Clarice told me that, apparently, it was completely natural that by the time I entered the city, every single business worth calling a business had already shuttered its doors and windows tight, and I wouldn’t be able to find anyone, no matter how hard I looked.
“This is the time of year when the dead are really active, you see, so everyone in town is on high alert. Yeah, bad luck for you.” She chuckled a little as she led me to a safe place, beckoning me along with her hand.
Typically, it’s common sense not to go along with strangers, but unfortunately, since it’s not typical for me to be in a city full of strange, inhuman creatures, I immediately agreed and ended up following right behind her.
Then at last, we finally reached the office of the Crescent Moon Witch.
“Actually, it’s both my office and my house. All right, come in.”
It was a four-story red brick building that looked just like the many other buildings lining that road.
The first and second floors were offices, furnished with simple but expensive-looking desks and chairs. I was shown up to the third floor, which featured two facing sofas and a table. And in the back of the room was a single desk stuffed with a huge mass of papers, magical implements, and research materials.
According to Clarice, this was her personal room.
The fourth floor, incidentally, held the rest of her home.
“…This is quite an office.”
It seems like being the Crescent Moon Witch is a pretty profitable enterprise.
“Heh-heh-heh. Isn’t it? It took me a lot of time and money to put it all together. I was really picky about everything.” She puffed up with pride as she boasted.
The next moment—
—we heard a thud and a groan from upstairs.
……
It seems like her soundproofing measures are somewhat lacking.
Come to think of it, didn’t she say that upstairs was her home?
“Is someone else at home?”
“Oh, it’s fine. Don’t worry about that,” she said in a blunt tone. I could tell she probably didn’t really want me to bring it up.
Then she smiled. “That’s my mother,” she explained. “She’s always like that, so really, don’t worry about it.” Then she quickly urged me with a gesture to sit down on one of the sofas in the reception space and asked, “By the way, do you want anything to drink, Miss Ashen Witch?”
If she doesn’t want to be asked about it, I guess it’s better for me not to ask.
“Elaina is fine.” Nodding, I took a seat. “If you have any coffee, I’ll take one of those.”
“Good choice! We here at the Crescent Moon Company are obsessive about our coffee.”
“Crescent Moon Company?”
I cocked my head at the unfamiliar name.
“That’s the name of this organization, which I founded.”
As she brewed the coffee, she told me, “Well, I guess the simplest way to put it is that we’re a vigilante corps of sorts. Most of our work is in defending our territory and subduing the dead.”
“The dead?” Once again, I was puzzled.
“There were lots of them around you earlier, right? That’s what we call those things here.”
“And just what on earth were those things?”
“Ha-ha. You’re just full of questions, aren’t you, Elaina?”
“This place is full of mysteries, and I’m very confused.”
At least, ever since I arrived here, everything I’ve seen has been bizarre. Like confounding translucent creatures…or something like that. And a witch who owns a company that goes around hunting them.
And even stranger, citizens who shut their windows as if they’d arranged it ahead of time and have an odd sense of unity about absolutely not walking around outside.
I wonder whether there aren’t any people here who would like to go outside at night or who have to keep working until late at night?
As she set a cup of coffee down in front of me, Clarice told me, “The dead is our name for the monsters that are unique to this land, you see. They’re a frightful presence, and they have been tormenting the people here for many years. As soon as the sun sets, they appear everywhere, from the streets of the city to the tops of the roofs and in all of the open spaces outside. If we leave them alone, they go into houses and start attacking people.”
According to Clarice, when night fell, she and the others at the Crescent Moon Company went on patrol around the city, hunting down the dead. Their strategy was to ruthlessly cut the ghouls down where they stood, just as I had seen Clarice do earlier.
“Do physical attacks work well against them, considering that they’re see-through?” I asked.
Clarice nodded. “Sure they do. Jellyfish are see-through, but you can touch them, can’t you? It’s kind of like that,” she said with a satisfied expression.
I see. That’s an easy explanation to understand.
“Although, I don’t think jellyfish turn into fog when you cut through them.”
“……”
It seemed like I’d made a slightly tasteless quip. Wearing a bitter expression, she put her lips to her coffee, then grumbled, “W-well…anyway, they’re dangerous things.” Her cheeks were a little flushed.
Mm-hmm.
“By the way, what happens if one of them attacks you?”
Since you’ve gone to the effort of assembling a subjugation corps, I can easily imagine they must have some pretty troublesome traits.
When I asked that question, Clarice paused—“Hmm”—and made a bitter face again. “That’s kind of a complicated question, actually. Well, to give you a rough idea, they’ve each got different characteristics, depending on what variety of ghoul it is.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah. For example, say they only do a small amount of damage to you… The spots where they touched would get red and swollen.”
“Uh-huh, kind of like a jellyfish, right?”
“……Yeah. Also, after they touch you, you’d gradually start feeling bad.”
“Just like with a jellyfish.”
“Also, you’d start having trouble breathing and maybe even fall into a coma.”
“Isn’t that all basically like a jellyfish?”
“And then, if you’re unlucky, you might die.”
“Is there any chance that the dead are actually jellyfish…?”
“Listen, let’s get away from the jellyfish thing for a while, okay?”
“Your face is awfully red.”
Were you stung?
“Yeah, because of you.”
“My, my.”
And so, leaving the joking there, to sum up…
“So for now, those things out there are always threatening the safety of the city, you would say?”
“And in order to eradicate those dangerous creatures, I formed this organization. As I explained to you in the first place.”
I see. I’ve generally got a grasp on the situation here.
But—
“Is it all right for the most distinguished member of the organization to be taking a coffee break?”
Though I am very grateful that you rescued me from wandering around the dangerous streets, aren’t there lots of other people out there you ought to be rescuing?
Then she answered me, wearing an expression that was full of self-confidence. “Everything’s fine in that department. No problem at all. My underlings are all outstanding, you see.”
Outside the window, a booming noise rang out.
I immediately turned that way in surprise, and when I looked closely, I could see a single beam of light rising into the sky on the other side of town.
“What is that?” I pointed.
Clarice said with a desperate look, “Right. That’s a rescue request from one of my underlings!”
“I see, so in other words—”
“Looks like there was a problem.”
“I see.” I nodded.
She set her coffee down again and put on a very, very bitter expression.