Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 505
Only Krnovel
EP.505 Episode 505 – Room 207, The Gate Room – The Third Trial ‘Miskatonic University’ (7)
Episode 505 – Room 207, The Gate Room – The Third Trial ‘Miskatonic University’ (7)
– Kim Ari
“Oh, Miss Ari! I am Carl, the eldest son of the Sanders family -”
“Okay, okay! Mr. Carl, don’t you see that Ari is flustered? Get out of the way!”
“…”
The young man, who was blushing and looking ready to confess at any moment, lightly backed away at Emily’s gesture.
Due to the nature of these men, when another man – for example, Mukseong – tries to chase them away, they often act like they are not worthy of being called that, and run wild.
However, in front of Emily, who was also a woman but had considerable beauty, he was kicked out without even being able to take a deep breath.
“how is it?”
“…”
“Thank you? For chasing away those annoying kids?”
“… thank you.”
From the first day of class on my second attempt, Emily clung to me and acted like we were best friends.
According to Mukseong, it was similar during the first attempt.
At the time, didn’t you just think of her as a pretty girl?
Of course, not now.
According to the information that Mukseong found out before turning back time, this ‘girl’ is not actually a girl.
Her real name is Sophia, not Emily, and she is in a brother-in-law relationship with Dean Lucas.
Also, he might be a disciple of ‘Hotel Party’!
“…”
After hearing Silent’s guess, I thought about it all night.
Let’s say I was a survivor of the previous party.
What is the most important thing to keep in mind when leaving behind disciples for future colleagues?
First of all, isn’t it the most important thing for the disciple to recognize ‘us’?
Then you will help us!
It’s easier than you think to make yourself recognizable.
Simply telling them their name is enough, but you can also describe their appearance in detail.
Could you give me a rough idea of when Mukseong and I will appear?
I didn’t know it was exactly 1897, but I knew in advance, thanks to the dinner party, that it was America before World War I.
“Ariya. Why are you so quiet and just looking at my face?”
“just.”
By the looks of it, Sophia already recognizes me.
So, it must have been hovering around me from day one.
I’d like to have a proper conversation with Emily or Sophia –
— Squeak!
Suddenly the banquet hall door opened and people carrying violin cases started coming in.
These are the soldiers of the Vatican that Mukseong spoke of.
“… Hmm.”
I wasn’t too worried.
If I had been taken by surprise without knowing anything, I wouldn’t know, but it’s a situation where I already know everything.
There was no need for me or Mukseong to move.
— Mate!
Just one applause from an old man sipping wine in silence in a corner of the banquet hall was enough.
“Oh my! My, my body -”
“Ugh! Ugh!”
“Kwaaak!”
The Vatican soldiers, their whole bodies frozen like stone under invisible, intangible pressure, groan.
The students who had been drinking so hard that their noses were crooked opened their eyes wide in surprise, but soon the professors of the Department of Mystery came out.
“Okay~! Okay! Students, this is just a simple magic demonstration, so don’t worry and go outside. There are plenty of things to enjoy outside too!”
The students moved outside the banquet hall to the outdoors, following the professor’s instructions, despite their bewildered expressions.
As I was about to leave naturally, Emily grabbed my hand.
“You just stay. You don’t have to go out.”
“…”
Strangely enough, it was another professor who responded to Emily’s words.
“Huh? Huh? The dean told all students to leave -”
“I think differently.”
“… Oh, I understand.”
From this brief conversation, I learned two things.
First, the faculty knows that Emily is not a typical student.
Second, unlike the Dean, who is externally the only person in charge, Emily is in a position where she can ignore the Dean’s orders.
Well, if it’s the Dean’s death penalty, then I guess we should see it as being on almost equal footing.
Is it because they kicked out all the other students except me?
Emily no longer cared and began to reveal her identity.
“Whew~! That’s a relief. Ari, you think so too?”
“…”
“There were quite a few different opinions among the professors. Many even said that the opening party should be stopped and the assassin should be dealt with first.”
“…”
“The Dean had different thoughts. If we acted as if we had noticed something, like stopping the opening party or hunting down the soldiers….”
“The soldiers are hiding?”
“That’s right. So we just changed the party venue to a place where the Dean can easily manipulate it, and it worked.”
Fortunately, it seems like the first bad ending, which leads to the terrorism of the opening party and the dean’s rampage, has been prevented.
“Ariya, thank you. Your ‘prophecy’ was a great help.”
“…”
Even as Emily and I were having a pleasant conversation, the soldiers were being interrogated.
Soon, the dean’s voice was heard.
“Sophia, come here.”
Emily, no, Sophia, took my hand.
“let’s go.”
When we arrived at the interrogation scene with Sophia, the professors looked slightly surprised.
There was an atmosphere of asking why the student had been brought in, but no one pointed it out as neither Sophia nor the dean paid any attention.
“Sophia, something unusual came out of their mouths.”
“What did you say?”
“They say we are just the vanguard.”
“Oh? Then where is the main unit?”
“They don’t know either. Judging from the fact that they’ve racked their brains but still can’t find anything, it seems like they didn’t tell their subordinates in the first place.”
“…”
“But there was an ominous story.”
“An ominous story?”
“It is said that a rumor spread that Fortuna had awakened in the darkness of Spain.”
The moment the word ‘Fortuna’ came out, the surrounding atmosphere changed.
The professors’ faces turned pale in an instant, and some of them clasped their hands and began to search for ‘Horus’.
Even the dean, with his dignified air, cannot hide his nervous expression.
What was most interesting was Sophia’s reaction.
“…”
An eerie hatred that is hard to express in words, and at the same time a fear that makes your hands tremble.
A whirlpool of surging hatred and fear that could freeze even that hatred.
At that moment, I acted a little ‘calculatingly’.
As always, the person I love since I was born.
He reached out and gently took Sophia’s hand.
She looked somewhat surprised, but didn’t pull my hand away or anything.
“Lucas, are you sure?”
“I don’t know. They were just spreading rumors about Spain.”
“Hmm… I guess I should prepare.”
“Beware… That monster becomes more and more horrifying every time it wakes up, beyond words.”
“Lucas.”
“When he came 180 years ago, even the Master could no longer resist him and collapsed. 110 years ago, he had to completely abandon his stronghold in the Old Continent. What do you think it will be like this time?”
“Lucas, be patient -”
“Sophia, I am speaking more rationally than ever. I am saying that we need a number that can blackmail the Holy See.”
“… Let’s talk about that later. We have other things to talk about now.”
I frantically interpreted the information that poured in at an instant.
Fortuna, given the circumstances, this appears to be a super-powerful monster used by the Vatican?
It awakens once every 50 to 100 years, and grows stronger as time passes.
180 years ago – around 1710 – even the ‘Master’, presumed to be someone at a hotel party, was unable to stop Fortuna and fell.
110 years ago – around 1780 – they were forced to abandon their Old World strongholds and flee to the New World.
In short, the story is that even 180 years ago, it was already unmanageable, and 110 years ago, when it had become even stronger, there was no choice but to run away.
And now, 110 years later, it is said that Fortuna has awakened again.
It’s no wonder that everyone here has this ‘we’re all dead now!’ look on their faces.
The dean turned his gaze towards me when he heard Sophia say, “There’s something else we need to talk about now.”
“Right, right. I forgot. You said Ari, right?”
“yes.”
“I have one rule: repay kindness with kindness and repay resentment with resentment.”
Kindness is repaid with kindness?
Is this perhaps a story about compensation?
“Your ‘prophecy’ has saved many students, so there should be an appropriate reward.”
The problem that had been troubling me and Mukseong since the day before yesterday immediately came to mind.
“Relic Vault!”
“Hmm? The relic storage?”
When the dean looked somewhat puzzled, the professor next to him spoke up.
“That’s the warehouse where old stuff is stored. These days, they call it a relic storage.”
“okay?”
“Margaret is in charge.”
“Hmm. So, you’re saying that you want to get one or two useful magical tools from the warehouse?”
“yes.”
The dean said, scratching his chin with a somewhat subtle expression.
“To be honest, it’s just a place to store things of dubious use, not a treasure trove. You won’t find anything grandiose there.”
The dean’s words were easy to understand.
In the first place, if it really was a ‘treasure trove’, wouldn’t it have been secretly built in a place where not only students but also faculty members couldn’t easily access it?
Although it has some value when kept openly within the school, the dean does not think it is a ‘real treasure.’
But, after hearing this explanation, I became even more convinced.
Because the ‘tools’ we’re looking for are just odd-looking objects to anyone outside of a hotel party!
“are you okay.”
“It’s your choice, I won’t stop you. Brian, to this kid -”
“I’ll go with you.”
“…Okay. Sophia, give me one.”
“okay.”
This concludes the opening party.
*
Late at night.
I walked out of the banquet hall into the cold night wind with Sophia.
Mukseong, who had been waiting outside, came running immediately.
“Ariya, work is done well -”
“…”
“…”
For a moment, silence fell between Mu-seong, me, and Sophia.
Sophia looked at the silence as if wondering what kind of relationship there was between me and this ‘uncle’.
Soon, Sophia’s eyes grew wide and her mouth opened halfway.
“Huh? Huh? What? You, you too?”
“…”
Suddenly, Sophia quickly approached Mukseong, and this time she grabbed the ‘uncle’s’ face with both hands and looked it over.
“Ugh! Uh, Miss Emily, this is extremely rude -”
“Mukseong, just stay still. She’ll be checking things out on her own.”
“check?”
I’m starting to get an idea of what’s going on.
The colleague who ‘arranged’ Sophia may have left a portrait so that Sophia could recognize us.
Didn’t you leave your name behind?
Or was it forgotten over time?
Anyway, Sophia immediately recognized me because I looked like the portrait, but Mukseong did not.
Of course, the person who left the portrait would never have imagined that Mukseong would suddenly become a 20-year-old man, so they left it looking all old!
In the first episode, when Mukseong was in his 20s, I didn’t recognize him at all.
Then, when I was approaching 50 years old and it was the second time, I finally started to think, ‘Really?’
He approached Sophia, who had found both of them with her mouth half open.
“Emily – no, Sophia.”
Emily’s blue eyes sparkled like glass beads for a moment.
“I think we have a lot to talk about, don’t you?”
“… That’s right.”
That day, Sophia and I talked until dawn.
It was an old story.
A very, very old story from hundreds of years ago.
The story of a girl born as a witch who loses her mother to the Black Knight and meets her master.