MPBAGS Chapter 4

I am now a hardcore possessor who can even read text.

Now that I can read, it's time to raid Evangeline's diary. While I'm at it, I'll find the summoning spell too and summon a spirit or dragon for myself—let's try being overpowered for once!

I settled into position when Pudding promptly plopped onto my lap. Together with Pudding, I opened the diary with a calm and reverent heart.

March 9th, Year 370.
Met Count Rohanson.

It's been a while since I've seen a diary that doesn't start on January 1st. Come to think of it, what year is it now?

"What year is it?"

"By Imperial reckoning, it's 392."

I asked Henna, who's gotten pretty close with me lately, about the year. My employer asking such a thing should seem pathetic, but Henna answered kindly.

392? I looked at the date again. More than twenty years ago. Then this wasn't Evangeline's diary. I'd grabbed the wrong one.

August 9th, Year 370.
That man proposed marriage.

It seemed the diary's owner was Evangeline's mother. There was even talk about just getting married to Count Rohanson. She wasn't the type to write at length—the entries were short and the dates jumped ahead in leaps.

August 19th, Year 370.
Father issued a confinement order. He's certain that man proposed to target the ducal house. How would Father know when he's never even met him? He said he truly loves me. That he doesn't care about money.

Evangeline's mother must have been the third child of a ducal house. Unfortunately, the exact family name wasn't written. Anyway, it was a story about a daughter of a wealthy ducal family who fell in love with a count she met by chance, married him despite her family's opposition, and was disowned by her house.

April 2nd, Year 371.
I should have listened to Father. I want to return to the ducal house.

However, Count Rohanson's goal had been money, and after swallowing the dowry Evangeline's mother brought, their relationship grew distant. The moment I saw it, I thought, ah, this is a cliché.

Now it's that thing where instead of Count Rohanson, you cling to the estranged maternal family. The grandfather actually loved his daughter and sees his dead daughter overlapping in his granddaughter, that kind of thing.

But... isn't that a child-rearing story? Evangeline was too old for a child-rearing story. It seemed too late to fall into the child-rearing route. Damn, if I'd only possessed a few years earlier!

The diary entries grew longer as the days passed. It seemed she had no one to confide in, so she wrote her innermost thoughts in the diary. The handwriting gradually became stranger, and perhaps because of that, there were oddly some characters I couldn't read. The content seemed to be changing too...

The important thing was the summoning spell...

[Method for Summoning □□]

[Stand on □

D□file the earth with the □□ of the □□

Draw a circle with your bl□□ding hands

Humbly beseech and l□ng for □

Let grapes ripen on thorns

And let figs bear fruit on thistles

□□ and □□

Welcome the □□ of □□ who will turn the earth and descend to the ground]

Excuse me? The translator's malfunctioning? I knew it from when the translation patch took so long!

It seemed the patch wasn't complete. I supposed I should be grateful any characters were showing at all.

Let me just read what I can see. So... defile the earth and draw a circle with my hands? What's this about thorns and grapes? Is it saying you plant beans but get red beans instead? What does this mean!

What am I even summoning? The characters are already corrupted and the content is unnecessarily difficult, so I don't understand a word of it.

This is why top instructors make good money. They organize everything neatly with numbers—1. Draw a circle 2. Summon. How nice would it be if they did it like that?

My head hurts. Time out for a moment. I'll have to shelve this until the translation gets patched. Paper doesn't run away, right?

'Where did it go?'

It ran away.

The paper on the desk had vanished without a trace. The diary was intact, but only the paper was gone. I searched the entire room but couldn't find it.

"Henna, did you see the paper that was on the desk?"

"No..."

I'd been in the room all day, so when did it disappear? The only time I left the room was yesterday during my walk. Could someone have cleaned while I was out and thrown it away thinking it was trash?

I haven't even translated it yet! I haven't even tried summoning! This is why you shouldn't live lazily!

First, I need to find out who cleaned. That way I can ask about the paper's whereabouts. I grabbed a passing servant.

"Who entered my room yesterday?"

"Y-yesterday? If it was yesterday, it would be Do-Donau."

"Where is he now?"

"Well... Donau didn't come in today..."

Could this be that thing I've only heard about—a no-show theft?

Come to think of it, because of the translator malfunction, it might have looked strange only to me and appeared normal to other people's eyes. While cleaning my room, he saw the badass summoning method and just stole it. If he'd thrown it away thinking it was trash, there'd be no reason for him to be absent without leave today!

"...Did Donau do something?"

"He did. I think he stole something of mine."

Evangeline was a villainess but had a setting where she was somewhat bullied. I didn't want to slap people or throw my status around so I just let it be, but even if not slapping, I should have fired them sooner. I mean, is there nothing else to steal except my otherworld overpowered route?

"Tell everyone that from now on, if anyone touches my belongings, no matter who it is, I'll cut off their head."

Off with all your heads! I'll freely abuse my authority to dismiss people.

I went straight to the butler and got Donau's home address. I didn't know I'd make my first outing after possession for such an unfortunate reason.

Because I didn't know the geography well, Henna, who lives nearby, accompanied me. Pudding stuck with us too, probably thinking we were going for a walk.

When I told the coachman the address, he dropped us off at the outskirts, quite far from the mansion. From there, Henna guided the way.

"Here it is."

We finally arrived! You thief, wait for me. I'll reclaim my otherworld overpowered route.

Knock my ass—I just kicked the door down.

"...Mmph...ngh!"

The girl twisted her body. Doesn't she get tired? Donau, who had been sitting in a chair leisurely reading while drinking tea, clicked his tongue at the groans interrupting his reading.

Though her mouth was gagged, he could interpret everything. The words she'd say were obvious anyway. Please save me, I was wrong. Such groveling words. Haha, how amusing—begging indiscriminately without even knowing what she did wrong.

Donau, who had been looking at the girl like she was an insect, soon turned his gaze away.

There were no curtains, so worried someone might see inside through the window, he had hastily covered it with wooden boards and nailed them in place. Red light leaked through the tiny gaps. The sunset was already setting.

Time was truly running short now. The redness would fade and darkness would soon arrive.

Donau looked lovingly at the paper he was reading.

It was a slip of paper he'd picked up from the Rohanson County House where Donau worked. Last night, while organizing Evangeline Rohanson's room, he discovered this treasure.

[҉How҉ ҉to҉ ҉Summon҉ ҉a҉ ҉Demon҉]

To an ordinary person, this would seem like children's play. But Donau, working at the Rohanson County House, recognized with excellent discernment that this was real.

Evangeline Rohanson, who had hanged herself and died, had come back to life. Who but a demon could do such a thing?

His foolish colleagues made a fuss, terrified of a mere girl, saying she was possessed by ghosts! She'd become a demon! Such low-level fools! What mattered was how they brought Evangeline Rohanson back to life!

And who summoned the demon!

Only Donau could figure out the reason.

Evangeline Rohanson's maternal family was House Hosaquin. Count Rohanson had been receiving massive treatment funds from the ducal house since Evangeline was young, using the excuse that she was sickly.

While cleaning the Count's office, Donau had witnessed that dizzying parade of numbers stretching endlessly. Thanks to getting beaten for stealing a glance at the documents, he still remembered it vividly.

But if Evangeline died, all that money would disappear. So Count Rohanson must have contracted with a demon to revive his daughter!

That damned Count! No matter how nice he acts, he's just another money-grubbing noble bastard! Donau had suspected the Count's filthy ulterior motives long before.

And Donau would become a far more legitimate noble than someone like Count Rohanson.

Stand on the edge. Defile the earth with the martyrdom of the innocent. With your bloodied hands, draw the circle. Kneel in gratitude and beseech for salvation.

Let grapes ripen on thorns and let figs bear fruit on thistles. Revere and worship. Turn the earth and welcome the angel of light who shall descend to the world.

The preparations were complete.

He'd kidnapped a girl who had been loitering outside. Donau had drawn the sigil to summon the demon on the floor with his own blood. Drawing that huge sigil left Donau's arms and fingers covered in knife cuts.

Now he just had to wait until sunset and summon the demon with that girl's life as payment...

Donau repeatedly recited the procedure several times, then tore the paper into small pieces and swallowed it. Eating the dry paper felt as sweet as eating ripe fruit.

He couldn't let just anyone see such special information. The opportunity to become special needed to be his alone.

"Finally!"

And finally, the day was setting. Donau struck a match and lit a candle.

Picking up the well-sharpened knife from the table, Donau danced to the accompaniment of gasping breaths. It was a waltz a gentleman might perform. Following Donau's movements, the candlelight flickered and the shadow cast on the wall writhed.

Dancing with the shadow as his partner, Donau imagined the future after summoning the demon. Himself not in this shabby house, but beneath a brilliant chandelier.