Chapter 4: Quiet Manifestation

‘So empty, so bored…’

She was supposed to be dead, wasn’t she? Why hadn’t she lost consciousness? Why could she still feel her body moving, even… feel her own heartbeat? Why were her memories still here?

Sayo felt restless. Her body had been falling through an endless darkness for what felt like a long time. If she had to guess by time, it might have been…

Oh, she couldn’t tell time anymore. How long had it been out there? A few hours? Days? Or something else?

She tried to think positively. Maybe she wasn’t dead after all. Perhaps she hadn’t died in the spacequake, but had been found and rushed to a hospital. Right now, a doctor might be trying to save her. Maybe the next time she opened her eyes, she’d see the cold, life-giving lights of an operating room.

Maybe…

Sayo tried to move her limbs. She found she could control her body again, though there was some resistance in her joints, as if some strange substance was blocking her.

Anger, fear, joy… all the human emotions flooded back into her mind along with her regained control. The indescribable anger she’d felt before seized her thoughts, and with it came a burst of unusual memories.

That was… her power, and information about her Angel, ‘Metatron’.

A black fluid substance that could take any form, possessing a power to devour and destroy… that was all.

She sighed. Like her many predecessors who had crossed over, she had finally become a Spirit.

Was it the Phantom’s doing? But based on her past life’s memories, all the Spirits corresponding to the ten Sephirot of Kabbalah already had candidates. So she shouldn’t have had any spare Spirit Crystals left.

Or maybe because of her addition, the future had changed in uncontrollable ways?

What a headache. Her brain was less than five grams, yet she had to think about all this. Wasn’t she just asking for trouble? She didn’t care. After all, the side of justice would win in the end. She could just live the peaceful, ordinary life she’d dreamed of.

The dark substance named ‘Metatron’ seemed to sense its master’s headache. It paused as if thinking, then gently rubbed against Chihaya Sayo’s smooth, pale calf like a little cat. But the sensation…

Sticky, warm, fluid. It felt like some strange liquid had sprayed onto the inside of her leg, making her uncomfortable.

“Alright, alright, stop rubbing me. I want to go out and see. Can you help me?”

Metatron seemed to understand her words. It stopped moving, thought for a moment, then began to gather toward her finger. In a few breaths, that darkness that had seemed to cover the whole world condensed into a small, delicate ring on her finger.

Does this even follow the law of conservation of mass? How was such a huge mass of darkness condensed into this tiny ring? And it was as light as nothing on her finger, like an ordinary ring…

But this wasn’t a scientific world anyway. When in doubt, spiritual power could explain everything. Why bother worrying?

Sayo let out a quiet sigh. She pulled forward with her right hand wearing the ring. A ray of sunlight fell on her cheek, and then she was hit by the polluted air of Tengu City, mixed with exhaust fumes. A flash before her eyes, and she appeared in an alleyway.

According to her past life’s novels, this could be considered a ‘quiet manifestation’?

Luckily she wasn’t one for deep thinking. She gave it only a brief thought before giving up, and instead looked at her rather revealing clothes. Then…

She quietly pulled her coat tighter and walked out of the alley.

Given the scene outside, the spacequake hadn’t happened long ago. She could see many construction crews repairing damaged buildings.

She had to admit, Tengu City was truly a place with frequent spacequakes. It was a new level of infrastructure ability. They seemed to have moved beyond laying bricks and pouring cement. From a distance, the ruined buildings looked like someone was painting them with a brush, visibly becoming whole.

Was this even science?

But thinking about it, with future infantry tech like ‘Tactical Manifold Devices’, it made sense to have breakthroughs in civilian matters.

“You are…”

“Huh?”

Sayo turned her head and saw a blue-haired boy.

He had handsome, delicate features. He looked at Sayo with complicated eyes, and there was more… fear?

No doubt, in Sayo’s vision, she could clearly see the part of the blue-haired boy’s heart representing ‘fear’ swelling, then slowly flowing into her own body.

Is he afraid of me? Why?

“Um…”

Sayo measured her words, tilted her head, and spoke softly.

“Do you know me?”

“Ah, no, I… actually…”

The boy’s expression changed five or six times in a few seconds. Then he gave a gentle smile.

“Beautiful lady, may I know your name?”

What’s going on?

This sudden shift in attitude. And how could he say such cheesy lines from a high schooler? And…

Sayo narrowed her eyes. The part of the boy’s heart representing ‘fear’ hadn’t decreased at all. It had actually grown larger.

Is this boy… sick in the head?

With that thought, Sayo looked at him with pity.

“My name is Chihaya Sayo.”

“Chihaya Sayo, a beautiful name. Beautiful miss, would you like to have breakfast?”

“You…”

Looking at the boy trying hard to smile, Sayo thought for a moment before speaking softly.

“You wanna hit on me?”

“*cough cough cough*”

The boy suddenly burst into fierce coughing, and his cheeks flushed red. Was he… embarrassed?

Maybe my crude words scared him? After all, he didn’t look like a seasoned player. He was probably a novice pretending to be a Casanova…

Well, it might be fun to enjoy it now and then, plus there was a free breakfast…

A little thought, and Sayo made up her mind. She forced a smile she thought was friendly.

“By the way, I don’t know your name yet. Can I know it?”

The blue-haired boy let out a long sigh, as if a huge stone had lifted from his heart. His whole demeanor lit up by more than three shades.

“I’m Itsuka Shido. Nice to meet you.”

Sayo froze on the spot. Her smile successfully transferred to Shido’s face.

****

– Idiot, idiot, idiot! You damned virgin cockroach! When greeting an elegant lady and inviting her out, you can’t even properly introduce yourself? Was your brain eaten by a dog?

Kotori Itsuka on the other end of the headset was verbally abusing him mercilessly, but Shido could only sit quietly, occasionally casting gentle, kind glances at Sayo, who was eating elegantly across from him.

So, how did it come to this?

His lovely little sister had suddenly become the commander of Ratatoskr, and his classmate had become a mecha girl in the AST. He had to assist dangerous mysterious beauties to live a peaceful life with Ratatoskr’s help…

Isn’t this the hot-blooded plot of a harem series?

Wait, what was Sayo’s stomach made of? Her movements were elegant and continuous, but the rate of her eating was shockingly… amazing. In just a few minutes, she’d cleared a whole table of food in front of her, and yet her slender, delicate stomach, like fine white porcelain, hadn’t changed at all.

Does she have some extradimensional stomach?

Feeling his somewhat rude stare, Sayo looked up and met his gaze. But as if she thought of something, she gave a gentle smile.

Sister! Please stop smiling! Even a punch would be better. That meaningless smile of yours is really scary, you know?

– Damned Shido! Don’t you know it’s rude to keep staring at another woman? You’re a paramecium whose only thoughts are reproduction!

Paramecium? Now Kotori’s assessment of me has degraded to single-celled organisms?

Shido silently complained in his mind but quickly withdrew his somewhat rude gaze.

After all, he had seen what this woman could do. Tobiichi Origami was still in the hospital getting IV drips! If he did anything to offend her… he wouldn’t even have scraps left.

“Mmm~ It’s been so long since I’ve eaten this much~”

The satiated Sayo let out a cute moan. She grabbed a tissue from the box and wiped her mouth, then plopped back into the chair. Opening her crimson eyes, she sized up the boy sitting across, who was trying to appear calm.

Tsk, it’s his first time without experience, huh? Letting the conversation go dead on a date with a cute girl is a big loss of points…

But anyway, this was just for fun. She might as well play along and see what arrangements Ratatoskr would make. If she could score a free trip to the amusement park or a movie… that would be nice.

With that thought, Sayo sat up straight and said with a light laugh.

“So, where are we heading next? Shido-kun~”

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