It was almost noon when they reached a large tree not far from the mansion to rest, and after tying their horses to the tree, Percival took off his cloak and spread it on the only piece of grass under the tree, and he made Arya sit on it for lunch while he sat on another large rock.

"It's a desolate place." Arya took a bite of the buckwheat cake and looked around curiously: it was like a vast wasteland, the loess land was almost all sand and stones, with a few clumps of green grass and a few large trees, and the mansion not far away looked extremely dilapidated.

"Yes, the men who have been here say that this place is too gloomy and desolate for people who live in this neighborhood to come near it." With a jug in his hand, Parcival jumped off the boulder and looked at the building with a solemn expression.

"Then let's go and have a look! Go and uncover the true face of this mansion! When Arya had finished her meal, she patted the crumbs off her body, and as she stood up, she bent down to pick up the cloak, shook it off with all her might, and then patted off the dust and gravel with her hands, and returned it to Percival.

"Okay, let's go!" Percival took the cloak, put it on, mounted his horse with Arya, and headed for the mansion.

When they arrived at the gate of the mansion, the cold and ominous aura emanating from the whole mansion came to their faces, and after tying up their horses, they stood in front of the big iron gate, drew their swords, and slowly approached the mansion little by little.

The flower beds and the road were full of dead branches and leaves, the grass in front of the mansion was full of dead grass, and most of the wall skin outside the mansion had fallen off, adding a lot of a sense of decay and decay, and Arya couldn't help but shiver.

When the two of them walked to the gate, they found that the gate was actually hidden! The two looked at each other and nodded, and Percival slammed the door open, and a loud sound echoed through the empty and dead hall, and the two stepped into the mansion at the same time in the dust that was kicked.

In the center of the hall was a large wooden round table, with countless scratches made with a knife, and on the table there was only a faded three-pronged metal candle holder, and the three white candles were only half left, they were all covered with dust, and the two men looked at the left and right sides of the hall separately with the round table as a boundary.

On the left is a three-tiered bookshelf, and Parcival sees that the shelves are piled with specialized books on literature and philosophy, and at the bottom of the bookshelf are decorative yellow and white nesting dolls, and a small bronze statue of a horse, and next to the bookshelf is a matching sofa for entertaining guests, which is also covered with dust and seems to be nothing special.

On the wall on the right hung a large map, Arya saw the city of Cross circled in red at a glance, next to the map stood a rectangular mirror, through the mirror, Arya saw Percival's focused back, she quietly raised her right hand, compared a rabbit ear on Percival's head, and then snickered silently.

They didn't find anything in the hall, so they went up to the second floor together, and looked at each room one by one, from the kitchen at the end, the bedroom, to the study at the end, there was nothing, and the two of them had to go out.

"Sure enough, as they said, there was nothing." Standing outside the large iron gate, Arya put away her sword a little dejected.

"Maybe it's daytime, right? Let's do it again in the evening, okay? If you're not afraid. Percival put away his sword as well, and looked at Arya.

"Of course not! That's it! Arya nodded.

They returned to their respective places of residence together for dinner, and when the sun was about to set, they went out with oil lamps in their hands, and gathered in front of the mansion again, when they arrived at the door of the mansion, it was already completely dark, and only the oil lamp in their hands was the only source of light, and Arya looked at the dark mansion in front of her, and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"Are you ready, Miss Dushante?" Percival drew his sword.

"Of course ......! Let's go! "I'm the Thief Rose-Marie! Don't be afraid! You can't be embarrassed in front of the people you like! Arya muttered inwardly, drawing her sword as well.

After the two stepped in again, an inexplicable strange feeling swept over like a tide. Arya walks over to the round table and finds the candle on the table on the floor resting on the floor.

"Now, Mr. Perseus, I remember during the day, this candle... It's on the table, right...? Some clouds of fear had begun to rise in Arya's heart.

“… Truly. As soon as Percival finished speaking, the two of them suddenly realized something, and they clenched their swords in their hands, and walked little by little to the places they had each inspected during the day.

Percival walked over to the bookshelf and raised the dim firelight, he found that the spine of each book was stained with red liquid, he frowned, and sniffed closer, it was red ink. He took a few steps back and saw the red ink form a few distorted words on the spine: Get out! Percival's eyes widened in rage, and he smashed the upper half of the bookshelf with a single sword!

"Percival! Are you okay?! The sound of the book slamming down startled Arya, and she turned her head in horror to look at the person behind her.

"I'm fine! I suspect it's someone playing a prank! Percival replied calmly.

Practical joke......? Arya frowned at the red X-marked map, which read: Get out of here! Then she turned her head and looked at the mirror, where she felt her blood freeze in her veins and couldn't flow: to her lower left in the mirror, a ragged, long, black-haired boy stood staring at her with a playful expression.

"Ah——!!!hh Arya instantly felt a chill down her spine, her hairs stood upside down, and she screamed, stabbing the entire mirror with a sword!! The screeching of the mirror shattering apparently frightened the little boy, and he quickly turned and ran away.

"Stop!! Miss Arya! Are you alright!? Percival hurried to Arya's side.

"Can you see him? Damn it!! I'm! Is it really a prank!! Let's chase! Arya's face was red with rage, and after stomping her feet vigorously on the spot, she chased the boy in the direction in which he had run away.

"Good !!" Percival followed.

The two of them ran to the second floor one after the other, and when they saw the little boy running into the last room and closing the door, they rushed to the room with their swords drawn, and the corridor echoed with the heavy and rapid sound of the two running.

Running to the door of the room, the two people did not hesitate, and suddenly broke into the door at the same time, and the violent action kicked up a puff of dust, and the two of them closed the door with their elbows at the same time, holding the oil lamp, and looked around in this abandoned study.

Suddenly, through the oil lamp, Arya saw a small piece of tattered brown clothes on the edge of the sofa, and after her eyes quickly turned a few times in the sockets, she stood on tiptoe and silently approached the sofa from the front, and lowered her head to look down at the back of the sofa, and sure enough, she found a thin figure with her back to her, curled up there and shivering.

"Wow!!" Arya let out a sudden scream.

"Ah——!!!hh The little boy was so frightened that he fell to the ground, and he turned his head in fear to find that Arya was already leaning forward and leaning back with laughter, and the whole study was filled with her melodious and lively laughter like wind chimes.

"Let you scare me again, this is called self-inflicted!" Arya put away her sword and looked at the little boy with one hand on her waist, and the little boy puffed out his cheeks angrily and lay on the ground with an unwilling expression.

"It's a child... What's your name and why are you doing this? Hearing this, Percival, who had come running, withdrew his sword when he saw the true face of the initiator, but his tone did not become gentle.

The little boy knew that he had done something wrong, so he got up from the ground, stood up obediently, and honestly confessed to them: "I... My name is Peake... It's a wandering orphan... When I was passing through another town not long ago, I saw the magician Allen perform, and I liked him very much, do you know him...? ”

"Of course I know, Alan Jacent, the beloved son of Earl Jacent, he is a young and handsome magician, every performance is wonderful, I have seen his performances, my friends like him." Arya recalls that Anne would sometimes sit at her desk, writing about her love for him.

"Did you do anything with him?" Parcival asked with a slight frown.

"Well," Peake nodded, "I wanted to ask him to take me as an apprentice, but he said he would accept me as an apprentice as long as I came here and made some noticeable gestures without being detected." ”

"This magician is really good at playing tricks on children!" Arya was a little angry.

"No, no! It's none of Mr. Allen's business, he's very nice, and I agreed to it myself! Other children my age who wanted to be his apprentices were terrified when they heard that they were coming here, but I was different! I want to prove to Mr. Allen that I am braver than the other children! Peake rubbed the tip of his nose with his fingers, looking refreshed.

"But that doesn't matter now! I'm here for another reason! More important than being an apprentice! Peake said anxiously, "You come with me!" With that, he ran out of the room, and the two of them ran out of the door with him.

They came to the hall on the first floor, and Peake came to the log table, picked up the candle, took a note from the candle in the middle, and handed it to Arya: "When I came, I looked at everything here and found a note hidden in this candle. ”

After listening to him, Arya put the oil lamp on the table, took the note, and read it with Percival:

"May the person who saw this note be a man of good will, and I may not be long before I hide some of my possessions under the sofa in every room. Take them with you, don't devour this wealth, there are people who need their help more than you, if you wish, you can transform the whole mansion into a building that the world needs, may the god Gela bless you. - Alices, the owner of the mansion

"......" Arya and Percival looked at each other, and finally fell on Pique, who was standing obediently to the side.

"I... I've only taken a gold coin to buy bread, ham, and sweets......" Peake explained in a whisper, as Parcival walked over to the couch and opened the cushion, revealing a pile of brilliant gold coins and gems hidden underneath!

"Okay, I know, don't worry about the rest! We're going to make it public and donate it! Arya walked over to Peake, smiling and rubbing his head.

"At such a young age, with such a strong sense of responsibility and courage, you may not be able to become the magician's apprentice, but you can consider becoming a knight's acolyte." Parcival placed his hand lightly on the boy's shoulder, his eyes full of pity and trust.

Feeling the gentle touch and touch for the first time, Peake clenched his hands and silently burst into tears.

Before midnight, they decided to report the incident to Torris, who would take care of it, and after making a decision, they left the mansion together.