Theo followed Piel to the back of the training arena.
─Aaaahhhhh!!
─Look at me! Oliver has been targeting only me since a while ago! Oops, Oliver! I'm sorry- Aaahhh!!
Above the training arena, Oliver's class was in full swing.
He was single-handedly weaving through a team of 50 students, cutting a swath through them like a one-man army.
Oliver's teammates stood behind, providing only passive support.
Theo watched this spectacle with a weary eye.
'Going head-to-head would have been a dead end. Lucky our strategy worked.'
As he thought this, walking through the stands of the training arena.
"You're here. Come this way."
Rok, who had emerged from a door in the stands, gestured to Theo and Piel.
The two entered the room where Rok had appeared.
Inside the small room, there was a moderately sized desk and a sofa - a place suitable for simple office tasks.
Creeeak─
After closing the door, Rok addressed Theo and Piel, who were standing idly by the door.
"When the academy was invaded, you didn't hesitate to act. I intend to reward you for that. I've been busy with the aftermath, but I finally have some time."
Rok picked up two boxes from the desk.
They seemed about 20cm in each dimension.
He approached the two with the boxes and handed them over.
"I pondered what reward would be less likely to incite jealousy among other students and actually be useful. Go ahead, open them."
Theo and Piel opened their boxes.
Inside was something Theo was familiar with.
Piel took out the item and examined it closely.
"It looks like a communication crystal... But, I've never seen this model before."
"It's a prototype, not yet commercialized. Unlike the previous models which could only communicate with their identical pair, this one can connect with anyone who knows the serial number. Piel, could you give me your crystal's serial number?"
"Sure, just a moment."
Piel took out a paper with the serial number written on it from her box and showed it to Rok.
[SH-0003]
Rok took out a communication crystal, entered the number, and pressed a button.
Buzzz── Buzzz──
Soon, Piel's communication crystal rang.
Rok nodded.
"It's working perfectly. What's your serial number, Theo?"
Theo also took out the paper with his serial number.
[SH-0004]
Rok entered the number into his crystal and pressed a button, causing Theo's crystal to ring.
Rok spoke.
"That's how it works. My serial number is [SH-0001]. If there's an urgent matter, feel free to contact me."
"Thank you."
"It seems likely that this afternoon's class will be cancelled, just so you know. I expected as much, but I didn't foresee Oliver going so far as to wreak havoc on the students... You can go now."
Leaving Rok mumbling to himself, Piel and Theo exited the room.
As they walked back towards the stands of the arena, Piel fiddled with the communication crystal and remarked,
"It's really amazing... My family has hundreds of these communication crystals, but I've never seen one where you can connect just by knowing the number."
"It's a prototype, that's probably why,"
Theo nodded casually.
'The serial number starts with SH, a unique item...'
He was familiar with the creator of this item from the game.
'Sonya.'
She was a mage, scientist, and alchemist, primarily active in various cities in the north, outside of the magical city.
Her connection to Rok came from being an alumna of both the Magic and Alchemy Departments at Elinia Academy.
Sonya had completed dual majors at the notoriously challenging Elinia Academy, graduating at the top of her class in both departments.
Her reason was simple:
─Because it's fun!
In other words, Sonya was a genius who was not quite right in the head.
Though she was most renowned in the fields of magic, science, and alchemy, she was proficient in many others, including pharmacology, herbology, and architecture.
Because of this, everyone from professors wanting to kidnap her for their graduate programs to the madmen of the northern magical city coveted her.
Perhaps for that reason, she never stayed in one place for long, often moving her base of operations.
Despite this, driven by a fundamental desire to leave her mark, she would always leave her initials somewhere on her prototypes...
As Theo was sorting through these thoughts on his way back to the stands,
Buzzz── Buzzz──
A vibration sounded from within his pocket.
It was the communication crystal.
Piel looked puzzled.
"What's this? Who's calling you?"
"We'll only know if we answer."
The communication crystal didn't show the caller's ID.
As the vibration continued, Piel urged Theo,
"Could it be a professor... Hey, answer it, answer it."
Theo pressed the receive button.
However, there was no sound from the other side of the crystal.
Theo spoke first into the crystal.
"Theo Lyn Waldeurk, I've received your call. Who is this?"
─...uh, uh!
Beep-beep-beep...
Beep-beep-beep...
And with that, the call ended.
"..."
Staring at the communication crystal, Piel asked Theo,
"Who was it?"
"I don't know."
Theo shrugged.
Meanwhile, in the student council room.
Saintess Isabella Ren Lopez sat in her usual spacious chair.
"······Huff, huff, huff."
But unlike usual, she was breathing heavily.
"What's this... it actually works?"
She muttered, staring at the communication crystal in her hand.
"That's right, Saintess."
"······!!"
Startled by the sudden voice, the Saintess jumped in surprise.
The voice's owner, Claire, continued calmly.
"The manual says that as long as there's no magical interference, it should work fine for distances up to 50km."
"Ah, I see... Could you knock before entering next time?"
"I did knock three times, but when there was no response, I worried something might have happened."
"Ah, haha... I see. I must not have heard. Sorry, Claire."
"No problem."
The Saintess tried to distract herself by putting the communication crystal back into its box.
Claire observed this and said,
"You can keep it, Saintess."
"······! No, no! This is something you got as a reward for your hard work, Claire."
"Not at all. I don't really have a use for it─"
Claire looked down at the box holding the communication crystal and continued,
"─With this item, you can contact Theo anytime, can't you?"
"Why would I need to contact him!"
"Oh, is that so? I thought you wanted another meeting with Theo since you asked me to investigate his movements."
"That's not it!"
Isabella glared at Claire with eyes full of indignation.
Claire found her expression quite adorable.
'She finally looks like a 17-year-old girl.'
To Clare, Isabella had always seemed 'bored'. She appeared to have no interest in life, always indifferent and expressionless.
But after taking an interest in Theo, she changed a bit.
No, a lot.
Even now, her face was flushed as she threw a tantrum.
'I don't know the reason, but it's a good sign.'
Thinking this, Claire nodded.
"Anyway, I have no use for this item, so I'll leave it here. Now, I'll go back to monitoring Theo."
Thud──
Claire closed the door and left.
Isabella stared at the door for a moment after Claire's departure.
"······It's not like that, geez."
Isabella's hand slowly moved towards the communication crystal's manual.
Inside a shabby house in the Polaris underworld.
The room was filled with all kinds of magic and alchemy tools, including mana stones, scrolls, various gems, reagents, and ancient manuscripts.
"Woohoo~ Great. If I follow this method, I can even recycle used magic scrolls!"
A woman in her early twenties, looking at a paper in her hand, grinned.
The paper was filled with dense magical formulas.
Suddenly, the door burst open.
A man rushed in, shouting urgently.
"Run, Sonya! The city guards are coming in! They'll be here soon!"
"······What are you talking about? How did they find this place?"
"I don't know─ Aaagh!"
The man who opened the door collapsed to the floor.
Sonya looked with terrified eyes at the man who had collapsed.
"······A cat?"
There was a fluffy cat there.
─Meow, meeeoooww~!!
As soon as the cat locked eyes with Sonya, it meowed sadly and hopped towards her.
Then, it started rubbing itself vigorously against her legs.
"What is this······?"
As Sonya looked down at the cat with uncertainty,
"······Finally."
A child's voice came from the door.
There stood a young child, smiling eerily, the corners of their mouth almost reaching their ears.
It was someone Sonya knew well.
"Found. You."
······That person was Lunaplora Ryun Neverland.
The principal of the academy from which Sonya had graduated and a fairy known as a one-person army.
