"Ah. They said they’d delay the announcement for next year for free, but I should’ve just accepted it."

In front of the mountain of accumulated data,
I couldn’t help but sigh in frustration.

Even in my previous life, I wasn’t particularly good at studying.
Now, trying to hammer through my research, prepare my paper, and get everything ready in a short time was driving me crazy.

The research itself was practically over.
Now all that was left was to organize the data neatly and draw conclusions...
But the amount of work required was enormous.
It wasn’t even just physical labor; it was mentally taxing too, consuming focus. It was a task that would exhaust both the body and the mind.

In my heart, I wanted to delegate it to Yuria,
But she seemed busy with her own studies, so I couldn’t burden her with this too.
This was my research, and naturally, it was my responsibility.
If time becomes too tight later on, I’d call for help then.

"But, will I even be able to fill a page when I finish this?"

Suddenly, as I considered the final version of the paper, I hesitated.
I had set an ambitious research goal to uncover the principles and system of black magic, a realm previously unknown.
But now that I was about to explain it, wasn’t it simpler than I thought?

In the end, there wasn’t much content to include in the paper.
Sure, I could stretch it out with an introduction, table of contents, and embellishments,
But that wouldn’t suit my style, and I wasn’t good at writing, so any attempts to elongate it would just make it look worse.

"Maybe just one or two pages..."

Could a paper be this short?
It was a paper on uncovering black magic for the first time, after all.
Oh well. I’m not even a scholar, so I’ll focus on making my mark as the first to accomplish it.

Once I publish the paper, other geniuses will add their own ideas and refine the theory of black magic.
And, of course, I’ll make some money from the neodymium I used in my research.
Just thinking about the money makes my mouth water.

"Is it starting to get light out?"

I stepped outside and saw the once dark sky was now tinged with a reddish hue.
It seemed I had stayed up all night.
Since the lab had no windows letting in light, I hadn’t noticed the time passing.

"That Sylvia..."

Something was lying around in the garden.
I walked closer and realized it was Sylvia.
She was lying sprawled out, holding a sword, clearly exhausted from swinging it all night.

Her hands were tied with cloth.
Was she trying to avoid the sword returning to me after accidentally releasing it from her grip?
Since I had been awake all night anyway, if she dropped her sword, she could just come back to get it.
She probably didn’t want to disturb me while I was busy.

"You foolish girl..."

I untied the cloth from Sylvia’s hands, and her fist opened, turning into a glowing longsword that absorbed into me.
I wondered if she’d end up with a stiff neck from sleeping on the ground.
But I couldn’t imagine such a tough person like Sylvia catching a cold.
So, I grabbed a pillow from the bedroom and threw it to her.
Without waking up, Sylvia instinctively placed it under her head.

I smiled contentedly, about to turn away.

"Hmmm... Master... don't... Ah...!"

I froze in place at a sultry voice I never expected to hear from Sylvia’s lips.
She had been writhing in her sleep and turned over, pressing her nose into my pillow.
Then, her eyes slowly opened.

"Huff... Ha. Huff... Ha. Huff... Hmm... Oh... Ah...?"

She inhaled deeply while pressing her nose into the pillow, and when our eyes met, Sylvia’s drowsy expression instantly turned alert.
Her eyes darted around, seemingly assessing the situation.
Her face turned bright red in an instant.

"D-Did you hear that!?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I... It was just a dream... Ah, no, nothing..."
"I did hear you moaning while calling my name, but I didn't hear anything else..."
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

Sylvia shot up, her long hair flying around as she scrambled to cover my mouth with her hands.
She quickly bound my limbs and slowly removed her hand from my mouth.

"C-Could you pretend you didn’t hear that...?"
"With your bare mouth?"
"Wh-What... What can I do to make it up to you...?"
"..."

Sylvia’s face flushed again, and she avoided my gaze.
It seemed she was secretly anticipating something.
Not surprising, considering she had a masochistic side.
She even seemed to enjoy being punished. What kind of punishment should I give her?

Everything went dark in front of me.
It felt like I was facing an insurmountable wall.

"Let’s talk about this after you get this done."
"Ack! Yes! But about that...! It wasn’t anything weird! I had a dream where my lord appeared, and... and! Ah! That’s right! You punished me! That’s why I was mumbling in my sleep!"
"Why are you making up such a long excuse? If it wasn’t weird, why pretend you didn’t hear it?"
"...Ah."

Sylvia sighed and froze, unable to respond.
She did her best, but it wasn’t enough.

"I understand. You’re at that age, so it’s normal to have such dreams. I can’t say much other than that desires should be taken care of in time."
"A-Ah, no... That’s not it..."
"Anyway, how did your relentless training go? Did it work out sleeping on the floor?"
"Ah, yes. I tried different stances, breathing techniques, and directions to replicate the phenomenon from my battle with Reinhardt. I was able to replicate it several times."
"Really? You could cut through the past multiple times?"
"Yes. But I’m afraid it’s not the result you were expecting. I couldn’t control it at will, and it’s completely random, which is a rather absurd conclusion."
"...?"

Sylvia muttered, looking ashamed.
She had the ability to cut through the past, but it was uncontrollable and completely random?
What does that even mean?

"Random? What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly that. I swung my sword in about thirty thousand different ways—altering posture, breathing, direction, etc.—and only five times did the sword interfere with the past. But there was no pattern to those five occurrences."
"..."

I was at a loss for words after Sylvia’s disheartening report.
Five times in thirty thousand attempts?
That probability was ridiculously low, making it practically useless for combat.

I had hoped it would be something I could use in battle.
I felt deeply disappointed.
Sylvia also looked quite disheartened.

'What kind of useless ability is this?'

Unlike reality, in a game, every element serves as a plot point.
So, surely, this sword that can cut through the past isn’t a completely meaningless ability.
But how am I supposed to use a power that activates randomly at such a low probability? I had no idea.

'No... Maybe it really is a meaningless ability...'

As I thought this, I remembered that this game was a waste of trash.
In a truly great game, every element would serve as a plot point, all coming together neatly.
But in this garbage game, even the foreshadowing gets ignored.

I had overestimated the original game.
A game I had rated 1 star could never be a masterpiece.

"I guess it’s impossible to use in battle..."
"There might still be undiscovered conditions. Keep training and researching. And now that we know the sword can cut through the past five times out of thirty thousand, be careful not to injure yourself."
"Of course, I’ll be careful... You really think I’m that stupid..."

Sylvia puffed her cheeks and sulked.
Well, given her usual behavior, I could tell what was going on.
I shook my head and turned to leave.

"The ‘mouth shut’ cost I mentioned earlier will be handled by having you run an errand."
"Huh? What... kind of errand?"
"Not that kind of errand, so stop looking at me with that expectant look."
"Expecting!? When did I—!"
"Take that dirty pillow and wash it properly, then return it to my room. That’s your errand."
"Is my head really that dirty...?"
"...You’ve been rolling on the garden’s dirt floor. Of course, it’s dirty."
"Ah."

Sylvia’s face turned bright red once again.
She seemed to reach her embarrassment limit, and she just collapsed on the spot.
Who else could handle this creepy person if not me...
I sighed deeply, feeling utterly drained.