"How can you do this to us so suddenly? And disbanding a research group doesn't happen with the snap of a finger, you know?"
"That's right, but wouldn't the result of the research presentation clear things up? If it turns out to be a mess to the extent your laboratory is confiscated, I'm sure the Management Committee will think differently. Of course, I'll be the one to propose the idea."
Nade shouted.
"Teacher!"
"You want to go back to base one? Isn't this a much better proposition than placing Shirone's withdrawal as the condition?"
"Eukk..."
Nade held his head.
Even though they were given a month, the fact that the faculty wanted to disband the research group could not be ignored.
The Supernatural Psychic Science Research Group had never done an official presentation, even in the past. How could they logically explain ghosts or gods? They didn't even know if those things existed.
Driven to a corner, Nade chose to throw all his pride and honor away and clung to Siena.
"Ms. Siena! Please, give us a chance. Is there any other option other than the presentation? I know that this research group's existence alone is significant. We are the only research group that can strike a blow at the mage society that only believes in logic."
"So I'm telling you to please do something special. We've been lax with you so far. Now it's your turn to prove yourselves. This has already been mentioned to the Instructor's Committee, so I hope you guys make the right decision."
As Siena stood up abruptly, the three followed suit.
"Ms. Siena! Wai—"
The iron door closed with a bang, and with that Shirone and his friends plopped down on the sofa.
Their minds were blank as if they had woken up from a dream.
"We're doomed."
Clank. Clank.
Estas' engine system started to return the laboratory to its original position.
A peaceful holiday.
Shirone typically stayed in the library, even on his days off, but today he was holding a drink and looking forward in a daze.
It was the same for Yiruki and Nade, who were both sitting next to him, sandwiching him.
"Hey, what time is it?"
"Don't know. I know it's not night though."
"Wow. Amazing. Didn't know we had a genius sitting next to us."
Then silence.
Shirone sighed. Then two others sighed shortly after.
Shirone, who could not handle it, leaped up and shouted.
"What are we gonna do about our research group? Shouldn't we be using this time to at least come up with a topic to present?"
Yiruki spoke.
"Yeah, let's think. What research project would be approved by the academy?"
Nade shook his head.
"From what I know, the research group has never done a presentation. Ever. We have done unique, unusual things, but there's no way the academy will acknowledge that as 'official' anyways."
They didn't know how to get supernatural psychic science acknowledged as a legitimate field of study.
The three were in a daze.
They turned their heads back and forth to follow the movements of students passing by, but their heads were actually blank.
"Hey guys, look at her."
Nade was pointing at the beauty who was heading to the front gate.
She had a trench coat on and wore heels. She had purple hair that fluttered down to her waist.
"Looking through a biological viewpoint, those are some good designs. Who is sge?"
"Is she an Advanced Class senior? Kids our age don't typically wear that kind of stuff."
While his friends continued chatting, Shirone squinted his eyes to have a better look at the woman. She looked familiar.
"Wait… Isn't that Ms. Siena?"
"What? Ms. Siena?"
Yiruki and Nade stared at her.
It certainly was. Her hair was neatly tied up, and she wore no glasses, but it was no doubt Siena Olifer.
"Wow, how can a person change so much?"
"I know, right? She's a completely different person with makeup on. But Shirone, you have a good eye for girls."
The reason why Shirone recognized Siena was because he had seen her with untied hair before.
But Shirone knew better than to expose the fact that she had visited him late at night to his friends.
"Haha! I just have good eyesight."
"Where is she going? She even has makeup on. Maybe she's attending an important meeting."
Yiruki tapped his chin and said.
"According to Ms. Siena's daily schedule provided by the Female Body Research Group, she is off duty today. She has no events both inside and outside the academy. Now, that only leaves one possibility… She's going on a date."
"Date? No way. You know Ms. Siena's personality."
"Still, I'm sure she's at least seeing someone. She's 26. The pressure her family must be putting on her… It's probably no joke. And her seeing someone isn't going to lower the value of the Olifer's name or anything."
"Hmm, is that so…"
Nade was rubbing his chin when his friends' eyes suddenly shined.
"Should we follow her?"
"Then what? What are we gonna do after?"
"There's nothing to do, anyway. Nothing will come from us sitting here wracking our brains for something. And be honest, you guys are curious too right? It's our day off anyways, so we just have to be back before the sun sets."
Yiruki was skeptical.
"Can we follow without being caught? She's a Grade 6 mage. Her eyes alone are not comparable to the average human's eyes. And don't even get me started with her Spirit Zone. We'll get caught real quick."
"Then let's do this. Yiruki, you track down teacher while Shirone takes over as the middle man. Keep track of her while I stop by the lab."
Shirone saw through Nade's plan.
"Invisibility cloak?"
"Exactly. If we follow with the invisibility cloak, even teacher won't notice. What do you think?"
Yiruki finally showed interest.
"Tailing a certified Grade 6 mage. Sounds fun. I'll leave now. Shirone, you pick up Nade in the middle."
Not even waiting for a reply, Yiruki got moving towards the front gate while Shirone let out a sigh.
'Seriously, they excel in execution…'
Nade got ready to set off.
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"Then, I'll leave this up to you Shirone. You have the most important role. You can regulate the movement and distance, right?"
Since the direction of the city was divided into artificial structures called roads, you could determine the approximate location by checking the Points. The Point was used to locate the middle confluence site.
Shirone could do nothing but nod.
Even in this situation, he didn't like that he had already finished the calculations in his head.
"Alright, alright. You have to come quickly, though. You can't take more than 10 minutes."
"Haha! As expected of Shirone! I believe you!"
While Nade left for the research lab, Shirone followed behind Yiruki for seven minutes. Then he quickly returned to the front gate, picked up Nade, and ran for five minutes along the road he had memorized. Yiruki greeted them once they had caught up.
Nade asked immediately.
"Where's Ms. Siena?"
"She turned right at the bakery, so she must be heading to the commoner's district. We should be able to catch up."
"Commoner's district?"
It was a different route than what they had expected, but the important thing was to go wherever Siena went.
They were on the move when Nade asked.
"Why the commoner's district? Dates are usually done in the aristocratic district. Is she meeting a commoner?"
"Who knows? But there's something else that's strange. She's too on guard. She was constantly paying attention to her surroundings. Good thing I was watching through the corners of my eyes, otherwise, I would have been caught."
"Things are getting exciting! Perhaps she's earning under-the-table money through prohibited items like us?"
Shirone just stared blankly at Nade as if he couldn't lose any more brain cells.
"Teacher doesn't do things like that."
"Tsk! Whatever. We can protect the research group if we discover such scenes."
Yiruki pointed to Siena who was far away.
"Found her. That was close."
The three wore invisibility cloaks in the commoner's district.
The road was crowded with people who came to do early business. This made it easier for them to tail Siena.
The place Siena arrived at was a two-story house.
The three poked their heads out the corner of a building and watched to see who would open the door.
As soon as Siena started looking around, the three heads quickly disappeared from the corner of the building.
'She is so cautious. Whose house is it for her to be like that? It's just a normal home.'
When the three gave in to their curiosity and pulled out their heads once again, a blond man opened the door and came out.
He awkwardly gave Siena a hug and led her inside the house.
The door closed behind them, and Shirone and his friends stared at it for a good ten seconds.
" …It's a man. Right, guys…? That was a man, right?"
"Yeah. But isn't it weird? That means they're dating, but why be so cautious?"
"Is it because he's a commoner? She's from the House of Olifer. Disapprovals must be no joke."
Shirone had a different opinion.
"They didn't seem like a couple to me. What should I say? There was an underlying awkwardness?"
After hearing that, Yiruki and Nade were somewhat convinced what Shirone said was true.
In the midst of them just standing there, Nade made a suggestion.
"Should we go in and check?"
"What?! But it's a stranger's house."
"I just smell something suspicious. As you said, there's no reason for Ms. Siena to be so vigilant. There's no one in the academy who knows about this. Even that tenacious Female Body Research Group has no articles about this. That must mean she was very discreet."
They would have given up if it weren't for the invisibility cloaks.
"So what are you planning?"
"We could enter using the underground warehouse. Even if we get caught, I mean, what's the worst thing that could happen? And plus, it's Ms. Siena who went in, so technically he's not a random stranger to us, her students."
"…Really?"
"We can't just give up here. Our research group is on the line here. We need to grasp any string of hope. Wait here. I'm the president, so I'll be responsible for us if we get caught."
Arriving at the entrance to the underground warehouse, Nade examined the iron door.
Shirone asked a question when Nade took out a gadget the size of a wine opener from his pocket.
"What is that?"
Yiruki answered instead.
"Nade's patent-pending invention, the Master Key. It pressurizes the internal system of locks. It can capture the springs of the lock up to a hundredth of a centimeter. Unless the lock was created using a master artisan's bearing method, the key can unlock pretty much anything. The bearing method is a type of lock in which the ball is caught in the housing of the lock. So even a little bit of excessive force causes the ball to slide and…"
"Done."
Nade unlocked the lock before Yiruki could finish his explanation. He opened the door, and the smell of vegetables made its way into their noses.
"It's a food storehouse. I can go through here."
When Nade climbed the ladder, Shirone followed him and said.
"Wait. I can't send you alone. We'll go with."
If Shirone couldn't stop Nade, then the least he could do was try to make sure they wouldn't get caught.
The last one to enter was Yiruki, who closed the iron door behind them.
During that time, Nade observed the atmosphere.
"It's quiet. Let's head up."
The three had their invisibility cloaks on and the only thing remaining was their three heads that floated in midair.
PR/N: Essentially, Imagine an old-school cloak. They can't hide their faces as they'd have no way to see, hence why there are "floating heads".
A floor with an integrated living room and kitchen appeared. A furnace was installed in the center.
As they climbed up the wooden stairs and arrived on the second floor, they heard talking from the room right around the corner.
Shirone quietly tiptoed near the door with his friends and leaned his ear against it.
He heard Siena's voice.
"What are you doing? Hurry up."
Surprised, Shirone and Nade made a fuss using their facial muscles. Yiruki put his finger against his lips and looked at them.
A moment later, a male's voice was heard.
"Wait. I'm not ready. First, take off your clothes."
"When is your wife coming back?"
"She went grocery shopping at the market. Today's the third day of the month, so it'll take over 2 hours."
Nade was attacked with another round of shock.
No, he looked more appalled than shocked.
'What??? Wh-What is going on?!'
Shirone had the same thought.