Volume 1, Chapter 30 – Count Tasord’s Ghost Problem

“Exorcising a villa?”

We had come to Count Tasord’s mansion after being introduced by the Pope.

My underground Apothecary idol business was currently on hiatus.

“Yes. Our family has a villa in the suburbs, but about two months ago, ghosts started appearing there.”

Chris-san’s face turned pale. Ah, right. Chris-san was terrible with ghosts.

“What kind of ghosts are they?”

“At first, it was apparently something like a black mist. However, before anyone knew it, a massive number of dolls began filling the mansion. Furthermore, those dolls move, and they’ve begun threatening anyone who enters in order to drive them away.”

Ugh, moving dolls? How creepy!

“They just threaten people? They don’t attack?”

“It seems that if you leave immediately after opening the door, you won’t be attacked. However… not a single person who has actually stepped inside the mansion has returned.”

Yikes, that’s the real deal. That’s definitely bad news.

“And so, I felt the only people I could rely on were Saint-sama and the Holy Knight.”

“I see. Chris-san, what do you think?”

Ah, she’s turning blue.

As expected, this might be too much for the ghost-fearing Chris-san.

I don’t really want anything to do with a mountain of moving dolls myself, either.

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Just as I was thinking that, the door was thrown open with great force.

“I have heard the details, Count Tasord. As the next Saint, I, Charlotte du Gatilue, shall purge this evil spirit for you.”

Oh, some person I don’t know just showed up.

I mean, this is someone else’s house, right? Why did she just barge in? And in the middle of a conversation, no less. Does she seriously have no manners?

“Cha-Charlotte-sama…!”

“Count Tasord, to think you would forget the debt you owe my family and go out of your way to request help from two commoner-born nobodies. How lamentable. Furthermore, Hugues-sama is here with me. He is quite different from some crude commoner woman who never made it past Vice Commander.”

Wow, she’s like a textbook haughty ojou-sama ¹ Ojou-sama (お嬢様) translates literally to “young lady” in Japanese, but culturally, it refers to the sheltered, pampered daughter of a wealthy, high-status, or noble family. character. Amazing!

She was a beautiful woman with blonde hair in vertical ringlets, green eyes that looked quite sharp despite being well-formed, and an outstanding figure.

But I really wish she’d stop wearing what was basically a matching outfit with mine.

Aside from the embroidery being gold and the patterns being light green, it was almost identical.

Wait, is this robe design determined by hair and eye color or something?

In that case, is the tall, insanely handsome guy standing next to her Hugues-san?

Dark blue hair and brown eyes, with a cool vibe… but as expected, handsome guys are the enemy. Seriously, just explode already.

“Charlotte-sama, Hugues, we are here on a request from the Temple. Your interference is unnecessary!”

Ah, the person who was pale just a moment ago suddenly perked right back up.

“My? I don’t recall giving the weakest excuse for a commoner-born Holy Knight permission to open her mouth. You were only chosen by the weakest Holy Sword out of pity; don’t get ahead of yourself. Count Tasord, leave this matter to us. Come, Hugues-sama. Let us go.”

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“Yes, milady.”

“Now, you there, guide us.”

And just like that, she stormed in and stormed right back out.

Man, what a restless person. I wonder what on earth she’s trying to compete over.

“Um, Count? What should we do? Are you going to leave it to them?”

“No, that wouldn’t do. Since the two of you were dispatched by the Temple, I would be failing in my duties to the Temple if I did not ask you…”

“Well, I feel like it would be fine if we just said we turned it down—”

“No, Fiene-sama, let’s do it! We can’t let them beat us to it!”

“Huh?”

I mean, if they want to do it, I think we should just let them.

Look, in these kinds of events, whether you compete or not, you always end up getting dragged in to clean up the mess anyway.

In that case, I think it’s better to just take it easy.

“But Fiene-sama! For them to snatch away the request we accepted and solve it themselves—”

“Well, I have a feeling we’re going to end up doing the aftermath anyway.”

“Eh?”

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Ah, oops. Not just Chris-san, but even the Count is looking at me with suspicious eyes.

“Ah, no. I mean, no one has returned, right? And the fact that the Count knows that and still requested help from the Temple means you sent in people who were reasonably skilled, not just servants, right?”

“Y-yes. That is correct.”

The Count’s face practically screamed, ‘How did you know that?’

“Besides, you have a connection with Charlotte-san’s family, don’t you, Count? In that case, it would be more natural to ask Charlotte-san. Under those circumstances, the fact that the Pope designated us instead of them means the Pope probably thought it would be difficult for them.”

“T-true. Our house is indeed part of Duke Gatilue’s faction. But…”

“So I figured they’d probably fail and the job would land back in our laps anyway, so we might as well just wait patiently. Even if we chase after them now, it’ll just needlessly provoke her pride.”

“No, but if something were to happen to those two, our house would…”

Ugh, what a pain. They stuck their noses in of their own accord, so they should take responsibility themselves.

“Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I’m sure it’ll work out somehow.”

In this kind of scenario, people have usually been turned into dolls, and once you beat the boss, everyone goes back to normal!

“H-how can you say that!”

“And so, please tell me a little more about the ghost in that villa.”

Ah, Chris-san’s face is turning a bit pale again.

“Please, please do something about this!”

“Yes, yes. It’ll be fine.”

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Probably.

“I understand. So, what should I tell you?”

“Let’s see. First, please tell me what kind of people lived there and what kind of people came and went.”

“…”

Huh? What’s with the silence? Did I ask something I shouldn’t have?

As I stared intently at the Count, he finally opened his mouth as if resigning himself.

“In that villa lived my daughter, Angelica, who was prone to illness. My daughter was a gentle and beautiful girl, the pride of my life. However, perhaps because she was loved too much by the Gods, her body was very weak. So, I thought I would let her live peacefully away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and I bought that villa for her. In that quiet place, far from political strife, she spent her days peacefully… but despite our prayers, she departed for the side of the Gods three months ago.”

“…I see.”

“However, about two weeks after my daughter passed, a man named Joseph, a dollmaker, visited the villa. He claimed he had come to deliver a doll my daughter had ordered. But since we had never heard of such a man visiting, we turned him away. However, he kept coming back almost every day. He was so persistent that we finally told him my daughter had already gone to be with the Gods and brought him to her grave. There, he suddenly flew into a rage, shouting things like, ‘Did you kill her?!’ before swinging a blade at us. We had no choice but to cut him down. It pained my heart greatly to defile my daughter’s graveside with blood, but…”

————I see. A tragedy caused by a misunderstanding and tangled romantic feelings. I don’t know if it was unrequited or mutual, though.

“It was after that. That villa became cursed. Therefore, I believe that Joseph—that mysterious dollmaker—became an evil spirit and now haunts the villa.”

————Mm, I do feel bad for Joseph-san, but pulling a knife over a misunderstanding is still a no-no.

“For now, let’s go visit Angelica-san’s grave.”

“No, that grave is at the villa.”

“Ugh.”