Having an unreliable and talkative old man like Ed living in his head was already enough for Elias to deal with.
Now, things were even better.
Another one had shown up outside.
And judging by the tone, this one was a total show-off.
That string of terms like "Seventh Agency" and "containment object" left Elias completely bewildered.
What exactly was he bragging about?
Was he trying to express that his professional skills as a thief were top-notch?
Or was he trying to explain that his current state was rare?
But his state didn't even seem that rare, did it?
There were already two of them right next to him; who knew how many other raving ghosts were out there elsewhere.
Elias couldn't come to any conclusion other than the fact that this young man was mentally ill.
At this moment, Edmond also finally snapped out of his initial shock.
He had also realized something was wrong.
"Wait, kid."
Edmond's voice became hesitant.
"Are you sure someone is there?"
Elias kept a wary eye on the empty air around him while retorting irritably in his mind.
"No kidding!"
"Do you think I don't know my own hallucinations?"
"Since when do hallucinations converse with me this fluently?"
"And even include self-aggrandizing bragging?"
"Maybe they actually do."
"That's true, you are quite narcissistic yourself."
"How do you know I'm not just a vision you're seeing before you die?"
When he said this, old man Edmond's voice was full of mischief.
Elias was stunned for a moment.
Then, a look of sudden realization appeared on his face, even carrying a hint of relieved ease.
"Oh! So you're just a hallucination!"
He drew out the syllable with exaggerated emphasis, and as he spoke, he reached into his pocket for the cold bracelet.
"That's wonderful."
"Since you're a hallucination, this so-called bracelet is just a piece of junk jewelry."
"It looks like I can sell it for cash once I get to Hastings Port!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Stop, stop, stop!"
"I was joking! It was a joke!"
Edmond quickly backed down.
There was no choice.
When a man is under someone else's roof, he has to bow his head.
When a soul is inside a bracelet, it has to yield.
"Hmph."
Elias gave a cold snort.
Trying to play me?
You're a fifty-year-dead antique; how can you compete with a corporate slave who has been beaten down by modern capitalism?
Having handled Old Ed, Elias turned his attention back to reality.
Although that voice wasn't speaking anymore, he could feel that the sensation of being watched still persisted.
"So, do you have a way to help me find this person who was talking?"
Elias asked seriously.
The enemy was in the dark while he was in the light; this feeling was terrible.
It was like you were taking a shower and felt like someone was standing behind the curtain, but when you pulled it open, there was nothing there, which was even scarier.
"Not necessarily."
Edmond also put away his playful attitude and analyzed seriously.
"I'll do my best."
"But if the other party is a high Scale transcendent talking to you while invisible, then I'm probably out of luck."
"Invisible?"
Hearing those words, Elias raised an eyebrow.
Without another word, he picked up the bucket he had left on the shore for holding fish while he was angling at the docks.
Splash!
He scooped up a full bucket of seawater.
"Here goes!"
Elias exerted force from his waist like a Water Splashing Festival fanatic, violently throwing the water in the bucket into the surrounding air.
Water sprayed everywhere.
"Take it easy!"
Edmond shouted in his head.
"Don't let anything happen to that blind salmon you worked so hard to catch! That's a treasure!"
"Don't worry, the bag with the fish is tied to my belt!"
As Elias spoke, he continued to throw bucket after bucket of water into the surrounding air.
He didn't even spare the space above his head.
He was trying to find the invisible person's location.
However.
It was of no use.
The water droplets fell to the ground without outlining any human silhouette in mid-air.
"What are you doing?"
That unfamiliar voice rang out again.
This time, the tone was filled with genuine confusion.
"Talking to yourself and then cooling down your pier?"
The voice asked.
"Are you a madman?"
"Or are you performing some kind of bizarre ritual?"
Elias's hand holding the bucket froze in mid-air.
He felt like he was being mocked by a narcissist, but he had no evidence.
Fine, he was used to it...
"Look, do you actually want something or not?"
Finally, he couldn't hold it in anymore. With a clang, he dropped the bucket and simply stopped caring.
While grumbling, he walked straight toward the wooden cabin.
Were all the ghosts here just like Old Ed?
They just loved being riddlers and acting all mysterious.
Wait.
It seemed Old Ed was originally a ghost...
Never mind then, this was probably an occupational hazard.
Just as Elias was about to push open the cabin door, the voice finally stopped playing games.
"My name is John Baker."
The voice said, its tone becoming slightly more formal.
"As you can see—though you actually can't—my current state is rather special."
"I have a personal interest in the lighthouses of the Moon Bay area and was engaged in historical research of Moon Bay while I was alive."
"A historian?"
Elias stopped in his tracks and turned around toward the empty air.
"So you just wander around Moon Bay after you died?"
At this moment, Edmond couldn't help but speak up.
He seemed to have confirmed the other party's identity as a spiritual body and not some kind of invisible person.
"Whoa, what the hell?!"
The spiritual body calling itself John was greatly shocked.
"Who?!"
"Who's talking?!"
"Heh."
Elias found it amusing.
He crossed his arms, looking at the void with a face full of contempt.
"I thought you were some kind of big shot, but it turns out you're even afraid of your own peers?"
"Look at me, I'm not even afraid."
"A ghost afraid of a ghost; won't people laugh if word gets out?"
"No... is this place really that cursed?"
John clearly hadn't recovered yet, speaking incoherently.
"I clearly saw that there were no other spiritual bodies here besides you, a human!"
Immediately after, he seemed to realize something.
"Wait! This familiar feeling..."
"There's a follower of the Three-Phase Moon here?!"
John reacted quickly, his voice full of disbelief.
"The kid knows his stuff!"
Edmond commented in Elias's mind, his tone carrying a bit of praise.
"Is he also a transcendent?"
At the same time, Edmond explained to Elias privately:
"This guy used some method to turn into a spiritual body."
"As you know, my main body is within the special spirit world space of the bracelet."
"So, besides using spells to communicate with you, talking to anyone else requires me to perceive the surrounding spirit world creatures all over again."
Elias had an expression that said 'don't bother explaining, I get it, you're just weak'.
Old Ed thought to himself, 'You don't understand at all!'
"You gave me a heart attack!"
John on the other side was clearly still calming down.
"This tower is quite lively."
"Unlike the previous ones, which were dead silent."
John remarked with emotion.
"Several of the keepers have died; there wasn't even anyone to talk to."
Hearing this, Elias's heart stirred.
He recalled that map of Moon Bay in the basement.
"You said the keepers of the previous towers have all died?"
Elias asked with a frown.
"How many previous towers are there?"
"And how did they die?"
This was crucial intelligence for him.
After all, they were all security guards; the cause of death for the predecessor was often a minefield for the successor.
Old Ed definitely wanted to know too, otherwise he wouldn't have hidden in the basement to study the map of Moon Bay while he was alive.
"There are..."
John had just said one word when he suddenly stopped.
"You want to know?"
"How about you do me a favor?"
This familiar formula, this familiar scent.
Why did every ghost he met want to make a deal with him?
Could it be they also wanted him to help carry something?
Was he a courier?
"And now you're talking terms?"
Elias was extremely displeased.
"We have our own ways of figuring it out!"
"Right, Old Ed?"
"Actually, it seems there really is no way for now..."
"..."
Rate on N.U.
