Since then, more details were to be told, and the attack operation was to begin in earnest next week. In the history of the past, there had never been a time when the special class anti-magicians were gathered in one place. At most, there were only three of them in one city, but this time, all the members would be made up of special class anti-magicians to fight on the front lines. In addition, it seems that people who are first class anti-magicians close to the special class anti-magicians have also been summoned. Even with this alone, you can tell that this strategy is quite serious.


　Until now, they've just been fighting to protect the ward city. Of course, that is very important, but if I had to say it, it had become an old-fashioned thing. I wouldn't say that it has become a mere formality, but still, we are fine with the current environment..............................maybe somewhere in our hearts we thought so.


　Maybe that's why Princess Liane........and even more so why the upper echelons of the military decided to carry out this operation.


　To show humanity that it's no longer time to stand still.



''Julia, do you have a minute?''
Senior. Can I help you with something?


　Just as I was about to leave the conference room after that and get a meal alone in town, senior Eira spoke to me. By the way, Shelly was taken somewhere by Belle-san and went away. Probably because he became a special class anti-magician, he'll be explaining and training in various ways.


''Why don't you trim that hair a little more?''
'Oh that's true too,'


　I cut that long hair myself. It was meant to be a break with the past, but I didn't care much about how it looked, so I left it cut. The cut surface was clearly visible and it looked like an amateur had done it himself.


　


''I'll set it up for you.
Oh, you're sure?
'Actually, I cut my own hair regularly. Just let me handle it.
So... please.


　He bows his head with a smile. I don't have any plans from now on, so it doesn't matter. Let's eat later. I don't feel so hungry right now.


　And so I followed him.



　◇



I'm sorry to trouble you.
I'm gonna put the chair down over there, so you can have a seat.
I understand.


　Military quarters. It was a room that had been given to him temporarily, but it had a bit of a lived-in feel to it. It had probably been used by someone before.


'Yes. Put this on.


　Eira-senpai pokes a hole in a large piece of plastic and urges me to put my head through it. I obeyed and put it on and sat down in the chair as it was. She brings out a pair of scissors and makes a chopping sound.


"Put the paper underneath. Okay, I'll cut it off then.
Thank you for your help.
You don't really have a haircut requirement, do you?
'Well it's all mussed up, so if you can make it look more natural,'
That's fine. Okay, I'm going to hang up then.


　I don't know why my tone is a little odd, but it's not worth pointing out. Then Senpai puts the scissors in my hair.

　When I saw my hair falling down in a crunch, I felt something fresh. When I think about it, when was the last time I had someone cut my hair like this?


'Yulia, you had beautiful, long hair, why did you cut it?　And that too by myself.
A break with the past, huh?
Why the questioning?
Ha ha, it was an impulse thing I did.
Hmm. I'm not exactly heartbroken.
What?
You see? You see, they say when your heart is broken, you cut off your hair.
Well, that's...
Right?　Well, but I knew it would be something like that.
Yes.


　Silence. Suddenly, that kind of talk makes me shut up. A kiss from my senior a few days ago. Is it right to take it in that sense? Or was it simply a sign of affection? The current me did not yet have the courage to ask the answer to that question.


'Okay, that sounds good. Now we just need to adjust the volume.'
Quantity?
Yeah, yeah. I used to use a pair of scissors, but now I'm going to use a pair of scissors to take a small amount.
'........Are you a professional senior?
'It's not that big of a deal. I just had to cut myself a lot.


　When he said that, senpai took out a pair of scissors and put them in my hair, just like he did before. A sound comes from the scissors in a constant rhythm of crunching, crunching. I glance down and see that my hair has accumulated a lot.


'Hey, don't look down,'
Excuse me, I'm just curious.
''Well Yulia could have had long hair, but she looks good with short hair too.
Is that so?
Yeah. I'm sure you'll be more popular from now on.　He's got a neutral face, but now that he's got short hair, he's starting to look more masculine. You know?　There's a fan club for you in the military, you know?
'What?　What is that........
''It's not limited to Yulia, but the special class anti-magician has, well... a kind of fan. I've heard that Yulia is the most popular among the older women. She's famous for being pretty.
'....Is she pretty? I've heard that you can't rely on a woman's cuteness, but....
'Hmm. It's true that everyone says everything is cute. When I ask them if it's cute, they all say it's cute. I don't know... but I guess I can kind of understand why Yulia says it's cute.
Not even my senior...
'See, that's what I'm talking about. But maybe from now on, your masculinity will be more prominent than your cuteness.
Ha, I hope you're right.


　Afterwards, we chatted about random things. The conversation with the older students was so enjoyable that I lost track of time.


'How's it going, Julia?'
You look great. You are very good at it.
Uh-huh. Right?


　I checked my hair in the hand mirror and there I was, with my hair styled in the right way. It wasn't a buzz cut, it looked natural and I honestly didn't expect it to go this far.


'Well, you owe me this one!
What?　I'm not listening to you!
I don't mind. I'm not going to ask for anything. I'll get it back to you one day.
That's not fair.
'You've already done it! You can't give it back, okay?
Well, it's impossible to replay what was cut...
So that's what I'm talking about.
'Yes, yes....'
"Nishishi!


　She smiles at me. Oh........I wish this kind of everyday life was always there, I thought. But that's why I........we will continue to fight for such a modest daily life in the future.