Chapter 145 - Wandering Ghosts (part five)

The first day of the next week.

About an hour before bedtime, I headed to Harold’s workshop.

This is to report about the golem’s ending and the icesilver sword.

“Hmm, a sword forged by a golem, huh. I would have loved to see that sword.”

“That’s great then. The sword in question is over there.”

The sword stood upright on the gunny sacks stacked up in the corner of Harold’s workshop.

“Hah, since when—!?”

“Left by Chloe, after school. I lent her the key I got from you before.”

“In the first place, why would you put it in my room!?”

“Chloe was stumped when she was looking for a place to store it, so here it is.”

Although I said that, it wasn’t Chloe herself who was troubled.

The one troubled was Beatrice who stays in the same room as her.

If that sword were to be placed in their small dorm room, it seems Beatrice wouldn’t be able to use any magic inside the room.

“How does that logic even work!?”

“The rooms in the workshop building are large enough to fit a large golem or two. Doesn’t that make this room the best place?”

“That’s just you being too irresponsible!”

Although, I agree that it needs to be stored somewhere a little safer.

But, well, this is Chloe we’re talking about, so that’s impossible.

“That girl, in contrast to her beautiful face, she’s very……rough. As expected from a friend of yours, you have similar atmosphere.”

“Beautiful face, is it? Yes, if you like her, I will introduce her to you.”

Ooh, is this a flag!?

The tragic beautiful heroine Chloe and the friendly hero with nice build Harold.

They seem to have great compatibility, so that would be nice.

“N-no~ I’ll pass……but, that girl, she’s not an ordinary person. For some reason, she feels dangerous.”

“What’s wrong with her face and personality?”

“I can’t find the right words, but she feels dangerous!”

Tch, I got rejected immediately.

……Did he perhaps notice Chloe’s full-combat ability?

Maybe Harold has the ability to detect danger like wild herbivores?

“So, what do you want to ask me to do?”

Well, I can’t force him, so let’s get to the real issue at hand.

“I want you to investigate this and make a sheath with the same function.”

I gave a pouch to Harold.

It was the pouch given to Chloe by Brad.

If the range-type nullification curse always activates, the icesilver sword would be too difficult to use.

Therefore, I would like to ask Harold to make a sheath with the same nullification-curse blocking function as Brad’s pouch.

“And I would also like you to re-investigate the golem. If it’s reusable, I’d like to use it.”

“Okay, okay, that one I can do right away.”

“And I guess I need you to investigate the sword too. I’m curious about its effective range and its effects on magical beasts, golems, and other magical tools.”

Since Harold is the only person whom I can consult with about these matters, the tasks are piling up.

I feel sorry for him, but I don’t have time to be holding back.

“Good grief, you have a lot of orders, huh. Which one should I prioritize?”

“I need the sheath and the golem to be done as fast as possible with the same priority. You can take it slow with the sword investigation.”

“Since the golem one is easy, I’ll do that right away.”

Harold warmed up the jar and activated the mist golem.

Immediately, thin mist surrounded the jar, but there was no further movement.

Even after we waited for a while, the white hands from before didn’t appear.

“Does this mean that the artificial spirit is no longer there?”

“No, please be quiet and listen carefully.”

I listened carefully as Harold told me.

I heard a small voice.

『……now, you can register spells up to……When registering a spell, summon the artificial spirit, then cast a spell or activate the spell with a wand within the specified range. Currently, the maximum……』

Those words repeated about once a minute.

It seems to be a voice guidance about the function of the golem.

“It’s a message from the artificial spirit. It seems that most of the unanalyzed processing that was originally loaded has disappeared, but it appears that free space has been created.”

“Eh? Free space?”

“It seems you can incorporate new spells into this golem with built-in artificial spirit. Of course, it will be limited to what can be done with artificial spirits. Ah~……this would be very useful depending on how you use it.”

Harold smiled widely.

He must be happy after getting a fun toy.

The mechanism may be like the relationship between a smartphone and its apps.

If you delete the pre-installed apps, you can install various new apps.

“Is it illegal?”

“Nope, it’s legal because neither the golem nor the artificial spirit has been modified. The white hands from before seem to have used the spell-registration function, and since you have gotten the principal’s official recognition to start the experiment, you also wouldn’t be rebuked this time.”

It’s legal since the main body hasn’t been modified, huh.

Yes, if that is the case, everything certainly would be alright.

Harold tried to summon the artificial spirit.

There was no change in the golem’s appearance, but the mist spread out in a circle.

Harold, who was listening carefully to the voice guidance, exclaimed in admiration.

“Heeh, this is convenient~ It seems that you can also set conditions for the magic to be activated.”

“How do I incorporate it?”

“It will accept spell-registration within the range of this mist. If you cast a spell or use a wand here, the magic will be sucked instead of being executed. If you want to set the condition, you have to give the command by voice when registering the spell.”

“I see……magic absorption, huh.”

So it’s a golem that has the same function as Tirnanog.

This might be quite convenient.

“Furthermore, it’s possible to incorporate spells that are difficult to execute with a wand and require artificial spirit’s assistance.”

“That sounds interesting……!”

I have seen some magic that requires the assistance of artificial spirits.

For example, the automatic defense magic used by Haearn, the Condensation Shield.

As someone who often faces surprise attacks, I really want to use that magic.

“I want to do it! But, is there anyone familiar with artificial spirits?”

“When All Souls’ Day is over, maybe you can ask for Klaus-sama’s assistance?”

“You’re right, Klaus-sama is good at everything!”

“If it’s you, he wouldn’t say no. How nice~ I also want to try it!”

I joined hands with Harold in excitement.

At that time, a sharp knocking sound was heard.

The door opened suddenly.

“Are you here? Nibelheim. I’m coming for the regular report.”

The one who appeared was Evan Haearn.

I wonder if he came to report about Roald Llan, the culprit of the previous case.

What a nice timing, a perfectly capable person came knocking on our door.

When I looked at Harold, he had a nice smile on his face.

Apparently, he was thinking about the same thing.

“Haearn-senpai! My goodness, truly, what a nice timing!”

“It’s been a long time, Haearn-senpai.”

Harold and I stood up at the same time and sandwiched Haearn from the front and back.

Haearn’s expression stiffened as he felt the disturbing air.

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“U-uh, I didn’t hear that you would be here, Erica-sama!”

Oops, is he scared of me?

Why would he be scared?

Even though I have nothing but respect for my honest and sincere senior.

I put on my brightest smile.

“Roald was being obedient. That’s it. Since that is all, I’m going home!”

“Now, now, how about tea? I just wanted to hear about your story, Haearn-senpai~”

Harold made him sit on a chair forcibly.

Then, as quickly as possible, he explained the matter about the golem, while omitting all the inconvenient parts.

“You want to incorporate the Condensation Shield? Into a golem with built-in artificial spirit……?”

Haearn replied to us with a long face.

However, Harold was already excited.

He was smiling widely while rubbing his hands.

Snapping Harold out of this state is more difficult than getting out of an antlion pit.

“Well~ I’m honored to be able to collaborate in magic with a great person like you, Haearn-senpai.”

Harold began to praise him excessively and vigorously, not taking no for an answer.

Riding on my partner’s enthusiasm, I also joined in for good measure.

“We would be in your care, Haearn-senpai.”

“You guys are the same as ever……from the moment I entered this room, I already had no choice……!”

And so Haearn reluctantly became our collaborator.

☆

Three days have passed since the day I entrusted the golem matter to Harold and Haearn.

I am back to my peaceful daily life.

The mysterious phenomenon caused by the mist golem will no longer occur, and both the school and the student council are safe.

And then, as I was spending time with my close friends in the dining hall, Klaus came over.

Shouts of joy were raised by the surrounding girls who remained in the dining hall.

He’s as popular as ever.

But, aren’t there still many things to do?

Wasn’t Klaus supposed to be busy with the preparation of All Souls’ Day at the student council?

“Erica. In any case, come with me quickly.”

Klaus pulled me to an unpopular corridor peremptorily.

For him to be in this hurry, did something happen?

“What’s going on, Klaus-sama?”

“It’s a monstro extermination.”

Oh my, what does he mean by that?

Did something unusual occur?

“The unusual phenomenon that should have been resolved by you is still going on.”

The huge corn maze which is using a withered corn field in the southeastern part of the school.

It is said that a suspicious shadow was witnessed inside the corn maze.

There are about 10 students who are building the maze, and accordingly there seems to be as much repeated strange sightings.

However, the golem issue should have been resolved.

I can assert that there would be no recurrence.

To begin with, the corn field is an area that wasn’t even grazed by the mist golem’s movement route.

More importantly, that child was not interested in a place without water.

“Maybe, it’s……”

I came up with another possibility.

“That means, it wasn’t just your golem that was wandering around the school.”

There is another thing, huh.

This school, aren’t there too many mysterious phenomena happening?

“They were seeing something like a wolf-shaped shadow or hearing a distant howl, but it appears to be a situation where it cannot be judged whether it’s a ghost or a phantom beast.”

“That’s a scary story.”

“This is why the progress rate of the maze has dropped.”

In that large corn field, it seems using magic is difficult.

But, this wolf-like apparition, is a little scary.

No matter what, it reminds me of that dangerous wonder.

“Come with me, Erica. For mysteries like this, you are the most reliable one.”

“I understand. I’d love to start immediately……but today is the day that person restarts. Since this is a great opportunity, let’s ask her to investigate a little bit about this matter.”

“Rely on that person, huh……”

Klaus raised an eyebrow.

Unpleasant memories might have come to mind.

That can’t be helped.

Yes, the one I am talking about, is Dolores.

When she restarts, I am thinking of moving her to the reference room and re-summoning her.

☆

In the white reference room, I opened a book borrowed from the 6th floor of the Magic Library.

This book is one of the books on which the spells that make up Dolores the Artificial Spirit are written.

The interior of the reference room shone brilliantly.

A black-haired girl with a chain around her neck floated mid-air.

It is the restart of Dolores Wynt, an artificial spirit for indexing materials.

『Hmm……this time you launched me in this place properly. Good work.』

I was tired of waiting for a month, but she returned at the right time.

I’m curious about the 〈Association of Mysterious Story Collectors〉, but first of all, let’s take care of the urgent business.

How can we deal with this strange phenomenon?

“I have something I want to ask, is that okay?”

『What is it? If it’s something boring, I won’t acknowledge it.』

I told Dolores about the new ghost sighting.

『A wonder in the corn maze……no corresponding material. It’s probably a really new wonder.』

Is this truly a new wonder that appeared at this school?

I have a very bad feeling.

『I’m smart, so I’ll expand my search. Wolf-like ghost……too many. And it conflicts with sensitive items. This gracious me will give you materials about the most dangerous wolf ghost, just in case.』

Dolores drew a book from the shelf.

When she opened the page, the moon embossed on the ceiling gave off vivid colors.

The soft and colorful light was drawn into the book one after another.

On the pages that used to be blank, letters written in gold, brown, blue and red appeared.

The pure white binding changed to a scarlet-leather binding with traces of history.

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The books in this reference room are only restored to their original form when Dolores refers them, huh.

『This is the oldest material of the most dangerous wolf ghost that I have at hand—The Golden Wolf Prince.』

A book floated in front of me from Dolores with Levitation.

I picked it up and flipped it over.

A book that seems to have been written by an ancient mage of the Wynt family, and the title is 「History of Curse and Humiliation War」.

“Dolores. Speaking of which, the main part of the Morgue of the Headless Prince, where this Golden Wolf Prince was supposed to be, was empty.

『Addition of related information……link the relevant material……』

“The Phantom Beast Museum has a staircase leading to the Corpse City and the morgue.”

While I was at it, I told her the details.

About how the Stairway to the Underworld was the influence of the magic that lingers in the Corpse City, and about the end of the Bloody Saint.

『You’re smart, unlike your outward appearance. Afterwards, are you going to keep the notes you recorded here?』

Dolores smiled happily.

That innocent smile is similar to Beatrice Glaw’s.

『Then it would be better for you to have the documents about the headless prince. There seems to be a lot of documents, but are you ready?』

“No problem, Dolores. Give me as much as you can.”

『Roger that. I’ll pile them up unsparingly.』

A number of new books emerged around Dolores.

She restored the information of the new books one after another.

A transcript of the Southern Magic Encyclopedia.

Sorcerer’s History Part II.

And, 15 copies of the Diary of the Slavery-Magic Researcher.

Books were piling up one after another on top of the book I already carried.

『It will take some time to read those. This generous me will give you permission to borrow those books.』

“Thank you, Dolores.”

『In return, you must keep the promise you just made. You got that?』

After that, Dolores disappeared again.

“That ghost seems to have helped us this time, but I didn’t know that this amount of books will come out. It’s heavy, right?”

“Y-yes.”

Klaus took the books that were piled up with a dumbfounded expression.

However, there’s no way I could finish reading this amount of books quickly.

What should I do……

Ah, that’s right—

“Thank you very much, Klaus-sama. If possible, would you help me investigate these books?”

“Aa, I’ll help you.”

“Thank you, Klaus-sama!”

And so we divided the materials between us.

I asked Klaus to investigate the 15 copies of the Diary of the Slavery-Magic Researcher.

“By the way, you knew about the Golden Wolf Prince, Klaus-sama?”

“Yes. Because it’s a story about Hafan’s old royal family.”

The Golden Wolf Prince’s wife was a princess of Hafan.

In the north, she was said to be a ferocious witch who tried to kill the cursed prince personally.

“If this really is the golden wolf, I will stop it.”

Even if the opponent really is the legendary monstro, he’s not scared at all, huh.

Klaus, who is good at spatial and temporal magic, will be able to handle it as long as there are no extreme circumstances.

“That might be the case. Sorry for asking you this, but this time it seems better for me to investigate this alone.”

Klaus stared at me with serious eyes.

I answered him with a light smile.

“Since we have come this far, I’ll go with you. Just this once, so please let me take on this case.”

Offense is the greatest defense.

Klaus will not lose, but I want to crush the possibility of failing.

“What if something happens to you?”

“What are you talking about? Being by your side is one of the safest place in the world, Klaus-sama.”

A mage who has endured training over a long period of time.

That is Klaus Hafan.

If, even with the cooperation of such a person I still fall into danger, that means it would be even more dangerous with just about anyone.

“……I see……if you say that, then……it can’t be helped……”

For some reason Klaus looks embarrassed.

Did I say something strange?

But, I got his permission, so I won’t press deeper about that matter.

“Then, tomorrow I will read the materials……shall we set the field investigation for the day after tomorrow?”

“Yes, I will be in your care, Klaus-sama.”

On that day, we brought the piling materials and went back to our respective rooms.