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　　"Good, you are all here on time. Now, then, I shall get straight to the point," Remarked Cusana, as she cleared her throat and added, "There has been an incident in one of the villages to the south of our nation. Three people were murdered last night, and according to what the villagers reported, the suspect seems to be an eight year old Reincarnator."

  　　Huh? Eight years old? Seriously? 

  　　Today's the 11th of June, 1697, and I'd been called in to the throne room, along with Lily Curran and Druj, the Demon occupying the former king of Goldway's body. 

  　　"Are we supposed to go eliminate this kid?" I spoke up in response. 

  　　"Ideally, we would prefer that he be captured for interrogation, but if that proves to be too difficult, then yes, you may eliminate him," She replied with a nod. 

  　　"Do we know what kind of powers he has?" Chimed in Druj. 

  　　"Yes, we do. He had the Extra Magic, Devour. The same ability that the serial killer five years ago had. All three victims had their hearts torn out, so it is safe to assume that he consumed them. I have compiled a list of the abilities that he likely gained from them, along with the abilities he already possessed," She explained in response. 

  　　"You sure that he's the culprit?" Inquired Lily curiously. 

  　　"The probability is quite high. Two of the victims were also Reincarnators, one of whom also possessed the Devour ability. But a corpse does not quite qualify as a suspect."

  　　"Huh, actually……looking at the list of abilities, it's not impossible. Look here, the Support Magic transform……it only lasts a short while on people, but the effects are permanent on inanimate objects, and corpses probably count as such. Therefore……isn't it possible that the other Reincarnator is the culprit and then used transform to change one of the corpses to look like him?" Suggested Agatha, as she skimmed through the list with a worried frown. 

  　　"I did consider that, but the villagers are convinced that could not be the case. The person in question never showed any signs of being capable of doing such a thing, he was said to be an extremely timid and mild-mannered person. Our delegates who have been to that village corroborated those claims. 

  　　Furthermore, the other two victims were his girlfriend and her father, both of whom he had very good relationships with. Furthermore, back when we began locating Reincarnators, Shiro was the one who interrogated the Reincarnators of that village, and stated that this person was someone who is likely incapable of violence."

  　　"What about the current suspect, what's the villagers opinion of him?" I asked her. 

  　　"Quite negative. He was openly and constantly hostile to the villagers, and apparently threatened one of the victims shortly before they were killed. Our delegates also found him to be unpleasant, Shiro did not like him either. He may be physically young, but that is only on the outside……do not hesitate because of the way he looks," Cusana stated in response. 

  　　"If I may, why not send Shiro? He'll be easily capable of getting this done," Pointed out Lily. 

  　　"More and more Reincarnators have been appearing at an increasingly frequent rate, and there are bound to be some problematic ones among them. We cannot solely rely on Shiro every single time. Therefore, the three of you will deal with this matter instead."

  　　"I don't know, this one seems really dangerous……invisibility, intangibility, defense, and the Extra Magic, Nullification. Put together, those are make for an extremely high level defensive capability," Frowned Agatha with a look of concern. 

  　　"Yeah, I don't want to die, so maybe we should send Shiro, after all……," I spoke up sheepishly. 

  　　"No, there is no need. But I understand your concerns, take teleportation Spell Cards with you in order to retreat if it is too much for you to handle. I am aware that this may be risky, but we cannot afford to be placing the burden of dealing with these new Reincarnators onto one person's shoulders," Remarked Cusana firmly, "Are there any objections?" 

  　　Looks like she's already made up her mind. 

  　　"None here," Responded Druj. 

  　　"Me neither," Sighed Lily……she's only saying that because she's stopped caring about living ages ago. 

  　　"Fine, whatever," I relented reluctantly. 

  　　Well, I might be overthinking things. Just because this kid has several abilities doesn't mean that he can properly use all of them, especially the ones he just gained. 

  　　Invisibility and intangibility are pretty scary and perfect for sneaking up on people, but neither technique eliminates the sound of the user's footsteps. So, as long as we keep our guards up, we should be just fine……right?

  　　———————————————————————————
　　Point-of-View: Damien Romer

  　　———————————————————————————
　　Still nothing, huh……it's been several hours already since last night, it was currently 6 PM the next day. Is no one coming to apprehend me? 

  　　I've been using my Support Magic sensory technique, which covers a one kilometer radius. It detects all people within that range, along with their power levels relative to my own, meaning that I can tell if someone significantly stronger than me shows up. 

  　　But so far, I haven't sensed anyone new at all. I'm currently hiding out in the woods where Scipe used to hide out in, and when I sense someone coming, I'll use transform to assume his appearance. He was a bit tall for his age, so my clothes won't be too loose when I transform. 

  　　"Man, this is boring," I sighed impatiently, drawing in the dirt using a stick absent-mindedly. 

  　　Maybe I should go out into the open and provoke a reaction? No, that's stupid, and unnecessarily risky. There's no way the nations are going to ignore what happened last night, and I sensed some frantic movement in the village this morning, so they definitely found the bodies. 

  　　And since Scipe is the prime suspect, they wouldn't have hesitated to report it to one of the nations. Most likely, The Democratic Republic of Rustlands. If Shiro Blanc shows up, I'll have to retreat right away, I'm a long, long way off from being able to fight that guy. 

  　　I've only met him once, and I could tell that he was extremely sharp and intuitive. I think I managed to fool him with my act, but it felt like even the tiniest slip up would've been enough for him to see through my facade. 

  　　I can probably handle anyone else from that nation though. They really don't have anyone even close to as powerful as he is, at least as far as I know. 

  　　And……hm? Three people suddenly popped up within the range of my sensory field……two of them feel like they're relatively weak in comparison to me, at least in terms of power level. 

  　　And the third one……feels slightly stronger than me, though not by a big amount. They're roaming the village, it feels like……and they keep halting every so often. I see, they must be interrogating the villagers to get a better idea of the situation. 

  　　I don't think any of the villagers know that Scipe used to come here to be alone whenever he got into arguments with them……but it doesn't matter, all that these Adventurers need to do, is make use of the detection barrier around the village, and they'll be able to find me in no time. 

  　　And sure enough, it wasn't long before I sensed them heading this way, moving slowly and cautiously as they entered the woods. 

  　　That's right, keep heading right this way, your target is right here. As they got within about two hundred meters of me, I used transform to change my appearance to Scipe's……crap, my clothes are a bit looser than I'd been hoping they'd be. 

  　　I tied a vine around my waist as a makeshift belt, before rolling up my trouser legs. There, that should be good enough. Now, to wait for them to arrive. 

  　　It's a good thing that I instinctively knew how to use my new Support Magics the moment I acquired them, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to use transform on Scipe's corpse. 

  　　Same with the Extra Magic too, I immediately knew how to use my new Nullification ability. The Elemental Magic types, on the other hand, are a lot trickier. Looks like I'll have to really work on them in order to master them, huh. 

  　　Well, whatever, I'm pretty good with Lightning and Water Magic, I'll make do with those. Oh, and when I said that one of the Adventurers I'm sensing feels slightly stronger than me, I meant that in my base form. After unleashing my True Anima, I'll be stronger than them by a fair amount. 

  　　Still, they are fairly powerful, that's for sure……should prove to be a pretty solid boost to my power level…… 

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  　　Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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