AST, the Anti-Spirit Team, is a land-based self-defense force established through the collaboration of all nations on the continent to combat Spirits.
As their existence is not publicly disclosed, few ordinary people are aware of them.
The primary purpose of AST's creation is, of course, to counter the disasters caused by Spirits, such as Spacequakes. They even research the Spirit of Origin, who is believed to be the source of everything.
During her two years in AST, Origami learned a great deal about Spirits, including but not limited to: the birth of the Spirit of Origin thirty years ago, the Spirit codenamed 'Savior' who saved humanity, the Time Spirit who began to vanish seven years ago, the incident in Tengu City four years ago, the conflict between the Yamai Spirits a year ago, and the emergence of the new Spirit, Emperor, etc.
Believing that her actions would one day help Ryuya, Origami never considered becoming the man's enemy. Just as Ryuya had said, the earlier fight was merely to destroy the listening devices and other equipment in her AST's Realizer unit.
"I am willing to live for you, Your Majesty the Emperor."
Her sky-blue eyes filled with affection, Origami confessed deeply.
[After meeting Origami, you did not sense any Spirit power belonging to a Spirit on this girl. Concluding that Mio had not yet bestowed Spirit power upon Origami, you told her that AST was not a threatening enemy.]
[After all, in your eyes, the only potential threats were your obsessive tsundere girlfriend, Takami Mio, and your four disciples, Elliot, Westcott, and the others, whose whereabouts were still unknown.]
["Alright, alright, let's continue with class for now. We'll talk about the rest after school."]
[The news about the Spirits, Princess and Emperor appearing in Tengu City yesterday had likely reached all corners of the world. Finally, with the plot beginning, you had Origami relay the news of your, the Princess's, the Time Spirit's, and the Yamai Spirits' appearances to the AST's high command.]
[Once the AST's high command knew about you Spirits, organizations like DEM and Ratatoskr would also find out. Then, Westcott, Elliot, and the others should come to Tengu City, right?]
[Thinking this, you even appeared at the school, exposing your face as a teacher. Too lazy to search for Elliot and the others yourself, you revealed your location, waiting for Elliot, Westcott, and the others to take the bait.]
[Until then, you decided to enjoy the long-lost student life in Tengu City and also experience what it felt like to be a teacher.]
["Waiting for the others' reaction? I understand."]
[Having no objections whatsoever to your commands, Origami reported everything you said to the highest levels of AST as instructed. Regarding your appearance, the AST's high command reacted just as you expected: they stated they would send specialists for negotiations soon and requested peace until then.]
["Huh? So it's just over like that?"]
[Saying 'peace' was a bit of an exaggeration, especially since Mana, with the large bump on the back of her head, had genuinely suffered significant injury.]
[In the evening, after school, watching Itsuka and Mana return home with unknown feelings, you looked at Tohka, Kurumi, and the Yamai Sisters, asking them about their experience of school life today.]
"Hmm, how should I put it? It just reminds me a bit of my long-gone school days, evoking some youthful memories, I suppose?"
"But personally, I don't really care about that. I'm more curious about what you think of my uniform, Ryu? Do you think it looks good? Does it make you a little... excited?"
Spinning around lightly in place, the Time Spirit Kurumi, always bold and proactive, considered her intimate moments with Ryuya her life's goal.
She spoke very softly, so only Ryuya could hear, and made no overt movements, as they were still at the school gate.
But the affection in her eyes was clearly conveyed to Ryuya… Kurumi was obviously feeling playful.
"You... I'll deal with you properly tonight back home."
Gently squeezing Kurumi's small hand, Ryuya turned his gaze to the next candidate.
"Ah, Ryu, let me tell you, the people at school are so interesting! They all talk to me about strange topics."
"And the food! The cafeteria is amazing, they have so many things to eat!"
The simple-minded Tohka, curious about everything, was clearly very excited. Looking at you, she chattered incessantly about how fun the girls in her class were.
"Alright, alright, Tohka, that's enough for now."
Indicating for Tohka to stop, Ryuya knew that if left unchecked, this girl could talk for who knows how long.
"What about Yuzuru and Kaguya?"
"Haha, you've asked the right person, Ryuya! Those people have clearly completely succumbed to my charm. They've even formed a fan club to protect us!"
Hearing Ryuya ask about her school life, Kaguya's queenly personality burst forth uncontrollably as she talked incessantly about being surrounded by countless female students at school.
Kurumi aptly interrupted her: "Oh, really? But I felt like there were many boys surrounding you, Kaguya."
"Th-th-that's not true at all!"
Hearing Kurumi's words, Kaguya's delicate face instantly turned bright red. Glancing at Ryuya and seeing the man's expression remained unchanged, she breathed a slight sigh of relief, "Those little brats, why would I be interested in them? I wouldn't even say a word to them… no, not even a single syllable!"
"Agreement. Yuzuru and Kaguya both deeply love Ryuya. Our eyes absolutely cannot tolerate other men, even a glance would feel disgusting."
Supplementing Kaguya's statement, Yuzuru added seriously.
"Hehehe, I never said you were interested in other men or anything. Really, this makes me seem like the bad guy, doesn't it?"
Kurumi hadn't meant to sow discord with her words, and she was just speaking without thinking. While petty jealousy and rivalry were common occurrences, when it came to important matters, the Spirits were quite supportive and friendly towards each other, with absolutely no intention of targeting one another.
Pursing her lips and sighing, Kurumi hummed a couple of times, then ran back into Ryuya's arms to act spoiled and seek comfort.
"You! Tokisaki Kurumi, so this was your goal all along!"
"Agreement. Kurumi is a bad person."
Like a critically ill patient startlingly sitting up, only to find the clown was oneself?
Initially feeling a bit worried due to Kurumi's apparent guilt, Kaguya and Yuzuru, upon seeing Kurumi's true goal was yet again to act spoiled with Ryuya, voiced their shared indignation in unison.
And so, the joyful first day of school life came to an end.