"Oh my God, how weird this is! Doesn't it sound like a witch's doing?"
"What a witch! Do you still believe in witches? Of course, it was an assassin's doing! Even a dog on the street knows that the Lores family is in debt! Since they didn't pay their debts, they ended up killing them in this way."
Gremory wandered among the crowd and picked up information. It is said that all the family members and servants died in the Lores family's house. Except for one, the eldest son, Alan Lawres.
The dead had something in common. As if possessed by an evil spirit, they jumped into the lake and committed suicide or strangled themselves.
Maybe it was because it was so bizarre. It had been a week, but people gathered in front of the mansion every day and talked about ghosts. Just like now.
"How do you explain the people who died by strangling themselves?"
"The assassin strangled them to death, and then moved the dead man's hand to make it look like they had strangled themselves!"
"And who is Alan Lawres still haunting the house like a ghost? He looks like he's possessed by something."
"I was just shocked. All the people in the house died overnight except for him, so it's insane."
Gremory, who had a rough idea of what had happened, walked into the Lores family's house. People didn't stop the black cat from entering the gloomy house.
The front door was slightly ajar. When she squeezed herself through it, she saw a messy house.
Iris, who had followed her, carefully inspected the house.
- My god... I think it's too cruel. No matter how much debt you have, you can't annihilate a family; this is a completely barbarian way. As an intellectuals, we have to solve it through legal procedures.
"I don't think it happened because of debt."
- What do you mean by that?
"There's a dark energy on the second floor."
Gremory, who had suddenly changed into a human form, climbed up the creaking stairs.
That's how she arrived at the small bedroom. Alan Lawres sat there on a dirty bed, mesmerized.
Gremory crossed her arms and stared at Alan.
Alan was quiet like a madman. And behind his back hung a bleeding female ghost. The ghost grabbed Alan's neck and stared at Gremory.
Gremory immediately recognized the ghost's identity.
It was an evil spirit.
Evil spirits can cause pain to others and cause strange phenomena. In that sense, she was similar to a witch, but the big difference was that she suffered as much as she caused pain to others.
And evil spirits are very attached to something specific. He burns his soul until he achieves the goal he wants to achieve. In general, goals are deeply related to the grudges of life.
'It looks like you have a grudge against Alan. It seems that the evil spirit exterminated the servants and their families.'
Is it the price of an existence that has already died and affects the living? The demon was even more tattered than Alan's.
'You have a grudge against the Lores family to the point where you have reached that point? It's terrible. If you get involved with something like that, it will be more troublesome than paperwork.'
Gremory thought it wasn't her business and tried to turn away. At that moment, Iris grabbed Gremory's shoulder.
- Help that evil spirit.
"...What?"
- I know because I almost became an evil spirit because I was witch-hunted. That woman must be in a lot of pain right now. So please help her.
Gremory glanced at Iris. Why should I help someone who has no acquaintance with me, and who is neither a living person?
-Because he's my brother's people. There must have been someone who once smiled at you and praised you as a Saint. Is that the reason?
"I don't think that's the reason. She's just a damn ghost who went on a rampage out of anger. Asking me to help her is like asking me to go on a rampage with her."
- There must have been a reason why she had to go on a rampage. Let's find out. Maybe you can solve it peacefully.
"Oh, why are you so active in other people's work? Bother."
- I told you. I almost became an evil spirit, too. Maybe that's why it doesn't seem like anything else. Miss, if you're having a hard time, imagine that the evil spirit is someone around you.
Gremory pouted her lower lip. Do I have to think that way and help them?
At the same time, she remembered Lenia's face.
Lenia.
She died after being eaten by a witch possessed by a monster. The witch's purpose was to bind her completely to the demon world. By cutting her thread that connects to the human world, which is connected by summoning.
When she went to the demon world for a while and found out that Lenia was dead, she grabbed the burning thread and went down to the human realm to face her corpse.
Until all the threads burned and disappeared, she tried to save Lenia somehow.
"If you, who were good and innocent, became an evil spirit, there would be only one reason."
She blamed the witch who killed her. Or.
'...She resents me for dying because of me.'
Imagining Lenia as an evil spirit, she felt her heart sink. With a feeling of discomfort as if something was stirring.
What kind of emotion is this? She didn't know who it was, but she knew one thing. If someone close to her, like Lenia, becomes an evil spirit, of course, she will help them. No, even if they weren't very close, she would ask her why she had a grudge.
And maybe that evil spirit was just as good as Lenia when she was alive. If a good person has become an evil spirit because of a wrongful story, you have to help her.
"Oh, yes. I'll help her."
Gremory asked the demon who threatened to strangle Alan.
"Why are you trying to strangle him?"
- ...
"Look at her not answering. All evil spirits are like that. It's not a joke."
Gremory grunted as she looked at Iris. Iris smiled and spoke to the demon
- We'll help you. If you have any problems, please let me know. By the way, this is the strongest witch in the Demon World, so she can help you with anything.
The demon stared at Gremory. Gremory showed off her red eyes and long fangs, proving herself to be a witch in one fell swoop. The evil spirit stunned and opened her mouth.
- I was in a relationship with Alan.
- Yes, and then?
- Suddenly, Alan's family was in debt, and I told him to break up. But Alan wouldn't let me go. He held me and hung down on it. I eventually accepted Alan, and ever since...
The demon grabbed Alan near his neck, showing her anger.
- I was taken away by debtors because I was Alan's lover. They blackmailed Alan with me. beat me up and played with me...! He killed me! If Allan had let me go, I wouldn't have gotten involved in the Lores family's affairs!
"So you killed everyone in the Lores family?"
- Yes! Besides, I died like this, and the Lores family was in a hurry to hide my death for fear of reputational problems! Alan even buried my body in the mountains and hid it!
The evil spirit howled and cried out.
Gremory thought about it.
'What, the situation is similar to mine, isn't it?'
Alan's situation in debt felt just like her own, being chased by witches. Now that her location is not discovered, she can live peacefully, but will it be the same in the future?
If the witches attack the Archduke's palace. If he were to take the Grand Duke's family members hostage.
If the members of the Grand Duke's family resent her like those evil spirits.
...If everyone dies because of her.
Her heart started pounding again. Gremory guessed what she was feeling.
'In the Demon Theory, it is said that humans feel guilty when they do something wrong. I learned that I could use it to make the human soul more palatable, anyway.'
The emotion she is feeling right now would be 'guilt' if she interprets it as a human standard. It was a terrible feeling.
'I felt guilty for Lenia's death. That's why I shook my hands in front of Lenia's corpse.'
Gremory, who didn't want to inflate the magnitude of this terrible emotion, secretly vowed to herself.
"I shouldn't be foolishly holding on to the Grand Duke like Alan."
It was a resolution that made jer heart sink.
"Tell me where your body is buried. I'll purify you so you don't have to suffer anymore.
- ...Under the red rocks of the northwest mountains.
"Do you want anything more?"
- Just take care of my body, that's it.
Gremory dug up the corpse of the demon and took it to the verdant forest. She vowed to leave the Grand Duke's residence soon.
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