Saikyou Mahoushi no Inton Keikaku (LN) - Volume 1 - Chapter 3

Third Chapter: A Silver-Colored Chance Meeting 

Alus focused on the stick in his hand. 

Tesfia and Alice also fixed their gazes on it. In reality, this was the first time they’d seen Alus’ magic, but for Alus, it just reminded him of the daily training he used to do every morning. 

He covered the stick in mana in an instant, as naturally as breathing. It was truly magnificent. Then again, Alus wasn’t intending to show off; he wasn’t going to tell them ‘this is what imbuing with mana is.’ 

The two girls’ eyes opened wide. It was an understandable reaction. 

Alus didn’t know how skilled Alice was at enchanting, but he’d clearly shown Tesfia that they were on different levels. 

The two pushed their faces closer to the stick, completely transfixed to the point of forgetting to blink. 

“What is this!” 

“It’s beautiful!” 

The surface had been covered in a very thin layer, a few millimeters at most, of mana. The membrane of mana flowed as smoothly as a stream of water, reflecting light in a lovely fashion. 

“It doesn’t have to be at this level, but I’m going to have you two make your enchantments more workable. If not, you’ll only waste your weapons.” 

“Urgh...” Tesfia’s ears burned, a cold sweat trickle going down her cheek. 

Since the two girls were practically breathing on the stick, Alus undid his enchantment to grab hold of their attention again. 

As mana flowed out from the body, it began at the handle and gradually moved up along the weapon. However, that mana didn’t return to the body. Mana directed out of the body was constantly degrading. That’s why one always had to continually flow the mana out from one’s body. 

“Just so you know, this is training for beginners. If you can’t do this, you won’t be able to defeat Fiends. If anything, you’ll be preyed upon almost immediately.” 

The two swallowed their breaths with a gulp. 

But there was only a single stick in front of them. Having noticed this, Alice opened her mouth to say something. However— 

“Then let’s begin.” Alus chopped the stick in two with his hand. 

“—!!” 

They had no idea what move he’d just used. The girls had heard that something like this could be done with training, but both were vaguely aware this wasn’t just some piece of wood. And it obviously wasn’t made out of something easy to cut like glass. 

Normally, mana was the energy used to cast spells. And it wasn’t strange for spells to exist that could cut or sever objects. 

However, Alus hadn’t used any incantation, nor was he wielding an AWR that allowed him to omit the incantation. He would explain the mystery, but first he wanted to see if they got it. “... This is an application of enchantment.” 

“No way!! I didn’t see any mana.” Despite Tesfia seeing it happen before her eyes, she questioned Alus, and Alice nodded her head as well. 

Alus was fed up. “If the likes of you could notice it, I would hardly be able to call myself a Single Digit.” 

The two of them didn’t understand what he was talking about, and looked at him questioningly. Seeing how curious they were, Alus knew that unless he revealed the trick, Tesfia and Alice would be too distracted by the mystery to go on to anything else. 

Alus shrugged with a resigned expression. He rolled up a memo pad, making it look like a stick. He then repeated the same technique as before, but this time in slow motion. 

He slowly swept his hand sideways. 

The two girls, heedless of any danger, brought their faces extra-close so they could solve the mystery. 

Well, Alus wasn’t going to make any mistakes that would put them in jeopardy, so he continued on with his demonstration. The moment his hand touched the paper, he covered it in mana in an instant. It was such a miniscule amount of mana that the two girls wouldn’t have been able to see it, if they didn’t observe it from up close. 

Again—mana deteriorates once directed outwards from the body. If the two inexperienced girls had tried it, they wouldn’t be able to enchant an object in an instant, and their mana would therefore move slowly towards the object’s tip, building up the membrane as they went along... 

In the next moment, Alus’ hand cut the paper without any resistance. 

That was as far as Tesfia and Alice could discern. “So it was true! But...” 

“Yeah. Why does it cut the paper?” 

Normally, imbuing something with mana was meant to strengthen the object; and since organic material had the property of absorbing mana, there would usually be no point in trying to enchant it. Even if a fist were covered in mana, the majority of it would be absorbed while the remnants of it would deteriorate and disperse. 

That’s why Alus being able to cut through paper with his hand meant he wasn’t just enchanting it. It clearly went beyond common sense, but even if he explained that now, the two girls would only get confused. 

Keeping a twitch from showing on his face, Alus wondered if he should ask Sisty if these two were really as excellent as she said; but since that wouldn’t change the situation for the better, it was a waste of time. 

So he decided to make it easier for them to understand. “You, give me your AWR,” Alus said, pointing at Tesfia. 

Perhaps not liking being called ‘you,’ Tesfia frowned. “I have a proper name, you know.” She held her katana against her chest, as if saying she’d never let him have it. 

Feeling these backs and forths were another waste of time, Alus was arrogant with her. “What was it again?” 

“—!! This guy really is...” 

“Stop it, Fia.” Alice calmed Tesfia, who had let her anger get the better of her. Tesfia was rolling up her sleeve and drawing her katana. 

“Oh, that’s right, you were Trashfia. Thanks, Alice.” 

“That’s wrong!” 

Alus grinned maliciously, but knew they wouldn’t get anywhere like this, so he returned to a serious expression. “Tesfia, if you don’t lend it to me, we’ll only waste time.” 

Tesfia was dumbfounded by how fast Alus changed attitudes, but lost to his persistence. While she was still angry, she let out a sigh of relief that he hadn’t actually forgotten her name. But Alice was likely the only one who understood her feelings. 

Alus unsheathed the katana and said admiringly, “This is definitely a good sword. The magic formulas are accurate, too. I can understand why you chose this as your AWR.” This was unreserved praise from Alus. Of course, it was directed towards the katana and not its owner. 

The magic formulas engraved in the blade were, as he expected, meant to assist with ice attribute spells. He got to work covering Tesfia’s katana with mana. 

The two girls were spellbound, captivated by the beauty of it, bringing their faces closer to the blade despite the danger. 

“Come on...” Alus brought them back to reality, then continued, “In this condition, it will of course cut the paper. Why do you think that is?” 

“Ah—!!” It seemed they’d finally realized. 

“That’s right. The reason the blade can cut despite mana covering it, is because it’s accurately tracing the edge.” 

The two shifted their eyes back to the blade, bringing their faces even closer than before. “I see it!” They’d finally caught a glimpse of just how precise and delicate Alus’ mana control was. 

“Of course, this on its own isn’t all that impressive. With the real thing in front of you, all you have to do is cover it in mana.” He spoke as if it were simple, but since the two couldn’t even do that, it reaffirmed how amazing Alus was. “And a practical application of this is that chop from before. In other words, you don’t trace the surface with mana, but intentionally control the mana to create a blade.” 

“To think something like that is...” Alice murmured, hardly believing her eyes, but with someone who could actually do it standing in front of her, she didn’t finish her sentence. 

But there was a contradiction here. And since the two girls hadn’t noticed it, Alus left it unsaid. 

Since mana had the property of deteriorating once directed out of the body, even if they could form it into a blade, it would only remain in that shape for a short period of time. 

Alus’ extraordinary disposition was what made it possible. He’d reveal the trick eventually, but it remained to be seen if the two could pull it off. “Well, if you can do this, you can reach all the way to a Double Digit.” 

Tesfia and Alice couldn’t honestly rejoice at hearing this. Since they couldn’t even properly do a normal enchantment, reaching that level would take an unfathomable amount of effort. Moreover, there was no guarantee they’d be able to master it. 

“That’s where this comes in.” Alus handed each of them a piece of the stick he’d broken earlier. 

The girls looked them all over as if to appraise them, and after determining there was nothing wrong with them, firmly grasped the pieces. 

“Those were made using the corpse of a Fiend I once exterminated, so...” As he said this, the sounds of the pieces being dropped on the floor rang out. “Hey! There’s only two of those in the entire world.” 

“No, but...” 

If they were going to slay Fiends like this, their future looked bleak. “Don’t worry,” Alus said to them. “I’ve trained with that for years, so nothing’s going to happen.” 

Alice, upon hearing that, picked her stick up. Tesfia, on the other hand, struggled, and was treating the stick like it was filth or hazardous material, holding it with the tips of her fingers. 

“I don’t have to go on here, you know.” 

Tesfia hurriedly fixed her grip on the stick. 

While Alus knew he couldn’t avoid being their instructor, he got that they couldn’t go on unless he threatened Tesfia a little. “First, try passing mana through it.” 

“Yes!” Alice seemed to have switched gears, as she gave Alus a motivated answer. 

However, the moment the two passed mana through the sticks, it dispersed. 

“—!!” 

Alus’ lips raised in a grin, as he explained, “This is a part of that Fiend’s nature. Any mana that touches it is dispersed.” 

“So how are we supposed to enchant it?” To Tesfia, this was an obvious question. 

Alus would have preferred that she think of the right answer herself, but since that might take days he told her outright. “You need to hold the mana down.” 

The two probably didn’t understand, since they’d never consciously moved their mana before. The fact that they didn’t act right away was proof enough. 

“I’m impressed you can call yourself excellent, as you are.” 

“We’re not the ones saying it.” 

You might not say it out loud, but your attitude says otherwise, Alus thought. Even if Tesfia acted modest, she was very self-conscious. He restrained himself from telling Tesfia that people like her should just hurry up and get eaten alive by Fiends... but he couldn’t stop himself from holding his head in pain. 

Once again, he affirmed that only those who were good at looking after others were suited to be teachers. 

Having been forced to realize that, one would think Alus’ attitude toward the teachers might change... but well, it probably wouldn’t. “Both of you, show me some skin.” 

There was a pause after what Alus said, which could be interpreted as sexual harassment, but then Alice obeyed him and showed him her arm, and Tesfia rolled up her sleeve. Anywhere would’ve been fine as long as it was bare skin, so if they’d really started to strip Alus would have had to admit he’d used an inappropriate phrase. 

“Ouch!!” 

“Ow!!” 

Alus suddenly pinched Tesfia and Alice. Of course, there was a purpose behind it. 

“What are you doing!” 

An obvious question, but it would be faster to let them try it out. “Focus mana on your legs like this.” 

“...” 

Mana was generated in the body and circulated through the body based on need. When using AWRs, Magicmasters had a tendency to unconsciously focus mana in the hand grasping the weapon. 

It was possible to consciously focus mana into a body part. But as most people used that unconscious mana focus, the overwhelming majority habitually controlled their mana unconsciously. 

As instincts were deeply intertwined with mana, one’s reflexive behavior also had an effect on it. With mind and body so closely related to mana, it would sometimes run amok. 

That’s why Magicmasters always needed to remain calm... but this was unrelated to that. 

In other words, by pinching them on the arm, their sense of pain kicked in, and their focus was directed to a single point. Mana also responded to the pain and flowed there. This was training to focus mana elsewhere from where it hurt. 

However, the military version of this training didn’t employ an act as kind as pinching. That involved whipping so hard that it left welts behind, so this version was much gentler to the girls. But if the pain wasn’t sufficient, it wouldn’t be training. Since they would give direction to the mana that had unconsciously gathered in the pinched area, they’d need some level of tolerance. 

As he put a bit more force into it, their faces twisted in pain. Their skin would be a little red later, but this shouldn’t hurt so much that they wouldn’t be able to think. 

“What the hell is that?” 

Tesfia’s unconscious gathering of mana in her arm and her conscious gathering of mana in her legs clashed, resulting in her mana gathering somewhere completely different. As for Alice, mana was rapidly gathering where she was being pinched for some reason. 

Alus coldly continued, “That’s no good at all. Are you two seriously four-digits?” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“I’m asking if you can call yourselves four-digit rankers without even being able to do something like this.” Alus suddenly worried for the future of the Magicmasters, and for all of humanity. 

Then again—those weren’t his true feelings. In the end, he didn’t have much interest in humanity’s survival. He wasn’t going to be bothered no matter what happened in the future. Even if all other humans were to die, he was confident he could survive. 

But if that happened, he would end up studying magic just for his own sake, which would be a dull and uninteresting life. 

In short, he wasn’t all that serious about preserving humanity’s future, but he wasn’t apathetic enough to completely abandon humanity. 

“F-Fine. I’ll master this in the blink of an eye,” Tesfia said enthusiastically, but she was already getting distracted. 

Alice nodded firmly as well, silently burning with fighting spirit, but the results were the opposite of her resolve. 

“Well, no matter. I’m returning to my own research,” Alus said, letting go of their arms. “Since there’s two of you, if you keep pinching each other you’ll manage eventually. Call me when you master it.” 

“...!!” 

The two took a short break and rubbed their red skin. They were a little puzzled by their training being very different from what they’d imagined, but now that they understood the meaning behind it, they accepted it. 

However, they still felt a little sad at Alus abandoning them like they were poor students. They had the will to go on, but didn’t think they’d get through to the end. 

Perhaps motivated by that desolate feeling, Tesfia called out to Alus as he walked back toward his desk. “Um, don’t you have some kind of hint...” 

Alus stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. He glanced at Tesfia and put on a small smile. “Don’t hold back,” he said, making a pinch and a twist with his fingers. 

It was vague and roundabout, and couldn’t be called a hint, but before Tesfia and Alice could object, their faces froze as they remembered the pain. 

The girls’ training continued late into the night. The official training hours were just between after school and dinner. The two intended to head home to the women’s dorm on the Institute grounds, with there being no real dangers on their way. 

The Second Magical Institute, being as prestigious as it was, had a robust security system, meaning the campus grounds were safer than it was outside. 

While there was no practical difference in the disposition of mana between genders, letting girls walk home without an escort was still considered unacceptable in the general public’s eyes. 

That wasn’t particularly the reason why, but Alus accompanied the girls back to their dorm. “Hey, pay more attention to where you’re walking.” 

“...” 

Even on their way home, Tesfia and Alice were still pinching each other’s arms. From time to time they closed their eyes to refocus, so from an onlooker’s perspective they looked quite unsteady. 

That said, Alus wasn’t kind enough to gently let them know about objects in their way after his warning was ignored. 

The street light shook with a big smack. 

“—!! Urgh.” 

“Fia?! Are you okay?” 

While walking with her eyes closed, Tesfia had sure enough crashed into a street light. She crouched down, holding her forehead and giving Alus a tearful glare. “Hey.” 

“What.” 

“It wouldn’t have hurt to tell me about that.” 

But that excuse would only fly for civilians, not Magicmasters. “Come now, if you’re dealing with Fiends they’re clearly going to attack. And if you’re too busy focusing on enchanting and let your awareness drop, you’re only going to get killed. All while being a laughing stock.” 

While Tesfia couldn’t bring herself to complain about Alus not even trying to hide his fed-up expression, her glare turned even more resentful in response. 

As a result, the two—especially Tesfia—stubbornly continued their training all the way home. 

“So this is the place...” The moment Alus saw the women’s dorm he was dumbfounded and speechless. 

While he had his own room in his laboratory, he’d seen the men’s dorm once and there was a clear difference in the security systems. This had been designed so that entry was impossible without passing through an authentication gate that also served as the reception area. 

The tall walls like you’d see at prisons were likely not there to keep the residents in, but rather to keep invaders out. 

Tesfia and Alice authenticated themselves with familiar motions, and the double-layered doors slid open. 

Alice said, “Al, thank you very much for today. I’ll see you tomorrow in class.” 

“Well, good work! Keep it up tomorrow too... Al,” Tesfia said. 

The nickname still felt somewhat uncomfortable to Alus as Alice politely said her thanks. In contrast, Tesfia carelessly gave him a short wave, but her awkward intonation sounded strange, and she raised the pitch of her voice at the end as if asking a question. The way she waved her hand was like shooing away a critter, and she averted her red face like she was embarrassed. 

Alus shrugged in exasperation. “Make sure you know how to do it before you come next time.” 

As Alus said this, Tesfia, who had turned to look his way while walking forward, crashed into a soft wall. Her face was buried in that wall, or rather that ample bosom. “Oof.” 

“Ms. Socalent!” Alice said, upon seeing this Ms. Socalent, who happened to be the dormitory supervisor that Tesfia bumped into. 

Tesfia, on the other hand, was buried deep in that magnificent wall, unable to form any proper words. “Um... I don’t believe we’ve violated curfew.” 

Based on Alice’s polite speech, this girl was most likely an upperclassman. She had long black hair that reached to her waist, and her graceful facial features formed into a smile. 

Alice seemed concerned over breaking the curfew, but the girl’s expression was full of affection, the complete opposite of anger. 

However, Alus’ instincts told him she didn’t have as gentle a disposition as her expression said. 

She was a good-looking girl. It would be more apt to call her beautiful than cute. Her beauty was the mysterious sort that would charm the opposite gender. Height wise, she was about as tall as Alus. Alice was more adult compared to Tesfia, but this Socalent girl was more voluptuous, closer to Witch Sisty. That was all the more reason for Alus to find her smile alluring. 

“Welcome back, Fia, Ms. Alice.” Her voice was tender, her lips lustrous and appealing. 

And Tesfia—who’d finally escaped from the ample bosom—quickly righted herself and bowed as Alice had. But she had a suspicious glint in her eyes. She couldn’t understand why the dorm supervisor would come greet them herself. 

Alus felt like retorting when he saw Tesfia’s polite behavior towards the upperclassman, seeing as how she never treated him like that, but he held back. 

“Who might this be?” Ms. Socalent softly urged, with an unnatural smile. 

Alus introduced himself. “I’m first-year Alus Reigin. We were late after staying behind to study.” It was a formal, shallow line. Alus had a suspicious feeling about this upperclassman too, though for a different reason. That’s why he stayed cool and kept his guard up. 

“...!! Oh, no, I don’t mind. The students here are dedicated after all. It’s like there’s no curfew, really.” 

She glanced at Tesfia and Alice as she said this, but soon locked onto Alus. “My name is Felinella Socalent. I’m a second-year student and the dormitory supervisor.” She put her hand over her chest, returning Alus’ introduction with a graceful bow. 

Everything she did revealed how well brought-up she was. There wasn’t a single flaw in her behavior. Her hair captivatingly dangled in front of her face, and any man would be smitten by seeing her shift it behind her ear. 

But Alus only felt caution when witnessing her overly-perfect gestures. He’d also heard the Socalent family name before. “Still, to think you’re the dormitory supervisor in your second year.” That position came with some heavy responsibilities. Alus would expect the supervisor to be a top class third-year student, or teacher. 

Whether Tesfia understood Alus’ view or not, she added an explanation. “Feli is the only second-year Triple Digit Magicmaster in the Institute. The two of us are acquainted through our families,” she proudly added, pushing out her meager—compared to Felinella’s—chest. 

If they were acquainted on a family level, that meant Felinella was nobility, too. She may have been granted peerage, but the aristocracy itself wasn’t suitable for this day and age. But as the established and distinguished families had deep ties with the military, the aristocracy was still alive today. 

As Magicmasters’ status and authority were largely influenced by their ranking, the higher-ranked Magicmasters received more respect. That’s why, if you wanted to protect your pride and dignity, you would naturally be focused on your rank. 

As a result, many who represented noble families earned ranks befitting their status, meaning there were many nobles in the upper ranks. 

“I see. That makes sense,” Alus nodded. 

Felinella cast her eyes down in humility. “I am merely rank No. 375, Mr. Alus.” 

“...” 

That said, a Triple Digit being at the school as a student was strange in and of itself. Like Alus had told Tesfia and Alice, exterminated Fiends had the most impact on your rank. As Institute students wouldn’t experience actual combat, they shouldn’t have a lot of chances to climb up to triple digit range. 

While dubious, Alus realized something Felinella said bothered him. He also noted she’d said ‘merely’ and his conviction grew stronger. 

He was probably correct in his suspicion. And if it was just his misunderstanding he could apologize. “How is Lord Vizaist? He was a great deal of help to me back then.” 

Felinella gently smiled at Alus’ words. Apparently he was dead on. “Yes, you took care of my father as well.” 

Lord Vizaist was a general in the military, and Alus had done missions under his command in the past. For a long period of time he achieved unparalleled results and his rank improved until he was transferred to be under the direct control of the Governor-General. 

Officially, seven nations were protecting humanity, but in reality all of humanity was being protected by a single nation, of which Alpha was just one territory. As such, there was no General of the Army, so to speak. The Governor-General held the highest rank. 

Of course, Tesfia and Alice were astonished by this exchange. But only for a brief moment. Tesfia suddenly remembered something, and whispered into Alice’s ear. 

Alice then spoke with an understanding expression. “Do you know Al, Ms. Socalent?” 

“Of course I am aware of him,” Felinella said, after a short pause. “This is the first time I’ve met him, but I heard a lot about him from my father.” A noble like Felinella paying respects to Alus was most likely because she knew his rank. “But, are you instructing these two, Mr. Alus?” 

“Yeah, the principal pushed it onto me.” Since Felinella was that man’s daughter, Alus no longer spoke to her like he saw her as an upperclassman. 

Felinella didn’t seem to mind. In fact, her face lit up with joy as she interpreted his more relaxed manner of speaking to mean they were getting closer. “Oh, how envious I am,” she said, putting her hand on her cheek in a charming manner. 

Tesfia and Alice felt there were quite a few thorns in her words. 

However, Alus merely furrowed his brow. “They might come home late from now on, so do excuse it, will you, Ms. Socalent?” 

When Felinella heard these words, her temples twitched. “Mr. Alus, please feel free to call me Feli.” She said it with a gentle smile, but a compelling force in her voice made even Alus falter. 

“O-Okay. Then call me Al. These two are already calling me that, after all.” 

A gleeful expression appeared for an instant on Felinella’s face, upon hearing his reply. Perhaps worried about her appearance as an upperclassman, Felinella glanced at Tesfia and Alice. But only Alus noticed it. 

“I am happy for your offer, but with my father’s position, me being overly-familiar with you might cause all sorts of problems. I-It is our first time meeting too, it is very regrettable, but may I continue calling you Mr. Alus?” 

“A-All right.” 

“Ms. Alice, do feel free to call me Ms. Feli, please. ‘Ms. Socalent’ makes us sound like strangers.” 

Tesfia was already calling her that, so there shouldn’t be any need to be afraid, but Tesfia was nodding her head alongside Alice for some reason. 

That was because while Felinella was smiling, there was nothing close to a smile in her eyes. 

Alus compared their treatment to his. He wondered if that was simply out of respect for his rank, or if there was some other reason behind it. Either way, he’d delivered the two girls to their dorm, so there was no reason to stay. “Then I’ll take my leave here.” 

As he turned around, a voice called out to stop him. “Mr. Alus, these two are still girls, so don’t send them home too late, even if it’s for training.” 

“Okay.” 

“And... could you include me as well, even if it’s only once in a while?” 

Alus, along with Tesfia and Alice, was surprised by this. “W-Well, there’s not much difference between handling two and three... it would just be ‘once in a while,’ right?” 

“Yes!” Felinella answered with a bright innocent smile, fitting for her age. 

“To be honest, I’m not pretentious enough to think there’s anything a Triple Digit approaching Double Digits can learn from my instruction, so don’t get your hopes up, Feli.” 

“I understand. I will receive your guidance with tempered expectations.” In contrast to her words, Felinella’s tone of voice was rejoiceful. 

With that, Alus finally returned home. 

On his way home, he couldn’t help but regret it. With Vizaist involved, it didn’t feel like he could’ve refused, but more of his precious time would end up getting sacrificed because of it. 

* * * 

It was after school the next day, with the last lecture of the week finally behind them. 

Alus had spent the day as peacefully as always (though this was only the third day he’d actually attended classes), thanks to Tesfia and Alice hanging out with him during break periods. It also seemed that Alus’ nickname had influenced things for the better. 

The other students had been surprised to see Alus and Tesfia’s stormy relationship reach such a lightning-fast reconciliation—if you could call it that—but eventually accepted it. 

All of the gazes directed toward Alus had changed, and things were peaceful... or they should have been, but the two girls’ beauty continued to attract the male students’ attention as always. 

That’s why the students’ gazes at Alus had changed from contempt toward someone so unmotivated to being full of envy. The two girls were also still in the middle of maturing physically, and so could be expected to become even more attractive. 

The behind-the-scenes battle for Tesfia and Alice’s hearts would only grow more intense, but Alus himself was unperturbed. 

“... I thought I told you to come after you mastered that technique.” 

After quickly leaving the classroom and returning to his own room, Alus gave Tesfia and Alice a grumpy look. By the time he’d arrived, the two were already standing at his door. 

“It’s fine, isn’t it? It’s not like you’ll lose anything,” Tesfia argued. “You watching us makes it easier for us to advance, and gives us just the right amount of tension.” 

“Al, please...” Alice said. “We want to get better as quickly as we can.” 

“No, I do lose something. My time.” To Alus, that was enough considering this was volunteer work for him. And with them in the room, it wasn’t difficult to imagine they would be pestering him for tips and tricks as well. 

That said, he hesitated to dismiss Alice’s serious plea. Besides... Alus looked down and saw red marks on their skin from pinching too hard all over. He had no intention of going easy on them because they were girls, but this might be going overboard. 

“All right. If someone sees all those red marks they’re just going to blame me. I don’t mind if you’re here, just don’t bother me.” 

The two eagerly nodded their heads. 

Alus slid the door open— 

“—!!” 

“What is this?!” Tesfia exclaimed. The room had completely changed from yesterday. 

“Hm? Is there something strange?” 

“... I give up, why don’t men think anything of things like this?” 

When she heard her roommate say this, Alice gave Tesfia an exasperated look. While it wasn’t this bad, Tesfia had a mountain of things in their room too... but Alice didn’t go so far as to mention it. 

Huge piles of documents and books lay all over the room, and the floor was covered in written materials. The massive desk was covered in the same, with not even enough room to put a drink down. 

Just as Tesfia and Alice had been so engrossed with their training, Alus had similarly devoted himself to his research the moment the two had left, and had only stopped when it was time to head out to class. 

The two girls looked at each other and rolled up their sleeves. 

“I don’t know what you’re planning on doing, but don’t do anything unnecessary. It isn’t messy, it’s the result of effectively sorting and categorizing the materials.” 

“I’m not having it!” Alice had already gotten started. Her cleaning skills put a housewife to shame. Despite not knowing what the material was about, she was good at guessing the order based on how the piles were positioned as she tidied things up. 

As for Tesfia... well, that was the daughter of a noble family for you. The enthusiasm was there, but her execution was anything but praiseworthy. Well, at least she wasn’t making it worse. 

The room was spotlessly clean within a few minutes, causing Alus to remark in wonder: “You can do anything, can’t you Alice?” 

“Hey, I cleaned up too!” 

“... Uh... Yeah, thanks.” 

Tesfia felt like Alus had just evaded giving her a more provoking answer and was about to say something more, but Alus was a step ahead of her and shut down the topic. “Fine. I guess I’ll watch over you a little.” 

The two probably hadn’t cleaned the room with the hopes of him repaying the favor, so they looked at each other with joy. 

While Alus said he’d watch over them, the mana control they were doing now was very basic. But just because they were currently stumbling, that didn’t mean they had no talent. This technique was indispensable in battle against the Fiends, but normally it was learned slowly over a longer span of time. 

Alus’ prediction had been that it would take a month before they could move on to the next step of training. 

However, today the two were exhibiting an exceptional level that made Alus think he might have actually awakened some inner powers of a master instructor. They were completely different from yesterday. It was probably the result of their efforts, still, it had only been a day. He couldn’t help but be surprised. 

“Not there. Gather it at the tips of your fingers.” 

As the two girls pinched each other, Alus brought his own fingertips close to theirs, having his mana slightly touch their manas. 

Of course, with the disposition of their manas being different there was a repulsion. But that repulsion helped to make it easier for them to recognize their own mana within them. The goal was for them to try to guide it with a clear sense of direction. 

The next stage of trying to bring their mana under control wasn’t going to be so easily achieved, but it was only a matter of time. They were already starting to accurately perceive their mana, and even if it wasn’t all the mana circulating inside them, they had managed to direct a portion of it. Just what was that disastrous scene yesterday anyway? 

The two slowly gathered mana in the tips of their fingers. 

“Don’t lose your focus.” 

In their case, the girls were still easily affected by unconscious restlessness and lost their focus, so controlling the mana gathered at their fingertips was difficult. 

In fact... 

“Hey! Shut up.” As Tesfia said this, she lost control of the directionality of her mana, and it began flowing to the pinched area on her arm. 

“—!” Alice reacted in similar fashion. 

“Look what you did,” Tesfia said accusingly to Alus, who let out an exasperated sigh. 

Shortly thereafter... 

“I can’t anymore...” Alice, having lost focus, wiped non-existent sweat off her brow. As the actual amount of mana she’d lost was minimal, she wasn’t exhausted due to running out of mana, but she’d gathered up quite a lot of mental frustration. It was a training that required a delicate touch. 

Well, it might be a good time to break. “I guess we’ll take a short break.” 

The two wearily nodded their heads in approval. 

As this break was for Tesfia and Alice, Alus sat down at his desk to continue with his own research. Perhaps thanks to their tidying up his materials before, he was able to change gears easier than he thought, and he comfortably immersed himself in his work. 

Some minutes later... 

“Now that I think about it, what kind of research are you doing, Al?” Tesfia asked. 

“We never asked him that, did we.” 

The next moment, Alus had two interested pairs of eyes gazing at him. However, the smile on his face seemed to look down on them a little. “I was wondering if teleportation magic could be used in combat.” 

The teleportation magic at the Institute, the Circle Ports, was a byproduct of Alus’ space manipulation magic. But since the military wanted to keep the theory’s details confidential from the public, Alus had only published a thesis on the matter. He hadn’t been involved in the steps that put it to practical use. 

Of course, he’d experimented with it on his own to prove and confirm his theory. But his only objective was to create new spells and theories for innovating techniques to raise the strength of Magicmasters. 

Fundamentally, Alus’ inventions and discoveries were very different from existing techniques or even the realm of logic. At the same time, they made way for unexpected byproducts. 

“This is what he means by teleportation, right?” Tesfia touched her insignia, turning to Alice. 

“... I think so.” Alice had a questioning expression, as if seeking Alus’ answer. 

“That’s right. The system utilizing those insignias was the first one to make use of transport type magic.” 

Apart from that, there were also Circle Ports spaced out at regular intervals along the most important line of defense for the nation in case of emergency. The military and the nation were always on the lookout for invading Fiends or other abnormalities. 

So what Alus meant by first, was that it was the first use for the general public. “That said, there are still flaws. After all, the greatest distance it will work is between three to five kilometers.” 

It was, of course, a technology that still had a lot of room for improvement. Specifically, it copied the user’s mana, and with that as its basis it transported it to the destination transport gate. As transportation was performed through working on space itself, it was commonly referred to as ‘leaping.’ 

A fundamental problem, however, was that the copied mana information deteriorated. The reason was because it was impossible to contain pure undefined mana in space with the current level of technology. 

Deterioration couldn’t happen when reconstructing mana into magic, but mana alone tended to deteriorate with time after leaving the body. Experiments showed that teleportation over a certain distance was problematic because of this. 

“I was originally thinking of putting it to use as attack magic, but the problem is what property I should stress on improving.” There was no way these two would have an answer to his advanced question. But perhaps saying it out loud anyway was in the nature of being a researcher. 

Tesfia asked, “You mean, how best to use it in combat?” 

“Well, that’s not a wrong interpretation.” The problem was taking into account what kind of use the spell would have when making it. And as the spells Alus invented needed to be beneficial for all Magicmasters, that made his task even more difficult. “Even broadly speaking, should it be used to kill Fiends, effectively obstruct their actions, support allied attacks, or safely and swiftly retreating?” 

“Hah...” 

Unlike the inarticulate Tesfia, Alice raised her hand for permission to speak. “What about making it a spell to protect Magicmasters, or something that can cover a wide range of applications?” 

Alus never rejected any opinions without first listening to them. Perhaps because of his researcher nature, he had a habit of closely examining any idea, even eccentric ones, before coming to a conclusion. 

But he’d already reached a conclusion for Alice’s suggestion a long time ago. “That would be pointless. Teleportation magic might be used for offense, defense, or support, depending on use, but trying to make it work for everything will make it useless.” 

Spells listed in the spells encyclopedia were determined after their proper names were acknowledged. A proper name being established meant that use of the spell was recognized. 

As such—a spell that could be used for any purpose was nonsense. On the battlefield, a spell with a single fixed use was far more helpful than a half-assed ad hoc spell. 

“Well, it might just be better to check with the Magicmasters on the frontlines,” Alus said. 

Tesfia considered that Alus himself had fought on the frontlines for most of his life, so he could probably come up with a proper use himself, but... that’s when she remembered the principal saying he was an exception, so she stopped herself from saying it out loud. 

If the ranked No. 1 Magicmaster created new spells using his own skills and talents as the basis, he would likely be the only one that could use them, making it meaningless for others. 

Especially so since Alus’ goal was to increase the general strength of Magicmasters so that he could take it easy himself.

After that, it was time for Alus’ one-sided and mercurial lecture on magical theories and their uses, along with the far shorter Q&A session. 

Since the two girls were novice Magicmasters, Alus of course didn’t reach any meaningful conclusions. But he’d never had the chance to share his thoughts with others before, so he continued to talk on, forgetting the time. 

The two girls managed to get back to their dorm before breaking curfew, but their precious time had mostly been used up by Alus’ lecture. So he couldn’t help but accept the blame, when Tesfia accused him that they hadn’t been able to train properly. 

... As such, Alus was unable to find an excuse not to instruct them the following day as well. 

* * * 

“But still, it was a surprise to see Al like that,” Alice said, smiling as she walked alongside Tesfia. Her manner of speaking made it seem like she was talking about a friend of the same age, rather than the ranked No. 1 Magicmaster. 

Unlike yesterday, they were walking home alone. While Alus had left the building with them, he was suddenly called to the principal’s office, and they’d parted ways with him with heavy steps. 

“He was like a child boasting,” Tesfia said. 

“You mean befitting his age?” 

“No, I mean like a child showing off his brand-new toy.” 

When Alice heard this, she could really see Alus being like a child and she covered her mouth to giggle. “Yeah, maybe... well, it’s a bit outrageous for a toy.” 

“True. Still, I understand his skills as a Magicmaster, but what about his talents as a researcher?” 

Alice answered without a doubt in her mind. “I’m sure he’s excellent.” 

“I wonder about that. He might just be researching boring stuff that has no hope for a future.” 

“Hmm, I don’t think so... but how about we ask him to show us the spell he was talking about today when he completes it.” 

“Yeah, let’s. But after he’s spoken so strongly about it, you better not laugh when it turns out to be a lame spell, Alice,” Tesfia said, like an older sister explaining to a younger sister. 

“You too, Fia. You’re nobility, so you can’t disgrace yourself by laughing with your mouth open even if it’s funny.” 

The two flashed reserved smiles at each other. 

Before anyone knew it, Alus’ great research had been turned into something that could only be lame, the degree of his talent was dragged down... but that may have only mattered to the two. 

Later, when the two understood even a portion of his research, their expressions would totally change. 

But that is a story for the future. 

* * * 

After parting with the two girls at the research building, Alus headed for the principal’s office with heavy steps and a heavy heart. 

He anticipated that it wouldn’t be anything good from what he and Sisty had talked about before, and from her gestures. He’d gotten the impression that he shouldn’t get involved with her if possible, but by now that had turned into a conviction. 

It took a couple of minutes to walk from Alus’ private quarters to the principal’s office in the main building, so going there on foot and not by the Circle Port was understandable. 

He had planned on minding his manners and knocking on the door, but frowned as he knocked, clearly unhappy. Quickly receiving permission to enter, Alus opened the door in a hurry. “I still haven’t asked anything.” 

Seeing Alus’ frown, Sisty answered, “I still haven’t heard anything.” 

Alus feigned ignorance and straightened his back. Sisty did have a higher standing here, after all. 

“Well, no matter. As I’m sure you’re aware, there’s a proficiency exam at the beginning of next month.” 

“I’ve heard of it.” It was part of the year’s curriculum, a test intended to update the freshmen’s ranks set when they entered the Institute based on their current skills. As over one thousand applicants needed to be assessed during the entrance exam, efficiency had been prioritized over accuracy. As such, this test was intended to take a closer look at the first-year students’ abilities. 

Alus already knew what Sisty wanted at this point. “In other words, this is about my rank assessment.” 

“Yes. Since I’d rather avoid any pointless commotion, I’ve arranged it so that I will assess you.” 

Alus would’ve loved to complain that this was abusing her authority, but he wanted to avoid said pointless commotion too. And, well, this was probably his only way out. 

He knew the proficiency exam was listed in the yearly schedule, but when he thought about it, the actual methods weren’t described. “I understand. But that’s not all, is it. What’s your real reason?” 

The principal wasn’t particularly surprised. If anything, she sighed with relief as she was finally able to move on to the main topic. But seeing that, Alus felt his hunch had been dead on. 

“I’m glad we can cut to the chase. This is what I want.” On Sisty’s desk was a pile of papers. She then flipped them over, in other words telling him to read them to make it easier to confirm what she wanted. 

Alus passed his eyes over the papers, then looked to Sisty for confirmation. 

She replied with a smile and a nod as if to say he had her permission. 

“...” Alus then thoroughly read through everything. He sighed. “And what do you want me to do?” 

“Nothing in particular... what do you think?” 

The materials on the desk were suggestions, and one contained details on a newly put-together proposal for the Institute. That one happened to be from the army. 

In other words, it was practically a national policy; and since the Second Magical Institute couldn’t cut their ties to the military they would have to accept the proposal. 

It wasn’t as though anything would change from asking someone their opinion, but it certainly was the kind of thing where one might want a third party’s opinion, especially Alus’ opinion. 

“Before I answer, there’s something I want to ask.” 

“Go ahead.” Sisty’s glamorous smile held traces of hope for his opinion. 

“Is this something that’s being proposed because I requested retirement?” 

“Probably.” It was a vague answer, but Sisty didn’t see this as a problem. 

As for the contents of the proposal—the goal of it was to allow the students to gain actual experience by battling Fiends, on the pretext of being an extracurricular lesson. 

“I personally think we’re receiving this late. This is already part of the curriculum for the first, fourth, fifth and seventh institutes. However...” 

“This will only increase the number of dead,” Alus said flatly. 

“It will, won’t it,” the principal said in a light tone, trying to reduce some of the seriousness of the topic. 

This was live combat. Lives would be at stake. 

While the majority of students would enter the military upon graduation, and they would eventually encounter combat, the problem was that the students still hadn’t gone through that kind of training yet. 

But the real problem wasn’t physical; it was mental. For the students that could at least use magic, low-classed Fiends shouldn’t pose that much of a problem. 

However, what Alus mentioned was a real possible outcome. This was because they might give up on fighting due to the fear of their first real battle. 

As a Magicmaster’s powers were largely influenced by their mental state, cowering in fear would cause them to lose their ability to use magic. And if that fear of Fiends remained in the semi-permanent form of a trauma, they might even fail to become full-fledged Magicmasters. 

There was technically a safety net in place; but it was still problematic. According to the military’s proposal, an upperclassman would stick with the first-years in case of an emergency. Though there was a difference in skill, they were still students, and when it came to eliminating Fiends there wouldn’t be much of a difference between them. In case of emergency, the concern was that the personnel for it would be useless. 

“In other words, this is what the top brass wants,” Alus said. 

“Indeed. With the barrier growing weaker, they probably want the students to get used to live combat as soon as possible. And it’s likely that influential investors want to get a grasp on the quality of the various institutes as Magicmaster training facilities. It’s the kind of thing the big shots would consider.” 

Alus sighed. He pushed the topic forward, wanting an answer to his suspicions. “So, what do you want me to do?” 

“I was mostly assigned to defense missions, so you’re more knowledgeable on Fiends.” 

Alus had a thing or two he could say to that, but decided to listen to the whole story first and urged Sisty to continue. 

“So, can’t you do something, Alus?” 

“Something? Like what?” 

“You know, like working over the top brass... quickly. And if that would be hard, you could do something else. Like for example, you could—” 

“Not possible.” Alus shut down the principal before she could make a second suggestion. He didn’t have the influence to appeal a decision made at the top level. Or rather, he’d been intentionally made to lose the influence, just like how they’d been so reluctant to accept his resignation request. 

Despite that, they’d used him all they wanted to for missions. If this was Governor-General Berwick’s solo initiative, he might have been able to put in a good word for the principal. Unfortunately, it had to be seen as the entire military’s consensus. 

As for the other proposal the principal had hinted at... “Just how many students do you think are going to take part in these extracurricular lessons? It’s impossible to cover all of them.” Even for someone as powerful as Alus, it wasn’t possible to protect all of them unless they were physically in one group. 

In response, Sisty puffed up her cheeks and pouted, something Alus never thought he’d see someone her age doing. “Come on... then do you have any other good ideas?” 

It didn’t look like she was going to let him go so easily. Unless he at least gave her a suggestion, he probably wasn’t going to be allowed to go home. He shrugged his shoulders and scratched his head. “Just how much can this proposal be changed?” 

The principal interfering with the top brass’ consensus might bring her animosity and even result in her forced resignation. In short, opposing the overwhelmingly powerful military’s way of doing things came with great risk. 

The situation could be described as terrible, but if Alus came up with a good idea, then he’d have to have Sisty do her best and push her way through. 

“Well, as long as it didn’t change the point of the extracurricular lesson...” Sisty answered him with a serious look. 

That expression said that she was going to get her way no matter what, as long as it was something minor. Though she wasn’t open about it, she wanted to look out for the safety of the students under her care. 

The two looked at a map. “There’s no doubt that this is the area, right?” Alus said. 

“Yes.” Considering how plainly she answered, Sisty didn’t seem to know the details, so it probably wasn’t decided yet. But she still felt it was too fast to bring students to the Outer World, even if it was to beef up their forces faster. 

“It’s an area where the lowest-classed Fiends appear, but B-class Fiends will appear there from time to time. So holding the lessons over here would be better, even if it’s a bit further away.” Alus pointed to a location on the map, then slid his finger to another spot. 

“Of course, it wouldn’t be safe even then,” the principal said with a bitter expression. She understood the risks as well. While she was primarily assigned to defense missions, she had still been in the field. The unexpected and unforeseen were everyday occurrences in the Outer World. It wasn’t an exaggeration to call the unexpected the norm. 

Battle in the Outer World required constant flexible preparations and strategies if the worst came to happen. But they were still able to detect high-classed Fiends appearing several kilometers away from the defense lines. On top of that, though the magical equipment in place to detect Fiends generally wasn’t reliable enough to detect anything from farther away, it could detect calamity-level Fiends quickly enough, though not perfectly. 

“In this case, there’s a possibility that B-class Fiends can slip through, so we should upgrade the students’ supervisors. Instead of upperclassmen, we should request official Magicmasters... but well, that proposal wouldn’t pass,” Alus concluded. 

“That would be difficult.” 

The military’s precious Magicmasters needed to remain on standby so as to be mobilized at a moment’s notice. And it was hard to imagine the military approving their dispatch for a mere extracurricular lesson. 

“Then we’ll have to make do with assigning the higher rankers as supervisors. But rather than just one each, maybe have two or more. There’s also the possibility of using teachers. The Institute has been entrusted with the composition, right?” 

“That’s true... but it’s still headache-inducing,” Sisty replied. “By the way, it’s pretty much been decided that the composition will consist of five students and one or more supervisors.” 

“Then I wish you good luck.” With that, Alus turned to go. In his eyes, he’d fulfilled his obligations by giving some suggestions in regard to the supervisors. 

The principal, on the other hand, let out a stupefied “Huh?!” 

“Is there still something else?” Alus spun around with a look that made it clear how much of a pain this was to him. 

But this Witch wasn’t obedient enough to accommodate Alus. “... I forgot to bring out the tea.” This was an obvious excuse to keeps Alus here, and she quickly sprung into action. 

Even Alus hesitated to ignore this and go home anyway. He tried with his facial expression to show he was even more annoyed by the whole thing as a form of spite... but it was the bare minimum to maintain his sanity.

After that, the two spent the evening exploring different solutions. 

In the end, Alus lent his knowledge, thanks to Sisty preventing him from leaving early. 

“It will be tough, but if we overcome this, we’ll be able to train excellent Magicmasters. Humanity’s future is looking bright!” Sisty said like a missionary, raising her fist in the air. 

Alus couldn’t help but feel she was forcibly being idealistic in her manner of speaking. 

Sisty smiled innocently. 

He was fed up with it, but she did have a point when it came to ensuring humanity’s survival. Alus going along with such obvious flattery was because of Tesfia and Alice. Their suitability for being Magicmasters would likely be made clear with this extracurricular lesson. If they produced good results, that would be fine; and if they yielded to the Fiends a different conclusion would be made clear. 

Thus the diligent and scrupulous debate between a Single Digit and a former Single Digit took place. 

After that, Alus would be called to the principal’s office after he watched over Tesfia and Alice’s training. He no longer had the willpower to curse his fate. 

While mourning the loss of his precious time, he somehow maintained his mental balance by telling himself that this worked in his favor. In other words, he consoled himself by telling himself this would help him in the future. 

Either way, there was a limit to the amount of time they had until the day of the extracurricular lesson. 

And no matter how much they taught the students, they were still just novice Magicmasters. With their overwhelming lack of combat experience, they were unreliable and vulnerable. 

* * * 

It was the day of the freshmen’s proficiency exam. 

Tesfia and Alice visited Alus’ laboratory before heading to class. The reason for that was because he’d barely attended class the past few days. 

While Alus was guaranteed credits as long as he upheld the minimum attendance, his reputation would drop. If he was absent from the exam itself, he would need to retake it, and if he missed that too there would be a risk of having to repeat the grade. So the two had come to get him, being worried about him. 

“—!!” 

When Alus opened the door, his horrible condition came into view. With those large bags under his eyes, it was clear he hadn’t slept properly the past few days. 

“I told you clearly to get some sleep, and in the end you didn’t sleep at all, did you? If you can’t fall asleep, would you like me to sleep with you?” Tesfia said this and looked away, but with a mischievous smile on her face. 

Alus, on the other hand, didn’t have enough willpower left to fight back. “It’s my time, don’t go butting in on how I spend it. It’s not like I can’t sleep, but if I can get a pleasant night’s sleep should we sleep together? How about today, even.” 

“Eh?! U-Uhm...” 

Getting her mischief returned in kind without any ulterior motive behind it took Tesfia by surprise, and she suddenly recoiled. 

While Tesfia was unable to hide her flushed cheeks, Alice’s exasperated words brought the atmosphere back to earth. “Did you forget, Al? The exam is today.” 

Alus was absent-minded and spacing out. Several moments later, he finally spoke. “Was it now?” 

“Go wash your face!” Tesfia shouted, having spotted the time displayed on the digital screen inside. She grabbed hold of Alus, spun him around and pushed him into the room. 

“Fine.”

This was their first time going to class together, but Alus let out a big yawn. 

The designated Institute bag was unnecessary. Since he didn’t have any textbooks, walking around with an empty bag was pointless. 

Glancing at Alus being like that, Tesfia said to Alice, “Are you prepared for the exam?” 

“I wonder. I did review everything, just in case.” 

With their textbooks in hand, the two uneasily checked in with each other. 

But Alus’ following words made it clear their efforts had been in vain. “What are you reviewing? It’s a practical exam, it’s not something you prepare for like that.” 

“Eh?!” 

“If you knew that, then why didn’t you tell us!” 

Alice had stopped, her mouth wide open, while Tesfia who recovered quicker gave Alus a roundhouse kick to the back. 

She might have meant it to be a wake-up call, but some grudge feelings from having wasted her efforts were mixed in. 

Alus may have been half-asleep, but it wasn’t much trouble as he easily caught Tesfia’s leg with one hand. 

However, that wasn’t the problem. While her skirt wasn’t overly short, as a result of the roundhouse kick being unleashed from a higher position, Tesfia’s skirt vividly fluttered in the wind. And her dazzling white thighs could be seen underneath the thin silk slip she was wearing. 

Time seemed to freeze for an instant, but Alus had no interest in that secret garden. 

But even so, the blush on Tesfia’s face visibly grew brighter and brighter. “#%&$@&#!!” 

Before long, a mana-clad right fist came flying at Alus. It wasn’t like its power was increased by that, but the fact that mana was instinctively flowing there meant it was a serious punch with all her force behind it. 

Alus carelessly pushed the leg he’d so casually caught away, and used the recoil to smoothly block the punch. But if he messed up again, magic really might come flying at him next time. So he let go, and distanced himself. 

“... Did you see it?” Tesfia glared at him with teary eyes. She pushed her left hand against her thighs and held her skirt hem down. 

“Why would I look!” He hadn’t seen it, nor had the kick been unleashed at such a height that Alus could see it from his taller stature. He felt she was being overly self-conscious, but if he said that he’d definitely have magic flying his way. 

Since Alus lacked the tact to change the topic, Tesfia’s face turned red and they ended up walking in awkward silence, all the while with Tesfia glaring at him as if trying to force him to purge his memories. 

Alice tried to be considerate, bringing up different topics of discussion with Alus, but it all sounded awfully false. 

Alus felt like he was forced to read a script, but as the main culprit, he begrudgingly kept on walking with them. 

Because Tesfia held onto her skirt the whole way there, or so Alus believed, they just barely made it in time for school. But seeing her red face and far meeker behavior than normal (for her), he concluded he was being a little unfair. 

Due to the exam, today’s lectures were canceled. The only event taking place would be the exam. 

The morning would be spent testing the expelling of mana at the training grounds, which consisted of using all learned spells. 

Several teachers served as supervisors and accurately recorded the data. In order not to leak information on the spells that needed to be hidden, the already divided training grounds were covered in a dark veil that helped to conceal the substance of the exam. 

As classes took the exam one at a time, it was inevitable that it took all morning. 

Alus and the others quickly changed into training uniforms. After that, they waited in turn. 

But Tesfia, being who she was, couldn’t sit still while waiting for her name to be called. She seemed to be trying to distract herself by reviewing her mana control, but an extraordinary amount of nervousness could be seen in her face. 

That’s when Alus remembered that she was nobility. In other words, she needed a rank that wouldn’t bring shame to her name. While she already had a four-digit rank, she couldn’t help but feel nervous since the examiner when she had entered had told her that the ranking might not be accurate. 

It was just an exam, and it was hard to imagine that her ranking would change that much from this outcome, but telling Tesfia that now wouldn’t mean much. Which was why Alus kept his mouth shut. 

Meanwhile, Alice was pouring mana into a borrowed AWR, making sure that nothing was wrong. Similar scenes were happening all over the training grounds. 

Alus was the first among the three to have his name called. Tesfia and Alice were nearby as if it was their official place. 

He headed for the ninth training ground feeling bored. 

The remaining two didn’t wish Alus good luck. They knew he didn’t need it. Instead they focused on themselves, putting more strength into their grips on their AWRs out of anxiety or enthusiasm.

By the way—Alus was the only one without an AWR. 

Because of that, unlike the start of the term when nobody paid attention to him, they all stared at him now like he was some kind of intruder. While they didn’t whisper behind his back, their rude glares said everything. 

As Alus didn’t even have his book today—maybe he just forgot it—the looks he was getting were even more puzzled. 

In this atmosphere, Alus stepped into a suspicious-looking partition on the training ground that was stained black. 

Inside was, as previously arranged, Principal Sisty. “Oh, you didn’t bring an AWR?” 

“... Are we really doing this?” Alus’ lack of motivation was only natural, as he didn’t care about his ranking. And being the current No. 1, he had a hard time finding any meaning in measuring his mana. 

“Isn’t that obvious?” Sisty said, folding her arms. 

“I’ll be fine even without an AWR.” 

“Right, then first...” The principal pointed to a box next to her. It was just big enough to fit a person. This was the device that the military used to measure mana capacity. Aside from the front, the inside was covered in metal plates for detecting mana. 

“Stand over there, then please emit some mana.” 

Alus had already begun doing that. The system worked by having the metal plates detect mana over a period of time, measuring the user’s mana capacity. 

“All right, that’s enough.” Sisty looked at the display on top of a table. On it was the test measuring, followed by a percentage showing the state of progress. “—!! Huh?!” 

This was a response Alus was used to. So in order to avoid the pain of having to do it again, he let Sisty know in advance, “It’s not broken. So can we move on to the next step?” 

“Y-Yes...” Her answer was somewhat unclear. Well, if the tester wasn’t a former Single Digit like the principal, they would likely have been even more surprised. But even then, it was a number that was hard for her to believe. 

Just in case, Alus made up a story that might convince her. “I was always on the frontlines.” 

“R-Right.” 

But no matter how much he’d been at the frontlines, Alus hadn’t encountered so many scenes of carnage that they’d help him grow this much. This mana capacity was innate... which was why he’d been able to shine in the military. 

“Uhm, next... I’d like you to use magic you’ve learned...” Sisty still seemed to be shaken up, unskillfully putting measuring equipment on Alus’ limbs. 

“I’ve passed on that kind of measuring in the military, too.” 

“Why?” The principal stared at him with a puzzled look. She was now less shaken up, and more simply curious. 

“When I use magic, the output exceeds the meter.” 

“Hmm... Well, it should be fine.” 

“I’m sure that thing’s going to break.” Alus indicated the expensive device to make his point. 

But Sisty’s eyes sparkled with curiosity, which overpowered her worry about the risk. 

Alus sighed, thinking to himself that the principal really was a Magicmaster through and through. “I can’t imagine you having countless spares of that machine, so let’s keep it to just this one.” 

“Right,” Sisty nodded, and moved over to the screen that displayed measurement data. “If you’re using an attack spell, shoot it over there, please.” 

In front of Alus was a cone with the wide bottom pointing his way. The inside was hollow for the purpose of taking in magic. 

This too was something Alus was used to seeing. By unleashing magic inside the cone, the walls with their high affinity for measuring the output, composition, total mana amount, attribute and more in great detail, would at the same time absorb mana to weaken the impact. 

Even if the power exceeded the rate of absorption, it was designed so that the spell’s power would head into the cone, gradually absorbing more mana. 

There shouldn’t have been any cases of breakdowns due to exceeding the maximum measurable values—but Alus broke this machine as if it was nothing. 

* * * 

Shortly after Alus’ exam began, Alice’s name was called. 

“Good luck, Alice.” 

“You too, Fia.” 

As Alice began to walk to the second training ground, Tesfia began to focus in preparation for her own turn. 

Alice suddenly stopped, feeling the ground trembling a little. 

At first, it had only been a slight tremble, which she wondered if she really felt or not; but that turned into conviction as the movement became more powerful. It was a disaster event. 

There had been a big shift in the tectonic plate of this continent when the Fiends appeared, so this wasn’t unprecedented. So the students’ disaster readiness when it came to these kinds of things was flawless. 

The moment Alice poured more strength into her legs and body to counteract the trembling... “What—!!” 

An explosion echoed through the training grounds, stirring up a commotion. Everyone forgot about taking refuge as they stared in the same direction. 

The ninth training ground now had black smoke coming out of it. 

Teachers ran around wondering what had happened, but the woman stepping out of the ninth training ground was the first to speak. “There’s no need to worry. Please continue with the exam,” said Principal Sisty, emerging from the training ground covered in mana. 

Dubious glances were cast, as people wondered why the principal was one of the examiners, but only for a moment. 

Sisty chanted something, and lightly spun a raised index finger around. As she did, the black smoke began to gather into a single spot in a whirl above her head. 

It was a stunning feat. In the end, it wasn’t until Sisty had sent the black smoke outside that the dumbfounded teachers remembered they were in a middle of an exam. 

In the next moment, Alice, having returned to her senses, asked Tesfia, “What just happened?” 

“Who knows, but isn’t that...” 

Having recalled which student had been taking his exam there, Alice rushed to the ninth training ground and called out with a shrill voice, “Are you okay, Al?!” 

Alus was alone, looking over the smashed-to-pieces equipment. “Oh, Alice. What a waste...” 

Tesfia appeared, with a stern face. “What did you do?” 

“To think you’d be this strong... You really are unbelievable.” Behind Tesfia was the principal, speaking in a stiff voice. Of course, the reason there wasn’t the slightest bit of soot on her outfit was because she too was one of the best Magicmasters. 

“Anyway, we’re still in the middle of an exam, you two.” 

Tesfia and Alice darted their eyes around when Sisty said that, like what had happened wasn’t a big deal.

After a light scolding from Principal Sisty, the two girls left the exam ground, leaving Alus and Sisty behind. 

“But still, that spell... that was a space manipulation spell, wasn’t it?” 

Alus’ eyes widened at Sisty’s question. That’s a former Single Digit for you. It was normally an unspoken rule that Magicmasters didn’t pry into each other’s arsenal of spells. “Correct,” he answered her, with some respect and admiration. 

“There was also a lot of heat generated. Would that be fusion type magic?” 

That one was off. The heat and resulting explosion were caused by the measuring device being unable to take the overwhelming amount of mana. But Alus looked down, as if to say it was just as she surmised. It was more convenient that way. 

He had indeed used space manipulation magic, like she guessed. But Alus didn’t want anyone, not even the principal, to know anything more than that. 

To begin with, spells that directly interfered with space didn’t exist. Space manipulation magic was instead divided into different groups, and was a generic term for a series of organized magic types. 

Of course, it had been theoretically proven that space could be manipulated. That’s why Alus had purposely used fusion type magic at the same time. 

The fusion phenomenon was the true nature of the spell he had used before. The reason it looked like space had been manipulated was a secondary effect. In other words, he had purposefully invited the misunderstanding that the space distortion was a secondary effect, instead of its true nature. 

So far, this was all within the realm of common sense within the field of magic. The only one in the army who knew that Alus’ power exceeded the common sense realm was Governor-General Berwick Sarebian. An overwhelmingly powerful force was feared. And there would be many that sought to make use of it. However— 

“But if a Magicmaster of your level were to use fusion magic on its own, it wouldn’t be that weak. Perhaps there is a different property to it.” 

“—” 

It was a casual doubt, just something that popped into Sisty’s head. She put her finger on her chin, thinking. 

Fusion type magic was a highly advanced spell belonging to the fire attribute. So a simplistic categorization would label Alus’ mana as belonging to the fire attribute, but this former Single Digit seemed convinced that this wasn’t the true nature of Alus’ mana. 

Magic was divided into several different natures. People could always be categorized as having an affinity with one of those natures. In Tesfia’s case it was ice, and Alice’s was light. 

Of course, that was just affinity, and it didn’t mean they were restricted to just that type; but the affinity had a great influence on the magic used. 

Alus’ affinity was void. 

Strictly speaking, void nature didn’t exist, so it was more accurate to say that affinity wasn’t applicable to him. Of course he could use magic of different natures at high levels. But when it came to his own mana’s affinity, he believed that a new category, space manipulation, was necessary. But that couldn’t be leaked either. 

So Alus had to warn the principal from touching on that taboo. “Sisty!” 

“Hmm? ...!!” 

Alus’ look and tone of voice were the same as always... but Sisty realized the atmosphere around him had completely changed. 

“... That’s true. I shouldn’t pry into that.” 

Alus then went on, changing the topic and atmosphere immediately, “So what do we do about the exam.” 

“The measurements themselves aren’t giving an error, but rather, that it’s impossible to measure. So we’ll probably end up setting an all-time high measurement.” 

“I see.” 

“That should be it for the morning exam. Is there anything you’d like to ask?” 

“Not really.” 

The principal, now showing her usual easygoing demeanor like nothing had happened, signaled the end of the exam with a “Good work.” 

After seeing Alus out of the exam ground, Sisty let out a sigh. “Phew...” 

That sigh was partly over her own carelessness, and partly relief over having safely settled the situation. She raised her head and let a relieved smile show.

As expected, what welcomed Alus on his way back from the troubled exam was the class staring at him like he was some strange beast. 

Perhaps trying to escape the focused stares, Alus moved to Tesfia’s side. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. Not having anything to do during this time made him restless. 

Tesfia was sitting down, hugging her legs, with her katana leaning against the wall next to her. 

Alice had already gone to her training ground, but it wasn’t her turn yet. 

The way Tesfia seemed lost in thought with nothing in hand made her look even smaller than usual. Suddenly, she muttered to Alus, “What was that before?” 

“Looks like the equipment malfunctioned.” 

Tesfia stared at him suspiciously upon hearing this bald-faced lie. That said, considering the equipment did explode, it was the truth in a sense. Even if the reason for it was Alus’ spell. 

“You’re kidding,” she said harshly. She looked up at him with doubt in her face. 

Alus found her stare irritating, so he gave her a soundly reasoned query: “Do you really want to look into it?” It went without saying that this was a courtesy between Magicmasters. 

“... Hmph!” Knowing this, Tesfia returned her gaze to face forward. 

“Maybe you’ll get a chance to find out if we get into some actual combat,” Alus muttered. 

“...!” 

He’d mostly muttered it to himself, but when Tesfia’s name was called— 

“Then I’ll hurry and corner you.” 

Though he didn’t see her face when she said it, her voice was determined. 

Tesfia then got up, stretching as she did, and headed for the exam ground with firm steps and katana in hand. 

Alice came back, and asked the same thing as Tesfia. But in her case innocent curiosity was the driving force, and the atmosphere was different than with Tesfia, so Alus almost let something slip... 

* * * 

With the morning exam over, lunch was held somewhat late. 

The reason it was late was just because the exam had dragged on, not because of Alus’ incident. Plenty of people now headed for the cafeteria, and plenty more headed to the kiosks. And those who brought lunch with them headed for the classroom. 

Alus casually sat down at an empty seat, but then... “I forgot.” 

Not having gotten any real sleep, he’d been careless. That was partially because he’d never developed the habit of preparing lunch as well. 

He fell face first into the table. 

That was in part because he was tired, but mostly because everything was too troublesome. He could have just gone to the cafeteria or kiosks, but by now they were probably packed. 

However... “Could you make room?” 

He heard a voice by his ear, followed by the sound of a rustling bag. Even raising his head would be troublesome, so he just glanced up with his eyes. In front of him was a plastic bag, most likely recently purchased from a kiosk. He guessed food was inside. 

“You didn’t bring anything, right?” Alice was on the other side of the bag, and her soothing voice invited even more sleepiness in him. 

Surprisingly, the food was for Alus. He had an overwhelming urge to sleep, but hesitated to ignore her. She had done this out of goodwill, after all. 

When he raised his head, the two girls had already taken up positions sitting at the table with him. 

“Here, take this.” 

“Are you giving it to me?” 

If it had been Alice giving it to him, Alus would’ve said thank you right away; but he was surprised that it was coming from Tesfia. 

“It’s just something I bought from the kiosk, so it’s nothing impressive.” 

“Appreciate it.” It couldn’t be helped that he kept suspecting something... but maybe it was just in his mind. “So it really isn’t anything impressive.” 

Of course, that was just some banter. He was trying to provide a topic to make lunch more enjoyable, a conversational spice if you will, but... 

“Then don’t eat it.” 

“—Ah!” 

The food was taken away from him before his eyes. 

Well, it wasn’t like he wanted to take it back, but Alus wasn’t good with flattery or idle chat. He was capable of being eloquent, but he did feel a wall between himself and the sensibilities and atmosphere around students of his age. 

After managing an earnest apology, Alus recovered his lunch and changed the topic to the next exam while chucking a sandwich into his mouth. 

On a side note—with this being a prestigious institute, even the ingredients used at the kiosks were of high quality, and Alus found himself impressed by the sandwich tasting better than he’d expected. 

“The next exam will probably be a mock battle.” 

“...!!” 

Tesfia and Alice, who were having a similar lunch as Alus, stopped what they were doing. Judging from the looks in their eyes, they seemed to be suspecting some foul play. 

“Where did you get that information from?” Tesfia demanded. “What’s your source?” 

Alus didn’t particularly think it was cheating, but telling them that the principal was his source of information would only invite needless trouble. “It’s just... if they want to accurately measure a Magicmaster’s ranking, they’ll have to do that.” 

It wasn’t really a lie. The freshmen just never had their rankings accurately measured. In that regard, Alus had plenty of experience during his time in the military. As long as you got the gist of the exam, what you had to do wasn’t all that different. 

“In these kinds of mock battles, it’s common to go up against someone higher ranked.” 

Being the current No. 1 meant that Alus didn’t have anyone higher ranked than himself, so he normally didn’t have his mana measured through mock battles. Or rather, top level Magicmasters that actively took part in combat didn’t need to adhere to having their ranking and mana measured. 

On the battlefield where life and death was the biggest concern, there was no point in measuring an always-changing rank. Measurements were required to be taken once a year, but almost no one actually wished for them. 

But Alus smiled inwardly, cynically thinking that something had to be done considering the circumstances. “With this many, you two will probably face upperclassmen.” 

“No way...” Tesfia said. 

“I wonder if we can win.” 

With Tesfia’s and Alice’s abilities, they might even face third years or teachers. 

“Winning would be fine, but losing doesn’t necessarily mean your rank will go down. If anything, by facing a tough opponent your strength can be more easily measured.” Plus, points were added in the morning exam, with the mock battles in the afternoon being used to adjust them. 

Considering their abilities, it wasn’t hard to imagine that persons rather high-ranked in the Institute would be facing them. That was because, according to the manual for the measurements, the judge would increase their strength in steps. 

First, they would stay on the defensive... and once they had a grasp on their ability they would move over to attack, and measure their combat abilities as well. Because of that, if the judge was weaker than the person to be measured, it would ruin the measurements. 

“I’m going for the win no matter who I’m up against.” 

“...” 

Tesfia was firing herself up, but Alus, who had already fought her once, kept quiet.

At the end of lunch, the class headed back to the training grounds. 

This took even more time, as students from another class were still sitting around the grounds in a disorderly fashion. As in the morning, the training grounds had been split up into 10 divisions, with attack spells flying around accompanied by the sounds of combat. 

That’s when Tesfia and Alice caught the students’ attention. 

They really are popular, Alus thought to himself, as he leaned back against a wall on his lonesome. 

“Fia, Alice, did you hear?” 

“What?” The two tilted their heads at the sudden question from an acquaintance in a different class. 

“Apparently Base was the opponent at the fourth training ground!” 

Delca Base, a third-year Magicmaster student with a ranking in the 1000s, was a celebrity known among all the male students. Apparently, Delca already had a position secured in a unit that operated in the Outer World upon graduation. 

Delca had a sincere and fair attitude for nobility, and an affable and helpful attitude that the lowerclassmen in particular admired. 

“I see,” Tesfia said. 

“That’s amazing!” Alice loudly declared, trying to make up for her friend’s curtness. 

These two had enough potential to have their names remembered by the Triple Digit Felinella. And they were also receiving guidance from a Single Digit, so something like this no longer surprised them. 

This female acquaintance was surprisingly sharp, however. “... Aren’t you two acting weird?” 

“Really?” said Tesfia. 

“Hmm...?” 

Having a four-digit rank as a student was worthy of respect, but it was far from their goal. Which was why the two girls weren’t especially keen on making a fuss over something on that level. 

“You even went around asking students what their rank was before, Fia.” 

“Hey, don’t say anything strange like that.” Tesfia shook her hands in front of her, trying to deny it, but she then received a follow-up attack from the side. 

“Now that you mention it, she did do something like that.” Alice hadn’t intended on teasing Tesfia that much, but the image in her head was so funny that she ended up giggling. 

Before, they’d been so fixated on rankings, but now they didn’t really mind so much. They were both aware of the reason. The two glanced at the black-haired young man leaning against the wall some distance away. 

“Well, after seeing that...” Tesfia said. 

“Yeah...” Alice said. 

They smiled meaningfully. Alice’s smile was gentle, while Tesfia’s was a wry one. 

Maybe the young man was sleeping, since his head was slumped over. They almost thought they could hear his snores from where they were. 

“What’s that supposed to mean? Tell me,” their acquaintance insisted. 

“Oh, it’s nothing.” 

“Yes, indeed,” Alice smiled. 

Alice and Tesfia casually evaded her persistent questioning, and a harmonious discussion ensued, with a relaxed atmosphere to it.

Eventually, it was their class’ turn. 

As the classes on the training grounds changed, the students from the other class waved goodbye to Tesfia and Alice, and left. 

As expected, Alus’ name was the first one called. Having been gently woken up by Alice, he stretched his body. Getting some sleep had allowed him to shake off some of the lethargy, but he was still sleepy. 

“I wonder who that guy’s going to go up against,” Tesfia muttered, as they watched him walk away. 

“Maybe the principal?” Alice said. 

“No way.” 

Sensing another disaster event on the way, the two put on forced smiles. But remembering that this afternoon’s exam was a mock battle, they couldn’t help but be curious. 

Since they hadn’t seen even a small portion of Alus’ abilities in his battle against Tesfia, it was only natural they would want to see more of how the current No. 1 fought. 

They snuck closer to the exam ground that Alus had entered, but were discovered by a teacher and scolded. Prying into these matters was worthy of contempt, and with them being in the middle of an exam it could even be considered cheating. 

The two girls managed to avoid punishment, but wore disappointed expressions of regret.

As Alus stepped onto the exam ground he saw, as expected, the principal waiting. But unlike the morning, there was one more person aside from her. 

A silver-haired girl. 

She looked even smaller than Tesfia. Her hair was a lustrous silver color, and hung down from both sides of her face to end in a beautiful trim at her chin line. The silvery-clear eyes looking his way were slightly sky-bluish in color. 

While she wore a training uniform, it wasn’t a school-designated one. It was a black uniform that Alus was familiar with, similar to what was used in the military, and without a doubt a combat uniform. 

On top of that, her expression showed neither joy nor anger, but seemed void of emotion. It was like a doll’s expression. In fact, her graceful features would be best described as belonging to a doll. 

Alus was the first to speak. “So she’s the one who’s been watching over me.” He’d felt a set of eyes on him during his first mock battle with a classmate on the training grounds. 

Perhaps realizing that Alus had found her out, the silver-haired girl’s shoulders jumped. 

“So you did notice,” Sisty said. 

“I’m guessing she was sent by the military.” 

The principal made a show of scratching her cheek, with an awkward smile. 

The silver-haired girl took a step forward and got down on one knee. “It is a pleasure to see you here for the first time, Sir Alus. I am Loki Leevehl, dispatched to be your partner.” She continued, with her eyes cast down, “Order 1034... Spotter 58.” 

Among Magicmasters were those who specialized in the detection of Fiends and the cores that made up their lives. 

Unlike ‘order’ which was synonymous to rank, ‘spotter’ pertained to their rank as detectors. As detection was a valuable ability, only Magicmasters that were Double Digits or higher were assigned spotters as partners. 

However, Alus had never required one due to his policy of acting alone, and the nature of the characteristics of his magic. “I don’t need one...” 

“Of course, I am aware.” With her eyes still cast down, Loki responded in a clear, beautiful voice. 

The principal continued where she’d left off. “Loki still doesn’t have any experience as a partner. That’s why you can give her guidance at the same time.” 

“I’m pretty sure this would be less of a partner and more of a supervisor.” Alus felt that accepting any more trouble would eat too much of his time. For starters, he shouldn’t even need somebody to supervise him. “I don’t need it. Aren’t you more than enough of a supervisor?” It was easy to tell that Sisty and her multiple requests were the cause of Alus’ lost time. 

“I-I’m busy, you see...” Sisty said, avoiding eye contact with Alus. 

“Then I’ll discuss it with the Governor-General. Spotters are valuable, and there shouldn’t be enough margin to let one go to waste by partnering them with someone unnecessarily.” 

Alus tried to get rid of it with this, but the silver-haired girl’s shoulders trembled once more at his aggressively stating she wasn’t needed. 

“Loki is excellent, you see...” That was the convenient phrase Sisty used as an excuse, as if to say that she would be a big help to Alus’ grand plan. 

But Alus wasn’t going to make careless promises again. “How many are you going to push onto me?” 

“Now, now, for starters let’s have her be your mock battle opponent. You don’t need to rush your judgment... all right?” 

Alus felt like clicking his tongue, not having heard about this. If anything, it was almost like the point of the exam had changed, but for the sake of getting his credits he couldn’t easily go against the principal. 

Besides, Alus figured that seeing what this Loki girl was capable of wasn’t going to change the outcome. “I understand. But I’m not going to fall for your words anymore.” 

While he’d warned Sisty, there was something that concerned him. And that was that the young girl was wearing a military uniform. He could feel traces of his past self in her. When he thought about it, he even felt like he’d met her somewhere before. 

“Thank you very much,” Loki said, and raised her head, revealing a somewhat tense expression. 

That expression didn’t seem to be due simply to sparring with the current No. 1, either. Alus saw a glimpse of desperation in her.

The mock battle began immediately. 

First, Sisty waited for the two to prepare themselves as they moved back from the center. 

Like Alus, Loki held nothing in her hand. But Alus didn’t think this was because she was holding back. Hiding your weapon could give you a big advantage in battle. 

In other words, she probably had combat experience. 

As the fight began, Alus watched Loki focus mana into her arm. It was a decent mana control for someone approaching Triple Digits, but to Alus it still seemed sloppy and he couldn’t really feel much of a difference between her and Tesfia and Alice. She was pretty much no threat. 

“Sir Alus, if I land even a single hit on you, will you accept me as your partner?” Loki unexpectedly asked. 

Hearing her question and seeing the way she was looking at him caught Alus’ interest. Her expression seemed to be saying that he didn’t need to hold back. Despite knowing her opponent was the current No. 1, she still wanted a fair fight. 

That’s why Alus realized she probably wasn’t an idiot. One corner of his mouth raised in a fearless smirk. He wagged his index finger as if to provoke her. “If you can land one.” 

Loki deeply bowed. 

In the next moment, the atmosphere around her completely changed. The air of a seasoned veteran clad her small body. 

Alus felt the prickly tension of a serious fight. He faced it with a collected smile. 

When Loki raised her head, there was no longer any hesitation in her eyes. She’d changed into combat mode. 

Seeing that the stage was set, Sisty pushed the buzzer signaling the start of the battle. 

Loki moved the instant the signal rang out. She headed straight for Alus while maintaining a low posture, putting her hands behind her back to pull something out. 

Alus didn’t see what it was until after she’d thrown it. It was a throwing knife with nothing that could properly be called a hand grip. It was the type that one used by holding it between the fingers. And its blade was thick. 

Two from each hand—a total of four knives—were thrown at Alus. 

While it was fast, he figured she was making light of him if she thought a frontal attack would work. Of course, he saw through the intention behind it as well. 

Alus caught two knives between his fingers in each hand. They were, as expected, covered in mana. A faint light from a magic formula glowed from them, but no spell was unleashed. 

After a single glance, Alus instantly overwrote it with his own mana. The light from the magic formula quickly stopped. 

Loki was shocked by the sight. Then Alus returned the knives by throwing them back. 

“—!!” She pulled out more knives from her waist to fight back. 

It was a fine show of skills, as knives clashed against knives in midair... but Loki’s new knives were unable to knock down the knives covered in Alus’ mana. 

The mana he’d used to forcibly overwrite the knife-type AWRs had their throwing speed increased, and the course they flew through the air was solid and stable. 

As a result, they flew at Loki in the blink of an eye. 

She moved to dodge them, but her graceful expression twisted with impatience made it clear that she’d just barely done so. 

In the heat of things... while Loki’s attention was grabbed by the knives for an instant, Alus had disappeared from her sight. And she was a little slow to realize this was a big mistake. 

“It’s over.” 

That voice came from behind Loki. 

An instant, a mere eye blink, was fatal against Alus. With a hand knife, he aimed for the back of her neck, looking to knock her out. “—!!” 

However, the attack didn’t strike Loki’s neck. 

Mid-strike, Alus changed direction, at the same time spreading his fingers open. He grabbed Loki’s arm. “That’s a spotter for you. You must have sensed mana.” 

Loki was holding a knife in a reverse grip in her hand, attempting to stab behind her. 

Alus thought it would be simple to use his spare hand to knock her out, but surprisingly enough she threw the knife with only the power of her fingers. 

He moved his head to dodge the attack, and purposefully let go of her hand. As he did, Loki leaped to distance herself from him. 

Alus praised her in his mind. She was excellent, just as the principal had said. She seemed to have enough skill to not only fight people, but also to serve as a Magicmaster. 

The knives she used were AWRs intended for use against Fiends. They discharged electricity, which increased their speed and penetrating power. If Alus hadn’t overwritten the magic formula in the split-second that he did during their first exchange, he never could have grabbed them. Low-class Fiends should be pierced by her first throw. 

That’s why Alus found it so strange. “Why aren’t you on the frontlines? You should be good enough.” 

As he glanced to the side of the exam ground, Sisty, who’d been watching the entire time, seemed to know the reason. Instead of an answer, he received an exasperated expression in return.

By the way, being chosen as the partner of a Single Digit was a considerable honor. 

When Alus had been in the military, spotters had come one after another to volunteer to be his partner. He had of course rejected them all, but because that had gone on for so long, he’d ended up getting called the Solitary Magicmaster. 

Meanwhile, Loki wasn’t giving him an answer either, and was instead gasping for breath. She had her own pride. And she was well aware that becoming the partner of the current No. 1 was no easy task. 

As Alus expected, she wasn’t foolish enough not to understand their difference in strength. But even then... 

To her, she had to land that hit no matter what. She’d even gone as far as to ask the unreasonable of the Governor-General... This might be her one and only chance. And she didn’t want to use the excuse that her specialty lay in detection. 

That desperation showed on her face. 

Alus hadn’t guessed the foundation of her determination or powerful will, but he narrowed his eyes in response to her serious stare. The atmosphere around him changed in an instant, proof that he acknowledged her as an enemy to be defeated. 

Faint mana in the shape of something like a departed soul started leaking out of his body. It was mana, but it lacked the appearance of it. The mana covering his body was squirming... as if it had a will of its own. It mysteriously quivered around him. 

“Wha...!!” An astonished expression appeared on Sisty’s face. She might have been questioning what it was, or have remarked from pure surprise. After an emotion similar to fear made its way through her body for a moment, she was unable to finish her sentence. 

But at the same time—a mix between a scream and a sigh came from Loki. It wasn’t an expression of anguish. She had just reaffirmed their difference in strength, but it didn’t evoke disappointment in her own lack of power. If anything, she was happy. 

Loki made a firm resolution. Alus is strong. With his inexplicable technique for handling mana, Loki couldn’t prevent herself from gulping aloud, despite her distance from him. 

It looked like this was the first time that even the principal had seen this. The way the mana, which had a different quality to it than anything she’d seen before, wriggled around in the air away from its owner made it look like a creepy shadow. 

Though there was nothing to worry about with Alus, who knew what could happen to Loki if somebody else used this technique to create this demon of battle. 

This is No. 1... If possible, she wanted to avoid using this. However, fright kept her feet stuck to the ground. But she was still able to move in that fear, thanks to her strong will. 

Her knees were about to give way, and her legs refused to move. However, it was only a mock battle, and she was the one who’d taken it this far. She was unable to take it back now... so she stubbornly repressed the fear. 

If she was going to lose this chance, she would rather... 

Loki pulled out another knife and calmly lowered it into her trembling thigh. The blade didn’t burrow its way too deeply into her skin, but the prickling pain pushed her leg, frozen stiff from fear, into moving. 

Beads of sweat covered her forehead, and her silky thin hair stuck to her face. Loki slowly looked toward Alus, and taking a deep breath, finally stood up. 

She used her trembling lips to quietly speak. 

“With thunderous roar, may the vertex of tempestuous thunder manifest.” 

Ten knives drawn from her waist floated with their blades pointed downwards. An electric field was created, connected through the small holes in the grips. Eventually it formed a circle, and the ten knives began spinning around. 

The knives spun faster as she continued her incantation, and the blades pointed at Alus. 

As the knives moved fast enough to blur their shapes, the space in the center of the circle sparkled with lightning, and electricity surged up. With a trembling voice, Loki continued with the required verse despite this. 

While it wasn’t that powerful, Alus could feel an unwavering determination from her. 

“No way! The vertex of thunder?! To think she could use one of the eight vertices at—” Before Sisty could finish her sentence, Loki concluded the incantation. 

Her breath was ragged. Anyone could see she’d used her mana to the point of exhaustion. Finally, she mustered what strength she had left, drew back her right hand, and unleashed a frail yet powerful strike with her palm towards the center of the space. 

“‹‹Naruikazuchi››” 

A bolt of lightning and a thunderous roar assaulted Alus. The thunderbolt closed the distance in an instant. The bolt moved far faster than human reflexes and even left sound behind. 

This extreme speed was undodgeable. The explosion that morning was nothing compared to this. Clouds of dust burnt black were kicked up by the shockwave and danced in the air. The charring happened in an instant. And enough of it was kicked up to cover the entire training grounds. 

Having used up the last of her strength, Loki collapsed. She lost consciousness, as if falling into a deep sleep. 

The principal swiftly cleared away all of the dust. 

And as the ability to see returned to the exam ground... 

Alus was standing upright like a statue in the exact same place as he was before the explosion. He had his hand thrust out in front of him, and was staring at his arm. 

“That was more than I expected.” The sleeve of his training uniform was in tatters. Beneath it was his exposed skin, perfectly unharmed. A burnt stench hung about his clothes. 

The power of the octagon’s vertex of thunder, the highest ranking magic, should have exceeded the exam ground’s ability to convert damage. 

So Alus being uninjured was because his powers were overwhelmingly stronger. 

Of course, not even Sisty should have been able to see how he’d managed to deflect that powerful magic through that cloud of dust. 

But the reason for his suspicious glance right now was different. When you were at Alus’ level, it was possible to get a general prediction of the power of a spell by watching the moment it was cast. 

However, the power of Loki’s spell far exceeded expectations. So he was somewhat unhappy to admit that it was a miracle that only his training uniform was scorched. 

When he looked over at Loki, he realized why. “She didn’t—” 

Alus ran to her side and put his fingers against her thin white neck. “Call the medical team!” 

“Huh? —I understand.” 

Alus had forgotten and used the military term, but Sisty quickly figured out what he meant. 

Loki’s pulse was growing very weak. It wouldn’t be strange for it to stop at any moment. She was able to breathe in an even rhythm, but she was on the brink of death. 

“What’s going on?” Sisty asked, having quickly finished her call. She understood Loki was in a dire situation, but didn’t know why. 

“She’s defaulting.” 

“—!!” The principal immediately understood what he meant. Defaulting was a form of mana exhaustion that far exceeded simple depletion. As compensation, Loki was losing her consciousness. Because she had used more mana than she had capacity, the deficit was being taken from her life force. 

Alus shoved his hand inside Loki’s clothing and searched for something with a serious expression. “Here it is.” 

“A catalyst!” Seeing what was in Alus’ hand, Sisty froze up in surprise. In his palm was a hexagonic crystal. 

Alus furrowed his brows, then crushed it in his hand. This was a Fiend’s core. Of course, only high-classed Fiends’ cores with their vast amounts of mana could work as a catalyst. This one was most likely harvested from an A-class or higher Fiend. 

Normally, a spell manifested power equal to the mana provided. However, there was an exception. The exception was a catalyst. It worked by serving as a reactant, temporarily making up the difference in mana. 

But it was a double-edged sword that claimed the necessary mana after the spell manifested. 

It was a ritual implement that humanity used when the Fiends first appeared, in order to buy time to set up defensive lines. By now it was taboo, its use illegal in all nations. 

In this case, the scale was different. Loki used knife AWRs, and even with their assistance, the spell required four verses. On top of that, there was the existence of the catalyst that caused Alus’ expectations to be off. 

Loki’s temporary ability to use more mana than she had, was why there’d been such a discrepancy between Alus’ prediction and reality.

Loki was in desperate straits. 

A few minutes at best... Alus didn’t have an obligation to save this reckless girl. Besides, what was the point of going so far as to lose her life, when her reward for victory was to become his partner? 

He’d experienced it plenty in the Outer World. In his time in the military, before he began operating solo... it had happened on practically every mission. He no longer cared if he dirtied his hands. 

He should at least kill her in a single hit, so she didn’t suffer. 

“—! Wait!” Sisty grabbed Alus’ arm at the last second. The force her hand was gripping his arm with was so strong it was hard to believe it was a woman’s hand. Her grip was supported by a firm will. It was very obvious to her what Alus was planning on doing. After all, a sharp needle-like blade of mana was extending from his hand. 

“But she’s already...” 

This was a matter of ending Loki’s life in the name of mercy. Alus didn’t like this role very much either. As someone who’d thrown himself into the harsh battlefields, it was easy to temporarily suppress his emotions, but it left behind a bad aftertaste. If there was a way to save the girl in front of him, he would prioritize that first. 

“What about healing magic?” 

“It won’t work. There’s no physical trauma. This is a phenomenon brought about by magic and mana. With the training grounds system for turning physical into mental damage not working, that much is for certain. It works on a completely different principle from healing physical wounds.” 

“... If she doesn’t have enough mana, then we can supplement it.” 

“That’s not possible either,” Alus said curtly. 

A person’s information was firmly embedded into their mana, and it wasn’t possible to share it with others. It was similar to DNA or blood type, but mana had far more information in it. Knowledge, memories, experience. The majority of what made up a person was inside of it. 

The principal already knew that. She’d just given voice to the first thing that popped into her head, and she seemed to have moved on to thinking of a different idea. 

However, a light bulb lit up in Alus’ mind. He first dismissed it as naïve thinking, but something about it kept grabbing at him. The feeling that something was off was too big for him to think of it as just a trick of the imagination. 

“Then...” Alus raised his hand in front of Sisty, to stop her from saying the next thing on her mind. 

Yes, something about it was bothering him. He closed his eyes and thought deeply. That’s right, the idea of supplementing wasn’t bad itself. As Loki was still breathing, the compensation wasn’t being paid all at once... but clearly her life was slowly but surely being whittled down. 

And then Alus reached it. “No...!! There is indeed one way.” 

“Then...” 

There was only a slight possibility of success, but there was a method. But using it could have a harmful influence. 

He turned to Sisty. “However, you will be forced to remain silent about it.” 

Forced. It was compulsory. And Sisty knew what he meant. 

“Please make up your mind in two seconds.” 

“—All right.” Sisty quickly hit the button on the device in her hand, and locked all entrances and exits to the training grounds. She didn’t know what Alus wanted to keep secret, but the look in his eye made it clear it was something serious. 

If she were to reveal it in public, Alus would likely punish her by force. 

That’s how heavy of a decision it was, but as expected of a former Single Digit, even in this situation it didn’t take her two seconds.

With the conditions met, Alus quickly put his plan into action. 

He didn’t know why he was going so far for this girl... but even then, there was no faltering in the way he moved his arm and mana. 

Alus only knew of the harsh real world, where there was no mercy or forgiveness. 

He found himself staring closely at her face to figure out the reason, all while focusing on controlling his mana. 

The girl with the silver hair moved her mouth reflexively. 

But no sound came out and her lips closed again. However, when they did, it looked like the girl was smiling a little. 

* * * 

As she slept, an old memory came to her. 

It was the only thing she’d had to cling to in her life, and what she’d clung onto to get this far. 

At the military’s training facility there were young orphans, including Loki, whose parents had been devoured by the Fiends. She was left all alone. As her parents had been in the military, it was inevitable that the military ended up looking after her. 

She felt anger towards a Fiend she’d never seen. The hatred of having her parents stolen away from her dominated her every decision. So when she was invited to become a Magicmaster trainee, she didn’t hesitate to accept. 

It wasn’t until much later that she would come to regret it.

Loki enlisted at the age of eight. 

Harsh training was her daily routine. Even her good memories were crushed by the hatred dominating her emotions. And those emotions wore down her mind. 

So when even her hatred of Fiends was worn down, Loki thought to herself, Why am I here? 

Her room was like a prison cell, with a simple bed. Her attire was the training uniform all young trainees wore. They were formerly white clothes... they were dirty now. 

She’d never seen the place where her parents had been killed. 

She didn’t have anything left behind by them. 

Even now, her parents’ corpses were unburied, littering the Outer World where they’d perished. 

Her hatred had long since disappeared. 

All she had left was the desire to give her parents a burial, in gratitude for raising her with love despite their poverty. 

Strangely enough, she only cried in the beginning; and what filled her mind wasn’t the memory of better days, but an image of her parents’ peaceful expressions. It was a fantasy and not reality, but it remained alive in her as a saving grace and symbol of her fondest wish. 

This gave Loki a clear heart, and having a solid goal, she trained harder than anyone else. 

The harsh training gave her new bruises each day. After two years, she got used to it. Many trainees dropped out. There were also those who got injured and lost their ability to become Magicmasters, but so far no one had died. Fortunately, the facility thoroughly enforced safety rules. 

Eventually, Loki gained abilities that far surpassed the others of her age. She learned close-combat martial arts to fight humans, how to negotiate the Outer World, and magic, pulling it all together to form a type of combat arts. This was all thanks to her feelings for her parents, which gave her a clear goal.

At the time, there was nobody left to spar with Loki... aside from one. 

She had thought he looked too weak to serve as her opponent. But after several mock battles, she was always the one crawling on the ground. It was like fighting one of the adults. 

Loki began spending her days devoting herself to practice so that she could defeat him, polishing her skills and spirit. 

But the curtain fell on those days in the blink of an eye. Before long, that boy who was one year older than her had suddenly disappeared. 

That black-haired boy was the only one to surpass her in physical abilities and mana control. Loki’s one-sided desire not to lose to him pushed her forward, chasing after his small back, and enabled her to continue her harsh training. 

She was forced to admit that it was that boy’s existence in the back of her mind that was responsible for her astonishing growth. Before she knew it, he had become something inexplicable, exceeding any ordinary rival. 

She’d never talked to him, and she didn’t know his name. 

He only ever showed himself during matches, in which he calmly defeated his fellow trainees, and finally wordlessly facing down Loki in mock battles. For the most part, he easily sidestepped the magic she’d learned as well as the martial arts she’d refined, resulting in one-sided matches; but she could feel herself growing stronger just by sparring with this boy. 

However, one day the boy simply stopped showing up to the training grounds. Loki thought he dropped out of the training. 

Despite him being so strong that she’d come to admire him, she was aware that this was just that kind of place.

Two years passed. 

As an unexpectedly large number of Fiends advanced against the humans, humanity’s first line of defense was breached, causing massive casualties. 

This forced all the Magicmasters to work together in a great defensive battle, and they somehow managed to annihilate the invading forces. And Alpha, that had survived the harsh trial, moved out to kill the remaining Fiends. 

But they lacked Magicmasters, having suffered so many casualties. That’s when they turned to Loki and the other trainees. 

They’d already completed basic training and received their Magicmaster licenses, so it wouldn’t be strange for them to be ordered to move out... so long as their ages were ignored. 

The dozen or so trainees formed a single unit. At first, they were brimming with confidence, even cracking jokes. But that only lasted until they encountered a Fiend... 

It was an overwhelming and humiliating first encounter. The majority fell to their knees with fear before the grotesque Fiend. 

And who would blame them? They were only around 11 years old, and the Fiend’s presence was enough to intimidate their young and immature minds. 

Facing Loki and the others was a Fiend that looked like a large carnivorous beast. It had skin as black as charcoal, with an abnormally large mouth. This creepy being didn’t look like it belonged in their world, appearing as a monstrosity. 

The familiar faces of Loki’s fellow trainees were trampled one after another. 

Escaping from the Fiend’s mouth opening sideways was an unbearable stench. At the same time a thicket of razor-sharp fangs were laid bare. 

In between the fangs were the shredded remnants of its victim already cut to pieces by the powerful jaw, and dissolved by the abnormal digestive fluids and saliva, changing even their shapes and colors. 

With a trembling body and arm, Loki tried to use magic. 

“—!!” But her magic, which she’d been able to use whenever she pleased, ended up misfiring. Fear overtook her mind and she became unable to perceive mana. “W-Why...!!” 

Her knees buckled, and she couldn’t take her eyes off of the Fiend emotionlessly devouring the young lives. 

Someone’s blood splattered over Loki’s face. The blood of her familiar allies mixed together into a single color and stuck to her pale lips and cheeks. 

She continued mouthing meaningless words, her lips trembling. Her eyes blankly reflected the gruesome scene in front of them, as she continued in a delirious attempt to complete an incantation. “Why, how, why why why why...” But nothing was working. 

Before she knew it, Loki was the only one left. She felt the ferocious Fiend turn its attention to her small and powerless form. Its mouth seemed to curve, almost as if it were smiling. 

In front of that sadistic repulsive Fiend, Loki even forgot her pointless incantation and lowered her face in fear. Tears flowed with no end in sight, her teeth chattered, and eventually something lukewarm and wet ran down her thighs. 

Her heart had given up. 

She would come to an end, unable to do anything, just like her allies she’d spent her life training with. Her dream of giving her parents a burial had come to a quick end upon entering the Outer World. She’d been naïve, she’d been confident in her strength, but reality had easily betrayed her. 

Loki’s eyes closed. She silently apologized in her mind. I’m sorry. Father, Mother... 

Even with her eyes shut, she could tell the Fiend was approaching. The thick smell of blood drifted through the wind and wrapped around her. That meant the Fiend had opened its hellishly large mouth. 

“Tsk... I didn’t make it in time.” 

That inappropriate tongue-click resounded in Loki’s ears. And it was followed by the sound of something massive collapsing to the ground. 

Next— 

“Are you okay?” The voice came from someone who hadn’t reached puberty yet, and it was clearly directed toward Loki. 

When Loki opened her tightly closed eyes, she blurrily saw black hair. 

“You don’t have to force yourself.” The boy’s small hand on her hand felt very warm. He looked around the area, speaking in a regretful tone: “I’m sorry I was late.” 

Loki still hadn’t recovered from the fear and was unable to speak, so instead she rapidly shook her head. As her vision returned, she saw the young boy crouched down in front of her, his back facing her. “You probably can’t move, so get on.” 

Remembering what happened, she closed her legs right away. Had the boy noticed... that she’d wet herself. 

“Don’t worry about it.” The words were probably him showing consideration for her. He continued, more forcefully, “If you don’t get on, I’ll just carry you.” 

He said the last part with irritation, leaving no room for Loki to say no. Seeing the young boy change his attitude and forcibly take action made her realize she had no right to refuse. Unable to stand on her shaking legs, she leaned her body on his small back, to which he responded by linking his arms under her rear end to keep her up. 

He had to be feeling her damp underwear and drenched hem. In contrast to her body quivering with shame, the boy firmly held her up. 

On the way back, the boy slaughtered any Fiends that appeared with seemingly no effort, using a single hand and while carrying Loki on his back. He didn’t move as if he had someone on his back, and his skills were spectacular. He easily overpowered the enemies that she had struggled against, or rather been defeated by. He dispatched of them like garbage in a single blow. 

Eventually, Loki was taken aback by the sight of a familiar building coming into view. 

After studying a map many times over, it was something she’d engraved in her mind. “Wait!! Let me down here.” 

Perhaps due to having seen the boy completely destroy the Fiends, and instantly, Loki’s fear had temporarily subsided. It was similar to the numbness born from shock, but because of it she didn’t miss her chance. 

The boy seemed like he would ignore Loki’s sudden outburst, but hearing her desperate appeal, he listened. “Three minutes.” After saying that, he slowly put her down by the roots of a large tree. 

Loki glanced around, confirming her surroundings before muttering, “There’s no doubt about it.” 

She was staring at a decaying building with a peculiar shape. The markings that read Fourth Military Outpost were painted in a unique color and looked as though they might peel off at any moment. 

Right next to that should be the place she’d heard about. 

The traces of battle still looked fresh. In the past it had been a small but sturdy fortress. Crumbled pieces of the stone walls and rusted iron plates were scattered about, telling the story of how the place had tragically collapsed. But that wasn’t what Loki was looking for. 

This was the place where her parents had died. 

She already knew. Three years had passed after all. Just imagining it was dreadful, but she’d be lying if she said she’d never thought about it. She was aware that Fiends ate the humans they killed, leaving no trace behind, and the battle that just happened had painfully beaten that fact into her. 

She had no choice but to accept that there was nothing left of them. 

“What’s here?” 

“This is where my parents died... or were reported to have died...” 

The boy stopped walking. He muttered a brief “I see.” 

It only sounded like a simple acknowledgment. He had nothing else to say, but Loki didn’t think he was cold-hearted. Because right now, even that short reply felt more kind than any comforting words. 

The two found a sapling next to the outpost that had failed to accomplish its purpose. They raised a large rock to serve as a gravestone. And the young boy put his hands together, next to Loki. It was hard to tell what he was feeling based on his expression. 

I’m sorry it took me this long. After saying this in her head, Loki turned to the boy as if she was fine now. “Thank you.” 

“... Don’t worry about it.” 

In the end, it wasn’t until several hours later when they reached the military base by the defense line, that Loki got a good look at his face. By then night had already fallen, and only the faint moonlight illuminated him. But it was the face of that black-haired boy one year older than her, the one she’d thought had dropped out. 

He’d grown since then, so she hadn’t been able to tell right away; but he still looked similar to how he was back then. 

After stepping through the gate, he put Loki down and called to a nearby man, before blending in with the Outer World darkness once more. 

The man, who appeared to be his superior, mentioned the boy’s name during the boy’s short report... and Loki made sure to burn it into her memory. 

“Alus Reigin.” 

Thanks to him, she had returned alive and been able to fulfill her years-old wish. 

And now... she no longer had any goals. She didn’t know what to do with her life. 

But she found her answer surprisingly fast. 

Then I’ll be of help to him. I’ll use my life for his sake. 

Loki went on to continue refining her magic. She engaged in live combat and gained experience. But ironically enough, the stronger she became, the more aware she was that the boy was far above her. 

I’m not going to be of any help to him like this. 

Loki turned to the field of detection, which she knew she had an affinity for, deciding to open up her own future. She didn’t hesitate in the slightest. It was all for the sake of being any help to him.

When Loki came to in the nurse’s office, somebody was beside her. 

Sitting on a chair was a black-haired young man with his arms crossed and eyes shut. He looked like he was asleep. 

An orange-tinged light was coming through the curtains. It must be evening. 

Unable to understand her situation, Loki surmised it based on her surroundings. She went through her memories around the mock battle, which were hazy. But she clearly remembered violating the taboo. 

Her body felt warm, perhaps because she’d slept. As she slowly sat up, the bed cover rustled. It didn’t seem to make a sound, but the young man in the chair quickly reacted. 

“You’re finally awake.” Holding back a yawn, he... Alus brought his hand to the back of his neck. 

“I...” 

Feeling guilty over having stained her hands by doing something as foolish as breaking the taboo, Loki stared down at the white bed. 

“You won the bet,” Alus said, admitting defeat. 

Loki looked at him, speechless. “...!” 

Alus grinned, showing her his right sleeve. It was in tatters. “I took a hit.” 

“But...” 

Did clothes really count as part of the body? However, that was something Alus had decided, which was very welcome news to Loki. 

But if anything—Loki was less concerned with the result and more with her having committed a taboo action. If the upper brass heard about it, she would obviously be punished. Considering that some time had passed since their match, the procedure for it may already be underway. 

No order would be handed down to a Magicmaster in the military who had broken the law, regardless if they knew of her wish or not. 

“I can’t overlook you risking your life over something like that.” 

Yes, that was only natural. She hadn’t just nearly lost her life, she was now a criminal. And it would be difficult for even the current No. 1 to protect her. 

So, Loki simply waited for Alus to continue. Or rather, she didn’t know what to say. She would likely be handed over to the custody of the military. 

This wasn’t the outcome Loki had wanted, but it was the result of using all means and powers available to her. That’s why she had no choice but to accept it. Her methods might not have been forgivable, but in the end, she had no regrets. 

That’s right. I did everything I could... so I no longer— 

She quietly closed her eyes, ready to face her fate. 

But in the next moment, her face twisted in pain. “—!! Ow!” 

A sudden chop struck her on the head. It was a slow chop, and though she’d reflexively let out a cry, it didn’t hurt all that much. 

But even then... Loki felt that the blow had a great seriousness behind it, and at the same time, compassion toward her. However, she didn’t know why. At best, all she could do was look up at him with a questioning glance while holding her head. 

“Well, I’ll forgive you with this. You’ll have to make up the rest through labor. I’ll work you like a dog, so brace yourself.” The edges of Alus’ lips raised as he smiled at her, before turning his back to her and pointing behind him as if to say, ‘Let’s go.’ 

Her mana had been successfully supplemented. While she may have been recuperating, she should still be able to move. 

Loki overflowed with happiness, feeling bliss that her gamble had paid off; but then the sparkle in her eyes and smile on her face dimmed over in an instant. That’s right... she was now Alus’ partner, as lowly as she might be, and she couldn’t afford to do anything that might threaten his position. That was why— 

“I did something unforgivable...” Loki hurriedly got up from the bed and ran up to Alus. She was trying to appeal to him, but he covered her mouth with his hand. Astonished, she looked at him, wondering what was going on. 

Alus then slid the door open and— 

“What are you doing?” 

“Well, uhm...” 

“Ahahaha...” 

At the doorway were two faces. Their awkward expressions made it clear that their trespass couldn’t be justified as simply a sudden impulse. 

The two that had appeared on the other side of the door were Tesfia and Alice, seemingly eavesdropping. Having been thrown off their beat by the sudden opening of the door, they timidly looked up at Alus. 

He only showed them an exasperated expression, yet it seemed that they knew they were guilty and couldn’t escape a reprimand, so they couldn’t even apologize. 

Instead, Tesfia let out a very forced cough. As if she hadn’t just been caught listening at the door, she spoke in a calm tone, which for the time being helped change the atmosphere. “I don’t remember seeing her before. Who is she?” she asked, leaning over to peek at the girl behind Alus. 

“She’s a freshman, right? I don’t think I know her, either.” Alice seemed curious as well, peeking at Loki from the other side. 

The matter of their eavesdropping was still up in the air, but Alus didn’t seem to care all that much. Alice was one thing, but if he were to criticize Tesfia for everything like that there’d be no end in sight... Besides, this was a good opportunity to introduce Loki. 

“I guess I’ll introduce you to her. This is my new partner, Loki.” 

“—!!” 

Even Loki was unable to hide her surprise at his statement. It was what she’d wished for, but she couldn’t honestly rejoice. “But...” she quietly muttered, so that Tesfia and Alice couldn’t hear. 

Alus leaned over and whispered back into her ear, “Only the principal and I were there. Concealing the matter is simple. Or would you prefer we handed you over?” He flashed a devilish smile, to which Loki shook her head. 

If her wish couldn’t be realized, she might have despaired. But now she had a place of her own within arm’s reach. 

“Then there’s no problem.” 

The way Alus forced his way through was just like the Alus that Loki had known. 

She stepped to the side out of Alus’ shadow, appearing before the two girls. Thanks to his words, the distress Loki had felt had completely disappeared. And her heart began racing from the exaltation she felt. 

“I’m Loki Leevahl.” She had a big smile on her face, and there were a few tears in her eyes. 

After the two introduced themselves, Tesfia got right into it. “M-More importantly... partner?” 

“W-What kind of partner?” Alice asked, having lost her composure. Unusual for her, she was blushing and her smile was twitching. 

As Alus had business to attend to, rather than just brushing off the pair’s disgraceful behavior, he chose to pretend he didn’t see it. They were probably thinking of something completely pointless anyways. “I’ve got somewhere to stop by, so get to the laboratory ahead of me.” 

“Yes, Sir Alus.” 

“... Sir?” Tesfia and Alice stared at Loki, who was busy respectfully bowing to Alus. 

“Then let’s go,” Loki said. “Unfortunately, I don’t know where it is, so I must beg you two, Sir Alus’ friends, to guide me there.” 

“S-Sure.” 

When Loki spun around to face Tesfia and Alice, her expression had changed to an emotionless one. 

They left the main building where the nurse’s office was located, and walked to where Alus’ laboratory was on foot rather than use the Circle Port. That wasn’t just because Loki didn’t have the insignia necessary to use it, but also because Tesfia and Alice had a lot of questions they wanted to ask her.

“... A partner refers to someone who supports a Double Digit or higher Magicmaster in the Outer World and who detects Fiends,” Loki bluntly explained, having had the question foisted on her. 

“I see. So there are things like that too... but Alus is attending the Institute, so does he really need one?” 

Loki’s eyebrows twitched a little at Alice’s casual words, but neither Alice nor Tesfia noticed it. “Sir Alus may be attending this Institute, but as long as he’s with the military he will have to move out if the order comes.” 

“Hmm, that guy sure has it tough, too.” 

Hearing Tesfia’s rude remark made Loki’s brows twitch some more, and she narrowed her eyes. “With Sir Alus’ abilities that can’t be helped. He seems to be having it tough even now.” 

“But will that unmotivated Al even obey those kinds of orders?” Tesfia said jokingly with a jeering smile. Alice covered her mouth and giggled. 

Seeing this, Loki stared at the two with a scornful look, and angrily interjected, “It seems that you two don’t understand just how much Sir Alus has contributed to humanity as the current No. 1.” 

“Eh...!” 

“Ah?!” 

The two girls stopped in their tracks. 

Loki continued walking forward for a few steps, before turning to face them. There was clear irritation in her eyes toward these two ignorant girls. “I said that you don’t seem to understand that Alpha is only this peaceful because of Sir Alus. If you did, then you wouldn’t be calling him ‘Al’ or ‘that guy.’” She returned to her usual emotionless expression, but the way she’d spoken the words was filled with contempt. 

It took a little while before Tesfia and Alice returned to their senses from the shock. 

“I don’t know about that. But I do admit that he’s No. 1, and I understand that he’s put in more effort and gone through more hardships than I can imagine. I don’t know how hard Al has fought to protect this country... but since I can’t even imagine it the way I am now, there’s no point in thinking about it,” Tesfia said. 

“That’s true,” Alice said. “Al is so far beyond us that he’s too distant to properly respect and set as our goal... It’s like, he’s several levels above us, so it doesn’t feel quite real.” 

“Just like how we don’t know what Al was like in the military, you don’t know what he’s like here. I guess the closest thing he is to us is a classmate with a screw or two loose.” 

“...” Loki knew how much Alus had sacrificed for the sake of the nation. So there was a big gap between her and these girls. At the same time, it also meant that Tesfia and Alice were still inexperienced. 

“Besides, I don’t think Al would mind it,” Alice mused. 

“Yeah. He’ll do him, so it’s not your place to butt in,” Tesfia admonished Loki. 

It was probably due to Loki’s appearance that Tesfia wasn’t flaring up at her. When she was expressionless, she looked young for her age, so Tesfia felt like she was dealing with a younger sister. 

Loki decided to restrain her opinion. Of course, it wasn’t as though she’d completely accepted their points, but this was a problem born from her perception as a Magicmaster. Even if she explained Alus’ greatness to them, the way they were now, they wouldn’t understand. 

As a result, she resigned herself to the fact that there was a clear difference between them. But she also felt a strange satisfaction that she was the only one that truly understood how amazing Alus was. “I accept that if that’s what Sir Alus said, then you’re right that it’s not my place to intervene.” Loki didn’t think she’d done anything wrong though, so she didn’t apologize. 

After that, she decided to mentally distance herself from the two, and the journey of a few minutes to the laboratory felt strangely long. But unfortunately, she was the only one who felt that way. And the reason for that was the barrage of questions that Tesfia and Alice continued to launch at her. 

“... And now, the two of you are receiving training and guidance from Sir Alus?” 

Alice’s words had already affirmed it, but Loki’s eyes opened wide, and envy and jealousy bubbling up from within made her unable to remain calm. 

Unaware of Loki’s reaction, Alice answered her: “Yes. But we only just started.” 

“I see. I thought he transferred to the Institute for the sake of his research.” 

“Hmm... that’s what Al himself says, so I think that’s true. But a lot of things happened, and he ended up looking after us.” Alice scratched her cheek in an apologetic manner. 

“Well, he’s the one saying he’ll look after us,” Tesfia said. “Not that I’ve heard about Alus’ circumstances. Honestly, I think we’re quite an inconvenience. But even then, for the sake of my dream of becoming a Magicmaster, I won’t hesitate to use any means possible,” she finished bashfully. 

There was no way Loki would be happy with the way Tesfia was talking about Alus’ training of them. She was essentially confirming her ignorance, and spoke as someone who could indulge in peace. She could speak of pipe dreams and ideals, unaware that she was irresponsibly pushing her expectations upon the strong. 

As Loki rarely showed emotion, she was aghast on the inside... truly disappointed in the world. Why would Sir Alus ever instruct these ignorant girls? What was the point of him even coming here... 

Loki honestly felt disgust. But not at the girls. She just simply couldn’t imagine that they lived in the same world. That’s why, in order to maintain her presence of mind, she focused on gathering information. 

Despite the short distance, the two girls stopped from time to time to give Loki explanations on the Institute and its facilities. To Loki this was an unwelcome favor, and the three took what seemed like a long time to get to their destination. 

Only a month had passed since Tesfia and Alice met Alus, but no matter how much they talked about him, it wasn’t enough. 

As they happily talked about Alus, Loki began feeling a different emotion, aside from her anger. She was sensitive to discussions about Alus. These two had seen a side of Alus that she hadn’t... When she thought like that, Loki felt a little envious and quietly listened to their conversation. 

* * * 

“I’m glad you decided to look after that girl.” 

“...” 

Alus was in Principal Sisty’s office. He was seriously glad she’d made that remark before he had tea in his mouth. While he didn’t spit out any tea, he did feel like he’d had a sharp blade pressed up against him. But since retorting would just be playing into her hands, Alus held it in and fixed his grip on the teacup he’d been about to drop, and took a sip instead. 

On the other side of the desk was Sisty, who smiled happily. She also put a piece of paper on the desk, as if to say she’d expected this. 

“And this is?” 

“This is the application for Loki’s admission procedure. Of course she’s already signed it, and obviously she passes in terms of ability.” 

“I see you’re rather prepared.” 

He’d come here to get the principal to keep quiet about the incident, but it seemed it hadn’t been necessary. In other words, she’d prepared everything ahead of time. 

Alus wasn’t happy to realize he’d been dancing in the principal’s palm. But at the same time, he was glad this could be resolved quickly. Still seated, he gave Sisty a nod as a show of gratitude. “So, you’re telling me to bring her under my wing and train her?” 

“Well, something like that... but I have some personal investment in this, so don’t worry about it too much. The military pushed her onto me as a supervisor for you, but not everything is going according to the Governor-General’s plan. It’s more of a show. Simply put, the Governor-General and I are just middlemen,” Sisty said with a bitter smile. 

With Alus accepting Loki as his partner, it wasn’t something that could be overturned. “Like you said—Loki’s more capable than I thought. Does she seriously have a four-digit rank? In terms of combat prowess, she’s close to Double Digits.” Alus still remembered the doubt he’d felt during the mock battle. 

“Loki’s highest ranking is 157,” the principal said. She smiled wryly while uncrossing her legs. “Despite that, Loki moved over to being a supporter without any regrets. She’d always had an aptitude for detection. But in the end, she never partnered up with anyone, resulting in a drop to her current ranking.” 

That didn’t make sense to Alus. While entering the upper ranks as a spotter, a supporting Magicmaster, ensured good treatment, the actual rewards weren’t any higher than a Double or Triple Digit. So Loki choosing the path of support couldn’t have been for monetary reasons. 

“You’ll have to get the rest from Loki,” Sisty said, essentially saying he wouldn’t get any more from her. 

“It’s a bit late for that.” Alus could no longer turn back. If he had ordered her to go to the frontlines she might’ve listened, but becoming his partner was something she’d risked her life over. He didn’t know what her reasons had been, though. 

Alus drank up the remaining tea, and rose from his chair. “My only business was to keep you quiet about the taboo. I’m glad that was a wasted effort.” Well, being able to confirm the principal’s intentions was a good outcome. 

He turned his back on her and tried to leave. Which was when Sisty dropped a new bomb on him. “Oh, I still haven’t received any hush money yet.” 

“...!!” 

Alus’ hand stopped just short of the door knob. “You want some kind of favor? Are you serious?” 

The incident had happened in part because of the principal thrusting Loki on him, so she was partly responsible as well. Despite that, she couldn’t overlook Alus treating it like it was no concern of his. 

However— 

“Part of the responsibility does lie with me. But with Loki committing a taboo because of you, I’ll need to take a considerable risk to cover for her,” Sisty said, putting a finger on her chin as if troubled. 

Seeing this, Alus became convinced this was the reason she was called the Witch. The nerve, or perhaps the shamelessness to admit her own mistakes and still want compensation for shouldering that risk... 

Alus’ cheek twitched. He said in a monotone voice, “I understand. And if possible, I’d like to settle this with currency.” While Alus was a student, he was below Sisty. Unless she asked for something preposterous, he had no choice but to obey. 

“Unfortunately, I have enough money.” 

He wanted to retort, but didn’t have the time to give her a sarcastic response. 

Sisty brought up a suggestion she’d likely prepared ahead of time. “Let’s see. Can I count on you during the extracurricular lesson? We need your strength.” 

Well, he figured it would be something like that. To begin with, even Sisty didn’t know what to do in this situation, and he’d realized that she’d need his help. It was because she was so desperate for his aid that she’d asked for this absurd favor. 

The extracurricular lesson meant to serve as live combat training would occur in a month’s time. The two of them had discussed the matter in the past, but when it came to the uncertain elements, they’d failed to reach an acceptable conclusion. 

The participating students would be split up into teams of five, each with a supervisor. And they’d had no choice but to give upperclassmen the role of supervisors. While they might be older, they were still students, and lacked combat experience. Though the military had demanded it, it was reckless at best, and they couldn’t help but feel uneasy when they imagined the worst possible outcome. 

“Not even I can protect all the students.” 

This was the truth. While he might be the strongest Magicmaster, he couldn’t protect all of the students who would be spread out over a wide area. In short, this was no easy request. 

“I’m fine with that. As long as you’re there, we can reduce the possible number of casualties.” It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Alus would still have a better chance to clear out all of the Fiends on his own. 

“About that—you’re not telling me to only help the students when they’re in danger, are you?” 

“Well, maybe a little... they do have to get some experience, after all...” Sisty said, and looked away. 

“... If they move around all willy-nilly, there’s not much I can do. I don’t think I’ll be of much use on this one.” 

“I was only kidding! I’ll give them detailed instructions, so please...” 

It was unclear whether she was apologizing, or trying to forcibly pull him in, but the principal rubbed Alus’ black hair with a too-cheerful smile. She was acting like an innocent little girl, rather than her own age. 

Alus felt she was being very sly, but didn’t say this out loud. Instead, he tried to show her how much of a pain it was with his eyes, which she splendidly ignored. “I understand.” 

“Then we’ll talk again this evening,” said Sisty with a seductive smile full of affection. If someone had been listening in, they might have misinterpreted it as the principal flirting with her student. 

But since Alus had no choice but to accept, he at least made a show of sighing as loudly as he could, as he left Sisty’s office.

After confirming the door was closed, Sisty’s expression returned to being serious, and she sighed as well. 

The reason was Loki... “Does he not remember Loki?” 

Sisty had already heard the rough circumstances from Loki. Why an active Magicmaster had become a supporter. Loki was prepared to risk her life when she asked to become Alus’ partner. When Sisty heard that it was the only reason Loki lived for, she couldn’t disregard it. 

As a result, things had worked out almost as well as they could for her, but Sisty chose not to ask if Alus remembered Loki. No matter how much she was trying to smooth things over, to ask him that would overstep her boundaries. 

In the end, it was their problem. Everyone else was an outsider. 

She wondered what the truth was, but it was something only the almighty knew.