“What did you say?”
Lilith frowned, unable to make sense of what Havel was saying at all.
“Havel. You mean I don’t look like an evil spirit with blood-soaked, disheveled hair to you?”
“Uh… that’s right! The evil spirit is a silver-haired lady.”
Hearing Havel’s words, I felt my suspicion was confirmed. It seemed that people who felt goodwill toward me saw me not in the form of an evil spirit, but as the way I looked back when I was still human.
“Huh? Evil spirit—evil spirit! Behind you! The book is glowing!”
Suddenly, as if he had noticed something, Havel moved closer to me. When he came near, he reached toward the bookshelf behind me and pulled out a book. Just as Havel had said, the book was glowing. Lilith stared intently at the book resting in Havel’s hands, then reached out and touched it.
“Wait. I think this book might be the one we’ve been looking for.”
Because the entire book was glowing, I couldn’t make out its title.
“What book is it?”
Lilith opened the book.
Kugugugugu—.
The moment she did, a thunderous roar echoed through the room, and the ground began to tremble.
“What the… is this really an earthquake this time?”
Clang—.
After the tremor, all the lamps hanging in the rare books room fell and shattered.
“What the heck!”
“What is going on?”
I could see ahead, but the survivors were on edge, unable to see anything in the pitch-dark space.
Drdrdrdr—.
The bookshelves began to move. It looked like some kind of trap had been triggered. Thankfully, everyone was gathered close together rather than scattered. It would have been even more dangerous if they had spread out, given that nothing was visible.
“Everyone, put your hands on the shoulders of the person in front of you! Just like when you play the train game!”
“What’s the train game?”
Even in this situation, Evan calmly asked with a smile.
[Evan Martinez]
◇ Fear: 0%
[Lilith Garrett]
◇ Fear: 28%
◇ Fear: 46%
◇ Fear: 59%
[Havel Acron]
◇ Fear: 0%
In a situation where it was obvious we’d fallen into a trap, two humans showed no fear at all, while one person’s fear level was skyrocketing.
‘What these abnormal humans are like…’
Everyone calmly followed my advice and placed their hands on the shoulders of the person in front, but Lilith just stood there, trembling.
“Lilith, don’t worry. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”
Noticing Lilith trembling in the darkness, Evan reassured her. Lilith placed her hand on Evan’s shoulder, revealing her conflicted emotions.
“Left, left!”
I guided the survivors, who couldn’t see ahead, toward the direction of the exit.
“Huh? Wait. Mary Crow!”
Oh no. I should have realized much earlier that someone had gone missing!
“Something’s flying from the right. Get down!”
Swoosh!
Something sharp flew over the survivors’ heads and lodged into the opposite wall. It looked like an arrow. Thankfully, everyone was safe because they had dropped flat to the ground at my warning.
“Now, run straight ahead!”
After guiding them in the right direction, I took to the air and rolled my eyes around to look for Mary.
“Oh, there it is!”
Mary was sitting in the corner, trembling with fear.
I flew straight to Mary.
[Mary Crow]
◇ Fear: 87%
“Mary! Get up! We have to get out of here!”
“I, I… it’s over. It’s already too late! I’m going to die soon. I won’t be able to invent anything or disguise myself ever again.”
This is bad. Her fear level is way too high, and she’s panicking so badly that she won’t listen to anything I say.
“Damn it.”
You used ⟨Possession⟩ on ⟨Mary Crow⟩.
! You cannot use ⟨Possession⟩ due to the target’s current status ailment.
Possession was impossible as well. Come to think of it, there had never been a single time when an attempt to possess Mary had succeeded. From far away, I saw a door open—it was clear the other survivors had made it out safely.
Thud—crash!
Another deafening sound rang out. It was the bookshelves inside the rare book archive collapsing.
“Mary Crow! Please, just listen to me. I can see—I’ll tell you which way to go, okay?”
“I’m finished… I’m finished…”
At that moment, the bookshelf next to Mary tilted.
“Mary!”
“Kyaaa!”
You used 〈Interact〉 on the 〈Bookshelf〉.
〈Remaining uses: 0〉
I used my skill to hold the bookshelf in place for a moment.
Of course, since I was already dead, it didn’t hurt and I wouldn’t tire—but even so, holding out against a massive bookshelf for long was impossible.
“Please… get up and run….”
Rumble—.
An unfamiliar sound came from the wall behind where Mary was.
Click—.
Then a hidden door appeared in the wall, and it slowly opened. While barely keeping my eyes open as I focused on holding back the bookshelf, I caught sight of a tall, broad-shouldered man with black hair. That was probably…
“…Basileon?”
Basileon stepped out from the door, scanning the situation as he alternated his gaze between Mary and me. He didn’t say a word, only furrowing his brow.
“….”
Then, without a moment’s hesitation, Basileon lifted Mary into his arms.
“Ah! Let go!”
Mary struggled to escape Basileon’s embrace.
“…Shut up.”
Mary, meeting Basileon’s red eyes, immediately quieted in fear. Basileon carried her through the collapsing bookshelves, and I stopped using my skill to follow him.
“…Where did you suddenly come from?”
Thud!
“Basileon, watch out!”
Basileon took the falling piles of books on his body. It must have hurt like hell, but he didn’t care at all and ran straight for the exit.
Bang!
Basileon dashed out of the exit in an instant. It was hard to believe it was the same Basileon who used to move so slowly in the game. Outside the old book storage room, the survivors who had successfully escaped were waiting.
“…W, what is that?”
Lilith gasped in shock when she saw Basileon holding Mary.
“Isn’t he Basileon Ravenwood…?”
Lilith clenched her dagger tightly and immediately went into combat stance. Basileon’s curly hair obscured her view, making it impossible to read his expression.
[Basileon Ravenwood]
◇ Intimacy: 66%
◇ Anger: 32%
Fortunately, her stats had improved a lot compared to the last time I checked. Especially the intimacy level had risen significantly. Judging by the atmosphere, it didn’t seem like Basileon was going to kill the survivors anytime soon.
If Basileon had intended that, all four of them gathered here would already be dead. He carefully set Mary down and then casually turned around, going on his way.
“W, what the heck…?”
Because of that incident, all the survivors were left completely dazed. I left them behind and followed Basileon’s trail.
* * *
“What were you doing?”
Basileon, walking down the hallway, suddenly asked in an interrogative tone.
“What do you mean?”
“Evien. This wasn’t something you initiated, was it?”
It seems that Basileon has completely misunderstood something.
“I just saw a bunch of humans along the way and decided to play a little prank! Then, when I thought one of them might get crushed by a bookshelf… I, well… helped a bit.”
Even though I explained the situation, Basileon didn’t look convinced.
“You enjoy tormenting humans. If anything, seeing one get crushed under a bookshelf would’ve been even more entertaining for you.”
‘Ah.’
“So, our goal is to kill humans, right? Do we really have to stick to that? Wouldn’t it be more fun to torment them while keeping them alive instead? Hehe.”
After the game restarted, the excuse I’d made came back to me. In other words, I’d ended up acting in a way that contradicted myself right in front of Basileon.
“…There are only four humans we can torment right now. If even one of them dies, that means less fun tormenting them, so that won’t do, right? Hehe!”
I soared through the air, making a plausible excuse.
“…Is that so?”
Basileon smiled dejectedly.
“As expected, I can’t beat your brilliant idea.”
‘Yay. It worked!’
“Hihi. Thanks for the compliment, Basileon!”
“Well, it wasn’t really a compliment.”
“What?”
Basileon’s voice grew cold.
“…Evien. It seems you’ve become quite friendly with the humans.”
The atmosphere turned tense in an instant. Had he seen me talking to the survivors?
“Mhm? What are you talking about?”
Tak—. tak—.
Basileon approached slowly. When he reached me, he lowered his eyes and stared directly at me.
“Why don’t you just be honest?”
“W, wait. Basileon!”
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