I, System Creator

So she silently looked at Miyu and asked about Miyu's current situation.

Miyu said nothing, merely letting Chu Chen and Luvia explain.

"Hello, my name is Chu Chen. I'm currently Miyu's guardian..."

"Hello, my name is Luvia Edelfelt, Sapphire's original owner... Since you came here with Miyu, you must have heard from Miyu and Sapphire already. Are you planning to get involved in collecting the Class Cards as well?"

As she spoke, a hint of vigilance flashed through Luvia's eyes. No matter what, Chu Chen was a mage. If he was interested in the Class Cards, then she would have to take him down immediately. Of course she had to be wary.

Taking in Luvia's guarded expression, Chu Chen merely smiled.

"Don't worry. I'm not interested in the Class Cards you mentioned. I'm only here to protect Miyu as her guardian. And, Miss Luvia, you should call me Teacher. By seniority, I'm a teacher at Hohomihara Academy—a foreign exchange student!"

By the end, a teasing look appeared on Chu Chen's face. He had already looked over Luvia's information at school before. Besides her, there was also a Tohsaka Rin. His expression had been quite something when he saw that.

Luvia froze slightly, unable to stop herself from studying Chu Chen.

"You're... a teacher? How old are you? You became a teacher already?"

It couldn't be helped. Chu Chen simply did not look like an adult who had entered society.

He looked more like a young high school student... So Luvia found it hard to believe what she had heard.

"Hey, hey, hey! Is that really the important part? Shouldn't we be dealing with the Class Card now?"

After Chu Chen called her out, an awkward look immediately appeared on Luvia's face, and she coughed.

"Ahem... Then let's deal with the Class Card next. Though, I wonder where that Tohsaka Rin is right now..." Ever since she and Tohsaka Rin had split up to search for the Kaleidosticks, she had not met with her again.

The reason was simple. She still needed to sort through all the luggage she had brought after arriving in Fuyuki City.

Once she had finished, she silently began preparing for tonight's Class Card recovery operation.

At the same time, she wondered what she should do if she ran into Tohsaka Rin. What if Tohsaka Rin had retrieved her wand and chosen someone else for it? That would be utterly humiliating...

"Illya seemed to say she was going to the high school field tonight, so she should be there."

Sapphire suddenly answered Luvia's muttering, causing Luvia to pause.

"Illya? Who's that?" A puzzled look surfaced on Luvia's face.

"Illya is Lady Miyu's classmate and Sister's new Master," Sapphire explained.

"A new Master? I see. So Tohsaka Rin too... Ohohohoho..."

Luvia could not help letting out a queenly three-stage laugh, her face full of smug delight. This way, she was not the only one abandoned by her Magic Crest. Then the other girl would have no reason to mock her.

Chu Chen could not help rolling his eyes at Luvia. What was she laughing for? Wasn't she exactly the same?

Miyu and Sapphire both looked at Luvia speechlessly. Sapphire in particular could not help sighing.

Lady Luvia and Lady Tohsaka Rin really were a pair of bitter rivals... Who knew why their relationship was so bad...

On the athletic field of Hohomihara Academy's high school division stood a girl with black twin-tails. She wore ordinary casual clothes with a white jacket over them. Her name was Tohsaka Rin, Luvia's partner in recovering the Class Cards.

However, the relationship between those two was terrible beyond measure. It was truly a headache.

Illya stood quietly beside Tohsaka Rin, dressed in a pink-and-white Magical Girl outfit. Other than the color, it was not much different from Miyu's transformed appearance.

At that moment, uneven footsteps gradually echoed across the empty field.

Tohsaka Rin and Illya immediately turned their heads. Luvia, Chu Chen, and the others slowly appeared before them.

The moment she saw Tohsaka Rin, Luvia immediately let out her signature queenly three-stage laugh, narrowing her eyes slightly as she looked at the girl before her.

"Yo! Tohsaka Rin, you got here pretty early. Don't tell me you thought that by coming early, the Class Card would belong to you?"

"Luvia! You... Hm! Why is Sapphire following that child? Don't tell me you too..."

Tohsaka Rin had originally wanted to fire back a few insults, but when she saw Sapphire, she immediately understood what had happened.

The next instant, a mocking smile appeared on Tohsaka Rin's face. So you were just like me!

"..." The corner of Luvia's mouth twitched hard, and her expression stiffened.

"Miyu! Huh? Why is Teacher Chu Chen here too..."

Illya hurried forward with a smile to greet them, but when she saw Chu Chen, she froze as well.

"Illya, do you know them?" Tohsaka Rin glanced at Illya.

"Yeah! Miyu is my classmate, and Teacher Chu Chen is Miyu's guardian and my teacher too! But—"

As she explained, Illya's gaze shifted toward Chu Chen, her eyes full of confusion.

"Why did Teacher Chu Chen come here with Miyu?"

It was not that Chu Chen could not come, but wasn't this sort of thing usually kept secret? She had kept it hidden from Sella and Liz. As for her father and mother, they were never home anyway, so it hardly mattered whether she hid it from them or not.

"I'm a mage too... Besides, I'm Miyu's guardian. If something happened to Miyu, how could I not come..."

When Chu Chen said he was a mage, Tohsaka Rin could not help glancing at him.

Was this mage really here without designs on the Class Cards?

"Then, since everyone is here, let's begin recovering the Class Card. Don't waste any more time!"

Luvia naturally saw that Tohsaka Rin shared her wariness, but this was not the time to ask questions. She immediately interrupted Tohsaka Rin's thoughts and spoke up.

"Hahaha, then let's begin together, Sapphire!" Ruby said.

"Yes, Sister!" Sapphire nodded in reply.

"Add an imaginary axis to the fifth measurement variable. Begin reversal preparation! Confirming the existence of complex space. Central coordinates fixed. Forming a reflection route within a two-meter radius. Reversing the partial boundary corridor!"

Ruby and Sapphire spoke in unison. As they did, one pink and one blue magic circle unfolded, enveloping everyone present.

"W-W-Wait! What are we doing... Where are we going?"

Seeing this, Illya immediately panicked.

Weren't they here to recover cards? Wasn't this supposed to be as simple as picking up a card? Why had special effects suddenly started going off for no reason?

Haibara Ai: Illya, Do You Need Medicine?

"W-W-Wait! What are we doing... Where are we going?"

Illya was panicking. What exactly were they doing? Why could she not understand any of this at all?!

"The Class Card isn't in this space. We're heading to the space where the Class Card is located now!"

Chu Chen watched the scene before him with great interest. Watching it in an anime was one thing; experiencing it personally was another.

"Didn't Sister tell you?" Seeing how confused Illya was, Sapphire could not help asking.

"Ahaha, now that you mention it, I seem to have forgotten to tell her," Ruby said with an awkward laugh.

"Sister, honestly..." Sapphire felt exhausted. Her sister was far too unreliable.

Tohsaka Rin coughed twice. Under Luvia's teasing gaze, she spoke rather awkwardly.

"The Class Card's location really is here, but the magical distortion created by the Class Card exists in another world that our naked eyes can't observe. And that's where we're going now."

"Another world?" Illya was confused.

In an instant, it felt as if the entire world had completely flipped over. Yet everything before them looked exactly the same as before. However, when they looked up, they could see that the entire school seemed to be surrounded by mirrors.

"Coordinates stabilized. Teleportation complete!" Ruby and Sapphire said in unison.

"This is—" Illya was immediately shocked.

"This is the Mirror World. Simply put, it's the reflection of the world we're in," Chu Chen said calmly.

The concept of the Mirror World was quite easy to understand. Chu Chen remembered that clearly.

"So... where is the Class Card? I don't see any card on the ground?"

"Huh? Illya, don't tell me you thought we came here just to pick something up..."

Tohsaka Rin looked at Illya speechlessly, while Illya wore an expression that plainly said, Wasn't that the case?

"Hey, didn't you tell Illya that there would be a fight?"

Chu Chen could not help rolling his eyes. Tohsaka Rin's habit of dropping the ball at crucial moments was truly something else...

"Didn't I tell her?" Tohsaka Rin immediately looked at Illya, who promptly lost it!

"You didn't tell me anything at all! Rin, you only said we were recovering Class Cards! I thought we were just here to pick up cards!"

Illya: "(╯‵□)╯︵┻━┻(╯‵□)╯︵┻━┻(╯‵□)╯︵┻━┻!"

Chu Chen found it rather amusing. Illya had broken down so thoroughly that she had actually sent that emoji through the System Network.

Haibara Ai: "Currently researching an antidote for the Zombie Virus... What's wrong with Illya? Does she need medicine? I have tranquilizers!"

Administrator: "I don't think Illya's state of mind can be fixed with tranquilizers anymore... It's exhausting dealing with someone unreliable. Poor Illya..."

Illya: "!!! How does the Administrator know what I'm doing here?"

Shrinking her head down, Illya swept her sharp gaze around the area. She felt as though the Administrator was spying on her.

Administrator: "Ahem... I guessed... Just guessed..."

He had originally wanted to say that he could observe their current situation through the System, but Chu Chen was worried that this lot would guard against him like he was some creep and accuse him of peeping. So he could only use such a lame excuse.

Miyu could not help glancing at Chu Chen, a trace of confusion flashing through her eyes, but she did not say anything.

Suddenly, as if she had sensed something, Miyu's gaze sharpened and she gripped Sapphire tightly in her hand.

"It's here!"

Before them, pitch-black magical energy rose like a storm, and a figure slowly emerged.

Within that mist of pure magical energy, a tall and voluptuous figure gradually appeared.

She had long purple hair that reached her heels, and a blindfold covered her eyes. Yet they could still feel that she had locked onto them. Clearly, their group had already been deemed enemies by her.

"What... what is going on..." Illya clutched Ruby to her chest, completely flustered.

"The Class Card will materialize in this world. We have to defeat her before the Class Card can be recovered..."

Chu Chen quietly explained, while Miyu had already charged forward. Sapphire in her hand began gathering magical energy.

"Cannon fire—"

A blue beam of magical energy tore through the air from Sapphire's tip and shot toward Rider.

However, Rider excelled in speed, so she easily dodged Miyu's magical blast and continued closing in on Miyu.

If a straightforward cannon blast would not work, then she would use a shotgun attack instead...

Having reached that conclusion, Miyu immediately swung Sapphire. In an instant, the original magical blast split apart into countless smaller ones, and a dazzling barrage covered every direction Rider could move.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sparks flew and smoke billowed, completely obscuring Rider's figure.

"Miyu! Keep it up!" Luvia exclaimed excitedly.

"Illya! You get in there too! You absolutely can't lose to Luvia!" Tohsaka Rin shouted in frustration.

"Huh!" Illya was startled, and a look of utter panic appeared on her face.

"No way! I'm not as amazing as Miyu! How could I possibly win?!"

The corner of Tohsaka Rin's mouth twitched hard. Did this girl have to be so lacking in confidence?

"Illya, you knocked me unconscious the first time we met. Can you have a little confidence in yourself?"

Luvia froze. She knew Tohsaka Rin's strength very well, but Illya had knocked such a Tohsaka Rin unconscious when they first met? Was that supposed to be a joke?

Only then did Luvia carefully examine Illya. It seemed this little girl had something remarkable about her too.

"Rin is right. Illya, the amount of magical energy inside you is the greatest I've ever seen apart from Master. Even if you lack combat experience, you won't lose to Miyu... Just attack like you did when you fought Rin before!"

Ruby also began encouraging her Master...

However, what she said made Tohsaka Rin want to give Ruby a thorough beating. Could she stop bringing up the time Illya beat her up?

Chu Chen also covered his forehead, then stepped forward to encourage Illya.

"Illya, you don't need to force yourself to fight like Miyu. You only need to support from a distance. Picture yourself unleashing a magical attack in your mind, then swing Ruby!"

As he spoke, Chu Chen did not forget to assign Illya a mission.

This could also be considered a form of encouragement for Illya.