"Here," Rudabaugh said as he offered a pink thermos to Yoshino and a white one to Nozomi. With the first round of training finished, Nozomi and Yoshino sat tired—Nozomi physically and Yoshino mentally—on a large piece of concrete that had fallen off an abandoned building. Rudabaugh had carried the concrete a few feet away from the building without breaking a sweat. This demonstrated that although he looked like a regular human doing a cowboy cosplay, he was still a darkspawn or at least someone created by one.

Both teenagers didn't think twice before accepting the thermoses and immediately gulped down half their contents in one go. "Phew... man, I needed that," Nozomi muttered before laying her thermos by her side.

"You can say that again... my head feels like it's on fire," Yoshino groaned as she slowly rubbed her head.

"Well... at least it's only your head and not your entire body," Nozomi argued as she attempted to gasp for every bit of air she could. Although her magical girl form gave her a boost in stamina, that only meant Rudabaugh pushed her even harder. He ordered her to move faster and faster as time went on.

Yoshino tried to think of a comeback but stopped almost immediately as her brain felt too exhausted to bother. "Fair enough..."

----------------------------------------

"So, how was training with Nozomi?" Outsider asked Rudabaugh as he approached, having left the girls alone to enjoy their break. Both men soon stood with their backs resting against separate trees, far enough from anyone else they could talk freely without being overheard. They forgot that Seiza could still hear them thanks to his enhanced senses.

"She... has admittedly a longer way to go than I expected... but she's got the spirit and didn't make a fuss every time I corrected her footing or reminded her to keep one hand blocking her face whenever she threw a punch. I bet her willingness to accept criticism is due to being aware of what's at stake," Rudabaugh sighed. "I would say this is not my preferred choice to incentivize someone... but that's assuming Henry and I had a choice from the start. What about Yoshino? Is she doing well?" Rudabaugh asked, subtly changing the subject.

Outsider didn't seem to mind as he raised a hand to where his chin would be under the mask he wore. "Hmm, if I had to choose a word to describe Yoshino's progress on learning how to use her gloves, it would be... tricky."

Seiza raised an eyebrow at that, with Rudabaugh not far behind in reacting the same way. "Tricky? How so? Haven't you said she went farther than you did on your first couple of attempts?"

"Yes, I did. But how should I put it... although the fact she got a reaction, even if flawed, from the gloves on her first attempt is impressive, I also learned it when there was no rush. I guess my point is that although her progress is remarkable, I don't know if it will be fast enough, and..." He paused before continuing. "That bothers me more than it should. Not knowing if I should try to speed things up or if the pace she's learning now is good enough for the moment of truth comes. Do you see where I'm coming from?" Outsider asked Rudabaugh in a neutral tone but with a hint of uncertainty.

Rudabaugh thought for a few seconds before shrugging. "I... think I do. But honestly? I don't know if I can answer that question for you. I mean, she's your student learning your invention. Sure, I could say that Yoshino will give it her all... but I get the feeling you already know that, right?"

After Outsider gave it some thought, he slowly nodded. "Yeah, I do... thank you for listening, and sorry for going on for so long."

Rudabaugh waved off Outsider's concerns. "Nah, don't sweat it. By the way, I don't know if you've been asked this question before, but why did you only offer the gloves to Yoshino? Why didn't you extend that offer to Nozomi?" Rudabaugh asked. His question made Seiza perk up his ears in interest as this was something he hadn't thought of before but now wished he had.

Outsider raised his finger before explaining like a teacher. "Weeeell... if I had to give a reason, it would be because Nozomi already had the means to defend herself thanks to her magic. The other reason is that I'm uncomfortable giving more than one person, besides myself, access to my invention. I mean, an invention that can, as far as I know, copy anything the user thinks of is not something that can be handed to just anyone. I made an exception for Yoshino because she didn't have the means to survive. If she did, I wouldn't consider giving her an invention I've yet to find the limits of what it can't do. At the very least, I suppose she will be fine after proper guidance."

"I see... I suppose that makes sense," Rudabaugh answered after giving it some thought.

As the two men finished their conversation, Seiza sighed in relief.

The reasons were simple: first, he was glad there wasn't a need to heal anyone yet. In hindsight, this was obvious, but in his defense, he didn't know what kind of training it was. For all he knew, Yoshino and Nozomi would need his aid every few minutes. But after seeing the training Rudabaugh and Outsider were employing and hearing their conversation, Seiza leaned more towards believing they had the girls' best interests in mind.

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Second, and finally, Nozomi and Yoshino were getting stronger. Even if it wasn't by much, even if it probably wouldn't matter today, it was still a far better situation than when they had to improvise in every situation they found themselves in. With Outsider and Rudabaugh's training, Seiza felt safe knowing that eventually, Nozomi and Yoshino would be able to protect themselves.

Suddenly, a thought crossed Seiza's mind, making him want to kick himself for not thinking of it sooner. "Hey, Rudabaugh, Outsider, would you guys mind doing a small favor for me?" Seiza asked as he walked up to where he was just a few feet from the two teachers.

"Huh? I mean, I guess?" Rudabaugh looked at Outsider, who shrugged in response before both turned their attention to the talking dog. "What do you need, Seiza?"

"Well, for starters, Rudabaugh, I would like your opinion about these." Seiza pulled out Nozomi and Yoshino's masks from the spatio-temporal space where the star-shaped birthmark on his forehead acted as a figurative door. He offered them to Rudabaugh. Both masks floated in the air within arm's reach of Rudabaugh.

After accepting the two masks, Rudabaugh gave them a superficial look before frowning. Seiza's suspicions about the reason were soon confirmed as Rudabaugh opened his mouth to ask, "Did you enchant these masks?"

Seiza nodded before explaining how the enchantment helped keep the girls' identities a secret and how it might have made the masks more durable. He didn't know by how much and wanted Rudabaugh's help in figuring it out.

"I see... but, like, do you have replacement masks? Because if not..." Rudabaugh trailed off, unsure.

Seiza understood where Rudabaugh was coming from and quickly waved off his concerns. "No need to worry, I already have a plan for that." As Seiza said this, he turned to Outsider.

Thanks to the latter's mask, Seiza couldn't see Outsider's face, but he had a sneaking suspicion Outsider's eyes had grown wide in realization. "Wait... do you want me to make a perfect copy of these masks?"

Seiza smiled as he nodded. He wasn't sure if it would work, but he figured since there was no risk involved, it wouldn't hurt to try. "Yep, if what you said about the copies you created being more durable than their original counterparts is correct, then the copies of these masks, which already had their durability increased with my enchantment, would be in an entirely different league!"

Outsider raised a hand to the chin of his mask before slowly nodding. "Hmm, alright, I'll see what I can do."

After taking a careful look at the masks, Outsider raised both hands and concentrated for a few seconds. Soon enough, he held a copy of Nozomi's white bull mask in one hand and Yoshino's pink goat mask in the other. Both copies had the same kanji as their original counterparts. Seiza could tell at a glance that they lacked any trace of his magic.

I see, so I guess there's a limit to what it can copy! Seiza thought. This line of thought was shared by Rudabaugh and Outsider if their subtle but noticeable body language told Seiza anything.

When the initial surprise over the limits of Outsider's invention subsided, Seiza applied his magic to the masks. After that, testing went as smoothly as expected. The original masks broke into pieces after one direct blow from Rudabaugh, while their copies withstood the blow with only a few visible cracks. Overall, Seiza found the experiment a success.

"What are you guys doing?" Seiza heard Nozomi's voice from behind as he finished applying his magic to the new, second pair of copies Outsider created.

After he explained the experiments with their masks, Seiza was pleased to see that both teenagers were impressed by the results. It reminded Seiza that even if he couldn't fight, he could still help Nozomi and Yoshino in other ways. Even if it wouldn't make up for when he had run away from...

Seiza shook his head, figuring if he delved too deep into it, everyone else would notice something was bothering him. He couldn't afford to explain to them what it was, at least not for now.

Nozomi hadn't yet pushed him for details or brought up their talk a few days ago. This revealed more about him than he wished he had in retrospect. Something Seiza was beyond thankful for, but wasn't still ready to tell everyone else.

As Seiza tried to think of another topic to keep his mind away from his regrets, an idea crossed his mind, making him want to kick himself again. This time he forgot something important, even if it could be justified by Nozomi and Yoshino's well-being placing a higher priority on his ever-increasing list of things to worry about. "Hey, Rudabaugh?"

"Hmm?" Rudabaugh perked up as he turned his attention to Seiza.

"Would you or Henry know anything about the [Crystal of Darkness]?" Seiza asked. Soon everyone turned their attention to Rudabaugh.

Rudabaugh frowned, and if Seiza had to judge from his somewhat vacant stare, the outlaw was probably mentally discussing the question with Henry. Rudabaugh soon shook his head. "No, Henry and I have never heard about it... care to elaborate?"

Seiza obliged, giving him the same explanation he had given the girls when they first asked about it. After he finished explaining, Seiza watched as Rudabaugh's frown grew and his expression turned serious. "Is this everything you know?" Rudabaugh asked.

Seiza sighed. "It's everything I remember... I wouldn't be surprised if there's more about the crystal's existence that currently eludes me thanks to my amnesia." Seiza hated to admit that. He hated not knowing something that might put the lives of the people he cared about in danger, especially when he could do nothing to change things.

In the past, Seiza once tried hitting his head on a wall by running straight at it to remember his past. That only brought him pain and a wounded head he had to heal with magic.

Rudabaugh scratched the back of his neck. "Oh well, it can't be helped then. I guess there's only one thing left we can do..."

Seiza raised an eyebrow at that. "And that is...?"

"We train hard enough to be ready for it, which coincidentally..." Rudabaugh pulled out his phone. "Just so happens to be time for it. Yoshino, let's go." He called before he and Yoshino walked to more-or-less the same spot he and Nozomi had recently trained in. Outsider and Nozomi didn't take long to follow suit.

Seiza would be lying if he said he didn't have his concerns about the future, especially when he barely knew anything. What he did know bothered him to no end about not knowing more. But he would still try to stay positive around everyone. If not for his sake, then for Nozomi and Yoshino's.