"Well, it was a little gentler than I imagined, but the street damage caused will be a headache for the AST in terms of repair costs."
On the way home with Tohka, Arthas heard Kotori's somewhat gloating laughter in his earpiece.
"I'm also very troubled. I have no idea what to do to make them give up their actions of continuing to hunt Spirits."
Arthas said somewhat helplessly, and on the other side, Kotori continued to speak.
"It can't be helped, you know, if you don't solve the problem of spacequakes?"
"Spacequakes, the scale of the spacequake caused by Yoshino is really insignificant. In the end, it's because the Spirits don't have decisively powerful strength, which is why they're being bullied so wantonly."
Arthas said this lightly, once again causing Kotori to fall into silence.
"You can't deny it, right? Even though the destruction I cause is so terrible, the AST doesn't dare to do anything to me. This is the deterrent power brought about by absolute strength."
"Well, the reasoning is the reasoning, but this is a little too extreme. Are you trying to corrupt Tohka?"
Kotori finally had the opportunity to say this, which she had been holding in her heart all along.
Arthas was silent for a moment, and then gently shook his head.
"This isn't corruption, it's just telling her the truth. After all, this world isn't as perfect as imagined."
The conversation between the two came to an abrupt end. Arthas knew that what he had done was only the first step.
There was still a long, long way to go to change the Spirits' fixed image in the eyes of humans.
The Itsuka residence was already in sight. Before he had time to knock on the door, the door was opened from the inside.
What appeared before Tohka and Arthas was Itsuka Shiori, who seemed a little flustered. After seeing Arthas and Tohka standing in front of her, the girl also breathed a sigh of relief.
You two... You're finally back. Tohka, really, don't run out without saying a word.
If Kotori hadn't told me that you went to find Arthas, I don't know how long I would have been worried.
"Th-That, I'm really sorry."
Tohka touched her head, showing a very embarrassed expression, and Arthas shook his head helplessly, not knowing what to say.
"Alright, alright, it's good that you're back. Look at you, you're all wet again. Come in and change your clothes."
Calling Tohka to leave with her, Arthas walked into the house on the other side, and just happened to see Kotori walking down from the second floor.
"You came back really fast."
"Because there's a space transfer device."
Kotori said this as a matter of course, sitting down on the sofa in the living room.
"I've been thinking about it a bit. Regarding the AST, it seems that we have to solve this problem from the root."
"Mm... Solve it from the root? What do you want to do?"
Seeming to have smelled a dangerous trace from Arthas's words, Kotori asked this somewhat nervously.
"Where's the AST headquarters?"
"Hey, hey, hey... Don't mess around. You're not planning to take down the AST headquarters, are you?"
"It's not that exaggerated. What kind of person do you think I am?"
Looking at Kotori's nervous appearance, Arthas said this with some amusement.
"Well, your expression and tone give off the feeling that you're going to kill all those guys."
Kotori said this exaggeratedly, and then peeled off another lollipop and threw it into her mouth.
"No matter what, letting you go to find the AST people right now will only make things worse. Let's just forget about it."
"But it's really troublesome if this problem isn't solved. They're always watching the Spirits' actions."
Don't forget our original intention, which is to use peaceful means to make the world accept the Spirits.
If you directly use violence to threaten the AST, then it would be putting the cart before the horse.
Kotori sighed and said this.
And even if you went to the AST branch in Tengu City, it would be meaningless. The person in charge there is Kusakabe Ryouko.
You've met her many times. It's meaningless to do these things if you can't find the real mastermind behind the scenes.
"Then where's the AST headquarters?"
"That's enough, I told you not to do that."
Being said this by Arthas, Kotori was somewhat amused and helpless.
Although she was still very unwilling, Arthas finally gave up on this idea. Soon, time had also reached the next day.
Today was May 13th, Saturday. At ten o'clock in the morning, an uninvited guest visited the Itsuka residence.
"I made an appointment with Tohka-san. We're going shopping today."
Standing at the door looking at Arthas, Murasame Reine said this with drowsy, sleepy eyes, making people worry that she would suddenly fall down at any time.
"Mm... When did you make the appointment?"
Arthas was slightly stunned. In his memory, Tohka didn't seem to have contacted Murasame Reine recently.
"It doesn't matter, I'll make the appointment right away." Pushing up her glasses, Murasame Reine said this as a matter of course, causing Arthas's lips to twitch involuntarily.
"Because Tohka's emotions were a little volatile because of what happened yesterday. It's easy for things to happen if her emotions aren't good, so I'm planning to invite her to go shopping to ease her mood."
Murasame Reine walked into the room. Looking at her attire, it wasn't her usual white coat and military uniform.
A knitted shirt with a wounded teddy bear doll could still be seen on her chest, along with dark-colored pants, and a shopping-style bag on her shoulder.
"Oh... Is that so?" Arthas nodded in understanding. Although Tohka didn't show anything, looking at the girl's appearance, she did seem a little angry yesterday.
"Alright, I'm going to find Tohka." Murasame Reine said, walking past Arthas towards the second floor.
The two of them went upstairs together, arriving at the innermost room on the second floor of the Itsuka residence, with a piece of paper with 'Tohka' written on it in ugly handwriting stuck on the door.
"Tohka, I want to go shopping. Can you come out with me?" Murasame Reine asked, knocking lightly on the door.
After a while, the door opened from the inside, and Tohka poked her head out, looking at Reine and then at Arthas.
"Is Arthas going too?"
"I think I'll pass."
"Eh... If Arthas isn't going, then I also..."
Arthas said this, and Tohka seemed to want to refuse. Soon, Murasame Reine quickly added a sentence, immediately changing the girl's mind.
"...I'm planning to go out to eat while shopping, how about it?"
There was a moment of silence in the room, and then Tohka walked out of the room, staring at Murasame Reine with an expectant look and speaking.
"When do we leave?"
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