First Lieutenant Fujibayashi had been shocked. It was unimaginable for her because it was something that she had never seen coming.
Lieutenant Colonel Kazama had provided her with a recording of an oral report from Special Officer Ooguro Ryuuya regarding the Hakone Terror Incident for her to summarize into a written document. The verbal account given by Ooguro, that was to say Tatsuya, was highly logical and easy to summarize. In fact, it was so easy that she could have just put it into the speech recognition document processor, which would then complete the report. Speaking only about the difficulty of creating the document, it was something that could be completed in no time.
However, she still had yet to type even a single letter. She had thought it would be good to listen to the whole report first, but now she regretted it. If she had divided the task into smaller parts, she could have completed it while acting like she was just doing her job.
She didn’t even feel like listening to the recorded data again. She didn’t have the courage to.
Even without listening to it again, she could hear Tatsuya’s voice echoing in her ears.
“??After Inspector Chiba’s life was stolen away by Gu Jie, he was converted into a puppet, and I fought with him.”
“??I believe the person who captured Inspector Chiba was an individual from a family of Ancient Magic users, Oumi Kazukiyo, who acted in collaboration with Gu Jie.”
Fujibayashi had heard the name ‘Oumi Kazukiyo’ before. Now she would certainly never forget this name. Because it had been her who had lead Inspector Toshikazu Chiba to Oumi’s residence.
Major General Saeki was the one who had proposed using the Hakone Terror Incident to guide the police to magicians suspected of being connected to former Dahan or the Kunlunfang Institute, and then using their reactions in order to designate them as collaborators. Saeki’s order was conveyed to Fujibayashi through Kazama, with her job being to disseminate the suspect list to informants and then follow up with them.
In the first place, it was sheer luck that Toshikazu Chiba had found a lead. Fujibayashi hadn’t set him after anyone. Rather, she had simply told him “There are rumors that Oumi Kazukiyo has connections to a magician from Dahan.” The one who had failed to leverage her advice was Toshikazu.
Even she understood that much.
The personal exchanges that she had with Toshikazu in the past was something she could not clearly explain.
Just before the outbreak of the Yokohama Disturbance in the fall of
2095.
Fujibayashi had fought alongside Toshikazu to clean up the agents of the Great Asian Union that were engaging in subversive activities in South Kanto.
In the end, they had been unable to defend against the Great Asian Union’s invasion, but they did succeed in capturing numerous agents and collaborators.
To celebrate, the two of them had gone out to have a drink together.
Even before their celebration, the two of them had gone out together on a night investigation in the city.
Those memories now resided at the edge of her consciousness. She had forgotten them up until recently, but when she had reunited with Toshikazu the memories had suddenly become very vivid.
Fujibayashi and Toshikazu weren’t in love.
They didn’t even really have a ‘man-woman’ relationship.
Speaking objectively, they had gone on two or three work-related ‘dates’
together, so it was simply the case that they weren’t complete strangers to each other.
Fujibayashi expected that Toshikazu had felt the same way.
Toshikazu was unaware that she had been promoted to First Lieutenant.
It seemed obvious to her that Toshikazu was just pretending to flirt with her, as part of a normal adult relationship.
Fujibayashi had yet to realize that that very way of thinking was actually proof that she was consciously aware of Toshikazu.
While she was a very wise woman, Fujibayashi had zero experience with romance.
Fujibayashi came from a prestigious family of ancient magicians; as a daughter of the Fujibayashi Family, her fiancé was decided for her by her parents. It was a childhood friend of hers, whom she was engaged to before she was even in middle school.
Fujibayashi was even more serious during her school days than she was now; she already had a fiancé, so she had never even gone on a date with another boy. Her childhood friend, who was the same age as herself, was more like family to her than a lover, so as a result, when they were together, she did not feel anything like passionate love for him.
However, Fujibayashi came to accept this feeling as natural. After all, he would become her real family.
Her fiancé was a man of peaceful demeanor, but he entered university at the National Defense Academy and eventually joined the Defense Force.
Fujibayashi had done nothing to stop him. As a prestigious magician, the idea that he should give everything for his country was ingrained into him. At best, all she had been able to do was laugh and jokingly say, “This doesn’t suit you, are you sure about this?”
Her fiancé had chosen the path of a technical officer, so in a certain sense, there was a good chance that he never would have seen action on the frontlines.
Her fiancé’s area of specialization was magical systems for enemy scouting. His first appointment had been in Okinawa.
He died there.
In 2092, there was a surprise attack by the Great Asian Union in Okinawa. He was killed in a defensive battle.
That happened three months before their wedding.
Fujibayashi was filled with regret. Why had she not seriously tried to stop him from entering the military?
Fujibayashi, who had been pursuing a career in research up until then, suddenly began to pursue the path of a uniformed military office, but it was difficult for her to explain her state of mind.
She thought that perhaps she wanted revenge against the enemy that stole her fiancé from her.
Or perhaps, she just inherited her fiancé’s duties.
Or perhaps, she simply wanted to comfort herself by putting herself in the same position that her fiancé had been in.
The military had taken her fiancé from her, so maybe she even wanted to exact revenge on it from within.
Regardless ?? Fujibayashi had never been able to forget about her deceased fiancé.
After that, she had gone out with a few men, but it never lasted long.
For several years now, her family had persistently attempted to get her into formal marriage meetings, but she always refused, citing her duties.
It was a matter of course that the National Defense Forces was full of men, but none of them ever approached her, perhaps intimidated by how distinguished she was.
After many years, the one person who had approached her without being intimidated by her ability or trying to take advantage of her prestigious family name… was Toshikazu Chiba.
Excluding her fiancé who died in battle, this may have been the first time she was ever approached like that.
??Ah, so that’s why.
Fujibayashi thought such.
She had realized.
Now she understood why she felt so upset.
She had received the first report of Toshikazu’s death just yesterday.
The reason she had been fine then was because the reality of his death had not hit her yet.
It was almost exactly the same as when she had heard that her fiancé had died.
She only began to feel the death of her fiancé when she attended a joint military funeral held in Okinawa, and had seen his picture among the photographs of the deceased.
In the same manner, Fujibayashi thought that she only truly started to realize that Toshikazu was dead when she listened to Tatsuya’s account of how he died.
She was now upset as a result, and it threw her heart into disarray.
‘I’m always too late,’ she thought.
She had been too late to stop her fiancé from becoming a soldier.
She had been too late to stop Toshikazu Chiba from getting close to Oumi Kazukiyo.
She only ever realized her feelings when she had lost a companion.
??That included the fact that she had truly loved her fiancé.
??The fact that she felt something for Toshikazu Chiba that was more than simple goodwill.
A deep, deep sigh escaped from Fujibayashi.
No tears came. She felt no sorrow, only regret.
Fujibayashi faced her terminal, and began writing her report.
< End >
Ichijou Masaki Transfer Diary February 10th, 2097 (Sunday)
I’m currently writing this diary entry in Tokyo. I’m not at a hotel, but at the secondary residence of the Ichijou Family.
Dad had this house built for the pointless reason that a member of the Ten Master Clans needed to have a house in Tokyo. I was only a child back then, but I remember thinking that it was a waste, and indeed, it turned out to be. Although we owned it, it was almost never used.
Besides, it was not hard to travel to Tokyo and be back in a single day these days, and there was rarely any work that would require staying overnight in Tokyo.
Ever since the invasion at Sado five years ago, Dad rarely went any long distance away from home. Mom and Dad were never absent from the house at the same time anymore. If Dad were to travel to Tokyo alone, a hotel is far more convenient. If he goes through the Magic Association, I think the security measures would be better that way as well.
That’s why I once suggested that it might be better to sell the house in Tokyo. He replied saying that, “Even if we sold the house, there are a lot of items that needed to be removed from the premises and disposed of, that’s too much work”. Geez, not thinking before you act is the reason you struggle so much afterwards.
But one cannot always predict the future. I never thought that I would end up staying in the house in Tokyo for some time.
I don’t feel uncomfortable about having to live in Tokyo though.
This might be inappropriate considering my reason for being here, but I’m a little excited.
The reason why I’m going to be living alone for some time is because I was given a mission from the Ten Master Clans, as the eldest son of the Ichijou Family.
That mission is to capture the leader behind the cowardly terrorist attack.
The terror incident that was carried out on the first of this month, at the hotel in Hakone during the Master Clans Conference. Because of that incident, there were 22 casualties and 34 injured people. A heinous crime that lead to many innocent people being involved in an attack on the Ten Master Clans. I will never forgive the culprit. Even if I hadn’t been ordered, I wouldn’t have been able to overlook this. In fact, I’m thankful that I was given the mission to find the mastermind behind the crime, and I am honored that I was chosen for the task by the Master Clans Conference. I will focus my efforts and see this mission through.
I was given the mission on the same day the attack was carried out, but now that it has started, I can feel myself getting tense.
It is undisciplined to think of such things before such an important mission. That is why, I will at least be honest with myself here. I can never show this side of myself in front of anyone else.
I will be attending First High School from tomorrow. This is thanks to Headmistress Maeda making a request to the Principal of First High.
I will study in the same school campus as that person.
Even though it is a short period of just one month, I can’t help but look forward to it.
February 11th, 2097 (Monday)
Is this a dream?
I’m actually in the same class as that person!
Calm down. Calm down, me.
Now then.
Today was my first day at First High school.
My circumstances are a little special, as I’m not transferring or being admitted into this school.
At first, Father only intended to ask Principal Maeda to treat my absence due to my mission as an approved leave. Since the search area was expected to be around south Kanto, I would not be able to attend Third High. If it was only for a couple of days, that would not have been a problem, but that was not possible as I would be absent for several weeks.
My father still went to ask the Principal in person.
However, things didn’t go so well.
That was only natural. After all, the title of the Ten Master Clans was not a governmental office. Therefore, the mission given to me by the Master Clans Conference wasn’t an official duty either. If leave of absence was approved for people even though it wasn’t an official duty, people related to the Ten Master Clans could go on leave as much as they wanted.
There’s no way the Principal would allow something like that.
However, Principal Maeda is not just a strict person. Although this might seem disrespectful, we students of Third High know that she is strict as well as compassionate. Although she tends to treat high school students like new army recruits, she is still very good at taking care of people. She even takes the time to teach Course 2 students, who are unable to receive personal training due to the lack of teaching staff, by giving excuses such as ‘recreation’ or ‘outdoor activity’.
Even now, she has gone to a lot of trouble for the sake of a single student, me. The fact that I am a direct descendant of the Ten Master Clans, and the fact that she is a close friend of my father probably played no role in the matter. Principal Maeda must have understood that the task given to me was important, and to avoid adding to my worries, she had bowed her head to Principal Momoyama of First High.
As an exception, I am allowed to take the lessons of Third High from a First High classroom. The education system nowadays doesn’t have a single teacher teaching an entire class; instead, each student can progress at their own pace using individual terminals. Even though there is leeway in the curriculum, there are limits. If the student unable to progress to a specified level in one year, they will fail that subject.
Even in a magical high school, lectures for both magic-related studies and regular subjects are taken through the personal terminal. So, while it would be impossible for practical classes and experiments, classroom lectures can still be taken without going to school. In theory.
However, the problem with this is that there are portions of the magic curriculum that are access restricted. Hence, there is a strict limit on how much a student can take home as reference material, and it is built so that information cannot be copied over a network. George once tried to break through the protection just to check, and not only was he unable to break through, he was identified and got a sound scolding from the vice-principal, so it’s probably not something that can be bypassed by a high school student.
That is why Principal Maeda paid attention to the closed network shared by the Magic High Schools and the National Magic University. The National Magic University and Magic High Schools exchange data over a network that is not accessible to outsiders. This system is the reason why Magic High Schools are able to view documents from the National Magic University.
Principal Maeda met with Principal Momoyama and made arrangements to access the Third High school server from the terminals meant for First High school use. Thanks to this, I was able to take the lectures of Third High from a First High classroom.
I will be taking remedial classes for the practicals and experiments over spring break. The fact that I won’t get any vacation time is, well, it can’t be helped. This is a special arrangement to keep me from failing a year so I can’t ask for much more.
Come to think of it, I’ve been allowed to take part in First High’s practical classes and experiments, thanks to the kindness of Momoyama-sensei. Although they won’t count towards the completion of my course, but it’s a rare and valuable opportunity to take part in the lessons of another school. Not just Maeda-sensei, I also can’t thank Momoyama-sensei enough.
Due to these circumstances, I’ve-Well, I can’t call it ‘transferred’, perhaps ‘enrolled’ is a better word? - into First High.
Ah, this is getting complicated, so I suppose ‘transferred’ will suffice.
There might not be anyone else who retorts to himself in a private diary.
In the morning, when I went to the staff room to greet the teachers, the vice-principal personally guided me to the Principal’s office. After that, instead of my class teacher, the vice-principal once again guided me to my classroom. I heard about this afterwards, but it seems there is no practice of conducting a morning assembly by the class teacher at First High. Even at Third High, the general curriculum students don’t have a morning assembly, but for the specialized course, the class teacher comes without fail every morning to encourage the students. Despite both being Magic High Schools, I guess things vary from school to school after all.
I was led to the classroom of Class-2A. There I was startled to see that person was also in this class.
Shiba Miyuki-san.
She is a beautiful and intelligent woman who was just recently appointed as the next head of the Yotsuba Family. She is a beauty and a magician,
and also my goddess.
My friends at Third High will definitely laugh if I tell them this, but I truly think of that person as a goddess who has descended to Earth.
Beauty? Although I said it myself, she cannot be described by a sullied word like that. If only I had a talent for poetry, I would spend my entire life trying to find a phrase elegant enough to describe her, but I am vexed at my boorish nature.
If anyone comes to know that I feel this way, they might say something like this:
If she’s a goddess, and not just a pretty girl, how can you not feel anxious at the thought of dating her?” or something like that.
That is indeed the truth.
I used to think so too.
But I am a healthy high school boy. I want a girlfriend, but I can never settle for another girl after laying my eyes on her.
Besides, turning a goddess into your girlfriend, doesn’t that give you a delicious sense of immorality? I can understand the feelings of the man who hid the mantle of the celestial nymph now.
Woah, I seem to have gotten a bit too excited.
In any case, I was startled after seeing her when I entered the classroom.
Even I was able to tell that my face was red from excitement and nervousness.
However, I could not allow myself to do something as pathetic as blush and mumble during my introduction. No matter what happens, I will not expose such an embarrassing side of me in front of her.
That is why, I cheated a little.
The magicians from the former First Laboratory, whom the Ichijou Family are descended from, were given magic that disabled opponents by directly affecting their bodies.
The Isshiki Family uses magic that directly affects the nervous system.
However, since there is the case where the Ichihana Family were demoted to extras, magic that controls the nervous system to control people is treated as taboo.
The Ichinokura Family uses magic that affects the body temperature.
And the Ichijou Family that I belong to, uses magic that affects that liquids inside the body. The fact that ‘Rupture’ could be used to destroy machinery was an unexpected side effect, that magic was initially developed to vaporize the liquids inside an enemy’s body.
Being able to vaporize bodily fluids was not the only variation of the magic that affects body fluids. There is also a magic that can control the blood flow. I used that magic to ensure that excessive blood did not flow into the area under the skin of my face. The color of my face should not have changed.
Despite that, it didn’t mean that my excitement had decreased, or I was any less nervous. It was difficult to make sure that I didn't fumble over the pronunciation of my words and kept from biting my tongue. Since I was focusing so focused on that, I can’t recall exactly what I said.
I hope I didn't blurt and say anything strange.
Since nobody looked at me strangely after that, I assume it went well.
In fact, people were friendly and welcoming. First High and Third High are supposed to be rivals. I was prepared to be subjected to criticism, but I’m glad that my predictions didn't come true.
It was a shame that I didn't get to talk to that person much. But I suppose that’s only to be expected, since I didn't try and talk to her myself.
It’s because I was lacking courage. I just thought it would leave a bad impression to be chasing after girls right after transferring in, so I held myself back. If I was in her place, I wouldn't want to go out with a skirt chaser either.
Due to that, I mingled with the boys of Class-A today.
The leader of the group of boys was Morisaki Shun. He’s the eldest son of the Morisaki Family, known for their ‘Quick Draw’. His results in the Nine Schools Competition were average, but he looked like he’d be fairly capable in a fight. I heard that he fought against members of the Cabinet Office’s Information division and drove them off during summer in the year before last.
Apparently, he did that to protect an American woman who was being abducted due to some internal issues. I remember thinking that “This guy has got guts” when I heard about that incident. I also wondered why he wasn’t arrested on charges of interfering with public affairs.
His friends were proudly boasting that he had been a member of the Public Morals Committee since his first year. Morisaki seemed to have a faint sense of distaste about the matter, I wonder what that was about?
The system of the Public Morals Committee is the same as that in Third High and actually, even I have been a member since my first year.
Although not to the same extent as a seat in the Student Council, being selected as a member of the Public Morals Committee is something to be proud of.
Speaking of which, I’ve heard that the representative of the new first-year students would normally be invited to join the Student Council. In Third High, they are invited into the Public Morals Committee. Perhaps the Public Morals Committee in First High doesn't have the same level of prestige within the school as that of Third High.
Third High does have a lot of troublemakers. If the Public Morals Committee wasn’t strong, the school grounds would turn into a mess. In that regard, maybe the Public Morals Committee is an exception.
I had lunch with Morisaki and the others, and they told me a lot of things about First High. It appears that the female students are ranked higher at First High right now. That trend seems to be especially prevalent in the second-year students, as I was told, “Don’t do anything that would make the girls target you” in a half-jesting manner.
During this time, I also came to know who the strongest second-year students are.
As expected, the Student Council President, Shiba-san is in a class of her own. Other than her, there’s Kitayama-san who is also from Class-A, known as the ‘Shadow Public Morals Committee Chief. ‘The annoying troubleshooter’, Akechi-san from Class-B. Satomi-san from Class-D, Chiba-san from Class-F. These were some of the other names that came up.
They’re all female, as expected. I’ve heard about a lot of them during the Nine Schools Competition. Chiba-san is the only exception, but she is one to watch out for. We only worked together at Kyoto on the second day, but that was enough for me to realize that she was highly skilled.
She has a frightening air where you don’t know what will happen to you if you let your guard down.
However, I wonder what the ‘Actual head of the Public Morals Committee’-thing meant? The actual head should be Yoshida. The fact that Yoshida was competent should be clear from both the Nine Schools Competition and the incident at Kyoto. That Yoshida has been supplanted by someone as an ‘actual head of the Public Morals Committee’. Maybe Kitayama-san was the person I should be the wariest of. It was a bit surprising, considering her child-like appearance.
Speaking of surprising, I was shocked when I was told that the Shiba guy was a Course 2 student during his first year. Course 2 refers to what we call ‘general studies’ at Third High, right? Which means that he entered the Nine Schools Competition during his first year in an environment where he didn’t have any teacher to guide him, and made us taste defeat.
After entering high school, having a teacher to guide you makes a big difference. Even a mere three months is enough to make a difference.
But he alone, was able to proceed far ahead of us. At least in the field of practical application of magic, he was far ahead of George as well.
Just what kind of education did he receive from the Yotsuba?
Although it was galling to admit, I felt a shiver run down my spine.
I also attended the first meeting regarding the mission today. Even though I called it a first meeting, we all knew each other. It was just the first time we had gathered to talk about the mission.
For this mission, the new head of the Juumonji Family, Juumonji Katsuto-san will be the leader, and the eldest son of the Saegusa Family, Saegusa Tomokazu-san will be the sub-leader. The plan was for the Juumonji Family and the Saegusa Family to coordinate in the search effort. I will be working under the command of Juumonji-san.
However, there is a risk that working in this fashion would lead to duplicating effort or something might get missed out due to the Juumonji and Saegusa Families carrying out their individual investigations. To be honest, I was worried about that. Though it seemed that everyone had already understood this.
There were arrangements made for Juumonji-san and the eldest daughter of the Saegusa Family, Mayumi-san to meet in Tokyo and exchange information regarding each other’s progress. It appears that Shiba was participating in those meetings as a representative of the Yotsuba Family as well. Hence why Shiba invited me to participate in the meetings from today onwards.
Although receiving help from him gave me a strange feeling, I couldn’t refuse. I replied that I would be attending. What do you think he replied after hearing that? He said, ‘I’ll send you the map, so take out your terminal’!
I felt like an idiot since I was prepared to be told, ‘let’s go then’, but such a thing wouldn’t happen normally. This guy told me, a person who was new to the city, that he would give me a map, and that I should come there by myself. Of course, I’d be fine by myself because I have my navigation application. But what’s up with his sense of empathy?
As expected, I don’t like that about him. I probably shouldn’t think this way, but I was able to relax when he said that he would decline the meal after the meeting was over.
For such a guy to be the elder brother, no, a cousin and fiancée of that person is wrong, no matter how you look at it.
February 12th, 2097 (Tuesday)
For the first period today, Class-2A had practical magic class. The assignment was “Defining the ending point of a magic”.
The goal is to define the active time of the magic as a variable, and change the color of a white plastic ball from red, green and blue in order, and repeat this for process for ten sets within thirty seconds. If you make a mistake on the settings for even one iteration, you will either run out of time towards the end or end up with extra time.
Hearing that, I thought “this should be easy”. Making a mistake with the ending condition of a magic will result in not being able to produce the desired effect during combinations of multiple attacks, and defending against an opponent’s attack. I thought that already I understood the importance of defining the ending conditions of magic.
On the other hand, the fact that ‘properly defining the ending conditions is essential’ is a fundamental idea in the continuous invocation of multiple magic, and is beaten into us within the first year at Third High.
Certainly, we weren't asked to do anything so detailed, but I thought that this was actually too detailed to be of use in live combat.
The last practical assignment I undertook at Third High before transferring here was to hit a target placed behind a wall with magic. It is obviously training for magical attacks against opponents who are hiding behind obstacles.
Compared to that, I could only think of the assignment at First High as a superficial contest of dexterity.
This was a major mistake.
The practical class was carried out in pairs. When the teacher in charge asked us to pick the teams ourselves, I wanted to pair up with that person.
However, I’m an outsider here. There are an even number of students in Class-2A after including me. I should pair up with the last person who is left after the others finish pairing up.
As I thought that and looked around, for some reason nobody asked that person to pair up with them.
Was this okay?
It’s okay, right?
Thinking that way, I hesitantly went up to that person and asked, ‘would you like to pair up with me?’
That person smiled and nodded.
So far so good.
On her initial attempt, that person completed her ten sets in exactly thirty seconds. She wasn’t even off by 0.1 seconds. I cannot deny that I saw this assignment as even more simple due to that fact.
I enthusiastically began the assignment while hearing that person do the countdown,
and ended up finishing a whole 0.7 seconds too early.
The condition to clear this assignment is to finish within the allotted time with a margin of ±1 second. 0.7 seconds might be within that limit, but the idea is to complete the assignment without any help such as a countdown of the seconds. Shiba-san actually completed the task in exactly thirty seconds without any sort of aid.
From the side, I heard a voice saying, “Exactly thirty seconds. Nice work, Honoka.”
Along with getting even more depressed, I felt a strong sense of panic.
I somehow managed clear the requirements of ‘complete the task with an error margin of ±1 second without any external aid, within the first period, but it took me until afternoon to recover from the shock. Even so, it’s not like I forgot about it. Even now, I still feel the self-loathing that arose due to naively assuming that Third High was more advanced than First High.
Something nice happened today as well. that is why I was able to get away with only this level of depression.
That person actually invited me to have lunch together. It was Mitsui-san who actually invited me, but that person said ‘please join us’, as well!
Although I feel that she was forced to say that, I don’t care. That person looked at me and said ‘Yes, please join us’, while smiling! It’s a pity I couldn’t record that moment.
After I followed that person to the cafeteria, people I was familiar with greeted me while looking suspicious. They are the people I worked with together at Kyoto last year.
Yoshida, Saijou and Chiba-san. Although we spent only a short while together, I still remember them well. Especially Chiba-san, who left a strong impression.
Chiba-san was the first person to speak, saying “Huh?” Is it that strange to see me together with Shiba-san?
But that guy who should be feeling the most uncomfortable with me with regards to Shiba-san approved of my sharing their table without a second thought, and dispelled the uncomfortable atmosphere.
It wasn’t strange that he didn’t object to me sharing their table. I don’t think there is any male who can go against that person when she asks for something. What was strange was the fact that Yoshida and Saijou, the quiet-looking young girl who was wearing glasses rarely seen in this age, and even Chiba-san, made an expression like it was okay because he said so.
I thought he was the type of guy who would be shunned by his classmates.
I was sitting in front of that person. It took a lot of control to put on a normal face, as I could feel my heart racing, which was unlike me.
This group probably always has lunch together. I thought that since I am a stranger here, I should go out of my way to make conversation to keep the mood from turning unpleasant.
However, I felt that I would not be able to stay calm if I saw that person’s face, while another side of me was thinking that I didn’t want to waste even a single moment where I could look at her directly, so I didn’t have the composure to start a conversation by myself.
While I was in that predicament, Chiba-san asked me about the progress of the mission.
I almost spit out my Miso soup. No, there’s no way I can make a mistake like that while sitting in front of that person. I desperately swallowed what was inside my mouth.
Seriously, though, she’s such an unreserved woman, asking about that in a place where anyone can overhear us. Does she not realize how important this is? She didn’t appear to be that careless.
However, I also felt that this was a good chance. The fact that neither Shiba-san nor that guy tried to stop Chiba-san probably means that it is okay to talk about the mission with these people as long as I didn't go into the details. It was a good chance for me to begin a conversation with these people, since I had just transferred in and we didn’t share any topics of interest.
But that bastard. He suddenly cut in on the conversation. He even called me ‘a very gifted magician’! What did he hope to gain by giving such obvious flattery?
But after that, the conversation took a weird turn. That person actually said she was ‘jealous’ of me, and I became almost incapable of thinking about anything else. Was she praising me? Or was she just being polite?
Was she really jealous of me? Even after all this time, I still don’t know what she meant.
Besides, Mitsui-san was energetically talking to that guy, and I didn't have a chance to get a word in.
Does Mitsui-san like him?
I know that love isn’t based on logic, but isn’t it better for her sake to stop her?
But thanks to that, I was able to talk to that person a lot without him interfering. Unfortunately, I can't really remember what we talked about, but I should have managed to reduce the distance between us a little.
Maybe I should be thanking that guy.
Or should I be boastful and say, ‘Serves you right’?
I feel that neither is the correct answer.
February 13th, 2097 (Wednesday)
Perhaps I was too excited at being able to attend the same class as that person.
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