Well, here's the situation report. Things are quite complex here, and I need to sort them out in my mind.
Penelope and I came here to eradicate all the Navarans. If that's not possible, we must retrieve Remus's sword. The Navarans here think we're one of them, but most of them are mistaken.
Remus is the mastermind behind all this. He and the slime controlling him are incredibly powerful. I doubt even after my soul emerges from its cocoon, my soul - consuming ability will work on them. We have to get Penelope to infect him or I have to poison him.
However, both tasks are tricky because Theodora is a meta - mage. If I remember correctly, it's a kind of magic about magic, or something like that? This might mean she can detect the flow of magic very well. If I pour something from the Bottle of Endlessness or Penelope uses her ability, she will surely notice. She is also possessed by a slime, and just like Remus, I'm not sure if I can directly turn her back into a human. This tattooed lady is powerful.
Meanwhile, Song is a poison expert, which is another unfavorable factor when it comes to using the Bottle of Endlessness. Their souls are strong, but the slimes inside them are young and weak. Maybe I can use soul - grabbing to eliminate the slimes in their bodies, but I have no idea how the human Song will react afterwards. If they act suspiciously after I free them, that would be bad.
Taryn used to be a hunter - scout, just like me. I'm not quite sure about the specifics of her ability. For safety's sake, we may need to figure this out before I start killing. The slime inside her is strong, but not at Remus's level. Maybe I can deal with her through soul - pulling. The real variable is the boy, Melik. There is no Navaran in him, but his mother has one and seems to think he does too. Does he have the same talent as me? Has he sensed something and managed to avoid it? Or was he just lucky enough to avoid being possessed by accidentally eating poisonous mushrooms or something? I need to find out why he wasn't possessed and whether we can take advantage of this.
Finally, there are... well, all the remaining villagers in Litia Village. There are a dozen or so ordinary people possessed by slimes in the village. But I think we can leave them until last. I can probably just walk past them and use my tentacles to extract the slimes' souls. Sweeping through the whole island should be able to clean things up.
"What do you think, Vita?" Remus asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. Oh, right, I should seriously listen to this strategy meeting.
"Oh, uh... sorry, I was a bit distracted just now," I admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of my head.
"You need to concentrate," Remus said seriously, looking at me. "You are the key figure in this operation. If Penelope successfully eliminates the pack of cave hounds, our tribespeople have to escape from the tunnel before finding a new host. If you can find those exits, that will be the best place to start the search."
I nodded, pretending to think while getting into character.
"I can't guarantee that I can definitely find them, Dad. I can sense living things and their relative strengths. If a new monster crawls into the tunnel, I can feel it. But if there isn't one, my understanding of the underground situation is not much better than yours."
"I think so too," he agreed, nodding. "So we still have to rely on you, Taryn, even though your sensing range is smaller."
Oh, great.
"Sorry, what exactly can Taryn do again?"
"Haha, my ability is quite unique," Taryn said cheerfully. "My only talent is to pull things towards me. But I can vaguely sense what I'm pulling, so I conduct reconnaissance by gently tugging at everything around me. It took me several years to master this ability, but now it's second nature to me."
She means her host spent several years. And the one speaking now has actually probably been around for only a few days.
"How detailed can you sense?" I asked.
"Now that I'm used to it, it's quite detailed. Almost like being able to see the overall view of the surrounding environment. It can't penetrate objects like your ability, but we can use it to find nearby caves."
Great. If there is a wall between her and me, I shouldn't have any problems in this regard.
"That sounds really useful!" I said. "Go, scouting duo!"
She gave me a strange look and then smiled back.
"Go, scouting duo!"
Remus laughed. The slime inside him seemed extremely happy surrounded by its own kind. It was a bit hard to kill him. Penta gently pinched the spine under my skin. Yeah, she must be feeling even worse than me inside. I almost wanted to gently pat her with my tentacle, but then I remembered she didn't like that.
One day, I will find someone whose soul can embrace mine.
During the rest of the meeting, we discussed strategies for dealing with the forest, but I didn't pay much attention because I had no intention of participating in that task. Remus wanted to set off tomorrow, but Penelope and I managed to persuade him to postpone the departure until a few days later, so that he could stay in the village long enough to meet the deadline set by Gladra. He was not very willing, but many others agreed with our view. Penelope emphasized that we had just met and needed some time to practice teamwork instead of rushing into action. This reason was very convincing.
"I know you are strong, Remus, and I know others need to be rescued," Penelope said firmly. "But they won't die in the next few days, while if we act rashly in the forest, we might die. You know better than anyone that there are some things outside that we can't deal with. No matter how unlikely it is to encounter those things where we found the cave hounds, it's stupid to take risks out of impatience."
Soon after he gave in, the meeting ended. I wanted to grab Melik and take him to a secluded place to figure out his situation, but his mother stopped me first.
"Come to my house for a chat," Taryn insisted. "Scouts exchanging ideas."
I subconsciously looked at Penelope. She exchanged a glance with me and shrugged slightly. Alright then. Hmm, it made sense. Singling them out was more or less what we wanted. Although I wasn't sure if it was a wise plan to free Taryn right away, it was always good to start getting along with her.
"Lead the way!" I replied cheerfully. "I'm really eager to hear some professional advice! Dad is more of a person who gains experience through actual combat."
She snorted and showed a slight smile.
"That's true."
The log cabins here were quite interesting. When I got to Taryn's house, I was surprised that her home was so sturdy and clean. In Sky Hope City, wooden houses were basically all dilapidated, but I thought there was no reason why they had to be like that. It seemed that stone was a symbol of status or something? Sigh, I knew nothing about houses. The one I lived in was just a shabby little hut.
Hmm... It should be said that it was the one I used to live in. I think I don't live there anymore, but it will always be my home.
"Your house is really nice," I said sincerely to her.
She smiled.
"Haha, thank you! I built it myself."
I tilted my head.
"Not 'my host built it herself'?"
She shrugged.
"Well, it's almost the same. Now, I want to ask about your talent. Can you really see the Navarans on people?"
"More or less, yes," I confirmed again. "Actually, it's not really 'seeing', but it's roughly like that."
"Of course, of course," she nodded in response. "So, how many people are possessed in our place?"
I quickly counted, mentally adding one more for Penelope and Melik respectively.
"I think it's thirty - three," I replied. "Unless there are some farther in the fields that I can't sense from here."
"And you feel that there are two in me," she pursued. This was a bit strange. Hadn't I just said that at the meeting?
"Yes," I confirmed. "There are two in you."
"There is also one in my son," she continued.
I put on my best liar's smile.
"That's right!"
She gave me a strange look, and I began to worry that I had messed up. She herself had introduced that her son was possessed. Wait... Was this a trick? But if she knew, why would she take her un - possessed human son to the strategy meeting?
"You're covering for him," Taryn said. "Why? You don't even know us."
I blinked. So she did know? Then why ——
"So you lied about him in front of Remus?" Penta suddenly took control of the body and asked.
My tentacles trembled due to this sudden takeover, but it was much easier to separate from the body when there was something else to control. I almost scolded Penta for taking away my body again, but I thought we had indeed agreed to share the body control more.
"I... I did lie," Taryn admitted. "I can't let others control him. You won't tell anyone, right?"
She wasn't asking out of fear, but as a warning. Don't you dare stop me from telling him, okay? Under normal circumstances, this statement might be threatening. This short and stout woman was much stronger than Penta and me in soul power, but at this distance, I could probably eliminate the slime in her body without any effort. Thank goodness, it hadn't come to that yet. I was just very surprised and a bit uneasy.
"No," Penta confirmed. "But why? Won't he tell anyone?"
She shook her head.
"He won't. He's a good boy. Even if he weren't, I could never let the Navaran enter his body. He's my son."
Penta made my lips wrinkle.
"I see. Your host loves him so much that you... also love him."
"That's right! Exactly! You understand me. I can't let anyone replace him. I have to tell him about us. I have to ensure his safety."
Penta thought for a while, and I watched with interest.
"So... How does he feel about you possessing his mother?"
She swallowed hard.
"He... He doesn't know."
Penta raised an eyebrow.
"I lied to him," Taryn continued. "I told him that I used my ability to pull the Navaran off my neck."
I expressed my desire to regain control of the body, and Penta reluctantly handed it back to me.
"Do you think you and your host can cooperate?" I asked directly. "You know you're torturing her in her body, right? Melik loves her, not you, and you're torturing her. I... If you also love him, you should —"
"I can't, Vita," the slime in Taryn's body said. "She'll kill me. You know that. Hosts always do."
Can I kill her now? I asked unhappily in my heart.
"Don't you think we can find a better way?" Penta pleaded with both of us. "What if we had more time? What if we could make everyone cooperate?"
We don't have time, and most people won't cooperate unless they are forced.
"No matter how long it is, my host will never like me. What are you talking about?"
Penta took a step back. I glared at her inside.
Penta, you can't mess up our mission now. We won't have a better chance. Hand over the control of my body to me.
"Why me and not her?" Penta whispered so softly that I could hardly hear her.
You know why. Now hand over the control to me, or you'll make us look suspicious again.
"But —"
Hand. Over. The. Control.
Penta hesitated, and to my surprise, she defied me. I glared at her angrily in my heart, desperately restraining the urge to eliminate her. She wouldn't deliberately ruin our plan. I wanted to see what she wanted to do.
"How about this," Penta said quickly. "Taryn, do me a favor, and I will definitely keep the secret about your son for you."
The woman frowned but still nodded.
"Anything for Melik. What do you need me to do?"
"Well, since we haven't found a better co - existence method yet... At least I want to celebrate what we've established here," Penta desperately improvised. "I want to find someone to help me prepare a grand feast. Have a good meal, raise a glass together to celebrate... Things like that. For our families."
Oh! She was creating an opportunity to poison everyone! Well, good job, Penta! Taryn laughed.
"Ah, is that all? You're such a good kid. That sounds like a great idea! I thought you were going to extort me severely."
Penta showed that kind and amiable smile that she must have learned from Penelope.
"I'm afraid I don't know much about food preparation. I have this idea, but basically, you'll have to do all the work."
This sturdy older woman showed off her impressive biceps.
"Leave it to me, girl! I'll make the best feast you've ever seen!"
Hmm. As Penta led us out of the house, I had to admit that she had achieved what we wanted. The slime possessing the mother could live one more day, so that we could eliminate them all at once better. Having this slime - possessed mother involved in our plan was more beneficial to us, as it would reduce the risk of accidental exposure. The woman trapped in the body might have been living in fear all the time, but... Sigh, I didn't know her. If letting her go early would reduce our chances of success, I wouldn't deliberately do that. If she was dying or might suffer permanent harm, that would be another story, but one more day on top of the torment she had already endured might not make much difference.
"You're not going to just eat them, are you?" Penta asked.
I wanted to eat the powerful ones, but... Let's think about it again. We can find a way. Now, hand over the control of my body to me before Penelope sees us and you get turned into dust. And don't mess with Song anymore. It's non - negotiable to have the poison expert on our side, you know.
She completely separated from my spine, perhaps wanting to think without my interference. I didn't mind. The person I needed to find alone next was definitely Song. I could sense where they were and walked in that direction. However, annoyingly, I was stopped by someone first.
"Hey," Melik said. This young boy was nearly a foot taller than me and looked down at me. "Well, you're Vita, right? Can we have a chat?"
I sighed.
"Of course, what's the matter?"
"I was thinking..." He muttered shyly, scratching the back of his head. "Can I see your artifact?"
My artifact? Was he referring to the Bottle of Endlessness that contained all the Navaran poisons? If it was taken out, Remus would surely be suspicious, and everything would be ruined. That was the artifact that I had made sure not to take out and use since I came here.
"Let's find a secluded place to talk first," I replied as cheerfully as possible.