ALL NOVEL Essentially, my romantic relationships have been chaotic enough that, even when I reflect on it myself, I wonder if it’s a bit excessive.
… No, it’s not just a bit; it’s at a serious level. Yeah.
Anyway, upon realizing this fact, Mika looked terribly flustered.
“More than ten people? No matter how much of a teacher you are, that can’t be possible…?”
First denial.
“Minimum, there are two horned creatures…? I can’t accept this! No way! I’m the one who first held feelings for you, teacher! Do you think I would allow this?!”
Second, anger.
“Ugh. T-teacher. I’ll concede everything else, but can’t we at least do something about those horned creatures? Hmm? Since it’s a request from your beloved student— What? If I call you ‘student,’ that’s even more of an out? Ugh… that, that’s…!”
Third, negotiation.
“R-right… I’m not your student anymore. I wouldn’t even be the first one in line… No, no! I can’t accept that! Even if the appearance changes and the world changes, I’m still your student, your adorable princess!”
As she was steadily moving through the five stages of anger, Mika suddenly grabbed my shoulder during the fourth stage, which is depression.
Though it looked like she was putting quite a bit of strength into it… it was bearable since our bodies weren’t vastly different.
Indeed, it’s hard to deny the term ‘adorable princess.’
My favorite character, the lively pink angel, despite her colors fading, had perfectly preserved her natural beauty. Yeah.
By the way… hearing her say such things herself feels rather peculiar from the side. It would have been similar to how I felt watching Nana or Himari around me, right?
Strictly speaking, I think my situation is a bit different.
“Um, teacher…? Your gaze is a bit piercing. Is this just my imagination?”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Uh…”
Sigh. Was Mika always this perceptive?
If you look at her current appearance, it does seem odd that she lacks awareness…
“Ah, anyway. Let’s put this conversation on hold for now… Yeah. I absolutely won’t let this slide, so don’t misunderstand, teacher.”
“…What do you mean by misunderstanding?”
“Ugh, asking me to explain everything feels a bit much, but… obviously, it’s about your absurd love life! From my perspective, finding out that you’ve been seducing this person and that with my body, I want you to at least consider that!”
Heueng…
Since it was a reasonable point, it was awkward to refute. There was also a recognition that it was a conversation best left unargued.
However, a part of me thought, ‘Now, of all times?’
When I didn’t know I was the teacher, I locked my heart and didn’t care what she did with that body… Wouldn’t saying that be too harsh?
Yeah, maybe I’m overthinking it a bit.
“Seriously, this is why I asked to talk later…”
In the meantime, as if she had seen through my thoughts to some extent, Mika wore a face of horror, muttering bitterly.
…I think I slightly understand why Mika suggested postponing this conversation.
Given the circumstances, it makes sense that she wouldn’t want to have a conversation that could easily hurt feelings over a subject neither could easily concede on—it was probably more about taking care of urgent matters first.
To be honest, I didn’t think this was a conversation worth delaying, but respecting Mika’s wishes at this point might be better.
With that thought, I gently removed Mika’s hand, which was still resting on my shoulder, and held onto it. Immediately, Mika took a sharp breath, flinching slightly.
Seeing her trembling eyelashes, it’s evident she’s deeply affected. If she reacts this way to someone who looks just like her, how much did she like… still like me?
Aside from delighting in that affection, I have to do as she says.
“Well then… Umm, Mika? Right now, we need your help.”
“…”
After hearing my words, Mika blinked once. Then, she didn’t respond but silently met my gaze.
Her eyes seemed to convey that she was expecting something, but I had no idea what.
Five seconds passed. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds…
As time passed, I saw the corners of Mika’s eyes gradually droop. Only then did I manage to grasp her feelings.
“…Please, Mika. Can you help me?”
“Yes…! If it’s a request from you, teacher, I’ll help as much as you need☆”
What’s important to Mika is just one thing.
Realizing that only her teacher—‘me,’ is the only one that counts, it hit hard.
Her interests have nothing to do with what happens in this world; that’s just a fact.
No matter what, Mika has the track record of leading Kivotos to destruction, which means she’s a girl who has completely taken the wrong path.
She herself refers to it as being a witch.
And I am the sinner who left Mika, having gone down the wrong path, without correcting her.
… Funny how, looking at it this way, we make quite a fitting pair.
In any case, Mika was full of eagerness to help me, and indeed, that was true.
I, too, would drop everything and rush to help if it was Nagisa asking for my assistance, so in that context, love is really scary.
“So, what do I help with?”
“Umm… Well, it’s not that grand. Just guide us to the source of this chaos up above. It’s a simple task.”
“…Yeah, that’s true. If it were anyone else, it might be complicated, but for me, it should be simple. I think I understand why you need help on that part.”
Honestly, had it not been for the incident caused by Rion and me, I wouldn’t think it was necessary.
While it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s up there, it wouldn’t be utterly impossible to reach if Utnapishtim’s Ship were still in one piece.
Unfortunately, the ship is currently inoperable.
It crashed directly into the Ark of Atrahasis, and the damage it sustained during the fall was substantial. Recovering it with the current technology from Kivotos… Well, let’s just say, it’s not an easy task by any means.
The engineering division didn’t outright declare it was impossible, but they replied that if they spent at least a few months researching it, they might be able to get a handle on it.
So, for Mika, who doesn’t even know what Utnapishtim’s Ship is, it would be logical to assume we had no way to reach up there, which isn’t too far from the actual truth.
“Hahaha… So, can I think of this as helping?”
“Yes, I’ll help! Should I send you up right away?”
“Uh, hmm? I think it’d be better to take others with us…”
I’m confident that with just Mika and me, we could handle most things. But given that Kivotos’ annihilation is at stake, it might be better to form the best possible team.
When I shared my thoughts, Mika pouted her lips but nodded.
“That wolf up on the Ark is definitely no simple opponent, so it wouldn’t hurt to have more numbers. Got it, teacher. Then first…”
“Wait a minute. Ark? Wolf?”
“Huh? I’m not sure, but they call what’s up there, the Ark. Atrah… Atrahasis, or something?”
Wait a minute. The Ark of Atrahasis is what’s floating up high? The one we’ve already dropped once…
No, what’s really important is something else.
The identity of the wolf Mika is describing.
No matter how I think about it, only one person springs to mind.
“Shiroko…”
“Huh?”
“Mika, can you tell me what that wolf looks like? Just a rough idea.”
“Hmm… First, it has very sad-looking eyes and is dark, I guess? Well, I probably didn’t differ much from that, so maybe its situation is similar to this side. Though I’m not sure why it led to the downfall of another world, beyond just cooperating with colors.”
“And?”
“Of course, its head has wolf ears, and… its hair is long? Oh! And it was wearing a strikingly designed black dress.”
“…”
Yep, that’s it.
Sunaokami Shiroko.
The vanguard of the colors who informed me about the invasion of colors in the story I remember.
I thought that the Shiroko tinged with colors was simply the version from another timeline, so after hearing she was fine in this world, I completely erased her existence from my mind.
But…
The Shiroko dyed in those colors turns out to be from another world line.
Considering Mika, who also bears the hues, it might not be too surprising.
According to the hypotheses we proposed, colors are close to a concept that spans across all world lines anyway.
At least, I can relax a bit about our Shiroko now, but thinking that another Shiroko from a different world line also experienced losing everything makes my heart ache a little.
“So, Mika, have you ever fought with that girl?”
“Huh? No, we never had the chance. Honestly, from the moment the invasion began, it felt like Kivotos was already halfway defeated.”
Mika said that even without fighting, it’s clear that if they ever did encounter each other, the Shiroko stained by colors wouldn’t be an easy opponent at all.
Personally curious about that, I subtly asked who she thought might win if they fought…
“You and that wolf? Ummm… Teacher? Sorry…”
“…Heueng.”
Mika avoided answering directly, but that alone was as good as giving her answer.
From what she’s seen and felt, she concluded there’s a high chance I would lose to the Shiroko dyed in colors.
Considering the one who easily retired Hina, known as Gehenna’s strongest, and then came here, her claim holds a lot of credibility.
“Then teacher, should we head to D.U. for now?”
Mika remarked while glancing down at my attire. It seemed that her appearance in the Student Council outfit was strangely bothering her.
“Yep, for now, that’ll do. If possible, to the front of the Student Council.”
Having successfully convinced Mika, I felt we were at least three-quarters of the way there.
I had a strong feeling that the path we needed to take wasn’t too far away.
Yeah. Now it’s time to tie up all these loose ends.