My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 174

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Nice assist. I gave Pudding a mental thumbs up. I couldn’t just let him go. If I sent him out without precautions, this doctor might end up going to the Temple.

I had no intention of letting someone who could help treat Gabriel leave in the first place. But cutting off the problem at the root like this seemed similar to what the Duke had done. I guess blood really can’t be deceived. I’d inherited something strange.

I gripped the young doctor’s shoulder tightly. As my hand touched him, his shoulder flinched as if frightened. So he is scared of me after all. Good, then let’s continue like this. I decided to show my villainous side to the fullest after a long time.

“What’s your name?”

I had heard introductions once, but only Kalmia’s name remained in my memory. When I asked for his name again, the young doctor answered through gritted teeth.

“…It’s Hisop.”

“Right, Hisop.”

I pressed down on Hisop’s shoulder with force. Enough to make someone collapse immediately, but not so much that he would actually fall. And I stared at him as if I would bore holes through his eyes.

Hisop froze in place as if paralyzed with fear. Unable to move his body, he couldn’t even bow his head. His body trembled intermittently like an aspen leaf.

“Were you planning to go to the Temple and report that Gabriel, the Captain of the Pararos Knights, is at the Duke Hosaquin’s mansion?”

“…No.”

“No? But didn’t you just confess with your own mouth that you would go to the Temple and inform them?”

“When did I ever say I would inform them…!”

“You just said so. ‘You want me to deliver the final blow when they’re already being called heretics? And now, when the heretic massacre is in full swing? I don’t want to die.’ That’s quite strange. You’re afraid of being branded a heretic and dying, but you’re not afraid of me?”

I recited exactly what Hisop had said in a flat tone and added a threat. Hisop’s face turned pale.

“Only we know that Count Gabriel is bedridden in the first place, so unless someone talks, how would it reach the Temple’s ears and get us branded as heretics to die?”

“I never had such intentions! I’m different from those bastards who sell out their patients’ private lives!”

Hisop sounded indignant. From what he said, it seemed there were doctors who treated patients’ conditions as information to sell. They probably gave information to the Temple, calling them heretics.

Hisop clearly seemed to despise such people, so it was understandable that he’d be angry at being lumped together with them. I knew well that Hisop was innocent.

He was a doctor the Duke had arranged, and he had kept Agera’s matter secret as well.

“How can I trust that when there’s no trust between us?”

But I couldn’t let someone who knew Gabriel had escaped prison, let alone that holy water didn’t work on him, roam free outside. At the very least, Hisop could only leave after Gabriel recovered or Bishop Marik fell.

“You brought us here arbitrarily and now…!”

“You should speak correctly. It was Grandfather who brought you here. Besides, I clearly gave a warning before opening the door, and you were the one who remained there until then.”

Hisop was at a loss for words. As he said, I had given a warning in my own way. Even if it was unfair, there was nothing he could do about it.

“If you want to get out, save Count Gabriel. No matter what.”

Hisop closed his mouth. He realized that treating Gabriel was the fastest way to escape the ducal family.

“…What would you do if I were to harm the Captain?”

“I have no trust in you personally, but Hisop, I know well that you’re a healer. You have pride and wouldn’t do anything harmful to a patient.”

Of course, this was also closer to trust in the Duke who had arranged for Hisop, rather than trust in Hisop himself. The Duke wouldn’t keep alive someone with impure intentions toward Agera.

Hisop made a strange face, frowning yet raising the corners of his mouth at the words that while I had no personal trust in him, I trusted him as a doctor. And finally, he nodded.

“If… if I manage to treat the Captain, could you ap-ap-apologize to me…”

“Instead of an apology, I’ll express my gratitude.”

“…Then I understand.”

He was far from deserving an apology from me. Hisop seemed satisfied with just hearing words of thanks and backed down.

Hisop turned his attention to me and began examining Gabriel as if to focus on his main job. Kalmia, who had passed the baton to Hisop, approached me. She didn’t seem scared of me despite witnessing the argument just now.

“You did well to tame Hisop.”

Kalmia clung to me like a sycophant and praised my choice.

“Though he may not look it, Hisop is the most skilled among us.”

That was quite surprising. Conventionally, I would have thought the eccentric Kalmia or the elderly doctor with experience would have the best medical knowledge.

“Otherwise, how could someone of his young age stand shoulder to shoulder with us?”

I was initially skeptical, but watching him treat the patient, Kalmia’s words proved correct. Hisop was skilled. He was particularly knowledgeable in manufacturing medicine from herbs.

I could understand why the Temple was calling him a heretic and persecuting him. Hisop’s manufactured drugs seemed to challenge the holy water, which was supposed to be a blessing only God could bestow. It would crack the monopoly that only holy water could heal people.

Thanks to the three of them working through the night, Gabriel’s fever broke by the next morning.

Now that I had gotten through one worry, it was time to face the things I had turned away from using Gabriel as an excuse. Namely, Agera who wanted to see me, and Mabuka who had apparently been rolling on the floor crying all day yesterday.

I wanted to prepare myself mentally, but as soon as I left Gabriel’s room, I encountered Mabuka standing in front of my room door.

Hazel hung her head with a defeated expression. Ah, of all things, it’s the room next door. Mabuka had been glaring at the door with eyes full of venom unsuitable for her age, but when she spotted me, she immediately rushed over.

“Mabuka!”

Hazel still couldn’t stop Mabuka.

“You took Mother away, didn’t you!”

Mabuka hit me frantically with her small hands. I felt sorry for the crying child, but it was no different from being hit with cotton swabs – it didn’t hurt at all. I carried the child into the room.

“…Where’s Mother? Mother…!”

I couldn’t explain to the child who was sadly looking for Rico that Rico was imprisoned in place of Gabriel.

“Give Mother back… Mabuka, please give Mother back…”

Her strength in hitting me gradually weakened, and Mabuka eventually grabbed the hem of my dress tightly, clinging to me and shedding tears profusely. Pudding, who was watching the child cry with distaste, asked.

“Shall I erase her memories? If she’s going to be sad, wouldn’t it be better if she didn’t remember?”

…Oblivion was a blessing.

I was momentarily tempted by Pudding’s words, but I shook my head. I didn’t want to deceive Mabuka any further. Mabuka was the reason I had decided to stay at the Duke’s mansion.

However, presumptuously, among all the people in the mansion, Mabuka had become the most unhappy. I was deep in thought about how to compensate for her mother’s absence, and whether compensation was even possible.

A small lump rustled in Pudding’s embrace and then rushed toward Mabuka. It was the rat that Rico’s finger had transformed into.

Sensing something, I stopped Pudding from trying to subdue the rat. The rat tilted its head and poked Mabuka’s leg.

“A rat?”

Mabuka, who had no good memories of rats, became frightened and clung to me as if asking to be held. Then, when the rat began to speak, Mabuka’s eyes widened.

“…Ma, buka…”

“…Mother!”

The sound that came from the rat was definitely Rico’s voice. She had said it was a telephone substitute, but real communication was actually possible. Moreover, perhaps because it was part of Rico’s body, it seemed they even shared vision.

Mabuka looked at the rat and believed without doubt that it was Rico. Whether it was the child’s imagination, or like Agera who had considered the rat to be Amaranth, Rico had used her ability on Mabuka too, I couldn’t distinguish.

Rico climbed up Mabuka’s body and onto her shoulder. Then she whispered secrets in Mabuka’s ear.

“Mabuka. You mustn’t trouble Evangeline. Because Mother is hiding for a very secret mission.”

“A secret mission?”

“Yes. Just like what Mabuka did before.”

She seemed to be referring to when people from the Temple had approached Mabuka to steal information from the ducal family. Mabuka fell for Rico’s words helplessly.

“So Mabuka can’t just cry because Mother isn’t here. If Mabuka cries, Mother will worry and might fail the secret mission.”

“Secret missions must never fail…”

Mabuka had stopped crying and answered while sniffling.

“Then what should Mabuka do for Mother to succeed in her secret mission?”

“Don’t cry, and listen well to what Evangeline says!”

“That’s right. You understand well. Good girl, my beloved daughter.”

Mabuka smiled like sunshine at Rico’s whispers. None of the adults watching that scene, including myself, could smile.

The rat wiped away Mabuka’s tears with its tiny paws. Its fur got wet from the teardrops, making it look like a drowned mouse.

“Then when will Mother come back?”

The smooth answers that had been flowing like oil on the tongue stopped abruptly after Mabuka’s question. Rico hesitated for a moment, and it was I who answered.

“She’ll return after you sleep for ten nights.”

Mabuka spread both her hands wide toward me. It was a question asking if the number ten matched the number of fingers when she spread both hands.

“That’s right. As many as ten fingers.”

Rico seemed unable to understand why I, who had sent her to die, answered that she would return. She might have been sending me resentful looks, thinking I was giving her daughter false hope.

The rat that had been on Mabuka’s shoulder quickly came down and tried to climb up onto me.

“Hey, where are you going.”

Pudding frowned and grabbed the rat by the scruff of its neck. When the rat squeaked, Pudding sighed and placed the rat on her palm, bringing it close to my ear. The rat whispered softly in my ear.

“It would have been better not to lie.”

A lie… I changed the subject while looking at Mabuka, who was folding her hands and counting numbers, probably unaware that the rat had come down.

“Agera’s memory has returned.”

“…Agera? Is that really true?”

“Yes. I haven’t seen her yet, but since Grandfather said so, it must be certain.”

“Then…”

Rico trailed off, filled with anticipation.

“As long as Agera remembers you, Rico, there’s no chance the Rats will take control from you. So there’s no need for you to die.”

Of course, this was my unilateral decision made without consulting the Rohanson Viscount.

“…”

Rico was speechless. From Rico’s perspective, I must be like an enemy – first trying to kill him, then pushing him into danger under the pretense of using him effectively, and now telling him to survive.

“I’ll come back to get you, so hang in there, Rico.”

Instead of speaking, Rico nodded. Since he was in the form of a rat, I couldn’t tell what Rico was thinking.

Just then, the door burst open. Before Kanna could scold him for not knocking, Hisop shouted with gleaming eyes.

“Evangeline! Count Gabriel has opened his eyes!”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————