I managed to wake up all by myself. Not because I already had enough sleep. Rather, it’s because I sensed pressure coming from a few feet away. Also, I smell food. I open my eyes and get up. As I expected, all my girlfriends are already here. Everyone minus Kuromi and Assaf-sensei are wearing their uniforms. Kaoru is wearing her uniforms from her middle school.

   ‘Don’t you have something to tell us, Akira-kun?’ Sakuya asks me frostily.

   The others are also looking at me with cold eyes.

   I let out a gulp and slowly get up from the bed. I then bow at them.

   ‘I’m sorry for worrying all of you. I really am.’ I begin.

   None of them said anything in response to this. Great. Now what?

   ‘Shouldn’t we forgive him already?’ Yui asks them.

   ‘What are you doing Yui? We all agreed to remain cross with him until school’s over!’ Saya chides her.

   ‘Well, it’s because he looks stressed out from our cold stares.’

   Yui’s kindness is like a bottle of water when I’m lost for three days while wandering around in a desert. I was so touched I couldn’t help myself from hugging her.

   ‘Oh Yui! You’re such an angel!’ I cry.

   ‘Akira-kun, please put me down! The others are watching!’ Yui pleads while struggling to break free from my hug.

   I put her down after spinning her a few times.

   ‘On a serious note, I’m sorry.’ I apologize once more.

   At this point, their expressions have become soft.

   ‘Can you tell us what happened while you were there?’ Ichika asks me.

   ‘Well, it all started with…’

   We still have to go to school, so I try to make things quick. After I’m done, I head over to the counter and eat the food Kuromi made for me.

   ‘So, the reason you were missing is because you were in a different dimension, and the time here and the time there is different.’ Saya tries to simplified what I said.

   ‘Yup. I’m not looking for an excuse or anything, but it’s totally not my fault this time.’ I say after swallowing a piece of grilled mackerel.

   ‘It still doesn’t change the fact that you worried us.’ she grumbles.

   ‘I know, I know. I’ll make it up to you girls, I promise.’

   ‘We will hold you to that, Akira-kun.’ Sakuya tells me.

   Suddenly, I’m very scared.

   ‘Um, sure.’

   ‘You don’t have to rush to class, Akira-kun. Get Coinchenn’s bones to the Research Deprtment so that they could turn it into a Regalia.’ Assaf-sensei says to me.

   ‘Is it really okay?’

   ‘Of course it is. The first class of today is taught by yours truly, remember? As such, you have your teacher’s permission to come in late.’

   I look at Ichika who’s a stickler of rules. She nods. Well, if she’s fine with it…

   ‘You know, Akira-kun, I’m the student council president here.’ Sakuya reminds me.

   ‘I know that, senpai. The thing is, since there’s no disciplinary committee in this school, Ichika’s the closet one we could find as the one in charge of maintaining rules and orders.’

   ‘True. After all, president isn’t really intimidating.’ Ichika agrees.

   Sakuya puff up her cheeks. She probably couldn’t say anything back since she knows what we said are true.

   ‘Anyway, you just take your time Akira-kun.’ Assaf-sensei continues.

   ‘Got it, sensei. Thank you very much.’

   And so, I set out for the Research Department, Kuromi’s heading off to work, Kaoru is going to her middle school, while everyone else is heading to the Academy.

   The last time I was at the Research Department was when we were supposed to have a joint training with the Osaka branch. Joseph Brennan, one of the top executives of the Lost Children has escaped. Shimazaki, one of my classmates has used the confusion to try and steal Excalibur that was stored in the vault. Ever since then, the place had a slight makeover.

   The moment I got outside of the lift which brings me down here, I see eleven guards pointing their machine guns at me. All of them are wearing gas masks, camo shirt and pants with bulletproof vests, and a pair of black combat boots. I also see four security cameras pointing towards my direction. Did I mention that each of the camera has a minigun attached to it?

   ‘State your name and business here.’ the guard who’s at the front tells me gruffly.

   I slowly raise up my hands just in case they think I’m trying to start something.

   ‘My name is Kagenashi Akira. I’m a student of Class 1-2. I’m here to see a researcher with a, um, Relic so that it could be turned into a Regalia.’

   The thing is, they didn’t give the objects that were used to make Regalias a name in the original anime, which is why I thought of a random one on the spot.

   The guard talks softly to a walkie-talkie attached to his left shoulder. After a few exchanges, he looks at me and nods.

   ‘You may proceed.’

   I slowly put down my hands. ‘Many thanks.’

   Even though I got the permission to come in, I still can’t relax since none of them have lowered down their weapon. Two guards break up from their formation to watch over me. They’re keeping their distance, but that doesn’t make things any better.

   I see Iwata and Ueno come out from an automatic door. I relax a bit. At least I’ll be talking to my friends.

   ‘Hey guys, it’s been a while.’ I greet them.

   ‘Nice to see you again, Bandou.’

   ‘Yup. It’s been way too long.’

   For those of you who have forgotten about them, I used to hang out with these two and another guy called Takagi back when the three of them were still students of the Academy. All of us were part of the Shut-In Club which were now disbanded. Right now, they switched their course to being researchers at the Research Department, so we haven’t hang out with each other in real life for quite a while.

   ‘The guards told us that you have a Relic for us. What’s a Relic?’ Ueno asks me.

   ‘I don’t know the thing you guys use as material to make a Regalia, so I thought up of a random name.’

   ‘Ah. Well, the official name is an Ore.’

   ‘Even if the material isn’t even a metal?’

   ‘I’m afraid so. Heavens know what the person was thinking when he thought of the name. Anyway, where is it?’

   I bring out Coinchenn’s right arm with my teleportation magic. It’s still wrapped in a piece of cloth, so I have to unwrap it first. Their eyes widen in shock the moment they saw it.

   ‘...So your Ore is a human arm?’ Iwata asks.

   ‘Actually, this belonged to a sea creature.’

   ‘That doesn’t make any sense.’

   ‘It’s a long story.’

   ‘We need to analyze it to determine its Rank first. It might take some time.’ Ueno tells me.

   ‘I guess I’ll have enough time to tell you guys its origin then.’

   As we’re heading to our destination, we walk through a few corridors. Along the way, I see more armed guards and more armed security cameras. This is getting kind of nerve-wrecking. Both Iwata and Ueno are visibly nervous when seeing all these guards, and they work here. Imagine what an outsider like me who saw them for the first time feel.

   ‘How are the two of you faring in here so far?’ I ask them in an attempt to make them relaxed.

   ‘We’re doing great. Surprising, considering that we started off kind of slow.’ Ueno answers.

   ‘Just the other day, the three of us were put in charge of making a Pseudo Regalia!’ Iwata adds. ‘I wish I could show it to you, but someone from Class 2-3 took it.’

   ‘Speaking of the three of you, where’s Takagi?’

   ‘He’s taking the day off today.’

   ‘I, see.’

   ‘No need to look so guilty, man. He already told you that it was fine, right?’

   ‘Even so, it’s still awkward to meet him.’

   Takagi, the former last member of the Shut-In Club, was in love with Saya. He confessed to her, but she rejected him since she was in love with me. Not long after Saya and I became a couple, I told Takagi about it over a chat function available in the game we played together.

   ‘Congratulations, man. Treat her nicely, you hear?’ he told me.

   Our relationship were pretty much the same, but I still feel a teeny tiny bit guilty. It’s also not helping that he along with the other two know about my polygamy relationship with my girlfriends.

   We eventually reach an automatic door. Iwata scans the pass hanging from his neck, and the door slide open. We go into a room with lots of machines and monitors.

   I’m a bit surprised that the guards that were following us this whole time didn’t follow us inside. With them gone, all three of us collectively let out a sigh of relief.

   ‘They’re not allowed to come in, huh?’ I ask.

   ‘Yup. Takara-san, our head of department, made it clear that he doesn’t want them inside certain rooms no matter unless there’s an emergency. This one is one of them.’ Ueno confirms.

   ‘And I’m real grateful for that.’ Iwata says. ‘Can you imagine working while having them watching over your every move? I know they’re here to protect us, but still.’

   ‘You weren’t there when we had a weapon pointed at us and almost got Excalibur stolen.’ Ueno tells him. ‘I have zero intention of going through that again. Still doesn’t change the fact that the guards freak me out, though.’

   ‘Well, let’s just get this over with. Bandou, the arm, please.’

   ‘Here you go.’ I say while handing him the bones.

   Iwata takes it and puts it inside a rectangular scanner that looks a lot like a tanning bed. Ueno sits down in front of a monitor and starts typing at the keyboard. Through the transparent casing, I can see that the arm is being scanned and analyzed. I look at the screen. A bunch of words I don’t understand are being displayed. While waiting, I tell the two of them on how I got the bones.

   ‘Ireland, huh? It must have been wild.’ Iwata says after I’m done.

   ‘No kidding. And the fight was quite tough too.’ I recall.

   ‘Still, you’re moving up the world, right? Good for you.’

   I sense a slight hint of envy coming out of his voice. I suppose he still dreamed of making it big as a student on the front line.

   A few minutes later, the result is out. Turns out Coinchenn’s arm can be made into a S Rank Regalia.

   Oh boy. Curruid is not going to be happy with this. I mean, Gáe Bulg is only an A Rank Regalia.

   ‘Wow, it’s a S Rank Ore! This is the first time I see one!’ Ueno says excitedly.

   ‘There’s one problem, though. We’re not allowed to handle an Ore that’s S Ranked.’ Iwata tells me.

   ‘Can’t you do something about it? I rather someone I know and trust to handle this.’

   He shakes his head. ‘We’re more than happy to do it for you, but rules are rules. Only a researcher who’s at least deputy level is allowed to make S Rank Regalias. We’re just normal researchers. Originally, we weren’t allowed to make A Rank Pseudo Regalia either, but our manager Akiyama-san gave us an okay anyway.’

   In my understanding of the hierarchy in the Research Department, normal researchers make up the lowest part of the pyramid. Senior Managers are in charge of all of them, who in turn have to answer to several Deputy Head of Department. The deputies report directly to the Head of Department, which in this case is the before-mentioned Takara-san.

   ‘So who’s going to be in charge of it?’ I ask.

   Ueno takes out his phone. ‘Give me a moment. I’m calling the deputy who’s on shift right now.’

   Ueno talks to whoever is on the other side of the phone. It didn’t take him long to finish the call and puts the phone away.

   ‘He says he’s coming right over.’ he reports.

   The deputy introduces himself as Utsunomiya Shigeru. He’s around the same height as me, and he dyed his hair blonde. He also has multiple rings on his fingers. Underneath his lab coat, he’s wearing a shirt with the logo of a famous rock band. He’s definitely the last person you expect to see wearing a lab coat and working with computers.

   ‘So you’re Kagenashi-kun.’ he says after I introduced myself.

   ‘I don’t think we’ve met.’

   ‘We haven’t. It’s just that Takara-san mentioned you before.’

   ‘I take it that he didn’t have anything good to say about me.’ I predict drily.

   ‘He sure didn’t. The thing is, he’s someone who loves his personal space. Your suggestion basically ruined it for him. But don’t take it too personally, yeah? He can be a huge stick-in-the-mud, but he’s a nice person deep down.’

   ‘I understand.’

   ‘Good. Now let’s work on your Regalia.’

   ‘Um, we’ll be excusing ourselves now.’ Iwata tells Utsunomiya-san.

   Both him and Ueno who got up from his seat have the looks of someone realized that they’re at a place they shouldn’t be and want to leave as soon as possible.

   ‘I know that you don’t want to get in our way and all, but don’t you want to see the process of how it’s done?’ the deputy asks.

   ‘Is it really okay, sir?’ Ueno asks hesitantly.

   ‘Of course it is. I’m not Takara-san. I don’t mind a few audiences.’

   Iwata and Ueno look at each other. They then look at him.

   ‘We would like to stay and observe, sir.’ Iwata says to him.

   ‘Good. That’s what I wanted to hear.’

   Utsumoniya-san looks at me next.

   ‘Now then, what kind of Regalia would you like?’ he begins by asking.

   ‘A spear, please.’ I answer without any hesitation.

   ‘Got it.’

   He sits down on the seat Ueno was sitting moments ago and looks at all the shown data.

   ‘So this Ore shares a similar wavelength with Gáe Bulg. Interesting…’ he mumbles.

   ‘The Ores of both Regalias came from sea creatures who were fierce rivals with each other.’ I explain.

   ‘Ah, that explains a lot. I would love to hear the whole story, but I guess finishing up the Regalia takes top priority.’

   ‘If you don’t mind me asking, how exactly are you going to make the spear?’ I ask curiously.

   ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t go into details. Even if I could, there are lots of complicated words involved.’

   ‘I’m not really a fan of complicated words.’ I confess.

   ‘I thought not. Well, let’s just say that magic science are involved.’

   ‘I could live with that. One last thing if I may?’

   ‘What is it?’

   ‘How long will it take for you to complete it?’

   ‘It’s really hard to say, to be honest. I don’t have other projects that I’m overseeing or put in charge of, so that shortens up quite a lot of time. Still, it might take three to five days. I know you’re eager to test your new toy out, but you have to be patient here.’

   ‘I understand. I’ll be taking my leave now.’

   I say my farewell to Iwada and Ueno before leaving the room. Surprise, surprise, the guards who followed me all the way from the entrance of the lift are still outside. Without Iwata and Ueno to accompany me, I feel like a prison inmate who’s being escorted out of his cell or something. I could only relax after I get inside the lift which would bring me to the surface.

   Assaf-sensei was still teaching the class when I went inside. Naturally, all eyes are on me.

   ‘Are you already done with your business, Akira-kun?’ our homeroom teacher asks me.

   ‘Yes, sensei.’ I tell her.

   ‘Good. Then please join us for the rest of the lecture. As it is, you’ve already missed more than a week’s worth of it.’

   ‘Yes, sensei.’

   ‘Good. Now here’s the thing. Even though I gave you permission to come in late, I still think that a punishment is overdue for disappearing on us like that.’

   ‘And, um, what do you have in mind?’

   ‘It’s nothing difficult, really. All you have to do is give me a kiss on the lips.’

   ‘...While all of them are watching?’

   ‘ That’s right. While all of them are watching.’

   Under normal circumstances, I would have done it in a flash. It’s not like I’ve never done it before. But to do it in front of my classmates? That’s an entirely different story altogether. That said, it’s not like I have the right to object. I step forward and kiss sensei on the lips. I hear some muffled squeals from some of my female classmates right after I did that.

   ‘Can I go back to my seat now?’ I ask.

   ‘Of course. And keep in mind that you’re always free to come by to the nurse’s office. There’s more where that came from.’

   ‘I’ll, um, keep that in mind.’

   ‘Aren’t the two of you going to ask for the same thing?’ Takayama asks Yui and Saya as I’m settling down on my seat.

   ‘N-no way! It’s too embarrassing!’ Yui says shyly.

   ‘Nah. It’s too lenient. I’m thinking of something much worse.’ Saya, on the other hand, says.

   Oh, right. I still haven’t been punished by them yet. This is going to be a long day.