Natsumi was in the middle of transforming into Yoshinon.
Then where had the real Yoshinon gone?
"Hiki. I found Yoshinon’s location. Yoshinon was in Yoshino’s desk drawer from the start."
The commander found Yoshinon and handed her to Yoshino.
Luckily, Yoshino was next to me and didn’t go berserk, so nothing major happened, and she was able to take Yoshinon back safely.
"T-thank you..."
"Don’t mention it."
"So why did you pull something like this, Natsumi?"
I glared at Natsumi, who was still disguised as Yoshinon.
She still hadn’t returned to her original form.
"Hmm.... I feel like I slept for a long time... huh!? Another me!?"
Yoshinon, who had come to her senses in Yoshino’s hands, jumped in surprise the moment she saw Natsumi.
Of course she’d react like that when there was someone with the exact same face as her.
The commander nodded as if she understood Yoshinon’s reaction, then walked over to Natsumi.
"Now then, Natsumi. Why don’t you undo the transformation already?"
"...Tch."
Natsumi clicked her tongue and canceled the ability.
Returning from Yoshinon’s appearance to that of a beautiful girl, she looked at me like I was unbelievable.
"No, what even is with that [Soul]? How is there a cheat like that?"
Natsumi kept sighing in disbelief, and I just shrugged.
No, if you hate it so much, why don’t you use a [Soul] yourself?
Who told you to go around playing dress-up, anyway?
I couldn’t actually say that, so I swallowed the words and kept looking at Natsumi.
"And what’s with that doll, too!"
"I’m not a doll, I’m Hikinon! You old hag!"
"O-old hag!?"
"Yeah, an old hag! You look at least thirty, so that makes you an old hag—mmph!"
"You crazy bastard."
I hurriedly clamped a hand over Hikinon’s mouth.
Women were said to be sensitive about their age, and I had a pretty good idea how Natsumi would react if he kept spouting nonsense like that.
And Natsumi reacted exactly as I expected.
"Old hag!? Huh!? Hai, you tell me! Do I look like an old hag!?"
She was asking the guy she’d just declared she’d end for good to evaluate her looks.
That alone showed how badly I’d gotten under her skin.
Normally I should have said no here, but the things she’d done were so vicious that I took a beat before answering.
"...A little?"
"..."
Natsumi went silent.
Then tears began to gather in her eyes, and her body started glowing.
"Kyaaah!"
"W-what is it!?"
Blinding light slammed into everyone’s eyes, and while everyone at the scene winced and covered their faces in pain, a girl’s voice rang out.
"I-I’m not an old hag..."
A voice I’d definitely never heard before, and yet somehow had heard before.
Yeah, if I had to describe it, it was exactly the kind of voice Natsumi would have if she got younger.
"A child...?"
Just as I was wondering about the unfamiliar voice, my vision gradually returned, and what I saw was a little girl standing where Natsumi had been.
"Natsu...mi?"
"Question. She got smaller somehow."
"W-what? That’s Natsumi?"
"E-eh?"
Everyone was stunned by Natsumi’s younger appearance.
Her height, which had been about the same as mine, was now closer to Yoshino’s, and her silky hair had become a little rougher.
Even the clothes that had clung to her body and shown off her figure were now a little loose.
"W-what?"
As we stood there dumbfounded, Natsumi touched her own face, then suddenly widened her eyes and shouted,
"H-Haniel――!!!"
In response to Natsumi’s call, the angel shaped like a broom appeared in her hand: Haniel.
And with that, Natsumi’s appearance returned to that of an adult.
Apparently her child form was her real form, and she’d been hiding it with the angel’s power.
"So that’s it... this was a transformed form using spirit power."
"So you saw it... you saw it, you saw it, you saw it! Not once, but twice you saw my secret...!"
Judging from that, her transformation must have come undone once before, while my vision was blocked by that carrot bomb last time.
And since I’d been standing right next to her then, she thought I’d seen her secret and threw this whole tantrum.
But damn it, I’m telling you I never saw it.
"I’ll never forgive you, never! None of you are getting away clean!"
Saying that, Natsumi pointed Haniel at us.
Then the feathered part of Haniel unfolded and blasted out a strong light.
"Ghk...!"
As I narrowed my eyes against the glare and raised one arm to shield them, Natsumi’s voice echoed through the living room.
"Take this as my greeting, Higakieta Hai! I’ll make sure you pay for this grudge...!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the light faded, and Natsumi was gone, leaving only a single broom floating in midair.
"W-what the hell!?"
"Confusion. My body feels weird."
"What did you do to this Princess of the Wind!?"
"H-Hai...!"
"Why did Honored Guest suddenly get so much taller...?"
The voices coming from behind me had changed too.
Their voices had turned youthful, as if they’d gotten younger, and it was obvious at a glance that Natsumi had done something.
Just in case, I turned around, and there were the younger versions of everyone.
"What the...?"
"Serves you right, Higakieta Hai! Go babysit the kids!"
Natsumi’s mocking voice came from the crystal orb at the end of Haniel.
That insane spirit had just turned everyone except me and Rio and Rinne, who were in another room for safety, into little kids.
"Hey! Where do you think you’re going!?"
"Ahahahahaha!"
Natsumi laughed at me as hard as she could and flew out the window.
"Hieta, are you okay?"
"No, Itsuka-kun. Saying that while you’re younger doesn’t mean anything."
"Ah, haha..."
What the hell was I supposed to do about this?
As I stared blankly at them in disbelief, Rinne and Rio appeared.
"Wow! Mama! Kotori-chan, the glutton, Papa, and everyone else got younger!"
"Hieta, what is going on...?"
The two of them reacted in completely opposite ways.
Rio was fascinated, poking the younger Itsuka-kun’s cheek, while Rinne looked at me with trembling eyes, trying to figure out the situation.
At Rinne’s question, I let out a long sigh and explained what had happened.
The more she listened, the wider Rinne’s eyes got.
Before long, something in her gaze changed.
"So everyone’s younger right now?"
"Yeah. Right?"
"And Shido got younger too?"
"Yeah. But why do you look so weird...?"
"Hm? What are you talking about?"
Rinne’s eyes had changed.
It was similar to usual, and yet somehow different.
She was always smiling, but it didn’t seem like she was smiling more than usual now.
Especially with that twisted maternal affection filling her gaze, it was terrifying.
"Heh heh. So Shido got younger..."
Rinne let out a creepy laugh and approached Itsuka-kun.
"U-uncle... Mama’s acting weird..."
"I think so too."
Rio, sensing the fear radiating from Rinne, stopped poking Itsuka-kun’s cheek and hurried over to my side, trembling.
Of course Itsuka-kun also started shaking and tried to come to me, but Rinne caught him.
"Heh. Got you."
"R-Rinne!? Something’s wrong with you! Hieta! Stop Rinne!"
Even with his desperate scream, I could only shake my head, meaning I was busy protecting Rio and couldn’t help.
At my reaction, despair filled Itsuka-kun’s face, and Rinne smiled with a warped look of happiness as she stroked his head.
"R-Rinne...?"
"There, there. Good boy, Shido."
Rinne treated Itsuka-kun like a baby and gently patted him.
Everyone felt fear at her behavior, and the others all hurriedly crawled toward me too.
The fact that they were crawling at a speed no child could manage made it obvious just how terrified they were.
"H-Hiki. Protect me, your commander."
"Alarm. Rinne is going berserk."
"Honored Guest, she’s not the Rinne I know anymore..."
"What on earth is going on...?"
"H-Hai...! R-Rinne...!"
"It’s an emergency, Hai-kun! Rinne’s going berserk!"
"I know that already...."
I thought I had a rough idea why Rinne was going berserk like that.
"Probably because Itsuka-kun got younger."
The one she loved had turned into a child, so her already-strong maternal instinct had gone into overdrive and warped Rinne into something strange.
"M-mom..."
In the end, Itsuka-kun couldn’t resist Rinne’s touch and used the word mom.
Then Rinne’s face flushed even deeper, and her breathing quickened.
"Kotori...? Where did you go, Kotori...?"
"Hiiik!"
Rinne went one step further berserk and started calling the commander’s name as she searched for her next target.
As she looked around, she was like a predator searching for prey.
When the commander hid behind my back in response, Rinne heard her tiny scream and our eyes met.
"Hieta, is Kotori there...?"
At Rinne’s question, I looked back, and the commander shook her head hard, her twin tails whipping around.
Hmm. This couldn’t be helped.
At least I had some loyalty toward the commander, so I shook my head at Rinne.
"No. She’s not here."
But the berserk Rinne wasn’t that easy to fool.
"Lies. I can feel Kotori from over there...?"
"Oh, shit."
And so I ended up running around, dragging the younger ones with me until Rinne’s berserk state wore off.
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