Inside the SDS office at the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters in the Eastern Capital.
Wearing her glasses, Tachibana Kirika read the documents in her hands while holding an anti-eavesdropping phone between her shoulder and ear. With a smile, she said:
"You actually brought that occult expert over from Kyoto to teach Luo Shu. Thanks for going to all that trouble."
A gentle voice drifted slowly from the other end of the line:
"I merely provided some necessary teaching support. After all, that boy is the first Sorcerer we've recruited in Japan."
Then the voice grew quieter, as though grumbling, "And you practically forced him into it, Kirika."
"He isn't angry now, is he?"
The person on the other end sounded somewhat resigned.
Hearing her friend's teasing, Tachibana Kirika laughed.
"Don't lecture me. You know what I'm like. When a treasure pops up in the wild, how could I possibly keep my hands off it?"
"Besides, with such a helpful mentor guiding him into the adult world~ it's bad enough that he hasn't bought me a limited-edition handbag. Angry? What does he have to be angry about?"
"That certainly sounds like you, Kirika."
The woman on the other end sounded exasperated, though there was a hint of affection in that exasperation:
"While our need for Sorcerers is indeed urgent, recruiting newcomers through this sort of behavior rather than attracting them with our ideals... you really were willful this time, Kirika."
"A young lady who's even more willful than I am has no right to talk. Who was it who suddenly announced one day that she wanted to establish SDS? I'm working for you here, young lady."
Tachibana Kirika grumbled, then continued irritably:
"Besides, that boy clearly saw something to gain and went along with joining us. How did that become me coercing him?~
All I did was tell him the Metropolitan Police Department's attitude toward special individuals like him. I didn't say anything else, okay?
Please read the relevant report a few more times, you young lady who's even more willful than I am!"
Having said that, Tachibana Kirika continued approving documents as she spoke:
"All right, enough digressions."
"Now that we've recruited a Sorcerer, if we train him properly, SDS in Japan will be off to a decent start."
"And those Abyssal Artifacts we have that ordinary people can't use will finally have a 'decent' user."
At that point, Tachibana Kirika took the phone in her hand and raised her head slightly, her expression gradually turning serious.
"The 'cornerstone of maintaining peace and order' is finally about to settle into place before our eyes. I have rather mixed feelings about it."
"Lacus Clyne~ my dear friend~ don't you have anything to say to me after all my hard work?"
A soft chuckle seemed to come from the other end, followed by a gentle, beautiful voice that soothed the soul:
"Thank you for all your hard work, my dear friend~"
"Well..."
Tachibana Kirika took off her glasses, pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed.
"Even if it's only a pipe dream the two of us share, I still hope this world can remain at peace."
"Even if it's swallowed by the ever-approaching Abyss."
With that, Tachibana Kirika hung up, put her glasses back on, and silently read the title of the report before her:
[Conjecture regarding the countdown to the apocalypse.]
"Another report rehashing the same old subject..." Tachibana Kirika spun her pen and sighed irritably.
Just then, the encrypted phone beside her rang.
"Hello~ it's me. Chisato? Has something finally happened on Luo Shu's end? It's fine. Failure doesn't matter. It was only meant to give him some practice..."
"What? He found it in one night?"
Listening to Chisato Nishikigi's report, Tachibana Kirika froze.
In a park near Private Toyosaki Academy.
Beside the fountain.
A graceful high school girl with long, straight black hair held her schoolbag and addressed the late-arriving Luo Shu without expression:
"Not a single message on LINE all night, then a 'meet me at the park' just before classes start. So you're the sort of man with a rich social life who disappears into clubs at night, Luo Shu?"
Luo Shu paused at her words, then gave her a curious look and explained:
"Something unexpected did happen last night. When I wanted to contact you, I checked through the internal network and found you'd already gone to bed early."
Then Luo Shu changed tack and teased, "Come to think of it, did you really listen to me and go to bed early so you could get up early? So you're actually such an obedient good girl, Miss Utaha?"
"..." Utaha Kasumigaoka fell silent for a moment, then said with a complicated expression, "My neck hurts."
"My ankle, too."
"?" Luo Shu was baffled. How had the conversation suddenly jumped so far off track?
Seeing his reaction, Utaha Kasumigaoka sighed and said helplessly:
"I went to bed too late the night before last, and yesterday morning I was messaging you during class instead of catching up on sleep. So when I got home, I fell asleep right on the sofa and slept until morning."
"When I woke up early this morning and glanced at the wall clock, I realized the time was wrong. I mistakenly thought I'd missed your LINE messages last night, and I twisted my ankle while frantically looking for my phone. On top of that,
I got a stiff neck from sleeping on the sofa last night..."
"Am I an idiot...?"
Utaha Kasumigaoka deeply 'despised' herself.
Yesterday, she had actually forgotten that she could check on Luo Shu through their internal communication network. She really had gotten stupid, failing to register that she was now 'different.'
"So that's the main reason you took a jab at me first thing in the morning?"
Luo Shu looked at the woman before him, unsure whether to laugh or cry. He felt that her 'intelligence' today was nowhere near as high as her 'appearance' suggested:
"Although the 'system' can only heal you at our base, and teleporting there costs points, you could've gone to the Club Room early to get treated. Why are you still waiting for me here?"
Utaha Kasumigaoka looked at Luo Shu expressionlessly. "Please don't overestimate someone who was still an ordinary person yesterday."
Then she deliberately changed the subject:
"Anyway, what happened last night that kept you from sending even a single reply?"
"An apparently semi-official organization discovered that I have supernatural powers. I'm actively dealing with it."
Utaha Kasumigaoka froze at that, then asked incredulously:
"Those authorities who are run ragged by all the cases in Beika Town actually have that kind of capability?"
Luo Shu's expression turned slightly odd, as though he hadn't expected Utaha Kasumigaoka to have that sort of 'perception':
"The organization is backed by the arms dealers behind the Garrison. Japan's authorities seem to provide only funding and some assistance."
"I see. So they're not the authorities I was thinking of? Then that level of efficiency makes sense."
After saying something guaranteed to infuriate Japan's Metropolitan Police Department, Utaha Kasumigaoka continued with a teasing edge:
"It seems a certain esteemed Deity went to quite some trouble yesterday to protect his Familia."
Before you continue