第１２０７堀：幽霊たちの対処として (Part1)
Chapter 1207: Dealing with Ghosts
Dealing with Ghosts
Side: Labyris
“...And that’s how it went.”
“Heh. Isn’t that great?”
Firia, sitting beside me, nodded in agreement, and Aslin and the others chimed in as well.
“That’s wonderful!”
“Havia-san isn’t a bad person, after all.”
Indeed, we had just returned from our duties at the Zurabul Empire’s information control room and were hearing the full account of the Havia situation from Yuki.
I suppose taking Fiora and Noriko along was the right call. Without that, I feel like the whole thing would have just dragged on indefinitely.
“But, is Havia-san surprisingly mentally resilient?”
“Yeah, I’d say quite a bit. I mean, it’s not every day you find someone who can laugh while knowing their own end is coming.”
“I think she’s strong.”
“Yeah, Havia-nee is a researcher.”
Shera, Dressa, Vilia, and Hiiro seemed to share the same sentiment regarding Havia. I felt the same; I’d heard through the grapevine that the girl had a surprisingly firm core.
I mean, she loves research, doesn’t she? That essentially means she’s someone who pursues her passion with unwavering focus.
“So, Yuki, why did you stop by to see me? Didn’t you come to check on the situation with Wazfi and Nairua?”
“Ah, that’s strictly business, but while I was at it, I wanted to check on how you were doing, Labyris. Since you’ve been completely hands-off regarding the Havia matter, and we rarely get a chance to see each other during the day, right?”
“Well, I suppose. Though, we see each other at home every single day, so I’m not exactly lonely.”
It’s true that Deliyu and I have been completely removed from the ghost-related work, so I haven’t had much contact with Yuki while he’s been occupied with this. That said, as I just mentioned, it’s not as if we can’t see each other in private, so it’s not really a problem.
“I appreciate the concern, though.”
I said that, and as usual, I climbed onto Yuki’s back to get a piggyback ride.
“We haven’t done this much lately, either.”
“Well, the children come first. But if you called out to me before finishing your work, that means you want me to keep you company, right?”
“Yeah. Deliyu and Comet have reported that the preparations are sufficient, but it’s hard to gauge the mental aspect of it all.”
“I see. So that’s why you reached out to us.”
Indeed. When it comes to the nuances of the heart, I have my mind-reading, and Aslin and Firia have their intuition to sense those things.
“Also, there’s a high probability that Havia will be coming to Weed in the future, so I wanted you to be prepared for that.”
“Ah, that. I would have been angry if you hadn’t told me beforehand.”
As I answered, I read Yuki’s thoughts; he intends to bring Havia into the same department as Wazfi and Nairua. Naturally, when you think about it, Weed is the only place capable of properly managing ‘ghosts,’ so this is a foregone conclusion. That’s why Yuki came to clear it with me properly.
“Labyris-chan, Havia-chan isn’t scary, you know?”
“She’s completely different from ghosts like Noriko.”
“That’s true. She’s just a normal student.”
“Can’t you just get used to it already?”
“Um, I don’t think you have to force yourself, though...”
“Hiiro thinks it’s more interesting to have lots of friends.”
The troublesome part is that everyone except Vilia is of the opinion that I should just get used to ghosts.
“It’s not like you’re absolutely forbidden from talking to Noriko, right?”
“Well, no... but when she goes into vengeful spirit mode, I just can’t handle it. If she’s not like that, I can manage to talk to her normally.”
It’s true; Noriko, the vengeful spirit, is famous as a manga artist and has contributed greatly to Weed’s culture. Because I am officially in the position of ‘Dungeon Master of Weed,’ I often have to discuss the future development of manga culture with her.
“Hmm, so that part is still a problem.”
“What are you thinking about? Your thoughts are scattered and hard to read.”
Yuki’s current thoughts were quite jumbled, making them difficult to read even for me. Though, I could clearly tell he was thinking about me.
“Ah, a specialized department for handling ghosts will be established in the future. Once that happens, it would be problematic if you, as my proxy, couldn’t communicate with those ghosts. I was just wondering how to handle that.”
“...So that’s what this is about.”
“Hmm. It’s not so bad with Noriko-nee or Havia-chan, but...”
“The other ghosts often try to scare us.”
That’s exactly it. It’s not just about Noriko or Havia; there are quite a few of them whose very visuals or existence are a hard ‘no’ for me. Even if I’m told to look at them as zombie-types, there are just some things I can’t get past.
“Well, they are ghosts, and we have members who run haunted houses, after all.”
“It is strange that such a department hasn’t been created until now.”
“That’s because, Shera, until now it was only the Japanese ghosts.”
“...Onii-tachi said the Japanese ghosts were the exception.”
That’s right. All the ghosts who have been in Weed until now were, so to speak, Yuki’s kin—people Luna intentionally summoned from Japan—so fundamentally, they ‘listen to what they’re told.’
But from now on...
“We’ll have to deal with ghosts who might attack people at any moment, won’t we?”
“I’d like to think there aren’t any like that here, but that would be far too optimistic. That’s why a specialized ghost department is needed as a countermeasure. Well, the Adventurer’s Guild is a good example; they have ways to test newcomers, right? I’m sure there will be those types of ghosts, too.”
“Yeah. That’s absolutely impossible for me.”
I answered without a shred of hesitation. Even if it were Yuki’s request, it is absolutely impossible for me to handle that, even if a specialized ghost department is created. To be precise, it is absolutely impossible for me to go to that department and listen to them.