Chapter 84: Ghosts Live in the Ghost Mansion
"Come here!"
The doors on either side stood wide open.
Unlike the pitch-black hallway, a faint blue glow emanated from the room beyond, illuminating it softly.
The sight inside matched Siu and Rozalin's expectations perfectly—not a single miss. The room's owner had to be a viscount's lady. Against one wall sat a bed adorned with frilly decorations, and atop it lay a woman.
Her face was deathly pale, utterly devoid of life—no living person could look like that.
Slowly, she turned her head.
—Intruders….
The ghost's face was surprisingly normal for a specter.
The more consumed by resentment and despair, the further from human form they drifted. But aside from her bloodless pallor, this ghost looked much like she had in life. Ignoring the golden hair fluttering in midair without a breeze and the eerily glowing eyes, that is.
—Kyahaha. So you made it all the way here?
"……."
The ghost's voice echoed not in their ears, but straight into their minds.
Siu hesitated a moment before signaling Rozalin behind him with a finger, then relaxed his stance.
'Boss?'
'Hold on a sec. Maybe we can talk this out.'
'…Got it.'
Solving things without a fight was always best, no matter what.
Rozalin nodded, thinking the same, and removed the arrow from her drawn bowstring. Still, she kept her tension high, ready to dive into combat if needed. Worst case, she could make a racket to summon the others while stalling.
"Are you the owner of this mansion?"
—Yeah. Or maybe the former owner. Kyuruk.
'Guess she overheard us after all.'
"Good. Seems like we can talk this through. Straight to the point: We'd like you to move on to the afterlife."
But the ghost shook her head, cutting him off.
—No way.
"……."
—Hilarious. Why should I leave? I've got tons of unresolved grudges!
She grinned mischievously, far too playful for a ghost.
Yet Siu saw a positive sign in her refusal. Her wildly thrashing hair calmed a bit, and the ominous glint in her eyes softened. Proof she felt some goodwill toward them.
'Alright, time to sweet-talk her a little.'
"Anyway, we skipped introductions. I'm Han Siu."
—Han Siu?
A name distinctly different from this world's norms. The ghost's eyes sparkled with new interest.
"Yeah? What about it?"
—Oh! So you are a hero, right?!
"Uh, y-yeah, sure."
—Whoa! Hero! Hero! What's your rank? Your rank?
"…A-grade."
—A-grade?! A-grade?! In this hero drought?! And you're so young!? No way!!
"……."
The ghost bounced on the bed like an excited kid.
Her unexpected reaction left both Siu and Rozalin at a loss. Sure, she'd died just ten years ago, so she knew about heroes—and back then, the hero shortage was even worse than now. But was it that exciting?
"Ghosts can jump like that, huh…."
"……."
Ignoring Rozalin's odd point of admiration from behind, Siu opened his mouth—but the ghost beat him to it again. And this time, it was exactly what he'd hoped for.
—Just two requests from me!
"Requests…."
—Yeah! Requests! If you grant them, I think I can move on!
For some reason.
Despite the situation calling for joy, Siu felt an inexplicable unease. Those sparkling eyes didn't scream "normal request." And there was no guarantee it'd wrap up quickly.
"Boss?"
Rozalin called out as his hesitation dragged on.
—You won't… grant them…?
The ghost's face fell like she'd taken a hit, and objects around her—including her hair—began floating threateningly into the air.
"Sigh. Fine, let's hear it. What're the requests?"
—Simple! First, add me to your hero party!
"…What?"
Her first request blew past all expectations.
—Hehe. I've always wanted to join a hero party! I trained hard in magic for it. But Mom wouldn't let her only heir go, even forced an engagement on me. It failed anyway, obviously.
"……."
—You have no idea how unfair it was! Engaged to some guy I didn't want, and he was a con artist who killed my whole family—including me! …Well, I got my revenge pretty painfully, at least. Hehe.
'Got? As in, still getting?'
Not past tense, but present continuous. A dangerous slip if mishandled. Somehow, she was still tormenting that con artist. Dead or alive, who knew.
'Impressive in all sorts of ways.'
Revenge or not, laughing about it—whether the target's alive or dead—wasn't normal. Yet she seemed genuinely delighted. More naive than evil. Which meant she could turn dangerous if led astray.
After a brief ponder, he deferred his answer.
"Phew. Party membership, huh. I'll think about it. Second one?"
—Second… hehe.
"……?"
The ghost smiled shyly. Similar to her excitement over the first request, but bashful too—enough to stir Siu's unease further.
—See, I've been obsessed with magic since I was little. When I felt strong enough, I tried running off to the Hero Academy… got caught, obviously. Dragged to the capital for the engagement! Died two months later!
"…So what're you getting at?"
—…Hehe. Um… y'know… like… ugh, I wanna… try it too….
"……."
The ghost's shy cuteness clashed wildly with her words.
—What? Why no reaction? I wanna try it! Real sex! Fucking! Mating! That intense man-woman night play! I wanna!!
"Virgin ghost…."
—Yeah! I'm a virgin, so what! Can't be helped! Virgins aren't exactly rare in this world, right?! With all these heroes dropping like—huh?
The ghost's eyes narrowed slyly mid-rant.
Her piercing gaze, like it saw right through her, made Rozalin flinch.
No matter Rozalin's expression, the ghost's eyes fixed on one spot.
—You… you're a virgin? Why? Isn't this a hero party?
"Ah, no, it's just…."
"It's only been a few days since graduation. Gotta take 'em one by one."
Siu approached the bed as he spoke, suddenly far more relaxed—like he'd changed his mind. The ghost tensed slightly, clutching the bedsheet with slender fingers.
"So, those are your two requests?"
—Uh? Y-yeah. Right.
"Good. Let's go over them one by one."
—Go over? You're not just agreeing?
Her eyes went wide. To her, Siu looked less like a helpful soul-guide and more like a tough interviewer. She'd assumed instant approval; now she was baffled. Siu felt the same.
"You wanna join a hero party, right?"
—Y-yeah?
"And once you're in, it's not just for hero party playtime, is it?"
—Of course not!
"Exactly. We can't just take in randos. My party's only five strong right now, but they're all promising talents with real skills. I'm building a clan—no weak links allowed."
—…….
His logical points left her speechless.
Her info was ten years out of date, but she figured the hero scene hadn't changed much. She knew how insane A-grade was so soon after graduation.
Plus, hero parties' real goal was winning the war against the demons. A-grades were the core firepower—she got that. Here, her afterlife was secondary; they couldn't just cave.
"Doesn't seem like you just want a token spot. You're thinking months, maybe years, right?"
—Uh-huh….
"Then we gotta vet you properly. Right or wrong?"
—R-right….
Siu flipped the dynamic, pressuring her.
Rozalin watched from the door, impressed.
He clearly didn't want her in the party—or was buying time. The holy buff wouldn't last much longer; fighting now meant calling reinforcements.
'Boss is the best. Situational awareness on point.'
She gazed at him fondly, but the ghost's next words dropped a bombshell spec.
—Level 6.
"…What?"
—I'm a level 6 necromancer.
"Level 6? For real? Not kidding?"
—Totally real! I turned myself into a ghost to anchor here in the living world!
Level 6.
A rank achievable without missions or merits alone. With effort, even S-grade potential. And she'd just hit adulthood when she died. Level 6 at that age? Unbelievable talent.
Belluna, the red-haired mage inspector still in touch—who'd checked his body— was level 6. Even factoring her age and hero lineage, she was a genius. This ghost matched her.
'Possible?'
—Can't believe it?
"Obviously. Level 6 gets you a viscountcy anywhere."
—Hehehe. But it's true! Sure, as a ghost stuck here, I can only tap level 5 power… but I'm still strong!
"……."
Siu sank into thought.
If legit level 6, she'd be massive firepower. Likely bound as a grudge ghost to the mansion, and ghostly status meant tricky holy church vetting—but still a steal.
'Damn, this is tough… Huh?'
"…Come to think of it, I never caught your name…."
—Oh, right? I'm Gwen Washidishi!
'Gwen.'
He'd asked on a hunch—and bingo, a familiar name.
Not from the continent, but demon side. Uncommon, but a blonde ghost necromancer human pre-death? Had to be her. In his first timeline, Gwen hated Palania Kingdom and the All-Knowing Sage.
'These crazy bastards. Whatever they did, they didn't send her off properly.'
A necromancer leading a demon legion ten years later.
No choice now—she was in.
"Alright. You're in the party."
—Really?! Yay!!
Hero parties revolved around the hero. Especially a male one. Adding her solo, without consent? No issue. Even if, he could convince the others.
—Now the second request!
"…Ah."
—Sex! Sex!! Sexxxxx—!!