Opening her eyes again, Wanmie found herself staring at that familiar living room.
Wanmie wiped the cold sweat from her brow—this time, she had truly escaped death by a hair.
Though her chest still ached, the thought of having gotten away brought her an involuntary sigh of relief.
As her body relaxed, the pain in her chest intensified, but it was still within a bearable range.
She looked down at Shinonina, who was trembling quietly in her arms, gently stroking the little girl’s head with a smile.
“It’s alright now, Shinonina.”
“Sis…”
Shinonina lifted her head, her blue eyes shimmering with tears, as if she was about to break down any moment.
How could such an adorable creature exist in this world!
But this time, Wanmie held back her inner turmoil and asked a question whose answer she already knew.
“Shinonina, why didn’t you summon your angel to fight back? They all wanted to take your life.”
“Because… it hurts…”
Shinonina replied softly.
“That feeling… it’s very painful…”
Hearing the answer, Wanmie shook her head slightly. Sometimes being too kind only made you easier to exploit.
Shinonina’s angel was powerful—it would be no problem at all to wipe out an entire AST unit.
Even if it couldn’t, she had more than enough ability to protect herself.
Yet, this little one actually worried that the enemy would feel pain, so she chose not to retaliate.
Wanmie was about to say something when she suddenly felt the temperature around her drop sharply.
The warm, soft Shinonina in her arms suddenly became as cold as ice.
Frost spread instantly from Shinonina’s body, engulfing the entire room.
Wanmie immediately sensed something was wrong and let go of Shinonina.
“Shinonina, what’s wrong?”
“Shi… Shinonina…”
Shinonina murmured pitifully, shaking her empty left hand, and big tears uncontrollably spilled from her eyes.
“No… it can’t be!”
Wanmie was utterly baffled.
Why was Shinonina gone again?
And worse, this was her apartment.
If Shinonina lost control here, she could freeze the entire building in an instant, and Wanmie would be left homeless!
“Shinonina, calm down. Sister will find Shinonina for you right now!”
“Waaaah!”
Shinonina’s crying was soft, like a newborn’s first wail, tinged with innocence.
But at that moment, a massive surge of power erupted, unleashing a chill dozens of times fiercer than before, instantly freezing everything in the room.
At the same time, the sky above the apartment darkened with thunder and lightning.
The black storm clouds bore an overwhelming pressure, as if ready to destroy the world itself.
Thunder roared, wind howled, and a rainstorm mixed with snowflakes poured down.
Around the single apartment complex, it was as if the depths of winter had descended.
But this was still midsummer—how could such a thing happen?
Wanmie knew well enough this was caused by Shinonina’s intense emotional outburst.
However, there was nothing she could do to stop her.
The only way to calm Shinonina was to find Shinonina’s lost puppet.
Though worried about leaving Shinonina alone in the apartment, Wanmie had no choice.
“Shinonina, wait here. I’ll go find Shinonina right away, okay?”
Only Shinonina’s sobbing and the chilling cold that could freeze a grown man alive answered her.
Wanmie sighed and hurried to the shrine as fast as she could.
Before the Void Movement was triggered, Shinonina was still holding Shinonina in her hands.
That meant during the bombing before the Void Movement activated, Shinonina must have lost grip of Shinonina in her panic, leaving it behind at the scene.
But Shinonina was only a puppet; Wanmie didn’t think it could have survived such bombardment intact.
On the way, Wanmie suspected she might have accidentally placed Shinonina in the warehouse—but there was no sign of it there either.
Arriving at the shrine, she found the police had cordoned off the area completely.
The official reason for the lockdown was a Spacequake, though only Wanmie and those AST soldiers knew the true cause.
Given the intensity of the attack, not just a small shrine, even a skyscraper would have been reduced to rubble.
Perhaps it was Wanmie’s luck that she arrived during a police shift change; there was no one guarding the perimeter, so she slipped inside unnoticed.
Still, she searched every possible corner but found no trace of Shinonina.
Could it really have been destroyed completely?
The thought gave Wanmie a headache.
If Shinonina was truly lost, Shinonina’s danger would increase dramatically.
She wouldn’t just wait for Wanmie to find the puppet—she would surely keep searching.
Unlike Wanmie, Shinonina didn’t know how to hide in human society and would be attacked by AST forces whenever she appeared.
Just then, a thought flashed through Wanmie’s mind.
Maybe she could ask Fraxinus for help?
Wanmie hesitated—what if Kotori made the same demands again?
“Miss Ayase…?”
Suddenly, a voice came from behind her.
Wanmie immediately recognized who it was and didn’t turn around.
“Shidou-kun, you’re late.”
Shidou smiled.
“So it really was Miss Ayase who took Shinonina just now.”
He was referring to Wanmie taking Shinonina away.
Wanmie had already guessed Fraxinus had been monitoring the fight, but she hadn’t expected Kotori and the others to remain inactive until now.
Of course, Wanmie didn’t know that their lack of action was largely because of her.
If there had been only Shinonina’s spirit during the battle, Kotori would have immediately sent Shidou to engage Shinonina beforehand.
But when Kotori tried to send Shidou, she discovered Wanmie had already made contact with Shinonina.
Knowing Wanmie’s abilities and what she knew, Kotori chose to wait and see.
Wanmie turned, a faintly cold, beautiful smile on her face.
“Shidou-kun, do you think you could leave something behind for us?”
Shidou’s brow furrowed, but the tension faded almost immediately, unnoticed by Wanmie.
Though she didn’t seem threatening, Shidou remained cautious, recalling Kotori’s warnings.
“You’ve been observing Hermit for a long time, right? You should know the rabbit puppet she carries?”
The moment Wanmie mentioned it, Shidou’s expression changed.
Not only was he surprised that Fraxinus had been watching Shinonina for so long, but how did Wanmie even know the codename Hermit?
Though the codename wasn’t exactly a secret, since discovering Wanmie, Kotori and the others had assumed she was just a typical otaku—how could she know so much?
Wanmie clearly noticed Shidou’s reaction and let out a cold laugh.
“Shidou-kun, there’s no need to be surprised. I know much more than you think.”
“That rabbit puppet is very important to Hermit, and I want to use Fraxinus’s power to find it. Otherwise, it would be bad for your sealing efforts as well, wouldn’t it?”
“Now, can you answer me?”