An outcast dropout, surviving on the frontier and rising to become an S-ranked counter-magician.

March. We've left the first ward city since then, and we've come to level 1 of the twilight danger zone. However, we haven't encountered any demons yet, but we can't let our guard down. We can't afford to be careless, because we don't have time to be careless at any time and place.

"...Dusk...

I blurted out. We are currently divided into platoons. I'm in the first platoon, and I'm at the head of the platoon. Formation has not changed since the time of the squad. The vanguard is an antimagician who specializes in proximity, and the rear guard is an antimagician who specializes in magic.

And now I'm moving forward with Noah, that and Belle-san.

''Hey, Yulia-san. What's the twilight like?

Is this your first time with Noah?

Yes.

'Well you shouldn't be too careful. This world is a world of the weak and the strong. Anything is possible.

Hmm. Right.

Noah doesn't have any fear, he just walks next to me. Even the troops behind him are looking at him quizzically. And so it is. And so is the fact that a child is walking next to me, just a child. This usually raises a question in everyone's mind. The content of the notice is that they want to introduce a talented antimagician on an experimental basis, but.......what is his presence really?

An existence that appeared suddenly. He is said to have solved the perpetual motion engine, which is considered to be the most difficult of the three major problems. I've heard that Mr. Bell has confirmed this with his own eyes, but after all, a picture is worth a thousand words. Until I see it with my own eyes, I doubt his abilities.

''Mr. Bell....um....''

I sneakily talk to Belle-san. Speaking of Noah, on the other hand, he's talking to the other members of the squad right now, so the timing is just right. Right now we are still level 1, so the overall tension is not that high. In the first place, all the special level anti-magicians are participating in this operation. Up to twilight level 3, roughly, it could be considered okay.

''Are you sure it's okay?''

Noah's... thing...?

Yes, sir.

''I ... saw it with my own eyes and I'm sure of it ... that girl's abilities could reach the level of a special class anti-magician ... only the main thing is like magic ... but ...''

Have you seen the perpetual motion engine?

"...yeah. He says it's called the PMC theory...

PMC theory.

I've never heard the word before. I wonder what the hell it stands for, and as soon as I think about it, Mr. Bell tells me.

"PMC theory (Theory) stands for Perpetual Motion of Code which is apparently a theory that is necessary to form a perpetual motion engine, but look at this.

Is this ... a paper?

Well it seems he put it together.

Let's see.

As I walked, I examined its contents. What I found out was that, theoretically, perpetual motion is possible. Here's what it says in detail.

This is a theory that allows you to use magic infinitely, and if it comes true, you can use magic forever. However, this is a difficult problem because of the nature of magic. Whenever you use magic, you need magical elements.

When you use magic, the magic element will disappear. That's right, it disappears from the world. And the more you use it, the more it is used, the more biased it becomes, and if you continue to use large-scale magic in the same space, it will disappear at some point. Although it rarely happens to the extent that the magic element disappears, there is no doubt that it is still finite. That's why it was assumed that it was impossible to develop a permanent engine. However, if you look at what we have here, he is able to execute that perpetual engine, albeit in a pseudo-permanent way.

It was only within the limited space that Noah created. The name of that space is ....................World Shrinkage, Pycnosis. But that, as I recall, was the name of the transition magic Claudia was using..............but what the hell?

''Mr. Bell, the name "Pycnosis," the World Shrinkage, is........''

I've confirmed that with Lady Liane, but I've also heard that the World Shrinkage Pyknosis refers to a unique spatial region, and that it exists in literature... the question is what the user uses the space for... and for what purpose... in Claudia's case, it's transference... and in Noah's case, it's a pseudo-permanent engine, or PEEMC...

Oh, I see....

Once again, I take a quick look at the paper. I'm not a researcher, so I don't know more about it, but........a pseudo-permanent engine 《PMC》. It seems that it's definitely a magic that can realize a permanent engine.

'I understand it in theory. So what did you think when you saw it in action?

Is that enough...?

I think we should give it a little more time...

Agreed.

I nodded strongly. In this world, it is not enough to just be strong. This is because the state of one's mind, one's mental state, also has a great deal to do with one's strength. How will the young man fight with his mind? At only ten years old, he has little awareness of this world. There are very few children who go out into the twilight.

I went on with Noah's presence on my mind.

I had a premonition that his presence would be the key to this battle. I had a premonition that he would be the key to this battle.