Chapter 124

Chapter 124

“T… tag?”

“Uh-huh! Tag!”

Shion’s beaming reply was quite adorable. But the pale head cradled in her arms halved that cuteness. Feeling awkward, I glanced down at the skull — at that gaunt man’s face — and fumbled for words.

“Um… if you’re playing tag, why are you carrying someone else’s head…”

“I have to carry it so this oppa comes to catch me!”

What the hell?! Isn’t that just tormenting him?

Tears were glistening in the eyes of the head in her hands. To anyone watching, it was obviously bullying, not harmless fun.

“Shion… you can’t just take someone else’s — no, some soul’s head away like that.”

“But I wanna play with this oppa!”

“Shion! No means no.”

I shook my head firmly. Shion’s shoulders slumped in a sulk, but soon she gave in and handed the head back to its owner. The headless man hugged his own skull tight, then bowed to me — a gesture of thanks, it seemed.

Seen this way, he struck me as rather naive. He hadn’t known how to handle a child’s nasty prank, and now he was bowing to me in gratitude. He didn’t feel like someone vicious enough to commit murder.

‘Maybe… there was some misunderstanding…?’

The thought sprang up unbidden. But I shook my head, shaking off that complacent notion.

‘Well… you can’t always tell a murderer by their everyday behavior. Your neighbor, the people around you — they might be killers too. Even the most ordinary person could be thinking something else inside.’

Then a chilling unease swept through my mind. It felt as though the unavoidable fear that the being before me might be a murderer was taking root. Perhaps that was why I found myself wanting a definitive answer instead. That was the same reason I ended up stopping him as he was about to leave.

“Hey… Edil?”

“…….”

He faltered, halting mid-step. Yet once he stopped, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything either. Every word I thought of felt like it would come across as rude. Sentences like ‘Are you a murderer?’ or ‘Did you commit a crime worthy of beheading?’ naturally got swallowed back down my throat. So I had to pause, stewing over what to do next.

“Since we’ve met like this, how about we talk a bit?”

And just then, the Duke cut abruptly into our conversation. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye before turning my gaze back to the headless man. Unable to speak because of his severed neck, he couldn’t offer any reply. But he gave a vague shrug, signaling that he understood.

“Alright, let’s move to another spot first.”

Following that, the Duke turned around and continued speaking. I scurried after him. Right behind me, the headless ghost and Shion followed along.

We made our way straight to the study I used to use. Stepping inside for the first time in ages, it was still bare—just a table and chairs sitting alone. I went up to the table and set down the Book of Souls on top of it. Then I turned to the headless ghost lingering by the door. But for some reason, he seemed restless, fidgeting intensely.

“Aren’t you coming in?”

I asked him in a thoroughly puzzled tone. Then it suddenly clicked why he couldn’t enter this room.

‘Right. I forgot because we switched studies. That ghost can’t come in here originally.’

He was an earthbound spirit. That means a soul tethered to one place. That was exactly why he always stood only by the study’s door. He simply couldn’t go beyond his designated boundary.

That’s a problem…

Still, we couldn’t just huddle together in front of the door. Thinking we’d better move again, I tried to pick a spot the headless ghost could actually reach. Then I recalled one strange detail.

‘That ghost—why was he in the corridor earlier? He’s never appeared there before.’

A little while ago, I’d run into him in a rather incongruous place. It wasn’t his usual territory. In other words, it was a spot an earthbound spirit like him shouldn’t be able to go.

‘What’s this? Did his territory suddenly expand or something?’

It was in that moment, as I absently rubbed my chin in bewilderment, that Shion suddenly snatched the head from the man’s arms. ‘Oppa, come in here!’ the child shouted, dashing straight into the study. She scurried to the table, sat down, and neatly placed the head on the seat beside her.

That little brat. Why does she keep stealing other people’s heads…?

I grabbed my throbbing forehead, about to scold the child. But the headless ghost came scrambling into the room in such a panic that I couldn’t. He shuffled up to the table, hugged his own head to his chest, and sat down next to Shion.

Huh?

My eyes went wide. And by now, I was starting to get the picture. It seemed that if his head went somewhere first, his body could follow. In other words, the more Shion ran around with that head, the more that ghost could expand his territory.

Good grief. Shion must’ve run all over this mansion playing tag… doesn’t that mean that ghost can go anywhere now? Am I really going to run into that severed head popping up in random places from now on?

It was a real headache. I wasn’t at all confident I wouldn’t scream if that terrifying ghost appeared somewhere I least expected. And the Duke would be the same. So I figured I had to solve this problem somehow. I’d need to make him ascend, or get him out of this house, as soon as possible.

I calmly settled into the seat across from the headless ghost, carefully sifting through words in my head that wouldn’t provoke the specter before me. Then, slowly, I opened my mouth.

“Edil, you said you were executed in your last life, didn’t you?”

〈Y-yes…〉

At my question, he stammered, pointing at the 《Book of Souls》 and forming a sentence.

“Your head was cut off for a crime?”

〈Yes…〉

“You said you didn’t want to talk about what happened. But to have committed a crime worthy of beheading… it can’t be a minor offense. If—if it was murder, and you’re that kind of soul, I think you could be dangerous to us. You don’t seem like you’d suddenly turn into an evil spirit, but you never know.”

“…”

“You don’t need to tell me everything. Just—just tell me a little about your life.”

“…”

The man’s hands began to tremble. He looked utterly terrified. A long, silent moment passed. Then, suddenly, the Duke, who had been quietly watching from beside me, spoke up.

“You’d better come up with some excuse, don’t you think? Didn’t you say you wanted to stay in the land of the living? The priests claim they can’t exorcise a soul that isn’t an evil spirit for religious reasons. But plenty of people will abandon that conviction if you stuff enough money in their hands. And I’ve got plenty of money. Besides, I think it’s more efficient to prevent a murderer’s evil spirit from appearing in my house than to let it happen.”

That was almost a threat. The headless man’s shoulders flinched sharply. Then, slowly, his fingers began to move.

〈I…〉

〈That… day…〉

He’d been crafting the sentence at that slow pace, letter by letter, when suddenly he shot upright. Then, clutching his own severed head, he bolted straight for the door.

“Huh?”

I shot out a hand, but of course I couldn’t catch him. My fingers only brushed past empty air.

“What the?! He ran away! It’s because you scared him, big brother! That guy’s so soft and squishy!”

Shion grumbled, practically shouting it. That left me a little dumbfounded. Who was it that had been tormenting that ‘soft and squishy’ soul, anyway? Hadn’t it been the one running around carrying a piece of its own body? Not to mention, I couldn’t imagine someone who was just ‘soft and squishy’ committing murder.

“Hey. Would a soft and squishy person murder—”

I started to ask if a soft person could commit murder, then stopped short and clamped my mouth shut. It was something I’d blurted out without thinking, but when I considered it, it wasn’t exactly something to say to a child.

“What? Why’d you stop talking?”

Shion immediately looked up at me with round eyes. I could only stammer and fumble for my words.

“Uh… well, that person… I mean, that soul…”

“What? A murderer?”

“Huh?”

But the child was acting quite calmly. The word ‘murderer’ was dropping from that young mouth as if it meant nothing at all. It had a strange, almost unsettlingly alien feel to it.

“Huh? Do you even know what a murderer is?”

“Of course I do! Do you think I wouldn’t know that? It’s someone who kills people!”

“Ah… then, you’re… okay with him? That guy?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, aren’t you scared?”

I thought being scared was only natural. But Shion didn’t seem to feel that way. Her expression was so clear it almost seemed pure.

“Why? Is big sister scared?”

“…”

I couldn’t answer that question. I just stared at her, my mouth opening and closing silently.

“Mmm. So you are scared! But… you and big brother are scared of everything, aren’t you! Even if someone isn’t a murderer, you’re scared of all the souls anyway!”

The child laughed brightly as she said this. Then she hopped to her feet and scurried out the door.

“I’m off to go comfort that guy a bit! And while I’m at it, we’re gonna play!”

Then she was gone, out the door in a flutter. I just blinked, watching Shion’s back as she disappeared. It struck me again—that child didn’t always seem so childish. There was something about her, something not quite ordinary.