If you had to divide people into two types—those who scare easily and those who don’t—Ries would definitely fall into the former.
Even so, the only reason he’d managed to survive and adapt to this bizarre world was thanks to his sheer, desperate will to live. He deserved some credit for that. So why, then, did the universe insist on testing him like this?
“Ries?”
A walk with Ketir.
At first, he’d felt genuinely relieved. No matter how hard he scanned the surroundings, wide-eyed and alert, there wasn’t a ghost in sight.
Guess it really is stuck in that one place.
If that was the case, then maybe—just maybe—he could go on solo walks again, like before. As long as he avoided the second floor, everything should be fine.
…Or so he thought—until a hazy, white shape appeared in the distance.
No. I saw that wrong. I have to be seeing things.
He needed that to be true. Ries clung to denial with everything he had. But even then, he couldn’t stop the way his tail shot straight up, bristling with tension.
So, what happened next? What else? If he’d truly imagined it, he wouldn’t be standing here now, lamenting fate and divine trials.
—There you are!
AAAAAAAHHH!
If Ketir hadn’t been right next to him, Ries would’ve completely lost it and started bawling on the spot. Instead, he launched himself at Ketir’s right leg, clinging like a cicada stuck to an old tree.
A translucent human figure came flying straight toward them. In that instant, Ries felt an overwhelming surge of envy toward Ketir. Why can’t I be someone who doesn’t see ghosts too…?!
He shut his eyes tight.
—Hmmm.
But what came next defied all expectations. He’d braced for the ghost to shove its face right into his, just like it had in the gallery. Instead, it stopped at a reasonable distance and simply stared.
Cautiously, Ries cracked his eyes open. It wasn’t getting any closer—thank god—which gave him a tiny sliver of relief.
I never said I wasn’t scared…!
He was scared. His legs were shaking like crazy. But he still couldn’t tear his eyes away from the ghost. What if he looked away and it charged at him?
The best he could do was to keep his gaze locked on its foggy, half-formed legs and not blink.
From a human’s perspective, the scene looked like this:
A cat that had frozen mid-step. Pressed tightly against your leg. And if you focused, you could even feel its trembling front paws.
Still, Ries kept staring at seemingly empty air. Ketir squinted and tried looking in the same direction, but no matter how hard he focused, he couldn’t see whatever it was that Ries saw.
Yet something deep in his instincts whispered the truth—something was there. The chill started at his toes and crept up his spine.
Ketir called out hesitantly.
“R-Ries?”
A twitch. Ries heard him, no doubt about it. But he still couldn’t look away from whatever he’d been watching this whole time.
Like he was absolutely convinced it would come after him the second he broke eye contact.
“Ries. What’s going on?”
Ketir cautiously nudged his leg, trying to shake him free. No use—Ries didn’t budge an inch.
With a deep, slow breath, Ketir tried to steady himself. This was disturbing, yes—but he couldn’t let himself be overwhelmed by something he couldn’t even see.
Drawing on every ounce of calm he’d gained from years of serving the Duke, Ketir composed himself—
“HHHIIISSSSS!!!”
—Or tried to.
The moment Ries, who hadn’t made a peep until now, suddenly hissed like a wild beast, a mental alarm blared in Ketir’s head.
Without hesitation, he scooped Ries up into his arms and turned to bolt.
“……”
Time to run. Ketir decided he was done pretending.
He hated this kind of ghostly crap with every fiber of his being!
***
“Ketir? You’re back early.”
Justyn raised an eyebrow as the two returned earlier than expected.
But before long, his attention shifted elsewhere—specifically, to Ketir’s face, which had gone from pale to full-on deathly blue.
“You look like death. Are you alright?”
“…Your Grace.”
Ketir, pale as a ghost himself and breathless, finally found the words. He gently set Ries down from his arms.
The moment his paws touched the ground, Ries bolted straight to Justyn. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Justyn crouched down to meet him, and Ries leapt into his arms, meowing nonstop in a string of unintelligible cat cries.
To the untrained eye, it just looked like a cat happily greeting his beloved master.
But to someone who knew the context… it looked suspiciously like he was frantically trying to say, “It was awful. I was so scared!”
Don’t tell me… is that why he stopped going on walks…?
Ketir’s mind flashed back to the past, remembering how he’d assumed Ries was just under the weather.
If Ries had seen that thing while wandering alone… if that was what had frightened him into shutting himself inside his room… if all those times he’d begged to go on walks together were really because he was too scared to go by himself…
Then it all made perfect sense.
He was smart—so smart that sometimes you’d swear there was an actual person inside that little body. So the possibility was real. And that made it all the more frightening.
Gulp. Ketir swallowed dryly, over and over, before finally speaking up in a grave tone.
“I believe there’s a ghost in this mansion.”
“A ghost?”
Justyn echoed the unfamiliar word, tone neutral but unable to hide the flicker of displeasure in his expression.
His eyes moved from the tightly shut door, to Ketir’s pursed lips, to Ries—still meowing softly in his arms—then back again.
After a moment’s pause, he gave a slight nod.
“…Alright. Understood.”
“Y-Yes… Thank you for believing me.”
Whew. Only then did Ketir let out a breath of relief. Justyn’s response was something along the lines of “I’ll believe it because it’s you,” but that was more than enough.
After all, Ketir never thought he’d be the one uttering the words “There’s a ghost here.” Not in this lifetime.
He’d heard stories, of course. When someone dies, their soul is supposed to cross the river into the afterlife and be reborn. But if they hold onto something from their past life with enough desperation, they can miss that chance and end up stuck, wandering the world of the living.
And sometimes, those lingering souls influence the living in strange, chilling ways…
But he’d never believed any of it. He’d never seen anything with his own eyes. And really, wasn’t it more important to focus on life here and now?
…Well, that was all before this happened.
Having experienced it firsthand, he now decided he’d rather just be grateful he couldn’t see anything.
Still, he couldn’t help but mutter a quiet suggestion—part concern, part sympathy—for poor Ries, who’d gotten an eyeful of something terrifying.
“…It’s probably best not to send him out for walks for a while. He was clearly shaken.”
“……!”
Ries’s eyes sparkled like stars—so bright it looked like they might actually start falling from his lashes.
You said that for me? I’m so touched!
That’s exactly what his wide, glimmering eyes were saying. The intensity of the gaze was so overwhelming that Ketir had to look away.
“……I didn’t realize just how scared you were. I won’t force you out again.”
“Myaaak! Myaaang!”
Justyn looked even more convinced now. Maybe they should’ve shown him how frightened Ries was from the start.
There were only two beings in the room—a man and a cat—so why did it feel like the air had this gaping chill running through it? And why was that lingering sense of cold vanishing so fast?
***
“…To be honest, I thought it was over.”
Ketir’s voice sounded half-dead, hands gripping a few thick stacks of paperwork.
“Ghosts aren’t exactly common. I only noticed something was wrong that day because Ries was there. If I’d been alone, I probably wouldn’t have sensed anything at all. That’s why I figured it was fine.”
But it wasn’t.
He shook his head, voice low with unease.
“Looks like I’ve been properly marked. I’m fine when someone else is around, but the second I’m alone, it’s like that thing knows. It makes its presence painfully obvious—ah, well, it is a ghost, so I guess that’s the right word. Anyway, strange things keep happening.”
He stretched out his hand and began folding his fingers one by one as he listed them off.
“Things that shouldn’t fall keep falling, knocking sounds with no one there, curtains opening on their own, the feeling of someone touching my shoulder, and then…”
Good grief. Ries, who had been sitting on Justyn’s lap listening with wide eyes, looked absolutely horrified.
So that’s why Ketir had been looking so worn out lately. He’d clearly been tormented nonstop by this ghost. Ries felt a weird twinge of guilt—like he was the one who’d introduced them—and his conscience ached a little…
“So I’d like to stay here for a while. If I’m with Your Grace, the ghost won’t show itself. And even if it does, Ries will probably sense it first and cry. That’ll be enough of a warning. When that happens, please—just knock me out.”
Just like that, Ries had officially become a ghost detector. And his master… had just been declared some kind of anti-ghost totem. Ries tilted his head.
That… actually might be true?
He hadn’t seen even a trace of a ghost while stuck to Justyn’s side. Maybe Justyn was some kind of lucky charm. Yeah. Better stick even closer to him from now on.
Whether he realized he was being treated like a ghost repellent or not, Justyn remained calm as ever as he opened his mouth.
“…Give me the documents. You can use the sofa. Get some rest.”
“I can’t possibly.”
“That wasn’t a request.”
