She was fairly true to her word and quickly told Eiji the location of the necklace.
The effects of the Body-Swap Necklace were far too terrifying. Allowing such a divine artifact to circulate in this world would inevitably lead to major trouble. After all, no one wanted to wake up one day to find their body stolen, only to be killed off by the impostor who took their place.
Damn that Aqua! How could she send sothing so horrifying to this world? Did she even have half a brain left?
The mont Eiji learned of this artifact's existence, he had already decided to destroy it.
Of course, once it was in his hands, whether it would actually be destroyed was entirely up to him.
"Huh? Wait a second!"
As if struck by lightning, Eiji suddenly stiffened.
An inconspicuous mory fragnt involuntarily flashed through his mind.
"That Body-Swap Necklace you ntioned—does it have a blue gem embedded in it?"
"Correct."
The female thief's tone remained utterly certain, as though she had seen it with her own eyes.
Eiji's eye twitched violently.
His mory returned to the night of the banquet, after Claire had led him to the side chamber, where he had seen Iris.
At the ti, she hadn't been carrying the holy sword Excalibur, yet his skill had still reacted.
Because she had been wearing a sapphire necklace.
Back then, he had thought the royal family was just being extravagant, casually carrying two divine artifacts… but it turned out that necklace had been offered by a noble? And clearly with malicious intent!
"Could soone be trying to seize control of Belzerg's highest echelons of power?"
Eiji covered his face.
Damn, how did a simple trip to the royal capital suddenly drag him into such a massive conspiracy?
Offering the Body-Swap Necklace to the royal family—wasn't that an obvious attempt to swap bodies with them?
Using Iris as a stepping stone, it would be entirely possible to swap with either the prince or the king. And once that happened, the entire nation would instantly fall into the hands of so unknown noble!
"That's what I deduced as well."
The female thief nodded in agreent with his reasoning.
"Then why haven't you exposed this?"
"I only found out yesterday, and I've been pretty busy these past few days, okay?"
"What could possibly be more important than saving the royal family?"
"One of my enemies escaped from his turtle-shell-like barrier. I have to keep an eye on him at all tis!"
The female thief spoke vaguely, clearly unwilling to elaborate further.
"Whatever. What's your na?"
Eiji waved his hand, pushing aside his thoughts for the mont.
"If I tell you, what's stopping you from selling out?"
"Do I seem like that kind of person?"
"Based on our brief interaction—absolutely!"
"Fine, I'll go first."
Eiji shook his head in exasperation. He had no idea when he'd given her such a terrible impression. This female thief really had no eye for judging people.
"My na is Nangou. I'm staying at the Kingdom's Public Hall."
He decisively removed his hood and mask, revealing his true face.
The sheer impact of his appearance left the female thief montarily breathless.
Even with all her years of experience, she had never encountered a man whose re presence could leave her so stunned she nearly fell under a charm effect.
"...Are you a reincarnated person?"
It took her a while to snap out of it, pressing a hand to her chest to steady her wavering heart.
"You know about reincarnators?"
Eiji looked astonished. While many knew of the black-haired adventurer, very few were familiar with the term "reincarnator."
"Uh, sort of. I'm pretty well-inford."
She brushed it off vaguely, clearly unwilling to delve deeper into the topic.
"Alright, I've told you my real na. Now it's your turn."
"Why should I have to tell you my real na?"
The female thief seed reluctant, as if she didn't want to get too entangled with Eiji.
"If you don't tell , I'll strip you naked right now, take hundreds of nude photos, print them out, and spread them everywhere."
"My na is Chris! I'm just an ordinary thief, staying at an inn on the southeast street. I work alone, no companions, and I only do thievery as a hobby. I don't have much money—most of it goes to supporting the orphanage..."
The thief imdiately spilled all sorts of information like pouring beans from a sack.
As she spoke, she even pulled off her mask, revealing short silver hair. Her face was quite pretty, though a flesh-colored scar on her cheek slightly marred the harmony of her features.
"Good. If I need anything later, I'll co find you at the inn."
Satisfied with the information, Eiji nodded and turned to leave.
But suddenly, he stopped and glanced back at Chris with a thoughtful expression.
"You wouldn't run away from the inn, would you? If I can't find you later, it'll be my problem... Should I just strip you now and take a few hundred nude photos first?"
Chris's heart nearly stopped!
"Bzzzt—!"
She thrust her hands forward, and a blinding white light erupted from her body.
The flash was so sudden that even Eiji was caught off guard, instinctively closing his eyes.
By the ti the light faded, the dim alley was empty except for Eiji.
Chris was gone.
"Teleportation magic? Or a scroll? But it didn't seem like it!"
Eiji shook his head in regret while clicking his tongue in amazent.
He was certain Chris hadn't simply fled under the cover of the light—she had vanished within it. His senses couldn't be wrong.
"And why did that light carry such a strong holy aura?"
Eiji narrowed his eyes.
He had, after all, t quite a few gods, slept with two, and even witnessed a deity being returned to the heavens.
The pillar of light back then bore an uncanny resemblance to the flash just now.
"High Priestess? No, her class is clearly Thief. A divine artifact, then... Whatever the case, she's no ordinary female thief—that much is certain."
After pondering for a while without answers, Eiji committed the na "Chris" to mory before finally walking away.
anwhile.
In a space of pure white.
Aside from a single chair, the place was utterly empty.
The surrounding whiteness seed boundless, vast and endless—nothing like the human world.
A holy light flashed, and the thief Chris appeared on the chair.
But unlike before, her tight-fitting outfit had sohow vanished, replaced by a flowing blue dress. The scars on her face were gone, and she now radiated an intense aura of holiness.
"Huff... hah... huff..."
She gasped heavily, occasionally clutching her shoulder with trembling hands, her face bearing the expression of soone who had narrowly escaped death.
"I was so terrified that I couldn't help but use divine power to flee back here, even forgetting to conceal my identity. He probably won't suspect anything... having never seen my true appearance before, he shouldn't recognize ..."
After a long while, she finally cald down, wearing a wry smile of helplessness.
"Being frightened into retreating here by a mortal—this is truly a first!"
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