“Th-then does that mean you’ve become a puppet…?”
“A puppet?”
“It’s like being a slave controlled by that person, Amya.”
I looked down at Damyu in silence. She was a woman who somehow resembled a snake. To be honest, she didn’t look particularly smart; in fact, she gave me the impression of being rather foolish.
But for her to come find me at this hour.
“What is this path…?”
“The ground is strange.”
“…Heek.”
She was startled, so I looked at the floor and saw that it had become a gooey mess, deeply indented. So this was the kind of world I had. It seemed I had failed to control it, and my tail had been stepped on.
With a sigh, I pointed to the bushes behind us.
“Hide in the bushes.”
“Ah, yes.”
I casually sat on a nearby bench, pretending to admire the garden. Two guards approached and bowed their heads low.
“Preacher. It is almost time for mass.”
“It’s that time already. How many have gathered today?”
“Almost everyone.”
Perfect.
I nodded with a satisfied look.
“I understand. I’ll be there soon. You two go on ahead.”
“Yes.”
A long while after the guards left, Damyu walked out with a dumbfounded expression.
“Chosa and Thousand Bloods…? You were using them as guards?”
“Are they people I used to know?”
“It’s not a matter of knowing them, they’re the reason I came here. Ah, no, this isn’t the time for that.”