When Mabel and Eleanor had arrived, the carriage had been driven by Caroline, the military investigator. She had left the manor early, leaving them without a coachman, so Elisa had to send a servant to drive them back.
She had originally planned to have the manor’s regular coachman take the two young ladies home, but Mabel rejected her suggestion and specifically asked for Simon.
At the manor gates, Elisa watched Simon climb onto Mabel’s carriage, then watched Mabel happily get inside, and suddenly felt a little panicked.
You are coming back, right?
You definitely won’t stay at the Baron’s manor, right?!
After watching the carriage leave the estate, Elisa hurried back to her bedroom, spread open the [Searl Daily], and opened [Simon’s Log].
[Simon drove the carriage beneath the post-rain sunshine, feeling refreshed and cheerful.]
Good. Keep it that way! Focus on driving and don’t get up to anything else!
[Miss Mabel opened the front carriage window and chatted with Simon. They had a delightful conversation.]
I just praised you! This is only the second line!
[Simon’s favorability toward Miss Mabel increased.]
Make it go back down!
[Simon chatted with Miss Eleanor about matters concerning the manor. They had a delightful conversation.]
How did you end up flirting with Eleanor too?!
Letting you out really was a mistake!
And before, whenever you flirted with young ladies outside, you’d at least gain intimacy with me! Why am I not getting any this time?! Have you gotten completely used to cheating on me?! Doesn’t your conscience hurt anymore?!
Elisa glared viciously at the glowing screen.
[Simon made a humorous remark. Mabel giggled, the red earring beneath her hair sparkling brightly. Eleanor’s lips also curled into a smile as she turned her head, her black hair sliding across her fair earlobe.]
You bastard! What the hell did you do for a living before this?! Why are you so good at charming women?!
Elisa closed the glowing screen and put down the newspaper. She had Eve bring over some tea and pastries, then soothed herself with sweets.
As she enjoyed her refreshments, she thought about Eleanor.
Miss Eleanor’s family may hold an even higher position in the military than I realized.
The massacre at the police station last night clearly involved Transcendents. Caroline, the investigator sent by the military, must be an officer specializing in transcendent incidents. She might even be a Transcendent herself.
Unfortunately, I can’t use a ritual to investigate her without risking exposing myself.
And Caroline, who was most likely a Transcendent, had personally acted as Eleanor’s coachman. That alone proved just how influential Eleanor’s family was.
Elisa thought of something else.
None of Caroline’s questions touched on Mysticism, and Eleanor didn’t warn me about it either.
Eleanor probably thinks it was just an ordinary murder case. She doesn’t know Mysticism was involved.
Hehe. The defining characteristic of Mysticism is that it’s mysterious. Even the relatives of Transcendents don’t necessarily know about it. To know is to gaze upon it, and those who gaze upon the mysteries receive not only blessings, but curses as well.
Simple rituals weren’t too bad, but any ritual with slightly stronger effects carried the risk of losing control…such as turning into a monster, or having one’s body possessed by an evil spirit.
That was why, in the Transcendent world, and even among families with demigods, Mysticism was a closely guarded family secret known only to core members.
As for pampered young ladies of the family, their elders would usually deliberately keep them from learning about or coming into contact with Mysticism. At the very least, they wouldn’t tell them while they were still merely “young ladies,” lest they stir up some kind of disaster.
Eleanor and Mabel were probably the same.
Eleanor’s family most likely has Transcendents serving in the military, and fairly high-ranking ones at that.
Mabel’s family might not have any Transcendents, but Baron Percy definitely knows about such matters. He’s a member of Parliament, after all. With his wealth, he could easily command any Transcendent below the demigod level.
Elisa set down her black tea, feeling quite pleased.
Today, not only did I get a clear picture of Mabel’s family wealth, I also learned more about Eleanor’s family.
Compared to the Percy family’s influence in the business world, Eleanor’s family could be even more useful. The military could provide tremendous help on my path to revenge.
I should pay more attention to Miss Eleanor from now on and build a good relationship with her.
What does Miss Eleanor like?
According to my male servant’s previous assessment, Miss Eleanor looks at everyone else as though they’re curly-haired baboons… Am I supposed to act like a curly-haired baboon?
Hmm. Arrogant people like her are usually fixated on whatever makes them feel superior to others. That also makes them easy to tempt with Mysticism.
Should I bait her with Mysticism? Once the Transcendent item that can disguise my identity arrives, I could take both her and my male servant on as students.
I’ll spend some time with her first and learn more about her.
Having finished formulating her plans, Elisa continued reading the glowing screen.
[…Simon arrived at Miss Mabel’s estate. The two young ladies got out of the carriage together, and Miss Mabel invited him to stay and rest for a while, saying she could have her coachman take him back later.]
Rest, my ass! Get back here!
[Simon politely declined Miss Mabel’s offer and left the Baron’s estate on foot.]
That’s more like it! I’m impressed!
Elisa took a sip of black tea. She knew her male servant was about to slack off again, but compared to lingering around Mabel’s place, slacking off was still preferable.
[Simon wandered around the city. At a jewelry store, he checked the prices of blue diamond earrings and tentatively determined that the earrings he had found were worth more than 400 pounds. He sighed. Those earrings really did belong to Eleanor.]
400 pounds!
The earrings you casually picked up are worth more than I earn from an entire dangerous mission!
The black tea in Elisa’s hand suddenly tasted extremely bitter.
Wait. Something doesn’t seem right.
Elisa looked back at the glowing screen and blinked.
Those blue diamond earrings belonged to Eleanor?
How did Eleanor’s earrings end up lost on my estate? And how did she manage to lose both of them?
It wasn’t strange that her male servant had picked them up. He liked using the [Finding Ritual].
Elisa scrolled back through the log and quickly found a clue. When her male servant had made Mabel and Eleanor laugh, the log had mentioned Mabel’s red earring and Eleanor’s fair earlobe.
I thought my male servant was getting lustful again, but he was actually checking to see which of them was missing an earring!
Regardless of how Eleanor had lost the earrings, Elisa needed to buy them back from her male servant and return them to Eleanor. This was a perfect opportunity to raise Eleanor’s favorability!
As Elisa pondered how to get the earrings back, she continued reading the glowing screen.
[Simon sighed again. As expected, Eleanor also knows Mysticism. She deliberately threw away those earrings.]
“!!!”
Where did that “as expected” come from?!
Eleanor knows Mysticism? Then why didn’t she warn me that there was something strange about the police station incident? If one of my friends got caught up in a murder case involving Transcendents, I’d definitely warn her!
Elisa thought for a long time before coming up with one possibility.
Maybe Caroline didn’t tell Eleanor? Because Eleanor isn’t openly involved in Mysticism and has only been studying it in private.
Did some bastard beat me to it and take Eleanor on as a student?
Damn it! That was supposed to be my strategy!
After her indignation subsided, Elisa felt somewhat relieved. Fortunately, she had learned this beforehand. Otherwise, if she tried to tempt Eleanor with Mysticism only to discover that Eleanor had already been exposed to it, things would have gotten extremely awkward.
I wonder how far Eleanor has progressed in Mysticism. Has she become a Transcendent yet?
Then another thought occurred to her. No wonder [Simon’s Log] said Eleanor believed she had the right to look down on others. Anyone who gained knowledge of Mysticism was bound to become a little full of themselves.
Come to think of it, why did Eleanor deliberately throw away her earrings? And she even threw them away separately… the [Finding Ritual]?
So Eleanor said she wanted to wander around alone because she planned to use the [Finding Ritual] to search for valuables lost around my estate?
Why do all of you know this trick?! You’re making me look like an idiot!
Good thing my male servant had already picked the estate clean. Is that why he figured the earrings were deliberately thrown away by Eleanor? Hmm, and that’s also why Eleanor threw the earrings away in the first place.
I learned quite a bit of important information today.
Elisa took a sip of black tea and continued reading [Simon’s Log].
[Simon took a public carriage and planned to claim reimbursement at the rate of a hired carriage.]
You’re embezzling my funds again!
Leave a Reply