“With this I still have 27% left… Good thing I was able to keep the consumption down.”
He used his Magic Raiment Battle Law only when absolutely needed, so he was able to keep the mana consumption down.
But even then, the most he’s ever filled his mana pool was up to 40%. Situations just kept popping up where he had to use it.
What’s more there was still the students of 2 – C and 2 – D, if he had to deal with those too, it was doubtful he’d still have 20% left afterwards.
He needed to think of a method, but the girl had already run up to him with ragged breath.
“Is Ryou alright!?”
“He just fainted. I didn’t cut him directly.”
He just used his spiritual power on the katana and bashed Shinguuji with it. There weren’t any damages on the exoskeleton itself.
If he actually damaged it, it would make the cover up afterwards more difficult, and the mana consumption would be too much to justify as well.
The katana also wasn’t worth it, given that it was still stubbornly rejecting Shinichi and whittling away at his spiritual power.
“I’ve already dealt with the cause of his berserked state, so there won’t be any problems anymore. He wasn’t conscious like you, though, so he won’t remember anything.”
“What? After doing all this, you’re just going to leave— Ugh.”
“Hey!?”
The girl was about to get angry again, but her body suddenly shook violently.
Shinichi supported the girl, but her expression was twisted in pain.
“Ah, gu, what is this, this is the first time that something like this, ugh!”
Her face paled even more than before, her lips became white, and her body wouldn’t stop shaking.
He had thought it was merely because she used too much spiritual power and because of her fear of death, but it seems that wasn’t the case.
He felt like there was a more direct reason behind her situation, but he didn’t have the answer.
“Just what could have caused this… Tch, will you stop that! Your master is like this, so shut up for a moment, will you— Wait, Kamunagi?”
Suddenly, a thought he couldn’t quite finger appeared at the tip of his head.
As he thought of the katana as a possible culprit, the name drew his attention.
He has been thinking of the name as though it was written in katakana all this time, but it was a Japanese katana, so it only made sense that its name would be expressed in kanji.
If so, then the name Kamunagi should have a kanji that expresses that name.
Of the words he knew, only a few words were closest to the name Kamunagi.
“…Kamu, kami (神), god; nagi, nagu (薙ぐ), to cut down? A katana to slay a god?” He muttered.
“…Heh. That really takes me back. Kamunagi is actually a katana meant to slay gods. Stories say that it even slayed an evil god a long time ago. My mother often told me that story, but who’s to say if it’s actually true… Uu, gu…” The girl laughed weakly.
Her condition was so poor and her consciousness was fading, but she shared that memory with him without any hostility.
Given the state of her body, however, Shinichi didn’t find the story funny at all.
“So that’s why. Damn it!”
Panicking, he lifted the girl and let her down under the shade of a tree.
He was about to cover her up with his school uniform to protect her from the cold, but he stopped, and forced her hands – now as white as her lips – to hold Kamunagi instead.
“I’m giving this back to you. Make sure you hold it tight. In exchange, I’ll be borrowing your foster, I need to call the teachers.”
“…”
Too weak to even say anything, the girl just quietly nodded, then closed her eyes.
Shinichi didn’t wait for her reply and went to get her foster.
When he saw her sleeping from afar, he became relieved, but only a little.
“…They say having a spiritual sense that’s too strong can attract ghosts, but I’ve never heard of a spiritual sense that could even attract the evil ki from another world.”
The reason behind Kamunagi’s rejection and her poor condition was the same thing.
If it were simply a vengeful ghost or apparition, then she would have probably been able to protect herself, but the evil ki of a different world with a different truth was another story altogether. There’s no way she would have the ability to resist that.
But considering how she was fine at first, then she would’ve probably been fine normally with her refined spiritual power, but unfortunately, that power had also been exhausted.
The anger and fear in her heart also further stimulated the evil ki.
“I should’ve known…”
If he approached her when she was in that state, it was a given that she would be affected even more.
The reason he didn’t give her his uniform’s jacket was also because he judged that his lingering scent would affect her negatively.
No matter how hard Shinichi tried to suppress it, he could never return to what he once was.
His body was already ‘that sort of thing’.
Just being near people who could see too much was enough to affect them negatively.
Even if there weren’t many of those so-called ‘real thing’ back there, his carelessness owing to him being a member of that church ended up causing a problem here.
The moment he realized what her power was, he should’ve been more careful in his interactions with her.
But of course, given their predicament, it wasn’t as though he had much of a choice in the first place.
“All I can do now is believe in that katana’s story.”
Even if that story is fake, if there were people who believed that story for a long time, then it should still have an effect.
Besides, it did actually keep rejecting him, so it probably wasn’t a lie.
Maybe it can’t exorcise him directly, but it should be able to exorcise the evil ki he inadvertently left on her.
As he prayed for the best, he collapsed on the ground and looked up.
“Arrgh, damn it! I can’t believe that little bit I did was enough to empty my spiritual power!”
Listless after losing that power that resided in the soul, he threw out his limbs. It was a different feeling from consuming mana.
All he did was throw five charms and swing that katana four times, and yet he already ended up like this. Moreover, he was supporting everything including dealing with Kamunagi’s rejection with his mana too. After all, there was no way he could’ve pulled all of that off if he didn’t use his mana as well.
Compared to him, that girl used so many spirit blades and spirit arrows, and yet she was still fine. In fact, if not for him being beside her, she would’ve probably still had plenty of strength to spare.
This wasn’t just the difference between a person who’s trained and a person who hasn’t. After all, he was able to manipulate the power of his soul right from the start. It was just that he didn’t have any potential.
“…A commoner’s soul, huh. They did mention that a lot.”
When he remembered the words of the greatest magician of that world, he laughed.
A commoner’s soul, the soul of a person whose power of existence, size, and capacity amounted to only this much.
Of course, the true meaning behind that phrase was something that only he himself could laugh at.
“Ahh, but now, I have two debts to pay.”
There wasn’t any point in thinking about such idle things anymore, so he stopped his daydreaming and picked up the phone(foster)
He was hesitant to look up the personal information of a person he’s caused so much trouble for, so he figured he’d just have to borrow the hands of a dependable teacher(Frire).
Shinichi laughed with an evil face.