Somehow, I managed to bring Luke back to Vol-san's place after nearly twenty minutes of trying to carry him.
He was already unconscious when I carried him, and of course, he stayed that way until I laid his body down on the sofa.
When I opened the door earlier, I didn't hear any response from Vol-san. He must be seriously focused on creating that potion.
I'll leave Luke here. It doesn't feel right to ask Vol-san to come down and watch over him.
Usually, I would close the door quietly if someone was sleeping inside, but since he's asleep because he's drunk—
Bang.
Why should I be quiet? Luke won't wake up until the effects of the sake completely wear off, so he won't wake up just from the sound of the door.
I stood in front of the door before looking up toward the stairs. Now that I think about it, I've never actually entered any of the rooms on the second floor.
The third floor is Vol-san's workspace, and even though there are other rooms up there, they probably aren't much different.
I guess… it should be fine to take a look around on my own, right? Vol-san did say that we shouldn't hesitate and could do whatever we want in this base of his group.
Besides, I have no intention of stealing anything or doing something strange. I just want to know what kind of rooms are up there…
—
Tap, tap.
Small lanterns were placed near the doors on this floor, unlike the upper floor where the lighting came from lanterns hanging from the ceiling.
All the doors here looked the same. There was nothing different from any ordinary door, it all felt completely normal.
There was nothing particularly noticeable or eye-catching just by looking at the doors. Maybe I should try entering one of the rooms—
I stood in front of the room located at the very end of the floor, near the window in this corridor.
If I looked outside, I might be able to see a bit of the scenery of Chyvera, but there wasn't anything particularly good about it.
I swallowed before touching the doorknob made of iron, but strangely, it felt very cold for a room inside a building.
Huh…?
No matter how many times I tried, I could only turn the knob. The door wouldn't open. Could it be locked?
Hmm… Maybe only this room is locked, and the others aren't. If that's the case—
WOAH!!
When I lifted my head and turned to the side, my body following the same direction, I was immediately startled by his presence.
Vol-san was standing just a few steps in front of me, with both arms crossed under his chest, looking at me as usual.
He was still wearing gloves on both hands, which meant he had really been working when he found me here.
Because I was too focused on thinking about the rooms here, I was startled when I saw Vol-san. I never expected him to find me here.
"Sahiko-san, what are you doing here? Is something bothering you?" Vol-san asked.
"N-no, it's nothing. I was just curious about this floor since I've never been here before, that's all," I replied with an awkward smile, raising both of my hands as a gesture that everything was fine.
Vol-san stayed silent for a moment before looking at me again, but this time he seemed more serious than before.
"Have… have you never heard about that story, Sahiko-san?"
"What story? I'm sorry, I really don't know anything about it."
Vol-san quickly shook his head, as if it was only natural that I didn't know anything about it.
"Well, your party travels to many places. Besides… it's not an important story—"
If he brought that up while the two of us were here, then it meant I had to listen to it, even if he tried to refuse when I asked.
I think… maybe that story has something to do with the rooms here.
"It's fine, please tell me," I said, slightly raising my voice.
He glanced at me before letting out a soft sigh that sounded somewhat relieved.
He walked past me, took something out of his pocket, and stood in front of the door I had tried to open earlier.
"Was it really just a coincidence that you were standing in front of this room at the very end? I'm not entirely convinced that you tried to open this room by accident."
"Y-yeah, something like that… I just felt like this room was somehow different from the others. Maybe my instincts are unusually sharp right now."
Forgive me, Vol-san! I have to lie and avoid your question! Honestly, I really did just randomly try opening the one at the end first!
Oh, the thing he took out of his pocket turned out to be several keys that he had gathered and combined into one.
In his hand now were many different keys, ones that only Vol-san himself could use.
He picked one of them and inserted it into the keyhole on the doorknob I had been turning earlier.
Click.
…See? That's the simple reason why I could only keep turning it before.
No wonder the door wouldn't open no matter how many times I turned the knob…
"Come in, don't hesitate," he said after entering first.
Well, in that case, there's no problem. He went in first himself, which means this room must be related to him.
I followed him inside without closing the door and looked around the room.
A single bed, with a white blanket and pillow placed on the right side of the room when viewed from the entrance.
Next to it was a small table with a lamp on top, followed by a wardrobe for clothes.
Then, on the other side, there was a desk with a chair placed neatly there, which meant no one had used it for quite some time.
There was a window facing the same direction as the corridor window, but it was covered by a white curtain that was rather dark, with a slight hint of yellow.
But what made me a bit curious was that there were no books visible on its surface.
There was no shelf for storing books, or even thick books on the desk.
There was only a small pen holder that still had ink inside, along with writing tools. And in the middle of the desk, there was a thin book that wasn't very large.
But in my opinion, it wasn't a book of general knowledge, but rather something like a diary belonging to someone, because there was a drawing on its cover.
I walked closer to it and tried touching the drawing. The surface felt quite rough—could it have been colored using something coarse like crayons?
And then… there were scribbles on the desk drawn with a black marker. This desk…
I turned to the other side and saw Vol-san taking something from the drawer of the small table near the bed.
"Vol-san, actually… who used to live in this room?" I asked.
There was no need to drag it out. I had to ask directly to get to the core of all this.
"I… have never told your party anything about my family, right?"
I nodded and cleared my throat as a sign that what he said was true.
He opened the curtain, then opened the window to let the outside air flow into the room.
—
When I was ten years old, I suddenly lost consciousness, and when I opened my eyes, I was already lying in a small alley in the middle of the city.
The clothes I was wearing were still the same as before I lost consciousness, but I didn't know why I had suddenly ended up here.
When I tried to remember my home and my family, I felt an intense headache. My stomach churned, and I almost threw up after waking up.
It was like losing my memory. I couldn't remember anything about other people, but I could recognize myself perfectly.
I knew my name, who I was, but I didn't know anything about my family or the people close to me.
Everything felt like it had disappeared while I was unconscious. It sounded strange, didn't it?
I stepped out of the narrow alley and walked aimlessly along the outskirts of the city, my face looking dirty.
I kept walking while realizing that I didn't have any money in my pocket, which meant I might die of hunger.
Even as night was about to fall, I kept walking with an empty stomach, thinking that everything would end there.
Dying of hunger, without any explanation as to why I had been separated from my family, with whom I might have been close.
My consciousness felt like it was about to fade again, but before I collapsed to the ground—