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Finding that Asakura did not speak to stop them, Yukino Yukinoshita hesitated repeatedly, but still followed Asakura and Yui Yuigahama to what he called the 'true activity room'.
"Wow... when did the school have a room like this?"
When she saw the entrance to the 9 3/4 classroom, which looked like a wooden Clubroom embedded in the wall and was completely out of place with the normal classrooms in the teaching building, Yui Yuigahama couldn't help but exclaim: "It's so conspicuous, why didn't I notice it before today?"
"What entrance?"
However, Yukino Yukinoshita beside her looked bewildered: "Isn't this just a wall? The only door is for the broom closet next to it, right?"
"It's this slightly old-looking wooden door, it even has moss on it..."
As Yui Yuigahama spoke, she noticed that Yukino Yukinoshita's gaze was still unfocused, just frowning and scanning the wall, and for some reason, she couldn't continue speaking.
One of them didn't know how to describe where something right in front of them was, while the other couldn't find the thing right in front of them no matter what. In the end, the two girls could only look at each other, not knowing what to do.
Asakura enjoyed Yukino Yukinoshita's rare bewildered expression for a moment—this expression added a touch of adorable clumsiness to the usually aloof Miss Yukino.
Then he opened the door and strolled into the Association Clubroom.
"Dis-disappeared?!"
From Yukino Yukinoshita's perspective, his action was like walking directly through the wall and disappearing into thin air on the other side.
The girl quickly ran to the broom closet, opened the door, and looked inside, but only saw randomly stacked clutter, with no sign of Asakura.
"Yukino, you really can't see it? It's clearly right here..."
Yui Yuigahama also walked inside the door, peered around, her gaze lingering for a moment on the most eye-catching cauldron, then looked outside again.
At this moment, Yukino Yukinoshita was pacing anxiously outside.
She had tried to rush directly into the place where Asakura and Yui Yuigahama had disappeared.
However, what seemed to be mere illusionary walls to Asakura and Yui Yuigahama were undoubtedly real walls to Yukino Yukinoshita. No matter how hard she tried, she clearly couldn't pass through a wall.
Yui Yuigahama stepped out of the door and tried to take Yukino Yukinoshita's hand, leading her into the Association Clubroom.
But the result was no change; Yukino's hand was rejected by the Association Clubroom, stuck outside the wall, while Yuigahama entered the Clubroom. Her strength almost entirely fell on Yukino Yukinoshita's fingers, making Yukino Yukinoshita feel as if her fingers were caught in a vise.
However, the girl knew that Yuigahama was doing this purely out of kindness and didn't want to worry her, so she tried her best to suppress her cries of pain, stiffening her neck and swallowing the scream back into her stomach.
"I'm sorry, Yuigahama, it seems I really can't go over there..."
Yukino Yukinoshita expressionlessly withdrew her still throbbing hand, her expression and tone as usual, but Yui Yuigahama heard a hint of disappointment and dejection in them.
Even she, who wasn't particularly sensitive to others' emotions, could clearly feel Yukino Yukinoshita's low spirits, which showed how much this incident had impacted Yukino Yukinoshita.
The pink-haired Mochi girl couldn't help but look at Asakura with pleading eyes.
"Didn't I say? It's better for ordinary people to keep their distance from people like us."
Asakura, however, just shook his head, refusing the girl's silent plea.
It wasn't that he was intentionally targeting Yukino Yukinoshita; it was just that people like Yui Yuigahama, who were already involved, were fine, but for ordinary people like Yukino Yukinoshita, Asakura didn't want to interfere too much with her life. After all, in his impression, Yukino's original story ending seemed to be a happy end, and if he arbitrarily meddled and turned the ending into a bad end, it would be a losing proposition.
After watching Yukino Yukinoshita leave with somewhat faltering steps, Asakura officially brought Yui Yuigahama into the club Clubroom.
He hadn't planned to open the deeper Great Blessing yet; after all, when that thing wasn't activated, it was just a massive round table. Currently, the entire Chiba Magic Society (inside) only had three people, so such a large round table was truly unnecessary.
"It feels surprisingly lived-in..."
Because of Yukino's departure, Yui Yuigahama didn't seem as lively as usual. After lingering in front of the cauldron for a moment, her gaze drifted over the various bottles and jars on the shelf, finally resting for a while on a ceremonial sword placed on a shelf, similar in form to a late 16th-century Italian stiletto. Only then did she continue: "I originally thought it would be more magical and incredible."
"Disappointed?" Asakura asked.
"Not at all, it's just... how should I put it... there's a more tangible sense of reality, like 'Magic really exists'."
Yui Yuigahama said softly.
"Originally, the fighting and killing aspects of Magic only accounted for a small part; more of it is about the research and mastery of Magic itself. Let me think..."
As Asakura spoke, his gaze caught something on the coat rack next to the shelf: "Oh, and there's this!"
"What, what?"
Yui Yuigahama curiously leaned over, then saw Asakura take a somewhat worn-out pointed wizard hat from the coat rack.
"Oh, this hat, I remember Asakura-kun also wore it when we were in that space before, right?"
"Mm, it's a good hat."
Asakura nodded. Previously, to suppress the side effects of Truth Vision, he had worn the Sorting Hat throughout his time in that dessert space, relying on the mental boost it provided to get through it.
Among the system rewards Asakura had received so far, this simple but practical Sorting Hat could be considered a major prize.
"But it can actually be used like this." Asakura finished speaking and, without waiting for the girl to react, placed the Sorting Hat on her head.
"Wah, my hair's going to get messed up..."
Yui Yuigahama said nervously.
But before she could take off the hat to fix her hair, the worn-out wizard hat suddenly came to life.
"Oh, another little witch~"
"The hat spoke!"
The girl's hand, reaching for the hat, froze directly, her small face filled with astonishment.
"Don't worry, don't be afraid, I'm just a sincere Sorting Hat~
"You're wondering why I didn't speak before? That's because I was put under a gag order by my master. Oh, he always thinks too much~
"Don't panic, don't worry, I can't read your thoughts, I can only feel your virtues~
"You have a bit of courage, which is good. Too much courage becomes recklessness, but lacking courage means you can't do anything, just like spices, just right is the most wonderful flavor~
"Your rationality is slightly lacking, which means you might be more impulsive than you think, pursuing romanticism. This is not a bad thing; absolute rationality is no different from indifference. Keep your passion, and your life won't be as boring as my hat-life~
"Loyalty! Of course, this is necessary, faithful and honest, thinking of others, nothing could be better... So what's the need for hesitation?
"Hufflepuff!"
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