Kanata was shaken by Mikoto’s words, trying to calm himself, but…
“Your real name isn’t Namihei, is it?”
Princess Mikoto’s words echoed in his mind, shaking his heart.
“Calm down! Don’t be shaken! You’re practically giving away the answer!”
“………What are you talking about?”
Damn it, his voice cracked.
Princess Mikoto’s face showed understanding when she heard his strained reply.
…It’s no use, she’s figured it out.
“I understand your caution, and it’s understandable. Please listen calmly. I am on your side.”
Princess Mikoto said this to him calmly, while he was on guard against any intrusion from the door.
…Princess Mikoto was sitting within arm’s reach, unarmed and completely exposed.
If he wanted to, he could kill her or take her hostage.
…Does that mean she’s really on his side? Or rather, how does she know he was Amakake Namihei?
“You seem to be thinking a lot. But Namihei-san, it’s true that I’m on your side. Have you calmed down?”
He had managed to calm his agitation. The fact that she knew the name Namihei meant this princess knew the him from his previous world.
If that’s the case, there’s no point in hiding anything. It’s a gamble, but he had to believe this princess was his ally.
“Yes, I’ve managed to calm down. I will believe that Mikoto-sama is on my side.”
“Then you are indeed Amakake Namihei, aren’t you? More precisely, the soul inhabiting this body.”
It seemed Mikoto-sama knew all of his secrets. She could read not just his surface consciousness, but his deep consciousness with her Mind-Dragon Eye.
He had been careless. She must have read it during the party.
“…Amakake Namihei is dead. The one here is Amakake Kanata. Kanata Amakake, Sergeant of the First Unit of the Asura Unit, Crystal Widow.”
“………Understood. Then Kanata-san, I have many things I wish to ask, but you must have questions for me as well, right? I will answer anything I know, so please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Those were welcome words. He had a mountain of things he wanted to ask.
“Why do you know the name I discarded? Does the Mind-Dragon Eye also read deep consciousness?”
“No, as your father said at the party, my Mind-Dragon Eye can only read a portion of the surface consciousness. The reason I thought you were Namihei-san was because I heard it from your grandfather.”
Grandpa! He heard it from my grandpa… he was told?!
“You know my grandfather, Amakake Shohei!”
“Yes, although I have never met him directly, I have spoken with him many times through the Tenshitsu.”
“Tenshitsu? What is that… no, wait a minute!”
The natto bacteria in his brain started working at full capacity.
Grandpa was a man who made a miraculous recovery from being a vegetable when he was young… was it truly a miraculous recovery?
Could it be that someone’s soul possessed the body of Shohei Amakake, who was in a brain-dead state, just like him now?!
If souls could transfer from Earth to Planet Terra, then the reverse should also be possible!
“…Shohei Amakake, my grandfather, was a person from Planet Terra, wasn’t he?”
“Yes, your grandfather’s name here was Yasaka Reigen, and he served as the head of the Yashi clan. Reigen-sama repeatedly offered counsel on my grandfather Saryu’s rule, and because he was disfavored by my narrow-minded grandfather, he was eventually…”
“The Hachioki Soke was exterminated, and the clan was exiled. But Yashi Reigen wasn’t dead, was he?”
Mikoto-sama answered his question with a somber expression.
“Yes, Reigen-sama used himself as bait to allow his younger sister, Shino-sama, to escape, and shut himself in his mansion. Shino-sama, after fleeing Terukyo, lived in hiding and had a child. That child was Agito. Agito Hyoro, fangs of the Ice Wolf.”
What on earth. Agito is Grandpa’s nephew. That means… he’s also related to me… no, there’s no blood connection…
“Reigen-sama, who was besieged in his mansion, found himself with no way out and was about to face his final moments. However, Reigen-sama used a forbidden secret art there.”
“A forbidden secret art?”
“The Mikado family possesses a secret art of ‘spirit summoning.’ It doesn’t summon gods, but human souls.”
The commander had said that the Mikado family was a lineage of shrine maidens.
The story was starting to make sense.
“My grandpa from the Yashi clan knew the secret art of the Mikado family?”
“Reigen-sama’s great-grandmother was a member of the main Mikado family, and it is said she left behind writings related to the secret arts. She was said to be a shaman with particularly strong powers.”
“What kind of art is the spirit summoning art?”
“Among the main Mikado family, it is called the Mind Possession art. It is an art where one temporarily possesses the consciousness of another person in their sleeping body, or where one temporarily possesses the sleeping body of another.” Reigen-sama perfected the sealed forbidden art at the deepest level of the Mind Possession art, the Soul Transfer art. It is said to be an art that allows for permanent soul implantation, not temporary, and very few in the Mikado family could use it.”
“What?! Why did Grandpa have such an art…”
“…It seems Reigen-sama was contemplating a bloodless coup. He intended to transfer his consciousness into my grandfather Saryu’s body and achieve a righteous reign. …I understand Reigen-sama’s concerns. My grandfather’s rule was indeed dictatorial and can be described as oppressive.”
Mikoto-sama’s pallor was likely due to her father, Garyu, the Head of the organization, ruling similarly to his grandfather.
“That’s a rather roundabout method. Was it not possible to simply stage a coup?”
“Reigen-sama did not want to harm the Mikado family. If he transferred into Saryu-sama and handed over power to his younger brother, Ryu-sama, the coup would not be discovered.”
“I see. That way, the honor of the Mikado family would be preserved, and the Yashi clan would avoid the stigma of rebels.”
“Yes, but he reconsidered his plan and decided to continue making efforts to change my grandfather’s mind. Although it was met with the worst possible outcome…”
“Cornered to the brink of death, Grandpa took a gamble and used the sealed Soul Transfer art.”
It was a gamble, like random teleportation in wizardry. It’s good it wasn’t in a stone, though.
“Yes, and Reigen-sama awoke in the body of Shohei Amakake, who was in a vegetative state due to a traffic accident on your Earth. Reigen-sama met your grandmother on Earth and decided to live as Shohei Amakake. You know the rest of the story better than I do.”
“Yes, from then on is the Shohei Amakake that I know. After that, Mikoto-sama was born, and communication became possible between Earth and the Central Sphere. Is that the Tenshitsu?”
“May I… put something on first? It’s a bit embarrassing…”
“Embarrassing? Don’t you like that kind of fashion?”
Mikoto-sama put on something like a cape and said,
“Reigen-sama told me that Kanata has a particular preference for women’s breasts… I had no choice but to confirm it…”
Grandpa, why would you tell her such a ridiculous thing?!
“Um… were you perhaps… using your Mind-Dragon Eye just now when you closed your eyes?”
Mikoto-sama, blushing, delivered a death sentence to him.
“Yes, I activated it just before Kanata-san bowed, captured you in my gaze, and then read your mind after closing my eyes… I was worried you might notice the activation of the Dragon Eye…”
He had been engrossed in admiring breasts and had completely missed it… Rasen-san had laughed about how he might slip up over curry, but he couldn’t laugh anymore.
The reason he slipped up was indeed due to breasts.
“…I thought I had become able to sense the activation of the Evil Eye…”
Mikoto-sama added, chuckling.
“You were very much focused on my chest. You were wondering what size they were… and their shape… a-and even fantasizing about the color of my nipples…”
“Princesses shouldn’t say such vulgar things!!”
His scream echoed within the completely soundproof car.
In any case, Mikoto-sama knew his situation and seemed to be on his side.
He must take advantage of this stroke of luck, no matter what.
The New Year’s mood needs to end soon.
