Rumi quickly ran down the stairs toward the living room where she thought she heard the sound.

  "What is it, Niel? What's wrong?"

  As she entered the living room, she noticed a massive bed that hadn’t been visible when they first arrived. Niel was standing next to it, pointing at something.

  Fortunately, Niel didn't seem to have died or become a ghost, but her face was terrified.

  “Look over here! There’s some kind of mummified grandma!”

  "What?"

  Following Niel's pointing finger to see what she was making such a fuss about, Rumi saw that there really was an emaciated corpse lying in the middle of the bed.

  To be more precise, there was a coffin embedded in the middle of the bed, and inside it y a mummy wrapped tightly in bandages except for its face.

  The mummy's face was wrinkled - a true grandmother mummy.

  "Ugh, what is this? It's real... what... what's going on with Medina's house? Why is there a mummy... and on the bed at that."

  That's when Eve also approached cautiously, holding a mop.

  "Wh-what's wrong, Niel?"

  "Look at this, there's a corpse."

  "What?"

  Eve carefully approached and looked at the bed. And she had less of a reaction than expected.

  "...?"

  Rumi thought Eve's response was inappropriate for her.

  "Boo!"

  "Eeeek!"

  When Rumi startled the frozen Eve, she fell backward.

  “Are you out of your mind?!”

  “That’s more like it. Heh heh.”

  Leaving Eve alone, Rumi looked closely at the mummy's shriveled face.

  Looking carefully, this grandmother mummy's face felt familiar somehow.

  "Don't tell me this mummy is Medina's grandmother?"

  Niel said in a hushed voice.

  "I don't think so. When I heard Medina talk about her grandmother, it sounded like she was alive. But this is obviously a mummy that's been dead and dried up for a long time."

  "Then maybe it's a great-grandmother or something?"

  "Hey Eve, have you ever heard of mummifying family members?"

  "...I've heard of sealing them into a doll, but mummification is..."

  "..."

  Rumi looked at the mummy's face again, trying to recall why it felt familiar.

  "Wait, look at this too. There are three more coffins."

  Niel pointed to coffins in the corner of the living room.

  As soon as Rumi saw those coffins, she was filled with the desire to peek inside.

  "Oho, what's that?"

  When Rumi reflexively rushed toward the coffins, Eve tried to stop her.

  “Rumi, don’t open random things.”

  "Come on, you're curious too."

  Clunk

  Rumi ignored her and slightly opened a coffin lid anyway.

  Inside was something that looked like a person... no, something person-like wearing a purple wedding dress.

  "Wh-what is this? Is this a corpse too?"

  Niel quietly came and stuck close to Rumi.

  "I don't know...? It doesn't seem like a person."

  Rumi fearlessly touched the face of the person-like thing slightly.

  "No, it's not a person. This face is hard. This... must be a doll...!"

  But if this was really a doll, she could only think it was an incredibly eborate one.

  "Wow... impossible. It looks just like a real person."

  Niel stared at it in awe.

  Rumi got goosebumps on her arms.

  It was a doll that looked incredibly simir to a person. Moreover, it was stunningly beautiful, like a goddess.

  And suddenly she remembered the portraits by the stairs.

  "But why is there a doll here... does the Mora family really have something to do with dolls?"

  Rumi turned her eyes to the other coffins.

  At that moment, Eve shouted from far away at Rumi and Niel.

  “Hey...! Weren’t you two supposed to be getting water? Let’s go back upstairs and finish cleaning!”

  Eve's voice was trembling slightly.

  But Rumi, ignoring her, began to move toward the other coffins.

  “Please, just stop.”

  Finally, Eve grabbed Rumi and Niel's arms and started pulling them up the stairs.

  “You two, stop snooping around other people’s things. Let’s go clean!”

  "We were just looking around the house, checking if there was anything that would interfere with the summoning ritual..."

  Rumi muttered.

  "That’s right... and you're doing all the cleaning anyway..."

  Niel also grumbled while being dragged.

  It took almost half a day to clean Medina's room to Eve's satisfaction.

  And in that time, night fell and it became time to perform the summoning ritual.

  But Eve, who was supposed to perform the ritual, was completely exhausted, sprawled out on the sofa.

  “Hey, are you even in any condition to perform the ritual?”

  "..."

  Eve had no focus in her eyes and gave no answer.

  "That's why you shouldn't have cleaned so intensely."

  Niel also commented, standing next to Rumi.

  “And you should at least wash up. You’re drenched in sweat.”

  “The bathroom’s too dirty...”

  "What?"

  "I can't shower because the bathroom is too dirty... Rumi, could you clean it for me? Please..."

  Eve touched Rumi's fingertips with a pleading look.

  Tingle

  "...!"

  Darn it, Eve was using her charm against her.

  When she made such a defenseless expression with that beautiful face, even Rumi couldn’t resist.

  "Ah, fine... then we'll clean it and you can shower ter."

  Rumi gave in immediately.

  "We? I'm tired too..."

  "Niel, you actually came here as a cleaner. Face reality."

  "What...?"

  "Thank you, Niel... Rumi..."

  Eve closed her eyes and drifted off.

  Time passed, and after finishing the bathroom cleaning and bathing, the kids changed into pajamas and decided to take a nap.

  They pnned to perform the Spiritualism ritual te at night when the atmosphere was right.

  The three girls were completely knocked out, their bodies exhausted from the long journey and cleaning.

  While taking what should have been a short afternoon nap, Rumi was half-awake at some point, feeling thirsty.

  Then she heard small sounds from outside the room.

  Chop chop chop chop chop...

  It sounded like someone chopping something with a knife. There were also other noises, like someone cooking.

  When she opened her eyes, it was dark.

  Rumi got up, looked at Eve and Niel still sleeping, and quietly left the room.

  She headed to the kitchen to get some water, but the kitchen light was on, and the cooking sounds were coming from there.

  Rumi walked to the kitchen on tiptoes, wondering what was going on.

  And when she slightly peeked her head in to look at the kitchen

  Two dolls, one looking like a butler and the other like a maid, were cooking.

  Rumi wasn't sure if she was still dreaming, having just woken up.

  Rumi rubbed her eyes and looked at the kitchen again, and made eye contact with the grandmother mummy sitting at the kitchen table.

  "...?"

  “Oh? I thought you were another thief.”

  Suddenly, the grandmother mummy spoke.

  "What?"

  Rumi’s eyes widened in shock. She hadn’t expected a dead mummy to talk.

  "Did you come out for dinner?"

  “Uh... no. I was just... thirsty...”

  Just then, the butler doll appeared beside the grandmother mummy holding a huge pte of steak.

  "Are you Medina's grandmother?"

  Rumi stepped into the kitchen and asked.

  The butler doll cut a rge piece of steak and fed it to the grandmother, who had no teeth.

  The grandmother mummy didn't answer and chewed the meat for a while like chewing cud, then opened her mouth.

  "Ye-yes, that's right, dear."

  Looking at Medina's grandmother's face, Rumi felt another strange déjà vu. She couldn't pce where, but it really felt like a face she had seen somewhere.

  “So, you’re Rumi, right?”

  "Yes... huh? But how do you know my name?"

  "How could I not know after we've already met?"

  "What...?"

  Rumi had no memory of meeting this mummy grandmother.

  "So you came to seal my granddaughter's soul?"

  "How do you know that too?"

  "Hmm... I've already met Medina."

  "What? How? She said she hadn't met you..."

  Just then, the maid doll suddenly filled a teacup with water and handed it to Rumi.

  Rumi accepted the teacup in bewilderment.

  "Drink up."

  The grandmother mummy nodded, her face trembling.

  Rumi watched carefully and took a sip from the teacup.

  But she felt a fizzy sensation in the water that she had never experienced in this world.

  "Ooh? Carbonated water?"

  "Hehehe. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

  Rumi didn’t know how to react.

  She didn't know how carbonated water could still exist in this ruined world.

  And judging by this grandmother mummy's reaction, she seemed to know that Rumi had come from the pre-apocalyptic world.

  At that moment, Rumi felt an indescribable unpleasant feeling.

  This grandmother mummy knew things she shouldn't know.

  The grandmother mummy was smiling awkwardly with her creepy face, and seeing that made Rumi feel her strength draining.

  "Thank you for the drink... I'll go back to the room now."

  Rumi put the teacup down on the table and slowly started backing away.

  "Alright... send Medina to me after you seal her soul. And if you’re hungry, feel free to sneak some food from here."

  "..."

  Rumi returned to Medina's room without answering.

  And after returning, she didn't want to wake the others to tell them about that grandmother.

  But she couldn't fall back asleep either, so she just sat in a chair bnkly listening to the noise from the kitchen until the end.

  After a while, Eve woke up and made the sign of the Y.

  And while fixing her clothes, she jumped in surprise discovering Rumi sitting in the chair like a ghost.

  "Ack! You... you were awake?"

  "Yeah..."

  Rumi answered as if her spirit had left her body.

  “Did... something happen to you?”

  "No, not really. I just met Medina's grandmother."

  "What? The grandmother was in this house?"

  "Yeah, that mummy on the bed is actually her living grandmother.

  If you see her, try to be polite."

  Eve stared bnkly for a moment with a shocked face, then looked at Rumi with concern.

  "But are you really okay? You look a bit tired..."

  "Yeah, I'm fine. More importantly, it's 2 AM now - are we doing the summoning ritual?"

  "We should..."

  Rumi got up from her seat and poked Niel who was sleeping alone on the sofa.

  "Niel, wake up."

  “Mmm, just five more minutes...”

  “Get up! Now!”

  While Rumi was forcibly waking Niel, Eve left the room to prepare for the ritual.

  Eve went to the kitchen alone to fetch water, but it seemed nothing unusual had happened there.

  The kitchen had gone quiet a while ago, so it was likely empty now.

  Eve added salt to the water she brought and prayed to make holy water.

  Rumi also took out the scripture book. and nterns and started setting up.

  And Niel alone sat on the sofa with eyes still not fully awake.

  Eve started drawing the summoning ritual's sacred site map with salt water as they had learned in the bell tower.

  And she pced candles, a silver pte, and Medina's gsses in the center of the sacred site map.

  The summoning ritual setup itself wasn't much different from what they had done in Medina's dormitory room, but it was much more eborate in every aspect.

  Once the preparations were complete, Rumi volunteered to sit out the dance.

  “I’ll sit this one out. I’ll just get in your way.”

  "Yeah, good idea."

  Eve answered quickly.

  "..."

  “Alright, let’s begin the ritual.”