Eleanor returned the way she had come, climbing back out through the window. Simon watched her leave, then drew the curtains shut.
Back on his bed, he sniffed the air. Actually, aside from her eye color and figure, there had been one more clue that confirmed it was Eleanor: the fragrance lingering in the room.
Miss Eleanor didn’t wear perfume, but she bathed with flower petals, leaving behind a faint, pleasant fragrance.
Opening the log’s backend, he typed:
[Simon fell asleep surrounded by the lingering fragrance Miss Eleanor had left behind.]
This was the uninhibited Victorian era, after all. Gentlemen were nothing if not honest, so there was no harm in stating it openly.
After sending the message, Simon guessed that Miss Elisa would definitely lower her head and sniff herself all over.
She was still a young girl, after all.
He rolled over and thought about the recent events.
The secret behind this whole affair was actually quite simple. The [Finger Bones] were relics of the old dynasty. According to legend, gathering all the [Finger Bones] would allow someone to leverage a portion of the [Spirit World]’s authority and resurrect a corpse.
The complicated part was human desire. Those who knew this secret each had a different person they wanted to bring back to life.
In the original plot, Elisa briefly joined the struggle for the [Finger Bones], but quickly lost. The affair involved several demigods. Although Elisa could use an Artifact to contend with demigods, she ultimately couldn’t wield that power as flexibly as a true demigod could, and she lacked an organization of her own.
In truth, even winning the struggle would have been useless. The legend wasn’t false, but neither was it entirely true. Resurrection required additional conditions, so no matter which faction succeeded, they would fail to achieve their goal.
Simon’s current target was that resurrection opportunity… or rather, the corpse left behind after the resurrection failed. Cultivating on his own was far too slow. He might as well pick up the corpse of a powerful expert and control it.
Simon closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
***
[Simon enjoyed a delicious breakfast. His sense of belonging to Eleanor’s manor increased.]
[Affection Intimacy +1]
Don’t go increasing your sense of belonging to random places! You belong at my estate!
Elisa hadn’t slept all night. With Eve’s help, she changed into a dress Eleanor had given her. It was slightly loose around the chest but fit perfectly everywhere else.
Elisa had mixed feelings about it, partly because of the fit around her chest and partly because of Eleanor’s extravagance. She actually changed into a different dress every single day!
A maid from the manor led Elisa and Eve to the dining room on the first floor, where Eleanor and Mabel were already seated at the table.
During breakfast, Elisa and Eleanor yawned at the same time. Neither of them had slept well.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. A short while later, a maid escorted a woman inside. It was Helen, their etiquette instructor.
Helen greeted the three young ladies and explained why she had come. “Miss Ophelia asked me to come and ask Miss Elisa for the answer to that puzzle. Miss Ophelia spent the entire night thinking about it but still couldn’t solve it, and now she’s simply dying to know the answer.”
“I want to know too.” Mabel raised her hand.
Eleanor likewise looked toward Elisa.
Elisa set down her black tea, secretly glad that she had asked her male servant about it last night.
Smiling at the three of them, she slowly asked, “Would you like the basic version, the advanced version, or the ultimate version?”
Just as she had expected, all three chose the basic version. Hehe, humans always overestimate their own intelligence.
Elisa gave them the answer to the basic version. Seeing the confusion and regret on their faces brought her a sense of comfort.
Sure enough, we’re all curly-haired baboons!
A single curly-haired baboon might feel lonely and insecure, but surrounded by a whole group of fellow curly-haired baboons, there was something deeply reassuring about it. She could even feel a certain pride in being a curly-haired baboon. This world belongs to us curly-haired baboons!
Elisa ate a small cookie and took a sip of black tea to moisten her throat, preparing to begin her explanation.
Mabel suddenly spoke. “Oh, I see. It’s midnight on the fourth day, isn’t it?”
Elisa’s eyes widened as she stared at Mabel in disbelief.
How did you know?! I haven’t even given you the answer yet! Did you secretly go see my male servant this morning? No, that can’t be right. There was nothing about that in the log.
Glancing at Eleanor and Helen, who looked equally astonished, Elisa had no choice but to admit it.
Her male servant had been telling the truth! The basic method for solving the puzzle really could teach a Homo sapiens how to solve it!
She was heartbroken. Mabel, the one who most resembled a curly-haired baboon, had actually turned out to be the greatest traitor of them all!
Fortunately, Mabel only knew how to reason through the puzzle, not how to teach it. Her explanation went around in circles, jumping from one point to another and making it difficult to follow.
Elisa then presented the explanation worth 50 pounds, earning praise from Eleanor and Helen. She followed it up by introducing the concept of [Common Knowledge], elevating the puzzle to an entirely new level of logical reasoning and earning looks of admiration.
Her male servant had been right. The ultimate version of the answer could make a curly-haired baboon pass itself off as a university professor!
She reservedly lifted her black tea and pretended to be completely unfazed by either praise or criticism.
She wondered whether she should bring up the three-hats puzzle and test Eleanor and Helen’s intelligence.
In the end, she decided against it. Judging from Helen and Eleanor’s reactions, she realized that this puzzle seemed more important than she had imagined. Perhaps she shouldn’t bring it up at a small gathering like this, but save it for a grander occasion instead.
Fortunately, she still had the little bonus puzzles her male servant had given her.
After breakfast, Elisa bid farewell to Mabel and Eleanor and boarded the carriage.
[Simon took hold of the reins and smiled as he said goodbye to the maid Rose beside him. Rose gazed at him reluctantly as he left.]
You bastard! What did you do to Eleanor’s maid?! It’s only been one day!
***
The probing Elisa had imagined might come from Ophelia never arrived, and she spent the next few days in peace.
Her male servant’s savings briefly climbed back above 100 pounds, only to fall to 53 again under her tireless exploitation.
[Under your half-hearted instruction, Simon completed a combat lesson. His combat skills should have improved significantly, but his progress was halted by a particular technique for exerting force.]
Looking at the words on the light screen, Elisa guiltily averted her gaze.
What do you mean, cutting corners? I only held back one little trick. As long as my male servant practices seriously for a week or two, he’ll figure it out on his own!
Besides, it’s not like I’m refusing to teach him. As long as my male servant pays 10 pounds, I’ll teach him everything properly.
That’s far more conscientious than the teachers at the schools in the Archipelago. Those unscrupulous teachers are capable of teaching absolutely nothing in class just to force their students to pay for private tutoring afterward!
Elisa tried hard to soothe her conscience, but it still ached a little.
Fine, fine. I won’t charge him 10 pounds this time. Just 9 pounds, 19 shillings, and 11 pence!
Getting out of bed, Elisa closed [The Young Lady’s Late-Night Lessons] and opened [Simon’s Log].
[Simon woke up and reviewed the knowledge in his mind, lamenting that his recent dream lessons were becoming increasingly difficult.]
[Although he couldn’t remember the specific contents of the lessons, he could sense that knowledge which had once become perfectly clear the moment he woke up was now hazy, requiring extensive thought and paid inquiries to the magic mirror before he could fully understand it.]
[He was frustrated by his own dullness and felt that he had failed to live up to the expectations of his generous and selfless teacher.]
Elisa immediately closed [Simon’s Log], refusing to give her guilt any room to grow.
Getting out of bed, she asked Eve beside her, “Is everything ready?”
“The carriage is already waiting at the entrance. Miss Maria and Mr. Simon are waiting downstairs,” Eve replied.
Elisa nodded.
Today, she was going to the Royal Public University to attend an invention exhibition hosted by the College of Steam and Gears.
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