Black Magic Research (1)
"Tsk. No matter how I think about it, that's definitely an evil spirit..."
Thud, thud. As Charlotte walked toward the garden, she kept tilting her head in confusion. The girl-shaped spirit Julia had mentioned. No matter how she thought about it, something was off. The fact that a spirit had taken human form, the way it chattered so fluently—everything about it felt wrong.
"Spirits are all terrible with words. Even Muddy, the Great Spirit, talks like that!"
"What did you say!?"
That thing didn't seem like a powerful spirit at all, so how could it speak so well? Julia might seem suspicious of everything, but she's surprisingly gullible! She believes the most obvious nonsense all the time!
"And my Super Strong Sword is saying it too! That spirit is definitely suspicious!"
"Isn't that just your imagination...?"
Charlotte concluded that the girl-shaped spirit Julia described wasn't a spirit at all, but a vengeful ghost wandering the mortal realm. Julia was clearly bewitched and couldn't think straight. To save her, Charlotte had gone to find a "method" and was now heading back.
"Big sis knight's exorcism tool!"
Charlotte proudly raised her hand. Dangling from her fingertip was a silver rosary.
"Big sis knight said if you press this against an evil spirit, it'll disappear!"
When she'd asked Silvia if there was a way to drive out evil spirits, this was what she'd been given. No matter how powerful the evil spirit, pressing this against it would make it vanish completely. With this, she could save Julia from being tricked by a ghost. Charlotte smiled brightly and hurried toward the garden.
"Julia! I brought the exorcism tool—!"
She froze. Her body stiffened, and her voice trailed off. In the distance, among the flower beds, she saw Julia clinging to Aslan. Or rather... hanging off him? Either way, they looked incredibly close!
"Hwaaah. Julia's gotten really bold too..."
It was true that she'd pushed Julia forward, but she never expected the usually shy and timid girl to become so daring so quickly. Hugging Uncle so tightly! Even when Charlotte had hugged him last time, she'd been incredibly embarrassed! Just how much courage had Julia mustered...!
Hawawawa. Charlotte covered her mouth with both hands as if she might let out a gasp, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she stared at the two of them.
"Hurk."
Julia seemed to pull away from Aslan for a moment, only to immediately grab his sleeve again and cling to him.
"Whoa! She's being so clingy! That must be super annoying! But since it's Julia, maybe it's okay?"
Charlotte watched the two with great excitement while Muddy, who had been observing her the whole time, suddenly had a question.
"Why are you just standing there watching?"
"Huh? Because I shouldn't interrupt, right?"
"Shouldn't you interrupt? You both like that human male. In human custom, one male pairs with one female. Don't you feel a sense of crisis?"
"Hehe. You didn't notice, Muddy? That's because my acting is so good...!"
"...?"
Charlotte suddenly put her hands on her hips and puffed up with pride, which only deepened Muddy's confusion.
"It looked like I liked Uncle, right?"
"Obviously."
"Hehe! That means my acting was perfect! I, um? I do like Uncle a little, but it's not like Julia, where I like him so much I don't know what to do. But look at Julia. She likes Uncle so, so much, but she doesn't even realize it herself! Isn't it frustrating to watch? Right? Isn't it?"
"..."
Muddy stood completely still without saying a word. Charlotte's cheeks puffed up, and she grabbed Muddy, lifting the spirit and forcing it to nod. Only then did Charlotte relax her furrowed brow with satisfaction.
"That's why I couldn't just watch anymore! I pushed poor Julia to be honest with her own feelings...!"
"..."
"Why aren't you reacting at all!"
"..."
No matter how much Charlotte shook Muddy and demanded a response, the spirit simply turned its head away from her.
"Hand... don't let go. ...yo."
It had already been two months since the kid started seeing vengeful ghosts and spirits. She should be getting used to it by now. Aslan had thought she'd just been startled and would calm down quickly, but—
"D-don't go anywhere! You're still there, right! ...yo!"
"Yes, I'm here. Don't worry."
"You're holding onto my clothes properly, right! Shake them so I can check! ...yo!"
"Haa..."
This was taking longer than expected. Julia had demanded he stay close the entire way back to the mansion, and even when she went to the bathroom to wash her face, she kept insisting he hold on.
"Hwaaaang! When I close my eyes, I keep seeing that ghost's face...!"
Even while washing her face, Julia burst into tears the moment she closed her eyes. What on earth had she seen to react like this? For someone who usually tried to act tough, this kind of behavior meant she'd witnessed something truly terrifying. A ghost in the shape of a girl suddenly vomiting blood and charging at her—yeah, that would be traumatic enough. Even Aslan would have found it quite chilling.
'She probably wouldn't even notice if I let go, right?'
Julia had told him to hold onto her clothes while she washed her face, but would she really know whether he was holding on or not? Curious, he slightly loosened his fingers. The moment he did—
[Evil God, 'Kali' widens its eyes in warning!]
Ah, right. He'd momentarily forgotten there was another pair of eyes watching.
"Waaah! Soap got in my eyes!!!"
"Haa. Keep your eyes closed."
This was getting ridiculous. Aslan made Julia tilt her head over the sink with her eyes squeezed shut, then scrubbed her face thoroughly like he was washing laundry. There, that should do it. When she blinked her bloodshot eyes open, she seemed fine now. The moment her eyes opened, Julia desperately grabbed his sleeve again.
"Have you cried out all your tears now?"
"I-I wasn't crying because I was scared! I was crying because my eyes hurt from the beginning! D-don't misunderstand! I was holding onto you because my eyes hurt and I couldn't open them, not because I was afraid of bumping into something!"
She seemed to have recovered from the fear somewhat. Julia suddenly let go of his sleeve and started fidgeting awkwardly. Aslan felt slightly disappointed. He'd hoped she'd cling to him a little longer. What a strange kid, with nothing but an oversized sense of pride.
"Well then, since your eyes don't hurt anymore, I guess you don't need me anymore?"
"H-huh? Ah!?"
"I have a lot of work to do, so—"
"W-wait!"
Thud. The moment he turned away, pretending to be busy, Julia hurriedly grabbed his wrist. He'd been waiting for her to grab him.
"What is it? Do you have a reason you can't let go? Like not wanting to be alone because you're scared..."
"I-it's not like that! I just... I'm sleepy... I was thinking maybe I could borrow your hand so I can sleep..."
"At two in the afternoon? Really?"
"U-uh-huh. I want to take a nap..."
What a terrible liar. Julia wasn't the type to take naps often, and even when she did, it was usually around four in the afternoon, after snack time. If he knew their daily routines, he knew them perfectly. If he left her alone, Julia would pretend to sleep while lying next to him even though she wasn't tired at all. It would be the perfect opportunity to touch her cheeks freely without her resisting. But that was a regular nighttime event. Right now, maybe he should do something only a fully awake Julia could manage.
"Let's put sleep off for a bit. Instead, how about we research the black magic book together?"
"I-I'll do it! ...yo!"
Yawn. She'd been yawning and pretending to be sleepy, but now her eyes sparkled with interest. It seemed she was eager for another good excuse to stay close to him besides sleeping.
'It's not like I'm researching because Irene is nagging me anymore.'
His initial interest in black magic had been purely because of Irene's pressure. If he didn't show progress, she'd looked ready to slaughter him. But now that he'd become the head of the household, Irene couldn't touch him. Any attempt by Irene to harm him would be an act of treason. He could legally disown her and raise an army to execute her. That was probably why Irene had been quiet lately. But even without Irene's pressure—
[Evil God, 'Kali' cannot calm its excitement at the news of black magic research!]
Kali wanted him to research black magic, so he couldn't just ignore it. If he kept ignoring the requests, he'd get increasingly threatening messages like "Strongly demands!" or "Greatly displeased!" But even though those warnings had been appearing constantly, nothing bad had actually happened. Still, no one knew what would occur if Kali truly became enraged. He had no desire to find out. Kali had waited long enough, and now Aslan himself was curious about what black magic actually was. He wanted to uncover its true nature together with Julia.
"Let's go to the library, Julia."
"Okay! ...yo!"
Thud. Julia's expression hardened as she took a determined step forward. Why did she look so grim, though...?