Chapter 324: The Woman in the Attic

The goblin was hidden well. Ron and the others ran into the stitched-up butler on their way. It noticed the group and politely asked if they needed any help, completely unaware that just behind it, a short Ranger lurked silently in the darkness.

"As long as it's not the master of this castle or Silvia, no one can find me!" Delaford declared, jumping out from his hiding place after the butler had gone. "Quest might be good, but he's not as good as me—no one suspects a rat scurrying around the castle, right?"

"You've been hiding here all this time?" Ron recalled that he could never seem to find Delaford at dinner. He would only find a note in his room with the words "Gone hunting" written in a crooked script.

Delaford had a background as a Hunter, and with so many animals in the area, no one would be suspicious of such an act.

And no one would ever suspect a goblin could be so clever as to evade everyone's notice and use a rat to scout the entire castle.

"When you go to help set up the ritual," Delaford grinned, "the Count and Silvia will both be there. Even the butler will be patrolling nearby. That's when the castle's defenses are at their weakest."

"That can't be right," Quest frowned. "Then how was I discovered?"

"You went to the attic?" Delaford sneered. "You'd never have guessed why you were discovered—that attic isn't empty. There's someone inside!"

"And you wonder why you were discovered?"

"Someone—" Quest was so shocked by this news that he almost shouted. At the last second, he managed to contort his body into a bizarre shape, stopping himself just in time to avoid giving them away. "How do you know?"

"I saw it with my own eyes," Delaford said, gesturing for the group to move somewhere they could talk more freely. "A rat's eyes, that is!"

"The attic may have three heavy locks, but it isn't completely sealed. At the very top of the castle, there's a pipe only a rat can squeeze through. The other day, I took advantage of the distraction when Quest was discovered and sent a local rat sneaking in!"

"Inside, I saw a woman with disheveled hair, acting completely mad!"

"A woman?" Victoria questioned doubtfully. "Don't you mean a female Elf?"

After all, the Von Richthofen clan is an Elven family. Finding an Elf here would be perfectly normal, but a human?

No living human has been here for centuries!

"I know exactly what I'm talking about!" Delaford retorted indignantly. "A woman. A female human, just like you!"

"Aive is a Half-Elf. Yelena, Seymour, and that Mage are all Elves. I can tell the difference!"

"Go on, what happened then?" Ron gestured for Victoria and the others not to interrupt and let Delaford continue.

"There is no 'then'," the goblin shrugged regretfully. "My rat was discovered by the woman almost immediately. She leaped onto the ceiling like a spider and let out a series of strange shrieks! The last image the rat sent back showed its head was gone. I'm guessing the creature jumped behind it and bit its neck clean off."

"It would've been more believable if you said she pulled out a sword and cut its head off," Quest quipped. "How can you be so sure it was bitten?"

"Because I have ears!" Annoyed at being questioned, Delaford flicked one of his pointed ears. "Do you think I can't tell the difference between the sound of a blade cutting and teeth gnawing?"

'This woman must be truly insane…,' Ron thought. He believed Delaford's description; the goblin had proven his reliability several times before and likely wasn't joking now. 'But why a human woman?'

"The last survivors in this Count's domain died out before the Farama Kingdom was even founded. No human could have lived this long, right? Unless she, like Farama, sold her soul to a devil."

"Not necessarily a devil…" Quest muttered, then looked up at Ron. "Ron, we won't get anywhere just guessing. Why don't we go see for ourselves?"

"You mean send another rat over?"

"No, we'll go ourselves," Quest said. "But we can't just walk in. Someone needs to keep that butler occupied."

"I'll do it," Aive said, looking around at the others. "I seem to be the only one who isn't busy lately."

"No, Aive, you need to protect Ron. Remember that woman I mentioned? She's extremely aggressive," Delaford said quickly. "I'll figure out a way to hold up the butler. Since you're all planning to go straight up there, I won't be much use anyway."

"As for the timing, I suggest around ten in the morning, the day after tomorrow. Based on my observations over the past week, even though Undead Creatures patrol the castle during the day, there's a brief opening at that time by the staircase to the attic."

"And the reason?" Quest asked cautiously. "This isn't some kind of trick to lure us into a trap, is it?"

"No, the reason is that Gargoyle," Delaford said, tracing a huge silhouette in the air. "Remember the one that got its body smashed? The one Silvia called 'Old Opal'? It's on patrol duty at that exact time!"

"But since it hasn't fully recovered yet, it has trouble moving, so it can't complete its duties according to the castle's set schedule. It will be fifteen minutes behind schedule—that's your chance!"

"Break the locks, subdue her, question her, retreat…" Quest muttered, cracking his knuckles subconsciously. "The timing might be a little tight. Gargoyles have excellent eyesight. Even if it can't get to its post, that won't stop it from seeing us."

"So we won't leave through the door," Ron said. "I'll prepare as many Gaseous Form spells as I can. We'll escape through that pipe on the roof!"

"Delaford, can you draw us a map of the castle's upper levels? If we get the chance, I think we can teleport directly from the roof back to our rooms. The Count rests during the day, so that would eliminate the possibility of anyone else discovering us."

"Sure. I'll have Big White deliver it to you right away!" Delaford immediately returned to his room. The others dispersed, while Ron and Victoria prepared to find Yelena and go see the Count again to ask if there was anything they could help with.

Ron, Victoria, and Yelena headed to the manor's rear courtyard where the ritual was being set up. The Vampire Count and Silvia were already waiting for them. Ron subconsciously looked up toward the windowless but very real, sealed-off attic. 'If I ask him for a few details about his wife and daughter,' he thought, 'it probably won't raise any alarms, right?'