Yesterday's dusk, Zero said it. There's a better place. That single sentence wouldn't leave Dice's head even the next morning. He chewed bread while staring at his Sorutia terminal——a smartphone-type magical device powered by Sorutia particles——the screen displayed "Blaze Festival Preliminaries: Tomorrow, 10 AM Assembly." His stomach tightened. (Tomorrow.) The preliminaries were tomorrow. And today was the day before. Dice learned what Zero meant by "a better place" only this morning when a short message arrived from Zero. It was the official practice grounds behind Blaze Colosseum——the Blaze Festival, Partiale's largest magical contest, held at a massive arena with a capacity of fifteen thousand people located at the southern end of Toretta Commercial District. "Come to the Colosseum back this morning." Just ten characters. Come. No honorifics. No explanation. But Dice found himself closing the terminal and standing up. "Lillyyyy!!" Dice called down the hallway. "What's with the yelling?" Lily appeared from beyond the door. Silver hair. Odd eyes——left gold, right silver——blinking sleepily. "I'm going somewhere! Colosseum back!" Dice said. "Colosseum?" Lily asked. "Zero called me," Dice said. Lily's eyebrows rose slightly. That cautious, appraising look. She still made that face. They'd been at the training grounds together yesterday, and she'd tugged his sleeve saying "We're definitely passing the preliminaries," but that was separate. Lily moved only by her own judgment. Dice was starting to understand that. "...I'm going," Lily said shortly, then disappeared back through the door. ── Toretta's mornings came early. Three of them walked across the commercial district's stone pavement. The morning of the autumn equinox month——the season when the Blaze Festival was held——was still cool, wind coming from the river direction. Stalls were opening one by one, merchants calling out cheerfully as they arranged fruit. Magically-lit streetlamps still glowed faintly in the morning light. Zero walked two steps ahead. Black coat. Black hair with red streaks. Never looking back. Never explaining. Just walking. Dice and Lily followed behind. "...What's at the Colosseum back?" Dice asked. "Official practice grounds," Zero said. "Official?" Dice asked. "Festival participants can use it the day before. The stone pavement is maintained, and there are magical output measurement devices," Zero said. "There's something like that?!" Dice said. "You didn't know?" Zero asked. "I didn't know!!!" Dice said. Zero kept facing forward, saying nothing. Lily pulled out a memo. Before Dice could ask what she was writing, Lily wrote: "Official pre-day practice grounds——Dice didn't know." "Why are you writing that down?!" Dice said. "Record," Lily said. "Don't make it a record!!" Dice said. ── The official practice grounds behind the Colosseum were wider than expected. Stone pavement was cleanly maintained. Three magical output measurement devices——instruments that quantified the Sorutia particle density and precision of activated magic——sat lined up in the corner. The Colosseum's stone wall blocked the sunlight, morning light slanting in diagonally. Other participants were scattered around practicing. The moment Dice stepped in, he thought: this is real. The texture of the stone pavement was completely different from Cadenza Magic Academy's training grounds. The air of the actual event already drifted here. "Alright!!" Dice said. He was pumped. He pulled out his Sorutia terminal. Tried to check entry information. Opened the official app from the Blaze Festival Management Committee——a subordinate organization of the Sorutia Institute that ran the annual festival. The screen opened. Red. The entire screen was filled with red banners. "Magical Equipment Unregistered" ── Dice stared at that screen for three seconds. He held out the terminal to Zero. Zero took it silently. Looked at the screen. Stared silently for three seconds. "...There are items that need to be registered," Zero said. His voice was quiet. Zero began reading them one by one. "Magical equipment registration number. Magical equipment type. Magical equipment acquisition date and time. Magical equipment usage history certification," Zero said. Dice counted the items on his fingers. One. Two. Three. Four. His face changed. Lily leaned in from behind and said: "They're all blank," Lily said. "...They're all blank," Dice said. "Yeah. All blank," Lily said. "..." Dice said. Dice slowly collapsed onto the stone pavement. Dropped to his knees, placed both hands on the ground, and a small "ahhhhhhh" escaped. A sound effect of "thud" would have been appropriate. Lily stared intently at the collapsed Dice. Started writing something in her memo. "What are you writing?!" Dice said. "Collapsed on stone pavement——impression: as expected," Lily said. "Why did you expect it?!!!!" Dice said. Zero operated the Sorutia terminal, opening something. A PDF of regulations. Scrolled through it, searching for the registration deadline section. "The deadline is 3 PM today," Zero said. Dice jumped up from the stone pavement and checked the time on his terminal. 10:32 AM. "I still have time!!!" Dice said. He started to stand. Zero opened his mouth. "The Sorutia Institute——the organization that certifies and manages magical user qualifications and also handles contest operations——is currently crowded with pre-festival traffic. Calculating round-trip time——" Zero said. Dice was already running. "Forty minutes running!! One hour for procedures!! I can still make it!!!" Dice said. "——The pre-day special window takes two hours for first-time applicants," Zero said. The running Dice's feet stopped. He turned slowly. "...Two..." Dice said. "Two hours," Zero said. "..." Dice said. Lily wrote in her memo: "About to collapse again." Zero sighed and put his hand in his coat pocket. "Let's go," Zero said. "Huh?" Dice said. "The Sorutia Institute," Zero said. Lily and Zero started walking simultaneously. Only Dice was left behind on the stone pavement for a moment. Then he ran after them at full speed. "Wait!! Please wait!!" Dice said. ── The Sorutia Institute Toretta Headquarters——a five-story building at the northern end of the academic district, with the qualification review window on the first floor and the contest operations room on the third——was indeed crowded. Inside the entrance, the pre-day special application line snaked back. About fifteen people waiting. Decorations showing the flow of Sorutia particles were installed on the walls, the pre-festival atmosphere seeping through. The three arrived at the window just after 11 AM. The clerk——a man in his thirties with a polite demeanor——confirmed Dice's documents. Then looked up. "Do you have a usage history certification?" the clerk asked. "...Zero," Dice said. "Zero?" the clerk asked. "My usage history is zero sheets," Dice said. The clerk's face stiffened slightly. Looked at the documents. Looked at Dice. Looked at the documents again. "Please wait a moment," the clerk said. He stood up. Disappeared into the back. A minute later, he returned with someone else. A woman in her forties, apparently his supervisor. "This is a no-history special review case. It will take approximately two hours from application to completion," the supervisor said. "Two hours?!" Dice said. "While you wait, we'll prepare the documents——" the supervisor said. "Um," Lily said. Lily raised her hand. Her voice was quiet. Polite, but direct. "I also need to register apparently," Lily said. The clerk took Lily's documents. Confirmed them. Looked at the Sorutia aptitude field. "...Unclassified, measurement impossible," the clerk said. His tone changed slightly. "This is..." the clerk said. He stood up. Disappeared into the back. Two minutes later, he returned with a different supervisor——a man in his fifties wearing glasses. "This is a case without precedent," the supervisor said. The supervisor looked at the documents. Looked at Lily. "Please wait a moment," the supervisor said. He disappeared into the back. Three minutes later, another person came. A man in his sixties with white hair. His name tag read "Deputy Director." The deputy director looked at the documents. "This is...quite something," the deputy director said. He disappeared into the back. ── Before long, five people were lined up in front of the window. The original clerk, supervisor A, supervisor B, the deputy director, and someone else who'd been called——probably the director——were huddled around Lily's documents, whispering. Lily looked at the five faces in order. "...Why are there so many?" Lily said. Deadpan. Not sarcasm, but genuine question. It was somehow funny. Dice held back laughter while looking at Zero. Zero had his back against the wall, arms crossed. Expressionless. Silently observing everyone. "Zero," Dice said. He looked at him pleadingly. "Is there...anything you can say?" Dice asked. Zero silently shook his head. "Then why did you come?!" Dice said. Zero was silent. Lily looked at Zero, then at the five people, then said to Dice: "He's here as an escort, watching silently," Lily said. Her tone was explanatory. Utterly matter-of-fact. Zero's ears turned slightly red. But he kept facing the wall, maintaining an angle no one could see. Dice noticed but said nothing. He instinctively knew that if he said anything, Zero would deny it. ── The five supervisors had begun discussing "for unprecedented cases, the special application..." when—— Zero left the wall. Slowly, but without hesitation, he walked to the front of the window. All the clerks turned simultaneously. Zero pulled a small notebook from his coat's inner pocket. "Sorutia Institute regulations, Article 47, Section 3," Zero said. His voice was quiet. But everyone fell silent at his words. "A Cadenza-class——the second-highest magical user qualification, above Novalis-class——guarantor can apply for unclassified special exception under guarantor joint liability framework. I'll be the guarantor," Zero said. All five supervisors opened their mouths. "That is indeed possible under regulations," they said. They harmonized. Nearly simultaneous. Dice and Lily's eyes widened. Zero took the documents and began filling them out. Placed his notebook beside him, filling in each field one by one. Lily leaned in and whispered to Zero. "...How do you know such regulations?" Lily asked. Zero continued filling out the next field silently. Lily looked at Dice. Smiled knowingly. No words. But her face said "look at this." Dice looked at Zero's profile. Black hair with red streaks. Sharp red eyes focused only on the documents. Expressionless. He lowered his gaze to the floor. "...Thank you," Dice said. His voice was small. Zero didn't look up from the documents. "Irrelevant," Zero said. One word. Dice silently processed that brevity. A person who says "irrelevant" doesn't carry regulations Article 47 Section 3 in their notebook and stand at a window. That was all. ── Dice's no-history special review was approved about an hour and a half later. The clerk announced the completion while carefully adding: "Please note that we provide no compensation for magical equipment damage," the clerk said. "Understood!!" Dice said. His voice was loud. The clerk looked worried. "...Are you really sure?" the clerk asked. "I'm sure!!" Dice said. The clerk's face grew even more worried. He looked like he might add something to the documents. Lily said quietly beside Dice. "I don't think you're sure," Lily said. Dice elbowed her. Lily said "ow" but laughed a little. ── Evening. After finishing all procedures, the three sat on the stone steps behind the Colosseum. Zero, Dice, Lily in that order. Toretta's evening sky turned orange. Wind came from the direction of Lumiere River——the