"shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." Agatha was having a very hard time not cursing to the high heavens.

 

It was bad enough already that [Odyssey] had decided today was the day to hang that poster of her [Shift] and that Elizabeth, of all, had seen it. She liked the girl, she was a smart girl who had been given a very bad hand and was doing her best to make it work.

 

She was also the reason Rossaline had returned more...tame.

 

At first, she hadn't thought much of it, thinking that Rossaline had a growth phase while nursing a friend back to health, that she was becoming a better [Healer], that she was learning [Empathy].

 

"...fuck." Never in her life had she thought it would be this.

 

"[SHE LOOKS SO LOVELY, LOOK AT HER AGATHA, TAKE A PICTURE OR SOMETHING!]" And making it worse was the voice inside her head.

 

The voice of the goddess of magic fangirling over a girl with a troubled heart.

 

"Shut it [Odyssey], can't you see the girl needs reassurance?" She wasn't paid enough to deal with teenage problems.

 

And worse she couldn't ignore it, leaving aside the problem of it being Rossaline, one of the students marked to be dealt with extreme care. The one that came to her was Elizabeth.

 

And she seemed to really need help, at first she had thought this would be the standard Magical Girl problem, but no... it couldn't be simple.

 

It would have been easier to deal with a normal thirst, it was bad enough that most of the girls at this age liked to [Experiment] among friends, but from what she was speaking... these brats were far more involved than normal.

 

"...Okay fine, let me just..." Agatha brought back the wine bottle and thought about it very hard, putting it back in the drawer and pulled a vodka bottle. "...This will not take long."

 

And opening the bottle she downed it in one go, she felt the sting of the hard liquor on her throat as more and more of the liquid on the bottle went down into her stomach.

 

At the same time, she felt the activation of the automatic spell nodes in her body start purging the alcohol from her system, she wouldn't get drunk from this, or not for long.

 

But the statement was all that mattered.

 

"[Gatty! *gasp* what kind of example are you giving to Eli-Eli!]" And of course [Odyssey] grumbled in the back of her mind.

 

The goddess for some reason seemed more active whenever Elizabeth was involved.

 

"Are you okay Agatha?" And now even Elizabeth was asking for her well-being.

 

"yeah yeah, let me...." Agatha answered as the remaining alcohol in her system was purged, clarity returning to her mind. Alongside the dread of knowing someone willingly decided to [Love] that girl.

 

But she needed to make sure, and to ask.

 

"Okay, I need you to answer some questions..." Agatha wasn't sure how to broach this subject, usually, it wouldn't be that much of a problem, as most students were weaker than the teachers.

 

And while she didn't doubt that she was stronger than Elizabeth and Rossaline right now...She didn't know how long that would stay true, at the very least by going for the approximate level Elizabeth had...She would be stronger than her at the same level.

 

"It's okay Agatha. I will answer any question so long you promise to help me." Elizabeth nodded with sincerity, which made her feel worse.

 

But there wasn't any option, she did need to make sure.

 

"Let me be clear, these questions are standardized and by no means are something I feel comfortable asking to those that actually feel true [Love], so if you feel insulted or angry, don't blame me for it." Elizabeth seemed to turn more serious at this, they all did. Now she needed to be ready, some silent casting of monitoring spells and... "First: Are you safe? Do you need help? Is your [Partner] asking you to do things you don't like or want to do?"

 

Elizabeth's reaction was what she would expect, first, she put a dumbfounded face, followed by a pondering one, then followed a blush...

 

"[CUTE!]" That indeed looked cute.

 

Followed by anger, outrage, and finally understanding.

 

"...Under no circumstance has Rossie ever forced me to do anything I don't want, even if she does want to move forward in our relationship, she respects my boundaries and does not push farther than I want." Elizabeth answered in a measured tone.

 

At least she was smart enough to understand the meaning behind her question.

 

"So she hasn't made you feel uncomfortable? You didn't have any incidents that bothered or caused you distress?" Still, Agatha had a checklist to do. So she moved on.

 

"Never," Elizabeth's answer was fast and concise.

 

Not a single one of her monitoring spells flared any alert or found falsehood within the girl.

 

"Are you comfortable answering these questions from me? I can find you a specialist if you want." Agatha needed to make sure.

 

"You are fine Agatha... I...don't have many people that I can ask these things...And you have been done your best to be good to me lately, so I need your guidance." Elizabeth answered.

 

That was good and....wait, lately?

 

"Did we know each other? No wait of course we did I took the first-year class... Sorry about my behavior that year. While most of it is a blurry mess... My self of last year was... Angry." And she was a very very angry woman.

 

It hadn't been till [Odyssey]'s ascension that she could finally let go of her previous grievances.

 

"[You are welcome Gatty~]" And the only downside was the voice of that goddess in the back of her head.

 

"...thank you." Elizabeth answered.

 

Right, she had to keep this going!

 

"So what is the problem then? Do you fear your feelings changed when the [Link] solidified?" That was a problem most went through. The knowledge that their life was bound to another one in a spiritual sense was a heavy one to bear.

 

"No, that will not change my feelings for Rossie." But Elizabeth answered firmly. "My problem is...I had some troubles yesterday that put me in...some mild danger, and I didn't let Rossie close since I feared for her safety."

 

That was troubling, there shouldn't be anything that could endanger a student in this school... Besides other students, but even that would have been logged by the sensors.

 

"Rossie was mad because I didn't let her close and she still has some fears that I will not wake up every time I am unconscious," Elizabeth said nonchalantly.

 

That....seemed awfully reasonable from Rossaline, she may need some psychiatric help, not that she would ever suggest it to the girl. That girl was a danger to society.

 

"So she made a promise..." Elizabeth carried on and stopped at that point.

 

A promise?

 

Oh...OOOOH...

 

"And that promise turned into an [Oath] that was engraved in your connection to her..." Agatha ended the phrase for Elizabeth, the blonde girl nodded her head. "Yeah, sorry about that, but if the words were engraved then it must mean that you are either matching the feelings of the promise or you were doing something that matched those feelings."

 

That was usually how it went at least, it depended on the rate of the interchange of the [Promise], but Elizabeth had said that it was a 50/50.

 

"I may be able to help you if I can scan the [Chain] but I will need your permission to cast a spell that will interact with the part of your [Soulscape] that has it." And while saying so Agatha materialized the magical circle in question.

 

It was a masterwork in its simplicity.

 

"[Of course, I made that one to make sure no Magical Girl would get the short end of it!]" Some said that it was made by [Odyssey] herself, not that there were proofs of it. "[I'm telling you I did make it!]"

 

"...[Investigate], [Evaluate], [Rules Lawyer]...." Elizabeth started enumerating the multiple nodes that this spell had, "...[Detect Evil], [Detect Freewill],[Detect Mind Tampering], [Detect Soul Tampering]...This was made by [Odyssey] wasn't it?"

 

"[That's My girl!]" Somehow Elizabeth came to that conclusion, "What makes you say so?"

 

"It reeks of self-glorifying and is too pompous, some parts of it can be achieved easily by cutting on the amount of nodes and some parts of it are straight up redundant." Elizabeth answered with a shrug, "Overall, it is a good spell, but could be better, [Mother] wasn't one to think too much so she liked to shove all the spells she wanted to use and ignore the efficiency."

 

She couldn't help but laugh, "Don't let the church hear you." It was exactly as this girl said.

 

"But yes, the spell was allegedly designed by [Odyssey] to make sure no woman would be forced to do anything that she didn't want. Sadly it requires A-Tier magic to be cast." Agatha moved the spell towards Elizabeth, "Just feed your magic into the spell, I will get the information and only that, no feedback from your [Soulscape] will leave the spell matrix. And you will decide what information to give me...That is if your free will isn't harmed."

 

Elizabeth seemed to analyze the spell for a few extra seconds, she could swear her eyes had a faint blue flame over them for a second or two...or that they turned into reptilian-like eyes. But maybe it was the effect of the vodka. Who could tell?

 

"Okay, let's do this." But in the end, Elizabeth decided to trust her and sent some mana into the spell structure.

 

"Oof." It hit like a truck, full of rocks.

 

Elizabeth's mana was [Heavy], the same amount she injected into the spell was easily two to three times worth what her own mana could do, the mana she used was dense beyond reason and kickstarted the spell easily enough.

 

"1,2,3,4,5....6.....10.....20...." And so she started counting the seconds, when Agatha arrived at the 30 seconds mark she released a sigh of relief, Elizabeth wasn't under any compulsion.

 

"So...what does it say?" And even asked what was the spell telling her.

 

"I have no idea, focus on the spell image and it should allow you to send me the information you are comfortable sharing, it is supposed to let you choose that information from within the [Soulscape], but unless we find a way to visit those places again, for now, we use brute force," Agatha answered.

 

After a few seconds, Elizabeth closed her eyes and focused on the spell, and sure enough information started flooding her way.

 

It seemed that Elizabeth had very good talent with mana manipulation since no information about her [soulscape] leaked, that was good. Usually with these kinds of spells the overall state of the [Soulscape] would leak.

 

"Everything seems fine enough," Agatha said as she read the information provided. "Do you want me to look into the [Oath] Rossaline made?"

 

The spell was asking for directions now that she had access to it, and she indeed could feel the sturdy [Link] these barely adult girls had made, no. They may qualify as members of society for the powers to be, but in her eyes, both girls weren't adults yet. And wouldn't be even after their 18th birthday.

 

"Yes please, and I want to know if it's possible to tamper with it without Rossie noticing." Elizabeth seemed extremely fixated on that last part.

 

"For that to work the [Lock] should be nested within your [Soulscape] and not half and half, and you have a 50/50 relationship...But I will try." Agatha said, what had that pink psycho pledged that had Elizabeth so focused on that part?

 

Either way, she focused on the feedback of the spell, it started unraveling the information slowly at first but it turned into a steady stream of information.

 

First of all... These girls had something wrong in their head, somehow they had managed to turn a teenage friendship into a blown out of proportions romance. She wasn't salty because of course, she was an adult in her prime with plenty of solicitors...

 

SHE WAS NOT ANGRY BECAUSE A PAIR OF BRATS HAD MORE ROMANCE THAN HER!

 

....

 

"The [Link] is firm enough, you both did a wonderful job at it, the use of [Chains] instead of [Threads] means that is more solid and the stream of mana that gives maintenance is well thought, there should be some mana loss since it travels from your [Soulscape] to Rossaline's but I can't find it, so good job on that. Splendid mana manipulation and I will not ask how you managed to do it, but by your [Name] as [Stardust Weaver] I assume you included [Space Nodes] on it?" Agatha said as she examined the [Chain].

 

Elizabeth didn't answer and only smiled sheepishly at her, "Now let's see the [Lock]" Agatha ignored her and focused the spell on the spot that joined the two sides of the [Chain].

 

There in the middle shone a beacon made of mana, a splendid [Lock] made with azure mana and adorned in golden threads...No...not threads, but words?

 

Oh, the [Oath], "Let's see...." There in the sides of the [Lock] stood the pledge Rossaline had made and Elizabeth's [Intent] had accepted, this, of course, meant that Elizabeth was willing to do the same as Rossaline should that happen.

 

"[Either live and die together....Or die alone.]" The golden words shone in determination, cold determination.

 

"...." Agatha didn't know what to say at that. "Well....yeah...Usually, in romance and books, those words may be romantic and all of that jazz...But in the real world..."

 

Elizabeth seemed to get what she was saying as she blushed red in embarrassment, "Can we...change it?" Asked the blonde girl.

 

"Not without Rossaline's input no we can't." Answered Agatha, this was usually a problem that meant a breakout in a relationship, but from the feedback she was getting it seemed that Elizabeth was fine with herself running into risks but not allowing Rossaline to do the same. "You need to speak it out with Rossaline if you want to change or take that away."

 

"Oh I don't mind it staying up, I just want to make sure to add an extra line..." Elizabeth said without a care in the world. "I want to add something to make sure Rossie will not do anything extreme should something happen to me."

 

Of course, she was as crazy as Rossaline...

 

"*sigh* No, that will only stick if you yourself do the same, this [Oath] stuck because you yourself subconsciously would do the same as Rossaline." And that was a problem in itself, what kind of lovestruck girl would really do that? Most humans didn't live with that kind of mentality, heartbroken? Of course. But to the point of willingly seeking death?

 

That wasn't normal.

 

"...Do you think we need a counselor?" Asked Elizabeth after listening to her answer.

 

"YES!" Agatha hadn't intended to scream that, but it came out naturally. "Sorry, yes. It may be in your best interest to seek a counselor, it is well and good that you are so sure of your emotions. But extremes while romantic in literature, aren't normal in real life."

 

Elizabeth closed her eyes, by how her mana seemed to move she was feeling the [Link], "But it feels [good] the reassurance..." Of course it did, that was the point. "...will I lose this?"

 

"No, no one can take that from you. And since you are at the [Lock] stage, chances are that Rossaline feels the same. Still, everything should be in small doses. Even Love can turn into a [Poison] if not taken with care." Agatha still couldn't help but think about other of the girls under her tutelage.

 

The higher-ups had decided to sacrifice her to try and entice Akira into not messing up more girls, she wanted nothing more than to save her...But her [Soul]...At least they had listened and didn't send more [Healers] to him.

 

"...I will take that under advice then." Elizabeth finally said as she cut the stream of mana into the spell, the sensation of the spell faded soon enough from her consciousness. "...are there spells to mess up with age?"

 

Elizabeth asked out of the blue, "I mean...yeah, there are also skills like the staple [Young Body] skill that we get as [Magical Girl]. That not only makes you younger looking the more mana you have, but usually, they only turn your body into an age that your [Soul] can withstand, so you can't turn older by using them. You can only move your age towards an age your [Soul] has experienced." So most of the time they were useless to fake your age since most could only turn the clock back and not forward.

 

Not that anyone would willingly try to make themselves older, "Besides that there is [Biomancy] but that is more an alter your body solution that does not reflect the new age in your [Status]."

 

"I see..." Elizabeth answered as such, was she trying to be older faster? Why?

 

"Is there anything else you need?" But that wasn't her problem to deal with (Yet), so Agatha only worried about what she could.

 

"No, that was all. Thank you Agatha. I will speak with Rossie about this then...do you think Rossie will accept my request?" Elizabeth asked her with worry in her eyes.

 

"...If you are honest about the changes you want and are willing to live by them then it should be fine." Was the answer Agatha gave.

 

Elizabeth seemed happy enough with that answer and after a few more pleasantries she left the office happier than she was when entering.

 

She hoped the best for those girls, mostly because Rossaline scared her, so if she mellowed it would be for the best...

 

Now if she could do something with- "[SHE WAS SO CUTE WHAT THE HELL I WANT TO DESCEND AGAIN! ■■■■ GET ME MY JACKET!]" The goddess screaming in her head...

 

Everything would be well... "[WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN'T ?!? IS ■■■■■■■ AGAIN COMPLAINING?!? SHE DOES SPEAK FOR THAT NOW DOES SHE!]" It was getting easier to ignore her if nothing else.

 

Life was good...