"But..." Then Origami continued: "I really don't think Shidou-san is an ordinary human being. The fundamental question is why Shidou and Katsu have the power to seal spirits. No one has explained this to us."
"…You mean, Katsu, Shidou, and Ratatoskr are hiding something from us?" This was said by Natsumi who was hiding behind Yoshino.
"I didn't say that. It's possible that even they and Ratatosk haven't fully grasped the true nature of that ability and the reason why they have it. However, leaving that aside, the Ratatoskr organization is too mysterious.
Origami continued calmly, "I can't express how grateful I am to them for saving me. But after all, why would Ratatoskr want to protect the spirits? I really don't think they would invest so much money in such a dangerous operation without asking for anything in return."
"Hmm..." Tohka pursed her lips.
No, it wasn't just Tohka. Kaguya, Yuzuru, Yoshino, and Natsumi all looked at Origami without saying a word.
Origami's words do make sense. Tohka, who knew nothing about this world before, did not think about this problem at first, but during her life as a human, she gradually realized how much power the Ratatoskr organization had.
Such an organization does everything it can to help Tohka and others.
Since they accepted each other's favor as a matter of course, they did not realize that without Ratatoskr, Tohka and the others would not even be able to go to school.
Why did Ratatoskr treat Tohka and the others with such courtesy? It was an indisputable fact that they could not give an immediate answer to this question.
"Hmm..." Tohka groaned in embarrassment. At the same time, someone opened the door and Kotori and Reine walked in.
"—Kotori!"
"Ah, Tohka." Tohka called out to Kotori, who shrugged and looked around the room.
"...? What's wrong with you?" Kotori tilted her head, as if she was aware of the inexplicable atmosphere in the room.
So, Origami shook her head and changed the subject: "Nothing. But how are Katsu and the others doing?"
"… …" Although Kotori looked at everyone's faces with a puzzled expression again, she hesitated for a moment and nodded.
"Well... Then I'll start explaining to everyone... It seems that Miku hasn't arrived yet." After Kotori finished speaking, Reine, who was standing next to her, said softly: "... I have contacted her, but it seems that she is in Kansai now because of work."
However, just as he finished speaking, the door was pushed open---
"Mitsu-chan!"
"Mitsu-chan!"
A call filled with concern and anxiety rang out at the same time as the sound of the door being pushed open.
A tall girl with blue-purple hair rushed in, her face now perfectly made up and wearing a sparkly costume that looked like a stage costume with a coat over it.
"Miku?!" Kotori exclaimed in surprise. Yes, the girl who came in was Miku who was supposed to be working in Kansai.
"Ah, everyone is here. How is Mitsu-chan?" Miku clasped her hands together and asked Kotori earnestly.
"Ah... don't worry. Compared to Shidou, Katsu's condition is much better. After all, he has power similar to that of spirits. Apart from the fact that his power is a little out of control, there are no other symptoms."
"Huh...Is that so? That's good." Miku was obviously relieved.
"Well, Miku, you should sit over there first and listen to what's going on between Katsu-nii and Shidou."
"Okay~~~~~" After learning that Katsu's condition was not serious, Miku felt much better. In response to Kotori's words, Miku obediently raised her hand and sat down on a nearby chair.
Then... Natsumi's body shook and he moved to a place where Miku couldn't see him.
Seeing this, Kotori sighed softly and then looked at Reine.
"Well, Reine, thank you for your help."
"...Okay." After saying this, Reine placed the terminal in her hand flat on the table and started operating it.
Then, the large screen embedded in the wall of the room displayed the same picture as Reine's terminal.
"This is..." Tohka looked up at the big screen and whispered softly.
The screen showed full-body pictures of Katsu and Shidou, a bunch of complicated numbers, and something resembling a chart.
"This is a diagram I made after analyzing the current status of Katsu-nii and Shidou. If it was in Fraxinus, it could have been completed earlier, but Fraxinus was severely damaged by someone."
"Who would do such an outrageous thing?"
Kotori said sarcastically, and Origami immediately responded as if nothing had happened.
Seeing this, Kotori rolled her eyes, then spread her hands and said:
"--Anyway, this is the current state of Shidou, Katsu-nii. It's very similar. The red line on this graph represents their spiritual wave reaction. To be honest, this value is not normal. Of course, detecting spiritual wave reaction from humans is itself abnormal---"
"Hmm... I don't quite understand why this happened?"
After Tohka asked, Kotori called out, "Reine."
After hearing this, Reine switched the chart displayed on the screen to another picture.
What is shown is that Shidou and Katsu are in the center, a mysterious line connected to Shidou with an unknown spirit, and the eight spirits, Kaguya, Yuzuru, Tohka, Miku, Yoshino, Kotori, Natsumi, and Origami, are surrounding Katsu.
There is a faintly glowing light that comes and goes connecting Shidou, Katsu, and the spirits.
"...Just think of this as a normal state. I hope you think this way. Although Shidou and Katsu have the ability to seal the spirit power of the spirit, it does not completely take the power away from the spirit or block it. Instead, there is an invisible path connecting them to the spirits, which keeps most of the spirit power in their bodies and circulates it slowly."
Reine said as she pressed the button. Then, the light originally in Shidou and Katsu's body was distributed to each spirit through the path.
"…This is the picture when your spirit's mental state is unstable. The ratio of the spirit power in Katsu and the others to your body will change, so you can manifest limited spirit equipment or angels."
"Hmm...I see."
"Criticism. Kaguya pretends to know what she doesn't know."
"I...I'm not pretending to understand! I really understand!" Kaguya and Yuzuru started bickering. Reine cleared her throat slightly.
"…Can I continue?"
"Please...please go ahead..."
"Apologize. Please continue." The two women hunched their shoulders dejectedly, and Reine operated the terminal again, switching the screen back to the original icon.
"…And this is what's happening to Katsu and the others now." After Reine finished speaking, the path between Katsu, Shidou, and the spirits became thinner at the same time, and the light moving back and forth became slower.
"This… this is…"
"…As a result of the analysis, we found that the path connecting Katsu and the others to you suddenly became narrower, hindering the circulation of spiritual energy."
"What problems will this cause? Will this harm brother Katsu? Yoshino frowned anxiously and asked the question, and Reine nodded slowly.
"...Yeah, the spiritual energy that should have been circulating will continue to stay in their bodies - it will cause a similar overload state. This is the reason for their symptoms. The spiritual energy that has nowhere to be released is expressed through their bodies, which will cause them to exert extraordinary physical strength. Katsu originally has power similar to that of spirit, and his control over power is much better, so his symptoms are much better than Shidou. Not only that we can't find the spirit that caused Shidou's situation."
After Reine pressed the button, Shidou's picture gradually turned red, and Katsu's picture turned orange.
If Katsu is here now he would have rolled his eyes at Reine, the only girl Shidou has ever interacted with is Reine. Reine's acting is so good that everyone here never suspects her and thinks that Shidou once sealed another spirit in the past.
"How could this be... This is bad!" Tohka slammed the table and stood up. Kotori then crossed her arms and held up the Kabeja candy bar in her mouth.
"Yes, the situation is not optimistic. If this situation continues, the spiritual power accumulated in the two of them may get out of control. Under mutual resonance, the spiritual power of more than eight people will burst out at once. Just imagining it is scary enough."