After the previous conversation had calmed down, new notifications began to appear one by one.
[Hatsune Miku]:
By the way, Yuuto…
how's your magic training going? 🎵
Is everything going smoothly?
[Kuroneko]:
Yeah, you haven't told us anything.
And did you already find your trigger?
A few seconds passed before Yuuto replied.
[Yuuto Kido]:
Everything is going smoothly.
I've already mastered mana control.
[Lady Avalon]:
Hahahaha! There's no need to worry when I am the teacher.
Anything is possible. ✨
---
[Kuroneko]:
So how far have you gotten, Yuuto?
[Yuuto Kido]:
Right now, I'm learning the basics of the bounded field.
---
[Kuroneko]:
Ohhh~ and your trigger?
Don't tell me… it's the same as Emiya. 😏
[Yuuto Kido]:
I don't know who this Emiya is,
but my trigger is… a finger snap.
---
[Kuroneko]:
Ooh~ so we've got a Roy Mustang of the Nasuverse here. 🔥✨
Interesting.
---
Soon, more notifications came in.
[Irene Belserion]:
Trigger?
Bounded field?
Mana control?
What does all of that mean? 🤨
---
[Kuroneko]:
Hahaha, I knew you'd be confused.
Alright, I'll explain slowly.
Do you still remember when I explained what mana is?
---
[Irene Belserion]:
Yes.
It was surprising—
in your world and Yuuto's, "magic power" is called mana,
while in our world… no one uses that term.
---
[Kuroneko]:
Right, that's the foundation.
As for the rest—trigger, mana control, bounded field—
it's better to leave that to the expert.
Merlin-sensei, please explain. 🙏
---
[Lady Avalon]:
Me?!
---
[Kuroneko]:
Of course.
You're the most knowledgeable about magic in this group. 😌
---
There was a brief pause.
Then a reply appeared, elegant yet resigned.
[Lady Avalon]:
…Fine, fine.
Then listen carefully.
I will explain. ✨
But this will only cover the bounded field.
---
Yuuto stared at the screen of his flip phone for a moment, watching the first lines of Merlin's explanation scroll in—long, dense, and full of complicated terms.
He sighed softly.
"Merlin-sensei gets way too excited when it comes to magic…" he muttered.
But his eyelids were growing heavy.
His new body—stronger, denser, full of energy—also made fatigue hit him all at once after a day full of learning.
He slowly closed the phone.
"Tomorrow is Monday…"
He glanced at the Touko doll standing in the corner of the room, its face identical to his old self.
"I still need to prepare a few things for that doll… so everything goes smoothly tomorrow."
Yuuto lay down on his bed.
Slowly, he pulled the blanket over his body.
The dim lamp cast his shadow on the wall—the shadow of Arthur Pendragon, King of Knights.
But the quiet breath that followed belonged to a normal youth named Yuuto Kido.
"I hope everything goes well…" he whispered, eyes closing.
And without realizing it, the world faded.
Yuuto fell asleep.
Peacefully.
Deeply.
While the flip phone on his desk kept vibrating softly—Merlin still explaining endlessly, unaware her student had already sunk into dreams.
---
Morning sunlight filtered through the thin curtains of Yuuto's room.
He had just finished bathing and eating breakfast, yet something made him pinch the bridge of his nose.
"This is… pretty concerning…" he muttered while staring at his empty plate.
Three servings of bread, two eggs, and instant soup—he had eaten all of it without noticing.
"I'm eating too much… my allowance won't survive this."
He slumped back in his chair, sighing deeply.
"It seems the dragon core didn't just increase my physical stats… my appetite also skyrocketed."
Yuuto glanced at his hands, then at his stomach, frustrated.
"I need to find a part-time job… something that pays quickly and still lets me practice magic."
But after five minutes of trying to think, he raised both hands in surrender.
"Aaaah! Forget it for now. What's more important is preparing… him."
Yuuto stood and looked at the still figure in the corner of his room—the Touko doll that resembled a real human.
The doll straightened up as Yuuto approached.
He touched its shoulder, checking the stability of the mana link.
"Alright, you know what to do, right?"
His tone was firm, like a commander issuing orders.
The doll nodded softly—its movement smooth, natural.
Yuuto continued,
"Go to school, follow the usual routine.
Don't show any physical changes.
And most importantly…"
He reached for his phone, opened the gallery, and displayed two familiar faces.
One expressive, flirtatious, cheerful.
The other serious, intelligent, the class-representative type.
Yuuto exhaled slowly, tension flickering in his eyes.
"…do not interact with these two."
The doll nodded again—firmer this time.
Yuuto stared at the photos in silence.
There was a story behind the faint bitterness in his eyes… but it was not something he wished to deal with today.
"Good. You may go."
The Touko doll bowed slightly—a polite gesture that felt almost too human—before walking toward the door.
Yuuto watched until the handle turned.
Click.
The footsteps faded down the corridor, heading to school, perfectly performing the role of "the old Yuuto Kido."
Yuuto stood still for several seconds… then released a long breath.
"Alright… that's taken care of."
He stretched a little, feeling he had wrapped up his morning tasks.
"Now…"
He turned, looking at his apartment room—which resembled a small shipwreck.
Clothes everywhere.
Magic study papers.
Unwashed containers.
And dust thick enough to write "please clean me."
Yuuto massaged his forehead.
"Ah—I forgot. I should've told the doll to clean this place…"
He stared blankly at the ceiling.
"Why am I only thinking of this now…"
He shrugged.
"Whatever. When it comes back from school later, it can handle the cleaning."
He grabbed his flip phone, sat on his bed, and opened the app.
"Alright, daily login."
Click.
[Ding]
[Login Reward: Mama Emiya's Cookbook]
Yuuto froze.
"…Huh?"
He stared at the screen for a solid three seconds.
"C-Cookbook… mama… who???"
His eyebrows shot up.
Yuuto ran a hand through his hair, then suddenly—
"Hm?"
A memory from last night surfaced like a flash.
"Kuroneko did say something like… 'a trigger like Emiya.'
Emiya… Emiya…"
He stared again at the notification.
"Mama Emiya…?
Maybe she knows something about this person."
"I should ask the group.
Just in case this is… some cursed object."
Feeling slightly anxious, he opened the Chat Group.
"Please… don't let this be something weird again…" he muttered as he scrolled.
He saw Irene's latest message.
[Irene Belserion]:
So that technique creates a small personal space only the magus can sense, yes?
Hmm… the concept is similar to magical barriers in our world, except more… complicated.
If you make even one mistake, it can explode, right?
Human magic truly is strange.
---
Yuuto blinked slowly.
"…They're still talking about bounded fields, huh? They're really taking this seriously," he murmured.
He scrolled a little, rereading Irene's comment.
Her tone was the same: blunt, critical, slightly condescending, but genuinely curious.
Yuuto could imagine Irene standing with her arms crossed, brow furrowed, analyzing the mechanics of bounded fields as if evaluating a new recipe.
"Explode… yeah, let's hope I don't end up like that."
Yuuto swallowed hard.