“Everyone, thanks so much for gathering here on such short notice.”

  The dorm once again reunited on the couch at my request. The topic was serious and very important to me. On this long journey of revealing my secrets to the people important to me, today we take the next step.

  “What I’m going to say may seem strange, but I feel it’s very important for me to tell you all this. It’s something I’ve kept to myself for a while, and I feel like now’s the time to share it you all.”

  My tone was polite, and they all listened intently… Or stared absentmindedly… Narumi certainly did. Is the mood I’m creating not getting through to her?

  “Uhhh… I don’t mean to interrupt, but…” Narumi extended her hand and pointed. To the space next to me at around chest level. “Who’s that girl next to you?”

  …

  “She can see you?! Endell! What’s the meaning of this?! I thought you said normal people couldn’t see you!”

  Endell’s head rocked back and forth as I shook her shoulders. “Well… It’s true… They’re not normal people, are they?”

  No way! I let go. Is it because they’ve come in contact with the other world? “But… but… Aren’t you like… a figment of my imagination? Wasn’t I supposed to be the only one who could see you? This doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Normally, yeah. But while my appearance is a reflection of your thoughts, I have a soul of my own. While hard to see, it’s not like that manifestation is completely invisible to others. Especially people like them.” Like them? What does that mean? “Well, don’t sweat the details, okay?”

  Endell tapped my slumped shoulder to comfort me. Now she smugly goes ‘Don’t sweat the details’… How? How am I supposed to act after putting on airs?

  “I’d like an explanation too, Iroha. What are you thinking, bringing a civilian to the dorm?” Katja was a bit upset, but all of them were looking at Endell with suspicion. What now?

  “Don’t get mad, okay…? She’s not a civilian. I mean, look at her. Do normal people look like this?” Completely white, almost like a ghost. She’s obviously not a normal person. No cause for alarm, right?

  “Is she a monster?” Hecate leaned forward like she was ready to fight, and that attitude quickly spread. Dammit! I only made them even more wary!

  “No! Absolutely not! Just calm down… She’s not a bad girl.” I grabbed Endell’s shoulders and brought her in front of me. “This girl’s name is Endell. She’s my sword.”

  “Someone who fights for you?” Katja raised a brow.

  “Nope. She’s my sword. Literally.”

  “Is that supposed to be a joke?” Between all of them, Carol may have been the one most at ease. She was the one most used to my antics, I guess…

  “Let me explain. She is more or less the spirit of my Matching Weapon. Matching Weapon take a core made from a monster’s remains, right? To match with the weapon, you need to connect your soul to the soul residing in the material. In my case, Endell is the one I connected with.”

  “That’s right.” Endell nodded with a big smile. “And for the record, Iroha hasn’t done anything to me that would warrant a lover to get jealous!”

  …

  What’s this girl saying? What a strange remark… I could see Narumi and Katja thinking that. Endell’s gaze was focused on someone else, though. A Carol with a blushing poker face and a wide-eyed Hecate.

  “Ahem! Strange thing to say… Sorry, not that it would be any of our business if you did…” Katja tried to get things back on track but got caught up too. “I’m guessing you managed to achieve something like that thanks to the VISS Driver you mentioned the other day. I’ve never heard of anyone with a Matching Weapon turning it into a person.”

  “Actually, Endell has a different explanation. It was the silver flower… Remember how Reia said it was a special material? Matching with her is different from matching with the average monster…”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “I see… You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?” Katja replied with quite the flat tone. It’s not me this time…

  “What else? Was telling us she existed all you wanted to do?” Carol asked with crossed arms.

  “Yeah…?” Am I going to look like an idiot for not having a better plan? “You know, since I ended up telling Katja and Narumi about the other world, I figured I could go ahead and come clean about Endell too.”

  A reasonable excuse, I think.

  “What? Did you two know about her already?” Narumi turned to Carol and Hecate.

  “Nope… We hadn’t met her yet. I wasn’t expecting Iroha to show up with a kid behind her…” She’s making it sound weird… Endell is not even much smaller than she is…

  “It’s okay, Carol… Sounds like they didn’t do anything bad together, right?” Hecate asked Endell, who nodded her head.

  “Well, I don’t really care either way…” Narumi got up from the couch and approached Endell. “Look at how cute she is!! Isn’t that enough? Nice to meet you, Endell-chan~ Do you want a snack? Come with me. Big sis will get something for you!”

  When Narumi leaned forward, her boobs pressed together right in front of Endell’s face. “Big indeed…” You can’t say that. Shit… She really is me… “Thank you so much!”

  Narumi was about to lift Endell up when suddenly… *ping*

  A message? Sarasa? Another question about her new phone? Let’s see… A video? When did she learn to do that? I can’t watch it here, though…

  “Actually, I need to drop by my room. I just wanted you to meet Endell today. Come, Endell.” I ran back into the hallway, and the otherworldly girl returned to the sword by my waist.

  “Ehhh?! She’s gone?! Iroha! Give her back!”

  …

  I closed the door behind me, adjusted the phone’s volume, and sat down in my bed.

  I go to my messages with Sarasa and find the video again. As soon as I click play, I see the funny-looking face of a man wearing a green hoodie. A sneaky fantasy song starts playing and…

  “Rogues see you using keys and say: Hehehe he hath not the skill to pick a lock.”

  Was that… a meme?

  …

  “You little shit!” I send her. “You went on the internet, didn’t you? Right after I told you not to!”

  In less than a minute…

  “lol”

  “lmao”

  Dammit! This chick!

  “What was that about?” Moments after Iroha left, the four girls stayed behind without explanations. Carol turned to the other as she posed the question.

  “That’s what I wanna know! The cute girl disappeared all of a sudden! I wanted to show her around!”

  “I guess what she was saying about the girl being some kind of spirit of her sword was true…” Hecate posed.

  “Can I get one too? I wonder if my axe can turn into a cute gi-”

  “Something came up gotta go bye!”

  Like a burst of wind, the blonde girl ran out and left everyone speechless.

  “There she goes again…”

  I’m gonna choke her… I told her not to go on the internet. It’s too early for her…

  I made it all the way from the dorm to her hotel room in Ebrilyon in a mad dash. The door was slammed open, and I found her alone at the table tapping her new phone—her new toy.

  “I- Iroha?” She stood up from the shock. “You got here fast xd…”

  “How could you? How could you how could you how could you?!? Right after I told you not to!”

  “It’s okay lmao. Nothing happened lol.”

  “What do you mean nothing happened?! Do you hear yourself?!” My soul cried in pain as I shook her shoulders. “You’re ruining your already stupid brain! Stop it! Before it’s too late!”

  “You calling me dumb, bro? Unc’s trying to pick a fight.”

  “*Sob sob…*” I hugged her. “Sorry, Sarasa… It’s all my fault… It’s my fault you’re like this… I’ll put you out of your misery, so don’t resist, okay?”

  She slipped away at the last moment, right before my hand reached her neck. “Wait wait wait! Aren’t you taking this a bit too seriously? Nyahahahaha! I was just messing around, okay? Just messing with you.”

  “Really?” Is she really back to normal?

  “Really really! Don’t worry! Why were you so desperate to keep us away from the internet? There wasn’t anything dangerous about it when we checked it out.”

  “We?” Don’t tell me she infected Ririna too… “Did you hear how you were talking? I’d say that’s a big enough danger… To my ears at least…”

  She apologetically averted her gaze.

  “Internet is like poison for your soul… You need to build a certain level of immunity to it before you can browse it unsupervised. The people from your world don’t have that immunity. You’re too impressionable, and you’re going to pick up on all the dumb shit… People like you in specific have a tendency to be influenced by the most obnoxious stuff…”

  “For some reason, I feel that you’re mocking me by saying that…” Sarasa muttered. “So… Were you going to kill me just because of that? Yikes…”

  *Click* “Did you pick up that one too?” Sarasa jumped when she saw my sword raised.

  “It was a joke! Just a joke! Put that thing down!”

  Her hands waved all over the place. Sigh… I’ll spare her for now…

  “Whew… Di- did you run all the way here just to yell at me?” She sat back down and tried to loosen up.

  “No… no… We talked about talking to Bea, right? I thought I’d pay her a visit.”

  “That’s a good idea, but… Can you just show up and talk to her like that? Are you that important?”

  “It has worked so far.” I shrugged and apparently impressed her.

  “Good luck with that.” She distanced herself like she wanted nothing to do with the trip. “Sounds a bit too dangerous for someone like me to show her face at the castle, so have fun.”

  “What a supportive girlfriend I have…”

  “Nyahahahaha! I’m plenty supportive. I just can’t handle everything. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. You have multiple girlfriends, so you can afford to bring the right one for each situation.”

  “You’re not wrong, but it sounds kinda bad when you put it like that…” Am I matching party members to target certain weaknesses in a game? Feels wrong to think of them like that. “I can talk to Bea on my own, so it doesn’t matter.”

  “Woohoo! We got a big shot over here! Since you’re so great, can you help Ririna too?” Sarasa’s tone suddenly turned serious.

  “Ririna? What’s wrong with Ririna? Did something happen to her?!”

  “She’s fine… Personally speaking. As an alchemist, however… It’s been hard for her.” Sarasa went on to give me a quick rundown of what was on her mind. Ever since the Alchemists’ guild got her involved with demons, it’s been hard for her. None of it was her fault, yet she’s still suffering from it.

  “I feel bad for how they’re treating her… Making it harder for her to study just because you ruined the evil plans of some influential prick. How can they even justify that?”

  There was a hint of anger in Sarasa’s voice, and I stared at her.

  “What?” She looked up hesitantly.

  “You…” I stepped forward. “You’re so cute!” And hugged her head. “It’s so cute how you’re worried about Ririna! Ahh! I knew I wasn’t wrong about you! You’re the best!”

  “Nyahh!? I don’t like the tone in your voice! Let go! I have an image to uphold!” Sarasa struggled and eventually managed to break away. She escaped to the corner of the room, where she hissed with a blushing face. That’s a new one… How cute…

  “Sorry… sorry… I just couldn’t resist hugging you.” It’s great to see them getting along. I didn’t realize Ririna’s situation was that bad… “I wonder if I can help her somehow… Thanks for telling me, Sarasa. I’ll try to think of something. See you later.”

  “See ya. As long as she can keep doing what she likes, that’s all that matters.”

  “Yeah… Love you!”

  Her face going red was the last thing I saw before I left.