Records of the Weakest Emperor

"She's alive?" Ricardo audibly gasped.

Calvin shook his head. The woman's body felt as if it had substance, but at the same time, she was too light.

In short, Calvin was holding the woman's spirit.

She was dead...

Long dead.

"Who are you?" The woman asked once more.

She swept her tired gaze across the four and when her eyes landed on the deformed man, she grew terrified.

"You!"

"A monster!"

She pointed at the deformed man and Heisenberg couldn't help but chuckle.

"He sure does look like a monster, but he's not a monster. He's a human being... just a tad more unfortunate than the others out there."

The deformed man didn't say anything. Although from his trembling body, it was obvious that he was shaken and nervous.

He didn't even dare to look at the woman as intense complicated emotions flashed across his face.

The woman stared at the deformed man for quite a while before she awakened from her trance.

When she was back to herself, she realized that she was still in the arms of Calvin.

"Put me down, please..."

"Oh..."

Despite being dead for a long time, she still seemed to have intelligence comparable to that of a human being. She sure was a remarkable spirit. However, Calvin couldn't classify if she was indeed a spirit or an unidentifiable Spectre.

"What is it that you want from me?" The young lass cut to the chase.

Calvin wasn't about to be outdone as he replied, "Do you realize that you've died a long time ago?"

"Hmmm?" The young lass stared at Calvin in a frown. Her beautiful facial features frowned, "Dead...? I'm dead?"

"No, that cannot be... I'm not dead... I'm still alive! Look. I can even touch you!" The young lass stretched her arm and touched Calvin's cheek, "How can I be dead if I can still touch things? If I'm actually dead, then my hand would've gone through your face." A smile crept up her lips.

Heisenberg and Ricardo stared at each other.

"Calvin..." Heisenberg was the first one to speak. As a Priest, he seemed to have recognized what was going on with the young lass.

"I know... she's in a state of denial. We need to make her realize that she is already dead, but to do that... She must remember everything."

"In a state of denial? That doesn't make sense! How can she deny the current state of the village?" Ricardo retorted.

Calvin shook his head, "She cannot see what we are able to see. Until she accepts the truth that she's dead. She'll continuously deceive herself. Have you heard of the placebo effect?"

When Calvin's words fell, he suddenly realized that he made the wrong decision.

How could these people know about the placebo effect when they were native residents of Las Felipinas?

The deformed man's distorted ears twitched as if his interest had been caught by Calvin.

Calvin took notice of the deformed man's attention, but he didn't say anything as he proceeded to explain, "It's a medical term which convinces your brain that a fake cure is real by making the fake cure look like the real cure..."

As expected, Heisenberg and Ricardo were still confused but they soon got the gist of what Calvin was talking about.

"So are you saying that we must let her understand that the world she's looking at is fake and that the world we are in is the real one?"

"Yup, that's basically it," Calvin replied to Heisenberg's question.

"Then, how do we convince her that the world she is looking at is fake?" Ricardo chimed in.

"Leave it to me..." Calvin confidently said.

He had remembered the ritual that the Wise One did into his previous self that involved unlocking memories by diving into the subconscious...

Calvin could simulate the same effects with fewer materials, but this included the cooperation of the young lass. If she did not cooperate, then it was impossible for anyone to enter her subconscious.

Calvin glanced at the young lass and noticed her confusion, 'Damn it would be a huge pain in the ass to convince her to let me go inside her body...'

"What are you people talking about?" The young lass finally spoke up.

"Before we answer that, what were you about to do earlier? Killing yourself?" Calvin riposted.

"Killing myself? Why would I do that?" The young lass's confusion intensified, "Wait... what was I about to do earlier? Killing myself? No, I can't possibly do that! But why... why can I remember..."

Her eyes darted around until she saw the rope on the ground, "W-W-What is that?! Is that the rope that I used to try and kill... myself?"

"No, that doesn't make sense! Why would I... Why would I kill myself? I have a loving family... I have a family to..."

"Family..."

"I have a family...?"

The young lass stood in confusion.

Calvin furrowed his eyebrows, "Are you okay?"

The young lass heard his voice and she stared at Calvin, "I am... I am okay... No, I'm not!"

"What is going on...? Why can't I...? Why can't I remember?" She muttered under her breath.

Calvin turned to look at Heisenberg and asked, "Do you have any mystical ingredients there that can affect the subconscious?"

"No..." Heisenberg was quick to reply, "I'm a Priest, why would I carry those ingredients in me? Do you think that I'm an Illusionist?"

Calvin didn't reply to Heisenberg's question.

Instead, he approached the young lass and pressed on her shoulders, "Listen..."

"You've been dead for more than five years now and you died because of a particular young man. You need to remember everything. You've got to fight back against something sinister hidden inside you..."

Calvin couldn't detect any resentment at all from the young lass. However, he noticed that she seemed to be longing for something. But this longing was incredibly faint. Although it was tenacious, it was slowly being overcome by her confusion.

'There's a stark difference between her current attitude and her previous personality when we were looking at her from afar... Could it be that she's a Spectre that developed another personality due to her high intelligence?'

'That can be possible!'

'Speaking of dual personalities, there should be one particular being described in the Bestiary that has the tendency to develop a dual personality... But shit... I can't remember it!'

Calvin started to desperately wrack his brain for the information that he needed, but there was just too much information in the Bestiary and he needed time to filter them all.

It was at this moment that the deformed man spoke.

"Freya..." He said.

The young lass quickly froze, "Why... why does that word sound so familiar?"

"Is that... is that my name...?"

The deformed man gnashed his teeth and replied, "Yes... Freya. It's your name."

"You... You know who I am?" Freya muttered.

"Yes, I do... I know you far too well! These gentlemen are correct. You've been dead for more than five years."

"Dead..." Freya blanked out.

"No... I'm not dead! That's impossible! If I am dead, then why am I able to touch things, and why am I walking on foot? Shouldn't I be floating if I was dead? And you shouldn't be able to talk to me like this too!"

The young lass was headstrong and refused to believe that she was long gone from this world.

Calvin let out a sigh.

"You're long dead, young lady. The only reason why we are able to converse with you like this, and why you are able to touch us as well as walk on foot is that your desire to stay in the material plane is too strong than the attraction of the astral plane to your soul..."

"In short, you are subconsciously refusing the summon of the astral plane because you still have an unfinished business in this world..."

"As for that unfinished business, only you know what it is... We want to help you finish your final business in this world, so you can finally reincarnate." Calvin explained.

Heisenberg nodded his head. He had suspected this much when he saw how the young lass's spectral figure was almost fully materialized.

The only answer to this question was that her desire to stay in the material plane was just too strong than her desire to move on.

And moving on involved finishing every business in this world...

So the answer that Heisenberg reached was the same as Calvin.

But he couldn't help but feel impressed that Calvin had been faster than him to reach the same conclusion.

He was starting to doubt if Calvin was the real Priest of the Church of the All-Encompassing Light, and that he was just a fraud.

"Unfinished business...? I don't know... I don't remember..." The young lass seemed to have started to believe that she was indeed dead. But the missing parts in her memories made her feel doubtful about her very own existence and reason for persistence.

It was at this moment that the deformed man spoke up once again, "Do you have a lover from the Kingse village...?"

"Kingse..." Freya's figure stiffened.

She stood frozen for a while until her pupils constricted in shock.

Eventually, she started to laugh, "Hahaha..."

"I'm dead..."

"I can remember it now..."

"Yes... I'm dead..."

"I've been dead for a long time!"

"Why is it that my memories are only starting to resurface now?"

"Hahaha... now I remember what I've done to the villagers of this damned place..."

"Yes, I've done a lot of wrong things, but the people here deserve it!"

She seemed to be reasoning against something inside her mind as she muttered to herself in a crazed manner.

"This is their retribution!" Freya stretched her arms out and laughed out loud.

"Don't you think that this is enough?" Calvin suddenly spoke, "You've already turned all the villagers into undying monsters that are forever unable to die nor sleep. Shouldn't that revenge be enough?"

"Why are you still unsatisfied?"

"What more do you want from these villagers?" A frown was on Calvin's face when he felt that Freya seemed to be enjoying the memories that were rushing through her mind at this moment.

"Enough...?" Freya's laughter came to an abrupt halt.

She swept her gaze across the village and something seemed to have shattered inside her mind. The village that she was able to see in her eyes underwent a rapid change.

The sturdy buildings quickly turned dilapidated, while the properly maintained road started to become filled with holes...

The scent of flowers that constantly inundated the air of the village due to the villagers' fascination towards scents disappeared and was replaced with the disgusting stench of decay, rust, and grime.

"Wha... What is this..." Freya muttered. 

"This is the result of your vengeance. And I think you've done enough." Calvin responded. 

"I did all of these...?" Freya absentmindedly stared at the once quiant and tranquil village that had now been transformed into something that one could only find in their deepest nightmares. She couldn't believe that all of these were the result of her actions.

"Don't you think that it's enough?" Calvin asked once more.

Freya clenched her tiny fists.

She could still remember what had happened on that day when she was kidnapped by the villagers of this village.

She had been angry at them, but even though some of these villagers were scum.

Not every villager was the same as the bad ones. In fact, she could still even remember the smiles of the aunties who had tried their best to comfort her every time she was beaten up for trying to escape.

Not everyone in the village had been bad eggs. 

She could now remember that it has been more than five years since she died.

The current situation of the village was the result of her resentment and vengeance. 

Furthermore, the main perpetrators of her kidnapping had already suffered a fate worse than death. 

"This should be... enough?" Freya stared at Calvin in doubt.

"But how do I move on?" 

"You must remember your unfinished business. Tell us what it is, and we'll fulfill it for you. Then, you can finally move on." Calvin smiled.

Freya thought hard and long but she was ultimately unable to remember just what was her unfinished business.

It was at this instant that the deformed man spoke once more and pointed at her left hand, "Your business must be related to that ring around your finger." 

"Ring?" Freya was astonished to hear the man's words, but when she turned to look at the ring finger of her left hand.

Her pupils constricted as the sealed memories in her subconscious rushed into her mind once more.

"I know... I remember... I know what it is! I know what must be done for me to move on!" Freya exclaimed.

Ricardo and Heisenberg smiled. They were obviously happy that they could finally see the end of their journey. After all, once the curse was lifted then the suffering of these villagers must also be over. It was an ending that couldn't be better.

But Calvin was staring at the deformed man with this doubtful look on his face. 

However, before he could think deeper into the problem.

Freya spoke once more, "It's my lover... Presto." 

"I remember when I was about to die... I seem to be calling his name. That deplorable man tainted my body—he tainted what I've reserved for the love of my life... I can never forgive that man, but I swore back then that I would do everything that I can to at least say my farewell to my lover before I leave this world..."

"I knew he was a part of the search party that looked for me when I disappeared. I was about to escape at that time, but the Village Chief caught onto my ruse and prevented my escape. In the end, all that I could see was Presto's despairing look as he hugged my bloodstained clothing—thinking that I have been devoured by a beast..." 

"Please... bring Presto to me..."

Freya prostrated on the ground and implored Calvin with everything that she had. 

"I must tell him one last time that if there was ever a next life."

"I would still be willing to become his wife."