“I am Mauri, Spirit of the Road between Life and Death,” I introduced myself to Queen Ellysa once more

“What? That’s it?” Ellysa clicked her tongue in disappointment.

“Is… there anything else I should do?” I asked back.

“How boring. Are all spirits boring? I was expecting something magnificent or grandeur, especially since spirits are very rare,” Ellysa replied.

“We’re not that rare. It’s just that we don’t go out often.” I shrugged.

“So, spirit. What brought you to the physical realm? Why exactly are you tracking a certain someone?” Ellysa inquired. Since I wasn’t perceived as a threat anymore, Ellysa walked away from the hole, allowing me to move from the edges of the hole.

Ellysa snapped her fingers and two dwarf-shaped shadows came out from the dark. They placed a chair behind their queen, then one of them crouched in front of Ellysa, acting as a foot stand. Once I got closer, I realized that they looked like the maids at the palace.

The dwarf queen took her seat, and leaned back while resting her arms against the chair’s arms. She looked very curious, eagerly waiting for my answer.

“Like I said, I am the Spirit of the Road between Life and Death, which is a fancy way of saying that I babysit the essence of undeath in the Western Continent. I make sure that not too many of them would leak into the Spirit Realm,” I explained.

“And? What does that have to do with you coming here?”

“Recently, a new and stronger form of essence of undeath was leaking into the Spirit Realm. It was hard to contain it, and the only reason I could investigate the source myself was because another spirit had recently appeared in the Spirit Realm, meaning he could take over shielding the realm from the mutated undeath.”

“Is it a surprise that a spirit would appear in the Spirit Realm?” Ellysa tilted her head and rested it against her palm.

“Yes. As you know, spirits must be bound by a source of power, usually in the form of a dungeon core. However, most dungeons had been destroyed or died off naturally, so only a few spirits remained in the physical realm. The fact that a spirit had returned recently meant that a dungeon was destroyed in the past few weeks or months,” I explained.

“And now, you’re here. I think I have an idea who the source of this so-called ‘new and stronger’ essence would be,” Ellysa smiled then raised her eyebrows, giving me a smug look.

“R-really? Please tell me!” I begged.

“What will you do if you found him, though? Kill him?” Ellysa raised a hand inquisitively.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to kill whoever that person is. In fact, I’m not very proficient fighter at all.” I laughed ironically at my weakness.

“Then isn’t it good that you have a Vampire Lady escorting you?”

“You’ll still help me find this person even though I’m a spirit?” I asked.

Ellysa laughed, then shook her hand. “You’re mistaken. It is you who would be helping me. I need to track this person down badly, and you will help me willingly or not.”

I gulped at her threat, then nodded. “Of course, Your Majesty!”

“Good. We’ll take a shortcut for your investigation. My intel said that the person you’re tracking went in the direction of Angolia,” Ellysa said.

“Angolia? That’s the largest human kingdom in the Western Continent. Not only that, it was also home to an ancient dungeon…” I tapped my chin thinking, then it hit me. “The spirit that recently came was from the Angolian dungeon! I wonder what the source of undeath did to destroy the dungeon? Did he crush the core with his own hands? Did he corrupted the dungeon with vile, ancient magic?”

“Don’t say rude things about him, please, or else I would have to be offended as well,” Ellysa threatened with a smile.

“Ah, my apologies, Your Majesty. Do you know the person or at least his name?” I asked.

“He might have several names, but he likes being called ‘Boss’,” Ellysa answered.

Boss, huh… Wait, what? Like an employer? A gang leader? Who the heck am I tracking?!

Ellysa stood up from her chair, escorted by her two shadow maids. She stretched, then started making her way to the exit.

“Come, now, Spirit Mauri. We’ll need to prepare for our journey to Angolia,” Ellysa called out.

“Eh? Would they really just let you in?”

“Of course. First of all, I’m a queen, and a high-ranking vampire at that. I can do whatever the hell I want. Secondly, I’ve been reading the news lately, and a special someone from the Angolian royal family knows me well,” Ellysa replied.

“Who? King Argo?”

“Wrong. Guess again!” Ellysa chuckled at my guess.

“Wait… Princess Asha? You know her?” I asked.

“Not only. She personally knows Boss as well.”

What.

“Spirit Mauri, come. We’ve no time to waste being shocked,” Ellysa called out to me once again.

“C-can I have a few more seconds to be shocked, please?” I begged.