I was unable to hear the whole dialogue, though. It was more like scraps of sentences, barely giving me a hint about what the topic was.

A house…? Some bowl? Travel?

They were going somewhere? Somewhere safe, hopefully?

I didn't pick up anything specific, though. No place name or city. The conversations were fragmented and barely understandable, with a whole lot of assumptions and guesswork.

The fact that they weren’t talking much was not helping.

I was hoping that the longer I was going to eavesdrop, the more I’d learn. The more I’d be able to understand.

But no. Their travel was mostly silent, which was eerie.

Were they really traveling in this much silence? If that was me, it would’ve been driving me insane.

Sure, I spent a lot of time away from people, but I always had a companion.

Mom.

Even the sole memory of her, even without control over my body, it made me feel an unpleasant sting in my heart.

She was gone.

And yet…

There was that strange sense of familiarity coming from one of the people nearby. That mana… was strangely familiar.

Were they really serious? Could they actually be telling the truth?

But if that was the case, wouldn’t that man be…

No. Don’t think about it. Not right now.

But the truth was, not only her mana felt familiar. The other one was also strange… and strangely similar to her.

Others also had hints of that in them. Miniscule in comparison, but still. Even I had more!

Wait. I had some?

What was that supposed to mean?

I guess it was because of the healing they had to use on my body… to pull out that shrapnel had to be pretty hard.

While pondering that problem, I was observing what was going on around me.

And they were not wasting time.

They were traveling through some kind of cave system.

I honestly didn’t even know something like that existed here.

I’ve been to this forest and the ruins a couple of times already, and I was under the impression that it was cut off from the outside.

Did I miss that entrance…?

No, not possible. It wasn’t even hidden. I think.

Sure, I was able to tell my surroundings using mana, but it was not the best image. At least not initially.

I don’t know if it was because of a bit less dense mana in the air or what, but during the trip through the caverns, I was slowly getting my sight back.

And yes, I mean my original sight.

Okay, my ability to use mana as a way to see was getting better, but the image I was slowly seeing were definitely not thanks to that.

Was I getting used to my… “situation”, so to speak? Or maybe whatever or whoever was controlling me was weakening?

Of course I hoped it was the second, but not like I would be able to confirm it any time soon.

At least I thought so.

As I was pondering yet another development, the party finally reached the exit.

By that time, I was already seeing better, almost normally, I dare to say, but the happiness that came from that was short-lived.

As soon as we left the caves, my sight was back to the “magical one”, and only that.

Yet, even then, I still was able to get a nice amount of hopefully useful information.

The group they were traveling as consisted of four people. Plus me.

There was the obvious pair: Mor and Ilma. That so-called pair of parents of mine.

Even thinking that made me shudder.

Mor? That guy was supposed to be my father? It had to be a joke. And a bad one.

Besides the fact that he definitely was dead, and a long time ago to boot, the fact that he looked like some kind of crystal golem did not help.

It probably was just some kind of remnant whose memories got jumbled together.

Yeah. That was definitely it.

But the other one…

Well she was for sure familiar to me.

Maybe not in looks: I have never seen a wooden person before… I mean, a living wooden person before.

And she was supposed to be my mother?

An oversized wooden toy?

Besides those two, there was another pair, a woman and a… I think a boy?

He definitely looked very young, but one look was enough to confirm that his mana was out of this world…

But, even then, it’s not like there was a singular normal person among them.

I honestly thought that that woman was the most “normal” one.

That is until I felt how much her mana was bubbling and dancing inside her own body.

What was going on there?

Who the hell knows at this point…

They finally reached their destination, and, to my surprise, the place felt familiar to me.

I mean, it was hard to recognize, me being unable to see and all, but the mana was certainly something that I’ve seen before…

I felt before…

Wait. Not felt before. Rather feeling right now.

The mana in the building, I assumed some kind of house, was quite similar to the one in the woman in front of me…

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Was it her house?

I mean, that would explain why her residual mana was all over the place.

But, even though they for sure had to know that, they seemed apprehensive.

If that was hers, why would they even hesitate?

You’d think if someone was in their own home, they’d be less suspicious of everything, but not those people.

It seemed like the opposite was the case.

They even sent a scout!

I think it was a bit of an overkill: after all, each of them were stronger than anything. Or, well maybe besides my father… I mean, Michael.

Speaking of, I was wondering what happened to him.

Sure, I managed to defeat him, but was it really the end?

Kind of anticlimactic.

I did work for it for a long time, of course, but the moment he died I expected the feel… I don’t know, relief?

But nothing like that happened.

Right, you might say that accomplishing your goal doesn’t immediately cause some kind of enlightenment or epiphany… but I think I expected… something. Not even something positive. Just anything.

And yet, after his defeat, I felt nothing.

That couldn’t quite be said about meeting this bunch.

I mean, it was quite expected. I was constantly on edge, the moment I realized I was followed, the moment I got caught… even now. I felt uneasy with them around.

But… there was also something else, on the edge of my consciousness. I couldn’t really place it, but it did not seem like it was exactly a negative feeling… It was more like excitement, to my absolute bewilderment.

My worries aside, the group finally decided to move.

I am not sure if they found something or what, but they moved towards the structure and started using magic even.

That made me think.

Sure, I was in a very strange state right now, but…

Was I able to use magic?

Okay, I could use the weird enhanced sight. It was based on mana, but it didn’t release any on its own, so I couldn’t be certain.

I was wondering if I should just try it, but decided against it.

They had to be at least wary about me, right?

Even if they thought I was dead, the fact that they were able to actually use my body had to mean that they were smart.

And a competent person would definitely be careful, especially in those kinds of circumstances.

So I decided to wait.

And good thing I did, because soon I'd be given a golden opportunity.

The group… was lively to say the least.

The moment it seemed like they decided to rest, they started using mana like crazy.

It sort of caught me by surprise.

You’d think someone in an unfamiliar place would be trying to preserve the resources and keep together for safety…

But they did the exact opposite.

First thing: the one of the people, and it seemed like the most powerful one to boot, just went ahead and left the moment the rest started making themselves comfortable.

I wouldn’t say it was a smart thing, getting rid of your most powerful member, but who am I to judge? I couldn’t even see properly.

That was not the weirdest thing, though.

When I said that they were starting to make themselves comfortable, I really meant it.

At first, when we approached the building and went inside, I realized that it was not just a regular piece of architecture.

It was heavily infused, and looked like it had some kind of a spell bound to.

That was also confirmed the moment they finally started using mana,

What was at first a barren house… or rather just one room, was swiftly converted into an actual room with beds and shelves.

Talk about resourcefulness.

And weirdness…

I just decided to observe closer. Maybe get some tasty gossip or other information.

Not like I would’ve been able to understand it completely.

But that gave me an idea.

Sure, they were using magic, trying to make that building a bit more hospitable, okay.

But that also meant they weren’t paying that much attention to each other.

So… what would’ve happened if I was to try magic right now?

If I was lucky, they wouldn’t even notice my mana, and even if they did, for sure they’d just think it was one of them.

Especially because whatever was controlling my body was also trying to do something. Were they comparing their spells or something?

It didn’t matter what exactly they were trying, but it was a great opportunity.

So, I started focusing.

What kind of spell should I use?

Something small, for sure. That didn’t narrow the choice at all, though. It’s not like a person can’t just modify their output…

Something not elemental… maybe if I was to try and…

As I was thinking, I released a bit of mana, just to try if I was able.

And then it happened.

The moment my mana made contact with the building, I felt a presence.

Was that the thing that was controlling me…?

No.

It was… the house?

Hell, that definitely felt like it. If I didn’t literally see where it was coming from, I would’ve thought that some kind of person was trying to communicate with me.

It wasn’t that much.

I wanted to cut it off, to not get spotted, but it was too late. The presence almost locked onto me and started piercing my mind.

I tried resisting, but it was pointless. Each time I tried rebuffing it, it just phased right past any mental defenses I managed to raise…

And then it reached me.

It was a flood of memories.

Familiar memories.

I wanted to yell, but I couldn’t.

I wanted to move, but I couldn’t.

My body was not mine to command.

And yet, it responded.

It was… in pain?

No.

It definitely did not feel right…

Wait. It was mirroring my feelings. Did it feel the same thing? Weren’t my mind that was hit? It targeted both my mind and body?

No matter the answer, that body of mine started doing exactly what I wanted to at that moment. If I didn’t know better, I’d say I was getting control back, but…

Wait.

I WAS regaining control.

I slowly started regaining my regular sight, seeing everything in vivid color. Or at least I thought it was vivid: after looking at everything via magic you can better appreciate how things look to the naked eye.

Did… that presence help me?

What was that presence even?

And… where the hell was I?! Wait…

I actually recognized the place.

It was Melle’s house.

Wait, who was Melle?

Right. The second wife of dad’s…

What?!

Father remarried?!

Somewhat. It’s complicated, full of holes and all that, but…

Hold on for a minute! Whose memories are those?! Those definitely did not belong to me… And yet did feel like it was mine.

Did that entity who helped me just now force those into my head? What for then?

And why did they feel like they were part of me all that time?

I shook myself off and shuddered, sitting back on the bed.

Right. On the bed.

I was able to move.

I was in control once more.

I was in some kind of house. Right, Melle’s house, whatever and whoever that was supposed to be.

I stopped myself from thinking about that person, because the moment I did I felt more memories spill inside my head, and I didn’t need that in the moment.

Because I was surrounded.

Four people.

Well, more like two people and two creatures.

All of them were familiar. The team which brought me here.

Or rather my body.

They were looking at me with a mix of confusion and wariness. And maybe a hint of hostility as a bonus.

Right… my body was just a moment ago under their control, so I guess I should’ve known.

And not like I was in a different spot.

Strangely though, the one who was in front didn’t look hostile.

The opposite.

He looked hopeful… and happy?

Weird.

And the weirdness was not going to end any time soon.