Nightmare's gaze flickered back and forth between chaotic good and lawful good.
Hoshino waited silently. It was a collision between two souls, something that only happened in the spiritual world. She had no idea what the process entailed. After all, there were no two opposing souls within Saintess's Prayer locked in mutual conflict—unless she immediately transformed into Sky Ranger.
Now was not the time.
If psychologists were divided into schools, then Hoshino was a pure pragmatist. She always placed herself in the same circumstances as her patients, letting them witness her struggles and, through that, begin questioning their current selves. Put simply, she let them see a better version of themselves and guided them into longing for their future selves. As long as she achieved that, Hoshino considered it a success.
Right now, she was guiding Nightmare in that direction.
One could not be careless when persuading someone to turn toward goodness. Above all, one must not push too hard. If possible, it was best to take things slowly.
Hoshino waited for her to struggle. Nightmare's beautiful knee-high boots became smeared with mud, while the shine in her eyes gradually dimmed. It was clear just how taxing this battle was on her mental strength. Her struggle slowly eased from fierce to subdued, but it did not stop.
"Stupid cat, go back to sleep!"
In the end, Nightmare won by a considerable margin. She had never experienced such a fierce backlash before. Raising her head to look at Hoshino, she revealed a smile that could only be described as miserable. "Well? Don't I look terribly pathetic?"
"Your head hurts, doesn't it?"
Hoshino nodded. Her right hand rested against Nightmare's forehead while her left arm expertly wrapped around her soft waist, steadily supporting her body before it could topple over. Her movements