Michi and Aya are once again inside their dormitory room, reading the Youkai Country chronicle. After a few weeks of reading, they have finished most of it.

  “It seems like there was a native god involved in the creation of the Youkai Country…”

  “Not that surprising. Gods were dying out back then too. They definitely wanted a piece of the pie too.”

  Despite them being able to dig up interesting tidbits like this, which often makes for some enjoyable banter, there is next to nothing indicating where the Youkai Country is, and how to get there.

  Well, it isn’t as if there is no lead at all. One is at least more than zero, right?

  “The Sukima Shrine… Is our only clue for now. It seems like a trip back to Akatsuki will be needed. But that’s not happening until summer break.” Michi summarizes their findings.

  Throughout the chronicles, there has been a few mentions of a shrine named Sukima, saying that it is “where boundaries intersect”.

  But, as Michi just said, they still need to take a trip to Akatsuki to find it. At least, the books have told them that the Youkai Country is located in the Southern region of Akatsuki.

  So, the matters of the Youkai Country can only be put aside for now. It’s a long time until summer break, and Michi needs to improve her strength to deal with the upcoming major events.

  Well, the few events are for the protagonist. As for Michi, all she needs to worry about is the cssic Tournament Arc that’s happening soon.. Achieving a high ranking can potentially get her an artifact she can absorb.

  But until then, there won’t be much that happens in her daily life. She does have a new schedule though, with more time allocated to combat training. Before the Tournament, she wants to break through to Tier 1, which should give her better odds. With her being at peak Tier 0 already, this is quite doable, and even more so if she can find some good books to use.

  Well, Michi also likes reading in general, which is why, after finishing her own stack of books, she has taken up the habit of visiting the library.

  Aya is there too, wearing the Qualia Academy uniform, and no one seems to notice that she isn’t actually a human. She and Michi sit across from each other, silently reading their own books.

  Michi still wants to research more into her field of study, but Aya is just there grabbing whatever she can off of the shelves.

  ‘Michi… Do you see that girl?’ Aya suddenly whispers in her mind, gesturing at someone who has just entered.

  Michi, too, has her eye drawn to the small girl. Her shoulder-length silver hair is quite eye-catching, since that’s a hair color you don’t see often, if at all.

  In fact, this is yet another heroine of Leonard’s. However, that’s not why Michi is attracted. The girl gives off of a strange feeling that is somehow quite familiar and comforting to Michi.

  ‘She feels like knowledge…’ Aya has figured out what it is. Both of them are quite sensitive to knowledge, but Aya even more so due to her youkai nature.

  So, why is this girl giving off the feelings of knowledge? The answer lies in her Esper Ability.

  This girl, Dorothy, is a Magician who also possesses an Esper Ability. And her ability, as one would expect, is reted to knowledge. She can understand everything she learns easily, and her magic power is increased by every bit of knowledge that she accumutes, independent from her Magician path.

  It’s easy to tell that she’s an orphan from her ck of a family name, and perhaps due to that, she is quite shrewd and resourceful, enough to not reveal her ability to anyone. That is, until Leonard would touch her one day and find out about it.

  And this cute girl is currently staring straight at Aya. She walks over, pces her books down and takes a seat at the next table.

  ’Look at that, she’s clearly interested in you!’ Michi teasingly says.

  ’I think she has some way to sense knowledge like me, that’s why she noticed something wrong.’ Aya, as always, doesn’t take Michi’s word seriously, and replies with her own thoughts.

  ‘You are correct! Her name is Dorothy, and she has this strange ability…’

  Michi spends an entire minute expining what she knows to Aya, and realizes the weird look the tter has only when she finishes.

  ‘Again, how do you know so much about people you have never met? First is that guy Leonard, and now this girl?’

  ‘Oh… Wait, I didn’t tell you?’

  Now that she thinks about it, didn’t she also make a mental note to tell Aya about the transmigration during the school opening ceremony? She totally forgot about it.

  So, she spends another 5 minutes expining, and Aya also listens intently. The duo has already forgotten about the girl sitting nearby.

  ‘Ahh… I don’t really know what is going on anymore…’Aya breathes out a long sigh after Michi finishes. She somewhat understands Michi’s transmigration now.

  Heck, even in this world, that genre of novel is still quite popur. So, it isn’t such an unfamiliar concept. Magic to change bodies and reincarnate exists too, but they are only usable by Tier 6 and above, and they are heavily reguted by governments around the world.

  ‘If I have to guess, it might be some kind of soul reted mystical ability that brought you here, but that’s all I have.’

  ‘Isn’t that obvious?’

  Aya doesn’t have an answer to her out-of-nowhere transmigration despite her vast knowledge. And Michi doesn’t care either. She’s living a good life now, so why bother?

  So, she turns her attention back to the books. She isn’t actually reading though. Instead, her attention is on the girl who has just taken a seat on a table nearby. There’s no way she would approach Aya and not at least talk to her, or so Michi thinks.

  Sure enough, after a while, Dorothy slowly leaves her seat and walks over to Aya.

  “Umm… That book you are reading… It’s about the Youkai Expansion Project, right?”

  Aya is clearly going to just ignore the girl despite what she now knows about her. So, Michi has to take action.

  ‘Talk to her! She’s definitely someone worth befriending!’

  ‘Then do it yourself. I don’t want to make friends on your behalf.’ Her tone clearly indicates that there’s no chance for persuasion.

  They can’t just stay silent when the girl has clearly spoken up, so Michi, having no choice, has to take the lead.

  “Don’t mind her, she is not very talkative, as you can see. And this isn’t a good pce for a conversation either.” She speaks up to the girl.

  “My name is Michi, and this is Aya. We happen to be quite free now, so how about we take this somewhere else?”

  Bewildered as she is, the girl nods her head, and the three of them head to a cafe near the library. Such establishments are quite abundant even inside the campus.

  “So, your name is Dorothy? Well, as I said before, my name is Michi. Amemiya Michi. As for this girl, she’s Aya.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Aya says curtly.

  “Haa… Well, as I said. this girl isn’t that talkative. Probably because she’s a Tsukumogami.”

  “What? Tsukumogami?”

  It doesn’t seem like Dorothy knows what she just heard. Well, Tsukumogami is, after all, an old generation youkai. Even people of Akatsuki have only heard of them in stories.

  After hearing Michi’s expnation about old youkai, Dorothy starts to eye Aya again with a hungry look.

  Michi can feel Dorothy’s power increase by a good chunk too. It seems like this knowledge is quite valuable.

  “Can you guess what Aya’s true body is? It’s none other than the Hyakki Yakou Picture Scroll. You know about it, right?”

  Dorothy somehow manages to keep her composure. Well, if you count being stupefied for a few minutes ‘composed’. At least she didn’t shout out anything for others to hear.

  ”Hey? Hey? Dorothy? Earth to Dorothy?”

  After a while, the girl finally recovers, and asks in a shaking voice. “Umm… If… if possible, can I take a look?”

  “Sure thing! I will lend you Aya sometime ter, how about that?” Michi says with a giggle.

  “Um? Aya, is that okay?”

  “It’s fine! I am her owner; and I can decide what to do with her. Am I right, Aya?” Patting the Tsukumogami on her head, she reassures Dorothy.

  “Um. That’s right.” The youkai confirms in a ft voice.

  “Oh! Is… is that so? Then… I’ll take you up on that offer then. But… Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “Oh, of course!”

  Here comes the opportunity to get a favor from Dorothy.

  “I only have 3 requests for you, Miss Dorothy. First of all, please help me with school work in the future when you have time.”

  “Oh? That’s fine. And the other two?”

  “The second one, I will save for the future. Just help me out once when I am in need. I won’t ask anything unreasonable.”

  “Alright.”

  “And finally… There’s one thing I want you to do during the time you are in possession of the Scroll…”

  A/N:

  SpoilerThe dialogue are so awkward... I kinda just forced it to happen.

  New words time! This time, it's just 'Sukima'. It is written as 隙間, meaning 'gap' or 'opening'. A clear reference to the eternally youthful hag Yakumo Yukari.

  Let's talk about Dorothy a bit. She comes from a certain web novel I read recently, which I really enjoyed. The original Dorothy is named Dorothy too, and also has an ability reted to knowledge. I just find that such ability is quite compatible with Michi, so she got in.

  [colpse]