Chapter 15: Handling Ghouls

“Well then, according to the regulations for managing special ghost species, from this day forth, Alice will be under my supervision.” Dante concluded the discussions with Maern and the others like he was delivering a closing statement.

“But, I never expected that Little Alice could actually transform into a special ghoul!”

“Kaiding, you’ve been teasing Alice-chan for months now, you’re quite the brave one.”

“Even Reim just now was trembling in fear.”

“Your turn to speak now, Kus.”

“By the way, isn’t Alice supposed to change back to her original form?” Reim, standing at a distance, asked me with a quiver in his voice.

Indeed, once I showed my ghoul form in front of them, our relationship would never return to what it was before. Although the hunters tried to maintain a calm façade while speaking to me, aside from Maern, fear and hostility were evident in the eyes of the other three.

“You look cooler this way,” Yulia said, sticking close to me and signaling to the hunters that I wasn’t dangerous at all.

“It’s hard to revert back to human form immediately after transforming like this,” I explained.

“Let’s keep you in ghoul form for today. I’ll need your help with something later,” Dante said.

“No way, I feel awful like this.”

“Is that so?” Dante said, lifting me into the air with a look of curiosity, “Speaking of which, I’ve never seen red tear marks like yours. And with that silver hair, your sister must not have noticed she succeeded—could it be that you’re actually that guy’s child?”

“Dante, you monster, don’t try to claim kinship with Little Alice.” Yulia jumped up and grabbed me.

“Aren’t you also not human yourself, Dante?”

“Didn’t I introduce myself earlier? Now, can I take off your clothes? I want to thoroughly study your ghoul form.”

Dante began to tug at my outer coat.

“Stop! Let go of me!”

Just as my dignity was hanging by a thread, I managed to revert back to my original form, and Dante, sensing the right moment, let me go.

The outcome of Dante’s negotiation with Reim and the others meant that I—being a special type of ghoul—had to live under Dante’s supervision, while the newly discovered ghouls were a brand new subspecies never seen before, and their bodies had to be handed over to the military for disposal. However, it seemed Dante had just wiped out a large army of ghouls along the way, and the materials from that were to be split between Maern and him.

Then, Dante had Yulia help pass a message to Vice Commander Feng using a magic item, telling him he would be late and that he had captured a fourth class ghost, among other chaotic matters.

Thus, we followed Dante, who was dragging two enormous corpses, to what he called the ghoul graveyard.

“I’m so tired. Little Alice, hurry up and transform to help me out,” Dante complained as he hauled the bodies alone.

It seemed Dante’s real intention in keeping me in ghoul form was mostly to make me do the labor and help him transport these newly discovered ghoul subspecies’ bodies.

Fortunately, I successfully transformed back to my normal state in the end, so now I could legitimately refuse him.

“No, the corpses are too heavy. I, being weak, can’t possibly move them. And stay away from me and Yulia, you smell terrible.”

Thus, in a small clearing in our forest lay over a hundred dead ghouls. The hunters pulled out their tools and began to work.

We set up temporary camp beside the grave, and it took Maern and the others three days to load the most valuable materials into the cart.

During these three days, I recounted everything I remembered about my birth as per Dante’s request.

According to Dante’s reasoning, I should be a hybrid of a commoner or vampire and a ghoul, similar to the two bodies we found later—the red one that could breathe fire being a hybrid of a fire ash giant bear and a ghoul, while the black one should be a cross between the horned giant beast from deeper in Silya Forest and a ghoul.

“So, what should we do with the remaining corpses?”

“Leave them here. If we mistakenly trigger an undead tribe to appear, we’ll be in big trouble.”

“Alice, how about you turn into a ghoul and eat all of these?”

“Don’t joke around, Mr. Dante.”

“I’m being serious!”

Dante said as he lunged forward with a dagger aimed at my chest, and there was no way to evade it. It’s true—Dante was the type who would bully you to death if you didn’t bully him first.

I understood Dante’s point and entered a frenzy-ghoul transformation through sheer pain.

“If you stab me with a dagger like this again, I’ll definitely fight back. So what do you want me to do?” I muttered and silently shifted into ghoul form, unhappily pulling the dagger out.

“Burn them all, just like you roasted that red-skinned ghoul a few days ago.”

“I don’t have that much magic power.”

“It’s enough once you’re a ghoul.”

“Then why don’t you do it yourself?”

“Because I’m clueless about magic, so I have to trouble you. And Yulia, help me construct a large enough barrier to cover the entire grave.”

“I need a reward for this. I want a sword when I go back.” Yulia immediately entered bargaining mode.

“Deal! Now hurry up. Make sure the barrier seals everything inside. Is the magic power sufficient?”

“Just barely, I think.”

So, with almost all of my magic power drained to the brink, I unleashed deep red flames through the Fire Stone, engulfing the entire grave as if hell itself had descended. Meanwhile, Yulia strained with all her might to keep the flames confined within the ghoul grave.

The four hunters behind us could do nothing but stare at the combined magic display of me and Yulia.

“Where on earth did you monsters come from?”

“We’re the monsters you picked up!” I puffed out my cheeks.

“Alice, with that look, you’re still not cute at all,” Dante chuckled bitterly.

Ah, I slipped back into my usual attitude with Reim and the others, forgetting that at this moment, I was a legitimate monster!

Half an hour later, my magic power was drained, and I collapsed dizzily to the ground, while Yulia was nearing her limit as well. Seizing the perfect moment, just before the flames extinguished, Dante dashed in and emerged with a pencil-sized silverish metal.

“As expected, we hit the jackpot this time!” Dante emerged from the fading flames, his eyes nearly turning into dollar signs, grinning widely.

“What is that thing?” Yulia, curious, ran over trying to snatch it to play.

But weakened from using her magic, Yulia was no match for Dante, who easily brushed her off.

“Keep your distance. In any case, this is valuable material that can be sold,” Dante impatiently waved Yulia away, being cryptic in his explanation.

Meanwhile, I had reverted back to human form, lying on the ground, watching the Fire Stone in my hand crack from the previous spell, utterly exhausted from burning too much magic while in ghoul form. I didn’t want to move a muscle.

“I’m so tired, Mr. Dante. Be responsible and carry me back.” Now the hunters were unwilling to come near me, so I had to appeal to Dante with a pout.

“Alright, let’s finish packing up and head back.”

Maern seemed like he wanted to come over and help me, but ultimately chose to ignore me, glancing at the cart with satisfaction as he declared our return.

“No, it looks like we need to wait a bit longer. For some reason, your old friend, Vice Commander Feng, seems to be heading this way,” Dante scratched his head in confusion, sounding silly.

Then, from a distance, the sound of galloping hooves approached as a cavalry unit of nearly a hundred suddenly surrounded us on horseback.

“Lord Dante, I’ve arrived to assist you in dealing with the fourth-class ghost. Thank you for sending out such a strong signal with your fire earlier, allowing us to pinpoint your location immediately.”

The commander leading the cavalry stepped forward from the surrounding soldiers and respectfully addressed Dante.