Many life-forms that died and lost their bodies had a dull sense of time.

They didn't have hearts that beat in rhythm, nor did they have lungs that breathed. They didn't have the physical need to eat or sleep. Spirits wandering the outside world could look at the sky to gain a broad sense of the flow of time, but spirits that remained indoors sometimes couldn't even tell if years were passing.

That was why Rodcorte had installed a 'clock' in his own Divine Realm, for the reincarnated individuals to use.

The Bravers and Murakami Junpei's group that had left the Bravers, who had died in Origin, had the time limit of a month to decide what they would do after being reincarnated in Origin. The clock was to make sure they kept to the time limit.

Recently, Rodcorte was a little freer from dealing with the problems in the circle of transmigration system that arose from souls being broken.

"I've regained the instincts I had when the Demon King Guduranis was running rampant in Lambda over a hundred thousand years ago."

Now, Rodcorte was only made a little busier than usual in order to deal with the problems caused by a broken soul or two.

He had been forced to devote all of his efforts into this when Raymond Paris, Rick Paris and a dozen other members of the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army who had been involved in the Scylla serial killing incident had their souls broken at once, however.

"Instead of thinking of using the souls in Vida's circle of transmigration system for my own system, should I start working on a version update to my system so that it can effectively deal with souls being broken?" Rodcorte wondered.

But considering that he was planning to solve the problem by erasing Vandalieu, the only one capable of breaking souls, he felt hesitant to begin such a task.

It was unlikely that another being capable of destroying souls like the Demon King Guduranis would begin an invasion from another world, anyway.

And if Vandalieu did something reckless like destroying tens, or even hundreds of thousands of souls within a short period of time, no version update Rodcorte could implement into his system would be able to cope with it. The only thing he would be able to do in such a situation was to detach the part of the system that managed reincarnation in Lambda and several other worlds to prevent the entire system from collapsing.

This was something that even the Demon King Guduranis hadn't done (likely because it was unclear as to what would happen in Lambda after the destruction of Rodcorte's system), but there was no guarantee that Vandalieu wouldn't do it.

"So then, isn't it better to make it so that you could detach only the Lambda portion of the system?" Aran suggested, having listened to Rodcorte's monologue.

"That would be difficult," Rodcorte replied. "My circle of reincarnation system has never been completely divided by world to begin with. Normally, souls are reincarnated within a single world, but the system has been designed so that a world can borrow souls from other worlds in order to deal with unexpected circumstances."

It was a setup so that if World A experienced an explosive growth in population and lacked souls, it could borrow souls that were awaiting reincarnation in Worlds B and C.

And due to this setup, worlds A, B and C could not be individually detached from the system.

I see, Aran thought as he gave a sigh. "So, in this case, those multiple worlds are Earth, Origin and Lambda?"

Rodcorte had reincarnated Aran and the others from Earth, which was close to Lambda in the system, into Origin, which was also close to Lambda. Now, he was trying to reincarnate them in Lambda, which was close to Origin.

At the same time, Aran understood that if the situation called for it, Rodcorte would be forced to abandon Lambda, and Earth and Origin along with it.

As the system's manager, Rodcorte probably had the right mindset, but...

"Precisely. However, it is not that I desire to discard these worlds, including Lambda. That is why I reincarnated you people from Earth, and I want you to understand that this is also why I am requesting that you erase Vandalieu," Rodcorte said.

"... No, isn't the latter for a different reason? I understand that he's dangerous, but it's not like he needs to break souls in order to survive, so wouldn't he stop doing it if you asked him to?" Aran said, his face stiff. He didn't think it was necessary to persistently try to kill Vandalieu.

But it seemed that Rodcorte had a different opinion.

"If there was a highly-intelligent, dangerous biological weapon with its own free will loose in the world of Origin that could not be controlled by humanity, what do you think humanity's leaders would choose to do?" Rodcorte asked.

Knowing the answer to this question without even using Calculation, Aran looked downcast. "Rather than believe in the possibility that it won't harm humanity, it would be safer to erase it and reduce the chance of humanity being harmed to zero. Yes, yes, I understand," he said, and then he walked away from Rodcorte.

Rodcorte finally realized that he had a habit of unconsciously talking to himself, as he had spent most of his time alone.

Now that he had created Familiar Spirits, even if they were only temporary, he needed to be more careful from now on.

"Umm, Kami-sama, can I have a word?"

The next person to call out to Rodcorte was the 'Marionette' Inui Hajime. He had come alone, without bringing any of his companions – not that it was clear if he had any companions left among the reincarnated individuals.

His face was pale, his eyes were wandering, and his hands and knees were trembling.

I'm surprised he can express his emotions to this extent despite being a mere soul, Rodcorte thought. Even he, who thought little of the human mind, was impressed. It seemed that Hajime's thoughts were in disorder.

Thus, Rodcorte spoke to him with a gentle tone. "Have you come to a decision?"

This didn't seem to be effective, however.

"That's right! About that decision! Is it possible for me to be reincarnated somewhere as a baby with my memories and personality erased?! If possible, without my fortune and powers!" Hajime shouted.

"... Hmm." Despite being able to read Hajime's thoughts, Rodcorte fell into a surprised silence at this unexpected request.

I thought that humans were creatures that do not even hesitate to kill others in order to protect the power, rights and fortunes that they have gained, but...

For Rodcorte, who had these thoughts regarding humanity, Inui Hajime's request was an unexpected one.

Unlike Earth and Origin, the value of life was small in Lambda. Excluding those born as royals or nobles, the world's inhabitants had their lives and belongings stolen in frequent wars, and this was considered normal.

It couldn't be said that regions where this was true did not exist on Earth or in Origin, but this applied to the entirety of the world of Lambda.

To reincarnate in such a world without a cheat-like ability or the memories and knowledge that he had gained so far, starting over again as a baby, was...

"Are you aware of the dangers?" Rodcorte asked.

"O-of course! I don't even mind dying right after I'm born!"

Inui Hajime's mind had been broken to a greater extent than Rodcorte or anyone around him had imagined.

If he was reincarnated as he was now, it was likely that he would be killed by Vandalieu, Murakami's group or Lambda's inhabitants; he had been driven into a corner.

This was what he had made himself believe.

Even if he became an assassin to kill Vandalieu, Vandalieu was certain to have already received information about him from the Eighth Guidance. With that being the case, he would be killed like Kaidou Kanata had been. He couldn't use Marionette to manipulate Golems and Ghosts that didn't have nerves, and if Vandalieu himself used Out-of-body Experience to separate himself from his physical body, he couldn't manipulate him, either. And after he was defeated, even if he begged for his life, he couldn't expect any compassion from Vandalieu.

If he didn't become an assassin, Murakami Junpei's group would kill him to silence him. Even if Vandalieu had information from the Eighth Guidance, it was possible that the Eighth Guidance had reincarnated in an imperfect form. And considering the risk that Hajime might let it slip to Lambda's natives that they were reincarnated individuals, he couldn't be left alive.

He couldn't rely on the other reincarnated individuals to save him. Hajime hadn't killed them directly, but there was no changing the fact that he had betrayed the Bravers.

Even if he was killed by Murakami, they would just consider it to be 'internal discord.'

Of course, being 'killed' wouldn't be in the literal sense of the word. Murakami's group knew that Hajime's soul would simply return to Rodcorte if he was killed.

They were certain to choose a way to half-kill him, such as destroying a non-vital part of his brain, leaving him alive but unable to speak.

Hajime wasn't sure that he would be sane when he died and his soul returned to this place if they did something like that to him.

And if he were to be killed by Vandalieu, he would almost certainly have his soul destroyed thanks to the foolish Kaidou Kanata. Now that Hajime had become a spirit, he could imagine the intense pain, sense of loss and despair that he would feel if that were to happen to him.

"Th-that's why I think it would be easier if I just disappeared! If I were just a baby with no memories or personality, nobody would think of going out of their way to try to find and kill me, right?!" Hajime said.

This was the conclusion that he had arrived at. He would lose his power, have his memories and personality erased and start over. Since this was an ordinary reincarnation, he was aware that this would be the end of the person known as Inui Hajime. However, this was what he wanted.

Having seen the gist of what Inui Hajime was thinking, Rodcorte became aware of a mistake that he had made.

I should have considered the circumstances and stress associated with repeatedly reincarnating individuals in a group with their memories and personalities intact.

Humans were normally born anew, but in the case of these reincarnated individuals, they would regain the memories and personalities from their previous lives once they were around five or six years old.

In other words, their natures would take shape at that moment.

This made it difficult for them even if they decided that they wanted to work hard after being reborn into their new lives. It didn't need to be said that it was difficult to change one's past experiences and human nature that had already been established.

And what would happen if they were reincarnated alongside those who knew them in their previous lives?

Starting over became even more difficult.

And they even retained their memories of their deaths, so those who had been betrayed by those they thought were their allies, like Inui Hajime, would carry their traumas into their next lives.

It seemed that Kaidou Kanata hadn't thought much about it, simply thinking that he would be reincarnated once more if he died again. However, that was because Kanata was an abnormal case; Inui Hajime's reaction was more normal.

The human nature, relationships with the other reincarnated individuals, the fear of death. It was Rodcorte's mistake, having taken all of these too lightly.

I suppose it was a mistake to have them reincarnate in Origin to gain knowledge, skills and experience,Rodcorte thought, but he wasn't capable of reversing time.

Right now, responding to Inui Hajime's request came first. At this rate, he would be both useless as an assassin to kill Vandalieu and useless in bringing the knowledge and skills of his previous worlds to Lambda for its development.

"Unfortunately, I cannot do that," Rodcorte said.

If he granted Hajime's request, it would waste the effort he had spent in granting him a cheat-like ability and the time that he had spent in Origin. Even if he would be nothing more than a sacrificial pawn, Rodcorte wanted him to play that role up until the end before he disappeared.

"W-why?!" Hajime demanded.

"Because I cannot do it."

Though those were Rodcorte's thoughts, he could not honestly speak them out loud.

If the plan for Lambda's development was proceeding smoothly, then it wouldn't have been a problem for Inui Hajime, a single individual, to give up. But the current situation was one of crisis. Every single usable resource needed to be utilized to its limit.

"Th-then, what the hell am I supposed to do...?" Hajime muttered.

At this rate, it was likely that Hajime would choose to kill himself after being reincarnated, so Rodcorte decided to lend him some strength.

"I will set up your Marionette ability to activate itself automatically and end your life in the event that you are put into the half-dead, vegetable state that you are fearing, and you do not wish to recover from that state. Will that be enough?" Rodcorte asked.

Though such a thing would have been impossible for Rodcorte to carry out on Vandalieu, as he had received no cheat-like ability, it was possible for him to perform adjustments like this on Inui Hajime and the other reincarnated individuals.

"Th-then... well... kind of..." Inui Hajime looked crestfallen at how small Rodcorte's support was. "Let me think about it a little more," he said as he walked away.

If he comes back, that is when I shall decide how to use him, or whether I should return him to the circle of transmigration if he will be of no use, Rodcorte thought.

Another reincarnated individual approached. It was the 'Clairvoyance' Tendou Tatsuya.

"I have a proposal. I want you to let me gather information," he said.

"What do you mean by 'gather information?'" Rodcorte asked.

"From this Divine Realm place, it's possible to see the worlds whose circles of transmigration you control. Isn't that right?"

"That is correct, but... I do not think there would be any meaning to gazing at the worlds."

It was possible to gaze at the worlds from Rodcorte's Divine Realm. However, the precision of the image would be like looking at Earth from outer space at a distance that made it appear to be the size of a clenched fist.

It would be possible to see the shapes and locations of the continents, as well as phenomena that were larger than the continents themselves. However, islands would be difficult to see. Seeing the activity of humans would be impossible.

"I do not mind if you wish to gain a broad idea of Lambda's geography, but..." Rodcorte muttered, displaying an image of Lambda in front of Tendou.

The world of Lambda could be clearly seen in this spherical image that was about the size of a baby's head. It could even be considered a special privilege for a mortal to see the shape of the world that was still unknown to the people living in it.

Incidentally, the reason that Rodcorte could only see the world at this distance was because he was not a god that was acknowledged in Lambda. If he were a god who was worshipped by many people, like Alda, the god of law and fate, he would be able to see the areas where large numbers of his followers were living in with more detail.

But for Rodcorte, whose very existence was not known to anyone in Lambda, this was the limit.

"Hmm?"

At least, that was supposed to be the case, but for some reason, there was one part of the world of Lambda that was a little easier to see.

Is it just my imagination? This is the southern area of the Bahn Gaia continent... the nation ruled by Vandalieu! I see; Vandalieu, as a reincarnated individual, is aware of my existence. Is that why? But this is a matter that has nothing to do with Mana; it is a matter of how many people acknowledge me. Can a single person have this much influence?

Though it was 'visible,' it was only a little better than the other regions; it wasn't enough to be useful. Just as Rodcorte decided that it was just his imagination after all, Tendou smiled, gazing intently at the world of Lambda.

"Alright, this will work!" he said. "Kami-sama, please make it so that I can use Clairvoyance. With this, I want to see the inside of the Boundary Mountain Range, the nation that Amamiya has built."

The Clairvoyance ability that Tendou Tatsuya had received form Rodcorte was a collection of multiple vision-related abilities. Among them was an ability called 'Telescopic Vision.'

However, that ability on its own wasn't a particularly incredible ability. Since a pair of binoculars or a telescope was enough, he hadn't really tried to improve it. He could only magnify his vision by a few times.

Even so, he would likely be able to see Talosheim's geography and its town, as well as the shape of the castle's walls. That alone would be information that Asagi and his other companions could use to make decisions.

Or so Tendou thought.

"I see," Rodcorte muttered, thinking of a way to use Tendou to gather information. "Now that you have become but a soul made of spirit, no physical limitations exist for you. The problem is Mana, but I can simply lend you some and it will be sufficient. Very well, Tendou Tatsuya. Let us try to see the current Vandalieu, using your power."

Tendou's Clairvoyance was originally something that Rodcorte had created by processing his own divine power, but the pre-processed divine power could not be used by any other than its owner, Rodcorte himself; it was nothing more than energy. And because there were restrictions associated with being a god, there were many things that were impossible for him to do.

However, by processing his divine power so that a human could use it, humans could use that power to do things without the restrictions of being a god.

I see. Humans are useful after all, Rodcorte thought.

"Now then, I will make it so that everyone can see what you can see," Rodcorte said.

"You can do something like that?!"

"It is possible. For better or worse, you people are currently in a state where you are free from the limitations of physical bodies."

In fact, the reincarnated individuals didn't have limbs, eyes or noses. The sharing of information was simple with Rodcorte's assistance.

And then Rodcorte gathered all of the reincarnated individuals, as well as Aran and Izumi, his Familiar Spirits. And then he explained the principle of using Tendou's Clairvoyance to gather information on Vandalieu.

Nobody objected. No matter which of the options presented by Rodcorte they would choose, no matter what they would do once they were reincarnated in Origin, acquiring information about Vandalieu couldn't cause any harm.

Even from Aran and Izumi's point of view, information about Vandalieu and Talosheim was so limited that they were desperate to know more about them.

And this was a Divine Realm. It was a space that was isolated from Lambda.

Even if they used Clairvoyance to look at Vandalieu, Vandalieu himself would never notice. And even in the near-impossible event that he did, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

"Is this really alright? You're the ones who said that there's a lot of things that we don't know about his powers!"