༺ The Aftermath Begins ༻
Rattle. Rattle.
Rattle. Rattle.
I was inside a carriage, on my way back home.
Gazing at the insignificant scenery, I reflected back on my miserable life.
My current name was Deus Verdi; the second son of the Margravate ruling Norseweden in the North.
But if you were to ask me what my original name was, it was Kim Shinwoo.
A 25-year-old young man who lived in South Korea. I graduated from college, retired from the army, went to work for a company, and could see ghosts.
A young man who appeared normal, but was actually not.
My maternal grandmother was a shaman.
Not just any shaman, but a miraculous and supernatural one. My grandmother, once, took a look at me and said the following words:
– His energy and mind is far too close to the divine. Tsk, if he doesn’t walk the shaman’s path, the child will be ruined.
My mother, who had always been harassed by my maternal grandmother, obviously didn’t believe it, but she made a mistake.
Could a boy, who spent his entire life seeing dead people, have proper emotions?
Could you remain sane when your partner, who died in an accident the day before, strangled you as you returned to school, asking why you were ignoring her?
Would you not be traumatized if you saw the person, who died after falling from an apartment, climb up your room’s window every night and said she wanted to live?
As a result, I felt as if my emotions were wearing out.
I didn’t happen to become like this while living out my life.
I had become like this to live.
So, if one asked me why such a person, why I, became Deus Verdi, whose name was only mentioned in the game [Retry]…
I didn’t know either.
I thought it might be a ghost playing a prank as usual, but after living here for about half a year, that didn’t seem to be the case.
So much had happened in half a year. I learned aristocratic speech and etiquette, and an understanding of magic was, of course, essential as well.
Everything that Deus Verdi had accumulated did not go away. I still had an understanding of his magic and how to apply it, so it didn’t take me long.
However, if you were to ask me if Deus was a prodigy, he definitely wasn’t.
He wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t outstanding either.
Deus Verdi was a man of mediocre talents, worthy of a passable position as the second son of a Margrave.
A man who gossiped a lot and had so-called bad behavior.
Anyway,
Now that I’d become Deus, I thought I’d become a little more normal.
I thought these damn eyes that saw ghosts would disappear, but they didn’t.
And, funnily enough, this game was set in a fantasy medieval world of swords and magic.
Due to that, the number of ghosts in sight were far more than in the Republic of Korea, a country under an armistice.
[Fufu, the scenery is nice, right?]
Look no further than now.
I was definitely the only person riding in the personal carriage sent by my family.
But before I knew it, a ghost of a lady sitting across me was talking to me with a smile.
[Oh my, can you give me an answer?]
I didn’t bother replying.
My grandmother had told me many times that it was not a good thing for the living to talk to the dead.
I’d rarely actually been involved with them and seen anything good.
[You can see me.]
The ghost jumped up and approached me.
‘Damn it.’
From my point of view, I could only see her left side, but as she approached me, I saw the other side of her face clearly.
It looked like the other side was all burnt, maybe because of a fire.
I almost shut my eyes, but I kept my composure.
It was an unsightly wound among ghosts, but I was already used to it.
[Look at me.]
I slowly made eye contact with the ghost who stuck out her face. At that, her mouth dropped open and she rejoiced.
The coachman could hear me, so I spoke softly.
“Take a seat.”
[Oh my? You ignored me, and now you’re being polite?]
“It’s not that I was ignoring you.”
[You didn’t ignore me?]
“I was being thoughtful.”
[……Are you saying that you were being thoughtful?]
The ghost of the lady sitting across from me tilted her head and asked. On her left was a middle-aged woman with a truly beautiful appearance,
On the other side, her eyes were distorted from the burns and her skin was peeling, and the ooze was still dripping.
“I thought you wanted to be invisible.”
[……]
“Because I also don’t want anyone to see my ugliness.”
[Oh.]
“But, you have beauty beyond that. Not being ashamed of your weaknesses, it’s a beauty to be proud of.”
[You’re quite the gentleman, aren’t you?]
“I was just saying what I felt.”
[……Thank you.]
The ghost blushed and disappeared. I didn’t say anything unreasonable. It wasn’t that easy to be a saint.
She must have left because she was content with the conversation.
“Hooo.”
And that was how I dealt with ghosts. It’s not that I got hit here and there for no reason.
I told them what they wanted; I gave them the conversation they desired and the comfort they craved.
“What a funny life.”
Looking down blankly at the spot where the lady had disappeared, my tongue felt sore as if I had chewed on bitter herbs.
I was living with dull feelings because of them.
In fact, I took care of their empty hearts and wounds.
That was my life in the present, as Kim Shinwoo combined with Deus Verdi.
*
“Woah.”
Looking around her newly acquired lab, the new professor, Fel, couldn’t help but smile.
The spacious room was as clean as new, and the furniture was harmoniously arranged.
“Is it really okay for me to use this room?”
Professor Fel, who was hired due to a sudden staff vacancy, assumed that she would be given a small room.
Erica Bright, who was showing Fel the laboratory behind her, gave a kind smile and nodded.
“Of course. Since Professor Fel is here, I should at least do this much.”
“N-No it is me who should be thanking you for accepting me.”
Fel was, in fact, a professor at another academy. She was also quite capable, and when it came to magic related to the human body, she was a genius unrivaled in this current era.
The reason why she suddenly came to Loberne Academy was because of a factional dispute at her previous academy.
She had no interest in the politics within the academy and had only been doing her research, but when she came to her senses, she became unemployed at the most critical time, when new students arrived.
Erica Bright and the Loberne Academy immediately snatched up Fel, who was frustrated because she had no place or support to continue her research.
“There may still be items from the professor who used the lab previously.”
“Oh, I’ll take care of that myself! I don’t really like it when anyone touches my lab.”
“Yes, in that case, you can just fill out the lecture plan and send it to us. You’re probably running out of time, so you can refer to what you used at the previous academy.”
“Yes, thank you!”
Erica walked out with a benevolent smile. Looking at the direction she left from, Fel exhaled.
“She’s so pretty.”
Beautiful well-maintained blonde hair and a self-serving figure like a model.
On top of that, a smile like sunshine and restrained manners. Even a caring personality.
Thinking that she was the epitome of what Fel wanted to look like, she looked in the full-length mirror on one side of the lab.
Her frizzy light pink hair was not properly maintained and stuck out in some places. She was always stuck in the laboratory, so her skin was pale and her body was small.
Her overly voluptuous breasts distorted her body proportions.
“It’s the worst.”
She stuck out her tongue as she slashed at herself in the mirror, where she looked like a street bum.
Fel always hated herself. She had no intention of hiding it.
[It’s the worst.]
“Huh?”
Something was strange.
She felt like she heard her own voice again. From the mirror, at that.
“It’s the worst.”
She tried it again, just in case. As expected, she didn’t hear any sound, as if it was her imagination.
“Is it because I didn’t sleep much?”
Seeing the drooping dark circles, Fel stretched.
‘I think I’ll just organize it briefly and go to sleep today.’
‘Lecture Plan? I can just use what I had prepared at the previous academy.’
‘At most, I’ll just need to change it to fit the style here.’
Thinking that she could finish it quickly, Fel turned around to organize her luggage.
“Hmm?”
She jerked and looked back in the mirror.
“Just now…wasn’t something off?”
Since her back was facing the mirror, it should have been reflected, but strangely, she had a feeling that the ‘Fel’ in the mirror was constantly looking her way.
Stroke! Swish!
She moved around, but the mirror didn’t show anything unusual.
“Did my predecessor leave some kind of magic on it?”
From what she heard, he was a professor who had been dismissed. Looking at the fact that he was fired, he may have left this kind of joke out of spite.
Fel gently stretched out her hand to check it out.
“It’s not like that, is it?”
There wasn’t any magic cast on it.
On the contrary, it was an ordinary mirror from which she couldn’t feel even the smallest trace of mana.
“Hmmm.”
The moment Fel crossed her arms because she thought it was strange.
[Where did you go?]
“Kyaa!”
A little girl’s voice whispered in her ear.
She instantly turned her head, but Fel was still alone.
“What, what?”
But this time, she heard it clearly.
The moment she wondered what the hell it was.
[I said, where did you go!]
This time, the thunderous shout of a male erupted.
“Gwaaaaah!”
Startled, Fel sat down immediately. She instinctively unleashed protective magic around her.
[Where did you go?!] [Where are you?! Where are you?!] [Don’t throw us away! Don’t abandon us!] [Come here!] [Come back!] [I was wrong!] [I’m going to kill you!] [Come here! I said, come to me!] [Stop it now!] [This is our land! It’s my room!] [Mommmmmm!] [Go away! Get lost!] [You bitch that smells like a female.][Can I eat you?][You can’t replace him.][Stop it!][Why are you here? Why? Why? Why? Why?]
No matter what kind of magic she used, the sound continued to resonate.
Even when she covered her ears with both hands, the voices sounded rather clear, as if they were coming from inside her own head.
[Excuse me, Sister.]
“Ahhh!”
Filled with tears, Fel trembled at the sound of a voice calling to her and raised her head very slowly.
A little girl with long black hair that covered the entire floor of the room.
The girl’s hair began to gradually climb up the wall, reaching the ceiling and enveloping the room in its entirety
[Where did that person go?]
With that, Fel’s eyes rolled upwards and she fainted.
