September 2nd

I have finished a large part of the construction. I will be finishing up some last minute changes to the interior before I begin the final touches with the help of a carpenter. I have made the hallway a bit wider and have given thought as to whether or not to include natural lighting. It would be good to be able to do so, however it would not be feasible, as I have to keep both safety and practicality in mind as something could fly through the window, and I would need to dig out more of the ground to have the window be uncovered as it is in the cellar. On the other hand, if not a window, I will need another way to determine what time it is at a glance while working. I have developed a habit of working long into the night when constructing my laboratory and holding cell.

September 3rd

I began construction with the carpenter. I have learned some wood working techniques, but will likely never be as good as him. It’s no matter. I am very excited to finish, however before I can go out and catch monsters, I need to get tables and bookshelves, as well as anything else I may need to study the monsters. And before that, naturally, I need to finish the interior construction. We are nearly done.

September 4th

I have nothing of note to say here but for some reason I feel a strong desire to write. Due to this unexplainable urge, I will write out some mundane information about my day. I woke up early and waited for the carpenter to arrive. Once he did, we began installing side panels into the wall. We also added hooks for lanterns on the ceiling, however I would still need to get several lanterns to go there.

Maryanne is not happy about all the time I have been spending in the cellar. Sooner or later, I will need to reveal what I am doing to her, right now the butler is keeping her preoccupied with other things.

Oh yes, and I have had an idea for lighting. I could place lanterns in the corners of the room with mirrors to redirect more light inward towards the center of the room.

The troll is a godsend however, all of the secrecy was definitely worth using its strength to speed up construction.

September 5th

I suppose I am finished for now. The construction and interior are completed to a decent enough degree for me to spend time in the forest again. Today was rather boring, but I sanded some wooden planks to use for shelves. I also brought materials and supplies down to the lab.

September 6th

I was able to return to the forest and set up a trap. I do not expect to find anything big, so it is a small box trap, allowing to catch something no larger than the rabbit I had caught before.

September 7th

No creatures were trapped today. I saw tracks around the trap but nothing set foot inside. Somehow, the trap had been triggered however, although the bait remained untouched. I reset the trap before returning home.

September 8th

Today I found that the trap had again been triggered. Just like the previous day, the food was untouched and there were no traces of activity inside it, though there were numerous prints in the mud around it. Is it an intelligent creature? While it is possible, I think the more probable possibility is that it may have accidentally triggered the trap. I am unsure as to what the creature may be as I do not know the tracks that well. I may need to stay in the forest to observe the trap.

I cannot afford to stay in the forest all day! I have work to do. Maybe if I can determine the approximate time the creature appears, I can more efficiently use my time.

September 9th

I woke up at dawn today to check the trap. It has yet to be triggered, which is good as the thick fog would have made surveillance rather difficult. Additionally, I do not have a good excuse for Maryanne as to why I might be staying out in the forest through the night.

September 9th

I checked the trap at noon and found nothing. I have gotten some tools from a shop in town and got it down to the lab.

September 9th

I returned to the trap three hours later to find that it had been triggered again. Now I have a rough estimate of a time period, tomorrow I will return an hour before noon to observe the trap. I think I can spare four hours of my day tomorrow.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

September 10th

It has been three hours since I arrived at the trap today. I managed to spot the creature. It is a tall but thin rabbit with what looks like stag antlers on its head. Each antler only contains two points. While I was watching it, the rabbit attempted to go towards the food inside the trap but accidentally tripped the trigger mechanism with one of its antlers and the trap swung shut with the rabbit outside. The rabbit appeared confused and wandered around the trap for a minute or two, taking small hops before it left.

I think I should consider throwing a net over it as a potential way to catch it.

September 11th

I bought a sturdy net and will return to the forest later today. My head hurts… It started hurting when I returned from the town.

I caught the rabbit! Of course I did, I’m me. It was fairly easy given its small size and the size of the net, however I need to refine my aim for the future, as I just barely managed to snag it with the corner of the net.

September 13th

I got a sample of deer antlers to compare to the rabbit’s antlers. It is of a similar composition, and is similar in color. The antlers are very dense, I wonder how the rabbit antlers compare.

September 14th

I am starting to think of more things to test… what part of the fire fox causes it to burn? Is it the fur? I may need to capture the fire fox again to test this. Additionally, I would like to learn if the rabbit loses its antlers in winter like stags. This would not be possible without a better monitoring method. If the antlers fall off, it may look nearly identical to regular rabbits.

September 16th

I have seen something rather odd. At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but it would appear what I think I saw was in fact what I really saw. The creature I spotted was a deer, just like any other, except for a third eye in the center of its head. I will attempt to capture it.

September 17th

Most deer are too alert for me to manage to catch or capture. I may need to result to more … permanent means of restraining it.

September 18th

No luck again today. Two more days of this and I think I will just resort to using a rifle to catch the deer. I have thought about many options, including a net launcher of some sort, but that will not work unless I develope a launching mechanism.

September 20th

If I shoot the beast, I cannot examine its behavior. I suspect the use of its third eye will have an effect on it. Perhaps it helps it see predators, or maybe it is extra sensitive to light, I do not know and, if forced to shoot it, may never know.

I have spent fruitless hours in the forest stalking it but have not learned anything about it other than what I have seen from far away. Whenever I attempt to approach to get smaller details, it flees.

September 21

I shot it. The deer, alas, is dead. It took its final breaths right in front of me. Its eyes… remarkably strange.

It couldn’t… no, I am sure it did. Its eyes glowed bright purple before the life faded from them, along with the light. After that, the eyes become blank, completely filled with an opaque white.

It is a shame, really, as I did not know the deer’s eyes would do that and I did not get a good look at it while its eyes were glowing. I highly doubt I will be able to discover what caused the eyes to glow, or what caused the eyes to become completely blank, almost like tiny, curved slabs of marble.

September 23rd

Fascinating. I am aware of the frequency at which I use that word, but how else to describe it? I am referring to something I discovered about the three-eyed deer. First, I shall detail what I found about its body structure. It has stronger muscles in its legs and appears to have a more pronounced tail. It is female however its size is similar, almost equal, in size to male Fallow deer. Now, onto the part I am most excited for: the eyes.

Despite looking like spheres of marble, the eyes are still, in fact, rather squishy, I must admit it was a strange feeling. I pulled the skin and flesh off the skull and I found that there is a third eye hole in the skull. That much did not surprise me, however what I have noticed is the odd shape. I would hypothesize that the shape of the eye hole allows more vertical movement than would otherwise be possible. I am now beginning to wonder if the deer is able to move that eye independently of the other two. I have sketched the skull in my other notebook, (6b for reference).

I have started labeling the drawings in a new way now.

September 26th

Nothing of note happened today, however I did begin making preparations for the yearly hunt. It is an important part of my family tradition and is done every year on the first of October.

September 29th

Maryanne has informed me that we are having a guest. She seemed oddly specific that I must make myself more presentable than usual, perhaps the guest is of significance or rather important.

I must hide my laboratory and all of my experiments. Furthermore, the yearly hunt is merely two days away, this mysterious guest will likely interfere with it.

September 30th

Maryanne was once again bothering me for much of the day about my appearance as well as a number of other things. I begrudgingly shaved and organized my bedroom and the study. The maids had not attempted to organize it for fear of ruining my organization.

Maryanne seems apprehensive, and perhaps a little excited about the guest, but she refuses to elaborate. I think she would like it to be a surprise for me, which is highly inconvenient because all she has informed me about the guest is the day on which they are arriving, which just so happens to be tomorrow, the day of my yearly hunt.

On a related note, I have finished hiding everything, stray notebooks, sketches, and I have disposed of the body of the three eyed deer. I believe I am ready to welcome the guest into my home.

October 1st

I still have not been told anything. Maryanne did not know the exact time of arrival, so I had to get up early in the morning to wait just inside the foyer for an hour or so already, I do not know how long this will take.

A carriage is pulling in front of the manor! I think the guest at last is here.

A footman stepped down and is opening the door.

It is

My

Father