Chapter 9:

General Assembly (part3: Light Magic Killer )

The OCTAGRAM's CLASSROOM

...2 minutes before the angel appeared in the boys' dormitory, a particular group of people had gathered at a different location...

The girls' dormitory was located next to the boys' dorm. The two buildings were separated by a small courtyard. One building was white, while the other was black. The buildings both looked elegant in their own way, but the girls' dormitory was much larger than the boys'. The area between the two buildings, however, was completely empty.

"It's cold."

Reina shivered. She sat on the bench under the window and gazed at the sky.

Her long hair fluttered in the wind. Her pale skin glistened with sweat.

"Why don't we go inside and warm up?"

Kamiya sat down beside Reina and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"Kozue and the others are waiting for us in the lounge."

"Oh yeah? I'll call them then. We need to talk."

"...Of course. But first, let's have some tea."

Reina poured hot water into her teacup.

"I think this is the first time I've had tea without sugar. It's refreshing."

"Yeah. This stuff tastes great. Thanks for bringing it over."

"Wow. It's really strong. Is it okay if I put a bit of milk into it?"

Reina smiled shyly.

"Sure. Go ahead."

"Thanks!"

She took a sip of the tea. A faint fragrance reached her nose.

"This is delicious."

"Me too," Kamiya agreed.

Reina looked at the trees in front of the girls' dormitory.

"It's so quiet."

The only sounds were the wind blowing through the tree branches.

"We should be glad about that."

"Huh?"

"September, originally, is a hot month. But now, it's getting colder every day. Soon, the leaves will turn orange and fall from the trees. Autumn is coming. And the snow will come soon after that. Baal will have a harder time tempering with the weather—"

A loud scream interrupted Reina. She jumped to her feet.

"What was that?"

"There you are!"

Kozue ran toward the two girls after barging in. Her eyes were red and puffy.

"I heard screaming. What happened?"

"Calm down. You're always in such a hurry. Calm down. We're just playing a game. It's okay."

Reina grabbed Kozue's hands.

"Kozue, are you okay?"

"I'm fine... I guess it's normal for a girl my age to be scared of ghosts."

"Right..."

"Come on. Join us! Masami and Cindra started playing already!"

Masami and Cindra were sitting side by side on the floor. Both of them were giggling.

"Let's play too."

Reina and Kamiya got down on the floor and joined the game. Kozue jumped energetically and sat beside them.

"Okay. So, how do you play this game?"

Masami explained the rules while Reina drew a map on the floor.

"Everyone has a number from 1 to 9. The goal is to make a line of five numbers in a row. If you can do that, your opponent must show one of his or her cards to the rest of the group. Whoever wins gets to choose who goes first."

"So, the winner chooses who plays next?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Oh, that's interesting."

"What a clever idea. What happens to the loser? Do they get punished?"

"They have to obey the winner's instructions. For example, if the winner said, 'Go to the bathroom,' the loser would have to go there. Or, if the winner said, 'Change clothes', the loser would change into the clothes that the winner chose."

"That means the loser is forced to do whatever the winner tells him or her to do."

"Yep. That's right."

"Well, I guess it's not too bad."

"Unless you're forced to do something you're actually bad at. Then it could become very difficult."

"...Like what?"

Masami smirked at Kozue.

"You see... Kozue lost the last round, so she had to follow one of Cindra's orders. Cindra told her to summon a bird. But since Kozue isn't good with animals, she couldn't manage to do it."

"Huh?! Really?!"

"She said she summoned something, but nothing appeared in the room," Masami added.

"That's impossible! Did she summon a ghost?"

"That's why you heard a scream earlier. Kozue started crying."

"Wahhh!"

"In the end," Masami said. "Cindra had to give up on her order. We agreed to give easier orders to prevent that situation from happening again..."

"I hope it doesn't happen again," Reina said.

"Good point. Okay, I'll pick a number. Let's start with 6."

Kamiya picked up her card.

"I want to go first. By the way, Kozue, you can't use summoning magic?"

"No. Summoning is my weak point. Sorry."

Cindra laughed.

"You don't have any strong points either, Kozue."

Kozue bowed her head in shame.

"Here we go," Kamiya said. She placed the number 2 on the map.

"I don't understand how this works."

"Just keep playing."

"Okay."

"It's actually true," Kozue interrupted the game. "Summoning is my weakest point. No matter how much I practice, I never manage to summon anything. And then there is the math exam next week. I'm really nervous. I think I might fail."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. My grades are terrible. I'm almost failing. Maybe I should drop the subject."

Cindra's smile disappeared as she turned to face Kozue.

"Don't say stuff like that. You're going to pass that test. Come on! It isn't like Alice's exams are difficult... Surely you know the basics of arithmetic, right? It's only about memorizing formulas."

"But I'm so scared."

"We can help you. It won't be hard."

She forced a thin smile onto her face and nodded.

"That's what friends are for, right? The exam will be as easy as answering 1+1!"

A puzzled expression spread across Kozue's face.

"You know the answer to 1+1, right?"

Cindra looked straight at Kozue.

"Yeah. I think..."

Everyone burst out laughing before realizing a second later that Kozue was in a serious problem.

"You mean... 1 plus 1 equal 11."

Silence fell upon the room.

"Seems like we have a lot of work to do, girls."

*****

Goro, Akira, Kamitani, and Chikao sat in the room to rest for a bit after sending the angel back to heaven. They were all sitting around the table, eating some snacks and drinking tea.

"That was really an intense fight, Kamitani," Goro said. "Couldn't believe you went toe to toe with that monster without even losing a single strike. I've never seen anything like it."

"Thanks."

He smiled awkwardly and continued to eat the snacks.

"By the way," Akira asked. "How did you manage to beat down the angel?"

"Well," he began. "It was a long story. But basically, I used the techniques Baal thought me in the training."

"That reminds me. I've never got the chance to ask you an important question, Kamitani. Why do you have special training with Baal when you're this good?"

Kamitani put his snack silently on the table and stared at the boys before him.

"What is he even teaching you? What exactly is that 'special training'?"

"Let's say he's teaching me how to kill."

There was silence in the room as Kamitani answered. Akira was shocked by this sudden statement.

"Did you just say you're learning how to kill people?"

"Yes."

"He's not teaching you how to kill him, the demon lord, I mean?"

"No. He is teaching me to kill light magic users, which is the complete opposite of what a demon lord usually uses."

Akira froze for a moment.

"Light magic?"

"The technique he taught me is called Light Magic Killer."

Akira nodded.