Godan's words from the night before still echoed in the back of her mind. "Senpai Gakuin knows of you." A name that didn't exist in the Empire's official records. When she searched with 《Appraisal》, no data came back. Eutie Silvanus leaned her back against the clinic wall, watching the pale light beyond the window. Mist flowing from the Schwarzwald Forest was painting Glentzer's wooden palisade white. It was the darkest hour before dawn. The scent of medicinal herbs filled the room. Not the usual soul-calming grass—the plant that became the raw material for wound medicine, worth two silver coins per bundle in the frontier—but a different herb used in its place, with a slightly bluish, refreshing aroma. Neela Volt had scattered measuring dishes and bundles of herbs during last night's treatment work. Eutie closed her eyes, glancing past them. It wasn't intentional. But the moment she was falling asleep—— 【《Appraisal》——Outer Perimeter Scan・Auto-Activation】 【Northeast Direction: Threat Value Rapidly Increasing——Ongoing】 【South Direction: Chemical Anomaly Value——Concentrated near well, possibility of poison contamination】 Her eyes opened. (Two directions.) Eutie stood up and opened the door. Cold air struck her face. The edge of the sky was beginning to take on a faint purple tint. Dario Herbeck was already fastening his sword belt outside the station. Whether he hadn't slept all night or not, his black hair streaked with gray showed no signs of dishevelment, and the embroidered insignia on his arm guards was clearly visible in the pale light before dawn. The old scar on his left cheek had turned red from the cold. "Northeast and south are moving." "South, then." "The well. Chemical anomaly values are concentrated there. High possibility of poison." In one second, Dario's expression changed——or rather, it became the face of decision. "Prioritize the residents. Call Neela. I'll patrol the well perimeter." At that moment, the clinic door burst open from inside. Neela Volt came flying out. Her pale green long hair was still tied up but disheveled. Her golden eyes quickly confirmed left and right. She was carrying her tool bag. But—— 【《Appraisal》——Neela Volt Equipment Check】 【Cold-Weather Coat: Not Equipped——Cold-Resistance Value: 0/10】 (…Zero.) Eutie considered for just a moment. Should she tell her now? Was there time to tell her? The threat value to the northeast was still rising. "There's an anomaly at the well, I need to administer an antidote——" Neela ran off. Without a coat. Into the mist. Dario silently removed his own coat. In one second, he rolled it up and threw it at Neela's running back. Neela glanced back briefly, clutched the coat, and kept running. Dario crossed his arms and stood in the pre-dawn cold without a coat. 【《Appraisal》——Dario Herbeck Cold-Resistance Value: 0/10】 (Both the district commander and the herbalist, zero cold-resistance.) The numerical irrationality occupied her mind for just a moment. But Dario showed no sign of caring, already facing the northeast direction. This man was calmly accepting the numerical contradiction of entering actual combat without a coat. Eutie caught on that for one beat, then redirected her consciousness toward the threat value spreading in the northeast of her field of vision. "Go." It was a short word. Eutie nodded and ran northeast. --- As she passed through the northeast exit of the palisade, the mist suddenly grew thicker. The grass at her feet was wet with morning dew. There were no torches. 《Appraisal》 automatically expanded her field of vision, converting the presences beyond the mist into numerical values. 【《Appraisal》——Forward Threat Value Scan in Progress】 【Single Individual——Combat Power Value: 91/100——Fully Transitioned to Complete Combat Mode】 【Multiple Elites Behind——Standby Status——Awaiting Commander's Orders】 Eutie stopped. Goran Vietz stood in the mist. His fiery crimson long hair, heavy with the moisture of pre-dawn humidity, was bound tightly. The deep diagonal scar running across the right side of his face from forehead to jaw stood out clearly in the pale light of dawn. At the corner of his lips, there was a hint of his usual cold smile. The same composition as last night. But the numerical values were a different matter from last night. Last night's combat power value was a "reconnaissance mode" reading. The 91 in this moment——it clearly told her this was the real thing. Eutie didn't draw her short sword. Instead, she pulled something else from behind her waist. A military sword with its imperial insignia forcefully scraped away——that blade she'd found buried in the earth of an abandoned house in the third episode. The marks of the scraped insignia glinted roughly in the light of dawn. Goran's numerical values wavered. 【《Appraisal》——Goran Vietz Internal Value Fluctuation Detected】 【Not anger, not fear——Fluctuation close to memory reactivation】 (Memory reactivation.) Eutie moved before she could verbalize that classification. She held the military sword in front of her. Goran's gaze fell on the blade——and stopped, just for an instant. She didn't miss that instant. 【《Appraisal》——Target: Goran Vietz Equipment・Wide Combat Blade】 【Weight Value Rewrite Initiated——Segmented Processing Mode: First Division】 She followed the method from the abandoned mine. Not rewriting all at once, but processing in segments. Suppressing her own consumption while gradually dulling the opponent's movements. Goran stepped in. Fast. The 91 value wasn't for show. Eutie parried while retreating. Each block sent impact through her arms, but simultaneously she continued the 《Appraisal》 rewrite in segments. Goran's blade grew heavier, little by little——truly, little by little. On the third exchange, Goran noticed. "…You're doing something." His voice was low and calm. Not accusing, but confirming. "The blade is heavy." On the fourth exchange. Goran's step-in was delayed by mere fractions of a second. 【《Appraisal》——Weight Value Rewrite: Third Division Complete——Current Value 312/100 (Three Times Normal)】 Goran thrust his blade into the ground and took a step back. His sharp red eyes fixed on Eutie from the front. There was no anger in that gaze——there was calculation. "…Loss cutting." He spoke low and briefly to the elites behind him. "Retreat." The presence of people began withdrawing in the mist. Footsteps grew distant. A tactical retreat, a judgment without hesitation. The survival rationality of a former mercenary——Goran Vietz didn't hesitate to acknowledge defeat and flee. As Goran turned away, he left one final word behind. "Senpai Gakuin knows the name of your power. And you should figure out the answer to what I am, yourself." The mist swallowed his words along with him. Eutie didn't move. She lowered the military sword and directed 《Appraisal》 beyond the mist. The threat value receded, the numbers dropping. 【《Appraisal》——"Senpai Gakuin": No Registered Data】 Without an answer, Eutie watched Goran's back disappear into the dawn mist. --- By the time the sky had become completely bright, Eutie had returned to the front of the clinic. Neela was sitting outside. Wrapped in Dario's coat like a blanket, her tool bag on her lap, her back against the wall——her eyes were half-closed. She was in a state of exhausted half-sleep. Yet the tool bag didn't fall from her lap. When Eutie approached, Neela's golden eyes opened slightly. "…I was able to administer antidote to everyone." Her voice was hoarse. Speaking clearly despite her daze, she added sleepily: "The district commander's coat smells like smoked meat." Eutie considered for one second. Organizing her priorities in this moment——confirming the antidote was complete, or responding to the comment about the smoked smell? "Did everyone show no symptoms?" "None. Three had mild nausea, the rest hadn't ingested any." "Understood." "…Smoked meat." "What?" "No, just thinking aloud." Neela closed her eyes again. It was a quiet collapse, as if tension had released. After that, residents began appearing before Eutie one by one. An elderly man stopped in front of her, hat in hand. "…You protected us," he said. "I didn't think you'd be useful," he added. It wasn't straightforward gratitude. Years of distrust toward the frontier police made his words short and blunt. But he had come. For just that, Eutie had nothing to say. Another woman said "My child was safe." She said only that and left. An old man bowed. There were no words. Eutie opened her notebook. She tried to convert this into numerical values. She tried to transform the amount of gratitude into some kind of parameter. ——She couldn't. Gratitude as an emotion didn't fit into the 《Appraisal》 system. No values came out. But it was certainly reaching her. She understood clearly that this fact——that it was reaching her——was real. Eutie held the notebook open for one beat, then closed it. She didn't write anything. Dario returned from post-defense inspections. Despite spending the night without a coat, he showed no signs of exhaustion whatsoever——a man who had survived three years of the southern frontier conflict was accustomed to nights like this. Dario stopped in front of Eutie and spoke only three words. "Well done." That was all. But Eutie received the weight those three words carried not as numerical values but in another form. The Gray Wing Brigade——once the Third Division of the Magical Knight Corps, which fought through the southern frontier conflict and was disbanded in post-war political turmoil——a man who had belonged to that elite unit, speaking "well done" with the full weight of that experience behind it, was not speaking simple words. Eutie nodded. Just then, Neela tried to stand up. She stumbled. Her knees, stiffened from crouching for long hours during treatment, gave way. Her body tilted at an angle. Eutie reflexively extended her arm. Neela's shoulder caught on Eutie's forearm and stopped. Neela grasped Eutie's arm lightly. For just an instant until she was stable——her fingers gripped Eutie's arm firmly once before releasing. Neither added words. Neela stood up and reslung her tool bag over her shoulder. Eutie lowered her arm. Dario turned his gaze back to the northeast. There were no words between the three of them. --- At dusk, alone in the station, Eutie took out a single sheet of paper from the depths of her belongings. It was an ability registration certificate issued by the Empire when she was seven years old. An official document issued under the Empire's "Ability Registration Ordinance"——citizens were obligated to report their abilities to the Empire at age seven, with false declarations punishable by five years imprisonment——The paper had yellowed slightly. It had been in the depths of her belongings for over ten years. "Appraisal・E Grade" The Empire's magical aptitude evaluation system——seven grades from S to F, with S grade being one in a hundred thousand——the second lowest from the bottom. When she had shown this registration certificate at the entrance ceremony of the Imperial Magic Academy, those around her had laughed. The classification "Information-type E Grade" meant the lowest evaluation for non-combat types. Eutie looked at those characters with different eyes for the first time tonight. The power that seven-year-old Eutie had recorded as "Appraisal" had sealed Goran's wide combat blade tonight. It had made a former mercenary commander with a combat power value of 91 retreat. It had protected residents from poison. The four characters "Appraisal・E Grade" and the facts of tonight didn't fit on the same registration certificate. Eutie returned the certificate to her belongings. Not deep inside——but in a position where she could take it out immediately. From the outside, it might have looked like the same action. But the meaning was facing a different direction. Outside the