---

In the end, I couldn’t stop Victoria from eating dessert.

Honestly, I have no idea how she managed to fit a sugar-coated bread the size of her body into that belly of hers, but she finished it all.

So, I grabbed her and dragged her to the food tray set up at one side of the party hall to force her to eat some meat and vegetables.

She picked at it a little.

At least it wasn’t pure sugar, so it was somewhat better.

But it was kind of funny seeing her as a grandmother. She outright declared, “Grandma, I can’t eat anymore!”

Rebecca Bet gave her a little at first, but seeing that Victoria increased her meal portions while being dragged around by Grandpa for farm work, she ended up giving her a ton.

The problem, however, was that they served several times the amount she ate.

It seems like grandmas everywhere pile up the food.

Victoria finally ran away, saying she didn’t like Grandma, leaving me behind. But as I yelled for Grandma, a nearby student cautiously scrutinized my expression.

They looked at me as if I were an angry person; what’s up with that?

When I glanced around, the eyes on me quickly vanished.

Feeling strange, I looked around and spotted Mogrei quietly standing in a corner of the party hall, trying to calm his excitement, so I approached him.

But seeing his expression, it didn’t seem like a good time for a chat, so I just gave him a light greeting and looked around again. But I didn’t see anything that could lead me to create a harvesting machine.

So, I just went home.

As a side note, before I returned, the expression I saw on Mogrei was not the “Let’s fight!” kind but more like a beast wondering how strong he’d get if he devoured me.

Typical of someone living in the outskirts.

Once back home, I did some chores and finished my homework, then put Belle’s body to rest.

***

Fourth World.

After Abragin died, there was an incident where his child suddenly escaped, but Jeber didn’t suspect me.

Jeber has a habit of jotting down research notes. In that regard, he’s quite the researcher. So, I could tell what he was thinking at that moment.

He assumed that as long as I could hear him, it could be a harvesting machine and noted that he should be careful when creating it in the future.

He recorded that when making a harvesting machine, the area where the subject enters should be sealed off, and we should also add soundproof wallpaper just in case.

Nowhere in the notes did he write anything that suggested he suspected me.

Phew. That’s a relief.

Of course, even if he suspects that I have consciousness, he can’t do anything about it.

No matter how much he tortures the body I’m in, I remain unscathed.

But he can grind me up.

There was a time when I managed to recover with just a single hand left.

But whether I could recover if I turned into minced meat is still uncertain. So, no room for optimism.

Moreover, Yasle did do one thing—reverse summoning.

If you know how to summon, you can probably do the opposite as well.

Of course, I obtained Jeber’s memories a few months back.

Those include a summoning method that he understood in his own way. But it didn’t seem to have any techniques that looked like a reverse summoning method.

When comparing the summoning methods, there are many similarities to Yasle’s techniques. But the reverse summoning method barely matched up when I cross-referenced the memories.

And those barely matching parts were also in the summoning method, so it’s likely based on the foundational techniques for summoning rather than reverse summoning knowledge.

But I can’t say it’s 100%.

Can I be sure that Jeber hasn’t thought of reverse summoning in the past few months? He’s a smart guy. Plus, he got even smarter after becoming a harvesting machine.

So I just have to pretend to be a tool like always. And Jeber still treats me like a tool.

Which is quite convenient, really.

Meanwhile, what happened to the runaway girl…

Well, she’s granting wishes like a child of a demon.

In exchange for granting a wish, she eats the soul.

The first person she encountered was a child living on the outskirts of the city.

The girl, clad in just a thin layer of clothing, was running away through the sky, resembling a wizard. To put it simply, she looked like an angel.

So, she indiscriminately made a wish.

It was a child-like desire to have a particular toy.

The girl who listened carefully agreed to grant the child’s wish, saying something similar to the contract document I recite.

And the next day.

The child was found dead, clutching the toy.

What a coincidence.

Maybe the nearby toy store had run out of stock and placed an additional order,

Or the child had seen the toy there frequently,

Or the child mistakenly thought they’d get the toy and went to that toy store,

Or the timing of the delivery vehicle was just right.

And coincidentally, the delivery vehicle’s wheels suddenly broke.

Thus, the car toppled over and crushed the child.

So while the child was smashed under the broken car, they still managed to get the toy right before they died. The toy had fortuitously landed in their hands as it tumbled out from between the wreckage.

Then the girl, as per the contract, extracted the soul from the child’s corpse and swallowed it.

There’s one thing that kind of got to me.

The warmth of the child didn’t come to me.

But the girl’s light grew a bit brighter, and the warmth she had increased.

It was like a piggy bank.

A piggy bank. Yes, a piggy bank. One day, I’ll be able to consume all of it.

So here, I just leave it be. Yes.

The girl takes people’s wishes this way while stealing their lives.

Of course, she didn’t exclusively hunt in Jeber’s city.

After taking out one or two people around the towns she hears about, she fled from this city.

This girl knows how to use Abragin’s abilities. Not just how to use them, but also how to use them effectively.

Demons can wield magic to create miracles.

However, it’s rare to find demons that can do everything.

In rare cases, they can do specific things like making livestock healthy or giving gold.

But for those tasks, they can manifest them as if by magic.

Not the type where fire erupts from your hands or ice shoots out, but creating miracles as if fate itself were turning.

Miracles don’t carry a price.

Yes. Demons are embodiments of that phenomenon, so they can naturally bring them to pass.

In contrast, if they don’t fulfill that phenomenon, they can’t do anything.

But after eating a person’s soul and evolving, they can live however they want. Generally, demons strive to break free from that stage for advancement.

Once they surpass that stage, they become demons with a name.

Demons who can freely do what they want instead of simple phenomena.

That was Abragin.

Abragin was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was born with a destiny like that of a monkey’s paw. He grants three wishes. Wishes granted always bring misfortune.

That’s how he easily became a powerful demon, which unfortunately led to mediocrity.

Jeber saw the summoning spell he had made, judged that this was enough to manipulate it, and took care of the minions swarming and pushed his way in.

But he didn’t expect to combine the body and soul as soon as he entered and start torturing the body to shatter consciousness.

And the outcome is what I know.

He forcibly gave birth to a child and became a harvesting machine.

Even after becoming a harvesting machine and growing more powerful, it seems that the compulsion of the name doesn’t disappear.

Even though Abragin screamed in agony like that, he couldn’t resist a single command when Jeber called his real name. It seems merely becoming a harvesting machine is insufficient.

However, the fact that he didn’t gain psychic abilities at that moment might imply that he was unlucky or that Abragin had a fighting chance.

My guess is that psychic abilities manifest in situations where the future is blocked.

The girl?

She doesn’t have psychic abilities. In fact, it would be natural for her not to have them.

You know why?

Artificial humans can’t gain psychic abilities. At least, that’s what I’ve seen.

After becoming a harvesting machine, since she received a heart from a demon, I don’t think there’s any chance left.

Still, that demon’s abilities are impressive.

She can fly, and she can make her body transparent, and she already knows how to deal with people.

She artfully entangles them with words to forge contracts. Then she wraps it up within a day or two and swallows their souls.

After which, she promptly moves to another town.

Initially, she flew away from the city without a destination, but after obtaining a map in a sizable town, she changed her movements.

She marked a few towns on the map and adjusted her movements toward them.

Comparing the marked map with the one in Jeber’s head, it showed only the cities nestled between the territories.

Essentially, she is flying across the borders, which is quite clever.

Even if a stranger mixes in, it wouldn’t seem like a bizarre city, right?

In closed-off towns, when someone new comes in, all you hear for a while is gossip about assessing the newcomer.

But towns bustling with people have no concern for strangers. Because even if they meet, they quickly disappear and new people come in, right?

And such places focus more on events than on individuals.

That’s why, the larger the city, the more you hear tales of events rather than stories about people.

There are countless people, but events are something brand-new all on their own.

I picked up a few things while observing through the girl’s perspective.

First of all, this girl possesses the knowledge of Abragin.

It’s true that she inherited memories, akin to Jeber’s wishes. Yet, surprisingly, her self is not Abragin.

Instead, during the night, she muttered something of resentment toward Abragin.

She complained about being foolish enough to fall into the clutches of such a wicked wizard and ending up like this.

She has a separate self and, astonishingly, she harbors a desire for revenge against Jeber.

For now, it’s just a desire without a proper plan, but she intends to be hostile towards Jeber.

Hmm.

Honestly, it’s a bit much to expect from her.

I mean, I’m uneasy about her not providing warmth…

It might just be better if she quickly threw herself at Jeber and got herself killed.