/
Seiji opened up his system to inspect his [gifts] menu on his way home.
The bank card also rewarded him with something rather simple: 50 points, which was quite a significant amount!
And as for the key…
[Spell learning card—Grateful Heart.]
This card contained the president’s sincere gratitude towards him. After using it, he could choose any single learning requirement for an unlearned spell, and its progress would automatically be filled to 100%!
[Buff card—Trusting Heart.]
This card contained the president’s unwavering trust in him. After using it, he could choose any spell categorized under [Spiritual Power], and the spell’s power or effect would be doubled for the next 15 minutes!
[Spiritual Power increase card—Hopeful Expectations.]
This card contained the president’s expectations for his future growth. After using it, his [Spiritual Power] stat would permanently increase, and the lower his stat was, the more it would increase.
Seiji’s eyes widened in surprise.
This key had given him three cards as a reward, and all of the cards were so useful!
First, the Spiritual Power increase card could be used immediately to raise his [Spiritual Power] stat.
Second, the spell learning card’s effect was amazing to the point where he wanted another dozen! This could help him to quickly learn any spell.
It was a pity that he only had one, and it would only fulfill one of the spell’s requirements.
Seiji thought back to that mega technique called [Dragon Counterattack.]
It seemed nice that he could skip one of the requirements by using this card, but one still wasn’t enough!
Immediately using this precious card seemed like a huge waste.
He might as well save it for later and use it in the future for a ridiculously difficult learning requirement. Seiji ended up making that decision.
As for the buff card, this card’s effect had explosive power! It was an incredibly simple cheat.
It obviously seemed better to him to save this card and use it at an important time. It didn’t matter whether it was for an ordinary spell or an ultimate technique.
Since the buff lasted fifteen minutes, it should be more than enough to finish any one battle. If used properly, it could even turn around a dire situation for him.
‘You’ve rewarded me so handsomely, President.’ Seiji inwardly thanked the president yet again.
It wasn’t convenient for him to use a stat-raising card while outside. He quickened his pace as he headed back to his apartment.
…
He saw Mika standing in front of his apartment.
Seiji greeted her, but received no response.
The double pigtailed girl was walking around slowly with an absentminded expression.
“Mika?” Seiji walked closer to her and tried calling out to her again.
Mika’s body shook as if she was a frightened rabbit. If this had been a manga scene, her two pigtails likely would have stood up on end.
“Er… S–Seiji?” Mika rubbed her chest. “W-what are you doing? Don’t scare me like that!”
“I wasn’t trying to scare you. I just greeted you earlier, but you didn’t hear me.” Seiji felt that something was strange. “What’s the matter, Mika? What are you thinking about? You were lost in your thoughts.”
“N-nothing…” Mika averted her gaze in an unnatural manner. “I definitely wasn’t thinking about anything weird just now.”
Seiji didn’t even know how to respond to this.
It was so obvious that she was lying! She was definitely thinking about something “weird” just now!
Seiji was curious about the matter.
But more than that, he was concerned.
“If you’re troubled by anything, you can tell me. If it’s something that’s not convenient to tell a boy, then go talk to Chiaki about it. It’s best not to randomly come to conclusions on your own,” Seiji told her in a gentle manner.
“I-I already said that I’m fine.” Mika glanced at him while muttering, “Don’t treat me like a little child…” to herself.
Her tone of voice seemed rather complex.
This didn’t seem like a simple temper tantrum or anything like that.
Seiji quickly came to that conclusion, and his curiosity and concern both increased in magnitude.
Just exactly what could have happened?
Thinking back, he recalled that Mika still sounded normal when he called her at the coffee cafĂŠ.
So what could have happened in between that time and seeing her again now?
Seiji didn’t know the answer.
Seeing how she currently was, he doubted that she would tell him.
So, he could only remain silent.
Mika walked back towards her own residence’s door in the same awkward manner.
Seiji followed behind her.
“You… what are you doing?” Mika looked at him doubtfully, until she came to a sudden realization that caused her expression to change. “You must be here to discuss moving apartments with my mother.”
“Yeah.”
Seiji was getting even more concerned for Mika now.
He decided to call Chiaki later to ask if she had any inkling of what was going on with Mika.
The two of them entered the Uehara family’s residence.
“Welcome back.” Nozomi smiled as she came out to greet her daughter.
“I’m back,” Mika responded flatly as she walked straight past her mother and into her own room.
The landlord instantly knew that something was wrong. She looked towards Seiji for an explanation as she watched Mika enter her bedroom.
Seiji could only smile wryly at this.
“Haruta-kun, what’s she…”
“I don’t know either. She was already like that when I returned and saw her.”
Nozomi tilted her head in puzzlement. “It doesn’t seem like she just had an argument or is throwing a temper tantrum…”
“I definitely didn’t have any arguments with her. I… doubt that Chiaki did, either,” Seiji explained.
If it were a normal temper tantrum, Mika’s mood would be simpler to read. But Mika’s condition definitely seemed different from normal.
“She might be thinking about some ‘strange things,’ but I don’t know what specifically they could be.”
“Thinking… well, she’s probably stuck in her own way of thinking then.” Nozomi blinked in realization. “This child… she’s probably confused because she met with a problem that she doesn’t know how to solve.”
Both the young tenant who was Mika’s good friend and her mother, the landlord, tried their best to figure out what frustration a teenaged high school girl would have.
Nope, they couldn’t figure it out!
“I’m going to call Chiaki later and see if she knows anything. Let’s just go ahead and discuss the new apartment, Miss Landlord.” In the end, Seiji decided to give up on this topic.
…
The new and larger apartment that Nozomi helped clean out as per Seiji’s request was on the first instead of the second floor… and right next door to the Uehara family’s residence!
Seiji examined the interior.
There were three smaller rooms and a larger living room. While it couldn’t be said to be spacious, it was plenty for two people to live in.
Both him and Shika could have their own bedrooms, and the other small room could be used as a study or a storage room, which seemed quite good to him.
There was no problem with the rent, either.
Even without having received five hundred thousand sakuras recently, Seiji felt that he would be able to afford it. Money was even less of a problem now that he had been rewarded so handsomely.
He decided to take this apartment!
He instantly decided to begin the moving-in process.
Nozomi offered to help, as did Kaede when she returned to her apartment, but Seiji politely rejected both their offers.
There weren’t many things to move, which made it easy for him to do by himself. It didn’t take very long at all.
After he finished moving everything, Seiji sat down by himself in the living room in idle silence.
He would begin living together with Shika Kagura after she arrived.
It seemed rather strange—after all, he hadn’t even made up with his new body’s real family, yet he already had a new family member of his own.
Seiji recalled the time when he accidentally saw Yui Haruta.
Not counting the memories he inherited from this body, that was the only time he ever personally saw his “family.” Apart from his older sister, he also had a younger sister and an adopted mother.
Even up until now, none of them had ever contacted him, nor had he attempted to contact them.
Honestly, Seiji really wanted to mend fences with them, but he didn’t know how to go about it.
That was because he believed it was only natural for them to not forgive him, with how much of a scumbag the original Seiji Haruta had been.
It would be best if he could make up with them, but he would be able to accept it even if it didn’t happen and simply live the life of someone exiled from his family.
But no matter what, his new identity was that of “Seiji Haruta,” which was something he couldn’t change.
There were too many things recently, so he didn’t have time to think about his family situation, but now…
‘Let’s think over carefully on what to do about my family after the school festival.’ He came to this conclusion.
Right now, the most important thing to him was his adopted younger sister, Shika Kagura.
What was she doing right now… and when would she arrive?
Seiji turned around to look outside the window.
The evening sunset was quite beautiful.