Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

  "My family has already sent out their elites to investigate, but I still haven't received any news… perhaps they haven't found anything out yet, or perhaps they simply aren't telling me anything." Natsuya averted her gaze.

  "I see."

  Seiji wasn't insistent on having to know the situation. He only hoped that this situation could be resolved and that the Yoruhana Family would properly deal with things.

  The next day was bright and sunny with white clouds in the sky.

  "Ooike-kun has gone missing."

  Natsuya called him in the morning and greeted him with words that didn't befit the excellent weather.

  "My people were put under a spell and fell asleep. When they woke up from the sleep spell, they discovered that Ooike-kun went missing, and that there's no clues to his whereabouts." Natsuya had a heavy tone of voice.

  Seiji remained silent.

  "I'm sorry, Seiji…"

  "It's not your fault, Natsuya," Seiji spoke in a low voice while he opened up his dating sim system and checked some information.

  "There's still hope! I should be able to track down Ooike-san."

  "You… can?" Natsuya was astonished to hear this.

  The Spiritual Ability user who spirited away Kazufuru Ooike had done a wonderful job! He didn't leave a single trace behind, nor did any tracking spells work.

  "Yeah. I have a very special locator spell… although I'm not sure if it will succeed. But, I believe that it will," Seiji spoke as he continued looking through his system.

  The [Extradimensional locator spell!] This was the Soul World technique he used to locate Mika previously. It required the target to have a connectivity rating to him of over 70. And, Kazufuru Ooike met the requirements!

  It wasn't one hundred percent certain that this would work. However, since this spell had been capable of locating Mika even though she was trapped in an Inner World, he figured that it should be no problem to locate Kazufuru Ooike.

  'A special locator spell… what type of spell could that possibly be? When did Seiji learn such a spell?' Various questions flashed through Natsuya's mind.

  But, she soon cast away these unimportant questions. Right now, the important matter at hand was to rescue the student council secretary Kazufuru Ooike!

  "I'll head over to your place immediately."

  "Okay."

  'So cold.

  'I feel cold all over, bone-chillingly cold, but only my chest feels boiling hot as if it's on fire.

  'I want to move, I want to speak, but I can't do anything. I can't even open my eyes.

  'What's going on with me…'

  Kazufuru's consciousness was hazy, but he instinctively felt that something was wrong and forced himself to struggle.

  'Move… move… move… MOVE!!!'

  Kazufuru suddenly opened his eyes!

  He saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

  'What is this place!? Why am I here!?'

  He did his best to look all around him. He wanted to move but was unable to do so.

  Suddenly, a gray-clothed man appeared in his field of vision.

  'It's you! The Spiritual Ability user who cursed me!!'

  Kazufuru had already forgotten the man's appearance due to the effects of the previous memory wipe. However, he instantly recognized the man again, and the previous memories rushed back into him as if a movie was playing in his mind.

  "Hey, bro," the gray-clothed man greeted him rather casually with a smile.

  He appeared quite ordinary. There were no special traits about his appearance that would make him easy to remember in a crowd. Basically, he was just an average Joe. But, only his eyes had a sharp glint within them. Combined with his smile, it gave off a rather ominous feeling.

  "You woke up slightly earlier than I expected. Quite nice. Your potential is even better than I thought."

  "Uuuu… ahhh…" Kazufuru viciously glared at him and wanted to shout in anger. But, his mouth was gagged.

  "This is my research laboratory. You are currently my experimental subject. But, there's no need to worry, because this will actually be a good thing for you." The gray-clothed man chuckled. "Originally, I just wanted to analyze how it was that the test product disappeared from your body. But, after carefully inspecting your body, I discovered that you contain potential, which is why I decided to perform a little experiment on you. If this experiment succeeds, you'll instantly become a powerful individual!"

  The gray-clothed man's eyes lit up with fervor.

  "This power won't be some half-baked power obtained through that previous test product. You'll become an extraordinary existence with tremendous power! You'll be able to kill whoever you want, go anywhere you want, do whatever you want! You won't be under any constraints, and you'll receive true freedom! For instance, you could steal away the girl you like and toy with her all you want. You could even do so right in front of the person she loves as a way to utterly trample on them! Isn't it fun just to imagine it!? Rather than remaining as an ordinary person who doesn't stand out, a loser in love no matter how hard you work, wouldn't it be far greater to become someone powerful and free!!?"

  Kazufuru was stunned by the man's words and the look in his eyes.

  This man was without a doubt insane! But, precisely because of this, his conviction was incomparably firm, to the point where even the excellent student was shaken.

  'An extraordinary existence… being able to do whatever I want…'

  Kazufuru couldn't help but imagine what if he stole Natsuya away from Seiji… but instantly stopped himself!

  'This isn't what I want.

  'Even if I can obtain her through force, there's no meaning to it.

  'That's because all I want is to win! Not anything else.

  'I've already lost with regards to Natsuya Yoruhana.

  'That person… Seigo Harano has tremendous power. But, not only is he not abusing his power, he even helps others. In fact, he even helped me when I held killing intent towards him.

  'Someone like him is what true strength is! Natsuya has plenty of reasons to like him. I can't compare to him at all. Even if I obtain some strange power, I definitely wouldn't be able to win. I'd only humiliate myself.'

  Kazufuru firmed his own will as he calmly observed the gray-clothed man.

  The man noticed that Kazufuru's gaze seemed rather strange. It was both condescending and contained pity?

  Out of curiosity, he tore off the duct tape gagging Kazufuru's mouth.

  "What do you want to say?"

  "…I want to tell you that you're an idiot," Kazufuru told him in a condescending tone.

  "Why's that?" The gray-clothed man widened his eyes in surprise.

  "Because you don't know what true strength is at all," Kazufuru stated coldly. "Even if you're a Spiritual Ability user who's different from ordinary people, and you're capable of giving others fearsome powers… in the end, you're still nothing more than a crazed idiot."

  "Ha… then why don't you try telling me what true strength is?" The gray-clothed man didn't get angry. He even felt like this was an interesting topic.

  Kazufuru fell silent for a moment.

  His mind was filled with Seigo Harano's image, words, smile, and actions…


  It was fine to tell him, but making a maniac like this man understand… was evidently impossible.

  And so, Kazufuru decided to put it in his own words.

  "Someone truly strong isn't someone who can easily be described by words. Only when you meet someone who's truly strong and observe his behavior and words will you understand."

  The gray-clothed man's gaze focused sharply upon hearing this.

  "Even though you're just a high school student, that's quite an interesting way of thinking you have there." The man rubbed his chin. "Going by your words, you've evidently met someone who's 'truly strong' as you say before. I'm guessing that he's the person who helped to dispel the item I put within your body. Who is he?"

  Kazufuru remained silent.

  "I'm quite curious about the person who helped to dispel the item from you. But, I have no intentions of getting in that person's way, because I'm aware that I might not be able to deal with him." The gray-clothed man chuckled. "So, if you believe that person to be truly strong, in a way, you're not wrong, and I agree. But, if my experiment on your body succeeds, you'll become just like him, or perhaps even stronger… you're not moved by this at all?"

  Kazufuru widened his eyes slightly.