“Let’s stop making this difficult and keep it simple. …So what is the trick to 2nd-Gear’s Art of Walking?”

“Hm, well…” Izumo folded his arms and glanced over at her. “To be honest, I really want to make a joke here.”

“I see. Then let me give you a useful bit of information. This roof is 16 meters up.”

They both looked over at the fence on the edge. Kazami frowned when she heard Kaku make an indecisive groan.

“Do you want to make a joke that badly? Okay, you can make a small one.”

“Eh? Really? Really? Okay, I need to decide what joke to go with. …Oh, I know! That one’s sure to-…gwoh!”

“Okay, that’s enough. You went over the time limit. Now give me the answer.”

Izumo held his solar plexus and glared at her with half-lidded eyes.

“You want the answer? Well, it’s pretty simple.” He stood in front of her and held his right index finger in front of her eyes. “This is the center of your vision. Got it? …Now watch this.”

Without moving his finger, he slightly shifted the rest of his body to the right.

He then lowered his raised finger.

Kazami’s eyes were not looking at the center of his body. She was looking at his side.

She more or less realized what this meant, so she spoke aloud to herself.

“You move from their vision such that they don’t notice?”

“Not just that. Basically, you deviate from all of their senses and their timing just enough that they won’t notice.” He counted off the examples. “Breathing, movements, pulse, hearing, etc. You alter each individual one just slightly. When it’s all combined together…”

“They can’t perceive you?”

“Right. The more we focus, the more we refine our senses and the easier it is for them to deviate from them. It has nothing to do with speed or strength. If you can’t perceive them, you can’t evade their attacks even if they just walk up to you.”

By the time he finished speaking, Izumo was suddenly standing next to her.

That was the Art of Walking.