Chapter 93 - Chapter 92: Will-o'-the-wisp?
The 1st Month of Fire, the 5th Week, Day of Wind.
It has become quite hot, and these days are continuing with summer-like weather.
Mika was at the haunted house after school.
...By the way, this haunted house is a real one.
"Where is it...?"
Mika crossed his arms and rested his chin on his hand, pondering.
A large mansion located in the Second District of the Royal Capital. The grounds were quite extensive.
An order to remove the curse from this mansion had been issued for many years.
It was one of the few "curse-type" orders that remained, where clients kept requesting help without giving up, yet the cause of the mansion's curse could not be identified.
Mika had been accepting quests specifically targeting "curse-type" orders ever since the quest to exorcise the curse of the female maid.
The reward market price was around "four gold coins," which was huge, and since these orders had been neglected for years, there were no competitors.
Even narrowing it down to locations relatively close to the dormitory within the Royal Capital, there were about ten such untouched orders.
He chose to accept quests at locations where he could make a round trip between the dormitory and the request site in about two and a half hours after school, securing about two hours for exploration.
He would find the cause of the curse on weekdays and challenge the exorcism from morning on weekends.
No longer as entertainment, but to exorcise the curse as quickly as possible, he was challenging the puzzle with all his might.
Due to this change in quest acceptance policy, Mika had already achieved four cases of "curse-type" orders, including the first maid's curse.
The total reward for the four cases was 1.75 million Rats.
He earned this in about a month and a half.
The rewards Mika had earned since coming to the Royal Capital were already close to three million Rats.
To be honest, this was not an amount a ten-year-old child should be earning.
However, even with this much money earned, Mika's equipment remained leather chest armor and gauntlets.
Against "Wraiths," physical armor was meaningless, and by wrapping himself in a magic range, he took no damage.
There was no meaning in updating his equipment.
Mika decided to go around the dimly lit mansion again, starting from the entrance.
He had already visited this mansion for three days.
He had thoroughly searched the first floor, second floor, basement, and attic, touching various objects.
Even so, he had not yet identified the curse.
The first "curse of the female maid" he accepted had a curse strong enough to be visible, but that was the only one like that.
In subsequent quests, he had identified the curse by touching cursed objects.
"This must be all the rooms..."
Mika tilted his head.
Since "Wraiths" had gathered in this mansion as well, it was safe to assume it was cursed.
But the cursed object itself could not be found.
Mika increased the volume of his "Big Ear" magic and searched for any clues.
...Click... ...Tap....
While walking down the first-floor hallway, he stopped upon noticing a faint sound.
He looked around, but nothing was moving.
Could it be coming from some room facing the hallway? He strained his ears to listen.
...Thump... ...Chime....
He could hear the sound, but he couldn't quite pinpoint which room it was from.
He went around nearby rooms and strained his ears, but the sound disappeared.
Then, when he stepped out into the hallway, the sound came back.
"...The hallway?"
He observed carefully, including the ceiling and floor, but could not find the source of the sound.
He strengthened his "Big Ear" magic further and cut out the sound of his own footsteps.
With that, he wandered aimlessly down the hallway.
"Here."
Mika identified the location where the sound was loudest.
But there was nothing there.
It was far from the doors of each room, with walls on both sides, and no paintings hung on the walls.
Mika touched the floor.
A carpet was laid on the floor, but it was dirty due to being neglected for many years.
He did not feel any curse or magic power there.
"......The basement...?"
There was a basement used as a storage room, but perhaps there was another basement separate from that.
To confirm, he needed to move the carpet, but this carpet was too large.
Was it a single piece stretching from one end of the hallway to the other?
"This... I think I need to discuss this."
Mika stood up, brushed his hands together, and called off today's exploration.
Mika was walking toward the gate across the vast garden.
Even if Mika turned around now, he surely would not have noticed it.
A tiny, marble-sized particle of light was floating aimlessly on the second-floor balcony....
■■■■■■
The 2nd Month of Fire, the 1st Week, Day of Sun.
Mika came to the large mansion again from morning.
"Air Cutter."
Mika used "Air Cutter" to cut the carpet laid on the hallway to an appropriate length and moved it aside.
On the day he suspected something was in the basement, he had stopped by the Guild and obtained permission from the client.
However, even after moving the carpet, there was only a stone floor.
"It's completely sealed..."
Through the Guild, Mika had confirmed with the client that he might need to break not only the carpet but also the walls and floor as necessary.
He had also asked them to inquire about the mansion's basement.
The client was the owner of this mansion, but they said they knew nothing about such a basement.
And since they could not live here as is, and if the curse was removed, renovation would be necessary anyway, they had given permission to break things as needed.
The stone floor was made of concrete joints with cracks, and there were spots where it was slightly cracked and crumbling.
It was impossible to tell because a thick carpet was laid over it, but it would likely collapse sooner or later.
"...I can hear it."
Perhaps because the carpet was moved, the sound traveled more easily.
Even though he was using "Big Ear," he could hear the sounds without strengthening it as much as the other day.
Mika stomped hard on the cracked spots several times: Thud! Thud!
As a result, the cracks spread, and the crumbling area expanded slightly.
For safety, he prepared to fly immediately in case the floor suddenly gave way.
However, looking through the gap, it seemed there were stairs leading down below the floor.
"This is a bit... digging out on my own will be a pain."
Mika used "Low Gravity" and "Blast" right there to jump to the ceiling and hover.
"Stone Bullet."
Then, he fired "Stone Bullet" shots one by one, like bowling balls, destroying the floor blocking the stairs leading to the basement.
The stairs leading to the basement turned left after going more than ten meters ahead, and it was unknown how far they went.
Mika proceeded cautiously while leading with "Fireball," defeating the "Wraiths" that occasionally appeared.
After descending the stairs, he arrived at a stone chamber, or rather, a widened space.
In the stone chamber, there were several "Wraiths" and about twenty "Skeletons."
The "Wraiths" and "Skeletons" seemed to consider the stone chamber their territory; they did not attack even when Mika watched from the stairs.
"...What is this place? Catacombs...?"
Coffins were embedded in the walls of the stone chamber, and the walls had collapsed, revealing many coffins.
Probably, the "Skeletons" had been inside those coffins.
(...There was such a movie long ago.)
It was a famous horror movie, one of Mika's favorites.
The story was about a family moving into a new housing development and being plagued by paranormal phenomena.
The new housing development was built on the site of an old cemetery. When building the houses, only the tombstones were moved, but the buried bodies were left behind.
Mika thought of that movie as a human drama centered on family love, but when he told others, they gave him strange looks.
(It was a good story though.)
A super-famous director was involved in the production and scriptwriting, so he thought it was a very wonderful work.
The fact that the client did not know about this underground meant, ironically, that it was just like that movie: a house was built on a cemetery without them knowing.
Even if the curse was lifted, wouldn't they never return to this house?
Well, what the client decides is none of my business, Mika thought as he looked at the "Skeletons" inside the stone chamber.
The "Skeletons" made clattering sounds and moved restlessly.
The sound leaking into the hallway was probably this noise.
"Hmm... what should I do."
He had never seen "Skeletons" before.
Like "Wraiths," they had eyes glowing red in their eye sockets.
What was different from "Wraiths" was that they had physical bones, and a red magic stone floated in the center of their chests.
Protected by the ribs, the magic stone floated in the center of the chest as if it were a heart.
Of course, "Skeletons" also had the [God's Miracle] that Trys had taught him, so he could probably defeat them.
But since it was a rare opportunity, he would try various things.
For now, Mika fired "Stone Bullet" from outside the stone chamber like a machine gun.
With a rifle-bullet type prioritizing speed.
Bashu-shu-shu-shu-shu-sh......
Gusha-gusha-gusha-garan-gusha-garan-gon-gasha-sha-n-gusha-go-sha-gara-gara-garan-garan!!!
The "Skeletons" were blown away easily, scattering into pieces.
After blowing away all the "Skeletons," Mika watched for a while.
"Following the standard... there should be more after this, right?"
"Skeletons" would return to their original state if they were just defeated.
That was a fairly common setting.
So, Mika watched the scattered "Skeletons" intently.
"Oh, they're getting up after all."
But it seemed they had not returned to their original state.
The "Skeletons" that were just blown away by the momentum of the "Stone Bullet" stood up with their shoulders blown off or their heads cracked.
The "Skeleton" whose hip bone was broken crawled on the ground with only its upper body.
"Was it just that the damage wasn't severe enough?"
Mika fired "Stone Bullet" again, shooting thoroughly at the "Skeletons" lying on the ground.
As a result, there were no moving "Skeletons" left.
"So, it seems I need to break them thoroughly?"
If he left them as is, would they return?
"Well, never mind."
Since Mika was wrapped in a magic range, he charged into the stone chamber and hunted the "Wraiths" as well.
In no time, the inside of the stone chamber became quiet.
Mika raised his "Big Ear" and found the "Skeletons" that were still trying to move slightly, finishing them off with "Stone Bullet."
"Alright, let's search."
For safety, he kept the magic range active, activated "Big Ear," and remained alert to the surroundings.
He took care not to be ambushed while searching for the source of the curse.
The stone chamber was quite large, about thirty meters deep and fifteen meters wide.
Probably, many coffins were still left inside the walls, so he had to be careful of "Skeletons" and "Wraiths" as substitutes.
When he went to the very back of the stone chamber, there was an altar there.
The "Six Rings," the symbol of the Church of Light.
Centered on the "Six Rings," statues of the Six Gods, such as the God of Light and the God of Darkness, were lined up on both sides.
However, some of the god statues were knocked over.
Were they originally knocked over, or did they fall because "Stone Bullets" landed nearby?
Mika neatly rearranged the god statues.
"Looking at it like this, it feels like an altar for a suspicious religious ritual... but... probably this is a proper altar."
An altar in a dimly lit stone chamber.
It was full of a suspicious atmosphere, but this was not something like devil worship; it was probably a very proper altar of the Church of Light.
Mika had been attending the church for about half a year, so he recognized the altar itself.
It felt like a simplified version compared to what was in the church, but the altar itself was probably proper.
It was unknown why there were Catacombs or such, but this place itself was likely for mourning the dead normally.
Just in case, he touched the "Six Rings" and the statues of the Six Gods, but there was no curse.
"This isn't it either... Then, which one is it...?"
He didn't want to stay long in such a creepy stone chamber if possible.
But he couldn't give up without identifying the cause.
The only relief was that the ghosts that came out could be defeated.
If the only option was to run away, even Mika wouldn't have thought to approach in the first place... probably.
As Mika looked around the stone chamber from in front of the altar, he noticed that among the coffins embedded in the wall, there was one coffin that was larger and more splendidly decorated than the others.
He approached that splendid coffin, which gave him a vaguely bad feeling.
Since it hadn't collapsed or opened, it was probably still occupied.
"...Please, don't come out suddenly..."
It was a standard trope in movies.
Mika touched the coffin, ready to jump back at any moment.
(...This is it.)
The ominous waves of the curse transmitted to his fingertips.
Mika, relieved that there was no jump scare effect, immediately started working on the puzzle.
(It's a standard way to say 'I'm relieved,' but I must not let my guard down.)
While being alert for something jumping out of the coffin and keeping an eye on the surroundings, Mika tried to exorcise the curse while wearing himself down.
"Phew..."
Mika released his hand from the coffin and exhaled deeply.
The red-orange light of "Fireball" flickered in the dimly lit stone chamber.
He felt more fatigue than usual.
He succeeded in exorcising the curse, but how many hours had passed?
Since it was a situation where concentration was difficult, it took quite a while.
Mika was about to leave the stone chamber and go up the stairs when he suddenly stopped.
(Should I leave this open?)
He thought it was probably safe now, but if "Skeletons" appeared again, leaving it open might allow them to come up.
Even as a comfort, it might be better to seal it for now.
Mika squatted there and touched the ground at his feet.
"Earth Wall."
He sealed the entrance of the stone chamber with a wall of earth.
Since it was just an earth wall, it could be easily destroyed, but if they didn't try to come out, it wouldn't be destroyed.
He would explain the situation to the Guild anyway, so he would leave proper handling to the Guild and the client.
Mika had handled "curse-type" orders before, but he had always exorcised them on the spot.
Therefore, the Guild would conduct various investigations before judging that 'the curse has been removed.'
He was always asked "Why has the curse been exorcised?" but he played dumb.
He was sure they had already figured it out, but there was no evidence.
Mika had no "evidence that he exorcised it," and the Guild had no "evidence that Mika exorcised it."
So, he intended to keep playing dumb as long as he could.
As Mika climbed the stairs with heavy footsteps, he saw a particle of light floating ahead in the hallway.
He thought it was dust catching the light, but that location was not where light from outside could enter.
("Wraith"...?)
However, it was too small to be a "Wraith."
The particle of light floated aimlessly, and its movement could almost be seen as dust.
Mika approached cautiously, confirming that his entire body was firmly wrapped in a magic range.
[Physical Enhancement] was also at four times.
With this, he should be able to handle unforeseen circumstances to some extent.
As Mika approached slowly, the particle of light also approached Mika.
Was it about the size of a marble?
Floating and drifting aimlessly, that thing floated before Mika's eyes as if it had a will.
"Will-o'-the-wisp...?"
It floated with a fluffy feeling that made you feel relaxed just by looking at it.
(It would disappear if it were a "Wraith," right?)
Mika slowly and carefully extended his left hand toward the particle of light.
While wrapped in a magic range.
It was a floating light of unknown origin, but if it was a type like a "Wraith" or anything else, and the magic concentration was thinner than Mika's, it should dissipate upon touching.
(...Eh?)
But when he touched it, it was Mika's magic that dissipated.
He hastily pulled his hand back and stepped back a few paces.
"...What is this!?"
The particle of light continued to float aimlessly as before.
But unlike before, it began to flicker slightly.
As the light dimmed, it became a little stronger, then dimmed again.
It repeated that cycle.
(Is it dangerous...? Should I run!?)
He couldn't tell if the change in the particle of light was good or bad.
Mika tried to make the particle of light disappear again.
This time, like when challenging a strong curse, he gathered as much magic power as possible into his left hand.
If he couldn't dissipate it with this, Mika now had no way to fight back.
As Mika slowly extended his hand, the particle of light floated closer.
He touched the particle of light.
In that instant—
Flash!
His vision was stolen by dazzling light.
"Grrr!"
Mika instantly jumped backward and expanded his magic range to ten meters.
Even if his vision was stolen, he could grasp the movements of the surroundings to some extent.
Mika lowered his waist, assumed a stance, and continued to guard the surroundings with his magic range.
However, there was no particular movement.
His vision gradually recovered, and he was able to grasp the surroundings with his own eyes, but the particle of light from before was gone.
(What happened? What happened? ...Is it okay?)
Since the origin was too unknown, he didn't know what to do.
There was no particular change in Mika's body.
The attack? Only that light just now.
He thought it might do something after stealing his vision, but nothing like that happened.
"For now, I'll retreat... ...It's not satisfying though."
He didn't know what time it was, but it was surely past noon by now.
(If I report to the Guild at lunchtime, will I get sleepy during the report?)
He would quickly report to the Guild and then have a late lunch.
Thinking such things, Mika left the mansion.
With a tiny, tiny particle of light stuck to the back of his left shoulder....