Chapter 182

…A ghost?

At the sudden, out-of-nowhere remark, I forgot to stay wary of the mysterious woman and just blankly turned to look at Karina.

What’s going on? Did I finally lose my mind after fighting the Giant Ant?

But Karina, with a paler expression than when she was slicing through the Giant Ant, was staring at the newly appeared woman as if she had seen a ghost. No, wait—she literally just said “ghost,” so it’s not a metaphor but a direct description.

“B-but I thought she was supposed to have passed on…?”

And upon closer inspection, Serena, though not screaming as loudly as Karina, was also trembling and staring at the woman with a pale face.

Even Serena?

What on earth is going on…?

Then, a memory flashed through my mind.

Come to think of it, not long ago, the two of them went on a quest together and caused a commotion after claiming they saw a haunted mansion.

Could it be… that person?

Just in case, I turned to look at the newly appeared woman.

The suspicious-looking woman who had used high-level magic…

“M-me? A ghost…?”

Perhaps shocked by their words, she slumped down on the spot.

What is this?

…

…

…

And so, Kurt and his party returned to the Adventurer Guild in Astram with Clarice in tow.

The quest to exterminate the Giant Ant was mostly over by the time she used her magic, as most of the monsters had already frozen, so they quickly finished it off.

Once back in Astram, they decided to shower first to wash off the ant fluids clinging to their bodies. After changing clothes, they gathered again in the Adventurer Guild’s hall.

Perhaps having calmed down a bit after showering, Karina, though still cautious, asked, “S-so, she’s not a ghost…?”

“Hey, you’re the one who called her a ghost!”

“W-well, you agreed with me!”

“I only did because you kept saying it…!”

At Karina’s question, Clarice, looking hurt, cautiously asked back, “…Would you prefer if I were a ghost?”

“N-no! Of course not!”

“Y-yes, that’s right! The ghost thing was just… a surprise because we didn’t expect to see you again so suddenly!”

“Exactly! It’s like the idiom ‘as if I’d seen a ghost’!”

Realizing that Clarice really wasn’t a ghost, the two scrambled to make excuses to smooth things over.

Of course, Clarice wasn’t a fool, and there was no way she’d believe their flimsy excuses.

Soon, she pressed them with a suspicious look.

“…Really?”

“Of course! It’s just a kind of adventurer-style joke!”

“Yeah! Friends can joke like that, right!”

“Friends… friends… Hehe. I see. If we’re friends, then I guess it’s fine. You two really have a mischievous sense of humor.”

But sometimes, strong emotions can make people act foolish.

At the word “friends,” Clarice immediately changed her attitude, smiling as if she’d never been hurt.

Seeing this, Karina and Serena secretly sighed in relief.

And so, the misunderstanding between the three was resolved.

“…So, you’re the owner of the mansion where Karina and Serena got into trouble last time?”

“Really! You two called someone like her a ghost? How rude!”

“Ah, well… that was…”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kurt, a Lizardman who’s been adventuring with Karina and Serena.”

“And I’m Marisia, a Half-Elf who’s also part of their party!”

“Oh, nice to meet you. I’m Clarice. I came to Astram to become an adventurer.”

Clarice exchanged light smiles with Kurt and Marisia as they introduced themselves.

But while Clarice smiled politely on the outside, she was thinking something entirely different…

‘These people are unnecessary obstacles to Karina and Serena’s adventuring life…’

She was busy scheming how to exclude Kurt and Mari.

Clarice’s plan, as she stepped out of the mansion, was for Karina, Serena, and herself to adventure together.

There was no place for Kurt and Mari in her vision.

Though chronologically, Kurt and Mari had formed a party with the two first, Clarice saw them as interlopers in her relationship with Karina and Serena.

It was a selfish thought, but after years of lonely isolation in the mansion, Clarice’s twisted logic saw nothing wrong with it.

As she subtly glanced at Kurt and Mari, Clarice thought, ‘Hmph. Acting all friendly and sweet. I’ve seen plenty of people like you in books and through astral projection.’

Her first target was Marisia, the Half-Elf.

‘People like her easily make friends, plucking them like ripe fruit. They’re never satisfied with just one or two friends, always expanding their circle until they have dozens. How indecent.’

While smiling and chatting, Clarice internally criticized Mari.

‘With your abilities, you could make friends anytime, yet you’re eyeing my precious few? How greedy… People might call you sociable, but I’d say you’re shallow and lacking in principles.’

Unaware of Clarice’s thoughts, Mari spoke up, “If you’re friends with Karina and Serena, then you’re my friend too!”

“F-friends…?”

“Of course! Unless you don’t want to be friends with me?”

“N-no, it’s not that…”

“Then we’re friends now! Oh! Can I call you Riche-chan?”

“R-Riche-chan…”

“You can call me Mari!”

‘Ah, how sociable of her. Reaching out so warmly to someone she just met. Truly like the spring sun. Even though she already has Karina and Serena as friends, she wants to add me too… How kind and generous…’

“Mari-chan…”

Clarice blushed slightly as she called Mari by her nickname.

“Yes! Riche-chan!”

“Haaah…”

“Riche-chan! What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing. I just have low blood pressure, so I felt a bit dizzy…”

“Oh no! Here, have some lukewarm water!”

‘Ah… She’s even offering me her precious lukewarm water… Mari-chan, no, Mari. Are you a saint?’

And just like that, Clarice completely forgot her hostility toward Mari.

As if she had never harbored any ill will in the first place.

Instead, what filled her heart was an endless surge of goodwill toward Mari.

Having left her mansion behind to come to Astram after gaining Karina and Serena as friends, the word “friend” from Mari had an immediate effect.

“Hmm… low blood pressure? Here, eat this. It’s dried fruit. The nutrients in fruit should help with low blood pressure.”

“Hmph. I don’t need it.”

‘Trying to win me over with mere dried fruit? How shallow.’

But while her hostility toward Mari had vanished, Kurt was a different story.

Clarice coldly replied to Kurt, who had offered her dried fruit out of concern, and glared at him.

Though she couldn’t refuse Mari’s offer of friendship due to her fantasies about same-sex friendships, Kurt was different.

He was, after all, a man.

And thus, completely outside the scope of Clarice’s fantasies about same-sex friendships.

Even if Kurt had approached her to be friends, she had a reason she could never accept him.

‘What’s this? Dried fruit? Homemade? Trying to impress me with your cooking skills? You’re just trying to keep me in check!’

This feeling stemmed from something Kurt had done with Karina and Serena.

Though she had only arrived in Astram today, Clarice wasn’t unaware of how Karina and Serena had been living since returning.

She had a way of keeping tabs on them, even from within her mansion.

It was her original magic, a combination of astral projection and remote viewing.

One of Clarice’s dark hobbies was using this magic to spy on villages over 10km away from her mansion.

Was it really a coincidence that she had just arrived in Astram and happened to run into Karina and Serena struggling against the Giant Ant?

Of course, even with her magic, the distance between the forest village and Astram was vast, so she could only glimpse their daily lives for a few minutes each day.

But during those brief moments, Clarice had seen something shocking.

Kurt’s cooking skills.

Despite being a mere Lizardman, his cooking was so good that Karina and Serena smiled genuinely, looking truly happy.

‘What’s this!? They never smiled like that when I cooked for them!’

Cooking was Clarice’s second-best skill after magic.

Considering her race as a Wizard, it was practically her strongest suit.

Of course.

With little opportunity to interact with others in her mansion, her daily life consisted of honing her magic, reading, and enjoying good food.

She loved reading, but she had long since finished all the books in her mansion.

And without the stamina to travel to the city for more books, she naturally poured her energy into cooking.

Yet, Kurt had effortlessly drawn smiles from Karina and Serena with his cooking, something she had never managed.

‘Ugh… Kurt, I’ll never forgive you!’

And so, unbeknownst to him, Clarice burned with a dark hostility toward Kurt.