The Male Leads Are Trapped in My House-Chapter 182

Ethan continued, saying,

"That guy told Aurora to not trust my father. He claimed that my father had kidnapped Aurora and made her his daughter. The circumstances I investigated were similar."

Hearing this, Nox suddenly seemed to recall something and asked him,

"Hey, Lancaster. Could that also be why you suddenly changed one day? Did you hear something strange from Ezra Dante Rudbelt?"

"Ah, around that time? I remember it too. Ethan, when you enrolled, you were quite the model student, but then you suddenly became a different person."

Theodore joined in the conversation.

"It did have an influence. It was a time of wandering for him, filled with mistrust towards his father and feelings of betrayal."

The fact that the model student Ethan had changed was due to the Duke of Lancaster.

It was out of place in the situation, but suddenly I became very curious about what Ethan was like during his model student days.

"My father seemed to know that the world was going to end. Your guesses might all be right. He told me there wasn't much time left to rebel, so to do as I pleased."

"The Duke of Lancaster and Baron Ruskin knew the world would turn out like this. We need to hurry with the Westmore infiltration operation."

Theodore said thoughtfully.

Then he glanced at the back page of the Happy House blueprint I had spread out on the floor and furrowed his brow.

"Wait, what's this Hague written here? Could it be referring to Hague Street in Westmore?"

<Important to remember.

1 is Brunel, 3 is the Spring, 6 is Hague, 8 is Notium.>

...Huh?

Why did I only realize this now.

"My goodness, yes. Wait a moment. The underground passage is connected to the mansion at 61 Notium Street owned by Miss Ruskin, right?"

"Yes, I own that mansion. I've never been there myself, but I also own the mansion at 10 Hague Street in Westmore."

"Maybe this number 6 Hague, written here, leads to the mansion at 10 Hague Street."

This could mean we can breach Westmore in one go.

If we can infiltrate Westmore, then finding the Duke of Lancaster and Ezra wouldn't be too difficult, since we have Kellian with us.

At that moment, Nox exclaimed as if he had realized something.

"Hague at 10? That's the mansion where the Westmore ghost story incident occurred."

"Ah, right! It all connects now."

We must definitely find and penetrate Hague 6.

Then Theodore spoke again.

"The mansion at 61 Notium Street and 10 Hague Street, both owned by Miss Ruskin, are related to monsters."

As he pondered deeply, Theodore murmured again.

"Thinking about the underground passage, it's clear that something went wrong between Baron Ruskin and the Duke of Lancaster. Otherwise, Prince Lloyd and even the Duke of Lancaster's forces would have to know about this passage. But from what I see, they are unaware of the existence of this passage."

At Theodore's words, Vanilla's face, which had been downcast the whole time, brightened a bit.

She chimed in, as if something had occurred to her.

"Now that I think about it, my father had stopped all interactions with the nobles about five years ago."

If Baron Ruskin had made the underground passage without the Duke of Lancaster knowing? Then it makes sense that the Duke wouldn't know about it.

"But it wouldn't be possible to build such a large-scale underground tunnel and shelter structure without the Duke of Lancaster knowing. Even if it were possible, Baron Ruskin couldn't have done it alone."

"There must have been someone helping him."

"The only person mentioned so far who has the financial resources and the ability to execute is Chairman Sinclair! Look, my guess was right! That's why Baron Ruskin and Chairman Sinclair were framed for accidental deaths!"

Everyone glanced at me and Vanilla. Theodore, perhaps embarrassed, coughed awkwardly and apologized to me and Vanilla.

"I got a bit carried away. I didn't mean to insult your fathers. I apologize."

"It's okay. It's quite refreshing."

"Thanks to His Highness, some of my questions about my parents' deaths have been resolved."

Vanilla and I each responded to Theodore's words.

And with that response, a heavy silence fell again. Everyone was cautious, not daring to speak rashly.

The ongoing speculations were so shocking that we couldn't just blurt out anything carelessly.

Ethan, stroking his chin, murmured as if intrigued,

"Looking at the situation ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) like this, I too feel like going to Westmore."

"Going to Westmore is important, but Mr. Ludfisher's research on the cure is just as crucial. We can't neglect securing the materials for the cure."

The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.

At my words, Ethan turned to Nox. Just then, Nox, who was unwrapping a candy, casually looked up.

"Miss Cherry is right. While identifying the cause of the epidemic is important, immediate survival is also crucial. There's no task more important than stopping the spread of the virus right now."

So we decided to simultaneously proceed with securing the materials for the cure and finding a way to Westmore.

After wrapping up the discussion, I checked the desk clock in the room. It seemed like the morning sun would rise soon.

The morning sun... Is it already time for the morning sun to rise? I didn't even realize how much time had passed.

"When exactly is Harrison coming?"

*****

Harrison gasped for air.

Suddenly, he turned around in a hurry.

A monster, resembling a giant bear, was hot on their trail.

Just as this happened, the village chief of Brunel tripped and fell, and Harrison rushed back to help him up.

With a roar, the bear had almost reached them, its enormous mouth agape.

A whizzing sound cut through the air, and an arrow flew, piercing the bear's head precisely. Turning around, they saw a silver-haired woman standing in front of the barn, pulling her bowstring. It was Aurora.

"Come quickly!" she shouted towards Harrison. Amy and Jose ran out to help the village chief and Harrison.

Jose had a sniper rifle slung over his shoulder, but due to the noise, it was decided that Aurora would take the frontline with her bow instead.

'She's even better at archery than I thought.'

No, this wasn't just good; she had hit the monster's head from a distance, sparing Harrison and the village chief.

The primary attackers had been decided to be Harrison with his crossbow and Aurora with her bow because of the gunshot noise.

Amy was assigned to close-range combat and miscellaneous support tasks, while Jose was to use the rifle only in emergency situations.

Fortunately, everyone performed their roles perfectly.

"Are you alright?" Amy asked, looking at the village chief who was coughing as if he was out of breath. The chief could only nod, still coughing.

Jose carefully closed the door as everyone entered the barn.

Though the interior of the barn was quite open and seemed somewhat futile as a shelter.

"Looks like there's no one else chasing us besides that creature."

Aurora, still holding her bowstring taut, spoke without lowering her guard.

It was getting dark. They had delayed too much while running and hiding from the monster, and now the sun had set.

"Lancaster's lady sure knows how to handle a bow," Jose remarked in awe. Aurora herself seemed surprised by her skill.

"Indeed. I didn’t realize I’d need to use it so much, having come from the capital..."

"It reminds me of Rudbelt."

The village chief spoke up as his coughing subsided.

"Rudbelt?" Aurora inquired, and Harrison suddenly remembered where he had heard the name.

Philip Montaine Rudbelt.

Cherry had told him. Baron Ruskin had bought Happy House from someone of the Rudbelt family.

"The manor on the hill. Its original owner was Philip Montaine Rudbelt. The Rudbelt family had been the owners of that mansion for a long time. My grandfather's grandfather knew it as the Rudbelt family mansion too."

'Even his great-grandfather knew it.'

Everyone, including Harrison, was surprised by the mansion's apparent age.

"I heard that the Rudbelt family were skilled archers. There's a legend that they had someone very important they needed to protect..."

"But I've never heard of the Rudbelt family before."

Aurora responded thoughtfully, and the village chief nodded as if that made sense.

"The Rudbelt family had long been reclusive, practically in seclusion here in Brunel. The villagers hardly knew anything beyond their name. I don’t know much either, but I remember that they were skilled with the bow and their family crest was the Elpinos monster."

"What’s an Elpinos monster?" Jose furrowed his brow.

As Amy anxiously paced back and forth, glancing outside the barn, she spoke.

"But right now, that’s not what’s important, right? Shouldn’t we be moving the livestock? I’m getting really nervous."

Amy was right. Their first priority should be to move the livestock, as Cherry had mentioned.

The barn housed pigs and dairy cows, and, as expected, the animals seemed untouched by the virus monsters.

They decided to prioritize moving the pigs, and just then, the sun was rising.

"Star Candy will be worried."

As Amy muttered, looking at the sky, everyone nodded in agreement and hurriedly got to work. In the midst of this,

Flap-flap—

A bird flapped its wings, circling above in the sky. Harrison paused from moving the pigs and looked up.

The bird circling overhead was clearly a pigeon.

"Huh? A pigeon?" Aurora noticed following Harrison's gaze and tilted her head.

"There’s something tied to its leg. Looks like a message carrier."