I Was a Small Fish When I Reincarnated, but It Seems That I Can Become a Dragon, so I Will Do My Best - Extra Chapter 222
7-42. Side -Sreiz- The Way Forward
The sudden rush of information was overwhelming for Sreiz. He knew that Yuuzen was a child with a special skill, though he hadn’t inquired about the specifics. Given that the child had a skill, it made sense that the parents would possess even more formidable skills.
Sreiz could now understand why his powerful “Shock” spell had no effect earlier. It was likely nullified by some kind of skill. Even though it was a spell strong enough to defeat even Oni, it seemed he was no match for those with skills.
He took a deep breath and looked at Reizen, who continued to smile innocently. Despite his unnerving demeanor, Sreiz figured that if he was a friend of Uchikage, he could be trusted. Yet, Sreiz couldn’t shake his wariness—not because of Reizen’s nature, but because of the shock of having his spell nullified.
“Sigh… So, you two are Yuuzen’s parents, and Uchikage sent you here to assist me?”
“That’s right,” Reizen confirmed.
Sreiz felt a measure of relief upon hearing this from Reizen himself.
“You were supposed to arrive last night, but…”
“Yeah, some things changed. If we’d come straight here, we wouldn’t have had a chance to catch the enemy off guard. We figured it was better to move before they spotted us, so we took a day to act freely.”
“I see… Did you achieve anything?”
As Sreiz listened to Reizen, he found himself silently cursing Uchikage again for sending such a free-spirited helper. What Reizen said made sense, but his casual attitude made Sreiz doubt he could expect much from him. He assumed that, given the circumstances, Reizen would have little valuable information.
However, Sreiz was wrong.
“We infiltrated the church where we suspected the angels were based. Inside, we found rows of bottles containing children’s souls. I took care of the culprit.”
“Wait, what?”
“Hm? Oh, I could have tortured him for information, but I’m not into that. Plus, with how tight the angels are, I figured it was pointless. So, I just offed him.”
“No, no, wait, hold on a second.”
Everything Reizen said was likely true. Sreiz knew there was no reason for him to lie, and if they were Yuuzen’s parents, they would certainly be enemies of the angels.
But what Sreiz couldn’t wrap his head around was that Reizen had actually killed an angel. He possessed the means to fight back against those divine beings, and he spoke of it so casually, with such a light tone, that it left Sreiz baffled.
“You… killed an angel?”
“Yep.”
“So, Uchikage sent someone capable of killing an angel to me…?”
“Well, honestly, someone else could have taken them down. Was it ‘Sreiz-san’? With that ‘Shock’ spell you used earlier, you could probably manage it.”
“That wasn’t a skill; it was magic.”
“Oh, right. People aren’t born with skills anymore, huh?”
“Exactly. But Sreiz-san’s magic might indeed be strong enough to take down an angel. However, I think only your skill could have dealt with that angel, given that it was a spirit.”
“That makes sense!”
“What’s going on here…?”
Sreiz couldn’t help but feel that the conversation was on a completely different level. Even though he was being praised, he couldn’t bring himself to accept it.
“And by the way, Sreiz-san, we just walked in here, but no one stopped us.”
“Well… I did tell them not to disturb me…”
“Pretty obedient, huh? Well, I guess it’s good that we’re not interrupted. Oh, by the way, Sreiz-san, the children in Garott Kingdom were entrusted to the angels, right? How are they now?”
“According to the report this morning, they’ve returned to their parents.”
At this, Reizen’s expression darkened, and Karna also frowned, pressing her fingers to her temples in concern.
“Oh no, what’s going to happen now…?”
“Hard to say…”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, as I mentioned earlier, there were jars with children’s souls in the church. So, whose souls are in the children’s bodies now?”
“S-Souls!? Wait, so what’s inside the children’s bodies now…!?”
“You’re panicking too much. Don’t repeat the same question.”
Sreiz realized he was indeed panicking and slapped his own face lightly to snap out of it. He couldn’t afford to be shocked by everything they said. With skills, the impossible could become possible, so it wasn’t beyond belief that there could be a skill capable of extracting souls.
Yes, with skills, anything was possible. Replacing the souls in the bodies wasn’t unthinkable. Once he adjusted his thinking, he found it easier to understand. It might have been more of a compromise, but it was better than refusing to understand at all.
“…Reizen, was it…? What about the caster?”
“I killed them.”
“Can that skill continue functioning even after the caster’s death?”
“That’s what I’m unsure about. But there haven’t been any issues so far…”
“No, that’s not right.”
Sreiz’s intuition kicked in. Now that he had processed and organized everything, he voiced his concern.
A skill powerful enough to manipulate other people’s souls wouldn’t be that convenient. It was likely something that required the caster’s active maintenance. For now, the magic residue might be keeping it in place, but soon, the souls might either be released from the bodies or vanish entirely.
If it’s the latter…
“Reizen! Karna! Take me to that church immediately!”
At that moment, Sreiz saw a g
limmer of hope in an otherwise dire situation.