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Dominic raised a powerful magic barrier to block the strands of steel silk raining down on him. Once Aria landed on the ground with a shockwave, she began shooting countless spears of stone.

Dominic continued calmly blocking those waves of attacks, fighting back whenever he found an opening. But ordinary means would not be enough to defeat Aria, who was the highest evolution of Steel Spiders, an Arachne.

Itski had fought many monsters in Granleuche, but this was the first time he saw one that had evolved enough to obtain humanoid features.

“Now then, what should I do?”

Currently, Dominic was hardly able to move, and depending on his stamina, he could end up being completely overpowered.

Luckily, Itski had been standing a distance away, and was not seen as a target. He did not feel a need to help out. By now, he knew that Dominic was trying to do something immoral, but he did not really care about it. Dominic could kill someone, steal something, or try to enact vengeance, it was all the same for Itski.

But if Itski left Dominic to his own devices, then Itski’s relationship with the company could become sour.

Then again, he did not want to get his hands dirty, and did not want to become a target of the attacks either. So instead, Itski looked around to see if there was anything else he could use, and his eyes stopped in a corner of the garden.

“I didn’t plan on using it here, but maybe it’ll be enough to distract the spider?” Itski sneaked away to that place, being careful that the man and monster fighting would not notice him. Once there, he opened his magic storage and took out a large piece of cloth, as long as he was tall. He spread it on the ground, and then imbued it with mana, which made the magic circle drawn on it start to glow a dark red.

All he had to do was chant to activate it now.

“Let blood and prayers congeal as chains, reeling souls back from the great beyond,
A temporary vessel shall be granted.
A temporary soul shall be granted.
A temporary life shall be granted.
Brought from the dead.
Brought as a servant.
Become a shadow under my command.”

That was an original spell he had conjured from the necromantic magic he had seen in Reibana. “Necroslave¹.”

As soon as he finished, a large amount of mana began to swirl, like a tornado shooting out sparks.

“Ghuh…what’s happening?! It’s draining all of my mana!” Itski hurriedly took out a mana recovery potion from his magic storage and downed it in one go. But one was not enough, so he drank a second one, then a third, and continued going like that, gulping them down and throwing the empty bottles away to take out another one². All the while his mana continued to get absorbed into the spell.

“What’s that…” Noticing that, Aria and Dominic stopped their fight and looked there warily.

“This is bad…I’m almost out of potions…” Just when he was about to run out of potions, the spell was complete. The swirling mana began to condense, taking the form of bones, then flesh on top, and building up a certain figure.

“It can’t be…” Aria muttered in disbelief, being witness to an otherworldly scene she never imagined possible.

“It’s been a while, Aria.” A greeting came, with an elegant and bewitching smile that was identical to the times when she was alive.

Henry Do Shearer was a fair man.

Olivia and Fan Yen slammed the door open and ran out, not sparing a glance back at Henry. That was a rather brusque way to behave in front of the governor, but he did not seem to mind. Or rather, he had expected such a reaction.

After all, he had just told them that the man who had killed Shuma and Ophelia had been seen in the city. Dominic Ru Galliene had once been a member of the party Shuma and Ophelia were part of.

His abilities were inferior compared to Shuma and Ophelia, but he excelled at research, and had a wealth of experience with trade and negotiations. So he was often the one visiting the guild to sell off the materials they obtained, fill out the paperwork for requests, and so on. That was also how Henry got to know him.

But as Dominic pursued his research, he eventually reached a fundamental disagreement with Shuma and Ophelia, which caused a rift to grow between them.

Then when Ophelia got pregnant, she and Shuma began to consider leaving the party and settling down. But a fatal incident would spring up before that could happen, as Dominic murdered another member of the party. There was no room to claim it was an accident or a misunderstanding, it had been a murder through and through. The rest of the party, including Shuma and Ophelia, condemned his actions and tried to make him pay, but he managed to escape.

The whole party went after him, but they were unable to catch him, and instead people began to appear that fought back. Shuma and Ophelia feared that Dominic would eventually come after them as well, so they built their mansion hidden within the Valhen Woods, and concealed it with a barrier. When Henry heard their story, he allowed them to stay there too.

Meanwhile, Dominic’s actions of killing a fellow party member was a common issue amongst adventurers, so he was never deemed a wanted person by the authorities. Then, eight years before the present day, they found a lead about Dominic’s hideout, so they attempted to take him down again.

That resulted in Shuma’s death, and Ophelia’s life was greatly reduced. They believed they had at least managed to bring Dominic down with them as well, but he was able to recover from his wounds, as serious as they were.

Now, in the present day, Dominic had just been spotted entering the Valhen Woods from Bamel.

While his objective there was unclear, considering his past, it was easy to assume he was trying to find Ophelia’s mansion, as it would house a wealth of valuable research. Not to mention he might still hold a grudge against Olivia, due to her parents’ past.

That was everything Henry had told Olivia. But there was more, involving the person Dominic had first killed. He had reached a hypothesis with his research back then.

“If the dead bodies of monsters can be used as materials for equipment and magic, then why not use regular bodies too?” That was an idea that challenged the values common morality was built on.

If people were seen through the same lenses as monsters, then people would lose a sense of community, falling to depravity and murderous rampages. That could already be seen with some religions that discriminated against certain species.

That hypothesis would put the building blocks of society and morality at risk.

But it turned out to be correct. Common humans turned out to not be of much use, but gifted sorcerers and species like elves had effects that rivaled monster parts. Knowing that, it was easy to conclude what Dominic was looking for…

Dominic had first been spotted in Bamel a week prior, and Henry got word of it almost immediately. But he had not told Olivia until that day, and he had also not reported it to the military and guards.

The Platiboros Company had been a large part of Seperion’s commerce, both on the surface and with secret deals with nobles. A company like that was valuable to the economy, but Seperion was forced to extirpate it when they found out that it was based in an enemy country.

But at the same time, the governor was not supposed to allow someone to build a mansion within the forest and conceal it with a barrier. But he did it as a favor for Shuma and Ophelia.

And in return, he also gave Dominic a head start. After all, Henry Do Shearer was a fair man.

I don’t know how many times I’ve threaded the path between the Valhen Woods and Bamel by now.

Though maybe calling it a path is being too generous, as it’s covered with grass and weeds, and to the untrained eye, it just looks like regular old forest. But to me, it looks like the way home.

“Good food. Good.”
“Shaa.”

Clarissa and Erika sound excited about all the food we bought in Bamel, but this is meant to be used for Annabelle’s visit, so the good food will have to wait until then. At least the wait shouldn’t be too long.

I’m happy to hear they like my cooking so much, but I also feel like they need to mind their manners a bit more.

“Listen now, this is all for Miss Annabelle’s visit.” I say that, but I’m also a bit excited. Though that’s not out of gluttony like these two, but because it’s been a while since I’ve last seen Annabelle.

As we continue walking, I spot something white in a thicket. I go closer and see it’s a budding Spica Lily. That flower is filled with memories for me, as it wasn’t too long after my arrival to this world that Olivia came to me with one.

Now that I think about it, we don’t really have any decorations on the living room table. A Spica Lily would look nice there, and I’m sure the bud will be blooming by the time Annabelle arrives.

I lean down and pluck it, and then place it in my magic storage.

Well, let’s continue heading home. Just as I think that, I hear a loud noise and the whole forest shakes. A short time later I see black smoke billowing up.

“Home!” Clarissa is the first one to react, shouting that as she starts running. Erika and I follow shortly after.

After jumping through a few bushes, I see an enormous gash into the ground of the forest. I look in horror when I see what’s at the end of it.

“Aria!” Part of her human half is gone, and her spider half is also riddled with wounds, and she’s missing several legs.

I run up to her to hold her body up, and then take out healing potions from my magic storage. Not even I can beat Aria in a fight, so something serious must’ve happened for her to end up like this. While being careful about my surroundings, I look at the direction she was sent flying from.

But as the black smoke clears and that’s revealed, I freeze in place. A beautiful face adorned with long black hair, and a pair of intelligent eyes behind small glasses. Just like the past, almost taken straight out of my memories.

“Oh, I had a hunch you’d be here too.”

That voice is identical as well.

“Ophelia…”

This is impossible. This can’t be happening. Even as I mutter that name, my mind is screaming at me trying to deny it.

“I’m glad to see you’re doing well.” That fascinating yet somehow kind smile… Every single of its words and mannerisms feel grating. My brain refuses to accept it existing.

“N-Natalia…take Olivia and…run…” Aria says with a weak voice in my arms. It’s a miracle that she’s still alive while so badly injured, but her voice is quivering and weak.

“Clair, Erika, take Aria and find the Young Lady.”
“W-Woof!”
“Shaa!”

The two of them don’t really understand what’s going on, but they know enough to understand they have to run away. I let them take Aria, and then I turn to face that again.

“Who are you? What do you want?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about me? I’m Ophelia. I was resurrected through a magic I never saw before, so that I can aid in killing Olivia.”

I just heard two things I can’t accept. First, someone is desecrating Ophelia’s death, and second it’s to kill Olivia? That’s absolutely disgusting.

“If you’re trying to harm Olivia, then you’re just my enemy!” Unable to stand this anymore, I take out Black Hawk and aim it at that in front of me.

“Oh, so you think you can fight against me?”
“Ophelia is dead. I watched her grow weak, and witnessed her last breath. I remember her body going cold in my hands. I washed her body, and dug her grave myself.”

I’ll never be able to forget that painful emptiness and despair.

“Only a sick b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ would make something like this and pretend it’s her³!”
“I see. Then I guess it’s time to see just how much you’ve grown since then, don’t you think? My dear * * * *.”

I watch her lips move, saying something I’ll never forgive.

“Don’t you dare use that face and voice…” No one in this world knows that name, I entrusted it to Ophelia before her passing. “…TO SAY THAT NAMEEEE⁴!”

1. Robinxen: That’s uh, quite a thing…
2. Robinxen: Oh… oh he’s raising her isn’t he…
3. Robinxen: I agree with this reaction. Unless it somehow managed to obtain the authentic soul for a temporary resurrection which seems waaaaay beyond the scope of a spell like that…
4. Robinxen: Berserker button pressed.

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