Ophelia's Request / Examination of the Essence of Magic / Pseudo-Servant Summoning

"..."

The room became incredibly silent in an instant.

Akuta Hinako-san stared at the last bit of blue light in the summoning circle, her greyish-black eyes filled with panic.

"No!"

"Don't do this!"

The literary girl completely abandoned her previous cautious demeanor, desperately trying to grasp the almost invisible light as if she were mad.

But light cannot be held.

It ultimately vanished completely.

The magic circle for summoning a "Servant" slowly dimmed.

Akuta Hinako-san slumped down, sitting there with the silent Ian and Ophelia.

"How could this happen?!"

Akuta Hinako-san got up from the ground, her voice laced with despair.

Waves of red light emanated from her eyes, like those of the most bloodthirsty wolf.

No longer caring about her image, she directly shouted at Ophelia.

"Weren't you supposed to be able to solve all these problems?!" she demanded, her voice trembling with anger and disappointment.

"Why did it turn out like this?"

This scene looked like Akuta Hinako-san was throwing a tantrum, but Ian keenly noticed a small detail.

She was crying.

Although the traces had been clearly concealed, there were still a few teardrops clinging to the corners of her eyes.

Ian could feel that the Servant she wanted to summon was a very important existence for her.

However—

This wasn't a reason for her to vent her anger on his "sex friend."

Ian stood in front of Akuta Hinako-san, simultaneously shielding Ophelia behind him.

"Akuta Hinako-san, please calm down for a moment," Ian said firmly but gently.

"Maybe something went wrong somewhere, which led to this situation."

"Don't forget, you were the one who insisted on placing the sword yourself this time."

"..."

Akuta Hinako-san stared at the man before her, silent.

But this behavior was enough to show that she had temporarily calmed down.

Taking advantage of this time, Ian turned back to look at Ophelia, who was behind him, and asked calmly,

"Ophelia-san, did something go wrong in one of the steps?"

Ian's original intention was actually to give the magus a way out.

After all, if she just made up a reason, she would probably have a chance to send Akuta Hinako-san away.

However—

Ian underestimated Ophelia's stubbornness in such matters.

She shook her head, and with a very serious attitude and tone, looked at the man and Akuta Hinako-san, answering the question:

"No."

"There's no problem with my summoning circle, and there were no problems with the steps I taught you just now."

The sparks of an argument ignited in an instant.

"Then why did it turn out like this?!"

Akuta Hinako-san pointed at the completely dimmed summoning circle, her whole body trembling with agitation.

"Where did my... the Servant I longed for go?" she cried out, her voice cracking.

"If there was nothing wrong with you, shouldn't he have been summoned?!"

Now that things had come to this, Ian knew that it was unlikely that they could just casually gloss over it.

He had no choice but to trust Ophelia and let her explain things herself.

And the genius magus was indeed not nervous at all.

She walked to the summoning circle, squatted down, and began to analyze the problem.

"Although I don't really want to pry into what kind of Servant you were planning to summon... I have to ask a question about this now."

"Akuta Hinako-san."

"Is this precious sword of yours truly the Saint Graph Fragment of that Heroic Spirit?"

The Saint Graph Fragment was the key to summoning.

If it itself had flaws, or was even a fake, it would naturally affect the entire summoning.

"Yes."

Akuta Hinako-san didn't hesitate at all and directly answered the question.

"I can confirm that it is indeed the Saint Graph Fragment of that Heroic Spirit."

"Really?" Ophelia's eyes were full of suspicion.

"Really."

"Because—" Akuta Hinako-san glanced at Ian beside her, hesitated for a moment, then continued,

"This is... the sword he left behind."

"The sword he left behind?"

Ophelia showed a surprised expression.

This was an extremely precise identification—how did Akuta Hinako-san know?

Was she summoning a Saber?

Just as the top student magus wanted to ask a few more questions about this, she was stopped by Ian, who put a hand on her shoulder.

"Alright, Ophelia-san."

"Since Akuta Hinako-san is so certain... just believe her."

"I don't think she would go to the trouble of deliberately bringing a fake sword to deceive us in such a matter."

Although she had many questions in her heart, her "sex friend" had already said this much, and it made sense.

Ophelia accepted this explanation.

"Alright then."

"I'll assume that this sword is indeed the sword of that Servant, just as you described."

Ophelia's gaze fell on the literary girl before her.

"Then—"

"There's another possibility."

"What possibility?" Akuta Hinako-san pressed.

"Um... you might get a little angry when I say it," Ophelia said, standing up.

"That is, the strength of this Servant you wanted to summon... is not enough to become a Heroic Spirit, or rather, he doesn't even qualify to become a Heroic Spirit."

"So you couldn't summon him."

"Of course."

"It's also possible that your own strength is not enough to make him want to appear, in which case you also won't be able to summon him."

As soon as Ophelia finished speaking, Akuta Hinako-san directly denied these claims.

"No."

"He definitely became a Heroic Spirit... he was a hero who could lift mountains and rivers... and it's me, he wouldn't not want to appear!"

Feeling that Akuta Hinako-san's words were already becoming incoherent, Ian leaned closer to Ophelia and whispered a reminder.

"Be careful, don't provoke her."

"However—" Ian continued, turning his attention back to Ophelia.

"Ophelia-san, are those the only possibilities?"

"There is indeed another possibility," the top student magus said, frowning slightly.

"But I don't think it's very realistic."

"Not very realistic?" Ian asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Mm," Ophelia nodded. "That is, we might have just performed a Pseudo-Servant summoning."

"Pseudo-Servant summoning... what's that?" Akuta Hinako-san asked, her confusion evident.

"It's a way of summoning," Ophelia began to explain.

"It might be a bit complicated to explain... to put it simply, it's that the Heroic Spirit itself does want to respond to the summoning."

"But due to various reasons, they don't want to or can't fully manifest in the world as a 'Servant,' so they use consciousness or a physical body as a substitute."

"However, this method often leads to various changes in the possessed object, such as the acquisition of memories, or the improvement of the body."

"Unless you yourself have a way to control the possessed Heroic Spirit, such as a consistent bloodline with him, or if your ancestors had some kind of suppression method, but—"

"Do you think any of the three of us could do something like that?" Ophelia asked, looking at Ian and Akuta Hinako-san.

Ian knew that Ophelia's words made sense.

The three people present, including himself, were unlikely to be able to do such a thing.

In comparison, the previous explanations seemed much more reasonable.

However, as things stood at this moment, these explanations clearly couldn't appease Akuta Hinako-san.

Ian gently stroked Ophelia's hair and asked again,

"Then—"

"Is there any explanation that could give Akuta Hinako-san a little hope... if this goes on, it will probably never end."

Ophelia glared at Ian. "You want me to lie about something like this?"

"I can't do that."

"However—" the top student magus's tone softened slightly.

"It's not to say that this summoning has completely failed."

"I don't think there was anything wrong with what I did, and she insists on her own explanation... let me think about it."

"Mm, please do," Ian said, his voice gentle.

Following their shared thought, Ophelia once again explained to Akuta Hinako-san.

"Say... could you give me some time?" Ophelia asked, her expression thoughtful.

"I think there shouldn't be any problems with this summoning, but there might have been something we didn't notice."

"Are you serious?" Akuta Hinako-san asked cautiously, her eyes narrowed.

"Mm," Ophelia nodded firmly.

"I swear in the name of the Clock Tower."

"Please give me a little more time to research it."

"..."

Akuta Hinako-san looked at the iron sword lying quietly in the summoning circle.

"Then can I take it back with me?" she asked, her voice hesitant.

"Or... should I leave it here for you to study?"

"You can take it back," Ophelia said, tossing her hair slightly.

"Seeing how much you care about it, if I kept it here, you'd probably bother me several times a day."

"Okay."

The last bit of hope remained in Akuta Hinako-san's eyes.

She bent down and very carefully wrapped the sword in the cloth.

She hugged it tightly, her gaze sweeping over the other two people present, a complex emotion in her eyes.

"Then—"

"Can I leave now?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes," Ophelia nodded.

Akuta Hinako-san didn't say anything more.

She hugged the sword, took one last look at Ian, and silently took out her phone.

The literary girl pressed the virtual keyboard while turning to leave.

Click.

The door opened and closed again.

Only Ian and Ophelia remained in the room.

The top student magus could no longer restrain her temper at this moment and immediately complained.

"Your friend is way too strange, and so rude!"

"Maybe she just doesn't know how to express herself well," Ian offered, trying to mediate.

"Look—" Ian showed Ophelia the message he had just received on his phone.

It was a message from Akuta Hinako-san.

"Sorry, Ian, I was too rude just now."

"Please also convey this apology to Ophelia-san."

"She actually apologized?" Ophelia looked at what she saw with some disbelief.

"Yeah," Ian sighed softly.

"I think she's actually the same as us, hoping to see certain people, but for some reason, she's not very good at communicating with others."

"..."

Ophelia turned her face away.

"I always feel like you're especially protective of her... are you planning to trick her into bed next?" she asked, a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"Eh, that's a good point, we could even train her together with you, then have a three-way?" Ian suggested with a playful grin.

"You filthy worm!" Ophelia exclaimed, though a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

Ian smiled slightly.

"Thank you for the compliment."

"However—" he continued, his tone becoming more serious.

"For now, I have to go back."

"See you on Sunday, my dear 'sex friend.'"

"Wait right there!" Ophelia grabbed Ian from behind.

Her face was red as she stammered, "I... I was saying... haven't you forgotten something?"

"Forgotten something?" Ian asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Mm."

Ophelia's eyes darted around, completely scaning everything before looking directly at Ian before her.

"Didn't you say... you wanted me to prepare that contraception magic?" she mumbled, her voice barely audible.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot," Ian said, snapping his fingers.

"Then—" Ophelia took a few steps forward, blocking the only door out with her body.

"Aren't you... going to check it out?" she asked, her voice low and suggestive.

"..."

A barely perceptible smile appeared on Ian's face.

He knew what Ophelia was implying.

"Oh, no need to check," Ian said casually.

"N-no need to check?!" Ophelia became a little anxious. "How can you not check?"

Ian raised an eyebrow.

"That's because I trust you."

"Unless—" he leaned closer, a teasing glint in his eyes.

"Ophelia-san has some reason that would make me have to check."

"You!"

The top student magus already knew that the man before her understood everything.

But—

He wanted her to say it out loud!

"Ian, don't go too far!" she exclaimed, her voice a mix of embarrassment and anticipation.

"Ophelia-san, but I really don't know why I would have to doubt you—you are my dear 'sex friend,'" Ian said innocently, his smile widening.

"You..." Ophelia was overcome with shame.

"Don't think I'll beg you!" she said, trying to maintain some semblance of composure.

"Of course, I don't want you to beg me, because that would mean you're in big trouble, and I don't want to see that," Ian said softly, his gaze gentle.

"Alright," Ian patted Ophelia's shoulder.

"Let me go, and I'll see you on Sunday."

"F-me," Ophelia said in a low voice, her cheeks burning.

"What was that?" Ian asked, pretending not to hear.

"I said F-ME!" Her voice rose a few decibels.

"Still can't hear... perhaps it's not respectful enough?" Ian teased, a playful glint in his eyes.

"..."

Although she knew Ian was playing with her, Ophelia was completely helpless.

This man was a demon!

"Looks like it was just a hallucination... I'd better hurry and leave," Ian said, turning towards the door.

"Please F-me!" Ophelia called out, her voice trembling.

"Please, you bastard!"

Ophelia's body trembled as she shouted out the incredibly embarrassing words.

"If I still can't hear it, then I have no choice!" Ian said, his voice full of mock exasperation.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the top student magus was suddenly pushed against the door with a soft thud.

"Didn't you hear that?" Ian said, his hands on either side of her head, trapping her against the door.

"If you don't beat around the bush in front of me, of course I'll understand your meaning right away."

"You jerk..." Ophelia looked at the man before her, both angry and helpless.

"Can't you respect my feelings a little bit?" she asked, her voice laced with frustration.

"Of course, I will respect your feelings," Ian said, his hand slowly moving downwards.

"But not in this regard."

Ian hired a great thief named Finger.

It quickly discovered the perfect pigeon egg gem in the darkness of the museum.

Its surface had no blemishes, and there was no protective black silk to isolate it from the outside world.

It was as if it had been planned to be taken away by the great thief.

"Ophelia-san, if I'm not mistaken... you've been prepared to stay naked ever since you saw my message, haven't you?" Ian said, his voice low and suggestive.

"You were talking in that state just now too, weren't you?"

"There's no such thing," Ophelia mumbled, turning her face away, her voice barely audible.

"The top is not free..."

"Oh—" Ian said, a knowing smile on his face.

"Then it seems there's indeed a need to check the authenticity of the contraception magic."

Ian looked at the magus before him and said with a smile. Although today wasn't Sunday, the door of Room 016 still welcomed the vibration that was unique to Sundays.

The magus's disguise was peeled away layer by layer.

It was the preparation for practicing chanting.

But just at this moment.

The sound of a phone rang from Ian's pocket.

It was a message notification from Mashu.

"Senpai, where are you?"