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Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? (Light Novel) - Volume 11, Chapter 3: Sanae's Crisis
Volume 11, Chapter 3: Sanae's Crisis
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Part 1
March 16, Tuesday
Today's game was held three times, with them having dinner in between. The total result of the three rounds ended with Yurika and Theia in the lead, Koutarou and Kiriha behind them and Sanae in last place.
With these results, Kiriha lost her lead and Theia took first place. Koutarou defended his position as third, and Yurika barely managed to pass Sanae and escape from last place.
However, the average between Koutarou and Sanae's point total exceeded Yurika's. Sanae was in last place because she had given Koutarou points before. Koutarou would eventually return the points to Sanae, so in reality, Yurika was still in last place.
“Oh, Ooooh, I'm finally no longer in last place!”
“Good for you, Yurika.”
Sanae, who was now in last place, congratulated Yurika. That action revealed the current state of room 106, as nobody thought it was wrong. They felt like things had gotten strange, but at the same time, they felt that was okay.
“Thank you very much, Sanae-chaaan!!”
Yurika grabbed Sanae's hand and shook it up and down. Yurika, who was originally scared of ghosts, seemed to have forgotten that as she would often touch Sanae. The two got along quite well.
“Koutarou, now I'm in last place!”
After praising Yurika, Sanae flew towards Koutarou and presented her head to him.
“So why don't you cheer me up.”
“That's too bad.”
Koutarou patted Sanae's head and comforted her. Sanae smiled happily, and everyone who saw that expression suspected that she had gotten last place just because she wanted him to do that.
“You have to pour more love into it.”
“Oh, my always adorable lady Sanae, I sympathize with your feelings. Please allow this Koutarou to do anything in my power to cheer up my lady.”
Since this was a common occurrence, Koutarou was already used to it. He continued patting her head while speaking the words she wanted to hear. Since she was a ghost, she preferred it when their auras came into contact. Koutarou was well aware that Sanae wanted to be patted on the head.
“Nn, very well.”
Satisfied with her head patting, Sanae mimicked Theia and nodded.
“Your words are wasted on me.”
“Fufufu~”
Smiling, Sanae moved to Koutarou's back. Since Koutarou had homework to do, he couldn't just keep patting her. So until he was done with his homework, she was going to cling to his back like always.
“Then let's study, Koutarou.”
“Yeah. Yurika, it's time for our homework, that's enough manga for now.”
“Eeeeehh~~~!? Can't I just read a little more!?”
“You've never settled for a little.”
“You're not being trusted, Yurika.”
“I can start once you've finished all of your homework, Satomi-san.”
“I see, you're planning on copying my work, you bastard!”
“When I copy your homework there are errors here and there which makes it more believable!”
“This is hopeless...”
Sanae laughed as she poured more strengths into her arms around Koutarou's neck.
It wouldn't be too bad if life just stayed like this...
At some time, the girl who had been waiting for her parents’ return began feeling that way. Her wanting to meet her parents still hadn't changed, but she now loved her current lifestyle just as much. What she loved the most was of course the warmth that was in her arms. As long as she could feel this warmth, she could endure the loneliness of not seeing her parents.
But... I can't become a real part of the family...
Sanae focused on what was in her right hand. In it, she was holding a 'Family Safety' charm. This charm was protecting her. It was the proof that Koutarou treasured Sanae. However, Sanae was feeling dissatisfied that Koutarou was always protecting her. Just like how the charm protected her, she also wanted to protect Koutarou. But only a flesh and blood human could do that. 'Family Safety' was a charm to protect the family. As a ghost, Sanae couldn't become Koutarou's family, or even give birth to children. She was in a position where she was being protected while being unable to protect herself, and was unable to proceed ahead.
The only way for a ghost like Sanae to become a real part of Koutarou's family would be to enter Nirvana and be reborn. However, Sanae didn't choose to do that. She didn't want to leave Koutarou's side. She wanted to forever embrace this warmth, and be embraced by it. In that dead end, Sanae was unable to move any further on ahead.
However, a situation that would shake the very foundation of that dead end suddenly appeared.
“Kyaa!?”
Along with a jarring sound similar to a light bulb shorting out, Sanae's arms passed through Koutarou's body.
Though Sanae didn't have a body to begin with, if she focused, she could grab onto a person's aura. She was supposed to have been doing that now as well, but her arms had passed through Koutarou.
“W-What is going on!?”
When the surprised Sanae looked at her arms, she saw that their former firm shape had changed as they now looked like they were dripping as their outline blurred. And from time to time. they would completely disappear. And what was even worse that it wasn't just her arms. Her entire body's outline was blurring, just like her arms.
“What's wrong!?”
Hearing Sanae's scream, Koutarou had a bad feeling as he hurriedly turned around. There, he saw Sanae, whose outline was gradually weakening.
“Koutarou!!”
“What!?”
Koutarou had never seen Sanae like this. When she would hide her appearance, she would do so more clearly. Not in this fragmented fashion. And she also had no reason to do so now.
“What's with that appearance!?”
Koutarou was surprised by Sanae's strange appearance and wanted an explanation, but Sanae herself could only shake her head.
“I don't know either! What is this... this has never happened before!”
This was a first for Sanae as well, which was why Sanae was overcome with fear. She didn't know what was going to happen, and while Sanae was overcome by an unknown fear, she simply stood still with a blank stare.
“Sanae-chan!?”
“Ruth, what is happening to Sanae!?”
“I don't know! The circumstances regarding Sanae-sama's body is outside of our knowledge!”
All Shizuka, Theia and Ruth could do was be surprised. They didn't understand anything about ghosts. They could tell that some kind of problem had occurred, but they couldn't take any actions to help.
“Just what is―That's right!”
However, Koutarou was barely able to take action. Even if something had occurred to Sanae herself, the routes for spiritual energy that Sanae had created still existed. Koutarou used his ability to see spiritual energy and try to understand what was happening to Sanae.
“This is!?”
However, when he did, he was even more surprised.
When he had looked at her with that power before, Sanae's body had been shining with a dazzling light. However, that wasn't the case now. The shine had greatly weakened, and was now less than half of what it had been before.
Sanae had been shining because a portion of her enormous spiritual energy had leaked outside of her body. This is what was called a Aureola in Buddhism or an Angel's Halo in Christianity. And if that shine was greatly diminishing, it meant that the spiritual energy that made up Sanae's body was diminishing as well. Because her spiritual energy was growing weaker, the spiritual energy she was leaking lessened and weakened the light.
And this light wasn't just half as strong, it would also irregularly spike. It was proof that Sanae's body was growing more and more unstable.
Koutarou could understand what was going on with Sanae, but this was as far as he could go. He couldn't do anything about this.
“Koutarou what's her situation!?”
Only Kiriha was able to do anything about this.
“Sanae's spiritual energy has been cut in half! And it's strangely unstable!”
“Karama, Korama!!”
After hearing about Sanae's situation from Koutarou, Kiriha quickly called for her two haniwas.
“Yes Ho-!”
“Sanae-chan, we'll save you right now Ho-!”
The two haniwas were usually lurking nearby, hiding their appearance. By the time Koutarou and the others could see them, they were already floating in the air, facing Sanae.
“Karama, the spiritual energy stabilizer! Expand the area, activate at class II! Prioritize on stabilizing the control!”
“Understood! Activating spiritual energy stabilizer! Operating mode at class II, expanding area! Nee-san, a warning Ho-! With my spiritual energy batteries, I can only operate class II for 238 seconds Ho-!”
“I know! Korama!”
“Yes Ho-!”
“Connect your spiritual energy battery to Karama! Send all the energy apart from what you need for basic control to Karama!”
“Should output be emulated after Sanae-chan's aura Ho-!?”
“That's right, the analysis should be done!”
“Understood Ho-!”
Kiriha ordered her haniwas to try to restore Sanae to normal. She was planning on using Karama to stabilize Sanae's unstable spiritual energy, while using Korama's spiritual energy battery to replenish Sanae's spiritual energy. Simply explained, it was like patching up a hole that had opened up in a balloon and re-inflating it.
All that's left is...!
Without waiting for her haniwas to start, Kiriha took her next action. She pulled out a cellphone from her pocket; she was going to contact someone. But before she could dial the number, her cell phone began vibrating. The person she was going to call had contacted her first.
“It's Kiriha!”
Kiriha quickly pressed the call button and held the cellphone against her ear.
“Nee-san! Kiriha-Nee-san! It's me! Hachi!”
The voice coming from the cellphone was one of the ghost hunters that had kidnapped Sanae on the beach last year.
After Koutarou and the others had retaken Sanae from them, Kiriha had bought information about Sanae from them. And by extension, they were now working as her subordinates.
“I am aware of the abnormality!! What information do you have!?”
“Bad news! That girl, Sanae-chan is dying!”
“What about the spiritual energy stabilization device!?”
“Aniki just left to set it up!”
“I'll leave that to you! But don't hang up the call!”
“Roger that!”
Having learned what she needed, Kiriha's already serious expression turned even more severe.
I can only pray we make it in time...
If the device that Kiriha had given to the ghost hunters in advance activated properly, Sanae should temporarily be able to recover. But the question was if she could buy the time necessary for the machine to be set up with her haniwas.
“Nee-san, the spiritual energy stabilizer’s output is stable Ho-! The operating limit is in 230 seconds! Continuing the countdown Ho-!”
As Karama said that, Sanae's body regained its clear shape. The yellow light emitted from Karama was stabilizing Sanae's body.
“I have connected the battery to Sanae-chan's aura through Karama's spiritual energy stabilizer Ho-! The converter is currently stable, we should be fine for a while now Ho-!”
The light emitted from Sanae grew a little stronger. It was weaker than normal, but it was no longer unstable and the light shone at a constant quantity.
Simply put, Sanae had recovered a bit, but Kiriha's expression was still serious.
“Only 230 seconds... we might not make it...”
Kiriha calculated the time necessary for the ghost hunters to activate the device. When she subtracted the time she could buy with Korama and Karama, she came up with a ten second something deficit. Which meant that Sanae would have to endure that remaining time in her previously unstable form. It was a dangerous bet that Kiriha would have preferred to avoid.
“Kiriha-san, just what is going on!?”
Koutarou figured that Kiriha had been able to act based on some kind of information she held, and he wanted an explanation from her. Since Koutarou could see that Sanae had been vanishing, he couldn't keep quiet.
“Sanae's spiritual energy supply has decreased and she is starting to disappear.”
Kiriha bit her lip.
She had made preparations to keep this from happening, but the situation had changed faster than she had imagined.
“Disappear!?”
Koutarou's bad premonition turned out to be accurate and his expression was greatly distorted.
“What do you mean by disappear!? As in die!?”
Hearing that she was disappearing, Sanae ran up to Kiriha with a bitter expression. Since she had just had a scary experience, Kiriha's words sounded convincing. Sanae realized her own crisis and trembled in fear.
“Sadly, that's precisely what it means. There is insufficient spiritual energy to stabilize your body. If left like this, you will dissolve and assimilate with nature's spiritual energy.”
A ghost was an existence that used some kind of power to gather spiritual energy to a single point. If that power was to disappear, they would become an unbound mass of spiritual energy and would surely scatter after a short while. The same way air does when a balloon bursts. It would diffuse in the surrounding air until it becomes indistinguishable.
“No, I don't want to disappear!”
Having realized the situation she was in, Sanae was overcome by an even greater fear than before. Her hair was disheveled and tears filled her eyes.
“Sanae-chan, stay calm Ho-!”
“If you move or if your feelings get out of control, you'll use up more spiritual energy Ho-!”
Every time Sanae moved, the two haniwas followed as they were what was keeping her body stabile.
“Even if you say that, I can't sit still after hearing that I'm going to disappear!! What do I do, Koutarou!?”
Scared, Sanae jumped at Koutarou. Fortunately, since the haniwas were stabilizing her body, Koutarou was able to hold Sanae.
Sanae...
Sanae was trembling in Koutarou's arms. And in order to stop that, he strongly embraced her.
“Kiriha-san, isn't there some way!? She can't just suddenly disappear!!”
Sanae's crisis wasn't Kiriha's fault. But even though he knew that, Koutarou pressed her for an answer. That's just how worried he was for Sanae.
“There are some people moving to stop it. All we can do is bet on them.”
Kiriha showed Koutarou her cellphone. With that, he was able to understand that the person that she had talked with before was working to solve the situation.
“But there might not be enough time. I can't say with 100% certainty that she will be saved.”
“Koutarou!”
Not enough time. Hearing that, Sanae held onto Koutarou even harder.
No, I don't want to separate with Koutarou!! Anything but that!!
Sanae's internal scream turned into force that she poured into her arms to embrace Koutarou even stronger.
This is so warm!! I am happy here!! So, so...!!
And she grasped her right hand even harder. Inside of it was a charm with the words 'Family Safety' embroidered into it.
“Hold me, Koutarou! So I won't disappear!”
That was Sanae's only wish.
To be together with Koutarou.
A year after meeting him, Koutarou had become an irreplaceable existence to Sanae, even though in the past he had been an enemy that she had wanted to chase out no matter what.
Sanae could no longer imagine life without Koutarou. When she woke up in the morning, she would see his carefree sleeping face. If she didn't, she didn't know who she would say good morning to.
“By not enough time, how much specifically!?”
Koutarou poured more into his arms as well. Though since it was an emergency, it might not have been in response to Sanae's voice. But Koutarou definitely didn't want to lose Sanae. So by chance, he realized Sanae's wish. But that wasn't just pure coincidence. It was an inevitable coincidence thanks to their overlapping feelings.
Koutarou... Koutarou...
Sanae entrusted herself to Koutarou. If she was going to disappear, she would rather melt into Koutarou and become one.
“One or two minutes... no, it shouldn't take two minutes.”
“Less than two minutes...”
Hearing that, Koutarou lightly grasped his right hand and brought it to his face.
“...Master...”
Just seeing that movement, Ruth could tell what Koutarou was about to do.
Koutarou was going to use the bracelet on his right wrist to call forth Signaltin in order to buy enough time for Sanae.
I have to hurry and take her highness away from here...
Koutarou shouldn't want to show Theia Signaltin. But if Sanae was in danger, he wouldn't hesitate to bring Signaltin out. In that case, the best solution would be for Ruth to take Theia somewhere else.
“Your highness, let us do what we can as well.”
“Ruth?”
“Let us return to the Blue Knight and bring with us devices to stabilize space.”
These words were mostly to take Theia away from there, but in the case that Signaltin wouldn't work, she also wanted to prepare as much as possible. Ruth was also worried for Sanae.
“Very well!”
Theia quickly decided. Sanae was a precious friend to her as well. And at the same time, she was also a rival competing for rulership over room 106, so she was someone she had to defeat fair and square. A royal's battle couldn't be decided by the other party dying from sickness or accident.
“Let us hurry back to the Blue Knight!”
Theia moved towards the wall furthest into room 106 so she could use the teleportation device that had been set up there to return to her ship.
“Yes, your highness!”
Ruth nodded and signaled Koutarou with a glance.
I will leave the rest to you, Master...
Seeing Koutarou respond with a nod, Ruth chased after Theia. But there was someone that stopped them.
“Please wait!”
When that voice rang out in room 106, everyone's eyes opened wide. It was Yurika, who had been silently watching until now.
“What is the meaning of this, Yurika!! We are in a hurry!!”
Theia who had been stopped was angry. There was less than four minutes left. Theia had to return to the Blue Knight quickly as possible.
“I'll hear what you have to say later!”
“Ah, p-please wait! Listen to―”
“I don't have the time!!”
Theia rejected Yurika and headed for the Blue Knight.
“Wait, Tulip!!”
However, that was when Koutarou stopped Theia as well.
“P-Pleb!?”
Because Koutarou had called her Tulip, Theia instinctively turned around as she was standing on the doorway to the Blue Knight.
“Believe in her!!”
Koutarou shouted to Theia with determination.
“Ah, okay...”
Those few words were enough to stop Theia.
There should have been a reason for him to call her Tulip. Hearing his determined voice made her stop as she could feel how serious Koutarou was.
“Speak, Yurika, what do you want to do!?”
Koutarou was convinced that he could believe in Yurika. Her eyes right now were the same as when Maki had gone missing on the snowy mountain.
“Satomi-san...”
Yurika was surprised. Normally Koutarou wouldn't believe her and treat her poorly. She couldn't believe that he was siding with her now.
But, this...
Yurika had seen Koutarou's earnest glance before. They were the same as when Maki had vanished on the snowy mountain. The same glance he had shown when Yurika had tried to chase after Maki alone, but Koutarou had offered to help.
I don't really understand, but Satomi-san believes in me!!
Yurika didn't even notice that she was different from normal. She wasn't aware of her own growth. But even then, she could clearly feel that Koutarou believed in her.
That's why Yurika could confidently declare it.
Someone believed and put hope in her.
And that feeling awakened the courage and confidence sleeping within Yurika.
“Magic!! I will use magic to buy those two minutes!!”
Yurika clearly stated.
Surely everyone in room 106 would admit that the Yurika in front of them right now was without a doubt a magical girl.
Part 2
In a way, Yurika's suggestion was the same as what Kiriha was doing. She would stabilize Sanae's body from the outside while supplying her with energy at the same time. The only difference was that it would be done using magic.
“So, what can we do to help, Yurika!?”
“Please stand in a circle around Sanae-chan!!”
Wearing her magical girl outfit, Yurika held her large cane and pointed its tip at Sanae. She was currently holding Encyclopedia. The cane she had been using before, Angel Halo, had fused with her clothes in her battle against Maki, and had now turned into a series of decorations including the wings on her back.
“I will then transfer everyone's spiritual energy to Sanae-chan.”
“Is something like that possible!?”
“I have never tried, but it should be!!”
Yurika's idea was to activate her magic, at the same time the haniwas run out of power, to maintain Sanae's body for two minutes. Since maintaining Sanae's body required energy, the other six people in the room would supply that energy. Yurika would use Encyclopedia to stabilize Sanae's body while using her own spell to supply Sanae with spiritual energy. This was a bold move Yurika could do because she had gotten another cane.
But because it was such a bold move, it was also a complex spell that required minute control. It would take longer than normal to activate, and she had stopped Theia and Ruth because she wouldn't have enough time otherwise. If she were to try without them the strain on the remaining four would increase by 50%. Since transferring spiritual energy was similar to the energy drain that vampires used, Yurika didn't want to do anything unreasonable.
Koutarou and the others did not feel like anything was off with Yurika about to use a large-scale spell. Since Encyclopedia saw everyday use, they didn't think much of it, and everyone was already aware of Yurika's skill when it came to handling the cane. When they had sent Yurika to drive away a stray cat, she had been able to use supersonic waves to control it.
But in fact, Yurika hadn't gotten better at using Encyclopedia. She was capable of making full use of its power from the start. The reason why it looked like she had improved to Koutarou and the others was because she would pretend to improve while using spells of a slightly higher level. And by repeating that, she was now able to use magic to the fullest of her capabilities in front of everyone.
A magical girl that was just supposed to be cosplaying was really using powerful spells. That unthinkable reality was unfolding right in front of them. But even if it was just cosplay, since everyone believed in Yurika, they bet on her magic. There was no longer any point in arguing whether Yurika was a cosplayer or the real deal. Her courage and magic were real, and everyone knew that.
“Alright! Let's start!”
“Yes! Precast – Energy Converter―”
Yurika immediately begin incanting her spell. While listening to her voice, Koutarou whispered to Sanae. It was necessary to put her in the middle of the room and have everyone else surround her. She couldn't just keep being held by Koutarou.
“Sanae.”
“But...”
But the uneasy Sanae didn't try to get away from Koutarou. Instead, she pushed towards him and grasped at his clothes.
“Don't worry. You can trust in Yurika right now.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I'd even bet my treasured bat on it.”
“...Okay.”
Koutarou's treasured bat was the baseball bat a player known as the God of Slugging had used. Since Sanae knew just how much he valued that bat, she decided to trust his judgement. She separated from Koutarou and floated in the center of the room. Right after that, the remaining six people surrounded her.
“Okay Yurika!”
“We're counting on you, Yurika-sama!”
“Yes!”
Yurika nodded with an unusually serious expression and continued her incantation.
The main spell is Transfer Soul Energy. On top of that, I need three additions to the spell: an invocation delay, expand the number of targeted people by six and extend the effective time to two minutes. And while I adjust the waves of six people through the Energy Converter to match Sanae-chan, I must use the cane's magic to stabilize Sanae-chan's body. Even if I prolong the cast time to reduce the magical power used, I only have one shot... can I do this?
As Yurika went through the procedure in her head, she realized how difficult of a job she had. Her usual negative side appeared and made her anxious.
“Don't be scared, you can do it!”
Noticing Yurika's anxiousness through her expression, Koutarou encouraged her.
“Y-Yes!”
When he did, her expression returned to the sharp and serious one from before. Seeing those two like that left Shizuka astonished.
As expected of Satomi-kun... For good or for bad, he understands Yurika-chan really well.
Koutarou had noticed the change in Yurika that no one else had. And with just a few words, Yurika had easily recovered. The powerful mutual trust witnessed from the two right now made their normal interactions seem like a lie.
Which in the end meant that the rough relationship they showed was just something on the surface. Deep inside, they had a clear and mutual trust for one another. Noticing that, Shizuka once again felt that only Koutarou would suffice as Yurika's guardian.
“Hey, Satomi-kun.”
And Shizuka wanted to ask Koutarou about that.
“What is it, landlord-san?”
“...Actually I'll ask you later. This is a bad time.”
But in the end, Shizuka decided not to ask. Even a gossip loving girl like herself realized that now was not the time for that. She couldn't ask him if he actually loved Yurika while Sanae's life was hanging in the balance.
“Is that so?”
Koutarou found Shizuka's behavior odd, but he quickly forgot about that for now. Like she said herself, now wasn't the time for that.
“Karama and Korama have almost reached their limit! Only 15 seconds left!”
“Please start, Yurika!”
“Okay!”
After nodding at Koutarou, Yurika readjusted her grasp on her cane one last time and spoke loudly.
“Encyclopedia! Release Invocation Delay! Recall – Precast – Energy Converter!”
At that moment, Yurika cast three spells.
The first was using her cane, Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia had the ability to read its user's mind and activate magic on its own. Yurika had entrusted this cane with the easiest of the three spells she needed; that was the spell to stabilize Sanae's body. Since this spell fell into the healing category, the cane emitted a blue light. The light enveloped Sanae and healed her body in place of Karama and Korama.
The next spell she activated was the spell that stole Koutarou and the other's spiritual energy and poured it into Sanae. Since it had been delayed in order to match the timing, it activated at the same time as Encyclopedia's spell.
The yellow light that emitted from Yurika wrapped around Koutarou and the others. In that moment, they were hit by a strong shock and could feel their strength leaving their bodies. At the same time, they were assaulted by a stabbing pain all over their body that made it hard to breathe.
“Ugh!?”
“Kyaa!?”
“S-So this... is the spell that steals spiritual energy...”
It felt something like being struck by a whip while running a marathon after being pushed to their very limits. Their bodies got heavy, and just standing became painful. Regardless of how much they breathed, they couldn't rid themselves of the sensation of choking. Having their spiritual energy drained was the same as having their very life force drained from their bodies. The acute pain and fatigue was a sign that their lives were in danger.
I see, no wonder Theia and Ruth-san are needed...
If Theia and Ruth hadn’t been there, that strain would be 50% worse, and the others probably wouldn't be standing. And since this would continue on for two minutes, the strain would be immeasurable. Koutarou supported his heavy body as he realized that Yurika had been right.
“Kuuuuh, you mustn't lose consciousness!”
The one in most pain of all was Yurika herself. Since she prioritized on reducing the strain on everyone, she was draining spiritual energy from herself as well. Since Sanae had such a massive amount of spiritual energy, it was questionable if any long-term side effects could be avoided even with the six of them. Yurika couldn't exclude herself and increase the strain on the others. That's why she had to endure the pain while controlling her third spell.
Yurika's third spell gathered and merged the spiritual energy gathered from the second spell. Spiritual energy had different wavelengths depending on the individual. And if that wavelength wasn't matched to Sanae's own, it would be of no use to her. So for her third spell, Yurika had to match and adjust the wavelengths of six different people at the same time.
The difficulty level of the spell itself was lower than the second spell, but she had to make minute adjustments on six different wavelengths while having her own spiritual energy drained. So in effect, this was the most difficult spell of them all.
“Yurika Fight! Yu...rika... fi...ght!”
Yurika cheered for herself while she did her best to focus on controlling her spell. If her focus wavered for even a moment, the wavelengths of the spiritual energy would be distorted and would disperse without being of any use to Sanae.
“You can do it Yurika... You're our only hope right now...”
Koutarou was irritated that all he could do was pray.
Koutarou had thought of helping Yurika with Signaltin, but he couldn't control it's magical power as well as Alaia could. That's why he had no confidence that he would be of any help for this part that required detailed actions.
He could completely leave it up to the sword like he had when dealing with Kii's nightmare or when healing Maki's injury, but he didn't know if that would succeed. Since Sanae's life was on the line, he would leave the forcible solution as a last resort.
So as a result, there was nothing Koutarou could do right now. All he could do that Yurika would succeed so that he didn't have to rely on the sword's power.
“I, will definitely, save, Sanae-chan.”
Yurika desperately focused her mind to maintain her magic as she was assaulted by the pain.
10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds.
It was usually the kind of time that would pass in an instant as everyone laughed together. But now, that time just wasn't passing. This was the first time in Yurika's life that two minutes had felt this long.
“I will, become an, amazing, magical girl, like, Nana-san!”
But Yurika didn't back down. Despite the intense pain, she continued supporting her spell through an iron will.
One year ago, this task would most likely have been impossible for Yurika. Having separated from Nana, Yurika had spent her days escaping from assassins from Darkness Navy. Regardless of her potential when it came to magic, Yurika's personality was unsuited for fights and other kinds of dangers.
However, Yurika had grown immensely in the year since she had come to room 106. She met with Koutarou and the other invading girls and repeatedly fought with them. And that everyday life had trained Yurika.
More importantly, Yurika was no longer alone.
She wanted to graduate from Kitsushouharukaze high school together with Koutarou. She wanted to see the finale of her favorite magical girl anime together with Sanae. She wanted to recover the corpses of Yurika, Yurika A and Yurika B that Theia had left behind in a cave in one of her games. She hadn't tasted all of Kiriha's cooking. She was still in the middle of reading the manga that she had borrowed from Shizuka. And she wanted to do something to help Harumi with her love.
“I am, the magical girl, of love, and courage!!”
She had a lot of things she wanted to do with the people she loved. So even if she was in a situation she hated, she would still do her best. During this year, she had learned love and hope, and obtained the courage to not run away when things got hard.
“Yurika... you...”
While Sanae looked at Yurika, she greatly changed her opinion of her. That was surely true of everyone in the room. Nobody had expected Yurika to work this hard, with just one exception. Only Koutarou believed that Yurika could do it.
“That's right... you can do it... You're someone who pulls things through!”
There was less than a minute left of the two minutes. Yurika was having a hard time breathing, but Koutarou was convinced that she could do it. In fact, she probably could have.
But that was when something unexpected happened.
A swerving and crashing sound rang out.
A traffic accident had occurred near Corona House. A car had been unable to fully turn around a corner and crashed into a wall, and fortunately nobody had been injured.
“...Ah!?”
But because of that accident, Yurika's concentration was disturbed.
The sound had been part of it, but Yurika had been worried that someone might have been hurt in the accident.
If Yurika didn’t care for people’s lives, she only had to endure and ignore the sound. If it was just that, she probably would have pulled through. She was definitely more courageous than before. But since she worried for the people outside, she had lost her focus on her spell. In other words, this was a tragic event that occurred because Yurika had the properties of a proper magical girl.
“Oh no!?”
Because Yurika had lost her focus, the six spiritual energies being adjusted into a single wavelength began returning to normal. If spiritual energy of two different wavelengths collided, they would cancel each other out and lose most of their power. With the six spiritual energies in that state, they clashed and erased each other, with the end total being less than a third of the original spiritual energy.
“A-Again!?”
Sanae's body began losing its color once more. Since another spell was stabilizing her body, her appearance didn't change, but her color was gradually vanishing. The spiritual energy that Sanae got from the others could no longer support her.
What do I do!?
Yurika desperately racked her brain trying to recover from the current situation.
Even if she tried to regain control over her out of control spell, it would take time to readjust the six spiritual energies. That said, a third of the spiritual energy wasn't enough to sustain Sanae. If she could at least get at least twice the spiritual energy right away, there was a high chance that two minutes would pass before Sanae disappeared. But Yurika could only come up with a single way of making that happen, and it was an incredibly dangerous bet.
“Satomi-san, this is our only hope, lend me your power!”
And in this situation, Yurika ended up relying on Koutarou as expected. Yurika held her cane in both hands and pointed it towards Koutarou.
“Yurika!? Gaaaaaaah!!”
The next moment the strain on Koutarou rapidly increased. The shock and pain assaulting Koutarou doubled since the amount of spiritual energy being drained was twice as much.
“I'm, so,rry, Satomi-san, there is, no other, way!”
The same was true for Yurika. While enduring twice the pain, she desperately tried to support Sanae's existence.
Reunifying six different wavelengths right away would be hard, so she decided to focus on matching Koutarou's wavelength since he was very close to Sanae, and her own since it was easier to control.
Of course the strain increased, but with this method she could raise the supplied spiritual energy to two-thirds of the original. It was an incredibly dangerous act, but Yurika had bet everything on it.
“Yurika!! Koutarou!!”
Sanae couldn't stand watching the two people she got along so well with suffer so much. She closed her eyes and prayed that this time would pass as quickly as possible so that they would stay safe.
“I'm, sorry... Uuuughh...”
Yurika felt bad for doing something like this without Koutarou's permission and for not being able to properly apologize. Right now, all Yurika could do was try her best to remain conscious while maintaining her spell. Sweat poured down from her forehead and her throat was dry. She could no longer stand and fell down on her butt. She had already passed her limit. Yurika was maintaining her spell, but it would be strange for her not to lose consciousness.
“...D-Don't worry, Yurika! You are, r-right!”
Koutarou raised his voice in an attempt to encourage Yurika.
“You are, someone who pulls through! You, save, people! Who cares, what, you are like normally! You're, you're a splendid magical girl!!”
Since Yurika was tuning Koutarou's wavelength, she was currently partly connected to his soul. And without the other four, she could clearly sense Koutarou's feelings.
Satomi-san... believes in me...
Koutarou wasn't just saying things to cheer Yurika up; instead, his will directly spoke to Yurika's soul. He had a clear sense of trust that was convinced that Yurika would pull it off. He had a clear image of the future where he, Yurika and Sanae were carefreely chatting. In his imagined future, Yurika was still clumsy and often failed. But right now, Yurika wished to return to those days as well.
And wishes would turn into power.
“Haaaaaaaaaaaahh!!”
The scream that had spawned from her dream explosively increased her magical power, to the point that even people without talent for magic could see the released magical power shine.
If Yurika was to fight against anyone in this state, she would surely win regardless of how strong her opponent was. That was just how terrific the power that Yurika had mustered really was.
Part 3
Just a few seconds before two minutes would have passed, the voice of one of the hunters came through the phone pressed against Kiriha's ear.
“Nee-san! I got a report from aniki! The device has been setup!”
“Well done!!”
The normally calm Kiriha clenched her fist in joy.
“How's her body!?”
At the same time, Sanae's body that had weakened by quite a bit instantly recovered. Her appearance was as vivid as normal, without any trace of fading or distorting.
“Yurika, that's enough! We made it!”
Seeing Kiriha's behavior and Sanae's appearance, Koutarou realized that the plan had succeeded and conveyed that fact to Yurika who was still pointing her magical cane at Sanae.
“...Ahh...”
Hearing that she had made it, the tension in Yurika released. And at the same time, all of the spells came undone while Yurika collapsed on the floor. Having poured her everything into it, she no longer had enough energy to move her body.
Yurika crashed face first into the floor like always.
“Yurika!”
Seeing that, Koutarou forgot that he was exhausted as well and rushed over to her.
“Keep it together, Yurika!”
“Yurika-sama!”
“Yurika-chan!”
Theia, Ruth and Shizuka followed. Kiriha was still on the phone, but she anxiously gazed at Yurika.
“Koutarou, is Yurika okay!?”
The one the most worried for Koutarou was Sanae. She had been getting along really well with Yurika lately, and it was obvious that she had worked so hard for Sanae's sake. Because of that, Sanae was exceptionally worried about Yurika's condition.
“Just wait a minute...”
Koutarou stopped Sanae and checked up on Yurika. He checked her breathing, her pulse, her complexion and lastly her spiritual energy. Koutarou then gave Sanae a big nod.
“She's fine. She hit her face a little, but she only fainted.”
“Thank god...”
Yurika had fallen over and hit her face. Normally, everyone would simply be amazed, but this time was different. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and smiled.
“Seriously... to think she'd hit her face at the very end, just what you would expect from Yurika...”
“This much hard work is something that you would imagine the normal Yurika doing after all.”
“I just hope it doesn't leave a mark on her face...”
The girls’ smiles were all praising Yurika as they all showed her their appreciation. If Yurika had just been conscious, her eyes most likely would have sprung wide open from surprise.
“Thank you too, Koutarou.”
“You better thank Yurika once she wakes up too, okay?”
“Yeah.”
Sanae smiled as she stared at Yurika in Koutarou's arms. It was then that she finally turned her attention to herself.
“Haah... I wasn't sure what would happen for a moment there...”
Sanae stared at her arms and then looked down to check her body and legs. Her body had returned to its normal state, and there was not a single trace of the incident from just before.
“Isn't that great, Sanae?”
Koutarou relaxed as well. Since they had escaped from the crisis for now, he let out a sigh of relief.
“Yeah!”
Sanae cheerfully nodded and clung onto Koutarou's back like always. She then peeked over Koutarou's shoulder and stared at Yurika. Once she woke up, everything would be back to normal.
“Koutarou.”
Kiriha was the only one who still had a serious expression on her face. After putting away her cellphone, she touched Koutarou's shoulder.
“What is it, Kiriha-san?”
“I'm sorry for saying this while you're so relieved, but it's not over yet. Sanae has only recovered temporarily. The fundamental problem hasn't been resolved.”
“What!?”
Hearing that, Koutarou's expression changed. He knew that Kiriha could be trusted, and her seriously spoken words were enough to return Koutarou's tension.
“You're kidding!?”
And if Koutarou trusted her, so would Sanae. Sanae leaned forward and looked at Kiriha.
“What do you―no, wait a minute?”
Koutarou was about to reflexively question her, but he noticed something mid-sentence.
“Now that I think about it...”
Ever since Sanae's body had begun disappearing her actions had been very precise, as if she knew this would happen. And he could tell that the actions of the person she had been talking to on the phone had saved Sanae, but this too was odd. The person she had been speaking had never showed up here.
“Kiriha-san, what do you know? And what kind of situation is Sanae in?”
In the end, Koutarou ended up asking Kiriha. Sanae left the talking to Koutarou, though since this was about herself, her hold around Koutarou's neck naturally grew stronger.
“Explaining will take a long time, but we don't have much. It will be faster for you to see for yourself. Come with me, Satomi Koutarou!”
Quick to action, Kiriha began moving towards the entrance. Her destination wasn't underground, but somewhere on the surface.
“Okay! Let's go, Sanae!”
“Yeah!”
“We will go too.”
“Yes, your highness!”
“I'll be right behind you after I lock up!”
Koutarou and the others quickly chased after Kiriha. They still didn't understand the situation, but they knew that it was for Sanae's sake.
Part 4
At this time, there were a set of eyes watching Koutarou and the others dash out of room 106.
“Oh, looks like things are getting interesting...”
The voice was a female one, but they couldn't be seen. She was a ghost, but she didn't have a body as clearly visible as Sanae's. She had run out of spiritual energy and was moments away from passing on or disappearing.
“Fufufufufu, with this, I might be able to get revenge on them... fufufufufufu...”
She held a strong sense of hatred for Koutarou and the others. And that strong hate barely managed to keep her in the world of the living.
“It's their fault. That I died... that I can't wear my beautiful clothes... all of it...”
The reason for her hate was an unjustified resentment.
She was one of the ghosts that had been hired by the ghost hunters to attack Sanae. Because of Koutarou's counter attack, all of the other ghosts had passed on, but she alone remained. Her unjustified hate and her obsession with the land of the living overpowered the power that tried to make her pass on. She had ever since waited for Koutarou and the others to show an opening. This too was because of her hatred and obsession.
“I may have failed before... fufufu... but next time I won't... I'll show them...”
She had been the reason for the traffic accident that had broken Yurika's concentration. Her plan was to make Yurika's spell fail, steal the gathered spiritual energy and absorb Sanae. Fortunately, this tragedy was avoided through Yurika's desperate efforts, but that only served to fuel her hate even more.
“Fufufu... If I wait a moment longer, my chance will come... I only have to wait a little longer... fufufufufufufufu.”
As the calendar passed the middle of March, the temperature was starting to rise again, but the air around the woman was still freezing cold.
Part 5
When she woke up, Yurika was on Koutarou's back.
“...Huh...?”
Koutarou was carrying Yurika on his back while running down a sidewalk. Their surroundings were dark, with only a weak street light to provide them with any light.
“U-Uhm...”
Yurika's memories ended with her passing out in room 106. And since she was now in the middle of the city at night while being carried by Koutarou, she was now confused.
“Where... huh? Why is Satomi-san–?”
“Koutarou, looks like Yurika woke up.”
Sanae noticed that Yurika had woken up and reported that to Koutarou.
“I see. Thanks Sanae.”
Koutarou turned to the side and saw Yurika blinking with her drowsy eyes while looking at her surroundings. Seeing Yurika act like normal, some of the tension built up in Koutarou was released.
“You awake, Yurika?”
“Y-Yes...”
Still not sure what was going on, Yurika nodded hesitantly. The next moment her mind cleared up and she remembered something important.
“T-That's right, Sanae-chan!! Where is Sanae-chan!?”
Yurika's memories had cut out after the part where Koutarou had told her to stop, that's why she didn't know what had become of Sanae. So Yurika looked around in search for her.
“I'm right here.”
Sanae turned around so that Yurika could see her face while floating in front of Koutarou. And when Yurika saw Sanae's cheerful smile she opened her eyes wide.
“Sanae-chan!! You're okay!!”
“It's because of you. Thank you.”
“T-Thank god... I wasn't sure what was going to happen for a moment...”
Relieved, strength left Yurika's body and she leaned on Koutarou.
“So, what are we doing now?”
Having calmed down, Yurika began wondering why she was outside. She had seen that everyone from room 106 was here while she had been looking around. She could tell that everyone was in the middle of going somewhere, but she didn't know why.
“We're still not in the clear yet. We're headed for the hospital.”
“The hospital? Why?”
“Because Kiriha-san said so.”
Everyone was on their way to the city's hospital. It was the same hospital where Koutarou had been taken after he had hit his head at work last spring.
“Sanae-chan is a ghost, but can she be treated at a hospital?”
“Who knows. She said that it would take time to explain, so we haven't heard anything yet.”
Koutarou pointed towards Kiriha with his chin as he said that. Kiriha was running a little a bit behind Koutarou and the others while she was talking to someone on her phone. She hadn't explained anything to everyone else partly because she had to stay on the phone.
“We'll be there soon, so we'll find out then.”
“I just hope it's not something scary...”
“I don't want that either.”
“But, but, wouldn't you be scared if a ghost or something appeared?”
“I'm a ghost too you know.”
“Sanae-chan is Sanae-chan. A ghost is much scarier.”
“Weren't you scared of me at first?”
Koutarou was happy that Yurika and Sanae had begun carefreely chatting like normal, but his expression turned more serious once again when he saw the front gate to the hospital in front of him.
“Satomi-kun, someone's there.”
Shizuka who was running next to Koutarou pointed towards the dark area right before the front gate. Since she had good eyesight, she was the first to spot what was standing there.
“You're right...”
In the darkness stood two people. From their silhouette's, it was a tall and slim man right next to a short and fat man. The two were facing Koutarou and the others, and it looked like they were waiting for them.
Could these be the guys Kiriha-san was talking to? Are they underground people?
Koutarou thought of that as he closed in on the two. The two then started moving and came out of the darkness, their faces becoming clearer for him to see. The moment he saw their faces, he spoke with a wild voice.
“Ah, those guys!?”
Koutarou had seen them before. They were the pair he had come across when he went to the beach last year.
“Satomi-kun, do you know them?”
“You know them too, landlord-san! They're the perverts from the beach!!”
“Eh!? Seriously!?”
“What!? H-He's right!! They're the perverts from the beach!!”
“Huh? Were they there?”
“They are the ones who kidnapped Sanae-sama.”
“Oh yeah, you were captured by the cosclub so you couldn't come...”
They were the ghost hunters that had captured Sanae and planned to sell her. During the process, they had been unlucky enough to be mistaken for perverts.
“Koutarou, do you think they're up to something evil again?”
“Satomi-kun, could it be that they did something to Sanae?”
“Those guys! How dare they show up again!”
Since they had exposed Sanae to danger before, Koutarou and the others were incredibly hostile towards them. Because of that, Koutarou and the invaders prepared to finish off the ghost hunters for good this time.
“Fufufufufu, your luck ran out when we crossed paths again.”
“Do it, Theia! Send those lolicons flying!”
“Your highness, since it's night, we better reduce the power and sound.”
“I know. I have matured too! Blue Knight, anti-personnel laser!”
Amongst the weapons aboard the spaceship, the Blue Knight, the anti-personnel laser was amongst the weakest. And since lasers don't make sounds, they were perfect for attacking at night. The hunters' lives were hanging by a thread.
“Aaaaah, stop, wait!”
“We haven't done anything bad!”
Noticing the weapon that appeared by Theia's side, the hunters began panicking. They finally realized that their lives were in danger.
“We haven't laid a finger on Sanae-chan!”
“We only watched over her every night!”
“...They're clearly stalkers after Sanae-chan.”
“Theia, shoot them.”
“Yes. Release the safety. I'll leave the attacking to you.”
“As you wish, my princess.”
“Aaaaa, nee-san, d-did you not explain the situation yet!?”
“Oh right.... Theia-dono, please hold your attack.”
Just before Theia's laser cannon was about to fire, Kiriha stopped everyone.
“Why stop me?”
“They are not the enemy. They are subordinates that I have employed.”
“Employed!? W-What do you mean!?”
The words that left Kiriha's lips were hard for Koutarou to accept.
Why would she need to employ them!? They did such horrible things to Sanae!!
Koutarou spoke in an accusing tone, but that was because of the men's track record. If it hadn't been Kiriha, Koutarou might not have listened.
“I will explain everything, including that. We have finally reached our destination after all.”
Kiriha calmed Koutarou as she stopped. And when she looked up, she saw one of the tallest buildings in Kitsushouharukaze city in front of her.
The Kitsushouharukaze municipal hospital.
This building was their destination.
Part 6
Despite it being in the middle of the night, the hospital wasn't completely empty. There were nurses on the night shift, doctors on duty and guards. But Koutarou and the others didn't come across anyone working at the hospital as they entered. That was because Kiriha had arranged for that while they were on their way here from room 106. As a result, Koutarou and the others were able to reach their destination without any obstacles in the way.
“Well done, you two.”
“We're fortunate it happened during the night. If it had happened during the day, that mother with a great intuition would have been here, and things might have gotten a little problematic.”
“It's here.”
The fat hunter who was leading everyone stopped in front of a private sickroom on the top floor of the hospital. They were in the department where long-term patients were hospitalized.
The fat hunter slid the door open. After opening the door, he moved to the side and let everyone through.
However, nobody tried to move. They were hesitant to enter the sickroom. And the room being dark added to that hesitation.
“Everyone, please hurry on inside. We can't allow ourselves to be seen by other patients.”
Kiriha urged the stopped group to move inside.
“Y-Yeah.”
Koutarou was the first to react to Kiriha's voice and he cautiously entered the room. The rest followed in his footsteps.
Since it's a sickroom, someone is probably being hospitalized here...
Entering the room, Koutarou looked around for the patient that should be inside. He then noticed a person sleeping on the bed the furthest into the room thanks to the weak light of the emergency light.
So that person is this room's patient.
Though the reason was unclear, Kiriha had brought everyone here to meet this patient. Looking for an answer as to why, Koutarou slowly stepped closer to the bed.
That was when Kiriha who entered the room last switched on the light for the room. The room lit up right away revealing the person sleeping on the bed.
“What? How could this be!?”
“Eeeeehh!?”
“What!?”
Koutarou, Yurika who was resting on his back, and Sanae who was floating next to him were so surprised by the person sleeping on the bed that their hearts almost stopped beating. Yurika was so surprised that she had jumped off of Koutarou's back and rushed up to the bed.
“What's wrong!?”
“Ruth!”
“Yes!”
Seeing Koutarou's reaction, Shizuka, Theia and Ruth also approached the bed and six people were now surrounding it. And upon seeing the face of the person sleeping in the bed, everyone was rendered speechless.
After the room remained silent for ten seconds, Koutarou and Sanae finally opened the mouths.
“S-Sanae, this is Sanae!!”
“It's me, I'm sleeping here!!”
Surprisingly enough, the one sleeping on the bed was none other than Sanae. The Sanae on the bed looked a couple of years older than the Sanae next to Koutarou and looked a bit mature. But her appearance was without a mistake the same as Sanae's. Everyone there was convinced that it was indeed her.
“That's right. It's Sanae. I was just as surprised when I saw her here for the first time.”
Kiriha approached the rest. Since Kiriha and the two ghost hunters had known about this in advance, they remained calm.
“What is the meaning of this!? Why is Sanae sleeping here!? It's not just a look-a-like, right!?”
Koutarou had already checked the spiritual energy of the sleeping person and confirmed that it is indeed Sanae. Both the color and shape of her spiritual energy was identical to the Sanae next to him. The only difference was her age and the strength of her aura. Koutarou just couldn't believe it.
“Allow me to tell you everything. That is why I brought you all here.”
Kiriha calmly responded to the excited Koutarou.
However, the reason why her expression had a hint of sadness was because of the cruel fate that awaited that only she knew of.
Part 7
Kiriha had found Sanae in this hospital more than half a year ago.
After Koutarou and the others had defeated the hunters, Kiriha had given them a deal. In exchange for a large sum of money, she demanded that they would no longer attack Sanae and that they give her all the information they have regarding Sanae. The hunters agreed and accepted the deal.
The information she had received at this time included the fact that there was one more Sanae admitted to this hospital. Several years ago, she had been struck with an unknown disease and grown weak, and she had been forcibly admitted. In other words, Sanae wasn't a proper ghost. And the reason for why her parents hadn't returned to room 106 was because they had moved to their own parents’ house which was closer to the hospital.
Kiriha had doubted the information at first, but as her investigations continued, she became convinced that it was Sanae herself. After that, she devoted herself to curing Sanae.
There was only one single reason for Kiriha wanting to cure Sanae, and that was simple goodwill. Kiriha disliked fighting, and she was painfully aware of the feelings one felt when waiting for their loved ones. That's why she wanted to return Sanae to her parents as soon as possible.
Of course, this was a large minus for Kiriha who wanted to prolong the battle for room 106. If Sanae recovered and left room 106, the balance of power would shift and the radical faction would be stimulated. Kiriha would be unable to hold back the radicals as they would surely claim that this was their chance. So Kiriha began laying down the groundwork to cure Sanae early on, prepared that Sanae would actually secede from the battle.
As Kiriha held back the radical faction, she began using underground technology in an attempt to treat Sanae.
But as she continued her investigation, Kiriha ran into a big wall. And that wall was that the Sanae in the hospital was conscious.
If the ghost Sanae had just been a soul that had escaped its body, it would have been so simple. It would just be a simple matter of using the People of the Earth's spiritual energy technology to bind her soul to her body. There had been several examples of that happening in the past. However, the Sanae in the hospital could function as a normal person. And this considerably confused Kiriha.
But at the same time, Kiriha could understand a few things. The hunters had targeted Sanae because she was a forgotten, loose spirit. If her real body could move on its own, nobody would be troubled if they captured Sanae. To them, she was the perfect target, and they would have a clean conscience knowing that her parents wouldn't be hurt.
And as she continued her investigations, she learned that the ghost Sanae with Koutarou and the others was a piece of her spiritual energy that had separated from the main body and became a ghost.
A few years ago, spiritual energy began separating from Sanae's soul which caused her body to grow weaker. Eventually, her parents noticed how weak she had gotten and took her to their own parent's home. After that, the real Sanae had been admitted to the hospital, and Sanae's spiritual energy that had been left behind in room 106 began its activities as a ghost. After chasing out several tenants, Koutarou eventually moved in. This was the reason behind why Sanae had been in room 106.
Kiriha didn't know why the spiritual energy had separated from Sanae's soul. It might have been a condition she had been born with, or her soul might have received a huge shock in the past. Regardless of the reason, Sanae's current condition was troublesome.
With the majority of her spiritual energy being with her ghost half, the real Sanae grew ever weaker. And after these years, she was now in an incredibly dangerous condition. It was necessary to merge the ghost and the body as soon as possible.
But that was the problem. To return Sanae to her original state, they would have to return all of the spiritual energy that the ghost had. They need to reattach the parts that had separated back to her soul that had separated. But this kind of thing was a first even for the People of the Earth, and they didn't have any technology for it. Because of that, a large amount of time to develop it was needed. In order to keep Koutarou and the others from worrying during the long time it would take, Kiriha had continued her preparations without telling them.
However, Sanae was growing weak at a faster rate than the progress on the technology was being made. And tonight, she had weakened to the point where it got difficult to maintain her life. Since the real Sanae had started to die because of a severe lack of spiritual energy, the ghost Sanae was about to disappear as well.
Part 8
“...Strictly speaking, the Sanae that we know is not just a normal ghost. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that the Sanae sleeping in this bed has unconsciously created an artificial ghost.”
Having finished her explanation, Kiriha stopped speaking and pointed to the wall of the sickroom.
“That's why, despite Sanae being a ghost, she could freely change her clothes. Of course the clothes she has are limited...”
A large amount of clothes were hung up on the sickroom wall. And a majority of them were familiar to Koutarou and the others. They were all clothes that the ghost Sanae had worn.
“Ah...”
While she looked at the clothes, Sanae could hear the voice of her other self.
When I get better I'm going to wear them... that's why I have to hang in there...
It was the voice of the girl sleeping on the bed. She would look at the clothes lined up at the wall everyday while thinking that. That's why the ghost Sanae had worn them. Just like she had wished, a healthy Sanae was wearing them.
“Y-You're kidding... that can't...”
Sanae was very shaken up.
Up until now Sanae, had been doubtful, but she could feel that Kiriha was speaking the truth when she looked at the clothes on the wall. That the girl sleeping in front of her was her other self.
“Sanae...”
Kiriha opened her eyes in astonishment and looked at Sanae sympathetically. The same was true for the others as well. It was obvious that Sanae was shocked. But nobody had a way to ease that shock. If they tried to haphazardly cheer her up, it would only end up hurting her even more. All they could do was watch her, and that frustrated them more than anything.
“That's not possible! Because, because, Koutarou!”
Sanae flew towards Koutarou and pleaded in a loud voice with large tears in her eyes.
“If Kiriha is right, then that would mean that Papa and Mama wouldn't come back to me, right!?”
That was the biggest shock to Sanae. Compared to that, the problem of why she was in room 106 to begin with was a small one.
“It's a lie, right Koutarou!?”
“That's...”
“Please, just say it's a lie! Please!”
Sanae already knew that was the truth. But even then, she couldn't accept it. Even if they hadn't intended to, Sanae just couldn't accept that her parents had effectively abandoned her and that they wouldn't come back.
It was a major problem that made Sanae question her own existence.
Admitting that her parents wouldn't come back would be the same as admitting that everyone up until now had been for nothing. And that was something that Sanae just couldn't do.
“Waaaaaaah, Uaaaaaaaaaah! No, I don't want this! I don't want to be alone! I don't want to, Koutarou! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
While shedding large tears, Sanae jumped at Koutarou. She cried out loudly while wrapping her arms around his neck. Having found out that she was all alone, the only one she could now rely on was Koutarou.
“Sanae... why do you think you're alone?”
“Because, because!! Uhh, uaaaah, because! Papa and Mama, Papa and Mama won't–!!”
Sanae tried her best to convey her feelings, but she couldn't put them into words.
“Your parents admitted your other self to a hospital. They want you to be healthy. Doesn't that mean that they want you to come back?”
Sanae's parents wanted Sanae to regain what she had lost, and that's why they admitted her to the hospital. That's why they hadn't abandoned Sanae.
“Uuuhhh, but, but, I-I, waited and waited there, for, for, so many years, and that was all for, nothing, waaaaaaaahh!!”
However that was a very rational way of thinking, so Sanae, who had spent several years alone, couldn't emotionally accept it. She continued crying without any outlet for her feelings.
“Hey, Sanae.”
Koutarou gently embraced the crying Sanae.
“A long time has passed since you, me and everyone met, but...”
“Uuhh, Koutarou, Koutarou!”
Sanae desperately held onto Koutarou. It was like she tried to replace the warmth she had lost with his.
“Was it really that boring? Was meeting us all for nothing?”
“Ah...”
In that moment, Sanae stopped moving. Her crying gradually turned more silent. And instead she hugged Koutarou even tighter.
“Sanae-chan, you are my precious friend! You are definitely not alone!”
Yurika declared with a smile. Sanae was her friend. If she wasn't, Yurika probably wouldn't have broken the law and used magic for personal reasons in order to save Sanae.
“That's right, Sanae. At the very least, I have matured after meeting you. And if you call that for nothing, I will be sad. The only goal of mountaineering isn't just to stand at the top, right?”
Theia's feelings were the same. Through this year, they had been together through the fun and the hard times. And they had grown together. Theia couldn't think of that as being for nothing. And she wanted Sanae to understand that.
“It's just as her highness says, Sanae-sama. Didn't so many happy things happen?”
“Yeah, everyone is right! A landlord and her tenant are like parent and child. It's fine even if you don't have a reason!”
Ruth and Shizuka were the same. There had been some minor troubles when they first met Sanae, but overall, everyday had been a good one. And they wished that would continue from now on as well.
“Sanae. Nobody thinks of you as unnecessary. Even if you were to lose the game and the right to the room, nobody would tell you to leave. Everyone needs you. And isn't that the same for your parents?”
And finally, Kiriha wrapped up the encouragement.
There was no need for Sanae to be sad. Everyone loved her, and the same was true for her parents. They might have missed each other, but her parents still loved her.
“Everyone...”
Sanae looked at the faces of everyone present with her eyes wide. She had never been told this clearly that she was needed.
“Sanae, what do you think?”
“...Everyday was so fun. And I want it to stay the same forever...”
Warmth began spreading throughout Sanae's frozen heart once more. It spread in an instant and melted the ice surrounding her heart.
“Then why are you crying?”
“Because... Koutarou, you still haven't said anything sweet to me yet.”
“You're already feeling better, aren't you?”
“Nope. I'm depressed. Because you won't say anything loving.”
Sanae showed a slight smile and brought her cheek closer to Koutarou. Her cheeks were still wet from her tears, but those were remnants of the past as she was no longer crying.
“Of course I won't say anything like that in this situation.”
“Cheapskate.”
“I'm taking care not to spoil children too much.”
In the end, Koutarou didn't say anything Sanae wanted to hear. But he still hugged her a little tighter.
“Hehe...”
Since that conveyed his feelings well enough, Sanae didn't say anything more. To her, words didn't hold that much meaning.
“So, Kiriha-san, Sanae will be in danger like this, right?”
Still hugging Sanae, Koutarou asked Kiriha. Sanae looked at Koutarou's face once before silently looking at Kiriha. She understood that she was in danger, but she left the talking to Koutarou.
“That's right. Currently, a device to stabilize spiritual energy is being used, but that is only a temporary measure.”
As Kiriha explained, she pointed to the device set up next to the bed. The device was about a meter tall, but it was a rugged looking device with its circuits and wires exposed. It was quite the opposite from refined. It was just like she had said, a temporary measure.
“With a device this size, an hour is the limit. But we can't just set up a larger one and hide it. We need a proper solution.”
In order to save both the unconscious Sanae who was growing ever weaker and the ghost Sanae whose form was being stabilized by the device, the only way would be to return back as one, as they were the same person.
“That said, is that even possible? It's still being developed, right?”
“It's impossible right now, but we're a step away from a breakthrough.”
Kiriha shook her head.
“Actually, a massive amount of spiritual energy will be generated when we return Sanae's spiritual energy, but we don't have the technology to stabilize it.”
“Then you're stuck.”
“No. What's impossible is trying to resolve it with just our technology.”
Kiriha shook her head once more and pointed at Yurika.
“Judging from what happened before, if Yurika follows up with her magic it should become possible.”
Even with the technology of the People of the Earth, they can't directly heal Sanae. But if Yurika were to make up for that problem with magic, it should be possible to save her. This was a path that had opened thanks to their trust in Yurika and her magic. That was why Kiriha had made sure to bring the unconscious Yurika with them.
“Me again!?”
Yurika pointed at her face and opened her eyes wide in surprise. She didn't expect that she would get another turn.
“Please, Yurika. What we need right now is minute control of spiritual energy.”
“But, but, I'm not very confident I can do it...”
The exhausted and off guard Yurika no longer had even a trace of the impressive atmosphere from before.
Doing that thing again... Not possible, it's completely impossible!!
Yurika had returned to her pessimistic self.
“If you can't do it, Sanae will die. You will just have to do it, confidence or not.”
“Please, Yurika.”
“E-Even if you say that, I can't! Satomi-san, help me! It's impossible for me, right?”
Yurika was starting to tear up and turned to Koutarou for help. She wanted Koutarou to say that she couldn't do it so that she could take it easy.
“Koutarou, that's what Yurika is saying.”
“Satomi-kun, can't you do something?”
Theia and Shizuka spoke to Koutarou, they believed that he would be able to do something about Yurika.
“Well...”
It wasn't like he didn't understand how Yurika must feel. She had really given it her all before. And it would be cruel to ask her to do same thing once more.
But... Yurika is probably...
After thinking for a while with his arms crossed, Koutarou spoke out to Yurika.
“Yurika.”
“It's not possible for me, Satomi-san!”
Yurika was convinced that Koutarou would side with her.
“...Is it really impossible?”
Koutarou spoke while staring directly into Yurika's eyes.
“Ah...”
Yurika was swept away by Koutarou's serious stare. His eyes shone with a strong sense of trust and expectation. And the moment she saw that, Yurika could feel her timidness and anxiety vanish.
I can't betray this... my precious friend is relying on me...
Instead confidence and courage replaced the anxiety and timidness.
“I'll do it. I will show you I can.”
Yurika nodded powerfully. She had returned to the magical girl she had been like before.
“Please do.”
“Yes!”
Looking at Yurika who had regained her love and courage, Kiriha made a fist and raised two fingers, her index finger and middle finger, in the shape of a scissor from rock paper scissors.
“With this, that's one problem taken care of. Only one more remains.”
Kiriha then lowered her middle finger leaving the index finger standing.
“There's still a problem?”
“There is. That said, this is if we succeed...”
As Kiriha said that she pointed to her own head with her raised finger.
“The problem is her memories.”
“Memories? What do you mean?”
Koutarou had a bad premonition, as that was just how miserable Kiriha's face looked when she spoke.
“Sanae will almost certainly lose the memories of the time she spent as a ghost.”
“Ehhh!? W-Wait a minute, what is that supposed to mean!?”
Sanae's life was in danger, fortunately there was a solution. That's why Sanae had felt a little relieved. But now all of a sudden she hears that she will lose her memories. Because she had started to relax, these words took her by great surprise. That's why even though she had left Koutarou to do the talking, she instinctively leaned forward and interrupted Kiriha.
“The memories you have now are memories you have acquired in a spiritual form. And even if your spiritual energy is poured into your real body, it won't overwrite the memories in your brain.”
“I don't understand, explain it with words I can understand!”
“In other words, your memories right now are like your past life. Once Sanae wakes up, she most likely won't remember us at all.”
If the ghost Sanae and the real Sanae merged, her memories would be written into her soul. But it won't overwrite the network of nerves making up her brain. That's why Sanae would have to call up the memories of her soul every time she wanted to remember Koutarou and the others. But that was incredibly difficult. The action of calling up the memories of the soul was practically the same as calling up the memories of a past life. There were extremely few people that could do that. And because of that, the chances of Sanae being able to do that was very low.
“T-Then I won't know who Koutarou and everyone are if me and the me sleeping over there stick together!?”
“Sadly, that would be the case. I'm sorry Sanae, we didn't have enough time to do anything about your memories.”
Kiriha apologized with a sorrowful expression.
Of course, it wasn't like Kiriha hadn't thought about restoring Sanae's memories. But because the problems regarding the development of the device took time, her life took priority to her memories. And Sanae having been a ghost for several years was also a problem. The amount of information that had to be copied over to her brain was simply too much. Because of their priority on Sanae's life, and the strain on Sanae's brain, they hadn't gotten around to coming up with a good way to restore Sanae's memories.
“N-No...”
Sanae frantically shook her head.
“No, I don't want that! I definitely don't want to lose my memories and become a different person!!”
Sanae had understood what Kiriha was saying.
Kiriha was saying that in order for Sanae to survive, she had to throw away her memories.
“Because, because I won't remember how warm Koutarou is, or how fun it is to be with everyone!”
Sanae was crying.
She just couldn't accept losing her memories.
“I'm stupid, so I will do some mean things again! Like throwing dictionaries at Koutarou! I finally became friends with everyone, so I don't want to go back to throwing tantrums like a child again! I finally, finally... waaaaahhh!!”
Losing her memories was the same as losing the bonds she had built up until now. That she would lose her fun everyday life and gentle warmth. And that was something she didn't want to accept.
“But Sanae, if you don't return to your body you will die!!”
Even though Sanae couldn't accept losing her memories, Theia wanted her to live, no matter what.
“I know that... I already know!!”
Sanae had to make a choice: either she would die with her memories, or live without them.
“But I can't choose!! I don't want to die, but I won't be me without my memories!! Then that's just the same as dying!!”
However, the two options had the same outcome for Sanae.
The Sanae sleeping in bed would be the one to survive. Since her memories as a ghost wouldn't be inherited, one could say that the Sanae who knew Koutarou and the others would disappear. And that could be likened to death.
Even if she died or survived, the Sanae who was with Koutarou and the others would be lost. This was a harsh fate that left no options.
“This is unfair!! I won't see you again either way!!”
Sanae shouted and strongly clung onto Koutarou.
“I want to be here!! I want to be together with everyone!!”
Sanae didn't want to let go of her current life, the bonds she had formed in room 106, of which the most important of those bonds was the one with Koutarou who was currently hugging her.
“So this, is just unfair!!”
The warmth Sanae was feeling was something that she would trade her life to keep.
And that's why it happened.
“Agh.”
All of a sudden, Koutarou started vomiting blood. At the same time, he lost consciousness and collapsed.
“Koutarou!?”
Sanae who was next to him hurriedly held him up. Koutarou was completely out and he was like a doll leaning against Sanae.
“What is this!? At this rate Koutarou will die!!”
As a ghost, Sanae could quickly tell that Koutarou was losing spiritual energy at an unbelievable pace just by touching him. At this rate, Koutarou would die shortly.
“Why!? How!? Koutarou! Koutarou!!”
However, Sanae didn't understand why. All she could do was helplessly watch on as the person she loved more than anything was dying.
