The soul’s blood script is red.

I check the body’s blood script again.

It’s black.

Only now do I understand everything.

[What the hell. Let me in on it too.]

‘I told you Ophelia’s blood script was black, right?’

[Yeah. That’s why you thought she was dead.]

‘Right. Ophelia’s body is definitely dead. But what about her soul? Is her soul dead too?’

Trail looked puzzled.

[If only the soul remains, isn’t that the same as being dead?]

‘What do you think we mean when we say someone’s “dead”?’

[Ugh, why get philosophical in the middle of the night…]

‘No, this is a practical matter.’

Normally, we say someone is dead when the body dies.

But necromancers describe death a little differently.

–The soul has crossed the Redby River.

In other words, it means the soul has entered the underworld.

According to necromancers, the underworld lies beyond the Redby River.

‘Well, technically it’s the same. When the body dies, the soul immediately and inevitably crosses the Redby River.’

[…]

‘It’s just that my blood script considers someone “dead” only once their soul enters the underworld. You could say it’s a stricter standard.’

[Hmm.]

‘In short, as far as my blood script can tell, Ophelia’s soul is still “alive.”’

That’s why her body is judged as dead and marked black. But her soul is judged as alive and marked red.

‘A living soul in a dead body.’

How contradictory.

How deceitful.

Truly a masterpiece befitting the Demon King of Lies.

Ophelia herself could be called Idria’s “masterwork.”

[I see. That’s why Adwin said she wasn’t dead after seeing her soul.]

‘Exactly. Only Idria could pull off such an unbalanced yet precise manipulation.’

[But then… what is Ophelia’s current body? Look, she’s breathing just fine.]

Just as Trail said, Ophelia’s breathing seemed steady and calm.

A dead body breathing is nonsensical. What kind of trick had Idria pulled?

Hmm… ah.

A lightning bolt struck my mind.

‘Could it be…?’

I gulped unconsciously.

The sound of it sliding down my throat rang unusually loud.

That’s when it happened.

Ssshhk.

Someone appeared beside me.

It was bright and large.

Pale white and clearly shaped.

I instantly knew who it was.

‘Trail, is that you?’

[Eh? You can see m.. Oh, right. Adwin’s spell is still active.]

‘Not what I pictured. You look awfully divine.’

[A founding Hero can be divine, can’t they?]

I glanced upward. And sure enough,

–Sinned against Idria and one other.

Trail had a blood script too.

I snickered internally.

‘Your blood script is black.’

[Then your guess must be right. A soul that’s crossed the Redby River appears black. I must have passed into the underworld when Kaeld killed me.]

‘“Must have”? You don’t remember?’

[Told you, I came to and found myself in your body. During the final battle with Idria before the regression.]

I nodded and changed the subject.

‘Anyway, you’re surprisingly clean. Only two names on your sin list.’

Idria and…

I opened the blood script.

…

Kaeld?

‘It says you sinned against Idria and Kaeld?’

[Yeah, that’s what I expected.]

‘Sure, Idria makes sense. You killed her countless times. But what sin did you commit against Kaeld?’

[I took over his body.]

He explained simply.

Originally, when Trail was born as a Hero to kill Idria, he would always enter a vacant body.

But for some reason, before the regression, he ended up taking Kaeld’s body instead.

[At first, I felt sorry for him. From his point of view, I was a thief who stole his body.]

‘Mmm.’

[But I had to kill Idria. I begged for understanding, promising I would leave when the time came, but…]

‘No way he would just accept that.’

[Right. But still, I don’t hold any grudge against Kaeld over it.]

After a moment’s thought, I asked:

‘So Kaeld forced you out of his body?’

[Yeah. Don’t know how, but at some point, everything just went black.]

I clicked my tongue.

Trail didn’t seem to want to dwell on the topic, so he changed the subject.

[Let’s drop the Kaeld talk. More importantly, your blood script really counts killing a Demon King as a sin? That’s harsh.]

‘…You are right.’

Yeah.

Why is even killing something like the Demon King counted as a sin?

I can’t see my own blood script.

But it considers slaying the Demon King a sin.

‘Then how many sins must I have committed?’

Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine.

Just then, light seeped from the communication orb in my pocket.

Worried it might wake Ophelia, I quickly checked and it was Neril.

I slipped out of the room and activated the orb.

“What? I’m busy right now.”

—I know. You’re standing over sleeping Ophelia, gulping like crazy.

“Sounds weird when you put it like that. Wait, weren’t you on watch duty now? Where are you?”

—My room. I set up a basic surveillance spell in hers.

“Offense snuck in himself, you know.”

—Should a mage really resort to such crude methods?

I chuckled and asked:

“So? Why did you call?”

—I’m doing fine on watch, so just go sleep. I was watching thinking you would do something big, but you’re just swallowing hard.

“Like I said, that’s not what it looks like.”

—If you can’t sleep, want to come to my room? I have got tea ready.

I nodded lightly.

“Sure, let’s have a cup.”

—Okay. Hurry up.

Click.

The call ended.

I put away the orb and was startled by myself.

The chill from earlier had vanished like a lie.

The next day.

I shared everything I’d figured out yesterday.

Xenia gasped.

“Ophelia is dead?”

“Just her body.”

“That… that still counts as dead, doesn’t it?”

“Her soul hasn’t crossed the Redby River. That means there’s still hope.”

But Xenia still looked pale.

Adwin noticed and asked me:

“How can a soul remain in a dead body? Normally, once the body dies, the soul automatically crosses the Redby. Or it becomes a wandering spirit, like Iori.”

“It’s Idria’s doing. She created the lie of a living soul in a dead body.”

“But Ophelia was clearly breathing.”

“Idria created the Black Sun in the capital, didn’t she?”

Everyone tilted their heads at the random statement.

“We took the real Gem of Corruption, but she still made a fake Black Sun like it was nothing.”

“Right…”

“And this Hero’s Sword. We all know now it’s fake, made by Idria.”

Neril’s face paled.

In a trembling voice, she asked:

“Don’t tell me… you think she made a fake body too? And placed Ophelia’s soul inside it?”

“Exactly.”

A fake body isn’t “alive.”

It’s just an imitation heart and lungs crafted by the Demon King’s power.

In other words, a doll.

No one calls a doll “alive.” So my blood script marked the body as dead.

I spoke.

“You know how some mages specialize in golems?”

“Yeah. It’s mostly academic since they’re so inefficient.”

“Golems aren’t considered alive, right? Ophelia’s body is like that.” Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novel•fire.net

“Then what about her real body? Like Adwin’s dad, do you think it’s hidden nearby?”

“Probably not.”

As grim as it sounds, hiding Adwin’s father in his own room was just a game to Idria.

Ophelia’s case is far more significant. Idria wouldn’t have treated it as a joke.

[Or maybe… she destroyed the real body.]

‘Don’t jump to that. We need to explore every possibility first.’

[Every possibility?]

‘The secret between Idria and Ophelia was marked A-rank, remember?’

[Oh, right. And you’re close to leveling up.]

‘Exactly. Once I finish this, I’ll rank up and be able to read that secret. Then we’ll know if the real body was hidden… or destroyed.’

Trail nodded as if he understood.

I said:

“Anyway, once we find Ophelia’s real body, we can destroy that fake one without worry.”

“……”

“Then her soul will try to cross the Redby River, as ordained by the Heavenly Gods. That’s when Adwin…”

“Yes. I’ll catch her soul and put it in the real body.”

I nodded.

A hint of relief crossed Xenia’s face.

What had seemed hopeless now had some chance of success, and that eased her heart.

She bowed her head slightly.

“Mr. Mide, I’m sorry I always rely on you…”

“You’ve helped me far more than I’ve helped you. We’ll definitely bring Ophelia back, so don’t worry too much.”

“Thank you so much for saying that. If you save Ophelia, I’ll give you half my meal. For the rest of my life.”

Our jaws dropped.

“So that’s how it is.”

“Is it okay to make that kind of promise, Xenia?”

“But actually, even if it’s halved, it’s still a full portion.”

Lisel and Serein, who’d joined relatively recently and only knew Xenia as someone with a big appetite, tilted their heads.

They looked at each other and said:

“What’s with these people?”

“Some kind of code?”

“Sounds like a joke…”

“But their faces are too serious for a joke.”

Stick around a bit longer…

We did find Ophelia. But she’d gone out early with David.

Not just them, Count Acaine was also gone.

“Oh right, it’s today.”

It was the Harvest Festival of the Dronoar territory.

Supposedly it would go on for a week.

Lisel spoke up.

“This is bad. The festival means there’ll be huge crowds. How do we find Miss Ophelia in that?”

“Ah, you don’t know yet.”

“Know what?”

“Xenia is ridiculously good at finding people.”

Lisel tilted her head and was about to ask Xenia.

But she couldn’t. Xenia had disappeared.

She must’ve been in quite a hurry.

“Huh? She was just here…”

“Xenia can share sight with Agril. With that, she can find pretty much anything.”

“I thought Mr. Offense would be the sneaky one. Disappearing without a trace… is he okay?”

Offense answered.

“Why am I getting roasted for nothing?”

“It’s concern, not scolding.”

“Feels worse than scolding.”

After a bit of waiting, we heard the window in the hall rattle in the wind.

When we opened it, a massive divine carriage was right outside.

And from Agril’s back, Xenia’s voice came.

“Hurry up and get in!”

“Did you convince Agril to let us on?”

“Is that what matters right now?”

Poor Agril. Slowly becoming just another tool.

Ophelia was in the middle of enjoying the festival with David.

We got off Agril and followed them.

Pushing through the crowd, we finally got close enough to hear them talking.

“What do you think?”

“Huh? Think about what?”

“Your hometown. Doesn’t it look lively? Isn’t it nice?”

“Ah.”

“Father worked hard for this. I also proposed a lot of policies to help the people.”

“……”

“I wanted to see you smile when you came back.”

Ophelia blushed.

David glanced at her and continued.

“But you don’t seem as happy as I thought.”

“That’s… I’m happy.”

“No. You’ve looked troubled ever since you came back. Especially…”

He lowered his voice.

“Especially when you had that headache a few days ago.”

So he noticed too.

That it wasn’t just aftereffects of lost memories.

I was surprised, and focused on his face.

Unlike the pot-bellied Count Acaine, David still had traces of a hero.

David continued.

“The Hero of the North is here, right? Our estate follows Lord Kaeld, but the Hero’s reputation isn’t given for nothing.”

“……”

“Why not consult Mr. Mide? I can set it up.”

Good kid.

Ophelia wouldn’t refuse David’s suggestion. We wouldn’t have to keep tailing them.

So I thought, until..

David stopped.

The light vanished from his eyes.

His mouth gaped, his face froze like a corpse.

We were shocked.

“What did you just do, Ophelia?”

“I didn’t do anything, did I?”

“Then what’s with that kid David? Why’s he suddenly like that? Didn’t you just do something to him?”

“But Ophelia isn’t skilled enough to fool all of us.”

Serein’s last words were wrong.

Ophelia might fool my companions, but not me.

Or rather, not my blood script.

I saw Ophelia’s black script.

A new name had appeared just seconds ago.

—David de Hoffman.

‘She committed a sin. Just now, against David.’

[What kind of sin?]

‘Let’s find out right now.’

At my words, Trail immediately used the Eye of Omniscience.

<Eye of Omniscience activated.>

<Current level 3. Can read up to B-rank secrets.>

<Selected target: ‘Secret between Ophelia Mace and David de Hoffman.’>

<Secret is rank C. Showing now.>

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