Transmigrated as a Ghost

Freezing up, Marcus did not expect to be noticed the moment he entered the guild master's office.

However, the elven woman was looking directly at him and had addressed him clearly.

Marcus' first instinct was to flee. He could use a dark portal to travel back to his room in the hotel's resort, and if that was not far enough, he could go all the way back to Boreal.

Yet he stopped himself before doing so.

If he abruptly warped away, Mrazivý would be left all alone and it was possible that she might be found out as his accomplice.

Steeling himself, Marcus solidified his form and decided to face the guild master head on.

"Oh, so that is what you look like! I have heard of humanoid spirits before, but you are the first I have seen!" The guild master said, excitement and reverence in her voice.

Except this only baffled Marcus as she had been looking directly at him while he was in his spirit form and while he was intangible and invisible, he still looked the same to anyone that could see him.

Standing up quickly, the guild master walked over to Marcus and dropped to one knee and bowed her head in a show of subservience.

This only further added to Marcus' befuddlement as he really had no clue what was going on.

"It is a pleasure to meet you oh superior spirit. My name is Lorana Vellath, a high elf and member of the royal family of Yeszorwyn. Please, tell me what task you have need for me to complete?"

Blinking his eyes rapidly Marcus had no idea what the resort's guild master was talking about.

He had been sneaking around to collect information on the abnormalities surrounding the resort, he was certainly not a messenger that had sought out the guild master.

Also, she seemed to be under the impression that he was a superior spirit, the rank right below great spirits.

'How am I supposed to spin this?'

When he had been caught, he figured that he might have to do some explaining or even take the guild master out, but her misunderstanding opened up some more options for him.

'I believe that the ice elves that live in Glena Reota have close ties to the spirits that occasionally appear in the Verkoudhied Mountains. Perhaps this Yeszorwyn place has a similar connection with spirits.' Marcus mused.

An uncomfortable silence lingered on between him and the guild master as Marcus tried to come up with a plan.

"Yes, I have a mission of upmost importance that I require your help with." Marcus said with the most self-important tone he could muster. "I have discovered a malady that has infected many people and tracked its source to this resort. An artificial soul fragment that can be used to spy on people has been attached to many people's souls."

After spilling the beans on what he had found out, Marcus very intently watched Lorana's reaction.

If she was involved, it would be almost impossible for her to completely hide her reaction to Marcus' assertion.

Nevertheless, while Marcus had been expecting to find that she was involved her reaction was one of complete surprise.

"Something so grave is happening!?" Lorana said with an aghast expression.

"Yes, it is, and I am going to need your assistance to uncovering what is truly going on." Marcus said, continuing the narrative that he had started.

Of course, he really wanted to ask Lorana several questions about where she was from and what connection it had to spirits but doing so would out him, so he refrained.

"I have already found that a number of people on the island are infected, and it is likely that everyone that has ever visited this island has been as well. You included."

After Marcus said this fear washed over Lorana. Clearly, she was quite unsettled to hear that she was infected by a pseudo soul fragment.

In fact, she began breathing heavily and seemed on the verge of a panic attack as she thought more about it.

Naturally she did not know that it was mostly harmless and only recorded and transmitted audio and visual information. For all she knew it could be activated at any time and destroy or even corrupt her soul.

"There is no need for panic. The pseudo soul fragment as I call it cannot cause any harm to those infected by it. Though it is because of how benign it is that it has gone undetected for so long. Its only function is to send what those who are infected see and hear back to the source." Marcus said to ease Lorana's worries.

Immediately she calmed down and took a deep breath, but soon stiffened up.

"Does that not mean that whoever infected so many people is already aware of what you have just said to me? My presence is a detriment to you already."

"No that should not be the case. It is not always sending back a signal to the source, or I would already be able to track it. It only activates at certain intervals for a short time."

This calmed Lorana down some more and she commended Marcus for having already collected so much information.

"Now I can remove the infection from you, but I will need to enter my spirit form and interact directly with your soul. I will need you to do your best to not reject me when I do so." Marcus said.

He wanted to leave no doubt that Lorana was not involved and the only way to do that was to prove she was infected.

If she was an accomplice or even the mastermind, then she would certainly find some way to refuse.

Yet once again she easily accepted what Marcus had said and opened herself up with full faith.

'I do not know what kind of revered position spirits have in her kingdom, but she is definitely too trusting. She has left herself completely open to me simply because I am a spirit.'