Chapter 244: Puppet ; Brief Appearance (1/2)

”Yoshinon? Who is that?” I ask in a low voice.

”Yoshinon is… my friend,” she responds meekly, as I feel a chilling cold at where Yoshino is clenching my clothes.

Friend? Could it be another spirit? I don't recall seeing her with anyone, and even if I didn't, AI would inform me about the Code waves.

After taking a moment to deliberate on the matter, an odd notion appears in my head.

It can't be… right?

”Hey, Yoshino. Is the friend you're speaking of the white puppet you wore on your hand?”

Instead of giving me an oral response, Yoshino just nods her head once.

”Alright then,” I say with a smile, ”Let's look for your friend.”

Having said that, I begin to float down to the wet ground.

I hadn't noticed it earlier due to the intensity of what was going on, but it's raining right now, and it's a relatively heavy one compared to the light shower from the other day.

With such thoughts swirling through my mind, I land on the ground and set Yoshino down before using my senses to look for the puppet.

Fortunately, after looking around for about a few minutes, I locate it.

”Yoshino,” I call out to the little girl who has been nervously standing in place the whole time I was searching.

A little startled, Yoshino looks at me with a sad look on her face.

”I found your friend,” I say before beckoning to her to move closer.

Doing as I instructed her to, I scoop her up into my arms before dashing toward where the puppet has fallen.

Due to my abnormal speed, I reach my destination in less than a second.

Using Telekinesis, I lift the slightly damaged puppet and bring it over to Yoshino who hastily takes it and puts it on her left hand.

”Hehehe,” an odd reaches my ears, surprising me a little.

The next thing I know, the puppet is close against my face as its mouth moves while the odd voice reaches my ear once again, ”You are you the one that helped Yoshinon, huh? You do not seem like a bad guy, Shido (Shido-kun).”

Despite being a little perplexed about the situation, I don't lose my composure and state, ”Of course.”

”Why did you save Yoshinon?” the rabbit puppet's mouth continues to move as the voice asks.

”Obviously, because I couldn't let you suffer despite you not wishing to fight.”

”Is that the only reason?”

”No,” I respond while casting a glance at the little girl's mouth that is slightly open but remains unmoving, ”It's also because I wanted to take you home with me.”

”Iya~ How perverted. What could Shido want to do with Yoshinon?”

”Take care of you and protect you from those wishing to hunt you,” I respond, deciding to ignore most of what she just said.

At this moment, Yoshino jumps out of my arms and begins to skip around for a minute or so before responding, ”Very well, Shido. Yoshinon will go there.”

Beaming a smile, I begin to ruminate over what just happened.

First, there was a sudden change in personality and voice that occurred as soon as Yoshino put on the puppet. Does she have split personalities, with the more upfront one appearing when she wears the puppet?

Secondly, would be the fact that I invited her over to my home. This could possibly cause me some trouble, but that's better than her being hunted for no other reason than being a 'spirit'.

{WARNING: Binary Factor detected. Threat level: 4}

What?! A binary factor with a threat level of four? Where is it?

{To Father's left.}

Looking over in the direction specified by Irene, I notice that there is nothing but empty space and a few buildings in the distance, so I use Clairvoyance to check the buildings out.