The cold morning air crept in through the gaps in the dormitory window that wasn't fully closed. Hayato opened his eyes, staring at the still-dark ceiling. The digital clock beside the bed showed 05:00. Across the room, Charlotte was still fast asleep on her bed, her breathing regular and calm.
Hayato tried to close his eyes again, hoping to fall back asleep. But his eyes—which now possessed a constantly active conceptual vision—refused to rest. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could "see" the subtle energy flows around him, tiny particles scattering in the air, even Charlotte's pulse from a distance. Too much information.
Finally, he gave up. Rising from bed, he opened the window wide. The cold morning wind immediately swept across his face, carrying the scent of grass and dew. After a few moments enjoying the silence, he closed the window and took a towel and change of clothes from the closet.
A warm shower slightly calmed his restless mind. After finishing and dressing neatly in the IS Academy uniform—white with red and black accents—he took a bento from his inventory. Breakfast.
But before starting to eat, a strange thought crossed his mind. "SERA," he called.
SERA appeared as a hologram before him, already in teaching mode. "Good morning, Host. Have a question this early in the morning?"
"Telos Karma," Hayato began, "can it be used for small things? For example, I eat this bento, just a small portion, but I want the result to make me full until lunchtime. And... where exactly is this Sacred Gear? I don't feel anything."
SERA sighed, then with a wave of her hand, a holographic blackboard appeared in the air. "Morning lesson: Telos Karma."
"First, the Sacred Gear's location: Telos Karma has already merged with your existence. Not in your body, not in your soul—but in your conceptual layer. That's why you don't 'feel' its presence like a new limb. It exists on a deeper level."
"Second, about small-scale usage." SERA began writing on the board. "Telos Karma isn't a miracle machine that can arbitrarily erase the laws of logic. It works stably if the 'final outcome' you prescribe still has a causal pathway that reality can support."
The blackboard transformed into a diagram of physics formulas. "Example: steak. Normally, a 100-gram portion isn't enough to make a person fully full. But if you use Telos Karma to lock the outcome 'after eating this, I feel full', then causality will adjust—nutrient absorption is maximized, satiety hormones are triggered faster, the body interprets the small portion as sufficient. This is still within reasonable bounds."
"Yesterday, when Maya's IS was falling, you locked the outcome 'fall in a safe place'. That was heavier because it opposed the laws of gravity and momentum. Although it succeeded, there was momentary 'instability'—the trajectory suddenly bending. That's a warning that the greater the clash with the world's laws, the greater the risk of instability."
SERA closed the blackboard. "The conclusion is: Telos Karma is more stable for micro-scale usage (body, feelings, personal condition) than macro-scale (destroying dimensions, erasing concepts). Understand its limits."
Hayato was silent for a while, processing the information. Then he gave a small smile to SERA. "Thanks for the explanation. At least I don't have to bother 'holding' the Sacred Gear." He opened the bento lid. "Itadakimasu. Hopefully after this I'll be full until lunchtime later."
He began eating slowly, savoring each bite. The warmth of the food slightly calmed his restlessness.
Across from him, Charlotte stirred. Her eyes slowly opened, hearing someone's voice. She turned and saw Hayato eating breakfast heartily at the small table near the window.
"Good morning," Charlotte greeted, her voice still hoarse from just waking up. "You're up very early... and eating heartily."
Hayato turned. "I couldn't sleep anymore."
Charlotte looked at the clock. 06:00. Time to get ready. She got up, stretched, then walked to the closet to get a change of clothes. In her half-asleep state, she forgot she was disguised as a boy. She was about to take off her pajamas—then stopped.
'What am I doing?!' her cheeks flushed.
"I know you're a girl, Charlotte."
The words struck like lightning in broad daylight. Charlotte froze, her heart pounding. 'How does he know?!' Her hands trembled.
With difficulty, she calmed herself and asked, "What... what did you say?"
Hayato looked at her calmly. "I've seen enough people who look like girls but are actually guys—you could call them trap characters. And believe me, you're not one of them."
[Though Charlotte would probably be shocked if she saw Astolfo—feminine appearance but actually male.]
'Astolfo?' Charlotte's mind raced. 'Who's that?'
After a few moments of silence, Charlotte gathered the courage to ask, "Now that you know... will you report me?"
Hayato shook his head, his eyes still on the window. "I don't care about that. I just want... to go back to my world."
Charlotte fell silent. 'His world?' She remembered Hayato's previous words about technological differences. This opportunity was too valuable to miss.
"What is... your home like in that world?" she asked carefully.
"An ordinary world," Hayato answered without turning. "But actually full of unseen conflict and danger."
His thoughts, as usual, continued.
[Not to mention all the races: Devils, Angels, Fallen Angels, Youkai, even Gods...]
Charlotte was stunned. Those thoughts—devils, angels, gods—clearly echoed in her head. That... was real? Then, who was this person in front of her? Human? Or...
Her eyes fell on Hayato's right hand. On the back of that hand, there was a complex reddish-purple symbol—the Command Seal that Hayato hadn't hidden last night.
"That... tattoo on your hand... what is it?" she asked.
Hayato looked at his hand. He forgot to activate the concealing illusion last night. Calmly, he replied, "Just an ordinary tattoo. It'll disappear later."
He then looked at the clock. "It's already six-thirty."
Charlotte was startled. Thirty minutes had passed so quickly. With mixed feelings—fear, confusion, curiosity—she hurried to the bathroom. Hayato was already ready. He took his bag and left the room, leaving Charlotte still processing everything.
---
The dormitory corridor was still quiet. Only a few female students were visible, perhaps on their way to morning club activities. Hayato walked at a leisurely pace towards the school building.
In the middle of the corridor, he saw a small girl, perhaps even shorter than average for her age—standing barefoot on the cold floor. The girl was standing by the window, seemingly talking to someone. But around her, there was no one. No shadow, no communication device.
Hayato frowned. His Conceptual Vision was passively active, but didn't detect the presence of any other being near the girl.
[A ghost?]
The girl suddenly turned. As if hearing a call—or perhaps, hearing a voice from something unseen. She looked up, listening seriously, then stared at Hayato.
"Ruu-chan says this," she said, her voice flat but clear. "You're that transfer male student."
Hayato raised an eyebrow. Imaginary friend? Or... But he chose to smile kindly. "Hayato Hayama, transfer student from Chiba. Just call me Hayato."
The girl introduced herself. "Currier Luccukchefka. Student from Russia."
Hayato was slightly surprised. "Russia? That's rare. And... for some reason I hear 'Courier'. Like a delivery person."
The girl—Luccukchefka—pouted. "Currier. It means leather craftsman."
[I guess I need to learn more about customs or names of people from different countries.]
Luccukchefka heard that thought. Her eyes widened slightly, but she couldn't ask directly—the silencing mechanism worked automatically. So she just said, "You should learn the meaning of names in each country."
Hayato sighed. "Alright." He waved. "I have to get to class. Might sleep a bit, since it's still long before class starts. See you, Luccu-san."
Luccukchefka awkwardly waved back. "See you."
---
Inside the still-empty classroom, Hayato placed his bag on the back desk. He sat down, rested his head on his arms, and tried to sleep. But his mind was still active.
SERA appeared again, this time typing on a virtual keyboard. "Currier Luccukchefka, student from Russia. Both her parents died. She was raised in a special orphanage for training IS pilots." SERA paused. "She's not from the anime. From a game."
Hayato opened one eye. "A game? Wait, since when was there an IS game?"
"Infinite Stratos: Archetype Breaker," SERA answered. "That game only ran for 8 months and 3 weeks, then the servers shut down."
Hayato opened both eyes, staring at SERA in amazement. "No wonder I never saw it. And that's worse than games that shut down a year after release. At least they had global releases—even though I know there are many obstacles. But look at Genshin, Monster Hunter, Fate Grand Order. They target the international market."
SERA shrugged. "I don't know. Don't ask me. Ask them." Then her hologram vanished.
The classroom door opened. Cecilia, Honne, and Kiyoka entered, still in their training uniforms. Honne saw Hayato was already in class, and her eyes sparkled.
"Hayato-kun! Good morning!" she greeted cheerfully. "What brings you to class so early? What's up?"
Hayato waved weakly. "Good morning, Cecilia-san, Kiyoka-san, Honne-san. I woke up at five in the morning, and somehow now I'm sleepy."
Cecilia placed her bag down. "Good morning."
Kiyoka, slightly shy, only smiled and said quietly, "Good morning."
Honne approached. "Want me to offer you coffee? To keep you awake."
"Maybe later," Hayato answered, yawning. "Now I just need a short nap." With that, he closed his eyes and within seconds, fell asleep.
Honne, with a mischievous expression, reached out and touched Hayato's cheek. No reaction. No leaked inner voice. Hayato was completely fast asleep.
Kiyoka whispered from behind, "Honne-san, don't be nosy."
Honne chuckled softly. "Ehe~"
---
Time passed. The sounds of lessons and classroom discussions became the background for Hayato's deep sleep. He didn't know how long he'd been asleep, until...
THUD!
Sharp pain struck his head. Hayato jolted in surprise, his eyes snapping open. In front of him stood Chifuyu Orimura with a thick book in her hand—the very book that had just been slammed onto Hayato's head. Her face was red with annoyance.
"How dare you sleep in my class, Hayato!" her voice thundered.
Hayato gulped, still half-dazed. "So-sorry, Sensei! I'm sorry! Won't do it again!"
Chifuyu continued staring at him with a cold glare. In front of her, Ichika stood with slightly red cheeks, perhaps due to something that happened earlier, and in front of the blackboard, a silver-haired girl in a distinctive German uniform—Laura Bodewig—was staring blankly at Ichika.
At the back, Honne and Kiyoka were giggling at Hayato getting scolded. Even Charlotte hid a smile behind her hand.
Hayato rubbed his aching head, silently vowing never again to sleep in a class supervised by Chifuyu Orimura—the most terrifying instructor at the IS Academy.
Somewhere outside the window, a robotic rabbit with purple hair laughed softly, recording everything with her camera. Tabane Shinonono, master observer, never missed an interesting moment regarding her new favorite research subject.