At this point, it’s no surprise in the slightest meaning of the word to say that Natsume is a very special individual… even compared to Marcel.

With millions of years spent as the Spirit Fox Priestess, communicating with the divine realm, she’s an entity well known for her connection to the realm above. Specializing in observing the cycle of fate and divining the unknown, it’s an understatement to say that this young lady’s help is well sought after.

Hearing that the Shrine Maiden Princess who’d been away for a while had returned from whatever rock she was hiding under, the multiverse rejoiced to hear that they’d be able to go back and ask her about matters that, may or may not bring about catastrophes.

Spoiler alert: A war’s about to begin and Natsume (Silva) is going to face the consequences of leaving home soon. Also, the Demon Lord’s going to be overworked. Who do you think has to deal with ending the wars whenever one erupts between races? Things are going to be very tricky this time, but hey, that’s the Demon Lord’s problem to deal with. We probably won’t get to see him for a while but, hey, he’s the Demon Lord. What do you expect?

News spread about Natsume’s return a few days ago with her arrival back home and the divine energy that flowed through her sacred temple’s grounds once more. They rushed as quickly as they could to be the first to meet her but unfortunately, they were told the Shrine Maiden Princess wasn’t receiving any audiences on this day.

Why? Someone more important than they could ever imagine was already having an audience with her, of course.

***

“How was your journey, our daughter? Did you accomplish your mission? Did you find the ‘Silver One’?” A female, almost gender-neutral voice, asked her. She sounded eager to know the answer.

“Of course, mother! Although, he doesn’t seem to be as you described. He seems very down to earth and ordinary, well, apart from his otherworldly growth speed, that is. I found ‘ a Silver One’, not ‘ the Silver One’.” Natsume replied to the voice. She seemed a bit down.

“We see! Can you visualize how you perceive his aura and psychic wavelength to us? We would like to verify something.” The voice asked back.

Natsume nodded, then imagined that person’s unique psychic wavelength which she always perceived to be enigmatic and full of mysteries. Her mother examined it for a while in silence. She soon answered back to her daughter.

“That’s strange! The aura he emanates is on point and we do detect traces of his psychic wavelength from how we remember it… but it is different, almost nothing like his own. Strange! Did something happen while we weren’t watching?” The Great Inari pondered.

The Great Inari found this psychic wavelength she’d been presented with to be odd, but still, it was nothing compared to what she was looking for. This one still bore traces of ‘something’. What she sought after was simply the ‘finest of purity’. This aura her daughter had presented her was certainly extraordinary, almost otherworldly even. If she hadn’t met one like it before, she would have been in complete awe of such a pure aura, but still, it wasn’t what she sought after.

“Mother! Who is this ‘Silver One’ exactly? You never did tell me anything but to just find him among the many duplicates.” Natsume asked. Since the start of her mission, she’d always known that she was looking for something extraordinary, but what it was exactly; she did not know.

Her mother sighed,

“Ha! How do we explain this? He’s neither a mortal nor is he a person of our realm. Like a stream, he comes and goes, enigmatic to the world around him. Before he left us, we, along with our world, almost claimed him as ours but alas, we lost him because of the actions of two fools and have looked everywhere since.” She paused, bereaved as she spoke of that person’s loss for a moment before suddenly, she changed the topic.

“Also, you can thank him for your budding divine nature! Fate, Time, and Space look so favorably at him that they bestowed you with your other ‘unique’ nature which blurs the previous boundaries, simply because we were acquainted with him. He is your ‘Star of Fortune’.” Natsume heard her mother’s voice answer in her mind.

“Huh? So, is he a god or a mortal, mother? What is he?”

“Hmm! How do I answer this? Maybe neither or both? He appeared in the lower realm like a sudden lit bright candlelight with abilities comparable to a divine entity, although it was a very strange one. He had the power of wish-granting; his knowledge, immense. None of us could fully grasp the extent of his powers nor his existence despite our long, cycling lives and the knowledge it brings us. He was the oddest existence we ever encountered, and we’ve seen many, including odd mortals.” The voice answered.

“That’s strange! Wouldn’t the world reject him if he had such immense power?” The humble daughter asked.

“Yes, but strangely enough, it never did. Rather, the entire world cherished his precious existence. It loved him! Think of him like the world’s treasure that it could never quite part with. He could never become a god despite his immense power and the universe’s complete approval of him; nor could he be fully mortal either. As I said, he comes and goes, through the passage of time. If he survived that day, then he’s definitely bound to be here somewhere. After all, his lover whom he always follows... is here in this world.” The mother answered the daughter. The mother spoke in a calm tone.

“Check my back, mother! I received a bit of his blood and ‘that’ appeared on my back.” She said in the exact same calm voice as she asked her mother to inspect the insignia on her back. Her mother scanned and investigated her body, finding something that made the entire situation difficult.

“Oh? This is also strange…! The energy it exudes is yours, but it seems to be of a higher level of power than your current energy quality possesses. This is very strange! It seems to constantly supply your body with pure, refined energy of Spirit Fox and divine nature beneficial to yourself alone and we can’t seem to read its primal source. All that I know is that your mission on this world may be completed far sooner than we think it is if that thing aids you. We might meet again sooner than we thought possible.” The mother said.

“Oh~! So, is it his mark or something related to ‘him’?” The daughter asked, eager to know if her friend maybe had some connections to that ‘someone’.

“Yes... and no! Sure, the energy seems to be yours but apart from us, nobody should be able to stimulate your growth like this, well, except for ‘that person who has the power to grant any wish. You do share a strong connection of fate to your ‘Star of Fortune, it seems. Currently, in your world, the number of psychic wavelengths that liken his are astronomical. Almost an eighth of all the people born in this realm share the Silver One’s psychic wavelength to some extent, even creatures that we directly interfered in the creation of. It’s like he’s trying to throw us off; if you understand.”  

“But why would he do that, mother?!” Natsume asked, her tone very agitated. Her mother seems to really care about this person, but he doesn’t appreciate her intentions.

“Um, probably because we started it. After all, we ‘all’ contributed to sealing his lover’s memories while also giving that same lover the mission to find something he had no idea about. We did a very mean thing! Everyone has some sort of attachment to him, and we all want a chance to deepen that attachment, but his lover limits our chances of attaining our goals; you get what we mean?” The mother answered the daughter. Natsume saw her mother’s faint smile in her head.

“Ah! I get it! Romantic feelings!” Natsume shouted in realization.

“Yes! He’s quite the catch! What selfish creatures like us, Gods, wouldn’t want the dedication he shows that one lover of his? He knows a lot, is also the greatest listener, and listening to him talk calms our very souls. He’s the definition of perfect in all our eyes. Our impure intentions are probably why he duplicated his psychic wavelengths to share with so many people, though what he did might be something else entirely. The irony of our current conundrum is that he is never spiteful, which means, all of this… might be happening without his intervention. Clever boy~!” She said in a seductive voice.

Her daughter, Natsume, now growing incredibly curious about who this person who even caught her mother’s attention really was. She just hoped this person had very little to do with her best friend because, if not, things might get very messy!

“That boy whom you showed me the psychic wavelength of... he’s talking to your brother right now. Bring him here when they’re done, and we’ll investigate the truth behind that little one’s extraordinary existence for ourselves.”

***

After a while of talking to Emperor Koto, Marcel cleared up the misunderstandings regarding the relationship between himself and his daughter/sister. Only after their conversation was done, did Natsume send someone to fetch Marcel.

Marcel arrived to meet Natsume. When he stepped onto the temple grounds, something strange happened. A title appeared atop his head. This title was unique, compared to the ones he’d obtained in the past. It was forged from the very energy within the temple grounds and like a crown, condensed atop Marcel’s head before it entered Marcel’s body and dissolved.

<< Title: ‘One favored by goddess Inari,’ acquired! >>

It was then that Inari noticed something.

“It’s him! He’s the link!!!” The goddess yelled, agitated at the sight of what happened when Marcel entered the temple grounds.

She was now very sure that Marcel had something to do with that person; a connection far deeper than all the others with ‘his’ wavelength. Even this world, as intricate and powerful as they made and allowed it to grow, can’t suppress her feelings.

“Only one person can possess that title!” The goddess hollered, very agitated.

The moment that title appeared on Marcel’s Informer; like a mark on his very soul, she was sure. Marcel wasn’t like the other people meant to mask the true ‘Silver One’; very special!

His soul was different from the Silver One’s, but it was pure, unbranded by any energy although numerous mutated, distinct types surrounded it. From how similar he is to the Silver One, he could be a clone or an embodiment of that person, or possibly, the key to finding him.

Despite the uncertainty, however, one thing was for sure. She wasn’t mistaken. Only one person has ever possessed what they refer to in their world as the ‘Glass Soul’. It couldn’t be anyone else. She was very sure now that Marcel, whose soul displayed the qualities of the superb ‘Glass Soul’, was directly related to that person.

Although she was sure that Marcel had a deeper connection with the ‘Silver One’ than the numerous souls who cloaked ‘his’ presence in this world, she still felt it necessary to have some doubts.

Marcel could be a deliberate ploy of his to escape their detection. With his aura, physical features, and ‘unique’ soul, he could be acting as that person’s ‘God Magnet’. He could be specially designed to trick them while the Silver One moves around in a disguise. It could also be by total coincidence, as things usually are with ‘him’.

She didn’t sense any divine abilities or qualities from Marcel either except for what might be the ‘Glass Soul’s ability that defined his very existence, meaning that this theory could just be as valid as what she thought of earlier when the title appeared. It might also be so that Marcel isn’t at all who she thinks he is, just another passerby who happens to bear that person’s psychic wavelength… like the many others. Is she wrong?