“So… Carol, what actually happened?”

  We came to the beach to have fun, but I was a bit on edge after I heard Carol scream.

  The other went back to normal once she explained herself and reassured them nothing was wrong. They went back to what they were doing before, sunbathing, mostly. Everyone except me.

  “You were waiting for me?” Carol turned up her nose when she saw I stayed behind. “I already said I was just imagining. You don’t believe me now, your girlfriend?”

  She only needed to wash off the ice cream Narumi spilled on her, so her shower hadn’t lasted more than a few minutes. She left the stall, making her way to join the others, when I stopped her to talk.

  “I believe you, but… I know you like to put on a strong front sometimes… You think I wouldn’t notice my girlfriend acting weird?”

  I used the girlfriend point against her, and she scoffed. “Right… I’ve been acting weird… How exactly?”

  “It’s kinda hard to pinpoint… You were less energetic than usual today… Like you were keeping your distance…” She barely reacted to Sarasa’s antics, and she didn’t even say anything when Narumi spilled ice cream on her. “You… you were being too nice!”

  “Huh?! I’m not usually nice? Is that what you’re trying to say?” She crossed her arms and tilted her head like she was ready to bite me. That’s more like it!

  “Uhmm… Putting the truth of that statement aside… What’s actually going on? Is it something you can’t say?”

  She stared up for a few seconds. The gall of this girl, I could hear from her expression. “*Sigh…* If you were looking that close, I guess I can’t hide it… You’ve actually been paying attention.” Underneath the hostility was a hint of a blush.

  “How can I explain it…?” She continued. “I’ve just been having this weird sensation since yesterday… Since we were at the mall… Like… I’m being watched, or something… Like I’m being followed.”

  “Ah! A stalker?!” So there really was a stalker… In its compact form, I immediately gripped my sword. “Don’t worry! Once I find him, I’ll cut them off!”

  “Wait… Don’t get carried away.” Carol pushed down on my hand. “I don’t think it’s an actual stalker, because if it was, he already wouldn’t have them after wandering into the House.”

  “That continued into the House? After you got back?”

  “It did… Even in the dorm, even in my room. That’s why I’m convinced I’m not being stalked. A normal person could never wander into the House that easily.” I heard that and put the sword away. Looks like no one’s losing their jewels today. “It’s just a strange feeling, so I was going to deal with it by myself. It’s probably just a cold, after all.”

  “And today?” She shrugged.

  “I think I was just on edge. Lost some sleep because of that, so every little sound is making me jump.”

  She seemed convinced that there was nothing wrong, and she was very casual about it, but… “What about the magic around your ankles? Didn’t it mess with your head before? When the mermaid showed up? What if it’s acting up again?”

  Carol looked at her ankles, and sure enough, there was nothing there. When she learned how to create illusions, she learned how to control the strange tattoo bracelets and could hide them at will.

  “It’s not that…”

  “Really? You sure? Still, it’s too strange… You can’t just say that it’s a cold and brush it off…” I understand. She doesn’t want to worry or bother anyone, but I need to be there for my Carol. “What if… Ahahaha… This might sound a bit ridiculous, but… what if it’s a ghost?!”

  “Shut up, you idiot…” She just shook her head. “Ghosts aren’t real!”

  “How can you say that when monsters are real?”

  Carol didn’t say anything, and we had a moment of silence between us. I know for a fact that things like ghosts appear in the game. They’re called monsters rather than ghosts, so she could still say that ghosts don’t exist, but…

  She must have arrived at a similar conclusion. It was possible that a monster could be stalking her, so she couldn’t shut me down like she wanted.

  “Should we talk to Hecate? She might know something about this…”

  “No…”

  “There’s something weird going on, Carol… It won’t go away just because you ignore it.”

  “Fine…”

  She wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about it, but I managed to get through to her. The two of us set off to find Hecate, and when we did, I explained things to her.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “So? How do we exorcise the ghost haunting Carol?”

  “You know, Iroha…” Hecate had a surprised yet amused expression on her face. “If someone heard you say that out of context, they’d think you were crazy.”

  “Obviously… That’s why I explained it beforehand.”

  She was lying down next to the others when we called out to her. We left with her saying we were going for a walk along the shallow water. The sounds of waves crashing prevented our conversation from leaking.

  “Still, why would you come to me for help? You may have forgotten, but our job at the House is to eliminate monsters. Exorcisms are outside our realm of expertise…” Hecate looked troubled. “Do I look like the type of girl who’d learn about that on my own?”

  “Uhh…” Carol and I looked at each other. “Yes… You really, really do…”

  “Why, thank you.” She smiled… Wait, she was fishing for compliments?!

  “Unfortunately, I have never run into an actual ghost before. I’m not even sure if they’re real. Still, if it is really a spirit that you’re trying to exorcise, you probably need to attack it with some kind of spiritual energy.”

  “Makes sense…” If it is a spirit… I looked at Carol. How do we know for sure? “And… do you think Carol’s actually haunted?”

  “There’s no way I could know for sure, but from what you’ve told me, it’s definitely possible.”

  Carol’s stiffened hearing that, and the blood drained from her face. “No- no way, right? Dammit… Uncertainty’s the worst… If only we had some way of making sure…”

  “A way to know for sure if you’re being haunted…? Hmm… Oh! We might have something…”

  …

  “So, Ririna, do you have a way to find ghosts? If it works just for monsters that are like ghosts, that’s fine too.”

  “I…” Ririna was overwhelmed. “That would sound absolutely ridiculous out of context.”

  “Yeah… That’s why I explained everything beforehand…” We took a break from our walk to invite Ririna to join us. She joined her, I explained the situation, and here we are.

  “Also, ghosts and monsters like ghosts are two completely different things.”

  “Really? They’re that different? Does that mean can’t help us?”

  “I didn’t say that…” Even in her swimsuit, she was as resourceful as ever. She pulled out a small handkerchief with a bundle of strange grass inside. “Here… This is an artificial grass that reveals things that can’t usually after being burned. It reveals them for everyone in a large radius, so you might wanna be careful…”

  “For everyone?” Carol immediately saw the problem. “That’s too big of a risk for us… We can’t cause a commotion involving civilians.”

  “But… If you’ve actually been haunted, we can’t just give up on it… We gotta do it!”

  “I agree!” When it came to Carol, Hecate didn’t pull any stops. “We need to cure her fast! If Carol’s being haunted, we can go somewhere quiet, and the ghost will follow. There should be some rocks not too far from here. Come!”

  The beach quieted down as we found a small pocket along the shoreline. Sandy hills surrounded us and protected us from unwanted gazes, and the only way here, through the shallow water, was hidden between some tall rocks.

  In a way… “It’s the perfect place for things to get freaky…” My thoughts accidentally leaked, and the three of them were weirded out. “Wait! I didn’t mean freaky as in raunchy! I meant it as creepy… Supernatural! Paranormal!”

  “Yeah…” Carol rolled her eyes. “It’s suspicious when you’re the one saying it, but in this situation, it would obviously have to be that…” We were crouched in a circle with the bundle of grass in a small hole we dug out between us. “Still a weird thing to say… Should’ve kept your mouth shut.”

  It’s not my fault! That was an accident!

  “Is everyone ready…? The ritual can wait no longer…”

  Hecate was excited to get started. She had a lighter in her hand, and she was about to light the grass when Ririna interrupted. “Wa- wait… D- do I need to be here? I- I can’t exactly help you fight a ghost, so I think I’ll just go back…”

  “Hah, you scared?” Carol scoffed.

  “O- of course I am! Ghosts, spirits, and… anything related to the afterlife, really, I just don’t wanna deal with… It’s unscientific… Alchemists can’t… It’s just not our thing, okay?”

  “I agree with you there. Ghosts aren’t real, meaning you have nothing to be scared of.” Carol’s logic prevented Ririna from leaving. “Light that up, Hecate. Nothing’s gonna show up.”

  Hecate giggled. “You’re so confident… How will you react when you gaze into the abyss? I can’t wait to find out.” Hecate’s attitude was ominous enough to make us all gulp. Does she know something we don’t? “Here it goes.”

  The next moment, the grass burned. The fire spread unnaturally quickly, and in a few seconds, the grass was completely burnt.

  “Is it working?”

  “I- it should be…” Ririna answered me while trembling. “I- I can’t guarantee it will work… Th- there are some things it can’t reveal… It just… reveals most of them… That’s how it’s supposed to work.”

  “I see…” Ririna covered her head and looked at the floor. I looked around to see if I spotted anything. The others did the same, but nothing.

  “Told you… Ghosts aren’t real… It’s just a cold. Why are we wasting our time here?”

  “Re- really?” Ririna slowly raised her head. Looking around a little more, it did seem like Carol was ri- “EeeeeeKK! Ghost!”

  “What?!” Ririna fell on her butt and pointed past us. “Wha—t’s that?”

  It was hard to spot. A human-shaped figure made of mist with no details other than two black circles for eyes stood in front of a dune. It was still partially transparent, even after the grass burned. The white mist blended with the yellow from the background.

  “Okay…” I remained composed. “Let’s fi-” Fight it, I was about to say, when its eyes suddenly glowed red.

  “What’s…?” “Ughh… I can’t…” “I feel sick…” The three of them suddenly groaned and grew unsteady.

  [Psychological Attack Resistance Lv.10—Active]

  A psychological attack? From its eyes? Did the skill block it? What is it doing? Nausea? Sickness? It’s just standing there looking at us ominously… Is it line of sight? In that case…

  “I’ll block it!” I broke out into a run. Stopped right in front of it with my arms spread. “How’s this?!”

  “*Cough cough…* What was that?” Looking over my shoulder, I saw them steady themselves… I knew it…

  “It’s line of sight… The ghost attacks just by looking at you.” I grabbed the compacted sword, and it changed to its true form. “I’ll handle this! Leave it to me!”

  “Why aren’t you affected?”

  “Uhmm… VISS Driver!” With a short answer, I ran forward. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle this…” I swung my sword, and… “Huh?” It went through…?

  Do I need spiritual energy to damage it? Maybe if I shot it with the explosive skill… Though, shooting a gun out here in the real world… Well, it’s not like I brought it with me.

  “Wait!” The ghost floated away, and I gave chase. I attacked, attacked, and attacked, yet nothing worked. At the very least, I was keeping it busy. The more it focused on me, the less it could hurt the others. “Dammit… This isn’t working…”

  “Keep that up, Iroha… I have something I wanna try…” Huh? Carol ran a little ahead of the ghost. A small dagger appeared in her hand. She threw it, and the dagger reached it. The ghost’s flight trajectory was altered, and it slowed down. But then… “Ghh…”

  “Don’t you dare!” Agility Burst! I got back between Carol and the ghost. It was only a glimpse. She was still standing. Slash Flurry! Even though the barrage of slashes did nothing, I had its attention once again. “How did you do that, Carol!? Wasn’t that just an illusion?”

  “Heh… Didn’t I say I’ve been practicing?” Was it the practice or the type of attack that did the trick? Both? At least we have a way to hurt it now! “Keep it busy, Iroha. Block its gaze and don’t let it run away.”

  “A- alright… I’m counting on you…” She nodded confidently… That’s reassuring.

  Agility Burst! Slash Flurry! I chased the ghost around the pocket, keeping it and its eyes away from my girls. After a few laps, Carol was gone.

  “Good work! I got it now!” I suddenly heard her voice from an unexpected angle. From above! “There!”

  A barrage of daggers fell on the ghost from above, some phasing through me. “Woah!?”

  The daggers pinned the misty figure to the floor. I fell backwards and left the stage open for the airborne Carol. “This is payback…” A knight’s lance formed on her hand as she plunged. The ghost’s eyes flashed as red as they could, but it was pointless. Gravity did most of the work, then Carol thrust her arm forward with all her might. “For embarrassing me in the showers!”

  The mist thrashed violently as the lance opened a big hole through its body. The sound of steam came out from every wound, and poof! The ghost exploded into a quickly dissipating cloud of mist.

  “Did we do it?” I looked at her.

  “Finally… I was so scared… I don’t think I’m making that grass ever again… It was a mistake learning how to make it.” Ririna and Hecate ran up to us. Carol was still standing over where the ghost died. She let go of the lance, and her illusions dissipated next.

  “I actually feel immediately better…” Carol wiped her forehead. “It really was all because of a damn ghost…”

  “But it was a unique experience, was it not? Isn’t the supernatural popular with girls our age? Now that you’re going to school, you could use the story to become popular with the others.”

  “Who would do that?” She snapped back. “Also, isn’t this still partially part of our job? We’d get in trouble!”

  “Was it really a ghost, though? All things considered, there’s still a possibility that it could’ve have just been a monst-” Monster… We all stopped when we noticed something that confirmed that idea.

  On the ground, between us and where the ghost was pinned down, was a small keychain in the shape of a cartoonish ghost.

  “Oh…”