This wasn’t the end. This was only the beginning.
This was a rather cliché phrase that could actually be used in a surprising number of situations.
Perhaps a better phrase would be “An end is only a new beginning.”
Seiji was feeling like so right now. Even though he clearly just finished a major battle, he discovered after he woke up that bad sprouts were everywhere, as if any one of them could be ignited at any moment.
Apart from the issues with Kaho and Chiaki, Hoshi also mentioned that he had seriously thought things over and still wanted to help Lilith. He wished to fight for this mysterious elf girl.
There was also something up with Reo now. Kaede mentioned that something seemed off about Reo recently, so Seiji had a serious conversation with Reo. The result was he learned that ever since twelve days ago, starting from the night right after the tournament, she started hearing strange sounds in her dreams. These sounds were like sighing, screaming, angry roaring, or many people talking at once…
Seiji also asked Mayuzumi about this. She said that she indeed had a similar dream on the night right after the tournament, but she only had this dream once.
Seiji informed Mayuzumi about the incident surrounding Risa Kobayakawa, the third and final person affected by their Story of One Hundred Demons incident which gave Mayuzumi, Risa, and Reo mysterious powers. He asked Mayuzumi to contact him immediately if anything felt off.
Kazuko woke up and indicated that her condition had returned to normal. But now, when she opened her Domain, there was one time that she faintly felt a similar existence—another “door opener” like her rather than a “homeowner” like Lilith.
Hisashi reported that the illegal “Paradise” drug was lowering its price and increasing in production. It seemed likely that the Messengers were intending to begin mass-producing this drug.
Anna detected a powerful hacker on the internet… or perhaps it was a similar existence to her that was becoming active.
Yukari mentioned that she received a beautiful picture from an unfamiliar email address. The picture was of a spider woman which gave Yukari an indescribable feeling. However, when Yukari regained her senses, the picture had automatically deleted itself.
Yukari then kept randomly thinking about this spider woman drawing and getting lost in her daydreams because of it. Although this wasn’t a major problem yet, she had an ominous premonition.
Even Miyabi Ishihara mentioned a similar experience: she received a story draft from an unfamiliar email address and opened it to read it out of curiosity. It made her feel rather uncomfortable, and then the story draft deleted itself. Even though she didn’t want to recall it, she couldn’t restrain herself from thinking about it.
Seiji stood on a quiet grassy plain while looking at the scenery in the distance and enjoying the wide and beautiful sky.
Suddenly, flames erupted at one, two, four, then eight locations… Soon, his entire field of vision was filled with flames! They all started burning at once and everything was turned to ash.
Seiji opened his eyes.
He discovered that he was sleeping on his hospital bed. Shika was sleeping next to him.
That was only a dream.
However, it reflected what he was feeling right now.
Seiji could only sigh. He then wanted to get up and drink some water.
He carefully got out of bed so as not to awaken his adopted younger sister. Only then did he suddenly notice that someone else was in his room!
A girl who wore a black jacket was sitting quietly on the sofa.
“Sister… Yui?” Seiji blinked in surprise and called out to her in a soft voice to not awaken Shika.
“I was intending to sit here and wait for you until morning,” Yui replied softly as well. “I didn’t expect that you would wake up so early.”
“Wait until morning… how come?”
“I just finished something I was dealing with, quicker than I expected. I don’t feel like sleeping right now, so I came over.”
Yui indicated to Seiji that he could sit down next to her.
“How are you currently feeling?”
“Excellent… I feel perfectly fine now.”
Yui looked directly at him.
“Seiji, this is a miracle,” she spoke seriously. “You’ve created a miracle, not only for the people you revived, but for yourself as well.”
“This is all thanks to you, Sister Yui.”
“Indeed, I helped you. But, you were the one who accomplished it, not me. Be proud of yourself.”
Seiji was embarrassed as he awkwardly scratched his face.
“As a reward, you can keep the tournament equipment for you and your partner that was originally only supposed to be a loan,” Yui told him.
“Thank you.” So the equipment that Hana loaned him had originally belonged to Yui… Seiji wasn’t surprised by this.
“What do you intend on doing next?”
“Eh?”
“I’m asking you about your future plans.” Yui looked over her younger brother who used to be a famous piece of garbage. “Now, you have actual power, connections, and wealth… Although it can’t be considered much, you’ve definitely improved to the point where you can live an entirely different life from how you have before. What specifically do you plan on doing in the future? How do you want to develop yourself? Do you have any concrete ideas?”
Seiji: “…”
“It would seem that you don’t.” Yui noticed Seiji’s awkwardness.
“I wanted to talk things over with Hana after I left the hospital…”
“Even Hana can only support you. Seiji, don’t you have any thoughts for yourself after experiencing this incident?”
Seiji fell silent for a moment.
Something flashed in his eyes as he understood what his sister meant. She was inviting him to Soul Society.
“Sister Yui, I have indeed thought about things.” Seiji sighed. “The Messengers faction is quite powerful and dangerous. Just this one incident alone caused so many deaths. To resist against them… or, more accurately, to protect the people that I want to from their threat will be impossible with only individual strength or a small group. Only a similarly powerful faction will be able to protect everyone.
“However, this incident was also the best proof of the major factions’ foolishness. They could have prevented this incident entirely, yet they chose to allow this to happen for the sake of their own benefits. Yet, the unexpected result was that there were serious casualties. Even the naval ship was almost sunk!
“This foolishness was caused by their greed for personal benefits. There’s no curing this. Holes have appeared in the old order, holes that need to be fixed by a new power. This new power is Soul Society.
“Soul Society has the Awakened at their core. Compared to the old and decaying factions, this is a new organization that possesses hope for the future.
“Yet, while Soul Society possesses hope, it’s still only hope…
“The old factions won’t allow Soul Society to grow as it pleases. The old factions will use all their might to steal control and authority, trying to make it into one of their tools.
“Currently, it’s impossible to predict what Soul Society will become like in the future.
“I want to protect all my friends and companions. If possible, I’d also like to do something else… I suppose you can call it protecting my joyful daily life.” Seiji smiled. “Perhaps I should join Soul Society for these objectives of mine. However, the risks and rewards are unclear. I don’t think that I should just casually join.
“Should I continue developing myself on my own? Or should I join this new faction that has hope but also danger? This is an important decision. I need to talk things over with Hana and discuss this with my friends so that I can better understand the situation and properly think things over before I make my decision.”
Something flashed in Yui’s eyes as she silently listened to his thoughts.
“Not bad,” she praised him. “These thoughts of yours are well considered. You pass.”
She then took out a golden card which had complex red runes upon it. In the center of the card were two majestic dragons, one black and one white, which were twirled around each other. They created a diagram similar to a Yin Yang symbol.
Seiji instantly recalled the Bloodwine Ritual tournament participation card that she had previously given him. What would it be this time?
“This is a registration card for Soul Society,” Yui explained. “As long as you inject your Mana and sign this card, you’ll become a registered unit. You’ll be able to contact Soul Society to obtain information, trade, accept missions, and so on.”
“Registered unit?” Seiji was somewhat confused.
“Basically, you’ll have a file with Soul Society and will be able to interact with Soul Society’s members and organizations. It’s a bit similar to registering for a website’s account.”
“…Then why not just call it an account?”
Yui thought it over. “Alright, I suppose we can call it account in the future.”
Seiji took the card and looked it over. He saw that there was a number on the back…
001.