Due to this unexpected interference, Linda and Emma stopped attacking.
While the two could not decide what to do with her, Erica spoke to them in a cheerful voice.
“Do you mind if I join your brawl?” Now there are two of us too.
- Chiba Eric ...
- M? Although, yes, it is not surprising that you know me, since you are the people of Rosen.
In response to Linda's words, which were either an appeal or a muttering under her breath, Erica also answered with a muttering under her breath.
Linda recovered from the daze of this sudden attack, and her eyes, hidden under a helmet, again lit up with a fighting spirit.
“I don't have permission to harm you.”
- Do not worry, I will not demand payment for treatment. Because it will not be necessary.
Your attacks won't get me. So Linda and Emma understood Erica's hint.
“Linda, let's do it.” The capture of Chiba Erika must coincide with the intentions of Ernst-sama.
“Ernst-sama wants to establish friendships with her.”
- With friendships, she may not agree to become a mother.
- ... Here you are right. Then do it.
After this response from Linda, she attacked Erica and Emma attacked Leo.
Linda attacked Eric. More precisely, Linda tried to attack Eric.
But at the moment when she tried to take the first step, Erica's sword was already approaching her neck.
Hastily raising her hand, Linda blocked the blade. Thanks to the Phantom Anzug's own protection against the piercing and cutting damage, as well as to the strengthening magic, Linda was not injured by the blade.
However, in her hand, with which Linda blocked the blow, she felt a strange feeling of discomfort. The next moment, this feeling of discomfort was replaced by a sense of danger.
The feeling was barely noticeable. But it was evidence that this attack was only partially to distract attention.
It was unclear whether Eric planned to do this from the very beginning, or decided to use this ability when she realized that the attack was blocked.
But Linda now could not afford to reflect on this.
A heavy blow overtook her from the side. But it was not a chopping but a pushing blow.
Suffering pain, Linda jerked forward.
As a result, Erica’s chopping horizontal lunge at the neck level only slightly scratched Linda’s suit in the back.
Linda quickly got up and tried using flying magic to gain distance.
However, by the time the gravity control device built into Phantom Anzug was activated, Erica had already reached a distance sufficient to hit with a short sword.
Linda jumped vertically up. But not to escape, but to counterattack.
Having jumped only to the height of her height, she aimed to hit both legs in the head of Erica.
Replacing the necessary actions with magic to prepare for the jump, she made a quick hit in one motion instead of the usual kick in the jump.
Erica easily dodged this seemingly sudden attack.
And she didn’t just dodge, but at the same time she slashed Linda's right shin with her sword.
To increase the power of impact, the shoes were covered with reinforcing magic. And other parts of the body did not fall under the effect of this strengthening magic.
Suffering pain, Linda corrected her position in flight, and landed on a tree.
Grasping the trunk with her hands, Linda put her right foot on a branch. Fortunately, there was no fracture. It seems that she was lucky that the specialized weapons of the enemy were very light.
Erica grinned as she watched Linda stand on a branch.
- What a sturdy suit. But it seems that if you do not use magic, then it cannot completely extinguish the impulse of the blow.
It was an attempt to infuriate myself with words.
Linda calmed down, realizing that there was no danger to life, and straightened.
The last phrase was intended to cause her a state of excitement in order to gain an advantage, and this was not a completely meaningless phrase.
If you do not use reinforcing magic, then the shock impulse will not be absorbed, and it will take damage.
But the opposite is also true: if the enemy hits a strengthening magic, then damage will not be done.
Linda covered the entire surface of Phantom Anzug with reinforcing magic and jumped on Erica.
In the battle against Emma, Leo was forced to go on the defensive. And not because he did not come across the right moment to seize the initiative.
Leo felt that he was better at martial arts. He just could not inflict damage on his opponent.
Although Leo and Emma were the same representatives of the Burg Folge series, but given how they were born, they were very different. Emma was an improved person, created from a processed egg, while Leo had an improved person only grandfather, so he himself had three quarters of the genes were obtained naturally (if you can call it that). However, they were wizards of exactly the same type.
High suitability for use of strengthening magic and excellent physical abilities.
By the abilities of the magic of strengthening, they were approximately equal, by the ability in other magic, besides the magic of strengthening, Emma was a little better, and according to the physical abilities, Leo was a little better.
Therefore, in such circumstances, no one could get a one-sided advantage.
The fact that Leo was more difficult was due to the difference in equipment. Especially the difference in CAD.
The speed of deployment of the activation sequence depends on the CAD hardware. Moreover, Leo used the method of voice input of commands, and the CAD used by Emma was with complete mental control. In the deployment of activation sequences, Emma was much faster. In other words, this meant that between them there was a huge difference in the speed of switching magic.
The technique of local strengthening of the fists and feet when striking against the defense technique by covering with the magic of the outer surface of the hands or all clothing worn with reinforcing magic.
If they simultaneously decided to strike, Emma was the first to “snatch the revolver”.
Even if Leo carried out strikes, Emma managed to prepare armor in the right place.
Constantly updating Panzer's whole-body defense magic, Leo barely managed to prevent damage on his own.
And to get out of this stalemate, an expert technique was needed, good for both defense and attack.
And Leo had such magic.
However, there is no tool that is useful in absolutely all situations. This saying is true in the case of magic. Magic suitable for attack, and magic suitable for defense, is otherwise very weak.
So Leo thought.
But he did not have time for doubts.
Erica continued to dodge Linda's attacks with overwhelming speed.
But even she had almost no freedom of action.
Linda was dressed in a special military suit, the entire surface of which was covered with reinforcing magic, which greatly increased her defenses.
And Erica, on the contrary, had no armor.
Linda's defense was activated with firming magic of her whole body, so Erika's sword did no damage to her.
Conversely, if at least one hit hits Erica, then even if it is not a direct hit, this strike can be decisive and knock out Erica.
They both realized this.
But of these two, it was Linda who was nervous.
"How does she move so fast !?"
She could not keep up with the free-running Erica, even with the support of maneuvering the magic of flight.
At the moment, she took no damage. Nevertheless, if these attacks continue according to the “hit-and-run” tactics, then psychological exhaustion will inevitably come.
But this does not mean that she only accepted attacks unilaterally. Although Linda could not keep up with Erica’s movement, she put pressure on her to pursue her.
"Why is this girl moving faster than me in this darkness?"
Linda could not understand it. I could not comprehend this.
"Why doesn't she have any doubts about all these interfering trees in this darkness, when she doesn't even have a night vision device or a portable sonar !?"
Unlike the Warburg sisters, whose entire body was covered with reliable equipment, Erica was in ordinary everyday clothes, not counting the specialized weapons device in her hand.
"Does she have no sense of fear at all !?"
Despite this, she confidently and, unlike Linda, without hesitation, avoided trees, stepped over roots, went around bushes. She confidently ran through this area in any direction.
"At this rate, I will soon run out of power"
That's why Linda was nervous and in a hurry.
That is why Linda and Emma did not use the protection of the whole body from the very beginning.
Because constantly supported magic had a well-known flaw - its duration was limited.
The sequence of flight magic was so small that it not only allowed other magic to be used simultaneously for its needs, but also allowed it to be used for a longer time.
In modern magic spells, the supply of wizard psions rarely becomes a problem. But modern magic basically ends its work in an instant or in a short time. To maintain the effect for a long time, the wizard needs to repeat his magic again and again. Of course, every activation spends psions.
The stronger the effect (that is, the greater the degree of modification of reality), the more information needs to be written into the sequence of magic. And the greater the number of consumed psions. And when the effect of magic is stretched to a wide range (not magic covering a wide area, but magic acting for a long time), then such "large-scale time magic" consumes much more psions.
The world is constantly and continuously trying to rewrite the phenomena modified by magic. And over time, this opposition intensifies. If you try to maintain the same magic for a long time, then the number of consumed psions does not grow in proportion to the amount of elapsed time, but exponentially.
In flight magic, this problem is avoided in such a way that the same magic is activated again at the moment when the previous modification of the phenomenon by magic has already ended.
Leo was already used to using his Panzer all the time, and he knew this trick to reduce the load. It seemed that he could activate magic for a long time, only occasionally turning it off without updating it.
But the Warburg sisters had no experience using the same magic for a long time. They have never encountered such a situation.
They were always in such conditions that they were always provided with the latest CAD models and they never experienced any inconvenience with the speed of output of activation sequences. If we talk only about reinforcing magic, then they have never experienced such a feeling that they are superior in speed of activation of magic.
It can be said that this was inevitable. Warburg sisters battle tactics are to quickly activate magic appropriate to the current situation. They had the best CAD and specialized in their special magic, sacrificing variety to gain superiority in activation speed. Therefore, they had no experience in continuous one-way attacks. They could not even imagine that they would fall into such a situation.
Linda was already beginning to feel signs of psionic exhaustion. It was impossible to continue to support the magic of protecting the whole body.
"... This is not a problem. While I am in Phantom Anzug, she will not be able to inflict significant damage to me with such a sword."
It has already been proven in practice that Erica's short sword does not penetrate Phantom Anzug's armor. Also at the very beginning of the battle it was already revealed that there would be no bone fracture from such an attack.
Linda canceled Panzer's entire body defense magic, activated the Streitkolben body magic, and decided to switch to attack.
If you can’t hit the enemy in the usual way, then you can try to carry out a counterattack.
She turned her back to the rather thick trunk of the tree and stopped.
Blocking a combination of Emma's arms and legs, Leo carried out a lower kick. He aimed at Emma's supporting leg. The purpose of this blow was not to inflict damage, but to unbalance by pushing the supporting leg, while the striking leg has not returned.
Having kicked, he felt as if it had hit a metal bat.
But in itself, her weight was not changed, so her body made a quarter turn, hanging in the air.
In a normal case (without magic) Emma would fall to the ground, taking little damage. However, contrary to gravity, she rose slightly in the air, turned back, and landed on her feet.
True, it did not just rise, but moved 5 meters horizontally along a path similar to a parabola. It was a distance that even with Emma’s abilities could not be overcome in one fell swoop.
Leo realized that this “respite” was the right moment to pull out his trump card.
- Siegfried!
Leo shouted out a voice command. From CAD in the form of bracelets covering the back of the hand, the activation sequence was absorbed into Leo's hand, and immediately after that Leo's whole body was lit up with psionic light. The power that modifies the phenomenon - magic - worked on Leo's body itself.
Emma seemed to know this magic because, with signs of panic, she attacked Leo.
Emma lunged forward with her fingers clasped. The magic of strengthening "Speer" (spear). The fingertips pierced Leo's clothes. However, Leo’s skin clad in a glove of a combat suit could not only pierce, but even push a little.
Having taken the quadruple piercing blow of Emma in his left shoulder, Leo pushed up Emma's right hand.
And he aimed the left hook in the place left without protection.
Leo's left fist hit Emma's helmet.
All the protection for the hand to which CAD Leo was attached, in fact, was only an auxiliary accessory. It was made of durable material, and did not possess a softening function.
But Leo did not break his fist bones from this collision. Conversely, Emma's helmet cracked the front flap.
Emma was thrown back.
Hastily getting up, Emma lifted the front flap of the helmet because the visibility deteriorated due to cracks.
Her eyes were filled with surprise. But her face did not reflect thoughts like “I can't believe it” or “I don't understand how it happened.” Emma was amazed at the power of the activated Leo Siegfried.
Siegfried, the magic of indestructible physical body. Magic that “strengthens” the user's physical body.
Strength magic is not magic that makes an object solid. This is magic that keeps in a narrow range the relative position of the components of the target object. For example, "Panzer" captures the relative position of the constituent parts of which things worn on the user are made in a state at the time of activation of magic. When the “Panzer” is applied to clothing, the position of each thread that makes up the clothing is fixed so that every bend and distance between the threads is maintained. Therefore, a stabbing punch does not make a hole; a cutting punch does not make an incision. Pushing and clamping from both sides will also not have an effect. However, the user's joints will be fixed in the same way, and he will not be able to move. Therefore, it is required to add the part responsible for mobility to the activation sequence in advance.
In contrast, the Siegfried effect is to "not allow outside interference in the relative position of the user's body molecules." Instead of fixing the relative position of the molecules at the time of magic activation, it works so that at each current moment the relative position is fixed in a state that was established by the user's body. To have elastic skin and muscles, to be able to bend joints, but at the same time it is impossible to deform or transform the body from the outside - this is the effect of this magic.
This magic cancels all external forces, as if creating a "force field" that neutralizes external influences applied to the user's body. In this case, not only the damage received from piercing, cutting, pushing and squeezing is canceled, but also the changes caused by acids or alkalis do not occur. Thermal and electromagnetic effects also have no effect, in the sense that they do not pass through the skin and muscle tissue. Such is the magic of indestructibility of the physical body, Siegfried.
Absolutely undeformable fist, possessing absolute hardness, damaged the helmet of a combat suit.
Leo furiously rushed to the attack.
Preventing Emma from escaping flight magic, he became close to the distance of the strike, and began to strike with his hands, completely ignoring the enemy’s attacks.
Emma's face twisted.
The fight against Leo, who activated Siegfried and completely abandoned the defense, meant that she was at a disadvantage.
Before she came to this reasonable conclusion, she was seized with fear of this primitive way of fighting, discarding any techniques or martial arts.
Emma covered her face with both hands.
It is unlikely that she did this because she was a woman, but such an option could not be completely ruled out.
Despite this, she was not in a panic. She strengthened her defense with Panzer's full-body defense magic.
Absolutely hard, Leo's fist hit the fortified suit.
Hit.
Hit.
Another series of punches.
It was an onslaught of iron, or even diamond fists.
Emma's body collapsed like a puppet, in which the threads were cut.
Keeping alert, and not losing vigilance, Leo looked at the fallen girl.
There was no sign that Emma would rise.
Making sure of this, Leo crouched on the ground with fatigue right at this place.
Having cover for her back, Linda stood up in a counterattack stance.
Seeing this, Erica stopped right in front of Linda. The distance between them was about 9 meters. This was the limiting distance at which in this place in a straight line there was no interference in the form of trees.
"Come out with me face to face?" Linda thought. That is exactly what she wanted.
In a state that happens to a knight in a knightly duel with spears on horses, Linda was waiting for Erica's attack.
It will inevitably be hit with a sword. But in response, she will certainly inflict her own blow.
And at that moment, when Linda decided on her tactics, Erica disappeared. Linda's eyes could not keep up with Erica's movement.
Erica was able to understand that the goal of Linda is a counterattack.
She just had such a readable stand. Not only Eric, anyone would understand that. It would be natural to suspect a trap.
The tactics chosen by Linda was what Erica wanted.
Not only Linda suffered from exhaustion.
No matter how much she strikes with the sword, the enemy continued to fight. And she herself will instantly lose if she receives at least one hit. Such psychological pressure exhausted her greatly.
Here it was a question of the depletion of not magical power, but of willpower. That's what Eric was afraid of.
In an ideal situation, she would not shy away from the enemy. She was not ready for such an "evasive" battle.
"Eh, I would have had at least Mizuchimaru with me ..."
She had neither Orochimaru nor Mizuchimaru with her. Her specialized weapon was a simple weapon device with integrated specialized CAD. It also instilled only self-doubt.
"Well ... Don't ask too much. Be that what will be."
"No, I will do it!"
Erica activated the magic of inertia control and stepped forward.
The honed mastery of fast movement carried Erica's body forward at a speed beyond which the human eye is unable to keep track.
It was the Yamatsunami, activated on its own, without the help of the "-maru" series of swords intended for this.
Bursting to the enemy from the left flank and swinging the sword horizontally, she turned the control of inertia.
Compared to the real Yamatsunami, the effect of increased inertia was incomplete.
The apparent inertial mass of the short sword increased due to an increase in the initial velocity by neutralizing inertia. The sword retained this speed at the time of the strike and exceeded the ability of Phantom Anzug to absorb incoming damage.
She didn’t cut in half, as usual.
But through the hand of Erica, the feeling passed that the sword went deep into the enemy’s stomach.
Erica took her right hand with a sword from the enemy and stood in a pose of readiness for further battle, without taking her eyes off Linda.
Linda bent, holding her stomach, and in this position fell forward.
◊ ◊ ◊
Erica stood for a while, panting.
As a result, she won, however, in fact, the confrontation with Linda Warburg was like walking a tightrope.
Having become a decisive factor, the Yamatsunami, also, in fact, was designed for use with the support of highly specialized CAD, which was created specifically for it. If you make even a little mistake in choosing the time interval between neutralization and increased inertia, the enemy will not receive damage. Spoiling its own attack, it would give the enemy a chance to counterattack.
She confirmed that the enemy was defeated, and only now relaxed, which was understandable. In addition, she herself did not receive any damage. Aligned, finally breathing, Erica went towards Leo. He was still sitting on the ground.
- Leo, how are you?
Leo looked at her with a sluggish, lifeless movement.
- Oh, well, I'm not injured.
Although his voice was quite lively, in it the pretense was clearly read.
- That's just ...
- What?
Leo looked rather weakened. So much so that Erica even began to worry a little.
- ... I want to eat.
Erica could not immediately understand the meaning of these words.
- ... what?
“Well, I’m saying ... I’m hungry.”
- What does it mean? Is this some kind of joke?
- No, I'm serious. Using this magic makes me hungry.
“Hunger for magic?”
She had never heard such a thing about magic. At least Erica heard this for the first time.
However, it seems that he really was not joking. Leo had a face as if he would die of hunger at any moment.
Siegfried even blocks heat. But this only applies to heat coming from outside. It does not interfere with the release of heat from inside to outside. From the point of view of heat transfer, the wizard who activated Siegfried seems to be placed in a harsh polar winter. While this magic is active, the cells of the user's body give up all their energy to maintain body temperature. In other words, the nutrient reserve stored in the body is depleted.
- Wait a bit!
Erica in a hurry wanted to run away for something edible, but stopped abruptly, taking only one step towards the hotel.
The first reason for this was that it was impossible to leave the enemies defeated by her and Leo in this place.
Another reason was the sound of footsteps of about ten people clearly approaching this place.
Erica did not know, but in fact, when Linda and Emma lost consciousness, the Phantom Anzug costume jamming system disconnected and a base guard detachment was sent here.
- Do not move!
Erica, with irritation on her face, turned to the side of the screaming voice and saw that the rifle barrel was aimed at them.
This was the territory of a military base, and they were illegal violators, so this attitude was natural. However, Erica had no desire to obey common sense.
“You're just in time.” You know me by sight, right?
The young officer, who turned to Erika in an arrogant tone, first frowned in doubt in doubt, and then exclaimed “Ah!” and made at the same time a surprised and restless face.
- Erica-ojosan ... What are you doing in such a place?
“It is wonderful that you have not forgotten.”
Erica nodded prettyly, after which she made a very proud face.
- A classmate from my school was attacked by suspicious people, and I supported him. What kind of protection do you have such that these people were able to enter here so easily?
She pointed her eyes at Linda and Emma, after which she met her eyes with a former dojo student. Burned by Erica's clean, "innocent" gaze, the young lieutenant almost began to apologize.
True, Erika herself was an illegal intruder, but before the patrol squad could realize this, Erika used her authority in front of the former dojo student and gave him instructions.
- In any case, take these violators. Please note these costumes seem to have special features.
- Got it. Hey you!
At the command of the young commander of the patrol squad, soldiers waiting behind him set off to pick up Linda and Emma.
“As I said earlier, this guy is a classmate of mine, and he seems to have a strong exhaustion from the battle with violators, so he needs help.” But I think everything will be all right if you just give him something to eat.
One of the detachment members involved in the detention of the Warburg sisters called a stretcher via radio.
- Already useless. Erica muttered and turned back to her original route to the hotel.
- Ah, Erica-ojosan.
- What?
In addition to the original pretense, Erica's voice now also contained discontent.
“Um, could you tell us what happened here?”
- Learn from this guy. I just helped here.
- But this is a weapon device ...
Erica, with irritation on her face, returned the short sword to the shape of a baton and threw it to her former dojo student.
The young lieutenant, with a clumsy movement, somehow caught a weapon device.
- Now everything is all right.
- No, but ...
- Now everything is all right.
- ...Yes.
It seems that some terrible memories of training in the dojo surfaced in the memory of the squad leader, because under the sharp look of Erica he cringed and walked away.
◊ ◊ ◊
Returning to the hotel, Erica went straight to Ernst's room.
In addition to a weapon device in the form of a shape-changing sword, she also had a baton-shaped CAD. With his help, she knocked out a guard and forcefully opened the door to her room.
“You and I haven't had an appointment.” Ernst said, raising his hands and stopping another bodyguard who tried to attack Eric.
“I came to protest that your soldiers attacked Leo.” He himself is now exhausted and people from the base are helping him.
Still standing with his hands up, Ernst frowned slightly.
Is he worried about Leo's health? Worried about what happened to the Warburg sisters? Or upset that the mission failed?
Erica could not understand his thoughts, but she did not care.
“And what will you do with me?”
For her now it was important only to end this feud with Ernst.
“Heh, don't you even pretend?”
“You weren't even going to listen to what I would say?” In this case, a discussion of known facts is a waste of time.
- Hm. Indeed, it is pointless to waste time on excessive conversations.
Erica waved a club.
A psionic stream, resembling a sword in shape, has flown up on Ernst. In the left part of his chest, psionic noise was observed, observed during the destruction of the activation sequence.
Ernst staggered back and hastily waved his hands to maintain his balance.
- Is it CAD with full mental control? As expected from the director of the Japanese branch. Have the latest equipment.
CAD with full mental control, the start of production of which Rosen announced in January this year. This was the newest model that was not yet sold in Japan, but Erica carefully studied the information about him so as not to be taken by surprise by an enemy equipped with such a CAD.
“Did you break the activation sequence of non-systemic magic ...?”
“I just wrapped the sword in psions and let them out.” But that woman didn’t work. Does she have any other model?
“It won't work on a costume designed for magic combat, because it is equipped with protection against enemy psion waves.”
Erica rather spoke to herself, but Ernst honestly answered her question.
He raised his hands again.
- This time I really give up. There will no longer be any persuasion attempts contrary to your will.
For a while, Erica stared fixedly into his eyes, after which she sighed slightly and her eyes softened.
- I really want to believe that it will be so.
Erica turned to the exit.
- Ah, wait a minute.
- ... what? - Eric turned around with a displeased face.
- This offer will be exclusively within the framework of your freedom of choice ... Fraulein, would you like to become an adopted daughter in the Rosen family? Let me be your guardian.
Erica looked in disgust at Ernst, who had somehow changed her tone.
“What are you up to?”
“Your innate talents are incomparable even among the entire Rosen family.” It is very unfortunate that they are buried in such a wilderness as this country.
- To your regret, I'm not going to bury myself. Sorry, but I refuse to become a member of the Rosen family.
Having sharply rejected Ernst’s offer, Erica left his room with an easy gait.
◊ ◊ ◊
August ended, and the second semester began at First School.
When Leo appeared in the classroom 2F on the first day of the semester, he did not have time to sit down in his place when he was caught by Erica and dragged into the corridor to the exit to the central staircase. The central staircase was mainly used only by the school staff, so at this time it was empty. Suitable place for private conversation.
“Leo, didn’t any strange letters come from your house from Rosen?” - Suddenly spoke Eric without any introduction.
- Oh yes. It came.
Leo did not have time to mentally prepare for this conversation, so he could not hide the excitement.
“And, of course, did you refuse him?”
- A-yeah. Of course.
- ... Why are you so nervous?
Leo was not nervous. He simply feared that she would ask about the contents of the letter, but she asked another question, and his tongue just came from surprise.
“No, nothing like that.”
Erica looked at Leo with a doubtful look.
Leo struggled to stay calm. He could not let her know the contents of this letter. Because in this letter Ernst Rosen’s proposal was written “to marry Eric and to make friends with Rosen”.
If Erica finds out something similar, then how cruel punishment awaits him?
Leo responded with a clear refusal to the temptation of Rosen, who promised that he could "do whatever he wants with Erica." He expressed his refusal with his fist.
No matter what letters Rosen sends, Leo is not to blame. But he felt that if Erica found out about this, then such an excuse would be futile.
- Hmmm ...
Fortunately, Erica did not seek an answer from him.
“It's just that I also received a strange letter, so I thought that you too.” As I thought.
Leo wanted to ask what kind of letter it was, but prevented this danger by shutting his mouth in time. If he raises this topic, then the conversation may switch to the question that was in the letter addressed to him.
- In any case, no matter how sweet words he says, agreeing is absolutely forbidden. We cannot know what tricks are behind this.
- A-yeah. I understand that very well.
It seems that the conversation Eric called him to is over.
But the next moment after Leo was reckless to think so.
- By the way. That Rosen woman mercenary said something strange. Something about me becoming a mother. What does it mean? It seems like she was explaining something to you at that moment.
Cold sweat ran down Leo's back. Now everything was serious.
It was impossible to give a casual answer. Unskillful lies will arouse suspicion.
"And how do I answer that?"
Leo struggled desperately to ponder this question. He did not make such mental efforts even in tests and exams.
(END)
Afterword
How do you like the second collection of short stories on “The Absolute Student at the School of Magic”? This time I went back a little from the main plot and supplemented the episode described in Volume 13 of Cross with Obstacles. You will enjoy it more if you read these volumes one by one. ... I apologize for making you wait for this 2 years since the release of the 13th volume.
Prisoner of the Dragon God, Shotgun, I Could Do It Alone, and Mission Attract Attention were written, as announced in Dengeki Bunko Magazine. But the Temptation of Roses was added to them. Now I want to pay a little attention to the parts of each episode that are different from their contents.
The Dragon God Prisoner was announced in the Dengeki Bunko Magazine in January 2015. There was also published a report on the event held in Yokohama. Such a magnificent event dedicated to my work may have been held for the first and last time ... Looking back, I was very impressed.
But back to the topic. This episode describes the past of Mikihiko, mentioned in the Nine Schools Tournament arch. As expected in Dengeki Bunko, this turned out to be a side story with a return in time to 3 years ago. I have been waiting for the opportunity to announce this since the publication of the "Tournament of nine schools" arch, but the chance never came before that moment. If "Dengeki Bunko Magazine" did not provide this chance, then short stories would be put on the far shelf until better times.
"Shotgun!" and "I could have been alone" were announced in the Dengeki Bunko Magazine for March 2015. These two stories help to uncover the events of the Nine Schools Tournament in 2096 in terms of the fact that there was very little material on the Tournament competitions in the Cross with Obstacles arch.
In the story "Shotgun!" the main character has deliberately made a character secondary to the main plot, given that this is a side story. This also applies to Ku-chan, a character created specifically for this short story. For this reason, the behavior of the characters might seem strange to you.
And vice versa, in "I Could and Alone" the main role is played by the character, constantly taking part in the main plot. Therefore, "Shotgun!" and “I could have been alone” can be called two parts of one “kit”. Looking at the color illustrations for these stories, you will see that they are made in a similar design, as if they were parts of a single whole.
The Mission to Attract Attention mission was already published in Dengeki Bunko Magazine in May 2015, and its main characters are the twins Kuroba, Ayako and Fumiya. In the same May issue, a preview (or something like that) of volume 16 of Yotsuba's Inheritance was posted.
I was thinking about writing a story with Kuroba's brother and sister in the lead roles from the time when I first introduced them to the plot in Volume 8. If the opportunity arises, I would like to introduce more episodes with Ayako & Fumiya and Erica & Leo in the lead roles.
I managed to finish the episode "The Temptation of Roses". From the very beginning, I was thinking of a series of spinoffs with Erica and Leo in the lead roles. If the episode had no connection with the Cross with Obstacles arch, as in the other four stories, then I would probably go to the editor-san with a request "but should we make a series of spinoffs?"
The magic Leo used in this episode first appears in this spinoff not announced in Dengeki Bunko. I really liked the idea that "you feel hunger from using magic." ... Although, I think that this may not coincide with my original idea.
I hope that these unpublished works can be redone before being published.
Thank you so much for continuing to read us. Further, I plan to present an episode that will take a short break before the next, 21st volume returns the plot to normal. I thought that it would be nice to give more activity to the group from the third year of study, which until now has shown little of itself.
And, finally, from the 22nd volume I plan to begin the development of events leading to the end of the story “The Bad-going Student at the School of Magic”. I hope that all readers themselves will stay with us until the very end.
(Sato Tsutomu)
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