After Kaguya took Hayasaka out, Chika finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"What just happened?"
She couldn't understand how she had been able to clearly see through Kaguya's real thoughts, discover that Kaguya seemed to be dating Ren, and even pinpoint her emotional flaws to the point where Kaguya couldn't take it and ran away.
"This is the extraordinary ability of the Spectator."
She turned around immediately upon hearing the voice and saw Ren stretching his slightly stiff body.
She could also sense Ren's current emotional state, discomfort and embarrassment, which matched her understanding of him.
FuChika now re-evaluated the power she had gained.
"The Spectator's spirituality and observational skills are both exceptional. It's because of this that a Spectator can perceive information others can't, and from there deduce someone's true thoughts."
"As I said before, low-sequence Spectators do not possess outstanding combat capabilities. Spectators are not meant to fight initially; they are observers. This is also preparation for Sequence 8—Telepathist."
"Once promoted to Sequence 8 Telepathist, your perception will become even sharper. You'll be able to grasp others' thoughts more precisely, and even read minds."
After moving his body, Ren carefully explained and introduced this to Chika.
"Eh~ I already think my current ability is amazing."
Although she still didn't know what kind of power system she had entered, Chika genuinely thought that the Spectator's extraordinary ability was already incredible.
To be able to see through someone's true thoughts with pure observation was beyond imagination.
From what she knew, abilities like this could only be developed through years of accumulated experience. But she had gained such a power just by drinking one bottle of magic potion. It was unbelievable.
"There are also significant side effects."
That one sentence brought back yesterday's unpleasant memory, and Chika's body trembled slightly. It was truly one of her worst experiences.
She glanced at Ren sitting on the sofa, then quickly looked toward the door, and in the next moment jumped into Ren's arms.
Once in his embrace, the familiar sense of peace finally stopped her trembling.
"Ren… what exactly happened?"
It was hard for her to imagine how she had ended up in such a terrifying state.
"Loss of control… corruption… This is the price of gaining power."
However, even as he said this, Ren's expression was filled with confusion.
"I actually warned you about this issue before you drank the potion, but I didn't pay enough attention myself."
"Why?"
Chika didn't understand.
"Because low-sequence potions aren't supposed to be that dangerous. They don't usually result in loss of control or mental contamination like what happened to you. If it were a self-made potion, maybe, but the diary gave you a pre-prepared potion. The likelihood of something going wrong was even lower."
"My spirituality didn't give me any warnings. And in fact, that should have been correct."
This was also a strange issue for Ren.
As someone who had walked three pathways, his sense for danger was extremely sharp, especially when absorbing the spiritual imprints within potions. He had always been keenly aware of any potential crisis.
But in Chika's case, that sensitivity had given him nothing, which made the whole situation even more unusual.
Of course, there was another point that was even stranger.
"In fact, losing control is almost an irreversible state. Only someone of a higher status can suppress its effects. I do possess that level of status, so I was confident I could suppress the reaction."
"But what actually happened was, I only used my spirituality to comfort you, and your symptoms of losing control vanished. The pollution in your mind completely disappeared right in front of me."
"It wasn't hidden. It was completely erased."
"I believe that's why my spirituality didn't issue any warnings. Because it didn't see it as a crisis."
Since it wasn't a crisis, there was no spiritual alert.
This was the answer Ren had arrived at.
But he also reflected on it deeply.
"I relied too much on my spirituality. I should have been more cautious. I should've done a divination about your condition before letting you drink the potion. If I had known in advance, I never would have let you go through something so awful."
Listening to Ren's explanation, Chika finally had a clearer understanding of what had happened to her.
"So, in the end, what happened to me was just an accident?"
"Absolutely not."
Ren's tone was firm.
"There are no such things as accidents in the world. What happened to you was due to my miscalculation. I can even feel right now that the loss of control and mental contamination you experienced was inevitable."
"Fujiwara, remember this. The Sequential path we're walking doesn't believe in accidents. Many so-called coincidences or accidents are actually destined outcomes."
"Even though I still don't know why it happened to you, from now on I'll pay much closer attention to your condition."
Ren still didn't know why this had happened to Fujiwara.
But not knowing didn't mean the matter was over.
This wasn't the end. This matter couldn't be considered resolved just yet. He would get to the bottom of it. And if it was connected to that bizarre Adam in the secret realm… then one day, he'd rip his head off.
"Yeah."
Hearing Ren's resolute tone, Chika couldn't help but smile slightly.
Even though it had been an awful experience, the outcome didn't seem so bad now.
Then, she buried her face deeply into Ren's chest. The warmth and comfort dispersed the fear and trauma from the experience, making her feel much better.
"If I get scared again in the future… can you hold me like this?"
"…Ah?"
Ren was a little taken aback. He hesitated for a moment, but remembering that her situation was directly caused by his carelessness, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"If you're afraid…"
"That's good."
After getting his permission, Chika felt her fear fade away even more.
(To be continued.)
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