Juna, Musse, Altina and Jessica ran into the forest, chasing after the instructors and Millium. Kurt, after sending Towa flying into town, thought enough was enough and chose to run into the forest before Towa comes back. He knew she will.

Lechter already set up a place for Ash in case something went pear-shaped in Thors, which is right now. He will just have to stay there until midnight and try getting his body back.

He is slowly realizing the weight of the situation now. Instructor Towa was not her usual self, that is for certain. He never saw her with a sword before.

It was clear as day. Towa switched bodies with someone. Principal Aurelia, probably. How it happened, he does not know, which is fitting since he does not know how he switched with Kurt in the first place. There was a bright light, then the shelf fell on him.

It does not matter. He will figure it out tonight. He knew he was smart. Everybody knew it. He can do something about it. Worst case scenario, he might have to ask someone for help. He briefly thought of Lechter and he grimaced at the idea. That agent will definitely not live this one down. Ever.

But he is an option, nonetheless.

First business of the day, he needs to lose the other instructors. They were on his trail as soon as he ran away. They must not figure he is actually Ash Carbide. If they find out, then Kurt, who will eventually get his body back, will.

Kurt pestering Ash on dueling him would be a happy memory compared to the suffering he is going to endure next if the noble boy finds out.

Ash, who is in Kurt's body, rushed ahead, using his incredible speed to outpace his pursuers. Randy and the others were distraught as he slowly disappeared into the woods.

They halted in order to catch their breaths. Pursuing him now would be useless. Aurelia was nervous. She was the only one who is not out of breath. She could not decide if she should pretend to be tired or not.

"Instructors! Wait up!" Musse shouted from behind them.

The four girls caught up. Tired, sweaty, hungry, all of them were at their wit's end. Even Altina. She only ate three burgers earlier and she mostly used up the energy they provided.

"Instructor Rean!" Juna squealed.

The sight of Rean gave her a boost of energy. She started dashing towards him.

"Get away from me!" Michael screamed, his instincts kicking in, before running away.

"Where are you going?" Rean asked, turning on the running man.

He yelped when Juna tackled Rean behind, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Did you miss me?" Juna asked as she rubbed her head on his back.

"Juna! Unhand me this instance!" Rean screamed as he tried to wiggle out of her grasp.

"What is happening right now?" Jessica asked, the corner of her lips twitching.

Musse sighed as they looked at the sorry sight before them.

"Is it time?" Altina asked when she tugged Musse's sleeve.

"Probably," Musse replied.

After separating the two, Millium and Altina gave Jessica the explanation while they walked. Jessica thought this was some sort of elaborate prank, but as she thought about it, why are all the instructors and Princip—well, Aurelia is unpredictable enough to do it—be in it?

"Do you want to see it?" Millium asked, holding up a black titanium box.

"No, thank you!" Jessica immediately shouted, waving her hands. Best not to tempt it, she thought.

"So…" Jessica said, looking at Juna, who is being held by Musse by the arm so she does not fly off to Rean. "You're Musse all along?"

Juna shook her dreamy face when she realized Jessica is addressing her. She laughed nervously.

"You have to forgive me, Lady Schleiden," Juna said, nodding at her. "If we do reveal our true nature to you, the whole school and Leeves will be in total chaos."

They would. That, Jessica can admit. One whiff of an active artifact would sow panic across the town. Heimdallr, which is near Leeves, would have to be evacuated if they find out.

Jessica shook her head of the grim thought.

"So," Jessica said, "you draping yourself over Kurt earlier—"

Musse screamed and blush.

"Please, don't make me remember that!" she shouted.

"I was only trying to help little Junie here," Juna said, laughing. "You know how she is. A coward."

"I am not!"

"Hush," Juna warned, narrowing her eyes at the pouting Musse. She then smiled widely at Jessica. "It is all harmless fun. Just sowing the seeds of love and all that."

"Musse!" Musse was getting angrier.

"Why you little…" Rean said to them. "Thors is a center of learning, not a dating spot!"

"Yeah!" Randy said. "I won't let that punk rich boy get her hands on my Junie!" He punched his fist.

"That's not what I'm talking about!" Rean shouted at Randy.

"Do people shout all the time here, Tilly?" Altina asked.

"Unfortunately, Millium," Millium said as she rolled her eyes. "There is a reason why I have spare earplugs."

"Next time," Michael whispered to the girls. "Discuss this when we're away, okay?" He winked at them.

Jessica was unnerved. Even though she knew that this is the super serious Instructor Irving she knew, it was still discomforting when it is his face winking at her. She refocused her attention somewhere else.

"Let's get this straight," Jessica said. She pointed at Juna. "You're Musse."

"I'm Musse," Juna said and giggled. She pointed at Musse. "This is Juna."

"That's Millium," Musse said, pointing at Altina. "She's Altina's sister."

"You have a sister?" Jessica asked… whichever the two little girls.

"Thaaaaat's right!" Altina said. "We're the Milly Tilly Combat Arms Surplus Extravaganza!"

"Militar—" Millium tried to say, but she stopped and shook her head. She looked at Jessica. "I know this is confusing, but do not worry, it will all be over. Someday." She cleared her throat and pointed at Principal Aurelia. "That's Instructor Towa."

"Huh…" Jessica said, not believing her.

"I just want my body back!" Aurelia cried.

"If you cannot guess, I'm Major Michael Irving," Rean said, nodding at them. "This is an unfortunate scenario, but nothing I can't handle."

"Really?" Randy asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do body switching happen all the time in the Empire?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Rean said, a bit smugly.

"So, you're Instructor Rean?" Jessica asked Randy.

"No, I'm still Randy," Randy said. "Rean's over there."

"Hi," Michael said, waving at them.

"I used to be Mike a while ago."

"It's Michael!" Rean corrected.

"But… the experiment has to go on. Got my body back, though." He laughed.

"This is not the time to laugh!" Aurelia cried. "And this is just so unfair! Why does he get his body back and I don't?"

"Cease these whining at once!" Rean shouted. "The real Aurelia would never cry! Ever!"

"But I'm not Aurelia!"

"Not even when she was born?" Juna asked Rean with a smile.

"Never!" Rean declared.

These are our instructors, Jessica thought with a grimace.

"And have any of you figured out a way to get you guys back to normal?" she asked.

"I have gathered a substantial amount of data," Millium said, raising her laptop.

"Yeah, we've been experimenting all morning," Randy said as he stretched his neck around. "I hope it's worth it, kid. My body's all sore from all that body slamming."

"It is. My scanner is highly accurate." She raised her scanner. "I only need to study one occurrence of body switching to get the full data."

The instructors stopped walking. The students, not knowing why they stopped, watched the instructing turning on Millium.

"Hey…" Randy said, his face darkening.

"Are you telling me…" Rean said. He looks as if he is about to explode.

"That we only…" Aurelia said, her eyes welling up again.

"Have to switch once?" Michael finished, his eyes narrowing at the little girl.

Millium shrugged. "Pretty much," she admitted.

"Then what in Gehenna was all of that about?" Randy shouted. "My wrist is about to pop out of my hand! I think I got fractures in my ribs!"

"Explain yourself!" Rean demanded.

"In due time," Millium said as she pointed the scanner at Michael.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" he panicked, raising his hands over his face.

"Instructor Rean, I have pointed this scanner at you multiple times. It will not magically shoot bullets."

She knelt down and opened the laptop on her knees.

"As expected," she said. "Right on time."

Suddenly, a mirage surrounded Michael Irving like an aura. He yelped in surprise. He looked down on his distorted palms.

"Wh-What's happening to me?" he asked.

"Is he going to switch back?" Juna asked.

"Wait! That's not fair!" Musse shouted. "We switched first all the way yesterday! Why do they get to switch back and not us?"

"There is an explanation for this," Millium said. "Do not worry."

"I'm… really switching back?" Michael asked. He started laughing. "I'm getting my body back!"

"Oh no, bros," Randy said.

Everybody turned their eyes on him. He also has a mirage forming around him.

"No!" Randy said, holding his head. "I just got my body back!"

Michael and Randy screamed as their mirage aura moved into each other, as if they were merging. There was a flash and gust of wind exploded. When everything was settled…

"Great!" Randy said, stomping on the ground. "I'm back in Randy's body! Why is this happening to me?"

"Why, Aidios!" Michael cried to the heavens. "Whyyyyyyyy?"

"Isn't this even worse than before?" Jessica asked.

She was a bit skeptical on the whole body switching thing, but now she has seen it firsthand, her doubts melted away. Only to be replaced with terror. The artifact's power is real!

"Data collection complete," Millium said, standing up. "Now we have observed how they switched back, my research is complete."

She put away her scanner and stared into the screen of her laptop.

"As I suspected," she said as she read the data. She turned her head on Juna and Musse. "Maybe now we can explain why you two are not switching back."

"Which is?" Juna and Musse asked together.

"That you two were the first to switch." She immediately raised her hand to stop them from replying. "Let me explain.

"My previous hypothesis assumes each of us has a timer on when we can switch back. That is, however, not entirely correct. It is more, if you forgive the analogy, that a thread is binding us together."

She took out her scanner. "Wait a moment."

She started scanning Juna and Musse. She looked at the screen again.

"As I expected. The strange mana in your bodies has no signs of depleting."

"But that's impossible!" Juna said. "There's so much time has passed. Don't we… sweat it?"

Millium tapped her chin. "How should I explain this…?" She then thought of an idea. "How about I inform you that Instructor Randy and Instructor Irving were the last to switch amongst all of us? It was thirty minutes ago."

"But that doesn't make sense!" Musse cried out. "Musse and I switched since yesterday! Isn't that unfair?"

"I believe the artifact works on a system. Back to my sewing analogy, Juna and Muse were the first to be stitched, binding them together. Instructor Randy and Instructor Irving were the last to be stitched. If you want to remove the thread, where do you do it?

"By pulling the thread from the bottom, of course," Altina answered. Her eyes widened. "Ooooh! So that's it!"

"That's right. It's a last come, first serve thing. The two instructors were the last two to be stitched, so they get to be unstitched first.

"It is also worth noting that with each successive body switching, the timer, per se, is lessened for each succession, which is why the last two switchers switched back in thirty minutes."

"So that's why you had us switch multiple times back at the main building," Rean said. "In order to shorten the time of expiration."

Millium nodded. "Correct. I am sorry that you three were hurt in the process, but I needed to observe how you unstitch yourselves."

She then faced everyone.

"I also observed the flow of the strange mana. I scanned everyone and, none of the strange mana in us has depleted. Instructor Randy and Instructor Irving has some depletion, but there is still more lingering. There are invisible threads that binds us together, but they are slowly being pulled back. Back to its origin."

She raised the black titanium box.

"So let me get this straight," Musse said. "We're… really going to be last ones to switch back?" She was getting distraught.

"Stay strong, Juna," Jessica said, putting her hand on Musse's shoulder. She faced Millium. "Is there a way to reel the thread back in faster?"

"Y-You mean… like fishing?" Randy asked, a strange mood welling up inside him.

Millium nodded. "An apt analogy."

"I-I don't think he was making an analogy," Aurelia said, knowing Rean too well.

"There might be a way to get us back to normal all at once."

"Really?" Michael asked. "How? I can't go back to Tio and the others like this, you know!"

"First," she raised a finger to the sky, "we need to everyone who has switched in one place. Just to be on the safe side."

"The only one missing here is Kurt," Jessica said.

Ash is still in the clinic and he would not be moving any time soon.

"Right!" Musse said as she raised her orbal rifle. "Come on, people! We got a pretty boy to bag!"

"I don't like the sound of this," Michael said, narrowing his eyes on her.

"We need to know where he's hiding first," Altina said.

"I know a trick," Millium said as she raised her scanner. She started tweaking on it. "If I calibrate the scanner to locate mana threads, we can follow—"

An explosion boomed across the forest.

The group turned to see a mushroom cloud in the distance.

Towa found Kurt at last. It was time for their second bout.