ch41-ch60 · 052-inter8

Interlude: The Girls' Graduation Ceremony

A few days before the world was stirred by Hexaria's lectures, heading toward a great transformation.

They stood at a major turning point in their lives.

The time was early March.

On that day, Ichijō Hiyori and Kuri Mio attended their high school's graduation ceremony.

The ceremony ended without incident, and all that remained was the students making their final memories before graduation.

Among the students busy making those memories.

There were people exuding a somewhat unusual atmosphere.

"Ichijō-san, I've liked you ever since we first met!"

"Ah, haha. Thanks."

"Kuri-san, I love you! Make me some miso soup!"

"Is that a confession, or a proposal?"

"Hiyorin, I'd go for it even if you were a girl!"

"I already have Mio-chan for that."

"Mio-chan, I'm on Team Mio!"

"What faction is that..."

Hiyori and Mio stood side by side.

In front of them was a large crowd of boys and a handful of girls.

They knew they'd be rejected. But at least let them confess! — that was the reasoning behind this grand confession rally.

For whatever reason, they'd probably been swept up by the graduation ceremony atmosphere. Probably.

A little way off, parents watched the scene — laughing, bemused, watching with warm eyes.

Incidentally, Hiyori's father Hayato had tried to shout, "It's too early for that sort of thing with my daughter!" but was caught in a full nelson by Hiyori's attendant Yoshida, and took a body blow from Hiyori's mother Chitose, leaving him unconscious.

...On such a celebratory occasion, no less.

"Saki-chan, I swear I'll make you happy!"

"Jun-kun, thank you—! I love you too!"

Voices like that could be heard from a little distance away.

Apparently, some ordinary confessions were also happening among those swept up by Hiyori and Mio's grand confession rally (with guaranteed rejection).

"...Hey, Mio-chan. I feel kinda empty right now."

"Yes, indeed... Is this really something to do at a graduation ceremony?"

High overhead, crows cawed.

◇

"So anyway, we graduated!"

"We did!"

The scene shifted to Sai's home.

Hiyori and Mio had come to greet their teacher, Sai, to report their high school graduation.

"Congratulations to both of you on your graduation. I look forward to seeing your future endeavors."

"Thank you very much."

A formal — but appropriate for the milestone — greeting was exchanged.

Sai wanted to be proper on occasions like this.

"So university starts next month, right?"

"Yeah. So I guess this is the last time you get to see us in the blazer uniform you love so much, Sensei!"

"Don't casually mix lies into things I never said. I never said anything about that."

"Well then, what kind of tastes do you have?"

"Well of course— ...Like I'd say that!?"

What was Mio trying to get out of him?

"Um, the university we're going to is..."

"Yes. One of Japan's top institutions."

"Still, getting in through recommendation is impressive..."

"Huh, did I not tell you, Sensei?"

"I don't think I ever heard that..."

Their university of choice was one of Japan's most famous top institutions.

Given that they also had demon extermination and adventurer work, Sai had thought it was impressive they got in despite not being able to focus on their studies — but apparently there was a trick to it.

"Well, first of all, the Exorcist Alliance is secretly involved behind the scenes."

"Huh, is that so?"

"Mm-hmm. On the surface, we're enrolling in the literature department, but of course that's a cover. They're gathering young exorcists together to study and train for exorcism work."

It certainly was more efficient to gather young exorcists in one place and teach them.

That made sense.

"It also helps a lot that we're adventurers."

"Huh, that's relevant too?"

He'd assumed it was all about being exorcists, but apparently not.

"Yes. In recent years, universities have been advancing research on magical power, magic, and Shinjuku Tower. In that context, people who are already adventurers are, in a sense, at the forefront of it all, aren't they?"

It was true that if you wanted to know about magical power, asking a magic user — that is, an adventurer — was the fastest way.

"Because of that trend, it seems people who are already adventurers in high school can get recommendations quite easily."

Hiyori and Mio were high school girls but also adventurers fighting in Shinjuku Tower, already powerful enough to have conquered up to floor 12.

"I see. So you'll be attending those kinds of lectures at university too."

"Yes. That's the plan."

Mio answered with confidence.

"So anyway, I thought everything was peachy about going to university, but this monster called 'pre-enrollment assignments' showed up and..."

Beside her, Hiyori was slumping over limply.

Apparently, getting a recommendation didn't mean it was smooth sailing.

Listening to this, Sai looked slightly puzzled.

"I don't really get it, but being a university student sounds tough too..."

Sai, despite appearances, was a middle school graduate.

He'd been transported to the other world at the very beginning of his first year of high school, so he didn't even know much about high school.

"Mmph, you say that like it doesn't affect you."

Hiyori pouted, her lips pursed like a duck.

"Come to think of it, Sensei, you went to school in the other world, didn't you? What was that like?"

Sai was a middle school graduate, but in the other world, he'd attended a school run by a trade city.

"Hmm, how to put it... There were several courses, and you just picked the ones you wanted and earned credits."

"So it was similar to university, then."

"Is it? I don't really know much about university, but I focused on credits in language, social studies, and magitech-related subjects."

"Ohh, the magitech bit really makes it sound like another world."

Having apparently tired of pouting, Hiyori joined the conversation.

"Well, that's the main technology over there. Though I barely passed everything. Learning the language was tough."

"Ahh..."

"During tests, unfamiliar words would just show up out of nowhere. I lost count of how many times I held my head in my hands..."

Sai was tearing up, lost in memories of a distant time.

Just then, perhaps having finished a segment of her work, Hexaria came out of the workshop.

"Hmph. Talking about schools in the other world?"

"Yeah, that's right. Over there, Saria's always going to schools for papers and research reports."

"Is that so?"

In the other world, she held the position of a sage.

As the second-generation Hexaria, she was also an authority in academia.

She used schools when presenting her research or developed creations.

Hexaria was about to talk about that, but instead she sighed and spoke.

"Hmph. What are you saying? You've written papers too, haven't you."

"Wait, seriously!?"

The middle school graduate, who barely passed in the other world's school — they wouldn't have imagined he'd written papers.

Hiyori, of course, and Mio as well, were both surprised.

"Yeah, as an adventurer. I just summarized what I learned from conquering dungeons and ruins."

"Documents compiled in that way advance knowledge. Be proud of yourself."

With that, Hexaria went to get herself some coffee.

Free-spirited as ever.

Whether it was because Hexaria's back — speaking briefly and immediately returning to her own work — looked cool, Hiyori's eyes sparkled a little.

"Hexaria's so cool..."

"Speaking of Hexaria, she's going to give a lecture on magitech at the university we're attending, right?"

"Yeah, apparently that's been arranged through Kaga. By the way, I'm also scheduled to participate as her assistant."

"So starting in April, we'll all be going to the same university."

"We'll only be there once a week, though."

"I see. Well then, I'll be counting on you at university too, Sensei!"

"Please take care of us."

The two girls' smiles were radiant.

Having graduated high school, they would become university students next month.

Marveling at how quickly time passed, Sai quietly celebrated in his heart.

Congratulations on your graduation, both of you...

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Thank you for reading.