Chapter 3: Locked in the Stone Room

After that chaos in the garden, they lock me in a room. It isn’t one of the upstairs rooms with elegant portraits and fresh flowers in vases, but a cold, damp stone cell meters away from the backyard of the mansion. My family, the Lerwicks, are so angry with me that they lock me away like a forgotten secret. But I see this as an opportunity to learn. In a room full of darkness, a single lit candle is my only hope.

Late at night, when the guards and maids are fast asleep, my butler Ignatius sneaks heavy books and a few biscuits to me, hiding them inside laundry hampers and food trays. I spend hours reading about history and metalworking. Some memories from the previous me include a love for reading, but those books don’t really help because most of them are for children.

Being a locksmith in my previous life, I realize something incredible: magic works just like a combination lock. In order to cast a spell, a mage has to build up mana threads inside their body to release power.

Ignatius also secretly trains my body. He teaches me how to balance, fall safely, walk without making floorboards creak, and maintain noble etiquette so that no one can ever fool me.

"I’m really hungry. When will Ignatius come back with food?" I say, leaning my back against the cold stone wall. My stomach growls like I want to devour a whole chicken. It’s been three days since Ignatius was last here, and he hasn’t shown up since, just as no maids have come to bring me food.

Then an idea comes to my mind. I close my eyes and activate my special magic ability, Locksmith Eye. Suddenly, I can see golden, glowing thread paths inside my body. My hunger pangs look like tiny, bouncing locks.

I use a thin thread of golden mana to pick the lock inside my stomach.

Click.

The hunger pain instantly disappears. "This is pretty convenient," I comment.

When night falls, Ignatius finally arrives with food, and I share what I discovered with him. Ignatius already saw potential in me, but this is far beyond his expectations. We continue exploring my skills and training harder despite my six-year-old body.

Later, I learn how to use my skill called Close to lock away the pain from training, lock away sleepiness when studying all night, and slow down my heart to take a deep rest.

I can also use my Open skill to expand my mana and unlock my physical strength when needed for push-ups and heavy lifting.

Two years pass in the quiet stone room. I grow taller and smarter, secretly mapping out the entire estate. I also memorize every elite’s profile and appearance based on information Ignatius gathered from various noble houses.

Having finished reading a few profiles, I decide to rest. Then I hear a sound coming from outside. It’s the maids doing laundry, pinning clean clothes onto the clotheslines. It’s nearly noon, and the sun is at its peak—perfect for drying laundry.

"It’s true. The supply wagons will arrive tonight," one maid says while pinning white fabrics to the line.

"Do you think they’ll be successful this time? I heard several guilds have already failed this mission," the other maid asks.

The maids soon finish their chores and head back into the house.

I wonder if I can escape in one of those wagons this time. The last time I tried to escape, the plan failed, and Father punished me with no food for a month. Even though I can control my feeling of starvation, my body still grows weak from lack of nourishment, leaving me unable to move.

"Maybe I can use this opportunity to escape," I say to myself. "I need to rest and make sure I’m wide awake later tonight."

I head back to sleep on my bed—a mattress made of stacked flour sacks. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, hoping this escape plan will succeed.

Midnight arrives, and I wake up to prepare for the escape. I pack the locksmith tools I forged and the biscuit scraps I saved over the past month into a traveling bag made from flour sacks. An hour later, a large wagon enters the estate of the House of Lerwick. Through the gaps in the stone, I can clearly see the wagon stop, illuminated by a lantern. Adventurers step down from the wagon.

There are several of them, but three stand out the most: a man with a massive silver shield and a thick blade resting on his back, a lean man with a bow and arrow, and a stout woman carrying a wooden staff. The party walks into the house alongside my brother Sander.

I quickly activate my Locksmith Eye and cast my Open skill.

Click.

The heavy metallic lock on the outside gives way. I sneak through the dark toward the wagon. Two brown horses are hitched to it, and food supplies fill the back. I stack the sacks to cover myself, hiding while clutching my flour bag. I grab a few apples since I am starving, eating them quietly with large bites, terrified the adventurers might catch me in the act.

Once I’ve fed myself from the supplies, the adventurers return and hop onto the wagon. I can see them speaking with my brother as he hands them a bag of gold coins. I don’t know what deal they made, nor do I care. As long as I escape this house, I will finally have my freedom.

A moment later, the wagon begins to move away from the estate. I watch the house through a small gap between the sacks until it vanishes from sight.

From an upper-floor window of the house, Agatha stands in her nightgown, sipping red wine, while Alexander puffs on his cigar from his elegant chair. Their eyes are fixed on the wagon moving farther into the distance.

"Be sure he will be gone forever, Agatha," Alexander says, taking another puff of his cigar.

"Do not fret, my lord. He will be food for the goblins soon." She walks up behind her husband, resting her hands on his broad chest.

"Goodbye, my little Silvester bitch," she murmurs with a sly smile, taking a satisfied sip of her wine.