Chapter 16 – １６ – After the First Day of Class

Entrance Ceremony Arc

“That’s how it went for us.”

“Huh, so that’s how a normal Masquerade class works.”

Evening.

Having finished my first day of classes—a day that should have been commemorative—I returned to the Inui Dormitory. In the first-floor common area, I was listening to Suzu describe what a typical Masquerade class was like.

Apparently, in a standard Masquerade class, students are made to run until they hit their limit to determine what their Masked Form is, or rather, the extent of its capabilities.

The B-Rank Evaluated students are academically excellent, and judging by Tokuto and the others, I feel like the A-Rank Evaluated students would be fine starting with Classroom Study… but the fact that they deliberately didn’t do that suggests an intention to prioritize practical application, since that is what ultimately matters.

“I wonder what would have happened if you had run in that class, Naru?”

“What would have happened… Well, for starters, before I could even finish the first lap, Ms. Maruta would have shown up, thrown a cage at me, and that would be the end of it…”

“Right, you skipped a part, but that’s assuming you were wearing clothes, Naru.”

“If I were, couldn’t I have run as much as I wanted? Honestly, I don’t feel like I’d run out of magical power just by running.”

Now, what if I actually took that class?

I think I could probably run forever.

I can’t imagine that the amount of magical power consumed by simple jogging would be greater than what I spent fighting Ms. Maruta.

If that’s the case, I could probably keep running from the start of the class until the very end.

“As expected of Naru.”

“It’s just a hypothesis. I wouldn’t know for sure without trying it.”

I checked my Masutter.

Tomorrow’s schedule… isn’t much different from today.

Classroom Study with Tokuto and the others in the morning, and Masquerade class alone in the afternoon.

“By the way, Naru.”

“What?”

“When did you switch from calling the Public Morals Committee Chairman by her title to calling her by name? Knowing your personality, you wouldn’t just change how you address someone like her on your own, even in private. Therefore, I infer it’s correct to assume there was some kind of catalyst that caused the change. Thinking about when that timing could have been, it leads back to today’s Masquerade class. The Public Morals Committee Chairman is a high-ranking official, but she’s also a third-year with her own classes. If someone like her went out of her way to assist in your Masquerade class, I think something must have happened.”

“Hiss…“

Suzu’s pressure… a pressure similar to when I first saw her Masked Form yesterday was radiating from her.

Wait! Fellow classmates! Seniors! We’re in the same dorm, so please wait! Don’t run away!!

Dammit! Ichi and Marie were the first among them, peeking at me from behind cover, trembling.

Is that trembling from fear or from laughing?! Either way, just you wait, all of you!!

“So, specifically, what happened? I’d really like to know.”

“O-oh. Uh, well, that. For today’s Masquerade class, not only Ms. Tarui, but Ms. Maruta also helped out.”

C-calm down.

I haven’t done anything shameful.

Honestly… if I tell it exactly as it happened, I have a bad feeling, so I should just put it in gentler terms and tell her what occurred.

And so, I explained that as part of the physical ability measurement for the Masked Form, I had a sparring session with Ms. Maruta, and that after investigating the nature of my magical power, I found that I have to manifest my own outfit.

I omitted the part about what Ms. Maruta’s Masked Form looked like and the fact that I got beaten to a pulp.

“…”

“…”

Once I finished speaking, silence fell over the area.

Suzu’s expression was…

“Naru’s magical power is adhesive and doesn’t accept external interference. In that case, there’s a high possibility that buffs or debuffs that work by altering the Masked Form would be neutralized. No, that doesn’t matter right now. More importantly, the point is that Naru cannot participate in a Duel unless he can manifest his own outfit. Normal Masked Form adjustments can be easily done using machinery, but if that’s not an option, he needs to alter his magical power manually to change it into clothing. Considering mobility and such, the structure needs to be solid… no, perhaps a fuzzier shape would be better…”

“Uh, Suzu?”

She seems to be deeply troubled by something.

However, the direction of her worry isn’t about doing something to Ms. Tarui or Ms. Maruta, but rather thinking about how to improve my Masked Form.

If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be good for me or Suzu if I interrupted her now.

All I can do is wait until Suzu organizes her thoughts.

After waiting for a few minutes—during which the people who had been observing us from the shadows naturally returned—Suzu’s muttering stopped.

“Naru. I wonder if I could also take the Masquerade class you’re taking?”

“That… would be impossible. At the very least, there’s nothing I can do to help.”

Then, Suzu started to say something.

Though the content was almost certainly going to be rejected, it wasn’t something I could judge right or wrong.

“That depends on why Suzu wants to participate. If it is for Suzu’s own benefit, I think it will be difficult. Conversely, if it is for Naru’s sake, there might be a chance.”

“Marie agrees with Ichi.”

“Marie, Ichi.”

“If it’s for Naru’s sake…”

Marie chimed in here.

Ichi was standing beside her, showing her smartphone screen to Suzu.

Both Marie and Ichi should be far more knowledgeable about the systems of the Duel Academy than I am.

If those two say there might be a way, then there might actually be a possibility.

“Therefore, could you first tell Marie and me what you intend to do? After hearing that, Marie and I will decide whether to cooperate.”

“Yeah, okay. I think it’ll be a bit of a complicated conversation, so can we talk in the room?”

“Understood.”

“Then, Naru. Sorry for cutting the conversation short so suddenly, but we’re going now.”

“A-ah. Okay.”

Uh, well, based on that vibe, it seems Suzu will get involved in my Masquerade class by getting approval from Marie and Ichi, and then getting consent from the academy.

If it happens that way, at the very least, it won’t be a disadvantage for me… yeah, if it comes to that, I’ll gladly welcome it.

With Suzu’s intelligence, she might come up with something I’d never think of.

Regardless.

“I survived, so all good!”

For now, I successfully made it through the first day of classes.

That much is certain.