Mana Replenishment is a Popular Activity

Evening.

At the administrative center of the capital, within the grand banquet hall.

The hall, spanning several thousand square meters, was adorned with festive decorations, and the tables were laden with a variety of exquisite dishes and desserts.

Shipgirls, Heroic Spirits, Sirens, and most of the base's personnel had gathered here to celebrate yet another successful expedition to an alternate world.

Due to the sheer number of attendees, the banquet hall had been split into three floors.

Manjuus scurried through the crowd with plates and wine glasses balanced on their heads, acting as makeshift waiters.

"Wow, isn't this a bit too extravagant?!"

The three Spirits following Setsuna inside were utterly stunned by the grand spectacle before them.

Each floor housed hundreds of banquet tables, filled with people—some they recognized, and many they didn't.

Elegant aircraft carrier shipgirls, each with an intimidating cup size, were leisurely sipping red wine.

Beside them, tables of lively destroyer lolis were chirping away, turning their section into a chaotic yet lively mess.

Further back was the Chaldea Heroic Spirits table, where several nearly identical girls, each sporting an ahoge, sat in a row.

Jeanne Alter and Jeanne d'Arc continued their usual bickering, Artoria was quietly devouring her food, while Nero was enthusiastically watching the show.

To outsiders, it was nearly impossible to tell them apart.

In the center of the hall hung several banners:

"Warmly Celebrating the Commander's Successful Expedition"

"This is our tradition."

Richelieu explained to the stunned Spirits.

"Every time we return from an expedition to another world, and whenever new members join us, we host a welcoming ceremony."

"Although... the scale of these banquets is indeed growing larger and larger."

The first time they welcomed Ritsuka Fujimaru from Chaldea, it had only been a few simple tables.

But as the base grew in population and wealth, the scale of celebrations had expanded significantly.

Richelieu suspected that, sooner or later, it would evolve into a full-scale citywide festival.

"Or maybe they just want an excuse to eat, drink, and have fun... Oh well, that works too."

The newcomers were both flattered and overwhelmed.

After everyone took their seats, Setsuna cleared his throat, and the hall instantly fell silent.

"Alright, as per tradition, I'll briefly recount the details of our recent expedition."

Starting from his encounter with Kurumi, the construction of the Spiritron Calculation Device, the time travel adventure, and finally the defeat of DEM, Setsuna shared the major events of their journey.

Of course, he selectively omitted certain parts regarding his relationship with Mio.

The shipgirls and Heroic Spirits listened intently, fascinated by the stories of the alternate world.

"To permanently alter the past and future of an entire world... It's incredible..."

Everyone agreed that the most fascinating aspect of this expedition was how they had transformed the Date A Live world from a magical civilization into a purely technological one.

By completely erasing supernatural forces from its timeline, they had fundamentally altered its trajectory of development.

"This is the power of time travel. We can appear at the right place, at the right time, and even traverse across different time periods repeatedly."

"Tch, Commander, you better remember to thank me properly—"

Purifier spoke with her mouth full, shamelessly boasting about her contributions.

"Yeah, you guys did great. Keep working on improving the Spiritron Calculation Device. If we can extend its range to span tens of thousands of years, that would be even better."

Setsuna nodded to the Siren girls.

"Huh? Traveling thousands of years? What are you planning to do, watch cavemen throw rocks?!"

Purifier spat out a mouthful of water in disbelief.

"It'll be useful in the future."

Over the past few days, Setsuna had already conceived another use for the Spiritron Calculation Device.

The Honkai world next door spanned vast periods of time; with spiritron transfer, he could jump back and forth between the pre-civilization era, the current civilization, and even the Saga of the Shattered Swords timeline.

Taking Mio along to chat with the Herrscher of Finality while conveniently packing up anyone he wanted to bring along sounded like a solid plan.

Forming a new Valkyrie and Herrscher team? Why not…

...

After briefing the crowd on the details of their expedition, Setsuna introduced their spoils.

The Date A Live world didn't have much in terms of advanced technology, but after wiping out DEM, they managed to acquire some research materials and blueprints on CR-UNITs.

These devices functioned like a mix between external exoskeletons and mechas—not as exaggerated as a Gundam but more flexible—an amalgamation of magic and technology.

In the later timeline, these units were primarily used by AST (Anti-Spirit Team) and Origami Tobiichi, but they held limited value for the base's residents.

Setsuna briefly organized the data and handed it over to Yat Sen to store in the grand library as part of the collection.

Next, he introduced the Spirits.

"These are our new companions."

"Their race is known as Spirits, and the power they wield belongs to the magic side. More Spirits will join us in the future, so I hope everyone gets along well."

Mio, Kurumi, and Nia stood up like newcomers at a welcome party and greeted the crowd.

"I am Kurumi Tokisaki. By coincidence, I met Setsuna and had many unforgettable experiences with him…"

Kurumi performed an elegant curtsy, licking her lips lightly before speaking in a teasing tone:

"Ah~ your commander is quite an interesting person. Whenever we engage in certain… special activities, he often makes me call him 'Daddy.' Isn't that peculiar?"

As she spoke, she gently ran her fingers over her black stockings beneath her short skirt, shooting Setsuna a meaningful glance.

"???"

Several question marks popped up over the heads of the shipgirls and Heroic Spirits.

Belfast, Formidable, and the others turned red as steam practically rose from their faces.

"C-Commander has such hobbies?!"

"Can you not?!"

Setsuna realized he could no longer comprehend Kurumi's current mindset.

She was no longer just the typical chuunibyou Kurumi, nor the composed yet delightfully insane lady.

Having traveled through time, witnessed the truths of the Date A Live world, and spent time with shipgirls and Tohru, her personality had grown rather... complicated.

"I… I am Nia Honjo… um, I kind of got tricked into signing the contract and coming here."

At this stage, Nia's mind was not yet filled with the usual perverted thoughts.

She was still just an ordinary otaku girl, nervously greeting the crowd.

"All-knowing abilities? …Interesting. Commander, could you let her help me manage the library?"

Yat Sen asked with a gentle smile, clearly interested in having Nia assist with the overwhelming amount of knowledge stored in the grand library.

The dragon girl, Lucoa, who had been squinting the entire time, suddenly raised her hand, opened her eyes, and sized up Nia.

"Sure."

Setsuna thought for a moment. The library was probably the best place for Nia in the base.

She didn't have much combat ability, and staying there would allow her to draw manga while learning a few tricks from Lucoa, preventing her from becoming the weakest angel in existence.

"Eh? A dragon?!"

Nia looked at the towering dragon lady with some apprehension, feeling that she was an unfathomable existence.

But she still followed orders and let Lucoa take her away.

"I… am Mio."

"This is the name Setsuna gave me. Nice to meet you all."

Finally, the Spirit of Origin introduced herself to everyone.

"I was born from the power of the earth, sky, and sea. I have no home, and it's Setsuna who has always been by my side…"

"Thank you for accepting me."

Mio spoke sincerely and bowed slightly to the crowd.

"If there's anything I can help with in the future… I will do my best."

"Whoa—"

The shipgirls had heard bits and pieces about the legendary Spirit of Origin before. They knew she possessed abilities so overwhelming that they were practically divine.

However, seeing her in person today, she appeared gentle and elegant, nothing like the fearsome being who once disturbed the world's peace in her quest to resurrect a loved one, deceiving and luring countless girls.

"Tsk, is this what a girl in love looks like?!"

Everyone noticed a subtle similarity between Mio and Taihou...

As long as she didn't turn yandere, everything would be fine.

...

Nighttime.

After the banquet ended, Nia was taken back to the grand library by Lucoa to research her Rasiel.

Meanwhile, in the office, Setsuna, Mio, Richelieu, Kurumi, and others gathered to discuss their next step in the kidnapping—ahem, recruiting—of the other Spirits.

"I've roughly put together a list. We'll go find them one by one according to Nia's tracking."

Setsuna arranged the known Spirits based on their timeline of appearance in Date A Live.

"Since we're in 2011, we can start by looking for Kotori Itsuka, Origami Tobiichi, and Yoshino Himekawa. Although Mukuro Hoshimiya is a bit early, if we happen to come across her, we can include her too..."

"As for Tohka Yatogami… since she's a pure Spirit, we can just create her using a Spirit Crystal in the end."

The list of Spirits numbered from one to ten left the group somewhat baffled.

The naming convention of the Date A Live Spirits was quite unique.

"Setsuna, don't forget our agreement, okay?"

Kurumi reminded him with a mischievous smile.

"Sawa Yamauchi, I remember her. She's about your age. We'll have to wait until my space-time passage power cools down, then we can travel to an earlier timeline to find her."

Setsuna nodded and turned to Mio and Richelieu.

"Both worlds now have dimensional anchors installed. I've registered your identification codes, so you can travel freely between them anytime."

"As for inviting them to become Spirits… it might be better if you handle it. Otherwise, us standing together might look suspicious."

Setsuna had realized during Nia's recruitment that, standing at over 1.8 meters tall, his mere presence could be intimidating.

Those potential Spirits were still young girls at this point. Seeing a grown man asking them to become Spirits—let alone agreeing—they might just run away in fear.

Mio and the shipgirls, on the other hand, had a much friendlier presence.

After all, young girls naturally felt more at ease around older sisters.

"Tch, why go through all this trouble? Why not just let me tie them all up and bring them back?"

Jeanne Alter sat on the table, curling her lips, but before she could finish, Richelieu shot her a sharp glare.

She obediently shut her mouth.

"Hmm… alright."

"I'll go back to that world in a few days."

Mio thought for a moment and agreed.

After a brief hesitation, she continued, her voice growing softer.

"But, Setsuna, separating multiple Spirit Crystals in a short period consumes a lot of energy… I need your help."

"Just tell me. If it's something I can do, I'll do it."

Setsuna waved his hand confidently.

Separating Spirit Crystals was essentially giving away her power to other Spirits.

Although it boosted their collective strength, Mio herself would be weakened.

"I need you to replenish some of the spiritual power I'll lose..."

Mio lowered her head, her voice almost inaudible.

"Oh, that's easy. I can figure out how to convert the power from the Wisdom Cubes and transfer it to you. If that doesn't work, we can ask Lucoa for ideas."

Setsuna thought this was a simple problem to solve.

"No… that's not it…"

Mio's head lowered even further.

"Do you remember that night… on your ship? When I told you about wanting to have ten Spirits in the future..."

"At that time, I felt a lot of energy from you…"

"???"

"Huh?"

Setsuna froze for a moment.

The night under the stars when she confessed to him?

The next day she mentioned feeling some of his energy left in her body?!

So this was what she meant?!

"…"

"Are you asking for mana replenishment, my dear Spirit Lady?!"

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