Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

  Abilities weren't simply weapons, they were also part of who a person was.

  Even a simple weapon, however, when used over a long period of time, would have the ability to influence the wielder, especially all the more so when the weapon in question was a person's own Spiritual Ability.

  To state it in more extreme terms, it was that power had the ability to change people.

  Perhaps some might find that statement ludicrous, but this statement was in fact indisputable.

  Perhaps weapons and abilities were bad analogies, but if concepts such as wealth or authority were considered "powers" as well, it was quite normal that such "powers" would change people's personalities. In fact, it would be quite common.

  Seiji had many experiences with this in his previous life.

  That was why he restrained himself as much as possible from abusing his own incredibly powerful ability of saving and loading.

  It was only reasonable that Shouzou Amami would be concerned about Hoshi.

  About that ability, which Seiji decided to call the "Red Leaf Ability" for the time being, would it have any effects on Hoshi? Seiji felt that it would.

  But banning Hoshi from using his ability didn't seem like the right way to go about things. In fact, that would only increase the effect of the ability on him.

  Needing to seal his ability because it was too fearsome…? It wasn't even close to that degree at all.

  Watching over him and teaching him properly was the best way to do things in Seiji's opinion.

  He expressed his opinion to Shouzou Amami.

  Shouzou fell silent for a few moments, then expressed agreement.

  "The fact that Hoshi Awakened to a Spiritual Ability must have some type of meaning; indeed, there's no reason to be pessimistic about it," Shouzou stated. "I shall do what I can, and Harano-kun, please continue taking good care of my grandchild."

  "Of course I will." Seiji smiled. "I'm his senpai."

  Before, he was Hoshi's senpai at work. Now, he was going to be Hoshi's senpai as a Spiritual Ability user.

  Night of one hundred demons on the first night of the Midnight Spell, the phenomenon of Awakening on the second night, and Spirit Worlds appearing on the third night. What would happen on the fourth night?

  Seiji and many others were highly concerned about what else would happen. However, nothing else actually occurred.

  There were no new situations apart from repeats of what had happened already.

  It was the same for the fifth night.

  And the sixth night as well.

  With no new situations, the Spiritual Ability users finally focused fully on dealing with the current phenomena.

  There was no known way to stop the night of one hundred demons. All that could be done was to fight the demons that appeared every night, along with setting up large-scale barriers in various locations to prevent them from harming ordinary people. Every faction was taking action with regards to this matter, and they were discussing long-term systems for dealing with the demons.

  As for the Awakened, each Spiritual Ability user faction treated them differently. Some actively searched for Awakened, while other factions didn't pay the Awakened any attention. Some treated the Awakened as targets for research, while others protected them… Although there was supposed to be an unwritten rule to treat the Awakened humanely, things were currently too chaotic to control everyone's actions.

  Naturally, what the Spiritual Ability user factions paid attention to the most were the Spirit Worlds.

  The summary of the information that Seiji heard from Natsuya regarding this matter was:

  Cultivating would be much more efficient in a Spirit World, and precious resources could be obtained there was well.

  The risks involved being attacked by the Spiritual Creatures there, as well as the Spirit World suddenly deforming.

  A Spirit World deforming meant that the location in question would stop transforming into a Spirit World, returning to normal. Anyone within a Spirit World that didn't leave it before it deformed would die… more specifically, they would be reduced to nothing more than pieces of meat!

  As for why this happened, nobody knew.

  Not only humans, it was the same for other living creatures as well. The only things that could survive to the next Spirit World Transformation were nonliving objects as well as Spiritual Creatures, but that wasn't certain.

  If an area had any humans in it, then that area wouldn't undergo a Spirit World Transformation.

  If there were other living creatures, such as cats or dogs, then it was possible for the location to undergo a Spirit World Transformation. If that occurred, then it was possible for the creatures to either live or disappear.

  The same location might or might not undergo a Spirit World Transformation each night. The times for the Spirit World Transformations were uncertain as well, as was the environment each time for the Spirit World.

  That was why there was yet another new term established for the Spirit Worlds: "consistency."

  The more consistent the timing for a Spirit World to arrive at night, and the more consistent its environment, the higher its consistency rating would be.

  Highly consistent Spirit World locations would become majorly contested areas by all the major Spiritual Ability user factions!

  The less consistent a location was, the higher the risk, which meant lower potential benefits. Still, that didn't mean that the dangerous ones were worthless.

  "The low consistency Spirit Worlds that are formed potentially have valuable resources within them as well. Perhaps there will be brave ones looking to 'seek treasure' in the future, and perhaps such people already exist even now." Those were Natsuya's original words.

  'A treasure hunter… perhaps I can try being one as well.' That was what Seiji thought at the time.

  As long as he decided to use his ability to save and load, things like a Spirit World deforming or being forced to the brink by a powerful Spiritual Creature wouldn't possibly pose any danger to him.

  If the Spirit World started deforming at a split second's notice, then he would have been worried. But, according to Natsuya's description of the process, a Spirit World wouldn't deform so quickly. There was a process to it, which meant it wasn't so frightening to him.

  The question was, what would he look for in a Spirit World?

  He knew that Spirit Worlds were supposed to possess precious resources.

  But, what exactly were those precious resources? And if he found something that resembled a precious resource, how to ascertain what it was and how it would be used… he knew nothing!

  To use a video game as an analogy, he lacked gathering and appraisal skills. In the end, it meant that his knowledge was insufficient.

  He wanted a guidebook to spiritual resources. If only one was sold somewhere!

  After thinking about it, Seiji decided to contact a certain person to ask this question.

  "There's no such thing being sold anywhere!" The cat-eared hat girl on his screen told him. "Besides, why would you want such a thing? Are you thinking about going to a Spirit World?"

  "Yes. With how big the Spirit Worlds are, I'd like to go visit them."

  "Visit, the hell! With your level, you want to go to such a place? You'll die in there immediately!"

  "I definitely won't die. I still want to return home and get married."

  "Stop giving yourself death flags like that! Are you intentionally trying to die!?"

  "Believe in me!"

  "I won't! Just cultivate normally and stop thinking about going to weird places."

  "If I only cultivate normally, will I be able to defeat Yui?"

  "Er…" Hana froze in her words for a moment.

  "Believe me, I view life as precious and won't do anything that I don't have a guarantee on." Seiji flashed a bright smile. "I need information about the Spirit World because I want to find something useful that can quickly improve my power level."

  "Hmph…" Hana glared at him for a while. "I suppose it's praiseworthy that you want to improve yourself. But, in the Spirit World… do you really have some type of guarantee that you can live in there?"

  "Yeah. There's no point in me bragging, after all. I'm not being overconfident."

  "…Alright, I suppose I can try gathering some information for you."

  "Thank you, nice sister of mine. Your brother loves you~"

  "Disgusting!"

  They ended their video chat there.

  Seiji was having fun teasing his younger sister. It felt amazing, so what should he do if he still wanted to continue?

  Should he try teasing Shika next?

  'No, no, she'll probably slice me!'

  Seiji commented on himself before beginning to browse the internet.

  Today was the last day of winter vacation, and tomorrow, school would start again… School starting again felt like a return to daily life, which felt rather unbelievable.

  Rather than saying that going to school was for the sake of learning knowledge and acquiring a diploma, it felt more like a symbol of youth to him?

  No matter what happened, as long as he was still able to normally go to school, that was evidence that his life hadn't gone ridiculously off track.

  Seiji suddenly really looked forward to tomorrow.

  Tomorrow morning, he would be going to school together with Mika, Kaede, and Chiaki… That Chiaki, after living at the Uehara residence for two nights, she actually started renting an apartment from the third day onward.