That was what Len said.
Like a person walking on two legs.
Like a fish swimming through water with its fins.
Like a bird flying through the sky with its wings.
As something natural, she said she simply couldn’t help but grant someone’s wish.
That was what she had been born as: a spirit.
Honestly, I couldn’t tell what she really meant.
I knew those words weren’t a lie, but we’d only just met, so there was no way I could figure out the exact meaning hidden inside them.
Besides, if the other side was determined to hide something, there was no way to know, so for now, staying on guard was the right call.
Still, I couldn’t stay guarded forever, and the reason was Itsuka-kun’s expression.
"...Len. Since you’ve come into contact with me, you may already know this, but I have the power to seal spirit waves."
He intended to win Len over.
Now that he knew she was a spirit, ignoring her was basically no longer an option for Itsuka-kun.
Given his personality, it made no sense for him to look away after seeing a spirit.
"Oh? Oh? That’s really impressive."
But Len’s reaction was strangely ambiguous.
Was she saying that because she already knew, or was she genuinely impressed after hearing it for the first time?
Her usual playful tone made it impossible to tell.
Itsuka-kun seemed to feel the same way, because his face turned thoughtful.
"...And we’re working to support spirits like you by sealing your spirit waves so you can live peacefully."
The reason he was revealing all this was simple.
"If you don’t mind, Len, could you let me seal your spirit waves?"
To seal Len’s spirit waves.
Wasn’t trust supposed to come before affection?
For that reason, Itsuka-kun was deliberately telling her that we belonged to some organization, and what that organization’s purpose was.
"Of course. If that is your [wish]."
At that moment, a chill I couldn’t explain ran down my spine.
I broke out in goosebumps all over at the sheer eeriness of it, and the feeling was like standing before a predator.
I had no idea why it came from Len, or why it hit me the moment she said the word wish.
My head was full of questions, but no answers, and the chill and dread didn’t go away, so I couldn’t help tensing up a little.
"Huh? Something wrong?"
"...N-no. And sorry, but what I just said isn’t really about a wish or anything like that. If you don’t want it, then it’s meaningless."
Just as Itsuka-kun said, sealing spirit waves only worked if the person involved wanted it.
More precisely, it required raising the target’s affection level until they liked Itsuka-kun enough for it to work.
In other words, even if it was granted through a wish, the seal could still end up incomplete.
And even if that wasn’t the case, there was always the possibility it would be undone again quickly afterward.
Itsuka-kun must have known that too, which was why he hadn’t wished for the sealing of spirit waves as his wish.
"Oh? Oh? That’s a shame. If you only wished it, I, Len, would even be prepared to devote this body, this heart, to you."
Just hearing it made it sound no different from saying she’d become a slave.
Itsuka-kun, the one hearing it directly, didn’t look all that pleased either.
"...Stop teasing me."
"Hahaha, my apologies. I didn’t mean it as a joke, but if it offended you, then I apologize."
I stared at Len as she politely apologized, and then she turned her head and looked straight at me, tilting it slightly.
"By the way, how did you come to enter this place?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"This place originally permits only one guest. Today’s guest is surely Itsuka Shido, and only him. So how did you...?"
"Hmm..."
From the way she said it, it seemed that my being here at all made no sense.
The only invited guest was supposed to be Itsuka-kun, but for some reason I had come along too.
In other words, I was basically some kind of foreign object, or an unwelcome guest.
"...I’m not really sure myself, though?"
That was the best answer I could give her.
I didn’t know why I was here either.
I’d just fallen asleep because I was sleepy, and when I opened my eyes, I was here.
"You don’t know yourself... Well, it’s not exactly a problem. So, getting back to the point, what wish are you going to make?"
Unable to solve her curiosity, Len looked back at Itsuka-kun and asked that.
What would the first of the three wishes she could grant be?
"Any selfish desire, any justice, any villainy, any unwelcome guest. All wishes are equally precious to me, and I never discriminate. I shall grant them all."
After hearing her words, Itsuka-kun thought for a moment, then answered with a reluctant expression.
"...Even if you ask me like that, I don’t think I can decide right now. Sorry for being indecisive, but could we set another date?"
Itsuka-kun’s position was perfectly understandable. If you got dragged somewhere out of nowhere and were suddenly asked what your wish was, I wouldn’t be able to answer easily either.
Sure, some people might ask for money and others for love, but those things are different for everyone.
Since the chance only came three times, it made sense to think carefully, then think even more carefully, and decide after plenty of consideration.
"I see, I see, so that’s your first wish... is it."
But the spirit in front of us seemed to be in such a hurry that she accepted Itsuka-kun’s words as a wish.
"Hey!?"
"Hahaha, I’m kidding. I’m not going to pull some old-fashioned trick like that."
"Phew..."
Hearing that it was a joke, Itsuka-kun let out a relieved breath and clutched his chest.
He’d almost blown one of his three chances, so I could understand why he was relieved.
"Good. You’re [special]. I’ll ask again tomorrow. Until then, please think of a wonderful wish. And..."
"...!"
I got the feeling Len’s gaze had slipped toward me.
Her eyes were clearly covered by a bandage, but my body still felt her eyes sweep over me.
Len, who had been analyzing me behind Itsuka-kun’s back like someone appraising an item, once again showed that suspicious smile and continued.
"If you have a wish later, you should tell me as well. Now then, excuse me. I look forward to your wish."
With that, Len vanished into the darkness.
Itsuka-kun stared blankly after her retreating figure, and then his appearance began to distort as my vision was swallowed by blackness.
When I opened my eyes, I was clearly lying on my bed in my room.
Since I’d fallen asleep in bed in the first place, that was only natural, but I had been conscious in that space that might or might not have been a dream.
It felt like I’d lost consciousness and been moved back to my room.
'...That wasn’t just a simple dream, was it.'
If the dream I’d just had had really been nothing more than a dream, then the two people I spoke with there would have been nothing but figments of my imagination.
But it had been too vivid for that, and as for Len, I’d never even known her, so there was no reason for her to appear in my dream.
Unless I’d fallen for her looks, but how was I supposed to fall for someone’s looks when her face was covered by a bandage?
So I decided that the dream I’d just had was not simple at all, and that I had actually met the two of them inside a dream.
Once I’d sorted my thoughts out a little, a long sigh came out on its own.
"...Haa, I don’t feel like I slept at all."
Yeah, setting everything else aside, the most important thing was that even though I had definitely fallen asleep, my consciousness had stayed awake, so it didn’t feel like I’d slept at all.
Thanks to that, waking up already tired in the morning was really unpleasant.
At times like this, I needed something to ease my mental fatigue, and I happened to have just the right item for it.
"...It’s not really meant to be used like this, though."
I looked down at the elegant glass bottle in my hand.
The item was called [Hidden Blessing], and the commander had given it to me when he looked exhausted during the Tobiichi operation last time.
Its original purpose was to restore FP, but when FP is restored, mental fatigue is eased too.
I guess that’s because FP itself refers to concentration.
"...Tch, might as well drink it."
There was nothing left to hesitate over. If I kept going like this, I’d probably just sleep through school, so I downed the [Hidden Blessing] in one go.
I’d only ever obtained it and never actually drunk it before, so I’d always been curious about the taste, and now I finally got to find out.
'...This taste!'
A coolness that felt almost eerie, different from the warmth of items that restored the user’s stamina, wrapped around my throat.
And the flavor was a little sweet, with a musty edge to it, so I could see why the commander had called it a strange taste.
Maybe that was because it was made in a place with a somewhat negative atmosphere, the Unmarked Grave.
"It doesn’t taste that good."
I hadn’t exactly expected it to taste good, so I was satisfied just by feeling refreshed as I started my morning.
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