Seraphim is a Bystander

School Trip Day 1: God
 

Ever since Aoi exorcised the spirit possessing Sasaki Rei, the awkward tension between the two of them seemed to vanish, and their bond began to deepen quickly.
Not long after, they reunited with the rest of the group and started exploring Kyoto together.
That electric shock-like feeling when Aoi and Rei-kun touched before—it was simply a sensation between two people with spiritual sensitivity.
Out of curiosity, I had investigated Rei’s peculiar constitution after realizing he was the first spiritually sensitive person Aoi had ever met besides himself.
From the information I gathered when I arrived in this world, and from Rei's unique traits, it had been easy to predict that Aoi and Rei would get wrapped up in this sort of trouble during their school trip.

That’s why I made sure to help Aoi remember his infant-stage version of the Purification Mimic.
I had anticipated Rei being possessed and Aoi being the one to exorcise him. That much went exactly as planned.
But this… this part is a little unexpected.
“Where did you obtain that power, child?”
“…Um, sorry, but who exactly are you?”

Aoi and Rei had been progressing smoothly through Kyoto, following in the footsteps of the gods, and eventually arrived at the very dwelling of a deity.
There, just as the gods’ retainers had once been chosen, they were dragged into a different space entirely.
Aoi looked at the woman in a radiant kimono standing before him, assuming she must be another of the divine retainers he’d seen before.
But he was wrong—this woman was not a mere servant.
She was the god.
“I don’t recall giving you permission to speak out of turn, mortal.”

“…!?”
With a wave of her hand, the god forced Aoi to his knees, pinning him to the ground as if he were sewn in place.
When Aoi tried to open his mouth to speak, he realized with shock that he couldn’t even form the thoughts he wanted to express.
“Do not make me waste more time. Now answer my question.”

“…Power, you say… but I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.”
When he tried to answer, he found that this time he could speak freely—so long as it was a direct response to her question.
Still, the god’s question had been so vague and abstract that Aoi was left completely bewildered.
The god sighed and made an annoyed face at his confusion, then slowly stepped toward him.

“Hmph… Enough. I’ll just take a look for myself.”
“…!? …!”
She reached out to touch Aoi’s head.
It mirrored the exact situation from earlier, when the spirit had tried to peer into Rei-kun’s thoughts.
But this time, it wasn’t up to Aoi to stop it—it was my turn.
…Though honestly, I’d handled most of it last time too.

In any case, as the god’s hand reached toward Aoi to peer into his thoughts, I intercepted her consciousness and dragged it into my spiritual realm.
Since she was already the one who had suspended time and separated the space, all I had to do was push Aoi’s consciousness down and bring her in.
“…? What is this?”
“Welcome, oh clown of a god.”
The god looked around in confusion as she found herself pulled into my mental world.
Hearing my voice, she turned toward me.

Even in spirit form, the woman still radiated a divine glow—but now she looked irritated.
“Clown? Did you just call me, a god, a clown…?”
“You’re just a so-called ‘god’ in a toy box world. ‘Clown’ suits you better than ‘divine.’”

“How dare you speak to me that way—!”
Her face immediately twisted in rage and she raised her hand to strike—but then, just as quickly, her expression turned to shock.
She froze, looking down at her own hands in silence.
“What is this…? What have you done to me?”

“Nothing at all. ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) This place simply doesn’t follow the rules that let you be a god.”
The only reason she could act as a god was because her role as a virtual construct gave her the authority.
Now that her consciousness was severed from the body that had been granted that divine role, she was nothing more than a pompous self-proclaimed god.
“What… is the meaning of this?”

“…Well, for now, why don’t we have a nice little chat?”
As I said that, the self-styled god looked at me with eyes filled with something beyond comprehension—like she was staring at a terrifying anomaly she couldn’t begin to understand.