Chapter 10: Special Training: Resonance (Part 1)

“Um, well…”

The teacher looked perplexed as she gazed at the neatly sliced apple.

Finally, it seemed she found the words and hesitantly spoke.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect Itsuki-kun to be able to do it this quickly.”

“…Neither did I.”

Rather than it being easier to ‘resonate’ than he had anticipated, he never thought that what he was doing with ‘Alchemy Elements’ could be directly applied.

Perhaps, I think I’m just as surprised as Professor Shirayuki.

“P-Please wait a moment!”

Professor Shirayuki said so and took out the notebook she had been looking at until earlier, flipping through its pages.

She must be searching for what to do next within the notebook.

She’s a serious teacher, huh? That’s what I think as I shift my gaze outside the window.

There, junior exorcists of middle school age were lined up and being made to run on the grounds. Watching them was my father. It seems they’re doing warm-up exercises.

“It-Itsuki-kun, let’s resume the lesson!”

As I absentmindedly stared out the window, the teacher called out to me.

I redirected my gaze back to the classroom, and Professor Shirayuki, seemingly having found the relevant section, lifted her eyes from the notebook with a pleased expression.

She’s an easy-to-understand teacher, I thought as I nodded enthusiastically.

“Please go ahead!”

“Actually, I was planning to spend a whole day teaching you the fundamentals of the previous ‘resonance.’ I didn’t expect you to be able to do it this quickly… But if you’ve accomplished it, let’s move on to the next step!”

While saying such things, Professor Shirayuki took out a baseball and an apple next.

What’s this all about? Completely different in shape and size.

“When you tried it earlier, Itsuki-kun, I think you realized that things with similar properties resonate very easily. But how about this?”

Saying that, Professor Shirayuki placed both of them on my desk.

“Since a baseball is a ball, it’s a sphere, right? But, um, don’t you think the apple also appears to be spherical?”

“…Yeah.”

Though I had some doubts about Professor Shirayuki’s words, I nodded in agreement.

Well, if you were asked about the shape of an apple, you would answer “sphere,” right?

Certainly not a “cube” for an apple.

However, there is still an issue.

“But, Sensei, the apple and the ball, even though their shapes are similar, they are a bit different, aren’t they?”

“That’s a good question. Now, Itsuki-kun, do you know about ‘Keishiro’?”

The apple and the baseball aren’t really similar, right? As I was about to ask that, a question that seemed to anticipate it was posed in return.

“…Keishiro?”

“Yes, Keishiro, the Shape Substitute.”

Keishiro? It’s not “Shoulder White.”

I wonder what kind of kanji is used for that?

I can’t tell from just the words.

“Like this.”

Saying so, Professor Shirayuki took out a piece of paper placed inside a clear file.

But it wasn’t just a flimsy sheet of paper. It was cut into the shape of a person. It reminded me of something I had seen in a past manga. It was a piece of paper with a shape that seemed to be used by Onmyoji or something.

Oh, could it be that the paper is called Keishiro, the Shape Substitute?

Wait, so that’s something you put in a clear file??

As I was pondering such trivial matters, the teacher continued.

“This is something called ‘Keishiro,’ which exorcists used around… well, about a thousand years ago. Doesn’t it resemble a human form in some way?”

“I can see it.”

“The exorcists used these ‘Keishiro’ that resembled human forms to resonate with ‘ma’ (evil spirits) and exorcise them, or defeat political enemies.”

Defeat political enemies?

“This is made of paper, and it certainly resembles a human form to some extent, but the shape, material, and size… they are completely different, aren’t they? However, they did resonate with humans. So, Itsuki-kun, if it’s a ‘resonance’ similar to that of an apple and a ball, don’t you feel like you can do it?”

I shifted my gaze from the ‘Keishiro’ in the clear file to the apple and ball on the desk.

Comparing it to the similarities between ‘Keishiro’ and humans, it does seem much closer and easier.

It feels that way, but the phrase “defeat political enemies” that the teacher mentioned casually catches my attention.

However, now is not the time to lose focus. I need to concentrate on the class.

“I’ll give it a try…!”

“T-This is difficult, you know!”

I created ‘Guiding Threads Silvate’ with both hands and wrapped them around the apple and ball. And at the moment I tried to ‘resonate,’ I failed. The failure was clear. As soon as I wrapped them, the sensation blurred.

So I tried again, but the second attempt also failed.

…This is actually quite difficult, isn’t it?

After taking a deep breath, I once again tackled the task in front of me.

“The apple and the model earlier had very similar characteristics. After all, their appearance, shape, and size were almost identical. The only difference was the material… s-so it’s the very basics of ‘resonance.'”

As I adjusted the fluctuations in magical power mixed into the ‘Guiding Threads Silvate,’ the soft voice of Professor Shirayuki resonated.

“But in practical situations, you won’t have models of monsters or life-sized human figures. That’s why we use things that are just a little bit similar for ‘resonance.’ Without doing that, ‘resonance’ won’t be practical in real combat.”

While repeating failures with my hands in motion, I nodded to Professor Shirayuki’s words.

Certainly, that’s true.

When you’re facing a monster head-on, you don’t have time to take out a monster model. In fact, if you had such an opening, it would be faster to simply cast a spell.

…Well, no wonder ‘resonance’ isn’t popular.

As I listened to the voices of the students practicing martial arts on the grounds, that thought crossed my mind.

If you can’t use magic normally or if you’re immature in using it, it’s obvious that you would grow as an exorcist by undergoing training from my father or Renji-san.

While I was thinking about such things, Professor Shirayuki leaned forward slightly and spoke.

“I-If I were to say it, what we did until now was the ‘resonance’ practice section! From here on, it’s the practical section!! Do your best, Itsuki-kun!”

“I-I’ll do my best…!”

Feeling pressured by the professor, I nodded and then focused on adjusting the amount of magical power once again.

Well, this is difficult. It might be easier to decide on a more rough estimate like ‘about this much’ rather than consciously adjusting the magical power.

By continuously moving my hands, a glimmer of hope began to emerge.

After spending a good three hours since I started, I managed to successfully achieve the ‘resonance’ between the apple and the ball.

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