One afternoon, some time after Ryosuke had left Hinatamari Kindergarten.

Kurato was busy encouraging one of his classmates.

Unfortunately, this was not ability training. But for his classmate, it was an even harsher and more painful trial.

Kurato kept shouting over and over, “Don’t give up! Don’t give up! You can do it!” while cheering on a boy who looked like he was about to drop his chopsticks.

Just then—

“Ku-chan, it’s bad!”

Keita came rushing into the classroom.

With his eyes half-open and saliva flying as he spoke, Kurato sharply raised one hand.

“Hey, Keita. Are you struggling with green peppers too? Wait a second. Shuhei-kun just put the very last piece into his mouth—”

“It’s not green peppers, it’s carrots. But Naoya next to me ate those for me! More importantly, it’s bad! Raito—Ra-chan—”

“Raito… what happened?”

Kurato wanted to complain about the carrot situation, but the moment he heard Raito’s name, his expression changed.

Keita didn’t even spare time to explain, instead shouting, “Just come with me!” and taking off running.

Kurato immediately chased after Keita and left the classroom.

Incidentally, Kurato, Keita and Raito had all been placed into separate classes when they moved up to the senior kindergarten year. At first, Raito had strongly resisted being separated from Kurato, but recently he had finally settled down.

Or so Kurato thought…

“Ra-chan got bullied by girls in his class and then ice just exploded everywhere…”

Keita finished explaining just as they reached Raito’s classroom.

They should have arrived.

But—

The two froze, staring in shock at the devastation before them. Their hurried footsteps naturally came to a stop.

This was definitely Raito’s classroom. It should have been.

Yet the scene spread out before Kurato’s eyes looked like an entirely different place. Massive chunks of ice jutted up from the floor, every window was completely frozen over, the glass turned into opaque walls of ice that blocked the way forward.

An ice world.

The massive remnants of cryokinesis.

‘Had Raito’s ability gone out of control?’

Near the entrance, children were sitting on the floor crying uncontrollably, while adults ran around in panic.

Urgent shouts from the adults flew back and forth over the children’s heads.

“Damage report!?”

“There are still several children and Sasaki-sensei trapped inside!”

“Can’t we get in!?”

“It’s impossible! Raito-kun is still inside and the freezing is still spreading. If we enter, we’ll freeze instantly!”

“What about the police!?”

“With Raito-kun’s magical power level, only a Special Zone SPI unit can handle this and they say it’ll still take time…”

“That means…”

‘Everyone inside will freeze to death.’

Kurato finished the thought silently in his head as the staff froze in despair.

Kurato took a deep breath.

Cold air filled his lungs and with it, his body and mind regained a bit of calm.

The strongest ability user currently at this kindergarten was the principal, who was C-rank. And that principal was away on a business trip to the board of education today—completely unrelated to this incident.

To break into the frozen classroom, an A-rank pyrokinesis user could melt their way through, or a cryokinesis user of the same type could enter without freezing.

But if someone tried to enter with just their bare body, just as the teachers said, their legs would freeze instantly and they would be immobilized, causing secondary casualties.

So what should be done?

How could he get inside?

Kurato imagined it.

Clothing resistant to cold.

Firefighter gear? A space suit? No—if clothes froze, they’d be no different from bare flesh. Something that could be discarded even if it froze… something that could be regenerated over and over again would be ideal.

At the word regeneration, a certain memory burst into his mind.

Jet-black scales swirling with malice. Sharp fangs stained with the flesh and blood of former companions.

A familiar yet detestable memory of another world.

That black dragon had truly been a nightmare. No matter how much they attacked it, it regenerated instantly. Even the orc hero Gogobubu, who could one-shot a minotaur, had struggled against it.

Kurato lightly shook his head and refocused.

That’s right. Dragon scales regenerate.

Kurato tried to imagine the evil dragon he had once fought in another world.

But instead, another dragon surfaced in his mind.

Three years ago, at the main family’s demonstration. A silver dance woven of water and ice. A water dragon formed entirely through ability use.

That image was still vividly etched in Kurato’s mind and he felt that his own ability could replicate something like it.

Kurato concentrated all of his senses.

First, the fat covering his body. Replacing it, he layered countless thin membranes—the precursor to acrylic plates—stacking them to form a thick insulating air layer.

The scales would be substituted with iron shields.

Of course, the usual size wouldn’t work. The gaps would be too large, letting the cold seep in and freeze the membranes.

Smaller. Much smaller.

Yes—about the size of the water dragon he had seen in that demonstration.

“Ku-chan…”

Keita’s eyes were wide with disbelief as he spoke.

He had been right beside Kurato the entire time and had watched him don the scales. Even so, he couldn’t believe the person standing before him was really Kurato.

It was understandable.

Wrapped in scales, Kurato now looked a full size larger. The iron scales covering his body dulled the sunlight as they reflected it back.

Standing there was a single warrior clad in dragon scales.

Through the transparent scales, Kurato’s eyes turned toward Keita.

“…I’m going.”

Leaving only that single line behind, Kurato slowly stepped toward the frozen classroom.

Toward Raito.

“Hey, you! Stop right there!”

A teacher stepped in front of him.

Kurato’s figure shouldn’t have been visible through the scales, but judging from his size, the teacher must have realized he was a child. She reached out, trying to grab him, unwilling to let a child approach such danger.

But her hand never reached Kurato.

The outstretched hand was instantly covered in tightly packed clumps of earth.

“Ku-chan, go!”

Keita’s earth clumps wrapped around the teacher’s arm, preventing her from raising it. Not just her arm—her legs were bound as well, immobilized.

That saved him.

Kurato let out a quiet sigh of relief.

His control over the dragon scales was still crude and he could only move slowly. While he could have brushed the teacher’s hand aside, there was a risk of injuring her.

“Thanks.”

Kurato turned only his neck toward Keita and gave a quiet nod.

Then he immediately entered the frozen world.

“Stop! You can’t go in there! Keita-kun, release this ability right now!”

The teacher’s scolding chased after Kurato’s back.

‘Sorry, Keita. I’m counting on you.’

As soon as Kurato stepped inside the classroom, all surrounding noise vanished.

A world of silence.

The ice swallowed all sound.

Looking around, Kurato spotted Raito crouched at the far back of the classroom.

He wanted to rush straight to him—but priority came first.

In the middle of the classroom lay one teacher and two children collapsed on the floor. The teacher was shielding the two small bodies, covering them protectively.

Everything was frozen, creating the illusion that time itself had stopped.

Kurato’s scales at his feet were slowly beginning to frost over.

The cold itself was manageable, but staying too long was dangerous.

Before his feet fully froze, he stepped forward. When the scales became too cold, he discarded them, fused new membranes and generated fresh scales—regenerating them like a shark’s teeth.

He moved slowly.

If he moved too fast, the scales would detach.

The scales weren’t physically attached to the membranes. Each one was being controlled individually, synchronized with his body. Forcing movement would cause them to scatter instantly.

He had practiced covering just his arms or legs with scales before.

But covering his entire body was a first.

One mistake and he’d be frozen solid in an instant.

He reached the teacher.

Her skin was red, with patches turning pale white.

‘Frostbite.’

If it got any worse, her extremities could necrotize.

The two children beneath her were mostly unharmed, their skin only slightly reddened thanks to her protection.

The teacher came first.

As Kurato finished his triage and reached to lift her, her mouth moved.

He was shocked. She was still conscious.

“Ch… chil… dren…”

“Hm? What did you say?”

When he asked again, the teacher forced out more words.

“Chil… dren… first…”

…She was telling him to save the children first.

What incredible compassion.

‘You truly are a model teacher.’

“I understand.”

Kurato gently lowered the teacher’s arm and instead lifted the two children onto his shoulders. He discarded the frozen scales and generated fresh ones to hold them safely.

It took some time, but he successfully handed the children off to the teachers outside and immediately after, delivered the severely chilled teacher as well.

“Thank you! Now hurry, come back here!”

A teacher outside waved frantically for Kurato to return, but Kurato shook his head.

“There’s still one left.”

Before anyone could stop him, Kurato turned back and re-entered the icy prison.

At last, he could reach his real objective.

He quickened his pace slightly, but the scales held firm.

Raito, crouched on the floor, hadn’t turned blue like the others. He looked exhausted, sprawled weakly across the floor.

Kurato knelt in front of him.

“Hey, Raito. Sorry I took so long.”

“Nii… chan?”

At Kurato’s lively voice, Raito weakly lifted his head. Covered in dragon scales, Kurato must have been unrecognizable at first.

Kurato nodded exaggeratedly.

“Yeah, it’s me. Your brother, Kurato. Looks like you went through something rough.”

“No… nii-chan… it’s my fault…”

Raito then explained what had happened.

It was basically a verbal argument.

A girl in his class wanted to play with Raito, but he kept refusing and they got into a fight.

That girl apparently had B-rank magical power and said that “people like us shouldn’t be playing with D-rank and below kids.”

When Raito argued back, she said, “Eventually, kids who are C-rank or higher have to go to the Special Zone. You’ll have to leave your brother too.”

She had been jealous of how Raito always played with Kurato.

The moment Raito heard he would be separated from Kurato, overwhelming sadness washed over him. His body started hurting and growing cold and as he cried out, his ability activated, causing this disaster.

Now, Raito was exhausted from overusing his ability. His magical power was depleted and he was mentally drained as well.

“I see. That can’t be helped, Raito. Let’s train more so you can control your ability better, so this won’t happen again.”

“Yeah. I want to get better.”

“That’s the spirit.”

Kurato placed a hand on the floor, lowering himself to Raito’s eye level.

“But Raito, what that girl said is also true.”

Those who reached C-rank would eventually be invited to the Special Zone. For now, their mother controlled that decision, so Raito wouldn’t go yet.

But if the Makishima main family summoned him, things would change.

In fact, every year at the New Year gathering Kurato attended, pressure from Hisame to bring Raito had been increasing. An A-rank staying outside the Special Zone was clearly unacceptable to her.

“But Raito, I will definitely go to you.”

Kurato met his brother’s eyes.

“I’m at the bottom as an E-rank right now, but I’ll become C-rank someday and run to your side.”

Even if he couldn’t reach C-rank, Kurato intended to enter the Special Zone through special exceptions, like Ryosuke.

Ryuko had told him there were other such cases.

“Really?”

Raito looked up at him with unfocused eyes. He was clearly at his limit, his face pale with fatigue.

“Yeah. It’s a promise. I’ll train too and catch up to you. Someday.”

“Mm… nii-chan can do it… I’ll wait…”

Raito’s eyes slipped shut mid-sentence. Exhaustion finally claimed him and he collapsed into sleep.

Kurato picked him up and left the classroom.

The moment Raito fell asleep, the freezing began to lift. Cracks echoed loudly as ice throughout the classroom fractured and melted away.

When Kurato emerged, no children remained nearby. Instead, adults in protective suits were rushing around.

But the moment Kurato appeared, everyone froze and stared.

At this point it was no longer cold, so he had already released the dragon scales.

“That child… is he Raito-kun? And you must be Kurato-kun.”

A sun-tanned female firefighter asked in a stiff voice.

When Kurato nodded, she exhaled in relief and smiled.

But her eyes were not smiling.

“I need you to tell me what happened. Is that alright?”

“Yes…”

The long day was still not over.

* * *

Afterward.

Raito’s ability rampage went unpunished.

Intentional ability crimes were punished severely, but accidental incidents—especially involving children—didn’t even become cases. Like natural disasters or seasonal illnesses, it ended with a simple reminder to be careful next time.

This seemed to be the global standard as well. Perhaps, because abilities were the cornerstone of national defense, minor ability incidents were deliberately overlooked.

Kurato, however, was a different matter.

He was summoned to the principal’s office afterward and thoroughly scolded.

“Adults’ instructions must be followed properly!”

He accepted the lecture humbly.

It seemed that in any world, disobeying one’s superiors was treated harshly.

* * *

Memo

With one’s own ability, does one avoid things like frostbite?

If an ability-related incident is not intentional, the penalty is quite light.