44

"Hey, Koneko, check this out," I said, projecting a tuna that leapt out of the floor like it was water via the spell crystal.

I could practically see Koneko's hidden cat ears perk up. Her whole body went rigid like a cat on alert, and her pupils blew up in size.

"Again…" Koneko 'requested'.

I complied with the demanding kitty's somewhat polite order. A piano started playing in the background, also projected by the crystal. One, two, three fish jumped out of the floor in quick succession. The piano slowly built to a crescendo as I orchestrated a 'fishy' floor routine in the clubroom.

Asia and Lavinia were just as captivated by the showcase of the crystal's capabilities as Koneko was. Lavinia was hopping in place, clapping her hands excitedly. A whale's song echoed through the room, and then, right as the background music reached its climax, a humpback whale breached through the floor.

The whale seemed to hang in midair for an impossible amount of time. I had to artificially extend everyone's perception of the room to even fit the massive creature. I milked the moment for another second or two before letting the whale fall back into the floor. It disappeared without a ripple at the same time that the piano piece came to an end.

The awed silence of the clubroom was broken by clapping coming from the door. I turned around to see Kiara standing there with a big smile on her face.

"Wonderful! That was absolutely wonderful, Taylor!"

I tried my best to suppress my blush to no avail, "Uh, thanks… I really don't think it was anything special. Just a little something that I threw together."

"Nonsense! The music combined with the choreography? It was beautiful."

"Ahem, right! Thank you, Kiara. We should probably get started on the spell though. I hope now that I've demonstrated what the spell crystal can do, everyone will have some inspiration to make use of it."

Lavinia looked at me like a predator looked at prey, "I know I've certainly gotten some inspiration~ Honestly Taylor, this could change the field of magical research in its entirety!"

"C'mon," I said, waving off her praise. "Sure, it's cool, but it's not that revolutionary, is it?"

"It kind of is. Most human magicians still write out the components to their spells on paper. I know that devils don't have that problem, but this could still utterly change the way that they visualize magic," Kiara said, nodding.

Asia nodded along vigorously, "That was awesome! I've never seen anything like it! Can you do that with things other than fish?"

"Un… Cool," Koneko commented.

"Uh, yeah. It's really only a matter of imagination. Like devil magic. As long as you can visualize it, the spell crystal can make it into a 'reality'. It won't be real, but it'll be the next best thing."

"I may have to inquire about whether or not the Church would be able to get their hands on some for a trial," Kiara mused.

"I… don't really have any objections to that. As long as I get paid, more allies is never a bad thing," I said.

"I'll talk to my superiors. Now, what did you need me to do to calibrate this spell of yours?"

"We have to construct it first, but after the spell is done, I would like you to tweak it so that Holy Swords are its first search criteria."

We spent a decent amount of the day working on the spell. Lavinia's prior expertise was essential to the project, as was the Mage essence. Lavinia might have seemed like an airhead, but she was actually really competent when it came to magic. Like obviously she wasn't on Merlin's level, but I could see her helping Houdini with his stagework.

She's the one who suggested that we make the spell's search engine modular. Now we could change out what the spell was looking for, whether that be holy energy or even divine energy, as the situation demanded it. The search spell had become a spell that could be used in just about any scenario. We were all rather proud of what we had made in a single afternoon.

Asia probably benefited the most from the spell creation process. She had had to learn the basics of the human magical system. Surprisingly, she had a mind for calculations that let her pick it up quickly. She was able to manage a low tier healing spell, essentially without any training, due to her Sacred Gear.

Before we had finished putting together the search spell, I took Kiara aside to ask her about therapy.

"I know that this might not be the most relevant topic, but I hope you'll still consider what I have to say, Kiara. Rias and I talked a bit, and I mentioned how it might be a good idea to bring in a professional for therapy sessions for her peerage. All of us could use the help, and I figured that you were a good option for this. So… do you think it would be possible for you to partake in some sessions where you talk the various members of our peerages through their problems?"

Kiara hesitated, taken aback that I would even consider her, "Oh, uhm, I don't know… I guess that's possible. I am a qualified counselor, after all. Will your peerages be willing to trust me? I am technically your enemy."

"I'll be sure to talk with everyone, and I'm sure I can convince them to give you a chance. You don't seem like you have any ill intentions against any of us. I'd like to trust you on this."

"Alright," Kiara said, firming her resolve. "I'd be willing to stick around in Kuoh to administer therapy sessions. As long as my work helps people, I'm happy."

"Great! We'll have to work out the details after this whole mess is over," I said, smiling.

Kiara nodded, "Of course. I'll be sure to stick around for as long as I can."

We completed the spell without issue. When written out, the spell was a complex equation of letters and numbers that all represented some unique portion of the spell. With the spell crystal I had created though, the search spell was able to be visualized in a way that couldn't be put into words. It was almost crystalline in nature, like my augmented reality spell crystal.

We all worked together to make the spell physical, so that anyone of us could easily cast it. Unlike my earlier physical spell, this one ended up looking like a diamond. It was utterly clear, no matter which way the light reflected off of it, and yet it didn't sparkle.

Kiara, as the only one who was still proficient with the human magic system that we had based the spell off of, was the one to cast the search spell. She visibly paled as the data streamed back into her mind.

"Taylor, call Rias. Everyone needs to come back right now."

"What? Why? What's going on?"

"The Holy Swords are at the academy. They're outside right now…"