Chapter 100, The Exorcist Was a Practitioner

Freya hesitated.

“Uh... supernatural powers probably do exist, right? You said you’ve seen a ghost yourself, and that warding item seems to have worked.”

“Exactly!” Amy said excitedly. “Actually, a few other people think the same way I do. We even started a [Paranormal Research Society]!”

“Faye, do you want to join? We can investigate all those supernatural powers that might actually exist!”

Freya blinked.

“Huh?”

“Come on, come on! It’s really fun!”

Freya hesitated.

“I mean... I guess I could?”

If Freya really wanted to, getting Amy a Rank One potion would not be difficult.

But would that actually be a good thing?

People always said that ordinary humans were powerless in a world like this. One day, they might suddenly die in some nameless disaster without ever understanding what happened.

But becoming a practitioner did not mean becoming safe.

Especially someone like Amy, who was kindhearted and instinctively thought about others before herself.

Freya did not think she was particularly suited to entering the extraordinary world.

Living an ordinary life might actually be safer for her.

And after Mind Freya had gone through all of the original Freya’s memories, Freya had grown even more fond of Amy.

She was planning to attend school normally anyway.

So what was wrong with joining Amy’s little paranormal club and playing along for a while?

If they spent a few weeks investigating and found absolutely nothing, Amy would probably lose interest and move on.

And if they really did uncover traces of extraordinary powers?

Well...

Then Freya’s reason for joining would become obvious.

She would make those traces disappear.

“Yay!” Amy clapped her hands. “We actually have a meeting tonight. Faye, you can come with me!”

Before attending that meeting, however, Freya wanted to investigate the so-called exorcist first.

She asked, “Amy, the other man talking to your father outside earlier... was that the exorcist your family hired?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“No reason.”

The instant Freya finished speaking, she activated [Future Simulation] and selected Mind Freya’s save file.

From Amy’s perspective, the Freya in front of her suddenly became a different person.

Amy froze.

But Mind Freya merely glanced at her.

A wave of drowsiness immediately washed over Amy.

Her eyelids grew heavy, and a moment later, she collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.

Mind Freya applied [Psychological Invisibility] to herself, left the bedroom, and returned to the sitting room.

Amy’s father and the slightly unkempt exorcist were still talking.

The exorcist spoke gravely.

“Mr. Osborne, the ghost haunting your home is slowly turning into an evil spirit!”

“As it grows stronger, the warding items I gave you before may gradually lose the ability to suppress it.”

Mr. Osborne immediately looked worried.

“Then... what should I do? Sir, you have to help me!”

At that point, Mind Freya decided there was no reason to keep listening.

She directly used [Mind Reading] on the exorcist.

His most immediate thought was painfully simple.

Some great merchant. This guy is ridiculously easy to scam. Heh...

Mind Freya went deeper.

The man’s name was Cole Wolfe.

About three years ago, he had drunk a Death Path potion.

He was now a Rank Two independent practitioner.

And this was far from his first scam.

Cole traveled from one major city to another, specifically targeting wealthy merchants.

He had only recently arrived in Auxerre City.

After that, he spent some time scouting the wealthy district and observing the larger estates.

Eventually, he chose Amy’s father as his next target.

As for the so-called ghosts...

They were nothing more than one of his Death Path abilities.

[Summon Wraith].

The ability allowed him to use spirituality to summon translucent wraiths and command them to perform simple tasks.

Like scaring people.

In actual combat, those wraiths were fairly weak.

They could only affect the physical world to a very limited degree.

Cole normally used them more as scouts than anything else.

Mind Freya continued reading his thoughts.

After confirming that he operated alone and had no friends, backers, or organization behind him, she immediately ended the simulation.

In hindsight, perhaps Freya had simply become overly cautious because the enemies she had encountered recently were all ridiculous.

First there had been General Jerome, a War Path [General] capable of fighting an entire army by himself.

Then there had been Luna, a dual-class Rank Five practitioner.

So when Freya investigated this exorcist, she had instinctively entered a simulation first and treated the whole situation seriously.

Then she took one look.

Seriously?

The mastermind was only Rank Two.

He was standing right there.

One use of [Mind Reading], and every secret he had was exposed.

Back in reality, Freya recalled Mind Freya, who had been lounging around at home, into the system.

Then she summoned her again beside herself.

Mind Freya had activated [Psychological Invisibility] beforehand, so Amy never saw her appear.

Freya’s main body stayed in the bedroom and continued chatting with Amy as though nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, Mind Freya quietly left the room and headed toward Amy’s father and the “exorcist,” just as she had in the simulation.

People often said the Mind Path was weak in direct combat.

That was true.

But why would she fight him directly?

Under [Hypnosis], the Death Path practitioner’s eyes quickly lost focus.

Mr. Osborne noticed immediately.

“Sir?”

“Sir?”

Cole stood there blankly for a moment.

Then he spoke in a stiff voice.

“Sorry. I suddenly remembered that I have something extremely important to take care of.”

“We’ll talk another time.”

And what was this extremely important matter?

Turning himself in to Special Affairs.

With that settled, Mind Freya started walking home on her short legs, ready to resume her very important business of doing absolutely nothing.

The system’s recall-and-summon function could instantly bring a copy to Freya’s main body.

But it only worked one way.

Since Freya’s main body was still at Amy’s house, Mind Freya had to walk home herself.

As she made her way down the street, Mind Freya glanced at the hypnotized Death Path practitioner walking a short distance ahead of her.

She could not help thinking,

The Mind Path is ridiculously broken.

No one even knew she was there.

No one knew she had used an ability.

From Cole’s perspective, he would remember scamming someone one moment...

Then open his eyes and somehow find himself in prison.

But while Mind Freya was leisurely walking home, something unexpected happened.

An elderly gentleman stood further down the street.

He leaned on a cane and was dressed impeccably, every inch the refined gentleman.

Judging by his appearance, he had to be at least sixty or seventy years old.

Then...

He suddenly turned his head.

Not toward the dazed Death Path practitioner walking ahead of Mind Freya.

But directly toward Mind Freya herself.

Toward Mind Freya...

Who was still under [Psychological Invisibility].