Surviving in my Own Unpublished Failed Novel

"Who is that young man?"

Rosalin glanced at Artorious as a wondrous expression was evident on her face.

After Russell left by blending through the shadows, who were left were only Artorious, Rosalin, Chancellor Alexander, and Vice Chancellor Dexter. They came back to the conference room after the information regarding the strange solution that worked was ordered to be spread throughout the Orion Continent.

"Did you forget already? About the students that discovered the first Micro-Strayed Dungeon."

Breaking the silence, Artorious responded.

"Haha, I still remember that time."

Alexander interjected, causing Artorious to slightly frown.

Rosalin, who had no idea what Alexander was referring to, just glanced at him, slightly tilting her head.

"Well, you see. Queen Rosalin, this is what happened before."

The Vice-Chancellor, who had been silent ever since Russell appeared, finally voiced out something. Under the permission of Artorious, since it was mainly about him or his deeds, Dexter recounted everything to Rosalin — from Artorious' unsolicited acts of kidnapping four students, causing the three of them to almost drop out of the Obelisk Academy, and signing something similar but more ominous than a Mana Contract, which was called by the student a Soul Contract.

Rosalin's fierce glare landed on Artorious, remembering how he previously tried to pull the same very act in front of the main heads of the organization.

"You've gone mad. If the others find out about what you did, your position will certainly be in jeopardy."

Rosalin seriously said. With unwavering cold emotion that seemed to embody an unmovable object, Artorious responded to her remarks.

"That may be right, but look at us now. The young man you have just ridiculed turned out to be more mysterious in your eyes."

Rosalin couldn't deny his claim upon witnessing the peculiar solution, reciting the Obelisk Anthem, which was only written by a woman.

"Tsk. What's a Soul Contract, by the way? How did they get their hands on it?"

"We have no idea about that, but considering the way something manifested upon its signing, we could say that it was an extremely dangerous contract — if the conditions have been broken that is."

Alexander interjected, who was transparently lying in front of them since in Russell's unpublished novel, Alexander was knowledgeable about such a contract's existence. What he was wondering the most about was how the measly or puny students got their hands on something that originated from the Nether Realm.

'But it's in our favor to keep them close.'

Alexander inwardly thought. He considered the benefits of having those students close because if Artorious didn't accept to sign the Soul Contract, their unwavering will to leave the Obelisk Academy would be guaranteed and they would also run away from the human domain due to Artorious threats.

"But still... Just as you said, it's dangerous, so we need to find out more about its origin."

Rosalin pressed the matter. She couldn't help but be nervous when some mysterious students were surrounding her daughter, Rumia.

Silent for some time, Artorious denied her suggestion. Similar to Alexander, he considered the benefits of having those students close. He recalled and believed that the main reason such a contract was established, regarding the contract's origin, was to protect their family in harm's way.

"Do you think you're being naive? You're basically on a leash! I can't believe you're being restrained by some students."

Rosalin frowned at Artorious' denial of her suggestion.

"Use your head, Rosalin.

"We should learn from Emmanuel more that a person's age doesn't matter as long as they're beneficial for the advancement of humanity.

"Whether they're children or yet to be eighteen, as long as they're not causing harm, it would be of no issue."

Artorious firmly responded.

"He's right. You should be grateful instead that a solution, though it came out of nowhere, was presented to us to greatly minimize the casualties due to Failure Penalty."

Alexander supported Artorious. Rosalin, who was just worried for her daughter, fell silent as she softly sighed.

"Alright. I'll trust your words... for now."

Rosalin said in resignation.

After a few minutes of discussion regarding some significant things, the four-man conference in the very early morning finally ended.

***

"Are you ready?"

Russell, inside Freya's dormitory room, asked his younger sister.

"I should be the one asking that."

Freya, with a faint smile, casually answered.

At this moment, after discussing some plans regarding their first Evil Spirit extermination, both of them, along with Estelle prepared for the journey.

Although Russell couldn't access the Soul Realm in his own way, with Freya's authority as a Death Executioner, it was possible.

Wearing the Necklace with a Living Eye, Freya activated its function to see the roaming souls.

[The member of your Star Quest Party, Russell Moon, will also be granted the ability to see a being's soul under your permission.]

"Oppa, before we go start hunting based on Estelle's words, there's something I want to tell then ask you first."

Without waiting for her older brother to say anything, Freya continued:

"It's about the Soul Realm, Spirit Realm, and the Nether Realm.

"According to the books I've received from the Ruler of Death, the Soul Realm is basically a purgatory, while the Spirit Realm is a place where spirits live and some of them invade the Soul Realm to corrupt souls.

"It's also different from the Nether Realm. What I mean is what's the purpose of the Nether Realm's existence?

"I know that the Ruler of Death assigned Death Executioners to placate or send souls to eternal rest, but what about those who weren't placated and were corrupted by evil spirits?"

Russell pondered Freya's question.

At some point in time, he knew that this question would come out of his younger sister's mouth.

After some time, Russell then voiced his perspective without giving away too much information.

"Considering we're not the only races in the universe, we can be certain that conflicts exist in other realms, too.

"Though we don't know what exactly, they definitely exist."

Pausing for a moment, Russell added:

"Do not stress yourself out with mysteries you can not answer because it will only take away your inner peace.

"One day, I'm sure that everything will come to light."

Freya felt like her older brother wasn't just talking to her, but to himself.

Serenely smiling, Freya nodded her head at Russell's words, which made sense from every angle possible.

"Thank you, Oppa."

After her words of gratitude, they proceeded on their journey for their first Evil Spirit subjugation.

***

The Soul Realm was like an abstract painting, similar to the Nether Realm. Its geographic location also overlapped on Earth. The sky was yellow and there was a mist everywhere, but it wasn't enough to obstruct Russell, Freya, and Estelle's vision.

Walking for some time, Freya saw a wandering soul. It's walking endlessly and aimlessly and seemed unburdened.

A moment later, Freya approached the soul. She then heard its cry for something.

"My family... My family..."

The soul keeps mumbling as the System notified Freya of the soul's information.

Name: Rhea Miyazaki

Age: 23

Sex: Female

Cause of Death: Killed by a Strayed Dungeon Monster.

'This is harder than I thought.'

Even though it was her first time to personally placate a soul, and even with the help of the guidebooks for being a Death Executioner, Freya realized that dealing with someone in Soul Body wasn't an easy task because according to what she had read, the greatest desires of the soul would be mutter intermittently.

Hearing the word "family" and reading the cause of death, the possible reason why the soul named Rhea raided a Strayed Dungeon was to financially support her family.

"Rhea Miyazaki."

Freya muttered her name. She's following the guide on how to placate a soul.

Looking at her side, Rhea saw a woman with deep blue eyes and fluttering long deep black hair.

She seemed to be jolted awake from her stupor.

"W-who?"

"I am Freya, and I am here to inform you that, with unfortunate reason, already left the world."

If being left for so long, the soul would never realize that he or she was already dead, making them forget everything aside from their greatest desire. That's also why Freya needed to remind her so that her memories would come back.

It was something that would have happened to Russell when Czerina had killed him, but Freya was truly grateful that her older brother was the one who approached her since it wasn't long after he died that time.

"Ahhh..."

Seemingly coming back to life, Rhea regained her memories in almost an instant. She fell to her knees, remembering how she died.

"I-I'm truly dead... But, my family... H-how are they going to live from now on? I-I'm the only one who feeds my family..."

Rhea lamented, but her tears quickly dissipated.

Freya looked at Russell, and he then nodded at her.

"How about this Rhea, we're going to help your family, but first you need to tell us the details."

When Freya, as a Death Executioner informed the soul of her identity, the soul was inclined to never doubt her words. It's part of the benefits of being a Death Executioner, and one of the main reasons why some Death Executioners tend to abuse their authority by gathering information from the souls.

If Freya wanted to, she could rob Rhea's family after this compassionate talk, but of course, she would never do such a thing.

She didn't know if it was a flaw from the Ruler of Death or just the law of nature, but in the world of supernatural beings, something such as the law of nature couldn't be determined anymore.

After some time, Rhea told them the details about her and her family.

"Thank you, Rhea Miyazaki. You did well.

"May you rest in eternity."

At that moment, a complicated magic circle appeared on Rhea's feet. Smiling at Freya and the others, Rhea's soul dissipated.

[You have successfully placated the soul.]

[Placated Souls: 1/50]

[The soul has entered Heaven's Sanctuary and will be granted eternal rest.]

"I wonder how many souls have been betrayed by the other's promises..."

Freya muttered softly. Her desire to punish the other Death Executioners who betrayed the Ruler of Death was steadily growing stronger.

***

After an unknown period of time, Freya placated souls from everywhere. Some were easy to placate because they didn't have any regrets before they died, and even if they do, it was in their distant past and something funny to think about instead of being remorseful.

The regrets that Freya heard mostly were family or how they didn't do better in life. Some wanted to apologize to someone but never managed to do so since they died by being killed or getting into unfortunate accidents.

"I can't believe such a regret exists even after death."

Freya embarrassingly spoke to her older brother after the placation of the 49th soul. It was a 30-year-old man whose regret was that he didn't manage to lose his virginity when he was still alive.

"By the way, Oppa. I'm curious why the number of souls in the area seems low considering the deaths caused by the Tower's psychological cue. It's not like the deaths only happened in other countries, right?"

Russell fell silent at his younger sister's words. He knew something, but he also knew that Freya wasn't mentally prepared yet.

'They're probably getting tortured at this very moment.'

He refrained from saying what he thought, instead, Estelle interjected.

"Freya, Freya, we're nearing the location."

At this moment, after walking for an unknown period of time, they arrived at the place where Estelle saw an Evil Spirit, roaming around.

According to Estelle, it was something she could take care of by herself, but obeying her master, she avoided it skillfully.

Glancing around with alertness, they couldn't see anything peculiar.

After some time of scurrying around, Freya and the others then saw a black-shade figure, hanging on the back of a soul in the form a child around seven to eight years old.

It's in the process of corrupting the soul in question.

Without wasting any more time, Freya lunged forward while holding her Personal Weapon, Arianne's Wish.