Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

  "She's not a human." Seiji used the classical pose of tilting his head forty-five degrees to look up at the sky and acted with melancholy.

  "Eh?"

  "She merely has a human physical appearance. She's actually a simple doll, without a heart." Seiji decided to copy one of the opening lines from Violet Evergarden.

  Hisashi was rendered speechless.

  "Cough, I just wanted to play pretend there for a moment. But, I was telling the truth just now. The Idelia you see on the picture isn't a real person." Seiji returned to using a normal expression. "That's why it's impossible for me to introduce her to you. My apologies."

  "Oh…" Hisashi paused for a moment. "In that case, how much money would it cost me to purchase such a doll?" He adjusted his eyeglasses, causing his lenses to flash.

  Seiji was the one who was rendered speechless for a moment this time.

  "If possible, I'd like to purchase one as well. Unfortunately, she's priceless, because only one of her exists in the world."

  "I see. How regrettable."

  Hisashi didn't inquire any further and carefully put the picture away. "There's something I need to tell you about."

  "What's that?"

  "Some strange drugs have appeared on the market again."

  Something flashed in Seiji's eyes upon hearing this.

  Strange drugs… he recalled the mysterious drugs that Okubo Yoshiaki previously spread on the market.

  Natsuya told him afterwards that those strange Spiritual Power draining drugs were highly likely to have originated from the Soul World faction!

  "What's the specific type of drug this time?"

  "I've heard that the drug is dark-red in color and that it's rather soft. It physically resembles a soft, chewy candy," Hisashi explained. "After consumption, the user will feel a heated sensation inside along with a mysterious sense of pleasure and hazy hallucinations. Anyone observing the user will see that the user's breathing becomes much weaker and that their body will become ice cold, as if they're dead. Using one tablet of this drug will cause the effects to last for ten minutes. Two tablets will cause the effect to last for one hour. Three or more tablets will cause the effect to last for more than seven hours."

  "Seven hours…" Seiji frowned upon hearing this.

  "After the user wakes up from such a long drug effect, the user will be mentally hazy for several hours. Not only that, the user will look like they've spend an all-nighter, as they'll have dark circles under their very bloodshot eyes."

  Hisashi's words caused Seiji to recall the men he bumped into earlier at noon.

  Seiji mentioned this incident to Hisashi. Hisashi agreed that those four men were likely to be heavy drug users of this particular drug.

  "This drug is sold at a very high price. However, it's slowly starting to spread due to the addictive pleasure it gives the users."

  "Who's the main culprit behind selling this drug?"

  "We're currently investigating."

  "Be careful."

  "I know."

  This new drug had some similarities and also differences to the drug that Okubo Yoshiaki had been spreading. Perhaps it was a modified or improved version?

  Just who had been the source of Okubo Yoshiaki's drugs? And for what purpose was this person or group spreading all these Spiritual Power draining drugs on the market for?

  Seiji had many questions in his mind as he called Natsuya and informed her about this.

  "A second, new type of mysterious drug… I'll send someone to investigate this as well," the student council president told him upon hearing this. "If this is related to the Soul World faction, we won't have to deal with it. It will be taken care of by some higher-ups. Currently, there hasn't been much progress made on finding out the cause of the Midnight Incident. So, the higher-ups will be highly interested in anything that might lead to the Soul World faction's members."

  Natsuya ended the conversation there. Seiji put away his cell phone and looked back towards Hisashi.

  "The true culprit behind all this might be someone incredibly powerful. But, in that case, we won't actually have to worry, because there will be equally powerful higher-ups that will take care of things for us."

  "So, it's just like a high-level boss monster being taken care of by high-level players, right?"

  "That's right. So, there's no need to force yourself. If you find out anything on your end, let me know immediately."

  "Got it." Hisashi nodded.

  Meeting drug addicts while having fun outside and shopping? This was a classical example of daily life meeting the abnormal.

  Seiji didn't know what would happen in the future. But judging from the current circumstances, he had to become stronger in order to lead a fun and carefree life.

  He wanted to protect himself, his friends, and everything else that he felt he wanted to protect. There was no other method to protect everything apart from possessing greater strength.

  After all, didn't all young men desire strength?

  And so, he gathered his companions, created a team, and helped everyone to become stronger together in search of the next power realm.

  And so, this was the beginning of the legend about the Yin Yang Master, Seiji Haruta…


  "Hey, stop randomly giving a narration like that!"

  "I wasn't being random at all! I was voicing it quite seriously, and even prepared some background music."

  "I don't want that, please stop!"

  Seiji stopped Chiaki's clowning around.

  "Don't you think that I was adding to the atmosphere?"

  "This isn't an anime!"

  "Perhaps there will be an anime made in the future about you."

  "This isn't a light novel, either!"

  "I hope to be able to use these character outlines to make an anime out of."

  "This isn't a dating sim, either!"

  For some mysterious reason, Seiji felt a subtle feeling within him after making all these comments.

  Perhaps this world really was… No, no! Stop!!

  He forcefully stopped his thoughts from almost going off track as he faced reality.

  It was now Sunday. He was preparing to go out and meet the members of his planned Spirit-branded Retainer team.

  This would be the first meeting with all of them together, and it also signified the formal establishment of their team.

  "We're going out now. Please take care of Reo-chan for us."

  "Leave it to me!"

  Chiaki stayed behind to accompany Reo in Seiji's apartment, while Seiji, Shika, Mika, and Kaede headed out together to the arranged meeting location—a high-class Sakura Island restaurant named "Moon Fortune Restaurant". This restaurant was the property of the Himiki judging clan, and a commonly used location for Spiritual Ability user meetings.

  The kanji used in this restaurant's name was so similar to Shokugeki no Souma's Restaurant Yukihira that Seiji was almost tempted to ask if there was a Souma Yukihira working here.

  The four of them entered the reserved private room for their group at the restaurant and sipped tea while waiting.

  The first to arrive after them was Hisashi.

  "Hello, everyone," Hisashi greeted them. He merely glanced for a moment at Seiji and his younger sister Kaede before his gaze fell upon Shika and Mika.

  "This is my older brother, Hisashi Juumonji. His internet user name is Milk Cream Sweet Sweet Pig," Kaede introduced him.

  "This humble one is the First Knight! I'm so honored to join Milord's true Knights of the Round Table!" Hisashi adjusted his eyeglasses and made a pretentious pose.

  Mika was rendered speechless.

  Although this was their first meeting in real life, she was immediately able to equate this idiot… er, this rather strange person with the jokester on the internet.

  "This is Mika Uehara. Her internet username is Cyan Bird in the Blue Sky," Kaede continued with the introductions.

  "Hello there, Sixth Knight!"

  "Hello… Juumonji-san," Mika greeted him back.

  "This is Shika Kagura, Seiji's adopted younger sister."

  "Hello there, Knight Number Zero!"

  Knight Number Zero?

  Both Shika and Seiji blinked their eyes in surprise at this.

  "That's because Kagura-san is just like a hidden character who's the closest to Milord. She's powerful and mysterious, which is why she's Knight Number Zero!" Hisashi spoke quite seriously.

  Seiji was rendered speechless.

  While this sounded quite appropriate, he felt that this title was quite an unlucky one!

  "I don't think that's very good…" He didn't want to be just like Lelouch, who ended up being killed by Knight Number Zero. Seiji tried to prevent the usage of this title.

  However, when he turned around, he saw that Shika's eyes were sparkling. It was evident that she was enchanted with the title.

  "Hello, First Knight," she greeted Hisashi in a serious manner.

  Seiji understood that his adopted younger sister had decided to use this title for herself when he heard her tone.

  And so, the Knight Number Zero, Shika Kagura, was thusly born!?

  'No, no, please change it! This is a truly jinxed title!!'

  But, what was he supposed to say? That he instinctively felt it was unlucky? That would harm Shika's feelings.

  Seiji thought about it but was unable to come up with an excuse.

  He didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he could only leave it unsaid… Who cared about the curse of the Knight Number Zero? He'd deal with it!