episode_0031

Personally, I wasn’t one to fear ghost-like things.

The reason is simple.

I’ve never thought such things exist.

Even if I were to see one, I would just catch it using magic.

And if a person dies, that’s it, why would a ghost born from that person cause harm to the living?

I can’t understand that.

With such trivial thoughts in mind, I used magic to find the source of this eerie sound.

[Exploration]

[Detection]

I cast the spell and infused mana.

Then, I felt something being detected.

Earlier, I could only sense the movements of small bugs roughly.

But now, I could faintly feel a presence.

“…Underground.”

Of course, it had to be underground.

It was shielded by magical means, so the form couldn’t be confirmed.

That meant I had to go down to where it was.

I may not be afraid of ghosts, but that doesn’t mean I wanted to fight.

I’d rather not fight in my own home.

So, I hesitated for a moment.

Should I go down or not?

After pondering, the conclusion remained the same.

“Sigh…”

To use the underground space, I had to go down.

There was also the option to give up without using the underground space, but due to the unidentified nature of the situation, not using the underground space felt a bit off.

It could be said that I was apprehensive.

So, I prepared myself by casting magic all over my body before descending.

[Barrier]

[Benji’s Mantle]

[Mana Shield]

[Electromagnetic Field]

I deployed four spells simultaneously and slowly descended underground.

Then, darkness as black as ink enveloped my location.

The underground quickly turned pitch black.

I couldn’t see anything around me.

So, I cast another spell.

[Light]

Light spread in all directions.

And the structure of the underground began to become visible.

It was a very complex structure.

It reminded me of Sylvia’s old research lab.

Although the room itself was visible at a glance, unknown parts blocked the view here and there.

So, before confirming what was behind me, I used teleportation to move to the courtyard.

The underground quickly became clean.

And the form of something far away became visible.

Squeak-

It was a very small mouse.

But the sound was surprisingly loud compared to its size.

I was momentarily surprised.

And a moment later.

The mouse began to grow larger.

“Wait, don’t get bigger. Please.”

Despite my plea, the mouse continued to grow in size.

And a moment later.

Crash!

It started to break things in the house.

Although the underground was spacious, it was still a significant event.

Ultimately, the problem was the mouse growing larger.

So, the mouse, which had just grown huge, ran towards me and wreaked havoc in the house.

As the thought of the house being destroyed crossed my mind, I could no longer forgive the mouse.

[Lightning Chain]

I electrocuted the mouse running towards me with a lightning chain.

And then-

Crackle!

With a eerie sound, the mouse ran through the stairs and fled upwards.

“Oh, please.”

Should I let that mouse go here?

There was a risk of the now intact house being destroyed.

So, I pushed myself a little bit.

[Thought Acceleration]

[Teleportation]

[Lightning Strike]

I cast the spells of the three and infused mana optimally.

And a moment later.

Crackle!

The mouse made a strange sound as it shrank in size.

And then, it collapsed on the ground.

Luckily, I managed to make it faint before causing a major disaster.

I was worried about what would happen if the house was destroyed.

But it seemed like I didn’t need to worry.

However, at that moment.

I heard footsteps outside.

And a moment later.

Creak-

Someone entered the house.

This wasn’t a monster or a ghost.

It was clearly a person.

A person enters someone else’s house with an owner?

That was enough to consider the possibility of becoming a robber.

So, I tensed up and raised the mana in my body.

Because I didn’t know the opponent’s skills yet.

And a moment later.

Clang-!

A figure wielding a dagger suddenly appeared behind me.

Well, I should say figure.

I couldn’t even see what the opponent looked like.

Because they moved so fast.

Fortunately, my barrier and mana shield were protecting me, but it didn’t seem like it would last long.

‘…I don’t think the person attacking me is using magical attacks.’

I released the barrier and used another spell.

[Thought Acceleration]

[Enhanced Visual Perception]

When I used the spell to enhance my eyes, I finally saw a blurry image of the enemy who had attacked me.

Slightly brown eyes with long black hair.

The mouth was covered with a crude cloth made of cloth, but even so, the beauty was clearly visible.

‘Ah, this is not the time.’

The problem was that I was accelerating my thoughts.

Because I was thinking too fast compared to usual, sometimes I had unnecessary thoughts.

So, it was important to cut off those unnecessary thoughts appropriately.

‘…Then this is the best option here.’

[Electromagnetic Field]

Honestly, ‘Inferno’ was an excessive spell to use here, but I had no choice but to use it to catch this relentless woman who was still attacking me.

This house was precious, but I could rebuild it.

When the electromagnetic field was activated, the movements noticeably slowed down.

And in that state-

[Inferno]

The spell of Inferno infused mana.

As a result, the surroundings were engulfed in the flames of hell.

And it was very hot hellfire.

Of course, the caster of the spell aimed Inferno only at places other than where I was.

Then-

“Stop it!!!”

The woman who had been attacking me desperately shouted.

But I couldn’t stop.

There was no guarantee that she would stop moving if I stopped here.

So, when I showed signs of using Inferno again, the woman stopped moving.

And then, she lowered the sword to the ground and raised her hands.

I was puzzled by her actions.

It was as if she was not acting as if she shouldn’t set fire to this house.

As if she was the owner of the house.

So, I decided to ask her.

Of course, I had prepared a safe environment.

[Restraint]

[Weighting]

[Water Spear]

Just in case, I set up triple safety measures and asked the woman who was now kneeling.

“Why did you come into my house?”

That was what I was most curious about.

If she entered my house, there must be a reason.

So, I asked her-

“This is not your house..! It’s my house..!”

“Did you pay for the right to live in this house? That’s the most important thing. If you did, I’ll compensate you and leave.”

When I calmly spoke like that, her brown eyes shook mercilessly.

And then, the woman slowly opened her mouth.

“Actually, this place was originally my master’s house.. But my master suddenly said there was a place where he could invest and succeed, so he put the house up for auction.. And it ended up being passed on to someone else.”

Listening to the story quietly, it could be said that the house had passed on very fairly.

But to attack the person who had legitimately purchased the house for such reasons.

The probability was very high that the reason why there had been rumors of ghosts in this house was because of this woman in front of me.

“I have a contract for this house, so if you have money, I’ll transfer the contract to you. How much money do you have?”

“…I have 13 silver.”

“Ha…”

This was a complete mess.

Back when I was living like a beggar, I wasn’t exactly a beggar now, but it was fair to say that I was close to being one.

With that thought in mind, I spoke.

“The starting price for buying here is at least a gold, what kind of house do you think you can buy with that money? The previous homeowners probably left because they didn’t know if people walking around like that was normal.. But I’m definitely not leaving, so please pack up and leave.”

I was firm in this aspect.

Because economics is cold.

There was no other way.

As I spoke firmly, the eyes that were wavering without any reason seemed like they were about to burst into tears.

“I’m sorry..! Please just give me one more chance!!”

“No, you can’t. Please leave.”

“I’m begging you..!”

“It’s my request that you leave as well.”

I preferred resolving things through words, as I wanted to leave this house intact as much as possible.

That’s why I was having this conversation.

However, the conversation was not progressing at all.

I kept telling her to leave, while the woman in front of me was pleading with tears in her eyes to just give her one more chance.

As we continued to talk, a good idea came to mind.

A condition that would satisfy both sides.