“Greetings, all. I am pleased to see that everyone was able to make it. Today, we are going to be reviewing the effects of ‘Operation Bad Dream’ since its start. Miss Maeve, we are hoping that your expertise will be of use”

  The old king motioned toward one of his advisors, prompting the man to rise while holding papers.

  “Aherm… So far, the operation has proven to be a success. Despite Rootriska’s measures against it, we have still been able to sow chaos and confusion. Our spies within the country are unanimous, the nightmares are still spreading en masse, although still at a lesser rate compared to Heldinot, where the situation is much more severe”

  The man cited the number of casualties they were able to record, as well as the suspected number of nightmare carriers–I wasn’t certain what the point of trying to count the latter was, but the numbers given were indeed quite impressive… My employers were apparently blown away at the speed at which my nightmares had spread.

  They were only surprised because they were wrongly assuming that nightmares only occurred within the vicinity of those I had burdened with ‘Remember Me?’. The general state of fear and panic the mess was causing was enough for people to blossom with nightmares, regardless of whether or not they were within the reach of any aura of gloom.

  “So far, however, it doesn’t seem as though any individuals of high rank have been affected despite our efforts to send spies marked by Miss Maeve within their proximity–Several of said spies were discovered too. We’ve lost contact with them”

  “Any ideas why that is, Miss Maeve?”

  “Th–ey–ey must be more resilient–ent”

  “That is hardly a response”

  “W-Why don’t you try to fi–gure it out yourself–elf?”

  The hostile advisor could only swallow his words. He wouldn’t want to cause too much of a scene. Unfortunately for the fools on the sides of this table, I really didn’t care about their supposed authority or status, and it seemed like it made them very cranky… I guess they felt disrespected by my sheer presence or something.

  In any case, the true reason why elites were untouched was very simple. They were probably all wearing items protecting them against curses. While true curse slingers weren’t common, curses were still a very well-documented method of killing people from far away, or without awakening any suspicions. As such, important people were basically guaranteed to have at least one method of avoiding them.

  Not to mention that in Rootriska’s case, there was an expert curse slinger there. It would be weird if Jorah Bombidour hadn’t yet figured out the true nature of ‘Remember Me?’. In fact, he was probably working on a method to deal with it nationwide.

  The only reasons I could think of why it hadn’t already been done were simply that ‘Remember Me?’ was a rather special curse I had acquired by advancing my nature as a Steel-Bound Curse, and also because I used negative energy in the casting process, something which was certainly far from common. Usually, every caster and their mothers used mana.

  The countless other types of energy? They were basically all incredibly niche, even the ones which were actually not that uncommon. As such, dealing with anything not made using mana was probably unfamiliar territory.

  “We’ve also just recently received word that two people were able to survive their final trial, as they called it…”

  “Oh, is that so?”

  The king once again turned to me.

  “Is it a normal phenomenon?”

  “Of–f course. All nightmares are tr–trial–als. They can all be w–won”

  “Huh… So it isn’t infallible?”

  “I think it is qui–quite good. My nightmares are terrorising two diff–different countries, after all”

  “Indeed, your cooperation has proven tremendously useful to our cause. So, I was wondering, is there anything else that you might desire?”

  “Ghostly essence and cursed essence”

  “When demanding things, her speech isn’t stuttered, huh?”

  “I would advise that you cease with the comments”

  “...Of course, Sir Denaiel”

  “The container you gave–gave me. It con–contained ghostly essence… I would pre–prefer cursed essence if I ha–had to choose one, but it is much–ch harder to procure”

  “I see, we will see what we can do, Miss Maeve… Is there anyone who would like to say anything?”

  The king looked around the room. No one said anything, but eventually, someone did raise their hand. It was the woman seated next to the king, whom I assumed had a similar position to Denaiel. Like Red Snow, her face was scarred, but in a way worse than his by a long shot.

  It looked like her entire face had been exposed to flames, and in particular, the lower portion… Her perfectly white teeth were nearly completely exposed, making her look like her skull itself was showing.

  She definitely had a noticeable appearance, especially considering her blonde hair, and bright, beautiful green eyes–Which also showed greatly since she had no eyelids to blink with. I was uncertain how she could see anything without putting drops in her eyes constantly, as I doubt she could moisturise them on her own, considering the extent of the damage.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Yes, Halini?”

  “I would like to ask: When are we killing?”

  “Not yet, Halini. The plan has barely begun”

  “I see”

  She did not say much, but this Halini girl had a rather soft-sounding voice. She probably used to be quite the cute one, if I had to guess…

  …The actually interesting part of the meeting was a rather quick one overall. The meeting as a whole only lasted as long as it did because everyone ended up having something to say about things I really couldn’t care less about–But being a well-educated and good-mannered young lady, I stayed until the end without showing my desire to get up and leave.

  Once everything came to an end, Denaiel approached me with Halini in tow.

  “Miss Maeve, His Majesty was wondering if you would be interested in having your own servants”

  “No–Not interested”

  Certainly not, I don’t want critters with their noses always in my business. I value my privacy.

  “I see… Are you enjoying your stay here, at least? I do hope you do not take it as an offence that you were lodged in the attic. It is purely due to the worries of the advisors. Otherwise, His Majesty wouldn’t have minded granting you a more traditional guest room”

  “It is n–not an issu–ue”

  I definitely preferred the attic. I was well away from other people and could get down to some business without being bothered there.

  “All is good, then… Mmh… Halini wanted to tell you something–She is a little of an odd character, whatever she says, don’t take it too seriously”

  I turned my attention to the burnt woman, who just looked up at me.

  “You smell like you killed a whole lot of people. You must know how to kill. How do you kill? I would like to know so that I can kill better, too”

  …An odd character indeed.

  “I just follow–low my instincts mo–most of the time. I do–don’t have any specific me–method”

  “Following your instincts…? I see. Thank you”

  She just walked away as though she had heard something incredibly deep. I think she is a bit deranged, but in a cute way… Maybe I should try to get her soul into my storage.

  In any case, I returned to my private quarters for now, where I found my darlings sitting in a circle discussing the intricacies of… I honestly had no idea what they were talking about, to be honest, but they looked cute doing so, that’s for sure.

  They all stood up to crowd around me, but before I could grab them into my embrace or ask them what they had been talking about. I felt it.

  I swiftly took my little sisters into my mindscape as I locked eyes with a shadowy figure I had never seen before, but whose presence I had already felt in the past. It was the ghostly entity who had written a bunch of threatening messages all over the walls back inside that large structure filled with small homes.

  I could instantly tell that it was a ghost of some kind, probably a Vengeful Spirit, but being one myself, I could tell that this guy was a bit different–He wasn’t just vengeful. Vengeance felt like the core of his existence itself. He incarnated the concept.

  MARA NEBULO

  Despite standing within sight, he still communicated via written messages. Plastering them all over the ceiling, walls, floor, and even random items…

  “Yep, th–that’s my name”

  The spectre was unlike any other I had ever gotten the chance to meet. When I said that he was shadowy, I meant it. His body, although rather detailed in its shape, was made from nothing but a writhing, twitching mass of darkness, making him look like a shadow given form–The only things that put a dent in this dark look were the dark-red rope-like things wrapped tightly all over his body and limbs.

  He was also very clearly masculine in terms of body, taking on an overall appearance that I would attribute to a young man. Not in terms of face, though, since he was wearing a white, blank mask with a crack running upon its surface.

  A rather interesting-looking fellow, but still not someone I was pleased about seeing here. I certainly wasn’t happy with how close he had been to my little sisters…

  FATE WILL FALL UPON YOU.

  This guy is repeating himself. Does he think that saying something enough times will magically make it true? Surely not, I can feel it clearly, this is a powerful entity.

  RELEASE YOUR PRISONERS.

  ARE YOU NOT CONTENT WITH TAKING THEIR LIVES?

  MUST YOU CONDEMN THEIR SOULS TO ETERNITY IN A LIMBO OF YOUR CONTROL?

  MUST YOU TWIST THEIR FORCED SUBSERVIENCE INTO LOVE?

  YOU ARE UNWORTHY OF LOVE.

  YOU ARE SCUM.

  YOU ARE A DECEIVER.

  YOU ARE A KILLER.

  YOU KILLED THEM ALL.

  FOR WHAT REASON?

  NOUGHT BUT YOUR DEMENTED WHIMS.

  YOU DESERVE ROT.

  FATE WILL FALL UPON YOU.

  “A whole lot of words to say absolutely nothing of value”

  “Come closer and join them. Share in their so-called suffering if you truly care about them”

  My voice lacked the usual stutters, and I guess my tone must have been rather menacing without me realising, as the dark spirit took a step back and faded away, leaving no traces of his presence.

  Coward. What do you know about me? You don’t know me. If you did, you would know that the vast majority of my kills were for the sake of my brother.

  What even is this bastard anyway? Were you able to understand, Nara?

  It looked like a Vengeful Spirit to me… I do not know why this particular one looks like this. It seems as though his body is held together by those dark-red ropes. This seems to imply that he is an unstable spirit and is forcefully maintaining his presence on this plane. That is unlike regular Vengeful Spirits, who are bound here by their own desires for retribution…

  It almost feels like he was meant to pass on despite his resentment, but either forced through to remain, or somehow clawed his way back from wherever afterlife he was supposed to end up in to return here… I really don’t know who or what he is, Mara… But he definitely feels very strongly about you. I don’t think he was sent by anyone, as you first assumed

  I think he is here of his very own accord without needing anyone else to tell him what to do

  Is that so? I really don’t see who this guy is supposed to be, though. I was never one to actively toy with my targets. If I wanted someone dead, I would kill them at the first good opportunity… And clearly, just being killed isn’t enough by itself to create such a thing. Otherwise, there would be way more than just one.

  In any case, I am not allowing my little sisters out around here for a while. Not with this creepy lurking around.

  He'd better pray that I don’t get my hands on him…