Chapter 39 39: The Worst Spirit
"What exactly is going on here!?"
Bang!
Inside the Tengu City AST base, Ryouko slammed her fist hard onto the control panel of the observation device. The overly violent impact caused a flurry of error messages to pop up across the screens.
"W-We don't know either. But without a doubt, Nightmare is still alive," the subordinates in charge of monitoring the devices replied, sweating profusely.
Everyone could understand Ryouko's loss of composure. After all, the fact that Nightmare—who should have been killed yesterday—had shown up at school today completely defied all common sense.
"H-How is that possible..."
Ryouko had witnessed it with her own eyes: Mana slicing off Nightmare's head. For someone who had been reduced to a pile of protein with six times the nutritional value of beef to just casually show up at school the next day... it was something so insane and absurd it felt like a literal nightmare.
"That's just how it is with this Spirit. Even if she gets killed over and over, she just keeps coming back again and again for some unknown reason."
Standing beside her, Mana spoke with an expression that said she was completely used to it.
"But... why would Nightmare stay at Raizen High School?" Origami asked uneasily.
Logically speaking, if she knew her infiltration of the high school had been discovered, the smart choice would be to leave.
"I don't know about that either... It is really strange," Mana shook her head.
Thanks to Origami's question, she too realized how abnormal this worst Spirit's behavior was.
[I really should tell Yakumo about this.] Origami frowned slightly.
From an AST member's perspective, Yakumo Mikoto and Yatogami Tohka were currently Spirits who had lost their power and were completely harmless. They could easily be harmed by Nightmare. If that happened, there was no guarantee the two wouldn't take back their powers and become world-destroying disasters once again.
From Tobiichi Origami's perspective, even though all Spirits were enemies, ever since her conversation with Mikoto, a voice in her heart had been telling her that not all Spirits were bad people. Causing spacequakes wasn't Mikoto's intention, and the girl suffered because of what she had done. If possible, she didn't want to lump her together with a Spirit like Nightmare.
After the discussion about Nightmare ended, Origami went outside the Tengu City base and took out her phone.
Around noon, Mikoto went to the Physics Prep Room following Kotori's request. Even though she didn't know what was going on, the simple fact that Kotori—the Commander—had come to Raizen High School in person was abnormal enough.
"Huh?"
Just then, the phone in her pocket vibrated. She pulled it out and saw a caller ID from someone she had only met once—Tobiichi Origami.
[The AST?]
Even though she didn't know why the other girl was calling her, Mikoto answered the phone.
"Is this Yakumo-san?"
"Yes, it's me."
"Could you come to the Tengu Station? About Nightmare... there is something I want to talk to you about."
"Nightmare?"
"The transfer student known as Tokisaki Kurumi."
[!!!]
Kurumi's name put Mikoto on high alert. Just as she thought, the AST had already noticed the Spirit's existence.
"Anyway, I'll wait for you by the Hachiko statue at the station for half an hour. Well then... that is all."
The call ended. Mikoto stared at the screen showing the call had finished, her brow furrowing slightly.
She quickly dialed another number.
"Mikoto?"
A few seconds later, Kotori's voice came through the phone.
"Yeah... it's me. Tobiichi Origami from the AST asked me to meet her at the station. She says she wants to talk about Kurumi."
After briefly explaining what happened, the other end of the line fell silent for a moment.
"Anyway... go meet her for now. Just to be safe, the Fraxinus will send personnel to tail you." Kotori thought for a moment and said.
Even though they considered the possibility that it was an AST trap, because of a certain piece of footage recorded yesterday afternoon, Ratatoskr desperately wanted to know more about Kurumi. Getting intel from the AST would be perfect.
"I understand."
Mikoto nodded, and with the help of the teleporter, she quickly arrived at Tengu Station.
"You're here."
Standing next to the Hachiko statue, looking like a doll in a white dress, Origami spoke.
"Yeah. So, what is this about?"
"I'll just ask directly. Do you know Nightmare's goal in transferring to Raizen High School?"
"I'd like to know why she transferred here too."
Mikoto smiled wryly. It seemed the AST also had no idea what Kurumi was planning.
"Is that so?"
Honestly, Origami didn't know if Mikoto was telling the truth or lying, but looking at the girl's wry smile, she felt it was somewhat believable.
"Then... Hermit... was she 'saved' by you people?"
Origami always felt that the Spirit Hermit, who had suddenly disappeared a while ago, was rescued by Mikoto and Tohka.
"Yeah, that's right."
It wasn't something she needed to hide. Yoshino had already been sealed. As long as the AST never detected Hermit manifesting again, Origami would deduce the truth sooner or later anyway.
"Just as I thought. Hermit is one thing, but Ms. Yakumo, please do not try to save Nightmare. At the very least, that Spirit should be handled by us, the AST," Origami said.
"Why?"
"It seems you really don't know anything about Nightmare."
Seeing Mikoto's confused look, Origami nodded as if confirming something.
"Tokisaki Kurumi, the Spirit with the code name Nightmare, has personally killed over ten thousand people to date."
Origami looked at Mikoto and spoke. No matter what, she had to make sure Yakumo Mikoto understood just how dangerous Kurumi was.
[!!!]
The moment she heard those words, Mikoto's eyes widened in sheer shock.
_____________________
Night fell. After finishing dinner with Shido and the Spirits, Mikoto returned to the shrine.
She had already told Kotori about what she learned regarding Kurumi. Considering it could be fake intel from the AST, the two decided not to tell Shido for the time being. Meanwhile, Ratatoskr would start digging up all records regarding Nightmare. Of course, whenever Shido was with Kurumi, his security detail would be increased dramatically.
"The worst... Spirit."
Laying in bed, Mikoto thought about what Origami had said today.
"I really should let Shido prepare himself mentally."
Mikoto fully believed that a Spirit who actively murdered humans could exist. After all, every time they appeared in this world, they were greeted by AST members raining down fire with six-barrel Gatling guns. Over time, it wasn't impossible for one or two of them to decide to take revenge on society.
So even if Kurumi hadn't shown up, Mikoto felt it was necessary for Shido to be prepared for the fact that Spirits could hold hostility, malice, and even actively kill humans.
[But... how should I bring it up?]
Mikoto thought in distress. It wasn't exactly a light topic you could just casually mention while drinking tea.
[That's right!]
She sat up in bed and grabbed her phone.
"Shido? Yeah, it's me."
A few seconds later, Shido's voice came through the phone.
"Tomorrow is the school's founding anniversary. Have you decided where we're going to play?"
Maybe she could find a chance to talk to Shido about it after their date.
"Ugh, Shido... don't tell me you forgot about our date?"
Mikoto said, sounding a bit angry. Even though they had agreed during the festival to go on a date next weekend, judging from the tone of Shido's voice—which sounded like he had just remembered—he had definitely forgotten.
"Honestly... but I'll forgive you this time."
Considering Shido had to conquer Kurumi and was under a lot of pressure lately, Mikoto decided not to scold him.
"Then it's a promise. Tomorrow at 11:00 AM, see you at the Tengu Station plaza."