[Under your intervention, Nia and Kurumi, who were about to battle it out for three hundred rounds, finally ended their brief quarrel. The final contest they decided on was actually quite simple: cooking.]
[However, in the culinary arts, Kurumi clearly had the absolute advantage. Although Kurumi herself wasn't a great cook, having lived with you for a year had given her some experience. With the help of her numerous clones, Kurumi prepared a table of quite decent, delicious dishes.]
[In contrast, Nia, with her inherently poor self-care skills, usually relied on takeout. Having no memory or experience of cooking, even with the help of her Angel, Rasiel, she still failed to produce anything tasty.]
[At the dinner table, looking at Nia's complete failure, Kurumi hugged you and declared victory, showing a genuinely happy, innocent, and pure side of herself.]
["Damn you, little Ku-chan! Don't think you've won just like that. There's plenty of time ahead."]
[Even after losing the contest, Nia refused to back down. She patted her chest confidently, declaring that for the near future, she wouldn't disturb Kurumi's and your private time in the evenings, and then ran off to draw manga.]
["Huh? Honjo Nia, you draw manga too? Let me see what you've drawn."]
[Opening Nia's sketchbook, Kurumi found the original manuscripts for Silver Bullet inside.]
["Wait a minute, Honjo Nia, you're actually... Honjo Soji?"]
[Staring in shock at Nia, Kurumi was a devoted fan of Silver Bullet and had always assumed Honjo Soji was a man. She never expected Nia to be Honjo Soji herself.]
["Well, yes, I am Honjo Soji. Do you have a problem with that, Tokisaki Kurumi?"]
[Explaining that many female manga artists use male pen names, Nia listed several examples, including Hiromu Arakawa-sensei of 'Fullmetal Alchemist', Takahashi Rumiko-sensei of 'Inuyasha', and Amano Akira-sensei of 'Katekyo Hitman Reborn!'.]
["There are... that many female authors?"]
[Upon learning that Nia was the author of her favorite work, Kurumi's hostility towards her noticeably lessened.]
[Taking Nia's hand and saying, "Since you're Honjo Soji-sensei, I suppose I can tolerate you a bit.", their relationship inexplicably improved.]
[Watching Kurumi and Nia get along harmoniously, you were quite happy with this development.]
[After that, continuing your search for information about Yoshino and Wescott yielded no traces of DEM or AST. Even using the Angel, Rasiel, you couldn't find information about Wescott or even ordinary DEM's members. You suspected Mio had sealed Rasiel's abilities again and simply gave up searching for news about Wescott and the others.]
[You decided that since Mio wanted to delay, she was probably waiting for the final Spirit, Yatogami Tohka, to be born. She likely wouldn't meet you until all ten Spirits had appeared.]
[Resolving to simply wait for the main story to begin, you took Nia and Kurumi traveling around the world. During this time, you repeatedly felt someone's gaze, probably Mio's.]
[And so, time passed until the third year of your arrival in this world, which was four years before the main story begins.]
"Ryu, will a new Spirit appear here?"
Tengu City, a relatively prosperous, newly developed city in Japan.
Walking here with Ryuya and Nia, Kurumi didn't know why Ryuya had come here.
"Hmm... There should be. I'm not entirely sure, let's just say there's a possibility?"
Using the Angel Rasiel again, Ryuya had found information on Tobiichi Origami, Itsuka Kotori, and others. He located Origami's address and Kotori's residence.
Not only that, he even discovered two other people: Itsuka Kotori's triplet sisters, Itsuka Shiori and Itsuka Mana. (T/N: It will be explained in the next chapter.)
Remembering that in the original work, Itsuka Kotori would become the Fire Spirit four years before the main story begins, triggering a massive change in Origami's life, Ryuya brought Kurumi and Nia to Tengu City.
…
Origami was a remarkably talented girl.
At school, she was the typical 'other people's child' that parents talked about, excelling in both academics and athletics.
She liked dairy products like cheese and hated fibrous vegetables with less refreshing textures, like celery. Her family was excellent, and her parents were the kind of understanding relatives who accepted everything about her, allowing her to live happily.
Growing up in such an environment, in the year Origami turned twelve, on her way home, she found the street where her house was located inexplicably engulfed in flames, accompanied by the blaring Spacequake Alarm.
"What's... going on?"
Her body stiff, staring at the street turned into a sea of fire, Origami's ears were filled with the Spacequake Alarm, people's screams, and children's cries.
"Mom! Dad!"
After a brief moment of stunned disbelief, Origami immediately ran towards her home. She had to save her parents.
"Dad! Mom!"
Taking a deep breath, looking at her home already engulfed in flames, Origami didn't hesitate for a moment and rushed inside.
"Dad! Mom! Where are you?"
The house was filled with fire, many areas already damaged, posing the constant danger of being crushed.
Moreover, highly concentrated smoke, dust, and scorching flames filled the interior… it was a space fraught with peril.
Searching for her parents inside, following her path, she saw them… her parents collapsed in the smoke and dust.
"Dad! Mom!"
Rushing to her parents' side, Origami found they had stopped breathing, apparently having died from prolonged inhalation of large amounts of smoke and dust.
Her eyes suddenly turned terrifying. She couldn't accept it, couldn't accept her parents dying in such a way.
"What is this? Is it a Spirit?"
The Spacequake Alarm still blared in her ears. Looking at the entire street plunged into a sea of fire, Origami swore revenge. She would absolutely not allow Spirits to destroy the lives of ordinary people like her in the future.
But just then.
"Eternal Kingdom."
"Zafkiel - Dalet (Fourth Bullet)."
As a man's voice rang out, the entire street, or rather the entire area covered by flames, began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Completely unprepared for this situation, Origami witnessed a phenomenon called a miracle before her eyes.