Chapter 26: A Familiar Face - 3

I found myself nodding unconsciously.

“It’s far more convincing than when you said I was Berseum’s disciple.”

“Don’t bring that up again. I’m already reflecting on it.”

“Then how do you plan to find clues here?”

“That… I don’t have anything specific in mind. But since his birthplace should still exist, I intended to start my investigation there.”

“I’m surprised the Empire left it alone.”

“It was by His Majesty’s grace. After all, he was a man who made great contributions to the Empire. That’s why his family must still be living in his old home.”

“Though they must be under quite a lot of scrutiny,” Armelia added.

Despite it being her first time here, Armelia guided us without any difficulty.

She said she remembered hearing about the location of Berseum’s birthplace during one of the Princess’s history lessons.

Before long, we came face to face with a fairly large building.

A small garden within was neatly tended — it didn’t look like the home of a family once responsible for throwing the Empire into chaos.

After taking a deep breath as if slightly nervous, Armelia knocked on the door.

But there was no response from inside.

Then—

“Who are you?”

A woman’s voice came not from within the house, but from behind us.

She was glaring at us with a face full of suspicion.

A basket in both her hands suggested she was returning from shopping.

“Excuse me. We’re looking for Berseum—”

“Stop.”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t say that name in front of me. I’m sick and tired of it.”

Her pale face looked as if she might collapse any moment.

“I thought things had quieted down recently… When will that bastard’s curse finally end…”

“I think you’re misunderstanding. We have no intention of harming you. We just want to clear up a few questions.”

“……”

“Could you please let us in for a moment? It won’t take long.”

I asked as politely as I could, but her response was a cold rejection.

“Go back. I can’t let anyone inside who mentions that name. My mother’s been very ill lately as it is.”

“Your mother? Then, could it be…”

“…Yes. I’m that damned cult leader’s daughter. Unfortunately.”

For a moment, none of us could say anything.

Then—

With a creak, the tightly closed door suddenly opened.

The woman’s eyes sharply darted toward it.

“Bake. I told you never to open the door unless I said so.”

“I apologize, Miss. I heard your voice, so I thought—”

“You should’ve waited until I chased them away first. What if they tried to force their way in again like last time?”

Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes.

The man called Bake shook his head and spoke.

“That time, I wasn’t here. It’s fine now — I am.”

“Bake.”

“Please go inside, Miss. I’ll handle these people.”

“…Thank you. And I’m sorry, for losing my temper at the wrong people.”

“Not at all, Miss.”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

Even though they’d exchanged only a few words, the woman already looked exhausted.

It must have taken a great toll on her just to hear that name — Berseum.

Click.

Once the woman went inside, Bake stood before us with his back to the door.

“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

Armelia’s mouth fell open.

But I wasn’t quite as surprised.

The name I had confirmed last night through the “Administrator Page.”

I had already anticipated something like this.

Bake was an elderly man with white eyebrows and a well-groomed appearance.

He looked around sixty, but his posture was straight, and his movements disciplined.

“Y-you are… could it be—”

“Yes. It’s been a while.”

The first quest — Self-introduction.

That was where we had met an old gardener.

He had offered to reveal one of his professions, proposing that Armelia and I buy it from him.

“A gardener. Yes, that’s right. So, you’ve been tending this family’s garden all along.”

“That’s correct. But please be cautious — don’t mention that game during our conversation. Someone could be listening.”

“…Understood.”

“Shall we move elsewhere? My house is nearby.”

Without waiting for our response, he strode ahead.

Armelia followed stiffly behind him, like a wooden doll.

Poke.

Aina jabbed me in the side and asked,

“Who’s that?”

“The man I saved during the first quest.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll explain properly once we’re there.”

His house truly wasn’t far.

In less than ten minutes, we were seated across from the old man with a cup of tea in front of each of us.

After taking a light sip, he asked,

“How did you find your way here?”

“Hold on. Before that, let’s exchange names.”

“Hm? I’m not sure that’s wise. What if the next quest’s objective turns out to be to discover each other’s names?”

“In that case, I’ll surely win. Because I already know yours.”

“Ah, yes. The young lady mentioned it earlier. But you wouldn’t know my family name…”

“Berseum Ferux.”

At my words, the air froze.

The old man’s once-calm eyes widened to their limits.

His pupils trembled violently.

Drip.

Only when a bead of cold sweat rolled down Armelia’s chin did he finally speak.

“What did you just say?”

“I think I’d better introduce myself properly now, Mr. Berseum. And…”

I summoned the Administrator Page.

Then, I went over that information once more — the one I couldn’t believe even after rubbing my eyes yesterday.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.