Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 496
Only Krnovel
EP.496 Episode 496 – Room 207, The Gate Room – The Second Trial ‘The Witch’ (4)
Episode 496 – Room 207, The Gate Room – The Second Trial ‘The Witch’ (4)
– Lee Eun-sol
As soon as I stepped outside to gather information, I was left speechless.
Bruno, who had been accusing me of being a witch, was brutally murdered, and a bizarre situation occurred where a smiling talking cat advised me to leave the scene.
Fortunately or unfortunately, my experience at the hotel helped me keep my composure.
“I told you to run away quickly?”
“…who killed Bruno?”
“Meow!”
“Stop making cat noises all of a sudden.”
“Meow~!”
“…”
The red, cloudy eyes glow eerily.
As if to ask why such a stupid question.
Soon, eerie claws that looked like they could carve rocks grew long and thick.
“You? You killed him? Why?”
“I don’t like it.”
“what?”
“I hate this guy. Do you need a reason to kill someone you hate?”
“…”
The cruelty revealed in childish speech.
This guy, this monster, killed Bruno and he’s not even hiding it.
The witch’s familiar killed Bruno.
Who will people suspect to be responsible?
Of course it is me.
So the witch set me in a trap.
But why does the witch’s familiar tell me that an outsider is coming and tell me to run away?
“Sound. I can hear people coming. This is your last chance.”
“…”
First of all, let’s get out of here.
*
About an hour after returning home, the outside area started to get noisy.
The sun had already set, and the night sky was extremely dark. It was not a time for people to be very active in this era without streetlights…
Torches were burning brightly everywhere.
Also, an emotional storm hotter than a fire – hatred – surrounded the house.
“What, what is this? What the hell is going on?”
Valentina panicked and went outside to check on the situation before returning.
If I had gone out, the excited crowd would have immediately put me on the stake, but Valentina is different.
“Eunsol Lee! B, Bruno… Bruno is dead! He was even dismembered alive.”
“…”
“You, you are like that….”
For a moment, she looked at me with a confused expression.
Do you really doubt that I killed that man?
“…”
“…”
I can feel Valentina’s thoughts just by looking at her eyes.
Unlike the excited crowd outside, Valentina knows me well. That’s the setting.
That’s what my experience of interacting with you for nearly 10 years tells Valentina.
It is clear that Eunsol Lee is an unlucky woman who caused her brother’s early death, but she is not a witch who puts curses on people and kills them.
“Do you think I killed Bruno?”
“… Stupid talk. Where can you find a cowardly woman like you? You can’t even slaughter a chicken properly, yet you torture and kill a person… It’s ridiculous. Just stay here. I’ll calm the people down and come back.”
Soon Valentina’s calm voice was heard from outside.
Of course, she didn’t have any great talent for calming down excited people.
The fact is that the next witch trial will be held tomorrow anyway.
The fact that the Inquisitor and Elena will punish the witch at that time.
So if you have any complaints, convince them to testify in court tomorrow.
“Hmm….”
It’s a pointless effort.
Today’s danger may pass, but there is less than half a day left until the next witch trial.
— Click!
The door to the next room opened and a doll-like girl ran towards me.
“Mom…! Mom…!”
“…”
“Why… Why… .”
“Sophia, you should go in and sleep.”
“Why do people harass Mom? Mom! Mom didn’t hurt anyone!”
“Sophia, you just have to explain it well to the Inquisitor at the trial tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“Then! Even at the first trial, Judge Thomas said that my mother was not a witch.”
“Whew… Thank goodness…”
The relieved girl closed her eyes and began to doze off on my lap.
“…”
As it turns out, I’m going to be the subject of a flood of accusations at the next trial.
Will the Inquisitor take my side once again?
That can’t be true.
“Hmm.”
Is it because it was already certain that I would be branded a witch?
Instead, I felt relieved.
After all, the civilians of Ernheim ‘and such’ cannot truly put me in danger.
witch?
Yeah, so what if I really was a witch?
How could a medieval man running wild with a sickle or an iron, let alone a gun, threaten me?
These are the people who would run away in fear if you knocked out just five or six people with a butterfly dream.
So let’s take a step back and think about it.
There is no need to get caught up in the internal perspective of the ordeal and the concept of a ‘falsely accused widow’.
The city people who drive me out as a witch are just fools.
Because they have virtually no power to threaten me.
So who is my real enemy?
Should I find the real witch and kill her?
…
If the boss hasn’t appeared yet, what are the ‘Boss Appearance Conditions’?
“…”
I had a vague feeling.
I think I know how the scenario of the second trial is structured and what the role of ‘Thomas’ is.
— Squeak!
“What? I should be sleeping. Why are you in my room -”
“Valentina, I have a favor to ask. A favor that needs to be done right now.”
“… at this time?”
“Give Elena a letter.”
“…”
“Don’t open it.”
“What do you think of me?”
Just as Valentina believed that Eunsol Lee was not a witch, I also did not suspect that she would steal the letter.
In the first place, if she was the exclusive maid of a high-ranking noble, she would have received that level of education.
Even if you peek, she won’t understand.
Just before departure, Valentina looked at me.
“… Eunsol.”
“huh?”
“Don’t you love Sophia?”
“…”
“That was a stupid question. What kind of mother doesn’t love her daughter… I’ll go.”
*
– Elena
The atmosphere of the second witch trial was completely different from the previous ones.
This is because at the time there were no casualties.
The livestock is sick, the people are ill, the cat is talking.
Although it is a bizarre phenomenon, the first two are common even for non-witches, and the last one is something that the person who heard it might think was hallucination while drinking.
However, it is a completely different matter when a person is brutally murdered.
“That woman, that woman!”
“Your Honor, Judge Thomas, that witch has taken the faithful Bruno -”
“Ugh! Please, kill that witch!”
“I can’t live in fear every night!”
People who are extremely excited and shout for Eun-sol Lee to be burned to death.
— Boom!
Thomas shouted, lightly tapping the table with his mallet.
“Everyone be quiet! I’ve heard enough!”
Soon, he looked at me and asked.
“What do you think, Miss Elena?”
“… I think Lord Thomas is more of an expert on witch-related matters than I am.”
Thomas’ eyes widened as if he had heard me tell him to do it himself.
“Hmm? That’s true, but I didn’t expect Miss Elena to say that.”
“…”
“I thought you’d try to cover things up somehow since you’re from the Gray family.”
“…”
“Ahem, three thoughts come to mind.”
Three?
“Miss Elena, have you finished reading the Malleus Maleficarum that I borrowed from you a while ago?”
“I read it all.”
“Do you understand what kind of personality the witches have?”
“Childhood is usually difficult. As a result, even after they grow up, they often remain childish and extremely cruel.”
“I think you understand that well. Then, what does that young lady look like?”
“… You look very calm even though you are in a situation where you could die.”
“She has a personality that is very different from that of a typical witch. That’s my first thought.”
Witches are usually childish and cruel in nature.
He grew up receiving hatred from those around him since childhood, and he never received a proper education, but he is strong.
Eunsol didn’t feel that way at all.
“On the contrary, I also think this way. Even for an ordinary person, he is too calm.”
“…”
“As Miss Elena said, right now I am in a situation where I could be burned at the stake. In this situation, even if I am innocent, it is normal for me to get excited and scream or cry in fear.”
“…”
“Perhaps that calm demeanor comes from composure. With my magical powers, I can easily overcome difficulties of this level? Even if Miss Elena tries to judge me, I am confident that I can escape?”
First thought: very calm and mature for a childish witch.
My second thought was that, for an average person, they don’t seem to feel a great sense of crisis.
“What’s the third one?”
“I don’t like this situation at all. It’s just going to end with that one woman.”
“what?”
You don’t like it because it feels like it’ll end with just one Eunsol?
What does this mean?
“If it were a situation where they were accusing each other, we could ‘purify’ all the suspects, but now everyone is only accusing one person -”
I know what this crazy guy is talking about!
So, if the atmosphere was such that people were accusing each other of being witches, I was going to use that as an excuse to burn about 300 people, but since everyone is only accusing Eun-sol, it’s a shame that only one person can be burned!
My blood pressure suddenly soared.
It’s something I’ve thought about ten times since day one.
Why can’t we just beat up Thomas, who is full of thoughts of burning people, and shout that this is God’s will!?
In the first place, I am a holy being who has received God’s grace.
Even Inquisitor Thomas couldn’t deny my authority in front of me, so why can’t I use that?
…
I held back.
I endured, endured, and endured again.
It was a trial imposed by the hotel, and it didn’t seem like ending it so easily was the answer.
If you think about it carefully, the situation itself was rather strange.
‘What kind of being is Thomas?’
A cruel fanatic.
A person who has his own logic, like the agents of the Management Bureau, but is fundamentally an extremely violent person.
Above all, the person who tries to kill Eun-sol.
Up until here, it’s the typical villain we’ve seen countless times in the Room of Curses, but there’s a very important point mixed in.
“A being that I can kill whenever I want… .”
“Hmm? Miss Elena, what did you say?”
“no.”
I can kill Thomas whenever I want.
The justification he gives seems to me nothing but absurd madness, and the moment he burns my sister at the stake, justice will be served.
So it was confusing.
…
The letter my sister sent last night added to the confusion.
“The Inquisitor’s very existence is like a trap. I have something to confirm, so don’t interfere with the trial.”
“…”
I understood the first sentence.
I also felt from day one that Thomas’ very existence was some kind of trap.
But what does it mean to not interfere in a trial?
If I take the initiative, there will be many ways to save Eunsol!
For example, if I use my lie detection ability and make Eun-sol say in front of me, “I’m not a witch”? And I call that testimony the “truth”?
A simple but powerful saying.
According to the setting, my power is the grace of God, so even the Inquisitor cannot claim that my power was misused.
What if I add to this that I’m going to let Eunsol Lee into my mansion and keep her by my side to keep an eye on her?
The anxiety and hostility of city dwellers will also subside significantly.
…
Eunsol says that she wants to confirm something, so she tells her not to help her like that.
What do you want to check?
— Boom!
“I have heard the witnesses’ accusations! Now, I will give my verdict to the second witch court!”
“…”
Finally, the Inquisitor looked in my direction.
The atmosphere is such that if you have any objections, you should speak up.
Thomas smiled faintly when I told him to do as he wished by simply nodding my head.
Perhaps, in his own way, he might be thinking, ‘As expected, the daughter who received grace knows a thing or two!’
— Boom!
“Verdict! The sinner, Lee Eun-sol, is a witch. The witch’s crimes are as follows: the crime of making 32 sheep, 6 donkeys, 9 horses, and 14 cows sick through her wicked sorcery. The crime of cursing a devout young man and making him sick. The crime of spreading an evil fog every night. The crime of frightening everyone with a talking cat!”
It’s funny to hear.
Are you just saying that all the dead or sick livestock in Ernheim are caused by my sister?
“Finally, for the crime of harming the sausage maker Bruno with a vicious curse! The sentence is to be burned at the stake. Tie him up!”
Soon, the Inquisitor’s attendants brought thick ropes and began to tie up Eunsol.
“…”
I’m starting to feel out of breath.
Sister, what are you thinking?
You’re not really planning to burn yourself to death at the stake, are you?
Rather than seeing that sight, I’d rather kill that heretic inquisitor than be a trap or a piece of crap –
— Meow~!
“huh?”
Cat meow?
A cat came into the court –
— Bam!
A wet liquid brushed my cheek.
When I looked to the side, feeling the rich red liquid that I had seen countless times in the hotel.
I saw the Inquisitor collapse, blood pouring out of every orifice on his body – eyes, nose, mouth, ears.
Thomas’s end was so vain.