Late that evening, the cleaning crew finished up in the annex and left, saying they'd be back tomorrow. Someone who'd been hiding finally peeked their head out. It was a kid with hair so gray from ash and dust, and so shaggy it hung down past his nose. The kid whipped his head around, and once he was sure no one was there, he scampered over to the back fence of the annex. That's where his secret door was—the one he always used. All he had to do was move the pile of grass he used to hide it, and it'd be right there. Or, that's how it was supposed to work.
“……!”
It's blocked from the inside?!
The secret door, which had been open until now, was blocked by a stone from inside the fence.
“…? ……??”
The kid, totally confused, gave the stone a hard shove. It didn't even budge. He tried again, pushing with all his might.
“……Hah, phew.”
He held his breath and pushed as hard as he could, but nothing.
"Umm, uhh..."
Totally lost, the kid wrung his skinny hands and started pacing. The stone blocking the secret door wasn't anything permanent. It wobbled a little, like it had just been put there temporarily. But it looked like only a grown-up could move it. He knew he wasn't strong enough, but he couldn't just leave. He'd had to ditch some stuff when everyone suddenly showed up in the annex out of nowhere.
I worked so hard on those drawings.
They're super important.
That's when he heard it.
"Anybody there? Hey, is that a kid?"
It was one of the workers who hadn't left yet. His arms, thick with muscle, looked strong enough to bust that door open, no problem. However,
“……!”
The kid took off like a shot, not even looking back. As far as this kid was concerned, adults weren't there to help, and you definitely couldn't trust them. Grown-ups were dangerous and couldn't be bothered. You just couldn't trust them. Just like with Caliphe.
It only took a few days for the creepy old annex to turn into a fancy, old-fashioned mansion, all thanks to the wizards pitching in. Word is, wizards are a big deal outside these walls, but in the Offensa Marquisate, they're basically just glorified construction workers. Turns out the head of the Offensa family has also been the big boss of the Magic Tower for four generations straight. Crazy, right?
"So unfair. If I'd been the baby of the Offensa family, I'd be rolling in it right now."
Tsk-tsking, I looked over to the left. My opera glasses followed, zooming in on the people walking way off in the distance. Right now, I'm on the terrace, trying to spot Noah. As soon as I moved into the annex, I started looking for Noah—I didn't have to worry about anyone watching me now. I wanted to figure out his routine so I could bump into him 'accidentally.'
"Black hair, green eyes, a cute little guy..."
Is Noah even around this place? How have I not even seen a hair of him? Even figuring he might look a little rough around the edges, I kept striking out.
"Ugh, I've been staring so hard my eyes are killing me."
Putting down the opera glasses, I looked at the notebook placed on the table. It contained information that I had written down before my memory faded.
"The player, acting as Noah's guardian, can boost his stats to get different endings."
In the game, there were four guardian candidates with different statuses. There were also special endings depending on the guardian the player chose. For example, the Pope ending can only be seen by choosing the Saint guardian. So, most people just cycle through the four guardians.
‘But for a hardcore gamer like me, there was something even more important.’
A special stat in the game. It was this thing called 'filial piety.'
‘See, the hidden ending? You could only get that if you maxed out Noah's filial piety at 100.’
But no matter which guardian you picked, Noah was already so messed up from his time at the Offensa place that he wouldn't open up to anyone. The little bits of filial piety you'd get from being nice or giving him an allowance were practically nothing. So, no matter how good you were, if his filial piety was low, you were guaranteed to get hit with Noah rebelling and running away.
‘That's why you had to use these special potions to boost his filial piety.’
Once you used the potions to jack up his filial piety, Noah would stop pulling any surprises and actually do what you wanted. But even with the potions, you could only get it up to 80. So, even I, who'd unlocked every other ending, couldn't crack the hidden one.
‘It just doesn't make any sense! There has to be some secret way to max out his filial piety. Ugh, I should've gotten that all-collect!’
Still kicking myself for that one imperfection, I shook my head.
"Anyway, I'm not his guardian, so who cares about his filial piety?"
Turning Noah into a perfect son isn't my problem. I'm just here to avoid those death flags. I remembered what one of the other servants told me.
"Noah was supposed to be heading to the library around lunchtime today, right?"
So, I headed to the library on the Offensa estate.
Since the Offensas were all about magic, they had a ton of books on the subject. They even had two libraries on the estate, packed with magic books and regular ones. This was my first time checking out the library since I, you know, ended up in this body. But my body just knew the way, like it was on autopilot. It was like muscle memory.
"Did Caliphe hang out at the library a lot?"
I didn't even have to think—I just knew how to get to the other libraries, too.
‘…Did she seriously hit up every library in the whole place?’
Whoa, seriously? Maybe she was trying to find a way to fix her magic problem. Now that I think about it...
‘Back when she was a kid, before everything went south, everyone thought she was some kind of magic prodigy.’
Before she lost her mom in that accident, I mean.
‘Oh, there it is. The library.’
I was so caught up in this weird feeling that I didn't even realize I'd made it. Up ahead, I saw this huge, heavy-looking door. And that's when it happened.
"What do you think you're doing, sneaking in here? You filthy, ash-covered little rat!"
The door burst open with a roar, and a little kid came flying out. It was a kid with messy gray hair and clothes covered in dirt. There's no way some random kid could've gotten this far in, so he had to be one of the servants working at the place.
"Throwing a kid around like that? What a jerk!"
Scowling, I started to head over to help the kid. But then, a name hit me like a bolt of lightning.
"You, a servant, dare to step foot in the library? You think Lady Caliphe's still supporting you? Get a grip, Noah!"
…Noah? Did he just say Noah?
Holy crap.
That little gray furball.
‘He was the main character, the one I'd been searching for!’
While I was standing there like an idiot, Noah, who'd been thrown to the ground, just got up like it was nothing. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to the librarian. The librarian grabbed the paper with his fingertips like it was covered in germs, checked it out, and then his face kind of softened. No, actually, he got this creepy smirk on his face.
"Ah, so you're on an errand for Colben."
Colben, that would be...
‘Oh, right, the swordsmanship teacher Caliphe stuck Noah with.’
The one she hired right after she took Noah in, just to look like a good guardian.
‘But it was all for show—I think she just hired some nobody swordsman.’
I put aside my thoughts for now and listened to the conversation between Noah and the librarian.
"You should've said it was an errand from the get-go. You're really trying to get yourself a beating, huh?"
"…Yeah."
"And stop with the casual talk. You're not some charity case anymore, you know?"
"…Yeah."
"Ugh, whatever. It's like talking to a brick wall. Just grab the books you need and get out. Touch anything else, and you'll get a whipping. Got it?"
"Yeah."
Noah darted into the library. The librarian watched him go, with this super creepy smile on his face. Something about this felt off. I waited a bit, then tiptoed after him, trying to be quiet.
The kid kept glancing back and forth between the note and the books on the shelves. If it wasn't there, he should've just moved on, but he kept checking, like, a million times before finally shuffling to the next one. That's when the person on the other side of the bookshelf—me—finally lowered the book they'd been hiding behind.
‘How long has it been since this kid's had a haircut? His hair's totally covering his eyes.’
His hair was already so thick, it looked like a giant furball. No wonder I couldn't find him—you can't even see his eyes! The kid, Noah, was searching forever for the book on that note. It was driving me nuts watching him—I just wanted to find the damn book for him. But I had to chill.
Just some random person he keeps bumping into. This is the perfect distance.
"Ah."
Finally, Noah made this little sound. Looks like he finally found the book.
Yes! Finally!
But the way he was craning his neck to look at the book… something was off. It's way too high up. Even I'd barely reach it on my tiptoes. Watching Noah look around all helpless, I was dying to jump in and help.
It's not like it's a big deal for a stranger to help, right? It doesn't mean I care or anything. It's just being a decent human being, right?!
Right when I felt like my eyes were gonna pop out of my head.
"Need this?"
Like he'd read my mind, the librarian showed up with a ladder.
"Need this?"
Nod.
"Don't break it."
Nod.
"Now you're not even answering? You're gonna get it, you little punk."
The librarian gave this nasty smirk and took off. But Noah was one tough kid. Like he hadn't even heard the guy, he just unfolded the ladder, no expression on his face, and started climbing. When Noah was almost at the top.
Creak.
“……!”
Noah and the ladder went wobbling like crazy!
Hold up, that ladder…!
One of the legs was busted!
That freaking librarian is a psycho!
