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Ryoji vaguely remembered that old man being some kind of big shot. Kaleidoscope, at max output, had definitely been worth every drop of money he'd ever sunk into it. The Mystic Code had carried him more times than he could count.
"So basically, you claim you were taken in as his apprentice, learned some Magecraft under him... and then he just vanished?"
Aozaki Aoko's eyes narrowed to icy slits, her gaze fixed sharply on Ryoji.
"Then what's with your Magecraft?"
She didn't dismiss his story outright. After all, Magi were a whimsical, self-absorbed breed. It wasn't unheard of for one wandering outside the Association to pick up a passing apprentice on a whim, nurturing them until boredom struck and they simply disappeared again.
But too many details gnawed at her. Things didn't add up.
"Magecraft? Wait, I can use Magecraft?" Ryoji's face lit up with unhinged joy, his grin stretching so far it looked painful.
"What kind of Magecraft? Tell me, quick!"
"...?"
Aozaki Aoko blinked, nonplussed.
Wasn't that the sort of question that exposed someone pretending to be a Magus? Why did he look like a kid hearing the sun had risen just for him? His grin was ridiculous, like someone had just watched a rock break down crying.
"You're the one with Suggestion Magecraft, aren't you?" she pressed, suspicion dripping from her voice. "And not just some minor trick. What you're using works on a massive scale... effective on anyone human, correct?"
"...?"
Ryoji froze. His expression twisted, strained, like plaster cracking under too much weight.
"Why do you look like you're about to cry?"
"It's nothing... this is just... something I was born with..."
Curling up, Ryoji drew his knees to his chest.
Cold.
So cold.
The world was so vast, yet not a single sliver of warmth seemed meant for him. The sky outside was blue, birds passing windows like a thousand paper cranes in flight.
"...Born with it?" Aoko looked down at him as though he'd sprouted a second head.
"I'm not even using Magic Power. Check for yourself if you don't believe me..."
Listlessly, almost in despair, Ryoji extended his hand as though surrendering entirely to scrutiny.
A hesitance flickered across Aoko's face. His reaction wasn't just strange, it was too strong. Like someone who had just taken a direct strike to the heart.
Still, she reached out, taking his wrist.
The instant her hand brushed his skin, Aozaki Aoko's chest jolted tight. Her perception scattered like broken glass thrown into the wind.
'No. Steady.'
Biting down on disorder, she forcibly settled herself into meditation.
For a Magus, meditation wasn't optional. It was fundamental training, anchoring thought and spirit, building a wall of focus that no interference could easily breach.
Once her mind centered, Aozaki Aoko let her breath slow. She drew up her own Magic Power, fine as spider-silk threads, and carefully sent it probing into Ryoji's body.
It was a dangerous act.
But the danger wasn't hers, it was his.
Magic Power was, after all, life energy. To allow another's current of life into one's body was to bare one's defenses utterly. Once inside, that foreign current could shred the body's very foundation, wreaking havoc at will. It was the reason Magi almost never permitted direct inspection.
Precisely because of this, Aoko felt her shoulders ease a little.
For Ryoji to let her in, either he bore her no hostility, or... he didn't even realize the risk. If it was the latter, then it only reinforced her suspicion that he wasn't a proper Magus at all.
Aoko steadied her heart and guided the thread of her Magic Power through his body in a probing, circuit-like path.
And indeed, just as he had claimed.
Not a single trace of artificial Magic Power use. No sparks of reinforcement, no resonance of elemental mysteries.
"...Could it really be just a natural-born trait?"
For an instant, something almost like envy flickered in her chest.
As a woman, appearances had never troubled her much, and yet she couldn't deny a certain pride in the beauty that came naturally. But this… this was different.
It felt as though the cosmos itself had coughed up some man who effortlessly overshadowed her. It was like a stranger suddenly declaring: I was born a hundred times more dazzling than you.
Unbearable. Even unthinkable.
A man whose presence, dressed in the finery of a woman, could topple nations, bring calamity, and change destinies with a smile.
The sense of defeat clawed at Aoko's pride.
"…Forget it. Anyway, I get it now."
Her fingers loosened, letting go of his wrist. Her face was set in irritation, but her killing intent had vanished without a trace. For a heartbeat, she almost felt something tug unbidden at her heartstrings. Scowling, she shook it off immediately, shoving the thought into the farthest corner of her mind.
Still, the atmosphere had already shifted. The crushing hostility that had bristled around her was gone.
"I'll choose to believe your story, for now."
The words left her lips with reluctant finality, yet a weight she hadn't realized she carried slid from her shoulders. Her expression, little by little, lightened.
Whatever it was, this Ryoji's charm was irrefutably innate. Perhaps a manifestation of his Origin. Perhaps the blessing of some forgotten god.
But the conclusion was plain, he was no enemy.
That strange, abnormal magnetism she sensed in his body was what had deceived her into thinking he was a Magus at all. His allure was overwhelming, beyond imagination. So strong it swayed even her, her thoughts, her perception, her very flow of Magic Power bent at its presence.
It wasn't normal. It couldn't be.
And yet, it was real.
But if it was truly natural-born... then it wasn't something she could just ignore.
No, in that sense, this man was even more dangerous.
If he had been her enemy, Aozaki Aoko could have steeled herself, unleashed her rage, and killed him outright. Simple, clean, decisive.
But he wasn't.
On the contrary, he was her Student Council colleague, someone she would be forced to see every. single. day.
Which meant being saturated in his baffling charm, day after day, until it seeped into her skin like a poison.
That was unacceptable.
She had to quit the Student Council. At once.
Her decision was immediate.
Convenient attendance exemptions or not, her long-term well-being mattered more than Council perks. Anything to get out of this death trap she had… inadvertently walked into.
…Although, staying wouldn't exactly be so terrible, a sly thought whispered.
Instantly, her mind skidded to a halt, horrified by itself. She strangled that treacherous flicker of desire with enough force to shatter mountains and exhaled sharply, changing the subject before her pride could collapse further.
"All right then, tell me. Why did you kill the starling familiar?"
"Right, I was just about to explain that, "
Ryoji snapped back to himself, brushing away the bitter cocktail of hope and despair that clawed at his chest. His face tightened into seriousness as he turned toward Aoko.
"Hey, "
But before he could take another word,
a voice colder than steel crept from the infirmary doorway.
"How long do you two plan to stay here?"
The tone was low and heavy. It carried no warmth.
It was clearly human, and yet... something about it felt alien. Subtly discordant. A presence that didn't quite belong.
Both of them turned at once.
A young man in a pristine white lab coat stood framed by the doorway.
His long orange hair was loosely tied into a simple ponytail. His features were gentle, but his expression was marble-cold, his posture rigid. Beneath the coat, a green-trimmed uniform was just visible. His hands, sheathed in sterile gloves, only accentuated the sterile, clinical distance emanating from him.
"This is the infirmary," he said flatly, his eyes like frosted glass. "If you're healthy, leave. Immediately."
Disgust brushed the edge of his tone. His face carried not a flicker of human warmth.
"…Fair point."
Aozaki Aoko's eye twitched furiously.
This entire weekend. Every single person she had dealt with. All of them, infuriating.
"Fine. Let's talk outside."
She turned sharply, calling back to Ryoji over her shoulder as she stalked toward the exit.
"Pardon us, Doctor Romani."
Ryoji froze mid-step.
...Who?
Romani?
The doctor of this high school infirmary was this guy?
And with that cold, detached personality, too...?
(End of Chapter)