IADTVR 49

~Chapter 49~

“Blessing?”

I mumbled in a daze as knowledge started flooding into my mind. Dusik, sitting on my head, spoke like he was reminiscing.

“The Great Lord of Wisdom, huh? It’s been a while. He was a real weirdo.”

“Do you know him personally?”

Even though Dusik looked like a baby bird younger than me, as a spirit he must be much older. Dusik flapped his wings and answered.

“Of course. He made a contract with the Spirit King of Wisdom, Lapitium. Now you have his blessing.”

So this really was an ancestor’s blessing? I’d memorized ten pages of a book instantly and was still a bit shocked.

“Is my new power—copying the book contents—because of the blessing?”

“He’s lending you part of his power from when he was alive. The Great Lord of Wisdom was a natural genius with a perfect memory.”

I still didn’t really get it.

Why help me out of all his descendants?

“In the spirit world, darkness and death are almost the same thing.”

Dusik nodded toward Kami, who was scratching the floor.

“That one is a dark spirit, who connects this world and the next. Do you get it?”

Suddenly, I remembered the Great Lord of Wisdom from my dream, glowing in the window.

“So… my ancestor’s soul came to find me through Kami?”

The very first spiritist, the first head of the family, had made a contract with the King of Darkness.
That spirit controlled death and souls in eternal darkness.

So Kami, as a dark spirit, could call forth souls like a medium?

“You finally figured out Kami’s true power.”

I’d thought Kami’s powers were things like turning furniture into antiques, knocking things off shelves, or hunting mice.

I crouched down and held out my hand to Kami.

“Honestly, just having a cute cat spirit with me is enough.”

“Meow.”

Kami rubbed his cheek against my hand and squinted his eyes happily.

In the end, they never found out exactly how Sarah’s Flower started the fire or who the culprit was. After the investigators took the evidence and went back to the capital, Count and Countess Terea left for the city too, so the Count could recover.

“If you need help, just call anytime. Or come visit us for fun,” the countess said, giving me her card.

And finally, Edell came back.

He was carrying so much corn, sweet potatoes, beans, and tomatoes that I didn’t even know where he got them all.

“Edell! How have you… Wait, what is all this?”

I was confused, but Edell just sighed and dusted off his hands.

“I did some clown tricks for the townsfolk and they gave it to me.”

“…You did?”

He even got along with the townsfolk now? What kind of clown tricks did he do that made everyone give him food? I imagined Edell shouting, “Magical shadow show! Watch this!” and accepted the food.

“Thanks to you, Edell, we won’t starve. You’re amazing.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not the kind of man who lets his family go hungry.”

I couldn’t help laughing at Edell, who still talked like an adult.

“Go study now, I’ll put this away. You probably haven’t had much time to study lately.”

Edell lifted his chin and turned to leave, but I grabbed his hand and grinned.

“I already studied, so you can stay.”

“You memorized all those books and notes?”

“Yep.”

With my new power, everything was automatically stored in my head. Edell, looking doubtful, picked up a book and asked a question.

“What’s the central deposit requirement system?”

“It’s a system where foreign capital coming in has to keep a part of it in the central bank. If too much money moves at once, it could shake the whole economy.”

Edell’s eyes went wide as I explained not just the facts, but the whole concept.

“I didn’t know you were that much of a genius. You could go to the magic tower right now.”

“No, I just woke up with a new ability. But I’ll act like I’m a genius to everyone else.”

I coughed and added:

“I haven’t awakened the Spirit King’s powers, but Kami, who has spiritual power, introduced me to my ancestor, a Spirit King-level spiritist.”

“So you summoned your ancestor by necromancy and used him to cheat… I don’t think that’s bad. I’ll keep your secret.”

Edell, clearly misunderstanding, put his finger to his lips to show he’d stay quiet.

“It’s not like that!”

I wanted to compare myself to some kind of ghost bartender, but couldn’t think of a good example, so I just let it go.

In the afternoon, the inspector was looking out the sunny window and spotted me and Edell playing in the garden. He’d heard Edell lost his memory and was taken in by me. Every time he saw Edell’s blank face, black hair, and thoughtful eyes, he thought of someone, but he quickly shook it off. He couldn’t compare a little kid to the worst dark mage in history. Besides, Edell was polite and all the villagers loved him.

“He’s never greeted me though,” the inspector muttered, sounding disappointed.

He could barely hear our conversation from the window.

“Noona’s secret, it can’t ever be found out, right?”

“Of course. I’ll always protect it.”

“Why?”

“Some people might think it’s evil, like you do.”

Evil? Are they plotting to get rid of Marquis Chase Belmore and take over the spirit territory? the inspector wondered.

“But, Noona, is it okay to just leave the thing we did? Won’t it rot?”

“Then should we bury it with the other thing? Secretly, tonight.”

What are they hiding? What are they burying? It all sounded suspicious.

“Hehe, now my beggar life is over. I’m rich!”

When the inspector peeked outside, he saw me grinning wickedly and was startled.

“…They’re definitely up to something.”

Later that night, the inspector saw me and Edell sneaking outside. I carried a sack big enough for a person, and Edell had a shovel.

He quietly followed us as we went to a corner of the garden.

“Noona, what if we dig up something someone else buried?”

“Then something sad will happen.”

Does she mean someone will die? The inspector hid behind the wall and watched us.

I was digging like a pro. The inspector’s eyes widened when he saw red liquid leaking from the sack. He hurried over.

“Miss Marciela, what are you burying out here?”

I screamed like I’d been caught committing a crime. Edell just dropped his shoulders and sighed.

“Noona, I told you we’d get caught.”

So they really were going to bury a body! I started making excuses.

“Can you keep it a secret? If the Marquis or those mean siblings find out, they’ll get rid of it.”

“You mean get rid of you?”

The inspector pointed to the sack.

“What’s inside? Tell the truth.”

“Um… It’s tomatoes. Edell dropped them and they burst, so we’re using them as fertilizer…”

He checked the sack and then looked at me sharply.

“Is that all you were burying? It seemed like there was something else.”

I made a very awkward face. Sweat formed on my forehead—he must have thought I was hiding something big.

“If you don’t cooperate, I’ll have to report you as a suspect.”

“Gasp.”

I gulped and pulled something from my pocket, my face bright red.

“It’s kidney beans.”

“Why are you secretly planting beans at night and asking me to keep it a secret?”

“If I plant them, there’s a chance a bean stalk will grow… and sometimes diamonds grow instead of beans…”

The inspector just saw ordinary beans.

“Who told you that? Planting beans for diamonds is a popular scam these days.”

“Huh? Is Jack and the Beanstalk a scam?”

I looked at Edell, disappointed. Edell just glared with his arms crossed.

“Tch. Useless busybody.”

I’d been trying to find a way to give her a diamond without being obvious, but the goat-mask inspector ruined it.

“So you tried to scam your guardian?”

Edell dropped his glare and looked at me.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean for you to trade your precious words for lightning…”

“No! Not lightning! I need a peaceful retirement! We have to find it right now!”

I panicked and started running away. As Edell followed, he looked back and stuck out his tongue at the inspector.

The inspector could only laugh.

“…They’re both so innocent.”

The next morning, Lerazie received a letter and her hands shook as she read it.

“…Cheating has been found. Lerazie Belmore’s right to participate in the family’s exam is revoked.”