CH 277

Chapter 277 – Pumpkin Ghost?

When we plunged into the fog, the surroundings were completely misty and white, rendering me unable to see anything.

There was an unpleasant chill in the air.

“Please no ghosts, please no ghosts, please no ghosts…..” (Yofel)

Yofel was so scared that she was holding onto me tightly, and her grip was only getting stronger.

It’s starting to hurt a bit though…

“There… seems to be some strange presence surrounding us.” (Shiki)

Shiki was right. Aside from the unpleasant cold, there was prickling tension in the atmosphere.

“….Hm? Hiro-sama, look over there.” (Ior)

“Huh? What’s wrong, Ior?” (Bouchi)

“I felt like I heard something from over there.” (Ior)

I didn’t hear anything, and neither did Shiki. But since we had no hint of a trail at the moment, we decided to move in the direction that Ior pointed.

After a while, the fog gradually thinned, and we found ourselves in a place where there was some visibility.

The sight that we saw there left me wide-eyed and speechless.

There were many shipwrecked boats jutting out of the surface of the sea. Some were just masts and remains of sails, but others were cruelly broken in half, charred, or burnt to a crisp. The only thing that was obvious to the eye was that they were all clearly ‘dead’.

“I see. So this is the graveyard of ships, huh?” (Bouchi)

“Yes. But for all of these ships to be gathered in the same place… It’s strange, isn’t it?” (Yofel)

“It’s kind of… sad… The ships are crying.” (Ior)

“Ior…” (Yofel)

It seemed that Ior could hear the ships’ lamenting. He was a highly perceptive kid, so he was probably able to sense those kinds of things.

“…! Milord, something is approaching from that direction.” (Shiki)

This time, it was Shiki that had pointed in a certain direction. I was immediately on alert.

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At that moment, a massive shadow pierced through the fog.

“….A pirate…ship…?” (Bouchi)

It was an enormous ship with a large skull and crossbones on its sails. It also matched the image of the ship I had in mind.

“…The Oz Freedom…!” (Bouchi)

The hull was so battered that it was a wonder how it was still sailing, but it certainly did look like the Duarte Taylor’s Oz Freedom, which I had seen in the <Shop>.

“…Milord.” (Shiki)

“It seems that the ghost ship is real.” (Bouchi)

For some reason, the hull of the ghost ship was flickering and swaying like a ball of fire representing a human soul. In other words, there was a good chance this ship was a massive soul.

The Oz Freedom went right past us. But when we arrived at the deck of the ship, we saw someone.

It had a small body like a child. It was wearing a blood red dress and was holding a lantern in its right hand.

And for some reason—its head was a pumpkin, with open eyes and a grinning mouth like a jack-o-lantern.

“Huuuh? What a strange visitor. Yaachaaa~”

And… it could speak.

On the pumpkin girl’s head was a witch hat.

“GYAAAAAAAAH! A GHOOOOST!! …Kyuuuu…” (Yofel)

Seeing the pumpkin girl in front of us, Yofel finally reached her limit and fainted.

“EEEEHHHH?! A GHOST?! WHERE?! I’M SCAREEEEED!” (Pumpkin Girl)

No, you’re the ghost here. What the heck are you scared of? I retorted inwardly.

The pumpkin girl started running around in a panic, then tripped over something and faceplanted.

Repeatedly muttering ‘ouchie’ to herself, she got back to her feet and looked at Yofel, who was regaining consciousness.

For some reason, there was some red liquid dripping out and flowing down her pumpkinhead, dyeing her face with what looked like blood…

“A BLOODY GHOOOOST?!! …Kyuuuu…” (Yofel)

“EEEEHHHHH?! BLOOOOOD?! I’M SCAREEEED!!” (Pumpkin Girl)

Please, let this loop end…

If this kid was seriously a ghost, it was way too energetic to be one. It wasn’t scary at all.

“Oi, enough with that. Calm down, will you?” (Bouchi)

“Scary bloody scary bloody scary…!” (Pumpkin Girl)

“No, no, no. Listen here. Is that really blood?” (Bouchi)

“…Eh?” (Pumpkin Girl)

It was a glass, with a little bit of red liquid in there.

“Aww… I was saving this glass of… tomato juice for later.” (Pumpkin Girl)

It was tomato juice…? Why is she even keeping it in there? Wait, can a ghost even drink? No, no, in the first place, is this girl even a ghost?

All kinds of questions popped into my head, but I had something else to talk to her about.

“Do you have a moment?” (Bouchi)

“Hm? …Me?” (Pumpkin Girl)

“Yeah. I’ve got something to ask you…” (Bouchi)

“Ooh! You have something you want to ask me? Sure! Fire away! I’ll answer your questions the best I can!” (Pumpkin Girl)

She had this peculiar way of speaking… and for some reason, her chest was puffed out with pride, making her seem somewhat pleasantly amusing.

“Umm… Who are you?” (Bouchi)

“Me? I’m Oz!”

“…Oz? …Huh? Are you connected to the name Oz Freedom in any way?” (Bouchi)

“Of course! After all, I am the Oz Freedom!” (Oz)

…….Huh?