234 The Demon of Jealousy and the Demon of Wrath

A year had passed.

Significant progress had been made in that time.

The elven village was approaching full establishment of a surveillance system.

Never had I expected the elves to gather so many reincarnates.

It was clear the elves had already begun securing reincarnates long before I took action.

And they were using the teacher.

No matter how skilled the elves were with magic, or how many underground networks they maintained, gathering such a number of reincarnates was an impossible task.

Except under the exception of the Sovereign Authority.

Potimas would not be using the Sovereign Authority, so the teacher must have acquired some form of sovereign skill, and used skill search to locate the reincarnates.

The elves were gathering reincarnates based on that information.

The reason the elves were collecting reincarnates was, vaguely, foreseeable.

The elves likely intend to keep reincarnates alive but stunted, preventing them from developing.

Reincarnates born with an excessive number of skill points have the potential to grow into cheat-class individuals.

The elves do not approve of that.

They preemptively eliminate potential threats.

Not killing them immediately may be a means to use the teacher as bait, or perhaps the elves hesitate due to uncertainty about the true intent behind D.

Alternatively, the threat of black may already be effective.

Speculation beyond this point is purely conjectural.

I fell significantly behind in securing reincarnates.

Currently, the only reincarnate in my possession is a Vampire Child.

I managed to identify likely candidates, but those remaining are either high-ranking nobles, such as royalty, or protected by the Divine Word Church—making intervention difficult.

The same seems to apply to the elves—subtle surveillance is maintained, but direct contact is avoided.

Among the anomalies, there are also reincarnated individuals within mercenary groups, one currently engaged in active conflict with the demonic army.

For now, a fragment has been dispatched to that location, assigned to monitor the child and ensure its survival.

Another concern: the ogre recently reported.

Only heard through rumor so far—no firsthand sighting—but reportedly possesses abilities beyond those of standard specimens.

Said to fully recover upon emitting light.

Said to experience a sudden surge in combat capability.

Said to wield multiple magical swords.

First ability—this resembles level-up recovery.

Second—this matches a known condition.

The system's Rage Lock has been disabled.

This indicates someone has acquired Rage.

Rage increases status dramatically—but simultaneously erodes divine domain at an accelerating rate. A catastrophic drawback.

Only a fool, or someone with the requisite capacity, would ever consider taking such a minefield skill. Only a reincarnated soul could even possess the attributes to acquire it.

Dominion skills are that difficult to obtain.

Yet a reincarnated soul might forcibly acquire one with surplus skill points.

Why they took such a dangerous skill remains unclear.

Then, the final magical sword.

A skill to craft magical swords—plausible for a reincarnated soul.

Therefore, the ogre's likelihood of being a reincarnated soul is extremely high.

Contact must be attempted.

A fragment was dispatched. Unfortunately, no trace was found.

It appears the imperial knight corps has already begun hunting the ogre.

Moreover, the group is led by a magic-user seeking disciples.

He seemed like a man on the verge of old age when we last met, but now he’s a proper elder.

That elder had nearly cornered the ogre—just one step away—yet somehow let it escape.

The ogre was pierced through the crown with a skull magic, but managed to evade using its usual full recovery ability, and thus escaped.

A mess.

That’s supposed to be fatal.

If my prediction holds, and that full recovery is a level-up specific to reincarnates, then the ogre has just walked a very narrow bridge.

To level up precisely at the moment of near-death? Realistically, that’s extremely high luck.

I’d like to borrow some of that luck.

Yet, perhaps because it nearly died, the ogre used Anger during its escape.

Problematic.

From my investigation, the ogre uses Anger with notable frequency.

Losing rationality may be only a matter of time.

Would be ideal to secure it before that happens, but will it be found?

Sending out the fragments to search the area.

While pursuing the ogre, I had a minor issue of my own.

A Vampire Child.

Raised casually, but considering what I’m planning, I shouldn’t have allowed it to gain any skills.

If this continues, the Vampire Child will die in my plan.

How is raising something just to kill it supposed to work?

Need to devise a way to keep the Vampire Child alive.

Then, the Vampire Child itself piled on another problem.

Immediately after Anger, the jealousy lock was broken.

The culprit was close by.

Ah, I saw the fragment shoot a test skill right there.

The Vampire Child— it took the jealousy skill!

What’s wrong with you? Are you an idiot? Are you going to die?

No, seriously.

Top-tier skill among those that should not be taken—why is it being taken now?

I shouldn’t be the one to say this, given I’ve possessed multiple times before.

Mastering Skill — simultaneously a broken, overpowered ability, and a landmine skill that erodes its user without question.

I was still alright.

Had an anti-heresy ability, after all.

Not significantly affected by the mental corruption of the ruler's skill.

But a Vampire Child cannot do that.

If this continues, the Vampire Child will become consumed by envy!

For now, prohibit the use of skills as a temporary measure.

Thus, damage should be minimized.

I’ll need to ask why they took this skill again. Maybe I should meet with them once and talk.