Chapter 2
Chapter 2
* * *
The first day at the mansion.
Before I knew it, dark colors began to mix into the sky, and soon it was completely night.
"Haa... Should I hire a move-in cleaning service?"
The mansion was disgustingly large, and even after sweeping, wiping, and organizing from early morning until evening, there was no end in sight. More than anything, I had no talent for cleaning.
"I guess I can just clean it enough to be livable."
It's not like I won't get paid if a speck of dust comes out, and it's not like a Ministry of Culture official comes to inspect it every day. If they do come, I can just call a move-in cleaning service for show on that day.
"Ah, I can't do it anymore. It's clean enough by my standards."
I plopped down on the sofa. I'm not a messy person, but I'm not obsessively clean either, so I thought this was good enough.
My eyes slowly closed from exhaustion.
How long had I been asleep?
The cool dawn air permeated the tip of my nose.
Just as I was feeling the chill and trying to get up, I was startled by the sight of a certain being in front of me.
It was a handsome man in a white uniform that looked like it belonged in a museum portrait. The man, exuding dignity and arrogance, sat with his legs crossed on a chair in front of me. And with a very, very displeased look on his face.
'Who are you!'
It felt like the command sent by my brain wasn't reaching my lips. Suppressed by an unknown force, I couldn't move a single finger.
A chill ran down my spine. The being with black hair and piercing blue eyes gave me a strong feeling that he wasn't alive.
This is... sleep paralysis!
I never thought the ghost story about ghosts sitting and staring at you if you leave a chair in the room while sleeping was true!
Then, the handsome man, who had been glaring at me with a frown, slowly parted his lips.
'Hey, lazy woman.'
Did he just call me a lazy woman? He's trespassing in someone else's house!
'Do you think it's over as long as it's out of sight? Make sure to reorganize it neatly again tomorrow.'
As he elegantly flicked his fingers, I heard the sound of junk piled up in the storage room and things stacked haphazardly on one side collapsing.
'You'll regret it if you don't do it properly.'
The being left with an ominous warning and disappeared.
* * *
When I woke up, I saw the junk scattered around the house and rubbed my forehead.
"It really all spilled out. Did I not balance it properly? What kind of dream was that?"
I dismissed the mysterious phenomenon I had witnessed at dawn as just a bad dream and easily moved on. And I stuffed the things back into the storage room, under the stairs, and in other hidden places.
Yeah, out of sight, out of mind.
I didn't realize it then. That the price for ignoring the warning of that terrifying being with a pathological obsession with cleanliness was beyond imagination.
* * *
The mansion was deep in the forest, but it wasn't too difficult to adapt. Since I had lived in the countryside since I was a child, I was confident in my ability to survive in nature. I'm a pro nature person, after all.
However, bizarre and ominous events began to occur.
While picking wild greens around the mansion, someone pushed me from behind, causing me to fall into the stream.
"W-What?"
I looked around, soaked to the bone like a drowned rat. No one was there. I was sure someone had pushed me, though.
But I didn't think much of it at the time.
It was lunchtime, and I was hungry, so I wrung out my brown hair like laundry and hurried back to the mansion.
"Kyaa!"
Just as I was about to wash up and sit down at the dining table to eat lunch, the chair slid back, and I fell to the ground.
Lying on the floor, I stared at the ceiling with cobwebs and pondered for a moment.
"Is today just an unlucky day?"
It was after that that I started to feel something was wrong.
I found a lumberjack's saw in the garden shed and was cutting wood when something terrifying happened.
Clang!
The saw blade broke and stuck right next to me.
It was then that I felt a sense of crisis. My survival instinct whispered to me. That something unknown was trying to harm my life.
What could be more chilling and frightening than ignorance of the unknown?
I decided to be careful today. I shouldn't do anything and just stay home.
I decided to postpone the plan to dig up the garden flower bed and plant seedlings until tomorrow.
* * *
And around dinner time, an accident finally happened.
While taking out pickled vegetables and boiled potatoes for dinner, the huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling fell on my head.
Crash!
"Ugh... Ugh."
It barely missed me, but if it had hit me head-on, something unfortunate would have surely happened.
I lay on the floor, overwhelmed with bewilderment and fear. Something hot trickled down my forehead. It was blood.
Then, a ringing sound echoed in my ears, and I heard the voice I had heard last dawn. It felt like it was being transmitted to my head, not my ears.
'Didn't I tell you you'd regret it?'
"What? You didn't say you'd hit me with a chandelier."
With that, I saw a military boot that reached up to my shin in front of me. I barely managed to lift my head.
White uniform pants, a long sword at his waist, a sash diagonally across his uniform shoulder, and a sparkling medal.
The black-haired man I had seen at dawn was looking down at me with cold eyes.
Where did he come from? There was definitely no sign of him. Could he be an Ability User with stealth abilities? It seemed like what I had seen at dawn wasn't a dream after all.
I asked with a blank face.
"...Have you been the one tormenting me all this time?"
The man chuckled.
'I am your contractor and the owner of this mansion.'
Who are you? I've never met you before.
"When did we enter into a contract? And I'm the owner of this house."
'Didn't you sign the contract when you entered this house?'
Wasn't that the house transfer contract? Could I have been scammed?
A sudden fear washed over me in this strange situation, but I couldn't tolerate the fact that this suddenly appeared person was acting like the owner of the house.
The life of a homeless renter is scarier than some unknown being. I couldn't let go of the house I had worked so hard to get.
I clutched my throbbing forehead and raised my voice.
"What nonsense are you talking about! I'm going to report you for trespassing!"
'I even give you money to stay here, and you're such an ungrateful human.'
As the man snapped his fingers, the chandelier that had fallen on the marble floor and shattered floated into the air and began to fall on my head.
I reflexively covered my head and crouched down.
But when I didn't feel any pain, I cautiously opened my eyes and looked up. The chandelier was hovering right in front of me.
"G-Ghost? Is this a poltergeist phenomenon (a strange phenomenon such as sudden noises or objects flying around, which mainly occurs in haunted houses)?"
If I got hit by that head-on again, I would be shattered beyond repair.
"I'm sorry. I didn't recognize you, a precious person, and I made a mistake."
I immediately switched gears and put on a social smile.
As the chandelier quietly landed on the floor again, I sighed in relief and stroked my chest.
'Yes, humble one. I do not ask for much.'
The man ran his hand over the window frame to check for dust and continued.
'This mansion is a place I cherish. Is it so difficult to keep it clean at all times?'
Isn't this the best I can do? I stared straight at the man who was making unreasonable demands.
"Well, since you have abilities, why don't you help with the housework? I'd like to say that it's too much to ask me to make this big house sterile all by myself."
'You can hire a servant. That's why I give you money for management expenses. Fulfill the contract faithfully.'
I got a house, and it came with an obsessive-compulsive mother-in-law as an option. I never thought of this. Should I move to another house?
As if he had read my thoughts, the man raised his chin with his characteristic arrogant expression.
'The contract is valid until the end of your life. It means you must fulfill the mission of being the mansion's manager for the rest of your life.'
Ah, damn it. This was a lifetime contract. I looked up at the man with a blank look.
"Excuse me... Contractor, what's your name?"
'Mathias Eward van Garshiel.'
Huh? Where does the first name end, and where does the last name begin? It's too long.
In an instant, the man strode closer. As soon as I saw him pass through the objects, my spine stiffened.
Seeing that, I'm sure he's not human. Is he really a ghost?
"Mathias Eward van Garshiel, are you dead? A ghost? A Jowangshin in charge of the household?"
'Not Park, van. You don't seem to understand what I'm saying.'
The unidentified being who claimed to be my contractor, Mathias, looked slightly displeased.
"I am an immortal, a being that appears due to a contract. How did I end up getting such a moron as a contractor, tsk."
The voice that had been echoing like in a cave became clearer. The man's slightly translucent form also became clearer. As if he had manifested.
"What exactly is that real estate agent? And why me..."
Can you even receive brokerage requests from non-human beings, whether they're ghosts or immortals? It would make sense if they were a psychic.
"It was going to happen anyway. And you made the choice."
His voice, which had been muttering meaningful words, dropped sharply, and his eyes flashed fiercely.
"If you don't do it properly, I will kill you and find a new contractor."
My death became clear too...
Damn it! It seems like I've been cursed to die if I don't clean.
Hired the mastermind as a housekeeper
