Chapter 76

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"......ngh......ah......is it already morning......"

I squinted at the light coming in from the window and slowly got up from my heavy body.

"......ngh......?"

Lily, who was next to me, still looked sleepy.

"Hey, Lily, it's morning."

I gently shook her small body and whispered in her ear.

"......ngh......it's ticklish......"

Despite still looking sleepy, Lily somehow managed to get up.

I faced Lily.

I needed to tell her about the things I had to do today.

"Um, I don't have any particular plans for today, but I need to find Aura and the others here."

"Huh?"

Lily tilted her head, probably still not fully awake.

But I continued without worrying.

"So, I'll be going around the castle today. At first, I'll search alone. If I can't figure it out, I'll ask for your help, Lily."

Actually, it might have been better to have Lily guide me around the castle from the start, but to minimize the risk of her being found, I thought it would be better to search alone at first.

"Got it."

Though her speech was a bit slurred, Lily seemed to understand as she raised one hand to acknowledge me.

Alright, since Lily is on board, let's head out to explore the castle right away—

*Knock knock*

—Just as I thought that, there was a knock on the door.

"!?"

I immediately turned my gaze towards the door.

Probably because I was talking to Lily, I didn't notice the footsteps approaching the room like I did yesterday.

I frantically searched for the coat to put on Lily, but unfortunately, it was folded on a table far from the bed.

From here, I wouldn't be able to reach the door before the person knocking opened it.

"Excuse me."

The next moment, I heard the maid's voice, which I had heard several times yesterday.

"What do I do...!?"

From the maid's words, I could tell she was already trying to enter the room.

"!!"

I quickly pushed Lily, who was sitting on the bed, down.

"Good morning, Lord Anest."

The next moment, I received a greeting from the maid who entered the room.

"A, good morning."

Although she couldn't see my face, the maid probably realized I was pushing down a small child based on the size of the body.

I couldn't tell what she was thinking, as her face didn't show much emotion.

"Breakfast is ready. Would you like me to bring it here?"

"A, yes, please..."

I could only nod in response to the maid's matter-of-fact statement.

"Phew, it was really delicious."

After finishing breakfast, we were now sitting across from each other in our chairs.

The maid had already cleared away the used dishes, leaving the table spotless.

"Um, I'll go look for Aura and the others for a bit, so make sure to wear the coat so no one can see your face, okay?"

"Got it!"

I felt a bit uneasy at Lily's response but slowly left the prepared room.

"......no one's around......?"

After leaving the room and looking around, there was no sign of anyone in the long corridor.

"......alright, let's start this way, then......?"

Since I had no idea where they were, I needed to search wherever I could.

I decided to go in the opposite direction from where I had come in.

"Alright, let's do this......!"

I resolved myself, thinking about the numerous doors I would have to check.

"......can't find them. Really can't find them."

After searching for a while, I started to feel a growing sense of crisis as I couldn't find them no matter how much I searched.

The deadline given to me was probably just one day.

......Should I go back to the room and search with Lily?

There's a good chance we might find Aura and the others that way.

*......yo......*

*......ah......that's......*

"!?"

As I was considering whether to go back to the room, I suddenly heard a familiar voice.

I ran with all my might in the direction of the voice.

*Wow......*

*Amazing......*

The voices seemed to be getting louder.

Then, the voices appeared to be coming from a specific room.

"......"

From inside, I could hear Aura and Torue's voices, along with someone else's.

Esick had said they were fine, but now I was worried that something terrible might have happened to them.

"......"

With a mix of tension and determination, I opened the door to the room.

"......what?"

Inside the room were Aura, Torue, and someone I couldn't quite identify.

They were in their underwear.