Mokomoko must have thought she was being serious because her face turned pale.
"She"s an ancient princess. Her name is Tienne."
"Mine has a stupid name. Mokoko! This is so unfair!"
"Bu-but I"ve been called a princess at one point too! In fact, I was part of the great Dannoura clan. I was their princess! Besides, what"s wrong with the name Mokomoko!"
"I lost. We haven"t even fought and I lost. Mokomoko said she is a divine spirit, but that one looks much more divine. See, she"s even shining! Oh, she"s like an angel!"
Tomochika was feeling rather depressed over this.
She had a.s.sumed that all guardian spirits were alike. She had told herself that she wasn"t the only one with a strange and creepy spirit that muttered a lot. She did not even consider that others would have spirits that were so beautiful.
"I-I wouldn"t lose in a fist fight!"
"Huh? So, you want to beat her up just because you lost in terms of looks? Don"t you think that"s horrible?"
"Huh? And what do you mean, I lost? Why did I lose?"
"Tomochi? Do you mind if I continue?"
"Oh, right. We were talking about something. What was it?"
Tomochika had gotten distracted by Mokomoko for a minute. As for Romiko, she had taken a few steps closer but had not done anything else.
However, the spirits were still surrounding them.
"Tienne. She looks really cute, but she can"t do anything but count. And she isn"t very strong. I think she would lose in a fight against your one, Tomochi."
"S-see! Even she admits it!"
"Hey, why don"t we trade then?"
"Grr!"
And with that, Mokomoko suddenly flew towards Romiko.
"Huh?"
As Tomochika stood there in shock, Momomoko went into Romiko and then disappeared.
"Oh, uh, sorry. I"ve possessed her."
Romiko said with Mokomoko"s voice.
Romiko was one of the people who had made their decision.
It was too troublesome. She didn"t want to stick out. Those were things she could only say if she was alive.
She couldn"t laze around now that the situation had changed.
After leaving the fortress, Romiko considered what it was that she could do.
She was able to control spirits.
She could find out what they had seen and heard.
She could make them visible.
She could make them possess her so that she could use some of their abilities.
Those kinds of things.
It would be easy enough to kill someone by using these abilities.
She just needed to do it with a spirit that she was controlling.
Most people were unable to detect spirits. And so she could weaken them by touching them until they died.
However, that method took time. Those with a lot of strength would take a long time to kill. It might be more than an hour.
In that case, she would have to consider depending on the powers of spirits. But the spirit Romiko was currently using was not very powerful.
Of course, the other spirits that drifted around were even worse. Tienne was an exception because she had power and maintained a will of her own. Romiko had been lucky to b.u.mp into her and be able to control her.
In that case, maybe she could use her dead cla.s.smates in order to gain greater power. However, this had not gone very well for her.
Apparently, not everyone turned into a roaming ghost after they died. Most would just evaporate into the atmosphere. She had learned this from Tienne.
That meant it would be very difficult for her to get a spirit that would suit her. However, Romiko had an idea regarding how she might get one.
Tomochika"s guardian spirit.
From the moment she saw her, she fixated on that great power.
If she could acquire it, Romiko herself would become several times stronger. Her chances of winning would increase significantly.
Up until now, she wanted to avoid doing anything that would draw attention. That"s why she didn"t touch Tomochika"s guardian spirit. But now, circ.u.mstances were forcing her hand.
So, how would she do it?
You needed to get close to the spirit if you wanted to control them.
On top of that, she would not be able to kill Tomochika in advance. The guardian spirits were generally bound to their master. If Tomochika died, then the spirit would be freed. She would lose her opportunity to acquire the spirit.
And so she had used the surrounding spirits to find Tomochika, and then she got close.
Romiko trusted that Tomochika would remain naive. She was sure that Tomochika would not attack first.
And so she talked of insignificant things as she approached. After that, she succeeded in gaining control over the spirit.
"You! How dare you bind me like this!"
"Huh. You can still resist? That"s impressive."
She was controlling it. However, she was not able to make the will of the spirit yield completely.
However, that was likely just a matter of time.
Romiko was beginning to understand Mokomoko"s power.
"What do you mean, "possess"? What"s happening here?"
"Hmm. It seems that I can still talk to you like this, but most of my power was stolen by her."
Just after she finished saying this, Romiko was suddenly standing right in front of Tomochika.
The Dannoura walk.
It was a way to bridge a distance immediately. You just thought of herself as an arrow and then unleashed it towards the enemy.
However, Tomochika was able to see what would happen in an instant.
She would step on her foot or knee. At the same time, a blade would come to her throat. Or maybe a fist to the jaw. She couldn"t back down. Romiko would catch up to her in an instant.
And so she dodged. Her foot went back and turned as she slid to the side.
However, she felt something nearing her face and so she bent backward.
It was gravel.
She didn"t understand how, but Romiko had flung rocks towards her as she ran.
As she bent, her hands touched the ground and she did a backflip.
Unable to stop her momentum, Romiko shot forward pa.s.sed her and hit a tree with her hands.
The trunk shook violently.
Then it started to fall. It crashed to the ground loudly.
"What the h.e.l.l!? I"m wearing a battle suit and I still can"t keep up with you!"
She had only barely dodged the last attack. And it had only been possible because of the boost to her muscles that the suit provided.
"Well, this is the difference in strength between you and me. Actually, combing an attack with a projectile is the most basic part of the Dannoura style. You shouldn"t be so shocked. You should be able to handle something like this."
"Uh, why are you even attacking me!?"
"Hey, I don"t want to do it. But this Romiko person is using my powers without permission!"
"That"s not very convincing!"
She couldn"t fight something like this. Besides, it was Romiko"s body, and she couldn"t help but hesitate when it came to hurting it.
And so Tomochika decided to run instead.
If she used the full ability of the battle suit, she might be able to get away.
"Oh, sorry. I really am. But I"m the one managing the battle suit. Purge!"
She stopped.
Several lines ran through the battle suit.
And then all at once, the suit fell apart until Tomochika was just standing there in her underwear.
"Uhh… I"ll remember this, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
She was too shocked over losing her clothes that she couldn"t think of a better insult.
"Good job, Mokomoko."
"My eyes. My eyes!"
Tomochika turned around when she heard the voices.
Yogiri was standing there with David on the ground. And Hanakawa was rolling around and pressing his eyes for some reason.
"Takato!? You have the worst timing! No, you did save me! And what do you mean, "good job"?"
Tomochika was so confused that she could barely make sense of what she was saying.
As she tried to think, Yogiri approached her.
He took off his blazer and handed it to her. Tomochika put it on.
"That"s Mokomoko, isn"t it?"
"How did you know?"
"By the way she talks, I guess. I"m not sure what"s happening here, but I"ll have to kill her if she"s attacking."
Tomochika looked at Romiko.
Romiko was frozen.
Actually, she was shaking.
It was from fear.