Chapter 172: Preparations
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24
"This Yin Yang Master-sama trusts in you and would like to assign the most important task to you. That’s a good thing. I believe in her sincerity, and if you accept her request and live up to her expectations, she’ll definitely repay the favor."
‘That still requires me to live up to her expectations,’ Seiji thought to himself. 'A newbie training right before the battle is about to become the ace of the duel? This is ridiculous! It's just like making a video game noob the ace in a PK clan!’
"Although I’m not familiar with the situation, since this Yin Yang Master-sama has already requested it of you, it means she believes that you can do it. That why you shouldn’t lack so much self-confidence and believe in yourself! I shall also support you with all my might."
‘Eh, you can hear me even in my mind? And you can understand my thoughts?’
"As long as you think it, I can mostly understand the meaning you’re trying to express."
‘I see… by the way, I think you misunderstood. She believes in you, not me.’
"I am your strength! Believing in me and believing in yourself are identical!"
Seiji was left speechless upon hearing this.
"Haruta-kun… as expected, am I asking too much?" Seeing Seiji’s silence, Natsuya could only smile wryly. "I suppose so. Even if you have excellent spirit, making you into an ace immediately… I shouldn’t be so unreasonable. My apologies, I was too impulsive—you can forget…"
Seiji interrupted her with a sigh. "President, you said you would prepare it as a new battle plan, right? This means that it’s not one hundred percent certain that this new plan will be used, right?"
"…Indeed." Natsuya nodded. "It’s just in case."
"What’s the probability that it’ll actually get used?"
"Very low, and I hope that I won’t have to use it… but seeing your new strength, I want to make appropriate preparations."
"To be fully prepared for every situation, is that it?"
"Exactly." Natsuya looked into Seiji's eyes. "Even if it’s a low probability, there’s still a chance, which is why I’d like to ask your opinion."
Seiji fell silent once more for several moments.
"Okay, I accept," he said, sighing deeply. "I don’t feel like it’ll end up happening, nor can I promise to perform well if I truly do end up being sent into battle, but I guess you can never be cautious enough."
"Thank you, Haruta-kun," Natsuya said, smiling brightly.
"Oh, oh, this Yin Yang Master-sama’s smile is so beautiful! It's definitely worth fighting for such a moving beauty!"
Light-chan shouted some hot-blooded passionate words in Seiji’s mind.
This guy was just someone who liked to suck up to beautiful women, wasn’t he?
"Chasing after beautiful young women is something every man dreams of!"
Ok, fine, Seiji had now confirmed that this guy was that type of bastard.
"Seiji-sama, aren’t you my comrade? You also appreciate this Yin Yang Master’s beauty. Her breasts are…"
Seiji couldn't bear it any longer and shouted at his newly bonded spirit. 'Stop!' he yelled in his mind. 'Don’t peek at my innermost thoughts! Don't you understand that people need privacy!!?'
At any rate, thanks to this seemingly strong yet also unreliable heroic spirit’s incitement, Seiji agreed to the president’s request.
Afterwards, Natsuya told him her thoughts regarding his heroic spirit’s true identity and advised him to practice together with Hitaka in order to get accustomed to the power and battle methods of a Spirit-branded Retainer.
In the final hours of their preparation time, Natsuya also wanted to use the ‘mitigation’ method to ward off Shika’s [Reaper’s Curse] to limit as many uncertain outside factors as possible.
Seiji already had the power transference ability to cancel it out, so it was all actually an unnecessary process. Although he wanted to refuse at first, he decided to go along with it so that Natsuya and Hitaka could rest at ease.
And so, he had a very 'special' experience…
Time passed just like this.
…
Nighttime, at Genhana High School.
Seiji and Natsuya stood together on top of a fence surrounding the roof of a school building and were looking below them… it almost felt as if he were trying to act cool on purpose.
Of course, they weren’t actually attempting to act cool by standing at the highest location; the real reason was so that they could observe their territory as clearly as possible. But it had to be said that standing on top of the fence and feeling the cool night breeze made Seiji feel as if he were truly a combat expert.
Well, compared to ordinary humans, he was already in the realm of the ‘mystical.’ Just the fact that he could stand on top of the wire mesh fence so steadily would be shocking to any ordinary human.
His attire was rather unusual as well.
He was mostly clad in gray; he wore a gray windbreaker, a tight-fitting gray T-shirt, and gray pants. Silver rune-inscribed pieces of armor were attached to his chest, shoulders, knees, and elbows. His outfit made him appear mysterious. He almost seemed like a cosplayer, but the exquisiteness and quality of his armor were many tiers above an ordinary costume.
Although it'd be rather embarrassing if he walked around on the street like this, it would definitely attract many eyes as well.
And the president beside him had far surpassed the level of attracting attention—she was likely to cause a traffic accident to happen if she appeared on the street!
Seiji was under the impression that Natsuya would wear the typical "hunting clothes" of a Yin Yang Master, much like what he'd previously seen in the Spirit Image: a tall black hat and a white wide-sleeved robe.
But what Natsuya's attire left him reeling for several moments.
She was wearing form-fitting clothes!
Yes, that's right—form-fitting clothes! They were extremely tight clothes, just like Overbutt… whoops, clothes that certain female characters in Overwatch would wear—a short cape and a miniskirt with a slit in its side.
Natsuya’s body was truly excellent! Excellent! Excellent! Important things should be repeated three times.
In terms of figure, she was by far the best woman that Seiji had ever laid eyes on!
She was incredibly alluring even when she wore the Genhana High School's female uniform. It was only that her serious expression and stern aura made it difficult for people to think impure thoughts about her, which was why people tended to ignore her sexiness… er, her special charisma when interacting with her.
But ignoring didn’t equal forgetting.
It was impossible to forget.
Occasionally, Seiji would also realize that he was faced with an incredibly attractive lady. However, he had excellent self-control, so he usually wouldn’t think any strange thoughts.
But such an attractive beauty with an incredible figure appearing before him in form-fitting clothes was a huge blow to his sense of reason and self-control!
It was just like ocean water overwhelming a dam.
That was no joke! There was far too much destructive ability in Natsuya’s attire, to the point where Seiji instantly averted his gaze after regaining his senses and didn’t even dare to look at the details of her clothing, even though he was rather curious.
Natsuya’s form-fitting clothes had various runes and spells etched into them as well. They almost seemed like decorative patterns when viewed from afar.
As for her short cape and miniskirt… it was actually fortunate that she was slightly covered by those, otherwise her sexiness would break the scale! However, these articles of clothing were strangely beautiful as they flowed with the wind. The sight of the short cape and miniskirt flapping added to her allure in a different way.
Seiji believed wholeheartedly that if she went to a crowded place in her current attire, she would definitely cause a traffic accident!
‘You’re simply too much of a distraction, Natsuya.'
Natsuya didn’t know what Seiji was currently thinking, as she was focusing almost entirely on the impending duel.
Although she was confident of her chances, she was still somewhat nervous. An appropriate amount of nervousness, however, would assist her in utilizing her true abilities.
As for the boy beside her… Haruta-kun didn’t seem nervous at all.
'Perhaps,' she thought, 'it's because he's still an inexperienced beginner. Or is he simply confident in his own abilities?'
It seemed like she didn’t need to worry too much about him.
The inconceivable part was that even though Haruta-kun was a complete beginner, as well as a temporary Spirit-branded Retainer, just him standing by her side made her feel more reassured.
She felt like… no matter what happened, as long as he was by her side, she wouldn’t need to worry about anything.
‘Why do I feel like this?’
Natsuya didn’t understand.
This wasn’t the time for her to be thinking idle thoughts.
Suddenly, she detected something approaching their position!