The Shadow in the World of Magic

by MagicName88

Hikigaya Hachiman's only goal is to find the wife and daughter of his deceased guardian in a wasteland filled with powerful monsters. For him to do that, he must become a knight and bond with others, but the first person he was forced to approach is a noblewoman who wants to do research with the power of science. The biggest challenge for the young mage's adventure begins.[AU]

6. Chapter 6: Venom

Recap of the previous chapter: A few days after his defeat in the duel, Hachiman was investigating a strange phenomenon that two monsters: the shadow craves and goblins, were cooperating in killing and skinning massis wolves. Shuzka speculated it could be the work of a mage and advised caution in the forest. A day later, Hachiman gave advice to Yui on how to create her Ziel puppet, a being manifested from a mage's mana. The day was going well for Yui as she finally created her Ziel puppet and named it "Sablè" and was able to help (accidentally) the True Science Institution in mixing substances. However, the happiness soon ended while she and Oliver were on their way home riding a carriage and encountered a mysterious hooded woman who was a powerful earth mage. The hooded woman kidnapped Yui and teleported into the middle of the woods. No match against the hooded woman, Yui thought it was the end of her until a certain young dark mage came to her rescue once again.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Oregairu series as it is respectfully owned by the author and studios.

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Chapter 6: Venom Can Even Slither Into The Strongest Fortitude

"It's you..." The hooded woman's voice turned menacing and full of anger. She walked away from Yuigahama and slowly approached Hikigaya. Behind the mask, he raised an eyebrow at her mumbling. It seemed that this culprit knew him, but he didn't know where. All he knew was that she was the culprit to the massis wolf massacre since the gogmagogs seemed to be on her side and she was attempting to hurt Yuigahama. The nightmare of the beast would be over with the guardian slaying this dangerous enemy. He held his sword firmly and it was enveloped in a dark aura.

"I don't know who you are," He said in his mind as he raised his sword upward, ready to swing it down for an elemental attack. "but I'm gonna kill you."

"This... will not end... in your favor..." She said while revealing both of her pale arms that emitted purple smoke. Hikigaya compared this to a shadow crave though he could tell that the purple smoke was dangerous. Despite not able to see her face, he saw her forming a huge grin with her yellow eyes glowing. Her eyes looked familiar to him as if he already encountered those eyes before. The massis wolf gogmagog grabbed the giant rusty sword and stood tall at his left side, looking down at him with the red eyes full of bloodlust that was fueled by its basic monstrous instinct. The hooded woman closed her hands into fists and slouched down as if she was prepared to pounce on her prey. "I am not.. like him after all..."

"Him? Who's 'him'?" Hikigaya mumbled a question in wonder of her statement, but he stopped all thoughts as the gogmagog swung down the rusty sword towards him with a deep roar. He jumped back to evade the attack and swung his sword. A black crescent projectile was released from his swing and cut the giant monster's arm off. The giant sword fell and the moment it landed on the ground, massive hands of earth rose around him. With one spin, he sliced through all of the hands and threw his sword at the hooded woman. She moved her body to the right and evaded the weapon but it suddenly swung itself towards her neck. The enemy ducked in time from the attack and the flying sword began swinging at her due to Hikigaya's Spirit Motion spell. She attempted to evade all of its swings but she took grazes on her arms, with green liquid dripping from the injuries and the cloak was slightly tattered. The hooded woman stomped the ground to cast a wall of earth in order to defend, but the sword broke through. Hikigaya noticed the gogmagog's claws coming at him and so he jumped into a front flip to evade the attack which made him broke the Spirit Motion spell because he didn't maintain the hand sign.

The flying sword fell mid-way before it was about to pierce the hooded woman's chest. She grinned and stomped the ground once more. Huge debris in the size of boulders scattered from her stomp and they all levitated.

"Earth Magic: Scattered Shot!" The huge debris flew quickly towards him. While he was still airborne, the young dark mage defended himself by punching all the boulder-sized debris and noticed the massis wolf gogmagog about to attack him with its left claws. The only thing he could do was cast Black Protection as a dark aura surrounded him into a sphere and the gogmagog hit the magic spell which knocked him away into the ground while crashing into trees. The hooded woman and her giant companion waited for the smoke that was created from the crash to clear out. She heard the rustling of bushes behind the smoke and sounded like it was going from her far-left quickly. "You can't hide from me!"

She stomped the ground and fired Scattered Shot once again with the same size from the previous cast. However, she didn't aim where the sound was and instead fired at the smoke while stomping the ground once more to cast five thick earth walls stacked together at her left side. The moment she cast it, something flew out of the bushes and broke through three walls but stopped at the fourth. It revealed to be an old scabbard of a double-edged sword with the tip stuck through the fourth wall.

"You can't fool me!" The hooded woman shouted in a mocking tone. "You're still hiding behind... that filthy smoke! The giant didn't react... to your scabbard!"

"Tch, and I thought that would get her," Hikigaya mumbled as he crouched to hide. "I guess she's not that stupid since she is using that giant bastard's sense of smell from inheriting the massis wolf after eating one. Who is this woman?"

"Come out... Coward! Or she will suffer in your place!" The enemy warned as she turned around and approach the orange-haired girl. Yuigahama slowly took a few steps back away from the hooded woman until she ran away from the danger. Before the hooded woman could make a sprint to chase her, they both heard an explosion coming from all the smoke but Yuigahama still ran and hid behind the trees so she wouldn't get in her savior's way. Two trees came out of the smoke as if they were thrown like a javelin aiming towards the gogmagog. The giant monster raised its left arm to guard against the projectiles and then it picked up the scent of the young dark mage coming at such speed, so the gogmagog readied its claws to kill. Hikigaya propelled himself forward by casting the hearten spell on his feet to the ground and pour so much mana, it exploded under his feet with each step he took. With the propulsion of the spell, he jumped high towards the gogmagog's head and the monster responded by swinging its claws at him. His right hand began to be enveloped by a dark aura and he thrust it to counter the gogmagog's attack.

"Dark Magic: Essence Bite!"The moment his hand was inches close to the claws, the dark aura formed into a head of a monster made of shadow it clashed against the claws. The black fur of the giant's hands along with the sharp claws was suddenly absorbed into the dark head's mouth within one second. By the women's surprise, the gogmagog knelt down and struggled to stand up. Its left hand was only left with muscles and drips of blood.

"I already faced someone like you before so it won't go like that time," Hikigaya said while holding something on his left hand. It appeared to be a branch of a tree and it glowed white for a moment. He then jumped and stabbed the giant monster's forehead which made him push the gogmagog down on its back. Its pupils were dilated and it seemed that they would never close as the gogmagog met its demise. The young dark mage picked up his sword that was lying on the grassy field and faced the hooded woman. There was no exchange of words between them, only their intimidation and bloodlust clashed. His vision blurred due to the dark magic spell, but that wouldn't hinder his combat performance. "I'm still not used to it but judging by the blurriness, it's not as bad as last time so there's progress."

The hooded woman raised both hands forward and released a large purple smoke that covered almost the entire field. The grass and trees decayed as it came into contact with the purple smoke. Hikigaya couldn't see the enemy behind the purple smoke and he didn't intend to jump into that. He was relieved that Yuigahama ran away before this occurred or his disadvantages would increase. However, that only lessened the difficulty of this situation by a small percentage. Was this a magic spell or the enemy's natural ability?

"Miasma... Is she a monster? I've heard of monsters that wield magic and... that they're the most dangerous monsters of all." The ground beneath his feet shook and he jumped away in time before the large hands of earth captured him. While in mid-air pillars of earth rose under the ground, surrounding him. They were as big as towers and they twisted each other to form a sphere.

"Earth Magic: Mother's Shelter!" Her voice echoed as she ran towards the giant sphere of earth. She stomped the ground to cast a small pillar beneath her feet to lift her up towards the sphere. Under the sphere, a hole was opened for her to enter and now she stood face-to-face with the young dark mage. He stomped the floor with full force and cast hearten spell in an attempt to escape, but the moment he cracked the floor, it seemed to rebuild itself as if it was a living thing. This meant that there was no escape in this large earthly prison. The hooded woman laughed at his attempt and emitted large amounts of miasma from her hands. "Useless... No matter what you do, it will not change the inevitable... You are trapped..."

A purple magic circle appeared underneath his feet and he cast Black Protection so that he wouldn't be poisoned by the miasma. There was no escape for him. If he tried to break through the prison, It would only rebuild itself at a pace faster than he could damage. If he undid Black Protection, the miasma would kill him. His options became limited and they were fading at each passing second as he couldn't hold the dark magic spell for now. Hikigaya was cornered. A familiar feeling resurfaced in his mind. This feeling was something he had during his most difficult times. When he struggled to survive and being toyed by others. When his actions meant nothing and offered no defense for his well-being.

The feeling of helplessness.

"DIE! HAHAHAHAHA!" The hooded woman laughed menacingly as she playfully skipped towards the black sphere with each step released a magic circle on the ground. First, massive hands rose everywhere and hit the black sphere into the air as if they were playing with it. Each hit was strong that it could kill a person. Slowly but surely, a cracking sound was heard from the sphere and that made Hikigaya gritted his teeth. He raised both hands sideways to maintain the black sphere, but he was struggling as the hands shook from each hit. One hand descended from the top and pummeled the sphere into the floor. Large spikes were piercing the spheres from all areas, creating more cracks and not stopping until they broke through. Hikigaya's body grew weaker by the minute as his consciousness was slowly fading from giving his utmost effort to maintain the dark magic spell."Give up! Face... your death!"

Suddenly, an explosion occurred behind her, creating a giant hole in her prison. The hole quickly sealed itself as a small amount of miasma escaped outside. The hooded woman turned around and wondered what it was until her entire spell shattered into millions of pieces. The moment that happened, the young dark mage lost consciousness and the Black Protection dissipated into nothing. They were both falling and the enemy noticed knights surrounding them carrying different kinds of weapons and preparing for battle. The miasma she released disappeared as what was only left was dead nature in the decaying field.

"That's the criminal!" A male knight declared as he pointed his sword at the falling hooded woman. "She attempted to kidnap Lady Yui of the Yuigahama family and now she is destroying this forest. Seize her!"

"Who's that other person?" A female knight asked while noticing a person wearing an alvarez deer mask. "Wait, is that the guardian?"

"He must be fighting her, but judging from the way he's falling, he lost,"

"An enemy that even the guardian couldn't defeat? Either he's too weak or she's that powerful." Another male knight remarked while playfully spinning his spear.

"Whatever the case, do not let your guard down." They all watched the two people in cloaks falling with the woman landed on her feet while the other fell unconscious. The hooded woman released a huge amount of miasma and spread it towards the knights. Ten knights stepped forward and inhaled deeply as small white magic circles appeared in front of their faces.

"Wind Magic: Pushing wind!" They blew through the magic circles at the same time and the miasma blew away upward into the skies until it disappeared in the air. The hooded woman stared at the knights at bewilderment until she shook her head.

"Fools!... You cannot stop me!..." She shouted while stomping the ground to cast a giant orange magic circle. "The capital will fall along with the knights!"

"Be ready!" The male knight shouted and the rest of the knights complied by taking a fighting stance while others cast magic circles with different spells to release. The mysterious enemy looked around and see that every knight did not have an inch of fear nor weakness. There was a drop of purple liquid running down her pale cheek and she nervously smiled at this predicament. She could already tell that she was outmatched by numbers and tactics so facing them head-on was a bad idea for her. Still, the hooded woman stood straight as she inhaled deeply and shouted.

"EARTH MAGIC: CHILD OF TERRA!" A hand made of earth rose from the ground and then another. And then an entire body rose and stood with its two rocky feet. It was a golem with three times the height of a gogmagog. The golem's arms were longer and bigger than its legs. The head only consisted of a clear round boulder and two red eyes. On top of its head was the hooded woman looking down at the knights with a huge grin. Most of the knights were surprised by the golem's appearance but they immediately recovered"Come face your doom!"

"Tch, you heard the girl," A male knight said as he stretched its neck with a confident expression. "Let's get her!"

"Attack!" One of them shouted and all the knights charged while others fired magic spells towards the enemy.

---

"What in the...?" Hikigaya mumbled as he looked around to find out where he was, only to be confused even more towards his current situation. Everything was all white. Not a single living thing nor any object present within his vision. He checked himself and noticed he was still wearing the same attire except for the deer mask. "Okay... where am I?"

"What do you think?" A familiar voice of a man spoke. Hikigaya turned around to see a man wearing grey yukata and a conical. The man smiled at him and waved. "How are you doing, Hachiman?"

"...Wylfrid-san," Hikigaya said in disbelief of this encounter and then released a sigh of exhaustion. "I'm dead again."

"Yeah. Welcome back to 'The Realm Before Purgatory'. I think this is your fifth time?" Wylfrid said as a question while holding his chin.

"Fourth time."

"Hmmm... I'm pretty sure you 'died' five times. Well, you didn't answer my previous question. How's it going?"

"Oh, you know, pretty dead both literally and mentally."

"Oi,"

"Tch, you already know I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about besides that witch."

"Yes, nothing besides the recent enemy that defeated you."

"I really don't like how you said that."

"It's a fact after all. And it's also a fact that your defeat bothered you at a bigger level than your duel with Terrowin Merek." Wylfrid walked away from him and two wooden chairs appeared out of nowhere. He sat down on one of them and turned towards the young dark mage. "Come, sit."

"Okay." Hikigaya complied and sat down across to him.

"So what troubles you?"

"You already knew that..."

"But I want to hear it from you. It's better to just let out your problems than just go straight into the answers."

"Okay, fine," Hikigaya slouched and sighed in contemplation. "It's like every time I did something to get stronger, someone or something always came right into my face and tell me that it's not good enough."

"Your first encounter with the gogmagog, your defeat in the duel, and this recent battle. All of them affected you as they all exposed your weaknesses and shortcomings. And now you think that if you keep working hard, reality will keep telling you how futile your efforts are."

"Hard work betrays none, but at times it betrays dreams..."

"Ah, you said that during one of your arguments with that Yukinoshita girl."

"Yeah..."

"And what did she said to counter that?"

"What she said?" Hikigaya looked down to think of his past argument with the Ice Queen. After a moment of silence in contemplation, he finally remembered.

"Life is full of uncertainties. We have no choice but to walk through it."

"Looks like you remembered." Wylfrid crossed his legs and smirked at the young dark mage.

"I don't see how that is an answer." Hikigaya said while raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Your counter-argument to her statement is that it is possible to decrease the uncertainties. But what will you do if there is a situation that is full of uncertainties that will never budge?"

"..."

"You get stuck. Frozen without coming up with any options. It's as if you're a beast being distinguished as prey by the predator. The only option you had and will always choose with that mindset is to run away. But you need to be aware you are not a beast nor any sort of animal. You are human. We progress with our conscience by making decisions, not our instincts. When that monster lady displayed the gap between you and her, what was racing in your mind?"

"I thought that was the end of me, and so I just waited for myself to bite the dust."

"Yes, you 'thought'. Not feel or stimulated, but you thought about the outcome of your battle, and you thought you would be killed."

"How's that a good thing?" The young dark mage asked him in a deadpan tone, clearly running out of patience and room for Wylfrid's guessing game.

"The point I'm making is that we are thinking creatures. We solve things by doing two things: make our own choices carefully and look at things optimistically."

"Being delusional to false hope is not helpful."

"It does. It calms the mind. Everyone always searches for hope even in their most difficult time. We all hope to find the good things out of the worst events. No matter the inevitable, we still hope. That's how humans last this long. That's how we strive."

"What about that time? Did you always hope to see your wife and daughter again?"

"Everyday until my last breath. But during that time, I was also thinking about the good things I've found along the way."

"Like what?" The moment Hikigaya asked the question, Wylfrid stood up and approached him. After becoming a foot closer to each other, his guardian gave him a head pat and smiled.

"Like meeting and spending time with you, Hachiman." He answered in a soft and warm tone. For some reason, Hikigaya noticed that Wylfrid was a lot taller than usual, only for him to realize that he himself turned into a child and wore a plain green yukata. "You're a good son."

His voice suddenly echoed as Wylfrid's body began to look transparent. A splitting headache occurred within Hikigaya as he clutched his head to resist the pain.

"Looks like someone is healing you over there. I hope this will help you a lot."

"Yeah... thanks, Wylfrid-san," The young dark mage looked up to his guardian and smiled.

"Oh! Let me give you a piece of advice before you go." Wylfrid said with a smirk, an expression that Hikigaya was skeptical of.

"It's gonna be something stupid you came up in those trashy romance novels," The young dark mage rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Well, it is inspired by that one romance novel about-"

"Just tell me already before I'm out of here."

"Okay, okay," His guardian coughed twice to clear his throat and then spoke. "The language of flowers is non-negotiable, Hachiman."

"Huh?"

"If a man gave a young lady a bouquet of flowers, she would race home and try to decode it like a secret message. Carnation means love; Suisen means respect; Red tulip means eternal love; and yellow tulip means one-sided love. A man would have to choose his flowers carefully to aid him in conveying his heart to the young lady."

"And how does that help me?"

"You'll see. It will come in handy when that time arrives."

"Wha-?" Before he could ask any more questions, everything flashed in an instant, and opened his eyes to see the night sky full of stars. He slowly sat up and noticed he was on a grassy ground and was surrounded by various animals and beasts such as a massis wolf and an alvarez deer that was right next to him. He still wore the usual attire and the alvarez deer mask. The live deer bowed its head to him and licked his cheek. "Did you save me? Thanks... Wait, what happened to that woman."

Hikigaya quickly stood up and grabbed his sword, then ran faster with the propulsion of the hearten spell. After a few minutes of searching, he finally found the place he fought against the hooded monster lady. The whole area was full of dead trees and grass and there seemed to be more craters and blood than usual. The miasma was gone nor any trace of life in the vicinity. He walked around the area to search for clues as to what happened and found broken pieces of armor and weapons such as a cracked gauntlet, a spear that was snapped in half, and a metal shield shattered into pieces. Hikigaya then saw a pool of green liquid and accessed that it belonged to the monster lady.

"Looks like the knights came and fought that monster. What the outcome of the battle is, I may have to find out tomorrow in the chronicles," He mumbled and nodded to himself in the speculation since the decay didn't reach any further than what he previously saw during his battle with the hooded woman, and there wasn't a single track he could follow. He then looked up at the moon to check the time. "Let's see... I must've died in about four hours. Judging by how dry all the blood is, the battle probably ended an hour ago. Who and what is that woman? And why did I have a familiar feeling towards her?... Wait, what about Yuigahama!"

The young dark mage ran into the woods and searched for the orange-haired girl. While running, he saw four blue birds with feathers that glowed purple at the ends standing upside-down in a tree branch.

"Hey! I need your help!" Hikigaya asked the birds and one of them gently flew down towards him and landed on his palm. "Can you find a girl who can use earth magic. Human mage, not the monster."

The blue bird then flew back to its companions and they all flew up into the sky. After a few seconds, one of them flew away which indicated that it found a trace.

This bird is called a Trekalin. It has the ability to find traces of mana from mages and other creatures that emit magical energy by absorbing it with its feathers. The feathers will glow brighter depending on how much mana they absorbed in the air and the mana serves as nutrients for the Trekalen so it doesn't find prey for food. However, that doesn't mean Trekalins are harmless birds. Should anyone attempt to provoke them by hurting one of their companions, They will fly around the attacker to absorb his/her mana and then fly towards the attacker, exploding upon the tiniest physical contact with him/her. If the feathers absorbed too much magical energy, they fall and they will explode upon a strong force of contact. The explosion is not lethal but will hurt a person if there is no caution in movements. The Trekalen can grow new feathers seconds after their old feathers fall.

Hikigaya ran following the Trekalen flying in the sky. He figured if the knights entered this forest, they must've come with the primary objective of rescuing Yuigahama. Despite his criticisms and personal complaints towards the knights, he was at least aware that they could perform tasks when done correctly. In other words, he had faith that the knights already rescued the orange-haired girl and she was now recovering from injuries. After running up a small hill, Hikigaya stopped as he noticed a massive wall miles away. He looked up to the Trekalen and watched it flew towards the wall. The young dark mage followed it until he stopped with a sigh of relief as the blue bird flew over the wall.

"So they did save her." He scratched the back of his head and went back to his home with questions still in his mind. Who was that monster? What was her purpose? Why massis wolves? What would she gain from kidnapping Yuigahama? More pieces appeared in the puzzle and the difficulty of the puzzle increased. But he had a feeling he could put some pieces together. The problem was the uncertainty of whether it was correct or not. "Uncertainties... It's no use to keep thinking without testing it out. I need to walk through it."

---

Next Day

Main Article of the Villfalt Chronicles

a mysterious woman wearing a hooded cloak entered the city and kidnapped the daughter of the Yuigahama family, Yui Yuigahama. Witnesses described that the criminal seemed to purposely trip and fell right in front of the moving carriage the victim was riding on. The moment she came out of the transportation, the criminal attacked them, resulted in the daughter kidnapped with her fiancee, Oliver Seerwind injured. Thirty elite knights searched throughout the city and into the forest to rescue the victim and along with the search in the woods, Ms. Yuigahama was spotted running beyond exhaustion and passed out due to the effects of the equal feedback. They were then split into two groups: a group of five knights escorting the victim to safety, and the rest will pursue the criminal since they heard a roar of a gogmagog within the forest. As they found the hooded lady and most shockingly, the guardian of the forest who was defeated by the criminal. The incident ended in the mysterious criminal's escape whilst injured and the deaths of 15 brave warriors, 10 severely injured, and Ms. Yuigahama successfully carried back to the city. The state of the guardian is unknown as during the battle, he disappeared without a trace. According to one of the surviving knights, the criminal may potentially be a city-level monster should the incident be ignored and forgotten. The criminal is an earth mage with tremendous power and releases deadly miasma.

This is a monster unknown nor recorded in many books and thesis which increases the danger. Currently, several professors and researchers in Villfalt are gathering together to investigate the mysterious creature and seek help from other kingdoms for knowledge. The knights did speculate that the monster lady is responsible for the massacre of beasts called massis wolves, but there were many doubts about that. The king urges all citizens to stay vigilant and cautious, and do not exit the city until the situation is solved. Be strong and united, Kingdom of Villfalt.

...

Many eyes have read the chronicles and the citizens spread the word into all ears. Alexander City was full of fear and worry for their safety as the citizens whispered among themselves of the incident. The majority continued their mundane tasks, but the negative emotions were hidden within their core, trying their best to suppress them in order to maintain an optimistic atmosphere. Hikigaya looked around to see many people discussing the incident. Many laughed, some had serious expressions while others were indifferent. He could tell which of them faked their expressions to others while eating a piece of bread. He was on his way to school with a calm mindset although he had the same thoughts as the other fearful citizens. The difference was that thanks to Wylfrid's guidance in The Realm Before Purgatory, newfound confidence and composure emerged within him towards the current situation. He was still worried about Yuigahama and hoped that she was fine after that night. A horrifying incident such as that would surely traumatize someone like her, but surprisingly for him, he believed in her strength.

"She's stupid but I can tell the effort she's been putting for the past weeks." He mumbled to himself as he entered the entrance of the magic academy. As he expected, the students were also talking about the incident last night and how worried they were for the orange-haired girl. Strange or not, Yuigahama was quite known among noble children although only her physical appearance that appealed to men and made women envious. Her cheery behavior found it strange, but very welcomed to them in arranged tea parties and conversations. The young dark mage couldn't help but be impressed by her social skills. School finally began with his class being Hiratsuka's homeroom/history. However, Yuigahama's seat was empty.

"As you may have heard, a monster appeared and kidnapped one of our classmates, Yuigahama Yui," Hiratsuka said as she approached the teacher's desk. Her expression was calm and didn't show any fear of the incident. "She was rescued by the knights but she had physical and mental exhaustion so she'll be absent in maybe about a week until she fully recovers. Right now, focus on studying and training. I'm sure that's what she wants for us. Got that?!"

"Yes, mam!" And so class began with the accustomed atmosphere returned to ease the students' minds. Hiratsuka looked at them to see they were not distracted by any fear or anxiety and paid attention to the lecture as she wrote words on the blackboard. She then saw Hikigaya focusing on studying more than usual which made the teacher smiled for a moment before returning to the lecture. After an hour, class ended, and before Hiratsuka exited the room, she turned to him while holding a book.

"Hikigaya, my office. After school." She ordered and he responded with a nod. The rest of the classes went smoothly. Students were still discussing Yuigahama's condition, but it wasn't emitting the same gloomy atmosphere as before. They were hopeful for her recovery and imagined once she returned to the academy, her smile would radiate the entire building. They were also not worried about the incident last night at all with some were confident it would disappear while others thought it wouldn't affect their lives that much.

"That's some confidence they have if they think everything will be fine in an uncertain situation," Hikigaya thought while walking in the corridors. "Is this what Wylfrid-san was talking about? Probably... No, I can tell that some of those crybabies only think positive to save face. Deep down, they're scared but they don't want to show it because of their pride. Typical, what better way to blend in the crowd and increase social connections than to wear a facade. I can accept the reason is for calming a mind, but to display arrogance and concern of image? That's when you'll be the first to die the second you enter a battle.

The worst kind of knight is one who only looks at a foggy mirror

Holding the sword of might is at the hands of a foolish warrior.

A mask cannot reflect as it is only a piece of wood

Off with the skin, off with the flesh, what's left is what's truly understood

Heh, another good poem from me. I'll call it 'The Jester Behind The Armor'." He thought with a smirk until he reached the familiar wooden door and entered the room.

"Yo, sensei." He greeted in a bored tone.

"Take a seat," Hiratsuka said with a serious expression and he complied. Both sat across from each other and after seconds of silence, she sighed and spoke. "You already know the reason I called you here."

"Yeah,"

"Do you know how much Komachi was worried when she read the chronicles?"

"I know very well."

"Then tell me everything about that night, starting from the top," Hiratsuka said while folding her arms and crossing her legs. Hikigaya told her what he did before encountering the hooded woman. He was about to enter another cave far deep in the forest until he heard the roars of gogmagogs somewhere. He then told her about the battle between him and the three monsters and how the hooded woman toyed with him. Hiratsuka held her chin in the thought of the hooded woman's abilities based on his description. "That's really a monster I haven't heard before. So what happened next?"

"I died." He answered nonchalantly and the teacher looked at him skeptically as if his answer was just a joke. After a few seconds of him maintaining his indifferent expression, Her eyes widened in bewilderment at the thought of her student facing actual death.

"Wait, seriously?" She asked while leaning forward to hear his answer better.

"Yeah. You didn't know what my equal feedback is, did you?"

"That's your equal feedback? It's not just having blurry vision?"

"We dark mages and light mages have the most unpleasant equal feedback out of all elements. When we use too much of our elemental magic, we basically 'die' and enter The Realm Before Purgatory."

"Realm Before Purgatory? What's it like?"

"It's just a world of nothingness. But sometimes a spirit of the dead will come and interact with us. The problem is that the spirit can either be one of our deceased loved ones, or an evil demon tempting us to descend in the Underworld. If it's a demon, we can resist the temptation and fight the demon until our bodies are healed in the living world by using even the simplest healing magic. "

"Have you met a demon in that realm before?"

"Yeah, once. All that moron did was whispering about evil this, evil that, blah blah blah. I just tear off his tongue and told him to fuck off."

"That's not what I expected from a demon."

"Me neither. Anyways, I met Wylfrid-san in that realm, had a good talk for a bit, and I woke up thanks to the alvarez deer healing me."

"I see. It's really the best for you to steer clear from that monster woman or whatever. She's obviously out of your league."

"Yeah, I know."

"And also stop investigating the wolf massacre. If that monster is really behind all of that, then continuing your investigation will be too dangerous for you to handle. Did you find a single clue during your work?"

"No, just seeing more and more dead massis wolves while killing goblins and shadow craves."

"Now that last part confuses all of us. Two different types of monsters working together are extremely unusual unless they were led by a demon, or they've been brainwashed by another monster such as a typhon."

"A typhon doesn't have any mana. It's incapable of using magic so that speculation is impossible."

"I know. What kind of monster has earth magic and have miasma? And what does she want with Yuigahama?"

"She also talked to me like we've met before. I feel like that monster's reason is more of a personal grudge. Probably towards Yuigahama too."

"Hmm... Did you do something in the past?"

"I've done a lot of things in the past. It's hard to figure out which one connects the dots." His answer made Hiratsuka sighed in frustration with this mystery. It was clear that the monster's main purpose or one of her purpose was Yuigahama and Hikigaya, but it was unknown why. They needed to solve this mystery and stop the powerful monster before it could get any worse. If they took too long, death may await the two students along with many innocent civilians caught in a chaotic situation. And yet, the only thing they could do was live out their daily routines as if nothing really happened. It was a vexing decision for them as they were powerless against such a threat. Hikigaya stood up and stretched his back. He grabbed his large pouch and cloth-covered sheathed sword. "Well, I guess that's it then. The plan is to just train hard to prepare for the worst."

"Uhh, yeah. That's right," Hiratsuka also stood up. "Are you going to the institution?"

"Yeah, Yukinoshita and I are getting closer with an invention. I just hope we get to finish it in time before another chaos happens."

"Okay then. Oh right, you should go visit Komachi today. She's starting to get really mad at you and this time she might hunt you in the forest if you don't visit this time."

"Yeah, I know. I haven't seen her in two months already."

"Two months?" His statement made the teacher confused. "The last time you visited her it was only two weeks and three days ago."

"I did?" The young dark mage looked up to the ceiling in thought of what she just said as if he was truly attempting to remember a forgotten memory. "I don't remember... Probably because of the equal feedback."

"It erases your memories?"

"Not exactly. Every time I woke up from the Realm Before Purgatory, I would lose something in exchange. Whether it be a certain memory, an ability, or a part of the body, It was just taken before I could even notice it."

"That's terrifying. And I thought that scratching out the 'demons' part, your equal feedback isn't that bad compared to others. How many times did you die from using dark magic?"

"I remembered it's four times now but Wylfrid-san told me in that realm it's five times. Must be another equal feedback. I think the first time, I lost the feeling of my limbs for an entire year; then second was that I became emotionless for months; The third was that I couldn't control my mana, and lastly was losing the ability in reasoning."

"So what you lose is random? Or does it depend on some aspect?"

"I don't know. I haven't figured it out nor do I intend to."

"I see. Well, that is all. You can go now."

"Right," Before he exited the room, Hikigaya turned around to face the teacher one last time. "There's something I wanna ask you."

"Sure."

"Wylfrid-san gave some quote from a stupid romance novel at the realm."

"He does love reading them. What's the quote?"

"It's and I quote, 'If a man gave a young lady a bouquet of flowers, she would race home and try to decode it like a secret message. Carnation means love; Suisen means respect; Red tulip means eternal love; and yellow tulip means one-sided love. So a man would have to choose his flowers carefully.'. I don't understand what it means. Do you?" He asked her and Hiratsuka was silent in contemplation for a moment until she gave him a huge grin. Whatever she was thinking, it might be something that he would hate and be uncomfortable by.

"Looks like he gave you some good lesson there." She said while approaching him and tapped his right shoulder. "It's reasonable why you can't get the meaning behind that quote. You're still a kid after all?"

"Hah?" A vein popped in his head in annoyance to her tone and expression. "What are you-"

"Don't worry," She then smirked at the young dark mage as if she was a cool matured person. "You'll get it one day. In fact, you got two of them to solve your question."

"Who are-"

See ya tomorrow!" Hiratsuka pushed him out of the door and closed it in front of his face. Hikigaya just stood there, processing what just happened between their interaction. He didn't understand the message he received but one thing was for sure.

"She pissed me off for some reason."

---

"Ara, and I thought you wouldn't come since it's been an hour the school bell rang," Yukinoshita who sat in a chair, gave the usual glare and sharp tone to the young dark mage standing at the door. "For a minute, I thought that I may as well hunt you down myself and drag you here. I at least, appreciate you not wasting my energy any further."

"Hoh? Are you saying that you were so lonely, you want me to keep you company? Hikigaya began the argument while giving his own glare. "In that case, I should've come here later than this, or not come at all just so you'll be staying here collecting dust and hugging the cold air."

"What nonsense. You are my assistant assigned by Hiratsuka-sensei, nothing more. I am in charge of keeping an eye on you and making you work, so it is my duty to ensure you are not being tardy and lazy. However, I am now concerned about my responsibilities as you displayed a disgusting obsession with me."

"Oi, what makes you think I'm obsessed with a tyrannical, sadistic woman like you."

"The fact that you assumed I want your presence to comfort my so-called 'loneliness' proves that your pervertedness began to explode and so you finally made your move. And I say now that it was a pathetic move you acted on, Hikigaya-kun. The fear for my chastity is starting to resurface realizing that."

"Trust me, falling for you would be a signal to the end of the world. I'm not stupid like your admirers. I'm smart enough to know what kind of suffering awaits if I even try to flirt you. Someone like me can tell if you are a human or some demon in disguise."

"Yes, you are smart, which is why it is more concerning. An intelligent pervert who has despicable schemes for women such as me."

"Oh, I'm sorry but I didn't realize you're a woman. I thought you're just some witch that freezes people to death with that sharp annoying tongue of yours. I might as well mistaken you for a gorgon."

"If I am a witch, then I pity your death as it will not be a pleasant one when I put thousands of curses in you. Unfortunately, I am not so your disturbing and inhuman eyes ruined your vision. And while we are in this topic of your eyes, please do something about them. It seems they are unable to see reality and that makes you delusional. Such a shame that your mind is wasted living on a fantasy. I would at least, commend you for making it this far while still being delusional but on any other aspect? It is all good-for-nothings."

"... Can we start our activity now?" He asked followed by a defeated sigh."

"Yes, I suppose we shall begin with my victory." Yukinoshita smirked at him and a vein popped in his head once again.

"I swear I'll win,"

"Anyways, let's review the illustrations I showed you yesterday." She unrolled the paper and they discussed the materials required for the crafting. Hikigaya saw some parts as questionable or confusing while other parts were quite understandable for him. They were about to be content with all the agreed decisions to buy the materials until He realized a problem in this plan.

"Wait, how are going to craft this?" He asked while folding his arms. "This is clearly something no one has ever crafted these kinds of parts before."

"We can at least do the parts that are easy to craft such as sculpturing with wood. We just ask a blacksmith for the metallic parts," She stood up and grabbed her shoulder bag and the illustration paper. "Come, let us go to the market and a blacksmith."

"Now?"

"Yes."

"Wearing that?" He asked while pointing at her attire which was still the usual blue frilly blouse, the white academy cloak, and black long skirt. The Ice Queen looked down at her clothes and saw nothing strange about it so she raised her head to look at Hikigaya with a raised eyebrow.

"Is there something wrong about this outfit?"

"Nothing except you're walking with me outside where everyone can see us together."

"... Are you really flirting? It is disgusting, stop." She hugged herself for protection against whatever assumed thoughts and actions the young dark mage was about to make.

"No, I mean that your reputation will be ruined once a single person saw a famous noble of the Yukinoshita family is walking side by side with a dark mage."

"That's what you are concerned about?"

"Your life will get worse once they know about even the smallest interactions you have with me, and this institution won't be safe from the people that want me... gone." He hesitantly said the last word the moment he was about to use the word "dead" in order to avoid emitting a grim atmosphere around them. However, his pause was noticed by Yukinoshita and that grim atmosphere filled the air but only for a few seconds. She sighed and shook her head.

"I'll take on that challenge."

"How about you go alone and I'll just stay here and wait for you." His suggestion was met with the coldest glare Yukinoshita could ever give.

"Your laziness is spewing everywhere. Just get up and let's go. Or else I will fire mana shot through your chest. "She said menacingly and a blue glowing sphere larger than Hikigaya's upper body appeared between them.

"No matter how you look at it, that will do more than just 'fire through my chest'. Alright, I'm coming with you." Hikigaya stood up, grabbed his things, and exited the room with Yukinoshita walking beside him on his right. It was fortunate for them that no one often walked in this area since it was the farthest location in this school building. They'd rather not let any possible trouble intervene in them. The two students walked in silence, not bothering to have a conversation nor an eye contact as Yukinoshita's mind was focused on the objective while Hikigaya was actually still thinking about Yuigahama. What did she know about that monster? Did her family had a past with something terrible? Or was this more of a petty and selfish reason from the monster lady? It was difficult for Hikigaya to imagine her committing a crime or any despicable schemes. "Then again, she's from a noble family so maybe... No, I need the information to at least deduce the most probable goal the enemy is aiming for."

"Hey, Yukinoshita," He called out her name and she turned to him in response. "What does the Yuigahama family do?"

"That is an odd question," She commented. "I do not see you as the type to have a curiosity about nobles... Unless you are plotting something to lay a hand o Yuigahama-san?"

"No, that's not-"

"I cannot believe you would stoop so low as acting upon this tactic. You really are disgusting-"

"I said no you idiot. I just wanna figure out why would the criminal be after her of all people."

"Oh, I see," Yukinoshita closed her eyes in contemplation and opened them as she explained. "The Yuigahama family was once known as the Gushiken Clan and it was a prominent figure in the Kingdom of Taiyokigen. They specialize in alchemy, more specifically creating potions that will benefit for samurais during battle. The Clan was one of the best potion makers in the East Continent until, at the end of the Blood Squandered War, a rival family used the kingdom's time rebuilding society as an opportunity to kill the head and all the heirs of the clan. Not only that, but the rival family also stole all documents about the clan's potion, from the recipe to even most of their recorded history. After that, the remaining Gushiken members, which were only a few and women, struggled to live through the kingdom as the scars of war affected the flow of the economy and almost led to Taiyokigen's economic downturn. Their business as alchemists slowly destroyed and the clan was on the verge of leaving the circle of aristocracy until the clan's opportunity arrived."

"Hmm... Let me guess, Seerwind?"

"Half-correct. The opportunity arrived for one of the widows in the clan, Gushiken Yuna or as she is currently known by her maiden name Yuigahama Yuna. After peace was established in all kingdoms and society fully rebuilt, she was able to create healing potions to help those who were injured in the war and made a name for herself in the southern part of the East Continent. Thanks to that, it received the attention of some other foreign noble families and she chose the Seerwind family to establish the relationship and trust."

"By having their children tied in an arranged marriage."

"Yes. She then went to using her maiden name and then establish a family out of it."

"What happened to that rival family that ruined the clan?"

"No one knows who that rival family was. They couldn't find any evidence as the chaos of the war covered their tracks. It was mere speculation that it was a rival family that did it."

"Hmm..." Hikigaya held his chin in thought.

"What do you think of this?" Yukinoshita asked, curious about what sort of idea and deduction he would form out of the information she gave him. She already knew what the most probable deduction he could form, but he may have a different one or more speculation.

"Obviously, the first thing I suspect is that whoever that monster lady is, she may have either a connection between the ruined clan or that rival family. Second is, it could be related to the documents on the Gushiken clan's potions. What are the potions the clan made?"

"There are quite a few that I know from books. One is a mana potion that recovered a consumer's mana. It was also supposed to lessen the effects of Equal Feedback but that didn't happen. Then there was that strength potion."

"Strength potion?"

"A potion that increases one's physical abilities."

"There was a potion like that? Where can I get one?"

"Don't bother, it is considered an illegal substance from all human countries because of its side effects and how addicting it is for consumers."

"Oh well. So what other potions did they make?"

"That is only it, at least from what I've read in history about the clan's contributions to the war."

"The possibility of alchemy involved in this is still in the logical mark so let's not scratched that out yet."

"I understand you are enraged at the monster that hurt Yuigahama-san, however-"

"Hurt?"

"-you shouldn't get involved in a case too much for us with our current strength."

"Wouldn't hurt to guess some answers."

"Yes, as long as what you are doing is speculating than investigating the incident itself." They exited the academy and were walking in the streets towards the market. It was only a few seconds of walking outside and several civilians already stared at the two mage students oddly. Hikigaya sighed at this while Yukinoshita was silent and remained indifferent throughout the walk. He just hoped this wouldn't turn into a huge commotion here or in the next day. The stares turned into whispers and some whispers sparked into gossip. The two students didn't show any concern about what they were hearing from the civilians as they entered the market. It was a place where many tents, stands, and shops established here to sell whatever products merchants have. People came here to find ingredients, tools, and more. They also came here for business opportunities. Whether they were merchants or just simple commoners with little knowledge in businesses, anyone could make even the smallest amount of coins as long as they had the ability to negotiate and sell.

"So what to buy first?" Hikigaya asked.

"Firstly, wood." She answered while looking around every stand.

"Okay, so the woodshop first." It took an hour for them to finish buying all the necessary materials. Yukinoshita did most in choosing the right products while Hikigaya only shared coins with her to buy them. He thought Yukinoshita should do all the talking because merchants and sellers were swindlers. They would sometimes lie on the prices of some products and tricking customers to buy them at an unfair price. The young dark mage could tell if the swindlers were lying or not, but it all came down to persuasion which he doubted they would be negotiated with his status and all. Fortunately, the Ice Queen could negotiate well to them, paying the merchants and shoppers with cheap prices but it was mostly done from her scaring them with the icy glare until they admitted defeat. The only thing left was to find a blacksmith who could craft the metallic parts.

"That went a lot smoother than I thought," Hikigaya said while eating what appeared to be a tentacle in a stick. He was carrying another large pouch consisted of the materials they bought. "And I thought it would take till sundown for you to pick the items."

"We cannot afford to be picky. These cost money after all." She said while looking at her own cooked tentacle in a stick and carrying her own pouch of materials. "What is this food?"

"Grilled Kraken." He answered as he took another bite of his food. "What's wrong? Afraid of tentacles?"

"No, I am a little suspicious of its appearance." She said while looking closer at the food. the grilled kraken's appearance was a purple color with pink suckers and was glistening with a mysterious brown liquid. She was skeptical at first but she took a small bite anyway. Yukinoshita chewed it slowly, trying to process it from the taste spread in her tongue to the texture felt by her teeth.

"Good, right?"

"It is... quite decent." She answered while taking another bite.

"Decent, huh? I guess the luxurious standards are too high for this kind of food."

"Just be glad that I like the food. It can't be helped that I tasted many delicious and expensive dishes during my childhood."

"I guess so. Now then, our final objective is to find a blacksmith who can help us make the other parts."

"Don't worry about that. I already know a blacksmith." The two students walked further and heard the sounds of metal clashing. The faint smell of smoke reached their nose and it grew stronger as they approached the area. Hikigaya's eyes widened as he admitted to himself that the view of the area they entered was impressive. Blacksmiths were everywhere with their hammers hitting the heated metals on the anvil, and the flames inside the furnaces blazed. From swords to armor, all kinds of equipment were here forged by all of these blacksmiths with the purpose of selling them to customers and providing the knights some utilities in battle. "Welcome to the Iron Market."

"Gotta admit, it is impressive to see blacksmiths on every corner forging weapons," He said as he looked at every blacksmith working. Some were topless while others wore yukatas and shirts. The sweats dripped on their faces were the result of the effort they put into forging and from the heat of their craft and furnace. Many were laughing and singing as they enjoyed the art of blacksmiths and others engaged in conversations and negotiations with customers. "Makes you wonder if this is what a dwarven kingdom would look like."

"Yes, I feel the same..." Yukinoshita said while watching a male and female blacksmiths working together in one place. "Although I think the dwarves may have far better tools and a very different workshop."

"Well, they are a creative race. I'd say you would fit in their kingdom if not for you being a witch."

"And I say you would best fit in the Kingdom of Urvana with all the Vodyamen. After all, your dead-fish eyes will make you blend in with that kind of crowd."

"Again with the eyes." They approached the blacksmith couple who were busy shoveling coal into the blazing furnace. Hikigaya finished eating the grilled kraken as they approached the couple with the heat emanating in their area. Yukinoshita stepped forward to interact with them.

"Excuse me," She said loud enough to gain their attention. The man was the first to turn around in response and smiled at who he saw.

"Well, if it isn't the good little Yuki," He put down the shovel and approached her. The male blacksmith appeared to be old with long white hair tied into a ponytail, white beard, and wrinkles in his face. He wore a brown yukata with tucked-up sleeves from a tied tasuki in order for him to work without dirtying or worse burning his sleeves.

"Yukino? That's a lot earlier than I thought," The female blacksmith turned around while closing the furnace. She had short black hair that slightly reached her shoulders with a yellow streak of hair, white tank-top, and brown trousers."And I thought the next time you would visit us it would be about two more months!"

"I'm just as surprised at myself but we managed to come up with an invention and finished the concept very quickly although it was smaller than all the previous attempts I made."

"Well, well, well, let's see what parts you want us to make," The man asked and then noticed Hikigaya behind her. The young dark mage turned to the side to look elsewhere and not meet his gaze in which made the blacksmith gave him a scrutinizing gaze.

"They are only small parts so I believe you can finish this within hours." Yukinoshita pulled out a rolled-up paper and showed the blacksmiths the illustration. "We want you to forge these entirely made of iron and small steel."

"Wow, you aren't kidding when you say small. This is the smallest invention you've come up," The woman leaned closer to read the parts of the invention and its appearance. The man grabbed the paper and analyzed it himself. "What does it do?"

"I will reveal it to you after we see this as a success."

"Well then, another interesting thing to forge," He grinned at the illustration. "But Sheila and I are kinda busy with a client of ours so based on that and the current curfew the king gave, I'd say by tomorrow or the day after that we can finish this. Unless you need them now, we can postpone the client's request and do yours within hours."

"There is no need. I do not want to trouble you." Yukinoshita said nonchalantly with a worried expression. "The invention isn't exactly something we need immediately."

"It's fine," The female blacksmith named Sheila insisted while stretching her arm. "Some of these parts looked complex but they are easy to understand how these all fit together. We can manage."

"You guys have your uh... date while we get this work done," The man said with a smug. "Run along now."

"Please stop with that disgusting assumption," Yukinoshita stepped back in a slight shock of what the male blacksmith said. "I would rather rot slowly on a decaying ground than have such a disturbing activity with this barbarian."

"I wholeheartedly agree," Hikigaya finally spoke as he put down the pouch full of materials on the ground and Sheila grabbed it. "With this wicked Ice Queen, anywhere we go would end up frozen and turned places into The Frozenland."

"No, anywhere we go would turn into a deserted area because of you scaring people with your pervertedness." Yukinoshita rebutted with folded arms.

"Excuse me? Your cold personality would scare an entire town the moment they saw you."

"I see that as a compliment. If we ask someone what he would prefer to see between the two of us, it is obvious he would choose me since it is less painful and I have a moral consciousness."

"I bet your moral consciousness involves picking which person is the right victim to torture and wondering whether one of your torture methods is right or wrong, you sadistic witch. And your former statement has flaws. Only a masochist would choose you. If a person chose me, his suffering would be a lot quicker than yours."

"And why is that?"

"Even though you are torturing people, you are still a noble, but I'm a commoner so they can quickly end the suffering by killing me. So I deal less torture than you."

"That is... a very twisted way of thinking," Yukinoshita looked at him with sweat dripping on her head. It wasn't normal for someone to win an argument by nonchalantly mention his death as a counter. "It is actually disturbing."

"Is that so? Then, how about this. By choosing me, their torment would end quickly by taking them out."

"What a barbaric way of thinking, as expected of you, Hikiogre-kun."

"Barbaric? No, this is rational thinking. What's barbaric is the current idea and norms of this society."

"Blaming others of your own flaws, I see. I didn't expect cowardice from you."

"No, you listen-" The two students began their usual banter and how long it would be for it to end was a complete mystery. They seemed to hace attracted a tiny attention from other blacksmiths and customers but Hikigaya and Yukinoshita were too focused on their argument it was as if they were the only two people in the area. The blacksmith couple didn't bother to stop the two as they found amusement in this interaction. At first, they were uncomfortable with some of Hikigaya's pessimistic statements but they saw a newfound entertainment in that but not in the wrong ways. Sheila looked up into the sun to check the time and went back to their forge to work on Yukinoshita request. The man followed her back as he picked up a long iron bar.

"Welp, they're as occupied as they can be. Let's get to work." He said with a laugh.

"Should we split the work, Hijiri? I'll do Yuki's while you do the client's?" Sheila suggested.

"Nah, let's work on her request together. The parts here are hard even if they're small. It's gonna take careful hands to forge them in the right shape."

"Alright then... How long are they gonna argue though?"

"Who knows? But I don't want to stop them. I'm enjoying this."

"Try not to get distracted." Sheila shook her head and smiling.

"I say my focus is increased tenfold by listening to those two." Hijiri said as he put the metal bar inside the furnace. Meanwhile, Hikigaya and Yukinoshita were still arguing until they noticed people staring at them and so they gave them glares to make them stop and mind their own business. Yukinoshita sighed in exhaustion as she put a finger on her temple and massaged it as if she had a headache.

"Let's find a place to wait." She suggested with her calm expression returning.

"Yeah, sure," The young dark mage agreed. "We can go back to where the food stands are, I want to get dinner out of the way before going home."

"I sincerely doubt eating that kind of food is healthy and more sufficient than a proper meal."

"It's good enough to relieve your hunger. That's more than enough for me."

"Such a glutton." She shook her head in disappointment towards his behavior.

"Glutton?" He waved his hand in denial while speaking. "That's not the right word you should be using at me. I prefer, 'responsible consumer' or even better 'disciplined eater'."

"Whatever you say. Well, you can grab food while we check on what is selling in the market."

"You still intend to buy more stuff? We already have enough materials for the invention."

"It is merely to pass the time. There may be an item that would catch my interest."

"Alright then," They then walked to whatever they saw as interesting. Various items were placed in many stands and tents for sale. It was a little entertaining for the most part in Hikigaya's case as he rarely came to the market. He saw many products imbued in magic with some he noticed were scams while others were real enchanted gear and magical items. Some products were just decorations for a person's house and souvenirs for travelers. There were even herbs and medicine for sale although only a few customers checked their products. "Well, that's understandable. This kingdom has doctors and our own share of medicine and potions. Maybe those customers don't have enough money so they're buying the cheap and shady ones hear."

"Hey, Yukinoshita."

"Hmm?"

"How are you acquainted with those two blacksmiths earlier?" He said not with curiosity but more on sheer boredom. There was nothing that caught his interest in buying and just watching and looking at what others were doing began to feel dull.

"It was after I founded the institution a year ago," She answered as she watched a seller negotiating with a woman on jewelry. "I was searching for a blacksmith to forge some parts for my first invention. When I went to the Iron Market, I asked every blacksmith but they were all busy with other customers' demands. The last blacksmiths I asked were that couple, Honami Hijiri and his wife, Honami Sheila and they accepted my request even though the deadline of their client were in the next day. "

"Probably because they recognized that you're from a noble family."

"I doubt that was it. Their client at that time was a member of the Hayama family. Even though our families both contributed to this kingdom's foundation, there's one person that changed the equality between two families."

"Hayama Hayato."

"Yes. Hayama Hayato, the light mage, was already favored by the entire kingdom from the time news of his element reached everyone's ears. All the citizens would prioritize the Hayama family over anything else aside from the royal family, and yet Hijiri-san chose to postpone their work for mine in exchange for me to test out their weapons and rate them."

"And ever since then, the only blacksmiths you visit is them."

"Correct again. And not only that, every sword I bought is from them and no one else. Some may think there might be better blacksmiths than them but I believe that the Honami blacksmiths are special. At least based on my personal feelings. Surely, you understand that given you're carrying such an old and obviously ineffective sword as a sort of treasure."

"Yeah, I do..." Hikigaya looked up in the skies to think about her story while the Ice Queen let him contemplate in silence. After a few seconds, he finally spoke. "So, did they make any good swords?"

"Well, yes. The swords are of average quality so far but they are comfortable for me to swing. "

"Enchanted gear?"

"Average."

"Huh, and you favor them so highly. I'm rather impressed by that couple that they could handle you so happily."

"They're strong unlike you."

"By strong, you mean mentally, right? Because it really takes a man who has seen death a thousand times for him to at least tolerate your terrifying presence."

"Yes, yes, they have the minds of steel unlike you who steeled your own fists for barbaric violence."

"Tch, whatever." And that was the only thing he said before the conversation ended. That was perhaps the only topic Hikigaya could think of since he wasn't necessarily used to talking to someone besides his sister and people he deemed trustworthy such as Wylfrid and Hiratsuka although he didn't speak to them as frequently as normal people. The two students were sitting on a bench between two trees and tents placed beside each of them. The silence wasn't certainly uncomfortable as they welcomed the tranquility between them for once. All of the troubles he had were buried for a moment to let him fully enjoy the relaxation of doing nothing. It was as if the last time he felt this tranquility was many years ago and that lightened his mind and body even further. This month so far had been very eventful and exhausting for him. He never thought it would be this troublesome and incredibly difficult to deal with. In his first year, it was all dull lectures, simple harassment from students (which didn't end well for some who took it too far), and a good time with Komachi and his beast friends. As each time passed, the level of what he would face grew in bizarre heights and way.

"Yes, yes, they have the minds of steel unlike you who steeled your own fists for barbaric violence."

"I hate it when this witch is right." He said in his mind and closed his eyes, thinking about her previous banter until he unintentionally fell asleep.

...

"HAAAAH!" The boy shouted as he was in mid-air after jumping to evade a rolling zalikai lizard. A dark aura surrounded Hikigaya and was ready to counterattack. The two lizards released their tails and did a thrust attack at him from both sides while the typhon and its snakes spat venom at him. The dark aura then enveloped into the lade of the sword he was holding and swung sidewards which released a black crescent projectile that sliced through all of the typhon and zalikai lizards' attacks. The boy was about to fall down towards the snake monster with his sword held firm and ready to cut it in half. However, the moment he swung it down, the typhon swiftly slithered to the side and successfully dodged it. He landed on his feet and attempted to attack the snake monster, but it was faster as snakes stretched out of its arms towards him. Suddenly, the snakes were cut by something invisible and the boy turned his head to see it was the knight's doing since he posed as if he already swung his blade.

"Hachiman!" Wylfrid shouted as he noticed four more zalikai lizards were going to attack Hikigaya with their tails. The boy jumped away to evade it in time and then ran back to attack the typhon once more. The monster's snakes spat venom at him and he raised his hand forward to cast a barrier spell while running. Lightning suddenly enveloped his body and he flew away from the typhon as if he was being pulled away. It was because of Wylfrid's Shocking Grasp spell. "Listen to me, will you?!"

"I will if you let me go!" Hikigaya shouted while waving his limbs around in an attempt to break free but it was no use. Wylfrid dropped him between himself and Kazuya.

"Don't be full of yourself. You are still not used to your dark magic and still have ways to go in combat. We need to work together to stop that monster." He suggested as he turned towards Kazuya who nodded in agreement.

"What's the plan?" Kazuya asked while maintaining eye contact with the typhon.

"We need to keep the typhon immobilized. It is more agile than you think and can sneak in a snake bite before you could even notice. Binding that monster and killing it at a long range might be the best. Hachiman, you take care of the lizards while he and I will face the typhon."

"What? It needs to be me!" Hikigaya shouted with desperation and anger in his voice. Before he could complain any further, two zalikai lizards covered in rock rolled towards them, and they qll jumped away. One lizard released its tail from the shell of earth and swung it down at Kazuya. The knight raised his hand to block it in time with a basic barrier spell and swung his blade at the monster that was many feats away from him. Hikigaya wondered what his plan was but the typhon suddenly moved to the right and the trees behind the monster cut in half by an invisible force.

"What kind of spell is that?!" The boy said in astonishment.

"Hachiman, focus!" Wylfrid shouted to get his attention to the situation. Hikigaya contemplated on his guardian's plan. He didn't want to hurt the beasts but he did see the necessity in order to protect the forest (and nearby villages though he couldn't care less about that). The boy closed his eyes and opened them again with determination and sharpness that could possibly see through the monster's mind. A tail from a zalikai lizard was about to hit him from his left side and he responded by ducking. He then ran fast towards the lizard that did that and after closing the distance, he put a hand on the shell of rock to pour mana in it. The spot he was touching exploded, creating a small hole and exposing a tiny portion of the beast's body that was bent into a ball. He stabbed it with the sword and the lizard screamed in agony. It took a huge portion of his willpower to ignore the beast's dying scream as he twisted the blade and moved it down to grow the wound until it went silent.

"One down... nine to go."He mumbled and charged towards the next nearest lizard to kill. It was fairly easy for the boy since he could break their defensive shell by casting the hearten spell into it and poured too much mana to make it explode. Four zalikai lizards left with him facing two of them while the other two were by the typhon's side, protecting the monster from Wylfrid and Kazuya. The two adults failed to land a single hit to the typhon because of how quickly it dodged and that the lizards' attacks hindered their aim. Wylfrid had a blue-glowing human figure behind him that was twice as tall as him with a blazing white flame burning its head, and its face comprised of one normal eye on its left and one straight line on the other; a nose, and its mouth area was only white glowing runes. Hikigaya looked in awe at the entity behind Wylfrid. It was the first time he witnessed magic such as that. "Woah..."

"AAAAHHH!" The scream of a girl reached the boy's ears from behind. Kazuya heard it as well but before he could attempt to run towards her and protect, a zalikai lizard lashed its tail at him while the typhon spat even more venom and this time, the monster slithered towards the two adults swiftly. Meanwhile, Hikigaya went towards the scream as he noticed the two lizards he was supposed to fight were rolling after the girl hiding behind the woods. He jumped as a purple magic circle appeared in his blade and was enveloped in a dark aura. He swung it sidewards to release a black crescent projectile down at the two beasts which successfully hit. They were easily cut in half as green liquid spilled everywhere.

"Hey, you alright!" Hikigaya ran to the girl.

"Y-Yes, thank you." She said with genuine fear in her voice.

"You should run farther away from here instead of hiding behind a tree."

"I-I don't want to. I don't know where I am and I'm scared of being lost here alone."

"Ugh, the things I do for..." He was about to complain but he stopped when he heard Wylfrid and Kazuya shouting at them in sync.

"LOOK OUT!"

Hikigaya turned around and noticed the typhon was behind him, ready to kill without hesitation. He quickly pounced the girl to move her out of the stretching snakes from the monster's limbs. He carried her around his arms and attempted to run away, but something came down and it exploded a few feet in front of him. The explosion was big enough to blow up a human adult which made it all the more dangerous for the two children to get hit by. The boy looked up to see a flock of blue birds with feathers that glowed purple at the tips.

"Trekalins?" He mumbled in shock at the sight. There were perhaps hundreds of trekalin circling around the skies. Their feathers emitted a strong purple light that illuminated the area with its color. The feathers were slowly falling down and the wind pushed some of them to whichever direction. The girl saw the typhon's snakes detached themselves from its body and new snakes grew from the body to form arms.

"That thing is trying to spread its snakes around the forest!" The girl exclaimed and the boy looked to witness the snakes crawling in the grass. It was very difficult for them to see the snakes because they were small that they could hide in the grass, especially in the middle of a forest full of trees and bushes. Hikigaya already guessed that if they ignored the snakes and let them escape, the typhon's range of mind control ability would grow. That must've how the monster controlled the flock of trekalins. While fighting, it released a few snakes without anyone noticing.

"Hachiman, barrier!" Wylfrid shouted as he raised his right hand up in the air and sparks of lightning came down to it. A yellow magic circle appeared in his hand and shouted. "Lightning Magic: Rumbling Smite!"

Hikigaya pulled the girl close to his body and cast a barrier spell above them. Lightning struck everywhere near the two children and the typhon, destroying and burning down trees. Some snakes got directly hit by lightning while others were burned to death by the fires that Wylfrid created. At the same time, the trekalins flew down to Wylfrid and Kazuya while others were flying towards the children It was impossible for them to evade nor escape the flock, so their only option was protecting themselves by casting their own defensive spells. Hikigaya put all of his strength in maintaining the barrier, but he may not last long as hundreds of trekalins just flew towards his invisible barrier exploding and slowly breaking his defense. Wylfrid quickly ran to Kazuya's side and the blue-glowing entity grew its side to protect them with its body.

"Impressive Ziel puppet you have here." The knight complimented with a relieved smile.

"Thank you." Wylfrid appreciated the compliment. "The typhon might use these trekalins as a distraction for it to escape."

"I want to prioritize the young mistress before the monster. She needs my protection!" Kazuya shouted in worry for the girl.

"Calm yourself, Hachiman will take care of her. Right now, the typhon needs to be stopped." Wylfrid closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The giant Ziel puppet turned its head to the side to see the serpent monster retreating into the deep woods. "Hey, I point, you fire."

It took only a second for the knight to understand and he nodded while casting a wind spell. Wylfrid slowly raised his left hand and pointed behind the knight. Without a moment wasted, Kazuya swung his sword when a small portion of the Ziel puppet's body opened since it was entirely made of magical energy. They both see the tiny figure of the typhon's back as the monster retreated while avoiding the flames until its body cut in half. The serpent monster shrieked as it fell into the ground and still attempted to retreat by crawling away while releasing a few snakes from its unmovable legs. The opened hole of the Ziel puppet's body quickly closed before the trekalins could enter it. The boy had sweat dropping on his face because of the struggle in protecting himself and the girl from the mind-controlled trekalins. His eyes closed tightly and his raised hand shook. The girl raised her hand beside his hand to cast her own barrier spell to help him. The shaking of his hand slowed until it was fully relieved of struggle. Hikigaya opened his eyes to see her support and she smiled at him. After what it felt like forever for all of them, the explosions stopped. There were no more trekalins in the area. The fire still spread as the trees were burning even more. Hikigaya undid the barrier and held the girl's hand to drag her away from the fire and ran towards the two adults.

"Wylfrid-san!" He shouted.

"I'm fine," The blue Ziel puppet faded away and Kazuya ran to his young mistress in worry.

"Young mistress! Are you alright?! Did you get hurt?! Is you-"

"Yes, I'm fine!" The girl interrupted him and pouted. She looked at Hikigaya but turned away immediately when he moved his gaze to her.

"Your welcome," Hikigaya said in a deadpan tone. He couldn't see the girl's cheeks were blushing because she turned around behind. Wylfrid ran to the burning woods in search of the typhon's body, but all he saw were traces of blood. "It escaped."

"But not for long." Hikigaya said as the three approached him.

"Right, you and Kazuya will deal with the monster while I lead the girl to safety." Wylfrid suggested.

"Unacceptable," The knight denied his suggestion. "I must be the one to be by the young mistress's side."

"You and Hachiman can finish off the typhon. it may be incredibly weakened and dying, but that monster can still control the beast's mind. With your long-range spells and his close-range combat, you two can-"

"I apologize. I am grateful that you helped us from this danger but I still cannot trust you. You are all still a stranger to us and of course, that boy is..." Kazuya didn't bother finishing his sentence since Wylfrid and Hikigaya already knew what he meant, and also didn't want the girl to learn about such cruelty until the right age. As for the girl, she looked between them as she was confused by the sudden change of atmosphere in this interaction. Wylfrid sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"Okay then. You stay here with the girl while Hachiman and I will find the monster. Is that okay with you?" He suggested and Kazuya nodded in agreement. Before he and the boy could go into the forest, Wylfrid smiled. "Before we leave, let us introduce ourselves so we don't have to be strangers."

"Hah?!" Hikigaya looked at his guardian with widened eyes. "You can't be serious. Why are we giving them our identity to some-"

"I'LL GO FIRST!" Wylfrid interrupted him by shouting and pinching his right cheek. The boy struggled to break free but it was no use. "My name is Wylfrid, Wylfrid Roarstreak."

"..." Hikigaya was silent after Wylfrid let go of his cheek. After a few moments of silence, he finally introduced himself while glaring at his guardian. "Hachiman... Hikigaya Hachiman."

"Now it's your turn," Wylfrid pointed at the knight who was still reluctant to trust them and so he kept his mouth closed not telling them their names. "Oh come on, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship. That and where you two are right now is very far away from the City and the villages have their own problems so you won't be able to stay there for nights. So you have no choice but to come with us."

"The way you say it sounds too suspicious," Kazuya said in a deadpan tone before sighing in frustration. "But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I am Kazuya, Quivergale Kazuya."

"Half Easterner or...?"

"My mother remarried to my step-father who was in- wait, why am I telling you this?!"

"Okay! You're up young lady." Wylfrid turned to the girl who was staring at Hikigaya for unknown reasons. "Young lady?"

"Ah, yes! M-My name is- ^#^*#&$*((*#$& ^$*#$^**#*$*(#%(*&^#(*& ^#

#$*(*&$%(*&$^%(*$(* #)(#*$)&*#*($&%^*($)&%()*#& ()#^&*)#$)*($&%*&

...

Hikigaya's eyes opened wide. He must've slept when contemplating. He looked up to see the sky was orange which meant hours might've passed.

"They must be done by now-" The young dark mage tried to move but he stopped as he felt something on his right shoulder. He looked to see Yukinoshita who appeared to be sleeping as she rested her head on his shoulder. He was trying to process what led to this situation until he stopped thinking since it was obvious for him. "I guess she was also tired and slept too. This is just unintentional."

"Oi, wake up." He shrugged his shoulder to wake the Ice Queen which worked. She slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head away from his shoulder, sitting up straight and scratching her right eye. Yukinoshita looked around with half-opened eyes until she saw Hikigaya next to her and in very close proximity. Her eyes widened and stood up.

"H-How long was I asleep?" She stuttered while tidying up her attire with red cheeks.

"I don't know, probably a couple of hours. I just woke up."

"Why do I find it hard to believe that? You must've woke up an hour before me and you just stared at my sleeping face. I feel like you violated me with those inhuman eyes. Disgusting. Pervert. Die."

"I'm telling the truth. Don't go making stupid assumptions. You-" And once again, another banter between the young dark mage and the Ice Queen. While they were arguing with each other, Hikigaya thought about the dream he had. It was very puzzling as he didn't remember the introduction.

"So she told her name back then? I can't remember. Maybe something interrupted her introduction? Or something prevented me from remembering like an emotional response or... The equal feedback? But that's impossible. I don't remember overusing my dark magic unless I forgot that as well and it's part of the equal feedback... Just why would that memory resurface now?"

---

TRIVIA

1) Wylfrid's advice to Hachiman is a reference to the novel "Language Of Flowers". It's a really beautiful story and I recommend you read if you are into books.

2) Trekalin comes from the dutch word "trekken" which means "draw" or "pull"

WASSSSAAAAAPPPPP! It's me again! Back with another chapter of the fantasy AU. After this, I'm going back to writing my other story "Genuine Courage". Damn! The final season is coming to an end. Time flies! When it ends, I'm gonna miss this series. This season sort of had more of its downs than ups, but for me, I still enjoyed it. Emotional scenes are great, good moments, good ships sank. It's all wrapping up for a good end to the wonderful series. Oregairu has become a huge part of me when I was a kid. Well, back then, I couldn't understand shit of what's going on, especially at the 2nd half of season one and the entirety of season 2. I was like, "What the fuck is he doing? Why did he do that? Where's the romance?"

... I was a stupid kid. But there were some levels of enjoyment when I watched it. When I rewatched the series, I fully understand the true beauty of it. It really hit me home with some of the topics of high school and whatnot. Overall, my top 5 anime for me.

Well, now that's out of the way, Reviews!

Sir Chronos: I like both waifus ao don't worry my good man. Thanks for the review!

FEEL: I can't exactly make promises like that. Back when I write fanfics for the first time, my mind was really optimistic about this new hobby. But as I kept writing and learning more, I realized the difficulty of it although not to the point that I would give up on his hobby... not yet at least. Only thing I can promise is I will write as hard as I can.

Deutzieg: Kawasaki will appear obviously. Again, while I'm putting my own twists, I'm still following the original source material. Whether she will have a big role or not probably depends on the direction this story is going so look forward to it!"

Welp, after watching episode 11, I gotta celebrate by writing a Yukinoshita chapter! It seems our first antagonist proved to be too much for 8man, so how is he gonna take on this one? Find out next time!

Thanks for reading this fanfic. Please leave a review as your opinions will help me make this story better.