Transmigrated as a Ghost

Appearing in a flash of light, Marcus, Mrazivý, and Miguel found themselves standing on the teleportation circle located within the main guild hall in the royal capital of Borealia.

"I really wish that they could find a way to fix how nauseating these things are. It wasn't as bad as the first time, but I don't think I will ever get used to this feeling." Mrazivý said, wobbling a bit from the successive teleportation.

Miguel and Marcus were doing a bit better than her but both of them were still a bit unstable on their feet.

"It gets easier to deal with the more you use it. This is my nineteenth time using them and it only affects me a little. Though I am surprised at how well you are fairing Marcus. This is only your seconds time as well, right?" Miguel said.

"Yeah, the first time I ever used the guild's teleportation network was when Valerius brought us to the Republic of Eios for the expedition. In my case it is my body's constitution that helps me lessen the burden.

Still, I can't do anything about the way it agitates the mana within me." Marcus responded, his already pale face a bit paler than normal because of the ill effects of the teleportation circle.

Thankfully it only took about a minute before the nausea wore off and the three of them exited the teleportation room.

From there they exited the guild hall and went their separate ways.

Mrazivý was going to head directly to the castle, give a report to her family, and deliver the letter from the adventurers guild's leader to Boreas. Miguel on the other hand planned to book a room at the same inn he had stayed at during the Kingdom's Tournament and get settled in. Finally, Marcus wanted to stop by his home after having been gone for quite some time.

He imagined that there was a mountain of letters waiting for him and it would be good for him to let his staff see that he was alive.

"This should be a good enough place as any." Marcus murmured to himself.

Having slipped into an alley that was devoid of people, he transformed back into Irene after a long time.

"It really has been a while. I might need an hour or two to get used to being in this form again."

Having gotten shorter and with limbs that were not as long as he was used to, Marcus felt that his movements were a bit clumsy. It was not to the point that he felt particularly impaired, but there was a noticeable difference from how seamlessly he moved before.

Originally, he had planned to go invisible and intangible and simply fly to his estate but wanting to get accustomed to being in Irene's form again, he decided to walk instead.

"Have we met? Cause you look a lot like my next girlfriend."

"Can you take me to the hospital? I just broke my leg falling for you."

"I'm learning about important dates in history. Wanna be one of them?"

"Excuse me, do you have a map? I just got lost in your eyes."

As he walked down the street, Marcus found himself being approached by several young men, each of them trying out the dumbest pick-up lines on him.

At the very least no one tried to assault him, but several of them were pretty persistent. Not leaving him alone until he flashed his noble identification showing that he was a titled baronetess.

'Damn, I can't remember the last time something like this happened. I forget how attractive I look as Irene.' Marcus thought, pulling out a cloak and pulling a hood over his head.

Luckily this managed to discourage most of the men approaching him, and he was able to walk the streets in peace.

It took a few hours before he reached the entrance to his manor, but by the time he did, he no longer had any issues with the differences between his form as Irene and his original form.

"I can understand that the garden is beautiful, but no loitering. Please continue on your way." One of the guards posted at the gate said to Marcus.

He had been standing and staring at the estate for a bit too long and garnered the attention of the guards.

"Ah, sorry about that. I forgot I am still wearing the hood."

Marcus quickly pulled his hood down and revealed his face to the guards.

The moment they saw who it really was, the guard that had told Marcus to move along bowed his head and asked for forgiveness.

"I am supremely sorry Lady Irene. I did not know that it was you. Please only fire me for my rudeness." The guard said, a nervous sweat pouring down his face.

"Why would I fire you? You were just doing your job. I certainly do look like a suspicious individual walking down a road in front of noble mansions all alone with my face covered. It was only reasonable that you asked me to leave."

With Marcus giving his assurance to the guard that he would not be reprimanded, things soon calmed down and everyone went back to their posts.

Now that his identity had been confirmed, the guards had the gate opened and one of the maids that was on duty at the guard station came out to meet with Marcus.

"Lady Irene, I welcome you back after your long trip. I am glad to see that you are still in good health."

"Yes, it is good to be back home. And thank you for your kind words, Riley." Marcus said, motioning with his left hand that she could raise her head.

Coming out of her bow, Riley positioned herself behind Marcus and slightly to his left and began relaying important information to him as they walked towards the main building.

"Lady Irene, during the past few weeks one of your friends has been staying with us and waiting to meet with you. She said it was of the upmost importance and seeing as the two of you are especially close, we invited her to wait in the manor until your return.

I understand that this might been beyond the scope of our authority, but we felt that it would have been wrong to turn away such a dear friend of yours." Riley said, her tone possessing a fervor Marcus found to be unusual.

For nearly a minute the only thing Riley told Marcus was about this guest that was waiting for him and how important it was for him to meet with her.

At first Marcus wondered who it could be, but the only one that came to mind was Lyra. But that didn't make much sense as she had her duties as a duchess to attend to and would never stay away from her domain for an indefinite amount. Plus, she knew about Marcus' Dark Portal unique skill and would only need to leave a letter behind if she wanted to meet with him.

'I knew I sensed a lingering trace of magic. She's been charmed.'

Starting to grow suspicious, Marcus used his creature appraisal skill on Riley and saw that in her status she had the charmed condition. Whoever this guest was had used magic to manipulate the staff in order to make them believe that they were one of Marcus' close friends.

Nevertheless, Marcus remained calm despite finding out about the disturbing magic controlling Riley. From what he could tell no one had been injured, and whoever it was that was charming his maids seemed intent on meeting with him.

'I'll simply apprehend them the moment we meet. And if they are stronger than I can handle, Boreas and Gwyneira can be here in just a few seconds to back me up.' Marcus thought, coming up with his plan of action.

"I promise I will meet with my guest as soon as I reach the main building. But is there anything else important that I need to know about?"

"Oh yes, I nearly forgot!" Riley said, a confused expression on her face. It seemed now that Marcus had assured that he would meet with the person that charmed her that the effect of the magic causing her to be so intense had lessened.

With the magic having less hold on her now, Riley informed Marcus about something that she normally would have considered of the upmost importance.

"Your younger sister, Lady Lilia arrived not but a half hour ago. She was a bit dejected when she heard that you were not here, though I am sure that her mood will improve once she learns of your arrival."

Almost immediately after Riley informed Marcus about Lilia's return, a powerful explosion coming from the main building shook the grounds.

Sensing two powerful forces clashing, Marcus immediately ordered Riley to get to safety and tell everyone else to stay away until things had calmed down.

He then dashed towards the sounds of battle that were growing farther away from the mansion.

Following the trail of carnage, it did not take long for Marcus to catch up to the two individuals that were the cause of the series of explosions that had devastated a large portion of the grounds.

One of the perpetrators was Lilia, fully equipped with her amethros gauntlets and armor.

'Good, she is not hurt.' Marcus thought, relieved to see not a single scratch on Lilia.

However, the same could not be said for her opponent.

Facing Lilia and looking incredibly panicked was a beautiful woman with golden hair that came down to her shoulders. Her skin was impossibly white like freshly fallen snow and her eyes were a deep red.

Yet her usual beauty was marred by several terrible injuries. Blood was pouring out of the stump that used to be her right arm, her left leg was twisted into an unnatural angle, and her stomach was caved in from being hit by a powerful impact.

These wounds be enough to put a normal person on the verge of death, but the woman with golden hair still looked to have plenty of life left in her.

"Disintegrat-"

"Lilia Stop!"

Marcus yelled at Lilia to cease her attack and at the same time jumped in front of her target just in case he needed to defend her.

Seeing this unexpected display, Lilia was too stunned to move and stood completely still for a couple of seconds.

"Irene, what are you doing?! That woman is a vampire that has used her powers to enthrall everyone working on the estate. She even tried to use her Charm Eyes on me! Move aside so that I can finish her off."

"I'm sorry Lilia, but I can't let you kill her. I owe her a great debt. While it pains me to say, she has saved my life on two occasions." Marcus said, attempting to calm Lilia down.

"Yes, be a good little girl and listen to your sister." The golden-haired vampire said with a smirk.

Naturally this only further enraged Lilia, and Marcus swiftly moved right in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders to prevent her from doing anything rash.

Once he was sure that she had calmed down, Marcus turned towards his "guest" and fixed her with a glare.

"I can guess why you are here, but was there really no better way to go about this? If I hadn't arrived when I did, you would have been turned into a pile of ash."

"That was simply a small miscalculation on my part. I did not know that your little siter had become so powerful. For several weeks I skulked about in the shadows waiting for you, but I got tired of that quickly. I figured it would be more efficient and comfortable to wait in your home for you. I promise I did not harm any of the people under your employee." She said, batting her eyes innocently.

"Fine, I will believe you for now, Elite Vampiress, Relia Draayer." Marcus said, using his appraisal skill to check her status and find out her race and name.