Finishing his research in the library, Tatsuya was about to leave when a voice from behind made him sigh inwardly before turning around.
"What's up, Saegusa-senpai?"
The voice belonged to Mayumi Saegusa, the former student council president, who had been dogging him relentlessly lately.
"I've got something I want to ask. Got a minute?"
"A real minute, right? Not like last time when you kept me for an hour."
"I apologized for that!"
Mayumi had once asked Tatsuya about a tricky magic concept, but his highly technical explanation took her an hour to grasp. That day, Tatsuya had spent twice as long placating an irked Miyuki when he got home.
"So, what do you want to ask?"
"Not here."
Mayumi's cheeks flushed slightly as she suggested moving elsewhere. Her gesture might've flustered other boys, but Tatsuya had learned the hard way that indulging her antics led to trouble.
"Where, then?"
"Maybe a classroom? It's empty this time of day, and no one's around."
"…What's this about?"
Tatsuya could tell she didn't want others overhearing, but he couldn't begin to guess why.
"Relax, I'm not asking you to do anything."
"Your 'relax' isn't reassuring."
"Why not!"
To an onlooker, their banter might've looked like lovers' teasing. One student who saw them whispered to a friend that "Saegusa-senpai and Shiba-kun were chatting so cozily," and by the time the rumor reached Miyuki, it had morphed into "Saegusa-senpai and Shiba-kun are dating." Neither of them had a clue.
In the empty classroom, Tatsuya cut to the chase to wrap things up quickly.
"So, what's this about?"
"I told you, I want to ask something."
"And that 'something' is? It's not another study session, is it?"
If it was just about clarifying a concept, they wouldn't have needed to leave the library. Sure, Mayumi's pride as a Ten Master Clans member might demand privacy, but this seemed excessive.
"It's… about your magic, Tatsuya-kun."
"Mine? Oh, Miyuki told you."
"Well, after seeing that, how could I not be curious?"
On the day of the thesis competition, when the Great Asian Union invaded, Tatsuya had used his true magic, Regrowth, to heal Kirihara and the others' injuries as if they'd never happened. It'd be odd not to be intrigued, Tatsuya conceded to himself.
"Miyuki-san told me about Regrowth, but that's not what I'm curious about."
"Then what?"
"You made a swarm of locust constructs vanish, didn't you? As far as I know, no magic does that. Even Decomposition wouldn't erase them like that."
"You're right, it wasn't Decomposition. But I can't tell you."
"Because it's a military secret?"
Tatsuya knew Mayumi was aware of his role as a special officer in the National Defense Forces. But he hadn't told her about classified magic, and a regular high schooler wouldn't have such intel. As expected of a Ten Master Clans member, he thought, deciding to elaborate.
"That's part of it, but like Regrowth, my magic isn't something I can casually share."
"Erasing an entire truck isn't exactly casual, yeah."
"…You saw that too, didn't you?"
Recalling Mayumi's Multi-Scope catching him disintegrate a truck, Tatsuya shook his head twice.
"I can explain, but you might regret hearing it."
"Is it that serious?"
"The content itself? Not really. But as you said, it's a military secret. If you know, you could be under constant surveillance. Leak it, and even as a Saegusa, you might be erased. I might even have to do it myself. Knowing that, do you still want to hear about my magic?"
Tatsuya's gaze, devoid of any jest, pinned Mayumi. She felt an urge to look away, but doing so would kill her chance at answers. Swallowing her embarrassment, she met his eyes head-on.
"I won't tell anyone. I swore that to Miyuki-san too."
"I see…"
Tatsuya broke eye contact, staring into the distance briefly before turning back to her.
"I was born with my magic calculation area dominated by two spells. One is Regrowth, which Miyuki explained—it reads information bodies and undoes injuries within twenty-four hours. The other is the one you're curious about."
He paused, giving Mayumi an out. Stop now, and she could still walk away.
"…Please, go on."
With that, Mayumi closed her own escape route.
"The spell's called Disintegration. It accesses an information body directly and breaks its structure down to the atomic level. Like Regrowth, it doesn't matter if the target is a person or a machine. It can erase existence itself."
"You mean… it can kill people?"
"That's too mild. No corpse remains. They don't even get to die as humans—they're simply gone."
Mayumi covered her mouth, looking queasy as she imagined it.
"I told you you'd regret it."
"B-but those two spells take up your calculation area, right? Yet you can still use other magic, can't you?"
Recalling the spells Tatsuya used in Monolith Code, Mayumi fought down her nausea to press further.
"…This will make you regret it even more. Are you sure?"
To explain this, Tatsuya would have to reveal his and Miyuki's Yotsuba ties—a secret he had no intention of sharing. He threw the question back to deter her.
"No, that's enough… But now I know your secret, Tatsuya-kun. If you don't want it spilled, you'd better listen to me."
"Spill it, and you'd be the one erased. Along with anyone you told."
"Whatever! If you want me to stay quiet, go out with me. As in, date me!"
Tatsuya gave a wry smile at her roundabout confession.
"Well, well, when did I become the one being blackmailed?"
Muttering to himself, Tatsuya "reluctantly" accepted Mayumi's offer.
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