The airship Fraxinus, belonging to Ratatoskr, floated above Tengu City. Its captain, Kotori Itsuka, narrowed her eyes as she stared intently at the footage displayed on the monitor.
"As you can see, the [Spirit] that appeared launched an attack toward something at the six o'clock direction, then was struck by an unknown type of attack and collided with a building. After that, it engaged the deployed AST and was lost."
Standing beside the captain’s chair and giving the briefing was Kyouhei Kannazuki, the vice-captain of the airship Fraxinus. With his wavy golden hair and handsome face, he manipulated the device right in front of him while watching the scene unfolding on the bridge’s large monitor.
Tap-tap, clack. After a few keystrokes, the video on the monitor ended, showing the absurd sight of two girls clashing while swinging massive weapons. After that, the image feed began showing a building about three blocks away from the bustling district.
"What [Princess] witnessed seems to be this."
The family restaurant had been completely wrecked by the aftereffects of the [Spacequake]. In a place that should have been empty because of the daytime [Spacequake] alert, someone was visible, oddly enough, with a hood pulled low enough to hide their face.
The very moment Kotori took in the footage streaming from the monitor, she frowned slightly.
"...Hm?"
"What is it, Captain?"
"...Nothing."
At Kyouhei’s question, Kotori waved it off and said it was nothing.
"By the way... was the mysterious attack [Princess] received also the work of that unknown being?"
"Considering that a wall made of bones rose up right in front of that individual, and that [Princess] was sent flying immediately after a movement of their arm... that’s the only conclusion we can draw for now."
"...Can you identify them?"
At Kotori’s question, Kyouhei shook his head.
"Because the hood was pulled so low, we couldn’t confirm the subject’s appearance. However, since bones appeared, I considered the possibility of the reappearance of the [Lich], who first appeared 25 years ago and has never shown itself since..."
"But?"
"...Its method of using bones is far too different from the [Lich]’s, and there isn’t a single similarity in their manifestations. And above all, not even the slightest trace of spiritual power was detected from that entity."
"...What? Then that means it isn’t a [Spirit]?"
"Yes. Also, no Realizer reaction was detected from that being either. The power used by that entity is, quite literally, neither a Realizer nor a [Spirit]’s Angel. For now, we know nothing."
For the first time, Kotori showed a shaken expression, her eyes widening. Kyouhei’s words caused a stir among the bridge crew as well.
The beings that kill the world: [Spirit]s. And those [Spirit]s possessed miracles in the form of something called an Angel. Through that Angel, a [Spirit] could unleash various supernatural abilities, or wield overwhelming power capable of reducing an entire civilization to ruins.
And a Realizer was a human technology that distorted the laws of physics and could reproduce the results of computer calculations in the real world. But calling it technology barely did it justice; it was no exaggeration to say it was effectively magic.
Yet from that being, neither Angel nor Realizer reactions had been detected. And on top of that, it had sent the powerful [Spirit] [Princess] crashing into a building by a method that was neither Angel nor Realizer.
A perfect variable that had never been in the plan or the calculations. The bridge was thrown into confusion by the appearance of a new existence for which no data existed.
But only for a moment.
"Hmm. Then could it be someone with another occult power, like Shizaki’s cursed doll or the black magic cult in Tengu City?"
"No way. An occult being powerful enough to blow away [Princess] wouldn’t be found even among the extinct Magus clan or the Golden Dawn Society. Besides, the records on them are unreliable to begin with. Most of the former’s data was lost, and much of the latter’s material is exaggerated or fabricated."
"But we can’t say for certain that it isn’t. If it’s not in Fraxinus’s database, then we just need to dig through records from even earlier than that."
If data didn’t exist, they could simply build it from scratch. In human history, which is made up of statistics and verification, taking the first step and going through dozens or hundreds of trials and errors was nothing unusual.
Among everyone here, Kotori was the youngest, yet she possessed a maturity and composure that didn’t match her age. As the captain of the airship Fraxinus, she did not panic at the sudden appearance of an unknown variable, but calmly thought through what needed to be done and immediately gave orders.
"...Haah. Kyouhei?"
"Yes."
After giving her instructions, Kotori leaned back against the captain’s chair and called Kyouhei with a snap of her fingers. Kyouhei, standing beside her, quickly reached into his jacket and took out a small lollipop with a stick. Then, kneeling down, he slipped the stick between Kotori’s fingers.
Kotori let out a sigh and put the candy in her mouth.
"...Anyway, this is really a pain. Why did something like that have to show up at this timing?"
Grumbling, Kotori twirled the lollipop stick between her fingers. Today was the day the operation would begin, now that approval had been granted by the Round Table. And yet, something unknown had suddenly appeared and sent [Princess] crashing into a building. If that had at least been a [Spirit], the situation would have been easier to handle, but apparently it wasn’t even a [Spirit].
Fraxinus had just begun investigating the entity, but at the exact timing when the operation was about to start, something whose ally-or-enemy status and danger level were both unknown had appeared. It really could not have been more troublesome.
"Commander?"
"Hm?"
At that moment, just as Kotori bit down on the candy with a displeased expression, a crew member hurried into the bridge and called out to her. Kotori turned her gaze, still idly spinning the stick, and asked what was wrong. The crew member saluted and replied, "Just now, Analyst Murasame said the boy she recovered has regained consciousness. Should I bring him here?"
"Bring him."
With that answer, Kotori folded her arms.
○○○
I got scolded by my friends. I got scolded hard by the homeroom teacher who joined us later. And finally, I got scolded so badly by the doctor at the hospital who checked my condition that I nearly cried.
But I couldn’t really say anything, because this was partly my own fault. My intentions were good, but what I’d done was run out of the shelter on my own into a dangerous place where no one knew when a [Spacequake] might strike. And since nobody else knew I could use Sans’s power, I really had no excuse if they called me crazy on the spot.
Besides, even though I’d tried to save a friend, it turned out he’d been perfectly fine inside the shelter, and the phone whose GPS signal had been tracked was just something he’d left behind at the restaurant.
In other words, what I’d done was a complete waste of effort. On top of that, even if it had been a reflex, I’d gone and sent Tohka crashing into a building...
"...Haah."
Thinking back on what happened yesterday only made me feel depressed again for no reason. If it had just been about sending Tohka into a building, then that was basically a fair counterattack after she’d struck first, so I wouldn’t need to feel this down. The problem was that when I sent Tohka flying into the building, Itsuka Shido had been nearby too.
...Right. That Itsuka Shido.
The Shido who was the protagonist of the light novel Date A Live.
"The fact that Shido was right next to Tohka when she appeared means yesterday was the day the original story started...!"
It had been a while since I’d watched the anime, but I still remembered the rough outline. Of course, as a nerd, I’d wanted to meet the characters from the light novel at least once, but I only wanted to see them from the side, not interfere with the original story by sending Tohka crashing into a building!
And if I remembered correctly, at the exact point where the original story began, that Frax... or whatever it was... anyway, a huge airship with Itsuka Kotori, Shido’s younger sister, as its captain, had also been observing the scene. Maybe it was Ratatoskr, the organization that owned that airship? Anyway, that meant some organization like that might have seen me...
"No, but maybe Ratatoskr would be okay?"
Unlike AST or DEM, the organizations that shouted, "Kill the [Spirit]s!" Ratatoskr existed for the purpose of protecting [Spirit]s. Unlike those two fundamentally violent groups, Ratatoskr was an organization that valued peace, so maybe it wouldn’t be that big of a problem?
...But AST had shown up right after I sent Tohka into the building, hadn’t it? Then wouldn’t they come swarming in later trying to kill me?
"Haah... damn, I don’t know."
I muttered that I really shouldn’t have left the shelter and let out a long sigh. If only I’d known from the start that Younghee was inside the shelter. Why did she have to leave her phone behind and make things confusing...
"Heeey~ Haneul! Why the long face this early in the morning?"
As I absentmindedly stared out the window, letting myself sway with the rattling bus, that was when it happened.
There was someone wearing gray slacks, a white shirt, and over that, a black blouse, with a black-and-white striped tie around their neck. The design was more like a school uniform than a suit.
Looking at the friend who smiled brightly and spoke to me, I replied, "Welcome, Doyun."
One of the eight students riding the bus to Raizen High School. When I said that to Doyun, my classmate, he laughed heartily and patted my back.
"Oh, right. How’s your condition? You looked like a mess when you got back to the shelter."
"I’m fine. It’s not like I was badly hurt or anything. Just a little scraped up."
"Still, better be careful just in case. My cousin once thought something was no big deal and brushed it off, then later ended up with a ruptured disc and couldn’t move at all."
"Anyway, I’m fine. The doctor didn’t say anything either."
There had been times when I’d been swept up in the aftereffects of a [Spacequake] and slammed into a window all over my body, but after sleeping through the night, I was completely fine. As if showing off my health, I bent one arm into an L-shape and flexed, but there was no way a skinny arm with no muscle would suddenly grow a bicep. My gesture, meant only to show that I was fine, made Doyun laugh again before he returned to his seat.
When I turned my head back toward the window, Raizen High School was already right in front of us.
"Wow... what is this—"
"How is this school so big?"
The first thought that came to mind the moment I saw the school was, simply, "This is amazing!" Maybe because it was a school in Tengu City, supported by the latest technology, but the campus looked like it was ten times the size of my own school. There wasn’t a single stain or crack visible on the walls. I knew the buildings were several years old, but just looking at them made it feel as if they’d been newly built only a week ago.
"Are those students... from Raizen High?"
"They’re all looking at us."
"They probably think it’s strange because we came from Korea."
After getting off the bus, we could see many students peeking out from the windows of the building and looking our way. They kept sending curious glances at us, and I found it a little strange too, exchanging looks with them, when I spotted someone familiar on a third-floor window to the right whom I had seen yesterday.
Blue hair that stood out sharply among black hair. Itsuka Shido, the protagonist of Date A Live.
"..............."
"Haneul? Why did you suddenly go quiet?"
"Ah, no... It’s nothing."
Seeing Shido again made cold sweat break out on my back for no reason. It wasn’t like I’d done anything especially bad, but yesterday kept coming back to me and making me nervous. I’d pulled my hood down so low it covered my face, but what if he had recognized me? Considering Shido’s personality as shown in the anime, and Ratatoskr’s purpose, even if he had recognized me it probably wouldn’t be that big of a problem... but...
"Alright, everyone. From here, we’ll do a quick class assignment, so please follow me this way~."
"..............."
Right after the homeroom teacher shouted that, we who had gotten off the bus began moving as instructed and headed into the building. I, who had been standing still and staring at Shido, hurriedly moved my feet and followed along with my friends.
But my head, which had been looking upward, never turned forward. Even until the very moment I entered the building, I kept staring at Shido, whose face was peeking out from the window.
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