ೃ༄ "if not, then what did i endure all those... for?"
✧──────✧
f/n and idia entered the meeting room, causing the nrc students and ortho to glance at them. "nee-san!" called ortho as he rushed towards f/n and gave her a hug, "are you alright now?"
f/n hummed in response as she lightly hugged ortho back, "yeah... thanks to your brother. anyway, let's continue." the military officer grabbed the remote from idia's hand and pressed a button, causing five tablets to emerge from the table right in front of the night raven students.
"wha—— what's this?" asked jamil, surprised to see a tablet in front of him.
"on your screens, you can see that is a non-disclosure agreement... please sign at the bottom once you're done reading the contents. we'll send you a pdf version of the form later, too," spoke idia.
"come again? first, you force us to come here, and now you're making us sign a nda? to top it off, you have armed guards and a military officer watching over us. tell me, how is this fair?!" exclaimed vil. idia let out a long sigh as he replied, "ah, here we go~ you're definitely the type who'd get mad even though you read the terms and agreements... i mean, you could've just read it without complaining..."
"that contract is meant to protect you. i believe we had an agreement. if you won't give us a headache, then we'll let you off easily," added f/n. "if you agree to help us with the data, then i'll sponsor a program to help manage your blot. research should take a day at most," finished idia.
"we are only asking for 24 hours of your entire life. if things end well, then we can all go back and live our happily ever afters," spoke f/n. "we're not doing this because we want to either. all i wanna do is grind for my oshi's card. if you want to go home early, then read and sign the damn thing," added idia.
the five were silent for a while until leona groaned, "damn it... this stupid bastard and diasomnia brat's getting carried away just 'cause we're unarmed. i'd have turned that guy's hair into sand if it weren't for this collar."
"my, my, leona. i believe we are of the same mind," remarked vil.
"blablabla~ whatever you say, please don't ever mention anything about physically harming n/n," spoke idia as he rolled his eyes at their comments.
"they wouldn't do that, brother," responded ortho.
several moments later, idia heavily sighed as he said, "oh... my god... we're all gonna die here if you read that word-for-word." vil looked up at him as he said, "it is only natural for us to read a contract thoroughly before agreeing to sign."
azul hummed in agreement as he added, "indeed. i must make sure that i will suffer no losses by signing." riddle nodded and said, "i completely agree. i will not sign anything that will violate the law in any way."
"y'all are so unfazed... guess that's an ssr problem child for you..." mumbled idia. f/n lightly patted his back as they continued waiting for a few more minutes.
minutes have passed and they finally signed the contract. idia let out a sigh once again and said, "thank you all for signing, so we can formally begin with our research."
"the battle simulator's observation consoles are all ready," informed ortho.
"alright... let us divide you into two teams first. let's have subject a, subject c, and subject e undergo the first test. subject b and subject d will follow. ortho, please accompany me to take a, c, and e to the battle simulator," spoke f/n.
"roger that, nee-san! riddle rosehearts, azul ashengrotto, and vil schoenheit, please follow us," called ortho as he and f/n walked away.
"you two, please stay on stand-by here," ordered idia as he glanced at leona and jamil.
...
f/n and ortho stood together as they watched riddle, azul, and vil stand there, waiting for whatever is about to happen. a loud sound pierced throughout the simulation room before the sound started becoming clear, "uh... mic test. this is the operating room."
idia's voice was heard from the speakers as f/n and ortho looked up, "can you hear me?" ortho then replied, "this is the simulation room. loud and clear, o.r... all subjects have been equipped with the magical energy measuring device."
"now, would you care to let me in on your conversation? not only did you bring me to a ridiculously huge room, but you also made me wear an atrociously large headset. i can't see anything," spoke vil.
"what exactly do you want us to do?" asked riddle.
"surely you don't mean for us to attack each other..." spoke azul.
"what do you take us for? no, we won't do that. what you have on you is a vr headset made for magical use. you will be participating in a simulated battle inside a virtual space," responded f/n. "experience is the best teacher, in any case," spoke idia, "anyway, ortho, n/n, let us begi——"
"please wait a moment, idia-san. you do remember your promise to let us read the fine print later on, don't you?" questioned azul.
"...understood. virtual enemy mode: stand-by. begin dive!" exclaimed ortho.
as soon as they entered the battle simulation, azul was the first to react. "what in the world...?!"
"it's a virtual arena. magic isn't allowed within the facilities, but here, you're free to go all out!" spoke ortho. his voice was heard by the three, though he was nowhere to be seen inside the virtual arena.
"no damage will be carried on to the real world no matter how rough things get. rest assured and do your best," spoke f/n.
"alright, i see... if that's the case... there is no need for restraint," responded vil. "do not expect us to hold back," informed riddle. "gentlemen at the ready!" exclaimed vil as the battle started.
f/n and ortho stood there as they waited for the first test to be complete. minutes later, ortho reported the events to the operating room. from the operating room, idia and other staff replied back stating that the second test is good to go.
"let's get started with the next phase. ortho, n/n, whenever you're ready," spoke idia to his microphone.
"roger! virtual enemy mode: stand-by. begin dive!"
'this test will give them the illusion that they're fighting their vice leaders...' thought f/n before letting out a soft sigh, 'i don't even know if i like this job or not... all i know is it is my task... it is my responsibility... so i must do it... if not, then what did i endure all those years of painful training and lessons for?'
soon, the test ended as ortho said, "second test complete. subjects will undergo cool down within the simulator." the operator from the control room then replied, "subjects a, c, and e's vitals are normal. blot accumulation rate measured at 68%. lachesis system alignment is starting to decline. percentage remaining: 5, 4, 3, 2... terminating process."
"simulator cooldown process complete. proceeding with transporting the subjects to the healing room," spoke ortho as he and f/n proceeded to transfer the students to the healing room. f/n and ortho then entered the control room and stood beside idia.
"thank you, both. could you escort subjects b and d to the simulation room afterwards?" asked idia.
"understood," replied ortho and f/n.
"hihi~ seeing our famous students under retention is very interesting indeed..." spoke idia. "i took a sneak peek at the data, and it all seems very intriguing," said ortho. "i'll start displaying the results on the monitor right now," said idia as he showed the results on the large monitor.
"...that's a lot of blot," mumbled f/n. "right? take a look at riddle-shi's first..." spoke idia as he clicked on riddle's results, "his magic activation speed is explosively quick, to say the least. he's definitely a step further compared to most mages in his age group. he's on par with a sportsman who underwent gifted education from a young age... he's been taking special training forever, so it must contribute to his developing magical energy. otherwise, we won't see this kind of result. i'd say he's more an athlete rather than a simple elite."
"whenever he felt unsure what to do, he opted to increase his magical energy output instead," added ortho.
"hm... he has explosive power, but he lacks efficiency... that's not all... more magical output means more blot accumulation. according to this analysis, he is more susceptible to mental strain caused by external factors. that means the stress he experienced during the second test clearly affected his blot accumulation," spoke f/n.
"he may be magically gifted, but he lacks the stamina and the mentality. his stats are all focused on offence, so nothing's left for defence. if riddle-shi ever gets isekai'd in a mmorpg, he'd be a remote attacker for sure," replied idia.
"azul's results are pretty interesting, too. by this analysis, he lacks speed, but his control is amazing," spoke f/n as she observed azul's results.
"he's the type who observes his surroundings and provides support where it's needed," added idia.
"he's calm and efficient, though he will need to wait for others to make a move so he can buy himself some time. he's very suited to be a healer who provides support from the rear," said f/n.
"agreed. he's quick to recover from mental debuffs, so he's a good support," responded idia. "but it seems like he doesn't have much of an arsenal when it comes to magic," replied ortho.
"isn't that why he's dedicated himself to perfecting what he's good at?" responded idia, "he can compensate for his lack of variety by being a quick thinker, too... his unique magic is also highly specialized because it requires a different kind of magical tool. azul-shi is prudent and cautious."
"the complete opposite of riddle," remarked f/n.
idia nodded in agreement as he said, "oh, totally. vil-shi's up next..." he then checked on vil's results before his eyes widened as he exclaimed, "good lord~~~ how stable!"
f/n's eyes slightly widened as ortho said, "magical variety, incantation speed, magical power, everything is way above average." the military officer hummed and said, "his offence and defence aren't exceptionally good nor bad..."
"if i remember correctly, vil-shi didn't take special magical classes until enrolling in night raven college... taking all that into consideration, these results are astounding," spoke idia. "his physical and mental well-being are stable, and his blot accumulation is not affected by stressors, too," added f/n.
"he'll do so well as a tank!" exclaimed idia.
"i feel you! he won't be able to lead the party well if he doesn't possess sound judgement, vil schoenheit is the perfect tank," responded ortho.
"plus, vii's unique magic causes continuous debuffs. it's important to note that he possesses more magical power and can withstand more battles before running out," added f/n. "i'd hate to co-op with him irl, though... but i won't mind playing them in-game, hihi!"
"ah, right... shall we continue with subject b and subject d?"