Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Ghost Mansion #3
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Creak, slam-!
I hurriedly shut the door and locked all ten of its mechanisms.
“This is bad…!”
Should I block the window too?
No, there was no need.
The window, slightly obscured by the curtain.
It wasn’t a real window—it was a framed painting shaped like one, depicting a dark, pitch-black outside and the window illuminating it!
“What the…?”
This guest room on the second floor had no windows; once the door was shut, it became a perfect sealed chamber.
I had no idea why a room like this was needed, but one thing was clear: I had broken one of Mirna Draco’s rules.
And that would lead to something horrific.
No, no. Calm down.
What’s the worst that could happen?
I sat on the bed, trying to stay as composed as possible.
Knock knock.
That’s when someone knocked on my door.
━I’ve prepared dinner in the dining hall. The food I, Mirna Draco, made for once is getting cold.
“…….”
It was the exact same voice as Mirna Draco, who had been chatting with me that afternoon. But now I knew it wasn’t her.
I’d fallen for it earlier.
But now I knew better.
Knock knock knock knock.
━Commoner. Didn’t you hear the food’s getting cold? Are you daring to ignore me, Mirna von Draco?
Knock knock knock knock.
Someone—or something—started pounding on my door.
━How dare a mere commoner.
No, it wasn’t just someone.
It was ‘them.’
Knock, knock, knock knock, knock.
No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t feel like one person knocking. Multiple hands were hammering at my door.
━Open up! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door!
━Aaaahhh────!
The voices from beyond the door no longer bothered pretending to be Mirna Draco. It was a scream, a wail.
A cry boiling with hatred, resentment, and tangled emotions. Like the final gasp of someone unjustly murdered?
The problem was that the sharp woman’s shriek began tearing at my heart.
My fairy ears were so sensitive that even plugging them, the scream pierced my palms and rang clear.
Bang bang. Bang bang bang.
The door’s gonna break.
Whatever was on the other side, I could only pray this door was sturdy enough to withstand their knocking.
Any ideas?
“…….”
That’s when it happened.
━They showed up after all, the evil spirits.
Bang-!
A sharp explosion rang out. Like a balloon full of air popped by a needle.
━Return to the abyss where you belong.
━Kiiiyaaaaak-!
The piercing screams continued. Then, sudden silence filled the corridor outside my door.
━Phew, all taken care of. Spectral beasts of Hate. I’d heard they haunt the graveyard and surroundings, so I had to cast a banishing spell.
Mirna Draco’s voice came from outside, panting.
━It’s safe now, so come out and eat, commoner. You can thank me if you want.
“…….”
But I couldn’t trust her.
Should I trust the Mirna I saw with my own eyes that late afternoon, not the one beyond the door?
She’d told me never to respond to anything beyond the door, no matter what. She performs the banishing ritual after 8 p.m.
━Didn’t you hear it’s all over? Hurry and open the door, commoner.
Knock knock.
Someone imitating Mirna Draco knocked on my door.
“…….”
But I just sat in the corner of the bed, hands over my ears.
━The door. I said open the door. Open it….
Did that anger it?
━Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door!
We were back to square one.
Everything that just happened was a trick to deceive me.
If I’d fallen for it and opened the door, what would have happened?
I couldn’t imagine, but it would’ve been horrific.
Aaaah────!
Scraaape, scraaape.
As the gut-wrenching wails and clawing at the door resumed, I wondered how long I’d have to endure this.
The clock’s spring was broken.
I hadn’t eaten dinner.
I wouldn’t sleep like this.
Do I have to hold out until sunrise?
Rustle. Step, step.
Then, something approached my door. The screaming thing outside went quiet, as if it had never made a peep.
Step, step.
Now, only footsteps echoed.
Mirna Draco wore shoes. These were heavy, weighty— a man’s steps.
Was there a man in this mansion?
Just in case, I grabbed the imp tail wand coiled around my right wrist like a bracelet.
It instantly straightened into a rigid, excellent weapon.
Right now, I was a honeybee.
At least I had a stinger that could kill.
Whatever it was, if that door opened and someone came in…
I steeled myself with that thought.
━Lognas. NaTom’s Kalli.
Something muttered ominously from the hallway. Then, it knocked neatly on my door: knock knock.
Another trap?
No, this was different.
Click, clack.
The locks on my door started unlocking on their own.
They disengaged rapidly, and soon my door swung wide open.
Creeeak.
What appeared in the revealed hallway was a half-mummified undead holding a lantern.
“Hieeek-!”
I screamed and fired a magic Paimon from my wand. The sharp imp tail shot an air cannon that slammed into the foe.
Bang-!
But the undead casually swatted it away with its palm. That’s when I clearly saw the identity of those glowing blue eyes.
Mirna’s father, the high lich Alestar von Draco.
He had opened my door.
━Bul’s Gak.
The man opened his hollow mouth and said.
Of course, I couldn’t understand it. Undead speak in dead tongue, the language of the dead.
But I could read his gestures.
He mimed eating with a spoon, slicing and forking something with knife and fork.
“…You’re guiding me to the dining hall?”
━Ya.
Got it.
Only then did my heart settle a bit.
Now I wondered what that screaming, clawing thing at my door had been.
“What was that just now?”
━Grrrrr…!
Alestar growled like a beast.
I didn’t know the exact word, but it was definitely something bad.
So, I followed the half-mummy undead to the first-floor dining hall.
Even in broad daylight, the mansion had felt so dark.
At night, it was pitch-black purgatory itself. Shadows spread like sticky ink across the floor.
The only light source was the lantern held by the undead lich.
I sat at the dining table and shoveled in the bread and sliced meat prepared by the undead lich, former head of House Draco.
My body had been so tense, but the food helped.
“Thank you. You saved my life.”
━Auttom Hassa Huritoom.
No clue what that meant.
But I knew this man was my only ally in this mansion.
Maybe that’s why the fearsome undead lich now seemed reassuring.
After finishing and dabbing my lips with a napkin.
Rustle.
Former patriarch Alestar extended something to me. His bony hand opened to reveal a yellow something wrapped in round paper.
Candy.
He’d given me candy.
Post-meal dessert?
I popped it in my mouth.
The eyeball-sized candy melted with sweetness, washing away the fear and tension in an instant. A strange calm and excitement filled my chest.
Probably because of my fairy blood.
「It’s yummy…!
Acquired ‘Half-Fairy’ job experience…! +50」
Otherwise, why would eating candy give EXP?
It felt like my earlier terror was a lie.
As I sat there relieved.
Rustle.
Former patriarch Alestar raised his hand, pointing at something. His finger aimed at a corridor or passage connected to the first-floor dining hall.
“What’s th—.”
I turned to ask, only to see the undead patriarch who’d been beside me was gone.
All that remained was his lantern.
“What?”
Where’d he go?
Puzzled, I picked up the lantern. Suddenly alone, I felt a chill, but the candy in my mouth made it okay.
Now solo, I had two choices.
Return to my room.
Or head toward whatever the former Draco head had pointed at.
I slowly stepped forward.
* * *
The passage from the dining hall led to an exit door.
Opening it revealed the mansion’s rear: countless graves and tombstones.
Nothing like the front yard graveyard—an enormous number.
Okay.
Let’s head back.
I turned to go, but something caught my eye. Something digging up a grave.
A beast?
No, not a beast.
I didn’t know any beast with silver fur gleaming in the moonlight. It had hands and feet, and wore a skirt.
It was human.
And as if sensing me, the human slowly raised its head, staring with crimson eyes.
“What the heck! When’d you get here! Nice to see ya!”