episode_0034

After hearing the shocking revelation of the hallucinations experienced at Bellafoc Mansion.

I sat on a nearby rock, looking at the mansion from a distance, trying to gather my thoughts.

Did that horrific experience really happen?

If such a thing actually happened at this mansion, what on earth did the owner do to deserve it?

The ghost of Bellafoc Mansion was simply reenacting what it had experienced to the people.

“Tina, about the owner of this mansion…”

I asked the receptionist, Tina.

“Do you know anything about them?”

Tina flipped through the pages of her notebook.

Since the notebook contained information about the requests, it also included details about the clients at the beginning.

“It seems like they made a lot of money through trade in Kubele. I can’t disclose the detailed information due to guild policy for client protection. They purchased the mansion three months ago but couldn’t use it at all due to the curse attached to it.”

Three months.

Moreover, if they couldn’t use the mansion due to the curse, there is a high possibility that the illusions shown by the ghost were the result of the previous owner’s actions.

“Tina, I think we need to investigate the previous owners of this mansion to understand more about the curse.”

“Really?”

“The illusions shown by the mansion seem to be more than just illusions. Since I had a similar experience to the client, it’s likely that the adventurers who gave up on the request before also experienced the same thing. That means there is a possibility that the ghost here is showing us what it experienced.”

I explained to Tina, deducing the facts confirmed by the narration as much as possible.

“I see… But as I mentioned before, I can’t disclose information about the client.”

“If the client purchased the mansion three months ago and couldn’t use it due to the curse, then the client is irrelevant.”

“In that case…”

“We need to find the owner who sold the mansion to the client.”

Honestly, we had no choice but to investigate this.

Even if we continue to investigate the mansion, there was nothing we could do against the ghost.

Various exorcism rituals, talismans, exorcism items, sacred magic, and purification were all useless against the ghost.

Therefore, digging into the reason why the ghost was attached to the mansion and cursed it seemed to be the only way.

Although this story is not from this world, there was a saying that to exorcise a grudgeful spirit, you must resolve their grudge.

To do that, I thought we needed to find the culprit who committed the horrific act that I and Sephi experienced.

“It’s necessary for resolving the request. Is there any way the guild can help?”

I asked Tina.

After thinking for a while, Tina replied to me.

“Let’s go back to the guild first and discuss it.”

* * *

Three days had passed since witnessing the horrific hallucinations at Bellafoc Mansion.

Tina had obtained information about the previous owner of the mansion with the guild leader’s permission.

Meanwhile, Sephi and I took some time to rest to try to forget the shock of what we experienced at the mansion.

While I managed to withstand the mansion’s illusions relatively well and didn’t have much of an aftereffect, Sephi still had nightmares.

“Senpai is amazing… How can you be okay after experiencing that?”

Well, to be honest, I almost lost it too.

If the narration hadn’t brought me back to reality, it would have taken me a long time to overcome it like Sephi.

But I didn’t say anything to Sephi because showing weakness would only undermine my credibility.

“By the way, what on earth happened in that mansion? Torturing and killing people like that.”

“Now that I think about it, when I saw that hallucination, various emotions came flooding in. It was very sad, and scary…”

“I don’t know who did such a thing, but they are unforgivable.”

“Indeed.”

Spiffy nodded vigorously enough to make his mushroom head shake.

In the afternoon, when I went to the guild, Tina shared some good news with me.

“I compiled a list of the previous owners of Bellafork Mansion. I had to get permission to do so for the resolution of the request… If we can’t find a clue with this, I’ll be in trouble too.”

“Since it’s really necessary, it should be fine.”

I reassured Tina.

The document she handed me contained brief information about the previous owners of Bellafork Mansion, excluding the client.

There were a total of 4 owners since the mansion was built.

Surprisingly, the mansion changed owners quite frequently.

But the owner I was interested in was the one who used the mansion right before the client acquired it.

If the mansion was cursed, it would be impossible to use it as it is, and the cause of the curse would be the owner just before the client.

“Patton Noah… This person.”

I stopped at one document and pointed it out.

Patton Noah. The person who directly sold the mansion to the client.

Although it was written that he was a nobleman, it also said in small letters, ‘Bought noble status with money.’

“You can find out about this too?”

“The guild has all kinds of information, no matter how trivial.”

“It seems like this person is in Kubele now?”

I pointed to the part of the document that indicated Patton Noah’s whereabouts.

“It seems like he’s not a person with a good reputation. He reportedly lost a lot of money through gambling and hastily sold the mansion.”

“If he’s a bad person, the likelihood increases.”

The more I listened to Tina’s explanation and read the information on the document, the more convinced I became that this person was the one who committed those terrible deeds in the mansion.

“I should meet this person.”

I immediately got up from my seat.

* * *

The laws in this world are lax.

No, to be precise, there are many loopholes.

It’s not that criminals don’t get punished, but the detection rate is low, and there’s room for bribery.

If you don’t get caught for killing someone, it’s fine, and if you don’t get caught for stealing, it’s fine.

Even in the world I originally lived in, there was a saying of ‘innocent until proven guilty,’ but in this world, it was more extreme.

There are militias in the villages, guards in the cities, and knights in the capital.

There are also guilds and adventurers in each region, along with priests from the church, filling the gaps in security.

But even so, I couldn’t say that security was excellent in my opinion.

However, even in such a time, brutally torturing and killing people like the hallucinations in the mansion showed was not tolerated.

If Patton Noah was indeed the culprit who committed such acts, it meant that he should be punished.

Patton Noah’s former residence, the house of Patton Noah, was located in a residential area where the middle class of Kubele City gathered.

I came here alone. If I brought Spiffy along, I wouldn’t be able to focus on the conversation because I would be worried about him.

“Excuse me, is this the residence of Mr. Patton Noah?”

I knocked on the door and called out for Patton.

After a moment, I heard the sound of a chair being moved and footsteps from inside the house, and then the door opened.

“What do you want?”

“Oh, are you Mr. Patton Noah?”

“I am, but what is it all of a sudden?”

Patton Noah responded irritably.

As soon as I saw him, I was convinced that he was the man shown in the mansion’s hallucination.

In the hallucination, there was no noise on his face, but I could tell by the feeling when I met him.

He evaluated me with a snake-like gaze, then his attitude changed to a dismissive one as if flipping over the palm of his hand.

As if proving that he had bought a noble status with money, there was no trace of nobility in him.

“I have something to tell you about the Bellaforte Mansion that you sold three months ago.”

“Huh? That’s already been settled a long time ago. I don’t know anything about curses or whatever. It’s your problem to deal with.”

It seemed like he had already been in a dispute related to the mansion.

Of course, it was natural.

If terrifying things were happening in the mansion and the buyer didn’t complain, it would be strange.

He seemed to think of me as a representative sent by the current owner of the mansion.

Without affirming or denying, I spoke with a vague attitude.

“Well, I’ve already given up ownership of the mansion. It’s currently under temporary ownership by the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Guild? Huh, anyway, I’ve already sold that mansion. It’s been three months. Whatever happens there, it’s none of my business.”

“Is that so?”

To Patton, who was trying to end the conversation quickly, I spoke with a serious expression.

Indeed, he had already sold the mansion.

Judging by his confident attitude, it seemed that he had already negotiated with the client who bought the mansion.

But what if the ownership of the mansion had transferred to the guild?

In fact, the Adventurer’s Guild had taken temporary ownership of the Bellaforte Mansion and put it up for a commission fee.

That was not a lie.

Moreover, the situation where the guild temporarily took over ownership of the mansion and put it up for a commission fee was not a common occurrence.

And he clearly did not know about this until now.

Such unexpected and special situations were always easy to shake confidence and create anxiety.

“W-what… what’s the problem?”

Patton’s snake-like eyes softened slightly.

I didn’t miss that opportunity and spoke.

“Now that ownership has transferred to the guild, the guild needed to reconfirm any issues with the mansion from the beginning. During that process, issues from when Mr. Patton owned the mansion were mentioned.”

Of course, the guild had never mentioned such things.

It was just a lie I made up to make Patton anxious.

Well, considering that I was also an adventurer affiliated with the guild, it wasn’t completely a lie.

“So what do you want from me? Are you expecting me to pay for repairs? I’ve already sold the mansion, and if there’s any responsibility, it should lie with the guild that took it over.”

He still spoke confidently, but there was a subtle sense of unease in his words, different from his initial attitude.

Now, let’s push a little further.

“Mr. Patton, traces of torture and murder were found in the mansion. You might have some knowledge about that.”

I hadn’t seen it directly, but I had experienced the horrific and lengthy hallucinations shown by the mansion.

In a way, I knew better than if I had seen it with my own eyes.

“Torture? Murder?”

Patton raised an eyebrow.

Oh, I was too hasty.

Maybe I should have approached more cautiously, even though I had the guild as a shield.

But after a moment, Patton seemed to remember something and suddenly started laughing.

“Oh, that? Well, if you saw that, it’s no wonder you’d think that. I deliberately covered it up. How did you find out? You’re quite talented.”

His reaction was a bit strange.

“So… are you admitting it? That you killed someone in that mansion?”

When I asked, Patton replied.

“What nonsense. The one I played with and killed was a demon.”