"Ha~"
"Finally finished!"
Chiba Yeyou stood up and stretched to relieve the discomfort caused by sitting in a fixed position for a long time.
"Is it already dark?"
Chiba Yeyou walked to the window, looked at the dark night outside, and sighed at the speed at which time passed.
Walking to the window, looking at the lonely little bed in my room, I couldn't help but feel speechless.
"Why are all the rooms triple rooms, but mine is a single room?"
Chiba Yeyou muttered a complaint, lamenting that he had no one to talk to.
Helpless, Chiba Yeyou could only sit by the window and admire the night view outside.
I must say, although this area is under military management, the scenery is actually quite nice. It's less noisy and bustling than before, and much more peaceful and serene.
"Um?"
While sitting by the window Chiba Yeyou suddenly spotted Mikihiko Yoshida. He seemed to be practicing Spirit Magic. Through " Situational Awareness," she could indeed see clusters of "will-o'-the-wisps" floating irregularly around him.
At the same time, Mikihiko Yoshida, who was practicing his Spirit Magic alone in the grove, suddenly realized something. He waved his hand, gathering all the spirits around him into his palm, and casually threw them in one direction. A flash of bluish-purple light disappeared in an instant.
"This is... malicious intent?"
Mikihiko Yoshida stared intently in one direction with a serious expression.
"This isn't your average thief!"
Mikihiko Yoshida frowned and thought for a moment, then quickly ran in the direction he sensed malice.
From upstairs, Chiba Yeyou could clearly see that Tatsuya Shiba chasing after it in that direction.
However, after running for a while, Mikihiko Yoshida stopped, took a few steps back as if he was struggling with something, and then turned around and ran back in that direction without ever looking back.
"How much of a blow did this guy suffer!"
Chiba Yeyou sighed, then picked up a bag of snacks and ate while watching the scene of several men in black about to meet the two. He had no intention of helping at all. He even moved his body to get a better vantage point for watching the battle.
"Oh!"
"We've met!"
Chiba Yeyou stuffed the snacks in her hand into her mouth, chewing as she looked at the several figures running not far away.
"Three unidentified individuals?"
After Mikihiko Yoshida threw out three talismans, the three criminals separated from him by a fence obviously noticed his actions and immediately pointed their guns at Mikihiko Yoshida, ready to open fire.
At this critical moment, a white light flashed across the weapons in the hands of the criminals, and then the guns turned into a pile of parts scattered on the ground, leaving the three masked men in black stunned and somewhat confused about what had happened.
Chiba Yeyou looked behind Mikihiko Yoshida and, as expected, it was Tatsuya Shiba had made his move.
"Wow, that's an amazing ' Decomposition '!"
Chiba Yeyou looked at Tatsuya Shiba, ignoring the three bolts of lightning. She was curious about what " Regrowth " would look like when it was activated, and had a strong sense of anticipation for witnessing the " Regrowth " magic firsthand.
"It's over!"
Chiba Yeyou withdrew her gaze.
Just as Chiba Yeyou withdrew her gaze, Tatsuya Shiba seemed to sense something and looked in the direction where Chiba Yeyou was.
" Tatsuya!"
Mikihiko Yoshida never expected that it was Tatsuya Shiba would support him.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Tatsuya Shiba shook his head.
Tatsuya Shiba walked over to one of the downed criminals, removed his mask, checked his pulse with his finger, and, sensing that the man was still alive, felt relieved.
"Not fatal, your technique was excellent."
Tatsuya Shiba praised it.
"Ah?"
"Attack from a blind spot, but without inflicting fatal damage; incapacitate the opponent with a single blow—that's the ideal outcome!"
Tatsuya Shiba observed that the three were almost identical in their behavior and couldn't help but praise them again.
However, Mikihiko Yoshida clenched his fists. Although it was dark, the dark muzzle of the gun was so clear that it still made him feel uneasy. If it weren't for Tatsuya Shiba's help, he might have been hit first!
Thinking about this, he felt ashamed of his own lack of strength.
"But without Tatsuya's help, I would have been hit long ago."
Are you an idiot?
"Ah?"
Mikihiko Yoshida was completely bewildered by the word "idiot."
"That's just a hypothetical scenario. The reality is that the criminal was successfully subdued because of your magic; that's the only fact."
Tatsuya Shiba noticed that Mikihiko Yoshida seemed to lack self-confidence, so he described his outstanding performance in an attempt to boost his confidence.
"Besides..."
Besides, even if I don't intervene, that guy won't just stand by and do nothing.
Tatsuya Shiba stood up and looked in the direction of Chiba Yeyou, but he didn't say what he was going to say next.
" Mikihiko, how do you truly assess your own strength?"
"This..."
"No matter how many opponents you face, no matter how experienced they are, as long as you're alone, without needing anyone's help, you can resolve the situation cleanly and neatly. You don't mean to consider that the standard?"
Tatsuya Shiba looked at Mikihiko Yoshida in front of him, observing the man with some suspicion.
Seeing Mikihiko Yoshida's expression, Tatsuya Shiba immediately knew that this guy really thought so!
Good heavens!
He considered himself a decent strategic-level mage, but he never actually thought that way.
You have to understand, Tatsuya Shiba, a strategic-level mage, has a group of people supporting him; he relies on many others. How dare this guy in front of him even think of that?
"Hi!"
"You're a real headache."
"Let me say it again, you're an idiot."
Why deny yourself like this?
Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand; it's already too late to undo the damage.
Upon hearing Mikihiko Yoshida's words, Tatsuya Shiba disagreed.
"That's not necessarily true!"
" Mikihiko, what you care about is the speed at which magic is cast, isn't it?"
"Yes, you mean to say that my magic Activation Sequence is too complicated, too much of it is useless, too flashy, not very practical, and it's also going in the wrong direction?"
As if knowing what Tatsuya Shiba wanted to say, Mikihiko Yoshida directly stated the question Tatsuya Shiba wanted to ask.
"..."
Knowing this, why don't you change it?
Who told you that?
Seeing Mikihiko Yoshida's expression, Tatsuya Shiba realized that this wasn't a problem he had discovered himself.
"It was Chiba Yeyou, whom I met that time. He happened to see me practicing Spirit Magic once, and he probably watched me for a long time before telling me about this."
Don't tell me you can read my Magic Sequence information too!