The friction between the pen tip and paper produced a rustling sound.
Leo finished the last question's answer and gently exhaled.
The school he attended, Chiyoshi Municipal Inaba High School, was considered prestigious within the prefecture, with significant academic pressure.
Looking around, most of his classmates were still fervently writing.
Mizukawa, sitting next to him, was biting her pen, her eyebrows tightly furrowed.
Noticing Leo's gaze, she looked up to meet his eyes and then suddenly pointed at the desk with her finger.
Was there something underneath?
Following her finger's direction down, past the slender waist beneath the uniform shirt and the dark blue sailor skirt, over the black knee-high socks and indoor shoes, he saw a line of black text crawling on the ground like ants, then climbing up his desk to form a message: "What is the answer to the third-to-last fill-in-the-blank question?"
Is this what magical girl powers are for?!
He firmly shook his head.
She pouted and huffed lightly.
A few minutes later, as the teacher announced the end of the exam, a series of sighs and groans filled the classroom.
Mizushima turned around, with a blank stare: "I want to play soccer."
Mizukawa, looking as if she had burned out, slumped onto the desk towards Leo, listless.
"Leo, it's divine punishment to not help others in need."
"I'm protecting everyone's dreams."
Protecting the dreams of a magical girl.
"So, to avoid divine punishment, treat me to takoyaki at noon!"
Mizukawa, already disqualified as a magical girl in Leo's mind, self-assuredly advanced the conversation, sitting up with gusto.
She winked at Leo.
Was there more to say about yesterday's events?
"…Alright."
"What a perfunctory answer!"
"Okay then."
"No difference at all! Then I'm heading to the cafeteria first!"
She darted out of the classroom like a rabbit.
Mizushima, who had been sitting backwards, had already snapped out of his daze and was now showing an intrigued expression.
"When did you two get so close?"
"I just got extorted for a lunch by her. You call that close?"
"Generally speaking, I think so."
Mizushima chuckled softly.
"It's been less than two weeks since school started, and it feels like the interpersonal relationships in class are already settling."
Indeed, the new high school students were gradually adapting to the school environment, forming various small groups.
Leo was also paying close attention to the changes in class relationships, especially those with strange titles above their heads.
In his view, the blonde girl known as [Subhuman (In Disguise)] was quite popular among both boys and girls, [Phantom Thief] was popular among the girls, and [Vampire] was more solitary, often sitting alone at her desk.
"I'm going to eat."
He informed Mizushima.
"Oh, good luck!"
"What luck."
Exiting the classroom, he encountered several boys with dyed hair coming towards him.
The leader stopped him, speaking flippantly, "Hey, could you call your classmate, Yashu-kun, for me?"
"No."
Leo glanced at the delinquents, noticing the tags [Delinquent A], [Delinquent B], etc., above their heads and shook his head.
"Hey, freshman, hasn't anyone taught you what attitude you should have towards your seniors?!"
[Delinquent B], with a nose ring, shook his fist and reached out to grab Leo's collar.
Leo caught his hand and with a light pull to the side, tossed him aside.
[Delinquent B] was thrown out like a small stone, falling face down and sliding three or four meters on the ground.
He clutched his bleeding nose, letting out a discordant scream.
The other delinquents, clearly not expecting this turn of events, looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
The commotion at the door reached the classroom, and Mizushima Yū walked over to survey the scene, standing next to Leo.
"Are we fighting?"
Following him was a petite and handsome boy. Seeing him, the leader with [Delinquent A] overhead hurriedly said, "We're here to find Yashu-kun, not to start a fight."
Leo frowned.
Uehara Yashu, usually a timid boy, was one of those with strange titles above their heads.
[Spirit Attractor].
Oddly enough, even though Leo could now see spirits, he hadn't noticed anything clinging to Uehara in the classroom.
Could this Spirit Attractor trait be fake?
Uehara looked at the delinquents with a panicked expression but managed to muster a bitter smile, "They're here for me. Sorry for the trouble, Leo."
Leo glanced at him and said to Mizushima, "Let's go."
The delinquents, as if granted amnesty, hurried to help their companion.
"Is Uehara being bullied?"
Walking away, Mizushima expressed his concern.
"Possibly, but if the person involved doesn't want to admit it, we can't be sure."
Leo pondered; he could still clearly hear the delinquents and Uehara's conversation behind him:
"…Yes, tonight at 7:30… near the alley by the school… better come if you know what's good for you…"
Reaching the cafeteria, the two split up to order food.
Leo bought an extra serving of takoyaki and sat down next to Mizukawa Aoi, who was idly swinging her legs.
"Here's your takoyaki."
"You're so slow! I won't hold back then."
She took a bite, showing a satisfied smile.
"By the way, I wanted to ask, Mizukawa, what do you think of our class?"
"? What do you mean?"
"Is there anything special about it?"
"Of course, it has a magical girl like me."
She didn't seem to notice any other anomalies, did she?
Leo thought for a moment and asked, "You mentioned yesterday you couldn't sense the monster, and something about local mysticism, what does that mean?"
"Ah, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to Leo about, regarding the identity of the person I'm introducing to you tomorrow."
Leo prepared to listen intently.
"First, I have a question for Leo, who do you think is stronger, a magical girl or a shrine maiden?"
"How would I know, ma... magical girls would instantly defeat shrine maidens."
Mizukawa withdrew her piercing gaze, "Although I think so too, in reality, it's more accurate to say they belong to different worldviews and can't be compared."
"Worldviews?"
"A convenient term, whether it's magic, onmyōdō, ninjutsu, or whatever, essentially it's about different perspectives on viewing and twisting reality. This results in mystical schools of thought that are similar attracting each other, and those that are different repelling each other."
The magical girl pointed at herself, "For instance, dealing with Sakura Island's native demons and spirits might weaken my powers, and vice versa."
"So, over time, based on similarities and differences in perspective, various circles centered around certain supernatural groups have formed. Just like different worldviews in fictional stories, stories led by vampires and werewolves, magical girls fighting against creatures from other worlds, shrine maidens exorcising demons and spirits... Most of the time, they don't interfere with each other, though occasionally they overlap."
Hearing this, Leo understood, "Because I killed the monster, you think I belong to what's called the local mysticism worldview?"
"Pretty much. On Sakura Island, there are basically three main worldviews."
Mizukawa raised three delicate fingers.
"The ancient yokai and spirits, suppressed by the [Eighty Thousand Shrines Joint Committee]."
"The worldly psychics, disciplined by the [Public Security Section 9]."
"The Negative Realm creatures from beyond, purified by us, the [Negative Realm Disaster Countermeasures Bureau]'s magical girls."
"The professional I mentioned yesterday belongs to the shrine committee."