"Are we really solving a case like this?" Where are the enemies? Who did my hammer fall on? Why is everything so boring!?" she complained, stamping her feet and making the floor creak.
"Stop doing that! Can't you see this house is old?" Séraphine warned, noticing the cracks forming in the wooden floor and the increasingly loud creaking.
After spending some time at Séraphine's agency, the group decided to go to the location of the case they had to resolve. After all, it was only natural for a witch who was also a detective.
"Ghosts! We're dealing with ghosts! Exorcising a ghost is so boring!" the blonde continued, complaining loudly. Francisca hit her on the back of the head, silencing the warrior.
"Finally, you shut up," said the redhead before rubbing her temples. Élodie's outburst, echoing in the abandoned house, had given her a headache.
"You didn't have to hit me..." Élodie muttered, her head down as she rubbed the spot where she had been hit.
"You shouldn't have done that! You made me fall!" Sasha growled. She had previously been sitting on Élodie's head and was now floating calmly in the air without going to sit on another girl.
"Even though I hate ghosts, solving cases involving them brings in a lot of money, and I love money," Séraphine replied to Élodie's complaints, making her pout.
"It always takes a lot of energy to hurt them, and the only method of exorcism I'm good at is physical. Rituals, although anyone can perform them, are a bit worrying because of their randomness," she muttered, head down. Then she realized her three companions were looking at her.
"Élodie, do you know how to perform rituals?" Sasha asked, echoing the thoughts of the witch and the question.
"I lack key knowledge, which doesn't mean I don't know anything. I decided to learn about rituals on my own in the army, and most of the time they have been useful to me," the blonde replied simply, as if the subject were of little importance to her.
"You're a ritualist! I've only mastered a few because my curse causes annoying things to happen and ruins most of the rituals I perform," said Séraphine with a hint of envy in her voice. A thought crossed her mind.
"When I overcome my curse, I will explore rituals and do my best to master them," the witch promised herself. She felt optimistic about the future after being free of her curse.
Explaining this matter to Élodie made her feel relaxed in a way she hadn't in a long time. She usually avoided discussing her curse, not daring to imagine life beyond it. She just endured, waiting for the seven years to pass.
But now, she was planning her future course of action! However, she had to put those thoughts aside. She focused on the present because she needed to earn money by solving cases like the one she was currently working on.
"As an alchemist, I had to perform the rituals whether I liked it or not. But perhaps because I disliked them, they hardly ever worked for me, even when I did them perfectly," Francisca added, sharing information about her own situation, which made Élodie laugh.
"HAHAHA! Rituals are that special! You should know that, right? A ritual is practically direct communication with nature itself, no matter what kind of nature it is.
I don't really understand the world Séraphine spoke of, but I'm sure there are rituals related to it. Nature has no mind, but it does have instinct, so mentality and emotions greatly affect the ritual process.
You're right. Your dislike caused the ritual to fail," said Élodie, explaining her understanding of ritualism, a purely metaphysical subject. This greatly displeased Francisca, who crossed her arms and refused to continue the conversation.
"Fairies cannot perform rituals of a very dark or negative nature. Otherwise, we are perfectly fine. We rarely have any problems." Sensing the alchemist's bad mood, Sasha decided to join the conversation, which excited the redhead.
"You have to come to my workshop and help me! There are many ideas I've always wanted to carry out, but because of the less scientific aspects of alchemy, I haven't been able to do so."
Francisca asked excitedly and got quite close to the fairy. This caused Sasha to touch her chin before nodding.
"As long as you give me the remuneration I deserve, I'm fine with it," the fairy agreed. Francisca extended her hands and gently caught Sasha, bringing her up to her head and letting her rest there.
"Then let's work as a team to deal with the group of ghosts that has made this place its home." After seeing that things were clear, Séraphine declared the start of their mission. Coincidence or not, a strange wind blew through the room, causing the four of them to shiver a little.
"It seems those things don't like our intrusion," joked Élodie, gripping her hammer tightly because she didn't feel comfortable in a house inhabited by ghosts.
"They don't rest in peace, and most of the time, they don't want to be disturbed. We're practically barging into their territory. But legally, this isn't their home, right?" Francisca asked aloud, knowing the ghosts were listening and would react accordingly.
Sure enough, before the redhead could finish her sentence, a cracked vase floated up and shot toward her. Élodie intercepted it in midair and smashed it with a kick. However, it was clear that this would not be the only attempt by these beings to harm them.
"Stop provoking them like that! Get ready. I'll make them appear completely... I'm going to hate this," Séraphine declared before bringing her palms together. This allowed her to channel hot aether through her body and unleash a special spell.
This served to calm the aggrieved souls, commonly known as ghosts, and even affected resentful ghosts, an evolution of this particular type of being. She was accustomed to this spell due to her line of work. She had dealt with many ghosts since arriving in Blume.
Previously, she had to be cautious when performing it because mistakes could result in terrible consequences, including physical and mental damage. It turned her into a magnet for spectral entities for a while. Séraphine experienced this firsthand when she used it for the first time on one of her early jobs.
Needless to say, the witch didn't enjoy waking up next to a ghost who constantly watched her. But now, with companions, she didn't have to do all the work. That's what rituals were for!
As the boiling blue energy covered Séraphine's body and beads of sweat spilled down her forehead, Élodie and Francisca began creating a ritual circle on the ground using Sasha's fairy dust.
"This ritual is simple to create but difficult to execute because ghosts act on pure instinct. This ritual gives them a little lucidity.
Only when they are aware of their state can we act. We can either talk to them or directly exorcise them. For the latter, we must spill a few drops of blood for the ritual to work.
"Of course, Mother Light's power is perfect for dispatching them, but we can't always count on a nun. So, unless you want to resort to violence, we have to prick our fingers." Élodie began chatting with Francisca as she drew on the floor.
"What if it's resentment?" asked Francisca, intrigued by the topic because it was well known that methods used for normal ghosts hardly worked on their more powerful counterparts.
"It calms them down! These beings are intelligent and capable of causing a lot of damage, but they're overwhelmed by negative emotions. This is like a sedative for them.
It doesn't weaken them. It just stops them from trying to steal your body heat, throw you into the air, or suck the life out of you," replied Élodie, standing up with a hand on her hip. She was happy with the result she had achieved.
"Hey, Séraphine, how are you doing?" When Séraphine looked up, she didn't expect to see the witch surrounded by a dozen translucent beings floating several inches in the air.
The temperature in the room dropped at an alarming rate. This was not the coldness brought on by corrosive spiritual energy, but a real phenomenon because ghosts absorb heat from the environment.
The humidity condensed into frost. Séraphine, covered in aether, did not feel the cold, yet she shivered nonetheless. Although she was a brave woman, being surrounded by potentially aggressive entities made her feel uncomfortable.
Fortunately, the fluctuations in her spell had calmed these spectral beings. They all stared at the witch with their empty, lifeless eyes as if appreciating something.
"Yes... You know, my aether is running low. Can you start the ritual?" she asked, her lips chapped from the continuous use of her energy. Her vision had become blurry, and her head was throbbing.
"Go ahead. You're the expert," said Francisca, stepping aside. However, she held a vial of black, bubbling liquid in her hand, her own countermeasure in case something went wrong.
"Okay," said Élodie. She bit her thumb, but showed no sign of pain. Blood dripped from her fingertip onto the floor, right in the center of the ritual circle. The circle emitted a golden glow and released a pulse that affected the surrounding ghosts.
Something that could be called "the spark of consciousness" appeared in the holes that these beings had for eyes. Each one trembled as if suddenly adapting to its state.
"So... am I sleeping like Dad that day?" asked the ghost of a little girl in a pink dress whose face was covered in horrifying blue veins.
"Yes, little one. It's time for you to reunite with Dad, don't you think?" Séraphine, who had stopped casting magic, endured the headache she was experiencing as she crouched down in front of the young ghost.
At that moment, her hand turned blue. Enduring the uncomfortable heat, she brought her hand toward the girl's head. It was a spell she had created while exploring and researching the Immaterial; it allowed her to touch things that normally could not be touched.
She stroked the ghost's hair, and the ghost closed her eyes, feeling comforted. Any negative emotions she might have had due to her condition seemed to disappear with that touch.
"It's okay. But you know, you have something black on your body, and your eyes shine like fireflies. You're funny," said the girl, smiling, before beginning to emit particles of light. Her body completely disintegrated, leaving only white dust on the wooden floor.
Séraphine usually avoided getting emotionally involved in her work, but the ghost's words touched her deeply this time. She smiled as she ran her hands over her face, wiping the raindrops that had seeped through the roof of the dilapidated house from her cheeks.
"Perhaps, like her, you should move on, don't you think?" Élodie seized the moment and approached the witch, placing her hand on her shoulder. She turned her attention to the group of ghosts who had been silently observing the brunette.
Each spectral entity began to glow, just like the ghost girl. However, before fading away completely, each one opened its mouth with difficulty and let out a single word.
"Thank you."
𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝
Since their first mission as an adventure group went so well, the four girls wanted to do more together. So, for two whole weeks, they took the time to carry out missions every three days.
Perhaps because winter was approaching and causing some dangerous people to calm down, there were no major cases like those of Howard Stone or Miriam. However, that did not mean the other events were not dangerous or problematic.
One of the cases they had to solve was a classic: finding evidence of infidelity. This time, a man suspected that his wife was cheating on him and plotting to kill him.
Séraphine initially accepted the case only for the large sum of money, but Élodie threw herself into it, feeling sorry for the man. It soon became clear that the client was half right, but that's where the case became complicated.
It was the client who intended to kill his partner! Yes, his wife was unfaithful, but apart from this reprehensible behavior, which had legal implications, she did not deserve to die, much less at the hands of her husband.
The client ended up in jail. Luckily for Séraphine, though, she was able to get paid. If there was one thing the witch was sure of, it was that she always had to get paid.
Currently, the quartet is dealing with their most recent case, working directly with the city police. Élodie is acting as the liaison for a jewelry theft case.
The jewelry was extremely expensive, causing a huge stir in Blume when the theft occurred. Part of the story that became known was so incredible that some film producers are planning to turn it into a movie.
The only known detail is that the alleged employee was one of the criminals in disguise. They knocked the woman out in her home, imitated her in great detail, and gained access to the contents of the security vault.
They had most likely been monitoring her constantly. One of the criminals may have even approached the employee as a friend or lover to gather information about her and the auction house.
But we don't need her to wake up. We can solve this ourselves, right?" Séraphine asked her companions after recounting what had happened. They were riding in the car driven by Francisca, and as always, Séraphine had her feet up on the dashboard.