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"Stay by me at all times and make a barrier around us."

Within our masks, I met her eyes. In an equally-subdued voice that recognised the graveness of my prior order, she asked straightforwardly.

"What\'re they capable of?"

My gaze flickered between the two.

"She can see the future, he can manipulate time."

Sophie flinched slightly at my response. Turning her head to me, she asked after a pause.

"...The fuck? First was space, now it\'s time and clairvoyance? By the way, is that bastard...?"

Realising what she was curious about, I settled her concerns.

"Saburou is not planning on coming today since he is aware of his own uselessness when you\'re included in the picture. Still, depending on the development of the situation, things may change."

"Pah... \'Kay."

Even with the mask shrouding her expression, I could tell she was relieved.

I thought it was fortunate Saburou would not be here today; aside from the fact he wouldn\'t pose much of a threat while I still have Sophie on my side, his mere presence seems to be enough to rattle her judgement.

Of course, I don\'t want her acting recklessly in cases like this where it really matters, and that\'s why I made her firmly aware of that early on in our relationship. Still, as a human being, she\'s bound to make mistakes.

I need her to perform at her best for me, and it\'s my responsibility to ensure that all mental distractions are removed to achieve that.

"Truth."

Suddenly, Avon Laura spoke. Seeing her for the first time in a while, I felt the corner of my lips rise.

"It\'s been a while, hasn\'t it? Avon Laura."

Watching her eyes, I witnessed her gaze flicker between me, Sophie, and the action cam on my collar, before returning back to me.

"...Yes. I have yet to repay you for last time."

Sparing Avon Laura previously was not a mistake.

The main motivation was to try and extract more information about the incident ten years ago, but if I cannot get that today, then I may have no choice but to finish what I started on that day.

"Of course. I see you took my advice and brought a friend this time."

Saying this, I looked at Azaki Kiryuuin for a moment. He, who stayed silent, looked just as heroic and determined as Avon Laura herself despite being as young as myself.

"Well? Are you here to congratulate me on my exam? Would you like to know my results? Although, I\'ll have you know that this is a rather rude invasion onto our school grounds."

"You know very well the reason for our visit today. Dare I say, you may have known before even us."

What an interesting statement to make.

"How could I? That\'s something more along the lines of yourself, isn\'t it? Ms prophet."

Moving my gaze from her to Azaki Kiryuuin beside her, I was about to make another remark but stopped myself. Since it\'s impossible to say how much time this\'ll take, I really shouldn\'t waste too much time here, should I?

"Perhaps. Now, how about you put that detonator down slowly and surrender to us?"

Avon Laura said such a thing to me.

"Hah!"

I snorted in derision to her absurd demand.

"Did you think I would just do it if you asked politely? You can\'t possibly be that foolishly naïve, surely. Right?"

The moment those words left my mouth, I noticed a slight shift in Azaki Kiryuuin\'s posture.

Quick.

React.

Now.

Before my mind could even fully process the change, I swung my arm backwards with the added force of my body\'s rotation.

Then, I felt something before I realised what had happened.

Slam-!

"Kuhughf...!?"

My elbow slammed right into the middle of Azaki\'s face who appeared behind me in less than an instant, the impact sending him rolling across the paved floor of the playground.

"!? Hey!"

Avon Laura\'s shocked voice called out, but I ignored it. I was just relieved that I managed to stop him before it was too late, but there was no time to hold on to these feelings.

Turning to Sophie, I lightly admonished her.

"What did I say about making a barrier? If not that, then at least closely monitor the space around us at all times."

"R-right, sorry. Didn\'t think it needed to be so strict..."

"The bastard can pause time. If you\'re not alert during every single moment, you\'re not alert enough. Even half a second is too long of a gap, so don\'t slack on it."

She seemed to understand after witnessing what had just happened, so I left it at that.

I was fortunate that my body reacted quicker than my brain there, but it\'s simply not reasonable to rely on that occurring again.

Since Sophie\'s power manipulates space, it would still function even if time itself is frozen, so I need her to step it up.

"Truth! Surrender yourself. I will not give you another chance to come peacefully, so let us keep things simple. There is no need for anyone to get hurt more than this, be it you, me, or your colleague over there. I swear on my honour: if you come without resistance, we will do our best to satisfy your every desire."

Avon Laura spouted her usual crap, but I cared for none of it.

I have a trick-or-treating to attend this evening. I can\'t be wasting time pretending to come along all nice and jovially, now, can I?

What desires could they possibly fulfil which I could not fulfil myself now, anyways? It was all a trick, a plot, a scheme to lure me back to that horrid place called the Playground.

All of a sudden―

"Woah!?"

Grab-!

"Ah!?"

"Aha! Silly boy, think ya can sneak up on me?!"

"Let me go!"

―The scene of Sophie Asanami holding Azaki Kiryuuin in a lock reflected in my eyes.

Despite being about the same age as me, or in fact a little bit older, his appearance of struggling within her tanned and accessory-covered arms seemed pitiful.

It wasn\'t even that he was particularly small or weak―I\'d actually say his physique was more or less equal to my own―but the surprise that Sophie had managed to detect and catch him had led to this failure.

"You don\'t understand what you are doing by supporting this man! We know you are not to blame! Whatever it is that has blinded you to his evil will be cleansed, so please listen to us this once so that we can prove to you the wrongdoings of this villain!"

He yelled with a strong voice from her grasp. Slowly, he seemed to be gaining ground and escaping. Sophie clicked her tongue at his words, sounding clearly irritated as she shouted back at him.

"Shut ya mouth, prick! Ya think I don\'t know this guy is a bastard, huh?! \'Course I do! This son of a bitch cornered me, an innocent maiden, and brought me to tears before throwin\' me off a goddamn buildin\'! Who do ya think ya to try an\' convince me he\'s a bad guy; as if I don\'t know that shit already!"

Hearing Sophie\'s complaints, the frustration I caused her seemed to be being taken in full force by Azaki Kiryuuin as she clenched and tightened her muscles, squeezing him further.

The brunt of her fury was being taken out on him and endured by him, like she was venting everything I did to her.

Of course, I didn\'t plan to stop what she was doing, but I thought it was a rather amusing contradiction―that is, the fact she is complaining heavily about me yet still helping me.

At the end of the day, this venting of her negative emotions would serve to lighten the feelings she has towards me and should make future collaboration easier between us.

What an unexpected boon to come of this situation.

"I-is that so?! I didn\'t expect him to be this bad...! Then, surely you understand that he must be stopped--"

"But!"

She cut him off and spoke with a strenuous tone as if outputting all her might to crush the guy in front of her in defiance.

"Ya think I\'m any better, huh?! Revenge is bad, right?! Killin\' is evil, right?! Oi, I\'m workin\' with a guy like that to kill one o\' you sons o\' bitches! So, what d\'ya think gives me the right to punish this guy for doin\' the same thing!"

A soft smile brought the ends of my lips to a gentle crest.

The reaction of the Wardens, on the other hand, was a dazed silence as if they had just gotten struck by a motor vehicle after hearing Sophie\'s words.

They couldn\'t believe what they were hearing, and her next words were thrice as shocking.