"So, this is your home." Jay looked at the house before him. It was quite a big house for a normal family.
It was a two-story house with a small garden and training hall on the back. There were only three bedrooms and three bathrooms inside, which was enough for Clovis’s small family.
The appearance was quite similar to the houses in the neighborhood, and the security didn’t seem to be that good for someone who bore the name Hacfield.
"Yeah. Let’s go inside." Clovis nodded with a smile. "I hope you don’t mind my humble home. No one is taking care of it, so I guess there’s going to be a lot of dust."
"Sure." Jay was quite excited to see what kind of facility was hidden underneath Clovis’s home. Meanwhile, Kanaria had her focus elsewhere.
Because of her new heightened senses, she could faintly see people’s gazes ever since they entered this neighborhood. It felt like they were waiting for Clovis to come back.
However, she didn’t say anything yet until she deemed it fine to say it to Clovis.
Still, the moment they entered the house, they couldn’t help but get startled to find a lot of things missing from the house.
The living room was completely empty. There was no couch or any electronics. If they took a look at the kitchen, there was only a place to cook, not a place to eat.
It was clear that Clovis sold his furniture not long ago.
"You’re living in a place like this?" Jay asked with a wry smile. "I have never thought that your family doesn’t mind living in a place like this. Knowing your grandfather, I thought that it would be a mansion."
"Well, I didn’t have money after my city was destroyed. Selling the furniture was the only way for me to sustain myself for a while. Besides, I couldn’t really go look for a job because I wanted to focus on becoming an explorer."
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"That’s true." Jay nodded in agreement. "Still, I truly didn’t expect this."
"So, Clovis… did you notice that your neighborhood... Kanaria interjected but paused for a moment, wondering if this was the perfect time to talk about it.
"It’s fine." Clovis nodded in understanding. He was aware of them after Gregory told him.
"I see." Kanaria felt a bit relieved. At the very least, they wouldn’t really cause a problem for the time being.
"Do you mind if I explore your house a bit? I am kinda curious where the hidden door leading to the facility underneath your house is." Jay asked.
"In that case, I am going to cook for us. The stove is working, right?"
"I should have paid the bill until next month, so it should be working." Clovis nodded.
"I will cook us some simple meals. You can go with Jay for now." Kanaria was placing the bags on the kitchen table.
"Alright." Clovis turned to Jay and pointed to the back of the house. "In that case, let’s go to the training hall first."
"Let’s go!" Jay pumped his fists.
Kanaria couldn’t help but chuckle, looking at this peace. Though, it was soon disturbed by the message.
When she checked the message, her face was immediately distorted.
Mom: So, how is his house? Is he living well there? Since the house is not properly cleaned, it’s time to show your ability and clean it. And after you are done, just tell him that you are tired and will stay for the day. Don’t forget to use his bedroom.
"This… should be ignored." Kanaria hurriedly put it back inside her pocket and tried to forget about that cursed text.
On the other side of the house, there was a huge room where Clovis always practiced his swords. There were a lot of sword marks where Clovis threw his short swords. The hall wasn’t that big, but there was nothing suspicious in it.
Meanwhile, Jay was completely immersed in his curiosity. "Is this for real? Damn, you’ve really practiced your throwing skill for a long time."
"It should be perfect if I want it to be useful." Clovis nodded. "Still, I don’t think the hidden passage is here. This place is where I usually spend most of the time, so I should have found out about the passage a long time ago."
"Nope. I think this room is where the hidden passage is. I mean, if it’s something that you’re meant to find, I will definitely put it in a place where you’re going to be around the most."
"…" Clovis couldn’t deny that idea. However, he had caused a lot of destruction here, especially holes. So, he didn’t think there was anything hidden.
The walls, the ceilings, everything had a hole in it from his short sword. So, he thought there was nothing else that could be found.
"So, if you think that this hidden passage is here, where is it?" Clovis asked while looking around, wondering if he had missed something.
"Hmm. Since it’s the passage leading to the underground, wouldn’t it be…" Jay looked down, pointing at the floor. The floor hadn’t been harmed that much since if it were filled with holes, Clovis would have a hard time moving around. He might trip on one of the holes. "…the floor?"
Clovis thought for a moment. "Should we destroy the floor or something? But completely destroying this place and making it unusable are kind of…"
Clovis was uncomfortable with the idea that he couldn’t use this place anymore.
"Maybe, we should look around first and check if there is anything wrong with the floor." Jay shrugged and started knocking on the floor gently to see if there was a hidden space underneath the floor.
It was a rather good idea, so Clovis also followed suit. However, no matter how hard they were trying to find the hidden passage, they couldn’t find it.
In fact, Kanaria finished first and couldn’t help but fetch them. "Hey, guys. The meal is ready. It’s just a simple carbonara, so I hope you like it."
Clovis and Jay raised their heads. They were ready to give up at this time, but Kanaria abruptly stopped when she asked, "Clovis. Did you notice that?"
"What?" Clovis furrowed his eyebrows. Notice what? He had been living here, so he never really noticed anything.
"The small beeping sound." Kanaria raised her finger before pointing it in the direction of the noise. She actually moved to the left wall, especially toward one of the holes Clovis made back in the day. "There. I heard a beeping sound and pointed at the hole. There seemed to be a button inside the hole."
"Button, sound, what?" Clovis was completely bewildered. He tried to check the hole, but the hole was quite deep and small. Light couldn’t really enter this hole. He used the flashlight to see what was inside and he noticed another small space inside. However, he couldn’t find the button.
"Are you sure there is a button?" Jay asked. He was the same as Clovis.
"Yeah. I could see it. Maybe it’s because my Tier 1 evolution sharpened my senses to a new level that I can see it, but yeah, there should be a button there. The question is how we can reach that button."
The question had a rather simple solution. The hole was made of his short sword, so Clovis immediately grabbed his short sword and handed it to Kanaria. "I can’t see the button, so you can try to reach it with this."
Kanaria nodded, noticing the trust Clovis had. Even though she was the only one who could see it, Clovis could simply do it himself in a few tries, so they didn’t know much about the secret.
So, Kanaria felt a bit of responsibility on her shoulder as she carefully stuck the blade into the hole and slightly twisted it to the right.
*Clack!*
They could hear a sound coming from inside the wall. In that instant, the beeping sound became a bit louder, allowing Clovis and Jay to hear it.
There seemed to be a gear sound coming from behind the wall that gradually stopped after a minute. After that, the wall suddenly detached from the rest of the wall and moved backward.
"This is…" Clovis gulped down and pushed the door carefully, not knowing what was hidden behind the wall.
And it turned out to be a metal door. There seemed to be some lock mechanism that required a fingerprint, but the only ones who could actually open the door might only be those who were related to Hacfield. Yes, it was only Clovis.
However, there was something else he noticed. On the corner of the door, there was actually a small piece of paper. Clovis approached it carefully and read what was written inside as his expression couldn’t help but change.
"What’s wrong, Clovis?" Jay asked while Kanaria stopped him, implying that they shouldn’t try to find out about the Hacfield family’s secret unless the rightful heir deemed it alright for them to see it.
Clovis let out a long sigh before handing the paper to them.
’If you manage to find this hidden passage, it means that you are either lucky to find it and hit the button during your training or that girl, Vania, is with you… or probably her daughter.
’However, opening the door will definitely change your perspective on strength. So, if you find this button like in the first scenario, the password is ’629.’ If it’s the latter and you think that your teammates are trustworthy, the password is ’912.’ So, make your decision before you enter the password. It will destroy the other one.’