Would this ghost have information about the Hand of Rest or the Dullahans? Or perhaps the whereabouts of the Dullahans' heads?
If the last authority that supposedly failed is related to the Dullahans' lost heads, then that Morning God fellow might not want me finding them.
If this monastery was closed for so long because of the Goddess's traces, there might indeed be some records left, just as the ghost said.
And if the Goddess intervened in my resurrection...
'Who gave the oracle?'
I hesitated at this newly arising question, but the ghost hurriedly urged me to go to the underground.
"It's the middle of the night. What underground? Too loud."
[But...]
"I'm going to sleep first. I'll go only after having a hearty breakfast tomorrow and making sufficient safety preparations."
The ghost couldn't hide his disappointment at my firm words. He seemed to have expected I would help them immediately.
"Wait."
Having said that decisively, I entered the barracks using the excuse of needing rest for tomorrow. I lay down on the bed, but naturally, sleep didn't come.
And so I ended up staying awake all night with my eyes open.
* * *
"G-ghost!"
Pushing aside my fatigue, the moment I stepped out of the barracks, what I heard was Xenon's scream. I looked at him blankly as he stood pale as a sheet, then turned my gaze to see another Xenon. He spoke as if making an excuse to me.
"Since you awakened, I materialized my form as well."
"Lord Anelli, it's a ghost! Can you see? A ghost!"
"Yeah, I see it. What about breakfast?"
Rubbing my stiff neck and looking around, there wasn't even a smell of food, let alone anything prepared over the fire.
I stared at the empty pot with disappointed eyes when Xenon, all excited, poured out words.
"Is breakfast important right now? This thing is copying me exactly!"
At Xenon's pointing, the ghost tilted his head. Then he formed a gentle smile. It looked just like the smile Xenon occasionally wore.
Well, since their faces were identical, naturally they would look alike.
"It's easy to mimic him. Simple and convenient."
"What did you say?"
Xenon glared at the ghost with disbelief in his eyes. I watched the two, who gave off completely different vibes despite having the same face, with tired eyes when a blunt voice came from behind.
"That mage is simple indeed."
Samuel, dressed lightly, appeared while wiping his forehead with a towel. He seemed to have returned from his morning exercise.
"You're not surprised, Sir?"
"I confirmed that this ghost possesses no evil power. Furthermore, it doesn't seem to be affected by divine power or magic either. Since they can't influence each other, it's not a threat."
Would he still be this reassured if he knew this ghost that didn't look evil had put him to deep sleep last night?
It was obvious that telling him would only add to the commotion, so I turned my attention away indifferently.
"Xenon, I'm hungry."
Xenon, who had been glaring at the ghost with disgusted eyes, finally couldn't resist my urging and headed toward the fire. The ghost watched his back with interest, and Xenon, whether he felt the ghost's gaze or not, kept shivering.
Left like this, there would be serious disruption to Xenon's meal preparation. I approached the ghost with a sour expression.
"Why are you here?"
"You clearly told me to wait."
"No, what I meant by waiting was..."
I certainly didn't mean for him to spend the night in front of the barracks. I looked at the ghost with dissatisfaction, then glanced up at the sky. The clear blue color caught my eye. Come to think of it, the sun had risen, hadn't it?
"You can move around even in bright daylight like this?"
At my question, the ghost nodded immediately.
"Of course."
"You're a ghost."
"Ghosts and sunlight have nothing to do with each other."
Aren't ghosts supposed to appear at night?
I felt puzzled, but I just decided to understand it on my own. Well, maybe it's a morning-type ghost. As I shook my head to dismiss my interest, Xenon suddenly called me.
"Um, Lord Anelli."
Standing awkwardly with the pot in his hands, he asked with a serious voice.
"Should I prepare four portions?"
My eyes, Xenon's, and even Samuel's gaze, who was standing a bit further away, all turned to the ghost at the same time. The ghost, receiving all our attention, answered with a sour expression.
"We cannot consume food."
"So he says."
"That's a relief. It would have been even more infuriating if, on top of creepily copying people, he had wasted ingredients too."
I stared blankly at Xenon, who was preparing food again with a relieved expression, and suppressed the laughter rising within me. Ah, really.
I find Xenon having such thoughts truly amazing.
* * *
While cleaning up the camp after the meal, Samuel began bombarding the ghost with questions.
It was because he learned that the ghost had been a presence staying in this monastery for a long time. Eventually, Xenon joined in and started questioning the identity of the statue. These men truly had remarkable scholarly enthusiasm in their respective fields.
Clicking my tongue as I watched them, I quietly summoned Nadav and Jigor. I wondered if they could see the ghost.
[I apologize. I cannot see anything at all.]
[Boss, I don't sense any presence either.]
If Nadav was one thing, but even the sensitive Jigor couldn't detect the ghost at all.
"Why can't you detect it?"
I inadvertently muttered to myself, and the ghost, who had approached my side without me noticing, interjected.
"A being abandoned by Genesis cannot detect me, who originated from the authority of Genesis."
Samuel and Xenon had started another debate about something and were discussing magic and divine power a little distance away.
The ghost, seizing the opportunity to slip away, looked at the Dullahans and sneered.
"Those are insignificant beings abandoned by the gods, and I am a higher existence than them."
"Who are you calling insignificant?"
At my sharp response, the ghost shook his head and muttered.
"Having attachment to unnecessarily many creations is just like the Goddess. Indeed, the Hand of Rest, the Agent of Death."
I had suspected it ever since words like freeing from the threads of fate and granting rest came up...
The Night Goddess herself was a possessor of distorted ideology. To have attachment to all the creations in the world.
No, if the Goddess had that kind of ability, that's one thing, but there's no need for even her agent to follow such altruism, right? If she wanted to practice that, she should do it alone. She unnecessarily taught Ganic things about human trust and whatnot, making him go through pointless suffering.
I clicked my tongue and refuted the ghost's words.
"I don't take care of unnecessarily many creations. I only take care of my Dullahans."
"But you came to this monastery ultimately to complete the unfinished mission. That altruistic conduct..."
"Hey. The former agent may have had admirable spirit of sacrifice, but I don't."
As I firmly drew the line, the ghost said with confusion.
"But you and she are the same soul."
"You said I was thrown into the River of Forgetfulness. I'm a completely different person from her."
The environment I was born in, what I learned growing up, the information acquired through experience—all different.
I grew up with different values entirely, so I can't just dismiss us as the same person simply because we share the same soul.
The captain back then would have made choices and taken responsibility with her own values and thoughts.
Whether I agree with her life or not, I had the intention to respect it as an independent life.
Conversely, I too am living a new life separate from the past.
"If I do end up fulfilling this last authority or whatever, it will be purely for my Dullahans, not because of altruistic and admirable love for humanity."
From far away, I could see Samuel and Xenon's debate gradually settling down. Confirming their situation, I looked back at the ghost and concluded in a cold tone.
"So if you act arrogantly toward my Dullahans, know that there will be no rest or anything else."
The ghost fell silent. Then he soon rippled and returned to his original pitch-black form.
[I think I understand what the world's law that the Goddess so wanted to complete is.]
"What do you mean?"
[Genesis, the Morning God, did not understand the meaning of the law. He declared that the world's law would ultimately be like a wheel. Souls with severed threads of fate would live a lifetime, but at the end would eventually meet another genesis, and this would become a meaningless cycle, he said.]
Was it my imagination? The ghost's dark features looked somewhat lonely.
[But I understood that it is not so. Indeed, we need rest. The Goddess's mercy, the voice of the end.]
The last words scattered small like fading into emptiness. The ghost, who had revealed his black form, hid his body translucently in the air.
Nadav and Jigor, who couldn't hear the conversation between me and the ghost, were staring blankly at me.
"You two, return to the bracelet for now."
[Yes, Boss!]
[Understood.]
They complied without a word, and soon the two moved to the extra-dimensional space with twinkling light.
I quietly looked at the spot where the Dullahans had been but was now empty, then lowered my gaze. The jewel on the bracelet shone, announcing the Dullahans' existence.
When I said I wouldn't find their heads, the Dullahans always said it was fine. But was that really their true feeling?
Perhaps these guys, like the ghost, are desperately hoping for rest? Living as headless Dullahans must be confusing and painful after all?
All these guys must have once been complete living beings, not Dullahans.
"Lord Anelli, let's prepare to enter the monastery!"
Leaving behind my tangled thoughts, I approached Xenon and Samuel.
The ghost, drifting like black smoke, followed behind me. It seemed like if I just went in, they would naturally follow on their own.
"Let's go."
The chapel basement. Whatever is there, I need to go and see for myself.