My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“This is me?”

Jeremiah asked back in bewilderment.

“Lady Rohanson… Do I look like this? Not my current appearance, but my original self.”

I shook my head and raised Jeremiah’s hand. This time it was Gabriel’s defeat.

“Count Gabriel has quite a unique artistic talent…”

Jeremiah trailed off while looking at the portrait Gabriel had drawn. Still staring at the paper as if he couldn’t understand how Gabriel’s scribbles could become a person, he suddenly clapped his hands as if he had figured out the secret.

“Ah! Is this perhaps similar to a code? You deliberately drew it like this so that if someone else saw it, they couldn’t deduce what the picture was, right?”

Come to think of it, Gabriel drew magic circles well… Seeing his excellent drafting skills, was this actually a case of ‘the Male Lead hiding his artistic abilities’ or something? However, Gabriel had no answer.

Gabriel, are you embarrassed right now? So you were aware that your drawings look like scribbles… The tips of his ears hidden by his black hair were red. Is this what they call gap moe?

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

Jeremiah also seemed flustered by Gabriel’s embarrassed appearance and apologized, not knowing what to do. Thus, the suddenly started drawing guessing game ended awkwardly.

***

In the end, Gabriel covered the paper and began explaining verbally. He should have just done it with words from the beginning.

“The owner of the body that Jeremiah is currently using is a knight named Azazel Astaroth. Everyone knows him as a Holy Knight, but Count Azazel is actually Bishop Marik’s personal guard.”

Isn’t Bishop Marik’s knight essentially a Holy Knight? The clothes Jeremiah is wearing now and Gabriel’s outfit are both pure white and look similar.

“What’s the difference?”

“To formally join the Temple as a Holy Knight, a ceremony is required.”

In the first place, to be recognized as a member of the Temple, whether priest or Holy Knight, everyone must undergo a baptism ceremony.

“Baptism ceremony?”

Gabriel explained that the baptism ceremony involved making a wound with a holy sword and pouring holy water to heal it, demonstrating that one receives Rahel’s blessing. The more one receives God’s love, the faster the wound heals, and the so-called holy water works better. The better one’s recovery ability, the more attention from superiors, so promotion is also faster.

“Some people try to cheat by exploiting this.”

He said it’s easy to manipulate since the person themselves makes the wound with the holy sword. The method involves preparing blood in advance and sprinkling it at the right timing to make it look like they suffered a much larger wound than they actually inflicted on themselves.

Since the wound is actually shallow, recovery is quick when holy water is used, so this method can make one appear more capable than they actually are.

But why does he know this so well? Don’t tell me Gabriel also manipulated things for quick promotion…? Maybe he’s not Captain just because he’s the Male Lead, but because he committed such corruption behind the scenes? No way. The Male Lead wouldn’t do that. I believe in our Gabriel.

I decided to focus on Azazel instead of Gabriel.

“Azazel is…”

“Yes. He didn’t undergo the ceremony. Since holy water would be problematic for him, he deliberately avoided it. He wears clothes as similar as possible to a Holy Knight’s, and since he’s Bishop Marik’s close associate, everyone had no choice but to mistake him for a Holy Knight.”

So Azazel also has a cursed body? Since holy water doesn’t react to him, he wouldn’t have participated in the baptism ceremony. Wait. Bishop Marik didn’t give holy water to Rider, but he’s using Azazel, who’s in a similar situation, as his close associate? This is complete double standards. Toten Madam would be furious if she heard this.

Anyway, holy water doesn’t work on Azazel either. It’s not like curses are trending, so I don’t know why God is handing out curses so freely. So much for a merciful and equal sun god.

Well… The gods in romance fantasy novels were never equal to begin with. I already knew the Temple treats nobles extremely well while discriminating by social status, being money-hungry, and not properly providing welfare for the poor. Most importantly, the fact that Bishop Marik is the mastermind is proof that the Temple is corrupt.

But wouldn’t exposing this damage Bishop Marik’s image somewhat?

“If Bishop Marik’s knight reveals corruption, wouldn’t it tarnish Bishop Marik’s reputation?”

Perhaps thinking similarly, Jeremiah asked with wide eyes. Seeing him make cute gestures with Azazel’s body while asking in a cheerful tone with that low voice created an incredible sense of dissonance. It’ll probably take quite a while to get used to this…

Gabriel shook his head.

“Unfortunately, it won’t be a big blow to Bishop Marik.”

“What? Why not?”

“Do you know how Bishop Marik gained his current reputation?”

“I heard it’s because he’s frugal and devout.”

That’s what the rumors say, but now that I know he’s the mastermind, I can only think he did good image management. No matter how hard I try, I can’t escape being treated as a villainess, so how did he manage it? Is this the difference in class between a mastermind and a villainess? I could almost see Bishop Marik sneering and telling me to know my place, so I forcibly pushed the thought from my mind.

Gabriel continued his explanation.

“Bishop Marik was one of those responsible for the heretic massacre 20 years ago.”

Bishop Marik’s rise to the position of bishop was also due to recognition of his contributions at that time. Considering that most bishops are elderly men with white hair, while Bishop Marik is still middle-aged, you can see how exceptional this appointment was.

How great a contribution would someone who was a nun at a remote monastery have to make to rise to the position of bishop? Since Bishop Marik had no doubts about God, he didn’t hesitate to kill, and he didn’t hesitate to torture heretics either, so many people must have died.

“No one has ever tried to stop Bishop Marik from bringing personal guards into the Temple.”

Bishop Marik hated heretics more than anyone, and the number of heretic heads she had cut was countless. Having climbed to a high position through bloodshed, she naturally made many enemies. So even if Bishop Marik used outside personnel for her own safety, no one would suspect her intentions.

“She deliberately used outside personnel to handle things that would be difficult to order Temple knights to do.”

“Like trying to kill me…”

Perhaps remembering the moment he was attacked by Azazel, Jeremiah placed his hand on his stomach.

“Besides that, there are probably dozens more people like Viscount Hükel who follow Bishop Marik from the shadows.”

“Viscount Hükel…?”

That Viscount Hükel who had wide connections and liked to show off, whom I used as a stepping stone to converse with Hosaquin Duke?

“Yes. I heard that Viscount Hükel handed the dagger to Rohanson Viscount. I met with Rohanson Viscount and confirmed it. It’s presumed that Viscount Hükel received bribe money from Bishop Marik and delivered the sword.”

So the source of the dagger the Viscount brought was really Bishop Marik. I barely managed to resist the urge to grab my neck and collapse.

Bishop Marik really was the mastermind. I was just playing around on a board that Bishop Marik had set up well. At least I’m glad I managed to save Jeremiah.

“What exactly is Bishop Marik trying to do?”

At Jeremiah’s question, Gabriel fell silent for a moment before quietly speaking.

“It’s a recreation of the past I just mentioned.”

“The past being…”

“Yes. The heretic massacre.”

Gabriel’s words left both me and Jeremiah dumbfounded.

What kind of bishop wants to commit massacre… Then he’s not just a mastermind but the final boss…

“Bishop Marik’s goal is the revival of the Temple. Do you remember the magic circle that was on the banquet hall floor the day Crown Prince passed away?”

“No. It was too chaotic then…”

Jeremiah tried to recall the memory but shook his head as if he couldn’t remember. It made sense since he had been switched with Tenebray at the time, so it was actually Tenebray who danced with the Crown Prince.

“Bishop Marik drew that magic circle? Why?”

“Because that way the magic circle would remain in people’s memories. Could there be anything more shocking than the death of the Empire’s only Crown Prince?”

Moreover, it happened on the victim’s birthday, with his own daughter being accused as the perpetrator, leading to her being expelled from the royal family and even having a wanted order issued. The entire Empire would be in an uproar. There weren’t many events that could create such impact.

It became even more sensational with the appearance of magic circles that had disappeared 20 years ago. ‘Heretics used magic to control the Princess and made her kill the Crown Prince.’ Could there be a better comeback story?

Word would spread accordingly, and among them, people interested in magic circles would also increase like bamboo shoots after rain. It didn’t matter whether real sorcerers had actually returned. It just needed to be known to the world that way.

“Bishop Marik is putting on a performance. She is a faithful believer who annihilates enemies for God…”

Gabriel’s gaze reached me.

“Lady Evangeline would be the enemy.”

Just as a hero needs a demon king to be active, the Temple needed a foundation to flourish again. I can only admire the mastermind’s skill, really. Look at him being the final boss while pinning everything on me. Then maybe all those malicious rumors that circulated in high society were also spread by Bishop Marik? Crazy. Bishop Marik’s schemes are no joke…

Jeremiah, who had been listening quietly, also felt very hollow upon realizing Bishop Marik’s motive.

“Then was Father murdered because of that? To spread magic circles? Because he opposed the Temple…? Because he was an obstacle to Bishop Marik… Just, just because of that?”

Tears welled up in Jeremiah’s eyes. However, Gabriel didn’t hesitate to remind him of the cruel reality instead of comforting Jeremiah. Seeing that Gabriel had fallen for me at first sight, he seemed to have some shallow tendencies, so his treatment seemed harsher now that Jeremiah was in Azazel’s body compared to when he was in Jeremiah’s body. Did Jeremiah choose the wrong body…? I was having brief regrets when Gabriel added another reason.

“I can guess another reason.”

“Another reason?”

“…To strengthen imperial authority.”

“…What?”

“Emperor was an illegitimate child. His Majesty killed his older half-siblings and ascended to the throne. At that time, there were many who called His Majesty a usurper who committed patricide and criticized his legitimacy and duties as Emperor. The opposition was strongest when Lauterus, Jeremiah’s father, was named Crown Prince.”

“No, no way…”

“They were revealed to be heretics and were purged.”

Since this happened before I possessed this body, strictly speaking it was something I didn’t know, but I nodded as if I understood roughly. It wasn’t such an uncommon story. When ascending to the throne, they claim legitimacy and try to strengthen imperial authority by cutting down all hostile forces.

Rather, it was surprising that Jeremiah had been unaware of this until now. From what I could see, Jeremiah seemed to have been raised very preciously, and since there was no need to inform the Princess about the Emperor and imperial family’s shameful secrets, they probably didn’t teach him.

And there was a series of similarities between the Emperor’s past and what Jeremiah experienced, in that both involved murdering blood relatives – half-siblings and twin sisters – with the Temple’s backing.

Gabriel slightly lowered his eyes. Shadows fell beneath his long eyelashes. His uniquely blue eyes sank deeply, with a cold light swirling in them.

“Bishop Marik seems to have chosen the next Emperor. The fact that Princess Tenebray is involved in this series of events… Perhaps Princess Tenebray’s will was involved in Crown Prince’s death.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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