Once upon a time, there was a café here.
The tea brewed by the owner was exquisite, and the cakes were superb, making it quite popular. In this area, the famous establishments with prices affordable for the common folk were the restaurant “Rocinante,” the dining bar “Red Eyebrow,” and the once-thriving café “Andromalius.” The three of them were said to be in fierce competition.
“Rocinante” and “Red Eyebrow” are still in business, but that was not the case for “Andromalius.” Customers who knew the place in its heyday said, “The taste was wonderful,” but it was not just the flavor that led to the café’s downfall.
The trouble began when the owner’s younger brother, a knight, was arrested for embezzlement.
This didn’t happen in the knights’ corps of Shelland. The brother was a member of the renowned domestic knights’ corps, the “Graywing Knights,” which specialized in border surveillance and security. The owner was proud of his younger brother, who had joined such a prestigious knights’ corps.
The family of the café “Andromalius” was said to have been nobility about three generations ago, but an ancestor had caused a scandal that led to their downfall, reducing them to commoners. The owner often said, “Thanks to my brother, it might not be just a dream to restore our noble status and reclaim our honor.”
The owner’s brother had a stern and honest personality, made no mistakes in paperwork or calculations, and was skilled in both swordsmanship and magic. However, he was somewhat inflexible. So when the owner heard that his brother had been arrested for embezzlement, he thought, “This must be a mistake. He was framed while trying to expose some corruption.”
To protect his brother, the owner did everything he could. He spared no expense in hiring a lawyer or bribing those who might speak on his brother’s behalf, using both the café’s profits and the wealth inherited from their parents to ensure the outcome.
As a result, his brother avoided public punishment and was not dishonorably discharged. However, he could no longer stay in the Graywing Knights and was transferred to another corps. What happened to him after that remains unclear. His complicated background of being “capable but with a past” led to him being loaned out from one corps to another.
Amidst all this, war broke out with a neighboring country.
The report of his brother’s death in battle soon reached the owner.
That was when the owner finally broke. His personal fortune had been exhausted, and he passed away bedridden with illness. The owner’s wife had already died before all this happened, and there were no children to inherit the café. While there were some relatives, the owner’s desperate attempts to raise money for his brother had severely damaged those relationships. In the end, this building remained as a “troublesome inheritance.”
…After hearing the entire story, Jill timidly raised her hand.
“Um, may I ask one thing?”
“Yes, feel free to ask anything!”
Carol forced a smile, trying her best to hide her discomfort as she wiped away cold sweat.
“Do you really tell stories like that on-site?”
“…I’m, I’m sorry.”
Everyone sitting at the counter table had an indescribable look on their faces.
The atmosphere was so heavy that you could almost hear a thudding sound.
“That’s honestly a tragic story… even without the ghosts, it’s so sad that my heart can’t handle it…”
“I-I’m so sorry, Jill. I didn’t realize it would be such a serious story.”
Seeing Jill genuinely depressed, Carol and Matthew shrunk down. Carol, already small in stature, seemed to shrink even further, looking like a scolded child.
“S-so, may I continue the story… I mean, the part about the ghost?”
“Yes, please go on.”
Jill, thinking to herself, “I really don’t want to hear the rest of this now,” still nodded in resignation.
“After the owner’s untimely death, there was a huge dispute over what to do with the ownership of the building. The relatives argued, not so much about who would take it over, but who would be stuck with it. The tragic events surrounding the owner and his brother were one reason, but there’s also one more important issue…”
“…Because of the ghost?”
“Yes…”
Carol nodded, looking dejected.
“Whenever someone tries to renovate or make changes to the café, a ghost appears at their bedside in the dead of night. In a dark voice, it says, ‘Don’t move it.’ So those who tried to sell the building gave up, and those who tried to renovate also gave up. Eventually, no one wanted to inherit it.”
“Didn’t anyone want to try running the café? Maybe someone outside the family?”
“No one could make tea or food as good as the owner’s… and everyone disliked the bad omen associated with it. So, in the end, the whole thing was pushed onto me.”
Carol let out a dry laugh.
“Um, what exactly is your relationship to the owner?”
“I’m the grandson of the owner’s cousin.”
“…That’s quite distant.”
“Apparently, there was a time when I was taken care of by the owner and his wife when I was just a little kid… though I don’t really remember. Somehow, it just became, ‘Carol is perfect for this! Everyone agrees, right?’ among my relatives and family, and I couldn’t go against it…”
“Did your parents say anything about it?”
“They were on the side of pushing it onto me, and there was no one to stand up for me…”
“I… I see…”
Carol’s already gloomy face darkened even further.
“I tried getting help from someone knowledgeable at my workplace at the scribe’s office, but they sided with my relatives because they didn’t want to deal with troublesome cases, leaving me with no escape… Then, while I was worrying and zoning out, I broke my boss’s precious cup, made a mistake with some documents, and got fired… Ahaha… I’ve always been clumsy, ever since I was little, just so clumsy…”
“U-um, Carol?”
“No one wants to rent the place, and even fewer want to buy it, and I can’t run a café…”
Jill, concerned, tried to speak up, but the damp, depressing atmosphere around Carol was almost palpable, like mushrooms might start growing.
“A-anyway! Let’s focus on something positive!”
“Huh, you’ll rent it?!”
“Before that. We need to investigate a few things. Does the ghost just speak? Is that all?”
“Huh? Um…”
Carol, puzzled, put her hand on her chin as if trying to search her memory.
“…No, there’s more. A thief broke in at night to steal this counter table, and…”
“Was he killed?”
“No, no, it wasn’t that dangerous! Somehow, the thief was thrown out using magic. The thieves panicked, ran to the knights for help, and ended up getting arrested for the robbery instead. The incident should be recorded in the knights’ records.”
“I see. So there were injuries but no deaths?”
“It was later discovered that they had been hit with some sort of water magic. The only real damage was that they caught colds from the night breeze.”
“Has anyone seen the ghost? Either in person or in their dreams, anything like that?”
“No… just a vague shadow, I’m told. It wasn’t clear whether it even had feet.”
“It didn’t seem to be carrying any kind of weapon, right?”
“No, it was more of a vague figure, really…”
“It doesn’t seem particularly dangerous, then.”
At Jill’s words, Carol’s face lit up with joy.
“R-right?! I’ll make the rent really cheap… Three thousand dinas for the whole building…!”
Carol held up three fingers, pressing Jill to accept.
At that moment, Matthew interrupted with a loud cough.
“Carol. You can’t expect someone to say, ‘I’ll rent it,’ after this conversation.”
“Th-they can’t…?”
“For now, let’s call it a day. Thank you for showing us around.”
Matthew, intending to end the discussion, stood up from the table.
However, Jill muttered softly.
“This isn’t a ghost. The key to activating its presence is touching certain objects, causing it to appear at one’s bedside. It may also trigger minor magic or poltergeist phenomena. It’s a lesser-known form of magic, but nothing particularly difficult.”
“What?”
Both Matthew and Carol voiced their confusion.
“It’s the work of a *demon*.”
◆
A few nights later.
The sun had long set, and the flickering lights from the surrounding houses spilled out from their windows.
However, the area around the vacant house wasn’t a busy one, so there wasn’t enough light to clearly illuminate their surroundings.
Just like a few days before, Jill, Matthew, and Carol had gathered again in front of the empty house.
“Umm… Jill?”
Carol called out to Jill in a worried voice.
“Are we really doing this? Meeting with a ghost?”
“It’s not a ghost. After investigating further, I’m certain. It’s not a ghost.”
Jill had continued researching the rumors surrounding the ‘ghost’ after their initial visit. She had gathered information from the knights through Matthew and Maureen, listened closely to Carol’s detailed account, and collected various occult rumors. After sorting through the information, she came to two conclusions.
First, it was the work of a *demon*.
Second, it wasn’t something particularly dangerous and could likely be resolved easily.
“But we asked a priest to exorcise it, and that didn’t work…”
“Priests aren’t experts on demons or magic. If it were a real ghost, sure, a priest would’ve been the right choice… but I’ve never seen a ghost myself, so I can’t say for sure.”
In stark contrast to Carol’s anxiety, Jill showed no signs of fear whatsoever.
Her attitude was as casual as if she were going for a stroll.
“Matthew, have you ever seen a ghost?”
“No, I haven’t… but just because I haven’t doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
Matthew seemed a little uneasy as well.
“That’s true.”
“Jill, aren’t you scared?”
“Well, I’ve lived in places where ghosts would have appeared if they existed. Maids used to gossip about how ghosts would show up in the dungeons or the graveyard in the back garden, but none of those rumors ever turned out to be true.”
Jill had spent most of her teenage years living in the royal castle.
There must have been countless people who had met untimely deaths there, yet Jill had never seen a ghost.
“…That’s such a convincing argument I don’t even know how to respond.”
“That’s why I’m about 90% sure it’s a demon. The remaining 10% or so, well, that could be human involvement.”
“Isn’t the idea of a demon scary enough…? Either way, it’s still something unknown, and what if the owner was cursed by a demon…?”
“Hm? Demons don’t do things like that… Oh.”
Jill suddenly stopped, as if something had just occurred to her.
“I’m sorry, I should’ve explained this better. When I say *demon*, I don’t mean a terrifying monster like the ones in myths and legends. I’m using the term as a magician’s technical term—‘demon’ refers to any being that lacks a soul but possesses intelligence.”
“Huh…?”
Matthew had a blank expression on his face.
“Carol, did the ghost say anything other than ‘Don’t move it’?”
“No, everyone heard the same thing. It always says, ‘Don’t move it.'”
“Anything else? Like ‘I’ll curse you,’ ‘I’ll haunt you,’ or ‘I’ll kill you’? Any malicious statements?”
“Now that you mention it… I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
“Demons can’t directly kill people or make malicious statements. They’re allowed to intervene only when there’s a violation of certain rules or in defense, but that’s about it.”
At this, Matthew nodded in understanding.
“So, saying ‘Don’t move it’ and casting magic on anyone trying to steal—these are things a demon is allowed to do?”
“Exactly. They’re also forbidden from intimidating people into contracts or casting curses.”
“Th-then, does that mean the demon in this house is… a kind one?!”
Carol exclaimed in surprise.
But Matthew quickly interjected.
“Well… let’s not jump to conclusions. It’s possible that, without lying or using violence, a demon could still trap someone with sweet words, leading them into a bad situation. Couldn’t that be the case?”
“Exactly. That’s why, when dealing with demons, you have to stay grounded and be careful with what you say. Though, demons aren’t something you run into often… I can count on one hand how many I’ve actually encountered.”
“Jill, where did you learn about these ‘demons’?”
“Ah… a long time ago, I tried to create one with my uncle, but it didn’t work. It’s quite difficult.”
Jill had been raised by Conrad, who had explored various types of magic she could potentially use, including knowledge about demons. However, at the time, no actual demons were around, and the instructions in the royal library lacked the necessary detail. Eventually, Jill gave up on demon-related magic altogether.
“Is it really possible to create one?”
“The ability to create demons indistinguishable from humans perished with ancient civilizations, but today’s magicians can still make simpler ones. For example, they could create something that only opens a door when the correct password is spoken, or something that repeats a warning like ‘Leave.'”
“…Ah, I see. So it doesn’t have true will or intention.”
“That’s right. It’s more like an advanced tool. So, with that being said…”
Jill looked at Carol and gestured for her to proceed.
“Huh?”
“Could you open the door?”
“Do I *have* to open it?”
“Well, I can turn around and leave right now if you prefer…”
“Ugh… I guess not…”
“It’ll be fine. If things get bad, we can just run.”
With a hesitant and nervous hand, Carol unlocked the door.
The clinking of chains echoed eerily through the night, adding to the unsettling atmosphere.
Jill was the only one who appeared completely unfazed, while Matthew looked visibly tense.
“It’s open… but…”
“Thank you. I’m coming in!”
Jill effortlessly sidestepped past Matthew, who was standing like a wall in front of the entrance, and confidently walked inside. Matthew and Carol, startled, quickly followed her into the building.