“……”

“In other words, it’s not a thought-form or the like, but a being superior to humans. As Havi said, it’s a being humans find even harder to see than thought-forms. The most recent recorded sighting was 200 years ago. That young lady’s soul must be quite pure. To have a guardian spirit attach to her.”

The old man burst into laughter after adding what sounded like a cult-like story that would make people suspicious if told elsewhere.

Johan looked down intently at the compass. To summarize his grandfather’s words, this was not an evil thought-form. Rather, it was something good for May—a guardian spirit or elemental spirit… something that should only appear in legends.

The compass naturally slipped from Johan’s relaxed hand.

Thud. Thud thud.

Eventually, as if happy that its value had been recognized, it began bouncing up and down. The way it shook its round body back and forth did indeed look like dancing, as May had said. The old man and middle-aged man clapped their hands watching its movements, unconcerned with Johan’s serious mood.

“They say prosperity comes to places where spirits dwell. If someone became rich after moving their residence, it’s usually because of this.”

“It certainly has good energy. To think that boy only judged it as powerful…”

Johan let their conversation flow past his ears as he recalled moment by moment at the mansion. Come to think of it… what had constantly troubled May was always the purple thought-form. He had overlooked this point, naturally assuming it was some kind of extension of the compass.

‘Could it be that when we went for a walk by the sea, the thought-form ran wild because the compass wasn’t nearby?’

May had been particularly unable to regain her senses then. Hadn’t Johan also thought that what was inside her was venting its anger?

Johan’s golden eyes narrowed slightly. Yes… if that compass was an entity protecting May, it would certainly have noticed the thought-form settled inside her. That’s why it had tried to refuse May’s request to stay in the drawer during their outing. Not out of simple possessiveness toward its owner, but out of concern.

And because it wasn’t an evil thought-form, it eventually granted her request. Like indulging a child’s whim. In addition to the affectionate rather than obsessive fussing he had seen just before leaving the mansion…

‘It even devoured my magic.’

As if holy power were food. Johan’s expression grew even more serious with some realization.

And just then, the old man’s voice was heard, seemingly poking at his seriousness.

“By the way, since you brought it, that young lady is going to have a hard time…”

At the casual tone, Johan’s face contorted.

Seeing his son’s face, Haviér’s eyes showed a strange light.

‘Why has he been like this since earlier….’

His son, Johan… was coincidentally not of a particularly good character. In other words, he was the type of person who wouldn’t bat an eye at others’ suffering. But now he was clearly overreacting for anyone to see.

‘Well, it was strange that he rushed here in the first place.’

Johan was more devout than anyone, but he had an extremely consequentialist way of thinking. He knew well what he should do and had a sense of mission for that work, but… he didn’t apply morality to the process of fulfilling that mission.

For example, if he needed to pick fruit from a tree too high to climb, he would cut down the tree without hesitation. Additionally, it was in his nature to avoid anything uninteresting, making him interest-driven…

‘Eventually, his willfulness led to a warrant being issued…’

If not for the help of the high nobleman whose thought-form Haviér had eliminated, Johan would probably be confined in an underground prison now rather than sitting here.

Haviér’s face naturally twisted at the thought of providing food to such a son, and he carefully observed Johan again.

“Grandfather, is that something you can just call ‘a hard time’? Do you have no emotions? Are you possessed by a thought-form?”

Seeing him commit the filial impiety of snapping at his grandfather with a crooked face, he was definitely his son, but…

“Hmm? Then what should I say… tremendous suffering? Maddening agony? Terrible sufferiiing?”

“……”

At the mischievous voice of the old man, who had early on noticed his grandson’s state, the face that twisted with worry wasn’t his son’s. Normally, he would’ve snapped back without giving in. In fact, the question about having no emotions was one both the old man and Haviér often asked Johan.

Roughly running his hands through his hair, Johan eventually muttered with nauseating eyes like he needed to perform an exorcism,

“Master said my faith is heavy.”

It was an incomprehensible statement, perhaps from his thoughts. Moreover…

‘Master?’

Haviér instinctively turned to his father, catching that naturally flowing title. The old man also looked at him with an uncomfortable expression, so the two exchanged glances with faces like they had eaten bitter persimmons.

‘I knew he was undercover as a servant, but…’

‘It doesn’t seem like he’s pretending…’

Eventually, Johan continued painfully,

“I only had narrow-minded thoughts… so I tried to leave, but Master said it was okay even though I lied. But now you’re saying I’ve made that overly gentle woman’s situation worse.”

This was truly a story he didn’t want to hear. His son’s love life of all things…

But hearing the story, it did seem they needed to resolve the thought-form dwelling in her body as soon as possible. Not only because it was their duty, but also because Johan’s romance might not go smoothly otherwise.

Then suddenly remembering something, Haviér asked,

“By the way, did you warn her about mirrors? If the energy was suppressed because of the compass… it might jump out even at the sight of a puddle now.”

Mirrors that reflect forms sometimes reflected invisible things as well. This meant that for a thought-form dwelling in a human body to recognize the host’s body as ‘its own body,’ there was no better medium.

It was close to the shared vision momentarily deceiving the body. The thought-form reflected in the mirror was also inside that body, so it claimed the right to have control over the body.

People possessed by ghosts often deepened their possession immersion through mirrors.

He had cautioned about this in his previous letter, but Johan had dismissed it then. Saying the energy wasn’t strong enough to worry about.

“I belatedly warned her just in case, but I didn’t explain the details for fear she might be scared.”

“Ah, for fear she might be scared…”

Fear would shake her already weakened mind, so it was the right thing to do, but… Haviér couldn’t hide his displeasure.

Clearing his throat with a fake cough due to the uncomfortable feeling, he spoke to his son who had been staring at the door,

“Anyway, this isn’t something that will be resolved by us going there.”

The best method was for it to naturally dissipate, and if not, there was only one answer.

“Johan, as I said earlier, you need to find the original vessel of that thought-form. And that’s something only her memories can solve. If we all rush there, the thought-form might become more agitated feeling the dissonance.”

He didn’t know how it had come to dwell in a human body, but these entities originally take inanimate objects as vessels. So before taking the woman’s body as a host, it must have been inside some ‘object.’

What Johan needed to do was find that object and break it in front of a mirror reflecting the woman.

This utilized the mirror’s characteristics mentioned earlier. The thought-form would mistake the breaking of its original vessel in the mirror as the breaking of ‘its vessel’ and jump out of her body.

Haviér recalled the stories he had heard from his father and worriedly advised,

“But it won’t be easy. First of all, she must have touched countless objects by now… Still, considering you think it happened after touching the compass, the timing should be specific.”

“Yes. It must be an object from the mansion.”

“I hope it hasn’t been thrown away. Of course, that would be the quickest way to solve the problem. Don’t be impatient. Eventually, with time, it will inevitably dissipate.”

“…… I know.”

His face said he knew but couldn’t wait for that.

“Tell her to always carry the compass as it will suppress its power… You know better than I do how to prevent a ‘vessel’ from being created. Umm…”

“……”

“Cast blessings occasionally as I told you earlier. It shouldn’t be difficult for someone who uses holy power like offensive magic…… Have you forgotten how to do it?”

Johan rose from his seat at Haviér’s dubious question. As he left without a reply or even a greeting, Haviér once again exchanged glances with his father.

“Tsk.”

“……I seem to have raised him poorly.”

He belatedly regretted having focused solely on early education to eliminate as many thought-forms and ghosts as possible.

‘Still, it seems a young lady capable of bending that personality has appeared….’

What kind of young lady would she be?

Judging by how she had reduced his son to a servant without resistance, she must be quite formidable. To be able to tame that wild colt who did whatever he pleased, she probably had an even rougher personality than Johan.

Haviér nodded with considerable confidence.

* * *

“All the herbs died……”

May murmured dejectedly as she looked at the limp plants. The heavy rain at dawn was the problem. The rain and wind, made fiercer by the sea breeze, had killed all the small herbs. She should have made an awning to shelter them from the rain earlier, or moved them into pots indoors….

It was too late for regrets now. With a gloomy face, May picked up a trowel and began clearing them away.

Before long, a calm voice was heard from behind her.

“Do you always skip meals like this?”

It was Dominic in comfortable attire. May turned around and smiled broadly. Since realizing the man wasn’t as frightening as she had thought, she had been acting quite friendly toward him. It was as if her normally minimal sociability had suddenly grown enormously just for him.

And for good reason—all of Dominic’s casual remarks were concerned reprimands. Or perhaps it was because the thought that had flashed through her mind on that passion-filled day—that ‘he’s someone who will help me’—had left a deep impression.

……After all, Dominic was continuing to help her.

“I’m not hungry.”

The rain had created large puddles throughout the garden. May approached the man, stepping on each one along the way. Her eyes curved gently as she looked up at him. Her exceptionally black eyes stared intently into Dominic’s ashen ones.

Finally, he sighed softly and said,

“……Looking at me like that won’t work.”

“Why not?”

“Because that kind of help isn’t conducive to improving your addiction.”

“I told you I didn’t take any strange drugs……”

“That’s the typical lie addicts tell.”

He wore a rather troubled expression.

The day after they spent the night together, May acted as if she had forgotten the purpose for which she had called Dominic. And in quite a…… bad way.