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Chapter 171 — Not Twice Over
🕑 Added 2025-07-13 15:50:33 +0000 UTC“Hmm? Why can’t I find any records of Nagami’s past?” Honjo Nia frowned deeply. “It’s completely blank… as if he just popped into existence out of nowhere…”
Her turquoise eyes shimmered with confusion. She glanced at the black-haired boy beside her—who wore an expression of called it—with disbelief.
“Wait… Nagami, don’t tell me you’re a Spirit too? No, that can’t be right. Even if you were a Spirit, the database should still show something!”
The Zadkiel couldn’t scan Spirits in their fully armed state, but as long as they weren’t in combat form, it had no problem retrieving basic data.
“So there are limits to her ability after all…”
Nagami observed Zadkiel’s condition using the special vision of his Alpha Stigma Eyes.
This angel—no, this Stand—was leagues stronger than that old man’s abilities.
Although Nia didn’t contribute much during the Date A Live storyline, that was clearly due to her own mindset. Put positively, she was like a mouthpiece for the entire cosmos.
If this ability ever truly reached omniscience, and combined with her “Record of the Future,” it would become an unimaginably terrifying power.
“I’m definitely not a Spirit. But I’m not human either,” Nagami said with a relaxed smile, waving his hand. “If I had to name my race… you could call me a 'Herrscher.'”
Both Tokisaki Kurumi and Honjo Nia tilted their heads in unison, puzzled by his reply.
“Try digging a little deeper. You should be able to find some records of what I’ve done since arriving in this world.”
“This world… Wait, are you a hero from another world, sent here to save us? Or maybe your world was in danger, and you came here seeking a special power—or maybe…”
Nia gasped mid-theory, “Ow ow ow!”
As an avid otaku and a bestselling manga author, Nia’s mind instantly flooded with possible storylines from just that one phrase.
Nagami withdrew the knifehand chop he'd landed on Nia’s forehead and said calmly, “You’re too excited.”
Still… she wasn’t entirely wrong.
“You really don’t know how to treat a delicate girl, do you, Nagami?” Nia pouted. “That’s a big minus for a protagonist, you know.”
“Nope. The kind, gentle protagonist type is already out of fashion.”
Flipping through the pages with her pale, delicate fingers, Nia’s expression lit up in surprise. “Oh! Found something! Let me take a look…”
She raised her voice to hide the tension in her heart.
Though she always spoke to Nagami in a teasing, carefree tone, in truth, this radiant boy who’d come into her life meant more to her than she let on.
“You’re scanning for ‘Nagami,’ huh…? Let me see too,” said Itsuka Kotori, bobbing her head as she peeked over Nia’s shoulder.
Even Kurumi stopped the massage she was giving, summoned a clone to take her place, and walked over to join them.
“Master, you don’t mind if we peek into the majestic splendor of your inner psyche, do you?” Kurumi said with a mischievous tone.
Who knew Kurumi was so talented at sarcasm? She’d apparently picked it up from Nagami on their way back.
“Go ahead. I’m curious too—to see just how deep this book can dig.”
“It’s pulling up most of your normal activity just fine, but your thoughts are all scrambled! Some parts are even just… blank.”
Nagami had a good guess about the blanks—they probably corresponded to times when he was chatting in the group.
As for the garbled sections, he suspected they were from when he used the power of the Herrscher of the Void.
“…‘If I run into Honjo Nia, I should save her. I mean, she is a fellow otaku, and they say she draws R18 art.
That kind of talent is a national treasure… If I save her, maybe she’ll draw some doujins I want to see for free…’”
Kotori read the passage aloud in a strange tone, then gave Nagami a look that screamed ‘I can’t believe this is your reason.’
Under Kotori’s very pointed, very mocking gaze, Nagami straightened up, his expression growing stern and righteous.
“What are you staring at me for? I wasn’t wrong!”
He declared with conviction, “Artists like her are an endangered species. They deserve to be protected at all costs!
Besides, even if she’s a little flat, she’s still a beautiful girl—and that makes her even rarer!”
“You really are something else, Master,” Kurumi smiled sweetly.
He’d managed to say something so outrageous in such a dignified way.
She couldn’t help but recall how he’d proposed to her the first time they met.
With a graceful smile, Kurumi stepped behind Nagami and knocked her clone—who had been pressing her chest up against his back—back into the shadow dimension with a punch.
These clones seriously think they’re gonna take over as the main wife?!
‘I swear, if I ever find out which one of you started this delusion, I will personally tear you apart!’
“Uhh… while most of this is entertainingly questionable, why is the most important part just a bunch of nonsense?” Nia frowned.
It was true that his original motivation for rescuing her had been to gain access to Zadkiel’s abilities.
Everything else was just a bonus.
But now, there was no way to play it off as anything noble.
“What’s wrong?” Kotori asked, watching her. “Are you disappointed in Nagami? That he saved you for such a… shallow reason?”
Kotori gently placed a hand on Nia’s trembling shoulder, her voice soft and comforting.
The delicate silver-haired girl hung her head low. Kotori could feel her whole body subtly shaking.
Nia’s long, curled lashes fluttered, casting faint shadows on her smooth cheeks.
Her bangs concealed her expression, but the soft sound of quiet sobbing could be heard beneath them.
“It’s okay… I—”
Kotori’s words were cut off by Nia’s sudden wail.
“Uwaaaah!! Nagami… Nagami! I can’t believe it—you’re into 2D stuff too?! And that’s why you saved me?!”
Under Kotori’s stunned (and slightly baffled) gaze, Honjo Nia, dressed in her absurdly revealing nun outfit—which honestly looked more like lingerie—leapt straight into Nagami’s arms, clinging to him like an octopus.
To be saved by a hero who literally fell from the sky, just when she had lost all faith in humanity… for Nia, that alone had been happiness beyond words.
But to find out that this hero was also a fellow otaku? That was like a fantasy come true.
Those two blessings stacked together—this was easily the happiest moment in Nia’s life as a Spirit.
And best of all, there were no caveats. No “but”s. No hidden twists.
Her long, slender legs wrapped around Nagami, glowing like porcelain in the sunlight. A faint blush could be seen at her knees from kneeling earlier.
As a certain seaweed-haired philosopher once said: “I could admire these legs for a whole year!”
Unfortunately, the tears streaming like noodles down the girl’s face completely ruined the delicate mood that had started forming in Nagami’s mind.
And then there was… that.
At their current position—with their chests pressed together—any other girl would’ve given Nagami at least some sense of softness. Heck, even Kotori probably had her beat.
Nia, however… was built like a high-grade Shenzhou tablet.
“H-Hey! Isn’t this what they call biting the hand that feeds you?!”
A bit stunned, Nagami still gently wrapped his arms around the sobbing girl.
Despite the remnants of her Spirit armor, her body felt soft and slender, lighter than he had imagined.
From this close, he could even catch the faint fragrance she wore.
“How dare you call me that! I am not some two-dimensional freak!”
“I’m not!”
“I didn’t!”
“Don’t say weird stuff!”
A triple denial burst out of Nagami’s mouth on instinct. His face was flushed. “I-I swear, I’m not one of those! I didn’t mean it like that!”
Hearing his frantic denial, Nia finally stopped crying. She wiped her eyes and looked up at him through tear-blurred lashes.
“You don’t like manga, anime, or light novels?”
“Uh… I mean, I do, yeah. But what does that have to do with being a 2D Otaku?”
“You like all that and still say you’re not one?!”
“Bah, I said I’m not, so I’m not!”
“…”
Staring at the boy still stubbornly in denial, Nia sniffled, wiped away the last of her tears, and reluctantly climbed down from his embrace.
Her slightly puffed cheeks and the red tinge at the corners of her eyes gave her an unexpectedly cute look.
But now that she had finally met her hero—and found out he was a fellow otaku—there was no way she was letting him get away.
She wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders and walked a few steps away from Kotori and Kurumi, drawing closer to whisper in his ear.
With a sly smile, she raised one slender finger to her lips.
“You really won’t admit it?”
“Of course not—”
“I could draw a doujin for you, you know~”
“…What?”
“You could be the main character~”
“…”
“The heroine would be Kurumi-chan, Sister-chan (Kotori), Inori-chan… and of course, me. How about it?”
“!!!”
Nagami inhaled sharply, freezing in place.
Then, with the utmost solemnity, he turned to face the mischievously grinning silver-haired girl.
“I will love 2D… forever.”
