Volume 2 Chapter 17 – Magician: Magician 1

| Sannomiya Hijiri

After school.

I found myself with Ruri, taking the train a few stops away from our school’s nearest station to visit a certain apartment complex.

The building was called Quare Wako. It was a 12-story apartment owned by the Wako family, and on the very top floor was Room 1201, provided by Wako Erika. This was the room where we, the members of the Round Table, would gather.

Using the matching angel charm key and card key, I opened the door to find the entranceway cluttered with rows of loafers.

We passed through the hallway and entered the living room.

The spacious living-dining room had a large, round green carpet, with a similarly large round table in the center. Everyone was seated around it, working on their school assignments. Textbooks, notebooks, snacks, and drinks were scattered all over.

“You’re all here early,” I said.

“It’s the first time since Valentine’s Day, everyone~ Nice to see you all again~”

Ruri and I greeted the members of the Round Table.

“Hijiri! Ru-rii!”

“Welcome.”

“Good work~”

“Yo.”

We exchanged greetings with old friends. It had been three months since we entered high school, and everyone had become quite polished and refined.

The Round Table was as lively as ever. I expressed my thanks to Erika, who had initially provided this space.

“Erika, it’s been a while. Thanks as always.”

“Thanks, Erikaaan~”

“It’s not a problem at all. Feel free to use it anytime. But more importantly… I’m so envious of you two!”

“It was just by chance, wasn’t it? Otherwise, it would have been a living hell!”

“Exactly. We just got lucky.”

That’s right. If nothing had happened, our three years of high school would have been nothing but dull gray. We had steeled ourselves for that when we took the entrance exam. If we had gone to a different school, we wouldn’t have had to deal with it at all, and our hearts wouldn’t have been crushed. Everyone else ran away!

“Well, that may be true… but I still envy you two.”

Two others who had also progressed to Oomae Girls’ High School with Erika, Jun Hatano and Shino Utano, chimed in.

“Seriously, we really won that gamble~ But hey, is Kyousuke okay?!”

“I’ve heard most of what happened, but I’ve been so worried.”

As expected, Kyousuke-kun was the main topic of concern. All the members of the Round Table had developed quite the fixation on him. It made me happy.

“Sorry, sorry. The truth is, Kyousuke-kun isn’t here today. I asked his teacher, and apparently, he’s out sick. But it doesn’t seem to be anything serious.”

“He’s probably fine. I saw Mihane-chan at lunchtime, and she looked normal.”

“If that brocon’s acting normal, then it should be okay.”

“Indeed. If that foolish little sister of his seems calm, then we can trust that things are fine. Ah, and let’s not forget the remote members.”

At another smaller round table, multiple tablets were propped up vertically, each showing a different face.

“Good work, everyone.”

“‘Good morning!’”

“‘Morning!’”

“Nana, LiliRara, Michiru. It’s been a while. I’ve heard about your achievements.”

“I saw everyone except Michirun yesterday—oh, Michirun, long time no see~”

“Long time! Ah, Ruri, thanks for the photos as always! They really cheer me up!”

“No problem~ Seeing the disheveled school uniform on Kyousuke-kun really fuels your imagination, right? Eheheh. But use it properly, in moderation~”

“Uh… yeah.”

The four members from the entertainment group were joining us remotely. They all lived in dormitories. When we formed the Round Table, we discussed each member’s characteristics, talents, and charms, and decided to pursue paths suited to each of us. We had all left our middle school lives behind and sought to better ourselves.

“Well then. It looks like everyone who could make it today is here. Kinuko, can you take it from here?”

“Got it.”

Kinuko, who had been silent since greeting everyone, gave a brief reply and lowered the pure white roll curtain. She began preparing the projector while Shino adjusted the lights, getting everything ready.

Kinuko operated the projector, and an arrow appeared on the screen, indicating the start of a video. She adjusted the lighting once more, and just as we settled in, it began abruptly.

Was this after the assault yesterday? The park had grown dim, and there wasn’t a single person around.

The video that had been circulating around school had poor image quality, likely going for shock value, with close-up shots that made it hard to grasp the entire situation. In contrast, Kinuko’s footage was as clear as a movie, as if a story was about to unfold.

“The agenda for today is—”

Kyousuke-kun was lying in the center of the screen. Kinuko paused the video, opened her sketchbook, and looked around at everyone, confidently declaring:

“The person we fell in love with turned out to be a magician.”

For a moment, time seemed to stop. The same thing was written in her sketchbook, in a rounded font with pink borders, decorated with cute blue stripes. There were also little yellow stars drawn around it.

Below the title, a chibi version of Kinuko with a megaphone was shouting, Wonderful! and Embrace me!

It was adorable. And skillfully drawn.

But still—

What was Kinuko even saying? What was she doing?

“…Are you saying that we’re all under some kind of spell?” someone asked.

“That’s been obvious since elementary school,” came a reply.

“It’s an affliction, though. Specifically, it’s love. If it’s a spell that pierces your heart, I’m already under its influence,” someone else added.

“Indeed. We’ve all already fallen under the spell of love, haven’t we? Right, everyone?”

‘That’s right!’ echoed the group.

‘Mhm, mhm,’ came the repeated affirmations.

“But isn’t Kyousuke more of a knight?” someone else suggested.

‘He’s a knight, a prince, and a master!’ another person enthusiastically added.

Everyone began to voice their own thoughts and feelings. Including myself, we were all likely recalling moments when we had been saved.

Kinuko shook her head from side to side, denying it.

“No, that’s not it. Just watch this.”

She resumed the video.

Kyousuke-kun slowly got up and started walking toward the camera. His movements were sluggish and unsteady—something I had never seen from him before. The screen’s shaking conveyed Kinuko’s own distress as she held the camera.

“Kyousuke!”

“Kyousuke-kun…”

“Kyousuke-san… he looks like he’s in pain.”

‘Master!’

It was the first time any of us had seen Kyousuke-kun in such a state. Everyone held their breath. It was painful just watching him move like that.

He collapsed onto a bench at the front of the screen, turning his back to us.

We all remained silent. Even though it was a past event, we all felt the urge to rush over and help him. I was sure everyone felt the same way.

“After this… watch closely,” Kinuko said.

As soon as she spoke, a faint blue and green light began to emanate from Kyousuke-kun in succession.

‘…Wow,’ someone murmured.

“What is this…? His body is glowing.”

“It’s… sparkling and beautiful.”

“What is this? Am I going to get shot through the heart again? I’m already full of holes.”

‘Amazing,’ came the collective exclamations.

“…Wait, is this… CGI?” someone asked, still trying to process it.

“Magic? Is that what you mean?” another ventured.

‘Master, you’re amazing…’ someone whispered reverently.

The light was so mystical, so ethereal. It blended seamlessly into the screen, making it hard to believe it was an effect. The light faded as quickly as it came. Kinuko paused the video and spoke.

“To be honest, I wasn’t sure what was going on. But being there, seeing it with my own eyes, I felt something pure and sacred. I thought that if I sent this as a video, there was a chance it could leak or be discovered by someone else, and that would be bad. That’s why I asked everyone to come here. Also, I didn’t edit it at all.”

Kinuko, who was usually so quiet, was now speaking rapidly. She must have been really worked up.

“No one here would ever think you’d lie, Kinuko,” someone assured.

“That’s right. By the way, was there any sound?” someone asked.

“I forgot the recording mic. I was too shaken up. Sorry, everyone.”

“Of course you’d be shaken up, seeing Kyousuke-kun looking like that! It’s okay, really.”

“I’m sure you wanted to run up to him immediately… Thank you for everything, Kinuko-san.”

“Yeah, thanks a lot! I was so shocked, but… doesn’t just this much prove he’s a magician?”

“I kept rewinding and watching it over and over because it was so beautiful. I got… um, sleep-deprived. Oops. Anyway, watch this part.”

She rewound the video to just before the light began, pointing to a specific spot.

Kyousuke-kun’s right shoulder. There were shoe prints on his uniform, dirtied. He had probably been kicked while he was down. My blood boiled with anger.

She resumed the video, and after the blue light faded—

“What?”

‘Ahh! My workload—!’

“It’s… gone.”

“My eyes were too focused on the light to notice, but… the dirt’s completely gone.”

“That’s why I thought—the blue light might be a cleaning spell… Next.”

After unpausing, Kyousuke-kun stood up from the bench, looked up, and after a brief glance, picked up his bag and walked away as if nothing had happened.

Despite how agonized he had been.

Despite only a few minutes having passed.

The footage ended there. Kinuko concluded with:

“I believe the green light is a healing spell.”

I couldn’t think of anything else. Kinuko’s conclusion seemed perfectly reasonable. Everyone was speechless, and for a while, no one could say a word.