Vittorio was shocked, partially about his verdict of not guilty, and partially over the abruptness. The adjudicator just said he could go, then stood up and started to leave herself. Shouldn't there be more? Shouldn't she think about it? His parents were dead under strange circumstances, and some people talking is all it takes for everyone to put it behind them? What about the thing that did it? Shouldn't something be done?

The box opening and a guard unlocking his manacles broke his train of thought. As soon as he was clear of the box and guard Gloria embraced him.

"Vee!", she said. "I'm so happy for you, and so sorry about your parents." She continued in a whisper "I'm not sure how to feel, but I'm happy they saw the truth."

"Me too".

He looked around, and there weren't as many people as he'd thought, just about a dozen. The room was mostly empty. His life could have been over, and these were all the people who cared. And some didn't - the [Priests] and the [Exorcist] were just here to speak their views. He wondered what that said about him. He wondered more what it said about his parents that nobody at all had come to speak for them.

His friends were congratulatory but subdued. They knew this was not a time for celebration but rather of relief - that he was not falsely imprisoned was good of course, but he was still in mourning. Vittorio, Gloria, her mother Celeste, and the older adventurers went into the outer city for dinner in a small tavern. The mood was awkward and tense, broken by Pachakutek as they found a table.

"I'll order, shall I? How do we feel about soup and bread?"

Vittorio snorted a laugh and that's all it took: A little joke, a little laugh, and everyone could relax and move on. They avoided talking about the deaths for the night and just enjoyed each other's company, and helping Gloria tell her mother all about what she'd been doing. Celeste tried to join in with Glorias excitement but her fear for her daughter's safety shone through at times, and she didn't laugh along with the others when she heard of Vittorio shooting himself with the tyrant wasp stinger.

"It was awful!", Gloria said, giggling. "I was fighting it, keeping it at bay, and suddenly there was this squelch and the stinger shot off into Vee's shoulder! Even the wasp was surprised!"

Ulberto chimed in, saying it was just bad luck: Had the stinger ended up anywhere else it would have been a brilliant use of Swelling Hex. Vittorio, embarrassed, pointed out that he'd just wanted to make it off-balance and had no idea that could happen.

"But you're all healed now, aren't you?" Celeste asked.

"He's fine, mom", Gloria said. "He even got some help from one of the farm girls - rubbing his chest, telling him how brave he was... When we left she asked him to come back and check on her."

"Really?", Celeste said with a teasing smile.

"It wasn't like that", Vittorio protested. "She was just scared and wanted someone to take a look around, make sure there weren't any other monsters around."

"Not someone, you."

"It's not surprising, is it?", Pachakutek asked. "He is pretty cute, isn't he? Most adventuring men are pretty brawny, but that's not everyone's thing, right?"

Vittorio didn't like this conversation, not one bit. "So, a coatl! That was pretty exciting, right? I was so surprised when I met them."

"Those feathers were gorgeous, weren't they?" Pachakutek asked. "But you're not trying to change the subject, are you?" she continued with a mischievous glint in her feline eyes.

"I'm just saying", Vittorio muttered, "meeting a coatl's more interesting than someone being worried about monsters."

"But is it more interesting than your love life?"

"Leave him alone", Nuno said to Vittorio's relief. "Vittorios a good guy, he won't kiss and tell."

"We didn't kiss!"

"She did kiss him."

"On the cheek!"

"Don't be hard on her", Vanessa said. "Remember how awful your aim was when we started training?"

It wasn't what he would have expected for a dinner after being acquitted of murder, but despite his discomfort with the teasing he did greatly enjoy it simply because they were there and talking to him. They didn't pull back or treat him like a killer, there was no fear in their eyes. They saw him as just the same as they had, and he needed that more than he'd realized.

The next day was all about getting back to normal, not that that was entirely possible. Vittorio made sure to speak to everyone who spoke up for him in private to thank them. Most understood that this was just something he needed to do, and many made it just as clear that speaking in his defence was something they had needed to do. Ermes and Ochi made it clear that while they did like him, it was also part of their job to testify whenever a Free Company member was accused of a serious crime.

His parents' bodies had already been cremated - he'd known they would have been, but he'd avoided thinking about it. Dead bodies did not do well in the heat and humidity of early summer. In the afternoon he visited the memorial stone bearing their names in the Temple of Peace, choosing not to speak to the [Priest]. The temple was quiet, cool, and serene, sounds and heat suppressed by some skill or divine magic. Sitting there, looking at their names carved in stone, he confronted many of the emotions that had plagued him but had been overshadowed by his worry and guilt over his role in their deaths - he had now mostly accepted that he had not murdered them, but there were other things to face. For one, he felt he should be sadder than he was. They had hurt him, yes, but they were his parents - surely he should be heartbroken? Catatonic? He wasn't. He was sad, yes, but less so than he had been for the child in the orchard.

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What he really was though, was angry. That spirit had used him to kill! It had taken his parents, and the future reconciliation he had hoped for, from him! Why? Why him? Why anyone? He decided to seek out the [Exorcist] and see if they knew more about it.

Finding them turned out to be very simple - they had left their contact information at the guild hall. They were, unsurprisingly, staying at the finest inn in the city. It had neither name nor sign posted outside, but was simple to find when you looked for it. Most buildings in the inner city were stone, but this was covered in dark wood paneling. Large windows with decorations from stained glass were everywhere, and yet as Vittorio approached he found he could not see inside.

The door opened before he could knock, a man standing in the doorway. He was middle-aged, with salt-and-pepper oiled and styled hair, an immaculate mustache, and dressed in fine, dark clothing that looked terribly hot.

"How might I assist you?", he asked.

"Uh, hi. My name is Vittorio Merchant, and I'm looking for [Exorcist] Metztala if he's available?"

"Ah yes, the adventurer." He opened the door. "Please, do come in and take a seat while I see if they will see you. Can I offer you a drink?"

"Some water would be great, thank you."

The man nodded, and Vittorio had barely had time to sit down in one of the extremely comfortable chairs before a glass was placed on a table beside him, condensation beading on it. Glass to drink from! He could see the water through it, and he felt awkward and worried picking it up. Adventuring paid well, but he did not want to risk having to pay for a new one. He took a sip and was shocked - the water was truly cold, and cold simply was not part of his life experiences. The cell had been the coldest thing he'd ever felt, and even then a single blanket had been enough to keep him warm at night.

He was still puzzling it out, trying to decide whether he liked it or not, when the man returned.

"[Exorcist] Metztala will see you, sir. If you would please follow me?"

Vittorio got up. "Uhm, may I bring the water?"

"Of course, sir."

Vittorio carefully held the glass with both hands as they walked, barely paying attention to the tasteful decor. He did note the lush, thick carpet and how it muffled any sound from his shoes. Glancing behind he was relieved to see he hadn't dragged any mud or dirt in. He was escorted to the top floor, where the man knocked gently on the door and let him in after the [Exorcist] bade him enter.

The room was not ostentatious, but subtly luxurious. There was no garish gold or needless complexity, but rather was ecorated to give the feel of comfort and solidity. The furniture was all dark, stained wood with fine upholstery, the art not sparse but placed in a way that wherever you looked you would see one or two pieces. [Exorcist] Metztala was curled up in what looked like a cushion with most of its stuffing along the edges, itself on top of a marble plinth. In front of them was a table with an open book.

"Good evening, Vittorio", they said.

"Good evening, [Exorcist]. I apologise for bothering you."

"Had it been a bother I would have refused your visit."

"This is a beautiful room! It must cost a fortune to stay here."

The coatl bobbed its head. "For others, most likely. I pay in other ways."

Vittorio almost dropped his water. "It's haunted?"

"Oh no, nothing so simple. Establishments like this one rely on excellence in service, and that means levels. I 'pay' by being a carefully difficult guest, thus challenging the staff and providing experience. Whenever I travel to a new city I reach out to the finer inns and work out a deal."

Vittorio blinked. "You stay here for free because you're... rude?"

"Nothing so crass. Along with my booking, I send along a list of requests which my hosts are free to accommodate or not, as they choose. With each one fulfilled I do, genuinely, enjoy my stay more, which provides experience to the people who made those accommodations. Not just anyone can do this, mind you. As so much else in this world, it comes down to levels: The higher the level of the individual making the request, the more experience received from meeting them. In addition, my species means I routinely make requests people of other species do not.

"For instance, I do not need a bed as you do, thus I request it be removed. I do not use chairs, so I ask for this", he nodded down towards the cushion and stand "arrangement. Rooms in these establishments are carefully designed and arranged, and disrupting the furniture is rare and somewhat challenging. As you may have noticed, this plinth does not match the rest of the room, a sure sign that they struggled to meet my demands.

"But while the oddities of trade induced by the System are interesting, I do not think you came here to learn how to stay at an inn for free."

"Oh, uh, no, no I didn't. I came because... well, this spirit that possessed me. You said it's done so before?"

"Many times."

"Why?"

The [Exorcist] paused for a moment. "A more challenging question than you may realize. I have several hypotheses, but no definitive answer. What I do know is that it belongs to a small subset of spirits which do so for different reasons than most. The vast majority do so either due to pure animalistic instinct or to achieve some objective of its own. The former are rather simple, taking control whenever they are able for much the same reason that monsters kill: It is their nature. It is what they do. The latter are intelligent and selective, seizing carefully selected people to perform specific tasks. Both groups vary in strength but are generally not that difficult to find and deal with.

"The subset is a different matter. No two act quite the same, but they seem to seek out situations that appeal to them and take control to force matters to proceed the way they want. Unlike the second group they are not seeking any overarching goal: They look to singular, unrelated events. The spirit that possessed you seeks out those who feel put-upon and unfairly treated and makes them lash out with disproportionate violence. The most recent instance I investigated before yours involved a [Homemaker] killing his employers and their young child because the child had broken a plate, told the employers the [Homemaker] was responsible, and the employers believed the child. A petty thing, and by all accounts not part of some greater trend."

"But... that's evil! It turned me and that [Homemaker] into killers!"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

Vittorios anger was rising. "Are there quests or something? Adventuring teams working to stop it?"

"Not as such, no."

"Why?! Someone should do something! You can't have this thing just going around, making people kill people! It's a monster!"

"There is a group", the coatl said, "who are working towards that. They seek to stop all these particular spirits from doing what they are doing. Unfortunately, not all of the spirits are as specific as the one that assaulted you, so to avoid them the group tried to remain private. If you wish, I could pass along your name to them."

Vittorio was still angry but was settling somewhat. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that. And tell them what it did, and that I'm an adventurer, and... everything. I want to help."

The [Exorcist] nodded. "I will do so, though it may be some time before you are contacted, if at all. They are cautious, and quite frankly, you are too low level at the moment."

Vittorio had been working hard since he joined the Free Company, but his resolve was strengthened. He'd work harder than ever, he'd level up, he'd become strong enough to help, and then he'd put a stop to this.