Old days, dice and investigator's manual

Nessil Ellersha (Part 2)

Ellersa listened, his head drooping, looking even more hunched over than before.

Li Jiehao asked in a low voice, "Then what exactly is he—Mr. Elsa? Is he a human or a demon? Does he still need to eat and sleep?"

"A demon living as a human," Carlo said. "But I can't guarantee whether he can still eat and sleep. Theoretically, he doesn't need these things, but he considers himself human, so he'll probably pretend he does."

Ellersa's voice was hoarse: "I feel hungry now, but that—maybe it's just that I 'should' feel hungry now."

"Then it's up to you. Your current body is constructed by your own perception. You can maintain whatever you think you were originally like."

"With a real name and a self-consistent identity framework, you won't indiscriminately spread cognitive interference. But if your emotions fluctuate too much, or if someone tries to forcibly deny your existence, you may still lose control."

Seeing that Elsa seemed to be still hesitating, Carlo changed the subject: "By the way, do your apprentices know you're going on this long trip?"

Elsa frowned as she recalled, and after a long pause, she spoke: "I—I must have instructed someone that before I left, I left a message saying that I would be away for a while and that they didn't need to wait for me to come back."

"should?"

"My condition at the time was already...not very good." Elsa said uncertainly, "I can't remember if I spoke to him face-to-face."

They confessed, but only to one or two people, or perhaps they left only a note.

"In other words, you didn't formally announce where you were going or when you would return."

"----Yes."

"Your apprentices probably think you're dead somewhere out there, eaten alive by some alien calamity." Carlo clicked his tongue. "Hopefully, you still have your seat. You're still a useful connection; it's a shame to just throw it away like that."

Ellersa sighed. Li Jiehao, who had been listening for a while, asked, "Boss, is this Mr. Ellersa of very high status?"

Carlo glanced at him sideways: "To put it another way, in the Eastern Territory, his status is equivalent to a border count in the Western Territory."

Li Jiehao was taken aback. He looked at Ellersha and found it hard to associate the disheveled old man wrapped in a blanket with the identity of "Earl".

Isaac weighed the options. In the Western Territory, counts were divided into "court counts" and "border counts." The former generally did not have fiefs and only held the status of nobles, while the latter were the rulers of a city other than the capital, Vista, and held real power. Palmer, for example, was ruled by a border count.

The system in the East is quite different from that in the West, but the prestige of a noble of this rank is not much different.

"That's why I'm telling you, you're rich and powerful, and you have nothing better to do than get involved in demon summoning. As a result, you've turned yourself into a nameless demon, and now you don't even know what's going on when you go back."

"I thought I was fully prepared—"

"That's what everyone who messes up says. The difference is, those who mess up terribly don't get the chance to sit here and learn from their mistakes." Carlo glanced out the window. "What are your plans now? Go back to the East, or stay in Vista for now?"

Elsa shook her head: "I don't know. In my current state, someone who disappeared for several years suddenly reappears, and in this form. How am I supposed to explain this to others? And what if they realize I'm a demon—"

"Tsk tsk, demons are disliked everywhere." Carlo shrugged. "In your current state, going back to the East is unrealistic, and you wouldn't be able to handle the situation. Stay in Vista for now and stabilize your condition."

He looked at Li Jiehao: "Jacob, go buy him a set of clothes. Take the money from that drawer over there. You're about the same height, so just make sure it's your size. We can't let him keep walking around in a blanket. If someone who doesn't know the situation sees him, they'll think I'm abusing the elderly."

Li Jiehao nodded, took the money, and walked out with Fenli. He stopped at the door and turned back: "Mr. Elsa, what color clothes do you like?"

Elsa paused, as if no one had asked him such a question in a long time: "—Dark color, right?"

"Okay!"

Elsa watched Li Jiehao leave, then looked back at Carlo: "Shuster, I live in—"

"After you change your clothes, you'll stay at the hotel with that guy. But don't wander around aimlessly; if the Golden Bough Church sees you..."

"Well, I guess he'll just have to take an exorcism spell right away, dust to dust, ashes to ashes."

Ellerza nodded, clearly aware of the situation.

Seeing that Carlo had started reading the newspaper and showed no intention of continuing his conversation with Ellerza, Isaac stood aside and waited until Ellerza's emotions had calmed down a bit before asking, "Mr. Ellerza, may I ask you some questions?"

Elsa looked at Isaac: "I'll try my best to answer."

Do you remember what happened today?

Elsa was silent for a moment: "My memories before I woke up are all blurry. I'm trying to recall them."

Isaac waited a moment before asking this question, naturally wanting to ascertain why a demon possessed by Elsa and in a long-term slumber had suddenly slaughtered members of the Ghoul Order today and harbored great hostility towards Halprin.

After a long while, Elsa spoke: "I stayed in a room for a long time. Sometimes I could feel people coming in, and sometimes I could hear sounds outside, but those sounds came from a very far place. I couldn't understand what they were saying, and I couldn't respond to them. I couldn't wake up, and I couldn't move."

"But—it seems like someone said something to me, a voice, very old and weak, was speaking to me."

"A voice said—"Kill me, kill all the people around me."

Isaac frowned. The source of this instruction, at this time and in this place, was already quite clear.

Halprin, the cult elder who was placed under house arrest, might have sensed the existence of demons and even be able to give them commands in some way.

He let the demon kill him, and "these people" were probably the ghoul cult members in the nursing home.

Therefore, it can be explained that when Halprin reappeared later, he was repeatedly killed by the demon. This is because the demon was still carrying out the order Halprin gave: "Kill me."

For Helpulin, the initial order was naturally given to escape, and judging from the subsequent events, he did indeed escape.

The problem is that the resurrected Halprin is still someone who needs to be killed. So when Halprin reappears before the demon—well, just like Isaac saw—…