Chapter: 53. A Little Hint
“Do you have something you want to ask me?”
“Ah, yes, it’s about the abilities…”
Nana looked at Kanade, who seemed a bit hesitant.
The latter’s gaze occasionally drifted to Nagi, who was standing beside him.
“What? Why does Kanade-kun keep looking at me?” Nagi guessed what Kanade was planning and pouted as if throwing a tantrum. “Are you trying to hide something from me again? Clearly, I’m also in the know, just like you and Nana-chan!”
“But, but…”
“That’s true, Tsukimi-kun. Since Nagi-chan already knows, there’s no need to keep it from her…”
“Even Shou-chan too…”
“Exactly! Exactly! I was even willing to let Kanade-kun be my dad last night, but Kanade still wants to hide it from me—wuwu!?”
“Nagi! I told you not to say that outside… No, no! It’s a misunderstanding! Shou-chan, I explained it to you this morning!”
“I don’t really mind, but Tsukimi-kun, you need to understand, it’s all your fault for spoiling her like this, leading to today’s situation~”
“Shou-chan! You finally believe what I said?”
“Even if you look at me with those touching eyes, I won’t help explain it, okay?”
“Help explain?” Just when Kanade was confused, a large hand suddenly rested on his shoulder from behind.
“Excuse me, student? Could you please remove your hand from covering this girl’s mouth and come over to explain to us about the ‘dad’ business mentioned just now?”
Kanade turned his head in response to the voice, like a rusty gear, and was met with the smiling face of the gym teacher.
“…Yes.”
As for Nagi, although she was sweating internally, she maintained a clueless and innocent demeanor on the surface.
— It’s not my fault~ It’s all Kanade-kun’s fault for saying he wanted to be my dad~
— I’m so innocent, I don’t even know what being a dad means~
Kanade, led to a corner by the gym teacher, spent quite some time explaining that it was all just a misunderstanding.
It was unclear whether the gym teacher genuinely believed Kanade’s words or was worried about them being late in leaving the school building.
After instructing Kanade to come by the teacher’s office for a proper chat later, he sent them off to the dorms.
“Ah, it’s getting late…”
While the three walked side by side across the campus, Nagi looked at the sun setting in the distance and couldn’t help but express her thoughts.
“Indeed, Tsukimi-kun, you should reflect on this properly.”
“Exactly! Exactly! Kanade-kun should pay more attention.”
“You, Little Nagi, have no right to say that! Who do you think caused this!?”
Faced with Kanade’s complaint, Nagi decided to play dumb and tilted her head in confusion again.
“…Shou-chan, you’re right. Could you please take the time to talk to Little Nagi about common knowledge regarding this tonight?” Kanade, feeling very weary, covered his face with his hands.
After the three of them chatted aimlessly for a while,
It just so happened that there were no other students around them.
Seeing that the timing was right, Nana decided to bring the topic back.
“So, Tsukimi-kun, what were you going to ask me earlier?”
After thinking it over, Kanade decided to share his troubles that he had spoken about with Uemon earlier with Nana.
He hoped that Nana, as the No. 2 of Ark Academy, would be able to provide some assistance in this matter.
Although Nana had been listening quietly to Kanade’s narration, after he finished,
Her first response was, “There’s no such thing.”
“Whether it’s exceptional items or contract beasts, once they leave you, they can’t function; that is common sense.”
“Y-you’re right…”
“The ‘white space’ Tsukimi-kun mentioned, along with that strange flame… I’ve never heard of it either.”
“Not even Shou-chan knows?”
As far as Kanade knew, unlike him, Nana had been researching the realm of the extraordinary since joining Ark Academy.
He thought that if it were Nana, she might have some insight on that white space.
— Could it be that for such matters, he really had to ask a teacher or that urban legend, Senior Nanjou?
“However, the things Tsukimi-kun mentioned are indeed very similar to the effects of extraordinary items,” Nana continued. “There are no external magical fluctuations, and there’s no magical response from within… it fits the operational patterns of extraordinary items perfectly.”
“But shouldn’t extraordinary items require the user’s magic to function?” Kanade offered his thoughts.
Even though he wasn’t particularly concerned about extraordinary powers, he had learned a bit about this in class.
All extraordinary items require magic to operate and are linked to the user’s magic fluctuation amplitude; only when the fluctuation amplitudes match can they work, so generally, people can’t use multiple extraordinary items simultaneously.
“Isn’t there already an exception to this? Like the bracelet issued by the academy,” Nana raised her right hand, sporting a silver bracelet.
This was one of the research results from the three major academies, a fantasy gear that stores magic; as long as it’s activated correctly, it can unfold into a weapon.
Strictly speaking, such an item could also be classified as an extraordinary item.
“While that may be true… I don’t have anything with magic stored in me…”
Nana and Kanade continued their back-and-forth, neither able to provide a reasonable explanation.
Until Nagi, who had been quietly listening, suddenly chimed in—
“Um, I have a little idea~” Nagi raised her hand like a straight-A student in class.
“Ah, sorry, we’ve been talking about so much; it must have been hard for you, Nagi-chan,” Nana immediately apologized, misreading Nagi’s reaction.
But Nagi shook her head, indicating that Nana had misunderstood.
“No, it’s not that~ I don’t quite understand some of the strange words Kanade-kun and Nana-chan just said, but I can get the general meaning.”
From their previous conversation, Nagi had already grasped what was happening with Kanade.
After feeling a bit surprised internally, she slowly adjusted her mindset, believing it was necessary to give Kanade a “little hint.”
Though she wasn’t sure if what she was doing was correct.
She believed that her next words would be helpful to Kanade in the future.
For instance, at a crucial moment, the unintentionally spoken words from her childhood friend, a beautiful girl, might flash through his mind, leading him to suddenly comprehend the truth about his abilities—
“Little Nagi, what do you mean?”
“Nana-chan just mentioned that so-called ‘extraordinary items’ can’t be used if they aren’t on your person, but what if that item is actually on your person?”
“But I truly don’t know if I have such an item on me—”
“—What if it’s simply not on ‘now’s’ Kanade-kun?” Nagi interrupted Kanade at the perfect moment.
“W-what do you mean?” Kanade didn’t quite understand Nagi’s meaning.
Nana, however, fell into deep thought.
“Exactly… ” Nagi feigned that she had just had a lightbulb moment, pondering the right words without raising suspicion from the other two, and spoke out the key clue.
“From what Nana-chan and Kanade-kun just mentioned, ‘extraordinary items’ can’t be used if they aren’t on you… how to put it… for example, when this ‘extraordinary item’ is on Kanade-kun, it utilizes its effects…”
Nagi tried her best to appear flustered, as if she herself didn’t know what she was saying.
In her heart, she silently hoped that Nana would grasp the words she was trying to convey.
After a moment,
The player’s “true protagonist,” Nana, successfully met Nagi’s expectations.
“…I think I understand what Nagi-chan is trying to say.” Nana released the hand that had been resting on her chin and turned to look at Kanade.
“Really?” Kanade exclaimed, surprised, as if he were curious about how Nana had deciphered what Nagi meant from her fragmented words.
“Nagi-chan likely means that possessing an extraordinary item is just a condition for its use, not that it can only be activated when ‘you hold it’,” Nana explained. “Even if Tsukimi-kun doesn’t currently have an extraordinary item on him, but—”
“—but it doesn’t mean I won’t have it in the future…” Kanade started to comprehend.
“Yes, and once Tsukimi-kun has that extraordinary item, he can use its effects on ‘now’s’ Tsukimi-kun… that’s likely what Nagi-chan meant.” After Nana finished speaking, she looked to the side at Nagi, seemingly seeking her confirmation.
The latter nodded in agreement, appearing satisfied that Nana articulated what she wanted to express.
“…An extraordinary item that can transcend time and space? Have there been similar cases until now?” Kanade found it somewhat hard to believe, but his intuition told him it was a correct assumption.
“Even I have never heard of extraordinary items with such effects,” Nana honestly replied.
At Ark Academy, information regarding extraordinary items and fantastical monsters has clear access restrictions.
Different levels and permissions correspond to different information resources.
Even with Nana’s current status as Ark Academy’s No. 2, the information on extraordinary items she could access wasn’t comprehensive.
“Is that so… I thought it would be like that~” Nagi shyly scratched her head.
“Ah, no, it’s not that I’m saying Little Nagi is wrong… After all, what don’t we know about this world? There might really be such a special extraordinary item,” Kanade quickly reassured when he saw her response.
— An extraordinary item that can transcend time and space.
Though there was no real basis for it, Kanade felt like he had found a direction for his investigation.
The anxiety in his heart eased a bit as a result.
“By the way, what should we do about dinner today?” Kanade tried to change the slightly awkward atmosphere.
“Indeed… Usually, we have dinner after club activities before going back to the dorm, but at this hour, it’s already too late to head back to the cafeteria.” Nana cooperatively picked up the topic.
For the two of them, they both wanted to keep Nagi as far away from such matters as possible.
So they displayed a remarkable synchronicity in this kind of situation.
“How about we stop by a convenience store on the way back and buy some bento?” Kanade suggested.
“Isn’t the bento from the convenience store too monotonous—”
“—Yes! I have an idea!” Nagi, looking a bit excited, raised her hand again, interrupting Nana.
“What suggestions do you have, Nagi-chan?”
“For dinner, isn’t there a kitchen in the dorm? How about we buy some ingredients on our way back and let me cook dinner for Kanade-kun and Nana-chan?”
“Alright, then we’ll eat bento from the convenience store tonight (agreed).”
“Nana-chan!?”
“Nagi-chan, do you know? Actually, the variety of bento at the campus convenience store is quite rich!”
“But it seemed like Nana-chan just said ‘the convenience store bento is too monotonous’ or something…”
“That’s just about the dishes in each bento. As long as the three of us buy three different flavors, we just need to share, and it’ll be fine.”
“I-is that so? But in that case, why not let me cook three different dishes—”
“—Didn’t Tsukimi-kun mention to me before that he suddenly really wanted to eat bento from the convenience store recently?” Nana interrupted Nagi’s speech, turning to look at Kanade.
The latter, stunned by Nana’s pleading gaze, could only keep nodding.
“Is that so… since it’s what Kanade-kun wants to eat…”
“Fiuh~ Luckily, this child is easy to deal with~” Nana, breathing a sigh of relief, couldn’t help but murmur to herself.
“Nana-chan? Did you say anything just now?”
“Nothing at all. Well, there’s a convenience store nearby; besides bento, let’s buy some daily necessities too, since we can’t just casually leave the dorm tonight.” Nana said, pulling Nagi’s hand.
“Shou-chan… is she usually like this?” Kanade, who lagged behind, stared in awe at the changed demeanor of Nana, pondering the terrifying nature of human survival instincts.
“However, if I’m not mistaken, Little Nagi’s cooking should have already reached a level that is edible, right…”
