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

Events are often sudden and unexpected.

Every day is spent in peace and quiet. But even in those times, things happen when they do. That's just the way it is. I don't want to say anything instructive. But this story has given me a sense of destiny.

"A strange death........incident?

I know.

How did he die?

They say he died of shock due to excessive bleeding, but...

But?

There is none.

What's that?

The scars and the organs.

Was it removed?

They did an autopsy on the body and found no evidence of organ removal.

So how do you propose to do it?

That's why we have a weird death.

The timing of this is...

You had nothing to do with the whole thing with the traitor thing, right?

Eira-senpai and I were discussing in the briefing room of the 7th Special Squadron. Right now it was just me and my senior and we were waiting for the other squad members. Just then, my senpai brought a story to me that was serious.

A strange death case. In this bounded city, crime exists. Murder cases are not zero. But a case of strange deaths was rare, or rather.......this was the first time I heard of it. Even though it was a hemorrhagic shock death, there were no scars, and in addition, there were no organs. In other words, the killer didn't just kill the person. It's understandable that the killer used some special method to cause his death.

While I was chatting with my seniors, the other members of the team came in.

''Well we're all here. This time, before we go to the twilight, we're going to share information. As some of you may already know, a strange death incident occurred in the Seventh Boundary City. The cause of death is unknown. The corpse had no external injuries, but a lot of blood and organs were missing. There were no mutilated parts. The culprit is still unknown.

'Colonel, do you have any evidence of this?

Lieutenant Bates asks that, but the colonel gives him a reluctant look.

''........No, no. We don't know anything........that's the way it is. By the way, the estimated time of death was around 2 a.m. yesterday. So don't go around at night. However, we may have a job to patrol the city. That's the job of the Military Police, but if armed intervention is required, we'll be there. Just be prepared. All right.

Copy that.

That's the end of the story, and we went into the twilight as usual.

◇

....

Today's battle is going to be using a compound dagger, the Multiple Knife. I took it out of my breast pocket and activated the ordinary Invisible Blade first as usual. And then flash the monster in front of me. After all, the expression process was faster than ever before, and I thought it was easier to handle. The Invisible Sword Invisible Blade requires magical elements to maintain or change its shape. It doesn't require a large amount, but it's an image that is slowly diminishing. But this complex dagger is more efficient in transmitting the magic element, or perhaps it is able to activate the Invisible Blade with less magic element than usual, or even more than usual.

And I release the true value of this knife.

''-- Burst!

Then, countless blades spread out as if they were spreading out to pierce the demon in front of me as if they were spreading out. I'm currently fighting a ghoul, a humanoid demon, and the effect is outstanding. When the invisible blades pierce several ghouls at once, they scream in pain.

There's no way I'm going to miss that opportunity, so I release my bursting "burst" state and charge straight into them. With the momentum, I cut off his head.

Fufu.........

Julia, you're doing great.

''Senior. Well, yes, my new weapon looks good.

Is that what you got from the tech department?

''Yes. It's called a Compound Dagger, or Multiple Knife, and the knife has countless thornlike projections embedded in it.

'Oh that's why there was a hole in the ground like that.

Yes,

As the two of us were talking about this, the Colonel said that was it for today, so we were going to return to the Seventh Warding City from the danger zone level 3.

'Hey, that's Shelly and Miss Bell.

I guess so.

Safely, when I got back to the military base, I found Shelly and Mr. Bell training on the exercise field. However, neither of them moved slightly. I can't help but look at them, wondering what they're doing.

''Haaaaaaah!

....

A flash. Shelly pulled out the taijutsuji that she held in her waist and pulled out her sword. But in the next moment, she was caught by Bell-san's tathagata.

''Eh........Senpai, did you see that?''

He doesn't see you.

Mr. Bell is a great guy.

Well, without taking into account his personality and all, I'd say he's second on the list.

The current Mr. Bell doesn't have the same lack of confidence that he had the last time we met. That said, if you ask me if she is full of confidence, it's not so much that she is, on the contrary. He just has a quiet, serene appearance. There is no emotion in his eyes. A dark, blank stare, a unique atmosphere that seems to swallow everything. You could feel it even at this distance. I wonder how much pressure Sherry is facing.

'Well, I'll be going. See you later, Julia.

Yes. Thanks for your help.

The older man seemed to walk away, but I was curious so I decided to watch some more.

'Well ... much ... much ... better ... Shelly ...'

''No, I'm not there yet... and I'm always easily beaten like this...''

The.... well... fine... and the sword muscles are quite good. What's going on?　

Oh, really?

I'm not good at talking but I'm not going to lie to you... am I?

It looks like the two of us are talking about something. I don't want to interrupt them, so let's get going. And I also left the place.

◇

Hey, Julia!

Nick. What a surprise.

All right. Come on, let's take a bath together.

I like it.

I was just about to break a sweat. Nick's invitation was the best timing. I was getting used to living here, and I'd developed a certain amount of relationships with other people. And Nick often invites me to various places like this, as if he's paying attention to me in some way.

'Huh ... where were you today?'

I'm on level 3. Well, it's always the same.

As expected of you. So level 3 is the same as usual...

How far do Nick and his friends usually go?

'We're a good level 2. I've been to 3 a few times, but I still don't think we're good enough. I feel like we're not good enough, man.

''I see.......it's true that level 3 is pretty strong.

Do you feel that way about Julia?

''Hmm. There's no chance of losing in one-on-one combat, but after all, most of the battles in the twilight are group battles. It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for. It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

I'm pretty sure that's a consequence of the Twilight Syndrome.

'Maybe. I'm not sure what caused it, but since I went to the twilight, it stopped working... maybe it did.

''I see... no, I thought special class anti-magicians were invincible, but there's a lot going on.

'Well, I'm only human. I have my limits.

Ha, you're not.

Nick and I would sit next to each other in the large bathroom and discuss various aspects of our current situation. It had already become a habit to talk and laugh with him in this way. After that we talked about the strange death case.

Did you hear about the strange deaths?

Yeah. Maybe there's a traitor involved.

'Right. I think so, but...

'It's a bad idea to come out here and be out in the open... isn't it?

That's right. Now is the time to hide. The whole army is scared to death of this place. It's not a rational time to take action.

Is it someone else, or did you dare to...

Do I have to?

Well, that's a bit inconclusive at this point.

Yes.

We didn't take this matter lightly. But this is the beginning. No.........it's not over. The scars of that attack are still fresh in the minds of humanity.