“Far be it from me to try to prove a negative,” said the Master jovially, and then took a spoonful of soup. Lumina, rather than being distressed at Brin’s attempt to start another argument, just smiled knowingly to the side.The soup course wasn’t as good as the appetizer, to be honest. Very thin and eggy, so Brin took three or four bites to be polite and then pushed it back.“But you said, or rather you instructed Ian of Avion to tell us that ghosts aren’t real,” said Brin.“Is that what he told you?” asked the Master.“Well, no, he said you offered a prize to the first person who proves that the ghost on the fourteenth floor isn’t really a ghost,” said Brin.“Correct,” said the Master.Brin slumped. “You already know exactly what it is. You’re the Master of Magic, of course you do. So you do believe in ghosts.”“I didn’t say that. You see, you’ve touched on an old hobby of mine. There was a span of twenty years where I investigated every single ghost sighting I caught wind of. I think I started in the reign of Briolanja and I stopped only shortly before her grandson Lancarote took the throne,” said Master.“No, Master, you were still doing it when you accepted me to the Tower. Remember when you took me to the haunted belfry?” asked Lumina.“Yes and… not a ghost, but a [Clown]! Nasty Class, that. I told young Lancarote’s late father to ban them from the capital entirely, you know.”“And he did. And [King] Lancarote upheld the ban,” said Lumina.“He did? Well, maybe he has more sense than I give it credit for,” said the Master.“You were a ghost hunter?” asked Brin.“Yes, and in the twenty, maybe forty years that I entertained the hobby, it consistently turned out to be something else. Pranks, unusual Skills, illusions most often. People trying to scare each other to gain advantage or just to make trouble. The really interesting ones… Lumina, did you ever visit the last (...)