C91: Once again

“...”

Izzy looked down at the old man’s corpse in silence.

“How should I clear up this mess?”

Izzy glanced toward the small attic window.

The world around her remained quiet and dark, bathed in the calm of the deep night. Perhaps only half a day had passed since Benjamin’s death and their subsequent unconsciousness.

From the ground, Benjamin’s corpse slowly stood.

“You can do that?”

“Yes?”

They could control the corpse?

A subtle prick of unease tucked at the corners of Izzy’s mind. There was something unsettling about this new ability.

But since her young mind was a genius, she let it be.

‘?’

Genius?

Was her young mind a genius? Just because she solved a puzzle and controlled Benjamin’s body?

How did she even arrive at that conclusion?

‘Strange.’

They had grown stronger. They could now Control Corpse. Her Field Vision and Psychokinesis had extended to 150 meters. And more importantly, they could reanimate corpses into vessels.

Izzy searched Benjamin’s body.

Inside his inner robe, they found a leather-bound diary. There was also a porcelain doll. And Benjamin’s cane.

“!”

Isa immediately threw the doll outside the window!

“Isa?”

Of course, as soon as the doll began its descent, Izzy instantly exerted her Psychokinesis, stopping it mid-air and gently returning it to the attic.

“It was an accident!” Isa defended herself, clearly flustered.

“Right.” Izzy gave her a questionable glance, then settled the doll in the corner of the room, leaning it against an old chest.

“?”

Did she imagine it? Or did that doll just glance at her just now?

As for the diary, Izzy opened it.

“!”

At once, five distinct lines of what appeared to be written text, or strange symbols, crawled across the pages!

However, what intrigued her most was one particular line.

‘Why do I feel I can read it now?’

The script had something to do with the moon.

Izzy frowned.

She was certain she had never learned this language before. Was this the result of their power-up?

Or had absorbing Benjamin’s essence altered her cognition?

Since Izzy didn’t have anything to cross-check the information, she couldn’t be quite sure if it was really something she could read.

‘Sorry, this girl is being delusional right now.’ Izzy chuckled. She dismissed her thoughts for now and closed the diary.

There were also two orange-capped bottles and a single vial with a blue cap. One of these, she surmised, should be able to enable the cane’s ability.

They also found a porcelain X-shaped statuette, resembling two swords crossed together; a necklace with a deep-red, flame-shaped sword pendant; a small, delicate cross etched with a rose at its heart.

And—

Candies, wrapped in wax paper.

‘Candies!’ Isa perked up, but Izzy ignored her.

She updated Benjamin’s power profile, as well as her own condition.

[“Field Vision: extended, 150m.

Psychokinesis: 150m, strengthened within 15m.

Control Corpse: to control Marionette.

Puppet Mark: to mark a puppet's body.

Reanimation: for the living body, The Vessel.”]

As her young mind finished cleaning up the attic, together, they controlled Benjamin and descended to the basement.

They descended down the floor, soon they found themselves in a hallway lined with imposing pillars.

Izzy’s gaze drifted upward toward the ceiling.

The ceiling was blank. There was nothing there. It was just an empty, bare stone.

Izzy furrowed her brows.

‘There should be something here.’

‘Yes?’

A trumpet, or some sort.

Why was she so sure of it?

Izzy scrutinized the ceiling for a long time.

‘...’

‘...’

‘...’

‘...’

There.

A silhouette.

Long black hair…

Diamond shape…

‘...’

⟡“Stop prying. You will die♦.”⟡

“!”

Izzy’s attention snapped from her trance.

‘I-Isa, did you hear that?!’

‘Yes?’

‘That voice! Someone just spoke to us!’

‘...’

‘On that, Isa!’ Izzy frantically pointed at the ceiling.

‘Izzy…’

‘It’s not a hallucination!’

At least, that was what Izzy tried to convey with her expression.

‘Izzy, it’s just an empty ceiling.’

Isa reached up and gently stroked her head.

‘There, there.’

‘N-no! That—’

‘It’s alright, Izzy.’

‘...’

‘…’

‘…’

Did Isa just treat her like a child? Really?

Izzy made a complicated face. She pushed the young mind’s hand aside from her head.

‘What am I doing?’

Maybe it really was just a hallucination.

Did Benjamin’s influence really affect her that much?

“...”

Izzy exhaled and forced herself to refocus.

They resumed their study, walking toward the old walls on both sides and studying the murals. The old stone walls were engraved with faded murals.

They walked past the chamber of prison cells. Inside, the bone fingers lay neatly on each cell floor, arranged meticulously, as if to count how many souls had been trapped here.

As expected, her young mind’s anger and disgust surged. A surge of emotion unlike anything Izzy had witnessed from her young mind before, except the time Benjamin’s ability had manipulated them.

‘Calm down, Isa.’

‘Yes.’

What intrigued her was that while the culprit of this entire ordeal was undoubtedly Benjamin, Isa’s anger wasn’t directed at him. The fact that Isa hadn’t immediately destroyed Benjamin’s corpse proved that.

Izzy clapped Benjamin’s hands together in prayer.

‘May you rest in eternal peace.’

The corpse then moved toward the wooden cabinet. Benjamin opened it and retrieved the exquisite golden sacrificial dagger. The blade gleamed even in the dim underground light.

They shifted control and possessed Arriet, making her their vessel. The girl rose slowly from the attic, eyes briefly unfocused before stabilizing.

They cleaned Arriet up, bathing her, dressing her in simple clothes, and making a meal for her.

As soon as they finished their meal, Izzy noticed some strangers lurking outside the mansion.

‘Hmm.’

“Yes.”

In the dining room, the candlelight flickered, reflecting the black-haired girl’s shadow on the wall.

A heartbeat later, every light in the mansion went out, plunging it into complete darkness.

—

Jack, Rudolph, Glen, and Arnold. That was the list of the unfortunate guests that they had “served” tonight.

Jack and Arnold would serve as their primary Vessels, since their bodies sustained the least amount of damage and were thus the most viable.

Benjamin’s corpse was no longer usable, his corpse having sustained too much damage beyond repair.

Rudolph was partly damaged, but still salvageable if absolutely necessary. It was no big deal.

Izzy did not particularly feel threatened by the band.

It was strange. It was as if she had killed them so many times before.

As for the girl they rescued, they would think about her later. Maybe using her as emergency food, or a temporary vessel. She shouldn't be a threat to them.

“Isa?”

But what was wrong with her young mind?

Arriet, Isa’s vessel, sat silently in the shadows of the room. Izzy controlled the other marionettes and vessels to stand up and clean up the place, tidying the remnants of the struggle, while Isa, through Arriet, silently gazed out of the window, her gaze fixed on the moon.

The unusual part? She did not sway her legs like usual.

In their shared mind, Izzy flew over to her young mind’s place.

The first thing she noticed was a green flower resting on Isa’s chest dress.

“...?”

Izzy stared at it for a moment, then looked down at her own azure flower, which remained unchanged.

Why did her young mind’s flower suddenly change color?

“Isa. You’ve become less cheerful than usual.”

“Yes?”

Isa finally seemed to notice her presence. She lifted her head, her greenish eyes locked onto Izzy’s

This prompted another question in Izzy’s mind.

“Why are you suddenly changing color?”

“Uh?” Isa widened her eyes and looked down at her chest. She touched the green flower, a puzzled expression in her gaze.

“Isa doesn’t know?” She tilted her head, clearly as baffled as Izzy.

Was it because their two minds were slowly separating and becoming two independent minds?

Well, it was just a change of color, nothing harmful. She left the thoughts aside.

“You look unwell, Isa. Want some candy?”

Isa remained silent for a moment, before shaking her head slowly.

“Isa… doesn’t want it right now.”

Izzy knitted her brows.

‘Suddenly so mature?’

Something was unusual about her.

Was it from when Benjamin died? Had the trauma of that experience matured her prematurely? Or did the girl still have some lingering affection toward him, and this was her post-traumatic recovery?

“Isa. What are you thinking about?”

Izzy sat down next to her young mind with a serious expression.

As far as Izzy knew, this girl should not be like this, deep in thought like a scholar. Thinking deeply was usually Izzy’s role.

Isa had never been one for deep contemplation; action and impulse were her usual mode. The girl had never done the deep thinking, after all.

“That’s rude, Isa can think, too.”

“Really?” Izzy chuckled. A wave of relief washed over her.

‘Well, at least she can still talk back.’

‘...’

Isa hesitated for a moment.

After a while, as if just made up her mind, Isa gazed over, her greenish eyes locking with Izzy’s again.

“Izzy.”

“Hmm?”

“There is something strange in our mindscape, Izzy.”

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