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For a moment, even the air seemed to freeze.
"?"
Ryoji slowly formed a question mark with his expression.
Judging by that murderous look on her face, it didn't seem like she was joking, this was genuine killing intent.
"Why do you always want to kill?" Ryoji couldn't help but complain.
"Aren't you annoying enough? Can't you just speak plainly?"
He looked thoroughly impatient.
"Is it really good to be this unbothered?"
Aozaki Aoko ignored his question. Her face went cold as she raised her right hand.
A vein-like pattern appeared beneath her clothing, emitting an attention-grabbing glow; at the same time a circular magic array materialized in front of her wrist.
It was the action of preparing to fire a bombardment.
"Even if you say that--" Ryoji spread his hands, innocent. "From your body, I really don't feel any threat!"
Tch!
Aozaki Aoko felt deeply scorned; in an instant she snapped, two veins bulging on her forehead as her icy gaze hardened.
This guy really was outrageously annoying!
"Then let's see whether you truly pose no threat!" She shouted, voice full and commanding.
The patterns on her right arm suddenly flared; a mysterious power was squeezed out from within her body and, through the magic array before her wrist, converted into a magic-power projectile.
Bang!
Like a gunshot, a sound rang out.
A bowling-ball–sized blue-green light-bullet burst forth and shot straight toward Ryoji from the front!
"Hmm…"
Ryoji watched the blue projectile and let out a slight hum, sounding a bit troubled.
BOOM!
The projectile didn't hit him, it grazed his shoulder and swept past.
It slammed into the bakery's outer wall behind him, and with a deep bell-like clang, dented the already-rusted iron panel.
"You… didn't dodge?" Aozaki Aoko's hand froze mid-motion, dumbfounded as she stared at Ryoji.
"Was there any need to dodge?" Ryoji asked in return.
"Wh--!"
Aozaki Aoko's face darkened; her expression visibly soured.
"If that strike had hit someone's body, it's enough to maim them, if you keep underestimating me like this, you'll definitely die by my hand!"
Aozaki Aoko had a clear sense of her own strength.
She wasn't an especially accomplished Magecraft practitioner. With less than two years of study under her belt, she was at best an apprentice in terms of Magecraft; many fundamental Magecraft techniques she couldn't even use well.
But when it came to destruction, she was unusually skilled.
Even an ordinary, run-of-the-mill practical Magecraft, a magic bullet, in her hands had power far beyond that of an average Magecraft user: able to shatter rock, tear steel. If a human body were struck, at the very least the result would be crippling.
In other words, she was the sort of Magecraft user adept at combat.
"Then why didn't you hit me just now?" Ryoji smiled without a ripple.
"...That one was only a warning." Aozaki Aoko's gaze flickered. Looking into his far-too-calm eyes, it felt as if even her inner thoughts might be exposed.
She shook her head; her expression steadily hardened.
"I won't show mercy anymore. Brace yourself!"
The blue glow doubled in intensity.
Aozaki Aoko ran her Magecraft circuits more completely, letting more magic power be processed by the small magic array into multiple magic bullets.
In an instant, the magic bullets fired like a machine gun, unleashing four rapid shots within a single second.
She hadn't been lying.
This time, she really had aimed with enough force to break Ryoji's arms and legs.
Yet he still just stood there, not even attempting to dodge.
Aozaki Aoko fixed her eyes on his movements. Seeing how defenseless he looked, her pupils contracted slightly, and her heart tightened.
Duang!
But the result was nothing like what she had imagined.
The magic bullets struck his limbs, only to make a sound like they had hit solid metal.
"Stings a little," Ryoji frowned, then with a casual flick of his fingers sent the remaining bullets flying away.
'This guy…?!'
Aozaki Aoko's eyes widened, her heart shaken with disbelief.
Was he really human?
Why was it that magic bullets, capable of shattering rock and tearing steel, felt like cotton balls bouncing off stainless steel when they hit his body?
And this guy claimed to be just a rookie Magecraft user?!
"Listen carefully, Aozaki, "
The boy across from her patted the spots where the bullets had landed, as casually as if brushing away dust.
"This is what fighting really means."
In the blink of an eye, Before Aozaki Aoko could even react, his figure vanished from her sight.
So fast!
Her heart lurched; in panic she completely lost her composure.
The next moment, her vision blurred, then a large hand suddenly filled her entire view from the front.
And immediately afterward, everything went black.
The girl's heart froze with terror. For an instant, she truly felt as though her life no longer belonged to her, as though she were drifting through a pitch-black void, her soul consumed entirely by fear.
Thwack!
"Ow!"
Pain exploded across her forehead.
Aozaki Aoko let out a startled cry, then ungracefully toppled onto her rear. She clutched her forehead with trembling hands, eyes shimmering with tears that she stubbornly refused to let fall.
It was just a natural reaction of the body! It absolutely wasn't that she wanted to cry!
But her forehead was definitely red!
"If you truly wanted to kill me, you shouldn't have revealed yourself openly from the start. You shouldn't have deliberately let the first shot miss, and even in that barrage just now, you shouldn't have only aimed to break my limbs."
Ryoji stood before her, smiling cheerfully.
"Thanks to that, you just saved your own life."
A chill ran down Aozaki Aoko's spine.
Though he was smiling, there wasn't a trace of warmth in his expression.
If she had really done what Ryoji said, hidden herself at the start, launched a surprise attack, and targeted his vital points, then perhaps right now, her neck would already be broken.
Because she hadn't done so, all she got was a flick to the forehead.
From that suffocating terror of feeling her life completely beyond her control just moments ago, she understood, this man's strength utterly crushed that of ordinary Magecraft users, and he carried the very real, lethal presence of someone who had fought on battlefields.
Unlike her.
She had never fought before. Tonight was, in truth, her very first real battle.
"So, tell me, why did you suddenly change your mind?"
Ryoji squatted down, his eyes smiling as he looked at Aozaki Aoko, who was sitting on the ground like a duck.
"…I didn't change my mind."
Aozaki Aoko pouted, begrudgingly accepting the reality that she couldn't win.
Still putting on a stubborn front, she reached into the pocket of her outer coat and pulled out a sheet of letter paper, handing it to Ryoji.
"The reason's written here."
(End of Chapter)