Having swallowed that sliver of flesh, Mona slowly lowered her head, her eyes tightly closed as if she had fallen asleep.
"M-Mona?"
Roseliel poked her shoulder cautiously.
Mona shuddered slightly, then slowly raised her head.
Her thick black hair parted, and when Roseliel saw the face beneath it, she gasped.
It was not at all the familiar, slightly gloomy, cute loli face Roseliel knew.
Instead, it was the face of a strange woman she had never seen before.
Her features and contours bore not the slightest resemblance to Mona's. Her eyes were hollow, the corners of her mouth drooping slightly, looking as if only an empty shell remained.
This appearance closely resembled the undead Roseliel she had summoned last night.
"Who are you?! Where is Mona?!"
Roseliel's voice instantly tensed up as she bellowed her interrogation at this "person."
"Mona" slowly opened her mouth, her voice rasping and dry, as though she hadn't spoken in a very long time:
"Jenny... Jenny of the Cap family..."
"Mona... I don't know..."
She shook her head blankly.
"I've heard of a Spirit Invocation spell that allows the souls of the deceased to temporarily possess the living." Lucia had stepped half a pace closer at some point, her brow tightly furrowed. "I didn't expect her to have mastered even magic like this."
Hearing this, Roseliel felt a bit relieved. She had been terribly worried that Mona had fallen into some trap left behind by the Snake Cultists on the corpse.
If so, she would have died of guilt.
In the original game, the person participating in this investigation was just an NPC mob mage from a Necessary Evil family, who used a divination-like spell to uncover a few scattered clues, which the main characters then pursued to gradually find the truth.
Since Roseliel already knew the full course of events, all she lacked was a plausible opportunity to state the truth.
Thus, her original plan had merely been to have Mona perform a token divination, after which she would perform a round of "analysis" based on the clues and head straight for the key location.
She hadn't expected Mona to pull out a total wildcard like this right off the bat.
Deciding to gamble on it, she followed up with the remnant soul of this Jenny: "Where are you from?"
Jenny answered word by word in her raspy voice, "Maple... Creek... Town."
Roseliel's eyes lit up.
NICE! Hit the jackpot!
This was precisely the final location reached in the original game after eliminating all the wrong options.
The method the Snake Cultists used to invade the academy relied on the teleportation spell cast by Roseliel.
And with Roseliel's skill level, even with numerous sacrifices as fuel, the teleportation distance was extremely limited.
Therefore, the cultists had chosen to gather beforehand in Maple Creek Town near the royal capital, Aetherland, before taking action.
The cultists had left behind numerous clues in Maple Creek Town, which was the real breakthrough of the case in the original story.
In that case, why not cut straight to the chase?
"Who was commanding your operation... Mmph, mmph, mmph!" Before Roseliel could finish her words, a large hand clamped over her mouth.
She struggled wildly and turned to glare angrily, only to find Lucia looking down at her, her expression like someone watching a child who had caused trouble without even realizing it.
"What are you doing?!" Roseliel yelled at Lucia.
"Are you stupid?" Lucia rolled her eyes at her. "How could a Snake Cultist directly reveal key information like that? The masterminds behind them must have encrypted everything with oaths. If you ask, this bit of remnant soul will likely be wiped out by the oath."
"Losing this tiny spirit wouldn't matter, but what if the erasure process affects Mona while she's possessing her?"
Extremely reluctant as she was, Roseliel had to admit Lucia made a lot of sense.
If anything, if the other party actually spilled the mastermind's name just like that, she would suspect it was a trap instead.
Lucia thought for a moment and changed the question: "Do you know how many people were involved in the operation?"
She wanted to know whether this attack was the entirety of their plan, or merely a distraction hiding a larger conspiracy behind it.
The headcount would allow a rough judgment, and it was also unlikely to be restricted.
Regrettably, Jenny merely shook her head. "So many people... Don't know..."
Lucia pressed on, "Why did you join the Snake Cult?"
"No food. Hungry. Joined to eat."
Lucia fell silent.
"What about..." Roseliel wanted to ask more, but to her surprise, Jenny's head slowly dropped, just as it had when Mona summoned her earlier.
"Hey! Hey!" Roseliel grabbed her and shook her a few times. They had only asked two questions. Although it was enough to take the next step, she still wanted to try digging out more to save some time.
"...Hmm? Master?"
A familiar voice sounded. Roseliel brushed aside the thick black hair, revealing Mona's familiar face underneath.
Those bright black eyes blinked with the drowsiness of someone who had just woken up.
Only then did Roseliel's hanging heart finally settle. She reached out to touch Mona's face and asked softly, "Are you alright? Is anything feeling off? Letting a cultist's remnant soul possess you is way too dangerous!"
Beside them, Lucia's amber eyes glowed softly, seemingly checking Mona's body for any abnormalities.
Upon seeing the person in front of her, a blush swept across Mona's small face. She stammered out an explanation, "I-I'm fine! I checked to make sure there weren't any particularly severe curses on it before doing this! Master, you don't need to worry about me..."
"How could I not worry?! In the future, you must ask for my permission before doing something like this! No acting on your own, got it?!"
Roseliel spoke to her in a stern tone.
Although Mona was far more professional in dark magic than she was, and if Mona actually asked her, Roseliel would probably end up having to ask for her advice in return anyway...
Regardless, she didn't want to see Mona doing something so dangerous without a word ever again.
"Yes!"
Though her voice was still a bit weak, Mona could hardly conceal her joy.
Come to think of it, every time Roseliel gave her an order, Mona's mood seemed to brighten a little.
Could it be that the reason Mona grew close to Roseliel wasn't solely because she was overly lonely?
However, Roseliel didn't have time to ponder it carefully right now. The question merely flashed through her mind before being shoved deep into the back of her thoughts.
"I've conducted a brief inspection; Miss Mona's body hasn't been secretly cursed," Lucia said as the light in her eyes dimmed, ending her probe. "If you're still concerned, you can take her to the monastery's hospital for a more detailed, comprehensive exam."
"No! Really, no!"
Upon hearing that, Mona shook her head like a rattle-drum.
Was she kidding? Having a monastic doctor examine a dark mage was no different from going through torture.
"I'm really fine!" She turned her head toward Roseliel, quickly changing the subject. "Did Master manage to ask anything useful just now?"
"Of course! You've accomplished a huge feat!" Roseliel stood up and rubbed Mona's head.
Mona relished Roseliel's caress, giggling softly. If Mona had a tail, it would probably be spinning like a helicopter propeller right now.
"Shall we get going, Miss Saintess?" Roseliel looked arrogantly at Lucia, her eyes filled with undisguised smugness and boasting.
*Hmph, see how amazing my Mona is? She solved the key clue right off the bat, way better than you Church people~
The corner of Lucia's eye twitched.
She really wanted to tell her, don't ride her coattails.
But Roseliel clearly didn't care what she had to say.
She raised her arm high, pointing toward the doorway, her golden curls fluttering with the movement:
"Off we go! To Maple Creek Town!"
Rate on N.U.
