Chapter 18 - Ghostbuster (2)

Yohan washed up quickly, slipped into a soft bathrobe, and stepped out of the bathroom.

It felt good to have those spilled drinks washed out of my hair.

This hotel offered milk baths, which had earned great reviews. Not that I’d booked it specifically for my own enjoyment.

SPLASH! SPLASH!

I looked at Grizzly, crouched in the enormous tub and splashing around.

“Having fun, Grizzly?”

“Gya! Gyagyagyagyagyagya!”

Apparently so.

“Just be careful not to break the tub.”

Sometimes he opened and closed refrigerator doors whenever he pleased, but he’d done a good job at Smith’s mansion. This was his reward.

We’d worked together. We ought to indulge together, too.

I basked in the warm sunlight streaming into the hotel room and gazed at the scenery outside.

Doing this while everyone else was working made me feel like someone important.

... Well, in reality, I was a student on leave who’d quit his part-time job, a freelancer without a steady income.

A Ghostbuster, to be specific.

Thirty million won for getting rid of the boogeyman.

It was a lot of money, but considering all my future living expenses, booking a hotel and enjoying myself like this was definitely an extravagance. Still, when else could I indulge but when I had money? It wasn’t as though I could do it when I was broke.

I’d done my work. When I had a chance to relax, I ought to take it.

... Though, as it turned out, I couldn’t simply switch my brain off and relax.

Sitting in a chair, I narrowed my eyes.

“...”

I stared at the two grimoires on the table.

One had a dark iron cover; the other, an old leather cover.

<Mysteries of the Worm>, <The Lesser Key of Solomon>.

Somehow, I’d ended up with two grimoires.

‘I Was an Orphan Bastard with No Mom or Dad, but It Turns Out I’m Super Popular with Grimoires!?’

Now all I needed was for them to turn into the prettiest big-titted virgins in the province.

“Ha!”

Just kidding. I didn’t know why, but it must have liked me enough to splash drinks in my face and force a sale.

... And looking on the bright side, I did need a new grimoire.

I reached for Mysteries of the Worm and opened it, looking at pages written in a language I couldn’t understand.

I hadn’t mastered everything I could read yet, either. Still, it felt as though the book was only showing me the equipment I needed to learn magic and the most basic spells, keeping the rest hidden for now.

How was I supposed to unlock this part?

“...?”

Usually, this sort of thing unlocked when you got better. Or—

I looked toward the bathroom, where Grizzly would be playing in the tub.

Did I have to build a bond with Grizzly, since he was linked to the grimoire? ... This wasn’t Zatch Bell.

‘Grizzly! It’s a new spell! Baou Grizzly!’

‘Gyaaa! Gyagyagyagyagyagaaaa!’

An incredibly idiotic fantasy flashed through my head, and I quickly shook it off.

Anyway, since I’d hit a wall with Mysteries of the Worm for now, studying magic from my new grimoire, The Lesser Key of Solomon, seemed like a decent idea.

I set Mysteries of the Worm down. Its iron cover vibrated as though displeased, but I ignored it and opened The Lesser Key of Solomon to read.

[The best way to avoid being deceived by a demon is never to bargain with one in the first place. But if you have no choice but to bargain with a demon—]

Taking the book’s advice, I had no intention of touching demon summoning, so I turned the page.

I didn’t think I was some extraordinarily clever, cunning person who could outmaneuver a demon.

... If I’d been clever and cunning, I wouldn’t have majored in philosophy.

So I wouldn’t summon demons in the first place.

If you could avoid danger, you were better off doing so.

Still, knowing how to deal with them would be useful, so I’d read that section properly later. It wasn’t what I was looking for right now.

At my current level, famous big-shot demons like Solomon’s seventy-two demons, who often appeared in pop culture, were too much for me.

What I was looking for—

The grimoire’s pages turned as though it had read my mind.

—was right there.

Pentagrams. Also called pentacles.

These were aids for magical rituals, made by drawing magic circles in advance on round metal medallions or parchment.

The word “pentagram” referred to a five-pointed star, an important element in magic.

Mysteries of the Worm covered these too, but it only had pentacles inscribed with basic, general-purpose pentagram spells.

The Lesser Key of Solomon, on the other hand, seemed determined to prove that “Solomon” in its title wasn’t false advertising. It contained magic circles known as the forty-four pentacles of Solomon.

These pentacles drew upon the magical power of the seven planets—

Well, technically, the sun was a star and the moon was a satellite, but let’s group them under planets for convenience.

Anyway, the First Pentacle of Saturn, the Second Pentacle of Saturn...

Each of the seven planets had pentacles assigned to it like that.

“Let’s see, how do you make them...?”

Pentacles could be made from either metal or parchment. If you made them from metal, you had to use one corresponding to the planet’s properties.

Monday through Sunday: Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Sun.

Silver for the moon, iron for Mars, an alloy containing mercury for Mercury, tin for Jupiter, copper for Venus, lead for Saturn, gold for the sun... Gold?

I closed my eyes, pressed between them, and massaged the spot for a moment before opening them again.

Nothing had changed. The sun required gold.

And although the sun had overshadowed it, the moon was a problem too.

... Seriously, the moon and the sun.

They might be major planets, but wasn’t this a bit much?

Did the other five avoid precious metals because they had no pride?

Couldn’t they consider a magician’s budget...?

“Sigh...”

I knew I was nitpicking for no reason.

Then again, Solomon was a king’s son, and being a king was his job. He must have used expensive materials by the bucketful for his magic.

So much for choosing not to summon the seventy-two demon lords... Looking at the materials again, I couldn’t afford to summon them anyway.

My gaze quietly drifted toward the grimoire with the cold iron cover, <Mysteries of the Worm>.

Maybe a book written by a veteran of the streets and the Crusades really was more beginner-friendly for a magician like me.

I closed <The Lesser Key of Solomon>, picked up <Mysteries of the Worm>, and read its instructions for making pentacles.

Mysteries of the Worm explained how to make parchment.

[When making pentacles or copies of a grimoire, ritual parchment is more effective if the magician makes it personally. The best parchment for magical use is made from the skin of a lamb that has never mated—]

I felt like I’d read the exact same thing when making those earthenware bowls...

Make the parchment... myself?

It did include instructions, at least, even if they used an old medieval method.

“...”

Seriously... Make my own earthenware bowls... Make my own parchment.

Was I a magician or a factory worker?

I rested my chin on my hand and thought for a moment.

‘... Do I really have to use pentacles?’

Couldn’t I just use the magical energy in the air, like in fantasy?

Gather mana into a ball and throw it. A basic first-circle fantasy spell.

I carelessly tossed aside these decrepit, mediocre grimoires that didn’t even have Magic Missile.

CLANG! THUD!

The two grimoires, <Mysteries of the Worm> and <The Lesser Key of Solomon>, tumbled forlornly across the hotel table.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Finland.

Elsie, the saint of the Order of the Holy Maidens, was searching the internet for information about Korea. The beautiful silvery-haired girl was the master of <The Book of the Angel Raziel>.

“Hehe~ Lord Raziel, please watch over me. I’ll learn about Korea and find out where this Yohan is hiding.”

Light spilled from The Book of the Angel Raziel.

[Well done, Elsie.]

“Let’s see, from Finland... to Korea... Huh? What’s this?”

Elsie blinked her sky-blue eyes.

“The Hyper-Ancient Great War of Hwanguk versus Finland... The Hwan-Fin War?”

She had stumbled across a mysterious great war fought long ago for dominion over the earth.

“Allied nations... Tyrannosaurus... Space Marine Chapters joining the war?”

[Elsie... Don’t read things like that.]

A weary voice rang out from the Book of Raziel.