Experiment Subject No. 1 (3) - Where Are You Looking, You Pervert!
It was a total farce straight out of some rom-com light novel, but...
"There wasn't anything weird going on, right?"
"Her clothes were completely destroyed, but as you can see, Yuribel regained her senses."
"So the same thing that happened to Student Council President Keiar is carrying over, huh. Hm, as long as the student isn't hurt, that's a relief. I was starting to think some angel had possessed someone else's clothes and gone on a rampage."
"Nothing like that happened, Vice Dean Ederson."
Ederson, the vice dean, kept his eyes fixed on the ceiling or anywhere else as the staff handled the now-naked Yuribel, and he withdrew without issue.
"The student council will handle investigating their actions. Of course, both of them will be heading to the same 'camp' as Angelica."
Student Council President Keiar stuck around for a bit, helping cover up the angel descent incident. In the process, he too averted his gaze from the scattered scraps of heavenly fabric as they talked, so none of the staff entering the infirmary caught on.
"Y-you okay, Phoenix?"
"Looked like you took a pretty hard hit."
"I'm fine, you two. I'll recover with some sleep."
Especially the prime suspects—Vice Dean Ederson and President Keiar—didn't go hunting for evidence after wrapping things up. Instead, in a subtly awkward atmosphere, they showed genuine concern for me.
"The infirmary... wait, this is the infirmary. Instructor Cardisha, take good care of Phoenix. He's the young man who can awaken the minds of those possessed by angels."
"I'll look after him. Should I have him stay here in the infirmary?"
"That could work. Alright, everyone, let's head out."
Vice Dean Ederson tidied up the situation and left the infirmary.
"Hm. Special class students, return to your rooms. A new day has already begun, but let's start first period after getting a bit of rest."
There was no reason to linger in the infirmary, so at Instructor Esta's direction, the old school building crew filed out one by one.
"...You sure you're okay?"
Before leaving last, Evangeline asked with an incredibly apologetic look, but I pointed to the spot she'd struck and shrugged.
"Of course."
"...Tell me if it hurts, just in case."
It was acting, sure, but we had to fool the Mercenary King, the crown prince—and all the other staff behind them. In dramas or movies, there's that scene where someone slaps or joint-locks their co-star for realism. Evangeline delivered a perfect performance to avoid any suspicion.
She'd hit me for real, so the acting felt real. Thanks to that, we hid our precious(?) test subject.
"Phoenix, why don't you lie down here?"
"Sure."
Instructor Cardisha pretended to treat me, laying me on the bed and slapping on some bandages as everyone cleared out of the infirmary.
"......."
"......."
Instructor Cardisha gave me a silent signal, and I mimed pinching with my fingers, grabbing the end of a handkerchief.
Rustle, rustle.
Instructor Cardisha slipped on the gloves I'd worn earlier. The moment she channeled mana, they shimmered in RGB colors—the brilliant, prismatic hues unique to non-attribute mana.
Rustle, rustle.
Like an appraiser inspecting relics with white cotton gloves, or a researcher handling a specimen with care to avoid damage, or a surgeon obsessed with sterility, Instructor Cardisha reached toward the back of the drawer.
Tremble, tremble.
Inside the drawer, non-attribute RGB mana formed a barrier that sparkled around a pair of underwear.
It trembled nonstop, even at rest.
"Unia's barrier skills are top-notch. Even with the caster gone, it's holding steady."
Instructor Cardisha gripped the end of the underwear and shook it. Unlike ordinary fabric scraps, it stood rigid in a perfect triangle, like a boomerang carved from wood or steel.
Feels like it's trapped in an acrylic stand.
You know those merch items from gal games or idol stuff? Keychains, LD illustrations, whatever—sealed between acrylic sheets top and bottom. That's what this panty looked like.
The acrylic was Unia's barrier, and the illustration inside was the angel-sealed underwear.
Not 3D, but flat like cheap convenience store panties unfolded from their packaging. To wear it, you'd need to spread front and back to make space—but Unia's barrier compressed it from above and below.
"Is mana wavelength leaking out?"
"Hm...."
"Instructor Cardisha?"
"Unia didn't mention it, but wanna check this out?"
Instructor Cardisha handed me the angel-sealed underwear with a serious face.
"I'll just look."
"Don't you need to touch it to know?"
"Underwear from a girl I'm not into? Pass."
Sealed with an angel or not, it was spotless—no weird stains, like brand-new out of the wrapper. Probably the bare minimum effect from the angel's possession.
"But you'd touch it if it was from a girl you're into?"
"I'd handle it doing laundry or folding clothes."
"What, you're super domestic?"
"Not planning to be a househusband or anything."
But this wasn't a heroine's, and even if it was, I wouldn't go that far.
"Plus, sometimes you gotta help take 'em off in the heat of the moment."
"Hng...."
"Anyway, no touching. I can see plenty without."
I pointed to Unia's barrier.
"This rainbow glow leaking out? Not just non-attribute mana."
"...So you noticed."
"Yeah."
It sparkled RGB, but nestled within was another faint light.
"When Unia set the barrier to seal this underwear, she cast a spell to keep it self-sustaining after she left. Probably that."
"Why think that?"
"The angel inside's trembling, constantly trying to emit holy power, but the barrier holds without a scratch."
"...Right."
Instructor Cardisha extended the angel-sealed underwear sideways.
"When the holy power tries to leak from inside, Unia's mana maintaining the barrier neutralizes it into 'non-attribute.'"
"......."
"Blending the angel's power with the seven mana attributes for balance... turning it into non-attribute mana."
"Yes."
"Phoenix. You know mana attributes better than the old school building crew—theoretically, at least. So as fellow 'mana path walkers'..."
Researcher talk.
"What do you think this means?"
"Depends on interpretation, but one of three. Or all."
"One: The angel's mana mixes with human seven-attribute mana into non-attribute, meaning humans can harness angel power for phenomena."
Angel-sealed underwear. In other words, an artifact wielding 'angel ability.'
"Hell, in this state, it's already a powerful blunt weapon, right?"
"Exactly."
Instructor Cardisha lightly tossed the underwear at the wall.
Thud.
It embedded into the wall.
"Research this, and humanity might wield angel power."
"Second?"
"Unia's mana control is so talented, she can even handle unknown angel power."
"Spot on. ...I couldn't pull this off."
Instructor Cardisha raised her hands in surrender and retrieved the wall-stuck sealed angel.
"Then the last one?"
"Last..."
I sat up and approached the infirmary door. It was shut and locked.
But I wasn't touching the lock.
Click.
Switch off. The [Light] spell on the mana stone fluorescent lamps deactivated with the motion.
Darkness flooded the infirmary like extinguished fluorescents. Only the glow from magic tools and mana stones inside flickered, joined by faint moonlight seeping through the curtains.
"Instructor Cardisha. Does infinite energy exist?"
"Talking about the Philosopher's Stone?"
Philosopher's Stone. One of this Breadcademy world's artifacts—treasures—granting wearers infinite mana.
"Does infinite mana exist?"
"As someone living in this world, you say 'yes.' As a magitech engineer or alchemist, 'no way.'"
Instructor Cardisha crossed her legs in a chair.
"Infinite energy? Doesn't exist."
>
"Even with the Philosopher's Stone?"
"It just draws mana from somewhere, seeming limitless."
Entropy conservation law, basically. This world too.
"If infinite power exists, humanity just hasn't found its source yet."
"True. So..."
I pointed beside the trembling sealed angel in Cardisha's hand.
"If it's still emitting mana despite the seal, doesn't that mean it's sourcing 'angel mana' from somewhere?"
"...No way."
Her face hardened at my hypothesis—at my question.
"The angel gets its holy power despite the barrier?"
"Yes."
"Impossible. Even against a seven-attribute barrier? Unia's no slouch."
"What if even Unia overlooked something? She blocked the seven attributes, but what if another slips through the cracks into the underwear?"
"Where would—"
"Right here, now."
I pointed to the moonlight on the curtains.
"Something like that?"
A full moon hung in the sky.