Tale of Discovery

Arriving at the infirmary, I find myself gazing at Reine as she types something into the computer through the keyboard while having moved over from the bed to the seat in front of it.

"You're here, Shin," Reine says as she shifts her sight away from the monitor.

"Yes," I respond while inspecting the content being displayed on the screen, "Care to tell me the reason you've called me over for?"

"Look for yourself," she responds while placing her finger on a piece of land surrounded by a large body of water - an island.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I recall what Kotori had told me and how the island on this screen resembles the one I saw on Kotori's laptop that certain night.

"You tracked down the seismic energy waves on the island already?" I ask in a dubious tone.

"So, you're already aware," Reine says as she proceeds to press a key on the keyboard.

Following that, the screen flashes for a millisecond before the image of an island from close-by is displayed, unlike the one from earlier which was in bird-eye view.

Inspecting the image, I find a tall white building along with numerous other facilities that make the island seem to be a rather 'secretive' one at first glance.

"This is the location that has been chosen for the upcoming school trip," Reine explains, "We hope that you prepare for trouble while over there."

School trip? Nothing like that has been mentioned so far? Have they simply yet to announce it or is there more to the matter than just that?

Seemingly reading my thoughts, Reine focuses her tired eyes on my face and says, "Originally, the school trip was supposed to be canceled, but it was recently decided that won't be the case."

Canceled, huh? Could it be due to the influx of space quakes that have been occurring? That's the only plausible reason I could think of at the moment.

Shaking these thoughts from my head, I focus back on Reine, only to find her grabbing a small bottle of what seems to be sleeping pills and opening the lid.

Then, she takes out a few of them and casually throws them into her mouth.

"Hey," I say with furrowed brows, "Are you okay?"

AI had already analyzed her to be 'abnormal', so I'm not all that surprised by this weird quirk of hers. Nevertheless, seeing her just take sleeping pills like candy is an odd sight to behold.

"Yes," she responds, "This is normal."

No, it's not.

"Is that so," I say with a smile, "Why do you not sleep and give some rest to your eyes?"

Hearing my words, Reine stares at my face for a few seconds before saying, "I am unable to do that."

"Why?"

"I'm not aware. It has just been like this for the past thirty years."

How peculiar. Is there something supernatural affecting her? Or, perhaps something related to the abnormal energy detected by AI?

"I want to ask you something," Reine suddenly says.

"Go ahead," I say nonchalantly.

"What do you think of the spirits' existence?"

Hm? Looks like she has decided to face me directly.

"What do I think of them, you ask? Well, for starters, I believe that they're unfortunate beings in need of a helping hand."

Or, so I claim, but the truth is that I simply don't want individuals with absurd powers just running around and battling some organizations.

My main objective for coming to this Platform is to meet up with Dominion and determine whether she is an ally or a foe.

So far, she has exhibited nothing worth noting as 'aggressive'. If anything, the battle with Kurumi was the most I have seen of her in action.

Other than her, I want to get a proper grasp of the rest of the spirits and their powers. Similar to the case with Dominion, if I find one to be bothersome, I shall do my best to get rid of them early.

The last thing I need is for pesky foes to group and make plans.

"Do you want to save them?" she asks without any change in her expression.

"That's what I am doing right now, aren't I?" I respond while beaming a smile.

"You're going to avoid answering the question, huh?"

Ugh. She realized.

"At least, you are honest," she continues as she begins typing again.

Shortly, a new image appears on the screen, displaying a destroyed forest as well as debris from what seems to have been a small building.

"This is what we found," she says as she gets up from her seat and moves over to the bed she was on earlier.

"That's all I had to say. It's up to you now to prepare for the school trip."

Nodding my head, I proceed to walk over to the bed and take a seat beside her, startling Reine a little to the point of her eyes slightly.

"Do you need something, Shin?" she asks.

"Say, Reine, don't you think that it's a little unfair for me to answer all your inquiries without getting to ask you anything?"

"You may refer to the commander for that. I'm sure she will give you better answers than me."

"But I don't think that's the case at all," I say as I slowly wrap my arm around Reine's back.

As a response to my actions, Reine surprisingly remains unfazed and doesn't exhibit much of a reaction other than staring at my face.

"You asked me earlier what I think of spirits… Then, allow me to ask; What do you think of spirits?" I say while emphasizing the second 'you'.

"As a member of Ratatoskr, it is my duty to look after the spirits and make sure that they're sealed up properly."

Heh. So, she's going to dodge the question too, huh?

Peering into her eyes, I make use of Indoctrination to relay an order to her mind: Answer my question honestly.

Before anything else could happen, however, AI's voice resounds within my head.

{Failed to execute ability. Unable to determine the reason.}

Great. Absolutely fantastic.

I guess there is no other choice than to do this the hard way…

Letting out a sigh, I get my arm off of Reine's back and proceed to get up from the bed.

Then, I cast one last glance at the taciturn woman before leaving the infirmary and heading back to class.

---

"Shido," Tohka calls out while we're halfway back home from school.

"Yes?" I say as I turn my head to face her.

"I want to go out somewhere," she says while pouting.

Hm? Is she bored from being at home? Where should I take her though?

At this moment, the earbud, that I have seemingly forgotten was in my ear, vibrates as Kotori's voice reaches me.

"Shido, if you are to let her emotional state get unstable, her seal might break off."

"Is there a problem with that?" I softly mutter while patting Tohka's head to distract her.

"Of course, idi-," Kotori's voice cuts off as she coughs twice before continuing, "If that happens, then her powers might become unstable once more. I don't need to explain what would be required after that, right?"

Little do you know, Kotori. The seal Tohka's power is completely within my grasp now... Perhaps, that's the case with Yoshino and Kurumi as well.

I'm not sure about the other two as I have yet to try it out, but I reckon that should be the case well.

"Alright, I will take her out on a date. Do you have any suggestions?"

Following my words, I hear a small commotion as the members of Ratatoskr begin cheering as if they have just heard the happiest news in their lives.

"We finally get to do something!" a middle-aged man's voice reaches my ear.

"I was beginning to doubt my life," a young man's voice that seems to belong to Kannazuki reaches me as well.

Shortly after that, I hear Kotori scream, "Everybody, calm down! We've got a choice to make!"

The next moment, all the voices lower down as they begin to discuss a few things among themselves.

"Shido?" Tohka's voice brings my attention back to reality.

"Sorry about that," I say, "I was just thinking of where I should take you out to."

Hearing this, a smile forms on her lips as she says, "I hope it's somewhere fun and with a lot of food~"

As expected.

Whatever. If that's what she wants, so be it. Nevertheless, I wonder what place would be good for this…