Summoned with an SSS-Rank Portal Skill

The place was quieter than usual. While other parts of the mansion still had a few staff members—even during the night—this particular area was completely deserted. Read new adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

Well, except for the guards. It didn't take long for William to spot one sitting in a chair right in the middle of the hallway.

This guard didn't seem particularly alert. In fact, he looked rather relaxed, with a glass of some kind of drink on the table beside him.

It was clear he didn't expect anyone to make it this far into the mansion. In other words, he wasn't exactly focused on his guard duties anymore.

But there was a way to get here. William was living proof of that.

With Stuart's help, William slipped past the guard unnoticed and began exploring the area.

At first, all he found was a straight hallway with a few locked doors. The corridor itself was similar to the others in the mansion—well-decorated and lined with large windows.

There was nothing particularly special about the hallway. However, William soon reached another part of the mansion that felt... different.

At the end of the corridor, he saw a set of double doors. Unlike the other doors he had tried earlier, these were made of stone and weren't locked.

There were no guards nearby, and according to Stuart, there didn't seem to be any magical protections either. It was all very strange.

"Let's take a look. It can't hurt," Stuart suggested.

William agreed, though he didn't have much of a choice. He slowly pushed one of the doors open, peeking through the crack to make sure no one was waiting on the other side to ambush him.

No one was there. The room was pitch black, with no source of light whatsoever. The atmosphere was eerie, and William felt a chill run down his spine as he stepped inside.

Just beyond the door was a staircase leading deeper down, into what seemed to be an underground area.

William was convinced he would find Simone—or perhaps even the other missing workers—down there!

Why? Well, the place looked like a dungeon, a prison where Jonas and his family might keep people locked away.

Anyone in William's position would have thought the same. But what he found down there wasn't what he expected.

Instead, he encountered another hallway, this one adorned with gothic artwork—statues of gargoyles, bats, shadowy creatures that looked like demons, and morbid paintings on the walls.

Once again, William saw several doors, but this time they were open. He considered entering, but Stuart stopped him.

"I sense energy on the other side. I think there are people sleeping in there, and if you open the door, they might wake up."

William was taken aback.

"People on the other side? Like prisoners?"

"I don't think so. I think these people actually live here... for some reason."

He pressed on, hoping to find more useful information. Eventually, he came across a door that was slightly ajar.

This was his chance. William peeked through the gap and saw that the room was empty.

Stuart quickly confirmed it, so they wouldn't waste any time.

"Whoever lives here must be somewhere else. Let's take a look while we can."

William stepped inside, doing his best to stay quiet. His movements were slow and deliberate, and he watched where he stepped to avoid making any mistakes.

The room, though clearly a bedroom, was... strange.

Everything was made of stone—the walls, the ceiling, the furniture. The strangest part was the bed, which looked more like a stone altar. It didn't seem comfortable at all.

William searched for something that could help him make sense of what he was seeing—a note, perhaps, or anything that might reveal the identity of the person who lived there. But there was nothing.

And that was what made it so odd. It was as if the person who slept here didn't actually live here. It was more like they only came to lie down on that stone altar and then got up again.

How was that possible? Why would anyone sleep in such a dark, uncomfortable place?

This only reinforced William's belief that the people staying here were prisoners Jonas was keeping. It didn't make sense for it to be anything else.

Stuart snapped William out of his thoughts.

"Hide in the corner and stay quiet. Someone's coming, and we don't have time to leave!"

Stuart had dispelled the invisibility spell as soon as they entered the room. He couldn't maintain it indefinitely without risking detection, so he had taken the opportunity to rest.

William quickly looked for a place to hide. He found an empty barrel in the corner of the room and ducked behind it.

With the barrel concealing him and Stuart's camouflage ability, he was confident no one would find him there.

There were many things William imagined he might see when someone entered that room.

Perhaps one of the guards? A servant? One of the prisoners forced to stay in those horrible rooms?

His mind even conjured up the image of a creature coming to capture and kill him on the spot. There were so many possibilities, yet none of them turned out to be true.

In reality, what William saw was far from anything he could have imagined. It was Jonas.

Jonas was carrying a body in his arms. The body was remarkably well-preserved, save for two peculiar details: the grayish hue of its skin and its emaciated frame.

He walked over to the altar and gently laid the body down.

"Rest well, little sister. We're getting closer to saving the family."

William covered his mouth in shock—partly to stifle his gasp and partly to hold his breath.

Jonas stayed there for a while, tenderly stroking his sister's face and whispering kind words. After a moment, he left the room.

It took William some time to muster the courage to come out from behind the barrel. He was in complete shock.

Stuart was equally stunned. The little mouse crawled out of William's pocket and said, "This is beyond bizarre. That person isn't dead. It's as if they're in a state of magical preservation. I think Jonas is trying to bring them back to life... somehow."

William couldn't stop thinking about what 03 had told him regarding Jonas's family.

The family was supposed to be large, yet he had never seen many of them. It was as if a part of them had simply vanished, and no one had questioned why.

Well, what if they were dead, and Jonas was doing everything in his power to bring them back to life?

After what William had just witnessed, the idea didn't seem so far-fetched anymore.

"What should we do?"

William wanted Stuart's opinion. After all, Stuart was a magical creature who had lived for many years and was incredibly intelligent.

"For now, let's try to explore a bit more and then head back. I think we might find something else around here. But we shouldn't attempt anything risky just yet. Your mana is still sealed, which means we can't fight anyone if it comes to that."

William nodded in agreement. Before leaving the room, he decided to approach the altar to take a closer look at the strange body lying there.