“Eleven hundred one, eleven hundred two...”
As we descended the stairs, only Nare’s voice softly echoed. The farther we went down, the more the musty mold and strange, unpleasant odors began to bother .
“Two thousand five hundred twenty-two...”
The numbers Nare muttered kept getting larger. I was sure we’d descended a considerable depth, but these stairs showed no sign of ending.
Why would anyone build such a deep staircase in this fortress? I didn’t know the reason, but if the imp’s soul was down here, I had no choice but to keep going.
“Phew, it's kinda chilly. Teo-gun, do you sense anything?”
At Stella’s question, I quieted my senses. Aside from the fact that the air really was quite cold, as she said, there wasn’t anything in particular I could detect.
Eventually, the bottom of the stairs ca into view. What appeared before us was a door that looked rather solid and heavy.
There wasn’t any lock, but it seed too hefty to push open with brute force.
Together, we shoved the door with all our strength. The long-abandoned iron door groaned with rust as it slowly budged backward.
Once we’d pushed it open, a pitch-black space lood beyond. We lit up our surroundings with magic, revealing scattered tools and bones.
“A prison?”
I wasn’t sure who said it. But I agreed. This place felt like a prison. There were bars, manacles, shackles, and what looked like torture devices used on convicts.
Old bloodstains, dried and blackened over ti, were sared here and there, giving the place an eerie feeling. To think an imp might be in a place like this...
Nare spoke.
“Looks like a bunch of people died here. And they were killed really horribly. Why did they kill so indiscriminately...?”
Born with the gift of spiritual sensitivity, Nare seed to be seeing and hearing things I couldn’t. As for , all I could feel was a sense that it would be best to get out of here quickly.
Stella said,
“The Demon King Solomon, who fled all the way to this Gargarta Fortress, was being cornered. They say that’s when he began his brutal massacres. When people are driven into a corner, their true nature always cos out.”
So this place was Solomon’s final refuge.
I tried to imagine the Demon King as he wandered through here, but having never seen any portraits of him, it was hard to picture him clearly.
In any case, the important thing wasn’t where we were—it was where the imp was.
I hurriedly looked around.
A red-haired imp. If I could find him, help him pass on, and destroy the jar, that would lift the curse entirely—at least, that’s what they’d said.
Should I try calling out?
“Imp? Hey, are you here?”
Even as I said it, I thought I sounded like an idiot.
I should’ve at least given him a nickna beforehand.
But if just calling out like this were enough to summon him, we wouldn’t have had to wander the fortress for so long.
“Who called ?”
Rustle.
At that mont, a tuft of red hair popped out from the shadows. As his face slowly ca into view, I couldn’t help but chuckle a little.
So he really did show up when called.
“Oh, it’s you, Teo. I thought it was Master... guess not.”
He walked toward , clearly disappointed. Then Stella asked,
“Teo-gun, is there sothing there?”
From her question, I understood—Stella couldn’t see the little imp. Despite him being so vividly present, he was invisible to her.
Strange.
Then Nare spoke.
“I can see him only faintly. I can tell sothing is there, but the image is blurry. It kind of shimrs creepily.”
So in the end, the only ones who could properly see the imp were and Mirna. He really was a ghost. That thought made feel both chilled and sad.
An imp who died trapped inside a jar. But hadn’t they said Solomon treasured imps dearly?
That’s why imps like Marmar and Tartar still longed for the return of Demon King Solomon, hoping he would once again lead their lives.
To them, the Demon King wasn’t just a ruler—he was practically an object of faith, even worship. But that sa figure had sealed this imp inside a jar and turned him into a curse.
Do Marmar and the others know about this? No... I doubt they do. This was all done in secret, deep underground.
My eyes wandered over to the jars scattered throughout this basent. They looked empty inside, but the fact that there were so many of them was horrifying in itself.
Then the imp said to ,
“More importantly, how did you get in here? I never told Master, and this was a secret passage only I knew!”
“I ca looking for you. Co on, let’s get out of here.”
***
I found the imp more easily than expected and brought him up to the surface of the fortress. In the wide training yard, where a large bonfire was burning, I led him over. Mirna clapped her hands.
“As expected of Sir Teo. When you handle it, things get resolved in no ti.”
It had felt almost too easy for . But I soon realized that simply finding him was only the beginning.
What we really had to do wasn’t just find him—we had to help him pass on. So we brought the imp over to the jar near the bonfire.
“Hiiieeek...!!!”
The imp let °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° out a heartbreaking scream and began to tremble violently.
It was as if that jar was sothing horrifying and painful to him. He froze in place, clearly terrified.
Mirna said,
“We have to get the imp’s soul back into the jar. Sir Teo, I’ll grab the legs. You take the head.”
At her words, I grabbed the imp by the wrist. He scread like a stray dog that had fled from years of abuse only to be caught again.
“Hiiieeek...!!! L-Let go! I don’t want to go near that thing! Soone help ! They’re trying to kill ! These imp-haters! You monsters!”
Seeing him flail like that filled with pity.
He had finally escaped that cursed jar and road freely around the fortress... and now we were about to shove him back in and force an end to his tragic existence.
“Sir Teo, I think I know what you’re thinking. But letting the imp roam around freely like this is even more cruel. If too much ti passes, he’ll eventually forget everything and truly beco a vengeful spirit.”
Mirna’s words were pragmatic.
I looked back and forth between her, the imp, and the jar. Finally, I let out a long sigh and said,
“...I can’t do it.”
Just earlier, I’d condemned Solomon for mistreating imps.
But if I now forced this imp into a jar, even for the purpose of helping him pass on, wouldn’t I be no different from the old Demon King?
Besides, whenever I looked at him, I saw Marmar’s face overlapping with his. The face of a friend who always cheered on. And putting him into that jar now just felt unforgivably wrong.
I knew it.
Letting emotions get in the way of action was foolish. Letting him wander aimlessly was worse than putting him in the jar and ending his painful life.
Then, Elga, who had been watching us with her arms crossed, said,
“What’s not working? Want to do it? So where is this ‘imp’ anyway?”
She clearly couldn’t see the imp who was screaming right in front of her. Mirna let out a sigh at Elga’s oblivious tone.
“You can’t touch what you can’t see. Lady Leones, your energy is way too strong. There’s no way you’d be able to see or touch a ghost.”
“Having strong energy is a complint in House Leones, you know.”
“Which is exactly why you can’t do it. Anyway, I figured Sir Teo would hesitate. You’re an imp-lover, after all. But we don’t have to force him into the jar—there is another way.”
At Mirna’s words, hope lit up in .
“What can we do?”
“Fortunately, this imp’s soul is surprisingly clear, with little resentnt. That ans we can communicate with him. It’s possible we can find a way to help him pass on.”
“To help him pass on... does that an we just need to resolve whatever lingering regret he has?”
At my question, Mirna’s eyes widened.
“You’re really well-inford. That’s one of the secret techniques we don’t usually teach to just anyone.”
Her surprise surprised even more. Helping a ghost let go of their regrets to pass on was a fairly common thod... Was that not the case in this world?
Every now and then, I’m reminded that the people of this world live by very different rules than I did. But that wasn’t the important part now.
I had the jar moved far enough away that the imp couldn’t see it. As we did, the imp’s trembling gradually began to subside.
“You guys are awful! What is that thing? I don’t know what it is, but don’t ever bring it near again!”
The imp looked furious at us for showing him that terrible object. Did he really not know what it was? From the way he was acting, it seed he didn’t even realize he was already dead.
Telling soone like that, “You died a long ti ago, and now it’s ti to pass on,” wasn’t going to be easy. So I asked,
“Hey, Imp. Is there anything you want to do? Anything you want to eat, maybe? I ssed up earlier, so as an apology... I’ll grant you one wish.”
“......”
He glared at intensely. I guess he was still holding a grudge about what just happened.
From what I’ve seen, imps are a lot like cats—hard to gain their trust, easy to lose it.
“...I can really say anything?”
But this one was a little different. He didn’t have a horn on his forehead like Marmar. Imps like that tended to be more innocent and kind. He probably was, too.
“You really an anything? You have to promise on your tail.”
Swish.
The imp held out his star-shaped tail.
In return, I extended the heart-shaped tail I’d been keeping from Marmar. The two tails curled toward each other, like pinkies locking in a promise.
The imp said,
“A heart-shaped tail is pretty rare. Where’d you get it? You didn’t yank it off another imp or sothing, right? Like what happened to ?”
“No, it was a gift. From a friend.”
“A friend...”
The imp murmured softly. Then, as if sothing had co to mind, he said,
“I thought of sothing I want! Teo, bring your ear close.”
Then, the imp whispered sothing into my ear.
“...You’re sure that’s what you want?”
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