Xiotal had accidentally breathed when Ritzy had explicitly told her not to. Although it seemed like the process was completed and successful, Ritzy still said that it was a risk to breathe.
Xiotal didn't want to lose what she had just regained. Even if her resurrection wasn't complete and her body was being controlled while dead, Xiotal didn't want to go back to being a ghost, especially not over something as simple as forgetting not to breathe!
She had to get Ritzy to secure her current state, even if it cost her all her treasures!
'...Wait, I already promised that! Shit, what do I do?'
However, Xiotal's urgency was quickly frozen by the sight of Ritzy lying on the bed with closed eyes and a peaceful expression on his face.
"No!"
Had he given his life for her? That was the only explanation for why he could have done something as miraculous as a pseudo-resurrection despite being an apprentice.
"Where are you going?"
Mognog asked as Xiotal got up from the bed with hurried, unsteady steps and headed toward the bedroom door.
"I need to find something to help him before it's too late!"
Xiotal had a treasury of things she didn't even remember what half was. Maybe Ritzy wasn't dead yet and had just sacrificed his vitality for her. In that case, there was still hope she could save him.
"Calm down. The kiddo's just sleeping. He did fool around with his mana for a day and a half, after all."
"Really?"
Xiotal's response was a mix of relief and shock. Even if she wasn't deeply involved with humans, she knew enough to know that being awake that long and maintaining the concentration necessary for as long and for what Ritzy had done wasn't easy for weak humans.
"That's a relief."
Xiotal sighed with a hand on her chest and a slight smile on her lips. If he were alive and just sleeping, she wouldn't have to worry about not having anyone who could help her, though, now that she had her body and others could see her again, maybe she could ask someone from her galére to help her.
"Is it?"
Mognog gave Xiotal a look of suspicion. Mognog hadn't interacted with her. He had only had Ritzy's second-hand account of their conversations. But as far as Mognog knew, Xiotal had promised Ritzy all of her treasure if he could do something to fix her previous ghosty state.
He had done that. It couldn't be called a perfect success, but Xiotal was as good as alive, even if she were dead.
She had seemed worried that breathing would potentially cause trouble, but she would sooner or later realize that she was breathing just fine, even if she technically didn't need it, and that Ritzy had said she could take that risk to mess with her. Considering Xiotal's identity as a pixie, she would most likely realize that sooner, not later.
With Ritzy asleep and defenseless, there was a surefire way for Xiotal to guarantee she didn't need to pay him the agreed-upon price.
"Of course it is!"
Mognog couldn't detect any falsehood in Xiotal's expression or tone, so he dropped the matter—for now.
"...Alright. For now, let's just let Ritzy rest. Until he wakes up, which shouldn't take too long, we need to decide what to do from now on."
Xiotal tilted her head and gave Mognog a quizzical look.
"What 'we' need to do?"
Mognog would have nodded if he could.
"Yeah. Your galére won't accept you as you are now. They probably won't kill you, but they will kick you out and, depending on the circumstances, curse or cripple you. Since your deal with Ritzy is complete as soon as you pay him, it shouldn't have anything to do with you. However, since we messed with one of their pixies, regardless of the situation, possibly because of the situation, your former companions won't let us go that easily."
Xiotal was forced to face a harsh reality. But she knew that Mognog was speaking with reason, even if she wondered how an outsider, a dead one at that, seemed to know so much about pixie galéres. She nodded.
"That's probably right."
"In addition to that, I have a sneaking suspicion that your current state isn't permanent."
"...What do you mean?"
Now, it was Xiotal's turn to give Mognog a narrowed stare.
"Think about it. The kiddo's just started training his mana. Even if he and the method he is using are exceptional, there will be a limit to what he can do, especially when it comes to cooking up a spell on the fly since you can count the number of times he's used magic on two hands."
"So you're saying…?"
"Yeah. You will need the kiddo's help if you don't want to die again, probably more permanently now that you've lost your egg."
Xiotal's face twisted into a frown.
Although Ritzy had done a lot for her, even pushed himself so far he passed out as soon as he was done, Xiotal couldn't escape the fact that he was a menace. She could barely talk to him without feeling herself getting irritated. She also realized that her earlier notion of him ignoring her wealth for the moment and saving her, despite being able to use her letting down her guard to kill her, could be false. Maybe he was just cautious, or, based on the satisfied smile, he simply wanted to use his magic.
It would have been best if they could simply go their separate ways as soon as she had paid him his dues.
However, if Mognog's words were true, and Xiotal couldn't see why they wouldn't be, she would need Ritzy's help continuously in the future. She dreaded it. But she couldn't do anything about it.
If she wanted to maintain her current state of at least almost being alive, she would have to have Ritzy's help. And until they could figure out the details of her condition and how long she could go without Ritzy's intervention, she would have to stay close to him, too close for her, and most likely Ritzy's, liking.
Xiotal nodded with resolve.
"I understand. What do I need to do?"
Xiotal might need Ritzy's help. But he didn't need her help, and she had already promised to hand over all of her treasure, so she had nothing else to pay him with. But Mognog wouldn't have brought up this topic without reason.
"Take the hit."
"Take the hit?"
Was someone going to punch or shoot them with arrows or magic? Xiotal didn't understand what Mognog meant at first. But after thinking about what they had just discussed, she realized.
However, before vocalizing her assent, someone woke up.
"Heyo! Moggy, I've been thinking about something."
'Again? When does he find the time?'
It hadn't been that long since Ritzy last said something along those lines, and practically ever since, they had been busy.
Mognog shot Xiotal a glance before looking at Ritzy.
"And what would that be?"
Mognog wasn't surprised that Ritzy didn't even bother to acknowledge Xiotal or the success of his endeavor and played along.
"I think I know now."
"Okay? Know what?"
Ritzy still lay in the bed, but he clasped his hands over his stomach and crossed his ankles as he stared into the ceiling.
"Why I don't remember learning certain things, and why I can see things you don't. That stuff."
Mognog raised his eyebrows in surprise. No, he didn't.
The last thing he had expected Ritzy to find out by falling asleep from exhaustion was the answer to that question. They hadn't had it for long, but it had still plagued them, especially Ritzy, why he couldn't remember learning about Flesh Slimes and the like. It seemed Ritzy had concluded that whatever lay behind that was also responsible for his ability to see Xiotal in her ghost state.
"Well…? Don't keep me hanging, kiddo. What's going on?"
"It's my hair?"
'What.'
Mognog blinked, his brain failing to comprehend. What did his hair have anything to do with it? Other than being a rare color on someone so young, it wasn't that special, right?
"What?"
Mognog voiced his confusion. He hoped he wouldn't have to clarify what it was that he didn't understand.
Xiotal took the opportunity to think about how she could help Ritzy and Mognog while those two talked.
"Yeah. During my first batch of summoning minions to help me take over the world or whatever, I summoned a tuft of white, droopy hair. It tried to take over my body. I didn't like that, so I killed it while it was connecting with me through my hair and brain. After that, my hair turned white, and I thought that was it. But I don't think it was."
"So that hair…?"
Mognog pointed at Ritzy's deathly white hair. Not really, since he didn't have anything to point with.
"Yeah. I think it and my memories or knowledge are from an undead of some kind. It died in the middle of trying to seize my body, and its memories have started to trickle into my head."
"Huh."
"Yeah. Pretty cool, right?"
Ritzy beamed a smile at Mognog.