Chapter 297: First Step to Coming Forth

"It's done," I state nonchalantly as I step inside Reine's room while carrying the still-dazed AI within my arms.

On the way back here, I tried getting her back 'inside' me, but alas, she claimed to be unable to do so.

As such, after careful deliberation, I concluded that it would be fine for her to remain materialized. In fact, I could simply introduce her the same I did with Jeanne.

For some reason, I can't see AI answering any questions that might be thrown at her by Kotori and the rest anyway, so I thought that I might as well get this done sooner than later.

"Oh, welcome back," Reine responds without so much bothering to spare me a glance as she remains focused on the screen in front of her.

"How did you do it?" she asks as I make my way over to the bed, intending to lay AI down on it.

"Do what?" I ask back while looking over at the twins who are seated atop the bed and are staring at me, no, at AI.

"Inquiry: Is that a human child?"

"It is, isn't it?"

Hearing the twins' words, I glimpse at AI's face before saying, "Well, she is a child, but I wouldn't be so sure about the human part."

Our words seem to have grabbed Reine's attention as she stops what she was doing and turns around to take a look.

"Who is that, Shin?"

"Oh, her?" I say with a smile on my lips, "My daughter."

…

Silence ensues in the room as Reine continues to stare at my face, seemingly expecting me to give her the 'real answer' soon.

"Alright, fine," I say while rolling my eyes, "She is a peculiar spirit that I found aboard the ship before destroying it."

"Spirit?" she repeats while squinting her eyes.

AI, I assume that you can hear my thoughts right now?

{Affirmative.}

Surprisingly, her voice still contains hints of numerous emotions, mainly eagerness, despite her speaking to me telepathically.

Anyway, AI, I need you to refrain from saying anything at all when there are others nearby. In other words, act like you're mute.

{Understood.}

Great. With that dealt with, I suppose satiating Reine's curiosity comes next. Of course, there is a price for that…

"Reine," I say while detaching AI's body from mine and extending my arms out to set her down on the bed.

Suddenly, I feel an uncomfortable sensation inside me as AI peers into my eyes with an expression of apparent desolation on her face.

Reckoning that she wants to remain close to me, a small smile forms on my lips as I move her body close to mine once more.

At this moment, I hear a coughing noise behind me before Reine's voice reaches my ears, "You had something to say, Shin?"

"Ah, yeah," I respond, "I have a few questions regarding the ship I just faced off against."

"Ask away," she says as she straightens her posture and focuses her gaze on my face, seemingly as an attempt to read my mind.

"What was the energy that was used by that ship? It was unlike everything I have ever heard or seen before."

My question is without a doubt an odd one, but its purpose is quite different than what would one normally assume…

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," I respond, unfazed and smiling widely, "I am rather curious about the nature of whatever that energy is."

And it surely has some unique properties too, after all, the enemy hunts down spirits. So far, I have across numerous spirits, all of which were not weak by any means. As such, I doubt that a spaceship created by an organization hunting them down would be making use of any 'ordinary' type of energy.

Hearing my words, Reine takes a moment to deliberate on something before closing her eyes and saying, "Should I take this as your first step to coming forth?"

"Whatever could you be speaking about?" I respond, my expression remaining unchanging.

That's right. This is the 'first step'.

By actively asking for information in regards to the military capabilities of my enemies as well as making a 'proper' exchange of information with her, I am basically announcing my will to battle everything out.

Reine knows this. She is smart enough to understand something so simple. However, what she doesn't know is to what lengths I would go in order to achieve victory.

Thus, she is caught in a dilemma right now. She either aids me and forms a basic understanding between us or 'brushes the matter off'.

Her decision right now will be one that will impact our relationship greatly, so she is forced to take it seriously.

"Shin, I would like to ask you something first," she suddenly says.

"Alright, ask away," I respond.

"What do you think of yourself?" she asks in a tone that's much heavier than her usual one, showing the severity of the question.

Nevertheless, I would be lying to myself if I were to claim that I am not caught off-guard by her question.

Truly, what am I? I am neither a god nor a human. If there is a solid classification for me, it would quite obviously be a Code. But then again, there are numerous races of Codes.

Krul, who is a vampire. Siesta, a human, or, at least, that's what I believe she is. Then there is Yuno… Heck, what is Yuno exactly? I doubt she is just a human either...

Anyway, I don't suppose Reine is referring to my race by her question. She is clearly hoping to hear what I think of myself. As an individual. My beliefs and ideals.

"You might not like what you're about to hear," I say after a solid minute of deliberation, "Honestly, I don't think of myself as a 'hero' of any sorts. I indeed want to save the spirits, but even that has its own reasons."

Having said that, I tighten my hold over AI's delicate body as I peer into Reine's eyes and say, "For you to ask me this now. Are you perhaps finally prepared to cooperate on an equal level of understanding?"

During this whole conversation between me and Reine, I had been keeping a portion of my focus on the twins behind me. To my pleasant surprise, they reacted to our little exchange a little 'uniquely'.

From the looks of it, the two of them know more than what they let out on. Earlier, I genuinely thought that the two of them were a similar case to Tohka and Yoshino, but now…

"Do think you can do it?" Reine's voice interrupts my thoughts.

"Saving the spirits, you mean?" I ask back, to which she just simply nods her head once.

"Absolutely," I respond almost immediately.

As I thought… This woman has quite the attachment to spirits. She doesn't let it show much, but I can mostly tell from the way she behaves and speaks when the topic is related to spirits.

"I understand," Reine says in a somewhat relieved manner, "We should continue this discussion some other time."

"Why not now?"

"Because she needs to be present," comes the response.

"By 'she', are you perchance referring to Kotori?"

"Yes."

Why? It would've made sense for her to claim that this topic was too sensitive to be discussed lightly and at where we are. Yet, she says this now…

No matter how I look at it, her reasoning is worthy of suspicion.

Shaking my head, I let out a small sigh and say, "If that's the case, let's go somewhere sometime. You, me, and Kotori."

"Right," she responds along with a nod, "With that out of the way…"

Her words trail off as she once more focuses her gaze on AI before saying, "What made you think that she is a spirit?"

She finally asked.

"I saw her float in the air for a brief moment," I reply after a few seconds while making it seem as if I am doubting my own words.

To this, Reine frowns slightly but doesn't say anything as a response.

"For some reason, she is attached to me," I state, "So, I think I will have her stay with me for now."

"Understood," she says before turning back around and beginning to type a few things into a terminal displayed on the screen of the computer she was using earlier.

Now then, with this matter settled temporarily, I need to consider what to do next.

Firstly, there is that woman, Ellen, that's currently being held captive in Kurumi's place. Surely, she has some valuable information to 'share' with me.

"Shin," Reine's voice abruptly reaches my ears once more, "We need to head back now."

"To where?"

"Where your other teacher and classmates are," she responds while turning off the computer and getting up from her seat.

"What about the two of them?" I ask dubiously while casting a glance at the twins who have been silent for the whole time.

---

"So, please welcome your new classmates," says the white-haired woman with her arm extended to the side.

"No way… this is weird," a female student mutters in a doubtful tone.

Correct. I'm not sure what I expected when Reine told me she had solved the issue with the twins already, but I sure didn't expect her to dress them up in our school uniform and introduce them as transfer trips immediately after we regrouped.

Expectedly, several students are expressing their doubts and confusion regarding the matter by whispering their conjectures to one another.

Alas, this doesn't last long as slowly, more and more students begin to focus on me instead. The reason for that is none other than AI, who is currently slowly rubbing her palm against my nape while gazing at my face.

"Itsuka," a gentle voice calls out, causing me to shift my attention over, only to find Tamae with a perplexed look on her face as she inspects AI.

"Yes?" I respond.

"Do you know this child?"

Just as I'm about to deny the notion, an idea appears in my head, preventing me from doing so.

"Indeed," I respond with a smile, "She is the daughter of a relative of mine that works here.

"That relative wanted me to take her away from the island in fear of her getting harmed."

Hearing my explanation, Tamae takes a few seconds to think before ultimately nodding her head and saying in a serious tone, "That's a good decision. But, unfortunately, we won't be able to leave today…"

"That's fine," I respond, "I will be the one to take care of her until then," I casually say, to which Tamae responds by smiling, most likely thinking something along the lines of 'he is dependable'.

"Excuse me now, but I should get going," I say as I glimpse at Origami and the rest who are sitting in the distance with their perception centered on me.

And so, I begin walking in their direction as the twins who were standing behind Reine move and follow after me.