On a day when rain fell endlessly from the sky.
Ash, who had stirred up a commotion not long ago, was now in his usual state of staring blankly into space while letting Kotori’s scolding go in one ear and out the other.
That ordinary routine changed with the appearance of another Spirit.
“The scale is small again this time.”
“That’s because it’s [Hermit].”
[Hermit]. The identifier of the Spirit currently manifesting in the world.
It was a name she had been given because she always ran away whenever she appeared.
Her defining trait was that the range of her [Spacequake] was remarkably small. Only a limited area of about thirty meters was swept up in the disaster.
In ordinary circumstances, thirty meters was by no means a small area. But when that was the range of a [Spacequake], it counted as minor.
Ash had also seen [Hermit] manifest several times, so he nodded.
“I’ve seen her before.”
“You’ve been in the command room unless there was something to do, so of course.”
Not only the command room, but he had hardly ever even left Fraxinus itself.
Ash basically lived inside Fraxinus.
He was undead, a body that had once been burned and then lived again. He felt neither hunger nor thirst, nor any of the other needs required for life.
His body’s structure was the same as that of ordinary humans, but many things necessary for survival were unnecessary to him.
What they needed was only will and mental strength.
Only the strength not to despair, and the will to keep moving forward, sustained the lives of the Ashes.
Even sleep was satisfied by simply gazing blankly at a bonfire, so Ash rarely left Fraxinus unless he had to.
“You’re telling me it’s true that you don’t sleep...?”
Shido looked at Ash in surprise, recalling something he had only heard in passing.
His face was hidden by his helmet, so he could not see it, but somehow Shido felt as if there would be deep dark circles around his eyes, like Reine’s.
The fact that he always spoke in the same tone, without any change in emotion, also reminded him of Reine.
Maybe what Reine had said about thirty years wasn’t a lie after all.
That thought crossed Shido’s mind.
“...Huh?”
Then, on the enlarged screen, he saw a familiar face.
Shido muttered under his breath with a soft groan.
“I’ve seen that girl before...”
It was definitely a face he recognized.
Even her clothes were so unusual that she was impossible to forget.
“What? Tell me more.”
Kotori, a little surprised by Shido’s muttering, spoke up.
So Shido explained in detail how he had met the girl.
“The day before yesterday, at sunset... I met her at the shrine.”
After school, while heading home a little later than usual because of something he had to do, Shido had heard the sound of splashing water as he passed by a shrine.
There had been no sign of anyone nearby, so curious about the sudden noise, he had turned toward the shrine—and there he had come face to face with [Hermit].
After hearing that, Kotori fell into thought, while Kannazuki looked at the screen on the console beside her.
“At that time, there was no particularly noticeable change in the [Spirit wave] readings.”
“So it’s the same as with Toka...”
Toka had once manifested at the half-destroyed Raizen High School without any change in [Spirit wave] readings.
At the time Shido mentioned, there had been no special change in [Spirit wave] readings, so it was the same case as when Toka had manifested.
“AST has arrived! Commencing attack!”
By then, AST had arrived and begun pouring every kind of weapon fire at [Hermit].
What followed was no different from before.
[Hermit] darted through the air, dodging shells and bullets as she fled, while AST pursued her in a chase.
“They’re firing at a little kid like that...”
While everyone else watched without much reaction, Shido said indignantly.
It was true that [Hermit] looked like a middle school girl around Kotori’s age, so Shido’s reaction was probably the normal one.
But [Hermit] was not an ordinary being. She was a Spirit.
“...Spirits are dangerous.”
At Ash’s words, everyone’s eyes turned to him.
Even under their gazes, Ash continued speaking calmly.
“No matter what they look like, they take lives and property. Appearance has nothing to do with it.”
It sounded as if he were speaking directly to Shido.
And it was true.
The [Spacequake] that occurred when Spirits manifested.
It was a disaster that brought enormous damage to humanity.
A disaster was called a disaster because, regardless of appearance, it left countless victims behind before disappearing.
And for Ash, it was also something he knew from experience.
In Ash’s world, you could not judge people by their appearance.
Most came to you with some specific purpose, and if you tried to judge them by how they looked, betrayal was inevitable.
Especially since what betrayers usually wanted was life and property.
“Extermination is the obvious choice.”
It was only natural that he would say that.
Perhaps it was advice for Shido as well.
Though in truth, he had only heard Shido’s words and spoken his own thoughts aloud.
“......”
The atmosphere sank instantly because of Ash’s statement.
Silence settled heavily over the room at words that seemed to directly contradict Shido’s opinion.
“...Hmph.”
At the suddenly quiet mood, Ash looked around.
Several people seemed to have lost their words.
There was even a boy who wanted to object but could not.
To them, Ash said, “You’re all awfully quiet.”
“It’s all because of you...”
Kotori pressed a hand to her forehead at his shameless remark.
But it wasn’t exactly wrong, so there was nothing she could really say.
Spirits were, by nature, living disasters.
That was a fact Shido would have to remember as he continued trying to approach them.
After all, Ratatoskr’s goal in approaching Spirits was not simply to protect them, but also to prevent disasters.
“Anyway, both of you get ready.”
“...Huh?”
At the order to prepare, Shido lifted his head.
Seeing him look over, Kotori jerked her chin toward the screen.
On it, [Hermit] was moving as if she intended to enter a building.
“She’s probably going into that department store. CR-Unit units are at a disadvantage when fighting inside a building, so this is our chance. There, you understand now, right?”
“Y-yeah...”
Shido nodded.
It was true, especially considering that AST had not entered the classroom during his second meeting with Toka.
The reason they were trying to exterminate Spirits was to minimize casualties and property damage.
Fighting inside a building with weapons designed for destruction was not a good choice for AST.
Seizing on that point, Kotori judged this to be a good opportunity and, after sending Shido off toward the transfer device, handed Ash one item.
“Ash. Put this on before you go.”
The thing Kotori handed him was a small, mysterious machine.
The device, about the size of a communication unit, had a few buttons attached to it.
“...What is this?”
“You can’t let anyone see you while you’re supporting the approach. I had this custom-made for that purpose. A Realizer.”
Ash’s task was to escort Shido.
If he only waited aboard Fraxinus, he might be too late, but if he went along there might be variables, so she had handed him a unit equipped with cloaking technology so he could hide his appearance.
The unit, designed so that pressing the button in the center would conceal Ash’s form, activated on a principle similar to the technology applied to Fraxinus.
But Ash did not accept the state-of-the-art device.
“I refuse.”
“What? Why?”
“I can already do it.”
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Ash drew a staff from the air and lightly jabbed its tip against the floor.
Then his figure began to blend gradually into the scenery.
Soon he had completely merged in, and all that remained visible was the command room as it would look without Ash there.
“...Huh.”
Kotori let out an involuntary gasp.
She felt deeply relieved that someone with such a variety of abilities was on their side.
Clink!
Of course, only his form had vanished; the sound of armor was still audible.
“Can’t you do anything about the sound?”
“I can.”
Once again, the sound of Ash tapping the floor with his staff rang out.
At the same time, everything became eerily silent.
Ash was using [Invisible Body] and [Stealth] at the same time.
“...Right. Then we don’t need it.”
With both his appearance and sound gone, Kotori nodded calmly.
With abilities like that, the Realizer she was holding was unnecessary.
“Is the verification sufficient?”
When Ash, after fifteen seconds had passed and the spells wore off, asked that, Kotori gave a dry laugh, as if she could hardly believe it.
“Ha. Of course it is, isn’t it?”
At Kotori’s words, the other crew members nodded as well.
They too were relieved that Ash was not their enemy.
Only Reine looked at Ash with an enigmatic expression, but no one except the person involved noticed it.
“Now hurry up and go. Cowardly Shido is trembling all by himself.”
The verification was sufficient.
Kotori did not know that the duration was only fifteen seconds, but it would be enough to use the spell again every fifteen seconds.
Ash nodded at her order and turned toward the transfer device.
“Now, let’s begin our war!”
The approach to [Hermit] had begun.
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