I’m Trying to End This Possession Chapter 236

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“You’re back.”

 

“…”

 

“Did you have a good trip?”

 

“…”

 

“I was waiting.”

 

The light was so bright that Dana frowned. A handsome bay stood before her. Platinum hair like the morning sun. Smooth cheeks and eyes the color of fresh spring greenery captured her gaze. She stared blankly and muttered, “Angel…” No, wait!

 

Smack! Dana slapped her own cheek. Then she jumped up in surprise. It didn’t hurt at all. And why is my palm so tiny…?! Ah, right. I was in this girl’s body! So I came back to this body again!

 

The moment she was certain, she braced herself. Don’t get swept up in a child’s way of thinking! There was no time to be swept away. She needed to endure it with sheer willpower and grit.

 

Dana sprang up from the bed. “Where is this?!”

 

“Our house.”

 

Our house where… But, who decided it’s ‘our’ house? This was the last place she had seen in this little girl’s body. A small cabin deep in the mountains. But was it her imagination? The inside looked more well-stocked than before…

 

“You’re hungry, right? I was just baking bread.” Carl was even wearing an apron. “Freshly baked. Eat.” He held out warm bread.

 

A rich, savory scent wafted up…

 

“Here. Say ah~”

 

“Ah~”

 

Without realizing it, Dana bit into the bread. Nom, nom. It’s delicious! Wait! Cuh! She immediately spat it out, and Carl turned pale in shock.

 

“I-Is it not good?”

 

Ignoring him, Dana stared into the air. She thought she must be mistaken, but she wasn’t. Numbers made of light floated there.

 

23 hours 59 minutes 12 seconds.

 

23 hours 59 minutes 11 seconds.

 

23 hours 59 minutes 10 seconds.

 

That’s… don’t tell me that’s the time limit?

 

Did Yustio do this for her? He must have attached a clock visible only to her eyes through holy magic.

 

There’s no time! Dana abruptly clung to Carl’s floral apron. “I have to go back to the Grand Cathedral!”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Take me, hurry! Quickly, now, right now!”

 

“No.”

 

“What?”

 

“I don’t want to.” Carl rejected her cleanly with a smiling face. His smile was so pretty that Dana realized a beat too late that she had just been refused.

 

“B-But I have to go.”

 

“Really?”

 

“I-I have a reason I absolutely must go!”

 

“I see.”

 

“…”

 

What kind of conversation is this? Carl just kept smiling. In other words… He’s not listening to me at all!

 

Just as Dana flustered, knock knock, there was a sound at the door.

 

“Um, Carl. May I come in?”

 

Dana whipped her head toward the door. That’s a female’s voice, right?

 

“Yeah, Romi. Come in.”

 

The door opened, and a girl with her hair in two braids entered. Seventeen, eighteen perhaps? Clearly, she was older than Carl. Smiling shyly, she held out a basket of fruit.

 

“Um… I just picked these apples from the orchard. I wanted to share them with you.”

 

“Thank you, Romi. I’ll enjoy them.”

 

That was only the beginning. A flood of female visitors poured in behind her.

 

“Here, this is freshly squeezed milk from our farm!”

 

“I brought a cotton quilt in case Carl gets cold at night!”

 

“You said your niece needed clothes and hair ties, right? I bought some!”

 

“This is ointment in case she gets hurt. It’s precious, but for Carl…”

 

“These are gold coins I’ve saved, just in case you need starting capital…”

 

…

 

…

 

In an instant, all kinds of household goods filled the cabin. Several sacks of gold coins even came in. Carl responded with a smile, as if accustomed to such treatment. “Thank you so much, Romi, El, Tonya, Seili, Marsha, Charlotte, Eleiza, Rene, Tami, Reina, Kate.”

 

This… This… Dana trembled, then burst into tears. “Waaah!” She should have endured it with willpower, but she couldn’t. Emotions too sharp for a young child to bear surged up, and little Dana cried loudly and pitifully.

 

Carl leaned against the wall, grinning. “My niece is jealous.”

 

“Waaah!”

 

“Look at her crying. Cute, right?”

 

What is he saying!

 

Instead of comforting her, Carl leisurely admired the scene. That was the shocking part.

 

Dana hiccupped through her sobs. I hate young Carl! He’s mean!

 

Carl smiled and saw the ladies out. “Thanks, everyone. Get home safely.”

 

Click. The door shut. Immediately, indignation surged through Dana. “You womanizer! Playboy! Gigolo!”

 

“Mm-hm. Sure, sure.” Carl replied absentmindedly, almost humming.

 

Dana huffed angrily. “I’ll go to the Grand Cathedral by myself!”

 

“Is that so? How?”

 

“What?”

 

“How are you going to get down this mountain alone, little Dana?”

 

“T-That’s…!”

 

“Will you toddle down? Or hopping?” Perhaps imagining it amused him, Carl burst into laughter as clear as ringing bells. “Ahaha. That’d be cute, like a bunny.”

 

“…”

 

“Not so cute if you get ripped apart by a black bear living in this mountain, though.”

 

Dana’s spine chilled instantly, and she shrank her shoulders. A black bear? Really? B-But…

 

23 hours 44 minutes 33 seconds.

 

32 seconds, 31 seconds, 30 seconds. Tick, tock. Time passed.

 

“Help me.” Growing anxious, Dana sobbed. “There’s something I have to do. I have to, I have to save Ignis…”

 

“What do you have to do to get Ignis out of the sanctuary?”

 

“Yes. Yes.”

 

Carl stroked his chin, rolling his eyes thoughtfully. “I like that. Alright, I’ll take you.”

 

“Re-Really?”

 

“On one condition.” Carl tapped his cheek lightly and gave her a mischievous smile with his eyes.

 

Dana held her breath. There was only one meaning behind that gesture. Toward Carl, who waited leisurely, she hesitantly approached. He watched her draw closer with relaxed amusement. She then pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

 

“Good job.” Carl smiled in satisfaction and ruffled her hair.

 

Dana curled her fingers. For some reason, his breath tickled. Somehow, young Carl had a strangely nasty streak…

 

“Hu-Hurry up and let’s go. There’s no time!”

 

“Okay, wait a bit. I’ll get ready.”

 

While Carl gathered his things, Dana suddenly felt unable to stay in the same space. She hurried outside the cabin. Only then could she breathe properly. How many days have passed? What happened to Lord Ignis? I hope he’s okay. Growing impatient, she kicked at a stone—

 

“Ack!”

 

A sharp pain shot through her ankle. Something had latched onto it. Long and slender.

 

“Kyah!”

 

It was a mountain snake.

 

“Kyahhhh!” Instinctively, like a young girl, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

 

Carl came running. “What? What happened!”

 

“S-S-Snake!”

 

Carl quickly grabbed the mountain snake and snapped it in two. He tossed it aside and hurriedly examined Dana’s ankle. “This is bad.”

 

She thought he might panic, but the boy inspected her wound with surprising calm.

 

“Hang in there. There’s a village below. We can get antidotes there.”

 

“No!” Tearfully, Dana clutched his collar tightly. “I’m fine, let’s go to the Grand Cathedral! There’s no time! Hurry!”

 

“Then you’ll die in a few days.”

 

“I don’t care if I die, hurry! Hurry! There’s no time!”

 

“That’s a problem.” Carl quietly examined the clear bite marks on her ankle, then lowered his face. “Bear with it once.”

 

Dana sniffled. Bear with what? What is he trying to— “Ah!”

 

The next moment, Carl bit down hard on her ankle.

 

“Hurts, it hurts!” She struggled, but Carl didn’t release her ankle. “It hurts…” She sobbed.

 

He’s not a vampire. What is he doing?! Uh? Dana suddenly stopped struggling. Something was seeping into her ankle. A very rough power, but one with no intention of harming her. A power that was gentle and yet wicked.

 

“…”

 

Blink, blink. Dana blinked. Her vision, which had blurred briefly, was clearing. What was that? And why am I lying down? She was lying in the grass from earlier. When did I collapse?

 

“You’re awake.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“You fainted for a moment. About two minutes.”

 

I fainted? It seemed that when that power entered her body, this fragile child’s body couldn’t endure it, making her lose consciousness. Fortunately, it must have finished by that time.

 

Carl was no longer biting her ankle. He wiped his reddened lips with the back of his hand and glanced at her. “How is it? Feeling better?”

 

No. She didn’t feel fine. Her body felt feverish. But she felt more energetic. And above all, her ankle was completely healed. Not even a trace of the snakebite remained.

 

“W-What did you do?”

 

“I don’t know. I just felt like I could heal it. And it worked.”

 

Dana knew what Carl had done. She knew what that power that had surged into her was. Carl just used demonic power to heal me… Right. Come to think of it, Carl had been bitten by the serpent at Ice Lake not long ago. He had said demonic power seeped into him then… Wait, how long has he even had that power to already figure out how to use it?

 

At that moment, Carl coughed as if something caught in his throat. Cough, cough. He suddenly vomited black blood. After wiping it away with a handkerchief, he stood up. “Shall we go?”

 

“…”

 

Didn’t that just get brushed off way too casually?

 

“W-Wait.” This was the first time Dana had seen Carl cough up blood. Trembling, she asked, “W-Why did that happen?”

 

“Probably from using that power. Feels like my heart’s being torn apart.”

 

“…”

 

“Mmm. I shouldn’t use it unless absolutely necessary. I might die if I’m not careful.”

 

“…”

 

“But this much is fine. I’ll recover soon.”

 

“…”

 

“Let’s go.”

 

Tap, tap. He patted the back of her round head.

 

Demonic power had been killing Carl. Before long, it would completely break him. A sentence that had always sounded like a joke until now pricked sharply. For the first time, it truly did. But—

 

“Y-Yes. Let’s hurry.”

 

There was no time. For now, all she could do was focus on what she needed to do here and what she could do here.

 

Wait for me, Lord Ignis. I’m coming!

 

23 hours 32 minutes 22 seconds remained.