59 – The Unseen Before Your Eyes
Ascal was familiar with the term “spiritual hotspot.”
It referred to places where eerie occurrences, such as the appearance of ghosts, were often witnessed, as if spirits gathered together.
When night fell, the dense trees obscured everything just a step ahead. If one misstepped, they would fall into a swamp.
Naturally, the Witch’s Forest was confidently considered one of the Empire’s top ten spiritual hotspots.
“Ahhhhh!”
Thanks to that, Sushia was unexpectedly filming a horror movie. Of course, from Ascal’s perspective, where the ghosts were invisible, it seemed like Sushia was putting on a one-person show.
“Get a hold of yourself, Sushia! Don’t forget that you were almost going to become a saint! In terms of hierarchy, you are absolutely superior!”
Ascal advised.
They changed the genre of the movie from horror to exorcism.
Sushia recited the second line of Chapter 22 of the Bible while sprinkling water from a hollow reed on the ghost.
The effect was remarkable.
Sushia, who had been terrified, gradually calmed down.
“Let’s go back like this.”
“Just a moment, Minister. I didn’t mean to surprise you. I just wanted you to listen to me.”
“What is this…”
It is common sense not to get close to the dead. Ascal tried to take Sushia to the mountain even by force, but at that moment, Sushia shed tears like chicken droppings.
“This ghost says it has never eaten chicken in its entire life.”
Although Sushia’s intelligence level cannot be described as high, her empathy is far superior to anyone in the evaluation department.
The daughter of a duke who grew up without any wrinkles in her upbringing, understood the ghost’s story and listened sincerely!
“Sob. This ghost came into the forest to find its parents but got lost and fell into a swamp.”
“Why, by the way, we were supposed to meet in this forest, but he ended up falling from a cliff!”
“Exactly. I was supposed to receive the money I lent here, but when my back of the head started to burn, I turned into a ghost!”
Sushia was truly engrossed.
To her, each story of the ghosts felt like her own.
For a while, Sushia listened to the ghost’s stories, nodded her head, and shed tears as she empathized.
Ascal watched silently, half-giving up.
Then something strange happened.
Semi-transparent soul-like beings began to appear in Ascal’s eyes, swaying one by one before eventually dispersing.
The ghosts were being absolved.
The spirits, who could only feel sorry or angry and wander aimlessly, found satisfaction in Sushia’s sincere empathy.
-Thank you.
-Thank you for listening to my story.
-Actually, I think I was the one who was wrong. But still, thank you.
-So that’s the taste of chicken.
It was a purification ceremony.
The souls expressed their gratitude and disappeared into the sky.
“I think I know why such a halfwit was chosen as a candidate for the saint. Will you establish a sect later, huh?”
But.
There was still one soul that hadn’t disappeared yet.
The color was a deep, dark red.
“I’m not satisfied. I’m not satisfied. I still want to kill more. I want to smell the iron even more.”
Sometimes, when the soul is too intense, it becomes visible to the eyes of those who are alive.
And people usually call it a ghost.
“Give me your body.”
Without any time to react, the ghost jumped into Ascal’s body. And as if being sucked in like smoke, it went into his mouth and ears.
“Minister! Are you okay?”
“Ugh… My body, my stomach…”
Ascal twisted in pain as if suffering from indigestion.
“Ugh.”
Soon, he felt comfortable.
“Minister?”
“…What just happened?”
“Yes.”
Sushia tilted her head.
As soon as they arrived at the place where the witch was, the one who greeted Ascal and Sushia were girls wearing pointed hats.
“They came again!”
“Nice to see you, nice to see you!”
The girls happily circled around Ascal and Sushia. It seemed like their way of welcoming them.
Unconsciously, Ascal tried to pat the girl’s head but stopped.
“May I ask how old you are?”
“What’s age?”
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“Your age.”
The girl looked at her fingers and started counting one, two, three. Then she held out her palm to Ascal.
“Five years old!”
Similarly, a small girl held out her palm.
“If she’s five, then I’m also five!”
Fortunately, the girls’ ages seemed to match their appearances. Ascal patted the girl’s head with relief.
“Me too! Me too!”
“Yeah.”
At this age, everything is enjoyable. Ascal happily indulged in whatever he wanted.
“Su Sia?”
But Su Sia’s expression seemed strange.
“Minister.”
Su Sia whispered into Ascal’s ear.
“These children, they are already dead.”
“But we can see them and even touch them, can’t we?”
“I don’t know. But my instinct tells me that they are already dead.”
After a moment’s consideration, Ascal spoke.
“Have any of you died? If you have, tell me.”
“Gyaak! Minister!”
It becomes needlessly complicated when they start acting like this.
The girls responded with bright smiles to Ascal’s direct question.
“Yes! We’re dead!”
“But how can we have a conversation with you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the Grand Witch did something!”
“Elenia can do anything! But she can’t see us!”
There were surprisingly many things they couldn’t do.
Ascal was about to add something, but he decided to protect the innocence of the girls.
“Well then, will you guide us to Elenia?”
“Yes! Tell her that we guided you!”
“Alright.”
Once again, the girls happily walked towards the swamp. The swamp transformed back into a flower garden, and they saw a hut.
“Thank you. Kids.”
“Yes!”
The girls waved their hands to bid farewell.
Ascal shook hands with them and entered the hut.
And there, Witch Elenia was present.
Shadows deepened under her eyes and her hair was disheveled, with dry lips covered.
The witch’s gaze fell upon Ascal.
Her eyes were lifeless.
“You should clean up a bit and go out.”
“…Don’t you usually worry when you see a woman like this?”
“What happened?”
“Ugh. I should’ve kept my mouth shut.”
Elenia smirked. She smoothed out her messy hair with her hand and licked her lips. Elenia, who had become barely recognizable, sat down on a chair.
“I won’t give you any medicine today.”
“Why?”
“Well, it’s poison.”
The leader opened his eyes that he had closed.
“The witch betrayed us.”
“I thought so.”
“In the first place, she was not trustworthy from the beginning.”
The plan went wrong.
The leader spoke to the forger.
“Use the second plan. Forger.”
“Understood.”
“What are we going to do with the betraying witch?”
“We leave her alone. Being alive for the witch itself will become hell. It’s meaningless to meddle with her.”
The candlelight went out.
Ascal sat across from Elenia.
Sushia stood awkwardly because there was no available chair.
“Why are you telling me willingly?”
“It’s meaningless now.”
Endless talking won’t make any progress in the story.
Sometimes it happens.
Getting lost in her own world, speaking unilaterally so only she could understand, making conclusions by herself.
A tiresome companion.
“Yuria.”
Ascal sighed heavily.
Elenia lifted her head briefly, then dropped it again as if tired of pretending to be surprised.
“It’s my subordinate, Sushia. She almost became a saint, but since then she’s been tormented by seeing ghosts. Is there a solution?”
If he’s interested, he’ll answer on his own.
Ascal lifted his chin and waited for Elenia’s response.
“Why should we solve it? There are so many people who can’t obtain what they want.”
“It may be different in your world, but Sushia is an ordinary person. It’s not good to see ghosts.”
“There is a way.”
Elenia rummaged through her belongings and pulled out a ridiculous pair of glasses. They had unusually thick lenses and strange decorations hanging from them.
“If you wear these, you won’t be able to see them.”
“No, I hate it. How can I go around wearing these?”
“If you don’t like this, there’s another way.”
“What is it?”
“You can gouge out your eyes.”
Wearing strange glasses or gouging out her eyes.
Sushia was forced to make the ultimate binary choice.
“Well, then towards gouging…”
“Snap out of it, Sushia.”
Ascal tapped Sushia’s shoulder.
“Stop taking your stress out on innocent people. It doesn’t matter if there’s no solution, just say so.”
“You caught me.”
“Usually, in situations like this, there is a third option, isn’t there?”
“Yes. Your subordinate can become a witch.”
Sushia’s mouth fell open.
“A, a witch? Won’t that result in severe discrimination?”
“You said it yourself, and I don’t have time to waste on such a fool, so it’s practically an impossible solution. Now, please leave.”
“Is that so. Ah, this time, the little witches, no, the girls wanted me to let them know that they guided you.”
Elenia stood up abruptly.
“The girls are here? Still?”
“They were right outside the cabin. Didn’t you always run into them?”
Elenia got up from her seat and rushed out of the cabin without a word.
“Lorian! Flora! Are you there? Answer me!”
Her voice felt even crazier.
Ascal followed her outside.
Susia looked at Ascal calmly. For a while, Susia didn’t know what to say and finally managed to speak.
“Minister. That person…”
“Yeah. They can’t see.”
The girls were right in front of Elenia.
Elenia’s hand touched the girl’s body but went through as if she was a ghost.
The girls looked up at Elenia with sad eyes.