Chapter 296: A Little Girl's Soul Shouldn't Be like This!
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24
"I understand quite clearly," Seiji said calmly. "What you mean is that I might die, or even meet a fate more terrifying than death. But that's also only a possibility. The fact of the matter is that Reo Tachibana is still alive, and she hasn't transformed into a monster or anything like that. Sensei is also alive as well, although she's burning up with fever. Even if this power has activated itself, it didn't immediately kill them, which proves that it isn't something incredibly dangerous.
"I'm really strong in the soul realms. You know this as well, President. Before, you told me that I'm very talented in this area and suitable for this type of task. Not only did I perform better than you expected that time, didn't I also block an unexpected ambush?
"I believe that I'll be fine! If I really do meet with a dangerous situation, President, you'll definitely be able to cancel the soul spell in time! When you think about it closely, it's actually pretty safe!!" Seiji flashed a brilliant smile.
"Safe? The hell!!" Natsuya retorted forcefully. She really felt like shouting as loudly as possible just now.
Her face was crimson and her emotions were in turmoil as she stared at the handsome boy before her.
'Idiot idiot idiot… even though he's handsome and cool, he's still basically an idiot!' Those were the scion's current thoughts.
However, her body completely betrayed her words and thinking.
Her heartbeat rapidly increased, and she found it difficult to suppress herself as Seiji was just too cool right now.
He was courageous, resolute, and fearless. Those were all qualities that she found attractive.
However, Natsuya wasn't the only person attracted by those qualities. Shika Kagura was looking at her adopted brother with sparkling eyes, and Mai was also looking at this idiot junior of hers with a gentle expression.
Saki, who had arrived here together with Natsuya, didn't entirely understand the content of what was said, but she understood that Seigo Harano was willing to risk his life in order to save Mayuzumi, which moved her immensely.
Another night breeze blew past them. However, this time, none of them felt that it was chilly.
"Please, President," Seiji implored, looking into Natsuya's eyes.
'His look, his tone... it's just like cheating!'
The student council president was unable to refuse. She sighed deeply. "Alright…"
They were currently gathered at the president's mansion, in the room which she used for casting soul spells.
"Brother… you absolutely have to be careful," Shika warned.
"Junior, I believe that you can do it." Mai smiled.
"Harano… I leave Mayuzumi up to you." Saki bowed deeply.
"Please raise your head, Editor Yoshizawa." Seiji smiled. "Leave everything to me!"
And then, he went to the chair and laid upon it. Reo Tachibana was to his left, Mayuzumi was to his right, and he held on to both ladies' hands. He relaxed his body and closed his eyes.
Natsuya began casting her spell. She shook her bells and uttered an incantation.
Seiji's consciousness gradually became hazy…
"Harano-kun!"
Seiji suddenly opened his eyes when he heard someone calling him. He discovered that he was currently high in the sky, and falling downwards at a rapid speed!
All he could see was a dark haze with many shadowy figures flashing and dancing within it.
He began imagining. 'Come, Iron Man's armor!'
After a bright flash, he was encased in a mighty-looking golden-red armor.
He covered his face with a golden mask, and flames shot out from his armored feet and hands, stopping him from falling any further.
This was a special situation where he could meet with danger the very instant he entered Reo's soul realm, which was why Natsuya cast a spell on him from the beginning. This way, he could use his imagination to create whatever he wanted in the soul realm to protect himself.
Suddenly, a few black shadows shot towards Seiji. Seiji stopped emitting flames from his hands. Instead, he transformed them into lasers which vaporized the dark shadows.
Looking up, he saw an endless stream of dark shadows rush towards him. He imagined that he was covered by a laser barrier, and this automatically vaporized all the approaching shadows.
"Harano-kun, are you alright?" Natsuya asked.
"I'm fine; the situation is stable for now," Seiji replied. He then went on to explain the situation. "I'm going to head down to check things out."
He lowered the intensity of the flames coming from his feet and slowed his speed as he descended to the ground.
Moments later, he exited the haze, and his vision finally returned.
What he saw was… a city!
Seiji stopped in midair. His eyes were globes as he attempted to make sense of the scene beneath him.
Below him was an incredibly strange "city" that couldn't exist in real life. Wood and concrete, modern and ancient, regal and broken-down—every type of building material and style was present. Some structures were laid out in a neat and orderly fashion, while others were chaotically spread out. A few were even stacked on top of each other in a gross violation of the laws of physics!
Countless black and gray shadows roamed around the city, yet there were also figures that seemed like normal humans walking around. The streets held a bewildering mixture of cars. horse-drawn carriages, and miscellaneous animals. In addition to this, there were a few strange, indescribable entities strolling about as well…
*Clack clack clack—*
Seiji heard something approach and turned around to see a monorail pass by!
He was dazed as he watched this long monorail pass him by. He could see figures of humans as well as strange shapes within the monorail.
After the monorail faded off into the distance, he looked up at the sky and saw various flying creatures and objects flying everywhere under the dark clouds.
Blimps, airplanes, hot air balloons, dragons, demons, shadows, figures on magic carpets, figures on brooms…
*Whoosh*
A somewhat stereotypical UFO whizzed past him. There were a large number of zombie-like creatures laying on top of it.
Seiji's mind was occupied by one overwhelming thought: 'This is… incredibly strange! A little girl's soul shouldn't be like this!'
The only explanation for this was the mysterious power. He told everything that he witnessed to the president.
Natsuya was surprised to hear this.
"I didn't expect it to be like this," she said. "It's truly abnormal. At least it doesn't seem highly dangerous for the time being, which is good. Just proceed carefully, Harano-kun… try your best not to incite those strange things."
"Can I try communicating with those figures that look like humans?" Seiji asked.
"I think… it's best not to. Our goal is to find Amami-san's consciousness, and anything that might cause us trouble should be avoided." Natsuya paused for a moment. "But that's just my opinion, and you're the one taking actions there, so you should decide the best course of action by yourself. Communicating with those people might even help you to find out relevant information… if those 'people' are truly able to communicate at all."
Seiji understood. "I got it."
Everything here was unknown, and even the president didn't know what he should do. Seiji looked around this enormous city.
Finding Peach-sensei's consciousness in such a large area would be incredibly difficult.
Although talking with people here might incur some risk, as long as he could obtain some information… he decided to give it a try.
Seiji descended to the ground. He avoided the chaotic-seeming places and landed on a relatively orderly roadside.
'Should I cancel my armor transformation?' he asked himself. 'There are so many strange things going on around here… I probably shouldn't.'
And so, Seiji still wore the Iron Man suit while he spoke to a person passing by.
"Hello, I'd like to ask…" He greeted a jacketed man that walked past him.
However, the man seemed as if he didn't hear Seiji. He continued onwards without even slowing down.
"Excuse me!" Seiji called loudly.
Seiji chased after the man and blocked his way. The jacketed man crashed into his hand and stopped.
"Sorry," Seiji started, "but I have a question I'd like to ask…"
Seiji talked to the man, but the man didn't react or move at all. There was no change in the man's expression, and he kept looking straight ahead of him.
Seiji waved his hand in front of the man's face.
No reaction.
Seiji placed his hand on the man's shoulder.
Still no reaction.
Seiji let go and unblocked the man's way. The man started walking again and continued onwards as if nothing whatsoever had happened.
Seiji watched him leave and blinked in surprise.
"Is he… an NPC?" he muttered.