So cold.
Barton thought through chattering teeth.
Although it was winter, the heating inside the room was fully on, so the temperature shouldn't be considered low. But Barton still felt a bone-chilling cold spread from the soles of his feet throughout his entire body.
However, despite feeling so freezing cold, the sweat glands all over his skin were continuously evaporating sweat. The undershirt beneath his oversized uniform was already soaked through, and his throat felt exceptionally dry from a lack of moisture.
And beside him, his reliable and steady buddy—Knox—also wore a tense expression, standing completely silent.
As for the reason behind this. It was actually very simple.
"Mhm..."
Right at the desk in front of them, their boss—Westcott—was reading the self-reflection report they submitted with a look of great interest.
Hit by an unidentified attack suddenly appearing from the ground, the transport plane crashed, and the Spirit being transported inside slipped away while they parachuted to escape.
Although they didn't intentionally let the Spirit go, and it was a series of unexpected, coincidental accidents, considering how obsessed Westcott was with Spirits, they knew the cause of the incident had nothing to do with their punishnt.
"..."
Looking up slightly with so unease, Barton's gaze bypassed Westcott and looked towards Ellen behind him. But feeling her sharp, piercing gaze, he hurriedly lowered his head again.
In the worst-case scenario, he and his old buddy would probably et their end right here. Barton didn't think for a second that Westcott would care about the legal troubles of committing a cri. For this man who could shake a country's economy with a flick of his finger, making the existence of two nobodies disappear from society would be entirely effortless.
If getting fired could settle this, they should thank their lucky stars. Barton prayed silently in his heart, bowing his head and waiting for Westcott's judgnt.
"—I see."
—!
The mont Westcott spoke, Barton felt his heart leap violently.
Saying this, Westcott looked up, taking his eyes off the report, his murky, cold eyes fixed on Barton and Knox.
Ugh. Barton fought down the urge to vomit rising from his stomach.
Westcott's gaze wasn't sharp like Ellen's, but it felt as if it carried countless tiny barbs. It was like rough sandpaper slowly rubbing against his heart, peeling off blood and flesh bit by bit into minced residue.
This boss, who was over ten years younger than them, walked slowly towards them like a Grim Reaper holding a scythe. Knox seed to have already accepted his fate and closed his eyes.
However, the other party's reaction exceeded their expectations.
"You've worked hard. Your injuries can be healed imdiately using Realizers. Get so good rest, and you can return to your posts."
"...Eh?"
"I-Is that... it?"
The unexpected answer made both Barton and Knox widen their eyes in astonishnt.
"Hm?Oh I know what you an. I'll issue your work injury compensation. Don't worry—"
"N-No, no, we're not talking about that... We let 'Material A' escape, so the punishnt..."
Hearing Westcott's words, Knox shook his head frantically, seemingly unable to hold back the confusion in his heart, and asked.
"Eh? But according to the report, this wasn't your responsibility. On the contrary, I think your ability to remain calm when encountering Nightmare is praiseworthy. I'm not stupid enough to lose capable talent over personal feelings."
"I-I see..."
Barton couldn't help but swallow. Honestly, Westcott's understanding attitude didn't put his mind at ease at all; instead, it gave him goosebumps all over.
"Moreover..."
After a slight pause, a aningful smile appeared on Westcott's face.
"I was going to release 'Material A' sooner or later anyway. This ti, I'll let her play for a bit first. Thank you for not doing anything unnecessary."
"—!?"
Barton almost couldn't hold back a gasp of surprise.
Release Material A? Did they transport her to Japan just to release the Spirit they worked so hard to catch?
"President, what exactly are you—"
Seeing Knox about to ask unnecessary questions, Barton's face turned pale. He hurriedly tugged at his sleeve and shook his head, signaling him to keep his mouth shut. Knox instantly understood and hurriedly changed his tune.
"I see, then I'll take my leave first."
"Mhm."
Receiving Westcott's permission, the two quickly left the office.
The automatic door slowly closed behind them. It wasn't until they left the building where Westcott was that the two finally let out a long sigh of relief, wiping the cold sweat from their foreheads.
"...I don't get it. His brain structure is completely different from ours. By the way..."
"By the way... referring to what?"
"Never mind, it's nothing."
Knox stopped mid-sentence and suddenly equivocated.
It wasn't that Barton didn't understand his thoughts, so he didn't press further. After all, no one could guarantee there weren't Westcott's eyes and ears here. Seemingly trying to relieve the oppressive atmosphere, Barton hurriedly changed the subject.
"Well, anyway, it's good that we're fine. I didn't expect the boss to be just like that rookie said..."
As soon as he spoke, Barton realized he chose the wrong topic.
"Yeah, that rookie..."
Sure enough, Knox's expression beca even heavier.
Both of them actually understood that Westcott wasn't forgiving them; he simply didn't care about them at all. He looked at them with twisted, alien eyes, as if looking at reptiles or insects.
And that rookie, although she didn't give them the sa oppressive feeling as Westcott, fundantally, there wasn't much difference.
(Monsters attract monsters... a joke that isn't funny at all.)
The two exchanged a glance and sighed in unison. They started planning their next job-hopping target.
——————————
"You thought I was an ordinary popular manga artist, but actually I am a Spirit!!!"
"..."
"..."
"A-Ara...?"
Looking at Shido and Yutsuki, who remained silent without the slightest surprise on their faces, Nia, who was striking a pose on the bed, felt a bit awkward.
"How strange, normally shouldn't you two be more surprised?"
"Well... I had sowhat noticed."
Shido scratched his cheek with a bitter smile. If anything, he was more surprised that everything turned out exactly as Yutsuki had predicted.
"Well, it's not like you tried to hide it, did you?"
Yutsuki shrugged helplessly and said,
"Or do you want to play along and act scared? Wh-What—You're actually a Spirit? I-Impossible! Where's the proof?!"
Saying this, Yutsuki suddenly put on a terrified expression, took a few steps back abruptly, and then, as if to cover up her shock, pointed at Nia and shouted.
(Speaking of which... rather than discovering a shocking truth, that sounded more like a detective exposing a cri.)
Watching Yutsuki's realistic acting, Shido couldn't help but sweatdrop.
"Hmph—Of course I have proof since I said so."
However, Nia unexpectedly bought into Yutsuki's act and proudly raised her eyebrows.
"Watch this—Spirit Dress of God's Authority, Number 2 Yod!"
Chanting it like a spell, Nia took off her glasses. The next instant, a swirling vortex of light enveloped Nia's body. The intense light made Yutsuki and Shido squint their eyes.
The light gathered, and Nia's maid outfit instantly disappeared. In its place was a hazy black habit resembling sheer gauze. A silver cross hung at her waist, and a veil covered her head.
Nia's attire before him made Shido imdiately think of a nun in a church.
"Sister..."
Yutsuki muttered softly.
That's right, what Nia was wearing right now was the strongest fortress for a Spirit—the Astral Dress.
"Transformation complete. Are you convinced now, Biri-chan? No other creature besides a Spirit could make such a gorgeous entrance."
Saying this, Nia proudly puffed out her flat chest.
(Um... the one who initially concluded Nia was a Spirit was Yutsuki, you know.)
Shido thought speechlessly. How should he put it, thanks to these two goofballs, what should have been a very serious scene had beco extrely casual, giving off a feeling of 'whatever works'.
"...Ahhh, my ticulously planned gorgeous entrance!"
Seemingly realizing sothing, Nia couldn't help but hold her head and wail.
"Damn it... the planned developnt was that the boy would be attracted by the gap moe of my hidden identity, and then I'd use this highly provocative Astral Dress to seduce him, leading to a crowd-pleasing fan service plot with the boy. But it ended up turning into the atmosphere of a gag manga."
(Was that what you were originally planning...?)
The corner of Shido's mouth twitched slightly.
Indeed, the translucent nun outfit Nia wore had a very strong impact on adult males. Many hidden 'forbidden zones' of a young girl were faintly visible, revealing a subtle lewdness within the holiness, which made Shido unsure where to look.
Of course, her personality was completely the opposite of her appearance, though.
"You set up! Biri-chan!"
"Well~ I have no idea what you're talking about."
However, even while saying this, Yutsuki deliberately drew out her words and wore a wicked smile that said "just as planned".
"Damn it... even though you already noticed from the start. But you still couldn't resist playing along with the trope. Biri-chan is so an, to actually exploit an otaku's habits."
Nia complained with dissatisfaction.
"Well... even without ssing things up, you probably wouldn't have been able to seduce him anyway. It's completely unsuitable for your character type."
Yutsuki shrugged nonchalantly.
"Ugh... whatever. Let's move on to the next topic."
Seemingly understanding she couldn't win against Yutsuki in an argunt, Nia slumped her shoulders in disappointnt. After adjusting her mindset, she continued.
"Rasiel."
As her voice fell, the space in front of Nia distorted instantly. The next mont, a heavy book appeared in Nia's hands.
Like a Bible, the cover was made of a material that was hard to tell if it was leather or tal. Like Nia's Astral Dress, it was decorated with a cross.
Rasiel? Shido glanced at Yutsuki in surprise. Although their appearances were completely different, Nia's Angel and Yutsuki's Ratziel indeed had the sa pronunciation.
(By the way, why is it that even though the pronunciation is the sa, the nas are completely different?)
Shido instinctively told himself not to get tangled up in these details.
Perhaps sensing this, or perhaps sensing that Nia had no hostility, facing a Spirit who had deployed her Astral Dress and Angel, Yutsuki didn't take a defensive stance.
"Is this... an Angel?"
"Exactly. This is my Angel, 'Rasieel'—the omniscient Angel capable of seeing through everything in the world."
Hearing Nia's words, Shido couldn't help but frown.
"Omniscient... what does that an?"
"Exactly what the word ans. All creation and phenona in the world are recorded in this book. For example, which route the boy usually takes after shopping, the boy's past dark history, etc. What happened where in the world? What is anyone doing? I can know everything clearly—probably."
"It's probably?!"
Yutsuki couldn't help but retort.
"Well~ there are exceptions to everything. You can't generalize."
"Sohow this feels really careless..." Looking at Nia speechlessly, Yutsuki sighed and said, "Well, Shido eting you passed out on the street was indeed deliberately planned by you."
"Bingo!"
Nia smiled and nodded. She began to explain the whole story to the two.
Just as Yutsuki had said earlier, in early December, the berserk Shido responded to Nia's call, shot down the DEM transport plane, and helped Nia escape.
The first thing Nia did after escaping wasn't to flee Tengu City and hide, nor was it to find Shido, who saved her, to ask for help. Instead, she went back to her ho—to rush her manuscript.
Compared to the suffering caused by being imprisoned by DEM, Nia seed more dissatisfied with the hiatus caused by her absence. She complained to Yutsuki and Shido with resentnt about the losses incurred from her manga sales dropping.
Hearing this, both Yutsuki and Shido wore subtle expressions, unsure how to evaluate Nia's "career first" attitude.
"Hm? Nia, isn't your Angel omniscient? Why were you caught by DEM Industries?"
Feeling a slight incongruity, Shido interrupted Nia's words and asked in confusion. To this, Nia scratched her head sowhat awkwardly.
"Ah... I was careless back then. I fell into an ambush by that Ellen Mira Mathers, which is why that happened. Also, boy, you're misunderstanding sothing."
Nia wagged her index finger and explained.
"Rasiel is indeed an omniscient Angel, but it can only draw out the information I want. It cannot predict the future, nor can it automatically sense danger. It's similar to a high-performance search engine."
"I see... I thought it was so kind of incredibly powerful force, I didn't expect it to have such a big limitation."
Hearing this, Nia stared at Shido with an odd expression.
"Boy, didn't I already tell you? Why do you still not understand the power of Rasiel?"
"Eh?"
A puzzled expression appeared on Shido's face.
Hearing Nia's words, Yutsuki couldn't help but fall into thought. If the contents written in Nia's Angel are all "facts", then conversely, the contents Nia writes in it...
As if confirming Yutsuki's thoughts, Nia took out the quill pen attached to the Angel and began drawing on a blank page of Rasiel.
"Alright, done."
A few minutes later, having finished her task, Nia let out a breath. At the sa ti, Rasiel began to emit a sparkling light.
At this mont, Yutsuki noticed a hint of a wicked smile in Nia's expression as she looked at her.
"Well then, pay the price for ruining my ticulously planned fan service segnt, Biri-chan!"
"Eh? M-My body?"
Before Yutsuki could understand the aning behind Nia's words, Shido suddenly cried out. He walked towards her with extrely exaggerated steps, then slipped on thin air where there were no obstacles, lost his balance, and lunged towards Yutsuki.
Seeing Shido's hands reaching for her breasts, Yutsuki frowned. She swept her right arm horizontally, grabbed Shido's arm, pivoted on her foot to spin a half circle, smoothly moving to Shido's back, and locked his joint.
"Honestly, I'm disappointed in you, Shido. Not asking for the other party's consent, nor considering the ti and place. Trying to take advantage of soone with this opportunistic thod while pretending to be a victim, you're a hundred years too early to try the Rito Fall!"
"Misunderstand—Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yutsuki! Yutsuki! Let go! My joint! My joint is twisting in a weird direction aaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"
Crack!
Original author's PS: Don't ask how Yutsuki knows about the Rito Fall, with that level of fa, even people who haven't watched it know about it = =.
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