At first meeting, he looked so unreal, like a sculpture or something, but now he had quite an angry face that anyone could see.

‘Wow…’

Although a bit intimidating, I said all I needed to say.

“Well, it’s an extremely important fact. The person who killed Kieran Waray and all the people of his family, and the one who caused the zombie incident, are probably the same person.”

I didn’t feel like I caused this tremendous incident alone. It might be some organized group.

‘I hope it’s not someone I can’t handle.’

‘…But what is Benedict doing?’
Standing at a distance, Benedict, after confirming that I was unharmed, was giving a thorough scolding to the water spirit.

“Don’t ever do that again, got it?”

【I only showed the curious human child what they wanted to see…….】

“Don’t. Got it? Didn’t know?”

【…I got it.】

As the water spirit was about to discreetly lower its raised hands, Benedict opened his eyes.

“Don’t lower them until I say I got it.”

【…Hng. The contractor blocks the spirit. So sad. Regrettable!】

“Don’t use ineffective aegyo on me!”

Benedict scolded the spirit with a stern voice.

While observing this scene with fascination, a warm, fluffy warmth clung to my shoulders.

“Do you have anything to say to me…?”

“Gasp.”

Zero was glaring at me with an incredibly pointed horn.

Flames flickered in his black bean eyes.

I tried to block my ears, but Zero’s snappy, blood-pressure-soaring scolding came first.

“I can’t live! Suddenly collapsing like that? Huh? How worried do you think I was? Just because you made a contract with me doesn’t mean it’s completely safe to look into the truth with the eyes of the spirit! She doesn’t even know how dangerous this is… Ugh.”

My ears hurt. At times like this, I should have flattened myself to avoid the crisis.

‘Indeed, my eyes did hurt a bit…’

“See!”

‘Sorry, I was wrong. I won’t do it again.’

Since I thought I wouldn’t experience such a strange event twice, I committed this act.

‘Let’s calm down, Zero. Okay?’

While petting the hamster with glittering eyes, Zero said bluntly.

“You know what you did wrong, right? Hmph!”

‘…No. Isn’t that something you say in a relationship between a boyfriend and a girlfriend…’

“The one who did wrong has nothing to say, over.”

‘…Over.’

After that, Sherry, Jacqueline, the butler, and Hannah all scolded me thoroughly.

‘I shouldn’t rely on the help of spirits anymore…’

If I had known it would be this bad, I wouldn’t have done it.

After confirming that I was unharmed, the conversation in the reception room resumed.

“I have something to tell you first.”

“What is it?”

“The one who brought zombies outside, killed Kieran, and all the people of the Waray family overnight seems to be the same person. According to the memories shown by the eyes of the spirit.”

I explained in detail about the empty body, darkness, and how the souls used as sacrifices turned out.

Ashton, who had been listening calmly, asked me a question.

“I understood what the Duke explained. But how can that be connected?”

“Your Grace, you asked a good question.”

I continued to speak, asserting that everything was my conjecture alone, without mentioning the existence of Zero and the search bar.

“This world is represented by five major forces: magic, divine power, spirit power, aura, and… sorcery.”

The term ‘sorcery’ made reactions of confusion among the servants, excluding the nobles.

“Sorcery? I’ve never heard of it. In the Empire, only the four major forces are used, right?”
“I don’t know much either, but I heard that it has been popularized in the neighboring country, Quina.”

“As expected, due to the Empire’s aversion and rejection of sorcery, information is lacking.”

Zero stuck out his tongue. It was a bit itchy around my neck due to the fur clinging tightly, as if he couldn’t be reassured.

‘Yeah.’

But I couldn’t stop the explanation here.

“After investigating the behavior patterns of zombies and facing them, I found that zombies are generally sensitive to the scent or sound of living people and are obsessed with biting people.”

“If there was only one exception, it would be when the Duke and I struggled to escape through the secret passage.”

“Yes, Your Grace. At that time, strangely enough, the zombies seemed to have the ability to think as if alive, using tools to try to break the wall.”

Like toy soldiers receiving action orders, they rushed at us energetically.

“I clearly saw it at that time. Behind the zombies showing abnormal behavior, there was a faint thread twinkling.”

At my words, Ruth’s expression turned pale.

“Are you saying that… this might all have happened because of magic?”

“No.”

I said each word firmly.

“This is dark sorcery, sacrificing others.”

The sorcerer created and controlled zombies, leading to the destruction of the Waray family.

That was my answer.