—
Thud. The sound cracked through the tranquil stillness of the Skybridge like a stone thrown into still water. Sharp. Heavy. Wrong. Completely out of place.
A burst of startled gasps followed.
The tranquil murmur of couples whispering beneath the lanterns broke apart at once.
Both Sora and Null turned at once. Their quiet little world shattered in an instant.
At the far end of the bridge—
A scene unfolded beneath the moonlit lanterns.
The Skybridge stretched long and elegant above the city, its white stone arching between two divine towers like a pathway suspended among the stars. Beneath the translucent floor panels, lines of mana flowed in soft streams of blue and gold, making it seem as though they were walking over liquid starlight.
This breathtaking scene made it famous throughout Lumeris as a date spot for couples. A sacred little path suspended between heaven and city. Every evening, lovers came here. Young nobles and adventurers from all over the world. Sanctum priests on stolen moments of freedom. Even married couples who wanted to relive their first nights together.
The bridge offered a panoramic view of the city of divinity below—thousands of lanterns, floating sigils, and luminous towers shining like constellations fallen to earth.
It was a place where confessions were made. Where trembling hands found one another. Where first kisses and trembling promises often bloomed beneath the stars.
Tonight, too—
Several couples had been scattered along its elegant length. A pair stood near the far railing, heads leaned close together. Another couple walked slowly beneath the lanterns, fingers intertwined. Some sat along the alcoves built into the side arches, quietly sharing the night.
But now—
That romantic atmosphere had ruptured.
A group of rough-looking men stood in the middle of the bridge. Five of them. Broad-shouldered. Poorly dressed. Street-born thugs wearing mismatched leather and cheap enchanted trinkets, their movements carrying the swagger of people used to getting away with too much.
Hooligans. The kind that stained beautiful places.
Around them—
The other couples on the bridge recoiled. A few hurriedly pulled away, grabbing their partners' hands. Whispers of alarm spread.
"…Let's go."
"…Don't get involved…"
"…Those are the Crescent Alley thugs…"
"…Hurry…"
One by one—
The surrounding couples quickly left the bridge, unwilling to invite trouble upon themselves. Footsteps hurried away. Lantern light swayed.
And the thugs—
Didn't care.
Not even slightly.
Only one unfortunate couple remained trapped at the center of the disturbance. A man and a woman. Likely in their early twenties. The woman's face was pale with fear. Her lips trembled. Her shoulders shook as one of the thugs—
The one who seemed to be their leader stepped closer to the woman.
Tall. Broad. A vulgar grin splitting across his face.
He reached out—
And seized her chin.
Forcing her face upward.
"…Now that's a pretty one."
The woman flinched.
"…P-please…"
He tilted her face upward with a indecent eyes.
"…Now now, sweetheart."
His breath reeked of fermented mana liquor.
"…Why waste your pretty little face on a weakling like him?"
The woman begged.
"…P-Please let go—!"
Her voice cracked.
Beside her—
Her boyfriend struggled desperately.
"…Get your hands off her!"
His face was filled with panic and fury. But two other thugs had restrained him from behind, pinning both arms. He thrashed against them. Desperate. Hopeless.
"…L-Lia!"
His voice broke as he watched helplessly.
The leader's hand slid from the woman's chin to the side of her neck. Then lower. Far too low.
His grin widened.
Behind him, the others laughed. They leered openly. Eyes crawling over her with indecent hunger.
"…Boss really hit the jackpot tonight."
"…Look at that figure…"
"…What a waste on that coward."
The woman's eyes glistened with tears. Her hands pushed weakly against the leader's chest.
"…Stop… please…"
Her boyfriend nearly tore himself apart trying to break free.
"…DON'T TOUCH HER!"
The sound echoed across the bridge. Raw. Broken. Desperate.
The woman reached toward him with trembling fingers.
"…R-Ren…"
Tears slipped down her face.
Both of them looked utterly helpless.
And yet—
Completely trapped.
–
Null stared for exactly one second and slowly closed his eyes.
Then, in the privacy of his own mind—
An imaginary hand rose in his mind.
Facepalm.
…Seriously?
His inner voice sounded utterly done.
Of all the absurd clichés to run into on our first date—
It had to be this.
A moonlit romantic bridge.
A frightened couple.
A group of cartoonishly disgusting thugs.
He almost wanted to applaud the universe for its shameless commitment to tropes.
Fantasy Omniscience responded dryly within his mind.
[Conclusion: Narrative coincidence probability remains within acceptable anomaly threshold.]
…That's not helping.
Beside him—
Sora's expression had changed.
Completely.
The softness from moments ago vanished.
Her brows furrowed.
Her eyes sharpened.
And beneath that serene beauty—
A deep frown settled on her face.
And then—
A flash.
Brief.
Sharp.
Anger.
Pure disgust flickered in her eyes as she watched the assault unfold.
Without a word—
She lifted one hand.
And from nowhere—
A rainbow-colored orb materialized in her palm.
Null's gaze sharpened instantly.
The orb was the size of a ping-pong ball and was beautiful.
A sphere of layered crystalline glass no larger than a plum, its interior swirling with shifting prismatic light. Colors flowed within it like captured aurora.
Sora pressed her thumb lightly against its surface. A thread of mana flowed from her fingertips.
Click.
At once—
A translucent information panel unfolded into the air.
Multiple floating windows. Scrolling text. Runic symbols. Geometric data arrays. Signal indicators.
To everyone else—
It would have looked like incomprehensible gibberish. A surreal lattice of glowing runes and fragmented magical code.
But Null's curiosity immediately ignited.
…What is that?
He turned inward.
Fantasy Omniscience.
[Answer: Identified object — Arcane Communication Sphere.]
[Common usage: Primary functions include long-range voice communication, text-based rune messaging, emergency dispatch channels, localized map projections, and mana-wallet transactions.]
Null's eyes widened slightly.
…So basically a phone?
[Affirmative.]
[Functional similarity to Earth-based mobile communication devices: 81.4%.]
[Differences include mana-core signal transmission, rune-coded data compression, soul-authenticated identity locks, and thaumic resonance networking.]
Fantasy Omniscience continued.
[Unlike electromagnetic cellular systems, Arcane Communication Spheres rely on leyline nodes distributed across major cities and mana-wave harmonic routing.]
[Signal propagation occurs through magical frequency stabilization rather than electromagnetic transmission.]
[Primary engineering principle: Scientific engineering principles merged with thaumaturgic rune architecture.]
Null stared at the floating panel.
A phone.
A literal magical phone.
He wasn't surprised by communication technology itself. Fantasy worlds often had something similar. Mana crystals. Telepathy devices. Messenger mirrors. He'd seen enough novels to accept that.
No—
What shocked him—
Was how similar it was.
Multi-function interface. Emergency services. Messaging. Transactions. Panel UI design.
It felt—
Way too modern.
Way too systematic.
His eyes narrowed.
This wasn't built by someone thinking purely in magical terms.
There was engineering logic behind it.
User-experience layering.
Scientific design philosophy.
His suspicion sharpened.
…Who made it?
A pause.
Then Fantasy Omniscience answered.
[Creator identified.]
[Primary architect: The same mortal pioneer responsible for introducing the modern academy system to Elpis.]
Null's shook his head.
As i thought .
A slow breath escaped him.
This wasn't the kind of thing born purely from mystical intuition. This had design logic. Systems thinking. Interface layering. Applied engineering philosophy.
The mind behind this—
Thought like someone from a technologically structured civilization.
Maybe not Earth.
But close.
Very close.
Beside him, Sora's fingers moved gracefully across the floating panel. Runes shifted. Symbols rearranged. A series of light sigils pulsed outward like ripples across still water.
Null could almost feel the efficiency in it.
The rainbow glow in Sora's hand dimmed. The floating runic panel dissolved into motes of light.
One by one—
The symbols vanished into the orb's crystalline depths.
Then—
With a small flick of her wrist—
The arcane communication sphere disappeared into her portable storage. She turned back toward him.
Silence returned.
For a brief moment.
Sora turned back toward him.
And smiled.
Softly.
Beautifully.
The kind of smile that seemed almost impossibly gentle after the cold fury that had flashed across her face moments earlier.
For a heartbeat—
Null's thoughts simply stopped.
The moonlight caught the pure-white of her hair. The lanterns painted gold along the edges of her dress.
Her eyes—
Clear. Luminous. Steady.
…Dangerous.
He found himself staring.
Again.
Then her lips parted.
"…Please give me a moment, Null-san."
Her voice was warm. Composed. A calm note before the storm.
Null blinked once.
"…Right."
That was all he managed.
Then—
The smile vanished.
Not abruptly.
But like moonlight slipping behind clouds.
Her expression cooled into something sharp.
Beautiful.
And terrifying.
Sora turned.
And walked forward.
Step. Step. Step.
Her heels clicked softly against the crystalline bridge floor as she walked toward the disturbance. White fabric swayed around her like drifting moonlight.
The hooligans were still laughing. Still crowding the frightened couple. Still basking in their own ugliness.
Then—
Sora stopped a few paces away.
Her expression had turned cold. Not emotional. Not heated.
A saint's displeasure.
Quiet.
Absolute.
"…Let them go."
Her voice rang across the bridge like the toll of a sacred bell. Sharp. Clear. Freezing.
Every head turned.
The side hooligans blinked.
Then—
They saw her.
And everything stopped.
"…W-what the hell…"
One of them stared openly.
Another's mouth fell slack.
"…Boss…"
A third rubbed his eyes as if doubting reality.
"…Where did this beauty come from…?"
The drunken stupor in their eyes turned into something far worse. Shock. Lust. Crude fascination.
One of them actually stumbled backward in shock.
"…Holy shit…"
Another clutched his nose. A thin trickle of blood ran down.
"…She's gorgeous…"
"…No— forget gorgeous, what is that face…"
"…An angel dropped from the heavens…"
"…Or a goddess…"
Another let out a vulgar whistle.
"…Damn…"
A greasy grin spread across one thug's face.
"…Looks like the night just got better."
Another snorted drunkenly.
"…Boss, can't believe this beauty delivered herself to us."
"…Forget the other girl."
"…This one's on a whole different level."
"…Looks like heaven sent us a gift tonight."
Their voices overlapped.
Filthy
Unashamed.
Like flies gathering over something sacred.
Null's gaze darkened slightly.
Meanwhile—
The leader finally paused his harassment.
His hand slid away from the frightened woman's chin.
Slowly.
His vulgar smile widened the moment his eyes landed on Sora.
For a second—
Even he seemed stunned.
Then his grin became predatory.
"…Well now."
He stepped away from the terrified woman.
"…Would you look at that."
His eyes dragged over Sora in a way that instantly made the temperature on the bridge feel colder.
"…Pretty little celestial girl."
A laugh.
Drunken.
Rotten.
"…You here to save them?"
Sora didn't flinch. Didn't recoil. Didn't even blink. Didn't even seem remotely disturbed by the filth in his gaze.
Her voice remained perfectly cold.
"…How dare a group of hooligans like you desecrate a sacred place like this."
The words cut through the air.
Every syllable precise.
Measured.
She glanced once at the terrified couple. The woman was crying. The man still struggling desperately against the two thugs pinning him.
Then back.
"…Release them."
A pause.
"…Cease these blasphemous actions and leave before this escalates further."
Her tone was calm. Measured. Like a proper saintess.
This was not a threat born from anger.
This was de-escalation.
A final opportunity.
Mercy.
A chance to walk away.
The boss laughed.
Loudly.
The others joined him.
"…Blasphemous?"
One of the side thugs wheezed.
"…Did you hear that, boss?"
Another leaned forward. Eyes crawling over her.
"…She talks like some holy lady."
"…Might actually be one."
"…Even better."
The boss stepped closer.
Too close.
His breath carried the stink of mana liquor.
"…Now why would we leave…"
A vulgar smile spread slowly.
"…when something prettier just walked right up to us?"
Sora's expression did not change.
The leader's eyes roamed over her white dress, her silver-white hair, the ethereal grace in every line of her figure. His smile turned uglier.
"…Tell you what."
He spread his arms slightly.
"…Come with me instead."
A pause.
"…Spend the rest of the night with us."
His grin turned uglier.
"…I promise we'll make it unforgettable."
The side hooligans erupted into filthy laughter.
"…Yeah!"
"…We'll worship that heavenly body all night!"
"…A holy lady among sinners!"
"…Boss, let me go second!"
The frightened woman behind them whimpered. Her boyfriend's fists clenched so hard his knuckles whitened.
Null, still standing a short distance behind Sora, slowly exhaled. His face remained calm.
But his eyes—
Had gone very still.
Fantasy Omniscience quietly responded.
[Conclusion: Peaceful resolution probability has fallen below 3.2%.]
Yeah.
He thought flatly.
I figured.