Chapter 1183: The War King's Emissary
"Even though the Fourth True Ancestor's popularity has declined, I'm amazed you can still support him so steadfastly!"
Watching Eiji walking while pulling out his phone to argue with netizens, Sayaka expressed her admiration.
A week had passed since the Fourth True Ancestor first appeared.
With official suppression, the Fourth True Ancestor's online popularity had visibly declined, though the impact was still brewing.
Of course, the Fourth True Ancestor still had plenty of fans, but those like Eiji who intensely argued with netizens speaking ill of the Fourth True Ancestor were truly rare.
"Weren't you fighting against the Fourth True Ancestor before?"
Sayaka looked at Eiji with complete confusion.
"How did you suddenly become the Fourth True Ancestor's die-hard fan?"
"Because that armor of his is super cool! I really want a set to play with!"
Eiji said in a tone that suggested it was completely natural.
"..."
Sayaka was rendered speechless again.
Fine.
I was too naive for asking that question.
This guy's thought process can't be measured by normal people's standards!
"By the way, why did you call me out today?"
Eiji put away his phone with satisfaction.
Another day of thoroughly cursing out the anti-fans!
By the way, his account name had been changed to "The Fourth True Ancestor Himself."
He really wanted to know what expressions ordinary people would make when they eventually learned this was actually the Fourth True Ancestor's own account, hahaha!
"Here, this is for you!"
Sayaka suddenly slapped something onto Eiji's chest.
Her face was flushed with deep crimson.
"Let me make this clear! I've never picked a gift for a boy before, so I don't know if it'll suit your taste... But you're not allowed to complain no matter what!"
What she slapped onto Eiji's chest was a wooden box.
Eiji gave her a rather surprised look.
"I'd forgotten all about that. I didn't expect you to still remember?"
In that instant.
Kousaka Sayaka stopped breathing.
Her confidence in this gift and her anticipation about what nice things he might say instantly shattered into pieces.
I spent a whole week agonizing over choosing this gift, and you actually forgot about it?
"Oh, it's a glove?"
Eiji opened the wooden box.
Inside was a deep black leather glove with a fingerless design that looked quite stylish.
There was also the scent of curse techniques on it - likely protective curse techniques specially added.
"Not bad—"
"Go die!"
Sayaka fiercely slapped at him.
Spiritual power gathered in her palm, her silent movement resembling assassination techniques!
Hachijin Shinpou!
Considering Eiji was a martial artist, Sayaka had a sudden inspiration and chose a glove as a gift. She had even personally applied curse techniques to protect the fists!
"Are you having another episode?"
Eiji quickly stepped back.
"Yes! Exactly! I must be sick to care about giving you a gift! You're the worst! If I say another half-word to you, I won't be called Kousaka Sayaka!"
Sayaka ran off with heavy footsteps.
As she left, what seemed like tears glistened in her eyes.
Eiji rubbed his chin.
"I was just about to say it's a pretty good gift..."
Some might have misunderstood that he was deliberately teasing her.
That would be doing an injustice to a good person—he had genuinely forgotten about the gift.
After all, when he teased her back then, he had only used the gift as a casual excuse.
Huh, did I just say "teasing" again?
It must be an illusion.
All just illusions.
"Woo-woo—!"
The deep, drawn-out sound of a cruise ship horn grew louder as it approached from afar.
Drawn by the noise, Eiji turned his gaze toward the East Coast harbor.
There, a familiar-looking cruise ship slowly sailed in from the Pacific Ocean, docking at the pier.
"What's that?"
Sayaka also spotted the massive ocean liner.
"Could it be...?"
...
"Kanon, how have you been lately?"
In the front yard of the convent, a girl as gentle and loving as a saint was feeding the once-again growing number of stray cats.
"Eiji-nii."
Kanon stood up and called out to Eiji softly.
In her eyes, the armored figure that had appeared by her hospital bed a week ago almost perfectly overlapped with the Eiji standing before her now.
"I've been doing very well lately. I've been talking more with my uncle, and... I can even go out shopping freely now..."
Kanon haltingly shared the changes in her life, her face glowing with a happy smile.
In just one week, her life had undergone a dramatic transformation.
Her uncle had unexpectedly opened up to her for a heart-to-heart conversation.
Mustering her courage, she finally voiced her true feelings.
Becoming an angel wasn't something she desired—she was already content with her current life.
Her satisfied smile left Yeats Kensci speechless for a long time.
After that, the Fake Angel Project was suspended.
No longer subjected to various ritual magic modifications, she could finally live the ordinary life she had always dreamed of.
Even Beatrice no longer dared to make things difficult for her, lifting the restriction that confined her to school grounds during outings, allowing her to go shopping freely like other girls her age.
The Fourth True Ancestor's high-profile appearance and storming of Mage's Physique were believed to be related to the Fake Angel ritual. Aside from Yeats Kensci and a few others, very few knew that the Fourth True Ancestor's true target was Kanon.
Thus, Kanon attracted no unnecessary attention.
And all of this was thanks to the Fourth True Ancestor.
"Thank you, big brother."
Kanon gave a slight bow to Eiji, her cheeks flushed pink.
"What does that have to do with me?"
Eiji gave her a puzzled look before heading into the convent's backyard.
Kanon chuckled softly but said nothing.
When one's spiritual medium abilities reach a certain level, their perception of spiritual entities becomes maximized—in other words, they can see things like the future or ghosts.
Similarly, when in physical contact with a True Ancestor, a shrine maiden can experience electric-like sensations and perceive incredible things.
The stronger the innate talent, the stronger the perception.
Sayaka's talent was considered strong among spiritual ability users, but it couldn't compare to Kanon's.
Kanon's spiritual abilities were extraordinarily powerful from birth, for reasons even she didn't understand.
Therefore.
She had actually sensed some of Eiji-nii's secrets quite early on.
"There, there, no fighting. There's plenty of food..."
Kanon crouched down, soon surrounded by a group of cats again.
Backyard.
"Master, this just arrived this morning."
Nina handed the unopened invitation to Eiji.
The invitation bore the emblem unique to the War King's Dominion—a balanced composition of intermingled weapons like blades, spears, and swords dividing the visual field equally.
Eiji opened it.
"To the Fourth True Ancestor—"
It contained a lengthy, floridly written message.
"The envoy of the War King's Dominion invites the Fourth True Ancestor to attend tonight's banquet aboard the cruise ship."
Eiji tossed the envelope aside casually.
"Never mind it—just a trivial matter of no consequence. There are far more important things right now. Nina, copy 'make effort to' two hundred times for me!"