Chapter 79

“I’m glad to hear that.”

After answering seriously, he suddenly said with a refreshing face, “There are ghosts wandering around.”

I immediately regret asking.

“…….”

Why are my hairs standing on end? It might just be a feeling, but I feel a chill at the back of my neck.

‘What a completely different story with his expression so bright.’

“T-this isn’t the time to joke around!”

“You still react like this. Are you still afraid of ghosts?”

“I am!”

Yes. I’m afraid of ghosts even though I’m an adult.

I tried to be brave, but I couldn’t.

Moreover, there is magic in this world, so ghosts cannot be treated as mere superstition.

Because it really exists.

‘This is a world where corpses sometimes wake up and wander around as monsters.’

For me who is afraid of ghosts, this is the worst environment.

“Someone summoned them with forbidden magic. Now the most important thing is we need to catch the culprit and check the extent of his actions.”

“W-where did they appear? Have they arrived here yet?”

“It seemed like they were still moving. There are three villages where the sightings took place. The eyewitness last saw them in this territory.”

“Does that mean they’re already in here?”

“Right.”

I’m screwed.

“…can you catch them?”

“If I’m lucky. Most of the magic related to death is of the strong type, so I also approach them carefully.”

So if you’re unlucky you won’t catch them?

I was wrong. I’d rather not know this.

I murmured sadly, “I finally got a good night’s sleep after a long time…”

“That’s why I asked you if you won’t regret it.”

Michael teased me as if he expected this kind of reaction from me.

“Do you want me to sing you a lullaby like when you were young?”

He teased me so viciously that I ended up punching him in the shoulder.

***

After that, I heard Michael’s rough guesses about the forbidden magic in this case.

This forbidden magic is very likely to be effective only within a certain range around the ‘core’. In other words, you can’t see ghosts far from the core.

‘But I heard they’ve already entered this territory.’

Eventually, when night fell, I seriously thought about it.

‘Should I sleep with Leah?’

I would be less scared if my daughter was by my side.

No, on the contrary, I might show a very pathetic appearance in front of my daughter.

After thinking about it, I ended up sleeping with a small lantern lit by the bed.

After tossing and turning for a while…

-woosh.

A light wind swept through my ears.

I slowly opened my eyes.

The lantern on the bedside table is off.

‘I-it must have been a coincidence.’

I tried to calm myself down and closed my eyes.

At that moment, in the dark room, someone tapped and poked my cheek.

I definitely felt it.

“……!”

I was so shocked that I screamed inside.

‘Aaah!’

I immediately jumped up and ran out of my room.

With the last bit of rationality, I managed to stop my feet from trying to run to Leah’s bedroom — the closest room.

‘No, I might drag the ghost into her room!’

The next closest room is Rupert’s bedroom.

The problem is that he only sleeps in his bedroom about once every three days. He is usually in his office at night.

‘I hope you’re in your room, please, please.’

This is the first time I really miss him.

I knocked– no, I banged on my husband’s bedroom. I had lost too much reason to be polite.

“Rupert!”

Fortunately, he opened the door, with a surprised face.

“Noel, why all of sudden—”

Outside the door is scary. First, I snuck into his bedroom.

“Close the door! Quickly!”

A ghost is coming in, a ghost is coming in!

“…….”

Rupert obediently followed my words even though he had a confused look on his face.

Then he approached with large strides.

“What happened?”

He asked in a serious tone. It was not surprising, in the middle of the night, his wife broke into his room.

I muttered helplessly.”G-ghost…”

“…….”

Somehow Rupert’s eyes became cold.

Hey, I’m not kidding!

“I’m serious! Someone poked me in the cheek!”

He closed his eyes for a moment at my words, then he said, “Calm down, I don’t feel anything particularly suspicious.”

I insisted, “Then it was definitely a ghost.”

“…….”

“S-stop looking at me like that! The one who used forbidden magic is already in this territory!”

He sighed as he lightly shook his head. “Michael Berris told you everything.”

Suddenly, I apologized to my childhood friend in my heart. I’m sorry, Michael.

“Don’t blame him, I was the one who asked.”

“He’s not even a person I can say anything about anyway.”

I was a little relieved by his answer.

In terms of status, Rupert, who received the title of Marquis, is high. But apart from that, Michael is a saint and an archwizard.

That reputation is at a level that even the royal family can’t take lightly, so Rupert seems to be having a hard time dealing with him.

I sat down on the bed, raised my head, and asked, “Well, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Now you know.”

For some reason, he seemed to have trouble answering.

I replied calmly, “There are no eternal secrets.”

“It’s not a big deal, and I was going to take care of it soon… Don’t look at me with that expression.”

“How is my expression?”

After much consideration, he said, “Crying face.”

“…I’m a little sad because you have so many secrets and you don’t want to tell me at all.”

“…….”

His face hardened. Rather than being angry, it is a look of bewilderment. But I didn’t mean to attack here now.

I changed the mood by using an exaggerated tone. “Besides, I can’t help but be sad when ghosts roam around. You can kill ghosts, right? I thought so, so I ran over here.”

“No.”

It’s an answer that really frustrates people. Gosh!

“…….”

Rupert checked my expression once more and was taken aback.

I don’t know, but I’m really going to cry.

“Wait, Noel, if we catch the black magician, everything will be fine. Calm down.”

“But if you don’t catch him, it means that ghosts go around freely, right?”

He seems to be trying to appease me.

“It is, but… If what you saw was a ghost summoned by forbidden magic, that’s not the bad kind.”

“What do you mean?”

“The forbidden magic is not yet complete. That means the culprit could only summon dead souls that easy to appear.”

“Dead souls that easy to appear?”

“A dead soul who had a deep connection with the black magician during his lifetime, and who had friendly and gentle feelings. Such a dead soul is much easier to summon.”

As if to calm me down, he wrapped his hand around me and continued, “So, while there are many sightings, there are no casualties yet.”

‘That means you can meet someone you miss.’

Hearing it like this makes me feel less bad.

‘As expected, it all depends on how one uses it.’

“Then, what will happen when all the forbidden magic is completed?”

“I don’t know yet. That’s the problem. It will depend on the wishes of the black magician, but the end of any forbidden magic is not good.”

“So if you’re unlucky, this could be a world where ghosts really do roam freely…?”

My expression must have been quite funny, so Rupert gave a short laugh.

“I don’t think there will be any magicians with the ability to make a big deal like that, so don’t worry too much.”

Then he tried to get me up.

‘He’s going to send me to my room!’

Sensing the danger of being kicked out, I hurriedly asked, “You said before that the friendly dead soul is easy to summon, so what’s the hard one to summon?”

“The dead soul that holds a grudge or hatred towards someone.”

You mean like a demon?

“The stronger the will to harm the living, the harder it is to summon?”

“Exactly.”

Only then did I understand why His Highness the Crown Prince was so worried about Rupert.

‘Many have had grudges against him, so maybe he was worried that he might be attacked by dead souls.’

“So don’t worry too much and go back.”