Chương 32: Chapter 31 - …And New Companions

Inside the serene white expanse of Ren's Soul Plane, the white words of his status unfolded into existence before him. [Aethersoul Ren] [Rank: Awakened] [Dominion: -] [Soul Power: Soul Shepherd] [Soul Saturation Level: 3/1000] [Soul Attributes: Accelerated Regeneration, Survival Instincts, Novice Shepherd] [Soul Attunements: -] A new attribute had appeared so Ren focused on it and expanded its description. [Novice Shepherd] [A soul has been placed under your protection through a permanent bond. Their existence continues because you intervened at the moment of their inevitable death. The shepherded soul is entirely dependent on you, should you perish, the soul under your care will die alongside you.] This was his half of the bond, something that permanently bound their souls together with only one major downside for Alice. If he died, she would die with him.' Yeah, that's no pressure at all,'he thought dryly, he already had Yumè relying on him, what was one more?'

Plus, she gets to heal herself when I pull her back in here, so it's a win for her, I guess.' He dismissed his status and took his first proper look around his Soul Plane since waking up here, his gaze drifting along the flowing essence that encircled the little white island, when something out of place caught his eye and made his heart skip a beat. Alice was laying on the stone near the edge of the island, curled slightly on her side looking as if she had simply fallen asleep.

She still wore her dress, which was as pristine as ever and her chest rose and fell rhythmically. Ren frowned.' I didn't notice her when I came in…' He realised it was simply because she had been behind him when he entered. Warily, he made his way over and crouched down beside her. For a moment he simply watched, half-expecting her to snap awake and lunge at him the instant he drew near, but she never did.

Her body looked entirely healed now too, a far cry from the crumpled, twisted state she'd been left in out in the waking world.

But that didn't do much to ease his worries as the description for Soul Shepherd had said she would retain both her personality and her memories, so Ren truthfully had no idea how she might react to him once she woke. Eventually, he steeled himself and reached out, resting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle shake. Her purple eyes fluttered open as she sucked in a small breath and pushed herself upright, rubbing at her eyes with a sleeve.

Her brow furrowed slightly as she took in the endless white expanse surrounding them.

"Is Alice in heaven?" she asked softly, her gaze slowly landing onto Ren"…No. You're not," he said before straightening and trying his best to sound calm and authoritative.

"This is my Soul Plane. You were shepherded and are now bound to me."' That sounded way cooler in my head.' Alice, however, didn't seem bothered in the slightest. Her eyes widened and she nodded sharply.

"Oh! Yes, now Alice remembers!" she said brightly.

"You offered to save Alice when she was going to die."

"That's right," Ren replied, relaxing a little.

"You can check your status for details, but I can answer questions you might have as well." He gestured toward the centre of the Soul Plane, where the radiant orb representing his soul hovered, her own soul circling it in a slow, steady orbit.

"Your soul is housed together with mine now. So... I suppose this should be your Soul Plane too." Alice tilted her head, studying the sight and after a moment, she frowned slightly.

"Alice can't leave this place. Not by herself anyway." Ren nodded.

"I thought as much. I can summon and dismiss you from the physical world, similar to how a Soul Attunement works." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.' I assume so anyway...'

"Ok then!" Alice replied with a cheerful smile, completely different to how emotionless she was acting before.

"Just summon Alice soon, okay? She might get lonely all by herself…"

"Don't worry," he said, returning her smile with a faint one of his own.

"I'll summon you as soon as I leave." Ren wasn't exactly sure how one was meant to leave a place like this, but by simply focusing on the physical world and willing himself to return, the white expanse around him began to gradually dissolve, and he felt a pull take hold of him as he left his Soul Plane behind entirely. Ren's eyes slowly opened from where he'd collapsed onto the floor, and the very first thing he saw was Mr. Jester's face, looming far too close for comfort right above his own.

"Hmmm," the brightly dressed man whispered thoughtfully, tilting his head.

"Did you eat her or something? Is that why you passed out? You went into a food coma?" Ren groaned and pushed himself up onto one elbow, running a hand through his hair. His chest still felt heavy after shepherding Alice's soul.

"What…? No. How long was I out?" Mr. Jester straightened, then did some calculations on his fingers.

"If my math is correct... and it usually is, you would have been out for approximately a minute and a half!" Ren stared at him, but the jester only pointed toward the far wall, where a shallow crater still marked the spot Alice's body had slammed into earlier.

"So? Did you really eat her?"

"No. I didn't," he said again, a little more irritated this time. He found himself sympathising with the tavernkeeper more and more by the second. Pushing himself up to his feet, Ren cleared his throat and, recalling exactly what his Soul Power's description had said, extended his hand out to call upon his newly shepherded soul.

"Alice, come out." Glowing motes erupted into existence, swirling together as a figure stepped out from nothingness to stand beside him. Alice emerged fully formed, her Marionette's Attire pristine and her long black hair tied back into those same two pigtails as before. The doll-like girl straightened proudly and declared, "You have called, and Alice has answered!" Alice scanned the room, and the moment she spotted Mr. Jester standing nearby, she thrust an accusing finger straight at him.

"You killed Alice! You tricked her and pretended to be weak!"

"Hey! I didn't trick you on anything! I didn't know you'd be coming back either, alright? Normal people don't do that!" the jester yelped, throwing his hands up defensively.

"…Generally."

"No matter," Alice said decisively, spinning to direct her point at Ren instead.

"Thanks to Alice's new family, she is alive again!" Mr. Jester looked at him curiously, raising one of his eyebrows.

"It's my Soul Power," Ren started to explain.

"Basically, I can—""DON'T TELL ME!" the brightly dressed man suddenly shouted, clapping his hands over his ears.

"If Miss Knight decides to challenge you, she'll beat information out of me first! But if I don't know anything, she'll beat me for nothing! Hah! That'll show her." Ren stared at him, bewildered.' …Show her what, exactly?' He decided it wasn't worth unpacking.

"Uhh, that's fine," he said.

"But Alice shouldn't cause any more problems now, so is she okay to stay here with us?" Mr. Jester cautiously unplugged his ears and studied Alice for a moment.

"Alright. But she's your responsibility. I can only have one protégé at a time, after all."

"Makes sense," Ren said with a sigh.

"Then everything is perfect!" Mr. Jester clapped his hands together.

"Now that that's settled, I'm going back to writing my epic. Once you're finished with your… domestic affairs... go back out and start investigating!"

"I was planning on it," Ren replied as he watched the brightly dressed man saunter back around the canopy bed.' With Alice's help, this should be a piece of cake!' Not only was Alice a part of the Cult of the Abyss, she had an attribute to help her with stealth.

'Wait a minute...' he suddenly had a realisation.

"Alice, just how important were you in the cult?" His line of thinking was that with Alice now missing, just how much would that end up affecting the Cult's plans, and more importantly, would they come looking for her? She hadn't been one of Mr. Jester's targets, which meant she likely wasn't one of the major players in the city, so Ren wouldn't have thought her all that important to them.

"Alice is Master Ohba's pupil!" Alice said with a proud smile.

"He made her stay at The Crossroads for experience and to make sure everything went according to plan!" Ren blinked. That… sounded more important than he'd hoped.

"Is that going to be a problem for us?" he asked.

"We're going to be trying to get rid of the leaders in this city."

"That's no matter to Alice," she replied immediately, "Alice will do whatever her new family wants of her, no matter what!" Ren was taken aback by the firmness of her answer.' She's so different from how flat and emotionless she was acting before! Just what does Oscillation make her feel whenever she looks at me?'

"Aren't you still loyal to the cult at all?" he checked.

"Pfft." Alice waved her hand dismissively.

"Alice was only running around with them to find some meaning in her life." Her eyes brightened as she took a step towards him.

"But now that she has you, her new family, she doesn't need to go find meaning anymore!"

"But why?" Ren asked, taking a small step back as her closeness began to make him nervous.

"Huh? Uhh, because when Alice looks at you, it's like… you are a pillar of support?" Alice said, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"…If that makes sense at all?" It didn't but Ren supposed that was the best explanation he was going to get. He let out a slow breath.

"So you're fine with betraying the Cult of the Abyss and helping me assassinate the leaders of The Crossroads?"

"Alice is more than fine with that!" she said cheerfully, without even a hint of hesitation. Ren studied her for a moment longer, a quiet excitement welling up inside him at the realisation that he was finally, actually making use of his Soul Power, before it struck him that he'd never even properly introduced himself. He extended a hand toward her.

"I'm Ren, by the way." Alice's expression lit up as she clasped his hand firmly with her own. Her hand was small and dainty, soft to the touch, and yet there was strength behind the delicate grip all the same.

"Alice," she said with a wide smile on her doll-like face.