Rikya watched Satou go. The fox spirits disappeared into the treeline carrying Myon and Syon, the grey one gave the little girl a final glance before he left.

Rikya took a walk, thinking to herself of the next move. She'd won. It was an undoubtable victory, but- Rikya knew that it couldn't be this easy to leave. Her thoughts went to her family and what they would do when they discovered the shrine in their house broken and Rikya missing. Rikya had Tama on her side. They'd be in the Spirit World, in Tama's country. They'd have a small rebel army. Tama told her she thought it up while pinned to a tree by Myon.

She passed through the trees, crouching down to stare at a line of ants crossing in front of her in a line. The idea of going to another world was exciting, but there'd be problems too. Rikya glanced at the fort, shielding her eyes from the morning sun. Ichi was stuck in Tama's breasts there. How shameless. He was that age, though, Rikya smiled to herself. For all Rikya knew, Tama had already brought him over to their side. Playing him couldn't be this easy. Rikya nodded to herself.

It's because she understood something about Ichi in the time she trained him in the shrine. It wasn't just that he performed magic resonance with the orc sword earlier this morning, he performed magic resonance with Scipio's Tale, a weapon made by one of the strongest immortal beings alive in the world. Royalty of the real world, spillovers from the spirit world who took over Earth long ago. Scipio's father Dracula, the manifestation of evil in mankind, and Ika, the manifestation of the good.

Scipio was the child of light and dark, the pinnacles of humanity. And, he was overwhelmed last night by two different opponents. Rikya considered the first, holding out her hand to her right. In it, she saw Ichi. The orc sword with magic resonance. She'd have to ask Satou what happened there. Satou could see the true nature, the rules of the underlying magic in the world. However, Rikya saw Satou watching Scipio get overpowered twice. She didn't seem that upset watching the fight from Renya's fort, so it must have been nothing special.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Rikya walked around kicking the grass. The warmth of the sun basked over her. This would be her last day on earth. She could easily spend the rest of her life in the Spirit World. That was only if things went well.

Ichi was one thing. Unpredictable, but controlled by instinct. He'd walk wherever he wanted, which to Rikya meant over her plans as well. That was fine, to Rikya, because he seemed far too weak to women and girls for her to even worry. That complacency worried her the most. Ichi would be dangerous because he was boring. He wouldn't draw attention, and then, one day, he might cost her everything. And that would purely be because of his instincts as well.

The other factor was Renya. Rikya had time to use her Pathfinding ability to see where Renya went. Rikya hoped she went home. She couldn't imagine a more dangerous opponent. Not just unpredictable, but also competent. She hadn't had the chance to see Ichi's fight with Renya on the rooftop. At the time, Scipio was busy toying with her, Tama, and Myon with his sword and the Elder Kraken.

She felt her body remembering his attack. Like new, she sighed at the memory. What would she have done without Satou? Die? Could Tama have saved her? Or, even worse...

Was Tama thinking that was the perfect time to let her die? Rikya shook her head. She didn't want to distrust Tama. She knew that even thinking that would be dangerous. Her eyes once again drifted to Renya's fort. There was a counterbalance option. There was Renya. If she could convince her, Rikya thought. She held her head thinking of that. Someone who fought like that could really kill her in an instant. She had that bakeneko in her too.

Then, Rikya got an idea. Rely on Ichi. Ichi could handle her, or at least, he already did. She wandered around the forest, thinking of ways to convince Ichi to bring Renya over to their side. At least try. Then Rikya thought about how she might be much, much better off just not having Renya around. By the time she returned to the fort, she resolved to say nothing. When she walked in and saw Ichi still in Tama's chest, she wondered just what she was so worried about in the first place. And that got her even more worried.

So, she took a nap.