Even though Origami rarely concerned herself with others' opinions, Rita and Amber's approval still sparked a flicker of pleasure in her heart—though not a trace of it showed on her face.
Still, despite her lack of expression, she knew she ought to respond in some way when praised by a superior.
After a moment's thought, she said, "As a Valkyrie of Schicksal and a member of Immortal Blades, this is only to be expected."
Rita: …
Way to make things awkward for the one Immortal Blades member who got taken out right at the start and spent the whole fight lying on the ground.
If she hadn't known that this girl poured almost all her time into training and had little grasp of social niceties, Rita might have suspected she was being subtly mocked.
But she set that aside for now. With the mission complete, there was no reason to remain. After waiting for everyone to tend to their injuries, Rita bid Amber farewell and led the rest back to the Schicksal-affiliated hotel to recuperate.
Amber, meanwhile, decided to check in on Shiori's situation.
Even though she felt Shiori would likely be fine, she had promised to protect her. It was better to stay close until the Princess's spiritual power was fully sealed.
So Amber contacted Kotori: "How are things on your end?"
"I've got to say, it's kind of hard to believe you took down Ellen that fast."
Kotori didn't answer directly—her tone was layered with mixed feelings.
Tengu City had been under Fraxinus's surveillance the entire time, so they had witnessed the battle firsthand.
In fact, it wasn't just Ratatoskr; plenty of capable organizations and nations had been closely watching the clash between Amber and Ellen.
The World's Strongest vs. The World's Strongest—the outcome naturally drew countless eyes. Even though most had believed Durandal held the advantage, before her rise, Ellen had been the undisputed top Wizard.
Though she hadn't fought seriously in years, her fearsome reputation remained.
When Durandal first emerged, many had debated which of the two was stronger, sparking heated arguments—and backlash from Ellen's loyal fans, who refuted and suppressed those singing Durandal's praises.
Even after Durandal subdued three Spirits, Ellen's supporters clung to their claims: "Ellen just never crossed paths with Durandal," "DEM's influence doesn't match Schicksal's," "It's not like Ellen could hunt down Spirits even if she wanted," and "Ellen easily took out plenty of Spirits back in the day."
Everyone knew the Spirits from back then weren't on the same level as the current ones, but since Ellen had wiped them out with ease, the true extent of her power remained shrouded in mystery. No one could say for sure what her limits were.
But today's battle settled one thing conclusively.
Even among the "strongest," there were still gaps. If Spirits were a 60, and Ellen an 80, then Durandal was a 100.
Ellen could obliterate Spirits—and Durandal could obliterate Ellen.
Never mind how Durandal's fans were now more insufferable than ever, or how Ellen's fans were in utter despair.
Hearing Kotori's remark, Amber felt no particular swell of emotion. When it came to battle, any outcome seemed only natural to her.
If she won, it was because her "cheat" was stronger. If she lost, it just meant her opponent was truly gifted—the kind of talent even cheats couldn't beat.
So she simply replied, "Our circumstances are different. More importantly, what about Shiori and the Princess?"
Like Rita, Kotori took this as Durandal's modest way of downplaying her strength. But humility was still an endearing trait—especially since her tone made it clear she was genuinely being modest, not the type to fish for compliments under a pretense of humility.
Realizing Amber wasn't one for flattery, Kotori didn't waste words and answered plainly, "It's… manageable."
Her reply gave little detail, but that wasn't because she was withholding—she just wasn't entirely sure herself. She recounted the situation: "After you confronted that Wizard, Shiori led the Princess away from the center of the ruins and tried talking to her."
"But… maybe because of you and that Wizard, even though the Princess went along, her guard seems to have shot up several notches."
"My actions shouldn't have given her the wrong idea, though?"
Amber sounded puzzled.
From her perspective, her attitude and actions at the time had been perfectly clear.
"That's how it looked from our end, too. But Spirits aren't human—their thought processes can be… unique."
Kotori ventured.
"So what's your take on it, Kotori?"
"Like I said, Spirits don't always think like humans. What am I supposed to say in this kind of situation? It's not like I'm… uh…"
Wait, I am a Spirit. Did I just include myself in that?
The moment she realized it—and that Durandal had unhesitatingly lumped her in with the "unusual thought process" crowd—Kotori felt her blood pressure spike.
That damn blonde really knew how to push her buttons.
"I was human before I became a Spirit, you know!? I grew up properly as a human! And the moment I became a Spirit, I got sealed right away!"
Though Kotori didn't remember much from that time, she was well aware she'd transformed and been sealed almost immediately.
Even without clear memories of the event, her memories before and after were intact. Since she wasn't a Spirit in either of those periods, it stood to reason she'd only been active as a Spirit during that hazy stretch.
"And besides, why would you just assume I have a 'unique thought process'!? Do I really come across as some kind of weirdo to you!?"
"…I always thought you had symptoms of a split personality. It seems I misunderstood—my apologies."
Amber put on a convincingly apologetic expression, but inwardly she was amused by Kotori's outburst.
Teasing the original story's characters really was fun.
Unaware that Amber was doing it on purpose, and hearing the sincerity in her apology—plus recalling Amber's straightforward nature and her own personality shift when she'd changed hairbands in front of her two days earlier—the red-haired girl could only force her anger down, no matter how irritated she felt.
"…It's fine!" she gritted out.
"So, is my next task to clear up the misunderstanding?"
Seeing that Kotori wasn't going to press further, Amber moved on.
"Mmm… Leaving the two of them in this awkward state isn't a good idea. You should go join them."
Kotori thought it over and added, "It's not just the Princess who's out of sorts—Shiori's also preoccupied with what just happened. Your presence will help put her at ease."
"Ideally, before the Princess goes into Lost mode this time, you should resolve the misunderstanding between you and her, and help Shiori build some trust with the Princess."
"Then I'll head out right away."
The prospect of getting a front-row seat to this "date-a-live" operation left Amber feeling distinctly eager.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.