Clara’s heart stopped beating, probably for several seconds.
But her consciousness remained clear. Even though the ankle she was grabbed by went numb from squatting for too long, she could still feel the presence of that cold, ghostly hand……
“T. Te…”
As Clara shakily stood up on the toilet, those hands still clutched her calf, slowly groping upward…… even caressing……
Why did this female ghost’s touch feel so perverted?
Clara’s calves trembled as she tightly shut her eyes, too scared to look down, her voice trembling with tears as she begged,
“G-Ghost lady, can you please let me go? I just accidentally came in here—I have nothing to do with whoever hurt you! I’ll burn you joss paper, big denominations, I swear!”
“Pft……”
“Pft?”
The ghost let out a sputtering sound. Clara cautiously opened half an eye to check the situation, only to hear the ghost laugh shamelessly out loud.
“Ha ha ha, hic!!”
The ghost laughed wildly, her voice dripping with malicious glee, leaving Clara utterly baffled. The ghost’s hands finally released her thigh, and the laughter shifted from beneath the toilet to somewhere behind her……
Next, Clara was suddenly embraced from behind by the female ghost.
“Clara, your reactions are still so entertaining~”
The ghost knew her name?
Not only that, but she had a warm body and a nice figure. When her soft, ample chest pressed against Clara’s slender back, even the fear of death dulled a little.
But when Clara nervously turned around, she still saw the classic female ghost with her face hidden by long hair. She hugged herself tightly, not intending to let go, and was powerless to break free……
“……Miss Ghost? Do we know each other?”
Clara asked cautiously. The ghost’s hands, however, began to wander unrestrainedly over Clara’s body. That eerily familiar and practiced way of sexual harassment felt hauntingly reminiscent……
Though her mind didn’t consciously recall it, her body remembered the sensation.
“……Is it President Tessia?”
That was right. The one who had played tricks on her not long ago was Tessia.
Clara came to the conclusion early on. The “ghost” looked a bit disappointed but still shook her head. As her straight, long black hair swayed, it turned into crimson waves, and her heart-shaped pupils seemed to glow……
“Tsk~”
The mature beauty disappeared in an instant. Her figure shrank dramatically, transforming back into the familiar yet annoying little brat, who was now tilting her mouth while picking her ear.
Clara frowned in displeasure.
“……So it really is the president?”
Tessia continued to pinch Clara’s lower abdomen with a smile, saying,
“Boring. I wanted to bully you some more! And you already recognized me?”
“That’s too much! Don’t scare me!”
Clara complained, pursing her lips tightly to hold back tears.
Then, a stream of snot ran out.
Relaxing from the almost suffocating tension, but what threatened to fall was not just tears.
She hurriedly said, “I’m scared out of my mind! Please, could you leave first?”
Clara used polite speech but crossed her legs anxiously.
Tessia, understanding what she wanted to do, said,
“Uh, I advise you not to go to the bathroom now.”
“Huh?”
“This is a dreamscape I created, but it’s still deeply connected to reality. Your body is still lying where you broke into the building…… Peeing in the dream because you use the bathroom here? That’s not new. You wouldn’t want to wet yourself in reality, right?”
“A dreamscape?”
This building was also a dream?
Now that she thought about it, there were quite a few strange things—the endlessly looping thirteen floors, the deserted streets outside the building. People had just attributed it to being haunted, but if it was a dream, it made sense.
Speaking of “dream manipulation” abilities, wasn’t that……
“Could it be that President Tessia is the Overlord?!”
Clara asked. Tessia waved her hand to deny it.
“No~ What are you thinking? I’m just a relative of hers! It’s reasonable for relatives to have similar abilities, right? If Lucia were turned into a freak, maybe……”
Before Tessia could finish, Clara interrupted the speculation.
“No, I absolutely will not allow Lucia to become a freak.”
Though Clara still didn’t fully believe Tessia’s explanation, she didn’t press further.
“So those people you killed, they just experienced death in a dream?” Clara asked.
“Exactly! I’m teaching these ungrateful trash a life lesson…… and investigating which evil organization this building belongs to.”
Clara thought for a moment and then suggested,
“Maybe you could let me go first? Nyx and I can help you investigate this building in reality……”
The reason Nyx lost contact after entering the building was simple—Clara had fallen asleep.
But last time in the Overlord’s office, Nyx didn’t log off even in the dream. This time, for some reason, he didn’t follow her in.
“Heh, you just want to use the bathroom, right?”
Tessia saw through Clara’s intentions and pulled her out of the toilet stall. The hellish scene before her made Clara frown.
The dim bathroom was smeared with blood everywhere. Even the mirror was stained. It was unimaginable what the woman in the next stall had gone through before dying……
Even in a dream, brutal deaths left psychological scars.
“Ah, sorry you saw something unpleasant. Hold on~”
Killing people in dreams didn’t weigh on Tessia’s conscience at all. She waved her hand, clearing away all the gore, then turned on the bathroom light.
The clean, bright environment made Clara breathe a sigh of relief.
“You can leave, but I don’t need your help investigating.”
Tessia leaned against the sink, arms folded.
“I can manipulate everyone’s dreams and guide the dream to view their memories. No secrets can be hidden from me…… Of course, except for robots that don’t dream.”
“So, who kidnapped you? Other diners in the restaurant?”
“At first, I thought so too, but judging from the results…… the culprit has nothing to do with today’s events. Someone just wanted to use me to threaten your ‘Overlord.’”
Kidnapping a relative of the Overlord to threaten the mysterious Neitmer Overlord who never shows up in public?
Clara pondered.
By this logic, President Tessia really wasn’t the Overlord.
If someone wanted to move against the Overlord, they definitely wouldn’t send these third-rate lackeys. Those suit-clad thugs weren’t even freaks—just fighters. How could they possibly defeat the Overlord?!
“……So, it was someone from Hero Company?” Clara asked again.
Would Hero Company really stoop to such a lowly method as kidnapping? If that got out, their hero’s reputation would be ruined.
“No, the Moon Frontier Company is a subsidiary of the Fourth Calamity.”
The Fourth Calamity—the No. 2 evil organization……
“No, Neitmer is No. 2, right?”
Tessia first corrected Clara’s ‘mistake’ and then grinned,
“Anyway, it’s our rival causing trouble~”