"Of course."
Without refusing Yuki's request, Hayashi didn't even turn his head. The moment he finished speaking, the crow behind him had already spread its wings and flown to Yuki.
"How clever!"
Yuki quickly reached out and caught the crow with both hands, her cute face full of surprise as she praised it.
"Scientific research shows that crows have an intelligence level close to that of a five-year-old human child, but yours looks even smarter!"
Yuki's fingertips traced the raven's smooth feathers, and the light shone on its black wings, revealing hints of dark blue or dark purple—ultimately dominated by black.
"Smart and beautiful! Master Onii-chan~~ ~~ I love it so much; can I keep it for a while?"
Yuki's eyes sparkled with a charming innocence, and her voice was sweet as she coaxed Hayashi.
"'Onii-chan' when there's something to do, but when there's nothing to do, you call me by my name. You're something else, Suou Yuki."
Hayashi joked.
"Hehe~!"
Yuki gave a cute laugh, showing no intention of refuting.
"It depends on my mood!"
Hayashi replied, though he wouldn't mind giving Yuki her wish, he still kept her in suspense.
As for the fact that her touching the crow felt like touching his finger... Hayashi wouldn't tell her that.
"Ah~ Why is this happening, Master Onii-chan? Please give it to me because I'm cute~~."
Just as Yuki was acting cute and affectionate towards Hayashi because of the crow.
On the other side, Yukino, who had been tricked by someone and was so angry that she felt a tightness in her chest and hadn't slept well, also got up early.
However, she did not go to Hayashi to confront him (to question him about his breach of trust the previous night).
Instead, she opened her work file, wrote down what happened last night in a report, and submitted it.
...
Meanwhile, time rewinds, much earlier than when Hayashi opened his eyes, inside the Paranormal Management Bureau.
Jeanne's pure and beautiful face was tinged with worry as she looked at the files on unusual events in her hands, her brows furrowed.
"Hi, good morning~
What's wrong with our Holy Maiden? A cute girl shouldn't be frowning. ♪
Smile!"
Suddenly, Elysia's distinctive, honey-sweet voice rang out, causing Jeanne to look up and give her a speechless look.
"You're always so cheerful!"
Jeanne said with a sigh.
"Hehe~! My good mood for the day starts with seeing a beautiful girl like you.
And I, as a human being! Especially a beautiful girl, naturally, should always be smiling~♪"
Elysia lightly leaped in front of Jeanne, hands on her hips, and said with a smile as bright as a flower.
"Yes, yes... Well then, our beautiful Director, please take a look at this..."
Jeanne waved her hand dismissively and handed an electronic document to Elysia.
There's a saying that goes, "When you find one cockroach in your home, there are already countless others lurking in the shadows."
Tomie is much scarier than a cockroach.
The Tomie that Yukino and Hayashi encountered could not possibly be the only one.
Sure enough, in the files in front of Elysia, there were more than 130 abnormal incidents related to Tomie!
Moreover, this was recorded after Tomie instigated the violence and killings.
There are probably even more Tomies lurking in the shadows.
Taking the file from Jeanne, Elysia read aloud:
"Let me see, an identical beautiful girl, with a terrifying charm. With just one glance, any man, whether old or young, will be obsessed with her and go mad, killing for her, or killing and dismembering her!
And it also possesses an extremely terrifying ability to proliferate, capable of regenerating from the smallest living organisms, including hair, bones, skin, and blood droplets...
Investigators advised against sending men to approach her, but women are not entirely immune to her allure either."
"..."
After reading the lengthy investigation document, even Elysia's smile vanished, and a clear look of disgust appeared in her bright, beautiful eyes.
Elysia loves humans!
Although she has seen the dark side of humanity, she still likes humans.
Because she never denied human desires, she believed that even though everyone's innate nature is different, as long as they are guided and each desire they face only exceeds their capacity to bear it.
Everyone can overcome their evil desires and improve themselves through spiritual practice.
Therefore, in Elysia's view, who loves humanity, everyone has good intentions; all that's needed is to constantly wipe them away.
And what she likes to do most is to guide and inspire the goodness in human nature.
And Tomie...
In stark contrast to her, her allure was entirely based on seducing—no, arousing—human evil by using desires that were unbearable for humans.
At this moment, Elysia completely ignored Tomie's beauty and hated her to the extreme.
"This is a bit tricky—they can't be killed, and they can multiply indefinitely. This world is truly full of disasters!"
Biting her pink lips slightly, a rare hint of coldness flashed in Elysia's eyes before she asked questioningly:
"This characteristic feels like the embodiment of desire at the conceptual level? I can't kill her either, so can I seal her away?"
"It's no use. Neither physical sealing—sealing her in cement or steel—nor the sealing abilities of the bureau's staff can work..."
"What about the source? Could she have something like the source?" Elysia asked again.
Upon hearing this, Jeanne shook her head and said,
"Based on Tomie's movements, we found the place where Tomie first appeared, a deep pool outside a small village..."
"It's also quite famous in the area, a well-known suicide spot..."
"According to villagers, the number of people coming to commit suicide there suddenly increased half a month ago, and some people seemed to have seen a beautiful water goddess by the pool... Soon after, villagers saw many beautiful young girls emerge from the pool...
Based on investigators' speculation, they should be Tomie, and that's where she originally left. Unfortunately, the investigators were unable to find anything in the pool that led to Tomie's origin."
"I see..."
Hearing this, Elysia seemed disappointed, then her tone changed, and she asked with some concern:
"Where are the people from that village?"
Jeanne replied in a sorrowful tone:
"A Tomie stayed in the village, and then... all the men went crazy; they were obsessed with her.
The woman was jealous of her and said she was a monster and wanted to drown her in a pig cage, but the woman was killed by the men who protected her.
Finally, Tomie seemed to despise their poverty and was about to leave when they dismembered her. Some people fled, some died, and the village was empty..."
"..."
When Elysia asked the question, she already had a guess, but when she actually heard such an answer from Jeanne... her eyes could not hide her sorrow.
"What a wicked demon! What do you decide to do with her?"
"Treat her like a natural disaster, control those who come into contact with her, isolate the area, and minimize her harm..."
Jeanne spoke somewhat weakly, but in her heart she was thinking about her strongest Noble Phantasm.
As a Ruler-class Heroic Spirit, she was somewhat interested in testing whether her [La Pucelle] could burn Tomie to death.
However, that is a Noble Phantasm that explodes upon self-destruction, a manifestation of her history of being burned at the stake. Once the Noble Phantasm is revealed, she will disappear from the world after the battle ends.
Furthermore, Jeanne was unsure whether she could truly kill Tomie after using the [La Pucelle].
It feels like all the effort would be wasted if even one cell were left.
"Let me give it a try!"
Just as Jeanne was pondering how to gather the Tomies together and see if she could wipe them out in one fell swoop, Elysia suddenly spoke up.
This made Jeanne look at her with some surprise.
Although they are good friends, Elysia likes to keep secrets, saying things like girls with secrets are more attractive.
Therefore, even Jeanne d'Arc was unaware of her identity as the Herrscher of Origin and the Herrscher of Human.
In Jeanne's eyes, Elysia, though strong, was just an archer who liked to play with crystal flowers and was far stronger than a Heroic Spirit...
But they probably can't handle this kind of unkillable monster!
"You?"
Faced with Jeanne's questioning gaze.
"Beautiful girls can do whatever they want—I can definitely do it!"
Elysia smiled, and as she finished speaking, she twirled like an elegant princess from a fairy tale, transforming her dress into a magnificent gown.
The dress is adorned with elements such as crystal, magic, and plants, making it as gorgeous as a princess's wedding dress in a fairy tale.
The winged bells, like flower girls, held a strand of her long hair on the left and draped her veil on the right, accompanying her to the final banquet in her finest attire.
Then she stretched out her slender hand... and a dreamlike, beautiful longbow appeared in her hand.
Draw the bow and shoot the arrow; the pink arrow gathers at the bowstring and is released!
The arrow seemed to have no form as it passed through the roof and disappeared before Jeanne's eyes.
"This..."
Before Jeanne could even marvel at Elysia's magnificent attire and wonder how she could take down Tomie with a single arrow,
The next moment, Jeanne was surprised to see that after Elysia shot the arrow, her usually energetic face showed obvious signs of fatigue.
"Hey~ Jeanne, I might be sleeping for a few years, and Hayashi too~. I had already prepared my plans to prank him next time... too bad..."
Before she could finish speaking, Elysia's sweet voice gradually faded into the distance, eventually becoming a barely audible murmur.
She closed her eyes and was about to fall to the ground.
"Careful!"
Jeanne caught Elysia, who was like Sleeping Beauty, and gently laid her on the sofa.
And she soon received news that, at the same time, under Elysia's dreamlike arrow, every Tomie in the world was struck in the heart by a pink arrow.
As the arrows arrived, pink crystal flowers bloomed, covering the Tomies and freezing them into crystal sculptures, stripping them of their allure...
Upon receiving the message, the investigators were instructed via communications to carefully seal the crystal sculptures.
Jeanne looked at Elysia, who was sleeping peacefully with her eyes closed, with a look of admiration, and exclaimed,
"She really did it…?"
And just then...
Jingle--
Jeanne received another report...
That was written by Yukino, her report on her encounter with Tomie, and Hayashi's report on taking Tomie in...
After reading the report, Jeanne fell into a long silence. Finally, with a somewhat stiff expression, she turned back and silently looked at the sleeping Elysia.
It seems Elysia shot that arrow too hastily...