… …
… …
"Ugh... It hurts so much." Shidou covered his chest and moaned---
At this moment, the curtains that originally surrounded the bed were suddenly pulled open.
Shidou thought that the teacher had returned from the infirmary, but that was not the case. Standing in front of him was his younger sister, Kotori, who was wearing a junior high school uniform.
"Eh...Kotori? Why are you in a place like this..."
"I heard that you had a fever and fainted and, you used the power that seemed to be a spirit. How is your physical condition... I think I know it without asking."
"By the way, brother Katsu is in the same condition as you, but his condition is much better than yours." When Kotori saw Shidou's appearance, she showed a serious expression.
"Ah? Katsu, the same thing... You don't... have any clues...? A few hours ago, my body was acting weird... I couldn't figure out what was going on..."
"...Anyway, let's go check out the facilities at Ratatosk. I've already asked someone to drive the car to the back gate of the school. Can you walk? Katsu-nii has already gone there."
"Oh, so... It's okay if we go to the back door." After saying this, Shidou slowly sat up and put on the indoor shoes placed beside the bed.
Then, with the help of Kotori, he walked out of the health room.
"Hmm... Hmm..." Shidou staggered down the corridor. It seemed that it was already lunchtime without him noticing, and students with lunch boxes were seen here and there. Although some people cast curious glances at Kotori in her junior high school uniform and Shidou who was supported by her, he didn't have the energy to respond.
Actually, Shidou wanted to go back to the classroom first to take away his school bag and textbooks, but now he even found it difficult to climb the stairs.
But after thinking about it, in order not to make everyone worry, he decided to forget it.
Arriving at the back door of the school and getting in the car, Shidou saw that Katsu was lying in the passenger seat with his eyes closed. He seemed to have heard something, so he turned around and smiled at Shidou: "Here you are, Shidou."
… …
… …
In the underground meeting room owned by Ratatosk.
Kotori was facing a group of stuffed dolls sitting at a round table.
That being said, she wasn't actually talking to the plush dolls, of course. There were loudspeakers placed underneath the plush dolls, each connected to a line to the highest-ranking Ratatosk officers around the world.
"--Commander Kotori, what's going on?" The loudspeaker installed on the crying mouse doll emitted a cowardly voice that perfectly matched the expression of the plush doll.
"Isn't it very unlikely that Itsuka Shidou's power will get out of control, how did he even get out of control in the first place? And that monster [Wizard]... ahem, how could that being be unable to control his own power?!"
"…There is no error in the data. This situation should not have happened. The responsibility lies entirely with me."
"You think you can solve this problem if you just take responsibility?" the drooling bulldog stuffed animal said angrily.
"[Wizard] now have the spiritual power of eight spirits stored in him. If the power gets out of control...how much damage do you think it will cause!"
As if to appease the bulldog's anger, the ugly cat doll spoke: "Calm down. Didn't we prepare [Dainsleif] in advance to prevent this kind of situation? As for [Wizard]... ...if we use Commander Itsuka's relationship to trick him to the moon---"
Hearing this, Kotori frowned and showed a look of disgust.
"...However, Itsuka Shido and the [Wizard] are very special to the spirits. If we kill them now, the spirits may lose their minds at the same time and go crazy. In the worst case, the situation may even turn around." This person's words were very domineering, as if he could kill Shido and Katsu at any time...
"Yeah, that's how it should be. But the situation is different now."
"This... But no matter what, if we kill them, we will lose all the spirit power we have collected in the past."
"I know that. But it's better than facing the worst outcome, right?" Hearing what the ugly cat said, the stupid dog remained silent. In this case, this must mean agreement.
Kotori gritted her teeth - everyone was making her feel upset.
Although it was impossible to detect Kotori's thoughts, the ugly cat continued to speak to Kotori: "This is the situation, Commander Kotori. If the situation gets worse, I'll trouble you to deal with them. This is your duty."
"..."
Kotori suppressed the urge to rush to the other end of the loudspeaker and beat up the arrogant ugly cat himself, and decided to respond to his words.
However, the stuffed squirrel sitting at the end of the round table, Elliot Woodman, who served as the chairman of the round table meeting, spoke before Kotori could answer:
"—Don't misunderstand me, Commander Kotori."
"Eh…?"
"Your most important job is not to kill when things get bad, but to try to prevent them from getting bad."
"...…!"
"I'm counting on you, Commander Itsuka."
"… …yes…"
… …
… …
Just as Katsu and Shidou were sent into a testing room for examination.
The spirits were in uniform and located in a large lounge of some kind.
That was a corner of the underground facility owned by Ratatosk. There were several vending machines, screens, and ornamental plants placed against the wall, and chairs and tables were placed at appropriate intervals.
This should have been a place for the staff to chat and laugh during their free time, but now the room was filled with a heavy atmosphere, like the family waiting room during surgery in a hospital.
"I hope nothing will happen..." Tohka murmured for who knows how many times in the silent room.
However, no one blamed her. That was natural, because everyone present was feeling the same uneasiness.
"It will definitely be fine."
The one who answered Tohka was the petite girl sitting opposite Tohka.
After school, Yoshino heard Kotori say that Katsu and Shidou had health problems, so she rushed over with Natsumi immediately.
Katsu and Shidou's health conditions are related to the spiritual power of spirit so they may able to help if needed.
"That...that's true...With Kotori and Reine here, they will be fine...Besides, Katsu is so powerful...There is nothing he can't do! Doesn't he protect everyone by escaping danger every time?" Yakushi nodded.
"...No, it's hard to say. There's always a chance of something happening. To be on the safe side, it's better to be mentally prepared first..." At this time, Natsumi's voice showed a gloomy expression, making the already gloomy atmosphere even gloomier. Hearing such desperate words, Tohka showed a stunned expression.
"How...how could this happen..."
"Hey! Don't say such unlucky words!"
Natsumi shook her shoulders and curled up her already hunched back.
"…But from my experience, it's better to have hope and then be disappointed, or to be prepared for the worst and then be disappointed…"
"Please don't speak based on the premise of failure. It's annoying!" Kaguya said in anger.
"…Yes…I'm sorry…" and Natsumi looked away with an apologetic look on her face.
After that, there was another moment of silence. The ticking of the clock on the wall of the room sounded particularly loud.
"—By the way…" Origami's voice broke the silence.
"No matter how uncomfortable he is, Shidou-san's condition today is very abnormal. It's like an uncontrollable spirit... And I saw Katsu... Although he was trying his best to restrain himself, the destructive power of his unintentional actions was very abnormal..." As she spoke, she took out a crushed water cup from her schoolbag. Origami drank water from the cup, licked the edge, and then said, "This was crushed by Katsu when he was drinking water today."
"… …" Although Origami's behavior just now was a little... But at this critical moment, this is not the important thing...
"Forget about Katsu, he is almost like a spirit... But you mean... Shidou is also a spirit?"
"I don't know." Origami shook her head without changing her expression.