"This, this is my face? No, no, no! Why would I choose a body like this?"
Geuse, now awake, looked at himself in the mirror in disbelief, collapsing to his knees and wailing.
Because his true form was that of a tiny spirit, Geuse had changed bodies many times over these hundreds of years.
Even when he was still going by the name Geuse, he had already changed bodies a lot.
Even if the new body was male or female, Geuse would at least choose one with a decent look.
But the new body he had now, it wasn't just ugly, it was too awful to look at.
Why would the future him pick a face like this?
If he really had to say something nice, this body did have something in common with one of his past bodies –
They both had short green hair on top.
But was this face for real?
It looked like someone had fallen face-first and died, then rotted for days.
"If I went, if I went to see Emilia looking like this, she'd definitely be scared."
Geuse said in a trembling voice.
Aqua walked over to Geuse's side and gently patted his shoulder.
Just when everyone thought Aqua was going to comfort him, she casually said:
"That's for sure! You really do look scary right now. Emilia would probably have nightmares and wake up screaming if she saw you!"
"Could you think about the situation a little when you talk, you useless goddess!"
Satou Kazuma sighed helplessly.
"What, what have I done these past few years?"
Geuse turned his gaze to Satou Kazuma and the others and asked.
He had a vague feeling that he had done something very bad, but he didn't know exactly what.
Maybe…
The sins he had committed over the years were even more terrifying than he imagined.
"We don't know what you did."
Satou Kazuma shrugged. After all, he didn't know much about the Witch Cult, and didn't know what Petelgeuse had done specifically. However, he had asked Elsa and the others, and had learned a little.
Sloth Archbishop Petelgeuse was probably the most infamous of all the Sin Archbishops.
After thinking it over, he decided to tell Geuse some of the truth.
After all, he was going to have to face reality sooner or later, and it was better to know the relevant things now than later.
"All we know is that the Witch Cult is infamous now, and you should be responsible for some of that."
"Sloth Archbishop, even I've heard of that name. You destroyed countless towns. Can't deny, that's so awesome."
Elsa narrowed her eyes slightly, smiling as she looked at Petelgeuse.
"I, I..."
Geuse lowered his head and looked at his hands, as if he could see countless amounts of blood flowing between his fingertips.
He couldn't imagine what he and the Witch Cult had done during this time.
It, it shouldn't have been like this...
"I have no face to live in this world..."
"It's no use regretting it now. After all, it was your fault, or the fault of the person who changed your memories. And even if you did such a wrong thing, dying is the easiest way out. Why don't you think about what you should do to make up for it in the future instead?"
Aqua said as she ate something.
For Aqua, death was the most meaningless thing.
After all, after death, there was still such a thing as revival or reincarnation.
"It's rare to see you say something so reliable, you useless goddess. It's a bit of an eye-opener."
Satou Kazuma looked at Aqua in disbelief.
"Hey, hey, I'm a proper goddess, okay!"
"Goddess? What's your name?"
"I am the water goddess—"
"Her name is Aqua."
Satou Kazuma interrupted her without mercy.
"Kazuma!!! How many times is this!!!"
Aqua even put down her food and rushed forward to grab Satou Kazuma's neck.
Geuse looked at the two people in front of him, feeling confused, and couldn't understand what they were doing.
After the two of them finished fighting, Geuse was finally able to ask about the current situation.
After they exchanged information, Geuse was extremely surprised.
More than a hundred years had passed since the time he remembered.
One hundred years...
What on earth had happened during this time?
"...So, the original me was preparing to attack this territory with the Witch Cult? Emilia could even be affected?"
"Yeah."
Satou Kazuma nodded, but didn't say anything about the trials.
"How could I do such a thing?!"
As he said this, Geuse raised his hand and slapped himself in the face.
"Don't slap yourself!"
Aqua quickly stopped Geuse's hand.
"This face was already miserable enough. If you ruin it more... it'll be even uglier!"
"..."
After saying these words, Geuse felt even more like dying.
"By the way, Geuse, you can change bodies, right?"
Satou Kazuma remembered that in the previous loop, Geuse had taken over Natsuki Subaru's body.
"Yeah, I usually can only choose to possess people who have a contract with me in advance, because I also have to consider the compatibility of the body. However, if it's a body that has a very good affinity for spirits, then I don't need to prepare a spell in advance."
As Geuse said this, his gaze unconsciously fell on Natsuki Subaru.
"Hey, hey, why are you suddenly looking at me..."
Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but gulp. The fear of being possessed in the last loop was still fresh in his mind.
He was even forced to take dozens of slaps because of it.
He still had no way to talk back.
"Sorry, sorry. It's because I can feel that Subaru-sama's body has a very good affinity for spirits, so I unconsciously looked at you. I definitely won't do anything to take your body."
"W-well, then I'll thank you in advance."
"Useless goddess, do the other Witch Cult members have similar curses on them?"
"It doesn't seem like the other cult members do."
"Then are they just complete madmen? In that case, I suggest Geuse you change bodies now."
"I..."
"Change now! I can't stand looking at this face for even a second! I have to resist the urge to cast Turn Undead every second!"
Aqua said immediately, and then prepared to push Geuse out the door.
"Wait, wait!"
Satou Kazuma immediately stopped the two people who were about to leave.
"What's wrong, Kazuma? Have you gradually gotten used to this guy's face?"
"Um... Aqua-sama, if you don't mind, please stop talking about that topic?"
Geuse pursed his lips, his face full of embarrassment.
"He really is a manners teacher. He can still be polite even after being said that way. In comparison, your student –"
"What are you looking at Betty for!"
"Nothing, nothing."
Satou Kazuma immediately shook his head, and then continued,
"Geuse, if you go out now, you'll probably be discovered immediately, right? Although you seem to have originally been part of the Witch Cult, if those crazy cult members now realize that something's not right, the consequences will be unimaginable."
"Why? Shouldn't my appearance be different from before?"
"Um... it's a little hard for me to describe."
Satou Kazuma scratched his head.
Geuse's appearance was the same as that of the previous Petelgeuse, because it was just a matter of lifting the curse, and nothing had changed about the body.
However...
The difference in temperament was a bit too big, right?
Putting aside how he looked, Petelgeuse's eyes were full of madness, he spoke bizarrely, and he was hunched over.
And he could bend his neck ninety degrees!
He really did fit the image of a crazy villain.
But now...
The face was still that face, but his eyes were incredibly serious and clear.
It was too off! Too off!
And he was standing up straight, speaking politely. Combined with this face, it couldn't even be called off, but rather, it was a bit creepy.
Just looking at him might make you feel physically uncomfortable.
Most importantly...
It seemed like his neck couldn't bend ninety degrees...
Why am I even concerned about that!!!
Satou Kazuma shook his head hard, quickly pulling his thoughts back:
"Betty just said that memory shapes a person. The Petelgeuse you and the you now are worlds apart, with very big differences in every aspect. Even if we just leave this room, we'll probably be found out immediately."
"That's true, now that you mention it. I just thought he was simply ugly before, but now there's also an extra bit of disgusting."
"...Um, please don't say anymore."
"If possible, I think we should avoid fighting as much as possible, and try to go unnoticed."
Satou Kazuma said.
Elsa's fighting strength was enough, but it could only serve as a safety net.
If they really started fighting, Beatrice couldn't not take action.
But if they used a lot of magic, there was a chance that the White Whale would be attracted.
So Satou Kazuma had to come up with a flawless plan.
"We have to try to think of a way to keep others from noticing..."
"Kazuma-sama, I have an idea~"
Just then, Elsa said with a smile.
"Oh? What idea?"
Satou Kazuma looked at her with some anticipation.
Now that he thought about it, Elsa was an elite assassin. Disguise and infiltration should be her specialty!
"If we just kill everyone, there won't be any witnesses."
"..."
Satou Kazuma immediately fell silent.
Perhaps he shouldn't have had expectations for this person.
Geuse frowned when he heard these words.
This, this was also the speech of a dangerous person, right?
It sounded even more terrifying than the current Witch Cult.
"Please don't make that face!"
Aqua immediately said to Geuse.
"S-sorry."
"Anyway, if we're going to go out, we can just have this skeleton soldier play the part, right?"
Aqua pointed at Geuse.
"If possible, please call me by my name."
"It's a little difficult to imitate the original you. There seems to be too much of a difference in temperament."
Satou Kazuma said. He didn't think this method had a high chance of success.
"How isn't it high? Look at me! Skeleton Geuse, try twisting your neck."
"What kind of weird nickname is that... But what do you mean by twisting my neck? Is it like this?"
"Not twisting it left and right, twist it up and down."
"Up and down?"
Geuse asked with a dumbfounded expression, and was unable to understand what she meant.
"Like this!"
Aqua did a demonstration herself as she spoke.
"T-that's impossible, right? That would kill someone, right? And did I... do such a disgusting action before?"
"Yes, you did. Quick, quickly imitate it."
"Okay..."
Although Geuse felt unbelievable, he still chose to believe Aqua's words.
However, no matter how hard Geuse tried, he still couldn't do what Aqua had just demonstrated.
"Even though it's the same body, is it because of the different memories—souls—that he can't do the same things?"
Satou Kazuma looked at Geuse with some curiosity.
And at that moment, Aqua couldn't bear to watch anymore and walked over to Geuse's side:
"Oh, come on, you can't even do this? Let me help you!"
She reached out and helped Geuse hold his neck.
The next moment, some kind of sound came out.
It was the sound of bones breaking.
"?"
Although Aqua usually looked dumb, and couldn't even beat up small-time thugs, she actually had stat panels far exceeding those of humans, and her strength was even above that of ordinary humans.
She was also incredibly serious about things related to talents, so she accidentally used a little too much strength and directly broke Geuse's neck.
This was a larger angle than the previous Petelgeuse's.
"Heal!"
Before everyone else could react, Aqua had already cast a healing spell and directly healed Geuse's body.
"What, what just happened? Why did it suddenly feel like my real form was about to come out?"
Geuse looked at Aqua in a daze.
"Nothing happened..."
"..."
Natsuki Subaru and Satou Kazuma exchanged glances with black lines on their faces.
Just then, Natsuki Subaru seemed to have thought of something and continued:
"By the way, Geuse, if this body of yours completely dies, does your real form automatically transfer to other backup bodies?"
"That's right, I can feel a few bodies next to me that I've contracted with in advance. There shouldn't be any problem with transferring... but I don't have any memories right now."
Geuse replied.
"If Aqua hadn't used healing magic just now... wouldn't Geuse have been able to change bodies directly? If that's the case..."
"I don't think it'll work."
Satou Kazuma shook his head.
"I don't think it'll work either!"
Aqua also said loudly.
Hehe, you wouldn't have thought there'd be an extra update at this time, would you?
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