Troubles on a Perfect Day

What's wrong, Daisy? You seem pretty antsy. Why do you keep looking around?

Oh... I'm sorry.

It's been such long time since I last visited the mortal realm...

I hardly know where to look, every last thing is drawing my attention.

The mortal realm? Does that mean you're normally not in the mortal realm?

Correct. I settled in a different world from this one. Perhaps you should pay a visit if you ever get the opportunity. Not right now, of course. But you see, I hadn't left my place of work in quite some time.

So, it's been a long time since you've actually gone outside?

The mortal realm? Does that mean you're normally not in the mortal realm?

Correct. I settled in a different world from this one... Purgatory. But you see, I hadn't left my place of work in quite some time.

Oh, right. So it's been a long time since you've actually gone outside?

I see. You're normally in Purgatory, aren't you?

That's right. My strange fate with you drew me to the mortal realm... But in essence, leaving Purgatory, or rather, leaving the Lotus Hall, is a very rare thing indeed for me.

So, it's been a long time since you've actually gone outside?

You see... The feeling of the wind brushing against my skin, the sight of this vivid landscape...

It's making me giddy with delight!

Really? It's kind of refreshing seeing you so excited.

I'm glad you're having a good time.

Hah. Don't go treating me like a child. Not unless you want to know the true meaning of fear.

Wha, I wasn't treating you like a kid, I swear!

'Twas but a jest, Aldo. It would take more than a petty little thing like that to dampen this good mood.

Just look at those fluffy white clouds drawing steam-lines in the clear blue sky...

And the undefined shape of a soul floating before the towering palace...

Huh?

......

A soul?!

Wh-Why would such a faint soul be here in the mortal realm?!

A-A soul?! That weird shape floating around is a soul?!

Indeed. So you could see it, too. It must be because you're spending time with me, and I'm positively saturated with the air of Purgatory. Although...

I'm not entirely following you... Is it really so strange for a soul to be in this world?

No, there are souls here, as you well know. But this soul... It is not like the others, who choose to remain in the mortal realm out of some lingering attachment.

That soul... It should have gone to the other side already. It should not be possible to see it in the mortal realm.

Really?! Then why is a soul like that still wandering around here?

That, I do not know. But there is no way I can turn a blind eye to this. We must collect it as soon as... Hm?

It went inside the palace! What do we do?

We look for it, of course.

Dear me, there is no escape from work, not even in the land of the living. Not that I have such intentions any longer.

I have a hunch that this is going to give us trouble. Will you lead the way inside, Aldo?

Sure!

Hah. Honestly... This is making me dizzy.

Daisy? I thought we were in a hurry?

I'm coming...

Aha! Is that it, Daisy?

Hm?

Huh? What are those kids doing?

Our spirit seance isn't working...

I'm not givin' up! Let's give this one more go!

Oh great spirit... Hear our call.

Come to us. And show us your mighty power.

Whoa! There was actually some kinda response this time! You think it worked?

We did it! C'mon, let's try it out! Oh great spirit! Use your power to tell us what's in tomorrow's surprise test!

Hey! That's cheating!

......

Eeek!

Th-The flowers just burst into flames?!

Whoa! That's gotta mean it worked, right?

So, the test's on fire magic?

Whoa! Wh-What was that?!

Water?! Okay, so it's on water magic, not fire magic?

What the?! Is that soil hitting my head? *splutter*

Wha?! So it's not fire and it's not water, it's earth magic?!

C'mon, spirit, just tell us already! Which one is it?

Ohhh! What was that gust of wind?

Um, Daisy, this is looking pretty bad!

Indeed...

This is such a hassle...

Hey!

It ain't stopping! Is the test on wind magic?!

Urgh! I've had it! I dunno what the answer is!

That was a surprise!

We failed, didn't we?

I think so, too... It's not that I'm not grateful, but...

I know, right! Guess we had no chance doin' it normally. It kinda seemed more like some stray soul playin' tricks on us than a great spirit.

Oh? These brats have talent...

Yet you are so very stupid! You cannot go provoking the souls of the dead!

Who're you?!

That matters not. All that matters is... Why are you playing at summoning the souls of the dead?!

The dead? What're you talking about?

We were doing a spirit seance!

What's a spirit seance?

Don't you know? You make a magic circle and call up the soul of a great spirit. Then they tell you things.

Is that really possible? I mean, that wasn't a spirit you summoned there, it was...

Hey! What is your problem? Don't follow me around like that! Shoo, shoo!

Come on, Daisy. Maybe you shouldn't talk to it like that...

Oh, quiet, Aldo! I hate this type of soul! Just go away already!

Um, who're you two talking to?

It's kinda creeping me out...

Huh, so you kids can't see the soul?

How astonishing. They lack the power to see the soul, yet they pretend to summon the souls of the dead.

I keep telling ya, we were tryin' to call up a spirit, not a soul of the dead!

We just failed at it this time around.

If that is what you wish to believe. But don't try that ritual ever again. Do I make myself clear?

Huh?! Why not?!

Don't talk back! This is not an art that fledglings like you can master.

Understood?

Nope!

What was that? Are you not going to listen to me, you little scamp?

Nope! You just turned up outta nowhere, sayin' all this stuff I don't understand. It's kinda fishy!

Wha?!

Yeah, you're right. And she looks super suspicious, too!

And she talks funny, using all these words I've never even heard of.

What was that?!

Hey, Daisy's only doing this because she's worried about you.

Whatever...

Just don't get in our way!

You... You...

You scamps!

Of all things, you tell me not to get in your way? YOUR way?!

Unlike you little scamps, I spend all day every day in that world, seeing over the souls.

I do NOT appreciate back talk from foolish amateurs like yourselves! So before my patience is completely worn thin...

Just do as I say!

Well?

Daisy, what are you doing?! You can't talk like that to kids, it'll just scare them!

Look, they're crying!

Hahahahaha!

Wha?! They're laughing?!

What's a scamp?!

Heh, you're so funny!

Y-You little scamps! You dare say that to my face?

Ah! She said it again!

Scamp! Scamp! Scamp!

Grr!

It's no use. They've gotten too excited now.

Thanks for hanging out with us, Miss!

C'mon, let's try again! There must be another way?

Yeah, let's go to the archives!

Wait! I hadn't finished talking!

Bye bye, Miss Scampi!

Byeee!

Who're you calling Miss Scampi?!

Kids, wait! Just listen to what Daisy has to say...

It'll be fine! We ain't gonna fail next time! Later!

Wait, you little scamps! Come back here!

What should we do, Daisy? If we leave them be, they're definitely going to try that spirit seance again.

Enough of this spirit seance nonsense! Whatever they call it, it's a summoning of the dead ritual through and through. In other words, a ceremony to call up the souls of the departed.

But those youths are not going through the correct procedure.

If we leave them be, who's to say what type of soul they will summon!

What do you mean by that?

A monster, perhaps. Or maybe even an evil spirit.

What?!

Th-That sounds pretty dangerous!

That's exactly what I've been saying this whole time!

But those youths persisted in taunting me and mocking my way of speaking! They are nothing like my flowers!

Flowers?

Urgh, what an interminable pain! How I wish I could just ignore them! But that will not do!

Aldo, we must follow after those rapscallions!

Got it! They said they were going to the archives! This way!

......

Daisy! The archives are...

Through here, yes? Heheheh... The souls of the living... I feel them in the air, leaking through the door.

Come out, come out, wherever you are. No matter where you hide, you shall never escape my grasp.

Daisy, stop saying stuff like that! You're really making us sound like the villains!

Hah! It is my job to play the villain. Tis no skin off my nose. At this juncture, we must rake those little rascals over the coals.

Hey, don't get too fired up. We're just here to stop the kids, that's all.

Indeed. Heh, don't make any mistakes now.

O-Okay...

I know we failed at the spirit seance before, but now we've got this book to help us! It's gonna work this time, I just know it!

But you really think this codex has super awesome magic powers?

Only one way to find out!

Oh great spirit... Hear our call.

Stop this ritual right now! Before it's too late!

Oh no! It's Miss Scampi!

We've gotta hurry or else she'll get mad and try to stop us again!

Come to us. And show us your powers.

What's going on?!

Tsk, we were too late?

Whoa! We actually did it?!

B-But it's kinda scary...

Of course it is! That's no spirit! It's a monster that roams the underworld!

A monster from the underworld? I don't believe you! You're just tryna scare us as punishment, aren't you?

Aha! You're one of teacher's friends, aren't you, Miss Scampi?

Oh no! 'Cause we tried to cheat before?! Teacher sent over an assassin?!

Really?! I'm the assassin in this situation? Me? You have a lot of nerve, acting like you are immune to this grave danger before you.

Oh...

Aaarrrgh?!

Wha?! It disappeared!

Yaaargh?!

Tsk! That's what I was trying to tell you! It's a nuisance monster that loves the soft, tender souls of children!

What?! That's not good!

He'll take them elsewhere and gobble them all up like a packed lunch.

Th-Then what should we do?!

Oh, quit your squawking. If you start acting like a child, it will only serve to encumber me. But if you keep quiet, I'll be able to track where the young 'uns' souls went.

There we go! They are southwest from here, in an area shrouded in mist and shaded from the sun.

Shrouded in mist? Shaded from the sun?

Aha! That must be Keruri Highroad! I'll lead the way, so let's get going!

Whoa! You again?!

You're still wandering about, are you?

What? You want to come with us?

*sigh* It's just one problem after another. I can't possibly bring a tiny, faint little soul like you with me. At best, you'll just loiter about and get yourself crushed almost immediately.

Don't complain. If you have the time to be following me around, you may as well go back to where you came from!

Oh, don't whine now! I'm in a hurry! Don't follow me, you understand? Don't!

Daisy, wait! You don't know the way!

Ah...!

Ah...!

Wh-What is that thing?!

What's gonna happen to us?

Darn... We've only got one choice!

Just you watch! I'm gonna destroy you!

You've gotta be kidding me! It didn't do anything...

Wh-What's goin' on? It hurts...

Oh no! His soul! Hurry, we must help him!

Yeah, let's go!

Tsk! You insolent brute!

Aldo! He's mine! You protect the young 'uns!

Eeek?! There's more of them?!

Oh no, he's summoned minions! Hurry, Aldo!

Ack!

Wha?! I can't move!

Huh?

I-It didn't attack?

It's that soul!

What?! It still followed us after all that?!

Ah...!

I can't watch! Stop it, you fool!

Wha?! I can move again!

And it's stopped hurting?

That great big monster's gone!

Just two small fry left! Children, get behind us!

I thought we defeated that thing!

You want to absorb that tiny soul?! Come on, pick on something your own size!

It's getting more and more see-through!

That's it. Push your luck any more...

And I'll beat the living daylights out of you! I hope you're ready!

These minions will be easy now that the boss is out of the way. Let's go, Aldo!

Okay!

Phew! I think we're safe for now.

Hmph. What a hassle.

You okay?! I was so scared! I thought you were done for!

Yeah, me too. But...

Um... Thank you for saving...

How could you be so foolish?!

Don't you know how small and weak your soul is?! How could you go against a soul so much bigger than yourself? Such recklessness! You can't just act on impulse like that!

Oh? It wasn't impulse, you say?

What's that? You were just saving those who once saved you?

But that means... You knew these children all along?!

Then why didn't you just say so before? Honestly, you made things unnecessarily confusing!

Wh-What's she talking about?

I dunno...

Um, Daisy? I don't know what it's saying... But you said the soul knows the children? What's going on?

*sigh* We won't get anywhere with it looking like this. Hold on. Don't get used to this sort of thing, mind you.

It's a cat?!

This is the form it took while it was alive. Does this explain it?

The soul was actually a cat?! I did not see that coming...

Hey, where'd that cat come from? And what d'you mean it's a soul?

I mean exactly as I say. This cat has already passed away. It is no longer of this world.

It is what you living call a "soul."

It's a soul...of a cat?

He risked his life and fought those monsters in order to protect you.

What?! Why would he do that?

And that's not all. He responded to your call when you first carried out your ritual.

He did? So he's the one who started the fire in the magic classroom?

Huh? I know that meow!

This cat... It's the one we fed before, near Palsifal Palace!

Yeah, you're right! It was all weak and feeble, and when we looked for it later, we couldn't find it. So that's what happened to you? You died?

We couldn't do anything for you, but you came to save us...

It seems he responded to your summons in order to repay your kindness of feeding him, even if only once.

I see... Well that's nice.

Honestly... How could you be so reckless as to stray all the way from the other side for such a paltry reason? Cats are far too capricious, every last one of them.

By the way...

I trust that you have reflected on your folly, young scamps, even if only for a moment.

Everything worked out fine this time, but only because we just happened to be here. So don't do this again! By the time something happens, it's already too late, do you understand?

Yeah, I'm sorry. We won't do any more spirit seances.

Sorry...

So long as you understand. You can't hang your heads forever.

Let us return to the palace. You must return the soul that you summoned back to the other side.

What? You mean the cat's gotta go back?

The ritual must be ended by he who first initiated it.

I will teach you the correct procedure. Come with me.

Miss Scampi's scary, but she's pretty nice, too.

She's nice, but she's scary.

Haha, saying that is only going to make her mad again.

You have some nerve! Is NO ONE coming with me?!

Let's go, everyone.

We got the pretty flowers just like you told us!

What do we do with them?

Place them on the ground. Gently, now.

Like this?

You... Go inside the flower circle.

Now, as for what you say... You already know this part. Just thank the cat from the bottom of your heart. That's how you send it off.

Got it.

Oh great spirit. Thanks for helping us...

Wait...

Nyanta, the brave and kind cat. Thank you for coming to see us. Thank you for saving us.

You can go back to where you belong now. Be safe.

So long, Nyanta...

Bye bye, Nyanta.

The children are safe and the soul went back to where it belongs. All's well that ends well.

I certainly was worried for a moment, given that absolutely no one bothered to listen to me.

A spirit seance is a ceremony to summon the souls of the dead. And a summoning always requires a sacrifice. It is not something to be done for one's own amusement.

A sacrifice?!

But those children didn't make any particular sacrifice, did they?

Well, it has been a long time since sacrifices have been in order.

Originally, when a soul was summoned by a spirit seance...or, summoning of the dead ritual... If a soul wished to respond to this summons, the great will of Purgatory would demand something in return.

Purgatory?

My world, the place to which the dead return.

Those with power, living in the mortal realm would call to Purgatory, and, depending on the size of the request... They would make a sacrifice. The sacrifice being their lives, of course.

Depending on the sacrifice offered, Purgatory would lend the soul of the dead the power to visit the mortal realm. In a thinly-veiled attempt to sugarcoat the fact that it was an actual ritual... Vague, harmless expressions like "spirit seance" started to be used instead.

I had no idea...

But in that case... Why wasn't a sacrifice required this time?

Well, even if you left them alone, there would be swarms of souls every single day. It was so depressing sending off all those sacrificed lives. What was I supposed to do?

I persuaded the up-aboves that if something's going to be sent off, it might as well be beautiful flowers.

You mean you changed the whole structure of the ritual?! Incredible.

Oh, stop. It wasn't a big deal.

You're actually really kindhearted, aren't you, Daisy? You stopped the sacrifices and replaced them with flowers, you saved those kids from danger, you even helped that cat soul.

Hah. What nonsense.

This is the first and only time I'm helping out children. Or cats for that matter. You see...

I really hate cats!

Y-You do?!

How many times do I have to tell you? I HATE that type of soul.

You were talking about cats this whole time?

Why don't you like cats?

I just don't. I'm a dog person.

Cats are selfish creatures that only do as they please. But dogs? Dogs are good. They're cuter than you'd think.

They are?

Oh? Now there's the face of a man who has yet to see the appeal of our canine friends. So allow me to explain. Firstly...

Dogs need three collars. Come on, that's cute.

Huh?

And they mainly feed on evil spirits. Of course that's cute!

These sound a little different from the dogs I know...

And the cherry on top, their mouths are always overflowing with drool, and they glare so menacingly when they bark. And yet they obey my every order. There is no cuter creature in existence, of that I am sure!

You certainly have an, um, unusual interpretation of the word "cute."

And they're so adorable when they get playful. They stick out their three heads and lick my face. Teehee...

Huh...

Huh... Three heads?

(I think she must be talking about those terrifying hounds I fought back in the Lotus Hall.)

(Oh dear... These don't sound like the kind of creatures I ever want to meet.)

What's wrong, Aldo? You look concerned.

Ah, I understand. I'll make sure you get to experience this joy for yourself before long. Look forward to it, okay?

Um, I think I'll pass, thanks.