The three days of the Tenou Festival passed in a flash.
During those three days, from morning to night, Shichen was basically doing nothing but wandering around with Tohka and the others—eating their way through the whole event.
They were all little foodies, and they pretty much tried everything from every stall, except for a few that genuinely just tasted bad.
The one who ate the most was, of course, Tohka—the bottomless pit. If Yejuya weren't a Spirit, she probably would've gained several kilos from just those three days.
Shichen had no idea why they insisted on coming all three days. The content on the second and third day was almost the same as the first, but they still ran around happily like it was all new.
Since they wanted to go, he obviously went along.
Not because he was worried something would happen to them, but because it was rare to have time to play with them like this. Of course he wanted to enjoy it properly.
Still, he couldn't ignore the final program on the third day.
That was the big stage showdown between the ten high schools. His own school didn't have anything worth watching, and Tohka wasn't going up to sing.
The main attraction was Rindōji Girls' Academy—Miku and the others were performing.
Izayaoi Miku was basically the face of Rindōji, so the performance was obviously a singing act centered on her.
She wasn't singing the song she once sang for Shichen, but a piece chosen for her by the school—something fairly well-known.
The song that was "hers," she'd instead handed over to Shichen.
He didn't really care which school would get to be "king" of the city next year. Since he didn't know anyone in the other schools, of course he hoped Miku's side would win.
He'd even suggested that, during her song, Miku switch into her Astral Dress and do an over-the-top "magical girl transformation" style performance.
To normal people, who didn't know Spirits existed, it would just look like fancy stage effects.
Unfortunately, Miku didn't want to do that.
Not for any deep reason—she just didn't feel like singing seriously for those audiences.
Even so, they still took first place.
The power of a beautiful girl in front of a teenage crowd really doesn't have many equals.
Not like any other school brought a giant mecha to dance on stage.
So Rindōji Girls' Academy would be the one "reigning" over the high schools for the next year. But since it was an all-girls school, the students themselves honestly didn't care that much.
Toward evening, Shichen sent Tohka and the others home first so he could go buy ingredients alone.
Origami and the rest wanted to go with him, but if they all went together, it would slow him down a lot.
Alone was faster.
"Hm?"
He hadn't walked far when something suddenly felt off—that subtle trembling of space.
That sensation meant: a spacequake was about to happen.
Shichen locked onto the direction at once and cut that section of space off from reality so the real world wouldn't be affected. Then he teleported into it.
Inside the barrier, there was nothing—just a void-like world with no ground or sky. But now, there was a single figure floating in the air.
In the chaotic space, the figure was very clear—a woman, seated on a massive cross.
The most noticeable thing about her was her distinctive hat.
The brim was very wide, and the top of the cone-shaped hat folded over to one side. The only people who wore hats like that were witches in fairy tales.
"This is the first time I've seen something like this," the woman said when she noticed Shichen.
"Being dragged into some other world—first time that's happened. Is this some new tech AST cooked up? But I don't remember all of them being women."
As she muttered, she lightly hopped off the cross. She didn't drop straight down; instead she drifted gracefully, landing softly in front of him.
Now Shichen could clearly see her face. She wore a revealing outfit made of orange fabric and black gauze. Her figure looked like that of a woman in her early twenties, with long limbs and a very full chest—her proportions were almost absurdly good.
She was straight out of a manga: the classic "perfect onee-san" model.
In short, your first thought on seeing her would be "super gorgeous."
Under the wide brim of her hat spilled glossy green hair, and her emerald eyes were studying him with interest as she smiled.
"To think I'd run into such a handsome guy. Why do you look even more perfect than me?"
"A Spirit?" Shichen asked, acting like he was just guessing.
"You know about Spirits? Are you with AST?" the woman shot back.
"No. I've got nothing to do with them," Shichen replied, shaking his head.
"Is that so?"
She stepped in closer, smiling, and Shichen caught a whiff of a sweet, intoxicating scent. It was the sort of smell that could charm someone at first sniff. But he couldn't afford to look like some lecherous idiot right off the bat, so he took a step back.
"Hehe~ Don't be so scared. I'm not actually a witch, you know~ I'm not going to eat you."
"Is that so?"
"I'm exactly what you think—a Spirit. So now that you know that, you're not scared anymore, right?"
"Of course not. You're way too pretty for that."
"Am I now~ Thanks for the compliment."
She smiled faintly, but he didn't feel much genuine joy behind it.
"Can you tell me your name?"
"Just call me Shichen."
"Shichen, huh. Then let me ask you: Where exactly am I pretty?"
"Well…" Shichen looked her over openly. "Your narrow, sharp eyes, your straight nose."
"Mhm!"
"You're tall and your figure is amazing."
"And? And?" she leaned forward eagerly.
"Your hair is incredibly smooth and silky."
"Of course! You really get it, Shichen!"
She lit up with excitement, her perfect face flushing slightly. Then she suddenly spread her arms and wrapped them tightly around him.
That kind of weighty softness pressed into his chest, a sensation even more generous than Miku's.
He couldn't help noticing that.
The woman didn't care about being "taken advantage of" at all—she hugged Shichen tighter and hummed a cheerful little tune. But she only got a few notes out before she pressed her forehead to his shoulder and her expression dimmed.
"So it's true… this version of me… really is beautiful now…"
"Yeah. This version of you," Shichen replied smoothly.
"Eh?"
She froze and let go, staring at him.
"Shichen, what do you mean by that?"
"You are beautiful right now," he said. "But this beauty of yours? It's way too fake. It doesn't feel real at all."
"You… what did you say?" For a moment, her expression twisted.
"Kyouno Natsumi—are you really okay with a beauty that's nothing but an illusion?" Shichen said, directly calling her name.
Natsumi's eyes flew wide. "How do you… how do you know my name?"
"Not only do I know your name," Shichen said calmly, "I also know what you really look like."
"That's impossible…"
"The way you are now—I don't like it."
He raised his hand, palm facing her. "Purify."
Holy light poured over Kyouno Natsumi's body. Her figure began to glow as her silhouette rapidly shrank—smaller and smaller, until she was about the same size as Yoshino.
When the radiance faded, the "true" Natsumi appeared—completely different from the flawless adult version.
Though if you looked closely, you could still see traces of resemblance.
This was her actual appearance—a petite, loli-like girl, much like Yoshino. Her silky green hair had become slightly messy and fluffy, falling chaotically around her face.
Her eyes were still a vivid emerald, but the curvy bombshell had vanished, replaced by a slender little girl.
"W-what?! How… how can this be?!"
Natsumi stared down at herself in panic, backing away, her face pale.
"Natsumi, this version of you is what's really cute," Shichen said, reaching out and gently taking her small hand.
"Eh?" She froze, wondering if she'd misheard.
"Wh… what did you say?"
"I said, you're cute like this," Shichen repeated, pulling her gently into his arms.
"W-what are you doing?" Natsumi struggled, but her small frame had no chance of escaping his hold.
"You're this cute—I can't help wanting to hug you. Is that a problem?" Shichen asked.
"Cute…? You're just talking nonsense!"
"Do I look like I'm lying to you?" He looked straight into her eyes; his gaze was steady and sincere.
"There's no way! There's no way I'm cute!" Natsumi refused to believe.
"I'm literally hugging you. If I didn't think you were cute, why would I be doing this?"
"You… I… I'm not cute at all! You must be tricking me because I'm a Spirit!"
"Natsumi, why don't you believe me? I'm telling you the truth."
"How could I possibly believe that?! You show up out of nowhere, I don't even know who you are, but you know my name—you have to be lying!"
"Dummy, because it's 'out of nowhere,' it's even more obvious I'm not lying," Shichen sighed.
"I don't believe you!"
"Then what would make you believe it?"
"I… I don't know! Just—there's no way! Let me go!"
~~~
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