Is This the XX World?

In an alley.

*THUD!*

Ayaka pointed, somewhat shocked, at the spirit's body that Naoki had just sent flying with a punch: "So you've been doing this the whole time?"

A few minutes earlier, worried that Naoki might cause trouble, Ayaka had rushed out of school to find him, calling to ask where he was.

Luckily, they had exchanged phone numbers beforehand; otherwise, finding someone in a city as vast as Tokyo would've been like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Upon arriving at the location Naoki mentioned, the first thing Ayaka saw was Naoki rampaging, slaughtering various spiritual phenomena.

"This is the first time I've realized there are so many spiritual phenomena."

"Well, they usually hide in alleys. If you don't come here, you wouldn't know. Besides, these phenomena are basically underdeveloped, not too aggressive. What I'm doing can be considered prevention."

The core of spiritual phenomena is urban legends, which stem from human rumors and fantasies. The more people spread an urban legend, the more power the resulting phenomenon gains from that fictional narrative. And—sorry if it sounds harsh—human-made fictional narratives are inherently negative. Even if they start out benign, they often get twisted with darker embellishments over time.

In such cases, spiritual phenomena evolved from urban legends naturally become ferocious and highly aggressive.

Almost all the ones Naoki had dealt with earlier were of this type.

"By clearing them out like this once, it'll reduce your workload later, right?"

"Huh? R-Really?" Ayaka was a bit surprised. "You were thinking of me, so you…"

"Something like that. Also, there are a few things I wanted to confirm." Naoki glanced at the now-empty alley. "If Tokyo is truly stuck repeating the same day, then the things I've destroyed should reappear today."

If this was a 'rollback,' everything Naoki did would be pointless. But if it wasn't—well, it wasn't much different. Even if he understood the time situation, Naoki couldn't think of a way to escape. He wasn't a famous detective; the only thing he could come up with was dragging out the mastermind behind this and beating them up.

The problem was, he had no idea where the mastermind was.

"By the way, don't you have classes? Why'd you come out?"

"Our school doesn't have classes on Friday afternoons. Those with club activities stay for practice, but I don't, so I can go home early."

What a lax system. Naoki recalled something similar at Suihara Academy. Were Japanese students too relaxed?

—He really wanted them to experience a life from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

As Naoki thought this—

"Grrr…"

A low, beastly growl came from deeper in the alley, suggesting a few had slipped through.

Naoki was about to act, but before he could move, Ayaka stepped forward, releasing feathers from her ring: "Let me handle the next ones. Dealing with these entities is my duty; you shouldn't have to help me."

"Alright." Naoki nodded. "But don't push yourself; there are still quite a few."

"I know."

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

"A boy and a girl fighting in the dark corners of the city, battling to drive away the darkness threatening the city, unnoticed by others—sounds like a novel's plot."

Standing on a rooftop some distance away, Ciel observed the scene in the alley through special binoculars, munching on her curry bread with a smile, glancing to her side.

"He's grown into a very responsible person. Any comments?"

No response. There was actually no one beside Ciel, though she could sense that person's presence nearby.

No answer… so no comment?

Ciel smiled: "Still, aren't there a few too many 'failed works'? With your abilities, would you produce so many failures?"

[Special Existence]

"Ugh… You mean that Moon Fall Magus? Indeed, physical abilities like that are outright rule-breaking. Luckily, he can't use Magecraft here, or it might cause an even more terrifying scene—wait, what do you mean?"

Ciel frowned.

"You're really not afraid this could turn into the worst-case scenario?"

[Impossible]

The response was firm. For that person, everything was part of the plan; nothing was unexpected.

Feeling that person's presence fade, Ciel put down her binoculars and sighed, looking at the half-eaten curry bread in her hand: "Haaa, how much longer will this situation last…?"

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

At the same time, Fuyuki City.

Due to Naoki's disappearance, not only Gray, Mordred, and Atalanta, but even some people from Luvia's neighboring household were now gripped by anxiety.

"Ugh~ I can't stand it. That guy really vanished—what kind of apocalyptic joke is this?"

Rin paced back and forth in the meeting room.

A Magus disappearing wasn't uncommon, but for Naoki to get trapped and vanish? Rin couldn't even imagine who could pull that off, not even in her dreams.

Of course, if it was just a disappearance, it wasn't a huge issue. After all, he was that guy; he should eventually return safely—but the impact of his absence was massive.

A nuclear bomb they'd been monitoring suddenly vanished, scaring the Mage's Association elders nearly into the ICU. The Church seemed to be in a similar state, though slightly better off than the Association.

"Damn it, I should've gone to Tokyo with him…"

*ZZZING!*

Just as Rin was filled with regret, as if a flashbang had gone off, a blinding light suddenly flared in front of her. Several glowing, circular magical formations rapidly materialized before her.

Before she could react to the sudden event, seeing the magical formations, Rin's heart was struck with even greater shock.

"T-This, these magical formations are…"

[Ohh, Ruby senses a familiar aura!]

From under Rin's skirt, Ruby, which Gray had returned to her long ago, suddenly floated out.

[Isn't this the old geezer's magical formation?]

"The Grand Master's?! Then he's going to—"

[Probably not. If it's just movement within the same world, a formation this big wouldn't be needed. And with this reaction identical to mine, the real situation is likely—]

Ruby's words were cut off, as the implication was clear.

And in the next moment, before Rin's eyes, a woman with fiery red hair, carrying an antique suitcase, emerged from the magical formation.