Scumbag Fate System-Chapter 37: Distortion Change

"No, it shouldn’t be." Reinhard muttered, making everyone pause.

"But it has to be me. Only my powers-"

"Your power of the void doesn’t do that, though. Does it?" He asked, making Yor pause before furrowing her brows.

"That’s true! Your power only devours, it doesn’t float, and even if it did... Wouldn’t it float towards you, Yor?" Alice questioned.

"...That’s true."

"So if it isn’t Yor... Then could it be-" Sirin glanced at Rika.

"A Void Distortion forming on campus? Well... There is a chance of that being the case. But that would mean-"

"The distortion is strong enough that it could be felt here." Reinhard finished quickly saying. "Which means it’s a big one-"

"No, it could also be a small one!" Rika quickly said, her expression shifting to dread.

"It doesn’t matter; we need to find it now. Rika and Yor, can you do it?"

Both of them nodded.

Rika closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. "It should be in the History Department basement," she said. "It’s faint, but it’s there."

All of them rush out of the club with the others quickly following.

...

Reinhard saw that the History Department’s basement reeked of old objects and dust. But what caught his attention wasn’t the air feeling heavy but the small black wise at the center of the room.

No bigger than a candle flame, its dark center swirled while its edges flickered like heat waves rising from hot pavement.

"It’s still at an early stage... But I can feel it is close to breaking into medium." Rika whispered, her voice barely audible in the thick atmosphere.

"How did we not notice it then!?" Alice questioned in disbelief.

"I’m not sure, but we can try to figure it out later." Reinhard says before glancing at Yor.

Yor stood at the front of the group, hands at her sides. Her face revealed nothing as she studied the void distortion with cool professionalism.

"Yor," Sirin said simply.

That single word was enough.

Yor approached the black wisp with measured steps. As she drew closer, the wisp shuddered. Dark cracks shot outward like frozen lightning before melting back into the swirling mass.

Rika clutched her bag strap until her knuckles whitened. She held her breath; no matter how many times she saw this, it never stopped being astounding. Beside her, Sirin’s usual warmth had vanished, replaced by cold focus as she memorized details for later reports.

Even Reinhard, who had seen this before, felt pressure in his ears and goosebumps rising on his arms.

When Yor reached the table’s edge, she raised her hand slowly, as if reaching for something familiar. The wisp responded, its spinning slowed, its wild edges growing calmer under her approach.

She stepped closer until only an arm’s length separated her from the swirling darkness. The wisp moved toward her hand on its own, like it was being pulled by invisible strings.

Sirin narrowed her eyes while Yor grasped onto the wisp without any hesitation and trembled.

Black radiance illuminated the area, and the wisp began folding in on itself. For a split second, the air around them was sucked away.

The world turned gray before the distortion disappeared with a quiet pop that echoed in the basement.

Everything went still.

The wisp pulled inward, getting smaller and smaller until the black became thicker and more solid before it turned into a tiny shard that looked like a black crystal. Yor caught it before it could fall, and her hand closed around it gently.

The oppressive pressure disappeared completely.

"This one... Feels different from the last one." Yor furrowed her brows before looking at Rika. "Compared to the previous ones, the magic volume was smaller."

"Smaller? But then why did it feel like-"

"Maybe the condition and type are different this time?" Reinhard pointed out, making everyone pause.

"Do you think they’re changing?" Alice asked in surprise.

"Either that or these types always existed and are just now appearing in the academy."

"That’s a possibility." Sirin lightly bit her lips. "I did read reports of people not noticing a Void Distorting usual signs. And it just instantly appeared one day, warping everything... Maybe it really didn’t instantly appear-"

"And it had been forming quietly." Reinhard finished, making all of them fall silent.

He thought about every distortion the Resonance club found this semester. And every one Yor had closed before it could affect the campus. All of them were dealt with because they could be sensed.

But what if there were ones that couldn’t be?

Nobody said it aloud. But he could see from the shift in Sirin’s expression that she’d reached the same place.

"I will tell the headmaster about this." Sirin sighed before clapping her hands with a grin. "Regardless, good work. I think this calls for a celebration lunch. Is everyone free?"

"I am!" Alice said immediately.

"Me too," Rika added.

Sirin turned to Yor with an expression that was hopeful but prepared for rejection. "Yor, do you want to come eat with us?"

Alice had an amused smile on her face, like she expected the usual polite refusal, while Rika watched with quiet interest.

Yor looked at each of them before nodding once. "I have time."

Sirin, Alice, and Rika paused for a couple of seconds. Before the three of them erupted in glee.

Sirin actually cheered and pumped her fist in the air while Alice giggled with delight, and Rika’s face broke into a faint smile. Reinhard grinned because he’d known this moment would come eventually, but watching the others react was entertaining.

"Outside then!" Sirin declared. "The weather’s perfect, and I’m tired of being indoors."

...

Reinhard chose a sandwich, while the others picked different meals. They walked to the eastern gardens where tall trees cast cool shadows over the area. A fountain bubbled in the center, surrounded by empty stone benches. The group ignored the benches and sat in a circle on the grass, spreading their food between them.

Yor settled next to Reinhard’s right side. She left a noticeable gap between herself and Alice on her other side. Everyone else thought the seating looked random, but Reinhard caught Yor’s careful glance toward Alice.

"So," Sirin said while unwrapping her sandwich, "I sent the report about the Noctyne expedition to the History Department like I said I would."

"And?" Rika asked while leaning forward with interest.

"It seems they were able to find a connection with our findings. From an older account in their archives." Sirin took a bite before continuing. "From what they told me, there’s something dangerous sealed below the containment site we found. They wouldn’t specify what. Just that the sealing records are classified above our clearance level."

A pause passed by.

Reinhard raised an eyebrow while his curiosity sparked. "What do you think is sealed down there?"

Everyone fell silent for a moment while considering the question before Alice spoke up first.

"Probably an ancient monster that eats libraries." She said with complete seriousness. "That’s why it was under a reading room."

Sirin laughed and threw a grape at her. "That makes no sense!"

"Does too! It might be hungry for knowledge! There are lots of strange Fiends in this world, heck! We just fought one that can’t be hurt by looking at it!"

Rika giggled while shaking her head. " That’s true... But I think it’s more likely to be some kind of failed magical experiment. The ancient people were known for pushing boundaries with void research."

"So you’re saying they accidentally created something terrible and had to bury it?" Reinhard asked.

"Exactly." Rika nodded. "It happens more often than you’d think in magical history."

Sirin hummed thoughtfully. "I’m betting on it being a person. Some powerful Hunter who went mad or got corrupted and had to be sealed away to protect everyone else."

"Dark," Alice commented. "But it’s possible."

Reinhard grinned. "Maybe it’s just really embarrassing family secrets. Like terrible poetry or bad paintings."

Everyone laughed, including Yor whose shoulders shook slightly with amusement.

"A tomb of shame," Sirin said dramatically. "Where all the failures are hidden from the world."

The laughter continued.

They continued to trade increasingly ridiculous theories, with some even expanding on previous ones.

Until Yor’s quiet voice cut through the jokes.

"I wonder why it was sealed, though."

The group fell silent while the question hung in the air and shifted the mood from playful to thoughtful.

Sirin spoke up first. "When people seal something instead of destroying it... It can either be that it’s too strong to be destroyed, or destroying it would be worse. Like it’s tied to something important that would break if removed."

"Or maybe they tried to destroy it but couldn’t," Rika added. "So they just locked it away instead."

Alice rubbed her chin. "What if they hoped someone smarter would come along later? They might have been buying time for a better fix."

"That’s oddly hopeful coming from you," Sirin said, smiling.

"I have my moments."

Reinhard turned to Yor. "Did your family ever mention anything strange in the estate? Any warnings about dangerous items they kept?"

Yor stared at nothing for a moment, lost in thought. "My grandmother always told us to stay out of the basement in the mansion. She said some doors stay locked for good reasons, and being nosy isn’t worth the danger."

"Sounds like a warning from a horror story," Alice said. "Definitely means something weird was down there."

As the tension eased, they began talking about their recent visit to the Entertainment Department. Sirin mentioned how Yor had beaten everyone at archery, while Alice demanded another chance at the obstacle course.

"It’s not fair," Alice complained, waving a carrot stick at Yor. "You’ve had special training. Normal people can’t move the way you do."

"You moved pretty fast yourself," Yor replied quietly.

"Yeah, but you were like water! Just flowing through everything!"

Rika laughed. "Alice is right, though. Your form was incredible. Where did you learn to move like that?"

"Family training." Yor said simply. "All Noctynes learned combat and movement from childhood."

"Even the archery?" Sirin asked.

Yor nodded. "No. That one was just... luck."

"Lies! It must have been talent!"

The conversation drifted on.

Alice’s ongoing grievance about the obstacle course, Rika’s interest in the Noctyne library, and Sirin preparing a new type of trip.

Reinhard listened and watched the circle of them in the afternoon light under the trees. Yor was still in the gap she’d left between herself and Alice. But at some point in the last hour, without announcing it or seeming to notice, she had let that gap close by about half.

The grandmother’s warning sat in the back of his mind. Some doors stay locked for good reasons.

He couldn’t help but wonder if that had more to do with Yor than was being let on. The words of Yor grandma felt too odd, like it was meant to be something more.

Like a warning.