"Mr. Contractor, wake up, Mr. Contractor.

　The voice inside my head awakens my submerged consciousness.
　The nightmarish scene I had seen earlier.
　I fought against that god and lost, and one by one my loved ones fell one by one.
　And in the end, I had a nightmare that my child was about to be kidnapped, and even though the president went out, Yukiera was kidnapped.

"Oh, my goodness, did I make you feel a little overwhelmed?
"What?

Hearing that sounds blurred and muffled.
　A headache that persists when you see a scene from a viewpoint other than your own.
You can't seem to put your thoughts together.
　You struggle to come out of your still blurred thoughts and respond to a familiar voice.

"Mr. Vals, sir?
"Yes, yes, you're right, Mr. Contractor.

　A time-space spirit contracted to me riding on the head of a giant white snake, at the tip of my eyelids.

"What in the world? This is...

　Looking at the view of that world, I found myself in the same space as the ordeal of yore.
　As I recall, I was trying to help my daughter.

What?
"Yes, stop, you're going to see a lot of extraneous things now, so listen to me and put the situation in perspective.

　When you try to think about it, the nightmare reappears as if in a flashback, and you get a headache that makes you hold your head in your hands.

I know it was tough to see the future when you're just barely awake, even in an emergency, but you'll have to bear the pain for now. Otherwise, what you saw will come true.

　Even if you are in a vise, tightening slowly and intensely, and the pain is constant, Mr. Vals says strictly to be patient.
　If you want to be released from this pain as soon as possible, you just have to let go of your consciousness.
　But Mr. Vals' words will stop me from making that choice.

What do you mean? The reality is, it's already happened.

　Is it because of this pain or because the nightmare and reality are mixed up and you don't know what's going on, I don't understand what Ms. Vals said.

It's going to happen, but it hasn't happened yet. Fortunately, the peony cake from the shelf, the benefit of the injury, whatever words you choose to use, you can consider your choice of action to have created a temporary opportunity.

　I'm not sure. What the hell did I do?
　Stop using alliteration.
　My head already hurts.
　My head hurts and I'm in a daze.
　Is it selfish of me to wish you'd go on quickly?

"What you have seen as real is what I have shown you with my power in the future. It means that the nightmare hasn't come true yet.
"Really?
'Yeah, don't lick the spirit of space-time! As much as I'd like to say, it's only thanks to your snap judgement that I can use my futuristic vision in this space.

　But enough to make me forget the pain, Ms. Vals' words gave me hope.
　The fact that the nightmare of Suela and the others being hurt and Yukiera being kidnapped has not yet taken place restores my spirits.
　Mr. Valus, who was proud of his abilities, winked mischievously at me along the way.

"Huh!
"Okay, okay, don't panic, don't panic. Time is limited, but you have time.

　I'm excited and headache-stricken again, but with a smile on my face.
　Just the fact that it's not too late makes my heart skip a beat.

'And how is that? I think I've stabilized my soul in my own way, but I still think it's strange.
What do you mean, the usual: .........!

　I looked down at my body in response to Mr. Vals' instructions to check it out, as if to nail the mind that all that remains to do is to act.

What's this?

　A white body, or rather, a wavering body that cannot be called a body.

The space between space-time and time, the space where you take refuge from the concept of time, cannot be entered in the flesh. The space I am usually in is a world apart from the world. I'm sure you understand that summoning me from there is no mean feat.

　It has been transformed into what can only be described as a vague and fuzzy white body that differs from a ghost when you look at the palm of your hand.

"How does it feel to be only a soul?

　You are shocked by the fact that you had to go that far.
　But if you're asked, I'll tell you.

"I feel less different than I thought I would. Is this what it's like to be out of the body?
"Well? This is the first time I've invited a human being here like this.

　I don't feel as special as I thought I would.
　I feel lighter than I would normally feel in a physical body, not having a body.
　It's not that I don't have five senses, or that I feel something spiritual, but I just have a vague, fluffy feeling attached to me.
　Just a vague, fluffy sensation attached to it.
　Valus chuckles and lowers the snake's head to equalize his gaze.
　The gazes of me, standing on the snake, and Vals, sitting on top of it, meet.

Now, I'd love to talk to you, but I don't have time for a long talk, so after I explain your current situation in the flesh, I'll tell you what happened and what you can do about it.

　I'm a little confused by the situation, but I'm calm, and Mr. Vals gets to the point.
　I don't think I should be asking questions right now, so I nod my head silently.

"Let's start with history. I've seen what happened to you in the past. Yes, you were in great shape, but unfortunately, your magical aptitude at the time did not allow you to fully utilize my power to intervene. I apologize for that first.

　Then, beginning with an apology, Mr. Vals bowed his head once.

"But it's a blessing in disguise that you made a snap decision and let the dragon's blood, the blood of an ancient dragon, run amok.

　He looked up, and Mr. Vals explained how I got my soul situation.

The mineral tree's attempt to make more of the old dragon's blood caused your contractor to undergo a dramatic physical change, as well as affecting his soul. The mineral tree was properly controlled so that it wouldn't adversely affect your personality. Thanks to that, the transformation of body and soul began as you are.

　The presence of a buddy now unavailable.


　Varrus tells me with a joke that I should praise him later.
　The bones of the old dragon in your partner's body, that I knew my blood would make me less human.
　That in itself is no surprise.

But that change alone was not enough. Even though my body was strengthened and my soul was reinforced, the wall between my body and the realm in which I could intervene was too great.

　But it wasn't enough to bring out the full power of Ms. Vals, she said, and there were other factors.

"It was ironically a divine blow that broke down the wall. That god's divinity gave your soul the final push.

　When I heard that the element was an attack from the enemy side, I wondered if it was for real.
　That feeling is transmitted to Ms. Vals because she has become a soul only being.
　She lets out a wry smile and gives an example of how you never know what will happen, even to the spirits that govern space-time.

'You might think that this is the reason for this, but the coincidence of the overlap has taken you to the next level.
"No way.

　After hearing that example, I came up with the idea of a condition for using Vals-san to the fullest extent, so I asked about the possibility.

Is your magic aptitude increased?

　To the question, Vals nodded with a smile to indicate the correct answer.

"Yes, congratulations, contractor. Your time to find out is over.
"Really?

　That fact made me think differently than a headache.
　I wonder if there wasn't a better way to wake up.
　The first time I went from eight to nine, I was almost dissolved in the demon's stomach.
　The next time, he awakened after being attacked by an enemy, which was a very clumsy way of awakening.
　You can't help but complain that you wanted to awaken in a cooler way anyway.

I don't know if I care about .......... It's a good thing I'm not the only one who has a soul, because from what I've heard it sounds like I'm only in my current state of soul because I've reached the magic level of 10.
"You're not wrong. Not while you were fighting. Right after you were hit, your aptitude was painted over. The godd*mn contractor is so battered that he doesn't even seem to know it. That's when I was able to pull your soul into this space on the spur of the moment.
"And that brings us to now?
Yes, your soul was battered, but you hadn't lost your sparkle. Thanks to that, I've recovered to a level where I can regain consciousness. And I showed you the future, because it would be a disaster if I turned it back to normal. Well, the repercussions of just showing it to you for a short time are terrible, but that's bear with me.
Is that what this headache is about? There's one hell of a lot of things going on here. This isn't just power inflation.
"Oh, no wonder.

　But it seems that my bad luck is not over yet.
　If you want to call me an opportunist, it's enough for me to draw a wild card.

You're not going to be able to find out what's going on. The only problem is that many of them don't like to follow the two gods because they have a strong connection with them, so the contractors don't know much about it. By the way, I'm one of them, or I'm the first one to point the finger at the gods, so take care of me!
No, that's a hell of a thing to say with a smile. What happened to you?

　That's the reason why we have a chance.
　But I can't help but wonder why I hate brave men so much.

"'Oh, isn't it only natural that God should point the finger at someone who tells you you're a servant when you're born?
"What are you doing, God?

　Even though I have future vision, I'm still angry that you did that to your wife, so I change my mind.

"So I have a question for you.
"What is it?

　The conversation so far has given us an idea of the current situation.
　Then the next question is.

If we have some time to spare, where does that nightmare and reality start, by the way?
"Around the corner where the big move was returned. Now you're buried in the rubble. Not a second has passed since then.

　It's your flesh and blood body outside of this world.
　In this world, time is ticking faster than in a world with flesh and blood.
　Thanks to this, I can sit here and think things over.

"With my magic attained, Mr. Valus' capabilities are now at their full potential. With your condition, are you a match for the gods?
"As it stands now, it's possible. Of course, if we play defense, we can at least buy enough time for the Demon King to arrive, right?

　And the best part is that the situation is in place at this stage to avoid that nightmare as well.
　So I'm able to take things somewhat easier.

"......... One thing to confirm is that when I first signed up, I was told I couldn't ask for Ms. Vals' help in matters of combat. Would it be safe to assume that those fetters are gone now?
"Well, Amelia, the only exception to this is my daughter, I guess I won't have to get permission to use it anymore.
"By the way, what can you do?
I'll have to get used to it, so there are three things I can use in battle right away. The first is the futuristic vision you just used. But it must not be used for long periods of time. Even a short period of future vision is limited to three seconds ahead. In order for your brain to instantly process the content of the future vision, I'd have to use my power to accelerate your internal time and process your brain accordingly, so that's the limit for an unfamiliar body and soul.
"Futurism, I can finally use the power of some novel's protagonist.

　So a little ambition is beginning to grow inside me.
　I've been beaten up a lot, and now he's come after my daughter.


　The greed of not punching the arrogant gods in the face will make him feel better.

The second is the art of accelerating internal time to take advantage of the future vision of the first. Accelsensis. The second one is to accelerate your body time to take advantage of the future vision.
"I think that's substandard, too.

　That second technique is also a pretty badass move for sure.
　Now that you can see into the future, it's time to slow down the view.

It's not infinitely fast, but you can accelerate all you want once you get used to it. You can only accelerate three times as fast as you can now, or maybe five times as fast as you can now if you don't mind the strain.
"I would have tried it if it was in perfect condition, but I don't think it would have worked if it was in bad shape.

　The first one, the second one and then the third one will be.
　I'm getting a little excited.

Now, for the third and final one, stopping wards. A defense technique that stops all attacks. Also stops any creature that touches it.
The last one is the worst.

　The cheat-grade power of absolute defense has come.
　The name of the spirit of space-time is not to be feared.

By the way, is there anything that says it won't work on someone more skilled than me?
'Oh, you're a worrier, Mr. Contractor. Don't worry. I'll stop whoever it is. I'd rather have the guts to stop that god and punch him.
"Hahahahahaha, that's great, that's what I was going to do. I was just about to do that.
"It's just that I've been able to use it once or twice in terms of magical mileage.
That's enough, now all we need is an attack that can get through to our opponent and we have a good chance of winning.

　Now I'm laughing.
　You've got that fierce smile that you got from your instructor, and now you're just going to cry yourself to sleep because you've been hit?
　No way.
　Even if you're a powerful opponent, if you've been hit, you're going to hit back.

Don't worry about that.
?
"You're not the only one with that anger. You'll know that when you come back to your world.

　Perhaps he's working with me on this, and Valus tells me not to worry about the attack.
　I can't help but wonder if I'm hiding something from you at this point, but I think it would be better if I knew sooner rather than later, so I put that question behind me.

"Well, are we done here?
"Oh.

　And then the time limit comes.

As you know, if you lose, that future will come true. If you want to avoid that future, you'll have to fight with everything you've got.
I know.
"Yes, then there's nothing else to say.

　I feel a tug on me, and my consciousness fades away.

"Summon me when you go over there. I will fight with you, with all my might.
That's reassuring.

　Mr. Vals smiled as he walked away.

"Then there is one more thing I'd like to do with you while you're at it.
"?
"Actually, it's .........

　I can't bear to embarrass that smile, but I'll ask you to do it with me anyway.
　Like a naughty boy revealing his mischief, I'll tell him what I want to do when I stand before the gods with a little shyness.

'Ahahahahahaha! Great, let's do it!

　Vals showed a scowling face at first when he heard the story, but it soon turned into a big smile.
　Mr. Vals was willing to do me a favor.
　After that, my consciousness faded away.
　Then I felt the pain running through my body and the weight of my body.

That's a dragon with a reputation for toughness. Does he still have breath?

　I heard the voice of the gods and I knew they were back.
　Your soul is restored, your magic is back in full force, your energy is strong.
　I'll let my aching body rest later, I said.
　You take hold of the mineral tree and shout, "Valus!

"Valus!

　Just that one word, that's all it took.
　With that single word, the summoning formation will unfold and a huge white snake will appear from the huge formation.
　And I stand up.

What? Spacetime spirits! Why is such a being here!

　I don't care about Nisia's astonished voice.

Jiro-san!

　My cheeks loosen at the sound of Suela's happy voice, but I can't respond to her voice right now.
　The white snake's face is next to mine, and above it sits Mr. Vals.
　To fight that nightmare.
　To deny that future, and to do so, the gods in front of me stand in the way.
　You deny your trembling body, gather your strength, and with Mr. Vals, raise your middle finger to the sky and declare, "Round two, god d*mn it.

"Second round, god d*mn it!

　Come on, let me punch you in the face!


　Word of the Day
　The situation changes with or without prior information.