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Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 23

2026-09-12T05:00:33Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 23: Accusing Attacker==
[[Image:OnC_v06_0337.png|thumb]]
''What is faster than words?

''That would be something that exceeds sound

''It would be words and communication that exceeds sound

Miyako stopped next to Typhon.

At five meters, she was just within reach of its arms.

However, there was no light in its eyes.

''It isn’t running,'' she thought.

Five maids were moving about on Typhon and the hanger surrounding it. Their primary jobs were replacing the armor plates, repairing the head and right arm, and readjusting moving parts below the armor.

They sang as they worked.

Looking at it like this, Typhon was nothing but a weapon. It could only stand there as a hunk of metal.

It did not scream or do anything else.

…''How strange.

The light in its eyes the other night had made it seem alive, but that may have only been the case when the pilot was inside.

She looked to the side and saw Cottus’s giant blue form.

“Are you always here?”

“Affirmative.”

“Do Gyes and Aigaion not help with maintenance?”

“Different job. Busy.”

“I know Aigaion earns money at a greengrocer, but what does Gyes do?”

Rather than Cottus, Moira 3rd answered as she caught up to Miyako’s right.

“She’s patrolling and examining the area around here. She leaves the concept space to guard it and lately she’s been going to places that have something called the internet to check on some information.”

“I see.”

Moira 3rd continued speaking while stretching.

“Those two have philosopher’s stones for outside work. The gods of war and Cottus do too, but they can’t show up in public looking like that, y’know? I wish I had a philosopher’s stone so I could go outside.”

Her voice was bright, but Miyako guessed that last comment was what she truly thought.

Miyako had heard they were able to move their base. A few times in the past, they had moved the entire space so the base would not be found, but they could not leave the space surrounding the base.

…''Is it like being in a cage?

Their desire for guests and a master may have been to make up for their inability to leave.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey. Miyako. Next time you go outside, can you bring something back for me?”

“What do you want? Just tell me.”

“Hmm. Then get me the Sudden Death Man chocolates that Aigaion brought back before.”

“Oh, the ones with the Lifestyle Disease Angel and the Overwork Demon? Can you even eat candy?”

“No. I’ll take the sticker and you can have the chocolate. The others would probably be fine with that too.”

“Wait. I’ll have to buy an entire case to have enough for everyone.”

There were approximately sixty maids in all. If each one was 30 yen, that was 1,800 yen. If she went to a supermarket where she could get ten percent off…

…''Um…

She was bad at mental calculations. She converted it to about 1,600 yen and upped it to 1,700 yen to include tax. That was cheaper than a CD.

“Okay, I can handle that. It’s perfectly okay!”

“Um, Miyako? What’s okay?”

She decided not to answer Moira 3rd.

Suddenly, the automaton began to float. Miyako looked over and saw Moira 1st had approached at some point and was dragging Moira 3rd behind something by the collar.

“Oh, big sister. What is it? Where are you taking me!?”

The larger automaton ignored her and moved out of Miyako’s view.

“Stop making unreasonable requests! Lady Miyako has her financial situation to worry about.”

“B-but she said it was okay.”

“It obviously is not okay if she has to think about it so much first. Not to mention that she is busy.”

“Ehhh? She clearly isn’t busy.”

''You’re both right and I can hear you both,'' thought Miyako as something new began out of her view.

“If you say that, I have no choice but to punish you. Now, it’s time to crack that butt!!”

“Waaaah! Big sister! You knocked my hip joints out of place.”

“You can’t fool me with those fake tears. I can see it with my thermal vision. And to make sure you see your mistake, I will be taking your hip joint bolts.”

“Hmph. Fine. I can hold it all in place with my gravitational control. I don’t need legs.”

A dull metallic noise filled the air.

“Wah! You dented it!”

''Dented what?'' thought Miyako, but she turned her back because she felt wrong listening in on a fight between sisters.

She took a breath and looked up at Cottus.

“Do you ever want to go outside?”

“Battle request?”

“No, uh, that wasn’t what I meant.”

Cottus tilted his head and that action told Miyako something.

…''To him, leaving here means battle.

“Maybe I’m just being sentimental. Well, if you ever want to leave, just tell me.”

“Understood.”

He nodded and Miyako recalled the previous day. Apollo had lent her his cane and she would have been able to leave using it, but here she was.

…''Only the other two Hecatoncheires can leave.

As she muttered in her heart, she realized something was missing.

When thinking about who could leave, she was omitting a member of the 3rd-Gear group. She had failed to think about the person who would most naturally be able to leave.

“That would be…”

She remembered.

“That idiot.”

When she recalled the name “Apollo”, she let out a voice of realization.

She had completely forgotten despite exchanging headbutts with him the evening before. He had provoked her and had her say what she truly thought.

…''And he protected me when the cliff collapsed.

''Dammit,'' she thought ''He showed off and then had me blurt out my true thoughts.

“It all started with that idiot suddenly sitting down.”

She rubbed her shoe’s heel against the floor in frustration, but then she recalled something strange.

The concept that allowed machines to live had been weak there, so the automatons could only function there for a short period of time.

So why had a human like Apollo collapsed?

“…?”

She folded her arms. She knew she was not very smart, so she thought carefully.

…''Does he have some kind of disease? Did he have some kind of fit?

But if that was the case, why had he been able to go through with that argument shortly thereafter? Someone who collapsed just from walking a bit would have to be insane to raise his blood pressure by grabbing someone else’s collar, shouting, and headbutting.

…''He did bleed from that, so he must not be an automaton.

However, the automatons had been watching on from overhead during that argument. That meant it had been just barely removed from the outer boundary.

She had no proof, but an idea occurred to her.

…''Is he a human who can only live in places an automaton can function?

What did that mean?

She searched for Moira 1st to ask her, but she did not hear anything from the area Moira 1st and 3rd had gone. Something new may have been happening outside.

“That’s no good, then.”

She instead turned toward the automatons maintaining Typhon. One with black hair had finished removing an armor panel from the leg and was taking a break.

“Hey,” called Miyako.

She chose her words carefully as the maid turned a smile in her direction.

“Does Apollo come here often?”

“He stops by at a frequency I would call ‘occasionally’.”

“Is that so?” She made her way toward her real question. “Does that idiot ever go outside?”

The ends of the maid’s eyebrows lowered slightly at that question.

She did not know what to do.

Seeing that, Miyako asked further about the answer to the question before the maid could fall into mechanical confusion.

“He can’t leave, can he? Why?”

“Well…”

“Is he sick?”

“No.”

“Has he made some kind of promise?”

“No.”

“Does he simply prefer to stay here?”

“No.”

''Then what is it?'' she thought.

A word then occurred to her.

…''But that’s only worth making a joke.

She shrugged her shoulders and asked while assuming the maid would not understand what she meant.

“Is it a curse?”

“Yes.”

That answer caused her to freeze in place while still shrugging.

She remained speechless for a short time as she tried to grasp what the maid’s confirmation meant.

“Does 3rd-Gear have curses?”

“The translation concept is likely conveying our word ‘curse’ as the word you are hearing. Our word is defined as a defect that is remotely forced upon one by someone else and that can be removed under certain conditions.”

Miyako repeated that definition in her head.

…''In other words…

“Someone is forcing that rich boy to bear some kind of restriction or handicap?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a way to remove it?”

The maid reacted to that slowly-asked question with hesitation. She was trying to decide whether she should answer or not.

But after the span of a few breaths, she took a step forward and lowered her head.

“There is a single method.”

She hesitated to continue and fell silent, so Miyako scratched at her own head.

A curse.

That term did not seem to fit the mechanical Gear that was 3rd-Gear, but she had seen something similar the previous night.

“This is a strange place. You have curses and a strange ghost-like woman shows up.”

“Eh? A ghost-like woman…?”

“Oh, from your tone, I take it you know what I’m talking about. A pale glowing woman with long hair. She looked like she was about to cry.”

And…

“!”

Suddenly, Miyako was shoved to the right.

…''What!?

As her vision tumbled, she saw that a new maid had charged into the spot she had been standing in.

…''Moira 2nd!?

That automaton had shoved both Miyako and the maid she had been speaking with.

Miyako looked up while wondering why.

A giant shadow that almost looked like a large tree was falling from overhead.

It was an arm. A metal arm covered in white armor.

Typhon’s arm had fallen from the shoulder block.

An instant later, Moira 2nd turned toward Miyako and their gazes met.

“…”

The automaton smiled just as the steel arm fell on top of her.

Miyako heard the singing stop.

The great noise had already ended and she only heard the sounds of scattering components.

The low, rhythmic sound in her ears was her own pulse which was raised in panic and surprise.

…''What just happened!?

The emotion of that mental shout raised her pulse even further.

She realized she could move her legs and she was not trembling, so she began to stand up.

“Ah.”

But she staggered. It was less that her footing was unsteady and more that she was too tense.

She placed a hand on the floor in front of her and managed to stand.

She then saw the giant arm only three steps away.

It was Typhon’s left arm which was covered in armor panels and surface buffering armor. The upper arm was as thick as Miyako’s torso. The shoulder connector was open, so a steel plug thirty centimeters thick was exposed and pointed upward.

There was almost no gap between the arm and the floor and something was crushed beneath it: components made of delicate metal and ceramic as well as fragments of those components.

The parts that had not been smashed to pieces lay between the arm and Miyako.

The remaining parts were nothing but a portion of a female upper body.

The head, the right side of the back, and the right arm lay face down. The black maid uniform had been caught at and pulled by the arm and floor and it looked as if the maid had been squeezed out from between the two of them.

Her short blonde hair shook, her eyes were closing, and she was not moving.

Except that is, for her lips.

Miyako heard her voice.

“Please help…”

“Eh?”

Miyako frantically crouched down and listened closely as Moira 2nd spoke so very quietly while moving only her lips.

“Please help Lord Apollo. He is a victim of the Concept War. He is unstable as a human…and thus must receive the restrictions of a machine.”

“How do you remove those restrictions? Surely you have a way using your technology.”

Her frantic question received no reply and Moira 2nd stopped moving altogether.

But Miyako continued to shout.

“Don’t go to sleep!!”

That produced a small smile from the automaton.

“Understood…”

She opened her mouth and spoke the rest with difficulty.

“Th-the method is…”

“Is?”

“Something that…Lord Apollo c-cannot d-do…b-by him…himsel-sel-self.”

“I see.”

Miyako nodded and touched Moira 2nd’s cheek to tell her she had understood.

All strength left the automaton’s body and she did not speak any further.

No one moved, so Miyako stood up, turned in every direction, and shouted out.

“Someone take Moira 2nd to get help!”

With shudders of realization, some nearby maids, including the one who had escaped damage thanks to Moira 2nd, quickly ran over. Seeing that, Miyako breathed a sigh of relief.

“She isn’t going to die from this, right? Right?”

“There is nothing to worry about. As long as her head remains, her memories can be returned.”

“I see.”

Miyako looked toward Moira 2nd with a quiet expression.

“Thank you.”

After thanking the automaton for saving her, strength entered her eyebrows.

…''I could let it end like this, but…

She looked up toward Typhon’s shoulder, but not a single maid was there.

The maids working on it had been in the process of replacing the armor around the waist. Five of them were paused where they had been lifting the giant metal panel together.

…''In that case…

Typhon’s arm had fallen from the shoulder on its own.

“That wasn’t an accident due to poor maintenance, was it?”

She looked over.

…''Typhon’s eyes.

She saw a faint light there.

“…!?”

And it was a pale bluish-white. It was the same cold light as when she had been abducted.

“Is someone in there!?”

…''Who is it? No, it doesn’t matter who it is.

Typhon had definitely attempted to prevent her from speaking any further with that maid. And it had attempted to do so with her death.

She had not heard any footsteps on the overhead catwalk, so Typhon’s pilot would have been in the cockpit the entire time.

She wondered who it was. Was it the glowing woman from the previous night? Was it Apollo? At the moment, it did not matter which it was.

“Wait there!”

She lifted her heel, turned around, and began running.

Miyako ran.

There was a staircase up to the catwalk on the hangar wall, so she ran there while keeping her eye on Typhon to ensure no one fled from the cockpit on its back.

…''From now on, those maids aren’t going to tell me anything about Apollo or Typhon.

That falling arm had been a warning from the one controlling Typhon.

''Who is it?'' she wondered.

This was the final 3rd-Gear member who was refusing to show themselves. It was the person controlling Typhon, the person who had not let Moira 1st and the others show her the hangar until now, the person keeping Apollo inside the concept space, and the person who would crush their own automaton as a warning.

Miyako recalled what 3rd-Gear had done during the Concept War.

…''This sounds like someone who would do those things.

She ran up the stairs.

The catwalk was about three stories up, which put it at the height of a god of war’s back.

The empty passageway continued in a straight line and reached the left side of a back with six wings.

She had not seen anyone leave from the back, so she ran loudly and while swinging her arms.

She traveled the distance in an instant and arrived.

“I’ve got you now!!”

She stopped and stood on Typhon’s back. The cockpit located between the six wings stuck out quite a bit further than the other gods of war and the inside of the block formed the basin that decomposed the pilot.

“…!”

But it was empty.

“Ah?”

She caught her breath and peered inside with a hand on one wing.

“Wait a second. Why?”

Why was no one inside?

''That’s cheating,'' she mouthed while leaning further forward to peer inside the cockpit.

But all she saw was a dimly-lit empty space and a metal floor.

“Wait…”

She took a breath, frowned, and felt a sinking feeling deep in her chest. It was a dark feeling. It was a mixture of impatience and fear because she knew something was going on but did not know what.

And as the feeling filled her, she saw a light. The light formed writing. A panel inside the cockpit contained a word in a pale light. She could not read it, but she could tell what it meant.

She knew the word.

“What is this?”

Before she could picture the characters in her mind, they vanished. The cockpit fell into complete darkness and she realized Typhon was not going to move now.

Instead, she saw a strand of color.

“Hair?”

A single hair was caught in the cockpit’s door. She wrapped it around her finger to pull it out and the slender and soft blonde strand fluttered in the air.

She recognized the length and the color.

…''This is Apollo’s.

But he was not inside, so it may have simply blown there in the wind.

In that case, who had piloted Typhon?

As soon as she asked herself that, she saw a light. The light took the form of slender fingers and approached the nape of her neck from behind.

“…!?”

She frantically turned around but found only empty space.

“What?”

No one was here, but she was certain someone had been.

While eating breakfast, Moira 1st had told her that a ghost or something similar might appear next to Typhon as it contained the Concept Core which functioned as the Tartaros. That something would be unable to touch anyone, but it would exist.

The fact that something like that existed brought a chill to her spine. Once she caught her breath, she tensed her back.

“…”

And she silently walked back along the catwalk.

She remained focused and noticed that Typhon’s eyes no longer contained any light. The fallen left arm and the connector on the shoulder showed no sign of being pried open or of bolts being loosened from the outside. The attachment base that could not be accessed from outside had opened naturally. The opening to that attachment base contained no damage like the right arm did, no cracks in the armor, and no scratches on the frame.

Typhon’s left arm had definitely been removed by the pilot, but Miyako started to focus on the right arm that was being repaired.

She focused on that broken right arm and…

“The slightly damaged head.”

Also…

“That writing and the presence behind me.”

At that point, she sensed something about the damage to Typhon.

Something seemed off and she felt an odd sense of déjà vu.

…''What is this? I feel like there’s some important connection here.

Her vision then caught a hint.

Down below, the arm that had crushed Moira 2nd was being removed. Six automatons were lifting it on Moira 1st’s instructions.

However, Miyako was looking at the automaton who had saved her rather than at Typhon’s arm. The automaton’s head was lowered and she was collapsed, but Miyako was looking at her unharmed right arm.

Moira 2nd’s right index finger was pointing in a certain direction.

It was pointed straight down as if to some place below the floor.

An expanse of white sand lay below the blue sky.

Immediately behind the sand was a thin rocky area followed by a forest. The rocky area’s height change separated the forest and the beach and the sea breeze reached the sparse branches of the pine forest.

Several green tents were set up at the entrance to the forest and all of them had thick waterproof sheets as roofs.

The shallow and rocky land meant the tents could not use stakes driven into the dirt.

“Use the rocks and have the trees act as pillars. But don’t break the trees. Do that and you’ll lose points and be in charge of dinner. I’m in the mood for curry. What about you? It’s delicious.”

Ooki was giving instructions while walking unsteadily across the rocky area.

Her instructions were not very useful, but the tents were somehow getting set up one after another.

Those who had finished would construct their stove, bathroom, and other facilities and then split into two groups. One group would go train while the other…

“Break time! I’m first!!”

With that shout, Kazami ran toward the ocean. She dashed across the artificial beach while holding G-Sp2 and wearing an orange and black bikini. Water splashed into the air and she sank down into it.

“I’ve got our dinner!!”

Eventually, an explosive spray of water burst up from the ocean. The pillar of water reached around a dozen meters up and the rain of saltwater made it as far as the beach. Those on the beach cried out and avoided the rain which had several fish mixed in.

The fish flopped around as if in surprise after falling on the beach and Sibyl gathered them while wearing a light jacket.

Once a large basket was full, Kazami left the ocean.

She held up G-Sp2 in her right hand and did not bother wiping away the seawater running down her body.

[[Image:OnC_v06_0359.png|thumb]]

“Ah, that felt great. But you really can’t underestimate a desert island out at sea. The current is fast and deep. We should probably run a rope from the rocky outcroppings on either side to show where your feet can reach the bottom.”

“Good idea, but what about Izumo-sama? He will almost certainly laugh as he crosses the rope and end up swept out to sea.”

“Don’t worry. He won’t die just because he stops breathing. More importantly, where’s Mikage?”

“Over there.”

Kazami looked where Sibyl pointed and saw someone in a dress sitting in the rocky area. The girl held a cane and simply stared up into the sky.

“She does not seem to have brought a swimsuit.”

“Yeah, I think she’s still reluctant to show off her body. Well, there’s more to see on this island than the ocean, so I hope something here can help her evolve.”

Two boys carrying baskets approached from beyond the rocky area.

Izumo and Hiba both wore T-shirts and shorts.

Kazami saw Mikage try to stand up as soon as she spotted Hiba. Her actions had a brightness absent from her usual expressionless face.

…''She really cares about Hiba.

Kazami smiled and Sibyl whispered next to her.

“You looked just as happy when Izumo-sama appeared.”

“I’m not that straightforward.”

She shrugged and smiled as Izumo approached. He lowered the basket on his back a few steps away.

“Chisato.”

He turned toward her, looked at her face, her chest, her hips, and her legs.

“Chisato, listen closely.”

“What is it?”

“To be honest…” He placed a hand on her shoulder, looked up into the sky, and chose his words carefully. “I’ve always been a coward when it came to swimsuits, so I think I’m going to show more courage and- Don’t throw me that quickly!”

She immobilized the wrist on her shoulder just as she swept his legs out from under him and rotated him around.

He flipped completely over in midair.

She had only recently learned this technique. Punches and kicks could harm the opponent too easily, but locking techniques could only defeat a single opponent. However, there was a different sort of technique that could defeat a single opponent and disturb or damage any others around.

…''A throw!

The main trick was to continually pull her opponent’s hand forward and down to create circular motion.

As a result, Izumo quickly rotated in midair.

His back would soon be slammed against the ground, but she trusted him to prepare for the landing. That trust came from the years she had spent with him and it allowed her to use her full training without worrying about him.

''Good, good,'' she thought of her own movements when Sibyl suddenly spoke.

“Ch-Chisato-sama! Izumo-sama is going to fall into the ocean and get soaking wet!”

“Oh, no.”

She quickly corrected his trajectory and the top of his head slammed into the relatively hard beach.

The sound of the impact filled the air and the sounds of tent preparations came to a halt.

As sand blew up into the air and fell back down, Kazami was left letting out a breath and wiping sweat from her brow.

“Thanks, Sibyl. Knowing Kaku, I doubt he packed any extra changes of clothing.”

“Yes. Having him crawl around in wet clothing would affect both his health and our public morals.”

Kazami looked to the rocky area and found Hiba glaring at her for some reason.

She tilted her head and he frantically held Mikage’s shoulders and took a step back.

“U-um, I feel like I have to ask: Is he okay?”

“Hm? Oh, he’s fine. C’mon, get up, Kaku.”

Kazami lifted Izumo up and struck his head with the tip of G-Sp2.

She would hit him with a vase to wake him in the mornings, but even that was taking a while recently.

She occasionally wondered if he still had some reason to hesitate.

He now slowly opened his eyes.

“Yawn. Is it morning already?”

“Wake up already. We’re at the training camp.”

“Oh, that’s right. So what was I doing? Last thing I remember, I was gathering fruit in the forest with Hiba.”

“You probably fell out of a tree. Heh heh. Yes, let’s say that’s what happened.”

For some reason, Hiba held Mikage’s shoulders, turned around, and tried to sneak away.

“Hey, don’t run, Hiba.”

“I-I think Mikage-san wants to go in the shade.”

“Is that true, Mikage?”

Mikage turned toward Kazami and shook her head.

“Ahh, Mikage-san, you don’t understand,” said Hiba frantically. “The world is headed in an odd direction right now!”

“Your world is headed straight for hell,” warned Kazami.

Hearing that, Sibyl frowned.

“Chisato-sama, I do not think you should make implicit threats of murder to someone you do not know very well.”

“Y-yeah, you’re probably right. But…”

“Yes. He does not know you very well, so he will not understand unless you make the threat explicit.”

“Sibyl? That was a very good point, but how about you keep points that good just between the two of us? …I said don’t run, Hiba!”

“But I don’t see why I should stay here.”

Hiba looked toward Mikage. She had her usual expressionless face, but she did not seem to have made her own decision. She looked at him expectantly to tell her what to do.

He sighed and faced Kazami with lowered eyebrows.

“Is there anything for me to do here?”

“They’re training over there. Would you rather join them?”

Kazami looked to the eastern side of the beach. She and the others were on the western side while the eastern side was used for training. An empty car and dummy building for infiltration training were prepared and Boldman stood before those needing training.

Despite the sun beating down on them, they all wore three-piece suits, neckties, and leather shoes.

Kazami watched as Boldman pushed round glasses (minus the lenses) up his nose and tightened his tie.

“Now then,” he said with a training manual under his arm. “Students, the summer training camp for Japanese UCAT Tokyo branch special and standard divisions begins now. I am Robert Boldman and I have been the training instructor since last year. I will not ask anything difficult. Simply answer ‘yes, teacher’ to whatever I say.”

“Yes, teacher!”

“Very good.”

A young Japanese man on one side whose gray suit was already darkened with sweat raised his hand.

“Yes, teacher! May I ask a question!?”

“Questions are generally not permitted, but as we have only just begun, I will allow it this once.”

“Yes, teacher! Why must we wear suits as we train and speak overly politely like a bunch of homos? May I call you an idiot!?”

Around twenty of the others lined up gave looks of agreement.

“I see.” Boldman brought a hand to his forehead which was completely devoid of sweat. “During last year’s training camp on Mount Osore, I gave the same training given to the American marine unit I belonged to. It started with shouting insults along the shore of the Sanzu River and running a marathon across Mount Osore while singing an enjoyable round of an erotic song. Anyway, one of the trainees was filled with a rebellious spirit.”

He sighed.

“I tried to quell that rebelliousness, but the rebel…for the purposes of the story let’s say it was a she. Anyway, she said the lyrics of the song were horrible and I sent my aide after her, but she punched him and kicked him in the crotch. Her partner was a man who would not go down no matter how much you punched him, so I ended up receiving some injuries from the two of them.”

He indicated the area around the back of his neck.

“I was fine at the time, but aftereffects of the whiplash have been showing up lately and my wife is worried. At any rate, I spoke with the higher ups afterward and realized my training method was simply too outdated, so some of the fault lay with me.”

He clenched his fist and looked up into the sky.

“And so I have given the concept of training new life. It has gone from being a wild and delinquent to stylish and politely intelligent! Training forever!!”

“…”

“Where’s your answer?”

“Yes, teacher.”

“I can’t hear you.”

“Yes, teacher!”

“Once more.”

“Yes, teacher!!”

“Okay, try to make it ''loud'' for once! Ready, go!!”

“Yessss, teacherrrrr!!”

“Well done! Now, everyone, run three laps around the island. If it’s getting tough, just tell me. We’ll be running in a line and the slowest person takes the lead. Do you know the trick to running?”

“Yes, teacher!”

“Can you tell me what it is?”

“Yes, teacher!”

“You don’t actually know, do you?”

“Yes, teacher!”

“Very good.” Boldman pushed the round glasses up his nose again. “The trick to running is to stay M-A-D. M for ‘move ever forward’, A for ‘always accelerate’, and D for ‘dash and don’t stop’. If you don’t follow those rules, you’ll be doing the same thing tomorrow.”

“Yes, teacher! We’ll make sure to stay MAD!”

“Okay, you there can take the lead first. Everyone else line up behind him.”

“Y-yes, teacher!”

The man in a gray suit who responded ran across the beach as quickly as he could as if fleeing something. The next person gasped and frantically followed. More and more followed with no discrimination between the sexes or anything else. Lastly, Boldman ran after them.

“Okay, everyone, let’s sing a song to increase our sense of unity. Just repeat after me.”

“Yes, teacher!”

“Blooooming, blooooming, the target flower is bloooooming.”

“Blooooming, blooooming, the target flower is bloooooming.”

“They’re all in a rowwww, a nice straight rowwwww. Red clothes, black clothes, white clothes. Whatever flower you see, just cry yeehoo!”

“They’re all in a rowwww, a nice straight rowwwww. Red clothes, black clothes, white clothes. Whatever flower you see, just cry yeehoo!”

The alternating song disappeared into the distance.

After watching them leave, Kazami turned to Hiba.

He pointed toward the already vanished song and turned his head toward her.

“Is that really okay? The colors seemed pretty biased to me.”

“Don’t worry. They’ll get enough complaints for it to be changed next year.”

“I see. But I guess I can’t complain now.”

“Because you’re so happy to get to join them?”

“That is not what I meant!”

He let out a long, exhausted sigh and spread his mouth horizontally.

“That training is too much.”

“Then you’ll be training with me.”

He looked down toward the sudden voice from the ground and saw Izumo. Izumo sat up on the sand and faced Hiba on the rocky area.

“I asked you about joining us last night, but you didn’t give an answer even though we’ve showed you how well we can fight. …Of course, I’m sure you have your reasons.”

He stood up by leaping up from a sitting position.

“…”

With that single leap, he reached eye level.

“Hiba, you think you’re stronger than us, don’t you? How about we put that to the test?”

He landed as if stabbing his feet into the sand.

“C’mere. Let’s fight.”

“Fight? Are we going to spar? But do you have any martial arts experience?”

“Of course not. Only what they teach in the special division training.”

Hiba looked shocked.

“UCAT’s training is generally modeled after the militaries of different countries, isn’t it? Some of it may be filled with originality like what we just saw, but my grandfather gave me military style training until I was in tears and he trained me in the Hiba style of martial arts on top of that.”

“That’s fine by me. I’m twenty and you’re sixteen. When you were born, I could’ve killed you easy. Right now, I can vote and I can smoke without having to hide it. I easily broke through the 18+ barrier a whole two years ago. How about that!?”

“Well, that last one might be nice.”

“Is that so?”

Izumo ignored Kazami’s half-lidded glare and pointed at Hiba.

“How about this? Let’s spar while using wooden swords or something. If I win, you think about joining us in our fight.”

Someone reacted to that proposal, but it was not Hiba. It was Mikage.

“…”

She frantically peered into Hiba’s face and moved her lips to produce her silent voice.

“I oh’t ahnt aht.”

''I don’t want that.

Kazami read her lips and her expression.

…''What does that mean?

Hiba used a god of war to fight, so it was natural if he did not like joining them, but why would Mikage dislike when she only assisted?

…''It can’t be.

A thought occurred to Kazami. Did Mikage want only Hiba to fight?

If so, that was a ridiculous idea. That meant wanting the one she cared for most to fight.

But was that how she felt?

As she looked at Hiba, the ends of her eyebrows were ever so slightly lowered and Kazami imagined unease resided behind that look.

…''Is she worried that we will take their fight away from them?

If so, what would the two of them do?

“And what would we do? …Kaku, I know what it means to win this match.”

“Yeah, but nothing will ever happen if we stay still. Doing nothing will only lead to the bell indicating time is up.”

Izumo’s tone was light, but she could see a harshness on his face.

She guessed that something had happened to him in the past that she was unaware of. Something in which he had remained motionless and come to regret it.

Hiba’s eyebrows slowly rose and he nodded while drawing Mikage close.

“Giving thought to joining you if Izumo-san defeats me could work, but what will you do if I win? It would be pretty conceited of you to have not thought about it.”

“Okay, how about this?” shouted Izumo with a smile. “Hiba, if you win, I’ll act in your place and show some courage concerning Chisato’s swimsuit! What do you think about that!?”

“Here’s what ''I'' think about that!!”

Kazami punched Izumo.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 22|Chapter 22]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 24|Chapter 24]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 22

2026-09-12T04:40:08Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 22: Pulse of Ascertainment==
[[Image:OnC_v06_0315.png|thumb]]
''Movements always have something extra

''A sound of beginning

''A sound of announcement

There was a place where the summer air felt cool.

Namely, a mountaintop.

In the heights, one could immerse themselves in the cool summer air without relying on the wind.

During the summer, the mountains to the west of Tokyo were a degree or two lower than the city on average. The trees of the forests and the dirt of the earth maintained the humidity, so the ground was cool as well.

In those mountains was a certain cemetery. The entrance was located at the base of the mountain and the sign there called it the Nishitama Cemetery.

The Bon Festival had yet to arrive, but two people stood on the long stairway leading up to the cemetery at the peak.

One was a young man wearing black and the other was a maid wearing black.

The maid held a bucket filled with flowers in her right hand. Despite carrying the bucket of water up the stairs, her gait was lighter than the man next to her. He had to use a metal cane to climb the stairs.

Her white hair shook as she waited for him to move ahead five steps and then she followed.

After she caught up, the man turned his sunglasses toward her.

“You can go on ahead, Sf. And that doesn’t end with these stairs. You can abandon me and go wherever you want. Yes, even to the next life.”

“Tes. If that is your wish, I will obey. But I did not think you believed in an afterlife.”

“I believe in it for you, so be thankful.”

“Tes. I am activating my gratitude circuits.”

Sf lowered the bucket, faced Itaru, and clapped her hands thrice.

“Namu.”

“Is that how you show gratitude, Sf?”

“Tes. German UCAT’s research on Japan is perfect. This expression of gratitude symbolizes the union of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, but it was also determined to be a suitable symbol for the union between East and West Germany.”

Sf looked back toward Itaru, but he was already silently continuing up the stairs.

She followed him only after completing her expression of gratitude by bringing her hands together and bowing.

“Itaru-sama, where are we going today?”

“I’m not telling.”

“Tes. Understood. So it is a secret. It has been a while since you wanted to share a secret with me. The last time was my third week after arriving in Japan.”

“We shared a secret?”

“Tes. While cleaning the room you provided for me, I detected a strange hollow area below the floor and peeled up the floorboard to reveal a large number of figurines. They were all modified into ‘sheeeh’, ‘komanechi’, ‘gachon’, and ‘just kidding’ poses. Three hours later, you interrogated Kazuo-sama and had him tell the truth, but you mentioned that I was to keep it a secret. I have determined that is a valuable memory.”

“Please forget it ever happened. It’s an embarrassment to the Ooshiro family.”

Itaru continued up the stairs, Sf followed, and he continued even further.

As that process repeated, they arrived at the peak. The graveyard entrance contained a slight wind and the bright sun.

Itaru walked east as if opposing the wind and Sf spoke to him while pointing forward.

“Itaru-sama, the Sayama family grave is that way.”

“We’re going this way today. I have an obligation at a different grave.”

“Tes. I have determined you have a great number of friends.”

“Do the dead count as friends? They don’t exist in reality anymore.”

“Tes. I have determined humans have great imagination. They never use it for anything worthwhile, though.”

“I see,” said Itaru. “Do you not imagine things?”

“Tes. I can make predictions, but the way you humans fabricate meaningless desires in your thoughts baffles me and I do not see why it is necessary. Why is reality not good enough for you?”

“Ask that to my old man. He’s nowhere near satisfied with it.”

“Tes. I once asked him directly, but he ran off in tears,” she said. “But why do you imagine?”

“Look around you.”

Sf did so while continuing to walk.

“Tes. I have determined it is a cemetery. What about it?”

“Why do you think there are gravestones here?”

“Tes. They are a sign that the land is owned as a grave and they prove which family it belongs to.”

That answer put a bitter smile on Itaru’s lips.

“That’s why you have no imagination. There’s a hole in your theory, so answer this: If these gravestones are not there for the reality of possession and family, what do you think humans imagine their purpose is?”

“As I am an automaton and not a human, I do not understand the premise of the question.”

“Then why are you asking about our imaginations?”

“Tes. Because it is something I cannot do.”

“What if we added in some new circuits? Then could you do it?”

“Tes,” replied Sf. “It would be impossible according to my definition of imagination.”

“And what is that definition?”

Sf nodded.

“Tes. It came with my foundational memories. In my deepest depths, there is a place even further down than language that forms the base of everything. Someone’s thoughts are located there. I believe people imagine things because they do not contain that important factor.”

Itaru looked up into the sky, frowned, and clenched his teeth.

“Is something the matter, Itaru-sama?”

He did not answer her question. He instead ground his teeth and muttered quietly.

“Diana…”

Sf tilted her head, but he asked a question while still looking into the sky.

“But if you know that, why not do the same for yourself? Lose that important factor and then imagine.”

“That is impossible. When I lose you, I will destroy myself. I will not have time for imagination.” She gave Itaru an expressionless look. “Am I wrong, Itaru-sama?”

“Tes. I have determined you are correct.” Itaru clicked his tongue. “You really were formatted by German UCAT. Diana can’t just leave well enough alone, can she?”

“Tes. But I was made especially for you. If you are delighted, email your thoughts to German UCAT’s Sf support team. Do so now and you will be entered into a raffle with prizes for three winners.”

“What are the prizes? Gifts for the Bon Festival?”

“Tes. They are Sf holiday tickets. Collect five and I will take a day off.”

“Wow, this the first time I’ve actually been thankful for the information you give me. I’d better send that email right away. And please continue taking days off for the rest of your life.”

“Tes. I will now give you your participation prize: ten Sf hard work tickets. For each one, I will assist you for 24 hours. I will manage their use, so-… What is that expression, Itaru-sama? I cannot seem to place it.”

“…”

“Itaru-sama, here is a saying to help you calm down: Grow angry and you lose. How was that?”

“You really do know how to bring out my emotions.”

“Tes.” She bowed. “I am honored to receive your praise. As that phrase has proven to bring about an undiscovered secondary effect, I will likely continue speaking it forever. I must send a report to German UC- Why are you continuing on ahead?”

“You’re a pain to deal with.”

He walked forward and she followed to prevent him from moving too far away.

However, he soon came to a stop.

“?”

She looked toward him and his sunglasses. The black sunglasses were facing a gravestone below a tree.

“I can see the words ‘Hiba Family’,” she said. “I can also see a woman in Japanese clothing.”

The woman standing before the grave turned toward Sf’s voice. She was short, her hair was mixed with gray, her thin eyes were bent in a smile, and she bowed.

“It’s been a while, Ooshiro-kun.”

“Yes.” Itaru nodded. “It really has, Ms. Hiba. Ryuuichi’s funeral was the last time, wasn’t it?”

A building with tall white walls sat below the sun as noon approached.

This was 3rd-Gear’s base. The emergency exit on the side near the top opened and a young man stood on the elevator sticking out.

He was Apollo.

He rested his elbows on the railing and watched the cityscape beyond the mountain forest.

His narrowed eyes followed a train traveling west from the distant station. Once it moved out of view, he watched the countless cars and buses moving through the streets.

He listened to the faint sounds of the engines.

“…?”

But then he heard a song.

He cleared his ears to determine where it was coming from.

The song was formed from several female voices.

That harmony of voices was nearby. It came from the open hangar door directly below.

In that case, he knew who had to be singing.

“Those are the automatons, Lord Apollo.”

Hearing a voice behind him, he looked up but did not turn around.

“What is the meaning of this, Moira 1st?”

“Lady Miyako said she was going to the hangar after breakfast.”

“Why did you allow her to? None of the other guests were ever allowed to approach Typhon.”

“She is one of our masters,” answered Moira 1st. “Also, while eating breakfast, she asked if 3rd-Gear really does have ghosts. It seemed like idle curiosity, so I told her any ghosts would appear near Typhon because it contains half of the Concept Core that is the Tartaros.”

“Did Miyako see the supposedly impossible afterimage of an individual 3rd-Gear soul?”

“We have seen one plenty of times. Typhon is likely interested in Lady Miyako, but Typhon and its Tartaros have never shown an interest in the living before.”

Moira 1st smiled and Apollo smiled bitterly.

“You really are cruel,” he said. “Are you not going to tell her the full truth?”

“She will approach it on her own. We simply must reevaluate everything afterward. I am sure she will show us something we have overlooked due to knowing too much.”

“Then will she remain here?”

“She does not remain here. She simply is here.”

His shoulders shook in laughter.

“Ha ha. You really have taken a liking to her. Typhon might eliminate her, you know?”

“Perhaps, but I hear our clash with Low-Gear is approaching and I think someone should see everything we bear.”

“Even if Low-Gear cannot defeat Typhon?”

“Even that is part of the current situation.”

The singing changed. Apollo could tell one automaton was singing the accompaniment while the others sang the lyrics.

He then heard Moira 1st speak with a smile in her voice.

“Lady Miyako taught us that song. When she saw the girls down below working in silence, she commented on the absence of a radio. When we asked what that was, she told us Low-Gear often plays music while working. Listening to it silently supposedly helps you focus and lifts your spirits.”

“And that led to this song?”

“The song she taught us was quiet, so we made some alterations.”

“I see.”

He nodded.

“I see,” he gently repeated. “I’ve heard 3rd-Gear did the same thing during my grandfather’s generation.”

“Yes, I recall Lord Cronus mentioning it.” She paused for a beat. “He also said the one who inherited the position of sun god would be in charge of music.”

“Music wasn’t a concept, so I didn’t inherit that.”

“Then how about you learn now?”

“You mean learn the music of Low-Gear who we are about to fight?”

“The air you are breathing now also belongs to Low-Gear.”

And…

“Isn’t Low-Gear music the same as 3rd-Gear’s? I am not a combat model, but I believe I can distinguish between what is an enemy and what is not. What about you, Lord Apollo?”

Apollo lowered his shoulders and sighed.

“I sure am being bullied a lot today. But…”

“But?”

“What do this song’s lyrics mean?”

“Well,” replied Moira 1st. “It is a song blessing the night on which a precious holy man of this world was born.”

Surrounded by song, Miyako watched the work progress.

The automatons maintained the gods of war with a combination of pure strength and skilled technique. They could control gravity, so they could lift parts larger than themselves with a single hand and fix them in midair.

While watching, Miyako realized there was no crane.

There were only the hangers supporting the gods of war and the scaffolding the automatons used to move about. They moved from scaffold to scaffold with quick hops, but those hops spanned several meters.

A nearby automaton explained the system that allowed that kind of movement.

“We are puled across by directional gravity which is created until just before the target distance.”

By repeating the action in midair, they could apparently move back and forth like a pendulum.

When in a hurry, the ones up top would lift up those down below and the two of them would combine their acceleration.

A green god of war arm passed by Miyako’s head and one of the automatons stopped singing. It was the one named Violet and she spoke to the automaton transporting the arm.

“C-come on! Lady Miyako has no gravitational control, so think about what would happen if it fell!”

“Oh, my apologies! But she can catch something like this, can’t she?”

“I thought automatons couldn’t make jokes,” complained Miyako with her hands on her hips.

The automatons all laughed and began singing once more. They were singing a modified version of Silent Night. They had not known what a song was and had wanted her to sing for them, so she had done so while sweating nervously.

The song had a poor tempo for work, so the automatons had taken it upon themselves to alter the tempo to match the wavelength of their actions. At first, their voices copied Miyako’s own, but they had returned to their normal voices after adjusting the tempo.

Miyako had decided only two things for them.

“One of you sing the accompaniment with whatever noise you like. After a verse, the next one takes over the accompaniment. You can set up a rotation like that.”

The accompaniment changed again. The previous automaton had used “lu” sounds, but this one used “ah” sounds.

She detected great skill in the voices and she surmised they had been built to sing.

During their morning break, she had asked about the effect singing had on their work and they had replied as follows:

“Based on our statistics, the frequency of records made and number of test thoughts performed have increased. Even if our efficiency remains the same, the records and test thoughts should increase our precision.”

When she had asked what that meant, they had exchanged a glance and reached a unanimous answer.

“By entering a set flow such as music while working, the conditions for creating records become clearer. Also, the miscellaneous thoughts concerning the work are eliminated by the song, so we can completely focus on the work.”

“So to put it more simply, you can remember things and concentrate more easily?”

“Not just that. We vow to do all things perfectly, so singing well while working is a sort of test for us. Especially while singing the accompaniment. With this many people, your turn does not come often, so you think about how to sing better, introduce less noise, and use the motions of the work to eliminate any shaking in your voice the next time your turn comes around. You want your turn to come more quickly and you want to more quickly and precisely perform the work.”

“Don’t get so lost in thought you stop paying attention to the work.”

That comment had produced smiles from them.

It was now the second morning work period and lunch would come once it was complete.

While Miyako ate, she planned to have the automatons look after the seeds they had planted the day before and make observation records. She considered having them make the records with pencil and paper in addition to the records in their brains.

…''Would that make a better living record?

Meanwhile, Moira 3rd passed by with an armful of large screws.

Miyako watched her finish carrying the screws and then called out to her.

“Do you always overhaul all eight gods of war like this?”

“There used to be more and some were in the underground hall. However, it has been a while since we performed a full overhaul on all of them. We are doing this because Low-Gear’s UCAT has come to a place called the Seto Inland Sea.”

“Are you going to fight?”

“Hm? We’re not combat models, so I doubt it.”

“I see.”

Miyako breathed a sigh of relief and looked toward the gods of war.

“So who pilots these things? It isn’t the rich boy, right?”

“My middle sister. She uses the general remote piloting device down below. It was originally meant to unite someone, but they’re gone now. The cockpit remains unchanged and a remote control system was inserted into the nervous system. It can cross the barriers between concept spaces, so not much information can be sent back and forth and the gods of war don’t always move quite right. The damage to the god of war doesn’t feed back to the pilot, though.”

“I see. So the pilot will be fine and even an automaton can do it.”

But if Moira 3rd’s explanation was accurate, it meant the Hecatoncheires named Gyes, Cottus, and Aigaion were possibly going to fight Low-Gear soon.

“And so will Typhon.”

Miyako looked further back in the hangar.

She had yet to focus on and look at that white god of war.

The giant six-winged machine was being repaired by a few automatons.

Assuming it had been called out to some fight during the night again, she looked at its damaged form.

“…”

She nodded and started walking.

She made her way to it, knowing Moira 3rd would follow a step behind.

She walked toward Typhon which had slight damage to the right arm and head.

A song filled the darkness.

A hall existed underneath the hangar.

Spare god of war parts were stored there and it was divided by several thick pillars, but a certain device was located in one corner.

The machine looked like a vehicle’s cockpit had been cut out, including the roof and floor.

Inside it was a monitor and a seat with keyboards shaped for five fingers on either side.

Near the chair were a foot point for each foot and an arm point for each arm. Those four points were connected to the chair with wires so the person sitting inside would have all their movements recorded.

Currently, an automaton sat in that seat.

The slender automaton with blonde hair noticeable even in the darkness was Moira 2nd.

“…”

She opened her eyes in the darkness and the front console lit up and displayed text.

“God of war remote control – Preparing to rearrange all armor for combat – Switching to sleep mode.”

She nodded and stepped out of the seat.

That completed her work for the morning. Once the others altered the detailed locations of the extremity drivers, she would perform her next check, but she predicted that would be late in the afternoon at around five.

She began to walk.

It was too dark to see the floor, but the console behind her provided some residual light and she was used to walking through here.

Her footsteps suggested she was walking on stone and she traveled to the west end. After passing by a large pillar, she looked to her right.

A large shadow lay there.

The collapsed giant was a god of war. The torso had been sliced in two. It was a pale color and something had been gouged out of the back where the cockpit would be.

“…”

She looked away from the god of war, closed her eyes, and continued walking.

The sound of her footsteps changed as the unseen floor gained a slope.

After walking a certain distance, she reached out in front of her.

Suddenly, white daylight surrounded her.

“…!”

She closed her eyes but still exited.

A moment later, wind blew as something closed behind her.

As her vision grew accustomed to the light, she looked around.

“…”

She stood to the west of 3rd-Gear’s building. The hangar entrance was on the east, so this was the back entrance.

After circling around to the south, the wall reflected the sunlight and she saw eaves formed from a metal frame and metal panels.

Below the low eaves were rows of flower pots.

The flower pots contained soil and she tilted her head as she observed that slightly dry soil.

She had not received any seeds from Miyako the day before.

From her shared memories as an automaton, she understood that they had planted the seeds and planned to make them bloom.

But as she had not been there, she did not understand the reason why. Something that could only be felt while present could not be grasped from a memory.

“…”

She wordlessly observed the pots and silently asked a question once more.

…''What is the point of this?

They would eventually wither up and disappear.

…''Aren’t they nothing more than that?

As she hung her head, she recalled the different guests who had wandered in here over the past sixty years. At first, she had interacted with all of them, but they were always so wary and would plead to be immediately sent back once they knew what she was.

Her elder and younger sister would always rewrite their memories and Gyes or Aigaion would take them outside.

That had repeated again and again and remnants of 1st-Gear had once visited to negotiate.

Everything had gone well the first time. 1st-Gear had been wary due to 3rd-Gear’s past, but they had been relieved to find only the automatons were meeting with them. That was why the automatons had dealt with them as guests.

But the second visit had been an attack and the situation had only grown worse.

The reason for that was Typhon. At first, the Hecatoncheires and a god of war remotely controlled by Moira 2nd had been sent out as a threat, but Typhon had intruded afterward.

The battle had been over in an instant and the possibility of 1st-Gear ever arriving as guests again had been eliminated.

…''I have had enough.

There was no reason to smile, no reason to speak, and no reason to use her ability to detect someone’s health.

She had never once had the satisfaction of receiving a guest and obtaining joy in response.

All she needed to do was optimize her skills at remotely battling the enemy.

That was all.

“…”

However, she looked toward the wall. The sunlight reflecting off the white wall prevented her from looking directly at it without reducing the brightness of her sight devices.

She had seen that wall for sixty years now, but she now heard a certain noise coming from the hangar on the other side.

She heard singing voices.

She had once heard from Cronus that humans would produce primitive music using their physical voices.

…''Even that song is meaningless in the end.

Everything would eventually be lost and become meaningless.

However…

“…”

…''Does this guest know that as she gives these things to them?

Did she?

…''What if there really is a meaning?

In the instant that thought entered her brain, Moira 2nd felt an impossible sensation: a pulse.

Her mechanical body did not have one of those. She had once heard the sound again and again while checking whether or not certain humans could bear children.

“…?”

She could not have heard Miyako’s pulse because her ability only worked at close range.

…''Then…

She soon found the answer.

At her feet was a line of flower pots filled with soil.

“…”

She used her ability to listen. The flower seeds in the soil had yet to even bud, but she could hear the beginnings of a movement that could be called a pulse.

The seeds slowly absorbed water and the water gently circulated within them.

As the line of several dozen seeds all breathed together, it produced a loud noise.

She heard it.

As if they wanted her to listen, these few dozen new movements were tickling at an ability she had not used in so long.

Their movements resounded.

“…”

She closed her eyes as if to withstand the noise of the flowers.

But she could not oppose what her ability sought. The pulse reverberated in her body and the song reached her ears.

She heard the vocal accompaniment and the singing voices.

“…”

What was she to make of this thing that she knew nothing of yet had once existed in 3rd-Gear?

She faced forward to the east.

If she circled around to that side, she would reach the hangar entrance.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 21|Chapter 21]]
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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 23|Chapter 23]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 21

2026-09-11T02:40:06Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 21: Silently Read Memories==
[[Image:OnC_v06_0287.png|thumb]]
''Someone said to go outside

''What did so before you could respond?

''Your thoughts, your gaze, or your advancing feet?

Below the blue morning sky was a dark blue expanse that reflected the sunlight and rose and fell with waves.

It was the sea, but this sea did not continue to the horizon.

Beyond the ships and water birds was an opposite shore and bluish-gray mountains.

A voice flew toward that sea.

“The Seto Inland Sea!”

The female voice belonged to Kazami.

Her voice came from a wharf sticking out into the sea. A few dozen people were gathered on the concrete harbor and Kazami stood in the lead while holding a wheelchair’s handles.

The wheelchair carried a girl with long blonde hair across the wharf.

That girl, Mikage, looked up toward Kazami, opened her mouth, and spoke with silent words.

“Ee ehoh ihluh ee?”

“That’s right,” replied a smiling Kazami. “The Seto Inland Sea.”

Mikage nodded and looked behind the other girl.

Two boys stood there: Izumo and Hiba. The latter gave Kazami an impressed look.

“Kazami-san, you sure have gotten close to Mikage-san.”

“We’ve been together since last night, including the bus, helicopter, and train rides coming here. Are you jealous, Hiba?”

“I am, Chisato. I’m worried you’re going to awaken to a love that crosses the gender barri- gfh.”

Kazami ended the unnecessary comment prematurely and glanced around.

The ones waiting for a ship on the wharf and harbor were Team Leviathan and the members of the special and standard divisions that often worked with them.

The training camp was taking place on a desert island and they had already traveled from Okutama to Okayama UCAT by helicopter and from there to Kurashiki by train.

They had arrived at the Port of Mizushima on the southwestern side of the Kojima Peninsula, but it was not a fishing harbor. It functioned as an industrial transportation harbor and it was reachable on a train from Kurashiki. The industrial area was used by many corporations such as Mitsubishi.

“The Izumo Company has apparently been using this since the early days of the Izumo Aviation Institute.”

From what Kazami’s father had told her, the area had been an even greater shipbuilding area than Yokosuka during World War Two.

She turned to Hiba, then to Mikage, and finally to the western sea.

“That’s Kure, Hiroshima over there. During the National Defense Department days, warships like the Yamato were built there.”

“They build passenger ships and tankers now, don’t they?”

“Oh, do you know a lot about this, Hiba? Do you like this kind of thing?”

“No, but my grandfather does. Back in the National Defense Department days, the military apparently asked them to share some technology for a giant warship. They planned a warship that flew and fired a destructive beam from the bow, but the military thought they were joking and rejected it.”

''They were probably serious,'' thought Kazami. ''If the plans still exist, my dad could probably use it for something.

Mikage then lifted her body up to look at Hiba.

Kazami guessed that Mikage had not heard that story and that she wanted to hear as much from Hiba as she could.

The night before, they had spoken together and Kazami had occasionally let Mikage handle the calls to Hiba, so she could now understand what the girl was thinking to a certain extent.

…''But I’m probably not as good at it as I think I am.

She had been woken early that morning by the sounds of Mikage attempting to leave the room on her own.

Kazami’s current mood would change based on whether that was due to Mikage’s desire to see Hiba or a desire to get away from her.

''I can’t let my guard down,'' she thought. ''Mikage has her own thoughts. As long as I don’t hastily read too much into her actions, I’ll get my answer eventually.

Suddenly, Hiba glanced around.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Sayama-san or Shinjou-san since Kurashiki Station.”

“Oh, those two couldn’t resist any longer and they can’t exactly do it in front of us, now can they?”

“…What?”

“It happens a lot.”

Kazami beckoned Hiba over. After Mikage tilted her head and Hiba walked over, Kazami crouched down, placed a finger over her mouth, and gestured for Hiba to lower down as well.

“?”

He lowered his head and Kazami reached into his collar and toward the wheel of Mikage’s wheelchair.

She searched around with her hands for a bit.

…''There they are.

When she pulled out two small devices about the size of a grain of rice, Hiba mouthed a word much like Mikage would.

“A uhg?”

''A bug?

Kazami nodded, quickly opened the backpack she wore, and pulled out a handheld recorder much like the one Sayama owned. She switched it on and Hiba whispered a comment on the sound it produced.

“Kazami-san, what is this sound of flesh and bones being struck?”

“Shh. Sayama edited this four hour selection of my attacks. For the moment, it’ll sound like I’m hitting Kaku.”

She placed the bugs in a small pill case she took from her backpack and placed it back in along with the activated recorder.

She tossed the backpack toward Izumo who lay collapsed on the ground. It made a dull noise as it struck his face, so it must have had some kind of weapon inside. She decided not to think about it and took a breath.

“Now then, let’s talk seriously.”

“Sounds good. …Wait. Why were we bugged!?”

“Not so loud, Hiba. This isn’t a simple matter. There are people who are interested in our actions, so they asked to have us monitored. Probably from the other side of the sea.” Kazami pointed at Hiba’s collar and Mikage’s wheelchair. “They must have been slipped onto you during the body check before boarding the helicopter. I’ll put them back on you, so we need another way to eliminate them. Hiba, when disembarking from the ship later, purposefully fall into the ocean and change your clothes. Mikage, you try to use your cane instead of the wheelchair. Also make sure to check your tent every day.”

Hiba frantically nodded and Kazami smiled when Mikage emulated him. Hiba had plenty of combat experience and Mikage had a long past, but their one-on-one battles had not prepared them for this kind of tactic.

…''I actually feel like an upperclassman for once.

“So where are Sayama-san and Shinjou-san?”

“After leaving the helicopter at the Okayama IAI branch, Sayama received a phone call, remember?”

“Yes. A group called the Army attacked UCAT and escaped. Shouldn’t you all head back there? I heard most of the internal data was destroyed.”

“They targeted the central data server, so the servers of individual departments were unharmed. It seems transferring over the data from those servers will recover most of it. In fact, the IT department was glad to get a new backup from everyone. A lot of the departments don’t bother with periodic backups to the central server because it’s too much trouble.”

“Then what was the enemy after?”

“Well,” said Kazami while narrowing her eyes. “Do you really think UCAT’s databank had nothing but backup data from the different departments?”

“Eh?”

“Also, that phone call to Sayama wasn’t from an official UCAT contact. It was a secret message from 2nd-Gear’s military god in the development department.”

Kazami intentionally emphasized their connection to other Gears.

…''I don’t really like showing off our strength.

But they needed to demonstrate their past results.

She saw Hiba’s expression stiffen a bit and the look in Mikage’s eyes changed.

“What did that military god say?”

“Something very interesting. His boss had saved the majority of the data from the central server. She acted ahead of time and copied over everything the Army would want to steal and destroy.”

“But how did-…?”

Kazami cut him off with a shake of the head.

“It’s rude to ask that. Anyway, it contained a lot of documents concerning the National Defense Department, including some image data. The military god was instructing Sayama to pick up the important documents by fax so the higher ups won’t notice. He’s probably waiting by a convenience store fax machine near Kurashiki Station right now.”

“Then the idea that he and Shinjou-san went off to do dirty things was just camouflage?”

“Well…” Kazami trailed off in thought, looked up toward the sky, and gathered her thoughts. “That might not be a complete lie.”

Kurashiki was located a bit west of Okayama’s center.

It was somewhat west of the Kojima Peninsula that stuck out into the Seto Inland Sea.

The city was a twenty minute train ride from the prefectural capital of Okayama. To the south of that northeast-southwest railroad were museums and a sightseeing district known as the Bikan district which was filled with antique houses. To the north were an amusement park and a flat, seemingly never-ending residential district.

Kurashiki Station was located in the center of the city, a hotel was situated above the station building, and department stores were connected to either side.

Outside the southern entrance of the station was a large roundabout made with tourists in mind and major roads led away from it in three different directions.

The central street was primarily lined with bars, business hotels, and restaurants. Convenience stores were located between the different stores and restaurants.

Two people stood in front of a convenience store with a blue sign on the left side of the road. One was a boy wearing a vest and suit pants. The other was a boy wearing a white shirt, shorts, and a white straw hat.

The summer sun shined down as noon approached, so the two of them stood in the shade of a tree and out of the way of the walking people.

The one in the straw hat looked to the backpack carried by the one in the vest.

“Sayama-kun, you’ve been carrying that for me this whole time. Isn’t it heavy?”

“Ha ha ha. This bag contains your binder, Shinjou-kun. That would never feel heavy to me.”

“I put Izumo-san’s spare sunglasses in it because they wouldn’t fit in his bag.”

“So that’s why the right side seemed oddly heavy. Is there a trashcan around here?”

“Um…” Shinjou thought and looked at her watch to change the subject. “S-Sayama-kun? It’s 11:55 right now, so we have five minutes until Kashima-san told us to call him. Have you taken care of the bugs?”

“I have. It will only last about ninety minutes, but that should be enough.”

Sayama pulled out a clear plastic case from the backpack’s side pocket.

It contained two listening devices and Sayama’s portable recording device. That combination made Shinjou tilt her head.

“Will that really work?”

“It will. I am playing a dummy conversation I edited together.”

He raised the volume of the recorder so she could hear.

“I-I can’t handle something th-that hard!”

“We are running short on time. You seem extraordinarily interested in this. Anyway, there is no need to be afraid. Ask for it hard and rough!”

“I know I said that…but…”

“Now, then. Continue, Shinjou-kun. …Hm? Why did you just twitch?”

Sayama turned a serious expression toward Shinjou.

“Such a wonderful editing job. Now, do you see a problem with this, Shinjou-kun?”

“I see one in your brain!! …Wait. You aren’t recording everything I ever say, are you?”

“Unfortunately, that proved impossible as we first met and spoke inside a concept space where batteries did not function.”

Shinjou suddenly felt faint and collapsed to her knees, so Sayama’s eyebrows rose.

“Oh, no. Are you anemic, Shinjou-kun? Is there a restaurant that serves liver sashimi around here? No, we must not act like a carnivorous couple. A better option would be-…”

“U-um, try to calm down before you jump to too insane a conclusion. Let’s focus on a more pressing issue.”

She stood up with a hand on her forehead, frowned, and tilted her head.

“Have you been playing that for the bugs this whole time?”

“Of course. The bugging team of UCAT’s special division is likely listening to their headphones with meek looks on their faces. But do not worry. If they attempt to make unauthorized copies or to sell it, I intend to sue them for copyright infringement.”

''This is hopeless,'' realized Shinjou. ''Maybe I should have been more prepared.

She could only sigh, but after a second sigh, she managed to speak.

“Well, at any rate, you go do what you have to, Sayama-kun.”

“Why are you waving your hand as if trying to banish me to the convenience store?”

“Oh, um… It just came out that way for some reason.”

She checked her watch and saw it was exactly noon. He checked his own watch, placed Baku back in his breast pocket, and faced the convenience store.

“If possible, I hope to receive some information concerning the Shinjou in the National Defense Department,” he said suddenly.

Shinjou gave a small gasp as he spoke with a straightforward look despite not facing her.

…''He actually thought about it.

She was happy, but she cleared her throat to indicate her next comment was what she felt she ''should'' say rather than what she ''wanted to'' say.

“I’m glad to hear you say that, but you can’t prioritize me. You have to prioritize everyone.”

He gave a bitter laugh, nodded, and turned his expressionless face her way.

“I am well aware. For one thing, information on the National Defense Department should also include information on the mountain ape with the same surname as me. I must eliminate the more disgraceful parts before anyone sees them.”

“I think that’s wrong for a different reason…”

“I see. At any rate, I hope we can learn something from this. Both about our relatives and about 3rd-Gear.”

He turned toward a cloth wrapper attached to the backpack’s side with a band. It contained the sword Gyes had given them while promising to speak with them.

“We’re supposed to place that where we think 3rd-Gear’s base is, right? Do you have any ideas?” she asked.

“I have a general idea. When we arrived here, I heard about that attack by the Army that the old man referred to as the ‘delightful beauty invasion’, but he also mentioned a piece of information he heard from Brunhild-kun.”

“From Brunhild-san? Why does she know about 3rd-Gear?”

“The headquarters of 1st-Gear’s City faction was around here. It seems they clashed in the past and 3rd-Gear moved afterward. When 1st-Gear’s recon team visited the area again, nothing was left.”

“But that makes it even harder to know where they are. If they were still in their original position, we could at least make a guess using the Divine States-World Interaction Theory.”

“Predicting the destination of someone who has gone missing can be quite fascinating and teach you a lot. And that includes your parents, Shinjou-kun. So let’s take it easy for now. I want to think about some things.”

“What things?” asked Shinjou.

“The second impurity the Hiba boy will not reveal to us, for one.”

Shinjou recalled the previous morning. Sayama had been oddly forceful while speaking with Hiba and he had negotiated with Gyes afterward.

“Did you realize anything after those discussions yesterday?”

“I did. Last night, I was thinking in the bath before you arrived, and…”

“You suddenly lost all credibility…”

“Just listen. Yesterday morning, I asked the Hiba boy why Apollo had switched to piloting Typhon when he had previously used a pale blue god of war.”

“Yes, and he told you he doesn’t know why.”

“That he did, but he did not deny that Apollo had switched from one god of war to Typhon. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Ah,” gasped Shinjou as she recalled what Gyes had said. “Gyes said it is impossible to negotiate with Typhon’s pilot, that they utterly reject that option, and that anyone who knows the secret will bear an impurity.”

“Yes, but Apollo is alive. So why is it impossible to negotiate? Why do they utterly reject it? And why would that lead to bearing an impurity? I think all these mysteries can be narrowed down to a single point: Why did Apollo switch gods of war? I already have a theory, but I lack evidence.”

He seemed certain, so Shinjou believed him. When he spoke with confidence, it could often cause problems, but he was never outright wrong. This naturally led to her next comment.

“You’re amazing, Sayama-kun.”

He narrowed his eyes, nodded, and let out a charming sigh.

“That is the ultimate compliment, Shinjou-kun. …From the Hiba boy’s behavior, I think he feels he has already lost his chance to tell us.”

“Then…” Shinjou chose her words carefully. “Is it like when I wasn’t sure I could reveal the truth about myself?”

“Yes. He is likely an incredibly nice person, so he seems to hesitate too much out of concern for others. He views everything as an imposition on others. Mikage-kun’s presence is also holding him back,” he said. “Do you think he ever has her comfort him?”

She could not immediately reply.

She thought about what he meant and applied the concept to the two of them.

…''Ah.

She realized he was referring to when he would rest in her lap.

…''He won’t use my lap unless he’s injured saving me or he beats me at cards.

When he felt he was in a position to freely ask for it, he would show his need for comfort.

“I wonder if Ryuuji-kun is the same?” she thought aloud. “Is he comforted by Mikage-san who can’t evolve, speak, or walk?”

“I am certain Mikage-kun would gladly do so, but I think he would hesitate to ask. He would at least subconsciously view it as placing a greater burden on her and he would deem that as arrogant,” said Sayama. “But there are times when he can accept that comfort without guilt.”

“Eh?”

Shinjou looked up and he smiled back at her.

“And that is connected to his reason for fighting. The question is whether he has realized it or not.”

“Does he really have times like that?”

“He does. Everyone does.”

“Really?”

She did not know the answer.

She felt she had Sayama comfort her too much.

Even being with him now was a part of that.

“I think only a small portion of people ever have that desire for comfort met,” she said.

“Really?”

He tilted his head and she saw something like doubt in his usual lack of expression.

He appeared unsure whether he should say something or not.

Finally, he brushed up his hair, raised his right hand, and began by calling her name.

“Shinjou-kun, there was once a certain automaton.”

“Eh?”

This sudden comment brought only confusion to Shinjou, but she quickly realized he was actually thinking for once.

She did not know what he meant or who this automaton was, but she understood what it was he desired. He wanted someone to listen to his answer, so she spoke up.

“U-um… What about this automaton? Will you tell me, Sayama-kun?”

“I will.”

He took a breath, looked away from her, and continued.

“That automaton was quite foolish.” He paused for a beat. “For some reason, she was set to destroy herself and yet made no attempt to change that. Even when her master asked that she change that setting, she refused with a smile.”

“…”

He remained expressionless, but looked up in the air, brushed up his bangs, and chose his words carefully.

“Perhaps troubling and worrying her master in that way was her way of being comforted.”

And…

“Everyone is comforted in their own way. And that is exactly why everyone has some way or another.”

He let out a small sigh, tightened his tie, and regained his usual expressionless look. It was as if his previous words had never been spoken.

“Well, most of what I said is speculation and the person in question is not with us. You can ignore it.”

“I don’t want to,” said Shinjou.

She could tell the ends of her eyebrows had lowered and a small smile crept onto her lips.

…''What happened to #4 really bothered him.

On the other hand, she had almost forgotten about it.

“I appreciate that you talk about that kind of thing from time to time.”

“Then we truly are opposites, Shinjou-kun. I view it as a horrible failure.”

He spat out the words and did not look her in the eye, but he soon hurriedly looked at his watch.

“It is time.”

“Oh, you’re right. We can leave it at that.”

“What a disagreeable tone you have there.”

“We really are opposite. I wasn’t being disagreeable. I just thought you were being oddly…”

She thought.

“Funny and amicable. What would that combination be in the Sayama language? And if you just combine ‘fu’ with ‘cable’ without thinking what it sounds like, I won’t take a bath with you for a while.”

“…”

“Y-you don’t have to think about it so seriously.”

“I see. But that proves you do not view it as all that important. I would prefer it if you forgot I said anything.”

She stuck her tongue out in response and he merely smiled bitterly.

If she had the chance, she decided to bring up that sort of thing herself next time.

Meanwhile, Sayama took a step toward the convenience store.

“Please wait here, Shinjou-kun. Afterward, we can take a walk as we gather our thoughts. How about looking around the Bikan district?”

“The others will complain if we’re late. We need to set up the tents and the stove.”

“Our athletic couple can handle the sweaty work like that. We can buy a souvenir that will make them forget.”

He took a few steps and passed through the automatic door to the convenience store. Seeing the door open as if avoiding him made Shinjou smile.

She watched through the glass as he walked inside and spoke to the clerk.

…''The Bikan district, hm?

When he had mentioned visiting Kurashiki, Kazami had been jealous. It was an old city and some old areas remained. Those areas had been preserved and turned into sightseeing areas.

…''A normal girl would be happy to be taken somewhere like this.

She reached into her shorts pocket and pulled out the Okayama sightseeing booklet she had secretly bought. When she had bought a swimsuit with Kazami, she had asked the girl for advice and she had added some labels to the booklet based on her response.

She had thought the training schedule would leave no time for fun, so arriving in Kurashiki so suddenly was quite fortunate. The Bikan district page had a label attached and this backing from Kazami allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Maybe I can let him comfort me a little more,” she muttered.

A car driven by a man in a suit passed by, so she stepped back. With the tree behind her, there was not much space, but there was enough for one step.

“Ah.”

Her back struck something other than the tree. It was more flexible and it shook.

It was a person.

She frantically turned around. This was the result of focusing too much on the booklet and thinking about letting Sayama comfort her. She needed to apologize.

She found a girl about her own age. The girl was tall and had her long hair tied behind her. She wore a black backpack with a cloth fishing rod holder attached.

…''I hope she isn’t mad.

Shinjou looked, but the girl’s expression seemed strange.

When someone was hurt by a stranger, they would normally gather their eyebrows together in a frown, but this girl was staring at her with slightly raised eyebrows.

She almost looked surprised.

''Was it really that surprising?'' worried Shinjou.

“I’m sorry. A-are you okay?”

The girl took a moment to react. The pause was long enough that Shinjou worried she had not heard her.

“…”

The girl’s first reaction was to relax her expression and shoulders.

She then took a breath and brushed up her hair.

“There is nothing to worry about. Um… What is your name?”

The girl asked probingly, but Shinjou saw no reason to question her about it.

“Sadagiri. Shinjou Sadagiri.”

As soon as she answered, Shinjou worried the girl was going to demand money from her. Rude terms such as extortionist, con artist, and ransom abduction filled her mind for a moment.

…''But I have someone even more amazing by my side.

Thinking that put her at ease, so she relaxed and let out a breath so the girl would not notice.

“What about you?”

The girl answered as if she had been waiting to be asked.

“Toda. …Toda Mikoku.”

[[Image:OnC_v06_0309.png|thumb]]

Mikoku saw Shinjou right in front of her.

After hearing her name, Shinjou looked up a bit and moved her lips as she thought on the name.

“Toda-san? I’m very sorry.”

She bowed. The words accompanying that movement of long, black hair were those of one speaking to a stranger.

That fact caused Mikoku’s shoulders to droop a little.

“I knew it.”

“Eh?”

“Nothing. More importantly, you need to be careful. You might be fine on a major road like this, but the back roads of this city are narrow and the telephone poles stick out into the road in a lot of places. Not paying attention to your surroundings is dangerous.”

“Oh, I see.”

Shinjou looked around the major road and then down the narrow roads between buildings.

After confirming what she had been told, she nodded.

“Do you live here?” she asked.

“No, I am from Tokyo.”

The cautious strength in Shinjou’s expression left when she heard that.

“Oh, so am I. Where in Tokyo do you live? I’m from Akigawa.”

Mikoku just about answered but caught herself and gave a displeased frown.

“Nowhere important.”

“I see…”

When Shinjou lowered her head in disappointment, Mikoku frantically spoke up.

“Oh, but I hear Akigawa is nice. For example, the central park was opened up to the citizens after it wasn’t being used for many official events, they rely on other cities for garbage disposal so as not to pollute their own air, and they use a lot of tax money to build up the river banks and keep the river from flooding.”

“I-is it really that nice a place? And you sure do know a lot about it. Do you live in a nearby city?”

“You could say that.”

She had to keep Shinjou from asking further and there was a lot she had to ask as a member of the Army.

She needed to secretly ask about the important points.

“Um… What are your hobbies?”

“Eh?”

That was not what she was supposed to ask. She was focusing too much on the personal side, so she slapped herself on the cheek.

“I am here for work, but what about you?”

She was worried that question was being overly familiar, but Shinjou began to think with a finger in front of her mouth.

“Well… A training camp I suppose. Yes, a student council training camp. We’re staying on a desert island in the Seto Inland Sea.”

“Sounds like quite the adventure. I hear there are pirates known as Wokou in the Seto Inland Sea, so be careful.”

“It’s not the Sengoku period anymore, so I don’t think they’re still around.”

“I see. I did not look into it that far. …Anyway, why are you in Kurashiki? Securing supplies?”

“Yeah, we’re picking up something.”

Shinjou turned toward the convenience store and Mikoku followed her gaze.

“…!”

She saw a boy through the window. He held a fax telephone receiver in one hand while looking through the documents being printed off.

“After we finish here, we were going to look around the Bikan district.”

Her tone was cheerful, but it caused Mikoku to hold her breath. She had a sword inside a cloth fishing rod holder. She could enter the convenience store and swing the sword with all her might while he was trapped in the fax corner.

…''He would not be able to avoid it.

Tension ran across her face and she grabbed the cloth holder.

However…

“Um, can I ask you something?”

Shinjou turned a smile toward her, so Mikoku’s expression returned to normal.

She regained her slightly relaxed smile.

…''I’m being too soft.

She scolded herself, but then made an excuse.

…''This is better than having her find me suspicious and putting up her guard.

She took two breaths before slowly responding.

“What do you want to ask me?”

“Eh? Oh, right.”

Shinjou held out a booklet with hand-drawn maps of Kurashiki that was turned to the map of the Bikan district.

“You seem to know a lot about Kurashiki, so do you know any interesting places in the Bikan district?”

Mikoku was unsure what to say.

During the overnight train ride, she had carefully read a sightseeing booklet of her own. She had put together a list of places to visit after she finished guarding Hajji, but it had been centered on places to buy souvenirs for Shino.

“Will you be going there with him?”

“Eh? Oh, yes.” Shinjou blushed. “With him.”

“I see.” Mikoku mentally sighed. “Then I have a suggestion for you. There is a photo studio around here in the Bikan district. Also, you can likely take a nice commemorative photo on this street here. I suggest you do so.” She nodded. “That way you will still have a record of it even if you lose your memories.”

“Eh?”

Mikoku belatedly realized what she had said.

…''Ah.

She realized how careless she had been, but did not let it show.

After a moment of hesitation, she held out her hand to distract Shinjou from her question. She held the hand above Shinjou’s head and gently touched the top of her hat.

She could feel the fibrousness and softness of Shinjou’s hair through the white-dyed straw.

Shinjou tensed up a bit, but Mikoku did not pull back.

…''She is so soft.

As she thought, a wind blew through.

Kurashiki was a flat city, so this summer wind was warm and gentle. A few beads of sweat appeared on her face and the surrounding noises sounded louder than before.

“I must hurry on, so this is as long as I can stay. We may meet again some time.”

“Yes. Until then, Toda.”

“Call me Mikoku. It means to carve into life. Much like your name, Shinjou Sadagiri.”

Shinjou’s eyes widened somewhat and Mikoku made sure she would remember that expression.

And then she turned her back.

“Ah.”

Shinjou spoke up, but Mikoku did not turn back around. She merely raised a hand.

“Give my regards to that boy. That fortunate boy.”

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 20|Chapter 20]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 22|Chapter 22]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 20

2026-09-11T02:20:45Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 20: Noisy Challenge==
[[Image:OnC_v06_0245.png|thumb]]
''That which causes commotions should not stay for long

''It should remain on the move

''Like a sudden rain shower

Shino walked down a white corridor.

This was her first time in UCAT and she was likely the first non-intelligence member of the Army to be there.

The intelligence department had used invisibility and silencing philosopher’s stones to acquire the corridor layout down to UCAT’s second basement. They had been unable to continue further down because the doors were too well-defended, but Shino’s mission did not require continuing past those doors.

“Shiro.”

She spoke toward the ground as she walked through the corridor.

A large white dog walked next to her there, but it was not alone.

The entire corridor was filled with dozens of dogs.

They came in countless varieties: small, large, white, black, brown, striped, spotted, raised ears, floppy ears, a prominent bridge of the nose, a lack of one, short legs, and long legs.

None of those many dogs cast a shadow on the floor. They all continually turned to look at Shino and walked along as if protecting her.

She met the gazes of the dogs protecting her from all directions and continued on.

“Thanks, everyone.”

…''I only traveled from Okutama Station to here, but I gathered so many.''

She grabbed the philosopher’s stone pendant hanging from her neck. The blue stone was glowing and that light used her will to give form to residual thoughts.

She did not know whether these could be called ghosts.

Even if the philosopher’s stone allowed them to exist, there was nothing more to it than that.

Hajji had speculated that their loss had created a “gap” that functioned as a mold for their form. Shino’s philosopher’s stone was a type of thought synchronizing concept, so he said it might be sending their residual thoughts into that mold and casting a new form for them.

Shino recalled what else Hajji had said:

“Do you not have enough power to give form to humans or did you set your specialty to dogs when you gave form to Shiro? Hm?”

She could now find the remnant wills of dogs, synchronize them with her philosopher’s stone, and allow them to touch objects other than her. When she did, most of them would be confused by being given a form and try to fight her. It was as if she were robbing them of their rest.

When that happened, Shiro would deal with them.

The dogs gathered here were the ones who had joined her and Shiro. She was their master and Shiro was their boss.

As she looked at all of them, she wanted to give them all food, but she could not.

“But we can go see your owners afterward.”

She had promised to take them each to their former owners after they played together. When they met their former owners, their minds would reach their strongest point. The former owner would either see them for an instant or hear their cry before they disappeared.

Sometimes the former owner would have a new dog, but the dogs would always choose not to meet the owner in those cases. They would realize their appearance was an unneeded intrusion, but they would still lick Shino’s hand and disappear.

…''Will that happen to Shiro someday?

But she had another thought as well.

…''Where do they go when they disappear?

Did Low-Gear have a realm for the dead?

She had heard most of the other Gears did. 1st-Gear had Requiem Sense and 3rd-Gear had the Tartaros, but what about Low-Gear?

“If the concepts are released, will a realm for the dead be created?”

She tilted her head, Shiro looked at her worriedly, and the other dogs looked at her as well.

She was making them worry, so she smiled to tell them they did not have to.

She pulled a paper from her pocket. It was a map of UCAT’s second basement and she was on her way to the central hall.

“The northern wall has a communication line to the center of UCAT.”

With the map in one hand, she used the other to pull out a philosopher’s stone on a string.

“Hajji got this weakened concept from 3rd-Gear. It transforms thoughts into information.”

She wrapped the blue stone’s string around her hand and lowered that hand. The dogs formed a circle around her and licked her hand and the stone it held.

As she let them lick her hand, she showed them the map.

“Okay, everyone. It’s time to eat. Your food tonight is data. Once you’ve been turned to information, please eat everything you find deep in UCAT.”

She took a breath, faced forward, and pointed.

“Go!!”

The group of dogs immediately took action.

They first raised their throats toward the heavens and opened their mouths in a howl.

Several dozen howls shook the white corridor and led to the next action.

As the sound came to an end, they ran.

“…!”

They sprinted along in an undulating line.

With a mission in mind, the dogs did not turn back toward Shino. They quickly formed groups of a few dogs each. Some groups continued straight and others suddenly cut through the walls.

Those information beasts ran through the white corridor and continued to run.

Shiro alone remained to await their return and to protect their master.

Shino watched as the final group disappeared into the wall.

“I hope they’ll be okay.”

She stopped walking and Shiro turned toward her after circling ahead. An unhesitating face lay beyond his sharp nose and he seemed to be telling her not to worry.

She nodded, smiled, gripped the philosopher’s stone hanging from her neck, and opened her mouth.

The movements of her small lips produced a song.

''Silent night, holy night''

''God’s Son laughs, o how bright

''Love from your holy lips shines clear''

''As the dawn of salvation draws near''

''Jesus, Lord, with your birth

''Jesus, Lord, with your birth

The majesty of that song passed through the stone and reached the dogs and their power of information. It encouraged them and told them their master was still there.

She heard answering howls in the distance.

The howls came from the corridor ahead, the intersections with other passageways, and from within the walls. They were responding to the song and their master’s concerns.

Pushed on by their master’s voice, the dogs’ voices contained no fear.

To push them on even further, Shiro howled.

“————”

The bestial reverberation ruled the air.

Until, that is, another sound from directly ahead cut it off.

Several footsteps made by solid shoes and the clattering of metal equipment reached them.

…''Here they are.

Shino prepared herself and Shiro bared his fangs.

“UCAT.”

A moment later, that was exactly who arrived.

People charged out from the left and right at an intersection with another corridor up ahead.

They wore white armored uniforms and other white clothing. There were at least twenty of them and they must have known she had no projectile weaponry because they took up a position to block her path.

Those on the front line lowered their hips, held something in both hands, and peered into it.

…''Weapons!?

She opened her mouth to complain that they were firing without giving a warning, but she realized she was being naïve. Instead, a shouted name escaped her opened mouth.

“Shiro!”

The dog lowered his front legs and shrunk back. Once he began, she knew several enemies would be scattered in an instant.

However…

“Okay! Target is in photographic range!!”

One extraneous word confused her.

“…Eh?”

The doubt in her heart caused Shiro to turn toward her in confusion.

At the same time, the enemy’s front line activated their weapons.

“…!”

She frantically prepared herself and heard a surprisingly reserved mechanical noise.

And nothing else happened. No bullets flew her way and no pain filled her body.

…''Eh?

When she peeked forward between her fingers, she saw the enemy’s front line falling back and the second line stepping forward.

Finally, she noticed what their weapons were: cameras.

“Eh? U-um…”

She relaxed her posture and the retreating front line frantically turned toward her.

“Ah! Sh-she put her hands down! I couldn’t get a good shot of her face because her hands were in the way! Hey, second line. Give me another chance!”

One man tried to step forward, but the members of the second line forced him back.

“Don’t be stupid! This is the order we decided on using requests, recommendations, and official games of rock-paper-scissors! It’s your fault for thinking it’s best to have the first shot at it!”

“That’s right,” said one man who stood in front of all the others. “And by the third round, she’ll have gotten used to it, so the second round is what really matters.”

The old man wore a lab coat, the camera hanging from his neck had a telephoto lens the size of an anti-tank gun attached, and he was holding up his right thumb in Shino’s direction.

Shino knew him because he was well-known even within the Army.

…''Ooshiro Kazuo?

Her question must have passed through the philosopher’s stone because Shiro tilted his head toward her.

She wondered what to do, but Ooshiro spoke before she found an answer.

“Yes, that is an excellent expression. Everyone, don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity.”

He lay on the floor and opened the bipod on the bottom of the telephoto lens to prepare the camera like a sniper rifle.

“Okay, let’s go!”

“Eh? Um, okay.”

Shino had Shiro sit down and straightened up as she heard the sound of the shutter.

Ooshiro smiled and stood up.

“Thank you very much. Third line, you’re up!”

The third line frantically prepared their cameras and took photos.

“Okay, the three-line photo shoot is complete.”

The entire group began to cheerfully leave, but Shino frantically spoke up.

“Um! I-is that really all you’re doing?”

“Of course it is. We’re off duty right now.”

“Then where are those who are on duty?”

“The dogs arrived while they were gathering their equipment, so they had to deal with that too. With that extra work, I don’t think they’ve managed to locate you yet. They’re driving away the dogs while visually searching for you, but we decided to get what photos we could and then tell them where you are once we get back.”

“Wh-why wouldn’t you tell them right away!? I’m an intruder.”

She had no idea why she was arguing, but Shiro gave a bark of agreement.

However, Ooshiro nodded with his giant camera resting on his shoulder.

“You are indeed an intruder and we’re still UCAT members even while off duty,” he said. “But everyone has their own job. The field operation group is currently running around in order to fight you, so we took the role of recording the intruder’s actions while not getting in their way. But by some strange coincidence, we ran across you before they did.”

Everyone around the old man applauded.

The comments of “nice excuse” and “you are the law” convinced Shino that this entire encounter had been put together by Ooshiro.

…''The rumors about him were true.

It would not surprise her if he had sent false data to the other units just so he could take pictures of her.

“Then you don’t have any combat gear on you?” she asked just to be sure.

“Of course not. Nothing could be more disrespectful than worrying our model.”

''I knew it,'' she thought with a sigh.

“What will you do if I attack you?”

“N-nonsense. Would an honest beauty like you really attack a group of defenseless people?”

He stood tall and opened his lab coat to demonstrate his defenselessness. ''He looks like a flasher,'' she thought, but the word “innocent” was written across the inside of his coat in ink.

Her shoulders drooped.

“Sorry, but please leave. I have serious work to do here,” she said. “A-also, don’t make a bunch of copies of those and spread them around.”

“You heard the model! No publishing these without permission!”

''You were planning to?'' she realized. ''I guess that’s just the kind of place this is. UCAT is a frightening place.

Her shoulders drooped even further.

“Also, I want you to restate something.” She nodded and continued. “I don’t like simply being called a ‘beauty’, so please stop.”

“Ehhh!!?”

The entire group’s reflexive shout caused her to flinch back, but she quickly recovered.

“Wh-why are you so surprised!?”

“C-c-c-c-calm down! H-how about we start by defining our terms!?”

“Wh-what do you mean by defining our terms? I just don’t want to be called that!”

“No! What you want doesn’t matter here! It’s our fantasies that matter! Isn’t that right!?”

Shino smiled and immediately responded to Ooshiro’s question.

“Sic him, Shiro!!”

The group of adults ran in a panic from the charging beast.

Two emotions filled the atmosphere of the development department room.

One was a rushing impatience and the other was the tension that caused.

The source of those emotions was Tsukuyomi’s desk on the southern side of the room. Specifically, they came from Kashima as he watched the monitor and Tsukuyomi as she typed on the keyboard.

“What are these growing damaged areas that suddenly appeared?” asked Kashima as he peered at the monitor. “UCAT’s data is being taken from the server!”

The amount of gray indicating inaccessible damaged clusters was growing on the data map. Those damaged regions had appeared in every direction and were growing as if drawing a line toward the white sphere of the core.

“Director Tsukuyomi, do you think this is the intruder’s doing?”

“I would say so. The damaged regions appeared at almost the same time as the alarm sounded. …Uh, oh. It’s approaching our line.”

The white sphere and blue line were still safe, but the gray regions were drawing ever closer.

Kashima pulled the keyboard toward him and began typing.

“This damage is prioritizing the largest clusters of data, so wouldn’t it work better to gather dummy data as bait rather than setting up a defensive wall?”

The red group that had attempted to block Tsukuyomi’s program was attacking the damaged areas, but the red was overwritten with gray with no sign of resistance.

“It looks like the attack programs are being devoured as small pieces of data.”

“Do we have a large enough amount of dummy data to work as bait?”

“Unfortunately, almost all of the unnecessary data on our personal machines was deleted. What about the family movies left on your laptop?”

“That is not unnecessary data. It is a necessary part of a military god’s life.”

“That’s quite a leap in logic. Anyway, what other unnecessary data is there?”

The two of them exchanged a glance, took a breath, and shouted out at the same moment.

“The 18+ games!!”

Kashima pointed toward the white sphere in the center of the monitor.

“Director Tsukuyomi, there’s a whole bunch right here! It’s a treasure trove!”

“Quit shouting and pointing and actually do something!”

Kashima gave his instructions to the program. As it continued removing data for itself, it created a secondary pathway to send massive amounts of dummy data toward the damaged regions.

The data transfer rate dropped, but the tremendous amount of data slowed down the expansion of the damaged region. Tsukuyomi and Kashima watched as file names scrolled by on their way to be destroyed. It looked like names on a war memorial and Kashima spoke in a serious tone as he read them.

“These are some unpleasant titles. Like this one: ‘Repeated School Year’. The tagline is ‘Be held back!’.”

“I don’t care. I’m more concerned by this one: ‘The Creator of Esperanto Was Named Zamenhof (For Real)’.<ref>The “Zamen” of Zamenhof is spelled the same as “semen” in Japanese.</ref> Its tagline is ‘Time to take over the world!’, but what is it even about?”

“Maybe this is actually a valuable collection.”

“Don’t say that with a straight face. More importantly, look at this-… Wait. Why are we reviewing the titles and taglines of 18+ games!?”

Her shout was accompanied by odd noises out in the corridor.

They heard footsteps and barking.

After a large group of footsteps passed by and gave various frightened shouts, a dog pursued them and a single set of quieter footsteps followed.

“What was that?” asked Kashima.

“How about you get out there and find out?”

The wall of dummy data was forming on the monitor.

“I don’t think we can gather all the core’s data before the dummy data is eaten through.”

However, Tsukuyomi was already listing their gathered data in a different window.

As she looked through the list of names, she smiled.

“It looks like we have a lot of data on the National Defense Department. There are even digitized photographs. Kashima, you find out what’s going on out in the corridor. I’ll have this tidied up and printed out by the time you get back.”

“And then I’m supposed to do something with it?”

“Yes. Fax or otherwise send anything that looks important to the group in Okayama. Use a convenience store or something, so the higher ups won’t notice.” She nodded. “Those children will want this information too.”

Shino faced the bad adults in the central corridor of the second basement.

She had run around quite a bit, but she had been generally making progress toward the exit. The enemy had met up with the field operation unit at an intersection between white corridors and they were catching their breath behind that unit.

…''They’re holding the exit.

The dozen or so members of the field operation unit aimed guns at her. They aimed the guns directly at her and showed no sign of starting with warning shots. The middle-aged man with a commander-ish hat held a Hanshin Tigers megaphone in one hand.

“Um, can you hear me? We ask that you surrender peacefully.”

“I won’t.”

“Um, then can you give your name and affiliation?”

She was unsure whether she should tell them.

“My name is Shino. I am affiliated with…the Army.”

The unit stiffened at that name.

…''That isn’t surprising.

UCAT and the Army had fought a few skirmishes limited to Japan and most of them had involved the theft of UCAT’s information, materiel, and secrets. The Army viewed the battles as secondary and anyone who was captured was ordered to commit suicide.

…''But most everyone returns without being captured.

This may have been close to the first time someone had directly faced them and named the organization.

She noticed the field operation unit, including the commander, was speaking with the camera group behind them.

“?”

She tilted her head and the commander turned toward her.

“What is your objective?”

“Are you not aware what’s happening to UCAT’s data servers right now?”

“We are aware.”

His voice contained a tone of sadness which made Shino feel apologetic. However, she was also glad that the dogs were doing their job.

…''I really am selfish.

But she knew her behavior had to remain resolute and she knew these were her enemies.

“Then please give up. No normal attacks can stop my dogs. If possible, could you open a path and let me through? If you do, I will tell the dogs not to attack you.”

She poured strength into her words and prepared for an attack.

And…

“That expression is mine!!”

An ultra-long telephoto lens poked out from behind the enemy and she heard the sound of a camera shutter.

“No fair!!” shouted most of the enemy.

“I didn’t give you permission to photograph me!!” she shouted.

“That’s right. That’s right,” said the field operation unit as they grabbed the photo group by the collar.

“Listen up all of you,” said a representative member of the unit. “Don’t make us point a gun at a beauty while you have all the fun!”

“I-I said to stop calling me that. Is everyone in this organization a pervert!?”

They all turned toward her.

“You just don’t understand your value! Go look in a mirror and think about what truly matters!”

“I-I don’t want that kind of value! Please stop taking pictures!”

Ooshiro held his telephoto lens and wriggled back and forth behind all the others.

“How…how could you rob an old man of his adorable hobby?”

“Shiro, Shiro. Target that guy first. Don’t hesitate to use your canines.”

“When did beauties become so cement-like!?”

“Just let me leave!!” she shouted. “Do you have a habit of imprisoning young girls!?”

…''I need to move them out of the way so I can leave.

The dogs would catch up to her before long after they finished devouring the data and storing it in their bodies. Once she removed that from them and stored it in the philosopher’s stone, her mission would be complete. UCAT would lose most of its database and the Army would gain all that data.

…''Let’s get out of this unpleasant world as soon as possible.

Even without the dogs, she could use her philosopher’s stone’s power to break into an opponent’s thoughts and make them do what she said.

“Please move out of the way,” she said to the stone hanging from her neck.

A moment later, the few people immediately blocking her path unsteadily stood up.

It had worked. The power of a philosopher’s stone was the same as a concept and there was no way to oppose a power that simply stated how things were.

“…”

She took a breath. As a few people moved to either side, the people behind them frantically spoke up.

“W-wait! You’re controlling them! Is this some kind of miraculous beauty power!?”

“This is not a beauty power! It’s a philosopher’s stone!!”

“Ehhh!?”

She ignored their shouts of protest and stepped forward.

Ooshiro immediately ran forward and held out both hands.

“You’re on!!”

“Please move out of the way.”

She sounded almost exasperated as she gave her order, but then something like a crack ran between her and Ooshiro.

“Eh?”

She heard the sound of cracking glass and saw that Ooshiro had not moved.

She frowned at the fact that her philosopher’s stone was not working.

“Please…move out of the way,” she said while tilting her head.

Another crack ran through the air and a gust of wind blew through, but Ooshiro remained unmoved.

It was not working.

But as Ooshiro held his hands forward, his lab coat shook and a blue stone on a chain fell from his hand.

“Ha ha ha. Too bad. I thought it would be a good idea to bring a weakened copy of a concept that deflects everything.”

“But…”

“I simply deflected your power. Why don’t you try asking more nicely?”

“Please move out of the way!!”

Her shout produced another spatial crack and the bottom of Ooshiro’s lab coat fluttered about. The surrounding soldiers were bent backward and plastered to the wall with their skeletons creaking from the strain.

“Gwah! U-UCAT Director Ooshiro! We can’t move out of the way any more than this!!”

“Just move out of the way!!”

“Gwaaaah!”

“You all seem to be having fun.”

Ooshiro withstood her power head on.

His expression and stance showed just how calm he was.

…''Huh?

She then realized something. If his reflection concept was related to the hands he held forward…

“Ah.”

She pretended to casually look to the left where the wall contained a single door.

As soon as Ooshiro looked over as well, his stance shifted just enough to alter the angle of his defensive power and he was blasted diagonally to the right. He struck the wall and energetically rolled two or three times.

“Ow! You need to treat the elderly with more care!”

“Please be quiet and let me leave!”

Shino ignored him and her shout silenced all of her opponents via the philosopher’s stone.

She received the desired silence, but she had a thought about her shout.

…''That isn’t what an intruder should be saying.

She realized she was blushing and the adults crawled down from the wall, pressed their heads together, and began discussing something. A few of them would glance her way on occasion and about a minute passed.

Once they faced her again, all their faces displayed the same calm smile.

“Now, let’s take this seriously. We aren’t letting you leave tonight.”

“Y-you sound like you’re lying. Are you hiding something?”

“N-no. O-o-o-of course not. None of you are hiding anything, right?”

They all gave three quick nods and Shino came to the realization that adults were liars.

“Anyway, please don’t move. I need to continue on and leave.”

“Yes, yes. Keep going if you wish.”

Ooshiro’s tone of voice confused her, but she did not know why.

She tilted her head and Shiro suddenly turned back toward her.

“What is it, Shiro?”

He turned toward the right wall and Shino started to as well.

“Ahhh! Don’t look at that wall!! It’ll corrode your eyes away!”

She looked regardless and found a white wall with a placard on it.

The placard contained a green arrow pointing behind her and a single word below it.

“Exit,” she read aloud.

…''Did I get turned around while chasing them?

“Oh, um, that’s where a man named Mr. Exit lives,” said Ooshiro up ahead. “The…the real exit is this way! C’mon, this way!”

“Good! Bye!!”

With that staccato exclamation, she started to turn around.

She was more bothered by her own sense of direction than by allowing them to trick her, so she decided to take some combat training in a closed space once she returned to the Army.

But as she turned around, she heard a voice from the exit leading up to the first basement.

It was a male voice and it was singing.

“A kissss exchanged innnnn the middle of the niiiiiight is a kiss of the niiiight!”

“He’s here!” said someone behind her.

“Wh-what is this strange song!?”

“Our secret weapon. The weapon we wanted to keep a secret!”

Shino heard a singing voice.

As it continued, she stopped moving and watched as someone appeared from down the corridor.

“Yooouuuuu and meeeee in our hearrrrrrrts!”

A pause.

“Yeahhhhhhh!!”

The shout ended just as the young man stopped approximately three meters ahead.

Shino observed him.

He had short blond hair and wore a white summer coat.

He seemed to be hearing things because he spread his arms as if to quiet imagined cheering.

“There will be no encore. Not when I get a job the second I get back from the Sea of Japan.”

Hearing that, Shino guessed who he was and breathed a sigh of relief.

He was most likely an ultra deep-sea fisherman from the coast of the Sea of Japan. The extreme loneliness of the sea had clearly caused him to go mad.

He glanced at her, Shiro, and the UCAT soldiers at the corridor intersection behind her.

“I’m here. It’s Atsuta Yukihito of the development department’s security team.”

“Eh? You’re not a deep-sea fisherman?”

“What are you talking about, brat?”

The young man named Atsuta frowned toward her and then turned back to those behind her.

She could tell he was an enemy, but his general atmosphere prevented her from moving. He was perfectly relaxed, but she had no idea what he would do if she did anything.

She had felt this same oppression when facing Tatsumi in training.

Shiro lowered down next to her but did not let down his guard.

''What should I do?'' she wondered just as Atsuta asked a question to his allies.

“So where’s this supposed enemy? Bring them out here for me.”

She followed his gaze in confusion and saw all those in the corridor intersection point at her.

Seeing that, Atsuta looked at her, paused, and then looked back at his allies.

“Are you stupid? This immature brat isn’t an enemy! If you’re gonna joke, at least put some effort into it. Hey, brat. I don’t know where they scouted you from, but hanging around people with rotten brains will make your own brain melt out your ears.”

“N-no. I…um…am the enemy.”

“Don’t be stupid, brat! Stop playing pretend, go home, and get some sleep!”

Everything he said irritated her.

He must have noticed the stern look on her face because he tilted his head.

“What? You got something to say to me, brat?”

That was when her self-control reached its limit.

She took in just one breath, clenched her lowered fists, and shouted back.

“I am not being stupid! And what is wrong with you!? Why do you keep calling me a brat!?”

“Shut up. You look like a brat, so I called you a brat. Isn’t it summer break? Go get to sleep, head out for the radio exercise tomorrow morning, and get yourself a stamp for attendance!”

“Oh? You keep calling me a brat, but you’re the one singing weird songs and hearing things. You’re more of a child than I am. In fact, you’re beyond saving! Also, the radio exercise wouldn’t be tomorrow morning. It would be this morning because it’s already past four in the morning! You idiot!!”

Her tirade received a response, but not from Atsuta.

The group behind her gasped and seemed to draw back in fear.

But she was no longer afraid and she stuck out her tongue before continuing.

“If you don’t like it, then say something! You stupid adult!”

She saw the young man’s eyebrows rise and he bared his teeth.

“Y-y-you…you…you…”

“Ohhh? Are you having trouble speaking? Heh heh heh. You double idiot!”

“I’ll rape you, brat!!”

His shout pierced through her, but it took her a moment to realize what he meant.

The entire area grew silent and she thought amidst the absolute stillness.

What exactly did those words mean?

“U-um…”

Her knowledge came from newspapers and magazines. When she mixed that with the current situation, she started to feel faint.

Something fell from her eyes.

She momentarily thought about calling for help from Mikoku, but Mikoku was not here. She had to be strong.

She endured and slowly looked up at him while feeling new tears welling up in her eyes.

She had a single word to say to Atsuta’s frowning face. She faced the ceiling, breathed in, and opened her mouth wide.

“Rapist!!”

“Y-you idiot! Don’t take it literally!!”

“Wahhhhh!!”

“Don’t cry!!”

But the next voice came from the corridor intersection.

“You bastard!!”

A thunderous voice was accompanied by countless guns being aimed.

“Atsuta! You’ve made one of this planet’s most precious resources cry! But that expression is nice too!”

“Stop being so inconsistently perverted!” he shouted back. “Anyway, is she the enemy!?”

“You’re the entire universe’s enemy!!”

“Don’t be stupid! Do you want me to slice you all to pieces!?”

As Atsuta’s shout reverberated down the corridor a new man spoke up.

“Wait just a second. Listen up.”

Shino rubbed the tears from her eyes with both hands and turned around to find a young man in a lab coat and sandals jogging from the right side of the intersection.

“What are all of you doing?”

“Oh, Kashima. These idiots are treating me like their enemy for some reason.”

The young man named Kashima turned toward Ooshiro and sighed.

“UCAT Director Ooshiro, Atsuta always approaches combat seriously. I can’t imagine why you would need to aim your guns at him. There must have been some kind of mistake.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Tell that perverted old man how wonderful I am.”

Ooshiro nodded and gestured Kashima over.

Kashima leaned in and Ooshiro whispered in his ear.

He nodded a few times and then turned to Atsuta.

“That was a bad thing, Atsuta.”

“Don’t betray me that easily!”

“Keep it down!”

Shino saw yet another new person enter.

The door on the wall to the left slid open and a short girl stepped out.

She had long gray hair and a black cat at her feet.

Shino knew that her name was Brunhild and that she had been part of 1st-Gear’s main force during their battle with UCAT.

She looked first at the corridor intersection and then at Shino.

“Is it all of you causing all that noise?”

She clearly did not expect an answer because she frowned and spoke in a quick, irritated voice.

“I am seriously busy, so keep it down.”

Feeling scolded, Shino frantically spoke up.

“S-sorry.”

“Oh? Do you really think sorry is enough?”

The frowning face turned Shino’s way.

''Oops,'' she thought. ''My reflexive apology gave her an excuse to accuse me.

Brunhild narrowed her eyes, tilted her head, and looked diagonally down at Shino.

“Do you want to know what I was doing?”

“N-not really.”

“I see.” Brunhild smiled. “I’ll tell you: I was working on my summer homework.”

Shino had heard that term before. She had never gone to school. The adults of the Army had given her a fair amount of professional knowledge, but she had only a little bit of knowledge on the customs of normal schools.

From what she had heard, summer homework was something everyone made a big deal out of yet always put off until the very end of summer break. People who finished it at the beginning of summer break were supposedly quite valuable.

And one such valuable person stood before her.

Her joy at meeting someone like that took the form of a question.

“Wh-what are you doing for your homework?”

That curious and interested question caused Brunhild to hold out her hand ten centimeters from Shino’s face to display what it held.

“Cicadas. I’m collecting insects.”

“…”

“I caught them yesterday evening. I just finished the preparations and was in the process of making specimens out of them. Do you know how that’s done? First, you inject an anesthetic into the end of their butt with a syringe. Once they stop moving, you inject a poisonous hardener into them, also through the butt. Then you stab a pin into the center like this.”

Shino gasped at the pierced stomach of the cicada.

“Don’t worry. I injected the anesthetic. But when I was injecting the hardener, the commotion out here caused the needle to go in at an angle and the hardener leaked out.”

“Eh?”

“It’s still alive.”

The cicada suddenly moved. Its six legs trembled and writhed about while it gave its chirping cry.

The sound of the bug made Shino step back.

“Nooo!!”

But Brunhild continued staring at her without so much as glancing at the cicada.

“I told you to keep it down.”

She pressed something hard against Shino’s forehead. It was slightly pointed, it moved, and it grasped painfully to her skin.

Once she thought about what it was, she just about passed out.

The cicada cries stopped and six sharp objects dug into her forehead.

She started hearing dog footsteps and barking in the distance and wondered if she was imagining things, but then another sharp pain reached her forehead.

As soon as she wondered what it was, Brunhild spoke.

“Oh, it’s sucking.”

Her instincts told her what was sucking, so she opened her mouth and her limbs tensed up.

“Cicadaaaaaa!!”

She screamed and dogs burst from the walls and ceiling.

The girl with the cicada prepared for a fight as the barking was accompanied by screaming adults and gunfire.

She threw the scalpel from her insect collection kit toward Atsuta.

“Sword god, make yourself useful!”

“You don’t have to tell me what to do!!”

Just as Atsuta caught the blade, Shiro began to move, and paper flew from Brunhild’s sleeve.

It was explosive paper.

A swordfight and explosion began.

The moon was visible as the night approached dawn.

The third quarter moon was already floating in the west at a height that indicated morning was near.

A woman stared at that moon.

She stood next to a white building atop a small mountain near a wide, flat city.

She wore white sleepwear and stood on an elevator at eight stories up. She was leaning on the railing and looking at the moon, but she suddenly stopped.

She lowered her gaze to the city.

“Kurashiki. It’s weird to think I can see it but they can’t see us.”

Night came early for that historical city, but its mornings seemed normal. The moon was out and the 3rd-Gear clock said it was early dawn, but…

“There aren’t many lights on.”

That flat city was not filled with agriculture and had no harbor, so the people there worked to protect history and preserve their city.

…''But they’re still living a life that faces the present.

“How preachy,” Miyako muttered self-deprecatingly as she looked into the sky.

When she had decided to remain that evening, Moira 1st and Gyes had given her two pieces of information to give her a chance to rethink that decision.

She turned her thoughts toward one of those two.

“I’m from 2nd-Gear.”

Her mother had never said a word about that.

According to Moira 1st, she had likely been naturalized and a lot of 2nd-Gear had joined Low-Gear once the Concept War came to an end. She had also mentioned that Tsukuyomi was the surname of 2nd-Gear’s imperial family.

“Heh.”

…''So I am a princess.

She didn’t like it and Gyes had gone on to say the following:

“According to some information we have received, a woman named Tsukuyomi works as the development department director at the Tokyo branch of UCAT, Low-Gear’s anti-Concept War organization and our enemy.”

“That would definitely be my mom,” she had replied.

…''What is with this? I was finally onboard and spoke so harshly, but it turns out I’m not from Low-Gear and my mom’s a leader in the enemy organization.

Moira 1st and the others had asked her to decide by the next morning whether she would leave or stay.

She thought about the ever-changing situation and began to sing a song.

“Silent night, holy night.”

''What a memorable song,'' she thought.

On the last night she had spent with her father, the family had sung that song.

She would occasionally sing it to remember that time.

Her mother had instead avoided singing it, but she had suddenly started humming it again during May. It had started when her mother had stayed overnight at IAI for a “party” and come back with a hurt back.

''What happened to her then,'' Miyako wondered.

She then gave another self-deprecating laugh.

“Heh. First that interview and now I can’t figure myself out.”

…''And I don’t know anything about others.

“You’re far from being an adult, Miyako.”

As soon as she muttered that into the sky, she saw a light.

The pale light resembled moonlight, but it had not come from the sky.

“Inside!?”

The pale light was moving through the dim corridor visible through the emergency exit behind her.

It had a human form.

…''A woman?

The woman emitted a pale light and long hair of the same color rippled through the air as she climbed down the stairs next to the emergency exit.

''She’s not human,'' realized Miyako.

After all, humans did not glow and the background could not be seen through them.

“And can they make that face?”

She saw a face with the ends of the eyebrows lowered. The mouth was crumbled as if weeping and the eyes were powerless as if searching for something.

''If she were human, she would be wailing,'' thought Miyako. ''Her expression looks like it’s frozen in the instant before crying.

But if she was not human, what was she?

''A ghost?'' she guessed before shaking her head.

When Moira 1st had told her about 3rd-Gear the day before, she had mentioned the Tartaros Machina. People’s souls were wholly brought inside, but a specified person could not be called out.

That meant there were no ghosts of individual people.

“Then what is this?”

She stood up from the elevator railing, but the glowing woman was no longer visible even at the bottom of the stairway. She knew that stairway led to the hangar down below.

Wondering if she should go check, Miyako remembered something.

“Wasn’t that the woman in the framed paintings in the hallway?”

…''Artemis?

That was Apollo’s sister.

Was she inside this base in some form or another?

“Or am I so tired I’m hallucinating?”

She brought a hand to her forehead and found sweat.

That dampness and her cold forehead told her she had seen the truth.

And then noise came instead of light.

A shout reached her from below.

“—————!!”

The shout was in a mechanical voice and it came from the entrance to the hangar. It seemed to shake even the light leaking from the cracked-open door and it sounded almost bestial.

…''That was a scream.

The high-pitched scream continued from below.

She recognized it as Typhon’s shout, but she did not know why Typhon would be raising its voice now.

What was going on?

She tried to listen more closely, but the scream shook her spine.

“Kh.”

An unpleasant feeling twisting deep in her gut sent her inside.

The red carpet felt pleasantly soft below her feet and the scream from the hangar entrance vanished.

When she realized it was not coming from the bottom of the stairway, she breathed a sigh of relief.

With that warm breath, she leaned against the wall.

…''What was that scream?

It had already vanished and she did not hear a second one.

That relieved her even further, but at the same time…

…''Sorry.

Either because she had seen that pale glowing woman’s expression or because she understood Typhon’s scream, she wanted to do something about it.

“Dammit.”

She held her right hand before her eyes.

“Dammit!”

She clenched her left hand and struck the wall.

She realized once more how conceited she was. During the day, she had given the maids names and been surrounded by them. During the evening, she had spoken with Apollo. After that, she had felt she understood them to a certain extent.

…''But I don’t.

She decided to stay here. Tomorrow, she would eat breakfast and head to the hangar. There, she would face Typhon fair and square while the others worked.

“Dammit…”

As she spoke, she realized a sound lingered in her ears: Typhon’s scream.

The intensity of that scream had rivaled the yellow she had seen in Typhon’s eyes.

“Kh!”

She covered her face with her outstretched hand and recalled the young man with the same color eyes as Typhon.

What would he do if he heard that scream that had the same intensity as his eyes?

And who had caused Typhon to cry out like that?

…''Was it not Apollo?

Moira 1st had said he was the only human in the base, which meant he was the only one who could pilot Typhon.

But who had that woman been?

…''Typhon screamed after she went down there.

But she shook her head. An actual body was needed to pilot a god of war. That woman’s body had been made of light and she had not even created footsteps.

In that state, she could not cause anything to move.

“What is going on? I thought this was the land of machines.”

She considered asking Apollo, but she shook her head.

She would wait until tomorrow.

She would then head to the hangar and find the truth there.

“That rich boy wouldn’t give me a straight answer even if I asked him.”

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 19|Chapter 19]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 21|Chapter 21]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 19

2026-09-10T03:55:03Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 19: Pursuit into the Depths==
[[Image:OnC_v06_0223.png|thumb]]
''Some answers contain traps

''That is normal

''So destroy them without thinking of immersing yourself in them

The black clock on the wall indicated the time was four in the morning, but there were no windows on the white walls to let in the morning sun.

The large underground space was divided by several partitions and a woman walked along the western side. The woman, Tsukuyomi, walked to the director’s desk on the south end while holding a bundle of documents.

The sound of her sandaled footsteps suddenly came to a stop.

Something lay at her feet. Namely, a figure in a lab coat had fallen forward and lay sprawled out before her.

She looked closer and spotted a nearby laptop.

“Oh, it’s Kashima.”

With that, she walked past him and he spoke up from behind her.

“You’re going to ignore me, Director Tsukuyomi?”

“Yes, I assumed you were asleep.”

“Adults don’t sleep on the floor.”

“I see.”

She began to walk once more, but he quickly sat up.

“You don’t want to know why I collapsed from shock?”

“I really don’t, but if you’re going to tell me anyway, get it over with.”

“Natsu-san is so cruel. You know the wash toilet we’re developing?”

“You mean the prototype product named ‘Right There!’? You brought it home with you last night, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Before leaving home, I hooked it up and set the spray pressure to ‘anti-ship beam’ since that’s the main selling point. Well, Natsu-san called me during the night with a slight smile in her voice and told me I can’t come home for three days as punishment. She even suspected it could take pictures. Honestly, she’s so cute!”

“Hm. Your point?” she asked expressionlessly.

He stared blackly at her, looked to the side, and lowered his shoulders in a sigh.

Finally, he stared off into the distance and spoke in an earnest tone.

“This workplace has grown so brutal over the past few months. Our boss is ignoring what her subordinates tell her.”

“You really are going all out with your lovey-dovey side. And you’re forcing your boss to listen to it.”

“I am not being lovey-dovey. It just so happens that subjectively explaining the situation makes me feel happy.”

“My sympathies. …Anyway, get to sleep. You’re Team Leviathan’s instructor, aren’t you? I hear you’re having difficulty putting together lessons recently.”

Kashima stood up when he heard that.

“I’m managing by including some of my own interests.”

He picked up his laptop and showed her the screen. The displayed window had a few spheres drawn inside it: ten small red spheres and one blue sphere.

He looked at the screen, smiled, and faced her.

“This is a simulation on the origin of the eleven Gears to confirm the meaning behind the Leviathan Road. The different UCATs have been researching this since World War Two and have achieved some results, but I doubt any of them know the answer. How the eleven Gears came about is still shrouded in mystery.” Kashima tilted his head. “Anyway, I heard they were leaving for a training camp.”

“They all left by helicopter at about three along with that boy named Hiba and that automaton named Mikage. They should have arrived above Nagoya at this point.”

“I see.”

“Are you interested in Mikage because of your grandfather and Susaou?”

He thought for a moment and eventually formed a weak smile.

“A little. After all, that Mikage was supposedly used to control Susaou. But I hear she doesn’t remember it herself, so I’m hesitant to ask her directly.”

“Yes, being considerate is a part of the job. Well, if you’re lucky, you might get a chance to ask.”

“Perhaps,” he said while looking at what she held.

Seeing those documents led him to ask a question.

“Are those documents for the training camp?”

“I’m not going along for that. As a director, I have the right to cancel.”

“But the Seto Inland Sea is where 3rd-Gear…”

“If it’s about my daughter, don’t worry. She wouldn’t get killed so easily. Plus, I think you’ll be more interested in this.”

She held up the documents so he could see.

“This is the report on the Georgius tests.”

Kashima pushed up his glasses, put his laptop under his arm, and stared straight ahead with a smile on the corner of his mouth.

“Nice. What did you find? What are its effects and its origin?”

“What do you think as someone who saw it firsthand when Yamata was sealed?”

“Its function is to amplify concepts, its purpose is to increase the power of concept weapons, and its origin is Low-Gear. Am I on the right track?”

“That’s a good question.” She gave a small smile. “You could be right and you could be wrong.”

“Why are you being so vague?”

“Because that’s all I can be.” She shrugged and her smile grew bitter. “I don’t know the answers. It didn’t react when I applied concept fields around it with the examination device. As far as I can tell, Georgius is nothing more than…”

“A glove?”

“Yes. What we saw for ourselves conflicts with the results of the tests.”

She had learned this after experimenting for the entire day.

She recalled Ooshiro’s face when he had agreed to lend her Georgius. There had definitely been a broad smile there.

…''He doubted I could learn anything.

And in truth, she had not determined Georgius’s identity. She had learned very little else, but one fact stood out.

“At the very least, Georgius is strange. When Totsuka sealed Yamata, Georgius emitted light and the sword’s power increased. And the same thing supposedly happened in the battle with 1st-Gear.”

“Yes, Gram was apparently given power when it was too weak to withstand Fafnir Custom’s attack.”

“If Georgius did those things, there has to be something there, don’t you think?”

Tsukuyomi pulled a specific page from the report.

As she held it out to Kashima, he looked at her hand before looking at the document.

“Director Tsukuyomi.”

Her right hand was wrapped in bandages up to the wrist and she laughed toward the white cloth that was faintly stained with blood.

“Ha ha. I should have known better. When I wasn’t finding anything, I tried it without thinking. I put away the machine covered in a special defensive concept and grabbed it with my bare hand to try and put it on.”

The result lay before them.

“Doctor Chao says it will take two weeks for a full recovery. She’s going to the training camp, so she won’t start truly healing it until she gets back. I’m going to have to go out for meals for a while.”

“I see,” said Kashima slowly.

Whatever he was thinking, he took the paper while looking at her hand and then lowered his gaze to the printed paper.

“Is this…?”

“Looks like an EKG, doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” he agreed.

The paper contained rectangular waves running along a graph. Such a graph would normally have a lot more written on it, but this only had about three waves.

“But what are these occasional pulses?”

[[Image:OnC_v06_0231.png|thumb]]

“Check the unit of time.”

He looked above the graph and Tsukuyomi knew he would catch on if he was clever.

Sure enough, he frowned.

“What? One pulse at a rate of approximately eight hours?”

“Exactly. That is the faint vibration inside Georgius. Anyone who likes to jump to conclusions would say this means Georgius is alive.”

“…”

“Even in 3rd-Gear, some kind of internal mechanism is needed to supply a pulse to the metal parts. However, Georgius is nothing more than a leather glove and a metal chip and yet the pulse comes from both of them.”

Tsukuyomi did not know why that was, so she asked him.

He did not immediately reply but eventually spoke.

“It would be simpler to assume that Georgius is alive even so. If we cling to that theory and search deeper, we will at least know it is not alive if we find out we’re wrong.”

“Why do you think it is alive?”

This question received an immediate answer.

“It chose the one named Sayama as its master.” He took a breath. “What if that was not a setting and it wished for Sayama of its own free will?”

Tsukuyomi did not answer because she could not do so when she did not know the truth. He seemed to realize that because he lowered his head and apologized.

“Sorry, but to continue, Georgius was given to Sayama Mikoto by his mother. Can’t we assume it has a will of its own and was waiting for him?”

“Why do you ignore the possibility that it was set to do that and instead insist it has a will of its own?”

“If it was just a setting, it would only need to remain inactive when someone else wore it. However, it rejects others to the point of hurting them.” His expression was completely serious. “That is an action only taken by a being with a will of its own.”

“So you think so too?”

“What?”

His eyebrows rose in confusion, so she raised her right hand and snapped her bloodstained fingers to call him over.

“Come here. I think you’ll like this.”

She turned around and walked to her own desk.

It took only a few steps and the clock on the wall was approaching 4:10 AM. The time was likely drawing near.

“The night before I started the tests on Georgius, I set this up.”

“Wh-what is it?”

“I’m hacking into the deepest depths of UCAT’s databank. In other words, I’m illegally accessing the version of the Second Reference Room on the data servers. Only VIPs can view it and it contains the information on UCAT’s blank period, the Concept Cores, and the National Defense Department.” She smiled. “While investigating Georgius, I had some very limited access to that information in their examination room, so I used that as a way in from here. I have it set up to gather all the classified information at the core of the data servers.”

Kashima reacted after a short pause.

“Director Tsukuyomi, you’re betraying UCAT.”

“Are you going to stop me?”

“No, I just wanted to say that. Oh, and if anyone asks, this means I tried to stop you.”

She turned around in front of her desk and saw him shrugging his shoulders.

His expression softened and he sighed.

“This isn’t just about Georgius, is it? You’re trying to get information on the National Defense Department to help out Team Leviathan, aren’t you?”

“Well, if I take all the information, there’s sure to be some of that in there. And if I have it, I might as well hand it over to them.”

''And,'' she said to herself. ''If I find data on UCAT’s blank period, I’ll learn about my husband.

“…”

She decided to leave her sentimentality until later and switched on the deactivated display.

Tsukuyomi looked toward the newly lit-up monitor.

A black window filled the screen and had several symbols and words scrolling across it.

Kashima smiled bitterly when he saw it.

“You’re using our hacking software ‘Genius Hacker Girl – Gomez’? That’s the nastiest one, but it’s a pain to use because all the settings are done with text commands.”

“Yes, but it can do the most and it’s pretty smart. When the development department was reorganized, some idiot went too far in a demonstration hoping to increase our budget.”

“They hacked into a certain country’s databank, checked to see if their Secretary of State wore a hairpiece, and added a protector to keep the data from being altered. They did it all without being noticed, but it caused a small commotion in that country when UCAT Director Ooshiro checked to make sure it was accurate.”

“It’s a good thing that country had a sense of humor. When the Secretary of State was giving his official response to the accusations, he said he would reveal their nation’s greatest secret and then removed his hairpiece.”

“I hear Gomez has been upgraded a few times since then.”

“This is Version 4. After all the work I’ve put into it, she’s like a child to me.” Tsukuyomi pointed at the screen. “Anyway, this is a map of the area around the protectors on the strictest portion of Japanese UCAT’s servers. We set up the foundations of this ten years ago, so we should be able to break through it even if I don’t know what kind of modifications the UCAT Director has added since.”

A pursuit at the speed of electricity was unfolding in the server space shown on the screen.

The hacking program would access the areas it had access to and attempt to continue deeper. Sometimes it would delete data, use that as a hole to plunge deeper, and restore the original data so as to cover its trail.

However, the firewall working to cut off the hacking program was also well made. It would constantly check for illegal access, but the scope of that checking would expand or contract so as not to put a burden on the server’s main functions. While tracking the hacking program’s movements, it would also work to detect the origin point of the illegal access.

The hacking program recorded every point it passed through and constantly recalculated the shortest route to use on its way back. The destination of that route was the origin point in question.

Recording that route was much like a homing instinct.

If captured, that origin point could be checked, so the hacking program would destroy itself in case of capture.

The pursuit continued in the electronic world where a single touch meant it was all over.

The standard setting Tsukuyomi had used was to prepare a single hacking program to reach the core of the servers and to send out a great number of dummy programs.

Too many dummies could trigger an emergency where all the servers shut down, so the number of dummies was monitored in real time and new ones were sent out with randomly set destinations.

“From the looks of it, a few million dummies have already been sent out and then destroyed.”

“It says here seven dummies have been captured.”

“Those ones had their origin point set to the general affairs and security divisions. This’ll cause them some problems, so we need to secretly give them some nice equipment.”

“I’d feel guilty if they thanked us for it, so let’s send it anonymously. …But what happens if they capture a dummy from our territory?”

“It’ll say Atsuta’s machine was doing it, so there’s nothing to worry about. If someone comes by, boot up his machine and deal with it. I’ll pretend to play a game or something.”

“Atsuta’s machine has the Heart Sutra for the wallpaper. Do I really have to boot that up?”

“Give it your best shot,” she said with a sigh.

Suddenly, the image on the screen changed.

The black window displayed a straight vertical corridor. The corridor was drawn with two green lines and looked like a cross section of a straw, but it was an abstract image representing the digital world.

“Here we go. It’s on the path to the core.”

The green lines were ten centimeters apart and the blue line indicating the hacking program was falling between them.

“That blue line is long. Are you sure you don’t have it recording too much of its route? How optimized is it?”

“I want it to take a few detours to lose pursuit on its way back. This was the limit.”

Several yellow lines cut across the green corridor to block the way.

Those were the firewall, but the blue line broke through them in an instant and continued on down.

The blue line opened a console and asserted its presence.

“I’m 2nd-Gear.”

Red dots flew up from below to intercept it, but it fired light blue dots and curves that destroyed all of the red dots.

“I see you’ve given it more attack programs. It only had the blaster and zapper when I was working on it.”

“That was to avoid a barrage, so it had to be flashy as well. Personally, I enjoyed it more back when you could still grasp the location of all the bullets.”

“The times are changing. I don’t like saying it like that, though.”

As they spoke, the blue line scattered light blue dots around itself as options.

An especially thick yellow line formed a door down below and one light blue dot flew over and destroyed it.

At that point, the screen suddenly went dark.

They had left the corridor, so the corridor opened like an upside down funnel and then formed a circle.

The blue line had entered a large circular space.

“This is the core.”

Enough red dots filled that space to completely cover the screen and a white sphere sat at the very center.

The blue line paid no heed to the red dots. It fired the light yellow dots while slipping past the mass of red dots to access the empty space beyond. That was a spot of safety, a place where no one would attack it, and a location where it could view all.

It circled around to check on the white sphere in the center.

The sphere was about five centimeters across and the entire circular space was about thirty centimeters across.

“That isn’t a space you want a fight in.”

As if to check on that space, the blue line circled the entire space while slipping past the pursuing red dots.

It finally arrived at a location ten centimeters directly below the white sphere.

“What will it do?”

As if to answer Tsukuyomi’s question, light came from the blue line.

A blue dotted line extended from the front of the blue line and toward the white sphere in the center.

That dotted line represented the predicted access route and a window opened for just a moment.

“Go ahead? Y/N.”

But they did not even have to press a key because the development department’s program was autonomous.

“Y.”

A moment later, the blue line raced into the darkness.

As it did, the mass of red dots pursued.

The wave of red surged toward the blue line’s destination and the blue line threw light blue dots out like a spray to intercept.

The light blue spray canceled out the red dots.

The silent disappearance of the two created an open space and the blue line continued into that darkness while showing no sign of turning back.

The red group arrived and more light blue splashed out at them.

The red and light blue vanished and the blue line continued forward through the darkness.

That collision and cancellation of color continued at high speed.

As it produced the instantaneous sprays of light blue, the blue line broke through the center of their afterimages.

That line raced toward the white sphere. Once it reached a distance of sixty-four pixels, the red group changed its tactic.

It formed a wall.

The red group realized it could not predict the blue line’s actions, so it tried to surround the white sphere and prevent access from any position.

In other words, UCAT’s core was being completely cut off.

The expected result of this action was displayed on the screen with a note in parentheses.

“Emergency (of the awkward variety).”

The server was being shut down.

The firewall represented by the group of red had determined that shutting its own system down was the only way to protect itself.

The wall of red approached completion, but the blue line did not hesitate.

It continued on its predicted path below the white sphere because that was the shortest route from its current position.

The line cut through the darkness in an instant and approached the red group attempting to set up a wall.

“!!”

It danced.

It quickly traveled to the all access points around itself and fired its attack programs around as it did so to make the red wall collapse.

The light blue spray collided with the red.

Without even checking on the progress of that attack, the blue line rebounded straight up toward the white sphere.

Just as it arrived, text appeared on the screen.

“Mission complete!”

The blue line fired a light blue line from either side of its body and those two lines formed a protective corridor that repelled the red group.

The blue line began quickly taking data from the white sphere and the light blue corridor displayed the rate of destruction at different points.

“It should hold up long enough to transfer out the data!”

Tsukuyomi watched the indicator on the monitor. A window divided into one hundred segments slowly but surely informed her of the data transfer rate.

She gave the program further instructions.

“Skip the core’s dummy data!”

“Select option: call keyword.”

“What keyword should I use to trigger a skip?”

She thought for a moment, but Kashima reached over to the keyboard.

“18+.”

As soon as he hit enter, the speed of the indicator shot up. The blue line was no longer reading the dummy data and was quickly extracting only the important classified information.

Tsukuyomi sighed toward Kashima as he watched the monitor.

“Not bad. …Wait. Why does the core contain mostly 18+ data!?”

“You were only supposed to download a few files, but now you’re downloading all of UCAT’s core data, aren’t you? Will it all fit on your machine?”

“Of course not.”

“But the development department server is directly linked to the other servers, so they’ll have no problem catching us if you put it there. What are you going to do?”

“Don’t worry.” She nodded. “I’m encrypting it and sending it to every development department member’s machine. By my calculations, there should be enough space as long as I delete the unnecessary data on the machines.”

“I see. It is true our individual machines have our exclusive security on them, so no one outside the department can view them. …Wait, Director Tsukuyomi! My latest family movies are on my machine!!”

The monitor they watched displayed the layout of desks in the department. On the overhead map that displayed the partitions as white lines, Kashima’s desk was gradually filling with blue.

“Ahhh!!”

As he watched, his desk on the map grew entirely blue.

After a quiet chime, the data switched from his machine to the machine next to his.

“Ahh…” He fell to his knees. “I couldn’t protect my family…”

“C’mon, stop that. You need to distinguish between 2D and 3D.”

A moment later, noise filled the room.

The emergency alarm was going off.

“Eh?”

She checked the monitor, but the light blue corridor protecting the blue line had not been breached.

That meant the electronic battle inside the server had not been discovered.

…''In that case…

“This must be something else.”

Kashima stood up and an announcement explained the situation.

“Um, sorry to interrupt all of you working the night shift, but, um, this is UCAT’s security department. An intruder entered the first floor and, um, the security department did not arrive in time to stop said intruder from moving further inside. Um, we would like to ask all the standby members of the field operation department to assist.”

Muttering voices could be heard in the corridor as some people began to take action.

They could be heard shouting to each other and equipping themselves as a further announcement arrived.

“Um, this is the security department. We have more information on the intruder. Um, she is a girl. I repeat, she is a girl. Her beauty has been ranked Class A. We have a beautiful girl accompanied by a large number of dogs. It is a truly moving sight. Even if you have nothing better to do, please remain where you are!”

The voices in the corridor grew oddly bright and the noises grew even louder.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 18|Chapter 18]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 20|Chapter 20]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 18

2026-09-10T03:30:05Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 18: Future Circumstances==
[[Image:OnC_v06_0179.png|thumb]]
''Do you call ambition for oneself the ego?

''Do you call ambition for others hope?

''Do you really need to think so strictly?

When Miyako awoke, her vision was filled with scarlet light.

Every part of her vision, from the center on out, was filled with the colors of orange and reddish yellow.

She noticed the state of her body a moment later. She was lying on her back and the leaves of the forest and the sky lay before her.

Even the layers of green leaves were dyed red.

…''It’s evening.

She looked around and saw a shadowy form. That shadowy form was a man she recognized.

“Hey, you idiot!”

She quickly rose up for two reasons. First, she was not actually lying on the ground. He was holding her. And second…

“You’re bleeding!”

She got up and turned around to find him sitting with his back to the earth that had crumbled from the cliff.

His blond hair was in disarray and dyed red by the light and something dark was flowing down his forehead. For an instant, she recalled her upperclassman in middle school who she hit in the head with a baseball, but she shook her head.

He was not bleeding as much as that incident.

A closer look showed his right arm was bent at a questionable angle. One of the two bones making up his forearm had to be broken.

“You idiot…”

She could tell he had protected her. She felt the pain of a scrape on the outside of her right calf, but it was a light injury compared to his. She could rub some spit on it and let it heal.

She looked around and saw no one else around. It had clearly been a fairly large landslide and the cliff had collapsed diagonally toward the inside of the concept space.

While atop the cliff, Apollo had said the concept weakened around the outer edge, but how strong was the concept here? They were farther from the outer edge than before.

She opened her mouth to call for someone, but something stopped her.

“There is no need to worry. I will heal before long,” said a quiet voice.

She turned around in surprise and breathed a sigh of relief that he was alive, but she spoke so as to hide her relief.

“Don’t try to protect me to show off, you idiot. You’re too weak for that.”

“And here I thought you might thank me.”

He wearily closed his eyes, but formed a smile with only his mouth.

That was the expression of his lies, so Miyako ignored it and took his right arm.

“It’ll hurt a bit, but bear with it. I’ll set it in place.”

“No need. It’s no use, so please stop. You’re being a nuisance.”

“Don’t be stupid. Is that anything to say to the person you just tried to save?”

“Are you any different, Miyako? You are complaining to the person who saved you.” He gave the mouth-only smile once more. “Why didn’t you leave? Now is your only chance. This base will soon prepare for battle and we will be unable to let you go. …I hear you are ‘job hunting’. In other words, you are being tested in order to join an organization.”

“That doesn’t matter. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“It does matter,” he insisted. “Miyako, you live in the world beyond that wall. You must leave those of us who live on this side of the wall. You should prioritize your own future over us.”

“Even if I still have things left to do here?”

“You mean naming the automatons? It makes no difference whether they have names or not.”

“Yes, it does!!” she roared back.

She was aware she was losing her cool, but it was too late.

She grabbed his collar and made him face her. As soon as he opened his narrow eyes, she stared into them.

“My name is Miyako. My father gave me that name so a great number of people would gather around me. You have the name of the sun god and you have that power, don’t you? Are you saying it’s meaningless to give those maids names and let them trust in their own strength!?”

“You truly trust in your name, don’t you?” His eyebrows lay flat and he looked her directly in the eye. “But my father was not like yours. He gave me my name, controlled what I did, and then left after forcing everything onto me. …And I can no longer live up to my name. 3rd-Gear’s sun was lost and there are no more people to wish for a king. Having a name includes things like that as well.”

Apollo spat out a short laugh.

“Go home, Miyako. Go home and tell your father you gave names and strength to a great number of people who gathered around you, but then a heartless man prevented you from doing anything more. That gives you enough of a reason to go crying to your father, doesn’t it? Return to that father who understands you, unlike mine.”

“My father died ten years ago! He left to save others and died!” said Miyako. “Do you even know what Christmas is, foreigner!? I got into a lot of trouble as a kid and I was always thinking that I should be honest with my dad at some point. I used that as an excuse to buy him a small bottle as a Christmas gift, since he loved alcohol. He laughed and we both promised never to drink too much. That was when he first told me why he gave me my name. He said he had work to do and we could discuss it more later, but that was the last I ever saw of him!”

Had he understood her or not?

…''I can never know what he thought of me.

She then realized they were more or less arguing over who had been the most unfortunate.

She did not like it, but she could not forgive someone who thought of themselves as unfortunate.

…''Even in similar circumstances, I never thought of myself as unfortunate.

After all…

“A lot happened after that. I’m not trying to whitewash the past, but there’s one thing I can never forget: the meaning of my name. And I’m trying to live up to that name! Even if my dad is gone and no one is expecting it of me, I won’t back down when it comes to my name!”

She punctuated her words with a headbutt and felt the impact.

It brought pain, but the man shook his head once and glared at her beyond that pain.

She heard him speak.

“You’re trying to live a life you aren’t ashamed of? You won’t back down? Don’t be naïve!”

An answering headbutt reached her.

The sound of impact rang through her head.

It had a decent ring to it.

''This bastard’s not half bad,'' she thought as she was knocked back and quickly recovered.

She started with a return hit.

“Urah!”

But the sound of impact was weak because he had kept his head from being knocked back.

They pressed their foreheads together, he ground his teeth together, and he spoke some more.

“Leave, Miyako. If you are that insistent, then use your name to take on the world outside of here.”

“Yeah, I will leave and I will take on that world. But I’ll finish things here first.”

“What is there to finish here? Do you like being pampered by automatons that much?”

“I’ll overcome that pampering!”

She gave a point-blank headbutt and pushed him away with the movement of her head.

“The automatons started saying they were grateful for what I had done. I’ll go from being a guest and become someone who can do for them what they can’t! What’s wrong with that!?”

“That is for their master to do!”

“If you’d been doing it, I wouldn’t have been able to take your place!”

“Then are you trying to become their master!? Are you doing these things while setting aside the final human of 3rd-Gear and ignoring his decisions!? How will you take responsibility? The automatons would not have changed if you had left well enough alone, so how will you take responsibility for changing them!?”

His question was accompanied by a headbutt and it was quite effective.

She felt briefly dizzy and somewhat reevaluated him.

…''He’s got a decent amount of resolve.

There was more to a fight than having resolve, but that could be the deciding factor in some things. Without resolve, one could not gather the strength needed to withstand pain.

His question shook her resolve and filled himself with it. That synergy caused twice the damage.

His question of responsibility had likely been what he truly thought, so Miyako opened her mouth to speak.

To bring back her shaken resolve, she did not bother calculating anything out in her mind. If he was throwing his true thoughts her way, she would say what was on her mind as well.

“You don’t know what to do, do you? You lost your world, you lost your father, and now you don’t know what to do.”

''I’m tearing into him,'' she realized. ''But I’m also talking to my old self.

But these were her true thoughts. She did not hold back and she did not think about the consequences.

She went on to say something she should not have if she wanted to maintain an amicable relationship.

“I don’t care about taking responsibility. It doesn’t matter to me that your world was destroyed.” She raised her head. “But I know what I’d do if I were you. I’d eventually find a job in the outside world. I’d make sure of it. Once I desired that, I’d go to the place I desired, work there, become accepted there, make mistakes, complain, kick my boss, get punched by my boss, become friends with my boss, and all the while create something and earn money. And…”

“And?”

“I’d use that money to feed the automatons here.”

She faced forward and saw Apollo’s yellow eyes looking her way.

“The automatons do not need you in order to be fed. They are self-sufficient. In fact, they do not need to eat anything other than small amounts of fuel. And how would you feed all of the automatons here? Would you earn enough money to pay them all a wage?”

“Are you stupid? People don’t eat food. They eat satisfaction.”

She felt she was being naïve, but this was what she truly thought.

Strength filled her grip on his collar. ''This will work,'' she told herself before saying what she had wanted to say at the company interview.

“Money, food, things, social status, questions, answers, going somewhere, returning home, doing something, destroying something, being with someone, and leaving someone are all forms of the same sense of satisfaction!!” she said. “If serving people is what automatons do, then even a small amount of money will make a record of that service. Even adding on one more coin to the pile will make a noise they can store in their mechanical memory and the number of those stored noise will show the passage of time as they’ve served their master. Those memories will prove that it happened in the real world and not just in their heads.”

“And what will that accomplish? That is sentimentality and you are forcing it onto them.”

“What’s wrong with sentimentality? Even machines remember the past and they need some proof to feel pride in their work. If that kind of sentimentality is wrong, are you saying it’s wonderful to have no emotions at all, Apollo!? If you do nothing and avoid any emotions, you’ll never gain the pride you might lose and you won’t have any pain in your past! But isn’t it the lack of those things that led to the destruction of 3rd-Gear’s people and left only machines behind!?”

She laughed.

“The hopeless humans who had lost their emotions died off while the machines with the ability to gain those things survived. And where’s the god who made your world like that?”

“Well…”

“That god is no longer just in our minds. He’s in the sky above those machines who are growing flowers! When those flowers inevitably die, it will scar those dolls’ memories and I’ll tell them not to fear the fact that flowers die. Just as they let the flowers bloom to create their own pasts, the flowers created their pasts to leave behind seeds. The same satisfaction lies in both the dolls and the flowers. I’ll find my satisfaction in increasing 3rd-Gear’s sentimentality like that, so I’ll be perfectly happy ignoring you as you reject that satisfaction!”

She swung back her head and felt strength fill her entire body.

…''This will definitely work.

She gave one last comment as she swung her head toward his forehead.

“Just you watch! If you insist on being an emotionless master, I’ll become a sentimental master!”

Her shout was immediately answered by a voice from the cliff overhead.

“Is that true, Lady Miyako!?”

Moira 1st’s sudden voice was followed by a few dozen figures leaning out from the cliff.

Miyako froze in place when she heard the sounds of several people moving at once. She looked up at the cliff while still holding Apollo’s collar and pulling him toward her.

Moira 1st and the other maids were gathered below the scarlet sky. Moira 2nd was missing, but all those she had named were there.

Miyako looked at them while on her knees.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“We arrived to save you two, but Lord Apollo said he wished to speak with you first.

Hearing that, Miyako looked down and saw the young man’s shoulder’s shaking as he averted his gaze.

…''That son of a bitch.

“Were you faking when you looked unconscious before?”

“Yes, I suppose you could put it that way.”

“And…were you guiding my thoughts?”

“Such cruel suspicion, Miyako. I simply wanted to speak honestly with you.”

“Oh? That’s surprising.”

She nodded and some new dark emotion welled up from the bottom of her gut.

She opened her mouth to speak and only a simple verb escaped.

“Die.”

“Ha ha. No need to be so violent, Miyako. Women should speak with more lovely language than that.”

“Have a lovely death.”

“W-wait. Calm down, Miyako.”

“Death is an instant. Not even I can make it wait.”

“You are quite the poet.”

“Then do I need to write you an elegy? Viva the afterlife.”

As she spoke, Miyako realized something.

…''Huh?

She grabbed his right hand and looked at his supposedly broken right arm.

“What is it, Miyako? Is there something wrong with my arm?”

It was no longer broken.

She felt her back tremble, but not from fear or surprise. She did not understand the truth in her hand, so she gained a feeling of the unknown.

But as she remained speechless, Apollo pulled on her hand and lightly brushed off his arm.

“It seems to have healed. The people of 3rd-Gear have long lives, after all.”

“S-sure,” she agreed while thinking back.

According to Moira 1st, the people of 3rd-Gear had long lives, but their metabolisms were about the same as the people of Low-Gear.

…''So why did his arm heal so quickly?

The injury on his forehead was also gone. She touched her own forehead and found no blood on it. That meant his forehead injury had healed before the exchange of headbutts had begun.

…''What’s going on?

As she thought, Apollo stood up and the maids descended the cliff to meet him. The maids held their hands down, used their gravitational control to press and hold the crumbled cliff face in place, and jogged down.

Moira 1st took the lead and she looked back and forth between the two humans with a smile.

“We have now reconfirmed the two of you as our masters.”

“No, um. I was only…”

As soon as Miyako frantically spoke up, Apollo turned his back and his shoulders shook.

Once she realized he was laughing, Miyako felt her cheeks flush. She assumed no one could tell in the evening sun, so she turned toward Moira 1st, relaxed her shoulders, and had a single thought.

…''Well, that’s how it turned out.

“Fine then. I’ll help out where I can. A university student working to find a job in modern Japan only knows the ideal form of a corporation and I’ve heard people seeking a workplace to achieve their goals is the way out of a recession. Sorry I don’t have the experience to say anything that isn’t straight out of a textbook.”

She took a breath and spoke in response to Moira 1st’s deepening smile and the smiles of expectation behind her.

“Doing nothing is an acceptable choice too. It’s a whole lot better than actively making thing worse. Still, I want to do something with this world that’s being wasted.”

“Really, what is going on?”

A voice filled a small, oblong room.

The student dorm room contained a bunk bed and the lockers near the entrance were labeled “Center of the World – Sayama” and “Sensible One – Shinjou”.

The beginnings of night could be seen through the window across from the entrance and someone sat at the desk by the window. The short boy had a white bandanna around his head and he wore a black T-shirt and the pants of his school uniform.

He spoke to someone over a cell phone.

“How is Mikage-san doing? Oh, that’s her journal. She writes in it every day. Could you put her on for a moment?”

After a few seconds, he spoke toward the sounds coming from the phone.

“Mikage-san, you’re writing in your journal, aren’t you? I don’t think I’ll be able to read it today, but would it be okay if I read it tomorrow morning when we travel to Okayama with the others?”

After a short silence, he lowered his head a bit.

“I’m sorry. I should have been more reliable. Anyway, I’ll call again in the morning, but you can have Kazami-san call me if there are any problems. Don’t worry. She’s my upperclassman, so she holds a higher position than me and you can trust her. I promise she won’t do anything you don’t want. Can you put her back on?”

After more silence, he scratched at his head.

“Oh, yes. That’s right. I can somehow understand her even though she can’t speak. I just have an idea what she’s probably thinking. Sure, I’ll put Izumo-san on.”

Izumo appeared from the bottom bunk wearing a black track suit and raised a hand toward the boy by the window.

The boy tossed the cell phone and Izumo caught it.

“What is it, Chisato? Are you lonely?” he asked sleepily. “Yeah, Hiba said something about understanding her even when she doesn’t speak. Making all those assumptions seems pretty dangerous to me.”

“I-Izumo-san! You’re ruining everything!”

“Hm? Don’t worry about it, Chisato. It’s just the complaints of a small fry. We can get across what we want to say without speaking too. Like when we’re in bed every night and- you’ll kill me if I say any more? You’ll shove me out of the helicopter tomorrow? Ha ha ha. No need to be shy.”

“That’s being shy?”

Hiba glared over from the window, but Izumo ignored him.

“Well, I hope you can enjoy your time with Mikage. It’s been a while since you’ve had a female roommate, hasn’t it?”

“Oh, can you pass something on to Kazami-san? Tell her not to help Mikage-san when she uses her cane to walk and not to help her even if she trips. And even if it’s easier to communicate in writing, tell her to avoid it if possible. It might take longer, but she can figure out what Mikage-san is saying from her limited pronunciation.”

“You sure are strict.”

“Mikage-san is the one that wants it.”

“Oh?” Izumo sounded impressed. “Did you hear that, Chisato? Of course, I hear it caused quite a commotion when you reserved the women’s bath for her. She’s pretty mature.”

For a while, Izumo simply nodded as he listened to the voice over the phone.

After a fair number of comments and about seven nods, he turned to Hiba.

“Do you have anything to say?”

“No,” answered Hiba.

Izumo passed it on, hung up, sighed, and placed the phone in the charger stand on the floor.

“Now then.”

Izumo faced Hiba and Hiba frowned.

“What is it? You look like you have something to say.”

“I was just thinking how strange it is that my grandfather, yours, and Sayama’s all knew each other.”

“It is a strange feeling. But…”

“But?”

Hiba scratched his head apologetically.

“I still have no intention of telling you about the second impurity. Sorry.”

“That’s fine, but did that battle this morning make you want to join us?”

Hiba gave a troubled smile and did not answer, so Izumo gave a quiet laugh.

“Hiba, what do you plan to do if the battle with 3rd-Gear ends?”

“That’s easy. That should mean Mikage-san can evolve once more, so I would leave Keravnos with all of you and live in peace.”

“Are you fighting for her evolution?”

“Yes,” he replied. “I think she isn’t evolving because we have to fight and because we don’t have the Concept Core. I just want to be with her and-…”

“Don’t say it all. You’ll spread the feeling too thin.”

“Perhaps, but do you have anything like that?”

“Yeah. I’m always thinking about…well, unspeakably dirty things I can do with Chisato and- What’s with that look? Is that not what you meant?”

“No, but I did gain a bit of respect for you. About twenty percent…no, fifteen percent.”

Izumo nodded in satisfaction.

“But it doesn’t look like that’s all there is to it. Do you have another reason?”

“Yes. 3rd-Gear’s Typhon abducted someone the other night, remember? Well, I lost an older sister a long time ago. She went missing.”

“An older sister?”

“Yes. My grandfather took her in about ten years ago. It was about three months after Mikage-san arrived. He said he was making her his granddaughter.”

“What kind of girl was she?”

“Despite being a girl, she was an incredibly good swordfighter. I was no match for her at all. I tried so many times to get up close and grope her breasts, but I never managed it.”

“I see. If someone as agile as you couldn’t manage it, she must’ve been quite something.”

Hiba nodded, but clenched his right fist and gathered strength in it.

“I don’t know how it would turn out now. At the time, my father had died and I think my grandfather was planning to make her his successor, but she suddenly vanished about a year later.”

“Vanished? What was her name? I might be able to check on it with IAI’s intelligence network.”

“Her name was Miki. Do you know a Hiba Miki?”

“No.” Izumo scratched his head. “Sorry. But you think it might’ve been 3rd-Gear’s doing, don’t you?”

“We’ve covered more or less why I’m fighting, but what about you?”

“Because it’s fun. Why else?”

His immediate and casual response caused Hiba to stop moving.

After a few seconds of silence, Hiba frowned.

“Fun? People die in these battles.”

“I can’t help it if I find it fun and there’s no point in lying. I’ve given this a fair bit of thought even if I don’t have as much combat experience as you.” A bitter laugh leaked from his mouth. “I have divine protection from my mother, a place where I can go all out, my bonds with Chisato, my trust with my foolish underclassmen and comrades, and other things you wouldn’t believe if I said them aloud. And for the moment, I find all those things out there on the battlefield. With a normal life, I’d probably find them on a sports team or in a club, though.”

“Are you treating the concept battles like a sport?”

“The classroom and the workplace are their own kind of battlefield. Or do you think your battlefields are especially harsh compared to school or work?” Izumo looked straight at Hiba. “If so, you need to apologize to everyone staring out the school window or doodling in class. And you need to apologize to the people standing behind the register or riding a scooter around delivering pizzas. You can apologize by stripping naked, fully prostrating yourself on the ground, and having a photo shoot. And make sure to do it outside.”

“I-I don’t want to do that outside! Oh, but I don’t want to do it inside either.”

“I see. So you don’t like exhibitionism. Then remember this,” said Izumo. “You’ll find battlefields everywhere. No matter where you go, some people win, some lose, some succeed, and some fail. And people can leave or die in accidents anywhere. All I’m saying is that I want to enjoy it all if possible. In that way, there’s no such thing as a fun and peaceful life where you do nothing. If you want to find real peace…”

“Yes?”

“It’s when you sleep with the girl that means the world to you. Although you could say that’s its own kind of battle. So are you going to do nothing but sleep with Mikage?”

“That’s not possible… And you’re absolutely horrible. My respect for you rose to thirty percent, though.”

“Good, good.” Izumo nodded. “Anyway, I heard from Chisato that you’ve been taking baths with Mikage every day.”

“W-wait a minute! Someone needs to wipe down her body and help her when she can’t get up from the bath.”

Hiba frantically stood from his chair, but Izumo held out a hand to stop him while sitting on the bed.

“No need to panic. I’m not criticizing you. In fact, I heard that her body is still not fully made. Is that true?”

“Yes.” Hiba slowly sat back down and crossed both his legs and arms. “I couldn’t say it before because she was with us, but nothing related to being a girl has developed. I think it’s because her evolution stopped before she had any knowledge about that stuff.”

“Does she have the knowledge now?”

“Yes. An upperclassman in my club works part-time at Yokota, so I asked him to get me a foreign textbook. Mikage-san’s questions when she reads it are so unintentionally severe that you would have a hard time making me that embarrassed if you tried. She’ll lean up against me or suddenly take off her clothes to compare with the textbook. I’m just…how should I put it? I don’t know what to do!”

“Calm down, boy. To her, she’s just trying to learn. You need to restrain yourself. Although I suppose she isn’t equipped for it even if you couldn’t.”

Hiba narrowed his eyes at that and sank a bit in his chair.

“She sometimes asks if I would be happier if she were a proper girl.”

“What do you say?”

“I’m not telling.”

Hiba smiled bitterly and Izumo did too.

“Well, from what I can see, she’s a good girl. I thought she would be more reliant on you, but she’s actually doing what Chisato tells her.”

“She’s neutral about anyone I don’t view as an enemy. The only people she will smile at or let touch her without getting cautious are my mother, my grandparents, and me.”

“She smiles?”

“That was the first thing she learned with her evolution.”

“I see.”

Izumo nodded but did not ask further.

Hiba then seemed to realize something, looked around with a serious expression, and shrugged.

“Anyway, what’s the deal with Sayama-san and Shinjou-san?”

“What do you mean?” asked Izumo.

“There are rumors going around the school that they’re in a homosexual relationship,” he said quietly. “The Daily Rose Taka put out by the girls’ newspaper club is serializing a novel, the school-wide hard gay poll had Sayama-san at the top, and they were seen embracing each other this morning.” Hiba slapped his knee. “Oh, right. Kazami-san might know something. I hear she was at the school department store with Shinjou-san buying swimsuits. And both of them bought girl’s swimsuits.”

“Wait just a moment. I need to check on something.”

Hiba tilted his head as Izumo pulled out his cell phone.

“Hey, Chisato? Have we not told Hiba about Shinjou?”

As Hiba continued tilting his head, Izumo quietly said something into the phone and nodded a few times. Finally, he slowly returned the phone to its stand.

“…”

He sank back onto the edge of the bed, hung his head, and rested that head on his hand.

“D-did something happen?” asked Hiba.

“Well, it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of each other for a while, so I should probably tell you.”

“Is it about Sayama-san and Shinjou-san?”

“Yeah.” Izumo nodded and faced Hiba with a serious expression. “Keep it a secret, but everything you’ve heard is true.”

“Really?”

Izumo said nothing and did not nod, but then he sighed.

“As your upperclassman, I order you to sleep on the top bunk tonight. I don’t want to catch the Sayama germs.”

“W-wouldn’t Shinjou-san’s bed be the same?” asked Hiba as he stood.

His foot caught on the chair and the chair’s wheels sent it sliding into the dresser to the side. The collision produced a dull noise.

“Oh, s-sorry. And this isn’t even my room.”

“I wouldn’t poke around over there. You might find some evidence.”

“P-please don’t scare me like that.”

Hiba moved to the dresser hidden behind the bed, so he left Izumo’s sight.

“It looks like something fell from the top of the…”

Hiba trailed off and the silence continued for several seconds.

After a few more seconds of nothing, Izumo tilted his head.

“Hey, Hiba. What’s the matter?”

“Um, Izumo-san?”

Hiba moved out from behind the bed holding something white. He spread out the white object between his hands.

“This fell from the top of the dresser.”

“Looks like girl’s underwear to me.”

“D-don’t act like it’s normal! Why is this here!?”

“Let me be blunt: With Sayama and Shinjou, it is normal.”

“Wait a minute! Have this school’s morals completely crumbled!?”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Izumo as he stood up and slapped his own chest. “Well? Do you see how normal I am now?”

“I think you’re making an unfair comparison.”

“Don’t worry about that either. Anyway, at the Seto Inland Sea training camp tomorrow, I order you to share a tent with Sayama. Good luck. I know you can manage.”

“No, I can’t!!”

As soon as he shouted out with the girl’s underwear in his hand, the chime indicating lights out rang.

A hard sound broke through the stillness.

In the forest below the night sky was a clearing behind a lit factory.

The fifty meter clearing had been created by digging down into the ground and it contained two figures.

The two figures in the darkness were female.

They were both tall, they both had long black hair, and they both held wooden swords, but one was collapsed on the ground.

The one who had fallen to a sitting position was the younger of the two. The girl had sharp eyes, she wore a white denim shirt and jeans, and she clicked her tongue.

“You’re the same as always, Tatsumi.”

She glared up at her opponent. The girl named Tatsumi’s wooden sword was hanging down and not at the ready.

Tatsumi wore a yellow dress and a white cardigan and she had a smile on the eyes below her hair which was brushed to the side.

“If you can give me a look like that, you have the right attitude, Mikoku. You have to leave before long, right? If you’re catching the ten o’clock train to Yokohama, you need to leave here by eight.”

“Isn’t that a little early?”

“You’re going to Yokohama and you’ll be eating dinner there, right?”

Mikoku sighed, ignored Tatsumi’s subsequent complaint, and pointed toward the factory with her chin.

“I would love to visit Chinatown there, but Shino has prepared something for today.”

“Really? But she has her own work to do. …Alex, where is Shino?”

“Asleep. On top of me.”

The voice seemed to come from a megaphone, but it did not reach the surrounding area. It was a directional voice.

“I see,” replied Tatsumi as her shoulders lowered. “If Shino has prepared something, that may be better.”

“That would be best. I’m sure she has made much more than necessary.”

Mikoku began to stand up.

“…!”

But Tatsumi stepped up to her and swung her wooden sword at the younger girl’s ankle.

Mikoku evaded the high-speed attack by using her standing motion to jump straight up and she brought her wooden sword toward Tatsumi.

“!”

Tatsumi was already twisting her body upward.

The sword swinging down responded to the twisting by jumping upward.

A clear sound filled the air and Mikoku’s wooden sword broke in half. Pieces of cloth scattered from her shirt’s collar and wind struck her cheek.

She could do nothing while in midair and something struck her chest.

The hard and gently pointed object was the tip of Tatsumi’s wooden sword.

The wooden weapon was lightly pressed against her sternum and a smile gave a warning from the other end of the weapon.

“Open your mouth and breathe out.”

Before she could, something happened.

Strength slowly gathered in the tip of the sword. It was not enough strength to provide pain, but it accelerated over a series of instants.

“This will knock you away, so prepare to land!”

Exactly that happened while still providing no pain.

Tatsumi vanished from Mikoku’s vision and was replaced by the sky.

Mikoku did not know what had happened.

She finally realized she had rotated around, but then her back struck the grassy embankment making the edge of the clearing.

“…!”

She had known this would happen, so she was sprawled out and relaxed. The air in her lungs had vanished and her loosening muscles opened up her chest before she could try to breathe in.

She was able to take a normal breath of oxygen which steadied her vision.

''Where is Tatsumi?'' she thought.

The other girl’s location would tell her how far she had been thrown.

But that idea proved fruitless because Tatsumi stood to her right.

“You are absurd.”

“You should be able to do this much yourself.”

“…”

She did not think she could, but she did not feel like saying it now. They had argued countless times and she always lost.

As Mikoku remained silent, Tatsumi narrowed her eyes and held out a hand.

“I taught you a good bit in today’s lesson. Do you realize that?”

“Yes,” she agreed while reaching out her own hand.

Their hands touched.

“…”

An instant later, Mikoku heard her own footstep below her.

This was simply because Tatsumi had lifted her up in an instant. That footstep had been the sound of her standing.

Tatsumi stood before her like always and that made Mikoku gulp.

“Stick with it, okay? You haven’t been putting much effort into it lately.” Tatsumi narrowed her eyes. “You were not made Hajji’s bodyguard this time out of trust or obligation. Of course you weren’t. You understand, don’t you? You can use that technique too.”

“But I have never gotten a single attack on you during training.”

“You’re the type that shines during real battles.” Tatsumi shot down that excuse and tilted her head with a smile. “The trick is to carefully observe your opponent and use your strength to its fullest. If you observe them, you can see how to evade or block as much as possible, right? I prefer to block and knock them away, but you would likely do better evading and using their own movements to cut them down.”

Tatsumi made a small spiral movement with her outstretched hand.

That motion was the trick to scooping up one’s opponent’s strength and using it against them.

[[Image:OnC_v06_0211.png|thumb]]

Mikoku had never succeeded in using it.

…''I do best when simply using my full strength.

“I do not think I can fight like you, Tatsumi.”

“You don’t have to, but you’ll be in trouble if you can’t even keep Fafnir Custom’s cannon from hitting you. What if Hajji or Shino had been shot immediately afterward?”

A gentle summer breeze washed over the concept space as Tatsumi spoke.

“Don’t worry, Mikoku. You can gain even more power than this and you will be able to master it for the sake of your world.”

“How can you know that?”

“Because that is what you wish for,” said Tatsumi. “Think about it. The more power people have or desire, the harder it is for them to fully utilize their power. I do not desire much power, but even I can reach this level.”

So…

“The fact that you still can’t fully utilize your power says you will grow to incredible heights.”

“You’re giving me too much credit. What I desire is a small thing.” She brushed aside Tatsumi’s hand, turned her back, and stepped up on the embankment. “I will wake Shino, eat dinner, and head to Kurashiki. Shino has her own mission to deal with.”

She heard a sigh from behind her.

“Are you worried about Shino?”

“Yes. Even if she will have Shiro with her, she is still-…”

“She’ll be fine. The problem is how worried you are, Mikoku,” said the voice behind her. “I’ve thought this for a while, and I think I should tell you now that you are taking on Army missions as an individual. Mikoku, what are you fighting for? Answer me like this is a teen film.”

Mikoku could not answer Tatsumi’s question.

…''What am I fighting for?

She knew the answer, but it was no one else’s business. Not even Tatsumi’s.

She remained silent, stepped on the grassy embankment, and began walking away.

“You can’t do it like a teen film?”

“No,” she answered. “I can’t do it like a yakuza movie or a monster movie either.”

“Yeah, that probably wouldn’t work. Although doing it like last week’s Heidi vs. Mecha Onji could be good.”

“They never showed how the fight between Mach Peter and Giant Clara turned out, so I give that one a D. Anyway, if you have something to say, stop beating around the bush and say it.”

She turned around on the embankment and found Tatsumi had not moved.

As Tatsumi looked up from halfway up the embankment, the moonlight illuminated her quiet smile.

That expression was enough for Mikoku to draw back.

“If you want me to tell you, I will,” said Tatsumi while still smiling. “I believe I know what you are thinking concerning Shino. Once the coming battle with UCAT is over and this world is ours, you will leave everything to Shino and disappear.”

“…”

For a moment, Mikoku was unsure what to say.

…''How does she know that?

She forced herself to shrug in order to hide the surprise in her heart. She gave a mocking laugh and tried to deny Tatsumi’s allegation.

She opened her mouth, but Tatsumi spoke before she could.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell Shino and she won’t be able to tell how desperate you are unless she crosses swords with you.”

“Wait, Tatsumi. Enough with the crazy delusions.”

“You wanted me to tell you, didn’t you? You have no right to stop me from speaking, so I will speak and you will listen to the end. If you have any complaints, then feel despair and do so with a loud sound effect.”

“Shobon!!”

“Alex, you be quiet. And no eavesdropping on a conversation between girls.”

“Shobon…”

Tatsumi sighed, but Mikoku brushed up her hair while feeling the impatience inside her.

Tatsumi was exactly right.

The Army would eventually clash with UCAT and the Army would use its power to take the leadership role of this world.

But Mikoku knew a certain fact.

…''Winning by force rarely ends well for you even if you manage to maintain control afterward.''

If the Army gained the rights to the world after their victory, Mikoku felt it would be best to leave those rights with the person who seemed the farthest removed from the Army’s power.

And as the one who used that power, she would have to distance herself from that person.

…''I need to distance myself from Shino.

But Tatsumi had also mentioned how she had realized this.

…''She realized I was desperate as we crossed swords?

“Tatsumi,” she called out. “Why is my being desperate related to Shino?”

The answer came immediately.

Tatsumi opened her mouth and spread her arms in the moonlight.

“That’s simple. Being desperate means you are willing to die, but why are you willing to die? Normally, people do not die for their own sake. That means it’s for someone else, and with you, who could it be but Shino?”

Tatsumi’s shoulders moved and she arrived before Mikoku’s eyes before the younger girl could prepare.

She could not even cry out in surprise before Tatsumi held a hand over her head.

The hand was clenched into a fist and pointed down.

“You idiot.”

A great noise burst from the space between the fist and head, pain shot from the top of her head to her butt, and all strength left her legs.

“…!!”

She held her head and crouched down while Tatsumi sighed and put her hands on her hips.

“Y’know,” said Tatsumi as if asking her to prepare for the coming words.

Mikoku looked up toward that swordsmanship teacher who had stopped smiling and gave a relaxed expression.

“Mikoku, you’re fighting for Shino’s sake,” came Tatsumi’s voice. “But if you die, it will be Shino’s fault. That’s what it means to fight for someone else’s sake. You are able to fight because they are there, but it will also mean you died because they were there. It means you would not have died if they had not been there.”

“…”

“It’s fortunate Shino has not realized what you are thinking. If she had, she would stop you from heading out to fight. She would tell you not to do that kind of thing for her. However, that would be more about escaping responsibility than about worrying for your safety.”

“Shino would never think about escaping responsibility!” reflexively shouted Mikoku. “She cares about others and she would never worry about her own responsibility!”

“That is why you can so easily blame your injuries on her. That isn’t fair, Mikoku.”

“…!”

“What’s with that look? Did I hit a sore spot? You can get mad if you want. Give a nice explosion of rage.”

Mikoku took action at that.

Her movement was sudden, but Tatsumi stepped back calmly as if she had predicted it.

However, Mikoku was able to see Tatsumi.

…''To the right!

She used her instincts more than her eyes to step on the embankment and send her right hand out in a jab.

An instant later, she felt something wrap around that hand.

Her hand had been grabbed.

“Kh.”

She could not move. Her wrist was held in place and her legs were stopped by pressure on her thigh.

However, her hand had made it through.

“Is this the first time one of your attacks has reached me?”

Mikoku turned toward that question and found the two of them facing each other halfway up the embankment. Tatsumi’s right hand had grabbed her hand and Tatsumi’s usual expressionless face lay beyond their hands.

“That anger brought your attack to me, so who was that anger for?”

Mikoku’s vision rotated.

By the time she realized she had been thrown, the moon had come into view. She felt the pale moon looked like a glowing jewel.

“…!”

When she struck the ground, she was no longer anywhere near the embankment. She was near the center of the clearing twenty meters away. The impact made her cough and Tatsumi’s voice reached her from the distance.

“You really can be stupid. Why did you let your guard down? Don’t forget to prepare to land and make it easier on your lungs.”

She did not have the composure to reply and she continued coughing as she got up and Tatsumi jogged to her side.

“C’mon, c’mon. Stand up and think. You have a decision to make. Will you yourself desire to fight or will you place the blame on Shino? I will not say either one is right or wrong. If you choose to fight for yourself, you might selfishly head off to your own death,” said Tatsumi. “But Shino is doing her best to be accepted by all of you. She’s not doing it ''for'' you, though. She’s doing it for herself.”

“I…” she began until Tatsumi struck her head.

“You don’t need to give your answer now. Don’t be so hasty.” Tatsumi laughed. “Think about it for as long as you need. Whenever you fight, you will hurt your opponent, they will hurt you, someone important to you may be hurt, and yet you will survive. Whenever that happens, see if you are glad that you survived. See if you can selfishly be more glad that you survived than that you hurt your opponent.”

As Tatsumi spoke, she suddenly looked Mikoku in the eye and her expression crumbled into a smile.

“Don’t make me lecture you too much, okay? Shino is obedient, so lecturing her is boring. You on the other hand fight back, so lecturing you is a lot of fun.”

“That last half was nothing but forcing your own ideas on me.”

But after standing up, Mikoku asked a question.

“If I fight, will I eventually be able to speak on and on about nonsense like that?”

“Do you want to?”

“I have no one to tell it to,” said Mikoku. “And I think I need a partner like that if I am to find my reason to fight. I need someone who will not be shaken when I ask for the meaning of my actions and who will accept it all with a smile.”

“Am I not good enough?”

“Sorry, but you’re just someone I train with. The kind of partner I need in order to fight is an enemy. I need an enemy to take Shino’s place.”

As she spoke, Mikoku realized something.

…''Oh. I’m rejecting the idea of fighting for Shino’s sake. I really am simpleminded.

She had not verified it and Tatsumi may have been guiding her there on a whim, but she was trying to choose some unknown enemy over Shino who she had been with for so long.

…''But I don’t want to make Shino cry when I get hurt.

There had once been a certain dog and that dog had saved Shino at the cost of its own life.

Had that dog done so for Shino’s sake? If not, why had it done so?

…''Did it think doing that would satisfy it?

Or had it been a sudden thing with no real thought behind it?

Mikoku did not know and Shino likely did not either.

What Mikoku did know was that Shino had still not forgotten that dog, that she would leave flowers and water for the dog, and that she would embrace the dog when it was summoned with the power of her philosopher’s stone.

…''Would the same happen if I died?

Part of her hoped so, but another part knew it would be painful.

“Painful…”

She made up her mind.

“But if you make something abnormal a part of everyday life, is there no avoiding that pain?”

Mikoku gave a nod and the harshness vanished from her face. She turned to Tatsumi and found the usual narrowed-eye expression.

“Do you have an enemy, Tatsumi?”

“Yes, I do. And I fight to ask a question.”

“What question?”

“That is something only my enemy knows.”

Mikoku did not know what that meant, so she could only nod toward the other girl’s troubled smile.

“I see. I wonder if I have an enemy as well.”

“Don’t you? For example, there is the one with the surname Sayama on Team Leviathan.”

“I’m not so sure. That boy knows nothing. …Do you think he will become my enemy once he learns the true meaning of the Leviathan Road?”

And…

“Will I be able to find my reason to fight before that happens?”

She looked up toward the moon.

Looking at the cold light of that pale arc, she nodded.

“I need to head out on my mission to protect Hajji. If that results in a fight, I may learn something.”

She lowered her gaze and looked Tatsumi in the eye.

“But why did you bring this up all of a sudden?”

“That’s simple,” said Tatsumi. “I felt like it.”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 17|Chapter 17]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 19|Chapter 19]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 17

2026-09-09T03:28:29Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 17: Afternoon Space==
[[Image:OnC_v06_0139.png|thumb]]
''Where is that which you seek?

''Where is the one who you seek?

Three mountain ranges existed to the west of Tokyo.

The Okutama mountain range was the farthest north, the Akigawa valley traveled south from the Okutama hills to Akigawa, and the Hachioji and Takao mountain range was south of the Akigawa valley.

A highway traveled east to west deep in the mountains of Hachioji. A major road ran through the southern part of Hachioji to allow passage to Kanagawa, so it was a convenient area for transportation despite being mountainous.

Long ago, Hachioji had been well known for its many spinning factories. Afterward, other industries had prospered, but the remains of the obsolete factories still existed in the mountains.

One such factory was hidden in the mountains yet was built on a large plot of land.

Despite being abandoned, both the land and the road leading to it were maintained.

At the time of day when the afternoon sun permeated the mountain with heat and the cries of cicadas filled the air, a small figure stepped onto the old factory’s land.

She was a girl wearing a short-sleeved safari dress and a straw hat.

She held a large wicker basket in her right hand as she entered the empty land in front of the factory.

As she did, she raised her left hand with a chain around the middle finger. The end of the chain fell down toward her palm and contained a blue stone.

She looked around to make sure no one else was around and stepped forward.

—'''Minerals are alive.

An instant later, her surroundings had completely changed.

The crying of the cicadas was gone and the air smelled faintly of oil.

“…”

Most noticeable of all, the factory before her was no longer abandoned.

It was just as well-used, but it was clearly still in use. Heat-resistant boards were laid out around the building and a large number of people in work uniforms were sitting around in the building’s shadow.

The tape in an old cassette player was playing a radio recording from the previous night.

The DJ giving his recollection of the Showa era provided background noise as the elderly work manager gave his own commentary to the younger workers.

The girl jogged toward the factory’s large main entrance that stood open, but she turned toward the building’s shade before entering.

“I made some snacks.”

The workers raised their hands in joy, but the elderly manager stood up.

“Shino-san, hot tea is best when it’s hot. Do you have any? These guys need it most. I can’t have them getting too exhausted.”

“Yes. I had a feeling you would say that.”

The younger workers gave groans of protest, but the old manager quieted them down with a glare.

Shino smiled at all of them.

“I also have some cold drinks.”

“Shino-san, don’t spoil them. They’re already too slow as it is.”

“Sometimes you need to relax.”

“That’s right, that’s right,” agreed the young workers with smiles.

Shino set down the basket, pulled out what she had made, and placed it on a sheet she spread out.

She set down some honey-preserved lemons and bottles of frozen sports drinks. The candy was homemade. She also had peanut butter sandwiches that were a tad small but would feel like plenty to someone with an empty stomach.

But the main attraction was the tea and the youkan. Shino sliced up the latter, but the young workers began reaching in before she was done and the old manager raised his voice.

“Don’t be greedy, you brats! And the bottom edge belongs to Shino-san. Don’t you dare touch it.”

She smiled bitterly and used her daily experience to neatly divide it even for an odd number of people.

With the eagerly waiting workers behind her, she stuck a toothpick into each piece of youkan.

“Ah.”

Something arrived on four running legs.

It was a dog.

The large white dog was as tall as her waist and it ran over impatiently.

“Shiro.”

The dog playfully rubbed up against her head. It happily pushed her around and pressed against her, but the surrounding workers all stopped moving.

She followed their gazes and looked at her feet. A shadow stretched out at her crouched feet, but ''only'' her shadow.

A closer look at Shiro showed the dog was slightly transparent.

Shino then looked toward her own chest.

The chain hanging from her neck spilled from her collar and to her chest. A blue stone was attached to the chain and it was currently giving off a blue light.

“That’s a troubling light, Shino-san,” said the old manager. “But he likes you, so don’t be cruel.”

Shino smiled with the ends of her eyebrows lowered.

“I can communicate with and give form to minds of various types. This is the power I inherited, so it doesn’t bother me. And Shiro will come for me even if I don’t call for him. Like he did that one time.”

Shino turned toward the entrance to the factory grounds.

Beyond the border of the concept space was a gate in the real world. The gate was opened, but a stone lay next to the road and to one side of the gate.

The oblong stone was about the size of a weight stone used for pickling and covered in moss, but a water dish and flowers were placed in front of it.

“When we first let him out of here, I was so excited to be his owner that I ran right out into the road. And then…”

“Don’t worry too much, Shino-san. Shiro is still alive. This is his home and your surroundings are his territory.”

“Yes. I still remember what Mikoku promised me back then.” She smiled toward the ground. “She promised to one day…one day create a world that can conquer death.”

She reached a hand over Shiro’s shoulder and the dog licked it.

She could feel the lick, but she knew it was nothing more than the power of her stone. The dog’s form was created by the concept power that the stone produced through her.

“Sometimes I’m afraid that I’m using this power on all of you as well.”

“Don’t worry, Shino-san. Sometimes you make food that isn’t very good, but you can tell when you see these guy’s faces, can’t you? If you were controlling us with your concept, we’d always be happy with the food.”

She and Shiro looked back and saw awkward looks on a few of the workers’ faces.

Not knowing how to react, she smiled bitterly and they did the same.

“Um… When that happens, please scold me. I’ll feel better that way.”

“But…uh… We couldn’t possibly… Oh, manager! You eat the food too, so you can do it!”

“Don’t be stupid. I was born during the war. It’d take a lot for me to complain about the food. Also…”

He looked to the east. The city of Takao was visible through the trees and the city of Hachioji was wrapped in a bit of heat haze even further along.

“She’s the adoptive daughter of the people who took me and this factory in after it looked like there was no hope left. If she served me poison, I’d eat it.”

“Manager! You say that, but you always make sure you’re first in line after Shino-san for the youkan!”

“Pay attention, you fools. My diabetes test came back positive. I’m risking my life here.”

“U-um, manager? That’s actually really serious.”

Shino began wondering if she could make a low-sugar youkan.

While he continued looking toward Hachioji, a smile appeared on the corner of the manager’s mouth.

“Well, however it happened, this is funny. This factory is almost entirely filled with people from other worlds and I’m the only one from this world. My family thinks I just like messing around with old junk,” he said. “Anyway, Shino-san, did you know that Hachioji, this city west of Tokyo, was bombed during World War Two?”

“Eh?”

“Strange, isn’t it? With all the spinning factories, it was pouring smoke into the air as it made cloth during the war. But that must’ve made them look like military factories. In the early morning of August 2, 1945, one hundred seventy B-29s dropped sixty-seven thousand napalm bombs and killed more than four hundred people. Over eighty percent of the city was burned away.”

The old manager reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette.

He lit a match despite the fuel and oil tanks around him.

“And that’s not all. On August 5 when the evacuation train was restarted after the bombing, it was hit by a Grumman air raid on the Takao tunnel. They sprayed machinegun fire on the crowded train and killed about nine hundred.”

As he spoke calmly, he breathed in the cigarette smoke and exhaled.

“But even after all that, no real help came. Not even from that special unit in Okutama.”

“…”

“After hearing about them from Hajji, I realized they might have been able to do something with the concept powers they had. I know I’m just complaining and I have a family now, but I still think there needs to be some kind of protest.” He smiled and grabbed the cigarette. “Don’t tell Mikoku. She might not look it, but that girl can be too considerate.”

“You don’t have to worry about that as long as you don’t say anything.”

Shino stood up and stroked Shiro’s back.

“I’d like you to show me around Hachioji sometime.”

“These youngsters could introduce you to some better places. Unless you want people to think you’re looking after your grandfather or something.” The manager pointed toward the back of the building. “More importantly, Mikoku is over there. She’s training with Tatsumi before heading to Kurashiki tonight. Such nonsense.”

“What about Alex?”

“His weapons haven’t been attached yet, but he should be ready. He’ll make it in time to get what you’re after. If all these youngsters actually do their job, that is.”

The younger workers groaned in protest, but he spoke over them.

“At any rate, we’ve waited ten years for this. The Army is finally beginning to move.”

The green of the trees was almost blue.

The sun could be seen descending beyond the trees, but the brightness of that summer sunlight had not waned.

Two figures stood in the forest’s harsh contrast of light and shadow.

A young man in white led the way.

His long blond hair waved behind him as he walked through the forest without breaking a sweat.

A woman with semi-long black hair followed him. She frowned and had the bottom of her white clothes tied to the side.

“Hey, rich boy,” she called out to the man. “Where are you taking me?”

“Well, you see.” He stopped and did not turn toward her. “Miyako, I am letting you escape.”

“What?”

Miyako stopped behind him, but he checked to either side regardless.

“This isn’t easy. The maids might be watching from somewhere.”

“And if they are?”

“They’ll scold me.”

He turned toward her and smiled, but Miyako could tell he was lying. The smile did not reach his eyes.

There had to be more to this. They had automatons who could erase memories, supply memories, and control gravity. That had to be kept a secret and that applied to their master as well.

…''If I’m spotted escaping, I’d be the only one punished.

Then why was he checking their surroundings?

Realizing why he was doing it, she clicked her tongue.

“Thanks, rich boy.”

“Pease call me Apollo, Miyako. You gave the automatons names, yet you are still referring to me by a title for nobles.”

“Rich boy isn’t a title for nobles.”

“Really?” He placed a hand on his forehead. “But the common language concept is telling me it refers to the son of a wealthy family.”

“There’s sometimes a hidden nuance to words. But if you don’t get it, I suppose it doesn’t really matter.”

“If you say so.”

His eyes bent in a smile.

''What a nonthreatening idiot,'' she thought. ''Well, I guess it’s better than an idiot who’s always looking around suspiciously like me.

She had a feeling Moira 1st and the others did not refer to him as “lord” simply out of obligation.

…''At the very least, I don’t feel like deceiving him.

She sighed inwardly.

“So what made you feel so sorry for me that you’re letting me escape?”

“To put it simply, you’re too much trouble.”

He gave his mouth-only smile once more.

''That’s a lie,'' she thought, but she made sure not to let her thoughts show.

“That’s not a surprise.” She shrugged. “I ignored your intentions and gave names to your maids. I can’t complain if you kick me out.”

“I’m glad you understand.”

Apollo’s face looked somehow pale.

It may have simply been the shadows of the trees. After all, they had only walked around a small mountain. It had not been enough for her to be out of breath and he was a man.

…''I’m worrying too much.

“So how do I get out of here?”

“This concept space has a weakened boundary. The farther out you go, the weaker the concept gets. The life of machines should be fairly weak here. The final line is a few meters ahead.”

Apollo pulled a metal rod from his cloak. He swung it and it extended into a staff.

“To break through that line, hold this and walk straight through.”

“Oh? But, um, I left all my stuff here.”

“Don’t worry. I have your…is this a change purse?”

“Don’t be stupid. That’s every last yen I own.”

“My apologies. This world uses paper money, doesn’t it? It must not have many resources.”

“You must not have many brain cells. Watch carefully. If you take this bill and fold the part with the face like this and then like this… Look, from below he’s smiling and from above he’s crying.”

She held it out and Apollo stared intently at it.

“…”

After a while, he turned around and his shoulders shook.

''That was a complete failure,'' she thought to herself.

“If you want to laugh at my stupidity, don’t hold back, you idiot.”

“Th-that isn’t it. I was just realizing how soft Low-Gear’s culture is.”

“If you’re trying to be tactful, try harder. And I had more possessions than just this.”

“Yes, I have the rest too. Here is your underwea- gfh!!”

Miyako stepped forward, elbowed him in the side, and swiped the two pieces of white cloth. She clenched her back teeth and spat words at the curled-up and cloaked back.

“I see Sun God Apollo is just as perverted as the myths say.”

“Is that what you say about me in this world?”

“Yeah, and that you got along a little too well with your sister. Have you never heard of morals?”

“3rd-Gear had no other choice. I was the only one left with the ability to have children, so I attempted to do so with many different women, extracted their concepts and wills into the Concept Core, and turned them into gods of war. …It was all on my father’s instructions.”

“You just do what your superiors tell you to do?” she spat back.

Miyako sighed inwardly.

…''We’re a lot alike, so I’m not one to talk. In fact, I didn’t even get to the point of having superiors telling me what to do. I was rejected at the interview.

But Apollo did not protest. He only lowered the ends of his eyebrows and stood up.

“Family was not off limits, so Artemis was indeed tested at the very end.”

The phrase “at the very end” caught Miyako’s attention. She wondered why he would save his sister for last.

…''Normally, wouldn’t you test someone that important before anyone else so they would not be taken from you?

No…

…''Was he afraid of finding out it wouldn’t work?

She felt bad for speculating about this.

Moira 1st had not told her what had become of Artemis.

Zeus and the others had taken back Rhea’s daughter, split the Concept Core in two, given one half to Typhon, and given one half to Typhon’s weapon named Keravnos. But Keravnos had been stolen in an attack by Low-Gear. With half the Concept Core gone, 3rd-Gear had been destroyed.

She did not know what had happened to Artemis, but she did not seem to be around anymore.

“I don’t really understand everything, but do your best for your sister’s sake too.”

“I will.”

A weak smile formed on only Apollo’s lips.

''He’s lying,'' she realized again.

She did not know why he was lying, but she knew that smile indicated a lie.

She considered asking further, but he was trying to have her leave. She decided not to pursue the truth because she might be nothing more than a brief visitor here.

“But what will you do from now on?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Hold up. How can this place last with a master like that? You can use that giant white god of war, right?”

“I’m not the one piloting it.”

“Then who is? Aren’t you the only human in that base?”

“Even so, I’m not the one piloting it.”

“I see,” she said with a nod.

All of them were tightlipped about Typhon. She was not going to receive an answer by asking about it here, so she sighed.

“Well, you’ll be fighting people from my world, won’t you? And you won’t stop if I ask you to.”

“No. We have our reasons. As I’m sure you are aware.”

Hearing that, Miyako asked about something she was curious about.

“Is your opponent Rhea’s child?”

After a short pause, Apollo nodded.

There was no smile on his lips, so Miyako believed him.

Silence followed.

That quiet gave her an urge to run away. She sensed that, unlike him, she belonged to a world that knew nothing of fighting.

She opened her mouth and made a joke.

“So if you win, will you marry her?”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

Miyako frowned because it sounded like he had only just realized that fact.

“You’ve never thought about it before? How can you continue on if you don’t think about things like that?”

“I’m not the one fighting. I suppose it was due to relying on someone else that I had not thought about it much. …But this is a bit of a problem. I had been thinking about moving somewhere else once we won this fight.” He looked out toward the city of Kurashiki. “There are even more cities, mountains, and oceans beyond this city, aren’t there?”

“Of course there are.”

“I see.” He looked relieved. “My grandfather told me this was a large world. I’d like to see those things first. I want to see the world with the morning sun washing over me. Having a wife by my side would make it even better.”

“Stop getting lost in fantasy. Isn’t that only if you win?”

“Yes. And our opponent is strong.”

He went on to ask a question.

“Did you see Typhon and that black god of war fight?”

A certain scene appeared from Miyako’s memories. Typhon passed by the black god of war in the sky. Typhon suddenly changed its location and launched an attack on the other machine.

In the end, the black god of war had attacked with lightning, but Typhon had endured it.

“Is that black one really that dangerous an opponent?”

“It is just as powerful as Typhon. Although from a purely mechanical perspective, Typhon is stronger.”

“Then the black one can’t win,” she said while scratching at her head.

''Try to sound more disappointed,'' she thought to herself.

But Apollo narrowed his eyes.

“It might be able to win.”

“How?”

“That’s a good question. I don’t actually know. But my grandfather told me to leave everything to Low-Gear if Typhon is ever defeated by that black god of war.”

“The old man liked riddles, didn’t he? I don’t like it. So what are you supposed to do? If that black god of war defeats Typhon and kills you, is 3rd-Gear just gonna sell itself to Low-Gear?”

…''Don’t be ridiculous.

“There won’t be any 3rd-Gear people left.”

“There is still Rhea’s daughter,” he pointed out.

“Rhea defected to Low-Gear! She joined this world. To us, that black god of war is the giant hero that faces the giant mechs of an evil organization.”

“I’m not sure what that means, but it is true that she is officially known as a resident of your world. But…”

“But?”

She purposefully let her displeasure show and Apollo continued slowly.

“At the moment, that black god of war cannot possibly defeat Typhon and this will all be settled before long. I want to win if I can and we are currently in a position to win. Is there a problem with that?”

“No, you idiot. And if that’s your conclusion, why’d you even have to say the black one might win and start this whole argument in the first place? Stop confusing the issue and keep things simple. Say the other side’s strong, but it isn’t a problem.”

…''Ahh, why am I lecturing this idiot?

She frowned and looked Apollo in the eye.

He looked back with a serious expression.

His eyes were the same yellow as Typhon’s eyes the other night, but the emotion there was different now.

What had that emotion been? She had a feeling Apollo knew the answer.

“Well, whatever. If I stay here arguing against your rich boy thought process, I’ll be here all day. …You want me to leave, right?”

“Yes.” The seriousness left his face and a smile formed on his lips. “I won’t force you, though. You were enjoying yourself while escaping reality with the maids, weren’t you?”

Those words triggered her rebellious side and her hand moved reflexively.

She snatched the metal staff from him and turned her back.

…''Dammit.

If she walked forward with this staff, it would all be over. Her clothes were ridiculous and she wore sandals instead of shoes, but she had underwear and her wallet. If she bought a T-shirt or something, she would look fine enough. If anyone looked at her oddly, she was used to getting people to back away with a glare.

…''It’s time to leave.

She let out a snort toward the man behind her and began walking.

After the first step, her body naturally started forward.

There was no excess strength or guilt in her gait, so she gave a sigh of relief and continued forward.

She hesitated a bit when she thought about Moira 1st.

When giving the maids their names, she had been trying to make a nice change to their environment.

…''But that was an unneeded bother for their master.

She decided to leave.

A strange conflict involved the master of this place and he did not seem to want her getting involved.

She recalled her continuing attempts to find a job. Right up until the last moment, she would think about the things to do if she joined that company, but she always left before it really started.

''This is the same thing,'' she complained in her heart.

Apollo did not follow behind her. That irritated her, so she quickened her pace.

But…

“…”

She suddenly stopped.

…''What am I doing?

That thought began with her right hand holding the staff.

She felt heat in that hand.

During the day, she had repeatedly swung down the hoe. The heat in her grip was similar to pain.

She had used the hoe to dig up some dirt, placed the dirt in the pots, and planted the seeds the automatons had taken their names from.

Their pots were now lined up along the southern edge of the white building.

She had been a part of all that.

“…”

…''Can I really just leave?

“Naïve”, “child’s play”, and other terms people had constantly said to her floated up in her mind.

But her focus shifted to the pain in her hand.

…''I managed to accomplish something, didn’t I?

The automatons had taken their names and wanted her to use them. To record them perfectly, it was apparently best to have a trustworthy person use the name.

The approximately sixty faces she had memorized the night before had been matched to as many names.

The first automaton to be given its name, Violet, had then asked for her name.

She had once more answered “Miyako”.

Her father had given her that name so that a great many people would gather around her.<ref>Miyako means “capital city”.</ref>

She thought about her own name and the name the automatons had started calling her.

…''Well?

“Was I…?”

…''Was I trying to escape my name?

“…”

It took her a moment to answer. Many different thoughts appeared in her mind, but she discarded them in an instant.

She was good at cutting through to a clear answer. She was also good at regretting and forgetting.

She turned her stopped feet backward. She frowned, clenched her teeth, and likely had a terribly grim expression, but she knew that was to hide her true thoughts.

And even if she tried to hide it, she did have true thoughts behind it.

So she made a certain decision.

…''I’ll stay here.

“There has to be something I’ve left undone.”

She turned around to say something to Apollo. He was trying to have her leave, so she wanted to somehow gain his permission to stay.

But she saw something unexpected.

“Wait.”

He was sitting on the ground where he had been standing a moment before.

It looked like he had sunk down into the grass and he did not seem to be breathing.

“What are you doing, you idiot?”

She walked, ran, and hurried over while tossing aside the metal staff.

…''What’s going on?

Weren’t only machines supposed to grow weak by the concept space’s boundary?

She ran over and hurriedly sat next to him. He was sweating profusely, his breathing was shallow, and his face was almost completely white.

She had not been seeing things when he had looked pale earlier.

“You idiot.”

As soon as she spoke, she felt as if all strength left her legs.

“Ah?”

She looked down and the grassy ground was shaking.

In that instant, she noticed that she and Apollo were near the edge of a cliff in the forest.

And the ground was crumbling out from under them and toward the slope.

“…!”

She fell.

A certain wooden room was about six square meters, had shelves of baskets on the wall, and had a scale and refrigerator.

The refrigerator said “Tamiya Family Property – No Modifications” on the side.

This was the changing room for the Tamiya house’s men’s bath. The clock on top of the shelves said 5:50 PM.

A figure entered through the sliding door to the right of the clock.

It was Shinjou.

She held a blue yukata and wore her school uniform.

“Um…”

She looked around to make sure the room was empty and then opened the frosted glass door to the bath.

She saw a tiled bath beyond the warm and humid air. The washing area was about six square meters and the fairly deep tub was just as large. The washing area had four faucets and showers, so she assumed the bath was usually used in shifts of four.

“Does your average house have a bath like this?”

She was only familiar with the large bath for UCAT employees and the even larger public bath named Eternal Sunflower, so she did not know how to judge the Tamiya family’s bathing space.

…''I never expected to spend the night here.

It was due to the destruction of Hiba’s house.

Izumo and Hiba were staying in Sayama and Shinjou’s dorm room while Mikage and Kazami stayed in Izumo and Kazami’s dorm room. Someone had suggested letting Hiba and Mikage share a room, but the first term had only just ended and a lot of students had yet to return home. Izumo and Sayama had discussed it and reached the following conclusion.

“It’d start rumors if a first year and a blonde were seen entering the room of someone as well-known for his idiocy as Sayama.”

“You fool. If they were seen entering the room of a certain violent couple, people would think it was some new kind of bedroom play.”

From there, they had all settled on the current arrangement.

Mikage had looked discouraged which bothered Shinjou, but she had seemed to calm down a bit once Izumo had given her a diary from the things collected beneath the destroyed house.

When Shinjou imagined the diary as being like her binder, she felt a sense of relief.

…''Everyone has something like that, don’t they?

“Yeah,” she said before closing the glass door to the deserted bath.

She went around to all the clothes baskets just in case, but they were all empty. There was truly no one in the bath.

Kouji and the others were in the kitchen preparing dinner for the night shift.

She and Sayama had eaten early and Sayama had gone to the living room to read the newspaper, but he had disappeared at some point.

If she wanted to safely take a bath, this was her chance. After all, this house was always under the influence of Sayama space. She needed to quickly finish her bath and get to sleep early in preparation for the training camp the next day.

She reached to the other side of the sliding door and placed a sign saying “in use by guest” on the outside column.

After that, she silently removed her clothes. She removed her shirt, pants, underwear, and socks to reveal her skin.

Setsu’s body appeared from below the clothing.

She reached for a towel, loosely embraced her chest, and continued on. She opened the door to the steamy space.

“Wow.”

The steam was much thicker than in the large baths she was used to and she quickly started sweating.

The sun was still setting outside the window. She could not see that light in the usual larger baths. She checked that the window was locked to ensure no one could peep and even checked the corners of the bath for hidden cameras.

She had the place to herself.

…''Yay.

She crouched down as if covering her body with the steam and pulled over a nearby bath bucket.

“Hm?”

It was quite heavy because it was already filled with water.

She had not seen anyone in the bath, yet the water was warm. Wondering why, she observed more closely.

Something familiar was floating in the bucket: Baku.

The small animal was practicing its flutter kick with its front paws on the edge of the bucket.

Shinjou frowned at the quiet splashing sounds. She looked around and even up at the ceiling, but…

“His owner isn’t here.”

''Is Baku playing here on his own?'' she wondered.

Whatever the case, Sayama was definitely not here and she did not have time to hesitate.

“I need to finish my bath.”

She spoke aloud to herself, grabbed a different bath bucket, and leaned out over the tub.

She looked down and her eyes met with Sayama’s as he lay face up at the bottom of the tub.

“…”

Noticing her from the light blue tiles below the water, he raised a hand.

She even saw his mouth move as if giving a casual greeting.

“W-waaah!!”

Sayama responded to her shout by swiftly rising up and out of the water. Steam and water shot into the air and he brushed up his hair with his left hand.

“Phew. Why did you shout, Shinjou-kun? Did you see something strange?”

“Look in a mirror before asking that!”

Sayama turned toward the mirror on the bath’s side wall and then frowned.

“I see. So that is the problem.”

After his nonsensical comment, he fixed his wet bangs. He posed in front of the mirror, fixed his hair further, and then checked the shape of his face from an angle.

“That should be back to normal. You are surprisingly picky about appearances, Shinjou-kun.”

“Sure.” She nodded and smiled. “Um, Sayama-kun? I’ve discovered a fascinating new fact: You are insane!”

“This certainly is sudden. Calm down, Shinjou-kun. We can work out this misunderstanding. Do you have a question about something?”

“I’d rather not mention it for my sanity’s sake, but…why were you submerged at the bottom of the bath?”

“Oh, that.” He raised his right arm to show off the UCAT watch on his wrist. “I have been training my lung capacity since I was quite young. I am still a long ways off from my best time.”

“Since you were quite young?”

“Yes. I used to compete with my grandfather. He would say I could not come out until I had counted to one hundred and then that horrible old man would hold my head under the water until I almost died. Later when he was submerged, I dumped in a bunch of detergent to sterilize him. The scene of him rampaging around in the bubbles was straight out of a monster movie. …Old people these days are all so horrible. Fortunately, their numbers were recently reduced by one.”

“I think someone is quickly growing into a decent replacement for him.”

“Ha ha ha. Do not worry. I am from a much higher caste than him.”

Shinjou felt that was reason enough to worry, but then he asked another question.

“Is there anything else you wish me to explain?”

“Um… Well, your clothes weren’t in the changing room.

“How very strange. I put them in the refrigerator like always.”

“What do you mean ‘like always’!?”

“It says ‘Tamiya Family Property’, doesn’t it? It actually functions as a safe. It used to be in the kitchen, but the key was lost for half a year. The contents were a sight to behold after that, let me tell you.”

“Okay, I think I understand the situation. …I was wrong to expect common sense from you inside the Sayama space.”

She turned her back, realizing it was all over. She could not take a bath now. She also decided to be cautious around the refrigerators in the house. With that decided, her smile began to look forced.

[[Image:OnC_v06_0169.png|thumb]]

But then a figure appeared through the glass door leading into the bath. Shinjou only saw the color of flesh with a pink towel wrapped around it.

“Yahoo, Setsu-chan? I’m here to wash your back.”

“Eh? Ryouko-san?”

As Shinjou spoke up in confusion, a small wind suddenly wrapped around her.

In no time, her body changed into Sadame.

“…!”

She gasped just as the door began to open.

She frantically grabbed the frosted glass door to prevent Ryouko from opening it.

“Huh? Does this door not fit the frame right?”

“Th-that isn’t the problem! U-um, Sayama-kun!! Sayama-kun, um…!”

“What is it, Shinjou-kun. It is only Ryouko. There is no need to put up such a struggle.”

“No need? B-but we can’t let her see us!”

Ryouko reacted to that shout.

“Setsu-chan? What do you mean you can’t let me see you? Are the two of you doing something amazing?”

…''A misunderstanding! How am I supposed to explain this? No, I have to avoid explaining it.

She had difficulty determining her priorities for various things and grew indecisive.

“Eh? Um, that isn’t it. You see… Why are you just watching, Sayama-kun!?”

“Lately, I have been wondering if I am being unintentionally rude to you, Shinjou-kun.”

“Th-this is no time to suddenly become considerate. Stop watching and get over here!”

“Ooh! I want to see, too! Let me in!!”

Ryouko began shaking the door like a monkey, but Shinjou endured.

“Ahh, Sayama-kun! Please grab on! Grab on and help me!”

“If you wish,” she heard him say.

A moment later, his hands firmly grabbed on…to her butt.

He firmly gripped her with fingers warmed from soaking in the bath and he spoke calmly.

“Shinjou-kun, I have grabbed on, but what should I do now? You asked me to help, but there is not much I can do from this position.”

“Sayama-kun, this is one of those unintentional things you were just mentioning. …Ahh! Stop it, Ryouko-san!”

As she shouted, new footsteps approached the changing room and the door leading into it slid open.

“Sister! What are you doing in the men’s bath!?”

“Hm? You have to ask, Kouji? I want to wash Setsu-chan’s back.”

“You do know Setsu-kun is a boy, right? And he is not a part of our family.”

“Don’t be silly, Kouji you little scamp. If he’s in our house, he’s part of our family.”

“Listen carefully. Different families have their own rules, so please try to abide by them when they are here. You can’t suddenly throw our way of doing things at them. Setsu-kun might never come back again.”

“Don’t worry. I have a waterproof camera to help convince him to come back. …Ahh! Why would you take it away!?”

“To keep you from committing a crime!!”

Ryouko could be heard groaning in thought, but she quickly spoke up cheerfully.

“Listen, Kouji, listen. Um, I think Setsu-chan is actually a lot like us.”

…''She’s surprisingly perceptive.

But Shinjou’s thoughts did not reach Kouji. She heard him sigh.

“Sister, have you ever heard of common sense?”

“Of course. I got a five in Japanese language class.”

“As a percentage score I assume? Also, this is the men’s bath. As your aide, I cannot allow the president to corrupt the company’s morals.”

“Eh? You sure are strict, Kouji. I’m not doing work now, so I’m an individual instead of a president.”

“Fine, fine. Then I say the same thing as your brother. Leave, sister.”

“No fair!! Are you saying you’ll let the young master and Setsu-chan in the men’s bath but not me?”

“Yes, because those two are boys! Even if Setsu-kun would probably become a victim of something or other before making it five meters in the Bronx!”

''Oh, so that’s how they see me,'' thought Shinjou with an odd sense of understanding. ''And Kouji is relatively normal, so it’s pretty convincing.

The strength on the other side of the door vanished and she could hear receding sounds of the elder sister struggling.

“Ah! Wait, Kouji! Are you really going to throw me out in nothing but a towel!? You can’t do this just because mom and dad are away bear-hunting in Karuizawa. Oh, c’mon!! I’m gonna give you tons of curses!!”

…''I can’t believe she would say that.

Shinjou’s shoulders relaxed, she swept aside the hands admiring her butt from behind, and she grabbed a bath bucket.

“Um, Sayama-kun? Is it always like this?”

“Lively, isn’t it?”

She felt no reason to say otherwise, so she sighed and nodded.

After pouring water over herself and entering the tub, her entire body relaxed.

She took a breath and Sayama sat next to her. She felt the hot water soaking into her body, but she shrank back a bit once he sat there.

She wondered why and quickly found the answer.

…''Come to think of it…

“U-um, this is the first time we’ve bathed together with Sadame’s body, isn’t it?”

Shinjou used her hands to hide her body in the water and Sayama smiled bitterly next to her.

“Relax. I will not do anything you do not want.”

She felt like expressing her doubt, but decided against it.

There were times when that was true.

“Yeah, I know. I always resist and almost cry, but you stop.”

“About two months have passed while doing that, but has anything changed with your body?”

She shook her head.

She had made a promise on that night two months before when she had first revealed her identity.

She had him occasionally check on her body, but she still did not have her period.

“There hasn’t been a change in my male body either.”

She felt like that wording was blaming him, so she wanted to say something more. She looked toward him in preparation and he tilted his head.

“What is it?”

“Oh, uh…”

She did not like these direct questions, but there were some things she could only say at times like this.

“U-um, I am happy with what you’re doing for me, so don’t worry. Even if I don’t act like it.”

She had wanted to say this for a while, but putting it in words made her blush.

She could not stand his gaze on her, so she looked away. While trying to convince herself she was flushed due to the heat of the bath, Sayama nodded and gave a small smile.

She looked away from that smile by lowering her head.

She reached forward, grabbed her knees, and pulled them toward her. While embracing her knees below the water, the tops of the knees rose above the surface. She placed her cheek on them and changed the subject.

“U-um, I think it might be hopeless.”

“What might?”

That response seemed to cool off the heat in her body.

She took in a breath and spoke the thoughts she had had when the night of nothing but a stomachache had arrived as always at the end of the previous month.

“My body might never develop properly. I might always have nothing but pain.”

She looked down at the bottom of the tub that wavered through the water.

But then something warm touched her right cheek. The damp and solid object was Sayama’s finger.

She looked up in surprise and heard a voice from the right.

“Do you remember when Kazami slapped you?”

“…”

“I do not want that to happen again. And to make sure it does not, I will help you with a different method. After all, this is what I want as well.” A smile filled his voice. “And if having nothing but pain means you cannot develop into an adult, I am the same.”

“…Ah.”

She quickly looked over her soaking shoulder.

She saw him looking at her with his expressionless face, but there was strength and harshness in that face.

Seeing that, she leaned up against him. She grabbed his left arm with her hands, bent her elbow to pull herself toward him, and placed her lowered forehead on his shoulder. When she opened her mouth to speak, it was no longer an apology that came out.

“Thank you.”

She nodded. As she lowered her head further, her mouth sank into the water and then rose once more. She decided to think more positively from now on and she spoke.

“U-um, we were switched out today, weren’t we?”

“Yes. In that concept space, you were me and I was you.”

They had not discussed it yet, but she felt relieved hearing that. That meant their thoughts were reaching each other and it meant she was human.

“Um, Sayama-kun? …How was my body?”

Sayama nodded with a serious expression and looked her in the eye.

“It was very, very delewdcate.”

“Yes. I know what I want to say, but I’m having trouble expressing it. It’s really irritating.”

“I see. Truly good words are hard to come by.”

Sayama leaned against the inner wall of the tub and folded his arms in thought.

Shinjou wondered what was on his mind, but then she remembered that morning.

Sayama’s body had been different from hers. She had initially been surprised by how much higher his vision was. And she had realized something else while looking down on her own body.

…''He’s always looking at me properly.

Instead of looking down at her with his gaze, he would turn his face toward her, so she had done the same.

She belatedly wondered if she had been giving him upturned looks all this time.

When she had been handed Ex-St, her surprise had changed to complete astonishment. Ex-St had been so much lighter than when she moved it around. She had been able to run without losing her balance and without needing to catch her breath.

…''And he’s always matching his pace to mine.

When she had run at her usual pace in the concept space, she had noticed her own body falling behind.

''I’m no match for him,'' she thought while lowering her head even further.

“Borrowing your body today got me thinking.”

“Did you want to use my body to experience various things with a male body?”

“Y-yes. How did you know?”

“Ha ha ha. I had wanted to try that out as well. I thought it might help learn what is troubling you. If you are being held back by a mental issue, then what would happen with my mind?”

“Would it be wrong of me to borrow your body?”

“If it would help give you a sense of relief about your body changing, I see no problem with it.”

…''Really?

She anxiously held her own body, clenched her teeth, and gulped.

But she soon opened her mouth again.

“It’s too late to try it out now, though. Too bad.”

“A normal person would not have the chance in the first place. Even if we could not make use of that opportunity, we still have the same possibilities as anyone else.”

“You’re a persuasive talker…”

She smiled bitterly while feeling thankful for him. She made up her mind and steadied her breathing.

“Do you remember what I said before?”

“About what?”

“It was a while back, but I said I would…return the favor. I know you’ll tell me not to force myself, but I managed to feel your body up close today. I’d like to use it as a reference point for my own. And if it makes you happy, it would make me happy. So…um…well…”

“I see. Then let us both do our very best.”

“Sure. …No, wait! Your idea of ‘our very best’ is on a completely different level than mine!”

“Ha ha ha. In other words, yours is on a much higher level?”

Before she could deny it, he embraced her with a smile.

That smile caused her to relax and she spoke quietly as they pressed their bodies together.

“Let’s work together to do our very best in everything we do from now on.”

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 16|Chapter 16]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 18|Chapter 18]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 16

2026-09-09T03:13:28Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 16: Flowers on the Board==
[[Image:OnC_v06_0113.png|thumb]]
''The seasonal colors begin to change

''There is no right answer when coloring the blue of the heavens and the green of the earth

Sunlight filled a large space.

It was a lobby with windows covering the southern wall. An oil painting of the Virgin Mary holding her child decorated the back wall and six lines of a song were engraved into a copper plate below it.

Three figures sat on the sofas by the window to the side.

One was an old man in a lab coat.

The other two were a black cat and a girl in black with a bird on her head.

A three-cornered hat lay next to the girl and she was facing forward.

A shogi board sat between her and the old man.

She moved her hand across the board.

“UCAT Director Ooshiro, I hear Sayama and the others intercepted 3rd-Gear. Check.”

“Wow, you don’t hold back. …You weren’t there at the time, Brunhild-kun?”

“I detected a strange philosopher’s stone reading this morning, but it was all over by the time I went out. I threw the cat at the disguised food stand to stop it from leaving and I asked them what happened. I also got a rice ball. Check.”

“Oh, right. They were serving breakfast there. I’m jealous.”

The black cat glared at his owner from the side, but Brunhild did not notice.

“Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of pudding. Caramel tastes bitter to me. Check.”

“Damn, you’re persistent. Anyway, why are you here today?”

“I asked Siegfried about 3rd-Gear, but he wouldn’t tell me anything. Check.”

“Gwah. I think you might know more about it than him. When 1st-Gear and 3rd-Gear came to this world, you were right next to each other in the Chugoku region and the Setouchi region, weren’t you?”

“All I know is that they did not take any real action until five years ago. Check.”

“What do you mean that’s all you know?”

Brunhild stopped moving for a moment and finally grabbed a pawn.

“Will you give me that silver? I like silver. It’s nice and refined.”

“Fine.”

Ooshiro moved the silver general forward.

Brunhild returned the pawn to its previous spot, grabbed a bishop instead and moved it behind the silver general.

“Check.”

“Ahhh! That’s just immature, Brunhild-kun!”

“How about we start talking?”

“Okay.”

As Ooshiro calmed down, Brunhild lightly crossed her legs.

“It’s simple. Five years ago, 1st-Gear’s City faction considered moving to the west, but found that area was already occupied. Occupied by 3rd-Gear. Check.”

“Did you greet them?”

“Yes. Our scouts gave a polite and hostile greeting of weapons and spells. They were given a warm welcome by 3rd’s automatons. Check.”

“A warm welcome?”

“Yes.” Brunhild nodded. “They apparently held a sukiyaki party. And the leader of their automatons, Moira Something-or-Other, told them to stay away from their concept space between eight at night and four in the morning from then on. That prevented us from moving. Check.”

“I see. But I assume the radicals inside the City faction had other ideas.”

“Yes. We wanted a larger area. And…”

Brunhild moved her hand, announced “check” again, and continued quietly.

“There were those in 1st-Gear who held a grudge against 3rd because their relatives had been taken away. Those people formed a revenge unit before Venerable Hagen could decide how to handle 3rd.”

“And what happened then?”

“The day after they left without permission, they too received a warm welcome. Check.”

“Another warm welcome?”

“Yes.” Brunhild nodded again. “This time it was a slaughter party. We found them all as corpses and it seemed to be a message telling us not to approach them again. …Also, 3rd-Gear’s fortress had disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

“It was no longer where it had been before. It had likely been moved along with the space it existed in.” Brunhild looked up at Ooshiro’s face. “I heard UCAT was spotted at the time. UCAT followed the string vibration of 3rd-Gear’s fortress being moved, didn’t they? Check. Having 3rd-Gear out there somewhere was a problem and UCAT was poking around, so we gave up trying to move. Check.”

The bird on her head chirped quietly and she pulled a small wooden box from her pocket.

She opened it to reveal some yellow bird food and a portable water bottle.

The bird started pecking at the food.

The cat stared intently at it, but Brunhild grabbed his tail and pulled him toward her.

“The final transmitted text from the ones who died said ‘white god of war’, ‘insurmountable opponent’, and ‘can’t attack or even defend’. Venerable Hagen realized what that meant. I’ll tell you what that was, so give me that gold.”

Ooshiro moved forward the gold general and she actually took it with the pawn this time.

“I don’t get this country’s culture. What do minerals have to do with war?”

“War is an economic activity.”

“I don’t care, so give me that knight.”

Ooshiro did as he was told and spoke with a serious expression.

“Please spare me this one. I’ll cry.”

“I won’t stop even if you do cry, so don’t worry. Or do you accept defeat?”

“No, no. I can turn this around.”

“Then let’s keep fighting and talking. The white god of war was likely Typhon, the strongest god of war that 3rd-Gear developed for their royal family. Venerable Hagen realized that, so the slaughter and the mysterious messages reminded him of another fact: 3rd-Gear’s next king and his sister possessed the 3rd-Gear’s concepts of time.”

“In other words, 3rd-Gear’s next king and his sister were piloting Typhon and controlling time to assist their attacks?”

“Not quite. Check. I do agree the attacks included time control, though,” said Brunhild. “The ones who had met 3rd-Gear earlier had learned a few things from their automatons: Apollo was 3rd-Gear’s only survivor, he was ill, and they wanted to keep things quiet for him. Check.”

“I see. That would mean Artemis was not there.”

“Yes. But that leaves a mystery. If Typhon really was created for the royal family and was controlling time, Apollo would have to be the one piloting it. But do you think a sick person could pilot a god of war and use something as powerful as a concept of time? Simply piloting it would sap his strength and kill him. Fighting would be out of the question.”

“Perhaps the automatons were lying.”

“It would take a special kind of automaton to lie about their master. There were countless automatons receiving them, but no one there doubted what they were saying. Check.” Brunhild raised her right index finger. “It seems 3rd-Gear’s concept of time is divided in two. Apollo controlled the daytime and Artemis controlled the nighttime. With only one of them, do you really think 3rd-Gear could freely use the concept of time in the urgency of a battle? Also, wasn’t Artemis supposedly turned into a god of war?”

“Then who is piloting Typhon?” Ooshiro exaggeratedly tilted his head. “Such a mystery.”

“It seemed like Venerable Hagen had a vague idea of what happened. Check. He said it was all related to the connection between Zeus’s children. I hear UCAT is stopping the Leviathan Road with them, but I doubt you can stop Sayama and the others. How about you secretly tell them where 3rd-Gear’s fortress is? Check.”

Ooshiro tilted his head even further.

“To be honest, I don’t actually know where it is. UCAT is still searching for it. We know it’s somewhere in the Kurashiki region, but there are a lot of decoys and they’re hard to detect because they travel at extremely high altitudes.”

“I’d like for you to crush them. I’m not saying that as an inspector; it’s a personal opinion. They may not have been the smartest bunch, but a group of my brethren was killed by 3rd. …And you need to give up already. Check.”

“Brunhild-kun, you need to show more respect to your elders.”

“Oh? And how old are you? Check.”

“About sixty. I’m at the age where I finally gain a refined charm.”

He raised his right thumb and Brunhild replied by looking to the side and somewhat relaxing her shoulders and expression.

“Heh.”

“Th-that was a laugh of scorn, wasn’t it!?”

“Quiet down. Check,” she said. “Listen. While I’m here dealing with club activities and my summer break research project, Team Leviathan will apparently be enjoying themselves at the beach. Sounds lovely. Check. How about you actually make them do some work for once? I thought you Japanese were supposed to never stop working.”

“Brunhild-kun, I have nothing against sending one more person to the beach.”

“Oh, I said nothing about wanting to go along. Why would I want to soak in saltwater and throw off my body’s salt content? Anyone who confuses that for fun can go cleanse their body’s impurities with salt. Check.”

“Then if I win, you have to hold a photo shoot at the underground saltwater pool instead of going to the beach.”

Brunhild frowned.

“How can you hope to win now? Moving your king toward my pieces isn’t going to help.”

Ooshiro silently moved his bishop deep into Brunhild’s pieces.

“That promotes it.”

He flipped over the bishop, but the lacquered engraving said “nuke”.

“W-wait a minute! What is this!?”

“You’ve never heard of Ooshiro shogi? Too bad! This nuclear suicide bomber turns every piece in a range of three spaces to ‘ash’. Damn, that’s harsh!”

Without speaking another word, Brunhild flipped over the shogi board.

Below the afternoon sky were a forested mountain and a giant white building at the top.

Several figures stood in the empty land in front of the building.

Twenty were maids in black and one was a princess in white.

The maids all held flowerpots and the princess held a hoe in front of them.

They were all speaking together.

The princess spoke in a very masculine way and instructed them to answer her with “yes, sir”. The maids complied.

Her voice carried to the automatons who were opening the windows of the living space at the top of the white building.

They all looked down on the commotion.

“Okay, everyone. Get back to work. Lady Miyako is about to do something with the others, but she has prepared enough for everyone.”

Moira 1st’s voice filled the rooms and the automatons there resumed their work.

They placed their brushes against the floor or wiped down the walls, but still exchanged a glance. Their high-speed conversations achieved by accessing their shared memory devices were all about those down below.

Moira 1st walked between the rooms and viewed everyone’s shared memories.

Only identical models could access the shared memories and they were something like a multi-way phone connection. She listened to the conversations there, but still asked a question from the princess’s room.

“What are they doing down there?”

She did not actually know the details.

The night before, Miyako had asked for a list of all the automatons. She had given a powerful nod and thanked Moira 1st upon receiving the list, but she had not said what she wanted it for.

…''What is she doing?

Moira 1st asked the question out of expectation rather than suspicion and a maid in front of her looked down from the window.

“Well, from what I’ve heard…”

“?”

“It seems the princess is giving everyone names,” explained the maid running a vacuum cleaner across the floor.

“Names?”

Moira 1st looked out the window and saw Miyako speaking while gesturing with the hoe in hand.

“We told her that we do not have names,” said the maid next to Moira 1st. “We said that is not one of our functions. But then she asked Master Aigaion to prepare all this before he left this morning.”

“All what?”

“The pots they’re holding and the flower seeds.”

Moira 1st looked more closely at what those below held.

“She says we need to care for the flower whose name we choose. She says there are autumn flowers, winter flowers, and spring flowers, but we should take one of their names because they all bloom eventually.”

Below the blue sky, maids were lined up in front of a giant white building.

All twenty of them stood side by side in a single line.

Across from them, Miyako wore what resembled a white dress and rested her elbow on the bottom of a hoe.

“Okay, does everyone have their seeds?”

“Yes, sir!”

Miyako nodded at their answer.

…''This is going well. With a group this obedient, I could probably conquer Kantou at least.

But she noticed one maid with a downcast look who was not looking at her flowerpot like the others.

She stood at one end of the line, she had braided hair and glasses, and she was staring intently at the ground in front of her rather than the flowerpot with flower seeds in it. The ends of her eyebrows were slightly lowered and her expression was weak.

Miyako tilted her head and realized there were differences even among the same model of automaton.

However, she was curious what was causing the maid’s downcast look.

“What’s wrong?”

“Eh?”

The maid quickly pointed her glasses upward and hurriedly spoke again after seeing Miyako’s bitter smile.

“Oh… Y-yes, sir.”

“Good, good. Always try to put some energy behind your answers. …Anyway, what’s wrong? Why do you look so down?”

“Y-yes, sir. I do not have that sort of emotional functionality. I am simply having trouble deciding.”

“What do you mean?”

Miyako stood in front of her.

“You chose a flower, right? Do you not want to take that name? If you don’t want a name, that’s fine. I was just hoping you would take one is all.”

The glasses maid lowered her head again.

''That must not be it,'' thought Miyako. ''This look is coming from somewhere else.

…''But what?

She thought back to when the automatons had taken the pots. They had walked up to the lines of seeds and pots and they had chosen the one they wanted while thinking and conversing.

…''Oh.

Miyako remembered that this maid in glasses had not joined in with the others.

She had been the one to take the last remaining option. Miyako sighed as she realized why she was having difficulty deciding.

“Do you not like a name you didn’t choose?”

…''Not that I chose my name.

Her parents had given her that name, but she could guess what the problem here was.

“You’re thinking that you might have chosen something else had you chosen on your own, aren’t you?”

And…

“You’re thinking that this name doesn’t suit you, aren’t you?”

The maid looked up in surprise and started to say something but stopped.

“…”

She lowered her head again, but Miyako did not overlook it.

Miyako pushed up the maid’s head with a finger under the jaw and looked her right in the eye.

“Where’s your answer?”

Miyako was sure she had been right, but the maid shook her head. By not answering, she was eliminating her own will.

Miyako understood why. If she said yes, she would be complaining about those who chose first and she would be personally admitting how terrifying it was to take a name.

…''This is her consideration as an automaton.

But something about it seemed odd, so Miyako mentally tilted her head. They were all automatons, so why was only this one lowering herself and prioritizing the others?

…''It must be a difference in ability. Or a difference in the work they can do as an automaton.

There had to be differences between automatons. Not only were they given different appearances, but there also had to be differences in the quality of their parts and the way those parts fit together. Just like a human’s height or muscle distribution, that would influence their body’s functionality and determine their strengths and weaknesses.

This maid likely had a great number of weaknesses and so her duty was to act after all the others so as not to be in the way. And here she had determined that those who worked more deserved priority in choosing a name and that she was not suited even for the name the others had not chosen.

''Don’t be stupid,'' thought Miyako. ''Look at it in reverse, and it’s obvious you want a name more than anyone.

“Where’s your answer?” she repeated.

The maid started to shake her head, but Miyako used her fingers to hold the maid’s jaw in place and faced her.

“Silly maid, ‘yes, sir’ doesn’t have to be an affirmation. Here in Japan, it works as a denial too, so feel free to use it.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

Miyako nodded, let go, and reached into her pocket.

[[Image:OnC_v06_0129.png|thumb]]

She pulled out a pile of documents made from strange sheets that were clearly not paper. They had data on the maids engraved into them. In fact, they contained all the information on the sixty-three maids that Moira 1st had supplied the night before.

Miyako had memorized the information during the night. She had done some teaching work in college and she had found that learning people’s names helped calm her down and helped relax the other person as well.

That was why she pulled out the documents but faced forward without looking through them.

This maid was 13th, but Miyako did not use that number. She instead picked up the seeds from the pot the maid held.

The white flowerpot contained a flower seed packet bought at a flower shop and that packet had a picture of purple flowers on it.

Miyako held up the packet and looked to the right.

On one end of the empty land was Aigaion who wore his greengrocer apron and some bandages. He currently had a large pile of flowerpots at his feet. When he had returned at midday, he had said “we failed”, but he had brought everything she had asked for. Feeling thankful, Miyako turned back toward the maid.

“That guy bought these and he made sure they’re all different.”

She held the seeds out toward 13th and asked a question.

“So why did you choose these?”

“Yes, sir…”

“When everyone was distributing them, you refused to join in, you hesitated even when invited, and you simply took the last one left, didn’t you?”

“Yes, sir…”

“Was this a leftover?”

“Yes, sir…”

“If so, were you the one that made it a leftover?”

“Yes, sir…”

All of her responses were identical, so Miyako felt she was repeating the same decision in her head. Miyako did not know how the individual automatons gained their individuality, but 13th understood she was the reserved one of the group and was trying to hold herself back to keep it that way.

…''This is not the time for that.

So Miyako asked a question.

“Do you not like this flower? Does the name scare you?”

“Yes, sir…”

“Is that because you chose it as the last one left? And is it because you are inferior?”

“Yes, sir…”

“Really? Did you really choose this one because there was no other option? Are you really not suited for this name?”

“Yes, sir…”

“I see.” Miyako nodded. “Then let’s throw out this leftover and unsuitable name.”

“!”

The instant Miyako let go of the seeds, 13th reflexively reached out and grabbed the seed packet.

The automaton brought the packet to her chest as if embracing it, trembled, and looked at Miyako with obvious caution.

“I see.” Miyako nodded again. “You were lying when you said you didn’t want it, weren’t you?”

“Eh?”

“Where’s your answer!?”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“Okay.” Miyako rested her elbow on the hoe’s handle. “Then let me ask again. You don’t like that flower, do you?”

“…Yes, sir.”

“You didn’t want to choose it, did you? You feel it’s wasted on you, don’t you?”

“Yes, sir…”

“But you still think it came to you, don’t you? Even if you think the name doesn’t suit you, you’re thankful for it and you want to make it suit you. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, sir.”

She was repeating the same words, but the strength behind them was changing.

Miyako smiled.

“I fell into old habits and spoke a tad harsher than I should have. Sorry about that.”

“…Yes, sir?”

The maid’s tilt of the head deepened Miyako’s smile and Miyako placed her fist over the hands holding the seeds to the maid’s chest.

“Listen. That flower’s name is Violet. It means ‘modesty’ in the language of flowers. That’s the name that came to you. If you choose to trust in that name, then use it as your own.”

“…”

The blank look on the automaton’s face did not mean she was indecisive. It meant she was truly unable to make the decision.

So Miyako gave a shout to awaken the one who had been given the name of that flower.

“Where’s your answer!?”

“Yes, sir!”

Hearing that, Miyako raised the hoe and slammed it down.

It created a clear noise as it gouged into the ground.

“Everyone, over here! I will once more teach you the names you’ve chosen! And from now on, even after I’ve left, take care of yourselves instead of waiting for some princess to arrive! And take care of the names that have come to you!”

Moira 1st smiled at the voices down below.

She turned toward the back of the room where a maid stood hidden behind the window’s vertical blinds.

“Moira 2nd.”

Moira 2nd turned her blue eyes toward Moira 1st and tilted her head.

Moira 1st approached the window and used her gaze to ask what was going on.

Down below, Miyako was explaining how to plant the seeds. Moira 3rd stood next to her and she must have done something because Miyako karate chopped her head.

Laughter rose from below.

“We don’t use that function very often.”

Moira 1st looked toward Moira 2nd and found the ends of her eyebrows slightly lowered.

“I think we can trust her.”

But Moira 2nd shook her head.

In response to her younger sister’s denial, the elder sister placed a hand on her cheek and sighed.

“It is true that you might not be able to think about this like I do. The ability you were given means you must be the closest one to the princess. I erase memories and 3rd creates new ones, but you view child string vibrations. You are the Moira meant to manage the princess’s health.”

Moira 2nd said nothing, but Moira 1st continued.

“Is it that hard to forget the other princesses who have come here? Is it that hard to forget the ones who feared us when they learned we were automatons, who wished to return to Low-Gear as soon as possible, and who did not even try to leave this room? Is it that hard to forget the ones who did not call for you? And…”

And…

“Do you still insist on remaining silent because you were not given the opportunity to work when you wanted to?”

The question was quiet but not hesitant.

Moira 2nd closed her eyes while facing out the window.

Moira 1st lowered the ends of her eyebrows.

Suddenly, someone appeared at the room’s entrance and Moira 1st turned toward her.

“Lady Gyes. If you’ve returned, you should get some rest.”

“I have a new job thanks to information from Moira 2nd.”

Moira 1st saw Moira 2nd’s expression stiffen, but that younger sister did not reply. She kept her eyes closed and her mouth shut.

Moira 1st reached out and grabbed her sister’s shoulders.

“Moira 2nd, what did you tell her?”

“Don’t scold her, Moira 1st. This is important.”

“It is important for us too. Have you forgotten our raison d’être!?” shouted Moira 1st while still holding her sister’s shoulders. “A 3rd-Gear woman might have fallen into some other Gear during the Concept War. If we find one, we need to teach her 3rd-Gear’s history and stabilize her body. That is why we three sisters were created in order to safeguard 3rd-Gear’s fate. And Lord Cronus once told us this.”

She took a breath.

“We are to support the Concept War’s surviving world even if it is filled with those of another Gear. We are to make no decision that will cause even one of them to be lost!”

“Even if that princess of yours might be from UCAT!?”

“…?”

Moira 1st froze in place, so Moira 2nd gently grabbed her hands and raised them.

Moira 1st saw her sister look out the window with opened eyes.

“According to Moira 2nd, that princess is a pure-blooded member of 2nd-Gear. We also have some internal UCAT information thanks to a certain information broker. Tsukuyomi Miyako is most likely the daughter of Tsukuyomi Shizuru, director of Japanese UCAT’s development department. She is part of 2nd-Gear’s imperial family! She might be giving names to those mass-produced models in order to control them through their names as a member 2nd-Gear!”

“I have determined there are too many uncertain factors in that information. For example, her mother belonging to UCAT does not mean she does.”

“True.” Gyes crossed her arms and entered the room. “That is why I’m suggesting giving her a test. Last night, you gave her as much information as you were allowed. And just now, Lord Apollo discussed something with me.”

“What did you discuss?”

“He suggested letting her leave even though the automatons like her and even though she has her memories.” Gyes nodded. “Lord Apollo knows nothing, not even that she is a descendant of 2nd-Gear, but if she takes him up on his offer and tries to leave the concept space…”

Gyes walked toward the window and looked at Aigaion down below.

“Aigaion and I will dispose of her. We must eliminate that possibility of danger.”

“So that is the conclusion of a combat automaton.”

Moira 1st could make no sense of it, so she remained motionless for several seconds.

Eventually, her stalled brain abandoned that line of thinking and produced a different thought from her memories. She recalled her conversation with Miyako the day before. Moira 1st trusted that Miyako would not run away.

She took a breath, turned toward Moira 2nd and Gyes, and used the breath to adjust her control mechanism.

“Fine then,” she said. “I know what Lady Miyako would say to this test: If you want to test me, go right ahead, but make sure you’re suitably prepared.”

“You certainly have grown fond of Low-Gear.”

“I tested her and received something suitable in exchange.” Moira 1st brought her hands to her chest and smiled. “She did not flee, she tried to learn about us, and she made sure to keep in mind her position here. Because of all that, I made a brand new decision to trust her even more. My payment for testing her was my obedience and the use of functions I rarely use.”

Moira 1st smiled again, but unlike before, this smile was filled with confidence.

She looked down below and saw a blond figure approaching Miyako and the maids who were moving the pots to a sunny spot.

The figure was Apollo.

He raised a hand in greeting and Miyako used the hoe as a cane with an annoyed look.

Moira 1st watched Miyako ask a question and Apollo scratch his head.

“I hope you are prepared, Lady Gyes. And Moira 2nd, if you really do not trust Lady Miyako, then go down there and see what she is doing. Go see that and learn what possibilities Low-Gear holds.”

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 15|Chapter 15]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 17|Chapter 17]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 15

2026-09-08T03:24:56Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 15: Illusion of a Feeling==
[[Image:OnC_v06_0095.png|thumb]]
''That is why people act''

''Then…

''What makes a doll act?

Gyes froze in place atop Cottus’s right shoulder when she heard the word “mediate”.

She saw the black-haired boy cross his arms and raise one hand.

“We wish to negotiate with 3rd-Gear and with that Hiba boy there. So if you wish to continue this fight…”

He spoke with a smile.

“It will mean you have trampled on our attempts at a peaceful resolution and have chosen to fight. In that case, we will not hold back.”

“Hah. Don’t make me laugh. Do you really think you can stand up to us right now? Cottus could easily crush you underfoot.”

“I see. And can this Cottus-kun’s leg reach Sibyl-kun over there?”

Gyes turned toward Sibyl.

She was approximately ten meters away. Whether firing on her or using any other form of attack, it would take a moment to reach her.

The black-haired boy’s voice reached her once more.

“The one next to me is already preparing to fire on you and the two with Concept Core weapons should be running this way. Sibyl-kun, I have an order for you: Run away.”

“Testament.”

Sibyl leaped backward, abandoning the damaged silver god of war.

Gyes watched the girl take the first large step and then cautiously run away.

“Do not pursue her. If you do, we will be forced to stop you.”

“That just means we have to defeat you.”

“And if you kill us, Sibyl-kun will use UCAT to inform many others exactly what happened. She will provide evidence that 3rd-Gear has rejected peace.”

''That isn’t enough,'' thought Gyes. ''You can’t use that as a bargaining chip.

Sibyl had left the city street, entered the side street, and disappeared, but she would be easily located by tracking her footsteps. They could begin the pursuit later.

So Gyes raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth to speak.

“3rd-Gear is already hated by the other Gears. Do you really think we are afraid of that?”

3rd-Gear had cultivated their impurity over the thousands of years that the Concept War had lasted. It would not simply disappear.

…''And how much will the opinion of the lowest Gear influence the other Gears?

The black-haired boy did not immediately answer her question.

First, he shrugged his shoulders in annoyance.

“…”

Then, as if swinging his body, he pointed his left index finger toward Gyes.

“As a Gear hated by the other Gears, 3rd-Gear does not fear creating new grievances. That is what you said, is it not? You certainly are a courageous Gear. But…”

“But what?”

“When you left for this battle, did you predict this situation? If not, it means you made your decision concerning Low-Gear’s mediation on the fly. And yet this is something that will affect 3rd-Gear’s future.” He waved the index finger he had pointed at her. “And as far as I am aware, 3rd-Gear automatons must follow their master’s intentions. Has your master authorized you to reject the mediation of a Gear’s representative?”

“Well…”

“If not, you are ignoring your master and rubbing dirt in that master’s face. …And yet you claim to be an automaton. If that happens, the following rumor will spread: 3rd-Gear’s master cannot control his automatons and those automatons are defective units that ignore their master and sully his name.”

The boy lowered his hand.

Gyes was very nearly glaring at him as she watched the motion.

While sensing her caution functionality kicking in, she asked a question.

“And if we accept your offer to mediate?”

“We will praise your master.”

“I see.”

…''So that is their justification.

She weighed the pros and cons and quickly reached a decision based on her pride as an automaton.

She turned to the black god of war.

“We have been interrupted, so this can wait until another time. Is that good enough?”

Shinjou was borrowing Sayama’s body while she held Ex-St.

…''We managed to settle this for now.

She took a breath and saw the blue humanoid machine aim all of its cannons toward the sky. While floating in midair, it lowered down another dozen meters.

This proved it had no intention of attacking.

In response, Hiba caused the black god of war to vanish.

Just like the other night, Hiba was ejected and then it disassembled.

The limbs and armor vanished into a different space and Mikage was released from the bottom of the torso just before it vanished as well.

Hiba caught her.

“Got you.”

Mikage was unconscious when he caught her. Her tall body was limp and as hard to grasp as a blanket.

He was short, but he managed to support her by embracing her from the front.

Shinjou then saw why he had stopped fighting.

The right side of Mikage’s back was dyed a dark red.

It was blood.

While Shinjou’s focus was on that color, she heard a voice.

“I’m sorry.”

It was Hiba’s voice.

Shinjou turned toward him in surprise when he spoke the words she had spoken a few months prior. But by the time she did, he was hanging his head and his mouth was closed.

The next words came from the automatons who had put some distance between them.

“We will let you save face this time, but you cannot keep up with the battles between Hiba’s descendant and us. …What will you do from now on? Will you intervene next time as well?”

“Oh? You mean you will not let us save face from now on as well?”

Shinjou saw her own body shrug in front of her.

Sensing Sayama’s presence in that action, she held up Ex-St just in case.

…''I didn’t think my body could reproduce Sayama-kun’s actions so well.

Her body then asked their opponent a question.

“Why do you insist on fighting? Do you have no intention of negotiating?”

“Of course not. After all, we will be victorious in the end. We would gain less through negotiating.”

“How can you know that for sure?”

“Typhon,” answered the automaton woman. “No one can kill Typhon.”

“Is it impossible even with the Keravnos of the Hiba boy’s god of war?”

The automaton’s eyebrows moved slightly when Shinjou’s body spoke that weapon’s name.

“You know of it?” she asked.

“Keravnos is the weapon given to Susamikado by Cronus,” said Sayama. “Typhon was given to Zeus and Zeus imprisoned Cronus, so couldn’t you think of Keravnos as a weapon created to defeat Typhon?”

“Only if it hits. I’m sure Hiba’s descendant knows what I mean.”

The automaton woman smiled bitterly and Hiba took a defensive stance while holding Mikage.

“You hit Typhon once the other night, but do you know why that was?”

[[Image:OnC_v06_0103.png|thumb]]

“Yes. Typhon was protecting someone.”

…''Director Tsukuyomi’s daughter?

Shinjou was not sure, but that was likely the answer.

“Sayama-kun,” she whispered and he nodded with his back to her.

He understood that this was their chance to acquire as much information as possible, so she left it to him. While looking down on her own back for the first time, she smiled and waited for him to speak.

“Then are you saying that Typhon is unbeatable?” he asked.

“It is unreachable. Even for us.” The automaton woman looked down on them from the giant blue humanoid machine’s shoulder. “Typhon erases time to always be the one attacking.”

“What?”

“You don’t understand? Typhon is always the one attacking. It is never damaged. After all, if it is ever about to be damaged, it erases its defense time and movement time and moves directly to its attack time.”

“…”

Shinjou gasped. While holding Mikage, Hiba held his breath and listened.

…''It erases time?

She had heard that Typhon had a mysterious technique that evaded the attacks of Hiba and Mikage’s god of war and instead attacked back.

“It doesn’t evade the attack. It cancels it?”

“Yes. It will move to the location that is a blind spot to all attacks and from which it can kill its opponent. If you attack, Typhon will return a surefire attack of its own. If you stick to defense, Typhon will push through with its strength. Whether you have Keravnos or anything else, it doesn’t matter if it can’t hit. In fact, attacking will ensure your own destruction.”

The large automaton standing on the opposite shoulder looked up.

“Hey, that’s supposed to be a secret.”

“What does it matter if they know? We had feared Keravnos, but not even it has been able to land a real hit. There is no longer anything that can defeat Typhon.”

The automaton woman’s tone was cold.

But…

…''Huh?

Shinjou sensed something odd in that tone.

While wondering what it was, she tilted her head and spoke her thoughts.

“U-um…”

The automaton turned toward her with a puzzled look.

“Why…?”

She thought about how to clearly state her question.

“Why don’t you sound happy that Typhon is unbeatable?”

“…”

The automaton woman closed her eyes and looked up in the sky as if taking a breath.

“Well…” She paused for a moment. “As I do not have emotions, I cannot answer that even for myself. My functionality has likely reacted to some fact, but I cannot say what that reaction is in relation to humans.”

“Sadness. I think that’s what your reaction is.”

“…”

The woman fell silent and lowered her gaze. She narrowed her eyes, but she did not frown as she looked directly at Shinjou.

“Why?” she asked. “Why would I be sad for Typhon?”

“I…wouldn’t know that.”

“But I do not understand it either, as I do not have emotions. …But you would, wouldn’t you?”

Shinjou thought about what she meant. An automaton without emotions would not know what caused such an expression even if it reached her.

She supposedly had no emotions, so what kind of decision had led to making that expression?

The only way to find the answer would be to ask a human who had emotions.

…''She’s a doll.

They stood by people’s sides, they had human form, and they helped people. They were superior to humans in many ways, but their similarities to humans meant they had to clearly define themselves.

Shinjou thought about how to answer her question.

They supposedly had no emotions, but emotions could be recognized in them by another. That was the form that automaton emotions took.

Therefore, Shinjou answered the question.

“No, I don’t understand.”

The woman frowned, but Shinjou nodded and continued.

“I may be able to see your emotion, but I don’t know what is causing it. It’s the same for you, isn’t it? You can see the emotion, but you can’t quite grasp it. And just like you want to know what is causing it, so do I.”

“Why do you want to?”

“Because I noticed your emotion.”

''She’s the same,'' thought Shinjou. ''She’s the same as me, Sayama, Kazami, Izumo, or so many others.

There were some things worth investigating further once you noticed them and wondered about them. That had resulted in her current relationship with Sayama and Team Leviathan’s relationship with the other Gears.

She knew it was conceited, but she decided this was the time to investigate further.

“If we know the reason behind your sadness, we might feel the same emotion.”

“Hah. Do you really think you can understand us like that? And what happens if you feel a different emotion?”

Despite her words, the woman gave a certain expression.

Shinjou was confused as Gyes’s eyebrows bent and her eyes widened a little.

But the woman soon laughed once more.

“What an amusing suggestion. After all, Typhon is unbeatable. Nothing could be better for combat automatons like us and I have no emotions. Yet here you are claiming I’m saddened by Typhon’s unbeatable status and you want to know why that is. You must be mistaken.”

“It’s fine if I am.”

“Why?”

“Because I believe in it. I believe that the dolls we speak with have their own emotions as dolls.”

“I see.” Without trying to hide the amused smile on her face, she drew a sword from her waist. “I see your methods are to approach 3rd-Gear with ridiculous conceit and to force your mistaken ideas onto us. But if we were to accept what you have to say and admit we have emotions, it would let me give this hope: We automatons would indeed like to gain emotions for the sake of our master.”

The sword’s blade fluttered like paper, but it straightened out as soon as she touched it.

She threw it and it audibly stabbed into the ground in front of Shinjou.

“Team Leviathan of UCAT, we currently have no intention of negotiating with you. We cannot defeat Typhon any more than you. That god of war is inviolable.”

“Does it have a pilot?” asked Sayama. “Could we negotiate with that person?”

“Due to certain circumstances, that is impossible and we utterly reject that option. And…Hiba there knows what those circumstances are.”

Everyone turned toward Hiba.

…''He knows why it is impossible and why they utterly reject that option?

Their questioning gazes caused Hiba to clench his teeth.

“…”

He shook his head and lowered it to show he had nothing to say.

“Hiba’s descendant, you understand, don’t you?” said Gyes. “If you reveal that secret, Team Leviathan will bear the same impurity as you. They will bear the impurity of one who uses any means necessary for personal gain.”

“Impurity?”

Shinjou’s shoulders trembled.

An impurity only Hiba knew of would be the second impurity. Only he and 3rd-Gear understood it and Team Leviathan would have to face it eventually.

She looked at him, wondering what it was, but he kept his head lowered.

The woman on Cottus’s shoulder shook her head.

“We cannot tell you what this impurity is. But instead…” She pointed at the sword in front of Shinjou and smiled. “Rather than a negotiation, we will give you a chance to make contact with us as individuals. …After all, that previous conversation told me you hold no hostility for us.”

“Why did Shinjou-kun’s conversation tell you we hold no hostility for you?”

The woman smiled bitterly at Sayama’s question.

“Seeing emotion in automatons is the thought pattern of those who are most quickly killed by automatons. Dolls like us will not betray trust, but we will betray emotions. We are willing to destroy ourselves without fear of the damage. The fact that she does not understand that fact is proof that she is not facing us as enemies,” she said. “Listen. My name is Gyes. That sword has enough power sealed inside its internal philosopher’s stone to retain gravitational control for about three days. If you locate our fortress within that three day limit, place that sword there. If we find that sword upon leaving our fortress’s concept space, we will speak with you.”

“You wish to speak rather than negotiate?”

“Are we your enemy if we do not hand over the Concept Core? It is true that 3rd-Gear does not wish for any more enemies than necessary. We would prefer to eliminate any unnecessary interference, so if you locate our fortress, we will speak on the condition that you keep that location a secret. But if you do not locate it and you interfere again, we will make sure to kill all of you first.”

“I see,” said Shinjou’s body as it picked up the sword.

Gyes then looked toward Shinjou in Sayama’s body.

“I do not understand humans. On the one hand, you desire further fighting despite having great difficulty. On the other hand, you stop fights despite possessing great power.” She tilted her head. “Which is the truth?”

Shinjou’s body did not nod and neither did Hiba.

Shinjou then saw Izumo and Kazami exit the school’s back gate.

Gyes seemed to notice them as well.

“What a pain,” she muttered.

“Rematch desired. Name is Cottus,” said the humanoid machine the others stood on.

“I am Aigaion,” said the large man on the opposite shoulder from Gyes. “The three of us are known as the Hecatoncheires.”

“Will we next meet on the battlefield?” asked Sayama.

“Undetermined,” said Cottus’s mechanical voice.

He looked up into the sky and began flying a moment later.

He supplemented his gravitational control with the thrusters on his back and the blast shook the ground.

“!”

His blue form vanished beyond the wall of blowing wind.

…''Amazing.

Fighters and UCAT-developed airplanes could not compare.

Shinjou looked up into the sky, but there was nothing there.

She only saw the clouds and the blue sky.

She lowered her gaze in amazement and saw herself turn around with an expressionless face. Her body looked around with sword in hand.

She looked as well and saw Izumo and Kazami running up in the distance.

“Those two…”

Hiba had sat down while holding Mikage’s unconscious body.

He looked like the one solid object on the wide road.

His head was lowered and he was completely motionless.

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 14|Chapter 14]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 16|Chapter 16]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 14

2026-09-08T03:17:51Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 14: Choices from a Cry of Suffering==
[[Image:OnC_v06_0061.png|thumb]]
''Will you give a bitter cry?

''Or will you cry out in suffering?

''What is the difference between anger and weakness?

The metal and water fell to the ground in an instant.

A simple thing had occurred.

Eighteen metal water tanks had fallen inside the giant round cage created from water pipes.

As the final tank and the metal net remaining in the air fell, water burst through the gaps in the pipes making up the cage. The high pressure water included gravel and metal fragments.

It scraped at the walls of nearby buildings, broke through the windows, and produced a mist.

A single figure stood within the motion and sounds of the mist.

The large man wore a greengrocer’s apron and held metal pipes in his spread arms.

He was Aigaion.

The sound of water spraying from the cage surrounded him.

And he faced forward through the mist.

About five meters away, a single white line was visible stabbing vertically into the ground.

It was a spear over two meters long.

“That is the spear that destroyed the building earlier,” he muttered. “It must contain a Concept Core.”

He walked forward in order to take the weapon as a victory prize, but then he looked toward the metal cage where his enemies would be submerged.

…''That was almost too easy.

According to his visual records, the two of them had been together in the center of the cage just before all the metal fell.

The boy had been holding the girl from behind, but the additional concept Gyes had added meant it was actually the girl holding the boy.

Aigaion did not understand something about that fact.

“In Low-Gear, it is normally the male who attempts to protect the female.”

In all the Low-Gear stories he had seen on television and the like, that had almost always been how it had worked. The greengrocer’s owner’s youngest daughter had recently been watching the children’s tokusatsu show “Übermensch Liberator – Gewalt” which was a standard reverse political purge story on the surface, but it still followed that common theme at the core.

The owner would feed him dinner on Sundays every week and the youngest daughter always made him play the monster role.

…''Why did those two leave the standard pattern?

He quickly reached an answer. Based on their previous actions, he was able to make his decision almost immediately.

“Their brains must have malfunctioned.”

Humans were difficult to understand. While thinking he needed more data, Aigaion came to a stop.

A single spear was stabbing into the ground as water washed over the gravel.

He had no data on this weapon. He needed to acquire it and the large sword the girl had wielded in order to investigate them.

He stretched out his right arm to pull the spear out with his gravitational control, but then he heard a noise.

This sound was out of place amidst the quickly spraying and flowing water.

It was a footstep.

He heard a loud footstep of someone landing at some high place.

“…”

That single footstep was enough for him to determine the location and traits of the one who produced it.

They were about fifteen meters to his front, about eight meters high, around fifty kilograms, and a bit exhausted. He then used his sight to confirm the answer his hearing led him to.

…''Someone is standing on top of the broken water tanks?

There they were.

Beyond the mist, a figure stood atop the metal wreckage.

It was a girl.

Her white dress shirt and gray skirt whipped in the wind. She held a giant white sword that looked out of place in her slender arms.

Her shoulders rose and fell as she caught her breath and faced him.

She was completely unscathed.

Her eyebrows were raised and the intent to attack was plainly written there.

Aigaion withdrew the hand held toward the spear, prepared both hands for a fight, and asked a question.

“You weren’t crushed in the cage just now?”

His question was not answered verbally.

The girl silently answered with her actions.

“…”

She used her right hand to point her sword at him.

He noticed the white sword had changed form.

The blade’s cowling remained closed, but the rear thruster was open and the air shimmered above it.

She lightly raised the sword and spoke.

“That’s right.”

She looked over her shoulder at a student dormitory.

The window leading into the third floor hallway was missing its reinforced glass.

Seeing that, Aigaion understood what had happened.

“Did you use the sword’s thruster to fly to that window?”

In that case, he understood why the boy had grabbed her just before the attack arrived.

“Yeah. She used my body to soften the blow when we broke through the glass.”

His body had not made an appearance.

“It was enough of an impact to knock my body unconscious, so it must have hit Chisato’s mind pretty hard.” He smiled. “So I need to return the favor…using her body.”

She raised the sword and leaped toward Aigaion.

From the sound of her jump, he could tell she planned to charge forward.

“You’re heading straight toward me!?”

“Of course. This is round three!”

As soon as he landed, Izumo ran.

He had wet gravel below his feet, a single enemy, and Kazami’s G-Sp2 between them.

There were a lot of elements to the battle, but the basic composition was simple. He only had to charge forward and smash the enemy with his sword.

He ran.

He found Kazami’s body to be light.

And he also found it moved immediately just as he had thought it would.

He had thought that from the moment he had first met her.

But back then, he had not known the language well and had only been able to be by her side.

She had often complained even though he could not understand what she said.

He had not understood the language, but he had understood that some kind of problem had occurred and she had been partially forced to quit something. When he had apologized for making her complain so much, she had said the following:

“I was trying to apologize first, but all I did was complain. That really wasn’t fair, was it?”

He had memorized the sounds and learned what it meant after he started living here.

He had also learned the meaning of the smile she had given then.

Even later, he had learned that she had been a part of some kind of athletic club, but there had been an accident leading to someone else getting injured and she had quit the club.

By the time he understood that, she had stopped complaining.

…''Did she stop complaining once I learned Japanese?

Or had she no longer had time to complain now that he was with her?

He did not know and he did not want to know. He may have gained her body, but he still did not understand her mind.

…''But I’ll never forget her expression or tone of voice when complaining back then!

Two years had passed since.

After her training at UCAT, she could move a lot more than back then. Even so, her ability to make light, detailed movements put a greater burden on her step reach and top speed.

…''I’m impressed she can keep up with a stamina-rich idiot like me.

He ran and swung his weapon using the body that normally ran alongside him. He found her breasts to be a bit in the way of his arms.

But their size was just right and everything else about her body was exactly the way he liked it too.

…''She’s such a wonderful girl. I should take her to a movie sometime soon.

As he ran, he did not feel the weight of the weapon. That proved V-Sw recognized him as its master. Since it could tell even with a different body, it meant V-Sw obeyed his mind.

…''I’ve learned a lot. This concept isn’t all that bad.

He moved forward and Aigaion approached.

Izumo attacked.

He chose a horizontal slash from the right shoulder.

As he held up the sword, a smile appeared on Aigaion’s face.

“Comparing your expression to my memories of the past, I have determined you are dangerous!”

With that comment, the automaton fell back, but Izumo continued after him.

“I won’t let you get away, greengrocer!”

With the press of a button on the grip, V-Sw’s thruster ignited.

It produced a roar and accelerated him forward.

After that powerful step, he launched a strike.

Aigaion’s back stepping could not overcome Izumo’s speed.

He was sure to hit, but Aigaion calmly reached an arm behind him.

“I do not need a thruster for additional acceleration! And if I evade once, it is over!”

His body was suddenly knocked backward.

He had used his gravitational control.

Instead of drawing something else to him, he had drawn himself to a point behind him.

And in doing so, he evaded Izumo’s attack.

The centrifugal force of the missed swing caused him to rotate around.

“…!”

Meanwhile, Aigaion smiled and swung his right fist as he moved back.

At seven meters, his fist could not reach, but a fifty centimeter ball of shimmering appeared in front of his fist.

It was a mass of gathered gravity.

That bullet could bend light and it would contract anything it came into contact and tear it away.

The automaton bent his body in preparation to throw it and he shouted.

“Now what will you do!?”

Aigaion asked his question.

…''What will he do!?

If he threw the gathered gravity, his opponent could not avoid it while swinging around his sword, so he would die.

Killing was one job of a combat automaton.

…''But that would be boring.

He did not have many opportunities to fight.

If he was to savor this opportunity, he could not go all out and immediately kill his opponent.

But he had no intention of holding back.

''This is difficult,'' he thought. He wanted to help out his enemy so he could enjoy this longer, but he could not do that and so he had to rely on his enemy.

''Give it your best shot,'' he thought. ''Give it your best shot, enemy.

With that thought, he threw the gathered gravity with all his strength.

“!”

His large right arm launched an overhand throw.

It was a powerful fastball.

The instant after he swung his right arm, he saw the sword-wielding girl suddenly begin an attack.

“…”

She suddenly reversed the direction of her rotation.

…''How did she reverse the direction of such a heavy sword?

He soon saw his answer.

The sword’s back thruster had closed and the front blade had opened.

A light that outdid even the previous thruster came from the blade.

That light created acceleration and the girl reversed her direction.

“That light… That really is a Concept Core weapon!”

“Shut up and take my attack!!”

This second acceleration was wholly unexpected, but it did not hit Aigaion.

The back of the sword struck the gathered gravity between them.

A sound like shattering glass filled the air and the cowling on the back of the sword broke. In exchange, the shimmering of the gravity broke and scattered.

The impact knocked the sword’s grip from the girl’s hand.

With a metallic noise, the weapon flew through the air.

Aigaion smiled as he heard that noise. First Hiba and now these two.

…''These enemies know how to put up a fight!!

And so he chose not to hold back.

They had both lost their weapons, but they moved forward at the exact same moment.

Izumo ran.

He held nothing in his hands, but he had a weapon. He spread his left hand as he ran.

“G-Sp2!”

That spear stood between him and Aigaion.

The automaton caught on as well, so he raised his hand and tried to take G-Sp2 for himself. Izumo initially thought he would grab it with his gravity technique.

…''But he can’t use that so soon after using it for that gathered gravity attack!

Trusting in that assumption, Izumo did not hesitate to move forward.

…''I can make it!

“Chisato would make it!”

With those words, he did indeed clear the distance.

He made it.

“!”

But he was still in his running stance. Just because he had G-Sp2 in his grasp did not mean he could use it against Aigaion in time, so he took a certain action.

“Don’t falter!”

He kicked the base of G-Sp2’s blade which was stabbed into the ground.

He succeeded in kicking the spear up.

“I will endure,” said the spear.

As G-Sp2 rotated upward, he ran below it.

He caught the rotating shaft on his shoulder and grabbed the butt end as it rotated upward. Once he secured the shaft on his shoulder, he only needed to swing it forward.

He pulled the shaft down as if beating it down and he launched an attack.

With his shoulder as the fulcrum, the blade flew down from above.

And it arrived above Aigaion’s head as he approached from the front.

But Aigaion raised his hands and smiled.

“Protect me!”

Izumo saw two attacks. Two objects leaped up from the mist-covered ground.

They were water pipes.

“!”

The twin metal serpents intercepted G-Sp2 from below.

The spear knew Izumo, but it would not let him control it as he was not its master. Without the power of the Concept Core, it was nothing but a giant blade.

The pipes were knocked away, but they managed to deflect G-Sp2 into the air.

Kazami’s slender arms were knocked upward by the impact.

He had lost his weapon again.

Meanwhile, Aigaion came to a forceful stop and let out a laugh.

But Izumo spoke in response to that laugh.

“Not so fast, automaton.”

He held up his hands and something fell into them.

It was a sword. After being knocked away earlier, V-Sw’s hilt fell into his hand.

“I’m back.”

Aigaion stopped moving and all expression vanished from his face.

“It can’t be…”

“I can’t put too much of a burden on Chisato’s slender fingers. I only momentarily let go of my weapon earlier!”

He held V-Sw tightly and swung it diagonally to the left.

Aigaion abandoned the water pipes and leaped backward.

“…!”

He flew.

He launched himself with his gravitational control and instantly left V-Sw’s range.

He was approximately ten meters away while Izumo did not bother stopping the momentum of V-Sw’s slash and made a full rotation to the left like a top.

As he rotated, he saw Aigaion raise his fist. That fist was quickly wrapped in shimmering.

The automaton planned to end this with a projectile from ten meters away.

…''What a predictable guy.

Izumo smiled bitterly and spoke.

“I only just introduced myself to Hiba!”

He would introduce himself here too.

“I’m Izumo Kaku, heir of the Izumo family! My current height, weight, and other measurements are just the way I like them! I’m currently repeating my time as a student and my current hobby is…”

He spun. The moment he faced forward again, he hit the switch on V-Sw as he swung it.

“…winning prizes at the batting center!”

He targeted what fell right in front of him: G-Sp2.

After being knocked into the air, the long spear was falling and rotating, so he targeted the bottom end.

As he swung, he kept the blade’s cowling closed and fully opened the rear thruster.

As soon as G-Sp2 was parallel to the ground, he struck the bottom.

“Clang!”

A metallic sound much like Izumo’s spoken sound effect filled the air as G-Sp2 was launched in a straight line.

Aigaion tried to use the gravity around his fist to defend.

“…!”

But he did not make it in time.

The spear that contained a dragon struck him in the chest.

“Out of the park with you!”

Izumo slowly rotated and looked back over his shoulder. He saw the large automaton knocked backward and the gathered gravity scatter from around his hand.

An explosion filled with mist and dirt created a great noise.

And then the white spear flew up into the air once more.

Izumo raised his right hand, grabbed the falling spear, fell to his knees, and let out a heavy sigh.

A troubled smile covered his face.

“How does Chisato get by with this body?”

Several sounds traveled south to north along the deserted road crossing in front of the school.

The sounds were those of clashing swords and they were produced by a giant red god of war and a giant silver god of war.

They were being controlled by the two female figures who almost seemed to be dancing at their respective machine’s feet.

The red god of war’s controller wore red and the silver one’s controller wore white.

The one in red, Gyes, controlled six swords with her fingers as she moved forward and attacked.

Many different gusts of wind raged about her and metallic noises burst out again and again. Each time, she moved a bit further forward, but her mind urged her on.

…''Hurry.

She had three reasons.

One of those was the operation time of her god of war.

…''This god of war is a part of me.

It was meant to be sealed in a concept space. If she grew too exhausted or her artificial consciousness fell into disarray, the opened concept space would grow unstable and the god of war would disappear.

She had to keep this quick. Her experience told her a few more minutes was her limit.

Her second reason to hurry was Mikage who floated in the air behind her. Gyes could sense her gradually coming to and it would be troublesome if she awoke.

…''We must obtain her.

She was Rhea’s daughter and one of the two 3rd-Gear humans who remained. No matter what Apollo thought as the other survivor, Mikage was absolutely necessary to preserve 3rd-Gear’s bloodline.

And the final reason to hurry stood before her.

That silver god of war had once belonged to Rhea. She had not seen it since Rhea had escaped to Low-Gear sixty years before, but it now wielded swords before her.

Some parts of it were different from her memories. Most notably, the torso had been completely replaced.

…''Lord Zeus said he had sliced it in two.

Rhea was not inside it.

“But that is why I cannot allow this!”

Gyes thrust her right palm forward.

The three right arms of the red god of war simultaneously attacked the silver god of war. One arm swung down from above, one thrust in at middle height, and one performed a diagonal slash from below.

Sibyl leaped backward, rotated around, and swung her right hand down.

The silver god of war moved in response. It turned to the side to avoid the attack from above, used the tip of a sword to deflect the central thrust outward, and knocked away the diagonal slash from below by swinging down the guard of the other sword.

The sets of metallic noises and sparks scattered and they all vanished into empty air.

Sibyl tried to land, but Gyes used that moment to move forward.

Before the girl could reach the ground, Gyes used her gravitational control to throw herself right in front of her.

“…!”

Gyes could not eliminate the inertial pressure, but she could cut out certain functionality to ignore it.

And she did exactly that.

She linked the movements of her legs, hips, and arms and swung her hands from behind her.

She used her gravitational control to launch the six swords in her suit toward Sibyl’s landing position.

She thrust one each to the ankle, thigh, waist, gut, and chest and she swept one horizontally toward the neck.

It was an instantaneous attack, but it was blocked by something unexpected: a wall.

“!?”

[[Image:OnC_v06_0081.png|thumb]]

It took her a moment to realize the white wall between her and Sibyl was the white sword of the other god of war.

The giant sword stood up from the ground, but Gyes continued with all her attacks unchanged.

Metallic noises rang out and her swords broke, one after another.

The first, second, and third simply broke, but the fourth put a crack in the wall. She instantly altered the speed of the fifth and sixth and sent the decapitating horizontal slash on ahead.

Ultimately, the god of war’s sword broke.

Gyes launched her final attack while surrounded by the high-pitched sound of shattering metal.

The strike was meant to skewer Sibyl’s chest and it would reach her past the shattered wall.

“Go!”

The tip of the blade overcame the wind and pierced through while knocking away fragments of the large sword.

Gyes felt the feedback of a hit, but she saw Sibyl leaping further back through the airborne metal fragments.

…''What?

An instant later, she understood. Sibyl had kicked the belly of the blade Gyes stabbed forward.

“Are you planning to use the god of war’s sword as footing!?”

Nevertheless, Gyes’s blade reached Sibyl’s chest. It stabbed into the chest of her armor and her own movement tore the cloth.

This revealed the skin from her neck down to her chest.

“So you’re human.”

Sibyl had known about 3rd-Gear and was fighting them, so Gyes had thought she might be an automaton.

…''But this is all the more reason for you to die!

Gyes pulled back her sword and moved forward. Her opponent’s god of war had only one sword, so this was the time to attack.

As soon as she moved forward, her target took a certain action.

She turned to the side and pointed at Gyes with her right hand.

Gyes wondered what this was about as she watched the silver god of war take the same action. But the god of war threw the sword in its right hand.

Gyes instantly decided to have her god of war deflect the flying blade outward.

This created an opening.

The silver god of war took advantage of that opening, but not with a sword attack.

It performed a tackle.

“!”

Gyes was unsure how to react to this unexpected attack, but she started by hurriedly pulling the red god of war back.

“Such a crude method of fighting! This will damage yours as well!”

The answer was accompanied by a troubled smile.

“Testament. I am in charge of maintenance, so I can only think of methods that will provide me a reason to work.”

As if to give its agreement, the silver god of war unhesitatingly stepped forward to collide with the red one.

They grappled.

For an instant, the silver god of war bounced in midair.

As it had leaned forward as if preparing to leap, a powerful horizontal impact had reached it.

“…”

It was suddenly slammed into the ground.

The fall was accompanied by the sounds of heavy metal being destroyed and it was caused by a large hole piercing from the god of war’s back to the ground.

Wind burst in every direction from the hole. It was a hot wind with a scorched odor.

…''Was this…?

As soon as she realized it was a sniper shot, Gyes looked up into the sky.

“You made it, Cottus!”

Sibyl looked up toward the heavens.

A large form was visible in the center of the blue sky.

It resembled a god of war, it was blue, and it was overall modeled after the human body. It had several rectangular objects on its back and waist that were likely cannons.

The silver god of war had been torn into by this blue giant.

Sibyl weakly lowered her shoulders and lowered her vision toward her enemy.

Past the wind, Gyes and the red god of war were falling back.

They were moving toward the point where that giant machine was descending. It was the Hecatoncheir named Cottus.

“A giant god of war…”

“Yes. He is an automaton that uses a god of war frame. Unlike a person, he can fight without being bound by time or physiological actions. However, Cottus is the only model that Lord Cronus completed.”

“Introduction unnecessary,” said the rapidly descending figure. “Requesting rapid retrieval. Hoping for immediate withdrawal.”

“Right,” said Gyes with a nod.

She gave a light wave of the hand and the red god of war seemed to fold in on itself. First the arms were swallowed up by thin air. The legs, torso, and head did the same.

Sibyl bit her lip and looked to Mikage floating behind Gyes.

“Wait!”

“You have lost, defiler of Lady Rhea’s possession.”

Gyes returned her last remaining sword to her suit and raised her other hand.

Mikage was drawn toward that hand.

“I suppose I should say farewell,” said Gyes.

Just as Cottus was about to land, he looked up with the green lights in his face that resembled eyes.

“Danger detected.”

“Danger? What could possibly…?”

Gyes’s question was cut off by someone.

It was Hiba.

His motorcycle cut right next to her.

By the time Sibyl gave a quick “ah”, he had already completed his action.

He raised his left arm and tore Mikage from the air.

“Cottus!”

Before Gyes even finished her shout, a light came from the west.

The horizontal beam of white light struck Cottus as he tried to swing a fist down at Hiba. A shallow piece of facial armor was torn off and he shook.

Two figures stood to the west at the end of the side road leading to the city street.

One was Shinjou in her summer uniform and the other was Sayama who held a long cannon on his shoulder.

“I am glad we made it in time!” shouted Shinjou. “Go, Hiba boy!”

While holding Mikage atop the stopped motorcycle, Hiba nodded.

With her in his arms, he let out a cry.

“Mikage-san!”

Sibyl saw Mikage’s eyes open in response to his voice and nod when she saw his red eyes.

Sibyl then heard Hiba speak because she could not.

“Susamikado!”

Sibyl gulped as she watched a metal torso frame appear behind the two of them as they got off the motorcycle. The moving parts and organ devices were summoned and the summoned arms, head, legs, and four wings were bolted into place.

While the metallic noises of the bolts filled the air, Mikage was enveloped by the black torso and Hiba was swallowed up as the stomach armor was attached.

A four-winged black god of war came together.

“Susamikado is complete!”

Hiba felt there was a pleasure and pain to gaining the god of war’s body.

His vision moved higher and he gained an awareness of the sides and back that he could not usually see.

He rose up toward Cottus who was the greatest threat.

His tall vision moved as he began moving at high speed. Each step covered just under four meters and Susamikado smashed the asphalt as it ran.

He went all out from the very first step.

“…!”

The movement felt wonderful. His widened vision and the warmth that enveloped him felt especially good.

His body had already combined with the god of war. He did not know the exact process by which he was broken down inside the metal, but he knew one thing.

…''The same thing happens to Mikage-san.

His own body was not actually there, but he did feel something warm wrapped around him.

He thought it felt like having Mikage embracing him from behind.

While enveloped by that sensation, he made full use of his new body.

His feet dug into the asphalt and his vision was trained directly on Cottus.

A moment later, Cottus fired on him.

Bullets flew toward him.

They were bullets of light. Those masses of great heat and pressure were thirty centimeters across and four of them approached while trailing a comet-like tail.

His reflexes were not enough to evade.

However, he heard Mikage’s voice emitted by his own body, by the god of war’s voice device.

“Ryuuji-kun.”

She could only produce that quiet voice when she had become Susamikado. She had not yet evolved the ability to speak and Hiba believed she had gained this voice specifically for combat.

But it was the only time he could hear her natural voice.

“You can dodge this,” she continued.

A sensation arrived alongside the voice.

The machine’s perception speed matched with his own mental speed.

This provided him with ultra-fast perception backed by the predictive speed of the machine.

“…”

It rushed in at him.

In an instant, a massive amount of information struck his body like music.

He loudly heard the warmth of the sunlight. The earth received and reflected it, the wind produced long breath-like music, and the trees and other plants sang the pulse-like noise of their various lives.

There were people there. The girl controlling the silver god of war was nearby, Sayama and Shinjou were more distant, and Izumo and Kazami were there as well. All of their music was slightly sped up and the tone color contained a pale heat. It was the tone color of expectation.

On the other hand, the automatons played a calmer and cooler tone. The female one named Gyes was nearby, Aigaion was approaching and his tone was in disarray due to injury, and Cottus was directly ahead.

…''The bullets…

Hiba perceived even those as music.

A powerful tone resembling a whistle approached from the front. This tone was slightly out of sync with the whole. It was the tone of destruction.

…''That’s an unpleasant tone color!

He could see their ballistic paths.

A moment later, his heightened perception left. His information processing ability had been overwhelmed and the limiter had kicked in before he drowned in it all.

But he was already moving forward.

“!”

Susamikado’s foot smashed the asphalt and its entire body flew forward as if pursuing the tone color seen before.

Hiba moved toward the center of the attack.

As he charged forward, a song escaped his lips.

“Jesus, Lord, with your birth.”

As if chasing the song, Susamikado slipped past the flying light.

It ducked low and moved forward.

It stepped, spun, tilted its body forward, scraped across the asphalt, and ran.

One bullet grazed its shoulder, but that had been expected. If Susamikado had not avoided that one, the next one would have hit it in the gut.

…''And the rest won’t hit!

Hiba stepped forward to prove his words right. He stretched out his knees and practically threw himself forward.

He made it through.

“Shows the grace of His holy might.”

The blue machine lay before him, so he prepared his right fist.

Cottus raised one of the cannons on his waist and fired at close range, but Hiba instantly slipped below it and threw a right uppercut as he stood back up.

The strike dug deep into Cottus’s stomach armor.

“!!”

The heavy sound of metal filled the air and Cottus’s heavy body floated up a bit.

But Hiba did not let up.

He went on to send his left fist into Cottus’s side to bring up his chest armor.

“!”

He then rotated to bring his right leg up and into Cottus’s chest.

The three-strike combo bent and broke Cottus’s chest armor and knocked him backward.

Hiba began to continue forward. He knew this was his chance, so he felt something similar to impatience. He wanted to defeat one of the Hecatoncheires and to bring an end to as much of this painful fight as possible.

…''I have to act now!

But something stopped Susamikado’s movements.

It was another sound, but this one was a voice and a distinctly human one at that.

“…Kh.”

Mikage used his mouth to let out a groan of pain.

Hiba reacted to Mikage’s groan of pain.

He distinctly felt his currently nonexistent heart skip a beat and he stopped his advance. His foot smashed the ground below and he took a defensive position.

“Mikage-san!?”

“It hurts…”

It took a breath before he understood what she meant.

He recalled the damage to the chest armor and wing from the other night’s battle.

And he recalled that Mikage had taken on all those injuries in his place.

He did not even feel any pain because she took it all on herself. But if he moved now, it would hurt her. It was only natural.

“…”

''Now I’ve done it,'' he thought. ''Why didn’t I realize?

He was so close to her now and they shared the same body.

…''So why was I thinking about nothing but fighting?

He stopped moving altogether.

He saw Cottus take a defensive stance after falling back.

Aigaion had caught up, so he and Gyes stood on Cottus’s shoulders.

All three of them were exhausted or damaged in some way.

Now was the perfect time to pursue.

“Ryuuji-kun…”

The pain-filled voice coming from his mouth kept Hiba from acting.

Another voice spoke up as if reprimanding him.

It was Shinjou’s voice.

“What is it, Hiba boy!? You are the one stopping our negotiations, so why are you choosing not to fight!?”

Sayama and Shinjou came running up along the side road and Shinjou was shouting toward him from behind Cottus.

But Hiba could not move. He could only determine Mikage’s state from her voice, but it was enough to bind him.

He felt like he was directly touching her wounds.

He simply could not move.

…''Wasn’t I supposed to be protecting her?

“I’m sorry.”

As if speaking the words in his heart for him, Mikage’s voice escaped his mouth.

He clenched his fists and faced Cottus and the two automatons.

“…”

He remained silent.

There was nothing he could say. If he did anything more, it would only increase her pain.

He could no longer choose to attack. That was his choice now.

He motionlessly looked toward those who controlled the battlefield now. Shinjou ran from the western road to the city road and Sayama followed while carrying a long white cannon.

Gyes brushed up her hair on Cottus’s shoulder and she spoke.

“I assume you are from Team Leviathan. What do you plan to do now?”

“Well,” said Shinjou. “We wish to mediate for you.”

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 13|Chapter 13]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 15|Chapter 15]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 13

2026-09-07T07:07:13Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 13: Round Dance of Expectation==
[[Image:OnC_v06_0027.png|thumb]]
''Think and dance, human and one with human form

''With any luck, this will raise the Coppélia reproduction rate''

Hiba drove his motorcycle from the morning courtyard and into the five-story boys’ dormitory.

…''Hurry.

In that deserted concept space, the morning sun dimly lit the inside of the building. The difference was enough to feel like complete darkness at first, but that helped eliminate any hesitation left in his thoughts.

He twisted the accelerator without hesitation.

“!”

Supported by the large engine displacement, the tires dug into the plastic floor.

Their grip created speed and the motorcycle raced along the corridor.

Surrounded by his speed and the reverberating noises of the engine, he caught sight of his target up ahead.

…''There he is!

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw Aigaion two meters ahead.

He held Mikage over his shoulder as he ran and he turned around to look at Hiba in midair.

He was smiling.

“Allow me to introduce myself again, descendant of Hiba!”

He leaped calmly through the air and leaped again as soon as he landed.

“I am Aigaion, one of the Hecatoncheires. My height is two meters thirty-one centimeters, my weight is one hundred fifty kilos, I work at a greengrocer, and my hobby is pachinko! What about you!?”

“I’m not the type to introduce myself to guys!”

Aigaion reacted to Hiba’s answer with a laugh.

“Ha ha,” he laughed loudly as he landed. “How boring!”

With another laugh, he ran backward and swung his left arm toward the concrete wall to his side.

His large hand smashed the manmade wall. With a splashing sound, his hand sank into the wall up to the wrist and he did not stop there.

As he ran, he tore a wrist-sized line in the wall.

Sounds of destruction and concrete fragments scattered everywhere as he ran and destroyed the wall.

“Dolls are not human, and so there is something they need. They need a selling point as an artificial product. Just as the mass-produced automatons can control gravity and the Moirai manage humans, we have our own selling points.”

“And what is that?”

Aigaion’s eyebrows stood up, but his smile deepened.

“In my case, I have extremely precise and flashy gravitational control.”

He twisted up the wrist jammed into the wall as if grabbing something and tearing it out.

His giant hand held something as he pulled it from the wall.

It was a thick and round piece of steel. More specifically, it was the primary portion of the reinforced concrete used to construct the building.

“It is time you fell, metal structure that stands in rebellion to the earth!”

As soon his voice rang out, Hiba heard the sound of something gigantic collapsing.

By the time he realized it was the earth trembling, the sudden shaking threw his motorcycle into the air.

He remained in the air for over a second.

“…!”

The tires bounced off the plastic floor and then settled down. After spinning through the air, they dug into the floor once more.

At the same time, the ceiling and walls collapsed like a closing book.

Aigaion’s gravitational control spread through the rebar frame and easily bent the entire thing.

The boys’ dorm was imploding.

“What!?”

The destruction showed itself through smashing concrete and wood.

The chain of breaking materials passed by over Hiba’s head and swallowed up the ceiling, columns, walls, and rooms lining the corridor.

Once the walls split apart, the ceiling fell and carried four floor’s worth of volume with it.

Hiba decided to do two things: escape the destruction and retrieve Mikage.

There was only one way to accomplish both.

“Either way, I have to chase after you!!”

He pushed the accelerator to its limit and the motorcycle shot forward.

The sound of the engine pierced through the sounds of breaking concrete, the sounds of bending and shattering reinforced glass, and the sounds of everything creaking. But Aigaion did not stop laughing.

“Keep at it, keep at it. But it’s over, descendant of Hiba!”

“You…”

Hiba lowered down and gathered even more strength in his hand on the accelerator.

“You don’t get to decide that it’s over!”

“I do when I’m the one ending it!”

And…

“I will make you even more boring than you already are!”

With that said, Aigaion raised Mikage above his head.

…''That’s dangerous!

Hiba almost shouted that thought aloud, but then Mikage’s body crumbled.

“…!?”

He then saw the truth. What he had assumed was Mikage was just a clump of metal rubble. The clothes were just a gathering of white sand-like components.

“Ha ha ha! This is a doll of trash and rubble I put together with my gravitational control! How do you like that? It’s a doll made by a doll. Gyes took the real one and went on ahead!”

“What…?”

Hiba gulped.

…''I was in such a hurry, I fell for a fake!

His resentment led to anger.

“You damn con artist!!”

“Quiet. It’s your fault for letting me trick you!!”

''He’s right,'' thought Hiba as he clenched his teeth.

The accelerator was already at its limit, so he focused on switching gears while ignoring the downpour of rubble.

He thought about the concept space. If metal was alive…

“Please,” he said to the motorcycle. “Please let me catch up!”

The mass of metal answered his call. After trembling for an instant, its engine let out a cry, and the accelerator itself seemed to begin racing.

“…!”

The motorcycle lowered its center of gravity. It lowered its suspension almost to the limit, bit into the shaking floor, and eliminated all wasted tire rotation.

Forward.

The motorcycle whipped up the wind and raced between the falling ceiling and collapsing walls.

But…

“Am I not going to make it?”

Aigaion leaped outside of the western entrance twenty meters ahead, but the overhead collapse was already settled. The boys’ dormitory would be completely destroyed before Hiba made it out.

''Shit,'' he thought without letting up on the accelerator.

At the same time, he heard a voice and an approaching motorcycle outside.

“Hiba!”

It was Kazami’s female voice, so it was Izumo speaking.

Before he could wonder what he wanted, the female voice spoke again.

“Keep low! We’ll blow it all away!”

A moment later, the boys’ dorm was completely destroyed.

Kazami and Izumo’s motorcycle charged toward the southern side of the crumbling boys’ dorm.

After locking the back wheel and drifting the side, the two of them raised their right hands and shouted in unison.

“Come!”

An instant later, two white lines flew from the northern sky and struck near the back of the building’s third floor.

The shock of that impact stopped the collapse.

This created a short blank period.

All the smoke and shaking from the collapse was knocked into the air in a slight moment of relative calm.

“!”

And then silent and invisible explosions occurred at the two points of impact.

This was similar to the shockwave created when a massive shell struck at high speed.

This shockwave went beyond the realm of sound and raced across the northern side of the dormitory. It tore away the rubble, glass, and surface materials in an instant and an explosion of steam burst from both points of impact.

Two loud noises and two impacts followed.

Aigaion had created a downward collapse, but these two attacks had changed that to explosions scattering in every direction. The five-story building bent, twisted, and broke as if it had been struck by two uppercuts.

A great rumbling raced out and it did not end there.

Amid the destruction that sounded like a beast’s roar, light appeared on the northern side of the building.

It was the light of dragons. The light formed two dragons creating a giant helix.

The dragon light swallowed up the destroyed fragments, formed a circle, and absorbed it all.

The boys’ dormitory was annihilated.

All that remained was the first floor which had escaped the destruction.

“I owe you one!”

As well as Hiba’s motorcycle which charged out the western side.

He spoke to the two in front of the building who each held their respective weapon.

They had already started driving their motorcycle once more.

The large sword held by the girl had its thrusters fully open and some text appeared on its console.

“Let’s have some fun.”

“Yeah.” A strong smile appeared on the girl’s lips. “It’s time for round two!”

A large Japanese-style house was located a bit west of Taka-Akita Academy’s campus.

It was surrounded by a green fence and two people were currently rushing alongside that fence to reach the front gate.

They were Shinjou and Sayama. They both wore their summer uniforms and Shinjou turned to the right to face Sayama as her long hair shook.

“Will Ryuuji-kun’s place be okay?”

“UCAT’s disguised police officers and disguised firemen arrived, so it should be fine. They just have to wait for the disguised contractors, disguised architects, disguised builders, and disguised craftsmen to arrive and rebuild the house.”

“That doesn’t sound fine at all.”

“We can look forward to seeing what they come up with. But for now, we must do our job.”

“Right.”

Shinjou nodded and recalled what their job was.

It seemed simple yet was rather difficult.

“Emergency food supply… It somehow doesn’t surprise me that Ooki-sensei asked for that.”

“All of the disguised workers and Sibyl-kun’s group are heading out without breakfast. Also, we have to pass by the Tamiya house on our way to the rendezvous point with Sibyl-kun’s group anyway. It may seem we are simply running an errand, but someone has to do it.”

And…

“If it is necessary, I will not find fault with the job and I can easily arrange this. I told Kouji there was a fire at an acquaintance’s house, and that should be enough to settle it.”

Shinjou hung her head a bit when Sayama said “acquaintance” rather than “friend”.

…''We still don’t know the full situation.

Another student at their school was fighting using concepts independently of UCAT.

At the moment, there was something they could do to help with that fight.

“We’ll just be saying hello and handing it over to the disguised volunteers once they arrive, right?”

“Yes. And those disguised volunteers will be lowering Sibyl-kun’s group from their helicopter. Once we meet up with them, we can follow Sibyl-kun into the concept space.”

“Right,” she said with a nod.

Having a clear objective cheered her up a little, so she began moving her legs more quickly.

The wooden gate to the house lay before them. In front of the gate were a black vehicle and a woman wearing a red kimono. Shinjou recognized the woman.

“Ryouko-san.”

Hearing her name, Ryouko turned toward Shinjou. She had been checking on the contents of her handbag which sat on the hood of the car, but she stopped and smiled.

“Young master and Setsu-chan. What is it? Were you kicked out of school? I’m so happy!”

She took a few steps toward them, her wooden shoes clacking on the ground as she did.

Shinjou gave a cry of surprise as Ryouko suddenly embraced her.

“Nn, it’s been so long. How are you doing, Setsu-chan?”

“Eh? Oh, fine. …And we saw each other only three days ago.”

Nevertheless, Ryouko rubbed her chin against Shinjou’s head with a satisfied expression. She let out a sigh, embraced her again, and finally moved away.

“Why do I keep thinking you’re a girl? You aren’t, are you?”

“Eh? No, of course not…”

Only those in UCAT knew the truth about her, so Ryouko knew nothing. The woman tilted her head with her hands on Shinjou’s shoulders and suspicion in her gaze.

“But you really smell like a girl. Are you getting any weird injections?”

“Sorry, Ryouko, but I have not introduced Shinjou-kun to any of that.”

“I see. Then it must be natural… Setsu-chan, how about you go to Morocco for a bit? I think it will help you get a lot better, so how about just signing the paperwork for now?”

“No thanks. I like my uninteresting life.”

Shinjou frantically shook her head. She was faced with two people whose brains were from a different world. If she let them get carried away, she could find herself under general anesthesia and on an operating table in three hours’ time.

…''I need to change the subject.

“A-are you going somewhere, Ryouko-san?”

“Yes. We have some visitors from a company that some of our people help out at.”

Ryouko turned toward the car. At first glance, it looked like a normal light vehicle, but it was a glossy black, the glass had a smoke shield preventing anyone from seeing in, and it said Tamiya Security on the side in gold paint. A closer examination showed several small doors that could open to let something out.

“Sayama-kun, can I comment on this car?”

“Is there anything odd about it? Oh, have you never seen a ‘Danger. Run away.’ sticker before? That is used for any car Ryouko drives.”

“Kouji thinks I’m a dangerous driver even though I only run into things some of the time.”

Ryouko gave an exasperated sigh, approached the hood, and began fishing through her handbag again.

“What is it?” asked Shinjou.

“I lost my self-defense pistol. I lost my previous one too, so this is the second time. Kouji’s so horrible when he finds out about this kind of thing, so I’m trying to find it.”

“To sum up everything in a single word: How?”

“Well, after parking last night, the dogs were playing around. It was cute, but guard dogs shouldn’t be doing that, y’know? Anyway, I fired into the ground a few times to quiet them down.”

“Is that the handgun in question?”

Sayama pointed toward a black revolver on the light vehicle’s roof.

“Oh, what a careless mistake on my part. But that makes people want to protect me, right? So it all works out in the end, right?”

“This bothers me on multiple levels…” commented Shinjou.

“No one found out, so that means I win,” said Ryouko as she picked up the handgun and delightedly waved it around in both hands.

An instant later, Sayama tugged Shinjou backward by the collar.

“Eh? What?”

She then heard a gunshot and something flew by in the space her face had been in a moment before.

Ryouko looked puzzled and glass could be heard shattering in the house behind them.

A moment later, someone ran out of the gate to their side.

It was Kouji who was wearing a suit and holding a bag of rice crackers.

“Young master, Shinjou-kun, good morning. Excuse me, but I must go apologize.”

“Y-you sure have it tough, Kouji-san.”

“Ha ha. I’m used to it.”

His last sentence was spoken after averting his gaze and then he loudly ran toward the opposite house.

After watching her brother run off, Ryouko sighed, tilted her head, and looked at the gun in her hand.

“Kouji really does have it tough. Anyway, was the trigger’s second stage always that light?”

“Don’t stare down the barrel!”

“Don’t worry. I’m not stupid enough to shoot myself.”

Ryouko put the handgun in her pocket. Shinjou did not like the idea of her storing it there, but she remained silent as that seemed to be where she usually stored it.

…''I don’t want to say something and cause secondary damage.

It was about time to get to the issue at hand, so she glared at Sayama and he nodded.

“Ryouko, about what I contacted Kouji about…”

“Oh, right. Kouji is finishing up in the kitchen, so just have your volunteers take it with them when they get here. The different rice ball flavors are dried plum, katsuobushi, seaweed, and pudding. The pudding ones are a secret flavor I made without Kouji knowing, so try to pick those ones if you can.”

“Ah…ah ha ha. Ryouko-san, I would love it if you would tell us which ones those are.”

“Hm. But it goes against my principles to give you two an unfair advantage.”

“P-please?”

Shinjou gave an insistent smile and Ryouko placed a hand on her mouth and thought.

“Hm,” she said again. “I think the young master would know.”

“Eh? Really?”

She turned toward Sayama who remained expressionless.

“Shinjou-kun, I will try them first and you can finish any that are safe.”

“Kyah! The two of you are having an indirect kiss via rice balls? I want in too!”

As Ryouko rejoiced flirtatiously, Shinjou blushed.

…''She’s right, but my life is too important to let it bother me.

Sayama nodded with a serious expression and she could not turn down his kindness.

“Be careful, you two. The scene of a fire can be dangerous. Especially you, Setsu-chan. You need to look after your hands. You don’t want to lower your commercial value.”

Shinjou was not sure what that meant, but she was afraid to ask.

Instead, she smiled and watched as Ryouko picked up her handbag and opened the vehicle’s door. The inside had a roll cage installed, the console had buttons with “turbo boost” and “oil” written in large text, and a metal cylinder with a trigger attached hung down from the ceiling in front.

…''This might be low-key for a car in the Sayama world.

She watched as Ryouko petted a small stuffed cat hanging from the cylinder on the ceiling.

“Do your best, you two. After he’s done apologizing, Kouji should help carry the food out to the volunteers. It’s so boring how all of his food is delicious. He needs some delightful surprises inside.”

Shinjou was fairly certain Ryouko’s surprises would be fatal, but she had another thought as she remembered the woman’s smile and watched her back as she sat in the seat.

…''When you get down to it, we’re tricking Ryouko-san and Kouji-san.

And they were tricking a lot of other people too.

Ryouko’s behavior could be very strange, but that was unavoidable when taking the Sayama Zone into account. Shinjou frantically spoke up when she realized she was forcing a smile.

“Ah, Ryouko-san!”

“Hm? What is it?”

[[Image:OnC_v06_0045.png|thumb]]

Shinjou breathed a sigh of relief at the smiling face that turned toward her.

''Does this make us hypocrites?'' she wondered, but she spoke aloud to the woman rather than herself.

“Thank you for your help so early in the morning. And be careful.”

Ryouko gave a satisfied nod, reached out a hand, and rubbed Shinjou’s head.

“Well done, Setsu-chan. What about you, young master?”

“I have nothing to say.”

“Young master?”

“…Take care,” he said with a sigh.

Ryouko’s eyes bent in a smile, she nodded, and she removed her hand from Shinjou’s head.

“Good, good. I’m glad to see the two of you together. I’ll be going then.”

She turned to Shinjou again and gave a bitter smile.

“Setsu-chan, don’t give me that look, okay? Don’t worry. This is a job and I am the company president.”

As she closed the door with a smile, she continued speaking.

“All I have to do is physically persuade about thirty people. You do your best too, okay?”

Inside the concept space, Kazami and Izumo let Hiba go on ahead alongside the row of boys’ dormitories, but Aigaion was causing them trouble.

He had handed Mikage over to Gyes and they could not afford to spend any time dealing with him, but he had chosen a simple yet horribly effective method to stop them.

“He isn’t hurrying…”

He was withdrawing ahead of them, but he was not rushing and he was slowly launching attacks.

Any attack they sent back would be deflected by earth or rubble pulled up with his gravitational abilities.

They had gotten off the motorcycle in front of the boys’ dormitory that they had destroyed and they were both attacking and defending, but they had been unable to leave the boys’ dormitory area.

…''This is never going to end.

While looking like Izumo, Kazami swung G-Sp2 around and faced her opponent.

Aigaion was withdrawing at a jogging pace and his arms were extended to either side to use his gravity techniques.

“There is a lot buried in this world.”

A water pipe burst up from the ground and into his right hand. The gravel-covered earth was peeled up and a metal pipe thirty centimeters across rose up like a snake raising its head.

“Take this.”

Just as about thirty meters of pipe was exposed, it bent like a whip.

It swung in horizontally from the right as if trying to wrap around them.

The tip of the swinging pipe sliced through the air quite quickly.

“Wah!”

Kazami back stepped away from Aigaion, but the lack of X-Wi on her back was a fatal flaw. Izumo’s body did not provide the distance and speed she wanted.

As the metal pipe flew in horizontally, she had only one way of avoiding it: moving down.

“…!”

She embraced G-Sp2 and collapsed onto her back just as the metal flew past her face and to the left.

While listening to it cut through the wind, she stabbed G-Sp2 into the ground to push herself back to her feet. She then saw the metal pipe returning for a second strike.

This reversal was surprisingly fast.

“You sure are persistent!”

She moved backward and realized her only choice was to charge forward after the pipe passed by this time.

She stepped to the back. Izumo’s body gave her a long reach with its arms and legs, but it was heavy.

More muscular strength did not directly link to more acceleration.

When she took a step with this body, she first felt a weight bearing down on her shoulders. Next, she managed a long leap as if breaking through that weight.

This was different from normal.

The length of her steps, her center of gravity, and everything else were different. It felt like fighting in someone else’s clothes and shoes.

In her body, she would jump backward the more she pressed down with her foot. His body may have provided greater speed in the end, but it was terrible for tight turns and initial speed.

…''Yet he’s always keeping up with me in this body.

She wondered if it was a burden on his knees and back to keep up with her as she ran everywhere.

She had new concerns about him, but that did not help her evade.

The metal pipe drew close.

She saw it easily fell the trees along its path. With fibrous snapping sounds, a few of the trees in the yard were snapped apart and knocked flying.

But the metal did not slow down.

…''It’s catching up!

Her fears were warranted. Her back stepping was simply not fast enough.

The metal pipe arrived so quickly it seemed to be biting at her.

A chill ran down her spine and an odd calm filled her mind.

…''So Kaku’s body can tremble like this too.

The instant she had that thought, she heard her real voice calling from behind her.

“Hey, Chisato! Look over here!”

She looked behind her and saw herself about three meters away, just outside the range of the metal pipe.

With a perfectly serious expression, her body grabbed the bottom of her skirt with both hands and lifted it up to her stomach.

“Look at this, Chisato!”

“What the hell are you doing!?”

Anger moved her body. She easily jumped the remaining three meters and got in a solid savate blow.

The sound of impact rang out and her own body flew toward the nearest boys’ dormitory, but that body quickly stood back up.

“Y-you idiot! What was that for!?”

“That’s my line! Why would you suddenly lift up my skirt like that!? …Ah! I just hurt myself again.”

“Don’t worry about it. You dodged the attack, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t dodge the attack! I jumped in for an attack of my own on a new target!”

The two of them ducked down as the metal pipe flew by overhead after approaching a bit.

The roar blew their hair about and Kazami saw her own body stand up in front of her.

“You seemed to be giving up and I knew seeing that would give my body some motivation.”

“And?”

“Oh, um…” Her own body tilted its head and finally confidently puffed out its chest. “It all turned out okay!!”

She wanted to punch Izumo, but it would make things awkward after returning to her body.

But that awkwardness reminded her of a certain fact.

…''We’ll be returning to normal later. Right now, we just have our minds swapped out.

With that in mind, she took a step forward and pointed at her chest.

The metal pipe had smashed the ground behind her and returned, but she had to correct something first.

“These bodies move as we want them to, but our minds don’t conform to the bodies. Isn’t that right?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

She saw a smile on her body’s lips.

It seemed Izumo had realized the same thing as her, so she gave a similar smile.

“In other words, there’s a way to resolve this situation: we go all out.”

Kazami went ahead and gave the conclusion, nodded, and exchanged a glance with Izumo.

“I was trying to control your body properly, so I had to worry about all sorts of small adjustments. But if I go all out and draw out all of the body’s strength, I can leave everything up to the body. We stop thinking about our pace or reach, we don’t stop to catch our breath, we work the muscles until they ache, and we slam our entire bodies against the enemy. If we go on full throttle, we don’t have to worry about any adjustments.”

“Sounds nice and stupid. It all comes down to this one try, so no regrets, okay?”

“Of course. What about you? If we mess this up, we could die.”

“I’ve been ready.”

“Really?” she asked doubtfully.

Her body nodded, held the giant sword under one arm, exaggeratedly brought a hand to its mouth, and blushed.

“I have no regrets.”

“W-wait a second! What were you doing while I was fighting!?”

“Well… I’m not sure how to put it. Important research?”

“I see.”

Kazami nodded, suddenly clenched her right fist, and threw several blows toward her current body’s crotch.

“It’s all this thing’s fault! It’s all because this horrible thing exists!! Oh, ow ow ow ow ow! That really gets to you.”

“That’s an important experience that no woman has had before. …And stop that, Chisato. Now I’m not looking forward to going back.”

Despite their yelling, they both simultaneously took a step away from each other.

The metal pipe slammed down between them from above. The whip-like blow caused the gravel to scatter, but the pipe was not drawn back.

Wondering what was happening, Kazami looked toward the other end of the pipe. Aigaion was standing there as before, but he was now looking at them with a tilt of the head.

“Are you two fighting each other now?”

“Heh heh heh. An amateur would never understand. Look, Chisato. He’s jealous of our relationship.”

“Kaku?” she said with a smile. “Do you want me to hit you again?”

She raised her spear, but Aigaion shook his head and lowered his eyebrows a bit.

“Sorry, but my victory is already assured.”

“What do you mean?”

The automaton raised both hands. Before, he had only held a water pipe in his right hand, but he now held one in both hands.

“Come on out.”

As he spoke with a smile in his voice, the two metal pipes showed themselves on the surface.

The dirt was torn up, the gravel flew, and the concrete split as the water pipes appeared. And this time, they were not just a few dozen meters long.

“…!”

Kazami saw shadows appear not just on the ground around them. The shadows covered the entire surface like blood vessels and they surrounded the school buildings, the dormitories, the neighboring gym, the indoor pool, and the other buildings.

She heard structures and the earth bursting apart as those metal blood vessels rose up over a wide area.

The series of water pipes connecting the dozen or so nearby buildings all jumped up.

All of the metal pipes did the same thing. While rising into the air like snake heads, they held up the objects they were connected to.

“The water tanks.”

“Yes. Some of them hold several dozen tons of water.”

Shadows appeared a hundred meters in the air. The metal pipes formed a mesh shape which supported the metal cubes filled with water. The cubes were of different sizes, but Kazami could see eighteen of them in all.

As she looked up, she saw what could be called the prelude to an attack.

Some of the water pipes formed a giant spiral and lowered toward her and Izumo.

They fell.

“!?”

The falling spiral caused a great number of metallic noises.

After it was complete, a wall of water pipes surrounded them with a radius of twenty meters.

The water pipe cage surrounded the courtyard between boys’ dormitories.

The wall was about three meters high. There were gaps between pipes, but they were too small to slip through.

…''Is this…

“A cage!?”

“Yes. This is a large crushing zone. You will be crushed to death by over one hundred tons of water and metal.”

She could hear the automaton speaking.

“Fall.”

An instant later, the water tanks crashed into the ground.

As the metal blood vessels stretched across the sky, a single figure ran along the road.

The woman in a red suit was Gyes. She held Mikage over her shoulder as she headed quickly to the west.

She was currently on the edge of the facility known as a school. The road changed from gravel to pavement and she ran toward the larger road to the west.

She could see the metal floating in the sky.

…''Aigaion is making a show of it.

He would draw in the enemy while she escaped.

…''I need to leave this facility and meet up with Cottus.

She could see the side gate to the facility up ahead. The sliding gate was made from two metal walls four meters wide and two meters tall, but it was sitting open.

She was about three hundred meters away, but she saw something in the open gate.

“Who are you!?”

She frowned and shouted toward the girl and wall in the gate.

The wall was a giant white transport pallet. The empty truck next to it suggested the girl had carried the pallet here after entering the concept space.

The girl impeccably wore a white and black armored uniform. Her long, soft-looking blonde hair flowed in the slight wind and her blue eyes faced directly forward.

As Gyes ran up, the girl spoke with no expression on her face.

“Our representative is busy preparing, so I arrived to face you first. I ask that you be more prudent in your actions, 3rd-Gear automaton.”

“Name yourself before asking me anything!”

“Testament,” spoke the girl. “I am Sibyl of Team Leviathan.”

Gyes recognized that unit name. Hajji had mentioned it a few times.

…''That’s the UCAT unit that won over 1st-Gear and 2nd-Gear!

She had heard they were after Typhon’s Concept Core independently of the black god of war. And in that case…

“I won’t listen to anything you ask!”

Just as she determined this girl was an enemy, she heard a noise from behind her.

It was a great metallic noise that shook the earth and atmosphere.

The roar seemed to pierce through the air and her body.

Sibyl looked into the sky and frowned a little.

“What was that noise?”

“You don’t know? That was a great mass of water and metal falling to the ground!”

Gyes did not even need to think about the result of that, so she laughed as she ran.

“Ha ha,” she began. “While you were speaking with me, your comrades have been smashed beyond repair! Will you head down the same path, girl!?”

As she approached, Gyes saw something.

Her opponent was smiling. It was a perfectly natural smile.

“It would appear 3rd-Gear has grown soft. …Would you die from that attack?”

“What!?”

Sibyl lowered her arms, spread them a bit, and held the palms out toward Gyes.

“If that was enough to kill them, Chisato-sama and Izumo-sama would have died hundreds of times by now.”

“Then this will be the time they finally die!!”

Gyes decided Sibyl was preparing an attack and the pallet behind her was worrisome.

While running, she tossed Mikage into the air, imagined her gravitational control as the middle finger of her left hand, and kept Mikage floating out of Sibyl’s reach.

She then raised her hands to either side while still running.

“Come, my power!”

The answer to her cry came from the sky.

It was a red god of war. That machine could be seen as a part of her body and it was stored in the excess given to her child string vibration. It now split open the sky and appeared from there.

Its red body was over eight meters tall.

It had a slender face, body, and legs, but it was missing something crucial.

Namely, shoulders.

Instead, everything past the elbows floated in the air to either side. Also, it had three on either side, for a total of six.

As it whipped up the wind, Gyes swung her arms down below. She controlled it remotely via gravitational control and the movements of her fingers were linked to the six arms behind her.

The god of war’s six arms grabbed at the air and moved forward.

Despite grabbing at empty air, the six arms pulled something out.

They were blades.

The broad rectangular blades were drawn from a concept space and into this world.

“Be destroyed, mankind!”

With Mikage floating behind her, Gyes ran forward and swung her arms. She looked like she was embracing her own waist as she looked above.

She saw the red god of war step forward and overtake her.

It let loose six strikes.

The six blades flew toward the giant pallet sitting in the gate and they would slice it and Sibyl into six pieces.

“!?”

But as Gyes listened to the sounds of the high-speed actions, she saw something unexpected.

Sibyl raised both her arms and the pallet behind her burst open.

A clear sound rang out as pieces of the pallet’s lock scattered in every direction.

Gyes’s six attacks struck the rising cover to the pallet.

As pieces of the pallet scattered about, Gyes stared forward while swinging the blades further.

…''What!?

She watched as the pallet fragments burst out and something stood up from within.

And that something was a giant armored warrior.

“A god of war!?”

A silver god of war stood forcefully up from the pallet and matched Sibyl’s upraised arms.

While swinging up its arms, it grabbed something from the collapsing back end of the pallet.

It grabbed two swords which had been attached on the inner side of the pallet.

After grasping the hilts, the collapsing pallet wall automatically removed the scabbards.

The two drawn swords rose to intercept Gyes’s six swords.

The eight trajectories clashed at high speed and deflected each other.

Gyes moved back with the red god of war.

Sibyl moved back with the silver god of war.

Gyes took a fighting stance, but she did not immediately move forward.

She held up her arms in an X-shape and faced Sibyl and the silver god of war behind her.

“That god of war!”

“You recognize it, don’t you?”

Gyes did not even have to nod.

“That is Lady Rhea’s god of war!”

“Yes. This is the god of war that Lord Zeus destroyed sixty years ago. It was repaired and modified to be controlled remotely.”

“That is beyond low, Low-Gear! First you destroy our Gear and now you are making dolls from our rulers’ belongings!?”

“And what will you do about it?”

Gyes’s reply and action were in agreement.

“Destroying you is the duty of a servant!” shouted Gyes as she moved forward once more.

The six blades of the red god of war collided with the two lines swung up by the silver god of war.

With multiple metallic noises, the two gods of war exchanged attacks.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 12|Chapter 12]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 14|Chapter 14]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 12

2026-09-06T05:36:25Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 12: One Side of Their Feelings==
[[Image:OnC_v06_0011.png|thumb]]
''One side is lost

''One side is gained

''Where can both sides be found?

The battlefield was on the move.

It was morning on the two-lane road leading into Taka-Akita Academy through the main entrance.

The concept space left the campus deserted and the road continued in a straight line for fifty meters after passing through the gate. At that point, it reached a schoolyard and took a ninety degree turn to the left.

Aigaion who was carrying blonde Mikage and Gyes who wore a red suit continued on past that corner.

About a dozen meters behind them, two motorcycles entered through the gate. Both had a large engine displacement, but one had a cowl and the other did not. The former was driven by the short boy named Hiba and the latter contained Izumo and Kazami.

Izumo recklessly turned the corner from the main road and Gyes opened her mouth while running ahead.

She held up a metal board containing a philosopher’s stone.

“We will add on another concept!” she shouted.

A moment later, the small metal board burst and the world changed.

—'''People understand each other’s feelings.

“Ha ha,” she laughed. “This ridiculous concept was created by rearranging the concept allowing humans to combine with machines, but it’s quite effective against human enemies.”

And…

“Rejoice in your newfound understanding, humans!”

While riding on Izumo’s bike, Kazami heard Gyes.

…''What kind of concept is it!?

She focused on her surroundings for a moment, but she could detect nothing strange with her senses. She did not notice anything amiss with gravity, sound, wind, light, or the form and state of matter.

''Then what is it?'' she wondered just as she noticed something.

The scene around her was somehow different from earlier. The back of Izumo’s dress shirt had been visible before, but now she saw something else directly in front of her.

“The motorcycle’s console?”

The familiar site of Izumo’s arms extended from the right and left to hold the grips.

She moved her head to look at herself and realized what had happened.

“Did Kaku and I…?”

“We were switched out.”

The slightly high-pitched voice from behind caused Kazami to shudder.

She frantically looked back and found herself. To see if Izumo was inside, she asked a probing question.

“Um… Is that you inside me, Kaku?”

“No? Don’t be silly. I’m Chisato. …Gwah! You’re willing to punch yourself!?”

“I don’t give a coquettish smile like that when I talk, so stop teasing me. …Oh, no! I just punched myself without thinking!? Am I okay?”

“Y-yeah. It might be your delicate build, but I’m feeling a bit dizzy.”

“Ahh, I can’t believe I ended up hurting myself like this!”

“Face forward, Chisato!”

It was weird being ordered around by herself, but she looked forward.

The ninety degree left turn was coming up and the schoolyard lay directly ahead. To their right, Hiba tilted his motorcycle to turn along with them.

“Hurry up and take the corner! I can’t turn with you there!”

Not only would they cut off Hiba’s path, but they would drive right into the schoolyard.

A white curb formed the borderline between the schoolyard and road, so driving across it would mean a several dozen centimeter drop followed by a screen.

Kazami let out a cry, but she did not have a motorcycle license.

“Kaku! What am I supposed to do!?”

“Don’t lighten up on the accelerator!”

She obeyed her own voice’s instructions. With her arms and legs fixed in place, her body wrapped its arms around her current body. The heat and softness of the body pressing against her back surprised her a bit.

…''Maybe I can be a bit more confident in myself.

A moment later, her own body behind her quickly tilted to the left.

“!”

Unable to resist, she tilted to the left as well.

The high speed flow of air around them changed.

The motorcycle tilted and took the position for turning left, but it was not enough. Hiba was circling in from the right on the outside track and he was going to hit them on the right.

…''Not good!

She made her decision in an instant. First, she tried to remember how Izumo always handled the cornering.

She took in a breath, hunched down in the seat, and pushed backward.

By moving her center of gravity back, she put more weight on the back wheel. That weight exceeded the frictional limit of the tire, so it began skidding and slid to the side, effectively sharpening the turn.

As Hiba came from the right, he twisted the accelerator and moved ahead as he forced his way around the corner.

He charged through the one meter gap between Izumo’s sideways drifting motorcycle and the schoolyard curb.

“I’ll be going on ahead!”

As he passed through, their back tire regained its grip and they were facing the way out of the corner.

“We’ll be going too!”

She twisted the accelerator, the roar of the engine stopped the motorcycle from vibrating, and they shot forward.

The motorcycle raced along the curb forming a boundary with the schoolyard.

She drove in a gouging arc to return from the curb to the asphalt.

“Can you handle this, Chisato!?” asked a voice behind her.

“I can manage!” she shouted back while facing Izumo’s body forward.

Hiba’s motorcycle was now several meters ahead, but they were back on track.

The two automatons ran about twenty meters ahead of him. On their current path, they would pass by the general school buildings and reach the gravel path to the student dormitories.

“Izumo-san,” asked Hiba as he looked over his shoulder.

“What is it?” shouted the voice behind Kazami.

Hiba looked confused.

“Why has Kazami-san been speaking like a guy and why has Izumo-san started acting gay!?”

“You haven’t caught on!? We were swapped out by that concept! Your mind is swapped out with a person who understands your feelings!”

The look on Hiba’s face changed when he heard that.

He looked surprised initially, but then the look darkened a bit.

…''Eh?

Kazami tilted her head and quickly found the answer to her question.

She had been swapped out with Izumo, but Hiba had not been swapped out with Mikage.

The condition seemed to be understanding each other’s feelings.

…''And being human.

Regretting what she had said, she debated whether to give a meaningless apology.

“Hiba!”

Her own voice shouted out as the motorcycle moved onto the gravel path.

“Continue after them! This is our home turf, so don’t let these outsiders have their way here!”

“M-me!?”

“Of course. You’re our underclassmen, the opening act, the newcomer, and the rookie fighter who gets scared too easily. But don’t worry. If you are defeated, we can show up and dramatically announce that you were the weakest of our group.”

Hiba ignored Izumo and twisted the accelerator, but Izumo continued speaking.

“Go! We just need to make a few adjustments and we’ll be right after you!”

Her own leg placed its basketball shoe on her current left foot and pressed down to lock the rear wheel brake. Gravel flew into the air and the motorcycle came to a stop.

“What are you doing, Kaku?”

She turned around and saw herself nod, click her tongue, and fold her arms.

“This is a real pain. I’ll drive, but I’m not sure how well I can control the bike in your body.”

“That’s true… But you’re pretty tall, you know that? I’m amazed by how high up I am.”

[[Image:OnC_v06_0019.png|thumb]]

“Yeah, and your body is strangely light, soft, and hard to use.”

“Stop casually opening my shirt and groping my breasts!”

Her own body waved a hand to calm her down and then stepped off the motorcycle. Her current self moved to the back and her body sat in front. She had never noticed how slender her body was.

…''This giant bike doesn’t suit me at all.

Her body tilted its head while straddling the seat in a skirt.

“It feels weird sitting like this. The, uh…crotch area is… How should I put it?”

“Say anything more and I’ll chop this one off.”

Izumo silently gripped the clutch and put the motorcycle in gear.

''Good, good,'' she thought while embracing the back in front of her like usual.

“Kwah! Ch-Chisato, that’s quite a bear hug.”

“Huh? Is this too tight?”

She let go and her body gasped for breath and waved a hand in defeat. This was going to be tricky.

At any rate, she wrapped her current arms around her body’s waist. She did so hesitantly and he laughed from her mouth after catching his breath.

He twisted the accelerator and the motorcycle moved forward while shaking. As they approached the sounds of Hiba’s motorcycle up ahead, she muttered aloud.

“This is a new experience, but we’ll just have to trust each other!”

Hiba pursued Aigaion after leaving Kazami and Izumo behind.

They had left the line of school buildings and reached the line of boys’ dorms on the northwest end of Taka-Akita Academy. He was currently racing westward between the lines of dormitories.

Ahead of him was an automaton carrying Mikage. He was apparently one of the three Hecatoncheires. Gyes was supported by a god of war and Cottus was as large as a god of war, so he had fought the two of them on land or air a few times in the past, but he had never seen this human-sized one before. He had only heard his name from his grandfather.

After Aigaion parted ways with Gyes, he continued running while carrying Mikage.

Hiba pursued him despite knowing he was being lured somewhere.

The automaton outdid him in size, strength, and athleticism. Aigaion ran inside the western entrance of a dorm and easily ran down the dark corridor at the same speed as a motorcycle.

…''Is this the true strength of an automaton?

They were not human yet made similar to humans, but they definitely surpassed humans.

Hiba then wondered if Mikage was the same.

He was not sure.

He continued to think about long ago and his earliest memories of Mikage.

On Christmas Eve ten years before, his father had brought her to them and she had suddenly awoken the following day.

Her joints and general appearance had been more doll-like than now and her mind had been on the level of an infant.

He had initially been afraid of her because she was not human, but his view had changed after his grandfather had spoken with him.

…''She will eventually become human.

Just as his grandfather had said, he had spent five years with her as she evolved. At first, his mother had taken Mikage around, but once he had seen her start to evolve, he had always been the one to push her wheelchair.

…''She is an automaton that can approach humanity if she wishes for it.

Mikage had wanted to become human.

While traveling between his grandfather’s dojo, home, and other places, she had experienced and gained many things. She had gained the five senses of a human, she had gained real skin, flesh, nails, and hair, and she had gained so much more as well.

Back then, a girl his grandfather had taken in had attended the dojo. She was older than him and she had trained alongside him, but Hiba had focused on the fact that Mikage was with him and that he believed she would eventually become human.

She was unable to walk properly and she could not speak, but he had believed it would happen eventually.

But five years ago, the girl he had adored like an elder sister had suddenly disappeared, Mikage had cried, and something had arrived.

After leaving his grandfather’s dojo, a giant green armored warrior had appeared before him.

He had been blown away in an instant and he had felt his forehead split open and the pain of broken ribs.

Mikage had caught his short body from her wheelchair and he had passed out.

The next thing he had known, the armored warrior had laid defeated before him.

He had looked down at its broken body from high up and he had realized his own body was a giant black armored warrior.

Hiba remembered being ejected to the ground from the armored warrior and he remembered Mikage falling down from overhead.

A shallow wound had remained on his forehead, but the injury to his ribs was gone.

In exchange, Mikage’s ribs had been broken.

And from that point onward, her evolution had stopped.

…''She protected me back then!

He had forced her to protect him. He had made her call in the god of war and his injuries had been transferred to her when he had joined with it.

''It was all because I couldn’t protect her,'' he thought. ''She wants the power to fight, so she’s stopped her human evolution to seek her power as an automaton.

He believed that was what had stopped her evolution.

He twisted the accelerator.

He sent the motorcycle and himself into the dark corridor Aigaion had run down.

“I…”

He could not finish his sentence.

No matter how much he fought and won from now on, he could not change the fact that he was being protected.

She was the one that held the power to end this fight.

…''What should I do?

“I…!”

With that word, he charged into the student dorm.

It was 7:27 AM.

Two things happened on the helicopter landing zone to the side of UCAT’s long range runways.

Two white pallets sent to the surface via the cargo lift began to vibrate.

Sibyl had intentionally left those three meter pallets off of the helicopter.

As Ooshiro supervised, the landing zone maintenance workers and the development department members circled around the two pallets from a distance. As they did, the vibrations intensified.

“The lock is releasing,” said a young man from the development department.

True enough, the locks on the thin three meter pallets burst open. They both did so at the same moment as if they wanted to be together.

With the sound of shattering metal, the two pallets opened and a large sword and long spear flew into the air.

They both had streamlined forms made from white and black and they moved further into the morning sky. Sounds resembling clanging metal fragments seemed to fill the surrounding air and the two weapons stood vertically with their tips turned heavenward.

The sword and spear shook just once.

That single action knocked away the fragments of the locks still clinging to them.

After a moment, the armor panels on the sides and top of the blades opened.

As they exposed their thrusters, green light filled the activating consoles and activation signals blinked on various parts like a pulse.

Their activation text appeared on the consoles and they named themselves.

“V-Sw. Contact – OK.”

“G-Sp2. Contact – OK.”

Seeing that, the tension left Ooshiro’s shoulders.

“So the dragons obey the heroes who subdued them.”

“Good morning,” displayed V-Sw with a gentle twist of its body.

G-Sp2 made a similar twist next to it.

“Did you call for us?”

“Did we call for you?” repeated Ooshiro. After a moment, he clapped his hands together. “Oh, I was just thinking I needed a good backscratcher!”

“Not a chance.”

“Oh, c’mon!!”

As everyone else nodded as if that was the proper way to handle the old man, Ooshiro looked back up and saw the same question as before on the console.

“I didn’t call for you,” he said. “But your masters have called you to the playground of dragons.”

As if nodding, the two blades lightly tapped against each together.

That metallic noise was followed by an identical message on both their consoles.

“We are off to have some fun.”

The two weapons that contained dragons soared into the air.

They first sank down a bit, but then they shot up toward the heavens.

All Ooshiro and the others sensed was an explosion of wind, a sound like a bursting paper bag, and several people being knocked away by the wind.

“Look in the sky…”

The dragon weapons had vanished, but two white lines remained in their place.

The two lines of steam gently curved into the southern sky and the sound of their departure echoed throughout the area.

Ooshiro did not bother fixing his lab coat as it flapped in the wind and he raised his right thumb toward the southern sky.

“That was a little over-the-top, but it saves us the effort of transporting them.”

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Preface|Preface]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume6 Chapter 13|Chapter 13]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 11

2026-09-05T02:00:24Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 11: Running Metal==
[[Image:OnC_v05_0371.png|thumb]]
''Pursue, pursue

''Bring your speed out below the sky

Below the blue sky, a single motion filled the city that had yet to get going in the morning.

Two boys had two motorcycles idling in front of a destroyed two-story house with a red roof.

The motorcycles belonged to Hiba and Izumo. They were both old, but they were one liter models and the two of them together produced a low drum-like rumbling. Sayama had helped Izumo remove Hiba’s sidecar and now he walked over to Shinjou who had nothing to do.

“How is the Hiba boy?”

“He went around the neighborhood telling people there was a gas explosion that caused their underground garage to cave-in.”

“I suppose UCAT will contact his mother and the police. Disguised police cars should be arriving soon, so that only leaves us.”

“Sayama! Shinjou! We’re ready over here! How about you!?”

Kazami stood up next to the motorcycle with motor oil on her cheek.

However, she heard no response from Sayama or Shinjou. Instead, she heard Sayama’s cell phone.

Everyone turned toward the boy and he lightly raised his hand while pulling out the black phone. He made sure to activate speaker phone.

“It’s me. Shinjou-kun and two miscellaneous others are with me.”

“Yes, yes. Tes, tes. This is your teacher.”

“Oh, what is it, Ooki-sensei? Are you informing us you will be late? Isn’t it a bit early for that? Ha ha ha. And how can you justify being late on the final day of the first term?”

“That isn’t it. Um, is there a huge concept space where you are by any chance?”

Strength filled everyone’s gazes when they heard that.

As the early morning wind blew through, Sayama asked Ooki a question.

“I see. Are you actually doing your job this morning, Ooki-sensei? Congratulations. You have taken one step up the staircase to normalcy. I fear you will soon trip and fall down several steps, though.”

“Wah! Why are you always like this, Sayama-kun! You’re going to make me angry!”

“Then be angry.”

“I am!”

“Are you quite done?”

“Tes. That’s enough anger for me.”

To his right, Shinjou doubtfully pointed at her own head and rotated the finger, but Sayama ignored it. He had been well aware of that since the previous year.

“Now, Ooki-sensei, please give me the details. I believe we are right in front of it.”

“Oh, right, right. It feels kinda 3rd-Gear-ish. Sibyl-san is preparing to head out, but do all of you have your string watches?”

Sayama looked down at the black UCAT watch on his wrist. Shinjou and Kazami did the same.

“Ah?”

But Izumo tilted his head and showed off his empty wrists with a stiff smile.

“This ain’t good. In my defense, no one told me to wear it today.”

“I’ll be nice and point out that Kaku never wears a watch or carries a cell phone when he isn’t out on a mission.”

“Ha ha ha. If you insist on rejecting modern society, you should go live in the mountains of Okutama. You can live in the wild with an old man who rejects human morality and a teacher who rejects the concept of time.”

“I-I actually woke up this morning!”

They all ignored Ooki’s comment.

Kazami folded her arms as she wondered what to do, but Shinjou held out her watch.

“Izumo-san, why don’t you use mine?”

Everyone turned toward her with questioning eyes, so she shrunk back a bit.

“U-um, if you think about it, I probably wouldn’t have anything to do in there. Without Ex-St, I can’t shoot at anything, so…um…”

“What are you saying, Shinjou-kun? With you by my side, my motivation increases eightfold!”

“Shinjou, give me your watch before Sayama does anything stupid.”

“Eh? Why you, Kazami-san?”

“Think about it, Shinjou-kun,” cut in Sayama. “If Izumo placed your watch around his filthy wrist, it would be infected with the Izumo virus and it would make you very strange and perverted. On second thought, that sounds wonderful.”

“Yeah, it’s because I had a feeling that crazy boy would say something like that.”

“You’re right,” said Shinjou as she handed Kazami the watch.

Kazami handed her watch to Izumo, put on Shinjou’s watch, and placed a hand on the stem of the watch.

“Listen, Kaku. We need to initialize the automatically recorded child string vibration. Just press this switch. …No, not there. Oh, c’mon. You have to know that isn’t right either. Yes, now push it all the way in.”

“Is that anything to say on an early morning road?” commented Sayama.

“Eh? Okay, now it will automatically read in a new vibration just like when you first put one on.”

Kazami and Izumo lightly twisted the watches to make sure they were on right.

Sayama nodded, but Shinjou looked worried.

“What is it, Shinjou?”

She nodded and turned toward the figure behind them.

It was Hiba. He had added a jacket and goggles to his outfit and his expression was serious.

“What should I do? I can’t enter concept spaces without Mikage-san’s Susamikado.”

He received an immediate answer from Sayama.

“Use my watch, Hiba boy. You are likely more normal than Izumo.”

“I’m not sure what that last part means, but are you sure? You’re Team Leviathan’s representative, aren’t you?”

“The high-mobility S&M couple behind me is in charge of fighting. From the looks of them, I doubt the two we saw possess the Concept Core, so there will be no room for negotiation. Act as violently as you wish and retrieve that which is important to you. And you will be indebted to me for lending you this watch. Not a bad deal, don’t you think?”

After a short pause, Hiba smiled bitterly.

“I can’t argue with that,” he said as he took the watch with a smile. “But you shouldn’t be so open about trying to make someone indebted to you. Anyway, how does this work?”

“You press this switch here. …No, not there. No, that isn’t right either. Yes, now push it all the way in.”

“Sayama-kun, I think you’re getting even crazier.”

“Hm?”

By the time Sayama turned around, Hiba had finished operating the watch.

At the same time, Ooki spoke from his phone.

“The new child string vibrations just arrived and there’s one I don’t recognize. And from the look of Kazami-san’s, she has an upset stomach. You shouldn’t snack late at night.”

“She’s right…”

Kazami held her stomach with a displeased look and Sayama nodded in understanding.

“Ooki-sensei, can you get them inside?”

“Yes, yes. UCAT is about to interfere with the concept space in order to send in those wearing the watches and to prepare for Sibyl-san’s entry. We didn’t make this one, so please don’t remove the watches. Who knows what will happen if your stability is thrown a bit off.”

Kazami’s expression stiffened at the mention of Sibyl.

Izumo patted her on the back and she nodded and returned to her normal expression.

“What about our weapons?”

“It seems Sibyl-san is loading V-Sw, G-Sp2, and Ex-St on a transport helicopter. Once she arrives, the detailed concept space data she takes will be used to let the others in without watches. Is that okay?”

“Testament,” replied Sayama and Ooki continued.

“The shape of the concept space seems to have been modified. It’s an upside down funnel shape with a diameter of two kilometers. The end of the funnel reaches about fifteen kilometers into the air. The enemy uses that to escape detection by traveling through Low-Gear at twelve or thirteen kilometers up.”

“And without seeing inside the concept space, we cannot wait for them where they will exit. Our only choice is to settle this inside.”

“After meeting up with Sayama-kun and Shinjou-kun, Sibyl-san will enter from the northwest. Izumo-kun, your group should-…”

“Head in from here, right? That way we can cut them off from the south.”

Kazami straddled Izumo’s motorcycle and slid her butt to the back.

“Sensei, tell Sibyl to leave our weapons on the open pallet at the launch area.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Yes. Those cute things want to be with us enough that they’ll come to us on their own. And Hiba, do you have a weapon?”

“Yes. A sword with a philosopher’s stone. My father left it for me.”

“Your father?” asked Kazami.

Hiba gave a troubled smile.

“I don’t really know what he did, but he suddenly accepted Mikage-san into our family ten years ago and then went off somewhere that same evening. That was the night of the Great Kansai Earthquake.”

That final comment brought Sayama’s hand to the left side of his chest.

Kazami and Izumo’s expressions hardened and Shinjou leaned up against Sayama. That was all it took for him to remove his hand from his chest. He said he was fine, but his face was a bit pale.

When Hiba gave him a curious look, he nodded.

“Now, it is time we got going. We can speak some more once this battle is over.” He took a breath. “We can see if our fight and your fight can work together along with these impurities you speak of.”

Two figures traveled along a deserted road.

The morning sun lit up the man and woman who traveled north along the main road.

They were Gyes in her red suit and Aigaion.

They both kicked off the asphalt as they moved quickly to the north. They cut through the air as they ran and each step took them from one streetlight to the next, so their running was made up of several-meter leaps.

They were quite fast.

They passed between the scattering of empty and unmoving cars as they hurried north.

Gyes ran in front and Aigaion followed with a girl in a white dress floating ahead of him. She was curled up like a child and elevated a bit above his head.

He was carrying Mikage via gravitational control.

He watched her as her eyes remained closed and she did not move. His scratched cheek loosened.

“She put up quite a fight.”

“Until she lost consciousness, she believed her partner would come rescue her. …Is she human?”

Aigaion looked at Mikage’s neck.

[[Image:OnC_v05_0381.png|thumb]]

“No. We need to have Moira 2nd look at her to be certain, but I’ve never seen a human like this.”

“Neither have I.”

She brought her right hand to her cheek which also had four parallel scratches on it, but they vanished as she traced her fingers across them.

“It took longer than expected to secure her. Should we call Cottus here?”

“Riding your god of war would be faster.”

“I can only use it for short periods of time. I don’t need the machine, but I want to preserve as much strength as possible when the enemy might pursue us.”

“How reliable,” said Aigaion.

Suddenly, light raced over their heads from ahead of them to behind them. The four beams of light continued for a few seconds.

“That was Cottus’s weapon!”

Just before the bombardment hit, Aigaion grabbed Mikage in his arms and leaped forward with Gyes.

At the same time, a rock-splitting explosion burst out behind them.

A powerful gust of wind from behind threatened to scoop their feet out from under them. The pressure of the wind rivaled a solid wall and it pushed them even further forward. Gyes glanced over her shoulder while in midair.

“Cottus! Why did you fire!?”

“Enemy approaching.”

That transmitted voice caused Gyes to focus more closely on her surroundings and she checked for movement behind them.

Fragments scattered from the main road and smoke trailed behind them.

She did not see anything there until something burst through the smoke.

She saw two motorcycles. They often saw those machines on Low-Gear’s roads. It depended on the specific model, but they tended to have good acceleration and they were a decent machine for transporting small numbers of people.

And the loud noises of their engines suggested these two could travel at high speed.

She did not recognize the boy and girl on one of them, but the boy on the other was a different story.

“The descendant of Hiba!”

Gyes made several decisions in midair and the danger she sensed in this opponent rose considerably.

The enemy had mobility, speed, the possibility of concept weapons, combat experience, the knowledge needed for concept combat, and a set objective.

She made a stern decision as to how to deal with them.

They would lure the enemy somewhere they could not use their mobility and speed. If the enemy did have concept weapons, they only had to use even more power than those weapons. She and her fellow automatons had thousands of years of combat experience and knowledge. And if this enemy had a set objective, they only had to divert them from it.

“Aigaion!” she shouted as she landed.

“Got it,” he said as he looked to the right of the road.

There he saw a large collection of buildings. The main entrance of the giant facility said Taka-Akita Academy.

“Let’s finish this here!”

Gyes pulled a palm-sized sheet of metal from her pocket. The steel had a blue crystal embedded in it and she laughed as she ran through the front gate with it in her hand.

She directed the laugh toward the two motorcycles pursuing them.

The wind blew across the two vehicles as they took tight corners that sent their back wheels skidding. Gyes turned toward the one with a boy and girl onboard and spoke to them.

“We will use this philosopher’s stone board to eliminate you two outsiders!”

As she faced them and ran backward, she held up the metal panel and gave a shout.

“We will add on another concept!”

An instant later, the small metal board burst and the world changed accordingly.

In an instant, everything changed just as Gyes and Aigaion wanted.

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 10|Chapter 10]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Afterword|Afterword]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 10

2026-09-04T03:30:13Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 10: A Chance Meeting of Questions==
[[Image:OnC_v05_0337.png|thumb]]
''Ask until you run out of questions

''Once that happens, there are only two possibilities

''Whether you have a full understanding or must give up, there is nothing more to say

A small room of about ten square meters had a six square meter kitchen attached. The room had no windows, but the gentle light of early morning passed faintly through the walls themselves.

The pale lighting showed books, CDs, and empty bottles of mineral water scattered on the floor.

In the center of the room was a single large object.

It was donut-shaped and was at least two meters across. It was made of plastic and the circular space in the center had about thirty centimeters of water inside.

It was a kiddie pool.

Someone was currently asleep while soaking in the pool.

The woman was curled up while facing to the left. Her ears were longer than a human’s and her face was submerged. She wore a dress shirt instead of pajamas and her brown hair was soaking wet, but her shoulder and the line down to her stomach were rising and falling above the surface with an incredibly slow rhythm.

“…”

The water suddenly moved as her leg moved below it. The bottom of her foot lightly kicked the inside of the pool.

Ripples filled the pool which said “Ooki” on the side with magic marker.

The small waves struck the ear sticking above the surface and Ooki gave a ticklish expression below.

That was when an electronic tone filled the room. A faint light and a chilly, air-splitting noise came from the kitchen. A cell phone’s red light began flashing atop the portable stove that had an unused pot on it.

The sound caused Ooki to close her long ears without waking up. She rejected the sound.

“Nnn…”

But the ringing continued from the kitchen.

This continued for a few minutes. After some more time dozing, she slowly raised her closed ear.

She stuck it wholly out of the water and noticed the sound had not stopped.

“…”

She frowned in displeasure below the water, but she still got up.

“Fweh?”

With a gentle splashing noise, she sat up without brushing her wet hair from her sleepy face and with her shirt sticking to her bare skin. Her listless eyes stared at the duck toy floating on the water.

But the ringing continued from the kitchen.

“Quiet down.”

She slowly stood up with a sleepy look in her eyes and water dripped down from her.

“So tired…”

She wobbled a bit, but she managed to brush up her hair and step forward. The wooden floor instantly absorbed the water that fell from her skin. She arrived in the kitchen in seven steps and picked up the cell phone.

“Ooki-sama? This is Sibyl from Team Leviathan.”

''Oh…'' thought Ooki.

Her brain was not functioning very well, but she tried to remember what she should say.

“Ahh ah…”

It seemed like Sibyl nodded.

“Testament. You woke up quickly today. This was seven minutes faster than yesterday.”

''She praised me. Yay!'' she thought, but her body would not keep up. ''Sayama-kun and the others are always so full of energy in the morning. I wish I was like that.

…''Then again, I’m not sure I’d like it.

As she thought, her brain started moving bit by bit. She gave a weak laugh and asked a question.

“Um… What is it?”

“Testament. Are you listening?”

“Hm, I guess so.”

“Testament. Then I shall keep this short. …You are late. Please hurry to UCAT.”

“Hweh?”

Ooki looked to the clock on the kitchen wall.

“Ooki-sama, your kitchen clock had been stopped at 2:30 three months ago. You yourself said you need to put in new batteries, but what time does it give you now?”

“2:30.”

“Testament. It is actually approximately two hours after that. Ooshiro-sama is already here.”

“Eh? It’s 4:30? I don’t go to school until seven and why is Ooshiro-san at the school?”

After a few seconds, Sibyl cleared her throat.

“Starting last week, Japanese UCAT headquarters has been working with Kansai UCAT to search for any philosopher’s stone reactions. Team Leviathan is helping and you are in charge of concept related operations. Also, your shift is four to seven both AM and PM.”

“Really?”

“Testament. You were told at the initial meeting and each morning at around this time. Today, we have detected a faint reaction in Kansai, so it is possible another flying object will appear.”

“Oh, I see. But have I really been doing that job?”

“Testament. Normally, it takes you about five more minutes to remember this recent job. And then you always shout an apology.”

“Oh, is that so? …Ah! I’m sorry!!”

“That was a few minutes early. Have you finally woken up?”

She had, so she frantically held the cell phone with her shoulder.

“D-don’t worry! I’m on my way now!”

“Ooki-sama, are you a soba restaurant?”

“No, no, no, no.”

She put on her work heels and realized she would need to work at UCAT past seven to make up for being so late. She prepared herself to be late for school.

But that worried her because this was the final day of the first term. If she was late or absent, would the children be able to continue homeroom smoothly? She had read in the newspaper that modern children were poor at working in groups and tended to quickly make mistakes. She did not think that would be a problem with her students.

“But I’m still worried. Especially with a certain few.”

With that serious comment, she finished putting on her heels, opened the door, and left.

Outside was a mountain road through a forest. The morning air and light soaked into her body after passing through the surrounding trees.

Behind her was a giant wall made of wood.

Looking up, she found a large tree towering up in the forest. Its trunk was at least twenty meters across and it was her home.

“I really have grown up.”

The door at the base led to a living space modeled after the apartments she had seen in newspaper ads. She had created the interior after becoming conscious and being able to go outside. The space’s child string vibration was the same as her own. She told her students she lived in an apartment, but no one else could see the door or go inside. Oddly enough, roaches still managed to find their way in.

Even so, she never forgot to shut the door behind her or to shut off the new model of electromagnetic relay device installed in the trunk.

She reached for her waist pocket she always kept the key in.

“Huh?”

It was not there. Both the key and the pocket itself were missing. Just as she began wondering where she had dropped the pocket, a voice came from the cell phone on her shoulder.

“Ooki-sama, you forgot to change into your clothes as usual.”

Two people rode a single motorcycle down an early morning road.

The sky was clear and the eastern sun was to their side as they traveled south.

The motorcycle was right next to the sidewalk and Izumo moved it forward by foot with the clutch disengaged. Kazami sat behind him in a T-shirt and hoodie and held a large rucksack.

Sayama and Shinjou walked along the sidewalk in their school uniforms.

Sayama checked his watch and Baku peered at it from his chest, but it was still before seven.

“I did not expect the Hiba boy to call us here this morning. Is he not afraid of Kazami?”

“Chisato, don’t kick him. The recoil would knock the bike over into the lane of traffic.”

“Kaku, I hadn’t started to do anything yet.”

“Yet?” asked Shinjou. Kazami turned toward her, so she frantically waved her hands. “N-nothing. I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t wondering if you were planning to do something. A-a-anyway, um… Did Ryuuji-kun really ask us to stop by in the morning?”

“He probably chose a time when no one else would be here. He also said he wanted to show us something.”

“I see.” Shinjou nodded and tilted her head. “What kind of person was he?”

Kazami looked up into the sky with a distant look in her eyes.

“He looks obedient enough, but I think he needs a decent beating.”

“Chisato, stop expressing everything through violence. You’d be a wonderful girl if it weren’t for that.”

“C-c’mon, stop complimenting me like that.”

She sent a left hook into the side of Izumo’s head to hide her embarrassment.

Instead of a scream, Izumo gave an awkward grunt and collapsed into the lane of traffic along with the motorcycle.

“Ah,” said Kazami as she jumped from the motorcycle, but Izumo landed sprawled out on the road.

A moment later the tires of a 12-ton dump truck grazed his hair as it traveled at well above the speed limit.

He frantically stood up amid the rumble of its engine and the shaking of the ground.

“Whoa! Y-you idiot, your flirting almost killed me!”

“That is quite an absurd cause of death,” sighed Sayama before spreading his palms to either side. “Seeing the current state of this indecent couple has me worried about your future.”

“Wow,” said Shinjou with a feigned smile. “You can actually worry about others, Sayama-kun?”

Izumo righted the motorcycle, made sure the stopper had not broken, got back on, and sighed. Kazami apologized and sat behind him.

“Anyway, about Hiba. Wouldn’t you know more, Sayama? You were both students of the Hiba Dojo, right?”

“I attended that bizarre dojo starting in middle school, but I only ever ran across him once or twice a year. According to the other long-time students, Hiba-sensei would take time out to teach him techniques he did not teach the others.”

Sayama recalled the black god of war from the other night.

“What did you think of him after speaking with him? To get right to the point, do you think he is dangerous?”

“I’m not sure. He didn’t really seem like a bad person. If anything, he seemed to like people too much. He’s the type who would definitely go buy you a can of coffee if you asked him. He wouldn’t if you ordered him, though.”

Sayama smiled bitterly at that last comment.

“The kind of person that draws that kind of line can be the most frightening.”

“There’s more.” Izumo nodded and shrugged. “That kid made a call on his cell phone after we finished speaking yesterday. And he called the person Mikage.”

“You mean…?”

“Yes. He’s slightly perverted, but the girl he cares for comes first. I’m the same, so I think we can get along!”

“You take it a lot further than just ‘slightly’ perverted!”

Sayama ignored Kazami’s shouting and actions. He wrapped an arm around Shinjou’s shoulders and walked forward. Behind him, he could hear flesh being struck, metal bending, and countless dump trucks driving by, but he paid it no heed.

“S-Sayama-kun? I’m not sure how to describe the sounds behind us. Wham and smash don’t do it justice.”

“Shinjou-kun, stop relying on onomatopoeia. And this scene is too brutal for practicing verbal descriptions. Let us continue on. The Hiba house should be just up ahead, so how about it?”

Shinjou let out a breath in his arm, her shoulders drooped, and she suddenly looked around the area.

She took a city map from the binder in her arms.

“Um, we’re going to the Hiba family house, right? Yeah, it should be around here… It’s pretty close to the school.”

As soon as she spoke, they heard an engine in front of them.

They both looked forward and saw a boy riding a motorcycle which had a sidecar.

“Huh? Harakawa-kun?”

“Hey,” said the boy as he stopped the motorcycle.

Their classmate Harakawa turned toward them. His wavy black hair was swept back, he had brown skin, and he wore his school uniform roughly.

“What are you two doing out this early?”

“We are on a student council job to save the world.”

“Oh, that sounds important. Are the perverted president and violent treasurer not with you?”

Sayama turned back, realized those two and their motorcycle had vanished from the road at some point, and heard the dull sounds of mounted punches coming from the thicket of a park next to the sidewalk. A close examination showed Izumo’s leg sticking out from the thicket and shaking along with the irregular sounds of impact.

“They seem to be busy,” he said after turning back to Harakawa.

“Sayama Mikoto, I hate how that sounds like the truth when you say it.”

After giving a bitter smile, Harakawa looked back and forth between Shinjou and Sayama.

“I see you two are getting along well.”

“Ha ha ha. Why of course. Every morning, I help develop Shinjou-kun’s bodily awareness by-…”

“Waaah!! How many times do I have to tell you not to say that in front of people!?”

She tightened his tie down to the base.

He had been in the middle of laughing, so his vision suddenly started to shake, but he quickly removed her hands. As she frantically tried to strangle him, he began struggling against her hands and the tie.

“H-Harakawa-kun, what are you doing here?” she asked while dealing with his hands. “I thought you lived in the other direction.”

“Shinjou-kun, a criminal tends to avoid the scene of his crimes.”

“Stop making things up, Sayama Mikoto. I was bringing some parts to an underclassman named Hiba.”

Hearing that, Shinjou finally stopped trying to grab the tie.

She turned toward Sayama, nodded once, and then looked back at Harakawa.

“Th-then you’re on your way to school now? We only have the closing ceremony today, so isn’t it a bit early?”

“It is, but I have to clean up my stuff in the automobile club and I have work right after the closing ceremony ends.”

“I see. But you never got your job approval sticker because you skipped the final homeroom the other day, right? Ooki-sensei has it, so you should probably get it before she forgets what it is and sticks it on her lectern.”

“What is she, a child? Anyway, I can still work without approval, Shinjou Setsu.” Harakawa smiled bitterly and shook the bracelet on his arm in displeasure. “More importantly, I know you two understand, so can you tell Ooki-sensei to stop asking about me at the hospital? My mom’s gonna find out I’m skipping classes. …Also tell her to stop calling my cell when I’m at work just because she can’t remember how to get home.”

“You tell her yourself, Harakawa. That is your duty as a student.”

“Is that so?” With another bitter smile, he moved his motorcycle forward to continue past them. “Oh, and one other thing. Pay attention to who’s watching when you put your arms around each other’s shoulders. Not everyone is as accepting as I am.”

Shinjou lowered her shoulders and blushed while Sayama simply nodded.

“Never fear. I do not feel embarrassment.”

“That’s called having no shame!”

“Calm down, calm down.”

With his arm still around her shoulders, Sayama began walking forward once more. As they heard the motorcycle drive off into the distance, a new sight reached them.

Amid the two-story houses was a blue-roofed house with a boy polishing a motorcycle in front.

Also, a girl with long, blonde hair sat in a wheelchair next to him.

Sayama approached Hiba and the boy looked up in realization.

He frantically stood and then bowed.

Meanwhile, Shinjou whispered to Sayama from his arm.

“Don’t say anything too weird, okay? This is more or less our first time speaking with him, so start with a topic you have in common. Like motorcycles or something.”

“No need to worry. I already have the perfect topic in mind.”

Shinjou breathed a sigh of relief and he nodded.

He raised a hand toward Hiba and charmingly greeted him with a topic they had in common.

“Good morning, slightly perverted Hiba Ryuuji-kun! I am well aware that you are slightly perverted. But do not worry! I too am a boy, so feel free to discuss- Wait, Hiba boy! Why are you running away!?”

Someone began strangling him from the side.

Even early in the morning, the development department and armories on the second basement of Okutama UCAT was filled with activity.

This was due to the announcement from Ooki being sent to only that department.

“Um… It looks like there are some philosopher’s stone readings around Akigawa. Three of them. This looks suspicious, so it would be appreciated if you prepared some equipment.”

Tsukuyomi had been up all night using her computer, but she managed to react now.

She stood up and spoke to all of those already preparing inside their partitions.

“Despite what Miss Ooki would make you think, this might actually be really bad. Remain on standby and prepare the anti-concept equipment for ground combat! We might have to break into a concept space, so prepare the assault models!”

Multiple voices voiced their understanding, so she snapped her fingers and began walking toward the large door out into the corridor.

As the others left their partitions and followed her, she barked instructions.

“Those remaining in the department are to be on standby state three! We don’t know what unit will be selected in an emergency, so carry out all necessary equipment as if this were training! And anyone with nothing else to do should clean the armories! We don’t bring everything out very often, so this is our chance. Prepare the vacuums you can stick in the gaps on the pallets!”

She threw open the door to the corridor and those gathered behind her began to run. They were on their way to the armories, the maintenance team’s floor, and the equipment elevator room. Those still in the room contacted the other departments needed to move the equipment and ensured they could operate smoothly as an organization.

The corridor walls opened and the auxiliary equipment transport rails leading to the equipment elevator room appeared. The workers in the corridor divided into an inside and outside team as Tsukuyomi watched on.

They opened the doors to the armories, removed the weapon pallets from the inner garage, placed them on the rails, and sent them off. The larger pallets were set on the main equipment transport rails which led directly to the surface and they were rushed to those who needed them. The rails screeched as the pallets moved quickly to the standby post on the surface.

“Hurry it up! You! If it needs thawing, shove it in the large oven!”

As Tsukuyomi spoke, everyone around her ran off in different directions.

“This is going well,” she muttered.

At that moment, Kashima moved past her while scratching his head. He too had stayed up all night. He was in charge of swords and blades and was on the way to his subordinates.

“Ah, Kashima!”

“Oh, yes. What is it?”

A moment after asking, he pulled out his laptop with a look of realization.

“I understand, Director Tsukuyomi! You want to see how much my Harumi has grown to soothe the tension, don’t you? L-look at this amazing and valuable footage! She’s so interested in this toy!”

With a stiff smile, Tsukuyomi strongly grasped the laptop with just the thumb and forefinger of her right hand. She then threw it to the floor with a snap of the wrist.

“Ahhhhh! I only just finished editing today’s Haru-chan collection!”

“Pipe down. This is an emergency. More importantly, um…well…”

“Is it about Atsuta?”

“Yes, that’s right. Where is that idiot?”

“That creature has been in Niigata for the last three days.”

“What? Is there something there?”

“Only in his mind. He said the Sea of Japan was calling him.”

“Tell him to go during the winter next time! And here I was hoping to send him against a god of war so I could see him beaten to a pulp.”

Kashima pushed his glasses to the top of his nose with a serious look.

“A god of war?”

“Testament.”

A cool voice seemed to ignore all the surrounding activity.

Tsukuyomi and everyone else turned toward the corridor entrance and found a woman standing there.

“Sibyl of the maintenance department.”

“Testament. But I am currently here as a member of Team Leviathan.”

As Sibyl walked forward, she was already wearing her white armored uniform and her brisk gait caused her skirt to flip up and cut through the wind.

“Are you listening? While Ooki of Team Leviathan was randomly operating our machinery, she discovered a few philosopher’s stone reactions near the city of Akigawa. There are three and all of them are god of war class. They have been judged to be 3rd-Gear’s combat automatons known as the Hecatoncheires.”

“Judged? How? Did you check their child string vibrations?”

“Testament. It was my decision.”

With a smile, Sibyl passed by Tsukuyomi and slowly raised her right hand.

“Please bring out my pallet from block eighteen on the fifth basement. Other than that, I only need enough personnel to transport it.”

“W-wait a minute. The fifth basement?”

“Do not be so surprised. With the Leviathan Road underway, Team Leviathan’s armory is bound to be used more frequently. And even it is less strictly guarded than the storage vault containing Georgius and Concept Core weapons whose exact location is unknown and is directly controlled by Ooshiro-sama.”

Still smiling, Sibyl turned toward Tsukuyomi, nodded, and spoke to all the others who had stopped to listen.

“With the authority of Team Leviathan, let me assure you that this battle will occur within a concept space. Please assist me in bringing it to an end.”

Shinjou and Sayama moved to the side of the Hiba house.

The area was similar to an alleyway. A two meter area of dirt existed between the trees and fence surrounding the Hiba house and the concrete wall surrounding the neighboring house.

Sayama looked through the dimly lit alley from a step ahead of Shinjou.

“Why must we speak here? Do you feel guilty about something, slightly perverted Hiba boy?”

Hiba was panting for breath after frantically pushing the girl’s wheelchair to the alley and he glared at Shinjou and Sayama.

“Wh-where did you hear about that? Peeking up that skirt in the past yesterday was just a bit of curiosity.”

“But… If you think about it, that was Mikage-san’s mother he was peeking at.”

“Shinjou-kun, you must not say that. If you say boys at his age feel their heart race when they notice a girl, it may sound pure enough, but it would be more accurate to say they act like dogs.”

“Stop whispering to each other!”

Shinjou looked over and saw Mikage suspiciously staring at Hiba.

She held a cane to help her walk and she used it to jab at him, so he frantically turned a smile in her direction.

“I-it seems these people are mistaken about some things. Okay, Mikage-san? Okay?”

“He’s trying to trick her,” muttered Shinjou with a half-lidded glare, but she then tilted her head and stepped up to Sayama’s left. “Um, I take it that girl is Mikage-san.”

“Yes,” he said while turning her wheelchair toward them. “That’s right. You have heard the details concerning her, right?”

“Yes. She was born sixty years ago and we heard what Cronus-san did to her in the other world. Is all that true?”

Mikage tilted her head weakly and turned to Hiba.

She spoke to Hiba instead of Shinjou and she spoke with exaggerated silent mouth movements. They had heard about this from Kazami over the phone the day before. It was part of Mikage’s incomplete evolution.

After Mikage finished speaking, Hiba tilted his head.

“Will you show them?”

Mikage nodded.

She faced Shinjou and Sayama once more. She was wearing a white turtleneck and a beige dress. Both were a bit big for her, so they looked baggy.

She raised her right hand and removed the white glove.

Shinjou spoke what it was that was revealed below the glove.

“A doll…”

Mikage’s right hand was made from a beige material that almost looked white. The flexible points at the joints were made from a black material and were the same as the soft armor on UCAT armored uniforms. As her fingers moved, black curves formed on the skin of her hand.

Still silent, she lowered her turtleneck’s collar.

Her neck was the same. It had a lot of flexible points, so the connection between her neck and breastbone was almost entirely black.

She expressionlessly opened her mouth and said something. Hiba read her lips and spoke in her stead.

“Do you need to see anything more to confirm the truth of the past?”

Hiba’s quiet words produced a reflexive shake of the head from Shinjou. She was well aware of how frightening it could be to show someone your body.

“That’s the body of an automaton that is evolving into a human.”

Shinjou fell silent and thought about the past she had seen the night before.

If what she had heard there was accurate, Cronus had given Mikage the god of war intended to be a spare for Typhon.

Hiba seemed to pick up on her thoughts because he nodded.

“Mikage-san was given Susamikado, a god of war meant to be Typhon’s spare and which was modeled after my grandfather’s Susahito Custom. Cronus placed it in a concept space that her body can draw it from.” He took a breath. “But the half of the Concept Core is not contained within Susamikado because it could make her evolution unstable. It is instead sealed within Keravnos, Susamikado’s special armament. In Greek mythology, that was the heavenly lightning Zeus used to seal Typhon.”

Sayama replied from Shinjou’s right by holding up his left hand as a sign to stop.

“Susamikado? That is the first time we have heard its name. …This seems like a good opportunity.” He snapped his fingers to show he was changing the subject. “It may be a sudden question, but could you tell us about the final battle with 3rd-Gear?”

Shinjou was taken aback.

She remembered what the automaton named #4 had said the day before.

…''There are aspects of 3rd-Gear’s destruction that those automatons don’t know.

He was pursuing the answer to those questions.

She turned to face him and he spoke expressionlessly.

“We obtained a fair bit of information yesterday, but a lot is unclear about that part. I would like to know about it.”

Sayama saw Hiba frown and tilt his head.

“Why do you want to know that all of a sudden?”

There was no need to give a detailed answer to that question.

“A certain individual asked me for that information and I want to know. Why is 3rd-Gear still fighting? From what I heard, the Gear’s survivor, Apollo, is a pacifist, but-…”

“Nonsense.” Hiba laughed and cut him off. “Then what do you suggest? Surely you don’t think 3rd-Gear is fighting because I’m attacking them to gain the Concept Core and speed up Mikage-san’s evolution.”

“That is certainly one way of looking at it.”

“Well, it isn’t true. Five years ago, they picked a fight with us. A god of war suddenly appeared before us and attacked. That was when Mikage-san first called in Susamikado.” He hung his head a bit and placed a hand on his white bandanna. “Sorry. I can’t say anymore. But ever since then, we’ve been fighting them. Recently, we’ve been intentionally flying through the Kansai region to call them out, but we still haven’t narrowed down the location of their headquarters beyond the general region of Okayama.”

“I see,” said Sayama with a nod.

''How strange,'' he thought with a renewed understanding of the importance of #4’s question.

If his fight had begun five years ago and had continued like that, it meant there had not been a single chance for negotiation. If Apollo was a pacifist, why had he attacked first and why did he allow continued fighting when it was not improving the situation? It was possible that those around him were acting on their own.

…''But that means those following him have a reason to prioritize these attacks over their master’s wishes.

He did not understand, so he stopped thinking about it.

…''Any more conjecture would be dangerous.

He turned back to Hiba whose head was apologetically lowered.

“As for your previous question, I don’t know much about my grandfather’s generation. All I know is that he entered 3rd and that he returned using Susamikado which carried a heavily damaged Susahito Custom. And afterward, Mikage-san’s reflexive mechanisms were used as an intermediary for the controller of a giant machine known as Susaou.” He nodded. “Also, I do not know where Mikage-san was sleeping until ten years ago.”

“Then you know nothing about the result of 3rd-Gear’s final battle?”

“I know the result, but I don’t know how it happened.”

“Can you tell us the result?”

“What exactly do you want to know?”

''How cautious,'' thought Sayama as he felt the resistance there and decided to ask it all at once.

“I would like to know what happened to Apollo. At the time, he should have been piloting a pale blue god of war. Typhon was made exclusively for him and it is active now, so why did he switch machines?”

Hiba hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke.

“I don’t know why that is either.”

He gave an exaggerated shrug and Sayama nodded mentally.

Shinjou poked her elbow into his side and spoke so only he could hear.

“He managed to avoid answering, but you asked too much all at once.”

“No, that reply told me a lot. This was plenty.”

Hiba had taken the bait splendidly and Sayama planned to later reveal what he had learned and be praised for it.

…''Compliments from Shinjou-kun are a truly wonderful thing.

Hiba gave him a suspicious look, so he spoke once more.

“Now, let us get back on topic.”

“Please do.”

“Very well. Mikage-kun, you do not remember the past, do you?”

Mikage nodded.

Sayama saw the ends of Shinjou’s eyebrows lower at that nod.

…''Shinjou-kun does not remember her past either.

They both knew nothing of their parents, but Shinjou had seen Mikage’s mother the day before. That may have been why her eyebrows had lowered.

And so Sayama asked Hiba something else.

“Have you told Mikage-kun about the past we saw yesterday?”

“Yes. I would like to thank you for that. It was a valuable record of her mother.”

Shinjou’s eyebrows moved partially back up.

''No need to be so nosy,'' he thought. ''She already has someone to worry for her.

“Then let me make something clear,” said Sayama. “We have the ability to see the past. Would that ability be an effective bargaining chip against you?”

Shinjou trembled when she heard that.

“S-Sayama-kun!”

Shinjou’s hurried and emotional voice showed she felt they must not do that.

“We can’t! That’s someone’s past! People want to know about their past and we can’t take advantage of that.”

“Oh? Please do not take negotiations too lightly, Shinjou-kun. I am not taking advantage of that desire.” He looked her directly in the eye without looking away. “There is something we want to know about as well. If he uses that as a bargaining chip against us, would you view that as him taking advantage of our desire for knowledge? If it is exchanged for something of equivalent value, it makes a splendid bargaining chip.”

“B-but…” Her lips twisted down and she tightly grasped his left arm. “I don’t like that kind of deal.”

Her voice trembled and something welled up in the corners of her eyes.

Changing his plan because someone cried would accomplish nothing, so he would follow his own principles.

However, the tears in her eyes brought a smile to his face and relief to his heart.

“That is another way in which you are right, Shinjou-kun.”

“Eh?”

Strength left the hand she held him with.

After a breath, Sayama brushed up his hair with his right hand and waited for Shinjou’s breathing to calm down.

“Then how about I make a small alteration, Shinjou-kun?”

He faced Hiba who looked slightly tense.

“What if I state it like this: If we work together, you will surely be able to see the past much like before. …What do you say now, Hiba boy? Will you gain nothing and fight 3rd-Gear while hindering our actions or will you view the past and fight 3rd-Gear while meddling in our actions? Which will it be?”

He nodded.

“I am inviting you to join us.”

…''Join us?

Shinjou mouthed what Sayama had said and grasped its meaning.

…''He’s letting Ryuuji-kun join us?

What did that mean? First, she thought about the positive elements.

1. UCAT would gain a new god of war.

2. Team Leviathan would gain a new member and its connections to the National Defense Department would grow.

3. Having more people her own age – especially an underclassman – would make her happy.

Then she thought about the negative elements.

1. She was nervous about inviting in an outsider.

2. What would he think once he discovered her identity?

3. Would he fall victim to Kazami’s attacks or Izumo and Sayama’s bad influence?

She weighed the pros and cons. The positives were decent. The first negative would become clearer later, the second was an issue of her own feelings, and the third was something he would just have to put up with.

“Sayama-kun, my opinion of you has improved a bit. Oh, but…only just a bit, okay?”

“Ha ha ha. Feel free to praise me even more. There have been so many misunderstandings about me lately that my satisfaction meter has been running past its limit. Anyway, Hiba boy.”

“Y-yes?”

He took a shallow defensive stance in front of Mikage which surprised Shinjou. ''He protects her so naturally,'' she thought while glancing over at Sayama. But he was currently focused on Hiba.

“Listen. Currently, anyone who joins us gets to join the student council as well. How does assistant treasurer sound?”

“Assistant treasurer? I-I couldn’t. That would put me right next to the school’s greatest fighter!”

“In a way, you’d be a step away from great influence. Not that you’d be able to control it. But I think you would do fine, Hiba-kun. You’d be able to dodge the attacks.”

“I notice you aren’t denying anything I said…”

“Do not worry about it, Hiba boy. Now, choose one of the following options: A) Become my servant. B) Beg to be a servant of the Great Sayama. C) Do my bidding for the rest of your life.”

“How about ‘D) None of the above, asshole’?”

Hiba scratched at his head.

“Anyway, I’m not sure what to say about joining you.”

After speaking, Hiba turned toward Mikage. Both the ends of her eyebrows and her entire head were slightly lowered.

…''She’s a little cautious.

Recently, they had been showing people and telling people what had previously been their secret.

She had coolly shown off her body, but she likely had some other thoughts about it. ''I need to keep that in mind,'' he thought.

The other night when they had been taken in by UCAT, he had spoken a lot with an old man in a lab coat as well as a young man with black clothes and white hair who had been accompanied by a maid. Mikage had shown them her hand and the maid had shown her arm.

…''That was a strange organization.

Automatons and humans worked together there.

…''If we joined them, could Mikage-san have more freedom?

But Hiba shook his head and decided it was too soon to say.

“At the moment, I only want one thing: Please understand that we are already dealing with 3rd-Gear,” he said. “About five years after Mikage-san woke up, they began attacking us. We used to have our hands full just fighting them off, but after destroying several remotely controlled gods of war, the true prize finally started showing up.”

“And so you are claiming that as your target?”

Hiba nodded, circled behind the wheelchair, and held the handles.

He looked at Mikage’s impaired legs.

“We have half of 3rd-Gear’s Concept Core and they have the other half. If we get that, Mikage-san-…”

“…might become human,” finished Shinjou.

He saw her hold her body a bit. It was a casual action, but something about the situation must have gotten through to her. She then turned toward Sayama.

“What should we do? If they have half of the Concept Core, obtaining 3rd-Gear’s half won’t end the Leviathan Road.”

“Indeed.” Sayama crossed his arms. “It is a tricky issue. It comes down to which side will give in and how.”

Silence followed.

''What a heavy silence,'' thought Hiba.

Neither side intended to back down.

…''What do I do…?

Suddenly, he saw a bit of motion.

The small animal on Sayama’s shoulder had crossed its arms just like Sayama.

Mikage’s shoulders began to shake and she let out an amused laugh.

“…”

The laugh had been out of place, but it was not often that she laughed. That was why Hiba smiled as he supported her from behind the wheelchair.

But Sayama and Shinjou had not seen the source of the laugh.

“Ah.”

After a moment, Shinjou caught on and smiled. Sayama then did the same. Baku looked back and forth between them and crossed its stubby arms even further.

“Baku must want to join the conversation.”

Sayama smiled bitterly and moved his foot casually to the side, but it struck something.

“Hm?”

He looked down at the base of the trees surrounding the house and found a thirty centimeter metal stake.

“What is this?”

“That is a protective stake with a philosopher’s stone inside. It suppresses the power of machines. The effective range is small, so we can move around them, but a god of war would not be able to.”

“So you use these as protective charms for your home?”

“Yes, but the neighborhood dogs and cats like to dig them up. I need to put that one back.”

Once Hiba picked up the stake and looked at it, his expression changed.

The top of it was smashed.

“Eh?” said Shinjou.

“The dogs and cats around here must be quite something,” said Sayama. “They appear to be able to break metal.”

“Yes, I’m surprised too. …Except that’s clearly not what happened!”

Hiba looked around and found more stakes lying under the trees surrounding the house. They had all been dug up such that an outsider would not notice.

“They’re all broken.”

Hiba trembled as a chill ran down his spine and Sayama glanced around.

“Is that concept limited to gods of war?”

“Because Mikage-san lives here, it primarily affects large objects.”

“Then I take it an automaton would be just fine. An automaton that can function in Low-Gear. And now that these are gone…”

“A god of war is coming!?”

Hiba looked through the trees and toward his house. With his mother out, it was empty, but there were two people standing in front of it.

One was a black-haired woman in a red suit and the other was a large man wearing a greengrocer’s apron.

The woman stood out front and she took a step to the side while jerking her chin over toward the man.

''This isn’t good,'' thought Hiba as he prepared himself for a fight.

The man bent over and pressed the intercom button.

“Ma’am, this is 3rd-Gear. We have a battle to deliver.”

The woman raised both arms and Hiba saw giant swords appear behind her.

The blades were rectangular, they were over five meters long, and there were a total of six lined up.

“———!”

The woman let out a shout and a red form appeared between her and the swords.

“A god of war!?”

As if Shinjou’s cry had been the signal, the six swords smashed into Hiba’s house.

The instantaneous attack crashed through the house and created an explosion.

“…!”

The sudden turn of events led Hiba to take a battle pose.

As he prepared to fight, he tried to choose his partner. He reached a hand toward Mikage’s hand, but that hand found only empty air.

He looked at her through the stench of burning wood, scattering fragments, and smoke of the explosion.

But she was gone. Her empty wheelchair and cane were all that remained.

“…Eh?”

He blankly wondered why because this had never happened before.

They had been together for many long years, so how had she disappeared and where was she?

“What are you doing, Hiba boy? It seems 3rd-Gear has a thing for abductions because they have taken Mikage-kun this time. As soon as they attacked the house with those swords, they expanded a concept space and brought only Mikage-kun in with them!”

Sayama yelled at him while brushing aside the explosive blast and smoke with a wave of his hand and then he pointed at the empty wheelchair.

“She is right there waiting for you. Prepare to enter the concept space and fight!”

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 9|Chapter 9]]
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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 11|Chapter 11]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 9

2026-09-03T03:50:38Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 9: That Which a God Desires==
[[Image:OnC_v05_0315.png|thumb]]
''You think you said too much

''But what you are thinking is the same

''It is simply a difference in the sky you live below

A river flowed through the night.

The Aki River cut east to west across the southern end of Akigawa which was west of Tokyo. The city was named after the river and the river had quite a few fields and empty lots on its northern side and several residential areas along the mountain range to its south.

In the center of one residential area was a red-roofed building at the base of a mountain next to a Shinto shrine.

The nameplate said Kazami in black characters.

The kitchen window let light into the dark night.

The sounds and conversation coming from within were those of dinner.

The ten square meter kitchen had a wooden table in the center and the three members of the Kazami family sat around it.

Kazami’s parents were eating, but Kazami herself was not. She had placed a large rucksack on the table’s guest chair and was using it to pack.

Her father sprinkled some furikake on his rice and spoke.

“If you’re leaving the morning after tomorrow, can’t you visit here tomorrow? You’re making your father sad.”

“We’re meeting at the school, so I want to be at my dorm tomorrow just in case. And you have a job tomorrow, don’t you?”

“Yes, I have a meeting to get a new game project off the ground. It’s called Father Princess 2. The first one had twelve papas. Eleven of them were dandies and experts at something and the last one was a Hanshin fan, always hilariously drunk, and a pachinko addict, but that just made it all the more popular.”

“I see your projects are as weird as ever. It must be tough.”

“Your training camp is going to be tough too, right? Children and adults are the same in the end.”

Being called a child made Kazami smile.

…''I only get treated like that at home.

“Well, I’ll do my best. And sorry I can’t come back here tomorrow.”

She wondered if this was a case of a child not understanding how much her parents worried. She then wondered if wondering that meant she did actually understand, but she also felt that was just an excuse.

Whatever the case, she had a reason to leave early the next morning.

She was going to visit Hiba’s home with Sayama and the others.

In the Kinugasa Library, Hiba had asked them if they were prepared to face the first impurity and they had found their answer.

…''We have no choice but to do something about it.

And she had said she wanted to hear Sayama and Shinjou’s opinions.

But they had their training camp the day after the next, so they had decided to meet the next morning. She had contacted Sayama as he returned from Kanda and he had agreed.

''I have to get up early tomorrow,'' she thought as she packed her bag. She left an open space in the bag, but there was a simple reason for that.

“What kind of souvenir do you want?” she asked.

Her mother thought with a finger on her chin.

“Hmm. As long as you come back safely, that’s good enough for me. And I’ve already gotten most kinds of souvenirs from your father’s business trips. I certainly don’t need another giant humanoid horseshoe crab like the one hanging from the ceiling on the second floor. I’ll knock you to the ground if you give me one.”

“U-um, mom? I won’t buy anything that senseless.”

“That’s right, mama. And that wasn’t a souvenir. It’s the costume I wore in the Kansai-only tokusatsu show ‘Übermensch Purge – Soukatsu’.”

“The theme song for that was amazing. Lightning~ flashes~ from the~ electric chair~! Is that how it went? I know it’s a bit late to look into the mystery of my parents, but why do we have it?”

“Well,” said her father as he crossed his arms. “After filming, I sat next to a fountain and started feeling really dehydrated, so I collapsed right into the fountain. Everyone was watching and they laughed at the ‘swimming horseshoe crab’, but I almost died. I brought it home to dry it, but the show was canceled and I never got to return it.”

“Another canceled show? What was it about?”

“An excellent question. To adapt to the impatient modern children, Soukatsu fired his Special Arrest Beam and started getting torture-induced confessions within seven seconds of the show starting. The remaining twenty-five minutes were spent verifying the misdeeds of his opponent. He would shout ‘find the evidence!’ But reality is harsh, so it would sometimes turn out his purging had been in error.”

“You can’t do that in a kid’s show!”

“Don’t worry. He would give a cheerful apology at the end of those episodes. ‘Hi, everyone! It’s Soukatsu! It looks like I killed an innocent today! I truly regret what happened!’ I think it didn’t catch on with the kids because the setting was just too complex.”

“I’m pretty sure it was more than just the kids who had problems with that show.”

…''I need to stop asking these questions. Let’s see… I need toiletries and we’ll be swimming at the beach, so I should pack twice as much underwear. That leaves…

“Chisato? Your father might be a bit crazy, but you have to listen to him. It’s dangerous to let him talk to himself.”

“U-um, mom? Can’t you listen to him?”

“Chisato, I am speaking to you, not your mother. Even if what I’m talking about is completely pointless!”

“Kyaah! Your father is always so strict about the most pointless things!”

Kazami sighed as her parents laughed. She was reminded that she would never be a match for them.

But then her mother asked a new question.

“You said this student council training camp is on a desert island in the Seto Inland Sea, right? Will the people other than you be okay?”

“I’d appreciate it if you worried about me too.”

“You’ll be fine. Door-to-door preachers from a religion big on sacrificing stopped by the other day and I asked them to pray for my daughter instead of me.”

“Please don’t do that, mom!”

“Chisato, I have an important quote for you: One for all and…I forget the rest.”

Kazami hung her head. She tried sticking her head in the opened rucksack in front of her, but no convenient concept space created an escape route there.

“Chisato? Why are you shutting yourself in there? I don’t remember teaching you to play like that.”

“You didn’t have to teach me. This was naturally created by the environment here.”

“I see.” Her mother nodded. “Anyway, will you be leaving the island?”

“No. Is there a reason to?”

“Your mother is a nice person, so she has some concerns about Kansai.”

“Stop that,” said her mother with a glance and a sigh toward her father. The ends of her eyebrows were lowered for once. “I’m sure you have heard about the Great Kansai Earthquake.”

“That was when you were just a little kid, Chisato. A year later, we put together a charity concert.”

“Papa, you may be trying to help me, but stay quiet. I can handle this.” Her mother sighed again and turned to Kazami with a relaxed expression. “Back then, I was still refusing to sing because I was fixated on myself. …Silly, isn’t it? There were people who wanted to hear me sing regardless of my fixations.”

Kazami froze in place when she heard this sudden comment.

She realized her pose for packing was not good for listening, so she quickly straightened up.

She was unsure what to say, but she wanted to say something befitting her position as her mother’s child.

“Do you regret it?”

''I feel like I’m digging up her past,'' she thought, but her mother shook her head with a smile.

“I do to a certain extent, but I also feel I mustn’t sing while lying to myself. Basically, the problem is being bound by my fixations. As long as they remain, both singing and not singing will lead to regret. …Sorry I’m so selfish, papa.”

“But it does seem your mother will be taking part in an event at the end of the year, Chisato.”

Kazami turned to her mother who shrugged.

“I wonder what will happen to the lies I am telling myself. Anyway, let’s get back on topic. And hurry up with the packing, Chisato.”

“Right.”

Kazami raised her head and thought. After managing to break out of her previous mood, she wondered if there was a way to get some proper information out of her parents.

Asking about the Seto Inland Sea area was likely taboo. That would only lead to unpleasant memories.

“By the way…”

As she thought about the past and the Mediterranean area, she recalled the Divine States-World Interaction Theory.

“Have you ever been to Greece?”

Her parents exchanged a glance.

“Do you want to go there? I have a project coming up called ‘The 36th Chamber of Olympus’, so- gwah!”

“Sorry. My hand slipped and I dropped an alarm clock on you.”

“Don’t do that, Chisato. Only I’m allowed to beat up your father.”

“Okay, okay. But from that, I take it you’ve been there. Are you familiar with the local mythology?”

“Mythology again? Are they getting into that in world history classes these days?”

“That’s right,” she said with a nod.

Her father crossed his arms and gave an impressed groan. Her mother tilted her head, but she did not ask anything.

“What about the mythology do you want to know?” asked her father.

Kazami’s father’s question brought her relief and her shoulders relaxed.

“Well, maybe about dragons and divine swords… Y-y’know, like when I asked about Japanese mythology before. Can you tell me about that kind of thing?”

“Hmm.”

Her father crossed his arms even deeper and her mother glanced at the clock.

“Twenty seconds!”

“Ah, isn’t that being a bit harsh!? My heart’s racing like crazy!”

After he rejoiced for a bit, he finally spoke.

“In that case, I’ll start with the topic of dragons. As you probably know, Greek mythology is quite popular with the constellations and such.”

“Yeah.”

“The thing is, that mythology doesn’t have any dragons of the type we think of nowadays. They’re mostly multi-headed snakes or great serpents. Other than that, they’re all humanoid gods with a snake texture to them. There’s also Medusa with snake hair, but most of the monsters in Greek mythology are human based. Giants, for example. That area had a lot of war, so they may have viewed humans as the true monsters.”

“Then does Greek mythology not have any obvious examples of dragons or divine swords?”

“They actually do. The dragon was an embodiment of that which humans could not stand up to. In other words, that which not even the giants could stand up to was treated as a great dragon in Greek mythology. And that was Typhon.”

“What was it that not even the giants could stand up to?”

“Think about how Typhon is spelled.”

“Ah,” said Kazami.

She had finally realized that it was one letter off from “typhoon”.

“The typhoons created from shapeless wind were thought to have a spiraling dragon in the center. That Typhon was Greek mythology’s greatest monster and he was said to have a human torso, a dragon’s tail, and countless dragon heads. After he defeated Zeus, he was tricked and sealed below a volcano. Zeus’s divine spear of heavenly thunder was used to do that.” He smiled bitterly. “But it was the three Moirai sisters who controlled fate that successfully tricked him. If you think about it, even with fate on their side and the power of a volcano and lightning, he could only be sealed.”

“They couldn’t defeat him?”

“No. In a way, that is the greatest problem of Greek mythology. The question here is simple: How can one defeat Typhon who not even Zeus, father of the gods, could defeat?”

Her father’s tone was lighthearted, but Kazami could not speak.

In 3rd-Gear, Typhon was a god of war. Also, Hiba had clashed with it twice.

But he had been unable to defeat it.

The giant white god of war had been able to instantly switch between attack and defense.

…''And it is different from the Art of Walking.

They had wondered if it might be 2nd-Gear’s Art of Walking, so Izumo had used it against Hiba. Even in the cramped library and against someone he barely knew, Izumo had pulled it off.

But Hiba had said that was not it. With the Art of Walking, one still took time to move. And he said Typhon’s technique could not be teleportation because it had already been attacking the instant after it disappeared.

It had some power that surpassed even the wind.

“How do you defeat something like that?” she muttered aloud.

“Yes.” Her father looked up at the ceiling with his arms still crossed. “But there is a way.”

“Eh?”

“Think about it. Zeus sealed Typhon and brought prosperity to the world. Why was that? Why did he face the world by turning his back on a monster he could not defeat?”

Kazami did not quite understand what he meant.

Was he saying there was a way to defeat the dragon that not even the most powerful god could defeat?

As she frowned and tilted her head, her father smiled and nodded.

“Think about it. Your training camp is on the Seto Inland Sea, right? Perhaps that will help you think about Greece which also borders an inland sea.”

Kazami let out an admiring breath and placed a folded towel in the rucksack.

“My parents really are amazing.”

Her parents cheered and high-fived each other.

Once more, she realized she would always be no match for them.

Below the moonlit night sky, Miyako and Moira 1st sat outside the emergency exit.

They were high up. Once Moira 1st had brought out what she claimed was sake, Miyako had insisted they drink it while viewing the moon. They had brought a few cooked ingredients from the crab hot pot for snacks and Miyako drank while Moira 1st sat to her right.

The moonlight was a pale blue.

A bit of light escaped the hangar door down below, but it was not enough to interfere with the moon viewing.

She had asked to be let in there earlier, but she had been gently refused.

“We would need to clean up first.”

The sake had been produced to console her realization that there was some secret there, so she drank.

The cup seemed to be made of aluminum and it grew a bit soft whenever she took a sip. It may have been embarrassed.

…''What a strange world.

She looked around and saw Kurashiki in the distance. It was already past nine. Based on her memories from her school trip, that city closed early. Even the theme park to the north end of the city had shut off its lights.

She nodded.

“Will Mr. Rich Boy be fine after I floored him?”

“You mean Lord Apollo? Moira 2nd said he should be fine.”

That name reminded Miyako of the maid who had entered the dining hall, grabbed Apollo’s collar, and carried him out with the other maids. Miyako had seen her short blonde hair and blue eyes, but the maid had never looked her way.

…''Does she not like me?

Moira 1st shook her head as if in answer and Miyako’s eyebrows rose.

“You can’t read my mind, can you?”

“No, but you are honest, so I can tell from your expressions.”

“Don’t be silly. I’ve always been rebellious.”

Moira 1st only smiled in reply.

Miyako could do nothing but sigh and rest her head on her hands. She looked up in the sky and saw the moon.

“So when you get down to it, I can’t leave this place?”

“Yes. I am very sorry,” answered Moira 1st after a short pause. “And I must apologize again because we cannot allow you to leave until our problem is at least temporarily settled. This is all because your memories returned.”

“Can’t you give me new memories again?”

“Forcing it a second time would create interference and possibly fry your brain, so you must remain with us until our problem is settled.”

To sum up what she had learned that day, 3rd-Gear had not surrendered to an organization named UCAT and they were also fighting that black god of war which was not part of UCAT.

…''Both sides must want to settle this.

“That sounds rough.”

“What does?”

“You all are betting your world and everything else on this. It’s pretty amazing. I can’t compare to that.”

She sighed and looked up at the moon. The pale blue light of the moon was connected to her family name.

That color made her think about the white god of war’s eye color. She thought about the feeling that the yellow light had given her and that the pale blue light had not.

…''What was that?

Was it something only she could understand? She was not sure if that possibility made her happy or sad. She did not understand anything.

…''After all, that white god of war suddenly grabbed me and carried me away after I ran across it.

When it had the pale blue eyes, its movements had grown much more vigorous.

She suddenly became intensely curious as to why.

“I asked Moira 3rd about that white god of war’s name and she said it was Typhon.”

“Yes, but why do you bring it up? It only took you hostage because it was afraid after receiving an attack for the first time. I will apologize in the pilot’s place.”

Miyako tilted her head and opened her mouth uncertainly.

“No, I was just wondering if I could speak with it. …Well, I suppose meeting with the pilot would work, but you won’t let me, will you?”

“No. Typhon is filled with secrets. If we could erase your memories, I could receive permission, but that is not the case.”

She ended her statement with a smile and Miyako held out her cup to receive more sake.

“I apologize for all the lack of freedom, but in exchange, you may freely use us while we are here.”

“C’mon, don’t get carried away. So if I told you to strip, you’d strip?”

“Are you interested in my joints?”

Moira 1st reached for her skirt, so Miyako frantically stopped her.

''She’s serious,'' she thought. ''Although she might be more stupid than she is obedient.

“When you say ‘we’, how many does that include?”

“There are three primary models with the Moira designation which are numbered 1st to 3rd and there are sixty-three others. We all have numbers, but they are not all sequential because our family originally had one hundred twenty members.”

“So I’m supposed to just use the numbers? You three still have the Moira name, but just a number isn’t enough.”

“But we would never be insolent enough to take a name.”

That comment made Miyako tilt her head.

“My mom always says that even machines needed some kind of designator besides a number. …This is a world of living machines, isn’t it? If you’re alive, why should you be counted like you’re dead?”

“But…what should we do?”

Moira 1st was clearly older than Miyako, so Miyako was unsure what to say when she lowered her eyebrows and asked that.

“How about they give themselves names? Or you could give them names. You’re the head maid, right?”

“Hm… There are sixty-three of them. This country has fifty sound combinations, so by using combinations of two, a suitable number of names can be constructed. …Names like Geru and Gugu are simple enough, right?”

“Stop that. Can’t you come up with something cuter?”

“Hm… Can’t you think of anything, princess?”

She thought about it. When she occasionally played video games, she would choose a female character.

But she would always play with her real name. Seeing a character with her name level up and defeat the enemies of the final dungeon without breaking a sweat was a wonderful feeling.

“Following that wonderful feeling won’t work.”

“Are there names that feel wonderful?”

“Play games with your real name and you’ll understand.”

As she wondered what to do, a light suddenly appeared behind her. She turned around and saw a man standing in the light. He was over two meters tall and wore a blue apron.

“Master Aigaion, what is it?”

Aigaion nodded and turned toward Miyako.

“I see the new princess is with you. She is being quite…unreserved.”

“Don’t worry about being polite, old man. …Does that apron belong to a greengrocer in this world?”

Aigaion’s laughter filled the air.

“Gyes and I bring in supplies from outside and I took such a liking to the outside world that I live near the train station.”

“And do you help out at a greengrocer?”

A sudden thought came to Miyako and she turned toward Moira 1st and her maid outfit.

“Did you choose these maid uniforms for them?”

“Hm? Was that wrong? I was looking for clothes they could use while cooking and cleaning, so I borrowed these from a large dining hall’s storeroom late at night.”

“Don’t go around robbing strange restaurants!”

[[Image:OnC_v05_0333.png|thumb]]

“Calm down, princess. We quite like these clothes. We look cute in them, don’t we?”

“I feel I need to ask: How old are you?”

“Hm… We go through a certain level of formatting every day, so my age would be zero.”

“That’s cheating.”

“Machines are long-lasting. If you replace the old parts, they can live forever.” Moira 1st then turned toward Aigaion. “Master Aigaion, do you need something?”

“Yes. We’ll be heading out tomorrow morning, so anyone with nothing else to do should handle Cottus and Gyes’s normal preparations.”

“Cottus?”

“He is the one who caught you after your dive today, princess. Even as large as he is, he is still an automaton.”

“I see,” said Miyako as she thought about what Aigaion had said.

When he said they were “heading out”, it had to mean more than simply going somewhere.

“Are you heading out to fight?”

“You saw that black god of war, didn’t you? That is the one who destroyed 3rd-Gear, so we cannot forgive it.”

“But isn’t it a human from my world piloting it?”

Aigaion and Moira 1st exchanged a glance and Moira 1st chose her words carefully as she started speaking.

“Princess, we do not want to kill that black god of war. For a variety of reasons, we would like to protect it if possible.”

“It sounds to me like you’re telling me not to interfere.” Miyako smiled bitterly. “It’s true that I want to interfere when I hear about the situation, the various possibilities, and what you can or can’t do. But I don’t know anything about what happened sixty years ago and I’m not a descendant of those involved. I’m trying to keep in mind that I’m a guest from the outside world.”

Miyako recalled the black god of war she had seen the night before. As it had tried to corner Typhon, it had used a powerful lightning strike.

…''But Typhon successfully defended against it.

It was not that the black god of war was superior. Given the difference in build, she guessed that the black one was actually the inferior of the two.

…''That was a desperate attack.

The pilot of the black god of war had to have his own issues just as the people before her eyes did. She could do nothing but give it some thought and there was only one thing she could say.

“Try to get along.”

“Eh?”

“Long ago when I couldn’t fit in with those around me, someone told me ‘if you can’t fit in, at least try to get along’. I knew I couldn’t fit in, so I was supposed to resist my desire to cause conflict and truly try to get along with them. …And that’s what made me who I am today.”

She smiled bitterly.

“It may not be my place to talk when you’ve probably been doing this for thousands of years, but how about giving that a try if you haven’t already? By the way, this is a lecture.”

She looked forward and found Aigaion and Moira 1st staring at her with slightly surprised looks.

“Stop looking at me funny and give me more to drink.”

“Oh, yes. Right away.

“That’s right. Fill it all the way up. And, um, don’t laugh when you look at people, old man.”

“But you are quite amusing. The people of this world truly are amusing, princess.”

“Stop calling me princess. I’m a guest and you can call me Miyako. The princess would be your master’s wife.”

And that master would be the young man she had floored in a single blow earlier. He seemed unreliable, but he also had the same eye color as the yellow light in the god of war’s eyes.

“And as a guest, I have some thoughts about all this. I think I’ll try to motivate you a bit. Old man, if you work at a greengrocer, can you help me out tomorrow morning?”

“We will be heading out early tomorrow morning, but if you need something, I can leave a note for the owner. And we should return by noon. Most likely.”

“Okay, a working man is a good man. And a good woman helps out around the house. Moira 1st, can you prepare me two things? A note to give to him and documents introducing all of you.”

“Yes, right away.”

As Moira 1st stood up, Miyako did the same and leaned on the railing in front of her.

The metal railing gently bent into a curve as it supported her weight.

''This is a surprisingly soft world,'' she thought as she looked into the night sky.

She faced the moon floating in the heavens.

“Things around here should be a bit busier tomorrow.”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 8|Chapter 8]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 10|Chapter 10]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 8

2026-09-02T03:36:08Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 8: Nighttime Visitor==
[[Image:OnC_v05_0291.png|thumb]]
''That which asks yet provides no answer

''Acts for that very reason

''The same goes for that which receives no answer yet asks

A large white space measured one hundred meters in each direction. That dining hall had a single table almost as long as the room and it shined brightly under the lights on the ceiling.

Those lights also illuminated a woman in white clothing.

The black-haired woman was Miyako. She sat in a chair with her legs crossed and her arms folded. Her legs were shaking up and down which produced a comment from Moira 3rd who sat on the ground at her feet.

“Are you nervous, princess?”

“These are nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Honestly, don’t you at least have some toothpicks?”

“Toothpicks?”

Moira 3rd tilted her head at first but then stood up with a sudden idea.

She ran toward the kitchen and the two automatons standing at its entrance moved out of her way. As Miyako watched, she scratched her head in confusion.

The table in front of her contained the standard fork, spoon, and knife, but it also contained chopsticks and a Chinese spoon for some reason.

A close look showed the Chinese spoon was meant for children and it was printed with pictures of characters from the recently popular children’s anime titled “Manga’s First Armored Infantryman”. Namely, it had the protagonist Second Lieutenant Hayato and the mascot armor Bottom-tan.

''Everything’s been mecha recently,'' thought Miyako. ''And they probably set this table based on something they saw in a book.

She felt they were trying to be considerate, but she felt something else even more.

…''Is the food still not ready?

Just as she was thinking it was taking far too long, Moira 3rd ran out of the kitchen. She held up a small container.

“Princess! Here are the toothpicks you wanted!”

“That’s garlic powder, you idiot! I can’t pretend to smoke that!”

She chopped the girl on her blonde head.

“Nwah! I-I was only a little bit off! Right!?”

“A little bit!? Garlic and toothpick rhyme, but that’s it!”

She was not entirely sure why it mattered if they rhymed, but she swiped the garlic powder and placed it on the table.

“I don’t need to take it back?” asked Moira 3rd with a tilt of the head.

“If you serve anything too bad, I can sprinkle this on to mask the flavor.”

“Wow! Low-Gear culture is amazing!”

“Of course it is!”

But the food was very late. Miyako rested her head on her hand and asked a sudden question.

“By the way, Moira 3rd, am I ever going to see 2nd?”

“Hmm. Our middle sister doesn’t like being around people. She didn’t used to be that way, though.”

“What?”

Miyako tilted her head and Moira 3rd groaned and tilted her head as well.

There seemed to be a difficult problem.

…''I see. I shouldn’t have asked that.

She reached out and rubbed Moira 3rd’s head without even looking toward her.

“Wa ha ha. Lord Cronus would do the same thing.”

“Is that so? …Oh, one other thing. Will your master be eating with us?”

The Moirai’s explanation had ended with Rhea’s child returning to 3rd-Gear and Zeus and Cronus entering the Tartaros.

Rhea had not returned, but Miyako assumed that was due to something they were hesitant to speak of.

She still did not know Rhea’s child’s name. Zeus had not made it public because it was an impure name, but Miyako did not even know if the child was alive or dead.

…''This is the kind of suspicion horrible adults tend to have.

But depending how the final battle played out, it was entirely possible that the man named Apollo and Rhea’s child had survived. The figure with long blond hair she had seen may have been one of the two.

“Well?” she asked again.

“He probably will.” Moira 3rd nodded. “Typhon is quiet today too.”

“Typhon? You mean that white robot that grabbed me and carried me away last night?”

“Eh? Oh, yes. We hate it, though.”

“Does your master pilot it?”

“No, no. Lord Apollo is too pathetic for that.”

Miyako’s eyebrows rose when she heard the name.

“Is Apollo here?”

“Eh?” Moira 3rd tilted her head and spoke as if explaining the obvious. “Of course he is. He’s alive. It’s just that he’s so pathetic that he can’t voluntarily fight right now. I guess you could say someone else is piloting Typhon.”

''That’s right,'' mentally agreed Miyako.

She recalled what Moira 1st had said during the kamishibai.

…''He had a younger sister who was turned into a god of war after refusing to be sent to the Tartaros.

The pale blue god of war in the kamishibai was likely Apollo’s.

“Is the other pilot Rhea’s child? Or is there someone else?”

“Well…” Moira 3rd sounded troubled. “That isn’t it either. Lady Rhea’s child isn’t here. Our big sister might not have explained it, but a lot happened and so the one piloting Typhon is-…”

“The food is ready!”

When Moira 1st’s dignified voice filled the room, Moira 3rd’s shoulders jumped and she seemed to intentionally not finish her sentence.

…''They must have their reasons.

As a guest, Miyako did not want to stick her nose in their business. She smiled bitterly at Moira 3rd who was hiding behind her and she turned toward Moira 1st who quickly pushed in a stretcher.

The stretcher contained a large round metal lid. It had a radius of almost a meter and Moira 1st smiled as she brought it over.

“I apologize for the delay. We made this especially for you, so we went all out and used some ingredients Master Aigaion brought in a hurry.”

“What is it?”

“Can you guess?”

Miyako thought about it. It would be something from their culture, so she would never be able to guess. However, there would likely be some similarities, so she guessed the simplest, largest, and most expensive dish she could think of.

“A 250 gram steak.”

“Hm, not quite.”

“A fried food combination platter.”

“No, not that either.”

“The tempura B meal.”

“Princess, all of your guesses are very fatty. And what does ‘B meal’ mean?”

She wanted to say it was from her school cafeteria, but she resisted. She wondered what would require such a large lid. A whole roast pig seemed too much.

“Hm… I’m not sure.”

Moira 1st’s smile changed to one of obvious joy and she lifted the metal lid. As a large amount of steam escaped, the dish became visible.

“Tah dah! It’s a crab hot pot!”

“H-how the hell was I supposed to guess that!? Not to mention that it’s summer.”

“Do you not like crab? Master Aigaion’s book said it is a famous Japanese dish.”

“I like crab, but…what happened to Greek mythology? And…”

She started complaining and Moira 1st held out a ladle with holes.

Miyako stood up and took the red handle without thinking. The ladle bowed to her and then straightened its back.

…''What a well-mannered ladle.

Suddenly, all the lights but the one above her shut off. A drum roll started somewhere.

“Okay, the princess will now carry out the cutting of the hot pot!”

“S-stop that! I don’t know whose wedding you spied on, but you only do that with wedding cakes! And you can’t cut a hot pot in the first place!”

The lights returned to normal, revealing a disappointed Moira 1st and an automaton holding a drum.

Miyako gave an exasperated sigh.

But then a new figure entered the dining hall. It was a blond man wearing white.

It was Apollo.

He walked through the dining hall while smiling and raising a hand toward the automatons.

His blond hair fluttered around his kindly face.

When she recalled the person she had seen from behind earlier, she knew this was him.

…''He looks a lot like the woman in the hallway picture frame.

That woman was likely his sister Artemis.

''That sounds like a sad story,'' she thought. ''I should stop asking questions.

To change her train of thought, she glanced toward him and whispered in Moira 1st’s ear.

“Will he be able to understand me?”

“If you can understand us, you will be fine. That means the common language concept is functioning.”

''I didn’t exactly understand all of that,'' she muttered in her heart.

Moira 1st may have picked up on how she was feeling because she relaxed her smile and nodded.

“Do not worry. Lord Apollo has been reading and studying the books Master Aigaion brings back. He at least knows the Japanese words that are known around the world: konnichiwa, kore ikura, harakiri, etc.”

“Now you’re disgracing our country!?”

Moira 1st ignored her with a smile.

“At any rate, he is a royal, so he will give the greatest and most polite greeting of your world.”

Miyako froze momentarily when she heard the word “royal”.

But a click of the tongue later, she was back to normal.

She took three breaths. By the time the scent of crab had traveled from her nose to her mouth, Apollo had arrived in front of her.

He was tall. She had always ended up in the back of the class when lined up by height, but he was two levels taller than her. She felt his long blond hair was too old fashioned, but she also felt his slender face was nice.

…''Huh?

A sudden question reached her.

…''Why do I feel nostalgic?

She tilted her head with the ladle in her right hand.

“Ah.”

She noticed the eyes of the young man whose smile could be described as weak or even sickly.

His eyes were the same yellow as the eyes of the white god of war she had seen the night before.

She felt a warm tremble travel up her spine.

“!”

She was not sure what to call that trembling that came with a realization.

But she recalled something as her memories of the previous night grew more distinct.

When she had seen the god of war’s eyes, she had felt an indescribable feeling.

What had that been?

And now Apollo’s eyes had the same color.

…''Will he give me the same feeling?

But her question was not answered.

While she remained motionless, he closed his eyes and gave a smile with a hint of bitterness.

And he spread his arms.

He bowed elegantly in preparation for his greeting.

“Will you marry me!?”

She reflexively slammed the ladle onto his lowered head.

A dignified metallic noise sounded loudly.

3rd-Gear’s headquarters was wrapped in darkness.

The white-walled building glowed palely in the moonlight and a small figure stood at the bottom of one wall.

That figure was the automaton named Gyes.

The red of her suit sank into darkness under the night sky.

“…”

She suddenly looked up toward a light.

Above the giant hangar door behind her, light came from the top level of the four-story residential area.

“How unusual,” she muttered. “That would be the dining hall.”

The Moirai were likely working there for the princess who had been brought in the night before.

She thought she heard a strange metallic noise, but she suspected her hearing devices were malfunctioning because it made no sense for that to come from the dining hall.

Earlier, the princess had been introduced to her, Aigaion, and Cottus in the courtyard.

The Moirai seemed to like this princess. 2nd likely wanted to keep her distance because she had not been at the introduction, but the other maids seemed to have a favorable opinion of her. They liked the commotion surrounding her escape and they liked her attitude.

“She shows no restraint around us.”

She smiled bitterly.

''That is a good thing,'' she determined. ''If only good things like that could continue.

“As always, she will lose her memories and be returned in about three days, but this was a first. If the situation does not change, we may have to dispose of her while the Moirai are not watching.”

The Moirai would criticize the decision, but letting someone leave with their memories intact was too dangerous. That danger took precedence over criticism from the Moirai. After all, the Hecatoncheires were meant to protect that place.

She then heard a noise. She detected movement in a thicket on the slope about ten degrees left of straight ahead. Her eyes could see in the dark, so she easily detected the person’s silhouette and spoke their name.

“Hajji of the Army?”

“Yes. That’s right. That’s exactly right, Gyes. It’s been much too long.”

The thicket parted and revealed a tall elderly man with brown skin and a white cloth wrapped around his head. He was slender, but his shoulders were plenty broad. A hemp jacket was draped over his right shoulder and his hemp trousers were held up by suspenders.

“I have a lot of information for you today. You want it, don’t you? Surely you do.”

“Of course.” Gyes folded her arms and looked at the old man’s left eye which was covered by a black eyepatch. “Say what you have to say and get lost, former 9th-Gear general. We had wondered what you had been up to ever since 9th-Gear’s destruction, but we did not expect you to wander up five years ago with an organization named the Army.”

“My motives are complex. I suppose that is a subtlety of being human. You have stayed in this area all this time, so you don’t know what happened in this country ten years ago or how things have changed since the destruction of the ten former Gears, do you? Hm?”

“I am not interested in that. It was a single hope that allowed us to remain active for the fifty years after 3rd-Gear’s destruction. The hope of 3rd-Gear’s humans surviving.”

Gyes’s words brought Hajji to a stop. He was three meters from her and he stood as if positioning himself directly below the moonlight.

But his one eye did not look toward Gyes; it looked toward the large hangar door behind her.

“Survival, hm?” He brought a hand to his mouth and held a smile in his eyes. “And that hope was answered when I found this place five years ago, was it not? It was thanks to those materials you hadn’t been able to obtain and the philosopher’s stones I had gathered.”

“Do not hope for anything more in return. Five years ago, we made the promise to repay you for awakening our master and we are not the kind of machine that will break a promise.” Gyes took a breath and glared at Hajji. “If we ever no longer need 3rd-Gear’s Concept Core, we will give you the wreckage of Typhon which uses it as its reactor. Not a surprising request for the Army as you barely have any gods of war.”

“Do you think that will be happening anytime soon? With the defeat of Typhon, for example.”

Gyes suddenly raised a hand.

That right hand was wrapped in light. A ring was embedded at the base of each finger.

She pointed the index finger toward Hajji.

“…!”

And he turned back and to the right.

A silver arc cut through the darkness as if following his movement.

The sound of slicing air stopped right in front of his face.

The sound came from a long sword. It was at least a meter long and it floated in midair.

Hajji stared at the tip of the blade.

“How frightening.”

And his expression changed because the sword had cut the string to his eyepatch.

He remained silent as the black eyepatch fell from his face. His expression changed from surprise to a mix between anger and a smile.

“!”

And he let out a quick, sharp shout.

It all happened before Gyes’s eyes in an instant.

Hajji’s left hand grabbed the falling eyepatch and his right shot up.

That was enough to smash her sword. But that was not all. Starting from the location of the sword and moving toward her, everything – including the air – was loudly destroyed.

“Wha-…!?”

Before she could even finish the word, she chose defense.

She spread both hands and six swords flew from her suit’s long sleeves. The blades were made of soft metal and they bent along with the curved surface of her suit, but she used her gravitational control to condense them into a fixed shape. They all transformed into long, hard swords.

“Seyah!!”

She swung down her arms and the six blades swung down toward the destruction of the air traveling down the center.

A metallic noise rang out.

The six blades were instantly smashed into dust, but she did not care. She was facing the man who had managed the attack power of an entire Gear. The attack was not meant to defeat him; it was meant to buy enough time for her to evade.

“What power is this!?”

She tried to determine the power’s identity.

…''Disintegration? No, and it isn’t a concept of destruction either. To eliminate this much…

That was as far as her thoughts got. She realized she would be completely destroyed if she did not evade.

And so she used gravity on her back to forcibly spin herself back and to the right.

Her red heels shot dirt into the air as she fell back. After moving four meters, her back was almost to the white wall, but the warning bells in her head were still ringing.

She jumped to the side.

[[Image:OnC_v05_0307.png|thumb]]

An instant later, it arrived at the spot she had been in.

The destructive attack sounded like multiple attacks.

The invisible power smashed the air and gouged out a large hole in the wall. In quick succession, it created eighteen sounds and scars as if from driving a stake into the wall. The fragments of the wall turned to dust and nothing remained.

“What was that?”

Gyes remained motionless to the left. The hole in the wall looked like fang marks from a giant beast. It looked like someone had jammed a large, twisted, and dull spear into it.

“Sorry.”

Gyes turned toward the voice.

Hajji stood in the same position as before, but his left eye was now covered by a shifted portion of the white cloth hiding his hair. He brought a hand to his mouth.

“I came here for business reasons, but I came so very close to losing you. At least until you lose your battle, we are…how should I put it? Business partners, I suppose. Isn’t that right?”

Gyes did not answer and made sure she could still pull three more swords from her suit.

“What was that power? Was it 9th-Gear’s Concept Core?”

“Is that question related to our business?” Despite the question, he had a smile in his eyes. “Well, I can tell you that much for free. This is purely out of kindness, okay? That is not a Concept Core. It is my concept weapon and its true form is not here.”

He removed his hand from his mouth and lightly tapped the eye hidden by the white cloth.

“To state it another way, it is a grudge.”

He smiled bitterly and then hid that smile with his hand once more. But the smile strengthened and he laughed quietly. He bent forward and laughed even more.

“Sorry about that. I really am sorry. Gyes, I have to thank you and not just for being a business partner. That reminded me what has happened since 9th-Gear’s defeat and why I created the Army. You said you do not understand my motives, didn’t you? Well, there is nothing simpler than this.” He straightened up but left the hand at his mouth. “I will destroy the villains. Those villains pretend to merely be playing the villain’s role so they can avoid facing their own evil, but I will destroy them as a failed villain who never succeeded in his past attempts to destroy the other Gears.”

“What a crazy thing to say. And why will you do this? For a personal grudge?”

“No,” declared Hajji. “Didn’t I tell you before? I will hand this Gear over to those who it truly belongs to.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Hajji shook his head without answering.

“If you want to know that, Gyes, you must join the Army.”

“Ha. So it comes back to that? That is impossible and meaningless. All we wish for is a peaceful life. As long as Lord Apollo who we serve is fine, nothing else matters.”

“Oh?” said Hajji. “If you wish for peace, why do you occasionally head out to battle?”

“Well…”

…''So they noticed.

Hajji seemed to read her mind.

“Typhon is powered by half of your Concept Core, but only half. It was designed that way, but you hope that adding in the other half would allow Apollo to-…”

Gyes sensed danger in his words. They were inside a concept space, so his words could not escape outside.

…''But he is using his ability to leak this information as a threat!

She still had three swords left in her suit. Her decision-making ability told her she had a one hundred percent chance of losing against him, but she could sacrifice herself if she cut off her self-preservation calculations.

“Wait!”

Hajji shouted and held forward his right hand. Gyes stopped with her hands reaching for the back of her waist.

As she glared at him, he held forward his left hand as well and lightly waved them.

“Was that a secret? Hm, sorry. I couldn’t help but mention it.”

“Next time, I will take off your head.”

She returned her hands forward and put her self-preservation calculations back in place.

“And you may call it battle, but lately we have been sending out remote-controlled decoys to search for that black god of war. We Hecatoncheires have been doing that without Lord Apollo’s permission. And Typhon acts whether we want it to or not. It seeks the half of the Concept Core it lacks.”

“I see.” Hajji nodded and took a breath. “Then let us get down to business.”

“That lead in was much too long. How can you run an organization like that?”

“I’m good at grabbing people’s attention. It’s the first thirty seconds that really matter. A leader must be a skilled talker. Am I wrong? Hm? And in the ten years since the Army was established, I have gathered the people we need. We will capture UCAT before long.” He smiled bitterly. “Now for why I am here. Typhon flew east yesterday, didn’t it? It could no longer resist not having the rest of the Concept Core, so it flew away from you. And then it was intercepted by-…”

“We know. When Typhon returned, it had been hit by Keravnos. It ran into that black god of war.”

“Yes, and that god of war has met with UCAT.”

“What?”

Hajji’s eyes narrowed.

“This information is new to you, isn’t it? The organization that contained the one piloting the god of war which destroyed 3rd-Gear has contacted the pilot of the god of war that is currently fighting 3rd-Gear. Also, lights have started appearing in UCAT’s training facility at the Seto Inland Sea. They are preparing for someone to arrive there.”

Gyes bit her lower lip.

…''I hope Typhon didn’t leave any traces of its movement last night.

Either way, the black god of war would often attack them. They had been the first to attack, but the other side also seemed to have a reason to fight.

…''Especially that black god of war.

With that thought, she nodded.

“You have my thanks.”

But by the time she looked up, Hajji was nowhere to be seen. Unlike with his arrival, he had not even made footsteps.

And then a male voice came from beyond a nearby thicket.

“He got away. And after I resisted watching that night game to keep an eye out.”

The thicket parted and revealed a large man. He wore a mountain vest and work pants and he had a hand towel hanging from his waist that contained a greengrocer’s logo. He clicked his tongue and looked around.

“I wonder if Hanshin won.”

“This world really has changed you. More importantly, what do you think of what Hajji said?”

“When he was dealing with you, he did not even take a step toward me. If he had, I was planning to crush his limbs with god of war level gravitational strength.”

“Don’t be so mad, Aigaion. He may not look it, but he is the general of 9th-Gear. That is a pure combat Gear where everything is known as a holy war and its people have the divine protection of the god of heroes. They destroyed our land by filling their people with the power of god and using them as bombs. This is the man who calmly commanded them.”

Gyes used gravity to draw the three swords at her waist and had them float before her eyes.

“If possible, I wanted to use these to…”

She trailed off. As Aigaion asked her what was the matter, she held the three swords up on her fingertips.

Only the grips of the swords remained. The blades had been made of soft metal, but they had still been smashed to dust.

“Did he guide that previous attack into them?”

''That was a warning,'' she thought. ''If he had been serious, he could have destroyed me at any time.

“I see,” she muttered. “The Army is not our ally. I already knew that, but I had grown careless. We need to cut our own path forward.”

“What should we do?”

“Once they are finished eating up above, we will ask the Moirai to handle Cottus’s and my shifts. When I saw Typhon yesterday, it had fragments of the black god of war on its fist. That god of war was damaged. If it has contacted UCAT, we need to attack as soon as possible,” she declared. “Early tomorrow morning, we will attack that black god of war and secure it if possible. This is for the sake of 3rd-Gear’s human race.”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 9|Chapter 9]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 7

2026-09-01T05:00:57Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 7: Painful Guard==
[[Image:OnC_v05_0253.png|thumb]]
''Why do flowers wither?

''Why do they not stay in bloom forever?

A wall contained a giant metal door.

The basement of the Kanda Laboratory was filled with the scent of sparks and the sounds of welding and grinding metal. A cargo corridor on one end of the floor led to a metal sliding door at least eight meters wide and four meters tall.

Three people stood before that double door.

The automaton named #4 was leading Sayama and Shinjou.

Behind Sayama and Shinjou was the laboratory work space where a large number of people and automatons worked.

In front of them, #4 stood before the bulkhead door and her legs were placed slightly apart as if to stop the other two’s path.

She had a smile on her face.

“Now, let us begin the test.”

She spread her arms behind her and grasped the bulkhead’s locks.

Her gaze remained fixed on the other two.

“If you do not provide the proper answer, please leave. What lies beyond here is the embodiment of our great grudge. I will determine whether you can have it.”

“D-determine? What are you going to ask?”

Shinjou’s concerned question only received a smile from #4.

And so Sayama took a step forward.

“They are hoping for a villain, Shinjou-kun. A wonderful villain who is willing to reach for their impurity. …You would be unable to answer.”

“Testament,” said #4 quietly with a nod. “I have a single question. The people of 3rd-Gear had long lives, they corresponded to legends of this world, and their culture truly could control the weather, control heavenly bodies, and use giant gods of war as weapons.”

“You may be saying they were like gods, but it sounds like they were closer to being demons.”

“Testament.” #4 did not deny it and she slowly continued. “If you continue with this Leviathan Road, you will be fighting those demons and then accepting them to your side. But if you oppose and ally with those nigh almighty demons, it will cause the other Gears to avoid you. As the representative of your world, what do you think of such an action?”

“I see.” Sayama nodded. He had only one answer. “A worthless question.”

Sayama raised his left arm lightly yet still forcefully enough to produce a sound from the sleeve’s elbow.

The sound of snapping cloth rang loudly.

As if that were a sign, the sounds of work behind him slowly faded.

He could tell they were all turning toward him. He could sense them growing still and listening carefully.

Before him, #4 stood motionlessly with her arms spread to protect the door.

Silence ruled all.

But in the strained atmosphere of that silence, Sayama slowly lowered his arm.

And he began to speak.

“You wish to know what I think about opposing and subduing demons? Let me say it again: a worthless question.”

“Really? This is no different from inviting a murderer into your family. You may see no problem, but what about the rest of your family?”

<nowiki>#4’s</nowiki> gaze turned to the left where Shinjou stood.

She returned #4’s gaze and then turned toward Sayama. The ends of her eyebrows were lowered and she was attempting and failing to force a smile.

“U-um, Sayama-kun? How about you look at this politically? This may not be my place to speak, but people in the other Gears had family members killed by 3rd-Gear. And not in war. They were abducted and killed for experiments.”

“If you ally with them, you will likely need some form of compensation for such people.”

''I see,'' thought Sayama. ''This question is indeed looking at the later negotiations with the other Gears. But…

“Do you really think I had not given that any thought, Shinjou-kun?”

Shinjou’s expression changed. Her eyebrows rose and she looked up.

“Y-you really thought about it, Sayama-kun?”

“Ha ha ha. I have of course given it no thought whatsoever.”

“Eh?”

Shinjou’s expression froze over.

The atmosphere from those behind him hardened and all expression vanished from #4’s face.

But Sayama readily spoke to the surrounding atmosphere that had lost all emotion.

“Why would I need to think about that again now?”

He raised his left arm once more. With a snap of the sleeve, he brushed a hand through his hair.

“In this Leviathan Road, we must negotiate with 3rd-Gear and bring them to our side. That has nothing to do with the other Gears. Why must we listen to what the other Gears have to say? The whole world is equally under our rule.”

“But…”

Shinjou was at a loss for words, so #4 spoke in her stead.

“Are you saying Low-Gear stands above all other Gears and will rule them? Is that how you view the Leviathan Road?”

“Make no mistake,” he said. “Bringing all other Gears to one’s side is something no other Gear could manage. Doing so requires bringing all Gears except Low-Gear to the same level. In other words, completing the Leviathan Road will automatically set Low-Gear above the other Gears. …And once I gather every Gear in that fashion, there is one thing I plan to say to them.”

“Which is?”

Sayama answered #4’s question without hesitation.

“Low-Gear stands above you, so now bring us to your side.”

“…”

“I do not know how it will happen, when it will happen, or even if the Leviathan Road will ever end. But if they do that, all will be equal. In exchange for bringing the other Gears to our side, Low-Gear will take responsibility for all their negative aspects and it will fall. And that will be the end of it.”

<nowiki>#4</nowiki> listened to the boy standing before her.

The others peering over the partitions were just as motionless as her.

…''Bring Low-Gear to their side?

Sayama spoke as if to answer her question.

“#4-kun, you asked what I thought about opposing and subduing those demons or gods. But make no mistake. Demon and god are nothing more than a classification of race. Even if they have greater abilities, they are the same as you and your fellow automatons. What is there to be afraid of?”

“Even if the difference in ability is like that between an ant and a human?”

“If I saw them next to a bar, I would tap them on the shoulder and treat them to a drink.”

Sayama lowered his raised left arm and asked her a question.

“What is a demon or a god? One who tempts people and causes them to fall? An omniscient and omnipotent ruler? That demon or god is nothing more than an individual that uses the power to do those things.”

He let out a bitter smile. It was likely directed at what he himself was saying.

That smile gave #4 a sudden sense of nostalgia.

She had once seen someone give that same smile.

And so she asked a question.

“And what do you intend to do with those individuals?”

“Well, if I find someone who is being feared or worshiped as a demon or god like that, I will knock them to the ground to wake them up. I will show them that there are more enjoyable things in the world. Yes, they would enjoy life a lot more if they cast aside their corruption or almightiness and gave it to all of you instead.”

“To…us?”

“You serve people, do you not?” he said. “The demons or gods can leave their omniscience and omnipotence with all of you and they can become human. Is that not a wonderful thing? You will be able to serve people without feeling any limit to your abilities. Also, demons and gods are created through belief. In other words, they are artificial. In which case, there can be no objection to making artificial creations such as you into them.”

His words brought a sudden change to #4’s expression.

A certain function activated. Her chain of thoughts chose a certain reaction from her emotional functionality.

She laughed. A small giggle escaped her lips.

“Testament. I apologize for that. I rarely use that function.”

“Then this was a good chance to inspect the function.” Sayama held his lowered left hand toward her and spoke directly to her. “Now, take this hand and use the other hand to open the door behind you. That is your job. Take pride in it, automaton. We will receive that which lies on the other side, investigate a past you are unaware of, and head out to fight. …And it is all to bring those mistaken demons or gods out drinking with us.”

“With you?”

“That is what we are here for. The party is sure to be lively. The misunderstandings of each Gear will be gathered together and you will be our waitresses. Although I would like for you to sit and laugh with us if possible.”

“Is that so?” #4 nodded. “I have determined that is certain to be enjoyable.”

Another function activated. This one created a smile. She determined that this was valuable as she rarely used the function, but she also determined that it was somehow not very machine-like.

Her smile may have been a reaction from her emotional functionality. Heat gathered in her cheeks and softness filled her eyes.

She did not understand it, but she lowered her head slightly because she did not want anyone aside from Sayama to see the smile.

An old record revived in her brain.

Ten years before, someone had caused her to use the exact same function and that person had often spoken of a certain boy. He had said the boy lacked a lot, but he had always smiled while speaking of him.

That person had died recently and a certain question had filled her mind in his place.

…''What kind of person did that boy become?

[[Image:OnC_v05_0263.png|thumb]]

She wondered what kind of smile was on her lips.

And she closed her eyes before speaking.

“Welcome to the entrance to 3rd-Gear’s question, Sayama Mikoto-sama.”

A pause followed #4’s words.

But Sayama did not try to hurry her. He did not hold his hand out any further and he did not speak.

And #4 remained motionless as she faced him. Her arms were still spread behind her and she was still smiling.

Her head was still turned slightly downward and her eyes were still closed.

“…”

The silence lasted a few breaths until it was broken by movement.

But that movement was not made by #4. Nor was it made by Sayama or Shinjou.

Several short figures arrived from behind Sayama as he held out his hand.

They were automatons.

Several dozen automatons slowly surrounded them. A few moved forward toward the bulkhead door.

As Sayama frowned in confusion, Shinjou trembled slightly to his right.

She was looking ahead toward #4 who was surrounded by a few automatons.

“She…”

Her voice turned Sayama’s attention toward #4 as well.

“…isn’t moving?”

<nowiki>#4</nowiki> was indeed not moving.

Even the slight movements of a doll had vanished, so she had frozen in place as if her entire body had hardened over.

The hands touching the door, her leading feet, her head she had tilted a few times, and her expression were all perfectly motionless.

She had stopped all of her functions as an automaton and she would never move again.

“Wh-why?”

Shinjou’s almost self-questioning shout served as a reminder of just how silent their surroundings were. One of the automatons standing around #4 turned toward them.

It was #8. Her red hair swayed as she shook her head. She was saying #4 would not move again.

“#8-kun, you said that my arrival would harm one of your fellow automatons.”

“Testament.”

“Why is that? Why did #4-kun harm herself?”

As he asked, Sayama placed his right hand on the left side of his chest.

A slight pain acted as a prelude as #8 faced him and spoke expressionlessly yet quietly.

“When we took control of this place ten years ago, #4 handled the negotiations. She prepared the plan to defect by betraying 3rd-Gear and she planned to take responsibility for our betrayal with her own self-destruction, but she was stopped.”

“Who stopped this doll from destroying herself and how?”

“Testament. She was given a duty. She was made to serve a certain individual. And that duty has now ended by allowing you passage.”

“Was the one who gave her that duty who I think it was?” asked Shinjou.

It was Sayama who answered.

“My grandfather.”

“Testament. #4 just asked you a question, did she not? Your grandfather once answered the same question. Afterward, he asked #4 to protect that which had been sealed within here since just after the end of the Concept War. He left her with what they had kept sealed for fifty years. And he told her to only allow passage to one she approved of.”

Sayama felt pain.

He swallowed a groan and Shinjou embraced him from the right.

The warmth and softness he felt through his clothes was enough for him to control his breathing.

“…”

He would be fine. His forehead felt damp, but the tension left him.

“I am fine, Shinjou-kun.”

He removed his weak right hand from his chest and pulled Shinjou close.

“Nn,” she groaned as she leaned in and supported him.

He stood tall once more and faced forward.

There he saw a door and a now unmoving automaton standing before it.

“…”

Everyone remained silent.

In the still air, he moved away from Shinjou and approached #4. As he did, someone spoke.

It was the red-haired automaton standing next to #4.

“Your grandfather would occasionally come here to suggest that she take on a new master once her duty was finished. However, she refused to stray from her own decision.” She tilted her head. “Why was that? Humans possess hearts, so do you understand?”

“I only understand one ridiculous truth here: She had terrible taste in people.”

“Testament. Your grandfather said the same thing.”

“Is that so?” Sayama endured a slight throbbing in his chest. “How did my grandfather respond to the question she asked him in their negotiations?”

“You would have to ask #4 as she is the one who heard the answers of both those with the name Sayama.”

<nowiki>#4’s</nowiki> skin was as hard as a doll and no longer moving.

However, one thing could be seen on her lips: a smile.

That unmoving smile remained.

While focusing on that, Sayama brought his hand to his chest once more.

“I thank you.” He took a breath and looked at her with no expression of his own. “But unfortunately, it seems you cannot take my hand and open the door yourself.”

As he spoke, he realized why she had not taken his hand.

The hands held behind her were placed on the door’s locks.

But her fingers were no longer holding the locks.

The door had already opened.

…''Come to think of it, she did say ‘welcome’.

“You did an excellent job.”

Sayama raised his left hand and let out a shout toward the automatons to either side and behind him.

“Let us open the door.”

“Testament!”

As the automatons nodded, Sayama stepped forward.

He raised his hands above #4’s head and placed his fingers in the gap between the two sides of the bulkhead door.

The question of whether it would open vanished from his mind in an instant.

The automatons were not touching the door.

…''If these well-made automatons are doing nothing, the door must already be ready to open.

He spread his arms to either side and the gate quickly slid fully open.

“!”

The metal gate roared across its rails and loudly crashed into the openings that held it while open.

Wind blew through. It was released from the area beyond the door and it was accompanied by light.

Sayama took a step back and looked.

As #4 stood with her arms spread, the wind whipped at her clothes and she was backlit by the light within.

She continued to smile and still did not move. And something stood beyond her.

The lights illuminated something atop a ten meter long cargo platform.

“A black god of war!”

It resembled the one they had seen the night before.

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> spoke from the side after moving away from #4.

“This was built based on a 3rd-Gear god of war recovered during the Concept War. It is the only Low-Gear made god of war that can use philosopher’s stones to function outside of concept spaces. It is the Susahito Custom. It has survived two almost complete destructions and one lesser destruction and it is a grim reaper of the past to 3rd-Gear!”

As he looked toward the metal figure referred to as a grim reaper, Sayama felt a tickle on his chest.

It was Baku.

From behind Sayama, Shinjou saw Baku climb up onto his shoulder.

…''The past is coming.

She had experienced this more than once, so she could perfectly detect it in advance. All of her senses told her she was right. She was entering the past as nothing but sight.

The past revealing itself before her was in the early morning. The area was dim and rain was falling.

It appeared to be somewhere in the mountains. She was surrounded by the sounds of rain and the shadows of the mountain range, so all she could see clearly was what lay at her feet.

It was a twenty square meter area of empty land that had been cleared out.

The ground had been hardened by countless feet, but a large portion of the surface was cracked open.

It appeared to be a small battlefield.

…''What is this?

The area was almost completely dark, but she could see two giant forms.

One was a black god of war standing on the cracked ground. Its right arm and the wings that said Susahito in white writing were broken. The armor panels of the torso were bent inward into the chest.

The other was a silver god of war. It stood in front of the black one and its torso had been sliced apart. Both the top and the bottom of the split god of war were bent from great impacts and it had oil and lubricant leaking from the cut and other parts of its body.

Shinjou knew that damage to a god of war was returned to the pilot.

“Rhea-san was the one piloting that silver one.”

Before she could think about the implications of that, she saw motion.

A man rose up from behind the black god of war.

The short young man was Hiba Ryuutetsu. He roughly wore an army uniform, his right arm hung down limply, and he dragged his legs forward through the rain. His right eye had been destroyed by what looked like a vertical slash of a blade and his left eye could not see clearly through the blood flowing from his head.

But his single eye could see the two giant figures standing even further in front of him.

“A gray god of war and a pale blue god of war!”

Two gods of war even larger than the black and silver ones stood in the darkness.

One was gray and the other was pale blue. They both had four wings spread, but the gray one’s right hand held a sword covered in black oil and its left hand held a certain noise.

It was the crying of a baby.

The crying left the gray giant’s left palm and filled the rainy sky.

Shinjou’s vision saw a red-eyed baby shedding tears within baby clothes made by sewing together scraps of cloth.

Its long, intermittent crying caused Ryuutetsu to move forward.

He held his unmoving right arm with his left hand and he looked up at the gray and pale blue gods of war.

“Is that… Is that your answer!?”

The gray god of war did not answer with words. The pale blue one merely looked up at the gray one slightly.

It seemed to be asking the other one something.

The gray one then moved as if giving an answer. It raised the sword in its right hand.

“…!”

And it sliced the sword through the wind and toward Ryuutetsu.

At the same time, the silver god of war collapsed in front of Ryuutetsu moved. Only the severed upper half of the body swung up its right arm like a living being.

A clear sound brought destruction. Everything past the silver one’s right elbow burst as the blade struck it. But the silver upper body suddenly leaped up and crashed into the gray one.

Needless to say, it did not move any more than that.

The ground shook and muddy water splattered around as the silver god of war fell back to the ground. Ryuutetsu shouted toward it through the rain with a voice that was near tears.

“Rhea!”

There was no response. But the gray god of war did look down at the silver god of war at its feet.

After that quick glance, it stared at the silver god of war’s oil on its gray fingers.

“————”

It produced a noise halfway between a groaning machine and a sigh.

Meanwhile, darkness appeared behind the gray and pale blue gods of war. It was a deep darkness. Unlike the darkness already surrounding them, this darkness seemed to solidify. It spread out in an instant as if to envelop the gray god of war.

It was a gate.

The gray god of war held up the crying voice in its left hand and sank into the gate.

Having completed what it came to do, it returned to 3rd-Gear without even a parting glance toward Ryuutetsu.

Next, the pale blue god of war turned its back, but it stopped for a moment.

“—————”

It said something.

And then its giant form vanished in a gust of wind.

All that remained were the broken ground, the two destroyed gods of war, and Ryuutetsu.

He sat on his knees below the early morning sky. His head hung down, he bent forward, and he let out a moan.

Shinjou tried to close her ears to the cries of agony, but she could not.

“I won’t forgive you…”

His shout changed to crying, but the past quickly came to its end. She could not shut off her vision, but it now grew dark as if to say she had seen what she was meant to see.

And then the past switched out.

…''Eh?

It did not come to an end. There was more. The next scene began as if to say there was more for her to see.

Rather than fading to black, the world changed as if she were moving.

The second past that revealed itself to Sayama was a dim warehouse wrapped in fog.

His first impression of the large warehouse was that it was old. But not because it was outdated. It was worn out from plenty of use.

The warehouse had no windows or doors and its floor was plain concrete. The concrete floor had been scraped away by great weights passing over it, so very little of it was flat anymore.

What resembled a large mountain sat in the center of the warehouse floor.

That mountain sank deeply within the darkness and fog.

But a certain form was visible in the early morning warehouse.

It was the wreckage of two gods of war. One was silver and the other black. The silver one had been sliced in two through the torso and its limbs had been crushed. However, the black one was almost undamaged save the smashed torso and right arm.

Also, three human figures appeared from behind the two gods of war.

The one in the lead walked along while checking the condition of the gods of war.

Sayama recognized him.

“Ooshiro Hiromasa.”

The one who averted his gaze from the gods of war was Hiba Ryuutetsu.

One eye and one arm were wrapped in bandages.

He looked silently behind him where an old man walked up. He wore a white cloak, his back was bent, and his gray hair and gray beard hung forward to the same length.

He walked slowly, but Sayama saw strength in his eyes.

The man stared at the two gods of war and suddenly stopped walking.

“Very interesting inventions.”

Another language could be heard on top of his words.

As Sayama wondered who he was, Hiromasa stopped walking and turned back.

“Thank you very much. It means a lot to hear that from the leading member of the god of war homeworld, King Cronus.”

“I am no longer king,” said Cronus in disinterest. “I am now a man who can only visit Low-Gear once his son lets his guard down.”

“It is a shame we must meet in a place like this. And you have to leave soon, don’t you? What do you need today? Surely you aren’t just here to see Rhea-san.”

“Rhea came here after properly removing her concept and sending it to the Tartaros. No will remains in her corpse, so there is no meaning in seeing her. Dispose of her as you would a human of this world.” Cronus adjusted his cloak’s collar. “I have two things to say. First, 3rd-Gear has formed an alliance with 9th-Gear and they have decided to bring the fight here to your world.”

His words caused Hiromasa and Ryuutetsu to freeze in place.

Ryuutetsu looked at Cronus with his one eye, but the old man said nothing.

Instead, Hiromasa pushed his glasses up his nose and asked a question.

“Can we win with these inventions of ours?”

“No. You seem to have mechanical dragons and concept weapons, but it will be a tie if they are on the same level as theirs and a loss if they are on a lower level. …Also, they will be arriving when this world reaches spring. Decentralize what is important and have your women and children evacuate. Leave behind only those who are willing to die or wish to gather wreckage from the battlefield.”

“I see,” said Hiromasa with a nod.

“Hey,” said Ryuutetsu.

He took a slow breath and faced Cronus. No expression remained on his face and he weakly asked a question as if letting the words fall from his mouth.

“Will Zeus and Apollo be coming?”

“You cannot defeat them.”

“I asked you if they’ll be coming.”

“Zeus will. But Apollo will remain in the temple. He annoyed Zeus because he could not bring himself to kill Rhea.”

“Is that so?” Ryuutetsu showed his teeth in the corner of his mouth. “It’s too bad Apollo won’t be coming, but we can still open the gate, right? Not the one that sends a single person and closes like you use. The one that a god of war can travel back and forth through.”

“Why do you wish to go that far?”

Cronus did not bother asking what he intended to do.

But it was not Ryuutetsu who responded.

It was Hiromasa. He grabbed Ryuutetsu’s unmoving right shoulder.

“Hiba, you should give it up. You need to look at the people you have by your side.”

“I know,” said Ryuutetsu. “But you can’t back down on some things. Hiromasa, you have a kid, don’t you? That healthy but stupid-looking one. Why’d you give him his name?”

“Because I want him to be #1 in everything, be it health or stupidity.”<ref>Kazuo contains the kanji for 1.</ref>

“Hah. Those of us from Low-Gear sure do like to get some actual benefit from things. I’m probably the same. If I have a kid, I think I’ll give him a name that will help him make something of himself. But…” He swept off Hiromasa’s hand with his left hand and smiled. “Rhea named her daughter Mikage. When Mikage was born, that was how she saw the early morning scenery outside the open-air dojo near my house. It was nothing more than the sun starting to rise, but she thought it warranted the name ‘beautiful shadow’. …But she said 3rd-Gear didn’t even have that. She said her daughter was a child of Low-Gear and she gave her that name to remind her daughter of that.”

So…

“Mikage is a part of our world. I will take her back no matter what.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

The instant after Cronus’s voice reverberated through the warehouse, Ryuutetsu grabbed Cronus’s collar with his left hand.

“I don’t care what you say! If the enemy wants to come, let them come. And now it’s our turn to go to them. That’s all there-…”

“That is not all there is to it. Not when it comes to Mikage.”

“What else is there!?”

“Mikage could not have children.”

The words seemed to spill from Cronus’s mouth.

Ryuutetsu and Hiromasa were dumbfounded. Ryuutetsu’s eye opened wide, strength left his hand, and he let go of Cronus’s collar.

“Zeus had me examine her. When I viewed the future of her growth on the genetic level, I could tell she would grow to be a human who cannot have children.”

It took several seconds for his statement to sink into the air and for understanding to sink into the two men.

Ryuutetsu was the first to react.

“Hah,” he laughed while his shoulders shook.

His shoulders shook silently for a while, but his voice quickly joined them and then he doubled over.

“Ha ha! I-is that bastard Zeus an idiot? He caused such a huge commotion entering our world and he even killed a woman, but the daughter he got can’t even have children? 3rd-Gear will be destroyed! You may have Apollo, but he doesn’t have a partner!”

“That is why I created a partner for him. A partner created using Mikage.”

“Wha-…?”

Ryuutetsu suddenly collapsed to the side.

After a sound of impact, he fell to his knees, revealing Hiromasa behind him. Hiromasa rested a metal rod on his shoulder and smiled toward Cronus.

“Sorry about that. It seems monkeys these days have high blood pressure. I will speak on his behalf, so what exactly do you mean? Have you completed a method of altering an infertile mother?”

“No. I have recently been working with an automaton.”

“Meaning?”

“Functionally, it is simply an automaton with the gravitational ability omitted. …However, it can evolve into a human.”

The meaning of his words left Hiromasa speechless. Cronus gave a self-deprecating smile before continuing.

“Metal has life. And so metal should be able to evolve as life and become human. I have completed an automaton designed for that purpose. Just before coming here, I transplanted Mikage as the managing body for that automaton. And the surgery was a success. Mikage has cast aside her infertile body and now lives inside an automaton that might be able to have children eventually.”

Hiromasa fell silent and Ryuutetsu slowly stood up while regulating his breathing.

While standing, he instantly grabbed the metal rod from Hiromasa’s grasp.

“How much are you going to toy with us!?”

He swung the rod down at Cronus with all his strength.

He targeted the top of the old man’s head. The rod could not miss.

“…”

But he stopped it a hair’s breadth from Cronus’s forehead.

And yet the old man did not even look toward the weapon that had almost struck him. He only looked at the weapon’s wielder.

“Are you not going to hit me?”

“If I do, that bastard Zeus would notice. That would put Mikage’s life at risk.”

“Are you sure it is not that you ''cannot'' hit me? Because you do not wish to lower yourself to our level?”

Ryuutetsu let out a laugh and jabbed his elbow into Cronus.

The old man stumbled back two steps but did not fall. He also looked toward Ryuutetsu for a moment. The young man was wrinkling his brow and gathering strength in his shoulders.

“Interesting.” The old man nodded with an impressed look. “Humans are quite interesting. Ha ha. Especially those of this Gear!”

He brought a hand to his wrinkled cheek and touched his lips as he laughed.

“Is this a time when one should laugh? I apologize, but it’s been so long that I’ve completely forgotten. Ha ha. But you are so very amusing. It has been a while since I have seen anyone this amusing.”

“You’re a human too, you know? You saw my attack, but you didn’t avoid it. Do you think you should die? How naïve.”

Ryuutetsu looked away from Cronus and to his own god of war.

“Just wait, old man. I swear to you I’ll make my way there. If I’m gonna kill you, it’ll be then.”

“I doubt you can make it there alive.”

“Just shut up and leave,” said Ryuutetsu. “Hiromasa, I know you’re busy having fun with 2nd-Gear, but help me modify my Susahito. Once I bring back Mikage, I’ll pay you back for your excellent work.”

“How very selfish. I promise you I will ask you to pay me back in the worst possible way. I can no longer worry about appearances while dealing with Yamata.”

Hiromasa smiled bitterly and turned to Cronus.

“Still, I will make sure this monkey finds his way to 3rd-Gear, Former King Cronus.” He took a breath. “Mikage is indeed a child of Low-Gear. It was after her birth that Rhea-san began to cooperate with us. She gave us information on the Concept War and she had the mechanical dragon Xolotl 3 open a path to 5th-Gear. …We cannot ignore her or her family.”

“Such a foolish Gear. How very appropriate for the lowest level.”

“Isn’t that why you were laughing?”

Cronus nodded and began walking. He walked outside where it was still dark.

“I will send a messenger later. There is only so far you can modify that god of war.”

“We won’t thank you.”

“Fine by me,” said the old man as he passed through the warehouse entrance.

He vanished into the dark and foggy early morning.

“It is too bad that I must leave without seeing the world Rhea saw. I will also tell you one other thing I meddled with.” He paused a moment. “I set the path of Mikage’s evolution to become as much like a Low-Gear human as possible. Once her evolution begins, she will not have a long life like us and she will not possess a concept to control nature. She will be a powerless mother. But to defend her, she will be given the spare for Typhon which is currently under construction.”

“You thought of her as a part of this Gear from the beginning…”

“This is just for fun. And as proof, I will leave you with a certain game. Once this spare god of war is complete, half of 3rd-Gear’s Concept Core will go to Typhon, half will go to Typhon’s weapon named Keravnos, and then Zeus and I will enter the Tartaros.”

“What!? Is that bastard planning to quit while he’s ahead!?”

“He is creating a copy of his will. That copy will be placed inside the gray god of war as an advisor for 3rd-Gear. And instead of within Typhon, Keravnos will be sealed within the spare being given to Mikage.”

“What?”

“If you wish to destroy 3rd-Gear, come take Mikage. But she is a baby. How will you defeat the god of war army led by Apollo, quiet a crying baby, and take her with you? That is the game. This is my final bit of fun after toying with so many lives.”

Cronus’s words dissolved into the warehouse.

And then the past slowly dissolved into darkness, into nothingness.

As he saw the past come to an end, Sayama muttered to himself.

“So Mikage-kun is at the center of it all.”

There was a wooden staircase.

The narrow staircase was illuminated by the red lights on the ceiling. The sides were left open to make it look bigger, so the single spiral of the stairs had only a thick railing on either side.

The lights illuminated a single figure halfway up the wooden stairs.

It was a girl with blonde hair.

She wore a long-sleeved black turtleneck and a white dress as she sat sideways on the stairs. She was writing in a journal placed on a step higher than her elbow.

She created a string of writing on the white page of the journal.

“What Happened Today – Hiba Mikage”

She was pressing down a bit too hard as she wrote, but the handwriting was neat.

She looked at the white gloves covering her hands, she looked at the words, and she nodded. She flipped through the past pages and compared her name.

Today’s handwriting closely resembled the handwriting on the previous day and the day before that.

She quickly flipped through the pages, moving further and further into the past of the thick journal. Photographs were inserted at points and she had made drawings at some points.

The drawings were detailed. The pencil sketches looked a lot like a black-and-white photograph.

Her expression clouded over a bit as she looked at them. She looked at her fingers, but she continued flipping the pages to the past.

The earliest ones were from January.

The first entry was about the Kagami Biraki. She compared the handwriting there to that of the current entry.

She could tell the past entry used a lot fewer kanji than the current one. That was because she studied a lot since then, but she had not had to worry about difficult kanji back then. Also…

“Ihs oh eet.”

''It’s so neat.

A few of the characters in the past entry were much more detailed than now. They looked like the product of a printer.

“…”

She looked to her right hand and the glove covering it.

She slowly placed her left hand on the glove and removed it.

The removal of the white cloth revealed a hand too white to be flesh-colored. The joints and palm were still made of a material resembling black plastic.

“Ih oohs.”

''It moves.

The hand made precise movements in accordance with her will.

She lowered the ends of her eyebrows and her shoulders drooped.

But she flipped back through the journal with one hand.

She returned to the current page and even more strength left her lowered shoulders. She sighed and tapped the journal several times with the tip of the mechanical pencil she held.

“I’ll ooh I ehs.”

''I’ll do my best.

She nodded and strength returned to her shoulders. She adjusted her grip on the pencil and began recording the events of the day.

…''What happened today?

She had a lot to write. She wrote instead of speaking, instead of making noise.

Rather than having Hiba take the time to read her lips every day, she felt it was less of a bother to write a journal entry and have him read it.

Once that had become customary, Hiba had started reading the journal entry aloud and she would move her mouth to emulate his. That was their latest speech training.

…''When I woke up, Ryuuji-kun was there.

For some reason, Hiba always grew flustered when she wrote that in the journal entry. He had grown extremely flustered when she had written about how he would wash her body in the bath. She still could not move her arms and hands properly and her body was hard. She needed someone to do that for her and she could relax if it was Hiba, so she felt it was only natural.

She wondered what the problem was. His mother said it was because her body and mind still needed to grow as a woman. But in that case, she did not understand why her inexperienced and incomplete self would make Hiba grow flustered.

She wrote about the day, about waking up, about the morning, about midday, about the afternoon, about the evening, about the night, about what was to come, and about what she could never allow herself to forget.

“Ow ih I eel?”

''How did I feel?

How did she feel about what?

She was not sure.

She often did not know what she felt about things. She had thought about a lot of things, started feeling sleepy, wrapped herself in the curtain, and fell asleep while waiting for the sun to rise. When she had woken again, it had been bright. How was that supposed to make her feel? That was when Hiba had arrived and woken her.

“I was happy,” she wrote.

She then added that she was happy that she had been able write that honestly.

Her journal entry jumped around in time a lot and contained a lot of comments.

But she had a lot to write. She filled the page as if getting the words out of her system.

During the evening, Hiba had called her. At a place called school he had spoken with people known as upperclassmen. He had told them about one of 3rd-Gear’s two impurities.

Of those upperclassmen, there were two named Sayama and Shinjou who Hiba had yet to speak with properly and Hiba speculated that they were an active hard gay couple. Mikage did not understand what that meant, but it was not often that Hiba’s voice trembled in fear like that. She could only assume those two were frightening.

He had said he would meet with them the following morning and speak some more.

He had hesitantly asked if she would meet them too.

From his tone, Mikage could tell he was unsure what to do.

And to be honest, Mikage was having difficulty deciding how to handle the battle with 3rd-Gear.

Her body would evolve into a human body.

But that evolution had stopped five years ago.

It had stopped the first time she had called out the black god of war for their first battle with 3rd-Gear.

They had tried various methods of starting it again.

…''But we only have half the Concept Core.

That was Hiba’s theory. They had half of 3rd-Gear’s Concept Core in Keravnos, but 3rd-Gear’s strongest god of war had the other half. Hiba theorized that her remaining evolution could not be completed without obtaining that other half.

On the other hand, their opponent wanted her body. They wanted her as a 3rd-Gear human and as the final possibility for a mother.

But Mikage did not entirely understand what the word ‘mother’ meant.

She thought it was someone who could have children, cook food, and look after others, but she doubted she could ever act as considerately as Hiba’s mother.

She had no voice, she could not walk properly, and she had little knowledge of the world.

“Uh ah I uhoh oo oo?”

''What am I supposed to do?

She had a feeling she knew what would happen.

…''I can’t do it.

She had never told anyone about that thought. Not even Hiba.

She just wanted to be near Hiba. She did not care about her evolution or becoming a mother. As long as she could be by his side and see all sorts of things with him, that was enough.

But he was fighting for her evolution and to protect her.

She did not know why. However, she did not want him to be hurt, so she had all the damage done to the god of war sent back to herself.

The damage to its wings from the other day remained as a wound on the flesh she had received via her evolution. However, that wound would soon return to normal thanks to her natural healing.

That was the most she could do to help him.

“…”

She wondered whether she should write that thought or not.

It would worry Hiba. Should she expose all of her imperfections and inexperience and leave the decision to him?

She then heard a noise.

“?”

The door had opened downstairs. The footsteps in the entranceway were those of the new shoes Hiba had bought for school in April.

…''I need to go.

She placed a hand on the stairway wall. She grabbed the railing, pulled her body up, twisted her waist, bent her back, and brought her shoulders up higher than the railing.

She had to go. If he saw her sitting there, he would immediately pick her up and carry her. She appreciated the thought, but she did not like that she had no choice but to go along with it.

…''Ahh.

She wondered if it was wrong of her to be so glad when he did things for her.

She stood up.

She stood on her trembling legs and her weak knees. As she grasped the railing, her field of vision rose quite high.

When she had first done this, the height had surprised her. As she recalled that, she descended the stairs. She moved ever so slowly toward where he was removing his shoes down below.

She approached him just like always.

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 6|Chapter 6]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 8|Chapter 8]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 6

2026-08-31T03:40:05Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 6: Driving Questions==
[[Image:OnC_v05_0217.png|thumb]]
''Where does the initial question lead?

''To question is to go and to return

''They let you test yourself and look back

By the afternoon on the day before the closing ceremony, very few students remained in the Kinugasa Library.

The shouts and sounds of the sports teams could be heard from the schoolyard.

That provided the background noise for the three people who sat motionless at the table in the center of the library.

A cloth map of Japan was spread out on the table while Izumo, Kazami, and Hiba sat around it.

Hiba started by asking Kazami a cautious question with a serious expression.

“You aren’t going to hit me?”

“Y’know, I think you’ve gotten the wrong impression of me. I won’t hit you if you do nothing wrong.”

“Eh? R-really? Strange. That isn’t what everyone says…”

As he tilted his head several times, Kazami clenched her fist below the table while considering actually hitting him. Hiba seemed to catch on because he quickly put on a smile.

“Oh, s-sorry. Anyway…”

“Yes. What do you want?”

“Well… Before I explain 3rd-Gear’s impurity, I want to quickly go over their history.”

“Sounds good.”

With her agreement urging him on, he reached for a piece of paper on the table. He also picked up a ballpoint pen and drew on the white back of the paper.

The drawing looked like a few floating islands.

“Um, this is actually a cross section. 3rd-Gear was apparently a collection of giant floating continents.” Hiba tapped at the center of the drawing with the back of the pen. “It supposedly also had an ocean long ago, but it was always this shape and so it didn’t have very many people. The people of 3rd-Gear had long lives and they each had a special ability coming from one of the concepts supporting the world. In other words, they had lifespans of several thousand years and the powers supporting the world were distributed among them.”

“Distributed?”

“Yes. The Concept Core was divided up and they received a portion when they were born. You could say they were humanoid concepts rather than people.”

“When they died, was that concept extracted and returned?”

“Not just that. From what I’ve heard, they had a single device that took the wills of those bearing the concepts and stored them in the Concept Core. Do you understand what that means?”

“Their Concept Core worked like an underworld, right?” answered Izumo with little interest in his voice. “When those with the concepts died, their residual will and concept would be stored in the Concept Core. And when a new life was born, the concept would be recycled into them, but the wills would simply accumulate in the Concept Core. That’s an artificial Tartaros.”

“Yes. That is why 3rd-Gear called their Concept Core the Tartaros and called the device sending them there the Tartaros Machina.”

Kazami thought on what Hiba said with a smile.

“If they had technology like that, 3rd-Gear must have been a pretty advanced world.”

“Yes. That is why their civilization advanced with an extreme focus in one direction. They altered the world as they saw fit, they created automatons to make up for their lacking manpower, and they created machines modeled after themselves to increase an individual’s strength. Do you know how gods of war are piloted?”

Kazami thought about the device underneath UCAT. UCAT had experimentally created that large humanoid machine and it was primarily operated remotely, but she knew that was not the standard method.

“A human combines with it, right?”

“Correct. Because they could turn metal into a living thing, a god of war contains the same systems as a human. The pilot is broken down and taken inside those systems.”

Hiba raised his right hand and lightly rotated it, mixing up the warm gentle air of the library.

“It feels less like you’re riding it and more like you’ve grown and have armor and reinforced parts attached. When the god of war is damaged, the injury is sent back to your own body when it is reconstructed.”

A bitter smile suddenly replaced Hiba’s serious expression. He knew they would not understand.

''He must have fought in quite a few battles up until now,'' thought Kazami as she watched him.

He clearly knew there were times when others would not understand his stance.

…''I hope we can understand.

She sighed inwardly.

“Anyway, let’s get back on topic. How was 3rd-Gear destroyed?”

“Well, it was a floating continent civilization, but there was one thing that truly started the advancement of their civilization.”

“The Concept War?”

“Yes. When they learned of their world’s concepts and coming destruction, they realized their civilization and concepts were very powerful and gave them the upper hand. But…” Hiba scratched at his head and hesitated to continue. “Due to what I mentioned before, their civilization reached a dead end.”

“A dead end?”

Hiba looked up and compared the look on Kazami’s and Izumo’s faces.

“How does one increase the population?”

Kazami and Izumo fell silent.

After taking about five breaths, Izumo raised his right hand while facing forward.

“Chisato-sensei, may I give a clear and erotic answer?”

“…We all know the answer, so you don’t have to say it.”

“Hmm,” groaned Izumo as he lowered his hand.

Hiba slowly clenched his fist to show his agreement.

“Well done, Izumo-san. You’re exactly the kind of person I heard you were.”

“I see. Then do your best to show me some respect. Too many people have been unable to see my value recently. …Chisato, why are you giving me that displeased look?”

“Honestly, I don’t even care anymore. Anyway, Hiba-kun… No, I think calling you Hiba is good enough.”

“Wh-why would you drop the ‘-kun’? Aren’t I your adorable underclassman?”

Kazami ignored that comment.

“Anyway, Hiba, what does increasing the population have to do with 3rd-Gear’s destruction?”

“Well, you know how animals are said to need a population above a certain level to increase in number? What if they were only just barely at that level before the Concept War?” He took a breath. “They only ever had as many people as there were concept pieces supporting the world. …Now what if they went to war?”

Kazami froze in place. ''Wait,'' she thought to keep herself from reaching too hasty a conclusion.

“Wait a second. Don’t you normally encourage population growth before a war?”

“The Concept War isn’t something you see coming. The fight is suddenly brought to you. At least, that’s apparently how it was for 3rd-Gear. When 9th’s troops invaded 3rd, they were held off by the gods of war and automatons, but 3rd-Gear panicked. They did not know whether they should solidify their defenses or head out to war.”

“Then…” Kazami thought. She looked up at the ceiling and sighed when she reached her conclusion. “3rd-Gear went out to war, didn’t they? They wanted to finish things before their population could fall too far.”

“Yes. Their current king was named Cronus. I’ve heard that he was skilled at making automatons and gods of war and that he created further longevity methods to keep the population from falling. And he also modified the Tartaros Machina to be used for invasions. He made it so people’s concepts could be removed while still alive. Otherwise, 3rd-Gear would have been destroyed if more than half the residents left the Gear for an invasion.” Hiba shrugged. “But Cronus could not fully ease the people’s fears, so his position was usurped by his son.”

“Was his son named Zeus? According to Greek mythology, Cronus was kicked from the throne by Zeus and a culture of fighting and pleasure was created under Zeus’s rule.”

The corner of Izumo’s mouth rose in a smile and he brought a hand to the map before him.

He pointed toward Okaayama’s Kojima Peninsula in the Setouchi region.

“Is that fighting and pleasure the impurity that’s apparently somewhere around here?”

“You’re close. But when it is created for a war, what does that make it?” asked Hiba. “We’re getting to the main issue now.”

''I hate studying,'' thought Miyako.

She faced forward while scratching at her head and sitting on the bed with one knee raised.

Moira 1st was on the other side of the stretcher that had previously contained a meal.

She was crouched down and used both hands to hold something on top of the stretcher.

It was a thin B4-size board with a drawing on the side pointed toward Miyako. The drawing depicted their world being destroyed and she read the explanation written on the back.

It was a kamishibai.

According to Moira 1st, when her fellow automatons had gone outside, an educational facility had taught about society using this method.

…''They must have snuck into a kindergarten.

That had to have been a very long time ago when the Showa era was still in its middle period. If their story was true, it would have been about sixty years ago.

As Miyako thought about the past, Moira 1st flipped to the next board.

A king named Zeus was giving instructions to the people.

It was a crude drawing made with crayon, but Zeus was one of the people she had seen in the picture frames in the hallway. He was the man with a blond beard.

Past the picture, Moira 1st spoke with a slight smile.

“Now, the king was eager to get things started. ‘Wah hah hah. Be fruitful and multiply.’ It became okay for family members to have children together.”

“Wait a second. Don’t say that in such an exciting and enjoyable way!”

“But that is what happened. …Oh, are you out of snacks?”

“I still have this cigarette gum.”

“I see.”

With a smile, Moira 1st flipped to a board with a picture of a cell.

The cell contained some kind of laboratory and a gray-haired old man stood within it. He looked the same as one of the people in the hallway picture frames. He was holding the metal bars like a monkey.

“But the number of people decreased. It was partially due to underestimating the development speed of the other worlds’ civilizations, but Lord Cronus shouted from his cell claiming that ‘you shouldn’t do it within the family!’. However, it was mostly due to people dying in the war.”

As Miyako tried to decide what about that to take issue with, the next board was revealed.

“It all came to a head when the ninth world destroyed one of our continents. ‘Take this! Suicide bomber of rage!’ Kaboom! Kaboom!”

[[Image:OnC_v05_0227.png|thumb]]

“Wait. The way you’re saying that doesn’t match the detail of this drawing! People are being blown up!”

“We divided up the work and each drew one, but Moira 2nd is a really good artist.”

The next board showed Zeus and several other people.

“The war dragged on and the people stopped being able to have children for some reason. Whether due to a limit of the species or just pathetic individuals, the number of men and women who could have children greatly decreased. And the loss of a continent made the world begin to fall out of balance.”

The next board showed Zeus sitting in a chair.

“The king was anguished. They tried cloning, but the technology must have been insufficient because the clones could not have children. The number of people continued to fall. Once not much more than his own family remained, the king made a decision.”

“To do what?” asked Miyako.

After a moment, she gasped at what her question meant: She was growing interested in 3rd-Gear.

She looked up and saw Moira 1st smiling beyond the board. She flipped to the next one which showed a line of giant robots similar to the ones she had seen before.

“Those who could not have children transferred their concepts and wills to the Tartaros while their bodies joined with machines and fought. Those who could have children did whatever they could to give birth to people of their world in an attempt to ensure the continued existence of their world.”

She flipped the board again and displayed a drawing of four men and women. One was Zeus, one was Cronus, and the other two were a young man and woman. The young pair both had long blond hair, but the man had yellow eyes and the woman had red eyes.

Neither of them had been in the hallway picture frames, but the man looked familiar.

…''Huh?

He resembled the silhouette she had seen in the forest while looking down from the elevator.

But she did not recognize the woman at all.

The woman in the picture frame had had pale blue eyes.

All of them but Cronus had a robot behind them. Behind Zeus was a gray robot, behind the young man was a pale blue robot, and behind the woman was a silver robot.

“The few remaining people also became machines. Only four remained as humans: the king, his son Lord Apollo, Lady Rhea who served the king, and Lord Cronus who was imprisoned. And Lady Rhea carried the king’s child.”

Moira 1st continued speaking, but she spoke quietly as if testing her.

“It was known that Lady Rhea’s child would be a girl. If the child was able to have children, the king intended to duplicate her with new clone technology being developed and then create a large number of people for their world.”

When she heard that, something fell to the floor from Miyako’s hand.

It was the cigarette gum she had been toying with in place of an actual cigarette.

But she did not even look down toward it.

“Wait.”

Not even she was sure why she had spoken.

…''This isn’t good.

But despite her thought, she spoke in a quiet yet trembling voice.

“In other words, y-you mean the king…”

“What is it?” asked Moira 1st.

Miyako’s mouth hung open and she felt the emotion that had caused her to drop the gum.

“So… Before this kid was even born, your king was thinking about using her as a sample for cloning?”

She did not want to hear the answer.

“Yes.” Moira 1st gave a slight smile. “The child would be maintained at a young state in a preservation tank. Her growth would be stopped at a stage when she retained great possibility for growth, cells would be extracted, and the stasis would be removed to allow her to grow.”

“Stop!” shouted Miyako.

She recalled her job interview from the previous day. How had the interviewers viewed her then?

…''Like a faceless member of a crowd or like a lifeless part of a machine.

She felt that interpretation was showing a bit of a persecution complex, so she stood up from the bed to wipe the thoughts from her mind.

“That Rhea woman’s kid was the king’s kid, right!? It was his own kid, wasn’t it!? How could he ignore the kid’s will and…try all that bullshit!”

“It is not ‘bullshit’,” declared Moira 1st.

Her words threatened to tear Miyako’s feelings to pieces, but that was stopped by Moira 1st’s own smile and dignified voice.

“An entire world was on the verge of destruction. There were only two options: try every means available to survive or give up and be destroyed.”

Moira 1st asked a quiet but clear question.

“Have you ever tried to choose the former or been faced with someone who did, princess?”

A certain underground space did not feel dark and sealed off. That underground maintenance area made full use of its excavated free space.

The concrete floor measured several hundred meters in all four directions and it was filled with people, light, and sounds.

The wall displayed the UCAT logo and said Kanda Laboratory in a black Gothic typeface.

Unlike UCAT in Okutama, the vast underground space was divided into research blocks with partitions. Each large partition had various objects and noises within.

“This first basement is primarily used for god of war research. The second basement is used for research on concept space production theory.”

While surrounded by the sounds of grinders and smells of welding, Sayama and Shinjou walked down the center path between partitions. An automaton in a maid uniform walked ahead of them.

The maid, #4, had sent a different maid to retrieve Georgius’s examination device with Tsukuyomi while she showed the two of them around. As they walked, she described the destruction of 3rd-Gear.

“Lord Zeus chose the path of survival no matter what.” She looked back toward them with an expressionless look below her short blonde hair. “Do you now understand what 3rd-Gear’s impurity is?”

Sayama saw Shinjou nod next to him.

She embraced her binder as if relying on it and paled a bit.

…''Treating humans like tools is a difficult topic for her.

And so he took the initiative and spoke.

“Is this what you are trying to say? To survive the Concept War, 3rd-Gear did not treat its own people as human in those intra-family marriages and human modifications.”

“I do not know how exactly you are picturing the situation, but that is what happened. At the time, 3rd-Gear was the Gear with the greatest technology in such things.” She closed her eyes. “What you just mentioned was one of the methods used in the initial stage. Almost everyone but the nobles was treated that way. Most of those who disobeyed were sent to the Tartaros Machina, the empty shell of their body had the organs extracted, and the remaining parts were fixed inside a god of war. Once a temporary will was attached, the god of war was sent out to battle.”

“I believe a portion of that requires correcting. It was not just “most” of those who disobeyed, was it?” asked Sayama. “For the Gear to be destroyed, more than half the Concept Core had to be lost. But weren’t 3rd-Gear’s concepts held by each individual resident? To lose over half the core, more than half the residents would have to be sent to the Tartaros, bringing the core together into one mass.”

He heard Shinjou gasp.

But he went on to speak the truth she had realized.

“3rd-Gear’s king took almost all of the residents’ lives and sent them to the Tartaros, didn’t he?”

“Testament. That is correct.”

And…

“But can you say anything more concerning 3rd-Gear’s actions?”

“Of course,” answered Sayama with a slight laugh.

…''That is a simple matter.

“Someone who is willing to do anything to survive would never limit himself to his own Gear. 3rd-Gear had to have reached for other Gears. They must have abducted people, taken them apart, modified them, and used them as tools for their own survival. Am I wrong?”

“Testament. Then do you understand the meaning of 3rd-Gear’s impurity?”

“They are the Gear that violated a great taboo and committed a holocaust in which they did not view people as human.”

<nowiki>#4</nowiki> nodded and lowered her gaze slightly.

“This fact is known at least by the Gears higher than 3rd. Especially 9th which directly fought 3rd. And at the time, 3rd-Gear was known as ‘the Gear of fighting and pleasure’. Fighting referred to the gods of war and pleasure sarcastically referred to the forced production of children.” She closed her eyes. “But if Team Leviathan accepts 3rd-Gear to their side, it will mean accepting its past crimes. The people of our Gear were treated as tools and people of other Gears were treated the same. At the time, the people fighting 3rd-Gear knew some of their own relatives were being used as parts for the gods of war and automatons, so they took the initiative to destroy them.”

“But it was Low-Gear that ultimately did so?”

“Testament. I have heard that some people praise Low-Gear for that destruction. But what will they say if Team Leviathan now accepts 3rd-Gear?”

“In other words, we will receive the resentment of the other Gears?”

“Testament. The disturbing act of killing all of the Gear’s residents and the cruel act of desiring other Gears’ residents as parts has left a shadow of mistrust around 3rd-Gear. The Leviathan Road cannot be carried out without cleansing that impurity.”

“Cleansing the impurity, hm?”

Sayama thought about the impurity Hiba had mentioned and the conclusion the boy sought.

…''Why did he say he would cleanse the impurity?

What would he do to completely cleanse the crimes that were something like the parting gift of a destroyed Gear?

Sayama spoke the answer he arrived at.

“There are survivors of 3rd-Gear, aren’t there? And the fight is not yet over, is it? The fight between 3rd-Gear’s desire to live on and Hiba’s wish to cleanse that impurity still continues.”

“Testament. Did you see the beginning of that fight?” #4’s words filled the air. “Did you see Lady Rhea who fled to Low-Gear out of dislike of that impurity?”

Moira 1st was not finished speaking.

“In their desperation to survive, they grew impure.”

With strength in her shoulders, Miyako let out a breath.

“Your king used any means necessary and he stopped treating people as human.”

She could not accept it, but she wondered what she would do if she were the leader. And what if she had been a resident of 3rd-Gear when the king had told her she was powerless.

…''What would I have done?

She recalled the rest of her interview from the day before.

She was always shouting loudly and with an air of importance, but she had been unable to say anything to the decision the interviewer had made upon seeing her resume.

…''He said there was nothing I could do for their company.

According to Moira 1st, those in 3rd-Gear who could not have children had been forcibly joined with machines known as gods of war.

Compared to a world where someone who could do nothing was sent to the Tartaros, her situation seemed almost carefree.

…''But I’m still not being viewed as a human being.

She felt they were wrong, but she was not confident she had the ability to prove it.

What could one do?

“What can you do?”

“Eh?”

Moira 1st’s voice made Miyako realize she had spoken her question aloud.

She looked up and saw the maid smiling at her.

''Pathetic,'' she honestly judged herself and grew flustered. ''Ah, this isn’t good.

“U-um, isn’t there anything you can do when someone that stupid rules above you?”

“Yes. That is why there was one person who did not choose that method.”

With a smile, Moira 1st flipped to the next board. It showed a silver robot in a vast darkness. The slender craft looked feminine.

“Lady Rhea betrayed them.”

“Eh?”

Moira 1st nodded at Miyako’s confusion and looked to the back of the board.

“When it was decided that Lady Rhea’s child would be taken, she fled to another world. She fled to the weakest and lowest world that no one had paid much attention to. She felt she would be safe there.”

The lowest world.

In the preliminary explanations, Miyako had been told that was this world.

“…”

She suddenly sat back down on the bed.

Her entire body went limp when she saw the image before her and heard Moira 1st’s words.

''Why?'' she asked the silver robot in the picture, but it did not respond.

But the lack of an answer did not make the question disappear.

…''Why did you choose this place?

But that was not the real question.

…''Why did you choose to act?

Why had she been able to so fully trust her desire to reject the situation?

Naturally, she received no answer to her questions.

She simply listened to Moira 1st provide the sound of the silver robot leaving.

“Vwoosh!”

“Please stop providing sound effects.”

Miyako sighed, raised one knee, and looked at the board that Moira 1st flipped to.

The look in her eyes was much more serious now.

In the underground space, a maid walked through the maintenance and research space.

The sounds of welding and grinding formed the background noise behind her voice.

“In her dislike of the impurity, Lady Rhea traveled to Low-Gear. After her defection, Lord Zeus formed an alliance with 9th-Gear.”

Sayama and Shinjou listened as they walked behind her.

And Sayama asked about the fact just mentioned.

“He formed an alliance with the Gear that had attempted to destroy his world?”

“It is not an unlikely decision during a war, so allow me to continue. Lord Zeus decided to recover Lady Rhea’s child, enter the Tartaros himself, leave the rest to Lord Apollo, and prepare a god of war with a copy of his thoughts to act as an advisor.”

“And…what happened then?” asked Shinjou with a very bad feeling about the answer.

<nowiki>#4</nowiki> nodded quietly and answered.

“Lord Zeus intended to have Lord Apollo begin an invasion against all the other Gears. On Lord Zeus’s orders, Lord Cronus had already created the base of Typhon, the strongest god of war, and he had developed Keravnos as its weapon of destruction. They both contained the Concept Core.”

“Eh?”

Shinjou thought about what #4 had just said.

Her casual comment had contained two pieces of information. First, it revealed that the missing half of the Concept Core was contained within the weapon named Keravnos. And second…

…''If Typhon was made as an invasion weapon…

“If Typhon left 3rd-Gear with half the Concept Core in itself and half in Keravnos, 3rd-Gear would be completely destroyed.”

“That was not a problem. 3rd-Gear intended to abandon its own Gear.”

After stopping, #4 swung her right arm and lightly pointed at the floor. She was pointing at the world itself.

And she smiled.

“Lord Zeus intended to create a new foothold here in Low-Gear, the Gear that had been abandoned and ignored by the other Gears due to its lack of concepts.”

Shinjou gulped and #4 continued speaking.

“Meanwhile, there were a few misunderstandings between the people of Low-Gear and Lady Rhea, but a certain incident led them to work together. Namely, Lady Rhea’s child was born.”

“What happened to that child?”

But #4 did not answer Shinjou’s question.

She silently turned her back and began to walk once more. She was headed toward a large metal door on one end of the floor.

…''Is that something she doesn’t want to tell us?

Shinjou had seen Rhea in the past, so she had given it a bit of thought.

And so she asked a tentative question to the back leading her to the large door.

“The people of 3rd-Gear have long lives, right? If that 3rd-Gear child were still alive now, how much would they have grown?”

“It has only been sixty years, so a 3rd-Gear human would still be a very young child.”

“I see…”

Shinjou nodded at that brief answer and continued walking.

And she thought about Mikage.

She thought about the female automaton who had exited the black god of war and been held by Hiba the night before. That girl was with Hiba who was at the center of the incident.

They had assumed she supported him as he piloted the god of war.

…''But something bothers me.

Her imagination led her to a possibility they had not considered.

And she thought about it.

…''What if she doesn’t stand on the sidelines? What if she stands in the center of it all?

And…

…''What if Ryuuji-kun is with her in order to protect her?

Just like she and Sayama stood on the battlefield together.

In that case, what made her so important?

…''Rhea-san’s child.

She continued thinking on this leap of logic for a while.

“…”

But she shook her head and gathered her thoughts.

Mikage was an automaton. She was not human.

And she had responded calmly to Hiba using the black god of war’s mouth. That response had been based in the kind of thought not present in a child as young as #4 had mentioned.

She was not a human and she was not a young child, so Shinjou had two means of denying the possibility.

But a sudden thought reached her.

…''Huh?

It concerned the name Mikage.

She had heard that name before the previous night and it had been fairly recently.

…''Where was it?

Her thoughts were cut off by a question from #4.

“Do you have a question for me?”

While walking, #4 looked toward Shinjou. In the corner of her vision, she saw her fellow automatons using gravitational techniques to carry tools and materials beyond the partitions on either side.

…''Be quiet.

After giving that command over their shared memory, she waited for Shinjou to speak.

Shinjou held a black binder next to the boy with the surname Sayama.

“U-um?” She regulated her breathing and spoke. “Um? Last night, we met someone named Hiba who said he would cleanse 3rd-Gear’s impurity. But now that I know the history of 3rd-Gear, it sounds like you would need a certain right to cleanse the impurity. For example, Rhea-san fled to the National Defense Department due to her dislike of the impurity, so Low-Gear has a justification for getting involved in 3rd-Gear’s affairs.”

“I see,” said #4 with a nod.

She found it interesting that Shinjou was bringing up an issue of rights.

How would she go from there to draw out further information?

“Please continue.”

Shinjou nodded and brought a hand to her chest over the binder.

“What right does this Hiba Ryuuji-kun have? There is of course the fact that his grandfather destroyed 3rd-Gear, but if there is another reason, what is it?”

She lowered the hand on her chest and held her own body as if trying to support it.

Based on that action, #4 estimated her skeletal structure. She looked male, but there was also a strong possibility she was female.

While she gathered data on her, Shinjou spoke while choosing her words carefully.

“If there is something more, the person with Ryuuji-kun must be in a similar position to Rhea-san or at least dislike 3rd-Gear’s impurity. That person looks like an automaton, but what if that person became like that for some reason or another?”

…''I see.

“That is speculation,” said #4 before Shinjou could say anything further.

Shinjou wanted to know about the automaton who had been with the boy of the Hiba family.

<nowiki>#4</nowiki> could tell her, but she decided to test her first. Would she pick up on the hint #4 was about to give her?

With no expression on her face, #4 tilted her head and asked a question.

“If I may ask, why do you think she is a human?”

She saw the answer to her question in the change to Shinjou’s expression.

…''Has she noticed it?

While still expressionless, she saw Shinjou smile ever so slightly. It was a relieved smiled.

“That question was a test, wasn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“It was too obvious. You asked me why I think she is human. But…”

<nowiki>#4</nowiki> received her answer.

“I never once said that person was a she.”

Shinjou took a breath to relieve her tension. She then tilted her head toward #4.

“You know about the automaton I was talking about, don’t you? You were thinking about Mikage-san, weren’t you?”

Her question flew directly toward #4.

But…

“…”

<nowiki>#4</nowiki> brushed up her bangs to create a period of silence and let out a breath toward the floor.

As her breath dissolved into the floor, she turned her expressionless eyes toward Shinjou.

“You said this person was with a boy named ‘Ryuuji-kun’, so I assumed she was female. That is a perfectly natural assumption. It is no different from the two of you being together.”

Sayama immediately responded to that.

“Sorry, #4-kun. Shinjou-kun is a boy right now.”

His comment made #4 quickly look back toward Shinjou.

It was possible the truth about her had not left the Okutama UCAT.

…''Come to think of it, there’s no need for anyone else to know because I won’t be working with them.

With a mental nod of understanding, she looked down at her own body.

She wore the school’s summer uniform and she had Setsu’s male body.

“Do I really look like a girl? …D-do you want to check?”

“Shinjou-kun, there is no reason to force yourself.”

“No, I was just interested that an automaton could be wrong about this kind of thing.”

“Hm. Then look closely, #4-kun. I will support Shinjou-kun’s courage.”

When her belt was suddenly removed from behind, she frantically jabbed her elbow backward.

“Gh… Wh-what are you doing, Shinjou-kun? That came out of nowhere.”

“Stop trying to act so surprised. …Oh, sorry about the commotion, #4-san.”

“Do not worry. This is not an impossible turn of events.”

“Yet you were unable to predict this possible turn of events. Shinjou-kun, that means you win this round.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing…”

As Shinjou’s shoulders drooped, #4 turned toward her.

“At any rate, let us get back to this Mikage you mentioned earlier. If you wish to prove that she is Lady Rhea’s child, you must clarify her origin at least to a certain extent. Do you have any proof that this Mikage existed sixty years ago?”

“I do.”

Shinjou nodded without hesitation.

The phrase “sixty years ago” had helped her remember.

…''That’s where I heard the name Mikage.

She had heard it only about two months before. The past she had received in order to fight had given her the answer.

“When 2nd-Gear’s Yamata was sealed, Susaou’s control device had a strange bed-like device in it. The creator of that control system called it the ‘Mikage format’. An automaton named Mikage must have laid there.”

“But that does not prove she is Lady Rhea’s child.”

“No, it doesn’t,” said Shinjou.

She had no proof of that. That was a fact. But…

“But proof of that is what we will work to find now. Why was Rhea-san’s child made into an automaton after Rhea-san fled to Low-Gear? Why has she grown so much in only sixty years if she is a 3rd-Gear human? I want to find the answers. Is that wrong?”

A clear change came over #4 when she heard that.

Her expressionless look changed to a different expressionless look.

…''Eh?

Shinjou did not understand. She could not tell what that expression meant.

It was a small change that could barely be described, but Shinjou tried.

…''Is that…kindness?

There was no hint of tension. Shinjou thought it was a perfectly natural expression and she quickly realized how the automaton had made it.

…''It’s the angle of her head.

The actual expressionless look had not changed, but the way she had raised her head to look at Shinjou head on had made it look like she was smiling just a bit.

Shinjou felt it was an expression only an automaton could make.

…''She is truly facing me.

And #4 opened her mouth as if to respond to that feeling.

“Will you not abandon your interest in 3rd-Gear no matter what?”

“Does it look like we will?” asked Sayama.

He reached out a hand and took the hand Shinjou wore her ring on.

He took a half step forward before continuing.

“The rest is my job, Shinjou-kun. So let me ask this, #4-kun. Does it look like we are withdrawing from the impurity you have described to us? If not, then test us to see whether we can cleanse it or not.”

“Test you?”

“We have fought our way through a few battles. However, we have not gained any combat ability to face automatons or the gods who control gods of war as their own bodies. Is the object we have come here to retrieve something that will fill that gap? I assume the old man has planned to provide us with some power.” He took a breath. “The other automatons have already tested us, but you have not. And after accepting that power, there is more I wish to ask about. That will of course include the automaton named Mikage, but it also relates to the 3rd-Gear survivors.”

He held Shinjou’s right hand in his left such that half of its back was showing and he squeezed her hand.

She squeezed back to strongly provide her answer.

The skin of their hands twisted and they heard #4 speak.

“I see. Then I shall test you. But let me say one thing first.”

“And what is that?”

“The further answers you seek are answers we seek as well. How was 3rd-Gear destroyed? How is the main force doing? By the time we noticed, the destruction of the world had already begun and we could do no more than escape through the gates created in various places.”

She lowered the ends of her eyebrows in a look of regret.

“All we know about the time leading up to the day of that final battle is that Lady Rhea’s child was retrieved, that Lord Zeus left behind a god of war with his will copied into it, and that Lord Zeus sent Lord Cronus to the Tartaros at the same time as sending himself. And when the final battle occurred, the only ones in 3rd-Gear’s central temple were Lord Apollo and Lady Mikage.”

“Then this main force you speak of must be led by that Apollo. Do you have any questions about that?”

“Testament. Unlike Lord Zeus, Lord Apollo was a pacifist.”

It took Shinjou a moment to understand what she had just heard.

…''3rd-Gear’s next king was a pacifist?

And she had a thought: If that person was still alive, wouldn’t the Leviathan Road be possible?

After a few seconds, #4 resumed speaking.

“He hated 3rd-Gear. When it became clear his younger sister Artemis could not have children, he refused to send her to the Tartaros to the point of creating a conflict with Lord Zeus. If the Leviathan Road were presented to him, he would gladly accept. He was not the type to send out gods of war to fight.”

<nowiki>#4</nowiki> hung her head.

Shinjou thought about this man named Apollo who she had never seen.

…''These automatons really trust him.

And so she asked a question.

“Then is this your question? The main force is supposedly led by Apollo, a pacifist, so why are they hiding and hoping for a fight?”

“Testament. And there is one other question. Last night, we received word that Typhon abducted someone, but why would Lord Apollo pilot Typhon and do something like that? It is true that was made to be his personal god of war.” She shook her head. “But his previous god of war was created with Lady Artemis’s body. As an example to Lord Apollo and Lord Cronus, Lord Zeus sent Lady Artemis’s will to the Tartaros Machina and used the remaining body as parts.”

Shinjou was at a loss for words and #4 shook her head slightly.

“Feeling responsible for what happened to his sister, Lord Apollo declared it his own personal god of war so as to never let her slip from his grasp again.”

“Are you sure it was not destroyed during the final battle?”

“When a god of war is destroyed, the pilot dies. As long as Lord Apollo lives, Lady Artemis’s pale blue god of war remains.” She took a breath. “Please seek out the answers. There must be a reason. There must be a second impurity that exceeds the impurity we know of. Lord Cronus created four types of automatons. Three were the combat oriented Hecatoncheires who protect Typhon and act as bodyguards. The fourth was the three Moirai created to manipulate and manage people’s memories and the mass-produced models like us. Those automatons must be fighting for the sake of an impurity we are not aware of.”

<nowiki>#4</nowiki> then looked ahead toward the wall.

The wall contained a giant metal door.

She hurried a few steps forward and turned around with perfectly silent footsteps.

“The power we have for you lies within here. That power will help you find all the answers. But I must give you a test before I can grant you that power.”

“I see. And what is this test?”

“Well,” said #4. “I will test your intentions.”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 7|Chapter 7]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 5

2026-08-30T05:11:04Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 5: Machine Footsteps==
[[Image:OnC_v05_0189.png|thumb]]
''Even with one’s eyes closed, the differences in the piercing sounds are noticeable

''The similarities are also noticeable

''That is why it is so troublesome

Wind blew through a wide area between the large buildings of Kanda.

But that wind was not of this world. It had the thin scent of an alternate world.

Several automatons stood in the path of that wind that smelled slightly of metal.

The god of war and the red-haired automaton standing in front of them faced their opponent.

A boy stood in front of the truck stopped fifteen meters away. He wore a gray suit.

“I assume you are Sayama Mikoto,” she said. “Why have you exited the truck? We asked for you to leave.”

“That does not matter. However, I would like to ask your name.”

“And what will you do with that knowledge?”

“I will negotiate with you. I will ask what will sully the Leviathan Road and I will negotiate a means of cleansing that impurity.”

“I see,” said the red-haired maid with a nod.

She determined she needed to answer in order for the conversation to continue smoothly.

“#8. That is my ID.” #8 nodded. “You say you wish for knowledge of the impurity?”

“I will not say it a second time. Or a third time. Make sure you remember.”

“Understood. But I cannot speak of what the impurity entails. Telling you would produce unnecessary curiosity and cross a point of no return. Simply think of 3rd-Gear as inviolable and leave.”

“Knowledge of it would cross a point of no return? In that case, I do not see how anyone could know about it.”

Deciding his point was valid, #8 nodded and carefully chose how to express herself.

“Can anyone set foot in muddy water without growing dirty? We are considerately attempting to prevent anyone else from growing dirty.”

Sayama smiled when he heard that.

“So you are driving people away out of consideration? Is that because you have betrayed UCAT and returned to 3rd-Gear?”

The maids behind her began to move at that comment. They moved to restrain him.

But #8 stopped them by raising her right hand lightly.

“Why do you think we have betrayed UCAT?”

“After speaking for a bit, you have not once replied with ‘testament’. The one I know may be a bit unique, but automatons should strictly follow their own definitions. In that case, the lack of ‘testament’ means you have left UCAT.”

“I see. It is true that the importance of the word ‘testament’ has fallen for us. And do you know what that means?”

“If you are out front after betraying UCAT, it means you have taken control of this Kanda laboratory,” said Sayama. “Also, under some condition, your refugee definitions have switched to 3rd-Gear’s definitions. What might that condition be?”

“The linked self-defense instincts of an automaton. The specific condition was your arrival. We believe your presence will certainly result in our harm.”

“And what harm would that be?”

“That is a personal issue of the automatons at the Kanda laboratory, so I cannot answer.”

“And so you are driving me away in the name of protecting me from some impurity?”

“Yes,” answered #8. “The negotiation has already begun. Will you leave?”

She waved both arms as she spoke.

That motion produced black metal parts from her sleeves.

They belonged to handguns.

Barrels, grips, mechanisms, and magazines spilled out into the air.

“Or will you be destroyed here? Those are your only options.”

The metal firearms were assembled in midair using gravitational control.

As the parts fell into place and tightened, a spray of metallic noises filled the air and a gun flew into each of her hands.

She now held two handguns.

“We once welcomed someone in this same fashion. After falling to this world sixty years ago, we were gathered here, but we took control of the laboratory upon awakening when the concepts activated ten years ago.”

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> struck her heel against the ground.

That metallic noise acted as a signal and the god of war next to her moved. It drew the two swords worn at its waist.

And she spoke over the metallic noises they caused.

“Those negotiations led to us taking up residence here. But we cannot allow the same result this time. Please leave, negotiator. We must ensure that 3rd-Gear’s impurity is untouched, that the people of the Kanda laboratory remain safe, and that no harm comes to our fellow automatons.”

“I see,” replied the boy. “So you have three bargaining chips to have me leave: your consideration concerning the impurity, your hostages, and the harm to your fellow automatons.”

“I have determined those three are enough.”

“Yes, it is enough. That is plenty for me to break down and create a path.”

With that comment, Sayama took action.

He pulled two objects from within his suit: a shotgun and a submachine gun.

He spread his arms with the shotgun in his left hand and the submachine gun in his right and he faced forward.

“I will now eliminate the foundation of your bargaining chips with a single statement.”

“And what is that?”

“It is simple,” he said. “The surname Sayama indicates a villain. It is incredibly simple, automaton.”

''What a pain,'' thought Sayama. ''Truly a pain.

Someone was already fighting 3rd-Gear. And that person was younger, he was most certainly inexperienced, and his resolve seemed to be wavering.

But he was desperately fighting as if clinging to something. He had some reason for that and he was prepared to keep Team Leviathan at a distance.

And so Sayama thought about his role as the Leviathan Road’s negotiator.

…''I must grow even more desperate and face 3rd-Gear.

“Are you going to stand in my way here, automaton? I am trying to learn about the world you came from.”

“We stand in your way specifically because it is our world you wish to learn about.”

“If you are going to call it inviolable, do not call it ‘our’ world.”

Sayama lowered the guns in his hands and walked forward.

“If no one can touch something, it belongs to no one. It becomes a closed world where you cannot even secure a firm footing for yourself. But a world is an open thing by nature.”

So…

“There is no such thing as an inviolable world.”

He waved the shotgun in his left hand through the air and he looked up into the blue sky.

“Inside an inviolable cage, the sky is safe, the wind is safe, the earth is safe, and the night and day are safe. But that is why no one can grow desperate while surrounded by walls. Will you show your consideration despite that, hypocritical automaton? Only a child enjoys being shown consideration by someone in a glass box.”

As he continued to walk and smiled bitterly, #8 asked a question.

“But I have determined it is children who enjoy growing dirty in mud. Don’t adults avoid that?”

''The first bargaining chip,'' thought Sayama. ''The negotiation begins.

He nodded and opened his mouth.

“So you say adults avoid the mud?”

“Am I wrong? And please do not simply say I am wrong. Give me a reason.”

“I see. Then let me say this: You are wrong.” A bitter smile. “Unfortunately, automaton, there are two types of adults: those who grow upset when dirtied by mud and those who laugh at themselves when dirtied by mud. And there are two types of those who laugh at themselves: those who will grow upset when someone scolds them for it and those who laugh off any scolding. …Listen.”

He continued forward and reached a distance of ten meters away.

“I do not know what this impurity of yours is, but there are definitely people who will view it as something other than dirty.”

“And you are one such person?”

“It is hard to say.” He tilted his head. “I may not be.”

“Then…!”

“But I am not the only person in the world. At the very least, there is someone in my world who is my exact opposite. There is also a foolish S&M couple, a perverted old man, a teacher who feigns ignorance, as well as plenty of comrades, enemies, and others.”

And…

“Even those who have died and those yet to be born are my allies.”

Hearing that, #8’s expression changed.

Her eyebrows grew flat and all expression vanished from her face.

That expressionless look could only mean one thing.

…''Her bargaining chip has changed.

The discussion of the first one was over. He did not know what she had decided, but he would not let his guard down until the entire negotiation was over and they had shaken hands in agreement.

As he walked even closer, #8 asked another question while raising the handgun in her left hand.

“Then what about the workers of the Kanda laboratory?”

The answer to this question was even simpler than with the first bargaining chip.

As he walked, he shrugged.

“Do I even need to say anything when you could have already killed them for all I know?”

“Then what if you could confirm their safety?”

At the same time, she pulled the trigger of the raised handgun.

A gunshot rang through the air.

And with that as a signal, the laboratory door opened.

Men in work uniforms exited the glass door with their hands in the air. A closer look showed even more inside the dark space beyond the door.

With them and their grim looks far behind her, #8 lowered her left hand and spoke.

“Our sharpshooting ability is unmatched. What do you say now?”

“I see. Then I have just one thing to say to them.”

“Which is?”

“Good luck. That is all.”

…''This is only natural.

“I am here to complete the Leviathan Road. In that case, is it my job to rescue the captured workers of the Kanda laboratory? It isn’t, is it? They can handle their issues while I handle mine.”

“…You do not care if they die?”

“It would be a problem if they die, but their survival is their responsibility. No matter what decision I make, they should not leave their survival up to another person. If they do not wish to die by your hand, they should not die based on my decision either. That is all.”

“I have determined that is sophistry.”

“But I have moved forward. You need to learn that the world deals in facts, not sophistry.”

He was now five meters away.

And #8’s eyebrows moved. She was trying to decide whether to fire or not, but her decision was not immediate.

She was hesitating.

…''Will she shoot them?

With a single bitter laugh, Sayama decided to speak.

“Now, then. Let us move on to your final bargaining chip.”

That comment returned #8’s eyebrows to their flat position.

She looked him in the eye and then lowered her gaze a bit. For just an instant, she glanced at the workers behind her.

“Thank you for your consideration,” she finally said.

“Make no mistake. I merely find this negotiation to be a pain and wish to hurry it along. You need not feel thankful.”

“Understood. Then let us discuss the final bargaining chip.”

“Yes. You said my arrival will bring harm to one of you, didn’t you?”

He was already only three meters from #8.

And he suddenly raised his left arm to point the shotgun forward.

He targeted #8.

“This is my answer,” he said expressionlessly. “If I destroy you here, it will prove that not even that hope of yours can be achieved.”

As soon as he spoke, #8 took action. She first opened her eyes wide.

“!!”

And she vigorously swung her left hand up once more.

Before he could react, something arrived.

It was a wind. The god of war’s sword whipped up the wind as it was swung down overhead.

At the same time, a metallic noise rang out and the god of war flew up into the air.

“…”

With a clear noise, the armor plate on its chest broke and a beam of white light flew from its back.

Without turning around, Sayama smiled.

“Wonderfully done, Shinjou-kun.”

Shinjou held Ex-St atop the truck’s roof.

It had been quickly prepared when they left UCAT and Sayama would likely have been unable to take his weapons with him if Tsukuyomi had not been with them.

While her head felt heavy after focusing, she lowered Ex-St from her shoulder.

She heard the god of war collapse.

The sound of crashing heavy metal sounded like a musical instrument being played at random.

As she realized she had produced that result, she looked down.

Down and to the right, Tsukuyomi was leaning out of the truck window and watching Sayama.

“Now, what will he do? I was wondering what would happen ever since that stupid boy said combat was a possibility if we were dealing with 3rd-Gear automatons.”

“Yes,” agreed Shinjou. “That may be how the Leviathan Road works. If we are to rethink our relationships after the war, we can also redo everything from the beginning.”

Shinjou started to dismantle Ex-St to return it to its case that sat in the back of the truck.

“Let me handle that. You hurry to him.”

“Eh?”

“Only you and his meager self-restraint can stop him, right?”

Shinjou thought about that and finally smiled bitterly.

“I hope you’re right…”

She then heard several sounds from the front of the truck where Sayama was.

They were gunshots. And quite a few of them at once.

She turned around and cried out.

“Sayama-kun!”

As he heard the god of war falling over, Sayama heard #8 shout.

“Defend!”

She did not say what to defend.

But in response to her shout, four automatons leaped forward to his left and four did the same to his right.

Their maid uniforms flipped up and they formed a half-circle around him with weapons in both hands.

But he had already started to move.

He moved forward.

As he saw them position themselves in an arc, he had a single thought.

…''They have opened up gaps to avoid friendly fire.

His opponents were armed with firearms just like him.

In that case, a factor other than firepower would determine the winner.

There were three such factors.

First, there was speed.

Second, there was position.

Third, there was mentality.

Those factors could be affected by tactics.

And Sayama had lived with the Tamiya family until two years ago. They had originally been a yakuza family and they had weapons.

…''And I have my grandfather’s training!

And so he did not hesitate to move forward. A skilled group and a firefight lay at close range. Distance was almost meaningless here and something else mattered more.

…''Position!

What position would aid him and put his opponents at a disadvantage?

That would be right in front of an enemy. The other enemies would be unable to fire for fear of friendly fire.

The third maid from the right had black hair and she raised a handgun in her left hand.

She seemed to be the only one with a handgun.

And the short weapon could reach firing position fastest.

That was why he prioritized her and charged in toward her.

From there, his speed said everything.

Without killing the momentum of his charge, he used the shotgun in his left hand to sweep away the arm holding her gun.

“!?”

With a light impact, her arm moved to the left.

That arm obstructed the path of the fourth maid from the right, slowing her movements.

Sayama then jumped to the left and charged toward the side of the fourth maid from the right who had stumbled a bit.

While sweeping the third maid’s arm upward, he jabbed his left elbow into the now-unguarded side of the fourth one.

“!”

The fourth maid doubled over and collapsed.

One down.

In response, the second maid from the right and the fifth maid from the right raised submachine guns.

They moved to trap him where he was in front of the third maid and the collapsed fourth maid.

But they were too slow. His left arm remained bent from the previous elbow jab, so the shotgun barrel was pointed to the right. He also passed the submachine gun under his left arm to aim it to the left.

With his arms crossed as if in an embrace, he fired both guns.

He hit twice.

The second and fifth maids were blasted in either direction. Counting the fourth maid in front of him, that was three down.

But the first maid from the right and the sixth, seventh, and eight maids on the right had taken action.

The one on the right and three on the left had already raised their guns.

“Nn!”

With that voice, four gunshots rang out. As expected, there was one from the right and three from the left.

The bullets arrived. Also, the third maid in front of him had brought back her arm.

Sayama hurried forward while uncrossing his arms.

He jumped up. As his arms met in the middle in the process of uncrossing them, they deflected the third maid’s arm upward once more.

“…”

He heard a metallic noise and her handgun flew into the air.

She was now wide open.

He spread his arms and moved forward while listening to the four bullets passing by behind him.

As he stepped forward, he raised his right leg and jabbed his knee into the third maid’s right side.

The strike knocked the third maid away, making four down.

He used the impact of the knee jab to rotate backward to the right.

As he did, he saw #8 standing beyond the others.

“Wait there!”

He would make sure to take her on.

He felt faint irritation as he wondered why the representative of the Leviathan Road had to fight automatons who were not the representatives of 3rd-Gear.

Even so, he was aware that he had partially wanted this.

…''Are they desperate as well?

He wanted to know why. He felt he needed to know. He mentally nodded twice, ended his spin to the right, and leaped toward her. He quickly ran to the right.

The only maid remaining to the right was the one originally first from the right.

She had brown hair and she raised a rifle in her left hand.

In the instant she took aim, Sayama swung his submachine gun to the right.

An instant later, she pulled the trigger.

The rifle fired at the same moment that his weapon struck her arm and knocked it to the right.

The gunshot passed by the right side of his face and the bullet grazed his hair, but it did not hit him.

He stepped forward and raised the shotgun in his left hand while holding her rifle away with the submachine gun in his right hand.

But this time, she defended.

She stepped back and swept his shotgun upward with her empty hand.

And she did not stop there.

After sweeping the shotgun upward, she grabbed the barrel.

Sayama pulled back the weapon so she could not swipe it.

But then he felt pain. It was the phantom pain from his left fist. That pain from the past made him grimace.

“…!”

The shotgun was forcefully pulled from his grasp.

The maid in front of his eyes smiled as she held his shotgun.

She tossed it behind her and then looked behind him.

“Fire!”

Sayama did not look behind him.

He understood what the maid before him wanted. She would stop him and let herself be shot by the three behind him.

…''A ridiculous decision!

“So you dolls have decided to sacrifice yourselves!?”

And so he moved. He would not let this doll be shot by her allies. They were attempting to produce something from a death.

…''No matter what, I cannot let them accomplish that idea!

His only weapon was the submachine gun in his right hand. He was using it to hold her rifle away.

But he let go of the submachine gun.

He lost his weapon.

However…

“I have more than just guns.”

As the maid’s eyes widened in surprise, he charged toward her and jabbed his elbow into her gut.

With a sound of impact, she was knocked away.

He turned around while watching her rifle and his submachine gun fall to the ground.

Behind him, he saw the remaining three aiming rifles at him.

They were aiming and preparing to pull the trigger.

In that instant, he held his left hand out in front of him.

That hand was empty, but something fell into it.

It was a handgun.

This was the handgun he had used his crossed arms to knock from the hand of the third maid from the right earlier.

As soon as he had it in his grasp, he fired.

A great sound filled the area.

Of the three maids, the middle one was blown away. The remaining two fired, but their bullets passed by either side of him.

At the same time, he heard a metallic noise on the ground behind him.

The submachine gun he had let go of and the rifle of the maid he had elbowed had struck the ground.

With a snap of his wrist, he tossed the handgun overhead.

He crouched down, swung both hands backward, and grabbed the submachine gun and rifle as they bounced off the ground.

He raised the weapons in front of him and fired.

The two remaining maids took direct hits and collapsed backward.

The eight were down.

But Sayama did not catch his breath. He tossed aside both guns and used his left hand to grab the handgun he had tossed overhead.

He turned toward someone to his right.

It was #8.

“…!”

Sayama ran.

In response, #8 took quick action.

She tried to raise both handguns she held to target his face.

“I am serious!”

Her shout seemed to pierce through the air, but Sayama paid it no heed and moved forward.

But he would not make it in time. It would not take her long to raise the handguns. She held them right next to each other to target the center of his face.

“Is this your decision!?”

Sayama replied with his actions.

As he took the last running step with his left leg, he swung the knee up and jabbed the shin and knee straight up toward the heavens.

“…!”

As #8 tried to raise her arms, they struck either side of his knee.

Her hands stopped.

“!?”

At the same time, he threw his body forward. He pressed his forehead against his raised knee.

His face passed between the guns held apart by his knee.

And #8 pulled the triggers.

Gunshots passed by either side of his face.

But they naturally missed. Sayama swung down his raised left leg to slam his heel down. At the same time, #8 frantically moved back.

And he moved forward to pursue her.

He maintained his forward momentum and threw his lowering left leg forward. He was already close enough to collide with #8 and he looked at her surprised expression.

At the same moment, his left foot reached the asphalt and he made his step.

Using the force of his step, he pointed the gun in his left hand at #8.

In that instant…

“Sayama-kun!”

He heard Shinjou’s voice.

And so he took action. He first let go of his gun.

“I will now show you my conclusion.”

As he spoke, he wrapped his arms around #8’s waist from below and placed her over his shoulder.

“Ah…!”

As he lifted her up, she was surprisingly light.

With a bitter smile, he took a few light steps forward, lowered his speed, and came to a stop.

As #8 struggled atop his shoulder, he used his hands to stop her legs from moving and he spoke.

“I almost forgot. Dolls are meant to be held and handled with care.”

And…

“I respect that sort of thinking.”

For just a moment after his comment, #8 stopped moving.

But she quickly began struggling once more as if she had suddenly remembered the situation.

“Wh-what is the meaning of this!?”

“Be still. Do you wish to go through the losing ritual in front of your fellow automatons?”

“What is the losing ritual?”

“I treat you like a doll.” Sayama nodded and spoke to the other automatons in the area. “After stripping you naked, I will restrain you within every splendid outfit I can think of. Then, after placing you in a seat where you cannot move, I will have you enjoy a fake meal made from mud and leaves. And we can sing: ‘Hi ho! Hi ho!’ As automatons who live by a motto of modest service, that would be unbearably painful, would it not?”

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> gasped and the surrounding automatons all took a frightened step back.

Sayama nodded toward them all.

“While I am at it, I can place you in a glass box and continually play a music box until you fall asleep. How about that?”

“Y-you cannot be serious. If you did that, rumor would spread that the losers of the Leviathan Road are cruelly abused.”

“It is up to you whether this happens or not. I believe in democracy, so I respect the opinions of individuals. And in accordance with democracy, any who oppose me shall receive an individual vigilante punishment. …How about that?”

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> stopped moving. The surrounding automatons did the same.

Silence fell.

As the stillness reminded them of the wind’s presence, Sayama focused on his own body.

The heat lowering from the right side of his forehead was likely blood. He was sweaty and he was pleasantly exhausted.

He then heard a noise from behind him: footsteps.

When he took a breath and turned around, he saw Shinjou running toward him with a look of relief.

She nodded and smiled with the ends of her eyebrows lowered. Her smile said she was fine and that he should face his opponents.

He faced forward, looked each of the automatons in the eye in turn, and then gently lowered #8 from his shoulder.

Her red hair was disheveled, her shoulders were limp, and she had no expression on her face.

“I have determined this was unreasonable,” she said. “Why should we listen to what you wish to say?”

“That is simple: because you wish to find a new answer after listening to me,” he said. “You already have your answer, but is there no other acceptable answer? To find out, listen to what I have to say. I want you to help me think up a new answer.”

“But…”

Unable to make a decision, #8 repeated the same word.

“But…!”

Just as she spoke that duplicate word, she was interrupted.

“I have determined that is sufficient.”

This was a new voice.

All the automatons, including #8, turned toward the main entrance. Countless figures stood in front of the white building.

They were mostly the Kanda laboratory’s workers, but one figure standing in front of the others was not. She was a blonde girl in a maid uniform and Shinjou spoke the common term for her identity.

“An automaton?”

“Testament,” she replied. “I am #4. I am the leader of the automatons here.” She was expressionless. “I am ashamed of my fellow automatons’ actions here. I hope you are not disappointed in their combat ability.”

“No, they were an excellent opponent for my first actual battle in a while.”

As he spoke, Sayama looked around.

The maids he had defeated were slowly beginning to get up.

“It was a good thing you were wearing UCAT maid uniforms. I assumed they would be at least bulletproof.”

“Well done. I understand now that this new negotiator to appear before us is also one who will force us to face him. In that case, please come this way,” said #4. “I will tell you and show you as much as I can concerning 3rd-Gear’s impurity and its destruction. We have been waiting ever since your grandfather provided us with this place ten years ago.”

The word ‘grandfather’ brought pain to Sayama.

“…”

He brought his right hand to his chest and Baku frantically hopped from his pocket and onto his shoulder. Despite the pain and pulse in his chest, he expressionlessly took a breath.

“My grandfather gave you this place?”

“Testament. When we awoke due to the concept activation ten years ago, we took control of this place. However, we had two problems. First, the foundation of our memories was created on the idea of serving people, so having others protect us would create a self-contradiction which we would reject by ceasing to function. Second, serving someone from this world would be a betrayal to 3rd-Gear.” #4 nodded and continued smiling. “Ten years ago, your grandfather was sent as a negotiator to eliminate our control of this place. He ordered us to join Low-Gear and serve one who lives here. He said that would not be a betrayal to 3rd-Gear because it would prevent us from being a burden to them in an emergency.”

“And so you have worked here for the decade since?”

“Testament. And we have been waiting for the good-for-nothing grandson that your grandfather would often mention. I must ask that you go along with these lingering feelings of a doll for a bit longer.”

She bowed.

“I believe I will now speak of the past with you and give you a test. As the one who once negotiated with your grandfather, I will determine what kind of person you are and whether you are actually good-for-nothing.”

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 6|Chapter 6]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 3

2026-08-29T04:44:31Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 3: Scent of Light==
[[Image:OnC_v05_0145.png|thumb]]
''The moon and those eyes cannot be seen

''But their presence can be felt

''As if they are blooming high in the sky

Miyako ran down a wide hallway.

She wore a white sheet tied around her shoulders and waist. Her outfit could not have been any lighter.

…''But this does make it easier to run.

However, a certain thought came to her as she ran down the white-walled and red-carpeted hallway.

“I need to quit smoking!”

She ran out of breath quickly.

Back when she had been a delinquent, she had been the master of chasing or being chased all night long, but she finally realized how much she had deteriorated.

She wanted to make her way downstairs. She had seen some kind of city out of the previous room’s window.

This seemed to be a facility in a mountain forest. The room had looked to be on the eighth floor and she was not sure if there were any higher floors.

…''But what kind of facility is this?

Was it a large local corporation?

The white hallway had no windows, a width of about four meters wide, and not a speck of dust. It also continued for quite a while.

As she ran, she recalled the city she had seen outside. It had small-scale buildings along with an older-style cityscape.

This was likely an area with some history to it.

The few larger buildings in the distance had to have been the train station or hotels. But she had not seen the marks left by the type of rezoning Nara or Kyoto had gone through and it had not had the green of Kanazawa.

“But it looked somehow familiar.”

Wondering where she had seen it before, she tilted her head while running. Meanwhile, she heard footsteps from the other direction.

She turned a corner to wait out whoever was coming by. As she did, several maids rushed by at the T-junction up ahead. She pressed against the wall and took a breath.

…''It would be too dangerous to head out now.

Her weak imagination then went wild wondering what would happen to her if she were captured by the kind of perverted corporation that would create a maid facility like this.

For a moment, she imagined herself having been transformed into a maid. In her head, she was sitting with one knee on the floor and smoking a cigarette.

“Keh.”

She clicked her tongue once, looked to the wall, and saw a few picture frames.

“…?”

There were three and they all contained portraits. They were oil paintings rather than photographs.

The left painting showed a gray-haired old man. The center one showed a well-built slightly less old man with blond hair and a beard. The right one showed a young woman with long blonde hair and a slender face.

She assumed these were the owners of the building.

…''So they really are foreigners?

She looked the smiling woman’s portrait in her pale blue eyes and tilted her head.

“Hm?”

Miyako realized something was lightly tapping her left leg from below.

There was something there.

That fact and her own carelessness made her heart skip a beat.

She immediately glanced to the left and lowered down defensively.

“…A water fountain?”

It looked like the button-operated water fountains seen in the corner of a school cafeteria.

…''Those things that won’t give you enough water but won’t stop shooting it into the air after you hit it a few times.

One of those was there.

The white and brown device was looking up at her from waist height.

It was staring silently.

…''Looking…up at me?

As her own thought made her tilt her head, Miyako stared at the machine while standing in front of the frames on the wall.

And the water fountain gently twisted its metal body to tilt itself to match the tilt of her head.

“…?”

Something was not right. But what?

…''No, it’s obvious what isn’t right here. It’s just on such a huge scale that I didn’t realize it at first.

As she thought, she reached out to confirm the truth she had been ignoring.

The machine moved toward her hand and let her touch it. Its metal body bent so it could rub up against her just like a dog.

“It wants me to pet it?”

While muttering her thoughts as a question, she crouched down and slowly touched the machine with both hands.

The machine happily and gently swung its body back and forth. If it had had a tail, this motion would have been wagging that tail. She rubbed over its entire body to make sure it was made out of a metallic material.

…''It’s a machine.

She took a step back while still crouched down.

And the machine bent its bottom installation parts to approach using an extending and contracting motion.

As the water fountain rubbed up against her again, it happily tilted its body.

“Is this a prototype of some new tech?” she muttered with a hand on her chin.

She tried petting the water fountains head and it pressed its head against her hand.

''It sure is friendly,'' she thought while pressing the water fountain’s button to see what happened.

Water came from the top edge. She touched it and found it was nothing more than cold water.

The water fountain stayed perfectly still so that the water would not spill and it waited for her to drink it.

And so she tried drinking the water.

“…”

It was normal. It was quite cold and it felt good on her throat after running.

But…

“Thanks.”

She petted the machine’s head again and it bowed.

After happily shaking its body again, the water fountain turned around and ran off while extending and contracting its legs.

Miyako stood up and tilted her head.

…''What was with that machine?

It was metal, but it had seemed alive.

“…!”

Suddenly, something moved in her head. Or at least, she felt like something did.

…''Eh?

There was something she had forgotten and could not remember.

It was a memory. She tried to remember, but for some reason, it would not come to her.

She felt a thick fog of forgetfulness.

She did not know what she had tried to remember from the thought that metal had been alive.

But she realized something. That memory came from the previous night. After failing her job interview, going drinking, and heading back, she had started on the road home from Ikusabata Station.

“…”

She leaned against the wall, placed a hand on her head, and thought.

…''What was it…?

She felt something on the verge of appearing from the depths of her memories.

“Ah.”

For some reason, an image of herself striking a gray alien with an iron fist entered her head.

She strengthened the strike with the motion of her waist to defeat the little grey.

After one, two, and then three solid hits, the little grey began to tap on the ground to beg forgiveness.

“That isn’t it. …What is with that B-grade memory, anyway?”

She ignored the strange image and realized there was a lid.

That lid was sealing her memories. She felt as if her true self was shouting at her from beyond the lid. She wondered if a version of herself that understood everything lay there.

…''I need something.

She needed something that would act as a key to open the lid.

And just as she nodded…

“Ah! I found her! She is in front of Lord Zeus’s portrait!”

Three maids appeared from the T-junction up ahead.

Miyako clicked her tongue and turned her head. In an instant, she observed that the approaching maids were positioned to the right, left, and right.

She had gotten some water, caught her breath, and wanted to learn the truth of her memories.

Nothing pointed to her loss.

And so she prepared herself. She stood on the central line and took on each of the maids in turn.

The first maid on the right was unarmed, the second one on the left held a broom, and the third one was also unarmed.

They likely planned to have the first one stop her with a tackle, the second one use the broom handle to hold her in check or strike her, and the third one restrain her.

Miyako first took a large step backward.

“Wait!”

With that shout, the maids began to run faster.

However, Miyako leaped backward while still facing them.

While back stepping further, she partially matched her speed to the first blonde girl.

The maid opened her mouth, wrinkled her brow, and shouted out a question.

“Why are you trying to escape from us!?”

For an instant, Miyako did not know what she meant.

…''It almost sounds like she doesn’t want me to leave them.

Suddenly, Miyako recalled something from a very long time ago.

One night, she had clung to the side of a man in a work uniform as that man had tried to go somewhere. She had still been a child and she had not been satisfied just with having her head rubbed.

She knew what it was like to not want someone to leave.

Despite recalling those feelings from ten years before, she replied while continuing to move backward.

“I refuse to accept the situation I’m in right now!”

The maid did not reply. She only moved forward with an expression saying she would capture Miyako.

The maid approached quite close and her right arm reached for Miyako’s chest.

Just as the maid’s arm was about to reach her, Miyako suddenly took action.

She slowed down her back stepping.

The maid gave a look of surprise as the change in relative speed caused them to suddenly approach.

In an instant, Miyako brushed the girl’s outstretched arm upward.

“Ah.”

And Miyako shoved her body against the maid’s open side.

She gave a light tackle by pressing her shoulder into the maid’s side and she grabbed the maid’s slender body. She used the maid’s approaching momentum to lift her up onto her shoulder and used her back muscles to bend the maid backward.

“!”

And she began back stepping once more.

As the girl on her shoulder gasped, she rotated to the right.

She rotated on one tiptoe.

“Left!”

And she threw the maid on her back toward the broom-wielding maid to the left.

For an instant, the broom-wielding maid stared blankly at the body thrown toward her.

And so Miyako shouted out.

“Catch her!”

“Oh, yes!”

The broom-wielding maid threw aside the broom just as Miyako finished her rotation.

She now faced the direction of the maids which was the direction she had originally needed to go.

And thus her back stepping came to an end and she could begin running forward.

She poured all of her backward-moving momentum into the soles of her feet. She moved forward. She tilted forward as if trying to press her chest to the floor, she kicked off the floor, and she ran full speed from the very first step.

She ran as if flying.

To her left, she saw that the maid who had abandoned her broom had caught the thrown blonde. She immediately passed by them, but the blonde maid and the previously broom-wielding maid could not move quickly enough.

Two down.

Miyako faced the final one.

But that maid was watching her movements carefully. The third maid had black hair and she had stopped to prepare herself.

…''A good decision!

Miyako continued forward without stopping and she reached for something in the air.

It was the broom the second maid had thrown aside.

She used the fingers of her right hand to spin it around and swung it. The end of the brush scraped against the white wall.

“Outta the way! Outta the way! Outta the way!”

Her shout caused her opponent to flinch.

But this final maid did not move out of the way. She seemed to have made some form of decision because she held out her white gloved hands as the broom approached her.

She intended to stop it and take her next action.

''That pose says she’s confident she can stop it,'' thought Miyako. ''These are nice girls.

A smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

…''If I had a bunch of people like this on my side, I could conquer at least Kantou.

With that thought, she swung the broom down toward the maid’s head.

In response, the black-haired maid lowered her hips in a defensive stance.

And…

“You can have this. I’m terrible at cleaning.”

Miyako tossed the broom forward.

The maid watched the broom handle floating before her eyes.

“Eh?”

As the handle slowly moved toward her, she reflexively reached out toward it.

And that signaled the end of the game. Miyako immediately slipped past her side. She accelerated much faster than before. Before the maid could turn around in sudden realization, she had already accelerated away.

Miyako made her way past the maid all at once.

Not even the maid’s gaze could keep up as she left through the T-junction. She turned right because she was closer to that end of the building.

She turned her head at the same time as lowering her hips. She took the step at the same time as throwing herself to the right.

The right hallway was empty and the air seemed to be telling her to continue on.

She felt a wind. Rather than the air of a stuffy room, this chilly wind came from outside.

As she ran and swung her arms, she started to think again.

…''What is that memory? What is that memory from last night that I can’t remember?

It was faint, but she felt as if she was beginning to remember something.

As she wondered what it was, something appeared in her mind.

“A color?”

In an instant, the keyword of “night” caused the pale moon to flash into her mind. The night before, she had to have seen a nearly full moon.

…''But that isn’t it.

The color that occasionally appeared in her mind was not the pale blue of the moonlight.

Just as she wondered what it was, she saw the color.

Ahead of her was an emergency exit that was sitting open to air out the hallway. Through that open door, she saw the outside light. She saw the color of the yellow sunlight.

“!”

That was it.

That was the color she wanted to see and the color from her fragmented memories. But what meaning did that color have?

Her memories were from the night before, so where had she seen sunlight?

With that question in mind, she continued to run. She headed for the emergency exit rather than the staircase.

At the same time, a small figure came up the internal stairs to the right of the emergency exit.

It was Moira 3rd. She seemed to be trying to stop Miyako as well. She held forward her white gloved hands as she ran up the stairs.

On the other hand, Miyako paid the girl no heed. Before the short and young maid’s hands could reach her, she arrived at the emergency exit. Or she should have.

“Wham!!”

Miyako heard Moira 3rd’s delighted shout and then felt something strike her from down and to the right.

…''What?

It felt like a mass of water struck the lower right of her body, but her surprise was even greater than the impact.

After all, Moira 3rd had yet to fully climb the stairs and was too far away to reach her.

Before she could wonder what had happened, all of the different forces involved produced a certain result.

She flew through the emergency exit and into the air at eight stories above the ground.

As Miyako flew over the fence around the emergency exit’s elevator and into the air, the first thing she saw was the sky.

Her vision was pointed upward. Ahead of her, she saw the color blue and some clouds.

''It’s so vast,'' she thought as her vision bent further backward and brought the city into view.

It was a flat city. The only high ground was the mountain this building sat on. Everything else was just a dense collection of buildings and homes on a flat land. She also saw a Shinto shrine on the opposite side of the mountain.

The sense of familiarity the city gave her caused her to focus on one point.

An L-shaped area on the southern end of the city looked old. And it looked somehow artificially old. Amid the lines of white walls and tile roofs, she saw some of the Western architecture she had seen in text books.

…''Is that Kurashiki?

She had gone there on a field trip during high school. That old part of the city was the Bikan historical district. In that case, the one huge building there would be the art museum. She had gone there only a few years before, but she did not remember much besides buying a horseshoe crab shell as a souvenir.

“But that’s probably where this is.”

Suddenly, the movement of her vision stopped.

She had reached the peak of her arc. She would now fall.

Strength quickly left her body and she felt as if something were tugging her back downward.

…''Am I about to die?

With that lighthearted thought, all strength vanished from her body.

She recalled many different things. She recalled the past and her hidden memories.

She first remembered an incident from elementary school. She had been playing baseball with a paper ball and the cloth case containing her recorder. She had completely missed with her swing, the recorder had come apart in the case, and the mouthpiece had flown out. The mouthpiece had struck the pitcher’s forehead and created a crescent moon-shaped injury. The pitcher had naturally been taken to the hospital.

She remembered another incident from when she had started noticing the opposite sex during middle school. She had grown fond of a certain upperclassman on the baseball team, so she had been watching him practice. When a ball had rolled up to her feet, she had thrown it back in her own type of girl’s throw, but it had gotten lost in the light of the sun. As soon as the upperclassman had looked down, it had fallen right on top of the hard, button-like ball on the top of his baseball cap. As blood had flowed from underneath his cap, he had fallen to his knees and then collapsed to the ground.

“These are all terrible memories!”

She came back to her senses and flailed her limbs around, but her hands only reached empty air.

She looked around in hopes of finding something to grab onto.

With her vision pointed upward, she looked to the city and then back at the building.

It was a giant white building made of stone.

The stone building had been polished until it reflected light like glass. It had a giant warehouse-like metal door that stretched from the ground to about the sixth story. Above that were four stories of living space. The living space had a shallow triangular roof which gave the entire building a certain shape.

“It looks like a temple.”

That thought was immediately followed by a sudden impact across her entire body.

“!”

This was much too soon to be the ground. Her midair surprise was caused by the impact of landing on her butt, back, and legs. However, the surface continued to descend so as to absorb the impact.

As she wondered what was happening, she forced her numb body to sit up. She stopped moving and saw what lay below her butt.

“A hand?”

It was shaped like a hand, but it was much larger. A human hand would certainly not be a meter across. It would also not be colored blue or be made of a hard plastic-like material.

“What is this?”

With an odd sense of déjà vu, she turned toward the blue hand’s wrist.

The temple-like door was open and a blue arm was sticking out at a height of about three meters above the ground.

The owner of the arm exited through the door.

It was a giant warrior wearing blue armor.

It was about ten meters tall. The joints of its giant arm were all coated with a plastic-like substance, but she could not sense the pulsation of a living creature.

And so she reached the following conclusion about the giant supporting her.

“A robot? What is this, an anime?”

As she muttered to herself, she looked at its face. Its facial structure was made from a collection of metal and the lights in place of its eyes were green and continued to blink faintly.

As she looked at the color of the warrior’s eyes, a certain thought came to her.

…''This isn’t it.

But she did not know what that thought meant.

“…”

She then saw something behind the blue armored warrior.

A giant white armored warrior sat inside what looked like a hangar.

It was a size larger than the blue giant and it stood straight in the supporting hangar. Bluish-white writing appeared in a dark oblong hole on the side of the hangar.

She had never seen that type of writing before, so she could only tell that it was the writing of some other culture. However, she could tell what it said. The side of the hangar said “Typhon”.

She did not know what the word meant, but she understood that it was the name of the white giant.

That was when a memory returned to her.

“Last night.”

For an instant, those hidden memories of the past revived within her.

First, she remembered herself.

…''I screwed up the interview and…

After leaving Ikusabata Station, she had complained on the gravel road through the paddy field.

“And then I was caught in the middle of a fight involving this anime robot thing.”

As she replayed her memories, she took a certain action.

She looked upward.

“!”

While ignoring how it was messing up her hair, she looked into the blue sky and saw a certain light in the center.

It was the light of the sun.

That warm light wrapped in the color yellow brought back another memory. Last night, the white giant had descended before her and she had seen the color of its eyes.

…''And I felt something then.

What had it been?

She did not know.

But the rapid refrain of memories left her sitting blankly on the giant hand.

She had also been saved from falling, so her tension lessened and she merely sat motionlessly.

In response, the blue arm started lowering. It was a slow and gentle motion meant to keep her from harm.

“…Ah.”

She looked down.

A large crowd had gathered there. They were all maids.

Moira 1st was there, Moira 3rd was there, and a maid with short hair of the same color was the only one looking away from her. That may have been Moira 2nd.

All of the other maids there were looking up at her with looks of relief.

…''And looks of expectation.

It looked like they thought her rescue meant that something enjoyable would continue.

Miyako sighed at the looks on their faces.

…''Why are they looking that way toward someone like me?

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 2

2026-08-28T04:28:03Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 2: Meeting of Steel==
[[Image:OnC_v05_0103.png|thumb]]
''Stare, stare

''First, face each other

''Then, either hit each other or pass each other by

A white hallway had no windows, but it did have writing on the wall.

That writing said BF2.

This was Japanese UCAT’s second basement floor and the hallway passed in front of the development department. The center of the hallway had a rest area with a sofa and a few vending machines.

A woman stared at the floor in front of the coffee vending machine.

Her long gray hair hung down over the chest of her lab coat which contained a nametag reading Tsukuyomi Chizuru.

She took a sip of the cold coffee in the paper cup she held.

“What is going on?”

“What is it?” asked a sudden female voice.

Tsukuyomi frantically tuned around and saw who was walking down the hallway.

“Diana Zonburg.”

“Is something the matter?” Diana wore a black suit and held a brown paper bag. “I heard you were traveling to Kanda this afternoon to retrieve an examination device for Georgius.”

“Eh? Oh, so talk of that has reached the higher levels, has it? UCAT Director Ooshiro was opposed to the idea, but our younger members offered to help him make a perverted game in exchange.”

“So a mysterious concept weapon is worth the same as an 18+ game?”

“Only when using the Ooshiro currency. …More importantly, what are you doing here?”

Tsukuyomi gulped down her coffee while Diana squeezed the paper bag in her arms.

“I just bought a swimsuit at the store up above and I was taking a stroll through UCAT on my way back.”

“A swimsuit? How luxurious.”

“No, this is part of my job as inspector. Team Leviathan is apparently having a training camp at the Seto Inland Sea the day after tomorrow, so I will be going with them. …This is a job. Let me spell it out for you: This is a j-o-b.”

“Well, it’s quite a luxurious j-o-b.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“The float sticking out of that bag makes it hard to.”

“Th-this isn’t a float. It is a beach mat to lie on while sipping on a drink.”

“How luxurious a time are you planning!?” shouted Tsukuyomi before sighing and facing Diana who was adjusting the contents of the bag. “If I was only five years younger, I would have gone with you.”

“U-um, did I mishear that? I thought I heard a number about ten times too small.”

“You’re supposed to laugh. But when I see you and Doctor Chao, it makes the longevity and anti-aging techniques look pretty good. I was already on the way to being an old lady by the time I joined UCAT, though.”

“Heh heh. But you decided to stay with Low-Gear, right?”

After a pause, Tsukuyomi nodded and narrowed her eyes.

“Yes. I have a daughter, so I can’t undergo the anti-aging techniques,” she said. “Have you heard? My daughter was abducted. And the rumor is that Typhon, that white 3rd-Gear god of war, did it. But they must be a terrible judge of character to abduct her.”

Diana remained silent, but her expression did loosen a bit.

The ends of her eyebrows lowered and she nodded once.

“I have no children, so I don’t really understand.”

“That’s fine. I’m sure there’s a part of it that any woman would understand.” Tsukuyomi gave a bitter smile in return. “Her bag and coat were found at the site the flying object fell last night. She was probably accidentally taken inside the concept space, but…”

“…”

“Don’t give me that look. It’s fine. That girl won’t die so easily. After all that idiot has done to disobey me and do what she wants, she’ll manage on her own.”

“I see she is worrying you.”

“Let’s just leave it at that.”

Tsukuyomi’s bitter smile deepened and Diana nodded.

At that point, a new female voice reached them.

“I am not sure you two should be speaking about 3rd-Gear so openly.”

Diana recognized the voice.

“Sf?”

She tilted her head, looked around, and spotted Sf.

She was standing sideways in the small gap between vending machines.

“U-um, Sf? Did you gain some strange habits when formatted for the Japanese language? Why are you crammed in that small space?”

“Tes. Monitoring Itaru-sama at all times is one of my duties, but he moved out of range of my senses. I have determined he is viewing the sky from a corner of the roof.”

“And that spot is just barely within range?”

“Tes. I have determined it was a dangerous situation. I was on my way back from disposing of some trash at the underground incinerator, and I would have lost him for the first time if I had been just a little slower.”

Tsukuyomi looked back and forth between Sf in between the vending machines and Diana next to her.

“So this is what they call German quality.”

“Th-this is because of the local formatting.”

Diana waved her hands in denial and glanced over at Sf.

“Should I go and tell Itaru to move from the roof?”

“Tes. However, that will not be necessary. Statistically, he never continues any one task for long, so I have determined he will return to his office soon. I will remain on standby here until then. His irregular action here is most likely due to him thinking about the coming Leviathan Road.”

“It is true he used to always go outside while thinking.”

Diana’s comment caused Sf to tilt her head between the vending machines.

“That information is worth adding to my records.”

“You didn’t know that? When we had all reached various dead ends, I was often dragged outside. Both by him and someone else I know quite well.”

“Who is that?” asked Tsukuyomi, but Diana only smiled weakly back.

“If you always choose to continue on, you will eventually arrive somewhere. You remember that too, Sf. And do not leave Itaru alone again.”

“Tes. I will make sure to never again leave him while he is thinking.”

Sf bowed from between the vending machines.

“My ability to wait is infinite, but I will never allow myself to leave him.”

The sun rose high into the sky.

Several large buildings were lined up below the sunlight.

The buildings all belonged to a school. The sunlight covered a large campus and students in summer uniforms walked between the buildings.

Most of the students were headed to the dormitories or their club activities. Some held graded tests in their hands.

Among them all, a few people sat in front of a school building in the center of the campus.

Four students sat on the lawn in front of the library protruding from the school building. Three wore male uniforms and one wore a female uniform.

They were Sayama, Shinjou, Izumo, and Kazami.

A large multi-layer bento box and a small multi-layer bento box sat between them.

With a black binder sitting next to her, Shinjou reached for the small box. She used chopsticks to grab a croquette and held it out toward Sayama to her right.

“Here, Sayama-kun. I even made the filling this time.”

Once it was put in his mouth, Sayama thoroughly chewed the croquette and swallowed it.

Shinjou looked a bit worried, so he thought for a moment and then spoke.

“Yes. A supreme flavor, Shinjou-kun.”

“Wow, I’m glad. I can almost feel the horrible rumor from this morning disappearing within me.”

She smiled and grabbed a new croquette.

“I used the cafeteria kitchen to cook these and this one contains some strange leaves that Old Lady Tome said make a good secret ingredient. She said they only grow on her balcony.”

“Hm. I think I see why that cafeteria has so many regular customers. I would prefer not to know any more details, though.”

Sayama smiled pleasantly in the sun and Shinjou’s cheeks reddened slightly.

Across from them, Kazami and Izumo stared at them with half-lidded eyes.

“Even though I know the truth, it feels weird to see them flirting in male uniforms.”

“I can’t believe they’re doing this when that rumor started only this morning.”

The two tilted their heads, but Shinjou continued feeding Sayama.

As students passed by, a few girls lowered their heads toward Kazami.

“Hello, Kazami-san.”

When she looked up and nodded back, they would bow again and leave.

Izumo looked impressed as she nodded in self-satisfaction.

“You sure are popular.”

“Heh heh. That’s because I’m the only one who can stop you and Sayama.”

That was when more people greeted her. A few boys with disheveled uniforms were passing by.

“Ah… K-Kazami-san. Good morning!”

They immediately covered their faces with their crushed bags and quickly ran away.

They left only the wind behind.

After a pause, Izumo nodded expressionlessly.

“Chisato, I’ll stick with you no matter what, so tell me what happened. And be honest.”

“What do you mean by that? I didn’t do anything ''too'' horrible.”

“Eh?” said Shinjou. She held her nose and made a gesture of something falling from it. “Drip drip?”

“Shinjou-kun, not even cute onomatopoeia can soften this, so do not even try. Now, Kazami, about last night.”

Kazami froze in place when she heard the term “last night”.

After a short pause, she looked around and nodded.

“You mean about Hiba Ryuuji? Don’t worry. I summoned him via his homeroom teacher, so he’ll be here soon. More importantly, I assume Sibyl contacted you this morning.”

She took a breath.

“You heard that Director Tsukuyomi’s daughter was abducted, right?”

Shinjou looked up as she listened to Kazami.

“It happened in the battle that Hiba guy was fighting, didn’t it?”

“Yes. The items left inside the concept space last night show that Director Tsukuyomi’s daughter was there. And Hiba Ryuuji probably knows the truth of the matter. He was taken into UCAT custody, so he probably told them about it.”

She gave a bitter smile.

“Based on Ooki-sensei’s opinion and the fragment of white armor left at the scene, both Hiba Ryuuji’s craft and his opponent have power on the level of a Concept Core. We can’t say anything about Hiba’s, but his opponent was likely Typhon. That proves that some remnants of 3rd-Gear remain. …And Sibyl also mentioned that she discussed another matter with you two.”

“Yes. Sayama-kun received an additional call.”

As Baku mimicked him on his head, Sayama nodded.

“Director Tsukuyomi is headed to the UCAT Kanda laboratory to receive a device needed to examine Georgius and another important item. Shinjou-kun and I will be accompanying her as witnesses of the event.”

“Georgius is going to be examined? But why does Shinjou have to go too if you are only retrieving equipment?”

“Most likely to distract me from my interest in 3rd. Even if I refuse to act as witness for some reason, Shinjou-kun cannot refuse. …And thus I will go too.”

“Uuh… I-it’s true I can’t turn down jobs people ask me to do.”

“Oh, so Shinjou is the lure to get you to go.”

“Kaku, don’t say it like that. The term you want is ‘bait’. That sounds much more normal.”

“Y-you don’t have to make it normal!”

Hearing that, Sayama shook his head solemnly.

“Shinjou-kun, normal is best for humans. If you ever need a model, just watch me.”

“You’re right. Watching you is a good way of realizing normal is best.”

It was unclear if her meaning had reached him because he nodded deeply and crossed his arms.

“At any rate, 3rd-Gear’s Leviathan Road has yet to start and we are already meeting a boy who is personally fighting 3rd-Gear and 3rd has abducted someone. If Japanese UCAT does not wish to provide the other UCATs with any misunderstandings or excuses to interfere…”

“…then they wouldn’t want Team Leviathan to deal with anything problematic? …And then there’s that impurity that Hiba mentioned last night. He said he wanted some time.”

“Yes, but UCAT might be expecting us to do something. We have summoned the Hiba boy to meet us, but no one has interfered. And only Shinjou-kun and I are going to Kanda. Izumo, Kazami, that means the two of you can do as you wish.”

For once, clear irritation could be heard in Sayama’s voice. A hint of harshness had entered his expression as well.

Seeing that, Shinjou smiled in her heart.

…''He wants to take the initiative and gather information himself.

And so she wrapped her ring-wearing right hand around his left elbow.

“Let’s eat lunch.”

“…Yes.”

He nodded, closed his eyes for a moment, and returned to his usual expressionless look. Shinjou was worried she was forcing him to do this, but he looked her in the eye.

“Come to think of it, Kazami, don’t you have something to give Shinjou-kun?”

“Eh? Kazami-san has something for me?”

''What could that be?'' she wondered.

After a moment, she shook her hands in denial as Kazami’s shoulders rose in realization.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that! As thanks for helping me shop the other day, I bought her a raw milk gyuudon at the UCAT cafeteria, but you don’t have to pay me back for that.”

“Chisato, is that why you’ve been worried about your waistline recently?”

“N-no. I ran around the school buildings after I got back that night.”

As she pleaded her case to Izumo, Kazami pulled an envelope from her pocket and handed it to Shinjou.

“Can I open it?” asked Shinjou as she hesitantly took it.

“What would be the point if you could not, Shinjou-kun? It is for you.”

After a moment of hesitation, she opened it.

She read through the document inside and then spoke.

“I’m being appointed as secretary of the student council?”

Surprise filled her face and a bit of heat followed.

…''Wait. Is this…?

“Did I get this position through connections while ignoring the election? Hooray.”

“Shinjou-kun, choose either suspicion or excitement. Kazami, explain it to her.”

“While this is ignoring the election, the student council has the authority to appoint new members. All the lower positions starting with secretary were open this year because a lot of people pulled out of the running during the election.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Last year, a certain female student performed a flying kick on a dumb yet large candidate during a speech. That led to candidates dropping out like the receding tide.”

“Oh, I-I see.”

“And what exactly do you mean by that?” asked Kazami with a smile.

Shinjou shrank back, but Kazami continued speaking.

“So will you accept the position? If you don’t like secretary, there are plenty of other positions: general affairs director, manager, animal official, and loser. You can also decline the offer altogether.”

Her question had a persuasive tone to it.

[[Image:OnC_v05_0117.png|thumb]]

Shinjou hesitated for a moment and looked over at the black binder next to her.

…''Is it worth having less time to work on this?

“Um, well… What exactly does the secretary do?”

“Well, you take notes on the proceedings of meetings. I’ll interpret for Kaku, so don’t worry about that.”

“I get the feeling you just casually insulted my humanity,” said Izumo. “In fact, I know you did.”

“Ha ha ha. Before you complain about that, try writing so that a modern human can understand it, you foolish primitive,” said Sayama.

“Ha ha ha. It must be nice having no humanity whatsoever and your mindset in the distant future.”

“Oh, and I will handle training these inhuman people, so don’t worry about that either,” added Kazami. She continued as the two boys glared coldly at her. “And once you join, we can talk about the Leviathan Road while claiming it is a student council meeting. We’ll be able to reserve the library and call Ooki-sensei to join us. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?”

She smiled bitterly.

“This school will be our base.”

“Ah…”

With that voice of realization, Shinjou found her answer.

…''It will give me ideas for my novel and help the Leviathan Road.

She felt that was looking at it too simply, but she still nodded.

“Th-then I will be the secretary.”

“Are you sure, Shinjou-kun? If you join the same group as our crazy president and violent treasurer, it will start some unwanted rumors.”

“Sayama-kun, I think you forgot to mention someone.”

“Ha ha. Of course I did. It is not right to praise oneself needlessly.”

Kazami glared at him but then ignored him and looked down at her watch.

“Isn’t it about time for you two to leave? Get lost, Sayama. We’ll talk with Hiba and then go shopping. We need to make preparations for the training camp the day after tomorrow.”

“I see.”

Sayama stood up and Shinjou stood up next to him.

As she did, she suddenly saw an odd color. It was a red that resembled a flower or fresh blood.

She focused on that color that was not often seen in an outdoor lawn.

“Eyes?”

She turned around and saw a motorcycle parked on the road running alongside the yard. It had a sidecar attached and a boy sat on the motorcycle itself.

He had short hair, he wore a white bandana around his head, and he was looking their way with his red eyes.

He was Hiba Ryuuji and he had a troubled look on his face.

“Here I am. Just as you asked.”

As soon as he said that, Shinjou saw Baku stir on Sayama’s head.

And then the past arrived.

“…”

Shinjou found herself standing on a road surrounded on either side by green trees.

She had become nothing more than sight and hearing.

…''This is the past.

She was on a mountain and the road running downhill was made of dirt. The light brown dirt was covered in tire tracks and weeds were growing up here and there.

…''Where is this?

She looked around and saw manmade objects to the left and right.

They were pillars. A wooden pillar hardened with turpentine stood on either side of the road.

The fronts of the pillars were split vertically and lacquer had been poured into carved words on the smooth surface.

“Izumo Aviation Laboratory – Tokyo Branch.”

That meant…

“This is the entrance to the National Defense Department!”

As she cried out with her mind, her pulse quickened.

If the National Defense Department lay ahead, there was one fact that drew her interest the greatest.

…''There should be someone with my family name here.

The person had been Professor Kinugasa’s assistant during the National Defense Department days, but all records of them were gone by the time UCAT came about. This person had her family name and a connection to Sayama Kaoru, Sayama’s grandfather.

…''And they might have some connection to my relatives.

With that thought, she tried to move her mind forward. She did not know how far the recreation of the past went, but that person might be in the National Defense Department up ahead.

“I want to see them.”

That comment made her realize her thoughts.

…''I am yearning.

But she had no clear answer what exactly it was for which she yearned. She could only think up immature words, but she never thought about casting aside the desire.

And so she took a step forward.

“…?”

But she stopped when she heard a noise.

Something was approaching from below the mountain behind her. She could tell it was a number of vehicles. She could hear the metallic noises of a dozen or so wheels and chassis.

…''What kind of vehicles?

She turned around and saw the approaching convoy.

It was a line of green jeeps and trucks.

The flat hood of the jeep in the lead had a star mark on a white background.

This was the American military.

But Shinjou found something odd. A number of men rode that jeep, but something was off about their military uniforms. She could not quite place what was wrong with them, but she found the answer once the convoy grew closer and she could see them more clearly.

“…Ah.”

It was the crest on the shoulder of their jackets.

It had a blue shield and a collection of lines surrounded by white wings.

They were UCAT.

A closer look showed that the men in the jeep and those in the trucks behind them were made up of a number of different races.

“American UCAT is leading the different UCATs of the Allies.”

The convoy was approaching while acting as part of the occupying army.

…''What is going on?

Shinjou knew about the origin of UCAT, but she knew nothing more than that the National Defense Department became Japanese UCAT.

She did not know the details of how it happened.

Meanwhile, the convoy approached the two pillars that formed an entrance.

She could hear their engines as they approached.

And just as it felt like they were going to run her vision over, something fell from the sky right in front of her.

It was silver-colored and shaped like a long blade.

It was a Japanese sword.

The curved blade stabbed forcefully down in front of her eyes and audibly tore at the dirt.

“!”

The elderly soldier sitting in the jeep’s passenger seat raised a hand.

In response, the convoy came to a stop. All the vehicles’ brakes screeched, their chassis shook, and they tore up the dirt road surface.

The sounds of the dozen or so vehicles shook the leaves of the forest.

Shinjou heard the wind blow as a sudden wind arrived from behind her.

She turned around and saw motion.

It was a large green military motorcycle.

“Ha ha!”

With a laugh, the motorcycle turned sideways and slid toward Shinjou.

A short young man drove it and his short hair waved in the wind.

“So you’ve decided to show up, have you!? Are you here to steal our position? We work in the same field, don’t we!?”

As he spoke, he forcefully planted his foot in front of the sliding motorcycle.

“There we go!”

And he used that foot to rotate the motorcycle around in front of Shinjou.

The high-speed spin stopped perfectly at one hundred eighty degrees.

The young man was directly in front of the Japanese sword that had landed earlier. He now faced the convoy with the blade between them.

He supported the motorcycle with both legs and observed the convoy with his black eyes.

“You want a fight?”

He narrowed his eyes and got down from the motorcycle.

His military boots made his footsteps ring loudly from the dirt.

At the same time, everything began to move.

The people in the leading jeep and the backs of the trucks stood up. Shinjou saw a fair number of women among them.

…''And those weapons.

In addition to guns, they wielded plenty of swords, spears, and shields. And unlike normal blades, they had been modified with exposed cords, components, and tanks.

The technology was still undeveloped, but those weapons had been modified with cowlings.

The elderly soldier then stepped out of the jeep’s passenger seat. He held a spear.

“I ask that you surrender.”

She heard the Japanese meaning of his words over the English he was actually speaking. His tone was polite yet forceful.

However, the young man’s smile remained.

“I don’t have a damn clue what you’re saying, you old foreign bastard.”

The elderly soldier’s spear moved slightly.

And it produced a noise very near the handlebars of the young man’s motorcycle. The single rearview mirror on the right side flew into the sky.

“I am Sail Northwind, representative of American UCAT. My north wind can pierce even steel.”

“Oh, that’s a neat trick.” The young man’s smile did not waver. “I think I’ve figured out what you’re trying to say. This is what you’re saying.” He pointed at the elderly soldier’s face. “ ‘Oh, that was a hell of an entrance! You’re pretty cool!’ ”

As soon as he spoke, all of those standing in the vehicles jumped down. At least a hundred armed people covered the road and forest and prepared to fight.

Countless footsteps and the metallic noises of the weapons filled the air.

But something even more impressive arrived from further down the road.

A giant form suddenly fell behind the young man and his motorcycle.

“…!!”

The form was accompanied by the sound of something extremely heavy striking the ground. The ground split and Shinjou finally saw what it was.

…''A god of war.

She heard everyone gasp as a silver-colored humanoid machine stood behind the young man and his motorcycle. It was approximately eight meters tall, it resembled a female armored warrior, and it had two pairs of wings on its back.

The god of war already held a long, narrow sword in its hands.

With a mechanical noise, the wings on its back moved. They folded up to allow easier motion on the ground.

Meanwhile, the opposing soldiers could not move. They clenched their teeth and stared at the god of war behind the young man.

The spear-wielding elderly soldier’s expression was the one exception. A smile remained on the corner of his mouth and he continued to look at the young man. The young man was looking back at him with an identical expression.

Time seemed to drag on, but it suddenly came to an end.

First, the silver god of war crouched down.

Next, a slender figure appeared from its back and climbed up onto its right shoulder.

It was a woman. The young woman’s blonde hair flowed across her back. As Shinjou looked at her thick eyebrows and strong-willed face, she noticed a certain color.

…''Her eyes.

They were red. That deep scarlet below her inconspicuous eyebrows looked down at the young man.

She opened her narrow mouth as the wind whipped at her white shirt and flare skirt.

“Do not play around, Hiba.”

Both her awkwardly-spoken Japanese and the name she mentioned shook Shinjou’s mind.

…''Hiba? As in, Hiba-sensei?

But something was off. Hiba Ryuutetsu’s left eye had been colored a deep scarlet, the same as the eyes of the woman on the god of war’s shoulder.

…''What does that mean?

With no answer to her question, the woman continued speaking.

“Do any of you match me in power? If so, I will battle you. If not, Hiba will handle it.”

“Who are you?” asked the old man who had given the name Northwind.

The young man grinned when he heard the old man’s perfect Japanese.

“Oh, so you know Japanese after all.”

The woman smiled bitterly.

“I am Rhea, a refugee from 3rd-Gear. And I have decided to seek refuge in Japan’s National Defense Department. If you attempt to take this place from me, I will battle you whether you match me in power or not.”

“…!”

The elderly soldier’s smile strengthened when he heard Rhea’s words.

At the same time, a black figure appeared next to Hiba. Shinjou recognized the tall man wearing a black cloak.

…''Siegfried-san!

The young Siegfried calmly appeared next to Hiba as if he had grown out of the shadows of the trees. He wore black gloves and already held several pieces of paper.

When the elderly soldier saw him and the paper in his hand, he asked a smiling question.

“Siegfried Zonburg!?”

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Lord Northwind. Did you perhaps read the reports I sent my nation? …However, you are being too hasty here.”

“It seems so, but I have learned one thing. This is the place that desires the world,” said Northwind.

Hiba folded his arms and nodded.

“You’ve got that right. But think carefully, Old Man Northwind. The Izumo Aviation Institute’s National Defense Department is working for important people right now, but if it is let loose, it will work for something else.”

“And what is that exactly?”

Hiba did not answer. Instead, the woman named Rhea spoke in a dignified voice.

“That would of course be this world itself. This world has nothing and sits at the lowest level, but that is precisely why it has everything!”

Shinjou looked up just as the others were. The red-eyed woman was smiling. Instead of looking down at the people, she faced them and looked across all of them.

“I fled to this world. I abandoned my own concept to the Tartaros and came here as an individual. However, I was treated as a guest rather than a prisoner of war. There were misunderstandings and conflicts, but I now stand here as a soldier because that is my wish! I wish to fight for this world. And…”

She looked across the surrounding area. She looked at the blue sky, the trees, the earth, and the rustling wind. She left a smile in the wind and gently brought her right hand to her stomach. Only then did she look back down toward the others.

“And so that I can be with this child here. We have already begun preparing for battle. If you wish to be with us, then let us speak. But if you obstruct us in the slightest, we will be your enemy!”

“Rhea, you’re sounding a lot more self-important than the rest of us. It might’ve been a mistake to let Kaoru prepare your Japanese lessons.”

“Ha ha. You men are always so slow. When preparing to be a mother, a woman wants immediate decisions. If you do not like it, then bring me something sour to eat. …Soldiers, give your answer.”

There was a clear smile in her voice.

“Do any of you wish to be the ally of my child!?”

That booming question signaled the end of the past.

As her sight and hearing rapidly fell into darkness, Shinjou thought about Rhea’s words.

…''Her…child?

That had been sixty years before, so where was that child now if it had been born?

Shinjou had been in UCAT the longest of the group, but she had never heard about a descendant of 3rd-Gear. She had only ever heard that 3rd-Gear was the Gear of gods of war and automatons.

“Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve heard it mentioned that there were people there.”

She wondered if Sayama was right and the Gear had few people, but she had no way of knowing. She assumed that would be one thing she would learn later. If she stayed with Sayama and the others, she would learn that along with how they were destroyed.

''But,'' she thought. ''What if a descendant of hers is still alive?''

Just like Shinjou, they would have no other members of their race and not know their parents.

“I wonder if they feel lost too…”

Shinjou awoke from the past.

“…”

She took a breath and focused on the scene before her eyes.

Standing on the yard around her were Izumo, Kazami, Sayama, and Hiba.

Further away, a lot of students were returning from school and only a few seconds of time had passed.

She let out a breath and looked around. The scenery was the same. Kazami and Izumo were exchanging a dazed look, but Sayama had experienced the past several times before.

“So that is one connection between Hiba-sensei and 3rd-Gear.”

He placed a hand on his chest, took a breath, and faced Hiba.

“I see there was a refugee from 3rd-Gear.”

“Yes. That was the first time I’ve seen something like that, though.”

Hiba’s face was pale as he sat on his motorcycle. He nodded weakly and stepped to the ground. He approached but stopped with a step still separating them.

“What was that?”

Sayama grabbed Baku from his shoulder and held the creature up.

Baku looked to the left and right but suddenly hung its head and began to sleep when it noticed everyone focusing on it.

Sayama nodded deeply.

“I am sure you understand now.”

“I don’t understand at all!”

“Then let me put it simply. Listen and be amazed. Are you ready? Baku here can show people the past.”

“Oh, I see. …I-I mean, wow! That is amazing! I’m shocked!”

''You could make it less obvious,'' thought Shinjou as she stared at him, but Sayama nodded in satisfaction.

“Hiba-sensei was quite young, but he looked somehow like you, Hiba boy.”

“Are you implying I’ll look like him when I grow old?”

Shinjou nodded and tapped on Sayama’s shoulder.

“You should give up now. The more I hear about Sayama-kun’s grandfather, the more they sound alike.”

“Shinjou-kun! That is an incredibly rude assertion. How am I anything like that self-centered old man who did nothing but eloquently mock others?”

Everyone fell silent at that.

Amid the silence, Sayama nodded, smiled toward Shinjou, and slowly spread his arms.

“Just look. Everyone is using their silence to show their agreement.”

“I’ll just jump to the conclusion: You need to go to the hospital.”

Before Sayama could reply, she turned to Hiba and he seemed to pick up on her intent.

“U-um, anyway.”

He frantically looked across the group.

Shinjou observed his expression. He looked frantic and his eyebrows were slightly lowered, so it seemed he was unsure whether he should say something or not.

She tilted her head toward that expression that she herself had often made until recently. She also lowered the ends of her eyebrows.

“There’s something you want to say, isn’t there?”

“Eh? Oh, yes. I hear you all are doing something called the Leviathan Road.”

“What about it? Do you wish to ask us to stop the Leviathan Road with 3rd-Gear?”

“Yes. This is a request from the one whose grandfather destroyed 3rd-Gear.”

His immediate response came with the relief of having said it.

Shinjou and the others judged his meaning and remained silent for a moment.

But then…

“W-wait a minute. Isn’t a bit sudden to just say your grandfather destroyed 3rd-Gear?”

Shinjou understood why Kazami was so hurriedly stopping him. They wanted to know what he had meant the night before.

…''So we need to take this slowly.

Shinjou sat up a bit and spoke.

“Ryuuji-kun… Yeah, I’ll call you that to differentiate you from Hiba-sensei. Anyway, you’re from this Gear, right? So why are you stopping us from negotiating with 3rd-Gear?”

Sayama nodded and added to her question.

“We can discuss Hiba-sensei’s countless wrongdoings at a later date, but your mention of an impurity suggests a larger reason. Based on the situation from last night, you have an automaton, your grandfather belonged to the National Defense Department, and yet you are fighting Typhon without the help of UCAT.”

Hiba’s expression changed at the mention of the name Typhon.

He frowned a bit, so Sayama expressionlessly continued.

“And UCAT has officially told us not to get involved with you. In other words, getting involved in your fight would be a negative for us. Have you come here to tell us why that is, Hiba boy?”

“Y-yes. It is a long story and I am not sure what conclusion you all will reach, but this is what I know for sure,” said Hiba. “If you carry out the Leviathan Road with 3rd-Gear and bring them to your side, it will sully the name of the Leviathan Road.”

“Sully?” asked Kazami.

Hiba nodded.

“There are actually two impurities we must purify. I came here to tell you about one of them.”

“This all sounds very pretentious.”

“I know what you mean. But…even though I intend to bear these impurities, I do not know what will happen once I truly face them.”

“In other words, you’re testing us, aren’t you? You’re going to tell us about a lighter impurity to see if we are prepared to face the true impurity.” Kazami smiled bitterly. “You’re underestimating us.”

But Hiba only smiled bitterly in return.

Seeing his smile, Kazami thought.

…''A bitter smile, hm?

The smile he gave could only be made by one who had thought the same thing countless times. It was the smile of someone who had no other choice.

She wanted to hear him out and speak with him, but some of them had other things to do.

“Hey,” she said and showed her watch to Sayama.

He nodded.

“Hiba boy, I apologize, but I must ask that you give your test to Kazami and Izumo. Shinjou-kun and I already have plans.”

“And those plans are more important than speaking with me?”

“Is speaking with me more important than speaking with Izumo and Kazami? That extreme violence couple has been involved with the Leviathan Road longer than me.”

“Oh, I-I see. Sorry.”

Hiba frantically bowed.

Kazami smiled bitterly and Izumo solemnly folded his arms and nodded.

“Look, Sayama. Underclassmen these days are so polite.”

“Hiba boy, courtesy is an expendable good. Choose wisely who you use it on. For example, you could use it all on me.”

“Oh…”

Hiba did not seem to know what to say, so Shinjou turned a forced smile toward him.

“D-don’t worry too much about what they say. They’re all very strange.”

“Oh, I-I see…”

His gaze stopped on Shinjou’s arm.

Kazami then realized that Shinjou had her arm wrapped around Sayama’s.

“Oh, how passionate.”

“Eh? Ah! Wah! Th-this is just…”

“Ha ha ha. Shinjou-kun, why are you blushing? The opinions of those who do not know the truth about us are irrelevant.”

“Stop saying things that will only confuse this further!!”

Hiba tried to back away from them as he stared at them with half-lidded eyes.

…''What is he doing?

Kazami stood up and tapped him on the shoulder. With an exasperated smile, she spread her arms.

“Do you understand now who the most wholesome and normal of us is?”

“…Using the process of elimination?”

“What was that?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

He shook his head just as someone else cut in.

“Wait a minute, Hiba.”

Izumo suddenly stood up and Kazami saw him look Hiba in the eye.

“How about we continue our talk in the Kinugasa Library? You want to test us, right?”

“Yes, sorry.”

“No need to apologize. I’ll be testing you, too. I want to see what kind of person you are.”

“Eh?”

Hiba tilted his head and took a light defensive stance.

With his arms crossed, Izumo stepped forward. Izumo was approximately one hundred ninety centimeters while Hiba looked about one hundred sixty. Kazami thought Izumo was going to use that difference in height in some way, but he instead opened his mouth to speak.

“The test is simple, Hiba. I have one question about the past we were just shown. …Did you see it?”

Izumo glanced to the side a bit as he spoke and the look on Hiba’s face changed. A sharpness filled his eyes.

But he finally frantically shook his head.

“I-I didn’t see anything. …What is the point of this sudden test?”

Hiba’s arms were spread as if it had started raining.

…''He definitely saw something.

Izumo continued speaking as if he understood what Kazami was thinking. He patted Hiba’s shoulder and looked him in the eye again.

“You saw the same thing in the past as I did, didn’t you?”

“N-no. I didn’t see anything.”

“No, you had to have seen them from below. At least a glimpse. They were blue, weren’t they!?”

“No, they were white! I happened to get a good look!”

Hiba’s reflexive response caused everyone to freeze in place.

Wind blew through the silence that lasted a few seconds.

“…Ah.”

As Hiba realized his mistake, Izumo nodded several times in understanding.

He folded his arms and spoke in a serious tone of voice.

“You have a promising future. I hope you can diligently-…”

Kazami swung her right leg and Izumo vanished.

After a short pause, she heard the sound of a human-sized object hitting the wall to the left, but she paid it no heed. She was used to this.

“Now then.”

She looked at the others who turned toward her after looking to the left.

She saw Baku staring rigidly at her from Sayama’s shoulder.

…''This is the first time he has looked me in the eye.

That made her happy, but she had something to say.

“Next time you want to show us a past with a girl or woman in it, do it when Kaku isn’t around, okay?”

The smile on her face made Baku frantically nod repeatedly.

“Good boy.”

When she reached out to pet the creature, it fluffed up its fur and let her.

Shinjou gave a stiff smile from next to Sayama.

“C-come to think of it, this is the first time you’ve petted Baku, Kazami-san. Isn’t that nice?”

“Heh heh. I guess it’s true that animals can sense people’s emotions. I’m very calm right now. So calm I feel a strong urge to do this.”

Sayama seemed to have chosen not to comment, so she took Baku from his shoulder and held the creature to her chest.

Shinjou frantically took Sayama’s arm and looked back and forth between Hiba and Kazami.

“Um…what do we do now? Th-that leaves Kazami-san to handle Ryuuji-kun.”

“Eh? Ehh? Sh-she’ll break me!”

“Heh heh heh. Don’t be so shy, freshman. Don’t worry. It doesn’t hurt that much.”

With the same smile as before, Kazami cracked the knuckles of her right hand and faced Sayama.

“You two can leave now. I will handle this interrogation…I mean forced information extraction…no, that isn’t it either. Um… How should I put it?” She nodded once toward Hiba. “I’ll have you tell me everything about this test, the impurity, and everything else. How about that?”

With all the hair on his body standing on end, Hiba nodded repeatedly.

Sunlight filled a hallway.

A tall maid walked through the hallway. She was Moira 1st who had spoken with Tsukuyomi Miyako.

She was pushing an ornamented metal stretcher. The table-like surface contained silver plates with semispherical lids.

Outside of the hallway’s windows were a forest, a slope, and a city. The city was packed with small buildings and houses. She glanced over at them and narrowed her eyes.

“The princess will not remember us once she returns there.”

“That isn’t necessarily true,” immediately replied a fairly low female voice.

Moira 1st slowly turned around and saw two people standing by the wall behind her. One was a tall woman in a red suit and the other was a large man wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and a blue apron. Moira 1st looked at the two of them.

“Mistress Gyes and Master Aigaion. Are you working, Master Aigaion?”

The large man named Aigaion brushed up his short-cropped blond hair and looked down at his clothes. The thick material of his blue apron said “Dragon Grocer” in white.

“I have no other choice. I simply dropped by while out on delivery because I heard the princess had woken up.”

“I told you to stay away because your huge body only gets in the way.”

Gyes, the woman with short black hair, shook her head.

“But Cottus is bragging about being the first to see this princess,” said Aigaion. “After all, his position down there let him see her first when Typhon brought her back.”

“Moira 1st, why did Typhon abduct that woman?”

Moira 1st tilted her head.

“According to the maintenance maids, there was an intense scorch mark on Typhon’s back. It apparently came from Keravnos.”

“So it ran across that black god of war. Does that mean it took a hostage in the shock of the initial strike?”

“Most likely,” said Moira 1st.

Suddenly, a new male voice cut in.

“Are you three Hecatoncheires interested in her?”

The voice came from the wall even further down the hallway. A young man leaned weakly against it.

He wore white clothes and had long, blond hair. Moira 1st faced him and raised her eyebrows.

“Lord Apollo, should you really be up?”

“With all the noise out here, it sounded more interesting than the bed or garden.”

He got up from the wall and moved his yellow eyes.

He turned a weak smile toward the plates Moira 1st was transporting.

“Has she woken up?”

“She is quite energetic, Lord Apollo.”

Gyes twisted her head at Moira 1st’s informative tone.

“It might be feigned. All the others who wandered here were like that.”

As soon as she finished speaking, her expression changed.

The harshness left her face and she let out a regretful sigh.

“Sorry. I know this is a rare pleasure for you.”

“There is no need to apologize. What you said is true. But…” Moira 1st tilted her head as she chose her words. “To put it bluntly, she broke through the memory manipulation that Moira 3rd so delightedly applied.”

“It is not that unlikely a turn of events. If the memories you sealed or the story Moira 3rd told included something important to her, she would naturally reject them. Then the seal and the story would vanish, correct?”

“Yes, but the seal is still in place. The new princess believes those memories are missing. Perhaps we should have given more thought to Moira 3rd’s story.”

“What story did Moira 3rd tell? The princess was taken here from the eastern side of this country. No normal artificial memory would form a proper connection.”

“Yes.” Moira 1st nodded with a serious expression. “It was simple. The train the princess was riding from a station called Shinjuku was abducted by a flying saucer and all the people aboard were given physical examinations by aliens. After having her sitting height erroneously measured too high, the princess angrily punched the little greys until she had taken control of the bridge. She then shouted ‘take me to Hawaii!’, but the flying saucer underwent a Dutch roll and crashed in Okayama! The title is ‘The Naked Princess in Space: To Terra’.”

“Sounds exciting, but there’s no heroine.”

“In this case, the protagonist of the princess doubles as a powerful heroine. A meaningless shower scene partway through where she only washes her shoulders is a must. I have studied this with the limited resources available to me.”

“I see.”

Aigaion and Apollo folded their arms and nodded, but Gyes frowned doubtfully.

“At any rate, the fruit of your studies was rejected. …Are you going to try a second story?”

Moira 1st lowered her head but finally answered.

“I think it would be difficult. Moira 3rd’s stories are meant to be placed over the memories I seal, but there should be a half-erased blank there now. If we forcibly attempt to change the story…”

“It could apply pressure to her memories until they break, destroying her personality. …Humans are difficult to deal with.” Having said that, Gyes frantically turned toward Apollo. “My apologies. I was not trying to say that you are difficult to deal with.”

“But I am. I don’t do anything and I’m no use whatsoever.”

Gyes fell silent and Aigaion elbowed her in the side.

Moira 1st smiled bitterly as she looked at the two and then at Apollo.

“In other words, you are sensitive.”

“Yes, exactly. Well said, Moira 1st. Now, Lord Apollo, Moira 2nd says you have been in good health recently, so will you go outside today?”

“Are the dolls worried for their master? …But I do think I will wander around outside for a bit.”

Apollo smiled bitterly just as a maid arrived from down the hallway. Moira 1st saw her jog toward them.

“Do not run in the hallway, 43rd. Now, what is it?”

The maid named 43rd nodded and got down on one knee in front of Moira 1st.

“I apologize. But…the princess has escaped!”

“Escaped?” asked Gyes rather than Moira 1st.

The maid nodded and pulled a piece of cloth from her chest. It was a pillowcase with thick letters written using something brown.

“This was written with the chocolate Moira 3rd gave her.”

Moira 1st read it, let out a laugh, and then turned to Gyes.

“It says ‘Thanks for your hospitality’.”

“You sound happy, Moira 1st. Did you know this would happen?”

“No.” Moira 1st tilted her head and spoke to Gyes, who looked suspicious, and the two men, who looked a bit surprised. “But if you recall, I did say she was energetic.”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
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Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 1

2026-08-27T04:55:33Z

N-Ch:

[[Image:OnC_v05_0060-0061.png|thumb]]
''I want to do this forever

''But what am I supposed to do

''If I feel a stirring in my heart?

—''Thinking you are special is old-fashioned.

—''Thinking you are normal is even more old-fashioned.

==Chapter 1: A Morning Change==
[[Image:OnC_v05_0063.png|thumb]]
''A lot is about to change

''A morning of beginnings has made this clear

''The moon of early summer remains visible in that morning

The air of a summer morning blew through the city.

The sun was beginning to rise, but few cars passed by on the street which was covered in a morning fog.

However, two figures were visible on the sidewalk. Two people were running as the shallow morning sun washed over them from the side. One was a boy in a black track suit and the other was a girl in a white track suit.

They were Sayama and Shinjou.

As they jogged, they entered the giant school alongside the road.

Their path curved ninety degrees away from the cherry trees along the road and toward the school building to the left. With the gym on their left, they passed by the first general school building and the second general school building (which contained the Kinugasa Library) on their right.

They then turned right and cut between the second and third general school buildings to reach the backs of the buildings.

Sayama then began the last spurt while almost destroying the gravel path below his feet.

“Ah, that’s too fast.”

Sayama waved to Shinjou behind him as he moved ahead. He also pulled Baku from his pocket and placed the creature on his head.

He quickly reached the emergency staircase on the east side of the second general school building.

He ran up to the second floor landing while taking three steps at a time. That was their usual gathering spot for meetings and private discussions.

“…”

And he arrived.

He looked over the railing toward the empty schoolyard and the sun rising into the sky. Far off in the vast schoolyard were the silhouettes of the strange monuments created by each successive graduating class.

…''Such majestic scenery.

He took a breath, loosened his track suit’s collar, and made sure Baku was not falling from his head. He then pulled a stopwatch from his pocket.

The LCD time read 5:50 AM. He then glanced at the seconds display below the clock.

“Fourteen minutes for a half circuit. We still have a long way to go.”

As he spoke to himself, he turned toward the staircase behind him.

As Shinjou climbed the stairs, she looked up at him from the bend in the staircase.

“Ah.”

The instant their gazes met, she mistook her footing as if strength had left her legs.

With a quiet voice of surprise, she threw her body to his side. She fell on her back while holding her hair so as not to get it dirty.

“Ha ha. I guess I got careless.”

She laughed while catching her breath while Sayama stood with his hips lowered and his arms spread forward.

…''I thought she was going to leap toward me.

“Sayama-kun, why are you making that pose into empty air?

“It seems not everything goes as one might hope.”

He nodded as Shinjou tilted her head and then he looked across the landing. The morning light showed two things on the landing wall.

Sayama had used his finger to write two things in the filth on the wall.

1st-Gear: Fafnir Custom.

2nd-Gear: Yamata.

Sayama suddenly narrowed his eyes toward the two lines written one above the other.

“Is something the matter?” asked a voice from below.

He looked down and saw Shinjou was still lying on the floor. She brushed up her bangs which had stuck to her forehead with sweat.

She looked up at the wall, but the light prevented her from reading the writing from her angle.

“…?”

She tilted her head, looked back toward him, and showed him a smile.

“It is nothing, Shinjou-kun. Does it bother you?”

“Yes.” She nodded and sat up with the ends of her eyebrows slightly lowered. “You had a similar expression to when your chest hurts.”

“That is worrisome. Perhaps I should visit a doctor.”

“Yes… No, wait! You can’t go to any of the doctors you know! A-and more importantly…”

For some reason, she frantically stood up and kicked the floor with her right heel despite having just run.

“U-um? What are we going to do about that guy from last night? Hiba…Ryuuji-kun, was it?”

Shinjou’s question caused Sayama to cross his arms.

“Hm.” He nodded. “You want to know what we are going to do?”

“Yes. I was wondering… No, wait! You shouldn’t think too much, Sayama-kun! Especially in the morning!”

“What has you panicking so much? I am thinking about this in a perfectly normal fashion.”

“…Just remember. There are some things people simply can’t do.”

“Ha ha ha. Do not worry, Shinjou-kun. I am perfect. …Why would you grab my collar when I say that?”

“Well, I suppose you are perfect in a way.”

“Calm down.”

He held out a hand to stop her.

She glared at him while they both leaned against the railing.

“At any rate, we were unable to meet with the Hiba boy since that incident.”

He recalled the previous night. The boy claiming to be Hiba Ryuutetsu’s grandson and his female automaton partner had been taken into UCAT custody, but they had heard nothing since.

What had he been fighting using that god of war?

It seemed the investigation team had found white armor fragments on the ground.

Hiba’s god of war had been black.

“He must have been fighting a white god of war. …Most likely one belonging to 3rd-Gear.”

“Do you think it was Typhon?”

“I cannot say for sure, but the odds are good. The Hiba boy’s god of war had wings and it used them in battle. It was on an entirely different level than the UCAT god of war attempting a triple axel underground. And do you remember Ooki-sensei’s announcement just before we headed out?”

He took a breath.

“She said there were two huge readings. …Who would have thought she would ever teach us something useful?”

“I’m going to ignore that last part, okay? …Anyway, she uses the concept-related equipment, so can we assume these were on the level of a Concept Core for her to call them ‘huge’?”

“If so, the white one would be Typhon which is powered by half of 3rd-Gear’s Concept Core. We do not know where the black one came from, but this would mean it possesses half of a Concept Core. If only we knew how he acquired that god of war.”

They had waited in the front lobby to speak with Hiba and the others, but Abram had arrived and ordered them to leave.

…''3rd-Gear’s Leviathan Road has yet to begin and we are forced to avoid the related people.

This almost confirmed that the boy named Hiba had some connection to 3rd-Gear.

“The real mystery is why we were not allowed to speak with him.”

“The higher ups must have decided there is some reason why we must not be allowed to meet with him. He is refusing to work with the Leviathan Road for some reason and UCAT also thinks we should stay away from him.”

“He said something about an impurity and that he would cleanse it.”

“Yes, but we were not even allowed to ask about that.”

After leaving UCAT last night, Izumo, Kazami, Shinjou, and Sayama had traveled by train and motorcycle before meeting back up in Oume. After leaving the station, they had discussed their plans at a fast food restaurant.

While folding his arms above the railing, Sayama restated their conclusion from that meeting.

“UCAT will not allow us to approach him, but we wish to know what this impurity is and who he was fighting. And he attends our school, so we can approach him if we want. …UCAT will have realized that much.”

Then…

“How about we act as students rather than as Team Leviathan? We have recently discovered an interesting underclassman and wish to speak with him as the student council. We can discuss his personal situation while we are at it.”

The smile in his voice produced a bitter smile from Shinjou.

As her eyebrows relaxed slightly, she glanced over at him.

“That is disobeying orders.”

“It is nothing more than a normal student council activity. Kazami is likely contacting him right about now. The Hiba boy will receive word from his homeroom teacher that the student council has summoned him. Basically, he is being told to meet us behind the school. Heh heh heh. No one in the school can disobey Kazami if she tells them that. We can look forward to this, Shinjou-kun.”

“Yes… She seems to be well-known among the freshmen. I think it’s because she kicked Izumo-san from the rooftop stage during the school band concert for the All Holiday Festival back in May.”

“It had something to do with the force of his shout, didn’t it? The first years panicked, but the second and third years knew it was coming. The cheers for Kazami and cries of ‘gung-ho’ made it quite an amazing performance. You can tell Kazami has grown accustomed to this. She made sure to finish singing all the songs before collecting Izumo from the pond he fell into.”

“Schools make for both good and bad memories, don’t they? And I’m stating that as kindly as I can.”

Shinjou’s shoulders drooped and she sighed. She then grabbed the railing and stretched lightly.

“Anyway, Sayama-kun, are you planning on 3rd-Gear for the next Leviathan Road?”

Sayama did not immediately respond.

He looked back toward the writing on the wall and then nodded.

“That would be the next one if we are to continue in order. Also…it depends on our meeting today.”

“I see. I wonder how it’ll go. And if we go up against 3rd, we’ll really be faced with gods of war, won’t we?”

As she muttered that, a slight wind suddenly gathered around her body.

“…Ah.”

As her hair shook and she twisted her body a little, a faint mist of white steam appeared around her.

But the mist vanished in an instant and she remained still while gently holding her own body. She shrank down with red tinging her cheeks.

“I-I just became Setsu…”

“I do not see why that is anything to blush over.”

Shinjou shook her head.

“I-it’s embarrassing. When I choose what to wear, I’m deciding which one I will be. When I’m in the dorm room with you, I can take it easy and just be Sadagiri, but I have to be either Sadame or Setsu while outside. Before I revealed my identity, I had to be Sadame during the day, so I was prepared to dress as a girl, but…”

“But now is different?”

She gave a small nod.

“I think it’s because I haven’t had to dress as a girl much lately due to being in the dorm. Maybe I’m being too self-conscious, but when I change without planning for it, my preparations such as clothing are all wrong. …It makes me feel naked. I find it hard to face forward and continue walking.”

“But you always wear Sadame-kun’s equipment at UCAT and sometimes train from evening into the night…”

“I view that more as my equipment than specifically Sadame’s equipment. There are also some normal clothes that I feel comfortable both ways in. Like pajamas for example. Also, I feel more comfortable if I change my clothes after the change, even if I’m changing right back into the same clothes. At the Tamiya house, I use their bathroom for that.”

As she spoke, she seemed to realize something and smiled bitterly while bringing a hand to her mouth.

“Thank you for staying with me even when I continue talking about Setsu and Sadame after you said Sadagiri is fine.”

“If being with you is enough to receive your thanks, how about we be together even more, Shinjou-kun? …Anyway, are you feeling naked as Setsu-kun right now?”

“Yes. Especially around the chest and butt… I don’t want to meet anyone before reaching the dorm.”

Sayama realized she was covering herself with her arms despite wearing the track suit.

“There is a way to resolve this.”

“Eh? There is?”

“Yes. Change clothes here so you feel more comfortable.”

“…What?”

After a moment, she began to panic.

“I-I was careless! Forget it! Forget it, Sayama-kun! I-I-I-I’m fine!”

“No need to worry. I am not so heartless that I would make you walk around outside while mentally naked.” He turned his back, looked up into the blue sky, and spread his arms. “Now, change clothes while my back is turned.”

He waited five seconds. When he did not hear the rustling of clothes, he turned around. He saw Shinjou taking small, tiptoeing steps down the stairs.

“Shinjou-kun! You need not force yourself!”

But then he realized what Shinjou was doing. He silently rushed down toward Shinjou who had reached the turn in the stairway.

“I see. So you are going to change in the shadow of the staircase? That is a most sensible idea, Shinjou-kun!”

“In what world is that sensible!?”

She stopped and turned around with her eyebrows raised.

And Sayama collided with her as he ran down the stairs.

“Eh? Ah…wah!”

They tripped down the stairs.

In that instant, Sayama had to make a decision. He had to decide between protecting Shinjou from harm and helping her change her clothes.

…''Which one do I choose!?

He rolled down the stairs and out into the schoolyard behind the building.

''I hit my back,'' he realized as he looked up. There he saw the sky…and Shinjou’s face.

She was frowning with her eyes closed and clinging to his chest as he lay on his back.

She was unharmed, so he muttered to himself.

“…Good.”

“Th-this is not good. What if you’re hurt?”

She frantically got up and looked at him. Seeing the look of worry in her eyes, he nodded, raised his arms, and spoke in a calming tone.

“I am unharmed and neither are you. …That is what I deemed good. I made the right decision.”

“What decision?”

“The decision between protecting you from harm and helping you change your clothes.”

“There is quite a difference between those two options. But still…”

She sighed and the tension left her body. She leaned her warm and soft body on him once more.

“Thank you.”

“I am glad to hear you say that. I truly was not mistaken to choose both options.”

“…Eh?”

She questioningly touched her butt and felt her underwear.

The face lying on his chest paled in surprise for an instant and quickly grew red.

“W-wait! Sayama-kun! Where are my pants!?”

“If you are to change back into them, you must first take them off, Shinjou-kun.” He then pulled the folded track suit pants from under his head. “And without this, I would have hit my head. It is my turn to thank you.”

“Yes, yes. I’m glad I could be of some help. …Now give them back.”

“You must remove the top first.”

“Eh? S-stop! Don’t try to take off the top!”

As he lifted the track suit far enough to see her sweaty stomach, she frantically held it down with her hands.

“C-c-c-c-c-c-calm d-d-d-d-down, Sayama-kun.”

“I think you need to calm down first. And as you do, I will take care of this.”

“Eh?” she asked as he reached for the underwear covering her butt and tried to peel it away. “N-no!! The bottom is even worse! You can’t do this here!”

She frantically sat up.

She straddled his body to prevent him from removing her underwear.

But even if she said no, she had been the one to recommend changing her clothes, so he knew there was no problem with his actions.

“Shinjou-kun, why do you grow so flustered and reject what you yourself suggested?”

“Because you are insane!!”

Suddenly, several footsteps passed by.

A line of the blue uniforms belonging to the girls’ volleyball team passed by for their early morning training.

They all smiled and nodded as they passed, so Sayama waved and nodded back.

After a while, the footsteps disappeared into the distance and Shinjou slowly collapsed. Her forehead struck his chest.

“…It’s over. This is going to start more strange rumors.”

“Heh heh heh. The normal students do not know the truth. This is filling me with a sense of superiority.”

“That isn’t the issue! What are we going to do? They’ll spread a rumor that I was straddling you while wearing girls’ underwear!”

“It is not a rumor if it is true, Shinjou-kun. I intend to gladly accept this truth for the sake of history.”

“That’s just another fabricated truth in the History According to Sayama!!”

As her voice reverberated through the air, an electronic tone sounded.

It was Sayama’s cell phone. He pulled it from his pocket and saw it was from UCAT. As Shinjou looked up in surprise, he answered.

“It is I.”

And…

“What is it, Sibyl-kun? I am busy undressing Shinjou-kun.”

Suddenly, someone began strangling him.

In a dimly lit room, someone suddenly sat up in a bed.

It was a boy. He was short and he wore a black T-shirt and shorts while sleeping. Below his short hair, he had a scar running in a diagonal line along his forehead and his eyes were not a normal color.

They were red.

He gasped for breath and pulled up the light blanket while bringing a hand to his face with a blank yet panicked expression.

“…”

He crossed his legs and leaned forward on the bed. He knitted his brow and his eyes focused on the room before him.

A curtain covered the window and blocked out the light of that summer morning.

A metalworking desk with a vise attached sat next to the window.

The bookcase next to the desk contained maps and specialized books on using bladed weapons and martial arts.

Everywhere else, the walls were completely covered by vests, work pants, and other clothes hanging on them. All of them were dirty from years of use.

The two picture frames hanging above the desk were the room’s only non-practical items.

The two frames contained school diplomas. They were from elementary school and middle school and they both contained the name Hiba Ryuuji.

The boy looked at his own name written there.

“…”

Silently, he moved the two fingers on his face. He let out a slow breath as he touched his forehead. He spent several minutes doing so.

And as he exhaled, sweat from his forehead traveled down his fingers.

Rather than wiping away the sensation, he closed his eyes, breathed in, and opened his mouth.

“What a horrible dream.”

His dream had been a reliving of a battle with 3rd-Gear’s god of war.

…''Was that the battle from last year?

On that night, the black god of war piloted by him and Mikage had flown west in search of 3rd-Gear’s headquarters. They had ended up in the Osaka region.

Their god of war and the enemy’s one could both function in this Gear without expanding a concept space by using a philosopher’s stone.

But 3rd-Gear always fought after bringing his and Mikage’s god of war into a concept space.

He had never spoken with 3rd-Gear. According to his grandfather, most of the 3rd-Gear survivors were automatons and most of them could not function in Low-Gear.

The green god of war that had appeared before his eyes had likely been remotely controlled by the automatons and the battle had occurred inside a concept space in the plains of Osaka.

—'''Metal is alive.

In that concept, metal bodies truly held life. Hiba and Mikage’s god of war had undergone a philosopher’s stone treatment which allowed it to function in Low-Gear, but it was no different. That treatment allowed it to use its abilities as a machine.

A true god of war was a type of living machine.

Under the effects of the concept that gave metal life, Hiba’s body, which contained a single life, was broken down by the god of war’s dismantling mechanism and inserted into the different mechanisms of the god of war. This allowed him to join with the god of war. Rather than piloting it, he felt more like his body had transformed into the machine. He did not know the exact method used.

…''But it feels like melting.

The eight meter giant was a weapon that used a frame as bones, replaced its muscles with cylinders and artificial muscles, sensed using devices, and controlled its power with a living mind.

Hiba understood that was how gods of war worked.

The battle that night had ended quickly.

As the green god of war had swung its sword on the surface, Hiba had backed away.

A song had escaped his lips. It had been the hymn titled Silent Night.

…''The song from my memories.

Mikage had sung that song on the night his family had taken her in as an automaton.

His father had left Mikage with them and then he had never returned from his job.

That had been ten years before.

Hiba had fought while singing the song that had thoroughly permeated him.

The enemy’s sword had flown toward him along the shortest route.

It had flown in a horizontal line to the right and then back to the left. After he had opened some distance, it had stabbed forward as he landed.

That had been the timing.

He had looked at the moonlight shadow on the ground rather than directly at the enemy’s sword.

That jab had to be looked at in three dimensions, but the shadow had been only two dimensions. Using that, he had calculated just the height and slipped beneath the sword.

With a roar, he had succeeded.

His right fist had half-forcibly broken the green god of war. Its armor had split, the artificial muscles and frame inside had bent and broken, and the abdomen had been knocked diagonally.

This had produced the sound of heavy metals being destroyed.

Once his opponent could not move, he had kicked the green god of war as if sweeping it away.

With the sound of crumbling dirt, the green wreckage had rolled below the moon.

…''Now I can rest easy for the moment.

But as soon as he had thought that, something else had arrived.

A giant white form had descended from the sky to his right.

He had once heard of this god of war from his grandfather. He had heard a god of war had been made as a pair to his black one and that it used half the Concept Core as a power source. It was Typhon.

He had recognized it in an instant.

And it had moved differently.

…''Someone’s inside it.

Defeating it could kill the pilot.

But he had reflexively chosen to attack.

He had done so because the enemy had already been charging toward him.

…''Can I do this!? No… I have to!

He had picked up the green god of war’s sword and attacked Typhon.

The silver weapon had flown diagonally up from the bottom left in almost a perfectly straight line.

Even if this attack was evaded, Hiba could defend by holding the sword at the middle right.

As if in response, Typhon had stepped in and drawn its own weapon from its right shoulder. It had been a large white sword. The blade had been straight and thick and it had been filled with a lingering light.

Its movements had not been as regulated as the remote controlled ones and it had attacked with pure strength.

Typhon had roared as it attacked.

“…!”

Someone had supposedly been piloting it, but the voice had not sounded human.

The voice had sounded female and it had pierced through everything like a scream or cry of anger.

Hiba had gathered all his strength and repelled the roar. He had forcibly ignored it and taken action.

In the next instant, his sword had struck the enemy’s sword.

He had held the blade firmly and went in for a second attack.

The angular facial structure of the enemy’s face had contained blue lights for eyes.

…''They look like the moonlight.

As soon as he had that thought, their blades had struck. Or they should have.

Something odd had happened instead.

The white god of war had suddenly vanished.

“…!?”

In the next instant, he had heard Mikage’s voice.

“Ryuuji-kun! An attack is coming from the right!”

He had reacted to Mikage’s shout coming from the voice device.

“!!”

It had all begun again.

All thoughts had vanished from his mind and he had moved purely on reflex.

He had flown forward to move out of the way.

And that decision had saved him.

He had evaded the attack.

The large sword had scraped his metal right cheek and passed by.

He had felt the wind produced by the strike on the god of war’s skin. He had known the strike was powerful enough to decapitate him.

He had heard quick pursuing footsteps behind him.

…''What is going on!? I thought I attacked it!

His enemy had stolen his turn to attack.

And so he had turned around. Cautious of that previous disappearance, he had taken a defensive stance.

An attack had come. It had been a fast, heavy, repeating, yet normal attack.

When he had deflected the sword with his own blade as the sword had swung down toward him, the enemy had then rotated at high speed by creating an explosion of air from its left wings. As it had rotated, it had sent the second strike. When he had moved back as the fierce horizontal slash arrived, the white god of war had purposefully let its sword fly wide through the air and thrown a reverse roundhouse kick as it continued to rotate.

The repeated large, swinging attacks had been similar to a constant rotation.

And Hiba had made a certain decision when faced with that rotation.

“…!”

He had flown.

The black god of war had evaded upward and into the sky behind it. As night approached morning, it had flown into the sky with the moon.

He had put some distance between them, but he had had no intention of stopping there. If his opponent was going to continue rotating its sword like that…

“I can throw in a wedge to stop the rotation!”

As the white god of war had rotated the large sword in a raised position, Hiba had thrown his sword down at it.

He had thrown the blade at close range like it was a spear. He had targeted the white god of war’s face.

But the metallic noise it had produced was the sound of the sword shattering in midair.

But that had been fine.

He had swung his right fist and quickly descended.

It had been a power dive with all his weight behind his right fist. If it connected, it would mess up his arm while smashing his opponent’s facial structure.

“!!”

He had accelerated.

…''Go.

He had swung down his right fist while descending.

And in that instant, he had seen something.

This time he saw it more clearly.

The white god of war had vanished before his eyes.

“What?”

It had been the same as before. Just as their swords had not clashed earlier, it had neutralized his attack.

He had recalled what he had seen a moment earlier.

…''When I attacked, it disappeared and attacked from a blind spot!

“Then will it attack from a blind spot again!?”

Before he had even finished speaking, the truth had presented itself in the form of an attack.

But it had been an attack that could not exactly be called an attack.

Just before he had landed, a fist had struck him from behind.

“!?”

It had been a light strike as if telling him to get down to the ground or to open up some space.

But the timing of the attack had been strange. The instant after Typhon had vanished had not been enough time to swing its fist. The fist had struck the very moment after Typhon had disappeared.

It could not have used this attack in that time.

All attacks had a stance to use them from and a movement that let the attack reach the enemy. Those things required a certain amount of time.

But in the instant Hiba had attacked from his stance, Typhon had appeared in his blind spot and attacked without any preparation time.

He had not known how it worked. All he had known was that his time to attack had been taken away.

The black god of war had fallen to its knees, so he had frantically stood up and swiftly stepped forward.

He had then turned around to look behind him. He had seen a white form floating in the sky there.

It had been Typhon. The white god of war had stood with its back to him in the spot he had been in a moment earlier.

…''What was that attack just now?

If it had attacked with its sword rather than its fist, he would have been killed.

“Was that supposed to be a warning?”

Without giving him any answers, Typhon had turned just its head toward him.

He had seen Typhon’s eyes. Earlier, the eyes had contained a pale blue light similar to the moon.

“They’re yellow.”

As if to affirm the voice that had escaped the black god of war, Typhon had faced forward.

And an explosion of wind had occurred a moment later.

Typhon had flown.

He had stretched out his hand, but it had not been in time.

“!”

Before he had even been able to pursue, Typhon had accelerated away.

He had power, but he had been unable to pursue or fight.

“Kh…”

That was when he had woken from the dream.

He took a breath and opened his eyes.

He no longer found himself in that dark space with the moon at the peak. He was in a small room filling with the morning light. It was his room, a room built around fighting.

“This really is a small room.”

He wiped the sweat from his brow, touched the scar, and got out of bed.

The feeling of the gaps between floorboards on the bottom of his feet was very different from the feeling of the ground on the bottom of the god of war’s feet from his dream. The scale was much smaller, but it was much more relaxing.

He then left the room. He opened the door and entered the second floor hallway. The second floor contained nothing but the stairs leading down to his right and Mikage’s room across the hall.

The landing window had no curtain, so he saw the morning light and heard the chirping of the birds.

He sighed and his shoulders finally relaxed. He then faced the opposite door.

“I need to wake Mikage-san.”

Morning sometimes came early for Tsukuyomi Miyako and sometimes it did not.

She had few classes now that she was in her fourth year of university and she could choose to take classes that started closer to noon. She had recently been waking up early to look for a job, but she would never wake up early without an alarm clock.

And at the moment, she heard no alarm.

As she started to doze off again, she felt light on the outside of her eyelids.

…''It must be morning.

As she judged the time, she remembered she had the entire day off. She had no classes, the employment department had not called for her, and she had no interviews scheduled. Her mother would be at IAI for work.

…''I guess I’ll eat some breakfast, take a short break, and go rent some DVDs or something.

She had taken a liking to the romance drama “A-Another Proposal” that she had started renting recently. The protagonist was a hardcore stalker and his persistent advances while always saying “just this once, just this once” had real intensity. During the last episode, he had been beaten up and thrown from a bridge into a ravine, but she knew that was not enough to kill him.

“I hope they have a copy left.”

As she spoke sleepily, her voice was surprisingly clear. She decided that meant her body had woken up. She focused and noticed she was wrapped in a soft blanket and resting her head on a large pillow.

But then she remembered that she slept in a futon and used a buckwheat pillow.

“…?”

Doubt entered her mind, but she was unsure what exactly this doubt meant. She was sleeping peacefully, but her bedding was different. What was she supposed to make of that?

And as if to further her doubt, a young female voice spoke.

“Princess, lunch is ready.”

The words were oddly overlapped as if she were hearing two voices at once. She had been unable to quite catch one, but the one she heard clearly was perfectly understandable.

“Who are you calling a princess?”

With that question, she opened her eyes. As her eyes focused, she first saw the color.

Specifically, she saw white.

The ceiling was large and pure white. The dried surface measured about thirty square meters and she was surrounded by four walls made of the same material. A thick window on the wall to the left let in the outside light. She slept on a bed, she was covered by a blanket made of a glossy white material, and someone stood to her right.

“Who are you?”

She looked up from the pillow at the person.

…''A foreign woman?

She had long blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked a little bit older than Miyako and her clothes were rather unique.

“A maid?”

And this woman was not the only one. Miyako lowered her gaze and saw at least a few dozen people surrounding her while making sure not to block the light from the window. And they all wore the same outfit.

“…What?”

She looked across the unexpected scene.

All of the maids gave looks of surprise and joy over the fact that she had woken up.

They all let out expectant breaths and tried to take a step toward her.

“Please wait a moment, everyone.”

The same voice as before gently stopped the others.

Miyako turned toward the older maid standing to the right of the bed.

The maid looked at her with a relaxed expression.

She turned to face toward her rather than look down at her. Noticing that, Miyako sat up. The others began to move as she did, but the nearby maid stopped them with a light wave of a hand.

[[Image:OnC_v05_0091.png|thumb]]

…''So she’s the leader.

Once she finished sitting up and the blanket fell from her, she realized she was naked.

“Whoa! I’m naked!? Where’re my clothes!?”

“They were very dirty, so we disposed of all but the underwear. You have been quarantined and cleaned, so you are not dirty, princess.”

“What?”

Miyako tilted her head in confusion and the maid smiled.

“You are not dirty, so do not worry.”

“Y-y’know, you shouldn’t talk about people being dirty. …More importantly, what’s your name?”

“I am Moira 1st.”

“What? Say that again?”

Miyako brushed up her hair, raised a knee, and stared at the maid. She fully wrinkled her brow, but the maid’s smile never wavered.

“I am the first unit of the Moira series, so I am Moira 1st.”

Miyako truly was hearing some other language overlapping with the maid’s voice, but it would be impossible for a human to speak like that.

…''Am I hearing a radio or television from somewhere nearby?

As she thought, Miyako thought on what she had just been told.

She did not know what the maid meant by “unit” or “series”, but this was a foreigner. Her speech may have been polite, but there was a good chance her interpretation of Japanese was wrong. It was a sad story of the wonderful depth of the Japanese language. And if that was the case…

“Does this facility belong to some other country?”

“Yes. From your perspective it belongs to another world.”

“I see,” she said with a nod.

She had found the truth. She was in some eccentric foreigner’s mansion.

As she tried to figure out why she was here, she came to a certain realization.

…''I have no memories of last night.

What was going on?

“Is something the matter? Is the wiring of your brain out of order?”

“No. Um…listen. Why am I here?”

“Last night…we found you while you were passed out drunk, so we brought you here for your protection.”

There had been a slight pause after the words “last night”. Miyako whistled inwardly and asked herself what that meant.

“I was drunk? I remember drinking at Shinjuku. I remember that much.”

“You…remember?”

“Yeah.”

She looked up at the maid’s face and found the same smile, but she found that odd.

Normally, one’s expression would change when asking someone a question.

“Also, I didn’t let myself drink enough to pass out or anything. I remember riding the train to Oume. A perverted old man touched my butt on the way, so I kicked him, kneed him, and then stomped on his crotch. I remember dragging him out at Oume, getting on the train to Okutama, and leaving at Ikusabata Station.”

As she talked through it, her memories returned. She omitted mentioning what had led to the drinking. She never mentioned what the interviewer had said to her.

…''Can I prove myself, hm?

She could not. There was no way she could. She had never actually gone out into the field. And so she had gone drinking.

She reminded herself that was from the past and focused on bringing back her memories.

“…”

But she stopped speaking there.

Her memories of what happened after leaving Ikusabata Station were gone. Her awareness of her existence was gone.

“What did I do then…?”

“As I said, you passed out drunk.”

“Are you mocking me? That definitely didn’t happen,” she declared firmly.

“Why do you say that?” asked Moira 1st while loosening her smile ever so slightly.

“I made a promise a long time ago.”

Moira 1st responded to her concise answer with a nod and did not press the matter further.

She then spoke so the others could hear.

“Princess, I believe you are tired. Shall we bring you your food?”

“Do as you wish. Bring me my clothes too. And…”

As she spoke, she searched through her mind, but could not find the memories. It felt like she could not clear her head.

“A cig. …You have some, don’t you? Some nice ones. I need something harsh to wake me up.”

“A cig?”

“Ahh, this is the problem with foreigners. …A cigarette. Tobacco.”

Despite the explanation, Moira 1st only tilted her head. Miyako smiled bitterly in her heart as she realized how little of the language these people seemed to understand.

“Fine then.” She gestured as if holding something in her mouth. “Y’know, the long skinny things made of wrapped paper. You’ve got some, right?”

“We do!”

The voice came from the entrance behind all the others.

Miyako looked up toward the energetic voice and saw a girl running forward through the wave of maids.

This maid also had blonde hair, but it was only semi-long. Her blue eyes approached.

“This was in the prizes Aigaion brought! Is this what you mean!?”

The maid held out a white stick poking out of a small paper box.

Miyako looked at the girl while taking it. She was a short girl with conspicuous blue eyes. She looked about five years younger than Miyako.

…''This kind of underclassman would obsessively hang around me in high school.

“Who are you?”

“Moira 3rd! I created your fake mem- gh!”

Moira 1st gently yet forcefully grabbed the girl’s head from behind.

“My apologies. This is our youngest sister. She was rolled out before she had learned enough.”

“I’m not quite sure what you mean, but it’s good for kids to be energetic.”

“See, big sis! She praised me for being energetic! It’s a good thing!”

“Heh heh. 3rd? You are not energetic; you are hyperactive. Lower your brain’s thought level to energetic. Do you want to be spanked until your legs fall from their joints again?”

“Cheh…”

Miyako sighed as she watched Moira 3rd and Moira 1st who held the girl.

…''This is quite the family.

But if there was a 1st and 3rd, there was likely a 2nd. And there had to be a master of the facility as well.

She wondered where they were.

She relaxed her shoulders while feeling dissatisfied at not being able to see everything.

“When can I leave this place?”

“We will discuss that later. Please wait a bit. We will bring you food and clothes first.

“Thanks,” she said while staying on her guard.

…''This all smells fishy.

At any rate, she had a cigarette to fuel her. Now she was prepared to give this some real thought. She just needed a light to switch on her brain.

She wondered if someone would bring a lighter if she stuck the cigarette in her mouth.

As all the maids watched, she placed it in her mouth.

While aware of all the gazes on her, she breathed in on the unlit cigarette.

“Wait, you idiot! This is a chocolate cigarette! And it’s pickled seaweed flavored!? Is this made by IAI!?”

Light filled the room.

The white lace curtain was drawn and the window was open.

No one was in the bed by the window and no one sat in the chair in front of the opposite desk.

The boy named Hiba was peering inside the room.

He knocked on the door he had started to open.

“Mikage-san?”

She was not there. He saw no one on the pale green carpet either.

“Mikage-saaan. If you don’t come out, I’ll start searching through the room.”

As he called out quietly, he tiptoed into the room.

First, he peeked under the bed, but there was no one there.

''Odd,'' he thought as he looked meaninglessly from left to right.

He placed a hand on Mikage’s bed and could still feel warmth. That was her body heat.

''It’s so warm,'' he thought calmly before frantically shaking his head.

“Th-this makes me look like a pervert. I need to stop.”

''But it is warm,'' he thought as he calmed down.

It did not help that he was exhausted from the previous dream. He kneeled next to the bed and collapsed his upper body on top of it as if bowing.

It was warm. He noticed a faint citrus smell which reminded him of her hair’s scent.

After staying like that for about ten seconds, he slowly and reluctantly got up.

He peeked under the desk behind him, but there was no one there either. He then glanced on top of the desk.

“…”

He saw three things there: a thick diary, a thick red mechanical pencil, and a Japanese language textbook.

The textbook was for the first year of middle school. The back cover was facing up and the name Hiba Ryuuji was written on it.

He stood up once he saw that. His expression softened and he turned toward the window with a slight smile.

The window led out to a balcony, but…

“Mikage-san wouldn’t be out there since her legs don’t work well.”

And so he approached the window and crouched down. The curtain was gathered around one side of the east-facing window and a person had sunk into the waves of the curtain.

It was Mikage.

Her blonde hair had not been brushed since she had woken up and she was wrapped in the lace curtain while wearing the white dress she slept in.

Hiba looked at her neck.

The skin peeking through the lace curtain and the dress had different colors.

Some was a flesh color so light it was almost white and some was almost black. The black portions drew the tendons of her neck and had the same composition as the muscles below her skin.

And on the upper part of her sternum from her neck to her chest was another color.

This part was blue.

A small blue stone was inserted into her skin.

He watched as the blue stone gently reflected the morning sun.

“She’s been like this for five years now. Her body, her legs, and her voice.”

He hung his head down a bit.

“And it’s all because I can’t protect her and I can’t gather the Concept Core.”

His words fell quietly to the floor.

He had to win. He had to win the fight for her sake.

…''But what will happen then?

What would happen once the fight was over?

The fact that he did not know caused his expression to change. His eyebrows and mouth twisted.

At the same time, Mikage moved slightly.

It was a small motion. Her eyelids opened and her eyes focused.

He quickly changed his expression back to normal.

Her black eyes looked up at him.

After a moment, he turned his scarlet eyes toward hers.

She tilted her head as if to ask why he was here.

But her expression quickly changed to a smile and her lips moved a bit.

“…”

She produced no voice.

Hiba knew why. Her vocal cords were still immature.

…''She can only speak while combined with me in the god of war.

She produced her silent voice. They had continually practiced together in the hopes that she would speak, so he could read her lips.

“Uuih-uh.”

''Ryuuji-kun.

“Ah ih ih?”

''What is it?

He read her lips and nodded.

“We got back late last night, so I thought you might still be asleep.”

He then gently removed the curtain from around her. As if peeling away the curtain, he produced the white dress within. He took a breath and picked up her body which was taller than his own.

She was not surprised. He always did this.

…''I need to win.

At the very least, he felt the need to win so that he could protect these everyday things.

But he had a sudden thought about Typhon, the white god of war he had faced the previous night and before.

According to his grandfather, it was 3rd-Gear’s strongest god of war.

…''It can instantly switch between offense and defense.

If it could do so repeatedly, he was unsure he could defeat it.

As he wondered what to do, he saw Mikage’s mouth open.

“Ah ih ih?”

“Eh? Oh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking is all.”

The ends of her eyebrows were lowered, so he smiled reassuringly.

That was when he heard a woman’s voice from beyond the door and down the stairs.

“Ryuuji-san? The school just called.”

“Huh? What is it, mom?”

“Oh, dear. Did you go in Mikage-san’s room again? Listen. You’re an adult now.”

“Yes, yes, yes. You can give me the lecture later.”

Mikage’s shoulders shook slightly in laughter as he held her.

As he watched that, he heard his mother’s voice again.

“Your homeroom teacher called to say the student council wants to speak with you. They apparently said it is about last night and that you would understand what that means.”

His mother’s voice contained no emotion.

“It seems those UCAT members are fairly clever.”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Prologue

2026-08-26T03:40:49Z

N-Ch:

==Prologue: On a Trip of Self-Questioning==
[[Image:OnC_v05_0011.png|thumb]]
''What exactly is a question?

''Do you go and continue on?

''Or do you go and come back?

Two automatic doors led to a large white airtight space. The fifty square meter white walls, floor, and ceiling were all covered with light emitting panels.

The placard at the entrance illuminated by that light was printed with the name of the space: Training Room 9.

Four people sat in the center of the training room. They were taking a break after completing their training. They all wore white and black armored uniforms and they were looking at small handmade documents.

The first one to speak was the well-built young man in the center. He held up the document in his hand as he did.

“Anyway, we have three days until Team Leviathan’s summer training camp known as the ‘we have less than five months until the world grows too negative and is destroyed, so let’s go to the beach and hope someone’s top falls off’ training camp, but… What is it, Sayama, you idiot?”

Before he could say anymore, the boy who had raised his hand spoke.

“Izumo, while the name of the camp is surprisingly good, I must ask…”

“I know, I know. You want to know about the next Leviathan Road, right?”

Sayama nodded and turned to the long-haired girl sitting to his left.

“We need to take action soon, but that will likely make us quite busy. Did you have any plans for summer break, Shinjou-kun?”

“Hm. I want to beat some of the new games I got, but I guess the Leviathan Road is more important.” Shinjou smiled bitterly and turned to the other two people. “Kazami-san, what about you two?”

“No, I don’t think we have anything,” answered the girl directly across from her. She brushed up her short hair as she continued. “But do you know where 3rd-Gear is, Sayama? I hear we still have a few of the 3rd-Gear automatons that fell into our possession when 3rd was destroyed, but I’ve never heard anything about the location of the other 3rd-Gear remnants.”

“The other day, the old man gave me a hint concerning that. He mentioned a large-scale string vibration abnormality in the Kurashiki region about five years ago.”

“Kurashiki? You mean…?”

Shinjou looked up at the ceiling in thought and Kazami immediately spoke up.

“That’s in Okayama. It’s the Kojima Peninsula. According to the Divine States-World Interaction Theory, that’s Greece. So are they there?”

“No. It seems the Okayama branch immediately investigated but was unable to detect 3rd-Gear’s presence. But we might find some sort of hint if we go there. And before that, I would like to meet the automatons kept in UCAT custody.”

“I see,” muttered Shinjou.

…''3rd-Gear.

That Gear became the basis of Greek mythology and had created automatons and the giant humanoid weapons known as gods of war.

“The Concept Core was split in two and one half is held by Typhon, right?”

“Yes, and Typhon is most likely a god of war.” Izumo scratched his head as he continued. “But we don’t know where the other half is. And with 3rd-Gear, we’ll probably be up against gods of war, so the Leviathan Road is probably gonna be tricky.”

Shinjou nodded.

Thanks to the concept activation ten years prior, UCAT was able to stabilize the operation of automatons and gods of war. Before that, they had only been able to construct an unstable concept space for humanoid machines, so their development of automatons and gods of war had been mostly guesswork.

“I wonder if 3rd-Gear’s remnants are living in this world with Typhon.”

“If they were not caught in 3rd’s destruction, they must be. There probably are not very many of them, though.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Merely a guess. They have yet to do anything at all, so the odds are high they have few usable personnel. That is all.”

Hearing Sayama’s words, Shinjou tilted her head. She had a certain thought.

“Then,” she began. “Why are they hiding? If they really don’t have many people like you say, they could always surrender. If they don’t, they have to act.”

“The answer is simple: They have something to feel guilty about. If they show themselves, whoever finds them might take some form of revenge. They may have that sort of reason for their reluctance to make an appearance.”

As he spoke, Sayama looked at Shinjou, Izumo, and finally Kazami.

“We should be careful. 3rd-Gear’s Leviathan Road will not be resolved so simply.”

“When have we ever resolved something simply? Maybe if we didn’t have a certain idiot complicating things.”

Izumo’s comment caused Sayama to nod deeply, fold his arms, and give a serious expression.

“Yes, you are very right. But you should not refer to yourself as an idiot. Let me say it for you: You are a damn idiot. How was that? Will that make a sufficient replacement for your self-deprecation?”

Izumo ignored him and glared at Kazami in annoyance.

“I want to get this conversation back on track. Can you force it in that direction?”

“Sure. I’m good at forcing things. …Anyway, let’s move from the Leviathan Road to the training camp. Shinjou, did you see where we’re going?”

“Eh? No. The location is chosen randomly every year and the thought of the Mount Osore medium tour for last year really got me down, so I don’t check it until the day we have to leave. That way I can resign myself to it the instant I see it.”

“Perfect. And I’m sure Sayama is the same.”

Kazami showed off the pamphlet in her hand with a smile. She narrowed her eyes and laughed.

“Heh heh. We’re going to the Seto Inland Sea. Specifically, a deserted island owned by IAI. It’s officially a test site, but it’s actually a UCAT training ground. And…that area feels like it’s related to 3rd. Right, Sayama?”

Sayama did not immediately react, but after a short pause, he cleared his throat and spoke disappointedly.

“It sounds like a nice place.”

His casual tone caused Shinjou to smile bitterly in her heart.

…''He’s actually really happy.

“We might be able to do some preliminary investigation of 3rd-Gear, Sayama-kun.”

“Perhaps so, Shinjou-kun. But… Kazami, how will the tents be arranged?”

“Unfortunately for you two, you will be separate. There will be a boys tent and a girls tent.”

“I-I don’t particularly see that as unfortunate,” said Shinjou.

“I certainly do. And on top of that, there is a problem with that arrangement.” Sayama nodded quietly. “If we are separate, I will be unable to continue my standard inspection of Shinjou-kun’s bod-…”

“Waaaah!!”

Shinjou frantically tightened Sayama’s tie. With her eyebrows raised, she lightly shook him back and forth.

“Stop saying that in front of people. Your morals may be set to a foreign level or even an animal level, b-but I want to treat that kind of thing with more-… Are you listening?”

“Shinjou, I’ll answer for that idiot: He can’t breathe.”

She looked past the tightened tie and saw a happy and nonresistant look on his face.

“Wah!”

Shinjou supported him as he limply collapsed.

…''Oh, no. I went too far. Oh, well.

Izumo watched as Baku mimicked Sayama’s collapse from atop his head.

“Okay, let’s leave that idiot be and leave for the day. I’ve gotten hooked on winning prizes at the batting center upstairs. They have a bunch of great prizes and Chisato loves them.”

“But, Kaku, stop making a fool of yourself by winning a prize you already have. …Oh, and I guess it would be dangerous to abandon Sayama here. Whoever is using the place next would be worried. Right, Shinjou?”

“Um, yes… I suppose the others do view him like that.”

Shinjou took a breath, but Sayama still appeared to be sleeping. After some hesitation, she placed his head on her stocking-covered lap.

She grabbed Baku from his head, placed the creature on her shoulder, and faced forward.

“Kazami-san, why do you look so impressed?”

“I was just surprised you do that without being asked.” While sitting to Izumo’s left, Kazami slapped her own lap. “Resting him on your lap, I mean.”

“Yeah…”

Shinjou nodded and looked to the white staff engraved with Ex-St which lay to her side. She recalled the first time she had done this several months before…no, only about three months before.

“Sayama-kun wanted to do this the first time we met. And he asked me the other night as well. I think he sometimes wants to depend on someone like this.”

“The other night?”

“Yeah, I played cards with him and lost horribly. And then…um…”

He had asked for a lot more than just to rest on her lap, but she was naturally hesitant to mention any of it.

She frantically formed a smile as she decided to change the subject.

“S-Sayama-kun said his grandfather taught him how to play cards. He’s really good. I can only ever win at video games. In the new fighting game ‘Virtua Leader 2’, I can use the American representative to get in some good air combos.”

“Chisato. I think she’s trying to hide something.”

“Yeah, I sense it too.”

“I-I’m not hiding anything. I’m not.”

She waved her hands in denial, but Kazami gradually gained a bitter smile.

She shrugged dismissively and looked Shinjou in the eye.

“Well, whatever. But not letting himself do this unless he beats you at cards sounds like him.”

“Yeah.” Shinjou smiled bitterly as well and lightly brushed up Sayama’s bangs as he lay unmoving on her lap. “I’m willing to do this whenever he wants, but he seems to have trouble with it.”

“I see. That’s nice. …By the way, Chisato, sometimes I want-…”

“A fist to the face? That’s perfectly fine. Do you want the right? The left? Or maybe both?”

Shinjou looked around the training room while ignoring Izumo who was pretending to cry while collapsed to the side. She saw that they were the only ones there.

“Where are Sibyl-san and the others?”

“Sibyl left with Ooshiro-san. They apparently had someone to meet.”

“I see.” Shinjou nodded and looked down at the training camp pamphlet in her hand. She then looked at Sayama’s face as he breathed shallowly on her lap. “By the way, Sayama-kun has been a bit irritated lately because the Leviathan Road has been progressing so slowly.”

“In the two months since the negotiation with 2nd-Gear, our only orders have been to train and we haven’t tried to contact any other Gears. And now we have to go on a training camp? It must be horrible for someone as impatient as him.”

“But holding the camp near land related to 3rd has to be Old Man Ooshiro’s doing,” said Izumo. He sat up, folded his arms, and looked toward Sayama. “It is true the other countries’ UCATs complained about our actions after we dealt with Yamata. They said kids shouldn’t be sent into such danger without training. American UCAT was especially annoying.”

“The Divine States-World Interaction Theory associates America with 5th-Gear, right? Something likely happened between them in the past. American UCAT may not want us taking the initiative in the negotiations and advancing to negotiations with 5th. They’ll probably interfere with that Leviathan Road.”

“The world is a real pain.”

“Oh? Quit acting like you understand. The problem isn’t the world; it’s the pride of the people living in it. …I have my own pride and I’m sure Shinjou does too.”

Shinjou thought when she heard that. She had a feeling she did indeed, but she also wondered what exactly she had inside her.

As she focused on that thought, her gaze dropped and the boy sleeping on her lap entered her vision. She brushed up his hair with her right hand which had a ring on it. That was when she naturally found her answer.

“Yes. I think I probably do too.”

She nodded and Kazami smiled.

“Sayama must as well. And it’s his understanding of that that irritates him so much. He also has his grandfather to pursue, so he must want to begin the Leviathan Road with the next Gear right away.”

Shinjou nodded and remembered something.

“The training camp and the Leviathan Road are important, but we also have to worry about summer homework. We have a lot.”

“That’s a rather carefree concern when the world might be destroyed.”

“I know what you mean, but Ooki-sensei used the wrong book for our first term classes. We found out the day before yesterday and Sayama-kun set up an inquiry commission, but the only result was ‘Oh, no! I’m so sorry!’ …Our school is a surprisingly careless organization.”

“Heh heh heh. Don’t worry, Shinjou. The way I see it, it’s a surprisingly thrilling organization. …And I forgot this was your first time for this. That means it will be your only time. Third years get no homework because we have entrance exams to worry about.”

Hearing that, Shinjou suddenly raised her head. On the other hand, Kazami and Izumo remained relaxed.

“Why do you look so interested, Shinjou?”

“I just had a thought: What will we do once you two graduate?”

“Needless to say, Chisato and I will- gah! I didn’t even finish the setup!”

“Shut up,” muttered Kazami while ignoring Izumo as he once again lay to the side and pretended to cry. “I plan to go on to university, but we’re doing the Leviathan Road, right? So once I graduate high school, I might try studying abroad at different universities. Who knows what will have happened to the world at that point, but the different UCATs should be busy. I was thinking of helping them out a bit. Oh, and Kaku would be with me.”

Shinjou was unsure what to say.

“You’ve thought that through… Surprisingly.”

“That’s not exactly a compliment.”

“S-sorry. But…um…how should I put it?”

“Saying anything more would just dig yourself deeper, so stop. And this is normal. Next year, you’ll be thinking about it too. In your third year, there’s no one above you and simply flipping through the calendar gets you thinking. You think about it even when staring out the classroom window.”

After saying that, a sudden look of realization came over Kazami and her eyebrows rose slightly while she tried to retain her smile.

“I’ve practically been lecturing you while soaking in self-satisfaction, haven’t I? Well, you can let me act like an upperclassman every once in a while, right? I can’t say this kind of thing in front of Sayama.”

“True. Sayama-kun worries about people a surprising amount, so he would probably be overly considerate.”

Shinjou lowered her gaze toward Sayama.

He lay motionlessly on her lap. She did nothing but stare at him, but it still put a smile on her face.

Seeing them, Kazami let out an exasperated sigh.

Izumo remained in his position collapsed next to her.

''How quiet,'' thought Shinjou.

But then a noise filled the training room.

“An alarm?”

Kazami stood up as the repeating high-pitched noise stabbed through the air.

Next, an announcement filled the room.

“Um, this is an official announcement. Currently, um, two huge philosopher’s stone readings are flying in from the left side of Japan. So, um, the special division and the…standard division? Both are to send all personnel in training or on standby to the main entrance.”

Hearing Ooki’s voice, Shinjou frantically looked at Sayama. His eyes remained closed, so she spoke.

“Sayama-kun! Sayama-kun! Wake up! Wake up! Ooki-sensei is saying something strange!”

But his eyes did not open. Shinjou panicked, thought for a moment, and then whispered in his ear.

“I’m on my way to the bath.”

“Wait for me!”

He jumped to his feet with his arm held out as if holding a wash basin under it.

The moon-filled night sky was colored a dark blue.

The sky, the air, and the shadows created by the moonlight were all dark blue and they all seemed to blend into each other.

And below all that dark blue, forested mountains and valleys were visible.

The area was filled with the murmuring of the rivers flowing through the valleys and the sounds of forest insects.

The river noises seemed to continue without end.

But the insect noises were different. In some parts of the mountains, the insect cries would cease.

That silence of the insects was not contained to a single place. The silence climbed the unlit road leading up and into the mountain.

Two figures were visible on that silent mountain road.

One of the people treading on fallen branches was an old man in a lab coat.

“Sibyl-kun, how should I put this? Can we rest for a moment?”

As he gasped for breath, a blonde girl wearing a white summer coat turned toward him.

Sibyl’s blue eyes bent in a smile.

“I apologize, Ooshiro-sama. It has been so long that I began to hurry without realizing it.”

“And are we going to rest?”

“Testament. No, we are not.”

As she smiled, Ooshiro looked up into the sky and continued to walk. He stared beyond the overhead leaves and branches.

“I get the feeling that everyone has my priority level set very low of late…”

“Testament. Do not worry. If everyone has it set low, it means you do not have to worry about people treating you differently.”

“Wah! Are people abusing the elderly with sophistry these days!?”

His shout was followed by bird cries from the branches overhead. The panicked cries were followed by a few sounds of flapping wings and Sibyl coming to a stop.

Ooshiro stopped as well and she looked at him with her smile gone.

He waited for the bird cries and flapping to end before speaking.

“Sorry.”

He bowed and Sibyl had vanished by the time he raised his head again.

“Ah! Being ignored is the worst of all!”

He began to run, but the mountain road ended before long and the forest opened up.

“The old Hiba Dojo.”

With that comment, he arrived below the moonlight.

The space was twenty meters square and the ground had been packed down by countless feet.

But while the ground was hard, it was also unmaintained. Cracks had formed in places and grass was growing up from them.

This was the old Hiba Dojo.

“The Hiba family used this outdoor dojo until the end of the war.”

As he looked across the unmaintained dojo, he saw two people on the northern end.

The first was Sibyl in her white summer coat. The other wore a white T-shirt and shorts.

“Hiba-sensei.”

“Oh? Ooshiro’s kid is here too?”

Hiba Ryuutetsu raised a hand in the moonlight and faced Ooshiro.

As he smiled, his red left eye reflected the moonlight.

“Why did you call me to this location of the past on this early summer night?”

“It is beginning again, Ryuutetsu-sama.”

“ ‘It’ being the cleanup of that conclusion?”

Sibyl turned toward Ryuutetsu’s voice as she bathed in the moonlight.

A train could be heard in the distance and the moon illuminated a slight smile on her face.

“That is correct. We will be purifying the vestiges of that battle over the search for a human form,” she said. “That is why we have called you, warrant officer of the former National Defense Department and bearer of the power that destroyed 3rd-Gear.”

In the moonlight, Ooshiro pulled a pile of documents from his lab coat’s pocket.

When he handed the clip-bound pile to Ryuutetsu, Ryuutetsu’s expression grew serious.

“If you look that stern, it makes me want to make a joke.”

“Go right ahead. But it’ll cost you an arm if it isn’t funny. That’s the rule.”

Hearing that, Ooshiro froze in place and Sibyl smiled at him.

“Ooshiro-sama? There is no need to force yourself.”

“That really pisses me off! I’m definitely going to say something funny now!”

“Better not, boy. Not even five arms would be enough for you.”

Being called ‘boy’ made Ooshiro smile bitterly. He scratched at his head while unsure how to respond.

“That really takes me back.”

“I’m sure not many people call you that anymore, but I remember when you were born. Hiromasa was so happy. I was…twenty-four and Hiromasa was thirty-seven, I think.”

Ryuutetsu flipped through the documents he had been given. He just looked like a little old man in the moonlight.

However…

“You look good for someone turning eighty-five this year.”

“I haven’t had a longevity treatment like Chao or Siegfried and I’m not near all sorts of concepts in combat like Abram, so the years are really starting to catch up to me. Fortunately, my wife is the same age,” he said. “But I think Thunderson or I will be the first of that group to die.”

His words caused Sibyl to close her eyes next to him.

She thought closing her eyes had hidden her expression, but Ryuutetsu said nothing to her. He continued flipping through the documents before speaking again.

“Are you going to retrieve you-know-what in UCAT’s Kanda laboratory tomorrow?”

“Yes. It was repaired in the Kanda lab, so we’ll be picking it up tomorrow. Would you like to come along?”

“Not after all this time. I only brought it back because I couldn’t bear to throw it out. And that’s Kaoru’s jurisdiction anyway.” He looked up. “But remember. I’m giving it to you, but in exchange…”

“Yes. UCAT will not interfere with your grandson’s actions.”

“Heh. When did you get so obedient? What happened to the ten-year-old Peeping Tom who would peep on the women’s bath with me?”

“Oh, c’mon.” Ooshiro scratched at his head, but suddenly turned to Sibyl. “S-Sibyl-kun? Why are you silently taking notes?”

“Testament. I think Chisato-sama will find this information useful.”

“Wh-what information! And why!?”

Sibyl ignored him. She continued to ignore him as he sadly sat on the ground with his arms around his knees.

“Anyway, Ryuutetsu-sama,” she said. “Japanese UCAT wishes for a mutually beneficial deal. In exchange for the object we will retrieve tomorrow…”

“You will temporarily put 3rd-Gear’s Leviathan Road on hold. Officially, at least.”

Ryuutetsu’s comment brought silence.

A silent wind blew through and Ryuutetsu’s voice filled the air once more as that wind shook the mountain’s trees.

“3rd-Gear has an impurity, so their Leviathan Road should not be carried out. The survivors from that time in the other UCATs told you the same thing, didn’t they? If we accept 3rd-Gear to our side, something best avoided would occur.”

“What is this impurity?”

“There are actually two. The first is the official one and the other one is more personal. The latter should only be known by me and the survivors of 3rd-Gear, so the other UCATs would be talking about the former. But both will be cleansed before long. 3rd-Gear is approaching a second destruction.”

“You mean…?”

“I will tell you about that now. I will tell you what 3rd-Gear is most likely doing right now and what we are doing. Once you hear that, you will be forced to think about the Leviathan Road with 3rd-Gear as an adult.” The corner of Ryuutetsu’s mouth rose in a smile. “I wonder what will happen. Once the adults learn of these impurities, they will certainly move to stop the Leviathan Road with 3rd-Gear. But what will Mikoto and his friends do?”

“Testament.” Sibyl looked somewhat disappointed, but she still gave a small smile. “Sayama-sama and the others generally have a certain extent of free reign over the Leviathan Road. If they come into contact with your grandson while learning of the past on their own and working to clear that barrier…”

“Will that change where those inexperienced children are headed?”

“Testament.” Sibyl nodded, but she was truly smiling now. “I think it will change where you are headed as well. They may be inexperienced, but… Chisato-sama said she was wondering what they would do once the Leviathan Road ended.”

She continued smiling.

“They have already started forward along with the entire world. And they have done so whether you wish for it or not.”

“Heh heh. I hate how sharp you are with things like this. …I really have gotten old. I’ve started worrying about sending kids to dangerous places.”

Suddenly, Ryuutetsu brought a hand to his face.

“…”

He brought it to his crimson left eye.

His action brought tension to Sibyl’s face and Ooshiro turned around.

“It can’t be…”

“It is. That idiot really is drawing the battle this way.”

“What idiot?”

“Take a guess,” said Ryuutetsu. His eyebrows were raised, but he had a smile on his lips. “The one I have allowed to cleanse the impurities!”

Below the moon, the lights of a train traveled east.

The train was on its way to Okutama on the Oume Line. It was leaving Ikusabata Station near Oume and it was traveling east along the Tama River.

The light could be seen leaving from a paddy field on the southern side of the river.

The area had no external lights and the green heads of rice were illuminated by the moonlight. The sounds of the insects in the grass and the frogs in the paddy field filled the area.

The wind shaking the rice plants traveled down from the mountains and across the river, so it was fairly chilly.

The moonlit breeze crossed the paddy field and traveled downstream as if pursuing the train.

But that wind suddenly danced about.

A single figure stood on the gravel farm road traveling down the center of the paddy field.

This young woman had her back to the distant station lights.

The beige suit coat hanging over her left shoulder was worn out and faint disorder could be heard in the sound of her pumps treading on the gravel road. She lightly swung around the bag in her right hand.

“Ahh…”

She let out a weary voice and brushed up her hair with her left hand.

Below her semi-long bangs was a face with flushed cheeks. But that face was accompanied by the smell of alcohol on her breath and eyebrows brought together in a troubled look.

The motion of brushing up her hair caused her suit coat to fall from her left shoulder.

She paused for just a second and looked down at the coat on the gravel road.

She then sat down on top of the dropped coat and started to cross her legs.

“…”

But the hem of her tight skirt was too narrow, so she kept her right knee raised. With a click of the tongue, she opened her bag. She pulled out a single sheet of paper: her resume.

The name field said Tsukuyomi Miyako.

The young woman named Miyako held the resume in both hands and held it forward in the proper reading position. She let out a nauseous groan before looking at the writing with a blank look in her eyes.

“What am I supposed to do? Mom’s gonna let me have it when she hears I couldn’t say anything at the interview.”

She suddenly glanced to the right which was the west. In the dark mountains of Okutama, she could see a few small gatherings of light.

“She’s always saying she’ll introduce me to IAI, but I’m not gonna use connections to get a job.”

Still sitting, Miyako brushed up her hair with her right hand and turned back to the resume.

The paper clearly described all the results she had produced so far: middle school, high school, university, the clubs she had belonged to, and whether she had a license.

“But…”

She let go with her right hand and searched through the bag. She pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

She brought the flavorful smoke into her mouth, savored it, and breathed it out in a ball.

“That isn’t what I want them to see…”

She turned toward the fields for hobbies and special skills. Cooking and engineering were written there in ballpoint pen.

''This just isn’t working out,'' she thought as she looked at it.

“I hate relying on people, but now it’s past mid-July and I still don’t have a job.”

She folded the resume in two and then folded it in half again.

She stuck it in her bag and sighed. With the cigarette still in her mouth, she collapsed backward onto the ground.

She thought it was pathetic, but she grabbed the cigarette and held it up toward the moon.

“Even a former delinquent like me wants to flee this cruel world.”

She smiled bitterly, flicked the cigarette to knock off the ashes, and watched them scatter in the wind.

“Can’t something good happen for once? Like a meteor destroying society or a wealthy Prince Charming proposing, dying right after the marriage, and leaving me an easy life with tons of maids to do everything for me.” She showed her teeth in a smile. “Ridiculous.”

Her smiling face slowly grew serious.

“I just want to be a proper adult.”

As soon as she muttered that, she heard a voice.

She heard it in her mind rather than her ears and it resembled her own voice.

—'''Minerals have life.

“…What?”

Wondering what that voice had been, she got up.

She started to ask “who’s there”, but never finished.

Something fell to the ground directly to her right.

“!?”

It was a giant mass of wind. As she was almost blown away by the great roar and wind, she looked up.

“That’s no meteor…”

The moonlight illuminated a white giant.

A giant white figure stood in the moonlit paddy field.

The white armored warrior was over ten meters tall.

As she sat at its feet, Miyako realized this white oddity was not disappearing, so she slowly looked around the area.

Once the wind produced by the giant vanished, everything grew still.

All the movements, insect noises, and frog croaks had vanished.

The silence and stillness was so great that a sense of confusion fell over her. It was as if all life had vanished from the area. And the giant standing next to her was more than just confusing.

She called all of her engineering skills and knowledge into her inebriated mind and stood up.

“This isn’t an anime, so how sturdy does that thing have to be to stand like that?”

The unmoving white giant was close enough to reach out and touch. And so she took a step closer to do exactly that.

As she did, two lights appeared on the giant’s head.

They formed the eyes on what appeared to be its face. The lights were yellow and she felt a certain warmth in them.

They may have been a signal that something was activating.

…''I feel like I’ve seen those eyes before. But where? No, I’ve never seen glowing eyes before. It’s the general feeling they give me.

Looking at those eyes brought a brightly warm and weak feeling to her chest.

[[Image:OnC_v05_0037.png|thumb]]

…''What is this?

With that thought, her drunken mind prioritized curiosity. As if tempted, she reached a hand out toward the white giant.

And just before she touched it…

“…!”

The light in the giant’s eyes suddenly strengthened and it moved.

It took a half step to the side as if avoiding her.

…''It’s running away.

As it reacted like a frightened animal, it produced a powerful noise and wind. When it stepped into the paddy field, it tore off heads of rice and produced a splashing noise. The foot sinking into the mud produced an equal volume of muddy water flowing onto the gravel road.

It had moved approximately three meters away and Miyako still could not hear any insects or frogs.

In that silence, she looked at the fingers of her outstretched arm and the giant beyond them.

She saw the white giant look down at her as if hanging its head.

“—————”

The giant’s head suddenly produced some sort of noise. She could tell it was a male voice, but she did not know what language it was.

But after speaking, the giant turned its back to her.

“Wait,” she called out.

But then she gasped in realization.

…''What am I doing?

She had gotten drunk after failing an interview and now she was telling a white giant to wait.

Just as she wondered how much of that was normal, the giant made its next move.

The six large wings on its back spread out.

“Wow…”

It had three pairs of main wings with ailerons. The main wings were over five meters long and their flaps rose and fell. She even saw in-wing thrusters which should not have existed in reality.

The wings spread out like a living creature and they blossomed in the moonlight.

''What is this?'' she wondered. ''This shouldn’t exist.

But that sense of reality was wiped out by the truth before her eyes.

The spread wings gave off a dignified glow in the moonlight and wind suddenly exploded out.

The white giant flew into the sky.

“!”

Miyako crossed her arms in front of herself, but it was too late. ''Uh, oh,'' she thought as her body floated up a bit. In the next moment, she fell onto her butt.

The impact itself was not as bad as the pain of the gravel stabbing at her.

But she immediately forced herself through the wind and back to her feet.

She had seen the white giant turn toward her in the instant it jumped up.

Its yellow eyes had seemed afraid of something.

“…”

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She did not know what to say.

She felt a strange sense of frustration, but she must have sympathized with the giant to have read fear in its eyes. Something similar to that giant’s fear resided within herself.

But what was it inside her?

Instead of an answer, she heard a noise. It was a muffled sound as if something were tearing at the wind.

A reverberation of the wind fell from the previously silent sky above.

She looked up and saw a single white cloud drawing a line through the night along the path in which the white giant had flown.

But…

“…!”

Something else came from the sky behind her.

With the sound of something tearing at the wind, a new figure swiftly cut by overhead.

As if showing its intention to whip up the wind, the figure repeatedly accelerated as it passed by above her head. It flew through the night sky while producing a chain of roars resembling the flapping of wings.

Miyako put up with this second wind as she watched. This new figure wrapped in wind and noise was another giant much like the white one from before.

But it was colored a dark black.

The black giant pursued the white giant as it flew through the night sky.

The night sky was chilly and clear.

The black giant flying through the air had four metal wings extending from its back.

The two pairs of four meter long wings were spread out with two toward the sky and two toward the ground.

This action should have created air resistance, but it did not. The pale light emitted from the front of the wings cut through the air and only the necessary amount of air was brought inside the front slit to be stored inside the wing.

The swing-down portion of the wing would then beat down the air.

The atmospheric explosion emitted from the wing’s rear thruster accelerated the metal giant upward.

The distance to the sky above vanished in an instant.

As the black giant ascended, a sharp red light appeared on its face as eyes.

It then located its enemy in the wind, the night, and the sky.

That enemy was the white giant.

The white giant’s back was visible at a high enough altitude to be called “the heavens”.

It was ascending, so the black giant ascended even further.

As it flapped the wings on its back, a noise came from the black giant.

It was a voice coming from the mouth portion of its face.

“Are they planning to leave the concept space they set up themselves?”

The voice that seemed to be questioning itself might have belonged to a boy or a young man.

And another voice immediately replied. This time, a feminine voice came from that same black machine.

“I don’t know. But if we can end this here, we should use our weapon of destruction.”

A male and female pair spoke within the same craft and the female voice continued.

“Keravnos!”

That name produced movement.

A concept space expanded around the black right arm and the weapon known as Keravnos appeared in pieces.

First, the frame of a spear was emitted from space. The claws on the bottom of the frame locked onto the arm and combined with the rail meant to fire the spear shell. Next, side guiderails and an upper counter-head were emitted from space. Those parts surrounded the top and either side, forming a cannon.

After that, a shock absorber appeared and connected to the back. With the inside complete, the spear shell entered.

The spear shell was made up of three spears, all which glowed white. They were the color of a thunderbolt.

Finally, twelve steel bolts were emitted from space. With six on either side, they drilled into Keravnos one pair at a time. The six-fold harmony of metal closed the weapon, fixed it in place, and made sure it would not budge.

It all occurred in an instant.

“Finished. We can do this!”

Just as the female voice cried out, something happened above the black giant’s head.

The white giant flipped around with the moon above it and the black giant below it.

It almost seemed to collapse backward until its head was pointed down toward the black giant.

Immediately afterward, the white giant flapped its wings.

It charged down toward the other giant and toward the ground.

It had been carrying a sword over each shoulder and it was now holding the right one down toward its left waist.

“Here it comes!”

But the black giant also flew. With a large flap of its wings, it calmly soared.

And then music came from the black giant’s mouth.

The boy’s voice sang a song.

—Silent night, holy night

As if riding on the gentle rhythm of the hymn, the black giant accelerated without rushing.

—God’s Son laughs, o how bright

At such great speeds, contact would only last an instant.

—Love from your holy lips shines clear

The descent at greater than free fall speeds and the ascent fighting against the pull of gravity crossed paths.

—As the dawn of salvation draws near

The sword on the left and the spear on the right clashed.

—Jesus, Lord, with your birth

“Go!!”

The song’s final line transformed into a shout as the spear easily broke the sword.

However…

“…!!”

Something odd happened.

The white giant vanished and suddenly appeared to the side. It appeared on the right with zero time lag.

“Did it take our attack again!?” The boy’s voice seemed to forcefully turn around in the sky. “Mikage-san, what was that!?”

“It’s no use! The attack is already here!”

As she had said, the white giant’s sword had already been swung down.

“That isn’t just teleportation! It’s an instant attack!”

With teleportation, the giant’s movements afterward would continue from before, but when it had appeared an instant after vanishing, it had already been swinging the attack.

This was not high speed, invisibility, or teleportation. It was as if the black giant’s attack had been taken away.

“What’s the trick to this!?”

As he asked that question, evasion and attack crossed paths.

With a great noise, the white giant’s sword deflected the firing device at the base of the spear.

And then the white giant crashed into the black giant.

The sound of destroyed metal filled the sky.

Sounds of pain and surprise came from both and the result of the crash showed itself.

The white giant was larger and was moving faster. To eliminate the lingering effects of the impact, it rotated and dropped straight down. But the black giant was knocked through the air with its chest armor and back wings broken.

Its altitude quickly dropped and it approached the surface.

“Kh.”

The black wings spread out. It flapped them at just above the ground to throw its body sideways, but it was too little, too late.

“…!!”

It used all of its leg strength to kick off the ground and forced another strike of the wings to correct its path. It flew in a high-speed horizontal glide and pursued the white giant which was similarly skimming along the surface approximately one hundred meters ahead.

“Damn.”

“Sorry. This is because I am incomplete.”

The boy did not respond to the female voice’s comment. After a short pause, she spoke again.

“Did you see Typhon back there?”

“Yes, but what about it?”

After another short pause, the female voice spoke as if checking with herself.

“Its eyes were yellow. …The color was different when we fought it before.”

“True,” muttered the boy.

The black giant’s head tilted as if to ask why, but the female voice cut off the boy’s puzzlement.

“Typhon is slowing down.”

“Why?”

“I do not know, but this is our chance!”

The black giant nodded at her words.

It continued forward. It kicked off the ground once to leap into the air and then flapped its wings. It was taking a low-angle yet high-speed dive.

And it charged in. It swung Keravnos on its right arm toward the white back it approached.

“Cry out, crushing lightning strike!”

The male and female voices cried out in unison and the stabbing spear was fired while wrapped in light.

As the white giant glided along, it frantically turned around and swung its sword toward the other giant.

“What!?”

Keravnos devoured the sword. The metal sword shattered in an instant and it scattered through the sky.

But the black giant saw where the white giant was headed.

“A person!?”

A woman wearing a white shirt and a beige skirt looked through the sky while walking. It looked like she had lost sight of the giants and was searching for them. She slowly turned her head toward them.

“…”

She caught sight of the approaching white giant and her expression filled with shock and paled.

Seeing that, the white giant took action. It fully spread its wings, drastically lowered its speed, crouched over, and spread its arms.

It moved to protect the woman from the attack approaching from behind.

As the pursuing black giant swung its right arm, it altered the trajectory away from the white giant.

“Dammit!”

The attack could not punch through the white giant.

But the fired spear produced a lightning strike.

Light enveloped the two gods of war and a great rumbling rang out.

Miyako stood on the gravel road which was scorched, broken, and giving off heat.

She was surrounded by an intense light that had fallen from the sky, but she did not close her eyes.

She saw everything that happened. The heat- and light-filled wind brought slight tears to her eyes and made her tremble, but she continued to watch.

It started when the flying white and black giants had descended toward her.

As soon as the one with white wings landed in front of her, the light had come.

Sound raced by around her like she was surrounded by a waterfall and light filled everything. She could tell the hot wind was blowing from below her feet.

She did not remember much else. She had simply suddenly noticed the white giant standing before her.

…''Did it protect me as I carelessly wandered around?

She tried to speak her confusion aloud, but she could not form the words.

Her lips were trembling. As were her face, head, abdomen, and knees.

But her eyes looked steadily up at the white giant. She looked up at its face.

Those eyes emitting a yellow light would be there.

As if responding to her thoughts, the giant lowered its head slightly. She could now see its face.

…''It’s different.

It was a pale blue.

Rather than the yellow light, the white giant’s face gave off a pale light.

''This is the same color as moonlight,'' she thought.

In the next instant, the white giant moved. As if refusing to lower its head any longer, it suddenly spread its arms slightly and bent backward.

“————!!”

It let out a roar. The roar sounded like a mix between an “ah” and a “gah” and it was clearly a female voice. The foreign-sounding male voice from before was gone. It now produced a pure, bestial, and scream-like voice.

The cry blew away the steam and exposed the moon above.

The entire chilly sky was now visible. The sight made Miyako shudder. She then heard a noise. Something was shaking the air as it approached from behind the white giant.

“The black one…”

The dark giant moved in. It skimmed across the broken paddy field at high speed and instantly arrived from a distance. It was already swinging the spear attached to its right arm.

Miyako heard it give a war cry.

In response, the white giant ended its cry and swung its right arm toward Miyako.

“What?” asked Miyako as the white giant grabbed her.

In no time, the steel fingers had wrapped around her tense body.

She was restrained.

She was lifted up in an instant and then forcefully squeezed.

As she wondered what was happening, the white giant turned around, bringing her with it.

And it held her out toward the black giant.

“I’m a hostage!?”

Even as she almost passed out, she saw the black giant stop when it saw her.

She once again wondered what was happening.

The white giant which had shown her fear had protected her but then taken her hostage once the color of its eyes had changed.

Meanwhile, the black giant had stopped moving upon seeing her despite continually attacking the fearful white giant.

…''Which is the good one and which is the bad one?

While held by those five steel fingers, her breath was squeezed from her lungs and she had difficulty drawing in more air. Her breathing was shallow and her vision grew blurry.

And then the white giant flapped its wings.

Just as she felt her body grow heavy, she found herself in the sky.

Her vision had reached the heavens.

The large moon was visible overhead.

She saw the pale color of the moon just before her consciousness cut out.

The black giant stood on the paddy field’s gravel road.

After the triple spear on its right arm was dismantled and stored in the concept space, it lowered its right arm.

Afterward, its shoulders clearly drooped.

The face was clearly turned toward two things on the ground.

Sitting on the gravel were a balled up woman’s suit coat and a black bag.

After a moment of silence, it spoke with the boy’s voice.

“The concept space will vanish soon, but should we pursue them? They got someone else involved.”

The response came from a weak and quiet female voice.

“We can’t. I can’t send power to the wings properly.”

“I see,” said the boy’s voice.

At the same time, light arrived. This was not the moonlight from above. It came from directly in front of the black giant.

“!?”

The white light pointed directly at the black giant’s face.

More lights illuminated its face and body from the sides and back.

And then the black giant saw it. A great number of large forms were visible beyond the hands holding the lights. And several human forms were visible on top of them.

“Are those…?”

They were trucks. The large trucks had surrounded the giant as a barricade.

The lights were approximately fifteen meters away. The giant had not noticed them as they approached. Which meant…

“Did they use some kind of concept?” muttered the male voice.

He received a response from a boy standing in the center of the people lined up on one truck. His hair was slicked back, it had some white mixed in, and his sharp face was turned toward the giant.

“To use the stereotypical phrase, we have you surrounded! Feel free to resist if you like. We have already prepared a stupid but sturdy shield and a beautiful gunner that can shoot through anything as long as she has enough guts!”

“Am I that shield you mentioned, you son of a bitch?” said a well-built young man standing to the boy’s left and holding a giant sword.

The girl standing to the boy’s right then spoke while holding a giant staff.

“U-um… My Ex-St doesn’t use my guts for output. It uses my spirit.”

“That’s the same thing!”

The girl cowered down as everyone else shouted at her, but the sharp-faced boy in the center patted her shoulder.

He then faced the black giant once more.

“Now, what will you do?”

Rather than the male voice, it was the giant’s female voice that answered.

“What should we do?”

The line of people took defensive stances when they heard that question. Except for one of them.

That one was the sharp-faced boy who had spoken before.

Rather than going on the defensive, he loosely folded his arms and placed his left hand on his chin. It looked like he was evaluating the black god of war.

“Will you fight?” he asked.

“Are you picking a fight?”

“That depends on you.” He nodded and calmly continued. “If we do fight, you may come to regret it.”

The black giant did not move, but the male voice muttered to himself.

“I give up…”

“Ryuuji-kun?”

“Please shut it down, Mikage-san. These people are not our enemy. Not that they are our ally either.”

He took a breath.

“You are from UCAT, aren’t you?”

“That is correct.”

As the sharp-faced boy answered, the black giant trembled.

The hatch on the bottom of the stomach opened outward.

A short figure jumped out and to the ground. He was a boy wearing black jeans and a white tank top. He had short hair and a white bandanna wrapped around his forehead.

“Red eyes…”

He gave a troubled smile as he heard that comment from the surrounding people.

“I get these red eyes from my grandfather. …Also, I request protection. Will that suffice, student council members?”

“…?”

Sensing confusion and surprise, the red-eyed boy spoke with a smile.

“I am Hiba Ryuuji from Class 1-F of Taka-Akita Academy. The one about to appear from this god of war is Hiba Mikage. Sayama-san, do you remember me? I’m the grandson of that troublesome old man, Hiba Ryuutetsu.”

As he spoke, the boy named Hiba raised his hands. He also stopped between the black giant’s legs.

He held his raised arms forward as if to catch something.

“Mikage-san.”

As soon as he spoke that name, the black giant transformed.

No, it was not a transformation. Starting with its limbs, the entire body folded and bent inward until it vanished into thin air.

With the sound of building blocks being piled up, the black craft disappeared.

And just before it did, the back of the craft opened and a human figure fell out.

It was a female figure. The blonde girl wore a black shirt and a white dress.

As she fell, Hiba caught her from below.

The girl, Mikage, did not move. She did not fix her disheveled hair and she merely took repeated deep breaths.

…''Is she okay?

As he thought that, Hiba felt something damp in his right hand. Something warm began to cover that hand.

As that warmth caused him to gasp, he heard a voice from above.

“Is she injured? We can treat her.”

“We always handle it ourselves, but it looks like that won’t happen today.”

He realized that everyone surrounding them was staring at Mikage.

He knew why she was drawing their focus. Her visible skin at the neck and hands was different from that of a human. The material resembled human skin, but the joints were black and made with a geometric pattern.

“An automaton,” someone said.

That comment caused an even deeper silence to fall which Hiba did not like.

But that silence was broken by Sayama giving instructions.

Hiba took a breath as he heard the footsteps of people frantically beginning to move.

A white-clothed rescue team quickly arrived and spread out a white sheet, so he gently lowered Mikage to the ground behind him. He placed her on the sheet and lightly placed her hands on top of her stomach.

“It’ll be okay,” he said reassuringly and the rescue team smiled at him.

“We will make sure she is okay.”

His smile in response was weak, but he raised his head as he heard the sounds of medical equipment.

He turned around and turned his red eyes in that direction.

“Thank you very much. Please take her to a good doctor.”

And then he looked around the area once more.

He first noticed that Sayama was looking his way.

“This is Team Leviathan, isn’t it?”

“Did you hear about us from Hiba-sensei?”

“Yes, but only a bit. Something about winning each Gear to your side, right?”

“Correct. Are you fighting 3rd-Gear?”

As Hiba wondered whether he should answer, Sayama continued speaking.

“This is not just a casual request. I am sure you have your reasons, but could you end your fighting? It will hinder the Leviathan Road with 3rd-Gear.”

“No,” replied Hiba reflexively. His eyebrows rose. “3rd-Gear is our opponent. And…I cannot hand them over to you. If you want 3rd-Gear’s Concept Core, then wait until we have settled things with them.”

“Why?”

“An impurity.” Hiba chose his words carefully. “3rd-Gear has an impurity. If you touch them, you will be stained, so we will cleanse that impurity and then give you the Concept Core.”

“And until then, you want us to leave you alone?”

Hiba nodded.

After a moment, Sayama folded his arms and a small animal that had climbed to his head mimicked the pose.

“I see. An interesting proposal. According to my horoscope, I am a bit short-tempered today and my lucky word is ‘anger’, so-…”

“W-wait, Sayama-kun! Don’t do anything rash based on the astronomy department’s fake horoscopes!” cried a voice from behind the truck.

Sayama frowned and turned toward the voice.

Hiba tilted his head as he thought the voice sounded familiar.

“U-um, we just received word from Ooshiro-san. Is there a Hiba-kun here!? If so, please raise your hand!”

Hiba did as requested. But after a few moments of silence, Sayama looked at him and then on the other side of the truck once more.

“Can you see him from there?”

“O-of course I can!”

“Then answer me this: Which hand is he holding up?”

“U-um… Um, uh… The middle one!”

“Please redo your evolution from the microscopic stage. At any rate, what is it?”

“Well,” said the voice. “It seems we’re supposed to secure Hiba-kun and the girl with him without asking them anything! It sounds like a complicated situation and I didn’t really understand it.”

“Ha ha ha ha ha. Thank you for being so wonderfully useless, Ooki-sensei.”

“Teh heh heh. Stop flattering me.”

''That was flattery?'' thought Hiba, but then the name Sayama had mentioned made him recall a famous teacher from his school. ''Oh, so that teacher is part of Team Leviathan too.

…''Now I’m worried about the world.

Sayama and the others faced him and Sayama gave him an expressionless look.

“There is a lot I would like to ask you, but we will prioritize the organization here.”

“I see.”

Hiba looked up and around at the people surrounding him.

They were UCAT members, but they were mostly quite young. A lot of the girls were about his age.

The same was true for the girl standing next to Sayama. She did not seem to be a member of the student council, but…

“Huh?”

She looked familiar, so he tilted his head.

…''Isn’t that the person named Shinjou who is always with Sayama-senpai? But isn’t Shinjou…

“…a boy?” he muttered.

He suddenly shuddered.

As sweat poured down the back of his body, Shinjou spoke to him.

“What is it? You don’t look too good.”

“Eh? Oh… U-u-u-u-uh… Well…”

He looked around to find something to say. As he did, he looked up at the girls.

“With the design of the girls’ uniforms, it feels like I’m peeking up their skirts,” he muttered with a serious expression. “Does thinking that make me a pervert?”

Countless silent attacks flew his way.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Preface|Preface]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume5 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 31

2026-08-25T01:09:07Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 31: Will of the Dragon of Water Droplets==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0451.png|thumb]]
''The dragon’s cry is a question to both heaven and earth

''If one is to answer, there is no need to look up

''A response is a type of attack

The instant he awoke from the past, Kashima realized he had just seen what he had always wanted.

Totsuka changed form in his right hand. The metal fragments forming the sword, those metal fragments engraved with names, expanded like a blooming flower. As a whole, they formed a helix.

Meanwhile, his left hand pulled a single piece of Japanese paper from his breast pocket.

This was the paper his grandfather had written on.

He unfolded it and saw the katakana name with a large X drawn over it.

It said Ooshiro.

…''It seems you had terrible handwriting, grandfather.

Kashima thought about what his grandfather had asked forgiveness for.

…''It’s okay, grandfather. He smiled when he saw the name you had written!

He formed the same smile he had seen in the past and attached his grandfather’s paper to Totsuka.

And he immediately pulled Totsuka from the floor.

A spiral blade appeared.

He faced forward and saw Sayama standing with Shinjou.

As if in response to their gazes, a roar filled the air behind Kashima.

It came from Yamata.

Kashima could understand it. Yamata was emitting both joy and anger over feeling the outside air for the first time in sixty years.

The blazing wind approaching from the heavens showed that Yamata was dropping his eight maws and eight sets of fangs toward them.

In less than a minute, the area would be roasted and Yamata would be free.

And…

“Without Futsuno, I can’t cut the heat. But can you answer Yamata’s question to suppress him and then seal him in Totsuka once more?”

As Kashima held out the metal sword, Sayama responded with his actions.

He approached and grabbed Totsuka with Georgius.

…''I see.

There had been no need to ask. Sayama had come here to give his answer.

Next, a girl approached Sayama’s side.

And Totsuka raced within Sayama’s hand.

“Give us the question, speaker of the dragon’s will.”

He moved to the front edge of the bridge where the melted metal formed a cliff’s edge.

That windy precipice was the optimal position for striking Yamata.

Sayama and Shinjou ran over and Kashima opened his mouth as he heard their footsteps.

He spread his arms, looked into the sky, and spoke on behalf of the roar descending from the heavens.

“I…”

He spoke.

“I have a name that I cannot remember in the slightest.”

His voice carried far and wide.

“I ask you! Of Yamata’s two names, Kusanagi and Murakumo, which is the true name!?”

He took a breath.

“Answer this! Which is the truth of 2nd-Gear! Which is the true form of our people!?”

Sayama ran as he looked up at the flame dragon falling headlong from above.

In the heavens, he saw Yamata and the seal made from the countless names.

In UCAT’s cafeteria, Kashima had said that seal had been Sayama’s grandfather’s idea.

That truth brought pain to his chest.

He had trouble breathing and his body threatened to stiffen up.

…''But it is a truth I cannot avoid!

With that cry of his spirit, he ran toward the position from which to strike Yamata.

The eight dragon heads questioned him as he ran.

They roared.

This was the voice he had once heard in his dream. It contained anger and resentment, but it was bound by an even deeper emotion. The emotion could be heard in the sound rather than the words.

He nodded toward Yamata.

…''I understand your cry. It may be conceited, but if you do not believe in yourself…

“You cannot be sincere!”

With that shout, he came to a stop.

He took his position atop the metal cliff where the wind would wash over him most strongly.

As the dragon heads approaching from above filled his vision, he shouted toward those fifty meter wide faces.

“I will give you your answer! I will give you the name that describes the entirety of your world!”

In response, Yamata opened its mouths while not lessening its speed of descent.

The dragon’s roar shook the air as it asked.

What is my name? What is the world I ruled and what are the people who lived there?

And Sayama spoke Yamata’s original name.

His options were Kusanagi and Murakumo, the two names of the wind.

“Kusanagi…”

But he did not stop there. Without looking away from Yamata, Sayama continued to speak.

“…and Murakumo!”

He nodded as he chose his answer.

“You are the one who possessed both names simultaneously!”

Kashima nodded when he heard Sayama’s answer.

But he still asked a question despite the satisfied smile on his face.

“Are you sure that’s your answer? If you’re wrong…”

“Do not mock me, military god! When one with the surname Sayama speaks…his words are absolute!” Sayama’s words reached him from behind. “Listen. Kusanagi is the wind of the earth that dances along with the people of the earth! On the other hand, Murakumo is the wind of heaven that people look up to with respect! They are both wind, they both continue on without end, and they both represent all things as they are formless. That is the name hated by Yamata’s flames! That is the name of the sky dragon that produces water droplets! Yamata, you hold both names and your true identity is a rain dragon!”

And…

“Great dragon of 2nd-Gear, this is no mistake. That world was once ruled by the heavenly and earthly winds you created, was it not? Then, Yamata, take those two different names once more. Name yourself Kusanagi while in the land of men and Murakumo while watching over them from heaven!”

Hearing that, Kashima shouted out with a smile.

“Correct!”

And Yamata roared.

Having heard its name, the dragon agreed and understood, but the residual heat of its anger remained.

As a final test, the dragon tried to burn away the one who bore Totsuka. The same as it had done to Ooshiro Hiromasa.

But Kashima heard Sayama cry out with a smile of his own.

“Old man! That is your cue!!”

The indicated person stood alongside the lake with Izumo.

Ooshiro showed no concern about the roars and movements of the dragon overhead. He simply pulled an object out of the paper wrapping he held under his arm.

It was a glass bottle. The writing on the bottle said…

“Sacred sake. Perhaps we should name it Kashima.”

He pulled out the cork.

But instead of drinking the contents or pouring them into the lake, he tossed the bottle into the air.

As his gaze followed the swing of his arm and then the airborne bottle, he saw the night sky.

There, he saw scarlet light and the eight-headed dragon crammed into the sky within the concept space.

“After Yamata was sealed, the people of 2nd-Gear surrounded Susaou with water on their Kashima’s suggestion. They did so because the great serpent in Low-Gear Japanese mythology was slain using sake.”

The bottle reached the zenith of its flight.

And at that point, something shattered it from above.

It was Izumo’s V-Sw after he jumped up into the air.

The cowling over V-Sw’s blade had been removed and its rear thrusters were deployed in its second form.

After shattering the bottle, Izumo swung the blade of light down along with the sake.

The blade was headed toward the lake’s surface.

“Old man Ooshiro, at times like this, it’s okay to try to look cool.”

“No need. I always look cool.”

Izumo ignored him and squeezed the trigger on V-Sw’s grip.

“I will do my best,” said the weapon’s console.

First, light erupted from the blade.

Then, the thrusters on the opposite face of the blade shot out light like a comet.

“Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!!”

The strike produced by the acceleration and his cry caused the lake surface to explode.

But it did not end there.

Izumo stood on the exposed lake bottom and struck the surrounding water from below.

He struck once in all four directions.

The roar of waterfalls surrounded him and the water around Susaou took in the sake and danced through the air.

Four pillars of water containing sacred sake with the name of a military god had been created and they blasted up toward Yamata as a counterattack.

In the center of the great waterfalls, Izumo shouted up at the dragon in the night sky.

“Izumo! That is the name of the wind that calls in the clouds and it is now the name of one who desires the dragons! Remember that!”

His words played their role.

As the pillars of water rose with great acceleration, they spiraled around each other and formed water dragons filled with sacred sake.

The four water dragons grew to several hundred meters in length.

Their roars combined into a single great roar as they danced up toward Yamata.

And the two types of dragons began their attacks. The water dragons turned to steam and Yamata had holes gouged out by water.

However…

“————!”

Yamata spread out its body in order to avoid a direct strike from the water dragons.

It spread its eight heads to either side and slipped below the water pillar dragons after only receiving a glancing blow.

But something else stopped its movements.

It was light.

Specifically, it was moonlight.

Six thick pillars of light fell from the concept space ceiling and they stopped on either side of Yamata as a cage.

The three pillars of light on either side were the color of moonlight and they restrained Yamata.

Yamata let out a cry while it was held between these pillars while already inside the celestial sphere cage.

At the same time, the sacred sake imbued water dragons reversed direction in midair and struck Yamata.

The sound of impact and the cries of flames filled the night.

The one who had manipulated the moonlight stood by the lakeside.

With Atsuta supporting her back, Tsukuyomi aimed her bow toward the sky.

“I’m sorry, Yamata. But it’s about time that you forgave us.”

“Tch. Quit trying to look good. …And why do I have my arms around an old woman’s ass?”

“Shut up. And don’t try to cop a feel.”

“Of what? No one wants to touch your wrinkly- Ow ow! What the hell are you doing!?”

Tsukuyomi ignored Atsuta’s anger and looked up into the sky. Her expression stiffened.

“Yamata is still moving.”

The flame dragon had been restrained by the pillars of light and struck by the water dragons, but it raised its eight heads and gathered all its strength to accelerate downward.

The four water dragons evaporated in an instant.

The more it was restrained, the crueler it grew. Its firepower visibly increased.

Everyone gulped and thought this was the end.

They all turned toward the remains of Susaou’s bridge where two people stood.

Sayama held Totsuka low in order to strike upward against the coming dragon. A girl pressed up against his back.

Everyone saw them there.

And someone cried out to them.

“Go!”

And they responded.

As he stood on the edge of the bridge’s remains, Sayama faced Yamata.

The eight-headed flame dragon descended while struggling within its cage of light.

Even as it lost its power, it produced heat.

“…!”

Sayama trembled as he prepared to swing Totsuka up toward the great roar.

But he felt something even more certain than his trembling.

He heard Shinjou’s words as she pressed against his back.

“Don’t worry. I will be with you no matter what happens. We can cut away any bad destiny!”

“Yes.” He nodded. “Stay by my side, Shinjou-kun!”

He gathered his strength and looked up. The dragon’s faces had already drawn quite close.

But Sadagiri’s name alleviated the heat and light that blew down at them.

They simply had to go for it.

The dragon bared its eight sets of fangs just as Sayama swung Totsuka.

With that single slice, the blade struck the flames. In that instant, a certain change occurred.

As if responding to the strength of Shinjou clinging to him from behind, he felt a vibration in his left hand.

“…!”

It was Georgius. The medallion placed inside that gauntlet emitted a bluish-white light. That light circled around and enveloped Totsuka.

“What is this?”

Sayama did not answer Shinjou’s surprised question.

If Yamata was what had been left behind by 2nd-Gear, this was what had been left behind by his mother.

''Is this light Georgius’s question?'' wondered Sayama. ''Just as Yamata asks for his name, is Georgius asking something of itself?

“It is sentimentality!” he shouted.

Despite the slight pain in his chest, he recalled a certain fact.

During his battle with Atsuta, he had dug up this moment in the past to escape the man’s synchronization.

Back when his parents had been alive, had his father been the person Ryouko had said he was?

And did his mother look the same as in his memories of her?

…''The answer is…

He hid the answer in his heart and completed the swing of Totsuka that would seal Yamata.

“Everyone!” he shouted.

As everyone in the concept space watched, an explosion of flames appeared in the sky.

The fire burst eight separate times at an altitude of five hundred meters and eight blasts of wind flew in separate directions afterward.

Amid the great noise, a voice could be heard.

The voice belonged to Sayama Mikoto.

And as his name would suggest<ref>Mikoto is spelled with kanji meaning “honorable words”.</ref>, his words were powerful, carried through the sky, and permeated the earth.

“Everyone! Once this battle is over, we will trust in the misunderstanding known as understanding and welcome 2nd-Gear!”

The flame dragon burst in the sky and a voice reverberated from the center.

“Everyone, listen to the voice of your neighbor. Look your neighbor in the eye. Look upon the truth of 2nd-Gear and upon the form of those who will be with you from now on. The surname of Sayama states it here: 2nd-Gear is the same as us!”

As if in response to his last statement, Yamata’s entire body burst.

“The divine sword Totsuka will take Yamata and produce Kusanagi in man and Murakumo in heaven! We will welcome them. And to the people of the ever-changing wind and of the divine sword that possesses the will of both heaven and earth, do not fear your power for we are with you!”

He paused for a moment.

“Where is your response!? Tonight is the night for a pleasant celebration!”

Countless voices rose as one in response to his question.

“Testament!”

The people’s voices joined the final bestial roar filling the sky.

It was a dragon’s cry.

The voice of the beast scattering in the fiery explosion filled the concept space.

But this cry was different from before.

It was a higher-pitched cry of joy.

As proof that the dragon had regained its form, its song raced through the sky as wind and reverberated through the high heavens.

The Concept Core was sealed inside Totsuka.

And in response, everything within the concept space changed.

First, the spray of flames covering the night sky vanished.

Next, the celestial sphere of names disappeared instantly and the wind at the center of the blast raced across the concept space.

A great wind shook the forest, blew across the rough lake surface, and climbed the walls of the concept space.

As the wind approached the peak of the concept space, it collided with itself.

The impact of air called in lightning.

And then rain arrived.

After taking in the breath of Kusanagi, the wind of the earth produced the rain of Murakumo which poured down below the moon.

The rain soaked the trees, the land, the people, and even the iron giant standing at the concept space’s center.

Everyone stared at Susaou.

As the rain poured down on it, it almost seemed to be crying.

Sayama and Shinjou stood on the remains of Susaou’s bridge as the rain hit it.

Sayama faced forward with Totsuka’s normal form in his left hand and Shinjou to his right.

To the back of the bridge where a wall still remained, Kashima stood alone.

He simply let the rain cover him.

Sayama was equally soaked as he looked up at the man.

“Shall we head down?”

“No. I want some time to think.”

“I see.”

Sayama then tried to hand him Totsuka, but he raised his left hand with a rain-soaked smile.

“You can take it. It can act as evidence of everything that happened.”

Sayama’s only response was to nod.

He pushed Shinjou’s back with his right hand and began to walk.

Shinjou brushed up her wet bangs and followed.

Now that the battle was over, the bridge seemed quite small. They arrived at the stairs in no time at all.

As they did, Sayama saw Kashima sit on the bridge’s floor.

He held Futsuno’s hilt after Sayama had destroyed the blade.

But Sayama said nothing.

Shinjou glanced over at him.

“Will he be okay?”

“He came here to make sure he would be.”

“Really?”

Shinjou tilted her head and then smiled bitterly when she realized she was questioning his words.

“We’re as opposite as ever.”

“That is how it must be, Shinjou-kun.”

Sayama removed his coat and placed it over Shinjou’s shoulders.

She looked troubled but did not reject it.

She merely clung to his right arm.

She was a girl at the moment and she gave a questioning expression.

“Do you mind?”

“Not at all. Feel free while a boy as well. …It is still you either way.”

“I’m still normal enough that I can’t quite get over that part, but…um… A lot has happened over the past few days, so…uh…”

She mouthed the words “I’m sorry”, but then smiled and said something else.

“Thank you.”

“…”

“Maybe I really should apologize, but thank you. I haven’t said that yet, have I? I’ve always been apologizing.”

“So will you be saying that instead now?”

“Yes. As long as I am with you, I want to say that. If I apologize, then you will only be with me because you have no choice. So…”

She nodded and let go of his arm.

On one of the staircase’s landings, she held out her right hand which had a ring on it.

After thinking for a moment, Sayama suddenly moved one step down from her.

“This is my dominant hand.”

He moved Totsuka to his right hand, freeing his left hand.

“Isn’t this how one should take a princess’s hand?”

He took her right hand as if scooping it up from below.

The ring on his left hand clinked against the one on her right hand.

After blushing and nodding, she stepped down alongside him.

The sound of her footstep was followed by more footsteps as they descended the staircase together.

They descended toward the pier and the people awaiting them beyond the pier.

As they descended, the rain gradually let up.

Soon, only the moonlight would remain overhead.

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 30|Chapter 30]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 32|Final Chapter]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 30

2026-08-24T02:50:18Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 30: Place of Yearning==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0419.png|thumb]]
''The past is heard and seen''

''The present is felt''

''Then can nothing be done about the future?

On the grassy field that had been the first battlefield, Team Leviathan and 2nd-Gear ended their battle which had developed into individual versus individual.

At the center of them all, Sibyl stopped singing and looked up.

She wiped sweat from her forehead.

“A noise?”

She frowned and tilted her head as she looked past the forest to the north.

There she saw the five hundred meter giant named Susaou.

A loud noise had just come from there.

It had been a metallic noise.

The deep noise had reverberated in her stomach and it repeated again and again.

The noise showed no sign of stopping.

In front of the lake from which the metallic noises came, two new people stood in the clearing Sayama and the others had previously fought in.

They were Izumo and Kazami.

Kazami held V-Sw and G-Sp2 in her arms and Tsukuyomi’s Heavenly Moon Bow over her shoulder.

G-Sp2’s console displayed a few words.

“Very strong.”

“You shouldn’t say that to a girl.”

With that annoyed comment, she looked to the right where Izumo carried someone on his back.

It was Tsukuyomi. As she rested her chin on his head, Kazami spoke to her.

“Director Tsukuyomi, hurting your back is pretty lame.”

“I have a slim waist. I’m not like you modern athletic girls. And more importantly…”

Tsukuyomi looked toward the pier built out over the lake.

A man sat cross-legged on the weeds while facing a laptop.

It was Atsuta. He was tilting his head.

“What is with this card game? It’s gotta be cheating. I can’t win.”

“Atsuta, stop bragging about your stupidity and tell us what happened. Where are Kashima and the other two? What are these noises?”

“Just look. There’s no place for me there.”

He raised his hand and pointed the thumb behind him.

Toward Susaou.

Tsukuyomi frowned at the giant form standing in the darkness below the moon.

“Are you saying these metallic noises are what I think they are?”

“That’s right. They’re literally having a final battle at the peak.”

Atsuta twisted his head around to look behind him.

At the same time, something like white mist burst out from the stomach portion of Susaou.

Kazami knew what it was.

“That’s the steam explosion from an object moving at high speed.”

It was followed by a metallic noise. It reverberated in their guts and sounded like something breaking.

And the battle continued.

As Kashima continued the clash of metal, he moved further and further up the giant mass of metal.

He climbed Susaou.

A zigzagging staircase was built into the side of the giant parts making up its five hundred meter form.

The metal staircase was about a meter wide. The corrosion from the past made his footing unreliable.

“But that is a meaningless obstacle for a military god and the one fighting him.”

As he spoke, he looked down the stairs at the boy pursuing him.

In his pursuit, the boy ran, kicked off the ground, and even dashed across the railing. All the while, he battled using the sword in his hand.

Kashima felt he was an excellent opponent.

Kashima himself knew almost nothing about wielding a sword, but the sword taught him everything he needed to know.

As a military god, a sword was something like a servant. It would teach its bearer how to use its power. It provided him knowledge, experience, and technique.

He could fight.

As he stepped, he felt the metal below his feet.

His own body fought his enemy amid the wind.

Everything rang out like music and moved like dance.

As he ran further and further up, his vision grew higher and higher.

They had already arrived at Susaou’s chest.

Another hundred meters and they would be at the bridge in the head.

They were close.

And the closer he came, the faster his pulse grew.

The feeling that had once made him tremble now felt wonderful.

…''I yearn to reach that place!

He swung Futsuno.

He swung the blade into the air to catch a strike from above.

The two blades clashed and a metallic noise rang out.

Sparks flew and a pleasantly hard impact reached his hand.

A roar filled his ears for an instant and white smoke exploded from the path his blade had taken.

How fast were they moving? He did not know and he did not care to know.

He merely continued upward.

[[Image:OnC_v04_0425.png|thumb]]

The next thing he knew, his vision was even higher.

From his position approximately four hundred meters up, he could see the moon, the bluish-black sky, and the landscape spread out below.

“So this is Tokyo at night.”

The gathering of lights to the east was the city center.

Those lights had once been lost during World War Two.

Bu he did not know much about that.

He only knew the stories about the Concept War that his grandfather had told him.

He smiled bitterly.

Still smiling, he moved his gaze westward.

He saw more lights in the night.

The lights of Tokyo drew a line from Nakano, Mitaka, Kokubunji, and to Tachikawa where he was.

The lights continued to shrink in number as they went further west.

The city lights continued to Haijima, Oume, and then to the mountains of Okutama.

Natsu and his family were in Okutama beyond the mountains.

Kashima wondered what they were doing.

They would never imagine he was fighting in a place like this.

…''I will always lie to them like this.

He was sure he would never tell them the truth.

He would continue lying by never telling them about today’s battle, the things which had come before, and the things that would come after, but he gained something from it.

“Isn’t that right?”

With that unintentional question to his enemy, he swung Futsuno.

The enemy caught the metallic reverberation and Kashima felt the impact in his hand.

The vibration reached his head as he thought.

…''What ending do I want?

He was no longer 2nd-Gear or Low-Gear. He was in an uncertain state.

Could he receive an answer while lying in an attempt to gain both?

…''What if I don’t get an answer?

He asked himself the question he could not ask.

But he threw the question at himself and muttered his newest answer.

“That would be fine too.”

A certain woman and a certain baby appeared in his heart.

He could not believe his thoughts were on them in the middle of this crucial battle.

…''I want to see you.

He thought.

…''I want to see you, Natsu-san, Harumi. My family.

“Yes.”

He nodded while looking to the western lights where that family was.

He would return.

Once this battle was over, he would return.

…''But not to 2nd-Gear or Low-Gear or anything like that.

He would return to where they were.

When he returned the next morning, he was sure to be starving.

He wondered if Natsu would cook him breakfast at his parents’ house.

She could make freshly cooked rice and miso soup, but his parents would not have any fish. In that case, she could cook eggs and vegetables. The boiled bamboo shoots wrapped in cured ham from before had been quite good.

…''Ahh, that sounds wonderful.

When he returned home, that would be waiting for him.

As the swords clashed and sent out metallic noises, Kashima thought.

…''Natsu-san, Harumi. I will make sure to return to you. And then we can eat a meal together.

But there was something he had to say first. That phrase would act as the proof that he had returned to his proper place.

It was a simple phrase rather than a name and he needed to say it.

He needed to say “I’m home”.

“Yes.”

…''I will return so I can say that phrase, so wait for me. Wait for your lying husband, my lying wife and our child. I will not return to any group or any Gear. I will return to you.

“I will make sure of it!”

As the guest, Natsu felt closing the porch storm shutters was her duty.

There were eight of them and they were hard to close. By the time she had finished closing them all, she had worked up a slight sweat.

After closing the last one, she stuck the wooden key in the eaves and glanced at her left hand.

That hand was missing the little and ring fingers. She always lacked some strength when closing the storm shutters.

She sighed just as Kashima’s mother called out to her from behind.

“Thank you, Natsu-san. I kind of wish you could stay here forever.”

“I would like that too, but Akio-san would never agree.”

“He’s an idiot, but he does have his pride.” She smiled bitterly. “But tell him we’ll hire him if he’s fired. The farm is shorthanded and short an heir.”

She prepared three floor cushions in the living room bordering the porch. Three cups of tea had already been prepared.

After Natsu thanked her and sat, Kashima’s mother sat on one of the other two cushions.

Kashima’s father then appeared from the hallway wearing a yukata.

“Is Haru-chan asleep?” she asked him.

“Yeah, she is, she is. I’ve always been an expert at getting kids to go to sleep. With Aki, I’d always squeeze this part of his neck and…”

“Quiet down, old man. Just sit down.”

He obediently followed his wife’s instructions.

He lowered his shoulders and trembled as he sat politely next to her.

“Do you know why I called you here?”

“B-because you were lonely?”

“No.”

Natsu realized Kashima’s mother was looking at her.

The old couple then sighed in unison and corrected their posture.

“Once again, we must ask you to please take care of Kashima Akio.”

They placed their hands in front of them in a sitting bow.

Natsu frantically reached out her hand.

“U-um, please stop that. I, uh, would also like to…”

She placed her own hands forward and lowered her head as if starting a competition over who could bow lower.

After ten seconds like that, all three of them sat up.

The edges of Natsu’s eyebrows were lowered.

“What is this about?”

“We can do this as many times as we have to. Aki said he was going to take his work seriously, so he will probably end up neglecting you a bit,” said his mother. “Also, he will probably lie to you about a lot, so we would like you to…”

“You don’t need to ask me to forgive him for that,” said Natsu. Her expression had calmed and she brought a hand to her chest. “I lie to him about a lot too.”

“Like your cooking?”

“Not just that, father. Girls have plenty of lies boys don’t know about.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

He laughed and Natsu nodded.

“And I have been telling him one very major lie.”

“Eh?”

“One rainy night while riding a bus on a road down below here, I was caught in a landslide, remember?”

Kashima’s parents exchanged a glance.

“Th-that’s true,” said his father with a troubled look. “You were on your way to investigate some ruins up above, right?”

“Yes, that. …Well, the lie I mentioned is old enough now that I can tell you. On the night of that accident eight years ago…”

She lowered her head a bit and looked away from them.

“I was not actually on my way to the ruins.”

“…”

She looked up to meet their silent gazes.

“I told my parents I was going to the ruins, but I actually intended to come here. Since graduating, I had exchanged letters with Akio-san, but I still wondered how he was doing… I planned to visit him at night, have him see me home, and…”

As she spoke, she could tell her cheeks were growing redder and redder.

“Thinking back, it was incredibly improper.”

“No, um…”

“And after the accident, I was shocked when the person who saved me was the person I wanted to see most of all.” She nodded and spoke quietly. “Everyone thought I was in an accident on the way to the ruins and he ended up helping me with my rehabilitation. And then he asked me to marry him.”

She lowered her head again.

“So I was scared.”

“…”

“I was on my way here with such improper plans and the accident felt like punishment for that, but he stayed with me without knowing or asking about the truth.” She took a breath. “I am not the type of woman he thinks I am. I know nothing of the world, I am always pretending to know what I am doing, and I have indecent thoughts. And yet he married me.”

She wrapped the fingers of her left hand in her right hand.

“And for some reason, I became afraid to ask him why he married me.”

She took a breath and found Kashima’s parents were looking directly at her.

“Ah.” She frantically separated her hands and waved them back and forth. “U-um, that is no longer the case. I can only talk about it because I’ve gotten over it.”

“Have you? But…”

“Yes, I am fine now. I got over it as soon as Haru-chan was formed inside me. It may be unfair, but having a child made me feel like there was something other than pity and responsibility between us.”

She gave a bitter smile.

“And if you didn’t care for someone, you wouldn’t video tape the child you had with her and you wouldn’t make sure to come home every day, would you? And I realized something. Every time he comes home, he makes sure to tell me ‘I’m home’, and when we eat, he makes sure to thank me for the meal. He had always done this, but I had never been watching closely enough.”

“I guess even Aki can come in handy sometimes.”

“Oh, but I refused to talk to him for three days when he bought the video camera without asking.”

Her smile lost its bitterness and she stretched her back.

“In the beginning, it may have been a lie and it may have been real, but now Akio-san, Haru-chan, and I are a real family.”

“Yes,” said Kashima’s mother with a nod and a slight smile. “You put a lot of effort into this, didn’t you?”

“No.” Natsu shook her head. “It was Akio-san who put in all the effort. So I need to return all the effort he put toward us. It may be lonely when he isn’t around, but Haru-chan will be our support from now on. We will be okay.”

As she spoke, Natsu held the three fingers of her left hand with her right hand.

And she slowly placed her hands in front of her and bowed deeply.

But when she spoke, it was with a solid tone.

“As Takagi Natsu and now Kashima Natsu, I ask that you take care of Akio-san, Harumi-san, and myself.”

The battle reached the top of Susaou.

The remains of the bridge formed a clearing of scorched metal.

The fifteen square meter space dimly reflected the moonlight.

A silhouette stood in the center like a gravestone.

It was a large sword made by intertwining many thin panels of metal.

It was at least two meters long and stabbed into the metal floor such that it stood up vertically toward the sky.

Two figures rushed into the remains of the bridge and another arrived after a short delay.

The first two were Sayama and Kashima. The following one was Shinjou.

Kashima leaped to the center of the bridge and in front of Totsuka.

But he did not reach for the sword that would mean his victory.

That was no longer his condition for victory, so he continued to hold up Futsuno.

“Come, one who will control the dragon!”

“Gladly,” replied Sayama.

He ran forward and threw his body to the right as a feint.

The wind wrapped around him as he dashed and leaped. His movements were those of someone who had been freed from what bound him.

He was fast.

But Kashima could see something else.

To use his full strength on Futsuno, he had twisted his body backward.

In the next instant, Kashima swung Futsuno’s blade to the position he predicted Sayama would be.

“Ohhh!”

The military god descendant poured all his focus into slicing.

And in that instant, Sayama demonstrated a certain technique as he looked Kashima directly in the eye: the Art of Walking.

“…!?”

Kashima saw Sayama suddenly vanish.

…''He learned how to do it!?

After exchanging sword blows and synchronizing their breathing through their actions, looking him in the eye was enough to achieve some level of overall synchronization.

And his enemy had done exactly that in the very, very end.

“So Low-Gear will use a 2nd-Gear technique to win!?”

This was interesting. Kashima felt joy.

''Yes,'' he thought. ''This is nice.

He understood just how intent Sayama was on winning. The boy was even willing to use 2nd-Gear’s techniques.

When it came to winning, the distinction between Low-Gear and 2nd-Gear did not matter.

And so Kashima could not stop the sword he swung down.

Sayama was no longer in the path of the blade. Outside of Kashima’s perception, he had likely come to a quick stop and would attack from a different position in the next instant.

Kashima needed to see through this Art of Walking.

And to do that, he had to force himself out of sync.

Before, Sayama had done so by recalling his own past even further.

In that case, what could Kashima do?

“I…”

His vision brought him the answer.

Beyond the night sky, the mountains of Okutama were visible to the west.

…''That’s right. There are people waiting for me.

He had somewhere to return to.

As he realized that, he stopped yearning for that place. He instead accepted it.

He was not fighting in order to win, to kill, or to lose something.

“I am fighting to return there!”

Immediately afterward, he felt a weight in his hand.

He felt the weight of metal, the weight of a blade, and the weight of the slicing wind.

It was only for an instant, but his thoughts for that which was important to him made him something other than a military god.

It truly did only last an instant, but that instant was enough.

Freed from the bonds of a military god, he left Sayama’s synchronization.

And thus he broke through the boy’s Art of Walking.

Sayama was only a step to the left.

He held his sword down by his waist in order to launch the final attack toward Kashima.

He was likely planning to attack the instant Kashima slammed Futsuno’s blade into the floor.

That was when it should have ended.

But Kashima made an instant decision.

As he swung the blade down, he removed his right hand from the hilt.

And…

“Ohh!”

He poured all his strength into his right fist and struck the right side of Futsuno.

His fist broke in an instant and a dull impact passed through the back of his neck and to his brain.

But he did not care.

He had successfully altered the path of the giant blade.

Futsuno was now headed toward Sayama.

It would enter through the top of his head and leave through his left waist.

“…!”

And Sayama reacted.

He swung the sword at his waist and struck the great mass swinging down from above.

But it was no use. Kashima’s strike had been different from before. It had the initial velocity of a military god and it had been made with proper footing. It was not a blow meant to be supported with only his left arm.

It demonstrated its strength in an instant.

Before the strike reached Sayama’s blade, the hair wrapped around the blade and his arm was destroyed. The princess’s protection which had been protecting him bent for an instant and ultimately broke.

As the hair scattered through the air, the two blades clashed.

“Sayama-kun!”

Kashima heard the girl’s scream, but it changed nothing.

Sayama’s blade suddenly broke.

It produced a great metallic noise.

Futsuno’s slicing speed did not drop, but Sayama had no means of defending.

And Kashima had no way of stopping it either.

“Is this…!” he shouted. “Is this your answer!?”

As he heard his own voice fill the air, Kashima saw something.

He saw the answer.

First, he heard a new metallic noise.

“Futsuno…”

It broke.

“!”

The massive piece of cutting metal broke. That blade had made him question everything eight years before, but now it shattered as if it were made of sand.

It cracked and then could not withstand its downward motion.

The cutting blade broke and scattered as if embracing the air.

“What…!?”

Before Kashima could ask further questions, he saw it.

Sayama held something up in his right hand.

It was a single black floppy disk.

“This is the collection of names belonging to the countless gods of 2nd-Gear that can be said to be 2nd-Gear itself. Futsuno was created as a symbol of 2nd-Gear, so it cannot cut it!”

As he clenched the remaining hilt of Futsuno, Kashima listened to the boy speak.

“This is the proof that you truly created something of 2nd-Gear!”

Sayama moved.

He spun around, showing his back, jumped, and performed a reverse roundhouse kick on his way up.

It struck.

“…!”

A dull sound filled Kashima’s chest and he was knocked backward.

But…

“This isn’t over yet!”

“Agreed!” shouted Sayama.

The two of them smiled at the same moment.

Kashima spread his arms, brushed away the shards of Futsuno scattered throughout the air, and stepped strongly on the metal floor.

He let out a breath, ignored the pain in his chest, and continued forward.

“Bearer of the dragon! The descendant of those who could not subdue the dragon has a question for you!”

Totsuka lay before his eyes.

That 2nd-Gear sword had been made by his grandfather. He still did not know what answer should come from it.

He reached out his broken right hand and grabbed Totsuka.

And in that instant, he saw an animal poke its head out from the breast pocket of Sayama’s armored uniform.

It was Baku.

Sayama saw the past.

He was inside a metal room covered with a low ceiling. It resembled the bridge of a ship.

In the center was a platform that looked like it was meant to contain a humanoid object.

But it was currently empty and there were only two people on that bridge.

A scarlet light from the window illuminated the two of them.

Massive flames were visible immediately outside the window.

The flames burst upward, flickered back and forth, and boiled upward once more. However, those flames were not formless.

They took the form of a giant dragon. An eight-headed dragon.

Giant arms could be seen extending out from either side of the bridge and they were wrapped around the flames.

The two people inside the bridge were speaking. The tall one in a work uniform held a large sword in his right arm.

The other was short and wore white Japanese-style work clothes. He had been continually shouting.

They were Ooshiro Hiromasa and the grandfather of the current Kashima.

This Kashima was urging the other man to evacuate.

As he spoke, the scarlet light outside grew stronger. In response, the blue stones hanging from their necks began to emit light. As that blue light gradually grew stronger, it illuminated the two of them.

Hiromasa smiled toward Kashima amid that light.

“I can’t. Now that Mikage has been removed, someone has to manually operate Susaou. And we need someone to give the answer to seal Yamata in Totsuka.”

“But…!”

Hiromasa shook his head.

He removed his glasses and threw them to the floor.

Before even hitting the floor, the glasses suddenly melted.

“Now, go. It’s getting so hot I’m not sure the philosopher’s stone protection will be enough. You might not be able to escape safely, Kashima.”

He looked directly at the short elderly man named Kashima.

Kashima gulped when he saw his eyes.

Hiromasa’s eyes were not focusing and they held no light.

“Can you tell? I was blinded by the destruction of your Gear and that firebombing.”

“…”

“Go gather all the others. That’s what you promised, isn’t it? To gather together Low-Gear and 2nd-Gear, you acted as the representative of 2nd-Gear and initially harshly rejected us. But you said you would convince the opposition to surrender to Low-Gear once Yamata is sealed. You said you would lead everyone in my place.”

“You’re a fool.”

“Perhaps, but I’ve made my decision. I made it when I failed to save your Gear and you shouted at me in protest upon setting foot in Low-Gear.”

He smiled.

“That was effective. I needed to be told I had no real intention of facing 2nd-Gear’s destruction.”

“I-I’m the one that needed to be told that.”

“We’re the same, Kashima. We’re both engineers.”

Hiromasa nodded and turned his unseeing eyes toward the window.

The eight simultaneous roars of the flame dragon stabbed into the night sky and shook the bridge.

They were cries of protest and an attempt to take vengeance against everything, but they were also suppressed and struggling cries.

However, Hiromasa could not see the dragon. His unfocused eyes looked beyond the dragon and beyond the walls of the concept space. They looked toward the small nightscape visible in the distance.

“Can you see it, Kashima? Tokyo has not even begun to recover, but you can see some lights that still live on, can’t you?”

After his question, he opened his mouth again.

“…”

But he stopped. He took a breath to calm himself before speaking again.

“Susaou isn’t enough to control Yamata. I will use your Totsuka to answer Yamata’s question.”

“Y-you idiot!! Do you know what the answer is!?”

“Yes.” Hiromasa nodded and held up the large sword in his right hand. “As I am now, there’s no way I don’t.”

Kashima tried to say something in response.

He opened his mouth, twisted his face, and tried to draw up the words from deep in his gut.

“I…I don’t actually…!”

But Hiromasa cut him off.

“Go, Kashima. This is my first command to you, military god and swordsmith.”

Susaou shook as if in response to those words.

The dragon raged and tried to escape its bonds.

The bridge tilted, the metal creaked, and Kashima toppled over.

The tilting threw him into the air and he slammed into the door.

“!?”

The door suddenly opened, swallowed him whole, and closed once more.

Hiromasa had controlled the door from where he was pressed against the front of the bridge.

But he had heard Kashima as he disappeared beyond the door. His crying face had been turned toward Hiromasa.

“————!”

The man’s shout had been a question. He was relaying the dragon’s will. He was asking the question that only he could ask.

As he left, Kashima had left everything with Hiromasa.

The bridge reverted to its normal position and Yamata roared in response to Kashima’s voice.

But Hiromasa’s hands suddenly stopped on the console.

He firmly grasped the edge of the box attached to the front of the console.

After a moment, he tilted his head slightly and opened the box.

And he pulled out a single sheet of Japanese paper.

The paper had been made heat-resistant and it had large letters written in ink.

Hiromasa could not see, but he let Yamata’s scarlet light illuminate the paper as he traced his fingers across it. He must have been able to feel the ink on the paper because he smiled as he touched it.

As he felt the writing, he spoke the sloppily-written katakana aloud.

“O-o-shi-ro…”

His smile deepened, he folded up the paper, and he placed it in his work uniform’s breast pocket.

He then faced forward and cast his unseeing gaze toward Yamata.

“Your handwriting is terrible,” he muttered just as scarlet light filled the bridge.

And just Hiromasa opened his mouth to speak the answer, the past came to an end.

The UCAT members deployed by the lakeside saw light overhead.

The light came from names quickly spreading out like a diagram of the celestial sphere.

The names were formed by tiny strings of writing which flowed from the bridge to the night sky while trailing white and blue light.

The names extended in straight lines, drew arcs through the sky in parallel lines like sheet music, surrounded the sky, and rotated around in countless layers.

They moved quickly into the distance and spread out. Differences in speed caused the white and blue names to form multiple layers. Some flew in elliptical orbit while some flew in perfect circles. Ultimately, a giant celestial sphere formed a cage in the sky.

Those names were Totsuka’s true form and they were meant to seal Yamata.

Everyone heard small metallic noises amid the rapidly expanding names.

An old man from 2nd-Gear muttered to himself when he heard them.

“The metal shards forming Totsuka are expanding the names carved into them…”

The light raced on as if agreeing.

And once the celestial sphere reached the limits of the concept space, something else arrived.

First, the color crimson appeared in the empty space below the moon.

As if spilling into the air, the crimson color expanded and formed flames.

The flames flowed. They moved like water, like a serpent, like a dragon.

The fire finally truly became a dragon.

“Here it comes!” shouted someone just as it took form.

With a roar, an eight-headed, eight-tailed flame dragon appeared.

In an instant, it grew over a kilometer in length and further expanded in the very top of the concept space.

A giant red flower bloomed in the sky.

As the crimson dragon blossomed, it produced a cry. Its cry of protest shook the air and the ground.

“————!”

Its roar rang out, its scorching noise filled the air, and the celestial sphere of names…

“It’s creaking!?”

Yamata’s motion caused the countless names of the seal to cry out.

“Hurry,” muttered someone as they heard what sounded like the strained creaking of a ship.

“Please hurry! If Yamata is freed, this concept space might not be able to contain it!”

That shout came from the development department managers who had joined Tsukuyomi. They were the ones who had the most knowledge of Yamata’s seal.

But the flame dragon in the night sky ignored them.

It raised its eight heads.

“————!”

Eight bestial voices reverberated toward the moon.

And then Yamata moved.

It dropped down toward the iron giant on the lake approximately one thousand five hundred meters below. It descended toward that giant that spread its arms as if in an embrace.

With its opened maws in the lead, the flame dragon came to devour the blade that had once sealed it.

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 31|Chapter 31]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 29

2026-08-23T06:00:41Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 29: Seeing Through the Lies==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0385.png|thumb]]
''There is no need to see through a lie

''But there is also no need to permit an empty falsehood

''See through those in order to save something

Sayama moved through the moonlit clearing.

His left hand, the hand that once formed a fist, now held Georgius and a sword.

He felt a slight phantom pain from the scars on his fist, but it was small enough to put up with.

He stepped forward.

He swung the sword toward Atsuta.

Atsuta evaded by bending his body to the right.

He swung Futsuno horizontally.

That was when covering fire came from behind Sayama.

Shinjou fired three shots of light from her staff. They flew toward Atsuta with both vertical and horizontal gaps.

And they hit. Or they should have.

Sayama saw Atsuta alter Futsuno’s path.

The sword heading horizontally toward Sayama suddenly shot up vertically.

The blade’s path drew a fan shape and moved to the man’s right side.

Rotating the large blade produced a certain result.

The light fired by Shinjou flew past Atsuta.

“…”

Sayama heard Shinjou gasp.

But he had expected this. And he had already taken his next action.

Atsuta dropped the sword down from the right, so his left side was wide open.

And so Sayama swung in the silver arc in his left hand.

Atsuta smiled bitterly.

“You have good instincts. Where were you taught?”

Part of the training at the Hiba Dojo included techniques to stand up to a swinging blade. Sayama used those techniques to move up to Atsuta in an instant as the man’s blade sliced through the air.

Atsuta moved back.

Sayama only heard a single footstep, but the man quickly moved back a large distance.

In an instant, he created a space of about five meters between them and Sayama’s blade sliced through air.

There was a gap between them now.

“…”

They both prepared their next stances at the same time.

Sayama prepared to charge in.

He wanted to move straight forward.

And in that instant, Atsuta suddenly spoke.

“I think that’s about enough warming up.”

Then he vanished.

Or rather, Sayama was no longer able to perceive him.

“!”

This was the Art of Walking.

Kazami held G-Sp2 as she ran.

She was fifteen meters from her opponent. She needed to instantly bring that down to zero.

As the wings on her back produced wind, she literally flew forward.

She moved quickly.

And her high-speed movement brought the trees of the forest toward her.

Her tension had narrowed her vision, so she perceived the trees rushing toward her as shadows.

Straight, right, and right.

Then she forcibly corrected her path to the left.

“…!”

She lightly flapped her wings and stepped on the ground.

The combination of the two actions supported her movements.

She moved so quickly that it swept away her sweat in an instant.

Simply flapping her wings would launch her forward.

While moving so swiftly, she could only rely on her own senses.

…''And my name.

Kazami Chisato.

As Kazami, her eyes read the wind. As Chisato, her running feet covered great distances.

The distance was down to five meters.

A single light came from ahead.

But it did not matter. She tilted her head to the side and it flew past her cheek.

“And I keep running!”

She did not stop her movements or lessen her focus. She simply continued her acceleration to the end.

“Go!”

Her feet produced the white steam of an atmospheric explosion and she blasted her body forward.

She flew.

But not into the heavens. She flew forward.

At high speed, she slipped between the last trees and covered the last bit of distance.

At the same time, light arrived before her eyes.

It was an aimed shot of moonlight. As a counterattack, it had been fired at almost point blank range.

“!”

But Kazami did not hesitate.

She swung up G-Sp2 and thrust it forward.

The Cowling Spear stabbed through the air and collided with the light while wrapped in a white steam.

She could feel it hit.

A white noise burst and the light scattered in every direction.

And she looked beyond it.

If she continued forward and blew away Tsukuyomi, they would win.

However…

“She’s gone!?”

Beyond the scattered light, Tsukuyomi was nowhere to be seen.

Or rather, Kazami could not perceive her.

“Chisato!”

Izumo’s voice caused her to tremble.

Before she could even think the term “Art of Walking”, she stopped breathing and stiffened.

There was one way to break through 2nd-Gear’s Art of Walking which worked by syncing with one’s opponent.

…''Intentionally disrupt your heart rate and such to break the sync!

She had succeeded doing so against Izumo on the rooftop the night before.

She held her breath, gathered strength to encourage the flow of blood, and widened the focus of her vision.

“…There!”

Right in front of her, Tsukuyomi held her large bow with an expression of exhaustion.

But the lost instant had been too much.

Tsukuyomi had already twisted her body around and avoided the attack.

She leaped out of the forest.

Meanwhile, Kazami flew out of the forest and right past her.

The river lay ahead of her.

The flowing water was only about five meters wide, but it was plenty large to bathe in the moonlight.

As she cautiously viewed Tsukuyomi’s stance, she gasped.

As she fell toward the river, she saw Tsukuyomi head toward the river and aim the bow up toward the sky.

“After firing so much, you can’t possibly have charged up any…”

Her shout of protest trailed off when she saw the truth before her eyes.

As Tsukuyomi drew the bow with her right arm, the center of the bowstring was wrapped around the elbow.

That elbow drew the bow tightly.

The bowstring sank into her skin to the point that blood dripped down.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been drawing the bowstring with your elbow this entire time!”

“I’ve been shooting at you by plucking the half of the bowstring above my elbow. The entire time in the forest, I’ve been charging up using my elbow.”

Just as the old woman spoke, Kazami and Tsukuyomi both landed in the river.

They were approximately five meters apart.

Tsukuyomi stood on the riverbed, but Kazami’s stance had collapsed.

She fell to the riverbed as if rolling forward and she thrust her hands into the water to catch herself.

She frantically got up while looking up at Tsukuyomi.

“You put up a good effort. I’ll give you that.”

The old woman nodded and fired the bow into the sky.

The vibration caused the blood on her arm to scatter and the air was dyed faintly red.

In the next moment, light fell from the sky. And this light was much larger than any the bow had produced before.

It fell toward Kazami in an instant.

Atsuta moved forward.

The two people standing before him were not looking at him and were hesitant to move.

Their eyes moved slightly, but their gazes were wandering aimlessly.

That showed that his Art of Walking was working.

He suddenly looked down at his right hand.

Behind him and to the right, Kashima stood in front of the pier while operating his laptop. Atsuta felt as if water was tilting within Futsuno as he held it. This was due to Kashima distributing its weight in real time.

“Don’t get too serious, Kashima. It’s already time to finish them off.”

“I’m close to drawing up a pattern. Plus, I want data on slow movements like this as well as normal combat.”

“I want a fast sports car, not a Royal Saloon that’s only worthwhile at low speeds.”

“An engineer should want stability during both heavy usage and light usage.”

“Is that so?”

Atsuta’s shoulders drooped and he walked up to Sayama.

He was about three meters away. Sayama would need to take two steps to attack with his sword, but Futsuno’s reach only required a single step.

Atsuta stepped forward, but then he stopped.

He did not attack.

After a slight moment of irritation, he spoke.

“Now, then. Getting in a good attack and making you bow down to me naked would be nice, but someone as wise as me is concerned about one thing.” Confidence filled his voice. “Sayama Mikoto. As the representative of the Leviathan Road, I highly doubt you haven’t analyzed our Art of Walking.”

Sayama heard Atsuta speak.

He had already seen through the man’s Art of Walking.

He had seen a portion of the man’s ability in the cafeteria and he had realized the principle behind the Art of Walking when Ryuutetsu had thrown him.

The Art of Walking was a difficult technique to use, but it was very simple to break once you knew the principle behind it.

He had only needed to feign falling victim to it and counterattack once Atsuta approached.

But Atsuta gave an exaggerated shake of the head.

“For example, you could break free by holding your breath the instant you failed to perceive me. That would destroy the sync,” he said. “But I’m not going to bother to check whether you’ve done that.”

He held up Futsuno.

His expression made it clear he was no longer playing around. And his voice contained no hint of ridicule.

“Listen, Sayama. Cut the act and fight me.”

Sayama maintained his silence.

He could not determine what Atsuta was trying to do.

He could not even tell if Atsuta knew he had broken the Art of Walking or if he was only testing.

But then Atsuta gave him the answer.

“Ryouko trusts you. There’s no way someone like that wouldn’t break free of my Art of Walking.”

Sayama gasped.

“…”

And he straightened up. As he did, he heard Shinjou gasp behind him.

But he did not care. He faced Atsuta and spoke.

“Sword gods have become quite sentimental these days.”

“I’m grateful.” Atsuta held up Futsuno. “Let’s have a proper fight, ladies’ man. Unlike just now, I’ll use an Art of Walking tailored especially for you. Try breaking free of that and attacking me.”

“An Art of Walking tailored especially for me?”

Atsuta tightened his grip on Futsuno.

“It’s simple. I force you into sync with me. In other words, I control your body.”

“You cannot control my-…”

“Oh, yes I can. With you, I can.”

“With me?”

''What is he going to do?'' wondered Sayama.

Atsuta’s next comment seemed to be in response to his thoughts.

“Well? You want me to tell you, don’t you? You want to know what words I can use to control your body.” He tilted his head. “Hadn’t you ever wondered why exactly Ryouko trusts you?”

“I have. It is a bit of a mystery why Ryouko has such a high opinion of me.”

Atsuta stepped forward and raised Futsuno above his head.

“I’ll tell you,” he said expressionlessly. “I heard her talk about him so many times. She said your father was kind and smart. I heard her say there was no problem he couldn’t solve. That is how she felt about your Sayama Asagi, your father!”

Sayama suddenly heard his father’s name.

He had expected to hear something about himself, but that name stabbed at him instead.

“!”

That single name brought a reflexive scream to the left side of his chest.

He instinctually bent over from the pain and Atsuta shouted out as if providing the finishing blow.

“She once delightedly told me that his son was exactly like him!”

His words called in the past.

For just an instant, he recalled his father.

…''Not good!

His rejecting will outdid the memories.

He knew even less of that existence than of his mother and he had sealed the memories deep in his heart. These references to him brought a squeezing pain to his chest. The pain was intense.

“…Kh.”

His voice leaked from his throat as if his lungs were being crushed.

“Does it hurt? That pain is how I will control you!”

At the same time, Atsuta vanished from his perception.

The man had stepped into his pain.

For a moment, he entered his memories and wondered if his father was truly the kind of person Ryouko said he was, but then he turned his thoughts to the present.

…''Those are indeed words which can control my body.

As he doubled over, he heard Atsuta’s voice.

“It’s too bad, Sayama’s brat. Ryouko has a lot of issues…but she doesn’t lie! You did well, but that ends here!”

As he spoke, Atsuta truly vanished.

Moonlight fell from the sky and toward the forest river.

Tsukuyomi faced her prey while standing in the river with the water up to her knees.

That prey was Kazami.

She was one of the two main vanguard members of Team Leviathan. Two years prior, she had been caught in the middle of a battle started by 6th-Gear remnants attacking a Concept Core transport. As a result, she had become the master of G-Sp and X-Wi.

It had been Tsukuyomi and the development department that had altered G-Sp into G-Sp2 for her and fine-tuned X-Wi.

…''You are something like a daughter to us.

“Which means we need you to be able to turn back the power of this light.”

But Kazami was currently on her hands and knees in the river and she could not move. She would be unable to read the wind now. The wings of light growing from her back were dim and beginning to vanish.

“In that case…” replied someone else.

It was Izumo. He charged from the forest and leaped toward Kazami’s back.

While in midair, he held his sword down and opened his mouth.

“Ah!”

He cried out and launched an attack just as he landed in the river.

''It is useless,'' thought Tsukuyomi.

She knew V-Sw’s abilities by heart.

…''Using its first form is not enough to defeat the falling moonlight.

What were they going to do? Were they simply going to use their weapons as tools of power?

Immediately afterward, Izumo shouted out and shattered Tsukuyomi’s thoughts.

“Ahhhhh!!”

As he let out a roar, he swung V-Sw up from below.

But he was not targeting the moonlight.

“The water!?”

As Tsukuyomi watched, a great splash rose up behind Kazami.

The strike had used the full power of the weapon’s first form, so it thoroughly swept up the river’s water.

It produced a reverse waterfall.

And Izumo shouted loud enough to be heard over the din of water.

“Chisato! Quit pointing your ass at me and raise your wings!”

Kazami raised her head.

She looked into the sky and saw the falling pillar of moonlight.

Tsukuyomi also watched the moonlight as it arrived directly above them and…

“Into the spray…”

The water Izumo had sent into the air struck the light.

The collision between moonlight and water lasted an instant.

But it did not produce destruction. It did not produce an explosion, a shockwave, or collapse.

It produced harmony.

It was water and light. The great amount of airborne water reflected the moonlight, took it inside, reflected it inside itself, and scattered it everywhere.

The moonlight danced through the sky.

And Tsukuyomi saw Kazami crouch down below the water and light.

Her expression could now be described as an acute angle and a voice escaped her throat.

“Thanks, Kaku.”

And with that, she formed a smile and light shot from the two wings stretching up from her back.

The concept activated.

—'''Light is power.

In an instant, her wings of light grew past two meters in length and they did not stop here.

They took in the moonlight.

“This power…is the same!”

The wings responded to Kazami’s shout. As they rose up into the sky, they stabbed into the glowing water and absorbed the light that had been scattered by that water.

With a soaring sound, the wings twisted as if shuddering in agony and they continued to grow while absorbing the surrounding moonlight.

The light vanished as the wings swallowed it all.

And wings measuring about a dozen meters appeared in its place.

Atsuta stepped forward.

His slight deviation from the sync was as perfect as ever.

Intense pain was the easiest sensation to grasp.

A single pain great enough to fill the entire body was enough to take over every sense in one’s body.

He now only had to attack.

It was a mock battle, his blade had a cowling over it, and both Kashima and Tsukuyomi had told him not to kill, but he would still beat the boy with the mass of metal until he could no longer fight.

“Don’t hold it against me, Ryouko!” he shouted as he swung down Futsuno.

Sayama was doubled over in front of him. It almost looked like the boy was bowing to him.

It gave him a nice feeling.

All that remained was to smash Sayama’s body with Futsuno.

“…”

But Sayama suddenly moved.

As Atsuta watched, the boy opened his right hand and grabbed the left side of his chest.

Before Atsuta could wonder what he was going to do, Sayama spoke.

“I have remembered my father! It is not much!” He clenched his teeth until they creaked, but he continued on. “But it is still more than you know!!”

He stood up.

He used his full strength as if breaking free of his bonds.

He relied fully on strength like a struggling child.

He wrinkled his brow and his expression twisted, but he truly faced Atsuta.

He had broken free of the Art of Walking tailored specifically to him.

''How?'' wondered Atsuta with a frown.

“I can give myself even more pain than you can give me!” shouted Sayama. “I can do so using a past you know nothing about!”

He looked up into the sky and raised his voice.

“Everyone!”

He took a breath.

“It is time to settle this!”

As Sibyl sang on the grassy plain, she heard a voice from the direction of Susaou.

“As we use even the past to bring victory, let us begin the true negotiation.”

As Ooshiro focused on firing beams, he heard Sayama over the communicator.

“Listen, everyone! Gather your will into your surname and draw the meaning of your birth from your given name. Tonight, we ask our questions with our birthplace in hand. Are you listening!?”
As Ooki worked with the others to fire Boldman, she turned toward Susaou and narrowed her eyes in a smile.

“Understanding, peace, reconciliation, and everything else will come later! We must knock some sense into those who wish for the status quo and teach them what it is like to cry out and struggle to break free of the status quo!”

As she watched wings of light develop before her, Tsukuyomi heard a single voice.

“I, Sayama Mikoto, make this announcement with my authority as Team Leviathan’s representative. We will face destruction as a whole. We will not yield to any past. We will recall everything and see what lies ahead of it all. And we will remain together until the end!”

He took a breath.

“This is an order. All team members, advance on them. And make sure to bring them back even if you have to beat them into submission. Bring them back to a world of more than just names. Force the past into these name-obsessed people’s hands and kick them out of their peaceful bed!”

Before Tsukuyomi’s eyes, Kazami’s giant wings had finished their rise into the night sky. They pierced through the forest and the night.

Meanwhile, the water had lost its light, so gravity dragged it down.

“…!”

A single strike from the moonlight wings caused the water to burst and become a mist.

And a question arrived from the direction of Susaou.

“Where is your response?”

While bent over with her wings facing the heavens, Kazami opened her mouth.

She gave a single word in response.

Behind her, Izumo shouted the same word.

“Testament!”

Sayama heard the word testament.

It came from beyond the forest, within the forest, and from the sky.

Testament, testament, testament.

It had already gone beyond Team Leviathan. Members of 2nd-Gear had joined in.

''I see,'' thought Sayama. ''This is quite pleasant.

He began to understand what it was they wanted.

“The only conclusion we desire is victory!” he shouted before taking action.

Pain still filled his body, but he could move while driving away the pain.

As Futsuno flew in before his eyes, he jumped backward.

He poured all his strength into this evasive leap.

And once his feet hit the ground…

“!”

He threw his body forward.

As he leaped, he drew and struck with his sword.

The silver line raced toward Atsuta.

“…!”

After swinging Futsuno down to the ground, the man swept it upward.

He intercepted the strike from below.

But he did not make it in time. He had tried to cut the blade, but deflecting it upward was the most he could manage.

The blade with a Low-Gear name struck the blade with a 2nd-Gear name and a metallic noise rang out.

Sparks flew and illuminated the two sword wielders.

Atsuta then moved back.

He created a gap of five meters. At that comfortable distance, he prepared his stance once more.

Meanwhile, Sayama remained in the stance he had landed in. He clicked his tongue once as he watched Atsuta.

He had failed to defeat the man.

…''If I do not get an attack in soon…

The pain in his chest was taking over his body now that he had stopped moving.

The pain he had used to break the bonds of the Art of Walking was becoming a new set of chains.

Atsuta no longer spoke. Nor did he move forward.

He held Futsuno up in both hands.

“…!”

And he suddenly swung it down.

He was using Futsuno’s cutting ability to cut through everything in range of the sword’s pressure.

“This is a shameful method for a sword god, but it’s the only way to ensure victory!”

The blade sliced through the air and stabbed into the ground.

With a roar of the ground being struck, a change occurred.

A shimmering appeared from Futsuno to a few hundred meters behind Sayama.

This was the advanced notice of Futsuno’s explosive strength. It was the initial stage of the blade slicing through everything.

“Go, Futsuno! Use your slicing blade to cut through Mikoto!! Cut through his life!!”

An instant later, Sayama saw the explosion of the sword god’s strength.

A bursting sound reached him.

But he also heard a voice amid it all.

“Sayama-kun!”

It was Shinjou’s voice.

Shinjou moved within the shimmering.

She suddenly remembered when she had first met Sayama.

When faced with the werewolf, she had been unable to do anything and it had put him in danger.

…''How long will I be dragging him down?

She felt this was something she would never be able to forget. And if she did forget it…

…''I wouldn’t be able to save him.

She asked herself what she should do now.

She knew the answer.

And so gave voice to her words of self-understanding. She spoke so she could hear it.

“Concepts of 2nd-Gear! Earth, air, and sky that provide power to names!”

She held up the staff resting on her shoulder and faced forward. She faced Sayama’s back.

His back remained motionless as if waiting for her words, so she spoke.

“In accordance with my name, I reject the cutting power that is trying to cut through Sayama Mikoto!”

''Accept it,'' she thought. ''You are no longer Sadame or Setsu. Accept your true name once more.

“My name, Sadagiri, does not cut away life,” she shouted. “It cuts away the bonds of destiny, freeing life!”

As she spoke, she pressed the trigger button.

[[Image:OnC_v04_0411.png|thumb]]

A light appeared.

It was a straight beam of light that possessed seemingly unending force.

The light was fired from Ex-St as it rested on her shoulder. That was the cannon with the name Tiger Star.

“…!”

With a metal roar, the recoil knocked Shinjou backward and a clear noise rang out.

The front portion of Ex-St broke.

In response to its master’s will, the machine readily destroyed itself.

With the sound of a metallic explosion, Shinjou’s body was blown backward.

But the light flew forward.

The white light formed an arc and struck Futsuno’s cutting power head on.

As the light crushed each consecutive slice, it produced a sound resembling a bombing.

A clear sound and a deep sound struck the air.

The light continued forward.

As the cutting power attempted to expand over a wider area, the light kept it in its compressed form, broke through it, and continued on.

And the light struck Futsuno.

A high-pitched noise reverberated through the air and Futsuno flew through the sky.

The blade that symbolized 2nd-Gear’s current form slowly, slowly rotated as it flew up into the sky.

In the forest river, Tsukuyomi saw Kazami disappear.

No, she had not disappeared. She had flown.

In just an instant, she had flown up into the heavens.

Tsukuyomi looked up into the sky.

Two wings were visible in the night sky which was filled with named stars.

They were moonlight wings. They beat the sky and seemed to bounce back toward her.

Tsukuyomi looked at the wings flying directly toward her and the spear traveling with them.

“Testament, hm?”

She smiled.

As she realized that expression contained no hesitation or error, she aimed her large bow into the sky.

She aimed overhead, past the approaching wings and spear.

She targeted the orb with her name and released the bowstring from her bloody fingertips.

After a bursting, high-pitched noise filled the night sky, the one bearing the conclusion flew down.

Kashima saw one object in the sky.

Floating in the moonlit night sky was a falling and rotating sword.

As he observed its shape, he noticed something about the cowling covering the blade.

…''It’s gone.

The shot from the girl named Shinjou had knocked the cowling away, leaving the steel-colored blade exposed.

He watched the curve of that metal arc reflect the moonlight.

…''This is dangerous. It could bounce off the ground and hit someone.

He was from a military god family, so he was used to handling dangerous things.

With that in mind, he reached his hand out overhead. The sword fell into his open right hand.

The chill, weight, and reliability of steel entered his hand all at once.

“Oops,” he said as he dropped his laptop.

The laptop bounced off the weeds once and the LCD monitor faced him.

For an instant, he could not decide whether to prioritize the sword to the right or the laptop to the left.

A window opened on the laptop screen.

The shock of the fall must have hit the mouse button.

And something appeared on the screen.

“A video…”

It showed his home on a sunny day. In front of the doll stand in the yard, a woman held a baby.

The camera was zoomed in on the child, but the child did not understand what was before her.

She merely faced the camera.

And as she faced the camera and everything behind it, she smiled and spoke.

The speakers were not activated, so he could not hear her voice.

But he could read the child’s lips and he had seen the video countless times before.

He knew exactly what she was saying. The baby had said the following.

“Ah.”

And then she had opened her mouth again.

“Ah.”

She repeated herself.

What had she meant by “ah, ah”?

The camera pulled back and showed the woman holding the child.

The woman’s short hair shook and she gave a surprised look.

But then she formed a smile and opened her mouth.

Kashima remembered what she had said as well.

“Do you think she meant ‘papa’?”

He tried to remember what he had said.

…''She might have said ‘mama’.

That might have been it. But it might not have. He may have been beautifying the important parts.

He smiled bitterly and looked at Futsuno in his right hand.

…''I can’t feel Futsuno’s weight.

As he wondered why, he realized he did not need to ask why.

“I am a man of 2nd-Gear and I have remembered my power as one. …That is why.”

He nodded.

“The surname Kashima indicates a military god.”

He gathered strength in his right hand and looked down.

In the laptop window, the woman faced the camera and waved while still holding the baby. She waved with her left hand which lacked two fingers.

The video ended and the window closed.

Kashima faced forward and saw Atsuta looking his way as he stood empty-handed on the weed-covered clearing.

“Are you done with the family videos? Then go deal with them.”

Atsuta used his chin to point to the right.

Two people stood in that direction.

Sayama and Shinjou.

They stood next to each other, but Sayama had drawn the sword at his waist.

And so Kashima asked a question in a carefree and inviting tone.

“Shall we go settle this?”

He held up Futsuno and pointed the tip toward Sayama.

Shinjou looked at Sayama with the ends of her eyebrows lowered.

Kashima read the emotion there and understood their connection.

And so he spoke.

“Susanoo slays the serpent and marries the princess. Is that it?”

“It is too soon for that. Eight dragons still await after this. The marriage will have to wait a while.”

Sayama’s comment caused Shinjou to blush.

She then seemed to realize something, so she faced the sword in Sayama’s hand.

“Sayama-kun, can I see that sword for a moment?”

“What is it?”

“Just a protective charm.”

She held the sword and slowly cut off a tuft of her hair.

She let out a breath and held the hair.

“Sorry if you find this creepy, but this is a type of good luck charm, right?”

She then lightly tied the hair to the sword and Sayama’s left hand.

Kashima interpreted it as a type of shimenawa.

“That should suffice,” he said. “The hair of someone with the name Sadagiri should give the sword the protection of that name.”

It would be difficult to cut through it even with Futsuno.

Sayama gave a testing swing of the sword and faced Kashima.

“I would like to keep Shinjou-kun by my side during this battle. Would that be acceptable?”

“Go right ahead.”

Right now, he always had his wife and child with him in a way.

“But if something happens to her, the responsibility lies with you.”

“Of course. And as long as it is Shinjou-kun, even a corpse is fine by me.”

Sayama then asked him a question.

“What about you?”

“I don’t think I’d like that…”

“Heh heh heh. Then I win this round. Rejoice, Shinjou-kun! …What is with that look?”

“D-don’t say you win if I die!”

''What a strange Susanoo and princess,'' thought Kashima with a bitter smile. ''I wonder how strange a Yamato Takeru and princess we are?

But he erased his own smile and held up Futsuno.

He was from a military god family. The sword he held would tell him how to wield it.

In his hands, the almost perfectly tuned Futsuno would be a powerful weapon indeed.

“Let’s begin, bearer of the Leviathan Road. Let’s walk down the road of battle that leads to the conclusion.”

“Yes, I shall take Totsuka and answer Yamata’s question.”

“Can you do it?” asked Kashima. “If so, then decide what lies ahead once we break free of the status quo. Is it Low-Gear or 2nd-Gear? Is it the truth or lies? Or…is it something else entirely!?”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 30|Chapter 30]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 28

2026-08-22T02:48:05Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 28: Song of Battle==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0359.png|thumb]]
''Sing the war song of unavoidable conflict

''People stand on the battlefield of inevitability

''They await an anticipated answer

The battle began once more.

Tsukuyomi stood on the northern field in front of the forest. From there, she saw the enemy emerge from the opposite forest.

They numbered about half of what they had when they had entered the forest. Sayama and his group were not among them.

But they advanced with great force.

…''They have some sort of plan.

She heard their battle cries, their footsteps, and the blowing wind.

Riding on the momentum of those three noises, the white combat uniforms clashed once more.

With the protection of their concepts, 2nd-Gear had the upper hand.

But something bothered Tsukuyomi: the boy and girl who had charged into battle earlier. Sayama and Shinjou.

Especially…

…''The way Shinjou used Ex-St.

According to the records, she had never used the full ability of her Cowling Staff. Ex-St would remove its limiter in accordance with its user’s will and it would even destroy itself with its maximum power.

That wall of light had not been the weapon’s full power.

“But that was different from normal.”

What had she done?

Tsukuyomi knew the answer: She was beginning to accept her own will. It was the same as a newborn animal becoming aware of its own body and standing up to get a closer look at its parent’s face.

“Perhaps we should view this differently.”

''I just hope this decision isn’t too late,'' thought Tsukuyomi as she spoke to the managers around her.

“Everyone, move forward!”

Many male voices let out a cry in response.

Forward.

They would tread on the grass and go forward to the land the moonlight had fallen on.

As they advanced, their vanguard collided with the enemy on the other side of the field.

As Tsukuyomi watched, she saw something odd.

“Light?”

It was the enemy.

2nd-Gear had supposedly exhausted the enemy’s weapons and cut off their supplies, but they were firing light, darkness, flames, and ice. As she tried to remember if they had ever created weapons like that, an elderly manager spoke from next to her.

“To me, it looks like they are firing strange beams from their hands, feet, and eyes.”

A closer examination showed most of the projectiles were coming from Ooshiro Kazuo.

While striking strange poses, shouting strange things, and smiling, light shot from his hands and feet. He would even summon a strange black shadow from his laptop screen which would blow away his enemy.

“Wa ha ha ha ha ha ha! Take this! Miyoko’s Wrath!”

Tsukuyomi did not hesitate to fire moonlight at him.

This produced an explosion, but…

“Miyoko Barrier!”

A dark dome appeared in the field and an unharmed voice came from within.

“What do you think you’re doing, Director Tsukuyomi!? This is my youth!!”

Once Tsukuyomi realized her words were not going to reach him, she fired more moonlight at the barrier.

“You are an embarrassment to Japan!!”

She fired five times in a row. The third shot shattered the barrier and the fifth struck him.

For some reason, the old man looked delighted as he was blown away.

And so she fired another shot. Light exploded out and the surrounding people let out a cheer.

But Ooshiro quickly stood back up and threw his arms into the air.

“St-stop that! Is it that fun blasting me across the field!?”

“Try acting your age, UCAT Director Ooshiro! Your son is going to throw you to the ground again!”

Tsukuyomi’s warning produced applause from the elderly managers around her. They then began chanting.

“Once more! Once more! We want to see you show off some more!”

“Fine then. I’ll make it flashy this time.” She smiled as she drew the bowstring. “I don’t quite have a full charge, but this will do!”

As the light dispersed, she fired the large bowstring toward the sky.

It produced a high-pitched tone and light fell from the sky.

“Come, light of the moon!”

Not as much light fell this time, but it was limited to the grassy field.

A few dozen beams of light poured down to the earth.

…''Will this finish it?

But then she froze in place.

In the center of her vision, a new group exited the distant forest.

Tsukuyomi recognized them.

Sayama, Shinjou, Izumo, and Kazami were in the lead. Following them was a group of people in combat uniforms.

Kazami and Izumo ran toward her.

Sayama and Shinjou also ran toward-

“No.”

Those two were not looking at anyone.

They were focused on Susaou behind her.

But…

“Before you reach Susaou, you have to escape the falling moonlight! How will you manage that!?”

Tsukuyomi’s shouted question received a response.

It was a song. It was a Low-Gear hymn.

A female voice from the forest calmly sang Silent Night.

''Silent night, holy night''

''Brought the world peace tonight''

''From the heavens’ golden height

''Shows the grace of His holy might

''Jesus, as man on this earth

''Jesus, as man on this earth

As if reacting to the meaning of those words, the hammer of moonlight weakened.

It grew quieter and thinner. The moonlight returned to being normal light and merely illuminated the field.

“…!”

Tsukuyomi gasped and the singer’s voice continued from the forest.

The singer had long blonde hair. One of the elderly managers near Tsukuyomi spoke the singer’s name.

“Sibyl. She’s a maintenance girl who knows a lot about gods of war and automatons. She has the name of a goddess and blonde hair, so how about we invite her to the development department?”

“Don’t I provide enough femininity to the department?”

“Not nearly enough,” said all the elderly managers.

Tsukuyomi smiled bitterly, but she did not relax the hand drawing her bowstring.

“Well, this battle isn’t over yet and we have the advantage.”

The appearance of these new enemies from the forest caused her allies to change their means of attack.

Those with flight-associated names attacked from the air.

From what Tsukuyomi remembered, Kazami was the only member of Team Leviathan who could fly.

None of the others had surnames with the same meaning.

“Here they come,” said one of the elderly managers with a bit of surprise in his voice.

And then Tsukuyomi saw a few members of Team Leviathan do something unexpected.

“They’re flying?”

Their movements were hesitant, but they rose into the air as if climbing stairs and they began to use their weapons.

As she wondered what was happening, Tsukuyomi drew her bowstring even tighter. And she aimed horizontally toward Kazami and Izumo.

“It can’t be!!”

Among those who had remained in the forest, a small figure stood with a cat and a bird.

“The two name system, hm?” said Brunhild in exasperation. “So that’s the simple thing related to names that Sayama was talking about before.”

Next to her, Sf nodded from next to Itaru.

“2nd-Gear’s names indicate a role, so they are analogous to Low-Gear’s surnames. 2nd-Gear is a group of engineers, so they treat their surnames as their true names. They view their given name as nothing more than a number to distinguish between family members.”

Diana, who stood next to Sf, picked up where the automaton left off.

“But in Low-Gear, surnames became symbolized and given names drew more focus.”

She went on to explain why those Team Leviathan members could fly.

“They have sky, wind, or other characters related to weather phenomena and animals in their given names. In this country, the characters for fly, mist, light, and dragon are almost always used in the given name rather than the surname.”

Brunhild nodded and looked beyond the forest.

Past the trees, the heavens opened up. Shouts and light were produced there.

“Are you worried about them?” asked Diana.

“I wouldn’t say that. I was asked to inspect, so I am watching.”

“Oh, dear.” Diana shrugged and turned toward Itaru. “Itaru, I thought your father chose her as 1st-Gear’s inspector because-…”

“That’s right. To keep an eye on you.”

“Heh,” bitterly laughed Brunhild.

She took a step back in order to move away from Diana.

And then she glared up at the woman.

“I don’t care why I was given the position. As long as I can monitor such an infuriating woman so she can’t make petty complaints about Team Leviathan, that’s enough. So let’s try to get along, just as Siegfried asked us to.”

“That isn’t a very nice way to put it. I am not going to make any petty complaints.” Diana sharply narrowed her eyes and formed a gentle smile. “As soon as I find a problem, I will crush it on the spot.”

“For German UCAT’s sake?”

“No. This is not for German UCAT or for myself. If I had to say, I would say it is for everything that was lost to reach this point.”

“Everything that was lost? Like what? The destroyed Gears?”

“You only think that because you still know nothing.”

“…”

“No one knows what truly happened in our past.”

Brunhild silently listened to that statement.

After a while, she picked up the black cat at her feet.

“Fine. I will overlook it for tonight. I cannot use my spells well in 2nd-Gear’s concepts.”

“Oh? It does not bother me if you do not overlook it. My spells are perfectly strong 24/7.”

“Is that so?” Brunhild narrowed her eyes and stared up at Diana. “I suppose that’s what happens when you carry around fuel in your breasts. Perhaps I do not need to sympathize with your lack of experience now. Just so you know, I only showed you about twenty percent of my true power at the school.”

“Oh, my. That was only about fifteen percent for me.”

“Wait, I miscounted. It may have been about five percent.”

After watching those two repeatedly reassess their number with a smile, Sf turned to Itaru.

“Which one is giving a false report?”

“Neither one is true, but both of them are serious.”

As soon as Itaru spoke, Diana and Brunhild moved away from each other.

The cat looked up in Brunhild’s arm.

“Eh? Wait. Wh-why aren’t you putting me down?”

“That cat will not function as a shield. This will shoot right through him.”

“Hmph. He’s no normal cat. He can probably withstand one shot. …Hang in there, okay?”

“D-don’t I get a say!?”

The cat’s protests and struggling were stopped by a tight embrace.

The two witches exchanged a smile and both said “now then”.

And then five figures charged from the forest to the right.

“Supervisor Ooshiro Itaru of Team Leviathan! This is Mikami and Katori of the development department!”

Five young men appeared wielding swords.

The man in the lead, Mikami, turned toward the other four.

“Let’s use our standard…”

He trailed off.

He had spotted the two witches glaring at each other.

“…”

Silence fell.

As Mikami and the other four remained motionless, Brunhild slowly turned toward them.

“Heh. Looks like we have some good targets to compare our strength on.”

“Oh? It isn’t often I agree with you. Who will go first?”

“Eh?” said the group of five as they stepped back.

“W-wait a second.” Mikami spread his arms. “Why are German UCAT and 1st-Gear…”

“Keep quiet, target! But when I blow you away, make sure to give a proper scream.”

“That’s right.”

The two witches caused the five men’s faces to stiffen and freeze.

And then…

“Please stop.” With a dignified voice, Sf ran in front of Diana and Brunhild. “The inspectors are not permitted to take part in the battle.”

The two groaned and stopped moving.

After a moment, Mikami began frantically nodding.

“Th-that’s right. If anyone is going to attack us, make it Team Leviathan.”

Sf nodded and looked at the group of five and group of two.

After making sure they were all looking at her, she nodded and brought her heels together.

“Tes. I am pleased you all understand. I have determined this is thanks to the negotiation program I have installed. If you were impressed, please email your thoughts to the SF development team of German UCAT. Lately, they have been delighted even if you write ‘bravo’, but ‘khorosho’ is still strictly forbidden.”

“U-um? Sf? That is all well and good, but what should we do about the immediate situation?”

After a moment of confusion, the 2nd-Gear men finally began to nod.

From behind Mikami, the plump Katori wiped sweat from his brow and looked toward Sf.

“Surely you aren’t going to fight us. Low-Gear weaponry is almost entirely meaningless here.”

“Tes. I appreciate your concern, but I exist as a piece of Team Leviathan’s equipment. You can rest easy while thinking of me as a piece of equipment.”

Sf’s words brought a confused look to Itaru’s face.

“I’ve never once been able to rest easy around you.”

“Itaru-sama, when you truly rest easy, you do not even realize it is happening.”

“Oh? Then what is the strange thrill I feel around you every day?”

“Tes. That is a pinch of spice to combat the boring routine of life.”

Itaru silently turned to Diana and she frantically shook her head.

“A-are you sure this thought pattern didn’t come from how you formatted her?”

“I should have known you would weasel out of any responsibility.”

“Um…listen, Sf. Itaru is saying he’s curious how you will fight.”

Diana’s frantic comment led Sf to look at Itaru. He nodded in annoyance.

“Handle this in a way that will delight your opponent, okay?”

“Tes. In that case, please look at this equipment, everyone.”

Sf bowed. She then lifted up the right side of her skirt and stuck her hand inside.

“It was developed in order to instantly defeat one hundred approaching enemies. Once it proved able to do exactly that, everyone began to refer to it by the name of its creator and that name gained the meaning of singlehandedly defeating great numbers of enemies on the battlefield.”

When she pulled her hand out, it was accompanied by a black mass of steel almost two meters long.

The thick barrel could have easily been mistaken for a cannon and it was made by fixing together six rifle barrels.

“This is the Gatling gun. As I have prepared this for tonight, I have determined I can more than meet your needs.”

Sf lowered her waist as she held up the heavy weapon.

“Also, my name is Sein Frau. I exist and fight to meet my master’s demands. I ask that you too give this everything you have.”

And as she spoke, the 2nd-Gear men’s expressions stiffened.

“Y-you ask…? And how did you fit something so large under your skirt!?”

Sf faced them as she answered.

“I have many as-yet unseen features to make every new day enjoyable. I am German UCAT’s hidden masterpiece, so please look forward to what I will do in the future.”

Sf formed a mechanical smile.

Itaru had instructed her to do so and she knew what she had to say afterward.

Itaru had said these words would delight the person she spoke them to.

And so she spoke to Mikami and the others with the mechanical smile on her lips.

“Die or go to hell.”

The attack began.

Sibyl sang in the center of the unit while Sayama and the others ran forward.

Sayama and the others at the front of the group had to break through the enemy lines.

[[Image:OnC_v04_0375.png|thumb]]

Sayama swung up Georgius on his left arm and shouted out.

“Go ahead!”

The others cried out as they prepared to clash with the enemy.

On the grassy field and below the moonlight, Sayama ran alongside Shinjou while Izumo and Kazami ran ahead.

They kicked off the dirt as they approached the metal giant beyond the enemy lines and beyond the forest.

Kazami led the group as she ran directly toward it.

And she was backed by Sibyl’s singing voice.

“Brought the world peace tonight.”

''That is exactly right,'' thought Sayama as he thought about the meaning of the lyrics.

He realized Shinjou was quietly singing the song next to him.

“Show the grace of His holy might.”

…''That is exactly what we must do on this night.

As he thought and ran, he approached the enemy’s main unit.

They were thirty meters apart.

Tsukuyomi’s group and Sayama’s group stared at each other.

The one group ran forward to attack while the other waited.

And then the enemy took action.

Specifically, Tsukuyomi did.

While holding her large black bow, she suddenly moved away from her unit.

“Is she trying to leave Sibyl’s song?” asked Sayama.

Kazami clicked her tongue up ahead.

“They’re taking this seriously for a mock battle. They know they’ll win if they defeat us here!”

Kazami began running even faster. She began moving in the same direction as Tsukuyomi.

“I’ll take care of that old woman! And Sayama! You know Yamata’s question and answer, right? And you’ve thought of a way to deal with the flames and heat when Yamata is released, right? It would really cheer me up if you were burned to death, though!”

“Unfortunately, Kazami, I do not think you will be very cheerful once this is all over.”

Shinjou turned a worried glance in his direction, so Sayama continued speaking.

“I have thought about both and have made the proper preparations. Go, you two. Finish your battle. You have yet to get back at her for striking you with moonlight earlier, have you?”

“We’ll be making a triumphant return before you can!”

Kazami took a large step forward as she turned fully toward Tsukuyomi.

Izumo followed, so only Sayama and Shinjou continued toward Susaou.

Tsukuyomi smiled bitterly as she saw Kazami and Izumo pursuing her through the forest.

…''Yes. That’s how you do it.

This was a mock battle. It was a fight between comrades where everyone held back so as not to kill anyone.

…''But this is 2nd-Gear’s final battle against Low-Gear.

If 2nd-Gear had not been destroyed by Yamata sixty years prior, this battle might have happened for real.

“It may be for the best that Ooshiro Hiromasa was unable to save 2nd-Gear.”

If 2nd-Gear had not become naturalized to Low-Gear, Kazami and Izumo would not have had that strength in their gaze as they charged toward her and Sayama and Shinjou would not have headed toward their goal with such determination.

…''And Kashima, Atsuta, and the other young ones wouldn’t have acted the way they have.

She wondered what her husband would have thought of this battle if he were still alive.

She had been told he had died as a secondary casualty of the Great Kansai Earthquake at the end of ’95, but she did not believe that.

She believed it had not been an accident and she believed “something” had happened there.

…''Did he know the world would turn out like this?

She did not know the answer.

…''What if he died so that the world could turn out like this?

“And as the ones who remained behind, it is our job to give meaning to this world.”

She looked up as she ran through the forest.

She could see the moon through the leaves. The shadows weakened the moonlight.

And two people energetically pursued her about fifteen meters behind.

Those people were Izumo and Kazami. Even in the dark forest, they remained perfectly by each other’s side.

They made a good pair.

But what should she do?

As she thought, Tsukuyomi looked toward the Heavenly Moon Bow in her left arm.

“I only have one shot like this.”

Sayama and Shinjou ran out from the path through the forest.

Their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, so the moonlight blinded them a bit.

However, that light did not attack them.

They safely entered the clearing in front of the lake.

Once their eyes adjusted, they looked at the weed-filled clearing, at the lake, and at the pier.

“Susaou…”

That giant dark shadow stood on the lake surface.

And two figures stood before the pier leading out to Susaou.

One was Kashima who held a laptop.

The other was Atsuta who rested a giant metal sword on his shoulder.

After exchanging a glance with both, Sayama nodded.

“We have arrived.”

“So you made it.”

Kashima sounded relieved and he nodded before looking at his laptop.

“During the battle here, I will be adjusting Futsuno’s output in real time. I want to ensure the power’s torque pattern is constantly rising. That means we will essentially have two people fighting.”

“Are you saying the two of us should take on that blade-happy man?”

“Hah! Don’t make me laugh, Sayama’s brat! Even working together, you don’t stand a chance against me!”

Atsuta’s words made Sayama notice an aching in his chest.

“Sayama’s…?”

Atsuta’s comment had meant that he was the child of Sayama.

…''Did he know my father?

As Sayama looked over, Atsuta gave a smile that showed off his canine teeth.

“Ryouko was my classmate. I always heard her speak so fondly of your father. I might know him better than you do. And I know about the bomb in your chest as well. …I saw what happened when you spoke with Kashima in the cafeteria.”

Sayama gasped a bit.

The usual pain returned to the left side of his chest.

Atsuta continued speaking while focusing on the right hand Sayama used to clutch his chest.

“Well, the night is young. I can finish you off after having some fun. Ryouko told me to stop you if you were trying to do something dangerous, so I’ll stop you from doing anything dangerous ever again.”

“I retract the request in her stead. She was being foolish.”

“What?”

“She knows full well that I can only advance while experiencing danger,” he declared.

Something wrapped around his left hand. It was Shinjou’s right hand.

Her slender hand gripped Georgius on his left hand.

The ends of her eyebrows were raised slightly, but she nodded with a smile.

“Let’s defeat them.”

Her words produced a bitter laugh from Kashima.

And Sayama nodded when he heard it.

He faced forward and stared at the two men of 2nd-Gear and the giant behind them.

“We shall win,” he said as he moved forward.

Kazami and Izumo ran through the forest.

They pursued Tsukuyomi who ran fifteen meters ahead of them.

However…

“We can’t get any closer!”

Light flew toward them. It was a shot of moonlight. In the shadows of the forest, it was slender and weak.

But at a distance of fifteen meters, it was not completely weakened.

If it hit them as they ran, they would be blown away.

“Could this be any more annoying!?”

Izumo chopped the flying beam of light with V-Sw and a word appeared on the weapon’s console.

“Bored?”

“My tactics aren’t matching up well. If I could only use the second form…”

But the rules of the mock battle prevented that, so Kazami could only agree with him.

In the forest, she could not bring out the wings of X-Wi and fly. If she did try, she could easily run into a tree.

And so she ran and thought.

…''Are we being tested?

More light arrived from ahead of them and Izumo destroyed it again. Tsukuyomi’s shots were both accurately aimed and accurately timed. She never missed the mark and she would fire whenever they were trying to catch a breath.

…''But it’s weak.

That may have been due to the forest. Tsukuyomi had not fired a thick beam of light ever since entering the forest.

And since she was firing repeatedly like this…

“She can’t charge up and send moonlight down from the sky.”

Kazami then wondered what Tsukuyomi’s goal was.

The moonlight was weak in the forest, so why had she entered it?

“There isn’t anywhere convenient to the moon.”

…''Wait. Yes, there is.

As she ran, she looked up. She saw what lay ahead.

Needless to say, she saw lines of trees ahead, so she could not easily judge where she was.

But she knew the terrain after investigating the forest the other day.

“This forest surrounds the artificial lake and it has rivers running through it!”

Even in a forest, the shielding trees would not exist on the river.

If Tsukuyomi stood in the moonlit river, she would be able to draw out the full power of the bow and her name.

And that was precisely what Kazami saw.

There was a break in the forest visible in the distance.

Seeing it startled her.

As if to further her panic, the sounds of a river reached her ears.

Izumo clicked his tongue next to her.

“What do we do, Chisato? Should we keep going, knowing she’s luring us there!?”

Kazami considered Tsukuyomi’s strength and their own.

She and Izumo lacked mobility.

Tsukuyomi lacked attack power. Even on the river, she would only be able to fire horizontally if she wanted to fire repeatedly.

That left a single answer. Kazami cried out to her own equipment.

“We have to defeat her before she can make it to the river! X-Wi, let’s go!”

“You idiot! Are you going to fly!?”

“No!” shouted Kazami as she leaned forward.

At the same time, words scrolled along the watch on her left wrist.

—'''Light is power.

As if proving those words true, wings of light shot out of her backpack.

Kazami knew what she had to do.

She had seen this method in the battle with 1st-Gear. The half-dragon named Fafner had not used his wings to fly.

“He used them to accelerate and turn!”

As soon as the wings took shape, she faced forward.

Tsukuyomi was just about to leave the forest.

If she was going to do this…

“It has to be now!”

As she cried out, Kazami moved forward. An explosion of wind appeared behind her back.

Instead of flying, she began racing forward.

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 27|Chapter 27]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 29|Chapter 29]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 27

2026-08-21T02:42:27Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 27: Your Name==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0335.png|thumb]]
''What is good and what is bad?

''The answer only lies within yourself

''Give that fear the name of expectation

Those who had escaped unharmed gathered in a small forest clearing.

Including Team Leviathan, a total of approximately fifty people had gathered.

Through the forest, the people of 2nd-Gear were visible in the field which had been destroyed by moonlight.

But they showed no sign of moving.

Both sides needed some time to regroup before they could attack or fight back.

And Shinjou spoke in front of those who sat in the clearing.

With Sayama next to her, she lowered the ends of her eyebrows and brought her hands to her chest.

“That’s the truth. That’s the kind of body I have.”

So…

“I’m sorry for not telling all of you.”

Sayama watched as she lowered her head.

''She is very diligent,'' he thought.

That diligence would sometimes be a negative thing for her.

…''But what about now?

Shinjou slowly raised her head.

Her slender body was examining the group. Most of those looking at her merely looked confused.

…''That is not surprising.

Shinjou had made this sudden confession on the battlefield.

They would not truly understand what she meant until later.

And amid those confused looks, someone stood up.

“I don’t fully understand, but excuse me a moment.”

It was Kazami.

She pushed G-Sp2 and its shield toward Izumo and walked over.

Her expression was calm and she said nothing. In exactly ten steps, she arrived in front of Shinjou.

There, she sighed and lowered her shoulders a bit.

“Sayama, support her.”

Her words were accompanied by a high-pitched noise from Shinjou’s cheek.

Sayama supported Shinjou as she trembled a bit.

In the follow-through pose of a right-handed slap, Kazami spoke.

“That should settle that. But let me give you a piece of advice. If you apologize for something like that again, I’ll slap you again. That’s all there is to it.”

“…Are you sure that’s all?”

Shinjou’s probing question produced a sigh from Kazami.

“Y’know, our job here isn’t to reveal everything about ourselves. It’s up to you whether you tell us something or not. And the responsibility that brings is yours, Shinjou.”

Shinjou did not nod or shake her head. Instead, she thought.

As Sayama supported her back, he realized Kazami had glanced over at him.

“I of course do not have a problem with Shinjou-kun keeping silent about this.”

“See? I don’t remember ever finding it to be a problem either. …And if the idiot who’s always with you took no damage from it, do you even need to ask those who are more distant with you?” Kazami turned back toward Shinjou. “But you can’t just apologize. You apologize when you have done something wrong. And if you apologize when you haven’t done anything wrong, it means that your very existence is wrong. You told us this because you didn’t want that to happen, right?”

“R-right.”

“Then that’s fine. Sorry for slapping you. I held back, so please forgive me.”

“Sure.”

Shinjou gave a large nod and something red dripped from her nose to her mouth.

“W-wah! S-Sayama-kun! Give me a handkerchief or something!”

“Heh heh heh. Shinjou-kun, you look beautiful even with a nosebleed.”

“Th-this is not the time for that! Give me something to wipe up the blood.”

“Wait just a moment. …Kazami, what happened to your restraint?”

Everyone turned criticizing looks in Kazami’s direction.

“Eh? Eh?” said Kazami as all those cold eyes turned toward her. “Th-that was only a tenth of what I always use on Kaku.”

“I’m always receiving ten times that?”

“Come now, you two. This is no time for a lovey-dovey couple’s conversation.”

“There’s nothing lovey-dovey about her violence!!”

Everyone ignored Izumo’s opinion.

Sayama pulled Baku and a handkerchief from his breast pocket.

He placed Baku on his head, used the handkerchief to wipe the area below Shinjou’s nose and around her mouth, and found the bleeding had already lessened.

Her expression seemed to say “is it okay?”, so he nodded. Kazami gave a sigh of relief before speaking again.

“By the way, why were you two so late?”

“Well, Shinjou-kun wanted to convince me of her body’s value, so she got on the bed and showed me-…”

“Waaaah!!” shouted Shinjou while grabbing his collar.

Either because they had been unable to hear Sayama’s words or because of Shinjou’s strange shout, Kazami and the others stopped moving and turned confused looks toward them.

Kazami tilted her head and spoke as a representative for them all.

“What? I didn’t catch that. She wanted to convince you of her value, so…what?”

Sayama looked at Kazami and everyone else over Shinjou’s head and nodded.

“So I spread her-…”

“You can’t tell them that!!”

As soon as he started speaking, Shinjou shook him by his collar.

As his vision shook, he had a certain thought.

…''I see. So this is what it means to be lovey-dovey. Heh heh. I have never experienced anything like it. Flirting like your average person is…

“Wonderful…”

''Bring on the lovey-dovey. Shake me even harder,'' he thought just before his necktie tightened.

“W-wait, Shinjou-kun. If you keep this up, my nirvana meter will enter the red zone!”

“I’ll stop those words at the source!”

Sayama tried to stop her, but Shinjou was showing no restraint this night.

Kazami nodded as she saw the look of anger on Shinjou’s face and their struggle over their arms and the collar.

“I see. So you’re in that kind of relationship.”

“K-Kazami-san, please don’t make strange, indecent assumptions!”

“Sayama, do this properly, okay? She isn’t used to it.”

“Do not worry. I am always gentle with Shinjou-kun. I treat everyone else equally, though.”

“S-stop making misunderstandings over my head! And Kazami-san! Why did your indecent conclusion lead you back to your original position!?”

“That’s right,” said another voice. Sayama glanced over and saw Ooki. “As your teacher, I cannot allow an impure relationship with the opposite sex!”

“Calm down, Ooki-sensei. Shinjou-kun is both sexes. As both a boy and a girl, the impurity cancels itself out.”

“Oh. Um… Is that how it works?”

“Someone tell her,” whispered the rest of the group, but she did not seem to hear them.

“B-but I’m relieved,” she said with a smile. “I realized Setsu-kun was Sadame-san from the moment he arrived.”

After a one second pause, everyone shouted out in unison.

“You’re kidding!!”

“I-I am not kidding. Any normal person would have figured it out.”

“Even if a normal person would have, I still have my doubts that you would.”

Hearing everyone’s comment, Ooki proudly puffed out her chest.

“Heh hehn. But I did figure it out. And I never thought Shinjou-kun – or would it be Shinjou-san? – was causing any trouble. I even sympathized. I have to hide my ears at school, but I would tell people if I could. I have to think about the age we live in and the world we live in, but I have my own personal feelings as well. And what matters is getting those two things to mesh.”

Sayama felt Shinjou relax in his arms.

“But,” said Ooki while obviously feeling satisfied with her previous words. “Coming out and getting rid of those worries is a good thing. For example, Kazami-san has shown her violent tendencies to everyone and- Hyaaaah! That was fast!”

A few hands reached up from behind Ooki and dragged her into the group of sitting people.

Sayama ignored the screams in the background and released Shinjou from his arms.

After she moved a bit away, she turned a troubled look in his direction.

“Was this really the right thing to do?”

“You can ask that again once we have seen the full result. The process is not over yet.”

“You’re right.”

Shinjou nodded and remade her expression.

That was when they heard a voice from the south where the main unit had been.

Sayama looked over and saw Yonkichi running over with someone following him. He wore a flight jacket and waved his hand.

“W-we’re in trouble, pi! The headquarters really was destroyed by the moonlight, pi! …Gwoohhh!!”

Yonkichi flew to the side for some reason. Soon thereafter, an old man in a lab coat, Mitsuaki, ran up.

“I apologize for our foolish younger brother’s out-of-place ‘pi’ gag! H-his older brothers will severely punish him later.”

“That fascinating introduction is nice, but please get to the point.”

Mitsuaki ran over to Sayama and slowed his pace.

“All of our supplies have been lost. In other words, we must fight the battle with only the personnel and equipment we have here!”

Everyone stood up and looked over their equipment.

They recalled what they had done as the moonlight fell and during the fighting just before that.

“We released the limiters on our concept weapons,” muttered Kazami. “We’re almost out of philosopher’s stone fuel.”

“That’s right, Chisato. The enemy got us good.”

Izumo’s complaint was followed by the remaining members of the headquarters arriving behind Mitsuaki.

The people looked like bluish black shadows.

They included Ooshiro Itaru with his metal cane, Sf, Diana, and…

“Brunhild Schild is accompanying me as a special inspector from 1st-Gear,” explained Diana.

A girl in black clothes and a three-cornered hat had a bird on her shoulder and a cat at her feet.

“You are the ones who spoke with the dragon of 1st-Gear, so what kind of battle will you show us here?” asked Brunhild. “We can’t exactly have you lose here. I never thought I would be attacked in your headquarters while drinking tea. I spilled my tea.”

“I see you are hoping for a tea-filled battle. That is quite appropriate for such a historic fight.”

Sayama then saw someone behind Brunhild and the others.

“Old man.”

“The star player has arrived.”

Ooshiro wore his usual lab coat and he held both a metal case and something long and narrow wrapped in paper. He raised his right thumb as he approached.

“I’ve brought Georgius and what you asked me for, Mikoto-kun. But it looks like you are having some troubles.” He smiled bitterly. “What happened?”

Atsuta’s voice reverberated across the still lake surface.

“There’s nothing Team Leviathan can do now.”

He was in the center of the concept space. Specifically, he stood on the southern shore of the artificial lake where Sayama and Tsukuyomi had held the preliminary negotiations.

The thirty meter square area was created by a clearing in the forest and it was covered in weeds.

“Team Leviathan has stopped moving,” said Kashima who was there with Atsuta. “That shows that the moonlight bombing hit their headquarters as planned.”

“Weren’t the inspectors there? Won’t that give them a bad impression of us?”

“Isn’t that what you would want, Atsuta?”

“That’s for sure.”

Atsuta smiled bitterly and Kashima looked toward the lake.

A floating pier made from rotting wood stretched out over the lake surface.

It continued to the center of the lake where a giant mass of metal stood.

“It’s so big…”

The moon provided the backlight for a five hundred meter iron giant.

That was Susaou.

Its arms were made quite long to help it balance while walking and those arms were held out into empty air as if carrying something.

The remains of the bridge sank into the chest and the convection of the wind wrapped thin clouds around them.

Kashima stared up at Susaou.

…''I’ve come here again.

But would the others make it?

Atsuta asked that question while casually swinging around Futsuno.

“Heh heh. …I wonder if they’ll make it here. I actually have a legitimate reason to punch that guy. You just can’t have a kid accepted by a grown woman. It doesn’t work that way.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, but it sounds like a personal grudge.”

“Yeah, but what’s wrong with that? You need some kind of justification for fighting. This means I don’t have to worry when I punch him. …I think I’ll sing a song once I win.”

“Sorry, but I think you should probably lose.”

“What are you talking about?”

Atsuta spun Futsuno horizontally over his head.

Darkness suddenly fell over everything below the path Futsuno had taken.

It was a bluish darkness.

There was only one possible explanation.

Futsuno had cut the moonlight.

As Atsuta stopped swinging Futsuno around, the darkness thinned and finally vanished.

He then held Futsuno up and looked into the sky.

“I wonder how much that Sayama guy can do.”

“Are you listening? I will now give you the basic method for defeating 2nd-Gear.”

Sayama held up two handguns. As the guns hung down from his right hand like fruit, everyone formed a semicircle and watched.

He showed them the two guns.

“I had these handguns delivered to me on a certain condition. They are both nothing more than standard models from American UCAT. You can see that, right?”

Everyone silently nodded.

“And my sword has a name. Needless to say, that name comes from someone’s surname.”

Some people in the crowd raised her hand.

It was Kazami who stood with Izumo, Sibyl, and the others.

“But your sword cut the moonlight, didn’t it?” she asked. “Why? Even with sword names like Muramasa or Masamune, they’re still just Low-Gear names, right?”

“An excellent question. I will now show you what this means.”

Sayama tossed the two handguns into the air.

And…

“…!”

With a backhanded grip, he drew the sword hanging on the back of his waist.

And in the same motion, he swung it.

Two sounds rang out an instant later and three objects fell to the ground.

He looked down at his feet.

“The handgun the sword struck first deflected the blade, but the other one…”

He picked up the destroyed handgun which was now nothing more than a piece of metal sliced in half. The cut was sharp and it almost looked like a sliced vegetable.

But when he picked up the other one, it was unscathed.

“Now, does anyone know the difference between these two handguns?”

Everyone fell silent for a few seconds.

As they exchanged glances, a hand rose on the left side of the group.

It was Boldman. He pointed at Sayama and the handguns he held.

“Sayama…or should I call you commander? Anyway, let me see the side of the unharmed handgun.”

Sayama held up the left handgun.

The moonlight descending through the trees illuminated the side. This revealed something there.

When he saw it, Boldman let out a quick laugh.

“Whose gun is this?”

His answer came from right next to him.

A gray-haired elderly soldier from the standard division raised his hand. Boldman immediately looked over.

“What exactly is this carved into the side?”

“Chris. It’s my daughter’s name. She is always watching over me from heaven.”

As everyone gulped a bit, Sayama nodded.

“I apologize for treating your daughter so roughly. But does everyone understand now? That is what it means for names to hold power.”

Kazami tilted her head.

“So is power given by nicknames as well as the name you’re born with?”

“Correct. The question is how that name is perceived. If you think about it, it is obvious. For example, 2nd-Gear’s sword god is named Atsuta. The name Atsuta has nothing to do with swords, but they all perceive it as the name of a sword god.”

“Does that mean names have…?”

“Yes, names have two meanings: the literal meaning of the characters and the perception people have of the name itself. And in this concept space, both of those meanings provide power.”

Sayama indicated the sword at his waist and the handgun in his hand.

“This sword was intended to defeat evil, so it was given a name that symbolizes an evil-defeating sword. And this gun was given the name of a woman who cares for her father, so it provides protection for that father. Names are a reflection of people’s feelings. A name many people care for will provide power for many people and a name an individual cares for will provide power to that individual.”

Sayama turned toward the elderly soldier.

“Your daughter is indeed watching over you.”

The old man nodded and Sayama nodded back before returning the handgun.

“Those of you with attachment to your weapons should trust in them. I also had the old man bring five more swords just like the one I have. Those who specialize in close-quarters combat should take them.”

“Oh, but, Sayama-kun? What are we supposed to do if we have no skills or weapons like that?” asked Ooki.

“I will explain that now.”

He beckoned Boldman over.

The crowd parted to allow the large man through and Sayama gestured for him to sit in front of him.

“The enemy will use the power of their names to advance on us. Tsukuyomi and her control over the moon is their cornerstone. She is their shrine maiden who can use the power of the moon and she will use that power to aid her allies.”

Sayama saw Boldman sit.

“We will use a similar method. We have a certain Greek goddess.”

“Cybele. Read it just a little different and it becomes Sibyl.” With a smile, Sibyl spoke from next to Kazami. “Sayama-sama, are you asking me to play the role of goddess in order to oppose Director Tsukuyomi?”

“Yes. And Sibyl-kun? You will also help with our equipment. If anyone has a nickname for their weapon, act as our shrine maiden and carve that name into it. And for the weapons that do not have a nickname, carve your own name to provide a goddess’s protection.”

A buzz ran through the young male personnel when they heard that.

“We can get Sibyl-san’s signature.”

“This is great. Just great. While we’re at it, I want her to sign my back too.”

“Now I want to avoid using my weapon as much as possible.”

The men excitedly lined up in front of Sibyl.

Ooshiro stood at the end of the line.

“Okay, this is the end of the line. Only one per person. Cutting in line gets you sent to the back.”

As Sayama watched the people lining up, Boldman looked up at him from the ground.

“So why am I sitting here?”

“Oh, my apologies. I forgot to explain that. Anyway, I will start with the most important information.”

He took a breath.

“We are currently surrounded.”

Everyone gasped and looked around.

The enemy was there.

At some point, some figures had appeared inside and outside the forest. They formed a wide circle around the group.

This was a different unit from those on the grassy field with Tsukuyomi.

The groups attacking the left and right units had continued on and slowly surrounded them.

“It would seem the enemy has completed their preparations. I am hoping we can hurry up as well.”

Sayama looked at the figures surrounding them. They stood in the forest without fear.

…''How brave.

“But due to their history, 2nd-Gear has not realized the full possibilities of their concepts.”

“Eh?”

Everyone around him tilted their heads.

“What exactly is a name?” he asked them.

Shinjou supplied an answer.

“It is a proper noun, isn’t it? It is a noun associated with something specific. It is a type of symbol used to distinguish people and things from other people or things.”

“Yes, and that is where the problem lies. In fact, I would say there are two problems there,” explained Sayama. “The first is quite simple, so let us test it out immediately.”

He grabbed Boldman’s head in front of him.

And then he looked to the west.

His gaze stopped on three figures approaching through the forest.

After a moment, they stood up.

Sayama estimated they were fifteen meters away. All three of them wielded swords in the darkness.

Sayama used a hand to stop those who wanted to take action.

“Now, let us have a language lesson. Are names given only to physical objects?”

As he asked his question, the enemies crouched down and prepared to dash forward.

As soon as they took their first step, Shinjou’s voice rang out.

“N-no! They are also given to physical phenomena and abstract theories!”

In the very next moment, roaring voices and countless footsteps filled the forest.

2nd-Gear had begun to move.

And as Sayama waited for them, he had a smile on his face.

He watched the blades of the approaching enemies.

“Precisely, Shinjou-kun. 2nd-Gear has grown so fixated on the names they give themselves that they have lost sight of everything else. And that is why this never occurred to them.”

The enemy left the forest and entered the clearing.

At the same time, Sayama shoved Boldman’s head toward the enemy.

“Attack names will give form to the attack itself!” he shouted. And then he raised his voice even further. “Baldman – Bald Flash!!”

With a roar, light shot from Boldman.

After a light appeared in the center of the forest and pointed to the west, its power took effect instantly.

It looked less like a sphere of light and more like an expanded version of Boldman’s face.

The giant face made of light had its teeth bared and it expanded even further while devouring the trees, the earth, and the air.

In the blink of an eye, it became an explosion of light with a radius of two hundred meters.

The light sounded like spraying water.

It produced enough of an impact to blow everything away.

“…!”

The western side of the forest was blasted into the distance without time to breathe.

The attacking members of 2nd-Gear were not even able to cling to the ground. The expansion of the sphere of light ripped them up and into the air.

The light produced destruction.

But it disappeared an instant later.

However, even that slight time had been enough to leave its mark.

It had whipped up a wind which rustled through the remaining trees. Below that, the crust was exposed on the ground.

The people and trees that had been blown away flew into the distance in a parabolic arc. Once they landed and stopped rolling, they did not move.

Everyone who saw that destruction froze in place. That was especially true for the 2nd-Gear members who were trying to surround Team Leviathan from all directions.

They turned toward the source of the destruction and the whirling wind. There they saw a boy.

Sayama Mikoto held the head of a large black man.

Nothing was moving except for the wind and the leaves of the trees.

Amid it all, Sayama turned toward his group.

“This was a bit of a gamble, but it appears to have worked well. It appears that it must be based on a common perception that no one can deny.”

“Y-you idiot!”

Boldman stood up in front of Sayama.

Sayama looked up at him.

“Hm. I am not sure why you look so angry. That was very useful, was it not?”

“Y-you may be my commander, but there are some things you just don’t do! …Ah.”

Boldman’s knees then collapsed out from under him.

Sayama understood why the man was shaking his head in confusion.

“It seems using this power takes away physical strength. That may have shortened your lifespan by about one hundred days.”

“Y-y’know… Kh!”

Boldman tried to stand up but let out a strange cry and toppled forward.

Rather than catch him, Sayama let gravity take over. As he collapsed, Kazami appeared behind him with her hand up in a chopping pose.

“Kaku, tie him up,” she said with a serious expression. “We can have someone without a weapon use him.”

“Yeah, I’ve never seen a better living weapon.”

“But try not to fire randomly. You do not want to hit one of our own people. …What is it? Is something the matter?”

“I don’t care if it’s a joke. Can you at least say you’re worried about me?”

Some men arrived with a rope which they used to tie up Boldman and turn him into a weapon.

“Now, then. I am sure you have something similar in your own fantasies. As close-combat specialists, you must have given it at least some thought. You must have felt the attack you thought up is unbeatable. If you have an idea and you believe in that idea, then shout it out. If your feelings are real, the attack will follow.”

“I see,” said Izumo as he tightened the ropes restraining Boldman.

He gently grabbed Kazami’s breasts so as to lift them up.

“Kazami Boob Bea- Gwoh!?”

“I’m not letting you fire anything from there!!”

After jabbing her elbow behind her, Kazami frowned.

“We have weapons already, so we don’t need to bother with that. …Hm? What? Why do you look so unhappy?”

As everyone nodded in agreement, the circling wind of the Bald Flash finally escaped into the sky.

Sayama watched everyone as they watched the wind leave.

His gaze met Ooshiro’s and the old man held up Georgius’s case.

That was when someone raised her hand. It was Shinjou.

“U-um, Sayama-kun? I was so overwhelmed by the Bald Flash that I forgot to ask something.”

“Mh? What is it?”

“What is the other problem regarding 2nd-Gear’s names that you mentioned? You never told us.”

“Oh, that is simple, so I was planning to explain it last.”

Sayama nodded and looked around.

2nd-Gear’s forces were beginning to move after being stopped by the previous attack.

But instead of rushing in, they were now approaching slowly and cautiously.

As Sayama watched them, he spoke.

“Think of the names Susanoo, Takemikazuchi, and Tsukuyomi. From a Low-Gear perspective, they are all missing something. Something everyone in Low-Gear has. …Can you tell me what that is?”

“Eh?” asked Shinjou as she furrowed her brow.

“Think about it, Shinjou Sadagiri-kun.”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 28|Chapter 28]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 26

2026-08-20T02:40:40Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 26: Beginning of the Confrontation==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0295.png|thumb]]
''Let the festival begin

''The sky and moon are excellent tonight

''And an excellent will blows through

The chilly night wind brushed across Okutama.

Below the moon, occasional houses produced light along the wind-filled mountains and forests.

One of those houses was the Kashima household. It bordered a stepped paddy field and bright light fell on its yard.

That light illuminated a single figure walking away from the porch.

The figure wore a lab coat. He was Ooshiro Kazuo.

He held something under his right arm. It was a bottle wrapped in brown paper.

He lightly tapped the bottle with his right hand and turned a smile toward the porch.

“This was a nice thing to receive. And we should be able to meet our opponents’ demands. …Thank you.”

Sitting on the porch was an elderly man in a running shirt and work pants. He was Kashima’s father.

He held a cigarette in his mouth.

“Hah. You can take it. It’s my payment for talking about old times for so long. More importantly, are you still up to no good, you perverted old man?”

“I see you’re still as nonchalant as ever, you eccentric old man.”

“Heh. Nothing good is gonna come from a meeting between a man from the first naturalized generation and a man born during the war. You didn’t even come to my old man’s funeral.”

“Yeah, but you had decided not to have anything to do with UCAT.”

Ooshiro’s sulking comment produced a shushing noise from Kashima’s father.

Ooshiro turned a questioning gaze toward him as he looked into the house.

“Aki’s wife is here. She doesn’t know about UCAT, so don’t speak so loud. In fact, get out of here. If possible, just disappear altogether.”

“I kind of want to stick around and see what lies you use to introduce me.”

“Wa ha ha. Is that so? Then I’ll say you’re a new kind of panty thief and throw you in the storehouse.”

“Being thrown in storehouses has been my special skill since I was a kid. …More importantly, what kind of person is Akio-kun’s wife?”

“Excuse me while I go call the police. I need to report a pervert who’s after someone’s young wife.”

“You’re right, Kashima. Turning yourself in is always the best choice. The holding cell is cold this time of year, so I might bring you something hot to eat.”

“You’ll be the one in the cell, you stupid old man! And how do you know the cells are cold!?”

This time Ooshiro shushed Kashima’s father.

Kashima’s father clicked his tongue and Ooshiro sniffed a bit.

“Something smells good. Is that fuki tsukudani? If so, your main dish tonight must be fish or beef. You might add tofu too.”

“Stop trying to guess what we’re having for dinner. Our miso soup has napa cabbage in it, but we aren’t giving any to you, so leave.”

“Hmm. Can I say one thing?”

Kashima’s father’s expression said “what?” and Ooshiro pointed at him with a serious expression.

“A stingy old man like you must not have any friends.”

“Unlike you, I have friends in the neighborhood association! I’ve heard all about you from Aki. He says you spend all your time in your room playing pornographic games. He’s worried you might not be right in the head.”

“Ah! He’s leaking our secrets! Anyway, how did you respond? You’re not letting him know you know me, right?”

“While pretending not to know you, I told him this.” He took a breath. “Aki, trust in your first instincts.”

“How could you tell him that!?”

“Shut up, idiot. Just get out of here. And don’t you dare come back until my funeral.”

“Y’know, we are childhood friends. Doesn’t that normally lead to a cruel but devoted marriage?”

“Hey, wife! This old man is trying to force me to do gay things with him.”

“Okay, your wife is legitimately scary, so I think that’s my cue to leave.”

Despite his words, Ooshiro smiled as he stepped from the light and into the darkness.

“It’s nice having a conversation like this after so long. My work has been a bit too cement-like lately.”

“Are you talking about my old man? Aki’s been busy lately too.”

“That would be classified information, but I can tell you this is something important to your father and to Akio-kun. And it will probably be important to Akio-kun’s wife as well.”

After a short pause, Kashima’s father nodded.

“Probably so. Aki has already decided to continue with UCAT.”

“Yes. Despite everything that happened, he ended up with a nice wife. I can hear two people cooking. Which one is your wife?”

“The aged noises would be my wife. …Not that you can really tell. Since they got married, Aki’s wife has come here a lot to learn how to cook.” Kashima’s father gave a quiet laugh. “She would tell Aki someone had left her with some extra tasks at work and then come here every day. At first, she didn’t even know how to wash rice, but that idiot Aki thinks she was an excellent cook from the get-go.”

“So she’s good at beneficial lies.”

“How was it with you? You have a kid, right?”

“He’s hopeless.” Ooshiro waved a hand back and forth. “But there are certainly some interesting people other than him. I’m on my way to meet them now.”

“Are they an interesting group?”

“Yes. They are terrible at lying. They can’t even make the beneficial lies. …That’s why I hope they can get along with the people who can.”

Ooshiro turned to the east. From the high position of that yard, he could see a sea of lights beyond the mountains to the east. The gatherings of lights gradually grew denser. Starting from the west, they were Oume, Fussa, Tachikawa, and the city center.

Kashima’s father followed Ooshiro’s gaze.

“Susaou is somewhere in those lights, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” agreed Ooshiro.

“And…all those lights were once lost back when we were kids.”

“They were not lost.”

Kashima’s father looked up. He turned toward Ooshiro, but Ooshiro continued looking at the night scenery.

“If they had been lost, they could not have returned. My father, your father, the people who died among those lights in the past, and the people who survived all made sure that they were not lost.”

“Are you sure that isn’t just the sentimentality of an old man?”

Ooshiro turned around, formed his usual smile, and raised his right thumb.

“No, it isn’t. That’s why I’m on my way to meet them.”

A group was advancing through the forest on the southern end of the concept space.

The group of about one hundred wore white combat outfits and were from 2nd-Gear.

Kashima was in the lead, along with Atsuta who carried the large Cowling Sword named Futsuno over his shoulder.

In his work uniform and lab coat, Kashima typed on his laptop.

“Has the scouting unit contacted us about Team Leviathan’s movements?” he asked while looking at the LCD monitor.

“Team Leviathan has set up a headquarters for their supplies and sent three units out,” said a voice from behind. “The main unit is in the center and normal units are on either side. Each unit has about thirty members. In other words, three of their four total units are headed toward us. That is ninety people.”

“I see,” said Kashima with a nod. “It looks like they are taking this seriously even if it is a mock battle. I thought they might focus on the victory condition and send anyone who could fly directly toward Susaou.”

“If they did that, I’d knock them down. Heh heh heh. I wish they’d tried.”

“I really cannot understand how you think. Anyway, Atsuta…and Director Tsukuyomi.”

“Yes? What is it?” Tsukuyomi stepped up next to him with a long, black leather case on her back. She was smiling. “What should we do? I expect all three of them will attack us from a distance.”

“We do not need to worry about all of them. The units on the left and right are filled with normal people. We will have their central unit advance on us and attack. And then…” Kashima glanced toward the leather case on Tsukuyomi’s back. “Director Tsukuyomi, please drive all four of their units, including the headquarters one, to the verge of destruction.”

“Oh, my. You’re heavily relying on me.”

“You have the surname of 2nd-Gear’s imperial family, so you have the greatest individual combat ability,” said Kashima. “Mikami, Katori, you two begin exterminating the normal units to either side once Director Tsukuyomi attacks. You’ve been making their weapons, so you can easily defeat them.”

“Yes, sir,” replied the two young men.

Kashima nodded and looked behind them. The aged managers nodded at him from further back in the unit.

Those elderly soldiers were in charge of assisting Tsukuyomi and the two inexperienced young men’s attacks.

“Okay,” said Kashima with a second nod. “After making a quick appearance, Atsuta and I will head for Susaou and wait there. If Team Leviathan reaches us, that’s fine. If the rest of you succeed, that’s fine too. I hope to receive good news.”

“Do you really?”

“To receive 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core and release its concepts, Yamata must be freed, calmed, and then resealed. I would prefer to do that after 2nd-Gear wins.”

Kashima’s serious expression turned toward the northwest.

Through the forest, he could glimpse the artificial lake in the center of the concept space.

The giant dark shadow that seemed to fill the night was cast by Susaou.

“The question is how much thought they’ve given this. How much do they understand concerning the name Yamata seeks, the concept space left by our ancestors, and what it means to calm Yamata.”

“If they cannot provide the name, they will be roasted on the spot.”

“If they do not understand what it means to calm Yamata, they will be roasted despite sealing Yamata like Ooshiro Hiromasa was. But if that happens, we will protect them. We will ensure they are not burned by Yamata’s flames. And we have Futsuno.”

“Yes,” said Tsukuyomi with a nod. “But why ‘they’? I thought only one person would give Yamata the answer.”

Kashima shook his head.

He was certain the boy he had spoken to in UCAT would be accompanied by the girl who had trembled when facing him.

…''Just like I have someone to support me.

He had heard that those two had yet to arrive.

“It will probably be after they arrive that Team Leviathan will get serious. Do not let your guard down.”

As he spoke, he heard running footsteps and a voice from ahead of him.

“The scouting unit has engaged the enemy!”

He looked forward and heard gunfire beyond the forest that sounded like cloth being struck.

“Are those named weapons? Otherwise, they would not do much.”

He stopped walking as he muttered to himself.

As if in response, Atsuta, Tsukuyomi, Mikami, Katori, and the managers stopped as well.

He thought about the solid presence behind him.

…''So this is my conclusion.

Or perhaps it was his beginning.

He thought he would never truly know, but he then decided he would go find that out now.

He nodded once and took in a breath.

The cold air of the forest was under the effects of 2nd-Gear’s concepts.

…''But it smells no different from Low-Gear’s forest air.

That may have been why his parents decided to live in this Gear. But what about his grandfather?

He removed his right hand from the laptop and placed it against his chest.

The piece of Japanese paper his grandfather had written on was in the breast pocket of his work uniform.

If he faced the past atop Susaou with that in hand, he might find an answer to his questions.

He raised his right hand next to his face.

“Everyone! Japanese UCAT’s development department will now engage Team Leviathan in combat!”

As he faced forward, he lowered his hand and cried out.

“Now, awaken your surnames!!”

In a grassy plain between forests, Izumo and the others began fighting 2nd-Gear’s scouting unit.

Other than their V-Sw and G-Sp2, their comrades were using weapons meant for a mock battle. The guns used mock bullets and the swords had a cowling over the blade.

They still should have caused a decent amount of damage, but…

“It looked like the manufacturing name isn’t a very powerful name!” shouted Kazami as she swung G-Sp2.

The spear had the tip enclosed in a cowling, but it still knocked over several people in its path.

But the other members of the unit did not wield such great power. From the very first attack, they locked swords and were pushed back or their enemy charged in while ignoring their bullets.

The reason was obvious.

Concept weapons used the philosopher’s stone inside to secure their own field of power. That allowed them to retain their power as a weapon under any concept. But even so…

“The bond created by the power of names is too strong! Kaku and I are fine with V-Sw and G-Sp2 because their names include the names Vajra Vritra and Gungnir, but the mass-produced weapons only have a model number for a name.”

When a weapon with a name and one without clashed, the named one would win unless there was a massive difference in base strength.

“The enemy equipped themselves with that in mind.”

2nd-Gear was armed exclusively with customized versions of mass-produced concept weapons.

They had decorations added and they all had a name engraved in them.

The young man currently standing in front of Kazami held a weapon named “Special Warrior’s Lightning Sword” and it was producing small-scale lightning.

However…

“Ugh, what a pain! I just have to blow him away before he can hit me!”

She ducked below the lightning attack and knocked him away.

The sensation of that strike told her that G-Sp2 maintained its strength.

And she shouted out.

“Everyone! Raise the output of your philosopher’s stones! Turn off the usage limiter for the philosopher’s stone fuel! You’ll be pushed back at the normal level!”

As she shouted, Kazami moved forward. At the moment, she and Kaku had to cut into the enemy’s front line.

If they could stop the enemy for even a moment, their confused comrades could recover.

And so they went.

She glanced over at Izumo and he nodded.

“After this, the enemy’s main force will attack. Hurry, Chisato.”

“True. But should we really be calling them our enemy?”

She smiled bitterly and looked forward once more.

Four members of 2nd-Gear’s scouting unit had backed away and taken defensive stances.

The battlefield was a dirt ground with clumps of knee-high grass. She only needed to tread on that grass to advance.

“Kaku, you take care of the rest. I’ll deal with those four.”

Kazami whipped up the wind as she ran.

Starting from the closest, the enemies were to the left, left, center, and right. They were all armed with swords.

They were all prepared for her attack and they stared back at her.

They had courage.

She did not recognize them, so she was able to eliminate her hesitation.

“…!”

As she ran, she targeted the first enemy on the left.

The young man wore a white combat outfit and he attacked with the sword he drew from his right waist.

The blade moved as if to lop off her head.

But…

“Sorry.”

Kazami used the shield in her left hand to deflect the sword upward.

With a solid sound and a light impact, the hilt left the man’s hand and the sword flew through the air.

While running with her body low to the ground, she tried to jab G-Sp2 into him.

Suddenly, the trajectory of the sword flying overhead changed.

That white line had supposedly been knocked up into the air, but it was now falling blade-down.

As she wondered what had happened, the young man gave the answer.

“We are sword gods!”

He held up his empty hand and swung it down.

“Stab into her!”

“How naïve,” said Kazami.

Immediately afterward, the butt end of G-Sp2 jabbed into the air and deflected the falling sword.

“You do not have enough real combat experience. There is more than one way to use a spear!”

She used the point of her shield to knock the young man away.

Her left arm felt a muffled scream and the sensation of something breaking.

As the young man’s body floated up a bit, she slipped past him.

And then the next one came. Another attack came from the left.

The power was produced by a well-built young man. He swung a long sword like it was a bat.

It was a quick movement, but Kazami’s gaze stopped on the blade.

“The blade is wrapped in water!? Please don’t tell me it’s called Tama-chan because it uses the water of the Tama River!”

“No. This prototype Cowling Sword uses the water of the Abukuma River! It is named Abu-san!”

“I think this goes beyond a prototype!”

The water-wrapped blade showed its power.

The water wrapped around G-Sp2 and kept it from moving.

Kazami could not use her weapon.

“…!”

That was when the third enemy approached from the front.

As his sword stabbed forward, she made an instantaneous decision.

She let go of G-Sp2.

Her next actions happened in an instant.

She used her shield to deflect the attack from the front and then rotated her body clockwise.

She launched a roundhouse kick into the back of the young man swinging the water sword.

Her right backhand slammed into the enemy arriving from the front.

Two sounds of impact rang out.

The water sword and G-Sp2 flew through the air.

While continuing to rotate, Kazami caught G-Sp2.

“Do not abandon me,” complained the spear.

“Sorry.”

With a bitter smile, Kazami faced forward and swung the spear.

The horizontal attack eliminated the last enemy coming from the right.

She looked over and saw Izumo had knocked the other enemies away and ended the battle.

She let out a breath, but then she gulped.

At some point, countless white figures had appeared on the vast nighttime plain.

“That’s…”

At least one hundred white figures stood approximately one hundred meters away on the grass.

“2nd-Gear’s main unit!?”

That was precisely who this was.

2nd-Gear’s main force was lined up. In the center, Kazami saw Kashima, Atsuta, and Tsukuyomi.

One of the three stepped forward.

It was Atsuta.

He held the largest Cowling Sword Kazami had ever seen.

Its length alone was greater than Izumo’s V-Sw.

And he sang as he approached.

“The tuuuunaaaa of the seeeaaaaa are freshwaterrrrr fissssshhhh!!”

His song brought looks of displeasure to the faces of the adults around him, but he did not care.

He held up the sword’s hilt like a microphone.

“The suuuuun sets over the Pacifiiiiiic!”

Once he finished the chorus, he looked toward Kazami with a satisfied expression.

A joyful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

“Heh. My special performance sure attracted a lot of customers. Tonight’s a good night. Now, how about another song?”

“Stop, Atsuta. You are being rude.”

“Kashima, are you betraying me?”

“I do not know how this is playing out in your head, but I will gladly bear the title of traitor if it will stop your singing.”

“Is that so?” Atsuta sighed and lightly swung the Cowling Sword up in one hand. “Fine then. We can start off tonight with a single attack from the ultimate weapon me and my jolly friends created. This is the Cowling Sword Futsuno.”

The Cowling Sword slowly cut through the wind and stabbed into the earth.

In the next moment, a two hundred meter square area of earth burst apart.

Kazami watched the destruction of the crust.

Before her eyes, the ground broke and peeled up. And it did not stop.

The power of the slice created a canyon as it raced toward her.

“…!?”

She was surrounded by the wind and noise that preceded the destruction.

And riding on that momentum, the slicing attack arrived.

Just before Kazami thought she was done for, a shadow stood in front of her.

The shadow produced a voice.

“Aaaaahhhhh!”

The shout and sound of impact produced an immediate result.

The center of the slicing power was broken.

“!”

It raced past on either side.

The roar and destruction of the earth continued on behind her and the wind pursued it.

But that was all.

Once the wind died down, silence fell and Kazami looked at the shadow before her.

“Kaku.”

“That’s right.”

Izumo’s back was rising and falling as he gasped for breath. V-Sw’s cowling had been driven into the ground and the console on the hilt displayed a single word.

“Ow.”

Kazami smiled bitterly at that and looked around once more. The destruction of the ground around them was different from that behind them. Starting with where V-Sw had been driven into the ground, a fan-shaped area was much more lightly damaged.

…''V-Sw’s destructive power interfered with that breaking power.

But Izumo did not look her way. He faced forward.

She did the same and saw the white army had not moved from their position behind the destruction.

And Izumo called out to them.

“Is that a Cowling Sword created with all the focus placed on cutting?”

Atsuta looked up as he rested the Cowling Sword on his shoulder.

“That’s right. Futsuno would be known as Futsu no Mitama in this world. If you take Futsu to mean ‘cut’, it means ‘the cutting soul’.”

Meaning…

“In this space ruled by names, Futsuno can cut through anything. Even light and darkness.”

Atsuta picked a stone up from the ground and threw it into the air.

Once it reached a few meters up, gravity began to pull it down.

It was going to hit Atsuta.

Just as it started to fall, he swung Futsuno above his head and through empty air.

The blade did not actually hit the small stone.

But once the stone fell through the path Futsuno had taken, it moved to the right and avoided Atsuta.

“The stone…moved out of the way?”

Atsuta explained it to Izumo.

“Do you get it? I cut misfortune. Swords used to be used as good luck charms because they could cut through misfortune. Do you understand? No attack can reach Futsuno and no defense works against it. If the blade can reach something, it can cut it. You need to keep that in mind, you little brats.”

With that said, Atsuta moved back.

At the same time, 2nd-Gear began to move. The vanguard moved forward and a few members of the rear guard did something else.

…''They’re flying.

A few people in white combat outfits walked up into the air and into the sky as if climbing a staircase.

Kazami spotted guns or bows in their hands.

She made a single decision: She could not let them fly. That was all.

“…”

So she took in a breath and bent forward.

If she did not oppose them with the X-Wi on her back, they would achieve air superiority.

She imagined power gathering in her shoulder blades.

X-Wi reacted to her will and the movements of her muscles.

It produced light.

White light overflowed from the two spheres at the top of X-Wi which formed the bases of the wings.

“!”

She then looked forward and froze in shock.

There was a simple reason for this.

She had seen a flash of light.

A giant flash of light shot toward her from the front.

She almost mistook it for the dragon’s main canon she had seen in their battle against 1st-Gear.

“Wh-…”

She tried to ask what it was.

“Get down, you idiot!”

But Izumo’s voice and hands pressed her to the ground.

The next thing she knew, an overwhelming force passed by overhead and swallowed up the light growing from her back.

That force was a white light.

It was a large beam of light with actual mass and a radius of over three meters.

The sound of the racing light was a roar in the air. The scent could only be described as white. And the impact…

“…!”

The sound of earth scattering behind her eloquently described its power.

When she turned around, she saw a wide gouge in the ground and her comrades scattered everywhere.

All of those who had collapsed were unconscious and not moving.

“Now you’ve done it…”

Kazami looked forward.

She clearly saw one figure standing in the center of 2nd-Gear’s troops.

It was Tsukuyomi.

She stood one hundred meters away and wore a white and black armored uniform.

The elderly woman wore a white cape over her shoulders which fluttered in the wind.

She held her arms toward Kazami and those arms held a certain object.

It was a giant black bow encased in a cowling.

The bow was over two meters long and it formed a powerful arc with no arrow in it.

[[Image:OnC_v04_0319.png|thumb]]
Tsukuyomi held the large bow.

She needed to draw Team Leviathan’s attention to herself.

After all, Atsuta had fallen back so he and Kashima could head for Susaou. If Team Leviathan noticed them…

…''They would at least grow impatient.

That was fine with her.

“But we need you to oppose us properly first.”

As she spoke, she saw a boy and a girl standing on the destroyed plain.

They were the Izumo family’s heir and his partner. Their weapons were the Cowling Sword V-Sw and the Cowling Spear G-Sp2.

Her team had created both weapons.

And based on the data retrieved after each battle of theirs, neither of them was fully using their weapon.

…''They have both used the second form only a few times and have not used the third form since the first time they used the weapons.

G-Sp had not shown its third form since being remodeled into 2.

That simply meant they had not met an enemy powerful enough.

…''But they might not be using the normal forms to their fullest either.

Their weapons had wills of their own.

Their names were engraved on the cowling and they had fabricated memories in order to establish their wills.

That had been after sealing Futsuno. After learning their lesson from Futsuno, they had spent several years attempting to create cowlings that would suppress the weapon’s own power.

How fully were they using these weapons with wills of their own? How much did they trust them?

“Perhaps I should test that here.”

A smile naturally formed on her face and she drew the bowstring with the smile still there.

She thought on how long it had been since she had last drawn this bow.

“This weapon was created for the Concept War and it has been passed down in the 2nd-Gear imperial family of Tsukuyomi. It is known as the Heavenly Moon Bow and my husband left it behind.”

“And that was its power you just showed us? That’d probably blow through a mechanical dragon, but…”

“Oh, dear. The boring explanations are my job. Please do not interrupt.”

Tsukuyomi laughed. It was a small laugh that could be called a snicker.

“Son of Izumo, I was merely tuning the bow just now. Think about the name I just mentioned.”

“Heavenly moon…” muttered the girl next to him.

“Yes. How about I tell you where the light technology used for your wings came from?”

Tsukuyomi looked up into the sky.

She looked up into the heavens were a round pale light floated directly overhead.

Tsukuyomi felt it was a wonderful and pleasant light.

…''I spend so much time underground. I need to take some time to bathe in the moonlight more often.

She then faced forward and looked at the two enemies standing up front.

“I have been drawing this bowstring for a while now.”

“Are you saying you’ve been targeting us this whole time?”

“No.”

Tsukuyomi smiled and pointed the bow toward the sky.

As she held the large arc up toward the moon directly above, she spoke.

“I have been gathering strength.”

She released the string and a sound resembling a koto rang loudly through the air.

The wind carried the note high into the sky.

“Resound, musical bow of moonlight! Clear away the misfortune we could not make use of during the Concept War!”

The wind blew strongly through the sky and all sound vanished.

In the next moment, countless small lights appeared across the night sky.

That group of lights twinkled like the stars as they appeared on the concept space ceiling approximately two kilometers above.

The specks of light numbered at least in the hundreds.

And they all fell at once.

The lights were not meteors or comets. They were giant pillars of light falling vertically down.

Each one was at least five meters across and the hundreds of pillars were packed thickly together.

They fell.

“Strike, attack of moonlight!”

As Tsukuyomi shouted out, the hundreds of lights ripped apart the ground.

At the same time, 2nd-Gear’s full force moved forward to begin their own individual battles.

As dust and wind burst upward, a great noise and a tremor caused the ground to crumble beneath their feet.

The pillars of moonlight poured down one after another and they showed no sign of stopping.

Amid it all, Kazami and Izumo ran.

They ran back in order to move away from their enemy.

“Fall back!”

It was unclear if their comrades could hear them.

They could see the hammer of light also striking the normal units to the left and right.

As Izumo ran alongside Kazami, he would occasionally swing V-Sw overhead to slice apart a pillar of light falling toward them.

They ran.

They moved toward a location the moonlight could not reach.

And there was only one such place.

“The forest!”

They ran to the forest along the southern edge of the concept space. This was the forest they had walked through to arrive here.

The moonlight avoided the forest as it fell. It was possible the shadows would weaken it.

…''Our headquarters is beyond that forest. I hope they’re okay.''

But Kazami could not focus on that now. The danger before her eyes took precedence.

The moonlight was avoiding the forest, but that would essentially trap them there.

She did not like it, but that was their only option until they could regroup.

They ran.

The forest was approximately one hundred meters away and she did not know if everyone could last that long.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see several other people running just like Izumo and her, but a pillar would occasionally hit them. They would then fly through the air and land sprawled out on the ground.

“That almost looks fun,” said Izumo.

“If you say you want to try it, I’ll throw you to the ground!” she shouted back while still running.

Their comrades who had reached the forest ahead of them were shouting their way.

At first, she thought they were telling her to hurry.

But then she realized they were pointing behind her.

“Kazami! Behind you! Behind you!”

She turned around and saw that Tsukuyomi had fired another horizontal shot. Also, some 2nd-Gear youths were pursuing her with swords in hand. About a dozen of them were spread out in a horizontal line.

“Die!!”

“I thought this was a mock battle!!”

As she cried out, the light arrived. Izumo turned around, but he was not going to make it in time.

However, a shadow dashed in the light’s path.

No, two shadows.

Kazami recognized the two people and she spoke a name.

“Sayama!?”

The one shadow nodded and spoke the other name.

“Shinjou-kun is here as well.”

As he spoke, Sayama pulled something from the back of his waist.

It was a Japanese sword with a short, thick blade.

“The old man gave me this sword just now. How will a sword with a name from Low-Gear handle the moonlight!?”

He held the sword backhanded and jabbed the blade forward.

The horizontal beam of moonlight and the trajectory of Sayama’s steel crossed.

“!”

This produced a sound similar to a steel wind instrument being struck.

The light was deflected before Sayama’s eyes.

The white moonlight produced spray like a waterfall and scattered.

Sayama pulled back the sword which had split the moonlight and inspected its blade.

It had not chipped, but he had felt a distinct impact in his hand. If he repeated the action, the blade would grow more and more bent until it was unusable.

…''I cannot do this much.

Kazami then asked a question as she ran.

“Where have you been!?”

“I will explain later. For now, let me say that our headquarters has been destroyed.”

Kazami frowned and Izumo gave an exasperated sigh.

While those two fell silent, Shinjou elbowed him in the side.

“You’ll explain later? Should I really tell them my identity?”

“Yes, that should eliminate your reservations. And to help persuade them, perhaps I should be the one to tell them.”

“Eh?”

“Kazami, listen carefully as you run. Earlier in my dorm room, I spread Shinjou-kun’s legs to check on-…”

“Waaah!!”

Shinjou let out a yell to drown out his voice.

She yelled even louder than the sounds of the falling moonlight, so Kazami looked puzzled.

Meanwhile, Shinjou frantically waved her hands.

“I-It’s nothing. Nothing at all. Sayama-kun is just a little crazy.”

“R-really? Well, there’s no helping it with Sayama, but make sure you don’t catch his insanity, Shinjou.”

“Lately, it has become apparent that the people around me have a twisted picture of me…”

Kazami and Izumo ignored Sayama as they charged ahead into the forest.

But the enemy was still pursuing them.

Shinjou turned toward Sayama and nodded. Strength gathered in her slender shoulders.

“We need to make up for being so late.”

He took a step back as he watched the young men of 2nd-Gear approach with their swords.

Meanwhile, Shinjou also took a step back and spun her Cowling Staff vertically in her right hand.

The two meter white Cowling Staff was named Ex-St.

She rested the bend in the center of the body on her shoulder and she grasped the staff like a gun barrel.

And Ex-St began to change form.

First, six button-style triggers appeared on the right side of the surface.

Next, a grip stuck out on the front left.

Shinjou used that grip to support the staff and hold it in place. She then looked at Ex-St’s gun portion.

The equipment’s designated name was written on side of the white cowling. This was the second name given to Ex-St.

“Tiger Star.”

As Shinjou muttered that name, the moonlight fell. But she paid it no heed.

She held up the staff and stared at the enemy.

One of them shouted to his comrades.

“Don’t worry! Ex-St has never produced much power!”

“True. My determination is a bit too weak,” muttered Shinjou. “But that doesn’t mean I haven’t thought of a way to fight like that!”

How could one strengthen a weak attack?

There was a single answer. She raised her five fingers over the six button-style triggers on the outer surface.

“Rapid fire!!”

She snapped her wrist to the left and right while bringing her fingers back and forth over the trigger buttons.

Each time she hit the buttons, a white bullet flew out.

She fired again and again.

The clicking of the buttons rang out almost like a musical instrument.

As she surpassed sixty shots a second, Sayama let out a gasp of wonder.

“Shinjou-kun, where did you learn that underhanded technique!?”

“In UCAT’s game café! I don’t want to break my nails, so I can’t keep it up for long, though.”

As hit piled up on top of hit, the enemy was swallowed up.

And then it all exploded.

A chain reaction of explosions created a giant wall of light which jutted up into the heavens.

A wall of light rose into the sky. It was one hundred meters long and at least forty meters tall.

It rose up like a pillar of water and it collapsed at the peak.

That light was visible from within the forest.

Four people watched it.

They were away from the battlefield in the eastern forest.

There was a small clearing there.

As they watched the light scatter into the air, a female voice spoke up.

“Fireworks!”

“Tatsumi, those are not fireworks,” said Mikoku. She wore a black shirt and sipped from a paper cup. “Fireworks happen during the summer.”

“Mikoku, I don’t think the season is the problem,” said Shino in a white shirt. She held chopsticks. “In fact, I think what we’re doing here is the problem.”

In front of her were a wooden table, a portable stove, a steel plate, meat, and vegetables. Beyond it all were Hajji in a black shirt and Tatsumi in an orange T-shirt and white vest.

Hajji poured himself a beer and took a drink.

“Well, there’s nothing for us to do this time. Their security here has actually dropped due to the mock battle, so what’s wrong with sneaking into the concept space and watching the transition? Hm? What is it, Shino? Your meat is cooked.”

“Oh, right.”

After taking the meat on a paper plate with sauce on it, Shino tilted her head.

Was this really a reconnaissance mission?

She had her doubts, but the food would taste good all the same.

Next to her, Mikoku was still looking beyond the forest. The older girl finally opened her mouth to speak.

“That falling moonlight was amazing. Father, couldn’t we have invited 2nd-Gear to join us purely as a fighting force rather than for their development abili- That is my meat!!”

“You must not let your guard down, Mikoku. I am a philanthropist when it comes to everything but pork. Hm?”

''I see,'' thought Shino. ''This is the same as always.

And so she grabbed a carrot.

“Did you make this sauce, Tatsumi?”

“Yes. I asked Alex for his family’s recipe before. I removed some of the garlic, though.”

“Is that so?” muttered Shino.

“Maybe we should have brought Alex with us,” said Hajji as he looked up into the sky. “This place is plenty dark and spacious.”

“He can’t,” explained Tatsumi. “While his body is being messed with, he says merely touching the outside air makes him feel like his body is going to collapse. …He’ll probably be like that for another two months. Also, he can’t eat.”

“…”

“C’mon, don’t get so down. You eat too, Mikoku. No matter what we say, it won’t change anything with him. He’s working hard to be modified into the Army’s greatest power, so we shouldn’t complain.”

Tatsumi threw some cooked meat onto Mikoku’s plate.

And Mikoku frowned.

“It feels inadequate without rice.”

Suddenly, something that shined in the light appeared right in front of Mikoku’s face.

Shino realized it was the tip of a blade.

Tatsumi was holding it.

At some point, she had swapped out the chopsticks in her right hand for a sword.

The tip of the white sword and a perfectly honest smile were pointed in Mikoku’s direction.

“I apologize for forgetting that. Would you like this instead?”

Mikoku’s shoulders drooped and she started picking up the meat and vegetables.

Shino smiled bitterly toward her.

“Not even you can stand up to Tatsumi, Mikoku.”

“Who can stand up to a female weapon who can oppose a Cowling Sword with a wooden sword? She even has Alex under her control. You could say she effectively controls all of the Army’s offensive power.”

“I’d appreciate if you at least said you were determined to defeat me eventually. …Plus, you rely on strength too much, Mikoku.”

The woman whose long hair had the sides brushed back smiled. It was the smile of a teacher watching over her student.

At some point, she had switched back to holding her chopsticks.

When Shino noticed that, she commented on it.

“Tatsumi, you’re naturally amazing, aren’t you?”

“Thank you. My master trained me well. In the few years since I came to Low-Gear, I’ve run through the mountains, swam through the rivers, and otherwise nurtured my intuition in the open world rather than in a dojo.”

“So no one can stand up to you. …I didn’t realize you had brought back your wild side in this modern age.”

“I don’t know if you can call me wild or not, but I wouldn’t exactly say no one can stand up to me.”

Tatsumi used her chopsticks to pick up an onion just before it burned. She then placed it on her plate.

“I still don’t think I can stand up to my master and others have caught up to me. For example, you have, Mikoku. Also, there’s my master’s grandchild and the child who treated me like an older sister for a bit. I wonder what they’re doing now.” Tatsumi sighed and bit into an onion. “Oh, it’s sweet. Mikoku, stop eating only the meat and try some vegetables too. I secretly bought only well-known and expensive brands.”

“You secretly bought them?”

“Yes. I managed to get money out of maintenance and general affairs by saying we were having a secret meeting with 2nd-Gear.”

“So if I tell them negotiations with 2nd-Gear fell through, everything will be fine? Hm?” said Hajji.

“Y-you can’t do that!” shouted Shino. “You shouldn’t lie! Mikoku, you can’t eat this meat!”

As Shino shouted, Mikoku used her chopsticks to stick some meat in Shino’s opened mouth.

Shino chewed and swallowed without thinking.

“Now you are our partner in crime. Hm?”

“Mikoku, if you’re going to do an impression of me, you need to give a little more…well, you know. Hm?”

Mikoku ignored Hajji’s comment and asked him a question.

“Father, Susaou is in the center of the lake beyond the forest and 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core is sealed inside Totsuka on its bridge.”

“And you are wondering why we aren’t going to get it? That’s right, isn’t it? Isn’t it?”

As Mikoku glared silently at him with half-lidded eyes, Hajji continued speaking.

“That is because of Yamata’s question.”

“Yamata’s…question?”

“Yes. Yamata will only give in to one it approves of. And that is why answering Yamata’s question is a gamble. If you fail, you die, but success isn’t a sure thing either. Someone who gave the correct answer in the past was still burned away by Yamata’s distinctive flames. …If Team Leviathan can both provide the correct answer and live on, we can watch how they do it from here.”

Hajji suddenly turned toward Shino.

“Am I talking too much? Well? Hm?”

“I think it’s a good thing on occasion.” She then looked beyond the forest. “But Team Leviathan has it tough. They’re working so hard to collect the Concept Cores while not knowing what we will eventually do.”

“Well, we should probably make an appearance before too long. The Gears we are currently negotiating with and the ones we cannot negotiate with do not know what the others are doing, but their actions are meshing together well as far as I can tell.”

He hid his mouth behind his hand.

“Perhaps next time. Hm?”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 27|Chapter 27]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 25

2026-08-19T01:15:13Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 25: False Name==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0259.png|thumb]]
''Something you wanted to say for so long

''Something you have long searched for

''Something you have avoided for exactly that reason

The setting sun illuminated a staircase.

The tiles of the staircase currently held a single purpose. They carried someone up the stairs with loud footsteps.

And the person producing those footsteps was none other than Shinjou.

She ran up and up.

The meeting place lay beyond the staircase. Her answer lay there.

Her shoulders rose and fell as she gasped for breath, proving that she had been running in her rush to arrive.

The hem of her skirt was a bit wrinkled and her jacket had slipped from one shoulder, but her expression retained its strength. She brushed up her bangs.

“Sayama-kun…”

Muttering that name, she grabbed and turned the doorknob in front of her.

As the door opened, she did not see the UCAT rooftop she had designated as the meeting place.

It was a student dorm room.

The wristwatch on the arm holding the knob indicated it was just before 6 PM.

As night approached and the sounds of the All Holiday Festival could be heard in the distance, Shinjou muttered quietly.

“Why?”

In the space Shinjou had opened, someone sat in a chair by the window.

Sayama sat there. He faced her with a smile and with Baku on his shoulder.

Seeing the smile in his almond-shaped eyes, Shinjou regulated her breathing and asked again.

“Why?”

“Why what?” he asked back.

Shinjou stepped forward into the room and shut the door behind her.

“Wh-why didn’t you come to UCAT? I waited for over half an hour and you didn’t show up, so I-I hurried here. I could only think you were waiting for Setsu here!”

“I see. Shinjou-kun, let me ask you this.” He took a breath and spoke as if confirming something he already knew. “Then why would I need to go to UCAT?”

Shinjou reflexively raised both her shoulders. She clenched both her fists as they hung down next to her body.

“B-because…!”

…''Why doesn’t he understand?

“You had always chosen Sadame! I wanted you to definitively choose and decide on Sadame! But…but you…!”

As she spoke, strength left her legs and she could no longer support herself.

…''Why won’t he give me an answer?

As she thought, Shinjou slowly leaned back against the door. She almost sank down along the metal door.

“What…what am I supposed to do?”

In her blurry and sinking vision, she saw Sayama stand from the chair.

He approached.

This surprised her, so she bent her waist and pressed against the door as if trying to escape.

But the door remained closed. She could not escape.

She merely lowered her hips and embraced her own chest while crouching down.

“S-stay back, Sayama-kun. Right now… Right now I’m…”

“I understand. Or perhaps I should say I understand ''now''.”

Just as his voice came from directly in front of her, Sayama lightly embraced her.

“No…”

He ignored her resisting voice and picked up her crouching body.

She could no longer escape.

“Mh…”

She let out a groan of protest and saw his serious expression before her.

But she could not bear having him simply stare at her like that, so she opened her mouth.

“S-Sayama-kun? You said…that you understand. What do you mean?”

Sayama responded with a single action.

He looked behind him.

He looked toward the desk by the window. Shinjou also saw what sat there.

“Is that…?”

It was Shinjou Setsu’s binder.

“Shinjou-kun, I just read the plot Setsu-kun wrote. …It is the story of an impertinent and foolish boy who negotiates and fights with the remnants of ten alternate worlds in order to fulfill his grandfather’s final request.”

And…

“That is something Setsu-kun should not have known about.”

“S-Sadame might have told him.”

“Can you really say ‘might have’ about your own actions? …But the answer is quite simple. I had thought I had cast aside all common sense when dealing with creatures like the old man and Izumo, but I am such a sensible person that I seem to have slipped up here. I must return to my initial assumption.”

With the festival music in the distance, Shinjou listened to him speak.

“Shinjou-kun, you are both Setsu-kun and Sadame-kun, aren’t you?”

Sayama looked at Shinjou who was in his arms and between him and the door.

She did not answer his question. She remained motionless and stared back at him with wavering eyes.

Her silence and motionlessness eloquently gave him his answer. She was saying his statement was accurate.

…''But I will not receive an immediate answer no matter what I ask now.

And so he attempted to embrace her further. He wanted to check on a certain fact.

As he drew her closer, Shinjou drew back.

“S-stop. I-I…”

“As your opposite, I can only view those as words of approval.”

“Eh? Um… Th-then go right ahead.”

“Gladly.”

“Waah!”

Shinjou cried out in protest as Sayama held her close.

Her chest pressed against his and he found the answer he wanted.

The body pressed against his was that of Shinjou Setsu.

“D-do you understand now? You can’t do this, Sayama-kun. You can’t do this with a guy…”

“Then when can I do this?”

After some slight hesitation, Shinjou answered.

“When I become Sadame. …So decide. All sorts of people have looked at me funny in the past, but which one will you choose?”

Shinjou went on to clearly speak about herself.

“I live alternatively as Sadame and Setsu, so I will match the other to the one you choose.”

Shinjou’s hesitant words were accompanied by a look that said “I finally said it.”

Sayama nodded toward her uneasy expression. He spoke to her again as if telling her to calm down.

“Shinjou-kun, I am willing to give you an answer, but may I ask you something first?”

“Wh-what?”

“You said you live alternatively as both, but what do you mean by that?”

After a short delay, she nodded and answered.

“I can’t change at will. My body changes between them on its own. I’m Setsu right now, but I will become Sadame after a while. So…”

She tried to say “decide”, but she fell silent and trembled slightly.

She was trembling in fear. That drove home the fact that she was telling the truth.

And so Sayama gently patted her back while embracing her like he had done on that night.

“I see. And because of that, you think I will choose Sadame-kun?”

“…Yes. That would be normal, right? Setsu would just cause you problems. So I made up my mind this morning. If you choose Sadame, I will act like a girl from now on.” She gave a resigned smile. “And Sadame can stay with you as long as the Leviathan Road lasts.”

''I get it now,'' thought Sayama. ''Her thoughts were based in consideration toward me.

He was a boy, so she would act accordingly.

“I see. Shinjou-kun, let me say one thing before I give my answer.”

He had something to say to her once more.

“You are right.”

“…Eh?”

Sayama spoke to her surprised face.

“Your choice was right. You suppress yourself, but you hurt no one. And you keep you and your surroundings from changing.” Sayama tilted his head. “But if you do that, how am I supposed to do something wrong as a villain? You said this just now: ''Sadame can stay with me as long as the Leviathan Road lasts.'' But that means something else as well. If I choose Sadame, I can only see you during the Leviathan Road.”

Sayama recalled the misunderstandings over the past few days and the feelings Shinjou had given him.

''How pathetic,'' he thought in self-deprecation.

He went on to swear never to let that happen again.

“I will now give my answer, Shinjou-kun. There is only one person I could possibly choose.”

“A-and…”

The look in her eyes said “which one is that”, so he immediately answered.

“I cannot choose Sadame-kun or Setsu-kun. I choose you, Shinjou-kun. I want you to remain as you are.”

“I-I can’t do that!”

“That sounds like praise to me. And so let me say this: Today, you came to me. From now on, I too will go wherever you are. I will go there to be mistaken. And together we can be mistaken in the right way.”

…''Perhaps I should not speak my feelings any more than this.

Sayama moved in toward Shinjou’s face.

“S-stop! You may be eccentric and crazy, but you’ll regret this. And I’ll be treated like some precious treasure like I used to be. I can’t force something like that onto you. I-…”

Sayama sealed her lips with his own.

Shinjou swallowed her breath and weakly tried to escape, but Sayama tilted his head and would not let her escape. He used his own lips to bite sideways onto her soft and round lips.

And he pulled her lips forward so that she faced forward.

“Nn…mh.”

They both closed their eyes. As he felt both their breaths, Sayama held her tightly.

The tension in Shinjou’s body did not lessen, but it did not strengthen either.

He let go of her lips and felt her warm breath. Her long hair was in slight disarray.

“Why…? You’ll regret this. You’re kissing a boy’s body right now…”

Sayama ignored her and placed his lips on hers again.

“…”

Shinjou opened her eyes but closed them again.

They both took a breath and their lips separated once more.

“Shinjou-kun, as long as you dislike this, I will keep doing it.”

“Th-then I like it…”

“Then I shall give you what you want.”

He did it a third time.

“Y-you’re a liar, Sayama-kun.”

“I try to follow my true desires and live a modest life, you know?”

Sayama grinned bitterly at how their actions did not suit the festival sounds outside.

“Now, Shinjou-kun. I would like to ask you one thing first. …Would you allow me that?”

“Eh?” asked Shinjou with a troubled expression.

“If possible, I would like to see all of you once more so that I can confirm your lie.”

“You mean…you want to confirm that I am not just one or the other?”

“Yes.”

Shinjou blushed and hung her head down.

But she finally swung her head down slightly.

She nodded.

On the roof of UCAT’s white-walled building, two people stood below the twilight-covered sky.

The people who wore all black were Ooshiro Itaru and Sf.

Sf looked at Itaru. He was looking toward Tokyo to the east.

“Itaru-sama, I have determined that we need to leave for Showa Memorial Park soon.”

“Do not rush things. For once, I am lost in emotion.”

“Tes. I have determined that this is a rare case. Should I take a commemorative photograph?”

Itaru turned around to find Sf had set up a large camera.

“Tes. Say cheese. …What is that look for, Itaru-sama?”

“Should a German machine really use the English word ‘cheese’?”

“I am made to global standards. That does not include the north, however. But…”

Itaru sighed and spoke what he had predicted she was going to say.

“Shinjou has become a boring person, too.”

“She was here for a while, but she quickly grew tired of it.”

“Yes.” Itaru nodded and looked up at the stars visible in the sky. “In the end, she left to create meaning for herself. She has opposed fate and met Sayama.”

As he spoke, smoke rose into the air and a flash blinded him.

“Tes. I took a photograph. I determined that expression was worth capturing on film.”

Before Sayama’s eyes, Shinjou sat on the bed with her skirt and socks removed.

The ends of her eyebrows were still lowered, but her face was red.

“Please take care of the rest…”

With that said, she slowly tumbled back onto the bed. She placed the pillow under her head and clasped her arms below that.

She lightly raised her right knee and intertwined her legs, but she could no longer hide her body with her arms clasped beneath the pillow. Sayama’s only obstacles were the shirt and white panties she wore.

He nodded and leaned forward over her body.

Shinjou gasped in response.

He stroked her head to calm her down and kissed her once. This produced a pale smile.

After seeing her nod, he placed his fingers on the shirt below his eyes.

He rested his left elbow on the bed and used the hand to stroke her head. Meanwhile, his right hand undid the buttons.

“You can see now, can’t you?”

As the white cloth opened, her pale flesh became visible underneath.

Her slender and delicate white body was covered in sweat and it rose and fell as she breathed.

The damp sweat reflected the room’s light and it had been produced by more than just her run here.

Sayama’s gaze started at her navel which trembled as she breathed and then moved up in a line. It stopped when their gazes met.

With a serious expression, he tried to tell her to calm down.

“You are wonderfully erotic, Shinjou-kun.”

“I-I don’t think that’s what you’re supposed to say here.”

“My apologies. It seems my mind superseded my words.”

As he spoke, Sayama’s hands approached Shinjou’s last piece of clothing.

He looked toward her and she gave a blushing nod while almost entirely closing her eyes.

He nodded back and lowered her panties to her knees.

With a quiet shriek, she drew her body back on the bed.

She tried to press her knees together, but her panties had already passed that point.

Sayama twisted the panties around her ankles and off of her toes.

“Ah.”

With a look of surprise, she saw her panties in his hands.

He folded them and placed them on top of her skirt.

“Now, Shinjou-kun, please spread your legs. I want to see clearly if you are currently a boy.”

“U-um, Sayama-kun. Once you see that I’m a boy…”

“This could become troublesome, so let me say this up front: I was not kissing Setsu-kun or Sadame-kun earlier. I was kissing you, Shinjou-kun. …How about we put it to the test here? Let us see whether I regret it or not.”

Shinjou lowered her eyelids slightly, strength left her eyebrows, and her lips moved.

“…”

She spread her slightly raised elbows and fully exposed her face.

At the same time, she relaxed her stiff knees and spread them.

She exposed her body.

Her shirt was hiding her shoulders and arms, but her chest was exposed.

Her legs spread apart as if creating a mountain to the left and right.

“Can you see me now?”

“I can.”

“W-well? Do you suddenly regret kissing me just now?”

“Not at all. I apologize for not living up to your expectations, Shinjou-kun.”

Shinjou provided a single reaction.

She let out a breath and all strength left her body and expression.

Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes and she spoke in a trembling voice.

“What time is it?”

“According to the alarm clock by the bed, it is 5:58 PM. The festival outside should end soon.”

“Then it shouldn’t be long,” said Shinjou in a relieved voice.

And Sayama suddenly noticed a change.

The air around them moved slightly. It was as if a gentle breeze was whirling around the two of them.

“What is this?”

As he looked around, he saw a change in Shinjou’s expression.

She gave a satisfied smile.

“Watch, Sayama-kun. Since you did not regret your decision, I want you to see my lie.”

As she spoke, the wind came. Along with the wind, something like white mist rose around her body and she closed her eyes.

Sayama watched as her sweaty body seemed to waver a bit below the mist.

[[Image:OnC_v04_0275.png|thumb]]

“Your body…”

Shinjou’s body changed. It was not that it gradually transformed. It looked more like it had been swapped out.

The change happened in an instant. By the time Sayama took in another breath, the gentle wind and thin mist had vanished.

Only Shinjou’s sweat-covered body remained before his eyes.

But this was not a boy’s body. The chest of this girl’s body swelled up.

Just as he heard the announcement of the end of the day’s festival, Shinjou’s lips uttered the words that indicated everything about herself.

“This is Sadame’s body, Sayama-kun.”

As all sound vanished from outside, Shinjou was painfully aware that she was revealing everything about herself to Sayama.

She wondered what she was doing and she wondered if this would be the end of it all.

“Do you understand? This is why I am pursuing my parents. I don’t know what Gear I am from.”

“Do you change sex at a set time every day?”

“Yes… It is usually between 5:30 to 6:00 both in the morning and evening. That’s why I am always a boy when taking a bath in the evening.”

“You always did that?”

“Yes. I would always take a bath and then wait in the dorm bathroom until the change happened. After eating dinner, I would be a girl, so I was really surprised when you got in bed with me before. …It wasn’t easy. To make sure you wouldn’t catch on, I would go to the bathroom. Ooshiro-san and the others would send airplanes and helicopters flying around to create an alibi.”

Also…

“In UCAT, I wore female equipment even as a boy because only Sadame was part of UCAT.”

“I see. But why were those adults so intent on hiding this?”

“I think they like making a big deal out of everything. …I’m thankful, though.”

There was something else she had to say.

“I’m sorry for deceiving you. This is my lie. So…”

Her voice trembled.

“You can do with me as you wish.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You remember, don’t you? You’ve saved my life twice. Once when we first met and once when we faced Fafnir Custom.”

And more importantly, he had also saved her with his will and attitude several times.

“Sayama-kun, I have no right to complain even if you kill me, so I won’t be able to stand it if you don’t do with me as you wish. Even if you deny me, hate me, or hold a grudge for deceiving you, I will bear with it. Whether as Sadame or Setsu, I will act in accordance with your choice.”

After all…

“That is just how much I want to be with you.”

Those words brought sudden tears to her eyes. She had resisted this far, so why were they flowing out now? She did not like how it looked like she was asking for pity.

And then she heard him speak.

“Shinjou-kun, let us settle this in a simple manner. …Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you.”

“…Eh?”

“I am not choosing Sadame-kun or Setsu-kun. …I am choosing your true name. I want to be with your true self.”

Those words caused her to tremble.

Sayama nodded when he saw her expression. She guessed it was one of surprise.

“The girl Sadame-kun and the boy Setsu-kun were names separated to make life here in Low-Gear more convenient. You should have an original name that your parents gave you. …That is why I would like to ask your name.”

“Y-you can’t…”

“Why not?”

“My true name…would be a bad omen for you. I can’t tell you such an ominous name just before we go to fight 2nd-Gear where names have power.”

“I do not care. Tell me. I will not agree to anything else.”

Sayama’s tone was one hundred percent serious, so Shinjou swallowed her trembling breath and made up her mind.

…''Fine. I’ll reveal everything.

That boy wanted the true form of her that not even she had been willing to accept.

Shinjou spoke before she could try to oppose that thought.

“Sadagiri.”<ref>Sadagiri is a combination of the kanji for Sadame and Setsu.</ref>

She took a deep breath.

“The name that cuts life from destiny.”<ref>A kanji pun. Destiny(Sadame + Mikoto) has the character for life(Mikoto) cut(Setsu) from it to make Sadagiri(Sadame + Setsu)</ref>

…''Why do I have this name? Cutting life from destiny makes it sound like…

“I will probably bring an end to your life, Sayama-kun.”

But his answer was different.

“You are wrong, Shinjou-kun.” He smiled, brushed his hand through her hair, stroked her head, and spoke with strength in his tone. “I do not believe in destiny. So you are the person who cuts away the bonds of destiny, freeing my life.”

His words were followed by a lowered kiss that she accepted.

After a few seconds, he slowly removed his lips and pressed his cheek and ear between her breasts.

“Ah.”

Shinjou shrank back, but she was unable to keep him from hearing her heartbeat.

''Is it beating fast? He’ll probably realize how nervous I am,'' she thought.

“Sadagiri-kun, as long as this pulse and your will remain unchanged, I will continue to choose you.”

Sayama nodded at his own comment and stood up.

“Now that this is mostly settled, let us check on the situation.”

“The…situation?” asked Shinjou.

She looked at his and her own body and he nodded as she looked at him.

“You are in quite a dangerous state, Shinjou-kun. Your legs are spread most wonderfully.”

“Ah! N-no, this is…um…I-I…!”

“Ha ha ha. Is this what I think it is? That phenomenon where the most serious people head down the most eccentric paths when they do not know what to do? You need to keep your composure, Shinjou-kun.”

“Y-you’re the eccentric one!”

Shinjou pulled her arms from under the pillow, covered her face, and closed her knees around him.

“S-Sayama-kun, move…move out of the way. I-I can’t close my legs.”

“Calm down, Shinjou-kun. If you did that, I would not be able to see this any longer.”

“Y-you need to calm down. Um? Y’know, Sayama-kun? I know that you are always completely crazy while looking perfectly calm, but you need to calm down a bit now.”

“I see. Izumo or the old man would be one thing, but it sounds almost persuasive coming from you.”

“R-right? So take a deep breath and practice moving aside.”

Sayama took a deep breath and then moved both of Shinjou’s legs to either side.

“N-no!! Wh-what are you doing!?”

“Is this not what you meant?”

“Don’t ask that with such a serious look on your face! Please just think normally for once.”

“Hm…”

After he had thought for a few seconds, panic filled Shinjou’s face.

“Th-there’s no hope! You’ve probably gone well past normal by now.”

“Why are you so skeptical? I was merely thinking of a normal way to spread your legs.”

“Not even your base assumption is normal…”

“I see. Then may I do one sensible thing?”

“Eh? I suppose s- No, wait! I can’t agree to a meaningless question based on your definition of sensible! Nothing good has ever come of that combination!”

“What a troublesome person. Are you aware that people like you make everything needlessly difficult?”

“Sayama-kun, do you ever have any thoughts about your own actions?”

“I am always thinking about myself. ‘I am wonderful,’ reports my brain. What more do I need?”

Shinjou turned to the side with a cold smile on her face.

“I don’t think anyone but me could fix this…”

“Then I will not hold back.”

“I said no. Were you even listening to- What are you doing!?”

“Exactly what you wanted. You asked me to do with you as I wish.”

“Ah,” said Shinjou as her expression stiffened. “Um, I-I may have said that. But now that I have calmed down, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“My personality is not between my legs, you know?”

“True, but do not worry. Finding empathy in all things is an important trait. If I try, even the space between your legs is no excepti- Gwoh!?”

After she forced a knee up and into his gut, Sayama doubled over.

“A-an excellent attack. Heh heh. I see you are showing no hesitation, Shinjou-kun.”

“Now that you know I can attack from this position…wh-what will you do?”

“I merely wish to check on one thing,” he said.

Shinjou frowned.

“Um…”

“What is there to think about? You must only ask me what it is.”

“Yes, but asking you that is like taking a flying leap onto a nuclear landmine.”

She thought.

“I-it’s fine as long as it’s nothing inappropriate.”

“Then there is nothing to worry about.”

Sayama took a breath and smiled.

“Is it true that you do not have a perio- gfh!”

“Has the Japanese dictionary changed since last time I checked?”

“I-I have a feeling Japan’s communication has grown quite a bit more direct. At any rate, Shinjou-kun, this is important. Stop glaring at me with those half-lidded eyes. Listen. If what you said before is true, I cannot embrace you yet.”

“Eh? W-wait a second. There’s a lot I want to ask about…but what do you mean by ‘embrace’?”

“An imagination is vital for a human being, Shinjou-kun.”

“Y-yes, but…you feel about me that way?” she asked while hiding her chest and the area between her legs with her hands. “But you said you can’t do it. Is that because of how I am?”

“No. It is a simple matter. Sexual intercourse can affect the balance of growth in an undeveloped body.”

“Okay.”

“For example, a certain boy had intercourse while very young and this caused him to grow.”

This was an event from the past.

“It stopped at a point, but the insides of his bones were unable to keep up. During a certain sports competition, his fist broke when it struck his opponent and he still has phantom pains when he clenches his fist.”

“…Does that boy regret it?”

“No. But he feels there is no reason to rush things.”

“I see.” Shinjou nodded. “But I might never have a period. I might always be a half-formed person like this. It seems UCAT knows of no race that matches my condition.”

“Is that so? Then we do not know if you will ever have a period.”

Sayama touched her navel and she gave a light gasp.

“But you said you feel a weight in your stomach once a month. It is possible your desire to avoid your condition is stopping your body from functioning properly. Do you also have nothing while you are Setsu-kun?”

After thinking for a moment, Shinjou nodded.

But then she tilted her head with a troubled expression.

“Do boys have a period too?”

“It would be fairly horrifying if it gushed out once a month, but there is something similar.”

Shinjou started thinking and slowly nodded a few times.

But then her expression suddenly brightened.

“So if I accept my body…?”

“It is possible your period and the like will appear. So how about you continually try some actions that will convince your body? We can see what happens from there.”

“But what kind of actions would those be?”

“It is a simple matter. Merely explore your own body. …You can do that on your own I assume.”

“Eh? On my own? D-do what on my own?”

Sayama mentally tilted his head at her confused question.

…''Do not tell me she is completely ignorant of this.

He wondered what this meant, but he was not entirely sure he should ask.

“Shinjou-kun, how were your grades in health class?”

“I-I never had anything like that. I’ve spent all my time in UCAT facilities. I would sometimes see some amazing things in magazines people left behind, though.”

“It seems your education skipped a few steps. So does that mean you do not know about any of this?”

“R-right. I know a bit about how a baby is made, but is there something more than that?”

“There is. For both boys and girls.”

Shinjou blushed when she heard that.

“So there is,” she muttered before tilting her head. “Th-then will you teach me?”

“Are you fine with me teaching you that?”

“I-I don’t have anyone else to teach me.”

“Then I will- gwoh!! Wh-what was that for?”

“S-sorry. I didn’t like the look of the refreshing smile on your face. …Oh, but you will teach me those things, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

“You look incredibly happy. Are you aware what you look like right now?”

Shinjou sighed and relaxed her shoulders.

“I will trust you, Sayama-kun. But that means I will be causing you a lot of trouble.”

“No need to worry. I have little experience myself, so I eagerly await working with you.”

“I’m not sure I agree with that last part…but I’m really sorry.” She nodded. “Once I learn some things, I can return the favor, so will you forgive me?”

“I think you will regret saying that once you learn what you are talking about, but I am perfectly okay with it. I look forward to it.”

“Eh? L-look forward to what exactly?”

“Let us both give this our all.”

“Um, uh, well…”

Shinjou looked fearful, but then she turned to the side.

“U-um, it’s already 6:30. W-we need to get to the Showa Memorial Park.”

“You are right. We must hurry. Yes. We must hurry and finish up here.”

“Ah! Stop! Wh-why are you spreading my legs!?”

“In all things, the beginning is important, Shinjou-kun. I cannot have you changing your mind later. …Do not worry.” He took a breath and smiled. “I am nervous as well. I would like to hear your pulse. How about you, Shinjou Sadagiri-kun?”

“W-well…” She thought. “Yes.”

Shinjou relaxed her body in resignation.

She blushed, looked toward him, and spoke quietly.

“Please teach me so that I can be who I truly am.”

The Showa Memorial Park had a large parking lot to the south.

Several disguised UCAT transport vehicles were parked below the mercury lamps illuminating the night.

The vehicles formed a semicircle to prevent anyone on the outside from seeing them. Several people could be seen in the light. Two groups of about one hundred had formed separate large circles.

The people forming both circles wore the same white and black outfits.

But different atmospheres hung over the two groups.

The circle further in and nearer to the center of the park was made up of people with the distinctive traits of the Japanese. They quietly checked over their guns and swords and looked like they could take action at any moment.

The closer circle had no common traits. The people’s races were all different and their actions were different. Some prepared equipment, some spoke to each other, and some ate.

And one person was quite angry.

“Ahhh! Where is that idiot Sayama!?”

Kazami’s loud voice filled the air. She sat at the meeting desk in the center of the circle. She already wore her combat uniform, as did Izumo next to her who ate an okonomiyaki on a stick that he had bought at a mobile food stand.

“Well, he wouldn’t try to run from the fight, so don’t panic.”

“B-but it’s already 7:20. The mock battle is about to begin. Director Abram called out to me in his role as referee and I didn’t know what to say.”

“Sibyl is contacting him. Also, Doctor Chao and those four elderly brothers are prepared to go get them, so just wait a bit. …Ah.”

Izumo looked to the side.

“Eh?”

Kazami looked over as well with her mouth hanging half open.

And then he stuck the okonomiyaki into her mouth, stick and all.

“If you’re impatient, just eat something and calm down. You haven’t been eating recently because the school band’s costume shows your midriff, right? You don’t have enough nutrients for your brain. And if you keep it up, your tits will shrin-…gahh!?”

After kicking him away as hard as she could, Kazami sighed.

She ate about half of the okonomiyaki and then pulled it from her mouth.

“Honestly, this puts me at 300 calories over my daily limit.”

“I think you just more than exceeded your daily limit of violence. Anyway, are you going to eat the whole thing?”

“Is that a problem? …Wait, this has an egg in it. That’s another 100 kilocalories!”

“Chisato, you need to do something about that habit of getting yourself worked up. Also, you shouldn’t calculate your calories in kilo units. That gets you into the hundreds and thousands before you know it.”

“Is there a better way of doing it?”

“Think of it in mega units.”

“I’ve had 1800 kilocalories today, so…”

“That’s 1.8 megacalories. You feel lighter now, don’t you!?”

“What good is it if it’s only how you feel!?”

As she sent a barrage of blows at him, Sibyl approached.

Her golden hair swayed among the ring of people who had gathered around them at some point.

“Chisato-sama, I have word from Sayama-sama.”

“He’s here!?”

“No, he is not. I was concerned, so I called his student dormitory.”

“He’s still there!?”

“No, I just spoke with the dorm head and it seems he just left.”

“What is he, a soba delivery boy!?”

“Chisato-sama, your blood pressure appears to be a bit high.”

“Uuh…” Kazami flinched back. “Sorry. Yelling at you isn’t going to help.”

“Chisato, why are you acting so much different than with me?”

Kazami ignored him. He started to pretend to cry, but she ignored that as well.

“Anyway, does that mean he’s definitely coming?” she asked Sibyl.

“Yes, and it seems Shinjou-sama is with him. The two of them will certainly be here.”

“That is good to hear,” said a female voice.

Everyone turned toward the voice which came from beyond the crowd.

An elderly woman wearing a white combat cloak stood in the gentle night breeze outside the circle.

The crowd split apart and she appeared while holding a black leather case.

Sibyl was the one who spoke the woman’s name.

“Director Tsukuyomi.”

“Yes. More importantly, are you ready?”

“Well…” Kazami scratched at her head. “Sayama and Shinjou have yet to arrive, but they do seem to be on their way.”

“But he will be here, won’t he? So what should we do? Do we wait?”

“That will not be necessary. We can continue on,” said a male voice within the crowd.

A white-haired man in a black suit and a white-haired maid appeared between Tsukuyomi and Kazami. The man arrived in the circle using a metal cane and his eyes smiled behind his sunglasses.

“Let us begin the Leviathan Road. I, Ooshiro Itaru, use my authority as Team Leviathan’s supervisor to proceed without those two team members.”

“Y-y’know…”

Just as Kazami frowned and turned toward Itaru, Itaru’s maid silently stepped in front of her. She shook her white bangs once and looked up at the girl.

“If you need something, I will take care of it.”

“Call him an asshole.”

“Tes.”

Sf bowed and pulled a paper card from a hidden pocket in her skirt. She also pulled out a small stamp and used it on the card.

“Thank you for using my services. I have recently begun using this point card, so please present it to me next time. If you collect twenty points, I will buy a can of coffee for you.”

“I guess an unbelievable master ''would'' have an unbelievable maid.”

“You honor me with your praise. According to the standards of German UCAT’s development department, you have moved up one place on my internal priority list and Izumo-sama has fallen three. Two more lost places and Izumo-sama will be disqualified.”

“Wait a minute. Why am I so low?”

Sf and Kazami both ignored him. Sf handed her the card and moved back to Itaru.

Kazami looked at the card and saw the stamp was a super-deformed version of Sf’s face.

''What is this?'' she thought with a sigh.

She looked around and spotted Diana in the crowd as well. She wore a black combat outfit and she waved when she noticed Kazami looking at her.

“That huge-breasted foreigner might be smiling, but she’s inspecting us,” commented Izumo.

“I think that was two kinds of discrimination at once. …But what do you mean she’s inspecting us?”

“The foreign UCATs don’t like that Japan is taking the leading role in the Leviathan Road. She’s looking for some reason to interfere in the Leviathan Road.”

“You mean that was German UCAT’s intention all this time?”

“Yes, that’s why they agreed to take in 1st-Gear. French UCAT is acting pro-Germany to share in the benefit. American UCAT is working with British UCAT to find some way of influencing us. …Then again, it seems that woman has a hidden reason for being here beyond inspecting us.” He took a breath. “At any rate, Sayama and Shinjou not arriving on time and what happens in the mock battle are going to reach the other UCATs through her. We need to be careful.”

''What a pain,'' thought Kazami.

She looked over again, but Diana was already gone.

The woman’s pleasant smile and Izumo’s warning filled her mind and she wondered which one was true.

“They’re probably both true.”

When she had joined their training, she had indeed provided a hint concerning 2nd-Gear’s Art of Walking.

It might make her naïve, but Kazami decided to trust her.

“But she really is inspecting us, so we need to stay focused.”

Kazami turned toward Tsukuyomi. The woman put her hands on her hips and smiled, so Kazami put as much strength into her gaze as she could.

“Fine, let’s begin. You can decide on the rules.”

“The rules are simple. We will enter the concept space on the southeastern side and you will enter on the southwestern side. The first one to reach Susaou in the center and acquire Totsuka from its bridge will be the winner.”

“If we win, will you accept all of Low-Gear’s demands?”

“Yes. But even if we win, we will not really demand anything.” Tsukuyomi nodded. “This may seem like a meaningless battle, but it will set some things straight. It will make us rethink what it means to be the people of 2nd-Gear.”

She looked around for a moment.

“It is a bit disappointing that your negotiator is not here. …Is UCAT Director Ooshiro not here either?”

Next to Itaru, Sf turned around in response to that question.

“It seems Kazuo-sama left UCAT not long ago. He says Sayama-sama contacted him, so he prepared Georgius and a few other things before leaving.”

“Oh? So he is coming. And with Georgius, hm?”

“You know about Georgius, Director Tsukuyomi?” asked Kazami.

“I know that we know nothing about it.” A smile appeared on Tsukuyomi’s lips. “That’s an idea. If you win, the development department will investigate Georgius free of charge. How does that sound? We might learn something about it.”

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 24|Chapter 24]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 26|Chapter 26]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 24

2026-08-18T03:22:12Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 24: Murmur of Tradition==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0241.png|thumb]]
''What will be left for you?

''And what will you leave behind?

Behind UCAT’s white-walled building was a large green ground that received a lot of sun.

It was a farm. A variety of plants grew there, including flowers and vegetables.

One area grew vegetables in the open and another grew fruits in a greenhouse. However, all of it had been created by workers as a hobby. They had to maintain the plants on their own, so people were almost always visible there.

One person wearing a lab coat sat in front of a flower bed near the forest to the west.

It was Tsukuyomi.

The flower bed in front of her contained a few budding chrysanthemums with the stems and leaves extending from them.

She nodded in satisfaction while looking at the flowers.

“Dear, today is finally the day. We are having the Leviathan Road with Low-Gear.”

She spoke quietly while pulling an old photograph from her pocket.

The photograph showed a man and her while she was still young.

The IAI building stood in the background of the photograph.

“I was the only one that knew nothing until you died in that earthquake.”

She sounded regretful as she looked back and forth between the photo and the flowers.

Suddenly, she realized someone was approaching her.

The woman walking toward her wore a black suit and Tsukuyomi recognized her.

“Diana Zonburg.”

Hearing her name, Diana turned around and stopped next to Tsukuyomi.

“I appear to be rather well known. You are the development department’s director, correct?”

“Yes. Anyone at the director level would know who you are.” Tsukuyomi stood up and took a step back. “You are the witch that forcibly reformed German UCAT back in ’96. Shortly after that, Sf was created and several types of spell weapons were developed in Germany. I hear all of that was your doing.”

“Oh, my. I take it you do not know anything about me before that.”

“Before that? You mean during UCAT’s blank period?”

“That’s a secret.” Diana stuck out her tongue a bit. “I still have no intention of telling anyone who does not already know what happened back then. …And I merely wanted to take a nostalgic walk today. Let’s remain silent.”

The witch looked down at the flowers with a smile.

After seeing Tsukuyomi look at them too, she spoke.

“Did you plant these chrysanthemums, Director Tsukuyomi?”

“My husband left them behind. …Did you plant something here long ago?”

“Yes. I planted one of those child-shaped things that yells when you pull it out. …Why are you backing away?”

“There aren’t many of the occult type in the development department.”

“I see.”

Diana nodded and gave a bitter smile.

She crouched down to look closer at the chrysanthemums. After a few seconds, she spoke as if asking for confirmation.

“A lot is going to happen today, isn’t it? I am going along to inspect.” She took a breath and held her hands out toward the flowers. “Your Gear is choosing a path it cannot turn back from. Why?”

She was obviously testing Tsukuyomi with this question, so Tsukuyomi did not immediately answer.

Tsukuyomi turned toward the back of the UCAT building past the farm and relaxed her shoulders.

“It seems our people have been making swords for UCAT all this time. …As a descendant of the former imperial family, I have some thoughts about the destruction of 2nd-Gear.”

“As a member of the imperial family, you want power instead of peace? Is that why you have agreed to this?”

“Yes, I feel that is best.” Tsukuyomi smiled bitterly toward the ground. “And I have to support the children who are worrying over the same thing, don’t I?”

Diana replied to her joking tone with a small laugh.

That laugh sounded pleasant to Tsukuyomi. It was a decent and authentic laugh.

“Then watch carefully,” said Diana. “Watch the children with the surnames Sayama and Shinjou.”

“Do you know something about those two?”

“A bit,” replied Diana. The warm mountain wind brushed up her hair. “Someone with the surname Sayama once appeared before me. And…”

As the wind blew, she paused to choose her words.

“During the Great Kansai Earthquake, those who wished to be with him chose a path that held no reward.”

“Eh? During that earthquake?”

Hearing that question, Diana stood up and bent her eyes in a smile.

“That is all I can say.”

“Th-then at least tell me this.” Tsukuyomi could not hide her hurry to ask. “The people who, like you, were with Sayama… Were they happy? Even if they received no reward?”

Diana responded with a question of her own.

“Isn’t that what you are on your way to find out?” She took a breath. “Just like 1st-Gear did, choose a path from which you cannot turn back and then find out for yourself. Find out just what kind of villain their child named Sayama is. …I hope the answer you find is the same as that of the person you care for.”

Diana gave a slight smile and turned her back.

Tsukuyomi sighed as she watched the woman walk silently away into the farm.

“My answer…”

She looked down and saw one of the moon-like white chrysanthemums had bloomed.

UCAT’s design room was almost completely deserted.

The clock on the wall indicated it was past noon. Everyone had finished producing weapons for the mock battle. This was the time for making final checks over one’s own equipment and resting before the battle.

But one man still remained within one of the partitioned spaces.

It was Kashima.

As always, he wore a lab coat over his work uniform, but he did not hold a chisel or a laptop.

He held a bundle of Japanese paper. The paper was the contents of the thick envelope his parents had given him.

He had flipped through over half of the bundle and was on his way to being done. After completing the repairs to Futsuno, he had begun checking through this without taking a rest.

He had not gotten any sleep, but he was surprisingly focused.

He could clearly read the list of names on the Japanese paper before his eyes.

“This handwriting is very tidy.”

…''Was this written by Ooshiro Hiromasa who once opposed my grandfather?

Two mysteries floated in Kashima’s head.

“Why did my grandfather ask for forgiveness on his deathbed?”

And…

“What was in the box on Susaou’s bridge that he mentioned?”

Hoping for a hint, he was using the free time before the mock battle to work through these papers.

The writing on the paper was definitely what Ooshiro Hiromasa had written sixty years before.

But the handwriting looked a bit off in places.

The handwriting was confident and steady, but the formation of the characters looked somehow off.

“Is this…?”

Kashima tilted his head as he arrived at a theory.

He removed his glasses and looked at the paper. In his blurry vision, the writing looked fine.

…''Was Ooshiro Hiromasa losing his vision?

He did not know why. It could have been overwork, malnutrition…

“Or did some bright light burn his eyes?”

Had Kashima’s grandfather known about this?

He gave a long sigh and sat up in his chair.

He flipped another page over.

Only a dozen or so pages remained in his hands.

He looked over the one or two names given and repeated the process about ten more times.

“…”

He was fast approaching the final page.

It seemed to have gone by too quickly. He had not found anything of use.

He nodded once while coming to a reluctant understanding.

But he still resolved himself and flipped to the next page. It would be over soon.

His action revealed the second to last page.

He saw the name written on the white paper that had visible plant fibers.

He recognized the name.

“Kashima?”

The name was written in katakana. Seeing the name caused his pulse to quicken.

…''My grandfather…

Hadn’t he disliked Ooshiro Hiromasa, hated 2nd-Gear’s full acclimation to Low-Gear, and refused to spell the name Kashima with kanji? Then why was this spelling of the name written here by Ooshiro Hiromasa?”

“Could it be that the katakana spelling was given to him by Ooshiro Hiromasa?”

Kashima did not know. And without an answer, he flipped the page to look at the final page. He hoped for an answer there.

But he did not find an answer.

The final page had a name written on it.

But the handwriting was not Ooshiro’s.

It was the messy, shaky handwriting of someone unfamiliar with the characters. And from the large X over it, it appeared to be a failed attempt.

Kashima recognized the messy, shaky handwriting.

“That’s my grandfather’s handwriting.”

Kashima looked at the name behind the X of rejection.

He looked at the name his grandfather had written.

The midday sunlight poured down, but there was one place it did not reach: the Kinugasa Library.

It took up eight classrooms’ worth of space and was located on the first floor of Taka-Akita Academy’s second year general school building.

The walls and windows were covered by bookcases. For the All Holiday Festival, it would become a rest area during the afternoon.

However, only a few people were currently inside the library.

In the center at the lowest level of the stepped floor, Sayama, Izumo, and Kazami sat around a table.

Piles containing hundreds of pieces of copy paper sat in front of Sayama.

These were the contents of the floppy Tsukuyomi had given him the day before. He had already looked through them, but…

“I can’t. Even if the countless names are sorted by job, there are too many of them.”

Beyond the copy paper, Kazami looked at him with a fed up expression.

“But you seem to be in a good mood. Did something happen?” she asked in a puzzled tone.

“Yes. Shinjou Setsu-kun will be returning this evening. To be honest, I am a bit relieved.”

“I see.”

As Kazami nodded, Izumo held a bunny picture book far enough away to not hurt his eyes.

“Seeing him sleep with his eyes open is strange, but I’m getting sick of the joke.”

“At least he is gradually gaining more variation.”

“Anyway.” Kazami tapped the documents in front of her. “Ooshiro-san’s father realized Yamata’s true name when looking through this, right?”

“Yes, but these are the names of the countless gods making up 2nd-Gear. …It is not Kusanagi or Murakumo like we expected.”

“What if Yamata’s true name is one of these names rather than Kusanagi or Murakumo?”

“Then I will be roasted alive by Yamata.”

“…”

Kazami fell silent but shrugged in annoyance.

Someone then walked up next to them.

It was Siegfried. He wore his usual black vest and shirt and he placed three paper cups of coffee on the table.

“It appears you are having difficulties,” he said in his low voice. He nodded. “But I cannot help you.”

“Did you only come over here to mock us?”

“I merely do not want any unneeded expectations, so I felt it would be best to remind you.”

“Thanks for the consideration and the coffee.”

Kazami took a cup and turned toward Izumo.

She then held the cup up to Izumo’s ear as he slept in a perfect reading pose.

“I just have to bend the edge of the cup and…out it pours!”

“Hyoooooh!!”

Izumo shot to his feet while holding his ear.

“Y-you idiot! Wh-what the hell did you do!?”

“You wouldn’t have woken up otherwise.”

“Y-y’know, Chisato. I’m going to give you a wonderfully rich and happy life in the future, so you need to be careful.”

“Sorry, Izumo. I just checked the future with a time machine and you were living under a bridge.”

“Y-you need to bring an end to those crazy delusions.”

“Say that into a mirror next time, Kaku.” Kazami sighed and asked Izumo a question. “What do you think?”

“Think about what? …Wait, Chisato. Cracking your knuckles like that will mess with the shape of your fingers, so you should really stop. More to the point, I’m opposed to violence.”

“Tch. …Fine then. What do you think Yamata’s name is?”

“Isn’t it either Kusanagi or Murakumo?”

“And what do you think about the papers in front of you?”

Izumo looked at the piles of paper on the table.

“They’re Kusanagi or Murakumo, right?”

“Hm? What do mean?” asked Kazami.

Izumo looked up at the ceiling and thought about what he had said.

“Huh? …I was just making something up, but I guess it didn’t really make sense.”

“U-um, Kaku? Could you try to think before you speak next time?” Kazami looked troubled and then tilted her head. “There isn’t anything weird in this coffee, is there?”

But Sayama realized something while watching the two of them.

…''This must be what Izumo was trying to say.

“So if you gather all of these countless names together, they mean either Kusanagi or Murakumo?”

“Yeah, that’s it! That’s exactly it, Sayama! You’re pretty sharp. I wouldn’t expect anything less of the vice president who works under me.”

“Kazami. Afterward, the treasurer should give a beating to the idiot who works above me.”

“Now’s fine with me.”

But Siegfried shook his head next to her.

“Listen,” he said admonishingly. “People wishing for rest will arrive in the afternoon and normal library guests will come by. I cannot have the library covered in rubble and bodily fluids when they do. Take any violence outside.”

Siegfried’s instructions brought a displeased look to Izumo’s face.

But Sayama ignored him, folded his arms, and spoke.

“Going back to what Izumo said, his reasoning may have been doubtful, but his conclusion is fairly likely. The countless names may be under the control of the power held by the name Kusanagi or Murakumo.”

“Eh? But that power is the wind, right? Are they really under the wind’s control?” asked Kazami.

“The wind is ever changing, Kazami,” he said with a smile.

“You mean it is in a constant state of flux?” asked Siegfried.

Sayama nodded and spoke to Kazami and Izumo who did not seem to understand.

“Something with no form. Something that is always changing. That which comes and goes. The wind is a symbol of all those things. Is that not the perfect power for that which brings together all the assorted gods, including the weather and their skills?”

And…

“Also, the wind provides the power to increase flames and call in the rain to extinguish them. In that way, Kusanagi and Murakumo are both good terms to control Yamata.”

Sayama thought as he looked at the piles of copy paper.

…''Did Ooshiro Hiromasa ask a certain question when he saw all these names?

What was 2nd-Gear if it ruled over all these things?

That thought brought Sayama relief.

They had already predicted it, but now he had support for their thoughts.

“But the real question is which name is the truth of 2nd-Gear. Are the countless gods of 2nd-Gear ruled by Kusanagi which travels along the earth or Murakumo which travels through the heavens?”

“In other words, are they gods or are they men?” asked Kazami to no one in particular.

At that point, someone opened the library door and entered.

The person looking around for someone was Ooki.

“What is it, Ooki-sensei? Have you made yet another clumsy mistake?”

“N-no, I haven’t.”

Ooki walked over with long strides and held out an envelope.

“The dormitory head gave me this just now. It is a personal letter for you, Sayama-kun.”

“For me?”

Confused, Sayama took the envelope and frowned when he saw the sender’s name.

It said “Shinjou Sadame”.

Two people stood in the large lobby on the first floor of UCAT headquarters.

One was Shinjou who wore an orange jacket, a white shirt, and a skirt. The other was Ooshiro who wore a lab coat.

Ooshiro scratched his head below the painting of the Virgin Mary.

“2nd-Gear has begun preparing for the mock battle, so should you really be here?”

“No, I shouldn’t. …But I am about to bring an end to something important.”

“Bring an end to something important?”

Shinjou nodded, lowered her head, and chose her words carefully.

“Setsu called Sayama-kun and told him to wait at school until 5:00 PM,” she said. “But Sadame sent him a letter telling him to come to UCAT’s rooftop at 4:00 PM so she can tell him something important.”

Ooshiro gasped.

Shinjou understood why.

“Yes. It takes an hour and a half to travel between school and UCAT. …Sayama-kun will have to choose between Setsu and Sadame.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“Yes,” she answered after a short pause.

But she smiled while lightly pinching the edge of her skirt.

“I know which one he will choose.”

“…”

“So if he contacts you, don’t let him talk to me. I want to reveal my lie once he chooses.”

Shinjou looked further into the lobby.

A red-tiled staircase was located to the side. If she climbed that staircase past the fifth floor, she would arrive at the rooftop.

She muttered to herself while looking at that staircase which disappeared upward.

“This is my answer, isn’t it?” She sighed. “Itaru-san took me in, but I wonder what he would think about me casting aside Setsu.”

“I don’t know,” answered Ooshiro with a sigh.

Shinjou turned toward him and he looked at her with the ends of his eyebrows lowered.

“Don’t give me that look, Ooshiro-san.”

“But…”

She nodded toward his disappointed look and spoke cheerfully so he would not worry.

“I’m on my way to give my answer.”

It was 2:10 PM.

After checking Shinjou Sadame’s letter in his dorm room, Sayama needed to make a decision.

He had to choose between Sadame and Setsu.

“She wants to tell me something important, hm?”

Sayama sighed after repeating what Sadame had written in her letter.

He turned toward the empty bed.

“Isn’t this too sudden Shinjou…Sadame-kun? I wanted to speak with Setsu-kun as well.”

He reached for the desk next to the bed and picked something up.

It was something Shinjou Setsu had left with him.

“This may be the perfect time. I will make up my mind how I will face you as well.”

As he looked at what he held, Sayama regulated his breathing.

He prepared to silently face something.

And he slowly spoke a single question.

“Do you remember what it means to tell a story, Shinjou-kun?”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 25|Chapter 25]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 23

2026-08-17T03:26:07Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 23: Chooser of Power==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0223.png|thumb]]
''A question arrives

''It comes from the past

''It comes from something precious

The sky was dark and the morning sun had yet to rise.

However, a few lights were visible in the mountains of Okutama.

Most of them were from the early risers in farming homes, but one was different.

The light came from the Hiba household which had an outdoor dojo in an elevated area.

The light coming from the kitchen and entrance cast two people’s shadows in front of the entrance.

Shinjou and the old woman from the previous night stood in the chilly morning air.

Shinjou’s shadow was moving as she bowed to the old woman again and again.

“Thank you so much for everything.”

With a troubled expression, she held a paper bag containing the breakfast the old woman had given her. It contained rice balls and vegetables.

The old woman wore a cooking apron and was smiling. She wiped her hands on the bottom of the apron.

“Hurry on home. You do not want to wake young Sayama, do you?”

“No,” said Shinjou as she remembered when she had woken up that morning.

When she had first opened her eyes in the dark, Sayama had been sleeping in the futon next to hers.

His neck and right shoulder had been wrapped in bandages, he had been sleeping deeply, and he had shown no sign of waking as she changed clothes.

When she exited into the hallway, the old woman had stepped out of the kitchen.

“Um, Sayama-kun had bandages wrapped around him. Is he okay? Did he hit his head and…um…”

…''I really hope he hasn’t become even crazier.

She was seriously worried, so the old woman had thought a bit before answering.

“I heard he managed to prepare for the landing, even if just barely, so I doubt he will become any crazier than he already is.”

“I see we view him the same as far as that is concerned.”

She sighed and the old woman smiled bitterly.

“Well, after our chat last night, I spoke with him a little longer. Shinjou…Sadame-san is it? It seems there is a lot going on between the two of you. Oh, and your brother Setsu-kun.”

The old woman’s words reminded Shinjou of the past. She did not recall anything in particular, though.

“Yes, there really is a lot going on.”

“I hear he stuck his hand between your legs while you were in your underwear.”

“Wh-why is he so open about that!?”

“Ha ha ha. Don’t worry about it. It is not often that he speaks about people his own age. …You seem to be going through some difficulties, though.”

“I might not call them difficulties, but I definitely find new surprises every day.”

“In our opinion, it’s a good thing. And we won’t ask anything more.”

“Why not? Don’t you want to know more about me?”

“Do you want me to ask?”

Shinjou shook her head. She had made up her mind the night before.

“I will tell him myself.

The old woman nodded.

And her smile suddenly vanished.

As Shinjou was wondering what had happened, the old woman looked toward her right hand.

She asked a question with a curious tone of voice.

“By the way, who gave you that ring?”

“Eh? This?”

Shinjou looked down at the ring on the middle finger of her right hand.

She had a feeling it was okay to tell this old woman its origin.

“I’ve had it as long as I can remember. …I had this ring, a song, and my name.”

“How much of this does young Sayama know?”

“He knows about the ring and the song, but he doesn’t know about our name. He doesn’t know the truth of the names Shinjou Setsu and Shinjou Sadame.”

“The truth?” asked the old woman.

Shinjou nodded, thought for a moment, and chose her words carefully.

“The thing is, my real name is not Sadame or Setsu.”

She had yet to tell Sayama this.

…''He will never see this unless I reveal my lie.

“My current name is something like an alias. Everyone would treat my true self as something special, so I was given my current name. That’s why I’ve never really used my true name.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“My current name is more convenient for being who I am now. That is why I…no, we have been lying to Sayama-kun this whole time. I have never shown him my true self. Not even once. So…”

Shinjou trailed off and the old woman shook her head.

“Isn’t young Sayama the one you should tell the rest to? This isn’t something to tell an old woman like me.”

Her scolding tone made Shinjou nod. And…

“Do you know something about this ring?”

“I’m not sure.” The old woman tilted her head with a troubled expression and chose her words carefully. “I don’t want to get your hopes up, so I’ll say this up front: That ring is a common product someone could have bought anywhere. I just thought I could make conversation if I knew who had given it to you.”

“B-but do you know someone who wore the same ring?”

Her question was wrapped in urgency and hope, but the old woman shook her head.

“I cannot talk about that so easily,” she said. “It does not matter when, but if you ever feel like it and have the spare time, pursue that person and give it some thought. I hope that the answer you find is the same as the answer I have.”

“…”

Shinjou remained silent, but she inwardly hoped for the same thing.

Just as a smile slipped out on Shinjou’s face, the old woman nodded.

“But I know one thing for sure. You wish for the same type of place that young Sayama does, don’t you? You wish for a place to fight and pursue yourself.”

“I…”

She thought.

No, she had the answer without needing to think. She had found the answer back during the battle with 1st-Gear.

“Yes, I’ve made up my mind. I will stay by Sayama-kun’s side. It scares me, but I will have him choose. I will reveal my lie…and see which version of me he prefers.”

“Which version of you? Do you know which one he wants?”

“Yes. I know which version of me he will choose. …He will choose Sadame. He will choose the girl named Shinjou Sadame as the one who will guide him to his destiny.<ref>A kanji pun that combines the name Sadame and the name Mikoto to create the word for destiny.</ref>” Shinjou took a breath and continued quietly. “I will make up for the lie I have told by going along with Sayama-kun’s wishes. Lately, I have been constantly bewildered by him…and that helped me understand.”

“Understand what?”

“If acting according to my own convenience is painful, I should try acting against my own convenience. That is what I have decided to do.” Shinjou nodded. “I am convinced the answer I reach like that will not be painful.”

…''I am not making the wrong decision.

Suddenly, she heard a motorcycle in the distance.

The old woman looked up.

“That is our grandson. He promised to come take some of our pickled vegetables. Apparently his girlfriend won’t eat breakfast without them.”

“Your grandson?”

As the old woman nodded, Shinjou realized it was her time to leave.

And so she bowed. The Hiba Dojo would cease to be a place for her and Sayama and become a place for this grandson and his grandparents. Just as she decided to leave, Shinjou belatedly realized something.

“U-um.”

There was something she had to ask. She could not believe she had not already done so.

“I never asked for your name. …Do you mind telling me?”

“Toshi.”

''Toshi-san,'' she thought for an instant.

She felt as if a slight burden had been removed from her chest. She embraced the paper bag, took a breath, and spoke.

“Thank you very much, Toshi-san. The next time we meet…” She took a breath. “I will have stopped lying and I will visit along with Sayama-kun.”

There was a place the morning light did not reach.

Several people slept underground in UCAT’s third production room which had its lights off.

Five youths in work uniforms slept around a two and a half meter sword. They were all sitting or lying on the floor as they pleased.

A short distance from those five was the one person who was awake.

Kashima sat next to a grinder positioned a bit away from the center of the room.

He wore a lab coat over his work uniform and his stubble-covered face was turned toward the blade.

The blade was floating in a fixed place in midair and it no longer had any damage or heat.

The black metal had been sharpened and it produced a smooth shine.

As he watched it, Kashima placed a hand in his pocket. A few seconds later, he seemed to realize something.

“Oh, right. I…

“…quit smoking quite a while ago. Congrats, papa.”

He heard a male voice from behind. Without turning toward it, he removed his hand from his pocket.

Someone held a stick of UCAT’s nicotine gum in front of his face.

“Atsuta,” he said while looking up at who held the gum.

“Have your memories of smoking reverted to eight years ago, too?”

The young man in a white cloak let out a breath when Kashima took the gum.

He stepped forward.

That sword god would always say something unnecessary when he acted, but he said nothing now.

He merely touched the blade.

Kashima remembered the past as he watched the man’s back, the hand touching the metal, and the legs supporting hm.

…''This happened long ago, too.

He would create a blade and this sword god would evaluate it. That had seemed to happen almost every day eight years before.

At first, Atsuta had not wanted anything to do with him, but Atsuta had gradually accepted he had skill. At some point, it had evolved into their current relationship.

It lasted approximately ten seconds.

After that short yet long silence, the back before Kashima’s eyes spoke.

“What the hell is this?”

His hand stroked the blade.

“You’re hopeless.”

“I’m hopeless?”

“Yeah,” said Atsuta. “You go to all this effort, but it’ll be obsolete once new technology comes along.”

Atsuta’s words led Kashima to realize something.

Atsuta was not looking at the blade. He was turned toward the five youths sleeping around it.

“Now we’ve become trailblazers to a certain extent. We have created 2nd-Gear’s strongest Cowling Sword.”

“Hey.”

Atsuta looked over his shoulder to turn toward Kashima. He was smiling with his eyebrows bent. It was hard to tell if it was a troubled smile or a joyous one.

And he asked a question with that smile.

“Can I use this sword?”

Kashima nodded.

“Atsuta, tell me the truth.”

“About what?”

“Did I…do a good job?”

“Of course.” All doubt left Atsuta’s expression. “But praising you would just make you conceited, so I won’t say anything more. Even these kids here turned out to be some use. But…” He took a breath, started to speak, and stopped to choose his words. “It’s a shame you can’t brag about it to your wife.”

“It is,” agreed Kashima with a nod.

He removed the gum from its wrapper and placed the thin stick in his mouth.

He chewed it a few times and spoke with a smile.

“This thing tastes horrible.”

The morning sun had begun to rise toward noon.

In the mountains of Okutama, a single voice came from the Kashima’s parents’ house.

The voice belonged to Natsu. She was reading a picture book.

She sat on the wooden floor of the southern veranda which faced a paddy field. She wore track pants and a white T-shirt and she held Harumi.

A blue knapsack she had brought from home sat next to her and it was open.

Natsu held a picture book titled “Yamata no Orochi”.

As she read the book, a smile covered her face.

“Kusanagi was brought to heaven and it became known as Murakumo.”

Those ending words were ones of happiness and Natsu closed the book with a smile after reading them aloud.

“Are you tired?” she asked.

However, her daughter had already closed her eyes.

She heard someone walking up on the tatami mats behind her.

She turned around to find Kashima’s mother. The old woman wore Japanese-style clothes and peered at her from behind.

“Should I bring out a futon?”

“Please do.”

The old woman nodded and headed for the closet inside the house.

Natsu stood up while holding her child.

“Um, where is father today? He did not even come out to mow this morning.”

“Oh, that old man was sulking last night because you didn’t drink with him even though he made the sake. He was getting annoying and a lot happened, but I ended up throwing him in the storehouse.”

“I heard some noises coming from the storehouse this morning, but I thought it was just a cat.”

“He’s quieted down now, right?”

“Yes. In fact, I do not hear any signs of life.”

“If I let him out now, he wouldn’t learn his lesson, so we need to wait until noon.” The old woman laid out the futon. “This is just the cute jealousy of an old woman. Keh keh keh.”

As she laughed, she placed the futon in the shade but near the sun and placed a sheet over it.

“For one thing, you decided to only drink with Aki, right? You can’t make an exception for his parents there. …Now, come on over.”

Natsu placed Harumi in the futon. She then pulled a towel from her bag, lightly wrapped it around the baby, and made sure the child’s neck was sitting properly.

“You’ve gotten good at that.”

“I had a good teacher.”

Natsu and the old woman exchanged a slight smile.

After a moment, the old woman looked outside. She looked far off in the east. The white buildings of IAI were visible on top of a mountain.

If one stood in the yard on a clear day like this, one would have an unobstructed view all the way to the city.

“How can that idiot Aki neglect such a wonderful wife on such a nice day?”

The old woman then looked at the two picture books on the veranda.

“Natsu-san, are those what I think they are?”

“Yes. My father drew those. Akio-san does not know I have them.”

“…”

“My mother told me long ago that he drew that series once he knew I was going to be born.”

Natsu took a breath, looked toward Harumi, and narrowed her eyes.

“I thought I could understand my father a little bit if I read them again now. Both as Kashima Natsu and as Takagi Natsu.”

“Did you?”

“No. …But once I return home with Akio-san, I think I will call my parents.”

“The situation with you and your parents sounds complicated.”

“It is.” Natsu gave a small smile. “May I ask what your maiden name was?”

“Kasuga. One could say you have the protection of both the Kashima Shrine and the Kasuga Shrine.”

“Also, Akio-san has a friend who can be the Atsuta Shrine and the company he works for has the name Izumo. …It may be nothing but coincidences, but with this many, it has to be a good omen.” Natsu turned toward the picture books. “I think you would understand. …We are both the princess and Kusanagi, aren’t we? By marrying the bearer of power, we gain a surname and also change. And we also provide strength to the bearer.”

“I’m not sure that works with my idiot trapped in the storehouse, but you are indeed providing strength to Aki.”

“Thank you very much. …We recently ended our couple’s meeting by deciding Akio-san is Yamato Takeru. In that case, who is the hero to him? Who does he see as Susanoo? And does that person have their own princess and their own Kusanagi?”

“Which one are you right now?” asked the old woman. “Are you Kusanagi which was held by human hands or are you Murakumo which was presented to heaven?”

“I am Kusanagi. I am not Murakumo which knows nothing of the world and only acts a decoration. I am Kusanagi which cuts through the grass in the land of man.”

She nodded.

“That is how I should use the power my bearer has given me.”

A train station on the western side of Tokyo connected a few different lines.

It was named JR Haijima Station.

The station had four flat platforms, but few trains stopped there in the morning. The transfer between lines also required a little bit of time.

The train at the first platform was on the Itsukaichi Line which headed to Akigawa. It was currently waiting ten minutes before leaving the way it had come.

The smell of the ramen shop in front of the station filled the front car. A single person sat within it.

It was Sayama. His suit coat was folded in his lap and he was facing forward with his elbow on the handrail.

He was on his way back from the Hiba Dojo and he was as expressionless as ever. However, his face looked somehow contemplative.

He had contacted the dorm earlier, but Shinjou Setsu had still not returned.

“He was not there when I called the dormitory leader last night either. Where has he gone?”

He gave a discouraged sigh.

Sadame likely knew where Setsu was, but she had left the Hiba Dojo before he had woken.

“When I asked old Toshi, she would not give a straight answer.”

…''Both members of that old couple are very strange.

However, he would have a definite chance of seeing Sadame today.

At eight that evening, the mock battle between Team Leviathan and UCAT was being held at the Showa Memorial Park.

“How should I confront Shinjou-kun there?”

Just as he started to think about both of them, Baku poked his head out of his breast pocket.

The cell phone in that pocket was vibrating.

Sayama stood up and exited onto the platform.

As he felt the chilly air, he took out his cell phone.

“Hello?”

“Oh, S-Sayama-kun? This is Shinjou Setsu.”

Hearing that voice after so long caused a laugh to escape Sayama’s lips.

“A call from you? How rare. Are you doing well?”

“Y-yes. I’m fine.”

“Really? Are you sure you were not actually abducted by a shady group when you left school and now they are demanding a ransom? If so, I would like to earn your praise by gracefully resolving the issue.”

“S-sorry, but I’m using a pay phone, so I can’t talk for long.”

“What a shame. So what do you need?”

“Well,” said Shinjou. “I will be back at school today at 5:00 PM. Will you be in our room?”

The mock battle in Showa Memorial Park was at 8:00. If they were to gather at 7:30, he could easily arrive if he left school shortly after 6:00, so he nodded.

“That is fine. Five, you said? I promise I will be in our dorm room.”

He heard a sigh come from the phone.

It was a sigh of relief.

And just as Sayama wondered what that meant…

“Thank you. It’s a promise, then.”

Shinjou ended the call.

Sensing a sort of impatience from Shinjou, Sayama stared at his phone.

But no further words would come from that black phone.

He merely heard the bell on the platform indicating the train would soon be leaving.

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 22|Chapter 22]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 24|Chapter 24]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 20

2026-08-16T02:10:16Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 20: Intent to Escape==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0155.png|thumb]]
''What do you call it when you flee despite having nowhere to escape to?

''Is it parting ways?

''Or is it being cornered?

The morning of the festival was overall noisy.

The All Holiday Festival was handled by the different committees, the different circles, and the volunteers from the classes.

A lot of students were taking part because the school had no classes on Sunday, but the morning of the first day was still used for preparations.

Music played from music players and other speakers around the school. Sounds of mic tests and hammering could also be heard and bicycles and motorcycles with trailers could be seen transporting materials.

Amid it all, Shinjou hung his head next to a row of trees warmed by the sun.

Sayama was walking him around to the different stands and introducing them, but not much of it was entering his head.

There were a few different reasons for this.

When he had woken up at around seven that morning, he had been embracing Sayama.

His waking had woken Sayama who had noticed what Shinjou was doing.

Sayama had assured him it was fine, but then…

“We were seen.”

After Harakawa had brought in the materials for their stand using his motorcycle, he and their other classmates had stopped by their room. They would have normally contacted Ooki, but she had been late as usual.

…''They looked so surprised.

They had explained the situation and Harakawa himself had seemed to accept it.

But the others had apparently spread the rumor. When they had left the dorm and when they had eaten at the cafeteria, they had been interviewed by the gossip newspaper which was one of the school’s multiple newspaper clubs.

…''Sayama-kun responded to them so easily.

He had merely insisted it was nothing to worry about.

However, Shinjou still felt he had caused trouble for him.

And that kind of rumor had a way of sticking around.

…''He is already known as the eccentric student council vice president who is well known for doing odd things.

Izumo had been absent, so Sayama had handled the opening ceremony.

It depressed Shinjou to remember the slander and jeers a few people had shouted.

“Want one?”

Something was held out into his downturned vision. It resembled a large dried plum and was held with a pair of chopsticks. It was wrapped in what looked like clear glass.

“What is this?”

“H-have you never seen an apricot candy before? This is… This is a shocking revelation.”

“Wh-why do you have to wiggle around and give such an over-the-top reaction?”

“I see. Then how about we both calm down? …Listen. This candy is the festival’s must-have item.”

“Really? Are things like this needed at a festival?”

“Yes. There are other similar items such as the plastic bag containing a goldfish you stole from a tank or the blade-carved ice with carcinogens placed on top. And at the center of it all is the wooden tower playing bewitching music that everyone repeatedly circles around while dancing in a trancelike state. Ventura! Ventura!”

“I have a feeling your descriptions aren’t entirely accurate…”

Shinjou tilted his head and licked the candy.

“It’s sweet. I thought it would be sour.”

“The outside is nothing but a sugary syrup. It is hard because it was placed in ice. The trick is to eat the whole thing after licking it down a little bit.”

Shinjou nodded and started to pull out his change purse, but Sayama stopped him.

“No need to pay. The first year girl at that stand gave it to me for free. She told me to ‘do my best’. I am impressed that first years these days are trying to form connections with the student council by bribing them with food.”

“I am one hundred percent sure that is not what she meant. What did you say in return?”

“I said I would give it my very best effort, so leave it to me. She gave an excited scream, so I think she might have a brain disease.”

“Ahh…”

Shinjou held his head in his hands.

“What is it, Shinjou-kun? A headache? If you do not eliminate the cause, headaches can be dangerous.”

“I don’t want to hear that from the source of the danger,” he muttered while staring into empty space.

He then heard the sound of an engine behind him.

He turned around and saw a large black motorcycle with a sidecar. Harakawa was driving it. The brown-skinned boy with wavy black hair lowered his sunglasses.

“Hey.”

He stopped the motorcycle next to them.

The boy may have had difficulty telling Japanese people apart because he treated everyone in the class the same. He even acted casually around Sayama who everyone else kept some distance from.

“What is it, Harakawa? Are you about to leave?”

“Yeah. The automobile research club’s all set up, so I’m on my way to meet my mother and then head to my job in Yokota.”

“Tightening bolts and sorting old books? Do your best. …Oh, and how are your new club members?”

“There’s this one perverted kid who wants to get a sidecar a girl can ride in. I like his style. And we’ll probably get more people after the demonstration during the festival.”

“Demonstration? What’s that?”

“Oh, no one’s told you, Shinjou? Well, first we drive our motorcycles side by side along the rows of trees at the main entrance.”

“Okay.”

“Then we all shout ‘our budget was too small and we couldn’t maintain our brakes!’ and charge into the school building.”

“That’s illegal! Sayama-kun, don’t you have something to say about this?”

“Do not try to run up the stairs. Last year, there were some motorcycles flying off the roof, but I do not think it was a stunt.”

“We were targeting the motocross crowd. Preventing the front suspension from bottoming was hard.”

“I’m starting to see why this school is so strange,” commented Shinjou.

“Yes. Even someone practically brimming over with common sense like me has difficulty understanding a lot about this school.”

“S-sorry, but if you’re ‘brimming over with common sense’, how much do you think I have?”

“You? Common sense? I distinctly remember you asking what ‘that spinning square thing’ was when I turned on the game system in the dorm room. How can you not know about the rule of spinning polygons?”

“B-but it really was the first time I’d seen something like that…”

As Shinjou lowered his head, Harakawa sighed.

“Well, you could say this school gathers people with a strange sort of common sense.”

“I-I’m not strange.”

“Ha ha ha. Shinjou-kun, that is what all the strange people say.”

“Sayama-kun, I’m pretty sure I’m the one that’s supposed to say that.”

Harakawa smiled bitterly and gathered attention on himself again.

“More importantly, I’m sorry about this morning, Shinjou Setsu.”

“Oh, um, it’s fine. It was an accident and you actually let us explain. And if you’re going to apologize, apologize to Sayama-kun. I’ll be leaving the school before long.”

“Really? That’s news to me.”

Harakawa turned toward Sayama, but Shinjou could not bring himself to do the same.

“Yes, it is true.”

When Sayama did not deny it, Shinjou gave an emotionless nod.

“Also, Harakawa-kun, I don’t want to leave any misunderstandings behind. The one Sayama-kun is interested in…”

Shinjou paused.

“Yes. The one Sayama-kun is interested in isn’t me. It’s my sister…unfortunately.”

He casually added the “unfortunately”.

''Ah,'' gasped Shinjou in his heart.

He probably should not have said that. For Sayama’s sake and for his own sake.

To avoid any questioning from Sayama, he lowered his head.

But the one to take action was Harakawa. While facing Sayama, he nodded and poked at his shoulder.

“…”

He seemed to be reprimanding Sayama for something and he wordlessly drove off on his motorcycle afterward.

The engine sounds slowly but surely grew more distant. Meanwhile, Shinjou bit into the apricot candy to stall for time. Some sourness joined the sweetness, but it was so little he had to focus on it to notice.

“Shinjou-kun.”

The voice he had dreaded arrived.

Wondering what he was going to ask brought a certain emotion.

…''I’m scared.

Would he seek some kind of conclusion here?

“Are you still feeling unwell?”

It took Shinjou the span of two breaths to understand the unexpected question and then he thought on it.

An answer floated up in his heart and he spoke it while looking toward the ground.

“I don’t know.”

[[Image:OnC_v04_0163.png|thumb]]

“You do not know?”

“I don’t know what I should do. I’m scared and I keep thinking only about myself.”

Having Sayama embrace him had brought such relief the night before, but now he felt he should avoid that.

…''What look is on my face right now?

“This is a weird question, but…Sayama-kun, are you interested in boys?”

“No, I am not. I am normal in that sense.”

“I see.”

Shinjou gave a weak nod and Sayama tilted his head.

Sayama’s gaze held concern, so Shinjou spoke up before he could say anything.

“Th-then… How do you feel about Shinjou Sadame?”

It took Sayama a moment to answer that testing question. He remained as expressionless as ever.

“She is important to me.”

“Yes,” said Shinjou. “I suppose she would be.”

He nodded and his vision grew distorted.

“Sadame is a girl and you are a boy. You don’t care about people seeing us this morning because you will choose Sadame. You…you can’t choose me, can you?”

“Shinjou-kun.”

He tried to say “What?”, but different words came out.

“Sorry, I don’t want to hear it.”

Sayama held out his hand and Shinjou twisted out of its way a moment later.

He turned his back to Sayama and lowered his head. The distortion to his vision fell to the ground.

He looked forward where a path led away from the school. A sudden breeze blew in.

“Sorry. I need to go calm down a bit.”

Shinjou ran forward and away from the school. He ran as far away from Sayama’s words as he could.

“Shinjou-kun!”

Shinjou did not turn back toward the voice. He heard footsteps pursuing him, but a group of elementary students visiting the school crossed their path and blocked the way for Sayama.

Shinjou took a breath, straightened up, and passed through the school’s gate.

…''I just did something I shouldn’t have.

Sayama was surrounded by the elementary students pressing in from the front gate.

He saw Shinjou turn a distant corner and disappear.

“Shinjou-kun! …What is with this crowd of children!?”

“With this many, it’s hard to lead them around.”

Sayama turned to the side and found Ooki scratching her head amid the sea of children.

“So it is our tardy teacher who is in charge of them. You appear unable to move, so when did you appear next to me?”

“I was just caught in the flow.”

“I am glad to see you are the same as always. Now, what is with these children?”

“On the way here, the head of a children’s home asked me to take the children to the festival since I was already late. I am quite popular, you see.”

“So even the children’s homes know my homeroom teacher is always late.”

“If possible, I would like to hear what you have to say about my popularity.”

Sayama ignored her.

He looked around and found a stomach-height crowd staring intently up at him.

“Anyway, Ooki-sensei. Why did you use these children to block my path?”

“When I arrived, I saw you and Shinjou-kun were playing a game of tag, so I had them join in and…ow ow ow!”

“Was it the brain inside this skull that had such an idiotic thought?”

Once Sayama gave Ooki a red spot, the elementary school students began swarming around them.

“D-don’t be mean to her!!”

“Do not let her fool you! She is a bad person!”

His decisive shout brought the children to a halt. They all stared up at them.

“A-a bad person?”

“N-no! Sayama-kun, why are you calling your teacher a bad person!?”

“Oh? Bring your hands to your heart and think very carefully. Have you never once done anything bad?”

Ooki brought her hands to her chest and thought.

“Um…” She tilted her head for several seconds and finally smiled without any further hesitation. “No, not once.”

“Under the Sayama code of law, lying is punishable by death. Are you sure you do not want to reconsider?”

Sayama glared at her with half-closed eyes, but someone suddenly called out behind them.

“Why are you people getting so worked up in the morning? You’re blocking the way.”

He turned around to find Brunhild standing beyond the children.

The art club’s stand sat on the sidewalk behind her.

It was shaped like a Venus de Milo measuring over ten meters tall. The statue was created with an increased bust and had a grilled chicken stand embedded in the stomach. Green smoke blew from the nose up above.

Brunhild smiled toward the children.

“Welcome.”

The black cat on her shoulder meowed and the children drew back.

As the group of children moved away like a receding wave, Sayama stepped forward.

“I thank you.”

“No need. Having them gathered here would affect sales. More importantly, are you preparing for 2nd-Gear’s Leviathan Road?”

“Did Kazami or one of the others tell you?”

“No. …Izumo is absent today, isn’t he? Have you heard why?”

“No. Kazami merely said he fell from the rooftop yesterday.”

“That sounds like one of her excuses. …From what I hear, they were doing some kind of training on the roof last night. She said they had figured out the trick to something, but Izumo had to sleep because of an injury.”

Sayama gave a bitter smile. That training had likely been to find a countermeasure for 2nd-Gear’s Art of Walking.

But he had nothing to say about the fact that they had not told him.

“They probably had another strange idea.”

“What will you do? Will you head to UCAT where your runaway friend’s sister is?”

“Yes, that is my plan. I have other business in Okutama, too. I was about to ask the dormitory head to call me if Setsu-kun returns and then speak with Sadame-kun at UCAT.”

“Speak about what?”

“About why I must be looked down on like this.”

“Eh?”

Brunhild’s questioning voice and expression elicited a bitter smile from Sayama.

“It seems Shinjou…Setsu-kun does not want to hear what I have to say.”

“There are times like that.”

“But I cannot stand it. And…I doubt that is what he truly wants.”

Sayama spoke his true feelings to the girl he had once fought.

“Who else is going to listen to what I have to say?”

“Don’t be so humble. Someone from 1st-Gear who listened to you is standing right here.”

“Do not misunderstand. I made you and your Gear listen by force. But with Shinjou-kun…both Shinjou-kun’s, I want them to listen of their own free will.”

“You have a serious case of just about every illness I can think of.”

“That is fine by me. They say overcoming all kinds of illness leads to good fortune. …The time has come for me to decide how to face them.”

“Then what will you do now?” asked Brunhild.

Suddenly, the left side of Sayama’s chest vibrated.

It was his cell phone.

He pulled Baku from his pocket and then grabbed his phone.

“It is me.”

“Sayama-sama? This is Sibyl of Team Leviathan. Do you have a moment?”

“Testament. What is it?”

“2nd-Gear has announced the details of the Leviathan Road. The time and place are 8 PM tomorrow in the concept space within Showa Memorial Park. 2nd-Gear’s representatives will carry out joint training with Team Leviathan and its support units. The victor will be the one to acquire Totsuka from the bridge in Susaou’s head. Simply put, it will be a mock battle. What do you think?”

“So the military god has finally made up his mind.”

“I predicted you would say something like that.”

Sayama frowned at the hint of enjoyment in her voice.

“Did the others give different comments?” he asked.

“A few, but one person said the same thing you did.”

“Who was that?”

“Ooshiro Itaru-sama.”

Sayama gulped.

''Why him?'' he wondered as Sibyl continued.

“Please come to UCAT soon. We must exchange the necessary paperwork and I will prepare the documents related to 2nd-Gear.”

“Testament,” replied Sayama before putting away his phone.

He looked up and found Brunhild looking at him.

“You are going to UCAT, then? I have business there as well.”

“To visit the 1st-Gear reservation? Send my regards to Fasolt and Fafner.”

“That family has recently seriously tried to create pulp from kitchen waste. It smells too bad to get anywhere near their house. And they got into a serious fight and partially destroyed that house recently.”

“Who knew giant monsters were battling so close to home?”

“Yes,” said Brunhild. “But you mentioned a military god, didn’t you? The god-class members of each gear are powerful. Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“This military god wants us to face him. And if you recall, I once faced a girl who was the god of the underworld and a dragon who could only be defeated with a holy sword. Nevertheless, here I am alive.”

“Not only are you foolish, you’re full of yourself, too.”

“I will take that as a compliment. It was someone who was referred to that way that defeated a god. …And I already know that the ones I am facing now are as formidable an enemy as you were.”

“I see.” Brunhild nodded and expressionlessly continued. “If you have not forgotten that, then I am still the god of the underworld. …But I am one who is no longer opposing you.”

“Then shall we go to UCAT together? I plan to head over once the afternoon group takes over here.”

Brunhild began to nod, but someone suddenly flipped her skirt up.

“…!”

She turned around to find one of the elementary kids from before. A boy in shorts was smiling at her.

“Yay! It’s the coldhearted girl’s panti-…gwoh!”

“Hm. Starting out with an iron claw? Rather harsh, don’t you think?”

“Sorry, Sayama. I’ll head to UCAT on my own after dealing with this kid.”

Ooki frantically ran over.

“Ahhh! I’m sorry, Brunhild-san! There are just too many energetic and perverted children!”

“Don’t worry about it. No one will be left to worry about it.”

“D-don’t say such ominous things with that cement-like face!”

As Ooki panicked, Brunhild smiled and pointed toward the stand behind her.

“Want to see it? Don’t worry. …I’ll convince you.”

On the north end of Akigawa was a cemetery on a mountain near Oume.

A sign reading Nishitama Cemetery and a pair of guests stood at the entrance.

Walking below the midday sun was a man and woman wearing black. They both had white hair.

One was Ooshiro Itaru and the other was Sf.

As he climbed the stairs to the cemetery, Itaru held his cane in one hand and a bouquet of chrysanthemums in the other.

Next to him, Sf held up a bucket of water in her right hand.

“Itaru-sama, should I carry the flowers for you?”

“Oh? How surprisingly considerate. Do you want to carry them that much?”

“No, not really.”

“Then I will have you carry them.”

Itaru handed Sf the flowers. She placed them in the bucket of water and looked around.

Tombstones were lined up along the mountain slope and a path continued on between them.

“I have determined this is an incomprehensible place.”

“Why?”

“Tes. If this megalithic culture was capable of constructing such ley lines, why was it destroyed?”

“It looks like your brain is tuned to some special program. …Remember this: The culture that made this is very much alive. It has not been destroyed. Also, this has nothing to do with ley lines.”

“So it is a graveyard? In that case, I have concluded it is all the more incomprehensible.”

Sf once more looked across the gravestones.

“If people felt strongly enough about the people to set up gravestones, why did they place them so far outside the city? If you have strong feelings, wouldn’t you place them nearby? I cannot make any sense of it, so I have determined the answer is based on emotions.”

“There are some things you feel are important and have strong feelings about but want to put at a distance. …You don’t understand that?”

“Tes. I cannot understand the actions of distancing something or distancing yourself from something.”

“Is that so?”

“Tes. For example, ever since I was activated in Japan, I have not left a one hundred meter radius of you. I have been monitoring your heartbeat, breathing, and body temperature in real time.”

“Oh? I see the Germans install extreme stalker protocols in their machines. I had always thought a maid and her master kept a fair bit of distance, but maybe I was imagining it.”

“That is not something I can understand without emotions.”

“I see, I see.”

Itaru came to a stop at the top of the staircase.

The graveyard lay on a gentle downward slope in front of him.

As he walked forward, Sf continued alongside him.

“My memory says we have been here once before. It was on the way back that we met Sayama-sama.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Tes. I choose a bow from my different apology options.”

Itaru stopped walking and Sf lowered her head.

A few seconds later, she began to raise her head, but something struck it.

“Itaru-sama, a chop has struck the back of my head.”

“It’s a form of silent communication. Doing things like this is fine from time to time.”

“Tes. But I have determined this was not your idea.”

“Oh, have you?”

He removed his hand and she adjusted her hair decoration.

“Tes. Unless you are troubled, you would not choose to touch me.”

“You remember too damn much.”

“Tes. My ability to brighten my master’s day with as-yet-unknown features is what makes me the secret masterpiece of German UCAT. Please look forward to what you will discover in the future. …Should I add a catchy comment at the end?”

“I would love it if you said ‘die’ or ‘go to hell’ with a smile.”

“Tes.”

Sf bowed, suddenly stopped moving, and recorded everything.

She turned her expressionless face toward her master and tilted her head concerning his action.

“Itaru-sama, what is with that weak chop?”

“I used to know a guy who did stupid things like that,” he said quietly as he came to a stop in front of a gravestone. “Sf, give me the flowers.”

“Tes.”

She handed him the flowers and he began to place them in the vase in front of the gravestone.

But someone must have been there before them because the vase already contained new flowers. And the bright flowers were not chrysanthemums.

“Diana…”

“Diana-sama? Why?”

“You wouldn’t understand, Sf. Not that I do either.”

With a bitter smile, he loosened his black necktie that blew in the mountain wind.

“This world is full of things I don’t understand. Not only that, but only me and a few other people even know of the world’s true mystery.”

“The world’s true mystery?”

“That’s right, Sf. Have you never thought about it? This Gear has nothing but negative concepts, so why has it never before fallen too far to the negative side and been destroyed?” His bitter smile deepened. “That Sayama must search out the answer to that question…no, he must search out an even greater answer than that. Those once known as the Eight Great Dragon Kings asked the question and the Five Great Peaks sealed the answer.”

He placed his own flowers in the vase.

“Sf, the water. …No, wait!”

He turned around just in time to see Sf preparing to dump the contents of the bucket on the gravestone.

“But you did this last time we were here… Is there a problem? I even checked my memory three times over.”

“Don’t repeat what every Japanese person thinks at some point.”

“Tes. I understand. You are saying I should not repeat a gag, correct? What gag should we go with this time?”

“German machines are a pain in the ass. …Do it like you’re watering the gravestone.”

“Tes.”

Sf pulled a small watering can from beneath her apron.

“Just out of curiosity, why were you walking around with that?”

“Tes. So I could carry out any request you might have. I was correct to bring my S equipment that I take with me on walks. The S stands for ‘stroll’ and the equipment was decided on with a strict lottery. Would you like to attend the next selection meeting? The prize for attendance is a notebook and pencil.”

“UCAT has become a very wasteful organization.”

“Tes. That is a sign of stability. …Hm?”

“What is it, Sf?”

“I only just now notice the name on this gravestone.”

The front of the watering can pointed toward the front of the gravestone. The sprinkled water revealed a name there.

“Sayama.”

Shinjou sat in a sofa with a jacket on as she waited in front of UCAT’s underground training rooms.

It was currently 4 PM and she was waiting for an opening in the training rooms. The adults around her were doing the same. The men’s and women’s locker rooms faced each other, so men and women of all ages gathered in the lobby.

“There isn’t going to be an open training room at this rate. But I told Sayama-kun I was training today.”

The wall in front of the locker rooms contained electronic boards displaying the status of each training room.

…''2nd-Gear is using all of them for official secret training.

As they were preparing to oppose the Leviathan Road, they had top priority. Even Team Leviathan had to wait for a cancellation that might not come.

She wondered what 2nd-Gear was doing.

…''They’ve definitely started moving.

That thought eliminated all calm from her body.

She wore white jeans and her legs were crossed. She rested both her elbows on her lap and held a small handheld game system.

A UCAT worker had given her the two-button device. The game took place in a southern ocean where the player repeatedly gathered treasure from the bottom of the ocean while avoiding the legs of a large oceanic creature that was trying to communicate.

But the old and blurry LCD screen would reach game over and stop running after only ten points.

She did not recognize any of the other people waiting.

She looked around and saw that it was truly a strange mixture of people.

Some of them were not even human and those stood out the most.

She then realized something. Ooki, for example, would not show her long ears except in a concept space.

''Do they not mix well with this Gear?'' she wondered. ''Do Sayama-kun and I mix well?

That last thought caused her to shake her head.

…''Why am I thinking such dark thoughts.

She put the game in her jacket’s inner pocket and stood up.

It was unlikely any of the training rooms would open up, so staying would only bring more dark thoughts.

Just as she decided to go elsewhere, everyone around her suddenly stirred.

“…”

She turned in the same direction as everyone else and saw one of the labels on the electronic board had changed. The scarlet indicator had vanished and a voice came from the speaker on the ceiling.

“Um, thank you very much for, um, using Japanese UCAT’s training room. Um, what comes next…? Oh, Training Room 7, Training Room 7. 2nd-Gear’s training is complete. The door will open soon, so be careful. The same training room will now be used by German UCAT. Um, anyone trying to force their way in will be… I just said not to go in, you goddamn ape!! Okay, the door will close now.”

Shinjou heard several disappointed groans and her own shoulders drooped.

She took two or three steps away from the others because she just wanted to get away.

But before she could, a new stir ran through the crowd.

A group had left the men’s locker room.

The men still wore UCAT’s white combat uniforms.

A dozen or so men walked out while still prepared for battle.

Their harsh atmosphere silenced the crowd.

Shinjou spotted Kashima and Atsuta within the group.

Kashima stood out at the front of the group because he alone wore a work uniform.

He was explaining some numbers to Atsuta while gesturing with his hands.

Behind those two were a few elderly men with tools hanging from their waists and people carrying computers and large instrumentation on stretchers.

The men waiting their turn commented as they passed by.

“They gathered all of 2nd-Gear’s engineers, didn’t they?”

And then everyone gasped when the next stretcher was carried from the locker room.

It contained a large white table on which a pile of Cowling Sword fragments sat.

It all had to have made up at least thirty swords originally.

The weapons had been created to combat alternate worlds, but they had broken.

“You can destroy those?” someone muttered.

No one else dared speak.

“…”

Shinjou stared blankly at the swaying stretchers and the men.

That was when Kashima looked up.

Her gaze met his head on.

“Ah…”

She took a step back, but the sofa was directly behind her.

By the time she wondered what to do, he was already right in front of her.

As she stood defensively, he opened his mouth to speak.

“You are Shinjou Sadame of Team Leviathan, aren’t you? Do you have a moment?”

Kashima looked at Shinjou in front of him.

She wore an orange jacket, a white shirt, and white jeans.

He felt it was not just his imagination that her slender frame looked unreliable. She had taken a defensive pose.

…''But she’s trembling.

Before entering the training room, Tsukuyomi had informed Ooshiro Itaru when the Leviathan Road would begin.

At the same time, Tsukuyomi had received documents on the members of Team Leviathan.

All of the documents had some portions blacked out because the information was classified.

But Shinjou Sadame’s document had contained a certain note.

…''Based on her mentality, it is possible she is not suited for an offensive role.

He had dug further and found that her Ex-St had never been used at its full output.

Most of the retrieved data stopped before reaching the highest output range. The one exception was a single time during the battle with 1st-Gear when the output had gotten very close.

He remembered it had been the same when he had met her in the cafeteria.

She had been standing right next to Sayama when Atsuta had provoked the boy, but she had not moved.

He did not know why.

The blacked out portions of her file may have explained it and they may not have.

The one thing he did know was that she was the one who stood by Sayama’s side.

''But,'' he thought. ''That boy hopes to fight.

Then what about this girl?

“Shinjou Sadame-kun, we have not met since the cafeteria, have we?”

“Wh-what do you want?” she asked cautiously.

He nodded once to put her at ease.

While thinking about her and Sayama, he spoke.

“Since then, I have chosen to fight. How about you?”

He saw her shrink back at his question.

She let out a short breath and looked up at him with no strength in her eyebrows.

“I don’t know…”

“But you want to know, don’t you? You asked me about my lie in the cafeteria.”

She thought for a moment before answering.

“I want to know? …What answer do you want?”

She was likely asking herself the same question, so he nodded.

As she trembled before his eyes, he spoke as if to teach her and to warn her.

“For the sake of the future, I want the answer to all my questions.”

He thought back and the landslide from eight years ago entered his mind.

“Why could I not forget my power when I tried so hard to forget?”

He recalled Natsu’s hand that he had grabbed.

“Why do I hurt the person who I want to be with?”

He thought of his parents.

“Why do I feel alone when so many people care for me?”

He recalled his grandfather on his deathbed.

“Why do I feel like I am out of sync with this world?”

And he brought back his memories of the past eight years.

“Why do I feel as if I cannot just choose one or the other?”

He asked each question in a calm tone, but Shinjou shrank back further and further.

He opened his mouth yet again as if to draw her back.

As he spoke his final question, he thought of Natsu, of Harumi, and of the future.

“Why do I want to gain everything with my own power even as these questions eat into me?”

Shinjou bit her lower lip and trembled.

She lowered her head as if thanking him. She then lowered her shoulders and let out a breath.

“Kashima-san, do you think you will receive your answer if you fight?”

“I will not receive my answer. I will go out and take it. …It scares me, though.”

She raised her head and looked at him with slight tears in her eyes.

He placed a hand on her head and stroked it gently to put her at ease.

“You do not know whether it is the truth or the lie that makes you fear yourself. But I am sure the person who cares for you is waiting for you on the side of truth.”

He took a breath.

“I spent eight years lying. When will you be able to choose yourself within the fear?”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 19|Chapter 19]]
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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 21|Chapter 21]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 19

2026-08-15T04:16:02Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 19: Night of Compensation==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0137.png|thumb]]
''What should I say?

''I cannot tell the truth no matter what

''The more I want to, the more I hesitate

In a small living room, the sounds of a late-night television show played quietly.

This was the Kashima household’s living room.

Two people watched the television while listening to the faint sound of rain from outside.

They were Kashima and Natsu who was leaning up against him.

They sat on cushions and had a table in front of them.

The table contained two sake bottles and two matching sake cups.

“I see you liked the stir-fried sandlance.”

Kashima suddenly realized he kept bringing his chopsticks back to the bowl of small fish.

“The trick is to separately cook the sandlance and the fried tofu in bonito sauce and mix it together later.”

He did not know what effect that had, but the number of fish he had grabbed said plenty.

“It goes well with the sake.”

He took a sip of the sake they rarely brought out.

He then recalled last night’s dinner.

The main dish had been a squash and adzuki bean dish with boiled bamboo shoots wrapped in cured ham.

It had all come together well with the rice and miso soup.

He felt so much better when at home.

It helped that he had someone precious by his side.

Being with her made him feel like he was slowly working through the thoughts which had been bothering him.

Something new filled the place where he had trembled in fear in front of the third production room.

What had he chosen?

''Everything will be okay,'' he thought as he went back over his thoughts.

But would Natsu realize where his thoughts were? She carried her thick sake cup to her mouth and laughed quietly in a cat-like voice.

Kashima smiled at that and poured more sake into her cup.

“Oh, Akio-san. Why are you trying to get me drunk? Are you plotting something?”

“I enjoy watching you drink more than drinking myself.”

“Really?” she asked as she took another drink and laughed again.

She then held up her cup.

“Do you remember this? It is from the school trip in our fourth year.”

“Yes. That was when the seminar students were forced to march as slaves in the name of an excavation trip in Inawashiro, wasn’t it? You caused a huge commotion when you got heatstroke.”

“Th-that was my punishment for trying to show off. When I was being sent back to Tokyo, you ran up to me on the platform and gave me this.”

“Your fath-…the professor was a strict person. I thought it was wrong to force you back home without even a souvenir.”

Kashima smiled bitterly as he remembered. He had simply been worried about her, but he had needed an excuse back then. He decided now he should tell her what his true reasons had been.

He tried to tell her he had been worried about her.

“…”

[[Image:OnC_v04_0141.png|thumb]]

But he stopped.

Telling her the truth about that would change nothing in the present.

She was currently observing the thick sake cup in her hand.

“That was quite funny, thinking back. You said you had a souvenir for me, but you handed me this which you can buy at any store. So I asked you why you got me this.” She gave a smile that did not reach her eyes. “And you told me you wanted something that would not break if I dropped it because I can be careless. Of course, there are plenty of other things that would have worked.”

And…

“You were in quite a rush, weren’t you?”

''Wow,'' thought Kashima as he shrank down. ''She’s got me there.

“That was all I saw at the time. But I never expected you to give me the exact same gift in return after summer break.”

He lightly held up the sake cup in his hand. It was just as thick as hers.

“You got it on some short trip, didn’t you? Your family can be demanding about that kind of thing.”

“I was glad to do it because I wanted to give you something in thanks. But I can be careless, so I wanted to get something I wouldn’t drop and break before I could give it to you.”

…''What a horrible way of returning the favor.

Kashima could find nothing to say in response to her smile, so he scratched at his head.

Natsu then nodded wordlessly.

“But my worries were unneeded.” She held up her cup in her left hand. “After all, you were willing to take something even after it had been dropped and broken.”

Still smiling, she drew back a bit.

''I see,'' thought Kashima when he saw that. ''I made her worry.

He had made his wife bring up the topic he should have headed toward himself. That topic being his true feelings regarding the past.

And so he nodded and spoke.

“Natsu-san.”

“Yes?” she said while politely sitting next to him and lowering the television’s volume with the remote. “Is it about your job?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“I do not really know anything about this. I do not know what is causing that uncertain expression of yours or that secretiveness of late. But…that is what lets me know it is related to your job.”

“Have I been worrying you?”

“No. I know you will always ultimately discuss it with me or apologize. After you suddenly bought that expensive video camera, you spent a month bowing down to me and coming home at a normal time every day.”

“Well, a lot of that was because I wanted to ''use'' the video camera… But whatever.”

They exchanged a glance and smiled at each other.

After a breath, Natsu brought her hands to her chest.

“It’s okay. I have been drinking, so if I start crying, I can blame it on the alcohol.”

“You’re quite prepared.” Kashima led that statement smoothly into his next. “Can I have about two days? I need to stay over at work to finish an important job. To be honest, I think I won’t want to be in contact with anyone outside the office. And after that…”

“This will happen again from time to time, won’t it? You will occasionally prioritize your work over your home.”

Hearing that, he looked up.

Natsu had her hands against her chest in a way that looked somewhat protective.

…''She knows what I am about to say.

And so he nodded without hesitation.

“That is correct,” he said clearly.

“I see,” she said with slightly lowered eyebrows. “Then I will return to the family home while you are gone.”

Someone moved in the darkness.

It was Shinjou as he awoke under the blanket.

After speaking with Sayama at around eight, he had passed out due to pain.

How much time had passed? It felt like an instant, but it could have been hours. He wanted for it to be morning, but the darkness and silence outside the blanket told him it was the middle of the night.

The odd feeling in his stomach remained, but he felt warmth all across his body as he lay curled up while facing the left.

The blanket must have been holding in the heat well because he was not feeling cold at all.

''The pain should leave soon,'' he thought in relief.

He took a breath, the tension left him, and his pulse sounded louder than before. He could feel sweat on his brow, but he did not want to move his hands from his body. It was improper, but he tried to rub his forehead against the sheet to wipe off the sweat.

“…Eh?”

He suddenly realized his head lay on something like a pillow.

His head was drawn under the blanket, so his head could not be on his pillow.

Wondering what this pillow-like object was, he raised his head.

The cool air outside the blanket touched his face and his night vision told him what it was.

“Sayama-kun?”

Sayama was sleeping while lightly embracing Shinjou.

His right arm passed below Shinjou’s left cheek and around Shinjou’s back. His left arm was wrapped around Shinjou’s right shoulder and also wrapped around Shinjou’s back.

Shinjou remained silent while held in Sayama’s arms. He more strongly held his own left-facing body and curled up even tighter.

He had seen this composition before. A verse of a song he knew had been made into a painting and that painting showed a holy mother embracing her crying child.

“Christ the Savior is here…”

''What is he doing?'' wondered Shinjou as he muttered a line of the song.

But he knew why that holy mother was embracing her child.

…''This is what you do when someone important to you cries.

The feeling of that left hand on his back seemed to bring back a memory of the past.

He had a memory of someone lightly patting his back while he was suffering.

Was this a memory of what Sayama had done just now or was it a memory of Shinjou’s forgotten mother?

''It doesn’t matter,'' he thought. ''Either way, it is a welcome memory.

Shinjou realized Sayama’s left arm was pinched in at the shoulder a bit.

When Sayama recalled the past, he would bring his right hand to the left side of his chest.

But right now, that arm was being used as Shinjou’s pillow. In that case, what did it mean that his left arm was pinched in like that?

''Sorry,'' he thought. ''His mother must have done this for him.

Shinjou nodded and looked next to the head of the bed.

The alarm clock said it was just before twelve.

Had Sayama been embracing him for the entire four hours since he had passed out?

…''Sorry.

Sayama’s expression as he slept was different than the one he had when Shinjou would wake him in the morning.

It was the peaceful expression of someone who had completed a job. He accepted the pain in his chest as normal.

…''I need to reconsider my actions.

Before, he had left everything up to his pain, hinted that he would disappear, and tried to force his plot on Sayama.

“Why did I do that?”

…''He will eventually read my plot even if I hadn’t done that.

Shinjou pressed his forehead against Sayama’s chest.

“What do you think about me?”

He closed his eyes.

“What will you think about me once you learn my lie?”

Kashima immediately reacted to Natsu’s comment about returning to the family home.

He had expected to hear her say that. She was here because he was here. So if he left…

“That would be best.”

“Yes. It has been a while since I was there, so it should cause some confusion at first.”

“Yeah.”

But her father drew picture books and loved children. If she brought Harumi with her, he would not scold her or refuse to let her in.

“There will probably be a lot of cleaning to do.”

That was true. Kashima had heard Natsu’s room was untouched from when she had let.

…''This is going to be a lot of trouble for her.

She must have realized what he was thinking because she nodded and spoke.

“But it is about time for them to be planting the rice, isn’t it? I like doing that.”

“Eh?”

“What? Why are you so confused?”

“Wait a minute, Natsu-san. When you said you would return to the family home, where exactly did you mean?”

“I meant your mother and father’s house, of course.”

She tilted her head as she answered and Kashima felt his strength leave him.

He collapsed backward and sprawled out on the floor. Tatami mats were horribly cool and comfortable at times like this.

“Ah,” said Natsu as she realized something. “S-sorry. But…um…I am Kashima Natsu now.”

“No, I was the one that jumped to the wrong conclusion. I guess you could call both of them the family home.”

“I-I can’t believe you. I am not the kind of wife that would do that.”

“No, you’re not. You’re really not,” he said as he sat back up.

He crossed his legs and faced forward where Natsu was blushing and giving a troubled expression. He sighed.

“I guess they won’t complain if you suddenly show up.”

“I actually called them today. They hinted that they were shorthanded for planting the rice, so I thought I would go help if you were leaving for a while.” She stared at him. “They should give us some rice, so I can go, right?”

“I get the feeling my parents are bribing my wife with food… But what about Harumi?”

“Your mother says she will teach me a new way to hold her. It apparently involves supporting her on my back with a sash. I will probably get to hear how she carried you around like that.”

“Sorry, but I think I’m going to buy a hidden microphone tomorrow. Please let me monitor what they say.”

He smiled bitterly. He felt bad for Natsu’s family, but this was better for him.

He almost apologized out loud, but he stopped himself.

“Anyway, Natsu-san.”

“Yes?”

“I know this is a lot of trouble for you, but I still can’t tell you about my job.”

He slowly reached out and took Natsu’s left hand. That hand was missing the ring and little fingers. He enclosed the remaining fingers in his hands and she asked a question.

“That means you are lying to me in the sense that you are hiding the truth, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. I have been ever since I took your hand like this for the first time.”

“Then for this upcoming job are you returning to who you were before you took my hand?”

“Yes. I will return to the person I was before I left the university and met you on that rainy night.”

“I see,” she said as she tilted her head a bit.

She took a breath, smiled with the ends of her eyebrows lowered, and asked another question.

“Does this job have anything to do with this hand of mine?”

Kashima responded clearly to Natsu’s question and the gaze she directed straight at him.

“It does. But I can’t say any more than that.”

“I see,” she said again before biting her lower lip for a few seconds.

But she did not lower her head. She continued staring straight at him and asked yet another question.

“But things will remain the same at home, right?”

“They will. Just as before, I will continue to lie.”

Natsu’s expression changed. She formed a smile with lowered eyebrows and lowered her head.

“Please do. And do not apologize. Do not sacrifice yourself for the life Harumi and I have.”

Before she could use her right hand to wipe her eye, he let go of her other hand.

He used his own hands to wipe both of her cheeks.

She narrowed her eyes and took a single rough breath.

“Akio-san, I don’t know, do I?”

“Know what?”

“I…I married you without fully knowing you, so it would be a problem if you did not continue lying.”

Natsu’s words caused Kashima to tense up.

Seeing that, she raised her head and spoke in a mischievous voice.

“And I lie to you too, you know?”

“You do?”

Her teary face smiled a bit.

“Yes. About my childhood, about my mischief and romantic relationships as a student, about my parents, and about my relationships with people at my workplace now. I…I lie a lot too.”

Tears spilled from her arched eyes.

“You’re such a liar, Akio-san. You’re Yamato Takeru.”

“Th-that’s kind of ominous. According to the legend, didn’t Yamato Takeru’s wife Ototachibana-hime drown herself to calm a storm?”

“Yes, but a liar’s wife will of course be a liar. She drowned herself, but she did not actually want that. That is why there is more to the story.”

“Eh?”

Natsu grabbed Kashima’s hands as he wiped away her tears.

“Yamato Takeru searched for her and found her washed up on a certain beach. That beach was named Soga because she was brought back to life there. That beach is in Chiba, near Tokyo.” She took a breath. “Soga means to resurrect oneself. That is just like the two of us, isn’t it?”

“…”

“And afterward, Yamato Takeru continued his work and died of fatigue. But neither he nor his wife died while lost in their lies. The world is a harsh place. But try not to work yourself to death.”

She raised her head and the motion caused some tears to fall from the corners of her eye. She then smiled once more.

“Now, I have a request for our family’s Great God Kashima and Yamato Takeru.”

“What is it, our family’s Ototachibana-hime and crybaby wife?”

“Oh, my.”

Natsu blushed, but her expression quickly calmed down.

“You can work if you like. You can lie if you like. You can get wrapped up in late-night violence with that delinquent Atsuta-san and his motorcycle if you like.” She took a breath. “But please always return home.”

He had a single answer. He very nearly said “testament”, but caught himself.

“I promise.”

He embraced her, took her left hand, and gently kissed it.

“Ah.”

She looked troubled, but brought the missing part of her hand toward his mouth.

The stumps of the two fingers had slight depressions due to the wrinkles.

When he pecked at them, she laughed quietly.

As he licked her scars, she trembled a bit and spoke.

“For me, this place – including the lies – is the truth.”

Her outstretched hand tasted of sweat which slightly resembled the flavor of blood.

She had appeared calm as they had spoken, but she must have been nervous.

''The same as me,'' thought Kashima as he held her firmly in his left arm.

She would be able to hear his pulse now.

“I will return home and I will not apologize. That alone is most definitely not a lie.”

“Thank you.”

Natsu looked up even though her eyes were closed and he removed his mouth from her hand.

He would do what he must do where he was wanted.

He once more heard the sound of rain from outside.

“Akio-san.”

“What is it?”

He looked over at her, but she was smiling without fearing the rain.

“I feel bad doing this to Haru-chan.”

She made a quiet request.

“But can you give a little of your time to only me?”

<noinclude>
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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 20|Chapter 20]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 18

2026-08-14T03:30:10Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 18: Demand for Pain==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0119.png|thumb]]
''Will you bring yourself pain by seeking that which once caused you pain?

''And what will you do about that which you once sought?

The curtain of night fell over the mountains of Okutama.

Beyond the UCAT facility was a world different from reality.

It was the 1st-Gear reservation. A space with a one kilometer radius was normally filled with greenery, but it could not be seen in the night.

Light spilled from the windows of the houses and temporary residences in the space and smoke rose from the chimneys on the roofs.

But one stone house in the center was a bit different.

It had no front wall. It appeared to have originally had one, but it had been destroyed.

Light filled the inside of that broken house.

Two people could be seen within: a half-dragon covered in a black shell and an old man wearing a lab coat.

They sat opposite each other on bamboo benches placed on the dirt floor.

Between them was a Go board covered in black and white Go pieces.

The half-dragon puffed out his chest and folded his arms while the old man leaned forward and stared at the game board.

The old man then placed a hand on his chin and spoke.

“Fasolt, I would be unbeatable if we were playing gunjin shogi.”

“When we did that, you dropped the landmine piece and it exploded, Ooshiro Kazuo.”

“Yeah, that caused a lot of damage. To me.”

Ooshiro sighed and Fasolt tilted his head.

“I hear the Leviathan Road with 2nd-Gear was progressing well.”

“Y-you really like to get to the heart of the issue right away, don’t you?”

“If a storyteller tells his story in a roundabout way, the truth will escape, Ooshiro Kazuo. That Sayama Mikoto and Shinjou are working on it, aren’t they?”

“Shinjou-kun is the problem. You know about her lie, right?”

“I see,” said Fasolt. “So she is thinking about revealing her lie to Sayama Mikoto?”

“How did you know?”

“It is the proper path for a story, Ooshiro Kazuo. A princess always possesses a secret.”

“A princess? When did you start talking about fairy tales, Fasolt?”

Fasolt ignored that comment.

“Your father was involved in the destruction of 2nd-Gear and you cannot give them very much information, so you cannot get too involved with their issues here. Is that it?”

“Fasolt, you’re great at summing things up.” Ooshiro set down a Go piece. “But I also feel like I’m losing my nerve when it comes to my father.”

“That proves you are young. Once you reach my age, you almost never hesitate.”

“Really?”

“Really. The other day, Fafner made some unnecessary comments about his pulp production job, so I did not hesitate to deck him. That wall there was a victim of our little family battle. It makes me think hesitation might be a good thing.”

Ooshiro turned toward the destroyed front wall of the house.

“I see you are living a fulfilling life. …So how is Fafner?”

“He is performing the ceremony of repentance.”

“The ceremony of repentance?”

“I tie a rope to him and hang him upside down off of the cliff out back for three days. That should get him to repent, but if he doesn’t, I just have to swing him around real good and let him hang for another three days.”

“That isn’t repentance! That’s forced mind alteration!”

Fasolt naturally ignored that comment and set down a Go piece.

“At any rate, the young have plenty of energy and a healthy amount of hesitation. 2nd-Gear has no long-lived types, so the young can hesitate and find their own answer while young.” He let out a deep laugh. “But as a member of 1st-Gear, something else is bothering me. I heard an older group is on the move. German UCAT’s strongest witch is here, isn’t she?”

“You mean Diana-kun? As you know, she is Siegfried’s niece, but…”

“I have heard the rumors, but I never thought that man’s niece would help out 1st-Gear.”

Ooshiro nodded.

“We live in a different age now. Anyway, it seems Diana-kun is interested in Team Leviathan.”

“And?”

“She knows about UCAT’s blank period. That should tell you all you need to know, right? Someone who knows a part of UCAT’s past not even you know has returned to check on the Leviathan Road.”

And…

“I do not know what she has been thinking for the past ten years, so I would like to give her an assistant who can keep an eye on her.”

“In that case, I know the perfect person,” confidently declared Fasolt. “1st-Gear has someone who will not be outdone by a German UCAT witch. Do not hesitate here, Ooshiro Kazuo. This is for the sake of that Sayama Mikoto and Shinjou of Team Leviathan which brought 1st-Gear to your side.”

The design room in UCAT’s second basement was suddenly filled with tension due to a single person.

That person was Kashima.

He was soaking wet. His white work uniform was dark with moisture and his usually orderly hair was dripping water and sticking to his face and neck.

His left arm held a thick waterproof envelope and his right hand was stained almost up the elbow with mud.

However, he did not seem to care. His wet footsteps continued straight forward.

He was headed for the very back of the room. The back wall contained a large projector and a single desk sat in front of it. This open space which was not divided off by a partition belonged to Tsukuyomi.

She had been staring at the photographs taken of Susaou, but she suddenly looked up.

She saw Kashima arrive from the entrance. She watched the source of the room’s tension.

“Have you made up your mind, Kashima?”

She smiled as he approached her without nodding.

He remained silent, but his expression was composed and showed no hesitation or strength.

She nodded inwardly as she watched him. This was a good sign.

Suddenly, a young man stood up from a partition on the right.

The short haired man in a lab coat was an engineer who had only joined three years prior. His name was Mikami.

From what Tsukuyomi could remember, he had a poor impression of Kashima.

Mikami was a pure metal casting and swordsmithing family of 2nd-Gear. Back when the Gear still existed, the Kashima family had overtaken them and they had given up the position of #1 when it came to swords.

That was likely why Mikami was stopping Kashima.

With a single footstep, he quickly moved toward Kashima from the right.

“Manager Kashima, you should not carelessly enter the design room while soaking wet. We deal with fire and forging metal in this department, so-…”

He trailed off because of the look in Kashima’s eyes.

Kashima did nothing but look at Mikami.

Nevertheless, Mikami lowered his hands and backed away.

No one laughed at Mikami’s decision.

Silence fell once more, the tension grew, and Kashima continued toward Tsukuyomi.

His eyes held no strength, but they had not lost their strength either.

“Why are you here?” asked Tsukuyomi.

“The Leviathan Road between 2nd-Gear and Low-Gear will take place at this time in two days.”

“How will it be carried out?”

As soon as she asked, the door to the design room opened and a song entered.

“Iiii am as strong as Ebolaaaa! Eeeeven if you bow down before me, you’ll shit out your large intestiiiine!”

All the others ducked back into their partitions out of fear. Atsuta had arrived.

Tsukuyomi saw Kashima fall silent and put on a grim expression.

“You sure are in a good mood, Atsuta. Why are you here?”

“Wait, why’re you here? I thought you quit and went home to grope your wife’s tits?”

Kashima gave an exasperated look and sighed as Atsuta walked up next to him.

He glanced over at Tsukuyomi and then back at Atsuta.

“You know, the work day isn’t over yet. Also, that was sexual harassment against my wife. Why are you here?”

“I have a good reason, but I’m not going to tell someone who keeps saying he’s gonna quit. Keh.”

“I am not quitting, so tell me.”

“Are you messing with me? Try begging me to tell you.”

“Fine, fine. I beg you. Please tell me.”

“I’m not gonna tell someone with no pride!”

“I really don’t understand you. You haven’t impressed me this much in a while.”

“Is that so?” Atsuta nodded. “Well, whatever. I feel better now, so I’ll give you a small blessing and tell you: It’s the Leviathan Road.”

Everyone peering out from their partitions frowned at that last term.

Everyone wondered what he was thinking and Kashima spoke on their behalf while scratching at his head.

“Oh, that’s right. Back in the cafeteria, you said something about sticking with the Leviathan Road because of some girl you’ve fallen for.”

“Well, there’s that too. But in all my wisdom, I had a thought.” Oblivious to everyone staring at him, Atsuta continued speaking. “Even if we’ve adapted to Low-Gear, why do we have to give our world’s Concept Core to Team Leviathan so easily? Are we stronger than Low-Gear, are they stronger than us, or are we even? How can we hand over the Concept Core without knowing that?” He took a breath and gave a satisfied expression. “I won’t accept it unless we settle that. And that goes for both the Concept Core and the girl I mentioned.”

The first one to react was Kashima. He nodded.

“Director Tsukuyomi, this animal has given a surprisingly sound opinion to rationalize his personal grudge.”

“D-damn you, Kashima! How can you say that about the brilliant opinion I just thought up in the bathroom!?”

“Quiet down,” said Tsukuyomi as she looked behind Atsuta.

All of those poking their heads from the partitions had exasperated looks, but they were staring her way.

All of them seemed to agree with what Atsuta had said.

''I see,'' she thought. ''So they all had their reservations about this.

“Okay, Atsuta. What do we have to do to convince you?”

“Hm,” he thought. After a moment, he smiled. “How about a fight to the death!?”

“Don’t say that with such a big smile, you idiot. If we kill them, UCAT will do more than just kick us out.”

“Don’t criticize my idea without giving one of your own.” Atsuta clicked his tongue. “Okay. As a compromise, how about a mock battle? We do outdoor training, right? We can do a large-scale version of that against those kids. If they can defeat us, we won’t complain about releasing the concepts.”

“A mock battle?” muttered Tsukuyomi as she looked behind him and Kashima.

The others all looked toward those two but finally turned silently back toward her.

There was strength in their gazes. They had all made up their own minds, but they were leaving the decision up to her.

And so she folded her arms behind her head and spoke.

“That could work.”

“Oh, I actually got through to you!? This is an amazing discovery! Hey, Kashima, look at this! This woman’s so old, but my modern Japanese still got through to her!”

“Director Tsukuyomi, this creature is always rude, but I ask for extra forgiveness this time.”

“He can have it just this once,” she said in annoyance before standing up, looking them in the eye, and nodding. “The place will be Showa Memorial Park’s concept space. The method will be a mock battle. The victor will be decided by which side’s representative takes Totsuka from where it sits on the bridge in Susaou’s head. The reward will be the loser giving in to all of the victor’s demands. …How does that sound?”

“You didn’t even hesitate to say that… You already had this planned, didn’t you?”

Instead of responding, Tsukuyomi merely smiled.

She already understood most of it.

The villain boy she had negotiated against earlier in the day had led her to make up her mind.

…''So we are abandoning the status quo where we hope for peace no matter what.

“In that case, we will use this greatest method for winning our acceptance. Well? Any complaints?”

Atsuta shook his head in satisfaction and Kashima scratched at his head.

He looked troubled, but Tsukuyomi did not overlook the amused smile on his face.

“Hmm… Director Tsukuyomi, if you insist on that, I guess I have no complaints.”

“So you’re ready to do this?”

And…

“You intend to repair Futsuno and bring it back as 2nd-Gear’s greatest sword?”

Atsuta gave a look of surprise next to Kashima, but Kashima ignored him and replied.

“Yes.”

“W-wait, Kashima. Are you serious? I think you’d be happier groping your wife’s tits.”

“I would. And that is why I made the decision I did: I will make Futsuno ''and'' I will grope Natsu-san’s breasts.”

Kashima then thought for a second and tilted his head.

“Huh? That gave my determination a bit of a different nuance. It sounded somehow wild.”

“No one cares, so start getting ready. Make the preparations you need to find all of your answers.”

''These two men are no different from children,'' thought Tsukuyomi with a bitter smile.

She then clapped her hands once toward the people peering out from the partitions.

“Okay, everyone! Go and give offerings to your ancestors and families tonight! Make sure you get a good grasp on your own name! It’s a rainy night, so don’t you think it will make for a sentimental scene?”

As the rain fell in the darkness, a certain train traveled west through Tokyo.

The train had left Shinjuku on the Keio Line and it stopped at every station on its way to Takaosanguchi.

The front-most car held relatively few people. It only contained two people carrying large paper bags.

One was Shino who wore a white T-shirt and a black dress. The other was Mikoku who wore a blue jacket and jeans.

Shino held a single paper bag, but Mikoku carried two larger bags as she sat to Shino’s right. Mikoku also had another bag below her seat and one up in the luggage rack.

Mikoku’s expression was serious as she sat with her back to the rain-covered window. She solemnly opened her mouth.

“Now, then. Our resupply mission was a success.”

“You can’t trick me by acting all serious! You even bought that fluffy pillow! You’re a liar!”

“You are the one who said you wanted it.”

“No, I didn’t. I just said it looked comfy.”

“That is the same thing,” said Mikoku with a smile.

But Shino then saw the smile suddenly leave Mikoku’s face.

Mikoku stared into the rain-filled darkness outside the window and the ends of her eyebrows lowered slightly.

She must have noticed Shino watching her because she asked her a question.

“Did you see that in Shinjuku?”

“Yes. We only passed by, but that was definitely Shinjou.”

Shino recalled how their mouths had hung open and they had nearly started to cry when they passed by that person.

She averted her gaze from Mikoku, held the bag more tightly in her left hand, and touched Mikoku’s arm with her right hand.

“It’s no use… She doesn’t remember us. She didn’t notice us at all.”

“Yes. It is just as we heard. She has no memories of her childhood.”

“How about I speak with her next time. With my power-…”

“No. Using your power could put her on her guard.”

“But…”

“It’s okay. We will meet Shinjou eventually. I cannot say if that will be as an enemy or as an ally, though. Also, you saw who else was there, didn’t you? That was Sayama Mikoto, my enemy.” Mikoku shook her head a bit and sighed. “It is a difficult issue. Shinjou was crying in her heart. That Sayama may be able to stop those tears and he may not, but either way it will hurt me and make me hate him.”

Sayama returned to his dorm in the rain.

As he walked through the dormitory hallway, his watch read 8:10 PM.

Shinjou always went to take a bath at four or five, he would study after that, and they would eat dinner in the school cafeteria no later than eight.

“I wonder if Shinjou-kun ate on his own.”

Part of the problem was that Shinjou did not own a cell phone.

…''But perhaps I should have called the dorm head so I could have a message passed on to him.

He hurried his legs toward his room. He found the door unlocked, so he opened it.

As the door opened smoothly, he saw the other side.

“It is dark?”

Not a single light was on and no one was in the room.

…''Where is Shinjou-kun?

Just as he started panicking, Baku suddenly poked out of Sayama’s breast pocket and pointed his head toward the bed.

Wondering what that was about, Sayama looked over and spotted a figure sleeping in the bottom bunk.

It was Shinjou.

''Why is he asleep so early?'' wondered Sayama. ''Perhaps the stomachache from earlier today came back.

Sayama closed the door and walked over to the window in the dark.

He placed the binder and Baku on his own desk.

As he did, he heard rustling cloth and turned to find a white shirt sitting up in the darkness.

“Sayama…-kun?”

“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

“No. You can turn on the lights.”

“No need,” said Sayama as he crouched down next to the bed.

He found a weak expression there.

As he observed Shinjou’s eyes, he suddenly realized the area around his eyes was a bit red.

…''Has he been crying?

But he asked about something else instead.

“Do you need anything? If you need any food, I can bring it to you.”

“No,” said Shinjou again while frowning a bit.

He looked down and lightly held the bottom of his stomach which was hidden by the blanket.

He also continued speaking before Sayama could do anything.

“Don’t worry. It will go away by tomorrow morning. I hope it’s sunny for the All Holiday Festival.”

“Yes, we can enjoy the festival together.”

“Yes… Um, Sayama-kun?”

“What is it?”

“Did you read the plot I gave you today?”

Sayama was at a loss for words. After being given the plot, he had headed out to work and had only just arrived back.

There was no way he could have read it yet.

…''That must be how important it is to him.

His thoughts brought silence. When Shinjou realized what that silence meant, the ends of his eyebrows lowered.

“Sorry. I asked too much of you.”

“Not at all.”

…''Saying I was busy sounds like too much of an excuse.

But it was true he could not have taken his time to properly read it. He felt that was important.

“I apologize for now, but if you will allow it, I would like some time.”

“Some time? Why?”

“Yesterday, you said you wanted me to know you.” Sayama directly spoke the words in his heart. “Just as you are trying to convey yourself to me, I want the time and resolution to face you properly.”

“And if you have that, you’ll read it?”

“Yes, I will read it.”

“But I might leave tomorrow.”

Shinjou’s right hand grabbed Sayama’s left sleeve.

He held it, but he quickly let go and slowly pulled his hand back.

He groaned a bit and lightly bent over.

He then relaxed his body and slipped back under the blanket butt-first while continuing to look at Sayama.

“Sorry.”

Shinjou hid even his head under the blanket and there was nothing Sayama could do.

He considered reading the plot now, but he decided against reading it in this atmosphere.

…''That would be rushing things and trying to avoid the issue.

With that thought, he suddenly stopped moving.

He heard Shinjou suppress another groan at the precise moment he felt a pain in his own chest.

Wondering where this pain came from, he suddenly recalled an old memory.

Long ago, he had felt a pain in his stomach during the night.

Everyone experienced that sort of stomachache while a child whose body had yet to fully develop.

It brought definite pain to the one feeling it, but those around them would act as if it was nothing and it would indeed disappear by the next morning.

He thought back to then. His parents had been around back then, but what had they done?

The pain in his chest grew as he tried to think back, but he had to do it.

“Nn…”

Shinjou’s groan caused Sayama to quickly place his right hand on the left side of his chest.

There was something he had to do as a villain.

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 19|Chapter 19]]
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Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 17

2026-08-13T04:20:20Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 17: A Scream in the Rain==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0085.png|thumb]]
''Not everything is inevitable

''There are some places where “yes” will certainly be said<ref>'certainly' and 'yes' are 'kanarazu' and 'shikari', the kanji of which when together are the word 'inevitable' ('hitsuzen').</ref>

''But the one to shout it has to reach that place first

Just as the clouds hid the afternoon sun, the wind began to blow.

The white-walled building of Japanese UCAT’s headquarters trembled very slightly in the wind.

The noise could be heard in the first-floor lobby.

Two figures were there to hear it: Ooshiro Itaru and Sf.

Itaru sat on the sofa while drinking a glass of water.

“Sf, how is my old man doing?”

“Testament. He is holed up in his room. Should I check inside with my thermal vision?”

“Can you also shoot lasers? If he’s playing an 18+ game, fire one into his ass.”

“Eye beams is an available option. Please email a request to German UCAT’s Sf Development Official. Students receive a fifty percent discount, so I can forge a student ID if necessary.”

“Oh? How kind of you. What goes on in that brain of yours?”

Sf nodded and pointed at her own head.

“Testament. The artificial synapses of my artificial brain are preserved at minus forty degrees, a temperature cold enough to hammer a nail with a banana.”

“I see. Is that why you’re so coldhearted?”

“No. The oil that acts as my blood is kept at room temperature. My exterior is kept at a slightly lower temperature to reproduce an artificial coldness.”

“That’s what makes you coldhearted.”

Itaru sank into the sofa and did not even turn toward Sf as he spoke.

“You sit down, too.”

“Testament.”

Sf sat sideways on Itaru’s lap.

He half-closed his eyes.

“What’s this? Did I ask you to use your master as a chair?”

“Testament. You told me to sit down. My deep memory contains an incident when you asked me to sit down in a train and you stopped me when I attempted to sit on the floor. If the floor would be preferable, I can move there.”

“I see, I see. I’m shocked. You can actually learn? I’m truly shocked.”

“Testament. If you are delighted, please stamp this card.”

Itaru wordlessly stamped the card and returned it. Sf bowed.

“Testament. Kazuo-sama certainly has been staying in his room a lot lately. Is he trying to rot away in there?”

“Let him rot. This is because…his old man destroyed 2nd-Gear.”

“That statement is incorrect. Based on the records I have recently reviewed and the conversation from the other day, 2nd-Gear was destroyed because the people of the Gear overused their control system until they lost control of it.”

“That’s why. If there was anything the people of 2nd-Gear could have done, they could have shared the sin. But my old man’s old man was the one who should have been able to do something. He failed on his own and bore the sin on his own,” explained Itaru. “Remember this: My old man’s feelings about this are complicated. He’s the one person who knows the full story.”

“The full story?”

“That’s right. His old man was the one who couldn’t stop Yamata in 2nd-Gear, so why was he able to do it here in Low-Gear? My old man was a kid back then, so he knows the answer.”

Itaru looked up at Sf.

“Do you want to know why?”

“Not really.”

“Then I won’t tell you. …Now, I’m about to talk to myself for a bit, so don’t listen.”

“Testament. I will begin speaking to myself as well.”

Itaru took a drink from his glass, looked up at the ceiling, and opened his mouth to speak.

“The project to build Susaou began March 12, 1945. Three days before that, a certain event occurred in Tokyo. And my old man’s old man took part in the event even though his friends tried to stop him.”

“I can determine this event was something quite flashy. …By the way, that was me speaking to myself.”

“Then this is me talking to myself. …It was a flashy festival. So flashy it’s still written about in history textbooks.” Itaru let out a breath. “After all, it created such a cry of pain that the city of Tokyo was almost destroyed.”

Shinjou and Sayama arrived at Shinjuku in Tokyo.

Sayama had said they needed some material on World War Two, so he had gone around to the different major bookstores and bought a few books. Shinjou had never seen the big city before, so she was overwhelmed by the size of the bookstores.

“Would you want to live in a place like this?”

When Sayama had asked her that, she had nodded.

After leaving the Showa Memorial Park, he had not asked about her.

He had not asked about why she had been late or about the lie she had mentioned the night before.

[[Image:OnC_v04_0091.png|thumb]]

Currently, he was simply pulling on her hand as they walked toward Shinjuku Station.

They were surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the city. People and their voices filled every direction.

And seemingly catching all those people were the lines of buildings and car-filled roads.

When the faint oppressiveness of it all caused her to look up toward the heavens, she saw the gloomy sky and felt the wind blowing down from it.

The humid wind was filled with the scent of the city.

The dampness of the wind told Shinjou it would rain soon and she started to look around.

“A-are we going to the station? Are we going back? Is it going to rain soon?”

“Ha ha ha. I will answer each of our questions in turn: We can reach the station from anywhere, we can return at any time, and we still have some time before it rains. After all, we are on our way to a moment in the past.”

Sayama let go of her hand and pulled a book from the paper bag under his arm.

“I have finally found a common point between 2nd-Gear and us for this Leviathan Road. Here it is.”

“An overview of American aerial missions during World War Two? How…how is this a common point?”

“Do you remember when the project to build Susaou began? March 12, 1945. …When you think about it, there is no greater point in common. Do you remember back in UCAT’s cafeteria when I said I would mention something once I had confirmation?”

“Oh, that’s right. Did you find some kind of meaning in that date?”

“An excellent question, Shinjou-kun. I feel as if I am returning to a simpler time. …Three days before that date, something very similar to 2nd-Gear’s destruction occurred here in Low-Gear.”

“Eh?”

What did he mean?

The other Gears were connected to Low-Gear in fixed places via the ley lines. However, she had not heard of any indirect effects like that. And this would be something similar to destruction.

“Y-you’re kidding, right? After all, Tokyo is right here. It wasn’t destroyed.”

“No, it was not. It survived and it recovered.”

Sayama suddenly stopped walking.

They stood at the center of the large scramble crossing in front of Shinjuku Station’s east entrance.

“Look, Shinjou-kun.”

Drawn by his words, Shinjou looked around.

A great number of people were moving out of the way and walking past them. Lines of cars were waiting for all of the people to cross.

And on the asphalt road supporting them all were structures made from a metal framework.

Shinjou felt the humidity press in at her throat.

Sayama’s left arm suddenly wrapped around her back.

“A busy place, isn’t it?”

“Looking at it again… Tokyo is an amazing place.”

“Yes, but this city was nearly destroyed once. That is a fact.”

“Eh?”

Her questioning tone brought Sayama’s gaze toward her.

“It happened on March 9, 1945. That was approximately five months before Japan surrendered in World War Two. And it was three days before the project to build Susaou began. On that day, the American military performed a certain experiment on the city of Tokyo.”

“A-an experiment? What kind of experiment?”

“The same experiment they had earlier performed on Hamburg, Germany and failed. While bombing, they used flammable fuel in place of normal explosives. They performed a firebombing,” said Sayama. “Tokyo was constructed from wood, so the result of the experiment was clear. In one night, approximately one hundred twenty thousand people died and almost all buildings in Tokyo were destroyed. That experiment elicited the greatest cry of pain Japan gave during World War Two.”

“You mean…”

“Yes, the Firebombing of Tokyo.”

And…

“Why did Ooshiro Hiromasa grow so serious about constructing Susaou and Totsuka after he did not save 2nd-Gear? …The answer is simple.”

“You don’t mean…”

“Yes. He was here when Tokyo was bombed. He saw it with his own eyes. He saw his own world of Low-Gear destroyed in flames.”

Sayama remained expressionless as he spoke.

And Shinjou saw Baku poke his head from the breast pocket of Sayama’s suit.

The first thing Sayama could sense was light.

He saw crimson. He saw the color of flames.

He also heard noise, saw motion, and saw the scenery. But…

…''It is all mixed together.

Flames burned.

Was he in a village, a town, or a city?

Sayama knew the answer: This was Tokyo.

The sky was covered with dark clouds and smoke. Flames and wind blew across the land.

Countless shades of scarlet colored the crumbling people and houses.

He heard countless sounds of something being dropped from the sky.

He also heard ringing fire bells and people’s voices.

The heat sent countless voices crying together into the sky.

Amid those voices were people crying for their father, their mother, their son, or their daughter. Some were crying for their grandfather or grandmother.

All those voices gathered together, but not a single response came.

The sounds of destruction and the whistling of flames slammed the crying voices into the ground and the color of flames blasted up into the sky.

The scene of Tokyo burning lay before Sayama.

“…!”

He clearly saw it.

He saw dark shadows. As they crumbled in the flames, he could not even tell if they were people or buildings. As people ran and shouted in confusion, the attacks from above scattered the color scarlet across them.

The wind blew, but it did not bring in rain. It only caused the flames to dance.

This air current was created when a large area was burning. It first gathered flames around itself and then raced across the city in search of oxygen.

The wind was not merely hot; it was burning.

Wind as hot as fire raced across Tokyo in every direction and burned away rows of houses just by caressing them.

East, west, north, and south. The raging wind guided the flames in every direction.

That wind raced about to find air.

The rivers flowing through Tokyo were all filled with people trying to escape the heat, but the burning wind descended to the river and roasted them as well.

The people standing atop the bridges were struck by the hot wind flying in from the side.

The heat cooked the metal of the bridges and easily bent them. Once set afire by napalm and exposed to the blazing wind, the bridges’ arch structures melted and they collapsed into the river in no time at all.

Before the water could splash up, the shimmering of flames and the black of smoke rose up.

No one could escape. They were not allowed to.

Most of the air-raid shelters were roasted inside and out because their doors were sucked open by the pressure difference created by the flames.

The roads, buildings, rivers, basements, people, and everything else touching the air were roasted and they instantly showed one what carbon was.

Above the rising smoke, shimmering, and screams, countless dark shadows and dark rain could be seen in the sky.

The shadows were large B-29 bombers and the rain was a barrage of incendiary bombs.

Occasionally, a few of the bombers would descend and fly close by over Tokyo.

As the great noise and heat assaulted Tokyo again and again, Sayama saw something.

A man stood still in front of an Izumo truck which had been burned with the city.

Sayama knew who he was.

“Ooshiro Hiromasa!”

Hiromasa wore a lab coat and stood within that city which was nothing but shimmering and light.

The stone hanging from his neck emitted its blue light at full force.

That light protected him so that he grew dirty but did not burn. He shouted something and questioned the city.

“————!?”

Is anyone there? Hurry up and evacuate. Get out of here. All of his cries were drowned out by the wind and the bombs. The heat twisted the screams he heard, so he could not even grasp how far away they were.

But he continued shouting and ran aimlessly through the burning city. He jumped over what looked like clumps of charcoal lying in the roads, tripped over one, fell, and continued running.

He ran through a flame-filled alley, trying to find a safe street.

But just before he made his way out into one, a burning wind passed through the street like a wall.

“!”

That one quick pass brought a great roar with it.

Once the flaming wind had passed, nothing remained.

The buildings, people, and everything else were unrecognizably covered in flames, leaving only black silhouettes.

No matter which way he looked, he saw only the burning ground and the night sky filled with sparks.

He fell to his knees when he reached the empty, flame-filled street.

Sayama suddenly spoke while watching him from behind.

He spoke his unheard voice which could not reach the past.

“You failed.”

Hiromasa hung his head down.

“You knew there was nothing you could have done, but you still wanted to gather the survivors and feel that you had ‘saved’ them. That desire came to you here, didn’t it? You wanted to atone for failing to save 2nd-Gear.”

But…

“But the destruction did not even allow you that.”

Hiromasa touched the blue stone hanging from his neck.

“So will you destroy yourself? If destruction is the only path remaining for the world, will you gain a lonely superiority by destroying yourself ahead of time? If that is what you intend, just look before you.”

A wave of crimson assaulted the street before Hiromasa’s eyes.

That wave resembled a giant serpent. It was the largest fire current created by the center of Tokyo burning. It undulated, blew across the rows of houses, and brought a burning wind.

“Now, Ooshiro Hiromasa. This is a crossroads. To take responsibility for being able to do nothing, will you throw away your protective stone and wish to be destroyed along with everyone else? Or will you cling to your small life and expose yourself to the shame?”

The expanding flames seemed to answer Sayama.

Hiromasa reacted. He squeezed the philosopher’s stone in his right hand.

“!”

He tore it from the string around his neck.

“Now, what will you do with that stone? Make your decision!”

As if responding to Sayama’s question, Hiromasa slowly raised his hand.

He was preparing to throw it.

But then he saw something.

The flames approaching around him lit up everything and made their structure clear.

“…”

Something lay collapsed there.

Something sat motionless on its knees.

Something lay motionless over a child.

Something had placed a blanket over a child to protect it, but had become just as motionless as the child.

Hiromasa had a child of his own. But the flames ignored that fact as they easily burned everything away.

Everything burned. Everything turned to charcoal.

Soon thereafter, Hiromasa opened his mouth.

“Oh…”

A voice escaped.

“Oahhhhhh!”

His voice became a great cry similar to a newborn’s and it did not stop.

He then began to move.

But he did not throw away the stone. He held it in his hand as he formed a solid fist.

The philosopher’s stone which kept him alive was no longer something which simply hung from his neck. He now clenched it in his fist.

He forcefully stood up while continuing to cry out.

Sayama only existed as his vision, but he smiled at the action.

“So you have chosen to live in disgrace, engineer of the past! That is the action of one who continues forward without fearing failure!”

With the flames before him, Hiromasa looked up into the sky.

He opened his mouth, arched his back, and shouted something further.

This was a cry of protest. It was a voice of anger.

As Sayama watched, he spoke in response to that protest.

“Shout! Feel your anger! Destroy your hesitant heart! Face the unreasonable sight before you!”

He looked at the flames in front of him.

“Let out a scream!”

And Hiromasa did just that. He let out a loud, loud voice toward the many, many flames before him.

“I…”

He threw his fist toward the burning wind which ripped him from the ground and blew him away.

“I…!!”

As Sayama heard that shout, he was knocked from the past.

A narrow road traveled through the forest of Okutama’s mountains.

No cars drove on this road, but a man wearing a work uniform walked along it as clouds began to cover the sky.

He was Kashima.

The right shoulder of his clothes was still torn from a sword strike.

In his left arm, he held the thick waterproof envelope his parents had given him.

He thought while the cold wind bringing rain pushed at his back.

…''What should I do?

That thought filled his mind and would not leave.

What should he do?

With his past in the third production room before his eyes, he had run away. That had reminded him of a certain fact.

…''That is where I used to be.

Long ago when he had failed to fulfill his grandfather’s dying request, he had tried to forget by losing himself in his power as a man of 2nd-Gear.

And in doing so, he had forgotten about the person he cared about as a man of Low-Gear.

“Natsu-san…”

He had forgotten about her and had only remembered once he had hurt her and rescued her.

He would never forget that again.

But at the same time, he had begun to deny something.

He had been denying that thought for so long now.

“I was denying that I had not forgotten my power.”

The cut in the right shoulder of his clothes told him all he needed to know about his power.

…''I can never truly be someone of Low-Gear.

He looked like one, his culture was similar, and he had a family there, but there was nothing he could do about his own existence at the base of it all.

But the thought still would not leave.

“What should I do?”

There was a simple answer: He just had to stop having these thoughts.

He just needed to forget about his power. If he did not, he could not be honest with Natsu and Harumi.

…''Should I continue lying and lose myself in my power again?''

''No,'' he thought.

“But,” he muttered.

…''But what am I supposed to do?

Suddenly, the cold wind blew across him once more.

The chill snapped him out of his thoughts and he realized he had stopped walking.

Ahead of him, the road turned sharply to the right. This was to circle around a steep slope that jutted out.

“This is…”

It was where that landslide had occurred eight years ago. This was where it had all been determined.

Kashima stood at the location of his past.

As he stood silently, something small struck his shoulder.

It was rain.

The rain fell from the sky and began gently striking Kashima and his surroundings, but it gradually grew stronger.

The rain did not stop.

It only grew more intense.

In the plaza in front of Shinjuku Station, rain clouds filled the sky and the wind blew, but the flow of people did not lessen.

As everyone moved to their destinations to escape the coming rain, a single figure sat on a stone step.

This figure crouching at the bottom of all the noise was Shinjou.

Another figure walked toward her.

It was Sayama. He held a cup out toward her.

“Want a drink?” he asked.

Shinjou looked up and gave a weak smile.

“Oh, sure. Thanks. What kind is it? Don’t tell me it’s one hundred percent sea urchin juice or something.”

“Ha ha ha. We are not in a shady secret organization beneath Okutama. It is just tea.”

“I see. …That feels kind of empty,” she said with a bitter smile.

Sayama thought on her comment.

…''Would it have fit her ideal image of me if I had bought something strange?

If he had searched for an IAI vending machine, he could have found something that packed a punch. It would not have been as much as what one found in UCAT, but it would have been a start.

…''Did I make the wrong choice? No, but… No, no. But…

“S-Sayama-kun? It looks like you’re lost in thought about something. A-are you okay?”

“Y-yes. Sorry. I was just thinking about my ideal self.”

“That sounds suspicious… But what drink did you get?”

“Strawberry milk.”

“…”

“I have a lot to think about, so I need sugar for my brain. I also need calcium for concentration, so this was the best option. Yes. Now that I think about it again, this choice is well worth praising me ove-… What is with that look?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking nothing I said could stop you.”

Shinjou’s expression then returned to normal.

“I can’t believe you’re fine after seeing such a harsh part of the past. You really are tough, Sayama-kun.”

“Really? Setsu-kun once said I am surprisingly timid.”

“Enough about that,” she said with an exasperated look.

He was unsure how to react and Shinjou seemed to sense something from his expression. She lowered her head and said “sorry”.

“But I wonder if Ooshiro-san’s father was able to truly feel the destruction of 2nd-Gear in that bombing,” she said.

“I think we can assume so. He saw what would happen to this world if Yamata appeared here. That was why he put all his thought into creating Susaou and answering Yamata’s question.” Sayama nodded. “And the people of 2nd-Gear held the same thoughts. And they must still hold them.”

“Eh?”

He narrowed his eyes and nodded in response to Shinjou’s questioning tone.

He spoke what it was he had learned during the preliminary negotiations.

“I believe 2nd-Gear is a sleeping dragon. They wish for peace, but are still able to choose the best option. That is what they did sixty years ago. Those who created Susaou and Totsuka had to have raised a cry of resistance in response to what they had lost.”

He took a breath and asked a question.

“Can you hear it, Shinjou-kun? Can you hear 2nd-Gear letting out a scream as they awaken from their slumber?”

The rain soaked Kashima, but he continued facing the slope ahead of him.

His eyes stared forward at the guardrail that cut him off from the slope.

The guardrail turned to the right to follow the new road, but the old road lay behind it, buried by the slope.

Most of the bottom of the slope was hidden by concrete.

This was a place of memories. It had once received that concrete makeup, but the rain caused hard mud to spew from the cracks and from above. Its old face peeked through.

As the mud spilled down, he heard a soft noise. It seemed to be asking a gentle question: Why are you here?

The sun must have warmed the ground because mist began to rise across the area.

He was surrounded by rain, mist, and a slight wind.

The gathering clouds above produced the rain.

As he heard the rain falling, Kashima looked into the forest and up into the sky.

“A world much like this once existed.”

The people who had tried and failed to protect that world had argued with each other.

But even as they did, they had worked to protect this new world.

Why was that?

Why had the two fought yet protected this world together?

…''I don’t know.

That was the past and it was what others had done. There was no way he could know.

But he had had a certain thought about it in the past.

“Even if I can never fully understand, I can still approach an understanding.”

…''That’s right.

His grandfather had told him stories of a war in a different world.

He had not thought they were true and his grandfather had always enjoyed telling them, but the old man had always looked sad at the end.

…''I never said anything about that sad look.

“Can we really just forget it all?”

Could they really just forget about his grandfather and the thoughts his grandfather had given him?

“Can we really just forget it all?”

He realized the answer was no. And he realized no one but him could arrive at that point.

“…”

The sky suddenly grew blurry in his vision. He assumed the rain had fallen in his eye.

The rain felt oddly warm. It seemed to have body heat. As he felt that rain, he spoke to himself.

“I need to decide.”

''What are you saying?'' he thought, but not even that could stop the words from coming.

“This must be the place where I need to make a decision.”

This was where he had come to fear his own power and where he had gained something precious.

He trembled as he stared at the slope which was partially covered in concrete.

The trembling he had felt in front of the third production room returned.

Choosing the old road would bring trembling.

With that in mind, he turned toward the new road to his side. That safe road brought no trembling.

But he quickly shook his head. It looked like he was shaking something off.

“There is something I need before I can head down that road.”

He took a breath and took a certain action.

He would cross the guardrail. He would move to the other side where the slope lay waiting.

Amid the rain, he took one step and then another.

With that action, he crossed the guardrail and stopped on the other side.

He could not stop the trembling.

Even so, he had chosen to stand here.

That was his decision.

He used his trembling body to take in a breath.

He opened his mouth and spoke as if addressing someone.

“This is the method I choose.”

He took a breath.

“I will carry the past as I walk down a new road.”

He walked through the rain and approached the slope.

He trembled, but the trembling gradually vanished as he continued forward.

And as he walked, he recalled the past.

He recalled his grandfather asking for forgiveness in the very end.

He recalled the disappointment of finding the bridge in Susaou’s head destroyed.

And he recalled causing this landslide and grasping Natsu’s incomplete hand.

Amid all of those memories, there was one thing he could say for sure.

There was one thing in common about all of his questions, anger, resentment, and joy.

…''It all came from having this power.

He could not forget or rid himself of those memories.

Those memories had left him conflicted for so long and he had not been able to shake free of them even when he gained a family.

“But there is one thing I never asked of the power that caused it all.”

He stood before the slope and spoke in a scratchy voice.

“Can my power do anything other than take things from me?”

He took in a breath and placed his left hand on the dirt of the slope.

He slowly held up his right hand and shook his head.

“I know it’s selfish! But I…I want to use this power which hurt the person I care for the most!”

He swung his right fist into the muddy slope before his eyes.

A splashing sound rang out.

“I want to use it to regain everything I lost!”

His hand sank into the mud up to the wrist. The soft and wet mud was warm from the sun.

As he felt the heat in his right hand, some of the rain on his face entered his mouth.

That warm rain dripped onto his tongue and he tasted it.

…''It tastes just like blood.

He tasted that flavor and sensed his right hand in the mud.

The wet feeling in his hand was a lot like what he had felt while holding Natsu’s hand back then.

He had not forgotten.

The trembling of his spine expressed the emotions brought by the same sensation as eight years ago.

But he could no longer turn his back on the slope.

“I…”

His voice trembled as if he were bearing with something.

“I am going to lie to you, Natsu-san.”

''I’m sorry,'' he thought. ''I’m sorry, Natsu-san.

''I am trying to once more wield the power that hurt you.

''I’m sorry, Harumi. Your father is a liar.

''But I will not apologize for lying after this. I will not say sorry.

“Because I have made up my mind.”

He had decided to lie and to protect everything with his own power.

And with his decision made, he turned to the right.

He grasped the feeling from eight years ago as well as some mud and looked toward the new road.

The asphalt road seemed to continue on forever.

“…”

Every part of his body sensed his heavy breathing and racing pulse.

But his heart remained calm.

…''I am not choosing 2nd-Gear or Low-Gear.

“I am choosing to hide my 2nd-Gear power and remain within Low-Gear.”

…''The place to which I am headed is not one or the other.

He had decided. He felt it was selfish, but he could find no more opposition to the idea than that.

And so he made up his mind.

He pulled his right hand from the slope and opened his mouth.

“Oh…”

A voice started to escape.

He had no reason to oppose his thoughts.

He opened his mouth toward the heavens and released it.

He cried out. It was like the cry of a newborn baby.

His trembling vanished as if thrown off of him and his voice grew even louder.

“…!”

He twisted his body, bent forward, and arched backward.

His body stretched toward the sky, breath passed from his lungs to his throat and his mouth, and he let out a cry.

His great roar tore into the gathering clouds in the sky.

Below the dark clouds and amid busy Shinjuku, Shinjou’s shoulders trembled at Sayama’s question.

“A cry?”

“Yes.”

Sayama nodded and brushed up his hair in the wind.

He looked up into the sky with a calm expression. He spoke as if remembering something.

“People who struggle and people who fight will use their voice or their thoughts to raise a cry that is either voiced or silent. Just like Ooshiro Hiromasa did.”

And…

“Just like 2nd-Gear is sure to do.”

Shinjou gasped.

She remembered two things: what Ooshiro had told her about Kashima the night before and the past she had just seen.

…''Will he make up his mind like Ooshiro-san’s father did?

He would. She was sure of it. After all, he knew what power he held.

…''But…

What about her?

She had no answer. The emotion that fact brought caused her to tremble.

“!”

She reflexively moved.

To reject the thought, she stood up and gathered her strength.

But…

“…”

When she realized what she had done, she looked over at Sayama who was looking up at her.

He gave her a questioning look which caused her to realize again what she had done.

“S-sorry. I’m not feeling well.”

Her shoulders drooped and she took a breath.

And when she awkwardly sat back down, she heard Sayama speak.

“I can understand having difficulty getting over seeing that scene from the past, but it is not healthy to be so tense.”

“I know…”

To keep him from realizing how shaken she was, she forced a smile and asked a question.

“Th-then do you have anything to talk about so I can get my mind off it?”

Sayama thought.

After a few seconds, he clapped his hands. On his head, Baku emulated the action. He then turned his head and Baku toward her.

“Then how about I once more invite you to the All Holiday Festival tomorrow?”

For just an instant, the word festival brought a look of joy to Shinjou’s face.

But she quickly realized something and her shoulders trembled.

…''I can’t.

She frantically waved her hands toward Sayama.

“U-um, I have to train tomorrow, so…well…enjoy the festival with Setsu.”

“That does sound nice, but…”

Sayama’s halfhearted tone brought an immediate question out of Shinjou.

“Do you not like Setsu?”

“Of course I like him.” He embraced the binder under his arm. “But I was asking if ''you'' would come.”

“Ah,” gasped Shinjou.

She realized what her question meant and what Sayama was thinking.

She realized his consideration and her reasons for rejecting it.

“…”

She did not know what expression was on her face.

Sayama’s slightly frowning expression told her the answer: She was about to cry.

“Shinjou-kun.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

She stood up and took a step back.

She checked her watch and found it was just about to turn 5:40 PM.

“U-um, Sayama-kun. I…I’m not feeling well, so…I’ll head back on my own.”

Sayama’s eyebrows moved.

He raised his head as if in realization and put on a serious expression.

“Given the subject matter, I will ask indirectly, but is it your perio-…gfh!”

Her knee struck his gut mid-sentence. He doubled over and she panicked further.

“S-sorry, but it slipped out because I think ‘indirect’ means something else.”

“Heh…heh heh heh. That was an excellent attack, Shinjou-kun. And it was actually a repeat joke, so I suppose I deserved that. However…”

“Enough of that. For one thing, I still haven’t started having a period.”

“What a pain,” he muttered.

But then his eyebrows moved. He formed a puzzled expression and spoke in a puzzled voice.

“You still haven’t started?”

“Ah,” said Shinjou when she realized what she had said.

…''But it’s true.

She held her own body to harden her defenses. She then took a deep breath so she could look him in the eye.

“Is that…strange?”

She felt it was strange, but she asked to be sure.

However, his answer was different. He straightened his tie and collar as he answered.

“It differs from person to person, so I cannot say anything one way or the other.”

“I see.”

Even as she nodded, Shinjou could tell her face had grown red.

What was she supposed to say here?

“Sorry I’m just a kid. But there’s a reason for it… And I think that same reason is causing problems for you.”

“Is this reason the lie you mentioned last night?”

“…Yes. But I can’t say anything more.”

Shinjou quietly nodded and then turned toward the station.

“If I say anything more now, I don’t think I can stand it… But I do want to ask one thing. Will you let me ask a sudden question?”

“If you wish to ask it, go right ahead.”

She had permission. That fact brought relief and she formed the words.

“I said I wanted you to go to the All Holiday Festival with Setsu, right? Well, I’m not sure how else to put this… Would you be fine if Setsu left?”

“…?”

“Don’t give me that look. Your arm is healed now, right? And…and even if Setsu leaves, you still have Sadame…you still have me. So you don’t need Setsu, right?”

Shinjou somehow managed to draw out the words which were sinking down in her gut.

“But right now – just for a bit – stay by Setsu’s side.”

That was all she could manage. She could not continue.

She glanced at his face and saw a slight look of surprise. That expression made her feel apologetic.

And so she turned her back, brought strength to her legs, and began walking.

“Sorry. …I’ll see you later! Later, okay!”

She immediately checked her watch and switched to a run.

Sayama stood up, but he could not make it in time.

She slipped into the crowd and between two women carrying large bags.

Something fell from the sky and landed on the shoulder of her jacket.

It was not an incendiary bomb that fell on her. Something else was falling on the world of the present.

“Rain.”

<noinclude>

==References==
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 16|Chapter 16]]
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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 18|Chapter 18]]
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Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 16

2026-08-12T03:03:05Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 16: Unmoving Predecessor==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0045.png|thumb]]
''What is it that was once gained?

''It is the source of the storm-bringing wind

''It is the place from which all stormy paths leave

Below the blue sky and surrounded by forest, a certain object existed in the center of a lake with a radius of nearly a kilometer.

It was the giant humanoid machine named Susaou. That giant mass of metal was covered in black armor and burnt rust.

It existed within a concept space which had been created back when the Showa Memorial Park was an airfield.

Susaou existed in the very center of the space. Its giant body appeared to be made from connected warships and its waist was lowered slightly. Its two long arms were held up in front of its face.

The area around the lake below Susaou was filled with the color green.

There was a forest, a grassy field, a river, and the lake. The lake maintained its form without overflowing because the surrounding dirt and plants were carrying out their proper function.

Currently, a small commotion was occurring in the concept space’s forest.

“Wah! I’m floating!”

The voice belonged to Kazami.

She was floating four or five meters above a small clearing in the forest.

Sibyl was running around in a panic below. She stretched her arms up and jumped.

“Chisato-samaaa! Please come dowwwwn!”

“I-I can’t control it! This is due to 2nd-Gear’s concepts, isn’t it!?”

Kazami flailed her arms and legs through the air, but she did nothing but float.

When they had entered the concept space, they had all heard the following words:

—'''Names provide power.

This concept was displaying itself with the character for “wind” in Kazami’s name.

“I felt my body get lighter and lighter and next thing I knew I was up here! What should I do, Sibyl?”

“Chisato-sama, please try harder. Go like this: Hoo hoo!”

“Wow, that gesture is so cute, Sibyl!”

“I-I am telling you to do this. What if you never return to the ground?”

“Y-you’re right. Without me around, who will protect the peace of Taka-Akita Academy from those two idiots?”

“Hey, what’re you two doing?” Izumo appeared from the forest and scratched at his head. “Stop making so much noise while I’m trying to get a nap for our investigation.”

“What kind of nonsense is that? …Anyway, what am I supposed to do?”

“Hm?”

Izumo looked confused and approached Kazami.

“No, wait, Kaku! There’s wind blowing from you! Wind!”

“Oh, yeah. The name Izumo means ‘from the clouds’, so I guess it would produce wind. That would be why things were so cool as I slept.”

“Ahhh, Chisato-sama is blowing away to the west!”

“Fine then,” muttered Izumo as he ran after her.

He overtook his own wind and made his way below Kazami.

The direction of the wind affecting her changed. The wind was radiating from him in every direction, so the wind blew up at her from below.

She flailed around a bit more and somehow managed to come to a stop in midair.

“Thank goodness. I was about to be blown outside the concept space like a drifting jellyfish.”

“This is a pain-in-the-ass world to deal with. …But it’s not all bad.”

[[Image:OnC_v04_0049.png|thumb]]

“What’s so great about it?”

Kazami looked down at Izumo and found him looking happily up at her.

“White…”

“Why are you peeking up my skirt!? You already get to see these all the time!”

“Don’t be stupid. The panties you see all the time and the ones you can peek at now are completely different. A guy is always up for a nice peek!”

“Are you completely shameless? Ahh, and I can’t reach you!”

As Izumo nodded happily, Kazumi rotated forward overhead as she held down the hem of her tight skirt.

At the same time, she suddenly lost all buoyancy.

“Eh?”

With that tone of confusion, Kazami fell straight down.

“Wah! Ow ow ow ow!”

“Ah! Ch-Chisato-sama’s knee struck the side of Izumo-sama’s head as if she aimed it!”

Kazami stood up and looked down at Izumo.

He was sprawled out on the ground with an oddly happy look on his unconscious face, so she decided everything had turned out all right.

“A-are you okay?” asked Sibyl worriedly.

“He’s fine. I have no real proof, though.”

“Yes, I know that he is fine. I have no real proof either, though. But what about you?”

“Hmm. I feel like there was a slight problem with that conversation… At any rate, I’m fine. And more importantly, why do you think I fell like that?”

“I assume your weight must have suddenly incre-… Ahem. I misspoke, so please stop giving me that sad look. I am well aware of the effort you are putting into your diet.”

“Well, I was thinking of losing some weight because I went too far with my school band uniform… But don’t say that kind of thing. It makes me wonder if it’s true for an instant and it gives me a stomachache.”

“A-anyway, let us get back on topic. It happened as soon as you faced the ground,” pointed out Sibyl.

Kazami tilted her head and then nodded to drive out the thoughts of her weight.

“But it wasn’t just looking down that made me fall. There has to be another condition.”

She thought for a bit and finally found the answer.

“I saw the wind.”

“Eh?”

As Sibyl looked confused, Kazami thought about her own family name.

“Wait, Chisato-sama! You are beginning to float again.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll come right back down this time,” said Kazami as she descended to the ground.

She smiled at Sibyl who grabbed her hand. Instead of telling her to relax, she explained.

“We weren’t thinking about my name well enough. We were focusing on the character for ‘wind’ so much we forgot about the character for ‘see’. That must be why I was blown away by the wind.” She took a breath. “The name Kazami originally referred to someone who could read the wind, so I suddenly gained the power to read the wind when I faced Kaku’s wind. I was no longer being blown by the wind; I was facing the wind.”

Kazami looked up into the sky.

She could see Susaou towering above as well as a few people in lab coats walking through the sky.

They were from 2nd-Gear. Most of the development department had come to investigate Susaou.

“They can use this power much better than us. I wonder what will happen in this Leviathan Road.”

“Director Tsukuyomi should begin the preliminary negotiations with Sayama-sama soon.”

“That’s right.”

Kazami nodded and looked down.

Izumo remained collapsed on the ground, but he had come to and was looking up at her.

“This is nice, Chisato. You don’t often get a look from a crazy angle like-…gwoh!”

The sounds coming from Izumo reverberated through that 2nd-Gear space.

Three figures stood in the field in front of Susaou.

They were Sayama, Shinjou, and Tsukuyomi.

They were the only ones in that field. As they faced each other, Sayama started by taking a breath.

This was not a sigh of discouragement or relief. It was an expectant and calming breath taken before starting something.

He looked directly at Tsukuyomi. He had a single thing he had to say, so he nodded toward her.

…''It is time we began the preliminary negotiations.

“Will I be able to get along with this old hag?” he said as he brushed his hair up into the warm wind.

Shinjou gave him a panicked look and her mouth wordlessly flapped opened and closed.

He decided to look back at what he had said and he folded his arms in thought with Baku on his head.

“Oh, it seems I spoke my true thoughts out loud and thought what I intended to say. They say your body will take control during extreme situations, so that must be what happened here.”

“I don’t really care, but aren’t you going to apologize for that rude comment?”

“Th-that’s right, Sayama-kun! Even if it’s true, you can’t say it!”

“Aren’t you going to apologize for that rude comment?”

This time, Shinjou was forced to look back at what she had said.

Sayama hid Shinjou behind him and bowed toward Tsukuyomi.

“It appears we have made inappropriate comments.”

“Oh, are you apologizing? Even though the preliminary negotiations are only just beginning?”

“Yes. But, Director Tsukuyomi, you need not worry about your age. Reality is always cruel. Say goodbye to your ideals and say hello to reality. …Now, let us begin the preliminary negotiations for the Leviathan Road.”

“…”

Tsukuyomi fell silent and sighed.

“Fine, but what do you hope to accomplish here?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know.”

He did know, but knowledge was different from hearing your opponent say it.

“I want to hear it from you,” he said.

Tsukuyomi gave a resigned smile.

“Kashima told you back in the cafeteria. 2nd-Gear has nothing to demand from UCAT. We aren’t the same as Fasolt from 1st-Gear.”

Tsukuyomi looked around at the city back in the real world visible beyond the field and forest.

“We are satisfied with this world. We see no reason to make waves and damage our relationship with you. Rather than get hung up over pride, we prefer to receive the benefits of this world.”

“I see.”

“After Yamata was sealed, the people of 2nd-Gear became fully naturalized. It seems the remaining opposition at the time was persuaded by the Kashima who created Totsuka.”

“That would be Kashima Akio-san’s grandfather, correct? He was the second in command aboard Susaou.”

“Yes. He changed his surname from Takemikazuchi to Kashima, but he refused to spell Kashima with kanji.”

Shinjou tilted her head and took a half-step forward.

“Why did he do that?”

“From what I hear, he was a complicated man. For example, he apparently never got along with Ooshiro Hiromasa who led the construction of Susaou.”

“Never got along?”

They had both been engineers and they had needed to work together to seal Yamata.

Sayama found this odd, but he kept the question in his heart.

That Kashima was from the past and he had to focus on the preliminary negotiations.

“That Kashima is gone. You were saying everyone from 2nd-Gear was convinced to naturalize, correct?”

“Yes. If there is anything 2nd-Gear has to ask of Low-Gear, it is to maintain the status quo. That is what we want from Low-Gear.”

“I see. The status quo, is it? That is a simple demand.”

Sayama smiled, nodded, and gently gave his answer.

“I reject that demand.”

The afternoon sun illuminated a farmhouse within a forest.

The large farmhouse was located next to a multi-leveled paddy field. The wooden house had a thatch roof and the veranda was darkened.

A single white figure sat on that veranda.

It was Kashima wearing his normal outfit.

His shoulders were lowered and he sat as if trying to shrink down. Behind him was a large old-fashioned Japanese-style living room with a tatami mat floor.

However, he was not looking into the house.

Without wearing his glasses, he was looking toward the paddies which reflected the afternoon sun and sky.

The multi-level paddies were surrounded by mountains and forests and they were still filled with water waiting for the rice to be planted.

“Back home…”

“Why are you saying that like you only just realized where you are?” asked a female voice.

He turned around toward the living room and found an elderly woman wearing Japanese clothes and a white apron.

She carried tea on a tray and Kashima took a teacup and drank some. He looked toward the woman’s gray hair.

“Mom, where is dad?”

“Reading the newspaper while putting up a fight in the bathroom. He said something about suffering as he gives birth.”

“I already finished that, you fool. It was a difficult birth.”

An elderly man wearing a T-shirt and shorts entered.

He walked up and sat next to Kashima.

Kashima’s father let out a groan as he settled down and looked annoyed as he asked a question.

“Well? What is it? Did you have a fight with Na-chan? What had you running here while half in tears?”

“I wasn’t crying.”

“Then what put that look on your face?” he asked as if it was a bother.

Kashima thought for a moment and wondered if this was too sudden.

“What would you say if I told you I was quitting my job at UCAT?”

“I see.” Kashima’s father leaned forward as if in a large nod. “I don’t think that’s a good thing.”

With a thoughtful expression, he held his thumb and forefinger a tiny distance apart.

“It’s this bad a thing. …But what would you do if you quit?”

“I haven’t made up my mind yet, so I can’t really say.”

“Then why are you here? We aren’t planting the rice until three days from now.”

“If I did that kind of hard work, I wouldn’t be able to move tomorrow. I just wanted to ask a few questions today.”

He then asked what he considered important.

“How did my grandfather face his power? What about his comrades? Do you know? How did they decide whether they should use their power or abandon it?”

“Why do you want to know that?”

“It’s related to my job, so I can’t say. But…it’s what I want to know right now.”

His father’s confused look made him hesitate for a moment, but he still said it.

“I need to decide what I should do about my power.”

“I see. In that case, Aki, I know how you can find out.”

His father gave an understanding nod and reached forward.

Kashima looked at his father’s hand.

“…”

After a moment, he gulped.

In his father’s hand before his eyes was a drawn Japanese sword.

“It’s simple, Aki. If your thoughts are enough to leave you conflicted and willing to rely on your ancestors, then use them to defeat this powerful right arm and this decoration from the living room. Today is Saturday. Saturday night is a time for fever, right?”

The old man smiled and suddenly swung the sword toward his son.

“You reject it?” repeated Tsukuyomi.

Sayama remained silent and did not even nod.

It was obvious from Shinjou’s face that this was a surprise to her as well.

The way she gasped and looked at him was not an act.

He had some reason for rejecting the request, so Tsukuyomi asked about it.

“Why? Is there something wrong with us wishing for things to remain as they are?”

“There is,” he decisively stated.

He remained expressionless and his voice contained no emotion.

“First, I would like to hear what you have to offer us,” he asked quietly.

''That is a dangerous question,'' thought Tsukuyomi.

She chose her words carefully and gave her answer with caution filling her gut.

“Two things. First, we will tell you Yamata’s question and answer. Second, we will release Yamata, and Kashima will answer the question for you.”

“I see,” said Sayama. His voice contained a hint of a smile. “You can only offer us half of that.” He took a breath. “After all, we have already arrived at Yamata’s question and answer on our own. You need not give it to us. If we make the deal now, you will only receive half of the status quo you want. Is that okay with you?”

Hearing that, Tsukuyomi realized something.

…''A villain, hm?

It was said the surname Sayama indicated a villain.

Did his surname help him function as a villain in the 2nd-Gear concept space?

That sudden thought led her to an answer which she spoke aloud.

“Are you saying you have no problem with causing waves between us?”

“Do not be so suspicious. I am merely verifying what you have to offer,” said Sayama expressionlessly. “Maintaining the status quo. That is quite a convenient phrase. It makes it sound like most anything can be resolved peacefully. But it is just another way of saying you could not think of anything else.”

“And? What else could we need?”

“If you truly think that, then let me say this: You fool.”

The boy’s final word caused Tsukuyomi to frown.

“Let me say it again: You fool. And let me say it a third time: You fool. If you have not realized-…”

“Stop this,” said Tsukuyomi while realizing how dangerous the annoyance she was feeling was. “Do you think you can provoke us into being enemies by repeatedly calling us fools?”

“This is why I am calling you a fool, Director Tsukuyomi. Are you going to give any thought to what exactly is making me call you a fool?” Sayama looked to the ground with a bitter smile. “Let me ask you this: If you truly wish to maintain the status quo, why is one of your people conflicted over his own power?”

Tsukuyomi recalled a certain man. He was the conflicted one Sayama referred to.

…''That is the man I chose to be 2nd-Gear’s representative.

Sayama seemed to realize what she was thinking and he asked another question.

“You are willing to cast aside those like him and continue to seek the status quo. Could you not judge that as foolish?”

''I see,'' she thought in silent comprehension. ''He did his research and gave it proper thought.

2nd-Gear’s problem was not a simple one.

If they had adapted to Low-Gear and lost their individuality, they would have no choice but to fit in.

But even though they had intended to lose their individuality, their power remained.

When those of 2nd-Gear learned of their Gear and came into contact with their concepts, they learned of the power held within their names. They learned they were different from the people of Low-Gear.

That provided an elated feeling similar to superiority, but it also brought avoidance and melancholy.

That was the problem Kashima faced and he was not the only one with that problem. A lot of those in the development department and those who had become more naturalized held the same problem.

But…

“That will trouble my generation and the generation directly below us, but that will not last forever. Our children will be told nothing. They will blend into this Gear and know nothing of their ancestors. Our troubles are like a sacrifice to move from the old age to the new one. Isn’t that right?”

Tsukuyomi smiled bitterly and thought about Sayama once more.

…''A villain.

His method was to ignore the poor reputation it would give him and forcefully attack her weaknesses.

''But,'' thought Tsukuyomi. ''He does not need to do that. These troubles have plagued us for the sixty years since the war.

And yet every one of them would agree to accept the status quo.

There was no point in making waves now.

She faced Sayama while thinking about her own daughter, about Kashima’s family, and about the families of the others she knew.

“I appreciate your consideration, but we must maintain the status quo. Without it, our descendants cannot live here in Low-Gear without the same troubles we carry. We will hide our power, hide our troubles, and blend into Low-Gear. And if you insist on forcing us to change…”

“What will you do then?”

She looked at that boy’s expressionless face and thought to herself.

…''Is he more naïve than I thought?

He had previously verified what she had to offer and reduced her bargaining chips by half. But…

“Then I will bring out a hidden bargaining chip I was holding in reserve. That brings it back up to two. We won’t have to accept only half of the status quo.”

Sayama listened to her expressionlessly, but Shinjou drew back in surprise next to him.

Seeing that, Tsukuyomi spoke to her instead of him.

She stated the bargaining chip she had held in reserve.

“If you refuse to maintain the status quo, 2nd-Gear will refuse to cooperate with UCAT in the slightest. Depending on the situation, we might even sell our skills and services to an opposing organization. …In case you didn’t know, there really are organizations that oppose UCAT.”

Shinjou gasped.

…''What?

“Japanese UCAT wouldn’t be able to function if you did that!”

They would be unable to produce, develop, or maintain any of their equipment, and information on their equipment could be leaked to enemies.

They would lose the materials and equipment they needed to function as an organization.

As Shinjou wondered what they could do, Tsukuyomi formed a troubled expression.

“Don’t take this as a threat, okay? It’s an issue of labor and compensation for that labor. UCAT pays us for our work, but we need social compensation as well.”

Tsukuyomi pointed at Sayama with a smile on her face.

“He is refusing to continue providing that social compensation, so we will refuse to continue providing you with our labor. And we will not accept money or land in its place. The only thing we want is the status quo. …He is the one who broke the rules first, so if you are going to blame anyone, blame him and his enjoyment of being a villain.”

Despite all this, Sayama remained silent.

Not even Shinjou could read any emotion on his face.

''Will this be okay?'' wondered Shinjou.

But she quickly changed what she was thinking.

…''I’ll trust him. I know he can pull this off somehow.

She stared at the side of his face as she thought.

A certain action occurred in the yard of the Kashima family house.

A father and son were running around.

Kashima was trying to evade his father in his father’s yard.

“W-wait, dad! Why so eccentric all of a sudden!?”

“Eccentric!? Don’t use those weird foreign words around me!”

His father swung the sword down from above, so Kashima moved aside.

He evaded it, but his movements were dull.

…''Of course they are!

His lifestyle did not involve much exercise. He was already breathing heavily due to the tension of the situation.

But his father was different.

“Don’t dodge out of the way. Why don’t you stop your father’s attack which has been strengthened by long years of farming?”

“The instant I do that, you’ll tear into my flesh like you’re cultivating the land! …Wah!”

The older man swung the sword horizontally as if cutting down some grass.

Kashima crouched down and leaped backward as far as he could.

He then recalled that he was a military god.

“Wait! You can’t hurt me with a blade!”

Just as Natsu was protected, he himself could not be harmed by lesser blades.

His father’s actions were meaningless. It was nothing but a threat.

However…

“Not so fast, Aki. I helped make this sword.”

“Eh? Then…”

“It too bears the name Kashima! It’ll cut through you perfectly fine!”

At the same time, the tip of the sword grazed his body as he bent backward.

The sword cut through the collar of his work uniform and sent it flying through the air. It also scratched his cheek, producing a shallow wound.

…''He’s serious!

What could he do? This was his father. Would it be acceptable to punch him?

“I-I was a relatively obedient child even during my so-called rebellious phase! So now I can-…”

“You’ll never hit me if you have to make an excuse for it!!”

The sword sliced through the air.

Kashima evaded it while gasping for breath.

His father attacked from the right, right, left, lower middle, and finally above.

As his father held the sword up to swing it down, Kashima turned tail and ran.

“Wait, Aki! I can’t cut you if you run! Your arm! At least give me your arm!”

“I don’t like the sound of that last comment, dad!”

As soon as Kashima shouted that, his feet were scooped out from under him.

“!?”

His vision quickly fell forward.

He saw a rope which had wrapped around his feet at some point.

Holding the other end of the rope was an old woman in Japanese clothes standing at the edge of the house.

He then fell to the ground completely.

“Mom, you’re on his side!?” he shouted while frantically trying to get up.

But his father approached before he could.

He was holding the sword up to swing it down.

Kashima’s immediate reaction was to kick off one of his sandals.

“Trip!”

His sandal landed sideways underneath where his father was placing his foot.

His father stepped on it, lost his balance, and tripped.

As his father fell, Kashima realized a certain fact.

Causing someone to trip as they approached with a sword would only cause them to fall on top of him.

“Ah.”

His father collapsed like a felled tree and swung his sword down.

For some reason, he looked a bit happy.

“Waaahh! Natsu-saaaaan!”

Kashima frantically tried to flee so as not to be crushed by his father.

He tried to crawl forward, but then he heard his father’s voice.

“I’m glad to hear you calling Na-chan’s name, but won’t you be in the same position as her once you lose your right arm and can’t work!?”

“!”

His father’s words brought a thought to Kashima’s mind.

…''I…

This thought caused him to stop moving.

And then his father’s sword struck Kashima’s right shoulder.

Sayama expressionlessly looked toward Tsukuyomi.

He brushed up his hair while Shinjou and Tsukuyomi looked at him.

“You are willing to bring your labor into a negotiation with the fate of the world at stake? You are not going to make this easy, are you?”

And…

“Why do you want to join Low-Gear so much?”

“It would be meaningless for me to answer that. I am the one asking the questions at the moment.”

With a smile, Tsukuyomi stopped him from speaking further.

She pointed down at her feet.

“Answer me this, bearer of the Leviathan Road: What weapons will UCAT have without us? What about armor? Tools? Or any other equipment? If you have no answer, then you have only one option.” She took a breath. “You must support maintaining the status quo for 2nd-Gear.”

Sayama remained perfectly silent.

As he maintained his lack of expression, Shinjou stared at him.

Her expression was tinged with concern, but there was a hint of something else as well.

When Sayama noticed, he asked her about it in a lighthearted tone.

“Shinjou-kun, why do you look relieved?”

“B-because you have some kind of plan, right?”

“Oh?” Sayama tilted his head and spoke with a candid expression. “I have no plan.”

The instant he said that, Shinjou gasped and Tsukuyomi failed to suppress a smile.

Shinjou’s mouth hung open wordlessly and Tsukuyomi’s smile deepened.

“Interesting. They say the surname Sayama indicates a villain, but perhaps you still have a ways to go. It doesn’t seem you’ve become a true villain under 2nd-Gear’s concepts.”

Sayama tilted his head as if wondering what she meant.

“May I say one thing?”

“What is it? Are you going to allow us to maintain the status quo?”

Her question was accompanied by a smile, but Sayama’s response was short.

“Allow me to say it again: You fool.”

And…

“Let me be very clear: Your labor will not function as a bargaining chip.”

Sayama partially closed his eyes and opened his mouth.

“That was an interesting argument,” he said with an impressed tone. “The way you talk about 2nd-Gear’s technology…”

“Yes?”

“You make it sound like you are the only ones in the world who can develop technology.”

His words fell to the ground with a bitter smile and Tsukuyomi’s body stiffened.

But Sayama did not stop.

“The Germans have their technology known as spells. Perhaps they could reach your level? Also, look at this cell phone I have. Think of the computers we use, the kanji we write with, or the English language. If you want to go back even further, the spread of iron came from the ancient Hittites,” he said. “I do not see a single thing here that was invented by you.”

That comment produced a reaction from Tsukuyomi.

“Then what do you hope to do!? It may be true that we didn’t create every piece of technology in the world, but V-Sw and Ex-St were made by us. Not to mention all the other equipment and weapons you use! What will you do if you lose us!?”

Sayama’s answer was simple.

“We will hire someone else.”

He took a breath.

“That is how labor works.”

“…!”

He ignored the intensity of her gaze and continued.

“Enough nonsense, Director Tsukuyomi. I hope you see the error of your ways. And let me say this: We can continue on just fine without you.”

“Hah. Don’t get conceited. You think you can use and surpass what we created!? You Japanese created your culture and society by copying 2nd-Gear!”

“Copying? What a wonderful compliment. That means we are able to mass produce.”

And…

“Know this: We are a race who is able to create something new from the copy. Continental Asia? The West? 2nd-Gear? Every culture and society is nothing but a cutting-edge fashion for us. After all, we can steal it for ourselves, imitate it, and bring about a new age. Goodbye old-fashioned original. Hello our new fad. If you don’t like it, add copyright protection into your culture and society. …Then again, we will still break through it.”

Sayama folded his arms before continuing.

“Also, you tried to use your technology as a bargaining chip via your labor, didn’t you?”

“Yes. What about it?”

Sayama nodded and began to speak.

“If you choose to leave, three things will happen. First, your successors will capably continue with your work. Second, you will not be allowed to bring any technology-related data with you. And third.” Sayama smiled. “Everything you have made here is trademarked and copyrighted by Japanese UCAT, so prepare yourself. Wherever you work next, make sure you develop completely new technology from the ground up.”

Tsukuyomi stood motionlessly with nothing to say in response.

Shinjou gulped and looked up at Sayama.

Sayama, however, did not turn toward her.

After a short moment, Sayama asked Tsukuyomi another question.

“Did that wake you up?”

A wind carrying a slight chill blew over the yard of hardened dirt.

Kashima suddenly opened his eyes as he felt that wind.

He found himself crouching down in the yard. And…

“My right arm…”

It was intact. He frantically touched it with his left hand, but his arm was still connected to his shoulder. However…

“The sword…”

The blade was definitely located on his shoulder.

The Japanese sword had torn through the right shoulder of his work uniform and the shirt below it. The blade was still touching his skin.

However, it had only left a shallow mark on his skin. It was nothing more than a scratch.

The wound on his shoulder was no worse than the one on his cheek from before.

It was such a shallow wound that he was not even bleeding.

That sword had been forged with the surname Kashima, so why had it stopped at this?

A voice behind him gave him the answer.

“I didn’t go easy on you or lie,” said his father. “You just rank this much higher than me as a military god and a swordsmith.”

Those with the same surname could rank higher or lower than each other depending on their level of training.

That fact and the truth it told him made Kashima stop breathing for a moment.

“Do you get it now, Aki?”

“…”

“What you learned from my father and your training at UCAT have made you better than me. You may be denying your name as a military god, but that name will never leave you. Names don’t go away just because you deny them.”

That power was not something he could let go of. It would only grow greater the more he reached for it.

…''Once I wield that power, can it never be lost or reduced again?

No matter what life he hoped for, he would never lose that power.

That was the truth.

“Then will I always be like this?” he muttered.

He received an answer almost immediately.

“There is a way.”

“Eh?”

He turned around and looked up to find his father looking down at him.

His father nodded once and spoke.

“Give your name a different meaning.”

“A different meaning?”

His father pulled back the sword while it was still on his shoulder.

However, it did not slice his flesh. He felt it lightly scrape over his skin, but only his clothing was cut.

“Listen, Aki. Simply denying your name will not deny your power, so you need to give this some thought.”

“Thought about what I want to be with this name?”

“I didn’t say that.” His father’s voice contained a smile. “Only you can give meaning to your name. The name Kashima originally referred to a military god. Its meaning as a swordsmith was added later by our ancestors. In that case, you can-…”

“Can I really do it?”

Kashima slowly stood up and turned around.

His father stood there holding the sword.

He belatedly remembered his father was shorter than him.

He looked his father in the eye and restated his question.

“Can I really give different meaning to my power?”

“How should I know, idiot. It took our ancestors years and years to bring the power of a swordsmith to the name Kashima. It was meant to give us some power to help win the Concept War. I don’t know if you can manage this on your own, but there is one thing I know for sure.” He took a breath. “If you don’t do anything, you’ll never know if you can do it or not.”

“…”

“My father and the others had to have been the same when they created Susaou and Totsuka, so if you have a change of heart, look at this.”

His father snapped his fingers on his left hand.

At some point, his mother had moved from the house and next to his father.

She held out a large brown waterproof envelope.

It seemed to contain some kind of document.

Kashima took it and the flexibility of the paper inside told him it contained a bundle of Japanese paper.

His parents nodded when he looked at them, so he opened the envelope and pulled out the paper.

Written on the paper were…

“Names?”

Countless surnames were listed on hundreds of pieces of Japanese paper.

“During the creation of Totsuka, it seems Ooshiro Hiromasa created this from the list of 2nd-Gear names my father gave him. These characters and surnames were used in Totsuka.”

“So this belongs to the man who opposed my grandfather…”

Kashima stared at the envelope.

The past held physical form there. He could hold it in his hands and see it with his eyes.

“If my memory holds, the ‘countless’ names were divided by job, combined together, and therefore compressed into approximately one thousand names. It seems he started creating it on March 10, 1945 and finished in the early morning of the 12th.”

If Kashima’s father was correct, the compressed list of 2nd-Gear names had taken two days to create. Kashima began to speak while wondering if that was possible.

“Why did he do that? I thought he didn’t get along with my grandfather.”

“Idiot. Didn’t I tell you I don’t know? That was enough for me, but it isn’t for you. So take it. If you do decide on something, look at it then,” said his father with a smile. “You’ve been worrying over this for eight years now, right? It’s about time you made up your mind and chose what path you want to head down.”

Three figures stood motionlessly on the field from which Susaou was visible.

Sayama, Shinjou, and Tsukuyomi did not move an inch even as the afternoon wind blew across them.

Tsukuyomi’s head was still raised and Sayama looked directly at her.

The look in his eyes was quiet and admonishing. He spoke with the same tone as was in his eyes.

“Do not bring culture and society into this, Director Tsukuyomi. Those things are only the material from which the world is made and the person who bears them is always changing. They are of no use in a negotiation for peace.”

Those words finally produced a movement.

Tsukuyomi embraced her own body and appeared defensive.

“What do you mean by that?” She continued her words of protest. “Are you saying it’s wrong of us to wish our descendants to have peace just because we have nothing but technology? Do you think you’re some kind of god?”

In response, Sayama smiled once and held a black binder to his chest.

“Yes. Unfortunately, I am in a very good mood today, so I feel even greater than a god. And so let me say this: It is natural.” He took a breath. “Listen, Director Tsukuyomi. Peace is not something you wish for. It is something natural that should be there. You must not work for it or wish for it. You claim this is for your descendants, but what excuse will you make for them when you force misfortune onto them?”

“You say it should be there, but it is not. That is why-…”

Someone other than Sayama suddenly cut her off.

“What do you mean it isn’t there?”

It was Shinjou.

“U-um, Director Tsukuyomi. You said you wanted to maintain the status quo, right? But now you’re saying you don’t have peace. In that case…”

Shinjou’s question trailed off and disappeared, but Tsukuyomi’s shoulders still trembled.

Sayama then nodded toward no one in particular as if to say “Do you get it now?”

“Yes. You do not have what is natural and you do not even know how to work toward regaining it. That is why you must ‘wish’ for it, correct? You understand nothing, but you want to keep everything as it is in the hope that the problem will resolve itself with enough time.”

However…

“That will change nothing. Even if you seal off all information, someone will eventually learn of the past and worry over the same things you are now. And that is not all.”

Sayama looked up into the sky. He then looked across the forest in three directions and finally looked up at Susaou in front of them.

“I am here for the Leviathan Road. What exactly do you think the ‘status quo’ is to me? Did you ever stop to think about that, Director Tsukuyomi?”

“Well…”

Tsukuyomi was unable to answer, so Sayama continued.

“Once the Leviathan Road is over, the concepts of every other Gear will be released to counteract the negative concepts of this Gear. I do not know what will happen then, so I cannot say if the world will remain as it is.”

…''I do not know if the status quo can be maintained.

With that thought in mind, another thought floated up in Sayama’s chest.

It was an announcement he had carved into his heart.

“I want to face every Gear. I want to face everything. And that includes what comes after the Leviathan Road. That is what I mean when I say I reject 2nd-Gear’s demand to maintain the status quo. You need to be able to handle any future that may arrive. And that includes the possibility of this Gear being destroyed after the Leviathan Road ends.”

“Destroyed…?”

A slight smile was enough of a response.

“Does it really surprise you? If the Leviathan Road fails, Low-Gear will be destroyed. However, it is possible some people will survive that destruction. If that happens, will you still wish for the status quo?”

“…”

“How about it? Will you be reconsidering your stance on the status quo?”

With that question, Sayama held out his left hand.

Tsukuyomi took several seconds to realize what this meant.

She averted her gaze and let out a bitter laugh.

“So Team Leviathan does not want 2nd-Gear to ally with you so easily, is that it?”

“It is not that we want this to be difficult. What we need is a resolution that leaves no grudges or regrets behind.”

Tsukuyomi gave another bitter laugh.

“Why are you holding your hand out to an old woman like me?”

Despite what she said, she obediently reached out her own slender hand.

As well as the other hand.

“…”

Sayama exchanged a glance with Shinjou, but quickly gave a bitter smile.

Sayama held out his left hand, so Shinjou held out her right hand and they both took one of Tsukuyomi’s hands.

Despite being the one to initiate this, Tsukuyomi gave an awkward smile.

After a few seconds, she let out an exhausted sigh, let go of their hands, and spoke.

“But whatever happens, it’s Kashima’s decision. Wait just a bit longer for your answer.”

“I hope he is the sort of man you think he is.”

Hearing that, Tsukuyomi relaxed her shoulders and sighed again.

“You may be Kashima’s version of Ooshiro Hiromasa.”

“The old man’s father who could not prevent 2nd-Gear’s destruction?”

“You seem to know a little about him. When our ancestors evacuated to Low-Gear, Kashima supposedly said this to Ooshiro Hiromasa: You did not intend to truly face 2nd-Gear’s destruction.”

Tsukuyomi stared overhead once more.

She stared at the five hundred meter humanoid machine with the bridge in the head destroyed.

“Construction of Susaou began on March 12, 1945.”

“March 12…”

“Does that remind you of something?”

“Yes. When I saw that date in the cafeteria yesterday, it reminded me of a certain incident. It is likely related to what you just said. The incident which drove Ooshiro Hiromasa to face that destruction occurred from March 9 to 10 of ’45.”

“And that is…?”

“I plan to do some research into it as a step toward facing your Gear.”

Sayama smiled and Tsukuyomi smiled back.

''He seems very different from just a moment ago,'' thought Tsukuyomi. ''The surname Sayama indicates a villain, hm?

That last thought urged her to provide further information.

“Susaou was completed August 1, 1946. The final result came two weeks later. No one knows what exactly happened up there and Kashima once pursued that question. He wanted to know why his grandfather and Ooshiro Hiromasa worked so desperately toward the same goal despite disliking each other. He wanted to know what his grandfather had been thinking.”

“It is worth looking into for both us and him. We must know each other if we are to fix the discord between Low-Gear and 2nd-Gear that began sixty years ago.”

“Yes.” Tsukuyomi nodded and put a hand in her lab coat pocket. “Kashima gave me this floppy. It contains the list of 2nd-Gear names that his grandfather provided Ooshiro Hiromasa. It also contains Yamata’s question.”

“Testament. I will gladly accept that.”

“But you have at least vaguely grasped what Yamata’s question is, haven’t you?”

“Testament. I believe I know what it is: What is Yamata’s name?”

Tsukuyomi did not respond, but she did smile.

Sayama reached out and took the disk.

“When Ooshiro Hiromasa found the answer, he used this list as a hint, didn’t he?”

“It seems so. The next time we gather, you will need your answer. Kashima will likely provide our stance before long. We will use his decision to decide on the date for the Leviathan Road.”

“Testament.”

“Very well then.”

Tsukuyomi placed her hands on her hips and nodded.

The afternoon sun began to pass behind some clouds in the sky.

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Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 15

2026-08-11T03:26:12Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 15: Point of Acquisition==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0029.png|thumb]]
''Look back

''Look back

''And remember so you never need to look back again

Kashima stood in the passageway behind the design room that led to the production rooms.

He wore his usual work uniform and lab coat and he held the cardkey Tsukuyomi had given him.

“What am I supposed to do? Director Tsukuyomi told me to face this, but…”

''What will that teach me?'' he wondered.

His heart was feeling restless and he looked forward in order to fill the hole he felt there.

In the past, he had often used that white walled passageway, but now he only occasionally passed by its entrance.

…''The newcomers probably think I’m a useless guy who loiters around the entrance.

That was not inaccurate.

His job was to perform the final modifications, but the newcomers seemed to think he was stealing their final job.

A few of those newcomers avoided speaking to him.

The Kashima family had a history with the sword god and swordsmith god families such as Katori or Mikami.

“The military gods of Kashima ended up forging the swords that those families were meant to forge.”

He had heard about it from his grandfather.

As the Concept War had continued, the military gods of 2nd-Gear had started forging their own swords because they had experienced the battles for themselves.

…''The original smithing gods ended up forging small tools and daily items instead.

“But the situation has reversed these days.”

Kashima gave a bitter smile toward the floor and then faced forward.

The first production room was on the right side of the passageway and the second was on the left a bit further down.

What mattered was the room past the corner and at the very end.

That was an area which had existed since the days of the National Defense Department.

…''The third production room.''

“I used to use that room constantly, but now it is used by no one.”

Kashima nodded and began to walk.

After a dozen or so seconds, he passed by the first production room.

After a similar amount of time, he passed by the explosion-resistant door of the second production room.

The passageway turned to the right and the third production room was about one hundred meters further down.

“…”

Kashima walked.

…''I sure am calm.

His pace was steady and his grip on the cardkey in his right hand was relaxed.

…''Is this all?

No hint of trembling could be heard in his footsteps and they were not too loud. He tried to move his shoulders and had no difficulty.

He felt an odd sense of loss in his body. He felt himself being cut free of something as if he was announcing that the past was only the past.

He approached the corner.

He turned right.

He focused on his actions again, but his pace was still steady and he was still looking forward.

The white explosion-resistant door of the third production room was about one hundred meters away.

The thick double door looked as white as the day it had been made.

And that was all.

“…”

Kashima touched the left side of his chest just as he had seen that boy named Sayama do in the cafeteria.

Everything was normal. His pulse was not racing and he felt no pain.

…''Why am I so calm?

For some reason, the accident from eight years ago felt like a long gone event.

He recalled the sensation of the rain, of the mud, and of Natsu’s hand.

…''They all feel so distant.

He wondered why. This was completely different from what he had expected.

He had thought trying to remember would cause him to relive the past in real time.

“But the past is nothing but the past,” he muttered with a sigh.

He relaxed his body once more, faced forward, and began walking.

…''At this rate, I’m going to have to reassess myself.

Kashima predicted he would be able to walk up and open the third production room as if it meant nothing to him. Then he could pick up the two pieces of Futsuno’s broken frame.

“I need to do something about it.”

Given his current calm, his options were limitless.

He could smash it on the spot and dump it down the garbage chute. He could reforge it, deliver it to Atsuta, and receive his friend’s thanks. However…

“Either way, I might quit UCAT.”

If his connection to the past was gone, he would no longer need to feel guilty concerning Natsu.

…''I will be able to be an even better husband to her.

He was now only twenty meters from the door.

He continued walking while thinking about what was to come.

He thought about what he would do once he no longer had to worry about the past.

…''I might be able to help with Natsu-san’s rehabilitation. She might recover to the point that her left hand and the rain no longer bother her.

Perhaps that was being arrogant, but this burst of confidence showed just how much the past had been bothering him.

But now the past was just the past.

He had feared it so much, but now that he was facing it and approaching it, it was nothing.

“I feel so stupid for avoiding it for so long.”

Kashima faced forward once more.

He had not moved a single step closer to the third production room’s door.

Atsuta arrived at the back entrance to the Tamiya household on his motorcycle.

The back entrance was a small wooden gate. Atsuta was greeted by a young man in a suit. It was Kouji.

Kouji folded his arms while the slight afternoon wind washed over him.

“Long time no see. What brings you to the back entrance of our house?”

“You’re as stubborn as ever, Kouji. What’s going on out front anyway? It’s so loud I didn’t want to get anywhere near it.”

“The same thing you and my sister did back in your school days: preparations for the All Holiday Festival.”

“Oh, the festival. Ryouko was the student council president, so the festivals were pretty crazy back in our day. We didn’t make any preparations at your place, though.”

“I knew how destructive your singing is, so I did everything I could via our parents to keep that from happening.”

“Y’know, you’re pretty damn rude.”

Kouji ignored him, sighed, and changed the subject.

“Anyway, my sister is currently out.”

“With Sayama?”

Kouji immediately reacted to that name.

His body moved ever so slightly and Atsuta’s right arm shot up.

An object suddenly appeared between Atsuta’s index and middle fingers.

“A sashimi knife? You’re about 0.2 seconds faster than before. Toh!”

Atsuta’s final shout came as he jumped down in front of his motorcycle. He kept his hands on the handlebars and performed a flip. At the same time, Kouji’s left hand sent a kitchen knife through the air in a backhand swing.

“You have more techniques than the last time I saw you, Atsuta-san.”

Kouji faced Atsuta’s back as the other man landed.

Immediately afterward, Kouji swung both arms and threw two kitchen knives at the exact same moment.

But Atsuta did not even turn around.

“If I couldn’t do this much, I wouldn’t be able to protect Ryouko!”

Atsuta swung the sashimi knife he had caught.

That produced two metallic noises.

As he slowly turned around, two knives broken at the center lay at his feet.

He faced forward and saw Kouji standing next to the motorcycle and holding a new knife in a backhanded grip.

“Atsuta-san, where did you hear about the young master?”

“Ryouko mentioned him last night.”

“And what is your relationship with the young master?”

“Like I’d tell you.”

“Then please leave. And please do nothing which would harm the young master.”

“C’mon, Kouji. Are you really gonna say that to me? You know you’re no match for me. In the same way, I know only you can handle Ryouko’s problematic side.”

“I am aware I am no match for you.” Kouji gestured toward the motorcycle next to him. “Which is why I will instead do things to this motorcycle that will make you cry.”

“That will make me cry?”

“Yes. First, I will use this knife to write ‘real Yankees never die’ on it. Later, I will periodically use my family’s information network to locate the motorcycle wherever it may be and carve new statements into it.”

“Please stop. In fact, when did you get so cunning?”

“Anyone would after constantly being caught up in the trouble my sister causes.”

Kouji stared off into the blue sky and Atsuta sighed.

“Don’t say that,” said Atsuta while recalling the past. “She helped me out quite a lot. She’d go apologize to the families of the people I punched and she’d bring me a lunch when I had no money.”

“I see. For some reason, my memories of my middle school days involve being lectured with my sister at strange houses and being forced up at the crack of dawn to make two lunches for her. I suppose it is important to view everything in a positive light.”

“You got a problem? Why do you keep staring off into the distance?”

“At any rate, please leave. What is with today, anyway? You never act for anyone but yourself. Are you having some trouble with a friend?”

Atsuta smiled bitterly, climbed back onto the motorcycle, and removed the kickstand.

“That’s right. A friend of mine is having some trouble. He doesn’t seem to know who he is.”

Kashima gulped as he stared at the thick door.

He had not moved even a step closer to the white metal door since the last time he had looked at it.

He looked down and could see he was standing. His legs were not trembling. He could feel the floor beneath his feet and he could sense his waist and abdomen being supported by his legs.

But despite thinking he was walking, Kashima had not moved a single step since arriving twenty meters from the door.

“I was standing still while convincing myself I was moving forward.”

He checked his left arm to see if any concept was in effect, but the black wristwatch had not reacted since entering the design room.

What was happening?

…''I can’t move forward.

The feeling welling up in his heart seemed to slide up his spine.

He was not sure how to describe the sensation or the emotions it gave him. His desire to deny it formed words.

“My inability to face the past has reached a subconscious level.”

He did not feel any fear, but he could not approach that place.

He faced that explosion-resistant door while wondering why.

A few colored metal plates were attached to the wall next to the sealed white metal of the door.

Those metal plates were engraved with the surnames of the past managers of that production room.

The leftmost plate contained the name Kashima.

However, his own name was not what he focused on now.

He started with the earliest name. That name belonged to the very first manager of the third production room.

“Ooshiro Hiromasa.”

Next to that name was the name of the second manager.

“Kashima.”

This time, Kashima was not written in kanji. Kashima’s grandfather had refused to write it that way because he opposed fully naturalizing himself even if he had abandoned his old surname of Takemikazuchi.

Kashima finally began to tremble when he saw those two names.

He felt an extra strong beat of his heart. He did not know what to call it.

He knew nothing of his grandfather or Ooshiro Hiromasa.

Nevertheless, those two names were there. His own name was listed far to the left.

…''How can this be?

Carved into that steel were names from the past and the name of the one who was to inherit the past.

Only someone who was the same as those in the past could arrive here.

Kashima recalled the past. He recalled that day nine years ago.

He had finally managed to see that giant humanoid weapon, but the bridge in the head had been mostly destroyed.

…''My grandfather’s dying request to go to Susaou became meaningless.

He had focused solely on demonstrating his power in the third production room so that he could pursue his grandfather.

As he did nothing but pursue his own power, he had forgotten all about the girl he had grown close to in his college days.

“What happened to me after that?”

He suddenly heard a certain noise.

It was the sound of rain.

…''It can’t be.

He was underground. There was no way he could be hearing that.

But he was undoubtedly hearing rain.

He had gained something on that rainy night when the earth had collapsed.

What had it been? How had he acquired it?

He absentmindedly raised his left hand up in front of his face. He did so ever so slowly.

But he could not fully raise it. It stopped while positioned diagonally down.

It looked like he was holding his hand out to someone.

…''To who?

“Stop.”

…''Don’t think back. Don’t think back to what you reached for and what you gained.

He had thought he had carved it into his heart, but he had actually avoided touching it and simply deceived himself.

…''Don’t look straight at it.

But his left hand was definitely grasping something in the empty air.

He was grasping the hand of someone he cared for. He could feel the missing fingers and the warm wetness.

“…!”

Just as before, Kashima let out an enraged cry.

He clenched his hand which was covered in phantom warmth and heat. He faced forward.

He only recognized three of the names: the two rightmost names and his own name on the left.

“Why…?”

Why had he wanted to have his name engraved there?

''Back then, I viewed it as my pledge to pursue the past,'' thought Kashima. ''Please… Please let it be a lie.

He wanted to erase the fact that he had ever wanted that.

Otherwise, everything he had now would become a lie.

Natsu, Harumi, their house, the flowers in the garden, his parents’ concerns, their own concerns…all of it.

But all he felt in his hand were missing fingers and wet blood.

“That is the truth,” proclaimed the letters in that steel. “Everything you have gained is nothing but a lie used to escape from us.”

Kashima distinctly recalled the feeling of creating Futsuno.

…''I felt such superiority.

He had felt joy, but that joy had frozen over in an instant when he heard the scream.

He trembled as he recalled the emotions he had felt.

“Please,” he muttered.

…''I don’t need any of that anymore.

“Please rid me of this name…”

His trembling voice received no response. The engraved names sent him nothing but silence.

Those names would not move from the past.

That truth caused him to instinctually move back. He took a step back and immediately followed it with another.

“Ah,” he said quietly as he turned his back on those names. “Ahh…”

He tripped and almost fell as he began to run. There was nothing he could do to stop himself. He finally realized his entire body was trembling.

…''Run.

“Ahh…”

He felt as if the door behind him had opened and some unknown presence had come from within.

It was already right behind him. The names of the past and the names of the present were trying to swallow him up.

''Is this what I abandoned?'' he thought again.

“…!”

Kashima ran. After taking a few steps, he realized he still held the cardkey in his right hand. He threw it behind him.

He did the same with everything he thought would get in the way of his escape: the pen in his lab coat pocket, his calculator, his handkerchief, the lab coat itself, and the glasses on his face. He threw them all at the presence pursuing him.

But the past would not leave him. That feeling that caused him to tremble refused to let go.

He felt as if it would never let go again.

He swallowed a scream and continued to run.

…''I have Natsu-san and Harumi now.

He turned the corner and ran out into the empty design room without looking back.

…''So why won’t my power leave me?

“Okay. How should we handle this?”

A woman in a lab coat stood beneath the clear sky.

It was Tsukuyomi.

She was inside the 2nd-Gear concept space containing Susaou. She was in the small open area next to Susaou’s lake.

Other than the lake to the north, she was surrounded by forest.

With the rotting pier extending toward Susaou to her back, she stood in the cool wind with her arms folded and a slight smile on her lips.

She faced a boy wearing a suit. He was Sayama Mikoto.

She used her smile to welcome him and slowly began to speak.

“Sayama Mikoto-kun, are you alone?”

“Yes. The others do not like negotiations, so they are investigating the area. How about you?”

“I’m alone, too. Kashima had to gather his thoughts a bit, so he won’t be coming. I, Director Tsukuyomi Shizuru of the development department, will handle the preliminary negotiations in his place.”

“So you will be my opponent, is that it?”

“Yes.”

She nodded just before her expression changed.

Someone had exited the forest behind the boy.

The person wore an orange jacket and a white dress.

She was out of breath and Sayama turned toward her.

“Shinjou-kun,” he said.

“Yes,” replied Shinjou Sadame upon having her name called. She looked at him and then Tsukuyomi before giving an exhausted smile. “Sorry I’m late. This is the preliminary negotiations, right?”

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Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 14

2026-08-10T02:00:36Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 14: Location of the Answer==
[[Image:OnC_v04_0011.png|thumb]]
''Sing the song of temporary relief

''Will that achieve preparation or rest?

''All will be known at the conclusion

A certain ten square meter room had wooden floors and brown wallpaper.

It was a kitchen.

A skylight on the white roof let in the noontime sun. A sink, stove, and refrigerator sat along the wall. Three people were eating lunch at the table in the center.

Two girls sat on the east side of the table by the entrance. They were named Mikoku and Shino.

An elderly Arab man sat on the west side of the table by the refrigerator. His name was Hajji.

His white scarred left eye was closed and he held a newspaper in his left hand. In this right hand…

“Isn’t it a bit early for alcohol, father?” asked Mikoku.

He turned from the glass in his right hand and focused on her.

Mikoku was staring at him while eating pasta with nothing but olive oil on it.

“What is it, Mikoku? This is no different from normal.”

Hajji knew what it meant when Mikoku acted differently than normal.

“Do you have a request to make for Shino? You do, don’t you? Hm?”

“Nn… You are as sharp as ever. Shino.”

“Eh? Oh, okay.” Shino had not touched the pasta on the plate in front of her. “U-um, father. I have a request.”

“What is it? I will do anything within my power.” Hajji then began to think with his hand on the newspaper. “Could you wait a moment? It has been a while since we have had this sort of conversation, so I want to act like a real family by guessing what it is you want. Let’s see…”

“Do you know?”

“Yes.” Hajji immediately nodded. “Have you fallen in love!? Hm? That’s it, isn’t it? I’m jealous of this guy. Ha ha ha,” he laughed. “I’ll burn him at the stake!”

“That is illegal in Japan, father. And Shino would not like that.”

“Kwah! You are as cement-like as ever, Mikoku.”

It seemed his guess had been wrong, so Hajji hid his mouth with his hand.

“That was a joke. It was just an opening jab, so it doesn’t count, okay? This next one will be for real.”

“You are not going to guess it, so just hurry up.”

Hajji ignored Mikoku and thought for a full minute. However…

…''I don’t know.

He started to sweat.

…''Not good. Think harder.

There had been no problems with food lately.

Shino was handling the shopping herself and she had offered to take turns cooking because Mikoku’s cooking only came in three varieties: grilled, boiled, and raw.

Was there anything else?

“…”

Across the table, Mikoku sprinkled soy sauce on her olive pasta.

“I see the former great general of 9th-Gear does not know how to handle household matters. Perhaps that failing comes with the job.”

“W-wait, Mikoku. Do not underestimate your father.”

“Then give me your answer.”

Hajji thought some more. And then…

“Ah.”

But that was not it. They had rearranged the bath order only half a month ago.

''I have to take this seriously,'' he thought while setting the newspaper aside.

“I see,” he finally said.

“Do you have an answer?”

“No, I have not the slightest clue. …Ow! Wh-what are you doing, Mikoku!?”

“Mikoku, that was the right spot for a tsukkomi, but the salt shaker might have been too painful.”

Hajji grabbed the salt shaker before it fell to the floor and sprinkled some salt on his pasta.

Mikoku continued eating indifferently across the table.

“Mikoku, you haven’t been communicating with me as much lately.”

“Hitting you with things is a faster form of communication than speaking.”

“I see,” said Hajji with a nod.

The older girl seemed to have entered a rebellious phase recently. He tried to think of a reason.

“Is this because of…what do they call it? Secondary sex characteristics? That must be nice. I remember getting into all sorts of trouble when I obeyed my hormones. Is that what this is? It is, isn’t it? Ngah!”

“Sorry, father. It looked like you wanted me to pass the pepper.” She then turned to Shino. “Shino, if this continues any longer I will reach the third stage of ‘annoyed – pissed – angry’.”

“Oh, right. Father, for the sake of peace in our household, I will get right to the point: Can we take this afternoon off?”

Hajji stared up at the ceiling while holding the pepper shaker.

…''Where did that come from?

The Army made use of a fair number of people and it carried out many different activities. However…

“Lately, everyone has been performing maintenance on Alex in the factory below Takao. And Team Leviathan is heading to the concept space in the Showa Memorial Park today, but there is nothing we can do there. Is that what you mean?”

Hajji nodded at his own question.

They had maintenance to complete, but there was no actual work to be done as the Army. Until Team Leviathan finished their negotiations with 2nd-Gear, there was nothing to do but head out with a small group to make contact with the remnants of other Gears.

“I see,” muttered Hajji before nodding again. “Well, one afternoon should be fine.”

“Really?”

“I can’t say no. I am not a thoughtless enough man to stop the daughters who I gained from the ending of everything. This is a special service as your adoptive father.”

“Yay! Thank you so much.”

“But try to tell me the night before from now on, hm? Also, make sure to contact the others. Your training with Tatsumi is not just meant to kill time, okay?” said Hajji with a smile.

Shino nodded and gave a smile of her own.

“So what are the two of you going to do today? Hm?” he asked when he saw her smile.

“Mikoku said she wanted to do a bit of shopping, so I thought we could go to a nearby supermarket and I could find some books to read.”

Shino turned toward Mikoku and froze up.

At some point, Mikoku had put down her shaker of sesame salt. She now held a casual magazine.

“U-um, Mikoku? Why are you looking at the shopping pages for Harajuku and Shibuya?”

“Because we will be going there today. We need to resupply on the necessities, so there is a lot to buy.”

“Wait a second. You said we would only be doing a bit of shopping. Do you have any idea who long it will take to get from here in Hachiouji to Harajuku and Shibuya? Wait, don’t add Shinjuku to the list! How is this ‘a bit’!?”

“It is only a distance of thirty kilometers and there are almost no obstacles. This will take little effort.” Mikoku turned toward Hajji. “Okay, father. I will escort Shino on her shopping trip.”

“Eh? But I want to take it easy at home. And you’re clearly making an excuse,” complained Shino.

“Do not worry about it. Now, we need to get going. We must find some equipment for you. …I have never been to Harajuku before. I hope they have my size. I am incredibly excited in a composed sort of way.”

“…Mikoku. Try not to mix your excuse and your true intentions like that,” warned Hajji.

Mikoku raised her smiling face from the magazine.

“How about you come too, father? You can carry our bags. It can be a special service for your adoptive daughters.”

Shinjou Setsu sat on the porch of the Tamiya household.

He was sitting in the warm sun while drinking plum tea Kouji had given him. His classmates were preparing for the All Holiday Festival in the yard in front of him.

The students were using their lumber, metal pipes, and other materials to construct a festival stand.

Ooki wandered among them all, but a student with a piece of paper saying “manager” taped to his back followed her around and ensured she caused no harm.

Sayama had left, saying he had student council work to take care of. He had said he was meeting Izumo and Kazami in Tachikawa.

An old man sat next to Setsu.

His name was Hiba Ryuutetsu.

He ran a martial arts dojo named the Hiba Dojo in Okutama and he had been a friend of Sayama’s grandfather.

He was an old man with a crimson left eye.

Shinjou had been speaking with him about Sayama.

“That idiot Mikoto had a rebellious phase back when he entered middle school. He was so cute back then. When you hit him, he would seriously say ‘thank you for the lesson’.”

“Th-that’s some harsh training.”

“Not really. I was kind to him. For example, there was when he first came to my dojo. He was a first-timer, so I took him out into the mountains.”

“And you trained there?”

“No. I shoved him toward the edge of a cliff. When he really fell off, I panicked and ran home. I trembled in my futon all night expecting the cops to show up. Ha ha ha ha ha.”

“That isn’t something to laugh about! That’s attempted murder!”

“Oh, c’mon.” Ryuutetsu scratched at his head. “They say lions throw their cubs into the bottom of ravines, right? I knew a chance like that would never come again, so I just couldn’t resist. I ended up doing it again three or so times afterward, though.”

“Um… I’m going to ignore all the problems with that, but what happened to Sayama-kun?”

“He made it back alive each time and tried to kill me in my sleep. I of course beat him until he couldn’t stand afterward. Then we would eat. I was impressed he could eat a proper meal after all that.”

“I think I understand why Sayama-kun is the way he is, but what do you think of him now?”

“He needs to keep growing. He’s still no match for us.”

“Us?”

“The people who bring pain to him here.”

Ryuutetsu placed a hand on the left side of his chest.

Shinjou could see no malice in his crimson eye.

''It’s so pretty,'' thought Shinjou. ''It looks like a woman’s eye.

Shinjou then realized he had been looking at the eye for too long.

“S-sorry for staring.”

“It’s fine. Having a young kid like you staring at me is gonna make me blush.” Ryuutetsu then gave a bitter smile. “But I want Mikoto to overcome various different things. …You heard that the room in this house where he and his mother lived is never opened, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“That idiot is a lot of trouble for you, isn’t he?”

“I’m not sure I would say trouble, but he does a lot of things I don’t know what to think about…”

“You don’t have to stare blankly into the distance as you say it.”

Shinjou smiled bitterly.

“I have always been alone, so it’s been fun having Sayama-kun with me. …Not only was I alone long ago, but I was betrayed too.”

“Betrayed?”

“I was alone once and no one came for me,” answered Shinjou. “The person who was looking after me at the facility said someone would eventually come for me, but they never did. …My memory of crying all alone is still so clear.”

“We have a way of remembering the unpleasant things,” said Ryuutetsu with a calm smile.

Shinjou then noticed what might have been a scar above and below the old man’s left eyelid. It was hard to tell what exactly it was because of the man’s tan.

…''He must have something in his past, too.

Shinjou suddenly wondered how much this man would make his chest hurt if thinking of his past affected him the way it did Sayama.

However, that would never happen.

Shinjou took a sip of the plum tea and Ryuutetsu asked him a question.

“How do you feel about yourself now?”

“Oh, I am definitely a bit different now. In the past, I did nothing but wait, but now I feel like waiting is not enough. Still…”

“What is it?”

Shinjou could tell he had lowered his head.

“I came here to help with Sayama-kun’s injury, but it’s healed now. I have to leave him before long. Staying for no reason would be a bother.”

“Have you asked him if it would be a bother?”

“I’m afraid to.”

That was why he could only think about the reason he had come in the first place.

Once that reason was gone, he would have to leave.

“I see,” said Ryuutetsu. “Well, you should give this some thought. By the way, I saw you hand something to Mikoto before he left. Mind telling me what that was?”

“It was a loose-leaf binder. It contains the story of a novel I hope to write someday.”

“A novel? Literature sure is great. A villa in Karuizawa, the highlands, the wide-open sky, and the silent nights…”

“I feel like I heard something similar recently…”

“Hah hah hah! It was from that idiot Mikoto, wasn’t it?”

Ryuutetsu laughed and suddenly reached over to rub Shinjou’s head.

“Well, keep at it. You seem like the type to put a lot of effort into this.”

Sayama, Izumo, and Kazami rode a train to Tachikawa. Izumo and Kazami would normally have used Izumo’s motorcycle, but Kazami had wanted to discuss a few mysteries concerning Yamata.

“Sayama, should you really leave when your classmates are working on the stand?”

“The Leviathan Road takes precedence, Kazami. And there is nothing to worry about. This year, Mr. Kim is not the only specialist helping. The Musclekov Brothers from the old Soviet Army will be helping too. From their name, I expect they will be quite strong.”

“I get the feeling your class’s stand will look like a giant mass of metal.”

“Ha ha ha. You can praise us in advance if you like. It bothers me horribly to leave Shinjou-kun behind. He seemed to be in a bad mood. But…”

“But what?” asked Kazami.

Sayama smiled and held up the black binder in his left arm.

“Heh heh. Shinjou-kun gave me his secrets. This has to be full of…ah… I don’t think I can resist for much longer!”

“Stop wiggling around like that, you idiot,” cut in Izumo. “Didn’t you say that’s the plot of the novel he plans to write? I doubt it will have anything as exciting as you think.”

“Oh? Are you jealous of the trust Shinjou-kun and I have? Then I will give you a single chance, Izumo.”

“A chance for what?”

“A once-in-a-lifetime chance to earn my trust. Every morning, climb up to the roof of your dorm building and shout the following to the world below: ‘Sayama-sama is #1 in the universe! I dedicate my life to him!’ If you keep it up for one hundred days straight… Wait, why are you and Kazami staring out the window together? This is a serious discussion.”

“Kaku, don’t let him get to you. I can’t have you getting any weirder than you already are.”

“Don’t worry. My tolerance gauge is so full that only surface tension is keeping it from spilling over. Nothing more will fit.”

“That sounds like a difficult situation,” commented Sayama.

“Whose fault do you think it is!?”

At any rate, they continued the conversation.

Kazami stated the following mysteries:

1. Yamata’s name did not refer to his job or position in society.

2. Susanoo’s name did not change even after being restored to his original position.

3. Some mystery surrounded Kusanagi as well.

Their meeting in the train would last for the fifteen minutes until they arrived at the Showa Memorial Park.

As they began the discussion, Kazami confidently gave her opinion.

“I was thinking about Yamata’s question that Sayama heard in his dream. It’s just a guess, but I think he might be asking for his name.”

In the design room on UCAT’s second basement, Kashima looked up from his laptop.

He realized the room was deserted.

“Oh, everyone has left for the Showa Memorial Park,” he muttered to himself.

While noticing how quiet it was, he looked at the top of his desk.

A single cardkey sat there.

It was the cardkey to the third production room that Tsukuyomi had given him.

“What I abandoned still waits in there.”

…''How do I even feel about that anymore?

Kashima suddenly stood up in order to cut off his thoughts.

He stared at the cardkey on his desk and had a single thought.

…''The Leviathan Road.

He then spoke the words that followed his uncertain thoughts.

“That boy named Sayama should begin the preliminary negotiations with Director Tsukuyomi before long. If they are truly trying to learn about 2nd-Gear, they should realize what Yamata’s question is soon.”

Kashima placed a hand on the cardkey.

“What is Yamata’s true name?”

On the train, Izumo tilted his head in response to what Kazami had said.

“Yamata’s name? Isn’t it Yamata?”

“Weren’t you listening? Why does the serpent that swallowed the divine sword of Kusanagi not have a name that reflects that role? I think that applies to 2nd-Gear’s Yamata as well. Why was the system controlling 2nd-Gear’s biosphere given the name Yamata?”

Sayama’s eyebrows moved a bit when he heard that. He still held Shinjou’s binder.

“Before, you said your name changes when your role changes. And 2nd-Gear’s control system lost control and became a flame dragon. So are you saying that transformation caused it to lose its old name and gain the name of the burning flame dragon Yamata?”

“Yes. From that perspective, you can see why Yamata held a grudge against the residents of 2nd-Gear and could not trust them, can’t you? The people of 2nd-Gear caused him to lose his original name, so he asks them what he originally was. In other words, he is asking them to speak the name of the world that was destroyed when they forgot it.”

“So it’s a grudge on the level of an entire world? That’s no joke.”

“But in that case, Yamata’s name is a simple matter,” said Sayama.

Kazami and Izumo looked a bit surprised.

Seeing that, Sayama took a satisfied breath and brushed up his hair with his left hand.

“Heh. If you come crying to me and beg, I might just tell you.”

“Heh heh. Sayama? Did you know divine punishment can strike people even on trains?”

“Now, as a special service, I will tell you. Basically, Yamata is the result of something proper falling to the side of evil. Think of what Susanoo did as cutting away the evil with Totsuka and producing its proper form from within.”

“You mean Yamata’s name is Kusanagi? And the name Yamata referred to the outer form hiding it?”

Kazami looked both surprised and happy, but Sayama spoke up again.

“It is too soon to relax.”

Kazami turned a concerned look toward him.

“Eh? Wh-why?”

“Kazami, there is still your final mystery concerning Kusanagi. Listen carefully. Kusanagi has two names. Once it was presented to the heavens, its name changed to Ama no Murakumo. The name Kusanagi can be seen to refer to a cool breeze blowing through the grass, so Murakumo could refer to the wind that brings in the rain.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Then which one is the sword’s real name?”

“I do not know, but that is the true question we are being asked. That will determine whether we are viewing 2nd-Gear properly or not.”

“You mean everything’s riding on whether we choose Kusanagi or Murakumo?”

“A man named Ooshiro Hiromasa once gave the correct answer and died. We should probably research him a bit. We need to know why he was so attached to his answer that he was willing to risk his life on it.” Sayama frowned. “But I know the answer to another of your mysteries, Kazami. I know why Susanoo’s name did not change.”

“Eh?”

Kazami tilted her head and Sayama gave a satisfied expression.

“The name Susanoo may also refer to the hero who presented Kusanagi to the heavens. Both the name Kusanagi and the name Murakumo are related to the wind, so he had the name of the king of storms. Whether you render it as Susanoo or Susaou, the name of the wind king would not change when he acquires a sword of the wind.”

“Hm. But that doesn’t help us decide whether Kusanagi’s real name is Kusanagi or Murakumo,” said Kazami while forcing a stiff smile. “We’ll find the right answer, won’t we?”

“Do not worry. I intend to face everything and find the answer. I am invincible, you know?”

“While you may be #1 in the universe in some ways, what proof do you have that you’re invincible?” asked Izumo.

Sayama replied while watching their train stop at its destination.

“There is no such thing as having proof of invincibility. But I am invincible, so you two can rest easy even without proof.”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Preface|Preface]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume4 Chapter 15|Chapter 15]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 13

2026-08-09T04:44:35Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 13: Blooming World==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0365.png|thumb]]
''The desire to convey something awaits you

''Does it wait behind your blooming back in the past?

''Or in your budding arms in the present?

Sayama frantically thought while flying through the air.

He was facing upward and the rotation of his body was compact.

It had been a surprisingly quick throw.

If he twisted his body to bring his feet to the ground, his momentum would cause him to topple over.

What should he do?

The correct answer was to twist his body, bring a single foot to the ground, and throw his other foot forward.

He would use the momentum of the throw to run forward.

And he did so.

His foot struck the ground.

After a single footstep, he moved his other foot forward and took his second step with the momentum of his spin.

He could not eliminate the momentum, but he could control it. He twisted on his toes to turn and face his opponent.

He took a large step backward and lowered his hips in case of a second attack.

He reached for Baku on his shoulder, but the creature had not fallen.

He completed his defensive stance while performing that check.

But no second attack came.

“…”

Sayama faced forward while relaxing a bit.

He saw Ooki and Shinjou looking surprised, but a small figure had joined them.

It was an old man wearing a black T-shirt and a mountain vest.

He had short gray hair and his right eye was red.

Seeing that color, Sayama spoke his name.

“Hiba-sensei.”

“Hi,” said Hiba.

“Long time no see, you immortal old man,” said Sayama with a small smile and a hand raised in greeting. “Why have you descended from the mountain today? Did you forget how to speak the language of man, so you had to come relearn it?”

“It’s been a while since I heard your nonsensical polite speech.” Hiba smiled and raised a hand of his own. “I had been wondering why you haven’t been stopping by the dojo lately, but I see you’ve been living a normal life. I gathered some nice mountain vegetables today, so I was bringing some to the Tamiya family. When I heard you’d be coming, I knew I had to show you who’s boss.”

Shinjou walked up from the side and tugged on Sayama’s sleeve.

“I gather he’s your teacher, but do you not get along?”

“Of course we get along. We get along well enough to knock each other to the ground. Right, Hiba-sensei?”

“That’s right. We’re always like this.”

The smile vanished from Hiba’s eyes as he observed Sayama’s stance.

The smile only remained on his lips.

“You were careless to let your friend distract you like that, but you haven’t gotten rusty, have you?”

Kashima and Tsukuyomi faced each other within a partition of the UCAT development department’s design room.

The rest of the design room’s personnel had already left for the Showa Memorial Park.

Kashima was chatting a bit with Tsukuyomi in the empty room.

However, she had suddenly glanced at her watch while he discussed his family.

“Now, I think I will head to the Showa Memorial Park like Director Abram suggested.”

“?”

“I will handle the preliminary negotiations for the Leviathan Road, but what about you? Will you be coming?”

“To be honest, I don’t think so.” He shrugged. “Will he be coming?”

“You mean Sayama Mikoto? He will of course be there. Do you think he can find the answer, Kashima?”

“I don’t know. But I think we should give him the same thing my grandfather gave Ooshiro Hiromasa. Take this to the preliminary negotiations.”

Kashima inserted a nearby floppy disk into his laptop.

He operated the laptop for just an instant.

He copied a single piece of data and ejected the disk.

He put the unlabeled floppy in a case and wrote on the case in marker.

He wrote “List of 2nd-Gear Residents”.

“These are the countless names used to create Totsuka. Another file contains Yamata’s question.”

“The names used to create Totsuka?”

“Yes. Totsuka required enough power and capacity to seal Yamata, so names were used in its construction. The countless names of the 2nd-Gear residents who were connected to the biosphere via their names were incorporated into the metal.” Kashima nodded. “But because the seal was to occur within Low-Gear, Low-Gear names were used instead. In other words, they used our current names. …My grandfather gave this list to someone who then investigated Japan’s shrines and temples to find the names that corresponded to our original names.”

“Was Ooshiro Hiromasa the one to looked up those names?”

“Yes. My grandfather apparently forged Totsuka while looking at the list of names Ooshiro Hiromasa wrote for him.” He took a breath. “Ooshiro Hiromasa also discovered the answer to Yamata’s question, but I think this list may have served as a hint. So if you give this floppy to that boy, the situation should be almost identical to back then. He will have our names and the question.”

“But what about him? Ooshiro Hiromasa risked his life to seal Yamata, but do you think this boy will go as far?”

“Yes. I think he views the Leviathan Road with 2nd-Gear as important enough to risk his entire existence on.”

The day before, that boy had said he wanted to go through with this Leviathan Road so he could face the other Gears afterward.

…''He will not choose to back off.

And what would that boy do afterward?

Would he learn of the past, learn what those who came before him thought, and try to approach those thoughts himself?

Kashima then recalled Sayama holding his chest in the cafeteria.

That boy felt pain when he learned of the past.

“…”

…''So that’s it. He has accepted even the past. He is Susanoo.

That boy was honest to himself, did not lie, and gained everything.

In that case, what was Kashima?

…''No, I haven’t officially chosen to confront him, so it’s too early to think about that.

Kashima suddenly realized Tsukuyomi was staring at him.

He recalled the floppy disk, shrugged, and held it out to her.

She took it with a bitter smile.

She then used her other hand to strike his head.

“You have a serious problem with getting lost in thought. Did you know that?”

And she suddenly said something else.

“I heard you were thinking about quitting UCAT.”

That unexpected comment left Kashima flustered.

“I-it was Atsuta that told you, wasn’t it?” he said while scratching his head. “He can be really talkative about the weirdest things.”

“He’s worried about you, so don’t be too hard on him. …But are you serious about this?”

“I’m not going to hand you a letter of resignation right away if that’s what you’re worried about. UCAT pays well, so I’ll stick around long enough to pay off my mortgage and save up for Harumi’s tuition.”

“Oh, how responsible. She’s still a baby, but you’re already planning to send her to private school?”

“I don’t know, but I think I’ll go discuss this with my parents.”

“About whether to choose a private school?”

“No. About me and my family. My choice here will directly affect my family’s finances.”

“I suppose that’s true. You can take this afternoon off and head to your parents’ home.” Tsukuyomi’s bitter smile deepened and her tone grew exasperated. “You really are worrying over all of this, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. There’s just no connection between me and 2nd-Gear, so…”

“So you want to pass the truth of 2nd-Gear on to me and leave the front line?”

“Yes, I think that would be best. That Sayama boy I met last night has his own stance toward the Leviathan Road: The surname Sayama indicates a villain. That stance brought 1st-Gear to UCAT’s side and now he’s facing us.”

“He is quite brave.”

“Yes, but at this rate, I would be giving him our answer without a stance of my own.” He nodded. “So instead of pretending I understand, I will give someone else the word to control Yamata and then I will leave. Giving the word to you would work.”

…''What will this Sayama boy think of that?

Given the history of 2nd-Gear and his association with UCAT, would he accept it?

Kashima realized his thoughts were turning toward what was convenient to him, so he stopped thinking.

Meanwhile, Tsukuyomi lowered her shoulders and sighed.

But her expression suddenly grew serious and she spoke up.

“One thing.”

“What is it?”

A short silence followed.

Those few seconds contained hesitation.

She used that time to look at him like she was observing him.

She then scratched her head as if having a hard time finding the right words to use.

“Kashima, do you think you’re conflicted on this issue?”

“Yes, quite a bit.”

His response was perfectly casual.

Tsukuyomi replied with a single question.

“Kashima,” she began. “Why are you this conflicted?”

Natsu was speaking on the phone.

She was sitting on the floor with the window to her left.

She held Harumi within a towel in her right arm and her left hand weakly held the black phone receiver.

She was watching the weather forecast on the muted television, but she closed her eyes when she saw the symbol for rain.

She instead opened her mouth and spoke.

“Yes, thank you so much for the vegetables. I made all sorts of things right away. Yes, Akio-san seemed to find it a bother.” She laughed a bit. “I would like to thank your husband as well. …Eh? He ticked you off during a fight over the remote, so you locked him in the storage shed? It’s been twelve hours now? You two always get along so well. Hee hee. By the way, I would like to stop by for a visit before long. Are you planting the rice soon? Oh, in three days?”

She turned toward the wall.

The calendar hanging on the wall had no red circles around the dates for the next few days.

After checking that, Natsu turned her attention back to the phone.

“That should be fine. I’ll take Harumi with me, but I think Akio-san will try to come up with an excuse to not go.”

Her eyes bent in a smile and she looked down into her arm.

Harumi was curled up in her arm sleeping.

“Yes, you have been a lot of help with Harumi. You taught me how to hold her and how to care for her. Akio-san thinks I knew it all from the beginning. …Eh? If he doesn’t think I’m clever he won’t let me control the finances? And I need to add in the spice of a bit of violence? I’m not very good at that kind of thing. I’m not sure I can do it.”

Natsu smiled bitterly, but her eyebrows suddenly lowered weakly.

She cast her eyes down a bit.

“I think Akio-san has been worrying about something lately. Does he think our marriage-… Oh, I see. Sorry. But then what is it?” She tilted her head. “I think it probably has to do with his job, but he has a friend at work who is reliable in a certain sense of the word. Have you two noticed anything?”

A short pause followed.

After that discouraging time passed, Natsu received a response. However, that response caused her face to cloud over.

“You don’t know? I didn’t really think you would.”

She almost sighed, but gulped instead so the phone would not pick it up.

“I try not to say anything about his job, but I can’t help but worry. His sense of responsibility can be too strong sometimes.”

She glanced toward her left hand holding the receiver and then down toward her own neck. A ring hung down from a necklace there.

“Yes, thank you for being so considerate. Yes, he takes everything so seriously, so I want to avoid putting any unnecessary burden on him. …I can more or less guess what he’s thinking.”

After a few seconds, Natsu raised her head and nodded.

“Yes, I am confident.”

Her expression was just as confident as she said, but she was blushing slightly.

“I think he wants to work. He is past thirty, so it is about time he began thinking about what he can and can’t do in his life. …No, the thought came to me after marrying him and giving birth to Harumi. When I was in the Takagi family, I knew nothing of the world and didn’t think about anything.”

She smiled bitterly and moved her eyebrows.

Harumi opened her eyes in her arm. Natsu lightly rocked Harumi and she narrowed her eyes.

“Oh, Harumi just woke up. Yes, I will put her on. Haru-chan?”

Natsu held the receiver in front of Harumi and the child stretched out her small hands.

“Ah…dah…” said Harumi.

Natsu smiled and brought the receiver back to her ear.

“Did you hear her?” Her smile loosened at the response from the phone. “Thank you very much. Yes, quite a lot. Yes, I will make sure to drag Akio-san out there sometime soon. Yes, the girls outnumber him two-to-one, so he can’t win.”

With a smile, she gave a word of parting, dragged the black phone over, and returned the receiver to it.

The quiet tone of a bell was followed by complete silence.

Natsu looked at Harumi in her arm and turned toward the veranda.

Beyond the large opened window, most of the potted plants lined up on a shelf in the small yard were blooming.

The flowers were white, blue, purple, red, scarlet, and more white.

The flowers that were not blooming would bloom during a different season.

“Haru-chan, those are the flowers of spring.”

She looked at the different colored flowers and then up into the sky.

A bit of white was mixed in with the blue of the sky. The clouds were densest to the south and those clouds would bring in rain.

Natsu lightly bit her lower lip as she watched those gray clouds.

“It’s going to rain again,” she finally said.

Tsukuyomi had asked why Kashima was as conflicted as he was.

That simple string of words got to the core of the issue.

That was why Kashima found himself unable to answer right away.

He lightly closed his eyes and thought.

…''Why?

He wanted to answer. He wanted to answer with his thoughts.

He first thought of Natsu.

“I am denying my power.”

The instant he said that, Tsukuyomi spoke up.

“No. You aren’t denying your power.”

“…”

Kashima stood up from his chair without thinking.

…''How?

“How can you say that? For eight years now, I have-…”

“You are conflicted.”

Tsukuyomi stood to face him with a pleasant smile on her lips.

“But,” she said. “Why are you so conflicted? Isn’t it because you can’t deny your power? If you had denied it, wouldn’t you have long since quit UCAT and focused on your family?”

And…

“And while you were feeling so conflicted, you saw someone who was fighting against their own confliction, didn’t you?”

Kashima had no answer for that.

Tsukuyomi sighed with a troubled look.

“Remember this: The more you desire something, the more confliction you will feel. You want to be both a part of Low-Gear and of 2nd-Gear, so you find yourself unable to choose and you keep lying. But…”

“But?”

Tsukuyomi folded her arms and brushed up her hair.

“I think that is also the state of 2nd-Gear as a whole.”

Kashima felt himself tremble a little when he heard that.

“Kashima, you need to give this thought. Your parents chose the truthful path of completely joining Low-Gear, but not many people can make that decision. Even I am not telling my daughter about UCAT or 2nd-Gear.”

“…”

“This is why you are qualified to represent us in the Leviathan Road. Do not try to rush this. The time will come when you can make your decision and you will choose Low-Gear, 2nd-Gear, or maybe some third path. But at the same time…”

“At the same time?”

“Do not try to give an answer until that time comes. And while you still feel conflicted and cannot make up your mind, do not try to give anyone else the word to control Yamata.” Tsukuyomi took a breath and gave one last question. “Is that clear?”

“Testament.”

His weak affirmation was met by lowered shoulders and a nod from Tsukuyomi.

“Then I will be on my way to Tachikawa. I will tell Sayama Mikoto that you will eventually make up your mind.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t give me that look. Take a break and go ask your parents for advice. You might find the way to your answer there. Also…”

She placed the floppy in her lab coat pocket.

In its place, she pulled out a white card.

“What is that?”

She ignored his question and placed the card on the desk.

“Your past is in there.”

“You don’t mean!”

He instinctually stepped back and saw the card was a keycard for a production room.

And the card did not have a 1 for the first production room used by the newcomers or a 2 for the second production room used for research.

“That 3 stands for the third production room…”

“Yes. What you abandoned is still there. And it is precisely because you abandoned it that you want it so much now.” Tsukuyomi nodded toward him. “You feel conflicted because you want an answer and you want an answer to bring an end to your confliction. If you feel like it, go face what lies in that room. Then you should understand what you have lost as you stand in the gap between confliction and an answer.”

With that said, she turned around.

Kashima heard her receding footsteps and one last comment.

“It’s worth doing at least that much.”

At half past noon, Sayama left the Tamiya household and walked to the train station.

For once, Izumo and Kazami traveled by foot along with him.

“It seems Chisato has some ideas about a few mysteries,” said Izumo.

She apparently had some issues they could discuss while riding the train to the preliminary negotiations.

After Sayama had told Hiba and the others he had to leave, Shinjou had handed him something.

It was the black loose-leaf binder Shinjou had been carrying with him.

Sayama had not forgotten the slight look of fear on his face as he handed the binder over.

To calm Shinjou down, Sayama had promised to read it eventually and he now held it under his arm.

The sky above was clear, but gathering clouds were visible in the distance and the wind was strong.

“This is nice weather for a preliminary negotiation. I feel like humming a yodel.”

“Hey, idiot. Enough about yodeling. Just tell me what you plan to do about this negotiation and 2nd-Gear’s Leviathan Road as a whole. They don’t look too motivated.”

“My answer is incredibly simple, so listen closely.” Sayama took a breath and looked up into the sky. “I will confront them expectantly as I wait to see if they are a lazy serpent or a sleeping dragon.”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 12|Chapter 12]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Afterword|Afterword]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 12

2026-08-08T04:04:06Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 12: Morning Plan==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0337.png|thumb]]
''Welcome to a place of comfort

''The wind blows along the heavenly path

''And the people return to the grass of the land

Even on Saturday, the Kazami household got an early start.

The father was a project planner, so he could choose to take days off but had no set days off.

He usually took off when Kazami announced she would be returning home, but her decision had been sudden this time. As such, the father had to begin eating breakfast at seven in the morning.

Her familial duty outweighed her sleepiness, so Kazami joined them for breakfast.

The small built-in kitchen was as pristine as ever.

The table contained cups of soup and ingredients to make breakfast sandwiches.

Kazami’s parents looked toward her from the table.

“Oh.” Her mother’s long hair swayed as she stood up. “What do you want to drink?”

“Coffee. Chisato, you want coffee, right?” Her father stopped putting together a sandwich on his plate and looked at her through his glasses. “I know you’re tired, but I would love it if you could fully wake up for breakfast.”

“Oh, sure. I’ll have tea.”

Not even Kazami was sure who she had been responding to as she sat in her chair.

Her father looked a bit disappointed as he reached over the table.

A few plates were lined up on the table which contained lettuce, lightly fried eggs, ham, onion, tomatoes, and other ingredients.

The Kazami family’s style was to make a sandwich by taking what you wanted and piling it up on bread.

“You’re taking too much, dad.”

“A-am I? Maybe I am. It’s just so fun.”

“Are you ever going to grow up?”

Her mother gave a troubled sigh when she saw the ingredients piled ten centimeters thick.

Seeing her mother in a blue shirt preparing a teapot and her father folding his arms in a gray hooded sweatshirt, Kazami finally felt she was truly home.

“You’re dressed too, mom? Are both of you going somewhere?”

“Yes. I’m going to the site with him.”

That comment cleared away Kazami’s sleepiness.

She could tell her shoulders had jumped. She belatedly noticed the chill of the morning air.

“Are you singing again?”

“I’m just going with him.”

Her mother had a hint of warning in her voice, but her father spoke up.

“But there is a plan for a combined Christmas concert toward the end of the year. The main performers will of course be whoever the sponsors choose, but there’s still room for a guest performer. What should I do?”

“I see.”

Kazami nodded and turned toward her mother who was preparing tea.

Her actions were no different from normal, so Kazami had no idea what she was thinking.

…''Does she think it’s just his usual nonsense?

However, the delighted look on her father’s face left Kazami almost certain he was serious. The way he meaninglessly began eating his sandwich starting with the top of the pile was the same as always, so her certainty only grew.

Then her cup of tea arrived along with two slices of bread on a plate.

“I see both my parents are working hard,” commented Kazami as she spread margarine on the bread.

“What about you, Chisato? Are things going well with Izumo-kun?”

She wished he had not brought that up.

“Well…” she said as she thought.

“Make sure to bring him by sometime. Don’t drive him away on the doorstep.”

“I’m not driving him away…”

“But you are kicking him away so he leaves, aren’t you? I saw you,” said her mother as she sat down.

Her lips were smiling, but her eyes were not.

“I’ll invite him in next week,” obediently promised Kazami.

“All right!”

Her parents smiled and high-fived.

…''Why is that idiot so popular?

Kazami sighed inwardly, but her mother was already humming.

“I’ll make croquettes next week. I’m sure your papa and Izumo-kun will eat and drink like crazy in another competition, so I can make a whole lot. I’ll make white ones, curry ones, cream ones, and rare super-spicy wasabi ones for a surprise.”

“Sounds great. Make sure to put in plenty of chopped cabbage. We need to show who the better man is once and for all. I’ll do my best! Even if it’s meaningless!”

“Kyah! You’re so cool! Even if it’s pointless.”

“U-um, mom, dad? Why are you discussing next week before this week is over?”

“Hm? Did you say something, Chisato? Could you say it again?”

“No, never mind. …And mom, why have you had such a scary look in your eyes lately?”

“Don’t worry about it. You need to root for Izumo-kun next week. We’re pointlessly splitting into a parents team and a daughter/son-in-law team, so…”

“Sorry, but what kind of project are you working on now, dad?”

He looked up at the ceiling for a moment.

“It might be due to the material I came up with that was used on that suspicious educational program ‘Can You Do This?’ last week. At any rate, I’m working on a replacement project for the anime ‘Mr. Guevara’ that’s ending due to censorship.”

“I’m going to ignore half of that, but what is the replacement project?”

“It’s a sequel to the Aretorman series. Y’know, that cult classic from the Showa era. We’re making Aretorman Shoot which follows the story after Aretorman Cement. In the first episode, Shoot refuses to shake the monster’s hand, climbs on top of him, and punches him for three minutes straight. He doesn’t stop even as the monster tries to tap out. It’s really exciting.”

“Let me guess. In the second episode, does the monster get behind him, pin his arms, and make him put up with it for three minutes?”

“How did you know? That’s my daughter for you. Once Shoot realizes how to reverse the situation, he gradually begins to learn how to wrestle properly. He learns at the Aretor Training Base known as the Man Hole.”

“I have a feeling this is going to be taken off the air for a different reason.”

“Hmm.”

Her father folded his arms and thought.

Kazami saw her mother pour him some tea, but she was fairly certain his cup had originally held coffee. She began to sweat, but then he took a sip.

“Delicious. Your tea is always great.”

She knew she would never be any match for those parents. She also began to wonder if she would end up like them in the future.

But she ignored that thought and her father asked her a question.

“What has you lost in thought? If you have any trouble or problems at school, just tell me. What does it matter that I won’t be any help whatsoever?”

Unsure what to say to that, she changed the subject.

“How about you two calm down for now? It’s breakfast time.”

She sighed and began to make a sandwich of her own. She started with a lightly fried egg, lettuce, and mayonnaise. Then…

“Let’s add some jam, salted kombu, yam, and-…gah! Ch-Chisato! Domestic violence is wrong!”

“Mom, do something about him.”

“Bad papa.”

''Is that all?'' she thought, but her father really did hold his head and tremble.

She realized this was another method of scolding someone.

“Chisato, just put up with it. Having you back has left your papa a bit wrong in the head.”

“I’ll agree with that last part.”

Suddenly, Kazami realized how she could make use of her father.

“Hey, dad. Have any of your past projects dealt with Japanese mythology?”

Her father raised his head.

“Hm? Oh. Yes, they have.”

“I was investigating some stuff with Kaku and a few underclassmen, so do you know anything interesting related to Yamata no Orochi?”

“Hmm. Yamata no Orochi, you say? …There’s a lot there. Do have any keyword to focus on?”

“Well…”

When she brought a hand to her chin and tilted her head, she realized her mother was making the exact same pose as she thought. She had not noticed Kazami though, so Kazami merely smiled bitterly.

…''What would be a good keyword? 2nd-Gear is only known by UCAT, so they wouldn’t know that term. Then what? 2nd-Gear’s concepts deal with…

“Names. Do you have anything interesting related to the keyword of names?”

“Names?” asked her father as he looked up again.

The smile on his face told her she had chosen right.

“Chisato. Tell me the story of Yamata no Orochi’s slaying.”

“Well,” began Kazami. “After being banished to the surface, Susanoo fell in love with Kushinada-hime who was to be sacrificed to Yamata no Orochi. She promised to marry him and he got Orochi drunk and cut off the serpent’s heads. Is that good enough?”

“You shortened it like crazy, but that’s more or less it.”

“I’ve been studying it lately. Oh, and the sword that cut off Orochi’s heads was called Totsuka. The sword chipped in the process and, when Susanoo checked to see what had happened, he found another sword within Orochi. It was a nice sword, so he gave it a test swing and it easily cut through the surrounding grass. That was Kusanagi, aka the Grass Cutting Sword.”

And…

“Susanoo married Kushinada and settled in the Izumo province. When his descendant presented Kusanagi to Amaterasu, he regained his position as god. That’s the story, right?”

Her father nodded and muttered the word “names”.

“I am going to explain this in an indirect way, Chisato. In ancient Japan, people changed their name upon coming of age. You learned that in ancient literature class, right?”

Kazami nodded, but she did not actually remember that.

“Good, good,” said her father without realizing the truth.

The bitter smile on her mother’s face made it clear she had caught on.

Kazami once more realized she would never be a match for them.

“Okay, Chisato. Why do you think people would change their name?” asked her father.

“Eh?”

She did not know, but she gave it serious thought.

“Because they were adults?”

“Sorry, but no. Think about it. In Japanese mythology, Yamato Takeru gained that name upon killing his enemy, Kumaso Takeru. Changing one’s name does not mean becoming an adult.”

Then what was it?

As she thought, she saw her mother shaking back and forth a bit. For some reason, her right hand would rise some and fall some, but Kazami ignored her.

Kazami continued to think and realized the answer was surprisingly close by.

When she had first met Izumo Kaku, he had used the language of 10th-Gear. His language and his name had been different. And now he used Japanese.

“Because their position changed?”

“Correct. In ancient times, one’s name indicated their job or position in society. When that changed, their name changed. Returning to Yamato Takeru, the name Takeru means hero. The hero of Kumaso was Kumaso Takeru and the boy who killed him was given the position of the hero of Yamato.”

Kazami’s mother secretly snapped her fingers and struck a pose.

Her father did not notice his wife’s action and raised three fingers on his right hand.

“Now, with that in mind, let’s get down to the real issue. There are three mysteries surrounding the story of Susanoo and Yamata.”

He lowered his ring finger.

“The first mystery is why the name Yamata no Orochi does not refer to a job or position.”

“…Eh?”

“Think about it. What does Yamata no Orochi refer to?”

It meant Eight-Forked Great Serpent, so it referred to his form.

“Ah,” said Kazami when she realized that. “Are you asking why Yamata didn’t have a name?”

“Yes. Yamata no Orochi had the important role of producing the sword Kusanagi, but he was not given a job or position. This goes against the established rules. So why was this giant, eight-headed dragon of Japanese mythology not given a name?”

He then lowered his middle finger.

“The next mystery is about Susanoo.”

Kazami knew this one, so she took the initiative and raised her hand.

“It’s why he kept the name Susanoo after being banished from the heavens, right?”

“Yes. He descended to the human world, but he kept his name. Why is that? You have the great serpent with no name, the storm god whose name did not change, and then one other mystery.”

“The last one is related to Kusanagi, right?” said her mother.

Kazami and her father turned her mother’s way. She shrunk back and said “sorry” while sticking out her tongue.

But Kazami did not understand.

“What’s wrong with Kusanagi?”

“Oh?” Her father turned toward her with an expression similar to a smile. “How about you discuss that with your friends? This is a topic I tried to get put on an educational program, but no one would take it. I hope it will be some use to you, Chisato.”

There was no worry of that.

…''This is more than enough.

Not only did she have some hints, but she had realized some things herself too. She felt that was quite good for the athletic type. On top of that, she had some mysteries for them to solve.

“I’m glad I came home to visit,” she said.

Her parents cheered and high-fived.

She would never be a match for them.

It was still morning, but Kashima was in UCAT’s cafeteria.

It was only occupied by a few night shift workers, so it was nice and quiet.

“Why did you bring me here, Atsuta? I haven’t even entered the design room yet.”

“This is about the time you usually get some napa cabbage from your parents. If so, you’ll be working on getting rid of your extra pickled vegetables. Hand them over.”

Atsuta wore his combat uniform and held out chopsticks and a bowl piled high with white rice.

“Are you going to eat nothing but pickled vegetables and rice?”

“Don’t underestimate me, military god. An old saying says to eat vegetables on your rice and a bowl of soup. This is the same.”

He pulled something out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

It was a can of coffee. It was a UCAT brand named Morning Coffee Gotz. To increase its morning image, a high contrast red and white image of a healthy butler wearing nothing but an apron was printed on the can.

“Is that your ‘soup’? I suppose the color does resemble miso soup, but having that, napa cabbage, and rice for breakfast is really mixing Japanese and western, don’t you think?”

“You got a problem with this? Keh. You sure have gotten full of yourself.”

“Do you even know what ‘full of yourself’ means? Anyway, you want me to provide the vegetables?” With an exasperated sigh, Kashima took Natsu’s homemade bento from his bag. “Natsu actually predicted this. Look, she even put in some of the pickled cherry blossoms you like.”

“Oh, where she pickles the flower petals? They’re a bit bitter, so they go good with alcohol. …Unlike you, your wife does everything so well it almost pisses me off.”

“I can’t tell if you’re complaining or complimenting her.”

“You idiot. A guy can’t compliment women that easily.”

“You mean you have to compliment them difficultly?”

“Eh? Oh, well, um…what? I guess, uh… You idiot!”

“I’m not sure how you ended up there, but that’s quite the conclusion. At any rate, I’ll tell Natsu-san what you said.”

“Yeah, you do that. Tell her ‘Please make more, dammit!’ ”

“I really don’t understand what you’re trying to say half the time,” said Kashima with his usual sigh.

He suddenly realized Atsuta had opened the pack in his hand and started eating.

He did not approve of using the Art of Walking on friends, but using it may have been second nature to Sword God Atsuta.

“Is it good?”

He took the lack of a response as a yes.

The next thing he knew, Atsuta had refilled his bowl of rice and the pickled vegetables were almost gone.

Atsuta then spoke up as if carried by his momentum.

“So what’re you gonna do about the Leviathan Road?”

“I’m not sure. …How about you do it?”

“C’mon.” Atsuta stopped moving his chopsticks. “You really have no motivation, do you?”

“To be honest, no. The commotion here yesterday reminded me I have no reason at all to care about 2nd-Gear.”

“Stop treating this all so seriously and just give yourself a reason, you idiot.”

“Don’t say that. I really don’t have a reason. Seeing the damage to Susaou made my grandfather’s dying words meaningless, and now I have a family.”

He recalled Sayama’s words from the day before.

…''He wants to properly face 2nd-Gear.

“They’re all so serious, so I think they deserve someone better than me.”

“Then quit.”

Atsuta took a breath and spat out more words.

“Just quit UCAT.”

Kashima thought for a while about Atsuta’s suggestion.

“That might be a good idea.”

“Wait.”

“Don’t give me that look, Atsuta. To be honest, for someone with my lack of guts, in my position, and with my thoughts, running away by dropping out might be easier.”

If he quit, he would not have to worry anymore. He would have no reason to hold on to it all anymore.

He suddenly thought about how his parents lived. Rather than choosing the path of a swordsmith, they had chosen farming. The only blades they held were kitchen knives and sickles.

Natsu felt bad about receiving vegetables from them, but it delighted them.

“Some people have more than one option. That’s just how it is.”

“And are you one of them, Kashima?”

“I don’t know, but I left the path of a swordsmith after that accident eight years ago. My hands never again held a chisel and I only provide adjustments to finished products using a keyboard.” Kashima lightly tapped his fingernails on the table. “It’s been eight years. I have not made a single Cowling Sword since then. If I have a chance to leave…”

“Are you saying that chance is now? Are you saying you’ll run just as you’ve been given the important role of Leviathan Road negotiator?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.” He took a breath. “I can’t reveal anything. I can’t even tell my child about the weapons-making skills passed down by my ancestors. If I’m going to quit, now is the time. I can join Low-Gear and have a happy family. …I always wondered if I was a resident of Low-Gear or not, but my child won’t.”

“Then what are you gonna do about the truth of 2nd-Gear you mentioned before? Only your family knows about it.”

“I can pass it on to Director Tsukuyomi and leave the decision with her.”

He looked forward and saw Atsuta who was rising up from his chair a bit.

“Are you serious?”

“I’m not sure. I just went with the flow of the conversation. But this is tough.” His shoulders drooped. “I can’t seem to decide what I should do.”

Atsuta clicked his tongue and lowered back into his chair.

“You don’t really need a reason, y’know? I enjoy cutting people down for no reason.”

“Are you hoping to find someone who agrees with how your brain works?”

Kashima gave a bitter smile and Atsuta narrowed his eyes.

“Oh? You think I don’t have a reason to care about the Leviathan Road, do you?”

“I-it can’t be. …Do you?”

“Don’t act so surprised, you idiot. Yes, I do. It’s about a girl I’ve fallen for.”

“That classmate from your school days? That’s an odd connection. Well, I won’t pry, but it sounds like a personal grudge.”

“How is that not prying?”

With a look of annoyance, Atsuta slid over the pack of pickled vegetables.

“What? You don’t want it?”

“Idiot. I can’t eat the pickled vegetables of a woman who seduced a military god.”

“Ha ha ha. You’re jealous that I have such a great wife.”

“Do you ever listen…?” Atsuta spat out a “keh” and took a sip of coffee. “Gather your things and get lost, you loser. This is pathetic. Completely pathetic. The Kashima family of Takemikazuchi, 2nd-Gear’s greatest military god and swordsmith, is dropping out to be with his wife and kid? Have fun with your home life, dammit.”

“I’m amazed you can say this much about it.”

Atsuta clicked his tongue, leaned back, and looked up at the ceiling.

Kashima did not resent him. He felt he was a good friend to have around.

“I haven’t decided whether I will drop out or not. I just don’t have the energy to face the Leviathan Road. UCAT pays well and sticking with it will allow me to pay off my mortgage. …I’m just troubled because I don’t enjoy it at all.”

“Fine, fine.”

Atsuta straightened up and picked up his bowl. He grabbed the salt from the seasonings on the table and sprinkled some on the rice.

“Hey, Kashima.”

“What is it, Atsuta? And aren’t you putting too much salt on that?”

“You idiot, I need salt because I have low blood pressure. You didn’t know that?”

“First I’ve heard of it. Relative to you, the rest of humanity must have extremely low blood pressure.”

“If you’re gonna say that, I have something else to say. I’ll ask this in place of a parting gift: What is the truth of 2nd-Gear and Yamata’s question?”

“I will tell that to Director Tsukuyomi first.”

“Is it that important?”

“I don’t really know.” Kashima tilted his head. “My ancestors have been passing it down for generations, so we’ve kind of lost sight of the importance. And that’s apparently why Yamata didn’t trust my ancestor’s answer when 2nd-Gear was destroyed.”

“Then isn’t it useless now?”

“It’s still useful as a negotiating tool. Low-Gear wants to know it.” Kashima folded his arms and said something even he felt was unlike him. “Ooshiro Hiromasa found that word in exchange for his life. My grandfather resented him and that word made him suffer and swear complete submission to Low-Gear. …It must have value.” Kashima smiled bitterly and kept the smile on his face. “But it’s been sixty years. We’ve become too influenced by Low-Gear.”

Once he finished speaking, Atsuta stopped moving his chopsticks and gave an annoyed look.

Kashima wondered why for a moment, but then realized the answer.

…''Oh. I’m giving a strange smile, aren’t I?

His eyebrows were bent weakly and his head was lowered, but his smile remained.

As he wondered what that kind of smile was called, Atsuta’s voice prodded at his thoughts.

“Well, if the desire to quit doesn’t go away, stop by the design room’s third production room.”

“The third-…”

Kashima suddenly frowned.

The third production room was a forbidden room in the development department.

It had remained unopened since that night eight years ago.

“That’s where I sealed-…”

“You can’t say it? But you haven’t forgotten, have you? There’s something in there that can’t just be thrown out as oversized trash. The power you sealed away is in there.”

Kashima suddenly remembered.

Eight years ago, he had saved Natsu from the mud and carried her into the rescue vehicle.

Afterward, while he was soaking wet from the rain, he had lifted something up from the mud without even wiping the blood from his fingers.

It was a sword frame that had broken in two.

…''I sealed it deep in the corporation bearing the name Izumo.

“Do you get it, Kashima? You sealed away what should’ve been given to me: the Cowling Sword Futsuno. Even while sealed, the residual fear it emits is enough to keep the newbies away.” He took a breath. “If you quit, get rid of it. It’s only polite.”

As the morning came to an end, Sayama and the others wore their school uniforms as they walked through the city.

They were on their way to the Tamiya household where Sayama had grown up.

Sayama, Ooki, and Shinjou Setsu led the way and other volunteers from their class followed.

They all held wooden panels, paint, metal pipes, or other materials.

Shinjou turned back toward line following them and spoke to Sayama.

“We’re skipping fourth period to build a festival stand at your mansion. This is kind of amazing.”

“Ooki-sensei did a splendid job of forgetting to order the materials. I have business in Tachikawa later, but I can help out until then. We have to get this stand built fast.”

That afternoon, he had the preliminary negotiations with 2nd-Gear in the concept space within Showa Memorial Park.

…''I wonder if that Kashima will show up.

As Sayama thought, he saw Ooki walking ahead of him.

She wore a blouse and was swinging her arms while humming a cheerful tune.

“Lunch at Sayama-kun’s place is sure to be magnificent!”

Shinjou poked at Sayama’s arm.

[[Image:OnC_v03_0359.png|thumb]]

“Sayama-kun, can’t you stop her from speaking her mind so honestly?”

“No. If it was possible, I would have done so last year. The results were less than satisfactory.”

“That must have been tough.”

Ooki suddenly turned around with a smile on her face.

“I wanted to go with the entire class, but I guess that isn’t going to happen. A lot of people are busy preparing the stands for their clubs or have part-time jobs. Harakawa-kun rode off on his motorcycle right away.”

Sayama glanced behind them and Shinjou followed his gaze while carrying a binder of loose leaf paper. About thirty students followed them.

“But about seventy percent of the class saw this as their top priority.”

Sayama saw Shinjou turn an impressed look toward Ooki. Ooki on the other hand looked troubled.

“Sorry, Sayama-kun. I actually wanted to solidify the bonds of our class with a cookout, a campout, or a marines-style training camp.”

“I will kindly ignore that last one, but you should not feel bad about using the Tamiya household instead.”

“I know. And your home knows the trick to creating a good festival stand.”

Shinjou tilted his head at that.

“I thought the Tamiya family ran a security company? Do they do construction too?”

“No, they just so happen to have a lot of specialists like that. Mr. Kim from China joined the company about four years ago and he is really good at building sturdy mobile stands.”

“Really?”

“Yes. The only problem is he likes to add bulletproof shields, GPS, and escape devices if you are not careful. …He takes it seriously, don’t you think? Ha ha ha.”

“I-I think he might be building something other than a festival stand.”

“But we won the award for best stand last year!” added Ooki.

“Yes. Thinning the armor paid off in the high-speed cruising. And by giving it electronic controls inside, a commander and driver could take on a great number of people on their own. It was quite powerful.”

“S-sorry, but what are we talking about here?”

“A crepe stand. Have you never seen one? They are quite common.”

“Oh? So stands that can fly are common?”

“Do not worry about it.”

Sayama patted Shinjou’s shoulder.

Shinjou looked up at him with a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes.

But Sayama’s eyes were fixed on the binder Shinjou held in his arms.

Shinjou must have noticed what he was looking at because he held the binder tighter as if to protect it.

“U-um. I…uh…didn’t bring this so I could avoid helping prepare.”

“You did not want to let go of it, did you?”

That was a part of it, but Shinjou lowered his head and blushed.

“I finished the plot, so I wanted you to take a look at it. …Would that be a problem?”

“Why would it be a problem?”

“Well…” said Shinjou as he looked around.

Ooki had faced forward once more and was humming. The other students were speaking with their friends. No one was paying any attention to them.

Shinjou quickly moved closer and whispered so only Sayama could hear.

“I think you might figure it out if you read it.”

“Figure what out?”

Shinjou stopped walking for an instant.

He lowered his head and did not look toward Sayama.

And so Sayama asked another question.

“You mean I will figure something out if I read this plot, correct?”

“Y-yes.”

Shinjou raised his head, revealing his slightly reddened face.

And then…

“…”

Shinjou’s shoulders trembled and he wrapped his arms around his stomach.

As Shinjou seemed to shrink back, Sayama wrapped his arms around his back.

“Is something wrong?”

“N-no. I’m fine.”

Shinjou’s raised head showed a weak smile.

Shinjou checked to make sure no one was watching them and spoke.

“Th-this happens sometimes. About once a month, I get this feeling like my stomach is sinking down. …It hadn’t happened recently, but it just came now.”

“Hm. This is a touchy subject, so I will try to ask this tactfully: Is it your period?”

“Has the meaning of the word ‘tactfully’ changed since I last checked?” Shinjou sighed. “Not to mention that I don’t have a period.”

From his expression as he spoke, Shinjou seemed to be fine now.

But when he finished speaking, his eyebrows lowered and Sayama was fairly certain he saw a disappointed look on his face.

At any rate, Sayama nodded.

“When we arrive at the Tamiya household, I will have Kouji prepare you a hot drink. Also, I think Ryouko has an excellent painkiller. You can take some.”

“Medicines don’t have much effect on me.”

“Not to worry. The Tamiya family’s secret original formula uses no chemical additives. According to Ryouko, half of the drug is made from ‘mercy’.”

“And is the other half made from ‘absolute seriousness’? Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Of course it is okay. I tried some once. The next thing I knew, three days had passed and I was surrounded by tons of people.”

“That isn’t okay at all!”

Shinjou sighed, lowered his shoulders, and looked forward.

Sayama faced forward as well.

The path opened up ahead of them and a large flat silhouette surrounded by a fence came into view.

That tile-roofed mansion with a large yard was the Tamiya household. Trees, large stones, and a pond were visible over the tall fence and the vast mansion sat in the center.

Shinjou sighed again and this time it was a mixture of relief and wonder.

He realized everyone had stopped walking and Ooki stood before the gate.

“Um… Oryaaah!”

She pushed on the gate, but it did not open.

Sayama and Shinjou watched on, wondering what she was planning to do. Ooki tilted her head and then clapped her hands together in realization. She knocked on the gate and let out a shout.

“I request an audience with the master of the house!”

“Ooki-sensei, what era do you think it is?”

“Eh? But the gate opened on its own when they said that on TV yesterday.”

“That was the TV drama version of Tsujigiri Samurai that began yesterday at eight. Can you not see the intercom next to the gate?”

“Oh, you’re right.” Ooki brought a finger to the intercom. “Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding, ding, ding… Sixteen in a row! …Ow ow ow ow ow! What kind of student hits their teacher’s head sixteen times in a row, Sayama-kun!?”

“Shut up. For the sake of mankind’s sanity, never touch that intercom again. Got it?”

As soon as he said that, Sayama sensed a presence to his right.

He felt the air move in toward the side of his non-dominant hand.

“I see you haven’t changed, Mikoto.”

Sayama heard a husky voice and all of a sudden found himself looking up at the blue sky.

He had been thrown through the air.

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 11|Chapter 11]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 13|Chapter 13]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 11

2026-08-07T01:55:29Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 11: Falling Sounds of Rain==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0313.png|thumb]]
''In the rain

''In a cage

''In a lie

Kashima returned home through the rainy night.

However, he was not on the path back from his workplace and he was not alone.

He was returning from the supermarket where Natsu worked part time.

Natsu stood to his right with an umbrella and he held Harumi in his arm.

Harumi was held within a bucket bag meant to hold babies. The child was contained within the cylindrical cloth bag and a vertical strap wrapped around his back to hold her in front of his body.

It was meant for Natsu who had poor grip with her left hand, but Kashima currently had the strap around his neck. Harumi was asleep while wrapped in a towel inside the bucket bag.

Kashima held her and hummed as he walked, but Natsu’s head was lowered and she seemed unenergetic.

When she opened her mouth while looking down, she spoke the same words in the same tone she had several times already.

“I’m… I’m really sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. Someone mistakenly took your umbrella is all.”

“It still isn’t acceptable. Not only did I not make it home in time for the head of the household, I had him come get me,” she said decisively with her head lowered a bit.

Even in the dark, he could tell the movements of her white denim shirt lacked energy.

Kashima watched Natsu as she kept to the center of the umbrella and stared at the ground.

''She looks like a scolded puppy,'' he thought.

A small smile appeared on his face just as Natsu turned toward him with a troubled look.

“That isn’t acceptable, right?”

“Right, right. Now, which umbrella was taken?”

“I brought the cheap plastic one because I didn’t want it to get stolen. …But I think someone thought it had been left behind.”

“Maybe we should get one with a nametag.”

“Oh, I know a store in Asakusa that makes excellent umbrellas. We could-…” She trailed off and shook her head. “We need to stick to our budget.”

“Don’t say that with such disappointment. You can spend a bit of money.”

“I shouldn’t. Also, my parents always go to that store.”

“I see,” said Kashima with a nod.

He thought about pulling her toward him by the shoulders, but unfortunately, his hands were full.

As he lamented that fact, Natsu spoke up again.

“But how did you know I was still at the supermarket, Akio-san?”

“Well, to be honest, I was looking around everywhere.”

“Hee hee. Were you worried?”

“Yeah,” he said.

Natsu looked a bit surprised and Kashima was not entirely sure what to say.

“I was pretty worried. It’s been a while since the front door didn’t open when I got home.”

“That hasn’t happened since I was rushed to the hospital to give birth, has it? Sorry.”

“Maybe we should carry cell phones.”

“It might be useful for you, but I’m fine. And I have a bad habit of spending too much time on the phone. I think the charges would be ridiculous if I had a cell phone.” Natsu smiled and looked toward their daughter. “She really is sleeping well. She never cries when you’re around. Did you know that? It’s like our family’s great god Kashima gives us peace.”

“You’re part of the Kashima family now, too. I think it’s when the two of us are together that Harumi doesn’t cry.”

“Thank you very much.”

''Is that really something you respond to with a smile and your thanks?'' thought Kashima as he looked at her.

Something glittered at her neck. It was a ring hanging from a short silver chain.

He suddenly felt a tug on his right sleeve, the same arm holding the umbrella.

Natsu’s left hand had grabbed the sleeve of his lab coat. The three fingers of that hand held on weakly.

She remained facing forward and her eyebrows were a bit relaxed, but she spoke.

“I really was happy when you came for me even when I didn’t call for you.” The ends of her eyebrows lowered. “You always come to save me.”

“I…” began Kashima, but he could think of nothing to say.

Should he agree or disagree with her use of the word “save”?

He did not know which was the correct answer for her and which was the incorrect answer for himself.

…''I just don’t know.

His uncertain thoughts naturally produced silence. Natsu smiled a bit with the ends of her eyebrows still lowered.

And then Harumi’s small body began to tremble in Kashima’s arms.

The instant he stopped, they happened to be approaching an intersection.

And he saw a light to the right. It was a car’s headlights.

It was turning their way as if scraping the inner corner.

“————”

Natsu dropped her umbrella in the rain.

Rain fell on UCAT headquarters which was disguised as a transportation administration building.

The spray striking the ground was visible from the first floor lobby.

Shinjou sat in the sofa by the window which was the optimal spot to view the rainy night.

Ooshiro sat on the other side of the sofa in a lab coat and they both watched the white rainy road jump up into the darkness.

“Amazing…”

“Spring is coming to an end. This is the rain of the changing season. Not long after the rain ends, it will be time for the farmers to plant rice.”

Shinjou heard Ooshiro sigh.

The sigh sounded meaningful, so she turned from the window and looked at him.

“Why are you giving me a thumbs up, Ooshiro-san?”

“Well, Shinjou-kun. I hear you were alone in the men’s locker room with Mikoto-kun.”

“We didn’t do anything inappropriate,” she said almost too quickly. “There is a rumor spreading because of Diana-san, though.”

“Oh, my.” Ooshiro exaggeratedly covered his face with his hands. “When did you learn to snap back at me like that?”

“You don’t have to wiggle around like that.”

“You’re no fun. You need to play along, Shinjou-kun.”

“How about you go back to your room and play more of that game with girls in it? Was it called Osaka Nanba Street? You said you quit early from the shock of falling for a transvestite, right?”

“Wow, and now it’s a cement-like opinion that exposes a secret!?”

Shinjou ignored him and looked out the window while resting her head on her hands. The window reflected the painting of the Virgin Mary on the opposite wall. She had thought seeing herself reflected below it while looking at the rain would make her look like a heroine from a novel or something. However…

“I just look sleepy…”

Shinjou heard Ooshiro sigh again.

''Not again,'' she thought as she turned toward him.

“…”

He was sitting on the sofa and staring at her.

“Did you tell Mikoto-kun your lie?” he asked.

Shinjou slowly shook her head.

“But I told him Setsu and I both have the lie.”

“I see.” He nodded and once more said, “I see.”

He said nothing more, so Shinjou tilted her head.

“What should I do?”

“I think you shouldn’t ask me.”

“Why not?”

“Asking someone will give you the answer right away. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes, but isn’t that why you ask people?”

“If you want, you can ask me here and I will give you a hint. But isn’t Mikoto-kun thinking about your lie without asking anyone else for help?”

She thought on that. She thought again. She thought a third time. But…

“Yeah… He would never ask someone else.”

So…

“Are you telling me not to rush this?”

“You need to give him time to prepare. He needs to prepare to accept you.”

She trembled a bit as she recalled what Sayama had said in the locker room.

…''He wants to face me properly.

She placed the meaning of those words deep in her heart.

“Shinjou-kun, you can think alongside him. Even if your physical location and coordinates are different, you can think alongside him in time. You can decide what to do after that.”

Shinjou nodded and Ooshiro sat shallowly in the sofa and spread his legs a bit.

“Sadame is the sister and Setsu is the brother… That idiot Itaru comes up with the most unnecessary things.”

“But that name has always protected me.”

“And it is why you are troubled now, isn’t it? It sounds like more trouble than it’s worth to me.”

“D-don’t act like you’re not involved in this.”

“But I’m not, not, not!”

“Ah, that really ticks me off!”

“Wa ha ha,” laughed Ooshiro as he raised his right thumb and looked out the window.

The rain had grown more intense than before.

Shinjou saw his expression change for just an instant.

She tilted her head at that hint of harshness.

“Does the rain bring back some bad memory? Do you melt when it hits you?”

“What am I, a youkai? …Anyway, do you remember the night eight years ago when there was a collapse three mountains over?”

“I…think I do. Wasn’t that when everyone went out to help because it was an emergency, but you slept through it all and Itaru-san beat you up afterward?”

“Y-you don’t have to remember that second half.”

“I don’t remember much about the accident, but I do remember Itaru-san grabbing you by the collar and delivering a barrage of body blows while Sf-san made tea to the side. The cookies were good. As a child, I think the fun part left more of an impact than the disaster.”

“You think it’s fun that I had my ribs broken? My left side always starts to ache on rainy days like this.”

Ooshiro’s shoulders drooped and Shinjou apologized twice.

“It was a horrible collapse, wasn’t it?” she continued. “Wasn’t a bus heading into the mountains caught in the collapse?”

“Yes. The only passenger was badly injured. She was a college student on her way to view some relics from the Jomon period that were being excavated in the mountains. At least I think that’s what Itaru said.”

“What happened to her?”

“Broken glass injured her left hand pretty badly. But the worst part was that the mud trapped her in the bus. She couldn’t move at all and was stuck with the rain hitting her for about two hours. I heard she couldn’t go out on rainy days anymore and that she dropped out of college.”

Shinjou realized her expression changed as she listened. The ends of her eyebrows lowered and she tried to say something, but Ooshiro spoke before she could.

“What would you think if I told you UCAT was actually responsible for that collapse?”

“…Eh?”

“At the time, UCAT was being reorganized. The development department was almost completely switched out, so they had to get the hang of things. As that department is primarily made up of 2nd-Gear people, they were investigating Susaou which had sealed Yamata, 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core. But when they saw the damage to Susaou’s bridge, they realized there was nothing to gain.”

“A-and what happened then?”

“2nd-Gear is full of engineers, so they began researching powerful concept weapons. …At the time, we were already assuming we would be fighting concept weapons powered by Concept Cores. They wanted to create a weapon as powerful as Izumo-kun’s and Kazami-kun’s.” He took a breath. “And their testing ground was…”

“Y-you don’t mean…”

“Yes, the site of that accident. 2nd-Gear had created a prototype Cowling Sword made up of only the necessary parts, but the tester couldn’t control the power and sliced the mountain. It had probably already been softened a bit by the rain, but that would still require as much power as the second form of Izumo-kun’s V-Sw.”

Shinjou gulped.

That man named Atsuta had not seemed afraid of Izumo and Kazami at all.

…''They’re aiming to make weapons like the ones those two have.

“B-but UCAT wasn’t blamed for it, were they?”

“No. It was an accident and we’re an organization the public can’t know about. All we can do is provide indirect financial support.”

“Th-that isn’t what I meant.” Shinjou stood up without thinking. “Did you ever make up for what you did?”

“That’s a good question.” Ooshiro tilted his head. “But after that, 2nd-Gear’s concept weapon research focused on usability rather than power. V-Sw, G-Sp2, and your Ex-St are exceptions. Also, the engineer who caused the accident stopped developing weapons and instead researched output control. And…”

“And?”

“The woman injured in the accident was apparently an acquaintance of his from college and they married after the accident. According to Director Tsukuyomi, he hasn’t told her about UCAT, but they had their first child this year.”

“So he took responsibility for the accident?”

“Responsibility? What responsibility?” asked Ooshiro. “He can’t tell her about UCAT, so she still doesn’t know the truth about the accident. Do you see any responsibility there?”

“Well…”

Shinjou started to say something, but Ooshiro raised his hands and said “calm down”.

She then realized she was oddly stuck on this topic.

…''It’s because we’re similar.

She was lying and revealing the truth could hurt Sayama.

That engineer was lying and he continued to live with the victim without revealing the truth.

“…”

She remained silent with a hand on her mouth and Ooshiro sighed.

“I think Mikoto-kun would have this to say: He is trying to make up for his crime, but isn’t he simply prolonging it?”

Shinjou was not so sure. She wondered what she would do in his place.

…''Wait. Is that engineer…?

“Who is this engineer?”

“Kashima Akio.”

“…!”

She knew him and Ooshiro nodded to affirm it.

“You met him in the cafeteria, didn’t you? He is 2nd-Gear’s negotiator.”

Shinjou suddenly felt strength leave her legs and she sat limply on the sofa.

In the cafeteria, she had asked him if he was lying about something.

…''He is continuing to lie for the sake of someone he cares about.

He had remained by her side for so long while hiding the fact that he hurt her.

That was his decision. And…

“I…”

She could tell her face had grown pale.

She saw Ooshiro nod.

“Duty and humanity. It is very like 2nd-Gear and very like Japan. It’s a tricky thing, Shinjou-kun. 2nd-Gear is the world of Japanese mythology, but did you know there are two contrasting heroes in that mythology?”

“Susanoo and Yamato Takeru, right?”

“Yes.” Ooshiro smiled and nodded. “Japanese mythology can be very deep. One hero was hated for being violent, but he lived an honest life. Another hero was praised for being beautiful, but he lived a life of lies. However…”

“However?”

“After Susanoo became a hero, he continued his life as Storm God Susanoo. Yamato Takeru on the other hand was originally named Ousu, but when he destroyed Kumaso, he was given the name Takeru by Kumaso Takeru. …You can think of that as the distinction between them.”

Those words surprised Shinjou.

But after she thought for a moment, she nodded.

Thoughts of those two heroes of the past raced through her mind.

One hero stuck with his own methods and lived without changing his name while the other hero changed.

…''What if…?

What if the two of them met?

As that idea entered her head, she felt as if she could not see. She could hear the rain as white noise, but Ooshiro’s voice suddenly cut in.

“Anyway, it is time to go home for today. You can have Sf-kun bring out the car to take you where you belong.”

Kashima listened to the rain in the darkness of the night.

He could feel the breathing of his young daughter in his left arm and he could feel the rain striking the umbrella in his right hand.

And he could feel the pulse and trembling of a woman in his right arm.

It was Natsu.

[[Image:OnC_v03_0329.png|thumb]]

When the headlights had approached, he had pulled her close with the arm holding the umbrella.

She was now clinging to him from within his arm.

The car had passed with no sign of noticing them and he could not even hear it any longer.

But Natsu was still clinging to him so close he could feel her pulse.

“It’s okay.”

Kashima squeezed with his right arm to put her at ease.

But she did not calm down even in his embrace.

“Nn…” she groaned and clung to him even tighter.

It was as if his embrace had given her permission to approach him further.

Her right hand wrapped around his left arm which held their child.

“…”

Her left hand grabbed at the back of his lab coat as if scratching at it, let go, and then grabbed a different spot.

She repeated the clumsy action again and again, but she did not stop.

With the weak grip of that hand, she must not have felt she was gripping tight enough.

Kashima was holding both the umbrella and their child, so he could not hold her hand.

“I hate the rain…” said Natsu suddenly.

Kashima was a bit surprised to hear her trembling voice spoken into his chest.

“Natsu-san.”

“I hate it…”

She began to cry.

“I hate it…”

The way she trembled, clung to him, and looked down toward the ground looked just like a child. He bent down to bring his head closer to hers.

“You don’t like it, do you?”

Natsu shook her head, breathe in, and scratched harder with her left hand on his back.

“Akio-san…”

“I’m here. So is Harumi.”

Kashima looked around for Natsu’s umbrella.

…''There it is.

The red umbrella had been blown away by the car, so it had rolled into the middle of the road.

The streetlights illuminated its silhouette. It was lying upside down and its round form had collapsed. Two or three rods of the frame had broken, so it was useless.

''This isn’t good,'' he thought.

They had only one umbrella and he could not let the rain hit Natsu or Harumi.

Natsu’s shoulders trembled and they rose and fell with her breathing.

Had she calmed down a bit?

As he leaned over, the cold rain soaked his back. That chill was the complete opposite of the warmth coming from the two lives in his arms.

But…

…''This is my responsibility.

He would give them what they wanted.

If they were at peace, he would leave them be. If they were trembling, he would stop it.

He recalled that rainy day eight years before.

…''I underestimated my own power.

That had led to a certain instant back then and what lay before his eyes now.

For an instant, he had been drunk on his own destructive power, but that had quickly changed to panic when he realized what he had done.

It had taken hours for help to arrive through the rain.

When he had dug through the mud, he had found the incomplete hand of his old classmate.

He could not hold that hand now, so he called out to her.

“Natsu-san.”

Back then, he had called her family name from their time in college.

He had used the name “Takagi” which was a common surname in Tokyo.

But now that they had the same surname, he used her given name.

“Natsu-san.”

…''She does not know the truth.

“Natsu-san.”

…''She does not know about UCAT.

She slowly raised her head.

…''She does not know about 2nd-Gear.

She was still crying.

…''She does not know about me.

He nodded and loosened his embrace around her.

…''But…

She trembled and he held Harumi out toward her.

…''I will do anything for her.

She looked back and forth between him and Harumi, nodded, and chose Harumi.

She supported the bucket bag with her right hand and he removed the strap from around his neck.

She attached the strap around her own neck and wrapped her arm around Harumi and the bag.

Harumi opened her eyes and looked up at Natsu’s teary eyes.

“Ah,” said Harumi with a smile.

Natsu finally smiled within Kashima’s arm.

She gently moved Harumi up and down to settle the baby’s breathing.

“Ah,” said Harumi again.

She went on to make several light laughs that sounded similar to “ah” or “hyah”.

Natsu looked down at Harumi and nodded.

“What a good girl,” she said with a sigh.

She was back to normal.

…''Except for the flush in her cheeks and the dampness in the corners of her eyes.

With that thought, Kashima took a mental sigh of relief.

…''Thank goodness.

“I’m going to grab the other umbrella and head home. Can you continue on ahead?” he asked.

Natsu looked up at his face and the umbrella held above their heads.

“When you lean over to match my height, your back sticks out.” She suddenly realized something. “Y-your back is already wet.”

“But I can’t have the rain hitting you or Harumi.”

“Thank you. B-but I can’t have the rain hitting the head of the household.”

Natsu looked troubled, but she soon crouched down while holding Harumi and looked up at him.

“Um…”

“Do you want me to carry you?”

She blushed but did not deny it.

She was quite a troublesome wife, but Kashima did as she wished.

He blushed too, but he had enough of an excuse to do this.

He had decided he would do anything for those two.

Kashima crouched down with the umbrella in his right hand and wrapped both arms under Natsu’s back and butt while she held Harumi.

And he picked her up.

“Kyah.”

She was light. He had thought that before. He had happily done this during their wedding and when she was pregnant with Harumi.

Back then, he had held her in his arms and realized how light she was and how important she was to him.

She was like a bouquet of flowers.

The umbrella in his right hand covered the sky above their heads and protected all three of them from the rain.

The bigger of the two held against his chest smiled and spoke.

“We should have brought the video camera. We won’t be able to do this once Haru-chan grows up.”

“I’d be too embarrassed.”

“Don’t worry. No one but us would watch it.”

“I suppose so,” he said with a nod.

Now they only had to hurry. Once he had Natsu reach out and pick up the other umbrella, it was only about three hundred meters to their home. His arms would last that long.

He began to walk with two smiles in his arms.

He looked back at them with a smile of his own and he thought to himself.

He thought about the Leviathan Road.

…''Should I be involved in it?

In the cafeteria, Atsuta had said it looked like he had already made up his mind.

Atsuta may have been right.

While listening to the rain, he thought back to that accident and to his own power which had created the sword that caused it.

That was his true power.

…''That is the power I need to deny.

But Kashima had another thought as he gave an inward sigh.

…''Why can’t I forget about that power?

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 10|Chapter 10]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 12|Chapter 12]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 10

2026-08-06T02:07:07Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 10: A Call for False Testimony==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0279.png|thumb]]
''It only becomes a lie once you look at the other person

''Until then, it is a secret

''It is a truth waiting for you to let it bloom

Sayama and Shinjou were inside the locker room in front of the training room.

Sayama was changing into a new shirt on the bench near the room’s exit.

He had used the authority of Team Leviathan to reserve the room for a short time. Almost no one was waiting to use the training room that late, so he had been given permission to use it for about half an hour.

Shinjou sat to his left, drying Baku with a towel.

Baku glared at Shinjou with narrowed eyes.

“Does the soap smell bad? Sorry.”

She smiled bitterly and turned the troubled expression toward Sayama.

However, she stopped smiling there.

She let out a sigh, let her shoulders droop, and hung her head down.

And she did not look back up.

''I feel like I have seen this scene a lot today,'' thought Sayama as he watched Shinjou’s lowered head.

Was there anything he could get across to Setsu or Sadame?

His thoughts were suddenly cut off by a muttered word and a sigh escaping Shinjou’s mouth.

“…Sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?” asked Sayama with a tilt of the head.

He had a feeling he understood why she was apologizing. However…

“2nd-Gear has an ability we cannot handle, but is there more to it than that?”

Shinjou would not apologize for a situation in which no one had been able to do anything.

Shinjou seemed to grasp what he meant because she shook her head.

“There is that, but that isn’t quite what I meant. It was my question to Kashima-san that got Atsuta-san so worked up, remember?” She sighed. “I wasn’t thinking. And I couldn’t do anything afterward.”

“You will be able to do something eventually. How about I bring you to my teacher sometime soon?”

“Eh?”

Shinjou looked up with a confused look and Sayama smiled back.

“The Hiba Dojo is where I learned martial arts. My teacher there was a friend of my grandfather. If you go, you will definitely receive a nice beating, so I need to bring a present to cheer you up afterward.”

Sayama suddenly remembered old times.

That had definitely been someone he was no match for whatsoever.

He was a short old man and his most noticeable feature was his red right eye.

''I wonder if he is still doing well,'' he thought. ''He is probably fine.

Unlike his grandfather, that old man ran through the mountains every day.

“But Hiba-sensei can be pretty stubborn, so I doubt he will even give us a hint. But I bet he could reproduce that Art of Walking after only hearing a description of it.”

“I see,” said Shinjou with an impressed nod.

She suddenly turned toward Sayama’s left arm.

Sayama followed her gaze toward the white shirt sleeve covering his arm.

The wound below that sleeve was almost completely healed.

“Setsu will be leaving soon, won’t he?” asked Shinjou while closing her eyes a bit.

It was an unexpected question, but Sayama managed to remain expressionless.

The question itself bothered him, but so did the quiet tone with which she gave it.

…''I need to distract her with some carefree chatter before this grows too dark.

But what topic should he use?

Driven by a sense of duty, he tried to come up with something.

Would the cafeteria’s new menu item, the watermelon ramen, work? Or perhaps how Kazami naturally knocked Izumo off of the second floor during a rehearsal for the student band? No, a cheerful topic related to Shinjou Setsu would work. He could tell her how much he admired Setsu’s butt.

…''There are too many options!

“S-Sayama-kun? You look really conflicted about something.”

“It is nothing to worry about, Shinjou-kun. I am always giving everything great thought.”

“In other words, you always overthink everything and end up choosing something weird?”

He had a feeling the conversation was veering off track.

''Why is that?'' he wondered.

For the moment, he decided to force it back on track, so he cleared his throat and spoke.

“But I will still be able to see Setsu-kun even after he leaves, won’t I?”

“Eh?”

His question made Shinjou tremble.

He continued speaking to make sure she understood what he meant.

“If you and Setsu-kun both live in the place UCAT prepared for you, I could always visit him after training.”

“Y-you shouldn’t do that,” insisted Shinjou with her head still lowered.

Sayama tilted his head a bit.

“Why are you-…”

He began to say “the one to decide that”, but he stopped.

…''UCAT looks after these Shinjou siblings in a lot of ways.

Wondering if there was a reason for that, Sayama expressed himself with different words.

“How about we let Setsu-kun decide that?”

“This may not be the best way to put it, but… Can’t you trust what I tell you?”

“That is not what I mean. If it is possible to respect the wishes of Setsu-kun himself, that is what I wish to do.”

“…”

“Or do you believe that I do not trust you?”

“I do.”

“But I do trust you.”

“Th-then if I told you I have an incurable heart disease, you would believe me?”

“I would.”

“R-really!?”

“Yes. And in that case, I would have a doctor teach me an excellent heart massage method so I could perform the massage myself.”

“Why are groping the air while speaking so seriously?” she shouted.

Silence followed until she let out another sigh.

But she must have felt the silence was her own fault because she spoke up while continuing to dry off Baku.

“U-um, Sayama-kun? You are really, really important to me. I mean it.”

“How important?”

“More than Ooshiro-san.”

“That does not seem very important to me…”

“Um, then, to be blunt… You’re second only to the parents I never knew.”

“I see. Thank you.”

“Ah, no. Don’t thank me.” Shinjou kept her head lowered but stopped moving the towel. “But, um, Sayama-kun?”

“What is it?”

She bit her lower lip, her face reddened, and she averted her gaze.

“I don’t want you to trust me too much…”

Sayama did not ask why.

Shinjou remained silent as she waited for him to ask, but then she shook her head.

The way she trembled told Sayama she had made up her mind.

“Remember what I asked Kashima-san just now?” she finally asked. “I asked him if he could not think of himself as a person of 2nd-Gear because he was telling a lie. I was kind of asking that question to myself.” She took a breath. “I am lying to you, Sayama-kun.”

Izumo and Kazami traveled south through Okutama at night.

They rode an old black Kawasaki motorcycle through the wind on their way to Akigawa.

Izumo sat straight as he calmly drove the motorcycle and Kazami clung loosely to his back. Neither of them was wearing a helmet. Their helmets were shaking where they hung next to each other on the side. They wore something else instead.

“Defensive philosopher’s stones.”

Kazami suddenly looked down at the anklet currently worn on her left arm. It had a small blue stone attached.

“These philosopher’s stones are stronger than a helmet, but are you sure this isn’t mixing our private lives with work?”

“Director Tsukuyomi gave them out to everyone, so I don’t see anything wrong with it. And we do get in fights sometimes.”

“These were meant to keep us quiet about what happened, but I wonder what Sayama will do. He isn’t the type to forgive someone just because they gave him something.”

“No, he isn’t,” agreed Izumo. “Left turn coming up.”

It was a tight corner. Kazami looked past Izumo’s large back and toward the darkness of the night beyond.

''Oh, this is the corner we always take like this,'' she thought as her short hair blew to the right and she leaned her body.

She leaned against Izumo’s back while listening to a mountain stream to the left.

“Will you take me home?”

“Sure. I think your dad really likes me.”

“My mom was amazed when the two of you ate and drank like crazy two weeks ago.”

“He challenged me, so I couldn’t just back down. It was like that two years ago as well.”

“Back then, he was trying to eliminate the man he thought was kidnapping his daughter. He did pretty well for an event planner.”

“Yeah, it ended up with a double KO thanks to a self-destructive full nelson off the second story balcony. Ha ha ha. Your dad’s the only normal person to ever hurt me.”

“My mom videotaped it and still shows it to us. She added in a Cantonese song.”

“Oh?” he replied while ending the motorcycle’s tilt.

The wind blew over his back and Kazami sighed into it.

“My dad just sees you as a good drinking buddy…”

“Doesn’t he do a lot of drinking in his event planning job?”

“I think he likes you because he can drink without it being related to work.”

“Is that how it works? Come to think of it, we always talk about you while drinking.”

“Wait. You always get really worked up, so what exactly do you say? Be honest.”

“Needless to say, we praise you as a wonderful person who-…ow ow ow! N-not the spine!”

“Shut up. I’ve heard a bit of what you say. You talk about how long I bathed with my parents and things like that.”

“Yeah, it was until the second year of middle school, right? Your dad said he’s been lonely without you in there with him, so how about I take a photo for him? There shouldn’t be anyone in Sunflower’s women’s bath this late, so-… Agh! Stop, stop! Are you trying to turn this into a test of the philosopher’s stones, Chisato!?”

With a sigh, Kazami loosened the arms strangling him.

She sat up a bit to look over his shoulder.

Ahead, she saw the night sky and the street lights which cut it off here and there.

The darkness of the forest filled their surroundings and the sounds of a stream could be heard down below.

Kazami lowered the hands around Izumo’s neck and brought them to his chest.

“What do you think would have happened if we had actually fought in the cafeteria?” she asked.

“We’d have lost.”

“You think so too?”

“But you saw Sayama, right? He didn’t do anything himself and he didn’t stop us. If the leader of the Leviathan Road does that, it means he’s telling us to fight,” said Izumo. “I think I know what he’s thinking. He thinks we need some kind of discord if we’re going to gain anything when everyone is already satisfied.”

“And Shinjou didn’t stop him despite being his usual stopper. I hope she’s okay. She said she would go with Sayama afterward, but I think she’s worrying about something.”

“Shinjou, hm? To be honest, there’s something about her I just don’t get.”

“I don’t like talking behind people’s backs, but I know what you mean. Both Sadame and Setsu seem somehow distanced from us. Maybe it’s just because they always stick with Sayama.”

“There has to be a reason for it and Sayama has to be the one approaching that reason.”

“You sure sound certain.”

“That’s because I am,” said Izumo with a nod. “Two years ago when you took me in, I only wanted to talk with you. I think there is only ever one person who will truly understand you.”

“Eh?” said Kazami, but she had no real reply for what he had said.

She was troubled.

She wanted to say something about understanding him, but she could not come up with anything to say.

Instead, she loosely embraced his chest from behind.

She heard him speak in response.

“Anyway, let’s get home. Tomorrow is when it truly begins. After all, we didn’t get Yamata’s question or answer from Kashima today,” he said. “We’ll be turning right to cross the mountain now.”

The motorcycle tilted and the wind changed. The wind which had gathered at the bottom of the mountain became a wind falling down from the sky.

Kazami frowned at a sudden scent in the wind.

“We learned nothing and now it’s going to rain.”

Sayama replied to Shinjou with a question.

“And what is this lie?”

“Do I have to tell you?”

Her expression and tone were both tinged with fear.

She seemed to be telling him not to rush her, so Sayama swallowed his words.

And finally…

…''Are these words better?

“What kind of lie is it?” he asked instead.

Shinjou’s shoulders relaxed and she seemed to think about what to say.

“Um, it’s kind of hard to say, but this lie allows me to be with you.”

And…

“Without this lie, everyone would look at me weird and treat me like a treasure. That’s how it has always worked with people who know about my lie. So…”

“So you think I will do the same?”

Shinjou nodded.

“Setsu is…the same,” she said.

“I see,” he replied with a nod.

…''So they do have a lie.

This was something he had to face.

That realization allowed him to give a sigh of relief.

…''But what kind of lie is it?

As he thought, Sayama suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, right.”

“Eh?”

He had just recently come up with a guess concerning Shinjou’s lie.

''This is an excellent opportunity,'' he thought. ''I may be able to solve everything related to Shinjou’s “lie”.

“Shinjou-kun. There is something I wish to check. May I?”

“Eh? Um, sure.”

She looked doubtful, but she gave him permission.

“Please take off your clothes,” instructed Sayama with a smile.

“What!?”

Sayama nodded.

“I have a certain question which may be related to your lie.”

“Wh-what? …O-okay. Sayama-kun, I need you to calm down.”

“I am always perfectly calm.”

“Yes, yes, of course. But please take a deep breath and let it out. …Okay, now before you suddenly begin doing something, could you tell me what you’re thinking?”

Sayama confidently answered her roundabout question.

“Shinjou Sadame-kun, you are actually Shinjou Setsu-kun dressed as a girl.”

When she heard that, Shinjou gasped for an instant but then frowned, partially closed her eyes, and looked away.

“Ahh… What is wrong with this person?”

“Ha ha ha. No need to be shy. Many people enjoy things considered out of the ordinary.”

“That isn’t what I meant.” With her head lowered, Shinjou placed a hand on Sayama’s shoulder. “My lie isn’t that simple. And listen closely: I, Sadame, am a girl.”

“You are?”

“Can’t you tell just by looking at me?”

“Then I shall take a look.”

“Eh? W-wait!”

Shinjou stood up in order to back away, but her skirt fell from her waist.

“H-huh? Wait, when did that happen!?”

“When you gave me permission earlier, I unfastened the clasp. My grandfather taught me how to do that.”

Sayama picked up the skirt and looked up at Shinjou from the bench.

“You will let me see, won’t you?”

“Wait… Wait just a second. Have we entered the Sayama Zone?”

“What kind of nonsense is that? There is no such thing.”

With a look of understanding, Shinjou turned to the side.

“They do say people never realize where it is they live…”

“Why are you bringing up a philosophical issue?”

“I’m not.”

Shinjou clenched both her fists and held them up, but her shirt suddenly opened and her bra fell down.

“Eh? What? H-how did you do that!?”

“My grandfather’s technique lets one remove all of a woman’s clothing in an instant. I am glad you were wearing a front-hook bra.”

“I-is that how it works?”

“Yes. Removing rear-hook ones from the front is difficult, so I practiced it with my grandfather. One summer night during my first year of middle school, he wore nothing but a pair of boxer briefs and a rear-hook bra. We worked up quite a sweat training. …We even got our legs tangled together and fell to the tatami mats together.”

“An old man wearing women’s underwear was rolling around with a young boy during a summer night…?”

“Heh heh heh. Ryouko rushed in when she heard the noise and she would not speak to me for three days afterward.”

“Enough strange stories about your past. Would you please give me back my skirt?”

“Of course. But will you let me see first?”

Shinjou’s expression froze over.

“S-Sayama-kun? Um, a thought just occurred to me… Are you even listening to what I say?”

“Of course I am. But checking on this comes first.”

“I-I already told you! I’m a girl and that isn’t my lie.”

“But you gave me permission earlier.”

“You didn’t say what you were going to do! I-I trusted you!”

Sayama nodded.

“And I want you to continue trusting me. Before I arrive at your lie, I want to clear the doubt in my mind. I want to face you properly.”

“Face me?” muttered Shinjou as the ends of her eyebrows lowered. “C-can I really trust you?”

“Have I ever betrayed you?”

“If you count unexpected actions, I can think of countless times…”

Shinjou lowered her head, blushed, and gave a troubled look.

“You won’t do anything weird? …No, saying that is meaningless here, isn’t it? Isn’t it? So, um, uh…” She wrapped her arms around her chest and her disheveled shirt. “Y-you can’t take off any more than this.”

“I see. So you will be designating the method I use. Understood.”

Shinjou gave a sigh of relief and stuck Baku in the breast pocket of her shirt.

“But how are you going to check that I’m a girl? I won’t show you any more than this.”

“And that leaves touching as my only option.”

“You mean like touch gently with your fingertips?”

“Yes, like a nice firm squeeze.”

“That’s completely different! …Listen. You can only use your fingers and palm and you can only touch.”

Shinjou’s tone was firm, but her step forward was timid.

“And I wouldn’t let anyone else do this.”

With a troubled look, Shinjou raised her shirt collar and slid her bra to the side.

Her breasts were now bared within the shirt.

A bit of sweat was visible on those round mounds of flesh and they moved up and down with her shoulders as she breathed.

With the same troubled look, she held her chest out toward him a bit.

[[Image:OnC_v03_0297.png|thumb]]

“Y-you can touch now.”

Sayama nodded and reached out his hands.

His right arm gently embraced her back, his cheek and ear pressed against her chest, and his left hand…

“Eh? W-wait! You can’t stick your hand between my legs!”

“You are the one that said I could touch you.”

“But…” said Shinjou as he listened her pulse through her skin.

“Please be quiet. I want to hear your pulse.”

What he heard was a bit faster than what he had heard before, but it was the same.

Just as before, he felt her body heat and a bit of sweat on his cheek. Shinjou’s sweet breaths were the same as well.

However, they also resembled what he had sensed from Shinjou Setsu.

And so he turned his focus to his left hand.

That hand was placed between Shinjou’s legs. His fingers and palm felt a certain sensation, warmth, and texture.

“Ah… Wait…”

Sayama gave no response to her voice and trembling. With the term “investigation stability” in the back of his mind, he moved his right hand which was behind her back. He grabbed her hands which were wandering through the air and placed them on his own back.

“Sayama-kun…”

Shinjou was now embracing him with both arms. That was for the best.

He then turned his attention back to what he felt with his left hand.

…''It is not there?

Something that a boy should have had was not present.

Sayama recalled the events at the public bath about a month before.

The sensation of gently grabbing Shinjou Setsu returned to his hand. But in the present…

…''It is not there? Odd. It should be…

“Nn… W-wait! Not so strong…”

Shinjou’s hips squirmed. She pressed her legs together to keep him from moving his hand any more.

“U-um, Sayama-kun. Is that enough? You can tell, right?”

He heard her question reverberate through the flesh of her chest.

To Sayama’s astonishment, he was forced to accept a certain fact: It was definitely not there.

…''This cannot be. My prediction should not have been wrong.

He expressed that thought with a question.

“Shinjou-kun, something is odd. But…I am not sure what.”

“It’s you!!”

Sayama ignored her and continued to think.

…''In that case, what is her lie?

He had confirmed that Shinjou Sadame was indeed a girl.

“Ah, not so hard…”

But Shinjou Setsu had certainly been a boy when he had checked previously.

“Please, you shouldn’t do this. This isn’t a normal thing to do…”

Had he jumped to an erroneous conclusion?

“P-please take your hand out from between my legs… Are you even listening?”

“Hmm,” groaned Sayama.

“What did that groan mean? Did you find something strange? Is it about my body…or about your sanity?”

“Mh? What is with these rude comments, Shinjou-kun?”

“Oh, you’ve come back to your senses. Th-then can you remove your left hand?”

Sayama looked forward when he heard her hesitant request.

His hand was in between her thighs and her underwear was slid a bit to the side.

Seeing that, he realized a certain fact: His investigation was already over.

“Shinjou-kun, how long do you intend to hold my hand between your thighs? …Gwoh!”

“Wh-whose fault do you think that is!?”

“Heh…heh heh heh. Holding my head and jabbing me with your knee? Not bad.”

Shinjou did not remove the arms wrapped around him, so he tried to remove them himself.

“No. You’re going to do something weird again. Don’t move. If you do, you get the knee again.”

“Calm down, Shinjou-kun.”

“S-say something that will calm me down.”

“Very well,” said Sayama with a nod. “The other night on the way up to my bed on the top bunk, I happened to glance down where Setsu-kun was sleeping. I was so distracted by his ass that I stubbed my little toe on the ladder quite hard.”

“Wah! Don’t say something that will make me even less calm!”

“I see.” Sayama let out a breath, thought for a bit, and stated his thought from earlier. “It seems your lie and my suspicion were two different things.”

Surprise filled Shinjou’s face.

“That’s a surprisingly perceptive thing for you to say.”

“I think there has been a misunderstanding at a fundamental level.”

He touched her arms again and managed to remove them.

He stood up and realized she had been hanging her head while looking at him.

When he saw her trembling shoulders and slender body, he did not hesitate to embrace her.

“Ah…”

“Sorry, but this has eliminated my misunderstanding.”

“I get the feeling a second or third misunderstanding will suddenly appear later…”

“I assure you that will not happen. …So will you tell me your lie eventually?”

Shinjou shrank back a bit and finally shook her head.

“I don’t want to tell you… Once you learn the truth, I think you will leave me.”

“But if you do not tell me, you can never know if I will or not.”

“But if I tell you, you’ll definitely learn the truth. That scares me.”

“I see.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything… The Leviathan Road has already begun and we’ve started to move, so I don’t want to cause any discord between us.”

Sayama said nothing in response because he did not know what her lie was.

But she quickly raised her head.

She removed his arms and took a step back.

“C-can we talk about something else?”

Sayama nodded and tried to come up with something enjoyable to discuss.

When he found something he thought would work, he looked in her black eyes.

“The school I attend is having a small festival called the All Holiday Festival.”

“Yes… S-Setsu told me about it. Isn’t it a bizarre festival where a human sacrifice is set on fire? Are you sure that’s okay?”

“I am disappointed to see that Setsu-kun did not get my deadpan joke. Anyway, the festival begins the day after tomorrow. How about you come?”

“Eh? Really?”

“Really. Our academy city allows outsiders inside. As Setsu-kun’s sister, it is your right to visit.”

Shinjou’s face brightened. But then…

“How about you, Setsu-kun, and I enjoy the festival together? I can show the two of you around.”

Her expression suddenly grew troubled.

“U-um. If possible, I would prefer if it was just the two of-…” She trailed off, shook her head, and lowered her shoulders. “Sorry. I was about to lie again.”

“Lie? Are you saying you do not want to see the festival with me?”

“No, that I want to do. But I was going to lie in order to accomplish that.” The ends of her eyebrows lowered and she smiled. “Thanks, but give me some time to think about it. And…let me promise you one thing.”

“What do you wish to promise?”

“As much as possible, I will avoid telling any unnecessary lies.”

''Lies,'' thought Sayama. ''Will she ever tell me what she means by that?

Immediately afterward, the side door suddenly opened.

“I was sent to check on you because you’ve been taking an awfully long time to change a shirt,” said Diana as she entered the locker room.

She saw Sayama standing in front of Shinjou who was half-naked.

Diana’s smiling cheeks quickly grew tinged with red.

“O-oh, my, my, my!”

She brought her right hand to her cheek.

And with her left hand, she swiftly pressed the external intercom button on the wall.

The button activated an emergency building-wide broadcast.

“Oh, my! Would you look what this young boy and young girl are doing!”

An instant of silence followed.

Sayama and Shinjou exchanged a glance and Sayama nodded. He was smiling.

“This makes it official, Shin-…gwoh!”

“I don’t want anything made official like this!”

Shinjou’s knee sent Sayama collapsing to the floor.

Meanwhile, a message played over the intercom.

“Um, we just received the signal to shut down the training room. According to the emergency broadcast, our guests have stepped out of line. Um, an official is on the way to check on the situation now. Um, everyone stay as you are and please wait a moment.”

Shinjou began frantically dressing herself.

On the west side of Akigawa, the lights of a certain residence filled the night.

It was the Tamiya residence. The sliding doors on the outside shined white with the light inside.

The large yard contained a few slender black dogs but no people.

The dogs protected the house along with the surveillance cameras and sensors set up in the yard.

The dogs guarding the front of the house were currently approaching a single target.

The wooden gate was being fiercely pounded on and a woman’s voice shouted out.

“Hey! Kouji! How can you lock your sister out!?”

The voice coming from the other side of the gate belonged to Tamiya Ryouko, the current master of the residence. Unsure what to do, the dogs wandered around for a bit while looking toward the gate.

The dogs then heard a quiet repeating noise from beyond the gate.

A moment later, a quick electronic melody played in the house.

After a burst of static beyond the gate, Kouji’s voice came over the intercom.

“Stop ringing the doorbell so much. Old man Nguyen recalled his trauma from Vietnam and has started convulsing. He doesn’t have an insurance card, so he’s in trouble if this keeps up.”

“Sorry, Kouji. I got too focused on myself.”

A sigh came over the intercom.

“But, Kouji,” replied Ryouko. “You don’t get to shut me out just because mom and dad took a swimming float and went to stay at a random hot spring.”

“I will do this no matter what mom and dad say. Someone who spills their cup of water three times during a meal needs to be disciplined.”

“Th-that wasn’t my fault. It was my elbow’s fault.”

“You need to think about three things right now. First, do not make excuses. Second, think about what you did. Third, become a decent human being. That last one may be a lost cause, but how about you at least try?”

“Eh? What? I lost track with all those numbers. Can you explain it so I can understand?”

The intercom remained silent for a while.

“Um… Would the young master be able to explain it?” asked Ryouko after some thought.

“He would just laugh it off. He’s always been overly kind to you.”

“That’s the normal reaction. You’re supposed to treat girls with care.”

“Girls? Sorry, but how old are you?”

“Why are you playing dumb? I’m eighteen. Try remembering that next time.”

“I guess that means I’m fourteen. Ha ha ha. I have to go to middle school tomorrow.”

“K-Kouji just went crazy.”

“Sorry, but I just felt an urge to physically disconnect this intercom. May I?”

“Sure. But why?”

“May I shout ‘because of the kind of person my sister is’?”

“C’mon, that doesn’t sound like something you would say. …Ah, he really disconnected it. Kouji!!”

The dogs exchanged a glance as the knocking on the gate began again.

“Pes!”

The leader of the pack of dogs raised his ears.

“Pes! Come here a second!”

Wondering what was going on, Pes walked forward. The surrounding dogs nervously opened a path. Pes gave a quiet bark and wagged his tail when he arrived at the gate.

“Open the gate,” whispered Ryouko.

Pes stopped moving.

“You can do it, right? Right?”

Pes shook his head back and forth. When Pes looked back, the group of black dogs scattered. For some reason, their tails and ears could be seen poking out from behind nearby bushes and stones.

“C’mon, hurry.”

Ryouko let out a few odd dog-like whines and scratched her fingernails against the bottom of the gate.

Pes held his tail between his legs and began to quietly back away.

At the same time, two sounds came from the distance.

The first was the high-pitched noise of a motorcycle. The second was a man singing along with the acceleration of the engine. The out-of-tune song carried into the distance.

“A burrrrning kiiiiiick into a maaaaan’s crotch!!”

Ryouko stopped knocking on the gate and spoke a question.

“Huh? Yukihito-kun?”

Ryouko turned toward the modified motorcycle that stopped in front of the gate.

The light in front of the gate illuminated a motorcycle with three headlights attached to chopper handlebars.

Leaning against the back of the seat was Atsuta Yukihito.

“Oh, Ryouko. I thought you were a drunk.”

“Long time no see, Yukihito-kun.”

Atsuta wore a white summer coat and he approached by rolling the idling motorcycle forward with his feet.

He wore only sunglasses on his head as he turned toward Ryouko.

“It has been a while. How are you doing?”

“So-so. Did you just happen by?”

“That’s right. What are you doing?”

“I was locked out.”

As if she had just remembered, Ryouko began knocking on the door behind her. Atsuta kept his motorcycle idling.

“I can’t say your brother was right for kicking out a woman who’s almost thirty, but what are you doing? Why not kick the gate down?”

“I can’t. This is a game to see who folds first and the rules forbid destroying anything. But if I cause a commotion out here, Kouji always folds and opens the gate. I’ve never lost.” Ryouko looked over her shoulder at Atsuta. “Why were you passing by tonight?”

“Just getting my mind off something unpleasant.”

“Did you lose at pachinko? You would always skip class and play in your uniform. But if you won any food, give some to me. Those cookies you always won were good.”

“I don’t have anything like that. I grew out of pachinko.”

“Th-that isn’t the Yukihito-kun I know!! What good are you if you won’t give me any cookies!?”

“Don’t base people’s value on whether they give you food!”

“Nnn,” groaned Ryouko. “Well, bring some next time. So what was the unpleasant thing?”

“Something at work. I might have to go a bit nuts.”

“You have a job?”

“What kind of person am I in that brain of yours?”

“Hm? Exactly the kind of person you look like. You still have a lot to learn about yourself. I’m living the life that perfectly matches what I look like.” She then tilted her head. “So what’s your job?”

Atsuta gave a bitter smile.

“You could say I handle dangerous things. It’s a truly worthless job.”

“Are you doing bad things?”

Atsuta looked straight at Ryouko.

Her eyebrows were slightly lowered and her head was tilted.

“What a pain,” he sighed. “Rest easy, you idiot. I’m not like I was back in school. I’m on the side of justice now.”

“Eh? You’re on the side of justice? …Did some organization brainwash you?”

“At least say I awoke to it, idiot. Anyway, I’m just a bit stressed because a coworker couldn’t stop talking about nonsense.”

“Hm. Sounds tough. …But if you’re on the side of justice, the world must be coming to an end.”

“That’s for sure. Some of it isn’t too bad, but I’m enjoying myself on the borderline between life and death.”

“Sounds like our young master.”

“Your young master?”

“Yes,” said Ryouko. “Have I never mentioned him? He’s the boy of the Sayama family that helped us out.”

“I don’t think you mentioned it.”

“It would have been a long time ago, so maybe you just don’t remember. He’s the son of Sayama Asagi-san, the only man I’ve ever fallen for. He was just a child not long ago, but lately he’s suddenly grown up a lot. …And it seems he has a part-time job handling dangerous things.”

She took a breath.

“His name is Sayama Mikoto. Do you know him?”

“…”

Atsuta’s expression changed for an instant when he heard that name. Tension filled his carefree face.

But she continued speaking and he listened silently. She told him the Sayama boy was living at school now but he would still come by to play. She also said he had made a friend named Shinjou.

“He really is just like Asagi-san.”

Ryouko was smiling and her cheeks were tinged with red.

And then she suddenly realized something.

“Oh, sorry. I shouldn’t talk so much about someone you don’t know.”

“Don’t worry about it. …But this could be dangerous.”

“What could?”

“If that Sayama Mikoto is working a job like mine, he’s in danger. After all, you can die at a moment’s notice. I can’t recommend it.”

“I see. But if you’re working the same kind of job, you might meet him somewhere. And if he’s trying to do something dangerous, stop him, okay?”

“Sure,” said Atsuta. He looked away from her as if trying to put up with something. “Anyway, I’ve gotta go. I’m glad we could have a nice talk.”

“Every talk with me is nice.”

“That’s for sure.” He smiled bitterly. “It’s going to rain soon, so make sure you get inside. You don’t want to catch a cold.”

Ryouko held her hand into the air and a small drop fell on the palm.

“And there it is. Well… See you later, Ryouko.”

“Bye,” she said with a nod.

He twisted the accelerator and the motorcycle moved forward.

The four tail lights blinked and the sound of the exhaust and of his singing disappeared into the night.

Left all alone, Ryouko looked up into the sky and then began knocking on the gate again.

“Pes? Pes! Did you run away!? I’ll neuter you!!”

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 9|Chapter 9]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 11|Chapter 11]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 9

2026-08-05T03:03:57Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 9: Blocked Perception==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0235.png|thumb]]
''It is your heart that orders you to notice

''And so you stand up

''And so what should you do?

UCAT’s first basement contained a large cafeteria near the aboveground equipment exit.

The cafeteria was one hundred meters square and almost full. The eight-person tables were filled with people and the walls were lined with vending machines and air conditioners disguised as decorative plants.

The clocks attached to the ceiling at a set interval all read 6:15 PM. Night was falling.

Surrounded by a mixture of voices and footsteps, Sayama and the others sat at a table almost in the very center of the room.

“S-sorry. Changing took more time than I thought,” said Shinjou in her casual clothes.

She wore a white shirt and an orange skirt and she carried a bowl containing the cafeteria’s doria meal.

The seat next to Sayama was open, so she sat there and once more looked across the people around the table.

In addition to herself, Izumo and Kazami sat together and Sayama had Baku on his shoulder. Sibyl was the same as ever. They all had a meal in front of them and held the document copies Kazami and the others had brought.

Sayama passed her a copy and she looked over it.

“The giant humanoid machine and the Cowling Sword that sealed Yamata?”

“Both of them used 2nd-Gear technology. Also…”

“Also?”

“The project to construct Susaou began on March 12, 1945.”

Sayama seemed to contemplate the date he had spoken.

“Did something occur to you, Sayama-kun?”

“No, something caught my attention is all. I will mention it if I receive some kind of confirmation.”

Shinjou nodded and began flipping through the pages to store the knowledge in her head.

She suddenly realized Sayama was watching her from the side.

“What is it? Is there something on my face?”

“Yes. Eyes, a nose, a mouth, and hair.”

“That is an old joke, but that last part was a bit new. …Anyway, what is it?”

Sayama fell silent as he thought for a moment.

Surprisingly, he seemed to have difficulty saying something.

“It is nothing. I realized something while speaking with the old man earlier, but I have yet to decide what to do about it.”

“I see,” said Shinjou without pursuing the matter.

She did feel her pulse quicken a bit, though.

There was something she was thinking about as well.

It was something she had discussed with Ooshiro the night before.

…''My lie.

She was currently bothered by that word.

…''Is that what Sayama-kun started to say?

She had never mentioned the lie to him, but he was clever.

What would she do if he suddenly asked her about the truth she was hiding?

“…”

As she thought, Shinjou quickly shook her head.

This was no time to be thinking about herself.

“Anyway,” began Shinjou as she turned back to the document.

She had always been the type to read. Even on documents, writing had a way of stealing her attention.

A lot of the information was new to her.

She was surprised to see someone who was likely Ooshiro’s father listed as Susaou’s captain.

The great size of Susaou also surprised her.

Drawn in by those surprises, she read through the entire document without worrying about her food growing cold.

As she did, Sayama gave them the details of his meeting with Director Tsukuyomi of the development department.

After around fifteen minutes, she had finished reading it all.

She took a breath, arranged the papers into a proper stack, and checked everyone else’s progress.

Sibyl was rereading it through from the beginning again and again to memorize it, Kazami was flipping back and forth between pages, and Izumo…

“Wh-why is he sleeping with his eyes open, Kazami-san?”

“He thinks it’s funny. But look, Kaku, your beer is getting warm. Look.”

Even when she tapped his cheek, Izumo did not react.

He was fast asleep, so Kazami gave an exhausted sigh.

“Hey, Kaku. Wake up. C’mon, c’mon. Wake up. C’mon… Wake up!”

“Gah! …Ah, wh-what? Did something just explode next to my face?”

“What are you talking about? Here’s your beer.”

“O-oh. Thanks, Chisato. But I’m still a bit confused…”

''Wow,'' thought Shinjou as she finished arranging her papers.

“So UCAT has a blank period in their data,” muttered Sayama as he arranged his own papers next to her. “Shinjou-kun, could you pass me the Worcestershire sauce?”

“Oh, sure. You put Worcestershire sauce on tempura?”

“The Tamiya family put soy sauce on everything, so I have been in a bit of a reactionary period ever since I moved to the dorm.”

“I see,” said Shinjou with a nod.

She had a white doria with soup and salad. Across from her, Sibyl had bread and white stew. Next to Sibyl, Kazami and Izumo both had the yakiniku meal with a beer for Izumo.

Izumo must have noticed her gaze, because he held up the frothy glass.

“Just to be clear, I’m over twenty.”

Kazami began eating her meat without saying anything and Sibyl gave a small nod.

“How did the two of you meet?” asked Shinjou out of curiosity.

“You should not ask that, Shinjou-kun. I am sure the two of them have a reason for their violence.”

“I appreciate your consideration, Sayama, but what are you trying to say?”

As Kazami smiled and cracked her knuckles, Sayama quickly looked away.

“But why do you ask, Shinjou?”

“Well, I’m a bit curious how you ended up in this relationship,” explained Shinjou while thinking about the word “lie” and about Sayama.

Izumo responded by putting down his empty glass and sighing.

“I suppose we can tell you. Right, Chisato?”

“Hmm. Well, if you’re okay with it.”

“Th-then you’ll tell me?”

“Yeah. I’ll never forget that day. It was…um…a snowy day…in summer.”

“Kazami, ignore that idiot who forgot and tell us,” prompted Sayama.

“Okay then…”

As she thought, Sayama gave Baku some of his food.

Kazami gave a small snort and opened her mouth.

“To put it simply, Kaku is the child of a 10th-Gear princess and the president of the Izumo company. The peaceful faction of 10th-Gear was given a reservation in the Kinki region. On his way back there, he was attacked by a group from 6th-Gear who had a grudge against the Izumo family.”

“I was injured in the attack and Chisato took me in. She was amazing back then.”

“Oh, c’mon, Kaku. I wasn’t that amazing.”

“You were. You took me to the girls’ dorm because I didn’t have anywhere to stay.”

“Eh? Y-you brought him to your room after just meeting him?”

“No, she threw me in a wax storage room and forgot about me for half a day.”

“Wait. Stop that, Kaku!”

“It was the middle of summer, so I almost went insane due to the pain of my injuries, the dehydration, and the closed space filled with vaporized wax. W-wait, Chisato. I’m not lying. It isn’t right to raise your fist now. You’re trying to suppress the truth!”

Kazami clicked her tongue and Shinjou’s mouth hung open.

“Kazami-san…”

“How about we talk about what happened after that?” said Kazami with a smile.

Shinjou quickly nodded.

A glance around the room showed some of the people in the large cafeteria listening in to Izumo and Kazami’s story.

Kazami looked around and sat up in her seat a bit.

“It happened two years ago. I was pretty much in the same situation as you, Sayama. Kaku was taken in by UCAT and I tried to bring him something he left behind, but I was caught in a battle with 6th-Gear.”

“Boldman was the leader of the 6th-Gear group and they were trying to steal G-Sp and the prototype X-Wi that UCAT was transporting.”

“When I fell into the concept space, they were both right in front of me. The truck had rolled on its side.”

“Afterward, 6th-Gear’s Concept Core was transferred to UCAT and contained within V-Sw because it was on hand. A lot happened after that, but the Leviathan Road was finished for both 6th and 10th back then.”

Shinjou watched the gazes of the three people in front of her and the other UCAT workers surrounding them.

The looks on their faces were perfectly serious and they would nod when she met their gaze.

Next to her, Sayama grabbed some of his food and spoke.

“You look more mature discussing this than you do drinking beer.”

“Yeah. You don’t usually look that way. I have to rethink my opinion of you. I should probably start calling you Izumo-san,” added Shinjou.

“Kaku, they’re casually denying your entire personality.”

“Are they? I don’t really get the details, but feel free to look up to me, Shinjou.”

Unsure how to respond, Shinjou turned to Sayama.

“Just speak the words that fill your heart,” he told her.

“I-I can’t do that. Kazami-san would do something horrible to me.”

“Shinjou-sama?” replied Sibyl with a perfectly serious expression. “If I may interrupt, Chisato-sama will make sure you survive.”

“I am curious what you were trying to say there,” commented Sayama. “Anyway… Kazami, do you ever feel as though you have made a horrible mistake?”

“Yes, but only when I’m with Kaku… Also, I will be returning to my parent’s home tonight, so I can go back to a normal life for a short time.”

“Oh?” said Sayama.

“Really?” said Shinjou.

“I usually go back on Sundays,” she replied. “But it looks like we’re going to be busy from now on. After going back today, I can return tomorrow and stay in the dorm for the entire weekend. We’re going to the Showa Memorial Park tomorrow, right?”

“I intend to, yes. I have a lot to think about regarding the preliminary negotiations.”

“Hm. But is there really a five hundred meter humanoid machine in that park? I ran through it a lot for club marathons in middle school.”

Kazami’s answer did not come from Sayama or the others.

The gently moving air carried in a male voice from behind Sayama.

“It’s there,” began the voice. “If you go there tomorrow, you will see the truth of Tokyo.”

“Eh?” said Shinjou as she turned around.

She turned to the left.

Kazami and the others turned defensively toward the speaker and Izumo could be heard gulping down another beer.

At some point, a man had appeared on the left side of the table.

He was a young man with glasses who wore a lab coat over a work uniform.

He held a laptop under his right arm and a bento box under his left arm.

He turned agreeable black eyes toward them.

“I am Kashima Akio of 2nd-Gear. I am the representative you must negotiate with for the release of 2nd-Gear’s concepts.”

All of them gulped.

That was the name of the military god Tsukuyomi had told Sayama.

And the document they had just read gave Kashima as the surname of the second in command for the giant humanoid machine.

…''It can’t be…

But it most likely was. She could sense Sayama growing tense to her right.

…''The next Leviathan Road has already begun.

“Now then,” said the man named Kashima with a nod. “How shall we carry out this Leviathan Road thing?”

His question was so carefree he seemed to be talking about a game.

Sayama was the one to answer him.

He began with a question.

“You mention the Leviathan Road, but do you have your Concept Core ready?”

“Yes, we know exactly where it is. 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core transformed into the flame dragon Yamata which is currently sealed within the divine sword Totsuka. And Totsuka is stabbed into Susaou’s bridge. But I think you already knew that,” he said while glancing at their documents. “It all comes down to how our negotiations go and whether Yamata will accept you or not.” He took a breath. “That is the biggest issue.”

The nighttime city contained a forest.

The forest spread out as far as the eye could see.

However, a large parking lot bordered a train station to the south of the forest.

The sign in front of the parking lot contained the three words “Showa Memorial Park”.

It was a state-run nature park.

The large clock standing in the parking lot indicated the time was 7:30 PM.

The park had already closed.

The darkness of the night contained only the trees of the forest and a narrow asphalt road.

In the distance of that vast space, a large pool and a rest area could be seen sinking into the darkness.

The sounds of a train suddenly came from the south.

A train was passing through the JR Nishi-Tachikawa Station.

The sound gently filled the artificial forest.

No one should have heard that sound, but someone was listening to it now.

Inside the closed park, two girls stood on the path used during the day as a cycling course.

One was a tall girl. In the darkness, she could be seen standing tall with her black hair tied behind her head and wearing a black shirt and white vest.

She simply stood in the darkness.

Another girl walked quickly up behind her.

This girl was short. She had long black hair and she wore a white blouse and black vest.

Her black eyes looked up at the girl standing before her.

“You walk too fast, Mikoku. I can’t keep up.”

“This is why I told you not to come, Shino. We still have a long way to go.”

Shino sighed at what the tall girl, Mikoku, said.

“But I thought we could go hiking for the first time since visiting 1st-Gear’s hideout,” said Shino disappointedly.

“I do not think hiking means what you think it means.”

“Then what does it mean?”

“Running around the countryside on a sunny Sunday while singing songs and eating the homemade lunch you brought with you. Very sophisticated, isn’t it? You can spend a lazy weekend day traversing the mountains singing war songs with nothing but salted rice balls to eat.”

“I think your definition is wrong too. By any chance, do you not actually know what it means either?”

“D-do not be ridiculous. It is called ‘high-king’ because you act like the king of the heights.”

“Really?”

“Do not give me that doubting look.”

“I wasn’t giving you a-… Ow ow! Don’t pull on my cheeks!”

Mikoku let go of Shino’s cheeks and sighed.

“At any rate, tonight’s walk is about sentiment. This time, we will not be contacting 2nd-Gear.”

“Is 2nd-Gear really that close to UCAT?”

“Yes. According to Hajji, contacting them holds too great a risk of having our information passed on to UCAT.” Mikoku turned around in the direction they were headed. “He also said the people of 2nd-Gear have already become residents of Low-Gear, so they will not join us even if we contact them.”

“That’s too bad. It was Japanese UCAT’s development department that created Team Leviathan’s V-Sw and modified G-Sp into G-Sp2.”

“That is not all. Totsuka, the Cowling Sword here that sealed Yamata, is also from 2nd-Gear.”

Mikoku began walking and heard footsteps following her after a few steps.

“B-but why don’t we steal Totsuka? If it’s in the concept space here, can’t we just sneak in and take it? You could do it, right?”

“This place is under UCAT’s control. If I entered the concept space, they might detect the change in string vibration. It would be difficult for me to steal it on my own,” explained Mikoku. “Also, the method of releasing Yamata and the method of sealing it are apparently only known by a small number of people in 2nd-Gear. Even if we had Totsuka, we could not do anything with it.”

“What is this method of releasing and sealing?”

“I hear it is a word. However, it requires someone with connections to 2nd-Gear’s emperor and someone who can give the proper response. But the Army has no influential 2nd-Gear members or anyone who knows that response. …There is nothing we can do.”

“I see,” said a disappointed voice behind her.

Mikoku smiled bitterly and looked into the sky as she walked.

Stars were visible beyond the tree branches.

“At any rate, we can take it easy tonight. This is just a walk.”

“Okay. But what is up ahead?”

“Something sentimental: Susaou and Totsuka, the pinnacle of 2nd-Gear technology.”

The man named Kashima brought a chair to the corridor-side edge of the table and sat down. From Sayama’s point of view, he sat on the opposite side of Shinjou.

He opened his bento box which contained a homemade Western-style meal.

When Sayama saw the apples peeled to look like rabbits, he concluded this was made by a member of his family.

As he ate, Kashima supplemented what they had learned in their investigation.

He gave a general outline, swallowed a croquette, and finished speaking.

“And as you said, Yamata is still sealed in Totsuka within that concept space.”

“It was daring of them to seal it inside Tokyo.”

“I heard your grandfather constructed the theory behind that seal,” said Kashima.

That sudden revelation about his grandfather’s past brought a hand to the left side of Sayama’s chest.

And as if responding to his action, his chest began to hurt.

“Kh…”

His groan caused Kashima’s eyebrows to move.

He looked toward Sayama and stopped moving his plastic chopsticks.

“What’s the matter? Are you ill?” he asked frantically.

Shinjou’s shoulders trembled and she turned toward Sayama. With the ends of her eyebrows lowered she smiled bitterly while feeling his pain.

He leaned his weight on her outstretched hand and felt some relief.

He could not breathe properly, so he mouthed the words.

Shinjou read his lips and turned toward Kashima.

“He says not to worry about it.”

Sayama nodded, felt better, and took a deep breath.

And he straightened up.

Seeing that, Kazami, Izumo, and Sibyl all straightened a bit too.

The fact that all of them had been worried about him made him feel even better.

“When I hear about my relatives’ past, I get chest pains,” he explained to Kashima.

“That must be tough. …Your relatives’ past, hm?”

Kashima’s eyes narrowed as he gave a sigh of relief.

…''Does he have some thoughts about his relatives or his own past?

And Sayama had a further thought.

…''I suppose everyone has some kind of issue.

“Now, can you tell us what you meant? Earlier, you said 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core, aka Yamata, is located in the sword stabbed into the bridge in the head of Susaou. And you said the remaining issues are how we will negotiate and if Yamata will accept us.”

But…

“What do you mean by ‘accept us’?”

Kashima brushed up his hair with a troubled expression.

“I’ll be blunt. 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core became Yamata when it lost control in its synchronization with the control system. So if you want to obtain the Concept Core…”

“Yes?”

“You need to obtain Yamata’s permission. You must answer Yamata’s question and gain its understanding.”

“You mean I must negotiate with Yamata?”

“No. You need an intermediary because Yamata does not understand human language. I will ask in your place. As a question, I will speak the word that can control Yamata.”

“As a question?” asked Kazami.

“Yamata seeks the answer to a certain question,” said Kashima as he turned toward her. “Someone once answered that question, but he was burned to death when Yamata was sealed. In other words, the seal was achieved, but the person who knew the answer died.”

“So what is wanted from me is to release Yamata, answer Yamata’s question to earn its allegiance, and to not die.”

Kashima nodded and Sayama glanced at Baku on his own shoulder.

“I heard Yamata’s question in an image of the past.”

“What kind of question was it?”

Sayama recalled what he had seen in that dream.

He had heard that ocean of flames beyond the closing gate.

“It was a roar. It sounded like…like the dragon was trying to convey some meaning.”

“Did you see the answer?”

“No. As soon as the dragon asked, the ‘gate’ in the dream closed.”

“That’s good,” said Kashima with a slight smile. “Yamata’s question and answer were only known to 2nd-Gear’s emperor and chief engineer. …The Kashima family line which created the Cowling Sword Totsuka fell under the latter category. That is why I know.”

He grabbed another croquette from his bento and swallowed it.

“So what will you do? If you are going to carry out the Leviathan Road with 2nd-Gear, what do you plan to give us in exchange for going along with it?”

Everyone at the table froze in place.

Silence fell.

''This is where the real issue lies,'' thought Sayama amid the silence.

Baku must have sensed the change in the atmosphere because he turned toward Shinjou, Kazami, and the others and tilted his head.

Kashima placed his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands.

“Listen. 2nd-Gear has already become naturalized. We can live in this world without issue. We’re perfectly satisfied with the current situation and we don’t want to make any waves. In that case, I could ignore your grandfather’s will, not bother with the Leviathan Road, and-…”

“It would be easier for you if you unconditionally told me Yamata’s question and answer, wouldn’t it?”

After a moment, Kashima finally nodded to Sayama’s leading words.

“Yes. That would be easier, wouldn’t it?”

Mikoku and Shino spoke as they walked through the forest.

“Are we still not at Susaou?”

“Just a bit further. Is this your first time here, Shino?”

“You only just realized?”

Shino sighed and gathered her collar against the growing chill in the air.

“This is my first time coming here. I’ve seen this place from the train plenty of times, though.”

“I see. Well, it is only my second time. Tatsumi dragged me here one night. At the end of March, the park is open until nine for evening flower viewing.”

“Hey, I didn’t know about that. No fair.”

“Do not say that. It happened around seven years ago. You were still young, so I think you were already asleep. Hajji said Tatsumi and I should see another side of this world.”

That last sentence caused the ends of Shino’s eyebrows to droop a bit.

“Tatsumi-san had some lingering attachment for Low-Gear, didn’t she?”

“It was a bit different for her.”

“I suppose so,” said Shino as she raised her head. “But why are we here today?”

“Didn’t I say it was a sentimental walk?”

“Sentimental for what?”

Mikoku wrinkled her brow a bit and looked annoyed. “Susaou is in the concept space here, but we cannot enter that space for fear of being detected.”

“Yes?”

“But I think it is important to think on it even if we cannot actually see it.” She took a breath. “A battle occurred here. And what happened after that? We must not speak of the past without giving thought to that.”

Shino walked up alongside Mikoku and her expression relaxed.

“That’s right.”

“If you agree, then listen carefully, Shino. With your power, you should clearly understand what happened to this world.”

“Yes,” said Shino as she walked along and looked among the trees in the darkness.

“…”

After a short silence, she smiled bitterly.

“What is it, Shino?”

“Everyone is asleep: the trees, the flowers, the birds, and the beasts.”

“You can tell? Maybe we should have come during the day.”

“No. I would rather come during the morning than during the brightness of the day. Everyone would be more energetic then.”

“I see.” Mikoku quietly looked around. “I wonder if they are aware their homes are under human control.” She turned her calm gaze toward the sky. “If not, then it is evidence of Low-Gear’s excellent control.”

“Isn’t being under someone’s control a bad thing?”

“Good control is better than bad freedom. But if it had not been for the fighting, this place would never have been created. It would simply be part of nature.”

Mikoku saw a small light moving through the night sky. It was an airplane taking off from Yokota Air Base.

“Apparently, Showa Memorial Park was originally an airfield belonging to the old Japanese army.”

“You mean Tachikawa Airfield? That was back when propeller planes making loop-the-loops was as advanced as it got.”

“Yes. It was taken by the American military after the war and UCAT created a large concept space here. And in 1946, UCAT succeeded in sealing Yamata in that concept space. In ’69, the stability of Yamata’s seal was confirmed and the American military stopped using it as an airfield.” She took a breath. “In ’75, the higher ups of Japan made a certain decision while celebrating the fiftieth year of Emperor Showa’s reign. For the sake of the surviving Low-Gear and the destroyed Gear, they decided to create a park to preserve the concept space in which Yamata was sealed.”

“And that park…?”

“Yes. In ’77, the American military made great progress in their investigation and development toward returning Tachikawa Airfield. By ’83, the airfield had become a large nature park that even had hills. It had water, it had greenery, it was carefully maintained, and it had become a place for the survivors to enjoy their life without realizing the truth. This is essentially a giant memorial for the dead.”

The forest opened up and a lake could be seen. The lake had an area for boarding boats and sleeping ducks could be seen floating on the water.

Mikoku stopped.

“This is the place,” she said and took a breath. “Susaou is here.”

“What will you do?” asked Kashima as a small sound rang out.

Everyone saw Izumo place his empty glass on the table.

The sounds of muttering voices and moving chairs filled the cafeteria.

However, Sayama and the others at the table created the silence of thought and stillness.

“What will you do?” asked Kashima again.

…''If I asked for Yamata’s question and answer here, would he tell me?

Sayama decided this was a test.

He would be given his answer, but if he did that…

…''This Kashima would give up on me.

He was unlikely to gain the man’s trust that way.

Sayama looked toward Kashima’s work uniform and laptop and he nodded internally.

Engineers took pride in their work.

He could not just ask him.

But he could not simply negotiate for the answer. 2nd-Gear was satisfied with their situation.

…''To think about this, do I have to face 2nd-Gear?

Sayama folded his arms as he thought.

And he suddenly sensed a presence next to him.

“…!”

He turned and saw a man sitting in the empty chair next to him. The man had short hair dyed blond, wore a white combat coat over a thin frame, and had already finished half a bowl of soba.

He did not look toward Sayama. He used a Chinese spoon to carry an egg to his mouth, slowly brought the bowl to his mouth, and slurped at the broth.

That was when Kazami noticed him.

“Wha-…?”

Izumo, Shinjou, and Sibyl all noticed him in turn and quickly faced him.

However, the man loudly slurping the broth did not look at them.

As they stared at him, Kashima spoke up.

“Stop using the Art of Walking, Atsuta.”

The man named Atsuta finished slurping about half of the broth and raised his head from the bowl.

He looked directly at Sayama, bent his black eyes, and turned to Kashima.

“Hey, Kashima.” His breath smelled of tuna. “No matter what anyone else may say, you can’t let this end with nothing more than words.”

Sayama frowned.

He was half-surprised and half-annoyed that there were people like this in 2nd-Gear.

“That is not for you to decide,” he said.

“Ah,” said Kazami an instant later.

''What is it?'' he wondered, but he had his answer almost immediately.

The chopsticks in Atsuta’s hand held a familiar object.

It was Baku.

While still looking at Sayama, Atsuta brought Baku over to the bowl.

“Splash.”

He dropped the creature. He held the chopsticks in his fist and stirred the broth to form a whirlpool.

“What are you gonna do, kid? Are you just gonna let me do this to your pet?”

As Atsuta spoke, Baku spun quickly around in the bowl. But once he arrived at the center of the whirlpool, he raised his front legs and began to rotate like a ballerina.

Sayama tilted his head.

“Is there something wrong with what you are doing?”

Atsuta frowned and looked down at Baku.

“Dammit, he looks like he’s having fun…”

“He always lives in the moment, so everything is enjoyable for him. He is an excitable masochist.”

That was when Shinjou began to tremble.

“Wh-why are you trying to smooth this over, Sayama-kun!? He’s being mean to him, so you have to take him back!”

The panic in her voice told Sayama that she had only just noticed Baku.

He also realized another fact.

…''Is this the same technique Director Tsukuyomi and Diana showed me?

The instant that thought came to him, he took action.

He stuck his right hand into Atsuta’s bowl.

“…”

It was a sudden motion. He had no other choice.

He used a surprise attack before the man could take action outside of his perception.

His hand knocked away the Chinese spoon in the bowl, grabbed Baku, and sent the soba broth splashing into the air.

An instant later, Atsuta showed off his teeth in a smile.

“Interesting.”

At the same moment, the bowl Sayama’s hand was supposedly inside of was lying discarded on the floor.

Baku had supposedly been in his right hand, but the creature was gone.

He looked up and saw Baku held between Atsuta’s chopsticks.

Atsuta smiled and held Baku up in the air.

“Well?”

Sayama looked down at his right hand. The sleeve of his suit was stained brown and had steam rising from it.

“I see. You can remove something from my perception for just an instant.”

“You sure are calm.”

“Of course I am. My calm rivals the heavens in size,” said Sayama with a smile. “And in my calm, I have something to kindly tell you: Look at the bowl you discarded.”

“What?”

With Baku still in his chopsticks, Atsuta looked down.

The bowl lay on the tiled floor with its broth spilled around it. However, one thing was missing.

“You don’t mean…” muttered Atsuta.

The missing object fell from above.

It was the Chinese spoon.

“I did not stick my hand in the bowl so strongly for no reason.”

The Chinese spoon had been knocked away by Sayama’s hand earlier and now it fell and struck the chopsticks Atsuta held.

The slight impact on the chopsticks caused the man to look down.

This created an opening.

In the next instant, Sayama knocked Baku from the chopsticks with his right hand.

He knocked the creature behind him and he took a step toward Atsuta to keep the man from pursuing the creature.

Atsuta glanced toward Baku and smiled bitterly.

“Where are you knocking him? The poor thing’s gonna fall on the table.”

“No need to worry. I have outdone you in every way.”

As Sayama spoke, he heard someone catch Baku behind him.

Sayama turned around and checked who had caught the creature.

“Whoops.”

As he thought, it was Kashima. He held Baku with an exasperated look.

“Sorry about the trouble my friend is causing. Let me clean up for you. I can wash your suit too,” he said with a sigh. He then turned to Atsuta. “Okay, why are you here?”

“I came to see how much it took for these kids to get mad.”

Hearing that, Sayama suddenly turned toward Kashima.

He knew what this kind of provocation meant.

“2nd-Gear is having difficulty deciding how to negotiate with us, isn’t it?”

“Sadly, yes.” Kashima wiped Baku off with the sleeve of his lab coat, placed him on the table, and shrugged. “My name, Kashima, is the name of 2nd-Gear’s strongest military god and the name of a swordsmith family. But I don’t look it, do I? …That’s the situation. Most of 2nd-Gear can no longer tell if they really are from 2nd-Gear.”

Someone raised their voice at that.

“That isn’t true!”

It was Atsuta.

Kashima’s words and Atsuta’s shout caused Shinjou to gulp.

“It may be the case for most of 2nd-Gear, but you’re just hiding your pow-…”

He only made it that far.

Atsuta swallowed his words and gathered his strength as if resisting something.

Shinjou thought about Kashima based on what Atsuta had said.

…''He’s hiding his power? Why?

She could find no answer to that internal question.

But she did know one thing.

…''This Atsuta person sees Kashima-san as more powerful than him.

Atsuta had just shown them his skill.

He had used his Art of Walking to leave their perception.

When Diana had used it in the training room, it had been limited to one person, but that was not the case with Atsuta.

It was possible he could leave the perceptions of every single person in the cafeteria.

Kazami and Izumo were placed on the vanguard of the Leviathan Road, but they had not been able to perceive him. Neither had Sayama.

Someone that powerful viewed Kashima as higher than him.

…''But Kashima-san said he can’t tell if he’s from 2nd-Gear.

Why?

Why was he unable to recognize the power he had?

She asked the question to herself.

And she found an answer.

…''Because of a lie.

The words she had spoken to Ooshiro filled her chest.

And she spoke different words now.

“Kashima-san… Are you telling some kind of lie?”

Her voice filled the cafeteria.

But she did not hesitate.

She looked at both Atsuta and Kashima and asked the question as if she were asking it to herself.

“And because of that lie, you can’t think of yourself as a person of 2nd-Gear?”

Her words received two things in reply.

The first was silence.

“Don’t act like you know what you’re talking about!!”

The second was Atsuta’s shout.

As he took an offensive stance, someone else moved in response.

It was Izumo.

Mikoku looked at the stars reflected in the water’s surface.

The night wind crossed the artificial lake and cut past her. It continued on to the forest behind her and caused the leaves to rustle.

She suddenly heard something other than the sounds of nature.

It was a song. Specifically, the hymn Silent Night.

“Silent night, holy night.”

She turned toward the clear voice which did not destroy the stillness surrounding her and saw Shino with her head lowered and her small mouth opened.

She was really only singing to herself as she distinctly stated the words.

The warm wind of that spring night carried her voice into the sky.

“Promised to spare all mankind.

Promised to spare all mankind.”

The song came to an end and Shino raised her head.

Mikoku saw Shino’s black eyes look at the water surface.

Her slender hand reached toward Mikoku.

She grabbed Mikoku’s left sleeve from behind. The weak tug caused Mikoku to gasp slightly.

“Can you tell?”

“Yes, I can. Susaou is definitely here.”

Mikoku nodded and turned back to the still water. The water was the same color as the night sky above and not a single ripple could be seen.

“This lake was placed in the same location as Susaou to reinforce the meaning of restraining the flame dragon Yamata. I have heard a lake was also placed around Susaou inside the concept space.”

Shino looked around the area.

They were surrounded by the artificial forest and lake.

“I’ve heard 2nd-Gear was a biosphere. This place is the same, isn’t it?”

“This is a location Low-Gear obtained with many sacrifices. It is a peaceful place, but ironically they cannot view something as peaceful without creating it artificially.”

“…”

“We can only go this far, but remember how this peaceful atmosphere made you feel. No matter what may have happened here, this is a nice place to be in the present.”

“Yes, it is,” agreed Shino and Mikoku answered with a nod.

“But it is disappointing that we cannot bring the residents of 2nd-Gear into our Army.”

“Interpersonal relationships are hard. The people of 1st-Gear wouldn’t get along with us either.”

“Well, Hajji likes to show off a little too much. I think part of him enjoys making people wary of him. We need to make sure he restrains himself.”

The grip on her sleeve strengthened.

“I thought you had died.”

It took Mikoku a few seconds to answer.

“Oh, you mean when Fafnir Custom shot me. Why are you bringing that up now?”

“I thought you had died,” she repeated in the exact same tone of voice.

“I will not die, so do not worry, Shino.”

Mikoku raised the hand Shino was grabbing onto.

Her left fingers had the slight firmness of a swordsman and she placed that hand on Shino’s head.

She gave a bitter laugh when Shino did not let go of her sleeve.

“Wh-what’s so funny?”

“It looks like you grabbed my hand and made me rub your head.”

Shino opened her eyes a bit, blushed, and let go.

Mikoku ran her hand through Shino’s hair and stroked her head. Strength left her eyebrows.

“How about you grow up a little?”

“That isn’t something you can do just because you want to.”

Shino brought a hand up from her chest to her neck and reached under her collar.

She had a metal chain around her neck. She grabbed the chain with her fingernail and lifted up the decoration attached to it.

It was a small blue stone. She sighed as she looked at the faint light coming from it.

“I should get mine embedded inside my body like yours.”

“Shino.”

That word stopped Shino from continuing.

“The time will eventually come when you will cast something aside. You will not have it taken. You will cast it aside.”

“…”

“After all, we are carrying too many things for the sake of every world,” said Mikoku. “But the more one casts aside, the happier it shows they were. And they will gain just as much happiness later. So do not try to make everything yours.”

“But that’s so vague…”

“That may be, but it is clear you possess many things. At the very least, you have more than I do.”

Mikoku lightly struck Shino’s head with her palm two or three times. The ends of her eyebrows lowered as she smiled.

“Well, spending all your time thinking about these philosophical questions will only make you dumber. …How about doing an adult job for once?”

“Eh?” said Shino as she raised her head. She was blushing and she intertwined her fingers and rubbed them together. “U-um, when you say an adult job…um… Do you mean something i-indecent?”

“No. You should stop reading the newspapers the people who maintain Alex read.”

“Eh? But I thought all division and department chiefs are perverted people and the victim is always the woman sub-chief below them.”

“That only happens in certain types of novels. By the way, the real prize is the handsome man who works as their subordinate.”

“See, you read them too.”

“Crap,” muttered Mikoku before lightly striking Shino’s head with her palm a few times.

“Ah…ow… S-stop trying to avoid the issue.”

“Listen, Shino. 2nd-Gear will not join us, but there is still something we must do.”

Shino stopped the hand she had been using to guard her head.

“Something we must do? Um, you mean we have a job that requires something…indecent?”

“Stop thinking about perverted old men. Do you really think any guy is interested in a child like you?”

“The newspaper said there are a lot of guys like that lately.”

“Then do you want to try doing a job with them?”

Shino frantically shook her head and Mikoku nodded.

“Good. I am well aware you have romantic shoujo manga hidden under your bed, you know? Also, you should really stop secretly setting up the TV to record yakuza movies just because Hajji and I do not know how. …Hm? What is it? Why are you blushing so much?”

“Th-that’s a violation of privacy! And don’t act like you don’t secretly read magazines like Monthly How to Hit the Vitals. If there’s nothing wrong with that, then why do you hide it?”

“That is my kindness as an older sister. If you saw this month’s article on hitting the sweet spot below the nose, you would faint.”

“Uuh…” groaned Shino as she flinched back just from hearing the title.

Mikoku folded her arms and sighed.

“At any rate, there is something we must do. I will suggest it to Hajji tomorrow.”

Shino looked surprised to hear that.

“Wh-what is it? Is it really that important?”

“Yes,” began Mikoku. “We will take some time off.”

“Now then,” said Izumo as he stood up.

Atsuta turned to look at him.

“Hah. What is it, rich boy? Are you gonna use your influence and money to have a servant knock me away so you can get back to drinking beer with your mistress? You must have it nice. Well? Are you gonna do it?”

“I don’t know,” was all Izumo said before turning to Sayama. “Sayama, take Shinjou and move back. I’ll handle this. Also…”

He held his hand to the side at head height and spoke casually.

“Just for fun, I’m gonna call in my weapon.”

“Oh?”

Atsuta nodded and stuck a hand in his right pocket.

Sayama grabbed Baku from the table, wrapped an arm around Shinjou’s shoulders, and took a step back.

At the same time, Kashima spoke up. His eyebrows were raised slightly.

“Atsuta.”

“Give me a few seconds. This should make for some light recreation.” He bared his teeth in a smile. “6th-Gear’s V-Sw, hm? I always wanted to try my hand against it. Are you gonna use the power of the Concept Core to charge at me and create a crater? Sounds like fun.” He suddenly turned toward someone next to Izumo. “Don’t sneak around, mistress! If you want to call in your weapon too, do it! One kid wouldn’t be enough to handle me anyway!”

Atsuta saw Kazami tightly close her mouth and stand. At some point, armbands had appeared on her arms. She walked up to Izumo.

“Kaku.”

She placed a hand on his chin and pulled his head down.

“…”

Their lips met.

After three seconds, they parted and she raised her hand just like his.

“I’m not his mistress. Are you completely blind? I’ll make you sorry you ever said that.”

The crowd that had formed let out a cheer and Izumo nodded.

“And if you still can’t tell she isn’t my mistress, we’ll do something even more-…gwoh!”

“Oh, sorry. My elbow slipped. I hit your solar plexus? Sorry, Kaku.”

The crowd let out a low groan.

Atsuta on the other hand was grinning the same as before.

He seemed to be enjoying the prospect of fighting two people who owned a concept weapon powered by a Concept Core.

And he spoke in a tone that matched his expression.

“Hah. Let me tell you one thing. I use the combat Art of Walking passed down by 2nd-Gear. Most major members of 2nd-Gear or powerful members of UCAT can use it.”

And…

“See it and go to hell.”

With those words, everyone in the cafeteria lost sight of Atsuta.

Izumo and Kazami’s eyes narrowed because they could not see him either.

“!”

They opened their mouths to call the names of their weapons.

Everything was about to move.

But someone brought it all to a stop.

“Let’s leave it at that,” said Kashima with a troubled expression.

Izumo, Kazami, and Atsuta faced each other in the cafeteria.

And Kashima had appeared between them at some point.

Plus, his right hand held Atsuta’s face.

“You overcame the Art of Walking and grabbed his head,” muttered Kazami blankly.

Everyone who understood what that meant gasped.

However, Kashima did not nod. His shoulders drooped and he removed his hand from Atsuta’s face.

“Sorry, Atsuta. I know you’re just trying to help me in your own way.”

He turned toward Kazami and Izumo and then turned toward Sayama and Shinjou.

“Sorry. We didn’t really settle anything here.”

“I am just glad to see the two of you get along so well. But…what should we do about the Leviathan Road?”

“Well…” Kashima appeared troubled. “I’d appreciate it if you gave me some time. And once I seriously make up my mind about something, I want you to give me your answer. Is that enough for now?”

Sayama narrowed his eyes and spoke in a cautious voice.

“Do I only have to wait?”

“Good question.” Kashima glanced at Shinjou and seemed to choose his words carefully. “I would like it if you thought some on what she said about a ‘lie’. Whatever I decide, I am sure it will come from there. I do not want to lose what is important to me.”

That last statement caused Atsuta to clench his teeth.

“It sounds to me like you’ve already made up your mind.”

Kashima did not respond.

And so Sayama nodded.

“Testament, I suppose I should say. To be honest, I do not think I could stand simply waiting either. I want to give various issues some thought so I can properly face 2nd-Gear.”

“Properly face 2nd-Gear?” asked Kashima.

“Yes,” replied Sayama with a nod. He spoke slowly as if driving the words into himself. “Right now, I see the Leviathan Road with 2nd-Gear as something I need in order to face the other Gears and everything else I must face.”

Those words brought a slight look of surprise to Kashima’s face.

But he quickly brought back a calm expression and gave his thoughts.

“You are…a brave person.”

“No, I only just now decided this.”

Kashima smiled bitterly.

Sayama smiled back, swung up his left forearm, and looked across everyone there.

“Then Team Leviathan will once more look into 2nd-Gear’s history and the sealing of Yamata. That is the first step to seeing you properly. If possible, I hope tomorrow’s preliminary negotiations will allow us to face each other from a good position.”

“Yes. It may not be me in that good position you mentioned, but I will say testament for now,” said Kashima with a smile.

But then…

“Oh, my? Have things been settled? Or…”

They heard a sudden female voice.

They all turned toward the cafeteria entrance. An elderly woman leaned against the large open door.

It was Tsukuyomi.

With a lab coat over her slender body, she brushed her semi-long graying hair into place with a hand and walked forward.

Atsuta took a step back and she sighed.

The eyebrows above her narrow eyes did not rise.

“The negotiations have yet to begin, so let’s leave it at that, you naughty children.” She turned toward Sayama. “I apologize that we have so many fools with us. I will give him a pay cut, so please forgive him. That will suffice, won’t it?”

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Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 8

2026-08-04T01:55:23Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 8: The Beginning of an Answer==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0201.png|thumb]]
''An unrealized past awakens and begins to move

''During that short history

''Chain-like bonds are created

The concept weapon development department was located on UCAT’s second basement next to the maintenance storage room and armory.

The development department was divided into four large sections: the design room, the production room, the experiment room, and storage.

The design room was a fifty meter square space divided up into partitions.

Inside one partition, Kashima and Tsukuyomi were looking at Susaou’s design diagram.

While he had been staring at the landslide, it seemed Tsukuyomi had met with Team Leviathan’s representative.

He had also heard that other members of Team Leviathan had entered the Second Reference Room.

“They are interesting children.”

With that introduction, they began discussing old times.

As they looked at the documents on Susaou, Tsukuyomi spoke.

“It was only nine years ago, but it feels so nostalgic. The development department had only just been reorganized underneath me. As soon as you were assigned to the department, you asked me what is in Tachikawa. But I was as new to UCAT as you, so I didn’t know.”

Tsukuyomi gave a bitter smile and Kashima gave one of his own.

“That’s right. But you negotiated with the higher ups and acquired the necessary documents from the Second Reference Room. You gave me the documents on Susaou which exists in the concept space set up within the former Tachikawa Airfield and current Showa Memorial Park.”

“But Susaou did not live up to your expectations.”

“That’s right,” said Kashima again.

He had gone to see Susaou just once.

“Examining Susaou was the development department’s first job once it was reorganized after the Great Kansai Earthquake. But…”

Kashima displayed a single image on his laptop.

It was a photograph. With the blue sky in the background, a giant figure stood with clouds around its head.

That giant form was over five hundred meters tall.

However, its entire form was slightly distorted.

“Yes, it makes sense if you think about it. Even nine years ago, it had been about fifty years since Susaou had been active. And Susaou is a humanoid machine built to oppose and confine the ultra high temperatures of Yamata. A used weapon is always on the road to destruction.”

He zoomed in on the image.

Susaou grew larger as it stood in front of the bright sun.

Portions of the blackened armor covering its giant limbs and body had melted and the bridge in the head had vanished as if it had been gouged out.

“On his deathbed, my grandfather mentioned the box of the bridge in the head, but that no longer exists.”

The head had been destroyed.

The metal had melted and formed a square stage with fifteen meter sides. Only a single object stuck up from that floor.

It was a straight piece of metal around a meter and a half long.

“The only thing left in the remains of the bridge is Totsuka, the Cowling Sword my grandfather created to seal Yamata. That’s all.”

As he muttered into the LCD monitor, he heard a sigh from behind him.

“And we went through all the formalities to get there. Even if it is under UCAT’s control, we received permission from each country’s UCAT.”

Tsukuyomi’s words drew nearer as she leaned in toward the monitor.

She then spoke as if yearning for the past.

“Afterward, you began researching concept weapons, but soon drew back from real development and design. Now you act as the demon of fine-tuning and only perform practicality checks on new models.”

“That is not all I do. I have other jobs. Remember that weird gum project?”

“But you are avoiding any jobs that use 2nd-Gear’s power and the name of Kashima, aren’t you? Is that landslide accident from eight years ago still bothering you?”

Kashima gave no answer. He chose other words for his response.

“Right now, my interests lie elsewhere.”

The photograph of Susaou was not the only image on the monitor.

It also showed photographs of his wife and young daughter.

Tsukuyomi grinned bitterly.

“Ha ha. I guess we can’t compete with your family.”

“Director Tsukuyomi, how are things going regarding the previous director?”

“Oh, you mean my husband? Well, I think it would be nice if I found anything he left behind, but all the documents from his time here vanished in the blank period. What was he doing without telling me while I was in IAI?”

Kashima continued to stare at the LCD monitor, so Tsukuyomi patted his shoulder as if trying to cheer him up.

“Being that fond of your kid is a good thing, but don’t forget that you’re someone’s kid too. My daughter is always out late job hunting and going to informative seminars. When she gets back home, she eats, bathes, and sleeps before heading right back out the next morning. She isn’t a carrier-based aircraft, so she should really get some rest.”

“Your daughter is an F-14? But you haven’t told her about UCAT or 2nd-Gear, right? You seem to be conforming to Low-Gear, but…”

“Is that why you’re confused? You can’t figure out why this eccentric director would leave the rights to the Leviathan Road with someone trying to be a Low-Gear resident like you?”

“We…”

Kashima started to speak, but trailed off.

“…”

Finally, he shook his head.

Tsukuyomi patted his shoulder again. She did so more softly and gently than before.

“Listen, Kashima. I turn fifty this year and I haven’t gone through any longevity procedures. I doubt I can remain on the forefront of development for another ten years. From now on, things will be run by you and the others of your younger generation that knows nothing at all of the war. That is why I think you need to give this some thought.”

“Give this some thought? My grandfather’s dying words and my own power have already-…”

Kashima stood up but stopped when he saw the look on Tsukuyomi’s face.

She still stood at the entrance to the partition, but her expression was very gentle.

One look at that and he lost all words.

''I can’t stand up to that,'' he thought as he fell silent.

She smiled a bit when she saw him sit back down and wait for her to speak.

“I like seeing a man waiting for a woman to speak. Makes me jealous of your wife.”

“Sorry, director, but your age has not been kind to that ingratiating voice.”

“Just leave me be. …Anyway, you need to think about your stance as part of 2nd-Gear. Also…”

“Also?”

“This will likely be your last chance to be involved with Susaou.”

“It doesn’t matter. The remnants my grandfather mentioned are no longer there. Only Totsuka remains.”

Kashima opened a text file on his laptop.

The document contained the results of some research he had done. It provided the reason 2nd-Gear could not leave UCAT.

“The records contained a single fact. Susaou’s captain spoke the word to control Yamata and sealed Yamata in Totsuka, but he died. That was all.”

“And with his death, Low-Gear lost the word to seal Yamata,” muttered Tsukuyomi with a sigh. “It’s a difficult issue. If the Low-Gear engineer who once sealed Yamata had survived and that word had remained with Low-Gear, we could have formed a full allegiance with Low-Gear.”

“Yes.” Kashima nodded and spoke that engineer’s name. “Ooshiro Hiromasa. The father of UCAT’s leader, Ooshiro Kazuo, the grandfather of Team Leviathan’s supervisor, Ooshiro Itaru, and the man who my grandfather resented for not saving 2nd-Gear.” Kashima gave a bitter smile. “Of course, I did not carry on his grudge. But…”

“But?”

Tsukuyomi repeated his last word and Kashima gave a troubled smile.

“But that is why I am finding this decision so hard to make.”

Sayama and Ooshiro Kazuo walked down a UCAT corridor.

After Diana left the training room, Sayama had told the others that Tsukuyomi had used a technique similar to the mysterious one Diana had used.

That had been enough for the others to agree to 2nd-Gear for the next Leviathan Road.

“Someone might be leading us in this direction, though. Not knowing is kind of frustrating.”

Kazami’s comment had summed up everyone’s thoughts.

Sayama was also interested in what sort of negotiation he should use.

Shinjou had remained in the training room, saying she wanted to perform additional target practice, but Kazami and the others had agreed to meet up in the cafeteria once they were done sorting through the documents they had gathered.

Sayama’s job was to tell Ooshiro they intended to go ahead with 2nd-Gear’s Leviathan Road.

However, Ooshiro was currently walking quickly alongside him.

Wearing his suit once more, Sayama quickened his pace to line up beside him.

“Old man, aren’t you in a lot more of a hurry than before?”

“No, no. I’m just testing a new prototype.”

He showed Sayama a digital pedometer at his waist.

It was a yellow plastic device with an LCD showing a stylized girl performing some kind of ritualistic dance. She seemed to be in as sort of trance.

“There is a lot I want to say about that, but it is relatively normal compared to some other things UCAT is developing.”

“UCAT may be developing it, but it will be sold as an IAI product. We can’t make it too out there.”

“What is the product called?”

Ooshiro answered with a confident thumbs up.

“This is the digital pedometer ‘Mambo-chan’. The character is a shaman from an esoteric religion.”

“Oh? That is quite the uncreative name.”

“Yes. To show her desire for you to walk with the pedometer as much as possible, I wanted to name her Pedo Lover, but that was immediately rejected.”

“That was for the best. But I get the feeling one can buy a pedometer anywhere these days.”

“This one is a bit different. Mambo-chan has a surprisingly direct personality. If you stop before reaching the set number of steps, she scolds you with her shaman power.”

“Just out of curiosity, what is this power?”

“Seventeen fully charged shocks on the level of a stun baton.”

“I see. If you slack off, you end up passed out on the road. Are you going to sell them to the marines for marching training?”

“Don’t worry. Situations in which you have to stop are rare and the tension can accelerate your diet. See? I’m walking just fine.”

Sayama thought for a moment.

“Old man,” he finally said. “Where have you tested the prototype so far?”

“Within UCAT. Why?”

“I have one question.”

“What is it?”

Sayama looked up at the ceiling as he walked and his expression finally grew serious.

“Have you ever heard of traffic lights and railroad crossings?”

Ooshiro looked up at the ceiling as he walked and his expression finally grew serious.

“Now what do I do?”

“Oh? So you finally reached the truth? Now, the current problem is the automatic door visible in the distance. How long does it take for the electric shocks to activate?”

“M-Mambo-chan is short tempered, so she suddenly attacks if you stand still for even a second.”

“What about turning around? We can make a quick U-turn and come back the way we came.”

“Unfortunately, Mambo-chan insists you resolutely continue on. If you turn around, she gets mad. …Ahhhh! We really are getting close to the door! Mikoto-kun! Could you go on ahead and open it for me!?”

“To change the subject, is it fine if we go with 2nd-Gear for the next Leviathan Road?”

“Don’t completely change the subject! And please hurry! I have less than fifty meters now!”

“Hm,” said Sayama with a nod. “In that case, I have something I wish to ask you again. Please answer me honestly.”

“Is this any time for that!? Ahh, Shinjou-kun would help me if she were here. Is she still in training?”

“Yes. She said she wanted to do some target practice, but does she really need that much training?”

Ooshiro’s expression was impatient, but he still formed a smile.

“Sh-she has always scored highly in training. She has problems in real battles, though. She hesitates and can’t fire.”

“But…”

“Yes, she has improved somewhat since the battle with 1st-Gear, but the development department’s output records for Ex-St show she has not fully overcome it.”

Sayama recalled the battle with 1st-Gear. Shinjou had wielded enough power to be on even footing with Fafnir Custom.

“You mean she can draw out even more power than that? What is holding her power back?”

“Has she given you a reason?”

Sayama thought for a moment.

“She has no memories before six years ago.”

“I see. There is that, but there is a bigger reason too.”

“A bigger reason?”

Ooshiro nodded.

“Mikoto-kun,” he began as a warning. “It seems you do not understand. Then again, this is very like you.”

“What do you-…?”

Before he could finish speaking, Sayama recalled something from earlier that day.

…''Is the hint to this “Yamato Takeru”?

Shinjou Setsu had said that was his “lie”.

Did Shinjou Sadame have something like that as well?

Sayama nodded and said, “If I do not understand what is holding back Shinjou-kun’s power, I will be killed by her like Kumaso Takeru. Is that what you think?”

Ooshiro gave no response, but Sayama’s thoughts continued on.

He recalled how Kumaso Takeru had been killed by Yamato Takeru.

“He crossdressed and, even as he stood right before Kumaso Takeru, the disguise worked and his true form remained unseen.”

He recalled what he had thought during his fight with Diana.

''…Why am I not seeing you even though I should be seeing you?''

This led Sayama to a sudden realization.

He realized another doubt concerning Shinjou Setsu and Sadame.

“Oh, I get it now. That was a complete blind spot for me.”

“Do you know now why Shinjou-kun cannot use her full power, Mikoto-kun?”

“I do. I sure am brilliant.”

“That last part does not matter, so could you get to the main point?”

“I am in a good mood, so I will say Testament.” Sayama confidently gave his answer. “Shinjou-kun is crossdressing. That is, Setsu-kun is dressing up as a girl to be Sadame-kun.”

“Mikoto-kun…”

“What is it? Why are you staring at me with such suspicion?”

“Are you the type that gives your answer without giving it much thought?”

“When have I ever jumped to a hasty conclusion? Say that again and I will knock you to the ground.”

“That’s hasty enough as it is!”

“Calm down, calm down,” said Sayama as he held a hand out to restrain Ooshiro. “At any rate, it seems I let my guard down concerning Shinjou-kun.”

Sayama began to think once more. He had confirmed that Shinjou Setsu was a boy at the public bath.

…''But I never confirmed that Sadame-kun is a girl.

He had seen Shinjou Sadame’s breasts before, but that might have been a UCAT trick.

''If so, they have frightening technology,'' thought Sayama with a cold sweat. ''I should have touched them to make sure.

He had known her for a month, so why had he never considered gently groping them?

…''I was careless.

“M-Mikoto-kun, I do not know what you are thinking about so seriously, but let me give you a warning.”

“What is it?”

“Committing crimes is a big no-no.”

“Ha ha ha ha. How can you say that as an old man whose very existence is a crime? And do you really think someone as clever as me would do that?”

“Ha…ha ha ha. I-I suppose not even you would.”

“Exactly. If I explain the situation, she will understand.”

“Wh-what did you just say?”

“Nothing. More importantly, you might want to look forward.”

Ooshiro looked like he still wanted to say something, but he panicked when he looked ahead.

“Wah! We’re less than thirty meters from the automatic door! Mikoto-kun! Please hurry up and open it!”

“Now then, old man. The issue concerning Shinjou-kun was a worthwhile digression, but we need to get to the main issue.”

“You’re ignoring me!? And do we really need to talk now!?”

“We do. Now, calmly listen to what I have to say for the remaining twenty-five meters. My first question is whether a relative of yours was involved with the destruction of 2nd-Gear.”

“Yes! Yes! One went to 2nd-Gear as an engineer!”

“Tell me why in detail.”

“H-how much detail!?”

Sayama thought for a moment on that impatient question.

“About twenty meters’ worth, I suppose.”

“I’m going to ignore that. Anyway, 2nd-Gear could not control Yamata with their own techniques, so they hoped to get the help of engineers from other Gears! They thought an idea from another Gear’s viewpoint could solve the problem! But… Ahhh! The door’s less than ten meters away! Hurry, hurry, hurry!”

“A quick question: Do you really think I will open the door until I have heard what I want to hear?”

“That reaction really pisses me off! Let’s see… Anyway, my father didn’t make it in time! So even though they resented the engineers who had evacuated, they worked together to build the giant humanoid machine and the sealing sword and used them to fight back against Yamata!”

“Lastly, what were those machines known as?”

“The giant humanoid machine was Susaou! The sealing Cowling Sward was Totsuka!”

“I see. That is what I wanted to know. So may we go with 2nd-Gear for the next Leviathan Road?”

“Yes, yes! Just hurry!”

“You did not seem to give that much thought,” replied Sayama as he hurried to the door.

Ooshiro breathed a sigh of relief just as the door opened.

However, two large obstacles stood in his way.

They were two humans.

The aboveground portion of the UCAT facility took the form a building disguised as a transportation administration building.

The fifth floor of that building contained a certain private office.

The room was filled with scattered piles of documents and trash and a single figure was visible beyond the piles of documents on the large desk.

A man in a black suit and sunglasses sat in the desk’s chair.

He held a local newspaper.

His eyes moved across the text, but he did not appear to be actually reading it.

He folded the newspaper to view the back and brushed up his white hair.

“…”

He suddenly looked up.

He had heard quiet footsteps in front of the room’s door.

He quickly folded the newspaper and tossed it near the door.

It made a dry rustling sound as it fell to the floor.

In the very next moment, the office door opened and a maid wearing a black dress and white apron entered.

She held a silver tray carrying a cup.

However, she did not look over to see if the man was at the desk. It was as if his presence was a foregone conclusion.

As she took a step forward, her expressionless gaze noticed the newspaper at her feet. She picked it up with one hand.

“Itaru-sama, today’s morning paper has arrived. Would you like to read it?”

“What’s the headline, Sf?”

“Tes. ‘In Shinjuku yakuza turf war last night, one of our own reporters met a surprising end!’ ”

“No, thanks. Throw it over there.”

“Tes.”

With only a single shake of her short hair, Sf walked straight over the documents scattered on the floor.

However, she did not leave any footprints on those documents. Not a single paper so much as shook.

Once Sf reached Itaru, she held out the silver tray in her hand.

“Itaru-sama, I have brought your coffee.”

“I don’t want it.”

“Tes. I simply wanted to say that, so do not worry. Shall I dispose of it here?”

“The last time I told you to dispose of it, you really did dump it on the floor.”

“Tes. That was two weeks after I arrived. I have checked that memory to a depth level of five, so there is no mistaking it.”

“Yeah, I remember it too. I ultimately had to wipe the floor myself. It was also the first time I thought about having you dismantled, so it’s a day to remember. High-quality machines are so wonderful because they do what you tell them to.”

“Tes. I have determined you must be very methodical if you were ready to dismantle me for maintenance within two weeks. But do not worry. I am the pride of German UCAT and my automatic internal cleaning is guaranteed to suffice for 666 years.”

“Oh? You perform automatic cleaning?”

[[Image:OnC_v03_0219.png|thumb]]

“Tes,” answered Sf with a nod. She lightly rotated her wrist. “At night when I have nothing else to do, I remove the parts myself and diligently brush them.”

“Automatic just means you do it yourself? Anyway, I don’t want the coffee, so you drink it for me.”

“I have no digestive system, so I cannot drink it.”

“I see. Then I guess I’ll drink it. It’s a shame you’re a machine that can’t experience this wonderful flavor.”

Itaru turned to Sf with a smile and Sf remained expressionless.

“I am glad you are pleased. Please take your time.”

“…Come to think of it, a defective machine like you can’t understand sarcasm, can you?”

“Tes. I determined that to be what you wanted. If you change your mind, I can always add emotional functionality.”

“Emotional functionality? What would happen if you plugged that in?”

Sf thought for a moment and finally tilted her head.

“Tes. Plugging it in would only get in the way. I would install it internally.”

“And what would happen once you installed it?”

“Tes. Once I installed it, I would have emotions.”

“For example?”

“No matter how unreasonable a command, I would respond with a smile. No matter how disagreeable a master, I would cry upon his death.”

“That isn’t emotional functionality. It’s robot functionality, you problem machine.”

Itaru took the cup Sf held out and took a sip.

Seeing that, Sf tilted her head expressionlessly.

“You can drink coffee now?”

“It’s nothing but water, caffeine, flavoring, and coloring. Describing it as similar to poison would not be an exaggeration. I hate it.”

“Then why are you drinking it?”

“Because you said you can’t, Sf. That makes this your fault.”

“Tes. I will make sure to bring some for you after every meal.”

“Why? Some kind of unnecessary consideration for your master?”

“Because it is what you want, Itaru-sama,” said Sf expressionlessly.

Itaru looked back at her face and finally held up the cup.

“Next time, bring me something colorless. The coloring stains my mouth.” He brushed up his white hair. “I only accept meaningless things like color and flavor.”

“Tes,” said Sf with a nod.

She quickly turned around as Itaru watched.

“…!”

She swiftly turned toward the entrance. Of the two hands holding the tray, she moved her right.

Her right hand held a black handgun which she aimed up at the office entrance.

Itaru then noticed a woman standing in that entrance.

This tall woman wore a black suit.

Her long silver hair swayed as she lightly raised a hand in front of the already closed door.

“Oh, dear. I didn’t expect you to notice when I had only walked in. I miscalculated.”

She used a joking tone, but Sf’s pose did not change.

The tray was still in her left hand and the handgun in her right.

“I detect a powerful philosopher’s stone. You are of unknown affiliation, so I ask you introduce yourself. You have fifteen seconds.”

“Oh, my, my. Itaru-kun, can you say something to her?”

Itaru sighed.

“She is an extremely uninvited guest. Sf, do as I wish.”

“Oh? Isn’t that a harsh greeting for someone you haven’t seen in ten years? And Sf, have you forgotten one of the people who helped create you?”

“When I was re-adjusted in Japanese UCAT, I was formatted for Japanese use.”

“Eh!? You’re kidding!” The woman brought a hand to her mouth in surprise. “Th-then did they delete all the episodes of the cartoon Herr Himmler I hid in a corner of your memory!? Even the rare episode ‘Goebbels Is Flustered’!?”

“I just performed a search and discovered a large blank in the surplus memory on the fifth depth level. I have determined that is all that remains.”

“Ahh, and after I came here to get them back.”

“Hey, Sf, you can go all out eliminating her.”

Sf silently aimed the handgun.

The woman frantically waved her hand.

“You really can’t joke with her, can you? But what if that goes for me, too?” With a bitter smile, she gave her name. “I am Diana Zonburg of German UCAT. Damit Gut?”

In a corridor on the third basement, Sayama saw two people blocking the way ahead of him.

One was an older bald black man wearing a white armored uniform and a vest.

Sayama had met him during the battle with 1st-Gear. His name was Boldman and he helped coordinate with the normal units.

The other, Sayama did not recognize.

He was a large old Arab man who wore a sand yellow combat coat over his white armored uniform.

He wore a cloth wrapped around his head like a turban and he was facing Sayama.

He may have been old, but he was around two meters tall and his gaze was plenty sharp.

His white eyebrows and long white beard moved.

“Sayama?” he said in a low voice.

Immediately afterward, Sayama felt a pain in the left side of his chest.

Sayama wondered why until he noticed the man’s gaze. He was looking in Sayama’s direction, but…

…''He is not looking at me.

He seemed to be looking toward Sayama yet recalling something from the past.

As soon as Sayama realized that, the pain in his chest strengthened.

“Out of the way, Abram!” shouted Ooshiro.

His slender body and lab coat had made it within three steps of the door.

The Arab man named Abram began to move aside.

“…”

But with Boldman next to him, the door was full. He could not move.

Upon noticing that, Sayama turned to Ooshiro and nodded.

“How very unfortunate.”

“I know you don’t actually think that!” shouted the old man just as a door along the corridor opened.

However, Sayama knew that door led to the concept space office floor.

Another old man suddenly burst from the darkness on the other side of the door.

He was slender and had long black hair. His name was Yonkichi and he had helped navigate the helicopter taking Sayama to the battle with 1st-Gear.

As Yonkichi left in a hurry, Ooshiro charged into the office floor.

Mambo-chan may have insisted one resolutely continued on, but it seemed right angle turns were acceptable.

The door quickly closed and Yonkichi looked confused.

“Um, what was that about?”

“Nothing more than an old man’s recreation. If he does not go for a walk, he cannot remove the toxins from his body.”

“Testament. Anyway, I must be going!”

Yonkichi quickly ran off in the direction Sayama and Ooshiro had come from.

Sayama let out a breath, realized the pain in his chest was gone, and looked toward the two large men who took a step away from the door and toward him.

Boldman indicated Abram to his side.

“Should I call you commander, Sayama Mikoto? This is the director of the field operation department, Director Abram Mesam. You have not met him yet, have you?”

“Team Leviathan is a special division of the field operation department, so do you supervise us?” asked Sayama.

Abram responded in a low, clear voice.

“No, Team Leviathan essentially has independent authority. Its direct supervisor, Ooshiro Itaru, and the man who just left, Ooshiro Kazuo, both have more authority than me when it comes to you.” His tanned face then twisted into a smile. “Nice to meet you. I am Abram Mesam and I control your backup and the other field operation members. If you ever need anything, Boldman here will take care of it.”

“Testament,” replied Sayama.

He no longer felt any pain from Abram’s gaze.

With a quick nod to Sayama’s response, the man began walking away. As he did, the hem of his coat flipped around and he asked a question.

“Is 2nd-Gear up next for the Leviathan Road?”

“That is our current plan.”

Abram gave a bitter laugh at Sayama’s tone.

That laugh reminded Sayama of how Siegfried had reacted to his words after the battle at the Imperial Palace. In that case…

“Director Mesam, were you one of UCAT’s original members?”

“Testament.”

“I know UCAT originally had Professor Kinugasa at the top, Izumo’s grandfather, my grandfather, the old man’s father, and Siegfried. How many other primary members were there?”

“Including me, four. There were a total of eight gathered under Kinugasa Tenkyou and every single one of them was stranger than me. And if you wish for it, you will surely meet all of them.”

“Is the name Shinjou among those last four?”

“No.”

His response was an immediate denial.

Sayama had expected that answer. Just as Fasolt had said, the Shinjou in the National Defense Department had disappeared before he entered UCAT.

Sayama did not know what it meant, but it was as Abram said: If he wished for it, he would surely meet them.

Abram did not turn around, but his voice mixed in with his departing footsteps.

“Will you be going to the Showa Memorial Park in Tachikawa tomorrow?”

Sayama frowned.

That location had just come up at school and Kazami had mentioned it after training as well.

“You mean where that giant humanoid machine is located?”

“Testament. The two machines which saved Low-Gear from Yamata are located there. The first is the five hundred plus meter Susaou. The other is the divine sword Totsuka.”

“So it follows the legend of Susanoo?”

“Yes. The Concept Core that is Yamata is closed within Totsuka. I am on my way to the development department to suggest we regulate the concept space around Susaou tomorrow. …How about you perform the preliminary negotiations there with 2nd-Gear’s representative?”

“Testament.”

Abram did not turn around.

Instead, Boldman turned toward Sayama and raised his right hand as a sign of parting.

Sayama turned his back on the two men just as an old man dashed out of the darkness of the office division to the side.

He was slender, had long white hair, and wore a white coat.

“You are Nijun who I met in the medical room before. Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Oh, Sayama-sama. Did you happen to see my youngest brother?”

“You mean Yonkichi? He rushed off in that direction not long ago.”

“Is that so?” Nijun pulled a cell phone from his pocket. “Brother, pass this on to Mitsuaki. That fool is most likely on his way to the second floor.”

“What exactly is going on?” asked Sayama.

“That fool has once more tried to build up his own character independent of us. This time, he started adding ‘gelge’ to the ends of his sentences. As his older brothers, we were just about to punish him.”

“I see. With four brothers, it must be difficult to remain coordinated.”

“It is. Oh, here comes my brother. I see he has brought the Azure Dragon Sword. …I will be going then.”

While making sure not to look toward the newly arriving brother, Sayama asked a quick question.

He was curious about a certain inconsequential matter.

“Excuse me, but I believe an old man whose foolishness is of the highest order ran inside there a bit ago.”

“So that would make him the foolishest? No, that might not be a word. Anyway, you mean Ooshiro-sama, correct? He ran inside half-crazed not long ago, but…”

“But?”

“A female employee stood in front of him and held out some tea, but the moment he stopped and began to drink it, he collapsed. He is still collapsed on the floor and convulses once about every five seconds. Everyone assumed it was some new game of his, so we are leaving him be.”

“That is fine. This game will end after seventeen rounds. I will collect him once the electric shocks are over.”

“Goodbye,” said Nijun as he left.

Sayama gave an exasperated sigh as he listened to the man’s footsteps.

“Why is this place always so lively?”

A short silence filled Ooshiro Itaru’s private office.

It was caused by Sf as she faced Diana.

As soon as Diana’s introduction came to an end, Sf narrowed her eyes.

“…”

And she suddenly lowered her handgun.

“Tes. I have checked your child string vibration. Name: Diana Zonburg. Affiliation: German UCAT. Rank: Division Chief. Sex: Female. Age: ”

“You don’t have to give that. Be a good girl now.”

Diana quickly walked up alongside Sf, embraced her, and stroked her head and cheek.

Itaru, the owner of the room, sighed and looked up at Diana with half-lidded eyes.

“Why are you here, you old-style German? Did you want to see my present situation?”

“Do the Japanese even know what an emotional reunion is?”

“Then are you here to bring back memories of my past? You should know I can never forget that past.”

All intonation left Itaru’s voice.

Meanwhile, Sf lightly brushed away the hand rubbing her head.

She took half a step to move between Diana and Itaru.

“I must inspect your belongings.”

“Is that what your master wants?”

“Tes. It is also my decision. But please keep in mind that I will not let my guard down even if you possess no dangerous objects, Diana-sama. Words can be dangerous these days.”

“Yes,” said Diana with a sigh as Sf’s slender fingers poked at her hair and shoulders.

Her smile vanished.

“I guess I still can’t talk about old times with Itaru-kun.”

“You can do that once I die. But how about you speak to their empty graves instead of me?”

Diana did not nod in response and her smile did not return.

“Team Leviathan has some interesting members,” she said.

“Oh, so you met them? You are Germany’s greatest witch who was once known as the Mother Cat. What are you doing here? Are you going to crush any idiot who tries to oppose us like you did during our time?”

Diana still did not nod, but a thin smile appeared on her lips.

“You really haven’t changed. But I’m relieved. I can tell you and your father are still manipulating things behind the scenes. I never thought you would manage to gather so many members for Team Leviathan. And you’ll gather even more, won’t you?”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I saw Director Abram earlier. It was only from a distance, but he was giving a rare smile.”

“…So he was smiling.”

“Testament. He only smiles when talking about the past. He refers to himself as an imposter, so he must be happy to talk about the true eight.” She nodded. “You will gather all of them eventually, won’t you? UCAT was originally made up of the destroyers of worlds known as the Eight Great Dragon Kings plus Kinugasa Tenkyou for a ninth member. You will eventually gather the people who will succeed them and go further than we ever did, won’t you?”

“Hah. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Testament. You can say it like that if you want. We are the only ones…no, you are the only one that understands. …I worked to forget what once was, but you are still actively involved,” she said. “But promise me one thing. Do not let them become like us. Also, give them a future. …If you do that, I will fully support Team Leviathan.”

“I can’t promise that, but you still need to help. It doesn’t have to be full support.”

Diana’s shoulders drooped at his expressionless words.

She let out a fake-sounding sigh.

“You are a complicated person. When a woman asks you for a promise, you are supposed to agree.”

“I don’t need promises. I need people who will work so I don’t have to do anything. I don’t bargain. Does the Mother Cat ask the owner of the house for permission to play with her toys? What is your job?”

“I think I will defeat them as many times as it takes.”

“Oh? From that look, I take it you’ve already cheerfully done so.”

Both of them gave bitter smiles and Diana nodded.

“I will be showing up in training more and more and let them lose to all sorts of things. They have no time and they cannot afford to lose in a real battle.”

“Only one that loses and recovers will grow stronger. That is the creed of German UCAT, isn’t it?”

“Japan walks down the same path. You seem to be valuing weakness in modern times, though.”

“We are a happy country that can accomplish a journey to find ourselves all within our own minds. Of course, that method will only find the version of yourself that is convenient. Any real philosopher would find it laughable.”

Diana did not nod, but she smiled at Itaru.

“Testament. I am a bit relieved.”

“That Sf is taking her job seriously if you ignore her odd interpretations of orders?”

“Sure, let’s go with that. …I did only just reunite with her, though.”

Diana then looked down at Sf.

“Sf?”

“What is it?”

“Um,” began Diana as the ends of her eyebrows lowered slightly.

She tilted her head while clearly having difficulty deciding what to say.

She looked more directly at Sf who was touching her body.

“Why have you been kneading my breasts for a while now?”

“Tes. They are so needlessly large that I suspect you are hiding something inside them.”

“Knowing her, she could have napalm in there, so be careful,” commented Itaru.

“I bought it myself.”

“Tes,” said Sf as she continued to touch Diana.

“Sf,” called out Itaru. “If you’re searching for concept weapons using the philosopher’s stone reaction, it’s no use. She modified her body to make herself young again. Just like with Doctor Chao, her entire body will give off the philosopher’s stone reaction.”

“Tes. Understood. The reaction coming from her chin, chest, and lower belly is especially-…”

“You don’t need to bring up any unnecessary information! C’mon, look how cute you are.”

Diana forcibly embraced Sf and stroked her head while staring at Itaru with half-lidded eyes.

“You didn’t install anything weird when you formatted her, did you?” she asked out of the corner of her mouth.

“I used the method you prepared,” he replied without nodding.

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 7|Chapter 7]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 9|Chapter 9]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 7

2026-08-03T01:51:59Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 7: Lying Neighbor==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0171.png|thumb]]
''The question of something unseen produces a feeling

''One’s heart moves because that feeling resides within it

''Like the scent of flowers carried on the wind

After parting ways with Tsukuyomi, Sayama entered the training facility in UCAT’s third basement.

He was currently in the locker room. It was one location of several layers created by a concept space.

The room was about twenty meters long and bordered a shower room.

Tall lockers made of a dry white substance lined the wall.

On the way here, Sayama had picked Ooshiro up from the floor in the corridor and told him the following:

“After meeting up with Kazami and the others in the training room, I wish to decide whether we will perform the Leviathan Road with 2nd-Gear.”

But despite saying that, he already intended to go ahead with the negotiation.

…''I am interested. What type of negotiation should we use?

He still had not seen how 2nd-Gear viewed the Leviathan Road.

That was one thing he wanted to learn.

“There is also that technique Director Tsukuyomi used…”

What had that been?

Sayama understood pursuing something out of curiosity was dangerous.

However, he could not stop the feeling of curiosity.

The reception desk informed him Kazami and the others had already entered the training room. They all wanted to finish training as quickly as possible to have more time to exchange their ideas on the different issues.

While thinking about various things, Sayama placed Baku on his head and changed.

“I wonder if the others have all finished their Brazilian gymnastics warm up.”

The only names on the lockers were Izumo, Boldman, and Sayama.

This locker room was exclusively used by Team Leviathan and Kazami said the girls had a similar arrangement. However, Kazami also said Shinjou alone was treated differently.

Shinjou used the ninth women’s locker room, but that was meant for the people UCAT referred to as “VIP Level”.

“From what Kazami said, UCAT must really treasure her.”

It was true she was quite sheltered and had almost never left UCAT.

''They must have their reasons,'' thought Sayama as he finished changing.

He now wore a thin armored uniform colored primarily white and black. It was made up of a shirt and tights that covered almost his entire body, a vest, and pants.

His eyes stopped on the ring on his left middle finger as he equipped his arm band.

“They still will not give me Georgius.”

Ooshiro had given him that gauntlet during the battle with 1st-Gear.

That mysterious concept weapon had allegedly been found by his mother, but Ooshiro and the others had taken it back after the battle.

With all the unknowns surrounding it, Sayama felt that was the proper way of handling it.

He stared at the ring on his left hand for several seconds.

But then he shook his head.

He endured the pain in his chest and cut off that train of thought.

There was something else he needed to think about now.

Officially, he had to think about how to handle the Leviathan Road with 2nd-Gear.

And personally…

…''Once my left hand is fully healed, Setsu-kun will leave me.

Both were issues he would have to face eventually.

Suddenly, he recalled his conversation with Shinjou before leaving school.

In that afterschool classroom, Shinjou had hung his head down, hesitated, explained he was trying to write a novel, and said he resembled Yamato Takeru.

All of those actions had been signs of his desire to say something.

…''If Shinjou-kun grows serious about this, I must face him.

“Yes.”

Sayama nodded and stopped thinking. He then walked forward.

After a few steps, he reached a white automatic sliding door. The training room lay beyond it.

The door emitted an electronic tone and he heard a voice.

—'''People do not overestimate their power.

The power one believed one had was not an overestimation; one had that power.

That concept linked the locker room with the training room and both became the same.

Then the door opened.

Beyond lay the white walls, floor, and ceiling of a thirty meter square space.

Instead of the large space, Sayama first saw something odd.

It was a body contained within a white armored uniform.

This person was lying on their back in midair. It was a large man flying toward Sayama.

Sayama took an instant to look closer and realized this was Izumo.

“Oh? Have your natural eccentricities grown so great you can finally fly, Izumo?”

“Sayama!? Wait! This is dangerous! Stop saying stupid things and catch him!”

''Oh, it is Kazami,'' thought Sayama. ''Kazami is always the one to use violence against him, so why does she want me to catch him?

Was Izumo’s flight not her doing?

On second glance, Izumo was not flying through the air the way he usually did.

“When Kazami sends him flying, it is more…how should I put it? Rich and dense?”

“The way he’s flying is dangerous, so catch him! Do you want me to send ''you'' flying!?”

Sayama caught on immediately.

“It is not my style to catch a guy like Izumo, but if I must.”

Sayama prepared himself to catch Izumo and watched him fly closer.

Izumo’s trajectory was a bit high, so Sayama had to catch him from a bit below.

To spread his legs backward, Sayama took a large step back.

As soon as he did, the door’s sensor lost sight of him and the door closed in an instant.

“Oh?” he muttered.

“Gbh!?”

The closed door shook as Sayama heard a pig-like squeal and a sound of impact on the other side.

The noise shook the lockers and produced a creaking that made one’s skin crawl.

“…”

Sayama remained motionless. He stared silently at the door while still in the pose to catch Izumo.

He had several thoughts, but he drove them all out of his head with a single sigh.

“Some things are simply outside of human control. What a pain.”

He stepped up to the door and it immediately opened once more.

He found Izumo standing there with blood running from his head.

“Oh, so you are fine. Such a disappointment for humankind.”

“D-damn you! Do I look fine to you, stupid Sayama!”

“Anyone with that much energy is doing well enough. And with you, anything short of death counts as fine, Izumo.”

“And if I do die?”

Sayama thought on that question. Finally, he clapped his hands together and Baku imitated the action on his head.

“A light wound?”

“Okay, you idiot. Do you mind if I say something? It’s for your own good.”

“What is it? If you are going to praise me, I would prefer you wait until after I complete some large job.”

“You belong in a hospital.”

“You do enjoy saying rude things, don’t you? Ha ha ha. You are a bastard at unprecedented levels.”

“Wa ha ha. I’m nothing compared to you, you cruel bastard. And more importantly…”

Izumo stood up and turned toward one corner of the training room.

From Sayama’s perspective, it was the back left corner. Kazami and three others stood there.

The first was Sibyl who wore a white armored uniform with skirt and everything else included.

The second was Shinjou who wore a white armored uniform and held a large metal staff.

And the third was a woman wearing a black armored uniform, a skirt, and a black three-cornered hat.

Sayama recognized this woman who held a bamboo broom and whose sleeve swelled out at the shoulders.

“Diana Zonburg.”

“Oh, are you finally here? From what I hear, you met with Director Tsukuyomi of 2nd-Gear. Have you already decided to negotiate with them?”

“No, not yet. After training here, I thought I would discuss it with the old man.”

“I see,” said Diana in a relieved voice. “Then do you still only have some small questions about 2nd-Gear?”

“Does that matter?”

“Yes. I have one thing to teach you to ensure you do not take this negotiation lightly. This is something very important for the Leviathan Road you are about to head down.”

On the first floor of Taka-Akita Academy’s third general school building, the setting sun filled the hallway through windows with no glass.

Ooki was stooped over by the wall and sweeping.

Behind her, Siegfried held a broom as well.

“Is this good enough?” she asked.

Siegfried stopped sweeping and ran a finger across the window frame.

“This is still fairly dirty…”

“That isn’t from the fight just now!”

Ooki let out an exhausted sigh and looked around.

She saw windows with no glass and a scorched hallway.

She changed how she looked at the situation and spoke her thoughts out loud.

“Siegfried-san, who was that Diana woman?”

“My niece.”

“That isn’t what I meant.” Ooki looked around at the glass shards in the dustpan. “Who is she to Sayama-kun and the others?”

The ends of her eyebrows lowered as she asked and Siegfried initially remained silent.

Ooki turned around and tilted her head at his silence.

Finally, he replied with a question of his own while looking down at her.

“Why do you ask that?”

Ooki smiled and gave an answer.

“Because they are my students,” she said as if that was only natural. “It worries me.”

“I see.”

Siegfried’s expression changed.

He smiled slightly.

Without showing any more of his true feelings, the sorcerer spoke.

“I do not know the details either, but Diana arrived in Japanese UCAT during the 1980s. She was a consultant in magic spells. And…she remained until the end of ’95.”

“You mean…she stayed until that earthquake?”

“Yes,” replied Siegfried. “Just like the original UCAT members had the Eight Great Dragon Kings, it seems the old UCAT leading up to the earthquake had a group known as the Five Great Peaks. Diana is one of them. …At the time, they were apparently trying to learn and use the combat techniques of each Gear. Why, I do not know.”

“In that case, this was not her true strength.”

Ooki looked across the hallway. The windows were gone and portions were scorched, but there was no more destruction than that.

Siegfried nodded and spoke.

“She may have seen a user of 1st-Gear’s true power as a chance to test the power of hers which is not borrowed. But I doubt she was taking this seriously.” He took a breath. “Before she left the school, she told me she had something to teach those who would be following in our footsteps.”

Shinjou’s eyes opened in surprise as she watched the mock battle being used as training.

Sayama was fighting, but…

“He can’t do anything…”

As she watched, Sayama continually back stepped as he moved along the training room floor.

He was pursued by a woman in a black armored uniform and a three-cornered hat. She was the woman named Diana from German UCAT.

Today was the first time Shinjou had seen her.

Just as Shinjou had finished changing in the women’s locker room, the woman had surprised her by suddenly entering.

…''She has a really nice figure.

Shinjou had immediately continued on into the training room, so she had not spoken with the woman as she changed.

However, the nod the woman had given in lieu of a greeting had seemed nice enough.

Shinjou did not think the woman was an evil person. But perhaps that was due to her naïveté.

At any rate, the woman was definitely giving Sayama trouble.

She moved by walking and her weapon was a broom.

Diana would walk up and try to sweep Sayama’s feet out from under him with the broom.

That was all she did. She swept the broom with a wide motion and her walking pace was relaxed. She was not using any kind of spell.

And yet…

“Sayama-kun! In front of you! She’s coming!”

Diana approached from directly in front of Sayama, but he did nothing despite wielding a sword.

Once again, he only took action a moment after she cried out.

“…”

His eyes suddenly focused on Diana who stood directly in front of him.

Diana tilted her head.

“What is it?”

Sayama’s eyebrows rose slightly and he leaped to the left.

An instant later, Diana swept her broom along the spot he had been in a moment before.

Shinjou heard the bamboo brush scrape cross the floor.

Kazami stood to Shinjou’s left and she finally spoke.

“Kaku was taken out by that broom. She knocked someone as big as him flying with one sweep of a broom. Who is she?”

Sibyl, who stood to Kazami’s left, tilted her head.

“That woman came from the locker room Shinjou-san always uses, did she not? In that case, I assume she is close to either Ooshiro-sama or Itaru-sama.”

“Probably,” said Kazami as she folded her arms and looked back across the room.

Shinjou followed Kazami’s gaze and saw Diana walking toward Sayama once more.

Kazami clicked her tongue at the scene.

“Why can’t Sayama do anything?”

“Hmm… Do you think she’s using some kind of ability? Like some kind of martial arts.”

“You mean martial arts instead of magic?”

“Yes. I don’t know how to say it exactly, but she isn’t using any spells or concepts. In that case, I think she has to be using some kind of deceptive martial art.”

As far as Shinjou could see, Diana was walking normally.

However, Sayama would lose sight of her.

“And he notices her again when she stops.”

Exactly that happened and Sayama back stepped away.

As she watched that scene play out again and again, Shinjou recalled what she had just said.

Diana would stop just before Sayama noticed her.

…''It looks like Sayama-kun is noticing Diana-san and then moving out of the way, but what if that isn’t what’s happening?

“Is Diana-san stopping to purposefully let him notice her?”

“If so, she’s quite the odd person. She’s waiting for Sayama to give up.”

Hearing Kazami’s comment, Shinjou could not help but shout out.

“Stick with it, Sayama-kun!”

As if in response, Sayama leaped toward her.

From a distance of approximately five meters, Sayama called out to Shinjou.

“Shinjou-kun.”

Shinjou did not know how to respond when he suddenly called her name.

“Shinjou-kun,” he called again.

“Eh? Wh-what is it?”

Sayama nodded.

“It seems I am a bit confused right now. I could use some help calming down, so-…”

“No repeating a joke by telling me to stick out my butt, okay?”

“…”

“Wh-why are you lost in thought now?”

''She is a surprisingly strict person,'' decided Sayama. ''Anyway…

“Shinjou-kun, let us talk about this battle. You called out to me to tell me Diana is approaching, did you not?”

“Yes. …It didn’t look like you could see her.”

“I could not see her.”

“Eh?” said Shinjou. “H-hey, Sayama-kun, what do you mean? Has the twisted wiring of your brain finally affected your vision too?”

“I see we have much to discuss after this is over, but I will overlook it for now. …So you are saying you could see her, Shinjou-kun?”

“Y-yes. Kazami-san and Sibyl-san could as well.”

“I see,” said Sayama with a nod.

He understood something now.

The technique Diana was using was the same one Tsukuyomi had used.

He still did not know what it was, but he had begun to analyze it.

“The effects are limited to me, so she is not actually hiding somewhere. Does that mean she is preventing my senses from detecting her?”

And…

“Kazami, one quick question. How did Izumo lose?”

“Well… Um, he turned his right side toward her and…”

“And he attacked straight ahead the instant she began to move?”

“Yes, but she easily evaded and…well, you saw what happened.”

“I see,” said Sayama with another nod.

Shinjou then asked a question from behind him.

“Is there anything you can do, Sayama-kun? You don’t see her when she approaches, right?”

“It is not that I am not seeing her. I think I am being made so I cannot see her.”

He sent a self-deprecating smile toward the floor and thought.

He still did not know on what principle this technique functioned. However…

“There is still a way of defeating an unseen enemy,” said Sayama.

He held his Cowling Sword to the right with his left hand.

He lowered the tip in an iai stance.

He faced forward at Diana’s smile ten meters away.

She had said she had something to teach him.

Was that this technique?

…''Or is there still something more?

Shinjou saw the atmosphere around Sayama change.

His back tensed a bit as he focused.

She did not feel comfortable speaking to him now because the slightest stimulus would cause him to move. However, she heard Kazami speak quietly next to her.

“This is bad. This is the same as when Kaku was defeated. The only difference is his stance.”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Kaku stopped moving and took an offensive stance, remember? Do you know the way to attack something unseen?”

Shinjou thought, but a glance at Sayama and Diana told her she had no time.

So she said, “Sorry, but just tell me.”

“Sure. I’m betting Kaku’s idea was to attack his enemy when he lost sight of her.”

“So… When she disappeared, he knew she was coming in for the attack?”

“Testament,” replied Sibyl. “But look. Diana-sama disappears from Sayama-sama’s vision when she is approximately seven steps away from him.”

Shinjou mentally converted the distance of seven steps and her expression stiffened.

“Do you get it now, Shinjou? Seven steps is about four meters. At that distance, she can easily circle around or stop where she is. But since her opponent can’t know what she will do, he can only attack blindly. That’s why Kaku swung V-Sw like a bat.”

Kazami glanced over at the right corner of the training room.

A giant blade was stabbed into the white wall.

It was V-Sw. Its console was still active and a short sentence was displayed on it.

“So lonely.”

“What a pain,” sighed Kazami. “He should have expanded it to its second form.”

''What should I do?'' wondered Shinjou.

Like before, she could tell Sayama what Diana was doing. However…

…''Sayama-kun said he had a way.

Shinjou stared at Sayama’s back.

He remained perfectly still and waited for his opponent.

And so Shinjou decided to remain silent and wait.

Just like Sayama, she waited for it all to begin.

Diana tilted her head when she saw Sayama’s stance.

His stance was different than Izumo’s when she had swept him away.

Izumo had held his Cowling Sword in both hands like a bat, but Sayama held his Cowling Sword at his right hip in his left hand.

That iai stance reminded Diana of a backhand in tennis.

He had obviously thought this through.

''But,'' thought Diana. ''That will not work.

She had a reason to think this.

And if Sayama knew that reason, he would not have done nothing but run this entire time.

And so Diana thought, ''Your way of thinking about this is fundamentally flawed.

“I will not give you a warning.”

…''The inexperienced show the most growth after defeat.

Izumo sat in front of the door behind her. He saw no value in his defeat and instead felt only frustration and confusion.

That was fine.

[[Image:OnC_v03_0191.png|thumb]]

Those who did not glorify defeat and instead tried to oppose it were the most frightening when one saw them again.

Diana suddenly looked down at the chest of her own armored uniform.

“The insignia of German UCAT.”

The badge displayed Germany divided to the left and right with a cross binding the two halves.

She spoke as she looked down at that image.

“Sayama Mikoto-kun, you are facing a few different questions right now, aren’t you? You want to know how you should face 2nd-Gear as the Leviathan Road’s negotiator. And…”

“And?”

“You want to know how to relate to someone named Shinjou.”

Sayama’s expression remained unchanged and he said nothing. However, that lack of reaction gave an eloquent answer.

Diana took a breath and spoke.

“I will now bring defeat to you.”

Sayama’s response was a simple one.

“That is impossible,” he declared.

“Heh heh. That sounds promising. Will you still say that if I knock you around a bit?”

“I have been knocked around countless times by my grandfather and others in the past,” he said expressionlessly. “And on the psychological side, nothing pains me more than the past. …That is why I will never admit defeat even if I die. As long as you allow me the qualifier of ‘eventually’ I can confidently declare my victory.”

“Herrlich.”

A slight smile appeared on Diana’s lips. This smile came from her heart.

“Then instead of giving you defeat, I will leave it with you for the moment. Is that good enough?”

“Yes. In that case, I suppose I should say Testament. Do I need to pay it back with interest?”

“Testament. But please send that payment to your enemies. And while I leave this defeat with you, please think about why this happened. If you do, I think you will come to understand something interesting.”

“Something interesting? Is this related to my questions concerning 2nd-Gear and…Shinjou-kun?”

“Searching for those answers is your role. And this is my test.” She nodded. “Team Leviathan is too inexperienced to see through my technique, but you may show some promise. …I will be testing you on that now.”

Her smile deepened and she deemed it an excellent smile.

Everything that produced a smile would result in a cheerful conclusion.

As she thought on that, Diana held her broom forward.

“Questions. They form tests, doubts, riddles, truth seeking, searches, and definite displays of resistance.”

She walked forward.

“Think and ask questions. Send a question mark to yourself so that you can fight back.”

As she spoke, Diana continued toward Sayama.

Sayama watched the witch approach.

With her current gait, she was twelve steps away.

A footstep quickly reduced that to eleven. A heel cut it down to ten.

Once he counted down through nine, eight, and seven, she would be in her territory.

With a natural pace, she made that seventh step.

At the same moment, Diana disappeared from Sayama’s senses.

''No,'' thought Sayama.

He was seeing Diana a bit to the right.

He was seeing her, but his mind could not sense her.

Her footsteps and presence were both there, but his senses would not accept it.

…''What is this?

His perception was out of sync with his senses. With a smile, Diana approached to a distance of six steps.

Sayama felt a chill.

This was when he had made his back steps previously.

Diana had stopped here and his perception of her had returned.

But she did not stop this time.

She continued on.

For an instant, he was not sure if he should evade or not.

This urge to evade was what Izumo had transformed into an attack earlier.

Sayama felt it was commendable that Izumo had been able to resist evading.

But Izumo’s attack had been evaded and he had been blown away.

Seven steps or about four meters was far enough to evade almost any close quarters attack.

Faced with that fact, Sayama knew he had to grasp Diana’s location directly in front of him.

While wondering what he should do, Sayama had found a certain method.

Shinjou saw Sayama suddenly step forward toward Diana.

An “ah” escaped her lips.

She realized what Sayama was doing.

“He’s going to fight even though he can’t see her.”

Just because he could not see her did not mean she had disappeared.

She was there.

If his opponent would circle around outside his attack range, he just had to fill that gap himself.

That was the method Sayama chose and he continued to move.

As Sayama stepped forward, he held his right hand out ahead of him.

Diana had been walking straight toward him, but his outstretched hand stopped her.

No longer able to walk forward, Diana chose to evade. Her body moved to the side as she began to step out of the way.

At the same time, Sayama’s Cowling Sword shot out in his left hand. It formed a white arc from his right hip to directly in front of him.

“…!”

Even if he could not see his opponent, he could guide her with a few different movements.

If he stopped her from moving forward, she would definitely move either left or right.

And a sword swung from the right hip would extend the farthest to the left. In that case…

…''She’ll evade to the right!

Diana circled outside the range of the sword and to Sayama’s right.

The witch calmly evaded the blade.

However, Shinjou saw another smile. This smile was on Sayama’s lips.

Shinjou could guess why he had that smile. Sayama’s primary weapon was not his sword.

“Seh!!”

His right leg shot toward Diana in a high speed kick.

He put his hips behind this kick in a way only one trained in hand-to-hand fighting could.

It all happened in an instant.

The sharp trajectory of his leg struck the witch and a sound of impact rang out.

Sayama felt the blow in his leg. However…

“It was not a direct hit!”

“No, it was not. You think too much of yourself, but you did well for someone at your level.”

He could see Diana.

The black witch showed no sign of pain and no sign of having taken a blow.

He noticed his leg had not struck her.

She was holding her broom in front of her in her left hand. His leg had struck the broom’s handle.

“…”

She had not taken any kind of stance. She had simply held the broom forward. It was almost as if…

…''It looks like my leg struck the broom she had held out in advance.

“I knew what you were doing,” she said.

“You knew?”

“Sorry. I could have knocked you away before you even attacked, but you would not have accepted that result. I needed to show you that your chosen method would not work.”

Diana went on to describe Sayama’s strategy.

“You chose to forestall my movement and lead me as you saw fit, didn’t you? But that does not work against someone who knows how you think.”

Diana drew back the broom and Sayama lowered his leg.

They both took a breath, and…

“!”

Sayama suddenly threw a left kick.

It was fast and he had chosen a moment when her guard was down.

However…

“How naïve.”

Sayama’s kick was blocked by the handle of Diana’s broom as if that was the natural result.

Sayama frowned and Diana smiled.

“Do you understand now?”

He did. At some point, her broom had moved from her left hand to her right hand.

Just like her walking, he had been unable to perceive that movement of the broom.

What was happening?

The one thing he understood was that he did not understand.

“If you are faced with an enemy who can do this, you and those behind you are done for,” said Diana.

Sayama listened to her and uttered a grinding question through his clenched back teeth.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why can I not see you even though I am seeing you?” he asked as if throwing away the breath.

“Testament.”

Diana raised her head. Her eyebrows returned to normal and strength left her expression as she showed a true smile.

“That contradictory question is a very Japanese. I believe a man in Japanese mythology named Yamato Takeru used a method like this to defeat an opponent. He kept his opponent from suspecting anything, approached, and attacked.”

“…!”

Sayama recalled what Shinjou Setsu had told him after school.

…''What if I was Yamato Takeru?

He had thought that meant Shinjou Setsu had some lie.

And he had given a certain response to those words.

He had made a certain promise to Shinjou Setsu.

…''When Shinjou-kun gets serious and tries to tell me something, I will face him.

He focused on the idea of “facing” him.

Sayama realized a new meaning for that word.

He realized a new way of thinking about his promise with Shinjou, his training with Diana, 2nd-Gear’s acclimation to Low-Gear, and how he should carry out the Leviathan Road.

It was all the same.

If he did not properly face those things, he would lose something.

And so Sayama nodded.

He opened his mouth and rephrased his previous question into a new question.

“Why am I not seeing you even though I should be seeing you?”

That question would allow him to face his opponent’s true form. His question was based in conviction.

Naturally, Diana had no way of reading his thoughts.

But even so, she nodded in response.

“Testament. Think on this. Face everything that stands before you so that you do not lose sight of them. …Struggling against that sort of question is a good deed for you and your comrades.”

He heard her speak.

And as soon as he realized that, Sayama saw something white.

It was the ceiling.

He did not even know when he had been knocked into the air.

''Is even that a question I must ask?'' thought Sayama.

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 8|Chapter 8]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 6

2026-08-02T02:29:28Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 6: Former Admiration==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0147.png|thumb]]

''The world’s entrance is surprisingly close by

''Will you turn around or look upward?''

''The easiest boundary to accept is at your feet

When Ooshiro Itaru awoke, it was the afternoon.

Instead of his usual private room, he was on the roof of the UCAT building.

He had been sleeping in a cloth reclining chair and a blanket while below a large parasol.

Next to him was an astronomical telescope and…

“Sf, what are you doing with that notebook?”

“Tes. I am recording the heavenly bodies we saw last night.”

“Oh? I only remember showing you dark parts of the sky and saying ‘Look, dark matter’.”

He sat up and noticed Sf was filling the entire notebook page with the color black.

“Wait. Are you saying this was my fault?”

“This was what you wanted, Itaru-sama.”

Itaru brushed up his hair and placed a hand on the telescope.

“Wanna look at the stars during the day?”

“Tes. Thank you very much. Now I can use a different color of colored pencil.”

“What color are you going to use now?”

“Tes. Only the color blue.”

“So you think you can only see the sky, is that it? It’s time I taught this ill-tempered German machine that the stars do exist.”

Sf tilted her head in response.

“Are you sure you want to talk about the stars?”

“For me at least, they’re meaningless. But I have an interest in that kind of thing. Remember that.”

“Tes,” said Sf with a nod.

“Did anything happen since I fell asleep last night?” asked Itaru.

“According to the business division, Sayama-sama wishes to meet with the 2nd-Gear representative.”

“Ha. They haven’t even agreed to a mutual contract and he’s already here for a preliminary investigation? Any sign of him coming to me?”

“Tes, none at all. Kazami-sama and Izumo-sama arrived ahead of him and were let inside the Second Reference Room along with Sibyl-sama. I predict he will meet up with them.”

“I see,” said Itaru with a happy look. “He can dig up the past with his friends and trick himself into thinking he knows everything.” He gave a bitter smile. “2nd-Gear is a lot like us, but that means they won’t open up to us.”

Sayama walked through a corridor in UCAT along with Ooshiro.

He was on his way to a meeting with 2nd-Gear.

He had chosen to carry out the meeting alone because Kazami and the others were focused on inspecting documents.

“Most of the development department is asleep right now because they work through the night and the Leviathan Road representative has yet to arrive? It sounds like I will not be able to meet with them.”

Ooshiro nodded in response as they walked down the corridor.

“I can still introduce you to the director of the development department. And you need to experience 2nd-Gear’s concepts for yourself, don’t you?”

“True.”

They both created a loud footstep as they came to a stop.

They stood before the standard division’s first armory on UCAT’s second basement.

When the automatic door’s camera spotted Ooshiro, the door opened.

“Did you see that, Mikoto-kun? I’m a total VIP. You should show me more respect.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. …Is that enough?”

Ooshiro ignored him and stepped into the darkness before their eyes.

Sayama followed.

He heard a voice.

—'''Names provide power.

Sayama checked the red text scrolling across the watch on his left wrist.

He stared forward and saw that a dimly-lit storehouse had appeared at some point.

The ceiling emitted a bluish-white light and endless rows of steel shelves were covered in swords.

Countless swords were displayed while affixed to the shelves, scabbard and all.

“Listen. While in here, we gain power simply by having our names.”

“I see. Then what does Sayama give me?”

“Hmm… One theory says the name Sayama refers to a certain territory. Instead of giving you a special ability, it gives you the social status of owning that land. My name of Ooshiro means I am sturdy.<ref>Ooshiro means “great castle”.</ref>”

Ooshiro pulled a box cutter from his pocket.

He pressed it to his wrist and drew a line.

“See? Nothing happened.”

“Oh, now that is a surprise. But I am not sure I like the idea of an organization of which the leader walks around with a knife. Should I report you to the police? Also, old man, there is a flaw in your theory.”

Sayama took the box cutter from Ooshiro.

He immediately traced the blade along his own arm.

“Ahh! Mikoto-kun is going along with the latest fad!”

For some reason, Ooshiro raised his right thumb as he shouted out. Sayama showed him the right arm he had cut.

However, the arm was unharmed. The only mark was the slight redness of pressing something up against it.

“This box cutter is mass produced, so it has no inherent ‘name’.”

Sayama pulled a pen from his pocket and wrote the word “blade” on the knife blade.

“In 1st-Gear, this would have made it a blade.”

He did not hesitate to stab Ooshiro in the gut.

“Wahh! Wh-what are you doing, Mikoto-kun!?”

“Stop shouting. It only cut your clothes. It unfortunately did nothing to what lies within. Do I have to name it the ‘something-or-other knife’ for it to work? …This restriction is fairly strict.”

As he spoke, someone was staring at him with half-lidded eyes, but it was not Ooshiro.

He received a response from an amused female voice coming from further back in the armory.

“That’s more or less it. …You are a crazy person, bearer of the Leviathan Road.”

The voice held a bitter tone and Ooshiro scratched his head as he looked around.

“Hey, Director Tsukuyomi, could you come out to help us study 2nd-Gear?”

“Sure, but wait a moment. I need to put on some makeup with a young boy present.”

“Why bother?” asked Ooshiro.

As soon as he spoke, the old man flew backward.

A sound of impact rang out.

''What was that?'' thought Sayama just as he spotted a light.

A bluish-white light had knocked Ooshiro beyond the automatic door.

However, it quickly disappeared.

“What was that?”

“Curious? You have excellent focus. Of course, that could cost you your life someday.”

The female voice suddenly came from quite nearby.

Sayama turned to the left and saw someone standing there.

An elderly woman in a lab coat stood in the dim light. Her narrowed eyes were turned toward him.

“You are here out of interest in 2nd-Gear, I take it?” She took a breath. “I am Tsukuyomi Shizuru, director of the development department. I will teach you a thing or two about 2nd-Gear’s concepts.”

The Second Reference Room was large.

Between two of the gray bookshelves on the white floor, Kazami wandered around with a few bundles of copy paper in her arms.

The sides of the lined up bookshelves gave the subject their documents were classified under.

“And the bookshelves covering the same subject are divided up by year and other subdivisions.”

Kazami was currently looking at the employee histories.

That was where she would find the data on the 2nd-Gear members working in UCAT.

The documents on the shelves were the master copies and a copier within the room was used to make copies that could be taken out.

However, some concept seemed to be in effect because some of the documents would have a portion blacked out on the copy.

“The truth lies in unseen places, hm?”

Also, it seemed there was some information they could read but would immediately forget and some they would interpret as entirely different text when they tried to read it.

Supposedly, a man had once snuck in to steal some income and expenditure reports, but when he arrived at home, he realized he had instead printed out twenty-six chapters’ worth of a story featuring a sick younger stepsister.

Kazami guessed that man had been Ooshiro.

“I get the feeling that would actually make more people want to sneak in… Anyway, you can’t take anything out at all unless you can alter its string vibration. And we only have permission to take out what we print onto the designated copy paper.”

…''I wonder if Sayama could find a hole in the concept’s rules and take out any information he wanted.

“He probably could…”

She smiled bitterly.

''That underclassman of ours can be a bit of a thief and he tends to let the ends justify the means,'' thought Kazami. ''But what if Shinjou was with him?

The Shinjou siblings acted as a stopper for Sayama’s eccentric actions.

Sadame had filled that role during the battle with 1st-Gear, but at school, Shinjou Setsu had often acted in Sayama’s place and warned or stopped him concerning his speech or actions.

Kazami did not know much about Shinjou.

She had first met Sadame when Team Leviathan had been put together and had first met Setsu during spring break. Before that, she had only heard that there was someone named Shinjou who UCAT was protective of.

The one thing Kazami really did not understand was why Sayama made no effort to look into who those siblings were despite having both by his side.

…''He must have some reason and he must be satisfied just having Shinjou with him.

Her relationship with Izumo was similar.

They knew each other’s families, but the details about the other’s parents were mostly unknowns.

They were okay with not knowing and that might have meant what they already had was enough.

“I don’t know, though,” muttered Kazami as she thought. “Even if you’re fine not knowing about the other, you still want them to know about you. And that desire grows stronger the closer the two of you get.”

…''And Shinjou’s secrets are probably larger than ours.

For those sheltered siblings, the desire had to be even stronger.

“But will Shinjou be able to reveal her secret?”

Kazami just hoped Shinjou would not feel guilty if she continued keeping quiet about this important secret.

As she thought, she heard Sibyl’s voice in the distance.

“Chisato-sama.”

Kazami shrugged and turned toward the bookshelf.

Unfortunately, she had yet to gather the documents she had been tasked with finding.

…''Sibyl is way too fast.

She had no intention of feeling bad about being slower than Sibyl, but it made her stomach ache how Sibyl continued to call out her name.

“Um, uh, Chisato-sama…”

“Yes, yes. Wait just a moment.”

''That doesn’t even buy me a minute,'' thought Kazami as she looked forward.

The employee histories were lined up before her by department.

She glanced along the filing numbers on the edge of the clear file folders holding the documents and reached for the file she wanted.

But Kazami suddenly noticed a certain fact.

“There’s…”

“A missing period, right?”

Kazami turned around when she heard Izumo’s voice to her right.

He had a ten centimeter stack of copied documents detailing the development of 2nd-Gear concept weapons, but he tilted his head as he looked at her.

Kazami looked first at the blank spot on the shelf and then at the documents in Izumo’s hands.

“There is a blank period…but what’s with those documents?”

“Oh, Sibyl helped me gather th-…ow ow! Why would you start kicking me out of the blue?”

“Shut up. Guys who take the easy way out will never be good for anything.”

Sibyl’s skill was amazing, though.

“She is a master of information. The name Sibyl is based on a goddess, right?”

“Yes, Cybele. I wonder who named her that.”

“It was probably someone connected to UCAT, but I couldn’t say who.”

“Chisato-sama!”

“Oh, sorry. I ran into a distraction, so wait just a bit longer.”

“A distraction?”

“A terrible distraction. …Kaku, why do you look so upset?”

Despite Izumo’s expression, Sibyl called out again.

“Chisato-sama, how about I help you search?”

''Now there’s a good idea,'' thought Kazami. She almost agreed but swallowed the words. ''No, no. We asked her to help, so I can’t have her help any more than this.

Sibyl was always bringing tea and snacks during training.

In fact, Kazami had a feeling she would occasionally bring them bentos too. Bentos Kazami had taught her how to make.

…''Not good. She’s surpassing me and I never noticed until now. What do I do?

“Chisato, you look really conflicted, but some things are easier if you just give in.”

“Shut up. That comment settles it.”

''That’s right. I can’t rely on her. I need to stubbornly refuse her,'' she thought.

“I’m on my way,” said Sibyl.

Kazami’s shoulders drooped and she looked up at the ceiling.

''Dammit,'' she thought as Izumo spoke up next to her.

“Sibyl’s the type to not think too much about our feelings. But now you’ve been dragged into the same world of laziness as me. Wa ha ha! Give in to the laziness beam and just laze around until you die.”

“I’ll ignore that, but was it the same when she ended up helping you?”

“She walked up next to me and began pulling out all the documents I was after and piled them up with a smile. There was nothing I could do.”

“Sibyl really likes helping people, doesn’t she?”

“The scary part is how it’s like an indiscriminate bombing. Some people hate that kind of thing and there are some things people have to do themselves, so try to drag her away at times like that.”

“Sure,” said Kazami. “But, Kaku, what’s the deal with that blank period?”

“From the few bookshelves I saw, there are some shelves that really are empty. There’s nothing but a few abandoned documents remaining. I wonder if there’s a Third Reference Room where the really important stuff is-…”

“It was not moved anywhere like that,” said Sibyl as she walked up from behind.

Kazami turned around and saw Sibyl circle around a bookshelf while her high heels produced loud footsteps.

“Judging by the maintenance department’s concept space facility maintenance records, UCAT has no other concept space of this same type,” continued Sibyl. “I looked through most of the shelves and it seems the blank period exists here in the Second Reference Room as well.”

“As well?”

“Testament. UCAT has a past that is kept hidden from everyone.”

In the dim armory, a scarlet light appeared before Sayama’s eyes.

The light came from the sword in Tsukuyomi’s hand. The matte black blade was spewing red flames.

She turned toward him with a confident look.

“This is a piece of equipment used by the standard division. It is a Cowling Sword named Hinokagutsuchi. With a philosopher’s stone, it can produce high enough heat to cut through metal. In this concept space, its name gives it the ability to shoot out fire.”

“Can you control that fire?”

“Someone with the name of a sword god or someone with great skill would likely be able to.”

Tsukuyomi showed him the blade. The fire it produced illuminated the name “Ichiroumaru”.

“We number them like this so it’s still a name.”<ref>The name Ichiroumaru can be interpreted as the number 160.</ref>

“That is very thorough. But isn’t it inconvenient to call in power using names? Compared to 1st-Gear’s writing concept, it seems a lot more restrictive.”

“Didn’t 1st-Gear’s lack of restrictions prevent them from leaving behind many written records?” Tsukuyomi gave a bitter smile and returned the sword to its scabbard. “In 2nd-Gear, the bearer of power was determined properly. The different powers were controlled by those who possessed them and were used to their fullest when released. 2nd-Gear was a Gear of specialization in skills and ability.”

“Then 2nd-Gear’s representative for the Leviathan Road is…?”

“Yes, a man with great power. Kashima Akio is 2nd-Gear’s greatest military god and swordsmith.”

“He will negotiate with me?” asked Sayama before asking another question that floated up in his chest. “Did you make a military god your representative because you expect the Leviathan Road to involve combat?”

“It is a distinct possibility, isn’t it?” Tsukuyomi’s expression changed. The ends of her eyebrows lowered and she looked up with a troubled expression. “But it may not happen. I just hope he can face the Leviathan Road seriously.”

“Does he feel no desire to negotiate because 2nd-Gear is already on the same level as Low-Gear?”

To test the waters, Sayama threw out the question he and the others had raised earlier.

However, Tsukuyomi did not give him an answer.

“Kashima has his reasons. But that is exactly why I chose him. Sayama-kun? Do you have some time?”

“I intend to train with my comrades and exchange information on 2nd-Gear. Afterward, I plan to tell the old man you knocked outside whether I would begin the Leviathan Road with 2nd-Gear or not.”

“I see. Then there is no need to hurry. But it would be best if you met Kashima soon. If you do, you should be able to face the question you have about 2nd-Gear.”

Sayama replied to the slight smile in her voice.

“Director Tsukuyomi, may I ask you one thing about that question?”

“What is it?”

Before he spoke, Sayama thought back once more to what Ooki had said.

“The people of 2nd-Gear are supposedly little different from the people of this world. But what do you think? Have you and the others been fully naturalized to Low-Gear?”

“Well.” Tsukuyomi thought for a beat while returning the sword to the shelf. “Those of us who do not know about 2nd-Gear and know nothing of concepts likely have no doubts they belong here. My daughter is like that.”

“I see. Are you saying you and the others here are different?”

“Hm, I don’t know. Everyone is different. We have a certain power, but we all view that differently. Personally, I have no intention of passing that power on to my daughter, but I still think it is useful.”

Tsukuyomi then added another answer to her statement.

And the smile on her lips deepened as she did so.

“How about you learn firsthand just how useful the power of 2nd-Gear’s ‘names’ is?”

Tsukuyomi snapped the fingers of her right hand.

In the next moment, Sayama sensed something coming from overhead.

He looked up and saw light. It was the beam of bluish-white light that had knocked Ooshiro away earlier.

Sayama took a defensive stance against the falling light and he heard Tsukuyomi speak.

“The name Tsukuyomi means to ‘read the moon’, so it lets me control moonlight. The dim light here is modeled after a moonlit environment, so the light here is my ally. This is the power of the name belonging to 2nd-Gear’s former imperial family.”

Meanwhile, the light arrived.

Sayama moved on reflex. He moved back to distance himself from Tsukuyomi. However…

“The light…”

The light should have fallen to the floor, but it suddenly bent and curved.

The light shot by across the ground and jumped up toward Sayama’s stomach.

Sayama stood in the narrow area between shelves, so he could not evade.

Tsukuyomi stopped smiling and spoke.

“If you make it through this, I will admit you understand a bit about us. And if you do, I will show you a certain technique as a reward.” She took a breath. “It is an anti-foreign world combat technique we can use without relying on the concepts of our Gear.”

Sibyl spoke to Kazami and Izumo in front of the rows of document shelves.

“A portion of the documents have been removed from the freely available First Reference Room as well. The period seems to span from 1985 to about 1995. Half of ’96 is missing as well.”

Kazami recognized one of those years.

“So it’s the ten years leading up to ’95 when this Gear’s negative concepts began to activate?”

“Testament. It is the ten years leading up to the Great Kansai Earthquake. …I am sure you have heard that information on UCAT was nearly exposed when we lost so many people in that earthquake. To avoid inspections and whistleblowers, the documents were destroyed. Some people refer to it as UCAT’s blank period.”

“So they decided it was safer for the important documents to not even exist, is that it? It is true the security here is ridiculously tight.”

“Is it?” asked Kazami with a hint of uncertainty.

“Yeah,” said Izumo with a nod. “I was looking at a porn magazine I found with the confiscated documents and none of the contents would reach my brain properly.”

“…Could you stop talking about that kind of nonsense so seriously?”

“Chisato-sama, that is just who Izumo-sama is. I would be more surprised if he said something worthwhile.”

“Hey, you two? Are you denying something about me?”

The other two ignored Izumo’s refreshing statement.

“Anyway, Sibyl, thanks for the help. …We really gathered a lot.”

“You are going in to train next, right? I will organize it all by the time you are done.”

“Thanks,” said Kazami again before sighing. “Sibyl, even ignoring the blank period, there’s still a great divide between us and the higher ups. Both Sayama and Kaku’s grandfathers died before they could learn about them.” She turned toward Izumo. “And he couldn’t find any documents on his father.”

“…I wasn’t looking for anything about him.”

“Fine, fine. If you say so. I saw you wandering around on your own, though.”

Kazami stroked his head as he glared at her and then she took a document from him.

The copied document described 2nd-Gear’s past concept weapon development.

She read the top of the fairly old-looking paper.

“A god of war?”

Printed at the top of the A4 piece of paper was the title Overall Diagram of the Humanoid Machine.

Sibyl peered over Kazami’s shoulder at the blurry lines of the paper.

“That is a very unrefined design. It is not a direct descendant of the ones from 3rd.”

“Well, it’s really old. Look, it says 1945…”

Kazami gasped when she realized what her own words meant.

“That’s the year Japanese UCAT was founded!”

Sayama took a certain action as the moonlight attack approached.

He looked up at the line of bluish-white lights on the ceiling.

Those lights produced the “moonlight”.

After checking on the faint lights filling the armory, Sayama faced forward.

Tsukuyomi looked a bit surprised.

“You plan to receive the attack? It’ll blow you away!”

“I will not let it!”

Sayama stared at the beam of light that was just about to strike him.

And he swung up his left arm.

With that single motion, he removed his coat and transferred Baku from the coat pocket to his head.

“If this is moonlight…”

Sayama placed the coat over his head as the beam of light approached from the front.

It all happened in an instant.

“If the moonlight is cut off from the moon, it cannot reach me!”

When the coat cut the beam off from the lights on the ceiling, it visibly weakened.

At the same time, Sayama kicked the moonlight up into the bundled-up coat.

The sound of the strike resembled a splash.

Particles of moonlight scattered from below the coat.

And finally, the light disappeared.

The coat fell to the ground, but Sayama left it there and continued moving.

He took another step toward Tsukuyomi.

…''Show me 2nd-Gear’s anti-foreign world combat technique!

He stepped forward with his left foot and threw a kick with his right. He aimed low down at her feet so it would be difficult to avoid.

He did not hold back because his opponent was a woman or because she was elderly.

“That is what it means to fight.”

Sayama kicked.

In the next instant, an unthinkable change occurred.

Tsukuyomi disappeared from before his eyes.

“!?”

His foot flew through empty air and he took a defensive stance.

Wondering where she was, he began to turn around.

“A negotiator should not drop his coat.”

Hearing that voice behind him, he hastened his turn. He found his coat held out toward him.

He slowly took it from Tsukuyomi who was holding it.

Based on the timing with which she had held out the coat, Sayama calculated the time it took her to move there.

“After I threw my kick and lost sight of you, you walked behind me and picked up the coat?”

During that time, she had vanished from his sight.

''What happened?'' he wondered while Tsukuyomi showed a bitter smile.

“Mysterious, isn’t it? 2nd-Gear developed techniques like this that we can use without concepts. That way we can win no matter when someone wants a fight,” she said while looking extremely pleased. “You will be looking into our past now, right? I hope you can bring us an excellent negotiation afterward.”

Kazami looked at the humanoid machine drawn on the diagram in her hand.

It was a metal giant that seemed to be made by connecting together the bodies of warships using giant cylinders and bolts. The torso was a simple T-shape, but the arms and legs were very thick just like a toy.

Even the modern gods of war UCAT had started sending out into battle more closely resembled humans than this.

“The Yamata Sealing Humanoid Machine named ‘Susaou’. Jointly developed between Low and 2nd. …The central format is listed as Mikage format?”

Kazami thought she heard Sibyl gasp at the word “Mikage”.

However, Kazami did not ask about it. If Sibyl wanted to talk about it, she would.

She gave a bitter internal smile and continued looking through the blurry words of the copy.

How advanced a machine could they have made when Japanese UCAT was first established?

“The project to construct it was proposed March 12, 1945 and completed August of the following year. So they started this about half a year before the end of the war. …I’m amazed they could do that while Japan was undergoing tons of air-raids.”

“It was developed along with 2nd-Gear, so it most likely works under 2nd-Gear’s concepts rather than those of 3rd-Gear, the world of gods of war. That must be why it is called a ‘humanoid machine’ instead of a god of war.”

“I see.”

Kazami nodded and checked the measurements given around Susaou. She read off the blurry writing.

“Crew size: approximately 200 people. Total height: approximately 500…”

She trailed off. Her head was unable to keep up with what she read.

“…What is this? A height of approximately 500 rice? Like, five hundred grains of rice?”

“No, Chisato-sama. That means five hundred meters. Meter used to be written with the character for rice.”

“Um, Sibyl. Even in a concept space, that’s too big to be real.”

“But these documents mean it is real,” said Izumo. He took a breath and met her gaze. “Are your thoughts bound by common sense by any chance?”

“O-of course they are.”

“Well, this huge thing exists somewhere in Tokyo along with Yamata. And there’s something even more surprising on that copy.”

Izumo moved in closer to her and pointed at one line on the copy.

It listed the names of Susaou’s captain and second in command.

“The captain was Ooshiro Hiromasa and the second command was Kashima. …Do you see the UCAT connection now?”

“I don’t recognize the name Kashima, but Ooshiro…”

“That’s right. …It’s all connected between sixty years ago and today.”

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 7|Chapter 7]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 5

2026-08-01T04:21:51Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 5: A Mutual Introduction==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0125.png|thumb]]
''The present drives one to question the past

''The past prevents one from protecting the answer in the present

''Which one gives a more evil impression?

Brunhild and Diana’s battle moved inside the school building.

They clashed on the first floor of the third general school building. More and more of the glass in the hallway shattered.

Two forms slipped between the small shards as they moved.

To the east, Diana wore guest slippers and held her pumps in her right hand.

To the west, Brunhild took action and fired an attack using glowing writing.

In general, Brunhild would attack and Diana would receive it.

However, Brunhild was the one being forced back.

As sunlight from the setting sun filled the little-used hallway, sounds of wind came from the rushing light and splashing sounds came from the shattering writing.

With the bird still on her shoulder and the cat still at her feet, Brunhild sank down and moved forward.

She stared at her opponent and thought.

…''What is this woman thinking!?

She could not read her.

Part of her did not particularly care, but she also felt a need to know what her opponent was after.

This woman had told Siegfried to leave the Leviathan Road.

…''And she said Team Leviathan and 1st-Gear can no longer go back!

What could they no longer go back from?

She doubted Diana would answer if she asked, especially as someone so closely connected to the Leviathan Road.

Every single person connected to that negotiation was hiding a definite truth and only bringing forward the current facts.

And so Brunhild stepped forward in order to ask.

Two footsteps later and she had reached her opponent.

“…!”

She wrote with the stone in her right hand.

The word she wrote meant “iron pipe”.

The produced light formed a two meter long weapon. It was lighter than an iron rod and harder than a wooden staff.

She attacked.

Diana stood directly in front of her. She targeted the tall woman’s legs which were covered with gray stockings.

Brunhild moved her knees forward to extend her reach. She swung the center of the iron pipe toward the woman’s shin from the right.

And in an instant…

“Oh, dear.”

Diana tried to avoid the attack.

She moved away to Brunhild’s left. She took a step toward the hallway’s window, but Brunhild could reach the wall with the length of the iron pipe. Even if the woman pressed up against the wall…

…''She can’t avoid it!

In the next moment, Diana took a certain action. She placed her slipper-covered foot on the wall.

“I hope no one is looking in from outside.”

She walked up the window and circled around to the ceiling.

“!”

Brunhild straightened up but more due to the woman’s movement than due to her avoiding the attack.

Brunhild was surprised.

That fact indicated she was in danger, so Brunhild reflexively jumped back.

She tossed aside the heavy iron pipe made of light and took a giant leap back with the movements of a clockwork doll.

She looked up in time to see the woman standing on the ceiling taking a step forward.

She reached her left hand out toward the iron pipe of light Brunhild had thrown into the air.

“You need to clean up after yourself.”

It was absorbed into a piece of paper.

Brunhild landed at the same moment. The bottoms of her feet slid a bit on the wooden tiles of the floor.

“Are you using a philosopher’s stone to stick to the ceiling?”

“Yes, I am using a spell to adjust the gravitational attraction a bit.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. All I know is the spell to draw out the power. I don’t know the theory behind it.” She gave an upside-down bitter smile. “If you insist on an answer, I suppose I could say this is a spell that this Gear obtained along with a few philosopher’s stones back when we first contacted your Gear and gained its culture. This method of drawing out power uses a philosopher’s stone as a catalyst and writing as the key.”

Diana raised her left hand. It held a single pure white piece of paper.

“Some look down on it and call it magic.”

“I see. And here I thought clinging to the ceiling was your own special ability. Like a frog or gecko.”

Brunhild saw her opponent’s smile deepen.

Brunhild lowered her stance and turned so her left side faced forward.

“Show me this magic that is based on our techniques.”

She then nodded and held her left hand up. She raised her fingers and beckoned.

“Come at me, Little Diana.”

Diana responded by lowering her head a bit while still standing on the ceiling.

“I shall.”

And she moved forward.

The battle intensified inside the straight hallway.

It began when Diana dashed across the ceiling.

Her pumps dangled from her right hand and she held a piece of paper in her left hand.

As she lowered her body toward the ceiling, she pressed her left thumbnail into the paper. That caused the color black to appear.

That pressure-sensitive paper was created via philosopher’s stone processing.

She continued on to draw a pattern with her thumbnail.

The pattern gave the image of fire, so the paper began to burn.

At the same time, fire was projected from the paper.

It was a flame round.

“Brand!”

At the midpoint between the two of them, the fire transformed into a mass just large enough to reach one’s arms around.

It shot directly toward Brunhild.

But just before it struck, she sank down.

With a smile on her lips, she wrote a word in the air.

“Metal plate.”

The flames burst apart in front of Brunhild’s right arm.

The pressure-sensitive paper was ripped to pieces.

The flames had been destroyed by the metal plate made of light that had appeared in Brunhild’s right hand.

Her enemy approached in response.

Diana took a step toward Brunhild and then took another running step.

She reached her left arm around and brushed up the back of her hair.

Diana’s hair spread out in midair.

[[Image:OnC_v03_0133.png|thumb]]

White fragments flew from the hair.

They were pieces of paper. Sixteen scraps of paper danced wildly through the air. They all had patterns drawn on them already.

They meant “arrow”.

“Pfeil!”

A total of sixteen sharp points flew through the air. They were of course flying toward Brunhild.

Those metal arrows soared in arcs similar to if they had been thrown.

They moved very quickly.

However, Brunhild only responded in one way.

She smiled bitterly.

And that bitter smile began to form words.

“You only need to give form to the power, but you go a step further and give it a physical form, don’t you?”

“Because our ability is inferior to your Gear’s, we had to take it farther than yours. My country is filled with perfectionists. It is most wonderful.”

“I see,” said Brunhild with a nod.

She wrote something in the air and let the arrows fly toward her.

Sixteen metal screws made of light appeared.

The screws scattered in midair and received the arrowheads with the weight of real metal.

The screws acted autonomously.

Whenever an arrowhead dug into the pile of slotted screws, all of the screws would jump up in midair.

The action wanted from a screw was of course to rotate.

They altered the trajectory of the arrows.

They all twisted around and flew behind Brunhild.

Once the attacks missed, they struck the ceiling or the floor.

Just as Brunhild heard sixteen stabbing sounds, Diana reached a suitable distance as she ran forward.

They were three meters apart. If she took one step forward and reached out, she could grab her opponent by the collar.

However, Diana swung her body instead.

As she twisted her body to the right, her left hand brushed up her hair.

Her hair waved, tubes of paper hidden within came loose, and those papers began to unfurl.

“Is that the only technique you have?” asked Brunhild. “I hope you don’t mind if I crush this repeat trick!”

Brunhild knew she could win.

Diana’s hair rushed by and the papers flew.

Brunhild moved forward to stop Diana’s movements.

When she sent out the papers, Diana had brushed her hand through her hair, leaving her body unguarded.

If Brunhild charged in at that moment, she could handle whatever happened.

…''I will get an answer from you.

Why did she decide the Leviathan Road was dangerous?

Brunhild advanced.

As she did, she felt something on her stomach.

It was the pain of something hard striking her.

“———”

It was an iron pipe made of light.

She looked down and saw Diana’s right hand was holding a piece of paper instead of her pumps.

The paper contained a single word that meant iron pipe: Eisenrohr.

It was the iron pipe Brunhild had created.

The paper that had absorbed the pipe had moved to Diana’s right hand at some point.

And then Brunhild noticed something else.

The papers scattering from Diana’s hair had nothing written on them.

“The hair was a feint. …It wasn’t a repeat trick, okay?”

Diana smiled and sent weight into Brunhild’s gut.

“!”

Brunhild was thrown backward, iron pipe and all.

Her light body seemed to float up into the air and away from Diana.

…''Why?

Why was she giving Brunhild distance?

Brunhild landed and the iron pipe made of light fell to the floor. At the same moment, she heard a shout from the black cat at her feet.

“Brunhild! …All around you!”

She looked around and found certain objects stabbed into the four walls, the floor, and the ceiling.

They were Diana’s metal arrows that she had deflected earlier.

The metal arrows had a pattern carved into them. That pattern would activate a spell.

“It can’t be. You carved the spell into the arrows?”

“Yes. This is a technique only possible once you give the power physical form. Physical arrows can be used as the catalyst for another spell. This is quite impossible for you in 1st-Gear who only give form to your power.”

Diana’s words caused the sixteen arrows to emit light.

Brunhild’s only option was to evade.

But a sudden pain filled her neck.

“!?”

She looked over and saw Diana holding her left hand out toward her.

That hand contained a single piece of white paper that was emitting white smoke. Something was wrapped around Brunhild’s neck.

“Kette. You can have that back. And while you are bound, we can have some fun with one of our later-developed spells,” said Diana with a smile. “Schlag. Let’s put some curl into your hair.”

As she spoke, a lightning attack exploded out within the hallway.

Kazami and Izumo had arrived at UCAT’s fourth basement.

A woman walked alongside the two of them in that white corridor.

This woman wore the white armored uniform of UCAT with the full assortment of skirt and sleeves. Her long, soft-looking blonde hair was swept back.

“Sibyl, is this your first time in the Second Reference Room, too?”

“Testament, Chisato-sama. Even the department heads are not allowed in without a good reason.”

“I’m amazed we got permission. Is the Leviathan Road just that important? Well, I doubt Ooshiro-san would tell us even if we asked,” commented Kazami.

Sibyl gave a small smile and nodded with her blue eyes.

“Chisato-sama, why are you investigating 2nd-Gear? Don’t you meet the development department often enough for G-Sp2’s management and adjustments?”

“Yeah. To put it simply, it’s because I know them that well that I want to make sure not to be rude.”

When Kazami put together her thoughts with a troubled expression, Sibyl’s eyes bent in a smile.

“In that case, wouldn’t you want to avoid looking into anything unnecessary? Try thinking about it this way: You simply enjoy learning about people you know and gathering new knowledge.”

“Actually, I don’t really like researching things…”

“That is a fatal flaw.”

“Wah! Did you just cut me off completely!? Come to think of it, am I just an idiot!?”

“P-please calm down, Chisato-sama. My honest opinion slipped out by accident.”

“Your honest opinion!?”

“Ahhh, Izumo-sama. C-could you do something about this?”

“Sure. …Chisato! Being an idiot’s nothing to get depressed over! You can be like me!”

His last word caused Kazami to send a straight punch in his direction.

“Ahh, that’s better. At any rate, I suppose it’s all over for you if you just give in. …But today I have Sibyl to help me out. Once we’re done here, we’re headed to the training room. Training really is easier for me.”

As Kazami spoke, the end of the corridor came into view.

There was nothing there. It was a dead end at a white wall. However…

—'''The truth lies in unseen places.

They heard a voice.

“!”

Red text spelling out the words they had heard ran across the black wristwatches the three of them wore.

Kazami trembled slightly at the light impact she felt from her watch.

At the same moment, the space before them opened up.

A wind whipped up, a burning smell filled the air, and a large amount of smoke filled the area.

Silver hair danced in the pressure of the waves of wind. It was Diana’s hair.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked into the smoke-filled wind at the center of the blast, but a smile never left her lips.

…''Now, how about that?

“If you made it through that…”

As she spoke, the curtain of smoke waved and opened.

A girl wearing a school uniform stood there. She appeared to be unscathed.

Diana’s smile deepened.

“Herrlich!”

Diana looked toward the girl standing in the center of the hallway.

The girl’s left hand was on the chain around her neck and her right hand was raised.

She was Brunhild.

The expressionless girl’s raised hand showed how she had blocked the lightning.

A metal plate, metal screws, an iron pipe, and a metal chain were all floating around her right hand. They appeared to be enveloping her. They had been able to turn aside the lightning attack and prevent a direct hit because she had given her power the form of “iron”.

Only an instantaneous decision remained.

The next battle began. Diana saw it with her eyes and heard it with her ears.

She saw Brunhild’s right hand produce writing and heard her lips produce words.

“You are that which strikes the enemy.”

In the air beyond Brunhild’s fingertips, the metal plate spun and became a frame.

“You are that which targets the enemy.”

The iron pipe spun in midair and became a gun barrel.

“You are that which is very hard.”

The screws flew through the air and connected the frame to the barrel.

“You are that which obeys me.”

The chain disconnected, duplicated itself again and again, and finally attached to the base of the barrel.

Brunhild raised her expressionless head and wrote the final term: smoothbore cannon.

As Diana watched on, the connected parts linked together to produce their proper form.

They created a metal cannon.

The writing of someone from 1st-Gear held the power to control every aspect of its target.

“Was everything you did in preparation to create this?”

“Hmph. Just because you are trying so pathetically hard with your later-developed techniques is no reason for me to hold back with the original techniques. Now, take this siege engine used even before the creation of the Wotan Kingdom.”

Brunhild pulled a single paperback novel from her pocket.

She set it in the magazine slot on the bottom of the frame.

A new smile appeared on Diana’s lips and she reached into her hair.

Immediately afterward, Brunhild unhesitatingly pulled the anchor.

Space trembled.

That was how it felt to Kazami and the others as an endlessly large file archive opened up in front of them.

The white ceiling was low and occasional fluorescent lights illuminated the bookshelves below.

All of the bookshelves were cheap ones made from metal frames, but they were filled with a great number of documents.

There were diagrams, reports, memos, contracts, and all kinds of other labels. The bookshelves filled with these documents continued on as far as the three of them could see.

“Wow.”

Kazami started to take a step back, but a hand stopped her from behind.

It was Sibyl. She shook her head.

“If you move back, you will return to the normal world.”

“I guess we have to do this. …Should we think of this as a concept battle against documents?”

“That mindset would be very like you, Chisato-sama.” Sibyl gave a small smile and spoke as she looked at the vast archive. “During the time of the National Defense Department, a large number of underground facilities were created as concept space experiments. UCAT inherited a lot of those and a few of them…”

“Are only known about by those at the very top, right? There are a lot of rumors about that. They say there are areas even further down than the lowest level. …Anyway, is this one of the places we inherited?”

“Testament. This is apparently based on the first archive created during the National Defense Department days. The documents that still exist in the real world are kept in the Kinugasa Library, so this must be a collection of the knowledge obtained in battle and the knowledge derived from that.”

“I see,” said Kazami with a nod. She looked around with an impressed look. “So there’s a lot of information here that they won’t let out without good reason.”

“And we’re here on the authority of the Leviathan Road.”

Izumo stepped forward and tapped on a bookshelf.

The shelf lined with knowledge and memories did not waver under his large hand.

“I think it’ll take a while before I can thank Ooshiro-san for giving us permission. Sibyl, help us find the documents related to the destruction of 2nd-Gear. …We need a good grasp of who we’re dealing with.”

“Testament. I will do my best.” Sibyl stepped forward and bowed with a small smile. “Let us gather data on the people of 2nd-Gear who we know so well. It may not be much, but I will assist with my information gathering ability.”

“Show yourself, power of majesty!”

That shout was drowned out by an intense sound of destruction piercing through the hallway.

A single change came over Brunhild’s spell and Diana’s spell at the midpoint between them.

That change was even more destruction.

The two attacks were destroyed by someone.

The annihilation of the two powers produced the great pressure of an explosion.

“…!”

Wind and sparks exploded within the hallway.

First, heat and the pressure of the air rushed out. That was followed by gray smoke and the sound of shattering glass.

As if pushed by the wind, Brunhild and Diana jumped back and their clothes were flipped upward.

As if facing each other, they both looked at the space between them.

The cannon and papers they had been using were already vanishing.

But what had destroyed their attacks?

As they watched, the smoke rising in the wind began to rotate and disperse.

The destroyer stood in the center.

It was a man.

A tall old man was down on one knee. He was bald, wore a black vest, and the palms of the leather gloves on his hands were pointed toward Brunhild and Diana.

Brunhild frowned when she saw the old man.

“Siegfried…”

“That is enough, you two.”

As if in response to his words, the wind died down. However, the two witches remained motionless.

Only one person there moved.

That person walked in from the central lobby. He was a boy wearing his school uniform impeccably.

His swept-back hair had some white on the left and right and his almond-shaped eyes looked at Brunhild, Siegfried, and then Diana.

“Sorry for troubling you, Mr. Zonburg. There was nothing a pacifist such as myself could do.”

“I will ignore that obvious lie, Sayama Mikoto, but it is indeed best to leave a job like this to the most suitable person.”

“Indeed. But I have one question for all of you: What exactly is going on here?” asked Sayama.

He turned toward Diana and she gave a disappointed sigh.

“I was just about to win, uncle.”

“That is my-…”

Before she could say “line”, Brunhild trailed off.

“Uncle?” she said instead.

“Yes,” confirmed Diana before turning toward Sayama.

She brought her heels together, stood tall, and dropped the smile.

“Testament. I am Diana Zonburg of German UCAT. I was sent here as European UCAT’s inspector for Team Leviathan.” She turned to Brunhild. “And as the witness for accepting 1st-Gear into German UCAT.”

“I see. So Mr. Zonburg’s niece was sent in.”

“Hah. You look more like his great-niece.”

“That is thanks to my uncle improving his eternal youth techniques. It only prevents me from aging, though. I will not live any longer than normal.”

“Either way, you’re a little girl to me. …Well? What will you do? I don’t care if you are the witness for accepting 1st-Gear. Shall we continue?”

The cat at her feet shook his head as hard as he could, but Brunhild paid him no heed.

She remained expressionless.

“Everyone from 1st-Gear would support me. It is not our way to back away because of your opponent’s authority.”

Diana smiled once more and shook her head.

“Unfortunately, I will have to back away. …It is highly unlikely, but if I ended up showing you my memories, it would be an insult to the past.”

“Coward. But I am relieved. You don’t see many women who are willing to keep their promises after they lose.”

Both of them gave a small laugh.

Between the two of them, Siegfried stood up with an exasperated look.

“Try to get along for 1st-Gear’s sake.” He loosened his necktie. “I ask that you put constant effort into that.”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 6|Chapter 6]]
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Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 4

2026-07-31T02:34:20Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 4: Constant Questions==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0097.png|thumb]]
''The usual begins again

''The usual questions and the usual actions

''As well as the usual unusual

Partially due to lunchtime having passed, schools naturally grew lively in the afternoon.

With its large grounds and many school buildings, Taka-Akita Academy was no exception.

Class 2-D in the second year general school building was Sayama’s class. That class had reached the time for its final homeroom.

However, Ooki had yet to finish her lesson.

“Sorry, everyone. My lessons always take so long.”

Everyone immediately nodded and Sayama spoke up from the center of the back row.

“Do not worry. All of us are used to it after last year.”

“Really? You’re all so great. But, but… The most amazing part was how this class was #1 on the academic test in April. Am I just that good at teaching?”

“You are. Your classes do an excellent job of teaching the students’ to learn independently.”

“Really?”

“When the teacher oversleeps, forgets her textbook, gets off the train at the wrong station, and cannot read what she herself wrote on the board, the students have no choice but to learn on their own. …You do an excellent job.”

“…Is that a compliment?”

“Ha ha ha. If you heard it that way, you must be a very happy person. Congratulations on the happy life to come.”

“Yay! It was a compliment if you ignore the details!”

As Ooki smiled, the students all gave her threatening looks.

As she turned her back to hand a printout to another row, Sayama nodded toward her.

''This is the kind of person working to save the world,'' he thought as he watched Ooki.

The others did not know about that frightening fact.

The ones working to save the world had no sense of superiority.

No one else knew what they were doing.

In the same way, no one knew anything about the Concept War fought during World War Two.

Sayama suddenly recalled what Ooki had said earlier that day.

…''Why do we need to do the Leviathan Road with 2nd-Gear?

What did the people of 2nd-Gear think? Did they feel the same way?

When Izumo had left at lunch time, he had told Sayama to visit UCAT’s development department if he wanted to know about 2nd-Gear’s concepts and the true circumstances surrounding its people.

When the term Leviathan Road was brought up, would they become allies or enemies?

“Hm.”

Sayama folded his arms.

He really did need to visit UCAT after class.

He had yet to complete his scheduled training time for that week, he wanted to meet with the people of 2nd-Gear, he needed to speak with Kazami and Izumo about what they had discovered after going on ahead, and…

…''Maybe I can see Shinjou Sadame-kun if I go.

With that thought, he made up his mind.

He would go to UCAT.

And he had to inform someone of this decision.

Shinjou Setsu sat to his right with his long black hair tied back behind him.

Shinjou appeared to have been leaning over his desk to write on some loose leaf papers, but…

…''He is asleep.

Sayama reached over to tap Shinjou’s shoulder in order to wake him.

But just as he did, Shinjou frowned and spoke in his sleep.

“Ah… N-no, Sayama-kun…”

Sayama reflexively pulled out his handheld digital recorder.

''Hurry,'' he thought. ''Will I be able to edit it together in time? I hope I do not overwrite the previous recording.

Sayama frantically hit the switch and held the recorder out just as Shinjou stood his fingernails up on the desk.

“Don’t…don’t you need to heat it up more than that?” Shinjou squirmed. “I-I can’t handle s-something that hard!”

“Hm. What is this you cannot handle?”

“Ya…”

“Ya?”

“Yakiniku!”

Just as Shinjou let out that shout, he stood up with enough force to knock his chair backward and his desk forward.

His cloth pencil case fell to the ground and a few sheets of loose leaf paper scattered from the desk.

Silent focus turned toward Shinjou.

After a short pause, Sayama spoke up.

“What kind of exciting dream were you having?”

“Eh? Oh…um… You were insisting on the order meat-meat-vegetable-meat-vegetable, but I was saying vegetable-vegetable-meat-meat-vegetable would be better. Then you tried to force some half-cooked vegetables into… Wait, dream?”

Shinjou glanced around and saw everyone staring at him.

“Ah,” he said.

He seemed to have caught on, so Sayama nodded.

“I am just glad you managed to wake up on your own.”

“There’s no way I can believe you with that digital recorder in your hands! What did you record?”

“Just your running commentary on the yakiniku in your brain. Ha ha ha. But do not worry. I will put it to good use.”

“N-no. I have a really, really bad feeling about this, so give it to me.”

“C’mon, you two. I’m still trying to teach a class here,” said Ooki.

Shinjou blushed but then tilted his head when he glanced over at the clock.

“Huh? Why are you still teaching your class?”

“Ah! I may have been the one to say it, but that was a critical hit!!” Ooki then nodded with a smile and pointed at Shinjou. “At any rate, you shouldn’t oversleep.”

Everyone in the class nodded and spoke.

“How can you say that when you’re late to every class!?”

The afternoon sunlight filled a slanted forest.

This forest was in the mountains that stretched back from the train station in Okutama.

Amid those forested mountains was a curving road continuing from the Oume Highway.

The road followed the natural lines of the mountains and the rivers.

However, the road curved in a V-shape at one point.

The road was turning aside to avoid a single mountain. That mountain was covered in underbrush but had no trees.

It was what remained of a large-scale landslide.

That pile of dirt was one hundred meters wide from north to south and it was two hundred meters long.

Behind it was a small mountain about a hundred meters tall on which the strata of the earth were exposed on the side.

A single person stood at the top of those exposed strata.

It was the young man named Kashima.

He wore his usual work clothes, lab coat, and glasses.

A few white structures were visible beyond the opposite mountain and the forest covering it.

“You can really see IAI on a clear day like this.”

…''You can always see it well from here.

He could see the sky well too.

Kashima sat on the grass and looked up into the blue sky.

This was not far from his childhood home. When he looked up into the heavens, he was reminded of a single person.

“I used to play with my grandfather.”

His words brought back memories of the past.

…''My grandfather…

Kashima’s grandfather had survived the Concept War.

He had supposedly been a skilled swordsmith, but he had retired when Kashima was still young. The number of friends who stopped by to visit him had decreased as the years went by and Kashima’s father had chosen the path of a farmer despite inheriting the skills of Kashima’s grandfather.

His grandfather had often spoken of 2nd-Gear as they sat on the porch.

Kashima had attended a Low-Gear school, so he had not thought his grandfather’s stories of a different world were true.

The war his grandfather spoke of was different from Low-Gear’s World War Two that Kashima had been taught about.

However, those stories had involved many different people, many different battles, and many different losses.

Swords had been swung, bullets had been fired, and giant ships and dragons had appeared. And amid all that, his grandfather had told him the following.

“When we came to this world, the name Kashima gained the meaning of the greatest military god. It is not as powerful as the emperor, but this name allows us to speak with heaven via tools with blades.”

Kashima had thought his grandfather’s war stories were nothing but fantasy, but one question had remained.

…''He would never tell me how the war ended.

No matter how many times Kashima asked, the old man would only smile and say, “That does not matter.”

He had wondered why it did not matter and why his grandfather’s smile was filled with sorrow.

When he had entered middle school, he had been told he was not from this world and his question had transformed into doubt.

According to his parents, when 2nd-Gear had been destroyed by Yamata, the people had escaped to Low-Gear, created a giant humanoid weapon and a sword, and sealed Yamata.

His grandfather had apparently played an important role in sealing Yamata. He had created the sword used to seal Yamata, which was 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core, and he had helped control the humanoid machine.

All of that was true. He had looked into it once he joined UCAT.

However, his doubt had remained.

For example, when his grandfather was still alive, he had never spelled Kashima using Low-Gear’s kanji.

…''He never let himself fully adapt to Low-Gear. Did the war ever truly end for him?

Kashima did not know the truth. And the time he had made his way closest to the truth was not during his time in UCAT.

It was on a night thirteen years ago.

“The night my grandfather died.”

Kashima closed his eyes and recalled that moment in the past that had marked the beginning of it all for him.

As Kashima’s vision grew dark, he found himself in an old wooden house.

He was in his childhood home’s living room.

It had a tall ceiling and walls, and the thick pillars and lintels were covered in dark soot. All of the wood had a bit of a tree trunk’s curve remaining and the room was lit by nothing but a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

It was nighttime outside and the night was filled with the harsh wind of winter.

A thin old man lay on a futon placed on the tatami mat floor.

That man was Kashima’s grandfather.

His hair had thinned, his face had grown yellow, and his eyes were staring blankly up at the ceiling.

''Did I ever hold his hand back then?'' wondered Kashima.

All he remembered was his parents trying to hold him back from behind.

He remembered them telling him to leave him be and not to bother him. But he remembered one thing the most.

“You are wrong! You don’t need to bear your father’s sins yourself!”

Those words reminded Kashima of something else.

…''Yes, I was holding his hand then.

His grandfather had still been strong enough to squeeze his hand back and he had spoken clearly.

“Akio.”

When he had heard his name called, Kashima had brushed aside his parent’s hands holding him back. He had then moved up to his grandfather’s face.

He did not remember what he had told his grandfather, but he remembered what his grandfather had said in response.

“You can live the same life your father chose.”

But…

“But, Akio, if…if you have any questions, go to the Izumo company. There is an organization called UCAT there. And…”

His grandfather had stopped speaking at that point.

But Kashima had not allowed it. He had used his empty hand to grab his grandfather’s collar.

“Tell me! What do you want to say!? You’ve been holding back this whole time, haven’t you!? You always told me about your dead friends, but you never told me anything about yourself! I should go to UCAT, right! What should I do there!?”

His question had received a single word in response.

“…Tachikawa.”

“Tachikawa?” he had said while holding his grandfather’s collar.

The old man had nodded and taken a breath.

“There is an airfield there and a giant-…”

At the time, he had not known what his grandfather was talking about.

“A giant what!? There’s…there’s something there, right!? I just have to go there, right!?”

“Yes. It is in the front box of the bridge in the head… You need to pass that on.”

“To who!? Pass what on to who!?”

The old man had not given a response. He had spoken a different word instead. It had been…

“A name?” Kashima had asked.

His grandfather had not nodded. He had only spoken while taking shallow breaths.

“That is the word to control Yamata. That is the truth of 2nd-Gear.”

“!?”

“Take that…and go…”

Kashima had gulped and his grandfather’s eyes had moved.

They had turned toward a point in the heavens and they had not focused on Kashima who was looking down at him. He had been looking at something much farther away.

The intensity of his gaze had not wavered as the old man spoke a short sentence.

“Can you forgive me?”

Those were his final words.

The old man’s slender body had trembled.

That throb indicated the end. Kashima had felt that final beat through the old man’s collar and hand. His own body had trembled in response.

Those were Kashima’s memories of that night so long ago.

He may have forgotten some aspects of it, but one doubt would never disappear.

…''Had the war truly ended for my grandfather?

With that thought, he opened his eyes and stood up.

The slope of a landslide lay below him.

Kashima’s gaze stopped on one point of that expanse of dirt. A color was visible just a bit down from the center of the slope.

That color was white.

It belonged to a piece of painted metal.

A white mid-sized bus had been inextricably buried in the slope while rolled on its side.

Kashima stared at the white bus buried in the landslide and muttered to himself.

“My war has already ended.”

After school, Sayama and Shinjou helped some others clean the classroom.

Once they were finished, they spoke with each other while the others prepared to leave.

Sayama placed his textbook in his bag while Shinjou placed his hands between his legs and hung his head down.

“U-um, Sayama-kun. Sorry about before.”

“Hm? What are you talking about?”

“When I was…um…half-asleep, I said something about a weird dream, didn’t I?”

''Oh, that,'' thought Sayama with a bitter mental smile.

“No, I do not think it was all that weird a dream, Shinjou-kun.”

“R-really? It wasn’t weird?”

Shinjou nodded with a relieved smile and Sayama took his handheld digital recorder from his pocket and switched it on.

“I-I can’t handle s-something that hard!”

“Ha ha ha. Do you see anything weird about that?”

“That’s plenty weird! C-c’mon! Quit fighting and give me that recorder!”

“Calm down, Shinjou-kun. No one is saying you did anything wrong, are they?”

“W-well, no…”

Shinjou seemed to shrink down.

“There is nothing to worry about. Ooki-sensei’s self-destruct stood out a lot more. It is of course possible she purposefully self-destructed to cover for you, but the odds of that are too low for me to calculate.”

“Are you trying to trick me?”

“Not at all. I am misrepresenting the facts to give you a more positive viewpoint.”

“That’s the same thing as tricking me. …Honestly.”

“Honestly? Honestly what, Shinjou-kun?”

“Nnn,” groaned Shinjou as he raised his hands from between his legs. “Um, about what we were talking about before.”

Shinjou grabbed a pile of loose leaf paper from his desk and held it to his chest.

“Do you want to know what I was doing this morning and a bit ago?”

“I do,” said Sayama with a nod.

''What a complicated person,'' he thought.

Shinjou had refused that morning and he had caused a disturbance during homeroom. Those two facts led Sayama to one conclusion.

…''Did he decide it would be better to just tell me?

“I see. Allow me to prepare my recorder again. …Okay, you may spill the beans now.”

“Please stop with this polite interrogation.”

“Very well. I would like to hear what you have to say. Can you tell me?”

“Yes. But first tell me this: Sayama-kun, do you read novels?”

“I do.”

“For example?”

“Up until summer break last year, I read through every single novel on display in the Kinugasa Library. I target the specific knowledge I should acquire, but I will read any kind of story.”

“I see.” Shinjou’s shoulders relaxed a bit. “Wh-what kind of stories did you like? Ones like Tsujigiri Samurai?”

“That had nothing to make it stand out other than the Tsujigiri. …It was fine as long as you did not take it too seriously.”

As he spoke, he gave a bitter smile in his heart.

…''A story worthy of facing and taking seriously.

He then realized something.

He realized what it was Shinjou wanted to tell him.

Sayama pointed at what Shinjou held in his hands.

“I see. Shinjou-kun, you are trying to write something like that, aren’t you?”

Shinjou looked up.

Sayama’s almond-shaped eyes looked back at him with no hint of a smile.

Sayama had been exactly right. The loose leaf paper in Shinjou’s arms was…

“After reading some stories, I wanted to write one of my own. I thought there had to be something better out there and thought about what I would have done differently. …And those thoughts turned into these papers.”

“I see.”

Sayama nodded, but Shinjou looked down again.

He looked at Sayama’s feet and realized his indoor slippers were surprisingly dirty.

“But I’ve never seriously tried to write anything before. I feel like I’m lacking something.”

“Lacking something? Like what? Common knowledge? Or maybe composure or objectivity?”

“Sorry, but I need to turn those questions right back at you, Sayama-kun. Anyway, let’s move on. I always stop writing before I finish, so I’m afraid the same will happen this time.”

“I see.” Sayama nodded but finally asked a question. “Shinjou-kun, why are you telling me this now?”

“I thought it would be best to tell you.”

“And why is that?”

Shinjou thought about his refusal that morning and what had happened during homeroom.

He felt apologetic and also wanted to ensure there were no misunderstandings. However…

…''Why am I so concerned about misunderstandings?

As he thought, he spoke without thinking.

“I want you to know more about me…”

''What am I saying?'' he suddenly realized.

His face felt oddly warm.

Shinjou looked up to face Sayama. As he looked at him through his bangs, he could see a smile in his eyes. He nodded and spoke.

“That is what it means to tell a story, Shinjou-kun. Do not forget that stance.”

“Eh?”

However, Sayama did not reply to that monosyllabic question. He said something else instead.

“What kind of story are you writing now? Is it a bizarre murder mystery that holds the promise of a wonderful romance?”

“I’m not writing some new genre like that. …Recently, I’ve been looking into Japanese mythology a bit.”

“Oh? What a coincidence. So have I.”

“I know. You were reading a mythology book by the man who made this school last night, weren’t you?”

“So you noticed. I would like to look into the legends surrounding Susanoo and Yamata no Orochi. Do you have any advice for me?”

Shinjou thought for a bit.

“Hm… Maybe you should focus on swords and heroes.”

“Swords and heroes?”

“Yes. Japanese mythology features a few different divine swords. The most well-known one is Kusanagi and the second most well-known one is the Sword of Totsuka that defeated Yamata no Orochi. There are also more minor ones like Futsu no Mitama. Of those three, Kusanagi is the most important.” Shinjou worked to recall the knowledge he had read. “Kusanagi was presented to the head god Amaterasu and for some reason its name changed to the Sword of Murakumo.”

And…

“The one to wield the sword during the age of men was Yamato Takeru. He is a hero on the same level as Susanoo. He went by the name Ousu and wished to unify Japan, so he first traveled to Kumaso in Kyushu and got to know Kumaso Takeru. But Yamato Takeru tricked him to pull off a surprise attack.”

“He disguised himself as a woman to get close and kill him. Kumaso Takeru called him a hero for defeating him and gave him the name Yamato Takeru. Am I wrong?”

“No. Both of those heroes were very unique people. …Susanoo was rude and violent and the gods hated him, but he was honest to himself. However, Yamato Takeru was different. He was brave and people loved him, but…”

“He lived surrounded by lies.”

Shinjou froze in place when he heard that. Finally, he nodded.

…''Lies.

He looked toward Sayama’s left arm.

He still had the bandages around it, but the arm beneath was likely fully healed.

Shinjou would have to leave him before long.

As he thought that, Shinjou spoke without meaning to.

“I would say you are the Susanoo type, Sayama-kun.”

“I am honored that you think of me as a god.”

Sayama smiled a bit and Shinjou smiled back.

But Shinjou finally opened his mouth again.

The words he spoke were ones that had been on his mind recently.

This had to be the source of the guilt he felt toward Sayama and the desire to have Sayama know more about him.

That thought spilled from his lips in a form that expressed it from a different angle.

“Sayama-kun, what would you do if I was Yamato Takeru?”

School had ended and the cleaning was complete.

The school was partially filled with the afternoon sun and new sounds echoed throughout it.

The sounds were the shouts of practicing sports teams and the bouncing of balls. Other sounds of construction for the All Holiday Festival piled on top of those other sounds.

However, there were a few places in the school where those sounds did not reach.

One of those was the east side of the third year general school building.

The first floor was used to store teaching materials, so people rarely passed by.

A tall woman stood amid the shadow of the school building.

It was Diana wearing her black suit.

She brushed up her hair and turned toward the school building.

A guest slipper box was located at the entrance of the building. Someone was standing next to it.

“Do you need something?” asked a girl.

The girl standing approximately five meters away had gray hair and wore a school uniform. A small blue and black bird stood on her shoulder and at her feet was…

“That’s the kitty I saw in the Kinugasa Library.”

Diana brought her left hand to her cheek and let out a sigh.

The ends of her eyebrows lowered slightly and she looked at the sharp look in the girl’s purple eyes.

“What do you want, Brunhild Schild of 1st-Gear?”

“You know? That simplifies things.” Expressionless, the girl loosely folded her arms at her waist. “I heard from the cat. You told Siegfried to stay away from the Leviathan Road, didn’t you? I assume you’re with UCAT, but what are you thinking?”

Diana smiled bitterly.

“Oh? Why does it bother you so much? You lost to them, didn’t you?”

“I did, but I also gained something because of them. If you do anything to-…”

“And what do you hope to do if I harm them, little girl?”

Still expressionless, Brunhild unfolded her arms.

She held a blue stone in her right hand.

The motion of her hand was gentle yet swift and accurate. The path of the stone wrote words in the air.

“I am not going to be treated like a little girl by someone as young as you.”

“Me? Young? I suppose I do look quite young. …But I would prefer you called me Diana. I think we can get along.”

Brunhild’s response was to send white light rushing from her right hand.

It formed a single link of a chain.

The glowing ellipse was thirty centimeters across and it suddenly flew forward at high speed.

It moved toward Diana’s neck.

But just before it bound her slender neck, Diana moved her left hand.

She reached her fingers into her waving hair.

When she pulled her fingers out, she held a narrow rectangle of paper.

“…!”

The glowing chain struck the paper.

A metallic noise rang out and a quick blast of wind burst out.

All that remained was a scorched word on Diana’s paper.

“Kette… A girl should not be swinging around something like that. Or is that something you take a liking to after living as long as you have?”

Diana’s eyes narrowed and she lightly embraced her own body. A smile remained on her lips all the while.

“I learned one thing today: An idiot will not listen.”

“And who is that lesson meant for, Diana?”

“Most likely…”

Her next words were followed by motion.

“The entire world.”

Sayama frowned at Shinjou’s question. He wondered what he meant.

“What do you mean when you ask what I would do?”

“I mean exactly that. What would you do if I was Yamato Takeru?”

Sayama nodded in response.

He thought for a bit and then patted Shinjou’s shoulder with a serious expression.

“How about we go to the hospital? You are worrying me with this talk of a previous life.”

“Th-that is definitely not the reaction I was expecting.”

“Ha ha ha. Do not worry. I can introduce you to an excellent brain doctor. Everything will be okay. You will only feel a small prick. I can also introduce you to an excellent sanatorium. And I suppose I would be the one to nurse you back to health. A sanitarium in Karuizawa… How poetic… The highlands, the wide-open sky, the silent nights… Ahh, ahh!”

“Stop staring into the distance and imagining some drama.”

Shinjou glared at him with half-lidded eyes, but his expression quickly changed to an exasperated one.

“Sorry, though. I suppose that was an odd thing to ask.”

Shinjou gave a troubled smile.

Sayama did in fact understand what Shinjou’s sudden question had meant.

Just after Sayama had said that Yamato Takeru lived surrounded by lies, Shinjou had asked if he was the same.

…''Does Shinjou-kun have some lie?

He wanted to know how Sayama would react to this lie, so it would not be something trivial.

…''The reason he asked me so suddenly must have to do with what he said before.

Shinjou had said he wanted Sayama to know more about him.

And with Sayama’s left arm almost healed, they would be parting ways soon.

…''Is Shinjou-kun unsure whether he should tell me something before then?

Sayama thought on the word “lie”.

He wanted to know what this lie was, but Shinjou only showed him a troubled smile.

If he asked, Shinjou was unlikely to answer.

So Sayama chose his words carefully and spoke.

“Will you listen to one thing, Shinjou-kun? No, I must insist that you listen.”

“Eh? Wh-what is this all of a sudden?”

“It seems you have some secret, so if you ever feel like telling me, please do.”

A look of surprise filled Shinjou’s face.

That expression told Sayama he was right.

And as if to further prove that, Shinjou’s expression changed to one of relief.

“Okay. I will.”

“But be careful, Shinjou-kun. I am a villain, even when it comes to you. So…”

“I know. No matter how much I tempt you, you mustn’t give in, Sayama-kun. You can only be moved when I get serious and try to tell you something. …Right?”

“Exactly. When that time comes, I will face you as a villain and you will face me based on your own standard.”

Shinjou let out a sigh. It was a sigh of relief.

“I will. …I’m a lot of trouble to deal with, aren’t I?”

“You could say the same about me.”

Shinjou gave a bitter smile and Sayama did the same. In an attempt to bring an end to that mood, Sayama placed his school documents in his bag.

But he suddenly stopped.

He held an atlas of Japan.

He suddenly opened up a map of Tokyo on the desk.

…''Kazami and Izumo are probably gathering information on 2nd-Gear right now.

For example, they might be learning where Yamata was sealed.

Shinjou glanced at the map from the side.

“Is there something in Tokyo?”

“Yes. I am going to be looking for something soon. If there was somewhere in Tokyo where something quite large could freely go on a rampage, where would that be?”

“Y-you make it sound like a monster movie. I want to say a park, but parks have a lot of trees and hills. Is there anywhere flatter like an airfield?”

“An airfield, hm? I don’t think Tokyo has one of those.”

Sayama’s comment received a response from a voice by the classroom window.

“There’s Yokota Air Base.”

Sayama and Shinjou raised their heads and looked to the left.

Someone’s back was visible by the window toward the back of the classroom.

A boy with a medium build sat on the window frame with his uniform’s coat removed.

The boy had fairly tanned skin, baggy pants, and a shirt with the bottom spread out.

He turned his finely chiseled face and wavy black hair toward them.

“What kind of crazy conversation have you been having?” he asked with his blue eyes hidden by sunglasses.

“It should have been self-explanatory, Harakawa. And what are you doing here?”

“Oh, Ooki-sensei broke this window yesterday, remember? Well, she asked me to fix it.”

“I do remember. She opened the window normally, but it fell out for some reason.”

“Yes, and it stabbed into the flower bed down below. It looked like some kind of avant-garde art. I’m in the automobile club, though, so this isn’t my specialty. Anyway, if you have business at Yokota, I can let you in. I work there part-time.”

“No, I have no business with Yokota Air Base. It would be the airfield from before the war.”

Sayama suddenly spread the atlas out on the desk.

There had been a large airfield in Tokyo before the war.

Sayama quickly opened the enlarged map of western Tokyo and Harakawa called out to him.

“Tachikawa?”

“Yes. It seems your leaving school to work at a military base was useful after all, Dan Harakawa. There used to be a military airfield here in Tokyo: Tachikawa Airfield. It is currently known as the Showa Memorial Park, but it functioned as an airport before the war and…”

Sayama moved his finger along the map.

A train route ran by Showa Memorial Park.

It was the JR Oume Line which left Tachikawa. The Oume Line extended west toward Okutama. It continued directly to Okutama where UCAT was located.

“I see,” muttered Sayama.

Suddenly, he heard a single noise.

It was a metallic noise.

Harakawa must have dropped a tool, because he looked around at the floor.

An atmosphere of confusion filled the room and Sayama alone began to move. He stood up.

“That was the sound of glass breaking.”

“Wh-what is it, Sayama-kun? What was that about glass?”

“Sorry,” he said as he handed his black leather bag to Shinjou. “Could you take this back to our dorm room? Once I take care of some business, I think I will head directly to work.”

“Some business?” asked Shinjou as he took the black leather bag.

Sayama nodded.

“I need to clean something up.”

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Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 3

2026-07-30T03:39:37Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 3: Progress of Oversight==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0083.png|thumb]]
''You have a question but you cannot find the answer

''You are only allowed to reach out your hand

''And that is why you cannot give up

The Kinugasa Library was as long as four classrooms and as wide as two.

During the lunch break, it was filled with students. In addition to the usual hardcover books, this library contained all sorts of paperbacks.

Old and new books were seen and picked up alike.

However, the students in the library were not looking at their books.

They were all turned toward the counter next to the entrance.

Two people stood there.

The first was a tall old man. He wore a white shirt, a black vest, and black trousers. He was the librarian named Siegfried.

The other was a tall woman. She wore a black suit and had long blonde hair that was almost silver.

Everyone’s gaze was turned toward the woman with looks of curiosity and interest.

But she was not looking at them. She had her back to a large whiteboard for messages located behind the counter and her smiling blue eyes were turned toward the entirety of the library.

The pale crimson lips below those blue eyes moved slightly.

A quiet voice reached Siegfried at the counter.

“Am I in the way?”

“If you are aware of that, then please leave.”

Siegfried used a pen to fill out the paperwork on the counter as he replied.

The two of them spoke quietly enough that no one else could hear.

“Even after all this time, you haven’t changed.”

“How many decades has it been now?”

“How cruel. It’s only been a bit over ten years.”

“Either way, this is a territory I know nothing about. Diana, I am not like you.”

The woman known as Diana deepened her smile in lieu of a response.

She turned her gaze toward the center of the library where the mythology shelf was located.

“Kinugasa Tenkyou, the Japanese authority on mythology, the founder of this school, and the Japanese man who prompted the beginning of Low-Gear’s involvement in the Concept War.”

“How knowledgeable of you.”

“Hee hee. I am left-handed, so I was thankful for his books. When putting together a report, I could turn the pages with my right hand and write notes with my left.”

However, Siegfried did not turn to face Diana.

“Why are you here? I am no longer involved.”

“Oh? A sorcerer can’t retire. And I heard you fought with 1st-Gear recently.”

“That was my atonement with 1st-Gear. I do not care about the other Gears. …What do you want?”

The power contained in that final statement caused Diana to lower her shoulders and sigh.

“I have a warning for you: You need to leave. If you take part in the negotiations to admonish the dragons, you will lose your place in this final remaining Gear too.”

“…?”

“Team Leviathan and 1st-Gear can no longer go back.”

Siegfried finally turned around. Her expression had not changed; she was still smiling.

“That was all I wanted to say. And I am not the type of woman to repeat myself.” She stuck her tongue out a bit and narrowed her eyes as she looked through the library. “Are people reading different books than when I came here?”

“The Resolution Tsujigiri Samurai series is popular right now. When he occasionally fails to resolve something, he cannot stand it and cuts someone down, but I hear that adds a human aspect to it.
…What was popular when you were here?”

“Well, I didn’t read it, but the bizarre warring states series Exciting Baron-chan.”

“We currently have up through Volume 170 of that. It takes up most of the new Bizarre Fancy corner made because there were so many books of that genre. I believe the most recent one is titled Excitement in Navalone.”

“So it’s made it all the way to World War Two. It was only on Volume 3 or 4 back in my day and that was with the Mongols.”

As Diana muttered seriously to herself, she looked back over at the mythology bookshelf.

And she narrowed her eyes.

“One of the books is missing. It’s the book on Japanese mythology that corresponds to 2nd-Gear.”

“I lent it out yesterday to a boy with the surname Sayama.”

Those words brought a bitter smile to Diana’s face.

“I see,” she muttered. “So that will be the next Leviathan Road… This has gotten interesting.”

“What?”

Diana maintained a slight bitter smile as she spoke.

“When they go up against 2nd-Gear, they will face a certain problem. This is a problem we once ran across. …It comes down to the meaning of the word ‘negotiation’.”

“Do you think this Sayama can overcome that problem?”

“I don’t know. But he was at least the kind of person who can return a smile.”

She looked over and saw a small figure at the entrance to the library.

A black cat was lying down next to the door and staring intently at her.

Once she saw it, she opened her mouth and spoke in a cheerful tone.

“That boy began everything with a smile, so how will he face this problem?”

Sayama faced Izumo and the others on the emergency staircase landing and told them of the destruction of a world he had dreamed of.

“I have decided that was 2nd-Gear.”

“I see. 2nd-Gear is the world of Japanese mythology.”

“Given the Divine States-World Interaction Theory, will the stage this time be the Izu Islands?”

“No, everyone from 2nd-Gear lives in the Okutama region.”

Sayama watched Izumo grab some chicken from the multi-layer bento box spread out on the floor.

“How much do you know about 2nd-Gear?”

“Nothing at all. …What about the rest of you?”

“Um… All I know is that it’s the Gear where names have power,” said Kazami. “What about you, sensei?”

[[Image:OnC_v03_0089.png|thumb]]

Ooki was quickly consuming the contents of the bento box with a serious expression.

“S-sensei? You don’t have to eat it all so seriously. I’ll wrap some up for you later, so slow down a bit. And I’m not sure you should eat toast with jam along with stewed meats.”

“B-but toast with jam is so delicious,” declared Ooki as she turned around.

Sayama nodded in response.

“We know that, so how about joining in the conversation?”

“Y’know, Sayama-kun. As your teacher, I think you should slow down and take things easy in life.”

“And who was it eating all of the food without slowing down for a second just now, you starving teacher? …More importantly, please give us an answer. Do you know anything about 2nd-Gear?”

“Hm… I think the development department that creates UCAT’s equipment is made up of 2nd-Gear descendants. I don’t know anything about that name thing Kazami-san just mentioned, though.”

Sayama thought on what Kazami had said about names having power.

“In other words, naming an object gives it a corresponding power? Is that it?”

Izumo nodded in response.

“Yes. By giving a sword the name of a sword and giving a person the name of a person, they become that thing. For example, if you name a sword the Sword of Warrior’s Lightning, the sword does not become lightning; it becomes a sword with the ability to send out lightning attacks.”

“So instead of having a normal sword, you name it the Sword of Something-or-Other and it gains that ability,” said Sayama as he thought on it. “In that case, can the people of 2nd-Gear use the power of their name as their own ability?”

“Yeah. Apparently, 2nd-Gear was a gigantic biosphere system inhabited by people with those kinds of supernatural powers.”

Sayama and Kazami let out impressed ohs and ahs upon hearing the word “biosphere”.

Ooki frantically spoke up next to them.

“Oh, I know about that. I really do.”

“Really? Then tell us about it, Ooki-sensei,” challenged Sayama.

“Well, it’s… How should I put it? It’s…um…um…”

“…”

“Wh-why are you looking at me with so much doubt in your eyes, Sayama-kun!?”

Sayama ignored her. Instead, Kazami patted Ooki’s shoulder with a smile.

“Ooki-sensei. To put it simply, a biosphere is an enclosed world. It can maintain the environment needed for a proper ecosystem. Do you get it now?”

“K-Kazami-san, why are you speaking to me like I’m a child?”

This time, Kazami ignored her.

“Okay, Kaku. Why was a world of people with that kind of power destroyed by the dragon named Yamata?”

“Oh, the control system for the biosphere had a mind of its own and was made from 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core. It turned into Yamata.”

Sayama frowned and Kazami’s body visually stiffened a bit.

Izumo scratched at his head in response.

“It seems the control system resisted it to protect the people. The family in charge of it managed to calm it down, but the control system was unable to restrain its output enough to maintain the world. It was similar to a meltdown.”

“In other words, it tried to maintain the world but was unable to hold back and was forced to destroy the world?”

“Yes. Yamata lost control and became a blazing dragon, so it held a grudge against the people. It had taken on that form and destroyed the people and the world all because it was an object of protection.” He let out an exasperated sigh. “After 2nd-Gear was destroyed, I hear the survivors of 2nd-Gear and UCAT worked together to seal Yamata here in Tokyo.”

“I assume when you say ‘here in Tokyo’ you mean inside a concept space where nothing will leak out even if the ‘gate’ is opened. But…Yamata, hm? That’s from the legend of Susanoo,” muttered Sayama. “It was a giant serpent with eight heads and eight tails. In Japanese mythology, Susanoo’s strategy was to give it sake and then lop off its heads with the Sword of Totsuka while it slept. When he did, he found the sword named Kusanagi in its body.”

“If your dream was legit, it must be huge. How are we supposed to control something like that? We need to give that a lot of thought.”

“…So Yamata wasn’t killed.”

“No. It was only sealed. It’s still alive.”

Everyone stopped moving when Izumo stated that last word.

And Izumo continued.

“A giant concept space still exists somewhere here in Tokyo…and Yamata is inside.”

“Then the first question is where that concept space is.”

“Well, they’ll probably tell us that if we ask. I’d also like some other information on what happened when it was sealed. Chisato, leave your work to the underclassmen during the afternoon. We should head to UCAT.”

“Sure. Let’s do some research that might help with the Leviathan Road,” said Kazami.

Suddenly, Ooki tilted her head.

“Um, Kazami-san? One question.”

“Hm? What is it, Ooki-sensei?”

“Well,” she began in a curious tone of voice. “Why do we need to do the Leviathan Road with 2nd-Gear?”

Sayama instantly understood what Ooki’s question meant.

With her head still tilted, Ooki used chopsticks to grab a shiitake.

“Hi hean…”

“Swallow before talking. Yes, chew it nice and slow and swallow. …Okay, what was it?”

“Ah… Right, right, right. I mean, the people of 2nd-Gear work for UCAT’s development department making concept weapons and other things. They’re our engineering group.”

“Yes, your Japanese is just fine. Feel free to continue.”

“Right, right. It just bothers me a bit. Um…the people of 2nd-Gear have the same physical abilities and appearance as a Japanese person and most of them are already naturalized, so…”

“So why do we need to do the Leviathan Road now?”

''That actually is a good question,'' thought Sayama.

Why were they digging up the past with people who were already on their side?

Ooki continued speaking.

“If we are going to negotiate with them, I think it might end up being a lot harder than it looks. After all, we have nothing to give 2nd-Gear in exchange.”

“We can give them money or land in exchange for-…”

“If people on equal footing do that, do you really think they can stay the way they were before? What if Izumo-kun did something for Kazami-kun and she suddenly gave him money?”

Izumo fell silent.

“Sorry,” said Ooki in his direction before turning back to Sayama. The ends of her eyebrows were slightly lowered. “Negotiating poorly could bring discord into the relationship between 2nd-Gear and Low-Gear. Unlike with 1st-Gear, the Leviathan Road with 2nd-Gear is not meant to resolve something. It’s more like…”

Ooki thought.

“More like…”

She thought some more and tapped her forehead with the chopsticks.

“Um, uh… I almost had it… Ahh…ahh…”

“Hey, someone help her out.”

“Hm, how about this? It is more like this Leviathan Road is meant to reexamine something.”

“Ah! That’s it! That’s good! Way to go, Sayama-kun. I knew a student of mine would be able to do it. …Hey, why are you ignoring me and staring off in to the sky?”

“Oh, well, I thought I heard something odd is all.”

Kazami shrugged from where she sat opposite him.

“At any rate, it’s been sixty years since the war. If they’re essentially the same as us, most of them won’t have experienced the Concept War. As Ooki-sensei said, the negotiations won’t be easy.”

“So the first question I have to think about is what the meaning of this negotiation is.”

Kazami looked up into the sky.

A shadow resembling a black bird moved slowly through the blue sky.

It was an airplane taking off from Yokota Air Base in the neighboring town.

Sayama suddenly realized everyone was looking up at the plane.

Finally, someone let out a sigh.

It was Izumo. He spoke in an exasperated tone of voice.

“This really is something we need to investigate, isn’t it? We need to find out if 2nd-Gear is even willing to talk and why 2nd-Gear gave in to Low-Gear in the past.”

“That’s right, Kaku. If we don’t know what happened with them in the past, we can’t even begin negotiating. …Okay, we’ll head to UCAT this afternoon. What about you, Sayama?”

Ooki raised her head.

“Sayama-kun can’t go. He has cleaning duty, so he has to attend his last class of the day.”

“What is your last class of the day, Sayama?”

“Ooki-sensei’s English class. …And I am in charge of interpreting what she says and ensuring class goes smoothly.”

“Oh, I see. So it’s her class.”

“Yes. Sayama-kun is always so helpful and the other students are kind, too.”

“I assume by kind you mean submissive.”

“N-no, I don’t. They all answer in unison and bring me tea without being asked.”

“That’s what you call being submissive!!”

Kazami’s shout echoed into the distance.

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