Cardboard Houses Do Not Tear

115 – Interrogation in the Woods

Looking towards the counter for a moment, I saw Prianian asking the female librarian whereabouts of Gordon.

“Then do you know where the librarian named Gordon lives?”

“Wait a minute. Where are the papers?”

Looking at something busily, I was probably looking for related documents.

Fortunately, I have had some time to read the clues to the case.

As I opened the stained book, a vaguely smudged line written in the middle of the white paper caught my eye.

– One cow, three chickens. Things my family sacrificed to get me into college.

With that one sentence, the story of salmon began.

The content was nothing special.

Starting with the story of the success of the son of the chief of the village in the central part of the country, it was all about writing down one or two lines of what happened when there were occasional impressive things.

While reading that, there was a part where the handwriting suddenly changed slightly.

It was the part where his family started to decline after his father passed away.

-Thanks to Professor Terwin Jackson, he was able to pay for his father’s treatment. People said he was suspicious. I can’t understand why you’re slandering a good person who would give such a large sum of money in advance.

– I was stopped because people around me said that I was going to graduate school. However, since I was interested in life magic that makes housework easier, I don’t think there will be much difficulty in adapting.

I have a desire to research space magic that might shorten the time I go to my hometown, but Professor Jenton is a bit picky about that.

-Professor Jackson even said that he would find a place for me to work. It’s a pity that a talented person like you rots in such a rural area, so the professor’s offer to run to the doctorate under me is true-

At that point, I spat out a low-key double curse.

“f*ck the dog.”

I heard it somewhere, but it was a very familiar repertoire.

After regaining my senses, I continued to read what Gordon had written.

In the meantime, the handwriting that seemed to be written tremblingly caught my eye.

-Damn it. I wonder if this is really true, but I can’t help it. This floor is very narrow, and the footrests I’m stepping on are not mine.

-I had to prepare for the curse. A very simple, yet unrecognizable guy.

With that in mind, the diary came to an end, and after that it was full of curse-related content.

Perhaps it was to disguise it as a diary.

Anyway, the characteristics of curses with different properties are described at a glance, and those that are useful among them are marked with an asterisk.

It feels like a summary of curses, as if it was made to show someone.

But there was something curious about it.

The things written inside were curses of a rather low level, enough to be seen in the books I read.

The curses marked with an asterisk had particularly low fatality rates and sequelae, or those with extremely fast absorption of vitality.

And under the asterisk, there was a line of comments with a questionable initial.

– High mortality rate. Neither P.J nor I judged it acceptable.

-The rate at which vitality is absorbed is too fast. P.J said it was okay, but I rejected it because it was too harmful.

Sadly, I didn’t know what that P.J was up to.

But it was enough to make my doubts blossom.

Anyway, the only thing I chose after narrowing down and reducing the width was the one with four stars. It was ‘the faith of the water ghost’.

A curse with low life absorption, but low risk of detection and low side effects.

Right below it, a map to somewhere was drawn.

“Mr. G-House.”

At that time, I heard Prianian calling me.

“I found a place for Gordon to stay.”

I shook her head and held her book up to her.

I’m sorry for Prianian, who was trying to look through the documents, but it was clear that we were supposed to go to this unfamiliar place, not his dormitory.

***

The place in Gordon’s book was quite remote.

After passing through the woods behind the university, an empty lot soon appeared.

Starlight was twinkling in the now completely darkened sky, and in the shabby wooden house far away, only the light of a lantern could be seen.

I don’t know where I found this place, but it was the perfect place to do some damn sh*t in graduate school.

Now is the time to find out the reason for the bullsh*t.

Before entering the clearing, I asked two people.

“Are you ready?”

In order to prepare for any possible curse, the two were drenched in priest Rien’s holy water, so no answer was heard.

“Ugh.”

…I shouldn’t have heard.

Priyanian’s head was shaking in the dark, but his young lady dared to move his mouth.

‘I don’t have to answer.’

“Good.”

The young lady, who was not fit for battle, stayed outside the clearing, and only me and Prianian quietly entered the clearing.

The clearing was safe. I could only hear the low-lying grass brushing against my shoes, and I couldn’t see anything like an alarm device.

I saw shadows shimmering in the light from the tree house that was getting closer.

Gordon was probably in there.

As he got closer to his destination, he lifted the taji he had filled in his hand a little more.

‘Enter.’

‘Cover.’

I sent a hand signal to Prianian, who fell slightly behind and followed me.

Kikik.

Let’s open the door slowly. A choked voice came from inside.

“Oops.”

Inside, Gordon greeted me with a lit cigarette in his mouth.

“You didn’t have to come this far to light a cigarette, Mr. Ghouse.”

“I think we’ve come close enough to light the fire at the stake, Gordon.”

There was no need to show respect to the guy who did the trick.

Although I heard the bad words, he quietly shook his head without getting angry.

“I decline that. By the way, I didn’t expect Mr. G-House to come this far.”

He lit a cigarette with the lamp beside him, put it to his mouth and said.

“I should have noticed that when you asked about the curse.”

“Knowing isn’t an ability. How to find it is an ability. I didn’t expect to use it against you again.”

While trembling like that, I looked around the tree house in preparation for any possible threat.

Books related to curses all over the desk, and strange facilities far away.

There was no one but him in my field of vision. There was only the librarian sitting on a wooden chair and looking at me.

“After.”

Gordon, now looking utterly dejected, exhaled smoke from his cigarette.

“Well. Seeing you come here, Malcolm must not have worked properly.”

“A gambler never puts his life on the line. I don’t know how much money he gave his friend, but a dagger is more effective than that.”

“Money…”

“Yes, money.”

I raised my arming sword and pointed it at him.

“I know roughly what your story is. The famous librarian didn’t take good care of his books.”

Gordon’s face hasn’t faded yet.

Maybe that’s why, I could tell he was looking at me with resigned eyes.

“If you see it, just cut it down. Why are you so lazy?”

“I thought so, but there’s something going on. Who is P.J?”

“……”

He didn’t answer.

“These are the initials that have been mentioned over and over again in the records. And the contents of the records are also somewhat suspicious.”

“What do you think is suspicious?”

“The fact that he moved like a graduate student.”

After reading Gordon’s book earlier, I felt something strange.

Although it is only seen by oneself, the types and fields of curses are summarized very briefly and are easy to understand at a glance.

And below that, the curses marked with an asterisk depend on P.J’s opinion, as if being confirmed by someone.

And lastly, in his diary, there was no anger towards graduate school, and it was the fact that it was felt rather strongly that he was forced to do it.

It was as if he had been called black, and in his book, there was no subjectivity at all except for the arrangement of data.

“Normally you would do it on your own, but I feel like you’re moving passively. Like a slave.”

“…Seeing that you naturally refer to graduate students as slaves. Mr. G-House seems to have experience in this field.”

“I’ve done something similar.”

I wonder if my answer was a bit surprising. His face contorted slightly.

“Anyway. You didn’t do this alone. You must have had a superior to direct you to this.”

I asked him, hoping that he would recite the identity of his accomplice like a water ghost.

“Why did you lift the curse on the Breeze House?”

He didn’t answer.

I changed the question and asked it.

From noble mtl dot com

“Who told you to lift the curse on the Breeze House?”

He couldn’t answer.

Around the time I realized that those eyes felt like they were afraid of being watched by someone.

Jerbug.

Footsteps were heard from far away.

“Oops. It looks like a robber broke into the lab armed at night.”

And then, a familiar voice came from inside.

“I’ll have to hold on to it.”

With a clichéd tone, as if reciting lines, the spell flew at an extremely skillful speed.

“Grassroots climbing on the instep, intertwined steps.”

I reflexively lifted the taji, but the body hit by the light did not move anymore.

It seemed like it was under a spell.

Jerobeok, jeobeok.

Soon I heard the sound of footsteps, and someone came out from there quietly aiming a wand at me.

“Nice to meet you. Good night.”

The shadow that covered his identity was completely peeled off by the light, and a smiling middle-aged man spoke to me.

“We seem to be old friends, don’t we?”

“Professor Terwin Jackson?”

“You should add ‘nim’.”

The professor who corrected the title didn’t come close anymore.

“I didn’t know you were an intruder. Too bad. I thought he was a great college student.”

I obediently respected him and asked at the movement that I was clearly conscious of the burning knife I was holding.

“…Professor Jackson, why the hell are you here?”

I had to wait until Priianian had a chance to shoot him.

Professor Jackson answered quite simply, as if he seemed to think I had come alone.

“Yes, this is my lab.”

“A laboratory in such a deep forest. What do you want to study?”

“Research is underway to open up new horizons in magic. And you’re a suspicious intruder who came in to spy on the research.”

After speaking, Jackson laughed rather meanly. It was like a cat looking at a mouse in a dock.

“Fortunately, universities that prioritize knowledge are pretty merciful about dealing with such intruders in moderation. And since you seem to know too much…”

He raised a wand with a faint blue glow and aimed it at my chest.

Then, as if thinking about something, he lowered it again and said.

“If you’re dying, would you like to hear about my research before you die? You can live a little longer, so I don’t think it’s bad.”