A decision that could change the fate of the entire tribe wasn't something that could be made so easily.
Even in the original story, before Riku finally decided to intervene in the gods' war together with Schwi, he underwent a long period of psychological preparation.
And even then, his decision to intervene only involved bringing 179 of the tribe's core members into the war. Because even if they failed, it would only be those 180 people—including himself—who would perish. The rest of the tribe would remain unaffected.
However, what Origami Tobiichi was proposing was to tie over two thousand people—the entire tribe—onto a war chariot.
This wasn't something that could be decided in a short amount of time.
Thus, over the following two weeks, there was no word from Riku.
He didn't confide his pressures in anyone, didn't seek others' opinions on the matter, and certainly didn't come to speak with Origami.
During this time, it was actually Schwi who came to find her a few times.
The reason was simple.
The Ex-Machina were created to solve every mystery in this world and uncover the truth of the universe.
And Origami Tobiichi, a lifeform unlike any other, naturally sparked Schwi curiosity.
Thus, most of the time she stayed with Riku, but whenever he slept, she would visit Origami.
"This is already your fifth full-body scan."
Having long since moved out of Couronne room and obtained her own residence in the human settlement, Origami restrained her spiritual energy and asked Schwi, who had just finished a scan, "Did you obtain the data you wanted?"
"Although Schwi now has a deeper understanding of your life structure, the data is still insufficient to support the theories operating within your body."
Schwi orange mechanical eyes flickered with streams of data as she calculated complex formulas in her mind and replied, "Among the more than one thousand intelligent species recorded in Schwi database, none have a biological structure like yours. To fully analyze your power, more experimentation is required."
Origami felt like advising her to give up if she truly couldn't decipher it.
After all, she came from a different world. The worldview and power systems were entirely different. With Schwi limited perspective, there was no way she could fully comprehend everything about her.
"But if you could give Schwi the crystalline core of your power, Schwi analysis would progress much faster."
As she spoke, Schwi gaze locked onto a certain spot near Origami abdomen. "All magical races require incantations to gather spirit particles, but your crystalline core seems like a fountain capable of generating spirit particles on its own. It continuously provides power, allowing you to use magic without relying on external spirit particles. Over 95% of Schwi current questions stem from this core."
"No. I refuse to give you my spirit crystal."
Origami replied flatly, "No matter how many times you ask, my answer won't change."
So far, every time Schwi had tried to analyze her, she had asked for the spirit crystal to conduct deeper experiments.
But Origami refused each time.
Because the spirit crystal wasn't just the source of power for spirit girls—it was their life source.
Once removed, only death awaited them.
In the original story, when Yatogami Tohka spirit crystal was taken, if there hadn't been a tiny residue left inside her, she would have already died.
While Origami had perfectly completed a side mission in a previous world and received a summoning ticket for Yamai Kazamachi's spirit crystal, allowing her to potentially hand it over to Schwi for analysis, there was absolutely no need to do so.
Wasting a life-saving trump card just to satisfy someone else's curiosity—only a fool would do that.
"How's Riku these days?"
Not wanting to dwell on the topic of the spirit crystal, Origami proactively changed the subject. "How's he processing my proposal?"
"Same as usual. Riku has been busy managing tribal affairs. When spending time with me, he mostly asks about other races and the war of the gods."
Schwi replied, "As for your proposal, Riku hasn't discussed it with me."
Origami gave a small nod.
She wasn't particularly anxious. The Great War had already lasted for who-knows-how-many tens of thousands of years, and with Artosh still around, it wasn't ending anytime soon.
In the original, the only turning point—the meeting of Riku and Schwi—had just happened. They hadn't even conceived the idea of working together to end the war.
However, in this primitive tribe where there was little of anything, Origami was slowly fading from boredom. If she had to wait even longer for a final answer, it could take an indefinite amount of time.
"Should I tell him about the fact that the Dwarves are about to test a spirit bomb on Lucia Continent?"
One of the reasons why Riku was still hesitating was because he didn't want to give up a peaceful life.
Over the past few years, under his leadership, the living conditions of the human tribe had improved drastically, and the population was growing steadily.
Now that he had Schwi—this walking think tank and arsenal—there was no longer a need to fear threats from the Werebeasts, Vampires, Demons, and so on.
With his leadership and Schwi protection, over 95% of threats could be neutralized.
Humanity had never felt so secure during the Great War.
This was an excellent opportunity for development, and Riku didn't want to give it up.
And the way to push him into a decision was simple: tell him the Dwarves were about to test an anti-god weapon on this continent, making it clear that peaceful development wasn't possible. Pressured by a growing sense of crisis, he would likely agree to Origami terms.
"But that still won't be enough," Origami thought. "A crisis alone isn't enough to make them truly believe in Mio."
Being forced into cooperation by crisis and choosing to cooperate willingly—there's a huge difference in the strength of the belief they produce.
To awaken Mio Takamiya, faith born of trust was required. And the stronger the faith, the more effective the awakening.
Expressionless, Origami contemplated how to make Riku and his people willingly become Mio believers.
Then, as she recalled the earlier conversation with Schwi, a flash of inspiration crossed her mind.
"Let's return to the previous topic."
Origami pondered for a moment, then asked seriously, "You wanted my spirit crystal to conduct more experiments and gather data to solve your questions, right?"
"Yes."
"I believe you can skip the experimentation phase altogether."
Recalling her experiences in another world, the final gift from a departed sage surfaced in her memory.
"I have existing data you can refer to."