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Chapter 2-32 : The Ghost’s True Identity (part 1)
After Mylia and Aria decided to listen to the ghost, they followed him to another room.
There was a hidden door in the back of the central room, and the inside was like a messy laboratory with a lot of chemical equipment.
Mylia found it funny that a ghost used a door to enter a room.
「Aria-san, let me wash the purple paint off your clothes for you.」(Mylia)
「Thank you, Mylia-san」(Aria)
「Washing Magic, activateーー …Hm? It’s not coming off… Washing Magic! Washing Magic! Washing Magiiicー!」(Mylia)
「…Mylia-san?」(Aria)
「Ah, don’t worry. Please wait a minute.」(Mylia)
（This purple paint is very hard to wash off… Looks like I need to upgrade my Washing Magic… Perhaps I should imagine clothes being washed in a washing machine with a strong detergent and making a lot of bubbles… Umm… Alright, Washing Magic, activate!）
When Mylia activated her Washing Magic one more time, bubbles appeared from Mylia’s hands and covered Aria’s body. After a moment, the bubbles popped, and Aria’s clothes and body became clean.
Right after, Mylia did the same to herself.
「Alright, they are clean now!」(Mylia)
「Whoaa…」(Aria)
『Umm… That paint is supposed to be special paint that cannot be removed for a week though…』(ghost)
The ghost was impressed with Mylia’s magic.
「So, Ghost-san, you can speak now. We’re listening.」(Mylia)
The ghost who had no longer flesh, but bones, took a deep breath and began to speak.
The ghost’s name was Peter.
Two hundred years ago, his beloved sister refused to be a concubine of an aristocratic man. The man then resented her and decided to make her suffer from an incurable illness for her entire life by poisoning her.
Peter desperately tried to save his sister by doing research to make an all-purpose elixir that can cure her, but unfortunately, he died without being able to save her. A very strong sense of regret made him remain in this world as a ghost.
In order to relieve himself from the sense of regret, he continued doing his research even though he had become a ghost.
He happened to meet Daemon and was taken to his fort which now was the Adrashelm Royal Girls’ Academy.
Daemon asked Peter to be the examiner to test the talented magician soldiers who came to the maze, in exchange, Daemon would provide Peter with valuable research materials.
「I see… I’m sorry to hear that…」(Mylia)
『Don’t worry about it.』(Peter)
「By the way, what kind of person was Daemon?」(Mylia)
「I’m curious too…」(Aria)
『He was a weirdo.』(Peter)
Peter answered immediately without hesitation.
Mylia totally agreed with him. She put her hand on her magic bag, where she put the Daemon’s Map in, while imagining how weird Daemon was.
『Even so, he was a good guy. He helped me with my research. However, I think he was crazy because he built this entire maze and made those weird maps just to educate talented magicians.』(Peter)
「You’re right. I also think he must be crazy.」(Mylia)
「Peter-sama, what do you mean by educate talented magicians?」(Aria)
Aria curiously asked as she combed her twintails with her fingers.
『Before I answer, Miss Mylia, you’re the owner of the map, right?』(Peter)
「Yup.」(Mylia)
『Did you realize something after you read all the questions in the crossword puzzle?』(Peter)
「Realize something…? Ummm….」(Mylia)
Mylia took out the Daemon’s Map from her magic bag and spread it, but it had already turned into a map. The crossword puzzle had disappeared along with all the questions.
Mylia then put the map back in her magic bag, crossed her arms and started thinking.
（Umm….. If I’m not mistaken, the questions were all related to history, common knowledge, magic and math……. Ah! Could it be…）
「Is it about the knowledge necessary to live in an aristocratic society? Chloe onee-chan once taught me a similar thing.」(Mylia)
『You’re correct.』(Peter)
Peter was clapping. Because he had no flesh, it sounded like bones hitting each other.
『The rules says you can’t ask other people same questions as the ones in the crossword puzzle, right? It’s to train you to talk euphemistically when you are in an aristocratic society.』(Peter)
「I see… Yeah, I couldn’t ask directly but I could ask in a roundabout way.」(Mylia)
「Ah, that’s why you sometimes asked strange questions.」(Aria)
「Yep.」(Mylia)
Aria was convinced after listening to the exchange between the two.
She actually was suspicious of Mylia when Mylia asked her questions. She knew that there was something Mylia wanted to hear, but for some reason, Mylia asked complicated questions instead of asking directly what she wanted to hear.
『Daemon wanted the novice magician soldiers to learn how to interact with aristocrats.』(Peter)
「That’s why he created that crossword puzzle?」(Mylia)
『Yeah. It seemed like he once had a very complicated relationship with aristocrats. Therefore, he didn’t want excellent magicians to end up becoming “tools” for aristocrats.』(Peter)
（Hmm… If that’s true, Daemon was probably not a bad person. Well, his personality seemed to be bad though…）
Mylia had complicated feelings toward Daemon.
『Miss Mylia, what do you think magicians need the most?』(Peter)
「Umm… A good imagination and… perseverance?」(Mylia)
『Of course those two are important, but other than that, there are three other important things magicians need.』(Peter)
When Peter raised three of his fleshless fingers as he said that, Mylia and Aria stared at him curiously.
『The first one is talent. The second one is communication skills, and the third one is… friendship.』(Peter)
「Talent, communication skills and…」(Mylia)
「Friendship…」(Aria)
As Aria said the word “friendship”, Aria and Mylia looked at each other with puzzled faces, but then their faces turned bright red. They immediately looked away, feeling embarrassed yet happy for some reason.
『Daemon had no friends until he reached his thirties, and he seemed to regret it. That’s why the maps could only be solved with two people because he wanted the young magicians to foster friendships.』(Peter)
「I see… I understand now.」(Mylia)
『To be honest, I’m glad that I became the examiner because I could see the beautiful friendship between you two.』(Peter)
「Beautiful friendship… Ehehe…」(Mylia)
「…….」(Aria)
Mylia and Aria smiled with blushed faces.
『Well, I almost died because of your beams though… Wait… I am already dead! Gaaahahaha!』(Peter)
(What is this!? A dead people’s joke!?)
「Ahaha… I’m sorry about that, but Peter-san, thanks to you, now Aria-san and I are officially friends, so thank you! We’re grateful to you. Right, Aria-san?」(Mylia)
「Yes, of course. Thank you, Peter-sama, and… Daemon-sama too… Actually, I was planning to say it first, but Mylia-san beat me… I always wanted to be friends with Mylia-san, but I didn’t have the courage to tell her… 」(Aria)
When Aria looked down with a mixed expression of shyness and regret, Mylia took her hand and smiled at her.
「Don’t worry Aria-san. What’s more important is that we both feel the same wa.」(Mylia)
「Mylia-san… Un, you’re right.」(Aria)
Aria replied to Mylia with a smile too.
『Hoho~ Friendship between girls truly is beautiful no matter how many times I see it.』(Peter)
「Is that so? Ehehe…」(Mylia)
Mylia scratched her head while still holding Aria’s hand.
The two were so happy that they couldn’t stop grinning with blushed faces.