WE WENT TO THE ANCIENT RUINS
“Hey, Beelzebub, what is it?”
Beelzebub’s mouth was agape. It wasn’t quite the reaction of someone affected by the art itself.
“There is something extraordinary within this painting…”
“Hmm, this one’s called Ancient Ruins. I guess you have pyramid-shaped ruins in this world, too.”
As always, the painting had a dismal air about it. Deep in a forest beneath a cloudy sky heavy with impending rain, a pyramid-shaped ruin stood solemnly. The ominous air around it made me not want to look at it for fear of being cursed
“This is an emergency. I must first call over Fatla and Vania, and Her Majesty should also be here. Fighsly is not a bureaucrat, so she may choose not to join in, but I do not want her to feel ostracized.”
The exhibition hall was slowly turning into something else.
By the time I brought Pecora over, everyone else was standing around Beelzebub. The leviathan sisters were talking with her about something.
“This has to be it, no?”
“Yes~ It’s the right shape, at least.”
“To think record of it would be here in an exhibition.”
What were they talking about? The word it was enough to get the message across among Beelzebub, Fatla, and Vania.
“Oh yes,” said Pecora, “there it is.”
Can someone please tell me what it is?
Now that there was a crowd of people, Curalina also came over. The artist was probably wondering what was up.
“What is it about this one? I worked very hard to bring out the feeling of a forgotten ruin. It was actually sunny that day, but I made it cloudy.”
She was dramatizing the details to make a darker painting… Well, maybe it wasn’t real art if she was just painting what she saw.
“You, jellyfish spirit. Where did you paint this?”
“There’s a deep, thick forest at the foot of the western part of the Nostomria Mountain Range. No one ever goes there, so it was very hard work finding the old roads.”
“I see. If you care to tell us the details, we will give you a reward out of our national budget.”
“I don’t need money. I’d rather have bread.”
“How selfless…,” Fighsly said in shock, standing behind the rest of us.
Here we have someone with a clear mind and someone without…
“And what are you talking about, Beelzebub? My whole family, including myself, has no idea, so—oh, I spoke too soon. One of us does…”
Shalsha’s mouth was agape as she stared at the painting. “I never thought…I would see this one day in an exhibition… How did I miss this…?”
This was a bigger deal than I thought.
Beelzebub looked back at me, impressed. “This is the tomb of the king of the Thursa Thursa Kingdom, an ancient civilization lost to history!”
Hard to pronounce, but easy to remember.
Wait, ancient civilization? Something tugged at the back of my mind.
“Pecora’s gift for Shalsha was a book about an ancient civilization!”
Pecora had brought over a bunch of gifts before her birthday party, which was when I had been turned into a foxperson. Oh yeah, there was a book on an ancient civilization…
“The Thursa Thursa Kingdom flourished around five thousand years ago and is the oldest of human civilizations. However, that culture eventually died out, and it has been nearly forgotten for an age…”
“Ooh! How exciting!”
This was the kind of story children would enjoy. Not that any actual children were here right now.
“There were certainly plenty of human adventurers who tried to hunt down these ancient ruins. However, those who thought they were getting closer to the truth never returned. There were stories of myriad evil spirits that had taken up their home within the tomb, and any humans who got too close started to lose their minds…”
Oh yeah, the pyramids had tales of curses like that, too…
“If one were to reach the ruins and get their hands on an ancient relic, they would surely become a billionaire. Many have tried, but its precise location remains unknown.”
“Oh yes, there was a kingdom like that way back when. It was called Thuusu Thuusu or Thorso Thorso or something,” Curalina responded casually. It’s Thursa Thursa, if you were wondering.
“I felt an evil presence in the forest, so of course I had to go. After a careful search, I found something that looked like an ancient street, so I followed it.”
Hey, this sounds like a real big discovery!
But I still wondered about something.
“Why are the demons so interested in an ancient culture from the human world?”
I mean, I already had a couple answers in mind, like anyone would be interested in ancient cultures of other countries or people in Japan still go to exhibits on ancient Egypt.
“I will explain.” Fatla took over the conversation with a calm expression. “When an ancient civilization suddenly breaks off contact with other regions, there is a high possibility of unknown monsters, demons, or specific evil spirits haunting the area. “
“Oh… Right, you were searching for undead before…”
“Yes. It is our job to manage all the monsters of the world. There was such little information on this that we thought it might just be a legend, but we all of a sudden have proof of its existence. We can begin our investigations now. However…” Fatla’s expression clouded over. “We will be stepping into the land of an unknown, ancient civilization, so the search will be fraught with danger.”
If even a leviathan was getting spooked, this was a much bigger deal than I’d thought.
“I shall go. It would be an excellent opportunity for me to show my power.” Beelzebub quietly balled her right hand into a fist. “’Tis not a place for me to send my subordinates. You do not look like you want to go, Vania.”
Vania raised both her hands and crossed them in front of her chest. No way.
I would’ve expected leviathans to be a little tougher…
Right, but if Beelzebub was going, then there were no dangers to fear. She was a top-class powerhouse even among the demons.
But—
Beelzebub was really, really, reeeeeeally staring at me.
“Um, what is it? Why are you looking at me like that…?”
“Azusa… Come with me, for insurance.”
“What?! Isn’t this supposed to be dangerous?! You’re not even taking your subordinates with you! Do you even care what happens to me?!”
“But you might be the strongest being in the whole world. It would be much safer and also reassuring to have you along with me! Just this once!”
This isn’t a casual invitation to a picnic, you know…but I guess I can manage, somehow.
“Fine. I’ll go with you.” With an exasperated look, I put my hands on my hips.
It was a little scary to let Beelzebub go on her own, and she did ask me.
“Lady Azusa, I will join—”
I held my hand up to stop Laika.
“No one from the house in the highlands will be joining me this time. I’m sorry, but please try to understand.”
If there were curses there, Beelzebub was a demon, and I could use Break Spell magic. But I wasn’t sure I could protect every companion who came with us.
“Oh, then I should be fine!” Rosalie floated down in front of me.
“Oh yeah… You’re right… You should be fine, Rosalie, so you can come…”
Ghosts couldn’t die, and I doubted many evil spirits out there were good at exorcisms.
“Then I will come along, too~ ” Pecora said lightly.
“Uh… Pecora, you’re the demon king. Should you really be flinging yourself into danger, here?”
The answer was obviously no. I could see the Absolutely not in Beelzebub’s eyes.
“But I am stronger than Beelzebub~ If she’s going, then I must be allowed to come along~ I will help her.”
“Hmph… Then where does that leave me…?” Beelzebub grumbled.
That certainly made her the demon king in a fantasy world… In my previous life, being a ruler didn’t have anything to do with being strong. A pro wrestler definitely had much more physical power than a king did.
“Then that makes four of us. Rosalie can’t fight, but she’ll still be helpful enough as a member of the party.”
If there was any enemy in the ruins that was too much for us, we’d be in big trouble, but I decided not to focus on the horrible possibilities.
But someone else raised their hand. “I’ll go! I will definitely go!”
The slime fighter Fighsly was very enthusiastic about this.
Oh yeah, maybe she wants to test her power—wait. Nope.
I was probably imagining it, but I could actually see the dollar signs in her eyes. Did she want money that badly…?
“Fighsly, as your master, allow me to remind you that you alone will be responsible for protecting yourself… Can I ask you to take care of your own safety?”
“An ancient ruin will make me rich in an instant! That dungeon with all the worms didn’t work out, but I know this is gonna be the big one! I will be so rich that all the slimes in the world could pool their wealth together and still come nowhere close to me!”
In this world, 99.999 percent of all slimes were unemployed.
It seemed like master and student were on different pages.
“Very well. You’ve given your word. If you die, then we shall just cross that bridge when we come to it. Yes.”
Master was being way too detached about this. I wasn’t a really big fan of the hot-blooded type, either, but I wasn’t sure how to feel about this.
“Elder Sister, be sure to protect your little sister when she finds herself in trouble. ” Pecora grabbed my arm.
And so I said with a smile—
“Please take care of yourself. ”
Aren’t you super strong, too? You can manage.
And so we decided that the five of us—Beelzebub, Pecora, Fighsly, Rosalie (who probably couldn’t fight), and I—would be going to the king’s tomb in the Thursa Thursa Kingdom.
“I might get to see Azusa go all out for the first time in a while,” said Beelzebub. “That alone is exciting.”
“Well, personally, I’d like to not run into any conflict.”
Things were serious this time. I could feel a genuine, demonic fighting spirit coming from Beelzebub. Even if we were going for a stroll, demons were still demons.
“Well then, I will be taking a look at the rest of the paintings. Also, we will review Her Majesty’s schedule and choose an optimal departure date, so please wait until we do that.”
“Elder Sister, when we’re finished looking at the art, why don’t we go to the village and grab a bite to eat?”
Beelzebub and Pecora sure jumped back into their daily lives fast. Whiplash.
Soon, the big day came for our trip to the ancient ruins of the Thursa Thursa Kingdom.
I would be hopping on Vania the leviathan as usual, and she would take me to a nearby human settlement. Then we would have to venture into the forest on foot for a long while. The forest was so dense, not even the locals knew it that well.
“According to my preliminary investigation, the humans who live on this land have been told for generations that the northern woods must not be entered. Many records left behind by the explorers who returned alive say that the topography is so complicated, it is impossible to keep track of one’s location.”
Beelzebub was a bureaucrat through and through, so her preparatory work was flawless.
“I see. We can check our location from the sky, so I doubt we’ll get too lost. Actually, wouldn’t it be easier to search for it from above?”
Beelzebub crossed her arms to make an X.
“If we could find the ruins that way, they would have been discovered long ago. There might be a barrier surrounding them that prevents them from being spotted from far away. A favorite tactic of you witches.”
“I see. I brought bug repellent, too, so I’m all ready to venture into the forest.”
But the second I brought out the bug-repellent salve, we ran into a problem.
“Ugh, what an awful smell… Please don’t use that…”
Oh no. Even the Lord of the Flies found the smell repulsive…
The bug repellent went unused.
The inside of the forest was certainly nothing like any hiking courses.
First off, there were no path-like paths. No one had truly been here for ages, and it was hard enough finding the natural trails the animals used. We were forcing our way through the foliage.
On top of that, the slopes in the ground were so gentle, it was really hard to tell if we were going up or down. My sense of direction was slowly going haywire.
“This sure is hard… I feel like we’ll get into an accident…”
“Elder Sister, please stay with me! I’d hate to end up alone.”
Pecora was still grasping my hand, carefree as ever. I guess that was proof of her strength. A normal person would already be starting to panic.
“I’m reminded of long ago when I would train in the woods. Ahhh, this brings me back…” Fighsly was making headway without any trouble at all.
Documenting this must’ve been part of Beelzebub’s job, because she was drawing maps and jotting down notes on some documents as she made her way.
It felt like we were a real expedition team now.
Of course, monsters also came out to see us from the trees. Like that snake that was as fat as a pillar and could easily swallow an adult whole.
“Ahhh! I’m so scared, Elder Sister!” Pecora squealed as she swatted the snake with a hand, instantly knocking it out cold.
Sorry, snake… We’re superstrong…
“Pecora, even with the cutesy act, it’s obvious you’re not scared at all…”
“Elder Sister, I only smacked it because I was startled, that’s all~ ” Pecora dramatically clung to me. She definitely did that on purpose.
The forest itself was worrying, but the enemies here weren’t scary at all. We weren’t tense at all, either.
“We still have a long way to go, so we should fight while conserving our energy, as Her Majesty is doing. Oh, and we have a hydra now.”
In Japanese terms, it’d probably be called a yamata-no-orochi, a snakelike thing that had lots of heads coming out of a single body. There sure were a lot of snake creatures out here.
“Oh, this is an easy one. Leave this to me.” Fighsly bravely dashed ahead, leaped through the air, and whirled around behind the hydra.
Wow! I’d never seen her move like a real fighter before!
“Fighsly-style slime fist from behind! Low-power kicks to victory on the first move!”
Bam, bam, bam! It wasn’t very flashy, but the hydra was steadily getting weaker!
“This again?!”
She used that low-power kick way too much!
“It may not be fun to watch, but I just need to win! The winners are the strongest! If you can’t win, then no matter what you say, you’re just a foxgirl crying sour grapes!”
I knew what she was trying to say, but I didn’t really buy it.
“Hey, Beelzebub, did you teach her that move?”
Beelzebub shook her head. “No. That was a move that Fighsly taught herself. Her general stance is to defeat enemies with mundane, but powerful attacks. If an ultrapowerful secret technique misses, then it would leave her wide open.”
“Then what have you taught her?”
Fighsly should be under Beelzebub’s wing, but I didn’t even get the slightest hint of Beelzebub’s style in her attacks. I wanted to know what was going on.
“What I mostly teach her is… Let’s see… Perhaps how to measure her tax liability from the prize money she earns in tournaments…? How to increase her deductions and whatnot…”
“Teach her how to fight!”
Even Halkara was more of an apprentice than this.
The hydra reared its heads to attack Fighsly, but—
“Ha-ha-ha! While it’s wasting time trying to attack from above, I’ll just crouch for more low-power kicks! I can easily defeat it before it can even retaliate!”
Before it could strike, the hydra’s strength ran out. It didn’t fly through the air, but it did change into some magic stones. So yeah. I don’t know.
“Yes! Money, money!” Fighsly hurriedly placed the magic stones in a sack.
I wasn’t sure if she actually needed that much money for her lifestyle, but if her motivation was to save up, I didn’t mind.
“Wow, everyone’s so strong. I admire you all.” Rosalie looked at us with respect. I hadn’t done anything yet, though.
“Rosalie, you shouldn’t think of us as standard fighters…”
“But at the moment, I do want to help you somehow. There isn’t a lot for a ghost like me to do.”
She didn’t have to be of use, though.
“All you really need to do is stay with us at home. You don’t cause us any trouble at all. You don’t make a mess of the rooms, and you don’t cost us any meal money, either.”
That was one nice thing about ghosts; she was no bother to have in the house at all.
“No, I know that, but…think of it from my perspective. I want to contribute a little more to society.”
Rosalie seemed uneasy.
I wasn’t sure if this was a normal point of view for ghosts, or if Rosalie was a special exception, but it was hard to imagine a ghost contributing to society…
“Keep your eyes on our path, lest we encounter more danger—although this part of the forest is still relatively all right. A regular person might die within five minutes of entering, but this is easy for us.”
“Yeah. If a normal person came across a hydra, they’d be done for.”
But as we kept walking, Pecora let out a cute “My~”
She’d been clinging to my arm the whole time, by the way. This is a forest, not a promenade to stroll through arm in arm.
“Hmm? What is it, Pecora?”
“Have you not noticed, Elder Sister? What about you, Beelzebub?”
“I sense a strange magic, the type that normal humans do not use.” Beelzebub hardened her expression.
“What, is something coming?! An enemy?!”
“I am not surprised that you haven’t noticed, Azusa. Demons are particularly sensitive to these things. I doubt we will be attacked.”
There were only trees around us; I didn’t see any enemies.
“’Tis a magical barrier of some sort, but not one known among humans.”
“Indeed. Please step back, Elder Sister.”
I wanted to point out that it was Pecora who had been clinging to me this whole time, but I played the part of big sister and kept my mouth shut.
Pecora and Beelzebub brought their hands together and then started chanting. Maybe this was the old demon language.
“Selfey lavana nrule shojeli yyaachiguuyah!” The incantation sounded kind of hard to pronounce. “Fendonononmaon yah!”
When the final syllable left their lips, a black mist started seeping from their hands.
“We’re finished purifying the darkness now. ”
“The darker it is, the quicker this goes.”
Purification didn’t really seem to fit the situation, but it was definitely effective. The part we thought was forest just a moment ago changed into…more forest.
…Okay, that doesn’t really make sense in words, does it? Basically, the forest looked totally different!
“Wh-what on earth is this?!”
“This spell was designed to prevent anyone from entering past this point. Since this sort of magic is entirely different from the kind that humans like you currently use, humans are among the creatures unable to detect its presence.”
“Hey, don’t call people creatures.”
That was terrible. I am eternally seventeen, by the way!
“It was rather similar to the magic that demons use, so we could tell that there was some trick here. All we have to do now is dismantle it. ” Pecora lifted up her skirt and twirled, accomplishing nothing but acting cute.
I carefully observed the transformed forest. “If you look really closely, there’s a faint stone paving here.”
This must be the ancient road that Curalina was talking about.
“A path through an empty forest… A natural assumption would be that there’s something hidden in here.”
Once the evidence became this solid, we had moved from superstition to archaeology.
“It would be next to impossible to reach this point without any sort of preparation. Only the incredibly lucky could arrive here. Or those with the worst of luck, perhaps,” Beelzebub said.
“Miss Curalina said she is a very long-lived spirit, so she probably realized there was a magical barrier here. It is nothing special to those who know. ”
I still had so much to learn about this world… There was plenty of room for me to grow. Like learning demon or ancient magic, for example, or getting some kind of power from the gods of this world, or something.
I wouldn’t want to get too serious about something and lose my leisurely way of life, but maybe I’d give it a shot if I could treat it like an online class. I had plenty of time.
Maybe watching Laika’s diligence had inspired some healthy aspirations in me.
“This is reassuring.”
Pecora whirled around again to face me, smiling gently. She really wants her skirt to poof up, huh?
“They’re going to such lengths to properly hide themselves, which means they do not wish to make any contact with other people. They likely will not try to conquer the humans or other demons. ”
Good point. If they had remained a secret for so long, they probably had barely any intention to attack others in the first place, but that confirmation must be a big deal.
“Hiding means ancient treasure means money means HAPPINESS! Yay!”
“Fighsly, I don’t really know if money actually can buy happiness.”
“Even if you don’t have love, things will work out as long as you have money! With infinite money, I could quit martial arts! This is Fighsly-style slime fist: resolve to abandon the fist eventually! The pinnacle of a clear mind! The ultimate form of martial arts!”
“I think real martial artists might want to have a word with you about that!”
But at the same time, I was also getting a little excited at the thought of coming into contact with an ancient civilization. I could hear the narration in my head: Our crew of journalists had finally discovered definitive proof…
We walked forward more carefully than we had before. Since magic was hiding the road, there could be traps ahead. That being said, our journey was currently going smoothly.
“There are no monsters targeting us at all.”
The monsters that attacked us before didn’t even look at us now.
“Likely because of this road. I suspect there is a repellent-like spell on it to keep the monsters away,” Beelzebub hypothesized.
“Ohhh… My dreams are getting bigger and bigger…”
Now my curiosity had surpassed my fear.
An hour and a half after finding the road, we spotted something at the end of our path.
“There’s a structure right in front of us, so perhaps this is what the road leads to.”
Beelzebub’s cheeks were flushed, too. The anticipation of interacting with the unknown always came with some anxiety.
And what we saw there was—
“This is a pyramid…,” I murmured. That was the word for it.
“Elder Sister, why are you so interested in its shape?” Pecora asked. Right, pyramids weren’t famous ruins in this world.
“That’s what I used to call ruins in that shape. Looks like a monarch’s tomb, though.”
There were no trees growing nearby, and no signs of other people. I doubted anyone was coming here to take care of it; maybe this was one of the powers of the evil spirits.
“What a peculiar ruin. I must investigate it carefully.”
“Oh, Elder Sister! I’m frightened~”
You’re a liar, is what you are.
“Ancient artifacts… Swoon…”
Fighsly’s greed was starting to literally melt her back into her slime form.
“Wow, what a happening place.”
I wasn’t exactly sure what Rosalie meant by that, but maybe there were some sounds that only ghosts could hear…
She seemed unworried, but she still approached the building with the greatest care. We didn’t want to run into a trap or anything.
“We have to find the entrance first.”
“We shall break down the walls if worse comes to worst.”
Beelzebub, have you ever heard of protecting cultural heritage?
But then we heard a strange noise!
“Turn back!” “Turn back~” “You are not allowed here~”
Yikes, what was that?! I instinctively covered my ears, but the voices didn’t stop at all.
They were speaking straight into my brain! Telling me to go away! Was this what Rosalie meant?!
“Beelzebub, are these voices part of ancient magic, too?!”
“No, I sense no magic; someone is talking to us. A spiritual entity with no body…”
“Turn back.” “Go home, go home, this is not the place for you!” “Be a good girl, go home to your mommy, and drink from her bosom! HA-HA-HA!”
One of you’s got a dirty mouth, huh?
“Beelzebub, Pecora, can’t you do anything about these voices? Couldn’t you see ghosts, Beelzebub?”
When Rosalie was haunting Halkara’s factory, Beelzebub had taken care of her without a problem.
“I can see them right away if they are unguarded, but if they are trying to hide themselves, then it will take me some time to find them… They are vigilant… Oooh, where are they…?”
That meant these weren’t just any ghosts, but a kind of guard. At least they were just annoying; as long as they didn’t hurt us, we could just get used to them—
“Turn back~” “Every terrifying word I’m about to say is true. Ever since I was born, there was a teddy bear that sat in my room. One day, when I was twelve and hugging the bear, its head fell off. Inside its head, I found a letter.”
“Nooo! One of them’s telling me scary stories!”
I hate these! Do something! Shut them up!
“Oh, what an interesting idea~ Beelzebub, why don’t we use the leviathans next time to hold a horror cruise?”
“Hmm, I shall pass the word along to them.”
Don’t try to make money off horror experiences, demons!
“Evil spirits, evil spirits, please tell me where your treasure is! I will pay you the profit margins! I will also hold a memorial service for you!”
Fighsly, check your greed! They probably won’t tell you anyway!
“Hey, an anecdote. Nice touch, if you ask me.”
Rosalie was super calm; she was a ghost!
No one in my party was bothered by scary stories at all. Well, except for me…
“Leave, leave!” “This is what the letter said: ‘Dearest Richard, it is my deepest wish to congratulate you on your marriage, and to punish you for your betrayal.’ Richard was my father’s name. I wondered if the letter was from one of his past lovers. ‘And so I have given you this teddy bear. Once you notice the letter inside it, the curse’—”
“Gaaah! Ahhh! I can’t hear anything! I can’t hear! I can’t hear your scary stories!”
“Hell’s bells, Azusa, you are just as bad as the ghosts! Ghost, where are you?! I will extinguish you! I will extinguish you right now!”
Beelzebub was making violent threats, but I did kind of want her to follow through.
Then I heard a voice that didn’t quite seem to belong.
“Oh hello, nice to meet you. My name is Rosalie.” Our resident ghost was greeting somebody.
“Nice to meet you, too. I am Nesasim, an ancient evil spirit.”
“I am Torhano, the same.”
Oh… The voices telling us to go home stopped.
“It is unusual for a soul to come visit us.” “It’s been several centuries, at least. You may be the first…”
“Yes, right now, I live in the highlands with Big Sis Azusa here. All these people here are good, so no need to worry.”
“Is that so? But we do have our jobs as gatekeepers to consider…” “I will check with the higher-ups, so please wait here a moment.”
All of a sudden, I felt like we were at a reception desk.
“I understand; thank you,” replied Rosalie. “Also, was that scary story of yours real?”
“No, I made it up.”
What could you even say about a ghost that made up their own scary stories…?
“Uhhh, Rosalie, you were talking to the evil spirits, right…?” I asked Rosalie nervously.
“Yes. This area is full of them. You rarely ever see so many at once, even on ancient battlefields.”
Everyone else besides me was so calm, I almost wanted one of them to start freaking out. I wanted another person to feel my pain. Even though I was, strictly speaking, the only “person” here…
“I’m curious; how many are there?”
“I’d say around five hundred in this area alone. If we include the other ghosts a little farther away, then several thousand.”
“That is way more than I was expecting!”
There were so many of them, I was about to start freaking out for different reasons.
A ghost photo with just one hazy, suspicious-looking figure in it was scary enough for me; hundreds of them meant total chaos.
“They’re just regular evil spirits, everyone; no need to worry about them.”
Anyone would be cautious having hundreds of evil spirits around them. There were too many to exorcise.
“No fighting necessary, it seems.” Pecora took my arm again. She really was glomming on to me.
“Yeah. I’ll be happy if we can finish this peacefully.”
I couldn’t fight against ghosts, and I didn’t want to anyway. A violence-free expedition would make me very happy.
On the other hand, Rosalie had been talking to another evil spirit this entire time. They were probably wondering about this new ghost visitor they had.
“The recent world of the living? No, it hasn’t changed much.”
“I suppose that means they’re not looking to make grave spaces bigger, or turn it into a country created by the dead.” “All they have to do is build underground mausoleums that we can relax in.”
“There’s none of that. It is humiliating for us.”
“Mmm, so vitalist. Maybe it’s time for reform!” “Yeah, I wish they’d give ghosts more rights.”
It sounded like the evil spirits were just saying whatever they wanted—but was that vitalist of me to think?
A little while later, I could tell by Rosalie’s reaction that a representative of the evil spirits had come over.
“If you are not here to rob the tomb, then we will make ourselves visible. Is that all right?” the voice asked in my head.
Beelzebub stared long and hard at Fighsly.
“Uh, uhhh… I wasn’t planning on stealing… I was just thinking all that ancient knowledge and stuff would probably sell to researchers for a nice price…”
Beelzebub went after Fighsly, still glaring angrily at her. “Think before you speak!”
“All right, all right! I won’t say anything anymore! A fighter never goes back on her word!”
Rather bold of you to call yourself a fighter, Fighsly…
“Then I will reveal myself.”
And we saw for ourselves the masses of evil spirits around us.
“Gaaaaah! Even if you weren’t ghosts, I’d still be surprised!”
I unwittingly stepped back, but there were ghosts behind me, too. Actually, I went straight through them. They didn’t find this strange; without a physical body, they apparently didn’t have any collision detection.
“There are so many of you… I had not imagined this…” Beelzebub stared at the ghosts.
“Big Sis, demons, this one dressed like a maid is their representative, Miss Nahna Nahna.”
Rosalie introduced us to a girl dressed, well, like a maid. Except not a proper maid; her outfit showed much more skin.
She was almost tawdry; her skirt was short, and she was showing her belly button and her upper waist… Cosplay was the only reason for this that wasn’t indecent…
But when I looked closer, it wasn’t just her—everyone was showing a lot of skin. Some of them even wore clothing like bikinis.
Oh yeah, this ruin is like a pyramid. Maybe long ago, it was really warm, and they didn’t need that much clothing. It’s still humid even now.
“Greetings. I am Nahna Nahna, chief maid and minister of the Thursa Thursa Kingdom.”
The floating ghost introduced herself, so we introduced ourselves, too.
I didn’t know ancient civilizations had chief maids.
“The Thursa Thursa Kingdom flourished in antiquity, but a plague tore through our people and wiped the entire population out in a short period of time. There was no one to carry on our culture, so our civilization eventually became a mystery to the world.”
What an unfortunate history…
“Many of those who were not happy with their deaths became evil spirits, gathered in the area around the tomb of the king, and decided to stay here. For a long while after that, we have enjoyed our time as a country of the dead. Looking back, I’d say things have turned out all right in the end.”
They were pretty positive for being ghosts!
“As a rule, in order to deter potential graverobbers, we never show ourselves to the living and use Memory Fading magic so they don’t know where they are. However, this is an exceptional situation in which one of you is a ghost, so we have decided to take the opportunity to speak with you.”
But their official statement contained something I had a hard time believing.
“Uh, I heard that a lot of researchers went missing looking for this place. What really happened to them?” I asked directly.
“Quite a number of them were attacked by monsters and died that way. But many of them regret their deaths, so more than half become evil spirits and come stay with us here.”
They were being naturalized!
“Hmm, I see now. This is a kingdom of the dead~ As demons, we have no intentions of laying waste to your country, but perhaps we could form a diplomatic relationship?” Pecora was responding favorably, but this would go much smoother if we had a head of state here.
“Yes. As a minister of the Thursa Thursa Kingdom, I agree. Isolation is not suited for this era.” Nahna Nahna was eerily calm, almost gloomy, but her words were friendly. “However—”
Uh-oh, guess we still have a problem…
“—our ruler has spent this entire time locked away, so she may have a different opinion.”
Nahna Nahna sighed. She wasn’t breathing because she was dead, but it was still a sigh.
“What, your queen is a shut-in? A good many of you undead find it difficult to go outside,” Beelzebub remarked.
Oh yeah, Pondeli the undead was also a shut-in.
“No, Her Majesty is affected by some unfortunate circumstances… But let’s not stand around outside. Please allow me to take you to the small grave where I am entombed. We will continue our conversation there.”
This was a first—visiting someone’s grave like it was their house.
“You have a proper grave, even though you all died out at once?” Beelzebub said.
“Those in high standing build their graves before they die.”
It wasn’t unusual; there were a lot of examples of kings and emperors on Earth building their graves while they were alive, too.
“If it’s completed early, it can be used as a storage unit or a vacation home during our lives.”
Your graves aren’t summer homes!
“And those who would be embarrassed if others saw their collections after death can simply place them in their grave early, put a lid on it, and consign it to oblivion. It is terribly relieving.”
My reverence for these ancient people was rapidly plummeting.
Nahna Nahna floated along, and we followed her to a smaller pyramid in the forest. It might have been small, but it was still much larger than a regular house.
“This is my grave. It is small compared with the royal family’s, but it should easily accommodate a group. Please come in. It might be a little cramped, though,” said Nahna Nahna, and the front stone gate slid to the side with a loud rumble.
I guess when you live long enough, you end up invited to people’s graves.
We headed straight down the corridor inside, then arrived at a room with a sarcophagus.
“Please take a seat on the coffin.”
“Isn’t your corpse inside it…?”
“Yes, but it matters no more than a snake’s shed skin. You may scatter my bones or burn me, but it will not affect me.”
“Well, I guess that makes sense…”
“If I were to liken it to anything, it would be like the paper wrapped around a package.”
“Ugh, what an example.”
I still felt some reluctance, but the owner herself was giving me permission, so I probably wasn’t going to be cursed. I sat on the coffin.
“As I said before, following the collapse of our civilization, we have carried on our everlasting history as ghosts. In fact, I am proud to say we are most likely the first ghost nation in history.”
“You probably are… It’s unheard of…”
“Ghosts cannot stray too far, so we are not familiar with the goings-on of the rest of the world. If humanity were on the brink of extinction, the outcome would not matter much to us, so we don’t give the idea much thought.”
I mean, they were evil spirits. Of course they didn’t care.
“However, a large problem presented itself in Her Majesty…”
Oh, we’re getting serious now.
“Did something happen to your queen when she turned into a ghost?” Rosalie asked with worry in her voice. I was sure she was sympathizing because she had been in a similar situation. Rosalie was a nice kid.
“Yes… She was plagued by something we never could have imagined…”
What happened…? I couldn’t imagine a tragedy that could befall a ghost.
“Her Majesty grew bored!”
We stared blankly at her.
“Please consider. As ghosts, we are locked away in this area. And it had been five thousand years since our death… There was nothing new for us anymore!”
That just sounded plain old painful!
Five thousand years was a long time… I’d only been alive for three hundred… That was seventeen times longer… I couldn’t imagine…
The spirits lived a long time, too, but they had a lot of freedom to wander—as opposed to these ghosts, who seemed like they couldn’t go very far. They must have been bound to this physical location.
“Our ruler passed away at the tender age of fifteen, and because of her position, she did not have any friends her age. After thousands of years without any friends, she finally snapped… Poor thing…”
Nahna Nahna seemed truly sorry for her ruler.
“As a result, about two thousand years ago, Her Majesty declared ‘Today’s the day I finally tell you! You’re all a bunch of boring wet blankets! I don’t even want to look at you until you figure out how to be interesting!’ And she shut herself away…”
Sounds like she had a lot that was bothering her…
“She was originally the type to get along with everyone, but we all treated her with the distance and respect we believed was necessary to show our ruler. The mood was not pleasant.”
I believed it… When everyone tiptoed around someone just because they were important or powerful, it just made things uncomfortable…
“After three thousand years of it, she exploded… You know how fifteen-year-olds can be…”
I mean, she held it in for three thousand years; wouldn’t that make her someone with a lot of perseverance…? If she still hadn’t come out, though, that was an issue.
“We’ve been unable to enter her tomb ever since. If anyone approaches, they will be attacked by magic she controls…”
“Very well~ ” Pecora drawled. “We demons wish to be on good terms with you, and we have no choice but to see your sovereign in order to create diplomatic ties, no?”
“Yes… I am only a minister; I cannot take her place in this matter…”
“Then we will go to Her Majesty.” Pecora said it like it was obvious.
“That comes with great danger, though… The living will not be spared her full might…”
“You want her to come outside, and I want to see her and create diplomatic ties. Our interests align. I see nothing wrong with this. ”
Pecora had a soft demeanor, but she was unbelievably strong. Her high-handedness had led to a lot of favorable results in the past.
“Beelzebub, you will be assisting me.”
“Aye—as the minister of agriculture, I will do everything in my power to assist you!”
Their relationship of master and servant was steadfast as ever.
“Oh, and Fighsly, you will be coming along for this one.”
“What…? But I… My back is really itchy… I dunno if I can come…”
Once she judged there was no money in this, her motivation was gone!
“And it seems we have a candidate for a friend for Her Majesty~” Pecora turned to look at Rosalie.
“Oh, me…? I’m just the daughter of a commoner…”
Rosalie pointed to herself uncertainly, but I agreed she was a perfect fit for the job.
Oh yeah! That’s what we could do!
Two ghosts would have a lot more in common with each other than they would with the living. Plus, Rosalie could make some other ghost friends!
“You can do it, Rosalie. You might have been a commoner, but not in this country. You can relate as fellow ghosts. And I think Her Majesty is looking for an equal relationship anyway.”
But Rosalie was still unsure.
Well, of course she was. If someone told me to make friends with the president of some country back when I was a corporate wage slave, I would have been shocked, too. If I had whipped out my phone to exchange numbers, that would have been weird.
However, this was a time for encouragement.
“You wanted to contribute, Rosalie, and this is your chance! Plus, this is something that only you can do. Everyone needs you!” I told her, and her eyes changed.
It was like a fire had been lit within her—no, those were actual flames coming from behind her.
“Ooh… The flame of convictions at her back… It is proof that her spiritual power is amplifying…,” Nahna Nahna explained to us. The world of evil spirits sure was complicated.
“I’m gonna do it! If I give up now, why’d I even die in the first place?!” Rosalie was more passionate than I’d ever seen her. “Hell yeah! I’ll get to that mopey teenager, just you wait and see! Best way to deal with those kids is to bust right in! That’s how I opened my eyes, too!
Rosalie had a solo delinquent (?) phase, too, so maybe they did have something in common.
“Take us to this fifteen-year-old! Miss Nahna Nahna, show us the way!”
“Yes, of course! However…” Nahna Nahna’s expression told us there was another problem. “I am terribly sorry, but I believe I might not be of much use in showing you the way…”
What did that mean?
“I doubt my explanation will be enough to satisfy you, so allow me to take you to Her Majesty’s grave.”
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