TFJB 32

Chapter  32

In the middle of all this, she’s clutching a doll?

It was suspicious—and at the same time, I had a this is it! kind of feeling.

I rushed forward and grabbed the doll by the head, yanking it away.

But Lyra reacted just as fast.

“You insolent brat! How dare you!”

—Smack!

Lyra barely managed to grab the doll’s leg as it slipped from her arms and pulled back.

Ugh, what is this? Why is a kid so strong?

Her grip was so powerful that for a moment my hand almost went slack.

But this kind of reaction means this doll is something important, right!

All the more reason I couldn’t let it go easily!

I clenched my teeth and put strength into my arm. The cloth doll stretched taut, and Lyra spat out curses.

“Woman, can’t you take your filthy hands off right now? The doll—the doll…!”

She hurled strings of foul, unspeakable insults, but the gist was clear: she could never forgive me for trying to take away her precious doll and would curse me for it.

I nodded inwardly.

Good. So that’s how it is.

Then I couldn’t just keep struggling with you in a pointless contest of strength, could I?

—Rustle.

I quickly rummaged at my waist and pulled out a small dagger.

“Ash! What on earth are you doing?”

Seeing the cold blade, Ricky shouted in alarm. I glanced at him and tightened my grip on the dagger.

I never thought I’d end up using the weapon I carried for self-defense like this…

“Ash! Put the knife down! Are you trying to hurt Lyra?”

“Stab her! Stab this wench until she’s drenched in blood—again and again!”

Ricky’s and Lyra’s voices overlapped, pounding my eardrums.

This is chaos. I just want to end this quickly.

I raised the tip of the dagger and, with the gentlest expression I could manage, coaxed Lyra.

“Now, Lyra. Or rather… whoever it is inside Lyra’s body. If you don’t want to see something cruel happen right in front of you, you’d better loosen your grip.”

When Lyra realized where the blade was pointing, a scream burst out.

“No!”

“Well? Feeling a bit more cooperative now?”

I grinned as I held the dagger to the neck of the old rabbit doll.

Whether you’re alive or dead, a knife is still scary, huh.

Lyra’s body trembled as she stared at the hostage rabbit doll.

“…You cowardly, filthy woman!”

I ignored her and said calmly,

“If you don’t decide by the time I count to five, I’m cutting. Five, four, three, two—”

“Fine! I get it!”

Lyra let go of one of the rabbit doll’s arms, then growled like a beast in frustration.

It should have been a chilling sight, but after seeing how utterly weak she became when the rabbit doll’s life(?) was at stake, it didn’t seem all that frightening anymore.

Once more, I threatened—no, persuaded—Lyra.

“If you want all four limbs of the rabbit to stay intact, you’d better stop being troublesome and behave yourself.”

“…Damn it!”

Seriously, knives and fists really are the best.

Watching the whole thing, Ricky clicked his tongue.

“I thought you were going to stab Lyra.”

“Me? Stab a person—especially a kid? Are you crazy?”

I dangled the doll and flashed a smug smile at the soul inside.

“But while I can’t stab a person, I’m cruel enough to stab a rabbit doll.”

“Wicked woman!”

“Shh, quiet. Otherwise, the rabbit’s life… you know, right?”

When I mimed slicing its neck with the dagger, the growling stopped dead. We communicated surprisingly well.

Could this doll be the core of it all?

Curious, I used my Evidence Appraisal ability on the rabbit doll. It could only be used once a day, but given how strongly the possessing soul reacted, figuring out the doll’s identity clearly came first.

Name: Anna’s Rabbit Doll
Traits: Old, beloved doll, finds its owner, haunted, unfulfilled wish, evidence item (importance: high)

Simple enough. As expected, the keyword haunted showed up.

“It looks like Lyra picked up a haunted rabbit doll by mistake and got possessed.”

Judging by the phrase unfulfilled wish, something must have been left unresolved, turning it into this.

…Which means we ultimately have to grant what this soul wants.

As I ground my teeth, Ricky urged me on.

“So what do we do?”

“…No idea.”

I looked straight at the soul glaring at me from Lyra’s body.

“Hey, nameless soul. What do we need to do for you to leave this body?”

At that, the soul roared like a beast.

“Get lost!”

“…We’re trying to talk this out nicely, okay? Yeah?”

At this rate, things were bound to get rough.

I grabbed one of the rabbit doll’s ears and brought the dagger close.

“Want this rabbit to become a one-eared rabbit? Hm?”

“Let go!”

“If you struggle, I really will cut it. It’s got two ears, four limbs, and even a tail—plenty of chances for threats. If you want this rabbit to end up even uglier… well, I can’t help that.”

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

The soul screamed at the top of its lungs for a long while, nearly bursting our eardrums, before finally calming down. Then it lowered its head and muttered,

“…A.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

The growling tone made it hard to hear.

“I can’t hear you very well. Say it again—what’s your wish?”

At my repeated question, it snapped irritably.

“I don’t know! I don’t know why I’m here, or how to leave this body—I don’t know! Aaagh!”

“Oh my, so you barged into someone else’s body, rampaged in someone else’s house, and terrorized someone else’s family without knowing anything at all? You really are an evil spirit, aren’t you?”

“Calling me an evil spirit?! Woman, you’re far more wicked!”

I ignored the shrieking soul and pressed a hand to my forehead.

It doesn’t even know what it wants…

A massive obstacle right from the start.

“Hey, at least do you remember what kind of person you were when you were alive?”

“Yes! Nothing at all!”

“Were you a woman? A man?”

“I don’t know.”

“How old you were?”

“Of course not.”

“When and how you died…?”

“Yeah.”

“Then is your name Anna?”

I asked, recalling the name from the item information. The soul groaned for a long time, then roared:

“That’s… a little girl!”

Anyone could figure that out. Socially speaking, a cute rabbit doll like this would belong to a young girl.

“Other than being a little girl? You don’t remember anything else?”

“I don’t kn—wait.”

A frown formed between Lyra’s brows, as if something had come to mind.

“…Something—ugh—my head… my head!”

“Your head hurts? You’re starting to remember something!”

The soul curled in on itself, groaning.

“I kno… have to find… have to find… Anna! Let me out of here! I have to find that girl, Anna!”

Eventually, Lyra’s eyes burned as she glared toward the door.

Ricky gestured to me and whispered,

“Seems like there’s some kind of story tied to that rabbit doll and this Anna kid… for better or worse.”

“Yeah.”

I crouched down to meet the soul’s eye level.

“Hey, soul. Then how about this? I’ll help you do what you want. We’ll take you outside with us, and we’ll help you find this girl named Anna.”

The murky eyes wavered.

“…Really?”

“Of course it’s not free! In return, once everything’s settled, you leave Lyra’s body. Somehow—no matter what. Promise.”

It was a deal that put us at a disadvantage, but there was no helping it.

At least I should be grateful that this stubborn soul is willing to negotiate at all.

Fortunately, the soul accepted my terms.

“Fine. Take me outside right now.”

I let out a relieved sigh and stood up.

Of course, I didn’t forget to issue a warning.

“If you start screaming like a monster out there, one rabbit ear disappears at a time.”

“…Wicked woman!”

I couldn’t let strange rumors spread around Ricky’s household, could I, you nasty ghost?

Instead of saying that out loud, I lifted the rabbit again with a chilling expression.

“…”

Only then did the sulking soul finally fall silent.