Chapter 32

"…Were we companions, perhaps?"

"Well, to call us companions. What a wonderful sound it has."

Laughing in a mocking way, the woman named Tabasa brushed back her long, unkempt hair.

Even though I knew it wasn't my own body, after spending ten years in it, just seeing her form made me uneasy.

"We aren't companions or friends. We're just strangers who happened to have the same goal."

"Goal…?"

"I just wanted to live as a normal human. That's all."

Despite that, she said, "I was treated to quite a luxurious life, wasn't I?" I felt a strong anger towards her.

"Isn't it unfair that just because we were born in different places, there can be such a difference?"

"……"

"Well, you wouldn't understand. The feelings of someone whose life ends the moment they are born."

At the same time, deep down, I couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for them. From the state of the body when we switched, I could imagine the kind of life they had led. They must have been forced to live in a place like that from birth.

I understand the pain of being treated like a slave, the endless despair. If that were to continue for a lifetime, I might also envy those who live a carefree, luxurious life without knowing hardship. I might even wish to live as someone else, to the point of taking someone else's body. Still,

Wishing for something and acting on it are different. I can't forgive them, and I have no intention of forgiving them.

Moreover, she not only took everything from me but also hurt many people, including my family and Rufus.

"Well, isn't there anything else you want to ask? It's dark and warm here, and I'm starting to feel sleepy."

Despite the situation, Tabasa yawned lazily. While I thought she was truly selfish, I was certain that with her cooperation, we were getting closer to the truth.

There were many things I was curious about and wanted to ask, but I tried hard to suppress my rising anger and decided to ask the one thing that most concerned me.

"…How did you switch bodies?"

"It's a magical artifact."

The woman answered as if it were the most obvious thing. It seemed that what the man who had taken Norman's body had said before was true.

"It belonged to the Archbishop."

"…The Archbishop?"

The one who reacted most to those words was Rufus, who had been silent behind me all along.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know. While Ben and that old man were struggling, the old man ended up switching bodies with a cat."

"Oh, Ben was the one who had switched bodies with that man Norman," she added, laughing as if it were amusing.

To help me understand, Rufus explained about the Archbishop.

The Archbishop, who held power second only to the Pope, suddenly went missing one day. When he was finally found, he didn't even recognize his family and began to exhibit strange behavior. It was thought that he had been involved in some incident that had affected his mind. If what she said was true, and he had switched bodies with a cat, everything would make sense.

"…On that day, we escaped from an underground labor facility near the capital and broke into the Archbishop's house. Mabel had worked there as a maid before, so she knew that the Archbishop had hidden a large amount of money, as well as the escape routes and the layout of the house. We planned to steal some money and flee the country."

"But when we sneaked in, we found the old man with a magical artifact in his hand, trying to do something to a young, good-looking man. Looking back, he was probably trying to take his body."

"Then, while the old man and Ben were struggling, a cat that appeared out of nowhere pounced. Immediately after, the old man started moving like a cat."

Similarly, the cat, which had suddenly started moving in a creepy way, had the magical artifact stuck in its arm. The Archbishop then jumped out of the window.

After that, Tabasa and the others stole valuables and left.

"It was just a plain, thin golden rod. We were talking about how it was made of gold and might sell well, but Mabel was different. She held the strange rod like a treasure, saying it might change our lives, and laughed."

"I don't like that woman, but I respect her for having a good nose for these things," she continued.

"It has sharp points at both ends, and the switch happens when the blood of the targets touches both ends simultaneously."

"Just that…"

"Yes, just that. But do you know how many people Mabel used in her experiments and killed to learn that?"

Tabasa shrugged, looking exasperated. The man the Archbishop had been attacking was also used in the experiments.

I couldn't say a word, overwhelmed by the horror of the story.

"You put the blood in a vial, drip it onto one end, and then have the person you want to switch with stick the other end into their body. We just sat and waited in that place."

When my body was taken, I remember bumping into someone. That's when the magical artifact must have been stuck into my body somewhere.

"Just that, and I became you."