Endless Silver Machine

As long as you concentrate on something, time will pass quickly.

"Hey, thank you for your hard work!"

"It's shift change time."

After handing the sign to the two boys who came to take over the work, Aika had her first break.

Carlo went back to the store after his shift, while Aika stepped slightly away from the door of the classroom and stood leaning against the wall.

She might not come...

With this uncertain thought, Aika waited nervously.

His worries didn't last long as someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.

"Yo..."

Ling was wearing a pure white apron, her long blond hair was rolled up in a small square scarf, and under the apron was the lining of her uniform that she had taken off her coat.

"What a coincidence."

Aika responded to her greeting somewhat dullly.

"I was just thinking that you might not be able to find anything to do during your break, so I came out to check on you. Don't get me wrong."

Ling said this without looking into Aika's eyes.

"There really isn't anything to do. It's like what you see now, staring at the ceiling in a daze."

"I have indeed seen your idiotic expression." What Ling said today seemed to be more hurtful than usual, "That's just right... I happen to be free now, do you want to come and accompany you?"

"Thank you."

I still won’t reveal her cover here, and agreeing to her words is the best way to deal with it.

"Just walk around here and kill some time..."

It was obviously a reluctant tone, but she took the step before Aika.

"Ling, don't stay too far away from me."

Aika reached out and grabbed Ling's hand, pulling her to her side.

"Huh? What are you doing all of a sudden?"

Ling's first reaction was to try to pull away the hand held by Aika, but it was only the first attempt.

"There are too many people here. It's dangerous to get separated, especially you."

Ling, who originally thought Aika had another purpose and was a little flustered, was immediately discouraged after hearing what he said.

"What, I know this kind of thing, I'm not a child..."

"Is there anywhere you want to go?"

“…I’ve never been in a third-grade classroom.”

"I happened to pass by there a few days ago, and they all looked amazing. Let's go to the third floor and have a look."

"Wait, why are you going to the third grade classroom?"

This time it was Ling who grabbed Aika who was about to leave.

"Abby and Xixi asked me to check their completion level and bring back some reference opinions, which is similar to reconnaissance of the enemy."

Aika directly used the way of describing Senpai Tiruya. After reviewing the actions at that time after such a long time, I found that this statement seems to be the most appropriate.

"That's it..."

Ling seemed to feel relieved, her stiff expression relaxed, and her strength to hold Aika relaxed a lot.

"What's wrong?"

"Well..." Ling shook her head, "No, it's nothing, don't worry about it."

"oh……"

Although the two were holding hands, there was no ambiguous atmosphere at all. Instead, it looked more like Ling was pulling Aika forward.

They walked up a flight of stairs to the third graders' floor.

This floor is still crowded, but it does not appear chaotic. The third graders' guidance skills are indeed very strong.

"The Lion Class is...a convenient magic equipment exhibition?"

Aika browsed the school bulletin board on her PDA. This activity seemed to give little information based on its name.

He asked Ling beside him for his opinion with his eyes.

"Go and see each one."

In fact, Ling is also aimless. No matter what the content of the exhibition is, she will give the same answer.

After waiting in line for a short while, Aika and Ling entered the classroom through the front door.

Like the Twin Class, the Lion Class also uses enchantment magic to expand the space inside the classroom and divide it into different display areas.

"Bravo……"

At the first glance of the interior, Ling couldn't help but sigh.

The reason why the twin classes were unable to achieve this level was because the barrier department had just officially started and it was too heavy a burden to hand over the entire classroom to Wei Xi, so only the space in the cooking room was expanded.

"Oh? You are here too."

Senior Xiaoye, who was doing navigation, noticed two familiar faces coming in from the front door, saying hello and walking towards them.

"Long time no see, Senior Xiaoye."

At this time, Ling would still bow his head and salute the seniors in a polite manner.

"It has indeed been a long time since we last met, Ling-san." The last time they met was when the student union and Aikaweixi returned from the Tebiri Kingdom. "I met Aika not long ago."

"Haha, I was really in a hurry at that time."

"When I went out, I saw you talking to Lilith and Telua for a long time. Are you really not here to see them?"

Aika's hand held by Ling was suddenly grasped tightly with a force that could break bones, but Aika still tried hard not to show the pain.

"Senior Xiaoye... I only talked to them for about a minute..."

On the surface, these words were spoken to Senior Akatsuki, but in fact they were meant to convey to the girl next to him who might draw a sword at any time.

"It seems like that...well, that's right."

Senior Akatsuki glanced at Aika and Ling's clasped hands with ulterior motives, and then kindly rescued him from the immediate crisis.

"Senior Xiaoye, what are the main things on display here?"

The perpetrator, Ling, completely ignored Aika's pain and instead focused on the Lion Class' "Convenient Magic Tools Exhibition."

"Convenient magic tools refer to magic tools that can make life easier, and are essentially different from magic tools used for combat. We collected the uses and development ideas of new magic tools from the whole class, and then the Magic Tools Comprehensive Department I developed it together with students from the Magic Mechanical Department, and thus these things came into being.”

The magic tools on display in Akatsuya-senpai's class have gone beyond the concept of taking lives and become novel props that add luster to daily life. The core component used here is a reduced version of the molecular power circuit, which can store simple magic magic converters and uses the same working principle as ordinary magic tools.

Aika was naturally interested in the new props developed by his predecessors. Each convenient magic tool was operating in different barrier display areas, completely attracting his attention.

"Classmate Aika, I heard the president mentioned that you are a freshman in the Magic Mechanical Department this year, right?"

"Um!"

"Then, I hope our little cleverness can provide you with some new ideas."

"How can you be so clever? These works are really great!"

"Haha, then I'm going to explain it to the other guests. You two, please help yourself."

The students of Shigetsuki Academy are not the main target of their explanations, but the guests from all over the academy.

If you are lucky, you may be able to establish a cooperative relationship with a magic tool production company, which will bring considerable benefits to Shimozuki Academy.

"The third-year seniors are so awesome."

This was Ling's second emotion after entering this classroom.

"We will be third graders in another year, but we will still be far behind compared to them."

Aika smiled to himself. He didn't think he would become so mature in a year.

"It's still possible," Ling said suddenly, "We have changed so much compared to a year ago, so we can't imagine what it will be like a year from now."

"Maybe he has become someone you don't even recognize."

"As long as it's not in a bad direction..."

"It's really not like you to be sentimental."

Aika saw Ling lowering her eyes slightly, so she deliberately stimulated her with ridicule.

"What, just think about the future a little bit. If it really turns out to be like that, you can also be mentally prepared in advance."

Ling immediately hit back at Aika with various reasons that seemed very reasonable.

After leaving the classroom through the back door, Aika noticed a notice on the wall.

"The lion class is linked with the virgin class next door?"

Aika didn't immediately understand what this meant.

"It probably means that the Lion Class' magic tools were actually put into use during the Maiden Class' demonstration event."

"You still have some time left, would you like to drop by and take a look?"

"The virgin class...Tirua-senpai's class."

There was no long queue in front of the door of the Maiden class like the Lion class. Their exhibition was a stage play just like last year, and they were not allowed to enter the venue at will during the performance.

Just when Ling felt regretful, Aika left her side and walked towards the third-year senior sister who was sitting at the back door to guide her.

The two talked from a distance for about half a minute, and then the third-year senior sister gently entered the classroom through the back door.

Only then did Ling walk to Aika's side.

"What are you doing?"

Ling asked puzzledly to Aika, who was acting inexplicably. Ling couldn't hear clearly what he said to the third-year senior sister.

"I asked the senior sister if she could make an exception and let us go in through the back door to visit."

If you just ask, you don't need to communicate for such a long time, and you will definitely be rejected at first.

"If you can't go in, it's okay to come back later if you have time."

"Don't you want to go see it now?"

"I have a little bit of this idea, but there is no need to go to such trouble for me..."

"Actually, it's not a very troublesome negotiation. Senior Lilith is not an actress this time. The senior just asked her if she could agree."

"Is Senior Lilith the organizing committee member of the virgin class?"

"It seems so."

In fact, Aika already knew this fact, but just pretended to know it just now.

The back door of the classroom was pushed open a crack, and the senior sister who had just entered came out.

"Okay, you can go in quietly through the back door. Lilith is in the last row of the classroom, and she asked you to go find her there."

"Thank you, please, senior sister."

"It's okay, but it's not good to bring other girls with you when you come to find her."

"Ah ha ha……"

"But Lilith said that the others brought by Aika can also go in together. At that time, I also noticed that Ling was watching from the other side."

"Thank you for your help..."

Feeling that it would be bad to stay here any longer, Aika quickly pulled Ling and hid in the classroom.

When they first entered the classroom, the two of them thought they had entered a different space.

In the dimly lit space, there is a soft dark carpet under your feet. There are seats neatly arranged in the spacious space, and the lights are swaying on the stage not far away.

"Is this... a classroom..."

If they had not known this premise in advance, they would have thought that they had accidentally stepped into August's opera house.

After calming down, I realized that although the scenes were very similar, there were still big differences in details.

"last row……"

In the dim light, they noticed Senior Sister Lilith who was waving to them.

The two walked along the seats and sat down next to Senior Lilith.

"Is this the effect of Lion Squad's magic equipment?"

I mentioned before that the Lion Class and the Maiden Class are linked together, but this scenario can only be associated with magic tools.

"They are very powerful. Thanks to this magic tool, our customer flow has always been very objective."

Senior Lilith nodded with satisfaction, confirming Aika's guess.

After Ling and Senior Lilith greeted each other briefly in a low voice, they turned their attention to the performance in the center of the stage.

The stage play has been going on for a while, and the senior who plays the heroine has her long hair that beats like flames tied up high.

"Last year's Tylua-senpai also appeared on stage as an actress, right?"

Senior Lilith didn't know that Ling had already seen the precious photos from last year's "Moon Flower Festival", where she and Tylua performed on the same stage.

"This is the last time we will participate in the Moon Flower Festival. We all want to leave some special memories."

"Why did Senior Lilith give up being an actress this year?"

If it is a special memory, then the actors are definitely more eye-catching than the work behind the scenes.

Naturally, Ling, whose personality is different from that of senior Lilith, cannot understand this problem.

What's more, Lilith-senpai has experience performing on stage, so she definitely didn't stay behind the scenes because of shyness.

"In previous years, our stage plays were adapted from classical literature. This year, due to everyone's kindness, I was given the responsibility for the original script, so I can no longer take away the actor's position."

Senior Lilith placed the small book gently on her chest. Under the dim light, her smile could still bring moisture to her heart.

"Is this a script written by Senior Lilith alone?"

Aika praised with some admiration.

After watching it quietly from the middle for a while, I can roughly connect the upper and lower plots.

This is a short story that happened in a circle of friends. The heroine is a girl with mediocre grades, and her friends work very hard. In the competition for the same goal, the heroine unexpectedly succeeds, causing her friend to say hurtful words and run away. With the help of others in their circle of friends, the two eventually reconciled.

"I feel like Senior Lilith."

Ling, who was not particularly interested in stage plays, was also touched by the development of the plot.

"I-how I feel?"

"It's such a warm feeling."

Ling quickly explained his unclear emotion.

"It's obviously a fictional script, but it feels very close to reality..."

Aika put forward a little bit of her own opinion.

"Because... this is a story that happened between Tiruya and I when we were in first grade."

Senior Lilith's eyes revealed a look of nostalgia.

"Eh? You and Tylua-senpai? The real story?"

Instead, Ling was shocked by Senior Sister Lilith's confession.

"Is it really based on reality..."

Unexpectedly, the two people who always travel together now had such a story.

The reason Aika didn't feel particularly surprised was because this kind of thing also happened around him.

"In this case, it is even more appropriate to be with Tylua-senpai..."

"I won't go," Senior Sister Lilith raised her finger to Ling's mouth, not letting her continue. "This is also Tiluya's own request."

"Eh?"

"She will carefully recreate the scene at that time, and I will feel the regret from different angles. Because it is the last time, we hope to use different moods to make this scene stay on the stage forever. superior."

After such a conflict, the two spent three years together as students. Looking back at their past selves, they may make different discoveries.

With only a few minutes left in the break, the two of them bid farewell to Lilith-senpai with this feeling in their hearts and left the virgin girl class classroom.

It was only a brief separation when Ling was sent to the door of the twin class, so Ling hurried back to the classroom without saying goodbye to him.

"Oh, I'm back."

Carlo was also ready for his shift.

"Where did you just hang out?"

"Let's go to the festival alone."

Carlo shrugged nonchalantly.

"This is your own fault, just accept the invitation properly."

"Walking alone feels more free. Stop talking about me and concentrate on your work!"

Carlo seemed to be in a bad mood, and Aika could only shut up.

…………