Chapter 127: The Ghost Postman Causing Trouble Again? Send Them to the Underworld!
"I can understand wanting revenge," Haruto began, squatting down to look at the two Ghost Postmen groveling on the floor. Their faces were masks of pure terror, a stark contrast to his own expression of utter bewilderment. "And I can barely understand you failing to recognize Reimu's strength last time."
He paused, letting the silence hang. "But this time, Ran personally went to fetch my delivery. Are you telling me you couldn't feel the surging youkai aura pouring off her? Did you somehow miss the nine brilliant tails fanning out behind her? And you still dared to rob her?"
Any normal minor youkai, let alone a major one, should have turned and fled the instant they saw a nine-tailed fox, even if they didn't recognize the legendary Yakumo Ran.
Standing quietly to the side, Ran looked slightly embarrassed. "To be safe, Young Master... I had transformed into your appearance at the time."
Ah. Well, that explained a few things.
Still, Haruto thought, these Ghost Postmen were truly courting death. Were they really so confident in their ability to win?
He had originally intended to just let them go, not wanting to bother with the hassle of escorting them to the Underworld. But since they insisted on delivering themselves to his doorstep, he certainly didn't mind making the trip.
Sensing the shift in Haruto's intentions, the first Ghost Postman was scared witless. He began kowtowing like a frantic woodpecker, his forehead thudding against the floorboards.
"My lord, have mercy! We were blind! We didn't have eyes to see Mount Tai!"
Haruto had no patience for the theatrics and cut straight to the point. "Where is the item I ordered? Don't tell me you failed to bring it this time, too."
"We brought it! We brought it!" the other ghost scrambled to pull a package from his mailbag, offering it up with trembling hands. "Look, it's perfectly intact!"
Haruto didn't take it. He simply stared at them, a clean, sunny smile spreading across his face. To the two ghosts, however, that smile was more terrifying than a death sentence from Yama himself.
Seeing this, the first ghost immediately threw his partner under the bus. "Please, my lord, judge fairly! It was all this fool's greed! He wanted to hold onto your goods to squeeze out some extra profit! I was threatened by him! I told him long ago that you were far too strong and that we couldn't possibly win!"
The betrayed Ghost Postman stared, dumbfounded. Before he could even muster a defense, he heard Haruto let out a light chuckle.
"It's fine," Haruto said breezily. "I've always been a generous person; I don't hold personal grudges. Everything will be handled officially."
Hearing this, the two Ghost Postmen breathed a collective sigh of relief. "Officially" was fine. At worst, they'd be fined some ghost coins, take a few lashes, and suffer some minor damage to their soul-bodies. They stole a glance at Yakumo Ran, who stood silently by Haruto's side. A lingering fear still coiled in their spectral guts; they'd never imagined a non-human being of such power—a nine-tailed fox, no less—could exist in this world.
Haruto, of course, had no idea what they were thinking. If he did, he would have only laughed. As a youkai who had long been educated by a Great Sage and subjected to various other forms of "instruction," how could he possibly possess such a saintly mindset?
Instead of rushing to escort these two to the Underworld, Haruto decided to use them to gather some information. Most of the ghosts he encountered in the Death Game instances were mindless, and the few who possessed any sanity were nearly impossible to communicate with. He was usually too busy completing tasks to learn much about the game's inner workings.
This was a perfect opportunity.
"Where does the Death Game come from?" Haruto asked, getting straight to it.
The two Ghost Postmen froze for a moment, then shook their heads in unison. "We... we don't know."
"Then what is its nature? Was it created by some specific organization?" Haruto's brow furrowed as he tossed out two more questions. Seeing them about to shake their heads again, he acted first, slamming his parasol down flat on the table.
Thump.
Instantly, the hideous, mismatched eyes covering the umbrella's surface all snapped open, staring out with a suffocating pressure that warped the very air in the room.
"Is it that you're unclear," Haruto's voice was dangerously soft, "that you can't say, or... that you simply don't want to say?"
Feeling the terrifying aura clinging to the parasol, the two ghosts' soul-bodies trembled violently. The moment those eyes fixed on them, it felt as if their very existence would dissipate in the next second.
"Mercy! We really don't know!"
"From the moment we gained consciousness, we've been delivering packages!" the other wailed. "We only know that there are fixed monthly quotas with random difficulty. If we don't meet the quota, we'll be punished... or even eaten!"
"But as long as we complete the orders, we can get ghost coins... and live on. We can even become stronger by using them..."
'So, they're just another form of "player,"' Haruto thought, his eyebrows rising slightly. He was still puzzled. "How hard can it be to just deliver packages to people?"
"It's not just people... there are other ghosts, and some... monsters."
Hearing this, Haruto finally began to understand. The two Ghost Postmen before him, though they were spectral beings, were more akin to human spirits with ghostly attributes. They were completely different from the mindless, crazed phantoms that populated the instances.
A theory began to form in his mind: perhaps the players who died "normally" in the Death Game didn't disappear completely. Instead, they might be transformed into beings like these Ghost Postmen, their memories wiped, forced to serve the system until they finally faded away for good.
In the end, it was no different from true death.
"Give me the item," Haruto said, holding out his hand.
The Ghost Postman hurriedly offered him the package. He opened it to find a single card inside, on which was drawn an eerie, beckoning hand.
"How do you use this thing?"
Both ghosts were stunned. The weaker one was the first to answer, his face a tearful mess. "W-we've never seen this before..."
The other hurriedly chimed in, "We're only responsible for delivery! We really don't know how to use it!"
Haruto had only asked casually, not really expecting them to know. He slipped the card into a Gap, his gaze falling back onto the two ghosts.
That simple look made them mistakenly believe their end was near. Their soul-bodies shook with fear as they frantically pulled out everything valuable they had. The more experienced one directly held out a thick stack of ghost money—it was clearly his entire fortune.
Haruto hadn't actually planned on making a profit. Since they were going to the Underworld, getting caught looting them would be a bad look.
Of course, there was no actual law in the Underworld stating he couldn't. As a member of the Yakumo household, he certainly wasn't afraid of any official repercussions. The only thing Haruto truly feared was Shikieiki finding out and coming to nag him.
After all, even someone as powerful and unruly as his sister, Yukari, would choose to take a detour when encountering Shikieiki. What hope did he, a mere newborn Boundary Youkai, have? He couldn't win a fight against her, and even if he could, her lectures were a weapon against which he had no defense.
"Let's go," he finally said. "We'll handle this by the book."
"Thank you, my lord!"
"Thank you for sparing our lives!"
The two ghosts were overjoyed. They had taken only a single step toward the door when Haruto's voice called them back.
"Where are you going?"
"Weren't... didn't you say we could go?" one asked, confused.
"I'm telling you to come with me."
Haruto glanced at them before turning to step into the Gap that Yakumo Ran had opened. He didn't head directly for the Sanzu River, however. His first stop was Hakugyokurou, where he picked up Youmu.
Although the two ghosts felt a deep unease, not knowing where they were being taken, they didn't dare ask any more questions and could only follow along, trembling. Their terror intensified as the girl named Youmu, now walking beside them, stared at them intently, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. It was clear she would strike them down if they made the slightest wrong move.
As soul-bodies, physical attacks like swords and blades shouldn't have posed any threat to them.
But their instincts screamed at them. This half-human, half-phantom girl protecting the young man didn't possess the overwhelming youkai aura of the nine-tailed fox, but something about her was infinitely more dangerous.
If they dared to run, if they dared to attack the young man...
They would die.
They would absolutely, irrevocably die.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me!
Want to read ahead on our official home, or unlock 50 advanced chapters (plus an Ad-Free experience) to feed your addiction? Help keep this shameless translator alive here:
(P.S. Replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
🌐 Official Website: elysianreads[.]com
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters & Ad-Free): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]