I Possessed The Worst Character In The Hellish Game
Chapter 25: The Boy with Ghostly Grey Eyes [2]

Chapter 25: The Boy with Ghostly Grey Eyes [2]

"She’s a Wraith... a Red Spirit."

Jeanne went rigid.

"Mikae--"

"I know what the Red Spirit is, big sister."

He cut her off in a gentle voice.

"And I know the risks. But believe me, she’s not evil...."

He paused as something almost like anger and grief flickered behind his eyes.

"I have seen her memories of her past life when she was human. She was really a kind girl before she...."

He sighed.

"She’s just been alone for a very long time. The only condition she asked for in the contract was that I never leave her alone."

Sophia stared at him.

’A wraith with abandonment issues, huh?’

She couldn’t see any trace of deception on his face as he held her gaze without flinching.

"Can you summon her?"

"I can’t. I don’t have enough essence to summon her yet."

"Yeah, thought so."

It wouldn’t be possible for him to summon any spirit at Tier 1.

"I can’t summon her." Mikael said. "But I think I can show you one of her abilities—as proof that the contract is real. My sister can confirm I had no abilities when I awakened."

Jeanne gave a quick nod.

"It’s true."

Mikael lifted his palm and focused as he struggled to guide his essence.

After a moment.

His palm glowed with pale grey light, and a small shard of mirror floated unsteadily above his palm.

The shard held for only a few moments before it cracked and shattered into tiny sparks of essence.

Sophia studied his ability as her mind already raced.

There were a dozen questions she wanted to ask—about the class, what more abilities the spirit had, if he could use the spirit’s elemental affinity, about the contract, about how exactly he had convinced the spirit and earned its loyalty.

But that could wait.

For now....

"Stand up."

"What?"

"I said, stand up. I need to check whether you’re possessed."

"Oh. Okay"

Mikael rose to his feet, and Sophia stood from the sofa to face him.

Jeanne shifted beside them, her fingers gripping the edge of the cushion as she watched her brother with anxious eyes.

"Hold still. This won’t hurt."

Sophia extended her palm and pressed it flat against his chest, directly over his essence core as her lavender eyes flared with brilliant light.

Mikael felt something sweep through him, probing deep into his core.

The sensation was strange but not painful.... like cold fingers brushing against something buried.

After a few moments, the glow faded from Sophia’s eyes.

She frowned.

She hadn’t found anything.

But how was that even possible?

Even if he possessed some innate ability to resist this kind of inspection, with her rank she should have been able to cut right through it.

That could be a serious problem.

"Is something wrong?"

Mikael asked, catching the troubled look on her face.

"Hm? Ah, no."

She withdrew her hand and smoothed her expression.

"No problem, you’re clean. No possession."

Beside him, Jeanne let out a long breath as the tension drained visibly from her shoulders.

Despite her earlier misgivings, Sophia turned to Jeanne and added.

"You don’t need to worry about him getting possessed. He has a high willpower stat—at least a five, maybe a little higher. That alone makes him resistant to most forms of spiritual corruption. It would take an exceptionally powerful spirit to override his mental defenses."

Jeanne’s eyes widened at the mention of a willpower stat that high, as she looked at Mikael with a mixture of surprise and quiet relief.

"That’s a relief."

She said as her lips curled up into a beautiful smile.

Sophia gave a curt nod.

"I’ll take my leave, then."

She turned to look at Nyx.

The spirit cat had hopped back onto Mikael’s shoulder and was now shamelessly rubbing her face against his jaw, purring loudly.

Sophia’s left eye twitched.

"Nyx."

The cat ignored her completely.

"Nyx. We’re leaving."

"Meow~"

Nyx meowed at her as if making a point.

Sophia stared at her companion and knew exactly what she was trying to convey.

’...This little glutton.’

She looked at Mikael.

"Um. The treat you made. Give me the recipe. Consider it repayment for Nyx saving you from Edmund."

Mikael’s lips curled into the first genuine smile she had seen across his expressionless face.

"Of course, Your Grace."

Shadows coiled up from the floor at her feet, depositing a pen and a sheet of parchment neatly into her extended hand.

She passed them to him, and Mikael began writing with precise, unhurried strokes.

At the other side of the page, he drew a magic circle.

He handed the parchment back as Sophia scanned it.

"Glimmerberry pulp, three parts. Honeyapple, finely grated, one part. Mix and shape them into spheres. Place within the essence-infused magic circle, similar to one drawn on the other side of the parchment. Channel essence until the spheres glow red. Do not overchannel the essence, or the mixture will crystallize and lose potency."

"Best served fresh. Can be stored for up to two days if kept in a sealed container with a minor preservation array."

She nodded and folded the paper.

"Very well."

Nyx then hopped off from Mikael’s shoulder back to hers, and shadows rose from the floor like a living cloak, wrapping around both the cat and the Archbishop.

"One more thing. What you told me—about your class, about the Spirit Contract.... this should remain between us for now. There are factions who would not react well to the existence of a spirit contractor."

Mikael inclined his head.

"I understand, Your Grace."

She held his gaze for a moment longer, then gave a single nod.

The shadows rose like a tide and swallowed her whole, leaving the faint glow of an amethyst magic circle behind.

*****

Sophia materialized in her office.

The room was exactly as she had left it--cluttered with stacks of paperwork, illuminated by the soft glow of enchanted crystals floating near the ceiling.

Nyx immediately hopped onto the windowsill and began grooming her paw with the air of a cat who had done absolutely nothing wrong.

Sophia shot her a look.

"We’re going to have a talk about your loyalty later."

Nyx’s ear twitched and gave her side eye, then she kept grooming her paw.

With a sigh, Sophia crossed to her desk and picked up the small essence crystal resting beside a half-finished report.

She channeled a thread of her own essence into it, and the crystal began to glow with a pulsing light.

A moment later.

A gruff old man’s voice crackled from within.

{Sophia? Why the hell are you calling me at this hour? I’ve got a mountain of paperwork to get through before the Astralspire’s Entrance, and—}

"I have made the decision, I’ll accept your offer."

{....}

"...."

{....What?}

"I’ll take the position of Headmistress at Astralspire Magic Academy in your place."

{....Wait, wait, wait, you’re serious? You’ve turned me down every single time I’ve asked over the past three years. What changed suddenly?}

Sophia’s gaze drifted to the parchment on her desk... the recipe written by a boy with ghostly grey eyes.

The memory of her failed scan still lingered in her mind.

Even at Tier 9, she hadn’t been able to determine whether he was possessed or not.

There were only five explanations she could think of.

One, he was ranked above her--an idea she dismissed almost as quickly as it surfaced.

Two, some powerful organization or faction was backing him, and an artifact had blocked her probe.

Three, he was possessed by a very powerful Tier 9 or maybe Tier 10 evil Spirit.

Four, he was the spawn of an unorthodox or evil deity.

Or five, he was blessed by one of the deities.

Each of these five possibilities was equally dangerous.

She tapped a finger against the edge of the parchment.

She would need to observe him more closely, and becoming a Headmistress of Astralspire Magic Academy would give her this exact chance.

{Sophia? You there?}

"Let’s just say..... I’ve encountered something interesting."

*******