"It's really complete?"
Natsuki looked over in surprise.
"Absolutely." Chika displayed the quest bar. Sure enough, the words "Completed" appeared right after the fun quest. "But how? Nothing happened at all—how did the quest suddenly finish?"
"If nothing was done, the quest wouldn't have completed." Kaguya folded her right arm across her chest, her tone calm as she reasoned backward from the result. "You must have done something that satisfied the quest requirements."
Natsuki picked up the thread: "The quest was likely completed inside the haunted house."
"The time... was after everyone got separated."
Kaguya looked at Chika, pondering:
"While you were separated, what did you do on your own?"
"I didn't do anything at all." Chika frantically shook her head. "I couldn't tell workers from evil spirits, so I didn't dare try to scare anyone."
"That's the truth."
Natsuki analyzed: "If no proactive action was taken, then it must have been a passive action that ended up scaring the haunted house workers."
"..."
Natsuki and the ice queen exchanged a glance, then both turned to look at Mrs. Kaguya.
"Why are you all staring at me?"
Mrs. Kaguya blinked, her face the picture of innocence. "I didn't do anything either."
You didn't need to do anything—all you had to do was open your mouth and talk!
"When you ran into Ms. Shimizu, did you two end up chatting?" Natsuki turned to the pink-haired girl.
"Of course I did." Chika nodded. "Getting separated alone in a haunted house is really scary, you know."
Just as suspected.
The Mrs. Kaguya that Chika could see was completely invisible to ordinary people.
So in the haunted house workers' eyes, a lone pink-haired girl was chatting away at thin air, as if conversing with someone unseen—even being all affectionate and clingy... Of course they'd be scared stiff.
"...That's not fair!"
Kaguya bit her lower lip, clearly unhappy.
Chika's quest was so simple it could even be completed by accident. Why was hers always so difficult?
Too unfair!
"Anyway, it doesn't matter how the quest was completed." Marin's curiosity clearly wasn't focused on the reasoning. Her face was full of eager anticipation. "What skill did Chika-chan get?"
"Up until now, I haven't gotten a single skill..."
"The skill... is a bit strange."
The pink-haired girl didn't hide anything, openly displaying her newly obtained skill for everyone to see.
Natsuki looked over curiously. Sure enough, it was strange.
[Skill: Ptoo! Turn Into a Sheep!]
[Type: Active Skill]
[Description: This skill can only be used on allies. Select one teammate and transform them into a sheep. The duration of the transformation depends on the teammate's willpower]
[Note: Song Tingbo tricked me out of my feelings, played with my body—you despicable little worm!]
At first glance the skill seemed like a sheep-transformation spell from a game, or perhaps a fairy witch's magic. The problem was—why would it turn a teammate into a sheep?
Shouldn't it be turning evil spirits into sheep?
"Who is Song Tingbo?" Chika was intensely curious. "I've never heard that name before."
"Song Tingbo of Nanyang. In his youth, he encountered a ghost while traveling at night..." Kaguya pressed her fingers lightly to her temple, recalling. "I once came across it in a book. It's a passage of classical Chinese."
"Found it."
The blonde gyaru shook her phone, her voice bright: "Shinomiya-san, is this the passage you're referring to?"
Natsuki looked over curiously and read through it. Only then did he finally understand what the note was about.
Tricking the ghost out of its feelings, playing with its body—and after putting his clothes back on, selling the ghost away, squeezing out its very last drop of usefulness.
Truly despicable.
"Song Tingbo is terrible. From start to finish he never said a single honest word." After finishing the article, Chika couldn't help but complain. "The ghost trusted him so completely, yet he kept deceiving it again and again. In the end, just to prevent the ghost from regaining its freedom, he even spat on it. Doesn't his conscience bother him at all?"
"It feels... a bit strange."
Kaguya's dark brows furrowed slightly. The butterfly bow tied from the red ribbon swayed gently in the evening breeze. From a capitalist's perspective, once you knew the ghost's weakness, you should follow it back home—that way you could harvest an entire flock of sheep.
But... why did the approach suddenly feel excessive now?
"Think about it from a different angle." Natsuki analyzed. "Throughout the entire story, Song Tingbo never once told the truth. So... is it possible that Song Tingbo's real identity was actually a sheep thief, and the ghost encounter was just a story he fabricated?"
"Eh?!" Chika was stunned. "It can actually be interpreted that way?"
"Regardless of what the truth is, I'm really curious about the skill itself right now." Marin's eyes sparkled as she raised her right hand, volunteering herself. "Me me me—I want to try the sheep transformation!"
"This is an amusement park." Natsuki reminded her quietly. "If you suddenly turned into a sheep here, you'd probably end up spending the rest of your life at the Supernatural Biology Research Institute."
"Then I guess that's out for now. We'll try it at school." Marin shook her head with regret before quickly breaking into her radiant smile. "Since the quest is already done, let's all have a great time at the amusement park!"
Kaguya shook her head: "I'm heading back."
"Don't leave Mom behind." Mrs. Kaguya clasped her hands together, looking pitiful. "Visiting the amusement park together with little Kaguya is Mom's only remaining wish in this world."
Kaguya: "..."
Your wishes are way too many!
But... we're already here. Playing for a bit wouldn't hurt, would it?
Mrs. Kaguya let out an eager cheer and asked:
"Has little Kaguya ever been to an amusement park before?"
"..."
Kaguya said nothing.
She really hadn't.
Today was actually her very first time.
Natsuki glanced at the ice queen in surprise. Wasn't she supposed to be living in extravagant luxury, wallowing in wealth?
She hadn't even been to an amusement park once—life was far too monotonous.
"We can play as we go." Natsuki said. "Trying things out once in a while isn't bad at all."
"Mm."
The group moved forward together.
For some reason, Kaguya showed no interest whatsoever in the thrilling rides, feeling no desire to try any of them. Chika and the blonde gyaru, however, were enthusiastic fans.
In the end, the four temporarily split up. Chika and Marin went to ride the roller coaster, while Natsuki and Kaguya tried other attractions.
"Mom wants to ride the bumper cars."
Mrs. Kaguya pointed.
"Mm."
"The carousel too."
"Mm."
"That mirror maze also looks interesting..."
"I refuse."
Kaguya firmly declined. Even for Mom, she wouldn't agree to every single request without condition or limit.
The mirror maze—absolutely not going there!
If daily life didn't require the use of mirrors, she would have had Hayasaka rip the bathroom mirror out of the wall long ago!
Because he was bound to the guardian spirit, Natsuki couldn't stray far. He strolled along at the mother and daughter's side, though every now and then he got the feeling someone was watching him. Each time he turned to look, there was nothing there.
Before he knew it, evening had fallen.
The sun sank in the west.
Tired birds returned to their nests.
Natsuki and the girls left the amusement park together and each headed home.
Two days of exams were finished. Ahead was a nine-day Golden Week holiday.
He could only hope Golden Week would pass without incident... Unfortunately, fear has a way of becoming reality. A new dungeon arrived before long.