53: The Neighboring Wallace and Karen Couple / Reconciliation Ribbon Hat / Ice Water Under the Blazing Sun 3

“I won’t say anything bad, but you should stop. Evil spirits will come out.”

The next day, Wallace went to the haunted house and told the carpenters at the construction site.

Of course, he didn’t intend it as harassment. It was genuine sympathy, and at the same time, it served as a way to say, “At least I warned you.” While Wallace wanted to leave them alone, he couldn’t disregard the fact that the homeowner who hired the carpenters had come to him with treats, saying, “I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“Heh, we don’t care about that. Right, guys?”

“That’s right!”

“You bet!”

The foreman of the carpenters was still young, with a passionate aura.

His subordinates, although somewhat hesitant, echoed his sentiments.

“Besides, the evil spirits are gone. There’s no point in worrying about something that doesn’t exist.”

“They’re gone, you say?”

At the foreman’s confident words, Wallace couldn’t help but ask back.

“What do you mean, you didn’t know?”

“I don’t know. It’s suspicious to begin with. Even the famous priest couldn’t do anything about it.”

“Heh, our client is different from the usual priests. We worked from morning till evening yesterday, and no evil spirits showed up.”

“What? Really?”

When Wallace listened to the carpenter, it seemed that the client had pinpointed the cause of the evil spirits. Apparently, the owner’s curse was due to a broken cup that lay under a large counter table, causing lingering regret. The client vowed to repair the cup, and the owner’s spirit was touched, ascending to heaven while radiating a green light… the carpenter narrated with a slightly pretentious flair.

“If that’s true, then that’s good… Well, in any case, I did give a warning.”

Wallace said this and returned home, convinced that the carpenters would soon scream and run away. However, his expectations were betrayed, and today’s renovation work ended without incident.

When Wallace told Karen about what he heard from the carpenter, she suddenly said something strange.

“Oh… now that I think about it, I saw a weird light last week.”

“Weird light?”

“The green light. It seemed like Carol brought a few people to that house to do something. When I peeked in, strange-colored light was leaking out, and there was a big commotion. I thought about going to check it out, but I was scared…”

“Did that really happen?”

“Because you suddenly had work and couldn’t come back.”

“That’s… no, I’m sorry. My subordinate got sick, and no one was on duty.”

“I know that. In any case, there’s no doubt something happened at the haunted house next door.”

“Then, is the story about the evil spirits being gone true…?”

Even so, Wallace was half-skeptical.

Karen felt the same way.

Both believed it was impossible for their seven-year-long troubles to suddenly be resolved.

And their predictions were betrayed.

◆

That day was scorching hot from the morning.

The heat was so intense that for a moment, they wondered if they were seeing a mirage.

“The renovation is finished…”

“Y-Yeah…”

“It’s like it’s been reborn…”

“Really…”

Wallace and Karen gazed up at the building with dazed expressions.

The crumbling walls had been repainted white, presenting a refreshing appearance.

The doors were new, gleaming with a luster.

The area around the building was clean, with not a speck of dust in sight.

And there hung a sign that read “Witch Hand Craft Store.”

Moreover, there was something else that stood out.

“Am I dreaming…? A giant crab monster is weeding the garden.”

“…That’s a Dailan Karappa.”

“W-What should we do? Should we call the knights?”

“No, wait. Dailan Karappa won’t harm people. As long as we don’t cause it any harm, we’ll be fine.”

“I-I see…”

Unable to find any particularly clever words, Wallace and Karen stood on the road.

After a few minutes of this, a passing mail carrier called out to Wallace.

“Hey, Wallace!”

“Whoa!? You scared me! Don’t just call out like that!”

“No, no, you two are the ones being careless. You could get run over by a carriage. By the way, is a guy named Jill living here?”

“Jill…? No, I think the owner of the building is supposed to be named Carol…”

At that, Karen clapped her hands.

“Oh, right! There was a sign up during the construction. It had the name of the client on it… I think it was Jill.”

“Then, it seems that this Jill person bought or rented this building.”

As Wallace muttered this, the mail carrier took out a letter from his bag.

“Then, could you hand this letter over? There’s still no mailbox here.”

“No, no, you could just knock and hand it over normally.”

“I don’t have time for that. I’m counting on you.”

“I don’t know. That’s not my job.”

Wallace crossed his arms, refusing to accept it. The mail carrier pretended to force it upon Wallace but pushed it onto Karen, who was watching the situation unfold next to him. Taking advantage of Karen accidentally accepting it, the mail carrier quickly made his escape.

“Hey, wait!”

“Sorry! I don’t want to get involved with the haunted house!”

Wallace and Karen were left standing there alone.

Karen looked down, on the verge of tears.

“I-I’m sorry…”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll go to the post office and directly complain to his boss later. More importantly…”

Wallace looked at the letter in Karen’s hands.

“We can’t just leave it like this; we have no choice but to deliver it… I’ll hold it.”

“Okay…”

Wallace steeled himself and knocked on the door of the former haunted house.

“Excuse me, is anyone there?”

“Oh, yes!”

A familiar voice echoed from inside.

With a clatter, the door opened, revealing Carol.

“Oh, Wallace! Karen! Good morning!”

“Ah, good morning. A letter has arrived here… Is there a Jill here?”

“Yes, that’s the President. President! There’s a letter!”

“I’ll be right there!”

When Carol called out, another young girl’s voice rang out from within.

“Excuse me, is that the mail carrier?”

“Actually, that mail guy pushed it onto us and ran away. Can you set up a mailbox? At this rate, we’ll get letters delivered here every time.”

“Oh, I forgot about that… I’m really sorry for the trouble!”

The President bowed her head, looking embarrassed.

Wallace shrugged his shoulders in exasperation.

“By the way… is this a general goods store?”

When Wallace asked hesitantly, the President looked up and nodded cheerfully.

“Yes! Oh, we can also serve coffee!”

“I-I see… I might be out of line asking this, but do you know about the previous owner before opening?”

“Yes. Oh, that’s right. You might have heard from the carpenters, but the evil spirits are gone now, so don’t worry.”

Before Wallace could ask what he was dying to know, she answered directly, leaving him at a loss for words.

Karen was also surprised and unable to respond.

“I’m truly sorry for the trouble we’ve caused next door… It should be fine from now on…”

Carol bowed her head apologetically.

Seeing this, the President asked curiously, “Next door?”

“Wallace and Karen here live next door. They helped us clean when it was practically a dilapidated house, and we’ve troubled them quite a bit until now…”

“Ah… I see. If there were ‘evil spirits,’ it would indeed be hard to live comfortably…”

The President nodded in agreement, reflecting on that.

“More than the evil spirits, I’m troubled by humans. Especially on hot days like today, there are foolish young people who come to test their courage or bravery.”

“Is there really such a thing?”

“If the renovations have turned this place into a store, then those kinds of people probably won’t come anymore. Well, good luck.”

Wallace said this and was about to leave.

The President looked thoughtful but then clapped her hands and called out to Wallace.

“Well, it might be strange to say this as an apology, but would you like to have something cold to eat? It’s very hot today.”