The queen dowager's villa was located not far from the sea.
Nearby there was a fishing village where around a hundred people lived.
Built atop a hill, the two-story brick building had fallen into such disrepair that it was hard to imagine the queen dowager, who had once wielded great influence, had ever lived here.
"The queen dowager's Majesty lived here…?"
"Her Majesty the queen dowager was beloved as a local dignitary, and it seems she devoted her personal fortune to the nearby fishing village."
Celestine explained to Rest as he gazed up at the building, now overgrown with moss and vines.
"She provided fishing boats and nets at no cost, and offered financial assistance in years when the catch was poor… She was deeply loved by the people of the fishing village. Thanks to that, this villa remained untouched even after her death."
Celestine approached the villa's entrance and ran her hand across the door.
Then… faint, luminous characters began to shimmer on the surface of the door.
"Though… the reason it wasn't vandalized may have been this. It's a magical security device."
Something was carved into the door.
It was written in the common language of this world—one that Rest could read.
"A beast bearing the head of a rat and the tail of a lion. What cannot meet this beast?"
"…A riddle?"
"It seems so… It appears you must answer this riddle while touching the door in order to enter the villa."
Celestine gazed up at the two-story villa.
"I had the magicians of House Crocus examine it… but this villa cannot be entered without answering the door's riddle. If you try to force your way in, the entire building will collapse. It appears that barrier-based magic has been inscribed into the walls and pillars."
"So it may look like a wreck, but the security is very much intact…"
Sure enough… when he squinted, Rest could make out barrier inscriptions carved into the walls and door. It was an impressively advanced magical formula—one he didn't recognize.
If it were Jalana Maitis, the supreme barrier sorceress, she might be able to analyze and unravel it… but for Rest, at least, that was an impossible feat.
"The Guide must be busy, and she'd never come anyway… so we have no choice but to solve the riddle ourselves."
"Yes… however, no matter how much I or the others thought about it, we simply couldn't figure out the answer."
"If even Lady Celestine can't solve it, I doubt I stand a chance either…"
He could try guessing animal names at random, but this was magic-based security.
There was a possibility that failing would trigger some kind of penalty.
That was exactly why Celestine hadn't dared to take action so carelessly.
(A password-style door… the fact that they deliberately wrote a riddle on the door means that solving it grants you permission to enter, right?)
If they simply didn't want anyone getting inside, there would be no need to write down a password at all.
They just wouldn't tell anyone the password, and that would be that.
(In that case, this puzzle must be designed to be solvable… but if even top-of-the-class Lady Celestine can't crack it, then who on earth could…?)
No… maybe it was a puzzle designed so that only a specific person could solve it.
If that was the case, then the key to solving it was…?
"Oh…"
The thought suddenly struck Rest.
If the queen dowager was, as he suspected, a reincarnated person from Japan… then perhaps she had set a riddle that only another reincarnated person could solve.
"Mouse… lion… that's it!"
Rest arrived at the answer.
A triumphant grin spread across his face as he walked past Celestine and reached out to touch the door.
"~~"
And... he spoke the answer he had arrived at.
"Ah..."
Celestine let out a small gasp.
The door that had been firmly sealed opened with effortless ease.