“Waka, can I ask what you put in the head of Shiki?!”
This is something that happened a few days after Shiki began to direct half of the time he used to shut inside the academy and his laboratory into training.
Tomoe questioned me while in a rare sight of still being covered in dust on her body and clothes.
Even though it is the Kuzunoha Company in Rotsgard, she showed no hesitation.
Lately, I have seen her the most in Asora, second in Tsige, and I would rarely see her in Rotsgard.
Tomoe and Mio could tell from Shiki and my attitudes that there was nothing interesting regarding the academy.
And yet, when she feels like something urgent has happened, she would direct her ears there.
In other words, this kind of situation:
‘Shiki suddenly became strong in mock battles’.
‘But it seems like he is in a dangerous state of mind’.
‘It feels as if I am dealing with an incredibly unstable and troublesome guy, and it is gross’…is what Tomoe said. What a horrible way of putting it.
Mio probably has the same opinion about this.
“It doesn’t look like his memories have been made clear, and when I asked him, he said Waka-sama taught him a secret technique.” (Tomoe)
“It is not something extravagant like a secret technique.” (Makoto)
“I will be the judge of that! Now now, obediently tell me the reason for the rampage of Shiki!” (Tomoe)
“The difference in our views regarding the 13 Steps was cleared.” (Makoto)
My answer made Tomoe tilt her head in confusion.
Oi oi, the origin of that power was you and Mio using my rings as an experiment to do the pact to begin with.
“What is it about those cheat powers that are the 13 abilities?” (Tomoe)
“Right, Shiki thought it was a special ability that let him activate 13 powers.” (Makoto)
“? What do you mean by ‘thought’?” (Tomoe)
“Could it be that you also thought that, Tomoe?” (Makoto)
“…Yes.” (Tomoe)
Seriously?
I commented before to my 4 followers that my current understanding is that the 4 of them have the possibility of reaching the same level of strength.
Seeing how Shiki was the other day, my words were most likely taken half as flattery, and half being that he thought I meant he would be able to regain his original power if he were to get his memory back.
I thought Tomoe and Mio had noticed, but it looks like the situation was more serious than I thought.
“I said before that you and Mio were currently opening up to new powers, but that, in the end, you all could obtain the same level of strength. Do you remember that?” (Makoto)
“…Yeah, that talk where you were being considerate of Shiki and Tamaki, right?” (Tomoe)
“…I wasn’t being considerate there at all.” (Makoto)
“?!” (Tomoe)
“I was serious.” (Makoto)
“Waka, that’s a bit too much of a stretch.” (Tomoe)
Ooh, she isn’t taking me seriously at all.
Tomoe was born as a powerhouse from the very beginning after all. It can’t be helped.
“Tamaki does seem to be hiding a lot of her cards in the first place, and there are times when her gazes towards me are suspicious.” (Makoto)
“…”
“Shiki was originally a hyuman, so he had a lot of room for growth to begin with, and that speed is also fast. On top of all that, he obtained the 13 Steps after his pact with me. That power is literally as its name states: an ability that can activate 13 powers with 13 phases. An outrageous ability.” (Makoto)
“13…phases?” (Tomoe)
“That’s right. He was adjusting his activation with the weakening mist, Nivlheim, so I misunderstood that he was already aware of this a long time ago. To think that Shiki…no, that even you were unaware of this…” (Makoto)
It truly is surprising.
By the way, if it is that mist, I think that at the end of its growth, not only a city, it would even be able to cover a country.
It would require quite the efficient management of magic power, and an incredibly strong catalyst that has had magic power stored into it beforehand though.
“I see, 13 phases, huh. That’s crazy. That abnormal rise and fall of output, and when you think you caught it, it is so crude it would for some reason disperse… The ability whose control is the epitome of difficulty.” (Tomoe)
“It is still not on the level of being the epitome of difficult to control though…” (Makoto)
“…It is quite the crazy ability, you know?” (Tomoe)
“He has just begun taking the challenge, so he is probably simply on both sides of not knowing how to adjust the power and not being used to it. Also, Tomoe, you seem to be surprised, but what Shiki is currently struggling with is the 2nd phase, you know?” (Makoto)
“!” (Tomoe)
“There’s also the matter of compatibility with Shiki himself, but it is not the kind of ability where you can just concentrate on going through the phases of only one power. However, Shiki will eventually be able to master all 13 phases of his 13 powers.” (Makoto)
“…”
“Shiki wasn’t the type to overwhelm an opponent with massive magic power and violence, but with control, technique, and strategies. When Shiki reaches that point, wouldn’t you agree that he would be standing on the same level as you and Mio?” (Makoto)
“…Waka…” (Tomoe)
Tomoe directed a questionable smile towards me.
?
I have known her for a long time, but it is a face that I don’t know at all how to describe it.
It is as if she were baffled, proud, satisfied, and regretful all in one expression.
“Hm?” (Makoto)
“…No, thank you for the generous evaluation.” (Tomoe)
“I honestly don’t know at all how the memories of Shiki will affect his strength, but the powers he already possesses made me reach that conclusion, you know. If I knew, I would have told you all sooner.” (Makoto)
“Memories, huh. That thing had gone pretty insane after all.” (Tomoe)
By ‘that thing’, she is most definitely referring to Shiki when he met us as a Lich.
“You were the one who said that memories…may be forgotten, but you simply don’t remember them and they don’t disappear though.” (Makoto)
“Yes, that’s why it should be possible for me to see them with a power like mine. It should be possible but…” (Tomoe)
“I know. It is not all-powerful, right? It can be counteracted with magic tools and spells, and the power of the person themselves can also become an obstruction, right?” (Makoto)
“The reality is that there’s many ways to deal with those countermeasures. However, the biggest obstacle would be…emotions.” (Tomoe)
“Emotions?” (Makoto)
“Yes, especially the ones pertaining to madness, tenacity, and hatred; they would at times serve as tremendous barriers. A case like Shiki becoming an undead and losing his sanity is already quite the troublesome one, and the case of Mio is in a sense the strongest amongst them all.” (Tomoe)
Tomoe brought out the two cases closest to her that she can’t properly read memories from, and waved both hands as if saying she gave up.
“Well, it seems like Mio has already reached a compromise with that, so that’s fine, but I would like to know the meaning behind ‘strongest amongst them all’.” (Makoto)
“There were almost no memories at all regarding herself to begin with. On top of that, most scenes were filled with her chanting repeatedly that she is hungry and wants to eat.” (Tomoe)
“Hmm.” (Makoto)
“Adding to that, she has lived for a long time like me, so the amount itself is plain massive. The effects of emotions are similar to that, but…if I had to give an example, it would be as if a randomly painted out layer had been overlapped endlessly, and there’s pointless elements to them on top of that. As the one doing the analyzing, it is the worst of the worst.” (Tomoe)
Tomoe spoke as if she felt heartfelt disdain towards it.
But well, as I said before, Mio seems to have at least remembered her own memories to a certain extent.
She still hasn’t told me about them, but in terms of the roots of Mio and that stuff, there’s no issues.
There’s not a trace at all of her having been enlightened to some shocking fate or being crushed by a smoldering past.
The only time I have seen her actually depressed was when she was one-upped by Rokuya-san in Lorel.
It seems like they reached some sort of agreement, she didn’t go berserk and began killing anything and anyone.
Mio would say dangerous stuff every now and then, but she is actually not that wild, you know.
…The reason why she doesn’t get the agreement of anyone is probably because she prioritizes me.
J-Just don’t mind it!
It is not as if objective people always reach a happy conclusion!
“But is it possible for Shiki to not be able to regain his memories this much despite him going to Rotsgard that much? He did say that he has found words that have stimulated his memories every now and then though.” (Makoto)
“It is a complicated matter. When he lost his sanity and went to the wasteland, his means and objective had completely switched places. The kind of terminal disease that 10 out of 10 people would say is already too late.” (Tomoe)
“I do want to do something about it though.” (Makoto)
“…He is already plenty blessed with what he has now. I would like to advise you to not worry about it, but…I doubt you would be satisfied with that, huh.” (Tomoe)
I could see faint jealousy in the eyes of Tomoe.
Seriously, Tomoe-san, even towards Shiki?
“Tomoe.” (Makoto)
“It seems like Shiki is Waka’s favorite. I have my own thoughts about it, you know?” (Tomoe)
“Uhm, I think I give the most attention to you and Mio though…?” (Makoto)
No, seriously.
Like, you can’t get more serious than that.
“Really-de gozaru~?” (Tomoe)
“…Where do you learn that stuff? I hope Eris hasn’t been infected by that.” (Makoto)
“It is because I was caught off guard and had to get involved with the rampaging Shiki so much.” (Tomoe)
Surprisingly, Tomoe seems to be sulking a bit (self-evaluation).
And then, I had Tomoe explain trivia about undead by her mention of terminal disease. I heard about what happens at the end with undead and fixed the mood of Tomoe.
“You are still overwhelmingly stronger than him for a while, Tomoe.” (Makoto)
“Not ‘for a while’ but forever-desu zo!!” (Tomoe)
“Yeah yeah.” (Makoto)
Shiki is currently unstable and peaky.
Well, there isn’t much to tackle at the academy, so there’s no real problem there, huh.