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Chapter 5
Rent? And if she hadn’t paid since last month, that meant she was already two months behind.
Bluebell, you little…
I’d save my complaints about the game character who’d saddled me with debt for later.
“Um… How much was the rent again?”
I was worried he might ask if I’d forgotten the rent I’d been paying up until the month before last, but the man answered without hesitation.
“Thirty thousand bells.”
“Right. That’s it.”
“I’m not trying to pressure you, so don’t worry. If things are difficult right now, just tell me. I’ll explain everything to my mom.”
Rather than suspecting anything, he was actually trying to reassure me. Apparently, he’d interpreted my indirect way of saying I had no money as a sign that I was struggling financially.
The landlord’s son was really kind.
Or maybe he had a crush on Bluebell.
—Huh? Talk about being full of yourself!
I’m talking about Bluebell, not me.
Anyway, the loot I’d picked up from the mansion yesterday was already enough to cover three months’ rent.
That was a relief, but I wasn’t particularly happy about it. If the rewards were this generous, I was worried I’d become desensitized to committing crimes.
Since I couldn’t exchange my coins for cash right in front of the landlord’s son, I’d have to put off paying the rent for now.
“Could you give me a little more time? I’ll try to get the money together as soon as possible.”
“Of course. Take as much time as you need. There’s no rush.”
—Why is such a handsome guy so nice?!
What do you mean, there’s no rush? Is it your building?
Only after exchanging a few perfunctory goodbyes with the landlord’s son was I finally able to enter my home.
After taking a shower, I lay down on my bed and thought about my financial situation.
Hey. Why does the system give out such generous quest rewards?
—I dunno. And even if I did, I couldn’t tell you~!
Because the system told you to?
—I… know nothing at all~
The mascot creaked awkwardly as it shuffled away.
Leaving it to traverse the length of my bed, I continued trying to figure things out on my own.
Is it trying to tempt me into actively completing quests with money? Or are there going to be that many expenses?
If it was the latter, there were probably two possibilities.
Either I’d need the local currency, ‘bells,’ for things like rent, or I’d have to spend coins in the shop I’d checked earlier.
Bring up the shop.
[Shop]
└ Outfits
└ Items
└ Currency Exchange
So the old currency exchange section has been absorbed into the shop.
The currency exchange worked exactly as it had before. I still couldn’t buy in-game currency with real money; I could only withdraw money.
Not that I have any money to spend on the game anyway.
I skipped the outfits since I already had plenty of them. (I needed to avoid temptation.) Then I checked the items section.
[Items]
└ Tools
└ Tickets
“Hmm.”
Tools were exactly what they sounded like: tangible objects. Tickets, on the other hand, were things like the Sneaky Step ticket I’d purchased from the event shop.
Even a quick glance revealed plenty of items that could come in handy during quests.
I could collect coins, buy items, and increase my chances of successfully completing quests.
—You’re going to buy items?!
The mascot, having quickly returned to its usual self, flopped down beside me.
—Let’s look together! This is exciting!
The mascot and I carefully read through the item descriptions one by one and picked out the most useful ones.
I can’t afford very many.
—This should be enough. Greedy!
Still, at least I wouldn’t be completely defenseless like I had been at the beginning.
Clank.
I hesitated as I squeezed through the bars of the closed iron gate of the Grand Duke’s residence.
The gate had rattled when I tried to slip through, an unexpected obstacle.
Have I been discovered…?
Fortunately, none of the four guards turned to look in my direction.
Phew… Infiltration successful.
I’d barely managed to sigh in relief, even if only internally, before passing by a patrol knight who stood as rigidly at attention as the guards at the main gate.
The security is weaker than I expected.
I’d honestly assumed the Grand Duke’s residence would have taken serious precautions against intruders. They might have installed barbed wire along the walls or stationed a large number of knights around the grounds.
But now that I’d actually infiltrated the place, all they seemed to have done was increase the number of guards. There were no other obvious security measures.
If you’re underestimating me, I’m certainly not going to complain. Do you know why your mansion has been infiltrated twice now? Because you’re letting your guard down.
—Hehe! You really did look like a thief just now~!
I told you to stop using that as a compliment.
Anyway, if they weren’t being careless, perhaps they were simply trying to maintain the appearance that everything was fine. There hadn’t been any rumors about an intruder at the Grand Duke’s residence, let alone any newspaper articles.
I even checked the evening paper before breaking in, and there was nothing.
Whatever the reason, thanks to that, I reached the corridor on the first floor of the main building—the quest location—without encountering any interference or difficulties.
Now, how had I managed to break in so openly without getting caught?
It was all thanks to the item I’d just bought.
—Thanks to me!
[Invisibility — 1-Day Pass | 5 Coins]
[When activated, the user’s body becomes invisible. (Can be toggled on and off.)]
Invisibility alone was an incredible ability, but being able to switch it on and off made it even better.
And that wasn’t all. Time was deducted only while the invisibility function was active.
In other words, if I used it wisely, I could stretch a one-day pass over several days.
Even though it cost five out of my nine coins—a huge investment—I absolutely had to buy it.
With my remaining coins, I bought a couple of items to complement my invisibility.
[Quiet as a Mouse — 1-Day Pass | 1 Coin]
[For 24 hours after activation, reduces all sounds made by the user.]
[Light on Your Feet — 1-Day Pass | 1 Coin]
[For 24 hours after activation, reduces the sound of the user’s footsteps and the visibility of their footprints.]
The two tickets seemed to do similar things, so I hesitated for a moment. But with my meager budget, I didn’t have many other options.
—You bought well! I wonder whose advice made that possible? Huh? Huh?
Mine.
—Hey, you!
After purchasing the items, I opened the inventory that had appeared and checked how much time I had left on the tickets.
[Time Remaining: 9:39:20]
Midnight hasn’t passed yet, then.
More than a dozen hours had passed since I’d been discovered by the mansion’s owner and fled. Before the day changed, I was attempting to infiltrate the Grand Duke’s residence again.
Breaking in again on the very same day I got caught? Even I have to admit I’ve got some nerve.
Let’s ignore the minor detail of my legs trembling a little.
—You’re all talk!
I stretched for a moment, forcing my tense body to relax, then started walking again.
As soon as I entered the quest area, the system window appeared.
[Quest: Chapter 1–1 — Ainsworth Mansion, Main Building, First-Floor Corridor]
[GAME START]
[RUN!]
It was starting from Day One all over again.
So there really is no saving progress.
—Of course not~ That would make the game way too easy~
Are you telling me to beat the game or not?
—I’m telling you to beat it on hard mode!
Ugh.
I ignored the oversized black-bean-headed nuisance that never helped but always managed to get on my nerves, and focused on the quest.
I deactivated my invisibility first and hurried to collect the coins.
If I heard someone approaching, I could simply turn invisible again.
Thanks to my new items, I didn’t waste time being overly cautious like I had the day before.
After collecting the very last coin, I looked toward the hiding spots that would soon begin to glow.
They’re a little late today.
Just as I was about to wait by the same door I’d used yesterday, something appeared in midair.
Sparkle, sparkle.
It was spinning around high above me, close to the ceiling…
A red coin?
That’s worth ten coins!
If I could grab it, I’d double my earnings for the day.
At that very moment, I heard footsteps coming from somewhere.
Clop, clop, clop.
“……!”
Why now, of all times?!
I strained my ears, listening to the approaching footsteps, and thought quickly.
If I hid now and successfully completed the quest, wouldn’t that coin disappear?
There was no point wasting time. I had to move immediately.
I stepped back to get a running start and gauged the height.
How am I supposed to jump that high?
There was no way I could reach it with my original body, but with Bluebell’s body, it might be possible.
I planted my feet firmly and jumped with all my strength.
One, two, three!
Got it!
But… why was I still going up?
THUD!
Ugh…!
I’d underestimated this body’s jumping ability.
The impact of hitting the ceiling made me curl up, altering my trajectory and sending me crashing down onto a piece of furniture.
CRASH!
Fuuuuuck!
I was so screwed!
Apparently, even the Quiet as a Mouse and Light on Your Feet tickets couldn’t compensate for a noise that loud. The footsteps that had been approaching from a distance suddenly quickened.
“Over there! In that corridor!”
Clutching my aching head and neck, I hurriedly opened the door that happened to be glowing at that moment and ducked inside to hide.
“Hah… Hah…”
Judging by the voices, there were two pursuers, and both seemed to be butlers.
I heard doors opening and closing as the two men, having decided to search opposite sides of the corridor, began checking the rooms.
It was only a matter of time before they reached mine.
My tense body stiffened even further.
Although I was invisible, I could still be touched. That meant there was still a chance I could be discovered, which only made me more nervous.
My heart pounded violently.
My throat was dry, and my arms and legs trembled.
CREAK!
……!
The door to my room finally swung open.
Two men entered and meticulously searched every place where someone might be hiding.
They’re getting closer.
One of the men approached the window where I was hiding.
Then he reached out his hand.
No!
