Elesha listened, his head drooping, looking even more hunched over than before.
Li Jiehao asked in a low voice, "Then what exactly is he—Mr. Elesha? Is he a human or a demon? Does he still need to eat and sleep?"
"A demon living as a human," Carlo said. "But I can't guarantee whether he can still eat and sleep. Theoretically, he doesn't need these things, but he considers himself human, so he'll probably pretend he does."
Elesha's voice was hoarse. "I feel hungry now, but that—maybe it's just that I 'should' feel hungry now."
"Then it's up to you. This body you have now is constructed by your own perception. You can maintain whatever you think you were originally like."
"With a real name and a self-consistent identity framework, you won't indiscriminately spread cognitive interference. But if your emotions fluctuate too much, or if someone tries to forcibly deny your existence, you may still lose control."
Seeing that Elesha seemed to be still hesitating, Carlo changed the subject. "By the way, do your apprentices know you're going on this long trip?"
Elesha frowned as she recalled, and after a long pause, she finally spoke, "I—I must have instructed someone that before I left, I left a message saying that I would be away for a while and not to wait for my return."
"Should?"
"My condition at the time was already... not very good." Elesha said uncertainly, "I can't remember if I told him face-to-face..."
They confessed, or they only told one or two people, or they just left a note.
"In other words, you didn't formally announce where you were going, nor did you say when you would return."
"----Yes."
"Your apprentices probably think you're dead somewhere out there, eaten alive by some alien calamity." Carlo clicked his tongue. "Hopefully, you still have your position. You're still a useful connection; it's a shame to just throw it away like that."
Elesha sighed. Li Jiehao, who had been listening for a while, asked, "Boss, is this Mr. Elesha of very high status?"
Carlo glanced at him sideways. "To put it another way, in the Eastern Territory, his status is equivalent to a border count here in the Western Territory."
Li Jiehao was taken aback. He looked at Elesha and found it hard to connect the disheveled old man wrapped in a blanket with the identity of "Earl".
Isaac weighed the options. In the Western Territory, counts were divided into "court counts" and "frontier counts." The former generally did not have fiefs and only held the status of nobles, while the latter were the rulers of a city other than the capital, Vista, and held real power. Palmer, for example, was ruled by a frontier count.
The system in the Eastern Territory is quite different from that in the Western Territory, but the prestige of a noble of this rank is not much different.
"That's why I'm telling you, you're rich and powerful, yet you have nothing better to do than try to summon demons. Now you've turned yourself into a nameless demon, and nobody knows what's going on when you go back."
"I thought I was fully prepared—"
"Everyone who messes up says that. The difference is, those who mess up terribly don't get the chance to sit here and learn from their mistakes." Carlo glanced out the window. "What are your plans now? Go back to the Eastern Territory, or stay in Vista for now?"
Elesha shook her head. "I don't know. In my current state, someone who disappeared for several years suddenly reappears, and in this state. How am I supposed to explain this to others? And what if they realize I'm a demon—"
"Tsk tsk, demons are disliked everywhere." Carlo shrugged. "In your current state, going back to the Eastern Territory is unrealistic, and you wouldn't be able to handle the situation. Stay in Vista for now and stabilize your condition."
Li Jiehao nodded, took the money, and walked out with Fenri. He stopped at the door, turned back, and asked, "Mr. Elesha, what color clothes do you like?"
Elesha paused, as if no one had asked him such a question in a long time, "----Dark color, right?"
"Okay!"
Elesha watched Li Jiehao leave, then looked back at Carlo: " Schuster, I live in----"
"After you change your clothes, you'll stay at a hotel with that guy. But don't wander around aimlessly; if the Church of the Golden Bough sees you..."
Well, he'll probably just get hit with an exorcism spell, dust to dust, ashes to ashes.
Elesha nodded, clearly aware of this as well.
Seeing that Carlo had started reading the newspaper and showed no intention of continuing his conversation with Elesha, Isaac stood aside and waited until Elesha's emotions had calmed down a bit before asking, "Mr. Elesha, may I ask you some questions?"
Elesha looked at Isaac: "I'll try my best to answer."
Do you remember what happened today?
Elesha was silent for a moment. "My memories before I woke up are all blurry. I'm trying to recall."
Isaac waited a moment before asking this question, naturally wanting to ascertain why a demon possessed by Elesha and in a long-term slumber had suddenly slaughtered members of the Ghoul Cult and harbored great hostility towards Halperin.
After a long while, Elesha spoke, "I've been in a room for a long time. Sometimes I can feel people coming in, and sometimes I can hear sounds outside, but those sounds come from far away. I can't understand what they're saying, and I can't respond to them. I can't wake up, and I can't move."
"But—it seemed like someone said something to me, a voice, very old and weak, was speaking to me."
A voice said, "Kill me, kill all the people around me."
Isaac frowned. The source of this instruction, at this point in time and place, was quite clear.
Halperin, the Cult elder who was placed under house arrest, might have sensed the existence of demons, and might even have been able to give them commands in some way.
He let the demon kill him, and "these people" were probably the Ghoul Cult members in the nursing home.
Therefore, it can be explained that when Halperin reappeared later, he was repeatedly killed by the demon. This is because the demon was still carrying out the order given by Halperin, "Kill me."
For Halperin, the initial order was naturally given to escape, and judging from later events, he did indeed escape.
The problem is that the resurrected Halperin is still someone who needs to be killed. So when Halperin reappears before the demon—well, just like Isaac saw—...