Chapter 81: Omen (2)

Knock knock.

The sound of something hard knocking on the door.

But the sound was so small and weak that it infinitely resembled the sound of a small child knocking on the door.

Not a clear "knock knock" sound, but closer to a "tap tap" sound.

It was a cute sound that, if heard while sleeping at night, could be mistaken for a small animal like a mouse or cat gently bumping its head against the door.

Moreover, the location of the sound was different from the usual knocking position.

The sound was coming from below.

A place that could only be reached by going infinitely, infinitely down.

It was coming from about the height of a normal person's shin.

Tap tap tap.

At that sound, Lee Serin quietly got up and approached the door.

And she was about to use spirit vision to see who was knocking outside the door.

[ Stop. ]

If the demon hadn't stopped her, she would surely have used spirit vision.

Lee Serin was startled by the demon blocking her.

"Why, why?"

[ You must not carelessly use spirit vision on such things. ]

The demon said this while blocking the door with its body as if to completely prevent spirit vision.

[ Just as you felt pain when your brother caught your spirit vision before, if someone has played a nasty trick, a curse could transfer to you through spirit vision. ]

C-curse?

[ There are quite a few things that can attach misfortune just by looking at them. Moreover, if what's outside the door is something like an evil spirit, it's even more dangerous. They often attach themselves if someone recognizes them, and in the worst case, you could even be possessed. ]

Of course, sorcery of that level was rare, though.

The demon muttered this and then stretched its neck to bring its ear closer to where the sound was coming from.

Tap tap tap.

[ Hmm. ]

The demon nodded as if recalling something after hearing the sound, and then said:

[ Don't use spirit vision. Get close and repeat exactly what I say. ]

Lee Serin trusted the demon's words and approached the door, sat down on the floor, and looked towards where the sound was coming from.

[ Fairy, fairy. Have you come to help with the housework? ]

"Fairy, fairy. Have you... come to help with the housework?"

As soon as her words came out, the knocking sound stopped abruptly. Instead, a small, cheerful voice returned.

"I have no hair! I have no hair! Mischievous Boggart-! Stupid Bro~wnie! I have no hair!"

Lee Serin seemed relieved at that cheerful voice like a child's and lightly brushed her chest, then repeated the words the demon recited again.

[ Fairy, fairy. Have you come to make a bet? ]

"Fairy, fairy. H-have you come to make a bet?"

Then, unlike before, a growling, thick voice was heard.

"I am not a skinny one."

Unlike the playful child's voice from before, it was a fierce and rough voice.

Lee Serin glanced at the demon anxiously.

And she continued to repeat the words.

"Fairy, fairy. Are you looking for something?"

"Whee-ho! Whee-ha! I don't like digging the ground!"

"Fairy, fairy. Are you trying to play a prank?"

"Grrrr. I don't like pranks, I don't like tripping feet and hanging necks."

"Fairy, fairy. Have you come to put bad children who don't sleep to bed?"

"I like bad children! I like children!"

"Fairy, fairy. Have you come to give a gift?"

"Yes! I've come to grant your wish!"

Each time Lee Serin's question was thrown, the answer came back in a different voice.

In an old man's voice, in a delicate woman's voice, in a mischievous child's voice, in a voice that sounded like a beast imitating human speech.

And when six questions had been thrown like that.

A voice that pierced her mind was heard.

"I've given you six answers. Now it's my turn. It's my turn."

Lee Serin somehow felt that something outside the door was smiling.

"I have no hair. I'm not skinny, I don't like pranks, I don't like digging the ground, I like children! But I've come to grant wishes, I've come to fulfill wishes! I'm such a good fairy! Such a very good fairy!"

[ Hmm.... ]

"Now. What's my name?"

The demon nodded as it heard the voice reciting the previous answers as if singing. Then it whispered to its contractor:

[ Rumpelstiltskin. ]

"Rumpel, stiltskin!"

Silence lingered outside the door upon hearing the answer.

Bang!

Then the door shook greatly with a thunderous sound as if being struck with all might by a fist, and the fairy's singing voice rang out.

"Today I bake, tomorrow I brew–"

The day after tomorrow I'll fetch the Queen's child.

The fairy's singing voice started in a voice like a drunk shouting at the top of their lungs.

But as it continued, it gradually changed to something closer to noise, and eventually turned into a terrible sound that could hardly be believed to have any meaning.

Because of this, only the demon could hear the fairy's song.

Only Gremory could find meaning in Rumpelstiltskin's strange cries and weave that meaning into a song.

It was like gathering scattered spider webs and spinning them into thread.

「 Oh, how good that no one knows that my name is Rumpelstiltskin! 」

I am Rumpelstiltskin, Rumpelstiltskin.

A name only I know, Rumpelstiltskin!

If you know the name, you can't move!

Dwarves have their names as weaknesses, so it can't be helped!

But dwarves are lucky!

One knows the name!

Two don't know the name!

If they don't know the name, I can take everything!

But I like children!

I'll only take children!

Bang!

Rumpelstiltskin was striking the door as if to break it down.

The thunderous sound echoed and the door shook as if it would fall at any moment, and the vibration and thunderous sound spread beyond the door to the entire room, so that strength was nothing short of inhuman.

Screech!

A sharp sound of scratching the door rang out.

And the fairy's voice, which had been close to enormous noise, became a song again, and changed to a voice that everyone could understand.

"Maiden, maiden! I'll grant your wish, so in return give me the first child that comes out of your body! I like children, I like children! I like something living more than all the treasures in the world!"

The fairy's booming voice reached Ella, who was trembling while embracing Wisp.

Ella staggered and couldn't control her body at Rumpelstiltskin's voice that had the power to shake her body violently, and only after Lee Arin next to her hugged her body in surprise and protected her could she regain stability.

"If you give me your first child, I'll grant your wish! If you don't like that, try to guess my name! If you guess my name, I'll have no choice but to retreat! What's my name? What's my name?!"

Bang!

The thunderous sound echoed again as if to break down the door.

Ella tried to answer that question with a pale face.

With that name Lee Serin had just said.

[ Stop her! ]

"Rumpel... Mmph!"

But the demon shouted in alarm to Lee Serin, and Lee Serin leaped like lightning and covered her mouth, barely preventing her from giving the answer 'Rumpelstiltskin'.

The demon let out a sigh of relief after narrowly preventing the answer from being given and glared at the door.

[ It would have been a big problem if she had answered. ]

The camel licked its lips with its tongue.

[ What a vicious bastard. To summon Rumpelstiltskin and then send it reversed. ]

*                     *                     *

Long ago in Europe, there was a maiden who was good at spinning thread.

But this maiden's father was a braggart who spread rumors that his daughter could spin golden thread, and the king who heard this rumor brought the maiden and asked her to prove it.

If she succeeded, he would take her as his queen, but if it was a lie, he would severely punish her, and it was said that the father greatly despaired at the calamity that originated from his tongue.

But there was a fairy who came upon feeling that despair.

『 I'll change the straw piled in the room into golden thread. In return, on the same day next year, I'll take your first-born child! However, if you guess my name within three days, I'll give up on taking the child and just disappear! 』

The maiden, who was in danger of being executed, willingly made a deal with the fairy to save her father and her own life, and it was said that the fairy changed all the straw piled in the room into golden thread and left. And a day later, when the king entered the room and saw mountains of golden thread piled up, he was greatly pleased and took the maiden as his queen.

And a year passed and a child was born.

Along with the joyous occasion, the fairy came to demand the rightful price.

『 I'll take the child! If you don't like that, try to guess my name within three days! 』

The fairy didn't bat an eye at the queen's desperate pleas.

To any name the queen said, he only replied that it wasn't his name.

Even to offers of great wealth and treasures, he only demanded the child.

Thus one day passed, two days passed, and finally the day approached when the fairy would take the child.

Just as the queen was about to give up.

The father, who had almost gotten everyone killed by misusing his tongue, stepped forward and said he would find out the fairy's name.

The father carefully followed the fairy to a forest, and there he saw the fairy light a bonfire and dance in circles.

The fairy sang while dancing:

『 Oh, how good that no one knows that my name is Rumpelstiltskin! 』

The answer was fully contained in that song, and the father told the queen exactly what he had heard.

And finally when day broke, the fairy arrived before the queen, grinning from ear to ear, and asked:

『 Queen, what's my name? 』

『 Is it Heinz? 』

『 Wrong! 』

『 Is it Kunz? 』

『 No! 』

『 Could it be Rumpelstiltskin? 』

The queen said the name her father had told her, and it was said that the fairy ran away in terror.

『 The queen made a deal with the devil! The devil must have told her! The devil told her! 』

*                     *                     *

As seen in the story, Rumpelstiltskin's weakness was his own name.

He was in a natural enemy relationship with Gremory, who could see through secrets.

But seeing through secrets didn't mean being omniscient.

[ Since its nature was reversed, calling its name would have actually let it in here. ]

They almost fell into a ridiculous trap.

[ It set it up so that when the name was called for the first time, it would establish its existence, and only when called for the second time would the trap be activated. How ingenious. ]

The demon slightly frowned as if displeased.

[ No matter how many powerful beings there are, humans are the most cunning. ]

They wouldn't have sent it reversed like that to deceive the demon, not knowing that Lee Serin had contracted with Gremory.

Then who on earth were they wary of to mix in such a trap?