MPBGS 37

Chapter : 37

I don’t know what it is, but we’ve reconciled now, right?

Watching Daisy and Troy hugging so passionately made a corner of my heart feel uneasy.

It seemed Troy wasn’t just some third-rate villainous side character—he was Jelly’s rival in love. While they were building this intense, emotional narrative, our Jelly was just yawning in the back, not even sensing the urgency.

Oh my, those fangs might show if he keeps this up. Even when watching a boring drama, I wouldn’t get this bored. That guy is going to regret this big time later—hope he’s ready for it.

“It’s fine. The kids will be safe. Young Lady will find them.”

“That person?”

Suddenly, all eyes turned to me.

“Yes. Because I promised.”

Daisy looked at me earnestly. I owed her a debt of gratitude, there were things I needed to say, and even without all that, I couldn’t just stand by morally while the kids were missing.

“That’s a relief…”

Troy visibly relaxed. We’d just met, so why was he trusting me so much? Maybe it was that thing—when your department’s hopelessly difficult boss steps in to fight another department, they look impressively reliable?

But… now that I’d said that, how do I actually find them?

The most suspicious one, Troy, wasn’t the culprit. The principal? I’d missed that cliché in detective stories. Well, Troy appeared too early to be the culprit anyway.

Let’s not forget—we’re in a novel. No need to overthink it.

Think carefully.

If we apply this to a romance fantasy scenario, this seems like a side-couple subplot. Daisy, who has trauma from human trafficking, gets betrayed by someone she trusted but overcomes it and grows stronger.

Then the clue must be this summoning circle. I’d wondered why there was a summoning circle here, and now it made sense.

In the original story, Daisy probably asked for help from Jelly or Kanna, not me. So she’d come to help, see this picture, and realize the mastermind was Evangeline.

Kanna had seen the picture when she was kidnapped by Donau, so she could figure it out immediately.

Wow. So if I hadn’t come to help Daisy, the villainess’s reputation would’ve grown even more? The original story really wields some terrifying narrative logic…

Anyway, I never showed the picture, so the principal must’ve seen the picture hanging in the temple, just like the priests in the monastery. Lucky it burned now.

“Jelly, can you smell anything?”

“No. The air is heavy and dizzying—it’s hard to breathe.”

I had felt something similar when entering this room. Yeah, that’s definitely it.

The Wind Spirit!

The principal must’ve summoned the Wind Spirit to erase the scent. If Jelly had used her ability here, the case would’ve ended too quickly, so they must’ve nerfed her powers.

So the culprit is in here!

Of course, that doesn’t mean there’s an accomplice among these people—just that the culprit is somewhere in this building. There must be a secret passage somewhere.

If the kids had been taken far away, there’d be no need to confuse us with a spirit hiding the scent.

And the most suspicious thing here is that wardrobe.

Usually, secret doors are hidden in bookshelves or wardrobes. But a rat just jumped out of this wardrobe. It didn’t exit where it went in—it scratched at the door. It must’ve come through another passage.

“Miss?”

I felt the inner wall of the wardrobe. Any buttons? Nothing. I pressed harder, and the wall of the wardrobe swung back.

Do secret passages really open this clumsily? Anyone seeing it might think it’s broken.

“What the….”

I knew it! Beyond the opened wall was a staircase going down to the basement. Of course, since it’s a novel, applying the clichés made everything fall into place.

A gust of wind blew from below. What is that terrible smell? Sensitive-nosed Jelly pinched her nose and muttered,

“Why didn’t I notice the smell before? It’s so strong.”

The spirit must’ve been blocking it. Sometimes the Wind Spirit uses powers like that.

“Could they be down here?”

“Probably.”

Though said casually, it was almost certain. A hidden door appeared—so 100% they’re below.

“Make sure to take the papers with you before going down.”

The magic and spirits might clash, possibly destroying the building, or we might not be able to grab them later, so it’s best to secure the evidence first.

Kanna instinctively grabbed the files I’d prepared, hesitated a moment, then handed them to Daisy. She must’ve been worried I’d smudge them in water again.

“Thank you…”

Daisy hugged the files tightly as if to crush them. Nothing else was needed. I looked around, and Pudding jumped out of my arms.

“Pudding? Not coming with us?”

Pudding nodded and baked bread over the summoning circle. True, I had dragged the kid around too much already.

“Then keep watch here.”

I patted Pudding’s head and grabbed the candle.

“Let’s go down.”

We went in a line through the wardrobe.

“I had no idea the basement was like this…”

“Me neither.”

The candle flickered. It was pitch-dark without any light, so we held the walls carefully as we descended. Luckily, it wasn’t that deep—maybe just one floor difference.

“I can faintly smell soup.”

That reminded me of the cooking utensils found in the orphanage. So the offerings weren’t for the ghost—they were cooking for the kids in the basement. That’s why only traces of cooking remained above.

Then the sounds of hunger we heard earlier must’ve been from below. The basement wasn’t too deep, so the sound carried up.

“So they were really here.”

“Shall we search separately?”

Seeing the kids confirmed, Daisy and Troy seemed restless.

“No.”

I understood their urgency, but we couldn’t split up. If we did, we’d be attacked.

The principal might’ve used a spirit to harm us, but on our side, we have a werewolf mage with full physical power and combat skills!

“No need to do that. Jelly, you know where to go from here, right?”

I don’t know the mechanics, but since Jelly’s sense of smell returned when we opened the secret passage, she could guide us from here.

“The smell is too widespread to distinguish clearly, but I’ll try.”

This time, Jelly seemed to understand the seriousness. Instead of whining, she nodded obediently and led the way.

“It’s bigger than I thought. It seems like it’s half the size of the orphanage building.”

The basement was wide and dark. A few candles hung on the walls, but the faint light blew out with a single breath, so it wasn’t much help.

“Here? Or there?”

Jelly seemed to be struggling with directions. She led us to a room with beds. Scattered across the beds were trinkets or toys, and Daisy’s eyes welled up.

“These belong to the kids.”

So they were kept here all this time. We passed through the bedroom again, following Jelly. Not far ahead, she stopped.

Jelly stared inside. Have we arrived?

Even after Yulma closed her eyes, there was no feeling of pain. Had Lanan succeeded?

“Ugh…”

Hearing the principal’s painful groan, Yulma cautiously opened her eyes. But what she saw was completely unexpected.

The man the principal had brought was restraining her from behind, his hands holding hers midair. He gripped her firmly, and a pained sound escaped from the principal.

The principal soon lost her grip. Yulma quickly pulled back, and a blade fell to the floor with a sharp clang.

“Yulma… can I open my eyes now?”

“Absolutely not! Who told you? Don’t look back, cover your ears, stay quiet!”

Yulma shouted—children’s patience had reached its limit. Did they hear that clang?

“Can’t you let go?”

The principal barked, but Melek didn’t budge. Yulma was stunned. If he knew he had the upper hand, why had he stayed bound so quietly?

Anyway, if this man sided with the kids, subduing the principal would be much easier.

Then Lanan wouldn’t have to get blood on her hands… Right, Lanan! Yulma quickly glanced at her. Lanan looked drained, sitting down, but her blade had red on it. Blood?

But the principal was fine? Yulma’s shock increased as she saw Melek’s waist spurting blood.

Melek had taken the blade meant for the principal while defending her from Lanan’s attack.

That idiot… hitting an innocent person, trembling like that, how could he even think to harm the principal?

Unaware of this, the principal was furious at Melek. Why intervene now after being passive all this time? Acting like she was protecting the kids—such a devil!

“Merai. Please, stop.”

The principal hesitated for a moment. She felt like she’d heard those words before—long ago, maybe twenty years ago.

While the principal was confused by déjà vu, Yulma quickly made a decision.

The door is open. She wasn’t sure if the man was truly on the kids’ side, but it didn’t matter. Either way, if he was with us, great; if not, he was injured and couldn’t pursue the kids.

This was their chance to act on the principal. Yulma met Lanan’s eyes. Luckily, Lanan seemed to have snapped out of panic. They counted together.

Three seconds. Count: three, two…

“Yulma, Lanan!”

Before finishing the last count, an unexpected intruder burst into the room. No—was it a savior?