Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

  A moment of silence fell between them.

  Natsuya's face started reddening even further.

  "No, no, I just… tried imagining it for a bit! I'm not saying that I can accept him having a harem right now… Besides, I'm not even his girlfriend yet!!"

  'What did I just say!? Why did I just say such things?

  'Was I just trying to make a joke, or did I get carried away… at any rate, that wasn't what I should have said out loud!'

  "I… I was actually joking around. Something like a harem… I was just casually saying it." Natsuya did her very best to maintain her composure.

  "…But you seemed quite serious just now," the cat-eared hat girl muttered in a low voice.

  "I wasn't being serious! I just… slightly considered the situation pragmatically…" Natsuya's face continued reddening as she averted her gaze. "I was just extrapolating things from an objective, practical angle… I definitely wasn't thinking about my future at all…"

  Hana was rendered speechless.

  She wanted to say something about this scene, but didn't know how to comment.

  "Well, whatever you like… at any rate, it doesn't have anything to do with me. Let's just leave things at that, Yoruhana-san." Hana decided to end the video chat after several seconds of silence.

  After that, Natsuya quietly stood up, left her study, returned to her bedroom, and locked the door.

  "Wahh ahh~~~" The scion jumped into her bed, covered her face with a pillow, and started rolling around.

  Seiji suddenly sneezed.

  At this moment, he was in the business district. He went to an internet café and into a private room there.

  Hisashi was currently waiting for him inside.

  Hisashi wasn't gaming or reading any manga, instead simply waiting by a kotatsu. Hisashi greeted Seiji upon his arrival.

  "Did you want to talk about your older brother Zankita?" Seiji asked as he sat down.

  "Yep."

  "You asked me to come all the way here for a discussion instead of just calling me… what happened?"

  "I don't know." Hisashi sighed as he poured some tea for Seiji.

  "Eh?"

  "I don't know exactly what happened to him. That's the problem."

  Hisashi poured some tea for himself as well and sipped on it as he began explaining.

  "Ever since that day… the last time that you visited us, he's been going out every single night, and nobody knows where he was going. When I asked him, he only told me that he was out practicing his cultivation, and he showed me his flame ability that definitely got stronger compared to before. He also told me not to tell you. However, he's been gradually… changing ever since he started secretly going out every night."

  "Changing?" Seiji raised his eyebrows.

  "Yeah… the look in his eyes has changed. He now looks… rather manic." Hisashi adjusted his eyeglasses. "While he was originally an idiot who loved fighting to begin with, a fighting maniac, at the very least he had mostly a normal way of thinking apart from that. However, during this time period, he's been changing in an abnormal way…"

  "Is it similar to awakening an evil side of himself?" Seiji tried asking.

  "…You could say that," Hisashi agreed. "I don't know what happened to him, nor would he tell me. At this rate, I feel like something terrible will happen. Even though he told me not to tell you anything, I'm still doing so anyways. Seigo, do you know anything about what might have happened?"

  Something flashed in Seiji's eyes.

  "I think I might know where he's going every night."

  "Where?"

  "A Spirit World."

  The fact that Zankita would vanish every night, and that his powers were indeed getting stronger… the first thought that Seiji had was of Spirit Worlds.

  But if Zankita Juumonji indeed went to a Spirit World, just where did he obtain the knowledge about Spirit Worlds?

  Besides, Spirit Worlds were highly dangerous areas. For an Awakened like Zankita to adventure in one by himself, that would be highly risky, not to mention how it seemed that Zankita was going on a nightly basis and hadn't even been injured yet… that seemed highly unlikely.

  "So let's assume that he's really going to a Spirit World. In that case, there's definitely someone providing him with information, as well as going together with him… That is to say, some other Spiritual Ability user or Awakened came into contact with my older brother when I wasn't aware."

  Something flashed in Hisashi's eyes as he came to this conclusion after hearing Seiji's explanation.

  "Yes. But, this is only one possibility."

  "I think it's highly likely that some other Spiritual Ability user or Awakened contacted him. While these people made him stronger, they also caused his personality to change… and as for why he forbids me from telling you about this, it's probably because those people wanted him to keep their secret."

  Seiji fell silent as he contemplated.

  Hisashi remained silent for a while as well.

  "I want to make a request of you, Seigo… no, Seiji." Hisashi had a serious tone.

  "What is it?"

  "Beat my older brother Zankita up."

  "I've already done such a thing twice already."

  "I request you to do it a third time for me… well, depending on the circumstances, perhaps it won't even be necessary. But, I feel that only by beating him in a fight will he finally listen."

  "Is beating him up really alright? What if it causes the opposite effect than intended?" Seiji asked.

  "That's possible as well… but apart from this, there's no other method I have left."

  "What about your father?"

  Hisashi fell silent for a moment.

  "Father… is currently hospitalized."

  "Was he the one you mentioned before who was seriously injured by a Tengu spirit?"

  "That's right… you guessed it."

  "That night, when you said that you would represent your father and leave your sister in my hands, I felt like something was off." Seiji folded his arms. "I haven't seen Michirou Juumonji-san in so long now, so I had a guess."

  "How sharply perceptive, as expected of you."

  "I don't think this counts as being particularly perceptive."

  Hisashi took another sip of his tea.

  "With father hospitalized, the Juumonji Group is now run entirely by my older brother Zankita and myself… and things are mostly being held together by Zankita's authority and people's respect for him. I can only do things behind the scenes. There's a lot of pressure on my brother… even though he's an idiot, he still knows what he needs to do… and the heavy pressure caused him to be anxious, which probably made him… approach people that he shouldn't have."

  Seiji remained silent.

  "I want to have a serious discussion with him. If I can't stop him using words, I can only rely on your fists, Seiji." Hisashi slowly lowered his head. "Asking you to beat him up for a third time… this time might be more difficult than the last two times, because I have no idea just how much stronger he's become. Perhaps you might even get injured. And, whoever it was that influenced my brother in such a fashion… they might start paying attention to you because of such a thing, which will surely bring you trouble. I'm truly sorry to have to make this request of you, but… Please!"

  Seiji slowly unfolded his arms as he faced his friend who was lowering his head to him.

  "Alright."

  Just like last time, he agreed.

  "Thank you." Hisashi was truly grateful.

  Although it was the same response as last time, the meaning behind it was completely different.

  "When are you intending to talk to your brother?"

  "The sooner the better… will tomorrow night be fine?"

  "I'm busy tomorrow night." Seiji shook his head, recalling the award ceremony he was supposed to attend. "Why don't we just talk to him right now?"

  "…Okay." Hisashi nodded.

  Zankita lazily slouched on a sofa.

  A gigantic blue fireball floated in midair before him. It slowly turned around in midair under his control with his hand gestures, and it would sometimes shrink and sometimes expand. It was devilishly beautiful.

  Ever since he received this power, he had improved his ability by several times already… no, several tens of times!

  At first, he could only envelop his fists in flames, which meant that his ability's power was still quite limited.

  But now, not only could he envelop his entire body in flames, he could even control flames at a distance and create a huge amount of destruction!

  It felt wonderful…


  Zankita was thrilled that his power level had gone up significantly in such a short period of time.

  All the years that he worked so hard exercising in order to obtain his muscular body seemed like such a waste compared to how easy it was to obtain power these days!

  The former him was nothing more than a pitiful existence.

  Only the current him was someone truly strong! Not only that, he would only become stronger and stronger!

  Zankita was addicted to playing with his own flames.

  He desired to become stronger, he desired more and more power. However, as for why he wanted to become stronger in the first place… why was that again?

  At this moment, his cell phone rang.