On the top floor of Fusion Academy's second-year girls' dormitory, tucked around a corner of the hallway, was a hidden room secretly remodeled using spatial magic.
This hidden room was Irena's magic workshop.
Not a mber of the Magic Club, Irena relied on this concealed space to craft her own tools or tune her potions as needed.
According to those in the know, she'd visited the workshop more tis in the past few months than ever before.
And every ti she entered, she would imdiately make the entrance vanish, leaving no one aware of what she was working on inside.
With only one day left before the Class Year Team Duel Challenge, Irena was still holed up in her workshop, having skipped even the opening day of the Festival.
"This ti, it should finally work."
The strange potion swirling in Irena's hand bubbled ominously, glowing with an eerie green light.
"Personality-splitting magic... I never thought I'd actually tread into forbidden soulcraft."
Emotionally conflicted, Irena hesitated over drinking the newest version of her potion after countless failures.
If successful, it would allow her to split a new personality from her soul.
As for why she was doing this…
After her fight with the Sacred Beasts, and experiencing the sensation of having Miles control her body while she fought alongside him in Soul State, Irena found the feeling... peculiar, even addictive.
That imnse reliability, the ease and peace of mind in handing over her body while remaining ntally connected…
She could completely understand why Aisha never wanted to take off the Millennium Puzzle.
Though Irena longed to feel that comfort again, the Millennium Puzzle belonged to her beloved underclassman, who had already revealed its secrets and saved her life.
As her upperclassman, Irena couldn't bring herself to shalessly ask Aisha to lend it again, just to satisfy her own desire.
So, believing in doing it herself instead of relying on others, Irena had spent the last few months researching personality-splitting magic.
After all, a spirit companion could be seen as another version of one's own soul.
If she couldn't summon one like Aisha, she would create one herself.
She was aware of the risks, of course. However, magical advancent had always co through dangerous experintation.
Besides, as a beautiful genius of both intellect and charm, her split personality would surely be just as reliable.
Then she could once again feel what it was like to entrust her body without fear.
With that thought, Irena narrowed her eyes and made up her mind. She downed the now-cooled, suspiciously green potion in one gulp.
"So spicy!!!"
Tears welled at the corners of her eyes from the overwhelming burn. The mont the liquid hit her throat, she regretted it instantly. It tasted worse than a Devil Fruit.
As she waited in silence, her cheeks flushed, vision blurred, and her gaze toward her hand began to double.
"It's finally working... I really am a genius."
Dizzy and woozy, she was just starting to feel triumphant when—
"Hic~!"
A loud hiccup escaped her, accompanied by the overwhelming stench of alcohol.
"Th-this is... damn it, I'm drunk! No wonder it was so spicy!"
It turned out that her carefully crafted potion had the sa ingredients as high-proof rum.
Collapsed drunk over her workbench, Irena's watery blue eyes glazed over once again in failure.
"So it wasn't ant to be after all. What the hell have I been doing these past few months... personality splitting? What a stupid idea."
And yet, sotis people speak their truest thoughts when they're drunk.
...
The first and freest day of the Fusion Festival ca and went. That night, in Aisha Carlos's dorm room—
With Luca gone, Aisha had returned to living alone in a double room.
She didn't throw away or claim any of Luca Slint's belongings.
Instead, she carefully organized the stuffed toys and requested the Griffin Knights' delivery service to send them all to the Capital's First Prison.
Whether the currently imprisoned Luca would receive Aisha's final parting gesture remained unknown.
Now that she had the room to herself again, Aisha let her sister Alice stay with her during the Festival, sparing her the trouble of finding a hotel.
Abruptly, at that mont, as she faced Alice crying in frustration, Aisha realized she'd overlooked a fatal issue.
"Waaah, you've only been in school for a year and already you don't like anymore! You won't even bathe with your sister!"
"N-no, that's not it, Sister Alice! I just..."
Trying to calm her down, Aisha inwardly cursed her own carelessness. In hindsight, maybe it would've been safer to let Alice get a hotel after all.
Miles said casually, "Isn't this the third ti we've done the bath scene?"
Aisha had one, Irene had one, and now it was Alice's turn.
Unlike Irene, who gave up fast, Alice chose to press the issue.
"I don't care! If you won't bathe with tonight... I'll disown you as my sister!"
"Is that really necessary, Sis?!"
"Of course it is! Being naked together is a sacred bond of sisterhood!"
Aisha recalled that from childhood to now, she'd never once won an argunt against Alice.
This was no exception.
Though it involved Aisha's sister, Miles solemnly declared this was not sothing he wanted to see.
Still, thanks to shared thought visuals, the scene was far too vivid… even the glistening water trickling down her fair skin was disturbingly clear.
"Wanna talk 'On the Matter of Seeing My Host's Sister Completely Naked on the First Day We t.'"
"Scumbag!"
In the Soul Room, Dark Aisha bared her fangs at Miles, expressing her inner frustration.
…
The next day, the Class Year Team Duel Challenge, one of the Festival's main events, began as scheduled.
Vice Principal Raiden, foreseeing an extraordinary match, had selected the Academy's outdoor plaza as the venue. He enlisted Grand Magus Fiona to construct a massive Duel Arena large enough to accommodate everyone.
Most importantly, the platform needed to be able to handle the materialization of gigantic monsters.
...
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