The 24-Hour Possession Counseling Office — Episode 5
‘This person is also alone in this world. Just like me.’
Perhaps he felt a loneliness even more severe than hers.
“……Thank you.”
After a brief silence, the crown prince slowly withdrew his hand and expressed his gratitude. Laura smiled softly at the sight.
“It’s nothing. After all, it’s not free.”
A strange light flickered in the crown prince’s eyes.
“……Must I pay a price?”
“Yes.”
When Laura tapped the white orb, the crown prince saw something other than a map before his eyes.
“This is something counselors must know by heart from generation to generation.”
[Payment for counseling may take various forms depending on the situation. Money, goods, time, and so forth. The payment is determined through negotiation with the client.]
[However, that payment must be reasonable and proper.]
[What is reasonable and proper is for the counselor to know best.]
[Should this be violated, great misfortune shall befall the counselor in the name of the gods.]
The man recited the last sentence.
“……Great misfortune shall befall in the name of the gods?”
“Yes.”
The man’s gaze as he looked at the counselor, who answered matter-of-factly, sank low. Conversely, the corners of his lips rose slightly.
“Surely there was no need to show this to me?”
“But I thought there was no particular reason to hide it, so I showed you.”
Looking at the counselor who answered as matter-of-factly as ever, the man thought:
‘This one is no pushover.’
To a person who knew nothing, a possessor who had taken over the crown prince’s body, there would have been plenty to extort as “payment” for the counselor, who alone knew his true identity.
‘Revealing sincerity by showing information that is tantamount to a weakness?’
The man opened his mouth.
“That inspires trust.”
For the first time.
He didn’t bother to add the rest.
‘I find myself believing that everything this counselor has said so far is sincere.’
The man had dealt with countless people until now.
People who could not let go of ugly power and endless greed even as the world was headed toward destruction.
Most of those people hid such aspects of themselves. Rather, they approached him disguised in kindness, while behind his back they scrambled to uncover his true identity.
‘Compared to them, this counselor is honest.’
Clever.
Very much so.
Was she not acting in a way that left him no choice but to trust her?
“Client. The relationship between you and me is not one-sided. You receive my help, and I receive payment from you.”
“A reasonable relationship.”
“Indeed.”
Looking at the counselor flashing a bright smile, the man thought:
‘Even so, I must not yet trust everything.’
However, without realizing it, he was recalling the counselor’s name.
‘Was it Laura Rien?’
Laura.
After silently repeating her name once in his mouth, the man asked:
“In any case, if we must find a clue, this isn’t a situation where we can know the answer right this moment, is it?”
“That is true, but we will surely be able to find a clue.”
The records of House Rien had shown as much until now.
If a possessor wished to return to their original world, and that clue was found, the possessor could unconditionally return.
‘Among possessors who wished to return but could not, fifty-three percent were mostly cases where the clue could not be found.’
It was when Laura had briefly fallen into thought.
Wheeee—
Weee— Weeeee—
An emergency siren rang out beyond the window.
‘Again?’
This sound was happening again?
Throughout the entire capital?
Laura found herself looking at the crown prince.
The cause of this sound was surely the possessor before her eyes.
“Must you go?”
“I suppose I must.”
The crown prince had already risen from his seat.
‘Hm.’
Looking at the crown prince who had risen without her noticing, Laura thought once again:
‘He’s strong?’
Whether the crown prince was originally strong, or whether he had grown strong through the possessor’s experience and abilities—regarding this, there was a need to verify.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
The crown prince headed for the front door, and Laura followed after him before calling out to him upon a sudden thought:
“Ah, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
She had almost forgotten something important.
Creak.
The crown prince, who had grabbed the front doorknob, turned back to look at Laura.
And he could see Laura with a gentle smile upon her lips.
“What is your original name?”
“Ah.”
At her question, the crown prince’s lips parted slightly. He stood still for a moment before speaking briefly:
“……It’s Ion.”
“Aha. Ion. Lord Ion.”
Laura repeated the name Ion several times.
‘I heard Earth’s language system is different from here, but the name is easy to pronounce. He’s my only client, so I need to pronounce his name well.’
Laura muttered the name repeatedly to familiarize herself with it. The crown prince watched her silently.
Soon, when she had grown familiar enough to be satisfied, she beamed a bright smile at the crown prince.
“Lord Ion, to be honest, I was happy to meet you today.”
Laura suddenly thought of her grandfather.
Her grandfather, who had waited for clients for a long time.
“You will come again, won’t you?”
“I believe we can meet again soon.”
“Then I shouldn’t sleep at night for the time being.”
Laura understood this to mean that the crown prince would soon come to visit secretly at night again.
To that, Ion muttered lowly.
“Perhaps.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing. I shall be going now.”
Click. Creak.
The front door opened.
Save for the magic lamp by the door, all around was dark.
The crown prince, his figure concealed in a robe, stepped into that darkness. But then he paused and turned around.
“……Counselor.”
He asked the blonde woman who was still looking at him through the open door.
“Are you not going to ask the name of this body I now inhabit?”
“Diant. How could I not know, Your Highness Crown Prince Diant.”
I’m a count, for what it’s worth. Though my client the possessor may not know that.
Laura greeted him with an elegant gesture.
“Please return safely, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“……Let’s meet again soon.”
Leaving those words behind, the crown prince leaped over the fence and disappeared into the darkness.
Wheeee— Weee—
While the siren still rang throughout the capital.
Even after the crown prince had completely left, Laura stood there for a long while, then closed the door upon seeing a knight approaching in the distance.
“Whew.”
And she roughly plopped down on the entrance floor.
“Wow, the crown prince is a possessor, and that possessor is my client!”
This is insane!
Left alone, Laura was only now beginning to feel the reality of this situation.
“Ah, I’m fully awake now.”
She thought about what she had to do from now on.
“First, I need information.”
She grasped the white orb.
She felt she would need to review all the materials on possessors again for the time being.
“Hm? It stopped?”
Confirming that the siren had stopped, Laura rose from her spot.
* * *
At that time, Ion—who had possessed Crown Prince Diant—moved swiftly yet covertly toward the crown prince’s palace.
“……Ion.”
He muttered his own name.
“It’s been a long time since someone called me by this name.”
Ion, a college student living in solitude. Baekho, the rank one hunter whom the whole world wanted to know and cheered for. Aside from roll call, there was no one who called him by the name Ion.
‘And someone who calls it so earnestly, with a smile—’
As memories of before the world turned to hell surfaced, Ion shook his head to push away thoughts of the past.
Instead, his eyes, which had cooled to an icy calm, turned toward the brightly lit imperial palace.
“……Is it because this is a body that came back from the brink of death? There are many looking for me.”
Then, a certain voice was heard in Ion’s head.
[Ability synchronization in progress…… 50%]
* * *
Ding-dong—
Early in the morning, Laura opened the main gate at the sound of the magic doorbell.
Clunk. As the rusty door opened, a knight in a splendid uniform bowed his head.
“Count Rien, a telegram for you.”
“……Thank you.”
Laura, dressed in a light dress with a shawl draped over her shoulders, elegantly received the telegram from the knight.
“Please be sure to give a definitive reply this time.”
“Very well.”
“Then I shall take my leave.”
The knight saluted in a businesslike yet polite manner before moving away.
“……”
Laura swiftly glanced around her surroundings.
A place densely packed with noble houses. She noticed several servants peeking this way, but she closed the main gate without a care and walked toward the mansion.
“……Damn it!”
Of course, while expressing her inner thoughts in a short word.
Squeak.
As soon as she entered the mansion, Laura tore open the envelope she held in her hand.
[To Count Rien,
The day has come when flower buds that have endured the harsh winter bloom one by one.]
She ignored the preamble.
[……We request your attendance at the Noble Assembly to be held in one month.]
Having taken in the purpose of the telegram, Laura furrowed her brow.
“Now they’re sending letters through knights?”
The one who had visited the mansion just now was a knight belonging to the Noble Assembly.
“Why do the Noble Assembly’s knights look sharper than the imperial knights?”
A bitter laugh flowed from Laura’s lips.
Currently, the Klan Empire was nominally divided into the Imperial Family, the Noble Assembly, and the Administration. But the reality was different.
‘The Administration is in a position to fetch and carry for the Imperial Family and the nobles.’
As for the other two:
‘They’re too busy taking sides and buddying up among themselves.’
The Crown Prince faction, the Second Prince faction, and the Emperor faction. The Emperor faction was neutral, but a three-way struggle was unfolding like this.
“……Our client’s side is the weakest. I can’t let any harm come to the client.”
Laura shook her head.
“For now, I’m the problem, I am.”
[……The Noble Assembly to be held in one month……]
Laura furrowed her brow as she checked the letter’s contents once more.
“This time, they’re definitely going to strike House Rien from the nobility.”