Chapter 31
“Lately my luck’s been freakishly good. Maybe I’ve entered a period of great fortune.”
I was muttering that fortune-teller-like line that had somehow become a habit when—bang—the door flew open and someone barged in.
The only person who would ever enter my room without knocking was my tiny guardian, Ricky.
“Ricky, did you enjoy your vacation? You said you were finally going to see your siblings after a long time—I even saw you leave carrying an armful of presents.”
He couldn’t stay by their side for long because of work, but Ricky’s love for his siblings was extraordinary.
He must’ve been counting down the days to this vacation… He’s a bit cheeky, but he’s such a good kid.
So Ricky should’ve come back looking happy.
But…
“Ricky? Did something happen? Your face looks awful!”
Without realizing it, I grabbed his face and turned it side to side to check his complexion. He looked deathly pale.
Ricky took a deep breath and looked up at me.
“My little sister is strange. I want you to take a look at her.”
I shook my head as I watched Ricky’s back.
I’d gotten Kin’s permission and headed to Ricky’s house, but honestly I was deeply skeptical. I already knew I probably wouldn’t be much help.
There’s no way someone like me can cure the terrible fours.
This was the situation: Ricky’s youngest sister, Lira, had turned four last month—and she’d changed. The once gentle little girl had started screaming violently.
Throwing tantrums about going outside, shrieking like an animal, biting people…
Ricky made it sound like a catastrophe, but to me it just sounded like normal behavior for an angry kid that age.
Maybe she just had a sudden emotional shift.
But Ricky had three younger siblings.
When kids were struggling among themselves like that, shouldn’t someone help in any way possible? I figured I’d at least scare Lira a little—“If you don’t behave, a scary fortune-teller will growl and stuff you in a sack and carry you off!”
When we arrived at Ricky’s house, two boys who looked like his younger brothers came running over.
“Noona. She’s gotten worse.”
“It’s scary. So we locked the door.”
“…Good job. Ash, come here.”
“They said they locked Lira in here. I’ll grab her as soon as we go in, so check her condition.”
Isn’t this a bit harsh for a four-year-old? I thought—just as the door opened.
And beyond it…
“KYAAAAAH! You bitch! Let me out! I’ll kill you! Drop dead!”
A tiny little girl was writhing on the bed, screaming curses no child should ever utter.
W-what? This isn’t the terrible fours…
Ricky shouted at me when he saw me standing there stunned.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and check her!”
“O-okay.”
I met Lira’s eyes and quickly opened the status window.
Name: Lira
Race: Human
Age: 4
Sex: Female
Hometown: Banche Village
Traits: Likes sweets, princess complex, coy, fear of adult men, curious, possessed
…Did I just see something weird in the traits?
Traits: Likes sweets, princess complex, coy, fear of adult men, curious, possessed
No matter how many times I checked, it said the same thing.
P-possessed… by a ghost?
I’d figured that if souls existed, then ghosts might too. But if there was one thing I desperately wished didn’t exist, it was ghosts.
Well, that settles it. People of the world—ghosts are real.
I barely managed to steady my spinning head and slammed Lira’s bedroom door shut.
Ricky, standing beside me, asked anxiously,
“You’d know what kind of condition this is, right? How is she? Can Lira… be cured?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t promise that.”
“Why not?!”
“Exorcism isn’t my specialty.”
“Exorcism…?”
“Lira’s possessed by a wandering spirit, but I don’t know how to deal with that. This is my first time seeing anything like this.”
“But you figured out her condition! That means you can find a solution too!”
Ricky collapsed to the floor and grabbed my leg.
“Please, please! She’s the last gift our mom left us. I promised Mom I’d protect my siblings when she died. So please—do something. Please!”
I felt my pant leg grow wet. Ricky was crying.
Seeing his shaking shoulders, the two younger brothers who’d been watching came over and started crying too.
“Noona, don’t cry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“We’ll… we’ll try to find a way… sniff…”
“Lira will get better. We know what the cause is now.”
Watching the three of them sob together made my chest ache. Ricky, who’d lost his parents and struggled to raise his siblings, reminded me too much of myself.
The only difference between Ricky and me…
Ricky still has his siblings. I lost mine too.
If I still had a sibling, I’d probably feel just as desperate. They would’ve been one of the few precious bonds my parents left behind.
I bit my lip.
Damn it. I hate getting sentimental over family stuff.
But no matter how selfish and money-loving Ash might be, family issues were my absolute weakness.
In the end, I surrendered completely.
“Hey, kids. I don’t know what to do yet, but I’ll help as much as I can. So stop crying and stand up. We can’t afford to waste time.”
We gathered around the table.
“If she’s possessed, there must’ve been a starting point. When did she start acting strange?”
“Not long ago. About four days…”
“Do you remember anything that happened around then?”
“Nothing unusual. Everything was normal.”
“No! She said she wanted to give Ricky noona a present!”
“Oh—right. That’s true.”
My ears perked up.
“Did Lira start acting strange after that?”
The twin brothers, Bobby and Dip, answered eagerly.
“Yes!”
“From the next day on, she barely talked.”
“Right.”
Then they clammed up. Ricky, getting impatient, pressed them.
“Anything else you remember?”
“Noona… she’s been like that ever since…”
“Do you know where she went? Who she hung out with?”
“Sorry. We don’t.”
I sighed.
“We don’t have much time, and there’s a lot we need to find out. So let’s do this.”
I assigned the twins to investigate.
“Ask where she went, who she was with, what she saw, what she did—everything. Ask the people she was with if anything strange happened. If you find anything, come report it to me immediately.”
“Got it, Astrologer!”
“Go.”
I patted Bobby and Dip’s heads, then turned to Ricky.
“Who knew my experience helping with city investigations would come in handy like this? You never know what life’ll throw at you, right?”
I tried to joke, but Ricky looked more anxious than ever.
“Will Lira be okay?”
“So far my case-solving rate is perfect. Let’s hope it stays that way.”
I tried to calm him down and looked at the closed door.
“Ricky, you and I are going into the room to check on Lira.”
I can’t believe I’m voluntarily walking into a room with a possessed kid.
Maybe it’s because life’s finally gotten easier. Once survival stopped being a constant worry, I started getting attached to people and wanting to help them.
So that’s what “kindness comes when the granary is full” means.
With a sigh, I entered Lira’s room with Ricky.
The moment we opened the door, something small charged at us.
“Kyaa! What the hell?!”
I jumped, but Ricky didn’t panic and grabbed it right away.
“Lira! Stay still! You’ll get hurt if you struggle!”
“Damn it, you annoying bitch!”
The unknown spirit’s scream made my hair stand on end.
“You lock me in here! Let me out! Let me out! I’ll curse you!”
That voice could never have come from a child’s throat. It was layered with a beastlike rasp, like a third entity was hurling curses at us.
“Ash, now’s not the time. Do something!”
At Ricky’s urging, I frantically searched the room for any object I could use as evidence.
Most of the room had been cleared out except for a few pieces of furniture.
“Damn it, I need an object to get a clue!”
Lira’s tiny body was producing inhuman strength. Ricky wouldn’t be able to hold her much longer.
As I nervously glanced at them, I noticed something clutched in Lira’s arms.
…A rabbit doll made of cloth.
