"Aren't you afraid of me?"
With Ellen and Karen, his sisters whose individual combat abilities ranked at the top of the world, Westcott had been searching for Ryuya for nearly twenty years.
His once-youthful face had matured and steadied with the passage of time, but his heart's desire to see his teacher again never changed.
Having finally found the first Spirit, and having tried summoning Spirits himself numerous times over the years without success, Westcott had only detected spiritual fluctuations from three Spirits.
First, Honjo Nia. Second, Tokisaki Kurumi. The third was Himekawa Yoshino.
Due to Yoshino's mother's passing, he finally pinpointed the Ice Spirit whose spiritual power was fluctuating.
Looking at the seemingly delicate, princess-like Yoshino before him, Westcott sensed no fear or apprehension towards him, a stark contrast to how other ordinary people reacted.
"Afraid? Why should I be afraid of you?"
Shaking her head, Yoshino looked at Westcott, with a strange glint in her eyes. Being inherently sensitive, she felt a sense of incongruity and familiarity from Westcott, almost like...
"You... do you know Onii-sama?"
Sensitive to the magical energy Ryuya had once channeled into her body, and sensing a similar scent on Westcott and the Ellen-Karen sisters, Yoshino asked.
"Onii-sama?"
"Yes, the benefactor who helped heal my body long ago. You and them... you have Onii-sama's scent on you."
Pointing at Ellen and Karen beside Westcott, Yoshino explained.
"Sensei?"
His expression shifting slightly, Westcott hadn't expected to hear about Ryuya from Yoshino.
Not believing the Spirit before him would lie, as the existence of Ryuya was a secret the four of them had never told anyone, he asked, "Is this the person you mean?"
Taking a photo from his pocket, it was a picture of the four of them with Ryuya. In the photo, Ellen and Karen sat on Ryuya's legs, each holding one of his arms. Elliot stood behind Ryuya, while Westcott crouched in front of him. It was the happiest time of their past.
"Hmm... I haven't seen Onii-sama, so I don't know."
Shaking her head, her memory of Ryuya was vague, and Yoshino only recognized his scent.
But looking at the photo Westcott provided, she felt the person in the photo had a very warm smile. If the Onii-sama who saved her was this person, then it probably was him.
After Yoshino recounted the story of being saved by Ryuya in the hospital twenty years ago, and confirming the timeline, Westcott remembered that Ryuya was indeed away on a trip during that period.
"I see. So you're a girl Sensei saved?"
His attitude towards Spirits was one of utilization, using their power to change the world.
What Westcott wanted was to make the world know pain, so that humans would realize how fortunate they were to be alive.
He clearly remembered Ryuya sealing the Spacequake and saving all humanity. But Westcott found that many humans showed no gratitude, and they didn't value their lives at all.
Believing these humans were wasting the lives Ryuya had given them, Westcott's goal was to use the power of Spirits to create another crisis capable of destroying humanity, making these people understand how precious it is to be alive and to experience the world's beauty.
Make the entire world know pain, create a world that worships Ryuya as a god… this was Westcott's conviction.
Explaining his ideas to Yoshino, he had now managed DEM quite successfully, so he saw no need to hide his plans from a comrade.
Because Yoshino was someone Ryuya had once cared for, he acknowledged her as a comrade.
"Ah... create a world-destroying crisis?"
Beneath her timid and cowardly exterior lay a strong and stubborn personality. In the original work, even when attacked by AST or DEM, Yoshino wouldn't fight back, firmly believing in not harming ordinary people.
Hearing Westcott's plan to bring the world to the brink of destruction, she immediately shook her head and refused.
"I don't want to destroy humanity."
Seeing Yoshino's reaction, Westcott continued, "Yoshino, back then, Sensei saved the world, sacrificing everything for it. Yet these humans he saved don't understand the value of life. They are wasting, wasting the second chance at life Teacher gave them."
"I have no intention of destroying the world, because this is the world Sensei protected. But I must create a sufficient crisis, one that makes all humanity feel pain. Only then will these humans understand how happy they are to be alive."
Pointing at the people outside, Westcott's voice was low and angry. "With technological progress and development, humans have become obsessed with contending for resources and territory. They chase after meaningless things like power and money. What kind of path do you think humanity is on if this continues?"
Producing a data report documenting the wars, expansions, destruction, and other atrocities committed in the human world over the past twenty years, Westcott sighed, "Yoshino, do you see? This is humanity. This is the world today."
"A world like this, if left unchecked, will eventually lead humanity to self-destruction. We are not committing some heinous evil… we are saving them, making humans understand there is still much to do in this world, that they cannot fall into internal strife."
"Hmm..." Kind-hearted but clearly somewhat naive, Yoshino didn't know how to refute Westcott's logic.
Looking at the evidence Westcott presented, Yoshino thought for a moment, then whispered, "Then... if I help you, can I decide which humans to target in the future?"
"I think we shouldn't harm good people."
Hearing Yoshino's decision, Westcott nodded without hesitation, "Of course. The poor, children, and women are not my targets. My aim is those high and mighty tycoons and politicians, the scum who wasted Sensei's grace."
"Alright then... I agree to your request."
Agreeing to cooperate with Westcott, Yoshino began working at DEM from that point on.
Flashback ends.
In Westcott's office at DEM Headquarters, looking at Westcott who wanted Yoshino to rest, the rabbit puppet Yoshinon asked, "Aren't we going to keep looking for Ryuya, Westcott?"
"Not for now. We don't need to keep searching for Sensei."
Shaking his head, long accustomed to Yoshinon's presence, Westcott turned on the large screen in his office, displaying information about Kurumi and Nia.
"Yoshino, Ellen, Karen, the Time Spirit and the Wisdom Spirit have been missing for a long time. I suspect they might have met each other and become friends."
He had always kept tabs on Nia and Kurumi. Although he lacked specific details about them, Westcott had monitored their activities.
But for over a year, there had been no information about either. He concluded they had likely met, as the Time Spirit, though hard to find, had been active due to her habit of hunting humans.
The Wisdom Spirit, on the other hand, hid very well.
Pointing at the long-missing spiritual signatures of the two Spirits, Westcott thought for a moment before summarizing, "Since those Spirits are hiding, searching diligently won't be very useful. We might as well rest properly for a while."
"According to my intelligence, there's still a long way to go before everything begins."
Recalling the phantom he had seen once, Westcott actually held a special secret within his heart.
Namely... the Spirit of Knowledge.
About half a year ago, around the time the Time Spirit lost her trail...
"Sensei..."
Opening his eyes, the familiar ceiling was that of his bedroom.
Sitting up in bed, Westcott had dreamed of Ryuya again last night.
Covered in cold sweat, he went to the bathroom and stared blankly at the stunning beauty reflected in the mirror.
Yes, his was not the correct pronoun here. Because Westcott was originally a girl.
As Wescott appeared, the bathroom mirror revealed a beautiful, dreamlike young woman.
She had an exquisitely delicate and beautiful face, dark golden hair, and a sickly, frail aura that evoked pity.
Wearing a simple nightgown that barely served its purpose, her slender and dainty figure was not without sensuality.
Yet, the coldness in this girl's eyes seemed to lower the temperature of the entire bathroom.
They were violet eyes, filled with a killing intent that seemed to disregard anything and anyone.
Combined with Wescott's beauty, this combination made her appear even more dreamlike.
Like a girl who stepped out of a painting, a princess that should only exist in fantasy.
Just meeting her gaze felt like entering a wonderland. Such utterly enchanting allure, captivating and impossible to escape… such bewitching, dazzling beauty truly existed in the world.
Looking at her own peerless, delicate, sickly-beautiful reflection in the mirror, Wescott's parents had been quite stubborn, traditional mages.
They had raised Wescott as a boy from childhood, which was why the villagers never knew Wescott's true gender.
After her parents died in an accident, the inherently aloof Wescott had no intention of reverting to her female identity. She actually found it quite fine to continue like this.
Under these circumstances, she kept her secret, later using makeup, illusions, and more to conceal her identity, until...
"Wescott, did you take that book on Spirit Summoning Rituals from my study?"
That was when Ryuya was still around. Because he thought Wescott was a boy, Ryuya hadn't paid close attention to his disciple's behavior. He knew Wescott used illusion magic to conceal something, but respecting his disciple, he believed Wescott had her own reasons and never asked.
Opening Wescott's door, he was greeted by the girl who had just bathed, completely unclothed.
"Sensei?"
"Oh, you mean the Spirit book? Yes, I took it. I forgot to tell you."
Showing no embarrassment at being completely exposed before Ryuya, Wescott went straight to get the book and handed it to him.
"Hmm... Wescott, you're a girl?"
"Do Elliot and the others know?"
Finding that Wescott seemed completely unconcerned about her female form, Ryuya thought her personality was a bit odd.
He hadn't expected Wescott in this world to be a girl.
"Elliot and the others don't know."
Shaking her head, Wescott didn't have a strong impulse to keep this secret… she was simply used to it.
But for some reason, when she appeared naked before Ryuya, a feeling she had never experienced before flowed through her heart… a sensation she found very strange.
"Sigh, Wescott, you... should have some awareness of being a girl."
Draping a coat over Wescott's shoulders, Ryuya said nothing more and left her room.
"Sensei..."
Looking at her reflection in the bathroom, Wescott ended her recollection of the past… her most cherished memory.
Just then...
"So you are Ryu's disciple? You seem... to have great potential."
Before the phantom radiating seven-colored light, Wescott met the Spirit of Origin for the first time.
Unclear about what the Spirit of Origin intended, she only knew that afterward, she too gained the power of a Spirit.
It was a power different from the ten Spirits of the original work. It was the power of the Spirit representing the final Sephirah, Da'at, on the Kabbalah Tree of Life… the Spirit of Knowledge.
The Eleventh Spirit, Astral Dress Eleventh, the Spirit of Knowledge… Wescott.