Chapter 13 – Ghost Turmoil (9)

Translator: Yonnee

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“Hey.”

Leo called out to Hasen, who was still outside. At this, Hasen hurried and nodded his head vigorously.

“What is it, sire?”

“Did you happen to see the lady who came with this knight?”

“…Lady?”

Hasen tilted his head to the side. Wrinkles formed on Leo’s forehead, then Hasen hastily added.

“If you tell me what she looks like, I’ll find out where she is right away, Your Grace.”

Leo shook his head. No one would forget what Julia looked like because of her strong presence. She had vibrant red hair and red eyes. Because of these features, her appearance shouldn’t be easily forgotten.

It was Julia herself who wasn’t self-aware about what she looked like. Fortunately, Patrick was always by her side, so she would rarely face any real danger.

“That’s enough. Instead of that, can I look around inside the hospital?”

“Inside… the hospital?”

Leo’s eyes narrowed as the deputy director’s strange reaction.

‘At the time, the biggest opposition to the temple’s construction was this hospital. Unlike other places, the sacred power of the temples within the Duchy of Epesia would threaten the services that they offered because of their healing. Thanks to that, the hospital grew at a larger scale compared to other regions. But if a temple were to be built here, their patients would be taken away. So, the hospital is the one who would have opposed it the most.’

“Can’t I?”

‘Eventually, a temple was allowed to be constructed in a residential area at the approval of the hospital… As the temple to be built was established in the southern region, many small merchants and people in need of healing moved there as well. As a result, the hospital’s profits had decreased. If you think about Miss Julia’s suspicions that there would be an outbreak of a plague, of course it would be hard to deal with the consequences—but consider the profits that the hospital would have. It would be difficult to overlook it then.’

“Why aren’t you answering?”

Pressed for an answer, the deputy director looked nervously at Leo. However, he soon nodded slowly.

“Then please, wait here for a short while and—”

“Thanks.”

Leo patted Hasen on the shoulder and immediately went further inside the hospital. Dazed, the deputy director tried to follow, but Patrick stopped him.

“The Duke of Epesia hates being accompanied except for a select few of his attendants. If you would like to go against the Duke’s will, then feel free to follow him.”

At Patrick’s warning, the deputy director shook his head, sweating profusely. But it wasn’t enough to keep his mouth shut.

“But the hospital’s interior is complicated… And you’re coming in without any notice so it’s a bit—”

“You think it’s unfair?”

Patrick lowered his voice and smirked, grabbing Hasen by the shoulder.

“Is this such a great hospital that our country’s Duke needs to file for a permit and schedule an appointment for him to step inside? Hm?”

When Patrick glared at Hasen as he spoke, the deputy director bowed his head in mortification. With the heavy sarcasm paired with the words being said in public, it was too much for Hasen to handle.

At Hasen’s reaction, Patrick grinned and nodded, then patted him on the shoulder as well.

“I’m glad we agree, Baron Hasen. Then please stay here.”

Patrick finished the conversation and turned away from the other man. He followed Leo and walked slightly behind him, then the Duke turned slightly.

“Where’d you learn to do that?”

Patrick’s direct approach to it was truthfully refreshing for Leo, who was used to just letting his name and reputation speak for himself when it came to intimidating other people.

“From the lady.”

“From Julia?”

“Yes, sir.”

Patrick had a small smile on his lips as Leo looked at him with a surprised expression.

“When Milady goes from one place to another, people naturally notice her appearance. There’s a lot of people who sneaked after her, brandished their petty status, and intimidated her like this.”

Leo pursed his lips at what Patrick said. Of course, he had already expected as much, but it was still unpleasant to confirm that Julia had truly gone through this experience.

He wanted to ask more questions and talk more, but he didn’t want to overstep his boundaries. He was satisfied just being able to see Julia more every day.

And here…

“It’s quite spacious inside.”

Leo looked around the hospital’s wide interior. His first priority was to find Julia.

Perhaps because it was a busy hour, but there was no staff in this quiet hallway. Most of the staff worked at their stations, so the rooms here were mainly used as storage for equipment and surgical supplies.

“Is this the right place?”

“Considering the direction she snuck away to, she could be here.”

“…Are we going to search all these rooms?”

Just two people wouldn’t be enough to scour the entirety of the large hospital given their time constraint. As Leo furrowed his brows, Patrick stepped forward and spoke.

“Let’s go through the nearby rooms for now.”

Patrick opened the door closest to him, looked inside, then closed it right away. Fortunately, they didn’t meet other employees seeing as most of the rooms were empty.

Leo’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as they went through more doors. Patrick also had a grave expression.

“Isn’t this all too strange?”

“I agree.”

Patrick surveyed the hall with his eyes and spoke once more.

“Not a single one of these rooms had occupants. No, to be exact, there’s no sign at all that any of them had been used before. Not that they left for a while, but no one entered in the first place.”

“I think so, too. Do you think… they caught on?”

Leo smiled and glanced behind him, and Patrick followed his gaze. The two men turned again and made eye contact before nodding.

They both quickly crossed the hall to look inside the rest of the rooms. Leo twisted the knob of the innermost door and flung it open.

A freezing wind cold enough spread throughout the hall greeted him, and when he exhaled, he could see his breath visibly. Inside the dark room, he gathered some of his energy to his eyes and looked around. Then—

“Julia!”

Patrick rushed to Leo’s side at the sound of his exclamation. Leo crouched and quickly lifted Julia from the floor, then shook her shoulder repeatedly.

“Julia! Julia!”

Patrick approached them and grabbed her wrist to check her pulse.

“Both her pulse and her body temperature are normal. It seems like she fainted.”

“Fainted? But why is she here…”

Leo’s forehead crumpled at Patrick’s words, then turned his gaze to examine the room. Then, his expression changed.

“Why did you faint here…”

Leo looked around with urgency. The air was chilly. This was the innermost room of the hospital, out of reach. And, inside the room were coffins with open lids all over the place. His expression hardened.

“Why were you in the morgue…”

But as soon as he uttered these words, a man came over the open door.

“So you found her eventually?”

Staring at the familiar man, Leo slowly opened his lips.

“Doria…”

The man who led Leo to Julia—Baron Doria stood by the door, leaning diagonally over it as he looked down at Leo.

* * *

After his unexpected appearance, Baron Doria looked down pleasantly at Leo, who glared fiercely in return.

“I knew it. It was you.”

“Did you find out?”

“Speculations are based on probability after all.”

Doria burst into laughter as Leo said the words that Olden usually said. Leo stared at him and continued.

“It’s nothing but a formality at this point, but I have to ask. What’s your reason?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you have to do such a despicable thing?”

Doria shrugged and answered nonchalantly.

“Even if they have nowhere else to go, are you saying that it’s wrong to lead wandering souls to the right path?”

“…What?”

“Spirit whisperers like me feel exceedingly good when we listen to the voices of the dead. Because the spiritual world resonates as well. And as we listen to their conversations, sometimes those who hold grudges would come out, and we are responsible for guiding them to the right path.”

“Spirit whisperer?”

Leo turned to Patrick when he heard the word, but he shook his head.

“It’s normal not to know what the word means. Most people wouldn’t recognize it.”

“…Regardless. Why did you start working under me?”

“Haa. Let’s drop the pretenses, shall we?”

Doria sighed and lowered his eyes.

“Living people are bothersome, Duke.”

Leo stared at Doria, who suddenly changed the subject. Not minding the sharp gaze on him, Doria strode into the room and touched the coffins inside the morgue, still containing dead bodies.

“The deceased don’t really question the fundamental truths. They only ask questions about what they want to know. But that’s not the case for the living—you all ask so many questions. Why did you do this, why did you do that, why?”

Then, he stopped talking and faced Leo. His face was strangely distorted.

“It’s not fun. Really.”

Leo and Patrick froze.

“It’s been about three years since I came here. And I enjoyed the bustling graveyard where pleasant conversations were being exchanged. Their laughter cheered me up a lot. But then, there were some voices mixed in that were full of resentment, and instead of making me feel light, it emulated another emotion in me. Do you know what it is?”

With eyes wide open, madness was fueling Doria.

“It was joy. Joy!! The dead are so kind! So! Very, very! Nice! They’ve been tamed to the point that they’ve forgotten the essence of human nature! But malicious spirits are different. As they absorb other souls, it’s like seeing the real intrinsic nature of mankind within them—resentment, hatred, animosity. Isn’t it all so fun?”

The corners of his lips curled up to show a toothy grin.

“Ha, hahaha! Hahahaha!! It’s—it’s driving me crazy! Really… it’s so, so fun to see malicious spirits be enlightened with human nature. Once the balance between positive and negative has been broken, this land shall be cursed and imbued with their energy!”

His laughter suddenly stopped. He stood still and stared blankly at Leo and Patrick, now moving only his lips.

“That’s why I have to stay here. If I turn these souls into malicious spirits, I’m sure a very fun situation will be created to suit my needs. That’s what I thought. That’s why I took the challenge and hid at the Duchy of Epesia. Because I had to see how things would go. Because it’s going to be fun.”

He took one, two steps, of which the sound echoed through the room as he walked slowly.

“The most effective method of tainting the souls of the dead is the terrible, tenacious malice of humankind that naturally gives a pigment to them. With all the conflict of ambitions, they would turn to their family for help, but because the living are terrified of ghosts, a deep sense of distrust would be sown. Oh, what a fantastic flavor.”

His gaze, overflowing with madness, was fixed on Leo and Patrick’s faces. Patrick frowned, his fist trembling, but Doria quickly stepped away and smiled.

“But it’s not enough. I don’t have enough energy for it. I could make one malicious spirit, but two, three are already impossible. So I needed to think of another way. Do you know what I came up with?”

Leo and Patrick turned to the open coffin, their expressions stiff.

“Puhaha! Heeheehee! Y-You’re right! That’s it! Right there! That’s it, that’s it!!”

Doria ran and put his hand into the oven coffin, scooped out the bone powder and laughed like a maniac.

“This!! This right here!! This is very important!! This… This!! Kekekeke!!”

At Doria’s frenzied laughter, Leo murmured under his breath.

“So I guess we’re dealing with a lunatic?”