Chapter 105 – Inheritance

The journey could be described as perfectly peaceful. Everyone was spending their time as they pleased, drinking tea and nibbling on sugar candies.

“Marlene-sama. How about something like this?”

Marlene was attempting embroidery. Grace and Ashley were working on their own embroidery while occasionally offering Marlene advice. Marlene nodded seriously with a serious expression, yet seemed to be continuing her work with relative enjoyment.

Irmhild was playing a leisurely tempo tune on her lute, while Sheila appeared to be maintaining her weapons and lockpicking tools.

Caduceus, Lavigne, and Ouroboros had gathered in one spot with their eyes closed. They were probably enjoying the pleasant sound of Irmhild’s lute.

Overall, it was a rather relaxed time. Since we were traveling through the sky along the highway, nothing particularly troublesome was likely to occur. It was good that things were proceeding smoothly.

‘Theo-kun. How are things on your end?’

‘We just passed over the Barony of Silun. By the way, I have some ideas about a new magic tool.’

‘Haha. You really do have many cards up your sleeve, don’t you?’

I replied to the message sent by Alfred. We were exchanging regular communications.

As for the magic communicator, we were quite far from Termwills now, but it could be said to be in good condition. I could communicate with them without any problems.

Since I had extra time, I was also writing with a quill pen on paper. It was about the new magic tool I was proposing to Alfred.

Now that I finally had my own dedicated wyvern, I thought it would be convenient if I could form a contract with Lindwurm like with summoned beasts, allowing me to call him when needed.

I was currently writing down the basic incantations for summoning and dismissal magic.

If I could just solve the issue of not being able to use summoning magic due to my magical aptitude being unsuitable, I could create a summoning magic tool by having Marlene pour magical power into a magic stone.

Since this would consume the magical power stored in the magic stone and require recharging, normally the cost of commissioning a magician wouldn’t be trivial… But well, this is only possible because we have a summoner among us.

…That being said, I thought we could probably create attack magic tools using magic stones charged with my magical power, or healing magic tools using Ashley’s magical power.

Hmm. But since we’d have to charge the magic stones with magical power, each use would be limited to one time. It would be for crucial moments, I suppose.

We’d also need to prepare separate magic stones engraved with spell formulas… But since we can’t engrave overly complex formulas, we can’t incorporate great magic either, making it somewhat inconvenient to use.

While I was considering the balance through trial and error, Lindwurm let out a cry outside.

When I checked outside, I could see a familiar townscape gradually approaching.

‘Looks like we can see the Count’s territory.’

‘Seems like communication up to that point won’t be a problem. I won’t send any messages for a while so as not to be a bother, unless something comes up.’

‘Understood. Let’s assume that either of us will contact if anything happens.’

With that, I ended my exchange with Alfred for now.

“Lindwurm. You can see a lake and a large tree in the nearby forest, right? Head over there.”

Lindwurm made a small sound. Among the three wyverns, Lindwurm seemed to be demonstrating leadership despite being young, and the dragon palanquin descended toward the direction I indicated.

The exact location would be outside the Count’s territory… But in the forest, by the lakeshore, there was Count Gartner’s secondary residence.

Calling it a secondary residence was just nominal. It was a rather peculiar design of a house integrated with a tree – a spiral staircase attached to the ridiculously thick trunk of a giant tree, with living space created in the treetops.

It was a house created using wood magic and earth magic. While the construction itself was solid, it would probably be considered different in style from what one would expect of a noble’s villa or secondary residence.

I’d heard that the children in the Count’s territory whispered about it being a witch’s house… Well, to outsiders unaware of the circumstances, it might indeed appear that way.

Still, formally speaking, it was “Count Gartner’s secondary residence.” After all, it was factually Mother’s house, and Father is the current manager.

In front of the house. The dragon palanquin was gently lowered in a cleared corner of the forest.

When I lightly stroked the noses of Lindwurm and the other wyverns to thank them, they made small throaty sounds.

“What a lovely house.”

“Interesting.”

Sheila and Marlene nodded at Irmhild’s words.

“…Truly. It looks like a cute house that could appear in a story. Did you and Lisa-sama live here?”

Ashley looked up at the house with interest.

“Yes. It’s been… a long time since I’ve been here.”

Grace said this while narrowing her eyes, almost as if murmuring. Indeed… After being taken to Father’s mansion, we rarely came here. There were just too many memories. Well, we did come for grave visits every year though.

As usual, I created snow golems to clear the snow around the house. Leaving the snow removal to them, we should move in our luggage.

I climbed the spiral staircase, touched the entrance door, and whispered the password. It was a door locked with a magical key. At this point, only Grace, Father, and I knew the unlocking phrase.

The password was the combined numbers of my and Mother’s birthdays, plus the day I first met Grace. Typical of Mother, I suppose.

I opened the door and entered the house. When I floated magical lights to illuminate the interior… I felt a slight sensation similar to dizziness. It was because the scenery remained exactly as I remembered it, unchanged from the past.

The living room with its woody scent. The table like a large tree stump. The kitchen area.

Further in, there were doors leading to bedrooms, ascending stairs to the rooftop open-air bath, and descending stairs leading to Mother’s study.

There were hollowed-out spaces within the great tree itself, making the house more spacious inside than it appeared.

We would stay here for one night. The grave visit was planned for tomorrow, after the sun had risen higher.

We carried in the luggage and blankets loaded in the dragon palanquin. I lit a fire in the fireplace and created water with magic to fill buckets.

“Theo.”

While I was doing such chores, I was called by name. When I looked up, Grace and Ashley were there.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Theodore-sama, please take it easy. We’ll handle the rest.”

“Really?”

“We’re going to do some hunting in the forest before sunset. We can make dinner more luxurious.”

Sheila and Irmhild went out, taking Lavigne with them. With that member composition, a great hunt was practically guaranteed… Well, the parts we couldn’t eat would probably become feed for the wyverns, I suppose.

Well then. That leaves me with nothing to do. — It wouldn’t be bad to look around the house, I guess.

“Alright. Then I’ll be looking around the house and surrounding area.”

“Yes.”

First, I went to the rooftop open-air bath. It was structured like a terrace, with a view of distant mountains and other scenery visible beyond the railing.

“Really… how nostalgic.”

Those words escaped my lips unintentionally.

The mountain scenery visible from here hadn’t changed at all.

…Ah. Now that I think about it… when I was little, I used to bathe with Mother and Grace… didn’t I?

I shook my head lightly to chase away the vague memory.

I thought about filling the bathtub with water, but decided against it. I did say I’d leave things to everyone. Since this is Ashley’s specialty, she’ll probably handle it.

I went down the stairs toward Mother’s study.

Here, the books had been moved out… the bookshelves were empty.

Since there were spellbooks and such, we couldn’t just leave them here, so they were moved to Father’s study.

Mother was quite devoted to her children, but apparently didn’t want us entering her study too much. That was understandable since there were magic-related books there.

…Even considering that. Thinking about it now, it was quite defenseless, so to speak.

If she didn’t want children entering, she could have installed a door with a lock. In reality, if we did enter, we’d only get gently warned.

If you came down the stairs, there was only a simple space with bookshelves and a work desk.

I don’t think there were any particularly dangerous books. The books of Mother’s that were moved to Count Gartner’s mansion were all beginner-level things like magic textbooks, nothing with particularly advanced content.

“Hmm…”

Could there be such a thing?

Mother was quite a skilled magician. She must have done research and training. Especially research. As far as my memory serves, there were absolutely no traces of such activities.

If it were me, I’d create at least one or two hidden libraries. If such a thing existed, leaving it unattended in an empty house would be somewhat problematic… But.

Should I touch it or not? I thought about it. Thought about it.

Things like whether this was just idle curiosity. Whether there are places even family members shouldn’t enter.

But. If I don’t search for it here? Will it remain buried forever like this? Or—will someone else touch it?

“…Caduceus. The ceiling and floor. And behind the bookshelves.”

Using the Five Senses Link, I thoroughly explored every corner of the study.

I found a small magic stone embedded in the corner of the ceiling.

…Found it.

I found it.

Well then. I returned to the living room and called out to Grace, who was preparing dinner.

“Grace. Do you have a moment?”

“Yes?”

Grace came over with a smile.

“Um…”

I hesitated, but Grace didn’t urge me to continue, simply waiting for my next words.

“I’m speaking hypothetically, but if there were a hidden door in Mother’s study, do you think we should look inside?”

Regardless of whether we actually enter or not. I wanted to hear Grace’s opinion. By framing it as hypothetical, we could both pretend we never saw it.

Grace widened her eyes at the sudden topic, but eventually said quietly.

“…If there are things that Lisa-sama left behind.”

Looking straight into my eyes, she said.

“I believe that the only one who should inherit them is Theo.”

“Is that so?”

Grace suddenly showed a soft smile, then bowed her head and returned to preparing dinner.

Hmm. Yes, that’s right.

I went down to the study again.

“…Mother. Excuse me.”

Using Levitation, I went up to the bookshelf and sent magical power into the magic stone.

One of the bookshelves made a creaking sound as it opened inward, revealing stairs leading further downward.

I took a deep breath, then descended the spiral staircase. There were no magical mechanisms installed.

…Probably, even if Grace or I accidentally entered by mistake, nothing would happen.

After descending the stairs, I illuminated the surroundings with magical light. This was Mother’s true study.

The ceiling was low. Height-wise, we were probably already underground. Bookshelves lined with advanced grimoires. A large cauldron. A desk arranged with experimental equipment.

I found a well-used notebook placed on the desk.

I lightly looked inside. As expected, it was thoroughly encrypted. Only things like dates were readable. I could roughly guess that it was probably encrypted magical incantations of some sort… but this wasn’t something that could be deciphered on the spot.

Though it should be a magic research book. There were doodles in the margins, like mischievous scribbles or drawings made to relieve boredom—that was typical of Mother, I suppose.

I smiled slightly, then slowly turned the pages of the notebook.

Grace’s ring was drawn as a picture. The manufacturing method seemed to be written as well. Of course, it was encrypted.

…Hmm. That’s enough. There might be other things too.

I will take responsibility for everything here.

Holding Mother’s notebook… I closed my eyes for a while.