After leaving Tesfia and Alice and walking for a while, Ars stopped in disgust when the main school building came into view.

'Come on out you don't think they haven't found out, do you?

　Blatant agitation at the sudden voice shook in the shade of the trees.
　He seems to be hiding very diligently since it was before he left the research building, but as expected, even a layman can understand the chase. A wife investigating her husband's affair would be able to hide much better than a wife investigating her husband's affair.

　Loki is also a bit dumbfounded and sighs into the AWR in his hand.

'Al went out of his way to make sure he wasn't in front of Fia and Alice.

　Loki said to a certain shade of trees with a tone that was almost a reprimand.

　--I hope that this is the last time I'm going to be caring for you, though.

　Such a line of Loki's is a little unbearable for Ars to stay with. It was quite embarrassing in this to be deliberately revealed to others the other side of the story. It was enough if he knew how to care for the person in question.
　The reason Tesfia and Alice didn't ask about their errand is because they, too, had some idea of the tracker's presence.

　Their swaying hair could be seen through the edges of the trees, and they weren't able to hide in all sorts of ways. The angles were basically wrong. Even Ars is tempted to advise you on that amateurish hiding method for your profession, "It's a bit more to the right, right?".
　Basically, if you can see them from yourself, they can also see you from the other person, but it seems that she doesn't have any intention of hiding, or whether she is seriously trying to hide or not.

　In fact, Fiona had planned to leave with her intentions once she was alone, but she was dumb enough to see through it and was hurriedly blinking her eyes.
　It certainly couldn't have gone unnoticed, he knew - he had a feeling that he would be smart enough to be left alone as a result.

　But before he could do that, Loki had revealed everything to her, and Fiona was confused behind a tree she couldn't hide behind, so she finally crouched down with her head in her hands.

　--Didn't know what to do~.

'Hey, let's get going,'

　Fiona looked up as quickly as she could when a voice called from an unexpected direction. Before she knew it, Ars had moved on and the oblique angle had widened by that amount, so the tree to block it was no longer meaningful.
　Fiona stands up as if she was played by a voice that sounded more like a waste of time than a grumpy one.

'Yes, but where...?'

　It was a situation that he didn't want to be pursued too much, but the question of Ars's words was the first thing that came to Fiona's mind.

'You've made up your mind, haven't you?　I'm glad you made it in time, for one thing. I might be out of the lab for a few days in a few more.
Yes.

　Ars heard the small but clear words behind him and raised his cheeks slightly.
　Flipping her skirt lightly to jump over the bushes, Fiona leapt to the sidewalk.

　The silver-haired girl, who watched the scene in silence, waited for her to follow her before walking away. The leap was light, as if Fiona's emotional support had been cleanly removed.

''Ah!　My AWR........
I've got it right here. I'll get it to you later--from Al's hand.

　For some reason, Fiona bowed her head lightly to Loki, who felt the spine, with a crumbling smile, "Please. The only thing that bothers me is that my own AWR is in an unfamiliar scabbard.

　Restlessly, Fiona walked the farthest back, looking only at the feet of the girl in front of her, who was slimmer than she was in front of her. It seems as if every single regular walking motion was built on an alien experience. It's not the same thing as training, special training, or any other kind of manners, and it's not the fruit of hard work, either.
　It's not that I'm not a product of my efforts, but rather that I've learned to be lean and efficient.

　Her face, which was smaller than her own and doll-like in appearance, even made Fiona awe-inspiring in a certain way.

　Such a girl's footsteps came to a halt so suddenly. She barely managed to avoid bumping into him, but Ars, who was walking ahead of her, walked into a certain building.

''Eh!　The training grounds....

　Maybe it was because the words that came out on the spur of the moment were so far beyond what he expected, and the reason he didn't feel very good about it was because that was where he had escaped from.
　Ars and Loki disappeared into the training grounds, and Fiona followed, but there was already no sentimental harm that prevented them from advancing, although they stopped stepping there.

''As expected, it's rattling just before closing time.
But I'm not at liberty to use it?

　There were no spectators and the students who were training seemed to have almost rounded up, and the training grounds were liberated and empty. It's no wonder, because the lights were turned on manually by Ars, after they had been turned off. In addition, the replacement system seems to have been activated as well.

　However, you can still hear voices, so there must be students in the changing room. It's really just before closing time.
　Looking at the somewhat lonely training grounds, Fiona became anxious and offered that it was against the rules.

'Well, that's fine. You'll be tolerated at least a little. We've got a few more minutes in time, as I say,'
But....

　The current training ground, which could even be described as deserted, had been liberated of all the compartments, and in the midst of it all, Fiona felt an unspeakable anxiety. What would be waiting for them from now on, or simply getting the AWR back and that would be the end.......there was no way.

　Since that one incident, a somewhat celestial Ars had built up an entity in her. Conversations and the voices she uttered were heartfelt and inhabited by her will. Perhaps it was the humanity in such a spirited and cold-hearted side of her.

　He proceeded to the center of the training grounds, followed by Fiona, who lagged behind to be isolated by herself. Suddenly, Ars and Loki stopped and Fiona stopped too.

　Horre, if you lifted your gaze to such a voice, you caught two shadows flying towards you within your field of vision. I caught them as if holding them with my outstretched arms while panicking.
　Fiona's.......my own AWR that I bought with my meager allowance, a worthless thing that won't even make it into the numerous merchandise shelves as a defective product. Fiona bought the thing that was treated like trash without even a price, and Fiona bought it.
　At the time he bought it, it was in an unpinned state without even a sheath, and to be honest, the leather sheath he bought afterwards was more expensive than the main body.

　But the two pairs of daggers that are now in my arms, and the scabbard that holds them, are of such a high quality that they are no more than a makeshift cover. They were too disproportionate to the cheap stuff inside.

　The hand that held it became wetter and wetter the more I thought about it, perhaps because of my poor nature.
　Shaking off the thought, Fiona tried to get to the point hastily.

''Wha, I........''

　You desperately twist and choose your words, and yet the words of your thoughts and decisions don't come together well. I've made a decision and the words support it.

'It's too much trouble. You don't have to put it into words. You don't need to force yourself to put it into words. I have no desire to pursue it, and I have no desire to know more about it. So prove all the answers to those questions with the AWR, the AWR is a supplementary weapon for mages, a power that is past its prime for non-mages.


'Yes,' he spun one word. It was in a tone of voice that could be described as flat. There was not a trace of enthusiasm or supremacy contained in it, it simply conveyed the meaning of being extremely satisfied.

　Fiona was taking a bit of time to put it on, as if she wasn't too familiar with it - her hands were entangled in a mindlessly heightened mood.


　Ars, who waited slowly through the pause, opened his mouth to Loki, who was watching quietly next to him. Perhaps it was close to a monologue, but an expectation and premonition that couldn't help but be uttered.

'Loki, watch and see. Magic power is most evident in proving a person. That being said, nothing is based solely on data figures. The more ambiguous things like emotions and wills, the greater the change in magic power, that's for sure.

　That's why a runaway of magic power can occur. If the fundamental information is disturbed, it is inevitable that a distortion will occur in the human beings who use it as a vessel.
　Even so, a sudden change is something that is impossible for an ordinary person to achieve. That's why the transformation of magic, which contains a lot of information, can be called an innovation.

　Loki, who silently nodded his head, was staring at Fiona - pouring his seemingly odd gaze on the first-year student who was lower in terms of ability.

　It's a good idea to take a deep breath once you attach the dagger to your waist while faltering.
　And a thin leaked breath to calm her down.
　She pulled the AWR from its scabbard as usual.

　It's not like we're going to be fighting, so she just pulled it out, and it looked like she was weakening, which was more like checking the feel of it rather than preparing it. I'm not going to be able to get it right.
　She now released the magic power she had accumulated from within like an earth shaking in one fell swoop.


　Immediately after, Ars's cheeks lifted slightly.
　It is because the elation that runs through Zokuris and his whole body is something that even Ars couldn't have expected. The quality of the magic power, it matched the lineage.

　A new torrent of magic power was swirling around Fiona. A transparent magic power with a light ink color. The quality of the magic power was incomparably improved compared to before. It is enough to overturn the impression of darkness.
　Darkness and shadow as darkness, shadow, negative, grudge, and death as the dark color, a strain that is prone to negative images, but her is close to nighttime darkness, or more specifically, it reminded me of the dimness of evening darkness.

'Can things change this much?'
No, it's not originally intended to end here. That's what I mean by that. They've found an interesting guy.

　With his eyes wide open, Loki muttered as if the girl Fiona herself had changed. I'm not sure if this is her original, innate quality.
　It's the first time that either Ars or Loki had ever seen the dark strains as beautiful as this.

　However, the person in question may have been confused, but his magic power began to be disturbed.

''Ah, um.......this....

　Fiona looked at AWR curiously, then shifted her gaze to Ars, and her doubts about AWR came to mind. Perhaps she wasn't able to be objective, but it was also the wind that Fiona hadn't yet noticed this surprising change.

I've added a couple of magic formulas to the mix. And I've also guided you to the systematic formula from the previous systematic foundation. It's a bit clunky, though.
Thank you very much.

　Fiona's eyes as she looked at him as if she were devouring him conveyed a settled will. However, she could hardly understand the meaning of the jargon that Ars uttered in her head. Still, in a sensory sense, Fiona felt she could understand - the true role of the reborn AWR.
　Like herself, she felt like her existence was defined. It wasn't some vague thing that was neither, and this AWR even seemed to be one and the same to me.

　A buddy who honed it every day and was always by my side. Maybe the reason I was drawn to the two pairs of daggers was because I couldn't be anything like myself. That's why I was honestly happy that AWR was able to change along with me.


　Originally, the magic formula was something that would be carved vertically if it was a straight sword. Of course, this is because the AWR as a whole is designed to pour magic power in full force, sending a lot of information evenly.
　The reason why Fiona's AWR is treated as a defective product is because she only carved the base. As for the magic formula, which is improving every day, in recent years there have been simplified formulas that incorporate the foundation formula directly into the systematic formula, so foundation-only is actually a technology that is only a few years old.

　The extra space is needed to carve the base formula and connect it to the systematic formula from there. You can think of it as an extra item in the process of constructing magic.
　At the end of the day, Fiona's dagger-type AWR doesn't even have the width to add more systematic formulas.

　However, just as Ars's AWR was, Ars has a deep knowledge of magic formulas and knows the techniques for carving them by heart.
　So, after a lot of trial and error, her AWR ended up being carved with no gaps in the magic formula.

It's a good job. What do we do now?　I can take you out for a bit.
'Yes, sir!　Please.

　The magic power breaks off and disappears when you loosen up, but Fiona lowered her head without a care in the world.
　It's probably because they have been kneading in the emotions and magic power that they rejected until now, but they haven't adjusted well yet. He probably doesn't know a single magic of the dark system.

　Still, Fiona bravely smiled and composed herself with a smile.

It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for. The inside of the training grounds, filled with silence and silence, begins to glow with a fresh black light.
　A part of the budding talent may be steeper than anyone else's and more heretical than anyone else's. But the girl's reflection was more pure black brilliance than anyone else's.