Chapter 66: The Ceiling Holds the Clue

“Haah…”

-Hey hey! I knew you’d pull through!!!

-Oh yeah~ Oh yeah~~

-Welcome! Misfortune isn’t new to you, right? You’re used to it by now.

The chat was filled with laughter, spamming only ‘ㅋㅋㅋ’.

The twisted formula of streaming seemed clear: the streamer’s misfortune equals the audience’s happiness.

Right now, the viewers were feeling a surge of joy.

“These perverts… is my misfortune really that entertaining to you?”

— [Of course!]

— [You sound too reasonable… unbelievable. Go find my sense of disbelief, okay? ㅋㅋ]

[User ‘Ssabganeung’ has donated 10,000 won.]

<Did you just say Exitra isn’t a misfortune streamer? But the god of broadcasting has officially deemed Exitra a misfortune streamer ㅋㅋㅋ>

“Haah…”

Exitra let out a sigh.

Today, he had started the broadcast using his Flashback skill, planning carefully how to handle things.

But as usual, unplanned events kept popping up one after another.

It was maddening.

“Is that really true?”

“Yes. I went to prepare in Miss Elina’s room, but she wasn’t there.”

“Grrr! Elina!!”

Count Britten ran at incredible speed.

He moved so fast that the distance widened instantly.

“Wow, he’s really fast!”

— [What? That man’s old, but why is he so fast?]

— [Is he a national athlete?]

— [Mister! You’re gonna hurt your joints!!]

“Let’s go too.”

“Yes.”

Exitra and Alfredo hurried to follow him.

***

After a short while, they saw the door wide open, with servants gathered nearby.

“This must be it.”

“Elina! Where is Elina!!”

Count Britten’s shout rang from inside.

Shocked by the disappearance of his beloved daughter, he couldn’t think straight.

“Elina… Elina!!”

Watching him, Exitra checked a quest he hadn’t noticed earlier.

[Missing Noble Heiress]

[Description: Count Britten’s daughter, Elina, has disappeared. She had been poisoned by a Death Worm’s toxin and could not move on her own. That left only one possibility: someone had kidnapped her. They needed to find her quickly. If she wasn’t rescued in time, her survival couldn’t be guaranteed.]

[Objective: Rescue Elina]

[Reward: ???]

[Failure: Linked quest, ‘Count Britten Plunged into Despair’]

“Find Elina at all costs! Right now!”

“Ah, yes!”

At Count Britten’s command, the servants dispersed.

They knew how much he cherished his daughter.

No one could predict what he’d do if something happened to her.

“Alfredo!”

“Yes!”

“Mobilize all forces to find Elina. The kidnapper couldn’t have gone far.”

Only a few minutes had passed while Count Britten had left Elina’s room unattended.

If someone had broken in during that time and taken her, they wouldn’t have gotten far.

“We have to find her.”

“Understood. Leave it to me.”

The butler, Alfredo, left the room with a grim expression.

“Haah… haah…”

Count Britten couldn’t calm his excitement.

His daughter was extremely precious to him.

If anything happened to her, he didn’t even know what he’d do.

“Are you alright?”

“You’ve seen a horrible sight… I apologize.”

“It’s nothing. Your daughter is missing. Anyone would react like this.”

Britten was a doting father.

Now that she was missing, no one could blame him for being disheveled.

“I finally got the serum to cure her… and why! Why now!!”

His eyes burned with anger and determination.

Hope had appeared in the form of a serum that could save his daughter… and suddenly she was gone.

Naturally, hope turned to despair and anger.

“I’ll help too.”

“You’ll help?”

“Yes.”

“This isn’t really your concern. Your daughter—”

“No. I’m very much involved in this.”

“If the person who needs the serum disappears, our deal falls through, doesn’t it? This isn’t unrelated to me.”

Count Britten paused, thinking carefully.

‘The more hands, the better.’

“I see. My apologies.”

“Not at all. May we look around the room for clues? I’d like to see if there’s any trace left.”

“Do as you wish… and… thank you.”

“Of course.”

Exitra and Alfredo entered Elina’s room.

To gain his cooperation, rescuing Elina was a must.

“Alfredo.”

“Hmph. I know what to do.”

Alfredo, with the skillset of an assassin, had the abilities ‘Tracking’ and ‘Finding Clues’.

If used properly, they could locate some trace of the kidnapper.

***

While Alfredo searched for traces, Exitra reviewed his memories.

‘The Missing Noble Heiress quest… I clearly remember it…’

“I have no choice.”

Exitra glanced cautiously at his surroundings.

The viewers were chattering among themselves.

They had never seen the ‘Missing Noble Heiress’ quest before.

— [What kind of quest is this?]

— [The kidnappers all deserve to die!!]

— [This is almost Kim Jun-il level. The accidents never stop ㅋㅋㅋ]

— [Whoa ㅋㅋ]

They exchanged opinions, eager to follow the developments.

‘Normally, I avoid using Flashback when people are watching.’

While using the skill, Exitra becomes immobile.

He could not predict what might happen, so he avoided using it in unsafe situations.

But now, he had no choice.

‘There’s too little information.’

There was not enough info about this quest.

If he failed, all previous efforts could be wasted.

‘Quickly, let’s scan the situation.’

Exitra activated Flashback to check future events quickly.

Even the quest of the missing noble girl was currently unknown to anyone, but five years from now, it would be considered a completed quest.

‘Alright, that’s about it…’

Exitra skimmed through quickly and returned immediately.

He had only used his skill for two minutes.

The viewers weren’t paying attention to him anyway, too busy making their own guesses, so he could use his skill during that time.

“Please… please!”

Meanwhile, Alfredo was still searching for clues, and Count Britten kept muttering the name Elina over and over.

There were absolutely no clues.

It was a desperate situation.

Hearing the count mutter his daughter’s name with such intensity, Exitra decided it was time to take action.

‘It’s about time I moved.’

“Haah…!”

Alfredo straightened his back.

There was nothing that could serve as a clue.

‘There’s nothing left. How can there be no traces at all?’

Whenever someone was kidnapped, there was usually some trace left behind.

Not even a footprint remained.

At this level, it meant the perpetrator was a professional.

‘This is going to be dangerous.’

Tracking someone with absolutely no traces left behind was incredibly difficult.

Alfredo realized this wouldn’t be an easy task.

“OCCH?”

“There’s nothing.”

“Alright, then let me take a look.”

Alfredo snorted at Exitra’s words.

“Hah, what can you possibly see? This isn’t like tracking wild animals.”

“I know that.”

“The culprit is a professional. I’ve searched everywhere meticulously, but there are no traces at all. So, what do you think you can find just by looking?”

Alfredo completely ignored Exitra.

This time, he was certain.

He had checked multiple times, even under the bed, but still couldn’t find a single clue.

‘Absolutely impossible.’

“Is that so? Then can I have a try?”

“Of course.”

Alfredo smiled faintly and stepped aside, with a hint of mockery.

He was expecting Exitra to fail.

— [Can he even find anything?]

— [Isn’t this different from tracking wild animals?]

— [Can a spirit user find a person when there are no traces?]

— [This one’s going to be tough.]

Even the viewers thought that, no matter how skilled Exitra was, this time he wouldn’t succeed.

But there was one thing they didn’t know.

Exitra already had the perfect strategy memorized.

‘The clue is in the ceiling… that must be the secret passage.’

Exitra examined the ceiling carefully.

Then, a tiny crack caught his eye.

A small gap appeared—a secret passage someone had made in advance.

“There’s a secret passage there.”

“Huh? A s-secret passage?”

“A secret passage?”

Count Britten stepped forward, disbelief on his face.

“A secret passage? That’s impossible. I know all the secret passages in this castle. In my daughter’s room, there is no secret passage…”

Whooosh~

A breeze blew.

At that moment, the secret passage in the ceiling became visible.

Exitra had opened it using a sylph.

“There it is.”

***

Count Britten’s face turned to shock.

He had never seen that secret passage before.

“Why is there a secret passage there?”

Such a passage couldn’t have been made overnight.

It must have been prepared long ago.

Exitra smiled at Alfredo, who had failed to find any trace no matter how hard he looked.

“See? Found it, right?”

Alfredo’s face twisted in frustration.

He couldn’t believe how easily Exitra had found a trace that he had searched for tirelessly.

He clicked his tongue lightly and looked away.

— [Wow, how did he find that??]

— [No way, he found it!?]

— [LOL, Alfredo turning his head, so cute.]

— [So tsundere~ Awesome~]

“How… did you find this?”

“Ah, I saw you checking under the bed, Alfredo, so I knew it wasn’t down there. You have a real knack for this sort of thing.”

Caught off guard by the sudden compliment, Alfredo’s expression softened.

But he didn’t seem to mind.

Exitra continued.

“So I thought it must be above. Most humans don’t look up and aren’t cautious, so if something’s there, it’s probably in the ceiling. That’s why I looked up and found it.”

— [Ah… that makes sense…]

— [Have you ever even looked at the sky today…?]

— [I never even look at the ceiling lol]

— [True… but wow, I never would have thought of that…]

“This is… unbelievable.”

Count Britten couldn’t believe it.

He had designed this castle himself.

Yet he had no knowledge of this passage.

“Why would there be such a passage?”

“Maybe someone made it later… over a long period of time…”

“Huh…”

He was too shocked to form proper words.

If someone with bad intentions had made this passage without being noticed, they could have come in and done whatever they wanted over a long period.

‘And I had no idea all that time?’

He shivered.

“Damn… those bastards…”

“Count Britten, now isn’t the time for that. We have to rescue Miss Elina as quickly as possible.”

“Y-yes! Elina! We have to go there immediately…!”

“No, we don’t have to go through that passage.”

“What do you mean?”

“I checked the inside as soon as I opened it. That passage leads directly to the castle’s basement.”

At that, Count Britten’s face filled with astonishment.

“How do you know that?”

“I’m a spirit user. The moment I found the secret passage, I read the flow of air with the sylph. It led downward.”

“A spirit user can do that?”

Exitra smiled gently at the astonished Count Britten.

“I can, so I did.”