(TL: oh hell nah this title, I think i know...)
In a guest room on the top floor of a hotel in eastern Tengu City, Westcott was leaning back on a sofa, quietly looking at the computer screen.
"As expected, it is still a little low."
After a while, he said that.
"What are you referring to, Ike?"
Beside him, Ellen asked. It was now November 7th, and the two of them still had not left Tengu City. However, far away in Britain, the directors who had been plotting to kill Westcott had already been brought under control.
"I an Miko's evaluation rank. Don't you think it is far too ironic to rate her as B-class alongside Hermit?"
Westcott pointed at the girl on the screen and spoke.
"I think it is appropriate. After all, Miko's combat ability is far too focused on defense. She can hardly be called a threat."
Ellen shook her head.
"If you only consider Miko alone, that is indeed true. But what if Princess, Hermit, and Berserker are included?"
Westcott said.
"True. I do not deny that her Angel can provide those Spirits with protection that is far too solid."
Ellen nodded.
As long as they were inside Tsukuyomi, Tohka and the others were absolutely safe. In other words, those Spirits could attack without holding back at all. It was like forcefully turning an ordinary encounter battle into a siege. And unfortunately, when it ca to sothing like "siege warfare", unless the attacking side possessed several tis the strength of the defending side, it was aningless.
"Especially when the core of these Spirits—Itsuka Shido—is also under Miko's protection."
Westcott said.
"Ike, are you planning to..."
A large reason DEM had left Itsuka Shido and the Spirits alone until now was because they intended to hold Shido in their hands like a key.
Think about it. As the bonds between the Spirits and Shido deepened over ti, how many Spirits would invert the instant Shido was killed?
Because of that, Miko's existence was like a mountain standing in DEM's path. If they wanted to kill Shido, then the pure defense type Angel, Tsukuyomi, was a problem they had no choice but to face.
"Of course, I do not intend to overturn our current policy. However, it would not hurt to obtain more varied data. After all, there are so many Spirits. If one of them turns back into a Sephira Crystal, it would not matter."
Westcott smiled lightly. However, what was contained in that smile was an idea far too cold and rciless.
"Understood. If that is Ike's wish, I will kill Miko."
Ellen nodded.
Having confidence was good, but Westcott understood that if Ellen wanted to kill Mikoto, she still lacked a certain level of power.
"Yesterday, I contacted headquarters and had them send Goetia over."
[!!!]
Hearing Westcott's words, Ellen opened her eyes wide.
"Whether you use it or not is up to you, strongest Wizard in the world. Use your power to end Miko's life!"
Westcott stood up as he said that.
______________
November 8th, morning.
"Ugh..."
Shido painfully opened his eyes. He slowly sat up, his head heavy and muddled as if he had just co down from a severe fever.
He could not rember at all how he had fallen asleep last night. It felt as if, before going to bed, he had first run four thousand ters, then done five hundred pull ups and five hundred push ups, only collapsing onto the bed after his body had been completely emptied.
[What date is it today again? Before I went to sleep, what exactly did I...]
Countless small fragnts of mory gradually surfaced, then pieced themselves together.
The great fire in Tengu City. The pillar of light descending from the sky. Origami, transford into a Spirit...
[That's right! I...]
Shido looked down at himself. There were no holes opened in his body, nor had he been carbonized by extre heat. And yet, in his mory, at the final mont, he had thrown himself into that lethal pillar of light in order to save Origami's parents.
Was it because of Kotori's flas? Or had Yud Bet's ti limit just happened to run out at that instant, forcibly sending him back here?
[...Kurumi... Kurumi...]
He tried to establish contact with Kurumi inside his mind. However, Tet was a bullet that connected different tilines. Now that Shido and Kurumi were in the sa ti, he could not contact her.
He pulled open the curtains. What entered his vision was a familiar scene. The city and the streets had not been destroyed by the inverted Origami. They still looked just as he rembered.
The instant he realized that, he could no longer suppress the excitent in his heart. He rushed out of the room and ran downstairs.
"What's wrong, Onii-chan? You're full of energy so early in the morning."
In the living room, Kotori, wearing her white ribbons, looked at Shido and spoke.
"You're okay, Kotori? Thank goodness!"
Shido looked at the familiar girl. The scene of Fraxinus being shot down by inverted Origami yesterday flashed through his mind, and he could not help pulling her into a hug.
"W-what are you doing, Onii-chan?"
Suddenly hugged by Shido, Kotori's face rapidly turned red. She kicked Shido hard, forcing him to let go of her.
"What date is it today, Kotori?"
"November 8th. What's wrong with you, Onii-chan? Are you still half asleep?"
Kotori asked, looking at Shido with concern.
"If I said that I went and changed the world yesterday, would you believe ?"
Shido said.
To Kotori, his behavior probably seed more or less strange. After all, the Kotori in front of him was living in a world where history had already been changed—Origami's parents had not been killed, Origami had no reason to invert, and the tragedy of a Demon King descending and destroying Tengu City last night had never happened. Everyone had spent an ordinary, happy day as usual, then gone to sleep.
"What are you talking about, Shido? Did your chuunibyou relapse or sothing?"
At that mont, an unfamiliar voice ca from behind him.
For so reason, the mont he heard that voice, Shido felt his heartbeat quicken.
He turned around and saw a girl wearing Raizen High School's uniform and an apron. She held a soup ladle in her hand, had long black hair, and eyes like the bright moon.
The girl was smiling while stirring the pot. The scent of miso drifted from inside. Even though a complete stranger was making breakfast in his house, Shido felt no sense of strangeness at all. It was as if he was supposed to wake up every morning like this, greet her with a smile, and enjoy her warm miso soup.
"Um... may I ask who you are?"
Shido shook his head, casting away that strange sense of familiarity, and asked.
"What are you talking about, Onii-chan? Why are you acting like you don't know Mikoto onee-chan?"
Kotori tilted her head and asked. Sohow, Shido felt off today. Had he eaten so weird mushrooms last night?
"Honestly, what's wrong with Shido today? You feel strange."
Mikoto also smiled wryly and walked to Shido's side. She gently used her hand to smooth out Shido's ssy bed hair, looking at him with concern.
"Ugh... S-sorry..."
The girl's fingertips gently moved through his hair, bringing a tingling, ticklish sensation. Shido's face turned red, and he apologized without thinking.
"Well then, let introduce myself again—I'm Yakumo Mikoto, a cute Spirit who has gone on dates with Shido, kissed him, and cos over every day to cook for him."
Although she did not know what kind of act Shido was putting on, Mikoto still smiled and introduced herself playfully.
[!!!]
Listening to the girl's self-introduction, Shido's heart began pounding wildly again.
For the first ti, he deeply realized just how outrageous an act changing the history of a world truly was. (TL:oh oh oh you fucker Shido, if you made her sad or cried I will call my friend over there to beat you up)
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