Chapter 184

184th Episode

Get Out of Our Yard!

184 – Get Out of Our Yard! #4

“Alright, kneel down, place your palms on the ground, and sit there.”

I had corralled the unwelcome visitors into a corner of the yard.

While we had subdued them with our clubs, I couldn’t be sure when these suspicious characters might change their minds and attack us.

The kneeling figures trembled before Luna’s and my clubs, muttering to each other.

What should we do?

I don’t know. They’re looking this way!

“Now, you can only speak to answer my questions, and when you do, raise your hand.”

When I rapped the end of my club on the ground, the startled group finally silenced their mouths beneath their masks.

At last, an uneasy but somewhat satisfying silence and order settled over the yard. As always, superior force does help resolve most issues.

“So, why did you come into our yard?”

When I asked, a small-built girl trembling in the crowd spoke up. Her name was Keimi, if I recalled correctly.

“This place, I thought it was the ferry landing… I didn’t know it was a shrine of the goddess. Please, let me see it just once…”

However, no matter how I listened, I couldn’t make any sense of what she was saying.

Which ferry landing?

There’s not even a trace of a river nearby.

Just as I was about to ask her what she meant, Luna, who had been keeping the silence by rapping her totem on the ground just as I had done earlier, shouted.

“Since you’ve entered my yard, everyone must pay the entrance fee! You have to follow my rules here!”

Luna has quite the business acumen, so she seemed thrilled at the prospect of making money even in this situation.

We had already successfully shaken down this small girl named Keimi for 2 coppers. But despite Luna’s growling, the unwelcome guests merely hesitated, only glancing at each other.

So I decided to add my own comment.

“Didn’t you hear that? Hand over all your money quickly! If you don’t, I’ll shove this club into your rear!”

Jangle. Jingle.

Only then did the group begin to throw jingling coins onto the ground in what seemed to be fear.

All were copper coins made from bronze and brass. It looked like each had paid 2 coppers, accumulating about 20 coppers in total.

As I counted, I furrowed my brow.

“Is this all you have?”

How could none of these people have a single silver piece? I was slightly disappointed by the poor collection results.

Right then, someone raised a hand.

“What is it?”

“I am Veritos. If I may humbly speak…”

The man’s voice sounded rather old. He’s probably an old man.

Since he had followed the rules by raising his hand and speaking respectfully, I was able to soften my attitude toward him a bit.

“Go ahead and speak.”

“Th-that money is what we worked hard to gather today. If we lose it, we won’t be able to cross the river this year…”

“…Alright. Give it back.”

“Hard-earned money…”

His words caused a commotion among the crowd. Of course, they quieted down instantly like corpses when I rapped my club against the ground again.

“Shh, be quiet.”

Anyway, according to their statement, these small coins that don’t even amount to a single silver are extremely precious amounts of money to them.

Considering this is all these people own, I can understand why. Just like how two coppers mean different things to a rich man and a pauper, the financial senses between these people and me are different.

I cherished 30 silvers like my life when I was a slave because that money symbolized my freedom.

Then, are these two coppers meaningful amounts of money for them as well?

So I decided to ask the old man under the mask about the situation.

“I don’t understand. Who are you people? And why did you climb over someone else’s fence in the middle of the night?”

“That’s…”

In response to my question, the old man Veritos turned his head around. The plain wooden mask with only eye holes seemed to be looking around.

After hesitating for quite some time, he finally spoke from under his mask.

“We are the deceased who couldn’t cross the river because we lacked the two coppers. We managed to gather money at today’s festival and came looking for the ferry…”

The old man’s blue eyes met mine from under the mask.

“Isn’t this really the ferry landing? It certainly doesn’t look like a ferry landing for crossing over to the underworld…”

The old man who identified himself as one of the deceased seemed unable to break away from the concept of “ferry landing.”

Moreover, the people around him also murmured as if they truly believed this place was a ferry landing for boarding boats.

At that moment, Luna, who had been listening to the story, asked a question.

“If you’re the deceased, does that mean you’re already dead people?”

“Yes. We are all dead souls. You can call us ghosts or spirits.”

Ghosts screaming while being struck with clubs…

I can’t understand why self-proclaimed ghosts would barge into our yard.

Is the house site cursed? Luna said this site was very good, though.

More importantly, are these people really ghosts?

Since there are goblins, skeletons, talking foals, elves, and god-like beings in this world, there’s no rule that ghosts can’t exist.

Still, I felt a bit disappointed at the discrepancy between the spooky ghosts I imagined and the ghosts screaming while being hit with clubs.

“Are you really ghosts? Honestly, you don’t seem much different from humans.”

The response to this question came from Veritos, who had shown polite behavior.

“Today is the longest day of the year, the summer solstice. Just like how strong light creates deep shadows, on this night when the energy of light is strong, the energy of darkness is also strong. Therefore, we can interfere with the world for just one day.”

Swoosh.

The old man Veritos looked at his own arm revealed from under the black robe. He examined his wrinkled palm from various angles and added a few more words in amazement.

“But this year, I can transform to resemble a human quite well. There’s no rot, no visible injuries. If it’s like this, I should be able to easily deceive the trackers.”

I don’t fully understand what he’s saying, but I could feel that these people are somewhat different from living humans.

A scary yard where ghosts appear.

I’m seriously considering moving.

While my head was tangled with such thoughts, Luna, who had quietly been listening to the story, spoke up as if trying to summarize the situation.

“So, you’re all dead people and want to go to the land of no form, right?”

“Yes. That’s a summary of our situation. If we can’t cross the river at this year’s festival, we might really be caught by the trackers.”

“What are trackers?”

At Luna’s question, the murmurs from the crowd increased. Judging from how everyone muttered “trackers, trackers,” they seemed terrified of the name.

“Trackers are monstrous creatures that prey on us deceased. We wear masks and cover our bodies to avoid their eyes. Already, many of our companions have been eaten…”

Soon, Veritos bowed his head deeply to us.

“This year, we must board a boat without fail… Long lingering spirits harbor putrid magic that attracts trackers…”

After bowing deeply, Veritos continued.

“Divine Lady, it was our fault to have entered your shrine without permission. Could you kindly forgive us just this once and return our money?”

These people seem to have mistaken this yard for some kind of shrine of the goddess and have also mistaken Luna for the goddess.

Luna is the daughter of Nox, the goddess of night, so it’s not entirely wrong. There’s even a statue of Lady Nox inside that cottage.

Still, Luna erupted into laughter beneath her mask, finding the situation quite amusing. After all, I can’t imagine any woman disliking being called a goddess.

If I compare it to men, it’s probably like hearing “This guy is quite cool.” Indeed, it must feel good.

That’s why Luna seemed to be in a very good mood when she spoke.

“Alright, I’ll safely send all of you to the land of no form. I’ve already received payment.”

“Is that true?”

At Luna’s words, the previously gloomy crowd lit up with joy.

Though their faces were hidden by masks, I could vaguely sense that everyone had wide smiles of happiness.

“Such a merciful divine lady. Thank you. Thank you!”

“Finally, my spirit and soul can rest. I wonder if my wife is waiting for me on the other side of the river?”

“It’s fortunate we weren’t caught by the trackers…”

The noisy yard became lively again as everyone started talking at once.

“Shh, be quiet. We need to concentrate now.”

Luna warned the crowd to be quiet before drawing something resembling a spell or magic circle in the wide corner of the yard. It was about one square meter in size.

The glyph with many sharp points resembled a star shape and looked like it might be wild flowers in full bloom.

“I learned some basic voodoo rituals long ago. Communicating with spirits is a fundamental part of voodoo. Alright, come inside one by one!”

Luna shouted while raising her Silence Totem. In response, the masked crowd began to discuss among themselves.

“Who should go first?”

“Master Veritos is closest to the limit. He’s been wandering for the longest time. Let’s send him first.”

“Yeah, that’s probably best. Let’s line up in the order of d*ath.”

It seemed that this Veritos master was the first candidate to test Luna’s voodoo. He must be the eldest.

While I was thinking this, a voice interrupted.

“What? How can it be an old man’s turn. This Cliff master from Dousak Mountain should go first. You’re all shrinking back!”

“But, Cliff, Master Veritos has wandered this world the longest…”

“What are you saying? Everyone, step aside. I’ll go first.”

From the crowd, a man with a rather large physique stood up, shouldered aside Master Veritos, and entered the magic circle.

His build was similar to mine, and his voice was loud and commanding—it was more like a tiger than a ghost.

Startled by his actions, the crowd only muttered curses like “Bad guy” or “The guy who’ll burn in Tartarus” under their breath.

Ignoring the established order like this. Is there some sort of hierarchy even among ghosts? So, there are gangster ghosts.

However, Luna didn’t seem to care who went first.

“Come here and stand!”

Thus, eventually, the troublemaker named Cliff—or whatever—stood inside the magic circle. We all watched tensely, waiting to see what would happen next.

Cliff looked around while asking.

“Hey, lady goddess. What should I do now? You’re going to send me to Elysium, the sacred land of warriors, right? Hurry up.”

“Shh, be quiet! And stand still without moving!”

With those final words, Luna swung her Silence Totem at Cliff’s head.

“Soul-Sending Voodoo!”

Whoosh, Bang!

Indeed, the sound of a head cracking was loud enough, and the towering ghost screamed “Kwaaaah!” while writhing in agony.

He immediately lost his balance, fell down, and began convulsing on the magic circle.

“Aaaah, ow! Nngh, stop! What, what are you doing?!”

“Soul-Sending—! Voodoo!”

Bang, Smash, Bang!

But Luna’s hands showed no sign of stopping.

“Gaaaah!”

That man, who was under the black robe and mask, was gradually flattened as he let out a final, terrible scream before losing consciousness.

Including myself, we all watched the scene in silence. After a while of frenzied activity, Luna finally stopped.

Her breathing was heavy, and her shoulders were shaking, having exhausted her energy swinging the heavy club.

“Huh, that’s strange.”

Luna tilted her head in confusion after a moment.

“I must have made a mistake. It didn’t work. Was the spell wrong? There shouldn’t have been a chance of failure.”

After a moment, Luna dragged the convulsing Cliff out of the magic circle, then adjusted the worn-out spell pattern before turning to the remaining participants.

“Alright, next person! This time, it will work. I’ll send you to the underworld in one go!”

Whoosh, Hooong!

Like a confident fourth batter swinging a massive bat, her posture gave the impression that even a living person might be sent straight to the underworld with one swing of that.

But perhaps because they had witnessed her frenzied clubbing just now, the spirits who were trying to determine the order just moments ago now remained silent.

“This time, I’m really confident!”

Though she shouted confidently, the spirits remained silent. Some seemed so frightened that they began sobbing outright.

At that point, I had no choice but to ask.

“Luna, is it really true that anyone hit by this will be sent to the underworld?”

“…I don’t know!”

“Ah, I see.”

“But, that’s how I was taught. This is a spell circle of Charon. Like the boat of Charon, the ferryman of the underworld. And if you offer tribute…”

Luna paused as if realizing something.

“The spell requires tribute! I forgot about that because it’s an unfamiliar spell. Cliff, I’m sorry.”

Perhaps realizing her mistake, Luna sincerely apologized to Cliff, who was still trembling on the ground. Whether he accepted her apology or not didn’t seem to concern Luna much.

“The tribute is the fresh bl**d of a maiden. What should we do?”

The idea of fresh maiden’s bl**d as a tribute sounds appropriately eerie and gave me chills.

“Luna, won’t your bl**d work?”

“Umm, no… probably not.”

Indeed, Luna probably shouldn’t be considered a maiden anymore.

Clearly aware of this herself, she was still troubled about where to find a maiden’s bl**d in the middle of the night.

While we were puzzling over this, Luna suddenly rushed into the first floor of the cabin.

She soon came out with what could be called a small stuffed doll and started playing with it.

“Luna, what are you doing?”

“I’m calling Paranoi! This doll is kind of like Paranoi’s alter ego. If I tickle her underarms like this, she’ll come.”

After scratching the armpits of the doll for several minutes, a voice came from the entrance of the yard.

“Lady Luna, did you call me…? I felt like you were calling me, so I came to check. My sides are very itchy…”

There at the entrance appeared Paranoi, the small nymph.

Because of the large mask she was wearing, I couldn’t see her face, but her absent-minded attitude could only belong to Paranoi.

“The inns are all full because of the festival, so there’s nowhere for me to sleep tonight… Could I stay here in the cabin for the night?”

Apparently, Paranoi had failed to secure a place to sleep during this inn-booming festival day.

“But you have many guests already, don’t you? May I ask what you’re doing?”

“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’re going to draw your bl**d!”

“…I’ll take my leave then.”

“Hehe, you can’t!”

[Author’s Notes]

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Thank you for the comment recommendations…!!

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