Seraphim is a Bystander

The Entrance Gift and Test Results
 

With her usual sly grin plastered on her face, Dr. Ichijou handed me the wrapped box. If I wanted, I could’ve checked the contents without opening it—but since she went out of her way to prepare it, I figured I’d at least go through the motions properly.
“Thank you for taking the trouble. I appreciate it.”
“It’s no trouble at all~. Now, go ahead and open it?”

Under her watchful gaze, I slowly undid the wrapping and opened the box. Inside was…
“...What is this?”
It was a semi-transparent card, likely made of some kind of resin. I flipped it over to check both sides, but there were no markings. Just from looking at it, I couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be.

“That’s like an ID card for you, Sera-kun.”
“...Do I need that?”
I didn’t plan to move around much, and worst case, I could handle most situations without something like an ID. Dr. Ichijou just chuckled at my doubtful tone.

“It’s just insurance. Sure, someone like you could get by without it—but if something does happen, it’ll make things much easier to deal with.”
“...I see. Then I’ll accept it. Thank you.”
“Yup, keep it with you~. It also comes with a certain level of clearance. If you run into trouble, try showing it.”

Dr. Ichijou gave a mischievous grin as she said this. I couldn’t switch back to Aoi while holding this, so I quickly opened a hole to my mental space and tossed it in.
“Thanks again. I’ll return control to Aoi now.”
“No problem—but hey, wait a sec. What was that just now? I really want to hear more!”

Ignoring her curiosity, I swapped back with Aoi using a mental exchange, leaving only the sleeping Aoi and a slightly dejected Dr. Ichijou in the real world.
“Well, might as well check it properly.”
In the mental space, I picked up the gift I'd tossed in and used my halo to scan the card’s circuitry and read the embedded data.

◇Serasu Futaba
Gender: Female
Date of Birth: 10221/5/18
Access Level: Unlimited
Ability: [---]
Circuit Quality: -
Ability Capacity: -
Element: None
It was basically like a status plate from a fantasy world. But... this is awfully vague.
Name and birthdate are fine. Gender—well, it matches the body, so fine. But the sections related to abilities? They’re practically blank. And what’s with “unlimited” access when she said “a certain level”? That’s completely different.
…Well, whatever. If the opportunity comes up, I’ll make use of it.

With that checked, I turned my attention back to Aoi. Dr. Ichijou had brought his sleeping body back into the room and was repeating the test. Since I’d been the one active during the earlier checkup, she had only collected my data.
Now quickly finishing Aoi’s scan, she gently woke him and returned to the room where Dad and Sou were waiting.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. That concludes the checkups.”

“Thank you very much. How were the results?”
Dr. Ichijou displayed the results via nanomachine projection. Even though both Aoi and Sou had exceeded average values in their previous exam, their current results showed even greater improvement.
“Aoi-kun and Sou-kun are both doing just fine.”

“I see… that’s a relief.”
Dad exhaled in clear relief. As Dr. Ichijou pulled up more detailed data, she began her explanation.
“Aoi-kun’s numbers are increasing simply because kids grow fast. He’ll keep improving, and typically, a person reaches about three times their childhood levels by adulthood.”

“Of course, that’s just physical capability. If he trains deliberately, he’ll improve even more. That depends on the individual.”
Huh. Now that I think about it, since becoming an angel, my body has been reset and updated multiple times—but I haven’t experienced “growth.” It’s kind of refreshing. I wonder if I’ll grow too now?
“As for Sou-kun, his numbers are likely going up because Aoi-kun keeps strengthening his compatibility-linked abilities.”

“I see… Does he have an upper limit?”
“Good question. Here, take a look at this.”
Dr. Ichijou manipulated the floating display and pulled up a specific set of data—Sou’s stability as a virtual construct.

“Wait… is his stability dropping?”
Compared side-by-side with his last report, it was clear. He had previously been above average, but now he was notably below it. Dad looked worried and glanced at Sou, but Dr. Ichijou smiled to reassure him.
“Yup, but don’t worry. In this case, it’s not actually a bad thing.”

“…It’s not?”
“Nope! Since you’ve been on the front lines fighting virtual constructs, Kouta-kun, you should know about evolution, right? Right now, Sou-kun is storing more power than his original form can handle. His body is trying to evolve to match that power.”
Dr. Ichijou explained that the current instability was simply due to the evolution process. He was outgrowing his old form. Once he adapted, he’d stabilize again. Seeing his father visibly relax, Dr. Ichijou gave her conclusion.

“So yeah—Aoi-kun and Sou-kun are both growing well. No issues at all! That’s the end of the tests.”
“Thank you very much for today, Dr. Ichijou.”
As they bowed and moved to leave, Dr. Ichijou called out.

“Wait a sec! You’re going to train with Aoi-kun after this, right?”
“Yes, though I wouldn’t call it formal training.”
“Perfect! I have just the thing. I want Aoi-kun to try these.”

She held out two bracelets, one large and one small—likely meant for Aoi and his dad.
“These are… bracelets?”
“Hehehe… I’ll explain in ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) detail once we’re in the training room.”

Dr. Ichijou let out a suspicious chuckle, prompting a worried expression from Dad.
…So that’s the entrance gift for Aoi, huh? I wonder what it does…