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"Test? Is this to do with the contents of the Absolute Contract we signed...?"

"That\'s right."

When we originally signed the Absolute Contract, one of the main conditions was that Selina would use her Measurement for my sake whenever I demanded it.

Of course, one of the counter-conditions that she and Minami listed, who oversaw the contract, was that Selina could refuse to heed my demand at any time, so long as the use of her Measurement involved a third party.

For example, if I told her to use it on me, she would have no choice but to comply, but if I told her to use it on anyone else, even be it herself, she would have a decision whether to do so or not.

It may not seem like such a big deal at a glance; after all, if her power was something beneficial to the target, why should she use it on someone else, and if it was something that harmed the target, why would she let me force her to use it on herself?

However, to me, it wasn\'t that simple; in fact, it could be considered a rather huge problem.

You see, Selina\'s power was something that has the potential to be both beneficial and harmful to the target based on her will.

My only being able to make her use it on myself means that I only have control over the beneficial part of her power and not the harmful part.

Of course, this was an intentional design by Minami to ensure that I didn\'t exploit Selina\'s power and force her to harm others against her will, but it felt quite constricting as the one in control.

For the upcoming battle in two weeks, Selina will become a vital part of my force; as I said before: if I want to win, I need her to perform.

So, if possible, I want to get her used to using the harmful aspect of her power.

Specifically, using it on people.

That\'s the end goal, but since I\'m confident Selina isn\'t ready to go that far just yet, I\'ll settle with getting her used to using the beneficial part of her power for now.

"Oh, this is sudden... Alright. What would you like me to do...?"

The two of us stood in the middle of the underground Field Area where Sana usually trains. She wasn\'t here right now since I wanted Selina to focus, however, so only we two were present.

Evidently not prepared for the sudden test I had thrust upon her, Selina was staring at me anxiously. She would soon realise there was no need to be so tense, though, so I ignored it and continued.

"From now on, I\'ll be helping you with training. I\'ve been meaning to do this for a while, but it\'s finally time to get you used to using your powers. Use your Measurement on my arm. "

Understanding my intentions and understanding that it was her responsibility after signing the contract, Selina nodded her head without confusion.

She receives freedom and my protection, I get to use her Measurement how I please―such was the scheme of our deal when summarised.

"But... How do I...? Oh! Y-you don\'t want me to do that to you, do you? If so, I\'m sorry, but I refuse..."

Confirming that she didn\'t want to use her power to harm anyone, even if I requested it personally, I sighed inwardly and took something out of my pocket.

"Alright."

It was a folding knife.

Slash-!

"Then heal me."

Slicing a large gash across my left forearm without hesitation, I demanded Selina take action.

"Eek! C-Cipher, you...!"

Reflexively closing her eyes at the sight of profuse amounts of blood being spilt, Selina tried to erase the vision from her inner mind to no avail. Such actions inevitably only served to make the image more vivid, and when one sense was shut down, the others only grew stronger.

"G-geh... Ha-hang in there! Oh, goodness..."

Being in such close proximity to the fresh blood in front of her, it was natural for Selina to gag as a sheltered girl who had never so much as stubbed a toe in her life.

Maybe it was because she was simply inexperienced and didn\'t know how to hide her inner thoughts, but I could read her like a book.

Why did he do that? How much must it hurt? Why is there so much blood? The smell is so strong. It\'s dripping to the ground, forming a puddle. It\'s so bright. He\'s losing so much blood. Is he going to be okay? It looks bad. Will he die? If he dies, will it be my fault? What\'s going to happen? It\'s scary...

Her paling face proved the faint-headedness she felt to be real, but this was no time for such dilly-dallying.

...Especially when all the precious blood being lost was my own.

"Don\'t just stand there picking your nose. Are you going to heal me or what?"

"A-ah! H-h-he-heal, yes! Quickly!

Bringing her back to reality with my words, she finally did something and brought her trembling hands together and placed them just above my wounded arm.

Ding~~!

As a soft, greenish-gold glow suddenly appeared from her palms, a resounding chime rang out and my pain began to rapidly diminish.

I released the tension in my toes, unclenched my tight fists, and ceased the gritting of my teeth as the pain and discomfort all disappeared like an illusion.

"..."

"Are you okay?! I-I\'m sorry, I should have acted sooner..."

Not responding to her, who had already become tearful, I merely stared at my arm with a blank face; it had already been completely restored as if it had never been injured in the first place.

Since that chime sounded, how long had passed? Five, ten seconds? It was no more than fifteen, that\'s for sure, and yet the result...

"...Selina."

My voice low, I called her.

"Y-yes. I\'m sorry--"

"No, don\'t apologise."

I interrupted her self-blame and turned my gaze to her.

There was only one thing I had to say.

"Good job. You pass."

Like that, I experienced the power of the Measurement of Life for the first time.

❖─────❖─────❖

"―Ugh, crap... You sure we have the right place? This place is an utter shithole. You really ain\'t trickin\' me, right?"

Casting a suspicious glance my way, Sophie Asanami and I stood before an old and cheap hotel, covering her body―specifically her chest―with her coat as if trying to obstruct something.

"Why do you keep asking stupid questions? There\'s no need for me to trick you for anything, is there?"

As if embarrassed by my words, her face flushed with widened eyes.

"Sh-shut your trap, bastard! Just cause ya know, it doesn\'t give ya the right to say stuff like that...!"

I honestly had no clue what she was going on about, but she seemed unable to meet my eyes. Either way, this wasn\'t really a time for messing around, so I ignored what she was doing and entered the building that seemed like it could collapse any day now.

Without a choice, Sophie reluctantly followed me inside, muttering curses to herself.

"Hm."

Even the interior of the building appeared dilapidated, though admittedly slightly less so than the outside. It was a place located on the very outskirts of Weinstell; a place no one with any semblance of sanity would dare to spend the night alone.

More precisely, a place where only the desperate would gather.

As we walked through the hotel\'s lobby, there were a surprising amount of people lazing around.

Perhaps they had nothing better to do or were simply fried out of their minds on drugs, but the ones who weren\'t staring blankly into space had their gazes pinned on the two of us newcomers.

It was easy to judge by the quality of our clothing and even the smoothness of our skin, but we were obviously not from around here, and when it came to places with a lot of deprived and desperate people, people like us make prime targets.

Well, there was no chance they would be able to do something anyway, so I wasn\'t worried about it.

"H-hey, seriously, are you sure it\'s the right place? Like, sure sure."

That evidently wasn\'t the case for Sophie, however, who clung to me like a mouse and whispered anxiously to me.

"It\'s fine, don\'t worry about it."

"How can you say that? Just look at these guys..."

The chances of me convincing her that there was no reason to worry were zero, so I didn\'t bother with it. Instead, I confidently walked up to the reception and put a handful of coins on the counter.

"Room for two."

The receptionist, a lanky man with hollowed eyes, stared at me for a brief moment before glancing at the money, nodding and handing me a key labelled \'107\'.

Needless to say, I had no real intention to stay a night at this forsaken place; the reason for paying for a room was so that they wouldn\'t get pissed at me for just coming in without spending money.

If I did that, the likelihood was high that they would start needlessly interfering with my business.

In other words, it was harassment prevention. It was such an insignificant amount of money that its presence in my wallet was unnoticeable anyway, so the fact of spending it or not didn\'t have an influence on my plans.

Sophie attached herself to my arm even tighter than before as we traversed deeper into shady territory. The many pairs of eyes left our backs as we left the lobby and ascended the terribly creaky staircase made of what appeared to be rotten wood, but the unnerving silence only served to creep her out more.

"Fuck, I don\'t like this place at all. Gives me bad horror story vibes, y\'know. Tell me we\'re leaving soon?"

I didn\'t quite understand the analogy, but I had the feeling that Sophie felt much worse about the situation than she was letting on.

"That\'s up to him."

"...Speaking of which, who is it we\'re even supposed to be meeting? Asshole, you haven\'t explained nothin\' yet."

Pouting, she still clung to me while complaining.

"Well... You\'ll see. I don\'t think you\'ll be disappointed."

She snorted with a smirk; as if to imply my words were ridiculous.

"Heh. If it\'s someone livin\' in a place like this, I don\'t see how I could be amazed at all... Unless it was at how resilient someone can be to endure it for so long."

Saying that with a tone that seemed to say it was impossible, she then became quiet.

Arriving at a room that wasn\'t the one our key was meant for, I knocked twice on the door; again, it was carved from wood and something that looked to fall over if I knocked with too much force.

I sensed movement on the other side of the door, and after about twenty seconds, it slowly opened along with Sophie\'s widened eyes.

"...!"

Recalling the plan I had thought up before, I once again felt an irresistible grin begin to emerge.

"...Oscar...? Sophie, too... What are you guys doing here...?"

"It\'s been a while, right?"

Looking at the guy in front of me, who seemed to have gone through the worst of times since I last saw him, I suddenly became excited to get things going.

"You look like shit, Tarou."

I greeted him with a smile.