==============================
"What is this?" Celia asked, studying the odd-shaped metal thing in her hands as she settled on the couch.
Magnus, sitting across from her, answered, "It's called a gun. It's something from my world. More specifically, that's a Desert Eagle. Back then, I didn't really have the chance to memorize a bunch of different guns, not accurately anyway."
"Desert Eagle?" Celia echoed, turning the gun around in her hands, trying to figure out how it was put together.
"It doesn't look like a bird, though," she pointed out.
Magnus paused, looking like he had to swallow his next words, then sighed.
"It's just a name."
"Oh... So what does it do?" She asked.
"Well, I'm giving it to you as, let's call it, a safety measure. It's a weapon. Doesn't use magic, but believe me, it doesn't need it. As long as you're not up against a knight, you could even take down an Adept-level mage with that, if you catch them by surprise. Think of it like a bow and arrow, except the arrows are metal, travel insanely fast, and you don't have to nock anything. Actually, you know what? Just imagine it as a mini handheld cannon." When he put it that way, something seemed to click for Celia. She looked at the gun with a little more understanding, while Magnus was starting to realize just how hard it was to explain technology in a place where everyone used magic.
"It's kind of hard to believe. Every story I've heard about cannons says they're bigger than a person, and you could probably stick your whole head inside one," Celia said, turning the Desert Eagle over and—before Magnus could stop her—pointing the barrel at her own face, fingers brushing the trigger as she tried to look down the barrel.
Magnus jumped up, grabbing her wrist and yanking the gun away, forcing a nervous laugh.
"Okay! First thing we need to talk about is gun safety. Rule one: never point a gun at anything you don't want to shoot—especially not yourself." He gently moved her fingers away from the trigger.
"Rule two: keep your finger off the trigger until you're actually ready to fire, alright?"
Celia nodded, shifting her grip so the gun was pointed at the floor, though she still looked a little confused about why Magnus was so rattled.
"So... how many rules are there?" She asked.
"A lot. And we're going to cover every single one, just to be safe."
==============================
Back in the alleyway, staring at the man collapsed on the ground and bleeding out, Celia saw that memory with Magnus in a whole new light.
Holy shit! I actually pointed this thing at my own face?
She'd really dodged a bullet—literally. Pushing aside the panic of almost having killed herself, she focused on the two men still left who'd been chasing her. She didn't even have to say a word; the instant her eyes—and the gun—shifted in their direction, they bolted. Even though they probably had no idea what had just happened, neither of them stuck around to find out.
And just like that, Celia was left alone in a nearly empty alley, standing over a man groaning and bleeding onto the pavement. This was, by far, the weirdest market trip she'd ever taken.
I should probably get out of here. That noise must have drawn the city guard, and there's no way I can explain all of this without getting in trouble.
Stepping carefully around the injured man, Celia hurried out of the alley, still clutching the Desert Eagle. She then started to make her way back toward Takerth Academy. One upside to living in a world like this: nobody knew what a gun was, so nobody gave her a second glance for carrying it openly. Now that she understood what the weapon could do, Celia paid a lot more attention to how she held it, keeping her finger away from the trigger and the barrel pointed at the ground as she walked through the streets.
She had learned gun safety.
Fortunately, nothing else happened on the way back. Maybe Zeth hadn't sent many people after her, or maybe the rest were still searching the city, not realizing she'd already slipped away.
As she approached the entrance to Takerth Academy, a familiar voice called out, "Oh, hey Celia, back from shopping already?"
The usual guards were stationed at the gates, along with Grial. He'd been injured during the raid over a month ago but had finally recovered. There were still a few aches, and if not for his armor, you'd probably see a hint of bandages here and there. But compared to how he'd looked back then, this was nothing.
"Yeah. Ran into a bit of trouble out there, so I'll probably have to go back later," Celia answered, still holding the gun, which drew a few curious stares.
"Trouble? Anything we can help with? We've been dying for something to do off-duty," one guard offered, and a few others nodded in agreement. Standing around all day guarding a place that barely needed it would make anyone restless.
Celia gave a grateful smile and shook her head.
"Thanks, but I managed to handle it."
"Hmm, well, just let us know if you need anything. Oh, and by the way, what's that thing you're carrying?" One of the guards asked, nodding toward the Desert Eagle.
"Huh?" Celia glanced down at the gun, then looked back up.
"Oh, it's... um, a weapon, I guess. Magnus gave it to me for protection in case I ran into trouble. I'm not really sure how it works, but it doesn't seem to use magic."
"Really? Doesn't look like much," the guard said, squinting at the Desert Eagle.
"Eh, you know how weird that kid is. Just look at the clothes he wears," another guard chimed in.
"Oh yeah, speaking of him, how's Magnus doing? Haven't seen him around lately," Grial asked. Since Magnus had mostly been sneaking in and out of the academy to deal with the Jackals, it was true—nobody had seen much of him, or even Cain, for a while. Anyone who did see him in disguise was either dead or being experimented on by Eveline in her library.
Celia gave a careful answer.
"I'd say he's doing as well as he can. There's been a lot happening around him, and he's got a lot on his plate. But I've been keeping an eye on him." She couldn't promise anything, or claim he was perfectly fine—she wasn't a mind reader. She felt she had a pretty solid grasp on Magnus as a person, but even she didn't know everything he was going through.
Grial nodded, even though he clearly wanted to know more.
"Alright. Just tell him not to stay cooped up in the academy for too long—it's boring around here without him."
The other guards laughed.
"Yeah, he's the only interesting thing that happens here," one of them joked.
Celia let out a short laugh.
"Got it. I'll make sure to tell him to stop by and see you guys more often. Though I doubt he'd like being called your entertainment."
She waved and headed through the gate into the academy. Surprisingly, there weren't any real rules against people carrying weapons—swords or otherwise. When knights were stronger than siege engines and a single mage could cast a spell stronger than any regular bomb, who would waste time making rules against sharp pieces of metal or sticks with string? Even so, Celia felt uneasy about carrying the gun around on the academy grounds, so she tucked it away as soon as she was out of sight.
She made her way to the dorms and climbed up to Magnus's room, finally letting out a sigh of relief as she closed the door behind her.
"Magnus, I-" She started, but stopped as she stepped into the main room. It was empty. Magnus wasn't there.
"Huh, guess he's in one of the other spaces," Celia muttered, setting the Desert Eagle, which she had hidden in her clothes, on the table. She stepped back out of the dorm, passing through the door and onto the Research Station within the shadows of Eveline's library.
She looked around but didn't spot Magnus anywhere on the main platform.
Instead, she noticed Eveline near the center, staring upward, her fingers moving like she was playing some invisible instrument. Strange bits and pieces of material Celia didn't recognize floated and spun in the air, shifting as Eveline directed them. Among the floating materials was something especially odd: a hazy patch of black, like a living shadow drifting through the air.
"Hey, Eveline, have you seen Magnus?" Celia called out.
Eveline glanced over from the corner of her eye.
"Magnus? Ah, yes. He went to check on the archive book in the Puppet Space. You never got around to showing him the averages you found in the predictions, so he decided to check them himself."
"Wait, without me?" Celia sounded surprised—and more than a little disappointed. She'd wanted to be the one to show him, but Eveline was right: she'd kept putting it off.
Eveline's lips curled into a playful smile.
"Oh, you're just adorable," she teased, her voice light with amusement. Celia felt a bit embarrassed, but after so long around Eveline, she'd gotten used to the fact that Eveline, for some reason, found her existence endearing.
Before she could get flustered, Celia switched topics.
"So, what are you doing? If you don't mind me asking."
Eveline followed Celia's gaze to the materials floating above.
"Just a bit of experimentation," she answered easily.
"Magnus has been a real hunting dog lately and brought me so many vampire cores. The Hierarchs' cores were even more fascinating. After studying them, I started to wonder if they could be used in forging."
Celia frowned as she tried to make sense of that, then her eyes widened.
"W- Wait! Are you saying you're making things out of the vampires Magnus captured? Like... weapons?"
Eveline nodded, a bit pleased at how quickly Celia caught on. She didn't show even a hint of hesitation about using sentient creatures as materials.
"To be precise, I'm mixing them into the forging of magical artifices. Vampires don't depend on mana to utilize their powers, so I'm curious what happens when their essence is added to a magical artifice's construction. Magic fades under spirit suppression, but vampire abilities don't count as unnatural, so there's almost no suppression at all." Eveline chuckled to herself, a wide grin spreading across her face.
"In that case, a magical artifice fused with vampiric essence might offer a clue about Ancient Magic—even if it's only a sliver."
She turned to Celia, her eyes bright.
"A project like this is worth it, don't you think? Besides, I plan to give the finished products to Magnus. I'm supposed to be his master, after all, but I've hardly even given him a gift. That just won't do."
"I... I see..." Celia's voice faltered.
Noticing the change in her tone, Eveline's expression softened into a gentle smile.
"Don't worry too much about them. After my modifications, they're the vampiric equivalent of lobotomized. They can't think, so the forging process isn't complicated. Just treat them like any other material, like the leather used for your shoes."
Celia wasn't sure what to say. Logically, she understood—but there was something unsettling about comparing vampire remains to animal leather. Still, she couldn't quite put it into words, so she just nodded silently.
"Well, I'm going to go find Magnus," Celia muttered, making her way toward the spatial door as Eveline wiggled her fingers in a casual goodbye, then turned back to her "forging."
With one step through the door, Celia found herself in the Puppet Space. The familiar cracking of puppet joints echoed around her as she stepped onto the carved platform. Her eyes needed a moment to adjust to the endless white void that bordered every Alternate Space. Once they did, she saw the ring of puppets, each seated at their stations, still busy recording their "emotions" after every use of the Knockout Brick.
Countless lights drifted through the air like glowing threads, trailing down to the second floor.
Celia had gotten used to this bizarre sight. She walked straight to the center of the platform and stood still. As soon as she stopped, the platform began to descend toward the second floor.
"Hm, Eveline?" Magnus's voice called out before she even reached the bottom.
"Nope, just me," Celia replied as the platform clicked into place below. She spotted Magnus standing in front of a stone lectern, an archive book spread open on top.
"Oh, you're back already? I thought you went shopping." Magnus barely looked up as he talked, still focused on the archive book, flipping through thousands of entries like it was nothing—another perk of having an upgraded brain.
Celia let out a sharp breath as she walked over.
"Ugh... yeah, about that. Looks like Zeth sent some of his men out looking for me. I almost got cornered by three of them on my way to the market."
"What?" Magnus's head snapped around, his voice tight with concern.
Celia raised her hands quickly.
"No, it's okay—I'm fine. That gun thing helped. Honestly, it was a blur, but after I took care of the first one, the other two just ran off."
Magnus's shoulders dropped as he finally relaxed, letting out a relieved sigh.
"Oh, alright, good... Still, they've never targeted you directly before—not on purpose, anyway. I think from now on, you shouldn't go out alone. If you really need to go somewhere, let me come with you, or get the guys at the gate to escort you. Just to be safe."
"Okay," Celia agreed with a nod. Before, she probably would have argued; most people didn't like being followed around or watched over. But now that it was clear she was being targeted, she had no interest in being kidnapped again.
A brief silence settled in as Magnus turned his attention back to the archive book.
"By the way, I went through all the entries. I can see the patterns and averages you mentioned."
At that, Celia's mood brightened. The Puppet Space and the archive book had been partly her idea—Eveline had just made it real—so she was always excited to talk about it.
"Oh, right, I wanted to go over this with you," Celia said, lighting up.
"From what I can tell, most of the predictions from the teacups tend to lean towards producing positive emotions. If I had to put it in numbers, I'd say it's about eight to three?"
Magnus thought it over, quickly running the numbers in his head.
"Yeah, eight to three sounds right. And as for the timing, almost every prediction happens within a month of being given, with a margin of error of about seven or eight days."
Celia nodded.
"That matches all the records so far. We still don't know if it ever shows the same prediction more than twice, or if there's some rule about spacing between predictions. Like, is it possible to get multiple predictions showing different events in the same hour or on the same day? Depending on that, we might be able to piece together enough glimpses of the future to form a pretty complete picture." In other words, if you gathered enough predictions and strung them together, you could start to get déjà vu—a kind of sixth sense about what was coming next. You wouldn't know the whole future, since the memories faded shortly after seeing the prediction, but you'd have a feeling for what was about to happen.
When I fought Heiman, I found the first real weakness of the BGM Glitch. It's unbeatable for predicting direct attacks, but it only works on things targeting me. Collateral effects, or Heiman's passive field that broke down everything it touched, didn't show up at all. If I hadn't been able to see on a higher spectrum now, I might have died just by walking into one of those attacks.
But this could help with that. If they could nail down exactly how the predictions worked, they could figure out how many you needed to check to cover every possible glimpse of the future for a whole month.
With that kind of predictive ability, his enhanced senses, and the BGM Glitch, Magnus felt like even a knight's sixth sense wouldn't compare.