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An ancient stone door squeezed out from the originally empty wall. The brass doorknob rattled incessantly, as if urging those outside to open it quickly.
"This is..."
Asagumo Chihaya and Yuigahama Yui exchanged glances.
The small snake that had suddenly appeared in the house to inform them seemed to have crawled out from under a similar door, but after the small snake emerged, the door quickly disappeared, leaving no trace on the wall. Even if they knocked on the wall, they heard a very solid sound, not the hollow thud unique to empty spaces.
"It's not a special place... Well, actually, it is quite special, but no one could use it before except me, which is why I haven't introduced it to you yet—"
Asakura grasped the doorknob and distorted it open with force, saying to everyone, "Welcome to the Round Table Hall!"
The girls looked around and found it to be a very spacious room. Unlike the Clubroom outside, which was mainly made of wood, the Round Table Hall was almost entirely made of stone, with no windows. At first glance, it somewhat resembled a dungeon room in a Western fantasy game.
But this 'dungeon' had no sense of dimness at all. The reason, without a doubt, was the golden pillar of light standing on the large round table in the center of the room.
To call it a pillar of light wasn't quite right; it felt more like a solidified golden bonfire.
Despite being an incredibly bizarre scene, the light emitted by the golden bonfire was surprisingly warm, as if it had the magical ability to calm one's mood.
"Round Table..."
Gokou's eyes sparkled as she looked at the room and the Great Blessing in the center of the Round Table. It was clear that this dark, profound, and fantastical scene perfectly suited her chuunibyou aesthetic: "Subarashii!"
"This light is called the Great Blessing. It is the primordial Blessing, capable of granting protection to those who are recognized."
Asakura explained.
He had experimented before; the so-called protection could actually be seen as a 'slow health regeneration' effect. Unfortunately, it couldn't restore Magic power, so it was quite useless for Asakura. In contrast, its other effect was quite useful.
"As its master, I can consume Magic power to teleport directly here from other places."
He continued.
"I see. In short, this Round Table is like the 'base' for the protagonist's group in an anime, right?"
Yuigahama Yui also said excitedly, "Can we use this?"
"Under normal circumstances, unfortunately, no."
Asakura shook his head.
"'Normal circumstances' means there are 'abnormal circumstances,' right?"
Gokou asked keenly.
Asakura didn't speak, but simply walked into the Round Table Hall and reached out towards the Great Blessing.
A moment later, a cluster of golden light appeared in his hand.
No, strictly speaking, it wasn't something as ethereal as 'light.' If anything, it was closer to a mineral resembling crystal.
Looking at the shimmering gold in Asakura's hand, Gokou's mind conjured up this description—a crystal of imprisoned light.
"This is a 'Blessing' split from the Great Blessing."
Asakura continued, "Just as Gokou said, this is the 'exception.' Theoretically, all of you can teleport from a Blessing to the Round Table Hall, and vice versa."
"I see! So, if we set this up at Nadeshiko's place, even if something happens there, we can get there quickly? Right!"
Yuigahama Yui couldn't help but get excited upon hearing this, "I haven't really been to Yamanashi Prefecture much!"
"Actually, there aren't many particularly fun places... But if you want to see Mount Fuji, I can recommend a really great campsite."
Kagamihara Nadeshiko said happily.
"But is it really okay to put such a conspicuous thing at Miss Kagamihara's place?"
Asagumo Chihaya looked at the marvelous sight in Asakura's hand, still making her final efforts.
"You don't have to worry about this," Asakura said, shaking the Blessing in his hand. "The Blessing itself, just like the Association's door, can only be seen by those who are recognized."
"Recognized by whom?"
Yuigahama Yui asked.
By me.
"Of course, by destiny."
Asakura said with a mysterious expression.
"Oh..."
Yuigahama Yui was fooled by his pretense.
Gokou, beside her, also nodded in agreement, as if to say, 'Yes, that's exactly how it should be.'
Asagumo Chihaya, however, seemed to realize something after recalling Asakura's previous words. But she was already on Asakura's side, so even if she had any suspicions, she just stood there smiling, saying nothing.
"Then it's no problem. I also don't want to forget Asakura-kun, and Yuigahama, Asagumo, and Gokou."
Kagamihara Nadeshiko said happily.
"Why do you just call me by my name..."
Gokou muttered, a little displeased.
"Of course, it's because she feels close to you, Little Gokou-senpai," Asagumo Chihaya said with a smile. "After all, weren't you the first to actively try to make her stay, which is why it turned out this way?"
Gokou glanced at her, saying nothing.
For some reason, the girl always felt that Asagumo Chihaya's smile was a little fake—not the kind of hypocritical fake. If it were truly that hypocritical, Gokou would have kept her distance long ago.
If she had to make a comparison, in the girl's opinion, Asagumo Chihaya's smile was similar to some people's 'clippy' voices; it wasn't a completely false voice, but merely a way to prevent her true emotions from being easily discerned from her voice.
"That's right, and the name Gokou sounds really cute!"
Kagamihara Nadeshiko said loudly.
Her smile was very pure, feeling about the same level as that Yanami Muggles senior.
"Hey, hey,"
Yuigahama Yui made a purring sound and gently poked Gokou's soft, plump cheek: "Cute Little Gokou, how do you feel now~"
A vein popped on Gokou's forehead, and she pointed at Yuigahama Yui expressionlessly, saying, [Cat]
"Meow?! Why are you only targeting me when everyone else is laughing, meow?! Wait, what's with this speech habit? I feel like my cat-ness has increased compared to before, meow!"
Yuigahama Yui shrieked, covering the cat ears that had grown back on her head.
"Nothing, just a slight improvement in Magic recently."
Gokou said.
For a moment, the Round Table Hall was filled with laughter and the mournful wails of a cat.
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