My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 34
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Now, let’s calm down. They say if you get scared and act like you know something just because you heard a ghost talking, the ghost will stick to you. Let’s thoroughly ignore it.
“That’s strange. There are only traces of cooking but no traces of eating.”
That was probably some kind of offering, wasn’t it? That’s why there are no traces of the ghost eating it.
“Did Troy eat it?”
Daisy is right. Come to think of it, Troy was lurking around earlier. He must have eaten it as a drinking snack! Logically, there’s no way ghosts exist… But wait, since this is inside a novel, maybe they could exist?
“There doesn’t seem to be anything more to see.”
It’s absolutely not because I’m scared and want to quickly escape from the dining room. As we left the dining room, I heard that strange sound again. This time it seemed like I wasn’t the only one who heard it.
“What’s that sound?”
Following the direction of the sound, we found a room hidden in the most secluded corner.
“What is this room?”
“It’s the principal’s office…”
The principal’s office is in the most remote place? Unlike other orphanages that embezzle money while abusing children, this one must be quite honest. Well, that’s probably why Daisy still cares about it.
Kanna put her ear to the door.
“I can hear it from here.”
So the sound is definitely coming from inside there. Troy should be with Jelly, right? Could it be a thief? Or maybe accomplices of the kidnappers are hiding together. They felt people approaching and hid in here.
Listening carefully, I heard a scratching sound. Scritch scritch, it sounded like someone scratching the wooden wall with their fingernails.
But if accomplices felt people approaching and hid inside, there’d be no reason to deliberately make noise and draw attention, right? Is what’s inside really an accomplice? Is it even human in the first place? After hearing that starved ghost’s voice earlier, everything seems suspicious.
“I, I can’t go in there.”
“Are you scared?”
“…Yes.”
Daisy shook her head, terrified. Is Daisy also scared that a ghost might appear? I’m relieved I’m not the only one trembling with fear.
“It’s okay since I’m here.”
When I told Daisy that she wasn’t the only one who was scared, she seemed to feel reassured. Even if I have the skill to knock out Troy with one kick of my shoe, it’s understandable to be scared if the opponent is a ghost that doesn’t follow physical laws.
“I’ll open it.”
And there’s Kanna, right? Look at that fearless, composed demeanor! As a tragic heroine, Kanna seems to be immune to situations like this.
Until we open the door, we won’t know if there are accomplices or ghosts inside. Should this be called Schrödinger’s principal’s office?
Kanna opened the door without hesitation, and there was nothing inside the room. Nothing was visible, but the scratching sound could still be heard. This is crazy, it really was a ghost…!
I felt like tears were about to stream down my face. I’m too scared to enter the room.
“Stop, please stop.”
Daisy was in worse shape than me. Despite us trembling, Kanna didn’t care and started opening every door in the room. Isn’t she even scared…? As expected of a heroine, her courage is no joke.
And when Kanna opened the wardrobe door, something popped out from inside.
“Eek!”
I heard the sound of someone gasping right next to me. Me? I’d been holding my breath for a while now.
“A mouse?”
What popped out of the wardrobe was a mouse. The mouse that came out of the wardrobe quickly disappeared from view. Our Pudding just yawned whether a mouse appeared or not. A cat with no interest in mice… I never thought I’d realize Pudding isn’t really a cat but a beastman in a place like this.
“It must have been the sound of the mouse scratching the wardrobe door.”
Right. Now there’s no sound at all. It wasn’t a ghost or an accomplice, just a mouse. I felt somewhat deflated after being so tense, which was embarrassing.
“Miss, look at this.”
At the sound calling me, I entered the room. As soon as I crossed the threshold, the air suddenly became heavy as if it had sunk, making it difficult to breathe. It must be my imagination.
On the floor that Kanna was illuminating, a familiar shape was reflected.
“A summoning circle?”
Why is this drawn here? I was bewildered by its sudden appearance, then remembered the paper Gabriel had shown me before.
The monastery priest also said he succeeded in summoning after seeing Donau’s drawing. So this must be the same. Since this is the principal’s office, did that supposedly good principal draw this?
“Daisy.”
I looked at Daisy thinking she might know something, but Daisy was backing away. However, she couldn’t go far. She bumped into someone standing behind her. Daisy couldn’t even scream and staggered. Just as she was about to fall, Jelly behind her caught her gracefully.
“Mr. Jelly?”
“Jelly. Why did you come?”
Don’t tell me he appeared for some romantic development to catch the staggering Daisy. Did he know when Troy would wake up and leave his post? I was about to scold him when Jelly quickly made an excuse.
“He said he absolutely had to say something.”
When Jelly nodded, Troy came out from behind him, cowering. Daisy’s face immediately crumpled. When Troy hesitated and grabbed Jelly’s sleeve, Jelly brushed his hand away like dusting off dirt. Troy clenched his empty fist tightly, then soon bowed his waist.
“Daisy, I’m sorry, sorry… I couldn’t stop mom.”
“What are you talking about? Why are you bringing up the director?”
Troy opened his mouth heavily as if carrying all the world’s burdens on his shoulders.
“Mom… took the children away…”
***
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
Daisy repeated in confusion. What, the director? The director is the kidnapper who took the children? Not Troy? Are you trying to buy time by making excuses right now?
“Don’t lie.”
“I know it’s hard to believe too.”
Troy entered the room and rummaged through the drawers.
“It should be here somewhere…”
The drawer seemed stiff and wouldn’t open, so he was struggling, so I just opened it for him. He must be weak since he just woke up after fainting.
“Th-thank you.”
Troy seemed embarrassed to receive my help and couldn’t even make eye contact, bowing to empty air. I’m right here, where are you bowing to?
Troy, who was searching through documents, seemed to have found what he was looking for.
“It increased again…”
What increased? I read the paper Troy found. Daisy was also curious and quickly entered the room.
“What, what is this?”
“Evidence that mom sold the children. I only found out about these papers recently too.”
The first thing that caught my eye was a parade of numbers. Numbers I couldn’t estimate the market value of since I wasn’t used to it yet were listed in a row. Next to them were dates written.
These items written like annual events, at least once a year and up to twice, seemed to be body prices.
So now the kidnapper isn’t Troy but the director that Daisy praised as so loving?
I made a big mistake. I had completely forgotten the creative law that the person who seems least like the culprit is usually the culprit.
***
“Director, Director!”
The director, who had been distracted, finally came to her senses at Ranon’s voice calling her. When she turned around, Ranon glanced at the child as if it wasn’t him but Mary who had something to say.
“Director… my arm hurts.”
“…I see.”
When the director let go of her arm, Mary’s arm had deep finger marks left on it. It looked like it would bruise from how hard she had gripped it. The director pressed her forehead. She hadn’t intended to be violent yet, but when things didn’t go as planned, she must have unconsciously applied force.
Mary, who was rubbing her arm, suddenly looked up at the ceiling.
“Troy must have come again.”
This stupid and foolish son is searching the orphanage again. That child really never listened since he was little. This was the complete opposite of how Merai cherished her son. There’s a saying that no parent can beat their child, but still.
“Troy?”
Ranon also heard the footsteps. Hadn’t he already come once while they were sleeping? Why did he come again? Puzzled, Ranon soon realized there was more than one set of footsteps.
‘He must have come with the guards to find us!’
Troy must have brought the guards. Ranon felt hope seeping through the cracks.
Just a few days ago, the director they had trusted and loved so much suddenly started confining and raising the children underground. At first, she thought it was just a mean prank, but only after seeing a man named Melek tied up in the basement did she realize the seriousness of the situation.
Even then, only children with somewhat developed minds like Yulma and Ranon noticed something was wrong. Young children like Mary, while knowing the director had become strange, still depended on her out of habit.
That’s probably why Yulma told the kids things like we’re being sold, to raise their awareness.
‘Will they notice the basement?’
Ranon had never known there was a basement in the orphanage where she’d lived her whole life. Looking at Troy only wandering around upstairs, he seemed unaware of the basement’s existence too. The director hadn’t told even her own son about this place.
They’d have to search the principal’s office thoroughly… Even if they find it, would they be able to open it? She had once tried to follow the director when she left the basement to get meals and escape, but the door was firmly locked. Only the director knew how to operate the door.
“Troy must have brought someone with him.”
Unfortunately, the director also realized there were multiple intruders.
‘Really, a son who only rebels against his mother in everything.’
Merai hadn’t told her son about this basement. She had planned to reveal it later when Troy became cooperative, thinking he would understand her someday.
“I need to hurry.”
She had to finish the job before Troy and his son’s allies found the entrance. Merai scratched her arm in anxiety. Fresh red marks were drawn over the arm that had been scratched by her sharp nails.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————