WE WENT TO HAUNTED SPOTS WITH GHOSTS
That day, I was walking through a southern city I’d never been to before.
We were relatively close to the renowned (at least, to me and the people around me) Thursa Thursa Kingdom, since I saw some of the ghosts there. Incidentally, Laika was the one who had brought me here; apparently, she had some other business to attend to and flew off to another mountain.
I was walking with the ghosts; a little ahead of me was Rosalie and Muu. Although, regular people couldn’t see Rosalie, so it looked like Muu was walking alone to them.
“I think Muu’s movements look much smoother than they used to.”
Muu apparently had a really hard time moving her body with her own power, but it was reportedly much easier for her to use ancient magic to control herself.
I thought she should have just done that to begin with, but maybe she felt like she had to use her own strength to move. This was such a unique issue that I found it hard to empathize.
“Indeed. In the past, she would lift her back foot before her front had even contacted the ground, so she has improved greatly in that regard,” said Nahna Nahna, who floated beside me. Regular people couldn’t see her, either.
“That’d put both feet off the ground…”
“And considering how much of a hassle it was to fine-tune that magic, Her Majesty insisted on walking with her own strength. That is why she powered through, despite her exhaustion. But she has gotten better at the fine-tuning as of late, so now it looks as natural as if she were walking.”
It was like deciding to handwrite a letter because it was too difficult to figure out how to type…
By the way—what were the two up there talking about? I turned my attention toward them.
“There aren’t a lotta ghosts out here,” Rosalie was saying.
“Peaceful place, innit? Not a lot’a gruesome happenin’s out ’ere, so’s not easy to make ’em. It’d be more fun with more ghoulies, though!”
Don’t ask for horrible accidents to happen!
“But, Muu, ‘ghosts’ cover all kinds of phantoms. There’s the bad kind who do awful stuff to anyone and everyone, and there’s the wimpy ones who can’t make up their mind what to do.”
I see… It sounded like some ghosts were genuinely bad, and some had a hard time adjusting to community life.
“And there’s some people who had deep grudges long ago but kinda gave up on them and turned to a life of mischief in the past. In a broad sense, that’s kinda where I fall.”
Rosalie did have a slightly rough manner of speech, so I got that.
That meant there were all kinds of ghosts.
I was still a scaredy-cat, though, so I wanted to avoid all ghosts and frightening experiences…
And yes, I know you’re going to point out that I live with Rosalie, and that I was taking a little walk with the queen of a ghost kingdom and her minister right now, but I know them. It stops being scary when I can communicate with them and learn how they are.
“This town is quite serene,” Nahna Nahna said.
“That’s right; didn’t you say you hadn’t been to a human settlement in a long time?”
“Indeed. Most ghosts cannot move from their spot.” She nodded. “At the moment, I am also using some ancient magic to make myself move. I learned a thing or two from the demons’ spells.”
“Hey, demon magic’s also helping your ancient magic evolve!”
I’d seen the demons use ancient magic plenty of times to act like YouTubers and stream videos, so I was surprised to see the opposite effect happening.
“We are still in the testing phases, but if this proves to be a success, then the lost spirits will be able to move across the land.”
“That sounds terrifying if it becomes real…”
Should ghosts be riding the globalization trend like this?
“Still, cities of the living are terribly interesting.” Nahna Nahna’s face was as neutral as ever, but her thoughts were apparently very vivid. Maybe she actually wanted to travel the world.
“It’s heartwarming to see them innocently running about, having forgotten that they will one day return to the earth.”
“They may not be able to hear you, but that doesn’t mean you should say that!” I interjected in a whisper. I had to keep my voice down, otherwise I’d look like I was talking to nobody.
“Civilization has not progressed much, has it? We could wipe this place out.”
“Miss Nahna Nahna, that would cause an international incident, so please don’t do that…”
Her facial expression never changed, so it made it hard to tell if she was joking. Yikes. And a minister probably shouldn’t be making jokes like that anyway.
Yeah, it was much more relaxing to listen to Rosalie and Muu chat. I turned my attention back to them.
“Oi, take a gander at this place… Livin’ person, livin’ person, livin’ person… Everyone’s way too livin’. Need more dead ’ere!”
That was ominous commentary!
“Oh, that old man over there’s almost dead. I can see the death on his face.”
This isn’t relaxing at all! I don’t want to hear any of this!
Then Muu came to a stop.
It was so sudden that she almost toppled forward—less like she’d stopped walking and more like she’d stopped driving.
“What is it, Muu? A ghost?”
“Nah. There’s a buildin’ ’ere that wasn’t there when we was alive.”
The town’s Adventurers Guild.
There hadn’t been any guild in the kingdom of the dead, so she was probably wondering what kind of building it was.
Now that I thought about it, when were Adventurers Guilds even made…? They fit in well with the world, but I wasn’t sure how they worked.
“I’ll explain. Time is money, and time is limited. Let’s go in.”
“Yeah, cheers, luv. Let’s go!”
The two in front of me stepped into the guild. I had a feeling trouble was looming…so Nahna Nahna and I followed in after.
Inside, there were a lot of burly adventurers.
There weren’t a lot of women, so I stood out… Well, magic users weren’t all that rare, so whatever.
“Cor, everyone really is livin’!”
“They might look lively, but they’re quick to fight. Most of ’em are gonna die soon.”
As always, the ghosts’ conversation was interesting…
“Oi, bunch of ’em’ve brought in some gems.”
“Magic stones from killing monsters. They’re here to exchange ’em.”
“Huh. Livin’ fings killin’ each ovvah? We all die ’ventually, though.”
I guess they didn’t understand the logic of the living…
“What’s that board ovah there?”
“Right, that’s where people put fliers for their requests, asking for people to kill bad monsters or find lost puppies and stuff.” Rosalie was totally in tune with the goings-on in guilds by now.
I had a feeling she had matured a bit now that she was hanging out with Muu more. It was a wonderful thing.
“Oi, come take a gander.”
One request had caught Muu’s attention.
What was it? What would interest a ghost?
Ghosts definitely seem involved in this! Of course, another ghost would be interested.
But it was a surprisingly respectable request to find in an Adventurers Guild.
Considering the location, it was possible that there were monsters living there, and that meant it was reasonable to leave it to adventurers.
Just then, a couple of them passed by, discussing that very request.
“That ruined hotel one is still up. You should go.”
“No, dude… I freakin’ hate ghosts…”
I guess even some adventurers hated scary stories, too. I completely understood.
But then, it didn’t seem like they were even aware there was a whole group of ghosts here right now, so maybe they were stuck with only five senses.
Then one of them passed through Nahna Nahna.
“Agh! I just got super cold!” He wrapped his arms around himself.
“C’mon, don’t tell me you think you’ve been cursed just talking about that request?”
“No, there’s something weird about this spot… It’s really cold if you walk through there…”
Yeah, ’cause Nahna Nahna’s standing there…
Then the other adventurer passed through her.
“Huh… I just got really cold, too…”
“See? I told you something’s weird here. This is creepy. Let’s get outta here…”
They scuttled away. They didn’t seem all that strong, so it was probably a good thing that they didn’t force themselves to get to the ruined hotel.
Meanwhile, Nahna Nahna was nodding vigorously.
“I see—I can cause cold shivers when overlapping with a human. This will come in handy.”
“Please don’t use it for evil…”
Her words and actions trended toward the dark rather than the light, so I wanted to be careful.
Rosalie and Muu were staring at the request.
“Hmm. Could be somefin’.”
Guess ghosts were intrigued by haunted spots, too. Maybe they were especially interested, in fact.
But Muu wanted to do more than contemplate the activities of her fellow spirits.
“Righty-ho, let’s ’ead to the ’otel to kill some time!”
What? We’re going?!
“Let’s do it. If there’s a ghost there causing trouble, least we can do is tell ’em to stop.” Rosalie seemed fully on board, too.
She had been a spirit bound to a place once, too, so it made sense that she was interested.
“There’s truth in the rule about not messing with peaceful areas, so if this guy’s causing real trouble, then we should stop ’im. I’m sure we can figure something out if we chat.”
Yeah, I understood the intent. Sometimes former bad kids helped current bad kids turn over a new leaf.
But…I didn’t feel great about leaving it all to them.
Anything could happen, and as her guardian, I felt like I should go… And there was no guarantee that it was a ghost causing all this.
But I was still scared. I really didn’t want to go to this ruined hotel.
—Then a terrible cold settled on my shoulder!
“Eep!”
Nahna Nahna had placed a hand there. “Oh, you are quite sensitive,” she commented.
“You don’t need to do any of that! And don’t call me sensitive!”
Even though she was invisible to everyone else, I couldn’t keep from shouting at her. And that caused some people to give me a strange look. I’m the victim here, okay?!
“Miss Azusa, I hate to trouble you in this manner, but it seems Her Majesty is eager to go to the ruined hotel. Will you accompany her as protection? I believe we may be subject to unforeseen circumstances if I were to go alone.”
I really wished she hadn’t prefaced this nice request with a scare like that, but it was hard to say no.
“Fine. I’ll go…”
Also, we met up with Laika afterward and asked if she wanted to come to the ruined hotel with us.
“Oh, I am not sure…”
She turned us down. I guess physical strength had nothing to do with spooky business.
If her opponent in a spar started telling scary stories, it’d probably put her at a disadvantage.
They would probably be in danger of getting doused by her fire breath before they could even go into detail, though…
Then it was the hour of the night when even the plants slumbered.
According to Sandra, most plants were asleep at this time, so the expression wasn’t wrong.
All four of us—the three ghosts and I—came to stand before the Mount Basad Sightseeing hotel.
“—Why’d we have to come in the middle of the night?!”
We could’ve come during the day! We didn’t have to come at the most terrifying hour!!
“Because things come out in the night.” Nahna Nahna stood in front of me, her face the only part of her eerily illuminated.
“Gah! What are you doing?!”
“Using ancient magic. Isn’t it nice to have a bit of light at night?”
Yeah, this was 100 percent malicious.
“Yo, Big Sis, if there really are any ghosts, they’ll usually come out at night. That’s why we had to come now.” Now Rosalie—I knew she meant well, so I chose to believe her.
“Lots ov the ghost-y types tend t’ come out at night. Livin’ a night owl’s life makes ya more likely to stick ’round in this world. Stayin’ up too late’s bad for ya, y’see. People like that are usually un’appy ’bout somefin’ or ovvah.”
Are you sure a ghost’s schedule depends on whether they were a morning person or a night person…?
“Fine, I get that night is better. But I feel like I’m the only one here being forced into visiting these haunted places.”
Everyone else was a ghost, after all…
The ruined hotel, being in ruins, had lost its bottom hinge, and the door hung precariously by the top one. It was like a trespassing free-for-all.
“Wait, we didn’t officially take up the guild’s request. We just came on our own, so does that make this illegal…?” I asked, standing in front of the tattered door. Entering a ruin without permission in Japan in my past life was not legal.
“Should be fine, Big Sis. The owner’s dead, so anyone can come in,” Rosalie answered right away.
“Oh, phew. I’m surprised you knew about that, though.”
“Oh, the owner was right here, so I just asked.”
“What? I thought you just said the owner was dead…” Rosalie pointed to the wall next to the door.
On one spot on the wall was a faint stain.
The hotel had been closed for a long time, and so no one had cleaned it for just as long; a little stain wasn’t something to blink at, but…
Do you see where this is going?
THE STAIN LOOKED LIKE A FACE!
“The hotel closed down after years in debt, and so the owner became a ghost after dying in poverty. Can you see him?”
“Aaaah! I knew it looked like a face!! It’s a ghost!!”
“Oh, Big Sis, that’s just a stain. The owner’s a bit to the side of that.”
“Oh, that’s not him. —Wait, that means there is a ghost! He’s still there! I’m not relieved at all!”
I was being scared even before we stepped into the hotel, and I didn’t understand. They were coming out too quickly. It was like reaching the climax of a movie three minutes in.
Personally, I’d be happy if this was the worst it was gonna get…
“Oi, nice one, nice one.” Muu started clapping for some reason. “Azusa, you’re becomin’ a bit of a laugh now. Much be’ah than before. Propah comedian.”
“Don’t compliment me for complaining about this haunted hotel!”
This was not the place for that.
“I am glad to see you all are having fun,” said Nahna Nahna. “Stupid fun.”
Ouch.
“Big Sis, the owner says the ghosts attached to the hotel are bothering him.”
“I see. Wait… Isn’t that kind of weird…?” I was getting confused. “If anyone has a strong attachment to this ruined hotel, it’d be the owner’s spirit. You mean there’s something else tied to this place?”
“I’ll ask.” Rosalie turned to look into space, as if the owner’s ghost really was there. “Ah. Yeah, that sucks… That’s terrible… He’s got no sense of responsibility or human decency, huh? You really can’t get a break… I know you’re tired of crying. But you gotta keep your chin up. I’ll take care of this. C’mooon, my body might be rotted out, but my heart sure isn’t.”
She really sounded like a city girl.
Muu and Nahna Nahna could apparently hear what the owner was saying, and they were nodding along.
I know it was a bit late for this, but was there even any point in me being here? I was like their chaperone, though, so I guess they needed me. For something.
“Big Sis, the hotel’s been well-known as a haunted building ever since it went bankrupt.”
“Yeah, I got that. The owner’s ghost is here.”
“But some humans apparently came to look around one time and died in an unexpected accident. They had this one single-minded thought—I shouldn’t have come to this haunted hotel… Never…—and then became ghosts themselves, so now they’re not letting anyone tear it down.”
“And a truth comes out of the lie!”
So this was all because some idiots came to have a look around.
“The owner apparently accepted it all ages ago, but he started wondering why the hotel was still around. Now he can’t leave. That’s why he’s asking us to turn it into a vacant lot again as soon as possible.”
I didn’t think I’d ever have a trapped ghost ask me to tear down a building.
“By the by, why’d this ’otel go outta business anyway?” Muu asked the owner.
All our questions were getting answered right at the entrance.
Actually, yeah, I did want to know the specifics. Maybe there had been a problem at the time…?
“Ahhh, high land rent, few cust’mers, an’ ya went right outta business ’cause ya weren’t the bee’s knees.”
That was his own fault!
“Punters weren’t comin’ so ya jacked up the prices to make it profi’able, lowered ya staff’s pay, which meant the ’otel was now extremely expensive for awful service, then it fell to ruin when punters stopped comin’. A vicious cycle, that.”
“Anyone would hate themselves after failing so miserably at one’s own business. The only word for it is imbecilic. No wonder he became a ghost.”
Nahna Nahna was right, her rudeness aside.
“I wish he’d thought a little more about the future when he was running his business,” I said.
“Then this haunted hotel never would’ve come to be!”
“Miss Azusa, people who think about the future come up with plans to make things better without ending their lives. Death does not cure a fool.”
“I’m scared for you, Miss Nahna Nahna. I feel like an evil spirit might curse you.”
“The details are tricky, but we will learn when we go in. Come now, it’s about time.”
Nahna Nahna’s face went in through the door, and I really wished the rest of her would follow. It looked like the rest of her body had been chopped off.
“Yeah, in we go, then! Wot kinda ghosts they got?!” Muu flung open the door and walked in.
Fine! I’ll go, too!
But the moment we entered—
“Gah! Wot the ’eck is this?!” Muu screamed.
Only one step in, and we were experiencing the haunting for ourselves!
“Muu! What’s wrong?!”
“So many cobwebs stuck on me boat!”
“Wrong genre of spooky!”
There were, indeed, spiderwebs stuck to Muu’s face.
“Serves you right, Your Majesty. Are you all right, Your Majesty?”
“Don’t say both your inner and outer thoughts! Just say your outer thoughts!”
Nahna Nahna was always super rude, so I sometimes felt like I was going to forget that Muu was a queen.
“A body sure is a handful, no? Something so pitiful as a spiderweb is causing you much trouble. Come now, Miss Azusa, guide her forward so she does not collide with anymore spiderwebs.”
“Fine! I get it, stop takin’ the mick!” Muu grabbed a piece of rubble and started walking forward, swiping spiderwebs out of the way as she did. I had a feeling she wasn’t exactly moving it with her hands but instead using magic to keep it up and making it take down the webs.
Rosalie and I walked together behind them.
“I’m not as scared anymore…”
Thank you, ghost queen and her minister.
It was already weird the moment I showed up to this haunted hotel with a handful of ghosts in tow, but I was going to ignore that part.
“It might not be as scary now, Big Sis, but genuinely bad people come here. I can tell.”
“Right, I guess this is a real haunted spot…”
Hopefully we could chat with them, like with the owner’s ghost, and they would understand…
The first floor was creepy, but we somehow found our way to the back stairs.
“I’ve gotta feelin’ they’re all up the apples. Wa’evah, dunna, innit.”
That “dunna, innit,” really made it hard to tell if I should trust what she said, so I wish she wouldn’t say it.
“Yeah, I’m getting the chills…”
I looked up the stairs only to see a bit of moonlight streaming through the broken windows. It was terribly frightening.
“Indeed. I hear what sounds like the ghosts saying ‘Stay away, stay away.’”
“Sounds like there’s a lot more than we thought. Did that many people really die here?”
Nahna Nahna and Rosalie seemed to sense something ahead, and if the ghosts were saying it, it had to be true.
My legs were shaking.
“I hate this… I don’t want to go…”
Maybe I should have followed Laika’s lead and stayed out. Maybe sent in Flatorte or something instead. Ghosts didn’t even make Flatorte blink.
Or maybe I should have had Beelzebub come in and conquer the place, although she’d probably complain to me afterward. Ghosts were just dead people to her anyway.
“For how strong y’are, Azusa, you sure scare easy.”
“I can’t help it, can I? Strength and fear are different things.”
I wasn’t in any danger if a boar or a wolf jumped me in the forest, but I hated ghosts.
“Right, I got this, then! Wa’evah, innit!”
“Sounds like you’re immediately throwing away your responsibility to me!”
Regardless, Muu marched up the steps.
And then—a strong gust of wind blew in from the broken windows!
That had to be the spirits—They didn’t want us to come in any farther.
But that wasn’t all.
When Muu came up to the landing…
…the chandelier above fell on her!
Craaash!
“Gaaaah! Nooo!” I covered my eyes.
Even though I knew that wasn’t enough to kill her (she was dead already anyway), it was still extremely unsettling.
“It’s not a big deal, Big Sis. The ghosts just made a gust of wind, that’s all.”
“Yeah, a scary gust of wind! That doesn’t help me!”
I wish she’d told me it was nothing—or that it was just natural.
“Still, I am not impressed that they would attack us physically. It is against the rules to put others in genuine danger.” That was a very specific worry Nahna Nahna had, but I got what she was trying to say.
“None of us here would die in a physical attack, so we are unharmed. Are you all right, Miss Azusa? Your head is harder than diamonds, is it not? You are a stone-headed monster, no?”
“Not at all. I’m glad we’re uninjured, but this isn’t fun… We’re being attacked!”
This was a unique party, so it felt kind of silly despite my terror. Meanwhile, Nahna Nahna was really saying whatever she wanted, and that was pissing me off.
“Muu, you okay in there? That was a direct hit,” Rosalie called out to Muu. Ah, right—she was still collapsed on the landing.
“I’m dandy, but the sudden attack really damaged me body. Honestly can’t believe they’ve done this. I’ll shove a curse up their arse and make their teeth rattle!”
Muu finally stood up—but she was a lot shorter than usual.
Something was off here…
“Let’s ’ead down the apples an’ regroup,” she said, approaching us.
It was like she was making a bridge; her face was toward us, but both her hands were on the ground…
She was scuttling on the floor like a giant spider…
“Eeeeeeek! No, no, no! Walk on your feet!”
She was crawling out of a nightmare and right toward me!
“That is disgusting, Your Majesty. Absolutely disgusting. Put your body back to the way it was before and don’t come over here until you do.”
If Nahna Nahna had a problem with it, then it was definitely outrageous.
“Huh? Yeah, you’re right. Thought I were walkin’ wiv me plates, but I’m usin’ my ’ands instead… I glitched out when the chandelier landed on me,” Muu said, cool as you please while she continued down the stairs toward us.
“Stop! Stay there! Fix yourself right there before you come here! You’re giving me the creeps just by existing!”
“Cor! Rude, Azusa! I got all tarted up today since I knew we was comin’ t’ town! Aren’t I cuter than usual?”
“This isn’t about being cute, okay?! You look like a monster!”
“Oi! There’s banter, then there’s insults! That one ’urt me, y’know!”
Sure, yes, okay, but this is going to scar me for life!
“Hey, Muu,” Rosalie spoke calmly. “There’s a mirror in the hall over there. Take a look.”
“Wot, is it really that bad?”
Muu and Rosalie went back into one of the first-floor halls.
A few seconds later…
“Rank!!!”
I heard a scream.
Terrifying, isn’t it? Just downright eerie.
“I’m all mangled an’ twisted! Wot am I, an octopus?!”
Her accent was having a mitigating effect on the horror, at least. Bless.
After a little while, Muu returned with all her body parts in their right places.
“Sorry ’bout that, Azusa. That was honestly mingin’. I’d never seen anyfin’ so ’orrendous before.”
“Yeah, I’m glad you understand.”
“But I’ll take more care in the future. Wa’evah, innit.”
“It’s not ‘whatever,’ seriously.”
I felt like I’d gotten the biggest scare so far from one of my own party members.
We finally made it up to the second floor.
We were in danger of physical attacks, like getting a chandelier dropped on us, so we made sure to be wary of all the walls and ceilings, but nothing really happened.
—Until we arrived at the second floor, when an even greater anxiety settled over me.
“I guess you’d call this a premonition, right? It feels like something terrible will happen to us if we keep going forward…”
“You can sense it, too, Big Sis? I feel a fairly powerful grudge coming from over there. More than one, in fact.”
Dungeons had nothing on haunted houses.
The second floor was in way worse shape than the first.
There were holes everywhere; it kind of seemed like someone had kicked them in.
“These weren’t made by wild animals or monsters after they moved in. These look deliberately man-made…”
Muu and Nahna Nahna were walking ahead very carefully, so I slowed down, too.
Muu was opening every room and checking inside. “Nofin’ in here, neither. But it’s filthy.”
I naturally followed behind Rosalie, sticking close to her. I couldn’t understand how anyone liked coming to these places. I don’t think I’d ever understand.
I slowly looked across the room. Yep, it was just a ruined mess. No bloodied bodies or anything. That would just make it a regular accident, though.
“No, Your Majesty. Something is here,” Nahna Nahna said—the worst thing she could say.
“Huh? Nah. If a ghost bovvered comin’ in the room, I doubt it’d go so far as to hide.”
“No, this is not a supernatural being. I can hear breathing.”
Which meant it was probably a monster. And I didn’t care what monster it would be at this point.
“I can hear it coming from underneath the bed.”
Something was hiding in the worst possible place!
“What? Oh no… What if there’s a murderer under there…?” I tried to cling to Rosalie, but I slipped through her.
The only person I could hold on to was Muu, who was in front of me, so that didn’t really help alleviate my fear. I would have come with a pillow to hug or something if I had known this would happen…
“An ax murderer sure would ’ide in a dusty place like this, ey?”
The ghosts were realistic when it came to these things.
Still, what was hiding under the bed…?
The next thing I knew, something dashed out from underneath!
It was small—was it a mini monster?
“Meeeooow, meeeooow~”
A wildcat?! I didn’t really know the species types, but I think it was a bit bigger than the cats I’d seen around Flatta.
This catlike animal rubbed up against Muu.
“Oh, hey. You’re a cute one. You’ll grow up to be a spiffin’ tiger one day.” Muu took to the catlike animal and started petting it.
The tension in the air immediately dissipated. When I studied the animal, my face naturally broke into a smile. Nothing could beat an animal’s healing powers.
“Is it really a tiger, though? Its fur doesn’t make it seem like one…”
“Her Majesty loves tigers.”
Maybe her kingdom really did have a connection to Osaka…
Anyway, I started petting the catlike animal, too.
It looked like the space under the bed served as its house. It probably even had blankets made from wool it got from the beds and chairs.
It could avoid the elements and protect itself from predators here, so this ruined hotel was a great place for it. The toughest part was probably having to leave the hotel to get food, though.
It meowed as it climbed up onto my lap.
“Aww, look how cute you are! I think I just want to turn back and take you home. ”
“Ya tryin’ to take it ’ome right now anyway.”
Busted.
But I’d have to say good-bye to the cat and keep walking around this haunted hotel regardless.
Everyone else, however, seemed eager to keep going, so I had no choice but to tag along. It was scarier being left alone. I wanted to bring the cat, too, but I didn’t want another chandelier incident, so I left it behind.
“This hotel is not all that large, so I believe we should be entering the enemy’s base soon,” Nahna Nahna remarked.
“I’m not so eager to do that, myself…”
As we pressed farther in, my chills were getting worse.
I didn’t have a sixth sense or anything, so that meant we’d come to a place so terrifying that even a regular person like me could tell.
Muu pointed to a room. “That’s where it’s thickest. Somefin’s there.”
“Hey, you’re right. There’s some dead people that way,” Rosalie breezily agreed.
“Huh? You can tell?”
“Can you not, Big Sis? There’s someone dead in there with a deep-seated grudge.”
That was 100 percent a spot with an interesting history.
“Uh, I think I’ll stick around in this hallway and wait—”
“Okay, openin’ up. Pardon us! If we’re a bovvah, we’ll leave. Nope? Then I’m comin’ in!”
Muu totally ignored me and opened the door.
Aaagh, fine! I can’t come this far and not look, can I?!
I peeked into the room from the hallway.
This room was completely different from all the others we’d seen so far.
The walls and floors were covered in writing.
There was no doubt about it. This place was…
“A delinquent hangout spot!”
Definitely done by rough kids. They might be a bit different from the Japanese types, but it was basically the same. I guess punks are punks no matter where they were from.
But this wasn’t just any delinquent hangout spot.
Several misty black forms entered my field of view, and that darkness wasn’t just the night.
Were these the ghosts?
“LEAVE…GET OUT OF HERE…”
Oh, I heard a voice. This was it. We had found the ghosts.
I need to get out of here! I’m losing it!!
“Hey, you gotta be shittin’ me!”
One of these bad ghosts was talking really loudly…but it turned out to be Rosalie.
“I don’t care who this place belongs to— You’ve gone too far! This hotel ain’t yours! No one gives a shit if you hang around here, but you need to let it go when the people try to tear it down! No one thinks your clown act is funny!”
Wow, she was really picking a fight with them.
This was supposed to be a ghost vs ghost throwdown, but it was starting to feel like a gangster kid fight.
“Yeah, fine! Let’s take this outside! What? You can’t leave the room? Piss off! I’ll see you outside! Huh? You’re a bound spirit, so you can’t leave? Do you think this is a game?!”
“No, I think they actually can’t leave!”
Now things were getting hairy.
This thing between Rosalie and the ghosts was starting to look like a real brawl (?).
I didn’t think they’d harm a fellow phantom if they found themselves in a fight with one, but I didn’t know what was going to happen…
“How terrifying. Not the ghosts, I mean. Her language,” Nahna Nahna remarked. “I wish they would use more courteous language in this confrontation. ‘I will humbly kick your rear into the next life,’ or some sort.”
“That just sounds more like a taunt, though.”
I’d never heard anyone use the phrase “humbly kick your rear.”
“That so? Plastered royals would argue in the divine parlance like that.”
“That is why they say royalty is so terrifying.”
“It’s a cinch to communicate in the divine parlance, so it caused lotsa fights. ‘You startin’, mate?!’ ‘You wanna go, ey?!’ An’ scraps would break out immediately.”
I feel like the ancient civilization would have been wiped out anyway, even without an outside cause…
“Hey, Muu, is Rosalie okay…?”
We’d be in a bind if we ran into a priest here to exorcise the ghosts, and well, I was here. But I couldn’t read the situation with one of my translators getting involved in the conflict.
Muu put her hands out to hold me back.
“It’s nofin’. They’re just regular ghosties. All they’re capable of is cursin’ normal people.”
“You say that like it’s harmless…”
“We’re not gonna be in any danger, Azusa. We jus’ need t’ tell ’em not t’ curse normal people.”
In a majestic manner, a broad, generous smile crossed her face. She didn’t seem particularly bothered, even when faced with an enemy.
But when I thought more about it, I realized we’d just come here to see what was going on with this haunted hotel, and Muu wasn’t really personally interested in this quarrel…
Rosalie, however, had been glaring at a spot where the troublemakers must have been standing.
“You wanna go, huh?! You shameless bastard! You knew this would happen!”
She was starting to sound like a real gangster!
But I guess she might not be able to maintain that fighting spirit if she politely said to them, I would like to fight with you. Please, let us begin. If she wanted to stay riled up, it was perfectly effective.
“Oraoraora! Oraaa, oraoraora! Oraoraoraora!”
Rosalie started shouting. Yeah, it was good to be sure that your opponent didn’t underestimate you.
I couldn’t hear very well, but the ghosts she was fighting against were definitely doing the same thing.
“Oraoraoraoraora! Oraorara, raoraoraorao!”
“Rosalie, you started saying ‘rao’!”
It didn’t really make much of a difference either way, but it just didn’t sound right!
Rosalie then seemed to realize something, and she whipped around. “Muu! One of them’s going to you!”
What?!
We’d probably given them too many openings. This whole ruined hotel was the ghost punks’ base, so of course we’d be surrounded.
But the moment I turned around—
Nahna Nahna stomped her foot onto something semitransparent.
“What a sluggish and sloppy attack. Go back to life, die, and try again.” Nahna Nahna rolled her eyes and scoffed.
I could see a punk with a mohawk, but he was transparent.
“Relax, Rosalie. Fellas like these’ll bite the dust soon enough.”
A hazy man-shape floated before Muu—I guess they were partially visible after taking some hits.
“They attacked, so I gave ’em a small bish bosh on the spirit. Then they just conked out.”
“You should be glad you are dead. Any attempt on Her Majesty’s life would mean the gallows if you were alive.” Nahna Nahna ground her foot into one of the ghost’s faces, arms crossed.
I had a feeling she might be a sadist, and now I’m certain…
“Hey, does this mean you guys are super strong compared to other ghosts?”
I couldn’t see what ghost fights were like, but I was starting to get the sense they were on another level.
“We been dead for yonks, y’see. We’ve got our ghost-bustin’ skills down,” Muu replied, confident. I guess power balance was a thing everywhere. “Ghosts these days are nofin’, really. Rosalie, show me what you got.”
Despite Muu’s apparent confidence, Rosalie was a normal person—er, ghost—so she probably couldn’t take down these guys.
And considering how she was actually yelling “oraora” or “raorao,” I didn’t think she could win against them.
But the fight came to a sudden end.
“Mraaaooow, meeeooow.”
One of the catlike creatures came into the room.
I was extremely worried that one of our foes was going to possess the animal, but I was wrong. Instead, the creepy feeling over my skin suddenly vanished.
“Hey, so you guys like animals, too. Hah? Ah, right. Uh-huh, that makes sense. Uh-huh, okay.” Rosalie must have figured something out. “Big Sis, these guys’ve been working hard to protect this creature’s house. They want to be good ghosts.”
And so came the twist ending!
Rosalie listened to what they had to say afterward and promptly broke into tears. “I see… You guys moved all the broken boards and doors out of the way for this little guy to make sure he got shelter from the rain…”
They were like delinquent kids who took in stray cats!
I noticed then that Muu’s eyes had gone red, too.
Even Nahna Nahna’s face had softened with compassion.
“Wot a nice story… You saw someone separa’ed from the pack an’ just couldn’t leave ’im all alone. Just like us…”
“You are no simple ruffians—you feel kindness. How lovely to awaken to your own goodness, even after death. How heartwarming.”
“Um… As the only living person here, I’m starting to feel left out. Can someone explain?”
The ghosts were getting excited about this whole thing.
“Big Sis, they’re saying they want to take us to the wildcat room.”
“The wildcat room?”
We entered a room we hadn’t yet checked, and inside was a whole swarm of catlike creatures (wildcats, probably).
There were even other animals, too. Some looked like foxes or raccoons.
“So this is their home…”
One of the fox kits came up to me, so I picked it up.
This haunted house had suddenly turned into a house of healing…
“They don’t mind people at all, do they? Can’t believe they’re wild.”
“Big Sis, the ghosts here take care of these animals, so they’re not very skittish.”
“It’s not unusual for animals t’ see ghosts. You’re all the same t’ them.”
I was a bit surprised to find a trait I shared with spirits, but this was much better than the critters running away at the sight of me.
“Aww, Laika should have come along! I’ll have to bring her next time.”
Coming to this haunted spot had been worth it in the end.
But even though I now knew that the ghosts were trying to protect the animals, I still didn’t know what things were like before then.
They obviously hadn’t come together for that purpose alone. Ghosts typically couldn’t leave the dark places they were tied to. They must have had some deep-seated grudge or hatred for this hotel.
So why were they here in this ruined hotel in the first place?
According to the owner’s ghost, deaths had occurred here only after it became the rumored “haunted house,” but the place sure was crowded for that…
Fortunately, since the ghosts were actually here, the mystery got solved right away. I didn’t even need to guess.
“See, Big Sis? Punk kids or kids in gangs usually go to haunted places to test their nerve, right?”
“Er, I’ve always been a good kid, so I don’t really understand that line of thought…”
But it did make sense. When I thought more about it, there would be a lot of graffiti on the walls of haunted locations on travel shows.
“They came here and found another gang, and it led straight to a huge fight. One of the groups was completely wiped out, and a number of them died.”
“Mmm… I knew something horrible had happened the second I heard this place was haunted, but that’s heavy stuff.”
“I can understand, yes. Children always want to build secret bases for themselves.”
“That’s not something to smile about, Miss Nahna Nahna!”
People died here, you know!
“But is it not ultimately a fight over who gets to keep the secret base? A good majority of human wars are due to territorial disputes, are they not? It is not much different.”
“I don’t…really have a reply for that, now that you put it that way…”
Everything after that was all stuff I’d assumed. The punks who’d died in the ruined hotel became bound to the place and remained ever since. And since there were now ghosts in the ruined hotel, the gang that ended up winning quickly drove out everyone else.
That was when the ruined hotel became a bona fide ghost spot, but…
When the spirits realized there were wild animals seeking shelter in the building, they also realized they loved animals.
They would always chase out any trespassers so they could protect their furry friends and their home.
And now here we were.
“Sigh. Well, this is no good!”
Muu was lying sprawled on the floor. A raccoon (or something like this world’s equivalent) stepped over her. She looked pleased, all in all.
“No good for what? We’ve solved the mystery, and the ghosts love these animals. All the scary stuff they’ve done has been to protect them.”
“I know it’s like animal ’eaven in ’ere, but this ruined ’otel is still a ’azard. Even if these ghosties weren’t tryin’ to ’arm intruders, kids might get ’urt if they come to play ’ere, or bandits might even use it as a ’ideout.”
“You’re right. It might be put to evil use…”
There were people out there who were drawn to ruins for bad reasons. That was why the request to have it taken down had come to the guild.
“An’ the owner’s ghost was ’round, ’member? So long’s this ’otel’s standin’, so’s he.”
“I guess he can’t rest in peace since he has to keep looking at his unlucky assets…”
“Both humans and ghoulies ’ave their own problems, no ma’er the era, ey? Nofin’ changes, don’t ma’er if ya ’eart’s goin’ or stopped.” Muu looked refreshed, but I got the clear impression she was just trying to smooth things over.
Maybe she had wanted to come to the ruined hotel because she knew the ghosts here were suffering.
Spirits who don’t pass on always have regrets, after all.
Now, as the living person here, it was my turn to do work. Ghosts alone could only do so much to negotiate with human society.
“Hey, Rosalie? Who’s the leader here?” I asked.
If they could understand speech, then we could work something out. My stats made me the strongest human alive, but that didn’t mean I had to solve everything with brute force.
“Hold on a sec.”
Rosalie started talking about something with the ghosts, but a troubled look crossed her face partway through the conversation.
“They said they’re going to decide who’s in charge—and then suddenly started fighting!”
“There’s not enough room for all these fiery tempers!”
Afterward, I gave my idea to the ghostly representative who won the fight.
“—That’s basically the gist of it. What do you think?”
I managed to get their agreement.
Then, once dawn came, we had one more job to do.
A few days later, the ruined hotel was safely taken down.
I needed a top-class adventurer to be present for the event to prove that the ghosts wouldn’t try anything, so I asked Wynona to do that for me. If an S-rank adventurer said it was going to be okay, then everyone felt safer. And of course, nothing happened while the building was being taken down.
But next to where the ruined hotel once stood was a small hut.
Well, maybe “hut” was a little generous—the ceiling was low, and it was too small for people to fit inside.
This was the new home for all the furry former inhabitants of the hotel.
Rosalie, Laika, and I had come to visit the hut.
“Oh goodness! They’re all so cute!” Laika was crouched down, her eyes sparkling at the sight of the huddled creatures. I knew she was a fan of this stuff.
The foxes, raccoons, and wildcats were eager to meet her, too, and they wouldn’t leave her side. Aww, so warm and fuzzy.
Although, something seemed to be wrong—her right hand was hugging her left hand close to her.
“Lady Azusa? Is something…here…?”
“Yeah, there are people we can’t see taking care of the animals. The hut’s security is airtight.”
That’s right—the spirits bound to the hotel had decided to stay and watch after the animals. When they had agreed to that, we successfully managed to get the ruined hotel torn down.
They didn’t really have any reason to stick with the hotel so long as they could maintain a spot where the critters could live in peace.
Now that the hotel was gone, so was the owner’s spirit…is what I initially thought, but he was apparently also taking care of the animals with the rest of the punks…
Later, I heard he was delighted to look after animals for the rest of eternity. And he was welcome to do as he liked.
“Incredible, Lady Azusa! You solved quite the difficult problem!”
“Aww, well, all I did was act as the human representative. Rosalie and Muu did all the work.”
Had Muu not been interested in the requests to the guild, then this never would have happened. And I was perfectly content to have played a small role in it all.
“And I’m glad to have learned about different kinds of ghosts. They’re my people, y’know.” Rosalie was now living as a member of my family, but you could really say it started with a small coincidence.
Had she lived a happy life, she wouldn’t have become a ghost. And she would not have been in the building that Halkara wanted to buy for her factory.
It was kind of weird, but we only got to meet her because of the unhappy way her life ended.
And because I’d been worked to death, I was now a witch in this world…
Our paths in life were so complicated. I wanted to treasure all ones that led to everyone I knew.
“Misfortune does sometimes bring us to great people. That doesn’t mean we should deliberately seek out misfortune, though.”
“Exactly. That’s what I think makes life and death so interesting!”
Boy, you really never know what will happen.
“And so, this makes me want to visit other haunted locations. Will you come with me, Big Sis?” Rosalie asked, her eyes glittering. “There are still so many more across the world! We should visit them all!”
I replied with a strained smile. “That’s a very firm no, thank you. I’m not keen on getting scared like that again.”
I definitely had not built up a resistance to haunted houses this time around!
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