Ira looked at him. Her expression did not change a single millimeter. Her voice came out completely monotonous, sounding like a robot reading a grocery list.
"No."
Ken blinked. "No, you don't sleep in a bathtub? Or no, I can't see the room?"
"Both," Ira replied flatly. She took one step sideways, placing her body directly in front of the doorknob. She stared straight into Ken’s eyes. "Absolutely no one is allowed inside my room. It is strictly forbidden."
Ken tilted his head. He loved a good mystery, mostly because guessing was a fun game that required zero physical effort. "Come on, Ira. We are a team now! What are you hiding in there? Do you have a secret stash of expensive candy? Because if you do, I am willing to trade you my dessert at dinner tonight for just a quick peek."
"I do not eat candy," Ira answered in the same deadpan tone. "And you are not coming in. The only person permitted to cross this threshold is Princess Iris. That is my final answer, Ken."
Sayma walked up behind Ken and placed a gentle hand on his uninjured shoulder. "Let it go, Ken. Ira is fiercely private. None of us have ever been inside her room either. We respect her boundaries."
Ken let out a dramatic, disappointed sigh and dropped his puppy-dog eyes. "Fine, fine. Keep your secrets. But if I find out you have a secret chocolate fountain in there, I am going to be highly offended."
Ira didn't smile, but she gave a tiny, almost invisible nod of her head, accepting his surrender. Ken completely respected her boundary. After all, he had his own massive secrets he was hiding from them. If she wanted to keep her room locked up tight, he wasn't going to push it.
"Alright, well, what else is there?" Ken asked, turning away from Ira’s door and looking down the long, dark corridor.
At the very end of the hallway, sitting slightly apart from the rest of the bedrooms, were two final doors.
Ken casually walked down toward them. He reached the first door on the left and pushed it open. The door creaked loudly. Ken peeked inside and immediately frowned.
The room was completely empty. There was a bed frame, but no mattress. There was a desk, but no chair. There wasn't a single speck of dust, but there were no clothes, no books, and no signs of life. It looked like nobody had stepped foot in this room for months.
"Wow," Ken said, turning around to face the girls. "This room is incredibly boring. Whose is this? Let me guess, the invisible ghost teammate?"
Naomi walked down the hall to join him. Her playful mood from earlier faded away, replaced by a look of deep respect.
"That room belongs to the eighth servant of our unit," Naomi explained seriously. "The one I told you about yesterday in the courtyard. She is currently traveling back from a highly classified, long-term assignment on the border provinces. She should be arriving back at the capital in a few days."
Ken groaned loudly, leaning his head against the doorframe. "Oh right. The super strict lady. Laxmi said she was going to make me run a hundred laps just for having my shirt untucked. Does she actually yell louder than you do, Naomi?"
"She doesn't just yell," Zinia chimed in from down the hall, crossing her strong arms. "She demands absolute perfection. She is the disciplinarian of the group. When she gets back, your lazy vacation is officially over, Ken. She won't let you sit around and eat cereal all morning."
"Great," Ken complained, rubbing his eyes. "Just what I needed. Another bossy person telling me what to do. I am going to have to start hiding in the garbage bags just to take a nap."
Ken stepped away from the empty room and turned his attention to the very last door at the absolute end of the hallway.
This door was different from all the others.
It was made of solid, heavy oak, but it was completely wrapped in thick, heavy iron chains. A massive steel padlock secured the chains together right over the handle. Furthermore, Ken could clearly see glowing, faint yellow magical seals painted onto the wood. The seals were designed to keep whatever was inside from getting out.
Ken stared at the heavily locked door. He didn't use any of his magical senses. He just looked at it with his normal, lazy eyes.
"Okay, this looks like way too much work to open," Ken said casually, pointing at the heavy chains. "Do we keep the really good snacks in here? Because if so, you guys are taking diet control way too seriously."
The atmosphere in the hallway suddenly dropped. The girls stopped smiling entirely. Sayma walked over and stood next to Ken, looking at the chained door with a mixture of sadness and deep worry.
"That is not a storage room, Ken," Sayma said softly, keeping her voice low.
Ken blinked. "Wait, someone actually lives in there? With the chains on the outside?"
Naomi nodded slowly. She looked down at the floor, clearly uncomfortable. "That is the room of our final teammate. The ninth member of the 13th Unit roster. The one Princess Iris mentioned yesterday."
Ken’s eyes widened slightly in fake surprise. "Oh. The walking bomb."
"Do not call her that," Naomi scolded, though her voice lacked its usual heat. She just sounded tired. "Her name is Risa. And yes, her magic is incredibly unstable. She has a condition that makes her mana completely uncontrollable. If she gets too emotional, or if she tries to cast a spell, her power spirals out of control. She could destroy this entire wing of the estate by accident."
Sayma pushed her glasses up, looking at the glowing yellow seals on the wood. "We have to keep the room locked and magically sealed for her own protection, and for ours. Princess Iris visits her every day to bring her food and talk to her, but we cannot risk letting her out during a mission. If the stress of a battle triggered her condition, it would be a disaster."
Ken looked at the heavy iron chains. Internally, his sharp, analytical mind simply noted the situation without passing any judgment. He didn't think about breaking the chains or fixing her magic. He just thought it sounded like a very loud, very complicated problem.
Outwardly, Ken took a slow, dramatic step backward.
"Well, that sounds absolutely terrifying," Ken said, putting his hands up in a totally harmless, goofy surrender. "I am definitely not going to knock on that door. If a giant magical explosion goes off while I am sleeping, I will be highly upset. I value my beauty sleep way too much."
Laxmi let out a small, quiet laugh, breaking the heavy tension. "Don't worry, Ken. The seals are strong. You are perfectly safe."
"Good," Ken said, turning around and starting the walk back down the hallway toward his own room. He slouched his shoulders, shoving his hands back into his pockets.
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