By the ti Mikoto and Hina returned to Tengu City, the sun had already set.
After saying goodbye to Hina, Mikoto went to the Itsuka house. When she discovered that not only Shido and Kotori were absent, but even the Spirit apartnt next door was empty, she realized that sothing must have happened. So she imdiately hurried to Ratatoskr's underground facility.
There, she saw Shido and the Spirits gathered around a round table.
"What happened, Kotori?"
Mikoto walked in and asked.
"Actually…"
Kotori opened her mouth with a difficult expression.
As it turned out, after Mikoto left for BLAST, Kotori and Shido had tried to appeal to Nia's interests by sending a gal ga with Shido as the protagonist to Nia's apartnt.
Although it was called a ga, the true form of the ga was more like a chat app. The one interacting with Nia was not so prewritten plot, but Shido himself sitting in front of a computer on the other side.
As a 2D fanatic, Nia had never encountered such an "intelligent" gal ga before. Naturally, she threw herself into it with great interest, and her affection toward "Shido" as the gal ga target grew higher and higher.
Up to that point, everything had gone according to Kotori's plan.
Since Shido could not cosplay as another 2D character, they would simply make Itsuka Shido himself beco 2D.
However…
When Nia, still unsatisfied, took out Rasiel because she wanted to know what other gas this ga's publisher had released before, and when the official version would be released, the whole thing was exposed even faster than expected.
After learning that she had been tricked, Nia beca furious and lashed out at Shido and Kotori without rcy.
As a result, not only did the capture fail, Nia's affection for Shido dropped even lower.
"Our current idea is to draw Shido as a manga… or rather, to draw Shido and everyone's story as a manga."
Kotori finally said that.
"I see. It sounds like a pretty good thod."
Mikoto thought for a mont and said.
Although there was also the possibility that Nia was currently angry and might not read it even if they drew it, this was not the ti to pour cold water on the plan.
And honestly, Shido's story really was not inferior to many manga. Mm, thinking carefully, it was actually quite 2D.
"What about you, Mikoto? Did you make any progress?"
Kotori asked.
"As for my side, I more or less learned so things about Nia."
Mikoto told everyone about Editor Gotou and Takajo.
"I see. No wonder she doesn't trust the real world. That Rasiel really is a little cruel for its user."
Kotori nodded.
"But there's sothing I'm concerned about…"
At that mont, Shido spoke.
"Did you think of sothing, Shido?"
Kotori asked.
"After hearing what Yakumo-senpai said, I was thinking… did Nia really use Rasiel to investigate Takajo-sensei?"
Shido said in confusion.
"It looks like Shido and I thought of the sa thing."
Mikoto nodded.
When they first heard that Nia had suddenly distanced herself from Takajo, their first impression was that Nia had used Rasiel to investigate Takajo, discovered the other woman's dark side, and beca disappointed in her.
"But I don't think Nia is the type to act cold toward soone she hates."
Unlike ordinary Spirits, Nia not only knew human society very well, she was also a working mber of society. Because of that, she had a more mature way of handling people.
Of course, to put it less nicely, she knew how to wear a mask when dealing with others. Even with soone she disliked, she would still maintain surface level warmth.
"That's right. Just like senpai said, I don't think Nia would distance herself from soone just because she disliked them."
After all, Shido and Mikoto had interacted with Nia face-to-face, so compared to the others, they had a deeper understanding of how the girl acted.
"But in that case, why did she distance herself from that woman nad Takajo?"
Kotori asked in confusion.
"She was probably afraid."
Mikoto thought for a mont, then said:
"Afraid that if they kept getting along like that, she wouldn't be able to stop herself from investigating Takajo-sensei, and would end up disappointed again because of it."
"In other words, she didn't leave because she investigated her and beca disappointed. She left because she was afraid she would beco disappointed after investigating her?"
Kotori nodded. Thinking carefully, perhaps Nia herself had also begun to realize that Rasiel did not only bring her convenience.
"Honestly, if only Nia would directly use Rasiel to investigate Shido."
Mikoto sighed.
Although Nia had investigated Shido, it probably only stayed at the surface level. If she dug deeper, she would definitely understand that Shido was soone no worse than a 2D character.
At the very least, Mikoto dared to say that Shido's quality of handing over his life without hesitation for the sake of Spirits was absolutely pure and innocent.
Unfortunately, the person herself had tasted Rasiel's bitterness at exactly this point and had started deliberately controlling the way she investigated things.
"I don't like spoilers."
That was sothing Nia often said.
Thinking carefully, that habit had to have ford because Rasiel's "spoilers" had wounded her heart too deeply.
"In that case, let's all draw the best manga together!"
After understanding Nia's thoughts, Kotori bit on her Chupa Chups and said that.
However, at that mont, the phone rang.
This was Ratatoskr's underground facility. The phone number was encrypted, so logically, there was no reason soone from the outside could call it.
"…Hi. You're holding an operation eting, huh, boy?"
After the call was connected on speaker, Nia's voice ca from the other end.
For an omniscient Angel, phone encryption and the like had no aning at all.
"I really hate spoilers, so I don't want to use Rasiel for this kind of thing. But if you do sothing like cosplaying as Tokiya or playing with my maiden heart using a gal ga again, I won't be able to take it."
A voice that was clearly angry ca from the other end of the phone.
"You seem to have changed your plan, so I won't make a fuss about it. But this operation has one huge flaw."
Nia's words confird Mikoto's guess.
The girl said that she was currently very angry, that she had a pile of manga and new ani to catch up on, and that she was also very busy with work. So she had no reason or mood to read their half baked manga.
"In other words, if it isn't half baked, if it's a manga worth reading, you'll read it, right?"
However, Kotori seized that point and turned their chance of victory toward the coming doujinshi convention.
Using sales as the standard, as long as Shido's "doujin" manga sold better than Nia's manga, then that would prove that this manga was absolutely not a "half baked" work.
In other words—Nia would have to read the manga they made.
"Fine. Go ahead and try. Talk after you can beat ."
Whether it was because she thought a little competition did not matter, or because she believed she could not possibly lose, Nia agreed without even thinking.
"In that case, I'll add one condition too."
At that mont, Mikoto suddenly said that.
"…"
After listening to Mikoto's words, Nia fell into thought.
"Fine. I'll agree to that too. But… since the boy's side is asking for more, I'll have to raise the stakes accordingly."
After thinking for a mont, Nia said:
"Hey, Miko-chan. If you lose, I'll draw that little secret between you and the boy into a manga. You won't mind, right?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers