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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Return to Abli Village (3)
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"Three hundred and forty-third."
The woman confirmed the soul had vanished into the darkness, then smiled faintly.
"Alright, time to collect the next soul."
With that, she quickly moved her steps towards another location.
"Am I not working a little too hard, I wonder~"
She said this, praising herself, clearly very proud of the work she was doing.
"This house is the next target!"
Bouncing with apparent joy, the woman headed towards a nearby house, pointing at it with a decisive jab of her finger and flashing a bright smile.
"Shall we begin?"
A moment later, as she stretched both hands towards the ground, thin threads flowed from her fingers, burrowing into the earth.
*Creak... crackle...*
The ground lightly stirred, and then a human-shaped doll slowly crawled out from within.
Then, as her hands moved, it began to walk towards the house she had just pointed at.
*Screech... thud...*
"Huh?"
But a short while later, the doll began to move strangely. It suddenly stopped walking, then pulled off its own arm and threw it to the ground.
"Why, why is it doing that?"
The woman hastily tried to control the doll again, but it completely ignored her commands.
She tried to make it go to the house, but the doll, having stopped, soon dismantled itself, collapsing onto the ground.
"What the... "
Then, against her will, the threads controlling the doll snapped and rapidly vanished from her hands.
"…! Who's there!"
Only then realizing someone was interfering, the woman frantically scanned her surroundings, shouting in a voice filled with displeasure.
"That's what I'd like to ask you."
"…!"
A moment later, a figure slowly approached her from behind, speaking in a low voice. It was Sei-an.
'Amateur-level puppetry.'
When Sei-an arrived, the doll she was controlling was already approaching the house.
Sei-an had immediately interfered with her puppetry, simply taking control of the doll himself and making it collapse.
Her puppetry was practically child's play compared to Sei-an's, so it wasn't a difficult task at all.
'Is she a Grim Reaper?'
Sei-an had come to this place, guessing she was a Grim Reaper after she created a soul passage, but he wore a slightly doubtful expression.
"I don't understand."
A Grim Reaper directly killing humans to collect souls?
Such an act was utterly unacceptable. It was against the rules for a Grim Reaper to orchestrate deaths and collect souls, rather than simply taking those who died naturally.
"What is your identity?"
"...That's what *I* want to ask you!"
Sei-an approached her, quietly posing his question, and only then did the woman turn her head to face him directly.
He froze!
But as Sei-an finally saw her face, he froze mid-step, his expression momentarily blank.
"..."
For a long moment, he couldn't say anything. Her appearance was one he knew all too well.
"...Jushia."
The last soul he had guided, it was Jushia.
