Shadow Slave

Effie looked at Sunny with a confused expression.

”It… does not seem to be working?”

Sunny was just as stumped.

He gave Saint a thoughtful glance, then scratched the back of his head.

”Well. Yeah… maybe it is because she is not a complete person? As one of my Shadows, Saint is technically a part of me. She usually resides within my soul… and before you say anything about a beautiful woman being trapped in me, know that I will break at least one of your arms if you do…”

Effie, who had already opened her mouth with a mischievous glint in her eyes, closed it again.

Sunny glared at her for a moment, then continued:

”Alternatively… it might be because of her [Stalwart] Attribute, which makes her immune to mind attacks. Her Mirage City persona was forced upon her by the Palace of Imagination, so it is not a mental hex — rather, it is a manifestation of divine sorcery. So, your attempt to strip her of that persona

might be seen as a mental assault instead, consciously or subconsciously.”

He grimaced.

”Or it could be something else entirely. Maybe the Castellan had stolen more of your authority in the last few days. Maybe it only worked on me that easily because I am a Supreme. It’s… hard to say.”

Effie looked at him, then at Morgan. Morgan did not seem to know more about the Palace of Imagination than they did, though, so she looked back to Sunny.

”So what do we do?”

He had no idea.

Sunny remained silent for a while, then opened his mouth to say something. At that moment, though, Saint shook her head and turned away with a determined expression.

He panicked a little.

”Uh, sorry? What are you doing, Saint?”

She looked around the church, then said evenly:

”I am going to sleep.”

Saint headed to the nearest bench and pulled the white sheet off it, grimacing because of the dust.

Sunny blinked a couple of times.

”You’re going… to sleep? Now?”

She turned around and pierced him with a chilling gaze.

”It is far past my bedtime, and as I mentioned, my sleep schedule is very important. Good sleep… is the foundation of mental health. And since delusional disorders seem to have become infectious as of late, somehow, I must be vigilant.” 𝐫ＡＮ∅ᛒƐꞨ

Her tone was letting them know that she would tolerate no compromises.

Whipping around, Saint took off her coat, rolled it into a makeshift pillow, and settled on the bench. Soon enough, her figure was hidden under the white sheet.

It was as if she was telling them that she refused to deal with their nonsense anymore,at least not tonight.

Sunny, Morgan, and Effie stared in her direction with stunned expressions.

”Is she really… going to sleep? Now?”

There was a hint of amusement in Morgan’s voice.

Sunny lingered for a few moments, then cleared his throat.

”Well, you heard her. Proper sleep… is the foundation of mental health.”

Honestly, he could understand Saint’s reaction.

First, she had met him and was exposed to a bunch of nonsense that sounded completely delusional. Then, someone tried to kill her. Then, Morgan broke out of the mental hospital after someone tried to kill her, too — not only that, but she seemed to share in the delusions of the crazy detective.

And after all that, Saint met Effie. Who also went along with the insane antics of the delusional detective and the escaped mental patient.

She could write off what Sunny said, and she could even try to explain why Morgan was playing along — after all, both of them were her patients, which

meant that their mental health was compromised by definition. But with the third person added into the mix…

When three people confidently insisted on something completely insane, making you the strange one out for trying to cling to normalcy, even the most stable person would have no choice but to start doubting their own sanity. Considering that Saint had just survived a brutal attack, it was no surprise that she needed a break.

Of course, Sunny had assumed that there would be no such problem because Saint would regain her memories.

But she had not.

Which posed a problem…

He frowned.

It was already bad enough not to have the full support of his fearsome Shadow. But in her current state, Saint was also vulnerable… and being hunted by Mirage City on top of that. Which meant that she needed to be protected.

The problem was that there was someone else who needed to be protected — the other Mordret. And Sunny could not be in two places at the same time.

’How inconvenient.’

Who could live like that? Only having one body was seriously so frustrating!

Letting out a sigh, he shook his head and looked at the boxes Effie had carried into the church from her PTV.

”Let’s get to work. We’ll need to change our plans a little.”

Morgan glanced at the boxes and raised an eyebrow.

”What work are we talking about, exactly?”

Opening one of the boxes and pulling out a stack of documents, Sunny smiled faintly.

”What else? Detective work, of course.”

He pointed to the documents.”These are case materials Effie fetched while I was busy driving you and Saint around. Everything having to do with the Nihilist case, as well as everything we have gathered regarding the recent attempt on the other Mordret’s life. We might not be able to find the culprit just yet, but we can at least narrow down the list of suspects. Perhaps find a clue or two about who the Castellan is.”

Morgan tilted her head a little, then nodded.

”Makes sense. Let’s get to work, then.”

She leaned down to open another box… and froze with a strange expression on her face.

”Huh.”

Sunny looked into the box and let out a heavy sigh.

There were no documents inside the box. Instead, it was filled to the brim with cartons of chocolate milk and packs of donuts.

”Effie… what the hell…”

She looked at him with an expression of hurt innocence.

”What? You told me to get food, in case we’ll have to spend a lot of time in the hideaway.”

Sunny took a deep breath.

”Food. I said food. Not dessert!”

Effie blinked a couple of times, then smiled.

”Oh, I brought food too!”

She pointed.

”That box. And that one. And that one as well…”

Sunny rubbed his temples and suppressed a groan.

’Maybe I should go take a nap, too…’