"Spirits" existed.

But "Spirit Eggs" didn’t exist, according to Natsuya’s knowledge.

Genhana High School’s hidden boss… whoops, the legendary girl of the school festival, Sakura, apparently gave Mika quite the gift.

The pink-clothed girl in the legend was someone that played a matchmaker. But the truth wasn’t so, as she was actually a powerful demon that simply did as she pleased. She was just closer to the side of good.

During this evening, Seiji took Mika to the hospital.

Natsuya Yoruhana was waiting for their arrival.

"Good… good evening, President." Mika was rather nervous as she greeted Natsuya.

The last time that she'd spoken to the student council president was more than a month ago.

"Good evening, Uehara-san. Long time no see." Natsuya smiled in response.

‘The president is really beautiful…’ Mika couldn’t help but inwardly sigh in appreciation upon seeing Natsuya’s beautiful smile.

Seiji also greeted Natsuya, before immediately opening up with the main topic.

"Mika, show that object to the President."

"Okay…"

Mika held up her palm and released the ball of light.

Natsuya looked at Mika’s hand and cast Astral Vision to inspect her.

Mika was rather shocked to see Natsuya’s eyes suddenly change, but she was already mentally prepared beforehand, so she was able to remain calm.

The president... was beautiful like this as well.

Mika found that she was completely able to accept this, with no fear in her heart.

In fact, she was feeling slightly... excited? She realized that she was definitely beginning to delve into the realm of the mystical.

Natsuya looked at the ball of light for a quite a while before she stopped using Astral Vision.

"How is it, President?"

"This is... a Spiritual Creature, but I can’t be certain if it’s the same type of spirit that we Yin-Yang Masters use, as its condition is rather strange..." the president muttered to herself, folding her arms. "I need to do a deeper inspection, not only to this Spirit Egg, but also to Uehara-san’s body," she said to the two of them.

"My... my body?"

"Yes, this strange Spiritual Creature has connected itself to you, so it’s best to inspect your body as well so that we can gain a better overall understanding of the situation."

Mika looked towards Seiji upon hearing this.

"Let’s do as the president says," Seiji said.

"Okay..." After hearing Seiji's opinion, Mika no longer felt uneasy, and she looked back at Natsuya again. "Sorry to bother you, President."

"No need to be polite. Follow me."

Natsuya brought Mika over for the more detailed examination.

Seiji didn’t need to accompany them, but he did so anyway out of consideration for Mika’s feelings. Of course, while Natsuya was inspecting Mika’s body, he waited outside the door.

After the inspection was finished, the trio headed to Natsuya's hospital room.

"This isn’t a spirit," Natsuya said directly, laying down the examination report. "Spirits like these don’t exist. I can only say that this is a type of Spiritual Creature—a very strange one."

"If it’s like that... then Sakura-san must have lied to us." Seiji furrowed his brows slightly.

"No... I’m not certain." Natsuya folded her arms again. "From what I can tell, this isn’t a spirit. As for why Sakura-san said this was a spirit and called it a ‘Spirit Egg,’ I don’t know. Logically speaking, I don’t think she would lie... because it’s not necessary for her to tell such a lie."

A period of silence fell between them.

"Could you explain it to us a little more clearly?" Seiji asked. "Why is this not a spirit? And why is it a little strange?"

"Explain... it’ll be a little long. Let’s all sit down."

Moments later, all three of them were seated on a sofa with a cup of tea in each of their hands.

The president took a sip of tea and considered her next words before she finally spoke up.

The spirit Mika received was a Soul Spirit, which Yin-Yang Masters would need to personally raise in order to strengthen their own abilities. Soul Spirits were different from the spirits that Yin-Yang Masters summoned for their human Spirit-branded Retainers.

The spirits that Spirit-branded Retainers used needed to be suppressed by the Yin-Yang Master’s power in order to prevent the spirit’s power from possessing the host, but Soul Spirits needed to be carefully raised so that it would belong only to the Yin-Yang Master, and there was basically zero chance of it taking over the Yin-Yang Master.

That’s why a mature Soul Spirit would combine entirely with its host, and n.o.body else could use it in any way. If the host died, the Soul Spirit would also disappear. It would also disappear if the host stopped taking care of it.

‘So it’s basically a piece of bound equipment that you have to continually enhance.’ Seiji came to this conclusion after hearing the president’s explanation.

"But if someone who isn’t a Yin-Yang Master raises a Soul Spirit... or another way to put it, for someone without the Yin-Yang Master seal, it won’t become a true Soul Spirit. Since Uehara-san obviously isn’t a Yin-Yang Master, that’s why it isn’t exactly a Soul Spirit.

"From what I can tell, as a Spiritual Creature, it has an incredibly chaotic internal structure. It's unlike any normal Spiritual Creature. Logically speaking, it shouldn’t even be able to be alive, but it definitely is, which is why I said it was rather strange."

‘Do you guys understand?’ Natsuya had such an expression on her face currently.

Seiji looked towards Mika. Her expression was a blank one.

Seiji rubbed his chin in contemplation. "Mika, imagine that the Spiritual Creature you received is a puppy."

"Okay..."

"First, Soul Spirits are dogs that Yin-Yang Masters have given collars and dog tags to, but the one you received doesn’t have these, so it’s not a Soul Spirit."

"Also, this puppy that you received, all its organs and body parts are in the wrong positions, so it has a chaotic structure, and logically speaking it shouldn’t be alive, but it still is, which is rather strange."

"In summary, you received a masterless, zombie dog," Seiji told her in a serious tone of voice. "That’s the basic meaning of the President's words, understand?"

Mika was rendered speechless by this.

"Haruta-kun’s explanation... sounds even stranger, but... I suppose it’s accurate." Natsuya sighed. "At any rate, this Spirit Egg is a rather strange Spiritual Creature. Sakura-san said that it was a ‘Spirit Egg,’ and that it could even ‘hatch.’ This is something that’s out of my understanding. From what I can tell, it doesn’t appear to be dangerous. But I don’t know what will happen in the future if you do as Sakura-san says, nor do I know what this spirit will be like."

A moment of silence fell between them.

"I understand." Mika’s eyes flashed with a strange light. "Thanks for your a.s.sistance, President."

"Uehara-san, what do you intend to do?"

"I believe in Sakura-san, and I’m going to work hard to ‘hatch’ it."

Natsuya blinked and looked towards Seiji.

Seiji communicated with her nonverbally using his eyes.

Natsuya understood what he meant.

"Uehara-san, suppose that this object successfully ‘hatches,’ and becomes... a useful Spiritual Creature, then you’ll have become a ‘Spirit Summoner.’"

"Spirit Summoner?"

"A Spiritual Ability user who can control Spiritual Creatures using various methods." The president looked towards Mika as she continued to explain in a serious tone of voice, "There are benefits and downsides to becoming a Spiritual Ability user. At any rate, your life will become far different from an ordinary person’s, and you’ll get involved in the mystical realm. I don’t want to make it sound dark, but the fact is that there are many things here that ordinary people would consider scary, cruel, and dangerous."

"My current situation is a good example. Due to my duel right before the school festival, I ended up in this hospital to recuperate, same as my two companions, and one of them... Hitaka almost died during the duel, and she’s still bedridden. She even needs a breathing apparatus to help her breathe right now."

The atmosphere became heavy.

"Also, there’s..." Natsuya looked straight into Mika’s eyes. "We’ve killed a person, Uehara-san."