"I've been hiding for almost 3 hours," said Ophis, victoriously.
Oi, what kind of victory did you get for doing that?! I was worried about you, you know.
"Get out of there," I said before rolling back onto my bed. Ophis slithered out from under my bed and then crawled on top of it and sitting down with her legs crossed. We stared at each other for a few moments and I deadpanned. "Rebound effect."
"Ah, yes," said Ophis, calmly. I sighed in annoyance but she continued as if nothing happened. "Well, you have probably already seen the rebound effects of the spell. For example, the spell's instability sent you back an extra year. One of the other effects has to do with the people close to your heart."
"Oh, yeah, I remember you said that they might remember me!" I said, energetically.
"Issei, you said you've been having headaches, right?" asked Ophis, receiving a nod from me in response. "Alright, well I found out that there are 15 people who will remember you after certain things trigger their memory. So until that trigger is activated, they have no idea who you are."
I kind of understood what Ophis meant by that. It was like their memories were locked in a safe and he needed to find the key to open it.
"I thought that, even though I was the spell caster, wouldn't remember you immediately, however it seems that wasn't the case," explained Ophis, relieving me a bit. At least she didn't have any problems. "Generally, the way you know that someone remembers you is because you have a massive headache which the person who remembers you also gets. So the fact that you had a headache means…"
"Then someone remembered me!" I said, suddenly, finally understanding what Ophis was talking about. She nodded and I began to think. Who in the world could have remembered me so quickly? "Do you know who it is, Ophis?"
"No," said Ophis, bluntly. "However, Issei, there is something you should know. Just because they were close to your heart doesn't mean that you had a positive relationship with them. One of the people who remembered you could be one of your enemies and he may come and try to kill you while you are in a weakened state."
I paled at her words. Cao Cao, Shalba, the evil dragons, Kokabiel, Raynare… All of them would have liked nothing more than to kill me. If any of them remembered while I was in this state…
"Issei," said Ophis, breaking me from my thoughts. "I'll protect you."
"O-Ophis?" I said, confused.
"You and your friends protected me before and I am going to return the favor," said Ophis, seriously.
[I'll help too, Partner] said Ddraig, making me look at my left arm.
"You, too, Ddraig?" I said in disbelief.
[Of course, Partner. We even have Ascalon to help us fight] said Ddraig.
Oh yeah, of course. We have Ascalon so that will help us- Wait WHAT?!
"W-Wait, WHAT?! How do we still have Ascalon?" I shouted in surprise.
[It came back with us since it was stored in the Boosted Gear] said Ddraig as if it was obvious.
Wow, I wish I had known that before. I hope I'd still be able to join kendo.
"Anyways, we should probably rest. It's been tiring for both of us," said Ophis, calmly.
"Yeah," I said. Ophis crawled under the covers and I followed suit, both of us facing opposite directions. We quickly fell asleep afterward and I realized that night that sleeping with Ophis was going to be hard. This was because I found myself on the floor the next morning with a red foot mark on my back.
Michael's POV
"Ah~, heaven is so peaceful and beautiful just as my Lord left it," I said as I sat at my desk and watched the screens that showed each of the levels of heaven. I then looked down at the stack of papers on my desk and sighed, knowing that it would take me at least four or five days of constant working to go through all of them. I was just about to go through another report when one of my messengers ran into my office.
"Michael-sama! It's terrible! Ascalon has vanished!" shouted the messenger causing me to jump from my seat.
"Excuse me?" I said in shock. The holy sword that has the magnificent power of dragon slaying, Ascalon, was a very difficult sword since receiving it after St. George's death. It refused to be wielded by anyone, even myself, and it annoyed I and the other Seraphs. "Did you just say it disappeared?"
"Y-Yes, my lord. The guardian of the sword came to us when the sword suddenly began to glow and we watched it vanish into thin air. We can't even seem to locate it," said the messenger. I slapped my hands to my face and groaned. Oh Lord! Why did you create such a strange and free-spirited sword! "Michael-sama, do you think it's possible that Ascalon is with its new wielder? Its new wielder man have finally appeared!"
"…Yes, yes that may be a great possibility. We are unable to track a holy artifact if it merges with a person's spirit. We will have to wait until the person tries to wield it and track where they are then," I said, calmly. Another messenger ran in, looking even more distraught than the previous, and I sighed. "What is it Thomas?"
"Michael-sama! I-It's the other Seraphs! They require your assistance!" shouted Thomas. My eyes widened and I created a magic circle behind me before I disappeared through it.
I appeared on the other side of the magic circle and it faded away. I looked around and found myself in the seventh heaven where God's 'system' was located. The clouds in this place where golden and the overall energy was so holy that if any unholy object or person walked into this place they would be destroyed instantaneously.
"