Emily Hunts Monsters

“Nice to meet you, Jane.”

Contrary to the cold impression at first glance, Jane’s demeanour was very kind.

As she grabbed my outstretched hand and shook it warmly, Helena spoke up in a strangely sharp tone from behind me.

“When did you two become so close?”

Just as I was about to answer that, Jane began speaking.

“It’s been a while, Mrs Blavatsky.”

“…Long time no see, Miss Eyre.”

“I first met Emily at Mrs Evie’s party, and we got along well.”

Helena quietly nodded through Jane’s explanation with a somewhat dissatisfied expression on her face.

I felt that the atmosphere had gotten awkward.

Sally’s hand tugged my sleeve.

“I, Madam…”

Her eyes seemed to scream, ‘When will the seance be held?’

I swallowed my chuckle and brought out the purpose of coming here in a straightforward manner.

“Jane, I’m here to ask you for a seance today,”

Jane laughed and sat us around the table.

“Alright, then whose soul do you want to summon?”

“Um, that’s…”

After pondering for a moment, I turned to Sally who hesitated before opening her mouth.

“That… Rather than just wanting to meet someone, I’m curious about the ceremony itself.”

Jane smiled softly as if it was understandable.

“There are a lot of people like that.”

“I went to another seance not too long ago, and I was completely blown away.”

Sally grunted and shared her experience.

She had recently paid 25p to attend a necromancer’s meeting that was said to be one of the most popular among London employees.

“Wow, even if it’s really ridiculous, it can’t be this absurd.”

The client asked for the soul of their dead mother to be summoned, and the necromancer chanted something—

And there was a tapping sound.

“At first I thought it was the soul’s way of communicating, but…”

Sally had exceptionally good vision, and every time a tap was heard, she found the necromancer tapping her ankles under the table.

She couldn’t stand it and cried out about it.

“In the end, it turned out to be a scam. And it’s not the only one.”

No matter how famous the necromancer was, whenever Sally attended their meeting she discovered a fraudulent trick.

“Once, there was an instance where a skull was hung from the ceiling with a transparent thread.”

“Necromancy is a wealthy business, so people just as ordinary as you and I begin taking up those jobs.”

At Helena’s words, I inadvertently looked at Jane’s expression, but fortunately, there was no sign of displeasure.

Sally sighed deeply.

“I wish I didn’t know at all. I mean, I really liked the idea of it. It’s just disappointing…”
Without realizing it, I clicked my tongue and replied back.

“Sally, isn’t it enough for you to follow me along in my supernatural cases?”

“Hehe, that’s a great experience, of course, but it’s different from something like this, isn’t it?”

She seemed to be genuinely obsessed with horror occult.

Helena, who looked at Sally like she was cute, said something.

“Isn’t your great-grandmother protecting you, Sally? Please don’t fall for such scams.”

“…It doesn’t matter if I get deceived a little.”

Sally grunted dissatisfied, but what Helena said made sense.

Previously, in the Brichester case, Sally was the only one who was still fine after drinking Glaaki’s wine.

Anti-magic power is amazing, I thought, but Jane pulled something out from under the table.

“Would you like to give it a try?”

It was none other than a ‘talking board’, which I knew as the Ouija board.

It looked just like an ordinary wooden board, but a pointer was placed on it to point to a specific alphabet or number.

“This is a talking board, something that lets you talk to the spirits of the dead.”

“Wow…”

Sally’s eyes twinkled in admiration.

Jane’s eyes stopped at me as she looked back at the three of us in turn.

“Emily, if you don’t mind, why don’t you try it?”

“I?”

“I don’t know if it’s a hasty guess, but it seems like you have someone you really want to meet.”

After that, I looked at Jane without a word.

For an instant, I felt her sharp eyes peering into the deep, dark abyss inside me.

‘…That’s not wrong.’

After thinking for a moment, I looked at Jane and nodded.

Jane faintly smiled. “Well then, let’s begin.”

* * *

The process of using the talking board was simple.

Jane and I were seated facing each other with the board in the middle, with the other two seated a little further away.

“I will start with the chant.”

Jane began the ritual by praying in a language I did not understand.

Sally, who was watching her like that, whispered.

“Oh, it’s kind of eerie.”

Helena hissed and gestured to be quiet.

“Okay, now Emily should hold this with me.”

She gestured at something that looked like an arrow and called it a ‘pointer’. Its purpose was to point towards an alphabet or number.

Jane and I put our hands on the pointer together.

“Now close your eyes.”

As Jane’s voice sounded somewhat mysterious, I closed my eyes slightly.

As the room began fading, black darkness filled my vision.

In the midst of silence all around, the mysterious scent that has been floating around here for a long time is more intense.

“Emily, I’ll call the soul by your side.”

As I nodded quietly, Jane began to mumble in a language I did not understand.

“Erinev suem sumina…”

I felt strange hearing those foreign words.

But soon–

The pointer I was holding suddenly began to shudder.

“You can open your eyes now, Emily.”

My eyes opened at her command.

I saw the pointer trembling vigorously, settling on a few letters.

Soon, the word it traced was clear. ‘HELLO’

“The soul… it’s here!”

Sally, who was watching from nearby, screamed involuntarily and covered her mouth.

Jane also looked perplexed.

“This…I’ve never seen a soul so powerful.”

One thing was certain.

At least, there was no fraudulent device hidden in the talking board, because if there was one Sally would have pointed it out already.

What that meant was—

‘Really, the soul answered the prayer.’

Then, suddenly, goosebumps appeared on my skin.

Even though I was an atheist in my previous life, in this world…

Because I know all too well that many enigmas are ‘real’, including evil spirits, ghouls, and even gods of another world like Glaaki.

Jane’s voice continued.
“Seeing that the soul can influence reality so powerfully, it feels like it has been with you for a long time.”

“No way…Is it Randolph’s soul?”

When I thought of that, my heart pounded with anticipation.

“You have to ask a question to check it out.”

Jane, still with me, with her hand on the pointer, proceeded calmly through the ritual.

“Nice to meet you, whose soul are you?”

The pointer vibrated, then quickly pointed to the alphabet and started answering.

‘I, M, N, O, T…’

I muttered as I watched it.

“I am, not a soul…”

I could see Jane’s forehead twitching as she sat down opposite me.

She quickly asked another question.

“Then what are you?”

The pointer moved again.

As I watched it move, I immediately opened my mouth.

“A great will.”

「Darkness of the Abyss」

“A number of things, but nothing at the same time.”

As each sentence was made, I felt a thrill.

“I have existed since time immemorial”

「Irresistible disorder」

…As I was looking at those sentences, a name came to mind.
‘If… you were always by my side… The King in Yellow?’

“What is this…”

Helena, who was watching from her side, let out a surprised gasp.

As an expert in the field, she seemed to have recognized immediately that the situation was abnormal.

Jane’s question continued.

“Well, then…Is your name Randolph?”

…No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t look like Randolph.

At that, the pointer, which was moving like crazy, stopped for a moment.

It moved slowly and made a sentence.

‘Y, E, S, A, N… … .’

「Yes and No」

“…?”

Confused, I immediately asked Jane.

“Ask where Randolph’s soul is!”

Before Jane could even speak, the pointer moved quickly again, forming a sentence.

「Nowhere」

What the hell…

I frowned in confusion.

I didn’t ask any questions, but the pointer moved frantically and made up sentences.

“Randolph, didn’t, die.”

“…!”

Randolph is not dead.

My heart pounded hard when I remembered what that one sentence meant or could mean.

My heart raced like a runaway locomotive, and my breathing turned steep.

“Then what is your name?”

As Jane asked a question, the pointer moved as if it was falling apart and started making sentences.

‘M, Y, N, A, M, E, I… … .’

Now, not only the pointer but the entire board was shaking. At that moment Jane and I let go of the pointer.

“You two step back!”

Sally suddenly shouted and pulled us back.

And then suddenly—

Bang!

A sharp roar hit my ears and the talking board exploded in front of my eyes.
— — —
TL note: Hi everyone, it’s been a while T-T I apologise for the abrupt disappearance. There has been a change in terminology. ‘Conference’ will be now referred to as ‘Seance’. Please look forward to the next chapters!