Chapter 37: The ghost and the girl (Final chapter)
He had always liked being alone.
It had been that way since he was a child.
Playing with friends was fun, but there was always a part of him that wanted to go home and read a book.
He could spend time without worrying about others or conforming to their expectations.
He could have his own time and enjoy what he liked as much as he wanted.
Even now, as an adult, it was a happy and luxurious moment for the ghost.
He immersed himself in the world of his beloved book, enjoying the pleasant ticking of the clock and the light reflecting off the dust through the window.
When he finished reading, the ghost closed the book carefully, holding it close to his chest and inhaling the fragrant smell of the paper.
It was then that he heard the sound of lively footsteps and the door opening with force.
“Teach me magic, Mr. Ghost!”
A small girl entered the room.
The six-year-old girl took her place in front of the ghost, spreading her arms as if to say, “Look at me.”
“Oh, the afterglow. . .”
“Hm?”
The girl tilted her head curiously.
The ghost couldn’t help feeling disappointed that the afterglow had disappeared.
However, the girl’s eyes, wearing shabby clothes, sparkled like when she saw a birthday cake.
(She was looking forward to learning magic from me.)
The ghost felt something warm spreading in his chest.
“Sure. What do you want to know today?”
“Well, this and this and this——.”
The girl quickly told the ghost what she wanted to know while opening the book.
After answering her questions carefully and explaining everything, the ghost realized it was time to finish.
“Okay, I understand. Thank you. See you later.”
The girl turned around and left the room.
(Just ask what you want to know and leave immediately. . .too free. . .)
He felt like he was being treated like a convenient man.
After that, he thought again about what he had been feeling lately.
(This girl has something cat-like about her.)
The ghost mansion’s little girl, Finne, resembles a cat. It was one hypothesis that the ghost spent three months coming up with.
She is honest with her feelings and does not try to match her facial expressions or read the atmosphere.
Even when she was taught magic by the ghost, she would only ask about what interested her and then turn her back and leave the room.
Her small back seemed to say, “I can live alone.”
It was like saying, “I’m totally fine even if you’re gone. I have plenty of room.”
Perhaps the fact that she lost both parents and is being treated coldly by her step-parents is affecting her.
She is afraid that the people she becomes close to will disappear again.
Still, she tries to make herself okay.
The ghost found her bluff endearing.
(I have to tell her that there are people who won’t disappear.)
The ghost faced Finne kindly and gently.
However, spending time with a child for the first time was more difficult than he had expected.
(It’s not going as planned at all. . .)
Finne is a wild horse who seems to have been a boss monkey in her past life, and the ghost always ends up being manipulated by her.
When he taught her fire magic, she set him on fire, and when he taught her ice magic, she froze him.
“I couldn’t control my desire to do it,” Finne said.
“If I don’t raise this child properly, She’ll cause trouble for others,” the ghost shuddered.
The ghost did everything in his power to empathize with her. He made eye contact and patiently explained things to her until she understood, even when he wanted to raise his voice.
However, it seemed that his efforts were not very effective.
Finne was satisfied with trapping the ghost with plant magic.
(This is the pain of raising a child. . .)
Expectations are always betrayed, and one’s own powerlessness is shown in stark relief.
Above all, what made the ghost sad was her small back.
As soon as he took a breath, she turned her back and said, “I can live alone.”
(Maybe I’m not the kind of person who can handle difficult things like raising a child, since I prefer magic to human relationships.)
But he knew that he should not give up.
This was something he absolutely had to do.
He didn’t know why, but he had that feeling.
It was one night.
The sound of rain echoed.
The rain that began to fall with the setting sun increased in intensity as the night deepened. Occasionally, a strong light dyed the room white. Thunder shook the earth a little later.
The wind shook the mansion, and a creaking sound echoed from the depths of the earth.
That was when someone knocked on the door of the library.
At first, the ghost didn’t realize it was a knock.
It was such a small sound.
He heard the faint sound of knocking again, and the ghost hurriedly opened the door.
The girl stood with her right ear turned like a cat.
“What’s wrong?”
The girl turned her gaze towards the end of the hallway at the words of the ghost.
“. . .I can’t sleep.”
The ghost talked about various things in her bedroom until the girl fell asleep.
Every time thunder roared, the girl shuddered.
It was a long night.
The flow of time seemed to be stretched out, and something different from usual seemed to be mixed in the air.
“I have one question. . .”
The girl said in a small voice that couldn’t be heard without listening carefully.
“Yeah. What is it?”
However, the girl didn’t say anything.
She seemed to be hesitant about something.
In the darkness of the night, the ghost felt something like that.
“You can tell me anything you want, okay?”
The girl looked at the ghost as if trying to gauge his reaction.
After a moment of silence, she opened her mouth.
“Mr. Ghost, you’re not going anywhere, right?”
It felt like an important question that couldn’t be answered easily.
The sound of rain grew stronger.
The ghost looked straight at the girl and said, “I’m not going anywhere. I won’t go anywhere.”
“Really? Will you stay with me forever?”
“I will. It’s okay. I’ll always be with you.”
In the darkness, the ghost felt like the girl’s expression had changed.
It might have been just his imagination, but he felt like the girl had become a little more relieved.
He hoped it was true.
But it might have been just a dream and not reality.
Before he knew it, the ghost had fallen asleep, leaning against her bed.
When he opened his eyes again, Finne was looking down at him with her lips pursed.
“You fell asleep first. Honestly, that’s just like Mr. Ghost.”
Finne shrugged her shoulders and muttered,
“You really don’t understand how to treat a lady. I’m worried about your future.”
(I don’t want to hear that from someone who was playing around with burying me alive with earth magic.)
Although he had some thoughts, he decided not to say anything.
There are many situations in the world where things go more smoothly if you remain silent.
(However, I failed. I fell asleep before her.)
As an adult, he had intended to watch over her until she fell asleep.
Regret and disappointment.
He couldn’t even do such a simple thing properly.
Maybe he really isn’t cut out for raising a child.
The girl spoke to the ghost, her face lowered.
“But, it wasn’t entirely unpleasant to have kept me company all night. . .Well, I was happy.”
She looked around like a cat before continuing.
“. . .Thank you.”
She whispered before turning her back and leaving the room as if running away.
Her small back was slightly different from usual, without the usual bravado of “I can live alone.”
The ghost felt a strange feeling in his chest.
Living with a cat-like girl in a dilapidated mansion.
He likes being alone.
But maybe it’s not so bad to be with someone else.
Outside the window, the morning sun after the rain was shining brightly on the town.
~The End~
