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Since then, he\'s not come back to school at all, but that\'s none of my business.

His sister, Atsuko Fushigimi, was staying at home as normal but not coming to school, only occasionally travelling to the Conston branch of the Playground to give them some information about me and to meet up with Saburou.

Sophie Asanami was fine, too, for the moment. I know it won\'t last for long, but Professor Asanami hasn\'t brought the incident up to her yet, so everything\'s still relatively normal.

More importantly, I have until the end of the week to hand in my club application form.

The one I am most likely to join is the Cooking Club since there aren\'t really many other options, but I had also considered joining the Ancient & Modern Weapons Club because I held a minor sort of interest in it. If I happened to learn about some obscure weapons that I could make use of, that could be fun. Oh, I suppose the Chemistry Club could be somewhat useful in that regard, too.

Then again, Minami already built me a laboratory and testing ground for those sorts of things, so the clubs might actually turn out to be useless.

In that case, the Cooking Club would be the best shot.

Food is always nice, after all.

Well, I can\'t think of anything else, so let\'s just go with that. I\'ll hand it in later.

❖─────❖─────❖

Ring~!

Entering the school faculty office soon after the end of the day, I approached the teacher of my class 3-B, Haruka Hayashi.

"Ah, Itou-kun~? Yes, what\'s the matter?"

I watched her face overflowing with joy as she flashed me a smile as bright as the sun. Handing over the paper in my hands, I spoke.

"I\'ve got the club form."

"Oh, yes. Thank you~"

She accepted it without hesitation and, following a brief examination, gave me the \'OK\'.

"Yep, everything looks good here~ Are you interested in cooking, Itou-kun?"

I thought I would be able to leave after that, but apparently not.

"...I have some experience."

"That\'s wonderful~ Cooking is a relaxing thing, isn\'t it? I\'m actually the overseer of the Cooking Club, and I do love a bit of cooking myself. On that note, if you ever need anything then don\'t be afraid to ask, okay?"

"Sure."

Once again, Haruka Hayashi smiled at me. There always seemed to be such an expression on this 27-year-old woman\'s face, and although I wouldn\'t call what she shows \'superficial\' per se, I could tell that there was something deeper.

Buried far beneath that cheerful and buoyant exterior, there lay...

"Is something wrong?"

"...No, nothing."

"Oh, well, you know I\'ll always be available if one of my students needs to talk about something~"

After that, I left the office and made my way down to the front of the school. As I was walking past the lockers by the entrance, someone called out to me.

"Oscar!"

Turning my head, I saw the owner of the voice approach me with ragged breaths.

"What is it? Sophie Asanami."

Did she run after me or something? She paused for a moment to catch her breath before speaking.

"First of all, I\'m callin\' ya Oscar to make it easier for me to address ya. That\'s fine, right? I thought so. I can\'t just call ya \'Truth\' in school anyway, and it\'s not like it\'s ya real name or whatever, so it shouldn\'t matter either way, right? Okay, cool."

Suddenly spitting out a bunch of reasons for calling me \'Oscar\' and not even listening to what I had to say about it, the question of what her point was entered my mind.

"...Okay? I don\'t care what you call me. Is that all?"

I already started walking away, but Sophie started following me like a dog as if it were natural, prattling away into my ear from beside me.

"No. I\'m also gettin\' some weird vibes from my dad. It\'s like he knows about what happened or that I\'m tryin\' to go against him or somethin\'; is that true?"

Replying while keeping my head facing forwards, she seemed to subtly push her head towards me, as if to ensure she properly grasps everything I was about to say.

"Well, it is true that you\'re going against him."

She rolled her eyes. "God, you know well that isn\'t what I\'m talkin\' about. Answer me properly, dude."

"He knows, yes, but he isn\'t going to take action for the moment."

Sophie\'s eyes widened as she stared at me, her mouth distorting into one of awkward displeasure. "Geh, for reals...?"

"In that regard, be prepared. Remember, it\'s \'for the moment\'."

She blinked.

"Say what? Then, for how long do I have to be prepared? What\'s going to happen? You must have some idea, right?"

So many questions...

"I do have an idea, yes, but that can change at any moment. Be prepared for anything. Never relax your guard for too long and don\'t take unnecessary risks."

"Uh... Okay, sure, I can do that, but when the hell is whatever you\'re sayin\' is gonna happen, gonna happen?"

"Were you not listening? I just said to be prepared because something could happen at any time. If you\'re that concerned about an exact date..."

For the first time since she called out to me, I locked eyes with her.

"Just look out for the end of the month."

"End of the month..."

Echoing my words, Sophie Asanami thought to herself. October has just started. What happens at the end of October is obvious.

"Ah! Halloween?"

My only response to her question was a silent nod.

❖─────❖─────❖

After the brief clash with Space last time, I had been thinking more about sorting my lackeys more efficiently.

The twins, Sana and Sona.

The gyaru, Sophie Asanami.

The businesswoman, Minami Mochizuki.

Counting the twins as one entity, these are the three \'underlings\' I currently have at my disposal.

Sana and Sona are working on Supernatural Ability training and attending school to acquire more versatility in their skillset.

Sophie Asanami has been assigned the task of dealing with Space, however, that matter is likely going to remain rather flat until they decide to make a move at the end of the month unless they decide to abruptly change plans.

Minami Mochizuki is doing her own thing as always, but that\'s for the best. The main benefits she provides are financial and information security, and there\'s no need for me to bother her with anything personally since I am able to use her subordinates as I please, which is sufficient.

Just like how every individual tool has a specific role to perform, these three each have their different specialities and particular use cases. For example, neither the twins nor Minami would be able to directly confront Space on equal ground, but Sophie Asanami is capable of exactly that.

Likewise, Minami has a vast network of connections nobody else can provide, and the twins are also unique in that their abilities are better suited for general combat compared to the others, as well as the fact they are capable of other tasks I wouldn\'t be able to entrust to the other two.

The latter is only possible because they are children who will listen to almost anything I tell them and carry it out without a problem. If I continue to raise them the way I have been, they should grow up to be my most powerful pawns.

My point, in any case, is that all three have served their purposes dutifully up until this point and should continue to do so in the future.

―However, I am not confident that this is enough.

For both the short and the long run, that is.

When I think about the obstacles that lie ahead, I am not sure if any amount of preparation can let me win.

The Order of the Night-Time Chrysanthemum.

The Wardens of Future\'s Blight.

I never considered the former to be a problem in the first place and I stand by that belief, but as for the latter... My certainty is waning.

Not only are there Avon Laura and Saburou to worry about, the Concepts of Destiny and Space respectively, but the six remaining Concepts may attempt to stand in my way also.

Of course, not all of them will have a reason to try and stop me, but it is inevitable that one or two of them will at least.

Scrapping every possibility that isn\'t a certainty for now, the only ones I need to worry about are narrowed down to solely the ones working together with the Wardens.

Other than the two previously mentioned Concepts, that left but one.

The Concept of Time.

Real name... Azaki Kiryuuin.

More so than Saburou, the Concept of Space, Azaki Kiryuuin is who I\'m more concerned about. His ability to interfere with and manipulate time―as far as I know, it shouldn\'t be possible for him to reverse time, but he can pause and accelerate it.

When it comes to possessors of the Concept Measurements, though, you can never be too sure.

Even with my ability, there have been instances where the truth is not so clear, and other times when I straight up haven\'t been able to figure something out. Still, it\'s correct more than 99.999% of the time.

I am aware that the possibility to improve one\'s Measurement exists, albeit incredibly rare.

Just like how Avon Laura entered her inner self to unlock and use her \'Fate\'s Cherished Red Thread\' ability, it\'s not impossible for a similar thing to happen to other Concept possessors wherein they happen upon the opportunity to improve their powers.

If it ever occurs that Azaki Kiryuuin obtains the ability to reverse time, I\'ll be in big trouble.

Preparation is useless against someone who can simply undo it all, and fighting is even more futile―if he can just rewind time to regenerate injuries, then what\'s even the point of trying to hurt him? No, he wouldn\'t even need to do that since he could merely pause time to avoid all injuries in the first place.

Azaki Kiryuuin, this clock-like bastard.

At that point, he\'s pretty much invincible with the exception of a few circumstances.

That\'s why I need to prepare; just for that insignificant, almost zero per cent chance possibility that could completely ruin everything I\'m aiming to accomplish.

To that end, I will acquire another tool; one I\'ve had my eye on for a while.

I pressed a few buttons on my smartphone and waited.

Buzz-!

Tak-!

[Minami Mochizuki | Calling - 0:00]

[Yes? Truth, what do you want this time?]

To the woman who picked up swiftly and elegantly, I began with a single phrase.

[Did I ever claim my wish?]