#1 Mansion Exploration

* * *

At some point, when I came to my senses, I was told that today’s morning education was already over.

Indeed, a sense of satisfaction from having diligently learned something remained within me.

I don’t quite remember what kind of education I received, but…

“I have some business to attend to. My maid will take over from here.”

“Yes~♪ Then, Wolryeong-nim, please follow me~♪”

The Maid-ssi, who arrived immediately upon being called, tried to lead me out as I was.

I almost instinctively followed the Maid-ssi out, but only then did I realize my state.

There seemed to be a strange smell around my mouth, and the underwear I had been wearing (or so I thought) was gone, leaving me naked.

Startled, I unconsciously hugged myself like a woman and sank to the floor right there.

“Kyaaak?! W-wait a minute! Why am I naked…! Oh, let me put on some clothes first…!”

“Huh? What are you talking about? Wolryeong-nim is really strange. You’re fully clothed, aren’t you?”

What was she talking about?

No matter how I looked, I was clearly naked. My chest, my butt, all my private parts were exposed…!

‘Why am I dressed like this…!’

I looked around for the clothes I had taken off. I saw the tracksuit I had taken off earlier hanging on the back of the sofa.

“No. 「Wolryeong-nim is fully clothed」.”

The Maid-ssi told me to look again carefully.

That couldn’t be. My tracksuit was right there.

But when I examined my body again, I was indeed clothed, just as the Maid-ssi said.

My usual red, unsexy tracksuit. I was definitely wearing underwear underneath. That’s how it felt.

‘Oh, for goodness sake… Was I mistaken again? Why am I like this ever since this morning?’

Seeing things that aren’t there, mistaking myself for being naked when I’m clothed.

My face flushed hot as I recalled what I had just done. Making a fuss about being naked when I was fully clothed. And even screaming like a woman.

“It seems that some people occasionally experience hallucinations due to the fog outside. Perhaps Wolryeong-nim is experiencing something similar.”

Is that so?

Fog that can affect a first-class, top-tier exorcist like me and show me hallucinations… It might be more dangerous than I thought.

Anyway, thinking that I had made a shameful spectacle of myself, I hurried out of the office with the Maid-ssi.

* * *

The Maid-ssi said she would be in charge of this afternoon’s education.

And that while the education should start right away, it would take a little more time to prepare, so I would have to wait.

“The preparations should be complete around lunchtime.”

Thus, I had some free time, but I didn’t return to my room.

This was due to a separate request I received from the Chairman-nim.

-Since you’re an Exorcist-nim, could you take on a request for me?

-Sometimes, I feel like there’s something in this mansion. Of course, I don’t know what it is myself.

-Even if it’s just during the free time between lessons, I’d like to ask you to investigate inside the mansion. And if a demon or something appears, to subjugate it. Of course, I’ll pay you a separate, appropriate reward for that.

It was a request with absolutely no reason to refuse. And as I had felt when I received the education fee, the Chairman-nim was very generous, offering an enormous sum as a commission.

I didn’t know the detailed circumstances yet, but it was clearly an excessive amount for investigating the mansion.

On top of that, they promised payment whether an actual subjugation occurred or not.

It was truly a generosity befitting the title of Chairman-nim.

‘Being generous is good, but… isn’t it too generous?’

‘I’m still suspicious… It feels somewhat fishy.’

People who give money are good people.

But people who give excessively large sums of money usually have an ulterior motive. I think that’s almost 100% true.

Indeed, that Chairman-nim is suspicious. Perhaps I shouldn’t trust them easily.

“Neither the Chairman-nim nor I have lived in this mansion for very long. Before that, it was mostly neglected. We’ve only cleaned the rooms and areas necessary for immediate use, but there are many other rooms where we don’t even know what’s inside.”

As I left the office, the Maid-ssi stayed close by and guided me through the mansion.

“Sometimes, employees or guests would disappear. I’d like to think they just had reasons to run away or left without a word… B-but, surely there’s nothing, right? This mansion is safe, right?”

“…No. It seems there might be something after all.”

“Heeuuu?! R-really?! Seriously?! D-don’t scare me~~~!”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t joking to scare her.

Indeed, a strangely dense Yin energy permeated the mansion.

Such Yin energy tends to accumulate easily in long-abandoned houses or derelict buildings. Then, demons are drawn to that Yin energy and gather.

‘As expected, it’s not a mistake. I can feel demonic energy.’

As I explored each location where Yin energy had accumulated, I clearly found demonic energy… traces of demons.

However, it was difficult to discern anything more.

It is inherently difficult to search for demons that have resided in one space for a long time.

This is because the demon has settled there for so long that its traces are deeply ingrained throughout the space.

If the demon itself is hiding or camouflaging itself to avoid detection from the outside, tracking becomes even more difficult.

‘Moreover, ever since I came to this city… I can feel demonic energy reactions almost everywhere. All my functions for searching are completely useless.’

Ultimately, the only way is to search each room one by one and observe with my eyes. Anything suspicious must be attacked immediately.

“This room is the Master’s bedroom, so you shouldn’t enter, and please avoid that warehouse as well, as it contains important items. If you absolutely must enter, we can get the Master’s permission later.”

Following the Maid-ssi’s guidance, I first toured the less important, mostly neglected rooms.

While there were no major achievements, I did find several traces of hidden demonic energy.

I asked the Maid-ssi for a glass bottle with a lid, lightly cast a spell on it, and then collected the discovered traces of demonic energy inside the bottle.

“Oh my… What are you doing?”

“I’m purifying the demonic energy and collecting it at the same time. I can use it for tracking spells, or I can use this remaining demonic energy to create or strengthen talismans.”

I answered the Maid-ssi’s question and then capped the bottle.

Inside, dark demonic energy sloshed around like a liquid.

To think that merely collecting the residual traces of demonic energy yielded this much.

…I had a feeling that it might be quite a formidable entity.

‘But… could this possibly be….’

Most of the demonic energy traces found seemed to belong to the same demon, but some appeared to belong to other demons.

Judging by the density of the demonic energy, this was also the demonic energy of a high-class demon, not just a common lesser demon.

Of course, it’s common for multiple demons to reside in a single space.

When a high-ranking demon occupies an area and Yin energy accumulates, lesser demons are drawn to that Yin energy and gather.

Whether to deal with these lesser demons or leave them alone is up to the high-ranking demon. Sometimes they leave them alone out of annoyance, and sometimes they violently eliminate them all.

However, it’s different when there are two or more high-ranking demons capable of claiming mastery over an area.

Unlike lesser demons, in this case, only one entity must remain.

There are several reasons for this, but the biggest one is that it is the law among demons.

One might then ask if it’s better to wait for the two demons to clash and one to be annihilated.

But that thought is mistaken.

The reason is that the victorious demon devours everything of the defeated demon and grows stronger.

They devour both demonic energy and Yin energy, making it their own. Instead of facing the risk of annihilation if defeated, winning brings immense benefits.

It’s better to face a demon when it’s still weak than to face one that has grown stronger.

The best scenario would be to strike when they are fighting and exhausting each other, but such perfectly timed opportunities rarely occur.

‘It’s not certain yet. …But I should be careful anyway.’

As I continued exploring the mansion, I also had various conversations with the Maid-ssi who accompanied me.

The Maid-ssi’s name was Daom.

I already knew this because I had heard the Chairman-nim call her name several times.

Maid Daom-ssi was a woman with brown bobbed hair.

I’m not used to judging women’s appearances, but even to my eyes, she was clearly a beauty.

She had a gentle impression, yet when you looked closer, you could feel a certain allure, a warm, mature feeling.

Among the beauties I knew, Jihye Siljang-nim was undoubtedly the best, but when comparing the two, they were different types of beauties, making comparison difficult.

Anyway. Now that I knew her name, it was easier to address her.

It wouldn’t do to call her ‘Excuse me’ every time something came up and I needed to call her. And I couldn’t just call her ‘Maid-ssi’ either.

Daom-ssi had a very bright personality and seemed like a social butterfly at first glance. Her questions and topics never ceased, and her mouth chattered incessantly.

Thanks to her, I felt almost no awkwardness being alone with her. For someone like me, who isn’t very sociable, it was both welcome and a little bothersome.

‘Still, it might be better than awkwardness.’

However, sometimes, very crude or vulgar words and jokes would come out of her mouth, unbefitting her face.

Whenever that happened, I would be startled.

‘Do social butterflies normally talk like this without a second thought? Or is that how conversations between women are?’

“Wolryeong-nim? What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

“No… Nothing at all.”

“Okay. Then I’ll continue where I left off. Where was I? Ah, it was about my friend who got her Horse Dick Dildo discovered by her boyfriend─”

Although I thought something was strange, having almost no experience with conversations between women, I found it difficult to judge whether such a conversation was normal or not.

In the end, I continued the investigation, nodding along with what I knew was a forced smile.

The mansion was so vast, and investigating each room took time, so I made little progress before lunchtime arrived.

Since there would be schedules in the afternoon and evening, today’s investigation would likely end here.

Still, it wasn’t without results.

I found and dealt with one lesser demon, a common type found in houses, and managed to fill about a quarter of the bottle I carried with the demonic energy collected during the investigation.

* * *

…………………

…………

……

The Chairman-nim seemed to be busy, so I ate lunch alone. If Daom-ssi hadn’t been there, it would have felt quite lonely.

“Wolryeong-nim is truly amazing. You took care of that disgusting monster with just one punch.”

“It was nothing. Besides, that demon, even though it was a lesser demon, tends to appear in groups, so,

After finishing my meal alone, I followed Daom-ssi to the afternoon’s education room.

It seemed the preparations were complete while I was zoning out looking at the basin.

Led by Daom-ssi, I arrived at the room and my eyes widened in surprise at what I saw inside.

“This is…?!”

Beyond the open door.

The revealed room was filled with strange and grotesque fleshy masses.