In the morning, Shichen opened his eyes, looked up at the familiar ceiling, and sat up.
The two jade-like arms draped over him slid off to the side. Their owners didn't wake.
On his right was a girl with loose white hair. Eyes closed, she slept soundly, the corners of her lips faintly lifted.
On his left were two women who looked alike—more like sisters than anything else: a younger-looking girl and a mature woman, both with silver-white hair spread out like blooming lotus petals.
Four players at the table—Shichen had finally pulled it off. Sure, it happened under the "punishment" excuse, but for him, it was obviously a reward.
"Mm…"
The girl on his right finally stirred. When she opened her eyes, her heterochromatic pupils were unmistakable—especially the blue astronomical-clock iris in her left eye.
"Sh— morning," she said, smiling sweetly the moment she saw him.
"Morning, Sawa," Shichen replied softly.
The one sleeping beside him was Sawa Yamauchi—not Origami.
In fact, a full day had passed.
Origami hadn't "joined the match" that night. She spent the whole night watching, listening to the duet, and at dawn she simply left.
Honestly, Shichen didn't know how she held back.
He couldn't even tell whether she'd really intended it as punishment in the first place.
And somehow she still went to school like normal afterward.
Of course, with a Spirit's constitution, pulling an all-nighter was nothing. Still, he couldn't wrap his head around what she was trying to achieve.
Was it really about humiliating Mio?
Or was it secretly for his sake—letting him have his fill?
And she didn't even step in herself.
Shichen still hadn't found a chance to ask her privately, because next up was Sawa's "punishment."
Sawa was the real victim, so she had every right to punish Mio too.
She'd claimed she didn't care before, but Shichen hadn't expected her punishment to be even wilder than Origami's—
She demanded that Mio and Nia join her… and gang up on him together.
Were all of them really this forward-minded?
Or was it because she couldn't convince Kurumi to "team up" before, so she decided to go looking for a new frontier?
Shichen wasn't going to refuse.
Even if it meant burning through stamina for days, he had no problem with that. He could keep going for three days and three nights if needed.
"Sh~ Were you happy last night?" Sawa rolled over onto her stomach, smiling up at him.
"You did that on purpose?" Shichen shot her a sideways look.
"Honestly, I don't even have anything I want to 'get revenge' for," Sawa said brightly. "I'm happy right now."
"You're way too forgiving." Shichen sighed.
"It's not forgiveness. I just understand how it works," Sawa said lightly. "If I hadn't gone through that danger, I wouldn't have become best friends with Kurumi. I wouldn't have gotten close to you. I wouldn't have become a Spirit."
"You almost died," Shichen reminded her.
"But I didn't," Sawa said, completely unfazed. "I'm fine now. I have you all. Life's happy. No worries."
"…That kind of mindset is going to get you taken advantage of someday."
"Relax," Sawa said with a grin. "I'm not generous to everyone. People who have nothing to do with us? I'm not going to be kind to them."
"So in the end… it's because of me?" Shichen murmured.
Mio's connection to him mattered to everyone just as much as their own. If Mio turned into an enemy, it would only put Shichen in an impossible position.
Origami and Sawa keeping the "punishment" light could only be for his sake.
And like they said—despite the detours, nobody had actually lost anything in the end.
That was why they could forgive Mio.
They could understand Mio doing anything for the person she loved.
But the real reason everything ended safely… was Shichen. He was the one who saved them.
That was the only reason they could truly set the grudges aside.
…
At breakfast, Mio and Nia didn't show up.
They were still asleep.
"Sawa, what kind of punishment did you even give them?" Nia asked, eyes sparkling with curiosity. "They can't even get out of bed."
"Ask Shichen," Sawa said with a grin, smoothly tossing the blame to Shichen.
It was his fault, but he wasn't about to admit that in front of everyone.
"Don't ask me. I have no idea," he said with a straight face.
Kurumi narrowed her eyes at Sawa. "What did you do?"
She knew her best friend too well—there was no way it was anything normal. And this early in the morning, Sawa's cheeks were still pink and glowing.
"Kurumi, you wanna know?" Sawa asked sweetly.
"…Never mind," Kurumi said immediately.
"Aww, come on."
"Are Mio and Nia… okay?" Tohka asked anxiously.
"They're fine," Shichen reassured her. "Just tired. Origami and Sawa didn't do anything too extreme."
"Tired?" Kotori's expression shifted, picking up on the subtext.
"Oh?" Nia blinked.
"Eat your food," Shichen snapped.
"Yes~"
They didn't press further. No matter how ridiculous things got, surely nobody would actually use that as "punishment," right?
After breakfast, Tohka and the others went to school.
Shichen didn't. He headed alone to Ratatoskr HQ.
There, he met a man from thirty years ago—Elliot Baldwin Woodman.
Elliot looked far older now—an elderly man in his fifties, blond hair, kind face, seated in a wheelchair.
Behind him stood a woman with glasses who looked like she was in her twenties—most strikingly, she resembled the mage Ellen.
She was Ellen's younger sister, Karen… though in truth she was already in her fifties as well.
"You finally came to see me," Elliot said, visibly excited.
"You really got old," Shichen said, sounding almost nostalgic.
"I'm only human," Elliot sighed with a helpless smile.
"I can make you young again," Shichen offered. "Consider it thanks for taking care of Kotori."
"…That really is you," Elliot murmured. Then after hesitating, he refused. "But… no."
"Why? You don't want to be young again? Don't you want a late-life romance with her?" Shichen teased, nodding toward Karen.
"Origin…" Karen looked at Shichen with gratitude.
"I owe Karen too much," Elliot said quietly. "If I can atone… even if I'm dying."
He'd helped summon the Spirit with Westcott and the others, causing countless deaths. After he woke up, he broke away and founded Ratatoskr to protect Spirits instead.
Spirits were born because of the First Spirit, and Shichen—who had ties to her—was the one Elliot believed would appear and save them.
"Go have your sunset romance," Shichen said flatly. "I'll deal with the one who actually deserves punishment."
"…You're going to kill Isaac?" Elliot couldn't help asking.
"That depends on his choice," Shichen said.
"I see…"
After a short meeting, Shichen left.
He went straight to DEM Industries—and met the ambitious man, Isaac Ray Pelham Westcott.
Ellen was there too.
"Origin—welcome," Westcott said, offering a respectful bow.
"Westcott," Shichen said, not wasting time. "Still clinging to your ambitions?"
"Ambitions…?" Westcott smiled. "And if I am?"
"Then I'll grant them to you."
"Hm?"
Shichen didn't explain. Ignoring Ellen's wariness, he walked up and drove the primal inverted power straight into Westcott's body.
"What—this is…?!" Black, corrupted power surged out of him, sinister and kingly—like a Demon King.
Westcott threw his head back and laughed. "Hahaha! With this power, I can rule the world!"
"…Then you really can't be left alive," Shichen said, shaking his head.
"You can't leave me alive? Even if you're Origin, I'm not afraid of you now! Demon King of Death!"
Westcott was intoxicated by power. He raised a hand—an enormous black flower bloomed in front of him, releasing clouds of pollen.
Shichen didn't move. The pollen swallowed him… and nothing happened.
"How?!" Westcott froze.
The Demon King of Death could decide life and death—why didn't it work?
"It doesn't work on me."
"I don't believe it! Demon King of Law!"
A towering black tree rose behind Westcott. The world around them flipped into a stark black-and-white domain—his territory.
But Shichen's expression didn't change. He lifted a hand and casually swept it away.
The black-and-white world shattered like it never existed.
"That's impossible!"
"You don't get a choice anymore."
Shichen vanished—then appeared right in front of him. Golden flame and a colder blue-green flame rose in his palm, almost alive.
They lunged and swallowed Westcott whole.
"Aagh—!" Westcott screamed.
As a Demon King, holy fire was his natural bane. The blue-green flame burned authority itself—and a Demon King's power was authority.
The black aura around him was stripped away in seconds.
Westcott collapsed back into a normal human.
"Sir Isaac!" Ellen tried to rush forward, but the twin flames forced her back.
Shichen lifted his hand and withdrew the fire, then turned away.
"He won't live," Shichen said coldly. "Say your goodbyes. After that… go find Elliot."
With that, he disappeared.
With Westcott dealt with, this world's "Isaac problem" was essentially over.
With Spirits gone, Spacequakes would stop. The future would be decided by the people who remained.
As for the remaining mages and their mess—Shichen didn't bother. It wasn't his job anymore.
Shichen then took Mio and the others back to his Time Café.
But after drawing everyone into himself…
he sensed something wrong.
Inside Mio, there was another life—extremely weak.
It had just been born.
~~~
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