Some answers… and hope.
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Wafū Otome Gē de (Akuyaku/Hiroin) Yattemasu
I Play the Role of a Heroine
– The Peerless Onmyouji [Part 2]
Thus I became Yuusei-kun"s disciple. However…
Gosh, it was really intense.
My days were spartan.
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Yuusei-kun"s teaching was formed after considering every part of my power.
Besides the expected knowledge, control practice and so on, he also trained me in areas such as physical strength and self-defense techniques.
Hence I quickly transformed as I followed him doggedly.
I learned to sense the power flowing in my body and how to control it.
My physical strength also increased by leaps and bounds and I got 1st in the inter-cla.s.s relay.
Even though it became my dark history in every round, I was able to overtake everyone and pa.s.s the baton this time.
I was stunned by my own strength.
Also, having gone to exterminate phantoms with Abe-kun after cla.s.s, I believe I"ve reached a considerable level.
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"You"re a cheat, Naba."
"Cheat?"
"Yeah. Basically like being unjust or unfair…"
"Unjust!?"
"Ah, my bad, that wasn"t what I meant… Um, it"s like being awesome in an atypical way."
Yuusei-kun teaches me a word I don"t quite understand.
"In an atypical way."
That may have some truth to it.
Honestly, raising my athletic abilities and becoming able to exterminate phantoms with just a fingertip in a month or so, would have been unthinkable to the me in the 1st round.
"Then is Yuusei-kun a cheat too?"
"Aah, that"s right. No one"s more of a cheat than me."
Yuusei-kun laughs confidently.
Finding that strange somehow, I laugh out loud too.
It"s fun being with Yuusei-kun.
I can feel my strength rise steadily.
Chako, I"m growing stronger steadily.
I"ll show you that I can also obtain the strength to save Chako.
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"Naba, do you know what the『Priestess of Ominous Clouds』means?"
"… Sorry, I don"t."
My eyes swim at Yuusei-kun"s abrupt question.
This is bad. Yuusei-kun won"t show leniency towards things like this.
I tend to pretend not to notice things because I don"t really want to know more about myself.
The『Priestess of Ominous Clouds』.
Persuading myself that it"s just a t.i.tle, I never tried investigating it. I guess Yuusei-kun noticed that.
Yuusei-kun gives a small sigh at my reply.
"Listen up, Naba. You must know what you are if you want to be strong. Understand?"
"Yeah…"
""Ominous clouds" is an ill omen. Like how suspicious-looking clouds appearing in the sky makes people feel uncomfortable."
"… Yeah."
『Ominous clouds』. Ill omen.
Does that mean I"m an ill-omened priestess?
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"You also realised that your power is something awesome after training with me, right? It"s a cheat. So much so that it can even turn back time."
"That"s right… yeah. I"m surprised I managed to live without much considerations until now."
"Ah. Well, that"s because people like Kamo and I did things behind the scenes."
"… As expected."
I kind of sensed it after knowing my power.
This power is too great for me to live a normal life.
I was often attacked by phantoms when I was young.
The reason why I strangely didn"t experience anything horrifying was because someone protected me.
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"Had Kamo-senpai and Yuusei-kun always been protecting me?"
"Ah, hmm, it was other onmyoujis when you were young. These days, it"s us."
"… I"m sorry."
I"ve been living without realising anything all along.
I find my worthlessness pathetic.
How much had I been protected by so many people?
I close my eyes at the me who didn"t try to know anything.
When I do so, Yuusei-kun scratches his head as though he"s irritated.
"Ahh, my bad, I didn"t plan to have a conversation like that. Ugh, anyway! About the『Priestess of Ominous Clouds』."
He returns to the topic.
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"What I meant is, your power is awesome, Naba."
"… Yeah."
"The so-called "ill omen", probably, refers to onmyoujis and phantoms causing conflicts around the『Priestess』. Because onmyoujis want to annihilate phantoms while phantoms probably want to s.n.a.t.c.h the world from humans."
"… Are these sentiments still around?"
"Aah, well, what’s murky is murky after all."
Perhaps something came to Yuusei-kun"s mind as his eyes turn sharp.
I nod slowly as I look at his face.
Sure enough, there"s a need for me to be clearly aware about myself.
"… I got it. Thank you for telling me."
If it was the me before, I may have ended things by laughing "I don"t have such a power!"
But I understand now.
This power that grows stronger as I train is abnormal.
If I wish for something grand, it will surely come true.
An ill omen.
The source of conflict.
That"s me.
That"s the『Priestess of Ominous Clouds』.
"Ah, but y"know, I"m not that worried."
"… Why?"
I thought my existence is something terrible but Yuusei-kun"s eyes narrow as he chuckles.
Frowning at the conversation that I don"t quite follow, I look up at Yuusei-kun.
"If you team up with onmyoujis like Kamo and I, you"ll be able to erase every phantom in this world. If you team up with the older Kuo[1], you"ll be able to kill every human in this world. ――Yet, what"s the wish of such a you?"
Yuusei-kun laughs like he"s having fun.
Aah. That"s right.
I wish neither to annihilate the phantoms nor to stand at the apex of humankind.
I only have a single wish.
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"I want Chako to always remain laughing."
Yes.
I use my power for that reason alone.
Pfft, Yuusei-kun burst out laughing at my reply.
"Right? I know right? You are, great! You"re saying that you"ll use that power just for the sake of saving a weird phantom after all."
Ahaha, Yuusei-kun laughs.
Looking at that smile, it feels like things will be fine.
Although I"m an ill-omened priestess, I never thought of giving rise to conflicts.
"You don"t mind, Yuusei-kun? As an onmyouji, don"t you want to get rid of phantoms?"
"Ah, well, that"s because of my job, you see. Personally, I think it"s inane to make the world lose such interesting creatures."
"… So Yuusei-kun likes phantoms too."
"Rather than "like", it"s more of having an interest in them."
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The black eyes behind Yuusei-kun"s gla.s.ses shine.
It"s probably his usual "I want to dissect them."
I chuckle as I look at those eyes.
Because Yuusei-kun"s the same as Tomotaksenpai.
"By the way, about the relationship between the body and the ego that you mentioned."
Yuusei-kun"s eyes turn serious as I laugh.
That"s what I requested Yuusei-kun to investigate.
Drawing in my laughter, "Un," I nod, urging him to continue.
"Normally, the body and the ego are firmly attached and things like detaching aren"t possible. However, it may be that Tomonaga"s connection is weak. She"s also probably someone whose ego can"t be easily absorbed by others."
"I see. That"s why she wasn"t absorbed and remained separate even after entering sensei"s body."
"Yeah. Well, it"s may be because you used your power to bind the older Kuo"s power too."
I see.
Chako"s body and ego detach easily.
And, unlike other phantoms, she possesses an ego that doesn"t quite merge with others.
The veil-like thing I visualised for the sake of suppressing sensei"s power.
It further cut apart sensei and Chako"s egos, allowing for the strange occurrence of a single body having two egos.
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"Moreover, what"s more interesting is that her contract with Kamo ends as long as her body disappears."
"The contract ends, as long as her body disappears?"
"Yeah. The older Kuo probably thought of it after learning about Tomonaga. The standard familiar contract is made using an onmyouji’s blood and a phantom’s totem. The contract ends once the onmyouji’s blood loses power… in other words once he dies, or once the phantom’s totem disappears. But Tomonaga has no totem. Which part of Tomonaga did Kamo make a contract with then? ――The answer is her body"s miasma. Thus, the contract ends once that disappears."
The black eyes behind Yuusei-kun"s gla.s.ses shine.
"The older Kuo"s prediction was correct. As expected of The Strongest Phantom In This World. He might have found the power of the contract that bound Tomonaga. By erasing her body and leaving only her ego, Tomonaga could return to being a free phantom."
I try to suppress the boiling of my heart as I listen to Yuusei-kun"s words.
There, I can see the method to save Chako, right there.
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"The older Kuo presented his own body as Tomonaga"s new body. Tomonaga probably couldn"t bring herself to live by replacing someone she was close to. If so, what if there"s something else?"
"If I make a new body for Chako and put Chako"s ego in it…!"
"Yeah. The familiar contract will end. Tomonaga won"t disappear either."
I finally found it.
The answer to saving Chako.
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"…!! Great!"
"Ah, but, there"s still a problem. How does one make a body with no ego?"
"You"re right. We need a body that Chako can accept."
"Aah. Well, isn"t there still time until Tomonaga disappears?"
"Yeah. Because it"s always on Valentine"s."
"Alright. Let"s ponder more on this as we train!"
We begin running towards Yuusei-kun"s next goal.
He"s really an amazing person.
Greedy for fun things, be it increasing his knowledge or training his body, he does them with a fun-loving att.i.tude.
Being with him is fun.
It"s wonderful, to be able to become his rival.
Completely absorbed, I devote my days to training.
I may have been intoxicated with making myself strong.
I had a training camp with Yuusei-kun in summer break.
I really trained while spewing out blood.
Although it was bitter and tough, I"m able to endure any kind of training once I think that it will be the tie to saving Chako.
However, after the spartan summer break ends――
――Chako"s figure vanished.
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[1] He actually says Kuo ani (older brother Kuo), to refer to sensei. Basically differentiating him from Kousuke who has the same family name. I took out "brother" cos together it"s too much of a mouthful.