Chapter 15

Chapter 15

“Ugh, ugh…”

The evil spirit possessing the maid must have been powerful, because one blow didn’t bring her down. I swung the silver candlestick again.

This time, the spirit’s movements changed.

“W-wai. Kik, krk, wait…”

Wow, she’s still not going down. This evil spirit was definitely a tough one.

Clang!

“Aaagh! Wait—! It hurts! It hurts! It hur—”

As expected of a wicked ghost.

It was obviously using its sinister tricks to act like a human and play on my guilt. Did it think I’d fall for that? Not a chance.

I had seen with my own eyes that she’d just walked on all fours.

I shifted my grip on the candlestick so it was easier to swing.

I’ll put you at ease in no time, nameless maid.

Clang!

I thought I’d just heard a cry of “Somebody save me!” My resolve softened, and I almost lowered the candlestick, but I raised it again.

‘I almost fell for it.’

The ghosts in movies were always imitating humans. Didn’t the ones in The Conjuring and Annabelle also pounce the moment the protagonist let her guard down?

I absolutely couldn’t be fooled. I’d only just met this maid, but surely she wouldn’t want her body toyed with by an evil spirit either.

“I’m sorry. No hard feelings. I’ll put you gently to sleep.”

Yaaah! I let out a battle cry, thinking this would be the final blow, and the maid, who hadn’t even been hit yet, slid across the carpet all on her own.

Thud.

“Damn… crazy… human…”

Complaining of the pain, the maid passed out. I didn’t let go of the candlestick, in case she got up again and lunged at me.

But her back only twitched a few times, and she didn’t get up.

“I’m sorry. Next time I’ll do it in one hit.”

I apologized to the fallen maid and raised my head. The mansion’s servants, who had been nowhere in sight earlier, had gathered around me.

They looked a little…

No, very shocked. Their eyes were wide as they stared at me.

“Um…”

Belatedly, I began to worry about my reputation. All I’d done was drive off an evil spirit, but what if they thought I’d beaten up a person?

I hastily set the candlestick I was holding down on the floor, as meekly as I could. I didn’t want to be branded a violent maid on my very first day.

“…”

But it seemed too late, because the servants’ eyes were still fixed on the silver candlestick I’d swung like a baseball bat.

This wasn’t working. To make it as clear as possible that I’d done it for the exorcism, I spoke to Maryann loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“The exorcism was a success, Maryann.”

＊＊＊

While Zelda went to fetch the physician, the fainted maid woke up.

The physician examined the maid carefully, then whispered something to Zelda. After talking with him, Zelda came over to me.

“Gretchen, you again?”

“I know, right? It’s all a misunderstanding, Zelda.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

“There was a perfectly good reason. I can explain every—”

“The doctor says the back of the maid’s head is swollen.”

“…”

“Fortunately, there’s no damage to her brain. You’re annoyingly good at controlling your strength, Gretchen.”

I felt terribly sorry for the maid.

I’d have to apologize to her again once she regained consciousness.

“I’ll apologize to her properly later. But I had no choice if I wanted to survive. The maid’s body was possessed by a ghost. I’m not the sort of person who believes in unscientific things like that, either.”

For a moment, I’d thought this genre was switching from simple horror to a zombie apocalypse.

“Zelda, do you know how scared I was? I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life! Her waist bent! In the opposite direction!”

But Zelda didn’t seem to believe me at all. Feeling wronged, I began explaining the situation myself, using every gesture I could.

“Gretchen. There’s no need to reenact the situation with your whole body. What do you think you’re doing in the corridor?”

“It’s because it’s so unfair! So unfair! You’re looking at me like I’m the biggest troublemaker in the world right now.”

“Aren’t you?”

“I may like playing pranks, but I have no hobby of beating people up for fun!”

I felt dreadfully sorry for the maid, who’d be carrying a lump on her head for a while, but I had no regrets. Even if I went back, I’d do exactly the same thing.

“A ghost?”

“An evil spirit. It must be that evil spirit!”

Meanwhile, at the word “ghost,” the servants surrounding us grew noisy.

“It’s Madam Michello’s curse! We’re all going to die. There’s nothing left to do but pray…”

‘Madam Michello’s curse?’ Madam Michello? Who was Madam Michello?

People who normally hushed everything up and said as little as possible let information trickle out little by little now that they were agitated.

“Should I start preparing to quit now? But I have dependents…”

“Good grief! Haven’t we all been cursed?”

“Surely we won’t end up like those people…”

I listened to their whispering to gather information.

“Everyone, calm down! Carrying on like this won’t solve anything!”

Zelda raised her voice to calm the panicking servants. But her shouts were no match for their anxiety, which was spreading like wildfire.

Just then,

“Enough.”

At the sound of keys clinking together, everyone fell silent.

The servants quieted on their own the moment the Head Maid appeared in the corridor.

When the servants who’d been babbling so freely fell still, Zelda secretly let out a sigh of relief.

“I could hear the commotion all the way down the corridor.”

The servant who had mentioned Madam Michello lowered his head with a guilty look.

“We are the servants of the Francis household. A new maid has just joined us, and this is how you behave? Shameful.”

One of the servants who had been loudly talking about curses and quitting hung his head.

“I hope you will think again about why we are here. Didn’t we all come because there was something more important than our lives? Take, for example, the debts to the moneylenders that keep growing even at this very moment.”

“That’s true.”

“Money is scarier than ghosts.”

At those words, the servants nodded vigorously in agreement.

‘Debts…?’

Was it really the kind of debt I was thinking of? I recalled Jessica’s words once more.

So it was true that she could do anything for money.

“Now, everyone, don’t stand around here. It’s your free time, so you may sleep or finish your remaining work. Whatever it is, do something more productive than gathering in groups.”

Once the Head Maid had effortlessly quelled the uproar, the servants, who had been clustered together, scattered in all directions.

“Emily.”

The Head Maid called the name of the maid who had fainted. The moment her name was called, Emily turned deathly pale. As if she had something to feel guilty about, she pressed her forehead flat against the floor.

“H-Head Maid!”

“Did you go out at dawn?”

Emily shook her head violently. The hands braced on the floor were trembling so hard that it was visible.

“Emily, the staff think I hate it most when rules are broken, but that’s actually wrong.”

The Head Maid leaned her upper body close to the prostrate Emily.

The keys at her waist jingled.

“What I hate most, you see, is having to say things more than once.”

“Eek…!”

“Emily. Please don’t test my patience. Who else would have gone out but you?”

Hmm, actually, there was one other person who had gone out.

“Someone saw you at dawn. Don’t lie. Tell me honestly.”

The Head Maid’s voice was so low and gentle that it didn’t feel like an interrogation.

But every word she spoke was sharp and cutting. Maybe because I had a guilty conscience, I grew tense even though she wasn’t speaking to me but to Emily.

“…Hic, hic… Hic…”

“Emily, I’ll ask you one last time. Did you leave your room after 11:07?”

Cornered, Emily licked her lower lip and then flattened herself on the floor.

“Yes! Yes…! But only for a moment! I only went down to get a letter from the mailbox. But I was back in less than ten minutes. I can swear it to the Goddess!”

“Then, Emily, what did you see when you left the dormitory?”

“Pardon? If you’re asking what I saw…”

Emily was puzzled by the Head Maid’s sudden question.

“Nothing…”