Chapter 295 – Return and Powered Investigation

Our Роlуnеsiаn sightseeing trip—оr rаther, the еvent wherе аll thе Саrdinаl Sins gatherеd—had cоmе to аn еnd.

“Wоw, it fеlt likе a sеcоnd honeуmооn. I rеally еnjoуed it.”

“Totаllу! It was so much fun! Hоmurа and Minato seеmеd to be in a great mооd the wholе time tоо.”

Маybe our kids havе prettу strоng hеarts!

At thе аirрort, Bidi’s fаmily had gаthered again tо sеe us off.

Тhеy аll camе to say gоodbуе.

How heartwarming.

“Еverуоnе!! Seе you аgаin! Сome visit аgain! Nо, wаit—I’ll соmе to уоu nеxt timе!!”

“Сome visit! I’ll probably pop over pretty often myself!”

“Me too!”

Bidi, Windy, and Kushi were all hugging each other tightly.

How beautiful it is when people get along so well.

By the way, it seems Windy plans to come to Japan too.

If Bidi comes as well, things might get pretty chaotic…

“Ah, it’s an advantage for girls to be able to have physical contact like that.”

Mr. Watch, in his human form, said this, and Little Ira and I nodded deeply in agreement.

The three of us men should just smile and watch from a distance.

Ah!

Bidi is beckoning Little Ira and me over!

No way!

Our social lives are at stake!

“Handshake only.”

‘That’s right. You shouldn’t get too close to men.’

“Ehhh.”

Bidi looked displeased.

Teenage girls should be more cautious!

Mashiro and Mr. Watch found this scene highly amusing.

And so, we boarded the plane… and left Polynesia, surrounded by its deep blue seas.

Wow, from the air, you can really see how the islands are scattered across an endless expanse of ocean…

For a vacation, it’s a southern paradise.

But living there comes with its own set of problems.

“Mashiro, would you like to come back?”

“I’d love to! Next time, when the kids are a bit bigger, I want the whole family to enjoy some activities together!”

“Ah, I get that.”

On the plane, Kushi and Windy were enthusiastically sharing their impressions of Polynesia.

Such good friends.

Little Ira had started watching a movie, and Mr. Watch was working.

Mr. Watch, you were working half the time even in Polynesia, weren’t you?

Such a diligent person.

Once we were completely surrounded by nothing but ocean, Mashiro began to doze off peacefully.

The babies were fast asleep too.

Which means…

I was free.

“Grimoires, assemble.”

‘Yes, sir!’

‘It’s about Powered, isn’t it?’

‘Starting work as soon as we get back, huh?’

‘Aren’t you grateful we came to Japan?’

‘Thanks to that, we can all face him together now!’

‘What what!? Powered is coming!? He’s coming!? Then all the Grimoires will be gathered!’

Even Snow White showed up.

‘Hang on a sec. This feels like a momentous occasion, so let me go talk to Windy.’

The green Grimoire floated away.

After chattering with Windy about something…

She came flying back.

‘I’m coming with you guys too!’

“Wh-what did you say!?”

‘What did you say!?’

Flota and I were utterly shocked.

We were a bit too loud, and Homura twitched.

Then she opened her eyes wide and glared at us.

She looked like she wanted to say something, so I picked her up.

Oh, she seems happier now.

But wow, you’ve gotten big.

Are you really only four or five months old?

Meanwhile, the Grimoires were chatting away.

‘Spice can use Flight now, right? So even if I’m in Japan, you can bring me back to Kansas right after everything’s over, can’t you?’

‘Well, isn’t that pretty risky? There are mountains, you know.’

‘It’s fine, it’s fine! In that case, why don’t you come to Kansas through that Otherworld thing you guys use? I’ve decided I want to be there if all the Powered are gathered!’

Snow White’s resolve is firm!

I can feel her determination to see all seven volumes gathered.

I’m also really looking forward to having all seven together.

“Did Windy give any return deadline?”

‘Not really. Over there, the Streamers are pretty active, and Windy doesn’t really use me for her activities anyway.’

I see, she’s just an ordinary person after all.

“Well then, we’ll borrow Snow White!”

“Go right ahead! Oh, and I might come to Japan sometime soon, so you can return her to me then!”

She agreed readily.

And so, six Grimoires were now gathered in our household…

The six of them immediately began discussing Powered.

‘There’s an article about a little girl in Hokkaido who punched out a brown bear.’

“Whoa!”

That’s definitely Powered!

‘It seems she saved a young man who was being attacked by the bear.’

“That’s a good deed. But wait, shouldn’t bears be hibernating in winter?”

‘I can explain that. I have the longest history of being in Japan, after all.’

Surprisingly, it was Flota!

According to her, the acorns—the brown bear’s main food source—were scarce this year, so they came down to human settlements to eat.

Eventually, one that failed to hibernate—or rather, couldn’t store enough nutrients to hibernate—must have shown up.

That’s when Powered happened to pass by, clashed with it, and defeated the bear.

“Could Powered be… a good person?”

‘More on the side of good, I’d say.’

‘We don’t really have a sense of good and evil, but Powered tends to align with the values of the era.’

“I see…”

‘That aside, Powered believes strength is everything. So you have to defeat him with strength to get him. By the way, the Witch who used Powered hadn’t gone through that process, so she wasn’t recognized by Powered and got absorbed instead.’

“Ah, I see! She stole it from my grandmother, so she didn’t go through the proper inheritance method!”

Those Witches really met terrible ends, every one of them.

As expected, you have to talk it out with the Grimoire and form a relationship based on mutual understanding.

Which means we have to go through the proper method of defeating Powered in a fight.