“Who dares?” Remy spun on his heel.

An old lady in long, black robes stood in the hallway just outside the door. Her robes were ruffled, her hair a mess, her cap askew. She shooed the guard aside, and he quickly backed into the room, moving to Remy’s side. Lloyd stood to Remy’s other side, lifting his hands defensively.

I should mention. Since you’ve given me a body, I now have free reign to take basic actions to defend you. I cannot use complex actions or spells without an explicit order or the equivalent skill, but for this old hag, my hands alone should suffice.

Remy raised his brows. Interesting. I don’t intend to fight this old lady, but it’s good to know. It seems that if I deliberately invest in something for this demon, it can use that thing, but it cannot bring its own means to the table.

That’s fair. After all, I wouldn’t want to face a Goddess’ Champion with the full might of an angel at her side. No—at that point, it would simply be a battle of strongest angel vs. strongest demon, and there would be no need for a Champion at all. Lloyd’s inability to help me is probably to prevent exactly that.

Remy lifted his chin. He looked down at the old lady. “Head Matron. I’ve been expecting you.”

“Have you? Then why are you interfering with my patients?” she asked, not backing down an inch.

“I wished to test out a new curative spell. It has succeeded,” he explained, gesturing at Lloyd.

“His Highness invited me to be his manservant,” Lloyd explained, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

“And you simply went along?” the Head Matron admonished him.

Lloyd spread his hands. “When a prince asks, you say yes.”

She shook her head. Crossing her arms, she faced Remy. “This man is under the care of the Goddess. You are not authorized to take him out of the Sanctuary.”

“I’m not? I’m a prince,” Remy pointed out.

“I serve the Goddess. A yet higher provenance,” the Head Matron disagreed.

“Well, then. Goddess strike me down, if I’m not meant to take this man from this Sanctuary,” Remy declared.

The Head Matron gasped. The nurses flanking her grabbed her arms in fright. 

Nothing happened.

Remy bowed sarcastically to the Matron. “Then, by the provenance of the Goddess, Lloyd is coming with me.”

“You aren’t authorized to take him!” the Matron snarled.

Lloyd glanced at Remy, a small grin on his lips. Odd she protests so much.

Remy hummed under his breath. He raised his brows. It is interesting. A soulless body, perfect for possessing. And the Head Matron, unwilling to let us go. Not to mention what Lloyd said when we entered: that the Goddess’ blessing is weak here.

Pinching his chin, he eyed the building they stood in. The Goddess’ Sanctuary wasn’t one of his top targets for reform. It could certainly use reform, but was it something that mattered to the civilians to that extent? Not everyone even interacted with the Sanctuary. Not to mention—

Remy’s eyes widened. He shook his head. No! I’m a fool! Two years from now, a bad wave of diarrheal disease hit. The poorly funded Sanctuary was overburdened by the sudden influx of the ill. They overflowed its walls. Patients packed the courtyard and spilled out into the streets. What could have been an easily contained illness became a minor plague, and the king had to announce edicts to control its spread. The plague and the mismanagement of the Sanctuary added to the dissatisfaction of the citizens. Ill laborers were unable to tend the fields, creating the poor harvest in the third year. That poor harvest led to the high price of grain, which led to the high price of bread. The citizens, unable to purchase bread, turned on the monarchy.

Of course, the plague isn’t the only thing that led to our overthrow. The nobles are undoubtedly part of the problem. But, if I could resolve this, it would remove one of many elements that led to the monarchy’s downfall.

Two years until the plague. But reforming the Sanctuary would take time. It was a large institution. The kind that moved slowly. And reforming it ought to be easy. Its primary issue was being underfunded… He glanced at Lloyd. Supposedly, anyways.

He nodded at the Head Matron. “Can we speak in private? Perhaps in your office?”

The old woman huffed. She looked him up and down, then nodded and thumbed over her shoulder. “This way. Bring the boy.”

She led them down the stairs and through the halls back to her office. Orderlies walked around, handing out medicine. Remy peered at the medicines they handed out as they walked. Some were deep, dark red. Others were bright green. Most shimmered somewhere in the ugly yellow-greens or red-yellows, neither fully harmless nor fully poison. The more he looked, the more refined the colors appeared. Even fine shades appeared different to him. He breathed in, and the medicinal scents slowly separated out. The same as the colored lights, the different scents stood out to him as separate from one another. He couldn’t fully parse the meaning of each scent yet, but with every passing second, more of the scent opened up to him.

This is a good place to train Inspect, Lloyd commented approvingly.

Remy ignored him. Ahead of them, the Head Matron stood outside her office, waiting. The other nurses hovered around, but with a wave of her hand, she dismissed them. She cocked her head. “Come.”

Her office was a spartan affair. A simple wood desk, white-washed walls, and two chairs. One behind the desk, one facing it. Remy stood behind the chair, gripping its back with both hands, and looked down at the Head Matron. She took her seat slowly, then met his eyes, locking her hands in front of her on the desk. “What did you wish to ask, Prince?”

“Why are you so obsessed with Lloyd?” he asked flatly.

Her brows furrowed. “He’s a patient. You have no right to take him from here. His family—”

“Excuses. That’s all I’ve heard since I arrived here. Hit on the head? He has no wound. He was attacked by a dream eater, and you know it. You don’t know why he’s moving, but you don’t want him to wander about and attract the adventurer’s guild’s attention…isn’t that right, dream eater?” He flicked his eyes up, gazing directly into the Head Matron’s. One hand drummed the top of the chair, while he tucked the other behind him.

The Head Matron startled. She looked around, then frowned at him, taken aback. “Young man—”

“You’re treating me quite informally for a prince. All the stranger, when my brothers and I are known for executing citizens at will. You speak roughly to your fellow nurses. And perhaps most obviously, this place has lost the Goddess’ blessing. With a figure as powerful as the Head Matron here, how could that happen? A nun ranked high enough to be put in charge of her own domain, and no Goddess’ blessing? How odd indeed,” he explained. Leaning forward, he cocked a brow. “Unless the ‘Head Matron’ is no Head Matron at all.”

“Ridiculous!” the Head Matron said, thumping her hands down on the table.

Remy whipped his other hand out from behind his back. The red magical circle around his wrist discharged through his palm, and fire blasted over the Head Matron. She jumped up, only to stumble backward, falling in a heap against the wall.

“I could have pointed out how you sat like a man with your legs apart, or your poorly groomed clothing, but I’m not cruel,” Remy added.

The corpse laid there.

Remy scoffed. He lifted his hand, and the red magic circle began to reform. “Now, now. Give it up. Or shall I roast you again?”

Behind him, Lloyd chuckled, deep in his throat.

All at once, a transparent figure leaped out of the Head Matron’s body. A gastly, semi-human thing, it lunged at Remy with clawed fingers.

Remy threw his hand out. The red circle instantly burned bright, and a ball of fire punched into the ghostly being. The fire burned from inside out, searing the dream eater to nothing.

Lloyd clapped. “Congratulations! You’ve gained another five points.”

“That puts me at nine?” Remy asked. I started with seven, paid three for Inspect, so I should have four points remaining. With the extra five—

Lloyd tilted his head. “Didn’t you tell me to put the rest of your points into magic?”

“Those are the same points?” Remy asked, shocked.

“Of course. Did you think you had another kind of points?”

“I told you to put status upgrades, not…” Remy waved his hand. The four points he’d already invested in his magic had taken him from a one-firebolt caster to two. Right now, boosting his magic for the fight was the most important thing. He could buy skills later. “Whatever. Put those points into magic again. I’m going to need it.”

“Oh, is that so?” Lloyd asked, tilting his head.

“As if you haven’t already figured it out. This place is a nest of dream eaters. It isn’t just the Head Matron—the place is crawling with them. I’ve killed their queen, so they should all come running.” Remy loosened his cloak, revealing the red jacket beneath. He smiled darkly. “It’s time to go hunting.”