“Yeah. You’ve interrupted me quite a lot, though?”
“Hahaha.”
Perhaps he hadn’t expected my answer—Krius burst into hearty laughter.
“Lady Montrose, you are quite an honest person.”
Basileon told me earlier to always stay suspicious. Of course, he probably meant I should be wary of the survivors—but even so, a new face showing up at this timing felt a bit unsettling, even if he was a ghost.
“I believe there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding… I only came here at the commander’s request.”
“What kind of request?”
“Have you heard the rumors that ghosts have been going missing lately?”
“…That’s the first time I’ve heard that.”
I stiffened, taken aback by the unsettling news.
“Hm. You seem less pleasant than I expected, my lady. From what I’d heard, you enjoy playing pranks and laugh like a child….”
‘Because your entrance is way too villain-like, you slick brat.’
I continued to reply coldly.
“Enough. Just get to the point.”
“Oh dear, oh dear. With such an unenthusiastic reaction, I feel my motivation to explain is just fading away.”
He was such a slick, smug ghost that I almost wanted to let him have a taste of my fist.
“What do you want me to do? Then just leave.”
“Oh, you’re rougher than I expected!”
Although he showed a cold reaction, Krius didn’t seem to have any intention of giving up. If anything, his eyes were gleaming even more brightly than before.
‘…I guess I’m the one who should just leave.’
I came here to spend some time alone and sort out my thoughts, but it just annoyed me. Without reacting to Krius, I scrunched up my face and flew off to somewhere else. However—.
“Haha. So you really are the evil spirit Evien everyone talks about. Wow, you’re incredibly fast!”
When I looked back, Krius Harper was flying after me, laughing like a madman.
“I’ve seen all sorts of crazy people.”
“Really, you’re even more charming than I expected!”
Up until now, I’d never seen a ghost that could fly faster than me. But that brat overtook me and was standing ahead with his arms spread wide.
“Lady Montrose. Since you’re flying this way anyway, how about landing in my arms?”
“Ugh…”
Nausea welled up and my speed slowed. In the end, I descended from the air and stopped by the lakeside.
“Ugh.”
“Oh, Lady. Are you alright?”
“If you’d just get out of my sight, I think I’d be fine….”
“…”
I kept feeling the urge to throw up, so I stayed crouched down, ready to vomit at any moment. After a short while had passed—
‘By now, he should be gone.’
Judging by the fact that I couldn’t sense any presence at all, it seemed Krius had gone back.
“Whoa.”
Once my stomach settled, I calmed myself by gazing at the fragments of moonlight drifting across the surface of the Lake of Darkness.
‘Now I can finally have some time to myself.’
At first, this place had been frightening, but it turned out to be an unexpectedly quiet, peaceful spot to rest. I closed my eyes and breathed in the forest air, then slowly let it out.
“Lady…”
But this time, a sobbing voice came from somewhere.
“Hmm?”
As it turned out, Krius Harper was hiding behind a tree far in the distance, spying on me.
“If I make you uncomfortable, then I’ll speak from this far away.”
‘You crazy b*stard.’
I barely managed to hold back the surge of irritation rising within me.
“…Just say it quickly and get out of here.”
Perhaps because the night was so quiet, I could thankfully hear every sound clearly from afar.
“Lady, the ghosts of the ducal castle and the monsters throughout the duchy are going missing.”
“I can’t believe it at all.”
“Hmm… You haven’t noticed that the ghost servants haven’t been seen much lately?”
Come to think of it, ever since I spoke with a ghost maid named Ella, I’d hardly encountered any ghost servants in the halls of the ducal castle.
“I haven’t seen them, but well… I guess they must be busy with a lot of work.”
At that moment, as I spoke casually—
‘Wait a minute.’
I had the feeling I was missing something.
‘Right. Even here in this dark forest, the monsters that should be visible aren’t showing up. Could it be…’
Seeing me glance around, Krius curled the corner of his mouth into a smirk.
“Haha. Have you noticed now? I don’t know exactly why you came here, but this area is one where banshees and werewolves frequently appear.”
Krius was already moving toward me. No, in fact, he was pretending to walk while actually flying.
“But right now, they’re nowhere to be seen. Even though we’re making all this noise, the werewolves, who are supposed to have keen hearing, are completely absent.”
“…You hid them, didn’t you?”
“Hahaha. You exaggerate. How could someone like me possibly hide such fierce and enormous beasts?”
Even though Krius was being cheeky, I could vaguely tell he wasn’t lying.
“Where did they go?”
“Well, if I knew the reason, I probably wouldn’t have come looking for you like this, Lady Evien…”
“Don’t tell me… you knights actually think I know what’s causing this?”
Krius glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, gauging my reaction.
“Of course, that would be a reasonable assumption.”
“I don’t know. I’m a busy spirit myself. I didn’t even realize the ghosts had gone missing.”
“That’s quite an unexpected answer.”
Krius stroked his chin, looking deep in thought.
“You have absolutely no idea what the cause might be?”
“Well, it’s not like I can’t make a guess at all, but…”
Krius glanced at me sideways, scanning me.
“Ahem…”
“Hey! I said I don’t know! Did you take my words as nonsense?”
“Ah, oh my… I’m sorry.”
“That… if it’s something that outrageous, isn’t it the work of that so-called evil god or whatever?”
At my words, Krius flinched in surprise and stepped back.
“Y, you’d actually say it so bluntly…”
Why are you so surprised?
‘…Could it be that there’s an unspoken rule in this world that no one is supposed to mention that name?’
“Calling it won’t suddenly make them come running to kill us, will it? Why is everyone freaking out over nothing?”
“We’re already dead, you know…”
Krius looked back as if to check whether anyone was following, then hurriedly scanned his surroundings.
“Phew. Luckily, it seems no one’s around. Even for a lady, it’s not a good idea to mention that title carelessly!”
“Why?”
“Because its agents are scattered everywhere. If one of them were to report your words directly to it, Lady, an even greater curse might befall you.”
“A curse? So you’re saying the evil god casts curses?”
“Oh my…”
Krius glanced around once more, then moved farther away from me.
“Let them hear it. I’m already an evil spirit—there’s no room left for me to be any more cursed.”
“…May I speak honestly?”
“What is it?”
Krius hesitated several times, debating whether to speak or not, but eventually opened his mouth. The mood was markedly more serious than before.
“To be honest, we suspect that this is something Lady Evien did.”
At those words, my expression instantly soured, like someone who’d just bitten into shit.
“….”
“If we’re to guess the person posing a risk related to that, wouldn’t you naturally be the top candidate?”
Suddenly shifting to a cold, sharp demeanor, Krius now glared at me.
“…So, you’ve been testing me all this time?”
In fact, with just a little thought, I could guess what my reputation among the ghosts must be like. There was something I learned for the first time during my recent conversation with Ella.
The fact that Evien had gone around punishing ghosts, the way Ella had been utterly terrified of me, and the ghosts who resented me. And today, judging by Krius’s attitude, it seemed that the ghosts considered me a central figure connected to the evil god.
“Evil Spirit Evien Montrose. If you don’t want to have a terrible nightmare, you’d better release my companions….”
For a moment, Krius’s eyes blazed with murderous intent. His voice, too, seemed to spew the hatred he had been holding back.
‘Have I been too careless?’
Krius drew a weapon from the sheath on his back. A familiar weapon wreathed in blazing flames. It was a flamberge.
“How do you have that sword…?”
“Oh my, did you think only the master carries a flamberge? Now I see, you really are a narrow-minded person.”
Yeah. It’s not like there’s only one flamberge in the world, so he’s not wrong…but still…
“But the only sword that breathes fire should be Basileon’s.”
According to the lore I’d seen in the game, the flaming flamberge was supposed to be unique to Basileon’s sword.
“So, even that assumption of yours is narrow-minded.”
As Krius swung his sword, a massive firestorm erupted. The flames formed a circle around me, trapping me inside.
“Your weakness is fire. That may not have been the case in the past, but now it’s common knowledge. My ultimate goal is to destroy you along with the flames.”
The more Krius spoke, the higher the ring of flames surrounding me surged.
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