Chapter 176: Episode 4: The Hollow Shrine (Part 6)
To the mages of the Imperial Mage Academy, the topic of ghosts and the nature of life and death was both novel and worth delving into.
After all, the mystery of the soul was considered one of the ultimate frontiers of magic—something every true mage dreamed of unraveling.
Now, The Garden of Sinners presented an intriguing theory: that when a person dies, their soul doesn't simply vanish. Instead, it breaks into fragments that linger in the world. Over time, these remnants might gather and form malevolent spirits—ghosts driven by obsession, seeking to possess the living.
Naturally, such a provocative idea sparked fervent discussion among the scholars.
"Actually, Aozaki Touko's theory holds water. There are historical records of ghost outbreaks in old battlefields—places where too many died too quickly. Sometimes it takes a high-ranking priest just to purify one of those hotspots."
"True, but typically those ghosts are completely mindless—nothing but bundles of obsessive thought. As long as you don't mess with them, they won't mess with you."
"But that's the thing. You said it yourself: they're obsessions. And every dead soul shares one common obsession—to live again. That's why these fragments inevitably attack the living. It's practically the default behavior of any ghost."
"In the end, anything that's already passed on shouldn't linger in this world. Once the cycle of life and death breaks… chaos follows."
"If that's the case, then aren't undead basically the same?"
"Not quite. Undead still retain an intact soul, which is more than you can say for ghosts. But even then, they're taboo across the human world. Everyone knows that even if we don't say it out loud."
"Then what is the true boundary between life and death?"
"…"
Their discussion went in circles, as all such talks do. For a topic as final and unfathomable as the soul, no amount of logic or experience seemed sufficient. Even those who had supposedly died and come back might struggle to explain it.
On screen...
The pace of The Garden of Sinners suddenly picked up.
Ryougi Shiki lay in her hospital bed, still brooding over her conversation with Aozaki Touko, when suddenly, the door creaked open.
To the viewers, a chilling figure entered the frame: dressed in patient's garb, its body etched with bizarre runes and charms. It crept silently toward Shiki's bedside and then lunged.
A hand clamped around her throat.
"Ah—!"
The suffocating pressure made Shiki gasp instinctively, her lungs screaming for air.
"Not… human."
She realized instantly that the thing choking her wasn't alive. It had no warmth, no breath, no trace of humanity.
It was already dead.
On reflex, Shiki struggled. But she couldn't break free. The difference in strength was overwhelming.
And truthfully… she didn't want to fight back.
Maybe this was easier. Maybe it was time.
Letting go seemed like the cleanest option.
But then—
"Ryougi Shiki, did SHIKI really die for nothing?"
Touko's voice echoed in her ears.
And something inside her snapped.
"—No way."
A burst of energy surged from within. Shiki shouted and kicked out with everything she had—slamming her foot straight into the monster's gut.
"I won't fall back into that place ever again—!"
The blow sent the creature staggering—but it wasn't done yet. It pounced again, forcing Shiki into a corner.
"Don't hesitate."
In the instant it lunged once more, Shiki spun around—and dived straight out the window, dragging the living corpse down with her.
As they plummeted through the air, Shiki moved with blinding reflexes—twisting her body mid-fall to hurl the undead creature beneath her.
Smack!
The thing hit the ground with a sickening thud.
Shiki, in contrast, landed on all fours, skidding across the dirt of the hospital courtyard using the recoil of the fall to her advantage.
"So that's all it takes… I see now."
The haze clouding her heart began to clear.
She finally understood why her body had moved on instinct just now—why she had fought back at all.
It was simple.
She didn't want to die.
Because, deep down, she wanted to live.
The sudden turn of events sent a jolt through the theater.
No one had expected this kind of monster to leap out at the heroine.
"What the hell is that thing? Doesn't look human… or dead."
"Hard to say. Maybe it's a corpse brought back with necromancy?"
"Nah, The Garden of Sinners doesn't have necromancy. My guess is it's just a regular dead body possessed by those soul fragments from earlier."
"Ohhh—so when the fragments couldn't take over Shiki directly, they hijacked a random corpse and tried to attack her again?"
"Creepy as hell. Good thing that stuff doesn't happen in real life, right?"
"Are you sure about that? If a ghost like this popped up in the Empire, the mages and church priests would be scrambling to purify it. That kind of feat could earn you a royal commendation."
The audience murmured in tense excitement, eyes glued to the screen.
Compared to the common folk, who were understandably fixated on the "living corpse," the mages of the Imperial Mage Academy were far less interested in the monster itself.
They understood too much for that.
What intrigued them was something else entirely.
"So what did SHIKI die for? If he really chose to die in Shiki's place… why is Shiki only now starting to understand the value of living?"
"Maybe it all happened too fast. SHIKI probably didn't have time to explain… That ambush caught us off guard, too."
"But what if SHIKI didn't want to explain? What if he hid the truth on purpose and didn't want Shiki to know he planned to die?"
"It's a mess either way. This isn't some simple dual personality thing—we're talking about two separate souls in one body. No one really knows how that kind of fusion plays out."
"Right, and then after all that, Shiki wakes up and suddenly has the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. That's two traumatic awakenings at once. Mental breakdown? Completely plausible."
The discussion swirled around, more academic than emotional—until a quiet voice cut through it.
Gebrun, the Academy's infamous outcast from the Mental and Spiritual Studies Branch, spoke up:
"You're all missing the point."
Everyone turned.
"Shiki isn't confused because of SHIKI's death, or the eyes, or even the dual soul thing. She's lost because she has nothing to anchor herself to. Humans are social creatures. We don't define ourselves in isolation—we define ourselves through others. Their reactions, their eyes. That's how we understand who we are. Since waking up, Shiki's barely interacted with anyone. Of course she can't find a sense of self. Of course her mind is unstable."
"Whoa…"
A murmur of awe rippled through the surrounding students.
Once again, Gebrun had delivered a sharp and insightful analysis, something most of them hadn't even considered.
But despite their admiration, most still kept their distance.
No matter how brilliant his insights, rumors were rumors, and Gebrun's reputation as a "problem student" in the field of soul studies kept him isolated.
Not that he seemed to mind.
He simply stood there quietly, eyes fixed on the screen, completely absorbed in the unfolding story.
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