Ryuji raised a hand, stroking his thoughtfully.

  "As for your cursed energy, o reaches the level of a Grade 2 sorcerer, you should be ready," he said, his voice calm.

  Saki's current strength pced her at the level of a Grade 3 sorcerer. There was still some distao cover before she could reach Grade 2, but it wasn't out of reach.

  "Really? That's great!" Saki's face lit up with excitement.

  Although she wasn't quite there yet, knowing that she was only one rank away filled her with fidence. She resolved to take her training more seriously and work harder. If she could put in the effort, she believed it wouldn't take too long before she could start learning the Simple Domain teique Ryuji had mentioned.

  "Hehe!" With a cheerful ugh, Saki suddenly leaned closer and hugged Ryuji's arm pyfully.

  "It just so happens that I made a little mooday. How about I treat you to dinner after school, Ryuji?" she asked, looking up at him expetly.

  It was clear to everyone what Saki was really thinking. The offer of dinner was just an excuse; her true goal was to spend time aloh Ryuji.

  "Really?"

  Before Ryuji could respond, Mai appeared seemingly out of nowhere. With a bright smile, she slipped in and tched onto Ryuji's other arm.

  "Saki's treating Ryuji to dihat sounds great! Let's all go together," Mai said sweetly, her tone as smooth as honey.

  "…"

  Saki froze, her mouth twitg slightly.

  She hadn't invited everyone. She had only meant to invite Ryuji.

  "I—" Saki tried to say something, but before she could expin, the irls in the room caught on and chimed in.

  "Thanks for the treat, Saki!"

  Both Utaha and Yumiko spoke at the same time, their smiles radiant as they joihe versation.

  "Where should we go? Should we head out straight after school?" Utaha suggested casually.

  "I heard there's a new dessert shop nearby. Why don't we check it out?" Yumiko added, already making pns as if the decision had been made.

  "…"

  Saki was left speechless as the discussion quickly spiraled out of her trol. It was clear that her inal pn to invite only Ryuji was no longer an option.

  In the end, she could only gre at Mai, her frustration evident.

  "Hmph!" Mai noticed Saki's gre but remained unfazed. She gave a soft huff, ag pletely natural, as if she hadn't done anything wrong.

  There was no way Mai was going to let Saki have an opportunity to take Ryuji out alohe mere thought of it was enough to make Mai act preemptively.

  Are you kidding me? Mai thought to herself. You really think I wouldn't notice what you're up to? Like I'd ever give you that ce.

  Though Saki was relut at first, as the meal progressed, her irritation began to fade.

  In the end, it was hard to stay upset when everyone was ughing and enjoying themselves. After all, they had all e together in the Service Club because of Ryuji. It was because of him that they had bee sorcerers, and their shared experiences had brought them closer.

  The room was soon filled with lighthearted versation and ughter.

  ---

  "That reminds me," Ryuji said suddenly, his tohoughtful as something seemed to occur to him. "If any of you are ied, you might want to start learning more about ma."

  "...?"

  His words caught everyone's attention. For a moment, the girls looked at him in fusion, unsure of what he meant.

  Until now, Ryuji had only shared information about the higher levels of the sorcery world with Mimiko and Nanako. The others were still in the dark about many of the specifics.

  "Ma? Like reading up on it?" Utaha asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "Yes," Ryuji firmed.

  Though they didn't fully uand his reasoning, the girls trusted him enough not to question it too much.

  "Alright," Yumiko said with a nod. "I'll start researg."

  "Same here," Mai agreed. "If Ryuji says it's important, then it probably is."

  The others quickly chimed in as well, eae readily agreeing to put in the effort.

  Seeing their enthusiasm, Ryuji couldn't help but chuckle softly.

  He began expining further, giving them a glimpse into what he meant.

  inally, none of them had given much thought to the idea of ma. But as Ryuji described the responsibilities that would e with overseeing the sorcery world iure, the gravity of his request began to sink in.

  "Wait… you want us to mahe sorcery world?" Saki asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

  "That's right," Ryuji said simply.

  "But… we even do that?" Mai added hesitantly. "Managing all the sorcerers in the world… that sounds impossible."

  The sorcery world was filled with individuals who were not only powerful but also notoriously difficult to trol. Sorcerers were often prideful arong, and ving them to follow orders would be no small feat.

  Ryuji noticed their uainty and smiled reassuringly.

  "Don't worry," he said calmly. "You don't o handle everything alone. I'll be here to back you up."

  Those few words carried a quiet but unshakable fidence.

  With Ryuji's strength and authority, they wouldn't o fear any opposition. If someone refused to cooperate, Ryuji would ha himself.

  "Besides," he added, "Mimiko and Nanako will be there to help as well. You won't have to do this on your own."

  Thanks to Ryuji's use of Idle Transfiguration, Mimiko and Nanako had grown signifitly stronger. Both had retly reached the level of Grade 1 sorcerers, and they were on the verge of being special-grade.

  Mimiko, in particur, had already developed a prototype for Domain Expansion. While it wasn't fully plete, it was only a matter of time before she mastered it.

  With the twins' growing strength, even the most rebellious sorcerers would have sed thoughts about causing trouble.

  Hearing this, the girls' expressions softened slightly.

  "If Nanako and Mimiko are with us, then… maybe we do it," Utaha said, her voice more fident now.