I tried to shake her off, but her grip was like iron, unyielding and strong. It was a power that was hard to believe belonged to a mere girl. I wanted to let Roel know I was safe, but for some reason, my voice was hoarse and wouldn’t come out at all. Even if I could call out, was it really okay to do so in this situation?
Even though she was a ghost, she was still a child, and I couldn’t afford to hold back. I threw myself against the wall, clinging to the transformed girl. The wall crumbled with a loud crash, but she didn’t let go. In fact, she seemed completely unfazed.
“W-What are you? Why are you doing this?”
“Ah-so-boo.”
A muffled voice echoed from the hollow of her face, as if her vocal cords had been crushed. There was no way to communicate with her. No, the mission was to exorcise this child. It was unfortunate, but it had to be done. I had left my sword in the room, but my left hand, which she wasn’t clinging to, was free. If she was a ghost-type, magic should be effective.
Lua cast Lightning Bolt!
A flash of light and thunder struck the girl directly. I took some damage from being so close, but it couldn’t be helped. Even she couldn’t help but recoil for a moment.
Lua took 3100 damage! HP 37363/40463
The ghostly girl took no damage! HP ???/???
“Ah-so-boo, Onee-chan.”
Her twig-like arms swayed left and right, her small body moving in contradiction. When her head tilted left, her body twisted to the right as if she had no joints or bones at all, moving in a creepy manner. As she repeated this motion, she slowly approached me. Perhaps the noise had alerted Roel, as she rushed over.
“W-What…”
Roel was paralyzed with fear, unable to process the situation. I couldn’t let her get involved. I closed the distance and delivered a punch straight to the girl’s face. It looked like she was sent flying, but she froze mid-air and gradually returned to a standing position.
The ghostly girl took no damage! HP ???/???
Unfazed, the girl began to sway again, just like before. I had never faced an opponent like this; I had no idea what to do. If I had my sword, I could fight her properly. If that additional effect activated…
“Ah-so-boo.”
Was she treating this fight like a game? I never imagined there would be such a being in the outside world. Even after conquering the 100th Underground Floor, it felt like I hadn’t even reached the starting line. Just as I was overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness, I noticed Roel standing beside me.
“Lua-chan. That girl hasn’t done anything since earlier, has she?”
The girl’s frail arms reached out toward us. I instinctively shielded Roel, but she was surprisingly unafraid this time.
“She’s… not an enemy…”
Before I knew it, Truppo was standing behind us.
Roel embraced the girl.
“I’m sorry.”
The girl did nothing in response to Roel’s simple apology. A single tear fell from her hollow eyes. At that moment, the girl vanished from Roel’s arms. I was left bewildered, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
“Roel, what was that?”
“I don’t know, but I felt that girl wasn’t bad. That’s just the feeling I got.”
“…Over there.”
Truppo pointed to a man standing with blood streaming from his head. Like the girl, he was pale, with blood trickling from the sockets of his eyes. For some reason, it looked to me like the tears the girl had shed. The man’s ghost didn’t move his legs, floating as he descended the stairs. Truppo chased after him, and we followed.
The ghost passed through the living room and stopped in front of the door to the changing room. The door I had broken earlier was still in place. When the ghost pointed at the door, it became transparent from its feet to its head and vanished.
“This place…”
As I reached for it, the door, which had somehow managed to serve its purpose, easily came off its hinges.
“We’re going down…”
Truppo descended the dark staircase. I wondered if there was a reason the ghost had pointed here. Was that ghost innocent, and was there another ghost causing trouble? I descended the stairs, still confused.
“It seems this door isn’t locked.”
When Truppo touched the door, it opened with a dull metallic sound. It was pitch black inside.
Truppo cast Light!
A soft glow illuminated Truppo’s palm.
“Dungeon exploration… this is essential.”
I thought it was a bit exaggerated to call it a dungeon, but that thought was short-lived. The dimly lit basement I had imagined turned out to be a long stone corridor. Why was there such a thing beneath the mansion? The landlady had been furious, but perhaps there was something here she didn’t want anyone to see.
As we began to walk down the corridor, something began to drift toward us.
A Mortal Ghost appeared! HP 332
It was a bone ghost-type monster from the head to the chest, with no lower body. It stood before us, imposing and ready to attack.
The Mortal Ghost cast Darkness!
A misty darkness enveloped us. Roel and Truppo were caught off guard by the surprise attack and took the hit without being able to react.
Roel took 32 damage! HP 31/63
Truppo took 22 damage! HP 74/96
Lua took no damage! HP 37363/40463
I couldn’t protect Roel. At the same time, I remembered that my own wounds from earlier hadn’t healed yet. Truppo quickly finished his spell and retaliated.
Truppo cast Blaze Shot!
A fireball shot forth, colliding with the bone monster. The flaming skeleton let out a roar of defiance as it endured the attack.
Truppo dealt 86 damage to the Mortal Ghost! HP 250/332
The monster seemed unfazed, clacking its bony hands together as if to taunt us.
“It’s strong… its weakness… is fire… yet…”
Truppo seemed to think his magic wasn’t very effective, stepping back to reassess. Roel cast Heal to mend Truppo’s wounds. The monster swung its bony arm high above its head, aiming to strike Truppo down. But it never connected. I had shattered that arm.
Reluctantly, I delivered a straight punch to the skeleton’s face. Its skull shattered into pieces, and I followed up with a kick to its ribs. As the fragments of its head and body scattered, they slowly began to vanish until they completely disappeared.
Lua’s attack! Dealt 3879 damage to the Mortal Ghost!
The Mortal Ghost was defeated! HP 0/332
“Finally, a normal monster.”
It seemed I was the only one feeling relieved; Truppo, though his expression was hidden, looked astonished by the whole sequence of events. He stood frozen, still in the motion of casting his spell. But since I had forgotten my sword, I wasn’t at my full strength yet. I considered going back to retrieve it, but I felt I might lose track of that ghost in the meantime, and after what had happened with the girl’s ghost, I felt uneasy about being alone.
“Lua… what are you?”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I had no choice but to ignore him. What was I? Now that I had become all alone in the world, what was I supposed to become? But for now, as long as I could walk alongside Roel, who was blinking in surprise, that was enough.
“If monsters like that keep appearing, it’ll be a hassle. Let’s move on.”
I brushed it off, and we began to walk down the corridor illuminated by the light. I wasn’t sure if Truppo would believe the events of the past ten years I had lived through. Still, it puzzled me that my attacks had no effect on the girl earlier, yet they worked perfectly on this monster.
It seemed there were still many things in the outside world that I didn’t know. I hoped that through this mission, I could learn at least a little more. Rather than dwell on my worries, I decided to think positively.