Chapter 31
“What’s going on?”
[SYSTEM] ‘Palace Cleaner James’ is showing intense interest in you!
The system window showed me the old man’s emotional state, but I had already figured it out the moment I saw his bright, gleaming eyes.
No matter how much others might avoid me, this old man wouldn’t run away when he saw me. It was a strange certainty, an intuition.
Anyway, my legs hurt from running all over the palace, and I couldn’t afford to miss the opportunity. So I quickly got to the point.
“Have you seen any suspicious people around here?”
“Suspicious people…”
“There were a lot of random junk and trash scattered around, right? I’m looking for the person who took it…”
Just as I spoke, the system window flashed and quickly appeared.
[SYSTEM] ‘Palace Cleaner James’ suspects you’re a competitor trying to take his position!
Mi—what? No, that’s not true!
I accidentally caught a glimpse of his true thoughts, and for a moment, I lost control of my expression.
But seeing the sharp gaze James was giving me, I felt like I had to make an excuse right away.
“W-well, I wasn’t planning to just pick up trash here…”
“……”
But the more I fumbled with my excuse, the more suspicious James’ gaze became.
Great. I couldn’t exactly tell him I was hunting for an attempted palace assassination suspect!
“Uhm, well, the trash I’m cleaning up isn’t just random junk. It’s… evil trash disrupting the empire’s order.”
As soon as I stammered out that line, James’ expression stiffened.
What was that supposed to mean? Did he think I was talking nonsense?
Please, don’t tell me this is going to turn into a paladin interrogation.
Just as I was thinking that, the system revealed more about James’ thoughts.
[SYSTEM] ‘Palace Cleaner James’ is trying to figure out whether to categorize you as “someone with an unstable mind” or “an unknown entity carrying out secret orders!”
Huh? Is this really working? Did my nonsense actually get through?
But that wasn’t the surprising part.
[SYSTEM] ‘Palace Cleaner James’ recalls seeing you yesterday and now categorizes you as “an unknown entity carrying out secret orders!”
…This is working?
I was dumbfounded, but James’ face, looking at me so seriously, made me feel a pang of guilt for deceiving this innocent old man.
“Well, anyway… did you see anything?”
I quickly asked to avoid looking at James’ uncomfortable gaze. But then…
“Ahem, ahem. That would be me.”
I got an unexpected answer.
“Hmm?”
“My mission is to contribute to environmental beautification! So, I clean up regardless of time and place. Heh heh. During events like the spring ball, many people lose things, so I don’t throw away trash immediately. I keep it separate for later.”
“Ah…”
So, that’s why the clues were all gathered together?
Now, the situation was starting to make sense.
“Then… could you take me there?”
“Of course, my lady! Follow me.”
Seeing his dignified back made me feel guilty for deceiving the kind old man, but…
Well, I had to live too.
Suppressing my guilt, I hesitated and followed James.
Soon, we arrived at a small office located in the servants’ quarters at the heart of the palace.
As expected, since the ball was in full swing, there was no one in sight, not even in the office.
“I’ll check the items I’ve kept. There are so many lost items, after all.”
As James busily began searching through the clutter, my eyes landed on a large ledger labeled <Duty Log>.
Wait a minute.
Now that I thought about it, if there was an assassin infiltrating the palace, there was a high chance they would have joined the servants.
In that case, looking through the duty log might actually help.
Confirming that James was thoroughly searching through the clutter, I discreetly opened the ledger.
Anna, Luise, Philia, Mathias, Malisa…
Among the names of people I didn’t recognize, I saw a few of the servants I had met earlier.
Hmm, this might be a tough one to make sense of using just the duty log.
This is probably meaningless. I don’t know any of their faces anyway.
As I was about to close the log, I noticed something strange.
3/20-4/20 James | Cleaner | Approved Sick Leave
The spring ball started on April 1st, marking the official start of the spring festival.
So, James, the cleaner, wasn’t supposed to be in the palace during the entire spring ball.
But here he was, with me, in this office.
Then…
“What are you looking at so closely, my lady?”
Who is this man?
What is his true identity?
And then, thinking back…
[SYSTEM] Someone has noticed your clue tracking. Find and investigate the person who gathered the clues.
Earlier, James had acted like he didn’t know anything, but the system had clearly stated that he noticed I was tracking clues.
A chill ran down my spine.
Am I in a room with someone whose identity I don’t know?
“My lady?”
Not answering, James called out to me again.
I finally lowered the duty log and turned around.
As I did, I felt an eerie sensation, as if every joint in my body was creaking.
“I think I found what you were looking for. Is this it?”
The question came from James—or the person most likely disguised as James.
I looked down at the items in silence.
They all shone brightly, and it seemed certain they were the clues I’d been looking for.
However…
I never explicitly said what I was looking for.
If my guess was correct, this disguised James was intentionally showing me these items.
At first, the objects hadn’t even caught my eye, but now I could recognize them.
Wyvern claws, ferancho powder, and a vial with purple liquid left inside.
These were things I couldn’t possibly not recognize. I had used these materials before in the game for special dungeon infiltrations as “disguised” items.
Which meant the vial had originally contained a mana-boosting potion, and these were the materials used to create disguise potions.
“…Who are you?”
James tilted his head at my question.
“What do you mean, my lady?”
But his response only heightened my discomfort, and I took a step back.
Staring at me, the old man tilted his head and asked.
“By the way, who are you?”
“….”
“What are you looking for here?”
His tone was calm, but I could instinctively tell that if I answered wrong, it would be my last.
Wait, did he already figure it out?
Thinking back to the system message…
[SYSTEM] ‘Palace Cleaner James’ recalls seeing you yesterday and categorizes you as “an unknown entity carrying out secret orders!”
I’m losing it. I’ve been dropping hints all along!
This guy thought I was carrying out someone’s orders and had brought me here for that reason.
Anyway, this can’t be the real James.
The usually foggy look in his eyes was now too clear.
He was definitely someone else, but…
Is he a pervert?
If not, then why is he cleaning so seriously when he’s not even the real James? Crazy…
The thought of him pretending to be James while cleaning so earnestly made me more scared—he seemed like an obsessive freak.
And from the system messages, he also viewed me as his rival, which was no lie.
So I must have been completely absorbed in this person’s disguise.
Wait. Absorbed?
“Ah!”
The moment that keyword hit me, my eyes widened.
Could it be…?
