CH 58

I whispered softly to Russphe.

“Yeah. They stuffed real insects 100 years ago.”

“100 years ago? How did you know?”

I looked around intently, yet nothing was written on the wall.

Russphe cleared his throat.

“Hm? Ah, while I was looking for the museum for a while… I saw it.”

“I see. That’s amazing. We can see things from 100 years ago. Butterflies must have looked the same 100 years ago.”

Ser from the side muttered, “It’s only been 100 years. If I count it, it must have been hundreds of years.”

Following dozens of picture frames into the hallway, a large space appeared.

There was no one in the hallway, but inside there were about 20 people watching.

Inside the clear, square glass were objects I had seen in the newspaper.

There was also a rusty helmet, and a chain necklace that was metallic but green.

There was also an object like a stone tablet that Lepus had shown.

“Russphe, look at this. It was a farmer.”

I kept my eyes on the slate, probably because of Lepus.

It wasn’t something that attracted me because it was an ancient relic.

It was simply interest and curiosity.

As I went further inside and looked around, more and more people began to appear.

Uncle, who had been a little far away, was also by my side before I knew it.

Kamaye and Gerrard were by our side from the moment we entered.

“Uncle, look at this. Awesome…”

Flinch!

All of a sudden, a chill broke out.

Without realizing it, I was frozen like ice on the spot.

This feeling?

It was very similar to the feeling I felt the other day in the Imperial Palace.

No way…?

“Peanut, what?”

“Huh? Ah… T-This.”

I pointed at random.

This is because my nerves have already branched out elsewhere.

My body was thumping again.

“Don’t turn your head.”

I was about to turn my head, but Ser warned me.

“…”

“Looks like a hunter came in here. If you can’t see the ability, even a hunter won’t be able to find you right away. You can still only use me, so it’s okay as long as you don’t act suspicious. Don’t look at anyone.”

Without answering, I only listened to Ser’s words and nodded slightly.

“You’re still too young and weak to face them. I’ll kill your aura too.”

And after that, Ser’s voice wasn’t heard.

However, the tingling feeling continued.

I stared at the objects on display in the museum while holding Russphe’s hand tightly.

Was it the person I felt in the Imperial Palace? Or is it a new hunter?

Unlike the seekers, who hide their presence and move stealthily and fight alone, the hunters inform their families of their existence.

It’s used to gain wealth and honor by extorting the power of ancient relics, so they’re often supported by the family.

It was said that only one hunter could find the seeker, but there could be several to dozens of supporters for that one hunter.

As Ser said, I felt a chill that was incomparable to what I felt in the Imperial Palace.

My teeth chattered and my whole body felt like it was in pain.

I shouldn’t have clenched my teeth, yet it kept getting stronger.

Tingle, tingle.

But I have to put up with it.

Even if we couldn’t face each other right away, I wanted to check the appearance.

“Aika, are you okay?”

Russphe’s warm voice penetrated my ears.

“Hm?”

When I turned my head, Russphe was staring at the hand he was holding.

I squeezed Russphe’s hand tightly until his hand turned white.

“Ah, sorry. I-It’s a little cold.”

I was about to let go of his hand as I spoke softly, yet Russphe took my hand again.

“It’s okay. Let’s keep holding on. Originally, they say temperature is important in museums. That’s why I said it might be a little cold.”

Earlier, when I held his hand, he made an embarrassing face, but now Russphe held my hand again first.

That alone seemed to give me an incredible boost.

“Thanks, Russphe.”

I can’t say why, but I really wanted to thank him.

I held Russphe’s hand and followed him closely, almost with my back to him.

Little by little, the deeper I went inside, the more the cold weakened, but the moment I felt relieved, it suddenly became stronger.

It felt like a sign that a hunter was coming this way.

I couldn’t even ask Ser.

Only me alone.

It was a moment when I felt my heart pounding and exceptionally cold.

One, two, three!

I can do it. I wasn’t intimidated.

I chanted a spell and closed my eyes tightly.

Then, naturally, I tried to look around.

Because if I don’t reveal my ability, they won’t be able to recognize me anyway.

It wasn’t that they set a trap here, so I decided to be a little more courageous.

A lady in a purple dress, a gentleman in black horn-rimmed spectacles, and people who looked like they came with their family.

A lady in a green dress and a man in a brown suit were also seen.

Then I saw a man with dark green wavy hair and green eyes in a neat navy blue suit.

The moment I saw the man, I felt a strong cold that cut through my flesh.

Somewhere between young and middle-aged.

At least he seemed ten years older than Uncle.

I thought it would look very scary in my imagination, but it wasn’t at all.

Rather, he was looking at the exhibited works with a soft smile on his face.

Hunter.

Predator.

Like instinct, I recognized the hunter at once and for the first time in my life.

Just checking his face, I immediately turned my head as if I had never done so.

Our eyes never met.

Just in time, we were looking at the last piece in the museum.

I came in through the front door of the museum and I saw the door that went around the circle.

I held Uncle’s fingers with the other hand, not the hand I held with Russphe, and shouted softly.

“Uncle, this is the last one! It’s very pretty.”

It was a stone with a mysterious rainbow color, and it was written that it was the only mineral found in the Empire.

Mysteriously, when I looked at it from the right, I felt a red light, and when I looked at it from the left, I felt a blue light.

And when viewed from below, it was a mysterious stone that glowed brightly in gold.

It was as if they deliberately put the nicest stuff last.

“It’s black, though.”

I said it was pretty, yet Uncle’s reaction was dour.

“It’s the color of a rainbow, you know?”

“This?”

“It also looks black to me.”

“Me too…”

Gerard and Kamaye also said the same.

I asked Russphe.

“Russphe, do you see it black too?”

Russphe then shook his head.

“No, rainbow colors. I see more blue here, and more red here.”

“I see it like that too!”

Could it be that each viewer sees the color differently?

Then Gerard lowered his body to my level.

“Ah.”

Gerard exclaimed as if he had realized something.

“Why?”

“Looking in the Miss’ gaze, I see that too. It looks different depending on height and angle. Miss, wait a minute.”

Gerard put his hand on my armpit and lifted it up.

It quickly became an appearance of looking down at a mysterious stone.

“Huh? It’s real.”

“Right?”

Seen from above, it was just a black stone.

The black stone was also mysterious, but not as mysterious as the rainbow colored stone.

When Gerard lowered it again, the stone glowed softly in five colors again.

“It’s not even a magic stone, how amazing.”

While concentrating on the stone, the chill in my body had eased considerably.

I turned my head and saw the man’s back from farther away than before.

I thought it would be safe to leave like this.

“Let’s go out and buy something delicious.”

I pulled Russphe’s hand.

“Mmhm. I like anything that Aika wants to do.”

As soon as I came out through the back door, just opposite the main entrance, there appeared a shop selling souvenirs for the reopening of the museum.

“I think they give souvenirs too. Why don’t you choose, too, Miss?”

“Souvenir?”