Killing the Possessor - Chapter 137

But what if that ‘theft’ at Resjul wasn’t really theft, but just the result of an earthling who wasn’t used to the way people buy things here? After all, when Hawk had first possessed someone, he grabbed an apple with his own hands and nearly got accused of stealing, too.

And maybe the reason Yuli was dragging her around was because she’d caught on to that. Or maybe she’d taken Yuli for some kind of mentor.

“Yeah, that would explain everything.”

The game is called Saving the Possessor.

As the title suggests, the player’s goal is to save other possessors.

So if that’s the case, then the next person I need to save is—

“…Aveline, damn it!”

Which meant I shouldn’t be combing through an empty palace right now. I should have been sticking to Aveline like glue this whole time. I cursed myself for being so dense and rushed out in a panic.

I’d gotten so hung up on the ‘detached palace’ keyword that my thinking had become far too narrow.

Right, it doesn’t have to be indoors just because it’s called the detached palace. The grounds around it count, too.

“Wait, what was the chapter title again…?”

I tried to remember what I’d seen on the QR code.

[Stage: Chapter 3. Lost, where should I go?]

“I remember now.”

At the time, I’d just thought it was an amusingly on-the-nose title for my predicament, but looking at it now, it was practically a hint.

Combine ‘lost’ with the keyword ‘detached palace’, and there’s only one place that fits.

“…The hedge maze.”

It’s not actually all that hard to find your way through, but it’s confusing enough that a first-time visitor could easily get turned around. And since the maze is right on the way from the main palace to the detached palace, you could count it as part of the palace grounds, depending on your perspective.

“Aveline must be there right now.”

With the answer in hand, I didn’t waste a second. I took off toward the maze at a full sprint.

Since I’d passed by it every time I went to the detached palace and had just spoken to the Crown Prince right by its entrance it wasn’t hard to find.

The moment I stepped into the maze, the message I’d been so desperately waiting for finally appeared.

[Welcome to the Playfield.]

[As long as you’re in the active chapter’s playfield, your residence permit will continue to be extended.]

“Yes!”

I showered myself with praise for figuring it out. Even if I’d done some dumb things before, at least I wasn’t too late this time.

All that was left was to find Aveline.

“Princess Aveline! Where are you?”

Once again, whether it was a game effect or not, there wasn’t a single person in the maze, not even an ant. Normally, once the sun came up, this place would be full of people out for a stroll.

“Princess!”

I hurried through the maze, calling out, then suddenly stopped as a worrying thought hit me. Wait, am I supposed to rescue Aveline from a powerful evil spirit, like with Ailrose?

“I don’t even have holy water…”

There’s only so much I can do with artifacts against an evil spirit. And I really didn’t want to get seriously hurt again.

“P-princess!”

This time, my voice came out a bit weaker. Whether I was supposed to exorcise Aveline if she’d become a spirit, or save her from one, I just hoped that it wasn’t an evil spirit who heard my call.

[The evil spirit ‘???’ has begun the hunt.]

…Looks like I’m already too late.

But judging from the previous pattern, the odds were high that the evil spirit’s true identity would turn out to be Aveline herself.

Even if it wasn’t, at least I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be a difficult high-level spirit like Rudolf Midas—otherwise, things wouldn’t have escalated so quickly. Lower-level spirits just rush in, but the smarter, higher-level ones focus on maintaining their cover as long as possible, since it increases their odds of survival.

Even Rudolf Midas had tried to plan the perfect crime. Though, looking back, he did have a taste for flashy drama.

“At least there’s no need to look for any extra clues.”

Another relief was that this time, the possessed evil spirit was someone whose real name I actually knew, thanks to having spent so much time together over the past two weeks.

If I’d needed her middle name as well—being a royal and all—she’d have been the hardest possible target. Luckily, this damned game wasn’t that merciless.