“Mm.”

“W-what is this...?”

The group was clearly shaken by the sudden appearance of a corpse.

Ludger examined the body before shifting his gaze toward the far corridor.

“There are more bodies.”

It wasn’t just one.

Scattered along the long corridor were the dead—ten in total.

The number alone revealed something about the team that had entered this secret mansion.

“Could they have been swept away by one of the mansion’s mysterious phenomena?”

As Ludger muttered to himself, Sempas spoke up.

“No. I’ve never heard of a case like this.”

“I-I think the same,” Loina agreed ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) with him.

“Mysterious phenomena do occur in the mansion, but usually, if something happens, it vanishes like a mirage. You never see actual corpses left behind.”

“Then these bodies aren’t here because of some mysterious phenomenon.”

If it wasn’t the mansion’s mystery, what had killed these mages?

The answer was simple.

Murder.

Inside this secret mansion, humans had killed other humans.

Of course, it couldn’t be completely ruled out that this was still the result of some unknown phenomenon. After all, no one knew what might happen in a place like this—this could be the first recorded case of such a bizarre occurrence.

But everyone present instinctively felt it in their bones: this was murder.

“W-what should we do? There’s a murderer inside the mansion!”

“...Why is a 6th-Circle mage acting so frightened?”

If you were Lexuror level, even if the murderer were an old man, he would be the one afraid of you.

Ignoring Loina’s panic, Ludger approached the corpse to examine it.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to determine the cause.”

“A-are you going to perform an autopsy right now?”

“Nothing that elaborate.”

Any clue would suffice. The thought that dangerous individuals might be among them was unpleasant enough.

The blood hasn’t discolored. They only entered the mansion recently, so it hasn’t been long since they died.

But the more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.

How long had it been since they’d entered? And already ten people dead?

“This was premeditated.”

“Premeditated?”

“This happened not long after they entered. Look.”

Ludger pointed at the other corpses.

“There are no signs of battle. Most were taken down without resistance. And this wasn’t the work of a single person. Multiple people acted together. This was no random killing.”

The corpses were mutilated in three distinct ways:

One was shredded by countless sharp blades.

Another was burned crisp by intense heat.

The third bore no wounds, only darkened, mottled skin, with foam still at the mouth.

“It’s probably not just three, but the main killings narrow it down to three culprits. And they were skilled—highly skilled. Even if they used ambush tactics, taking these people out so easily is no small feat. Any guesses who could pull this off?”

Ludger’s eyes went to Sempas and Loina.

Both shook their heads.

Sempas, the so-called Mad Dog, and socially inept Loina weren’t familiar with other mages.

Finally, Ludger looked at Rimle.

“What are you staring at me for!”

“Do you have any suspicions?”

“No!”

Rimle snapped.

“There are over two hundred people in here, and most are mages. Who could do this? All of them!”

“If we narrow it to combat mages, that would reduce the list.”

“Bah! You idiot! Just because they’re not combat mages doesn’t mean they can’t kill. Even those who only study theory know magic. You know what that means? If they wanted to kill someone, it wouldn’t be hard.”

Rimle had a point.

Ludger changed the question.

“Do you know which team entered with the full twenty-person limit?”

“Why?”

“These people were betrayed by their own team.”

That made Sempas and Loina gape in shock.

Surprisingly, Rimle neither scoffed nor shouted at him. Instead, his gaze grew heavier.

“Why do you think that?”

“Look at the bodies. Ten people, all mages, cut down without much resistance. That means it wasn’t a head-on fight.”

“They could’ve been ambushed.”

“They’d still have been on alert. In a place where mysterious phenomena can occur at any time, everyone would’ve been tense. If they met another team, they would’ve been wary. Yet they were taken down. It wasn’t a direct confrontation, and it wasn’t an ambush. That leaves one answer.”

Their own companions.

“They trusted them because they were together from the start. Maybe they’d even stayed together in the nearby city the day before. They trusted them enough to enter the mansion as one group, never expecting this.”

Ludger visualized the scenario.

“There were twenty of them—the maximum allowed. Ten died, which means the group split evenly. Seven distracted them naturally, while the remaining three killed them, each in their own way. Those three were likely the strongest in the group. What do you think?”

Rimle didn’t get angry at Ludger’s provocative gaze.

Normally, he’d have been irritated even if addressed politely. But this time, he chuckled and nodded.

“Impressive. You do talk well for a teacher.”

“I could talk even better if you’d like.”

“Hah! Trying to intimidate an old man, are you? Forget it.”

“So, do you know who it might be?”

“Why would I bother keeping track of a group of twenty? I don’t pay attention to such things.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“But...”

Rimle trailed off and tapped one corpse with the end of his golden-tipped staff.

The tip pointed to something clutched in the dead man’s chest.

“I do know who this one is.”

“His face is horribly mutilated.”

The body had been slashed repeatedly, the face so shredded it was unrecognizable.

“Even faceless corpses speak. See that silver necklace in his hand?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a token. Like a dog tag, but used by Delica Kingdom’s war mages. Only those with rank can get one.”

“Then this corpse is...”

“Yes. I may not care about many of them, but I remember this one.”

“Velkat Benmark.”

Ludger remembered the name too.

Arfa had once pointed him out as someone to watch.

He was the mage who had taken down one of the three Cheshire Tigers that had killed many.

A mage of metal and lightning.

Loina murmured in disbelief.

“A man like him... dying so easily...”

“Why are you surprised? That’s how the world works.”

Rimle was unfazed by the death of a high-ranking mage.

“In real combat, ranks don’t matter. Unless you’re some legendary archmage, even a 6th-Circle mage can die to a sudden attack.”

“....”

Loina opened her mouth to argue but then closed it.

She herself had faced a similar situation not long ago.

That’s right. I was the same...

When the chimera horde had surged toward the capital, Loina had burned through her mana to protect as many people as possible, nearly dying as a result.

If she’d fought only for herself, she wouldn’t have been in such danger.

But that was meaningless now.

Only one thing mattered.

“In real combat, nothing is strange, no matter how sudden it is.”

“Especially if it was a surprise attack. Even a skilled war mage could die just like that. It might just mean the killer—or killers—are that good.”

“Th-then what do we do now? There are murderers wandering around this mansion—ten of them!”

“As long as we don’t know exactly who they are, we should avoid contact with other teams as much as possible.”

“Shouldn’t we at least warn people?”

“If we can warn them.”

Rimle’s tone was deliberately vague.

Loina opened her mouth to ask why, but seeing what had just happened, she fell silent.

“The bodies...”

The corpses that had been there moments ago were now gone—without a trace.

Even the bloodstains on the carpet and walls had disappeared.

“The mansion’s rules...”

“If you stay still in the corridor too long, you disappear,” Sempas said, finishing Rimle’s thought.

“If there’s no significant movement for five minutes, the mansion erases you completely. Just like now.”

Under normal circumstances, no one would remain still for five minutes.

But corpses didn’t breathe or move.

Naturally, after five minutes, the mansion’s mystery erased them as if they had never existed.

“They planned this,” Ludger muttered, staring at where the bodies had been.

He now understood why they had struck so quickly after entering the mansion.

They had used the mansion’s own rules against it.

No witnesses, no evidence.

A perfect cleanup.

“Arfa. Any traces?”

The bodies had vanished only moments ago. If anyone could catch something before they disappeared, it would be Arfa, who hadn’t taken his eyes off them.

“None. It’s like they were never there.”

Even Arfa, a specialized automaton, had been defeated by the mansion’s strange power.

“Truly a haunted house,” Ludger remarked.

“D-don’t say something so creepy, Ludger!” Loina squeaked.

“...You’re a 6th-Circle mage. Why are you afraid of ghosts?”

Even basic necromancy could easily disperse most spirits.

“So, what do we do now?” Rimle asked.

Though his tone treated Ludger like the leader, Ludger knew perfectly well it wasn’t out of respect—Rimle just wanted to dump the responsibility on him.

“We keep moving. That wasn’t our purpose here anyway.”

“B-but Ludger! Those were dead people! There’s a murderer here!”

“Yes. Ten of them, even. But we have no evidence they committed murder. The corpses are gone, and there are no witnesses.”

“We can testify!”

“What good is testimony without evidence? Besides, do you think mages will care? Ten dead in here? They’d probably be glad—fewer competitors.”

“T-that’s...”

“I agree with Ludger Cherish,” Sempas said, backing him up at the perfect moment.

“We don’t know what the killers want. Maybe they had grudges against those ten. If we make noise about it now, they might decide we’re their next target. Not that I’d run if they came for me...”

The others clearly wouldn’t feel the same way.

Sempas didn’t say it, but everyone understood.

There was no evidence.

The bodies had vanished.

All that remained were the testimonies of five people.

Sure, those five were skilled enough that their words carried weight—but would other mages care?

More likely, it would just stir up trouble for no reason.

“We ignore it and move on. That’s my decision.”

At Ludger’s words, Rimle, Sempas, and Arfa all nodded.

Only Loina still looked upset at the thought of the dead, but she didn’t object.

“Let’s keep moving. Staying here too long will only make things worse.”

The group started walking again.

But now, the atmosphere was different—tense.

The sight of the corpses had rattled them.

Ten dead, ten killers...

Ludger didn’t know the relationship between the dead and the killers.

But he didn’t believe for a second this was random.

First Order Lesley said they were planning something during this Mystic Night. And now there’s a massacre here. Coincidence? Hardly.

The Black Dawn remnants were hiding somewhere in this secret-filled mansion.

Ten people.

Maybe more.

Even if they encountered a group of ten, Ludger wouldn’t let his guard down.

As he was thinking this, his eyes caught on a painting hanging on the wall.

He almost passed by, noticing it only by chance.

“This painting...”

“Painting?” Rimle reacted immediately to Ludger’s murmur.

“You noticed it, then.”

“What is this?”

“A Transparent Frame. One of the mansion’s phenomena. It only appears to certain people.”

“Others can’t see it?”

The others shook their heads in unison. Even Arfa.

“So what’s special about this frame?”

“There’s a picture inside, isn’t there?”

“Yes. A portrait.”

“Then it’s a Transparent Frame. They always show a person’s portrait. And that person... will die soon.”

“Die?”

Ludger turned to Rimle.

“I don’t know the details. It’s just what people say. But smoke doesn’t rise without fire. I believe it’s real.”

“...I see.”

Ludger looked back at the frame.

The painting visible only to him.

The portrait inside...

...was of Rimle.