Curled up cross-legged on the bed, blanket draped over her head, Natsumi muttered to herself, "What... What... What...?!"
She felt like a flow of incomprehensible information was filling her head and spilling from her mouth as words. Thoughts spinning and racing, Natsumi had been groaning in this position for a while now, unable to process this confusion with no outlet.
"What exactly...is with them...?!" She yanked at her own hair as the figures of those boys and girls danced through the back of her mind. Why would they pay so much attention to her? Why would they do all this for her?
She could've understood it if she was the Natsumi turned into a beautiful young woman using Haniel's powers. Transformed Natsumi was gorgeous enough to make anyone stop dead in their tracks and turn heads. Men hiding their love and lust deep inside, and women their envy and jealousy, offered up all kinds of flowery words to that Natsumi.
But these people were different. They were saying that this Natsumi-the way she was now, not transformed with Haniel's power-was cute.
This word was supposed to have been something Natsumi had desperately longed and waited for. But...because it was the first time she'd ever been told she was cute, she was simply unable to take it in.
"It's... It's obviously a lie. Ha. Ha... R-right. They're all taking me for a ride. I mean...," she muttered, as she lifted up the blanket covering her head. Now she could see her own reflection in the mirror on the wall.
The made-over her. The cute her.
"...!" She gasped and yanked the blanket back down. Her thoughts grew even more chaotic.
After all, Natsumi was supposedly ugly. She was a hopeless disaster, grotesque, not cute at all. She had to be. She was obviously ugly.
"Huh...?" A question popped into her head.
I'm obviously ugly?
Why? How was it obvious? In what way?
"A-anyway...I can't believe that they would do that stuff to me, their enemy, without a reason. They must... They have to have some kind of objective." Natsumi placed a hand to her chest and quietly said, "Haniel."
Her hand shone faintly, and something like a mirror appeared in her palm.
"Ngh." The cut on her stomach hurt, but it wasn't so bad that she couldn't stand it.
She turned the mirror downward, toward the bed, and changed it into a bed with a hole big enough to hide one person. Then she pulled together all the stuffed animals under the blanket and used Haniel to turn the pile into a perfect copy of a sleeping Natsumi.
She wriggled around inside the blankets and slipped into the hole in the bed, leaving the dummy Natsumi on top of it. And then she made Haniel shine for a third time to close the surface of the bed up behind her and transform it, the floor, and the walls so that she could slip through them, like she was digging a tunnel.
"Perfect." A few minutes later, Natsumi came out into a deserted hallway, restored the wall to its original shape, and looked around.
There were several security cameras in the room where she'd been locked up, but this would fool them for the time being. That said, however, if she didn't touch her meal when it was served, there was the risk of someone coming in to check on her. She didn't have that much time.
In order to quickly finish up her mission here, Natsumi called to mind the faces of the people she'd met. The most convenient was probably...
"...Th-that one." Natsumi nodded and turned Haniel's mirror on herself.
The mirror flashed, and her body shone faintly. And then her silhouette gradually warped until a few seconds later, Natsumi had become an entirely different person.
A girl small in stature wearing a red military uniform. Long hair tied up in two black ribbons, determined expression on her face.
Yes. Itsuka Shidou's little sister, Itsuka Kotori.
Natsumi guessed that she was the most appropriate choice for walking around this facility and observing people.
But there was that one thing. She wore her hair in pigtails. The star of the cute-hairstyle world, pigtails. A hairstyle you couldn't even attempt unless you had supreme self-confidence. Natsumi loathed this hairstyle. So much that she had even considered turning herself into someone with national authority, revising the laws, and making pigtails illegal. But she would have to suck it up for now. It went against every bone in her body to disguise herself as a sly pigtailed girl, but efficiency was the priority at the moment.
"Whoops! I forgot." Natsumi yanked off a button in an unremarkable spot of her jacket and held it up to Haniel.
The trail of fabric she'd pulled off with the button emitted a pale light, then transformed into a small lollipop with a stick. She was pretty sure this was what Kotori was always sucking on.
"Mm. I guess that's about it," she said in a voice that sounded quite different from seconds earlier, and snapped her fingers. Instantly, Haniel turned into particles of light in her hand and melted into the air.
"Now then..." With Haniel gone and herself completely transformed into Itsuka Kotori, Natsumi took a couple deep breaths before starting to walk slowly down the hallway.
So she wouldn't be seen as suspicious should she run into someone, she searched her surroundings with eye movements alone. She caught sight of doors with electronic locks from time to time in the wide, long hallway. She didn't yet know the entire layout of this building, but she could easily tell that it was a fairly large facility.
"Seriously. What is this place?" Natsumi muttered under her breath. The only thing that was certain was that this was a facility to which Shidou, Kotori, Lucas, Tohka, and the others had some kind of connection, but she didn't know anything beyond that. To start with, boys and girls their age shouldn't have been able to make free use of a place like this. Maybe they belonged to some kind of organization, which would mean they had some serious backing.
When she thought about this, a chill naturally ran up Natsumi's spine. They couldn't actually be planning to capture the Spirit Natsumi and use her as a lab rat or something, right? Thoughts like this flickering through her mind, she examined the hallways, which were so reminiscent of a hospital or some kind of research facility.
"Hmm? Commander?" a voice called out to her abruptly from behind.
"...!" Jumping imperceptibly, Natsumi looked back to see a woman with long bangs and the same uniform as Kotori in a different color.
Seeing Natsumi, the woman tilted her head to one side curiously.
Natsumi looked closely and realized this was the cashier at the hamburger shop that Shido and Kotori had taken her to the day before.
"What are you doing here?" the woman asked. "Is something the matter? Didn't you say before that you were returning to Fraxinus?"
"Oh, I thought I'd check in on Natsumi before I left." Natsumi spoke in as steady a voice as she could manage.
"Oh, you did?" The woman nodded, seeming entirely unsuspicious. "Well, she is a difficult one. If this keeps up, we'll never seal her."
"Seal? What are you talking about?" Natsumi cocked her head to one side, and the woman's eyes grew wider.
"Well, her Spirit power, of course. Have Shidou or Lucas kiss her and lock away her Spirit power. Isn't that what our organization is for?"
"...!" Natsumi's eyebrows jumped up, but she acted cool so as not to let the other woman see how upset she was. "Ohhh. That's right. Sorry. Maybe I'm a little tired."
"Ha-ha-ha! It's no wonder. Well, I'll return once my duties here are finished, so I'll see you then," the woman said, and bowed slightly.
Natsumi let out a sigh of relief in her heart as she replied, "You will. Oh! Right. Can I ask you one thing?"
"Hmm? What is it?" the woman asked.
"You know where Tohka and the others are?" Natsumi said evenly. "I wanted to talk to them a sec."
"Tohka?" The woman thought for a moment. "Let's see. I feel like she was in the break area over there."
"Yeah? Thanks. Okay, see you later."
"Oh! Yes. Good-bye." The woman walked away without a look back.
Natsumi watched her go and then turned in the direction she had indicated and started walking once more. Quickly but not so quickly as to draw attention.
She had both gained and lost in her interaction with that woman. The gain was the information on Tohka's location and the fact that Kotori was not currently in the facility. So Natsumi was guaranteed not to encounter the girl she'd copied no matter how much she strolled around the place. And bigger than anything else was the fact that she had found out the objective of Shidou and his gang. It all came together for her now. She'd wondered what their true motives were, but she never dreamed they were trying to lock away her powers.
"I thought this was weird. Those dirty cheats!"
But at the same time, it was now known that there was someone in Kotori's form in the facility. When that woman finished work and returned to this Fraxinus or wherever, there was a chance that the real Kotori would have questions for her. Natsumi couldn't be too leisurely about this.
After walking for a bit, she caught sight of a small space up ahead. There were vending machines, a smattering of chairs, Tohka, and Yoshino.
Natsumi grinned as she walked over to them. "Hey, Tohka. Yoshino."
"Mm?"
"Oh... Hello."
"Ohhh? Why, if it isn't little Kotori!"
Tohka, Yoshino, and Yoshinon on Yoshino's left hand turned in that order and greeted her.
Natsumi smiled and waved before coming to a stop in front of the bench they were sitting on.
"Hey, Kotori! This place is amazing! They let you drink juice for free!" Tohka cried with great delight.
"Did you...want a drink, too, Kotori?" Yoshino asked.
"What's your poison? I can snap out and hit that button for you," Yoshinon said, and jabbed left and right, shadowboxing.
With a pained smile, Natsumi shook her head and crossed her arms as she opened her mouth and asked what she most wanted to know in that moment. "I'm good for now. Anyway, what do you all think about this Natsumi kid?"
Yes. She was sure that these girls were laughing at Natsumi deep down inside. Maybe they just had to put her in a good mood in order to seal her powers, but in this place where Natsumi was not, they were certain to spill their true, malicious feelings.
"What...do we think?" Tohka cocked her head to one side.
What an annoying girl. Or maybe she just didn't want to be the first one to bad-mouth Natsumi. In which case...
Natsumi sniffed and lowered her eyes as she continued speaking, almost spitting out the words. "Don't you think that Natsumi jerk is disgusting? We fawn over her the teensiest bit, and she gets all carried away. Even though she's an uggo. It's so pathetic, I can hardly stand it."
I got the ball rolling. Now, spill it.
Natsumi raised her eyes a little to peek at Tohka and Yoshino. She was sure that now that they had an excuse, now that they weren't the ones who'd started talking smack, ugly expressions would take over their faces.
However.
"Mm?"
"Huh...?"
"Hmm?"
All she saw were two people and one puppet looking at one another, completely baffled.
"Huh?" Natsumi's eyes widened at the completely unexpected reaction.
"Kotori." Tohka furrowed her brow. "What's the matter with you? It's not like you to talk like that."
"Uh. Um... I don't. Think Natsumi is. Creepy...at all," Yoshino said.
"That's right. What's up, Kotori? You in 'tired from commander duties' mode?" The puppet appeared to raise its eyebrows in concern.
"Wha...?!" Natsumi unconsciously took a step back. "Wh-what's going on with all of you? You don't have to pretend you're so saintly. I mean, you're all thinking it, right? Like, what a hassle it is to have to put that sad sack of a girl into a good mood."
"What are you saying?" Tohka said, her face brightening. "That's not true, you know? I had so much fun picking out clothes!"
Yoshino and Yoshinon both dropped their heads forward as if in agreement.
"Yes... Natsumi was. So pretty..."
"Aah, Shidou's makeup was incredible, huh? Maybe I'll get him to do mine one of these days." Yoshinon twisted in a little dance of glee, and Tohka and Yoshino burst into cheerful laughter at the silly movement.
"B-but... That's... It's not..." Natsumi let her eyes roam, flustered, and began to tremble.
These girls really mean what they're saying.
This fact was shocking enough to put cracks in Natsumi's identity.
Several possibilities were provided in an instant by her brain. Maybe they had seen through her disguise and knew that she had turned into Kotori, meaning this was a prearranged performance. Or maybe someone they loved had been taken hostage and they were being forced to say nice things about Natsumi. No, no, wait. Maybe-
These absurd ideas appeared and disappeared again. But none of them had any persuasive power in the face of the smiles Tohka and Yoshino were wearing.
"N-no way. How...?" Forgetting that she was pretending to be Kotori, Natsumi felt her fingertips trembling and then saw four girls and a tall boy approaching from up ahead. The Yamai sisters, Kuurmi, Miku and Lucas.
"Keh-keh! And for what reason do you throng here?"
"Petition. Please allow Yuzuru, Kaguya, and Miku to join as well."
"Hee-hee! It's a teeeea party!"
"Seems like everyone is enjoying themselves, hihihi."
"Well, it's not every day that we are in a group like this."
"K-Kaguya, Yuzuru, Kurumi, Miku, Lucas!" Natsumi cried, as if entreating the new visitors.
Perhaps surprised at this, they stopped in their tracks, their eyes wide as saucers.
"Hmph. What is the matter, Kotori? Your countenance is nothing of the ordinary. Did you perhaps open the gate to hell sealed in darkness?" Kaguya said these curious words, while she struck a pose.
Natsumi ignored this and continued speaking as she tried to regain her composure. "L-listen to this, gang. There's something weird with these kids here."
"Question. Weird how?" Yuzuru asked curiously.
Natsumi kept going, a dry smile crossing her lips. "They're saying this stuff about Natsumi being pretty, that it's no hassle to hang out with her, okay? Ha-ha-ha! Makes you laugh, huh? I mean, just looking at that uggo brings you right down into gloom town."
They frowned dubiously.
"Hmph. It is not your way to speak such strangeness, Kotori. What has happened? It is rather early to be crazed by the moon's poison."
"Puzzlement. These are words that I cannot believe are Kotori's."
"Whatever are you talking about, Kotoriii? Perhaps, have you had a bad nightmare?"
"You can't taaaaalk like that about Natsumi. You're going toooo far, and now I'm angry!" Miku put a hand on her hip and puffed out her cheeks indignantly.
"Kotori. If you're trying to make a joke about Natsumi, I'll murder you."
"-?!" Suddenly, a strong aura emerged from nothingness and froze Natsumi's entire body in place. Wh-what's this?! No matter how much she tried, she could barely move an inch. It was like invisible arms have entangled her limbs and are holding her in place. She didn't need to look in order to see why. That tall guy, Lucas. His red and yellow eyes were shining, and everything else suddenly grew darker. It was like eyes that stared at her from the deepest part of the darkness that lies within the world. Her face grew pale as Lucas stepped a foot closer to Kotori. Their difference in height, even though Natsumi transformed herself into Kotori, who was slightly taller, Lucas was still huge. She felt like she couldn't even reach his face it she tried to.
"...!" Natsumi somehow managed to stagger backwards, with no willpower to say something back to that monster.
Everything was all over the place in her head. She gritted her teeth and left the break area without looking at anyone's face.
"Umm. I guess the living area is B Section." Shidou walked at a leisurely pace down the hallway of the Ratatoskr underground facility where Natsumi was being kept.
The facility was a fair distance from the Itsuka house, and because he'd taken the long way to make sure that Ellen and anyone else from DEM couldn't follow him, it had been a bit of work just to get here.
That said, however, as long as Natsumi was in this place, Shidou couldn't exactly not show his face. He'd brought some clothes and his toothbrush from home so that he could borrow a room here and stay for a while.
He was just turning a corner in the hallway when he felt a bump against his chest.
"Whoops!" He lowered his gaze and saw familiar hair tied up in two bundles. "Hey, Kotori."
"..."
For some reason, Kotori merely glanced at his face wordlessly.
"What?" he asked. "You seem sad. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Nothing's wrong," Kotori said in an obviously glum voice.
He scratched his head, and Kotori turned her face away and moved to walk off, as if to say she didn't want him to bother her anymore.
"Oh!" he called out to stop her. "Hang on."
She stopped where she was but didn't look back at him. "What? I'm actually busy, you know."
"Oh yeah. Sorry. I'll be quick. It's about Natsumi."
"...!"
The moment he uttered Natsumi's name, he saw Kotori's ears perk up.
"What about Natsumi?" she said, turning to look at him sharply.
He knew that she was quite sensitive when it came to Natsumi, but he felt like this was a bit extreme.
"Y-yeah. It's about Natsumi's meals," he said, feeling overwhelmed, but he could tell that Kotori's mouth had relaxed.
"Heh-heh." She chuckled. "Aah, so your true nature is finally revealed."
He frowned. "Huh?"
"Forget it." She waved a dismissive hand. "So what do you want us to do? Maybe we shouldn't give her anything to eat for the next few days? Or you want to try mixing poison into her food?"
"Uh." He scowled, sweat beading on his forehead. "What are you even talking about? If this is a joke, I'm not laughing."
Kotori furrowed her brow dubiously. "So then what? What do you want us to do?"
"So for supper today, could you maybe let Natsumi out of that room?" he asked.
Kotori looked up at him. "What for?"
"Well, everyone's here," Shidou explained. "So I was thinking it might be good if we could all eat together."
"Huh?" Kotori's jaw dropped for a moment before she twisted her lips up in a sneer. "Ohhh, I get it. You mean to seal her power. You're a piece of work, too, huh? Luring Natsumi out like that and stealing her Spirit power from her."
Shidou frowned at this very un-Kotori-like statement. "What are you talking about? The objective of Ratatoskr is to seal the Spirit powers and allow the Spirit to live safely and happily."
"Huh?"
"And this isn't just for likability, okay? I mean, I know she's in isolation, but it's still sad to eat by yourself. And I bet everyone wants to talk with Natsumi as well."
"..."
"Maybe Natsumi will soften up a bit, too, eating some delicious food... Uh, Kotori?" Shidou's eyes grew wide.
The reason was simple. Huge tears had begun to spill out of Kotori's eyes. Her cheeks and eyes were bright red, her shoulders were shaking, and she hiccuped every so often.
A shiver ran up Shidou's spine at this abnormal behavior from his normally tough little sister. "H-hey, what's wrong?! Did I do something?!"
"Noth..." She sniffled. "Nothing...!"
"No, but it's not nothing! Don't worry! I'll make enough for you, too-"
"Shut up! Go to hell! You jeeeeerk!" she shouted, and ran off down the hallway, wiping her tears away with her sleeve.
"Hey! Kotori?!" He couldn't exactly just leave her like this, no matter what she said. Shidou hurriedly chased after her.
But when he turned the corner, his feet stopped.
"Huh?" He knew that Kotori had just turned this corner, but she had apparently vanished like mist. "That Kotori, where did she...?"
He looked all around, but she was nowhere to be found. A lone Chupa Chups with the wrapping not yet taken off was on the floor as if to signal that Kotori had been there.
"She even dropped her lollipop. Something must've happened." He picked the candy up to give back to her when he saw her later, and then left with no other choice, he went back the way he had come.
After he'd walked for some time, his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. The name displayed on the screen was Itsuka Kotori. He hurried to press the ANSWER button.
"Hello? Kotori? Are you okay?"
"Uh? Why wouldn't I be okay?" Kotori replied, like she had no idea what he was talking about.
"No, it's just, a second ago, you-"
"Whatever," she said, cutting Shidou off. "We've got a situation. We just got a message from the supervisor there. Natsumi's escaped from her room."
"Wha...?!" Shidou gasped. "Escaped?! But how? I thought she still wasn't able to use her Angel?!"
"Maybe our estimates were too generous," Kotori replied. "Was she able to use her transformation powers even in her unhealed state? Maybe that was it. She left a dummy of what we assume are transformed stuffed animals and has completely disappeared. Most likely, she tried to turn into someone else and flee. You got any ideas?"
"Ideas... I mean, I don't..." His eyes flew open. "Oh!"
◇
Approximately two hours later, Shidou was back above ground.
Although all personnel had been mobilized to search every nook and cranny of the underground facility, they hadn't seen any sign of Natsumi anywhere. Shidou, Lucas, and the others had learned from Shiizaki's testimony that Natsumi had likely transformed into Kotori, but given that it wasn't guaranteed that Natsumi would stay in that form forever, this wasn't much of a clue to go on.
"Natsumi," he murmured to himself, as he trudged down the residential street. Given that Natsumi was no longer there, there was no point in him being underground, so he'd shouldered his bag with his extra changes of clothes and was walking back to his own house.
In the end, Shidou hadn't seen Natsumi smile even once after she was taken into custody. All she'd done was hate everything he, Tohka, and the others did. She'd steadfastly refused to open up to them.
But Shidou couldn't believe that was how Natsumi truly felt. He just couldn't.
A dog, long-abused by people, actually wanted to frolic and play, wanted to be cuddled and spoiled, and yet reflexively feared human beings.
Which was why none of his team would say a bad word about Natsumi. There was no one bullying her here. He'd believed that their feelings would reach her at some point if they just persisted in trying to communicate them to her.
"Wait." He stopped and shook his head slightly.
Maybe this was nothing more than his own selfish conviction. A tiny pang of regret shot through his heart.
Natsumi might have gotten strong enough to be able to use her transformation powers, but that didn't mean her wound had healed completely. She wouldn't come away unscathed if the AST or DEM Wizards found her in her injured state.
If the reason for Natsumi's flight lay with Shidou and his friends... Thinking about this, his thoughts inescapably went to a very dark place.
"That wouldn't happen." His face stiffened slightly, and he began walking again as if to pull himself free of that train of thought.
Soon enough, his house came into view. As he stepped through the gate, he dug around in his pocket to pull the key out and then pushed it into the keyhole.
"Hmm?"
He stopped, confused. He turned the key, but there was no response. Thinking this suspicious, he pulled on the doorknob, and the door opened without any resistance whatsoever.
He was certain he had locked the door when he left the house. And he couldn't think of anyone who would've come home before him.
"Weird. I thought everyone was still under-" Shidou had gotten that far when his eyes flew open in surprise. "Natsumi?!"
Yes. Natsumi would have known the location of the Itsuka house. He threw the front door open, kicked his shoes off, and raced toward the living room.
And stopped.
Just as he'd expected, there was a girl in there.
However.
"Wha...?" Surprise colored his face, and he was stuck for words.
"Excuse me for intruding." The young woman sitting on the sofa in the living room was definitely not the one Shidou had been expecting.
Nordic blond, like the sun was always shining on her, blue eyes. There, in his living room, was the DEM Industries Wizard, Ellen Mathers.
"Ellen?!" he yelped. "What are you doing here?!"
"I will explain in detail. Please sit," Ellen said, gesturing toward the sofa opposite her.
"What...?" Shidou acted like he was hesitating and poked at the phone in his pocket. This was an emergency. He had to tell Kotori right away.
"..." Ellen raised her right hand, and before he knew it, his phone was floating up and sliding through the air into that hand.
"Wha...?!" He gaped at her.
"It would not be a particular issue for me were you to call for help, but having our discussion interrupted would be annoying. I do apologize, but I'd appreciate you allowing me to hold on to this for the time being." Ellen placed the phone she'd taken from Shidou on the table and turned her gaze on him. "I will say this for form's sake. The entirety of this house is my Territory. I do not recommend resisting me."
"Ngh." Shidou gritted his teeth in frustration before sighing and settling down on the sofa across from Ellen.
"So what exactly does DEM want that they would go so far as to barge into someone's humble home?" he said sarcastically, offering up a bare minimum of resistance.
But Ellen didn't look the slightest bit perturbed by this as she stared hard at him. "There is no issue. I merely came to ask you a simple question."
"A question?" He eyed her suspiciously.
"Yes. I will be direct. Where is the Spirit Witch you carried away the other day?" Ellen asked in a quiet voice.
Shidou clenched his hands into fists. "Come on already! There's no way I'd tell you that!"
The truth was, Shidou would've liked to ask her the same question. But he kept that to himself. He wanted to avoid letting her know that Natsumi had escaped. Making her think that Natsumi was still under the protection of Ratatoskr would no doubt keep Natsumi safe.
But Ellen's calm facade did not waver in the face of Shidou's wild cry. She continued calmly. "Well, I suppose you wouldn't. And I didn't think you would tell me so easily as that."
"Yeah?" he replied. "Then could I ask you to leave? I have to make supper."
"You cook it yourself?"
"Is that a problem?"
"No. I think it's wonderful."
"...Well, thanks," Shidou said, without bothering to try and hide his hostility. Ellen let out a short sigh as she stood up. She slowly walked across the living room and let her gaze roam as if examining the state of the room and the kitchen before opening her mouth.
"It's a bit small, but it's quite a well-kept home. I can almost picture the happy family gathering every evening."
"..." Shidou frowned, unable to understand what Ellen was getting at. He highly doubted she was being sincere.
But Ellen appeared not to be interested in his response. She spoke again in her lovely voice. "Who exactly would be in this happy family scene, I wonder? You. Itsuka Kotori, Yatogami Tohka, Yoshino, and perhaps Izayoi Miku would be around the table. Not to mention, the home of Lucas, which houses Tokisaki Kurumi and the Yamai sisters."
"What are you trying to say?" Shidou asked, frustrated, and Ellen turned her entire body toward him. Perhaps because the window was behind her, he couldn't catch her expression in that moment, backlit as she was.
"Who do you think these happy families owes its existence to?"
"What?" Shidou furrowed his brow at the unexpected question. "Well, Kotori and Ratatoskr-"
"That is incorrect." Ellen rejected Shidou's response without hearing it to its end. "This wonderful home exists thanks to Ike and myself. We overlook your existence, we do not deign to kill you, and so you are able to enjoy a moment of peace."
"Wha...?" Shidou felt a trickle of sweat run down his back.
Ellen didn't sound the least bit like she was joking or messing around with him. She was serious. She did not doubt for a millisecond this absurd and violent theory.
"...!"
Ellen was a Wizard; in other words, although she had machinery embedded in her brain, she was still human. And yet for some reason, Shidou felt a greater sense of strangeness-no, foreignness in her than he did when talking with the Spirits.
"I'll be brief." Ellen slowly raised a hand and turned it toward him. This was all she did, but for some reason, Shidou abruptly felt like he was having trouble breathing. Maybe she had lowered the oxygen level in the area through manipulation of her Territory. Or maybe she was pressing that Territory up against Shidou's mouth and nose. Or she might have been overwhelming Shidou with simple pressure.
"Itsuka Shidou, and along with you, Princess, Hermit, Berserk, Diva and the Mgaician. In return for the continued safety of the aforementioned, please give me the location of Witch."
"Y-you can't be-," he stammered.
"Please make no mistake," she cut him off without a thought. "This is the greatest concession you will receive. You do not have the option of choice."
"Ngh..."
"It's simple arithmetic. For one Witch, the security of the other Spirits will be guaranteed for the time being. I believe this is quite a good deal, especially because the lives of the greatest warriors are on the line." Ellen said, as if it was the most natural choice in the world.
But Shidou took a deep breath and snorted his disdain.
"Sorry, I've always been bad at math."
"Is that so? How unfortunate."
Shidou's words were no doubt in the realm of what she had expected. Ellen slid a hand inside her jacket without showing the slightest disappointment and pulled out something that looked like a knife handle without the blade.
For a moment, Shidou didn't understand what it was, but he watched as Ellen narrowed her eyes, and a blade of glowing light appeared at the end of the handle. He swallowed hard.
"Now then. We will spend some time together until you are able to properly calculate profits and losses. I look forward to seeing exactly how many lashes you can endure." Ellen smiled for the first time as she turned the blade of light on Shidou.
◇
"No signal at point A!"
"Nothing at point B!"
"The faint Spirit signal from the isolation area also drops out along the way!"
On the bridge of the airship Fraxinus, floating fifteen thousand meters above Tenguu, the voices of the crew flew back and forth.
Kotori had mobilized all the measurement devices on Fraxinus to chase after the Spirit signal of the missing Natsumi.
However, the results were as noted.
"Tch!" Kotori clicked her tongue softly where she sat in the captain's chair, hand on her chin. "I expected this, but still. We really can't get a Spirit signal, then."
Given that they couldn't pick up a signal, the search was mainly proceeding through the autonomous cameras they had crawling the city. But those wouldn't be much use against Natsumi when she had the ability to transform. There was no way she'd be out there in a form that Kotori would easily recognize when she knew she was a fugitive. If she'd turned into some random passerby, then finding her would be nearly impossible.
"This is bad, hmm? It'd be great if she'd come around to harass Shidou again, but if she's on guard against us and doesn't show herself, then...it'll be impossible to seal Natsumi's Spirit power," Kotori said, troubled, and issued orders to the crew working on the lower deck.
"It's inefficient to search without any leads whatsoever. Focus on the places where Natsumi has appeared at least once. The abandoned theme park where Shidou, Lucas and Natsumi first met, my house, Raizen highschool, and the mountain where we took Natsumi into custody."
"""Yes, sir!""" the crew replied, and the video displayed on the monitors began to shift locations.
"Hmm?" Minowa said, facing her personal display.
"What is it?" Kotori demanded immediately. "Natsumi's signal?!"
"N-no, it's not that..."
"What? Spit it out. Exactly what are you seeing?"
"Could you please look at this?" Minowa tapped at her console, and the screen she was seeing was displayed on the bridge's main monitor.
The observation area had been enlarged to the maximum possible to search for Natsumi's signal, and at the end of the sky, a single, suspicious signal could be seen.
"What's that?" Kotori asked.
"Judging from the altitude and orbit, it appears to be an artificial satellite or something of that nature," Kawagoe said, looking at the screen.
Kotori frowned and turned her gaze on Nakatsugawa. "Can you get me video?"
"Yes, sir! Just one moment!" Nakatsugawa tapped at his console, and a point, a mere speck, was displayed on the screen. The video was of poor resolution after being zoomed in on several times over.
"It does appear to be...an artificial satellite. But why on earth would it be...?" Mikimoto furrowed his brow and stared at the screen intently. "It's very faint, but there is a magical signal! And it's...explosive magic!"
"What did you say?" Kotori frowned. Explosive magic. Put simply, this meant a Realizer-powered magical bomb. "What is going on? Why would something like that-?"
She brought a hand to her mouth in sudden realization. "No... They wouldn't do something so stupid."
"C-Commander? What's the matter?" Nakatsugawa asked, adjusting his glasses.
"If..." Kotori swallowed hard. "And this is just a hypothetical. If a satellite was to drop onto Tenguu, what do you think would happen?"
"...!!"
The entire crew was rendered speechless.
◇
"..."
The taste of salt spread through Shidou's mouth. The sweat running down his cheeks had slid across his lips and reached his tongue.
With Ellen's laser blade thrust at him, he frantically racked his brain for some way out of this situation.
But Ellen gave him zero openings. If he made like he was going to run, she would skewer his legs on that blade of light in a heartbeat.
As if guessing at Shidou's thoughts, Ellen sniffed lightly. "It's pointless. There is only one way you leave this place alive. You disclose the location of Witch."
He feigned a sigh. "Sorry, but I've been amazingly forgetful lately."
"In that case, allow me to assist your recollection," Ellen said, and slowly walked toward him.
"Ngh." He tried to at least step back for a little breathing room, but his body wouldn't comply. It seemed that Ellen had bound him with her Territory.
"There's no artistry in suddenly taking a finger. I know." Ellen licked her lips and brought her laser edge up to the side of Shidou's head. Almost as if-yes, like she was about to cut his ear off. "I will ask you one last time. Do you really have no intention of telling me Witch's location?"
She looked at him with cold eyes, and Shidou felt his heart pounding painfully in his chest.
This woman would do it. She would lop off his ear without even hesitating. He was forced to remember the pain of when she had once pierced him with her blade, and his legs started to shake.
However, Shidou brought the corners of his lips up in a smile and somehow managed to keep his voice from shaking as he spoke. "My ear was actually itchy just now."
"Is that so?" Ellen said, narrowed her eyes abruptly, and tightened her grip of the hilt of her laser blade.
But then.
"...!"
Shidou's phone sitting on the table made a chirping sound and eased the tension suffocating the room.
Ellen's attention was also taken up by the inane ringing. For a split second, he was able to move his body, which had been bound by her Territory. He'd heard from Kotori that no matter how much of a master a person was, it took a tremendous amount of focus to maintain a Territory without a wiring suit.
"Fwah!" If he missed this opportunity, he'd never get another chance. Shidou yanked his arms up and shoved Ellen as hard as he could.
"Ngh!" A look of anguish came across her face as she tumbled backward.
Sending up a prayer of thanks to whoever had called him with such impeccable timing, he ran.
But just as he was about to leave the living room, his body froze in place once again.
"Wha...?"
"That was quite something." Ellen slowly pulled herself to her feet, a quiet anger tinging her voice.
Three seconds hadn't even passed. And yet during that fleeting moment, Ellen had redeployed her Territory. Her powers of concentration were fearsome.
"Although it was mere chance, I will have you pay for setting me on the ground," she told him.
"Ngh."
"Additionally, you touched my chest. You will die now."
"It was an act of God, though!" Shidou shrieked, but Ellen paid this no mind. She brought her laser edge to his face once more.
But now Ellen's phone started to vibrate.
After arching an eyebrow, she answered it, still maintaining her Territory.
"Yes, this is me. Is there something the matter?" Ellen said without taking her eyes off Shidou. "...What did you say?"
He didn't know what kind of information she'd just heard, but the look on her face abruptly grew stern.
"Yes. Yes. I understand. I will handle it," she said, and hung up.
After a few seconds of what appeared to be hesitation, she released the Territory binding Shidou.
"Whoa?!" It was like his supports had been yanked away. Shidou lost his balance and lurched forward.
"You are a fortunate person," Ellen told him, and then ran out of the house without so much as a backward glance.
"Huh?" Shidou gaped. "Wh-what the...?"
Left alone in his living room, he stared after her blankly for a time and then finally realized that his own phone was still ringing. He walked over to it and glanced at the screen to see Kotori's name displayed there.
"Hello? Kotori? Listen to this. I just-"
"What took you so long?! What were you doing?! This is an emergency!" Kotori thundered.
"Wh-what? I was having my own trouble over here, you know."
"Whatever. Stay calm and listen to me," Kotori said, her voice quite serious.
Shidou wanted to grumble, but her unusual manner made him frown instead. "What happened?"
"Well. You're not going to believe this, but..." Kotori took a deep breath before continuing. "An artificial satellite is going to fall on Tenguu in maybe half an hour."
◇
"Tsk!" Ellen clicked her tongue in annoyance, contracted her Territory, and raced across the ground at incredible speed. Passersby opened their eyes wide in total shock as she zipped past, but she had no time to deal with that now. She focused her entire body and soul on her destination and ran.
Her route was east-the direction of the hotel where Westcott was staying.
At this speed, the time required to arrive there would be approximately thirty minutes. She didn't know the precise time of impact, but considering the fact that they would also have to get away from Tenguu once she reached the hotel, she definitely didn't have the luxury of dawdling.
"I have no other choice." Ellen narrowed her eyes and issued orders in her mind.
Instantly, her body shone with a pale light and was equipped in a millisecond with the platinum CR unit Pendragon. Using this, she deployed a Territory with a far greater concentration of magic than what she had been using a few seconds ago.
When she kicked off the ground, the thrusters attached to the rear of the unit fired, and she danced high up into the air. She carved out a straight line toward her target.
And then a call came in over the earpiece equipped in the unit.
"E-Executive Leader Mathers! What on earth is happening?!"
It was one of the subordinates she'd put on standby outside the Itsuka home. She was no doubt surprised because Ellen had suddenly come running from the house.
Keeping her eyes forward and maintaining her speed, Ellen replied, "It's an emergency. Currently, DSA-IV, a decommissioned satellite, is dropping toward the city of Tenguu. And it's..."
She continued to explain, and her subordinate cried out, stunned.
"Wha...?! However much we want to remove the Spirits, why would they...?! And the idea that you would not be informed of such a mission-"
"No, the target is not a Spirit or the Magician. It's Ike." Ellen was quick to correct her subordinate.
"Hah?! M-MD Westcott?! Wh-what do you mean?!" her subordinate cried out in surprise.
Well, that was only natural. The DEM sword was being turned on its top leader.
"I received a message earlier from the head office. The executives who moved to dismiss Ike are apparently out of control." Ellen clicked her tongue. She knew that instead of taking their arms that day, she should have taken their heads.
In the end, right before they were about to carry out the mission, one of those executives had apparently leaked the information to the second enforcement division out of fear of Westcott. She wouldn't say that this decision wasn't a clever one. But if he was going to turn traitor, she would've liked him to come to that decision a little sooner. Ellen had a distinct desire to chew the man out.
That said, however, this was not the time for that. She had to secure Westcott immediately and take him as far away as possible.
"I'm on my way to Ike now. All of you, please withdraw so that you are well outside the impact zone. If you detect a Spirit signal in the area after impact or there are any Spirits caught in the explosion, please collect their Sephirahs."
"R-roger," her subordinate replied, and then cut the connection.
Ellen didn't expect much to come from her request about the Spirits. Given that Ratatoskr had gotten their claws into them, the organization would detect DSA-IV before entering the danger zone and secure any Spirits in the area to move them to safety. Most likely, Itsuka Shidou's phone ringing at the house had been a call to inform him of this.
"...!"
While she was racing across the sky, Ellen's eyebrows jumped up.
The reason was simple.
Vwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnmmmmm.
An earsplitting alarm had begun to ring in the area.
"The spacequake alarm... Impossible. A Spirit?" she murmured, but then quickly hit upon another possibility.
If they were to drop something like a satellite on a Japanese city just because Westcott was in the way, regardless of powerful DEM might have been, there would have been consequences. That would make it impossible for the board to take over the company as intended.
Essentially, the board intended to blame the imminent disaster on a spacequake. There was a certain cold logic to the idea.
"I will not allow it." Ellen gritted her teeth and headed toward Westcott at maximum speed.
◇