Second installment for today.
After sorting out the various incidents at the human race's academy behind the scenes, I returned to Aegner's place.
I had slipped out in the middle of our conversation, after all.
He had this horribly strained expression on his face — I wonder what he was so afraid of.
It's not like I'm in a cheerful, smiling mood all that often.
Someone who recoils at another person's smile — how rude.
As for the elf operating in the Demon race's territory, I'll continue leaving that to Aegner.
A group of elves without their teacher — who cares what happens to them.
Besides, I think
Potimas's activities amount to a de facto takeover of Yamada-kun's homeland.
While the Hero wasn't around, I snuck into the royal castle to scope things out, and sure enough — every important figure, starting with the king, had fragments of Potimas's soul embedded in them.
If he felt like it, he could mass-produce an entire army of Potimas clones.
I haven't told little sister about this.
There's nothing she could do about it even if I told her.
If there's something even I can't do anything about, there's no way she could handle it.
That's right — nothing can be done.
Unfortunately, if Potimas simply put his mind to it, that country would be completely at his mercy.
There is currently no means of saving the people parasitized by Potimas.
The only option is to kill them before they get used.
What a brutal ability.
It's like the attack I once launched against the Demon King — except he can do it indiscriminately.
Well, when I say indiscriminate, it seems like he needs physical contact, judging from how he grabbed the teacher's head. So it's not truly without limits.
Still, the fact that there's no way to defend against it is terrifying.
If only the parasitized people could resist and shatter Potimas's soul fragments from within — but that's probably impossible.
The people of this world are generally weak against Heterodox attacks.
The reason is their low Heterodox resistance.
This isn't so much about Skills or whatnot — it's more that their souls have gone so long without being exposed to Heterodox attacks that they've lost their resistance, combined with the ongoing degradation of people's souls themselves.
The reason they're not accustomed to Heterodox attacks is that the church has forbidden them.
Well, the real reason is probably that if Heterodox Magic gets maxed out, Taboo ends up spawning from it.
The church doesn't seem to want Taboo spreading too far.
I really should make contact with the church soon.
That's what I think, but with everything else I have to do, I keep putting it off.
It's absolutely not because meeting some Pope I've never met sounds tedious or troublesome.
Not at all.
Besides, being busy is the truth.
After returning from Aegner's place, I headed to the vampire girl.
It was already nighttime.
And yet that delinquent had slipped past my division's eyes and vanished somewhere.
How do you even manage to fool my gaze?
Are you putting your effort in the wrong direction?
Since my division couldn't find her, I searched the area with my own eyes.
I spotted what looked like the right place, so I barged in.
"Kyah!?"
"Eh, wha—!?"
Slam.
I closed the door.
I saw nothing.
Unbelievable.
The vampire girl had, at some point, climbed the stairs to adulthood.
She'd gotten there before me.
I don't know — it's not like I'm jealous or anything, but there's this faint sense of defeat.
Wait, is this why you scattered my divisions around?! Don't waste my absurdly high-spec abilities on this!
It seems like some kind of original technique combining multiple Skills.
Is she using Shadow Magic to envelop the building itself?
And then hiding that with Concealment?
Even so, fooling my eyes is no small feat, and there might be more to it.
Ugh.
How ridiculous.
Also, given how smooth this was, could this be... not the first time?
There were moments when I lost track of her for short periods before — maybe this was why.
"So, what about Lord
"My apologies. I lost sight of him."
Hmm?
A small group of men and women had gathered and were whispering among themselves.
I strained my ears a little.
"Who was the last to see him?"
"That would be me. He was with that woman again, as expected."
"I see."
Hmm.
They look familiar somehow.
Ah, they're the young lady from the same academy as the vampire girl, along with her entourage.
I can't quite remember her name.
Maybe I should have grabbed a memory Skill before the apotheosis.
My recall is appallingly sloppy.
"What shall we do?"
"If we can't find him, there's nothing we can do."
"But!"
"Are you really okay with this?!"
"If this continues, that woman will—"
Hmm?
I don't know who this Wald person is, but could he have been with the vampire girl just now?
Ah, if that's the case, then even without it continuing — it's probably already happened.
"Lady Fermina, please do something about that woman!"
"Yes! Ever since that woman appeared, Lord Wald and other distinguished gentlemen have been acting strange!"
"There were times when their eyes looked vacant too — that woman must be doing something to them!"
"If this keeps up, the people who should be supporting our nation's future might end up beyond saving!"
Ah, ah, ah.
"That woman" — that's the vampire girl, right?
Ah, yeah.
I'm sorry about my kid.
Where did I go wrong with her upbringing?
Or is it that ensnaring men and turning them into thralls is simply the correct way for a vampire to be?
Also, was she like this in her past life?
I don't actually remember the vampire girl all that well.
"Silence!"
The young lady at the center of the group snapped at her still-protesting entourage.
"If it were something I could deal with, I would have done so long ago! But that woman deflects every single attempt as if nothing happened. She is a genuine monster. Understood? Don't do anything rash."
So that's why there were so many incidents around the vampire girl lately.
Well, naturally they'd be on guard when someone of a status comparable to their own prince gets his head turned by some unknown woman of unclear origins.
Especially if she's using suspicious methods.
You'd want to eliminate her by force, wouldn't you.
But it didn't work, huh.
Fair enough.
My kid wasn't raised to be the kind who'd keel over from something like that.
"Lady Fermina, could it be—"
"Don't say another word. And you all heard nothing. Understood?"
The entourage nodded silently.
"If something should happen to me, I entrust this country to you."
A young lady brimming with resolve and tragic determination.
Hmm.
This girl will probably end up eliminated by the vampire girl.
That one's thinking has gone completely vampire by now.
She hasn't realized that what was natural when she was human and what's natural now have changed dramatically.
That's why she unconsciously stirs up situations like this.
Hmm.
I couldn't care less about this country's future, but this young lady might be useful.
I'll pick her up later if I feel like it.
Some time later, the young lady in question was sentenced.
So I took her in, since it would be a waste to let her go.
She seems to have a fair amount of talent, and if she picks up a Ruler Skill, that'd be a nice bonus.