The Cowardly Baby Saint Sees Ghosts - Chapter 66

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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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# Episode 66
“You seem to have a lot on your mind about housing the children from Lumen.”
After finishing our meal, as I was savoring dessert, Becky spoke while organizing documents.
“There simply aren’t enough rooms in the Temple to accommodate everyone right now. So there’s been talk of renovating the Annexe building outside the Temple grounds. But to do that, we need to check the original ownership documents and design plans first.”
“Why would those be necessary?”
“We can’t just alter the building structure carelessly. We need to identify which walls are load-bearing, where the water pipes run, things like that—only then can construction begin. Apparently, all those documents are still kept in the storage room inside that building.”
“……Why on earth are they still in there? Couldn’t someone have moved them elsewhere?”
“The Annexe was originally the administrative building for the old orphanage. All the property documents and such were managed there. When the orphanage relocated, they moved the people but left the documents as they were. No one bothered with them, so they’ve just been left to gather dust.”
“So we’ll have to go retrieve them.”
“Yes. It’s urgent, so the sooner the better. We need to have rooms ready before winter arrives.”
Becky lowered her voice slightly.
“There are also some rumors circulating about the place. Strange lights at night, odd sounds. But everyone figures it’s just an old building, so they don’t think much of it.”
“What kind of sounds?”
“I’m not entirely sure. One of the Priests who used to clean there mentioned hearing footsteps in the storage room at night. But that was years ago, and no one’s been near the place since, so there’s no way to verify it.”
Becky laughed it off casually. But somehow, her words stuck with me.
‘I have a feeling I’m supposed to go.’
At that very moment, my Status Window flared to life.
It was a quest I hadn’t seen in quite some time.
[Sudden Mission!]
Explore the Annexe!
―Retrieve Design Plan 0/1
―Gather Documents 0/3
Reward: Good Deed Gauge +5
[Current: 69 / 1000]
Failure will significantly increase your probability of death.
“I—I’d like to go!”
“Hmm. It would probably be safer during the day, at least. Oh! Seria’s been learning about document organization lately, so it would be good if she came along too—she could get some practical experience.”
Seria, who had been helping Becky organize documents at the side, looked up.
“……I’m going too?”
“Yes, think of it as practice. Learning to classify old documents is part of your training.”
Seria gave a brief nod. Her expression showed no particular emotion, though I failed to notice how her fingertips faltered slightly.
That night, I found sleep oddly elusive.
Even as I told myself it was nothing to worry about—an old building, some idle rumors—a corner of my heart remained persistently uneasy.
* * *
The next morning, Seria and I stepped out through the Temple’s main gate.
“Are you alright? If you’re anxious, we can go another day.”
“……I’m fine.”
Seria answered briefly, offering little else.
She was never particularly talkative to begin with, but today she was unusually quiet.
The way she kept worrying at the hem of her skirt made it clear she was nervous.
“Nervous?”
“……A little.”
Even that was a terse response. I tried to lighten the mood with various topics as we walked, but Seria only nodded or gave short replies.
The dilapidated Annexe stood about a ten-minute walk beyond the compound walls.
It looked far more desolate than the rumors had suggested.
Creeping ivy clung to the walls in a dark tangle, and the window panes were half-shattered.
A bleak wind whistled through the gaps.
The entire structure seemed to emanate a heavy, indefinable dread.
“……It really is ancient.”
I murmured, and Seria simply stared up at the building without speaking. Her expression remained composed, but the knuckles of the hand gripping her skirt had gone white.
“……I’m s-scared.”
She whispered the words almost inaudibly.
Clutching the lantern Becky had given me, I forced myself to take the lead with practiced boldness. In truth, regret was already flooding through me.
The moment I opened the door, a reek of mustiness and decay hit me square in the face.
Mold and the smell of aged paper mingled with something faintly acrid beneath—a scent like old blood.
Breathing in alone made my throat sting.
The interior was dark, with shelves stretching out like a labyrinth.
Beyond the lantern’s reach lay only impenetrable shadow.
As I stepped inside, I felt the door behind me sliding shut on its own.
I flinched and spun around, but the door had settled back to its slightly ajar position, docile and still.
Was it a mistake? I couldn’t be certain.
Right beside the entrance, a faded wooden sign was nailed to the crumbling wall. Years of wind and rain had left the wood’s surface split and rough.
“……What does it say?”
I brought the lantern closer. As I wiped away the dust with my hand, crooked letters began to emerge bit by bit. The handwriting looked as though someone had carved it in haste, or in fear.
【Storage Room User Rules】
1. You cannot leave this place before sunset.
2. Never enter the third shelf on the inner wall.
3. If you hear someone calling your name, do not answer.
4. ―――――――
The fourth rule had been completely erased. It wasn’t that the letters had merely faded—the wood itself had been gouged out, as if someone had deliberately scraped it away with a blade.
And not just once, but repeatedly, obsessively, scratched over and over.
“……Why is it like this?”
Seria asked in a trembling voice.
“It looks like someone deliberately erased it.”
“……Why?”
“That’s what I’m saying. That’s what frightens me more.”
At that moment, a familiar window appeared before my eyes in round, childish lettering, popping up like a notification.
[System]
「The rules of this place」—you must follow them as if your life depends on it!
1. You can’t leave before sunset today. Bear with it!
2. The third shelf on the inner wall—absolutely do not enter.
3. If you hear your name being called, answering will be catastrophic!
4. There is no item 4.
5. If you notice something glinting on the floor, simply ignore it and pass by.
6. If it seems like there’s someone else here with you, absolutely do not look behind!
Wishing you survival!
The tone was cheerful and endearing, but the content was anything but.
Especially item 4. The fact that it didn’t exist—that terrified me even more. I couldn’t tell if it had never existed in the first place, or if something that was once there had been erased.
* * *
We moved cautiously between the shelves.
We went out of our way to avoid the area near the third shelf. The darkness there seemed unusually dense, as if it swallowed even the light of the lantern itself.
Seria gripped the sleeve of my robe tightly. She said nothing, but I could feel her fingertips trembling.
After walking for some time, Seria suddenly stopped in her tracks.
“……Holy Maiden, look there.”
On the floor she was pointing at lay something small and gleaming.
A single button, impossibly clean and radiant against the dusty ground between the old shelves.
It emitted a soft glow, as if it were luminescent of its own accord.
“……What could that be? It’s so beautiful.”
Seria’s hand reached out without her realizing it. Her gesture was entranced.
[Do not touch]
The Status Window appeared, flashing urgently.
“……Seria, you can’t touch that!”
I quickly grabbed her wrist. Seria gasped in surprise and withdrew her hand.
“Why did my hand move on its own like that?”
Seria muttered, staring down at her own hand.
Her voice was filled with bewilderment. The button continued to glow softly on the floor, as if pleading for someone to pick it up.
But I couldn’t muster the courage to investigate.
“……Whose button could that have been?”
“I don’t know. But I think it’s better if we don’t find out.”
We hurried away from that spot. Behind us, I thought I heard something like a very faint, disappointed sigh. It was too long and too low to be a human breath.
After walking a few steps more, the light of the lantern cast our shadows on the wall ahead, side by side.
One, two.
And three.
“……Seria.”
My voice had gone stiff and hollow. The shadow cast on the wall was definitely three.
The third shadow was twisted in a way ours were not.
Where arms should have been, something grotesquely elongated hung down, drooping all the way to the floor.
And that shadow alone—when we stopped, it stopped just a moment after, a beat too late.
“……Why… why are you like that?”
Seria asked anxiously, looking at my expression. Her voice was shaking severely.
Rule Number 6 flashed through my mind. If another shadow appeared on the wall, I must not—absolutely must not—turn around.
“Just… look straight ahead and keep walking. Don’t turn around under any circumstances.”
“…What?”
“There are three shadows reflected on the wall right now.”
I heard Seria’s breath catch in her throat.
Hand clasped tightly in mine, we quickened our pace as if nothing were wrong.
Behind us, the third shadow crept along the wall like something alive—visible only at the edge of my vision. Its shape resembled a person’s, but the proportions of its limbs were subtly, unnaturally elongated.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
A footstep out of sync with our own fell into rhythm beside us.
‘Please don’t follow. Please don’t follow.’
If I’d been alone, I would have collapsed right there, trembling uncontrollably. I was terrified beyond measure.

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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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