Chapter 48 : Duke of the North (6)

Misty appeared before me every day. And she confessed louder each time.

“I love you! Truly!”

“Hmm.”

“If you refuse, this time I’ll cast a truly terrifying curse…!”

But, as expected, nothing happened.

“Ugh! Why am I so harmless!”

Misty stomped her feet. Her floating figure spinning in the air was adorable.

“This time… this time, a truly scary…”

The third attempt. But once again, a failure.

“Ah… I give up.”

She slumped and sat on the floor.

“Now I’ll be alone forever… a poor ghost that no one loves… Oh, and being a ghost means I can’t even kiss…”

“Feeling sorry for yourself won’t help.”

“That’s too much…”

She sighed dramatically in mid-air.

“Still… at least I conveyed my feelings…”

Misty smiled softly. It was a lonely smile, but she also looked a bit lighter.

“Thank you. For listening to my feelings.”

The moonlight reflected on her smile. The pure emotion, unchanged even after hundreds of years, could be felt.

She murmured in a tired voice.

Misty, looking downcast, sat in a corner. The moonlight reflected on her translucent figure.

Suddenly, Misty jumped up.

“No! I can’t give up like this!”

“Again?”

Misty emerged from behind a gravestone. I could already guess what she was about to do.

“Ugh… I am a terrifying ghost!”

Her trembling voice trying to sound threatening was actually cute.

“If you don’t accept my confession… I’ll eat you!”

Suddenly, her voice trailed off. Her translucent face turned pink with embarrassment.

“How is it?!”

“No.”

“Hee-hee.”

She sighed, her shoulders drooping. The terrifying ghost act ended after just three seconds.

“I really tried something scary this time…”

Misty, looking disappointed, sat on the gravestone. Her feet stomping like a child was unmistakably cute.

“You come up with something new every day.”

“Of course! I’ve been practicing alone for hundreds of years!”

Misty suddenly jumped up again. This time, she struck a pose like something out of a horror movie.

“Now, every day, I’ll appear in your dreams…”

She paused for a moment.

“Ah… I’m not a succubus.”

Another sigh.

“Then, I’ll appear in your room every night…”

She paused again.

“That’s right. I can’t leave the graveyard.”

Another sigh followed.

“Really… how can I be this harmless…”

Misty, lying on the floor, looked up at the sky. The moonlight reflected on her translucent form.

“Still! Next time… next time for sure!”

She jumped up and clenched her fist.

“Tomorrow, I’ll come back even scarier! Be prepared!”

But with those words, the smile that spread across her face was so pure.

[Haru, that ghost… instead of being scary, she’s becoming cuter and cuter.]

Misty tried confessing in new ways every day. But each time, she realized her limitations and felt defeated.

“Ah! I got it!”

Misty suddenly floated in the air.

“Tomorrow, I’ll do a chorus with skeletons… Oh, wait, that won’t work. The skeletons can’t even hear me…”

For a ghost who had lived for hundreds of years, she was incredibly pure. And that made her seem even more special.

“Ah, so this is why she’s such a harmless ghost.”

Today, the graveyard was filled with her bright laughter.

Now, I had to find the Tomb of the Necromancer King. Kiara’s gaze was starting to feel strange, though.

I was exploring the graveyard with Misty again today.

“Hey… Haru.”

After a moment of hesitation, Misty carefully spoke up.

“Actually… I know where the Tomb of the Necromancer King is…”

“Why are you telling me now?”

“I’m sorry. Really… I’m so sorry.”

Misty’s voice trembled. The guilt was so pure, it didn’t sound like it came from a ghost who had lived for hundreds of years.

“I was scared that if I told you, you’d leave after finding the tomb. I’ve been alone for hundreds of years… but now I have a friend…”

Her voice trailed off. Tears shimmered in her round eyes, reflecting the moonlight.

“Now, I’ll tell you… I don’t want to deceive someone as kind as you anymore.”

Her voice was firm, as if she had made up her mind.

“This way. Be careful.”

Misty led the way, descending the old stairs into the underground.

“Don’t worry, I know this place well, so just follow me! I’ve been exploring alone for hundreds of years…”

At that moment.

Screech-

Misty’s foot brushed against something.

“Ah!”

Whoosh-

Arrows poured out.

“Ahh! Watch out!”

Misty crouched down, twisting her translucent body this way and that to dodge the arrows. The sight was utterly ridiculous.

“Hey, Misty.”

“Huh? Wait! Over there… Ahhh!”

Misty rolled to avoid more arrows raining down on her.

“You can just pass through.”

“…Huh?”

Misty paused. Her translucent face turned bright red in an instant.

“Ah… right. I’m a ghost…”

Her embarrassed smile was cute.

Wait, but…

“How did a ghost trigger the trap?”

“U-uhm… good question? Hehe… Ah! There’s another trap!”

Boom-!

This time, the floor collapsed.

“Ahh! Be careful!”

Misty scrambled frantically, and my doubts deepened.

‘Is she really a harmless ghost?’

She triggered the traps and acted as if she had a physical form—it was all very strange.

“Ah! Look! It’s the Tomb of the Necromancer King…!”

We ventured deeper into the tomb.

Misty, smiling brightly, led the way.

Everything was going according to plan.

‘The Tomb of the Necromancer King… It’s almost over.’

To obtain the relics from the treasure vault, there was a set procedure. First, I had to resurrect the Necromancer King and then defeat him. Only then could I obtain the relics, which contained the ultimate secrets of necromancy.

The ingredients for the resurrection ritual of the Necromancer King: Essence of vengeance, shards of hatred, crystals of despair… All of them were ‘tasty’ snacks for Misty.

Misty was one of the countless souls absorbed by the Necromancer King. In other words, she was a part of him.

And the ingredients I fed her were all necessary for the Necromancer King’s resurrection.

‘Now the system will probably recognize Misty as half of the Necromancer King.’

“Uh? But it’s closed… what should we do?”

“Want to try going in? Maybe a cute ghost like you can get the door to open?”

“Hehe… calling me cute…”

Just as I expected, when Misty approached, the massive stone door slowly began to open.

“Wow… it really opened!”

Her voice was full of pure awe.

“That’s amazing! How did you know?”

Her translucent eyes sparkled. The joy she expressed was so pure it was hard to believe she was a ghost who had lived for hundreds of years.

“Just… a gut feeling?”

She shrugged her shoulders. I felt guilty for deceiving Misty, but this was the best option.

[Master, is this okay?]

‘This is for her own good.’

The resurrection of the Necromancer King wasn’t necessary. After all, Misty—such a special being—was here.

“Well, shall we go inside?”

Beyond the stone door, the treasure vault appeared. It was filled with eerie relics.

Misty, still smiling brightly, was looking around excitedly.

“Haru! Look at this!”

Misty’s cheerful voice echoed.

“This is…”

The dusty mirror, the ‘Kaleidoscope of Souls.’ It was the relic I had been searching for.

“Wow, what a pretty mirror!”

Misty reached out her translucent hand, and the surface of the mirror seemed to vibrate slightly in response to her touch.

It was said to capture the souls of the dead or transfer them into new bodies. Quite terrifying, right? Wait… how did I know about this?

“Hey?”

“Right… What does it look like to you?”

Misty tilted her head, gazing into the mirror.

“It’s kind of sparkly… Ah! I can see myself!”

She seemed fascinated, even though she was a ghost.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Misty’s expression turned puzzled. She casually touched the wall, but her hand didn’t pass through it.

She was surprised and began fiddling with the wall. Despite being a ghost, she was interacting with objects as if she were alive.

“Is it because of the Necromancer King’s magic lingering here?”

Misty continued to touch everything with wonder, as if discovering the world for the first time, like a child.

“I’ve got a great idea, Misty. What if we turn this place…”

I met her translucent gaze.

“…into your room?”

“…Huh?”

Misty froze. Her translucent lips trembled.

“Really? My room…?”

“Yeah. In this space, I think you might actually be able to live here and touch things.”

“Let me see…”

I opened my inventory. It was full of the items I had collected over time.

“How about this?”

I pulled out the ‘Leaf Embroidered Blanket,’ a rare item I had gotten from the elf village.

“Wow… it’s really soft!”

Misty touched the blanket with delight. The subtle glow, like moonlight, responded to her translucent touch.

“And…”

I pulled out the ‘Dreamy Display Cabinet,’ a piece of furniture made from transparent crystal that suited her ghostly nature.

“Here, look at this…”

I continued pulling out small trinkets: ‘Fairy Night Lamp,’ ‘Fog Curtains,’ ‘Starlight Mirror’…

“Ah! This is…”

Misty found a small jewelry box containing the ‘Opal of Souls.’

“It’s so pretty…”

Her eyes sparkled with joy as she carefully examined each item. It was like watching a child unwrap Christmas presents.

‘I never imagined these would be used for something like this.’

The items I had collected with my collector’s instinct had brought a smile to a girl’s face tonight.

“This place needs a fluffy bed too! Even though as a ghost, I don’t need to sleep…”

For centuries, such simple joys had been denied her.

“I’ll put a bunny doll here… and decorate with lace…”

Her voice grew livelier as the gloomy tomb gradually transformed into a cute little girl’s room.

“Look! I can actually touch it!”

Misty hugged a small bunny doll to her chest. Despite being a ghost, the doll clung to her arm as though it were alive.

She excitedly began listing all the things she wanted to do. But suddenly, she stopped.

“I… I always wanted something like this when I was alive.”

Her voice was small, but the longing in it struck my heart.

One by one, the furniture took its place.

“Now, this really is… my room…”

Her voice trembled with emotion. The translucent tears in her eyes shimmered like moonlight.

In that moment, tears welled up in Misty’s eyes. She wiped them away with her translucent hand, but they kept flowing.

“Ugh… now I want to confess again.”

“With another scary curse?”

“No, this time… just… sincerely…”

Misty floated through the air, glancing around the room.

“I think it’s time to go.”

I looked at her. In the newly decorated room, she appeared more vivid than ever before.

“Thanks to you, Misty, I got the relic I needed.”

“You’ll… come again, right?”

Her voice was tinged with uncertainty. It was a simple sentence, but it carried the weight of centuries of loneliness.

“Of course. But later. Now that you have your own room, you can wait for me better, right?”

“But… a little more…”

Misty floated closer to me. Her translucent hand reached for my sleeve, but this time, it passed right through it.

“Ah…”

Her expression froze for a moment, but then she seemed to make up her mind and looked up at me.

“Ugh… I’ll cast a curse…”

She struck a dramatic pose as though chanting a spell, but as expected, nothing happened.

“Ah. I must really be too harmless.”

Misty’s mood soured as she tapped her foot against the floor. Even though she was floating, that little gesture was so endearing.

“Take care, harmless ghost.”

I waved as I turned to leave. Her voice echoed behind me.

“Okay! You have to come!”

Her voice was bright, but there was a quiver in it.

“When you do, I’ll definitely cast a curse… a curse that means we’ll never be apart!”

With each step I took, the eerie energy of the graveyard faded away. The moonlight grew brighter and clearer.

When I turned around, Misty was still waving. She looked like a little guardian spirit watching over her new room.