The Bat Lord

Five days had passed since Frieda Blanke came to stay with House Albright.

Awaking before sunrise, Frieda slipped out of bed and stood by the window in her nightclothes.

After she had waited there for a while, a bat flew in from somewhere. It was a large bat, about the size of a cat.

When the bat approached the window of Frieda's room, it gently dropped the letter clutched in its feet onto the windowsill.

"Thank you again today."

When Frieda spoke to it, the bat gave a single sharp squeak, as though it understood human speech, and flew away.

Frieda unfolded the letter the bat had delivered.

Written in slightly peculiar handwriting, it contained a brief message.

'The shadow behind the bookshelf in the storage room on the second floor is the perfect hiding place. If Baba-sama bullies you, you should hide here.'

Frieda turned the letter over, but there was no addressee or sender written on it...