The one who had spoken was a woman who looked about twenty years old.
She wore a mainly black Astral Dress with orange patterns, had a figure so good that even models would feel ashad, long glossy hair, and erald-like eyes. She could be called the perfect collection of everything ideal in a woman.
[Hm? You don't need to be so scared. I'm not going to eat you.]
Unlike the Spirits before her, the Spirit on the screen was taking the initiative to approach Shido. She also gave off a slightly devilish air.
[Ara… aren't you cute? What's wrong, little boy? I rember every ti I appear, alarms go off on this side.]
The Spirit lifted Shido's chin and smiled.
"Shido, the options are out!"
On the other side, three choices appeared on the bridge screen.
① There is only one reason. I ca here to et you.
② I-I don't know anything. I was late escaping, and when I ca to my senses… I was already here.
③ Can I properly grope your chest first?
Aside from the suicidal third option, everyone's votes gathered on ① and ②.
In the end, aiming to trigger the girl's maternal instinct, Shido followed everyone's suggestion and chose the weaker looking second option.
It was rare that the crew did not dig a pit for him this ti. Shido's performance, like a lost little boy, successfully earned the Spirit's favor.
[U-um… my na is Itsuka Shido.]
[I'm Natsumi… well, it seems you people call Witch.]
The conversation continued, and because of that, everyone learned the Spirit's na and code na.
However, soon after, Natsumi threw Shido a question that made no sense.
[Shido-kun, you… think I'm pretty?]
Of course the answer was yes. Even the pickiest person in the world would have a hard ti describing a woman like Natsumi with anything less than beautiful.
Hearing Shido's answer, Natsumi looked extrely happy. Then she asked him to tell her which part of her was beautiful.
So Shido kept saying good things, from her eyes, to her figure, to her hair. The excited Natsumi could not help hugging Shido into her arms, and even started humming a song.
"Eh?"
Mikoto showed a surprised expression. Because for just an instant, Natsumi, while humming, said in a lonely voice:
[As I thought… this current … is beautiful.]
"Did you notice sothing, Mikoto?"
Noticing the change in the girl, Kotori asked.
"Mm…"
But just as Mikoto was about to say sothing, the scene on the screen changed.
Countless cha girls flew toward Shido and Natsumi.
It was AST!
[Then, let's get to work, Haniel!]
Naturally, Natsumi manifested her Angel and began fighting AST.
It was a witch's broom. At the end of the broom was a small mirror.
The mirror shone, and then… all the missiles fired by the AST mbers turned into carrots. After hitting the ground with a cartoonish "BOOM!" sound effect, they vanished.
As for the Wizards themselves, they were changed into rabbits or bears by that light.
"A transformation type Angel?"
Mikoto watched the screen and confird Natsumi's ability. However, there was one more thing that concerned her. Among the AST mbers, she did not see Origami.
On the other side, AST began falling into chaos under Natsumi's ability. Natsumi also took the chance to pull Shido away from there. Whether it was because her Angel had no offensive power, or because she herself was the type who would not actively kill opponents, Natsumi did not directly harm AST like most Spirits did.
However, just as she grabbed Shido and prepared to leave, a carrot missile exploded by their feet and kicked up a cloud of dust.
[Ah… achoo!]
Because of the dust, Natsumi let out a small sneeze.
Then, inside the screen covered by dust, light burst out.
[!!!]
At the sa ti, Mikoto heard an alarm from the bridge.
It was the alarm that signaled a serious drop in a Spirit's emotional values.
[…You saw it, didn't you?]
The dust cleared. Natsumi, who had been perfectly fine before, was suddenly red-faced and showing open hostility.
[Saw? What are you talking about?]
[Don't play dumb! Just now, you saw my… my…]
In the end, nobody understood the reason Natsumi's emotional values had dropped.
[Since you saw it, I definitely won't let you off so easily! Just you wait. I'll completely ruin your life!]
Leaving behind that full-blown threat, Natsumi rode her broom and flew far away.
_____________
That night, in order to deal with the new Spirit, Shido and Mikoto held a discussion with everyone aboard Fraxinus.
The discussion mainly focused on two points:
Natsumi's ability, and what her goal was.
However, they had to admit that Fraxinus knew far too little about this Spirit. So with little progress made, the discussion gradually dragged on into the middle of the night.
"Um, may I share my guess? It's only a guess."
Mikoto raised her hand and said. She had a few thoughts about Natsumi.
"Sure, go ahead. Honestly, with how little information we have right now, guessing is about all we can do."
Kotori nodded. She was quite interested in what Mikoto wanted to say.
"First is Natsumi's ability. Judging from her fight with AST earlier, it should be an ability that changes the target's form."
Mikoto said.
"We discussed that earlier, but we can't rule out the possibility that she has direct attack thods too."
Kotori replied.
An Angel's ability was never limited to only one thing. For example, Kotori herself had her cannon and her healing flas. Mikoto beside the defense also had her attack reflection and seals. Not to ntion Kurumi's bug level Angel, where every bullet had a different ability.
"This is just a small guess, but Natsumi didn't hurt AST. And even though she declared that she would 'ruin Shido's life', she didn't blast him to death right there. I think that even if she has direct combat ability, it probably has many limits."
Mikoto said.
"That's true. Otherwise, Shido might have had to revive on the spot."
Kotori nodded.
"After confirming Natsumi's ability, there is sothing I'm very concerned about. Reine, could you rewind the footage to when Natsumi hugged Shido?"
Reine nodded and adjusted the footage according to Mikoto's request.
[As I thought… this current … is beautiful.]
In the recording, Natsumi said the line that had made Mikoto feel puzzled.
"What does this 'current ' an? After seeing Natsumi's ability, I was thinking—maybe the 'Natsumi' we saw is not Natsumi's true appearance?"
Mikoto chose her words carefully and spoke slowly.
"Especially since Natsumi kept asking Shido to confirm whether she was beautiful or not. I think… perhaps this could an Natsumi is not satisfied with her original appearance?"
"I see. If that is the case, it also explains her hostility toward Shin."
Reine rewound the footage to the end.
[Don't play dumb! Just now, you saw my… my…]
The image showed the mont Natsumi began becoming hostile toward Shido.
"Natsumi seems to believe Shin saw sothing of hers. If… that refers to Natsumi's true appearance…"
Reine followed Mikoto's train of thought and continued analyzing.
Natsumi's appearance might have been transford.
Natsumi might not be beautiful.
Natsumi thought Shido saw her unbeautiful form.
Since he saw it, please go die.
"Ah…"
Kotori opened her mouth wide.
She realized that everything seed to fit.
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