What should I do?
A man barged into the room and screamed.
I can hear the sound of people rushing from outside. Given the clanking noises, it seems like heavily armed folks are about to burst in any moment.
Hyungkesuni is staring at the man who is trembling and screaming, collapsed on the floor with a ghostly face. Let’s cut her some slack; she was threatened after all.
Is it really that weird of a sight to make someone scream and collapse?
Can’t it be seen as a parade with a purple sphere on their head?
Well, I suppose there aren’t many chances to see such a thing.
Back when I was still human, I thought about dancing to a legendary pop artist’s dance track, but here? They seem more likely to swing a sword saying what nonsense is this.
Even though his head is covered with a dark purple sphere, he’s like a half-zombie, so I guess it’s shocking enough, though a tad disappointing.
Now’s the moment to learn about the sphere human.
Because understanding this sphere human might just allow me to escape from this place.
Hyungkesuni can’t just stand by. If she realizes I can’t escape this crisis, stabbing me wouldn’t be a crime after all.
To start with, I didn’t make some magical contract with mysterious powers that would result in Hyungkesuni having to write a book; it’s just a deal between people.
There’s always the risk of being cheated, but still, it’s about trust.
Of course, in reality, trust is written as the hammer of law. And if that hammer doesn’t hurt, then the contract holds no value.
I’m just replacing that with an illusion about myself.
In other words, from Hyungkesuni’s perspective, it’s like she made a dangerous deal that could lead to her death if she’s not protected by an outsider with special powers.
I intentionally led her into believing that.
So I can’t use Hyungkesuni. I’ll have to find another way, but I can’t trust myself to be articulate.
I can’t speak beautifully enough to charm people instantly, so I pretended to be a powerful outsider and persuaded with force.
Sure, that persuasion involves stomping on their heads on the dirt floor, but a persuasion is still a persuasion. Yes.
Currently, the only unit in my hands is the sphere human.
Speaking of which, a sphere human… To be precise, no one has followed me inside yet?
To describe it figuratively, it’s like tossing a cup upside down into the sea.
I’ll grab any nearby sphere human. Preferably someone of the same height for easier access to light. Then I’ll nudge them in gently, just like when I bestowed my blessings before.
Dark purple smoke will emerge. When it was on Rebecca’s body, her arms cracked and dark purple mist spilled out, but this time, her arms just turn into smoke.
Ah, is that why I could get my hand into Hyungkesuni’s chest earlier?
The dark purple mist flows in effortlessly. Inside, there’s a very faint black light with a swirling purple aura.
Hmm.
Uuuuuuh.
Oh!
I simply made my way in.
In fact, I went in even more than usual!
Swoosh.
The dark purple sphere slowly shrinks. And from inside, a girl’s face pops out. One of Tisah’s granddaughters.
As I watch silently, she opens her eyes.
“Where’s grandpa?”
Oh dear. It’s a child. Well, if she’s the same height as Rebecca Rolfe, she’s still quite a ways away from being an adult. If she screams now, it’ll all be over.
A child’s scream is enough to throw everyone into chaos.
I’m trying to close my eyes, but right now, my hands feel like mist.
A fleeting thought crosses my mind that I’m doomed, but the kid automatically closes her eyes.
Huh?
I don’t feel like I’m controlling her? It just feels the same as when I watch from inside.
“Get away from that person, you witch!”
At that moment, a fully armored man came charging at me, aiming his sword, and the blade touches my neck.
Clang.
My head rolls away and hits the floor.
How many times has my head been chopped off today?
Of course, in the next moment, the severed head sitting on the floor turns hazy, like it’s losing resolution, and it disappears, while my head regenerates.
I see the armored figure with a sword aimed at me, cradling the girl in his arms, preparing to strike again, so I wrap the sphere human around him.
“Urgh! Let go! What are you doing? Protect her!”
At his shout, the people standing at the entrance move to action. At this rate, it seems like all the sphere humans will be killed and I’ll be in danger too.
So, I hurriedly shoved my hand into the chest of the nearest sphere human.
My hand, transformed into dark purple mist, doesn’t splatter blood or flesh but smoothly slips right in. And as the light turns black, the dark purple sphere on his head slowly shrinks.
Then, the man’s face emerges.
“What the heck is going on?”
Uh-oh. He still has his wits about him.
If he panics, won’t the situation spiral out of control? If only he’d close his mouth and shut his eyes like the previous girl…
Huh?
He shuts his mouth and closes his eyes.
Is he obeying commands? Or am I controlling him? I feel like obeying commands makes more sense. I don’t know the principle, but these occurrences are an occurrence. It’s happened already, so I’ll interpret it later.
I need to move quickly.
What should I do?
At the very least, if I can restore his appearance, and maintain consciousness, I’ll have a chance to make it through this situation.
I immediately grasp the arm of the armored knight wielding the sword, shoving him into the sphere to remove it.
During this, I realize something.
To do this in the first place, I would need to say that line.
“I’ll lend myself to you. But later, once you tie everything up, I’ll get everything I had back. What do you think?”
I need to make an oral contract for them to not resist when I push myself into them.
But these guys aren’t resisting. Did they have their warmth taken away? But the monster that took the warmth from before had some connection to me, yet it lost its reason and turned hostile.
I concluded that there’s a rule where you become such a monster when you lose your warmth.
As if the contract had already been made long ago.
They have purple hair. Tisah’s original hair is brown.
Could it be that the descendants of the Blessed Ones automatically inherit the contract? Like when renting, the contract continues implicitly unless you state otherwise after the lease period ends?
So why is there no shared vision?
Ah, could it be?
The contract has passed, but inside they don’t follow me?
The contract might have ended but hasn’t been acted upon yet?
I’m happy if the Blessed Ones increase.
Good things are good.
Let’s increase them first.
I’m going around the room, turning sphere humans into Blessed ones.
I glance at those near the entrance, clutching their weapons and aiming at the room, unable to step inside.
Everyone seems petrified with fear, including the man who collapsed screaming previously, now right up against the entrance.
I check the faces behind him.
I don’t see any priests of the Seongsin Church.
It seems like there’s no one here who is certain about my identity. They might know internally, but at least in the memories of the people here, it appears there isn’t any.
So, I’ll assume there’s not and keep moving.
I’ll have a bit of time until I return these dozens of people inside to their original selves.
I need to think until then.
Hyungkesuni?
With every Blessed person I create, a smile grows on her face.
She laughs out of fear.
From her perspective, does it seem like a monster devouring people is increasing its hosts?
But I already told her I’d write a book. I’ve got no intentions of sparing her. She’ll read that and acquire the summoning method.
Books are neat.
They’ll likely take up much less space as well.
Faster than slicing up Yasle’s memories and passing them on, I can convey the summoning method.
As I quickly settle current and future matters, the sphere humans are gradually decreasing.
There’s no time.
I need to decide what stance I’ll take going forward.
At the very least, I can’t act like a regular person. I’ve already shown the ability to regenerate after having my head chopped off. Therefore, I exclude the act of appearing as a righteous knight come to help.
I could use Hyungkesuni to pen the book, then cut her down, but as long as I view the memories of the people here, Hyungkesuni won’t be immediately thrown into a dungeon as a witch.
I told you, right?
Tisah was a good king.
And he consistently spread good influence. Right now, the Ansellus Kingdom is in its most radiant era of peace.
The trials are still fair for now.
They’ll probably try cross-verifying with Hyungkesuni’s claims. So, I have to keep her in hand. I’ll move her to keep her under control.
If she runs away, I’ll have no way to catch her.
What should I do?
How can I seize justification in this place?
No, I should think that it’s fine even if I can’t survive until the end. Wishing for too much when I have nothing is just a delusion.
All I need is to stay alive until Hyungkesuni writes the book.
No matter what Hyungkesuni says, the Blessed persons created here must not die. Conversely, she can’t be beheaded for assaulting royalty, a heinous crime either.
Until the book is written.
Yes.
Let’s set the direction.
And prepare myself.
After all, this role is one Hyungkesuni handed to me. If I take it on and things go awry, all the blame goes to Hyungkesuni.
After returning the last sphere human back to being a person, I seated myself next to Tisah’s corpse.
Since I’m at it, I examined the crack where Tisah’s upper body was, but as expected, I still have no clue.
Just saying, “Rise,” makes those connected to Tisah in this place come to their senses. Here lie Tisah’s children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren.
Looking at them, I reveal the truth.
“I am the one whom humanity calls an outsider. I’ve come to collect my dues from my Blessed person as per our contract. Is there a law in the name of the Seongsin that prevents the execution of contracts? According to your law, isn’t the first signatory the one that comes first? Answer me, humanity.”
First strike wins. If you want to retaliate, come answer, Seongsin’s deity.
With all my spirit, I act out the role of an outsider.
