Chapter 9: The Spotlight of the Model Student

“Well then, let’s get started! First, what I want Itsuki-kun to do is resonate with the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ that I showed you earlier. Just like with ‘Kaijutsu’ and ‘Shijutsu,’ you can’t use ‘Resonance’ if you can’t use this. It’s the most fundamental of basics!”

“How can I do it?”

“Well, first you intertwine the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ like this…”

While saying that, Professor Shirayuki intertwined the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate.’

It kind of feels like watching a cat’s cradle.

“And then, you align the wavelengths of the threads.”

“Yes, Professor!”

I raised my hand to stop the professor.

“What’s wrong?”

“How do you align the wavelengths?”

“By intuition…”

When I asked Professor Shirayuki how to align the wavelengths because I didn’t understand, she unexpectedly responded with something about perseverance.

How absurd.

“Y-You should give it a try too, Itsuki-kun. No, if you don’t, I don’t think you’ll understand!”

“…Really?”

In response to my question, the professor vigorously nodded.

“For example, let’s say, Itsuki-kun, do you have music lessons in elementary school?”

I nodded silently.

I wondered how music lessons were related to ‘Resonance,’ but the professor continued with a smile.

“I think you have choir practice in music class, right? Have you ever felt that your voice and your friends’ voices overlap and resonate?”

“…Y-Yes, I have.”

I haven’t had such an experience in the present world, but I did in my past life.

That being said, the last time I had such an experience was during a high school choir competition…

“It’s similar to that. It’s something that can’t be explained in words, but you’ll understand once you try it.”

I see.

Now that it’s mentioned, it’s true that the sensation of voices resonating is difficult to explain in words. But if you try it, you’ll understand. If resonance with the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ is something similar, then I won’t know until I give it a try.

…Then, I’ll give it a try.

No sooner said than done, I created the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ with my right and left hands respectively, and overlapped them in my hands. However… nothing happened. I didn’t feel any change. It was just the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ intertwining.

“I-Itsuki-kun, how is it? Were you able to do it?”

“…No, it didn’t work, sensei. The threads are just intertwining.”

As I said that, Professor Shirayuki smiled brightly.

“I-It’s okay! The fact that you understand that means you know it’s not ‘resonating’! And if that’s the case, it means you’ll understand the sensation of ‘resonance’ later on. Please have confidence. I-I believe you can do it, Itsuki-kun!”

While being mysteriously praised by the professor, I once again directed my gaze at the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate.’

There, my ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ was tangled up like a wired earphone I had put in my pocket. Come to think of it, I wonder if modern elementary school students know about wired earphones. I’ve never had one in my pocket that didn’t get tangled up.

Thinking about such pointless things, I took a deep breath and exhaled.

…Let’s concentrate properly.

And once again, I intertwined the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate.’

Even if they say to align the wavelengths…

I couldn’t help but grimace.

If we’re talking about using our voice, I can easily achieve ‘resonance’ when it comes to knowing how to produce high or low pitches instinctively. But with the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate,’ I don’t know how to do it, so even if they tell me to do it “by intuition,” I can’t.

I’m troubled.

Is there any way I can grasp the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ by intuition?

In the first place, what does it feel like to handle the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’? It’s the sensation of magic since it’s made of magical power.

And when it comes to the sensation of magical power, I can only think of its intensity or subtlety. Although I can’t come up with anything concrete, the moment I thought about it, something crossed my mind.

I feel like I did something similar somewhere…

If I think back, I won’t forget.

It was the ‘Alchemy of Elements’ that I did during the special training with Nina-chan.

That magic involved separating heavy magical power from light magical power and transforming the ‘heavy magical power’ into fairies… But in this case of ‘resonance,’ it’s the opposite. Rather, could it be about homogenizing the irregularities within the magical power, aligning the wavelengths?

In a sense, it’s beyond the ‘Kaijutsu’ technique.

If I can completely homogenize the magical power, wouldn’t it ‘resonate’?

It’s an idea that could be called a flash of inspiration, although I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to call it that. But it seems worth trying.

I brought the magical power from my belly to both hands and performed the ‘Kaijutsu’ technique in my hands. It’s a familiar move, a quick shot of magic. I usually do it to release light magical power, but this time, I’m doing it to create a regular ‘Guiding Thread Silvate.’

Then, I extended the created ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ and intertwined it in my hands.

Now, how will this turn out?

The next moment, a strange sensation struck both of my hands.

How can I describe that sensation?

It’s as if the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ in my hands is vibrating on its own, sending shivers through my hands. I understand that there are two ‘Guiding Thread Silvate,’ but if I relax, it feels like there’s only one, creating a sense of wonder.

Surprised by that sensation, I unintentionally separated the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ from each other.

The next moment, the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ emitted a faint rainbow-colored light and split apart.

…Could it be that I did it?

“It’s…difficult, isn’t it? The key is to put the same amount of force when creating the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’…like that.”

“Sensei.”

“Yes, what is it!?”

Startled by my call, Sensei turned around, shaking her body. At this rate, I won’t be able to tell who’s the teacher… I thought, but I continued.

“Maybe… I did it.”

“What!? B-but, we’ve only been practicing for 10 minutes…”

Glancing at the clock, Sensei saw that it was 9:45.

“Actually, I’ve done something similar with another magic before…”

“I see… So, that’s what it is?”

Sensei seemed initially convinced, but as she spoke, her suspicion turned into a quiet tilt of the head.

However, the truth is, it didn’t happen in just 10 minutes. It was just a coincidence that it stuck together due to the ‘Fairy Magic’ I had practiced with Nina-chan.

…I should practice various kinds of magic.

As I deeply felt that, Sensei took out a new apple model and a real apple from her bag.

“If… if you’re able to ‘resonate,’ then I think it should feel the same as what I did earlier… Itsuki-kun, please try breaking the apple in a similar way.”

Upon Sensei’s suggestion, I created the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ again, using the same feeling as before.

Then, I wrapped it around both the model and the real apple.

Wrapping it around, I extended the thread and intertwined them.

But it failed. They simply intertwined without any effect.

However, the moment I wrapped it around the model and the apple, there was a slight sensation of the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ vibrating. That’s why it failed, I thought, pondering in the back of my mind, and I temporarily released the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate.’

Then, once again, I wrapped it around the apple… extending the thread and intertwining them.

In the next moment, I felt a tingling sensation in my hands.

It was the same sensation as the one when I succeeded.

After perceiving that sensation, I cut the thread.

At that moment, the ‘Guiding Thread Silvate’ emitted a rainbow-colored light just before it was cut.

“… How… how is it?”

“I’ll give it a try.”

In response to Sensei’s worried gaze, I replied briefly and looked down at the apples. Then, I cast magic towards one of them.

It was a familiar ‘Attribute Transformation: Blade’ that delivered a clean slash.

The moment the real apple was cleanly bisected, the model apple was also neatly severed.

With a satisfying sound, both apples were cleanly cut.

“I did it.”

“I-it worked…”

Both Sensei and I uttered the same words.

It worked.

It really worked…

The success came more easily than I had anticipated, so I stared at the broken apple with a hint of doubt.

However, no matter how I looked at it, even though only one side of each apple was sliced, both of them were cut into exactly the same shape.

This was the foundation of ‘resonance,’ and it was a success.

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