The idols sang 4 songs and refreshed the crowd a bit before they returned to the VIP room. I made sure to be standing at my spot when they returned.

  Giana made a cute dance. “So, what did you think!?”

  There is nothing to think, you three are objectively the best idols on the continent.

  “Ohh thanks! So, what other observations have you made in the meantime, super guard?” I seemed to have gained the interest of Noelle somehow.

  “Noelle stop troubling him; he is trying to do his job.” Giana patted on the seat next to her, signaling for Noelle to come sit down next to her. I had to stay silent because any form of deception might get picked up by Giana.

  I noticed that someone was at the door. I slid open the small window in the door and saw a horde of crazy fans. The window got shut and I ignored the fans.

  Glowing eyes gazed at me. “Who is it?” As if she couldn’t see them…

  Just some fans.

  Giana’s eyes changed color. “I suppose you aren’t allowed to let them in?”

  I’m not, sorry.

  I wondered what went through this chick's head, letting these crazy fans in? But that’s why she’s the most popular idol in Kaledon, and I’m not.

  “Don’t let them in Giana! Who knows what kind of weirdos are between them!” At least Noelle knows what’s up. Who knows, maybe there are stalkers, creeps or assassins between them. Can’t risk it.

  “But they’re our fans!” Giana and Noelle kept bickering.

  Yvonne beckoned me. I walked over to her, confused and curious. “A...are you alright? I can’t hear your heartbeat.”

  If I could turn pale, I would have. I forgot to give my vessels a heart. The vessels can function without one fine, but shit like this happens because I didn’t. Giana and Noelle heard this too and stopped bickering.

  You see. I’m quite heartless.

  Not a lie.

  “Oh, he has no heart indeed. I thought you were a human.” I guess I could still fool Giana somehow. I just hope that she doesn’t find a filter that exposes me.

  Noelle leaned over her chair. “I’m very curious now! What race are you?!”

  And now I’m screwed.

  My race is quite rare. But this isn’t important. Let’s watch the match!

  I was trying to hide my embarrassment from forgetting to add a heart to the vessels and the fact that I might be screwed in several minutes.

  “So how does that work? No heart?”

  It’s quite embarrassing, I prefer not to talk about it.

  “Let’s watch the tournament, Noelle, he seems quite embarrassed.” I thanked Giana in my inner voice.

  “He...he also doesn’t breathe.”

  And I cursed Yvonne in my inner voice. So, I realized I forgot the heart, lungs, brains and more. These aren’t needed for a vessel, but again, I’m getting screwed over because I forgot.

  That is… even more embarrassing…

  I crawled into a corner and made myself small.

  Why am I so shit?

  “Come on Yv, Noelle let’s not pry into his life.” I thanked Giana in my inner voice again. What an angel.

  “Oh, Giana look there is trouble in the VIP room of the Vice President!” I wanted to watch, but I couldn’t see anything from here. “It looks like one of their guards suddenly disappeared.”

  I confirmed that my ‘Walter Junkshooter’ clone had just disappeared. What is going on? I felt a familiar dizzy spell which was similar to the feeling of my spirit tether snapping. I thought that was solved after the spirit king incident. I then remembered that I didn’t take precautions so that my vessel wouldn’t kick my spirit out. More embarrassment washed over me and the dizziness subsided.

  “A...are you alright?”

  “Oh, Yv tell us! What else is he missing?” Noelle said as she got up. The idols approached me, quite intimidating, 3 tailed beasts ganging up on a spirit, crouching in a corner.

  “He…he seems unwell.”

  Giana got closer. “Let me see, I’m a healer.”

  More bad news I don’t have an organic body. I was so happy when I finished creating the vessel, how ignorant I was. It’s not complete at all! I forgot so many things! I only get bonus points as those things don’t have a function, but their absence screwed me over. Why am I so shit…

  I’m fine! No need to worry about me. Just a dizzy spell. Nothing I’m not used to.

  “Unacceptable! Let me heal you oh…” Her eyes changed color.

  This is bad news.

  “He doesn’t need healing. Let’s watch the tournament.” She turned around and sat down.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Noelle protested a bit but sat down. Giana had her back toward me, but I could feel she was still looking at me. I think she knows. Why am I so bad at this?

  “Giana, what is that smile you have on your face?”

  “Oh nothing.”

  The day went past. Today’s schedule would end in 3 hours. A man in a guard uniform entered after a knock on the door. “Changing of the guards. Good job Gerard.”

  I was free. I nodded and left the room. I was unsure if Giana was still looking at me, which means that I might have to stay in this disguise for a bit longer.

  That was rough, let’s hope that I don’t have to do that again. I took a deep breath and instantly got kidnapped by 2 assassin cultists, dragged to an underground cultist room and got interrogated.

  “And did you succeed?”

  Uhh no but it’s better if you stay away, I think I’m being watched

  “Nonsense! We’ve been monitoring the area; nobody is watching you. Come, we have another meeting, things aren’t going as we want to.”

  I got dragged to the cultist room with the candles. The dwarf was here again. It didn’t seem as if most of the cultists here had done anything…

  “I see you have performed your guard duties well. Unfortunately, we have only reached 20% of our target mana. We need ideas that can be executed in one day!”

  How about we just give up?

  Everyone looked at me as if I just insulted their mothers and started throwing out ideas.

  “Any good ideas?”

  “How about we kidnap the losers and drain mana from them directly!”

  “Oh, I like that idea!”

  That’s a terrible idea!

  Again, these looks. I might not be liked in this place.

  “When we’re at it, Barry can kidnap the idols and drain their mana.”

  Oh yes someone else can do that. Good luck Barry! Wait by Barry, you mean me, right?

  They nodded.

  That's a terrible idea!

  The dwarf smiled. “Thank you for volunteering! Dismissed! Also, make sure he doesn’t run!”

  I wanted to run but I got dizzy again.

  This gets old quite fast. I also had to forcefully close a dimensional opening. It seems my body is, somehow, opening the dimensional pocket, it probably wants its spirit back. I sometimes forget that I’m a mythical beast. Strange effects like this can happen.

  I don’t have long in this spirit vessel. It was quite late after they finished briefing me in on the details. I had tuned out because I’m not going to execute their plan. Screw that!

  The next day came and started with a long dizzy spell. I had been assigned as the idol's guard, again. I had heard that Tania was acting a bit strange after her bodyguard disappeared. I… I’m so screwed, aren’t I?

  Hey Nilah will I be fine?

  I directed my gaze at my sword but my sword, Nilah was gone.

  Uh oh.

  So, Nilah is gone, this might explain why their plan is failing, but I need to look for her. I don’t have any time for that, though. I entered the VIP room and was immediately surrounded and got wall slammed by Noelle. “Fess up! We know!”

  Know what?

  “Trying to feign ignorance, eh?”

  I am sorry I don’t know what you’re talking about.

  “You’re one of them, eh? Those spirit stalkers that are after Giana!”

  Eh what?

  Giana butted in. “No Noelle! As I said he is a cultist not a spirit stalker!”

  “Same thing! Now tell me what did you want to do to Giana?” Noelle was very intimidating, and her 6 other tails appeared.

  I... I wanted to thank her for being an amazing songstress!

  “Huh, he’s not lying.”

  Noelle stomped. The room shook. “That doesn’t work on me! You must have a different objective, having no heart means you have no pulse, no lungs so you can’t breathe, you’re trying to get around Giana’s deception detection aren’t you!?”

  Uhm, no? And why would I want to do that?

  Noelle stomped again. “That’s why I’m asking you!”

  It seems they don’t know. They do know something else though.

  Ok I apologize, is there anything I can do to make it up to you?

  “Let me punch you.”

  Ehm, how about something else?

  “Absolut…” at that moment something malfunctioned on the battlefield and caused an explosion and a blue fox was seen in the midst of the chaos.

  Giana smiled. “I knew he was here! Noelle! Leave him be, we need to find Agnis!” She grabbed Noelle’s arm and pulled her along. The idols disappeared in the corridor and left me alone. What had just happened?

  I looked at the chaos. Nilah was stealing everyone’s mana. She was also throwing cultists around with her tails. This greedy fox but… this means something big is coming. Nilah always gets greedy with mana whenever I am about to get myself into big trouble. Divine activity, I assume. She is probably getting ready for a full powered [Kryokym].

  The coast was clear. I took my body out of my dimensional pocket and my spirit instantly returned to where it belonged and teleported to a high spot where nobody could see me. Giana hasn’t noticed me, and I was holding an ice cube and ready to swap Nilah with it as she was almost saturated with mana.

  Her fur glistened, and I swapped her with an ice cube and petted her.

  Good girl. Now let’s get out of here.

  I tugged on the [Dimensional Anchor] and returned to my house in Girai. I had left a mess behind, but most of it wasn’t my fault. It seemed Nilah had single-handedly thwarted the cultists plans and also thrown them into the light. I on the other hand did fuck all. Nilah was the hero of this incident.