“Did I really teach you this type of magic?”
Opening her mouth in amazent, the Dark Spiritualist marveled as I showed her so of the spells she would create in the future.
At so point, we stopped drinking coffee and started sipping wine.
Seeing her tipsy appearance, which was different and yet faintly familiar, put at ease.
She always felt regretful that she couldn’t drink even when there was alcohol around because she was a ghost.
“Wow, I’m really amazing.”
Anyway, seeing this familiar goofy side of hers made miss the original Dark Spiritualist.
“Most Dark Mages know about you. I also heard that Dante tried to recruit you, but failed.”
“That’s how it should be! There’s no way they wouldn’t have sent an invitation!”
She bobbed her head smugly, showing that she was satisfied with the future. Since she was holed up in her lab during this period, her need for recognition was certainly exceptional.
Watching the Dark Spiritualist, who was now in a good mood, tilt her glass, I asked the sa question again.
“So, what was the reason that made you so determined to learn Necromancy?”
“Ah.”
She dodged the question before, saying she forgot. This ti, maybe because she had so drinks or just rembered, she answered without much hesitation.
“Have you heard the story of the child who wished for Legeton?”
“Yes.”
It was the story of a girl who wished to et her mother, who had died early. She then received Legeton from the Demon Lord Lehric.
“It is similar to that situation; my parents died when I was very young.”
“…”
Clink.
The Dark Spiritualist shook her glass slightly.
The emotion reflected in her eyes was different from that of re longing.
“They told not to worry and promised they’d always be by my side, even after death.”
“…”
“At first, I was curious. Are my parents’ souls really with ?”
The beginning of the girl’s path to becoming a Necromancer was quite both tragic and simple.
“Then, I learned about Legeton’s story, that there was a child just like .”
Suddenly, a feeling of doubt arose within . The Dark Spiritualist was talking as if she were referring to soone else, but wasn’t she the descendant of that girl? R
Does she not know about it yet, at this point?
Thinking that might be the case, I propped my chin and focused on listening to her story again.
“So, while searching for Legeton, I started learning Necromancy.”
A slight blush, which was visible through the semi-transparent black veil, appeared on her face.
“But do you know what’s funny?”
“What is it?”
With a self-mocking smile, the Dark Spiritualist answered indifferently.
“I had forgotten about it until just now.”
“…”
“That’s right. Yes, I started learning Necromancy to see my parents. It’s really funny.”
However, despite her words, there was no great emotional upheaval.
It was not uncommon that when soone ran hard, they would start forgetting the direction they were actually headed. It was similar to the cliches where soone initially aid to earn money for the sake of their family, only to have money beco the sole purpose of their lives.
“The more I learned, the more I thought it was because I wasn’t good enough that I still couldn’t see my parents.”
“…”
“At so point, it no longer beca important. I simply found learning Necromancy enjoyable. It was like getting addicted to a drug.”
“I see.”
The more I listened to her story, the more it felt like she was giving a confession. Was it the sa for the Dark Spiritualist?
She rolled up her sleeves and showed her pale wrist.
There were scars from multiple needle marks on it.
“The blood of the child who received Legeton from Demon Lord Lehric flows within .”
“I know. You are that child’s descendant.”
“Hehe, is that how the future explained it?”
The drunk Dark Spiritualist shook her head.
“That child never married or had children.”
“…?”
I didn’t understand what she ant by that, but the Dark Spiritualist continued explaining.
“When I found the child’s corpse, it seed she harbored a lot of resentnt; she wandered around, wailing with intense sorrow. Her obsession with life was so strong that even after hundreds of years, her corpse hadn’t decayed because of her soul.”
Before entering the Dream Demon Manor, I rembered talking with the Dark Spiritualist about it. When I asked her if she was truly the descendant of the child who received Legeton, her expression turned quite dark at the ti.
“I tried to control the child who had transford into a vengeful evil spirit, but I failed. She was too powerful and left with no choice but to annihilate her.”
“Then…”
Her gaze slowly moved from the wine glass to .
“That’s right, I transplanted all of the child’s blood into myself. It took about a year.”
I could hardly speak.
The extent of her obsession with Necromancy made my skin crawl.
“Why did you do such a thing?”
Why would the Dark Spiritualist, who was not even a Cadavermancer, inject the child’s blood into herself?
As if it was obvious, she forced a laugh.
“Because I didn’t know how Legeton recognizes its master, this was a foundation I laid so I could handle it better when I eventually obtained it.”
I couldn’t find any words.
I began to understand why the Dark Spiritualist hid her past from so thoroughly.
“So, how is it? Do you find repulsive now?”
There were tis when people had asserted that the Dark Spiritualist was much more vile than I knew.
I didn’t receive any clear explanation back then, but hearing it directly from her now…
“My view of you has changed.”
Now, I fully realized that the Dark Spiritualist had walked a path completely opposite to mine.
“I feel sorry for my future self.”
Despite her words, she continued drinking her wine as if she felt refreshed after confessing everything.
Then, she glanced at as if she had at least found so relief.
“But it’s a relief, right?”
“…”
“You noticed, didn’t you?”
It was a brief silence.
Suddenly, the Dark Spiritualist’s previously tranquil gaze as she stared at sharpened like a blade honed on a whetstone.
We both slowly reached for our staves beside us.
The mana between us, like boiling water, was slowly but steadily heating up, clearly preparing to be directed at each other. However…
Crash!
The door to the dining hall burst open and Han So rolled in along with debris. Before a day had passed, the golden shield we gave him had already split in half; he embraced the Heavenly Oath Martial Staff tightly as if to protect it.
The Dark Spiritualist and I both turned our gaze to the entrance.
A mont ago, we resembled Wild West gunslingers ready to draw our revolvers towards each other, not tolerating any interference.
However, now, we pointed our staves towards the entrance, where a woman stood dragging six corpses.
“Luaneth?”
Among them, we could see a small corpse.
My eyes were drawn to Luaneth, whose once radiant blonde hair had been completely pulled out.
That boy was the one who nearly brought the Griffin Kingdom to its destruction as Heralhazard, who then ford the organization called Dante to save the continent with Black Magic.
As I took in the sight of his corpse, a faint disturbance arose within , but my expression remained unchanged.
When I rembered Mul from Room 109, who ntioned we’d et later before committing suicide, I started to question if this place—the Dream Demon Manor—was real.
“C-careful! Those corpses she has aren’t ordinary!”
Han So hurriedly pulled himself together and assud a defensive stance.
However, the Dark Spiritualist voiced a question.
“What’s going on here? Isn’t everyone supposedly staying in their rooms? And yet, they were still all killed by this woman?”
The Cadavermancer giggled with a chilling laugh. However, upon seeing Mul’s corpse, I roughly understood the situation.
“So, you sent in those corpses.”
After all, the dead weren’t bound by rules.
24. When a guest dies, the room they occupied will be opened. However, until then, entry is forbidden even with permission from the room owner.
This ant corpses were simply regarded as objects.
It was easy to guess how she infiltrated the rooms and killed the other guests.
“Hi… Hihihi. So many quality corpses. This place must be heaven for real!”
As the woman laughed and looked around at us, her expression suddenly hardened.
Then.
“Six.”
She counted the number of corpses she was controlling.
Her thin fingers, which were marked by stitched scars, pointed at Han So.
“Seven.”
Then, at the Dark Spiritualist.
“Eight.”
Next, at .
“Nine.”
She continued counting with herself.
“Ten.”
Finally.
“The stupid big guy.”
She even counted Jortu, who had already died on the fourth floor.
“Eleven.”
A chilling silence fell.
The Cadavermancer, who had been counting people with her finger, scratched her chin and posed a question.
“But there are only ten rooms?”
From Room 101 to Room 110.
There were a total of ten guests invited, yet when we counted, there were eleven people.
“Huh?”
Surprised, Han So also counted the present people himself before stepping back as a cold shiver ran down his spine.
“R-Rule No. 27. So, there’s an uninvited intruder here?”
27. Guest rooms only go up to number 110. There is no Room 111. If you find Room 111 and soone is staying in it, kill them imdiately. They are an uninvited intruder.
“W-who is it?”
Bewildered, Han So began to back away, warily eyeing us.
This was why I didn’t say anything earlier.
Because if I had spoken earlier, our newly ford group would have quickly fallen apart.
I t the Dark Spiritualist’s gaze.
She shrugged, but her expectant eyes made open my mouth.
“When we listed out all the rules, there were several confusing points.”
The Dream Demon Manor had many rules. They seed sloppy, and yet, held an air of absolute authority.
The ambiguously written rules seed to urge us to sohow use them as if they were keys to solving a mystery.
Well, actually, the rules of the Dream Demon Manor had indeed beco the key to solving this case.
“I, Deus Verdi, am staying in Room 110.”
I ca from the farthest future.
“Mul was staying in Room 109.”
Mul ca from a ti period right before mine.
“The Cadavermancer is staying in Room 108.”
I saw her crawling towards Room 108 after being beaten by Jortu.
“Jortu, who has died, was staying in Room 107.”
“W-what does that matter?”
Han So asked hesitantly, but I calmly recalled Han So and Jortu’s first eting.
“Jortu, upon seeing you, War God Han So, said that you were a middle-aged person.”
- The Han So I know of is quite a middle-aged man.
From Jortu’s ti, Han So must have been middle-aged.
“So, if we assu that Han So, who lives in Jortu’s ti, is at most forty-nine years old…”
Suddenly realizing his age and trying to figure out each room’s ti, Han So stood there with his mouth agape.
He seed to follow the conversation well enough.
“, who is staying in Room 110, Han So died at the age of eighty-five in my ti.”
“Heeeeeh?!“
Han So’s reaction to learning about his death was quite amusing, but that wasn’t the important part.
“Thus, there is a gap of about 36 years between Room 107 and Room 110.”
Considering that middle age was around 40-49 years old, even if there were an error, the difference would not be extrely significant.
“Here cos the question.”
I glanced slightly at the Dark Spiritualist and saw that she was actually enjoying my explanation.
“The Dark Spiritualist I know of is at most thirty years old. Yet, there is at least a 36-year gap between and Jortu in Room 107.”
Han So seed to have been overwheld, trying to catch up; however, the Cadavermancer’s eyes glead as if she had found the answer.
While I didn’t know her exact age in my ti, the Dark Spiritualist was either my age or a year or two older.
A year later, I would be 29 years old.
However, the Dark Spiritualist in front of was eighteen years old.
“Jortu in Room 107.”
I spoke like…
“The Cadavermancer in Room 108.”
A judge delivering a verdict,
“Mul in Room 109.”
Who was calmly tapping the gavel,
“Deus Verdi in Room 110.”
And delivering the final judgnt.
“According to Rule No. 11 of the Dream Demon Manor.”
11. Guests with higher room numbers co from later ti periods.
The uninvited intruder in this Manor was…
“If you are truly an invited guest, you would have been assigned a room between Room 107 and Room 110.”
The 18-year-old Dark Spiritualist.
It was you!
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