A soft voice sounded from beside him.

"Seiji-sama... Seiji-sama... Please wake up... It’s time..."

Seiji slowly opened his eyes.

He saw s.h.i.+ka Kagura standing before him smiling gently and alluringly.

‘Hmm? Wait a moment.’

s.h.i.+ka-chan’s hair wasn’t supposed to be blue colored!

And her smile seemed somewhat strange.

"s.h.i.+ka-chan..."

"Yes, I’m your Snow Girl, s.h.i.+ka-chan! I’m the retainer that loves Master the most, the retainer that wishes to make love to Master the most!"

The blue-haired beauty’s smile seemed to grow even sultrier. The light in her eyes showed the full depth of her love towards him.

Seiji was rendered speechless at this situation.

Yep, he was 100% certain that something was wrong here, since s.h.i.+ka-chan would never say something like this! Nor would she have such an expression!!

He was too stunned by how many things he could possibly comment on here.

"Hey, Snow Girl, don’t get too close to Master! What if you cause our Master to catch a cold!?"

"I won’t! My heart is filled with love for Seiji-sama! Ahh, it’s burning up!"

"If it really was burning up, you would have melted long ago!!"

A hand appeared in his field of vision and yanked away the blue-haired girl that was clinging on to him.

"Eek! Let go of me, stinky Zombie!"

"Who’s stinky!? I shower every day! Stop calling me stinky!!"

She was a beauty with twin dark red ponytails, and a blueish-purple-colored face. Her expression was currently seething with rage.

‘It’s Mika... No, it’s someone that looks almost exactly like Mika!’ he realized after observing her closely.

She was wearing a dark golden robe, and her skin was blueish-purple hue. She had a yellow talisman stuck to the right side of her face, and she seemed a little short.

Apart from that, her facial features were exactly identical to Mika Uehara’s.

But she definitely wasn’t Mika Uehara.

Who was she?

Who was this blue-haired girl?

Where was this?

Seiji’s head felt heavy when he tried to think about these questions.

"Ah... Master! What’s the matter!?"

"Seiji-sama!?"

A number of panicked and anxious voices filled with concern sounded out around him.

"Nothing... I just... still feel a little woozy from waking up," Seiji said, rubbing his temples.

"Master, your complexion doesn’t seem too good. Is it because this idiot Snow Girl accidentally froze you?"

"I can control my powers properly! Don’t treat me like a little child that can’t control herself, hmph!"

"Master, should I call Firefly Gra.s.s over?"

"I’m already here... Honestly, stop arguing in front of Master; it’s unseemly."

Another girl appeared.

She had light green long hair and was wearing a green-colored wide-sleeved outfit, which revealed her beautiful long legs. She wore white socks with green gra.s.s sandals. This was a beautiful girl that looked exactly like Chiaki Wakaba.

"Let me through, let me through! I’ll come help out Master."

After making her way past the girl with twin ponytails and the blue-haired girl, the green-haired girl placed both her hands on Seiji’s shoulders.

"May the plant spirits cleanse our Master..." she said in a gentle voice.

A cool sensation flowed into his body from his shoulders. The energy enveloped his entire body, dissipating his fatigue and cleansing his heart.

Then Seiji finally remembered.

He was the Yin Yang Master, Seiji Kamijou.

The three girls before him were all his Spirit-branded Retainers.

Snow Girl, Zombie, and Firefly Gra.s.s spirit... he gave them the names of s.h.i.+ka-chan, Mika, and Chiaki.

He smiled gently at Chiaki. "Thank you, Chiaki, I feel much better now."

"This is my job, Master." Firefly Gra.s.s Chiaki smiled at him. "No matter when or where, healing Master and our companions is what I live for."

"I know, but I still want to thank you." Seiji reached out and patted her head. "You’ve always been working hard. Thank you for your efforts."

Chiaki’s face flushed slightly red.

"Ahh, Seiji-sama, I want to be treated like that too~"

Snow Girl s.h.i.+ka-chan opened her hands and attempted to hug him, but she was forcefully dragged away by Zombie Mika.

"Stop clinging on to Master, you idiot Snow Girl!"

"Let go of me, stinky Zombie!"

"I’m not stinky!"

Seiji sighed.

‘These two are always fighting,’ he thought, mentally shaking his head.

"Master, have you woken up?"

A beautiful girl with black hair and a red robe... no wait, a beautiful boy appeared at the door and bowed towards him while greeting him politely.

This was a Zas.h.i.+ki-waras.h.i.+ spirit. Seiji had given him the name of Hos.h.i.+.

"I’m awake... has everyone gathered?"

"All our companions have gathered together and are awaiting our Master’s arrival."

"Alright then, I’ll come out right away."

Seiji walked over to the clothes rack and slipped into the traditional j.a.panese hunting robes hanging there.

Zas.h.i.+ki-waras.h.i.+ Hos.h.i.+ retrieved Seiji’s hat for him, and Seiji placed it on his head.

After he finished putting on his clothes, Seiji walked out of his bedroom with Zas.h.i.+ki-waras.h.i.+ Hos.h.i.+ following behind him.

"Stop messing around and follow Master!"

"Okay..."

"Alright~"

Behind him, Seiji heard Firefly Gra.s.s Chiaki lecturing the other two spirits, and Zombie Mika and Snow Girl s.h.i.+ka-chan’s replies.

Seiji walked through his home’s hallway and out to the garden, only to see that many Spirit-branded Retainers were waiting for him there.

Mountain Kid Zankita Juumonji and Starving Ghoul Kazufuru Ooike.

Floorboard Spirit Tetsuo Sasaki and Ancient Fire Lantern Koji Hos.h.i.+hara.

Crow Tengu Michirou Juumonji and Blue Priest Hisas.h.i.+ Juumonji.

Shadow Girl Haruka s.h.i.+mizu, Fireball Spirit s.h.i.+na s.h.i.+ho, and Long-haired Ghoul Anya Saigenji.

Demon Fox Rion Amami and Demon Fox Kotomi Amami.

Mermaid Sh.e.l.l Kaho Miyamoto and Rain Girl Saki Yos.h.i.+zawa.

Maiden of the Bridge Rika Amami and Wisteria Spirit Nozomi Uehara.

Smoke Demon Mai Houjou and White Wolf Hitaka Shuho.

Flower Demon Rana Kirin and Blue Lantern Ghost Natsuya Yoruhana.

Seiji exchanged glances and nodded at all his trusted subordinates. To him, they were more than mere servants; they were his valued companions.

Blue Lantern Ghost Natsuya bowed to greet him. "Greetings to Master."

With her leading the crowd, all the other Spirit-branded Retainers also began greeting Seiji.

"It’s been so long, Master. It’s wonderful that you remain healthy."

"Kamijou-sama, I await your orders."

"Seiji-sama, this one really missed you~~"

"Please give us your orders. No matter what they are, we’ll accomplish them."

"Master, I... I’ll work hard this time as well!"

"Master, I heard that we’re going to fight against an incredibly powerful demon today? Haha, I can hardly wait!"

Various emotions such as concern, respect, and pa.s.sion could be heard from his retainers’ greetings.

Seiji smiled gently upon hearing them all.

"Everyone," he began, the sound of his voice prompting the crowd to fall into silence, "I’m delighted to see that you’re all doing well. I meet frequently with some of you, yet there are also others that I haven’t seen in a long time.

"If it were possible, I would throw a party for everyone, so we can gossip idly and enjoy ourselves. But we don’t have the time for that right now.

"You’ve probably all heard the news already: there is an incredibly powerful evil demon currently rampaging east of here—and I suspect the demon is not alone. At a rough guess, more than a 100 people have already fallen victim to it.

"I’ve searched for every piece of information I can, but I’ve been unable to ascertain this demon’s true ident.i.ty.

"However, we cannot remain idle for any longer; even as I speak, it draws closer to the city. If we do not make haste and defeat it, many more will fall prey to this evil monstrosity.

"Out of an abundance of caution, I summoned every single one of you here today in order to fight against this unknown demon or demons. We will crush whatever lies before us with our combined strength."

Seiji swept his gaze across his retainers.

"All of you are mighty heroes.

"Many humans and spirits owe their lives to you.

"As long as we remain united, I believe no feat, task, or threat is an impossibility!"

Every retainer smiled upon being praised by their master. Some laughed heartily, and others smiled faintly. Yet more covered their mouths in embarra.s.sment, while the rest let out light, somewhat shy chuckles.

"This time, we shall emerge victorious once more! But… what is of utmost importance is that…" Seiji paused, and his imposing manner rose to a crescendo. "Everyone! Not a single one of you is allowed to die!! This is the most important order!!! Do you hear me!?"

"We hear you—" every retainer cried in unison.

Saving people was important, victory was important, but the most important thing to Seiji was his companions’ lives.

As long as all his companions were still alive, even if they temporarily suffered a defeat, they could always come back for revenge at a later time!

On the other hand, even if they achieved victory at the price of a companion’s death, that still equaled defeat.

That was what Seiji Kamijou believed.

Up until now, he had never lost a single retainer before, nor had he ever been defeated in battle.

He was convinced that this time would be the same.

"Everyone, move out!"