“Sincerity, sincerity.”
The unidentified man who was repeating Dorothea's words tapped the table around him with his fingers.
Finally, after thinking about it, he looked at her and raised the corners of his mouth so that they were torn apart.
“You are truly an interesting young lady. Okay, since you want to be sincere, I will do my best and send you to the other world very sincerely.”
A voice filled with joy echoed through the space.
His eyes, filled with anticipation, looked her up and down.
Luke and Revan, who were around, didn't seem to care.
At this point, Revan also realized that the 'performance' he had been preparing for receiving a large sum of money was actually going to be the last performance of his life. He took a step back, looking around with a white face.
In a situation where even the exit was already blocked, he seemed to be wondering if there was any way to escape.
Luke, who had been watching the situation, suddenly opened his mouth.
“Why did you come alone?”
"Hmm?"
“Aren’t you here to silence the people here? Were you planning on dealing with all of these people alone? What if there is someone who hasn’t eaten like us?”
The man nodded slowly when Luke said that the man's strangely relaxed attitude was annoying.
“Good point.”
He slowly stretched out his arms.
At that moment, the airflow began to change.
A sweltering heat filled the surroundings as if there was a fire somewhere.
“The condition was still unstable, so I didn’t want to take any risks, but since it has come to this...”
The blurry, crimson shape that had been dancing on his fingers gradually became clearer, and soon a certain 'form' slowly appeared.
Dorothea's gaze was fixed on a crimson spirit that had the shape of a familiar yet unfamiliar animal.
“Spirit Master.”
“Yeah, people like you will never see spirits in your lifetime. It might be a good idea to take a look around now.”
Surprised gazes focused on the man.
Revan seemed to be overwhelmed by the heat coming from his skin, and couldn't say anything, just keeping his eyes wide open.
Luke's eyes narrowed as if he couldn't understand the firespirit that suddenly appeared.
Who would have thought that even the Emperor of the empire would have a hard time meeting a spirit master, just chasing a murder case?
The Prince's eyes turned to the girl standing in front of the spirit with an expression on her face that could not be understood at all.
Dorothea looked calmly at the fox figure wrapped in flickering flames.
'Is this the spirit of fire?'
Since she already had a water spirit, she was not surprised to see the spirit's existence.
However, this is only the second time she has met someone with a spirit.
What she couldn't see at first came into her eyes a little more clearly.
It was a way to create the truth by gathering together small facts that were missed due to lack of experience.
Her eyes scanned the blazing flames as if not wanting to miss anything about the being before her.
'It's a familiar feeling.'
In her previous life, she had never encountered a ‘spirit of the natural world’ with an ego.
Yet, every time she encountered the spirits here, she felt a strange sense of familiarity and discomfort.
'This is definitely the breath of fire.'
She has personally seen the 'door' leading to the spirit world, so she has no intention of denying its existence...
As she looked at the spirit spreading hot heat into the air, she finally opened her mouth to the man with a triumphant face.
“You too received a spirit transplant from them?”
The man's eyes widened.
He still had no clue as to Dorothea's identity, but he smiled at her words.
As if someone had been caught keeping a secret that shouldn't have been revealed.
“I was wondering if I could play with you because you're cute, but I can’t. What are you doing, girl?”
“I also happen to have a spirit with me.”
A refreshing spirit came out of Dorothea's sleeve to cool the muggy air.
The man's eyes widened when he saw a familiar-looking spirit.
"You!"
“Looking at your eyes, it seems like you are the ones I was looking for.”
“How could you, that spirit!”
“I was curious who these people were who could freely use sorcery and taboos. It was quite an unexpected thing to find a clue.”
The man, who had been backing away as if he couldn't understand the situation, gritted his teeth when he saw Luke blocking the entrance.
“No matter how great the compatibility between water and fire is, my spirit is a being of a much higher level.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.”
Dorothea shook her head leisurely.
“In the first place, compatibility doesn’t matter.”
As soon as she finished speaking, 'Lily', whose body had grown significantly, struck the fire spirit in the shape of a fox with her gills the size of a pot lid.
Afterward, she struck the fallen spirit again with her tail, then crushed it with her body and engulfed it in flames.
“Hey, what is that!”
Not only the man but even Revan opened his mouth.
Even Luke raised his eyebrows at the 'fighting skills' displayed by the spirit.
“It’s a spirit! What did you teach the spirit!”
"What? I heard there’s a book that talks about unnecessary compatibility and all that.”
Dorothea shrugged.
Lily seemed very excited to show off the skills she had been honing and even showed off techniques that she had not been specifically instructed to use.
Before being a 'water spirit', this child was Dorothea's 'subordinate'.
What Dorothea is taught and what she is made to do is all determined by her will.
“My child rolled around in the training hall while others were learning spirit skills.”
Moreover, this was possible because she fed Colin with the soul power she had often stolen, further strengthening her 'materialization'.
Although the spirit body does not have a physical body, it was possible to make the soul itself hard and strong.
The fighting skills she learned while glancing at Aiden, the mad dog of the battlefield, were also top-notch.
“Spirit, my spirit...!”
The fire spirit, who had never learned fighting or falling techniques, fell to the ground helplessly.
Revan, who had been watching the spirits 'fight' with great concentration, muttered in fascination.
“The battle between spirit masters is truly incredible.”
“...”
It was a completely different story from the usual battles between spirits, but there was no way anyone would know about it.
Luke glanced at Revan, who had come to have some very wrong prejudices, and soon fixed his gaze on the spirit lying on the floor.
Soon, Dorothea's blue eyes, which had been observing the spirit, turned strange as if she had caught a clue.
“Freed, take Mine.”
“...”
The knight who had been quietly standing behind took the child in his arms and covered his eyes.
Dorothea's long, straight hand slowly moved towards the spirit in front of her.
The flickering flame couldn't even tickle her hand, let alone burn it.
The face of the man who had been summoning spirits was distorted horribly.
“How on earth did you... my spirit?”
White hands carefully touched the flame as if handling something precious.
“You were here.”
At first, she didn't understand.
The 'spirits' seen through the open door through the spirit body and the spirits with whom the so-called spiritists who met here made a contract had strangely different atmospheres and textures.
It was thanks to the water spirit 'Lily' that she brought with her that she realized the crucial difference.
If the spirit is truly a pure spirit born from nature, it can't grow by eating the soul energy of a person who has gone through an artificial process.
The connection with the summoner was also too weak.
A strange appetite that can devour soul power and still remain intact.
It was as if something had forcibly held it in the form of a ‘spirit’.
And this spirit was the same.
“It’s a pity. Mine must be very sad.”
The spirit, which did not flinch even when touched, seemed to be agitated by the name 'Mine'.
As if he knew the owner of that name.
Dorothea's hand, which had been quietly looking down at the spirit, pierced through the torso of the 'spirit' in the shape of a fox.
“What the...”
The man who called himself a spiritist stepped back with a frightened expression.
Just like those who worshiped and feared her in her past life, with their eyes looking at a creepy and grotesque monster.
“I thought maybe it was alive.”
"..."
“Because I couldn’t hear or see you.”
They say no news is good news.
Likewise, there were times when she felt fortunate that she ‘couldn’t see.’
The fact that the soul is not visible means that he has not yet left this world, or that he has not become a 'ghost' holding grudges and remained on this earth, but has safely attained peace for the next life.
So she thought maybe it had run away somewhere far away, somewhere no one could see it.
For a split second, the crying face she saw in ‘that room’ flashed in her memory.
Even the traces of a difficult life were reflected on that face.
“It was there the whole time.”
Her hand grasped something in the flames.
Although the soul had become weaker and was not yet fully 'fused', it was easily pulled out into her hands.
Dorothea softly returned her true name to the soul that was flickering like a flame.
“Fatima.”
"..."
The flames, without even a single shape, spread out here and there, then quickly diminished and repeated.
The spirit's struggle, as if it were going to devour her until the very end, was extremely threatening.
“Fatima.”
At Dorothea's 'call' without even blinking an eye, the soul gradually began to regain itself.
Soon, a whitish spirit completely separated from the flames and took the shape of a woman.
A beautiful woman, no different from her appearance when she was alive, appeared.
“Fatima.”
At the mention of her name again, she, who had once been called 'Fatima', looked down at Dorothea with a sad smile.
***
It was a common story.
A life so dark and bleak that you can't see ahead, earning a living by performing on the streets in a very poor theater and occasionally filling your pockets with side jobs.
More depressing than the reality of having to sleep on the floor in the middle of summer and having to be grateful for gnawing on old, hard bread was the fact that he was not even recognized as having human dignity.
People who are used to treating themselves like objects.
People who are reluctant to even pass by or touch each other.
With their mouth, with their hands, and sometimes without their eyes. The people killed her little by little each day without even touching her directly.
It was a coincidence that she met him in such hell.
If only she hadn't had her pockets emptied by street thugs when her carriage broke down, and if only she hadn't had her clothes taken and hidden in an alley.
The two people would never have met again in their entire lives.
Love burned like fire, but was always unstable.
It's so obvious that the end of a noble family's child and a street-slinging troupe actress won't be good.
Even though she knew this, he couldn't let her go, and Fatima was swayed by his obsession.
If only he hadn't accidentally found out his 'secret'...
Could she have lived?
***
Dorothea's eyes blinked as she accepted the memories flowing into her.
“Luke.”
She asked, looking at the soul that seemed ready to scatter at any moment.
“Have you discovered the identity of the dead man yet?”
“Both of their faces were disfigured. For the younger ones, everything that could identify them had disappeared. Looking at the clothes they were wearing, it certainly didn’t seem like they belonged to an ordinary family.”
“This is the food of Count Germain.”
“...”
“A young man.”
If it became known that he was killed in such a place, a scandal would spread throughout the world.
No matter what happened there or how he came there, what was important to people was not the truth.
Countless stimulating fantasies will tear the man apart again and again.
It was clear why Fatima had disfigured the man's face.
She just didn't want to throw the dead into contempt.
“Count Germain is a trusted figure of the Empress Dowager. He cannot be touched lightly. Unless there is clear evidence.”
“Mine will know. Where are the letters he exchanged with Fatima.”
At those soft words, Luke's gaze turned to the child in Freed's arms, who had his mouth shut tightly.
The child was still struggling with his eyes covered.
“Do you also know the identity of the remaining person?”
“...”
“Who died earlier?”
"I don't know."
Dorothea blinked with a short answer.
The soul, which was shaking precariously, eventually dispersed without even hearing a wish.
“Now I really don’t know.”
Luke was silent at Dorothea's unkind words, as always.
Then he quickly approached a man rolling on the floor in inexplicable pain.
“Then I guess I’ll have to ask you the rest of the questions.”
The man's face turned pale as he blankly looked up at the Prince.
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