Chapter 44
Before her regression, there had been an uproar when several corpses were discovered in the mountains on the outskirts of the capital.
Seven bodies buried deep underground were revealed through investigation to be the remains of Shadow Union guild members who had gone missing over a decade earlier.
“A heinous crime happening in the capital? Impossible!” For a time, newspapers and magazines plastered the shocking case across their front pages.
Cecile arrived at the notorious Snowdin Mountain.
“This is where the guild members of Shadow Union were buried. Their deaths must have been unjust, so their vengeful spirits will surely remain here.”
[Aye. Spirits burdened with resentment are bound to the place of their death. Without a doubt!]
Cecile began climbing the mountain.
“Well then, shall we go?”
[Indeed, let us go! To release them from their grievances!]
Searching an entire mountain was no easy feat. Cecile already had poor stamina, and with the body of an eight-year-old, it was even worse.
Had she not prepared plenty of stamina recovery potions in advance, she would have collapsed before she could even find the spirits.
She finally discovered them at the bottom of a cliff.
It was late at night, the moon hidden behind thick clouds. Yet there, clustered together, were faintly glowing mist-like forms.
“Their strength must not be great—likely because they haven’t been dead for too long.”
[The power of spirits grows stronger the longer they’ve been dead—and the deeper their resentment.]
To converse with spirits in this form required the aid of spellwork.
Cecile took a deep breath, clasped her hands, and chanted an incantation.
The air around her grew colder. The mist-like energy began to take on definite shapes. At that moment, the clouds parted and the moonlight broke through, causing the translucent spirits to shine silver.
Their forms embodied the horror of their deaths: some with shattered skulls, others decapitated, eyeless, or tongueless.
“Who are you? Can you see us?”
Despite their gruesome appearance, Cecile didn’t flinch.
She was a great necromancer—well accustomed to speaking with the dead and commanding them.
For her, this level of horror wasn’t even enough to wrinkle her brow.
Wearing a faint smile, she answered,
“My name is Cecile. I’ve come to help you—those who bear a grudge against Orion, the Guild Master of Shadow Union.”
“What!”
Shock spread across the spirits’ faces.
Intrigued, they began to slowly encircle Cecile.
For anyone else, being surrounded by such ghastly figures would have been enough to faint. Cecile, however, remained perfectly calm.
“Orion… that despicable bastard… How do you know? That he was the one who killed us… No one should know.”
“Even our families don’t know we were buried here…”
“I know many things.”
Cecile smiled sweetly, perching herself atop a nearby boulder.
“And isn’t there something more important than how I know? For example… how you might take revenge.”
The spirits fell silent.
On their ruined faces flickered complicated emotions: doubt, hope, and the raw hunger for vengeance.
“But… a child like you helping us?” one spirit, his face slashed with a vicious scar, said bitterly.
“Orion is cunning, ruthless, flawless. Even all seven of us together couldn’t defeat him…”
“As I said, I know many things. Including how to deal with that villain.”
Still seated upon the boulder, Cecile lightly propped her chin in her hand. The moonlight made her amethyst eyes shimmer.
“But I’ll need your help.”
“Why should we trust you?” asked a one-armed woman.
Cecile’s reply rang out, startlingly resolute for an eight-year-old.
“Because you have nothing left to lose.”
Her voice carried a depth that belied her years.
“And in exchange, you’ll gain much: vengeance on Orion… and rest at last.”
Her whisper was sweet as a serpent’s temptation.
The ghosts of Shadow Union looked at each other.
Revenge—and peace.
For those who had been betrayed and abandoned to endless torment, it was too alluring an offer to ignore.
Under the silver moonlight, new flames of resolve flickered in their vacant eyes.
“We were guild members tasked with orchestrating smear campaigns against the Parchment Circle. We spread false rumors, fabricated evidence. We knew it was wrong, but Orion convinced us it was for the glory of Shadow Union.”
Cecile nodded.
“They committed wrongs, yes. But they paid the price in the worst way possible—betrayal and death. There’s no need to condemn them further.”
A spirit with half his skull shattered continued,
“When our schemes were close to bearing fruit, Orion purged us. To erase the evidence…”
Cecile listened as they recounted how systematically they had worked to sabotage the Parchment Circle.
“There are two main reasons vengeful spirits cannot exact revenge. First, they’re bound to the place of death. Second, they lack physical force.”
All spirits are tethered to a single place—unable to leave unless their target comes to them.
“Iris’s real mother was powerful enough, but she remained bound to her bedchamber and could never strike back.”
And generally, spirits weren’t physically strong. Rare was one like Iris’s mother, who could end a living person’s life.
Most ghosts could, at best, rattle objects in a room, cause a poltergeist, or terrify the living with horrific visages.
“But I can solve both of these problems for them.”
Having decided, Cecile stood.
“I’ll share mana with you.”
“Mana?”
“Yes. Not enough to kill Orion outright. But enough to free you from the shackles that bind you here—and give you some physical power. Enough, perhaps, to carry small objects.”
Her eyes sparkled mischievously.
“And with that strength, I want you to do as I say.”
Infused with Cecile’s mana, the spirits set off for the Shadow Union guildhall.
Invisible to anyone but her, they could infiltrate freely. As former members, they knew the layout perfectly.
A guild member walking down the corridor shivered as the ghosts passed by.
“Ugh… why’s it so cold all of a sudden?”
“It’s summer! What’re you talking about?” his companion scoffed.
The spirit paused, gazing wistfully at the living men’s vibrant forms, before remembering his purpose. He moved on toward the place Cecile had designated.
They passed through a locked door into the Guild Master’s office. Orion was absent.
“Search everything—safe, desk drawers, shelves. The fabricated evidence must be here.”
One spirit ordered the others.
Soon, they unearthed a trove of incriminating documents: falsified materials prepared for the Parchment Circle hearings, plans detailing their smear operations, and supporting evidence.
They opened a locked window and carried the files out, returning to Snowdin Mountain where Cecile awaited.
“We did as you asked. Is this enough?”
Cecile carefully examined the thick stack of papers.
“Excellent. More than enough to corner Orion.”
Smiling at the spirits, her gaze suddenly caught on something among the documents.
It was a seal stamped upon one of the papers—something she never expected to see here.
It was…
