“I’m sitting next to Hieta!”
“Negative. I shall be the one sitting next to Hieta.”
On the plane ride home after the school trip, the two girls were fighting over the seat beside me.
“You two, please keep your voices down...”
Kaguya and Yuzuru were being far too loud.
While it was flattering to have two beauties fighting over me, they were drawing far too much attention from the other passengers.
“Hehe. Then I suppose I’ll yield this time.”
The Fire Keeper, who had been sitting beside me, stood up as she watched the two of them bicker.
“Huh? Is that really okay?”
The Fire Keeper had also expressed her feelings for me, so I wondered if she was truly fine with giving up her spot.
“Of course. You’ll choose me in the end anyway, honored guest.”
Her sheer confidence left me speechless.
“Yuzuru! This isn’t the time for us to be fighting each other!”
“Affirmative. A stronger enemy has appeared.”
Upon hearing the Fire Keeper’s words, the two of them suddenly synchronized their teamwork and turned to glare at her.
Seeing their reaction, the Fire Keeper smiled. “Then should I sit next to the honored guest again?”
“...If you yield, I’ll accept it.”
“...Request. Please yield.”
“Hehe. Then I’ll go over to my newly made friend instead.”
With a playful smile, the Fire Keeper moved to the seat beside another female student. Kaguya and Yuzuru, looking slightly dejected, quickly claimed the seats on my left and right.
“You two. Don’t make those faces. It would be a waste of such lovely expressions.”
At my words, a smirk played on both their lips. “As expected! I knew Hieta would say something like that!”
“Affirmative. This is precisely why girls keep falling for you.”
“......”
I’d been played.
I hadn’t realized they were deliberately acting disappointed just to coax a compliment out of me.
“Haha, looks like I got tricked.”
“Well, that’s part of why we like you, Hieta.”
“Affirmative. Kaguya is correct.”
With that, they both linked arms with me.
Mm. It was probably just my imagination that I could hear certain people shouting about a “night boat.”
Yes, it had to be. I really don't want to be split in two.
***
After the plane landed in Japan, Shido and the others headed back to their respective homes.
Kaguya and Yuzuru had to return to [Fraxinus] for some kind of examination.
“Hm? A call?”
While I was relaxing at home, the commander called me.
“What is it, Commander?”
“Are you free right now?”
“This is a bit out of the blue, isn't it?”
“Reine said she has something to tell you and Shido.”
“Well, I’ve got time to spare. I'll be there.”
After hanging up, I changed my clothes and headed out of the mansion.
When I stepped outside, Shido was already there, having received the same contact. The two of us were then transported back to [Fraxinus].
“Ah, you’re here.”
“What’s going on?”
“First, I need to explain something to you two.”
Murasame’s explanation was as follows:
Because the power sealed within my body from Yoshino, as well as the powers from Kaguya and Yuzuru, might cause unforeseen side effects, I needed to be connected to Shido via a sort of spiritual conduit.
“Hmm... If I do that, there won’t be any particular downside for me, right?”
“Yeah. There shouldn’t be any disadvantage for you. Just think of it as a safety measure.”
“Is Shido okay with it?”
“If it’s Reine-san’s idea, then I don’t mind.”
Since it was presented as a safety precaution and Shido was on board, I accepted Murasame’s suggestion.
With my consent, Murasame led us into a specific room.
Inside were two machines that looked like oversized VR pods, large enough for a person to fit inside.
“You go in there, and Hieta goes in there.”
Following the instructions, Shido and I climbed into the machines on the left and right, respectively.
The lids closed the moment we entered, and I felt something connecting to my body.
After a short while, the pods opened. Shido and I stepped out cautiously, standing there in a daze, when Murasame simply said, “That’s done.”
“Huh?”
“Already?”
“Yeah.”
I had expected a long, drawn-out process, but it ended surprisingly quickly.
Shido seemed to have expected the same, as he wore a similarly disappointed expression.
Whirrrr—
“What? It’s already over?”
The commander, entering as the door opened, also sounded surprised that the process was finished.
In response, Murasame gave the same flat “Yeah” she had given us and promptly left the room.
“...That feels kind of anticlimactic.”
“...Shido feels that way too, huh.”
Honestly, I had imagined something more... special would happen.
“All right, if Reine says it’s done, then go on home.”
With the commander’s eviction order delivered, Shido and I left [Fraxinus] feeling slightly let down.
“Ah, right. Hieta.”
“Yes?”
Shido looked as if he had just remembered something important.
“When you sealed Yoshino last time, Hikinon appeared, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then maybe something appeared this time too?”
“...Oh!”
Come to think of it, I’d completely forgotten.
Whenever I sealed a spirit’s power, I somehow acquired a new weapon.
“It might be dangerous to test it at home, so should we try it somewhere open?”
“Should we call the others too?”
“Hmm. Sure, why not.”
Shido called Rinne and invited the rest of the group. Consequently, everyone living in the spirit mansion, including Rinne and Tohka, joined us.
Among them were Kaguya and Yuzuru, who had just finished their examination.
“Ooh! So what kind of weapon contains the power of me and Yuzuru?”
“Request. Please show us quickly.”
Since the weapon was born from their own powers, the two of them were the most curious.
“Ahem. Then I’ll bring it out.”
Feeling as though I were conducting a formal weapon demonstration, I summoned the newly acquired item from my inventory.
“Yuzuru! It’s a bow! A bow!”
“Calm down. Kaguya, you’re getting too excited.”
The new weapon was indeed a bow.
More specifically, a massive greatbow.
“This looks similar to the form of Kaguya and Yuzuru’s angel when they’re combined, doesn’t it?”
“Now that you mention it.”
“Affirmative. It is similar.”
The greatbow closely resembled the combined form of the Yamai sisters' angel that I had seen before.
However, there were a few key differences.
The most striking difference, for one...
“It’s way bigger.”
Since it was a weapon scaled for my use, it was significantly larger than theirs—roughly one and a half times my own height.
Given that I stood around 175 centimeters, the bow was well over two meters long.
“My angel’s lance part is gone too.”
Kaguya’s lance was missing, and...
“Addition. My chain part is gone as well.”
Yuzuru’s chain was also absent.
Only the bow portion had been reproduced as a weapon.
“That’s kind of disappointing...”
“Affirmative. It is disappointing.”
The two of them looked genuinely let down.
Feeling awkward, I scratched my cheek. “But the ability is what really matters.”
The weapon’s name hadn’t been decided yet, so the title field was blank, but the combat technique was listed in the description.
“[Wind Arrow], huh...”
The ability allowed me to wrap wind around a giant arrow and fire it. If the arrow hit a target, the swirling wind would tear the target to pieces.
That’s brutal...
What a savage description.
“Then let’s see...”
I aimed the greatbow at the sky.
I activated the energy, fitted the giant arrow to the bowstring, and pulled back with all my might.
As the string reached its limit, wind began to coalesce at the arrowhead.
Before long, the wind had fully gathered, and just as it had with the Storm Ruler, the arrowhead turned a brilliant white. I released the string.
Whoosh—!
With a roar of fierce wind, the arrow shot violently into the sky.
“Ooooooh!!!”
The onlookers let out cries of admiration.
As I thought, the ability is what matters.
“I can also decide the weapon’s name...”
Since I couldn’t leave the name field blank, I mentioned it, and Kaguya immediately raised her hand.
“Wind Demon Bow! How about that?!”
“Is that okay with you, Yuzuru?”
“Affirmative. If it is Kaguya’s opinion, I do not mind.”
“Then I guess that settles it...”
And so, the bow was named the Wind Demon Bow.
After finalizing the name and returning the bow to my inventory, Shido’s phone rang.
Ring-ring-ring!
“Huh? Yeah... yeah...”
As Shido answered, his face gradually turned pale.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
“Uh, Hieta?”
“Yes?”
“Kotori wants to know what you did to put a hole in [Fraxinus].”
My arrow had punched a hole right through [Fraxinus]. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
“Ah.”
“Oh.”
“A?”
“Um...”
A heavy silence fell over the group.
“Hey! Hieta! You can bet the repair costs are coming out of your paycheck!!!”
At the commander’s scream from the other end of the phone, cold sweat poured down my back.
“W-well then, we’ll be going...”
“M-me too!”
“Ah, haha. I should probably leave as well...”
And just like that, the others scattered.
“H-hey, good luck...”
“H-Honored guest! Good luck!”
“Hieta! I shall personally bestow my blessing upon you, so do your best!”
“Concern. Hieta, are you okay?”
Yoshino, the Fire Keeper, Kaguya, and Yuzuru stayed behind to offer their comfort.
Who would have thought that my life would have [Fraxinus] hanging over it like this?
--------------------
The greatbow created from the spirit power of [Berserk].
It resembles [Berserk]’s angel, but its size is on another level.
Because of its enormous scale, using the bow requires tremendous physical strength.
Combat technique: [Wind Arrow]
When the string is drawn to its limit, wind gathers at the arrowhead; this wind tears apart everything it touches as it flies forward.
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