Chapter 2: The Potential Brought by the Weakest

During lunch break at the Garden Terrace—the Observation Courtyard—where students could enjoy their midday meal surrounded by manicured flowerbeds and lush green lawns, the outdoor tables quickly filled to capacity with upperclassmen. Seated around a circular table shaded by a parasol, Chloe and Yuri were going over their schedule for the day.

“So for today, we’ll wrap up our afternoon practical training early and assist with public order patrols inside the city, right?”

“Yep, that’s pretty much everything on our agenda for today.”

Once a squad became the Royal Guard—the Special Fireteam—their off-campus duties increased alongside their regular combat drills. Today, they were scheduled to conduct a joint patrol with Raven Nest, the security organization responsible for maintaining public order within the city.

Almost every student passing through the Garden Terrace cast either discreet or openly admiring glances toward the table where Chloe and Yuri sat, their eyes filled with respect and trust.

Some of the younger female students even let out excited little squeals whenever Chloe or Yuri happened to meet their eyes.

“…What’s the matter, Yuri?”

To hide her embarrassment, Yuri began dropping sugar cubes one after another—plop, plop—into her teacup.

“Nothing, it’s just… no matter how much time passes, I still can’t get used to being treated like this.”

She then took a dainty, silent sip of her syrupy-sweet black tea.

“Ahaha. Now that you mention it, that’s true. Around this time last year, we were spending every waking hour buried in combat drills.”

Chloe had felt the same way at first, though after being swamped by the sheer volume of Royal Guard duties, she had gotten used to the attention before she knew it.

She hadn’t had much leeway to fuss over her junior lately, and while Yuri always spoke in crisp, formal language to put on a mature front, a touch of childishness still lingered beneath the surface.

For the record, Yuri couldn’t drink coffee because it was too bitter, and she wouldn’t touch black tea unless she had dissolved a mountain of sugar into it first.

“Come to think of it, um… is Kanata-senpai still officially listed as being on medical leave?”

She probably didn’t realize it herself, but Yuri asked about Kanata every single time she met up with Chloe.

“Medical leave” was the desperate cover story Chloe had cobbled together to excuse Kanata’s repeated, unexcused absences from special missions. Between pulling strings with the Guardian Leader and smoothing things over behind the scenes, Chloe was constantly looking out for him.

Every time the subject came up, Chloe had to gloss things over—and now that this supposed “medical leave” had dragged on for several months, Yuri was clearly beginning to doubt whether it was true.

“Well, officially, yes. Since he’s on medical leave, he can’t sortie into the field, so starting yesterday he took up a post as the instructor of an E-Rank platoon.”

“Appointed as an instructor? —Kanata-senpai?!”

“Yep, that’s right. I personally asked him to take the job.”

“…I cannot accept that! Why that traitor?! Just when I thought he was skipping platoon duties to run errands for the Logistics Department, now he’s playing instructor?!

He used to be our ace with overwhelming strength… Sure, even back then it was hard to tell what was going on inside his head, but why does Senpai insist on acting so selfishly all the time—”

“…Yuri, please. Don’t speak too poorly of Kanata.”

Gently soothing her vice-captain, Chloe offered a warm, angelic smile and looked out across the courtyard.

In her line of sight were Machina Department students locked in a heated debate over some blueprint, Economic Department students chatting and laughing over their brief lunch hour, and scores of other students enjoying an ordinary, peaceful afternoon.

“Protecting the everyday lives of the people here is our duty in the Guardian Department. I’m sure Kanata feels the exact same way.”

Faced with Chloe’s gentle smile, Yuri looked away awkwardly and took another sip of her overly sweet tea.

Afternoon practical training. Fireteam E601 Platoon Room.

By the time Kanata strolled into the room, Misora and her two squadmates were already seated and waiting for him.

“Huh, all three of you here before the bell even rings? Looks like you guys have some promise after all.”

Every eye in the room fixed on Kanata as he ambled in. At this time yesterday, their assessment of the traitor Kanata had been deep in the negatives, but today the atmosphere felt slightly different.

“Alright, starting today I’m gonna put each of you through individualized special training… Hm? Why are your eyes sparkling like that, Misora?”

“Th-They are not sparkling! B-But I guess I might be looking forward just a tiny bit to seeing what kind of special training you’ve got lined up for us…”

Even as she pouted defensively, Misora was beginning to acknowledge Kanata’s ability. After yesterday’s aerial tag session, there was no denying that—traitor or not—Kanata’s skill was every bit worthy of a former ace.

That realization had clearly sunk in for more than just Misora; peeking up at him timidly, Lecty spoke with genuine admiration in her eyes.

“U-Umm… I’m really happy that we get to receive instruction from you, Kanata-san!”

Looking slightly sheepish under her earnest gaze, Kanata scratched the back of his head.

“Just so we’re clear, what I’ve got planned isn’t the kind of flashy training worth getting excited over. Special training is tough work, and there’s no easy shortcut to getting strong.”

So saying, he turned his gaze toward the last member of the squad—Rico, watching her closely. She was a problem child who openly boasted every day that she refused to do anything as tiresome as training, the sort of student who made any sensible person want to ask why on earth she had enrolled in the Guardian Department in the first place.

Noticing Kanata’s eyes on her, Rico gave an airy snort and flipped her hair back.

“Hmph. I have no intention ofhumoring your special training. As I believe you already saw yesterday, my sniping skill has already reached the realm of a goddess.”

“H-Hey, Rico! Even if he is a pervert, he’s still our instructor! Watch how you talk to him!”

“Hey, how many times do I gotta tell you I’m not a pervert?”

Misora hurriedly scolded her teammate, though to Kanata, Rico’s reaction was entirely within expectations.

“Well, when it comes to your sniping instincts and situational judgment, I can’t fault you. At the very least, out of the three of you, you’re the most combat-ready right now.”

“Hmm, you are welcome to praise me even more. It appears you are no ordinary mortal yourself. Unlike the mediocre commoners around here, you seem capable of grasping a glimpse of my genius.”

Wearing a smug, composed smile, Rico basked triumphantly in the compliment. However, Kanata wasn’t finished.

“Which is why you instantly gauged the gap in skill between us yesterday, realized that firing a follow-up shot would only miss anyway, and squeezed the trigger only once, right?”

Bullseye. At having her exact thought process laid bare, Rico’s composed, peerless face visibly twitched.

“I already possess abilities well above the required standard. Therefore, I have no need to undergo training.”

With that parting shot, she pulled open the door and walked right out of the room.

“H-Hey, wait, Rico…!”

“Leave her be. Let her go…”

“What do you mean, ‘let her go’?! How can you just let Rico skip out on training like that?!”

“Right now, you should be worrying about yourselves instead of somebody else. Or what—do you seriously think you guys have the leeway to fuss over other people right now?”

Kanata didn’t look the least bit rattled. Rico ditching practice had been factored into his plans from the start. Rather than wasting energy trying to force a haughty girl like her into drills right away, he had judged that focusing intensive special training on the remaining two first would raise the platoon’s overall strength much faster.

Waiting a moment for Misora and Lecty to settle back down after Rico’s abrupt exit, Kanata posed a question.

“—Now, about your special training: my one condition is that you keep up the individual assignments I’m about to give you for at least one full week. Have you guys got the resolve for that? And by resolve, I mean the grit to do things you’re terrible at.”

““…………””

Things we’re terrible at… Both Misora and Lecty fell silent at once. Despite Kanata’s casual delivery, his words carried a strange, unmistakable weight—the kind of quiet pressure radiated only by someone who had walked through countless life-or-death battlefields.

“…K-Kanata-san!”

As if struck by a sudden surge of resolve, Lecty stood up abruptly from her chair, her expression tense as she looked timidly up toward Kanata’s collar.

“What’s up? Why look so nervous?”

At his question, Lecty stammered out her words:

“To get stronger… You’re giving us this instruction so that we can become stronger than we are right now, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, that’s the idea…”

“Th-Then I’ll be o-okay! N-No matter what kind of training it is, I-I’ll endure it to the very end!”

Lecty’s earnest sincerity came through loud and clear.

“…Got it. I’ll fill you in on your special training assignment in a bit, then. No matter how grueling it gets, make sure you see it through.”

“Y-Yes!”

Bobbing her head in a polite bow, Lecty sat back down and immediately ducked her head in shy embarrassment again.

“And what about you, Misora? What’s your answer?”

When Kanata turned to her, Misora hesitated for a brief beat before lifting her chin.

“Y-You already know my answer, don’t you? Mine is… yes, too.”

Perhaps because she had sounded a little reluctant, Kanata double-checked her resolve.

“You sure about that? Weren’t you treating me like your sworn enemy five minutes ago?”

“Even now, I haven’t forgiven you for your betrayal—for betraying everyone’s expectations and ditching matches without permission. That’s a super irresponsible thing to do, and I hate people who act like that from the bottom of my heart.”

After delivering that blunt denunciation, however, Misora pressed on. Honestly, she still couldn’t bring herself to like Kanata as a person, but—

“Even so, my Magic Cannon Swordsmanship couldn’t even touch you yesterday. So if it’ll make me stronger—I haven’t acknowledged you at all, mind you—I’ll use you for everything you’re worth to get strong.”

Kanata’s lips curved into a fearless grin.

“Heh. Looks like both of you have your heads on straight.”

And with that, Misora and Lecty’s special training began.

Once afternoon arrived, the students involved in commercial operations—centered around the Economic Department—brought lively energy to the streets.

Running the City Center’s Shopping District was also part of the students’ autonomous duties. Because Mistgun was an academy city, practices that widened the gap between rich and poor were frowned upon; consequently, tax rates were set low on daily necessities and high on luxury goods.

Amid the bustling afternoon crowd, Kanata first took Lecty on a tour of the boutiques lining the Shopping District. Whenever he spotted an outfit that looked like it might suit her, he had her try it on right away, buying up one piece after another whenever she seemed to like how it looked.

At first, Lecty earnestly believed this had to be part of some profound training regimen and dutifully kept trying on clothes—until, at their fourth boutique, when both of Kanata’s hands were completely full of bulging paper shopping bags, doubt finally got the better of her and she summoned her courage.

Having been made to change into a navy-blue maid uniform, Lecty drew back the fitting-room curtain and peeked out with her head lowered bashfully.

“U-Umm, Kanata-san… W-W-W-Will doing something like this really make me s-stronger?!”

Even though he was the one who had picked out the outfit, Kanata blinked in surprise at just how adorable she looked. How to put it… she looked so cute it was almost enough to awaken a brand-new fetish in him.

“Hmm, maybe a bunny girl outfit suits you even better than a maid uniform. Unlike Misora, you’ve actually got a great figure, Lecty.”

Shaking off his distraction, Kanata evaluated the outfit purely on how well it suited her.

“Umm… K-Kanata-san! A-Are you listening to me?!”

“Well, we’ve got plenty of time left this afternoon, so we might as well try out both.”

Instructing Lecty to change back into her school uniform, Kanata purchased both the maid uniform and a bunny girl costume at the fourth boutique.

Having Lecty help carry a few of the lighter bags, Kanata walked alongside her back toward the schoolhouse, moving against the scattered flow of non-Guardian students heading home for the day.

Lecty understood Kanata’s intentions less and less by the minute. What on earth is my special training supposed to be? Moreover, for someone as conscientious as Lecty, another worry was weighing heavily on her mind.

“Umm, Kanata-san… Is it really okay to spend our platoon’s precious activity budget on things like this?”

She peered up at Kanata through anxious, bashful eyes.

Unbothered as ever, Kanata replied in his usual breezy drawl:

“Hm? This is a legitimate platoon activity, isn’t it? Why wouldn’t it be okay?”

“…D-Don’t you think it’s probably not okay?”

“Nah, it’s fine. It’s a totally legitimate activity.”

In what world is buying costumes a legitimate platoon activity?! Clutched in both arms against her chest, the paper shopping bags felt twice as heavy under the weight of her guilty conscience.

“What in the world are we going to do with all these clothes you bought?”

“Wear ’em, obviously. You’re gonna wear every single one of them at school, Lecty.”

“Huh, I’m going to wear them at school………… Th-That’s impossible!!!”

Lecty shrieked so hard she nearly dropped her shopping bags on the cobblestones.

“Why? Relax, every single one of them looked great on you.”

“Th-That’s not the issue here! Umm, K-Kanata-san, ugh… Wearing outfits like these in public is way too e-embarrassing for me…”

“Hey, back when you were trying them on in the fitting room, you looked pretty happy about it, didn’t you?”

Kanata glanced back over his shoulder at her. At the first shop, Lecty had looked stiff and solemn, but by the second and third boutiques, like any girl her age, she had genuinely brightened up at getting to try on cute, stylish clothes.

“B-Because I never imagined I’d have to wear them in front of everyone at school…!”

Brushing right past Lecty’s stammered protests, Kanata marched straight into the Locker Building and stopped in front of the girls’ locker room door.

“Here we are. Alright, I’ll wait right outside the locker room, so go change into whichever outfit you like best.”

“E-Even if you tell me to pick whichever one I like… umm, d-do I really have to change into one?! …In the first place, why are we even doing this?!”

“Oh, right, I forgot to mention—this is your special training, Lecty.”

“Eh?! Th-This was my special training all along…?!”

“Yep. Giving yourself an image makeover is your special training assignment. Put one of those on and go stroll around inside the schoolhouse for a while.”

“W-Will doing training like that really… umm, make me stronger?!”

For a girl as painfully shy as Lecty, parading around in an outfit guaranteed to draw every eye in the hallway was nothing short of crushing pressure.

Pressing a hand to her chest as if she might burst into tears on the spot, Lecty looked like a frightened woodland creature begging for protection.

Moved despite himself by the pure, guileless girl’s distress, even the ever-nonchalant Kanata softened his tone a fraction and explained a little more than usual.

“That Magic Dual-Swordsmanship you use—it’s Eisenach-Style Magic Dual-Swordsmanship, founded by the Sword God Albert Eisenach, right? Your family name’s Eisenach, after all.”

“Umm… you know about my family?”

“I know a fair bit about Eisenach dual-swordsmanship, yeah. Only master practitioners who’ve completed grueling trials are allowed to bear the Eisenach name. Even if you’re born into the main branch of the family, anyone whose skill doesn’t measure up gets disowned or exiled—it’s a super strict house, right?”

At his words, Lecty wilted into silence. It seemed the weight of the Eisenach name hung heavily on her shoulders. Watching her reaction, Kanata murmured quietly:

“During yesterday’s game of tag, you were both the most impressive and the least impressive of the three.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“Those slashes you wove through the gaps in Misora’s attacks—if you’d been able to look me straight in the eye and go all-out, your technique would’ve been sharp enough to go toe-to-toe with—or even beat—an A-Rank platoon member…”

Even in the face of such high praise, Lecty’s expression remained downcast. Sure enough, Kanata wasn’t finished.

“Problem is, you couldn’t even look me in the eye, and by the end you were trembling so badly you were fighting blindly off presence alone. You couldn’t even bring out a tenth of your real strength. Do you know why that is, Lecty?”

“Umm, I-I……………… I-I have terrible stage fright!”

Tripping over her words, Lecty forced out her confession.

“Ever since I was little, whenever I lock eyes with someone or step into a place where lots of people are looking at me, I suddenly get so overwhelmed with embarrassment… that my body freezes up and won’t move the way I want it to.”

Stage fright—a fatal flaw she had long been painfully aware of herself.

Countless times before now, Lecty had wished she could overcome it. Yet nothing she tried had ever worked. If it were something easily cured, she wouldn’t have struggled with it for so many years.

Looking down at Lecty as she bowed her head in genuine shame, Kanata reached out and gently ruffled her blonde bangs until they were thoroughly mussed. Then, in his usual breezy voice, he said:

“What’s wrong with having a complex or two? People who aren’t satisfied with themselves are strong. Because it makes ’em work twice as hard to change who they are.”

Fully expecting to be scolded for making excuses, Lecty gasped softly and lifted her head. Her wide blue eyes shone with quiet awe, as if his words had sunk deep into her heart.

“Do you want to change, Lecty?”

“…I-I want to change! I want to change so that I won’t freeze up in embarrassment when I’m in front of people!”

“Gotcha. Then put one of those outfits on and go walk around the schoolhouse. If it gets too scary, you’re free to run away—though if you give up and quit, my coaching ends right there. Alright, good luck with the rest.”

Leaving her with only those words, Kanata turned and strolled away.

The instant Kanata disappeared around the corner, however, Lecty felt her courage evaporate, replaced by a wave of acute helplessness and burning embarrassment.

“…B-But…”

Standing all alone in front of the girls’ locker room with three huge paper shopping bags at her feet, Lecty stared down at the floor with not a soul around and whimpered:

“…No matter how I look at it, th-this is still way too embarrassing!”

Afternoon practical training hours. Waiting alongside Kanata just outside the main school gate, Misora let out an exasperated groan.

“What kind of special training are we supposed to do in a place like this?! When you say ‘special training,’ normally that means the Training Grounds, doesn’t it?!”

Surprisingly large numbers of students were already streaming out through the gate. While the Guardian Department had mandatory practical drills every single afternoon, the other departments followed freer schedules. Scanning the departing crowd to make sure none of his acquaintances were nearby, Kanata replied:

“Right here’s fine.”

When he had finished shopping with Lecty earlier, he had confirmed that their target was still inside the schoolhouse. By his estimate, she should be heading home right about now… Suddenly, Kanata’s expression relaxed into a grin.

“Speak of the devil. Looks like the person we’ve been waiting for is here.”

“W-Wait, isn’t that Rico…?!”

Walking out through the gate all by herself with her schoolbag in one hand was Rico. Slipping seamlessly into the crowd of students heading home, Kanata began trailing behind her. Misora naturally hurried after him—at which point Kanata casually dropped a bombshell.

“Alright. That marks the start of your special training: ‘Tailing Rico.’”

Tailing?! Me, tailing Rico?! —How is that supposed to be s-special training?!

“…A-Are you out of your mind?! What on earth are you thinking, making me stalk Rico?!”

Misora raised her voice despite herself, while Kanata replied without batting an eye:

“Hm? I’m dead serious all the time, though…”

“Nobody who’s dead serious would come up with such a ridiculous drill! I have a dream of becoming a Magic Cannon Swordsman, and yet—”

Right then, Kanata moved like lightning. Sensing something ahead, he scooped Misora up in his arms and dove into the shadows beside the building.

“Hmm? I thought I just heard Misora’s voice.”

At that exact instant, Rico paused and glanced back over her shoulder toward where Misora’s shout had come from, frowning slightly when she saw no one there.

Having tumbled together into a back alley barely wide enough for a single person to squeeze through, Kanata and Misora found themselves wedged so tightly against each other between the walls that neither of them could budge an inch.

“H-Hey, what do you think you’re doing?! Let go of me!”

“Keep your voice down! If I let go now, Rico’s gonna spot us—besides, there’s zero room to move in here.”

Misora’s face was wedged directly beneath Kanata’s chin, his arms wrapped around her from behind. With their arms and legs hopelessly tangled together in the cramped gap—

“Eep! W-Wait, something’s touching— Y-You’re touching me…”

Flushing bright red, Misora ducked her head and squeaked in a tiny voice.

“Touching you? Touching where—?!”

That very instant, Kanata realized what she meant. By some fluke of how they had landed, his left hand was cupping Misora’s breast squarely from behind, and the sensation against his palm was… unexpectedly Perky, warm, and soft…

“M-My bad, I-I didn’t notice…”

Rarely flustered, Kanata tried to wrench his hand free inside the cramped space. Still tangled against him, Misora twisted her torso indignantly.

“…You didn’t notice?! What the heck is ‘I didn’t notice’ supposed to mean?!”

“Alright, alright, my fault, so quit thrashing around in a space this tight! Besides, to me, a girl three years younger is just a brat—it’s not like I’m getting turned on or anything.”

Squeezing their way out of the narrow alley a moment later, they resumed tailing Rico down the street while bickering in hushed whispers.

“A brat?! Who are you calling a brat?! …A guy who orders his student to stalk Rico as ‘special training’ has some nerve treating me like a brat! You really do have the makings of a sex offender, don’t you?!”

“You’re free to think whatever you want, but this is as far as I’m coming with you. From here on out, you’re handling this mission on your own…”

“~~~! Like hell I’m gonna commit some creepy borderline crime on my own~~~!”

“Whoa, whoa, quit running wild with perverted delusions. Nobody’s asking you to commit some twisted sex crime.”

Facing Misora’s fierce glare, Kanata flashed a fearless grin and delivered her orders:

“Go dig up a weakness on Rico and bring it back to me.”

Misora blinked blankly and tilted her head.

“? Does Rico even have a weakness?”

“Who knows?”

“‘Who knows?!’”

“Hey, every human being has a weakness or two. Even someone who puts on a cool, flawless front like Rico might have an unexpected soft spot.”

Still completely unable to fathom what Kanata was getting at, Misora snapped back:

“Listen here! With all this talk about digging up weaknesses, what on earth are you trying to make me do?! Even if Rico and I aren’t on the best of terms, stooping to such underhanded tricks just to bully her is something I’d never—”

“For starters, today’s assignment is tailing Rico. There’s a second half to your assignment after you finish, too, so go find whatever you think counts as Rico’s weakness and report back.”

Giving Misora’s shoulder a light pat-pat as if to say I’m leaving the rest to you, Kanata turned on his heel and strolled off.

Dig up a weakness on Rico. She still had no clue what purpose it was supposed to serve, and she couldn’t help thinking it was a terribly rough-and-ready way of doing things, yet Misora dutifully crept along behind Rico as the girl strode briskly through the Shopping District.

After following her down several streets, Misora saw Rico come to an abrupt halt and whip her head around. Uh-oh! Thinking fast, Misora ducked behind a vending machine—

“What have you been doing back there for the past ten minutes, Misora?”

Out of nowhere, Rico strolled right up to her hiding spot. Apparently, before Misora had managed to investigate a single thing, her tailing operation had already blown its cover.

“~~~~~ ! H-How did you find out?! Y-You… don’t tell me you actually have divine psychic powers or something?!”

“…………………Are you mocking me, Misora?”

Looking thoroughly offended, Rico frowned in displeasure.

“I’m not mocking you! I was just… surprised because I didn’t think my cover would get blown so fast. …How did you notice I was following you?”

Letting out a long sigh, Rico explained the trick in a tone that practically screamed Good grief.

“For the past several blocks, I have deliberately made one left turn after another. In total, you and I have made five consecutive left turns. Assuming every four-way intersection offers three possible forward branches, the probability of someone matching five turns by sheer coincidence is one in two hundred and forty-three. Hardly something that can be dismissed as chance.”

In the first place, Misora had zero knack for stealth; Rico had noticed her trailing along at a fixed distance from the moment they left the school gate.

In fact, rather than assuming she was being tailed, Rico had been wondering why Misora kept walking behind her without calling out—and had even been on guard in case Misora was plotting some petty prank.

When she finally decided to confront her, however, she sensed no malice whatsoever from Misora. Quite the opposite, in fact—

“…W-Wow, you’re actually super smart, aren’t you?”

Is this really Misora? Misora’s reaction was so unexpectedly admiring that Rico couldn’t help feeling suspicious. Wondering what had gotten into her squadmate, yet visibly pleased all the same, Rico gave a lofty snort.

“Hmph. I am a goddess, so that much is only natural. …Now then, why were you following me?”

“That’s… er, well… umm………—”

“Ah, save your breath. Knowing you, Misora, you simply had too much free time on your hands.”

“Umm… w-well, yeah! Something like that…”

“Hmph. Unfortunately for you, unlike an idle mortal, a goddess like myself is quite busy. I have shopping to attend to. Stop wasting time on such pointless antics and go home.”

Misora would have loved nothing more than to go straight home, except she was stuck with this so-called special training assignment to tail Rico.

“U-Um, hey, Rico…”

“What is it?”

“Would it be okay if I tagged along with you on your shopping trip? ………Ow! W-Why are you pinching my cheek?!”

“Nothing, I merely wondered whether someone was casting an illusion spell on me. At the very least, the Misora I know has never once shown the slightest interest in my private life.”

So that’s how she saw me, Misora reflected with a pang of quiet remorse.

Meanwhile, Rico folded her arms and pondered for a moment before speaking deliberately.

“Hmm. Very well. You may accompany a goddess like myself.”

From there, Misora accompanied Rico around a series of specialty shops—an outing that drove home just how completely opposite their tastes and interests were.

“Blegh! You actually buy boring-looking books like this with your own money?!”

“Hmph. To fail to grasp the fascination of pursuing universal truth shows just how much of a child you still are.”

At the first place they stopped—a bookstore—Rico purchased several dense philosophy treatises whose titles alone were enough to give Misora a splitting headache. Stranger still, buying those books put Rico in a noticeably chipper mood; catching a faint glimpse of her own reflection in a department store display window along the main street, she flipped her hair back as if to say, Hmph, stunning, am I not?

“Hold on, Rico! There’s no way a dress like that is gonna look good on—”

“Indeed, you are quite right, Misora. Any garment pales in comparison to my natural beauty. Still, one cannot very well walk around unclothed.”

At their next stop, an upscale boutique, Rico tried on a sophisticated dress that Misora’s childish build could never have pulled off, drawing genuine, unvarnished praise from the shop clerk. Stepping in front of the boutique’s full-length mirror afterward, Rico once again flipped her hair back at her reflection as if to say, Hmph, stunning, am I not?

“Whoa, look at this! It’s super cute!”

“Hmm. This is rather adorable… Ahem, I mean, it is academically intriguing.”

At the final shop they visited—a doll and plushie specialty store—Rico used the high-minded excuse that it was “academically intriguing” to purchase a plush Winged Dragon mascot designed to appeal to young girls. Misora loved cute things too, though Rico stubbornly insisted to the bitter end that her interest was purely academic.

For all her efforts to maintain a cool, detached front, Misora didn’t miss the way Rico’s eyes sparkled as she held the plushie.

Is that the end of her errands? I still haven’t found a single weakness on her, Misora fretted anxiously—when all of a sudden, as they walked down the sidewalk, Rico kicked the street signboard of an eyewear specialty shop with the tip of her shoe.

“Eyeglasses… I despise them.”

“Eh?”

“It is nothing…”

“Wait, do you hate glasses, Rico?”

“I just told you it is nothing. A flawless being such as myself has no weaknesses.”

Well, if she doesn’t want to talk about it, I guess it doesn’t matter right now. Wait—why eyeglasses, though…? A fleeting question crossed Misora’s mind, yet what slipped out of her mouth instead was closer to an honest sigh.

“Phew… It’s a little late to be saying this, but I really don’t get you at all, Rico.”

“Naturally. How could a low-level mortal like you possibly fathom a goddess like myself? …Are you mocking me?”

“Nuh-uh, I’m not mocking you—I’m reflecting on myself. I just realized I’ve never once tried to get to know you at all…”

“I have no idea what has gotten into you today, but I shall take my leave here. Time is finite. If one does not use it efficiently, it slips away in the blink of an eye.”

Leaving behind that oddly philosophical maxim, Rico turned and walked briskly away.

Left standing alone on the street, Misora realized that far from uncovering Rico’s secret weakness, she had been confronted with the pathetic truth that she knew nothing whatsoever about her own teammate. Does this mean I failed today’s training? Feeling somewhat dejected, she headed back toward the academy to complete the second half of her assignment.

“Uwaaah… M-Misora-saaaan…!”

Hiding behind the tall broom locker tucked into the back corner of an empty classroom, Lecty had been crying all by herself—and the instant Misora called out to her, she threw her arms around Misora’s waist and burst into fresh floods of tears.

Because Lecty had picked such an out-of-the-way hiding spot, tracking her down had taken quite a while. Part two of Misora’s special training assignment was to help Lecty with hers.

“Um, listen, Lecty—aside from the fact that you’re crying… how do I put this, you’re standing out like a sore thumb… Why are you wearing a maid uniform?”

“Th-This is… (sniffle) m-my special training!”

“? How is wearing a maid uniform supposed to be special training?”

“N-No, that’s not it! Simply wearing the maid uniform isn’t the training… Walking up and down the hallways while wearing the maid uniform is the special training!”

“? Again, how is that supposed to be special training?!”

Perhaps because the ordeal had been too traumatic to put into words, Lecty flinched at the fresh memory and buried her face against Misora’s shoulder, bawling “Uwaaaah, Misora-saaaaaan!!!” without answering a thing.

Though she still didn’t grasp the full story, Misora gently stroked Lecty’s blonde hair to soothe her.

“There, there, Lecty. Cheer up, okay? Nobody’s looking right now.”

Misora stayed right beside her, patting her back gently until Lecty’s sobs finally subsided.

She had never stayed by Lecty’s side like this before, yet the younger-looking girl clung to her without reservation. Once Lecty had calmed down a little, Misora spoke up:

“See? You’ve calmed down a bit now. I don’t know the whole story, but if there’s anything I can do to help, just say the word.”

“Ugh, Misora-san… (*sniffle*) W-Will you really help me?”

“Well, as long as it’s within what I can manage…”

Feeling a sudden, inexplicable prickle of foreboding, Misora tried to hedge her promise, but Lecty blew right past it. Reaching into one of the bulging paper bags at her feet, Lecty solemnly pulled out a crisp, immaculately white outfit.

“…P-Please put this on and walk through the hallways with me!”

“What the heck is— Wait, are you asking m-me to put on something like this—a nurse uniform—and parade around the school?!”

At Misora’s incredulous cry, Lecty gave a firm, desperate nod. Driven into a corner, her usual timid hesitation had vanished completely.

Ordinarily, Misora would have flatly refused on the spot, but this time she paused to think it over. Not only had she just promised to help, she could see firsthand how genuinely miserable Lecty was.

“Well, since you look like you’re really suffering, I guess I don’t have a choice. Just this once as a special favor, I’ll put one on and help you out.”

Unable to abandon a teammate in distress, Misora gave a weary nod of consent.

Glance, glance, stare. Walking down the corridor, the stares of passing students stung like needles. Some stopped dead in their tracks to gawk shamelessly, while others pointed and whispered behind their hands.

Sigh… Why on earth am I doing this? Having opted for the bunny girl costume instead—whose plunging neckline left the area around her chest looking tragically spacious—Misora let out a long, heavy sigh in the middle of the hallway.

Beside her, Lecty had tried to bolt and flee several times already, managing to hold her ground only because Misora was walking right alongside her in costume too.

“Umm, M-Misora-san! P-Please don’t leave me by m-myself, okay?!”

With Lecty pleading on the verge of tears, her guileless blue eyes brimming with moisture, Misora couldn’t possibly say no.

Apparently this bizarre ordeal was tied to the special training Kanata had assigned her, though Lecty had been too flustered to explain any further details.

For thirty agonizing minutes, the two of them endured a relentless barrage of bewildered and curious stares from the student body. Just as Misora was starting to reach the end of her patience, Kanata strolled casually down the corridor toward them.

“Hey, you! What kind of twisted special training are you putting Lecty through?! I don’t know what you told her, but I found her crying her eyes out in the corner of an empty classroom!”

Convinced all over again that this guy couldn’t be trusted, Misora laid into Kanata on behalf of Lecty, who was too timid to voice her complaints herself.

“Look at her! Can’t you see how much she’s suffering?!”

Unable to bear the mortification a second longer, Lecty shrank back and hid behind Misora’s shoulders like a human shield to escape the stares of the hallway. Watching her cower, Kanata spoke in his usual breezy tone:

“Hey, Lecty. If it’s that painful for you, wanna quit the special training? Stopping right here won’t cause trouble for anyone else, so if you wanna call it quits, go right ahead.”

Crouching behind Misora’s back in silence, Lecty slowly started to nod her head up and down.

At that exact split second, Kanata casually tacked on another remark:

“Though honestly, no matter how you slice it, that outfit looks super cute on you, Lecty, so I don’t see any reason to feel embarrassed.”

Lecty’s head, which had been halfway through a nod, froze dead in its tracks.

“H-Hey, hold on! Are you seriously just gonna gloss over my outfit without a single word?!”

“…Well, yours is about what I expected.”

“W-What do you mean, ‘about what I expected’ ?!”

Sparing Lecty one last glance, Kanata tossed out a parting remark and turned to walk away.

“Alright, Misora, I’m leaving the rest to you.”

“H-Hey, wait! You’re the one who put Lecty in this state! Take responsibility and look after her yourself! …And he’s already gone.”

Left behind in the corridor, Misora grumbled to herself that he really was an irresponsible jerk, yet she turned right back around to support Lecty. Even if this whole ordeal had been cooked up by Kanata as training, Misora’s nature made it impossible for her to abandon a friend in need, so she put herself in Lecty’s shoes and comforted her earnestly.

“C-Come on, Lecty, quit sniffling and cheer up! Besides, why are you wearing such an adorable outfit instead of your uniform anyway?”

At the word adorable, the tension in Lecty’s shoulders eased a fraction. Lifting eyes swollen red from crying, she answered in a fragile yet unmistakable voice:

“Ugh… N-No! This is… special training! It’s my special training!”

“? I still don’t really get it, but if it’s this embarrassing for you, why not just quit? I can go talk to him for you if you want.”

That ought to convince her to stop, Misora thought with certainty—yet to her surprise, Lecty shook her head.

“…I-I’ll try keeping at it a little longer. Not just Kanata-san, but you called me adorable too, Misora-san… And besides, Kanata-san promised that doing this would make me stronger.”

Still sniffling softly, Lecty stepped out from behind the curtain of Misora’s back, deliberately exposing herself to the eyes of the hallway. Flushing bright crimson from head to toe and trembling at the knees with embarrassment, she gritted her teeth and stood her ground.

“Seriously, how in the world is this supposed to be special training…?”

Knitting her brows together, Misora muttered to herself in bafflement.

“So, how’d it go today, Misora? What were the results of your training?”

“It burns me up to admit it, but it was a total bust… All it did was drive home the fact that I don’t know the first thing about those two…”

As they walked through the city after school, Kanata asked for her report on the day’s assignment. Since Misora commuted from home rather than living in the dorms, they only walked the same route partway. Lecty, having suffered heavy mental exhaustion from her afternoon ordeal, had stayed behind to rest a bit before heading back.

“Rico reads super dense philosophy books, yet it turns out she secretly loves cute plushies—there’s zero consistency to her… And Lecty works so earnestly and diligently at everything, yet I still have no idea why she’s so painfully shy…”

Staring glumly down at her shoes, Misora trudged along the street.

Just then, Kanata stopped in front of a popular ice cream stand in the Shopping District, pulling his wallet from his pocket as he replied:

“I see. That’s a great result, then.”

“Listen here… I literally just told you I couldn’t figure out a single thing! Calling a total bust a ‘great result’—are you trying to pick a fight with— Mmph!”

Just as Misora snapped her head up in anger, Kanata shoved a fresh soft-serve ice cream cone straight into her open mouth. As the cool, milky sweetness spread across her tongue, the hot blood rushing to her head instantly subsided. Looking away almost gruffly, Kanata spoke:

“You worked hard today, so consider it a reward. Taste good?”

“That’s not what we’re talking about……… Well, if you’re asking whether it tastes good or not, obviously this soft-serve is super delicious, but…wait, no, that’s still beside the point…”

Drooping her shoulders in frustration, Misora looked down at the cone in her hand.

“I didn’t accomplish a single thing you asked for, so how could that possibly be good? I’m actually beating myself up over how little I knew about Rico and Lecty.”

“Hm? That realization right there is what makes it a great result.”

What on earth has he been talking about this whole time? Licking her soft-serve cone in small bites, Misora stared up at Kanata.

“Personally, when I fly up into the sky, I don’t wanna entrust my back to strangers I know nothing about. Up in the air, you never know what’s gonna happen.”

Though well aware of Misora’s gaze on him, Kanata kept his eyes raised toward the sunset-dyed sky as he spoke. At that, a note of indignation crept into Misora’s voice.

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“You already know what it means without me spelling it out, don’t you? Isn’t that the exact reason you’re mad at yourself right now?”

Asked so matter-of-factly, Misora let out a small “Ugh…” and found herself at a loss for words.

Just as Kanata had pointed out, she had already realized it over the course of the afternoon. She knew perfectly well that when an emergency struck out in the open sky, the only people she could rely on were her own platoon mates, Rico and Lecty… Yet until today, none of the three had acknowledged or opened up to one another at all.

“W-Well, sure, I felt pretty pathetic realizing I hadn’t even tried to get to know my own squadmates until now, but…”

Unable to say any more, Misora hung her head dejectedly. Turning toward her, Kanata flashed a confident, fearless grin.

“Then starting tomorrow, why not eat lunch together and spend more time talking with each other?”

As Misora blinked and lifted her face, Kanata delivered his verdict in a brisk, matter-of-fact tone:

“Which means you pass today’s special training, Misora. You managed to grab hold of a solid first step toward getting stronger.”

With those words, the doubt clouding Misora’s chest blew away all at once, replaced by a bright, warm smile that lit up her entire face.

“Alright, tomorrow’s when your real special training starts. Make sure you hold onto what you learned today and don’t forget it. When push comes to shove out there, the ones you can count on most are the teammates in your own platoon.”

“W-Wait a second! What do you mean, my ‘real special training’…?!”

“Hm? Didn’t I tell you? Today’s assignment was your special training as Platoon Leader. Starting tomorrow, your individual combat training is a whole different ballgame.”

With a casual wave, Kanata turned down the side street leading toward Artemia Dormitory. Only after his back had receded into the distance did the realization fully hit her.

“~~~! Y-You didn’t mention a single word about something that important!!!”

The second day since Kanata’s appointment as instructor came to a close. Late that night in his room at Artemia Dormitory, Kanata was poring over a massive stack of files—every last page detailing Misora and her squadmates.

“Listen, quit waltzing into my room whenever you feel like it. This is the boys’ dorm, you know.”

“Hmm, if I fly in through the window, the dorm warden never spots me, and besides, the only people who ever visit your room are me and Lloyd anyway. Everyone else in the dorm avoids you like the plague.”

“Even so, if somebody happens to spot you sneaking in here, rumors are gonna fly. I’ve got zero desire to have people gossiping that I’m sneaking girls into the boys’ dorm…”

Kanata’s room was a disaster zone, so cluttered with junk that there was barely space to set a foot down. Because no roommate had been assigned to share his double room, Chloe had developed a habit of using Flight Magecraft to slip in through his window unannounced. Both of them were still dressed in their school uniforms; there was nothing romantic going on between them whatsoever.

Members of the same platoon naturally tended to live in the same dormitory, so alongside Kanata and Chloe, Lloyd and Yuri also resided in Artemia Dormitory.

“Now, now, we’re squadmates from the same platoon, aren’t we?”

Beaming with her usual angelic smile to brush off his complaint, Chloe leaned forward curiously to ask about Misora and her team.

“So, what kind of special training are you planning to give that Platoon Leader girl tomorrow? Did you figure out what’s behind that explosive acceleration of hers?”

“Yeah. Turns out her latent Magic Power rating actually exceeds A-Rank. That’s almost certainly what’s driving it.”

“Ooh, so she’s actually blessed with incredible talent! …Wait, then how on earth are they stuck in an F-Rank Platoon?”

Hugging a pillow in her lap atop Kanata’s bed, Chloe nearly dropped it in surprise.

Magic Power was the root of all magecraft. Rather than something that could be easily expanded through routine practice, a person’s maximum capacity depended heavily on innate talent determined at birth. Calling Misora’s natural reserves a heaven-sent gift was no exaggeration.

“Pretty much. Problem is, to put it bluntly, her talent’s going completely to waste right now because her aptitude for Magic Swordsmanship is non-existent. So to make full use of her latent Magic Capacity, I’m thinking of converting her to a Magic Cannoneer.”

“…There’s a ‘but’ coming, isn’t there? What’s the catch?”

“Going through her records, you can feel this almost obsessive attachment she has to being a Magic Cannon Swordsman. Think about it: normally, if somebody loses a hundred and thirty-four individual matches in a row, they’d realize they have zero talent for swordsmanship. Which means she must have some deep personal reason for insisting on the Magic Cannon Sword.”

“Hmm… So do you want to convert her to a Magic Cannoneer, Kanata, or do you want to let her stay a Magic Cannon Swordsman?”

“Yeah, about that—”

As Kanata laid out what he had in mind, Chloe tilted her head in concern.

“…Saying ‘that’s just like you, Kanata’ might sound nice on paper, but if you go through with that, she might end up hating you too. She’ll think a traitor really is nothing but a traitor after all.”

Her voice tinged with worry, Chloe tried gently to talk him out of it, but Kanata simply flashed a fearless grin and replied in a light, unbothered tone:

“If having her hate my guts is what it takes to make those girls strong, that’s a small price to pay.”

Lunch break on the day after Kanata’s first special training assignments. As Platoon Leader, Misora had made a decision.

That afternoon, inside the classroom of Preparatory Course Year 2, Class C of the Guardian Department, Rico and Lecty had gathered at Misora’s invitation. Pushing three desks together into a triangle, the three girls sat facing one another with small lunch baskets resting in front of them.

“Yep! Thanks for coming today, you two!”

Misora greeted them with a beaming smile. She had arrived at school early that morning to slip handwritten notes into both Rico’s and Lecty’s desks inviting them to eat lunch together.

“Hmph. As a solitary goddess, I do not care for flocking in herds. I only deigned to grace you with my presence because your letter contained passages expressing a desire to revere and extol my greatness.”

“Yep, thanks for going out of your way!”

Rico blinked her obsidian eyes in slight surprise.

“You seem to have changed somewhat, Misora. By my estimation, you should have started yelling at me by now…”

Beside them, Lecty turned toward Misora and bobbed her head in a polite bow.

“Umm… Misora-san, thank you so much for everything you did for me yesterday. Thanks to you, I somehow managed to survive the first day of special training. I look forward to working with you from here on out.”

“Don’t mention it… Besides, I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help yesterday.”

“N-Not at all! It was only because you stayed right there beside me that I managed to endure it at all, Misora-san…”

“Hmm? What happened yesterday?”

“Umm… Misora-san dressed up in a nurse uniform and walked through the hallways with me. Wait—actually a bunny outfit after that, while I was wearing a maid uniform, and even though it was overwhelmingly embarrassing…”

“…I see. So Misora dressed up in an outfit like that.”

“H-Hey, Rico! Why are you staring exclusively at me like that?!”

“I was unaware that you harbored such peculiar proclivities.”

“Th-That’s not it! T-There were complicated circumstances behind that…”

“Complicated circumstances that led to a costume, huh. The thought processes of ordinary mortals truly defy comprehension.”

“L-Listen here! As if I would ever willingly dress up in cosplay like that out of personal taste—”

“Hmph, it was a jest. Even I can deduce that for both you and Lecty to parade around in such attire is hardly something that would happen under normal circumstances.”

“Eh? Oh, you were joking…”

Between a flustered Misora, a lightly snorting Rico, and a bewildered Lecty tilting her head to one side, it occurred to Misora that this might be the very first time the three of them had ever shared such a relaxed, unhurried conversation. She still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of leading them, yet she found that sitting together like this wasn’t half bad.

Still, because the three of them barely knew one another yet, the conversation soon hit a lull. Eating in companionable silence wasn’t bad in itself, but since that would defeat the whole purpose of inviting them here, Misora took a bite of her sandwich and broached a classic Guardian Department topic.

“Come to think of it, why are you two aiming to become Sky Wizards?”

“Is that all you wished to ask?”

Dismissing the question with a lofty snort, Rico continued:

“As proof of my existence as a goddess, there is a certain woman whom I must defeat with my own two hands. That woman, who sits cross-legged atop the very pinnacle of Mistgun—her alone I shall never forgive.”

Allowing a rare flash of raw vindictiveness and emotion to surface in her voice, Rico made her declaration.

“I-I… umm, I wanted to use the Magic Dual-Swordsmanship I was taught… to protect the people living aboard the Floating City.”

Though her delivery was timid, Lecty’s voice carried unmistakable conviction.

“What about you, Misora-san? Why did you decide to aim for it?”

“Me? Well… there’s someone I can never forget. So that I never forget her—and so others won’t either—I’m aiming to become a Sky Wizard, and specifically a Magic Cannon Swordsman.”

Gazing off into the distance, Misora wore a fleeting, wistful expression.

“A Magic Cannon Swordsman, you say? If I recall correctly, rumor has it that that man also wielded a Magic Cannon Sword back when he competed in the ranking matches…”

Comparing the traitorous former ace to the person cherished inside her heart made Misora let out a wry chuckle despite herself.

“She’s nothing like that guy. She had a way stronger sense of responsibility than him—she’s the person I respect most in this entire world, the person I’m most grateful to, and someone who must never, ever be forgotten.”

Even so, unable to contain her excitement for the afternoon ahead, Misora’s heart beat faster as she wondered what kind of real combat training Kanata had in store for her today. Taking Kanata’s training isn’t bad at all. Right up until that afternoon, she genuinely believed that.

Afternoon practical training. Summoned to a corner of the Training Grounds, Misora stood waiting idly by herself, watching the other Guardian students throw themselves into their combat drills.

Gripping Magic Swords, Magic Spears, and Magic Battleaxes, pairs of students exchanged fierce blows across the field.

The sharp clang of metal clashing against metal. Swirling clouds of dust kicked up into the air. Piercing battle cries.

Scenes like this played out every single day in the Guardian Department.

While three-dimensional squad maneuvers naturally had to be practiced high up in the sky, ground-based conditioning had never gone out of style. Without the constant mental and magical drain of maintaining Flight Magecraft, students could focus purely on honing their weapon techniques.

In fact, whenever Misora practiced her Magic Cannon Swordsmanship, she trained on solid ground rather than in midair, drilling her forms and practice swings. To achieve her dream, she spent two solid hours every single day executing thousands of practice swings without fail. She had never missed a single day of practice.

Shortly after the appointed time, Kanata strolled over to where she was waiting.

“My bad. Getting things ready took a little longer than I thought, so I’m a bit late.”

Even though he was supposed to be a notorious traitor ostracized across Mistgun, Misora found herself looking up at him with unmistakable anticipation shining in her eyes.

Facing her expectant gaze, Kanata maintained his usual composed demeanor as he materialized a certain piece of equipment and held it out to her.

“Alright, Misora. Your individual special training starts with—this.”

What Kanata had just drawn out of thin air from his Magisphere was an artillery weapon with a barrel far longer than any Magic Gun, shaped like a cannon as thick as a tree trunk—a Magic Cannon Staff.

“W-What the heck is this?!”

Misora stared at the weapon, her expression caught somewhere between confusion and disbelief.

Observing her reaction closely, Kanata confirmed his hunch that there really was a deeper story here. Even so, he deliberately kept his tone flat and matter-of-fact.

“Hm? It’s called a Magic Cannon Staff.”

“Th-That’s not what I’m asking…”

“Your special training is converting from a Magic Cannon Swordsman to a Magic Cannoneer. You’ll get way stronger that way.”

Perhaps Misora had started placing a little too much hope in Kanata. She had begun to think that for all his eccentricities and his reputation as a traitor, deep down he was actually a good instructor. And perhaps that was the exact reason the words coming out of his mouth stung so unbearably—making her feel as though she had been betrayed all over again.

“…………What did you just say?”

A cold, hollow voice leaked from her lips. Is that really my own voice? Even to her own ears, her tone sounded freezing. Yet Kanata deliberately feigned nonchalance and repeated himself:

“Hm? Didn’t catch that? I said starting today, you’re converting from a Magic Cannon Swordsman to a Magic Cannoneer, and we’re gonna use this staff for marksmanship training.”

“…………….”

“I gave it a lot of thought, and instead of fighting in the vanguard as a Magic Cannon Swordsman, you’re way better suited to serving in the mid-guard as a Magic Cannoneer delivering ranged magic bombardment. You’ve got zero knack for Magic Swordsmanship, whereas your Flight Magecraft acceleration and raw Magic Capacity are innate gifts you were born with. Since those two gifts aren’t things anyone can easily build up through training, I decided to convert you to a Magic Cannoneer so you can make full use of them.”

Without pausing, Kanata began laying out the fundamentals she would need to master as a Magic Cannoneer.

He kept talking even though he could see perfectly well that Misora hadn’t lifted her head once, her long, glossy crimson hair hanging like a curtain to hide her face…

“…That’s the one thing I can never do. Even if it’s to get stronger, that’s the one thing I’ll never accept!”

Keeping her head bowed, Misora spoke in a quiet, trembling voice. Still, Kanata deliberately pretended not to notice her distress.

“Lecty said the exact same thing at first, too, and look at her—she’s still out there doing her special training today, so quit being so stubborn and selfish. A Magic Cannon Sword is terribly unbalanced, way too awkward for an amateur to handle, and an outdated relic to boot.”

To Misora, it felt as though the Magic Cannon Sword she cherished more than anything in the world had just been spat upon and insulted.

Had she been calm, she might have remembered that Kanata himself was famous as a master of the Magic Cannon Sword and surely had his own attachment to the weapon—yet in her emotional state, she was blind to the contradiction.

Losing her composure more completely than she ever had in her life, Misora snapped her head up and glared at Kanata with raw hatred, as if looking at her parents’ murderer.

“—It’s not selfishness! I have zero intention of ever being anything other than a Magic Cannon Swordsman! Even if you think you see some talent in me as a Magic Cannoneer, I refuse—absolutely, positively refuse!”

“Yeah, well, you’ve got zero talent for swordsmanship. Your individual practical exam record is sitting at a hundred and thirty-four straight losses.”

“Even so, a Magic Cannon Swordsman is what I want to be! If I can’t be a Magic Cannon Swordsman, none of it means anything! I’ll work hard! I swear I’ll put in the effort and get results, so please, just let me be a Magic Cannon Swordsman!”

Misora pleaded with everything she had. Yet Kanata brushed aside even her desperate vow to work hard, looking her dead in the eye as he delivered his verdict:

“Keeping up the exact same effort you’ve been doing until now will only leave you weak. I don’t know how hard you’ve been working on your own, but doing the same old effort will only ever get you the same old results.”

It felt as if every drop of sweat and blood she had poured into her training had just been spat upon and negated. This guy doesn’t know the first thing about how hard I’ve been working, Misora thought bitterly.

And yet… he talks as if he’s figured out everything about me, without even knowing why I want to become a Magic Cannon Swordsman, forcing his own decision on me one-sidedly… He’s the worst instructor in the world.

“Don’t stand there spouting whatever you please when you don’t know a single thing about me! —I’m going home!”

Before she even realized it, she was screaming at the top of her lungs.

Shoving the heavy Magic Cannon Staff back against Kanata’s chest, her cheeks burning crimson as she furiously wiped at the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, Misora spun on her heel and marched away in long, angry strides.