Chapter 278: Exchange

"Everyone, take a seat," Reine's voice reverberates within the class as she steps through the door.

"Huh?" a bewildered female student's voice reaches my ears, "We have physics as our first class for today?"

The rest of the students seem to be confused as they whisper similar things among themselves.

"Now, before we begin our lesson for today," Reine says while looking over at everyone, "I would like to make an announcement."

Most likely curious about what she has to say, the class quietens down as everyone focuses on Reine.

"Although this is sudden, the school has arranged a trip to an island for tomorrow."

The moment Reine's voice fades, several students exclaim in apparent displeasure as a few express their thoughts regarding what she said.

"What is that supposed to mean? We have to prepare for the trip in one day?"

"Yeah, what's with that? Aren't you supposed to announce something like this a week prior?"

During all this, Reine remains relatively silent while gazing at the students with her usual tired look on her face.

After a short while, the students seem to realize she is waiting for them to quieten down as they stop talking and wait for her to continue what she has to say.

"The decision was made abruptly, so there was nothing I, or any of the other teachers, could do."

Not knowing what comment to make regarding that, the students remain speechless this time as they cast glances at one another.

At this moment, one of the girls raises from her seat and says in a cheerful tone, "Come on, guys. You don't need to be so worked up about this. Rather than that, why don't we-"

With my focus on reality sipped away, I use Clairvoyance to check on Natsumi at home, only to find her standing in front of Yoshino who is seated on a sofa in the living room.

Oddly, Natsumi is currently in her 'adult' form through the usage of her powers.

She has a bright smile on her lips as she waves her broom around while Yoshino watches with awe apparent in her glimmering eyes.

Natsumi says something before rainbow-colored energy escapes from her broom and swirls around her.

The next moment, Natsumi's alluring clothes change to an adorable yet still alluring bunny suit.

As a response to this, Yoshino claps her hands as her excitement seems to grow by a large margin.

---

The bell signifying the start of lunch rings, follow by Origami immediately rising from her seat as if she has been keenly waiting for this moment.

Then, she turns to face me before saying, "Let's go."

"Yeah, yeah," I respond as I get up from my seat as well, "You sure seem to be looking for this conversation that we're going to hold."

Origami refuses to make any comments regarding my remark as she simply gazes at me without uttering a single word.

Shrugging my shoulders, I reach my left arm out to grab her hand before pulling her along with me as I make my out of the class under the accusive glances of the students and teacher.

Ah, this will most likely fuel the absurd rumors revolving around me even further. Well, whatever.

--

As per Origami's request, we walk all the way to behind the school building.

Here, there is nothing more than a small building that could possibly be a storage room.

Around the premises of the school, there are somewhat tall fences, obviously not barbed ones, to prevent students from wandering off too far.

Apart from that, there is a camera attached to the main building that's pointed at the storage room.

"Shido," Origami suddenly says, "I want to ask you a question. You can only answer with the truth."

"Sure," I respond, curious about what kind of question would it be for her to add that 'condition' to it.

"Why do you protect the spirits?"

Hearing her query, I feel like facepalming, but ultimately stop myself from doing so as I say, "I've already told you before, haven't I? I find it ridiculous to kill beings for being what they are."

"Is that all?" Origami presses while squinting her eyes.

Hm? Has she caught onto something? I doubt I've left any obvious hints regarding my objective, so that's no plausible.

Still, she wants to know what I am actually up to, huh? So be it. However, I won't give out information without anything in return…

"Alright, you got me," I say while trying to sound exasperated, "There is more to it than just that."

"That's surprising," Origami says in her usual monotonous tone, "I thought you were just trying to act as a hero."

…

"I appreciate your honesty," I reply, "Anyway, I won't tell you my objective unless you agree to a condition of mine as well."

"What is it?" she simply utters upon hearing that.

"Once school is over, I would like you to come over to my home and stay for some time."

Following my statement, Origami seems to not contemplate her response at all as she immediately nods her head and says, "Alright, I agree."

"Good."

How odd. I expected her to at least think about it for a moment. Perhaps, consider the reason I'm inviting her over or something. But, she simply agreed just like that…

Oh well. Having said that, I raise my right arm and circulate Holy Essence throughout it before utilizing Illusion to form a holographic image of the pair of heterochromatic eyes I had seen.

"Presently, I am looking for a certain spirit that I know mostly nothing of other than the fact that she has such eyes," I explain, "The reason is a personal one, but know that it means a lot to me."

Or, so I say, but I don't even know if she can be considered a 'spirit' if I were to go by with what I have experienced so far.

"What's your relationship with her?" Origami asks upon breaking out of the slight shock caused by the illusion.

"I have absolutely no idea," I respond while raising my arms sideways and smiling, "She could either be my worst enemy or an amazing ally. That will be revealed the day I meet up with her."

Silence ensues as Origami begins to deliberate on something for a whole minute before she raises her head to peer into my eyes and asks, "Are you a spirit?"

Face with such a vague question, I remain silent for a moment to think of what all the spirits have been like so far before closing my eyes and saying, "Technically, no."

Until I meet a spirit close to myself in power, I can't be sure of that. After all, the spirits I've met so far all exude 'weak' Code waves even when compared to a 3-digit Code.

One exception to this could be Dominion, but I'm unsure about her being a spirit for now.

"Is that all you wanted to discuss?" I say to Origami who seems to be slightly perplexed about something.

"No," she responds almost immediately, "I wanted to tell you something."

"Oh?"

"Something has changed ever since you protected Hermit," she says, "Everyone seems to be on edge and we are beginning to receive vague orders instead of the usual ones."

"What do you mean by vague orders," I inquire.

"Check if the entity codenamed Prophet is a spirit," she responds.

"By 'Prophet', you mean…"

"Yes – you."

---

After a somewhat long and arduous time at school, the bell signifying the end of the final lesson rings.

Expectedly, Origami, who has already packed her things up, immediately rises from her seat and turns her head to face me.

A wry smile forms on my lips as I shake my head and get up as well.

"Shido, Shido," Tohka's voice reaches my ears, "Are we going anywhere today?"

Hearing this, I say, "Not today, unfortunately, as we will have a guest over at our home."

"Who?" she asks in a curious tone.

"Miss cool beauty, Origami, over here," I respond while pointing my left finger at the person in question.

"Eh? Why is she coming over?" Tohka asks while pouting.

"Is there a problem?" Origami responds to her before I can say anything.

"No, but…" Tohka says as her words trail off for a few seconds before she continues, "You're not going to try to kill anyone, right?"

"No," Origami simply responds, "As long as I'm not under any immediate threat, I won't take any aggressive action."

Her words result in Tohka to release a sigh of relief.

"So, we're good to go, right?" I say, seeing that they have reached a consensus already.

"Yes," the two of them respond collectively.