Rose and I stepped triumphantly into the building, but its atmosphere differed completely from what I had anticipated.
"Someone's definitely living here, aren't they?"
"Yes. It certainly appears that way."
Rose's face had been as pale as a ghost's until just a moment ago, but once she realized the mansion had a fairly ordinary, lived-in feel, she returned to her usual self. Perhaps she had uncharacteristically been frightened of ghosts.
As we walked down the hallway, the sound of a young girl weeping reached us from the adjacent room.
"Eek!"
Letting out a small shriek, Rose clung to my waist.
"Hmm. Someone's in there."
There was movement in the magical energy, so something was undoubtedly present. Using the Divine Eye felt a bit in poor taste, however.
I immediately turned the doorknob and entered the room.
"W-Why are you so calm?!"
Rose whined tearfully while clinging to my waist.
"If anything, I am the one at a loss as to why you are so terrified."
"B-Because it might be a ghost!"
Teary-eyed, she looked up at me with a pathetic expression unbecoming of a princess and uttered such absurd nonsense.
"A ghost, you say... Haven't you seen more than your fair share of them with Deimos and the rest of my subordinates?"
Many of my subordinates possessed appearances that would send a child running and crying. In fact, about eighty percent of the Girimehkala Faction fell into that category. I failed to understand why she would be afraid of a mere spirit at this point.
"Sir Deimos is an undead created through forbidden arts, isn't he?! Recent academic theories in Babel have published research showing that undead and ghosts are distinctly different!"
"How specifically do they differ?"
"Undead are visible by default, but ghosts can supposedly only be seen by those with special qualifications..."
Seeing her falter, it seemed Rose did not fully understand it herself.
Even so, to think that undead and spirits were distinct entities. Quite a fascinating topic. If they could only be perceived by those who were qualified, their magical properties were likely entirely different. If that was the case—
"How interesting!"
It was an established fact that undead were an exceptionally weak race among monsters. However, if undead and spirits were truly distinct, there might be remarkably formidable individuals among spirits as well.
"It is not interesting in the slightest!"
As Rose cowered and shouted while clinging to me, I let out a heavy sigh.
"At any rate, asking the person in question directly would be best."
With that, I approached the large water jar from which the sobbing originated.
"A-Are you seriously planning to open it?!"
Rose hurriedly leaped away from me, wrapping her arms tightly around herself, and asked something that hardly warranted a question.
"Naturally. There is no reason not to open it."
An existence invisible to the unqualified, was it? Yet here was a presence of magic power that made not the slightest attempt to hide itself. Hmm. Uncharacteristically, I was beginning to feel a thrill. Suppressing my mounting excitement with all my might, I removed the lid resting atop the water jar.
"Waaahhh!"
A little girl who had been crouching inside stood up and cried out at the top of her lungs. Her eye sockets were hollow, devoid of the eyes that should have been there, with a blood-like liquid streaming down her cheeks. Furthermore, her pure white one-piece dress was stained all over with what looked like blood.
"What, you're visible after all..."
As my shoulders slumped in mild disappointment—
"A-A-A-A ghost!"
Rose let out a clamorous scream.
"Wah! Wah! Waaahhh! Why aren't you scared?!"
Raising both arms, the little girl tried to intimidate and scare me in an adorable voice.
"Hmm. Good, quite full of energy."
Placing my right palm on her head just as I always did with Faf, a grin spread across my face. At this innocent gesture meant to soothe a child—
"Hic?!"
Her entire body stiffened in a shudder, and then she burst into loud sobs.
"H-Hmm. Why are you crying?"
Surely that was an uncalled-for reaction. It was as if she were saying my smile was terrifying. Asta and Zack frequently told me that my smile was scary enough to give them nightmares, but were they actually being serious instead of joking? No, no, what kind of Demon King makes a child cry with a smile? Inconceivable. Yes. That simply could not be.
At any rate, right now, I needed to figure out how to calm this little girl down.
"Din! C-Curse you, monster!"
A figure clad from head to toe in full armor, which had been standing as decoration nearby, scooped the little girl into its arms, stepped in front of me defensively, and readied a greatsword.
"I have never felt such a repulsive presence before! This guy is seriously bad news!"
A headless maid soaked entirely in blood also leaped out from inside a box, aiming a rod at me as she shrieked in a shrill voice.
"Kyuu..."
Clasping her hands together and letting out a bizarre squeak, Rose finally lost consciousness and collapsed toward the floor, only for the giant elephant monster Girimehkala to appear and catch her in his arms.
"..."
The little girl abruptly stopped crying and looked up at Girimehkala.
"..."
The suit of armor holding the little girl froze in place, staring blankly at Girimehkala.
"..."
The headless maid was likely staring intently at Girimehkala with a stone-cold expression of her own.
For a moment, the three of them gazed mutely at Girimehkala, their entire bodies beginning to tremble and rattle faintly.
"Eeeeeek! A-A-A-A monsteeeer!"
Clinging to one another, they let out a scream steeped in absolute terror.