An entire night passed quietly.
When the sky began to show faint light and the night was about to be dispelled, the girl who had been lying on the bed all night finally woke up faintly.
"Wh-Where am I...?"
Looking at the ceiling similar to her own room and the unfamiliar bed and bedroom, Akatsuki Nagisa, who was still a little drowsy and dazed, suddenly sat up and was fully awake.
"Wh-Where is this? Why am I sleeping here? Huh? Eh? Wh-What happened...?!"
Nagisa instinctively clutched the blanket tightly, looking completely flustered and unable to form coherent sentences.
Before Nagisa could start having shameful associations, a familiar voice entered her ears.
"So you're finally awake."
Kaiser was sitting cross-legged next to the bed, leaning against the wall, looking as if he had been dealing with things there all night. He was stretching lazily as he spoke to Nagisa.
"K-Kai-kun?" Nagisa clutched the blanket even tighter, still somewhat panicked and incoherent as she said, "Why are you here? Why are we in the same room? Is this some kind of prank? There must be others hiding here... holding a 'prank successful' sign, right?!"
Obviously, waking up in a strange room and bed with a male peer nearby was a bit too stimulating for a young girl who hadn't even graduated middle school.
"What's wrong?" Kaiser looked at the panicked Nagisa, blinked, and said, "Did you forget what happened last night?"
"L-Last night?" Nagisa couldn't help but swallow, her mind going completely blank.
That phrasing... Could something unbelievable really have happened last night?
And with the older neighbor she'd just met?
Something like that... No way!
With tears brimming in her eyes, Nagisa began racking her brain, desperately trying to recall what happened last night.
She remembered that after club activities, because it was too late and she missed dinner time, and because Kaiser warmly invited her, they went together to a family restaurant near school and had dinner.
After leaving the restaurant, they chatted as they walked home, and then along the way, they ran into...
"Demons..."
Nagisa finally remembered that incident, and her panicked face turned pale.
"Looks like you've remembered." Kaiser had been watching the changes in Nagisa's expression. Seeing her pretty face turn white, he immediately spoke. "That's right. On the way home, we ran into some delinquent demons who picked a fight with us."
Perhaps recalling the scene from that time, Nagisa's delicate body couldn't help but tremble slightly.
"Th-Then I...?"
Nagisa's voice was weak and uneasy.
"I see." Kaiser seemed to understand and said, "You don't remember what happened afterward, do you?"
Nagisa nodded faintly, her face pale.
She really didn't remember anything after that.
Seeing this, Kaiser's eyes flashed.
Logically speaking, he should hide what happened then, to avoid stimulating Nagisa's lost memories.
But such a method would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.
So Kaiser decided to reveal part of the truth.
"Nagisa, you're probably not an ordinary person, are you?" Kaiser said. "You might not remember, but actually, you did something quite incredible at that time, you know?"
"Eh?" Nagisa froze instantly, a face full of confusion. "I... did something incredible?"
"That's right." Kaiser nodded and said, "At first, you were terrified of those two delinquent demons, but suddenly, it was like you turned into someone else. You burst out with amazing power and scared those two demons off."
Kaiser's words left Nagisa not just stunned but dumbfounded.
"I scared off those two demons?" Nagisa shook her head quickly, full of disbelief. "No way, that couldn't have happened!"
"It's true." Kaiser looked into Nagisa's eyes, as if to add weight to his words, and said, "I saw it with my own eyes, saw how you looked at that time."
"You were like someone possessed by something, completely unlike yourself."
Hearing that, Nagisa suddenly fell silent.
"Possessed..."
The girl murmured with a complex expression.
"Could it be..."
As for matters regarding the Fourth Progenitor, Nagisa had indeed completely forgotten.
However, matters unrelated to the Fourth Progenitor, or those related but unimportant or unnecessary, Nagisa hadn't forgotten.
For instance, she remembered that she used to be a mixed-ability user, not only possessing extremely excellent spiritual medium aptitude but also once having clairvoyance.
She remembered helping her grandmother and father with work for a time, and using her spiritual sight and medium abilities to locate underground ruins, deciphering unreadable ancient inscriptions, and even being commissioned by universities or special institutions to do many volunteer archaeological activities.
Even though she had forgotten what happened on Gozo Island, she still remembered the work she had done in the past.
Therefore, Nagisa knew that she had originally been a highly gifted spirit medium, possessing powerful Spirit Vision and exceptional spiritual medium aptitude, allowing her to perform full divine possession—a remarkable spiritual vessel.
Kaiser's words made Nagisa immediately think that she might have briefly regained the abilities she once lost and had been possessed by some entity at that time.
That was likely why, in Kaiser's view, she had become someone else and burst forth with astonishing power she didn't normally possess.
"Th-That me... I didn't do anything else, right?" Nagisa asked worriedly and a bit fearfully. "I didn't do anything excessive, did I?"
For some reason, Nagisa was particularly afraid of this point.
As if she once did something terrifying under the possession of some dreadful entity.
Fortunately, Kaiser shook his head.
"Nothing too outrageous, since I was there and stopped you just in time."
Kaiser said this, which made Nagisa freeze again.
"You stopped me, Kai-kun?"
The girl looked completely incredulous.
Seeing Nagisa like that, Kaiser smiled.
"Come to think of it, I haven't told you my true identity yet, have I?"
As he spoke, Kaiser pulled a document out of his pocket.
"This is my qualification certificate." Kaiser handed the document to Nagisa and said, "I'm a special agent of the Lion King Organization, an active national Sword Shaman."
Upon hearing this, Nagisa widened her eyes.
"Kai-kun is an sword shaman?" Nagisa exclaimed, "A special agent of the Lion King Organization?"
"Yes." Kaiser nodded and said, "The Lion King Organization is a special agency under the National Public Safety Commission, established to prevent large-scale magical disasters and terrorist attacks, while also conducting intelligence gathering and espionage. It's an organization that traces back to the Heian era, protecting the imperial court from vengeful spirits and demons—older than even the current government."
"I'm a fresh graduate this year from a facility specialized in cultivating such talent. After graduating, I received official sword shaman qualification."
"The reason I came to Itogami Island is because of an organizational assignment. From now on, I'll be stationed here, responsible for handling matters related to Itogami Island."
Kaiser put away his certificate, smiled at Nagisa, and said:
"So, don't be fooled by my appearance. I'm actually quite capable. Luckily, I was with you last night. Otherwise, who knows what might've happened while you were in that state."
Kaiser's self-reveal, while surprising to Nagisa, also quickly made her understand and accept it.
A national sword shaman, a fresh graduate assigned by a special agency, and her neighbor and upperclassman having such a background—though unexpected, it wasn't unbelievable. After all, Nagisa herself wasn't a normal person, and there were others like Natsuki Minamiya stationed at Saikai Academy too.
"So that's why Kai-kun transferred here?" Nagisa quickly accepted it and gratefully said, "I'm really glad you were there last night. Otherwise, I might've done something terrible."
"Thank you for stopping me, Kai-kun."
Nagisa expressed her gratitude sincerely, and Kaiser casually waved it off.
"It's my job as a special agent to stop magical disasters and terrorist attacks. If I hadn't stopped you at that time, you might've caused a magical disaster or terrorist incident. So I had to act."
Kaiser said this first, then changed the tone slightly.
"But you, Nagisa, having such a dangerous ability really makes people uneasy."
Nagisa showed a bitter smile and a troubled expression.
"I haven't used that kind of ability in a long time. I also lost it four years ago. I didn't expect it to suddenly come back. I'm really at a loss myself."
Nagisa's expression was filled with confusion and a hint of dejection—her face visibly complex.
"Can you still use that ability now?"
Kaiser asked casually.
"No, I can't." Nagisa shook her head. "If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't even have known I could still use that ability until now."
"That's a bit troublesome." Kaiser said nonchalantly, "Looks like your situation is a bit complicated."
"In that case, for the time being, stick with me."
"I'll watch over you and see how to resolve this issue. If you enter that out-of-control state again, I can stop you in time to prevent anything irreparable."
Hearing this, Nagisa, though a bit hesitant, thought about how she might unknowingly cause something irreparable and ultimately agreed with Kaiser's decision.
Thus, Kaiser went from operating in the shadows to openly becoming the one monitoring Nagisa's side.