"Hey, pull yourself together!"
I caught Nakagawa when he suddenly collapsed.
"It's alright, God! I think I've just run out of magic power!"
"Is that true? Is it really true?"
"How untrustworthy am I?!"
"That doesn't matter. How can I get better?"
"I think you'll be fine soon after a night of rest."
"...I see."
It appears his life is not in danger.
For now... I'll let him sleep at my place.
"But wow, he collapsed the moment he defeated the runaway soul."
"Has the tension finally snapped?"
"Hmm, I guess since he was using magic by extracting magical power from runaway souls, he ran out of magical power the moment the runaway soul disappeared?"
"Wait a minute, what's going on? Do runaway souls possess magical powers!?"
"Huh? Yes. Even though runaway souls don't have a physical form, they are still demons. They possess far greater magical power than humans."
"You're saying runaway souls are demons?"
"Huh? Didn't I tell you?"
"I didn't hear anything about that!! Why did you keep such an important thing a secret?!"
"Ahh! I'm so sorry!!"
"Fueled by negative emotions, they sneak into the gaps in people's hearts."
It certainly had a demonic feel to it. Though, it would have worked just as well if it were a human evil spirit!
"I mean, why were you late?!"
"Huh? Um..."
"I definitely told you the time, didn't I?"
And it's been about 30 minutes since the time I told you, hasn't it?"
"Um, well, it took me a little while to get out of the office..."
"Is that all...?"
"Y-yes! That's all..."
"..."
"...I'm so sorry. I got a little lost..."
"I seem to recall reading in the letter that Nakagawa's pendant was transmitting location information?"
"Uh, well, I forgot about it until the binding magic signal was sent..."
"...You bug-monster!!"
"S-sorry!"
"Seriously, I'm going home today. Take Nakagawa on the Hagoromo."
"Okay!"
Elsie wraps Nakagawa tightly in her feathered robe.
Then it floated up like a balloon.
The Hagoromo is really convenient, isn't it? With the Hagoromo, I don't think we even need Elsie anymore, do we?
...No, I think the barrier was Elsie's own power.
"...Elsie, can I talk to you for a moment?"
"What is it?"
"Once the conquest is complete, the memories of the girls, or rather, everyone involved, are erased, right?"
"Yes, more precisely, it's memory manipulation."
"It doesn't matter which. Is there any chance of my original memories returning?"
"Hmm... I'm sorry, but I don't really know the detailed principles behind memory manipulation, so I can't say."
"...I see."
"But basically, there's no way we'll ever go back. After all, it's our latest technology!"
"...Okay. Let's go home then."
"Oh, wait a minute, God!"
It's unlikely that Nakagawa would ever remember that.
That would be impossible unless a miracle happened.
If Nakagawa can manage to go that far...
...Next day morning...
I woke up as usual in the morning and ate as usual.
No, it wasn't just like usual. It had been a week since the four of us had breakfast together.
"Now, Kanon-chan, eat up!"
"Thank you, Mari-san."
"Mmm, this tastes so nostalgic! Mom!!"
"Oh, El-chan, you're always eating!"
"Huh? Oh, that's right! Hahaha~"
Elsie is subtly making mistakes, but if nobody seems to mind, then it's fine.
Nobody would think that the people have been replaced, and even if you told them, they wouldn't believe you.
Speaking of which, how much does Nakagawa remember? We might need to use the body swapping technique again in the future, so I'd like him to remember that part...
[Prrrrr prrrrr]
"Oh, it's me. Excuse me for a moment."
That was the sound of Nakagawa's cell phone... a text message.
The phone's ringtone was supposed to be a song.
Is it from work? He doesn't have any friends.
"A cell phone, huh... That's nice..."
"Oh, are you going to buy one too, El-chan?"
"Huh? Is that okay!?"
"Of course! Shall we buy a Keima while we're at it?"
"It's not a problem because we have PFP (Particle Filtration)."
"Even if you can send emails, you can't make phone calls, right?"
"It's not necessary."
"Honestly, you're not cute at all."
Well then, let's go buy it next time we have some free time."
"yes!"
A cell phone, huh? I don't need one, but it would be good for Elsie to have one.
...I wonder if he can actually use email properly? He won't start smoking when he presses a button, right?
"I'm back."
"Welcome back! What were you talking about?"
"Well, my work was canceled today, so they want me to come to school."
"So I'll be able to take classes with the princess!? I'm so excited!!"
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it too."
That line you just said... does that mean you've really lost your memory of the past week?
I think it would be best to subtly check on it.
While we were walking to school, Nakagawa started talking to me.
"Um, Keima-kun."
"My memory of the past week is hazy."
"...I see."
It's actually more suspicious when someone goes out of their way to say it...
"But there are three things I remember clearly."
"Three?"
"First, 'the fact that there was a runaway soul inside me,' and second, 'the fact that Keima-kun somehow managed to deal with it.'"
"...What's the third one?"
"That means, 'I want to thank Keima-kun.'"
"..."
"So, I'll tell you."
Thank you, Keima-kun."
"...Oh, you're welcome."