Fraxinus, Ling Feng and Shido followed Rei onto the bridge, or command center.
"I've brought them," Rei said, looking at the blonde man standing by the door.
"Thank you for your trouble," Kannazuki, who had been waiting, nodded. He then turned his gaze to Ling Feng and introduced himself.
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Kyouhei Kannazuki, the副司令 (fù sīlìng - deputy commander) here. I hope we can get along."
"Eh! Kotori?" Shido, who was looking around, was completely bewildered when he saw his sister Kotori sitting in the main seat.
Kotori took the lollipop out of her mouth, seemingly having anticipated Shido's reaction, and smiled.
"Welcome."
"Welcome to Ratatoskr."
Then, she turned her gaze to Ling Feng, narrowing her eyes and scrutinizing him from head to toe. She spoke word by word.
"Now, I wonder, what is the identity of this student, Ling Feng?"
"We checked the information on your student file, and it seems you forged it."
She had never seen the armor he was wearing before; it didn't match any known manifestation equipment. Furthermore, according to data analysis, the material of his armor was ordinary alloy, and it seemed to be powered by electricity. This meant that he likely built it himself. It was not something a high school student could do.
"Me?" Ling Feng's lips curved into a slight arc, and he smiled. "I'm from the future."
The future? Everyone present was stunned.
"You heard me correctly. I'm from the future. As for how I got here, I'm afraid I cannot say."
"My purpose for coming here is to prevent the Chaos Creatures from changing the past."
Ling Feng began to tell a plausible lie. For those who knew the story, posing as someone from the future was the best excuse. Moreover, the Chaos Creatures had already shown themselves, and it was inevitable that the subsequent events would change.
"So... according to you, you exposed yourself on purpose." Kotori raised her chin and said seriously.
Ling Feng nodded and began to explain (he was still lying).
"Time travel does not allow me to carry anything, so... with my current abilities, it is difficult to deal with Chaos Creatures whose abilities are unknown."
"Therefore, I need Ratatoskr's help. I want to join your engineering department."
...
Silence.
A brief silence fell upon the room. Shido was still trying to figure out what was happening, while Kotori and Kannazuki were contemplating Ling Feng's words.
After a long moment, Kotori and Kannazuki exchanged glances with Rei. Kotori took the lollipop out of her mouth, her expression serious.
"We can agree to your request... but only if you can prove that you are indeed from the future."
Ling Feng smiled slightly, everything was within his grasp.
"I can, but according to the rules of time travel, affecting the past will cause unpredictable consequences."
"So... I can only reveal one piece of information about the future, and it must be something that will have minimal impact on the future."
"The next location where the 'Princess' will appear is... Raizen High School."
"..." Kotori's eyes blazed. Seeing Ling Feng speak so confidently, she glanced at Kannazuki, who immediately understood and went to make preparations.
"Alright, regardless of whether it's true or not, I can arrange for you to join the engineering department."
"Welcome to Ratatoskr." Kotori smiled slightly. After all, a high school student who could independently build an armored suit was a rare talent.
"Alright, now, it's time for me to give Shido a proper explanation."
"First... she is a Spirit." Kotori pointed to Tohka on the large screen. "She is something that originally did not exist in this world."
"Whenever she appears, regardless of her will, she will blow up everything around her, which is what is known as a spatial quake."
"It's the residual shockwave generated when Spirits like her appear in this world."
"Second..." After explaining Spirits, Kotori lightly pressed a button on the control panel, and the screen changed to show Origami Tobiichi and others.
"They are AST, the Anti-Spirit Team of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. Whenever a Spirit appears, they fly there and deal with it."
"In other words, they kill them."
"Third... there is another method for dealing with Spirits, besides AST's approach..."
"And your power, Shido, is essential for this method."
"Uh, my power?" Shido was very confused. Before he could ask or refuse anything, Kotori continued.
"So, training will begin tomorrow. I'll have someone handle the paperwork tonight."
As Kotori said this, she glanced at Ling Feng next to her, the meaning clear: his admission to the engineering department would also be arranged.
"In any case, you will go to school as usual tomorrow. As for you, Ling Feng, you can choose to stay at home or on the Fraxinus."
Seeing that Kotori had made all the arrangements, Shido, still bewildered, quickly interjected.
"Wait a minute, what's this training about! And what can I even do?"
"Hmph! Hmph!" Kotori, displeased with Shido's reaction, stomped on Kannazuki's foot to calm herself and continued, "I didn't ask for your opinion."
Kannazuki, who was shaking, then said, "Hey, no matter what, isn't this developing too fast?"
"It's fine," Shido thought, unable to believe his ears, his face filled with astonishment.
"I don't mind dating you either," Origami repeated.
"Ah... you mean dating in a platonic sense, like traveling together..."
"Is that what you mean? I thought you meant romantic relationships... Did I say something wrong?"
"No, no... you're not wrong..." Shido was starting to doubt if he was dreaming. How could everyone be like this...
(I messed up, why did I say 'not wrong'! I could have just played along with the misunderstanding.)
As Shido was internally complaining, Origami walked up and handed him a photo of her uniform.
"Na-na-ni."
"Since you like uniforms..."
Origami was about to say something when an alarm suddenly blared in both their ears.
"A precursor to a spatial quake has been observed in this area. This is not a drill! Residents, please evacuate to the shelter immediately."
"I have an urgent matter. We'll talk later." Origami left these words and ran off.
"Hey, Origami..."
"Shido, a spatial quake is coming. Let's head back to the Fraxinus first." Kotori's voice reached Shido's ears.
"Is it the 'Princess'?"
"Yes, it is. I didn't expect it to be true, just as Ling Feng said..."