Chapter 46
“During those past few days, was there anyone strange around your mother—or rather, that woman?”
Roil asked the sylph directly. Since Roil couldn’t perceive any other sylphs besides Erica’s, his focus wandered around the vicinity of Erica’s sylph.
“There wasn’t anyone.”
Erica relayed the answer, then suddenly lifted her head and looked toward the interior of the greenhouse. At the same time, Ellen also turned her head sharply in that direction. A voice had been heard from somewhere.
[Even if there was no strange person around that woman, there was one here! That woman is bad! She did something strange to the kids I care about!]
It was a peculiar voice, sounding both young and old at the same time.
“A spirit?”
“A gnome?”
“What’s going on?”
The questions came simultaneously from Ellen, Erica, and Roil.
Ellen stared intently at a small figure, a dwarf-like old man with short legs, hopping over from the far side of the greenhouse. Even when she blinked, she could still see him clearly.
In a trembling voice, Ellen asked,
“Erica… that’s a spirit, right?”
“I’ve never seen one before either, but it looks like a gnome. But you… can you see it? You can see gnomes?”
Ellen glanced at the sylphs on the table and nodded in astonishment.
“Yes. I can see the gnome, and I can see two sylphs on the table too.”
“Are there other spirits here?”
Roil squinted his eyes and tried to focus on where his friends were looking, but still, he couldn’t see anything.
“Let’s talk about the gnome first and leave the rest for later.”
Suppressing her curiosity and excitement at seeing a spirit, Ellen prioritized what needed to be done.
“What exactly was strange?”
When Ellen asked, the gnome, who had been observing her with curiosity, jumped onto the table. It acknowledged the sylphs there and then spoke.
[The woman who wears those fancy clothes comes here every day. I liked her energy too, so I settled here. She had a plant she especially liked, so I gave my energy to it often.]
The gnome boasted.
[Do you know how much receiving the energy of an earth spirit helps a plant grow? Ah, your spiritist friend might know. But ordinary humans probably only vaguely understand. If they did, they wouldn’t be able to resist worshipping us.]
The gnome’s story veered toward bragging about its own abilities. Ellen, who whispered the gnome’s words to Roil, gradually looked more puzzled.
‘Are spirits always this talkative and boastful?’
Roil also tilted his head as he listened to Ellen relaying the gnome’s story.
“My mother liked the Cyaletta the most. She said the scarlet flowers, when in full bloom, looked just like the sunset.”
[Yes! That one! Cy… whatever it’s called! I noticed every time she liked it, the energy became even more vibrant, so I took care of it. That’s the blessing of a gnome…]
Ellen cut off the gnome’s digression.
“You’re amazing! Your abilities are incredible! But who was the strange person you mentioned earlier? They didn’t like the Cyaletta, did they?”
The gnome suddenly leapt up on the table, showing its anger.
[A woman applied something to the Cy… whatever it’s called! She screamed all night because it hurt! I struggled all night trying to remove what she applied! But it wouldn’t disappear, it got even more potent over time, and the Cy… whatever kept screaming and crying, and I had to use my energy too, even though I needed rest…]
The gnome grumbled endlessly. Ellen relayed every bit of its complaints to Roil.
Roil raised one hand as he listened quietly.
“Wait a second. The one who applied something to the Cyaletta… it was a woman? Not a man?”
When Ellen looked at the gnome expectantly, it nodded.
[Yes, a human woman. She had long straw-colored hair. There are many humans who wear the same clothes in this house, but very few enter here, so I remember clearly.]
“Why a woman? Our gardener is a man. Jis, he’s been working here for twenty years.”
“Then why wasn’t it Jis, but a straw-haired woman…”
Ellen stopped mid-sentence, glancing between Roil and Erica. Both of them widened their eyes as if they had realized something.
“Syra!”
“Syra’s hair was straw-colored!”
Hearing Ellen and Erica shout simultaneously, Roil frowned.
“Gnome!”
Ellen reached out to grab the gnome, but her hand passed through it without touching anything.
“Huh?”
She tried again, but her hand still went right through the gnome. The gnome merely sat there, watching her hand pass through its body.
Unable to stand it any longer, Erica gently lifted the gnome with both hands and held it out to Ellen.
“Thanks, Erica. Gnome, we want to catch the person who killed the woman whose energy you liked. We need your help for that.”
The gnome tilted its head.
“We’ll show you many human women. Can you find the strange woman you saw among them?”
[That’s not easy.]
“She’ll do it, she’ll do it.”
Erica whispered to Roil, and the tension in his face eased slightly.
“And one more thing. A spiritist will come to this house in a few days. Can you tell that spiritist what you’ve seen?”
This time, the gnome shook its head, refusing the request.
“Why?”
Ellen’s face, expecting compliance, turned to shock.
[When is this spiritist coming?]
“Well… in about three or four days, I think.”
Ellen answered timidly.
[Ah, that’s fine. A spirit without a contract can’t reveal events from before five days ago. Of course, if I contract with someone, I can tell everything I’ve seen, whether from five days or five thousand years ago! But contracting with me won’t be easy. Earth spirits aren’t numerous, and you need very high affinity. Moreover, you don’t even have mana.]
“….”
[The humans who can contract with me must be exceptional geniuses! I can’t tell you all the details, but humans who contracted with me 800 or 1700 years ago had overflowing affinity and mana! Contracting with me allows you to…]
The gnome rambled again.
“Thanks, Gnome! Roil thanks you too, right?”
“Yeah.”
Erica cut off the gnome’s rambling as she relayed its words to Roil. Exhausted as he was, Roil immediately agreed and stood up.
“We need to gather all the female servants. Gnome, you come too. Ellen, Erica, take care of the gnome.”
Ellen and Erica stood up. Erica’s sylph perched on Ellen’s head, and the other sylph floated beside them. The gnome clung to Roil’s leg like a koala.
Seeing the gnome cling, Ellen reflexively glanced at Roil. He walked straight toward the greenhouse entrance, oblivious to it.
In the first-floor parlor, all the housemaids were lined up. The gathering followed the shocking death of the mansion’s owner, and the maids’ faces were tense.
“Syra’s not here.”
“She’s missing?”
Ellen and Erica, a step behind Roil, simultaneously spoke as they examined each maid’s face.
“Venner, who’s missing from here?”
“Everyone’s here except Syra.”
From Amber and the head maid, just returned, to the new trainees, everyone was present except Syra.
“Kashu.”
Kashu, standing behind Ellen and Erica, came beside Roil and bowed respectfully.
“Send soldiers to find Syra. The estate is sealed, so she couldn’t have escaped. Bring her back.”
Even with the estate sealed, considering its size, it wouldn’t be easy. But Kashu bowed again silently and left.
“Gnome. See if the woman you mentioned is among them.”
Roil looked down near Ellen and Erica, where he thought the gnome might be, but it was still clinging to his leg. Even in this serious moment, the sight was amusing, and Ellen and Erica bit their lips to hide smiles.
The gnome nodded once, climbed up Roil’s body, and stood atop his head with its hands on its waist.
“What’s the gnome saying?”
“It’ll look. It’s on your head now.”
Ellen informed Roil, who cautiously felt over his head so the gnome wouldn’t fall. As his hands passed through the gnome, it pretended to tiptoe while scanning the maids.
[Not here.]
As expected, the gnome confirmed what everyone anticipated. Roil and Venner, having relayed the gnome’s words, showed no surprise.
Amber and the head maid, who had a rough idea of the situation, immediately recognized that Syra was the prime suspect from just hearing the gnome. The more perceptive maids were momentarily shocked but quickly masked it.
“Amber, stay by mother’s side. Meg, prepare to receive mourners. Venner, expedite funeral preparations until Syra is found. The rest of you…”
Roil instructed Amber, the head maid, and the steward, then looked at the remaining maids.
“Go to your positions and perform your duties. Anyone helping or hiding Syra will be severely punished. Anyone who knows her whereabouts or has suspicions should report separately. The countess’s funeral will soon take place, so focus on your tasks.”
“Yes.”
The maids responded in unison and quietly left. Amber, the head maid, and the steward also dispersed to their respective tasks.
“Meg.”
The head maid, leaving the parlor, turned back to Roil.
“Yes, Roillette-sama?”
“Why did you recommend Syra to mother?”
Startled by the question, she knelt quickly before him.
“Roillette-sama! I had no idea Syra would do such a thing!”
Despite her urgent cries, Roil remained silent. She lowered herself further and explained:
“I was only asked to recommend children suitable to stay by Roillette-sama’s side, so I suggested Syra and Lirin. Both are of similar age, diligent, intelligent, and loyal. I chose Syra slightly more because she is more perceptive than Lirin.”
Hearing “loyal,” Ellen clicked her tongue in disbelief. Their judgment of people was utterly unreliable.
