Silver Moon Essence

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The man was carefully taking steps and striding towards the young master's desk, holding an oil lamp in one hand and a pouch in the other. He was walking on his tiptoes in an attempt to make as little sound as possible and he was also holding his breath.

I stood behind the bathroom door, closed the door until there was only a small, unnoticeable gap in it, and observed the doctor in silence through that gap.

'How did he enter the room?'

My first question, 'What is that doctor doing here,' had to wait for me to observe his actions and then find my answer, so I started to contemplate another thing. How could that man enter the count's son's room?

As a cautious man he was, young master Alaric had ordered his servants to lock the door of his room as soon as he left it, even if he was just going to hand in some documents to his father and was away from his room for merely a few minutes. It was once again, to avoid any harm caused by his sister in his absence. Unlike the other keys to the mansion that a lot of servants possessed based on their ranks, the key to the young master's room was only in a few people's possession.

The young master had one, Ranger had the other, and there was an extra key in the head butler's possession. The extra key could be handed to the other high-lever servants if there was a need for it or in an emergency, but the head butler had it most of the time.

'I'm sure that he didn't use the path I took to reach the room.'

First of all, I don't think a doctor of this mansion would be aware of the existence of these hidden paths, which were unused for a long time. Even if he knew about them, how could he get his hands on the keys to the pathway?

Also, the doors I unlocked were not opened by anyone for at least a few months. If someone else had used them before me, there wouldn't be so much dust and dirt on them, the doors could be opened more easily when I pushed them. Plush, as the man seemed to have just reached the room, he'd had to walk a part of the path while I was also in there. I'd hear the noises of the doors opening in front of me if he walked on the same path.

'He entered through the main door... but how did he unluck it? Did Ranger give him the key?'

No. That was not possible. I'm sure after our conversation about how the young master could've ended up dead if he had taken the tea, Ranger has grasped some hints about the doctor's possible involvement in the young lady's plans. Ranger was a hardworking, strict, and kind-hearted old man who enjoyed taking care of children and raising plants, but he was not a fool. He wouldn't just give the keys to Alaric's room to the doctor he suspected.

'Did the young master give him the key? No. There is no way for that either.'

Then, the last possibility was the head butler. Still, I couldn't understand why would he give the keys to young master Alaric's room to someone else.

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The doctor was already in front of the desk. He first put the punch on the pile of books and lowered the oil lamp in his hand, then started to search through the papers and books on the table. After a few minutes, he paused his actions, grabbed a notebook with a red cover, and raised it slightly towards the oil lamp. His expression was clearly visible under the light of the lamp. He knitted his brows and stared at the contents of the notebook, confused. He flipped the pages a few times, tilted his head, put back the notebook on the desk, and took out a bunch of papers and a pen from his pocket.

'Is he... copying the contents of the notebook?'

He was definitely doing that! He kept looking at the notebook and then scribing down things on the piece of paper. He almost didn't look away from the notebook at all, as if he was not writing down things but copying a painting, something that he couldn't memorize or understand and had no way of copying without directly staring at it.

'...What should I do now?'

Should I go grab his collar and kick him out of the room? No! I'm here illegally as well, that would be throwing myself down a pit! Maybe I should try to stop him without getting noticed... Or snatch the notebook out of his hands... Burn his paper... Inform the young master? Or maybe Old Ranger...

Different thoughts flashed in my mind, but none of them were good ideas. I decided to stay back and watch what the doctor was doing before deciding on what action to take.

'My legs are going sore! Do whatever you want to do faster!'

After a long while, the doctor seemed to be done copying whatever was written in that notebook, he carefully closed it and placed it in its original location. He searched the desk a little bit more, before turning to look for other places in the room. Apparently not finding anything worthwhile, the doctor finally walked back to the desk and picked up the pouch he had left on top of the pile of books.

Dr. Reeve looked around for a few seconds as if checking his surroundings before walking towards the door. Just when I was thinking that he was finally leaving, he suddenly moved his hand inside the small pouch. His hand was clenched to a fist when he moved it out of the pouch as if holding something inside his palm.

The man took a deep breath, lowered his palm a little bit, and started to walk beside the wall unhurriedly.

'Huh... Is that a... Powder?'

It was dark so I couldn't see it clearly. All I could make out with the help of the oil lamp's light was a white powder that the man was splashing on the ground in a straight line as he walked by the walls. Once the powder in his palm finished, he took out a little bit more from the pouch and resumed creating a line of powder in front of the walls throughout the room.

'...What's that...'

A powder... The doctor was splashing that thing inside the young master's room... Is he performing a ritual or something? It's something like what the cultists do to summon evil souls...

'Huh? Did that powder just... vanish?'

While pondering about the powder, I noticed something strange. The powder that the man was splashing on the ground, the powder disappeared after a few seconds as if there was nothing there from the beginning.

'Did it... lose color? Turn transparent? Or did it really vanish and is gone?'

Glancing around the room, I noticed there were no traces of that powder seen anywhere except for the small amount of it that was still in front of the doctor's feet.

'Ah!'

A thought sparked in my head after seeing the powder lose its color gradually and turn transparent.

'Silver Moon Essence?'

Rather than Silver Moon Essence, it would be better to call in Powdered Silver Moon Essence. It was a material produced by mixing the magic core of mid-level monsters with the essence of the Sacrosanct Plain's moonflower. It was a relatively high-price material that not many people could get a hold of it, nor many people were in need of it. It was a luxury item with many usages in different fields and jobs, but not something many could or liked to use...

'Damn, what in the world does he want to do now?'

The more I watched the situation through the gap in the door, the more questions arose in my head.