Chapter : 04
I am now an insanely powerful vessel who can even read letters.
Since I can read, it’s time to delve into Evangeline’s diary. And while I’m at it, I might as well look for summoning spells and try summoning a spirit or dragon to become OP for once!
I got into position, but Pudding immediately jumped onto my lap. With Pudding beside me, I opened the diary with a neat and reverent heart.
March 9, 370.
I met Count Rohanson.
It’s been a while since I read a diary that doesn’t start on January 1. Come to think of it, what year is it now?
“What year is it this year?”
“It’s 392 in the Imperial Calendar.”
I asked Henna, who has become unusually friendly with me lately. She could have been annoyed with her employer, but she kindly answered.
392? I looked at the date again. That’s more than twenty years ago. So this wasn’t Evangeline’s diary. I misjudged.
August 9, 370.
That man proposed marriage.
It seemed the diary’s owner was Evangeline’s mother. There’s a note about marrying Count Rohanson. She didn’t write long entries, and the dates jumped quickly.
August 19, 370.
My father issued a ban. It’s clear that man proposed for the dukedom. Did Dad see him in person? He said he truly loved me, even if I had no money.
Evangeline’s mother was probably the third daughter of a duke’s family. Unfortunately, the exact family name wasn’t written. Anyway, it was the story of a well-off duke’s daughter who fell in love with a count she met by chance, married against her family’s wishes, and was cut off by them.
April 2, 371.
I should have listened to my father. I want to go back to the duke’s family.
But Count Rohanson’s goal was money, and after taking the dowry Evangeline’s mother brought, the relationship became distant. As soon as I read this, I thought, “Ah, this is a cliché.”
Now it says to cling to the maternal family instead of Count Rohanson. Grandfather loves his daughter, and sees his late daughter in his granddaughter.
But… isn’t that a parenting story? Evangeline was too old for a parenting story route. Seems I missed the timing for that route. Damn it, if only I had possessed her a few years earlier!
As the diary continued, the entries grew longer. With no one to confide in, it seemed she poured her heart into the diary. The handwriting gradually became strange, and strangely, some letters became unreadable. It seemed like the content was even changing…
The important thing is the summoning spell…
[How to summon □□]
[□ at the position of □
Dirty the earth with □□’s power
Draw a circle with your □ □-stained hand
In gratitude, beg □ for aid
Ripen grapes on the thornbush
Bear figs on the thistle
□□ and □□
Circle the earth and welcome □□’s □□ to descend]
Um… excuse me? Translator error? I could tell this was broken for a while!
Seems the patch isn’t complete. At least some letters are visible.
I tried reading what I could. So… dirty the ground and draw a circle with my hand? What’s with grapes and thornbushes? Are you saying if you plant beans you’ll get red beans instead? What does this even mean!
What exactly am I summoning? The letters are broken and the content is unnecessarily convoluted, I can’t understand a thing.
This is why top teachers make so much money. If it were clearly numbered like 1. Draw circle 2. Summon, it would be so much easier.
My head hurts. Time out. I’ll just leave this until the translation patch is complete. Paper doesn’t run away anyway.
“Where did it go?”
It ran away.
The paper on my desk vanished without a trace. The diary was intact, but the paper was gone. I searched the entire room but couldn’t find it.
“Henna, did you see the paper that was on the desk?”
“No…”
I stayed in my room all day—when could it have disappeared? The only time I left was for a walk yesterday. Could someone have thought it was trash while I was gone and thrown it away?
I haven’t even translated it! Haven’t tried summoning yet! This is why being lazy is dangerous!
First, I need to find out who cleaned. Then I can ask about the paper. I grabbed a passing servant.
“Who came into my room yesterday?”
“Uh, yesterday? That would be… Donau.”
“Where is he now?”
“Well… Donau didn’t come out today…”
Could this be the infamous runaway thief?
Thinking back, the translator error only made it look weird to me. Maybe it looked normal to others. He probably saw the insanely powerful summoning method while cleaning and stole it. If he thought it was trash, he wouldn’t have had a reason to skip work today.
“…Did Donau do something?”
“Yes. I think he stole mine.”
Evangeline was supposed to be the villainess, but she was secretly the one being bullied. I stayed quiet to avoid showing my status, but maybe I should have fired him sooner. Or… steal the OP otherworldly route from me?
“Tell him whoever touches my stuff from now on will have their head cut off.”
Everyone’s head! I’ll just freely dispense my right to punish.
I went to the butler to get Donau’s home address. I never expected my first outing after possession to be for something so trivial.
Since I didn’t know the area well, Henna, who lived nearby, came along. Pudding followed, thinking we were going for a walk.
After telling the coachman the address, he dropped us off far from the mansion, at the outskirts. Henna led the way.
“Here it is.”
Finally! Wait, thief. I will reclaim my OP otherworldly route.
I kicked the door instead of knocking.
“…Ugh…!”
The girl twisted her body. Doesn’t she get tired? Donau, who was leisurely sipping tea and reading, clicked her tongue at the groans disturbing her reading.
Even though her mouth was covered, everything was interpretable. She would probably just beg for mercy, saying, “Please, I’m sorry!” Funny how she doesn’t even know what she did wrong but pleads blindly.
Donau, who looked at the girl like a bug, soon turned her attention elsewhere.
The windows had no curtains and were boarded up, with nails to prevent anyone from seeing inside. Red light leaked through the small gaps. The sunset had arrived.
Time was running out. The red would fade, and darkness would come soon.
Donau looked at the paper she was reading with affection.
It was a note she found while cleaning the Rohanson Count family residence.
[҉How҉ to҉ summon҉ a҉ demon҉]
A normal person would dismiss it as a child’s prank. But Donau, working at the Rohanson household, recognized it as genuine.
Evangeline Rohanson, hanged and dead, revived. Who else but a demon could do that?
The foolish colleagues panicked over a mere girl, claiming she was possessed by a demon. Pathetic! The real question: how did Evangeline Rohanson come back to life?
And who summoned the demon? Only Donau could realize the reason.
Evangeline’s maternal family is the Hoshaquin Dukedom. Count Rohanson received huge medical funds from the dukedom, claiming Evangeline was sickly from childhood.
While cleaning the count’s office, Donau saw a dizzying array of numbers. Thanks to being scolded for peeking at documents, she remembered it vividly.
But if Evangeline died, all that money would vanish. So the count probably made a contract with a demon to revive his daughter!
That wretched count! Pretending to be kind, but in reality, he’s just a money-obsessed noble! Donau had suspected the count’s dirty intentions for a long time.
And Donau would become a far more competent noble than someone like Count Rohanson.
҉In҉ the҉ end,҉ with҉ innocent҉ blood,҉ dirty҉ the҉ earth.҉ Draw҉ the҉ circle҉ with҉ your҉ bloody҉ hand.҉ Beg҉ for҉ aid҉.҉
Ripen҉ grapes҉ on҉ the҉ thornbush,҉ bear҉ figs҉ on҉ the҉ thistle.҉ Revere҉ and҉ worship.҉
Circle҉ the҉ earth,҉ welcome҉ the҉ angel҉ of҉ light҉ to҉ descend.]
Preparations were complete.
She kidnapped a girl lurking outside. On the floor, Donau drew the summoning glyph in her own blood. Her arms and fingers were cut while drawing the large glyph.
She would now wait until sunset and sacrifice the girl’s life to summon the demon. Donau memorized the procedure through repetition, then shredded and swallowed the paper. Eating the dry paper felt sweet, like a perfectly ripe fruit.
Special knowledge must not be seen by just anyone. Opportunities to be special are hers alone.
“Finally!”
At last, the sun set. Donau struck a match to light the candle.
With a well-sharpened knife in hand, she danced to her ragged breathing, like a gentlemanly waltz. Shadows flickered on the walls with the candlelight.
She danced with the shadows as her partner, imagining summoning the demon under a splendid chandelier instead of this old house.
