CH 4

Paul, dressed in white pyjamas, stood at the boss’s door, holding his pillow for a while. He hesitated, hands trembling as he questioned whether he should knock or not.

‘Phew…’ Paul let out a long sigh. 

Since that day, his relationship with the boss had become noticeably awkward. But right now, Paul was much more afraid of ‘it’ in the basement than of the awkward situation with the boss. 

Just as Paul made up his mind to knock on the boss’s door, the boss’s low voice came from inside. “Come in.”

He had been aware of Paul’s presence from the beginning but was quietly observing Paul’s actions. Paul opened the door and peeked in.

“Why?” The boss, who was sitting in a chair and writing something in his notebook, raised his head and asked Paul. He was also wearing black silk pyjamas as if he was ready for bed.

“I’m sorry, boss…” Paul said with his eyes closed. “Can we sleep together for just one night?”

“What?” There was confusion in the boss’s voice. Paul began to make excuses that were, in reality, not excuses for him.

“Do you remember the story we heard today? I think ‘it’s’ in my room right now!”

Paul had already entered the boss’s room, still holding his pillow tightly. He looked as if he could go into tears at any moment.

“What story?”

“The, the haunted book!”

Let’s go back to the evening of the same day.

Paul had been trying not to bump into the boss all day. To be precise, they were both avoiding each other. Paul kept his distance from the boss on purpose, and the boss didn’t approach him either. However, as they worked at the same workplace, there were times when they had to talk about work. During those times, there was an awkward air between the two that almost made it hard to breathe.

‘What’s that?’

Paul was just sorting out the bestsellers before closing the bookshop when he saw a strange creature.

The demon talking to the boss was very small in stature. If the cat Lego walked on two legs, it would be about the same size. At first glance, it looked like a human, but it had pink skin and squinty eyes, with ears and a nose that sharply stuck out. In addition, it was wearing a weird colourful cone hat that one usually wouldn’t wear.

‘Really weird-looking.’

Paul watched the two demons talking with a curious expression. The little demon sometimes chuckled by himself as if it was telling an amusing story. It wasn’t a very pleasant laugh to hear.

How much time had passed since then? Just as Paul had finished organising, the demon left the bookstore. When the demon passed by, Paul almost tripped over his feet, but he innocently thought that he had stumbled on his own.

Finally, unable to resist his curiosity, Paul asked, “Boss, what was that just now?”

“An imp.”

“Imp?”

“It’s similar to a fairy.”

That was a fairy? The type of fairies that Paul knew and the one the boss knew seemed to have different meanings. After all, wasn’t a fairy supposed to have a lovely and mysterious image?

“The imp told me an interesting story.”

“What was it?”

Before they knew it, they forgot to avoid each other and were having a conversation as usual.

“Lately, the story about ‘The Haunted Book’ is becoming popular in Moires.”

“Oh, come on, boss. Where are such things as ghosts in the world?”

Paul, who was easily scared, was frightened from just hearing the word ghost, but he tried to act normal.

“They say that the letters in the book appear and disappear.”

“The… letters?”

The boss nodded his head. Paul didn’t realise, but his voice was trembling. 

The boss secretly enjoyed Paul’s reaction and said, “But it’s just a strange book if that’s the case. The important thing is …”

“The important thing is…?”

‘Gulp,’ Paul swallowed his saliva. 

The boss deliberately paused before saying, “They say that whoever reads the book will eventually be haunted by ghosts and end up going insane!”

“Aaaah!”

At that moment, the lights in the bookshop went out. Startled, Paul screamed and grabbed onto the boss’s clothes. He soon realised the boss had used magic to prank him, and quickly released his collar.

“…”

The lights returned to normal, but the boss didn’t say anything. After a heavy silence, the boss finally got up and left just like last time. 

As he walked towards the second floor, he spoke to Paul, “Finish up well.”

“Yes.”

It had already been two weeks since Paul arrived in the demon world. He was relieved that today also went by without a hitch. The cash register was already closed, so he planned to lock the entrance.

‘Ding-dong’

At that moment, the bell hanging on the bookshop’s door rang. Paul looked towards the door, but no demons came inside even after a while.

What was going on? Paul felt something strange and walked towards the door. He thought that perhaps someone couldn’t open the door, so he opened it for them. However, there wasn’t even an ant outside, let alone the shadow of a demon. Instead, a book was lying outside the entrance, illuminated by the moonlight. He carefully picked up the book, and the title was written in demon language.

Remembering the story the boss had shared with him earlier, Paul felt a bit uneasy. However, no matter how much he looked at it, this book seemed like an ordinary book. The hardcover and the contents were all normal. Furthermore, unlike what the boss had said, the writing didn’t suddenly disappear.

‘I should show it to the boss tomorrow.’

After locking the door, Paul carried the book and went down to the basement room.

Upon arriving in the basement, Paul changed into comfortable pyjamas and lay down on the bed. He had originally intended to fall asleep soon, but the book he had brought in earlier came to his mind. What was this anxiety that suddenly welled up? Paul took out the book with a trembling heart and opened it again.

“Ahh!”

Paul immediately screamed and threw the book away. The words in the book had completely disappeared like a persimmon! Unlike when he first opened it, the book was completely blank with nothing written on it.

Terrified, Paul hurriedly grabbed his pillow and ran upstairs to the second floor where the boss was without looking back. He paused when he was about to knock on the door, but soon made up his mind. Rather than going crazy because of the haunted book, it might be better to face the boss. This was the situation just a while ago.

“Do as you please.”

“Thank you! I’ll just sleep on the sofa, so please don’t mind me.”

Paul quickly lay down on the boss’s sofa. A large blanket floated towards him. The boss had sent it flying with his magic. Paul smiled lightly and covered himself with the blanket, feeling relieved as he sensed the familiar presence next to him.

‘Scribble, scribble’

The boss started to continue his work again. Paul fell asleep listening to the regular sound of the fountain pen on the paper.

The next morning, Paul got up from the boss’s large and fluffy bed. He felt confused as he had seen the same bed before, and he groped his body in confusion. Fortunately, he was wearing his pyjamas properly, and there was no significant change in his body. Looking around, the boss was sleeping on the sofa where Paul had been lying the previous day. On his footrest, the silly cat Lego was lying down and sleeping.

Should he move the boss to the bed? But Paul thought he might wake him up unnecessarily, so he just covered him with a blanket and moved carefully.

Paul came down to the bookstore and prepared to open as usual. He cleaned the floor and dusted every corner without looking towards the basement. As Paul put the cleaning tools back in their place, the boss walked down from the second floor. Seeing him stretch as if he had a body ache, Paul spoke first for the first time in a while.

“Why did you sleep on the sofa, boss?”

“You fell from it while asleep so I switched with you.”

“Oh… I see. Thank you, boss.”

Paul, who had a good sleeping habit, had no memory of falling in his sleep, but he accepted the explanation.

“So, where is that book now?”

In response to the boss’s question, Paul quickly pointed towards the basement. He had been waiting for the boss to handle the book quickly. Unlike the frightened Paul, the boss went down to the basement with an unexcited look.

“There’s no content at all. I can’t feel any magic either.”

The boss said as he brought the book from the basement. Still scared, Paul kept his distance from the boss and stared at the book. After listening to him, the book really looked like an ordinary hardcover notebook again.

“Did I see it wrong?”

Paul tried to recall, but he clearly remembered that the book was full of writing when he first opened it, although he couldn’t understand the contents since it was written in demon language.

To reassure Paul, the boss tried to put his hand on his shoulder as usual, but stopped in the middle of it and withdrew his hand before speaking.

“It might be so. Tell me about yesterday in detail.”

“When you went upstairs, I intended to lock the door. Then suddenly, the bell rang so I looked and saw that no one was there. When I opened the door, the book was dropped in front of the door.”

“After that?”

“At that time, it looked like an ordinary demon book, so I picked it to show it to you. I didn’t think much of it and brought it to this room. But something felt strange, so I opened the book again. That was when all the writing inside disappeared!”

“I see. How was it before that?”

“As you know, we were having a conversation before that. You told me about what you heard from the imp.”

The boss put his fingers to his sleek chin, a habit that was unique to him when he was deep in thought.

“Imp, that’s right.”

“Do you have something in mind?”

“‘Did the moon rise last night?”

Paul was puzzled by the boss’s sudden question, but he knew better than anyone that the boss never asked a meaningless question.

“Yes. I think it was probably a full moon. But why do you ask?” 

“I’ll show you something interesting,” the boss’s lips slightly tilted up in a smile.

“What’s interesting?”

“Paul.”

“When are you going to show it to me?”

“Wait.”

Paul followed the boss all day, his voice full of curiosity, but the boss put the book in a high drawer and didn’t take it out. To Paul, it felt like the boss was like a dog trainer who was holding up their hand and repeatedly saying “wait”.

Paul was frustrated by the boss’s lukewarm response. However, the fact that the book was in the boss’s hands was a relief to him. Based on what he had observed so far, the boss was strong enough to catch ghosts with his bare hands. If it was him, he wouldn’t be possessed by any ghosts. Rather, the ghosts might fall in love with his handsome face instead.

Paul decided to wait as the boss said. But the bookstore in the morning was so quiet that time didn’t fly fast enough. So Paul decided to organise the books at this time. While going through to check if there were damaged books, he came across a strange demon book.

‘Who scribbled on the new book?’

At first, Paul thought it was a scribble, but upon closer inspection, he realised that the drawings were printed on paper.

“Look at this, boss!”

Paul flipped through the pages in front of the boss. Suddenly, the little painting in the bottom right corner came to life and started to move. Paul went back to the beginning of the book and turned the pages slowly this time. The drawings were actually individual pages, but they moved a little each time he flipped through the book. It looked like a cat playing with a ball of yarn.

“It looks like Lego.”

“I’ve never seen such a cute book before.”

Paul, who loved cats, smiled. Although the boss seemed indifferent as usual, he secretly agreed with his statement.

‘Meow’

Lego appeared from somewhere and meowed as if it knew they were talking about it. The awkward atmosphere in the bookshop was gradually melting away.

Thus, a tiring day passed. Paul seemed to have raised a bad flag when he thought, ‘I’m a little free today.‘ As soon as he had that thought, customers started pouring into the bookshop and it became bustling. Without any time to take a break, Paul worked at the cash register until closing time, after which he collapsed on the counter, completely exhausted. He vowed he would never think like that ever again.

Then Paul finally realized that it was time. The boss finally took out the book.

“Paul, come here.”

The boss opened the bookshop door wide and called out Paul’s name while leaning by the door. Forgetting his fatigue, Paul rushed over to him.

There was no one on the streets of Moires at night. Only the light from the bookshop spread out into the darkness.

“A… Achoo!”

The night air in late spring was colder than he expected. As Paul, who had taken off his apron and was wearing only a shirt, sneezed, the boss quietly covered him with his black coat. Although it was dragging on the ground because it was much longer than Paul’s height, he didn’t seem to mind. Paul smelled a faint scent of soap coming from his coat.

“Now open the book again.”

The boss handed Paul the book in question. Upon hearing his words, Paul became frightened. Standing in the same place, the events of last night came vividly to his mind. However, Paul cautiously opened the book because he trusted the boss more than anyone else.

“!!”

Paul nearly dropped the book he was holding. It was filled with dense writing, just like when he first opened it yesterday.

“What, what is this?”

Paul looked at the boss in surprise.

“The true identity of the haunted book.”

“Is it really haunted?’ Am I really going crazy now?”

The boss spoke quickly as he looked at Paul’s teary eyes.

“No. It was the work of the imp.”

“The imp? The one with the pointed hat who came yesterday?”

The boss nodded slowly.

“Imps are mischievous demons. They must have been spreading rumours themselves.”

“But how is this possible?”

“They used special ink.”

“Special ink? Oh, wait a minute. Let me try to guess!”

Paul, who loved mystery novels, took off his glasses and squinted as he pondered the identity of the special ink. Since it was blank when the boss opened it, it wasn’t a change due to species. It didn’t seem like a change due to a simple temperature difference or the number of people.

“Does it look different when looking outside and inside the building?”

“It’s similar.”

“In addition, time also seems important since the boss told me to wait…”

At that moment, clouds passed in front of the moon, covering it. The boss’s black hair and pupils were dyed even darker than the hazy night. Paul casually looked at the book in his hand. However, the letters that had been there just a while ago disappeared again without a trace.

“Moonlight… It’s only visible under the moonlight!”

“Correct.”

Paul became excited and his voice grew louder without him realizing it.

“So that’s why you asked if the moon had risen yesterday.”

Paul opened the book under the moonlight. Certainly, the letters were revealed and disappeared depending on the presence of the moonlight.

“Boss, what is this book about?”

When Paul asked, the boss briefly scanned the contents written in the demon language.

“It’s probably better if you don’t know.”

It wasn’t something that Paul, who was easily scared, would like. The book contained the tales of the demon world that were woven together to form a gloomy story.

At that moment, they heard a faint chuckling sound coming from somewhere. It was a brief moment, but it wasn’t something the boss would miss. As the boss gestured quietly, some creatures were led out of the corner by the boss’s black magic. They were imps wearing funny pointed hats who were laughing while being forced to come out. It was the same gruesome laugh Paul had heard yesterday.

But their laughter didn’t last long either. They were caught by the boss and severely scolded. The imps had to kneel in front of the bookshop for a long time, hands raised high like students who were brought to the principal’s office. The short demons sat down one after another, making them look like elementary school students receiving punishment.

“Wouldn’t this be enough for them to reflect, boss?”

When Paul saw the imps whining, his heart became weak and stopped the boss. As such, he stopped the punishment and said something in demon language. The imps nodded vigorously in response and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

“Ah, they left the book behind!”

Upon hearing Paul’s words, the boss picked up the book in question and quickly infused it with magic before sending it flying away.

‘Bang!’

It seemed to hit the mark precisely even in the darkness. The imp that received the blow from the book screamed. As they disappeared, the streets of Moires became quiet as a mouse. 

Paul asked in a soft voice, “What did you say to the imps, boss?”

“I told them not to pull a prank like this again. Also, to change the rumours.”

To be exact, he ordered, ‘Don’t ever play a prank on my possession again’.

“Will they listen to you?”

“Well, they can’t just ignore a Fomor’s words.”

But contrary to their expectations, the imps that had fled from Moires, began to giggle again as if to ask when have they ever listened. There was also an imp rolling on the ground laughing.

“Did you see the startled look on that human’s face?” the imp wearing a pink pointed hat said. He was the alley leader of the imps.

“I saw it too. It was so funny that I thought I was going to die watching it jump like a rabbit with its ears pulled!”

“Kkk! I’ve never seen a race as naive as humans!”

The imp that was hit in the head with the book and had a bump couldn’t help but talk excitedly. However, their laughter, which seemed to go on forever, gradually subsided as time passed.

“By the way, who is the owner of this book?”

The imp leader held up the book returned from the boss, but no imps stepped forward.

“It’s okay, just tell me. Who did such a daring thing? It’s amazing to think about playing a prank on the Fomor’s human!”

For a long time, the imps were just staring at each other.

“Wasn’t it you?” the imp leader asked the imp with a bump on his head, but he quickly shook his head.

“I also heard from someone that there would be something interesting going on at that bookshop, so I just went there.”

“Who was that someone?”

“…Who was it?”

“Then nobody put it here? You’re saying that this book is really haunted?”

***

The rumour about the book changed in a flash after the boss intervened. The book was no longer a scary thing but had transformed into a very romantic object. Paul didn’t know the details, but it seemed to change into ‘a romance novel that could only be seen under the moonlight.’ Thanks to this, more and more demons came to the bookshop to look for romance novels.

“Boss, how do you make that kind of ink?”

“It’s alchemy ink.”

“Is alchemy different from magic?”

“If magic is a formless energy, then alchemy is  a compilation of science and technology.”

Yes, the boss had not sensed any particular magic from the book.

“I see. I thought that alchemy was only a myth. Oh, and about the rumour, how did you come up with such an idea?”

Paul asked, looking at the boss, but he seemed unwilling to answer the question. So Paul felt a bit awkward and decided to finish his studying.

“…I have enemies, you see.”

“Pardon?”

Paul looked up at him with widened eyes. He couldn’t quite hear it properly because the boss’s voice was hoarse, unfamiliar to him. Paul was speechless for some reason. As he looked at Paul, the boss patted him on the shoulder. His hand was clumsy yet affectionate like usual. The awkwardness between the two was completely gone after the ‘haunted book’ incident.

“By the way, Paul.”

“Yes?”

“The demon language, I can also teach you.”

“That’s all right, boss. I already have a great teacher!”

Upon hearing the boss’s words, Paul, who was studying demon language, hurriedly waved his hand. He was taking advantage of the moment when there were no customers, diligently writing down the demon language in his notebook. He had long memorized the greeting phrases in demon language that could be used in the bookshop and was now studying the basic characters.

“Then, boss, can you check this for me? Is this how it’s written?”

“Show it to me.”

‘Ding-dong’

Speak of the devil. Just as Paul was about to show his notebook to the boss, Pablo entered the bookstore.

“Teeter-nim, boss. How are you? I brought the book you ordered today.”

“Pablo-nim ยินดีต้อนรับ! Welcome!”

“Teeter-nim, that’s a perfect greeting.”

“ขอบคุณ! Thank you. This is all thanks to a great teacher.”

Paul said with a smile at Pablo’s praise. It had already been a week since Paul started learning the demon language from Pablo. Pablo gave Paul a simple lesson every time he brought the books to the bookshop.

“Pablo, please look at my notebook. I did my homework perfectly today.”

“Haha. Well done, Teeter-nim.”

Paul held a notebook, tightly filled with demon language as he practised. He forgot what he was going to ask the boss and ran to Pablo.

‘If you had learned from the boss, he wouldn’t have praised me as Pablo did, would he? I’m sure he would only have pointed out the mistakes with a stern face while saying something like: Paul, again, Paul, that’s not it.’

Paul felt happy because it had been a long time since he had been praised by someone. Even when he used the heirloom to get books at Kshatrit, customers usually marvelled and said that it was amazing, but they didn’t compliment Paul for doing well. His parents suddenly disappeared one day, so Paul was thirsty for praise.

“Boss! Since Pablo-nim is here, may I study demon language for a moment?”

“Sure.”

As soon as Paul asked the boss, he immediately received a response. The boss was dissatisfied with the fact that Paul chose Pablo over him but soon began to check the books Pablo had brought.

With the boss’s permission, they sat facing each other at the table at the bookshop. Pablo was holding a red pen that he had prepared as a teacher. After checking Paul’s homework, Pablo said.

“Teeter-nim, you’ve confused these two letters again. If you look closely, the right end is different.”

“But to me, they all look like squiggly worms.”

“The pronunciation is different. Do you remember how to read them?”

“The left side was ‘Ja’ and the right side was ‘Ji’…?”

Paul blurted out, unsure of himself.

“No, it’s the other way around. ‘Ji’ on the left and ‘Ja’ on the right.”

“But the pronunciation is so similar, too! The demon language is too hard.”

“That’s alright. I also remember struggling when I was studying the human language. It was especially difficult because it had a different sentence structure from that of demon language.”

“How long did it take you, Mr. Pablo?”

“I think it took me about one month to establish basic communication and about six months to read documents originally in human language.”

“…Isn’t that genius?” Paul said as he banged his head on the table. “I can’t do that.”

“I’m a merchant, that’s why.”

“In a way, it’s the same for me. Do you happen to know any other languages, Pablo-nim?”

“I can speak four languages and now I’m studying the wisp language.”

“You’re a genius…”

Paul was excited and forgot to talk to Pablo as he fell helplessly. Seeing his state, Pablo spoke as if he was trying to change the subject.

“Come to think of it, why is Teeter-nim running a bookshop with the boss?”

“There’s a book I’m looking for, and the boss promised to help me find it if I help him run the bookshop. I don’t know if the boss is looking for it, though.”

“What’s the name of the book you’re looking for?”

“<Prelude to the Battlefield>.” 

Pablo clapped his hands as if he remembered something. “Oh! Is that the book you asked from me when we first met?”

“Yes, so have you heard of it, Pablo-nim?”

“I’m sorry, but I’ve never heard of it. The books I usually read are about money, but that book doesn’t seem to be one of them.”

Paul thought Pablo, who worked in a merchant guild, would see such a book.

“Then could you help me find it, Pablo-nim?”

Before he knew it, Paul was looking up at Pablo with sparkling eyes. It was as if starlight was pouring from his eyes and sprinkling on Pablo’s face. Pablo couldn’t bear to refuse.

“I’ll look into it at the Merchant Guild.”

“Really? Promise!”

“What?”

Pablo blinked at Paul’s white, thin little finger.

“Oh! This means a promise between humans. If Pablo-nim sticks out little finger like this…”

“You mean entwining the two fingers?”

“Yes! Now we’ve made a promise.”

“Paul, come and look at the cash register,” the boss called. Paul looked around and found that the bookshop was crowded with customers.

“Yes! I’ll be right there, boss! Pablo-nim, see you next time. ลาก่อน! Goodbye!”

Paul waved at Pablo and quickly rushed to help the boss.

‘The way humans promise is unique. …It’s cute,’ Pablo thought as he watched Paul.

Pablo, who valued the trust of others, searched for the whereabouts of <Prelude to the Battlefield> meticulously as he had promised Paul with his pinky finger. There was even a rumour spread among various merchants that Pablo was desperately looking for it. Thanks to that, even he wouldn’t have known that Pablo would become the prey of the bandits.