episode_0036

After the peculiar conversation with the ghost of the mansion, Shari, I immediately informed Tina and Sylphy about the truth.

Tina was greatly surprised to hear about my experience at the mansion.

“So… you had a conversation with the ghost of the mansion? Does that mean the curse is lifted now?”

“Sort of. It wasn’t really a curse to begin with. The spirit inside just wanted to share what happened to them with someone.”

“I can’t believe it… that it was resolved so easily.”

It was natural for her to be shocked.

We had managed to resolve the curse of the mansion, which we couldn’t solve no matter what we tried, through a conversation with the ghost – it was unbelievable.

“Since we’re already here, why don’t we all go in together and check it out?”

I suggested to Tina and Sylphy.

Sylphy was taken aback and shivered, saying, “Is it okay?” but eventually decided to reluctantly follow me.

We went back into the mansion and found the little ghost Shari.

Shari was sitting on a bookshelf in ghost form, waiting for us without showing any illusions to Tina and Sylphy as promised.

“Is that… the ghost of that child?”

Tina asked, looking at Shari.

“Yes. That’s Shari, the ghost of a demon child who died in this mansion.”

“To think that child was a demon…”

Tina couldn’t take her eyes off Shari.

Even Sylphy, who had been trembling in fear just moments ago, seemed to have a change of heart upon seeing Shari’s actual appearance.

“She’s… cute…”

Sylphy’s face turned slightly red.

Considering the usual image of demons, Shari’s appearance must have been quite shocking.

Shari swayed her short legs back and forth on the bookshelf, looking at us with a tilted head.

“Do you think it’s right to do such things to a child like her?”

I said, looking at the fleeting ghost of Shari as if she would disappear at any moment.

“I don’t think so. This isn’t about race.”

Tina nodded quietly with a complex expression.

“Anyway, can we consider the request completed now?”

I asked Tina.

The request was to lift the curse of the Bellafork Mansion.

What had been considered a curse until now was the truth shown by Shari to those who entered the mansion.

As long as I kept my promise to Shari, those who entered the mansion would no longer see frightening illusions.

“We’ll have to report to the guild first, but it seems possible.”

Tina replied, taking out a notebook and writing something down diligently.

If the request is completed by the guild, then the ownership of this mansion will be transferred to me.

A mansion worth tens of thousands of gold pieces will finally be in my hands…

Wait a minute.

Looking at Shari, I realized something crucial.

This is totally a liability, isn’t it?

Who in their right mind would buy a mansion like this?

***

Knock, knock, knock.

“Mr. Patton? Are you in there, Mr. Patton?”

In front of the former owner Patton Noah’s house at the Bellafork Mansion.

I, accompanied by the guild receptionist Tina, returned to his house.

“What now?”

Patton opened the door halfway and glared at me, speaking irritably.

In reality, the request regarding the Bellafork Mansion was already as good as completed.

It was a bit of a unique case, so it wasn’t immediately closed, but the report had already been submitted to the guild.

Strictly speaking, Patton was now an irrelevant person to the request.

But I still wanted to give him a piece of my mind.

“This is the adventurer guild receptionist Tina, and we have important news regarding the Bellafork Mansion.”

“What?”

“It’s just that I finally lifted the curse on the mansion. But while cleaning, a box full of gold was found in the study.”

I threw the bait I prepared for Patton.

If he liked gambling, he would surely show a reaction.

Of course, there was no box of gold, it was a scheme to lure him to the mansion.

“Oh… that! Ah… I forgot! That box, right?”

He took the bait immediately.

But his greed for money was obvious, and his acting was mediocre.

“Oh, Patton, is this yours?”

“Well, sort of! Yeah! Thanks for finding it. Just send it over this way.”

“Oh, that’s right. There’s a procedure to follow. Since the mansion is temporarily owned by the guild.”

“Procedure?”

“The reason Tina, the guild receptionist, came with us today is also because of that procedure. Anyway, if you are the owner of that box, you have to come in person to confirm and take it.”

I lied smoothly with a serious face.

A box of gold? Procedure? I have no idea about that.

I was just packaging my lies in a believable way as they came to mind.

In fact, with a little thought, one could realize that something was off.

But Patton, blinded by greed, thankfully didn’t seem to notice anything strange.

“Tina, right?”

I looked at Tina standing next to me, seeking her agreement to increase credibility.

Tina looked at me with a subtle expression.

It was like she was saying, ‘You’re good at lying.’ It felt like her trust in me was decreasing, but oh well.

She pretended to give in and told Patton, “Yes, please follow the procedure, even if it’s inconvenient.”

“Fine, can’t be helped.”

In the end, Patton agreed to visit the Bellaforte Mansion with us.

Everything was now in place.

* * *

The ghost of the demon attached to the mansion, Shari, was a kind child.

That child had no intention of seeking revenge on Patton, who had tortured and killed her cruelly.

But I managed to persuade Shari to turn the tables and made a proposal before leaving the mansion.

If bad adults are not punished, they will repeat the same actions.

So even if you don’t plan to seek revenge, Patton must be punished.

If he isn’t properly punished, another poor child like you might appear again.

I brought Patton to this mansion, so let’s give him his punishment.

Shari accepted my proposal, and now Patton was standing in front of the Bellaforte Mansion.

“Is this… really okay?”

“The curse is gone now. If you’re unsure, we’ll go in first.”

“R-right, I just need to take that box and leave.”

When Patton tried to enter the mansion, he seemed hesitant.

He didn’t know.

That everyone here, including me, Tina, Sylphy, and even the ghost Shari, were all in on it.

I had roughly explained the plan to Tina and Sylphy as well.

Regardless of their race, this incident involved kidnapping a child and doing despicable things.

Both Tina and Sylphy had seen Shari’s small and fragile appearance with their own eyes.

Who could see that and still say, ‘It doesn’t matter because she’s a demon’?

Tina and Sylphy agreed with that opinion and joined in on the plan to punish Patton.

I led Patton deep into the mansion.

Shari was naturally hidden from view.

“It was found in this room. That box.”

I chose one of the many rooms in the mansion, opened the door, and said.

There was obviously nothing in the room.

Just a bookshelf sitting against the wall.

“Where… Ah!”

And as Patton tried to peek inside the room, I forcefully pushed him in and closed the door behind him.

“What are you doing! Hey, open the door!”

I could hear the urgent shouts of a frantic Patton banging on the door from the inside.

Ignoring his pleas, I locked the door from the outside.

“Alright, please. Shari.”

After locking the door, I quietly spoke, and Shari appeared from behind in a translucent form.

She passed through the wall and entered the room where Patton was.

“What happens now, senior?”

Failphy, who had been watching, asked me.

“That guy needs to experience what we went through.”

“No way….”

The sound of Patton cursing and screaming as he banged on the door gradually quieted down.

It seems to be starting.

What I asked Shari to do was to make Patton experience that horrifying hallucination we went through, not just once, but continuously for 24 hours.

To make him realize how terrible his actions were, he needed to experience the infinite repetition firsthand.

Now, the ghostly mirror therapy begins.

In my world, even child crimes are considered serious offenses.

“Well, let’s come back tomorrow.”

I stretched and left the mansion with a refreshing feeling, leaving the two behind.

* * *

Patton Noah became a wreck.

It was quite shocking for him to continuously experience the cruel torture he had inflicted on himself in the hallucination for 24 hours.

Although Shari’s hallucination had no physical effect on his body, it was enough to shatter his mind.

When we re-entered the mansion and opened the door, we found Patton unconscious, covered in tears, snot, and saliva.

Even after waking up, he would mutter incomprehensible words, staring with half-dead eyes into the void and screaming.

After he returned home, rumors spread that Patton Noah had gone mad after losing too much money in gambling.

Due to his already bad reputation, his incident was quickly buried as him suddenly going insane.

Well, he brought it upon himself.

How agonizing it must have been for Shari to actually experience that instead of a hallucination.

After the completion of the request, I roughly cleaned the interior of Belvoir Manor.

I also discovered the entrance to the basement that Patton had used as a torture chamber.

Some remains of Shari were still inside.

We retrieved Shari’s remains and held a modest funeral under a large tree in the nearby forest.

Only Failphy, Tina, and I attended the funeral, but at the end, Shari’s ghost appeared before us.

Although she couldn’t speak, she expressed her gratitude by smiling and waving her hand in front of us during the funeral.

And her translucent body slowly disappeared, basking in the sunlight between the large trees.

May you rest in peace.

May you be born as a happy child next time.

With everything settled, I returned alone to Belvoir Manor.

But as soon as I opened the door of the mansion.

“What… what is this?”

Something small ran towards me and stuck to my leg.

Well, it definitely stuck, but I couldn’t feel anything on my leg.

“Why… why are you still here.”

It was the ghost of Shari.

The Shari I thought had passed on was waiting for me perfectly fine in the mansion.