Raphael immediately focused on the iron plaque at the entrance when they arrived at Ronald’s side.
Confirming that his companion had not found the wrong place, he nodded and said,
"It looks is the place."
"Ronald, do you want to knock, or should I?"
Ronald stepped forward to the door, and as he reached out to knock, he replied,
"If there’s any special situation, just back me up from behind."
Then, three rhythmic knocks echoed at the door.
Following the local custom of knocking on the door, a young maid quickly stepped out from the mansion after about ten seconds.
Wiping her hands, damp with droplets, on the apron in front of her.
She approached the gate, glanced at Ronald and Raphael outside through the railing,
and after confirming that the two men in front of her were young and didn’t look ferocious, she spoke with a hint of uncertainty,
"Gentlemen, you are...?"
Ronald promptly responded,
"Hello, is Mr. Elva Sherwood at home?"
"I’ve come from Greenwich to Springs regarding the annals Mr. Sherwood edited last year, and I have some questions that I would like to get answers to from him."
"If possible, I would appreciate it if you could pass the message."
Upon hearing Ronald’s response, the maid pondered,
"Ah, I remember now!"
"It’s the annals Mr. Sherwood was in charge of editing!"
As she recalled the details Ronald mentioned, the uncertainty in her eyes began to dissipate, and her defensive posture decreased.
Hesitating behind the gate for a moment, she then replied somewhat hesitantly,
"Gentlemen, I understand the purpose of your visit to Mr. Sherwood."
"However, school hasn’t finished for the day yet, so Mr. Sherwood isn’t at home. Did you arrange a meeting with him in advance by any chance?"
After recalling for a moment, the maid continued,
"If I remember correctly, Mr. Sherwood didn’t mention expecting any visitors when he left today."
"So, I suggest that you—"
Suddenly, Raphael behind Ronald swiftly and decisively knocked out the maid at the gate before she could react.
His move was precise and rapid,
measuring the physical response of the maid just right,
causing no serious harm but ensuring she couldn’t regain consciousness soon.
Completely defenseless, and before even realizing what had happened,
the maid, who had been about to make a suggestion to Ronald, collapsed with her eyes closed.
Faced with the scene before him,
Ronald couldn’t help but look back at his companion.
Given the distance between them, he was certain that Raphael’s arm wasn’t long enough to reach the maid directly; the man must have used a spell to alter his physical structure.
—Further analysis suggested.
This could very likely stem from the same source as his ability to alter his figure and appearance,
both extensions of the spell derived from "Human Body Construction."
As Ronald watched him, Raphael, unconcerned, stepped forward and stretched his arm through the gap in the gate railing, grabbing the doorknob from inside at an utterly inverted angle of the joint.
With ease, the door opened.
Raphael entered first, picking up the unconscious maid from the floor as he spoke to Ronald,
"Come in quickly, there’s something wrong with this woman."
Hearing this, Ronald’s face changed.
Realizing that the situation was different from what he had expected, Ronald immediately turned to lock the door and then followed Raphael into the mansion.
Dragging the unconscious maid into the living room.
Elva Sherwood’s mansion had nothing particularly noteworthy.
Ordinary furniture was placed unspectacularly around the room, a bucket and cloth were placed in one corner of the walls, and there were even unevaporated water stains on the floor.
this maid must have been cleaning the house.
While carefully examining the structure of the room, Ronald checked for any Spell traps and asked Raphael, who was standing by the dining table,
"Raphael, what’s going on?"
"Is there something wrong with this lady?"
At that moment, Raphael, busy laying the maid’s body flat on the living room dining table and ensuring he had settled her body securely, turned his head to explain to Ronald,
"What else could it be?"
"This person is almost dead!"
When she had opened the door for them, the maid seemed completely normal.
Ronald hadn’t noticed any signs that she was about to lose her life.
After a quick look around the room to finish his inspection, Ronald immediately walked over to Raphael,
"I thought she looked quite normal just now?"
"It’s just superficially normal." Facing Ronald’s questioning, Raphael shook his head with certainty, "Our school specializes in studying the Human Body, so I am very certain about her physical condition."
"If we just leave her be, then for the next week, this woman will live like a normal person."
"So you mean, it’ll be different after a week?"
Raphael nodded affirmatively,
"Yes, it’ll be different after a week."
"After her internal organs reach their most extreme condition, this woman will lose her life within an hour, and no one will be able to save her by then."
While they conversed, Raphael didn’t stop his movements.
After tearing open the maid’s clothes, he immediately began some simple procedures.
Since he was using methods from the mystical side, Ronald couldn’t help much.
He simply walked to the edge of the window and stood there to shield Raphael from the wind behind him.
After all, the current situation wasn’t suitable to be seen by passersby.
Putting aside the actual circumstances.
If the scene now were seen by an uninformed outsider, it would simply appear that a teenage boy was acting inappropriately toward an unconscious maid!
However, everything went smoothly.
Less than a quarter of an hour later, Raphael stood up straight from in front of the dining table after completing his task.
During this time, no one suddenly barged in to disturb his treatment of the maid, and Ronald, standing by the window, didn’t see anything suspicious passing by.
After checking the maid’s body one last time, Raphael let out a relaxed sigh,
"The most troublesome part is done."
"At least after a week, this lady definitely won’t lose her life unexpectedly."