Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The method Leasis came with was both ingenious and absurd: the idea was to use food. She would find the gillatans’ favorite bugs to get their attention, and in the meantime, the two others would sneak in through the iron gate. And if she managed to follow them, it would be a success.

The two looked at Leasis in disbelief. No matter how much she could do, this was too much.

If someone else had told him this, he would have been mad, but it was different because it was Leasis. Jason held back his absurd look and said with a smile.

“That, Miss Leasis. Those gilatans are no ordinary birds. They wouldn’t even look at the food.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

It was rather embarrassing to affirm it so easily. When Jason became silent, she spoke in a bright voice.

“I remember reading about them in a book. It’s not easy to train a gilatan, a military combat bird.”

“Hmm. But why…”

“I actually found this!”

She got something out of Ramashter’s luggage. It was a long flute with a slightly rotten tip. Jason opened his eyes wide. It was an item that the former Commander used to always carry around his neck. He had never seen him use it himself.

“What are you going to do with this?”

“I’m going to play the flute.”

“The flute?”

Leasis nodded with a grim look. She earnestly asked them to trust her because she knew how to use it. The two eventually accepted.

Leasis got off the carriage first. The new environment welcomed her: the delicate scent of flowers, the soft ground, the stares of the gilatans.

A group of gilatans descended from the trees and formed a line on the ground. They looked like outstanding soldiers.

The leader of the gilatans, guarding at the front, raised its beak threateningly.

“Gugugu…”

Come on! Leasis put the flute in her mouth and moved her long fingers. A sharp sound echoed through the trees. It was more messy than Leasis had thought, and a cold sweat fell on her back. Jason and Owen, who were watching from the carriage, were also restless.

Then, a group of gilatans reacted. Their dark brown eyes slightly loosened. It was a better response than she had anticipated. A bit relieved, Leasis moved a little more actively.

Tap tap.

She tapped on the floor several times with her foot to attract the gilatans. It was the same way that she had seen in the book.

Fortunately, the gilatans slowly left the gate and began to follow her.

Get in there!

Turning her head, Leasis looked at the two. They sneaked in at the signal.

Leasis grabbed the flute with one hand and blew it, and searched the ground for bugs with her other hand.

Gilatans’ favorite food was a green worm that only lived in high-quality soil. As expected, the soil around here was excellent.

As she tore through the ground, worms larger than her fingers wriggled in her palm. Some climbed up on her thin forearm.

It was a strange sight. Owen, who was running away in the distance, was about to scream when Jason covered her mouth with his hand. They could not help her now.

Contrary to their concerns, Leasis remained determined. After a long life at the bottom, this kind of bug was nothing. The floor of the cold orphanage was overflowing with cockroaches, rats, and centipedes. These ones were just cute worms that grew in a clean soil.

A group of giladans followed Leasis in a row. As she moved while throwing the earthworms, all the giladans who guarded the iron gate came to her.

As a result, Jason and Owen succeeded in getting inside. She prayed as she watched a group of gilatans closely following her. She hoped the sword that fell asleep for a long time would meet its owner.

Did that desperation work? The group of gilatans moved smoothly away from the iron gate. Sometimes they extended their beaks and claws out of the blue, as if playing. They did not attack her.

Before they knew it, Leasis and the gilatans had completely moved away from the iron gate of the mansion. The gilatans’ black eyes slowly closed. After that, they laid on the ground and began to drowse.

Success! After finishing her final performance, she rushed to the iron gate of the mansion.

Fortunately, there were no more gilatans in front of the gate. Jason and Owen, who had been waiting nervously, opened their mouths wide.

“Miss Leasis!”

“Unnie!”

“Shh! Be quiet! Do we go in now?”

Leasis, speaking urgently, ran to the carriage and brought out the luggage. The iron gate of the tightly closed mansion made a magnificent noise.

Creak.

This was not a dream, was it? Jason pinched himself several times with his hands. The Iron Fortress, which could not be opened even when he had visited with Max, was just opened by the power of a maid.

Jason looked emotional, thinking that animals also had human sincerity. They stepped in cautiously.

But there was another unexpected issue. The garden path into the mansion was like a maze. The three people who were circling for a long time sighed. Looking around, there were only beautiful, square-shaped bushes.

Owen asked, tapping her heavy legs.

“Knight-nim, where do we go now?”

“Well, I don’t know…”

It was the same for Jason as it was his first time setting foot in the former Commander’s mansion. He wanted to look cool. His face darkened with regret.

“Miss Leasis, I’m sorry…”

“Don’t say that. Thank you so much for guiding us all this way.”

Leasis’ words were pretty. Impressed, Jason’s eyes took the shape of a heart. Finding confidence, he asked politely.

“Are your legs okay?”

“Hehe, of course. Is Jason-nim okay?”

This angelic heart! Jason could not stand it anymore and wept. Leasis called him anxiously.

“Jason-nim?”

“That’s all right. I’m allergic to pollen.”

With a ridiculous excuse, he took a handkerchief out of his arms. When he blew his nose, Owen stepped back.

Leasis was pleased. Her red eyes glistened with curiosity. She wondered about the structure of the mansion that could not be invaded.

If people could not come and go like this, there would be problems when watering the flower beds. However, the flowers in full bloom looked fresh. It deserved to be called the Flower Mansion.

But it was weird. When she asked Jason, he said the owner of the mansion was not interested in flowers. In addition, he was so picky that he did not have a butler or servant.

Then, who was watering the flowers? She touched the petals of a flower. It was moist.

“That’s weird.”

“Huh?”

“It certainly didn’t rain today. But there’s still water left. Who might have watered it?”

Surprised, Jason and Owen approached the flower garden. As she had said, the petals felt wet and they nodded.

“Then…”

Mystery novel was Leasis’ second favorite genre. She posed like a detective solving mysterious cases across the Empire.

In the tranquil garden, she was very concentrated. Her lips were tightly shut, and her slightly bent eyes were sharp as if they were analysing everything. She shouted into the air.

“Don’t move! You’re stepping on it!”

Rumble.

It was the moment when Leasis’ voice echoed. Suddenly, a small vibration was felt in the ground. Leasis leaned hastily and put her ears on the ground.

[#### ### #]

She could hear a strange and dim sound. It was too loud to come from a bug, and too soft to be done by a beast.

What the hell was this noise? Her red eyes got a little bigger. As she concentrated on the sound holding her breath, Jason approached.

“Miss Leasis? What are you doing?”

“Just. There’s someone here.”

“Who’s there, Unnie?“

“Wait a minute.”

Jason and Owen looked up. There was no one around, and they could not hear anything. They put their ears on the ground like her, but nothing changed.

Leasis took a big breath. Then she knocked on the ground three times.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Hey, can you… can you come out for a second?”

A loud noise could be heard, but there was no sign of anything coming out of the ground. Leasis began to dig carefully.

There were two small rats on the dug-up ground. Their eyes grew big, like they would pop out. They faced her frozen.

“Uh… Good morning?”

The two rats looked like they were arguing with each other. Jason and Owen rubbed their eyes several times. They were like people with emotions.

Leasis smiled happily. There were like a magician’s pet that she had heard of from Neren in the past.

She vaguely remembered hearing that magic rats could communicate with humans.

“Hey… Don’t fight… I’m sorry, but can I ask you for directions?”

Leasis bowed politely. Only then did the two rats relax and examine Leasis’ group.

The red-haired woman made a good impression. The humans behind her looked surprised, but they could not feel any malice. One of the rats folded its arms and stared at her.

Leasis struggled because it seemed that she had to explain everything. She showed the large pack of luggage.

“I’m here to find the owner of these items.”

The rats approached and smelled the luggage. It was a familiar smell. A rat glanced at her and turned away, pretending to be chic. It was a gesture that seemed to ask them to follow. It was so cute that Leasis had a hard time holding back her laughter.

It was hard to follow the path guided the rats. Eventually, there was a rat on each of Leasis’ shoulders.

They wandered through the windy garden. Jason and Owen, who were following behind, whispered. They speculated that her real identity was an animal trainer.

The right rat looked at Leasis. She was not a wizard, but she knew about them. It felt strange because it was its first time seeing a human with this knowledge.

Its brown eyes darkened. It squeaked and got angry on purpose to suppress its likes.

They arrived at the entrance of the maze-like garden. Jason looked at the rats with suspicious eyes.

“These rats… You’re not gonna kick us out, are you?”

“No way.”

The two rats sprang down from her shoulders. They climbed on the iron gate of the garden.

Press here.

“Oh… yes.”

The cold metal gave her goosebumps when she reached out. At the same time, they felt like the floor was collapsing.

Rumble.

“Uh?”

“Huh?”

“What?”

They looked at each other with their eyes wide opened. Out of balance, they stumbled and opened their mouths. Soon after, pitch-black darkness struck the three people.