Chapter 456: Ghost Stories

After finishing his meal, Oliver entered the guest room that Edith had prepared for him.

He wanted to eat more, but after asking for seconds five times, Edith finally told him to stop.

‘Damn, she’s trying to bankrupt me on food expenses.’

Well, it wasn’t a bad place to stop. He had something he wanted to check out anyway.

Click.

Oliver closed the door and locked it securely.

Then, he gathered the stored magic in his body and emotions in his test tube into his hands, simultaneously casting security spells and dark magic.

He started with a soundproofing spell to keep any noise from escaping, followed by intrusion prevention spells, defensive spells to block most attacks, and detection spells to alert him of any approach.

He cast these spells not just on the door but also on the windows, walls, ceiling, and floor, leaving no gaps like stacking bricks.

It might have felt excessive, but it really wasn’t.

After all, Oliver was about to read a book on demons, so no amount of caution was too much.

Thud.

Oliver leaned the Quarterstaff against the wall beside the bed, placed his magical bag on the desk, took off his shirt, and removed the leather case strapped to his back, from which he pulled out Big Mouth.

As Big Mouth was placed on the floor, the flesh-hungry pouch made of human skin, eyeballs, and teeth began to swell like dough and quickly grew to the size of a person.

‘It hasn’t changed much in size, but it feels more solid.’

‘Croak?’

Big Mouth surveyed the room with its many eyes and made its characteristic toad-like sound.

Oliver replied.

‘No, Big Mouth. I’m not calling you to fight another Hungry Pouch.’

‘Croak?’

‘No, it doesn’t mean we won’t fight in the future. I don’t know yet. If needed, we might even fight three-on-one again.’

…

‘Hmm… Judging from the last time, I think three-on-one is definitely doable.’

Oliver genuinely encouraged Big Mouth, clenching his fists to show his support.

In the last fight, Big Mouth had achieved a miraculous victory with combat techniques learned from Child, so it was definitely possible.

However, despite Oliver’s sincere words, Big Mouth didn’t seem to agree at all. It was quite sad.

Feeling the awkward tension from Big Mouth’s resentful gaze, Oliver quickly changed the subject.

‘Um… Could you take out the books I received from the elder?’

Still glaring resentfully at Oliver, Big Mouth quietly spat out the briefcase containing the books as requested.

Splat!

The briefcase hit the floor with a thud. Oliver pulled two bills from his wallet and handed them to Big Mouth.

‘You did well.’

‘Croak?… Croak, Croak!!! Croak!!!’

Seeing the two bills, Big Mouth suddenly erupted in frustration, waving its newly sprouted arms.

To sum it up, it complained that it wasn’t helping Oliver for money, so why did he try to solve everything with money?

Big Mouth pointed out that what really angered it was how Oliver didn’t value it, treated it carelessly, and tried to solve everything with money, showing his materialistic attitude.

It insisted that it was not such a greedy and selfish Hungry Pouch—

‘—How about ten bills?’

‘Croak!’

When Oliver pulled out more money, Big Mouth was immediately satisfied. It slowly and savoredly ate each bill, one by one.

Feeling a small sense of accomplishment at having appeased Big Mouth, Oliver grabbed the briefcase and placed it on the bed.

With a clattering sound, the briefcase opened, revealing the books about demons densely packed inside.

He had looked through these after receiving them from Merlin, but seeing them again brought back old feelings.

After all, obtaining these books was one of the reasons he left the Joseph Family, even if it was a secondary reason.

This suddenly struck Oliver as quite remarkable.

As mentioned, the books on demons were a secondary reason, but considering it took such a long time and so much effort to obtain them, it felt significant.

He did get one book from Edith, but that was it.

Even considering how rare these books were, it felt strange. Almost as if someone had deliberately intervened.

‘Maybe I’m overthinking it…’

Oliver decided he was being paranoid and took the demon books out of the case one by one, stacking them next to him.

Each time he took out a book, he checked its title.

[What is Demon Summoning?]

[Demon Summoning: Hey, You Can Do It Too.]

[Tools and Their Meanings in Demon Summoning]

[- 79824: Record Collection]

[+ 100: qnvofhdlsgkstotleo]

[Account of a Destroyed City]

[A Father’s Diary]

[The Meaning and Principles of Demon Summoning by a Madman]

And so on.

The book titles ranged from clearly distinct and unique to rigid, incomprehensible phrases, covering a broad spectrum.

According to Merlin, there wasn’t anything that would particularly catch Oliver’s attention, but that might actually be a good thing.

While reading books on demons, Oliver would often experience symptoms like eye pain or dizziness, but lighter content meant it would be easier to read.

Thinking like this, Oliver continued organizing the books until he finally found the one he wanted.

[Demon. Summoning. City. Observation. Record.]

Oliver recalled the ghost story about the New Continent that Edith had mentioned during dinner and opened the book.

***

Edith had said that ghost stories from the New Continent were numerous and distinctive.

For example, the story of the Old Man with the Sack, who takes naughty children away, was actually quite common.

‘Common?’

‘Yeah, wherever there are kidnappers, there’s a story like this. Kidnappers exist everywhere. But the Old Man with the Sack in the New Continent is on a whole different level.’

‘How so?’

‘There’s no discrimination. He takes both poor kids and rich brats alike with no difference. Usually, they can’t. But… it’s just a ghost story after all.’

‘So that means no children have disappeared?’

‘That’s not it. Kids go missing every year. It’s so common it can’t even be used as a joke, especially for me. However…’

‘However?’

‘During the early days of First Step, a large number of kids disappeared all at once, apparently. Of course, I’m not certain. I don’t give a damn whether kids go missing or not.’

Just as Edith had said it was no big deal, she immediately moved on to another ghost story.

A Fish Man who helps catch more fish in exchange for a child or a pretty girl,

A Clown who makes children laugh with odd tricks but kills adults,

A Siren who sings beautiful songs that sink ships,

A Bisque Doll that roams around in search of its mom and dad,

A Fairy that helps people fly,

A Boogeyman that lives under the bed or inside the closet, preying on children,

A Nutcracker that bites and kills mean adults who mistreat kids,

An Alchemist who turns people into gold,

A Prince who takes you to a land of adventure and dreams,

And a Sea Monster that was said to have swallowed ships crossing between the New Continent and the Old Continent in one bite decades ago, and so on.

Just the stories she briefly mentioned added up to at least ten. Each was fascinating.

However, the most intriguing aspect of the ghost stories from the New Continent was that not only children but even adults pretended not to believe while actually believing them.

Adults didn’t go near the beach at night, sailors lit candles and prayed before every trip, and the wealthy hired guards to protect their homes and children – all signs that they believed.

Edith laughed, saying that First Step was fun because of this, but Oliver found it more than just amusing. He felt a strong scholarly curiosity.

Though the details were quite different, there was a similar vibe to what was written in the demon book [Demon. Summoning. City. Observation. Record.].

‘…It was reported that a malformed entity appeared in a village 100 kilometers from the city where a demon was supposedly summoned. The entity was covered entirely in a tar-like substance, and though it bore a humanoid appearance—hmm…’

Oliver transcribed the most interesting parts of the book into his notes.

He particularly noted the descriptions of what was presumed to be a ‘demon.’

‘A humanoid appearance, huh…’

Oliver felt some curiosity, wondering if he could meet such an entity. Though not urgently, it was a curious thought.

From the book’s descriptions, it certainly seemed like a fascinating being, but compared to the ‘demons’ he faced while dealing with Joseph or the Flesh Cook, it felt somewhat underwhelming.

What piqued his interest more was the strange phenomena observed deeper inside the city.

There were signs that a large number of people committed mass suicide near where the demon was summoned, on a scale that was hard to believe.

While mass suicides typically involved fewer than twenty people, the book stated that entire villages committed mass suicide.

The scale was massive, almost unbelievable. However, the detailed illustrations in the book lent credibility to the account.

The text under the illustrations speculated that people might have killed themselves out of fear of the demon, but Oliver didn’t completely buy into that explanation.

Oliver couldn’t quite explain why, but the illustrations… gave him a feeling more of sadness, regret, guilt… rather than sheer terror.

‘It’s just my perception, so it might not be reliable.’

Oliver soberly assessed his ability to empathize and wrote down the interesting parts he had read in his notes, including the illustrations.

Then, as he was about to move on to the deeper sections of the city, he detected Edith approaching.

Wondering what she was doing awake, Oliver soon realized he’d stayed up all night.

Though it was a demon’s book, he hadn’t suffered any eye strain or dizziness, so he had read it without realizing the time.

Hastily, Oliver packed his notes and the demon book [Demon. Summoning. City. Observation. Record.] back into his magic bag, then quickly dispelled the security spells and dark magic.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As soon as the security spells and dark magic were removed, Edith pounded on the door with her characteristic forceful knock.

Oliver immediately opened the door upon hearing the knock.

‘Didn’t sleep?’

Edith asked directly as soon as she saw Oliver.

‘Um… I slept soundly.’

‘Liar?’

‘Yes.’

Oliver quickly admitted to lying. Edith had already noticed the truth with the sharp observation typical of a gambler.

‘Sharp observation my ass, it’s clear you stayed up all night. Your clothes are the same, too.’

‘Ah…’

Oliver looked down at his attire, realizing he had been too engrossed in the books to even change.

‘I’ll make sure it doesn’t affect my work.’

‘That’s a given. If you’re hired, you should build trust too.’

The criticism was serious. Oliver nodded in agreement.

It was true that doing the job right was essential, and he also had to give the client psychological confidence.

Especially in this job.

Oliver immediately acknowledged his mistake.

‘I’m sorry, Edith… I’ll make sure not to repeat this mistake.’

‘…What on earth were you doing all night?’

‘…Reading a book.’

Oliver lied, feeling awkward about admitting he had stayed up all night reading a book on demons.

Fortunately, Edith didn’t press further.

‘Well, fine. There’s urgent work. Get some food, wash up, and be ready to go out right away.’

With that, Edith turned to leave. Watching her back, Oliver spoke up.

‘Yes, understood… By the way, may I ask what our schedule is?’

‘I’m thinking of meeting other shareholders who aren’t affiliated with any of the nobility, traditional capitalists, or nouveau riche. To get a better read on the situation. And more importantly—’

Edith paused, then pulled out a note from her pocket.

‘It seems a major shareholder, who has never attended a shareholder meeting before, has come here.’

A major shareholder who had never attended a shareholder meeting before…

‘Did the note tell you that?’

‘No, Heimdal told me.’