Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Fortuitous Encounters and Meetings Come with a Bucket☆ (1)
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6:59:58 AM.
I sensed the subtle grinding of the cuckoo clock’s gears just before the alarm was set to go off, and my eyes opened.
“...!”
‘Reminds me of my military days.’
But this was different from back then, when I’d wake up at some odd hour for no discernible reason.
To put it another way, it was a transcendent reaction speed.
As long as I didn’t sense an impending alarm or an anomaly like this one, I could sleep soundly for any length of time.
A honed, transcendent sensory range.
By being conscious of my surroundings, sensing the presence and breathing of everything nearby, I could predict most events that would occur within a hundred-meter radius a few seconds in advance.
The sounds and information conveyed by everything I see, hear, drink, and feel transcend time, allowing me to live within the ‘moment.’
59 seconds.
I move my eyelids to open my eyes.
The first thing I see is the clear sky outside my window.
In my heart, I feel a gratitude for a full night's sleep—a luxury I never had as an office worker.
I offer a prayer of thanks to the heavens.
‘O, heavens, accept my gratitude.’
59.2 seconds.
Using only my core strength, I lightly lift my upper body and survey the room as it slowly comes into view.
A room of about 200 square feet, filled with pink.
It’s a dormitory room at Central Prism Academy, originally meant for two, but unfortunately, I’m still the only one attending this school.
My gaze shifts to a very pink display case.
The stuffed animals on display were a result of a strange collector’s urge that had grown since I found myself in this pink-haired body. Come to think of it, in my preparations for the main story, I forgot to repair Mr. Penguin’s torn beak.
The sorrowful gaze of my loyal retainer, who has been with me through my loneliest times, is simply agonizing.
‘I shall heal you soon. Endure it, my comrade-in-arms.’
All clear.
59.4 seconds.
Perhaps because I moved using only the elasticity of my upper body, the two symbols of my womanhood swayed, transferring kinetic energy. But this body is not so weak as to be thrown off by such a thing.
Ignoring the soft resistance.
I kicked off the bed and leaped into the air.
59.6 seconds.
I could have reached the opposite wall in a single leap, but I’ve already accidentally smashed through it several times, forcing renovations.
‘I can’t go breaking the room the main characters will be staying in.’
I gracefully stepped on the aether coalescing in the air, gliding forward.
59.9 seconds.
And then, 7:00 AM sharp.
The gears mesh.
According to the designated time.
A spring releases, opening a circuit.
A cuckoo is about to emerge from the deep darkness.
That malevolent creature, with its unpleasant mechanical noise and booming voice, is about to reveal itself.
*Click—*
The white bird bursts out, flaunting its presence even within that sliver of time.
It opened its beak.
“Cuck—!!”
Just before the cuckoo could let out its cry.
Floating in mid-air, I press the alarm deactivation button below the clock.
*Click!*
The miserable look in its eyes as it retreats before it can fully let out its cry.
-Next time, I will definitely teach you the solemn duty of an alarm…!
My morning routine was complete, ending with the sight of the retreating figure, seething with resentment.
“…”
Silence returned to the room.
Ever since my perception speed increased like this.
A single moment has become a domain where I can freely play.
But after my final battle with Hilde, I never once used this cognitive ability in a fight.
Not once.
I haven’t had a single proper fight.
Until those who remembered the name ‘The Pink Spiral’ and my fights became third-years and forgot.
“…”
I slowly approached the window.
*Creeak—*
The sound of poorly maintained hinges.
The feel of the window, its white paint peeling in spots.
I open it fully, feeling the breeze of the academy city.
The clear, refreshing March sky.
The city, a blanket of white, as if covered in snow.
The warm spring breeze carrying the scent of flowers seems out of place.
, a blend of blue skies and aether magitech.
The streets of the academy city, a fusion of elegant early-modern roof decorations and magitech machinery, were bustling with noise.
For today was the day new students arrived from outside the academy city.
In this city, home to countless schools, matriculation was akin to the birth of a new life.
The city, trafficked only by students and a race of mechanical beings called dwarves, was filled with an unbearable vitality and anticipation.
“First-years for , line up over here! Hey! You!! Stop pushing!!”
“Hahaha!!! Where are the fledglings who will burn with the passion of youth at our <scarlet academy="">?! And maybe burn down the city streets while you’re at it!!!”
“Hey! Reddie! What did you just say?! Why are you slum rats even here?!”
“Hahaha!!! Those who wish to achieve the great feat of one day burning down the <united student="" council=""> should come to <scarlet academy="">!! An unwelcome guest has arrived, so I’m out!!”
The second-year girls, now wearing their grade badges on their sleeves, were out to greet the new students. You could feel their excitement in the air.
A competition was already underway to recruit first-years into their respective clubs and associations.
Turning my eyes from the charming chaos of the streets, I looked toward the city center, where it met the skyline, and immediately saw a colossal tree.
A tree of white light, several kilometers tall, that instinctively drew the eye.
And surrounding the massive tree, a great wall of white buildings.
But from the dormitory of Central Prism Academy, located on the outskirts, I could only see a corner of it.
If I listened closely, I could hear a vibrant girl’s voice echoing through a loudspeaker.
[Good morning! It’s a fine morning, citizens of the Academy City. This is the morning news from the Press Corps.]
[I’m your news correspondent, Her, a second-year from the <united student="" council=""> Press Corps! The spring break is over, the semester has begun, and today is none other than the entrance ceremony for <academy city="" yggd="">!]
[Welcome, new students~!]
[While the student councils of each school and the <united student="" council=""> are busy with new semester events, United Student Council President Brynhildr of <aesir girls'="" high="" school=""> has…]
The sudden mention of that name made it difficult for me to focus on the rest of what the girl named Her was saying.
‘Hilde.’
After that day, I never saw Hilde again.
When I stopped participating in any combat-related events.
Just like that, the bond we had shared for a year came to an end.
“…”
I went into seclusion after that fight. And I had no reason or connection to visit , hundreds of kilometers away from my own <central prism="" academy="">.
Hilde, too, seemed to have been leading a busy life after joining the right after our fight, so I simply considered it a matter of our paths diverging.
‘No, if any feelings of affection remained, she would have at least sent an aether-call.’
Even if there weren’t convenient means of contact like cell phones, letters and public phones still existed in this world.
Thinking back on it now.
The reason Hilde never came to see me.
It must have been because she was furious at my sudden change.
‘Did you think I won and then ran away, and that’s why you were so angry?’
If that’s the case.
Then I may have done something truly terrible to Hilde.
“…”
I looked out the window.
Hilde must be spending her busy days in the building, beneath that enormous tree.
Knowing her noble spirit, and knowing how she had grown strong, undefeated, far faster than her game counterpart, she would surely support everyone with even greater strength and resolve in the story to come.
I thought of her and prayed.
‘May you continue to walk that path of the strongest…’
My eternal rival.
With that prayer.
I, too, put on the school uniform I had worn for the past two years and left my room.
To prepare to welcome my lovely new students.
***
‘So this is… .’
A new arrival to the academy city, a girl with short brown hair.
Alvitt thrilled at the vibrant energy and the scent of aether that filled the air.
The academy city was spectacular, with its tall white buildings and cutting-edge aether magitech.
And there was one more thing that surprised Alvitt.
‘The aether concentration is definitely thicker than anywhere else. Someone without an aptitude for aether would probably suffocate and collapse in no time.’
In front of the station where Alvitt had disembarked from the aether-levitation train.
The only people on the streets were dwarves made of mechanical parts and high school girls carrying all sorts of weapons.
Unlike the dwarves, who bustled about, busy opening their shops with no regard for the new students.
The upperclassmen, with second-year badges on their sleeves, were passionately trying to recruit first-years to their respective schools.
“Hey! You! Won’t you come to our ?”
“What are you talking about! Why would you go to a gloomy place like that, fit only for those shady pointy-ears? Hey! If you’re interested in aether magitech, come to our <mimir industrial="" high="" school="">. We’re the best industrial high school in the city!”
“Huh? W-what did you just say?!”
“What? I’m right, aren’t I, pointy-ear!”
“H-how dare a rude oaf like you spout such nonsense…?!”
Two female students, wearing customized versions of the special coats worn by aether magitech engineers, boasted about the merits of their respective schools.
The intimidated first-years were busy trying to escape the scene.
A desperate scene that the students from elite schools watched with sneers and ridicule.
Alvitt left the noisy scene behind her.
She had already decided which school she would attend.
.
A land blessed by rainbows and gold.
A school built upon that sacred ground.
The prophecy her mother had told her.
To prepare for the destruction that would one day befall the world.
She had told her to head for that land within .
“Central Prism Academy… I wonder what it’s like?”
The new student, a girl with striking short brown hair named Alvitt, hoped she could find reliable companions there.
“It would be nice to meet a cool, strong senior.”
***
*CRASH—!!*
*Clang—*
*Claaang—*
*Rumble, rumble…*
-H-help meee—☆
The moment she set foot on the grounds of .
Alvitt ran toward the source of the sudden noise.
“Hwaaah… H-help meee☆”
“…”
“I can’t see anything…”
“…”
“Ugh, am I going to be abandoned like this—”
“…”
Inside a shabby, run-down building.
Amidst numerous scattered buckets.
A foolish-looking third-year senior with pink hair was on the floor, tied up in ropes with a large bucket flipped over her head, looking like she was about to cry.
“What are you doing?”
“Ehehe☆ I was trying to fix the leaky roof and, well—☆”
‘This was a mistake.’
That was the first thought that entered Alvitt’s mind.