Chapter 26: Chapter 25 – Interior IV

Following Rosaria's instructions, Percibell walks upstairs and is fast to locate the storage room next to Rosaria and Xal's bed chambers.

Having lived in the household for a few weeks by now, her employment has allowed her to explore most of the interior, so using her elvish senses, she has been quick to know her way about.

She spends ten minutes or so scouring the room for the item but comes out empty-handed with a disappointed look on her face. Clapping herself twice on the cheeks, she puts on a determined face, reluctant to give up. With quick steps, her shoes produce a sequence of clacking sounds in the hallway as she makes her way to a different storage room downstairs — located past the pantry, further back in the mansion, an area she hasn't had a chance to clean or even visit that often.

Having stepped in and closed the door behind her, she is surprised the room has become too dark for her to see. Unlike the other storage room, which was lit up by magic stones installed on the walls, this room seems to have no lighting fixtures or lamps.

When her hands fail to find any form of light switches on the wall either, she opens the door again and is forced to spend ten minutes or so feeling her way around the room in whatever dim light gets in, straining her elven senses in the search.

At some point, once her eyesight has accommodated a bit, she comes across a door handle conspicuously sticking out of the wall. Startled for a moment, she's taken out of her mental limbo and makes a peculiar observation — there are no other indications of there being a door in the wall. The upper parts are covered with an ornate wallpaper with filigree and berry motives, while the lower have darker paneling on top. Curious, Percibell approaches the handle, looking left and right to make sure nobody is watching her before cautiously turning it.

With a slight push, a small gasp escapes her as the wall suddenly opens up, swinging inside to reveal a narrow corridor leading to a dimly lit room further ahead.

The floor in the smaller corridor, which is built perpendicular to the storage room, seems a bit softer when she steps on it, as if the wood was finished with something else than the usual lacquer. She notices her shoes no longer make the clacking sound and she can move almost soundlessly. A bit uncertain of what to do, she takes another careful step, then two more.

Steadily, she approaches the entrance, witnessing a room she'd never seen before. Unlike the previous locations, this room does have windows, which let in enough sunlight for her to see the items inside. There are numerous shelves lining the far end, and two writing tables - one near the windows on the left and one closer to the wall. On the other end from a brass candle holder, and previously hidden from view, stands a glass tube, propped up on a dark iron stand tapering slightly towards the top. A strange green substance, resembling very thick clouds of mist swirls around, up and down, casting a greenish glow on the surroundings.

Seeing something flicker, Percibell notices a big orb on the desk, besides the glass tube. It appears to be surrounded by a translucent shield that only becomes visible occasionally, emitting a bright yellow light. No matter how she tries, her eyes can't directly focus at it - the space around the orb is blurry as if being distorted. Every now and then, a tiny yellow ember expels from it, flutters around and then moves right back in.

Pieces of paper with handwriting are strewn across both desks, and some litter the floors. The candle has been snuffed out, but by the amount of wax that had been dripping down on the desk she can tell the holder has seen intense use.

The rest of the desks are mostly occupied by glass vials and beakers, some requiring cleaning, a small grinding stone with some powdery residue, and a collection of violet and rose-colored crystals.

She realizes that what she initially had thought was a strange wallpaper is actually a bunch of papers, all stuck to a large wooden board lining the wall behind the rightwards desk.

Off in the corner of the room hangs a familiar-looking broken sword, numerous hooks supporting both parts. Percibell can only guess that it looks old and chipped in numerous places, and has a golden hilt with a little figure of the Goddess sculpted into it.

She has never seen anything like this room in the mansion.

With all of the tools and foreign stuff strewn around, it gives the elf maid the impression that it is something important enough to keep hidden. She wonders if she'd be able to figure out it was here from the outside, realizing she never bothered to count the amount of windows, nor compare their locations with the rooms — she was usually busy enough as is.

Her eyes widen and she starts trembling slightly, her ears twitching nervously, perked up. She looks behind her in contemplation, wondering whether she should leave and pretend she never set foot in the place, but her body seems to be at the mercy of her curiosity when she takes a small, shaky step inside to look closer at the wall of papers. She quickly notices that some of them have elaborate diagrams on them, while others seem to be connected with pieces of string. Several of the papers combine to form a large map of the continent's southernmost region with multiple locations crossed out across Wilderness — places she only vaguely remembers mentioned in tales told by other elves.

Looking to the side, she carefully approaches the big orb on the desk. Still unable to look at it directly, she hesitantly tries to touch it with her index finger, but as she is about to, the shield around it repels her finger, and a flurry of yellow embers suddenly erupt from it and dance around her hand.

Startled, Percibell quickly withdraws her arm, watching the embers return back inside the orb, aside from one bright one that remains and, instead, moves up to her face. It hangs there for a few seconds before slowly circling around her head, as if checking her out, causing a sudden feeling of being watched by many eyes to overtake her as all the hairs on her body rise up and her petite frame stiffens.

She retreats a worried step, but before she can calm down, the sound of footsteps right behind her causes the maid to immediately turn around in a hop, landing in a scared, defensive stance. The disturbance appears to cause the ember to quickly return back inside the orb.

「What the hell are you doing here?!」 Xal exclaims, standing at the entrance, now suddenly well-lit.

Percibell senses her legs start giving way and fold inwards, so she keeps her balance by resting a hand on the wall.

「No, I-I- I was just!」

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Not giving her a chance to explain herself, Xal approaches her and violently grabs the elf by the shoulder, yanking her out of the room. After finding her footing, Percibell watches — trembling with terror — as Xal turns around and locks the door with a swift motion. He turns the handle a couple of times before eyeing her suspiciously, with a red glint in his eye.

「Ah... ah... I'm sorry, I... I thought Master Xalvari w-wanted me to clean in here too...」 she says with a stutter while struggling to look up at him.

She notices how stones of light she must have missed previously are now illuminating the storage room and small corridor.

Xal takes a step forward, his foot thumping on the floor.

「What? When did I ever tell you that? More importantly, what did you see?」 he asks menacingly.

Percibell notices how his hands are swiveling around his wrists with jerky motions. Two slightly translucent spheres of glimmering fog materialize and start ominously dancing around inside his palms.

Anticipating the worst, her knees finally give in and she falls down, the fluffy skirt cushioning her butt as it collides with the wooden boards.

「Do I need to repeat myself? Answer me!」 Xal takes another step, the spheres in his palms getting bigger with each pace.

「Hiiii~ I-I didn't mean to intrude on anything! Aah, a, there... Uhm, I j-just saw lots of papers, and shelves... and a tube and some kind of orb inside!!」

Xal crouches near the trembling maid and puts his hand on the wall near her face. The sphere in his hand disperses along the surface, sending a wave of dark fog arcing out, the place where it makes contact with the wooden planks suddenly smelling slightly burned.

「I strongly advise you to think twice before lying to me,」 he warns with a stern tone.

Percibell can feel a pulling, magnetic-like sensation from his palm, as her head starts drawing near him.

All of a sudden, the air in the narrow space takes on a new, acrid smell. A quiet sound of trickling liquid emanates from around the bottom of Percibell's outfit.

「I-Im sorry, I really don't know... I can't r-read... maybe something about t-the Hero and church? I'm s-」 Percibell tries answering with a breaking voice.

Xal's eyes widen momentarily, going back and forth between the floor, and Percibell. After a few moments, he clicks his tongue and pushes away from her, straightening his body out.

「Forget everything you saw, you understand me?!」 he exclaims and rakes his hand through his hair.

He glances at the little maid again, and she jerks away, frightened.

After a short moment, he starts muttering under his breath, turning halfway away from the elf and taking a couple of steps away.

「You have to understand... we're in the middle of something major right now... Something that doesn't concern you... And, if you know what's best for you, you stay out of it.」

Finally, he seems to come back to, and turns towards the still dazed Percibell.

「Hell, why did Rosaria pick you up!」 he sighs and scratches his head awkwardly, looking around, before finally settling his gaze back on the maid again, this time with a sharp, decisive look.

「...Maybe you ought to know what's going on, lest you die without knowing,」 he says, taking a step forward.

All air and color seem to leave Percibell as she instinctively scrambles onto her feet and steps back, but comes to a sharp stop as her back hits a heavy obstacle, reminding her of the wall behind.

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