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Chapter 178 — Sigh… I Just Play for Fun!
🕑 Added 2025-07-16 15:37:44 +0000 UTCHigh above Tenguu City, tens of thousands of meters in the sky.
The sky was a deep, flawless blue.
Not even a single cloud could be seen at this altitude—let alone something like a paper crane.
Few birds could reach such heights; only the howling gales raged through the empty air.
Yet strangely, those violent winds split apart at a certain point, as if something invisible stood in their path.
And indeed—that was exactly the case.
Using an advanced projection device, the airship Fraxinus employed an optical cloaking system far beyond the capabilities of conventional technology.
This was the headquarters of Ratatoskr.
“Who’s that? A new Spirit?”
“I don’t think so… None of the known Spirits have blue hair, right?”
“But if she’s not a Spirit, how can she be that adorable?”
“……”
“Fair point...”
On the way to the control room, Itsuka Kotori and Itsuka “Shiori” clearly heard the hushed whispers.
Nearly every male crew member had their gaze fixed on the girl walking behind Kotori.
Countless strange looks caused Itsuka “Shiori” to tense up, her body stiffening instinctively.
“Well, they’re not wrong! Shidou, you really are super cute right now!”
Kotori cheerfully patted “Shiori”’s shoulder, her smile bright as ever.
“Cute, my foot!” “Shiori” groaned, her face frozen in despair. She let out a long sigh. “Kotori, if you don’t know how to comfort someone, maybe just don’t say anything…”
“Alright, alright. Hang in there, we’re almost there.”
…
Today, Murasame Reine was in high spirits.
After all, the plan to have Shidou absorb the Spirits’ powers was proceeding smoothly.
The power of the Tenth and Fourth Spirit had already been sealed.
The Ninth Spirit had manifested as well, and soon—just like before—Shidou would seal that Spirit’s power too, with her help.
That would make three Spirits in total.
One big step closer to the ultimate goal: sealing all ten Spirits.
As for certain… “necessary actions” Shidou had to take while sealing those Spirits?
She could endure it!
Everything was for the sake of their shared future—forever together.
The only thing that puzzled Reine was the sudden appearance of that unknown boy who had appeared by Shidou’s side…
Along with the Third Spirit who followed him, and what seemed like the Second Spirit being saved by that very boy.
Reine, who occasionally watched Shidou via the Fraxinus surveillance system, was well aware of Nagami’s existence.
And now the Fifth Spirit was clearly helping them too...
Reine had already decided.
She would take on her “Phantom” persona and personally investigate Nagami.
If this unexpected boy posed a threat to her plans—
Then he had to be eliminated.
“I’m here!”
A lively voice broke her train of thought as the door slid open.
The energetic voice of the commander rang out from behind.
“Reine, prep the Spirit-exclusive testing chamber. I’ll need it soon.”
“Yes, Command—”
The final syllable caught in Reine’s throat, stuck there like a stone.
She froze, staring blankly at the beautiful girl standing behind Kotori.
Her mind seemed to explode with thunder, leaving her dazed and disoriented.
Long, flawless blue hair cascaded down to her waist.
Her slender figure had all the right curves, and her snow-pure face bore no flaws from any angle.
Her amber eyes sparkled with life, and her slightly parted, rosy lips radiated a quiet allure.
And yet—Reine recognized her instantly, with that unique, familiar feeling only she could sense.
This girl… was Itsuka Shidou.
Impossible!
‘My Shidou turned into a girl!?’
She knew the abilities of the Angel belonging to the Tenth Spirit, Mio Takamiya.
And there definitely wasn’t anything in her powers capable of changing someone’s gender at the fundamental level!
“Commander, who is this lovely young lady?”
With his usual poise and grace, Kannazuki Kyouhei walked over to Kotori, his golden hair and brown eyes as polished as ever.
He squinted slightly at “Shiori”, curiosity in his tone. “She seems… oddly familiar.”
“Well, of course she does—because she is Shidou~”
Kotori glanced over at Reine’s face, which had turned several shades of complicated—as if she’d just witnessed a Sichuan opera face change and nodded in satisfaction.
Then she casually dropped the bomb that left Kannazuki completely speechless as well.
“Shiori”, who had no intention of adding to the chaos, simply gave them both a helpless nod before following Kotori toward the testing chamber.
…
The examination lasted the entire day.
By nightfall, Kotori finally brought Shidou still in girl form back home.
“This is what you might call a curse, I guess? It’s technically harmless. Whoever’s afflicted turns into a girl upon contact with cold water, and turns back into a guy with hot water…”
With a lollipop in her mouth, Kotori explained the phenomenon while holding a report titled Analysis Results, though it was essentially a scientific body report full of technical jargon.
Not that “Shiori” could make sense of any of it.
This wasn’t your typical physical check-up.
“There’s actually a curse like this in the world...? Nagami… Tokisaki-san… you two have gone too far!“
Despite being a single sentence, the voice fluctuated several times between male and female tones.
With a helpless sigh, Itsuka Shidou stepped back a few paces to avoid Nagami, wearing the same expression someone might have when dealing with a rowdy relative’s troublemaking child.
Nagami and Kurumi were each holding bottles—one filled with hot water, the other with cold.
They were taking turns dripping them onto Shidou, causing his body to switch repeatedly between male and female.
“Young man, we’re helping you here.”
Nagami looked straight into Shidou’s eyes with a dead-serious expression, like some righteous hero radiating integrity and moral authority.
“Think about it. If this is a curse, it might have a limit, right? Maybe if we activate the curse enough times, it’ll wear off! Isn’t that a possibility?”
It all sounded so logical and noble… but in truth, Nagami and Kurumi just wanted to mess around.
‘Hehe~ Turn back into Shidou!’
‘Hehe~ Now turn into “Shiori” again!’
‘Sigh… I’m just doing this for fun!’
“That… almost sounds like it makes sense…”
The friendly tone and sincere expressions momentarily made “Shiori” lower her guard.
She pursed her lips slightly, staring at Nagami and Kurumi as they continued to drip water on her from both sides.
Her gaze dropped, and she sank into deep thought.
“You really think I’d say that!?” she suddenly snapped. “You two are just playing around! Aren’t you?! You totally are!!”
Her anguished shout echoed through the room as “Shiori” retreated to a corner, crouching against the wall like a lamb facing down two hungry wolves—completely on edge.
“Master, we’ve been found out~”
“Indeed, we’ve been found out.”
Neither of them sounded the least bit sorry.
Nagami still wore his usual warm, gentle smile—one that might’ve seemed harmless to anyone else.
But to “Shiori”, it was the sinister grin of a devil.
‘These two are demons!’
That gentle smile twisted into something terrifying in “Shiori”’s mind, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
“Alright, alright! That’s enough from you two.”
Kotori, her face a perfect picture of deadpan exhaustion, glanced from Nagami and Kurumi to the others standing around enjoying the show.
For a moment, she felt like her soul was leaving her body.
“Shidou, this is your chance!”
She shoved Nagami aside like she was pushing away the Demon King himself, then grabbed the bottle of hot water from Kurumi.
Without hesitation, she poured the entire thing over “Shiori”’s head.
Nagami’s eyes went wide at the sight.
‘Wasn’t that a bit much, even for a little sister?!’
With a loud yelp like someone being scalded, “Shiori”’s soaking blue hair quickly shortened before their eyes, and within seconds, she was back to being Itsuka Shidou again.
“This is the perfect opportunity to capture Miku’s heart! If you show up in front of her as a real girl, she’ll definitely let you seal her power!”
A powerful aura burst from Kotori’s slender figure as she shouted like a commander leading troops into battle.
“Hisss… I get what you’re saying…”
Still wincing, Shidou glared darkly at Kotori, his voice low and ominous.
“But Kotori—why the hell did you pour the whole bottle of hot water on me?! Wouldn’t just one drop have been enough?!”
A black miasma of fury began to rise faintly from his body, his expression on the verge of a total villainous breakdown.
“Uh…”
Kotori froze.
“Well? Anything you’d like to explain?”
“I… I just kinda… went with the flow…”
Kotori quickly hid her small frame behind Nagami and clung to his arm, flashing Shidou an awkward smile like a kid caught red-handed.
It felt like an arrow had shot through Shidou’s heart.
His face turned pale, filled with despair.
‘This brat of a sister is a lost cause…’
He was sure Kotori had been completely corrupted by Nagami.
And the way she instinctively hid behind him now only confirmed his worst fears.
For just a brief moment, Shidou considered confronting Nagami as Kotori’s older brother and having a serious talk.
But the moment his gaze shifted to the calm, smiling dark-haired boy...
That thought vanished like a wave retreating from the shore.
‘Nope. Not picking that fight.’
