Ch 288: Work Might Be Scarier Than Facing Your Fears
After a busy day, Bal and Phia finally quickly dealt with the work that had accumulated during their absence.
“You should be able to finish the rest yourselves, right?”
Bal looked at the stack of documents, which had been significantly reduced. He slumped into the chair and said so.
“What do you mean? Today was just a quick overview; tomorrow is the main event. Or do you have something else to do?”
Selena brought two cups of hot water to Bal and Phia. Bal held his water cup; he was already impatient with the current work.
“I’ve already dealt with the troublesome things; you guys can take your time with these simple ones. It’s still early in the month; there’s no rush to report.”
“You make a good point, but I still think these things need to go through your eyes, otherwise you might forget how to work. Unless you really have something to do, you should stay.”
Bal racked his brains but couldn’t think of anything he needed to do. He couldn’t say he needed to spend time with his daughter; he’d already had three days off at home, and his daughter had gone back to school. He couldn’t say he needed to attend classes; he’d already taken leave from school. After all, he was the Headmaster; he could take time off whenever he wanted. Selena looked at Bal like he was a child making excuses, and Bal’s head started to ache. He instinctively leaned back, losing his balance and falling to the floor with his chair.
“Ah, that hurts! I don’t think I can get up.”
Selena had a way to deal with someone who wouldn’t even bother to make up a good excuse.
“Oh? What’s wrong?”
Selena crouched beside Bal, feigning concern.
“Ah, my hand hurts! I think I twisted it. I can’t do paperwork for a while. What should I do?”
“Really? Let me see.”
Selena rolled up Bal’s sleeve. His arm only had a minor scrape. But seeing Bal’s lazy dog demeanor, Selena looked up at Phia.
“Oh, dear, that’s terrible! His skin is scraped. Miss Fei’er, could you please save this poor Guild Master?”
Selena emphasized Bal’s identity as Guild Master, and Phia understood.
“Sure, I’ll treat it.”
Phia took out her spear and pressed the tip against Bal’s arm. He broke out in a cold sweat.
“What are you doing? Don’t you have Healing Magic? Can’t you just heal it properly?”
“Page by page（no no no）, your arm is infected. I can only amputate it. Although I love you touching my head with that hand, for your life, I’ll have to sacrifice it.”
Phia was about to amputate Bal’s arm with the spear when Bal quickly rolled away.
“I suddenly feel better. I’m fine; I don’t need treatment.”
“That won’t do. This is a matter of life and death. If you fall, who will take over as Guild Master?”
Selena, quietly appearing behind Bal, grabbed his arm.
“No! I won’t pretend anymore! Stop joking around! Waaah!”
Bal’s tearful look amused Phia and Selena. Unfortunately, Ken was asked by Selena to go rest; otherwise, he would have certainly mocked Bal.
“Humph, such a petty trick.”
Phia retracted her spear, healed the scrape on Bal’s arm, and pushed him back into the chair.
“Be good. I’ll accompany you to work tomorrow.”
Bal was still unconvinced. He scratched his head, drank tea, and shook his head, as if searching for something. Then, with a casual glance, he really did find a breakthrough.
“Ah! I remember! Anda gave me a Commission Slip that’s about to expire. I have to finish this commission. What a pity, I won’t be here tomorrow. You guys do your best!”
Selena didn’t say anything. After all, she was present when Anda gave Bal the Commission Slip. Moreover, it was the Guild Master’s duty to handle expiring commissions for the Guild, so Selena didn’t mind. The most important point was that Selena couldn’t swallow her anger. She didn’t want to see her boss sleeping at home every day she came to work, even though this boss had saved the world twice. Now that Bal had something to do, she felt balanced.
Phia was interested to hear that there was a commission specifically for Bal.
“Let me see, let me see.”
Phia took the Commission Slip from Bal.
“Haunted House investigation? I remember you’re afraid of ghosts. Why did you take this investigation?”
“No choice. Expiring commission. I had no choice.”
“Speaking of which, I think I’ve heard rumors about that haunted house.”
Selena approached Phia and glanced at the location of the haunted house on the Commission Slip.
“I remember that it’s a very spooky haunted house. No one lives there, but there are always lights seen coming from the house at night. Some brave people investigated it and said they heard the whispers of ghosts. And, and…”
Bal became increasingly uneasy and quickly covered his ears to block out Selena’s words. Phia, however, became more and more interested and began to shake Bal’s arm, which was covering his ears.
“I think it’s interesting. Let’s go check it out tomorrow! Okay, okay?”
Bal wanted to refuse, but considering the alternative was going to work, he thought it better to investigate, and he nodded in agreement.
“Oh! Yay! Haunted house exploration! Haunted house exploration!”
Bal smiled contentedly watching Phia’s energetic excitement, if Selena wasn’t fanning the flames with her ominous presence.
“Oh, right. I wonder if you’ve carefully read this Commission Slip. It says that the house cannot be damaged. So, please be careful during your exploration…cough! I mean, investigation. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay a hefty compensation.”
“….I understand.”
Bal’s face fell. He had been planning to use physical means to exorcise the ghosts if the situation was bad, but it turned out to be an unbreakable scenario. His martial prowess was useless.
“Also…”
“Ah? So many requirements?”
“No, I meant to suggest that you follow the steps on this list to purchase equipment and operate. A friend of mine gave it to me. It is said to be very effective.”
“Let me see.”
————
List:
4 Candles
3 Bags of Salt
Several Fireflies
1 Ouija Board
1 Music Box
2 Thermometers
————
“So troublesome.”
“For your safety, you should still do as it says.”
“Alright, let’s buy them together when we go out tomorrow morning.”
