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Chapter 9




Chapter 9
“Haa
 Everyone’s such worrywarts . ” Iris sighed as she strolled through the nighttime street .
While there were few cities where a lonesome girl could wander the night streets alone, that applied only when the girl herself was normal . An everyday thug couldn’t hope to even frighten Iris, much less win against her .
Well, I can’t really go around blowing people up with my magic, so if something bad happens, I’ll just throw around some smokescreen and make a run for it .
In the case an enemy appears who I myself can’t deal with
 Well, that would be the worst case scenario . Even with all four of us combined .

Or so Iris thought, and this evaluation was largely correct .
However, the attacker she faced that very night was something beyond her comprehension .
“Hmm
?”
Something moved near her, she felt at the back of her mind .
At the same time, all the noise of the world drowned in silence .
The sound of wind blowing, howling stray dogs, drunkards fighting somewhere far off . All gone .
――â‰ȘSilence≫?
A spell that erected a barrier of silence . It shuts out all noise from it’s outside, while also preventing any noise from leaking out .
Although it was a low-level spell, one could find a variety of uses for it . Like breaking locks and assaulting girls at night .
Iris immediately swung her staff and chanted .
“â‰ȘDispel≫”
It was a spell that would deactivate any magic with lingering effects . Light emitted by the staff washed over the vicinity in the shape of a dome, spreading over the area affected by â‰ȘSilence≫ .
However, her â‰ȘDispel≫ was cast in vain . The barrier repelled the spell’s effect, causing the ball of magic to simply dissipate into thin air .
――What
!?
Suddenly cold sweat dripped down Iris’ forehead .
â‰ȘDispel≫ would not work . In other words, this â‰ȘSilence≫ was cast by a mage much more powerful than her .
She was still quite young (she aggressively rejected being called a ‘child’) for a Wizard, but her ability was nothing to laugh at .
“What
? What is even happening?”
‘Good evening, my little lady . ’
“Kya-!?”
The voice of a girl much younger than her came from behind, causing her to squeal and jump away, then turn to look back .
The silver moon that ought to shine in the night sky had manifested on the land of mortals .
The young ghost’s silvery visage shone lightly, her silver hair fluttered and her silver eyes swam to Iris .
‘
hmm perhaps, young lady may be more appropriate than little lady?’
“Who are you!”
‘Someone suspicious . ’
The young ghost laughed with glee .
Iris felt the hairs on her body stand straight, washed over by the tingle of her skin being set aflame .
It resembled the sensation of powerful magic being blasted in one’s immediate vicinity . In this case, Iris was reacting to the unbelievable conglomeration of magic energy that this girl was made out of .
“Undead
!”
This ghost in front of her and none else must have cast â‰ȘSilence≫ .
Spirit-class undead were troublesome . The number of ways they could be damaged were limited .
On top of that, because this ghost girl employed powerful magic and kept her sanity, she was likely an artificially created Undead .
I don’t get why something like this is here, but this is bad . This is very bad .
Standing tall with her staff held out, Iris took a step back .
She felt like her heart was thumping against the walls of her skull .
――I can’t win against this
 . ! I have to defend myself and retreat back to Diana!
Holy Magic specialized in both healing and defense against undead .
Even if it’s a high class Monster, as long as I can get someone who can use Holy Magic, I can turn this around . As long as I put my everything into defense, I should be able to hold out until I join up with Diana
 I think .
“
â‰ȘSignal Bomb≫!”
She lifted her staff and shot out a spell . The ball of magic flew into the sky, filling the air with sound and light .
If those three notice all together, then they could meet up faster .
At the same time, Iris began running, dashing past the ghost, making a break for The Leaping Flounder .
In that time, the girl stretched her hand towards Iris .
――This is
 â‰ȘGhost Touch≫?
A low-level curse type magic attack . It was used by Spirit Type Undead to drain the life-force of whatever they touched, slowly killing them . It does take around 10 minutes or so to actually kill a person, however .
For a high-level undead to use such magic felt off . Iris felt wary, she guarded for another spell to come flying at her from elsewhere .
She imagined her body to become clad in magic, focused her mana, strengthening her resistance to magical attacks, and then-
――Eh
!?
The ghostly hand slipped into Iris’ body .
She could not grasp what kind of magic it was . It was definitely magic, but it was so powerful, it broke through her defenses like a dry leaf being crunched underfoot .
For the Undead to be ‘above Iris’ level’, was a gross understatement . Their dimension of measurement was fundamentally different .
She felt no damage . However the ghostly girl had reached deep into her, fatally so .
She felt her soul being gripped, torrents of dread and a fear for her impending death rushed through her .
Iris fell to the ground . She couldn’t move . Her breath clogged in her throat . The pit of her stomach turned cold like sleet .
“Wha
 . what
 Are you doing
 to
 me
!”
‘I’m simply borrowing you . Well, I won’t ever be giving you back though
!”
“Ah
 Aaaaaaa
 . . !!”
Iris’ consciousness slipped and drowned into the muddy darkness, slowly falling to its depths, and was promptly crushed by it .
“Iris, what happened!? Didn’t you use â‰ȘSignal Bomb≫!?” Diana yelled, breathless from having rushed over .
“Um, no, I didn’t . ”
“Those cuts
”
“I tripped, it’s fine . ” Iris hid her hands behind shyly .
“I
 see . God, I feel like I drank too much . ”
“Gonna drink some more?”
“Hm- I’ll quit while I’m ahead . But I do have to go back and tell Benedict and Hugh nothing happened before I go back to the inn
 . Ah, this isn’t a good pattern . I’ll just end up drinking more . ” Diana shook her head .
It seemed the choice of going to the tavern and leaving without drinking didn’t exist for her .
“Well, anyway, I’ll be going back now . Umm
 Don’t drink too much?”
“I’ll hold back . ”
Diana staggered off, fluttering her hand behind her as she went .
Once her back disappeared, Iris turned away and checked her own body .
The weight of flesh and bone .   The cold caress of the wind . The feeling of trodding the earth . The feeling of her nails pressing against her palm when she curled her fingers into a fist .
――This is awesome! This feeling of being in a living body! Oh this is so awesome, I missed this so much! Well, being a ghost has its own perks, but nothing beats a live body! Iris nodded to herself .
Poor Iris’ body had been taken over by the ghost called RenĂ© .
After all, for her, the appearance of a Dullahan was simply a temporary visage . A puppet designed to look like one by possessing her own dead body .
René’s true body was her spirit, her soul . If classified accordingly as a Monster, she would be a much more powerful variant of Abyss Spirit, the highest level Spirit Type Undead .
The blessing given to her by the Evil God was this; an unimaginable amount of magical energy . Even right now, her strength would rival even the strongest of the Humanoids . But an even more important fact was that RenĂ© was an Undead ‘capable of growing stronger’ over time .
She could make contracts with souls that died with grudges carved into their hearts, and in exchange for quenching the soul’s desire for vengeance, she could absorb it . It was much different from simply devouring the soul . This act increased her presence, filled her soul, and grew her magic .
The Evil God had referred to this as ‘theoretically being able to become much more powerful than the Demon King himself’ .
The Undead dream of taking in souls to become more powerful, they dream of becoming Legion, but that would only be a consequence of multiple evil spirits gathering in a single point . To be able to empower her own self through this method, that characteristic was something René alone possessed . A trait unique to her alone among the Undead .
The woman whom René had laid eyes on . Miriam . She held a grudge against Night Python, a criminal syndicate that controlled the dark side of Ciel-Terra .
While enacting vengeance upon that kind of organization felt like overwork, RenĂ© nevertheless really  didn’t want to let Miriam go .
Always quality over quantity .
And while possessing others was something very much within the ability of every high ranking Spirit Type Undead, in René’s case, she even had a special option .
However, to make use of that skill, she had to possess a girl of the same or similar age as her

――Man I’m so lucky . I got my hands on just the perfect body! Well, well, how should I proceed from here?
Iris was the perfect body to possess for René .
First, she was of the same age as her . Second, she was trying to get involved with Night Python . And finally, she was an adventurer, and a Wizard at that, allowing her to use her own magic under the guise of Iris .
If she cannot beat Lawrence, she could not get revenge against the usurper, Hilbert . Strengthening herself through devouring other souls was key .
So let’s make use of Iris and her friends . To my end .
Wearing Iris’ smile on her face, RenĂ© hurried towards the inn .
Translator: Fried Hedgehog
Eyyo guise, sup, Hedge here with another chapter of “*rubs hands* Excellent *rubs hands more*” . There’s not much to talk about here, except that it’s building up to something bigger I guess . Good god I hope Suzume-sensei stops with all the perspective jumps every chapter from here on out, for at least a little while longer .
As for the title, it’s referring to the Japanese Law . Penal Code Article 252 is about Embezzlement . I’m not sure if it’s okay to classify taking over other people’s bodies as embezzlement, but hey, the analogy weirdly works .
For those who want to know more: Japan Law Translation .
Aight, that’s all for this episode . See y’all next chapter .