Chapter 13
A Moment That Feels Like It Could Explode at Any Second
I was just about to grab the hem of Kin’s trousers and beg him when the man, who had been keeping his mouth firmly shut, finally spoke.
“Hey, Mystic Esmeralda. You said you communicate with the stars in the sky, didn’t you? Then… can you talk to souls as well?”
“Pardon?”
Talking to souls? That question came completely out of the blue. I reflexively asked back,
“Uh, Lord Castellan… are you interested in things like séances?”
He looked fairly rational on the outside, but maybe—unexpectedly—he was the type to be deeply into superstition?
‘Well, I guess so. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have summoned me here and tried to make me do all sorts of things.’
Whatever Kin read in my gaze, he frowned deeply.
“Damn it, it’s not what you’re thinking, so just answer the question.”
“Well… it depends on the situation. There are souls you can communicate with through the stars, and souls you can’t.”
I used the classic “maybe yes, maybe no” tactic, cleverly leaving myself a way out.
At that, Raul seized the moment and shouted at Kin, practically spraying spit.
“You didn’t say she can’t do it, did you? In that case, wouldn’t it be better to at least try? I know you don’t like the idea of opening the underground prison to outsiders, but we don’t exactly have another option. We’ve been tormented by this for months—we’re at our limit!”
The people gathered around nodded one by one, agreeing with Raul.
‘This feels… really unsettling.’
I darted my eyes around. The direction of this conversation felt ominous.
‘They’re about to ask me for something… and it’s connected to the underground prison of the Ashen Fortress, isn’t it?’
More than anything, if it was serious enough for Kin to summon me personally, it couldn’t possibly be an easy job.
‘N-no! I have to throw myself on the ground and say I can’t do it! What should I say? Right—say I exhausted all my strength during the fake gold coin incident last time!’
But usually, the moment you think that, it’s already too late.
Kin, having seemingly made up his mind, spoke.
“They say a ghost has appeared in the underground prison. Mystic Esmeralda, you said you can communicate with certain souls, didn’t you? You will speak with the dead and uncover the identity of that ghost.”
At that dreadful sentence, I felt like bursting into tears.
“W-what if I can’t?”
“That’s not an option.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re the only person here who can communicate with souls.”
“That’s n-not—”
“Then were you lying to me?”
“Of course not…!”
I really wanted to smack my own lips, which had been babbling lies just minutes ago.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve said I absolutely couldn’t do it!’
Even if solving the fake gold coin case turned out to be for nothing, I desperately hoped this was all a dream.
Because I was a massive coward.
‘I hate ghosts. I really hate them!’
There were a few good things, and a few terrible things.
Starting with the good: first of all, I received an awakened artifact—the Alchemist’s Gloves.
“Since you found it, it’s only right that you keep it. Dispose of it as you see fit.”
Kin handed over the awakened artifact while threatening to kill me if I used the Alchemist’s Gloves to make fake ores and distribute them.
Calling him generous just because he was rich… didn’t feel quite right.
“This isn’t even giving medicine after poison! It’s poison and then watered‑down medicine!”
I clenched my fist, recalling Kin’s cold face and voice.
“Silver is said to have the effect of repelling unholy things, yes? Use it well and deal with the wraith in the underground prison.”
No matter how many times I went back to him later, begging, “I used too much of my power because of Aaron, so I can’t do anything like that for a while,” Kin didn’t even pretend to listen.
“Waaah, what am I supposed to do? I can’t stand ghosts or wraiths or anything like that!”
I believed in ghosts.
Of course I did.
‘If reincarnation exists, then surely there can be souls that wander the world after death, right?’
On top of that, this was a world with magic, awakened abilities, and divine power. At this point, wouldn’t it be stranger not to have ghosts?
One lonely ghost standing in the dark terrified me far, far, far more than any thug I’d met in an alley!
“Why are you muttering to yourself? If you’re done preparing, shouldn’t we head out? It’ll be a problem if we’re late.”
Ricky delivered the tragic reality. I slammed my head onto the table, on the verge of tears.
“Waaah… I don’t want to go…”
Ricky poked my cheek with his finger, grumbling.
“They say when you meet that ghost, you just faint. You don’t die. Is it really that scary?”
“If people faint, doesn’t that mean it’s terrifying?!”
“Honestly, you’re impossible!”
With an exasperated look, Ricky grabbed the back of my collar.
“If you’ve packed everything, get up! This isn’t the time to dawdle. If we’re any later, you’ll end up becoming a wraith of the fortress by the captain’s hand!”
I hated ghosts, but I hated becoming one even more, so I had no choice but to move.
“Sniff…”
Holding back sobs, I began stuffing the table‑full of anti‑evil items into my bag, hoping that at least one of them would work, since I’d prepared so many…
To catch a tiger, you must enter the tiger’s den. And to catch a ghost, you must enter a ghost’s lair.
And so, late at night, nearing midnight, I was on my way to the terrifying underground prison to exorcise a ghost.
“Do you think Mr. Raul is reliable? He won’t just run away and abandon a terrified person, right?”
“That probably depends on the situation.”
“Could you please give me a positive answer for once?”
“If I’m honest, then on the off chance—one in a thousand—that Raul stabs you in the back, you’ll at least be mentally prepared.”
“You really don’t trust people much, do you?”
The underground prison was locked section by section, and only two people in the entire fortress had keys to open all of the doors.
Raul, the head jailer, and Kin, the lord of the Ashen Fortress.
The one assigned to guide me was supposed to be the jailer, Raul.
‘Because Kin wouldn’t lower himself to do this kind of work.’
At least, that’s what I naturally assumed…
“Lord Kin?”
Standing alone at the eerie entrance to the underground prison, waiting for us, was not Raul—but Kin, the lord of the Ashen Fortress.
“D-did you come to see us off? Or are you here to make sure I don’t skip out? And where’s Mr. Raul?”
I looked around, searching for Raul, whom I was supposed to meet here.
Kin pressed a hand to his forehead, as if he had a headache.
“Something happened to Raul. He was attacked.”
The news was shocking.
“A-a-attacked?”
“He was found with one arm severed. Raul insists he was attacked by that ghost—or wraith—but who knows. …What a fool.”
“His arm… severed?”
My mouth fell open.
A ghost with enough physical force to cut off a human arm?
‘At that point, that’s not a ghost or a wraith—it’s an evil spirit!’
Isn’t it way too cruel to send a fragile, timid young lady like me into a place like that?
…I poured all those feelings into my gaze at Kin, but he didn’t even twitch an eyebrow. If anything, his expression grew colder, as if he’d hardened his resolve.
“The jailers fainted every time they encountered it, but this is the first time someone has actually been attacked. We need to end this before it gets worse.”
Kin opened the closed iron door with a grinding, spine‑chilling sound.
To me, it sounded exactly like the gates of hell opening.
“Astrologer, follow me. Don’t think of doing anything foolish—do your utmost to deal with the wraith.”
‘Aaaah, Ash, save me!’
I screamed internally as I followed behind Kin, while Ricky’s farewell voice faded farther and farther away.
“Come back safe, Esmeralda! The captain is insanely strong, so there’s no way he’ll die or get hurt like Raul! All you have to do is handle the ghost!”
I wanted to scream back,
‘I don’t know how to deal with ghosts!’
…but if I did that, I might end up becoming neighbors with the wraiths of the underground prison. So even if a scream rose in my throat, I had better swallow it down.
