Hearing his words, the captain seemed unsure of how to act, shifting in her seat. "... Are you sure? I wouldn't want to risk revealing your identity."

"It's fine," Nova replied, having changed his voice back to that of a child. "It's better if you know."

The unexpected voice caused her to freeze momentarily. Then she turned sideways in her chair, slowly looking back at him. "You're a child— Wait, it's you?!"

Two surprises hit her in rapid succession, causing her jaw to drop. Her lightly freckled face showed clear signs of shock.

Nova smiled and bowed. "You recognize me, then. I'm glad I made an impression."

"...You're a god?!" She nearly yelled, covering her mouth once she realized. The confusion on her face only seemed to deepen as her thoughts ran freely.

"Well… No. Though I understand why you might think that."

Her other hand went up to her forehead as she stared down at the ground. "No, you… How else can you be this powerful? And mature? Can you explain?"

She was desperately searching for an explanation, so much so that her question sounded more like a prayer.

"I will explain, don't worry. And I've put a silencing spell on this room, so you don't have to worry about being loud."

He had told people he had trusted about his reincarnations several times before, so this was nothing new. But first, he had to explain something else.

"I am only strong briefly, as you can see now."

The timer on the fragment went out, and just as swiftly as they appeared, his powers were gone. He was once again back to the simple 100 Soul Power that was easily dwarfed by the captain.

She seemed to understand the process right away. "A powerful soul?"

"Yes. Or, more precisely, a fragment of my own soul. I have lived many lives already, each time finding myself in a new world. So I really am only four years old, and I was born in this place. But I have lived many lifetimes, each one spent searching for the power to protect the weak."

"...I… I've never heard of anything like it. But… I mean, if the contract is real, there's no way for you to lie. Even calling you a god, it didn't make sense—it was just the only explanation I could think of."

"If you think of telling a lie, you'll feel a shift around your soul. Just as a warning. You should test it out."

"Oh… I only have three—" She stopped mid sentence, clutching at her chest. "Ow! That's sharper than I expected."

Nova furrowed his brows. "I told you just to think of doing it, not actually try…" He put his tiny hand forward, hoping to pull her out of her reverie. "Anyways, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Nova."

The captain stood from her chair and pulled it to the side before kneeling to reach his level, then she grabbed his hand with an uncertain expression. "I am Captain Larena Hargrove, at your service, Nova."

"Good!" Nova replied, letting go of her hand. "This will probably take a while, so would you mind if we move to the couch over there?"

"Oh, not at all! I have a lot of questions, so that suits me perfectly!" She gestured toward the two opposing couches, letting Nova walk first.

He jumped onto the couch, finding the red velvet extremely comfortable. The softest thing he had sat on in this life was two thin bedrolls on top of stone flooring, and he had missed the comfort of a couch many times.

"I'm surprised they decorated this office so nicely for you. From our living situation, I assumed money was tight."

As Larena sat on the couch on the opposite side of the table between them, she sighed. "Yes, it is quite annoying. They care much more about 'showing the prestige of a captain' than about all of the children combined. Things would be different if I had power over anything other than the guards here."

"What businessman would care about the comfort of livestock, after all?"

Larena winced at his words, but she didn't deny them. "I am here to help in any way I can."

"Oh, I'm not accusing you!" Nova corrected, though he knew his words were tough for her to hear. "I'm still trying to understand the minds behind this operation, so I might make conjectures out loud without thinking."

She nodded in understanding, looking over at her desk filled with paperwork. "I take it you completed your soul yesterday? And that you were the one who attacked the caretakers?"

"Correct. I saw them come out of that room with Carl hanging over a shoulder, so I, erm… I snapped."

"You snuck out? Without any essence?"

"Oh, yeah… I had to figure out what was happening to the children. Those nails were my lockpicks, actually. But they worked well as throwing weapons."

"...Well, it's a good thing your soul completed. Even with your knowledge, I find it hard to believe you would manage to take them down at your age."

"...I might have managed, but in that case, I would need to trick them to get close enough. I used most of the essence available to me, and even then it was barely enough. I had to be efficient."

Larena paused, looking down at the table between them. "I was shocked when I saw that scene. The efficiency of the attack… Not a single waste of energy. And now it makes sense that there were no traces of the assassin leaving the premises."

Nova pulled the keychain up from his pocket and jingled it in front of her. "You can have it back if you want."

"...I would appreciate it, but it won't make much of a difference since the 'attacker' is still loose."

"Well, they're nice to have," he said, putting them back in the pocket. "What can we do for the children if we get them out?"

Larena shook her head slowly. "Orphanages wouldn't work, I doubt the church would accept them, no schools would cover their living expenses and education, at least willingly… I've thought about it many times, but never come to a conclusion."

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'Just as I feared… We would likely need a capacity of thirty thousand to house all the children of this program comfortably. It would be a giant undertaking as I am now. I'll need to learn more about the world before I can make a sound plan.'

"...How about making a school?" Nova suggested. "If I teach the children how to use the skills to increase Soul Power, we could easily fund it, right? I assume soul power can be sold for good money since feeding a child for five years is worth the effort."

"Hold on, are you really telling me there is such a method? To make Soul Power out of thin air?"

"Out of essence, but yes. I can teach you as well."

"...That's so against everything I know about the world. I thought the system basically enforced it to be that way—that it can only be gained from absorbing souls."

"Apparently not. But the consequences of the world learning about this might be even worse than how it currently works. Imagine entire countries forced to use all their energy cultivating their Soul Power like this, forced to hand them away so the strong can stay in power."

"...I would rather not imagine that." Larena was deep in thought, holding a fist to her chin. "Your idea about starting a school could work though, seeing as how you have a way to create infinite money. But the transition is problematic. Several influential people are counting on these gardens to stay running."

"Evil influential people have a tendency to drop dead around me. Will that be a problem?"

"...If we want to build a school, we need help... I don't like it, but perhaps harsh negotiations would be more fitting? The nobles only care about profit, so… If we can prove our method is more profitable and give them more than they lose by taking the deal—"

A sharp knock on the door cut through their conversation. Larena froze, while Nova jumped out of the couch and hid in the shadows. He deactivated the silencing spell, letting sound travel out of the room again.

"Captain?" A gruff voice called from the hallway. "Captain Hargrove? We've got another one ready for processing."

Larena's face went white as parchment. Her eyes darted to the shadows where Nova sat, seeing nothing but darkness.

"I—" She cleared her throat, forcing her voice to remain steady. "Just leave the paperwork on the desk outside. I'll handle it in the morning."

"But ma'am, the schedule says tonight. Little girl from Garden twelve, just turned five yesterday. The harvester's already prepped the room."

"I SAID leave it." The words tore from Larena's throat with an authority that surprised even her. "The operation is suspended pending the security investigation. Anyone who questions that order can either come to me, or talk to the governor."

A long pause. "Yes, ma'am. Sorry to disturb you."

Heavy footsteps retreated down the hallway. Only when they faded completely did the crushing cold begin to lift from the room.

Larena sat quietly in the moonlight, clenching her fist. "Nova?" she whispered.

"I'm here." His voice came out strained, carrying an unintentional edge.

She pressed her hands to her face. "The schedule... There are always more reaching their fifth year."

"It won't stop unless we make it stop." Nova stepped slightly forward, just enough for her to see his small silhouette in the shadows.

"Yeah... Would the plan to negotiate work?"

"It would take a long time before we are capable of producing Soul Power on a large scale." He jumped back onto the couch, keeping his voice lower now that the spell was no longer in effect. "The children would need to complete their souls, and then I would have to teach them advanced incantations. Then we would need souls that can grow alongside their own so that we can sell them. I'm assuming, since the harvesters held Carl's soul, it's possible to transfer souls?"

"Oh yeah, that's easily solved." Larena leaned back, folding her arms. "What do you suggest, then?"

Nova sighed, trying to think of a plan. The first step would be to temporarily halt the harvesting process, which should be easy enough. But everything after that was a challenge. "How much Soul Power is produced here each year on average?"

"Somewhere around ten thousand, usually a bit lower. Why?"

"That's good. With all the children here, we could make that in a day once they're all trained."

Larena stared at him with wide eyes. "That's… incredible! Your skill works that well?"

"That's just the weakest version of it. I doubled my Soul Power yesterday in ten hours. But I'm an expert at the skill, so I assume it will take the kids a lot longer. At least in the beginning."

Larena seemed to be calculating something in her mind, raising her eyebrows more with every conclusion. "You… That would make us a true force! That would… It would shift the balance of power completely!"

"Yes, but as I said, it will take a long time. We need to get there first. Should I pay a visit to Governor Newark tomorrow, perhaps?"

"For what reason?" Larena asked, already sounding defeated. "To tell him you're planning to take away his golden goose? To ask him to be kind and stop killing children?"

"To tell him he will die if another child dies these next months. In that time I should be able to build up a soul with ten thousand Soul Power and give it to him the next time we meet."

"...You can't think of these people in power as weak, Nova. Even the governor has had many years to build power, both internal and external. And his family is old."

"Well, you shouldn't think I'm as good as the sum of my Soul Power either. A master assassin only needs enough force to pierce a critical spot. And, of course, the skill to get close enough."

"...You wouldn't be the first to try. But I believe you have more skill than most. I consider myself fairly strong, and I had no idea anyone was in the room with me before you spoke."

Nova grinned, leaning back into the plush velvet of the couch as he observed the trusting look in her eyes. "The fact that you recognized how much stronger I am is more than most can say. How did you get strong?"

"Oh, not through human souls, don't worry. Unlike the guards who get their power handed to them by their employers, I earned mine the hard way." She smiled wryly. "I went to the best military school in the country, and we had many expeditions into the wilds to grow our strength. Soul Beasts have much worse compatibility with us humans, but their souls are usually quite pure. It's a decent way to get stronger without any people dying. At least if we're careful." As she spoke, she absently traced a thin scar that ran along her collarbone, likely a reminder of those expeditions.

"That can work?" Nova asked sharply, sitting forward on the couch. "Why is no one rearing animals to harvest souls, then?"

"Oh, no, only wild animals can complete their souls. Or rather, predators." Larena gestured with her hand as she explained. "They're the only ones gaining enough nascent soul essence from hunting other beasts to complete a soul. So even growing a horse to adulthood wouldn't give a single Soul Power."

"Oh… This world really is stupid." He slumped back against the couch cushions, frowning.

Larena nodded, then she narrowed her eyes, studying him closely. "Did you learn our language during the nursing phase? I know the wetnurses talk a lot, but that's still impressive."

"They loved to talk. But they didn't seem to know what we were being used for."

"Oh, they probably have ideas. But they're too scared to ask, or even speak of it. Blissful ignorance and all that."

A deep sigh, or as deep as a four-year-old's lungs could make, came from Nova. Sometimes, he felt like a different species from most humans, unable to understand the fear and selfishness that kept them from doing the right thing.

"...Well, I think I have what I need now." Nova slid off the couch, making a soft thud as his feet hit the floor. "Will it be easy to find the governor if I jump out of the courtyard in our garden?"

Larena also stood, seeming to find the height difference a bit awkward. "Yeah, just find the highest area of the castle. This is a halfway hidden part of the castle near the sea, so it's in the same building. He lives with his family there, usually in the living room looking out at the city."

"I'm looking forward to seeing more of this world," Nova said as he walked toward the door. "But as you've noticed, I don't have much time when equipping the assassin fragment."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. I will ensure there isn't any more harvesting for a few days."

"Good." Nova reached for the door handle right in front of his eyes. "Well then, I'd better start heading back before people start to miss me."

"You're not nervous about the guards?"

Nova chuckled lightly. "Do you even know how rare it is for them to patrol at night?"

"...I guess not," she replied with a defeated sigh. Then she turned back toward him. "Oh, one more thing! Did you call me an angel to test me?"

A small smile played across his face as he opened the door. "I needed to make sure your heart was in the right place. The look of frustration told me a lot about you."

He slipped out into the darker hallway, closing the door carefully behind him before starting to walk back to his chamber. His bare feet made no sound on the stone floor as he moved through the shadows.

'I'm glad people like her still exist in this system. Doing all of this alone would take much longer, especially as I am now.'

He navigated the familiar corridors, already planning his next steps. 'Oh, and I should try some body cultivation tomorrow! That's always handy. Something like iron flesh or blood refinement should be possible at low levels like this.'

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