Annan's technique of dismantling the house is quite skilled.

It took him less than five minutes to complete the search of Arey's room...... It's like looting Don Juan's room.

Unlike Don Juan's room on the ship, Elle didn't seem to spend much time in her room. In Elle's room, Annan didn't find much of value.

There were no weapons in the room, not even a pair of sharp scissors. The only things that might be lethal are Elle's comb and quill.

But in Annan's opinion...... This is actually a bit abnormal.

But instead of jumping to conclusions, he continued to rummage through what might bring him some additional information.

There was nothing useful in the cupboard in her room, except for skirts and underwear. Nothing was hidden in the pillows, under the sheets, or in the crevices of the floor.

Except, Elle's diary.

This is the only hinted thing Annan can get in Elle's room.

[Elle Morrison's Diary]

[Type: Sundries (white)]

[Description: A diary that has been in use for approximately three months, but some pages are missing]

"Are some pages missing......

That doesn't matter.

Annan muttered, and without hesitation, opened Elle's diary.

Although his main quest is to investigate Amos Morrison's secrets, this kind of work always has to find a beginning...... A thread.

"March 15th. Amos seems to be in a better mood lately. ”

This is the first diary belonging to Elle that Annan saw after opening the diary.

"March 18th. Amos's mood suddenly deteriorated again today. He drank again and tore another painting...... It was supposed to be given to Mrs. Barber on April 1.

"Silver Lord is on top, what should he do if he can't get a gift on April 1st? Amos would lose face. ”

……

"March 22nd. It's really strange that Amos hasn't drunk in the past two days, but he hasn't gotten angry, and he's been hiding in his study and reading...... It seemed to be a relic of my mother.

"I think he probably misses his mother."

……

"March 25th. It's been almost a week, and he hasn't come out of the study, and I'm a little worried about him...... He hasn't eaten much lately, is he sick? I'm going to ask the Bishop tomorrow. ”

……

"March 26th! Before I could go to the Bishop, Amos came out of his study! And he seemed to be in a good mood...... It's really rare, Silver Jue is on top, I haven't seen him smile for almost half a month.

"And I saw him start painting again!

"Great...... As long as you lift your spirits, life will always get better and better. I've got to make him something good, and Amos is going to redraw a portrait of Mrs. Barber to-morrow. ”

……

(A page is torn out here)

……

"On the first of April, today is the holy day of Jaon. I've seen a lot of famous artists come to Frozen Waterport, including Norman and Harold! I actually wanted to go to their concert, but I still had to go to Roseburg with my father, which was unfortunate.

The strange painting pleased the viscountess, and her father received a great deal of money. He said the money was enough for me to buy a lot of clothes......

"But I don't want clothes, we don't lack money. As long as Amos can be happy, it's great!

"I feel like the painting is looking at me when I'm leaving. What a wacky painting. ”

……

"On April 20th, today Amos cried.

"I saw him painting in front of the garden, and halfway through the painting he was staring at the garden with tears in his eyes. After that, he tore up the painting.

"This is Amos's favorite garden, and he often paints here, and he paints beautifully. But he hadn't painted here in months...... He's too busy. During this time, Amos has been painting portraits of big people, making a lot of money, and buying me a lot of clothes.

"But I don't want clothes......"

……

On April 24, Amos had the garden bulldozed. I'm not too happy, but Amos hasn't been in a great mood lately, so I didn't say much.

"But I'm still not happy."

……

"April 30th, April is finally coming to an end. When it comes to May, which is the month of the Silver Lord's asylum, Amos doesn't have to attend so many ceremonies......

"The Bishop told me that Amos was famous. His skills have recently risen again, and it is said that he paints portraits that allow people to see the soul of the man through the picture. They say it was a hand that was kissed by Jaon, a skill that transcended history and will be remembered for eternity...... If he were in the United Kingdom, he might even become an honorary Viscount of God on April 1 next year.

"It's not very clear, but it's a good thing. I'm very happy~"

……

"On May 2nd, the festival of Yinjue is so lively, but it is so tiring. I fell asleep when I came back yesterday and didn't write a diary, so I made up for it today.

"Yesterday I told Amos that my birthday was coming. He said he was going to give me a nice gift, and when I told him I didn't want a gift, I just wanted him to paint a portrait of me, and Amos's face suddenly turned ugly...... Did I him off?

"Another: He doesn't seem to be angry."

……

"On June 10th, I have my birthday in two days!

"I mentioned that incident to Amos again today. But he wasn't angry today, he just bet me that I wouldn't be able to sit there and wait for him to finish. He said he painted a portrait for hours and couldn't move in between......

"It's just sitting, what's so hard...... It's not standing.

"Uh, will the difficulty be that you can't go to the toilet for a few hours? Then you can't drink water the day after tomorrow......

"Another: In the past two days, Amos has started to drill into the study again, and I want to go in and see if he has been murdered. In a few days, when Amos is not at home, I will have to go to the study and see what he is secretly reading. ”

This is the last page of Elle's diary.

"Weird Painting ......"

Annan muttered and closed the diary.

As he expected, the diary contained a lot of crucial information.

Combined with Amos's previous conversation with him, Annan roughly deduced Amos's secret.

Amos is indeed in love with his daughter Elle, and their relationship is very close. And his wife died in the early years.

He seems to have fallen into a bottleneck period of artistic creation, and thus suffered to the point of autism. But by looking through his deceased wife's collection, he found a special pigment that strengthened his ability to paint portraits. Portraits painted with this pigment will be like living creatures with souls of their own.

But people who are painted as portraits may have some bad consequences. And Amos himself knows the price.

…… Is it some kind of ritual?

For the first time, Annan thought of the strange ritual he had seen when he was on the ship, the "Tongue in the Mirror".

A strange ability that is completely unreasonable, but at a strange price. This fits the situation very well.

He suspected that Amos might have made some kind of intimate deal with the false god known as the "Skeleton Father" and obtained a strange evil ritual......

Gotta go to his study.

Annan thought so and prepared to leave Elle's room.

Before heading out the door, he casually caught a glimpse of the portrait of Ellet.

"It's—"

He couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration, his eyes widening.

…… Even if he is as harsh as Annan, he must admit that Amos is indeed very delicate. Of course, Elle's cuteness is a key plus.

The painting is so real that it is amazing, and at the same time it is beautiful, like an art photograph. It's as real as if it came out of a camera...... At least when he showed the painting to Annan, he couldn't tell whether it was photographed or painted.

…… Does he call it a failure?

What does a successful product look like?

Those in the gallery outside...... Is it?