"Ugh…"
Mikoto opened her eyes and woke from her deep sleep.
She found herself sitting in an unfamiliar room, fixed in place on a chair that was bolted firmly to the floor. Her wrists and ankles were locked in tal shackles, leaving her completely unable to move.
Not only that, her body was covered in a large number of electrode pads, and an IV drip had been inserted into her right wrist.
"That's right… I was…"
As her mind slowly cleared, Mikoto began to understand her current situation.
Because of Miku's song, she had failed to defend against Ellen's Rhongomiant in ti. As a result, she had been captured.
While she was thinking about her situation, a hidden entrance on the other side of the room opened, and Ellen walked in.
"Besides , who else did you capture?"
There was not even a simple greeting. Mikoto urgently wanted to know whether any other Spirits, or perhaps even Shido, had fallen into DEM's hands.
"So far, we have only captured you."
Seeing Mikoto's expression relax, Ellen continued.
"However, our main force is gathering. At dawn, we will launch a raid on Tengu Square and capture Diva, Berserk, and Hermit."
Hearing Ellen's words, Mikoto widened her eyes.
"Tsukuyomi!"
Tsukuyomi did not have attack power, but the mont it was deployed, it could change the surrounding environnt and turn it into her divine realm. Although everything would return to normal after the barrier was removed, until then, the world inside the divine realm was the real world.
In other words, as long as she changed this room with her barrier, she could create an escape route.
However…
[!!!]
Forget the room—even the chair she was sitting on did not change.
The torii gates, the shrine, the whole of Tsukuyomi appeared like a faint mirage, overlapping this small room in a half-transparent state.
"Don't waste your strength. Several large warship class Realizers are supplying this room with a Territory. Even you can only sit there quietly."
"Ugh…"
Tsukuyomi could still provide her with defense, but changing the surrounding environnt to create a path was impossible. After understanding that, Mikoto canceled her Angel so she would not waste spirit energy.
"Then, allow to ask you a few questions."
Ellen changed the structure of the wall and sat on a chair like section that protruded from it before speaking.
"First, your na."
"Yakumo Mikoto. You already know that, don't you?"
For a question that did not matter whether she answered or not, Mikoto did not hide it.
However, not every question was aningless.
"Does the word Ratatoskr an anything to you?"
"No."
Although she knew about Ratatoskr, saying so would be the sa as selling Kotori out. Mikoto shook her head, showing that she knew nothing.
"Then the next question. Do you know why Itsuka Shido can use Angels?"
"I don't know."
It was a strangely mild interrogation. Ellen did not seem to care much about what Mikoto answered. Even answers that were clearly suspicious, like not knowing what Ratatoskr was or not knowing why Shido could use Angels, were accepted calmly by Ellen.
[I thought I was going to be tortured.]
Though she did not know the reason, Mikoto let out a quiet breath of relief.
At that mont, the hidden door in the wall opened again.
A tall, thin man who looked to be in his thirties, with a dangerous air around him, walked in.
_________________
On the other side, after returning to Fraxinus, Shido looked at Reine with an apologetic expression.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't persuade Miku."
"It's all right. Shin did very well."
Reine shook her head.
The biggest cause of all this was that they had not expected Miku's ability to spread through electronic equipnt. If anything, the fault lay with Fraxinus.
"And besides, it wasn't as if there was no result at all."
"Eh?"
Reine brought Shido and Tohka to the bridge and opened a screen that displayed Miku's affection level.
"After realizing that Shin was a boy, Miku's affection level toward you once again fell to rock bottom. But after your conversation, there was a clear change."
On the screen, Miku's affection toward "Shiori", which had been extrely high, had plunged like a roller coaster after she discovered Shido's secret. After that, it slowly climbed back up to a level that was only slightly hostile.
It was still hostility.
But for Miku, who had a severe fear of n, this was already a miraculous value.
"What should we do next?"
Realizing that his words had not been completely useless, Shido felt a little comforted.
"First, we'll have Mana use a Realizer to cleanse Kotori and the others while they're still unconscious, so they won't still be controlled when they wake up. During that ti, we will investigate Mikoto's location. As for Shin and Tohka… go ho and eat dinner first."
Reine thought for a mont and nodded.
"Wait… at a ti like this, dinner is…"
"Yeah, yeah. Finding Mikoto first is more important…"
Grrrrr!
Shido spoke anxiously. Tohka, on the other hand, also wanted to find Mikoto as soon as possible, but just then, her stomach growled.
"Uuuh…"
"In short, until we confirm Mikoto's location, even if you want to act, there is nothing you can do, right? Resting properly is also part of battle, Shin."
Reine glanced at Tohka, whose face had turned bright red, and said this.
"…I understand."
Shido nodded.
He knew Reine was right. No matter how anxious he felt, all they could do right now was wait.
___________
The sun slowly set.
Shido and Tohka arrived in front of his house.
"Oh! We're ho, Shido! What are we having for dinner tonight?"
"Tohka… you're full of energy…"
Unlike Tohka, who was thinking about dinner, Shido was still worried about Mikoto.
"Shido…"
Tohka looked at the anxious Shido, then stepped forward and took his hand.
"I'm worried about Mikoto too. But before that, filling our stomachs is important. When eating, we should eat happily. When fighting, we should fight with our lives on the line… Don't worry. I'll protect Shido, and then we'll save Mikoto."
"Tohka…"
Seeing the girl's expression, as if she truly wanted him to cheer up, Shido finally noticed that, without realizing it, he had beco far too negative.
In that state of mind, he would only make things worse.
"Sorry. I made you worry, Tohka."
He reached out and gently stroked Tohka's head. She narrowed her eyes happily.
"All right! To save senpai, tonight I'll make the most wonderful a—l…"
Shido smiled and opened the door.
Thanks to Tohka's comfort, the anxiety and restlessness in his heart seed to have faded.
And then, when he saw the girl standing in the entrance hall, dressed in a red and black Astral Dress, the smile he had just managed to regain froze in place.
"Welco ho, Shido-san. Would you like dinner first? A bath first? Or would you rather be eaten by Ku~ru~mi first?" (TL: )
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