Chapter 13 - Boogie Boogie Boogie (5)

We were in the peculiar situation of being inside a haunted mansion. A blonde girl was humming as she came down the stairs at the scene of a fatal accident.

Anyone in their right mind could tell that Emily wasn't herself.

Then Smith's pupil stepped forward and spoke.

"E-Emily! Wearing such thin pajamas... And without shoes... Your legs are completely exposed!"

My face immediately crumpled at Kim Suhyeon's behavior.

'Damn it. So one of us isn't in his right mind.'

Apparently, the thought of another man seeing Emily's bare skin really upset him.

Was this seriously the time to worry about that...?

Under his wavering gaze, Emily lifted one pale leg slightly and wiggled her foot as though amused.

"Why? You like my legs, don't you? You're always sneaking looks behind Grandpa's back~."

"N-no, that's not true. I—!"

"Did you really think I hadn't noticed? You're creepy."

Suhyeon tried to deny it, but his eyes were fixed on Emily's little toes as they wriggled together.

Seeing this, Smith let out a shocked groan.

"... E-Emily."

Everyone had their fetishes, and I had no interest in the time Emily, Smith, and Suhyeon had spent together, so none of that mattered to me.

But letting her keep leading us around by the nose wasn't good. To change the subject, I gestured toward the chandelier with my eyes and spoke.

It needed doing anyway.

"Everyone, even if the police can't get here yet, let's cover the body with a tablecloth or some other cloth. We can't just leave it like that."

"..."

At Yohan's words, Emily gave a mocking smile, then slipped behind Suhyeon's back.

"... I'm tired. I need some rest."

Suhyeon spoke in a trembling voice.

"Seeing the body seems to have... confused Emily. I'll take her back so she can rest."

Smith staggered toward Emily.

"I'm sorry, Yohan. I'm worried about Emily, so I'll stay with her too."

Well, sure. Possessed or not, leaving his granddaughter alone with a pupil who'd turned out to get aroused by her legs would worry him.

Pastor Go Juwon hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the body beneath the chandelier. Fiddling with his cross, he moved over to Smith.

"I-I'm worried about Mr. Smith and Miss Emily too, so I'll join you."

I blinked at the people taking Emily away.

How many people did it take to escort someone to the nurse's office?

Were our ancestors supposed to come clean up the body, then?

The words rose to my throat, but I swallowed them. There was no point.

I raised my head, looking into the clammy, unpleasant atmosphere I could now clearly feel.

The shaman had merely been the first to be affected. The others weren't themselves anymore either.

... Not all of them, though.

I lowered my gaze to Ellie, who was kneeling before the chandelier and praying for the dead shaman.

"Lord, remember the departed, and help her find peace and rest."

She was a fake nun without a veil, her lovely black hair fully exposed, but her voice was solemn, sorrowful, and gentle.

Finishing her prayer, Ellie rose and addressed Yohan in a resolute voice.

"I want to help Emily. There's clearly something wrong with her right now. So I'd like an expert's help. Please help us, Mr. Ghostbuster."

The unexpected title made my expression go slack for a moment.

"Sorry?"

The housekeeper, who had been watching us nervously, joined in too.

"Th-the others laughed... but I-I believe you too. Um... You're the calmest one here, and you seem used to this... so..."

That Ghostbuster remark was just something I'd tossed out in the kitchen earlier to lighten the mood.

I sighed inwardly.

... Seriously, how could they believe that?

Still, there was no reason to undo the trust I'd earned, so I decided to go along with it.

I'd come here to get rid of an evil spirit and earn thirty million won in the first place.

I turned to Ellie and the housekeeper...

"What was your name?"

"Oh, it's Kim Sora."

I addressed Ellie and Sora.

"First, let's get something to cover the body... Do you have anything we could use as a brazier?"

Clutching the grimoire, I watched the blizzard raging outside the window.

It seemed to have made all sorts of preparations.

But cheap horror movies weren't my thing.

Their plots were contrived and lousy.

* * *

We draped a spare bedsheet over the fallen chandelier to hide the body. The newly hired housekeeper, Kim Sora, said there was something resembling a brazier among the artworks and antiques Smith had received from friends, so she and Ellie went to fetch it.

"It'll be dangerous if we delay any longer, so I'll get the bag of supplies from my room."

I stopped by my room and picked up the bag containing my robe and holy water.

And since I was alone, I decided to try using the grimoire's search function, the way it had shown me information about black magic.

I didn't know whether it had anything on this evil spirit, but trying couldn't hurt.

I wondered how I was supposed to use it, but the moment I focused on the idea, the grimoire opened itself.

『Something frightening, a dark being that hides in closets, beneath beds, and inside gaps. It feeds on human fear to grow stronger.』

"An evil spirit under the bed... A boogeyman?"

Though right now it was inside Emily, not under her bed.

With everything I needed in hand, I climbed to the top of the second-floor stairs to rejoin the others.

"..."

Sensing a chilling presence, I slowly turned toward the dark corridor where Emily's room was.

Smith's pupil, Kim Suhyeon... emerged with a kitchen knife in one hand.

Whatever the possessed Emily had told him in that short time, he was glaring at me with eyes full of hostility.

Well, it was something that evil-spirit bastard had said. I wasn't particularly curious. Suhyeon wouldn't be in his right mind now anyway.

She'd probably offered to fuck him if he killed me.

Still, as a matter of courtesy, I spoke to him calmly.

"Suhyeon, get ahold of yourself. If you like Emily, you should know better than anyone that she isn't herself right—"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Emily is mine! I hated that lecherous look in your eyes from the start! I'll kill you! YoudamnedoldmanEmilyismineeveryspacebetweenhertoesisminewhowouldeverrespectawashedupoldhasbeenlikeyougivemeEmily."

... Apparently, what he liked wasn't Emily, but her body and her toes.

"This is fucking ridiculous."

I never imagined I'd learn about someone else's sexual preferences against my will and face the prospect of being stabbed, all at once.

"Diiiiiiiiie!"

Kim Suhyeon charged with his knife thrust forward. With his master in danger, Grizzly emerged from the grimoire and swatted the charging man with his palm as though killing a fly.

Following his master's earlier orders, he'd meant only to subdue him with moderate force.

Unfortunately, the direction was wrong.

THWACK—CRACK!

The blow sent Suhyeon crashing into the railing. It broke, and he fell to the first floor.

And apparently, his landing angle was wrong too.

CRUNCH!

His neck snapped, killing him on the spot.

Smith's pupil, Kim Suhyeon, was dead.

"..."

Grizzly and I poked our heads over the broken railing and looked down at Suhyeon's body.

"... Fuck."

"... Gyaa."