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In the moonlit student council room, Mizuhi confronted a girl standing before her.
Once, fate had briefly brought them together, allowing them to fight side-by-side.
Her name was Sorciera.
She was one of the leaders of the academy city.
“Even if you know everything, there’s not much you can do,” Sorciera said calmly, showing no sign of agitation before Mizuhi.
It was Sorciera who had approached her first.
She must have known Mizuhi was coming.
“In that case, wouldn’t it be far better to live in a limited world from the beginning?”
“That’s nothing but a sham.”
“If a sham brings happiness, why not? Do you hate lies?”
Sorciera averted her gaze from Mizuhi and sighed gently. It was a simple action, but Mizuhi found herself watching intently.
Realizing this, Mizuhi steeled herself.
“Yeah, I don’t like lies.”
“I see. We’re alike then, aren’t we?” Sorciera replied with a smile.
Mizuhi couldn’t grasp her true intentions.
But Sorciera’s blue eyes seemed to peer deep into her soul, making her uncomfortable.
“…Answer me. What are you here for? I’d rather not be your enemy if I can avoid it.”
Mizuhi knew Sorciera’s strength. She understood well how terrifying it would be to have her as an adversary.
And most importantly, Sorciera had once saved her. Pointing a weapon at the girl she owed so much to felt wrong.
Yet, Sorciera’s demeanor didn’t change, even with Mizuhi’s words.
“I have no intention of adjusting to your circumstances. Whether friend or foe, it’s up to fate.”
“I see.”
Just as Mizuhi was about to ready her weapon, Sorciera spoke.
“Well then, maybe I’ll help you out a little.”
Sorciera stood up and took several sheets of paper from a magical circle, tossing them toward Mizuhi.
Mizuhi picked them up, recognizing them as documents.
“…These are the documents Toa and Kei were organizing.”
“Yes, your juniors were working on those,” Sorciera said, pointing to the papers as if urging Mizuhi to read them.
Following her hint, Mizuhi examined the papers.
(These relate to the debts of Twin Academy. I see these so often that I recognize them immediately.)
“What’s going on with these?”
“Haven’t you noticed?”
“…What do you mean?”
“It seems the debt has lessened… The student council president here must be quite capable.”
Sorciera’s comment felt almost like a deflection, yet Mizuhi knew she wouldn’t make idle remarks.
“What about Miroku?”
“Her hospitalization has been prolonged. The other male student has already returned to the academy. As far as I know, she wasn’t injured.”
“…Could it be?”
“Why don’t you visit her if you’re so close?”
Teasingly, Sorciera suggested this, her smile seeming to test Mizuhi.
“Did something happen to Miroku?”
“Who knows? I didn’t say anything like that.”
Sorciera tilted her head, obviously hiding something.
That left Mizuhi with no reason to hesitate.
“Answer me.”
Unfolding her weapon, she aimed it at Sorciera. But Sorciera simply stared at the gun without retrieving a weapon of her own.
“What’s wrong? Drawing a weapon all of a sudden. Did I do something to upset you?”
“What happened to Miroku? Tell me!”
“I don’t know.”
With that, Sorciera conjured a magical circle and stepped inside, ignoring Mizuhi’s protest.
(A teleportation spell!? She can teleport not just with ability, but through a magic formula?)
Mizuhi immediately dashed forward, managing to jump into the circle just before it vanished.
■
The next sight Mizuhi saw was Fectom General Academy’s training ground. She had set up various obstacles and equipment here, making it a familiar place.
“Why… to the training ground?”
If Sorciera were escaping, she should have gone beyond the academy’s autonomous region. A voice sounded from behind her.
“So, you followed me.”
Turning, Mizuhi saw Sorciera standing atop the tallest obstacle, looking down at her.
“I still haven’t received an answer.”
“I don’t like forcefulness.”
“I don’t care!”
Mizuhi fired without hesitation. She understood that holding back wouldn’t work on an opponent like Sorciera.
She needed to go all out from the start.
From two gun barrels, bullets of fire and water shot forward. For an average scout, a direct hit would be disastrous, but Sorciera calmly raised her left hand.
In that instant, a magic circle formed on her hand, summoning a massive scythe that deflected both bullets before settling into her grasp.
Pointing the scythe at Mizuhi, Sorciera spoke.
“Fine. I’ll play with you a bit.”
In the next moment, her figure against the starry sky vanished.
“…!”
At the same time, Mizuhi sensed her presence behind her.
Without hesitation, she aimed her gun backward and fired.
“Too slow.”
Sorciera dodged the bullet, which then exploded behind her.
It was a follow-up attack, exploiting the opponent’s dodge. This technique, Mizuhi’s specialty, was blocked by a magic wall at the moment of impact.
(I used this technique once when we fought together. No wonder it didn’t work.)
Mizuhi coolly manipulated the flames Sorciera had just deflected, reshaping them into countless tiny bullets.
(It’s not complete yet, but I can’t afford to hold back now.)
At Mizuhi’s command, the bullets fired.
The flames closed in on Sorciera from all directions, encircling her.
An unrelenting wave of attacks.
Seeing them, Sorciera finally halted.
At the same time, the blazing bullet was headed straight for her.
With a thunderous explosion, smoke engulfed the area.
“…”
Mizuhi kept her aim steady, directing the muzzle of her gun into the thick smoke.
She unleashed bullets charged with her full magical energy, firing relentlessly.
This wave of attacks was nothing more than a diversion. Mizuhi’s true objective was to strike when her opponent paused.
Seconds passed as Mizuhi continued firing until she nearly exhausted her magical energy. As silence began to settle, she muttered with a trace of frustration:
“…I thought it would at least do something.”
The night breeze started to clear away the dust, revealing Sorciera’s figure, unchanged from before.
“It was a good attack.”
It sounded almost like praise. Hearing those words, Mizuhi realized that this wasn’t a battle after all.
(Am I… not even allowed to fight?)
“But that won’t reach the stars.”
Sorciera floated in the air, looking down at Mizuhi. As she raised her right arm towards the sky, a magic circle unfurled around her.
Mizuhi immediately understood what was emanating from that magic circle, even though the mechanics remained a mystery.
Flames and water streamed from various parts of the circle.
It was unmistakably the bullets she’d just shot at Sorciera.
“…Did you actually converge my bullets?”
The bullets fired from Mizuhi’s gun were fueled by her magic. If Sorciera could manipulate magic freely, it wasn’t impossible for her to gather them.
Mizuhi understood it logically, yet she also realized that this was a domain no human should step into.
“Are you even human?”
“Who knows?”
Sorciera continued gathering the flames and water from the circle, merging them. Red and blue, opposing forces, were refined into something else in Sorciera’s hands.
“Your power isn’t about creating and controlling flames and water.”
“…What?”
“Flames are a simplified concept of incineration, based on your self-interpretation. Likewise, water is merely an auxiliary image to help control your magic with precision.”
Sorciera’s voice remained calm as the mass of magic power brightened and solidified before her, unveiling the true essence of Mizuhi’s abilities.
Mizuhi’s bullets had transformed into something beyond her comprehension.
“…What is this?”
What materialized next was a star—a massive, violet-blue sphere of magic power, bright as a celestial body.
Seeing it, Mizuhi instinctively halted, realizing that her bullets would be ineffective.
“I’ll show you the brilliance of a star.”
With those words, Sorciera conjured several more magic circles around the glowing sphere. What was to come was beyond comprehension.
Sorciera elegantly raised a large scythe, preparing to strike.
Then, at that very moment—
‘Mizuhi! Get down!’
A familiar voice crackled through the emergency line connected to her Dive Gear.
Without hesitation, Mizuhi dropped to the ground.
Moments later, a dazzling golden light passed over her, smashing through the magic circles Sorciera had created and directly hitting the magic sphere.
An explosive shockwave erupted around them.
“Ugh!”
Mizuhi fired a bullet at the ground, creating a quick water barrier and ducked behind it, shielding herself from the blast that swept away countless obstacles.
The explosion died down after a few seconds. Mizuhi looked around the drastically altered training ground and then glanced skyward.
Sorciera was still there, unchanged.
“Well, I had some fun. Farewell.”
Leaving those words behind, Sorciera conjured a magic circle in the air and vanished within it.
This time, she had escaped entirely.
“…Sorciera. What does she know?”
“Mizuhi! Are you okay!?”
A voice called from afar. Mizuhi looked to see Toa, in pajamas, hurrying over with a heavy cannon in her arms.
When Mizuhi raised her hand to signal she was unhurt, Toa broke into a relieved smile.
“Mizuhi-cha—cough, Mizu—Mi—Mizu—ugh, cough!”
“You’re running while carrying that heavy thing. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine! You had it much tougher, Mizuhi. I just fired on instinct. Did I make the right call?”
Toa’s actions had come from a sense of imminent danger.
“Yes, you saved me. If you hadn’t fired the concentrated cannon, who knows what would have happened.”
“Phew… I heard a strange explosion and rushed over. Focusing my magic while running was a first for me! I mean, I’m still in pajamas!”
Toa showed off her attire, indeed still in pajamas.
(Is she still wearing those bear-patterned pajamas? And the nightcap…)
As Mizuhi considered teasing her about her childish taste, a voice interrupted.
“Are you both okay?”
The voice belonged to Kei, who approached them with a concerned expression.
Apparently, he hadn’t gone to sleep yet, as he was still in uniform.
“Kei, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. When I heard explosions and saw strange lights from the training area, I rushed over. What happened here?”
“…It was Sorciera.”
“What!?”
Kei looked around in shock, then nodded.
“Indeed, this level of destruction… It must have been Sorciera. The training ground is a complete wreck.”
“Yeah. It really is.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Uh… if I had arrived sooner, I could have helped? Maybe my paralysis poison would have worked on her.”
Kei summoned a short blade as he spoke, but Mizuhi shook her head.
“No, even if the three of us had teamed up, we wouldn’t have won. Sorciera’s power is in a different league.”
“I see…”
Noticing Kei’s downcast expression, Mizuhi placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“That’s why we need to grow stronger, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Ha, I came for a shower, and now I’m filthy.”
“I’m covered in dust too…”
“Want to hit the showers together? Kei, you up for it?”
Kei stiffened at the invitation.
“…Uh, um, I-I’ll pass.”
“Oh, alright.”
(Is Mizuhi serious about this? Does she not distinguish between men and women?)
Seeing Kei’s reaction, Toa decided to change the subject.
“By the way, why was Sorciera here?”
“…That’s right!”
Mizuhi suddenly recalled why she had fought. The sheer power she’d faced had pushed it from her mind, but it was important.
Looking at Toa and Kei with a serious expression, she said:
“Something may have happened to Miroku.”
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Mnotia[Translator]
Just a guy translating stuff.