DKFTI 88

“At this rate, shouldn’t the ghost call a lock-picking expert instead of calling us?”

“Magic?”

Aizen murmured as he examined the patterns carved on the iron door one by one.

“Magic? Then wait a moment.”

Sibel quickly pulled out the communicator and moved the screen. He entered the magic folder and started searching for ‘magic to open doors.’

There was magic for tidying blankets, matching socks, making a headband appear when he opened eyes in the morning, and all kinds of useless magic, but there was no magic to open a closed door.

That made sense, because from the beginning Sibel never had any ‘closed door’ in this Demon King Castle.

“Hmmmmm.”

His hands moved, but there was no result, and at that moment when his brow wrinkled, Aizen grabbed Sibel’s wrist.

“Hm?”

And then he suddenly pressed his hand to the door, he felt the cold and solid feel of the door under his palm.

‘Uh….’

And at the same time, purple light started to ripple on the pitch-black iron door.

“Wha-what is this?”

“It is responding to your magic power.”

“Why?”

“Because you are the master of this castle.”

Does the door really open with such a simple method?

“What are you doing? Push.”

Sibel pushed the door in confusion, and the iron door opened without resistance as if it were mocking Aizen’s struggling, and he felt very bewildered.

Creak–.

The door opened, and three people… no, one human, one demon, and one ghost entered inside side by side.

“What kind of place is this?”

“That is the question I want to ask.”

The inside space of the basement was somewhat different from other places, it was calm and cozy, bookshelves were placed centered around the round-patterned floor, and a soft light hovered in the center, but there was no window, so where was the light coming from?

Books were sparsely placed on the shelves, at most five or six volumes, and instead of being carefully managed, it looked closer to being left carelessly, but that indifference created an even more mysterious atmosphere.

-Name….

The ghost hovered around the bookshelf.

“You acted like we would find some hint if we came here, but you are wandering.”

Sibel and Aizen watched the ghost circling, and the ghost scanned around and stuck his head into corners, but there were only a few books, so what was he searching for again and again?

After wandering for a while, the ghost reached out with a hesitant motion, and his white transparent hand passed through the shelf.

“Wow….”

Sibel, who found the sight curious, exclaimed and watched the ghost’s action, and then suddenly a question occurred to him.

“If the ghost’s body can pass through objects like that, shouldn’t he have been able to enter by passing through the wall too?”

It didn’t seem like the ghost was physically blocked by the wall like a human!

When Sibel asked that question, Aizen gave an answer to it.

“Because this is a place where there is interference of magic power. Why is your thinking so simple?”

It was true that his thinking was shallow, but hearing it from Aizen’s mouth made it feel unpleasant.

“Hey, a demon can have a bit simple thinking too, and isn’t it stranger that a ghost is interfered with by magic power and such?”

When Sibel muttered while pouting his lips, Aizen laughed at that sight.

The ghost was still flailing only his hands, and at that rate, there would probably be no result even if he kept doing it all night. He hoped the book would get caught, and he hoped it would open, but were his eyes really fine?

‘So frustrating. So frustrating.’

Scolding a dead person as frustrating would make his character look too bad, but just waiting aimlessly was boring.

In the end, Sibel went next to the ghost and looked at the book he was trying to grab, and the leather-covered book was beautifully decorated with leaf-shaped gold embossing.

‘The book looks really splendid.’

As he looked at the patterns of leaves, flowers, and fruits embedded, without realizing it, his hand reached ahead, and the moment Sibel’s hand touched the cover of the book…

“Uh….”

…Golden light flickered from the book.

Why did he feel like whenever he touched something, an accident happened?

The golden aura flickering in his hand wasn’t fierce or piercing, but instead it created a very warm and peaceful feeling, and he felt like he wanted to place his hand on the book and quietly meditate.

His eyelids naturally lowered, and when he closed his eyes, he felt the sound of flowing water, chirping birds, and a cool breeze brushing against leaves.

‘This book is really mysterious.’

When it came to books, he only thought there were letters and that he read them with his eyes, but this book seemed far from such ordinary things, and it felt like he was reading it with his heart.

Before he knew it, a meadow full of greenery spread out before his darkened eyes, and he wanted to curl up his body, smell the scent of earth, and feel the vibration of the ground.

What kind of magic pulls a person into another world in an instant? That was amazing.

When Sibel slowly raised his eyelids, disappointed, the ghost beside him flailed his hands in front of another book.

This time Sibel touched the book the ghost almost reached for. Blue ornamentation shone from the cover.

A strange sensation colored his fingertips again. The feeling was totally different. Cool and cold. That wasn’t bad. His head and organs felt clear, and he felt refreshed.

Wow. This is weird.

Even with no content, the book itself seemed to ring.

When the ghost saw Sibel looking at the second book, he hovered in front of another book. From then on Sibel felt excited and thrilled. He began to touch the remaining books one by one.

One book gave a hot feeling. It felt like sweating under a midsummer sun. Another book felt muffled like being thrown into water, and his senses dulled while his body relaxed.

Who made these, I don’t know, but this is a very interesting experience.

‘But can I learn the ghost’s name from this?’

That question seemed important, but he couldn’t stop because it was fun. As he touched books one after another, now only the last book remained.

‘Is this really okay?’

Aizen watched Sibel zone out and then marvel each time he touched a book. He stood like a sentry in case danger appeared.

‘Hey, I think it’s just a fun magic book, like a virtual reality experience.’

When the ghost reached for the last book, Sibel excitedly moved closer. This book had a wholly black cover.

Hmm, what is this?

With a thumping heart he touched the cover. At that moment Sibel felt nausea. It felt like falling from a dizzying height.

The sensation of being sucked into a wholly black world was never good. He felt horribly anxious, lonely, and sad. As he let every sense sink into that place his eyes grew moist.

His eyelids trembled and he clenched his teeth. He wanted to run but a powerful restraint held his limbs and wouldn’t let him escape.

He slowly drowned into the swamp like darkness.

“…Bel, Sibel.”

A familiar voice pulled Sibel’s mind out of the swamp.

Ah!

His eyes opened.

What was that feeling just now?

Was this real augmented reality or whatever? Did it need to feel this real and unpleasant? Sibel rubbed his chest because of the nausea.

“What’s wrong?”

Aizen looked at Sibel, who had jumped like an excited dog a moment ago and now drooped.

This book is… really…

It was terrible. The word terrible isn’t enough to describe it. Sibel thought in a way that didn’t suit him.

The earlier ecstatic experiences now lay buried under the last depressive feeling. He wanted to shout somewhere and feel relief.

Sibel felt dizzy and leaned against the bookshelf. He looked at the ghost. The ghost stared at the book with hollow eyes. Sibel wondered if the ghost felt the same thing.

“Excuse me, Mr Ghost?”

As Sibel reached toward the ghost, the ghost slowly turned his head toward Sibel.

Their eyes met. The ghost’s eyes had seemed desolate and unfocused, but a faint life glimmered in them. At that moment Sibel felt goosebumps.

Those eyes…

Why did he feel such a strong longing from a strange ghost?

He had no time to think. His hand reached forward. Slowly, toward the ghost.

Sibel didn’t know why he acted like this. He only knew one thing with certainty.

‘I know this person.’