I glanced at the notification again.
+1 Dark Magic Tome (Necromancy School of Magic)
For a moment, I considered manifesting it.
Pulling it out and flipping through its pages. This was a magic tome after all. I had no doubts I would learn something useful.
My fingers twitched slightly at the thought.
Then I stopped.
…No.
That was a bad idea.
If Him was still watching—
And he probably was—
Then pulling out something like that, something interesting, might catch his attention.
And if that devil took a liking to the tome…
I wouldn't know what to do.
That thing didn't just watch.
It picked favorites.
And I had no intention of becoming tonight's entertainment.
I exhaled slowly, forcing the urge down.
That devil was probably still lounging in his pocket dimension, watching this whole mess through his little TV—grinning as his kaiju went rampant.
All it would take was him picking up a remote and switching the channel back to me—while I was looking through whatever undead rituals and spells the book had.
If I was lucky, nothing would happen.
If I was unlucky…
And Him found something in the tome interesting, he might turn tomorrow or next week's "special" into some kind of zombie movie…
My eyes narrowed slightly.
…Then someone like Paradox might start paying attention.
And if he did?
He wouldn't just watch.
He'd interfere.
And if he dedicated even a fraction of his attention to stopping me—
That would be a problem.
A big one.
I turned toward the staff still frozen in place.
"You," I said, pointing at one of the nurses. "Move Sandra to another room. Somewhere quiet."
She flinched slightly before nodding.
"A-And the… the blood?"
"Clean it," I replied flatly. "I don't want this place drawing attention."
They moved quickly after that.
Fear was a great motivator.
My gaze shifted to the male doctors.
"You," I said, stepping closer. "Give me your coat."
The man hesitated for half a second—then quickly shrugged it off and handed it over.
Good choice.
I slipped it onto Carl's body, covering the blood-stained clothes beneath.
Not perfect.
But passable.
Behind me, The Deep's form began to shift—melting, shrinking—
Hair lengthening and slightly lightening.
Skin tightened. Frame adjusted.
In seconds, he was gone.
Ben stood in his place again.
Through Ben's eyes, I looked over the aftermath of what I'd done, my gaze drifting across the room before landing back on the magic carpet.
"Come here."
I called for it, and it flew over cautiously.
"I need you to roll in on yourself so I can carry you out the front door. Then we can figure out what to do with you—"
Before I finished my sentence, it floated away toward the window and tapped against the glass.
I blinked.
"What? You don't want to come with me? You want to fly out and do your own thing?"
It nodded with its whole body.
I tilted my head slightly.
"What? I thought we were going to be a fun duo from now on. The genie and his carpet."
The carpet froze.
Then one of its tassels pointed toward the bloody stain on the floor.
Then toward Sandra.
I stared at it for a moment before smiling, nearly chuckling.
"You're worried if you stay with me, you'll end up like Sandra or Carl?"
The carpet didn't answer.
But I could feel its intent clearly enough.
"Fine. You can leave. But…"
I paused before walking toward the nurse.
She froze completely as I slipped my hand into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
For a second, panic flashed across her face.
Then she remembered what I was capable of.
Carl's body—my body now—walked over and handed me the phone it had taken earlier.
I opened both devices and walked back over to the carpet.
I entered Carl's number into the nurse's phone.
"If you're going to leave, at least take one of these."
The carpet looked down at the phone, then back at me.
"I might not look it, but I could technically be considered your father. And because of that, I want you to have something to contact me with if you're in trouble."
It stared at me silently.
"Take it."
I smiled softly as I placed the phone onto its back.
The carpet seemed uncertain what to think of me after that.
I walked over and opened the window.
For a few seconds, it hovered there motionless.
Then it steadied itself and flew out into the night.
After that, my smile faded.
Hopefully, my little father-daughter speech got through to it.
And if not…
Well, the phone would make tracking it easy once the world inevitably started treating it like some rare magical trophy.
I turned away from the window and walked out of the room, leaving Carl's body behind to supervise the cleanup as the nurses moved Sandra elsewhere.
Ben's hands slid into his pockets as he walked through the quiet hospital halls.
Then I pulled out my phone and called Morbucks.
She answered almost instantly.
"Well? Did everything go smoothly?"
"I need you to delete any footage of a flying carpet leaving the hospital."
"Ooooh?" she hummed. "You letting your new pet go already?"
"Just do it."
"Already done."
I smirked slightly.
"You're the best."
"I know."
The hospital doors slid open as I stepped into the parking lot.
"So you're leaving already?" she asked.
"Yeah. Sandra's unconscious for now, and Carl's dealt with. There's nobody left here I need to impress as Ben."
"Except your girlfriend," Morbucks replied casually.
I paused halfway through opening the car door.
"…What?"
"She might get curious when she opens your page and sees it's basically just pictures of me and you."
I slowly looked down at the phone.
"You did what now?"
Morbucks giggled.
"You said if I wanted your attention, I should be as chaotic as possible. So this is my first attempt."
I got into the driver's seat.
"So how did I do?" she continued smugly. "And how exactly do you plan to explain years worth of a relationship to your side piece once I tag her in my latest post?"
I started the car.
Then laughed.
"What post?"
"Wouldn't you like to know~"
There was a grin in her voice now.
"Well, I haven't posted it yet. But it's pretty damaging."
"Now you've got me interested."
"Oh, it's simple," she said sweetly. "After four years of dating, I discovered you've been cheating on me with five different women. And I've documented all of them."
I barked out another laugh.
"Seriously?"
"Mhm. Including Buttercup."
That made me pause briefly as I pulled out of the parking lot.
"This way," she continued proudly, "I ruin your reputation with other girls and keep you all to myself."
I scratched the side of my head.
"…That's actually pretty damaging."
"I know."
"I'd probably have to switch to another face entirely if I wanted to get with Buttercup after that."
"Then I'll frame your next persona too," Morbucks replied immediately. "I'll make it look like every guy she likes eventually cheats on her."
I snorted.
"The more I get to know you, the harder it gets to imagine you tried passing yourself off as a hero when we first met."
"I am a hero," she replied defensively. "That doesn't mean I have to act like one off the clock."
I laughed quietly at that.
"Delete the edits on my socials."
"Aww."
"I mean it. I want to be the one to make our relationship public."
There was a brief silence.
Then—
"…How long?"
"Give me a month."
"And if you don't?"
"Then you can release the cheating documents."
Morbucks hummed thoughtfully.
"…Okay. That's fun enough that I'll allow it."
I smiled faintly as the city lights passed overhead.
"But now you owe me five wishes."