Sister, I Hit You Because There Was a Ghost Behind You - Chapter 36

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 36. The Devil Wears Mana Stones Instead of Prada
That evening, in the Banquet Hall of Fenris Castle. The atmosphere was pure celebration itself.
With the joy of victory compounded by the discovery of a Mana Stone Mine, it was only natural that wine flowed like water.
I cut into premium steak as I spoke to the two men seated across from me.
“Well then, shall we sort out the equity distribution? I’m talking about dividing the mining profits.”
Kairik von Herzen gulped down his wine and waved his hand dismissively.
“Ugh, I don’t care. You take it all. I absolutely despise complicated matters.”
Demian Lyart, meanwhile, wiped his mouth with a napkin and responded seriously.
“That won’t do. We need a clear contract to avoid future disputes. I’ll summon the Cult’s legal team.”
I smiled contentedly and tapped away at my calculator.
“Your Majesty provides material investment, the Count provides capital investment, and I provide management and technical support. A 4:3:3 split would be clean and straightforward.”
Just then, the banquet hall door burst open and Adjutant Ban came rushing in, gasping for breath. His face had gone pale. He cried out between heaving breaths.
“Your Majesty! Disaster! The soldiers guarding the mine entrance—!”
Kairik von Herzen set down his wine glass and asked sharply.
“What happened? Did the beasts appear again?”
Ban shook his head and reported in a trembling voice.
“No, Your Majesty. The soldiers are… killing each other.”
We immediately rushed out of the banquet hall. By the time we reached the entrance to the Black Forest on horseback, screams and shouts echoed through the woods.
“This is mine! Don’t touch it!”
“Get out of the way! I saw it first!”
Dozens of soldiers stood at the mine entrance, their blades drawn against one another. Each clutched a raw mana stone that glowed with brilliant blue light.
Their eyes were bloodshot, madness gleaming at the corners of their mouths. Comrades who had once shared life and death together were now engaged in a slaughter over nothing but a single stone.
Demian Lyart cried out in horror.
“What is this—! Everyone, stop!”
Demian Lyart infused his voice with holy power and bellowed, but the soldiers paid no heed. They had already lost their reason. One soldier slashed his comrade’s shoulder and lunged for the mana stone.
Kairik von Herzen leaped from his horse with a growl.
“These insane fools are completely gone!”
Kairik von Herzen rushed in instantly, seized the scruff of the sword-wielding soldiers, and hurled them aside.
Crash!
But the fallen soldiers, oblivious to pain, crawled back and clutched the mana stones, muttering incoherently.
“My treasure… no one can have it…”
I activated my spirit sight and examined them closely.
A dark crimson haze rose above the soldiers’ heads. This was no mere greed. Malice flowing from deep within the mine was corrupting their minds.
I spoke with a grave expression.
“It’s a curse. A ‘Curse of Greed.’ The dark magic dwelling within the mana stones is amplifying their desires.”
Demian Lyart drew his sword and stepped forward.
“I will purify them. We must drive out this evil influence.”
Demian Lyart cast a wide-area purification spell.
“Light of Purification!”
White light enveloped the soldiers. But the effect was minimal. The soldiers hesitated for a moment, then grew more ferocious and turned their weapons toward us.
“They’ve come to steal my treasure! Kill them!”
Demian cried out in alarm.
“Purification isn’t working! The desire itself is too strong—it’s deflecting the holy power!”
Kairik von Herzen grunted as he blocked a soldier’s blade with his bare hand.
“Damn it, we can’t even kill them. What do we do?”
Subduing them by force would injure the soldiers, but leaving them be meant they’d slaughter each other. Then, from deeper within the mine, a chilling wind carried a voice.
[Kekeke… human greed knows no bounds.]
A spine-tingling voice—a grating, low tone that echoed from the depths of the earth. I glared toward the mine entrance and shouted.
“Who are you! Stop hiding and come out!”
The darkness at the entrance rippled, and black smoke coalesced into a human form. A malevolent spirit adorned with a golden mask and draped entirely in jewels. The demon from ancient records—the Shadow of Mammon.
The spirit manipulated the soldiers and spoke with a mocking laugh.
[I am the master of this place. Without my permission, you cannot take even a single stone. Soon, you too will covet each other’s hearts as they do.]
As the spirit extended its hand, a blood-red mist surged toward us. The moment I inhaled it, the deepest desires in my heart began to boil.
Kairik von Herzen’s eyes wavered. He muttered while looking at me.
“Violetta… I want to… lock you away in my castle. Where no one can see you….”
Demian also broke into a cold sweat, gripping his sword tightly as he groaned.
“I want to monopolize you. Your smile, your time… I want to have everything of yours for myself.”
Interesting. This curse touches each person’s greatest desire.
So both men’s desires centered on possessing me. It wasn’t unpleasant, but the timing was terrible.
Then the black mist crept right before my eyes. The spirit whispered, tempting me.
[You desire it too, don’t you? All the wealth in the world. Don’t you want to make all these mana stones yours? Surrender your soul to me, and I’ll make you the richest person in the Empire.]
A vision unfolded before my eyes. A golden castle, a diamond bed, and a bank account that never depleted. It was a sight that would have made any ordinary person’s eyes roll back.
But I simply snorted and pulled out my calculator.
Click, click, click.
I tapped the calculator and replied coldly.
“You’re saying I’ll become rich if I surrender my soul? The math doesn’t add up.”
The spirit hesitated, seemingly taken aback.
[…What?]
I pushed my glasses up and laid out my reasoning point by point.
“My soul’s value is immeasurable. But becoming merely the richest person in the Empire? The cost-benefit analysis doesn’t work—not even close. I have no intention of selling at such a bargain price. Get lost.”
[You insolent…!]
“And another thing—I think you’ve misunderstood something.”
I drew out my hammer and strode forward. The black mist enveloped me, but I remained unaffected. In fact, my eyes gleamed with even more greed than the spirit’s.
“I am greed itself. I don’t need your fake desires. I fulfill my own desires with my own hands.”
I smacked the back of both Kairik von Herzen’s and Demian’s heads as they stood dazed and shouted.
“Snap out of it! You men, getting bewitched by mere mist like fools!”
Smack! Smack!
My sharp blows brought both men back to their senses.
“Wh… what was I just thinking?”
“I… I apologize. My mind was clouded for a moment.”
I leveled my hammer at the malevolent spirit and declared, “You hear me? Don’t you dare touch our people. And…”
“You heard me? Don’t touch our kids. And…”
I pointed toward the Mana Stone Mine entrance, where countless Mana Stones lay stacked, and continued, “All of that belongs to me. You’re the one illegally occupying it. What gives you the audacity to play landlord when you’re nothing but a squatter?”
“That’s all mine. You’re the one illegally occupying it. How dare you act like the landlord when you’re just a tenant?”
The malevolent spirit trembled with indignation and shrieked, [How dare you treat me, a divine being, as a mere tenant! Die!]
How dare you treat me, a master of the household, like a tenant! Drop dead!
The malevolent spirit conjured an enormous hand and brought it crashing down toward me. But this time, the two men would not stand idle.
Kairik von Herzen’s blade, wreathed in crimson aura, severed the spirit’s wrist as he bellowed, “Don’t you dare lay a hand on my woman!”
“Don’t lay a hand on my girlfriend!”
Demian gathered immense holy power into his sacred sword and chanted an incantation, “Let greed dissolve before the radiance of virtue! Exorcism!”
“Greed shall vanish before the light of nobility! Exorcism!”
Boom!
The combined assault of both men shattered the malevolent spirit’s form. I seized the opening and launched myself upward.
“Eviction notice! Get out of this property!”
My hammer struck true against the spirit’s mask—its true form, the golden visage—with devastating force.
Clang!
The mask shattered into countless fragments. The malevolent spirit let out no final cry, dissolving instead into black smoke that dissipated into nothing. Simultaneously, the crimson aura that had clouded the soldiers’ minds vanished.
“Huh…? Why are we doing this?”
The soldiers lowered their weapons in bewilderment. Crisis averted.
I picked up fragments of the golden mask scattered across the ground. Pure gold. I pocketed the pieces and smiled with satisfaction, “I’ll deduct this from the security deposit. Not a bad haul.”
“I’ll deduct it from your deposit. That’s a nice little sum.”
Kairik von Herzen shook his head with an expression of exasperation and said, “…You terrify me more than any curse.”
“…I’m more afraid of you than any curse.”
Demian regarded me with relief mingled with an indescribable expression and murmured, “Your desires are…truly pure, aren’t they?”
“Your desire is… truly pure, isn’t it?”
The curse upon the Mana Stone Mine had been lifted. Now only the serious work of mining remained.
Yet beneath the shattered mask fragments, a single piece of weathered parchment was discovered. I carefully picked it up and began to read.
「When the seal is broken…five calamities shall awaken. The first is greed, the second is…」
My ability to read the Empire’s common tongue ended precisely there. The text didn’t simply cut off—the sentences that followed were densely packed and twisted into an archaic Northern dialect so bizarre and incomprehensible that I couldn’t decipher a single word.
It felt as though someone had deliberately concealed the true nature of the calamities, and a chill ran down my spine. This wasn’t an ending—it was the beginning of something far more catastrophic.
I crumpled the parchment and stuffed it into my pocket, then spoke to the two men, “It seems…protecting one hundred billion gold won’t be easy after all.”
“It seems… protecting 100 billion gold won’t be easy.”
My chaotic tenure as a territorial lord and my dance with calamity had only just raised the curtain on Act Two.

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