LIGHTNOVELWORLD Episode 55
Chapter 55
“Ah, I almost forgot the main topic.”
“Main topic?”
While Alshade cautiously took out a folded piece of paper and a wooden box with a keyhole, she continued,
“This was found hidden under the floor, along with a bag of money. Does it look familiar? Oh, don’t worry, I haven’t looked inside.”
“Ah, that’s my mother’s will and that box there is part of the inheritance. I remember it being quite well hidden. Impressive that you found it.”
Even though the slums were relatively safe, there were still thieves around, so we had designed a few removable floorboards as hiding spots, and the one where we hid these items was a masterpiece that my mother and I had built together.
“After the soldiers finished moving the furniture, they tapped the floor just to be sure, given the underground passage and all. That’s when they found it. So, how did you hide it? It was reported that it was found under the floor, but I don’t know the details, so please, tell me.”
Alshade seemed genuinely interested when she heard that it was hard to find, leaning slightly forward on the sofa, looking very interested.
“Sure, but can I sit down first?”
“Oh, sorry. Please, take a seat here.”
“Thank you.”
Alshade raised herself slightly and moved to one side of the sofa, patting the empty space with her hand.
I sat down in the vacant spot and began to explain the hiding place.
“…The floorboards were made of planks, so I cut out and removed a section of the floor, aligning it with the seam between two planks. Then, on the underside of the remaining floor, I securely nailed a new plank to serve as a lid, ensuring that the cutout plank wouldn’t fall. By fitting a lid with a part of the board chipped off as a handle, it was complete. I also stuffed wood chips into the gaps and placed shelves on top of the missing parts.”
“I see. I haven’t seen it in person, so I can’t say for sure, but it sounds like quite the craftsmanship to hide something like that.”
“Well, my house is a rundown one in the slums, so there were repairs and patches all over the place, making it easier to conceal. If it were a normal house, I’d probably have to be more creative, don’t you think?”
I had cleaned up to some extent, but there were still some stains that wouldn’t come off.
The wood chips I had stuffed into the gaps also turned black with dirt after a while, and it started to look like nothing more than accumulated garbage in the seam between the planks.
If this were a normal house, wouldn’t someone have noticed something strange about the floor? It turns out there’s an unexpected advantage to having a rundown house.
“Well, I thought I had hidden it well, but the soldiers probably got suspicious when they saw the damaged part where the furniture and shelves had been moved.”
“Hey, what about tools? I don’t want to make any assumptions, but isn’t it difficult to own tools, even if they’re made of copper or bronze, when you live in the slums?”
“We borrow tools from the church. It’s rare to sell the ones they lend out, and it’s a punishable offense.”
In a world where the gods actually exist, the authority of religious organizations with the backing of the gods is incomparable to my previous world.
Attempting to steal from such an organization is something only those who worship heretical cults or those who are utterly foolish would dare to do.
“Yeah, that makes sense. Let’s get back to the topic. Do you know what’s inside this box?”
“The contents of the box? No, I haven’t opened it.”
“You haven’t opened it?”
“Yeah, because my mother’s will mentioned that the box should only be opened in case of emergency.”
If it were just regular contents, my mother wouldn’t have said something like that, and I believe there must be something in the box that she didn’t want us to rely on unless it was absolutely necessary.
Of course, I was curious about what was inside, but I hadn’t opened it, following my mother’s last wishes.
“May I check the contents of this box?”
“If it was just an inheritance, I don’t think Mother would have mentioned anything like that, so it’s probably best not to open it.”
“If the contents were dangerous, I think there would have been instructions in the will… but there weren’t, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Rio, I think your mother prepared this for you in case you ever found yourself in dire straits. But now that you’ve become my knight, you don’t need to worry about that, right? I believe it’s better for you to open it and know what’s inside. I don’t think just knowing the contents will lead to anything troublesome, and you must be curious, too, right?”
What Alshade was saying made sense.
Even if the contents turned out to be troublesome, if I opened it here, as long as Alshade and I kept it a secret, it wouldn’t be revealed.
This box is the only thing among my mother’s inheritance that I don’t know the details of. To say I didn’t want to know would be a lie.
With determination in my heart, I looked at Alshade and nodded slowly.
“All right, since I have the key here, shall we open the box?”
“So you did have the key after all.”
“…That’s right, because it seems like they were in the same place. Rio, I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep a key and a box that opens with that key in the same place.”
Alshade looked at me with a blank stare while holding the key she took out of her pocket, but I had my reasons.
“There was no other choice. If it became known that I had the key and there was nothing to open with it, it might arouse suspicion and reveal the hiding place. There was nowhere else to hide it.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize there were circumstances like that. Well, let’s refocus and open it.”
Apologizing to me, Alshade inserted the key into the lock on the box and began to turn it, but halfway through, it seemed to catch on something, and her hand stopped.
“It’s… stiff. Maybe it’s rusted?”
“Want me to take over?”
“No, it’s okay. I’m just being careful not to break it… Ah, it’s open.”
As Alshade furrowed her brows, it seemed she had been delicately applying just enough force to avoid damaging anything. As the key to the box finally turned, her furrowed brow relaxed.
“…This is what was inside.”
“…What is that?”
“…I don’t know?”
What Alshade pulled out of the opened box was something that resembled a black stick.
It was small and not very long, and it had a shape similar to what was known in my previous life as a seal stamp, but there didn’t seem to be any sign carved on either end.
Both Alshade and I tilted our heads in confusion.
“Al, let me see that for a moment.”
“Well, it was originally yours, so go ahead.”
I was handed the black stick and examined it closely. It was smooth to the touch, but I couldn’t discern much more about it.
I even tried twisting it to see if it would split in the middle, but it remained unyielding.
I was completely stumped.
“No luck. I have no idea what this is.”
“Hmm, it could be some sort of magical tool. Should we show it to someone who knows more about it?”
“That seems like the only option…”
It was unlikely that it was just a stick, and I decided to go along with Alshade’s suggestion.
“Well then, I’ll give it to one of the servants outside and see if they can make sense of it. Just wait here for a moment.”
“Alright.”
Alshade placed the stick back into the box and got up from the sofa, then left the room.
◆
[Alshade’s Perspective]
“Is something the matter, milady?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it.”
I left the room, briefly dealing with the guards, and opened the box’s lid again, taking out the folded piece of paper from inside.
I unfolded the paper and read its contents.
“Hmm, this is certainly beyond the capabilities of a commoner’s hands. Rio’s mother must have wanted to avoid relying on it as much as possible… Orto.”
“Yes, here.”
As I called out his name, Orto suddenly appeared to my side, turning his gaze towards me. He had been absent just moments ago.
It might have been interesting to see Rio’s reaction if he were here, but unfortunately, I was the only one present.
I folded the paper as I had done initially, placed it back in the box, and locked it with the key before handing it to Orto.
“Please deliver this to Jenilov. Also, regarding the selection matter, inform them that we’re changing the plans.”
“Understood.”
Orto responded briefly and, in the blink of an eye, disappeared from sight.
—
If you like this novel, Please leave ratings and review in NovelUpdates.>>HERE
If you’d like to make a one-time donation to support our translations or subscribe to read up to 5 chapters or more (depending on the novel) ahead, you can do so via Ko-fi: