Niglet

Obviously, I was surprised.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"The door. It wouldn't budge," he repeated himself. "Might be faster if I show you. Get inside for a moment." Our voices were hushed so Richard wouldn't hear. Jullian then dragged me towards the room and silently closed the door behind us.

He wasted no time and summoned the bronze door, but unlike the first time it appeared in front of me, it was closed. He then twisted the knob with enough strength for the veins in his forearm to bulge, but it didn't work.

"You try it yourself too," he told me, so I did. But the knob wouldn't even turn.

"Did something happen before this?" I asked him.

"I'm not sure. But it should be when that kid gave me a pat on the back." He withdrew the door as he was telling me this.

"That kid? Which kid?"

"The one who has been following you since the carriage stand. Black hair, thin, about as tall as you. Actually, I wouldn't dare say this on normal occasions, as it sounded quite egotistical, but I'd had a fair amount of battles in this life, met quite a lot of people, so I could say this with certainty. I am very strong. Sure, I may be reckless at times, but I value my life. I am not easily fooled. Hypnotism had little to no effect on me. But he was deliberately luring me in, and I just followed like a braindead person would. Hadn't noticed it till it was too late. I thought I should make a quick report to the headquarters, but I couldn't open the door anymore."

After Jullian described the appearance, I fell silent for a while and there was only one person who came to my mind.

"Was he wearing a bracelet? Something like black pearls? Around this big," I said, pointing to the nail of my index finger and comparing the size.

Jullian groaned and confirmed, "Yes."

Before we could continue our conversation, we heard Richard calling out from the second floor, "Niglet, where are you?" Despite the severity of the situation, I couldn't help but grumble inside my head.

'Inigo's nickname is Niglet? What is he? A kid?'

Then it hit me. Richard and Inigo might be much closer than I initially assumed. Upon this realization, I could only hope this matter wouldn't cause me issues in the future.

I shot Jullian a look, and he nodded in understanding. Only then did I step out of that room. Richard was slowly descending down the staircase. However, as I was about to reply to him, a certain memory flooded my head. In the memory, the younger Inigo and Richard sneaked out into the town in the middle of the night during a festival.

"Niglet, have you heard? People are going crazy about the clown who couldn't stop laughing whenever there was a festival these days, shouting bloody murder. You think it's true?" said younger Richard.

"I told you to stop calling me that. Anyway, we'll know once we catch it."

"And if we don't?"

"Then it isn't real."

The memory ended in an instant.

"Ah! There you are. Anything in that room, Niglet?"

I frowned, battling with the mental shock.

"I told you to stop calling me that," I told him, imitating the one in the memory.

He just grinned at me and pointed downwards. "Should we go?"

I pursed my lips. 

"Yeah! I've been waiting for you."

And with that, we headed to the basement and finally saw the thing I anticipated the most: The black door.

It stood out starkly against the faded and weather-beaten exterior. The paint was cracked and peeling, revealing the glimpses of the wood underneath.

Imitating the one in the memories, I kneeled to open my suitcase, pulled out the few clothes that were used to hide the hidden compartment beneath and handed them to Richard which he took without a word.

I lifted the thin slab of wood revealing a tin box silently waiting underneath. I took it out, put back the clothes and tossed the tin box to Richard.

Almost immediately after taking out the rustic bronze key, a low rumble reverberated through the manor as it shook a little. The windows and doors opened and closed of their own accord, except for the black door, obviously. The dusty carpets flapped and rustled, and the cutlery in the kitchen rattled and clinked.

In the parlor, the grand piano came to life, its keys moving of their own volition to create an upbeat melody.

I just stared at all of these in awe and disbelief as the manor seemed to come alive around us.

The manor calmed down when Richard inserted the key to the keyhole.

A musty scent filled the air as we opened the door, and a circular room came to view. The candles on either side lit simultaneously, casting an eerie glow, illuminating the strange symbols on the walls and the ominous warning on the floor: "This world is sick. No one will save you here. Leave!"

Upon reading this, Richard suddenly laughed.

"Haha! You guys! You and your siblings! You are crazy!" he said with amusement as he looked at me. "First, it was you. Making a deal with an unknown entity for what? Just to tell a story. Then there's your sister. Trading important memories for what? For true love? And then finally, there's your youngest, making a pact with the reaper himself! Who does he wanna kill? You see those symbols on the walls? They belonged to the reaper."

Then there I was. Unable to say anything in return as though I swallowed my own tongue.

I was grateful for Richard for basically exposition bombing me. I was truly grateful and yet I couldn't help but be disappointed.

'Just to tell stories? Isn't that kinda stupid?' I thought. But then I recalled my goal and couldn't help but grin. 'There is hope.'