"Shadow..."
Still gazing out the window, Yuma murmured softly as he withdrew the power he had spread throughout the Academy grounds.
This was already the second time he had seen a Shadow wandering within Imperial territory.
It wasn't that such incidents never happened.
But cases like these were usually dealt with long before they ever appeared before the public.
It seemed he would need to ask the Professor to inspect the detection devices again.
"Mm."
A sudden pain tightened in his chest.
Concealing the hand that had begun trembling violently, Yuma closed his eyes.
He clenched his teeth as a thick metallic taste filled his mouth.
A few moments later, he tried opening his eyes again.
But his vision darkened several times.
My body has truly reached its limit...
Yuma continued blinking, struggling to stay conscious.
But it was useless.
The pain only grew worse.
Until, at last, he lowered his head.
The cracks in his soul had become too severe.
His body was beginning to fail more and more often under their burden.
And this time was no different.
Unfortunately...
this time, there were people nearby.
"Uh..."
In the end, Yuma folded his arms atop the desk.
Then lowered his head onto them.
It's okay.
It doesn't hurt.
I'm fine.
He repeated the words over and over inside his mind while trying to suppress the trembling running through his body.
His hearing slowly faded.
As though something had covered his ears.
Even the faintest sounds vanished without a trace.
Cold sweat soaked through his back.
His lips had turned blue.
Yet not a single sound escaped him.
It's okay.
It doesn't hurt.
I'm fine.
The words continued circling endlessly through his mind.
Until his body finally became something he could control again...
"Huh?"
The staff member who had been about to tap Yuma's shoulder scratched his head in confusion.
Just as his hand had been about to reach out, Yuma suddenly sat up straight and looked at him.
The usual faint smile had already returned to his face.
"Is something wrong, Senior?"
"N-no..."
The staff member laughed awkwardly.
"I thought you'd fallen asleep."
Yuma merely smiled.
"Hey, don't bother him."
Another staff member nearby called out.
"Maybe he's concentrating."
"No, I was just worried he might be exhausted."
The first staff member shrugged.
"Besides, he's qualified to pass already."
The other staff member tapped the communication earring in his ear.
"Brian says the barrier is still active."
"Then there's no way he was sleeping."
He glanced toward Yuma.
"Step back a little. Don't disrupt his concentration."
"Yeah, yeah."
He turned back toward Yuma.
"Sorry, Junior."
Yuma maintained his smile.
"It's alright."
Seeing that nothing seemed wrong, the two staff members moved away.
Watching them leave, Yuma turned back toward the window.
The smile disappeared.
Leaving behind a face completely devoid of emotion.
So empty that it felt unsettling.
He blinked.
The lingering pain stabbed through his chest once more.
"It's okay."
The murmur slipped quietly from his lips.
Yuma closed his eyes again.
"Alright, Yuma. You can stop now."
Yuma opened his eyes.
He turned toward the staff member waving his evaluation sheet.
"It's already late, so we'll end it here."
The staff member approached while holding up a transparent crystal.
"Let me see your hand."
Without asking any questions, Yuma held it out.
The crystal was brought close to the back of his hand.
A faint rainbow glow shimmered across its surface.
"Huh?"
The staff member frowned.
He pulled the crystal away.
Then brought it close again.
The result remained the same.
"Huh..."
"What's wrong?"
"Let me borrow your soul crystal."
"Oi!"
The staff member who had his crystal snatched away could only stare in disbelief as his colleague took it without permission.
A few seconds later...
the same confused expression appeared on his face.
"It isn't detecting any contamination...?"
"That can't be right."
The staff member immediately grabbed his colleague's hand.
The crystal was pressed against the back of it.
The rainbow light slowly faded.
A trace of dark color gradually appeared inside the crystal.
"Huh...?"
"That's strange."
"The crystal isn't broken, is it?"
"If it can detect mine, then the crystal isn't the problem."
Both of them turned toward Yuma.
There were two kinds of people considered unusual.
The first were those whose souls were exceptionally vulnerable to contamination.
Unstable.
In some cases, it was even considered a condition.
The second were the complete opposite.
People whose souls were extraordinarily stable.
Difficult to contaminate.
Difficult to shake.
Right now...
both of them felt like they were looking at the latter.
They stared at Yuma in amazement.
"Wow..."
One of the staff members let out a low whistle.
"No wonder his aura feels like that of a child. His soul really is that pure."
The other staff member simply nodded while taking his crystal back.
"May I leave now?"
At the question, both of them quickly stepped aside.
"Of course."
"Go ahead."
Their exaggerated reaction made Yuma laugh softly.
"Thank you for your hard work, Seniors."
"Huh?"
One of them immediately shook his head.
"We didn't do anything."
He pointed toward the training grounds outside.
"You're the one who's been working hard since this morning."
The staff member laughed.
"And I think you'll end up with a perfect score."
"Not necessarily. There's still that rumored Guardian candidate."
The first staff member immediately nudged his companion.
"Want to bet? I think Yuma will score higher. Contamination levels are part of the evaluation too."
The second staff member didn't argue.
He merely shrugged.
Yuma offered them one final greeting before leaving the room.
He crossed the garden.
Then entered the auditorium, which was now far quieter than it had been earlier.
His eyes blinked slowly.
Tired.
His clothes were still slightly damp with sweat.
His face remained pale as well.
Though not as pale as before.
After all, he had managed to rest for a while.
Though it was debatable whether closing one's eyes while maintaining a barrier and monitoring the entire Academy grounds could really be called resting.
Yuma looked down at his hand.
He had a bad feeling.
If his intuition was correct, his body would probably stop cooperating for a while tomorrow.
And he would have to find a way to keep Richard from noticing when they met in the Headmaster's office.
I hope I'm wrong...
Yuma pushed open the exit door.
"Yuma!"
"Oh, finally."
"...Took you long enough."
Yuma blinked in surprise.
Confused, he looked at the three people approaching from the opposite side of the auditorium.
"Huh? Eh?"
Without realizing it, Yuma took half a step back when Mylo stopped directly in front of him.
At the same time, Kai casually threw an arm around his shoulders.
"Wow."
Kai shook his head dramatically.
"Your big brother here is starving after waiting all this time."
"Yeah!"
Mylo immediately nodded in agreement.
"Noel came out an hour ago. Why did it take so long?"
"The Guardian test is a little different."
Yuma answered quietly.
"I had to maintain barriers for the other examinees."
"Ah."
Noel gave a small nod.
As if something had finally clicked.
"So that barrier protecting me earlier really was yours."
"What? Barrier?"
Kai immediately turned toward Noel.
"You got one too?"
"Yes."
Noel's answer was brief.
"It felt cool."
Then he glanced at Yuma.
"So it wasn't difficult to figure out who it belonged to."
"Ah..."
Mylo immediately looked jealous.
"I want to be protected by Yuma's power too."
"That's not the point."
Kai cut in immediately.
"How could those seniors make Yuma use his power almost the entire day?"
"That's true..."
Mylo scratched his cheek.
"But I'm curious too."
He turned toward Yuma.
"Your aura is really comfortable. Even for a Purifier."
"Not now."
Kai interrupted again.
"Yuma looks tired."
Yuma still looked slightly lost.
He wasn't sure how he was supposed to follow the conversation happening in front of him.
More importantly—
this was the first time people had acted this freely around him.
...there wasn't a single note about this in Lavis's book.
"Oh?"
Kai studied Yuma's face uncertainly.
"Are you really that tired, Yuma?"
Yuma opened his mouth.
Then closed it again.
He was confused.
What was he supposed to say?
But before he could find an answer—
Mylo smacked Kai across the back.
"Hey! Let go of Yuma!"
"Ow!"
Kai immediately turned around.
"What was that for?"
"He might be tired because you're heavy!"
"No, I—"
"It's okay, Yuma."
Mylo nodded seriously.
"Let's scold Kai together."
Before the argument could escalate any further, Noel stepped between them.
"Let's go to the cafeteria first."
He pointed toward one of the corridors.
"We should eat."
"Oh right!"
Kai instantly brightened.
"Let's go eat~ Want your big brother to carry you?"
Seeing that Kai was still fooling around, Mylo smacked his back again.
"Ow! That hurts!"
"Get back here!"
"Who would stop just because you told them to!?"
Yuma could only watch the two of them run ahead in confusion.
"Eat this first if you're hungry."
Yuma accepted the chocolate Noel offered him.
Noel watched him for a moment.
"...Are you alright?"
"Mm."
Noel shook his head.
"Let's go."
Yuma allowed Noel to pull him forward.
His eyelashes trembled slightly.
Your friends will know how to pull you back, even when you've fallen behind.
Lucien's words suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
"...I don't understand."
The murmur was so quiet that even Noel, walking beside him, failed to hear it.