to cut and eat the charcoal, Leonardo ground his teeth and slammed his fist on the table as he stood up.

Startled by his sudden action, Grace looked up at him.

“Why, what’s wrong?”

Even then, Grace diligently moved her hands to cut the meat. She carved away the burnt exterior and put the half-cooked part in her mouth.