Evil Spirits, Begone!

At the castle, we're waiting for an audience with His Majesty the King. Apparently, it's taking longer than expected.

In the meantime, I've been passing the time by taking on requests from the princess of this country.

The princess had stayed at my house for about two days, but perhaps she'd grown bored of it, because she didn't stay over on the third day.

I got to sleep in a bed for the first time in several days too.

――And then, the next morning.

When we got up, Anemone baked bread, Primula made soup, and Bell went out to the flower beds and caught a bird for us.

After we all finished breakfast, we settled down to relax.

While drinking coffee, I brushed Bell's jet-black, silky fur.

"Boss, I wonder when we'll be able to meet His Majesty the King." "It's taking a while."

"I don't know. But if we'd just stayed at an inn in town, the lodging costs would have been a real problem."

According to Primula――you submit a request for an audience, then return home. Once the date and time are decided, a letter arrives from the castle.

"That's probably how it normally works. But I was summoned directly by His Majesty the King in a letter..."

"Perhaps they were confused by how quickly Kenichi arrived after using a summoned beast."

Normally, coming by carriage apparently takes several weeks.

"I never imagined we'd reach the royal capital in just a few days, nya."

"That certainly seems possible."

Now, the princess had mentioned something about getting rid of ghosts, but could we really do that?

As I agonized over it while drinking coffee after breakfast――the princess arrived.

She was riding the draisine, too. But she wasn't pushing off the ground with her feet. In the first place, the draisine had been sized for Primula, so the shorter princess couldn't reach the ground.

And yet the draisine was moving forward――at about walking speed, but still.

Looking closely, I saw something drum-shaped attached above the front wheel. It seemed to be generating the rotational force.

In my original world, I'd seen add-on engines and motors that could be attached to bicycles, and this seemed similar.

"Kenichi! Come and look at this!"

"Good morning, Lilith-sama. The draisine is moving without you pushing off the ground. Is it magic?"

"This tube is a magic tool. Apparently, it generates rotational force."

"So there is a mage in the castle capable of making magic tools like this."

"Indeed! His name is Kaldon, and he's an eccentric who specializes in making magic tools."

If the princess called him an eccentric, he must have been a tremendous oddball. Still, the existence of a magic tool resembling a motor meant this world couldn't be underestimated.

"Are magic tools like this commonly seen?"

"I don't know much about them, but according to Kaldon, they can wind up ropes and such to open and close doors."

Oh, right. I'd heard that this world had automatic doors. So this was probably where the idea came from.

I see――if things like this existed, it was no wonder they believed my car and heavy machinery ran on magic.

A huge golem was basically a giant robot, after all.

"Lilith-sama, if we have things like this, attaching four of them to a box would create something we could ride around in."

I took a four-wheeled cart out of my Item Box. It was the one Primula used to carry goods to her stall.

I suggested attaching the magic-tool motor to it.

"Oh! You're right!"

I took a sketchbook and pencil out of my Item Box and drew a structure like a Mini 4WD, extending an axle from the motor to drive the rear wheels. I also threw in a parallel-link steering mechanism as a bonus.

"It would look something like this."

"Hmm! You draw rather well, too."

"You're too kind."

The princess called a maid over and handed her the drawing I'd made.

"Take this to Kaldon."

"Certainly."

The maid bowed and disappeared inside.

"And now, Kenichi..."

"Yes, what is it?"

"My mother desires some of the sweets from yesterday. What did you call them? Chocolate?"

"What? You mean those?"

"Do you still have any left?"

I bought the same Go○iva chocolates as yesterday from Shangri-La.

"Two gold coins, please."

"Oh! That is a relief! My mother is rather difficult... It is troublesome when she gets angry."

"Could it be that she became displeased because you ate the delicious sweets before she did, Your Highness?"

"Well, something like that."

Still, getting upset just because her daughter had eaten some sweets seemed a little much...

But the princess seemed to notice my dubious expression.

"Is something strange?"

"No, not at all."

"I am not my mother's biological daughter, so perhaps we are somewhat different from a true mother and daughter."

"I apologize for not realizing that."

"It is fine. It is not as though we have a poor relationship."

Apparently, the princess was the daughter of a deceased consort. Since she was currently the king's only child, he seemed to dote on her.

They were less like parent and child and more like rivals with a considerable age gap.

"I should warn you as well. You will probably meet her eventually, so do not anger my mother, understand? She is not the sort to make unreasonable demands, but she becomes troublesome when angered."

"Ha-ha, I will keep that in mind."

Then the subject turned to ghosts.

"Are you really going to do this?"

"The maids have been pestering me."

"In that case, I have a small request. Only the beastfolk in my household and Forest Cat can sense the presence of ghosts, so please permit them to enter the castle. Of course, you may have them watched."

"Very well."

But how was I supposed to exorcise a ghost?

I rummaged through ebooks on the subject in Shangri-La and flipped through one. Oh! It had a chant for driving away evil spirits.

――Nōbōtaritsu haraboritsu shakinmei shakinmei tarasandanka enbiisowaka――or so it said.

And when it came to driving away evil spirits, the thing that often appeared in manga and anime was holy water...

Didn't foreign holy water involve turning water from a spring or something into holy water through a ritual? But I couldn't perform any such ritual.

By Japanese standards, I supposed it would be omiki――in other words, Japanese sake. And purifying salt.

Would dissolving salt in Japanese sake make it twice as effective? Incidentally, salt doesn't dissolve in alcohol, but Japanese sake is mostly water, so it would dissolve.

"Holy water, huh..."

I searched Shangri-La for 'holy water' just in case. I got a hit for some suspicious product called 'Young Lady ○ Holy Water,' but that wasn't what I wanted――apparently it was alcohol, though...

But as I flipped through the pages――there it was: 'holy water.' Was it another suspicious product?

The product description said, 'Water blessed by a member of the clergy.'

Seriously?

As expected of Shangri-La. It really did sell everything.

I had no idea whether it was genuine, and I didn't know if holy water from the religion of my original world would work on ghosts in this world, but it was worth trying.

All right, I'd mix this with Japanese sake and salt. A fusion of East and West to power up the holy water.

First, I bought something to spray the holy water with. I purchased a sprayer with a four-liter white plastic tank for 1,800 yen.

It was meant to be pressurized by hand and used to spray herbicide or weed killer. I'd used one to spray weed killer myself.

I opened the sprayer, poured in Japanese sake and salt, added the so-called holy water I'd bought from Shangri-La, and mixed it thoroughly.

Then I gripped the handle of the sprayer and pumped it. That pressurized the inside.

"Kenichi, what is that?"

"This is a sprayer. I have filled it with holy water for purification."

I pulled the trigger on the handle and demonstrated by spraying some holy water.

"Oh! How convenient!"

"The person who made the magic tool for the draisine might be able to reproduce it."

"But even if I held this, I would have no idea how to use it..."

True. This world probably had neither pesticides nor herbicides――although perhaps they had wood vinegar.

"So, Lilith-sama, when shall we begin?"

"Right now!"

Perhaps the princess was bored, because she said she would tour the castle with us. She also seemed interested in seeing how the exorcism turned out.

"Lilith-sama, please understand beforehand that it may not work."

"I know I am making an unreasonable request, so that is fine."

With the princess leading the way, we walked along with the beastfolk and Bell. Anemone stayed behind me.

Primula stayed behind at home. Apparently, she was afraid of ghosts.

We headed inside the castle together――or so I thought, but the beastfolk and Bell were already reacting in the outer corridor.

The beastfolk and Bell were staring at a corner of the corridor.

"Is it over there in the corner?"

"It feels like something's there, nya." "I feel like it's watching us." "Nyaa."

Since they all had the same opinion, it might really have been there. But the maid following behind me and the princess, along with the knight guarding us, didn't seem able to see anything at all.

I extended the sprayer's nozzle as far as it would go and opened the cheat sheet in the ebook.

"Evil spirits, begone! Nōbōtaritsu haraboritsu shakinmei shakinmei tarasandanka enbiisowaka!"

For now, I tried spraying the area with my homemade holy water――a mist of holy water shot toward the ceiling.

Would this really work?

"What language is that?!"

The princess and the onlookers began buzzing at my suspicious-sounding chant.

"Ah, it's gone, nya!" "Boss, something disappeared!" "Nyaa."

Seriously?

Could that really be true?

"Amazing!"

No, Anemone, it actually wasn't that amazing.

"This is fun! Kenichi, let's go to the next one! Come this way!"

Our next destination was the maids' quarters, where the maids giggled and chatted. A row of small doors with locks lined the walls.

I felt as though the place smelled nice, but if I kept sniffing around too obviously, there was a good chance I'd be called a pervert, so I restrained myself.

Rather than a locker room from my original world, it felt more like the changing area of an old public bath. The keys were apparently wooden tags as well.

It was a bright room with glass windows, but the maids apparently disliked staying there for long because they constantly felt as though something was watching them.

Having to remain there all the time while something unknown might be lurking around would surely interfere with their work.

Apparently, exterminating this ghost was something the maids had desperately requested.

"What about here? Is there something here?"

"I think even I can tell something's wrong here... It feels like I don't want to stay."

Anemone said the same thing, and although the room was bright, it did indeed have a vaguely eerie atmosphere.

The beastfolk and Bell had been looking around the room, but their gazes stopped at one corner.

In the corner of a shelf lined with many small doors――there was a gap between it and the wall, and the two beastfolk and one cat were staring intently into it.

I chanted the spell again and sprayed holy water. Then――the beastfolk's gazes shifted and fixed on the ceiling.

Since they all moved in exactly the same way, there really had to be something there.

I sprayed the ceiling with holy water again. A smell like a sweet made with Japanese sake drifted down from above.

"Ahh, that smells like some good liquor."

"No drinking. I'll let you have some when we're done with work. More importantly, what do you think? Do you still sense anything?"

"Nope, it's gone, nya." "Nyaa."

Was this really working? I had no choice but to trust them.

"I feel like the pressure is gone." "I don't feel anything watching me." "It's true! This might really be amazing!"

What? Really? Could it just be a placebo effect?

It didn't feel convincing to me, but the beastfolk and Bell all agreed, so it was hard to call it a coincidence.

After that, the princess dragged us all over the castle――and the corridor decorations gradually became more magnificent.

Red carpets had even been laid across the floors...

"Hey, Boss――are we really allowed to enter a place like this? It doesn't look like somewhere beastfolk are supposed to go." "I think so too, nya."

"Well, the princess is with us, so it'll probably be fine. You can brag at the tavern that you went inside the castle, right?"

"Nobody's going to believe us."

Now that they mentioned it, that might be true. Apparently, a commoner entering the castle was normally unheard of.

The princess's final destination was a room dominated by a large canopy bed covered in blue fabric and gold thread.

The wall decorations were covered in gold as well, and there was no mistaking this for an ordinary bedroom. A large, decorated vase and other ornaments sat on shelves along the walls.

"Wow, what a beautiful room."

It was the sort of room that made Anemone blurt that out without thinking.

"Um, this isn't an ordinary bedroom, is it?"

"This is my mother's bedroom."

"What? The queen's?"

"That is correct."

"Is it really all right for us to enter a place like this?"

"It is fine because I am with you."

According to the princess, the queen often had trouble falling asleep and was plagued by nightmares despite not suffering from any physical illness.

"Then there must be something here too..."

I was about to say that when Bell was already staring fixedly at one particular spot.

A large vase stood at the spot Bell was watching. It was covered in a pattern made with blue glaze, and its golden decorations were magnificent.

"Bell? Is it this?"

"Nyaa."

When I picked up the vase, Bell's gaze followed it.

I tried spraying it with holy water just in case, but it didn't seem to have any effect.

"Lilith-sama, this vase seems to be the cause. Could you advise the queen to move it somewhere else or dispose of it?"

"Very well. I understand."

And with that, my duty was over. Was this really enough?

"You have been a great help. I shall grant you a reward."

"A reward...? What sort of thing?"

"Anything you like. More gold coins?"

Hmm, did everything have to be gold coins? Was there anything else useful? Since this was the royal family, perhaps they had magic books.

"Lilith-sama, does the castle have anything like grimoires...?"

"Grimoires? We have no grimoires, but there are some books about magic."

Oh! Books about magic. Those might be valuable.

"Would you permit me to look through them...?"

"Hmm――for you two, I suppose that would be fine. Come with me."

I sent the beastfolk and Bell back home, then headed to the castle library with Anemone.

The princess led us to a small room at the edge of the castle. But when I looked up, I saw that the ceiling was extremely high, reaching about the height of a three-story building.

All four walls were covered with bookshelves, packed with books all the way to the ceiling. It seemed we were meant to use narrow platforms and stairs to move between the tall shelves.

"Whoa! This is incredible."

"Remember, you may only read them. Taking them out is strictly forbidden."

"Understood."

"I used to come here often when I was a child, too."

Since it was still before noon, we had about four hours.

After giving us two or three instructions, the princess left. It didn't seem as though anyone would be coming to watch us.

"Chance! Anemone, look for books about magic!"

"Okay!"

I felt bad about betraying the princess's trust, but I decided to copy the books. I wouldn't be taking any books out, just as she had ordered, so it should be fine.

I took a table out of my Item Box.

"What are you going to do after finding the books?"

"Copy them."

"Copy them?"

Anemone probably had no idea what I meant. Basically, I was going to digitize the books. Shangri-La sold scanners for digitizing books for personal use.

It was shaped like a fluorescent-lamp stand; when I spread a book beneath it, it captured the pages――a marvel of modern technology.

I could scan everything now and read it carefully later.

I bought a document scanner――18,000 yen. To use it, I also needed a computer to connect it to. A cheap used laptop should be enough.

I had money, but there was no need for anything too expensive in another world. I bought one for about 100,000 yen.

I set up the scanner and laptop that had come out on the table.

"What's that?"

"Anemone, don't worry about this. Go look for the books you want to read."

"Okay."

I started up the laptop and connected the scanner with a USB cable, making it ready for use. As a test, I scanned a nearby book.

The scanned image appeared on the laptop――success.

Now I could scan them one after another.

All right, I would look for books too.

"How about this one? The Fundamentals and Applications of Golem Construction."

"This one looks interesting too――The History of Summoning Techniques and Their Practical Applications."

"The Continental System of Magic――"

"Fundamentals, Applications, and Practical Uses of Spell Construction――three volumes in all."

"The Disease That Leads to Forbidden Magic."

"The Dawn of Defensive Magic."

Anemone and I gathered more than thirty books. The history of this continent and such sounded interesting too, but there simply wasn't enough time.

We had to hurry and prioritize scanning only the books that might prove practically useful.

"Anemone, open the book and put it under this magic tool, then give me a signal."

"Got it――here!"

"All right, click."

The image was captured in an instant. Ordinary scanners moved their heads with a whir, but this one was basically like a digital camera.

Pressing the return key on the PC took the picture.

The books were thick, but because each parchment page had considerable thickness, even the complete books were only a few dozen pages long.

There were paper books too, but each page was still much thicker than the pages of books from my original world.

"Wow! The book goes inside the magic tool!"

"That's right, and then we can read it carefully after we get home."

"But isn't this wrong?"

"It is... So don't tell the princess."

"Okay!"

Well, it was fine as long as we weren't caught. Anemone seemed to understand that what we were doing was wrong, but apparently curiosity was stronger than her conscience.

I was supposed to be the one stopping her, but I couldn't resist my own curiosity either.

Technically, I hadn't taken the books out, just as the princess had ordered, so I decided that meant I was in the clear――or so I conveniently told myself.

Ha-ha-ha, even Buddha himself would never notice us smuggling them out this way.

These were probably all extremely valuable books. If we bought them from a bookstore or tool shop in town, there was no telling how much they would cost...

Many of them were probably restricted from leaving the castle, and we might never get another chance to see them. There was no way I could let this opportunity pass.

Working together, Anemone and I scanned a total of thirty-five books onto the PC.

We returned the books to their original places and stored the equipment and table in my Item Box. In the end, we'd spent about four hours holed up in there.

When we left the library, a maid with short black hair was waiting outside.

"Oh, were you waiting outside the whole time? I'm sorry you had to do that for our sake."

"No, it's part of my job. You two certainly like books, don't you?"

"Yes, well... Ha-ha-ha. In any case, they were all such valuable books. It was a feast for the eyes."

"Many of them are so valuable that they cannot be given a price."

I knew it――there was no way I could tell her that we'd copied them.

When the maid entered the library, she began checking the books.

"Some books are in the wrong places, but I will put them back later."

"Oh, I'm sorry. We took out so many and read them one after another."

This maid seemed to love books too. She said she worked as both a maid and a librarian. Since she knew exactly where every book belonged, she could tell immediately whenever one had been taken out.

The maid led us back to the house, where everyone else was waiting.

It was almost time to eat. Myaree and Nyamena were probably waiting impatiently with their necks craned toward the door.