Aoko Aozaki rudely yanked open the door, her sweeping gaze filled with oppressive force as it scanned the stark white room that resembled a hospital ward.
The health teacher seemed to be absent, and the entire infirmary was eerily empty. At first glance, there wasn't a single soul in sight.
However, upon listening carefully, a steady breathing sound could be faintly heard.
Aoko had a bad premonition, and at the same time, the fire in her heart burned even fiercer.
Following the sound of breathing, she walked past the first and second beds near the door and arrived at the curtain of the third bed—the source of the breathing.
Whoosh—!
Without even a hint of greeting, she grabbed the curtain with a stern face and flung it open with force.
Immediately after, a pair of dark pupils suddenly met hers.
The boy lying on the bed had already been awakened by her rough entrance.
"Aoko Aozaki, what are you doing here?"
His eyes were wide open, looking completely dazed from sleep.
"...Of course it had to be you."
Aoko covered her face, her expression suddenly darkening.
"Didn't you call me here?"
She tried her best to keep her face neutral while simultaneously scanning the surroundings of the infirmary.
Her gaze was sharp, as if searching for some kind of trap.
"Oh, right. I'm still a bit groggy."
Eiji patted his forehead, trying to shake off the fog in his brain.
"Sorry, I didn't sleep much last night, so I took a nap while waiting for you."
He glanced at the round clock on the wall.
It was already nine o'clock. Well, that couldn't really be called a "nap." No wonder his head hurt.
"Did it ever occur to you that I might not have slept well either?"
The moment she heard "didn't sleep well," Aoko's anger flared even higher.
Oh, so it's just you who didn't sleep well, huh?
She crossed her arms and glared down at Eiji. A gust of wind blew through, lifting her long hair like a vengeful spirit, her aura overwhelmingly fierce.
"You didn't sleep well either?"
Eiji gave her a surprised look, then patted the space beside him.
"Well, you can sleep here too. Don't worry, I'll protect my chastity."
Creak!
Aoko clenched her fists, the sound of her knuckles cracking echoing ominously.
Hardened!
Her fists had completely hardened!
From whom are you protecting your chastity?!
Don't tell me it's from me!
What the hell is wrong with you?!
She really wanted to yell at him, but she held back.
Not for the sake of something as trivial as dignity, but because absolute calm was necessary in battle.
"Teacher Reines said you called me here for work-related matters?"
A vein bulged on Aoko's forehead, but after taking several deep breaths to steady herself, she forced a casual tone.
"Oh, that was just an excuse."
Eiji answered with complete honesty. "Actually, I just wanted to lure you out of your house. I don't know where you live, and looking it up would've been a hassle."
Aoko took another deep breath.
Then she slowly took several steps back, her expression terrifyingly grave as she stared fixedly at Eiji.
"What's wrong?"
"Are you planning to start a fight here?"
Come on.
Let's fight!
She was done talking to this idiot!
"?"
Eiji looked utterly baffled.
"Did anything I say sound like a declaration of war?"
Her body was completely tense, a clear sign she was ready for battle. She didn't seem to be joking.
How strange.
"I don't think I've done anything to provoke you, have I?"
This guy.
Had absolutely no self-awareness!
Aoko's urge to curse flared up repeatedly, her chest heaving violently, but she suppressed it with great effort.
"Those familiars last night—they were killed near your place, weren't they? Don't even try to deny it!"
"You mean those black birds?"
Eiji froze. "They were yours?"
"Who else's?"
Aoko's face twisted with irritation, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "This is the spiritual land under the Aozaki family's jurisdiction. Surely you're not ignorant enough to not know that trespassing is a grave taboo among magi?"
"..."
The boy across from her fell into deep thought.
To Aoko, this seemed like proof that he'd been caught red-handed. The next step would likely be an actual magecraft battle.
Can I win?
For a brief moment, self-doubt flickered in Aoko's heart. This was her first time fighting another magus—a genuine first in magical combat.
But she quickly crushed that doubt.
Whether she could do it or not didn't matter. If an enemy stood before her, she had no choice but to fight!
She just regretted not discussing it with Alice before leaving. She hadn't expected to face an enemy so abruptly.
"Is that a rule?"
After a long silence, Eiji looked up with a somewhat puzzled expression.
"Hah?"
Aoko was taken aback. "Are you messing with me?"
"No, I was just trying to remember, but I couldn't recall that setting at all."
Eiji waved his hand, indicating he was an honest man.
The world of Type-Moon had one very distinct characteristic: its lore was a fragmented mess.
A single setting could be split into multiple sub-settings, and those sub-settings could interconnect with others, even crossing into entirely different systems under one overarching framework.
The only things Eiji could vaguely remember were some of the classic character settings. The more obscure details had long been forgotten.
"Remember...?"
Aoko, however, was now confused.
Based on her and Alice's discussion last night, Eiji was undoubtedly a powerful magus.
But there was one glaring inconsistency.
Over the past two days, she'd investigated the school and the town, only to confirm that he had indeed grown up in this town and was quite famous throughout Kinoko Town.
This meant he hadn't used suggestion.
In the hidden world, there was a type of magecraft called suggestion—essentially, cognitive interference. It could make irrational things seem rational to those under its effect.
But no matter how skilled a magus was, it was impossible to cast suggestion on an entire town without being detected.
Especially when her housemate was a powerful "witch."
In other words, he truly was a native of this town.
So how had he become a powerful magus right under Alice's nose?
If another magus had been here, Alice, who'd lived here since childhood, couldn't possibly have been unaware.
"How do you even know about magecraft?"
Aoko frowned, studying him closely. Seeing that his expression didn't seem feigned, she decided to probe further.
"To be honest, when I was a kid, I met this really powerful old magus. He helped me unblock my Eight Extraordinary Meridians..."
Eiji began spinning his tale without hesitation.
In truth, this fabricated backstory had been brewing in his mind for over a decade, just waiting for the right moment to deceive any magus who might question him.
"What Eight Extraordinary Meridians? You mean Magic Circuits?"
"Oh, so they're called Magic Circuits?"
Eiji put on an expression of sudden realization.
"What kind of old man was he?"
"Hmm... white hair and beard, deep wrinkles, liked wearing black gentleman's attire."
Eiji tried his best to recall the old man from the Kaleidoscope Mystic Code—the very image he'd once loathed.
***
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