I blinked and rubbed my eyes; they seemed to be playing tricks on me.
A cat was writing on the ground!
It has to be a mistake, right?
But no, it wasn't a mistake; the cat stared at me, raising his head to look me directly in the eyes. His tail continued to swing in the air.
Mr.Nits let out a small purr and again started to scratch the ground.
He again, in broken letters, wrote a new name, my name, to be correct.
'Asher'
I closed my eyes, accepting the reality. I looked back at the grey fog, and a new understanding hit me as an idea emerged, and I slowly started to form a plan in my mind.
"Franz, is that you…?" I asked, taking the bait thrown at me, if my guess was wrong and it was a trap made by the ghost, then I will be done for.
Mr.Nits hesitated; his head moved up and down in agreement.
But this was not enough to satisfy me…
"Give some proof; tell me something only Franz would know about me."
The grey cat stared at me for a good five seconds in disbelief and then again started to scratch the ground with painful sounds.
'You Reaper… Crazy.'
Ah, should I kick him?
'No, no, let's do it later. He still has some use right now.'
Shaking my head with such thoughts, I stared at the weird-looking cat—no, I mean Franz.
'But being called crazy by a cat…'
Scratch—
"Ow!"
Seeing me standing still, the cat struck my legs with his sharp claws, making me jump back in surprise. I glared at him; the pain of being scratched somehow felt exaggerated. No, wait, was it supposed to hurt this much?
I knelt, making Franz step back in caution. Rolling my jeans upward, I looked at my ankles where he had struck me; they were bleeding.
Is it… actually more than what we generally feel?
I looked at Franz, and the cat was looking cautiously back at me.
I licked my lips and said in a small voice. "Franz, it's me, Asher, like you suspected. Come here; I need to test something fast."
"Meow…?" The cat couldn't talk back, but it surely understood what I wanted to say. With slow steps he stepped forward, his paws made a soft sound on the grass, and his tail lowered.
Without any warning, I grabbed his back and pinched him.
"Mii!"
Franz struggled in my grasp, but as he felt the pinch, he stopped for a moment before jerking back with a screech of pain. He rolled on the ground for two whole minutes before calming down, his eyes left bright red, his body still twitching in pain. He panted heavily and then glared at me, ready to strike me down.
"Wait! Wait!" I raised my hand, stopping him before he could jump at me.
"Franz, did you not understand what just happened right now?" I asked, keeping my voice low.
The grey-furred cat tilted his head in confusion upon hearing Asher's words and then nodded. He slowly started to scratch on the mud beside them, writing new words.
'I understand it now…'
"The pain we feel here is much more than we imagined; even a small wound is making it hard for me to stand properly." I said with a serious face, my knees already hitting the ground.
If I had to say how bad the pain was compared to my past injuries, I would say not much, but that was because I had my physique improved by awakening, but now, as a normal human, the pain was comparable to being skinned alive on my leg.
The sole reason I have not shouted in agony is because of willpower. My vision has started to turn blurry as tears formed in them, and my legs burned in pain from that small scratch made by Franz's claw.
Biting my lips, I stopped myself from focusing on it…
I again looked at Franz and asked. "How did you know I was Asher? And can you use any abilities?"
The cat moved his head to look back. I followed his gaze and saw a maid coming outside of the mansion.
"Let's go somewhere else…" I grabbed him and slowly started to walk toward the shed we had previously gone to; my right foot staggered as it was unable to keep up due to the pain.
We entered the sheds, but no horses could be seen, nor was a caretaker present here. I furrowed my brows and then took a piece of paper kept on the exit.
'There'
Seeing charcoal on the stack of bush and wood, I grabbed it with my free hand and entered the carriage.
Franz leaped at the seat abruptly. I tried to take a seat, lost my balance, and fell over it with a loud thud.
"This damn place." I said out loud, rubbing my back to ease the pain. I leaned back.
"Now write how you found me."
The cat stared at me; he rolled over the seat, rubbing his own back. Then he sat there before picking up the piece of charcoal with his mouth before drawing on the paper.
'A cat is writing like a human…' This scene was so out of this world that I found myself at a loss for words. I wanted to laugh but stopped myself.
'This world is crazy.'
I leaned toward him to see what he had written after some time passed.
"You didn't act like a puppet and stared at the grey fog… So, I assumed you were Asher."
I blinked and looked up to see a proud face that certainly shouldn't belong to a cat.
"Are you dumb? Why take such risky action? You could have taken your time observing me." I said, without holding back, his actions were so irresponsible that I felt like smacking my own head against the wall.
The grey cat opened and closed its mouth several times, then again wrote something on the paper.
"Asher, I am just a cat…"
'This piece of…' I stopped myself from cursing. It was my fault for thinking of him as someone reliable.
"Alright, I will tell you about my conditions and the rules I have come up with in this place; tell me if you have restrictions like me." I sighed and spoke in a clear voice.
"Meow…" He nodded.
"I can't control my body in front of the kids; an unknown force stops me from taking control over it."
Franz nodded; this was the same for him as well.
"Next, I can do some change in the body's action if I give commands that are in sync with his role."
I avoided telling about the problem regarding consciousness; it was something that restricted me more than the first law here. And it was something that could be used against me.
This time, to my surprise, Franz shook his head. He then slowly wrote.
'I tried that, but nothing happened. This cat's actions are unpredictable.'
"I see… That's a problem then; keep trying; it might still work later." I said casually and leaned back on my seat.
"Now, then, do you know what this place is?" I asked, hoping to get an answer.
The cat nodded and wrote.
'Pristel Mansion before its destruction.'
Asher couldn't help but facepalm and slowly nodded in his direction.
"I know that as well, but no, never mind. I have a theory regarding this place. Tell me what you think about it."
I raised one finger and said, "The kids are the ghosts; that is, in the mansion two ghosts are present right now."
The reason for this assumption was simpler than one would think. Only in front of the kids do we lose control of our body and act as the original body will do, and we also follow the orders conveyed in front of them like a servant is needed to follow.
This can be further proven by how the other people in the mansion acted just now; without the observation of Ayla and Leo, they all were just empty puppets acting on the roles assigned to them.
Franz's eyes darkened; he looked down from his seat, his tongue coming out to lick his lips. 'I agree, one of them or maybe both of them has used their ability to create this place… They should have a mind-related ability.' He wrote with his mouth.
I stared at him, then took a deep breath; my mind wandered to the recent memory I had with Ayla and Leo. They both were very sweet and innocent kids, someone very likable.
But knowing they were behind this…
"Wait, then why did such a thing happen? If they have control over this place, then why did they suffer? Why didn't they turn this place into a utopia?"
I questioned, my voice echoing inside the carriage. But neither France nor I could find an answer to this…
"Meow, meow…" Franz purred and stretched his back; he looked up at me and waited in silence.
Sigh…
"Franz I can't understand what you say right now; you need to write it down." I said, my gaze moving to look at the distant horizon, the grey fog has become thicker…
'What should we do now? We need to escape as soon as possible.' He wrote, his eyes blinking with a weird glint in them.
Why are you asking me…? You are the experienced one here.
I thought for a moment, my mind once again looking for any hints I may have missed before. But without the support of Kairosflow to accelerate my thoughts, I felt my mind regress without any powers, yet I didn't think of myself as weak.
The old me, the one without powers, has lived a good life, not without any troubles, of course. There was no need to fear; just a cold judgment needed to be bestowed not just on myself but also on them.
"Let's avoid the kids for now; I would like to have control over my body right now." I turned to look outside, then with a soft step I stepped out from the carriage. "Let's search the mansion."
Franz jumped from his seat, his mouth holding the paper and the charcoal. He nudged at my leg with his paw, telling me to hold them. I frowned but complied with his wishes.
We both walked inside, avoiding any gazes that fell on us. The kids were not here.
'Are they in their rooms?' I thought, to tell the truth, I was worried about them. But showing it was not something I could afford to do right now, my gaze fell on Franz, who moved with a curious nature.
'He must be more worried; suddenly turning into a cat must be tough.' I gave him a look of pity but soon turned to regret any such thoughts.
He leaped on top of a table, his tail hitting the jug at the corner. I quickly stretched my right hand and moved to stop it from falling.
Thud—!
Just barely, but I caught it. Putting it back in place with a clear sense of dread, I turned to look at Franz, who sat there in silence.
Giving him a strong glare, I whispered directly into his ears. "If I saw you doing something like this again…"
I didn't complete the sentence as there was no need to; he licked his lips, his paw moving left and right in acceptance.
"Let's continue…" I said.
Asher and Franz continued their search. The mansion was big, and finding something here while avoiding any gazes was much tougher than imagined.
Asher, meanwhile, was not desperate. Franz has imagined him to show a bit of worry, but he has managed to keep himself calm. This was something not everyone can do.
'Well, my situation is not the best as well.' Franz thought, leaping from one corner to another, he would get strange glares from Asher once in a while. But it was worth it.
Not every day someone gets to become a cat!
Franz was going to enjoy it; he was not one to worry too much anyways.
Three hours passed quickly, and they had concluded their search on the ground floor.
And found nothing; some rooms were hazy to look at, and some were filled with grey fog. The only noteworthy finding was the servants' observation—They can't see the fog and the boundaries.
Asher was not sure if Ayla and Leo could see the borders or not, but from the previous incident it will not be odd to conclude that they also can't see it.
For this reason, Asher has knowingly avoided searching in upper floors, as that would increase the chances of meeting someone else.
Then all of a sudden they both stopped in the corridor. Their bodies refused to work as they wanted them to.
Asher turned his gaze to look at the other servants from the corner he was hiding in.
'What's happening?!' He thought in panic.
'Had the ghost finally found us?'
No, that can't be possible. I had made sure to avoid any kind of surveillance and even acted as a puppet while in front of the servants.
Then all of a sudden they all started to walk, not just Asher and Franz, but rather all the servants in the mansion's vicinity tried to leave.
Their steps carried them to the exit.
Before one maid could reach the door, her silhouette combusted in a burst of white flames; she let out a scream of agony piercing directly through our ears as she burned and burned in the depths of those mystical flames.
"Aaaaaaaaaah—!"
Franz and Asher, seeing this, tried to run, but their bodies refused to move.
Snap—!
One more servant combusted at the staircase.
Snap—!
Then one more, again combusted in the same manner.
Snap—!
Snap—!
With sounds of painful screeches and fire crackling spreading through the hallway, I could do nothing.
My heart was consumed by fear as I waited for the impending doom.
Snap—!
The fire soared high from the dying figures as they fell one by one; not even their bodies were left by this unholy fire, only ashes remained.
I couldn't even close my eyes as I had no control over this body.
Snap—!
One by one new screams of agony entered my ears, piercing through my very soul, as I continued to stand here powerless and helpless.
The grey cat near me finally was consumed by those white flames as well; he cried out in pain. His silhouette hidden behind the flames ran for the exit as well but couldn't reach it as he fell on the floor, turning into ashes.
Snap—!
A sudden, piercing pain spread through my body as my figure was consumed by those white flames. The flames felt unreasonable; they weren't hot, and they held no temperature.
Yet I was burning…
My blood was on fire, my skin melting, and my body was running without my will the same way others had while dying.
No sound, no smell, and no sensation remained in the end.
I had died.