The sky was clear and sunny, but in stark contrast, were the despairing hearts of Westcott and the other three.
"Sensei...?"
The usually sunny and cheerful boy, the eldest brother among the four, Elliot had never imagined that Ryuya would disappear.
After all, this plan was his idea in the first place. And now...
Reaching out his hand, feeling the passage of the wind in the air, he could perceive that Sensei was truly gone.
"Nee-san, Sensei will be alright, won't he?"
Her breath hitched, oblivious to the chaotic surroundings, the younger sister, Karen, tightly gripped her older sister, Ellen's hand.
"I... I don't know."
Shaking her head, Ellen seemed as if she had lost her very center, at a complete loss for what to do.
As for Westcott…
"My heart... is this sadness?"
Westcott, who should feel pleasure upon witnessing the departure of life, found himself utterly unable to feel happy watching Ryuya vanish.
Logically, he should be delighted, but at this moment, he couldn't feel any joy at all.
It was strange. He should be experiencing the greatest joy of his life right now.
After all, in Westcott's eyes, Ryuya was the most important person. He should be feeling unparalleled ecstasy, yet in this second, he only felt...
"Is this... the feeling of sadness?"
'Tears?' They were a liquid Westcott had no prior cognition of. Feeling the slight dampness on his face, he stood there dazedly, looking up in the direction where Ryuya had disappeared.
…
Three days later.
Having stood there in a daze for three days and three nights, battered by wind and rain, Westcott and the three had reached their limit.
Even though they were the most outstanding wizards trained by Ryuya, their physical endurance had its limits. Going three days without food was manageable, but without water was pushing it.
Although they could have continued waiting in a stupor, if Ryuya hadn't returned in three days, it meant their teacher either couldn't return in the short term, or he would never...
Shaking his head violently at the thought, Elliot spoke.
"Karen, Ellen, Westcott, we can't waste any more time."
Frankly stating the fact he was most reluctant to accept but had to acknowledge, Elliot, as the eldest among the four, felt it was his responsibility to take care of his younger siblings.
"Elliot, what are you saying?"
"Sensei just ran into a little trouble, that's all. If we wait a few more days, just a little longer, we will definitely see Sensei again."
Grabbing Elliot's collar, Karen believed that if she just kept waiting here, if she just waited, she would surely witness Ryuya's return.
"…"
Not refuting Karen, Elliot understood the depth of his sisters' affection for their teacher. He just couldn't bear to look directly at Karen's face and turned his gaze away.
"Westcott, say something too. What are you going to do?"
Noticing Westcott walking towards the direction of the nearby house, Elliot called out.
"Sensei isn't coming back. At least not in the short term. There's no point wasting any more time here. Sensei would absolutely not want to see us like this."
Without any intention of turning back, Westcott went straight into the house and opened the refrigerator.
Taking out food and water, he returned outside.
"Whether you eat or not, whether you maintain your condition and live properly is up to you. I will not die here."
The unheated food didn't taste good, but Westcott ate and drank water mechanically.
Watching Westcott, Elliot was the first to sit on the ground, disregarding the dust, and began to eat.
"Westcott, what are you thinking about?"
After hesitating for a while, Karen and Ellen also picked up bottles to drink water. They didn't choose to eat immediately.
"I want... to research Spirits."
The three days and three nights had allowed Westcott to recall every second of his past.
After thinking it over, he had finally determined his next goal.
"Research Spirits?"
His expression turning serious, Elliot became agitated, "Are you joking, Westcott? It was this so-called Spirit Summoning Ritual that caused Sensei's... situation. What do you want to research Spirits for now?"
"Don't misunderstand, Elliot."
Shaking his head, showing no reaction to Elliot grabbing his collar, Westcott's voice was calm, "What made Sensei disappear wasn't the Spirit ritual itself. It was us four… the foolish, arrogant, ignorant idiots who didn't know our limits."
"Although our intention was for Sensei, wanting to give him a surprise, Sensei once told us that the existence and research of Spirits are complex and determined that we shouldn't touch it."
"In the end, it was us who made Sensei disappear, not the so-called Spirits."
His words, calm to the extreme, were enough to make anyone feel a chill in their hearts. But Westcott had always been this kind of person.
"You're right. It was our foolishness that led to this outcome."
Taking a deep breath, Elliot continued asking, "Then what is your purpose in researching Spirits? Do you still want to trigger a crisis capable of destroying the world?"
"No, I don't want to destroy the world."
Taking a bite of bread, chewing it many times before swallowing, Westcott wasn't flustered at all, "Elliot, Karen, Ellen, you should have sensed it too, right? The Spirit Summoning Ritual didn't fail. We succeeded."
"Although we don't know where that Spirit went, it's definitely on this planet."
"Find it, uncover the secrets of the Spirits. This is how I want to complete the work Sensei started."
"I want to establish a company, an organization, an institution focused on researching Spirits, to prevent similar tragedies from happening again."
Hearing Westcott's words, Elliot and the other two fell into brief thought.
After a long moment, Elliot was the first to let out a long sigh, "Westcott, you're right. No matter what happened to Sensei, the Spirit we summoned was indeed born. Therefore, we must find it."
"And continuing to research Spirits is fine too. I support Westcott's idea."
"Ellen, Karen, what about you two?"
Looking at the two youngest sisters, Elliot asked.
"Completing Sensei's research on Spirits? We have no problem with that."
Indicating they would also do something, even though Ryuya was gone, none of the four dared to definitively say their teacher was dead.
The four exchanged glances and agreed to establish a company and begin researching Spirits.
"Speaking of which, what should we name the company? Do any of you have suggestions?"
"Hmm... How about 'Ryuya'? As a memorial to Sensei's name."
"I think we could call it 'Spirit Land', to show we research Spirits."
Starting to debate the company name, Elliot and the other three argued for a while, unable to settle on a suitable answer.
"Westcott, do you have any opinion?"
Feeling he really couldn't win the argument against the Ellen-Karen sister duo, Elliot felt that if he didn't make an effort to ask Westcott, names like 'Hide and Seek Co.' might pop up soon.
"The name I've decided on is DEM. Deus Ex Machina. We'll publicly state that Spirits are the most perfect models we create, a form of biomechanical technology."
Hearing the name Westcott proposed, Elliot and the other two nodded, finding it quite reliable and a good name.
Only Westcott himself seemed listless.
Because his true goal was never to research Spirits. What he desired was...
'The village was destroyed, Sensei is gone. In that case, is there any need for the human race to continue living?'
'Research Spirits, utilize that power. I will make the world know pain.'
'DEM, in truth, stands for Die Eager Mainland!'
'I... will bring death to the entire world!'