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After a ton of hard work, I finally got the inheritance! It turns out I didn’t have to do any work in the first place since the barkeep got it for me. Mm? Why is it mine? Because the barkeep gave it to me for protection! But what is it…? Inside of the black interspacial ring the barkeep gave me, there’s a set of armor—it looks ugly, so I’m not going to wear it—and there’s a … tablet? This looks familiar…. Like the one that … stabbed a giant purple spike into my head!? Gah! It … doesn’t hurt? Well, that’s a first. Why doesn’t it hurt? Not that I want it to hurt. Mm, it’s good that it doesn’t hurt. What am I learning?
Hmm…. Despair Conversion? With this technique, I can convert the despair of the people around me into qi. And the downside is … I’ll encounter an illusion of what’s causing the people to despair. Mm, sounds like an absolutely useless technique. Eh? Why’s it useless? Because I’ve had enough despair in my life! Why would I want to experience other people’s?
“Boss, are you okay?” The barkeep’s looking at me with a strange expression. It’s definitely not hatred or anger. Mm, it’s more like bitterness and resignedness. Is he hoping that I’m not okay? Oh. The purple spike is still stabbed into my forehead. Um, Mr. Tablet? You can stop now.
At last! A proper body to take over! After surpassing the seven trials I prepared, your body should be perfectly suited for me to…. Slaughter God!? What are you doing here!?
Uh….
I was here first. Scram!
Um…, guys?
Ha-ha! You might’ve arrived first, but you haven’t taken over the vessel! Why do I have to leave?
I’m hearing some pretty disturbing things…. Don’t tell me, is this tablet going to be attached to my face like the crown’s attached to my head? It’s not coming off. Am I really going to have to cut my head off to escape like Ilya suggested? Actually, I know I can regrow my arms, but if I cut off my head, does my head grow a new body, or does my body grow a new head? Either way, I really don’t want to test it!
Hey! Little girl! Put on my armor and I’ll grant you immeasurable strength!
…Are three voices too many voices to hear inside of my head? “Hey, barkeep, how many voices do you usually hear inside of your head?”
The barkeep’s expression didn’t change. “You mean when I’m thinking to myself?”
“Uh….” When do I hear these voices usually? At the most inconvenient times, that’s when! They always make noise when I can’t afford to be distracted! It takes a lot of concentration to think; I can’t afford to be distracted then. “Mm, yeah, let’s go with that. How many voices speak to you when you think to yourself? One? Two? three?”
“None…?”
Hmm. Well, the barkeep’s weak and cowardly, so maybe his mind’s different from someone who’s strong and brave like me. His answer doesn’t mean anything!
Little girl, please pay attention to me.
Ah? Was my newest voice talking to me? Is it even talking anymore? Wouldn’t it be thinking to me? Thinking at me…? Hmm. I should ask Ilya, but she’s not here right now. When did she disappear? I think she vanished around the time the tablet stabbed my head, but I’m not sure.
Little girl! Are you doing this on purpose!?
Ah. It was still thinking at me.
See what I’ve had to put up with this whole time? How am I supposed to trick her into becoming my vessel when she becomes distracted every time I require her attention?
I knew it! The crown didn’t have any good intentions! Mm, it was reading my mind, and once I announced I knew it was a trap, it stopped trying to hide the fact that it was a trap. It’s even talking so openly with the new voice! Is it because it knows I can’t remove the crown? I mean, I can remove it, but my head comes off too, and I don’t want that.
What’s stopping you from seizing her body directly?
Eh? These voices can take over my body directly?
Haven’t you noticed? She’s a quasi-immortal while I’m just a wisp of a quasi-immortal’s consciousness.
So, I’m safe? …Hello? Why are you two voices ignoring me?
I actually haven’t noticed…. My tomb was designed to find someone close to becoming a saint. Why does someone like her have my inheritance? Slaughter God, shall we work together to attack her? Once her consciousness is defeated, we’ll fight between ourselves.
I’m still listening to you two, you know?
Just the two of us aren’t enough. We have to wait for Death God before we can try.
Mm, so that’s why Vera wanted to make that deal with me…. Durandal’s secrets or risk being attacked and having my body taken over? Durandal’s secrets … or having my body taken over…? What happens when my body’s taken over? Where do I go?
You die.
Oh. Thanks, Mr. Heart of Slaughter. Is this what it feels like to be ignored? These two failed immortals are bullying me, aren’t they? Anyways, Durandal’s secrets … or death? This choice is tough.
I knew she was a moron from reading her memories, but I didn’t think it’d actually be this bad.
Alright, that’s it! “Mrs. Feathers! I need your help!”
Mrs. Feathers appeared by my side and stared up at me. Then she looked down, over the edge of the crater that I was standing in front of. And inside of the crater, there were two people. I think. I’m sure they still count as people albeit slightly … squished people. It’s their faults for coveting my inheritance! They should’ve known better, mhm. “Boss, what’d you need help with? You want me to collect their bones? Burn their corpses into ashes? And … does that spike not hurt?”
The tablet still has a spike sticking out of it, and that spike’s still inside my head. But, nope. “It doesn’t hurt. And I don’t need you to collect bones or turn people into ashes. You don’t do that to living people, silly. Anyways! I need you to pick out a mental technique for me that allows me to torture, err, attack voices that live inside of my head.”
Wait, don’t do that. You don’t want to learn that. It’ll be extremely painful to learn.
I’ll show you extremely painful, dumb voice! This’ll teach you to ignore me, hmph, hmph. Um, wait, I mean, this’ll teach you to try to take over my body! Hmph, hmph!