IOHH 7

“…You don’t have a name?”

At first, I thought he meant something along the lines of “I wouldn’t tell the likes of you,” but one look at his expression told me he genuinely meant he didn’t have a name to share.

Is it even possible for someone to not have a name? The thought briefly crossed my mind—but then again, a manager who could make an evil spirit vanish into thin air wasn’t exactly normal to begin with.

I rephrased my question.

“Then what did my uncle used to call you?”

“In public, the former owner called me ‘Manager.’ In private, it was usually things like ‘lunatic,’ ‘bastard,’ or ‘psycho.’ Not much difference, really.”

“That kind uncle of mine? Seriously…?”

Uncle wasn’t the kind of person to use such lowly insults toward anyone. But the manager didn’t look like he was lying—not that he had a reason to. He smiled at me as if this were the most natural thing in the world.

“So please, feel free to call me whatever you’d like, Miss Lindetail. You can choose from ‘bastard,’ ‘lunatic,’ or ‘psycho,’ if you want.”

“…I’ll pass on that.”

I tried to think of a suitable name to call him. That’s when my eyes landed on a Bible tucked into a bookshelf. A lot of people get their names from the Bible… maybe something from there…

“…I’ll call you Ezekiel.”

Why Ezekiel, out of all the names in the Bible? Even I wasn’t sure. It was simply the first name that came to mind. As soon as he heard it, the manager began trembling slightly—then suddenly burst into laughter.

“Ahaha! Ezekiel? That’s far too holy a name for me. Any reason you chose that one?”

“I just… thought of it. If you don’t like it, I can pick something else.”

“No, no. I like it. Really, I do.”

Does he really? His laughter felt a little like mockery, which made me uneasy. But at the same time, he also looked… happy, maybe even honored, to be given a new name.

“Then from now on, my name is Ezekiel.”

Ezekiel. It actually suited him rather well. His deep navy eyes like the bottom of the sea, his eerily flawless features, and that overwhelming pressure I felt when we first met—it didn’t match any of it, yet somehow it fit perfectly.

“Thank you for giving me a name, Miss Lindetail.”

Just like before, he placed a hand over his chest and bowed politely. At times like this, when he acted so formal and composed, he really did seem like a respectable manager.

As I was quietly proud of myself for coming up with a decent name, someone knocked on the office door.

“Excuse me, Manager. It’s me. I’ll be coming in for a moment.”

Isn’t it normal to ask for permission before barging in like that? The thought made me frown slightly, and it reminded me of the ‘fake manager’ I had encountered earlier.

The man who entered was someone I had already met before—the one from the dining hall, who looked like some kind of saint.

As he stepped inside and made eye contact with me, he glanced at the sign on the door that read “Office” just to make sure he was in the right place.

“Oh, I shouldn’t just walk in when there’s a guest.”

“My apologies. I’ll be sure to ask next time.”

He cast a glance toward Ezekiel, then bowed respectfully to me. I waved a hand, signaling that it was fine, and he got straight to the point.

“The reason I’ve come is to confirm the next steps for processing Room 103’s guest.”

“Ah. What should we do, Miss Lindetail?”

Ezekiel turned to me as he spoke. The “Room 103 guest” they were referring to was clearly the fake manager who had threatened me earlier.

The problem was that I had no idea how to answer such a question on the spot. ‘Processing’? Were they seriously talking about punishment without any kind of trial?

Is that even legal? Even if evil spirits couldn’t be judged by human law, this still felt extreme. I’d never heard of a hotel that literally disposed of its guests. That didn’t mean I wanted to let the fake manager off the hook, but still…

“Is it normal to handle things this quickly, without some kind of hearing or review?”

“Well, this isn’t Hell. We don’t have specialized ghost cops or spirit judges around here.”

Fair enough. The image of a ghost judge wearing a powdered wig and slamming a gavel flashed through my mind. Ridiculous.

“…I see. Then what’s the usual process?”

“It depends on the nature of the target, but for something of this severity, we typically eliminate them.”

“…Eliminate them?”

Eliminate. That was a word I’d only ever read in fantasy novels. Faced with such an unexpected and foreign choice, I didn’t know how to respond. Ezekiel added an explanation as I hesitated.

“There are other options, of course. We could also feed them to the hotel, for instance!”

“Feed them…? What, does the hotel have a pet or something?”

“It’s not a metaphor. I mean it literally. This hotel devours its guests.”

I blinked and tilted my head at Ezekiel’s words. How could a hotel—a mere building—devour anyone? As I frowned in confusion, the man standing beside Ezekiel shot him a sharp look and spoke.

“You still haven’t properly explained the hotel to her?”

“Well, there wasn’t exactly time for that, was there?”

“It seems more like you chose not to explain it. Hah, unbelievable…”

The man seemed ready to say more, but perhaps noticing my gaze, he fell silent. After a brief pause, he stepped closer and gave a concise explanation of what it meant to become “prey.”

“When someone is devoured by the hotel, it means they become part of it. Their sense of self is lost, and they’re bound to this place forever. But their emotions and sensations remain intact. They writhe in agony for eternity.”

“…That sounds like the worst kind of torture imaginable.”

“It is. In contrast, ‘erasure’ means being completely removed from this world—without pain. It’s the more merciful option.”

To be honest, I couldn’t fully wrap my head around what he was saying—becoming prey, assimilation, all of it felt like something from another world. And maybe that was the point. Deep down, I sensed that truly understanding what it meant might sever my connection to the world I once knew. If I fully accepted this reality, I might never find my way back.

I turned to Ezekiel and asked,
“The guest in Room 103… the one who tried to kill me earlier. Do you know why?”

“He’s a long-term resident. Even when the previous owner was still alive, he showed signs of obsession. He never caused direct harm, so the former owner allowed him to stay. But now that he’s gone, and you—his only blood relative—have come… it seems the guest shifted his focus. He wants to consume you instead.”

“……”

The Lindetail family has an old saying: Return both kindness and grudge with double the weight.
At first, I had considered erasure, thinking it was no different from death. That it would be enough.
But now, knowing he tried to harm me—and that he might’ve played a role, even indirectly, in my uncle’s death—erasure seemed far too gentle.

I made up my mind.

“Feed him to the hotel.”

“You came to that decision faster than I expected.”

Ezekiel looked slightly surprised, smiling faintly. The man beside him remained stoic, but at my words, one of his eyebrows twitched ever so slightly. Pretending not to notice, I asked Ezekiel,

“Do I need to be present for the disposal?”

“You can be, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Then I’ll stay here and go over the rest of the paperwork. Thank you.”

The man gave me a respectful nod and silently left the office.  More serious and reserved than I thought.
I turned my gaze back to the documents. Though the earlier incident had shaken me, I still struggled to refocus.

Maybe I shouldn’t have insisted on working again…

“You’re remarkably calm, Miss Lindetail. Have you made decisions like this before?”

“I’m just a country noble. Do you really think I’ve done something like this before?”

I replied stiffly, picking up on the teasing tone in his voice. I was known for being calm and composed, but that didn’t mean I had any experience making decisions like this.  Until my family died, I’d lived like a delicate flower in a greenhouse.  Pain, grief… I only began to understand those things after their deaths.

Yes… everything started with their death.

Becoming alone… coming to this strange hotel… And the more I dwelled on that, the more it felt like I was being pulled into a dark pit. I forced myself to push those thoughts away.

After skimming a few more documents, I looked up to find the clock nearing 11 p.m.  Time to call it a night.
Even if Ezekiel wasn’t exactly human, I couldn’t just leave him standing outside my room all night. And honestly, my body had reached its limit.

“That’s enough for today. I’ll finish the rest tomorrow. I should be done by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Faster than expected. What a shame…”

Ezekiel’s last words were murmured, but I still heard them clearly.

A shame? Yeah, right.

I just wanted to finish this job and get out of this hotel—even if it meant working myself to exhaustion.

Ezekiel escorted me from the office to my room. Technically, my room was just around the corner, a short walk from the office. But now that it was night, even the eastern wing had taken on a gloomy atmosphere.
And after all that talk about feeding the hotel, walking down the hallway didn’t feel so safe anymore. If the hotel could devour people… it meant I could be next.

“…I left my necklace in the office.”

Just as I entered my room and was about to relax, I realized I had left my necklace on the office desk. While working, it had started to feel stuffy, so I took it off and forgot to bring it back with me. Technically, I could retrieve it tomorrow. But it was a birthday gift from my uncle—I didn’t want it out of my sight for even a moment.

With a sigh, I stepped back out of the room. I could’ve asked a servant to get it, but the thought of entrusting something that precious to one of this hotel’s creepy staff made me uneasy. I’d feel better going myself.

And less than five minutes later, I regretted that decision.

Because I saw it.

Someone walking down the dark hallway… drenched in the stench of blood.