A cold room with bare, rugged stone.
Within a few minutes of Catherine’s waiting, the man appeared.
“We have brought you the sinner.”
He was shackled and knelt on the ground, flanked by guards with spears.
They were there to prevent him from escaping and hurting Catherine in case he did.
The man in the scruffy shirt with the prominent stubble was named Diaz.
He used to be the Earl’s servant.
He had been selling information on the internal affairs of the Earl’s family to the Night Pythons, but it all came out when his wife and child, who had been held hostage by the Night Pythons, escaped.
In a sense, he was a victim, but it was clear that he had been making a small fortune selling information even before his family was captured, and he was eventually sent to prison.
If the case went to trial, he was likely to be sentenced to forced labor in a mine…, but there were no mines in Earl Keely’s territory, and he was only sent to another territory. The country was in turmoil at the moment and it was difficult to coordinate with other territories, so he was left hanging in the air and in jail.
So, even the situation was irregular, but it was even more so when the Earl’s daughter summoned him.
Diaz was wondering what was going to happen.
“Relax. This is just my …… personal hobby.”
“Haa…”
Catherine didn’t know how to put it, so she had to describe it as a ‘hobby’.
It could be seen as a case of a bored young lady who got involved in the case out of curiosity.
But for Catherine, this was a big deal worth risking her life for.
“You said that Iris saw through your betrayal. Can you tell me more about that incident?”
＊ ＊ ＊
“I am sorry to welcome you here in such a squalid place, young lady.”
The Dwarf Guild Master in charge of the Adventurers’ Guild branch in Eltaref looked horrified as he piled up an encyclopedia-like binder on his desk.
The Adventurers’ Guild also collected information to provide to adventurers.
Each branch had its own library, which contained information on monsters and other information.
The Eltaref branch’s library was small, with only three bookshelves and a desk for reading materials. The smell of old paper filled the room.
The Guild Master brought two cups of tea on a tray. One of the cups was only half-full, and he poured alcohol on top of it.
“… Isn’t that no longer tea with alcohol?”
“It’s just tea. For dwarves.”
Catherine frowned at the smell of cheap alcohol rising up as she accepted the cup that did not contain alcohol.
“The amount of material on monsters is not as large as that of the branch in the capital, but … I hope you find what you’re looking for.”
The thick fingers of the Guild Master turned the pages.
Catherine had come here to find out more about monsters.
“What we’re looking for is an undead that has the power to read minds while hailing people.”
Hearing Catherine’s words, the Guild Master’s dull eyes, which seemed to be buried in his beard, flashed.
“Undead who can read minds… Ayone with magic can read minds.”
“Guild Master, I thought I heard that mind-searching magic causes a lot of discomfort to the subject.”
“…Is that so? I’m sorry. I am not familiar with magic that is not suited for combat.”
Undead with the power to possess people and read minds.
Diaz seemed impressed and fearful of Iris, who was aware of his inner workings, admiring her sharpness.
But.
For Catherine, who believed that the Iris must have been René,… the case of ‘Iris being aware of Diaz’s inner workings’ seemed to take on a completely different connotation.
Even the Adventurers’ Guild had given only vague information that ‘it’s not Dullahan Lord or Lich Lord,’ which might have been a clue to René’s true identity.
–Undead who reads minds with … ability different from magic?
Catherine was inspecting the data in the files, devouring them.
“There are quite a lot of undead that can extinguish…”
“Yeah. Possession is possible for most of the undead in the spiritual realm.”
“Then I wonder if there is a Dullahan who can hail in spirit form.”
“Dullahan……?”
The appearance of René that Catherine saw in the royal city was indeed Dullahan.
Even at that time when she was executed and turned undead, she was said to have appeared as a Dullahan.
So, normally, René might be Dullahan…
“Dullahan is an undead creature with a physical form, so I don’t think that’s possible. Well, even the undead that have an existence, such as vampires, can turn into mist,… but that’s not the same as a spirit…”
“So what about Dullahan, who can turn into a human?”
“Turn into a human?”
The Guild Master twisted his head like a log.
“If it can turn into a human being, it has to be a Revenant who originally had a human form… No, wait, I saw a strange description of a monster… before.”
Opening one of the files, the Guild Master roughly flipped through the pages and pointed to data about a certain monster.
“‘Doppelshadow’?”
“Have you ever heard of a “Doppelganger”?”
“I’ve heard of it. They are monsters that transform into human beings, aren’t they?”
“Doppelgangers change their own bodies, but Doppelshadows change the body of the person they possess, changing their face and physique. It is said that the demon tribe created these undead as spies, but they didn’t seem to have much success.”
Undead that can change the body of the possessed person.
If there was such a thing, would there also be a Dullahan who could change its own body and pretend to be a human?
“I have a feeling it’s not quite the same… Maybe we should take a closer look at the spiritual realm after all.”
“If you’re looking for a bad one that uses possession, there’s the ‘Rage Spirit’.”
The Guild Master opened another page.
“The Rage Spirit is not powerful on its own, but it fights by taking over the bodies of people and monsters and manipulating them through possession. A Rage Spirit with experience in battle is more cunning than the owner of the original body and can draw out all the potential of the body and produce ridiculous power, even to the point of self-destruction.”
“That sounds like a nightmare for an adventurer, doesn’t it? If you are forced to fight your friends and take away their bodies…”
“That’s it. That’s why the high-ranking undead of the spiritual realm are so terrifying.”
Catherine almost shuddered just listening to him.
Adventurers live in such a terrifying world.
Terrifying, yes, but… When Catherine heard the phrase, “taking their bodies”, it hit her.
–So… yes, that’s right! For example, what if you had a Dullahan or Lich body ready to go and you could change bodies!?
All she could think about was possessing people.
Couldn’t the undead even use undead bodies?
That would explain why René was a Dullahan or a Lich.
“Dullahan or Lich, they can be made, right?”
“Ah? Oh, … evil magicians and demons can make them.”
Catherine decided to put the physical body aside for the moment and just consider the properties of possession and mind reading.
–Reading minds… as strong as possible spiritual realm undead…
The pages flipped, flipped, flipped, and then Catherine’s hand stopped.
“This is it!”
Catherine’s slender fingers pointed to the bound data.
Possessing evil intelligence and high magical power, they also have the power to possess and manipulate humans and other beings. It feeds on the negative emotions of humans, such as fear and despair. The name of this monster, which was one of the most powerful among the spiritual undead, was.
“Abyss Spirit…? It’s a higher level of Rage Spirit. It specializes in possession, but its magic is also very powerful.”
“If it feeds on fear and despair, isn’t that the same as being able to read minds?”
“I don’t know. You might be able to find out by asking the scholars who were at the branch in the capital…”
The Guild Master did not seem to have a clue.
Trying to drink the tea, he realized it was empty and eventually poured the alcohol he had just mixed with the tea directly into the teacup and began to drink.
“Like the Named ones, monsters can mutate. Even if you try to find them by their characteristics, it may not work very well. And undead are usually created by demons or evil magicians through magic. There is a possibility that unexpected characteristics are added to them… But why did you decide to investigate such a thing, young lady?”
“I heard about … such a monster, and I was hoping … to find out how to defeat it.”
Catherine felt like she was both lying and telling the truth.
She couldn’t help but worry about René, but what did that feel like in the end?
“How to beat it. What does it say in the “Weaknesses” section?”
“Uhh……”
The Guild’s data was not a scholarly illustrated guide to monsters, but rather a practical guide for adventurers.
There you could find information on characteristics, abilities, uses of loot, and what to do in the event of an encounter.
In the case of the Abyss Spirit…
“‘Weakness: Holy Energy’ … isn’t that what all the undead have!”
“Practically, they have no weaknesses.”
A single word written in a space of three lines.
There were no weaknesses unique to the monster, which meant that it had to be defeated by straightforward methods.
＊ ＊ ＊
“… I know this will be a painful reminder for you… But please, will you please tell me? What happened that day, in that place?”
Alisa, a girl in nightgown facing Catherine, nodded quietly.
This was a treatment center under the Temple in Eltaref. A quiet lounge in the ward.
The light streaming in through the window created a sunny atmosphere, and the white wooden walls felt warm. It was a place where anyone could relax and take a breather.
Alisa was the daughter of a royal knight.
On the day of the fall of the capital, she was one of those who were captured by undead soldiers and dragged out to the battlefield.
According to the survivors’ accounts, the “hostages” were divided into three groups.
First, those who were taken to the battlefield first. These all seem to have died, with the exception of Catherine, who was released halfway through.
Second, those who were taken to the second place of battle. In front of these girls, the knights were overrun. But all of the captured girls returned alive.
Lastly, those who were captured but were released without being harmed. Perhaps they were the second to be released and therefore had no part to play.
Alisa was second.
That battle left deep scars on the hearts of the survivors.
Children who became depressed and threw themselves into the river. Some were so afraid of the darkness that they could no longer live a normal life. Children who lost their emotions and stopped laughing…
Catherine was mentally safe because she didn’t see the carnage firsthand and was not in the middle of it, and she wasn’t even afraid of the scene.
Alisa was captured by an army of undead, and although she was released safely, the mental shock left her unable to speak.
However, she slid a pen onto a piece of paper on the table and wrote the words.
“I’m fine. It’s more than that. I am so sorry to have received money for this.”
Alisa’s father died.
Normally, the family of a knight killed in battle would receive a benefit for the deceased, but with the collapse of the state, there was no way they would receive such a benefit.
She needed money.
Catherine was given the information and Alisa was given the money. Although the deal was equal, Catherine felt a little guilty because it was like holding her life hostage.
Alisa recounted the events of the day of the fall of the capital in writing.
The Knights were crushed in front of the second group of “hostages”.
The “Rose Princess of Hellrage” laughing loudly.
And … the girls who were released without a single injury.
“Alisa. The “Rose Princess of Hellrage” you saw was a headless swordswoman in a white dress, wasn’t she?”
Catherine asked her to make sure, and a quizzical look came into Alisa’s eyes.
“Dress?”
“Was it not?”
Catherine’s inquiry was about ‘whether or not it was a Dullahan’.
But another part of the question seemed to catch Alisa’s attention.
“It wasn’t a dress. Plain, ordinary outfit. Apron. One-piece.”
It was Catherine’s turn to be troubled by this unexpected information.
–Why did you change your clothes …?
Catherine saw Rene in a pure white dress, no doubt.
Why, of all things, would she change into something else in the middle of a battle?
–Maybe she changed her clothes because her clothes were burned by magic and leaving her naked would have caused all kinds of problems?
But in the midst of a battle, did she have time to worry about such things?
And could she afford to change her clothes?
Or maybe it wasn’t the clothes that changed, but …
–After all, are you changing bodies…?
Because the body had changed, the clothes had changed as well.
It was natural to think so.
However, it was doubtful if a body could be created in such a convenient way.
“Alisa. Was René … Was the ‘Rose Princess of Hellrage’ about the same age as you and I?”
“Yes, about ten years old.”
“Did she have silver hair and silver eyes?”
“Yes.”
That was strange.
How could one so conveniently find a 10 year old with the same silver hair and silver eyes as René?
If you were going to pre-build an undead body and transfer to it, you’d want it to be an adult or a male, or it would be a necessity…
–Maybe the body can be anything?
Catherine recalled the story of the Doppelshadow. A physical transformation.
If René could turn the person she possessed into a Dullahan who looked like her, then the question was cleared up. She didn’t know if such an undead could exist, but it would be unnatural if it wasn’t so…
And then Catherine’s skin turned milky.
The girls that were brought in. She thought those were hostages, but maybe not.
What did the Guild Master say about Rage Spirit and its higher species, Abyss Spirit?
He said that they take the bodies of adventurers and make them fight with their friends. That was…, if you apply…
–The girls would be remade into the undead…!? Don’t tell me they were ‘replacement weapons’ to fight Lawrence!?
Too blasphemous. Catherine shuddered at her own thoughts.
Were the knights made to fight with their own daughters’ bodies?
Worst possible hypothesis. She would rather hope that René had just changed her clothes, but how could she afford to “change because her clothes were ruined” against Lawrence, who was said to be a god of war.
Besides, if she thought about it, René was an avenger. She would want to fight in a way that meta-metaphorically stomped on the heart of her opponents. When she threw Catherine out, René said, ‘She’s useless because she’s not the daughter of a royal knight’. She thought she meant that she was useless as a hostage, but even an unrelated child would be effective in one way or another if all she wanted was to take her hostage, which meant that what René was looking for was…
And then Catherine noticed that Alisa had stiffened as she gripped the pen.
Her hands were shaking, and the pen in her grip was making squishy swirls on the paper.
“I’m sorry, I’ve given you a hard time. … Doctor!”
“Ha!”
A nurse waiting in the corner of the room urged Alisa to leave.
Catherine, also frustrated, stood up and kicked her chair.
–Father, I need to tell this to you as soon as possible…!
A devastating thought about René…
If this was on the mark, it would be outrageous.
–But what do I want to do about … René?
As if driven by some great unseen force, Catherine impulsively researched René.
But what did she want to accomplish with René as a result of this?
Did she want to defeat her? Did she want to save her? Or did she want another ending?
Catherine didn’t know. Not yet.
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