Eating a crab to gain power... Souta suddenly thought of One Punch Man, where Saitama's first battle was against a crab monster.
That monster had a human lower body, but its upper body was a genuine giant crab.
And Saitama had a habit of taking parts of defeated monsters home for food... Uh, but did he ever actually eat that crab?
Shaking his head, Souta cleared his wandering thoughts.
Shinobu's suggestion... was indeed feasible.
Faith wouldn't accumulate naturally—it would dissipate if not absorbed.
But this rule didn't apply in the Monogatari world. In that world, oddities were born from human belief and sustained by it, similar to a weaker version of DnD deities.
They were essentially creatures made of condensed faith.
Souta believed that even if these entities had no causal relationship with him, devouring them might allow him to obtain a significant amount of faith.
It was worth testing.
Souta: "Shinobu, isn't your mission to help Hitagi Senjougahara a solo quest? If I go to help, you won't get any points. Let's just forget it."
Shinobu: "I am already the strongest in my world. Whether I earn mission points or not makes no difference to me. I don't mind giving you this opportunity."
Shinobu: "Hesitation is not a good trait. Just consider this an excuse to come see me."
Souta felt a bit complicated reading that.
First, Kurumi, now Shinobu—both were willing to take a loss just to help him. He wasn't sure how to repay this kindness...
Souta: "Alright, I get it. But I'm busy right now. Once I finish my current tasks, I'll come over."
Shinobu: "Then let me know when you do."
With that, the chat fell silent.
It seemed everyone had gone back to their own business.
Souta recorded every method they had discussed for gathering faith. This was the result of brainstorming, and he didn't want to forget any of it.
Once he finished dealing with things in the Date A Live and Akame ga Kill worlds, he would test each method one by one.
"For now... I'll get some sleep."
Stretching and yawning, Souta turned off the TV with a remote and headed upstairs to Kurumi's bedroom.
The next morning, Souta left to visit Izayoi Miku at the hospital.
Since he had promised to accompany her, he couldn't go back on his word. Otherwise, not only would she not recover, but she might suffer even worse psychological trauma.
For now, his plans to return five years into the past could wait.
This time, Souta didn't use divine power to teleport.
He had decided to start practicing energy conservation.
...Ten minutes later, he reached the subway station, took one look, and immediately teleported straight to Miku's hospital room.
Japan's subway was terrifying!
Especially in a busy city like Tengu during rush hour—trying to squeeze into the train was pure madness.
Miku was in the middle of breakfast when Souta appeared out of nowhere, startling her so much that she spat out her milk, drenching herself.
"Ah, sorry. Did I scare you?"
Souta snapped his fingers, using divine power to instantly clean Miku's clothes.
...Welp, so much for saving energy.
He really couldn't resist using it—this power was just too convenient!
It completely indulged his laziness.
"What a convenient ability..."
Miku looked at him curiously before checking her now-clean outfit.
Souta glanced at the milk she had been drinking...
Wait. Does Miku drink this every morning?
No wonder those two things were so big.
"Miku, question—do your shoulders often feel sore?"
Miku widened her eyes in surprise and nodded.
"Yeah, they do! It happens all the time. Souta, you really know everything, huh?"
...No, you're just slow. Souta silently thought.
If Kurumi were in her place, she would've understood instantly.
But Miku... he remembered her intelligence stat was only 70.
Her grades were terrible, and she practically cheated through exams. If she didn't understand something, she just gave up on it, and since she had her idol career, the school teachers just let her be.
"Um... Souta, can you continue the story from yesterday?"
Miku suddenly spoke, pulling him from his thoughts.
"Sure, but... why are you so interested in my and Kurumi's stories?"
Because I admire that kind of relationship...
Miku simply smiled, not voicing the thought.
She had started to understand Souta's personality—if she acted a little spoiled occasionally, he wouldn't mind.
"Then let's pick up where we left off."
Souta didn't press for an answer and quickly fell into storytelling mode.
The day passed as they shared stories and conversations.
Over the next few days, Souta visited Miku regularly. Their bond grew stronger, and they gradually became more comfortable with each other.
Miku's emotions stabilized, and when the topic of men came up, she no longer showed outright disgust.
The darkness in her eyes slowly faded.
Then, on the fifth day, something unexpected happened.
At around 5 PM, while sitting in Miku's hospital room, Souta suddenly furrowed his brows.
He sensed a reaction from one of his detection spells.
The Date A Live world had a unique energy called Reiryoku(spirit power). Since Souta spent so much time around Kurumi, he had memorized its characteristics.
To avoid being caught off guard by Mio Takamiya, he had set up divine detection spells around the hospital to sense spirit power fluctuations.
Now, those spells had just reacted.
Miku asked, confused by his silence.
The gloom in her eyes had completely disappeared, and a beautiful, gentle smile remained on her lips.
Souta looked at her and quickly instructed:
"The Original Spirit is coming. Your current expression won't work. Quick—put on a... um... a really miserable face."
"I can use my divine power to fake your despair aura, but your expression has to be convincing."
Souta sensed the approaching spirit power rapidly closing in from the sky outside.
He had no time to waste.
"I have to leave, or she'll detect me. If that happens, a fight might break out. So from here on, it's up to you, Miku."
Miku swallowed her anxiety and nodded with determination.
Souta gave her a nod before teleporting away.
Not even three seconds after he left, a distorted, mosaic-like figure appeared inside the hospital room.