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 227
7-47. Side-Sreiz – Soul Fixation
Sreiz’ communication seems to have reached the citizens faster than expected. Families with children living near the castle came running in a panic. Reizen calmed them down, took custody of the children, and immediately began searching for their souls.
He knew how to distinguish them. He brought the children close to the jars filled with souls that were loaded onto a cart. Though he wasn’t sure how close they needed to be, a reaction occurred almost immediately when he brought them near enough.
One of the souls suddenly began moving frantically as if startled. Reizen glanced at the spirit, who nodded in confirmation.
“Alright, here we go!”
He grabbed the jar containing the violently moving soul and brought it close to the child.
<<Wait!>>
“Huh?”
<<When you remove the lid, do it from underneath the child. The soul will rise upwards.>>
“Oh, I see! Ma’am! Could you please hold your child up?”
Unable to manage on his own, Reizen quickly asked for help. The mother, concerned for her child, immediately followed his instructions and lifted her child.
Since time was of the essence, Reizen quickly slid the jar under the child and removed the lid.
The soul shot out energetically and entered the child’s body. He worried for a moment that it might pass right through, but nothing of the sort happened.
“…”
Was this really okay? Did he accidentally put the wrong soul in? He anxiously waited for ten seconds.
The child’s eyes slowly opened.
“…Mmm?”
“Sigh…!!”
“Mama?”
The child seemed confused, unable to grasp the situation, and was bewildered by the sight of their mother crying. However, they realized that being held tightly and seeing their mother in tears meant they had caused her great worry. Despite their confusion, the child apologized repeatedly, trying to reassure their mother, even at such a young age.
Seeing this, Reizen was greatly relieved. Without the help of the spirits, this wouldn’t have succeeded. If Karna hadn’t figured out how to identify the souls, they might not have been able to take action. If Sreiz hadn’t used the communication crystals installed throughout the country, they might not have made it in time.
“Darling! More are coming!”
“Leave it to me!”
As Karna said, more parents with their children began arriving. Each child was limp, their souls completely gone.
Under normal circumstances, he would want to hear the details, but right now, he had to focus on returning the souls. He dealt with the children one by one as they arrived, each having lost their soul. If he did it all at once, the souls would become agitated, making it impossible to tell whose soul belonged to whom.
With the soldiers’ help, he coordinated the process. The soul fixation itself was quick, so the parents only had to wait while holding their children. The soldiers helped to calm those who couldn’t wait for their turn, ensuring everything proceeded smoothly. It was a task that would have been impossible to manage alone.
As Reizen continued the soul fixation process, he began to find more efficient methods. Some souls exhibited subtle signs before the child even approached. That soul was likely theirs. These souls vibrated slightly, but spotting them required sharp eyes.
However, with the spirits’ assistance, Reizen quickly identified these souls, brought them to the children, and opened the jars. The movement of the soul would become visibly more vigorous, making it clear who it belonged to.
It suddenly occurred to Reizen that while the ability to extract souls made sense, he had never heard of jars for storing souls. These jars could be sophisticated magical tools. He decided to have them examined later as he continued to return souls to the children.
He couldn’t remember how long they had been working. During this time, there were no attacks from the Angels, and they successfully returned the souls to all the children. Towards the end, they seemed to be running out of time, and several spirits were frantically urging Reizen to hurry. Though their urgency made him anxious, he understood they were desperate.
Once they had returned all the souls, Reizen sat down on the spot. Handling this many souls was exhausting. But seeing the smiles return to the faces of the citizens made his fatigue feel worthwhile.
“Our job is done. Karna, let’s leave the rest to Sreiz.”
“Yes, that’s right. There are many things we need to ask the children. Once that’s done…”
“There won’t be any faith left in the angels.”
When Reizen glanced in the distance, he saw Sreiz talking with some of his retainers. After a moment, Sreiz cleared his throat and raised his voice.
“Everyone! Listen up!”
The voices of celebration gradually quieted down, and the citizens turned their attention to Sreiz.
“I want all of you to hear the full story.”