"I"m staying behind as well." After a period of silence, Yukari spoke up in a serious tone. "I understand that you"re worried, Seiji. But, since you can clearly command us to leave, yet you"re making us choose instead, doesn"t that mean you have expectations of us?"Seiji remained silent.
"You"re worried about our safety and want us to leave, but you"re not absolutely certain if this is the best for us." Yukari looked directly at him. "That"s because danger is also an opportunity for growth… You don"t want to single-handedly take this chance away from us. In your heart, you still have some expectations that we"ll stay behind, which is why you"re letting us choose. No matter whether that"s what you really think or not, I"m still making the same choice, for the same reason as you: because I want to fight!"
"Yukari…" Seiji was unable to say anything in response to her direct words.
"It"s my honor to fight together with you, Knight #2." Hisas.h.i.+ smiled.
"It"s my pleasure as well, Knight #1." Yukari responded with a smile as well.
"I… want to stay behind as well!" Mika was the third to speak up. "I also want to fight… Although it might be really dangerous, I believe that everything will be alright as long as I"m together with Seiji."
"Mika… my power is limited, you know." Seiji tried to tell her this.
The twintailed girl looked directly at him, and wanted to say something, but took it back.
"I believe in you… and don"t want to leave your side." She ended up saying this instead with a resolute expression.
Mika had the feeling that Seiji was far more powerful than he acted.
And even if his power was truly limited, she wouldn"t regret staying behind, because she wanted to simply be together with him.
"We have yet another teammate for combat. Welcome aboard, Knight #6." Hisas.h.i.+ welcomed Mika.
"Please take good care of me, Juumonji-san," Mika responded.
"I want to stay behind as well." Hos.h.i.+ was the fourth to speak up. "Although I"m personally weak, I can borrow power from Lilith… Besides, I don"t know what will happen to Lilith if I leave."
"That elf girl will be your support, and you"re also worried about her, that if you leave, something might happen to her, is that right?" Seiji looked at his junior.
"That"s right." Hos.h.i.+ nodded.
"Good luck, then." Seiji stopped looking at Hos.h.i.+, and didn"t say anything else.
"Team Leader… Are you angry?" Hos.h.i.+ felt that something was off.
"Why would I be angry? A certain person has the protection of a mysterious elf girl, and doesn"t need me to look after him. That"s a good thing," Seiji said in a light tone.
Hos.h.i.+ was rendered speechless.
The beautiful boy felt that something was a little strange, but he couldn"t identify what, so Hos.h.i.+ ended up with a confused expression.
"Welcome aboard as well, Knight #4… by the way, your custom-ordered maid attire has been completed already. It"s about time that you wore it." Hisas.h.i.+ adjusted his eyegla.s.ses, causing the lens to flash.
"Eh… Eh!?" Hos.h.i.+ suddenly recalled that there was such a matter still.
"I suddenly heard something interesting." Something flashed in Yukari"s eyes. "Amami-san is going to wear maid attire? When will it be? Please allow me to witness this scene and take pictures!"
Yukari"s ero artist spirit activated immediately upon imagining how cute Hos.h.i.+ Amami would be in maid attire.
"I"d also like to see what Hos.h.i.+ looks like in maid attire…" Mayuzumi spoke up as well.
"And me." Kazuko also adjusted her eyegla.s.ses.
"Me as well." Even Kaede joined in.
Mika mentioned before already that she was interested in seeing this. Kaho was also interested, but she was too embarra.s.sed to say it out loud.
"What"s maid attire?" s.h.i.+n.o.bu asked s.h.i.+ka this question.
"A type of clothing that female servants wear." Since Mai wasn"t currently here, s.h.i.+ka could only explain in such a manner.
"You"re quite popular, Knight #4. We might as well have a photography party for you!" Hisas.h.i.+ exclaimed.
"No…" Hos.h.i.+ wanted to refuse.
*Cough, cough!* Seiji coughed loudly to stop the knight order conference from going off topic.
Everyone fell silent yet again.
"Since my idiot of an older brother is staying behind, then I"m staying behind as well," Kaede spoke up while looking at Hisas.h.i.+. "I need to keep an eye on him."
"Thank you for your heartfelt intentions, dear sister of mine. But as your older brother, I request you to leave this place for somewhere far and safe!"
"That"s just an excuse, idiot. I just want to stay by Seiji"s side. I don"t really care what happens to you."
"Ack!" Hisas.h.i.+ made a sound and pose as if he had been struck by an arrow.
Seiji understood that the Juumonji Siblings had a close family bond, so he didn"t treat Kaede"s words as serious. Seiji also knew that he had no way to convince the siblings to leave.
After this knight order conference, the siblings would probably continue chatting or arguing as usual. Whether to stay or leave was something only they could decide.
"As for me, even if I leave this city, it"s highly likely that… no, I"ll definitely still be affected by the Realm of Cherry Blossoms," Kazuko mentioned, "Seiji, since you"re staying, I can only stay behind as well."
"I"m sorry…"
"No need to apologize. Not having a choice means I don"t have to choose or think too much about it." The brown-haired girl shrugged.
She had no choice, so she didn"t need to think about it.
Kaho agreed with this, even though her circ.u.mstances were a bit different.
"I"m also staying behind…" Kaho looked directly at Seiji while speaking. "As your Spirit-branded Retainer, I shouldn"t be leaving while my contractor is in danger."
Fighting for the sake of one"s contracted Yin Yang Master was the reason for a Spirit-branded Retainer"s existence!
It was the same for s.h.i.+ka Kagura. Kaho glanced over at s.h.i.+ka. It was evident without need for words that s.h.i.+ka was staying behind.
"Thank you, Kaho… Still, I hope that you can reconsider." Seiji gave his thanks while still attempting to convince her otherwise.
"There"s no need to reconsider. I"ve already made my decision," Kaho stated in a serious tone.
Seiji revealed a helpless expression.
"I wanted to consider some more, but seeing how everyone else is staying behind, then I"ll stay behind as well." Mayuzumi smiled while saying so.
Seiji speechlessly looked over in the mangaka"s direction.
"Fighting together with companions to protect the city I live in seems just like a plot right out of a manga. As a mangaka, I can"t possibly miss this… and this will be an excellent reference for my own story!" Mayuzumi continued speaking in a sincere tone.
"Risking your life for storyline material can"t be called good, Peach-sensei." Seiji sighed.
"It"s precisely because I"m risking my life that it"ll be good," Mayuzumi responded. "Perhaps I"ll receive some excellent inspiration."
"Being willing to sacrifice your life for the sake of your story? That"s so awesome, Peach G.o.ddess!" Hisas.h.i.+ added on his comment in a fanatical tone.
"Please don"t call me that, Juumonji-san. Nor am I sacrificing my life, I"m just risking it."
"You actually referred to risking your life with the word "just"! Your amazingness has deeply moved this humble one!!! Please allow me to give my grandest—"
*Slap!* Like a magician, Kaede brought out a paper fan from nowhere and whacked Hisas.h.i.+.
"You"re being too noisy, idiot."
After Hisas.h.i.+ was suppressed, Seiji glanced over at everyone.
Not a single person chose to leave… His wish wasn"t granted, but his faint hidden expectations had been fulfilled. Seiji couldn"t tell if he was happy or worried.
Yukari had been absolutely correct. Seiji had contradictory feelings about all this. He hoped that all his companions would leave so that they would be safe, but also hoped that they would stay. The former emotion was stronger, while the latter emotion was more hidden.
Seiji viewed their safety as important, but he also wanted them to swiftly grow stronger. These contradictory feelings caused him to come up with the not-so-good idea to tell everyone to leave.
Just as Hisas.h.i.+ said, the best method would have been for him to make the decision for everyone as the knight order"s leader, and everyone else would have listened to him. Or, just as Yukari had thought at first, the knight order should have voted as a group to decide whether to leave or stay.
Yet, the better methods might not always be the best… At any rate, all his companions had now made their own decisions.
"I"m truly grateful for everyone"s heartfelt intentions… But as I said earlier, if you stay behind, I"ll ask you to reconsider. Over the next few days, please seriously and cautiously think about your decisions." Seiji had a serious expression as he slowly lowered his head towards everyone. "I"m truly apologetic for doing this to everyone, but I still request that you all use this time to carefully consider and confirm that your own decision was correct."