“S-soul Project?” Anabelle leaked out her voice, but sharply zipped her lips when I glanced at her.

This wasn’t the time for questions.

Everyone would understand once I was done explaining.

“By infusing the soul with an artificial body, you can ensure the continuity of life.”

I decided to go further and break it down for everyone.

Jane never forbade me from telling it to anyone, considering we still needed her expertise—or mine—to make the project work.

Besides, this was my trusted circle of friends.

“Now, how does this relate to the Beastfolk incident? I’ll explain.”

**************

It all happened weeks ago, when I realized just how much of a threat the Beastfolk would be to my enemies.

Considering they were a valuable military asset, I couldn’t bear to lose them in an unforeseen situation.

Also, I had made them my vassals, and as such, was responsible for their safety. That was when I decided on the groundwork for the current Soul Project.

Still, transferring consciousness from one body to another was not exactly the same as dying and coming back to life in a different body.

These were factors I put into consideration when thinking of the plan.

After discussing with Jane, we arrived at a consensus.

I would need to use two Arcanas for this venture. ‘The Hermit’ and ‘The Hanged Man’.

The Hanged Man was supposed to utilize the information gotten from the soul to make a body, just as I did when resurrecting the Fairies.

The Hermit was meant to quicken the process with time manipulation.

Since I estimated the enemy to strike at us after a few months—after they had exhausted the means to obtain any other Arcana aside from the ones we possessed—the project had to be completed as soon as possible.

I decided to bring Neron into things, since he was more adept at manipulating time than I was… plus he had a larger pool of Mana.

Together, the three of us initiated the project.

My Automatons were used to replace actual workers, and they were efficient in their work.

Neron’s Magic pervaded the entire building, causing the achievement of so much work in very little time.

Just as I was able to train for a century when only three years passed, Neron also replicated the effects on this place.

I could only imagine the amount of Mana he was burning every moment, yet he didn’t seem troubled.

According to him, he could create Mana Cores every second—that was simply insane.

In any case, our work was perfect. There was only one thing to consider…

… How to obtain the Souls of our targets.

Souls reside in the body, and unless a person died, their Souls would remain there.

Now, how would we obtain the Souls of our targets to prepare a body for when they died?

The answer was simple.

—Soul Brand.

Every Beastfolk had a Soul Brand which connected them to me.

As a result, I was able to siphon a small quantity of their Soul Essence and store them in various pods, tagging them according to the name of the Beastfolk.

Souls were like cells, and even the smallest piece had the full information of an entire being.

As a result, we simply had to cultivate the newly isolated Soul, until it reached maturity, and then create the body from scratch.

That was the plan—for when our allies died.

Fortunately, we had already started this project a short while back, so the deaths of the Beastfolk weren’t the end.

While it was painful and tragic, it wasn’t over. They had a backup supply right here.

*************

“When will it be completed?” I asked Jane.

“I already told you, about three months.”

“Can’t we speed up the time ratio? That will make the work faster.”

“No way! There’s a limit to how much an entity can live in warped time, especially adjusting to the new time rate.”

“I did it, though.” My voice interrupted Jane’s complaint.

“Well, the time ratio of your Arcana wore out slowly, but we can’t achieve that here. Besides, this is a delicate project. I know you need it as fast as you can, but there’s no need to rush.”

“You’re right.”

“Of course, I always am.”

Despite the temptation, I couldn’t exactly argue with that.

“You know what would be fun? Making a replica of you, Lewis! That way, I could have a partner for myself.”

“H-hey! You’re not doing that, are you?”

Jane was connected to me with a Soul Brand. Since she was an expert in that Soul Magic, it wasn’t exactly impossible for her to achieve something like that.

She was even in possession of ‘The Hanged Man’ Arcana, so she could replicate my body.

“Hahaha! Maybe. You’ll never know for sure.”

I was panicking a bit, glancing at Neron for a little assistance.

Once again, he glanced away in betrayal.

“Well, now that you’ve shown them what they want to see…” Jane’s smile was already wearing out.

I already knew what that meant.

“… GET OUT OF MY LAB!”

“YES MA’AM!” Neron and I spoke in tandem, and we ran out of the room.

Teleportation was forbidden inside the Soul Haven, considering it warped space, and an already sped-up time was already in effect.

If I used ‘The Tower’ while within the Soul Haven, a singularity could occur, and that would be bad.

Because of that, everyone returned to the tube that brought us to the location.

Once we arrived at the Disinfecting Room, I activated my Teleportation Spell, and we all went our merry way.

‘I sure hope Jane was joking…’

**************

“I was kidding. Did he really believe I would do that?” The Fairy smiled, now flying to her office.

There was no way she could use Jared’s current Soul to create a person. If she did, it wouldn’t be the Lewis she wanted.

Not only had Jared changed a great deal from the Lewis she knew, but he also wasn’t as close to her as before.

Now that he was surrounded by so many friends and people of interest, she only had the role of a supporting character in his life.

There was no way she could wish for such a partner.

*************

A

/N

Am I the only one who feels for Jane?