“We thank you for making preparations for this meeting despite the short warning, Periveil-dono,” said a man as he politely bowed his head.

This man was not a messenger from the resistance, but the leader of the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army, Raymond Paris, who had come here with a company of messengers.

He had a well-featured face that seemed natural for a man who was the illegitimate son of Duke Sauron who had fallen in battle, and most importantly, there was an air of elegance about him.

On previous occasions, there had been no small number of young Scylla who had blushed upon seeing him, having been captivated.

“It’s no great matter; it’s a time of rest for farmers as we have finished harvesting our rice, and a season where we don’t do any hunting. There is still some time before the festival of Vida and Merrebeveil. Everyone is surprisingly unoccupied. However, the fact that the leader is here means that this is no trivial matter,” said Periveil. She had sensed that this young human was no ordinary person.

Raymond possessed a captivating charisma, the special dignity of one who stood above others that made Periveil and the other Scylla want to agree with everything he said, though it wasn’t as strong as Vandalieu’s.

Raymond might be able to accomplish something. He possessed something that made others believe that.

“Indeed, I don’t mean to frighten you, but let us quickly get to the matter at hand… but before that, just who are they?” Raymond asked with a confused expression.

He was looking at Pauvina, who was sitting next to Privel, and Vandalieu, who was sitting in front of Pauvina.

The people present here were the most prominent Scylla in the village, including Periveil, their husbands, Raymond and two other members of the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army.

And then there was Privel, Pauvina and Vandalieu. Naturally, the three of them were out of place… or rather, Pauvina stood out tremendously.

Despite that, the Scylla were focused not on Pauvina, but on Vandalieu, who, in Raymond’s eyes, appeared to be an exquisite doll of undeterminable gender.

Raymond felt a curious atmosphere about them and a strange sense of discomfort, but Periveil gestured to them with her hand as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

“Come to think of it, this is the first time you’ve met,” said Periveil. “This child is Privel. She’s my youngest daughter.”

“My name is Privel. Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Raymond said as his gaze shifted upwards from Vandalieu to Privel. “And what about the one next to her, this –” He faltered as he wondered how he should refer to the enormous Pauvina.

Considering her size, even if she was a Titan, she should have been an adult. But considering her face and the size proportions of her head and body, she appeared to be a girl of around ten years of age.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Pauvina. I am Van’s younger sister.”

“My name is Vandalieu. I am Pauvina’s older brother.”

“I-I see. Nice to meet you.”

Raymond was unsettled from how disproportionately young Pauvina’s voice sounded for her size, and the fact that Vandalieu, whom he had overlooked for the previously-mentioned reasons, had spoken at all.

However, even after the pleasantries had been exchanged, the mystery as to what children were doing here had not been solved.

“Vandalieu-kun here is still small, but he is a Spiritualist, you see, and he’s helping us investigate the murder cases,” said Periveil, giving an explanation that cleared this mystery completely.

“That is… amazing,” said Raymond. “These incidents are weighing on my mind as well, but having the assistance of a Spiritualist is reassuring. And for you to possess a Job as rare as the Spiritualist Job at such an age, you must be quite the genius. I am quite envious.”

The Spiritualist Job was said to require talent from birth in order to acquire, and it was very powerful for use in solving murder cases. There was nothing unnatural about someone with such a Job being present here, even if he was a child.

But Raymond continued to say, “However, there are very, very few who have the ability to acquire the Spiritualist Job. I do not think that you would lie, but I cannot believe you right away.”

“I think that is reasonable,” said Vandalieu.

He had only ever met a real Spiritualist. But he did indeed imagine that there were nefarious imposters who swindled people by lying that they were Spiritualists who could see spirits.

And given Vandalieu’s appearance, even with Periveil’s introduction, Raymond couldn’t be blamed for not being able to believe that he was a Spiritualist right away.

“Now then, I will show you proof that I am a Spiritualist,” said Vandalieu.

“Will you be showing us your Guild Card?” Raymond asked. “I do not think that there would be any branches that would issue them in this territory –”

“No, more concrete proof than that,” Vandalieu replied. “Visualization.”

And then, in front of Vandalieu… or rather, by his side, Orbia’s spirit appeared.

“A Ghost?!”

“Leader, please step back!”

Raymond’s subordinates leapt to their feet at the sight of Orbia’s now-visible spirit, but Raymond held up a hand.

“Calm yourselves,” he said, and then he turned to Orbia. “Are you a spirit of one of the victims?”

“It’s my first time speaking like this,” said Orbia. “Leader-san. I’m Orbia, and I was killed eleven days ago today.”

“Nice to meet you… it is rather strange to say that, I suppose,” said Raymond. “To think that the Spiritualist Job can show spirits to others using a skill… no, is it a spell? In any case, I am surprised that such a method exists.”

“I was surprised, too,” said Orbia. “So… has there been anything out of the ordinary lately? Like someone from the resistance being attacked or contact being cut off from them…”

“… No, I haven’t really heard any reports of that sort. Does this have something to do with the incidents?” Raymond asked.

“Yeah, but if there hasn’t been anything, then it’s fine.”

Orbia seemed relieved, but Raymond had suddenly turned pale. He remained calm on the surface, but Orbia’s question had clearly unsettled him.

“Orbia-san doesn’t remember anything about when she died other than the fact that the present she received from her lover was missing, so she doesn’t know what the criminal looks like,” said Privel. “That’s why we’ve decided that Van-kun should come with us to the other villages to find the spirits of the other victims.”

“That’s why this case will be solved soon,” Periveil added. “I’m sorry to have caused concern for you people who have come from outside.”

“That is reassuring to hear. As fellow believers of Vida, I wish for this case to be solved as quickly as possible,” said Raymond. “Now then, our business is –”

As the leader of the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army, he began persuading Periveil and the other Scylla to refuse the peace plan offered by the Empire’s army.

The Amid Empire, with Alda being its national god, would definitely not leave the Scylla race alone; it would certainly betray the Scylla one day. The Scylla should form an alliance with the resistance while they still had the chance, join up with the Orbaume Kingdom and fight the Empire’s army together. Raymond was capable of doing this.

Raymond’s argument had some persuasiveness to it. This was not only due to his charisma, but because of his confidence in knowing that he was actually in contact with people in the Orbaume Kingdom who were helping him.

There were a few holes in his speech, but this was likely because he had intended to blame the Empire for the Scylla serial-killing case.

“I understand what you want to say. But these are things that involve everyone in our territory. I’m sorry, but this isn’t something that I can decide on my own,” said Periveil, avoiding giving an immediate reply.

“Of course. But I have heard that the chiefs of all of the villages will be gathering for the winter birth festival. If you could discuss our proposal at that time, it would be more than enough,” said Raymond before withdrawing on this matter.

It was likely that he planned to visit the other villages to persuade the other chiefs in the same way before the winter birth festival came.

It’s similar to an election campaign,

Vandalieu thought.

“Now then, excuse me. I thank you for making time for us today.” Raymond left the room courteously, politely declining Periveil’s offer of a meal.

The Ghosts stationed outside watched Raymond and his men leave the village.

Meanwhile, Vandalieu and the others gathered in the center of the room and began discussing things.

“Aren’t Raymond and his men innocent after all?” Periveil.

“Yeah, I tried to lead him into saying that the present was a ring, but he didn’t fall for it,” said Privel. “I suppose he really doesn’t know?”

“But Raymond-san was definitely unsettled!” said Princess Levia.

“He was? You’re quite perceptive, aren’t you, Princess Levia?” Vandalieu remarked.

“Van, you have to look at people’s faces properly,” said Pauvina.

“He was definitely unsettled, but I’m sure that’s because of me,” said Orbia. “I mean, I’m a spirit, so I’m sure he was scared. Yes, that must be it.”

“That’s definitely not it,” everyone said in unison.

“You didn’t have to all say it together!” Orbia said indignantly.

It was possible that the criminal was a member of the resistance. Vandalieu had already mentioned this to Privel, Orbia and the others.

The Scylla had known Raymond and the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army for over a year. Normally, they wouldn’t believe that the criminal would be among them right away, but…

“I had a dream with a Divine Message from Merrebeveil last night. It was surprising, but it seems that we should believe Vandalieu-kun?” Periveil had said.

“Me too! I got some kind of protection like you, Mother, and apparently I should stick to Van-kun in return!”

“Me too, me too! I got a divine protection and I seem to have been told to not return to the circle of transmigration. Even spirits can receive divine protections, huh?”

“Thank you, Merrebeveil,” Vandalieu murmured.

It seemed that Merrebeveil had made immediate efforts. Now that she didn’t need to suppress the Demon King’s fragments, she had been able to use some of her powers.

As a result of Vandalieu acquiring the Tentacle King Title, the other Scylla could also feel an impressive presence and charisma (though they had already felt these to some extent before because of the ‘Holy Son of Vida’ Title and the Insect User Job), so they had become unable to completely deny his words.

But it wasn’t as if they had been brainwashed, nor had their previous memories disappeared. Seeing the way Raymond carried himself and hearing his words directly made it seem impossible to believe that he was involved in such a fiendish murder case.

In fact, Raymond hadn’t let anything slip with the trap that Privel had set in her words.

It was typical for the criminal to accidentally let something slip in mystery works.

“But he knows something about the incidents,” said Vandalieu.

“Have you noticed something, Your Majesty?!” Princess Levia said in shock.

“Van, are you feeling alright?!” asked Pauvina.

“… You don’t have to be so surprised,” said Vandalieu. “First, Raymond didn’t mention a single word about the incidents during his speech. It’s a significant case, so if he believed that the criminal wasn’t among his men, it would have been fine to mention it, even if we have already come up with ways to solve it. Also, I felt his intent to kill me.”

Danger Sense: Death, which detected any risk of dying, was constantly active. Even while Vandalieu was listening to a hollow-sounding speech.

Life is full of the unexpected,

thought the ‘Liberating Princess Knight’ Iris Bearheart, the leader of the Sauron Liberation Front.

“Get back, you bastards! Or you will never have this body!” she shouted.

It was unexpected enough that someone who was merely the eldest daughter of a humble family of knights would be known by an outrageous Title like ‘Princess Knight,’ but she would never have expected that she would end up making a threat like this.

“Damn you, making such a foolish threat!”

“Don’t provoke her, you idiot! What’ll you do if something really happens to her body?!”

“Please calm down, Princess Knight-san. Let’s talk; at this rate, you won’t be able to save any of your subordinates, either.”

Iris was holding a teaspoon-sized knife to her own throat. She was surrounded by over a dozen retreating, flustered people dressed entirely in black. Iris’s companions were lying at their feet, covered in blood. There were two unmoving ones that had been burnt completely black, with white smoke rising from them.

Yesterday, Iris and her men had prevented an illegal slave trader from exporting his illegal slaves out of the country, and sheltered the enslaved people at their base to allow them to rest.

And then they had been attacked by these people who were covered in black clothing. These people had broken through the guards with force, and several of them had flown in from the sky.

At first, everyone thought that these were the companions of the slave trader that had been killed yesterday, or assassins sent by a criminal organization that the merchant had been doing business with.

But they had ignored the former slaves that Iris had immediately helped escape, and even after defeating Debis, the one who had personally killed the slave merchant, they showed no signs of wanting to finish him off.

And although they possessed the skill to defeat Iris’s companions one after another, their movements strangely became worse as they faced Iris.

Debis had then seen an opportunity and slashed at one of black figures, who began screaming as he was burned by the sunlight streaming in through the wooden door that they had broken. And then Iris had intuitively realized: These were Vampires, and they were after her body.

“Let’s see, at this rate, you people will be taking a few charred remains back to your master, incurring his wrath, and then he will purge the lot of you, I suppose? Do you know what effect this Chastity Protector has?” Iris asked them.

The blade that was barely large enough to even be called a dagger, the one Iris was pressing against her own neck, was a Magic Item known as a Chastity Protector.

It was a Magic Item specially made for committing suicide, designed for women of noble social status. It activated when its owner thrust it willingly into her own neck or chest, turning them into a living torch and then into a pile of charred remains within a matter of seconds.

It was a Magic Item that was thoroughly specialized for suicide, preventing the owner from being violated by enemies, whether the owner was alive or dead.

These days, they were mostly uncommon antiques, but this was something that had been passed on in Iris’s family from her great grandmother’s generation.

“Don’t be so full of yourself,” said one of the Vampires. “If anything, we could sever your head with a single blow, gather your blood in a jar and then deliver that to our master.”

“Hoh, so your master wouldn’t mind if he only received blood to add to his collection?” Iris asked.

“You… how do you know about Gubamon-sama?”

“Though we call ourselves the resistance, we’re nothing more than a criminal organization to the current government. Thanks to that, I’ve had more opportunities to listen to stories told by our bad allies.”

Vampires were those who haunted the darkness in the absolute depths of the underworld, but it was impossible for them to continue hiding their existence perfectly.

Rumors of the Pure-breed Vampires who worshipped the infamous Hihiryushukaka, the Evil God of Joyful Life, were particularly well-known among those who kept up with matters in the underworld.

“What will you do, filthy Vampires?” Iris asked. “I am completely serious; I would much rather end my own life than be turned into an Undead. Even Alda, who forbids suicide, would forgive this foolish former believer of his.”

Realizing that Iris was serious, the lips of the Vampires twisted in frustration beneath the black masks they were wearing to protect themselves from the sunlight.

Gubamon, who had become mad with paranoia, had ordered his subordinates to carry out difficult tasks in order to turn as many of them into Undead as possible without allowing them to escape.

These difficult tasks were to capture well-known adventurers, knights, clergymen, royals and noblemen whose whereabouts were known.

Gubamon, who was a user of space-attribute magic, had gathered his subordinates, named