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Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume5 Epilogue

2010-01-02T02:04:20Z

Ricky12440: /* Epilogue */

===Epilogue===

The sound of wind blowing out of the air purification system and the sound of the vehicle swaying along with the city’s movement……. This was Leerin’s second time hearing it.

“Do you really have to go?”

She seemed to have heard similar words before. The pretentious teary eyes before. Leerin wasn’t angry, but she felt that strength had been drained from her limbs.

“What’re you doing?” she groaned, putting down the luggage beside her and pressing a hand on her forehead. Thinking back to how she was like that in the past, she thought she’d die from embarrassment.

Synola stopped pretending and put her chest out. “Excuse me. I’m sad because you’re leaving.”

Leerin was at the station of the roaming bus. Once she made her decision, she had acted swiftly. She had applied for temporary leave from school, and had then gone to pack her luggage and fill in the paperwork for a space on the roaming bus to Zuellni. She spent her last night with Deruk. Her adopted father didn’t even escort her to the front of the door. That was what he was like.

Who would have thought that Synola would be here.

“Why are you here?”

“Well, is it not good to see my cute younger friend leave?”

“It’s good, but…….”

She told Synola about her decision yesterday, then was dragged to the pub they visited before. Synola pulled in random patrons of the pub for a parting party. Leerin had thought she would leave it at that.

“Well, have a good trip. I won’t urge you to hurry back, but please come back in spirit.”

“…….. Yes,” Leerin smiled with a gentle gaze.

“Ah, but I still hope for you to return sooner. I can’t calm down without touching Leerin-chan’s breasts.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“……… Come back before the symptoms of withdrawal show up.” She put her thumb in her mouth like a kid.

“I’ll try to return later,” Leerin massaged the side of her head.

The whistle sounded loudly, cutting through the noise of the crowd.

“I’m leaving.”

“Ok, have a good trip,” Synola waved as if Leerin wasn’t going somewhere faraway.

(I can’t think of it that way like her.)

She recalled the time when she saw Layfon off. She thought she wouldn’t see him again. Probably not? The feeling with Synola was different, but Leerin couldn’t compare it with another. She waved at Synola one more time at the entrance of the bus, and entered the bus.

“Uh….. Here.”

She looked at the seat. For a person who would spend a long time in the seat, the space given was roomy. It was big enough for her to sleep in it. The luggage space was above the seat.

“Let me do it.”

Someone took hold of her luggage.

“Ah, than…….”

Thank you. That was what Leerin wanted to say, but when she turned around to look at the person’s face, her cheek twitched.

“Just that much luggage? So little for a girl.”

Speaking flippantly as if his opinion applied to everyone. A handsome young adult. Laughter shone in his eyes as he looked at her.

“Savaris…….. sama?”

“Su, if possible, I hope you don’t call me by my name.”

“Wh, Why are you here……..?”

“Uh, I’ve a secret mission so I have to travel to another city. What about you?”

“Huh? Uh…….”

“Never mind. This will be a long journey. Let us spend the time happily.”

Was it good to tell him she was going to meet with Layfon……….. While she worried over it, Savaris had already lost his interest in the question he raised. The bus driver announced the bus was about to depart from the city.

A Heaven’s Blade successor in the bus………… That should guarantee the safety of the trip, but for some reason, Leerin felt uneasy.

“Ah~ Leaving the city is just the first part of the trip. I’m really anticipating the rest of it~” Savaris said happily to himself.

Leerin sighed.

She ran along the edge of the city to chase the roaming bus. She finally reached the limit of the city. Synola stopped running and put her hands on her hips as she watched the roaming bus disappear in the horizon. An average person would have confused the bus with its surrounding scenery, but not Synola……. or Alsheyra Almonise, the Queen of the Heaven’s Blade successors.

“What would happen next?”

Alsheyra wasn’t worried about Savaris. It was useless to worry about him. If he died in the middle of the journey, then let him die. Luck was required for what Alsheyra wanted. If Savaris came back dead, then luck wasn’t on her side. She couldn’t do anything to gather twelve Military Artists with exceptional abilities to become Heaven’s Blade successors. Luck was needed. Besides, the birth of someone like Alsheyra was in itself luck.

“Hey, what do you think?”

Her gaze left the bus and moved to her own feet.

“What….. next?”

The reposing figure of a beast had appeared at some time. It wasn’t your average tamed type of beast. Long fur wrapped around the body similar to a dog’s. The front of its paws resembled human fingers. That beast answered her.

“What do you think, Grendan? Think your kind will come?”

“If they come, they’ll only be destroyed and hunted, like I was,” Grendan’s voice was cold.

“That was a long time ago.”

Grendan rested its chin on the ground.

“Well, I don’t know what’ll happen, but it’ll be fine as long as Leerin-chan’s safe.”

The laughter came from Grendan’s nostrils. As if looking at the direction where the roaming bus had merged into the horizon, it spoke, “I heard Uguisu’s voice.”

“Huh?” Alsheyra turned around at the unfamiliar name.

Grendan opened its mouth, yawned, and fell silent.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume6_Prologue|Volume 6]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume5 Epilogue

2010-01-02T02:03:11Z

Ricky12440: /* Epilogue */

===Epilogue===

The sound of wind blowing out of the air purification system and the sound of the vehicle swaying along with the city’s movement……. This was Leerin’s second time hearing it.

“Do you really have to go?”

She seemed to have heard similar words before. The pretentious teary eyes before. Leerin wasn’t angry, but she felt that strength had been drained from her limbs.

“What’re you doing?” she groaned, putting down the luggage beside her and pressing a hand on her forehead. Thinking back to how she was like that in the past, she thought she’d die from embarrassment.

Synola stopped pretending and put her chest out. “Excuse me. I’m sad because you’re leaving.”

Leerin was at the station of the roaming bus. Once she made her decision, she had acted swiftly. She had applied for temporary leave from school, and had then gone to pack her luggage and fill in the paperwork for a space on the roaming bus to Zuellni. She spent her last night with Deruk. Her adopted father didn’t even escort her to the front of the door. That was what he was like.

Who would have thought that Synola would be here.

“Why are you here?”

“Well, is it not good to see my cute younger friend leave?”

“It’s good, but…….”

She told Synola about her decision yesterday, then was dragged to the pub they visited before. Synola pulled in random patrons of the pub for a parting party. Leerin had thought she would leave it at that.

“Well, have a good trip. I won’t urge you to hurry back, but please come back in spirit.”

“…….. Yes,” Leerin smiled with a gentle gaze.

“Ah, but I still hope for you to return sooner. I can’t calm down without touching Leerin-chan’s breasts.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“……… Come back before the symptoms of withdrawal show up.” She put her thumb in her mouth like a kid.

“I’ll try to return later,” Leerin massaged the side of her head.

The whistle sounded loudly, cutting through the noise of the crowd.

“I’m leaving.”

“Ok, have a good trip,” Synola waved as if Leerin wasn’t going somewhere faraway.

(I can’t think of it that way like her.)

She recalled the time when she saw Layfon off. She thought she wouldn’t see him again. Probably not? The feeling with Synola was different, but Leerin couldn’t compare it with another. She waved at Synola one more time at the entrance of the bus, and entered the bus.

“Uh….. Here.”

She looked at the seat. For a person who would spend a long time in the seat, the space given was roomy. It was big enough for her to sleep in it. The luggage space was above the seat.

“Let me do it.”

Someone took hold of her luggage.

“Ah, than…….”

Thank you. That was what Leerin wanted to say, but when she turned around to look at the person’s face, her cheek twitched.

“Just that much luggage? So little for a girl.”

Speaking flippantly as if his opinion applied to everyone. A handsome young adult. Laughter shone in his eyes as he looked at her.

“Savaris…….. sama?”

“Su, if possible, I hope you don’t call me by my name.”

“Wh, Why are you here……..?”

“Uh, I’ve a secret mission so I have to travel to another city. What about you?”

“Huh? Uh…….”

“Never mind. This will be a long journey. Let us spend the time happily.”

Was it good to tell him she was going to meet with Layfon……….. While she worried over it, Savaris had already lost his interest in the question he raised. The bus driver announced the bus was about to depart from the city.

A Heaven’s Blade successor in the bus………… That should guarantee the safety of the trip, but for some reason, Leerin felt uneasy.

“Ah~ Leaving the city is just the first part of the trip. I’m really anticipating the rest of it~” Savaris said happily to himself.

Leerin sighed.

She ran along the edge of the city to chase the roaming bus. She finally reached the limit of the city. Synola stopped running and put her hands on her hips as she watched the roaming bus disappear in the horizon. An average person would have confused the bus with its surrounding scenery, but not Synola……. or Alsheyra Almonise, the Queen of the Heaven’s Blade successors.

“What would happen next?”

Alsheyra wasn’t worried about Savaris. It was useless to worry about him. If he died in the middle of the journey, then let him die. Luck was required for what Alsheyra wanted. If Savaris came back dead, then luck wasn’t on her side. She couldn’t do anything to gather twelve Military Artists with exceptional abilities to become Heaven’s Blade successors. Luck was needed. Besides, the birth of someone like Alsheyra was in itself luck.

“Hey, what do you think?”

Her gaze left the bus and moved to her own feet.

“What….. next?”

The reposing figure of a beast had appeared at some time. It wasn’t your average tamed type of beast. Long fur wrapped around the body similar to a dog’s. The front of its paws resembled human fingers. That beast answered her.

“What do you think? Grendan. Think your kind will come?”

“If they come, they’ll only be destroyed and hunted, like I was,” Grendan’s voice was cold.

“That was a long time ago.”

Grendan rested its chin on the ground.

“Well, I don’t know what’ll happen, but it’ll be fine as long as Leerin-chan’s safe.”

The laughter came from Grendan’s nostrils. As if looking at the direction where the roaming bus had merged into the horizon, it spoke, “I heard Uguisu’s voice.”

“Huh?” Alsheyra turned around at the unfamiliar name.

Grendan opened its mouth, yawned, and fell silent.

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|-
| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume6_Prologue|Volume 6]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume5 Chapter5

2010-01-02T01:49:27Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 5: Two Fights */

===Chapter 5: Two Fights===

“…….. Are you going?” Mei-Shen said, crying. The tram had gone past a few stations. No new passengers appeared. Mei-Shen’s crying voice mixed in with the sound of the tram moving, and it disappeared.

“Huh?”

“It’s strange you were discharged right after the operation. Layton really is going?”

He didn’t respond with words to confuse the topic. Would she believe him if he said “no”? She wouldn’t believe him.

“……. Yeah.” So he nodded.

Mei-Shen was looking at him with reddened eyes. Her mouth opened as if she wanted to say something, but she swallowed the words.

“Does it have to be Layton?”

“If it were another city, I think it wouldn’t have to be me.”

But Zuellni didn’t have any experienced Military Artists. This was too heavy a burden for the students. When he fought the aged phase filth monster, he said he could defeat it with his heart prepared to lose half of the city. He probably could have defeated it. But at that time, the probability of the city becoming useless was high. The most important thing was that the city would face a crisis……… not just the danger of filth monsters attacking, but the probability of the city’s functions stopping, to the point that the city would not be able to support its occupants. Perhaps the crisis of the food shortage at Grendan would in turn come to Zuellni. Grendan managed that time, but could Zuellni manage it too? The ending was that they couldn’t do anything but delay the time of death.

“It’ll definitely be all right if I go….. Am I arrogant?”

“……. A bit.”

“I thought so.”

In truth, “a bit” was an understatement. He had known that since long ago.

“I wasn’t thinking of ‘protecting’ anything……… To seek a path outside Military Arts, I said that before right? I still feel the same now. If we win the Military Arts Competition this year, I plan to return to General Studies.”

“Can that really happen?”

“The Student President who switched me to Military Arts would have graduated. I think it’s possible.”

“But……”

“I want to start from there.”

He could guess what she wanted to say, so he didn’t want to hear it.

“This place is the only place I have since leaving Grendan.”

This was the only place where he obtained a scholarship. Because of his level of education and the little money he had, he could only come to Zuellni. So he was here now.

“It’s different now. Mei’s here. Naruki, Mifi, the Captain and everyone. That’s why I want to do something.”

Zuellni had to remain safe for that reason alone.

“That’s why I’ll do what I can do.”

Mei-Shen’s words turned his gaze back to her. “……… I can’t fight. But is there anything I can do for you?”

“………..”

“Though you think you’re doing this for yourself, you’re doing it to protect us….. so I want to do something for you.”

“…… Thanks.”

“Because……. Because….. I, I……..” she looked at the floor, blushing.

“Then, I have a request.”

“Huh?”

“This’ll have to wait after the match though. Can you take a message to the Captain?”

And Layfon relayed the message to Mei-Shen. A short message.

“Is that ok?”

“Yes, the Captain will understand,” he said decisively as he looked at her.

“You really do trust the Captain.”

“Yeah.” It’d be embarrassing to nod honestly, so he chose to smile, bitterly.

And as such, Mei-Shen had come to the Locker Room. She saw the sign outside the place forbidding unrelated peoples’ entry, but she ran into Mifi in the hall. Mifi talked to the senpai in charge of the place and he let them through.

“Mei……… Did anything happen?” Naruki asked.

Shocked into silence by the stiff atmosphere in the room, Mei-Shen made up her mind and moved to stand before Nina.

“Ex, excuse me……..”

“What?” Nina said with surprise. Surprised that it wasn’t Naruki who came to her but Mei-Shen. Nina’s expression turned gentle.

Mei-Shen stared at her. Nina Antalk. This wasn’t the first time she saw her. They were together at the camp before, and they had attended the celebration too. Still, this felt like Mei-Shen’s first time meeting Nina.

(This is Nina Antalk.)

The person that Layfon trusted. She was a Military Artist but she wasn’t as strong as Layfon. She also couldn’t have a past as painful as Layfon’s…….. Mei-Shen thought. Though he didn’t know the reason, Layfon trusted the Captain.

“Uh…… Layfon asked me to tell you something.”

“Tell me something?” Nina asked. “That is?”

“Please ask the Student President and go see Zuellni. This must be something that only the Captain can do.”

“Zuellni?” Naruki asked instead. Everyone else held the same confusion.

“Isn’t Zuellni here? What’s happened?” Mifi asked.

“Don’t know……..” Mei-Shen said.

“……… ‘Get the explanation from the Student President’, something like that?” Nina said, turning Mei-Shen’s gaze back to her, as if she had understood something while everyone else was wondering.

“Nina, you know something? Well, I don’t get it, but the situation seems pretty clear.” Sharnid said.

“Don’t you know of it too?” Felli said coldly. Sharnid shrugged.

Harley had been checking the Dites, uncaring of Dalshena destroying the properties in the room. But now, “I, I’m not involved this time!” he said in a fluster to show he was in the clear.

“Speaking of which……. Huh? Could that be it? Ah….. Kiriku was in the lab today. Aa…. Can it be……. Uhhh, he’s too sly!” Harley couldn’t help but spill out his true feelings. Nina glared at him.

“That isn’t the issue………. Really.”

“Geez…… what a good natured person,” Felli said and took out her Dite. “I’m sending the flakes over.”

“Thanks. If possible, get in touch with Layfon first.”

“He had an operation today. He shouldn’t be too far. I’ll make it.”

“Yes. Really.”

“Then what do you plan to do?” Sharnid asked.

“Head for the place with clues. You guys, stay ready. I’ll get back to you.”

“Roger,” Sharnid replied as Nina ran off. What were left were the restored Dites, Felli, and Sharnid. Sharnid pulled over the weapon harness to himself and laid down on the long bench…… Naruki, Mifi and Mei-Shen didn’t know what was going on.

“…… What’s going on?” Naruki asked Sharnid.

“That guy’s at it again.”

“Huh?”

“……. Has he gone to fight?”

Naruki and Mifi watched Mei-Shen in shock.

“Did he say that?”

“…….. Because he wants to protect, from now on.”

Sharnid sighed. “Just like him. Geez, doing this kind of thing so calmly.”

“Please… wait a minute,” Naruki massaged her head. “What happened to Layfon? Fighting…….”

“You’ll know in a minute,” he looked at Felli. As if they had planned it beforehand, Karian’s voice came through Felli’s flake.

“Ah, you already knew?” he said sourly.

“It’s not ‘already knew’!” Nina said in anger, running on the rooftop. After leaving the war field, she had confirmed the location of her destination and jumped onto a roof. If she ran on the ground using Kei, she’d confuse the students and face many obstructions. On the roofs, she could run as fast as she wanted.

“Why did you involve Layfon in such danger?”

“If possible, I want him to concentrate on Military Arts.”

That sounded like Karian’s true feelings.

“But not this time.”

“Just what has happened?” she suppressed her anger at Karian for letting Layfon fight alone.

“The city’s on a rampage.”

“What?”

“As I said, the city’s on a rampage.”

It seemed Karian hadn’t yet managed his own feelings about this situation. Impatience and anxiety ran in his voice. “It’s like we’re giving ourselves up to filth monsters….. Do you think I can simply tell everyone about it?”

True. It’d be chaos.

“But…..”

“On the other hand…….. I think I can tell from the last fight. We’re still immature. We already fought so desperately against larvae. No, if Layfon wasn’t there, we’d have turned into their food.”

Nina bit her lips. Yes, Nina and the rest of them couldn’t fight the filth monsters directly. The monster’s shell was so hard that Nina couldn’t break it. It took her several hits to kill the monster, but it’d be an easier fight if she could break the shell with one strike. After that, she contributed to the fight with the aged phase filth monster by offering Layfon a strategy, but could she herself carry that through………. Even if she could, who else could defeat a larva with just one strike? Who……….. Did Zuellni have such a Military Artist? She couldn’t think of anyone else. She didn’t hear of anyone killing numerous larvae in the previous fight.

“Only he can solve this problem. That’s the truth.”

“Bu……..”

She felt that Layfon was becoming more and more unreachable. She already knew the distance between them was too large. She was doing her best to catch up to him……… now it felt like she wasn’t even permitted to catch up. Nina’s feet moved as if they were trying to stop themselves.

“But……”

“He wanted you guys to go, and wanted you guys to make preparations first.”

“Huh?”

“Ask him. So what do you want to do?” Karian asked.

Silence descended. Everyone could hear Karian’s voice, but no one said anything. They all waited for Nina’s reply.

“I’m not going.”

“Oh……..” Curiosity came through Karian’s voice. “That isn’t like you.”

“I have something else to do.”

Layfon had said that only Nina could do it. Go to Zuellni……… The Electronic Fairy of the city was also called Zuellni. Other people knew of that as a fact, but none of them had experienced that knowledge. That was the meaning behind Layfon’s words.

Nina’s feet moved again. He said he trusted her. Only she would think of doing something about the unusual actions of the Electronic Fairy. So she had to do something about it.

“Then what do we do? Do you need help?” Sharnid asked.

“Don’t know, but…….. I think he needs reinforcements. Go to Layfon.”

“Roger……. We believe in you?”

“Of course.”

It was strange for Sharnid to say that kind of thing.

“Though I don’t know what you’re planning……. Smooth sailing.”

“As you like,” Karian said.

Nina took a big leap. She jumped over several buildings and landed on the ground. This was her first time coming to the Mechanical Department during the day. She entered the place through the entrance reserved for staff.

<center>◇</center>

The bike had only been in use for four hours before Layfon and the others arrived at their destination. This place was the closest in the arid wilderness. The place had sunk into a valley, and a number of huge bodies laid on the angled slope, half buried in the ground, stirring. Filth monsters.

“First and second phase…….”

“Exactly~” Haia nodded at Layfon.

It seemed the mother had given birth to the larvae here. Since no cities were around, the mother must have become the larvae’s food. Intense fights over her had taken place.

“Twelve of them,” Fermaus’ electronic voice reported.

“The same as the information we got before.”

The beginning number must be about 100 or so. Most of them died in the growing stage from being unable to adapt to eating pollutants, and from fighting each other and consuming each other for survival. Only twelve filth monsters were left, and they showed signs of waking due to the close proximity of a city.

“If we had come any later, these guys would have headed straight for the city~” Haia waved his hand and the subordinates standing behind him spread out.

“Next…….. Our contract is to defeat half of the filth monsters, so six of them.”

“I know,” Layfon nodded coldly and took out the Adamandite and the Safaiadite. The sword handles could be combined as before. Kiriku had told him the combination of the alloys.

Layfon had heard from Karian. The Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang moved between cities on their roaming bus. They fought filth monsters in their travels. Karian was dealing with the Mercenary Gang because of the filth monsters, but Zuellni didn’t have enough money to pay the amount that Haia had raised in the deal. An Academy City’s main income derived from the data of research, new techniques, new inventions. Although it was a place of immature people, senior students had a certain level of knowledge in the research area. They researched and obtained new data for the city they were in, but their contribution was also meaningful to other cities because Academy Cities profited by selling data to each other. However, Academy Cities didn’t aim to make profits, so if a profit was made, that was used on students’ living.

Zuellni’s current financial situation could not afford Haia’s price. Hence, Karian suggested a compromise. He named the amount he could pay, and Haia named the number of Mercenary Gang members to participate in the fight, and Haia then decided on how many monsters they could handle, leaving the rest for Zuellni to manage. And Zuellni’s representative was Layfon.

“I’m giving you half. Hunt whatever way you like,” Layfon said.

“……… That’s revolting,” Haia said, displeased. Layfon’s mind was already elsewhere and didn’t hear him.

“Don’t be like that. A Heaven’s Blade successor is like that,” Fermaus said. “Holding a Heaven’s Blade means he isn’t allowed to follow the level of anyone around him. He has to act alone even if he has comrades with him. That’s a Heaven’s Blade successor. Only other Heaven’s Blades are allowed to stand beside him.”

“Tsk. An end without cooperation. If I held the Heaven’s Blade, it wouldn’t be like that,” Haia said as if he was spitting something.

Layfon put the rod-like Dites into the slots of his Dite, and ran his Kei through it.

“Restoration AD.”

The Adamandite increased in weight, its shape changing.

“That guy……….” Layfon frowned at the restored Dite. Kiriku said Layfon was stubborn, but he himself was the same. Layfon was indeed holding a sword. The blade was slightly curved but it still was a sword. The blade was sharper and more solid than the blade before, and it didn’t hold the special quality of a Katana.

“Well, only that point is different. The shape is the same as before.”

With this blade, he could easily slice open a filth monster’s hard shell.

“Next………”

Time to go? His mind flew back to earlier.

(Mei, can she do it?)

He didn’t think she’d ignore his request. It was difficult to enter the Locker Room during a match. If she could get them out of the Locker Room smoothly……..

“Hey, wait a bit more. They’re softer when they’re awake~”

A filth monster’s shell became much denser and harder during the monster’s dormant period. A hard shell would hinder a filth monster’s movement, so the shell tended to soften up when the monster was awake. Another saying went that the shell was harder in the filth monster’s sleep to prevent other filth monsters from eating it. Was it really true……….

The filth monsters stirred, half buried in the ground. They should have felt Zuellni’s closeness. Perhaps the shells really were softening to allow greater flexibility.

“…….. It’s all right if I just clean up my part.”

“Ugh. Allow me to show you the beautiful cooperation of my team. You just shut up and see,” Haia said, bending down from the rock he was on.

Layfon originally intended to ignore him, but………..

(Please wait a moment more.) Fermaus’ voice stopped his feet from moving. He glanced at Haia. It appeared he hadn’t heard Fermaus.

(I’m only speaking to you.)

“Why?” Layfon asked in a low voice.

(Haia’s interested in you. Ryuhou always mentioned you. He was happy that you were given a Heaven’s Blade, as if you were his own apprentice.)

An electronic voice that should be devoid of any feelings, but Layfon felt nostalgia in that voice.

“You……..”

(I knew Ryuhou since I was little. Well, he was older than me. I had also met Deruk……. Don't know whether he could recognize me with my looks as they are now.)

Layfon recalled Fermaus’ face without the mask.

(I wanted to meet you, but I gave up. We didn’t intend to return to Grendan soon. I never guessed we’d meet this way.)

“……… What does the Queen want with the Haikizoku?”

Since he couldn’t ask Haia, he turned the question to Fermaus. This current situation was due to the Haikizoku. Best if it disappeared. However, he wouldn’t feel any more relaxed if the Haikizoku was taken to Grendan because Leerin and Deruk were there.

(What does she want…. I want to know too. The Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang was formed to find the Haikizoku. Our mission remains the same even if our leader changes. This is some kind of a secret among the royalty.)

“So the Mercenary Gang has been following that order and seeking the Haikizoku?”

(Well……….. It felt like a heavy mission in the first stage of the Mercenary Gang, but the feeling has become less immediate in Ryuhou’s generation. Besides, Ryuhou didn’t join the Mercenary Gang for that reason.)

“Huh?”

(Ryuhou just wanted to travel.)

Layfon failed to reply to that unexpected answer.

(He always sighed that because of him, Deruk could’ve left…….. He was really happy when he heard Deruk’s apprentice had become a Heaven’s Blade successor.)

“…………”

But that apprentice did something to taint the name of Psyharden.

(That’s why Haia hates you.)

“Why?”

The thought of himself tainting Psyharden flashed in his head.

(No, that’s not it.) Fermaus denied as if he had predicted Layfon’s thinking. He might have read Layfon’s expression with psychokinesis.

(Haia wasn’t born in Grendan. He was an orphan and Ryuhou picked him up. Haia was very full of himself, but he fell under Ryuhou’s influence. He and Ryuhou had developed a father and son relationship. No one wants to see his own parent praising another child, right?)

“I don’t get it.”

Layfon was also an orphan, so he didn’t understand the feeling between a father and his son. But he understood it wasn’t anything funny when Deruk praised other apprentices.

(Haia wants to take the Haikizoku back to Grendan so he can take the Heaven’s Blade. He wants to prove what Deruk’s apprentice can achieve, Ryuhou’s apprentice can also do.)

Fermaus laughed. It felt strange and itchy to hear that electronic laughter.

A feeling between family members? No……… How should he put it…….. Layfon held his hand, confused by his own feelings. Another voice suddenly cut in.

(What’re you doing?)

Felli’s voice was icy. But it was comforting to him as he was used to it.

“Felli……. Senpai,” Remembering that Fermaus was still listening, he hurriedly added ‘senpai’.

(It’ll take a while for my flake to arrive so I’m borrowing this flake.) Dissatisfaction filled her voice.

(Incredible.) The electronic voice sounded. The flake beside Layfon held psychokinesis from two different people.

(You didn’t cut off my psychokinesis but merged yours with mine? Brilliant. I can interfere with another’s use of psychokinesis, but I’ve never heard of using it this way.)

(Sorry, but……..)

Felli’s voice was lighter than usual when she responded to Fermaus’ excitement. (I’ve something to say to this hopeless idiot. Unrelated people please leave.)

(Ah……..)

Fermaus didn’t say anything else. It appeared Felli had completely taken over the flake. Though she wasn’t physically here, it felt like she and Layfon were alone, together. The discordant and tense atmosphere descended on him. That was Felli’s anger.

“Uh……. I’m sorry.”

(Never mind. I understand……… I’m deeply shocked by Zuellni’s level.)

“That’s not it,” he shook his head, relieved that she understood him. “This is an Academy City. It must be common.”

(……. How troublesome.) She then told him of what happened with the 17th platoon. (Then why did you call us over?)

Why did he call them over when their strength wasn’t enough to fight filth monsters?

“To watch.”

(Watch?)

“The fight. My style of fighting isn’t useful, but the Mercenary Gang’s is. Felli, I’d be happy if you recorded as much as you can.”

Young Military Artists at Grendan would watch the fights of veterans. They’d fight after feeling the atmosphere of the fight and the horror of filth monsters. They’d prepare themselves mentally for the fight, and figure out their own styles. This was a habit only seen in Grendan because of Grendan’s numerous contacts with filth monsters.

(It’ll be difficult to turn the images in my head into video images….. I can record the images from the helmet though.)

“Please. If only Sharnid senpai and everyone else saw it, Captain would get angry……..”

(Please don’t say something that’d make me not want to prepare for this.)

“Huh?”

(A joke. Then I’ll relay this to them.)

“Yes, please tell them where to wait and watch. How long until you get here?”

(I can start recording when I see the battle. When my flake arrives, it can record the entire fight.)

Layfon nodded. “Then I’m counting on you.”

(Let this flake be your aid.)

The vision dimmed in Layfon’s helmet and immediately turned into a colorful world.

“This really is better.”

(…….. I won’t forgive you even if you praise me. And please don’t force yourself.)

“I know.”

Felli didn’t say anything. She must be relaying the message to Sharnid.

“Next……..”

His preparation was done.

(Next is to trust the Captain in that.)

He worried about the Captain more than his impending fight. While he was thinking of this, the situation over at Zuellni came through. Felli deliberately left it out of her report to Layfon.

<center>◇</center>

Nina descended into the center of the Mechanical Department on the lift that was fenced waist-high. As the lift stopped, she ran out of it. The time was dusk, and there were no other cleaners around. Almost all of the workers here were in the Resting Room. Nina ran without worrying about knocking over people. No one else was around.

Zuellni was on a rampage. She couldn’t believe it. That young girl on a rampage? But it was true that the city was heading straight for filth monsters when it should be avoiding them. Layfon was now fighting because of that.

(Damn, just what’s happened?)

She was running now because of that reality. Nina didn’t have to doubt.

(A child that gentle…….)

She and Zuellni met for the first time when she started working at the Mechanical Department. She didn’t’ know Zuellni as long as she knew Harley, but Zuellni was her first friend since entering the Academy City. Zuellni was important to her, and this had nothing to do with the amount of time they had spent together.

“Something bad has happened.”

She didn’t think Zuellni would want to be like this. She stopped, a figure floating up in her mind. Thick metallic plates stood before her. A small hill piled by a number of metal plates……. The center.

“Zuellni!” Nina could only call as she walked around the hill. She didn’t see an entrance into the hill.

“Zuellni!”

The sound of mechanisms working drowned out her voice. A feeling of something suppressive rushed up her chest. Her heartbeat quickened. Was she tense? Excited. She put a hand on her chest, realizing the emotions inside her.

“…… What is this.”

Unrelated to her consciousness and the situation, her body was becoming excited. Her consciousness and her body seemed to go in different directions. Her body temperature rose as if blood was draining from her head.

“Uh……..” Her legs weakened and she put a hand on the metal plate. And then…

“What?”

The support beneath her hand folded inward. Nina fell, reacted instinctively, and rolled on the fallen plate. The plate lay on an angle and Nina slid down on it. Her shoulder hit the floor and stopped her movement. The slide wasn’t a long one.

“This is….. the inside.” Nina never thought she’d enter the hill this way. She stood up and confirmed her surroundings. She thought she was in total darkness when she rolled down the plate, but it wasn’t entirely dark in here. Dim light pulsated in the middle of the small space. Gold and green light flowed, slowly chasing away the darkness. The light made Nina dizzy. Her heart still beat fast. She felt uncomfortable.

“Is it here……”

Without waiting for Kei to help her body recover, she took a step in the direction of the light. Nina walked around the light and discovered the space wasn’t as big as she thought. The face exuding the light greeted her.

“Zuellni!”

A gem sat on an enormous pedestal cut out by machinery. The base of the pedestal was about the height of Nina’s waist. It was wide enough for four to five people to surround it with hand touching hand. The gem on the pedestal was in its raw uncut form. Several tubes extended from the base of the pedestal. Calcite stuck on the gem here and there, transparent like the surface of calm water. Zuellni was in there. But Nina wasn’t sure whether it really was Zuellni.

“….. What is this?”

Nina’s voice trembled.

Zuellni’s pupils had lost their focus. Nina didn’t know what was inside the gem, but she saw the girl form of Zuellni floated, as if her hands and feet were stretching out. As if she was dead. A chill ran down Nina’s back.

“Why is it here?”

A huge creature with golden hair and branching horns stood behind Zuellni inside the gem. A male goat. The Haikizoku.

“You…….. Why are you here!?” Nina shouted and snatched out her Dite. She restored it, and urged by outrage and dizziness, she used her Kei. Her iron whips struck the gem, giving off a crisp sound. Green and golden light weaved together like a heart beating. They swayed and instantly vanished into normality.

“Fu!” Rebounded into the air, she did a backflip and landed. She continued to strike the gem but failed to do any damage to it. No……….

(Something pushes me away before I strike the gem.)

That was what she felt.

(Then…….? Damn.)

Felli’s flake should be in here. Nina could ask her to analyze the gem. Maybe Felli was already running an analysis.

But she didn’t ask the psychokinesist on her team. She suppressed her instinctive urge to call Felli by breathing in deeply.

(Isn’t Layfon also alone?) She thought.

Outrage caused her to briefly forget herself. The dissatisfaction she had up till now was gone. She didn’t attack the gem again.

(This might affect Zuellni.)

This was the center of the Mechanical Department. If she destroyed it, the city might cease functioning. Outrage made her forget herself, and in that instant, she realized that she might end up damaging the city itself. Horror filled her. But what should she do……….

“My……..”

“……..!”

A voice filled her head. Her body turned stiff.

“My body is already rotten. It is useless. Driven by the madness of hatred, I turned into flame. I now seek a new master for a new purpose. You whom I hope for, obey my wish. Possess my spirit and show my value. As such, I’ll turn the Ashes of Ignasis into a sword, and eliminate all your enemies.”

Layfon had heard of these words from the Haikizoku in the ruined city. Now these words were directed to Nina for the first time.

“You……… You can speak? The Ashes of Ignasis? What’re you saying?”

She didn’t understand the Haikizoku’s words, but she quickly chased away that puzzle. She understood some of it because of what happened in the match with the 10th platoon.

“You, you’re looking for someone so you fight filth monsters? Is that why you’re doing this to Zuellni?”

“In order to obtain the person who can hold my spirit, I now take action.”

“What……..?”

“The situation will help a person change and grow,” it said curtly and fell silent.

(To change and grow…….)

Nina was only puzzled for a while, then realization flooded through her.

“Could……. Could you be making us fight filth monsters!?”

People could become strong by being forced into fights. They couldn’t survive if they weren’t strong. Electronic Fairies protected their city and their people. If the Electronic Fairy was taken away……… And if the city itself headed for filth monsters………. Then people had to continuously fight filth monsters to survive.

“Ridiculous……….. The city will die.”

A city would face constant danger of annihilation if it continued to fight filth monsters. That was why Regios moved to avoid filth monsters.

“If a person can possess me, then many more people will be saved by the Ashes of Ignasis.”

“That is……… That isn’t a logical theory,” Nina groaned. How could it say that destroying Zuellni was all right for the sake of finding a new master? It had possessed Dinn before.

“I won’t let you do what you want here……… Let Zuellni go!”

The sight of Zuellni’s dead posture increased the impatience and worry in her.

“My determination is infinite.”

The Haikizoku stirred within the gem.

“But you possess a strange feeling.”

“Wh, what…….?”

“You who think of protecting the city, come and try. Even though you do not have the will to feed me, I’ll bet on that feeling of yours.”

“Wh……..”

Though she didn’t understand what the Haikizoku meant, she felt the danger and readied her stance to defend herself. But it was meaningless. The Haikizoku vanished the one second when her iron whips blocked her line of vision to the gem. And quickly………

“What, Ah…….”

She felt something filling her chest……..

“Can, can this be…….”

It was forcing itself into her. The hole she didn’t know she had in her chest was being stuffed full. Her consciousness started to fade as she felt herself drowning.

(Can this be…….)

Was this what Dinn felt…………?

“St, stop it!”

Only Felli heard Nina’s scream. She didn’t know what happened next as her psychokinesis couldn’t reach it. Felli conveyed the event to Karian so he could send people over to the Mechanical Department. She didn’t tell Layfon about it.

<center>◇</center>

“Next….” Haia stood up on the huge rock. The filth monsters had awakened from their dormant stage, spreading their wings.

“About time to go,” he murmured as the other Mercenary Gang members increased their Kei without exciting the filth monsters.

“How’s it over there?” Layfon asked Felli.

(The preparation is completed.)

“You don’t have to record me…….. Actually, better if you don’t record it.”

(I know. Even if I want to, it’s not possible to make you a target.) Felli’s words were as unforgiving as ever. He smiled bitterly as he confirmed the movements of the filth monsters. The filth monsters should have already discovered him and the others by smell. Will they take the bait here or fly straight for the more plentiful Zuellni……….

“Then please watch.”

(Don’t force yourself.) That was Sharnid’s voice.

Layfon spoke to Haia. “We have to time our fights. It’ll troublesome if even one filth monster heads for Zuellni.”

“Who’re you talking to?” Excitement showed through Haia’s voice. He laughed. “We’re hunting dogs on a battlefield. Don’t take us for little dogs that need to be taught how to take a bite.”

“I can tell you how to fight,” Layfon shouldered the huge sword in his hand. Haia took the same posture with his Katana.

“I’ll reap them all.”

And External Kei burst out of Layfon. The Kei shattered the ground before him as it swept up the dust and swallowed the filth monsters.

“Time for the hunt!” Haia roared and ran out, moving at high speed with his body close to the ground.

“Restoration 02.”

Layfon’s Safiadite became steel threads. Looking at the filth monster that first flew out of the dust cloud, he used Whirl Kei – a variation of Internal Kei. The rock underneath him broke into pieces as he jumped. The filth monster’s body curved like a snake, its wings beating in repeated motions to lift the filth monster into the sky. Layfon’s sword chopped into its exposed chin.

The hard shell cracked easily. The power of the Whirl Kei remained steady. He leaned his body onto the sword, and using his own weight pushed the sword through, cutting through the filth monster’s body. The enemy collapsed and fell. Layfon landed, his momentum carrying him across the ground. The dust surrounding him did not hinder his vision since he had Felli’s support. He slid to a stop and turned around to feel his surroundings with the steel threads. He still had five filth monsters to defeat. He confirmed that all five were caught in his steel threads, then he let go of the Safiadite.

The handle of the Safiadite was immediately lifted into the air. It stopped in midair, then shook violently. External Kei assaulted the newly awakened filth monsters. The enemies struggled, pulling the threads this way and that. None of the five filth monsters managed to get an advantage, and their respective struggles kept the handle in balance. The filth monsters in turn lost their own balance and fell back onto the ground.

“Next……..!” As Layfon was about to let loose the Internal Kei building up inside him, he kneeled down at the sudden pain on his back.

(Fon Fon!)

Embarrassed at being called by this name, Layfon felt like laughing.

“Don’t worry. The wound on my back’s just opened a bit.”

(That’s not a bit.)

“A bit. It hurts, but my protective suit is still intact.”

A battle with a time limit was better than a damaged protective suit.

Knee still bent, he shot into the air with a burst of Internal Kei. He landed on a filth monster that had flown out of the dust cloud.

“You can’t stop here. It’s your death when you stop.”

Now that he stood here, Layfon had no time to worry about his own body.

One swing of his sword chopped off the head of the filth monster. The sword’s sharpness was unquestionable. It wouldn’t overheat so easily like last time and the cutting path was accurate. Layfon wasn’t at his best body condition, but he felt energized. Standing on the dead filth monster, he lifted his head to gaze at the sky. The sky always seemed rusty-red to him when he fought filth monsters. The pollutant density was higher than usual. Perhaps there was some truth in Fermaus’ words.

“I feel good……. Today, I can even cut open the sky.”

(Forget that and hurry up with finishing the rest!) Felli scolded. He smiled bitterly.

“Got it.”

He leapt from the descending head of the filth monster and saw his next opponent. This filth monster had just finished biting his sibling’s head into pieces. It turned around. Head pointed to the ground and toes to the sky, Layfon leaned the tip of his sword on the steel thread to stop himself from falling. One end of the threads sustained the tension of the filth monsters’ struggle. His sword slid on the taut thread towards the Safiadite. He grabbed hold of the handle of his green Dite…….

“Tsk!”

He lost his balance. The Kei he had put earlier into the steel threads had been exhausted. The filth monsters recovered their freedom one by one. They pulled Layfon towards them. Using that momentum, he turned the Safiadite back into its Dite form, took down two handles from it and put them back into his weapon harness.

“Restoration 01.”

Layfon held the Safiadite in his left hand as the steel threads vanished. He was flying towards two filth monsters that were turning around and heading in his direction. He calmly took out the two Dites placed in the slots of the Adamandite and placed another Dite into one of the slots.

“Restoration AD.”

He restored it again. The blade stretched into a length as long as Layfon was tall. The tip of the blade was in the shape of a crescent moon. A weapon that was like a halberd. The end of the handle was attached to the Safiadite.

External Burst Type Kei – Gajiya.

The halberd drew a circle as if drawing Layfon in too, and it met the filth monster’s long chin on the path of the circular movement, cutting away its obstacle. This was the Heaven’s Blade successor Cauntia’s technique. Having passed the filth monster, Layfon increased his speed as he spun around, widening the halberd’s range and cut down a part of the filth monster’s body. Lastly, he took down the enemy’s wing and prevented it from flying. Layfon used the momentum of his external Kei to rebound down towards the ground, chasing after the two other filth monsters. He took down the Safiadite from the handle of the Adamandite.

He attacked the uninjured filth monster. External burst type variation – Bakushikou. When the sword was about to stab deep into the body of the filth monster, the tip of the blade caused an explosion and blew a huge hole in the filth monster’s abdomen. Layfon leaped through that hole and changed the Adamandite into the huge sword. He also changed the Safiadite into steel threads and spread the threads around.

Two more filth monsters left. One of them was already waiting for him with gigantic teeth. In the chin behind the huge teeth was a hole where smaller teeth sat next to one another without gaps in between them. The filth monster ate by pulling its prey into its mouth with the lower jaw, sucking it in, and grinding it down with the smaller teeth before swallowing. Floating in midair. Layfon ignored the theory of strong and weak and descended. His steel threads connected him to the ground. Another filth monster’s long body flew above his head. Its legs, hidden in hard shells, stretched down to grab him, but they were either cut down by or bounced off Layfon’s blade. Layfon’s steel threads wrapped around the filth monster above him as he once again stood on a steel thread in midair.

The other filth monster headed for him with its mouth opened wide. Saliva drooped from its mouth. He took out two Dites from his sword. The steel thread pulled taut as the filth monster above him struggled to break free. He leaped off the steel thread and swung with the Adamandite.

External Burst type Kei – Sendan.

A massive amount of condensed external Kei shot out of the sword. The filth monster received it head on with its mouth opened. The external Kei cut the enemy in half. The internal organs of the filth monster fell in a circle with Layfon in the middle. Suddenly, the steel thread anchored in the ground was pulled loose, sending him flying past the filth monster that was originally above him. He grabbed the handle of the Safiadite to prevent it from falling, and flipped around to face the final filth monster that was now beneath him. He put a Dite into the slot in the Adamandite. This time he cut his enemy in half at a horizontal angle. The abdomen he stood on landed first. Layfon jumped away from the abdomen, from getting caught in its landing. He used the weight of the Adamandite to cushion his own landing. The upper half of the severed filth monster’s body kept moving forward but it slowly descended as the wings lost their speed.

Layfon took a deep breath to calm the Internal Kei roiling inside him. He had defeated all six filth monsters. He didn’t release all his Kei, since the battle hadn’t finished. The Dites also remained in their restored forms.

“Thanks for the good work,” Felli said through the flake.

“No matter how many times I see you, you’re still incredible,” Sharnid said. It seemed Felli had opened up a communication channel between them.

“It’s still unbelievable even though I just saw it,” Naruki said.

“…….. Is this a dream?”

That was Dalshena’s voice. Though Layfon heard Sharnid had invited her to join the team for the inter-platoon match, he didn’t think she’d come here.

“No……….. Forget about me. Please look at the other fight.”

Feeling slightly shy, Layfon turned his gaze to the remaining fight.

Leading the Mercenary Gang, Haia was fighting with his all. Their fight was a product of cooperation. The Mercenary Gang members acted as bait to draw the filth monsters into separate fights, preventing them from leaving and flying for Zuellni. Haia was fighting against one of the filth monsters on his own. His Dite had been repaired, maintaining its original Katana form. Enveloped in Kei, the blade lashed out at the filth monster’s shell without holding back. The amount of Kei was smaller than Layfon’s, so he needed to strike several times to break that shell.

“Beautiful,” Sharnid said. “I quite understand what you want us to see.”

“But, that……..” Dalshena said. Layfon knew what she didn’t get to say.

“It’s not impossible to aim for my level, but do you think the current students can manage it?” Layfon asked.

“Uh……” Dalshena couldn’t respond.

“The way these Military Artists fight is how to fight filth monsters. This is the correct method. Mine is being a moron without any strategies.”

He looked at Haia’s fight. Haia’s skill was similar to his. Layfon won in the fight against him because of a small difference. He didn’t think the probability of a victory against Haia would increase exponentially if he held a Katana. That was what it meant to fight Haia who had learned all the Psyharden techniques. Can he become a Heaven’s Blade successor………..? From Layfon’s viewpoint, Haia had no problem except for his lack of Kei. If he had wanted, he could have fought against all six filth monsters alone. But he didn’t do that. His probability of death was drastically reduced through the support of other members.

“In my fight, one wrong step means death. I could die from every single mistake I make. I don’t have anyone to cover for those mistakes of mine……..”

In fact, his mistake in the previous fight against the aged phase monster had damaged his Dite and left him in grave danger. Who knew what would have happened had Nina not shown up.

Felli and the others kept silent.

“I want you to see this. Results won’t be immediate. But we can try again and again. I hope to fight together.”

Nina told him how they felt when he was acting recklessly. What he did would worry them. If they helped him, his probability of death would reduce, wouldn’t it?

“You just said something very heavy,” Sharnid broke the silence.

“Sorry.”

“……. But it doesn’t feel bad to have you depend on us.”

“Same here, if I can become your strength.”

“Of course,” Layfon nodded at Naruki’s reply.

“Shena, this is the 17th platoon.”

“Uh?”

“Not bad, right?”

“Humph.”

Layfon couldn’t tell what expression Dalshena held, but he could discern Sharnid trying to suppress his laughter.

Sharnid’s attitude turned relaxed. “Nina’ll definitely agree to another camp if we say it this way. This way, we can finish what we failed to accomplish in the last camp.”

“Huh?”

“Moron. Still don’t get it? The bath. The bath. It’s naked girls playing in water and having something unexpected happen…… then us seeing it!”

“Wh……..!”

Naruki’s voice. Layfon felt as if Felli’s level of psychokinesis had dropped.

“…………. I think you should start your life over. From before zero.”

“………… I knew you were an idiot, but I didn’t know it was to this level.”

Layfon heard the sound of a Dite being restored on the other side of the flake.

“No, hey, hey, hey. Wait up. I was joking. Joking. Besides, Layfon was involved too.”

“Don’t get me caught up in it.”

A swift moment of concentrated murderous intent. Layfon pretended he didn’t sense it. In truth, he didn’t remember participating in such a scheme.

“Hey, hey, don’t be so cold. On the first night of camp, didn’t we convey our determination by exchanging a glance?”

“No. That didn’t happen,” he said.

“You’re so cold,” Sharnid sighed.

“Don’t involve others in your foolishness!” Dalshena shouted. Sharnid groaned.

Layfon pretended he didn’t hear and turned the Dite back into its unrestored form. The fights of the Mercenary Gang had finished. Haia and his members prepared to return to Zuellni. Layfon headed for his bike.

(What would the captain think?) He suddenly thought. He had a feeling of being abandoned when Nina said she didn’t plan to forfeit the match. It was like he wasn’t needed in the 17th platoon. But he knew Nina wouldn’t think like that. That was his trust in her. He only felt lonely.

He was the one who wanted them to become strong, so he was ashamed of himself for feeling lonely. Hence he wanted Nina and the rest of the team to see this battle. Help them become strong. They must see the battle for themselves.

(No, probably not.) Layfon shook his head, rejecting the probability of himself wanting to stand out.

(I just want to fit in.)

So he let them see his fight, the fight that showed how Grendan fought, and the battle of the Mercenary Gang.

“Anyway, let’s return.”

Back to Zuellni where Nina, Felli, Mei-Shen and the others waited.

He wanted them to see him more clearly……… Layfon mounted his bike.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

<center>◇</center>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume5 Chapter4

2010-01-01T12:07:58Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 4: Hold hands while blindfolded */

===Chapter 4: Hold hands while blindfolded===

It had been a week since Layfon regained consciousness. Most of his injuries had been healed, but the doctor hadn’t yet given him permission to leave the hospital.

Naruki arrived while Layfon didn’t know how to pass his time.

“Yo…. How are you?” she said.

“I can’t stand the boredom,” he said weakly.

Naruki smiled in relief at his voice. She had also sustained injuries, but they were less severe. She had already recovered.

“Still haven’t had the operation yet?”

Most of Layfon’s external wounds had recovered, but the spinal injury had been left untouched. Caution was required to take out the debris embedded deep inside the spinal cord. The medical team in charge of the operation was having a preparatory meeting over it. Next would come the operation, and Layfon would be discharged if the operation was successful.

“I hope it comes quickly.”

He couldn’t stand the boredom and the numerous medical checks on him. It felt like he had become an experimental object.

“This is better than undergoing a failed operation. Have more patience.”

“……. Mei, is she still blaming herself?”

“Aaa……” Naruki lowered her head.

“She really doesn’t have to do that……”

Naruki said that Mei-Shen was blaming herself over the incident and had locked herself in her room. She hadn’t even come to the hospital for a visit.

“At least she’s going to school now.”

“Sorry, it was my fault.”

“I told you before that it wasn’t your fault. We chose that place. You were just following us.”

“But it turned out like this because I was hiding something……”

“Layton…….” Her gestured stopped him from saying more.

“Even we have a few things we don’t want others to know. We aren’t like Layton because our reasons for hiding them are different, but there is bound to be a few secrets. I don’t think we have to blame ourselves because of it.”

“Naruki……..”

“I’m happy. The fact that you can tell us about such a heavy past, isn’t that proof of the trust between us?”

“Uh……..”

“That’s enough. But I hope you can wait for Mei. She’s confused because you got injured. Can you give her some time?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.”

After exchanging an awkward smile, they changed the topic to the 17th platoon.

“Dalshena’s replaced your position.”

“Really?”

“Aaa, Sharnid-senpai invited her.”

Layfon thought it was difficult to invite Dalshena, taking into consideration the previous incident with the 10th platoon. Naruki thought so too.

“I’m bothered but it’s a sensitive topic. Since the Captain has agreed to it, I can’t say much about it.”

“If you had a better relationship with Sharnid-senpai, then it would be easier.”

“Well….. That’s not easy.”

“Huh?”

“Anyway, what should be done should be done. It’d be good if you could be discharged soon, otherwise it would be meaningless for me to enter the platoon.”

“…….. Naruki, what do you think of what I did?”

“Other people’s opinions don’t matter to Layton, do they?”

“Uh…… well.”

“I’m joking….. You’re right. My sense of morality feels that what Layton did was wrong. It was wrong, but I don’t hate you because of it. What’s important is that it was in the past. It’s not totally cut off from the present Layton, but I can’t say much about it since I wasn’t involved.”

“Sorry. I asked something strange.”

“It’s ok. We were the ones who asked you about it, and I hadn’t told you my thoughts on it yet.”

“Yeah.”

“Layton….. What you did was a crime, but you were already punished for it. I don’t think it’s something you can tell anyone easily, so don’t worry too much about it. But you’re letting go of it, right?”

“…….Letting go?”

“Seems a Katana was involved with the fight against the Mercenary Gang? You had two Dites. The Dite you used against Dinn was in the form of a Katana.”

“………”

Originally, Layfon had been training in the Psyharden’s Katana skill, taught by his adopted father, Deruk. It wasn’t a sword skill. However, Layfon chose to fight with a sword when he became a Heaven’s Blade successor.

“Didn’t you say before that you don’t think what you did in Grendan was wrong? But you’ve restricted yourself to some sort of a constraint? That’s not because of the crime, but because of your sense of guilt. I think you just need to let go and release yourself from it.”

Layfon didn’t think it was wrong to participate in the underground matches, but it was unforgivable in Deruk’s view. If he used the Psyharden skill, then he’d have tainted Deruk’s reputation. The only solution was for him to stop using the Katana. The difference between using a sword and a Katana was delicately decisive. He was able to use the sword when he was a Heaven’s Blade successor because of his ability to understand and use any techniques by glancing at them, and because of the support from the Steel Thread techniques that he learned from Lintence.

“That’s all I have to say. Layton’s the one to decide in the end.”

(Letting…… go?)

He knew from Naruki’s opinion that it wasn’t easy to let go, still, he was hesitant.

Someone knocked on the door.

<center>◇</center>

The day of the match had come. The audience was more enthusiastic than usual. All of the platoons would have fought each other at least once after this match. They would also have their results compared. The results would directly impact their ordering in the next Military Arts Competition. Nevertheless, all the audience wanted to know was which platoon was the strongest. In particular, today’s match would decide whether the 1st platoon could maintain its top position. As such, everyone in the audience seat kept their gazes on the war field.

“Well…….. it’s got nothing to do with us,” Sharnid happily said in the locker room.

The three teams fighting for the first position were Vance’s 1st platoon, Gorneo’s 5th platoon, and the 14th platoon. All three teams had only lost one match. The 17th platoon was right after them, with two defeats under its belt. The 17th platoon’s opponent was the 1st platoon today. The other two teams were also having their match today with each other. If the 17th platoon won the match, first place would still go to the 5th or the 14th platoon. If team 17 lost, the 1st platoon would take top position, tied with the winning team of the other match.

“We can’t not give it our best because of that,” Nina glared at him.

“Yes, yes,” Sharnid shrugged.

“Even though we can’t take the top position, we’ll still do our best…… No, we must still win!”

Because the platoon wasn’t in its best condition………. Because whether they won or not they couldn’t take the first place……. These things mattered not. There was a higher meaning if they defeated the 1st platoon. Naruki’s friends held an interview before with the platoons. Gorneo, the captain of the 5th platoon, had said in the interview that if they couldn’t win against the 1st platoon, then Zuellni wouldn’t have changed from the time when it lost in the last Military Arts Competition. Nina thought so too. And more significantly, she didn’t want to think that it wasn’t possible to find a replacement for Layfon. It was also for Layfon, since Nina had said to “do something”, so she had to do something for him to see how they had become stronger.

“I know,” Sharnid said, waving his hand weakly as if Nina’s words were wind to him. She glared at him then turned her gaze to Dalshena. Dalshena sat with eyes closed.

“The attacker is…….. the Captain?” Dalshena asked, keeping her pose. Everyone’s gaze went to Nina except Felli’s.

“Naruki and I will go up the left rear. Dalshena, please take the right rear. Sharnid will fire from a distance with Felli’s support. That’ll be our formation once the match begins,” Nina said. She swallowed and waited for their reaction.

“This time we’re on the offensive. We lose if the Captain falls. Is this ok?” Dalshena asked as Nina had expected. She knew she would point out the danger of having the captain take the front attacker position. In truth, Nina wasn’t sure where to put Dalshena. She did check Dalshena’s fighting style through the videos, but that was all within the formation of the 10th platoon. Nina didn’t know how Dalshena fought on her own. The 10th platoon had taken advantage of Dalshena’s excellent offensive skill. Nina had thought of using a similar strategy, but it would be difficult because they didn’t have enough time to train together. And Dalshena also held the same worry.

“Please don’t worry about me,” she said. Layfon had taught her the Gongoukei. He said the Heaven’s Blade successor, Lintence, used it as his defensive skill. She couldn’t use it as well as the Heaven’s Blade successor, but with it, she had the confidence to defend against heavy impacts.

“Then I just need to attack when the time comes?” Dalshena opened her eyes and looked at her.

“Yes.”

“Roger.”

She closed her eyes again and waited for the match to begin.

Having checked everyone’s Dites, Harley came to Nina.

“It’s Layfon’s operation today. Is it finished?”

“Um? I don’t know much about medicine.”

Layfon’s operation was today, an operation to take out the debris in his spinal cord.

“I hope it’ll go smoothly.”

“Yes.”

They must not lose this match. If she continued to rely on Layfon and didn’t move forward……… That was what she thought. And she wanted to show that she could do it without Layfon.

“We’ll win,” she said to herself.

<center>◇</center>

Layfon was outside the hospital one hour before Nina’s match. The operation didn’t take long. The problem was where the debris was located in the spinal cord, and how to safely take it out. This had been talked over in the preparatory meeting, so all the doctors needed were to follow the decisions made in the meeting during the operation. Fortunately, the debris was in an area where the debris could be taken out in one and not in several operations…….. So one operation sufficed. The doctors had then sewed up the wound and stuck on it a wet pad filled with active cell medicine. The pain felt like a cramp, but with the aid of Internal Kei, the wound should close up and recover within the day. The thread used to sew up the wound would then melt and disappear. Layfon didn’t even need to go back to the hospital and have the thread taken out. However, he couldn’t do much about his reduced strength.

(I’m not at my full strength.)

He checked his body condition in a relaxed manner and headed for the closest tram station. This area was quieter today because of the inter-platoon match. A tram arrived right after Layfon had checked the timetable at the station.

“Ah………:

The tram slowed to a stop. The first half of the tram rolled past Layfon, and he saw a shocked Mei-Shen standing at the exit of the tram. Since he couldn’t escape, he entered the tram. Mei-Shen stood at the exit with a bunch of flowers in her arm. The computer of the tram made an electronic sound as if urging something. Mei-Shen stepped back from the door in a fluster.

The tram moved after the door had closed.

“Ah, Mei. Hello,” Layfon smiled with embarrassment.

“……..Layton, why?” Mei-Shen asked, shocked.

“Ah, I was discharged.”

“Huh? But……. But you have an operation……..”

“Oh, it’s finished.”

“…….. Uh? But, the operation?”

“Yeah, it finished quicker than expected. I was surprised too.”

Only the two of them were in the tram. They sat side by side. The scenery flowed outside the window opposite them. They sat in silence. Mei-Shen put the light-colored flowers between them. Layfon had received flowers when he was in the hospital. Nina’s was a deep color. Felli’s was a color that softened the room. Naruki and Mei-Shen’s were of a pure color. Layfon thought Mei-Shen’s flowers seemed to represent herself.

The two of them looked at the flowers.

“About before…… I’m sorry,” she said weakly.

“Uh…….. Rather than that, I’m happy that Mei isn’t injured.”

“Me…… never mind.”

“Never mind, but……..”

“Layton……. You protected me,” she cut in, her hands clutching her skirt as if she was using her entire strength to say those words. “…….. Not only that, you also protected me when the filth monsters were here.”

“Huh……..?”

“I heard about it from Naruki. Like a secret weapon, but the Student President didn’t say what it was. He just said it’s changed. If Layton wasn’t there.”

“Uh……..”

“…… Actually, Naruki said that too,” she said, her head lowered. Her shoulders sagged as if losing strength.

“…….. I don’t understand. Even though Layton’s a Heaven’s Blade successor, an incredible someone, I still don’t understand. I know Military Artists are incredible, but I don’t understand anything beyond that. Although I understand that you did something bad and were exiled from Grendan…….” she fell silent.

Mei-Shen was a normal person. In Grendan, people would understand the term Heaven’s Blade successor even if it wasn’t explained.

It was understandable that Mei-Shen didn’t comprehend the meaning of the term. Layfon hadn’t fought seriously in the past inter-platoon matches. He had fought with a strength just a bit above a normal student’s. The only times he used some of his true strength was when he fought in the matches against the 10th and the 5th platoons. Mei-Shen and anyone else probably wouldn’t understand the difference in Layfon’s strength in those matches. In addition, Mei-Shen and the others wouldn’t understand how Zuellni’s Military Artists fought against filth monsters. They were in the shelters and couldn’t see anything as the fight wasn’t broadcasted.

(Aaa, I see…….)

He now understood the Queen’s words on a deeper level. This was the thing that no one was to know – that Military Artists fought filth monsters using the strength they exhibited in matches. The strength of Heaven’s Blade successors far exceeded the comprehension of normal people. Hence, Mei-Shen couldn’t accept what Naruki said, that Layfon defeated all the larvae.

“It was me,” Layfon nodded.

“Really?” She didn’t look convinced.

“Is it hard to believe?”

“Uh……”

“That was what happened. But it’s ok if you think it’s a lie.”

“Wh, Why?”

“Because I can’t find the proof for you.”

Naruki might see the proof one day. She was a Military Artist. She had what a Military Artist possessed. Perhaps Layfon would be there when Zuellni once more fought filth monsters. He didn’t think the same opportunity would present itself to Mei-Shen. Normal people would hide in a shelter when filth monsters attacked.

“Can’t I trust you?”

“Huh?”

“I want to trust Layton.”

Looking at her lowered head, this time Layfon had nothing to say. Although her words were within his predictions, the feelings he got when hearing them was unexpected. He had wanted her to believe him, but whether it would go smoothly was uncertain. Anyone else wouldn’t have cared. To believe, to trust or not to trust mattered not.

“Th, thanks.”

“I’ve thought of what Layton said. You decided to do that after considering many things, right?”

“Yeah………”

“I wasn’t there. About those people who didn’t treat you well…….. I’m angry at them, and I’m also sad……. But, I don’t understand them. I don’t think I can judge them, but……”

When he realized it, Mei-Shen’s shoulders were trembling. Her tears darkened her skirt. She was crying.

“Mei……”

“Layton…… You’ve done well,” she said as if she was moaning. “You did your best…… but they didn’t understand you……. they’re so mean.”

“………..”

Mei-Shen meant the children at the orphanage. Words defending those kids flashed past Layfon’s head. He swallowed them. It wasn’t hatred. The feeling was like a defense but either way, they wouldn’t forgive him.

If only he was hated.

He said that not long ago to Gorneo. He had the right to hate him. The closest person to Gorneo was Gahard. Gorneo had the right to hate Layfon as Layfon had paralyzed Gahard. He hadn’t the right to stop that hatred, which was the same with the children at the orphanage.

So,

“Thank you,” came his heartfelt reply to Mei-Shen, who was crying for him.

<center>◇</center>

Thump, thump…… The sound of a pulse. Was this Zuellni’s voice coming from the liquid flowing in the tubes? No. No. Zuellni denied that. The reason came from somewhere else. Speaking of which…….. The Electronic Fairy Zuellni did not exist in a human’s consciousness. A human’s nervous system was too sensitive to be able to manage such a huge city. A human would scream horribly at every single thing. He wouldn’t be able to manage the city. So this feeling didn’t come from the city itself. What was it………? The answer came from within the question. What was used as a hearing mechanism was limited only to a certain place. Where could it be besides that place?

Here.

The center of the Mechanical Department. In here. The place that existed for the city’s entirety. The Electronic Fairy in the form of a child…….. That was the city’s consciousness. It pondered its feeling of looking at the city, and of managing its own body. Usually, it could clearly feel the boundaries, but now it couldn’t remember that feeling and that puzzled Zuellni. But was that really the sense of hearing? It also felt like touch, as if a pulse was shaking it. What was it, that feeling….? Zuellni analyzed its feelings in order to seek the reason behind it, but no results surfaced. It was strange.

When Zuellni broke through its thoughts, it stared at that place. Its gaze pierced through the outer wall of the Mechanical Department, the outer wall of the city to somewhere far away. A place the city must go to………. Anxiety and impatience urged Zuellni on.

<center>◇</center>

“Your stubbornness is really annoying,” Kiriku said coldly, sitting in a wheelchair.

“Sorry,” Layfon said with his head lowered.

A “humph” came from Kiriku, contrasting his unhappy attitude with his handsome face.

“I made it for you, but you said you’re not gonna use it. This is too tragic.”

Both of them looked at the Dites lying on the table. A big Dite in the shape of a stone, and a rod shaped Dite in a leather case. They were the Adamandite and its material. The Alchemy student Kiriku, had combined the qualities and shapes that were determined by the combination of materials to make the Adamandite.

“This Dite can turn into sword, thread, gun, long sword, bow and staff, It can take several sword forms……. And according to your wish, I had eliminated the variation of a Katana.”

“Yes.”

“Really………”

Wearing protective gear for outside city use, Layfon listened to Kiriku’s explanation. He had returned to the dormitory to change his clothes and make his preparations. He now stood at the entrance underneath Zuellni. It was his third time here. The first time was when he had to fight the aged phase filth monster. The second time was when he went to investigate the ruined city. The first time he was alone when he came here. The second time he was with the 5th and the 17th platoons. This third time……..

“He, you’re holding something interesting~” The new presence stood behind Layfon without hesitation. He frowned.

“This is confidential. Go away,” Kirkiu glared at the newcomer.

“Yeah~” the owner of the presence……. Haia retreated. A number of bikes sat behind him, along with more than ten Military Artists. They were all his subordinates, Military Artists of the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang.

Karian had come to the hospital room a day before the operation.

“Actually, the city’s acting strange,” he said after putting down the present and greeted Layfon politely.

“Strange?”

“Though the information came from the Mercenary Gang……….”

Remembering Haia’s face, Layfon’s expression turned sour. Haia had been sent to the hospital after that match. He had already recovered but Layfon didn’t hear anything of Haia leaving Zuellni.

“Aa, don’t show that kind of a face. They’re still useful.”

“How…. Useful?”

“Their strength is needed when it comes to fighting filth monsters. And we have to leave the Haikizoku to them. Of course, that’s besides using what they planned in the match.”

Layfon didn’t know whether there was an easy way to remove the Haikizoku, but he knew Karian was serious about the filth monsters’ attack. Layfon understood after having seen the Military Artists of Zuellni fighting the larvae. They had no previous experience in that area. Grendan’s would have at least seen fights with filth monsters, but not here. As he thought, cities other than Grendan were more peaceful.

“Then………”

“Ah. Their…… Their psychokinesist discovered some filth monsters in the path of the city.”

“The path of the city?” That puzzled Layfon. If it was at a distance that a psychokinesist could reach, then the city should have taken evasive action.

“It really is strange. At first I doubted it too. Of course, the psychokinesist who discovered it was also doubtful of it. He delayed his report to Haia to spend a few days to observe.”

Karian breathed in. The pupils behind his glasses were sharp.

“But the city didn’t change its path. It still heads in the same direction, right where the filth monsters are.”

“Felli…….. Has your sister confirmed it?”

“Because it’s quite a distance, it was quicker to send the drones out than the flakes. The result came back yesterday.” He took out a bag and handed it to Layfon.

Layfon confirmed the content. He had done this before. As expected, the photos were like before, photos of the wild scenery outside the city. In those photos showed numerous things that he had encountered. The dormant filth monsters.

“Aa, right. Let me introduce them~” Haia said to Layfon, pointing at the bikes and people behind himself. This was after Kiriku had finished explaining and Layfon had buckled up the weapon harness around his waist.

“He’s the psychokinesist. He’s my backup.”

A tall man waited behind Haia. A hood covered his head and face, and a cape shrouded his body. A mask concealed his face. His hands were hidden in gloves. A piece of cloth wrapped around the head where the mask failed to cover, as if he was careful so not one inch of his skin was exposed.

(This person………)

He was the psychokinesist who found the filth monsters, the one who discovered the filth monsters earlier than anyone else, and he found them in a distance that required a drone to cover……… If that was true, then his psychokinesis might even be more powerful than Felli’s.

“This is Fermaus. His throat doesn’t work so he has to talk through an electronic voice.”

“Please look after me.” An electronic voice, devoid of its gender origin, sounded above Layfon’s head. A flake floated above him.

“He’s a genius in psychokinesis, but he also has other special abilities. Because of that, he’s to dress like this.”

“Special abilities?”

Layfon listened silently, suspicious of Haia’s voluntary information. As of a kid who was so proud of something that he had to boast about it, but because it was a secret, Haia said in a low voice, “He can smell filth monsters.”

“Smell?”

What? Smelling anything was out of the question once outside the air purification system. The pollutants were enough to blunt and conquer the senses of the entire body. The sense of smell was also paralyzed.

“You don’t believe me. I can distinguish by smelling,” Fermaus said. “Wolfstein……….. You have killed countless filth monsters. I can tell by smelling the remnants of filth monsters left in your body. Other people won’t get it, but I do. You’ve killed many more filth monsters than anyone here. It’s my honor to be able to fight with you.”

“Uh….. That name’s already………”

“I see. Excuse me, Layfon-dono,” Fermaus lifted his head carefully.

Layfon didn’t feel any hatred and rudeness from him. Instead, Fermaus was respectful.

“Hey, hey. I was the one in trouble before. You don’t have to use polite terms here.”

“That was leader’s fault. Although to obtain a thing through any means is passed down from the first generation, this time with Wolfstein……. Excuse me, Layfon-dono’s provocative action was also unnecessary. If we had explained the danger of Haikizoku to Layfon-dono, he’d have lent a helping hand. But we turned him into an enemy. If Ryuhou was alive, he’d call you a fool.”

“Don’t bring in the previous generation,” Haia said with an annoyed expression.

“No, I have to.”

The rest of the Mercenary Gang laughed cheerfully.

Layfon watched them with complicated feelings.

“……. Well, it’s useless to talk about the past.”

“No, please forgive me~” Haia sat down.

“Compared to that, let’s talk about me,” Fermaus turned to Layfon. “I can smell filth monsters. This is by smelling the stirring in the air when pollutants are breathed in and stored. The dry wind outside the city is caused by the filth monsters’ activities and their use of pollutants.”

“Ha, Ah………” Even though Layfon had just listened to something grand about filth monsters being able to change the air, all he could do was stand dumbfounded.

“My sense of smell can find the pollutants used by filth monsters.”

“But…….” Layfon still didn’t find Fermaus’ words convincing. Even the filth monsters changing the atmosphere didn’t feel real to him. It was too hard to comprehend without a basis. The thing was, Fermaus’ words just weren’t credible enough. Besides, what Layfon thought was most suspicious was…….

“I understand. To smell the filth monsters, you’ve to go outside the air purification system.”

“…….. Yes,” Fermaus slowly lifted his right hand. “People cannot live under long exposure to the pollutants. The body will burn, rot and collapse. My body can’t escape that pain. And medical treatment isn’t advanced enough to treat injuries of that kind if I’m exposed repeatedly to pollutants.” His right hand took the chin of the mask. “But I have in me a special physique. It might have been born from tolerance. I’ve a special physique that allows me to live even though I’m exposed to pollutants. If my body’s examined, maybe we’ll see the day when humans can overcome pollutants in the air.”

Fermaus took down the mask. Layfon heard Kiriku’s swallow. He himself opened his mouth, but no words came forth.

“But the price might be to become someone like me,” he said.

Fermaus’ skin was dark as charcoal and ribboned with red veins. His nose had collapsed. His eyelids were gone. The white eyeballs looked ready to fall out of their sockets. Dry lips cracked. Layfon could see his perfect white teeth that contrasted with his lips. This was a face of someone who could live through continuous exposure to pollutants, unable to receive any treatment because modern medicine wasn’t advanced enough.

“Please believe in my sense of smell. Her Majesty also acknowledges it.”

Fermaus put the mask back and bowed deeply to Layfon.

<center>◇</center>

The whistle sounded in the war field. Besides the psychokinesist, only four people in the 17th platoon were left to fight. The 1st platoon had six. However, the fighting power wasn’t that unequal taking into consideration that the 1st platoon was leaving one or two people to defend their flag. In actuality, Felli’s report showed the 1st platoon did leave two people for defense.

Nina and her team took action when the siren sounded. Nina took the left rear, followed by Naruki. The 17th platoon was on the offensive. The team would lose if Nina, as captain, was defeated. Showing this weakness was to attract the attacks over to Nina’s side, and it worked. Vance had sent a number of good fighters to track her.

“Bad strategy……..” Vance said, his huge body suddenly blocking her forward momentum. The staff spun in his hand, creating a storm of Kei. His other teammates gathered round and sealed off Nina’s path.

“Bad strategy or not…….. Talk of it later!” she roared and blocked the staff with the iron whips. Her foot sank into the ground at the impact of the assault. She used external Kei to bounce back the staff, and dove for Vance’s front. The staff was a longer ranged weapon, so a close quarters fight would reduce its effectiveness. As expected, Vance’s teammates moved as if to make Nina back off.

Naruki’s rope shot in and wrapped around the sword of the Military Artist on Vance’s right, stopping his movement. Still, they were two against one…………. Still a disadvantage for Nina. Vance was a better fighter than her. He had had more experience as a senior student, having fought in the Military Arts Competition and numerous other inter-platoon matches. But Nina’s fight with Vance was to draw the attention of the 1st platoon. The strategy to move forward for a decisive fight was to create an opening for Dalshena. She boldly swung her iron whips at Vance.

Vance fought her at close distance, looking as if he was releasing his strength without holding back, and also looking as if he had become smaller for the fight. Chased away from Vance’s front area, Nina attacked his teammates behind him. Body bent, she blocked a sword with her left iron whip and stood up. She heaved him over her shoulder in Vance’s direction.

“Wa!”

Vance pulled close his distance with Nina to avoid his teammate’s body. He didn’t once look at his team member. Using external Kei, Nina jumped backward to retreat. Vance rushed in, his staff pointed forward to attack. Nina had the disadvantage as she was in midair.

In one moment, Vance’s body seemed to shrink, retrieving the staff. And Nina then felt the speed of the staff that she failed to see. Her iron whips bounced off Vance’s weapon, and a heavy impact landed on her chest. She was thrown into the air.

“Captain!”

The disappearing of Nina in her sight pulled Naruki’s gaze over. In that one swift moment, the rope in her hand had loosened. The enemy team member had seized that chance. By the time Naruki’s gaze returned to him, he was right beside her.

“What!”

“So naïve, newcomer!”

“Ah!”

External Kei hit Naruki and sent her sliding out. She wanted to climb back up but her body was paralyzed. The commentator announced she was out of the match. Everyone thought the same conclusion would be made for Nina, but reality spoke differently.

“Huh!”

Dust clouded the place where Nina had landed. Soil particles fell onto the ground. A shadow flew out of the dust cloud.

Variation of internal Kei: Gongoukei.

Using all of her strength, Nina had used Layfon’s skill to block Vance’s attack. After blocking Vance, she had leapt over his head to defeat Naruki’s enemy. She also defeated the other member of the 1st platoon.

The commentator couldn’t make a conclusion to the fight, and more cheering and shouts roiled down from the audience stand.

“……… It’s not finished.”

“You’ve become strong………” In response to Vance’s fighting stance, Nina readied her own as she moved.

“Is it because of that guy’s influence?”

“It’s not my personality to rely on others,” she declared.

“I see. So that guy’s thinking. It’s moving in a good direction.”

Vance meant Karian, the person who knew of Layfon’s past. He switched Layfon from General studies into Military Arts, and put him into Nina’s team. The 17th platoon’s real beginning was when Nina’s determination aligned with Karian’s thinking.

“I’m grateful to the Student President……. But what went after that was my own path.”

“Not a bad response,” Vance said. “I can fight you more….. though that’s what I wanted to say.” Regret filled his voice.

“It’s the end.”

A change occurred on the frontline of the 1st platoon. Intense light burnt Nina’s eyes, and the sound of explosions drowned the cheering of the crowd.

“This is!?” she said, forgetting Vance was in front of her.

“They’ve put in a flake mine in the ground….. We got tricked,” Felli’s guilty voice came through her flake.

Dalshena was free to choose her own timing for when to attack. When did she move…….? Seemed to be when the crowd cheered. If that was the case, then the target of the explosion was Dalshena………..

“……… They got through our opening when our vision was sealed.”

Next was Felli, relaying how the 1st platoon defeated them.

Nina didn’t think the flake mine would finish off Dalshena, but the number of flakes was large, and the light and the rumble of the explosion were unexpectedly overwhelming……… They couldn’t do much under that situation.

“And I’m here to stop you while the others take out Sharnid and that guy’s sister……. I was to play with you during that time.”

Both Dalshena and Naruki were out of action. Only Nina was left. Felli had fighting power but she was one against so many Military Artists.

“It’s your defeat, Nina Antalk.”

I can still win!

Although that was Nina’s thought, it failed to turn into strength to tightly grip the iron whips. Vance looked bigger than he was in front of her.

Regaining her sight, Dalshena’s intense gaze pierced Nina. Nina moved her own gaze away.

Anger filled the Locker Room. An invisible bomb waited to explode. What was shattered became the sound of reality. The cabinet leaning against the wall had been cut into two.

“Calm down, Shena,” Sharnid said tiredly. He was hiding beside the door.

“…….. Calm down?” The person who cut down the cabinet…… Dalshena slowly turned around to glare at him.

“I……… This is my first time experiencing a match as terrible as this.”

Her gaze swept across the room. She was too outraged to scream. The fight between Nina and Vance didn’t happen in the end. The moment when Nina saw Vance’s attack, she was defeated. Vance’s words about sending people to find Sharnid was a trap. Numbed by Vance’s air, Nina didn’t hear the siren announcing the end of the match.

“Damn!” Dalshena destroyed another cabinet.

“That’s enough.”

“But………!”

Sharnid frowned. “You neglected your surroundings because you were used to relying on others. This is no longer the same when you can just look at what’s before you.”

“!”

The muscles on Dalshena’s face twitched. She opened her mouth and closed it, gritting her teeth.

“I……….” That was all that slipped through her closed mouth, and she rushed out of the Locker Room.

The sound of the door closing echoed in the room.

“…….. Well, I think we did pretty well.”

Sharnid’s words felt like they were there to disperse the echo, rather than a comfort.

“…….. How so?” Nina asked. “It’s true we had a terrible match.”

“Well, even so. Vance won. He had accurately taken advantage of Shena’s weakness. As for the flake mine, isn’t that eye-opening, Felli-chan?”

Felli nodded with an expression stiffer than usual.

“……….. The flakes buried there probably cut off the psychokinesis communication. If they did do that, they couldn’t read the flow of the other team’s psychokinesis. They then used a minimal level of psychokinesis to trigger off the flake mine. This technique isn’t necessary against filth monsters, but against humans, that’s different. It’s a technique we should learn.”

He added, “Can’t be like that the next time.”

It seemed Felli felt regret too.

“I see……… well, it’s that type of feeling. Layfon had taught Nina some skill, but it wasn’t enough to change the result. We underestimated the 1st platoon. That was all.”

“But…..!”

Nina could accept this. Everything felt hopeless once she knew Layfon couldn’t participate in the match. She couldn’t forgive herself. She didn’t want to admit that they couldn’t do anything without Layfon. She wanted to win. She wanted to win just this time. To win a match that wasn’t a “beautiful match.” What should she say to Layfon at the hospital?

Sharnid and the rest of the 17th platoon couldn’t find anything else to say to Nina.

Knock Knock…..

The cautious knocking on the door broke the silence. Nina didn’t move. Sighing, Sharnid opened the door.

“………. Mei?” Naruki said. She’d been sitting on the long bench in silence.

Mei-Shen stood nervously at the door.

“Hi,” Mifi waved, oblivious to the atmosphere.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume5 Chapter4

2010-01-01T11:22:32Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 4: Hold hands while blindfolded */

===Chapter 4: Hold hands while blindfolded===

It had been a week since Layfon regained consciousness. Most of his injuries had been healed, but the doctor hadn’t yet given him permission to leave the hospital.

Naruki arrived while Layfon didn’t know how to pass his time.

“Yo…. How are you?” she said.

“I can’t stand the boredom,” he said weakly.

Naruki smiled in relief at his voice. She had also sustained injuries, but they were less severe. She had already recovered.

“Still haven’t had the operation yet?”

Most of Layfon’s external wounds had recovered, but the spinal injury had been left untouched. Caution was required to take out the debris embedded deep inside the spinal cord. The medical team in charge of the operation was having a preparatory meeting over it. Next would come the operation, and Layfon would be discharged if the operation was successful.

“I hope it comes quickly.”

He couldn’t stand the boredom and the numerous medical checks on him. It felt like he had become an experimental object.

“This is better than undergoing a failed operation. Have more patience.”

“……. Mei, is she still blaming herself?”

“Aaa……” Naruki lowered her head.

“She really doesn’t have to do that……”

Naruki said that Mei-Shen was blaming herself over the incident and had locked herself in her room. She hadn’t even come to the hospital for a visit.

“At least she’s going to school now.”

“Sorry, it was my fault.”

“I told you before that it wasn’t your fault. We chose that place. You were just following us.”

“But it turned out like this because I was hiding something……”

“Layton…….” Her gestured stopped him from saying more.

“Even we have a few things we don’t want others to know. We aren’t like Layton because our reasons for hiding them are different, but there is bound to be a few secrets. I don’t think we have to blame ourselves because of it.”

“Naruki……..”

“I’m happy. The fact that you can tell us about such a heavy past, isn’t that proof of the trust between us?”

“Uh……..”

“That’s enough. But I hope you can wait for Mei. She’s confused because you got injured. Can you give her some time?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.”

After exchanging an awkward smile, they changed the topic to the 17th platoon.

“Dalshena’s replaced your position.”

“Really?”

“Aaa, Sharnid-senpai invited her.”

Layfon thought it was difficult to invite Dalshena, taking into consideration the previous incident with the 10th platoon. Naruki thought so too.

“I’m bothered but it’s a sensitive topic. Since the Captain has agreed to it, I can’t say much about it.”

“If you had a better relationship with Sharnid-senpai, then it would be easier.”

“Well….. That’s not easy.”

“Huh?”

“Anyway, what should be done should be done. It’d be good if you could be discharged soon, otherwise it would be meaningless for me to enter the platoon.”

“…….. Naruki, what do you think of what I did?”

“Other people’s opinions don’t matter to Layton, do they?”

“Uh…… well.”

“I’m joking….. You’re right. My sense of morality feels that what Layton did was wrong. It was wrong, but I don’t hate you because of it. What’s important is that it was in the past. It’s not totally cut off from the present Layton, but I can’t say much about it since I wasn’t involved.”

“Sorry. I asked something strange.”

“It’s ok. We were the one who asked you about it, and I hadn’t told you my thoughts on it yet.”

“Yeah.”

“Layton….. What you did was a crime, but you were already punished for it. I don’t think it’s something you can tell anyone easily, so don’t worry too much about it. But you’re letting go of it, right?”

“…….Letting go?”

“Seems a Katana was involved with the fight against the Mercenary Gang? You had two Dites. The Dite you used against Dinn was in the form of a Katana.”

“………”

Originally, Layfon had been training in the Psyharden’s Katana skill, taught by his adopted father, Deruk. It wasn’t a sword skill. However, Layfon chose to fight with a sword when he became a Heaven’s Blade successor.

“Didn’t you say before that you don’t think what you did in Grendan was wrong? But you’ve restricted yourself to some sort of a constraint? That’s not because of the crime, but because of your sense of guilt. I think you just need to let go and release yourself from it.”

Layfon didn’t think it was wrong to participate in the underground matches, but it was unforgivable in Deruk’s view. If he used the Psyharden skill, then he’d have tainted Deruk’s reputation. The only solution was for him to stop using the Katana. The difference between using a sword and a Katana was delicately decisive. He was able to use the sword when he was a Heaven’s Blade successor because of his ability to understand and use any techniques by glancing at them, and because of the support from the Steel Thread techniques that he learned from Lintence.

“That’s all I have to say. Layton’s the one to decide in the end.”

(Letting…… go?)

He knew from Naruki’s opinion that it wasn’t easy to let go, still, he was hesitant.

Someone knocked on the door.

<center>◇</center>

The day of the match had come. The audience was more enthusiastic than usual. All of the platoons would have fought each other at least once after this match. They would also have their results compared. The results would directly impact their ordering in the next Military Arts Competition. Nevertheless, all the audience wanted to know was which platoon was the strongest. In particular, today’s match would decide whether the 1st platoon could maintain its top position. As such, everyone in the audience seat kept their gazes on the war field.

“Well…….. it’s got nothing to do with us,” Sharnid happily said in the locker room.

The three teams fighting for the first position were Vance’s 1st platoon, Gorneo’s 5th platoon, and the 14th platoon. All three teams had only lost one match. The 17th platoon was right after them, with two defeats under its belt. The 17th platoon’s opponent was the 1st platoon today. The other two teams were also having their match today with each other. If the 17th platoon won the match, first place would still go to the 5th or the 14th platoon. If team 17 lost, the 1st platoon would take top position, tied with the winning team of the other match.

“We can’t not give it our best because of that,” Nina glared at him.

“Yes, yes,” Sharnid shrugged.

“Even though we can’t take the top position, we’ll still do our best…… No, we must still win!”

Because the platoon wasn’t in its best condition………. Because whether they won or not they couldn’t take the first place……. These things mattered not. There was a higher meaning if they defeated the 1st platoon. Naruki’s friends held an interview before with the platoons. Gorneo, the captain of the 5th platoon, had said in the interview that if they couldn’t win against the 1st platoon, then Zuellni wouldn’t have changed from the time when it lost in the last Military Arts Competition. Nina thought so too. And more significantly, she didn’t want to think that it wasn’t possible to find a replacement for Layfon. It was also for Layfon, since Nina had said to “do something”, so she had to do something for him to see how they had become stronger.

“I know,” Sharnid said, waving his hand weakly as if Nina’s words were wind to him. She glared at him then turned her gaze to Dalshena. Dalshena sat with eyes closed.

“The attacker is…….. the Captain?” Dalshena asked, keeping her pose. Everyone’s gaze went to Nina except Felli’s.

“Naruki and I will go up the left rear. Dalshena, please take the right rear. Sharnid will fire from a distance with Felli’s support. That’ll be our formation once the match begins,” Nina said. She swallowed and waited for their reaction.

“This time we’re on the offensive. We lose if the Captain falls. Is this ok?” Dalshena asked as Nina had expected. She knew she would point out the danger of having the captain take the front attacker position. In truth, Nina wasn’t sure where to put Dalshena. She did check Dalshena’s fighting style through the videos, but that was all within the formation of the 10th platoon. Nina didn’t know how Dalshena fought on her own. The 10th platoon had taken advantage of Dalshena’s excellent offensive skill. Nina had thought of using a similar strategy, but it would be difficult because they didn’t have enough time to train together. And Dalshena also held the same worry.

“Please don’t worry about me,” she said. Layfon had taught her the Gongoukei. He said the Heaven’s Blade successor, Lintence, used it as his defensive skill. She couldn’t use it as well as the Heaven’s Blade successor, but with it, she had the confidence to defend against heavy impacts.

“Then I just need to attack when the time comes?” Dalshena opened her eyes and looked at her.

“Yes.”

“Roger.”

She closed her eyes again and waited for the match to begin.

Having checked everyone’s Dites, Harley came to Nina.

“It’s Layfon’s operation today. Is it finished?”

“Um? I don’t know much about medicine.”

Layfon’s operation was today, an operation to take out the debris in his spinal cord.

“I hope it’ll go smoothly.”

“Yes.”

They must not lose this match. If she continued to rely on Layfon and didn’t move forward……… That was what she thought. And she wanted to show that she could do it without Layfon.

“We’ll win,” she said to herself.

<center>◇</center>

Layfon was outside the hospital one hour before Nina’s match. The operation didn’t take long. The problem was where the debris was located in the spinal cord, and how to safely take it out. This had been talked over in the preparatory meeting, so all the doctors needed were to follow the decisions made in the meeting during the operation. Fortunately, the debris was in an area where the debris could be taken out in one and not in several operations…….. So one operation sufficed. The doctors had then sewed up the wound and stuck on it a wet pad filled with active cell medicine. The pain felt like a cramp, but with the aid of Internal Kei, the wound should close up and recover within the day. The thread used to sew up the wound would then melt and disappear. Layfon didn’t even need to go back to the hospital and have the thread taken out. However, he couldn’t do much about his reduced strength.

(I’m not at my full strength.)

He checked his body condition in a relaxed manner and headed for the closest tram station. This area was quieter today because of the inter-platoon match. A tram arrived right after Layfon had checked the timetable at the station.

“Ah………:

The tram slowed to a stop. The first half of the tram rolled past Layfon, and he saw a shocked Mei-Shen standing at the exit of the tram. Since he couldn’t escape, he entered the tram. Mei-Shen stood at the exit with a bunch of flowers in her arm. The computer of the tram made an electronic sound as if urging something. Mei-Shen stepped back from the door in a fluster.

The tram moved after the door had closed.

“Ah, Mei. Hello,” Layfon smiled with embarrassment.

“……..Layton, why?” Mei-Shen asked, shocked.

“Ah, I was discharged.”

“Huh? But……. But you’ve an operation……..”

“Oh, it’s finished.”

“…….. Uh? But, the operation?”

“Yeah, it finished quicker than expected. I was surprised too.”

Only the two of them were in the tram. They sat side by side. The scenery flowed outside the window opposite them. They sat in silence. Mei-Shen put the light-colored flowers between them. Layfon had received flowers when he was in the hospital. Nina’s was a deep color. Felli’s was a color that softened the room. Naruki and Mei-Shen’s were of a pure color. Layfon thought Mei-Shen’s flowers seemed to represent herself.

The two of them looked at the flowers.

“About before…… I’m sorry,” she said weakly.

“Uh…….. Rather than that, I’m happy that Mei isn’t injured.”

“Me…… never mind.”

“Never mind, but……..”

“Layton……. You protected me,” she cut in, her hands clutching her skirt as if she was using her entire strength to say those words. “…….. Not only that, you also protected me when the filth monsters were here.”

“Huh……..?”

“I heard about it from Naruki. Like a secret weapon, but the Student President didn’t say what it was. He just said it’s changed. If Layton wasn’t there.”

“Uh……..”

“…… Actually, Naruki said that too,” she said, her head lowered. Her shoulders sagged as if losing strength.

“…….. I don’t understand. Even though Layton’s a Heaven’s Blade successor, an incredible someone, I still don’t understand. I know Military Artists are incredible, but I don’t understand anything beyond that. Although I understand that you did something bad and were exiled from Grendan…….” she fell silent.

Mei-Shen was a normal person. In Grendan, people would understand the term Heaven’s Blade successor even if it wasn’t explained.

It was understandable that Mei-Shen didn’t comprehend the meaning of the term. Layfon hadn’t fought seriously in the past inter-platoon matches. He had fought with a strength just a bit above a normal student’s. The only times he used some of his true strength was when he fought in the matches against the 10th and the 5th platoons. Mei-Shen and anyone else probably wouldn’t understand the difference in Layfon’s strength in those matches. In addition, Mei-Shen and the others wouldn’t understand how Zuellni’s Military Artists fought against filth monsters. They were in the shelters and couldn’t see anything as the fight wasn’t broadcasted.

(Aaa, I see…….)

He now understood the Queen’s words on a deeper level. This was the thing that no one was to know – that Military Artists fought filth monsters using the strength they exhibited in matches. The strength of Heaven’s Blade successors far exceeded the comprehension of normal people. Hence, Mei-Shen couldn’t accept what Naruki said, that Layfon defeated all the larvae.

“It was me,” Layfon nodded.

“Really?” She didn’t look convinced.

“Is it hard to believe?”

“Uh……”

“That was what happened. But it’s ok if you think it’s a lie.”

“Wh, Why?”

“Because I can’t find the proof for you.”

Naruki might see the proof one day. She was a Military Artist. She had what a Military Artist possessed. Perhaps Layfon would be there when Zuellni once more fought filth monsters. He didn’t think the same opportunity would present to Mei-Shen. Normal people would hide in shelter when filth monsters attacked.

“Can’t I trust you?”

“Huh?”

“I want to trust Layton?”

Looking at her lowered head, this time Layfon had nothing to say. Although her words were within his predictions, the feelings he got when hearing them was unexpected. He had wanted her to believe him, but whether it would go smoothly was uncertain. Anyone else wouldn’t have cared. To believe, to trust or not to trust mattered not.

“Th, thanks.”

“I’ve thought of what Layton said. You decided to do that after considering many things, right?”

“Yeah………”

“I wasn’t there. About those people who didn’t treat you well…….. I’m angry at them, and I’m also sad……. But, I don’t understand them. I don’t think I can judge them, but……”

When he realized it, Mei-Shen’s shoulders were trembling. Her tears darkened her skirt. She was crying.

“Mei……”

“Layton…… You’ve done well,” she said as if she was moaning. “You did your best…… but they didn’t understand you……. they’re so mean.”

“………..”

Mei-Shen meant the children at the orphanage. Words defending those kids flashed past Layfon’s head. He swallowed them. It wasn’t hatred. The feeling was like a defense but either way, they wouldn’t forgive him.

If only he was hated.

He said that not long ago to Gorneo. He had the right to hate him. The closest person to Gorneo was Gahard. Gorneo had the right to hate Layfon as Layfon had paralyzed Gahard. He hadn’t the right to stop that hatred, which was the same with the children at the orphanage.

So,

“Thank you,” came his heartfelt reply to Mei-Shen, who was crying for him.

<center>◇</center>

Thump, thump…… The sound of a pulse. Was this Zuellni’s voice coming from the liquid flowing in the tubes? No. No. Zuellni denied that. The reason came from somewhere else. Speaking of which…….. The Electronic Fairy Zuellni did not exist in a human’s consciousness. A human’s nervous system was too sensitive to be able to manage such a huge city. A human would scream horribly at every single thing. He wouldn’t be able to manage the city. So this feeling didn’t come from the city itself. What was it………? The answer came from within the question. What was used as a hearing mechanism was limited only to a certain place. Where could it be besides that place?

Here.

The centre of the Mechanical Department. In here. The place that existed for the city’s entirety. The Electronic Fairy in the form of a child…….. That was the city’s consciousness. It pondered its feeling of looking at the city, and of managing its own body. Usually, it could clearly feel the boundaries, but now it couldn’t remember that feeling and that puzzled Zuellni. But was that really the sense of hearing? It also felt like touch, as if a pulse was shaking it. What was it, that feeling….? Zuellni analyzed its feelings in order to seek the reason behind it, but no results surfaced. It was strange.

When Zuellni broke through its thoughts, it stared at that place. Its gaze pierced through the outer wall of the Mechanical Department, the outer wall of the city to somewhere far away. A place the city must go to………. Anxiety and impatience urged Zuellni on.

<center>◇</center>

“Your stubbornness is really annoying,” Kiriku said coldly, sitting in a wheelchair.

“Sorry,” Layfon said with his head lowered.

A “humph” came from Kiriku, contrasting his unhappy attitude with his handsome face.

“I made it for you, but you said you’re not gonna use it. This is too tragic.”

Both of them looked at the Dites lying on the table. A big Dite in the shape of a stone, and a rod shaped Dite in a leather case. They were the Adamandite and its material. The Alchemy student Kiriku, had combined the qualities and shapes that were determined by the combination of materials to make the Adamandite.

“This Dite can turn into sword, thread, gun, long sword, bow and staff, It can take several sword forms……. And according to your wish, I had eliminated the variation of a Katana.”

“Yes.”

“Really………”

Wearing protective gear for outside city use, Layfon listened to Kiriku’s explanation. He had returned to the dormitory to change his clothes and make his preparation. He now stood at the entrance underneath Zuellni. It was his third time here. The first time was when he had to fight the aged phase filth monster. The second time was when he went to investigate the ruined city. The first time he was alone when he came here. The second time he was with the 5th and the 17th platoons. This third time……..

“He, you’re holding something interesting~” The new presence stood behind Layfon without hesitation. He frowned.

“This is confidential. Go away,” Kirkiu glared at the newcomer.

“Yeah~” the owner of the presence……. Haia retreated. A number of bikes sat behind him, along with more than ten Military Artists. They were all his subordinates, Military Artists of the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang.

Karian had come to the hospital room a day before the operation.

“Actually, the city’s acting strange,” he said after putting down the present and greeted Layfon politely.

“Strange?”

“Though the information came from the Mercenary Gang……….”

Remembering Haia’s face, Layfon’s expression turned sour. Haia had been sent to the hospital after that match. He had already recovered but Layfon didn’t hear anything of Haia leaving Zuellni.

“Aa, don’t show that kind of a face. They’re still useful.”

“How…. Useful?”

“Their strength is needed when it comes to fighting filth monsters. And we have to leave the Haikizoku to them. Of course, that’s besides using what they planned in the match.”

Layfon didn’t know whether there was an easy way to remove the Haikizoku, but he knew Karian was serious about the filth monsters’ attack. Layfon understood after having seen the Military Artists of Zuellni fighting the larvae. They had no previous experience in that area. Grendan’s would have at least have seen fights with filth monsters, but not here. As he thought, cities other than Grendan were more peaceful.

“Then………”

“Ah. Their…… Their psychokinesist discovered some filth monsters in the path of the city.”

“The path of the city?” That puzzled Layfon. If it was at a distance that a psychokinesist could reach, then the city should have taken evasive action.

“It really is strange. At first I doubted it too. Of course, the psychokinesist who discovered it was also doubtful of it. He delayed his report to Haia to spend a few days to observe.”

Karian breathed in. The pupils behind his glasses were sharp.

“But the city didn’t change its path. It still heads in the same direction, right where the filth monsters are.”

“Felli…….. Has your sister confirmed it?”

“Because it’s quite a distance, it was quicker to send the drones out than the flakes. The result came back yesterday.” He took out a bag and handed it to Layfon.

Layfon confirmed the content. He had done this before. As expected, the photos were like before, photos of the wild scenery outside the city. In those photos showed numerous things that he had encountered. The dormant filth monsters.

“Aa, right. Let me introduce them~” Haia said to Layfon, pointing at the bikes and people behind himself. This was after Kiriku had finished explaining and Layfon had buckled up the weapon harness around his waist.

“He’s the psychokinesist. He’s my backup.”

A tall man waited behind Haia. A hood covered his head and face, and a cape shrouded his body. A mask concealed his face. His hands were hidden in gloves. A piece of cloth wrapped around the head where the mask failed to cover, as if he was careful so not one inch of his skin was exposed.

(This person………)

He was the psychokinesist who found the filth monsters, the one who discovered the filth monsters earlier than anyone else, and he found them in a distance that required a drone to cover……… If that was true, then his psychokinesis might even be more powerful than Felli’s.

“This is Fermaus. His throat doesn’t work so he has to talk through an electronic voice.”

“Please look after me.” An electronic voice, devoid of its gender origin, sounded above Layfon’s head. A flake floated above him.

“He’s a genius in psychokinesis, but he also has other special abilities. Because of that, he’s to dress like this.”

“Special abilities?”

Layfon listened silently, suspicious of Haia’s voluntary information. As of a kid who was so proud of something that he had to boast about it, but because it was a secret, Haia said in a low voice, “He can smell filth monsters.”

“Smell?”

What? Smelling anything was out of the question once outside the air purification system. The pollutants were enough to blunt and conquer the senses of the entire body. The sense of smell was also paralyzed.

“You don’t believe me. I can distinguish by smelling,” Fermaus said. “Wolfstein……….. You have killed countless filth monsters. I can tell by smelling the remnants of filth monsters left in your body. Other people won’t get it, but I do. You’ve killed many more filth monsters than anyone here. It’s my honor to be able to fight with you.”

“Uh….. That name’s already………”

“I see. Excuse me, Layfon-dono,” Fermaus lifted his head carefully.

Layfon didn’t feel any hatred and rudeness from him. Instead, Fermaus was respectful.

“Hey, hey. I was the one in trouble before. You don’t have to use polite terms here.”

“That was leader’s fault. Although to obtain a thing through any means is passed down from the first generation, this time with Wolfstein……. Excuse me, Layfon-dono’s provocative action was also unnecessary. If we had explained the danger of Haikizoku to Layfon-dono, he’d have lent a helping hand. But we turned him into an enemy. If Ryuhou was alive, he’d call you a fool.”

“Don’t bring in the previous generation,” Haia said with an annoyed expression.

“No, I have to.”

The rest of the Mercenary Gang laughed cheerfully.

Layfon watched them with complicated feelings.

“……. Well, it’s useless to talk about the past.”

“No, please forgive me~” Haia sat down.

“Compared to that, let’s talk about me,” Fermaus turned to Layfon. “I can smell filth monsters. This is by smelling the stirring in the air when pollutants are breathed in and stored. The dry wind outside the city is caused by the filth monsters’ activities and their use of pollutants.”

“Ha, Ah………” Even though Layfon had just listened to something grand about filth monsters being able to change the air, all he could do was stand dumbfounded.

“My sense of smell can find the pollutants used by filth monsters.”

“But…….” Layfon still didn’t find Fermaus’ words convincing. Even the filth monsters changing the atmosphere didn’t feel real to him. It was too hard to comprehend without a basis. The thing was, Fermaus’ words just weren’t credible enough. Besides, what Layfon thought was most suspicious was…….

“I understand. To smell the filth monsters, you’ve to go outside the air purification system.”

“…….. Yes,” Fermaus slowly lifted his right hand. “People cannot live under long exposure to the pollutants. The body will burn, rot and collapse. My body can’t escape that pain. And medical treatment isn’t advanced enough to treat injuries of that kind if I’m exposed repeatedly to pollutants.” His right hand took the chin of the mask. “But I have in me a special physique. It might have been born from tolerance. I’ve a special physique that allows me to live even though I’m exposed to pollutants. If my body’s examined, maybe we’ll see the day when humans can overcome pollutants in the air.”

Fermaus took down the mask. Layfon heard Kiriku’s swallow. He himself opened his mouth, but no words came forth.

“But the price might be to become someone like me,” he said.

Fermaus’ skin was dark as charcoal and ribboned with red veins. His nose had collapsed. His eyelids were gone. The white eyeballs looked ready to fall out of their sockets. Dry lips cracked. Layfon could see his perfect white teeth that contrasted with his lips. This was a face of someone who could live through continuous exposure to pollutants, unable to receive any treatment because modern medicine wasn’t advanced enough.

“Please believe in my sense of smell. Her Majesty also acknowledges it.”

Fermaus put the mask back and bowed deeply to Layfon.

<center>◇</center>

Whistle sounded in the war field. Besides the psychokinesist, only four people in team 17 were left to fight. The 1st platoon had six. However, the fighting power wasn’t that unequal taking into consideration of the 1st platoon leaving one or two people to defend their flag. In actually, Felli’s report showed the 1st platoon did leave two people for defense.

Nina and her team took action when the siren sounded. Nina took the left rear, followed by Naruki. The 17th platoon was on the offensive. The team would lose if Nina, as captain, was defeated. Showing this weakness was to attract the attacks over to Nina’s side, and it worked. Vance had sent a number of good fighters to track her.

“Bad strategy……..” Vance said, his huge body suddenly blocking her forward momentum. The staff spun in his hand, creating a storm of Kei. His other teammates gathered round and sealed off Nina’s path.

“Bad strategy or not…….. Talk of it later!” she roared and blocked the staff with the iron whips. Her foot sank into the ground at the impact of the assault. She used external Kei to bounce back the staff, and dived for Vance’s front. The staff was a longer ranged weapon, so close quarter fight would reduce its effectiveness. As expected, Vance’s teammates moved as if to make Nina back off.

Naruki’s rope shot in and wrapped around the sword of the Military Artist on Vance’s right, stopping his movement. Still, they were two against one…………. Still a disadvantage for Nina. Vance was a better fighter than her. He had had more experience as a senior student, having fought in the Military Arts Competition and numerous other inter-platoon matches. But Nina’s fight with Vance was to draw the attention of the 1st platoon. The strategy to move forward for a decisive fight was to create an opening for Dalshena. She boldly swung her iron whips at Vance.

Vance fought her at close distance, looking as if he was releasing his strength without holding back, and also looking as if he had become smaller for the fight. Chased away from Vance’s front area, Nina attacked his teammates behind him. Body bent, she blocked a sword with her left iron whip and stood up. She heaved him over her shoulder in Vance’s direction.

“Wa!”

Vance pulled close his distance with Nina to avoid his teammate’s body. He didn’t once look at his team member. Using external Kei, Nina jumped backward to retreat. Vance rushed in, his staff pointed forward to attack. Nina had the disadvantage as she was in midair.

In one moment, Vance’s body seemed to shrink, retrieving the staff. And Nina then felt the speed of the staff that she failed to see. Her iron whips bounced off Vance’s weapon, and a heavy impact landed on her chest. She was thrown into the air.

“Captain!”

The disappearing of Nina in her sight pulled Naruki’s gaze over. In that one swift moment, the rope in her hand had loosened. The enemy team member had seized that chance. By the time Naruki’s gaze returned to him, he was right beside her.

“What!”

“So naïve, newcomer!”

“Ah!”

External Kei hit Naruki and sent her sliding out. She wanted to climb back up but her body was paralyzed. The commentator announced she was out of the match. Everyone thought the same conclusion would be made for Nina, but reality spoke differently.

“Huh!”

Dust clouded the place where Nina had landed. Soil particles fell onto the ground. A shadow flew out of the dust cloud.

Variation of internal Kei: Gongoukei.

Using all of her strength, Nina had used Layfon’s skill to block Vance’s attack. After blocking Vance, she had leapt over his head to defeat Naruki’s enemy. She also defeated the other member of the 1st platoon.

The commentator couldn’t make a conclusion to the fight, and more cheering and shouts roiled down from the audience stand.

“……… It’s not finished.”

“You’ve become strong………” In response to Vance’s fighting stance, Nina readied her own as she moved.

“Is it because of that guy’s influence?”

“It’s not my personality to rely on others,” she declared.

“I see. So that guy’s thinking. It’s moving in the good direction.”

Vance meant Karian, the person who knew of Layfon’s past. He switched Layfon from General studies into Military Arts, and put him into Nina’s team. Platoon 17’s real beginning was when Nina’s determination aligned with Karian’s thinking.

“I’m grateful to the Student President……. But what went after that was my own path.”

“Not a bad response,” Vance said. “I can fight you more….. though that’s what I wanted to say.” Regret filled his voice.

“It’s the end.”

A change occurred on the frontline of the 1st platoon. Intense light burnt Nina’s eyes, and the sound of explosions drowned the cheering of the crowd.

“This is!?” she said, forgetting Vance was in front of her.

“They’ve put in a flake mine in the ground….. We got tricked,” Felli’s guilty voice came through her flake.

Dalshena was free to choose her own timing for when to attack. When did she move…….? Seemed to be when the crowd cheered. If that was the case, then the target of the explosion was Dalshena………..

“……… They got through our opening when our vision was sealed.”

Next was Felli, relaying how the 1st platoon defeated them.

Nina didn’t think the flake mine would finish off Dalshena, but the number of flakes was large, and the light and the rumble of the explosion were unexpectedly overwhelming……… They couldn’t do much under that situation.

“And I’m here to stop you while the others take out Sharnid and that guy’s sister……. I was to play with you during that time.”

Both Dalshena and Naruki were out of action. Only Nina was left. Felli had fighting power but she was one against so many Military Artists.

“It’s your defeat, Nina Antalk.”

I can still win!

Although that was Nina’s thought, it failed to turn into strength to tightly grip the iron whips. Vance looked bigger than he was in front of her.

Regaining her sight, Dalshena’s intense gaze pierced Nina. Nina moved her own gaze away.

Anger filled the Locker Room. An invisible bomb waited to explode. What was shattered became the sound of reality. The cabinet leaning against the wall had been cut into two.

“Calm down, Shena,” Sharnid said tiredly. He was hiding beside the door.

“…….. Calm down?” The person who cut down the cabinet…… Dalshena slowly turned around to glare at him.

“I……… This is my first time experiencing a match as terrible as this.”

Her gaze swept across the room. She was too outraged to scream. The fight between Nina and Vance didn’t happen in the end. The moment when Nina saw Vance’s attack, she was defeated. Vance’s words about sending people to find Sharnid was a trap. Numbed by Vance’s air, Nina didn’t hear the siren announcing the end of the match.

“Damn!” Dalshena destroyed another cabinet.

“That’s enough.”

“But………!”

Sharnid frowned. “You neglected your surroundings because you were used to relying on others. This is no longer the same when you can just look at what’s before you.”

“!”

The muscles on Dalshena’s face twitched. She opened her mouth and closed it, gritting her teeth.

“I……….” That was all that slipped through her closed mouth, and she rushed out of the Locker Room.

The sound of the door closing echoed in the room.

“…….. Well, I think we did pretty well.”

Sharnid’s words felt like they were there to disperse the echo, rather than a comfort.

“…….. How so?” Nina asked. “It’s true we had a terrible match.”

“Well, even so. Vance won. He had accurately taken advantage of Shena’s weakness. As for the flake mine, isn’t that eye-opening, Felli-chan?”

Felli nodded with an expression stiffer than usual.

“……….. The flakes buried there probably cut off the psychokinesis communication. If they did do that, they couldn’t read the flow of the other team’s psychokinesis. They then used a minimal level of psychokinesis to trigger off the flake mine. This technique isn’t necessary against filth monsters, but against humans, that’s different. It’s a technique we should learn.”

He added, “Can’t be like that the next time.”

It seemed Felli felt regret too.

“I see……… well, it’s that type of feeling. Layfon had taught Nina some skill, but it wasn’t enough to change the result? We underestimated the 1st platoon. That was all?”

“But…..!”

Nina could accept this. Everything felt hopeless once she knew Layfon couldn’t participate in the match. She couldn’t forgive herself. She didn’t want to admit that they couldn’t do anything without Layfon. She wanted to win. She wanted to win just this time. To win a match that wasn’t a “beautiful match.” What should she say to Layfon at the hospital?

Sharnid and the rest of team 17 couldn’t find anything else to say to Nina.

Knock Knock…..

The cautious knocking on the door broke the silence. Nina didn’t move. Sighing, Sharnid opened the door.

“………. Mei?” Naruki said. She’d been sitting on the long bench in silence.

Mei-Shen stood nervously at the door.

“Hi,” Mifi waved, oblivious to the atmosphere.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume5 Chapter3

2010-01-01T11:18:21Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 3: Darkness. And then… */

===Chapter 3: Darkness. And then…===

Plunged into the depths of the earth, Layfon’s left hand reached out for his weapon harness, took out his Dite and restored it. The sound of rumbling shook his eardrums. He extended his Kei to the blade. The weak moonlight reflected off the soil falling down on them and sustained his vision. It’d have been great if he could use the steel threads, but they would be trapped in the rain of soil.

“Tsk!”

At the moment the flash of green light burst forth from his blade, the situation left Layfon speechless. He swung the blade with Mei-Shen in his arm. Huge slabs of soil fell down above them. Even though the soil was soft, that size and mass was enough to kill anyone underneath it. Kei shot out from the tip of the blade to destroy the soil slabs. But that wasn’t just it. Layfon detected the sound of soil striking metal. That must be it. That was the metal fence used to support and protect the city. Since it was falling for such a long time, it seemed even the ground of the organic field had collapsed. The falling soil blocked Layfon’s sight and hid within it a large number of killing weapons.

Tension ran calmly through him. He adjusted his position to better use the sword.

(If it’s only me……)

If it was just him, he could manage this situation, but he was currently holding Mei-Shen. His movements were hugely limited. They included his swinging the sword, his speed and Kei. Mei-Shen, as a non-Military Artist, probably couldn’t stand the situation.

“……..”

Mei-Shen held tightly to him. He continued swinging the sword to strike down the huge slabs descending on them. While he regretted that he could not use his right hand, soil and metal fence closed in on them. Soil particles hit their skin, and the veins weaving around the ground of the organic field struck their backs. He swung in the direction of the low echo he heard. The blade shattered the two metal fences, throwing off sparks at the contact. Layfon used that faint light of sparks to confirm their situation. He twisted to stand on one of the passing fences, using it to extend his area of movement and decidedly swing his sword.

(I might ruin it again.)

He was using the sword with his movements restricted. His cutting paths were absolutely horrible. He could only use external type Kei and shatter the obstacles with brute force, which wasn’t very good on the sword blade.

(Please last.)

Praying like that, he continued to cut through the things falling on them. And like that, he concentrated on the crisis above them. As moonlight left them, Layfon used the sparks caused by his strike and the sound of falling obstacles to defend themselves. His tension was reaching its limit. He calculated the distance between them and the ground through the echo of metal striking the bottom.

But something unexpected happened.

“Ah.”

“Wuah!”

Just a bit more…. As he thought of this, the ground beneath them shook. Other things that had fallen past Layfon had piled on top of one another to make a hill. The metal fence he was standing on crashed against a metal fence buried in the hill. He pushed against his foothold and flew sideways.

“Aaaaaaa.”

To fall and then to rise, Mei-Shen became more confused. Originally, she suppressed herself and hadn't made a noise, but now she struggled in Layfon’s arm.

“Uh.”

Pain cut a path between his eye and ear. Probably just some debris. He suppressed the impatience and anxiety rushing up him as he bore that hot pain. Finally, his feet touched the ground, and he used both hands to carry Mei-Shen, running away from the hill to avoid the falling obstacles.

A rumble shook the ground, heading for Layfon from behind him. He jumped and touched the ground. That presence behind him was gone. He didn’t sense anything falling on top of them. The sound of the city’s moving multi-legs overwhelmed the sound of debris falling. Layfon kept moving forward without thinking. When he stopped, he put Mei-Shen down.

“Ah…. Ah, Ah…. Huh?”

“It’s all right. It’s all right now.”

He couldn’t make out her face in the dark. The sudden descent had prevented her from saying anything. He covered her with his jacket and patted her trembling shoulder. He waited for her to calm down, then he stood up.

“I’ll just go and check the situation.”

“Ah………!” she took his hand.

“……… Uh, so…….. sorry.”

As if the darkness had wiped away her voice, she let go of his hand.

(Aa, I see……)

She must have felt very scared since she couldn’t see anything. Layfon abandoned the idea of checking his surroundings and sat down beside her.

“It’s ok. Please go.”

“It’s alright to wait a bit. We can go together afterwards.”

It’d be good if she was confused as usual. That would be proof of her recovery.

“Speaking of which……… That really was surprising.”

Layfon lifted his head and couldn’t see anything. He had never thought such a place existed. He thought only the Mechanical Department and its exit would be beneath the city. The truth stared at him when he thought deeper about the issue. How could the underside of the city just be covering up the Mechanical Department? It must envelop a larger area than that.

(This place is close to the city’s edge. There must be other mechanisms around to control the city’s multi-legs.)

He glanced around. It was still dark everywhere. The sound of rumblings pressed around them. His guess of other mechanisms being close by was correct. He had moved around during the descent, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he had moved slightly away from the mechanisms.

“……….”

A weak touch on his shoulder. The sound of clothes brushing against clothes. It was Mei-Shen’s shoulder.

“Be patient a bit more. They’ll definitely find us.”

“Yes……”

He took her hand.

“Uh, uh………Say something,” she said.

“Eh?”

“About Grendan.”

“Ah…….. I was in a place as dark as this a long, long time ago. It was outside the city, in the nest of filth monsters. I wasn’t a Heaven’s Blade successor yet, still quite a kid. I had undergone training without using my vision, so I wasn’t worried in the fight. I just fought like I was in a dream.”

Layfon and other people fought the larvae in the nest that the psychokinesists had found.

“The feeling during the fight was good, since I didn’t have to think. I just needed to move according to my memories, but it was different after the fight.”

The underground nest was made for the newly born larvae. Unable to sustain the intense fight, the exit had collapsed, sealing the Military Artists in there, including Layfon.

“I knew we’d be rescued because we had the flakes of the psychokinesists with us, but I felt uneasy in the dark. So I understand your feelings.”

“Sorry…….”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Because…….. You were going to find the exit.”

“They’ll find it quickly. There’s someone who is better at this than I am.”

“Yes, so…….”

“So, I was scared back then.”

“Huh?”

“I exhausted all my strength during the fight, but after everything had ended……..”

He had nothing else to do. And he hated that feeling. The feeling of waiting for someone to do something.

“Layton……. Layton!”

“……. Uh? What?”

“……… uh.”

He understood when Mei-Shen turned her head and he heard her hair brushing against the uniform he had covered her with.

(As I thought………)

The feeling of spacing out didn’t sit well with him because it led his thinking into the negative. In this place where light failed to reach, the smell of metal and the surrounding environment had stolen away their body warmth. The coldness of the place took away their strength. The same as the situation before. The feeling was similar to the cruel time when the orphanage was poor and they couldn’t do anything about it. He felt he had to do something, but deeper thought revealed his impotence.

“Layton…… Are you ok? Aren’t you cold?”

“Thanks. I’m all right,” he replied shortly and wrapped his knees with his arms.

“What do you mean it’s all right!” A heated voice cut through the coldness. Felli.

“Great. You found us.”

The sudden violent voice scared Mei-Shen, and she tightened her hold on Layfon. He gave a relieved and exhausted smile.

“Huh?” It was Mei-Shen’s voice, shocked. She took her hand away from his shoulder as if to confirm something.

“Of course.” Anger shot through Felli’s light reply. Layfon shrugged.

“The Captain and the others are coming. You stay there and don’t move.”

‘Wait for sometime,’ Felli had said. In her words were impatience and anxiety.

“Layton…..?

But it was already too late. Mei-Shen confirmed that sticky feeling on her hand. “Lay…. ton.”

She called his name repeatedly, her voice filled with tension and edginess. Layfon heard the sound of blood leaking rapidly in the gap in his heart. His consciousness felt far away.

“Layton!”

Darkness swallowed him.

<center>◇</center>

Leerin woke up and looked at her watch. She sat up on the bed, doubtful of the time her watch showed and then realized she hadn’t changed into her pajamas. The window blinds remained closed from before she went to school. She opened it and saw the night street. The sun hadn’t risen yet. As she spaced out, she remembered what happened yesterday. She was eating fried bread with Synola in the park and had told her about her feelings. The reason behind the chat was to seek advice and to organize and objectively examine herself. She began to get flustered as bit by bit, she realized she already knew what she wanted from the very beginning.

“There’s someone I want to see.”

She had said that without reserve. That was what she wanted. Her worry came from her uncertainty of how he would think of her when he saw her.

But no matter how much you worry, you won’t know the answer. Only the current Layfon in Zuellni can answer you. You gain nothing by worrying.

That was what Synola had told her.

“It is impossible to find what isn’t in your heart,” Synola said as she rolled up the bag of fried bread. The constant smile on her face had disappeared. Staring at the park, her eyes were surprisingly serious, but it was clear she wasn’t looking at anything in particular.

“You’ll only be wasting your effort seeking for that thing,” she continued.

Leerin thought Synola had become someone else. She wasn’t the strange senpai that Leerin had known. She had become a beautiful creature of something different.

“It’s simple to give up what you can’t have. Humans can even give up their lives easily. Humans have the habit of abandoning things. What is before you can, in one split second, become a beautiful memory. It’s also simple to live by loving your memory. Leerin, it’s all right if you want to do that.” Her words were cold and harsh. “But we can give up anytime. You hate getting hurt, but that feeling of dislike and hate can happen anywhere. Even if one wishes not to die, one might die on the day of his wish. Even so, it’s easy for anyone to give up. Why do you think so?”

Leerin had a bad feeling as she listened. She felt that she didn’t want to hear more. But Synola showed no signs of stopping. “Leerin, you just don’t want to get hurt. That’s all.”

“!”

She wanted to deny it, but nothing came to her. She couldn’t even shout. Swallowing back the words that weren’t words, Leerin exhaled.

“It’s not wrong to be afraid of getting hurt. But it’s true that what can’t be hurt might not be beautiful. No matter how beautiful a thing is, it began at its birth as a dirty stone. Nothing will happen if that stone isn’t cut. No one knew what it would become before it was cut. But I believe it’ll become something much more beautiful than when it was still dirty.”

Having said that, Synola left the park, leaving Leerin rooted on the spot. Leerin had then returned to the dormitory and went to bed without changing. Perhaps what she had needed then was sleep. Synola’s words had given a direction to the thought in her heart.

Leerin was surprised the next day that she had slept from dusk till dawn, as if she could only sleep to accept that change. She slept a lot but did not feel tired from waking. Her body was surprisingly light.

“Let’s go,” she said to herself and closed the blinds. She took off her clothes in the dark and went for a shower. She washed away all that stuck to her and refreshed herself once more.

<center>◇</center>

When he came to, he was on a hospital bed, looking at a nurse’s face. The nurse quickly called the doctor over to check on him.

“The person who came into the hospital the most this year is you,” the senior doctor said with a weary face.

“I suppose.” Layfon’s gaze turned to the drip connected to his arm.

The main injuries were on his forehead, right shoulder and back. He sustained many other smaller wounds, but those three wounds were the main reason behind his blood loss and loss of consciousness.

“The biggest problem is the back. The debris had cut into a part of your spine. You have to go through an operation, but…….” he paused.

“Will there be any side effects?”

“No. Even if the operation failed, we could restore your spine with the restoration operation. As long as your brain and Kei vein aren’t damaged, pretty much your entire body can heal if we transport you to a hospital with good equipment before death. That’s the level modern medicine is capable of. It’d be easier to just get you a new spine,” the doctor said frankly.

“Then……?

“If we change your spine, you’ll need time to recover. Taking out the debris needs less recovery time…… but you can’t participate in the next platoon match.”

“Aaa…. I see.”

“Aren’t you shocked?”

“This is the second time.”

The 17th platoon had lost their match before when Nina had fainted and they lost by default.

“But I feel bad because it’s my fault.”

“That wasn’t your fault. It was just the situation.”

The situation……. It was caused by the wearing out of the part under the city, causing the ground to collapse…….. That kind of thing. A detailed investigation was still being carried out, but that would probably be the conclusion. The doctor and all senior students of the construction course were told of the investigation.

“Just take a good rest now. A patient’s job is to recover,” the doctor hung the stethoscope back on his neck and left the room.

Nina came in, brushing past the doctor’s shoulder.

“Are you all right?”

Appropriate to the situation of entering a hospital, Nina held a bunch of flowers.

“Sorry, I can’t participate in the next match.”

“Stupid, don’t worry about that,” she put the flowers aside and sat on the chair closest to the bed. It had been three days from the night when Nina knew of the date for the camp to when Layfon fell and lost his consciousness. Felli had quickly found him and Mei-Shen, and the team had rescued them.

“Didn’t you say that before? Now it’s real.”

“I see.”

But the purpose of the camp was to prepare for the match with the 1st platoon. It felt like the 17th platoon had finally revived, and this thing happened on the worst timing.

“We haven’t given up the match.”

“Huh?”

“The training you gave us won’t be wasted. I’ve become stronger. I think it’s a shame if we forfeit the match. I’ve talked with the others, they all say we can’t forfeit now.”

“Is that so, that’s good.”

“So I say, you just concentrate on recovering.”

Layfon nodded at her encouragement.

“Mei…. Is Mei-Shen all right?”

He felt cramps from the muscles wrapped in bandages, and in his head surfaced Mei-Shen. He couldn’t quite move his head when the doctor was checking up on him.

“She’s all right. Didn’t get hurt much, just a scratch.”

“….. That’s great,” he said, truly relieved.

“I’m sorry. That was my fault,” Nina lowered her head.

“Not at all. It wasn’t senpai’s fault.”

“But……..”

“Nobody could have predicted it,” he joked.

“Well….. I guess.” Unable to accept that fact, she glanced at the flowers. Layfon’s gaze followed hers for a short moment, then returned to Nina. A question rose in him as she continued to look at the flowers.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Huh? What?”

“Uh…. Just a feeling.”

“Nothing. You’re mistaken.”

“If so, that’s good.”

“What a strange guy,” Nina smiled. Looking at her smile, he couldn’t help but feel that she was worried about something.

“Speaking of that, what about you?”

“Huh?”

“Your face tells me you’re thinking of something.”

“No…. Nothing.”

“Don’t lie. You’re hiding something.”

She moved herself to the end of the bed and bent close to his face. Layfon had his arm attached to a drip so he couldn’t evade her.

“I’m not hiding anything. Really.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Her face tensed up as it came closer to Layfon’s. Her air weakened for a split second. It was just a split second but Layfon was sure of it. She saw him notice her change of expression, and she turned her gaze from him as if she didn’t care.

“You’re too close,” she said.

“Huh? Is that my fault?”

“Yes. That confusing face of yours.”

Nina didn’t move away.

“…….. But.”

“But….? What?” Layfon asked.

“I feel a little bit lonely.”

“Lonely?”

“Uh……. Can you just pretend you didn’t hear my last sentence?”

“Of course not.”

She turned her face to him again. Under her imposing gaze, Layfon said “I lose.”

“To think that I can’t do anything even though I’m here…..” he said.

“Stupid,” she mumbled. “It’s not what you can do but what you do……. Isn’t it a given in your situation?” Her gaze fled from him again. She blushed.

Felli arrived a short time after Nina had left.

“Stupid? You are.”

“Wa, is that what you say the moment you step through the door?”

“It’s not a problem.”

She was obviously angry. Even so, she looked at Nina’s flower vase and compared it to the flowers in her hand, then she placed the flowers in the flask in the washroom.

“If you had lost more blood, you’d have died.”

“Sorry.”

Felli glared at him. Layfon felt himself becoming small before her.

“Since it was you, couldn’t you have done better?”

“That was my limit. I had to protect another person so I couldn’t use my full strength. It was difficult to handle the remnants of Kei.”

“So that’s why you sustained severe injuries?”

“I’m far from being good.”

“That’s all?”

“Huh?”

“…….. Nothing. Do you know what’s happening with the next match?”

“Ah, the Captain just came over and told me.”

“Yes? The Captain…… truanted and came over?”

Layfon looked for the clock hanging on the wall. The time showed it was sunset. Nina didn’t check her watch when she visited so she didn’t know the time. It did feel that the time she visited was during class hours.

“Ah, true.”

“…….. Your relationship’s getting better.”

“Ehh?”

“That the captain would actually truant……. I don’t think she knew you’d regain consciousness at this time. I only heard of it after school. I was really worried.”

“Ah…… Perhaps.”

“Layfon, you do whatever she says…… What a good relationship.”

“…… Are you mad, Felli-senpai?”

“………” she glared at him.

“Felli,” he said quickly.

“I’m not mad. I’m just calmly analyzing the situation.”

“Ha, haha……….”

“You told them about Grendan,” she suddenly changed the topic.

“Huh? Ah. Yes,” he nodded anxiously.

“What’s the point of letting them know?”

“Rather than point….. I didn’t feel I could keep it a secret anymore……….”

“Then, since you can’t keep it a secret, you’ll tell everyone about your past?”

“Well……” Probably not. Karian wouldn’t want anyone to know of Layfon’s past either.

“You…… think too little about yourself.”

“Huh?”

“Mei-Shen Torinden, Naruki Gerini, Mifi Rotten……. Naruki Gerini’s all right, but the other two are just normal people. They cannot objectively understand the abilities of Military Artists. They know they can’t do anything if a Military Artist attacked them. Is it all right to so easily tell them your past?”

“………..”

“Didn’t you think of the possibility that something happened?”

“I did.”

If Mei-Shen, Mifi and Naruki left him………. Of course he thought of that. The worst situation was a repeat of his experience in Grendan. He hadn’t thought of anything else except for that situation, and if that situation arose, Layfon’d have to leave Zuellni no matter how much Karian needed him.

“If I asked them not to ask about my past, I’m sure they’d keep their word.”

“Then you should have done that.”

“But I didn’t think I should leave things like that. They wanted to know more about me. They weren’t planning something bad, so………”

“You want to be trusted?”

”Probably.”

“About that, it might be a problem coming from me who knows of your past…….. Geez, so you wouldn’t be trusted if you didn’t tell them?”

“Huh?”

“I’m using an analogy. You know why I came to the Academy City, don’t you, Fon Fon?”

“Yes.”

Felli was born a genius in psychokinesis. Everyone had high expectations of her. But doubt flowered in her of her predestined role to become a psychokinesist, so she came to Zuellni in search of another path. However, what awaited her in Zuellni was a city that had been defeated in past Military Arts Competitions, with students who didn’t have good marks in Military Arts. Karian, as Student President of the city, knew of Felli’s ability. And that was another unfortunate thing.

“But Fon Fon didn’t know why I thought so. Weren’t you suspicious of me? And if I didn’t tell you, then you wouldn’t have trusted me?”

“N….. Not at all.”

“But perhaps I lied?”

“Huh?”

“Perhaps I lied because I wanted you to ease off your suspicion against my brother.”

That was possible since Layfon’s strength was worth the lie. But.

“You’re lying,” he said curtly.

“Why?”

“Because Felli’s face is stiffer than usual.”

“Huh?” she touched her face in a fluster, and that act alone had exposed her lie. Layfon didn’t think by copying Leerin’s method, it actually worked.

Noticing how he looked relieved, Felli glared at him. “Fon Fon……”

“Sorry,” he lowered his head. “As you said, perhaps it was better if I didn’t say anything and remained alone. But I already told them…….. Although I might have kept it a secret if they didn’t know.”

In truth, the girls connected the term Heaven’s Blade successor with Layfon when they heard of it.

“Even so, I can’t keep hiding it.”

“You really are an idiot.”

“Am I?”

“Yes,” she decided. For some reason, the atmosphere between them had turned into the best. Probably because they had returned to the feeling they used to have.

“……… Do you want to know about my past, Layfon?”

“Yeah. I think there’re many things about Felli that I don’t know, but I don’t know which part it is that I’m not aware of, so it’s difficult……”

“I hate talking from the time of my birth.”

“Same here.”

“You still want to listen?”

“Yes, it’s you telling me.”

Layfon finally felt at ease as the atmosphere turned back to normal between them.

At the same time, Sharnid stood at the entrance of a certain building in the area where Layfon was. Ambulances stood at that entrance, and there were other vehicles used to transport cargoes. They were all vehicles that anyone hardly saw in Zuellni. They stood out on the ground where usually trams trended.

Sharnid was leaning against one of the pillars supporting the ceiling. He looked casually at the red and white vehicles to kill some time. The person he was waiting for finally appeared.

“Um,” the person frowned.

“Yo,” Sharnid raised his hand happily.

“What is it?”

“Is Dinn fine?”

“….. He’s still unconscious.”

“Oh.”

It was Dalshena, a beauty with rich golden curls. Her sharp gaze pierced Sharnid.

“Aren’t you going to see him?”

“I did already. Well, I don’t think I’ll be forgiven.”

“Then……. Why are you here?”

She remembered what happened a few days ago. “I see…….. I heard someone from your team was hurt in that incident.”

“We aren’t as keen now.”

News of the accident had quickly spread throughout the city. That might be due to the person who was injured in the incident. It looked like Dalshena really had no idea who was injured.

“The 10th platoon is disbanded. It’s got nothing to do with me now.” The coldness in her words wasn’t aimed at Sharnid. “We deserved it. Your team just happened to take the role of executioner.”

She knew a long time ago of Dinn’s dealings in the illegal drug trade. She had a strong sense of justice, yet she failed to do anything to stop him. Her confusion disappeared along with Dinn’s leaving, but she remained listless as before.

“Our trump card got injured.”

“That first year student?”

“Exactly.”

“How unfortunate.”

“Yes.”

The conversation went on smoothly, but Dalshena was looking at the scenery behind Sharnid, and Sharnid was looking at the ambulance. They treated each other as part of the scenery and continued the conversation.

“So you came to visit? Though I don’t think so.”

“I can visit tomorrow, now that we’re immersed in the beautiful scenery around us.”

“You need something from me? If it’s a date, I refuse. But it’s probably useless to tell you this. You never know when to give up.”

“Haha, not bad. I’m about to break the three digit count.”

“Don’t count. So you really need something from me?”

“Yes.”

Displeasure showed on her face. “Don’t tell me you want me to replace the injured first year?”

“I don’t think that’s bad. And not as replacement, but as a new member. We’re still short of people.”

“I refuse.”

His expression stayed the same despite the quick rejection.

“ ‘Military Artist as Military Artist. So you work hard to protect the existence of this city’,” he quoted.

That stopped her from leaving.

“That came from a certain magazine? What a good saying. Who said such a thing?”

“You.”

“What?” she said.

“You don’t remember? Well, it’s been a while, so you probably don’t remember it.”

“Um…….”

“Remember it now?”

Layfon’s classmate, Mifi, once did an interview with the 17th platoon. She also went to see the 10th platoon on the day of the interview. What Sharnid quoted was what Dalshena said for Mifi’s magazine.

“Aaa, I did. So what?”

“Aren’t you trying hard for Zuellin’s sake?”

“……….. I can do that even without entering a platoon.”

“Do you already know what you can do by not entering a platoon?”

“Well…… I’m still not mature enough.”

It was the time of the last Military Arts Competition when Sharnid and Dalshena were in second year. They hadn’t entered a platoon back then, and they fought as soldiers of the lower ranks, then came Zuellni’s defeat.

“Perhaps, but are you satisfied to fight against those immature guys?”

“You’re provoking me with pride and a mission, but I don’t plan to do what you’re thinking. The important thing is that I can’t fight with you anymore. The relationship of us three is broken. That’s a truth we can’t deny.”

“I know that.”

When Sharnid was still with the 10th platoon, people called him, Dalshena and Dinn the strongest of Zuellni. This was shattered when Sharnid left, and the ranking of the 10th platoon plummeted. In order to boost the strength of the 10th platoon and make it as good as it was before, Dinn plunged his hand into the illegal drug trade and ended up getting his team disbanded.

“But I didn’t call out to you because I want us to work as before. We can’t be like before now that Dinn’s not with us. I don’t anticipate that kind of thing,” he said honestly. “The person we need now is someone called Dalshena Che Matelna. You’re not replacing Layfon. Of course, we need an attacker because Layfon can’t enter the next match, but that’s not only it. We need to increase our strength for the next Military Arts Competition. That’s why we need you, Shena.”

He pushed himself off the pillar and looked at her. “If Dinn’s here, and I’m not there………. What’d Shena look like without us? That, I think, would not be bad to see.”

“……….”

“Well, if you think otherwise, come to the Training Complex,” he didn’t wait for her reply and brushed past her to leave the hospital.

“Wait……..”

He stopped.

“…….. Why did you go to the 17th platoon, no, accept Nina Antalk’s invitation?”

“………. Though I broke our relationship, there’s something important to me.”

“What?”

“It’s useless to stand around and grumble…… Isn’t that it?”

“You always never speak clearly of what’s important.”

“Haha,” he laughed and resumed walking. He didn’t stop this time.

“Ah, still full of spirit?” A cheerful greeting.

“I’m still a patient like usual,” he greeted casually. Observing as a side party, Myunfa felt herself getting smaller.

“Really? Though all I heard was the recovery of basic functions. Several of your ribs and internal organs were injured, right? It’s not strange for a Military Artist to recover quickly from that.” The person handed the bunch of flowers to the female student behind him. He glanced at the student preparing the vase, and went to stand near the bed, smiling.

“Well, I’ve always been sick since I was little. I get sick once my strength drops,” the red haired person deliberately coughed on the bed.

“I see. That’s been hard on you.”

“Exactly, because of that, the doctor won’t dismiss me from the hospital.”

That didn’t feel like something that a patient lying on a hospital bed should say, but the visitor didn’t point that out. The visitor’s name was Karian Loss, and the person on the bed was Haia Salinvan Lyia. Karian was the Student President who made all the important decisions in Zuellni. He came to visit the leader of the Mercenary Gang.

“I’m very grateful for the Student President to visit me. So please take your time.”

“Thanks for your invitation, but I didn’t plan to. There’re many problems I still have to manage.”

“Ha, as expected of the Student President. You’re so busy.”

“Yes, like discovering that part of the foundations of Zuellni had weakened, and how our most important trump card is injured. Problems are piling up.”

The smile in Karian’s eyes disappeared. On the contrary, Haia’s fearless smile deepened.

“Let me make it clear that I didn’t do anything.”

“I believe you. We’ve been partners, so it’d be good if there’s friendship and trust between us.”

“Friendship is very important.”

“True.”

Laughter sounded between them. Their words conveyed warmth yet their expressions showed anything but trust. Myunfa trembled in that icy atmosphere.

“As proof of our friendship, I’ve some information for you.”

“Oh, then I thank you……… but is this a parting gift? Your subordinates at the dormitory seem to be making some sort of preparations.”

“How could they? I’m injured and in the hospital. They can’t leave.”

“True. Sorry for that. Your subordinates admire you very much. Then?”

“The Haikizoku. It’s not good to leave it alone for so long.”

“Oh, why?”

“No matter how powerful it is, it’s gone through time of destruction. If it hasn’t got something to support it, it’ll continue to spread a presence of destruction. That’s the kind of thing it is. You should listen to me.”

Karian frowned. Could this have something to do with the incident a few days ago?

“I see. Seems we can’t just leave it.”

“You can’t do anything but hand it to us.”

“……. Does that mean Grendan’s Queen knows how to take care of it?”

“How would I know something that detailed? I wasn’t born in Grendan. I haven’t even seen the Queen’s face.”

“Um…….. Speaking of which, you have quite a thought for a Heaven’s Blade successor.”

“I spoke too much.”

“Oh ha, how much information have you got?” Karian smiled.

Haia returned his smile. “I like people with good memories.”

“Same here.”

“Geez……. We match well,” Haia laughed and told him another piece of information. Karian’s expression went stiff as Haia watched him cheerfully.

<center>◇</center>

The recent atmosphere felt strange. Was this just her own feelings? Nina watched the people at the Mechanical Department.

She was cleaning the designated area on her own. She didn’t have someone to talk to because Layfon was in the hospital. Nobody was fast enough to match the cleaning speed of Nina and Layfon, so no one would clean with her. Usually, the other people cleaning here were normal people. It was rare for Military Artists to take up this job.

“Fu………” she breathed out and glanced up. The maze of corridors surrounded the centre of the Mechanical Department.

“Was it my imagination?”

In recent days, she heard some other noise besides the noises from the workings of mechanisms. People were investigating the Mechanical Department because of the collapse of the ground. Was this the cause of that noise? Nina didn’t have the confidence in her own feelings. Unable to calm down, irritation rose in her. She felt as if the noise was overtaking her being. If she could talk to someone, she’d feel more relieved, but……….

No one was around her. Layfon was in the hospital. Before Layfon arrived, Nina used to clean on her own for the sake of efficiency. Even if there were people around, they were those who ran around for errands.

They seemed…….. busy?

“Nina!” A senior student called. Nina turned.

“Could it be……”

“Could it be exactly. Counting on ya,” the senior student with a beard said and left running.

Zuellni had run off again. It was normal for the workers to be busy, but today was different.

“Right, so that’s why they’re…….”

Why hadn’t she realized?

Nina put down the broom to find Zuellni.

(As I thought, is it because of Layfon?)

At that time, Nina and the others were waiting at the camp for Layfon and the girls to return. The night had deepened. There weren’t many dangerous things in the production area. Felli had left camp to follow the girls and Layfon. Nina wasn’t too worried because it was highly unlikely for them to get lost in the dark. One possible danger could be animals that had escaped from the ranch and turned wild, but they didn’t have those animals here in Zuellni. Besides, it should be all right with Layfon and Naruki there. Who would have thought that a huge hole would appear in the ground?

The intense shaking of the ground hit the camp where Nina was. She thought Zuellni had stumbled across another filth monster’s nest. But then she heard the truth from Felli, a truth more shocking than a filth monster attack. She felt as if her blood had been sucked dry, and her feet couldn’t help but shake. She had never experienced something as horrible as this, and something this unusual had happened to Layfon.

(Are you not going to stop messing up that guy’s life?)

Layfon came to Zuellni to start a new life.

(Yes……..)

He wanted to live like a normal person. He gave up the benefits that a Military Artist would receive, and planned to live a normal life. That was what he wanted. Of course, a Military Artist wouldn’t just accept his benefits. He had to stand in the frontline when the city faced a crisis. He had to fight filth monsters and fight in the Military Arts Competition to win a selenium mine for Zuellni. He had to bet on his life and fight for the city. And that was what made a Military Artist a Military Artist.

Layfon wasn’t escaping from danger. In fact, he chose to fight alone when he met such a situation.

(Am I the one who stopped him from living a new life…..?)

It was unfortunate that Karian knew of Layfon’s past, and Nina had underestimated the impact of Karian’s knowledge. Layfon worked hard because he was asked to. He had sustained damage to his body because of that. He had said that he’d fight with them. But that couldn’t hide his outstanding strength. Of course, he played a huge role in deciding how the 17th platoon worked in a match.

(What was I thinking back then……..?)

Nina and Sharnid went out to help once they heard from Felli. Seeing the blood-covered Layfon, she wondered whether her own heart had stopped beating. After recovering from the shock….

(What was I thinking……..?)

She was thinking of the next match. The doctor had said that Layfon couldn’t participate. The only frontline attacker had retired. That wasn’t the only truth. The 17th platoon had lost its entire function.

(That’s not it.)

There were many other ways to fight. Sharnid had volunteered to find someone to replace Layfon, but there were ways even if they couldn’t find another person. Nina and Sharnid could give Naruki reinforcements when the team was on the offensive side. They might not even need to make any changes if the team played the defensive role. Nina couldn’t guarantee victory, but she felt that the team wasn’t doing too bad for now.

(That’s right. But why………)

At that time, she felt everything had ended. The torch in her hand illuminated a bloody Layfon. His eyes were closed. She did feel that everything had ended, including her thoughts and hope. She once said to him to “do something”. A strong and determined declaration that was in fact weak and soft.

“How useless I am.”

The situation became her relying on him. She had accepted the fact that his strength as a Military Artist far exceeded hers. At the beginning, she had wanted to learn from him and make herself stronger………

“Damn………”

The shock of seeing Layfon covered in blood still remained in her. She couldn’t look him in the eyes when she visited because that image was with her.

“I can’t be like that…….”

Probably because she had been thinking while walking, when she looked around, she didn’t know where she was. Probably somewhere close to the center of the Mechanical Department. A place like a small hill, surrounded by metal plates. What was inside? The Electronic Fairy. But what was the Electronic Fairy doing in there? Nobody knew what made a city move. What Military Artists and the workers came into contact with were the tubes, corridors and wires that stretched out from the center. How did Zuellni turn the mine into liquid form, how did the city detect the filth monsters….. There were many, many things that people didn’t know.

“Geez…….. Where is this place?”

As if to keep her spirit up, she called and looked around.

“Zuellni!”

Too many things blocking her sight. She didn’t know where she was. Nina raised her voice again. Her voice echoed within various noises.

When her voice faded, a ball of light flew to her through the gaps between tubes. The form of a small girl occupied the middle of that light. The city’s Electronic Fairy half flew and half staggered into Nina’s arms. Zuellni weighted nothing.

“You aren’t being good,” Nina scolded. Zuellni made a happy expression that made her want to forgive her.

“What’re you doing for today?” Nina asked and patted Zuellni’s hair.

Zuellni had her head on Nina’s shoulder, but she suddenly flew from Nina’s arms to sit on her shoulders. She hugged Nina’s head and put her chin on her head. Zuellni pulled Nina’s hair.

“Uh? Over there?” she turned to look at the direction Zuellni was indicating.

“There’s nothing there?” she gazed in Zuellni’s direction and only saw tubes and corridors.

“What is it that makes you so happy?”

Zuellni didn’t respond.

“Zuellni?”

The tiny Electronic Fairy kept staring in that direction.

“………..”

The Zuellni now reminded Nina of an anxiety she once felt. She couldn’t tell whether it was unease, tension or excitement. She watched Zuellni’s direction in silence.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume5 Chapter2

2010-01-01T09:28:55Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 2: The event of that day */

===Chapter 2: The event of that day===

It didn’t take long to decide the schedule of the camp. Nina had applied for the camp as study camp. The camp would be treated as part of school, so they didn’t have to apply for a holiday.

“Oi, oi………. Three days two nights. Does this include the weekend? So boring.”

“Don’t plan to go?”

“Since we get to be truant openly, we should apply for normal weekdays. Besides, it’s not good for the body to not rest.”

Nina’s cold gaze rejected Sharnid’s suggestion. Though she had something on tomorrow, she was still cleaning at night with Layfon at the Mechanical Department. Layfon wondered how she managed to squeeze out the time for tonight’s job. She had been busy from training till now. The current Nina had regained some of the dominating air she had before. She had probably forgotten the event surrounding the 10th platoon because of the camp.

Nina had told her team about the schedule of the camp in the training room. The camp would begin three days from now, and it would be three days and two nights over the weekend. The location was the production area of a certain dormitory.

“Excuse me……” Naruki raised her hand. “That place doesn’t have any shops. What do we do about food?”

“We’ll bring the ingredients over. Layfon knows how to cook, so he’ll do the cooking.”

“He can?”

“Uh, well……….” Layfon smiled, troubled. Mei-Shen was the one who cooked his lunches. “Yeah, but I won’t be able to put much consideration into cooking a nutritious meal.”

“It’s all right as long as it’s delicious,” Sharnid patted his back.

Naruki thought for a moment and raised her hand again.

“What?”

“Layfon has to train too. Isn’t it better to find someone else to do the cooking?”

“Yes, that was my original plan, but the person I had in mind is already booked that day……” A shadow shrouded Nina’s face.

“If it’s ok, can I ask for a friend to help?”

“Is it all right?”

“I think so. Layfon knows how the cooking tastes too.”

“Is it Mei?” he asked.

“Of course. I don’t know anyone else. Not satisfied?”

“No, not at all. Is it really all right?”

Mei-Shen was really shy. She was used to being with him, but not with others. And at the camp, it wasn’t possible for Naruki and Layfon to stay with her all the time.

“I’ll think of a way about that. Is it ok, Captain?”

“Yeah. Counting on you.”

Nina explained a few more details about the meet-up time and so on, and they started their usual training.

<center>◇</center>

After listening to Naruki’s suggestion, Mei-Shen leaned on the chair with a faraway look. The girls were in the kitchen inside the dormitory. The kitchen was shared, but not everyone had to share a bathroom. Living quarters spread out across the dormitory, and here was the kitchen. Mei-Shen confirmed once again with Naruki. She was preparing for dinner.

“Just….. what did you say?”

“Oh, I mentioned it yesterday. Platoon camp. I recommended you to do the cooking for us. You’ve decided, haven’t you?”

“Wait, wait a minute……..”

Naruki peeled the vegetables with a matter-of-fact expression. Hands clutching her apron, Mei-Shen watched Naruki.

“Me………?”

“Who else? I can’t ask Mifi.”

Mifi wasn’t in the kitchen. She was busy writing up drafts in her room.

“But……….”

“The Captain’s already told the teacher, so you won’t be marked absent.”

“Wu………” Mei-Shen’s reason to reject the offer was blocked.

“Why not? It’s not easy to get such an opportunity,” Naruki cocked her head.

“But…… so sudden……..”

“Sudden……. It’s not just you and Layton.”

“Of, of course.”

Just the two of them……… She felt her cheeks heating up.

“Well, it is possible for just the two of you to be alone. Layton seems to know how to cook too. And with his personality, he’ll probably offer to help. Everyone else can’t do it……..” Naruki said and popped a piece of lettuce in her mouth. She chewed.

“Uh…….. Wu……….”

“You don’t have to be so excited. Didn’t you two go somewhere before?”

“That was, well, we didn’t spend the entire day together.”

“You won’t be together that long. There is training after all.”

Mei-Shen calmed down at that. “But, is it ok? Won’t I be in the way?”

“You won’t. We won’t have to worry about cooking if you take care of it.”

“I see…..” she began to know where she stood. Cooking. Just as usual. It’d be good if she could help out with that. Just that. Nothing else special would happen. Even if it happened, she wouldn’t be prepared for it.

“I just need to cook?”

“Didn’t I say that from the very beginning?” Naruki nodded.

“So…… naïve!” a voice interfered.

“Mi…… You’ll complicate things.”

“Wuah, so mean! Why am I getting this treatment? I’m protesting.”

“All right, here. Be more honest.”

“I’m a kid!? I won’t have it……. Not like that,” Mifi called, putting a vegetable in her mouth. “How can you leave it like that? Isn’t this a good chance?”

“Chance…… What?”

“About the Heaven’s Blade.”

The feeling was like a knot in Mei-Shen’s heart. The letter she received earlier had left a puzzle. The letter was for Layfon, sent by a female named Leerin. The term “Heaven’s Blade” was in the letter. It seemed Layfon was called the Heaven’s Blade successor back at Grendan. Every city gave its elite Military Artists titles. Back in Mei-Shen’s home city, Joeldem, entering the Knights of the Crossroad organization was proof of being acknowledged as an excellent Military Artist. Everyone aimed to enter that organization. Heaven’s Blade successor probably held the same meaning. She wasn’t surprised to find out that Layfon had such a title because she believed he was very strong. But then why did he leave Grendan? She had asked him once but she failed. She was afraid that question would break the relationship between them. It didn’t. But for the sake of not failing again, she wouldn’t put that question to him again.

“Forget it.”

Naruki frowned.

“Everyone has something he doesn’t want to tell? Layton would have said it if it’s something that doesn’t really matter.”

“That makes sense. But…… Isn’t it easier to hang out with him if you know his secret?”

“Um……” Naruki responded to Mifi’s words.

“I knew it. You were thinking of something after that match, weren’t you, Naruki? It’s got something to do with Layfon?”

“No. Wouldn’t I have lost the trust between us if I kept something from you guys?”

“You’ll say it if you can?”

“Look, why doesn’t this work with Layfon?”

“Isn’t that natural? The basis of the relationship between me and you and the relationship between me and Layfon is different.”

“How different?”

“I know you’d cry from wetting your bed.”

“What!” Naruki blushed. “I, I didn’t cry! And that just happened once………”

“You did, though you were trying not to. The tears just fell from your eyes. Aaa, I can still recall it now. The Naruki of that time……”

“Shut up!” Naruki bent over Mifi, locking her neck in the crook of her arm. Mei-Shen just moaned and didn’t do anything.

Mifi beat the floor with her arm. “No! That wasn’t what I wanted to say. I mean, we knew each other since we were little. We can trust each other even if we hide a thing or two, but it’s different with Layton. We don’t understand him. We don’t know anything about him before he came to Zuellni, that’s why we want to know. Why we are concerned.”

“Um……..” Naruki loosened her hold. Mifi took the chance to escape.

“Anyway, what I wanted to say was if we want to understand Layton, we can’t not understand the Layton of Grendan. That’s all! I’m hungry!” she quickly left the kitchen.

“….. Geez, she just says whatever suits her,” Naruki glared in the direction where Mifi had gone, off to her own room. Naruki’s face was still red.

“Mei, don’t worry about it.”

“……. Yeah.”

But Mifi was right. Layton had only been in Zuellni for half a year. He had in him the Layton who grew up in Grendan. That was why Mei-Shen was bothered. She was jealous of Leerin because Leerin knew of the Layfon in Grendan.

(But…… am I too spoiled?)

This unease had always been circling inside her, unable to leave. It might explain why the taste of dinner didn’t go well. Naruki and Mifi noticed that the taste wasn’t as good as usual, but they didn’t comment.

(Is this trust? Or pity?)

For some reason, Mei-Shen was more confused.

<center>◇</center>

Someone pinched her face and brought her back to reality.

“What’re you doing?” Synola lay flat on her stomach on the table.

“Report…….”

They were in the library. The computer terminal on the table showed a number of technical books on its monitor. Leerin was reading them for her report.

“He……..”

“What?”

“Ah…… the mission is to stare at the city with a blank mind. Do you know when I got here?”

“Huh?”

The students weren’t allowed to take books outside the library, so the library provided many areas for self-study. A number of huge tables sat side by side in the area Leerin was in. Many students came here to study after class. In fact, there were many students around Leerin right now. Yes, it was a large table. Synola had her chin in her palm. She had pushed aside the terminals and stationeries of other students.

The students around them were all watching them.

“Uh! …….. What’re you doing?” Leerin quickly lowered her voice.

“Aa…….. I waited a long time. Me? Though I was about to lose to shame……..” Synola’s face was red.

“Please hurry and come back down!”

Unable to stand the atmosphere of you’re-an-interference, Leerin escaped from the library to return the computer.

“Ah, you’re so mean. Wait up,” Synola called and chased after her.

“I’m worried because you were spacing out.”

“Then worry in a way that is appropriate!” she protested with a red face.

“Aa, don’t praise me.”

“………. Tell me just how did I praise you?”

“Ehh, don’t be so boring. I’ll treat you to a meal,” Synola insisted as she followed her.

“I refuse. Senpai, you always take me to someplace expensive. I feel like I’m in danger.” She was used to a life of thriftiness. She couldn’t understand Synola’s perspective in the use of money.

“Ah, then it’s ok if it’s some cheaper place? Good. There’s this place I want to go.”

“Uh? Wait……..”

Ignoring what Leerin had to say, Synola took her hand and dragged her away.

Synola took Leerin to a park close to the bus station.

“This?”

She could feel the heat through the paper bag. Many small shops stood before the bus station at the school, ranging from convenience stores to grocery stores. A student who lived alone would be very grateful for this shopping street.

In one of the shops here……… The two of them held something that they bought from one of the shops.

“Yes. I wanted to try this,” Synola took out the food from the bag with a happy expression. Sugar stuck to the surface of the fried bread.

“…….. How should I put this. Senpai is really rich.”

She hasn’t had fried bread………. Shocked at that fact, Leerin also started eating. The softness and sweetness of the bread dispersed in her mouth. It didn’t taste like the bread was fried in oil used for a long time, and the bread hadn’t been over-fried either.

“Um, yum. This is great.”

Synola finished one swiftly and took out another piece of bread. Finding herself getting hungry after having one, Leerin also took out another bread to eat. Synola kept repeating “yum, yum” beside her as they finished eating the bread.

“Um, not enough,” Synola said softly, licking the sugar on her hands.

“No. We ate too much.”

Synola had ordered twice the amount as Leerin. She finished all that in the time it took Leerin to just finish her own bag of bread. Leerin sighed, looking at Synola’s body.

“Then how can you keep so fit?”

“With an adequate amount of exercise.”

That was all she said. Leerin groaned and caressed her stomach.

“Isn’t it about time to tell me of your worries?” Synola sipped from the cup of hot tea she bought and looked at her.

“Huh?”

“Your worry is still there, right? How is it?”

“I didn’t………”

“Or was there progress? Did it give you new worries?”

“No. I ……” she denied desperately, but Synola continued. “Well, you were like someone climbing up from a dark chasm before, and now you have this confused, reddened face that suddenly sinks in shadows. Like a flea.”

“Ah………” she didn’t realize this was what Synola felt about her………. Thinking of how she appeared in others’ eyes made her feel embarrassed.

“So what’re you worrying about? Let me solve it for you.”

“No, uh………” Though she denied it, Leerin changed the topic. “……… There’s someone I want to see.”

<center>◇</center>

The day of camp had arrived. They alighted from the tram and walked through a field of fruit trees. A light breeze carried the aroma of the field to them. The horizon widened when they reached the end of the field.

“Wow……..” Layfon called out at the vast plain before them. He was carrying a bag stuffed with his clothes and some other luggage. He held bulging bags with his two hands. The bags contained the food that he and Mei-Shen and the others bought at the shops. Naruki was loaded down too.

“So huge…….”

Mei-Shen was speechless.

Opposite the field of fruit trees that they just went past was the lake they saw when Layfon and the three girls went for lunch. They were in an agricultural area. Sunlight reflected off a huge greenhouse. Nina had explained that this was a period of no-planting, so there wasn’t any produce here. It was all right even if the team caused huge damage during training.

A lone house stood in the middle of the plain. That was their dormitory. The dormitory became bigger as the team stepped closer on the path.

They only saw how huge the dormitory actually was when they got close.

“We’re here.”

Nina was waiting for them at the dormitory. She took the bags of food ingredients from Layfon. She thanked Mei-Shen for coming to cook, and Mei-Shen replied in a very small voice. Following behind Mei-Shen, Layfon lifted his head to study the building.

“So big.”

Nina also lifted her gaze. “Aa. The students doing agriculture use this building when they work outside, so it can fit around 20 people.”

“Amazing.”

“This area provides food for Zuellni, so it’s pretty huge. You can find this facility in other producing areas too. ……… Here.” Nina led them to the kitchen and put the ingredients in the fridge. She told them their room locations, and they dispersed to put down their luggage.

“We’ve spent today getting here and putting everything in place. Be prepared for training tomorrow,” Nina said and took Naruki and Mei-Shen to their rooms.

Left alone, Layfon went for his room to put down his luggage. He pulled aside the window screen and saw that it was almost dusk.

“We’re at the edge of the city.”

Standing on the second level, he could see the city’s outskirts. The dormitory he was in now and the dormitory of the first years…… The different scenery he looked at now gave him the feeling of being in another city.

In another city…… That kind of lament came to him. The thought of studying at an Academy City was nonexistent to him when he was still a Heaven’s Blade successor in Grendan.

There was a reason behind his naïve desire. No, the Layfon in Grendan thought his way of doing things was current. What Nina said was reasonable. Wasn’t there another way? Probably. If he had picked another way, Leerin wouldn’t be in so much trouble now. Regret and loneliness plagued him.

Leerin, is she still full of energy?

His room at the dormitory being too big might explain his feeling of loneliness. A room big enough to fit three beds. The dormitory was usually for students of the Agricultural course who needed to work very late and had to stay outside. And now only Layfon was using this room. When he was in the orphanage, he had always dreamt of having a room to himself. He was in a large room at the orphanage, but he slept there with everyone else. The current room back at Layfon’s usual dormitory was for two people. He did not have a roommate. The feelings of being alone in there and being alone in here shouldn’t be different. It only felt different because the size of this room was similar to the room back in the orphanage.

“Aaaa……”

He shook his head and swallowed the nostalgia. He knew well the feeling of loneliness of being unable to return to that place so long ago. What would happen if a Heaven’s Blade went on a rampage……. He was the one who answered that question for the public. How could he return to Grendan with that past?

Sharnid and Felli arrived while Layfon mulled over that thought. He was also called over.

The training on that day was simple. Since there wasn’t a training room, they did training outside, much the same as they did training in the war field. Training ended when darkness came. Sparse light from the building acted as the only source of light after the sun had set. The team spent some time after training in the large living room. Nina and Sharnid played a paper game in the Military Arts course that was designed to nurture a mind in terms of tactics. Mei-Shen and Naruki chatted in a corner, Felli read a book she had brought with her. Layfon sat beside Nina and Sharnid, and watched them play the game.

The game was played on two boards with pieces lined up on either side of the boards. Each player was to move his own pieces in accordance to the movement of his opponent. The boards were positioned in a way so the opponent couldn’t see the pieces. It was a game of command.

“I got flakes around B6.”

“A shame, got nothing there.”

“What? Damn……. Finished.”

“My turn. Flakes around E3.”

“……. There’s a guard at E2.”

“Ah, I’m sniping him… he.”

Nina and Sharnid tossed the dice that had 6 faces, and spoke the result.

“Good. Let’s swap.”

“So naïve. One more sniping.”

“Wh….. Damn.”

Nina tossed the dice again, and removed her own piece with a painful expression.

“Uh…. Finished.”

“It’s my turn now. Then…….”

The two moved their pieces in front of Layfon, using psychokinetic flakes to find the position of other pieces and attack them. Sharnid kept winning the game, all the way to victory.

“Geez…..”

“So I said, only platoons with the normal structure can make the best of movement? With 2-3 psychokinesists, the remaining sniper can move around freely.”

Staring at the board and pondering on her next move, Nina fiddled with the dice as Sharnid talked.

“You’re so noisy. Be quiet.”

“Decide on a better structure next time.”

“No, I’m using the same structure.”

“Then you can only rely on the luck of the dice.”

Knowing Nina wouldn’t take his suggestion, he sighed and placed his pieces with the same structure as before. Nina didn’t win the following three games either.

“Just a bit more……”

“Let’s stop here,” Sharnid put down his piece and put up his arms.

“Um…… I guess. It’s already that hour. Getting ready for the bath?”

“Ah, there is a bath?” Naruki asked.

“Aa, a very big bath……. Oh no, forgot to let the hot water run,” Nina looked at the clock.

“Sorry, let’s just take a shower. I’ll put in the hot water tomorrow.”

The bath was for both male and female. The girls went on ahead on Nina’s direction, as Layfon and Sharnid watched them leave.

“Oh…… a big bath, hehe……..” Sharnid said to himself. Layfon pretended he didn’t hear him.

<center>◇</center>

Layfon opened his eyes at the tiny noise reaching his ears. He had slept enough. He slipped off the bed to pull open the blinds on the window. The morning air was a bit cold. He stretched his arms, went to wash his face and automatically headed for the source of the noise. A figure was in the kitchen where a wonderful breakfast had already been prepared.

“Mei-Shen, you’re early.”

“Wa…. Layton?” Mei-Shen turned around in surprise. She was holding the wok. “Sorry, I haven’t finished making breakfast.”

“It’s ok. Let me help.”

“Huh? But……”

“I woke up without knowing,” he said and started washing the vegetables. “That’s a lot.”

“Ah, yeah……. I want to prepare for dinner too.” She had prepared two pans of food.

“Ah, I’ll handle the vegetables. You can work on something else,” he said and peeled off the skin of the vegetables.

“…….. But the other dishes will get cold if I finish them first.”

“Ah, true.” He had bought the ingredients with Mei-Shen, so he had a general idea on what dishes she’d make. They stood side by side, peeling green vegetables.

“Layton….. You’re good at this,” she said with wide eyes.

“I’ve been helping since I was little. I have confidence in my food-preparing speed.”

“I see.”

He memorized the shape of the bean with his finger, then quickly sliced it out with the knife without having to look at it. The color of Mei-Shen’s face changed at that, and Layfon noticed her change of color.

“What is it?”

“Huh? No, nothing,” she shook her head with a smile, knowing the change in her face. Layfon…. realized it. (Perhaps…….)

“But I’m not good at considering what dishes to make. I didn’t think of balancing the nutrients. I just made dishes, and that always made her angry.”

“……. How?”

“Uh, I made Leerin angry.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, Leerin is my childhood friend……” And like that, Layfon told her about Leerin, how he cooked with her and what laughable moments he was involved in. He took care of explaining it so that she wouldn’t mistake him as a good cook and think it was redundant to make him lunches.

Mei-Shen listened to him with a smile. But he didn’t notice how her expression hadn’t changed when he finished talking.

And during this time outside the kitchen…

“…… I can’t hear,” Felli said as she peered into the kitchen with her body pressed against the wall. It seemed Layfon and Mei-Shen were chatting. A good relationship. Felli couldn’t hear anything as the kitchen was big. But she could see Mei-Shen smiling.

“Just a bit more.”

She wanted to get closer, but that would mean stepping into the kitchen and being discovered by Layfon. And if she stepped even closer, Mei-Shen would see her.

“I have to use psychokinesis.” As she considered this with a half serious attitude, footsteps neared her. Felli jumped back from the wall immediately and composed her face as if she had just arrived.

It was Nina.

“Morning.”

“Ahah, morning,” Nina greeted her. Her gaze flashed towards the kitchen. “Are they making breakfast?” Her nose twitched.

Steam rose from the two pans. The smell of food drifted over to the girls. In one pan were the vegetables Mei-Shen had peeled and cut into small pieces. The other pan contained soup. On the other side was Layfon, busy peeling a huge amount of vegetables.

“Do they need help……” Nina scratched her head.

“Ye…. Yeah.”

Good to use “help” as an excuse to check the inside of the kitchen. But…..

“Not good. I’m not good at this at all,” Nina smiled bitterly. She was the same as Felli.

“Captain….. Have you cooked before?” Felli asked.

“Yes, but….. I was forced to cook. My mother believes the kitchen is a woman’s fortress, so she always made me help out and do simple things…….. I did them, but not very well. I thought it was more meaningful to spend time practicing with dad, so I always escaped from the kitchen.”

Felli was different. She grew up in a family unrelated to Military Arts. Every generation made its living off buying and selling information on cities. Karian came to the Academy City for two reasons, one to know more of other cities, and to also memorize how information flowed between cities. That was Felli’s family. A family that hired many, many servants. Of course, specialized people were hired to be responsible for meals. A kitchen was a place where Felli would be given sweets. She had never touched a kitchen knife before coming to Zuellni. And she didn’t have any interest in cooking after coming to Zuellni, so her cooking skill hadn’t improved either.

Felli and Nina stood motionless at the door when Naruki finally arrived.

“Morning….. What’re you doing?”

“Ah……” Nina mumbled.

Naruki looked inside the kitchen, called out that she’d help, and stepped inside.

“Does she know how to cook?”

“Probably.”

Naruki joined in the peeling of vegetables.

“She does.”

“Yeah.”

The voices of those two, mixed with complicated feelings, spread out in the corridor. Someone laughed behind them and they turned around to see Sharnid, a towel hanging down his neck.

“Ah, you seem to be doing something interesting.”

“Shut up,” Nina curled her lips. Felli glared at him.

“Humph…… I’ll tell you the greatest tool just for you two.”

“Huh?”

“…… What?”

They watched him with suspicion and anticipation. Sharnid took out a small tool from somewhere.

“This is a peeler. An easy tool to use for peeling the skin of vegetables.”

“What……!?”

“Just move the blade back and forth on the surface of vegetables, then you can easily peel off the skin.”

“What a convenient tool,” Nina sighed honestly. Felli’s expression remained unchanged, but she stared at the tool as if she wanted to eat it. The small blade was set securely between two pieces of thin metal plates. It seemed the tool really could easily peel off the skin by moving it along the vegetables.

“Here. Just use this and peel all you want.”

Felli reached out without thinking…… and caught Nina’s hand. Both of them took hold of the peeler at the same time.

“…… Can you let go?” Felli said calmly.

“No, just leave this to me.” Nina held tightly to the peeler.

“Is it all right for the Captain not to think of today’s training?”

“Why don’t you think of your individual training for today? I can’t do much for psychokinesis training.”

“You don’t have to worry. I’ve always been doing that.”

“I did my preparation already.”

Tension rose quietly between the two of them, revolving around the peeler. And…….

“……. What’re you doing?” Layfon stood at the door of the kitchen.

An opening.

“Ah!”

Nina snatched the peeler from Felli’s hold. “Aa, you guys seem busy, so I came to help.”

“Oh, we already finished,” Layfon smiled. Felli saw Nina trembled slightly. Looking at her, Felli stood as if frozen.

“Breakfast’s almost done. Please help finish the rest,” he said and went back to his room.

The sound of oil cooking in the pan and the smell of soup drifted from the kitchen.

Training started after breakfast. The team didn’t do much training in the first day of the three day, two night camp. They probably couldn’t do much tomorrow either, so today was important. Nina called everyone over after they all did some warm-up exercises.

“Today’s training will be a match.”

Nina held two flags.

“Wa, wait a minute,” Sharnid raised his hand.

“What?”

“We don’t have enough people for a match?”

“Simple. Layfon.”

“Yes?”

“You stay.”

“Ha……”

“Wait a minute,” Naruki said. “Is this really ok?”

She knew from the match with the 10th platoon of how strong Layfon was, but it wasn’t possible for Layfon to win 1 against 4.

“Well, you’ll know,” Nina said meaningfully. She tossed a flag to Layfon. Sharnid didn’t say anything more and began his preparation. Only Naruki took out her Dite to confirm its weight with displeasure.

Layfon was to defend his flag and waited at the location Nina had indicated. He pierced the ground with the flag. Nina had talked to Layfon before he made a move. He seemed surprised but he nodded.

Then came the call for Naruki and Sharnid.

“How do we attack?” Nina asked Naruki.

“One person? Two people to stop him from moving while the remaining person aims for the flag?”

“Let’s do that then. I’ll head for the flag. Naruki acts as bait and Sharnid, you stop Layfon. Felli, support me.”

Mei-Shen waited at a distance with a gun in her hand. Nina nodded at her, and she raised the gun and pulled the trigger with trepidation. The hollow noise dispersed to announce the beginning of the match.

“Ten steps to your left, please move forward in the path of a big curve.”

Naruki ran as such, following Felli’s instruction from the transmitter. Nina ran beside her. Layfon was closer to Naruki’s right.

“If he attacks me then you head straight for the flag. Same for the reverse. If he attacks Sharnid then we’ll both move for the flag,” Nina said.

“Roger.”

Nina pulled open the distance between her and Naruki as Naruki increased her speed.

Layfon stood leisurely before the flag with no defensive mechanisms in front of him. He hadn’t restored his Dite. Naruki could clearly see him and he saw her clearly too. But this was a one against four match. He was at a disadvantage.

When Naruki and her team had run halfway to the flag, Layfon made his move.

No. He disappeared.

Because she was running and enveloped in the wind created by her own movement, Naruki couldn’t detect the direction of the natural wind around her. All she saw was the dust made by Layfon’s feet.

“Coming. 0040,” Felli said.

“Behind?” Naruki slid to a stop.

“Not enough Kei on the feet,” Layfon’s voice sounded from her side, then he was in front of her. The next moment he was behind her.

(His speed!)

Naruki swung with the baton as she slid on the ground. The baton hit air. Layfon was gone. As the thought flashed past Naruki, she felt something on her stomach. Her gaze turned down and saw Layfon there with his shoulder against her stomach, and he threw her up and away.

As Naruki stared numbly at the sky, Layfon chased after Nina. In no time at all, he had reached her and also tossed her into the sky.

The sound of a sniper rifle firing reached Naruki’s ear. Then a small explosion in the air. No, it was an explosion caused by external Kei striking down the Kei bullet. Naruki realized that fact that Sharnid had also been tossed skyward.

Layfon walked causally back to the flag. Felli didn’t put up any resistance.

“We lost…….” Naruki watched Layfon’s back with disbelief.

“How do we attack next?” Nina said as if she was enjoying it. Naruki still had an unbelievable feeling in her.

(That’s……… Layfon?)

Layfon was once again on the defensive side.

The Layfon with Naruki and her friends, chatting on the way to class, always had this unreliable feel with him. Where now was the Layfon she knew? Naruki knew he was strong as a Military Artist. She could tell during the platoon matches when she was in the audience seat and when she was participating in the match. She knew he never stepped back from the famous Military Artists organization or from the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang. He even won against the Mercenary Gang’s leader. He was strong. Very, very strong.

But Naruki’s feelings were different when she fought Layfon. Different from the time when she and Layfon were paired up in Military Arts course training class. Layfon had moved with consideration of her strength.

And now it was totally different. She lost by an overwhelming margin. Even so, he defeated her by holding back. First, he didn’t use his Dite. Not just that either. He didn’t hit her with his bare hands. He just tossed her up. Everyone on the team’s strengths were too far away from his.

Nina and the rest of her team devised their strategy in detail once again. Anger rushed up in Naruki. She wasn’t thinking of giving up, but she didn’t like Layfon’s arrogant attitude.

“Then let’s begin,” Nina said and nodded.

Looking at her, Naruki smiled.

Mei-Shen made a huge number of sandwiches and cookies for lunch. Everyone ate till their stomachs burst, as they replenished the amount of sugar they lost in training. They drank sports drinks and then continued training.

The formation remained the same. Layfon was on the defensive side, and Nina’s team repeatedly changed their strategies. They didn’t once win against him. Nina stopped the match when the sky was painted red. Everyone started their own individual training. Layfon finally restored his Dite and began dancing with it on his own. Nina did the same. Felli let loose all of the flakes, sending them off to faraway places. Sharnid prepared a number of solid balls made of soil. He threw each of them and shot them down in succession.

Naruki couldn’t move at the moment. She drank from the sports drink that Mei-Shen had brought to her and laid on the ground, breathing deeply. When she could finally sit up, she slowly drank and watched Layfon. As if penetrating the deepening red dusk with a pen, Layfon repeatedly swung the Safaiadite. Internal Kei filled his body. He should have been causing a lot of wind with his movements, but his surrounding was surprisingly quiet.

Naruki had watched Nina’s individual training alongside Layfon. She thought Nina’s pose was very beautiful as she swung the Kei-filled iron whips like a ghost. The current Nina didn’t have the air she had before. She was even more beautiful, stretching the definition of sports, but she shone less compared to Layfon. With Layfon, it felt as if something had finished. Naruki wasn’t sure what it was. Every time the sword cut out a green flash in the dusk, she felt a strike in her chest.

Loneliness, solemnity and the feeling of a wish in those sword strokes.

All of those feelings made her hesitate. She turned around and saw that Mei-Shen had gone. She must have gone to prepare dinner.

(What a shame.)

She sighed, attracted to Layfon’s figure. If Mei-Shen was here, she’d probably cry. For some reason, each of Layfon’s movement exuded something painfully beautiful. They made her contemplate what kind of a past he had. The Layfon who usually appeared weak and unreliable.

(Aa, yes…..)

She understood. This was probably the Layfon that Mei-Shen liked. She didn’t know whether Mei-Shen realized it the time when she first entered the Academy City, but she had felt it.

Naruki’s superior, Formed, had said this. “That person has had a life that doesn’t match with his age. Observe him and understand that kind of depth.”

That was the reason why Naruki chose to stay with the 17th platoon. Just what had Formed seen? That curiosity intensified during the match with the 10th platoon. Was that depth what Naruki was seeing now?

Probably. She couldn’t really express it any better.

She stood and began her own training. If she kept relaxing, she’d only become a burden. She could not tolerate this point on the pride of her identity as a Military Artist. She struck the air with her baton.

Nina announced the end of training when dusk gave way to true darkness. The aroma of food filled the kitchen. Mei-Shen had prepared the meal in the morning. It wasn’t the simple vegetable soup that she made for them for breakfast.

“Amazing,” Sharnid groaned. His appetite grew with the aroma of meat and vegetable. The meat had been marinated for a long period of time.

“……. I, I made a lot. So……..”

“Oi, thanks very much. I’ll eat lots,” Sharnid sat down, and everyone else followed suit. Layfon and Naruki helped put out the dishes.

“Ah, sorry. We’ll…….” Nina said.

“Don’t worry. Leave this to us,” Layfon said.

Mei-Shen had also made salad and chicken. The helpers sat down at the desk after lining up the dishes of food.

The food was true to Mei-Shen’s skill. The team ate without speaking, enjoying the meal. Nina was worried that the delicious taste and empty stomachs might cause terrible side effects, but seeing how everyone dug into the food without complaint, she relaxed and happily watched them eat.

After dinner, Layfon watched Nina and Sharnid play their game. Naruki went over to him and said. “Layton, do you have a second?” She then walked out of the room. Mei-Shen was outside too.

Layfon thought the time had finally come. Neither Nina nor Sharnid noticed. They were concentrating on the game, and Felli was reading her book in a corner. He stood up and went after Naruki.

Nina’s gaze shifted to look at Layfon’s back.

“What will come will come. Either way, it’s difficult to keep your secret in the team. Since it’ll come out anyway, it should come from you, not anyone else. You’re the one to make the decision in the end.”

Nina had said that in the Mechanical Department, but that didn’t lessen Layfon’s worry.

“Well, there has to be a way,” Sharnid said as he played with the dice.

“Naruki plans to join the police force, so she’s got a strong sense of morality. That is worrying.”

“Even someone as stubborn as you accepted him, so it should be all right.”

“I’m not stubborn.”

“The one who truly doesn’t understand her is herself?” Sharnid smiled as Felli left the room stealthily. She must have gone after Layfon.

“Aren’t you going?” he asked Nina as if he had eyes on his back.

“No,” she gave a curt reply and continued to look at the board.

Sharnid’s smile was bitter as he rolled the dice.

Layfon left the building. The half moon and the stars gave off the only light besides the light in the building. He could have used internal Kei to strengthen his night vision, but he only followed Naruki and Mei-Shen, submerging himself in darkness. As if feeling unease at walking in the dark, Mei-Shen held Naruki’s hand.

They kept walking like that on uneven ground, under the lights of the sky. If they went any further, they might encounter danger. But Layfon didn’t say that. Probably nothing would happen with him and Naruki here. He stole a glance back and saw that the light from the dormitory was within sight. That eased his heart.

In the end, the three of them reached the edge of that place. The line of trees cut through the field as if dividing it from another field. Mei-Shen stopped before the wall of trees, and Naruki stopped too. Layfon did the same. Mei-Shen turned around. He couldn’t see her expression in the dark. Naruki broke the silence.

“The formation’s complete if Mi is here…… but that can’t be helped. Layton, we want to know more about you,” she said in the straightforward way of a Military Artist.

“Yeah,” he nodded in the dark.

Silence once again enshrouded them.

“……….. I hope you can understand this curiosity of ours. We’ve had a good relationship with you for half a year. We aren’t worried of leaving our home city. The relationship between us three girls is very good, so we were shocked when Layton came among us. We don’t want our relationship with you to remain as it is. We want it to become a form of Layton including us, so there are things we want to know.”

Mei-Shen trembled and swallowed.

“…… What is a Heaven’s Blade successor?”

As expected, Naruki was the one to voice the question. She then explained how she knew of that term, of how Leerin’s letter was wrongly delivered to Mei-Shen’s mailbox, and how Mei-Shen had read the letter.

Layfon was shocked. That was the letter that Nina had handed him. At that time, he hadn’t known why Nina had the letter. She said she had picked it up in the changing room in the Training Complex. The doubt of why she had that letter had always been with him.

“…… I’m sorry,” Mei-Shen apologized with a trembling voice. A tear rolled in her eye.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Even if he had felt anything, he didn’t plan to scold her.

“A Heaven’s Blade successor….” Breathing out the breath accumulated inside him, he explained everything.

There were twelve Heaven’s Blades, twelve Dites in Grendan that only twelve people could gain. Those people were called Heaven’s Blade successors, and Layfon was one of them. He was the twelfth Heaven’s Blade successor, called Layfon Wolfstein Alseif. But he was neither happy nor boastful of receiving that title. He only concentrated on making money with the skill that he had, and that was all he cared about. Money was needed for survival. The Layfon back then was like a gear leaving its path to spin in the air. The crisis of the food shortage had passed, but as long as one had money, one could buy as much food as one wanted. He was still small during the most difficult time. He understood the basics of an economy, that food was scarce, but his adopted father, Deruk, did live a poor life. Layfon blindly followed his own desire in his action. He believed it was correct to break the principles of Military Arts. He didn’t feel repulsed at participating in underground matches.

He felt something from Naruki when he mentioned underground matches. For someone working in the City Police with a strong sense of morality, she’d probably find this unbelievable.

“…… And then?” Mei-Shen asked as if squeezing her voice out.

“I was exposed, stripped of my title and exiled from the city. It was Her Majesty’s mercy to give me time before the punishment and not to confiscate all my possessions. Because of that, I could leave some money for the orphanage.”

Yes……. Deruk managed the orphanage with the principle of being poor. The orphanage lacked money because of all sorts of problems. Layfon could solve it. His way was correct. While he was a Heaven’s Blade successor, he donated money to other orphanages too, so he didn’t have much money left when he was exiled.

“….. That’s why you’re here?”

“Yes,” he nodded after calming down. He was extremely tense when coming to here, but he had calmed down after explaining his past.

(Let it go as it goes.)

He didn’t deny his feelings. Mei-Shen and Naruki were the ones to decide what to do after listening to his past. He couldn’t do anything. He knew his past actions were wrong, but he didn’t think his way of thinking was wrong. Perhaps the power of Military Artists, Layfon’s ability, was necessary to protect the city. But Layfon couldn’t accept the fact that he could not protect the people around him. Naruki had said before that for a choice between the city and the people, she’d choose the people. Layfon probably had the same thinking as she. Because of that, he could not become a Heaven’s Blade successor.

“But the real problem isn’t my participating in the underground matches.”

The match with Gahard Baren was the real reason behind Layfon’s exile.

“All Heaven’s Blades are monsters whose Kei far exceeds that of any other Military Artists. If that monster betrayed the principle of Military Arts and felt nothing for it…… Nobody must know of that. Heaven’s Blades can easily overwhelm the Military Artists that other Military Artists can’t win against. Nobody must know of that.”

The problem was Layfon trampling Gahard with Kei that way exceeded what was normal.

“I…… am a monster,” he called himself. “So it’s right to fear me.”

Naruki held her breath. Mei-Shen trembled, wrapping her arms around herself. Had they received his message? He couldn’t tell with Mei-Shen but Naruki should have gotten it. She had gone through training with him and she had seen his fight with Haia. Though they only showed one part of Layfon’s true strength.

Layfon had said what he had to say. Now he waited for their response. He couldn’t see their expressions in the dark. Were they shocked? Scared? Crying…….

“……I,” Mei-Shen said. “I……..”

Her trembling voice stopped.

“I……..”

Rumbling…….

“Huh?”

The ground suddenly shook. Moonlight lit up Mei-Shen’s face as she took a step forward. Tears filled her eyes. Her expression turned stiff at the change of the environment. A bad feeling hit Layfon. He rushed out to grab hold of her wrist.

“Naruki!” he called.

The ground vanished underneath them and gravity pulled them down.

(We’re falling.)

Naruki reacted quickly. She snatched out her Dite and restored it, tossing up the rope that Harley made. Layfon heard the sound of it wrapping around something.

“Layton!” Naruki reached out her hand to him. With one arm wrapped around Mei-Shen, he stretched out his other arm…….. and couldn’t reach. His fingers brushed past Naruki’s, and he fell into darkness with Mei-Shen.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume5 Chapter2

2010-01-01T07:23:09Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 2: The event of that day */

===Chapter 2: The event of that day===

It didn’t take long to decide the schedule of the camp. Nina had applied for the camp as study camp. The camp would be treated as part of school, so they didn’t have to apply for a holiday.

“Oi, oi………. Three days two nights. Does this include the weekend? So boring.”

“Don’t plan to go?”

“Since we get to be truant openly, we should apply for normal weekdays. Besides, it’s not good for the body to not rest.”

Nina’s cold gaze rejected Sharnid’s suggestion. Though she had something on tomorrow, she was still cleaning at night with Layfon at the Mechanical Department. Layfon wondered how she managed to squeeze out the time for tonight’s job. She had been busy from training till now. The current Nina had regained some of the dominating air she had before. She had probably forgotten the event surrounding the 10th platoon because of the camp.

Nina had told her team about the schedule of the camp in the training room. The camp would begin three days from now, and it would be three days and two nights over the weekend. The location was the production area of a certain dormitory.

“Excuse me……” Naruki raised her hand. “That place doesn’t have any shops. What do we do with food?”

“We’ll bring the ingredients over. Layfon knows how to cook, so he’ll do the cooking.”

“He can?”

“Uh, well……….” Layfon smiled, troubled. Mei-Shen was the one who cooked his lunches. “Yeah, but I won’t be able to put much consideration into cooking a nutritious meal.”

“It’s all right as long as it’s delicious,” Sharnid patted his back.

Naruki thought for a moment and raised her hand again.

“What?”

“Layfon has to train too. Isn’t it better to find someone else to do the cooking?”

“Yes, that was my original plan, but the person I had in mind is already booked that day……” A shadow shrouded Nina’s face.

“If it’s ok, can I ask for a friend to help?”

“Is it all right?”

“I think so. Layfon knows how the cooking tastes too.”

“Is it Mei?” he asked.

“Of course. I don’t know anyone else. Not satisfied?”

“No, not at all. Is it really all right?”

Mei-Shen was really shy. She was used to being with him, but not with others. And at the camp, it wasn’t possible for Naruki and Layfon to stay with her all the time.

“I’ll think of a way about that. Is it ok, Captain?”

“Yeah. Counting on you.”

Nina explained a few more details about the meet-up time and so on, and they started their usual training.

<center>◇</center>

After listening to Naruki’s suggestion, Mei-Shen leaned on the chair with a faraway look. The girls were in the kitchen inside the dormitory. The kitchen was shared, but not everyone had to share a bathroom. Living quarters spread out across the dormitory, and here was the kitchen. Mei-Shen confirmed once again with Naruki. She was preparing for dinner.

“Just….. what did you say?”

“Oh, I mentioned it yesterday. Platoon camp. I recommended you to do the cooking for us. You’ve decided, haven’t you?”

“Wait, wait a minute……..”

Naruki peeled the vegetables with a matter-of-fact expression. Hands clutching her apron, Mei-Shen watched Naruki.

“Me………?”

“Who else? I can’t ask Mifi.”

Mifi wasn’t in the kitchen. She was busy writing up drafts in her room.

“But……….”

“The Captain’s already told the teacher, so you won’t be marked absent.”

“Wu………” Mei-Shen’s reason to reject the offer was blocked.

“Why not? It’s not easy to get such an opportunity,” Naruki cocked her head.

“But…… so sudden……..”

“Sudden……. It’s not just you and Layton.”

“Of, of course.”

Just the two of them……… She felt her cheeks heating up.

“Well, it is possible for just the two of you to be alone. Layton seems to know how to cook too. And with his personality, he’ll probably offer to help. Everyone else can’t do it……..” Naruki said and popped a piece of lettuce in her mouth. She chewed.

“Uh…….. Wu……….”

“You don’t have to be so excited. Didn’t you two go somewhere before?”

“That was, well, we didn’t spend the entire day together.”

“You won’t be together that long. There is training after all.”

Mei-Shen calmed down at that. “But, is it ok? Won’t I be in the way?”

“You won’t. We won’t have to worry about cooking if you take care of it.”

“I see…..” she began to know where she stood. Cooking. Just as usual. It’d be good if she could help out with that. Just that. Nothing else special would happen. Even if it happened, she wouldn’t be prepared for it.

“I just need to cook?”

“Didn’t I say that from the very beginning?” Naruki nodded.

“So…… naïve!” a voice interfered.

“Mi…… You’ll complicate things.”

“Wuah, so mean! Why am I getting this treatment? I’m protesting.”

“All right, here. Be more honest.”

“I’m a kid!? I won’t have it……. Not like that,” Mifi called, putting a vegetable in her mouth. “How can you leave it like that? Isn’t this a good chance?”

“Chance…… What?”

“About the Heaven’s Blade.”

The feeling was like a knot in Mei-Shen’s heart. The letter she received earlier had left a puzzle. The letter was for Layfon, sent by a female named Leerin. The term “Heaven’s Blade” was in the letter. It seemed Layfon was called the Heaven’s Blade successor back at Grendan. Every city gave its elite Military Artists titles. Back in Mei-Shen’s home city, Joeldem, entering the Knights of the Crossroad organization was proof of being acknowledged as an excellent Military Artist. Everyone aimed to enter that organization. Heaven’s Blade successor probably held the same meaning. She wasn’t surprised to find out that Layfon had such a title because she believed he was very strong. But then why did he leave Grendan? She had asked him once but she failed. She was afraid that question would break the relationship between them. It didn’t. But for the sake of not failing again, she wouldn’t put that question to him again.

“Forget it.”

Naruki frowned.

“Everyone has something he doesn’t want to tell? Layton would have said it if it’s something that doesn’t really matter.”

“That makes sense. But…… Isn’t it easier to hang out with him if you know his secret?”

“Um……” Naruki responded to Mifi’s words.

“I knew it. You were thinking of something after that match, weren’t you, Naruki? It’s got something to do with Layfon?”

“No. Wouldn’t I have lost the trust between us if I kept something from you guys?”

“You’ll say it if you can?”

“Look, why doesn’t this work with Layfon?”

“Isn’t that natural? The basis of the relationship between me and you and the relationship between me and Layfon is different.”

“How different?”

“I know you’d cry from wetting your bed.”

“What!” Naruki blushed. “I, I didn’t cry! And that just happened once………”

“You did, though you were trying not to. The tears just fell from your eyes. Aaa, I can still recall it now. The Naruki of that time……”

“Shut up!” Naruki bent over Mifi, locking her neck in the crook of her arm. Mei-Shen just moaned and didn’t do anything.

Mifi beat the floor with her arm. “No! That wasn’t what I wanted to say. I mean, we knew each other since we were little. We can trust each other even if we hide a thing or two, but it’s different with Layton. We don’t understand him. We don’t know anything about him before he came to Zuellni, that’s why we want to know. Why we are concerned.”

“Um……..” Naruki loosened her hold. Mifi took the chance to escape.

“Anyway, what I wanted to say was if we want to understand Layton, we can’t not understand the Layton of Grendan. That’s all! I’m hungry!” she quickly left the kitchen.

“….. Geez, she just says whatever suits her,” Naruki glared at the direction where Mifi’s gone, off to her own room. Naruki’s face was still red.

“Mei, don’t worry about it.”

“……. Yeah.”

But Mifi was right. Layton had only been in Zuellni for half a year. He had in him the Layton who grew up in Grendan. That was why Mei-Shen was bothered. She was jealous of Leerin because Leerin knew of the Layfon in Grendan.

(But…… am I too spoiled?)

This unease had always been circling inside her, unable to leave. It might explain why the taste of dinner didn’t go well. Naruki and Mifi noticed that the taste wasn’t as good as usual, but they didn’t comment.

(Is this trust? Or pity?)

For some reason, Mei-Shen was more confused.

<center>◇</center>

Someone pinched her face and brought her back to reality.

“What’re you doing?” Synola lay flat on her stomach on the table.

“Report…….”

They were in the library. The computer terminal on the table showed a number of technical books on its monitor. Leerin was reading them for her report.

“He……..”

“What?”

“Ah…… the mission is to stare at the city with a blank mind. Do you know when I got here?”

“Huh?”

The students weren’t allowed to take books outside the library, so the library provided many areas for self-study. A number of huge tables sat side by side in the area Leerin was in. Many students came here to study after class. In fact, there were many students around Leerin right now. Yes, it was a large table. Synola had her chin in her palm. She had pushed aside the terminals and stationeries of other students.

The students around them were all watching them.

“Uh! …….. What’re you doing?” Leerin quickly lowered her voice.

“Aa…….. I waited a long time. Me? Though I was about to lose to shame……..” Synola’s face was red.

“Please hurry and come back down!”

Unable to stand the atmosphere of you’re-an-interference, Leerin escaped from the library to return the computer.

“Ah, you’re so mean. Wait up,” Synola called and chased after her.

“I’m worried because you were spacing out.”

“Then worry in a way that is appropriate!” she protested with a red face.

“Aa, don’t praise me.”

“………. Tell me just how did I praise you?”

“Ehh, don’t be so boring. I’ll treat you a meal,” Synola insisted as she followed her.

“I refuse. Senpai you always take me to some place expensive. I feel like I’m in danger.” She was used to a life of thriftiness. She couldn’t understand Synola’s perspective in the use of money.

“Ah, then it’s ok if it’s some cheaper place? Good. There’s this place I want to go.”

“Uh? Wait……..”

Ignoring what Leerin had to say, Synola took her hand and dragged her away.

Synola took Leerin to a park close to the bus station.

“This?”

She could feel the heat through the paper bag. Many small shops stood before the bus station at the school, ranging from convenient stores to grocery stores. A student who lived alone would be very grateful for this shopping street.

In one of the shops here……… The two of them held something that they bought from one of the shops.

“Yes. I wanted to try this,” Synola took out the food from the bag with a happy expression. Sugar stuck to the surface of the fried bread.

“…….. How should I put this. Senpai is really rich.”

She hasn’t had fried bread………. Shocked at that fact, Leerin also started eating. The softness and sweetness of the bread dispersed in her mouth. It didn’t taste like the bread was fried in oil used for a long time, and the bread hadn’t been over-fried either.

“Um, yum. This is great.”

Synola finished one swiftly and took out another piece of bread. Finding herself getting hungry after having one, Leerin also took out another bread to eat. Synola kept repeating “yum, yum” beside her as they finished eating the bread.

“Um, not enough,” Synola said softly, licking the sugar on her hands.

“No. We ate too much.”

Synola had ordered twice the amount as Leerin. She finished all that in the time it took Leerin to just finish her own bag of bread. Leerin sighed, looking at Synola’s body.

“Then how can you keep so fit?”

“With an adequate amount of exercise.”

That was all she said. Leerin groaned and caressed her stomach.

“Isn’t it about time to tell me of your worries?” Synola sipped from the cup of hot tea she bought and looked at her.

“Huh?”

“Your worry is still there, right? How is it?”

“I didn’t………”

“Or was there progress? Did it give you new worries?”

“No. I ……” she denied desperately, but Synola continued. “Well, you were like someone climbing up from a dark chasm before, and now you’ve this confused, reddened face that suddenly sinks in shadows. Like a flea.”

“Ah………” she didn’t realise this was what Synola felt about her………. Thinking of how she appeared in others’ eyes made her feel embarrassed.

“So what’re you worrying about? Let me solve it for you.”

“No, uh………” Though she denied it, Leerin changed the topic. “……… There’s someone I want to see.”

<center>◇</center>

The day of camp had arrived. They alighted from the tram and walked through a field of fruit trees. A light breeze carried the aroma of the field to them. The horizon widened when they reached the end of the field.

“Wow……..” Layfon called out at the vast plain before them. He was carrying a bag stuffed with his clothes and some other luggage. He held bulging bags with his two hands. The bags contained the food that he and Mei-Shen and the others bought at the shops. Naruki was loaded down too.

“So huge…….”

Mei-Shen was speechless.

Opposite the field of fruit trees that they just went past was the lake they saw when Layon and the three girls went for lunch. They were in an agricultural area. Sunlight reflected off a huge greenhouse. Nina had explained that this was a period of no-planting, so there wasn’t any produce here. It was all right even if the team caused huge damage during training.

A lone house stood in the middle of the plain. That was their dormitory. The dormitory became bigger as the team stepped closer on the path.

They only saw how huge the dormitory actually was when they got close.

“We’re here.”

Nina was waiting for them at the dormitory. She took the bags of food ingredients from Layfon. She thanked Mei-Shen for coming to cook, and Mei-Shen replied in a very small voice. Following behind Mei-Shen, Layfon lifted his head to study the building.

“So big.”

Nina also lifted her gaze. “Aa. The students doing agriculture use this building when they work outside, so it can fit around 20 people.”

“Amazing.”

“This area provides food for Zuellni, so it’s pretty huge. You can find this facility in other producing areas too. ……… Here.” Nina led them to the kitchen and put the ingredients in the fridge. She told them their room locations, and they dispersed to put down their luggage.

“We’ve spent today getting here and putting everything in place. Be prepared for training tomorrow,” Nina said and took Naruki and Mei-Shen to their rooms.

Left alone, Layfon went for his room to put down his luggage. He pulled aside the window screen and saw that it was almost dusk.

“We’re at the edge of the city.”

Standing on the second level, he could see the city’s outskirt. The dormitory he was in now and the dormitory of the first years…… The different scenery he looked at now gave him a feeling of being in another city.

In another city…… That kind of lament came to him. The thought of studying at an Academy City was nonexistent to him when he was still a Heaven’s Blade successor in Grendan.

There was a reason behind his naïve desire. No, the Layfon in Grendan thought his way of doing things was current. What Nina said was reasonable. Wasn’t there another way? Probably. If he had picked another way, Leerin wouldn’t be in so much trouble now. Regret and loneliness plagued him.

Leerin, is she still full of energy?

His room at the dormitory being too big might explain his feeling of loneliness. A room big enough to fit three beds. The dormitory was usually for students of the Agricultural course who needed to work very late and had to stay outside. And now only Layfon was using this room. When he was in the orphanage, he had always dreamt of having a room to himself. He was in a large room at the orphanage, but he slept there with everyone else. The current room back at Layfon’s usual dormitory was for two people. He did not have a roommate. The feelings of being alone in there and being alone in here shouldn’t be different. It only felt different because the size of this room was similar to the room back in the orphanage.

“Aaaa……”

He shook his head and swallowed the nostalgia. He knew well the feeling of loneliness of being unable to return to that place so long ago. What would happen if a Heaven’s Blade went on a rampage……. He was the one who answered that question for the public. How could he return to Grendan with that past?

Sharnid and Felli arrived while Layfon mulled over that thought. He was also called over.

The training on that day was simple. Since there wasn’t a training room, they did training outside, much the same as they did training in the war field. Training ended when darkness came. Sparse light from the building acted as the only source of light after the sun had set. The team spent some time after training in the large living room. Nina and Sharnid played a paper game in the Military Arts course that was designed to nurture a mind in terms of tactics. Mei-Shen and Naruki chatted in a corner, Felli read a book she had brought with her. Layfon sat beside Nina and Sharnid, and watched them play the game.

The game was played on two boards with pieces lined up on either side of the boards. Each player was to move his own pieces in accordance to the movement of his opponent. The boards were positioned in a way so the opponent couldn’t see the pieces. It was a game of command.

“I got flakes around B6.”

“A shame, got nothing there.”

“What? Damn……. Finished.”

“My turn. Flakes around E3.”

“……. There’s a guard at E2.”

“Ah, I’m sniping him… he.”

Nina and Sharnid tossed the dice that had 6 faces, and spoke the result.

“Good. Let’s swap.”

“So naïve. One more sniping.”

“Wh….. Damn.”

Nina tossed the dice again, and removed her own piece with a painful expression.

“Uh…. Finished.”

“It’s my turn now. Then…….”

The two moved their pieces in front of Layfon, using psychokinetic flakes to find the position of other pieces and attack them. Sharnid kept winning the game, all the way to victory.

“Geez…..”

“So I said, only platoons with the normal structure can make the best of movement? With 2-3 psychokinesists, the remaining sniper can move around freely.”

Staring at the board and pondering on her next move, Nina fiddled with the dice as Sharnid talked.

“You’re so noisy. Be quiet.”

“Decide on a better structure next time.”

“No, I’m using the same structure.”

“Then you can only rely on the luck of the dice.”

Knowing Nina wouldn’t take his suggestion, he sighed and placed his pieces with the same structure as before. Nina didn’t win the following three games either.

“Just a bit more……”

“Let’s stop here,” Sharnid put down his piece and put up his arms.

“Um…… I guess. It’s already that hour. Getting ready for the bath?”

“Ah, there is a bath?” Naruki asked.

“Aa, a very big bath……. Oh no, forgot to let the hot water run,” Nina looked at the clock.

“Sorry, let’s just take a shower. I’ll put in the hot water tomorrow.”

The bath was for both male and female. The girls went on ahead on Nina’s direction, as Layfon and Sharnid watched them leave.

“Oh…… a big bath, hehe……..” Sharnid said to himself. Layfon pretended he didn’t hear him.

<center>◇</center>

Layfon opened his eyes at the tiny noise reaching his ears. He had slept enough. He slipped off the bed to pull open the blinds on the window. The morning air was a bit cold. He stretched his arms, went to wash his face and automatically headed for the source of the noise. A figure was in the kitchen where a wonderful breakfast had already been prepared.

“Mei-Shen, you’re early.”

“Wa…. Layton?” Mei-Shen turned around in surprise. She was holding the wok. “Sorry, I haven’t finished making breakfast.”

“It’s ok. Let me help.”

“Huh? But……”

“I woke up without knowing,” he said and started washing the vegetables. “That’s a lot.”

“Ah, yeah……. I want to prepare for dinner too.” She had prepared two pans of food.

“Ah, I’ll handle the vegetables. You can work on something else,” he said and peeled off the skin of the vegetables.

“…….. But the other dishes will get cold if I finish them first.”

“Ah, true.” He had bought the ingredients with Mei-Shen, so he had a general idea on what dishes she’d make. They stood side by side, peeling green vegetables.

“Layton….. You’re good at this,” she said with wide eyes.

“I’ve been helping since I was little. I have confidence in my food-preparing speed.”

“I see.”

He memorized the shape of the bean with his finger, then quickly sliced it out with the knife without having to look at it. The color of Mei-Shen’s face changed at that, and Layfon noticed her change of color.

“What’s it?”

“Huh? No, nothing,” she shook her head with a smile, knowing the change in her face. Layfon…. realized it. (Perhaps…….)

“But I’m not good at considering what dishes to make. I didn’t think of balancing the nutrients. I just made dishes, and that always made her angry.”

“……. How?”

“Uh, I made Leerin angry.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, Leerin is my childhood friend……” And like that, Layfon told her about Leerin, how he cooked with her and what laughable moments he was involved in. He took care of explaining it so that she wouldn’t mistake him as a good cook and think it was redundant to make him lunches.

Mei-Shen listened to him with a smile. But he didn’t notice how her expression hadn’t changed when he finished talking.

And during this time outside the kitchen…

“…… I can’t hear,” Felli said as she peered into the kitchen with her body pressed against the wall. It seemed Layfon and Mei-Shen were chatting. A good relationship. Felli couldn’t hear anything as the kitchen was big. But she could see Mei-Shen smiling.

“Just a bit more.”

She wanted to get closer, but that would mean stepping into the kitchen and being discovered by Layfon. And if she stepped even closer, Mei-Shen would see her.

“I have to use psychokinesis.” As she considered this with a half serious attitude, footsteps neared her. Felli jumped back from the wall immediately and composed her face as if she had just arrived.

It was Nina.

“Morning.”

“Ahah, morning,” Nina greeted her. Her gaze flashed towards the kitchen. “Are they making breakfast?” Her nose twitched.

Steam rose from the two pans. The smell of food drifted over to the girls. In one pan were the vegetables Mei-Shen had peeled and cut into small pieces. The other pan contained soup. On the other side was Layfon, busy peeling a huge amount of vegetables.

“Do they need help……” Nina scratched her head.

“Ye…. Yeah.”

Good to use “help” as an excuse to check the inside of the kitchen. But…..

“Not good. I’m not good at this at all,” Nina smiled bitterly. She was the same as Felli.

“Captain….. Have you cooked before?” Felli asked.

“Yes, but….. I was forced to cook. My mother believes the kitchen is a woman’s fortress, so she always made me help out and do simple things…….. I did them, but not very well. I thought it was more meaningful to spend time practicing with dad, so I always escaped from the kitchen.”

Felli was different. She grew up in a family unrelated to Military Arts. Every generation made its living off buying and selling information on cities. Karian came to the Academy City for two reasons, one to know more of other cities, and to also memorize how information flowed between cities. That was Felli’s family. A family that hired many, many servants. Of course, specialized people were hired to be responsible for meals. A kitchen was a place where Felli would be given sweets. She had never touched a kitchen knife before coming to Zuellni. And she didn’t have any interest in cooking after coming to Zuellni, so her cooking skill hadn’t improved either.

Felli and Nina stood motionless at the door when Naruki finally arrived.

“Morning….. What’re you doing?”

“Ah……” Nina mumbled.

Naruki looked inside the kitchen, called out that she’d help, and stepped inside.

“Does she know how to cook?”

“Probably.”

Naruki joined in the peeling of vegetables.

“She does.”

“Yeah.”

The voices of those two, mixed with complicated feelings, spread out in the corridor. Someone laughed behind them and they turned around to see Sharnid, a towel hanging down his neck.

“Ah, you seem to be doing something interesting.”

“Shut up,” Nina curled her lips. Felli glared at him.

“Humph…… I’ll tell you the greatest tool just for you two.”

“Huh?”

“…… What?”

They watched him with suspicion and anticipation. Sharnid took out a small tool from somewhere.

“This is a peeler. An easy tool to use for peeling the skin of vegetables.”

“What……!?”

“Just move the blade back and forth on the surface of vegetables, then you can easily peel off the skin.”

“What a convenient tool,” Nina sighed honestly. Felli’s expression remained unchanged, but she stared at the tool as if she wanted to eat it. The small blade was set securely between two pieces of thin metal plates. It seemed the tool really could easily peel off the skin by moving it along the vegetables.

“Here. Just use this and peel all you want.”

Felli reached out without thinking…… and caught Nina’s hand. Both of them took hold of the peeler at the same time.

“…… Can you let go?” Felli said calmly.

“No, just leave this to me.” Nina held tightly to the peeler.

“Is it all right for the Captain not to think of today’s training?”

“Why don’t you think of your individual training for today? I can’t do much for psychokinesis training.”

“You don’t have to worry. I’ve always been doing that.”

“I did my preparation already.”

Tension rose quietly between the two of them, revolving around the peeler. And…….

“……. What’re you doing?” Layfon stood at the door of the kitchen.

An opening.

“Ah!”

Nina snatched the peeler from Felli’s hold. “Aa, you guys seem busy, so I came to help.”

“Oh, we already finished,” Layfon smiled. Felli saw Nina trembled slightly. Looking at her, Felli stood as if frozen.

“Breakfast’s almost done. Please help finish the rest,” he said and went back to his room.

The sound of oil cooking in the pan and the smell of soup drifted from the kitchen.

Training started after breakfast. The team didn’t do much training in the first day of the three day, two night camp. They probably couldn’t do much tomorrow either, so today was important. Nina called everyone over after they all did some warm-up exercises.

“Today’s training will be a match.”

Nina held two flags.

“Wa, wait a minute,” Sharnid raised his hand.

“What?”

“We don’t have enough people for a match?”

“Simple. Layfon.”

“Yes?”

“You stay.”

“Ha……”

“Wait a minute,” Naruki said. “Is this really ok?”

She knew from the match with the 10th platoon of how strong Layfon was, but it wasn’t possible for Layfon to win 1 against 4.

“Well, you’ll know,” Nina said meaningfully. She tossed a flag to Layfon. Sharnid didn’t say anything more and began his preparation. Only Naruki took out her Dite to confirm its weight with displeasure.

Layfon was to defend his flag and waited at the location Nina had indicated. He pierced the ground with the flag. Nina had talked to Layfon before he made a move. He seemed surprised but he nodded.

Then came the call for Naruki and Sharnid.

“How do we attack?” Nina asked Naruki.

“One person? Two people to stop him from moving while the remaining person aims for the flag?”

“Let’s do that then. I’ll head for the flag. Naruki acts as bait and Sharnid, you stop Layfon. Felli, support me.”

Mei-Shen waited at a distance with a gun in her hand. Nina nodded at her, and she raised the gun and pulled the trigger with trepidation. The hollow noise dispersed to announce the beginning of the match.

“Ten steps to your left, please move forward in the path of a big curve.”

Naruki ran as such, following Felli’s instruction from the transmitter. Nina ran beside her. Layfon was closer to Naruki’s right.

“If he attacks me then you head straight for the flag. Same for the reverse. If he attacks Sharnid then we’ll both move for the flag,” Nina said.

“Roger.”

Nina pulled open the distance between her and Naruki as Naruki increased her speed.

Layfon stood leisurely before the flag with no defensive mechanisms in front of him. He hadn’t restored his Dite. Naruki could clearly see him and he saw her clearly too. But this was a one against four match. He was at a disadvantage.

When Naruki and her team had run halfway to the flag, Layfon made his move.

No. He disappeared.

Because she was running and enveloped in the wind created by her own movement, Naruki couldn’t detect the direction of the natural wind around her. All she saw was the dust made by Layfon’s feet.

“Coming. 0040,” Felli said.

“Behind?” Naruki slid to a stop.

“Not enough Kei on the feet,” Layfon’s voice sounded from her side, then he was in front of her. The next moment he was behind her.

(His speed!)

Naruki swung with the baton as she slid on the ground. The baton hit air. Layfon was gone. As the thought flashed past Naruki, she felt something on her stomach. Her gaze turned down and saw Layfon there with his shoulder against her stomach, and he threw her up and away.

As Naruki stared numbly at the sky, Layfon chased after Nina. In no time at all, he had reached her and also tossed her into the sky.

The sound of a sniper rifle firing reached Naruki’s ear. Then a small explosion in the air. No, it was an explosion caused by external Kei striking down the Kei bullet. Naruki realized that fact that Sharnid had also been tossed skyward.

Layfon walked causally back to the flag. Felli didn’t put up any resistance.

“We lost…….” Naruki watched Layfon’s back with disbelief.

“How do we attack next?” Nina said as if she was enjoying it. Naruki still had an unbelievable feeling in her.

(That’s……… Layfon?)

Layfon was once again on the defensive side.

The Layfon with Naruki and her friends, chatting on the way to class, always had this unreliable feel with him. Where now was the Layfon she knew? Naruki knew he was strong as a Military Artist. She could tell during the platoon matches when she was in the audience seat and when she was participating in the match. She knew he never stepped back from the famous Military Artists organization or from the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang. He even won against the Mercenary Gang’s leader. He was strong. Very, very strong.

But Naruki’s feelings were different when she fought Layfon. Different from the time when she and Layfon were paired up in Military Arts course training class. Layfon had moved with consideration of her strength.

And now it was totally differently. She lost by an overwhelming margin. Even so, he defeated her by holding back. First, he didn’t use his Dite. Not just that too. He didn’t hit her with his bare hands. He just tossed her up. Everyone on the team’s strengths were too far away from his.

Nina and the rest of her team devised their strategy in detail once again. Anger rushed up in Naruki. She wasn’t thinking of giving up, but she didn’t like Layfon’s arrogant attitude.

“Then let’s begin,” Nina said and nodded.

Looking at her, Naruki smiled.

Mei-Shen made a huge number of sandwiches and cookies for lunch. Everyone ate till their stomachs burst, as they replenished the amount of sugar they lost in training. They drank sports drinks and then continued training.

The formation remained the same. Layfon was on the defensive side, and Nina’s team repeatedly changed their strategies. They didn’t once win against him. Nina stopped the match when the sky was painted red. Everyone started their own individual training. Layfon finally restored his Dite and began dancing with it on his own. Nina did the same. Felli let loose all of the flakes, sending them off to faraway places. Sharnid prepared a number of solid balls made of soil. He threw each of them and shot them down in succession.

Naruki couldn’t move at the moment. She drank from the sports drink that Mei-Shen had brought to her and laid on the ground, breathing deeply. When she could finally sit up, she slowly drank and watched Layfon. As if penetrating the deepening red dusk with a pen, Layfon repeatedly swung the Safaiadite. Internal Kei filled his body. He should have been causing a lot of wind with his movements, but his surrounding was surprisingly quiet.

Naruki had watched Nina’s individual training alongside Layfon. She thought Nina’s pose was very beautiful as she swung the Kei-filled iron whips like a ghost. The current Nina didn’t have the air she had before. She was even more beautiful, stretching the definition of sports, but she shone less compared to Layfon. With Layfon, it felt as if something had finished. Naruki wasn’t sure what it was. Every time the sword cut out a green flash in the dusk, she felt a strike in her chest.

Loneliness, solemnity and the feeling of a wish in those sword strokes.

All of those feelings made her hesitate. She turned around and saw that Mei-Shen had gone. She must have gone to prepare dinner.

(What a shame.)

She sighed, attracted to Layfon’s figure. If Mei-Shen was here, she’d probably cry. For some reason, each of Layfon’s movement exuded something painfully beautiful. They made her contemplate what kind of a past he had. The Layfon who usually appeared weak and unreliable.

(Aa, yes…..)

She understood. This was probably the Layfon that Mei-Shen liked. She didn’t know whether Mei-Shen realised it the time when she first entered the Academy City, but she had felt it.

Naruki’s superior, Formed, had said this. “That person has had a life that didn’t match with his age. Observe him and understand that kind of depth.”

That was the reason why Naruki chose to stay with platoon 17. Just what had Formed seen? That curiosity intensified during the match with the 10th platoon. Was that depth what Naruki was seeing now?

Probably. She couldn’t really express it any better.

She stood and began her own training. If she kept relaxing, she’d only become a burden. She could not tolerate this point on the pride of her identity as a Military Artist. She struck the air with her baton.

Nina announced the end of training when dusk gave way to true darkness. Aroma of food filled the kitchen. Mei-Shen had prepared the meal in the morning. It wasn’t the simple vegetable soup that she made for them for breakfast.

“Amazing,” Sharnid groaned. His appetite grew with the aroma of meat and vegetable. The meat had been marinated for a long period of time.

“……. I, I made a lot. So……..”

“Oi, thanks very much. I’ll eat lots,” Sharnid sat down, and everyone else followed suit. Layfon and Naruki helped put out the dishes.

“Ah, sorry. We’ll…….” Nina said.

“Don’t worry. Leave this to us,” Layfon said.

Mei-Shen had also made salad and chicken. The helpers sat down at the desk after lining up the dishes of food.

The food was true to Mei-Shen’s skill. The team ate without speaking, enjoying the meal. Nina was worried that the delicious taste and empty stomachs might cause terrible side effects, but seeing how everyone dug into the food without complaint, she relaxed and happily watched them eat.

After dinner, Layfon watched Nina and Sharnid play their game. Naruki went over to him and said. “Layton, do you have a second?” She then walked out of the room. Mei-Shen was outside too.

Layfon thought the time had finally come. Neither Nina nor Sharnid noticed. They were concentrating on the game, and Felli was reading her book in a corner. He stood up and went after Naruki.

Nina’s gaze shifted to look at Layfon’s back.

“What will come will come. Either way, it’s difficult to keep your secret in the team. Since it’ll come out anyway, it should come from you, not anyone else. You’re the one to make the decision in the end.”

Nina had said that in the Mechanical Department, but that didn’t lessen Layfon’s worry.

“Well, there has to be a way,” Sharnid said as he played with the dice.

“Naruki plans to join the police force, so she’s got a strong sense of morality. That is worrying.”

“Even someone as stubborn as you accepted him, so it should be all right.”

“I’m not stubborn.”

“The one who truly doesn’t understand her is herself?” Sharnid smiled as Felli left the room stealthily. She must have gone after Layfon.

“Aren’t you going?” he asked Nina as if he had eyes on his back.

“No,” she gave a curt reply and continued to look at the board.

Sharnid’s smile was bitter as he rolled the dice.

Layfon left the building. The half moon and the stars gave off the only light besides the light in the building. He could have used internal Kei to strength his night vision, but he only followed Naruki and Mei-Shen, submerging himself in darkness. As if feeling unease at walking in the dark, Mei-Shen held Naruki’s hand.

They kept walking like that on uneven ground, under the lights of the sky. If they went any further, they might encounter danger. But Layfon didn’t say that. Probably nothing would happen with him and Naruki here. He stole a glance back and saw that the light from the dormitory was within sight. That eased his heart.

In the end, the three of them reached the edge of that place. The line of trees cut through the field as if dividing it from another field. Mei-Shen stopped before the wall of trees, and Naruki stopped too. Layfon did the same. Mei-Shen turned around. He couldn’t see her expression in the dark. Naruki broke the silence.

“The formation’s complete if Mi is here…… but that can’t be helped. Layton, we want to know more about you,” she said in the straightforward way of a Military Artist.

“Yeah,” he nodded in the dark.

Silence once again enshrouded them.

“……….. I hope you can understand this curiosity of ours. We’ve had a good relationship with you for half a year. We aren’t worried of leaving our home city. The relationship between us three girls is very good, so we were shocked when Layton came among us. We don’t want our relationship with you to remain as it is. We want it to become a form of Layton including us, so there are things we want to know.”

Mei-Shen trembled and swallowed.

“…… What is a Heaven’s Blade successor?”

As expected, Naruki was the one to voice the question. She then explained how she knew of that term, of how Leerin’s letter was wrongly delivered to Mei-Shen’s mailbox, and how Mei-Shen had read the letter.

Layfon was shocked. That was the letter that Nina had handed him. At that time, he hadn’t known why Nina had the letter. She said she had picked it up in the changing room in the Training Complex. The doubt of why she had that letter had always been with him.

“…… I’m sorry,” Mei-Shen apologized with a trembling voice. A tear rolled in her eye.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Even if he had felt anything, he didn’t plan to scold her.

“A Heaven’s Blade successor….” Breathing out the breath accumulated inside him, he explained everything.

There were twelve Heaven’s Blades, twelve Dites in Grendan that only twelve people could gain. Those people were called Heaven’s Blade successors, and Layfon was one of them. He was the twelve Heaven’s Blade successor, called Layfon Wolfstein Alseif. But he was neither happy nor boastful of receiving that title. He only concentrated on making money with the skill that he had, and that was all he cared about. Money was needed for survival. The Layfon back then was like a gear leaving its path to spin in the air. The crisis of the food shortage had passed, but as long as one had money, one could buy as much food as one wanted. He was still small during the most difficult time. He understood the basics of an economy, that food was scarce, but his adopted father, Deruk, did live a poor life. Layfon blindly followed his own desire in his action. He believed it was correct to break the principles of Military Arts. He didn’t feel repulsed at participating in underground matches.

He felt something from Naruki when he mentioned underground matches. For someone working in the City Police with a strong sense of morality, she’d probably find this unbelievable.

“…… And then?” Mei-Shen asked as if squeezing her voice out.

“I was exposed, stripped of my title and exiled from the city. It was Her Majesty’s mercy to give me time before the punishment and not to confiscate all my possessions. Because of that, I could leave some money for the orphanage.”

Yes……. Deruk managed the orphanage with the principle of being poor. The orphanage lacked money because of all sorts of problems. Layfon could solve it. His way was correct. While he was a Heaven’s Blade successor, he donated money to other orphanages too, so he didn’t have much money left when he was exiled.

“….. That’s why you’re here?”

“Yes,” he nodded after calming down. He was extremely tense when coming to here, but he had calmed down after explaining his past.

(Let it go as it goes.)

He didn’t deny his feelings. Mei-Shen and Naruki were the one to decide what to do after listening to his past. He couldn’t do anything. He knew his past action was wrong, but he didn’t think his way of thinking was wrong. Perhaps the power of Military Artists, Layfon’s ability, was necessary to protect the city. But Layfon couldn’t accept the fact that he could not protect the people around him. Naruki had said before that for a choice between the city and the people, she’d choose the people. Layfon probably had the same thinking as she. Because of that, he could not become a Heaven’s Blade successor.

“But the real problem isn’t my participating in the underground matches.”

The match with Gahard Baren was the real reason behind Layfon’s exile.

“All Heaven’s Blades are monsters whose Kei far exceeds that of any other Military Artists. If that monster betrayed the principle of Military Arts and felt nothing for it…… Nobody must know of that. Heaven’s Blades can easily overwhelm the Military Artists that other Military Artists can’t win against. Nobody must know of that.”

The problem was Layfon trampling Gahard with Kei that way exceeded what was normal.

“I…… am a monster,” he called himself. “So it’s right to fear me.”

Naruki held her breath. Mei-Shen trembled, wrapping her arms around herself. Had they received his message? He couldn’t tell with Mei-Shen but Naruki should have gotten it. She had gone through training with him and she had seen his fight with Haia. Though they only showed one part of Layfon’s true strength.

Layfon had said what he had to say. Now he waited for their response. He couldn’t see their expressions in the dark. Were they shocked? Scared? Crying…….

“……I,” Mei-Shen said. “I……..”

Her trembling voice stopped.

“I……..”

Rumbling…….

“Huh?”

The ground suddenly shook. Moonlight lit up Mei-Shen’s face as she took a step forward. Tears filled her eyes. Her expression turned stiff at the change of the environment. A bad feeling hit Layfon. He rushed out to grab hold of her wrist.

“Naruki!” he called.

The ground vanished underneath them and gravity pulled them down.

(We’re falling.)

Naruki reacted quickly. She snatched out her Dite and restored it, tossing up the rope that Harley made. Layfon heard the sound of it wrapping around something.

“Layton!” Naruki reached out her hand to him. With one arm wrapped around Mei-Shen, he stretched out his other arm…….. and couldn’t reach. His fingers brushed past Naruki’s, and he fell into darkness with Mei-Shen.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
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</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume5 Chapter1

2010-01-01T07:21:39Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 1: The path of thinking */

===Chapter 1: The path of thinking===

Standing beside Layfon, Naruki had said something bizarre in the training room.

“Let me join the platoon.”

Nina looked at Naruki, shocked numb by her request. She was holding a dirty cloth and a Dite. Pretty bubbles adorned the cloth. On the floor beside her were a bucket and another Dite. Liquid effective in preventing slippage churned in the bucket.

Layfon had left the school building after class with Mei-Shen, Mifi and Naruki. When he realized only Naruki was left beside him, he was shocked to find out he had already arrived outside the Training Complex. And then Naruki had urged him to enter the Complex. What came next was her request.

“And what is that for?” Nina wiped her hand with a clean piece of cloth and stood up to face Naruki. Layfon stepped back to look at the two of them. The 17th platoon had participated in another match after the match with the 10th platoon, but Naruki didn’t attend. Naruki hadn’t come to the Training Complex after the match with the 10th platoon. It wasn’t because she was being arrogant or that she was worried about something, and Layfon and everyone found that fairly normal. She only entered the platoon to investigate the 10th platoon’s drug dealing. She had failed to find anything, and later on, the Student President had ordered the City Police to stop the investigation. Even so, Naruki participated in the match against the 10th platoon to witness the happenings. Everyone, including Naruki herself, thought she had no reason to stay in the platoon anymore. Layfon had thought that she was putting all her effort in the City Police. She was striving hard to become the Chief of Police. He thought that, but………

“Of course, that’s if senpai thinks I can be of use.”

“Yeah, I understand that part. But why?”

“Um…… I understand my immaturity……” she mumbled and glanced at Layfon.

Nina caught that glance. Layfon knew Naruki and Nina were concerned with his past, but he felt that Naruki wasn’t as concerned before participating in the platoon match. He noticed Nina had caught that glance.

“Then…… How about we try a test?”

“Huh?” Layfon widened his eyes. He hadn’t been listening.

“You did a test too when you first joined. This is about the same.”

“But………..”

Nina nodded, noticing what Layfon wanted to say. “Yes, I’m the one who wants her to join. But I also tested you when you joined. I’ll hold back somewhat this time too.”

Now that Nina had brought back the time when he first joined, Layfon didn’t know what expression to make.

“I don’t think there’s a need to confirm your strength, but there’s something else I want to confirm. What do you say?”

“I understand,” Naruki nodded with a strange expression.

Looking happy, Nina took out her Dite and restored it.

“………”

With tension on her face, Naruki took out the two Dites from her weapon harness and restored them. They were a baton and a rope. The baton was the same as a police baton, except it didn’t have the police symbol. That Dite was made by Harley. Naruki wrapped the rope around her left wrist and using her left hand, took something out of her pocket and tossed it to Layfon. It was the badge of the 17th platoon, meaning she’d accept it if she passed the test.

“How about I give you some time to take some advice from Layfon?”

“I don’t need it.”

“Really……. Well then, let’s begin,” Nina declared with an “I won’t lose” kind of air.

Naruki placed the baton in front of herself, as if to hide her left hand. On the contrary, Nina’s iron whip in her left hand was out, and the other iron whip hung loosely in her right hand. The two faced each other in mirror reflection, as if one was right-handed and the other was left-handed. In fact, both were right handed. Naruki’s stance was somewhat unique. The hand with the rope was placed behind her back as if asking her opponent to guess what she had hidden behind her.

Nina’s victory was unshakable to Layfon. Nina’s training leaned more on the skill of martial arts than on strength itself, as she had to practice wielding an iron whip with one hand. The flow of strength and its use was the essence of martial arts. Naruki’s martial arts weren’t too bad, but that was judged on the level of a first year. As for Naruki’s advantage, Layfon had to count on the light weight of her body. Though she was tall, Naruki excelled at agility. The symbol of light weight was Shante from the 5th platoon, but Naruki gave off a different sense. A graceful and light body weight to wield the unique weapon of a rope. But she had an overwhelming disadvantage in this test since she wasn’t good at External Burst type Kei. How would she overcome this problem………?

She made her move as Layfon thought of that question.

“Ha!” Naruki breathed out to disperse the heat of Internal Kei and charged straight at Nina. The baton struck. No unnecessary movement there. Nina’s left iron whip blocked the baton, and Naruki stepped forward with the momentum of her charge. Nina’s right hand whip lashed down.

Something happened.

Keeping her body slightly bent forward, Naruki rushed out and threw herself into the air. The rope shot out from her left hand. Nina’s right iron whip tore apart the air. Noticing Naruki’s movement, she leapt to flip her body in the air. And in that one moment, her left iron whip interfered with the rope. The claw on the tip of the rope clutched the iron whip.

(She did it………)

Layfon widened his eyes. Naruki’s strategy had worked…….. She probably didn’t think it would work. The chance result came about when Nina attempted to right herself in the air. As Nina’s body flipped, the rope trailing the claw followed her movement to wrap itself about her body. Nina landed like a silkworm wrapped in silk. Her right hand remained free but Naruki had sealed her basic movement.

Surprise appeared on Naruki’s face. Nina smiled bitterly at her own mistake.

“But this isn’t the end,” Nina said and raised the right iron whip. Naruki took hold of the rope with her right hand and readied her stance.

Nina breathed in deeply and increased the amount of her internal Kei to raise the strength in her arm. She probably planned to pull the rope. Naruki resisted by increasing her Internal Kei too. Now it came down to deciding the winner with Kei. As expected, Nina had the advantage. Her speed of Kei generation was quicker because of what Layfon had taught her. Naruki’s feet began to slip. The balance of strength began to topple.

“You’re doing something interesting.”

Layfon explained the circumstances to Sharnid and Felli. Felli was there, standing before the door when the two began their match. Sharnid arrived later.

“He…….. They’re all serious.”

“How redundant,” Felli said expressionlessly.

“She’d still be part of the platoon if she didn’t return the badge,” Sharnid said just as the outcome showed itself.

“Ah……..”

Twisting her body, Nina had pulled Naruki over to her. The rope loosened. Nina’s free left hand let go of the iron whip and gave the rope a pull. Naruki’s body flew into the air.

(Quite meaningful to add Karenkei there.)

Nina’s iron whip pressed lightly on Naruki, who was on the floor.

“You passed,” Nina said.

“Thanks,” Naruki stood up and lowered her head.

“We’re counting on you from now on,” Nina smiled and nodded.

The usual air of domination was void from her smile. Layfon thought her concentration wasn’t as sharp since the match with the 10th platoon. Her mistake in the fight with Naruki showed the same thing. Sometimes…… Just a second, but it appeared her thoughts were on something else during training. Nina had felt something from Dinn’s ending, an ending born out of the desire to protect the city. Was it all right for Layfon to leave this alone? In the past month, he had acted as if he didn’t notice her preoccupation, trying his best to prevent her from being hurt.

“Good. We’ll start today’s training, but before that……” Nina began, having confirmed all members had arrived. Harley didn’t show up. He was at the research lab as usual.

“The camp has been cancelled. But I still want us to go before the next match comes up.”

All teaching was temporarily suspended during the time when Zuellni was resupplying. Nina had wanted the team to go on a training camp at that time, but she had to cancel it because of the illegal drug investigation.

“But we’ve classes now. Can we?”

“I advocate for both academics and Military Arts. I really want to attend class if possible, but we’re facing the 1st platoon in the next match. The atmosphere of each match is also getting tenser. I just want us to do what we can for now.”

“Well, I welcome the idea since I can be publicly truant.”

Nina smiled bitterly at Sharnid’s reply and looked at Layfon and the others.

“If the Captain’s decided, then I’ve no problem with it,” he said.

“I think there’s a way to resolve the problem with missing class,” Naruki said.

Nina accepted their answers and at last turned her gaze to Felli.

“What do you think?”

“……… Whatever you say.”

As expected, Felli’s answer was weak.

“Then I’ll announce the details of the schedule tomorrow. For today’s training, we’ll analyze tactics in the audio-visual room. We’ll look at all the matches of the 1st platoon in recent years.”

Everyone moved towards the audio-visual room. Only the “try as hard as possible not to know any information about the opponents” Layfon stayed in the training room.

“Camp……. I wonder what it’ll be like,” he murmured to himself.

<center>◇</center>

“Have you told her?”

Layfon turned around at Nina’s sudden question. They were cleaning at the Mechanical Department. Layfon and Nina were in the same team. Since the resupply, Zuellni had been moving towards the tropics, so the inside of the Mechanical Department was hotter than before. Both Layfon and Nina had taken off the top of the working clothes and wrapped it around their waists.

“Huh?” Layfon wiped sweat off his face with the towel hanging around his neck. Nina was also sticky with sweat. The sweat stuck the clothes to her skin and outlined her body. Layfon didn’t know where to look so he only concentrated on her face. She was also wiping her face with her towel.

“Have Naruki and the others said anything yet?” As if she hadn’t noticed his awkwardness, she started mopping the floor again. He followed suit.

“Ah, uh…………”

Mei-Shen and her friends knew of the term Heaven’s Blade successor before the match last month. He didn’t know where they heard of that term, but he knew they knew it had something to do with himself. It seemed they still didn’t know much of his past. Was this a good or bad thing?.......... He couldn’t decide. Heaven’s Blade successors and his past in Grendan weren’t things he could tell anyone about in a peaceful manner. What would Mei-Shen and her friends do if they found out………. Either way, he doubted it’d be a good reaction. But he wasn’t sure whether it was right to not tell them anything because he didn’t know how they’d react. He had told everyone in the 17th platoon about his past. Leaving Naruki out would be the same as isolating her, but Mei-Shen and Mifi would find out if he told Naruki.

“What do you think, Captain?”

“Hard to answer,” she frowned and stopped mopping. “The problem is we don’t know how they’ll react. I can’t tell since I haven’t been with them for long. Layfon, what do you think of them? Do you think they’re the type to keep their distance from you once they heard of it?”

“Well………..”

He hoped not. That was just his wish. Perhaps they’d keep their distance. In that case…

(What should I do?)

He had no choice.

“Layfon……..”

“Yes?”

Nina had begun mopping the floor while he was spacing out. He quickly followed suit.

“Sorry about that.”

“Huh?” He took his gaze off the floor to look at her.

With her back facing him, she continued, “Despicable……. I said that.”

“Ah, ah.”

He remembered. Nina learned of his past at the end of the match against the 16th platoon. It was the team’s first victory. She knew of his being a Heaven’s Blade successor and why he was stripped of his title, as well as his participation in the underground matches. She had asked why he did those things, and he had answered honestly. For money……… She had declared him “despicable.”

“I still think what you did was despicable, but you have your reasons to stand firm. To say you’re despicable one-sidedly is in itself despicable.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“No, it was like that,” she shook her head. “I said this before. I can’t understand the pain of starvation. Someone who knows nothing and can’t imagine what it’s like, I don’t think she should say it before someone who does know what it’s like.”

“It probably wasn’t like that.”

“No, it was like that,” Nina shook her head again.

“I think sometimes a third party can more accurately analyze the situation,” he said.

“But……..”

“At least I think of the Captain’s words that way.”

“Layfon………”

“Captain isn’t wrong,” he nodded at Nina who had turned around to face him.

<center>◇</center>

Sitting in the sofa with her chin in her palm, Synola stared at the letter on the desk with annoyance.

“What is it?” the female waiting by her side asked. She was a tall beauty and her appearance was similar to Synola’s.

Kanaris Earifon Rivin. One of the twelve Heaven’s Blade successors that people boasted about in Grendan, waited for Synola’s answer. Currently, the two of them were in the palace situated in the middle of the Lance Shelled City, Grendan. They were in a room located in the residential area for royalty. Synola Leisler the senior research student was a fake identity. Her real name was Alsheyra Almonise. She possessed the power of the Queen and stood at the top of the twelve Heaven’s Blade successors. Her power exceeded those of the other Heaven’s Blade successors. Synola’s pupils stared at the words in the letter. Soft lips clamped together, she stayed silent.

“Do you think it’s a good plan to bring the Haikizoku from Zuellni to here?” Kanaris asked solemnly.

The letter was sent by Haia Salinvan Lyia from Zuellni. The Heaven’s Blade successor Synola had exiled from Grendan now lived in that city. Haia had succeeded his master as the third leader of the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang. The content of the letter explained the event with the Haikizoku.

“I believe no one outside Grendan can fully control the power of a Haikizoku,” Kanaris said. Confidence in Grendan’s Military Artists showed through her light voice.

“………”

Synola remained silent. She started fingering her hair.

“Your Majesty………”

Synola’s lips parted under Kanaris’ urging. “So…….”

“Are you going to say ‘so annoying’?”

“…… You can’t say that ahead of me.”

“This isn’t the problem of can and cannot.”

Kanaris coldly watched the pouting Synola.

“Under the situation of not having gathered all 12 Heaven’s Blades, we should manage what we can manage.”

They had hosted numerous Military Arts matches since stripping Layfon of his title. Some participants were powerful enough to fight filth monsters, but none of them had the strength to become a Heaven’s Blade successor. Hence, the Heaven’s Blade title remained without an owner.

“When Layfon held the Heaven’s Blade, I thought, ahah, finally here. Guess that wasn’t the case.”

“Your Majesty, no one knows when that day will come. We have had all twelve Heaven’s Blades in the past, but that day hasn’t come again.”

“What about Haia? Can he not be one?”

“Your Majesty, please answer my question first.”

“But it really is annoying.”

She curled her lips again. Kanaris didn’t get mad at her.

“We Heaven’s Blade successors can give up our lives for you.”

“………… Layfon probably wouldn’t say things like that.”

“That’s why he had to give up the Heaven’s Blade.”

“Would have been good if that were the case.”

Losing to Kanaris’ imposing manner, Synola listened.

“If your Majesty can’t make a decision, how about we make a choice? As said in the letter, using the students of the Academy City would make Layfon our enemy. In that case, the Mercenary Gang won’t hold against him. We can leave Lintence out as he’s too involved with him, but if it’s someone else……..”

“……… You’re saying you’ll use a Heaven’s Blade successor without my permission, Kanaris?”

Leaning against the back of the sofa, Synola watched Kanaris.

“I, I won’t…….. won’t do such thing.”

She smiled at Kanaris. The Heaven’s Blade was panting as if she was short of air. Synola continued with a soft voice. “I did give you the authority while I was away. You did your job well, and that’s worth my gratitude………… But only I can decide how to use the Heaven’s Blades.”

“I’m……. really sorry.”

“Seems you understand,” she smiled and straightened her back to look outside. Kanaris sat down beside her, more like fell down beside her. She glanced at the trembling woman, took the bag from the table and stood up.

“I have to go to the research lab.”

“Your, Your Majesty, please wait……..” Kanaris tried again.

Synola smiled bitterly. “Well, I’ll give it a thought,” she said and left the room.

Outside the room was a corridor that connected to the facilities outside the palace. No guards could be seen. This arrangement was made especially for Synola’s privacy. The lights in the corridor were weak, as if they weren’t used often. Because of the bad location in relation to the position of the sun, the sunlight piercing through the windows was weak too. A figure appeared at the end of the dim corridor.

“What is it?” Synola asked.

The figure moved to where the window was. The shadow shrouding him retreated. It was Savaris.

“Your Majesty is in a good mood……. Aaaaa, what a busy day today.”

Synola sighed against the greeting. “………… Not that good. I didn’t get to use my brain today, so I don’t feel good.”

“Thanks for the hard work,” he laughed.

She glared at him, and his laughter stopped short.

“Is the letter the reason behind your bad mood?”

Her eyes narrowed. Was Savaris the only piece of hers that had infiltrated the palace? She watched his smiling face with displeasure. “…….. Has the Luckens family got ahead of themselves? Or is this the case with all Heaven’s Blades? If so, I’ve got to tighten them up.”

“Not at all! There isn’t anything impure in our loyal hearts,” he retreated a few steps.

She watched him coldly.

“I found out about the thing at Zuellni by pure chance. It’s because my younger brother’s there…….”

She listened silently to his explanation. Younger brother…….. Gorneo was studying Military Arts course at Zuellni. He was in a platoon there.

“I knew of this from Gorneo’s letter. I’m guessing the Mercenary Gang had sent Your Majesty a letter about it too. I was waiting here to convey the news in case Your Majesty didn’t hear of it.”

“You could have told Kanaris.”

“It seems that she hates me. Besides, I made a vow to only be loyal to Your Majesty. Not to Kanaris, nor the city named Grendan.” His voice turned light.

“So what you plan from now on?”

“……… You understand when I said I don’t feel good?”

“Haha, Kanaris must have been difficult.”

She glared at him once more.

“Uh oh………. If possible, why don’t you use me?”

“For what?”

“My brother’s there. He can help us better than anyone else. And under the possible situation of a fight with Layfon, anyone else would cause huge damage to Zuellni,” he laughed.

He was making a joke. Watching him with her icy gaze, Synola tossed out the question as if the idea just popped into her head. “Are you saying you want to kill Layfon?”

“Why?” The smile remained on Savaris’ face, but it was definite that the temperature of his expression had dropped a few degrees.

“The bait we used before was from the Luckens’ school. The one Layfon crippled? You hate him?”

“That was only Gahard’s immaturity.”

The frosty reply meant she had stepped on a landmine.

“Then…… What is it?”

“Your Majesty………. I don’t hate Layfon. I’m just very concerned with the Haikizoku,” he said frankly. “Your Majesty has always guided us. Heaven’s Blades only need to concentrate on getting stronger.”

“Well, I at least hope all of you have some common sense.”

“Of course.”

“Humph……. Well, I’ll consider it,” she said and started walking.

“Have a good day.”

“I will,” she waved her hand without turning back.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume5 Chapter1

2010-01-01T06:49:48Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 1: The path of thinking */

===Chapter 1: The path of thinking===

Standing beside Layfon, Naruki had said something bizarre in the training room.

“Let me join the platoon.”

Nina looked at Naruki, shocked numb by her request. She was holding a dirty cloth and a Dite. Pretty bubbles adorned the cloth. On the floor beside her were a bucket and another Dite. Liquid effective in preventing slippage churned in the bucket.

Layfon had left the school building after class with Mei-Shen, Mifi and Naruki. When he realized only Naruki was left beside him, he was shocked to find out he had already arrived outside the Training Complex. And then Naruki had urged him to enter the Complex. What came next was her request.

“And what is that for?” Nina wiped her hand with a clean piece of cloth and stood up to face Naruki. Layfon stepped back to look at the two of them. Team 17 had participated in another match after the match with the 10th platoon, but Naruki didn’t attend. Naruki hadn’t come to the Training Complex after the match with the 10th platoon. It wasn’t because she was being arrogant or that she was worried about something, and Layfon and everyone found that fairly normal. She only entered the platoon to investigate the 10th platoon’s drug dealing. She had failed to find anything, and later on, the Student President had ordered the City Police to stop the investigation. Even so, Naruki participated in the match against the 10th platoon to witness the happenings. Everyone, including Naruki herself, thought she had no reasons to stay in the platoon anymore. Layfon had thought that she was putting all her effort in the City Police. She was striving hard to become the Chief of Police. He thought that, but………

“Of course, that’s if senpai thinks I can be of use.”

“Yeah, I understand that part. But why?”

“Um…… I understand my immaturity……” she mumbled and glanced at Layfon.

Nina caught that glance. Layfon knew Naruki and Nina were concerned with his past, but he felt that Naruki wasn’t as concerned before participating in the platoon match. He noticed Nina had caught that glance.

“Then…… How about we try a test?”

“Huh?” Layfon widened his eyes. He hadn’t been listening.

“You did a test too when you first joined. This is about the same.”

“But………..”

Nina nodded, noticing what Layfon wanted to say. “Yes, I’m the one who wants her to join. But I also tested you when you joined. I’ll hold back somewhat this time too.”

Now that Nina had brought back the time when he first joined, Layfon didn’t know what expression to make.

“I don’t think there’s a need to confirm your strength, but there’s something else I want to confirm. What do you say?”

“I understand,” Naruki nodded with a strange expression.

Looking happy, Nina took out her Dite and restored it.

“………”

With tension on her face, Naruki took out the two Dites from her weapon harness and restored them. They were a baton and a rope. The baton was the same as a police baton, except it didn’t have the police symbol. That Dite was made by Harley. Naruki wrapped the rope around her left wrist and using her left hand, took something out of her pocket and toss it to Layfon. It was the badge of the 17th platoon, meaning she’d accept it if she passed the test.

“How about I give you some time to take some advice from Layfon?”

“I don’t need it.”

“Really……. Well then, let’s begin,” Nina declared with a “I won’t lose” kind of air.

Naruki placed the baton in front of herself, as if to hide her left hand. On the contrary, Nina’s iron whip in her left hand was out, and the other iron whip hung loosely in her right hand. The two faced each other in mirror reflection, as if one was right-handed and the other was left-handed. In fact, both were right handed. Naruki’s stance was somewhat unique. The hand with the rope was placed behind her back as if asking her opponent to guess what she had hidden behind her.

Nina’s victory was unshakable to Layfon. Nina’s training leaned more on the skill of martial arts than on strength itself, as she had to practice wielding an iron whip with one hand. The flow of strength and its use was the essence of martial arts. Naruki’s martial arts weren’t too bad, but that was judged on the level of a first year. As for Naruki’s advantage, Layfon had to count on the light weight of her body. Though she was tall, Naruki excelled at agility. The symbol of light weight was Shante from the 5th platoon, but Naruki gave off a different sense. A graceful and light body weight to wield the unique weapon of a rope. But she had an overwhelming disadvantage in this test since she wasn’t good at External Burst type Kei. How would she overcome this problem………?

She made her move as Layfon thought of that question.

“Ha!” Naruki breathed out to disperse the heat of Internal Kei and charged straight at Nina. The baton struck. No unnecessary movement there. Nina’s left iron whip blocked the baton, and Naruki stepped forward with the momentum of her charge. Nina’s right hand whip lashed down.

Something happened.

Keeping her body slightly bent forward, Naruki rushed out and threw herself into the air. The rope shot out from her left hand. Nina’s right iron whip tore apart the air. Noticing Naruki’s movement, she leapt to flip her body in the air. And in that one moment, her left iron whip interfered with the rope. The claw on the tip of the rope clutched the iron whip.

(She did it………)

Layfon widened his eyes. Naruki’s strategy had worked…….. She probably didn’t think it would work. The chance result came about when Nina attempted to right herself in the air. As Nina’s body flipped, the rope trailing the claw followed her movement to wrap itself about her body. Nina landed like a silkworm wrapped in silk. Her right hand remained free but Naruki had sealed her basic movement.

Surprise appeared on Naruki’s face. Nina smiled bitterly at her own mistake.

“But this isn’t the end,” Nina said and raised the right iron whip. Naruki took hold of the rope with her right hand and readied her stance.

Nina breathed in deeply and increased the amount of her internal Kei to raise the strength in her arm. She probably planned to pull the rope. Naruki resisted by increasing her Internal Kei too. Now it came down to deciding the winner with Kei. As expected, Nina had the advantage. Her speed of Kei generation was quicker because of what Layfon had taught her. Naruki’s feet began to slip. The balance of strength began to topple.

“You’re doing something interesting.”

Layfon explained the circumstances to Sharnid and Felli. Felli was there, standing before the door when the two began their match. Sharnid arrived later.

“He…….. They’re all serious.”

“How redundant,” Felli said expressionlessly.

“She’d still be part of the platoon if she didn’t return the badge,” Sharnid said just as the outcome showed itself.

“Ah……..”

Twisting her body, Nina had pulled Naruki over to her. The rope loosened. Nina’s free left hand let go of the iron whip and gave the rope a pull. Naruki’s body flew into the air.

(Quite meaningful to add Karenkei there.)

Nina’s iron whip pressed lightly on Naruki, who was on the floor.

“You passed,” Nina said.

“Thanks,” Naruki stood up and lowered her head.

“We’re counting on you from now on,” Nina smiled and nodded.

The usual air of domination was void from her smile. Layfon thought her concentration wasn’t as sharp since the match with the 10th platoon. Her mistake in the fight with Naruki showed the same thing. Sometimes…… Just a second, but it appeared her thoughts were on something else during training. Nina had felt something from Dinn’s ending, an ending born out of the desire to protect the city. Was it all right for Layfon to leave this alone? In the past month, he had acted as if he didn’t notice her preoccupation, trying his best to prevent her from being hurt.

“Good. We’ll start today’s training, but before that……” Nina began, having confirmed all members had arrived. Harley didn’t show up. He was at the research lab as usual.

“The camp has been cancelled. But I still want us to go before the next match comes up.”

All teaching was temporarily suspended during the time when Zuellni was resupplying. Nina had wanted the team to go on a training camp at that time, but she had to cancel it because of the illegal drug investigation.

“But we’ve classes now. Can we?”

“I advocate for both academics and Military Arts. I really want to attend class if possible, but we’re facing the 1st platoon in the next match. The atmosphere of each match is also getting tenser. I just want us to do what we can for now.”

“Well, I welcome the idea since I can publicly truant.”

Nina smiled bitterly at Sharnid’s reply and looked and Layfon and the others.

“If the Captain’s decided, then I’ve no problem with it,” he said.

“I think there’s a way to resolve the problem with missing class,” Naruki said.

Nina accepted their answers and at last turned her gaze to Felli.

“What do you think?”

“……… Whatever you say.”

As expected, Felli’s answer was weak.

“Then I’ll announce the details of the schedule tomorrow. For today’s training, we’ll analyze tactics in the audio-visual room. We’ll look at all the matches of the 1st platoon in recent years.”

Everyone moved towards the audio-visual room. Only the “try as hard as possible not to know any information about the opponents” Layfon stayed in the training room.

“Camp……. I wonder what it’ll be like,” he murmured to himself.

<center>◇</center>

“Have you told her?”

Layfon turned around at Nina’s sudden question. They were cleaning at the Mechanical Department. Layfon and Nina were in the same team. Since the resupply, Zuellni had been moving towards the tropics, so the inside of the Mechanical Department was hotter than before. Both Layfon and Nina had taken off the top of the working clothes and wrapped it around their waists.

“Huh?” Layfon wiped sweat off his face with the towel hanging around his neck. Nina was also sticky with sweat. The sweat stuck the clothes to her skin and outlined her body. Layfon didn’t know where to look so he only concentrated on her face. She was also wiping her face with her towel.

“Have Naruki and the others said anything yet?” As if she hadn’t noticed his awkwardness, she started mopping the floor again. He followed suit.

“Ah, uh…………”

Mei-Shen and her friends knew of the term Heaven’s Blade successor before the match in last month. He didn’t know where they heard of that term, but he knew they knew it had something to do with himself. It seemed they still didn’t know much of his past. Was this a good or bad thing?.......... He couldn’t decide. Heaven’s Blade successors and his past in Grendan weren’t things he could tell anyone about in a peaceful manner. What would Mei-Shen and her friends do if they found out………. Either way, he doubted it’d be a good reaction. But he wasn’t sure whether it was right to not tell them anything because he didn’t know how they’d react. He had told everyone in team 17 about his past. Leaving Naruki out would be the same as isolating her, but Mei-Shen and Mifi would find out if he told Naruki.

“What do you think, Captain?”

“Hard to answer,” she frowned and stopped mopping. “The problem is we don’t know how they’ll react. I can’t tell since I haven’t been with them for long. Layfon, what do you think of them? Do you think they’re the type to keep their distance from you once they heard of it?”

“Well………..”

He hoped not. That was just his wish. Perhaps they’d keep their distance. In that case…

(What should I do?)

He had no choice.

“Layfon……..”

“Yes?”

Nina had begun mopping the floor while he was spacing out. He quickly followed suit.

“Sorry about that.”

“Huh?” He took his gaze off the floor to look at her.

With her back facing him, she continued, “Despicable……. I said that.”

“Ah, ah.”

He remembered. Nina learned of his past at the end of the match against the 16th platoon. It was the team’s first victory. She knew of his being a Heaven’s Blade successor and why he was stripped of his title, as well as his participation in the underground matches. She had asked why he did those things, and he had answered honestly. For money……… She had declared him “despicable.”

“I still think what you did was despicable, but you have your reasons to stand firm. To say you’re despicable one-sidedly is in itself despicable.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“No, it was like that,” she shook her head. “I said this before. I can’t understand the pain of starvation. Someone who knows nothing and can’t imagine what it’s like, I don’t think she should say it before someone who does know what it’s like.”

“It probably wasn’t like that.”

“No, it was like that,” Nina shook her head again.

“I think sometimes a third party can more accurately analyze the situation,” he said.

“But……..”

“At least I think of the Captain’s words that way.”

“Layfon………”

“Captain isn’t wrong,” he nodded at Nina who had turned around to face him.

<center>◇</center>

Sitting in the sofa with her chin in her palm, Synola stared at the letter on the desk with annoyance.

“What is it?” the female waiting by her side asked. She was a tall beauty and her appearance was similar to Synola’s.

Kanaris Earifon Rivin. One of the twelve Heaven’s Blade successors that people boasted about in Grendan, waited for Synola’s answer. Currently, the two of them were in the palace situated in the middle of the Lance Shelled City, Grendan. They were in a room located in the residential area for royalty. Synola Leisler the senior research student was a fake identity. Her real name was Alsheyra Almonise. She possessed the power of the Queen and stood at the top of the twelve Heaven’s Blade successors. Her power exceeded those of the other Heaven’s Blade successors. Synola’s pupils stared at the words in the letter. Soft lips clamped together, she stayed silent.

“Do you think it’s a good plan to bring the Haikizoku from Zuellni to here?” Kanaris asked solemnly.

The letter was sent by Haia Salinvan Lyia from Zuellni. The Heaven’s Blade successor Synola had exiled from Grendan now lived in that city. Haia had succeeded his master as the third leader of the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang. The content of the letter explained the event with the Haikizoku.

“I believe no one outside Grendan can fully control the power of a Haikizoku,” Kanaris said. Confidence in Grendan’s Military Artists showed through her light voice.

“………”

Synola remained silent. She started fingering her hair.

“Your Majesty………”

Synola’s lips parted under Kanaris’ urging. “So…….”

“Are you going to say ‘so annoying’?”

“…… You can’t say that ahead of me.”

“This isn’t the problem of can and cannot.”

Kanaris coldly watched the pouting Synola.

“Under the situation of not having gathered all 12 Heaven’s Blades, we should manage what we can manage.”

They had hosted numerous Military Arts matches since stripping Layfon of his title. Some participants were powerful enough to fight filth monsters, but none of them had the strength to become a Heaven’s Blade successor. Hence, the Heaven’s Blade title remained without an owner.

“When Layfon held the Heaven’s Blade, I thought, ahah, finally here. Guess that wasn’t the case.”

“Your Majesty, no one knows when that day will come. We have had all twelve Heaven’s Blades in the past, but that day hasn’t come again.”

“What about Haia? Can he not be one?”

“Your Majesty, please answer my question first.”

“But it really is annoying.”

She curled her lips again. Kanaris didn’t get mad at her.

“We Heaven’s Blade successors can give up our lives for you.”

“………… Layfon probably wouldn’t say things like that.”

“That’s why he had to give up the Heaven’s Blade.”

“Would have been good if that were the case.”

Losing to Kanaris’ imposing manner, Synola listened.

“If your Majesty can’t make a decision, how about we make a choice? As said in the letter, using the students of the Academy City would make Layfon our enemy. In that case, the Mercenary Gang won’t hold against him. We can leave Lintence out as he’s too involved with him, but if it’s someone else……..”

“……… You’re saying you’ll use a Heaven’s Blade successor without my permission, Kanaris?”

Leaning against the back of the sofa, Synola watched Kanaris.

“I, I won’t…….. won’t do such thing.”

She smiled at Kanaris. The Heaven’s Blade was panting as if she was short of air. Synola continued with a soft voice. “I did give you the authority while I was away. You did your job well, and that’s worth my gratitude………… But only I can decide how to use the Heaven’s Blades.”

“I’m……. really sorry.”

“Seems you understand,” she smiled and straightened her back to look outside. Kanaris sat down beside her, more like fell down beside her. She glanced at the trembling woman, took the bag from the table and stood up.

“I have to go to the research lab.”

“Your, Your Majesty, please wait……..” Kanaris tried again.

Synola smiled bitterly. “Well, I’ll give it a thought,” she said and left the room.

Outside the room was a corridor that connected to the facilities outside the palace. No guards could be seen. This arrangement was made especially for Synola’s privacy. The lights in the corridor were weak as if they weren’t used often. Because of the bad location in relation to the position of the sun, the sunlight piercing through the windows was weak too. A figure appeared at the end of the dim corridor.

“What’s it?” Synola asked.

The figure moved to where the window was. The shadow shrouding him retreated. It was Savaris.

“Your Majesty is in a good mood……. Aaaaa, what a busy day today.”

Synola sighed against the greeting. “………… Not that good. I didn’t get to use my brain today, so I don’t feel good.”

“Thanks for the hard work,” he laughed.

She glared at him, and his laughter stopped short.

“Is the letter the reason behind your bad mood?”

Her eyes narrowed. Was Savaris the only piece of hers that had infiltrated the palace? She watched his smiling face with displeasure. “…….. Has the Luckens family got ahead of themselves? Or is this the case with all Heaven’s Blades? If so, I’ve got to tighten them up.”

“Not at all! There isn’t anything impure in our loyal hearts,” he retreated a few steps.

She watched him coldly.

“I found out about the thing at Zuellni by pure chance. It’s because my younger brother’s there…….”

She listened silently to his explanation. Younger brother…….. Gorneo was studying Military Arts course at Zuellni. He was in a platoon there.

“I knew of this from Gorneo’s letter. I’m guessing the Mercenary Gang had sent Your Majesty a letter about it too. I was waiting here to convey the news in case Your Majesty didn’t hear of it.”

“You could have told Kanaris.”

“It seems that she hates me. Besides, I made a vow to only be loyal to Your Majesty. Not to Kanaris, nor the city named Grendan.” His voice turned light.

“So what you plan from now on?”

“……… You understand when I said I don’t feel good?”

“Haha, Kanaris’ must have been difficult.”

She glared at him once more.

“Uh oh………. If possible, why don’t you use me?”

“For what?”

“My brother’s there. He can help us better than anyone else. And under the possible situation of a fight with Layfon, anyone else would cause huge damage to Zuellni,” he laughed.

He was making a joke. Watching him with her icy gaze, Synola tossed out the question as if the idea just popped into her head. “Are you saying you want to kill Layfon?”

“Why?” The smile remained on Savaris’ face, but it was definite that the temperature of his expression had dropped a few degrees.

“The bait we used before was from the Luckens’ school. The one Layfon crippled? You hate him?”

“That was only Gahard’s immaturity.”

The frosty reply meant she had stepped on a landmine.

“Then…… What is it?”

“Your Majesty………. I don’t hate Layfon. I’m just very concerned with the Haikizoku,” he said frankly. “Your Majesty has always guided us. Heaven’s Blades only need to concentrate on getting stronger.”

“Well, I at least hope all of you have some common sense.”

“Of course.”

“Humph……. Well, I’ll consider it,” she said and started walking.

“Have a good day.”

“I will,” she waved her hand without turning back.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume4 Epilogue

2010-01-01T05:07:36Z

Ricky12440: /* Epilogue */

===Epilogue===

Leerin and Deruk came to the cemetery on Sunday, a week since their meeting with the Queen. They came to put the possession of the deceased in the grave.

Ryuhou Gash. Emotionlessly, Leerin read the name engraved on the gravestone. She didn’t know this person.

But it didn’t mean the heart of that someone who didn’t know the deceased would not stir. Leerin’s heart stirred as she thought back to Ryuhou Gash’s life and the words of Queen Alsheyra: “Almost all those people who inherit the Psyharden technique are fated to leave the city.”

The Queen said Layfon was the same.

Leerin wanted to deny her words, but the grave of Ryuhou Gash rejected her desire. Deruk’s brother from the same Military Arts lineage had died on foreign soil.

Leerin waited for Deruk to finish his long prayer then left the cemetery with him. They walked without speaking, Deruk being the solemn and silent type.

“Leerin.”

His sudden voice surprised her. He turned around to look at her, holding in his hand a wooden box wrapped in a piece of cloth. He had been holding it all the time before they entered the cemetery. Leerin had thought that it belonged to Ryuhou Gash.

Deruk offered her the box. “Can you take this to Layfon?”

“Huh?”

The box weighed in Leerin’s hand. It felt like a Dite. She wasn’t a Military Artist so she wasn’t in possession of a Dite, but she could tell it felt like one through her numerous contacts with Deruk and Layfon. Both of them were Military Artists.

“I prepared this for Layfon. It’s proof of his inheriting all Psyharden’s skills,” Deruk said with a faraway gaze. “He was still very young when I finished teaching him everything. I could have given this to him back then, but I wanted to wait till he had grown older. In the end, I lost the chance to give it to him,” he laughed mockingly.

Leerin thought it was because Layfon was exiled from Grendan, but she overturned that reaction. Deruk could have given it to him when Layfon became a Heaven’s Blade successor, but he didn’t.

(Because Layfon held a sword.)

Leerin only realized this fact now, but she was able to realize it after spending a long period of time with Deruk.

“He refuses to inherit Psyharden’s techniques. I thought he’d have grown a little after becoming a Heaven’s Blade successor…….. It appeared I was wrong. He refused to inherit because he thought he had betrayed me, and he needed to pay for his wrongdoing.”

About the underground matches and what happened afterwards……. Deruk just met the person related to Layfon’s past a few days ago, and meeting that person again had filled his heart with Layfon.

“He’s sober and dull. I don’t think he’ll use the techniques I taught him even now. He needs forgiveness. He needs to forgive himself.”

“Father……..”

“You still contact him, don’t you? Then you know where he is. Give it to him. Mail it or deliver it to him personally. It’s all fine.”

“………. Huh?”

She could use these means to meet Layfon. Her face showed cheerfulness at this thought but she then shook her head. “I still have school.”

It’d take at least half a year to reach Zuellni and return back to Grendan. If the location of Zuellni had changed, then the journey might take up to one to two years. She couldn’t take a break from school for so long. Besides, it took money to leave Grendan.

“I can’t use Layfon’s money like that.”

Deruk put his hand on her head.

“…… Father?”

“Both you and Layfon are like me. Too reserved. Don’t sacrifice yourself because of that.”

“But………..”

“Even I wanted to leave the city with Ryuhou.”

His words silenced her. “But my personality prevented me from leaving. At that time, my master was heavily injured from his fight with filth monsters, so someone had to inherit the name, and the candidates were Ryuhou and I. For a mature Military Artist to leave at that time would be willful. Ryuhou did it, but I couldn’t.”

He had suppressed his wish to do what he thought was right. Layfon was the same as Deruk in this way, and Leerin too.

“I don’t think I made the wrong choice back then. It’s the highest honor for any Military Arts school to nurture talented people like Layfon. But even so……..” Deruk paused and caressed Leerin’s head. “If I had left behind my reservations and sense of responsibility, followed my desire and left the city……… My wish to do that is still with me. I don’t want you to have any regrets.”

“Father…..”

“Don’t worry about the expenses. If you want to go, then go. It’s not good for you to exhaust your heart waiting for him. To give up going and then confirm that you should have decided otherwise.”

He touched the surface of the wooden box in Leerin’s hand and left her like that. He didn’t ask her to follow. He was giving her time to think on her own.

“Layfon………”

Perhaps she might see him. But……. Was it really her wish to leave this city and see him……… Spaced out, she stood, unable to find an answer to her own question. The weight of the box pulled her into further confusion.

<center>◇</center>

The rest of the Mercenary Gang had disappeared when the dust and sand had cleared. The golden goat…….. The Haikizoku had also vanished. The Mercenary Gang had taken Haia and left the field. Nina and her team members had watched their leaving silently without stopping them. What they were concerned with was what to do after this match.

(Well, it’s useless to think of that………)

To go against the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang……… The Haikizoku caused this by entering the city by chance. It would take a long time to resolve this problem.

(How come it seems more problems are piling up one after another?)

Nina felt exhausted but she believed the problems could be solved. She could only hang onto that belief, praying that her path towards saving Zuellni wasn’t the self-destructive path of Dinn’s. She could only hope like that.

With the clearing of the dust and sand, the audience finally saw what happened in the field. No longer bound, Dinn had fallen on the ground. His image showed on the large screen. Anyone could tell the 17th platoon had won. The siren signaling the end of the match rang along with the shouting of the commentator. Dissatisfaction, however, was mixed in with the cheering of the crowd.

“Layfon!”

A small and delicate figure stood beside Layfon, who was putting his Dite back into the weapon harness. Long silvery hair danced behind Felli.

“Are you all right?”

Blood covered half of Layfon’s face. Felli was administering treatment.

“I’m fine,” he said and pushed her hand away, but she forcefully dabbed at his wound with a disinfected cotton ball. Having no way out, he let her treat his wound.

(Really………)

Pain invaded Nina’s chest as she looked upon that scene. She brushed grains of sand off her stiff hair and lifted her head to look at the sky.

(More problems are piling up.)

Whether it was inside or outside, it was the same with Nina’s heart. She ignored the pain inside her and tightened her fist.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter6|Chapter 6]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume5_Prologue|Volume 5]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume4 Chapter6

2010-01-01T04:55:42Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 6: The insane guardian */

===Chapter 6: The insane guardian===

I planned to refuse them, so how did it turn out like this?
Felli asked herself this question again and again.

She met Haia at the time when she left the Training Complex. Karian had showed up as well. She had planned to refuse Karian’s request but her brother had talked her into helping Haia. Why? Felli would have looked terrible if she was asked that question, especially if Layfon asked it. But whether any more changes would come to her face is another matter. However, Layfon didn’t ask her. The relationship between Layfon and Haia was tentative, ready to explode any moment. Layfon looked like he had something to say but he couldn’t say it. He probably didn’t have the time to worry about Felli. Perhaps he couldn’t do anything about it.

Yeah, but she was still a little bit angry.

What was Layfon worried about? She could tell just by looking at the way he fought, holding the Katana. His problem probably had nothing to do with Sharnid’s entanglement with the 10th platoon. It had everything to do with the fact that he had to resolve this matter through his holding a Katana. Just what does he think about the Katana?

Layfon was a complicated person. His personality seemed simple and naïve, but he himself carried a complicated past. In his past as a Heaven’s Blade successor he had many different problems. Was she asking for too much, hoping him to notice her more? But, she still wanted him to look at her. Only him. She wanted him to understand her as herself, not as a psychokinesist, and she wanted to understand him at the same time. Her brother, Karian, had no interest in her other than her ability in psychokinesis.

(Yes, because it’s related to Layfon……)

So she agreed to help Haia. It wasn’t because Haia was also from Grendan.

“That thing will bring misfortunate to the strong.”

Haia had explained to her about the thing she discovered, the thing that Layfon met with in the ruined city, clarifying for her what a Haikizoku was. He was clearly hiding something else, but Felli wasn’t interested in what he didn’t say. To her, “the strong” meant Layfon. No, anyone who knew Layfon would think like that, so she hoped for Haia to suppress the Haikizoku. If Haia planned to take it with him to Grendan, then take it, even though his decision didn’t hold any consideration towards Zuellni. Felli didn’t care about Karian’s calculations either.

All Felli needed to do was contact Haia when she sensed the Haikizoku. She didn’t know where she’d find it, but the Haikizoku was sensitive to the atmosphere of a fight. Haia said something about a racket during the platoon match. But who would have thought…………

The match had ended. Nina didn’t move an inch. Naruki had disabled the enemy psychokinesist and Layfon had defeated the enemy captain. Sharnid and Dalshena were still fighting in a half stuck situation, but since Dinn had fallen, it was meaningless to continue the fight. The normal fight had already ended. The illegal drug scandal surrounding the 10th platoon would fade with Dinn’s departure, and the 10th platoon would be disbanded.

“Can it be………”

Confusion shrouded Felli when the flakes conveyed to her an impossible reaction around Dinn. Confused, she reflexively sent out a signal to the flake beside Haia. She didn’t do it consciously. At the time when the psychokinesist was filtering a vast amount of information, she’d act reflexively without her knowledge. For her to have done that, Layfon would……. While thinking of that, she felt the reaction closing in on Layfon. It felt as if that reaction had fused with Dinn.

In that split second, sparks flew in Felli’s head. After managing the information at extreme high speed, Felli made this conclusion. Haia really didn’t say everything. “To bring misfortunate to the strong” wasn’t the entirety of the phrase. And by “strong”, he didn’t mean Military Arts skill…… It was one’s will of concentration. The will. Wasn’t that a person’s strongest thing? In that case, Layfon didn’t have it. He could maintain absolute calm before filth monsters, but in today’s match, he hadn’t shown a clear direction in his action. It felt as if he didn’t know why he was fighting today. Haia had said the Haikizoku would bring misfortunate to Layfon – Felli didn’t know in what form yet – or it was more accurate to say Haia himself also didn’t know whether the Haikizoku would bring misfortunate to Layfon or not?

Could it be…… That Haia was using this match as an experiment?

Haia infiltrated Zuellni through the illegal drug organization. Of course he knew Military Artists were taking advantage of the illegal trade. He might have known that Dinn was the one taking illegal drugs. Since this city belonged to the Academy City Alliance, people would do all they could to cover up the scandal. The City would need the strength of a Military Artist who had also taken drugs in order to cover up the scandal. Since Haia already knew Layfon was in Zuellni, it was possible that he did this deliberately to make Layfon enter the fray. To force Layfon to answer Karian’s question, Haia had deliberately mentioned the Psyharden technique.

“You lied,” Felli burst out, her words sent to Haia through her flakes.

Haia laughed. “I didn’t plan to. I just created a situation for it to make itself known,” he dragged out his words. “Well then, as promised, I've got to go.”

Felli sensed numerous reactions in the war field as Haia finished his words.

He never thought it’d appear at this moment. Someday, he’d have to confront this mysterious existence. That was the feeling Layfon had when he understood Haia’s goal, but the Haikizoku had come just too quickly.

It had done something to Dinn.

“………. What’re you planning?”

Layfon stepped back from Dinn when the Fuushintou was shattered. A huge amount of power surrounded Dinn and as Layfon had thought, this didn’t come from the use of drugs……….. Drugs could not increase the strength of a Kei vein like this. Obviously, it was the Haikizoku. Usually, a phenomenon of this sort would have paralyzed its owner, but Dinn’s face became livelier than before.

The goat didn’t answer Layfon. Its indifferent attitude felt the same as last time’s, but the feeling was somewhat different. Strange.

(Haikizoku…….. That’s your name.)

Layfon recalled what Haia had called it, but he himself didn’t know this name. Haia said he’d take it back to Grendan. His promise to guard Zuellni as repayment meant the Haikizoku had enough value to make Haia make this trade. Layfon didn’t understand it.

“Just what’re you planning?” he asked again.

“………..”

“!”

The goat remained silent. The one who moved was Dinn. The rope flew from the ground to strike Layfon. Layfon reacted despite the surprise attack. He’d have been in danger had Dinn attacked him by moving his fingers and wrist. That was how he made his moves before. But it was different this time. The Kei running through the rope controlled the weapon like muscles making complex moves. It was the same as Layfon’s steel thread technique. That was why Layfon managed to react in time. Chills ran down his spine. Dinn’s move obviously exceeded all the moves he had made before. There was no reason behind it. Dinn couldn’t have been hiding his true strength else he didn’t have to use illegal drugs.

“Layfon……… What’s going on?” It was Naruki.

At her voice, Layfon changed his direction as he avoided the rope, and headed for Naruki.

“!”

The rope brushed past his face and tore through his skin. Disregarding the injury, he swept Naruki up with one arm, blocked the rope with the Katana and retreated.

“Wh, What are you….”

The suddenness of everything broke Naruki’s composure, but she held her breath when she noticed the blood on his face.

“I’m not sure either……..”

“………. What’s that thing?”

Naruki noticed the goat too. At least this denied Felli’s worry about the thing being an illusion.

(As I thought, it’s the Haikizoku.)

What Haia said, the twisted Electronic Fairy of the city.

(So it’s done something to Dinn.)

That goat must have done it. Huge horns extended from the goat’s head. With eyes that looked like a human’s, it stood behind Dinn.

(Is it controlling Dinn?)

Layfon put Naruki down. He defended against the rope as he observed Dinn and the goat. The huge amount of Kei spilling out from Dinn ran on the ground. Dinn was full of energy but no feelings showed in his eyes. His eyes were like the goat’s. Obviously, the goat was manipulating him.

(Then………)

Layfon decided to chop through the goat. The pressure on him back in the ruined city when he met the goat there wasn’t with him today. He should be able to do it. Why? Was it because of the Katana? He planned to neither save Dinn nor kill him.

(Here I go.)

As he was about to move –

“That’s my prey~”

The voice with words that dragged stopped Layfon’s movement. Layfon sensed a presence at the time when the voice sounded. That person must have used Sakkei to mask his presence and move close to Layfon under the cover of sand and dust.

“Haia!”

“The Haikizoku is ours. That’s our promise~”

Numerous chains flew out as Dinn escaped into the sky. Haia leaped out of the cloud of sand and forced Dinn back to the ground. The chains bound Dinn tightly the moment he landed. The goat remained the same.

“What’s going on?”

Layfon watched Haia and the people around him. Men he had not seen before held the chains that bound Dinn. They must be members of the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang, Haia’s subordinates. When did they infiltrate the war field……

No, they didn’t have to infiltrate the field. Karian must have given them permission to use the dormitories. It wasn’t difficult for experienced Military Artists to head over to the war field from the dormitories.

“What’s going on? We’re just capturing the Haikizoku.”

“But isn’t the Haikizoku that thing over there?” Layfon looked at the goat. The goat didn’t move in the face of Haia and his subordinates.

“Even I can’t capture that thing. No, even you, a Heaven’s Blade successor can’t do it either. Our dear Queen is the same.”

“What do you mean?”

“But it’s different with the host. Once we capture the host, the Haikizoku can only wait and let us take it. It’s the same when the Haikizoku couldn’t do anything to the filth monsters that attacked the city.”

“……. What’s he saying?” Naruki asked. Layfon didn’t know how to answer.

Haia didn’t look at her. He continued, “It’s fortunate that the Haikizoku came to the Academy City. In here are people with ideals but never enough strength to make them come true. They’ve the Haikizoku but they don’t know how to use it. In truth, the Haikizoku’d never have come to us.”

“What are you going to do with him at Grendan?”

“This is unrelated to Layfon-kun. You can’t even return to Grendan,” he laughed smugly. Instead of blood rushing to his face like the time when he saw Haia in the conference room, Layfon kept his cool and waited for Haia to continue. This must be the feeling given to him by the Katana, but Layfon didn’t know what to do.

“Never mind, I’ll give you a hint. Why do you think Grendan’s always in the danger zone? The answer is the same as that thing there.”

“Why……..?”

Grendan was always in the danger zone. Layfon already knew that fact. It was a natural fact to him who was born in Grendan. The existence of Heaven’s Blade successors came from the need to survive in such an unusual place. That was natural. Layfon didn’t find it strange before he arrived at Zuellni.

(The reason behind Grendan’s survival there?)

He had never thought of it.

“Well then, we’re taking it,” Haia ended the conversation himself. Layfon didn’t move.

Haia had said to Karian that he’d capture the Haikizoku and transport it back to Grendan. It was unclear whether Karian knew how Haia was planning to do that. So he planned to transport Dinn along with the Haikizoku. Did he obtain Karian’s permission beforehand……… Layfon had no idea. If he had known, he could use this reason to counter-attack and prevent Haia from taking Dinn.

A presence came up behind the inert Layfon.

“Wait a minute,” Nina called. “You can’t take Dinn Dee.”

“I won’t listen to you. You’re just a student.”

“You guys….. What will you do to Dinn after taking him to Grendan?”

“Say more,” Haia smiled mockingly.

“Dinn did do something wrong, but it won’t change the truth that we’re classmates. I won’t allow handing his fate over to you.”

Looking at the Dinn bound by chains, Nina didn’t think Haia and the Mercenary Gang would take care of him through normal means. She raised her iron whips. “Let go of Dinn Dee.”

“……….. An immature girl with all talk. What a headache.”

Haia was about the same age as Layfon and Nina, but his attitude sounded like an old uncle’s.

“What if I don’t let him go? Wanna fight? Fight with the real Military Artists here? We’ve 43 people in the dorm. Do you want to make an enemy of the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang?”

The organization had fought numerous times with filth monsters and other Military Artists. Their number was way smaller than the population in Zuellni, but the difference in their skill was huge. What was more important was that the Military Artists in Zuellni weren’t mentally prepared. A sudden attack would quickly put them at a disadvantage. This was the same for any Military Artist. And the students in the Military Arts course here lacked real fighting experience. They had no means of resisting the experienced elders. Haia and his Gang just needed to leave Zuellni in the chaos. They had their own roaming bus and could leave anytime. Self-confidence in being unbeatable showed on Haia’s face.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Layfon said, putting the Dite back into the weapon harness.

“Did you say something? Former Heaven’s Blade successor.”

Layfon kept silent. Nina was beside him. Since Nina had declared her position, he had also made his decision.

“I’ll be your opponent, against all 43 members of the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang. That number should be enough to test my skill,” he said, having chosen the words that suited a Heaven Blade’s successor.

He didn’t feel that relaxed in reality. Besides, fighting all 43 people would put him in a difficult fight.

“Allow me to see the weak skill nurtured outside Grendan.”

Haia was still relaxed, but the people around him were different. They didn’t utter a word, yet the entire atmosphere had changed.

“Layton………” Naruki swallowed. Nina’s body had turned stiff. Hostility flooded at them.

(We’ve made them angry.)

This way, Layfon had reduced the possibility of getting Nina and Naruki involved.

(I’ll reduce that possibility more……)

He pulled out a Dite. Not the Shimu Adamandite but the Safaiadite. The Dite that Haia had broken into pieces two days ago. It had returned to its exact form before it broke. Its feeling in his hand hadn’t changed, but it felt just a tiny bit different as he was previously holding a Katana. It seemed as if his own arm had twisted. Necessary though. This was the other reason that turned him back to the Heaven’s Blade successor.

The smiled disappeared from Haia’s face as expected.

“How dare you treat me as a moron~” Haia said, provoked by Layfon facing him with a sword.

At his young age, Haia was already the leader of the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang. His situation was kind of similar to Layfon’s when Layfon became a Heaven’s Blade successor at age 10. Standing in a position that didn’t match his age, of course he had to fight against this insult and show his true strength. Otherwise his outrage wouldn’t settle down. This was the arrogance of someone standing on a high place. He couldn’t put Layfon’s insult aside.

Layfon predicted Haia’s reaction because he was once in the same situation. When he fought against the three senpai in the Military Arts course, he retained a bad habit from Grendan. That habit was still here. He thought Haia was the same, and he had guessed right.

“Fine. If I defeat you here, maybe I’ll get the Heaven’s Blade when I return to Grendan.” Haia pulled out his Dite and restored it into its Katana form.

“Stop it, Layton,” Naruki groaned. “The Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang is an organization made of strong Military Artists. Stop it, you’re too reckless.” She thought Layfon would die.

Ignoring Naruki, Layfon stepped closer and closer to Haia. The tip of the Safaiadite touched the ground as if he was writing on the dirt.

“Come.”

Haia raised his Katana to above his shoulder.

“Layton…….”

Nina grabbed Naruki’s wrist and stopped her from stopping him.

“Leave it to Layfon.”

“What did you say!?” Naruki’s face had gone red with outrage.

“If it’s Layfon, he’ll be ok,” Nina said.

“Layfon might be very strong, but he’s up against the entire Mercenary Gang. How could he win?”

Naruki hadn’t seen the strength of the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang, but this organization had drifted between cities, gathering the best fighters from numerous battles. It wasn’t something that a student Military Artist could fight against.

“It’s ok. Believe in Layfon.”

Layfon was Grendan’s Heaven’s Blade successor……… Naruki probably wouldn’t understand even if Nina told her that title. The name “Heaven’s Blade successor” was rarely heard outside of Grendan. Any city would give a title to its best Military Artist. Heaven’s Blade successor was just one of those titles. Compared to that title, the name of Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang made Naruki more worried. All Nina could do was stop Naruki from interfering, and wait for the result.

(But……..)

This probably wouldn’t stop the fight. Layfon was only buying them time. He had delicately provoked Haia and stopped the Gang’s members from taking Dinn. Nina’s current mission was to think of a way to save Dinn during this time.

(What should I do?)

The Gang’s concentration was on Haia and Layfon, but their concentration on guarding Dinn hadn’t slipped. Dinn couldn’t move and the chains around him showed no signs of loosening.

The golden beast stood behind Dinn.

(That’s the Haikizoku.)

The creature that Layfon witnessed in the ruined city, a creature of mystery. Haia and his organization appeared because of it. What did they plan to do after taking it back to Grendan……… Nina didn’t know. They just needed to capture it and take it away, which was fine with Nina but for Dinn.

“Felli,” she said softly to the flake.

“What?”

“Did you contact the Student President?”

“I’ll try.”

Karian was the one who made the deal with Haia.

“Got it.”

“I understand the situation,” Karian’s voice came through the flake.

“Did you predict the outcome?”

“He was unusually reluctant to provide information on the Haikizoku. He didn’t reveal how he was going to capture it.”

(How arrogant.)

Anger shot through Nina. She didn’t make a noise. She must not attract the Gang’s attention.

“I finally understand what they’re planning,” Karian said. “To cause a racket in an Academy City. It appears the Haikizoku has the value to make the Academy City Alliance an enemy of the Mercenary Gang. But I’ve also reserved a move. I said they could take it but I did not permit them taking Dinn.”

“Then what do we do?”

This was the most immediate issue.

“The problem is Dinn. If we can peel away the Haikizoku from him, then everything’s perfectly solved.”

“But to do that, we must first understand why it chose Dinn…….”

“I know why,” Felli’s light voice cut on.

“So what’s going on?”

“Haia said it himself - In here are people with ideals but never enough strength to make them come true.”

Haia said that when he was capturing Dinn.

“The core of a Haikizoku is something to do with the mind, right? Because it’s a mad Electron Fairy of a city, it must have wanted to protect the city.”

“So it takes over Dinn……. In order to protect the city?”

But then, why did it choose this timing to pick Dinn? Why Dinn?

“That might be because of Dinn being pushed to his limit? When defeated by Layfon, Dinn revealed his sense of mission to protect the city. He had the mission but his feeling for it could have intensified at that moment,” Karian said in response to Felli’s opinion.

“The Electronic Fairy of a city destroyed by filth monsters…… I can understand how it might feel the same as Dinn.”

“But isn’t it impossible to take the Haikizoku away from Dinn right now?” Nina didn’t think she lost to Dinn in terms of her sense of mission. But the fact of Dinn losing had connected him with the Haikizoku, and Nina had no way of putting herself in between them.

“In that case, we can only destroy his heart,” Karian said coldly. “Since it’s his stubborn heart of protecting the city that caused the Haikizoku to choose him, then we just need to remove his sense of conviction. In other words, make him let go of his mission.”

“But how…….”

“Can you leave it to me?” a new voice cut in.

“Sharnid?”

Sharnid and Dalshena were closing on Nina’s location, being very cautious not to attract the Mercenary Gang’s attention. Sharnid’s voice came through the flake.

“Have you a way?”

“You never know if we don’t try.” Sharnid shrugged. He was wounded.

Dust covered Dalshena’s clothes but she didn’t look injured. It seemed she had won the battle. She looked at Dinn. Dinn remained conscious but he hadn’t done anything to resist the chains. Looking at the side of Dalshena’s face, Nina felt a shock in her chest. Eyes like a mirror, exuding unbelievable light. Dinn was staring at the ground. Pain filled Dalshena’s face.

“Can you do it?”

What they had to do was to completely root out Dinn’s purpose. This was the same as taking away his life for someone who looked at his mission as important as his own life. For these two people who truly knew Dinn, could they do it?

“We can only try, right?” Sharnid’s bitter smile showed a bottomless hole.

Nina was also looking at Dalshena.

“I’ll do it,” Dalshena replied curtly.

Layfon and Haia watched each other, their bodies still. Ten steps separated them. Internal Kei could have helped them close that distance in an instant, but the two of them were still as statues.

One move would decide the outcome of the battle. Layfon planned it that way and Haia responded the same. If the present Layfon were dragged into a long fight, even if Layfon’s skill was worse than Haia’s, Layfon wouldn’t have received too much damage. Haia was unable to accept that and responded by going with Layfon’s decision.

The air seemed to have frozen between the two.

This feeling of pressure was essential to Layfon, both to buy time and to scare the members of the Mercenary Gang around him. Usual, high-speed fights between Military Artists were very intense. On the other hand, this fight allowed the observers to breathe. Layfon must buy some time for Nina and the others to find a way to save Dinn. And by entering this state, Haia had done exactly what he wanted.

(Next…..)

Is to win.

The morale of the Mercenary Gang would rise if Layfon lost, and Dinn would be taken away. Besides, Layfon wanted to win. To win against a certain someone. This feeling had never once appeared to him when he fought countless matches as a Heaven’s Blade successor. He just wanted to win, simply win against his opponent.

(Is this hatred?)

Layfon calmly analysed his own feeling. Haia had a bad character. He had thorns wrapped in his words.

“……… Why did you hide your Katana?” Haia said as if he didn’t care.

A battle without words.

The tip of Layfon’s sword hung loosely down. He changed his fighting stance as he read the Kei flow of Haia’s attack by looking at the change in his opponent’s muscles. Haia changed his own attack path in response to the change that Layfon made. This cycle continued. And Haia asked a question as they read each other’s attack path. The fact that Layfon could use the Psyharden technique without a hitch made him a thorn in Haia’s eyes. Haia felt bitter at how Layfon could execute a move that he himself found difficult. That experience made him provoke Layfon with the name of Psyharden.

“The Katana is your true strength. Why did you give it up?”

“It’s a repayment.”

Layfon recalled the time when the technician asked him what form he wanted the Heaven’s Blade to take. The technician had asked him “why?” too. Layfon had kept his silence during that time, but it was different this time.

“I’ve already betrayed them but I still don’t want to lose anything. Do you find it strange?”

What Layfon planned to do back then was the same as betrayal in the eyes of his adopted father. Even Layfon, raised by such an adopted father, thought what he was about to do was dirty. But without any way out, he still chose to enter the underground matches. It wasn’t a problem of good versus evil. There was the difference between Layfon and his adapted father, so he thought he had betrayed him.

“You’re a naïve-thinking moron.”

Haia cared nothing for Layfon’s words.

“How can you not use your best technique in a battle? You only said that because you look down on your opponent.”

Layfon didn’t think so. He shook his head. “I’m doing this out of my own decision. This is what conviction is like.”

Dinn raised his head. He was resolved to protect the city, but because of his lack of power, he took the illegal drug. He was the same as Haia on a certain level. But Dinn didn’t allow Dalshena to touch the drugs even though the 10th platoon would have become more powerful. He was at an impasse. Still, he had made his decision, and it was a decision made naturally in his consciousness.

“People who fight without a purpose will never understand,” Layfon said.

“….. Yeah right,” Haia replied and didn’t say anything else.

Layfon tossed away other thoughts to concentrate on the sword. The two of them imagined the battle in the air that seemed to have frozen. Once they moved, that was the time when the outcome would be decided in one split second.

Layfon remained with the disadvantage, but he couldn’t allow Haia to see the possibility of a victory. If he failed in that, he’d have trouble suppressing the Mercenary Gang’s morale. The members of the Mercenary Gang had drifted in other cities, but most of them were born in Grendan. They understood the meaning behind the title of Heaven’s Blade successor. It was natural for Layfon to win. If Haia won instead, then the advantage would be on Haia’s team.

In truth, Haia wasn’t an easy opponent. It was possible for Haia to become a Heaven’s Blade successor. And who knew what the outcome would be when Layfon was using a sword?

He cautiously calculated all kinds of attacks and their results. Haia continued to change the responses of his Kei.

(Not that easy to find an opening.)

The chance appeared before him as the thought flashed past his mind. Two presences, rushing to Dinn. It was just one swift moment but Haia’s gaze did flit over to Dinn’s side.

As if to cut through the stir of the Mercenary Gang, Layfon moved out. Haia also moved, almost at the same time.

In terms of timing, this speed could make up for Haia’s miss. But……..

When the two of them were close enough to feel each other’s breath, they swung with their weapons. Haia’s Katana swung down. Layfon’s sword swung up. Sparks flashed as the two rushed past each other and exchanged their previous positions.

Layfon lowered his sword slowly. Blood spurted from the cut on his right cheek. Looking at his expression, the Mercenary Gang members kept completely still, whereas Haia groaned. “Damn……..”

Layfon’s sword was faster than Haia’s Katana. The upward slash of the sword had changed the path of Haia’s Katana, and the Katana shattered the moment when the two weapons clashed. External type Kei – Rot. Haia had used this move when he fought Layfon for the first time. The shattered pieces of the Katana had scattered everywhere, and one piece had brushed past Layfon’s cheek.

Layfon’s sword had destroyed the Katana to strike Haia. Haia had then toppled.

“Damn……..”

He was still conscious. The safety setting on Layfon’s sword was unlocked. He didn’t really slash Haia, even so, he had broken several ribs and injured his opponent’s internal organs.

Haia vomited blood and fainted. Layfon kept the rest of the Mercenary Gang members at bay with his aura.

Sharnid watched Dalshena’s back. Her only purpose was to convey a message to Dinn. He thought Dinn’s method was wrong. The captain recruited him into the 10th platoon to make his mission come true. He had inherited her feelings, Dalshena, who cried because she couldn’t do anything to protect her beloved city. Sharnid didn’t know when Dinn had added this burden of protecting Zuellni onto his own shoulders. Did Dalshena know? ……… No. She probably didn’t. She didn’t even know how Dinn really felt. Just when did this start? At the time when Sharnid was still in the 10th platoon? Or after he left? Dinn was very reserved and traditional. Perhaps he took on Dalshena’s thinking as his own without being conscious of it. He took it on to the extent that he’d allowed the Haikizoku to possess him. But the time had come for someone to stop him. Now that he had deviated from his path, someone must bring him back.

Moving at high speed, Sharnid suddenly sensed something cold at his back.

“Shena!” he called and leapt to a side. The spot he was in before exploded from Kei. The weapon was an arrow formed with Kei. Myunfa had shot that arrow but Sharnid didn’t know of it.

Long distance attack. Where did it come from? He searched with his gaze. Dalshena had ignored the attack and kept running. Sharnid restored his Dite. The light alloy close combat guns. Same as the past, Sharnid and Dinn were to eliminate anyone who sought to obstruct Dalshena’s path.

He had grasped hold of the shooter’s location after two more attacks. Information came now from Felli’s flake. Internal Kei increased his vision, and he saw Myunfa preparing for her third shot. Myunfa didn’t see him.

He stopped moving. The next target was………

“Shena!” he pulled the trigger as he shouted.

Myunfa let loose her arrow at the same time.

“Ku……..”

He heard a moaning voice. He stood up without confirming the result. He and Dinn had been protecting Dalshena till now. If Sharnid failed, then Dinn would take over. The reverse was true as well. But only Sharnid was guarding Dalshena’s back at present.

“……… Right.”

He wouldn’t make it. He’d put his own body onto the path of the shot. Sharnid was happy to get to guard Dalshena’s back. He and Dinn used to eliminate anything unrelated to the flag, clearing the path for Dalshena. That was when Sharnid had confused his actions with love, confusing it with the oath. Both Sharnid and Dinn regarded Dalshena as the most important person to them. Sharnid couldn’t even force out a laugh in the face of Dalshena, who was powerless against Dinn’s unusual actions.

What would she do if she had evidence of Dinn’s illegal dealing? ……… She had been investigating and Sharnid found it laughable in how he tracked her every night because he was worried about her. Even though he no longer was part of the 10th platoon. But this was exactly why……. Same as Dinn refusing to let Dalshena touch the illegal drug, Sharnid’s mission was to prevent her from suffering any more harm.

“I must make it!” he shouted, running slower than he wished he could.

And someone suddenly appeared before him.

“Nina!”

Nina stood directly in the path of the arrow, blocking it from Dalshena. The Kei arrow hit Nina’s chest and exploded. Sharnid swallowed…. And let out a breath.

Internal type Kei – Kongoukei.

The dust screen cleared to reveal Nina.

(That’s right.)

Felli reported the defeat of Myunfa. Sharnid sat down on the ground and watched Dalshena’s back, all strength leaving him. His work was done.

(I belong to a new place now.)

The 17th platoon…….. was where Sharnid belonged. No matter what, he had chosen this new place himself.

(It’s not the same as before anymore.)

The presence of the goat overwhelmed Dalshena. The way it stood with its huge horns and the long hair covering its body paralysed her. It exuded an exotic sense of dignity. Dalshena would have kneeled down before it if not for Dinn.

Dinn had become like this because of the goat. Dalshema stared at the Electronic Fairy as she half-kneeled in front of Dinn.

“Dinn,” she called. His pair of eyes, smooth as mirror, showed no sign of comprehension. Dalshena swallowed. The Kei spilling from Dinn made her want to vomit. Something else was different. Illegal drugs? No, it wasn’t.

“Dinn,” she called again. He lifted his head to look at her, the only area of his body that he could move. His eyes remained emotionless, except he had reacted to her voice. Her voice.

“Dinn………..”

She must convey this message. To save Dinn, and to end everything.

“Dinn……… We’re finished.”

Dinn didn’t react to her words. His dry pupils reflected her image.

“We don’t need to continue fighting anymore. There’re people here stronger than us. There’re people here who think the same as us. Leave it to them. We’re not breaking our oath.”

Memories surfaced in Dalshena’s mind: the time when the three of them first met, the time when they stayed awake through the entire night to come up with strategies, the time when they entered the 10th platoon, the time when they won their first platoon match and had a fashion show. What happy times they were. She thought those times would continue forever……..

“You’ve done enough. It’s all right now.”

Dinn’s lips trembled. Tears rolled in his eyes.

“Dinn……” she called again. “I like you very much.”

The three of them fought for the city. The oath of that day had sealed Dalshena’s feelings. The current Dinn’s feelings, focused on the already graduated senpai, had broken that day’s oath. Dalshena had stubbornly buried her feelings in the deepest corner of her heart when Sharnid left the platoon, and now, they were released.

“I love you. And, goodbye,” she said with trembling lips.

Tears fell from Dinn’s eyes.

The goat behind Dinn disappeared.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
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</noinclude>

<center>◇</center>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume4 Chapter5

2010-01-01T04:02:50Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 5: The vow on that day */

===Chapter 5: The vow on that day===

The day of the match had arrived. Zuellni had finished its resupply. The Student President said they’d spend the next two to three days tidying things up, then continue moving.

Although they couldn’t see the War Field, the enthusiasm of the audience had reached the room. Layfon found it unbelievable that he would see the day where Naruki was frowning in the waiting room for a platoon match.

“Are you all right?”

“Seems I have some problems,” Naruki made some noise, exhausted. She let out a heavy breath, her hand covering her face. Layfon understood that feeling. A feeling of being unable to control her consciousness. Although she had returned to the platoon in order to observe, she still needed to adapt to some areas.

The atmosphere on Layfon’s side was also heavy. Today, he had to defeat Dinn and Dalshena. He knew he didn’t have to kill them. He just had to inflict injuries on them that would make them lie in the hospital for more than half a year. And to do that, he had to use a Katana. Psyharden techniques had to be executed with a Katana. To make it clear, a sword could also be used, and for Layfon who excelled at Military Arts, he might be able to do it with a sword. But a sword wouldn’t allow him to reach the same level as a Katana. It might mean inflicting more severe wounds than intended, wounds that might never heal. Pressure weighed down on Layfon. Having been taught the skill of a Katana, handling a sword was not within his field.

(This isn’t my first day using a weapon outside my field. But……)

It was the same when he took on the title of the Heaven’s Blade successor. The Heaven’s Blade he received had the form of a sword, and that was how Layfon fought. However…….

(I still have to use a Katana in the present.)

As a human, he was embarrassing. And not just that……

“Layfon………”

It was Nina’s voice. Her face didn’t wear that dominating expression that she always donned in platoon matches. In other words, even Nina couldn’t approach today’s fight with her usual self.

“Are you all right?”

The question he asked Naruki before was now directed at him. Layfon could only smile bitterly.

The student acting as communicator headed over to them to relay a command. Without a word, Nina followed that student. Sharnid patted Layfon’s shoulder and followed Nina’s example. Next came Naruki. Layfon slowly sat up and kept a distance from them. Felli walked over to him.

“Fon Fon.”

A soft, everyday greeting. The usual Layfon would have worried about Nina and the others hearing this name of his, but he felt nothing today. For some reason, he didn’t worry about it at all. He didn’t know exactly why he was like this today. Fighting with a Katana, the conversation he had with Sharnid yesterday, Nina’s determination, and Haia’s goal…….. All sorts of things flew through his head, leaving no room to agonize over Felli’s greeting.

But Layfon answered as usual. “What is it?”

Felli cocked her head. Layfon couldn’t tell the meaning behind her expressionless face.

“What is Haia’s goal?” she asked.

“He probably wants to hunt down that thing, but……..”

What did he intend to do once he caught the thing? Neither Layfon nor Felli knew. That thing was the goat that Layfon met in the ruined city. It said something curious to him and then disappeared. Layfon suspected the goat was the one who buried all the dead in the city. Nina speculated the goat was the city’s consciousness, the Electronic Fairy. Her speculation was spot on. Haikizoku. Haia called it by that name. Having gone insane, the Electronic Fairy underwent a change, freed itself from the city and went on a rampage. Haia said he had to do something about it, so he wished for Karian’s help. Layfon didn’t know why Haia infiltrated Zuellni just to obtain the Haikizoku. He was suspicious of Haia’s promise to repay their help by protecting Zuellni from filth monsters for a year. Zuellni had nothing to lose, and that deal was just too good to be true. Layfon had too many things to think about. He had no room to speculate on Haia’s goal.

“I don’t know,” was his only answer.

Felli appeared displeased at his reply. She deliberately walked up to Layfon and kicked him.

“What was that for?”

“I was careless,” she left.

“Just what’s with her……..” Well, since it was Felli’s kick, it didn’t hurt that much, but he had no idea what he did to make her mad. No time for that now. Light flooded his entire vision.

The match was about to begin. Layfon’s hand moved automatically to the weapon harness hanging around his waist. The Safaiadite and the Shimu Adamandite….. Sword or Katana. Layfon’s hand stopped, hovering and hesitating.

The female voice of the commentator cut through the war field. This time the 10th platoon was on the offensive while Layfon and his team defended their flag. The 17th platoon had the disadvantage of being a small team…….. Mifi had said that before. The biggest reason behind it was that the 10th platoon was also best at attacking, just like the 17th platoon.

The siren rang to signal the start of the match. The audience fell silent, holding their breath as a collective whole as the 10th platoon took action.

Delshena rushed straight for the enemy team with her lance, ignoring the attacks from the psychokinesist. She strove forward with the innocent belief of winning against many enemies all by herself. Dalshena’s image showed on the huge screen opposite the audience stand. Dense golden curls danced with the wind. Dalshena wore a fighting suit that had seen many battles. The color of white outlined the edge of a red top that stretched down like a dress behind her. The image of it advancing in a half flying style was like Dalshena riding and controlling a powerful beast.

But there was a reason behind Dalshena’s lone attack. A figure followed behind her like her shadow. Dinn. He held a number of ropes in his hand. They looked like Layfon’s steel threads, but they were thicker and fewer in number. A sharp hammer adorned the ends of each rope. Dinn controlled those ropes as he moved to carve a path before Dalshena. Any enemy that came close would have to deal with those ropes first. Behind Dinn were four other team members, and the six of them moved together to cover for Dalshena’s attacks. The 10th platoon was best at this type of formation.

(Did you see!?) Dinn thought as he and his team moved through the war field. He still hadn’t seen anyone from the 17th platoon. They probably planned to hold a decisive fight at their own camp. Dinn laughed at such a cowardly strategy.

(We can do it even without you!)

Dinn wasn’t the type to overestimate his own ability. His growth in the four years he spent in Zuellni wasn’t much. When his body growth was at its peak, his skill in Military Arts hadn’t seen much improvement. This fact plagued Dinn the most. For him to catch up with Dalshena’s speed and wield the ropes at the same time, he needed the illegal drugs. Both Dalshena and Sharnid excelled in abilities that differed from Dinn. While knowing those two from year 1 to 3, both Dalshena and Sharnid had grown exponentially. Dinn couldn’t have been able to flank those two if not for his invention of this weapon. He called himself fortunate to have met those two.

But Sharnid betrayed him.

(Did you see that!?)

Inside Dinn, he screamed painfully. The three of them formed the best formation, but Sharnid had to destroy it, declaring the formation meaningless.

“Shena! We’ll get past them like this,” Dinn called.

Dalshena didn’t reply, instead, she increased her speed. She penetrated any obstacles ahead. The light of Kei encircling her lance pierced through the war field like a beast’s fang. Once they went past the trees, they’d see the camp of the 17th platoon.

And a change happened right then.

At the time when they were about to clear the trees, the ground exploded. Dinn’s ropes and the psychokinesist’s flakes failed to detect the traps since they weren’t set in the direct path of the 10th platoon.

“No harm done. Keep going!” Dinn called to ease Dalshena’s worry.

But the aim of the explosion wasn’t to stop the 10th platoon. The explosion resulted in a smoke screen that covered half of the war field. The psychokinesis-supported camera failed to pierce through that smoke screen. The screen for the audience stand showed nothing but smoke, proof that the smoke screen covered a huge area.

“It’s coming. Watch out.”

The targets were the team members at the back of the formation. Dinn had read the meaning behind the smoke screen and the direction of the attack. But to lower the visibility of the 10th platoon and the audience was……..

The psychokinesist conveyed to the 10th platoon the movements of the 17th platoon. Nina Antalk the Captain, Layfon Alseif, the new member and the psychokinesist Felli all stood before the flag. Only Sharnid had gone missing from the start of the match. It seemed he was masking his presence through Kei and hiding in areas that the psychokinesist could not detect. For snipers to attack from a distance, leaking their position was the same as having their plan read like an open book, so they underwent a lot of Kei training. Sharnid did well in that area.

No, Dinn should say that no Military Artist in Zuellni was as excellent a sniper as Sharnid.

“Careful. Don’t get sniped,” Dinn advised, thinking of which person in his team would become the target of Sharnid’s first bullet. Best not be Dinn himself and Dalshena. He stepped back and used the other team members as his shield. Failure was imminent if he fell here, so other members didn’t object to Dinn’s move. Dalshena was responsible for attacking, and if she fell, the attacking power of the team would fall drastically, but she didn’t mind Dinn’s move either. She continued to rush forward as if she was receiving an attack. A gap appeared between her and Dinn.

It was too late by the time the psychokinesist reported the movement of the 17th platoon. An attack came from the front right hand corner of the 10th platoon, as if to tear apart the team.

It was Layfon.

As the smoke screen spread out, Layfon’s Whirl Kei separated Dalshena from Dinn.

“Go!” Dinn roared at Dalshena. He thought Layfon was here to suppress him and the rest of the 10th platoon, leaving the other members of the 17th platoon to finish off Dalshena. That was Nina’s plan, a strategy that took advantage of Layfon’s excellent abilites. If Dalshena fell, it’d be a five versus three situation. Very disadvantageous for the 10th platoon. But Dinn was confident in Dalshena’s attack power. Nina Antalk was good at defense, but she was nothing before Dalshena’s lance. The new member of the 17th platoon was there to make up for the numbers, and as for Sharnid? Dalshena would have no problem repelling his bullets…. At that time, Dinn found the other flow of Kei, his timing a bit slower than others because Layfon had blocked his path.

“Sharnid!” Dalshena’s surprise and outrage drifted to Dinn’s ear.

<center>◇</center>

Layfon headed to an audio-visual room of the Military Arts Training Complex on the day before the match. Sharnid had called him over to watch something. The Training Complex contained a number of audio-visual rooms because if the equipment was placed in the training rooms, the platoons might end up destroying them during training. Room 2 was locked. Layfon didn’t see any key around.

“Oi, sorry for that.”

Layfon never thought of analyzing his opponents so he had never entered an audio-visual room before. White tiles covered the floor of the audio-visual room. In the room were chairs and a large screen. The purpose of this room was to show the records of previous matches so the team watching the records could use them to plan their strategies. Sharnid had put together two chairs like a bed and lay on it to watch the screen.

The screen showed a match of the 10th platoon. Dalshena’s valiant attack was enlarged. Nina’s DV skill didn’t do much as the shaking in the screen intensified. Either way, normal DV skill was unable to capture the high-speed movement of a Military Artist.

Layfon tried his best not to look at the screen. It was because if he didn’t watch it, he would keep his guard up. He wanted to have a fair and square fight with her tomorrow. Normally, he wouldn’t deliberately opt for a fair fight, but tomorrow was different. This was why he had chosen to sit opposite Sharnid rather than opposite the screen.

Layfon didn’t know everything. All he knew was that Sharnid used to be very good friends with Dinn and Dalshena.

“Shena’s not part of it.”

“Huh?”

“The illegal drugs…..”

“You sure?”

Layfon didn’t know whether Dalshena was part of it, but Dinn, the captain, was using illegal drugs. It was natural to think that all members of the 10th platoon had taken them.

“So you think she doesn’t know?”

In this case, Layfon wouldn’t have to fight against Dalshena, and that fact put him at ease.

Sharnid shook his head. “I think she knows. She understands the current Dinn more than I. She couldn’t have been oblivious to Dinn’s change. Really……” He bit his tongue and rapped his toes with a knuckle.

“What a good person. To have fairness as her motto but at the same time lying about being a knight. She works with a double standard when her comrade breaks that motto. She wants to investigate but can’t make a decision. Of course she fails to find anything. What an unsightly coward.” Sharnid’s voice was extremely cold. Layfon took care not to annoy him.

“Listen here. We knew each other since year 1. We weren’t in the same class, but we were in the same team in Military Arts class for one on one fight training. We’ve been partners since then. Having the same goal, like idiots. The captain of the 10th platoon took notice of us at that time. He was a good person. We thought of fighting for that person. We thought of that in our youth……….. That person was very sad when Zuellni lost in the last Military Arts Competition. He cried for being unable to do something for the place his liked most. Seeing him like that, we swore to protect Zuellni with our hands,” Sharnid sighed.

To protect Zuellni. It was the same oath as Nina’s. Sharnid was different from Nina in that he stood in the field of the Military Arts Competition as a member of a platoon. Other than that, there wasn’t any difference between the two.

“But then our relationship was already cracking at the time when we swore together.”

Surprised, Layfon kept quiet. What was Sharnid about to say?

“It was pretty simple. Dinn was the captain. Shena’s feelings for Dinn, my feelings for Shena……. It was a romance of a mouse waving its tail. Dinn was the captain. Shena swore because of Dinn, and I swore because of Shena. I already understood our relationships at that time. Even so, I still thought I had a chance. I hid my feelings and suppressed them. I swore to cover them and I lied to myself. I entered the platoon in 3rd year and participated in the matches. We did pretty well. We fought for our own goal, and because of that, we succeeded. But I’m a sniper. I observed the field from a distance. I thought from an objective viewpoint and realized this relationship would eventually collapse. Someone wouldn’t keep at it. It might be all right for Dinn, but it was different with me and Shena.”

So Sharnid must have been the first one who couldn’t keep at it? That must be what happened.

“………. This is the result of that guy’s weakness, and also the thing that I destroyed by leaving halfway. We should have broken that relationship in a clearer way. It was my failure to break that relationship.”

Could……. Sharnid have joined Nina’s team to make up for that failure?

“Layfon,” Sharnid said.

“Have you decided?”

“…….. Yes.”

On that day, Layfon conveyed his thoughts to the Student President.

“……… Can you leave Shena to me?” Sharnid asked.

Layfon nodded to that request without resistance.

<center>◇</center>

“Sharnid~” she called, wondering what he was planning. Sharnid had appeared before her, in a position that a sniper should never be in. He held two guns instead of a sniper rifle.

“Do you plan to receive my attack with such a toy!” Blood rushed to Dalshena’s face. What she couldn’t tolerate the most was Sharnid’s fighting suit. A custom-made suit , the same type as Dalshena and Dinn’s. It was designed for the three of them at the time when Sharnid and Dalshena joined the 10th platoon.

Sharnid laughed. “Whether it’s a toy or not, is up to your body.” He readied his fighting stance and attacked.

Kei ran from his hands to the Dites and shot forth with the bullets. The bullets flew towards Dalshena with a speed that exceeded that of an External Type Kei. Dalshena changed her route and jumped to avoid them.

A variation of External Kei – Hairoushou. A sound like an explosion shot from Dalshena’s back. She used the momentum of that explosion to rush at Sharnid. Sharnid retreated as the ground shattered and the smoke danced apart.

“Ku!”

Surrounded by smoke, Dalshena looked awkward. The ground of the war field should not be like this under normal humidity. There were more dust and sand than smoke.

“Did you change the quality of the soil!?” she called, unable to see anything clearly.

Nina had previously buried bags of dry sand in the field to delay Dalshena’s attack and blur the visibility. The flow of External Kei filled Dalshena’s surroundings, keeping the sand from falling. Sand and dust covered a large part of the war field.

“Damn.”

She had lost Sharnid in the dust and sand. She couldn’t sense his presence. Sak Kei. Sharnid was masking his presence and was looking for an opportunity for a surprise attack.

“Where are you!?” She narrowed her eyes. It was difficult to open them because of the sand in the air. She kept still and raised the lance.

She moved.

“Over there!”

Her lance swiped like that.

“Tsk.”

On her right, Sharnid jumped back with his guns crossed before him. He failed to maintain Sak Kei in the split second when he shot the Kei bullet.

“As I thought, it’s not easy.”

“Don’t underestimate me.”

Dalshena’s lance stabbed towards him. Sharnid bent down and stepped inside her range, blocking her lance with his right gun as he pointed forward with his left. Dalshena twisted around as he pulled the trigger. The bullet brushed past her clothes. She retreated. But Sharnid followed close to her as if his right hand was attached to the lance. The clash of Kei from the lance and the gun gave off a huge amount of green sparks. If Sharnid wanted to aim with his left gun, Dalshena would use her bare left hand to change the direction of his gun.

The two of them attacked and defended in a fight that weaved them together.

“Sharnid, why?” Dalshena asked because they were stuck together. Of course, this would loosen her concentration on her opponent.

“Because you’re an idiot.”

“What?”

“You knew but you did nothing. Does that make you an idiot?”

Dalshena’s expression changed. She probably thought of Dinn and the use of illegal drugs.

“Then this plan is………”

Dust and sand covered the war field………. This setup was overboard just for a strategy planned against the 10th platoon. It was probably made to hide what was happening from the audience.

“Exactly,” Sharnid signaled with his eyes.

“Why didn’t you stop him?” he asked.

“And you have the right to say that!?” External Kei shot from Dalshena’s entire body, preventing Sharnid from getting closer.

“Why do you think it turned out like this? Sharnid, it’s all because of your betrayal!”

“The oath? Does our oath have that much value? Shena, did you make that oath because it came from your heart?”

“………” She couldn’t answer.

“You should understand. Our oath was not genuine. It was an excuse made through our feelings.”

“Shut up!”

She attacked and stabbed with all her strength. Sharnid was forced to take evasive action, his body very close to the ground. He climbed up and immediately readied himself. But Dalshena ignored him and kept moving. Her attack was a feint. Her real aim was to meet up with Dinn.

“I won’t let you.”

Sharnid pulled the trigger, aiming for Dalshena’s leg. His sniper rifle would have done well at this distance but what he held now were guns that were designed for physical attack. Black alloy for close combat. The conductibility of Kei was reduced so Sharnid couldn’t shoot as accurately as when he was using a Dite made of lighter alloy. The bullet exploded beneath Dalshena’s feet. It didn’t hit her but it did stop her.

“I won’t let you go.”

Sharnid sped up to block her, once again entering a close range fight.

“Do you really think this is all right, Sharnid?”

“There’s no right or wrong. Didn’t he choose his own ending?” Sharnid called, leaping over the lance and returning an attack.

“Dinn really thinks of the city. Perhaps I did feel something for him at the beginning, but we now fight for the city.”

“I know.”

He knew. Dinn was serious, like an idiot. He didn’t protect this city just because of his feeling for a certain someone.

“Then why are you stopping me?”

“His method is wrong.”

Yes, because of that, Dinn was gradually twisted. There really wasn’t such a thought to protect the city because of the city, and to protect the city of the people living in it. Dinn only used it as his own beliefs and forced himself harder because of it. He became twisted because of that.

“Why do you think it’s wrong? How can you say it’s wrong to increase his own power for the sake of that thought?” Dalshena called bitterly. Sharnid’s face twisted. Dinn can’t be wrong…….. Her words were like that of a religious zealot, and they shook Sharnid’s position.

Sharnid hesitated and stopped his movement. Dalshena swung her lance at him. He would have fainted from the impact of that attack if he didn’t manage to defend with his guns. Sliding away from the ground, he continued to shoot at her.

“……… If he’s not wrong, then why didn’t you say something about the use of illegal drugs?” he said, managing to stand up. “Why didn’t you use the drugs?”

Dalshena’s expression changed again. “…….. Shut up.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about them? If you don’t feel guilty, then why do you keep silent?”

“Shut up!”

Her lance pierced the ground. Right now, she could have defeated Sharnid and joined up with Dinn, but she suddenly stabbed the ground with the lance. Sharnid didn’t understand her actions, but the atmosphere shut him up.

(That’s good.)

He couldn’t do anything to prevent her from meeting up with Dinn. He can only leave her to Layfon. All these thoughts flashed past him behind his expressionless face.

No. It can’t turn out like that. It must not turn out like that. This is an ending Dinn must accept. It’s got nothing to do with Dalshena. Dinn would have wanted it that way too.

Dinn probably didn’t realize that he had unconsciously prevented Dalshena from participating in the illegal affairs.

“He didn’t tell you because he feels guilty. That must be it?”

“……… I said, shut up,” Dalshena said quietly, tightening her grip on the lance. The surface of the lance cracked apart, revealing the blade of a sword.

“Hey, hey……”

And she snatched it out before Sharnid had a good look at it. A thinner blade exuding elegance appeared in her hand.

“You think you’re the only one hiding your real strength?” she raised the sword and charged.

<center>◇</center>

“Your mission is to silence the enemy psychokinesist.”

She recalled Nina’s words before the match. It’d be troublesome if the 10th platoon found out their plan. The 17th platoon confused the enemies’ vision with the screen of dust and sand, cutting off the psychokinesist from the battle and destroying the enemy team’s communication network, completely isolating them one by one. The sand and dust were gathered to cover the audience’s eyes, but it also did well to confuse the 10th platoon.

Naruki ran after Layfon.

(So fast!)

A distance quickly pulled open between Layfon and her. Tension spread out like a growing seed. Her movement didn’t flow as well as usual, but it had reached at least about 80% of her usual self. Except it wasn’t enough to match Layfon’s speed.

(What amazing speed…….)

In this split second, she felt the burning agony of the difference of strength between them. Layfon was very strong….. exceeding any student here. She knew from the matches he had participated in till now and also from the work he did with the City Police. She knew, but what she knew was totally turned over by what she saw now. Her previous understanding was just an innocent feeling of a first year Military Arts student. In another way, Naruki might have been cheated till now.

(Damn.)

She wasn’t as confident with External Type Kei, but internal Kei was different. She had always thought that it wasn’t that difficult to fight with platoon members. She increased her speed.

The members of the 10th platoon did not attack, as expected. Nina was confident in the effectiveness of Layfon’s suppression of the 10th platoon, but Naruki held her suspicions. She didn’t stop to help Layfon even though she felt uneasy about him fighting so many people alone. No matter how powerful he was, he was still alone. Nina’s conclusion was clear-cut. She seemed to know more of Layfon’s real strength than Naruki. The Layfon with Naruki and the Layfon with Nina and her team……. Who was the real Layfon? That was the question hovering in Naruki’s mind.

He was probably Layfon on both sides. Anyone would seem different in different situations. It wasn’t manipulation, but rather the expression of oneself according to what suited the situation best. Naruki had the same experience when she was with Mei-Shen and Mifi and when she was working with the City Police. But looking at the other side of someone she knew was new and surprising.

(She probably can’t trust him at this level.)

Naruki thought of Mei-Shen. Mei-Shen wasn’t a Military Artist. She didn’t have to consider trusting her comrade’s ability during a fight. Mei-Shen was gentle and kind. She cried when Naruki returned at the time of filth monsters assaulting Zuellni. But it should be all right since this was a platoon match. Nobody’s life was threatened. However, if the same life-threatening situation occurred and Layfon had to face danger alone, could Mei-Shen be all right like now?

(I think not.)

Would that difference happen…… Naruki didn’t know now. She hoped the difference wouldn’t be too great. The importance was that Naruki’s childhood friend was interested in someone in Zuellni for the first time, and that someone was of the opposite gender. This was probably what first love was like. Naruki wanted it to be all smooth between Mei-Shen and Layfon……. But Mei-Shen wasn’t the only person interested in him.

(Geez…….)

She hadn’t the time to think of it now. Having run over half of the war field, the camp of the 10th platoon entered her vision. No dust and sand covered this area. The sound of the audience suddenly rose, and the excited voice of the commentator drifted into Naruki’s ear. Everyone’s gaze gathered on the dust-stained Naruki.

“Uh, Uh!” Naruki raised her gaze. She was looking for the enemy psychokinesist. The 10th platoon did make changes to their site, but because it wasn’t entirely necessary, the changes were only minimal. Having spotted the psychokinesist behind the screen of soil, Naruki rushed over to him.

A psychokinesist’s observation of enemy movement was keener than a Military Artist, so he was able to stay behind and feed updated information to his team members who fought at high speed. The psychokinesist of the 10th platoon quickly noticed Naruki was near, but his fighting ability was about the same as an average normal person. The problem now was what sort of defense had the psychokinesist made in the time when he noticed Naruki was around?

“You have a few flakes ahead of you. Please watch out,” Felli’s voice came lightly to Naruki. Naruki changed tact and ran in a zigzag fashion. The air exploded behind her and on her sides. Flashes beamed everywhere. Rumbles filled her eardrums and purple lightning flashed before her. A psychokinetic storm. This was about the only attack mode of a psychokinesist. The flakes followed Naruki, matching her speed and exploding accordingly.

Naruki’s eardrums and balance still worked. She had stuffed her ears and she ran through the gaps in between explosions, eyes half closed.

She opened her eyes, confirmed the location of the psychokinesist and threw over the Dite in her hand.

It was something that Harley made – a rope. It wasn’t a real rope. It was a chain made of black alloy. The small chains chained together and made them look like a rope. It landed on the psychokinesist and wrapped itself around him. Naruki went over and struck him once. The psychokinesist fainted.

“Wa………”

The audience cheered. Naruki breathed a sign of relief and looked back on the dust filled field.

(Layfon, what’re you planning?)

<center>◇</center>

Layfon had yet to hold a Dite. Grains of sand hit his skin as he moved. Despite the lowered visibility due to the sand in his eyes, he managed to block the four enemy team members. Dinn was giving orders from behind his teammates and with delicate timing, assaulted Layfon with the rope in his hand. The rope waited for Layfon until he had avoided the attacks of the four enemies. It felt as if a psychokinesist had set a trap.

But Layfon remained unhurt. He observed the flow of Kei with his eyelids half closed. One glance told him the unusual flow of Kei was caused by the use of the illegal drugs. What was strange was Dinn's lack of control. He was controlling his External and Internal Kei, but he failed to stop the excess Kei from spilling out of his body. This was proof of his inability to control his Kei vein as he wanted. Zuellni’s level hadn’t gone so low as to pick that level of Military Artist for a platoon.

(He’s already wounded.) Layfon thought so. Dinn must be tired, a consequence of using the drugs. This was the same as when Nina fainted from exhausting her internal Kei. Dinn could still use his Kei since his reaction wasn’t as serious as Nina’s, but unusual symptoms existed and they would eventually turn into something very serious.

(If it’s not stopped…) Layfon thought and counter-attacked. He changed the rhythm of following the defense against the 10th platoon’s continuous advance. Dinn and his four team members also changed their rhythm accordingly, and their formation collapsed.

Layfon seized that chance. He struck down all four enemy members in that one moment.

“What?” Dinn looked at his fallen subordinates. “Just who are you?”

Dinn didn’t know what Layfon did, but simultaneously striking down all four people wasn’t something that a normal student in Military Arts could do. This fact made Dinn understand how unusually powerful Layfon was.

“Your end is here,” Layfon burst out what Sharnid had said. He didn’t plan to threaten Dinn, but he couldn’t think of any other suitable words. He pulled out his Dite, let his Kei run into it and restored it.

The Shimu Adamandite.

(You don’t have any other choice.) This thought helped him forgive himself for holding a Katana. He found himself very unsightly, but he was the one who made this choice. He didn’t choose to face this situation so to agree to become Nina’s strength. It was the same as when he was in Grendan. It wasn’t for the sake of this ending that he abused the position of a Heaven’s Blade successor. Since he had made such a choice, all that remained was the question of how to resolve it. Layfon chose to stay with the 17th platoon. But in the 17th platoon were Sharnid, Felli and Harley, and now it also had Naruki. Things associated with them were all entangled.

This time, it was to do with Sharnid.

In this case, Layfon couldn’t give himself an answer to the solemn question he raised. He could only answer with a Katana even though it felt like he was betraying himself a second time.

The first betrayal was when he wielded the Heaven’s Blade and did not choose the form of a Katana. That was the equivalent of rejecting the Psyharden skills that Deruk had taught him when he was small. Once he became a Heaven’s Blade successor, he decided to do anything to earn money. The him back then could not use the skill taught by his adopted father because that would taint his name. And now, Layfon had broken the vow he made.

Pain swam in his chest. His arm felt the weight of the Katana. The setting on the Katana revealed Harley’s exceptional skill. Not only that. The feeling of being exiled was gone. Calmness descended on Layfon. This was matter of fact. The feeling he had at present was the basics of Psyharden’s skill. Everything had come back to him. He was calm.

Layfon frowned to prevent himself from sinking in that nostalgic and natural feeling. He knew that feeling would leave him quickly.

“Here I go,” Layfon said.
“Ahhhhhhh!” Dinn roared in response.

The rope attacked as Layfon started running. The rope went through Layfon as if he were not there.

That was Layfon’s afterimage. He had increased his speed in the second when the rope was about to hit him. This was a variation of internal type Kei – Fleeting shadow. His control of speed caused his opponent to misjudge distance. The afterimages helped to intensify that confusion. The illegal drugs had increased Dinn’s Kei, but Dinn lacked the skill to use his extra Kei. While the rope struck out, Layfon had slipped past the weapon to stand right in front of Dinn.

(And I’m effecting this consequence. What a bad feeling.)

External type variation – Fuushintou.

Layfon’s Katana swung down. The Kei enveloping the blade trembled as if to cut through water. It poured onto Dinn. The Kei jumped in a route that differed from the Katana’s, and it formed needles to stab Dinn’s body.

“Ah…… Ah………”

Dinn moaned and kneeled down. The rope fell onto the ground. Layfon understood Dinn’s feelings as he had gone through the same experience when Deruk taught him that move. The pain wasn’t intense but what he felt was the exhaustion of having all of his strength being sucked away. Layfon had blocked the flow of Kei in Dinn’s limbs. As long as Dinn was like this for a few minutes, his Kei wouldn’t flow well for half a year.

Now Layfon just needed to keep Dinn in this situation for a few more minutes. He looked around to see the sand and dust still covering half of the field. The flow of Kei in the air prevented the sand from settling. Sharnid and Naruki seemed to have finished their respective battle. The sand would probably settle down by the time Layfon released his Kei.

“Wuuuuuuuu.”

“I hope you don’t force yourself,” Layfon said to Dinn, who was trying to stand up.

“If you force yourself too much, you’ll damage your Kei vein.”

The effect of the illegal drugs still stayed with Dinn’s Kei vein. Forcing Kei to work in this situation was like pouring water continuously into a waterway that was dammed. In the end, both dam and waterway would be destroyed.

Dinn forced himself to move a little. His face was all red. “You won’t understand the feeling of wanting to do something even though your own ability isn’t enough. You won’t understand that feeling.”

Layfon frowned. “……. Even my life wasn’t all smooth sailing. I’m here because I failed.”

“…….”

“Being strong can’t solve everything. I fail because I can’t solve everything. You haven’t solved your problem either, and you chose the worst choice. Then which ending is better?”

“…….. Who made this decision?”

“Huh?”

“Who decided my ending? Sharnid? Nina Antalk? The Student President? I won’t let anyone decide my ending. I’m not that weak……”

Feeling disturbance in the air, Layfon raised his Katana. The air flow was stirring. Was Dinn pouring new strength into his Kei vein? No……. Kei was spilling from his Kei vein, but it shouldn’t be enough to speed up the flow of the air.

As if a whirl appeared in the air…….

Layfon remembered something about this unpleasant pressure.

“I’m doing this for the city. You, who doesn’t understand the natural mission of a Military Artist…….”

The huge amount of Kei flowing through Dinn caused his limbs to make a “pa” “pa” sound.

“How can you stop me!” he shouted.

At Dinn’s shout, Layfon felt the Kei needles in Dinn’s body shatter.

“Could it be…”

Standing behind Dinn was a golden goat.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter6|Chapter 6]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume4 Chapter5

2010-01-01T03:06:46Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 5: The vow on that day */

===Chapter 5: The vow on that day===

The day of the match had arrived. Zuellni had finished its resupply. The Student President said they’d spend the next two to three days tidying things up, then continue moving.

Although they couldn’t see the War Field, the enthusiasm of the audience had reached the room. Layfon found it unbelievable that he would see the day where Naruki was frowning in the waiting room for a platoon match.

“Are you all right?”

“Seems I have some problems,” Naruki made some noise, exhausted. She let out a heavy breath, her hand covering her face. Layfon understood that feeling. A feeling of being unable to control her consciousness. Although she had returned to the platoon in order to observe, she still needed to adapt to some areas.

The atmosphere on Layfon’s side was also heavy. Today, he had to defeat Dinn and Dalshena. He knew he didn’t have to kill them. He just had to inflict injuries on them that would make them lie in the hospital for more than half a year. And to do that, he had to use a Katana. Psyharden techniques had to be executed with a Katana. To make it clear, a sword could also be used, and for Layfon who excelled at Military Arts, he might be able to do it with a sword. But a sword wouldn’t allow him to reach the same level as a Katana. It might mean inflicting more severe wounds than intended, wounds that might never heal. Pressure weighed down on Layfon. Having been taught the skill of a Katana, handling a sword was not within his field.

(This isn’t my first day using a weapon outside my field. But……)

It was the same when he took on the title of the Heaven’s Blade successor. The Heaven’s Blade he received had the form of a sword, and that was how Layfon fought. However…….

(I still have to use a Katana in the present.)

As a human, he was embarrassing. And not just that……

“Layfon………”

It was Nina’s voice. Her face didn’t wear that dominating expression that she always donned in platoon matches. In other words, even Nina couldn’t approach today’s fight with her usual self.

“Are you all right?”

The question he asked Naruki before was now directed at him. Layfon could only smile bitterly.

The student acting as communicator headed over to them to relay a command. Without a word, Nina followed that student. Sharnid patted Layfon’s shoulder and followed Nina’s example. Next came Naruki. Layfon slowly sat up and kept a distance from them. Felli walked over to him.

“Fon Fon.”

A soft, everyday greeting. The usual Layfon would have worried about Nina and the others hearing this name of his, but he felt nothing today. For some reason, he didn’t worry about it at all. He didn’t know exactly why he was like this today. Fighting with a Katana, the conversation he had with Sharnid yesterday, Nina’s determination, and Haia’s goal…….. All sorts of things flew through his head, leaving no room to agonize over Felli’s greeting.

But Layfon answered as usual. “What is it?”

Felli cocked her head. Layfon couldn’t tell the meaning behind her expressionless face.

“What is Haia’s goal?” she asked.

“He probably wants to hunt down that thing, but……..”

What did he intend to do once he caught the thing? Neither Layfon nor Felli knew. That thing was the goat that Layfon met in the ruined city. It said something curious to him and then disappeared. Layfon suspected the goat was the one who buried all the dead in the city. Nina speculated the goat was the city’s consciousness, the Electronic Fairy. Her speculation was spot on. Haikizoku. Haia called it by that name. Having gone insane, the Electronic Fairy underwent a change, freed itself from the city and went on a rampage. Haia said he had to do something about it, so he wished for Karian’s help. Layfon didn’t know why Haia infiltrated Zuellni just to obtain the Haikizoku. He was suspicious of Haia’s promise to repay their help by protecting Zuellni from filth monsters for a year. Zuellni had nothing to lose, and that deal was just too good to be true. Layfon had too many things to think about. He had no room to speculate on Haia’s goal.

“I don’t know,” was his only answer.

Felli appeared displeased at his reply. She deliberately walked up to Layfon and kicked him.

“What was that for?”

“I was careless,” she left.

“Just what’s with her……..” Well, since it was Felli’s kick, it didn’t hurt that much, but he had no idea what he did to make her mad. No time for that now. Light flooded his entire vision.

The match was about to begin. Layfon’s hand moved automatically to the weapon harness hanging around his waist. The Safaiadite and the Shimu Adamandite….. Sword or Katana. Layfon’s hand stopped, hovering and hesitating.

The female voice of the commentator cut through the war field. This time the 10th platoon was on the offensive while Layfon and his team defended their flag. The 17th platoon had the disadvantage of being a small team…….. Mifi had said that before. The biggest reason behind it was that the 10th platoon was also best at attacking, just like the 17th platoon.

The siren rang to signal the start of the match. The audience fell silent, holding their breath as a collective whole as the 10th platoon took action.

Delshena rushed straight for the enemy team with her lance, ignoring the attacks from the psychokineist. She strove forward with the innocent belief of winning against many enemies all by herself. Dalshena’s image showed on the huge screen opposite the audience stand. Dense golden curls danced with the wind. Dalshena wore a fighting suit that had seen many battles. The colour of white outlined the edge of a red top that stretched down like a dress behind her. The image of it advancing in a half flying style was like Dalshena riding and controlling a powerful beast.

But there was a reason behind Dalshena’s lone attack. A figure followed behind her like her shadow. Dinn. He held a number of ropes in his hand. They looked like Layfon’s steel threads, but they were thicker and fewer in number. A sharp hammer adorned the ends of each rope. Dinn controlled those ropes as he moved to carve a path before Dalshena. Any enemy that came close would have to deal with those ropes first. Behind Dinn were four other team members, and the six of them moved together to cover for Dalshena’s attacks. The tenth platoon was best at this type of formation.

(Did you see!) Dinn thought as he and his team moved through the war field. He still hadn’t seen anyone from the 17th platoon. They probably planned to hold a decisive fight at their own camp. Dinn laughed at such a coward strategy.

(We can do it even without you!)

Dinn wasn’t the type to overestimate his own ability. His growth in the four years he spent in Zuellni wasn’t much. When his body growth was at its peak, his skill in Military Arts hadn’t seen much improvement. This fact plagued Dinn the most. For him to catch up with Dalshena’s speed and wield the ropes at the same time, he needed the illegal drugs. Both Dalshena and Sharnid excelled in abilities that differed from Dinn. While knowing those two from year 1 to 3, both Dalshena and Sharnid had grown exponentially. Dinn couldn’t have been able to flank those two if not for his invention of this weapon. He called himself fortunate to have met those two.

But Sharnid betrayed him.

(Did you see that!)

Inside Dinn, he screamed painfully. The three of them formed the best formation, but Sharnid had to destroy it, declaring the formation meaningless.

“Shena! We’ll get past them like this,” Dinn called.

Dalshena didn’t reply, instead, she increased her speed. She penetrated any obstacles ahead. The light of Kei encircling her lance pierced through the war field like a beast’s fang. Once they went past the trees, they’d see the camp of the 17th platoon.

And a change happened right then.

At the time when they were about to clear the trees, the ground exploded. Dinn’s ropes and the psychokinest’s flakes failed to detect the traps since they weren’t set in the direct path of team 10.

“No harm done. Keep going!” Dinn called to ease Dalshena’s worry.

But the aim of the explosion wasn’t to stop team 10. The explosion resulted in a smoke screen that covered half of the war field. The psychokinesis-supported camera failed to pierce through that smoke screen. The screen for the audience stand showed nothing but smoke, proof that the smoke screen covered a huge area.

“It’s coming. Watch out.”

The targets were the team members at the back of the formation. Dinn had read the meaning behind the smoke screen and the direction of the attack. But to lower the visibility of team 10 and the audience was……..

The psychokinesist conveyed to team 10 the movements of team 17. Nina Antalk the Captain, Layfon Alseif, the new member and the psychokinesist Felli all stood before the flag. Only Sharnid had gone missing from the start of the match. It seemed he was masking his presence through Kei and hiding in areas that the psychokinesist could not detect. For snipers to attack from a distance, leaking their position was the same as having their plan read like an open book, so they underwent a lot of Kei training. Sharnid did well in that area.

No, Dinn should say that no Military Artist in Zuellni was as excellent a sniper as Sharnid.

“Careful. Don’t get sniped,” Dinn advised, thinking of which person in his team would become the target of Sharnid’s first bullet. Best not be Dinn himself and Dalshena. He stepped back and used the other team members as his shield. Failure was imminent if he fell here, so other members didn’t object to Dinn’s move. Dalshena was responsible for attacking, and if she fell, the attacking power of the team would fall drastically, but she didn’t mind Dinn’s move either. She continued to rush forward as if she was receiving an attack. A gap appeared between her and Dinn.

It was too late by the time the psychokinesist reported the movement of team 17. An attack came from the front right hand corner of the 10th platoon, as if to tear apart the team.

It was Layfon.

As the smoke screen spread out, Layfon’s Whirl Kei separated Dalshena from Dinn.

“Go!” Dinn roared at Dalshena. He thought Layfon was here to suppress him and the rest of team 10, leaving the other members of team 17 to finish off Dalshena. That was Nina’s plan, a strategy that took advantage of Layfon’s excellent abilites. If Dalshena fell, it’d be a five versus three situation. Very disadvantageous for the 10th platoon. But Dinn was confident in Dalshena’s attack power. Nina Antalk was good at defense, but she was nothing before Dalshena’s lance. The new member of team 17 was there to make up for the numbers, and as for Sharnid? Dalshena would have no problem repelling off his bullets…. At that time, Dinn found the other flow of Kei, his timing a bit slower than others because Layfon had blocked his path.

“Sharnid!” Dalshena’s surprise and outrage drifted to Dinn’s ear.

<center>◇</center>

Layfon headed to an audio-visual room of the Military Arts Training Complex on the day before the match. Sharnid had called him over to watch something. The Training Complex contained a number of audio-visual rooms because if the equipment was placed in the training rooms, the platoons might end up destroying them during training. Room 2 was locked. Layfon didn’t see any key around.

“Oi, sorry for that.”

Layfon never thought of analyzing his opponents so he had never entered an audio-visual room before. White tiles covered the floor of the audio-visual room. In the room were chairs and a large screen. The purpose of this room was to show the records of previous matches so the team watching the records could use them to plan their strategies. Sharnid had put together two chairs like a bed and lay on it to watch the screen.

The screen showed a match of the 10th platoon. Dalshena’s valiant attack was enlarged. Nina’s DV skill didn’t do much as the shaking in the screen intensified. Either way, normal DV skill was unable to capture the high-speed movement of a Military Artist.

Layfon tried his best not to look at the screen. It was because if he didn’t watch it, he would keep his guard up. He wanted to have a fair and square fight with her tomorrow. Normally, he wouldn’t deliberately opt for a fair fight, but tomorrow was different. This was why he had chosen to sit opposite Sharnid rather than opposite the screen.

Layfon didn’t know everything. All he knew was that Sharnid used to be very good friends with Dinn and Dalshena.

“Shena’s not part of it.”

“Huh?”

“The illegal drugs…..”

“You sure?”

Layfon didn’t know whether Dalshena was part of it, but Dinn, the captain, was using illegal drugs. It was natural to think that all members of team 10 had taken them.

“So you think she doesn’t know?”

In this case, Layfon wouldn’t have to fight against Dalshena, and that fact put him at ease.

Sharnid shook his head. “I think she knows. She understands the current Dinn more than I. She couldn’t have been oblivious to Dinn’s change. Really……” He bit his tongue and rapped his toes with a knuckle.

“What a good person. To have fairness as her motto but at the same time lying about being a knight. She works with a double standard when her comrade breaks that motto. She wants to investigate but can’t make a decision. Of course she fails to find anything. What an unsightly coward.” Sharnid’s voice was extremely cold. Layfon took care not to annoy him.

“Listen here. We knew each other since year 1. We weren’t in the same class, but we were in the same team in Military Arts class for one on one fight training. We’ve been partners since then. Having the same goal, like idiots. The captain of the 10th platoon took notice of us at that time. He was a good person. We thought of fighting for that person. We thought of that in our youth……….. That person was very sad when Zuellni lost in the last Military Arts Competition. He cried for being unable to do something for the place his liked most. Seeing him like that, we swore to protect Zuellni with our hands,” Sharnid sighed.

To protect Zuellni. It was the same oath as Nina’s. Sharnid was different from Nina in that he stood in the field of the Military Arts Competition as a member of a platoon. Other than that, there wasn’t any difference between the two.

“But then our relationship was already cracking at the time when we swore together.”

Surprised, Layfon kept quiet. What was Sharnid about to say?

“It was pretty simple. Dinn was the captain. Shena’s feelings for Dinn, my feelings for Shena……. It was a romance of a mouse waving its tail. Dinn was the captain. Shena swore because of Dinn, and I swore because of Shena. I already understood our relationships at that time. Even so, I still thought I had a chance. I hid my feelings and suppressed them. I swore to cover them and I lied to myself. I entered the platoon in 3rd year and participated in the matches. We did pretty well. We fought for our own goal, and because of that, we succeeded. But I’m a sniper. I observed the field from a distance. I thought from an objective viewpoint and realized this relationship would eventually collapse. Someone wouldn’t keep at it. It might be all right for Dinn, but it was different with me and Shena.”

So Sharnid must have been the first one who couldn’t keep at it? That must be what happened.

“………. This is the result of that guy’s weakness, and also the thing that I destroyed by leaving halfway. We should have broken that relationship in a clearer way. It was my failure to break that relationship.”

Could……. Sharnid have joined Nina’s team so to make up for that failure?

“Layfon,” Sharnid said.

“Have you decided?”

“…….. Yes.”

On that day, Layfon conveyed his thought to the Student President.

“……… Can you leave Shena to me?” Sharnid asked.

Layfon nodded to that request without resistance.

<center>◇</center>

“Sharnid~” she called, wondering what he was planning. Sharnid had appeared before her, in a position that a sniper should never be in. He held two guns instead of a sniper rifle.

“Do you plan to receive my attack with such a toy!” Blood rushed to Dalshena’s face. What she couldn’t tolerate the most was Sharnid’s fighting suit. A custom-made suit , the same type as Dalshena and Dinn’s. It was designed for the three of them at the time when Sharnid and Dalshena joined team 10.

Sharnid laughed. “Whether it’s a toy or not, is up to your body.” He readied his fighting stance and attacked.

Kei ran from his hands to the Dites and shot forth with the bullets. The bullets flew towards Dalshena with a speed that exceeded that of an External Type Kei. Dalshena changed her route and jumped to avoid them.

A variation of External Kei – Hairoushou. A sound like an explosion shot from Dalshena’s back. She used the momentum of that explosion to rush at Sharnid. Sharnid retreated as the ground shattered and the smoke danced apart.

“Ku!”

Surrounded by smoke, Dalshena looked awkward. The ground of the war field should not be like this under normal humidity. There were more dust and sand than smoke.

“Did you change the quality of the soil!?” she called, unable to see anything clearly.

Nina had previously buried bags of dry sand in the field to delay Dalshena’s attack and blur the visibility. The flow of External Kei filled Dalshena’s surroundings, keeping the sand from falling. Sand and dust covered a large part of the war field.

“Damn.”

She had lost Sharnid in the dust and sand. She couldn’t sense his presence. Sak Kei. Sharnid was masking his presence and was looking for an opportunity for a surprise attack.

“Where are you!?” She narrowed her eyes. It was difficult to open them because of the sand in the air. She kept still and raised the lance.

She moved.

“Over there!”

Her lance swiped like that.

“Tsk.”

On her right, Sharnid jumped back with his guns crossed before him. He failed to maintain Sak Kei in the split second when he shot the Kei bullet.

“As I thought, it’s not easy.”

“Don’t underestimate me.”

Dalshena’s lance stabbed towards him. Sharnid bent down and stepped inside her range, blocking her lance with his right gun as he pointed forward with his left. Dalshena twisted around as he pulled the trigger. The bullet brushed past her clothes. She retreated. But Sharnid followed close to her as if his right hand was attached to the lance. The clash of Kei from the lance and the gun gave off a huge amount of green sparks. If Sharnid wanted to aim with his left gun, Dalshena would use her bare left hand to change the direction of his gun.

The two of them attacked and defended in a fight that weaved them together.

“Sharnid, why?” Dalshena asked because they were stuck together. Of course, this would loosen her concentration on her opponent.

“Because you’re an idiot.”

“What?”

“You knew but you did nothing. Does that make you an idiot?”

Dalshena’s expression changed. She probably thought of Dinn and the use of illegal drugs.

“Then this plan is………”

Dust and sand covered the war field………. This setup was overboard just for a strategy planned against the 10th platoon. It was probably made to hide what was happening from the audience.

“Exactly,” Sharnid signaled with his eyes.

“Why didn’t you stop him?” he asked.

“And you have the right to say that!?” External Kei shot from Dalshena’s entire body, preventing Sharnid from getting closer.

“Why do you think it turned out like this? Sharnid, it’s all because of your betrayal!”

“The oath? Does our oath have that much value? Shena, did you make that oath because it came from your heart?”

“………” She couldn’t answer.

“You should understand. Our oath was not genuine. It was an excuse made through our feelings.”

“Shut up!”

She attacked and stabbed with all her strength. Sharnid was forced to take evasive action, his body very close to the ground. He climbed up and immediately readied himself. But Dalshena ignored him and kept moving. Her attack was a feint. Her real aim was to meet up with Dinn.

“I won’t let you.”

Sharnid pulled the trigger, aiming for Dalshena’s leg. His sniper rifle would have done well at this distance but what he held now were guns that were designed for physical attack. Black alloy for close combat. The conductibility of Kei was reduced so Sharnid couldn’t shoot as accurately as when he was using a Dite made of lighter alloy. The bullet exploded beneath Dalshena’s feet. It didn’t hit her but it did stop her.

“I won’t let you go.”

Sharnid sped up to block her, once again entering a close range fight.

“Do you really think this is all right, Sharnid?”

“There’s no right or wrong. Didn’t he choose his own ending?” Sharnid called, leaping over the lance and returning an attack.

“Dinn really thinks of the city. Perhaps I did feel something for him at the beginning, but we now fight for the city.”

“I know.”

He knew. Dinn was serious, like an idiot. He didn’t protect this city just because of his feeling for a certain someone.

“Then why are you stopping me?”

“His method is wrong.”

Yes, because of that, Dinn was gradually twisted. There really wasn’t such a thought to protect the city because of the city, and to protect the city of the people living in it. Dinn only used it as his own beliefs and forced himself harder because of it. He became twisted because of that.

“Why do you think it’s wrong? How can you say it’s wrong to increase his own power for the sake of that thought?” Dalshena called bitterly. Sharnid’s face twisted. Dinn can’t be wrong…….. Her words were like that of a religious zealot, and they shook Sharnid’s position.

Sharnid hesitated and stopped his movement. Dalshena swung her lance at him. He would have fainted from the impact of that attack if he didn’t manage to defend with his guns. Sliding away from the ground, he continued to shoot at her.

“……… If he’s not wrong, then why didn’t you say something about the use of illegal drugs?” he said, managing to stand up. “Why didn’t you use the drugs?”

Dalshena’s expression changed again. “…….. Shut up.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about them? If you don’t feel guilty, then why do you keep silent?”

“Shut up!”

Her lance pierced the ground. Right now, she could have defeated Sharnid and joined up with Dinn, but she suddenly stabbed the ground with the lance. Sharnid didn’t understand her actions, but the atmosphere shut him up.

(That’s good.)

He couldn’t do anything to prevent her from meeting up with Dinn. He can only leave her to Layfon. All these thoughts flashed past him behind his expressionless face.

No. It can’t turn out like that. It must not turn out like that. This is an ending Dinn must accept. It’s got nothing to do with Dalshena. Dinn would have wanted it that way too.

Dinn probably didn’t realize that he had unconsciously prevented Dalshena from participating in the illegal affairs.

“He didn’t tell you because he feels guilty. That must be it?”

“……… I said, shut up,” Dalshena said quietly, tightening her grip on the lance. The surface of the lance cracked apart, revealing the blade of a sword.

“Hey, hey……”

And she snatched it out before Sharnid had a good look at it. A thinner blade exuding elegance appeared in her hand.

“You think you’re the only one hiding your real strength?” she raised the sword and charged.

<center>◇</center>

“Your mission is to silence the enemy psychokinesist.”

She recalled Nina’s words before the match. It’d be troublesome if the 10th platoon found out their plan. Team 17 confused the enemies’ vision with the screen of dust and sand, cutting off the psychokinesist from the battle and destroying the enemy team’s communication network, completely isolating them one by one. The sand and dust were gathered to cover the audience’s eyes, but it also did well to confuse the 10th platoon.

Naruki ran after Layfon.

(So fast!)

A distance quickly pulled open between Layfon and her. Tension spread out like a growing seed. Her movement didn’t flow as well as usual, but it had reached at least about 80% of her usual self. Except it wasn’t enough to match Layfon’s speed.

(What amazing speed…….)

In this split second, she felt the burning agony of the difference of strength between them. Layfon was very strong….. exceeding any student here. She knew from the matches he had participated in till now and also from the work he did with the City Police. She knew, but what she knew was totally turned over by what she saw now. Her previous understanding was just an innocent feeling of a first year Military Arts student. In another way, Naruki might have been cheated till now.

(Damn.)

She wasn’t as confident with External Type Kei, but internal Kei was different. She had always thought that it wasn’t that difficult to fight with platoon members. She increased her speed.

The members of team 10 did not attack, as expected. Nina was confident in the effectiveness of Layfon’s suppression of the 10th platoon, but Naruki held her suspicions. She didn’t stop to help Layfon even though she felt uneasy about him fighting so many people alone. No matter how powerful he was, he was still alone. Nina’s conclusion was clear-cut. She seemed to know more of Layfon’s real strength than Naruki. The Layfon with Naruki and the Layfon with Nina and her team……. Who was the real Layfon? That was the question hovering in Naruki’s mind.

He was probably Layfon on both sides. Anyone would seem different in different situations. It wasn’t manipulation, but rather the expression of oneself according to what suited the situation best. Naruki had the same experience when she was with Mei-Shen and Mifi and when she was working with the City Police. But looking at the other side of someone she knew was new and surprising.

(She probably can’t trust him at this level.)

Naruki thought of Mei-Shen. Mei-Shen wasn’t a Military Artist. She didn’t have to consider trusting her comrade’s ability during a fight. Mei-Shen was gentle and kind. She cried when Naruki returned at the time of filth monsters assaulting Zuellni. But it should be all right since this was a platoon match. Nobody’s life was threatened. However, if the same life-threatening situation occurred and Layfon had to face danger alone, could Mei-Shen be all right like now?

(I think not.)

Would that difference happen…… Naruki didn’t know now. She hoped the difference wouldn’t be too great. The importance was that Naruki’s childhood friend was interested in someone in Zuellni for the first time, and that someone was of the opposite gender. This was probably what first love was like. Naruki wanted it to be all smooth between Mei-Shen and Layfon……. But Mei-Shen wasn’t the only person interested in him.

(Geez…….)

She hadn’t the time to think of it now. Having run over half of the war field, the camp of the 10th platoon entered her vision. No dust and sand covered this area. The sound of the audience suddenly rose, and the excited voice of the commentator drifted into Naruki’s ear. Everyone’s gaze gathered on the dust-stained Naruki.

“Uh, Uh!” Naruki raised her gaze. She was looking for the enemy psychokinesist. The 10th platoon did make changes to their site, but because it wasn’t entirely necessary, the changes were only minimal. Having spotted the psychokinesist behind the screen of soil, Naruki rushed over to him.

A psychokinesist’s observation of enemy movement was keener than a Military Artist, so he was able to stay behind and feed updated information to his team members who fought at high speed. The psychokinesist of team 10 quickly noticed Naruki was near, but his fighting ability was about the same as an average normal person. The problem now was what sort of defense had the psychokinesist made in the time when he noticed Naruki was around?

“You have a few flakes ahead of you. Please watch out,” Felli’s voice came lightly to Naruki. Naruki changed tact and ran in a zigzag fashion. The air exploded behind her and on her sides. Flashes beamed everywhere. Rumbles filled her eardrums and purple lightning flashed before her. A psychokinetic storm. This was about the only attack mode of a psychokinesist. The flakes followed Naruki, matching her speed and exploding accordingly.

Naruki’s eardrums and balance still worked. She had stuffed her ears and she ran through the gaps in between explosions, eyes half closed.

She opened her eyes, confirmed the location of the psychokinesist and threw over the Dite in her hand.

It was something that Harley made – a rope. It wasn’t a real rope. It was a chain made of black alloy. The small chains chained together and made them look like a rope. It landed on the psychokinesist and wrapped itself around him. Naruki went over and struck him once. The psychokinesist fainted.

“Wa………”

The audience cheered. Naruki breathed a sign of relief and looked back on the dust filled field.

(Layfon, what’re you planning?)

<center>◇</center>

Layfon had yet to hold a Dite. Grains of sand hit his skin as he moved. Despite the lowered visibility due to the sand in his eyes, he managed to block the four enemy team members. Dinn was giving orders from behind his teammates and with delicate timing, assaulted Layfon with the rope in his hand. The rope waited for Layfon until he had avoided the attacks of the four enemies. It felt as if a psychokinesist had set a trap.

But Layfon remained unhurt. He observed the flow of Kei with his eyelids half closed. One glance told him the unusual flow of Kei was caused by the use of the illegal drugs. What was strange was Dinn's lack of control. He was controlling his External and Internal Kei, but he failed to stop the excess Kei from spilling out of his body. This was proof of his inability to control his Kei vein as he wanted. Zuellni’s level hadn’t gone so low as to pick that level of Military Artist for a platoon.

(He’s already wounded.) Layfon thought so. Dinn must be tired, a consequence of using the drugs. This was the same as when Nina fainted from exhausting her internal Kei. Dinn could still use his Kei since his reaction wasn’t as serious as Nina’s, but unusual symptoms existed and they would eventually turn into something very serious.

(If it’s not stopped…) Layfon thought and counter-attacked. He changed the rhythm of following the defense against the 10th platoon’s continuous advance. Dinn and his four team members also changed their rhythm accordingly, and their formation collapsed.

Layfon seized that chance. He struck down all four enemy members in that one moment.

“What?” Dinn looked at his fallen subordinates. “Just who are you?”

Dinn didn’t know what Layfon did, but simultaneously striking down all four people wasn’t something that a normal student in Military Arts could do. This fact made Dinn understand how unusually powerful Layfon was.

“Your end is here,” Layfon burst out what Sharnid had said. He didn’t plan to threaten Dinn, but he couldn’t think of any other suitable words. He pulled out his Dite, let his Kei run into it and restored it.

The Shimu Adamandite.

(You don’t have any other choice.) This thought helped him forgive himself for holding a Katana. He found himself very unsightly, but he was the one who made this choice. He didn’t choose to face this situation so to agree to become Nina’s strength. It was the same as when he was in Grendan. It wasn’t for the sake of this ending that he abused the position of a Heaven’s Blade successor. Since he had made such a choice, all that remained was the question of how to resolve it. Layfon chose to stay with the 17th platoon. But in the 17th platoon were Sharnid, Felli and Harley, and now it also had Naruki. Things associated with them were all entangled.

This time, it was to do with Sharnid.

In this case, Layfon couldn’t give himself an answer to the solemn question he raised. He could only answer with a Katana even though it felt like he was betraying himself a second time.

The first betrayal was when he wielded the Heaven’s Blade and did not choose the form of a Katana. That was the equivalent of rejecting the Psyharden skills that Deruk had taught him when he was small. Once he became a Heaven’s Blade successor, he decided to do anything to earn money. The him back then could not use the skill taught by his adopted father because that would taint his name. And now, Layfon had broken the vow he made.

Pain swam in his chest. His arm felt the weight of the Katana. The setting on the Katana revealed Harley’s exceptional skill. Not only that. The feeling of being exiled was gone. Calmness descended on Layfon. This was matter of fact. The feeling he had at present was the basics of Psyharden’s skill. Everything had come back to him. He was calm.

Layfon frowned to prevent himself from sinking in that nostalgic and natural feeling. He knew that feeling would leave him quickly.

“Here I go,” Layfon said.
“Ahhhhhhh!” Dinn roared in response.

The rope attacked as Layfon started running. The rope went through Layfon as if he were not there.

That was Layfon’s afterimage. He had increased his speed in the second when the rope was about to hit him. This was a variation of internal type Kei – Fleeting shadow. His control of speed caused his opponent to misjudge distance. The afterimages helped to intensify that confusion. The illegal drugs had increased Dinn’s Kei, but Dinn lacked the skill to use his extra Kei. While the rope struck out, Layfon had slipped past the weapon to stand right in front of Dinn.

(And I’m effecting this consequence. What a bad feeling.)

External type variation – Fuushintou.

Layfon’s Katana swung down. The Kei enveloping the blade trembled as if to cut through water. It poured onto Dinn. The Kei jumped in a route that differed from the Katana’s, and it formed needles to stab Dinn’s body.

“Ah…… Ah………”

Dinn moaned and kneeled down. The rope fell onto the ground. Layfon understood Dinn’s feelings as he had gone through the same experience when Deruk taught him that move. The pain wasn’t intense but what he felt was the exhaustion of having all of his strength being sucked away. Layfon had blocked the flow of Kei in Dinn’s limbs. As long as Dinn was like this for a few minutes, his Kei wouldn’t flow well for half a year.

Now Layfon just needed to keep Dinn in this situation for a few more minutes. He looked around to see the sand and dust still covering half of the field. The flow of Kei in the air prevented the sand from settling. Sharnid and Naruki seemed to have finished their respective battle. The sand would probably settle down by the time Layfon released his Kei.

“Wuuuuuuuu.”

“I hope you don’t force yourself,” Layfon said to Dinn, who was trying to stand up.

“If you force yourself too much, you’ll damage your Kei vein.”

The effect of the illegal drugs still stayed with Dinn’s Kei vein. Forcing Kei to work in this situation was like pouring water continuously into a waterway that was dammed. In the end, both dam and waterway would be destroyed.

Dinn forced himself to move a little. His face was all red. “You won’t understand the feeling of wanting to do something even though your own ability isn’t enough. You won’t understand that feeling.”

Layfon frowned. “……. Even my life wasn’t all smooth sailing. I’m here because I failed.”

“…….”

“Being strong can’t solve everything. I fail because I can’t solve everything. You haven’t solved your problem either, and you chose the worst choice. Then which ending is better?”

“…….. Who made this decision?”

“Huh?”

“Who decided my ending? Sharnid? Nina Antalk? The Student President? I won’t let anyone decide my ending. I’m not that weak……”

Feeling disturbance in the air, Layfon raised his Katana. The air flow was stirring. Was Dinn pouring new strength into his Kei vein? No……. Kei was spilling from his Kei vein, but it shouldn’t be enough to speed up the flow of the air.

As if a whirl appeared in the air…….

Layfon remembered something about this unpleasant pressure.

“I’m doing this for the city. You, who doesn’t understand the natural mission of a Military Artist…….”

The huge amount of Kei flowing through Dinn caused his limbs to make a “pa” “pa” sound.

“How can you stop me!” he shouted.

At Dinn’s shout, Layfon felt the Kei needles in Dinn’s body shatter.

“Could it be…”

Standing behind Dinn was a golden goat.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter6|Chapter 6]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume4 Chapter4

2010-01-01T02:34:40Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 4: Outside the Wheel */

===Chapter 4: Outside the Wheel===

I can’t be forgiven like this……

“Wa, this is the new Dite…” Layfon sighed. This sigh was aimed at Naruki and her friends, who had come to the library to meet him and to finish their homework. Hanging on Naruki’s weapon harness was her usual police baton and Harley’s newly made Dite.

“Yeah, I was surprised too. It’s only been a night since I joined the platoon. It feels as if something serious has happened.”

No. In fact, Layfon had only made this time to meet one person. The other two girls were waiting for Layfon just as usual.

“Yeah, something did happen,” Naruki said with a sour expression. She stared at Layfon as if hoping to find out some news. While they went through their homework, she always tried to find a chance to be alone with Layfon. It seemed she hadn’t mentioned the real reason behind her joining the platoon to Mei-Shen and Mifi. But that wasn’t Layfon’s problem. Naruki herself was trying to find the timing to speak with him.

Even so, Layfon was worried……

(I can’t tell her the Captain’s exposed the plan.)

Yesterday’s conversation between Nina and Dinn meant little to the two of them, but it was bad news for Naruki, particularly because she worked for the City Police. Layfon had found out that no one from the City Police had infiltrated the platoons to investigate this case other than Naruki. No one else was tracking Dinn.

(What should I do……)

Compared to his more relaxed past, Layfon was plagued by worries these days. He cared nothing for how other people viewed him back in Grendan. Of course, he took care not to let anyone know of what he was doing, especially Leerin and his adopted father. Besides that, Layfon hadn’t done anything that would draw attention to himself.

(Why can’t I act like I did before?)

In the end, Layfon’s time in the library was spent feeling pressure and agitation. Still, no matter what, he hoped for the time here to drag on as long as possible. He sincerely wished for the afternoon to stay away. Platoon training was in the afternoon, and he would have to head for the Military Arts Training Complex with Naruki. She’d know of what happened yesterday night.

No matter how hard Layfon prayed, time passed as it did, fair and equal to anyone. The time in the library ended as Layfon finished his homework with loose concentration.

The last hour of lunch also ended, drawing close to the platoon training time. Naruki first announced the hour to part.

Ah, I’m finished……

“And? How did yesterday go?” Naruki asked the instant that she had parted with Mei-Shen and Mifi. In the face of Naruki’s impatience, Layfon realized that he had no way out of this.

(Huh, it can’t be helped.)

“Um……. Nothing much happened yesterday.”

He wasn’t good at lying. That was his decision.

“Really………. I guess it’s not easy to catch him red-handed.”

(Sorry.)

Layfon smiled forcefully as he apologized in his head.

“Well, this will take time. Getting impatient right now will only be our defeat. Anyway, we just have to do our best.”

Do our best. It seemed Naruki had a pressing wish to resolve this case.

“Naruki, what if…….. what if that person truly wants to protect this city, so he turned towards illegal means, what would you do?”

“Huh?”

“What if he truly wants to protect this city knowing his true strength is not enough…… so he uses those illegal drugs. What would you do?”

Layfon didn’t find Dinn’s method despicable. Nina called the want to protect everything in the city selfishness. Nina’s ideal was very beautiful, but it wasn’t realistic. In an everyday peaceful atmosphere, one would forget the fact that Zuellni was in a dire situation. Nina’s determination that supported her wish in this dire time was particularly dazzling. But Layfon knew that kind of thinking wasn’t enough. Although the illegal drugs were deplorable, Layfon didn’t think Dinn was wrong. Dinn’s method was cleverly covered by the excuse of the Military Arts Competition. Like the inevitability of a city’s death, it was natural that the people who took part in such a fight were not perfect.

“I’ve already considered it,” Naruki replied, avoiding Layfon’s gaze. “He can be called a hero with Zuellni’s current situation. Even though his method is illegal, I think no one would directly criticize him. But the truth remains that this is a crime. It’s a crime within the Academy City Zuellni. It’s forbidden. It’s also horrible to his own body. The use of those illegal drugs can speed up the deterioration of the Kei vein.”

“Do you know?” Naruki asked Layfon, keeping her back to him. “It’s not meaningless to sacrifice one’s body to protect the city. This act is tragically beautiful, but I can’t accept it. Which one is more important? The city or the people…….. If it was me, I’d choose the people. We have other Academy Cities beside Zuellni, so I’ll definitely capture him and stop him. If a day comes when something must be sacrificed, if Mei-Shen and Mifi would be sacrificed, I’ll save them. So I’ll also save Dinn.”

The last line was probably Naruki’s real feelings. She would never stand still if Mei-Shen and Mifi needed help. Naruki’s thinking was what Layfon lacked. He cared less for other people.

He just wanted to protect everyone back at that time.

“Naruki’s thinking doesn’t fall short of the captain’s.”

“Nah. I still want to become a Chief. I feel strongly against any illegal acts. To say it more clearly, I neither sympathize nor agree with Dinn’s thinking. Bad is bad. I don’t believe I’m entirely just. The law isn’t perfect, but if we don’t abide by it, then human society cannot work properly. So we must not ignore the law. If we want to ignore the law, then it’s better if we find someplace to live with no one else around. Am I too cold?”

“Not at all, you’re right.”

Dinn had said that it was necessary in order to protect the city. Nina had said that the want to protect everything was selfish. Naruki’s thinking was different from theirs. She was indifferent to the fate of the city. If Zuellni was destroyed, the people just needed to move to other cities. Naruki had questioned whether the city or the people was more important. Humans were more important, Layfon felt the same as her. Thinking back on how he acted in the past, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that he was Naruki’s comrade. But still, he didn’t want to see the Electronic Fairy die. The point that people could move to other cities was troublesome to Layfon. In terms of materials, Layfon didn’t have enough money. As a Military Artist, he could move around cities like the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang, acting like a mercenary, but that wasn’t what Layfon wanted to do. Money was still needed to let him move to other cities, whether it was an Academy City or a normal City.

This problem was embarrassing, a problem that couldn’t even be compared to that of anyone else’s around him, but it was very realistic for Layfon. Hence, he didn’t want this current reality to vanish.

However, his existence in Zuellni couldn’t guarantee a victory in the Military Arts Competition.

(Ah, I see……)

He admitted it, finding it strange. As those words surfaced in his mind, he felt that his own problem and his position in this case were too different from others. Whether the problem had anything to do with the City or the people, the fact was that power could solve everything. If Nina and Naruki left this problem to Layfon, then perhaps, everything could be solved.

(Um……. That might not work?)

It probably wouldn’t work with people like Nina around. She wouldn’t let him shoulder everything. As he thought on it, he found himself nearing the Training Complex, the Training Complex with Nina in it………

(Ah……..)

A bad premonition flashed through his mind as each step took him closer to confirmation.

“I’m sorry. I contacted Dinn yesterday.”

Nina really didn’t fail his expectations. He wasn’t sure whether it was good or bad. Like yesterday, she had come earlier than anyone else. Felli and Sharnid had yet to show themselves.

Naruki stood stiffly next to Layfon. The trembling of her lips spread out to her entire body.

“Wh, wh, wh, wh……” she failed to get a word out as she watched Layfon. Layfon did say just a moment before that “Nothing had happened.”

“Sorry. I lied,” he said honestly, lowering his head.

Nina didn’t wait for Naruki to recover her composure. “I understand your feelings about having your mission interfered with. Even so, I did what I did according to my principles.”

“Uh, wait a minute. Yesterday, that person admitted he was using illegal drugs. Isn’t that proof?”

“I didn’t tape it. You don’t have it either. Besides, I didn’t see him taking drugs. That kind of proof isn’t convincing enough. Dinn knew that was the case, so he said what he said.”

“……..”

Nina herself denied her own defense.

“…….. Then just what did you want to do?” Naruki said, after finally calming herself down. Outrage filled her eyes. “You said you did that according to your principles? Do you know what those principles mean? Isn’t that the same as providing the criminal with information to help him evade capture?”

“Probably.”

“You’re helping the criminal by leaking our information to him…..”

“I know, but I must do that. I had a reason to contact him.”

“A reason…….”

“You mean Sharnid-senpai?” Layfon cut in.

Nina nodded. “I entered the 14th platoon in first year. It wasn’t that strong a platoon. The captain was pretty good, and the relationship between team members wasn’t bad. We trusted each other, and we had different abilities to confront different situations, but we didn’t make it in the last Military Arts Competition…….”

The 14th platoon…… was the team that made Zuellni lose in the last Military Arts Competition. Past memories surfaced in Nina’s mind. “In a match last year, we fought the 10th platoon, including Dinn Dee, Dalshena Che Matelna and Sharnid Elipton. They were all one year older than me, in third year. All members in the 10th platoon were in the 6th year. They took in three third year students, a pretty bold act. Anyone would have thought the 10th platoon weak, but in fact, they were very strong. Dalshena’s stormy attack, Dinn’s variations and Sharnid’s accurate sniping. That combination covered up each person’s weakness. Their attack was overwhelmingly strong. I really admired them. The higher-ups found their custom-made fighting suits arrogant, but to us, it was like the dazzling flag of a new era.”

The result was obvious. Sharnid’s exit in the second half of the platoon match broke their tri-combo and the 10th platoon was disbanded.

“Dinn’s anger was intense. He even declared a duel with Sharnid. Sharnid accepted it but he didn’t resist in the duel. He was beaten up. The judge stopped the duel because of the severity of Sharnid’s injuries, so severe that it might have resulted in long-lasting effects. It’s fortunate that he recovered,” Nina sighed, as if she was putting down something heavy in her. Layfon and Naruki kept silent and waited for her to continue.

“I went to find Sharnid after the match. I wanted to form my own team. I could never become strong by staying with the 14th platoon. My desire was deep, very deep……. Because I met her.”

“Her” must be Zuellni.

“I talked to Sharnid that I needed him to form a team. It was difficult at first, but he agreed in the end. I also talked to Harley. When I applied to form a new platoon, the newly elected Student President, Karian-senpai, introduced me to Felli.”

The 17th platoon had begun operating like that. Layfon’s appearance in second year had enabled the team to become truly active.

“…… I took Sharnid from the 10th platoon.”

“It wasn’t really….”

“Although reality wasn’t like that, it wasn’t allowed in the relationship between those three. I don’t know what happened between them, but things wouldn’t have turned out like that if Sharnid was just a normal student studying Military Arts.”

True. It was very irritating to see a rival walk into one’s sight. Although Sharnid had left the team, Dinn couldn’t ignore him in a fight.

He couldn’t ignore him.

It wouldn’t have mattered if the 17th platoon was so weak that it wasn’t worth mentioning. The time for the match against the 10th platoon was nearing. When that time came, Dinn’s feelings would be in disorder. On the other hand, if the 17th platoon was too weak, then Dinn might be able to disregard his feelings towards Sharnid.

But that wasn’t possible now.

(Yes, because I’m here.)

The 17th platoon was now much more powerful than Nina had anticipated, so powerful that no one would turn his eyes from them. All because Layfon was here. All team members were powerful, like Nina, Sharnid and Felli, but the team originally lacked a frontline attacker. Nina had trouble finding a Military Artist in Zuellni to fill that number in the 17th platoon.

But everything changed when Layfon entered the Academy.

A Heaven’s Blade successor from Grendan was someone who fought filth monsters alone. Layfon’s power wasn’t a power that a normal student should have, and his participation in Zuellni brought an intense change to the 17th platoon. Nina could now concentrate on her original work of making and implementing strategies; Sharnid could fulfill his potential according to the situation; and even Felli, who was originally indifferent, had become more serious. The entire team had become stronger because of Layfon’s appearance. This turning point was worth celebrating for Karian, who planned with all he could to have Layfon enter the platoon, and Nina, who strove to protect the City. But it was different for Dinn Dee. Dinn couldn’t accept this reality. He couldn’t allow the fact that Sharnid had betrayed him and entered a team that had become strong. Dinn’s outrage came from a betrayal of trust. He could not tolerate it.

<center>◇</center>

In the end, Naruki left for the City Police office right after coming to the Training Complex. She was probably going to report this to Formed and ask for further instruction. Entering the platoon and serving as a fake member had probably caused some ripples in Naruki’s thinking.

What did Nina think of this?

“It can’t be helped now that the situation’s become like this,” Nina replied like a balloon without air. Her expression hadn’t changed during the training hour. She stood balanced on one of the metallic balls spread across the floor, looking as if her heart was somewhere else.

“Hey, hey. How come the usual energy’s flown out the window?” Sharnid said, having finally arrived.

“Aa, you’re so loud,” Nina grumbled, her face red. Sharnid shrugged.

“Oh yes, I ran into Felli-chan earlier. She said she’s not coming,” he said, stood on one of the balls and rolled his way to Nina.

“……. What?”

“Uh….. well, and I wanted to tell you not to force yourself.”

Layfon’s heart jumped.

“……. What do you mean?” Nina asked.

“Dinn and Layfon’s friend entering the platoon. I guess the City Police’s caught that guy’s tail, right?”

“……. You already knew?” Nina said in surprise. Sharnid’s smile turned slightly bitter.

“Aren’t I the one who knows them the best? I knew just by looking at their performance once. Kei can’t possibly increase that much in such a short period of time?” he looked at Layfon for confirmation. Layfon nodded in embarrassment.

“Then, are we gonna arrest him?” Sharnid asked as if he was asking about tomorrow’s weather.

“You don’t find that a problem?”

“No problem. Isn’t this the consequence of his actions? It’d be very painful to lose Zuellni, since we all have feelings for it, but I think it’s another matter to damage one’s own body.”

Sharnid’s thinking was the same as Nina’s.

“Then wouldn’t this be a better outcome than losing body and heart?”

“Probably, but…….”

“The problem is………”

Sharnid wasn’t concerned with Nina’s anxiety. His attitude was stronger than before and he had frankly expressed his opinion. He continued. “We cannot allow a scandal to come from the Military Arts course right now. Because of losing the last Military Arts Competition, the seniors are already being looked at with contempt. The juniors can just move to other cities and graduate there, but the seniors are different. They’re about to graduate. Losing Zuellni might mean losing their right to their qualifications. If a scandal comes out, then even the Military Arts Leader might be fired. Aren’t we at a strange time right now? We can use this……. I think it’s quite a good idea.”

Layfon’s eyes widened at Sharnid, who gave his opinion with the attitude of a politician.

“What? Sometimes I use my brain too.”

The corner of his lips pulled up mockingly, as if Sharnid had realized that he wasn’t acting like himself.

“What do you think, captain?”

“Well, I can’t make a judgement,” Nina shook her head.

“Same here. If I had known this earlier, then I only needed to talk to one person, Karian-sama.”

Layfon heard what Sharnid said, but explaining this to Karian would mean sealing Dinn’s fate.

“……. Is this really all right?” Nina had the same thought as Layfon. This would eventually get the top people of the City involved. The end result might be a cold-hearted one. After all, Karian became a Student President in order to protect the city. If he were to choose between people or city, he’d definitely choose the city.

“Can’t be helped about that, since that guy’s in such a situation,” Sharnid said.

Sharnid, Layfon and Nina headed for the Student Council, the training mood having dissipated. The female student led them into an empty conference room rather than the Student President’s office. Karian appeared not long after.

“Sorry for making you wait. Is there something you want with me?”

“Speaking of that…..”

Karian listened quietly to Nina’s narration. The scandal of using illegal drugs didn’t shake him.

“Then what do you want me to do?” he asked with a smile. No one could tell what he was thinking.

“I don’t think you’d want anything to happen in this special time,” Sharnid answered. “If possible, we want this case to be managed in secret.”

“Secret. Ah, I see you haven’t had a talk with the Chief of Police. You’ll have to talk to him either way…… In truth, this kind of event must not happen in this hour. If it is leaked out, this problem won’t just be a news item. The seniors would be in great trouble and Vance might lose his position. And if we don’t do anything about this, our right to enter the Military Arts Competition would be questioned. If the Academy union got wind of this, they might withdraw part of or even their entire financial support……. Even if we somehow manage the financial crisis, we’d also lose the contact we need to sell our research data, and that is one big source of income.

Karian had analyzed all the possibilities…… and as one possibility led to a worse possibility, Karian’s expression turned more and more serious.

“So what do we do next? That’s the question, isn’t it?” he looked at Nina for confirmation.

At Nina’s nod, Karian smiled. “In that case, good. I’ll talk to the Chief of Police and get him to stop the investigation for now.”

“But that won’t……”

“Not only that of course. You’ll have to act. Let me rephrase this, you action is the most important.”

“…… What do we do?”

“What else is there besides the platoon match? You against the 10th platoon. You must win this match.”

“Of course we’ll do our best in the match.”

“Of course, but don’t you have someone who isn’t like that?”

All three people turned their gazes to Layfon.

“……… You’re not telling us to kill him?”

Nina’s expression changed. Layfon recalled that this was his way of doing things in Grendan. Yes, that was how he viewed it and so he was neither angry nor confused, and for some reason, he was surprised at himself for calmly analyzing this possibility.

“Student President, that’s……”

“No, no. You’d face a huge problem if you did that. People have died in matches in Zuellni, but things couldn’t be solved easily if the whole team died,” Karian shook his hand in denial.

“Then…….”

“We just need something that stops them from maintaining a proper team. It could be an arm or even a leg…… and I don’t mean every team member has to be hurt like that. As long as the core of the 10th platoon sustains injuries that make them unable to fight in this year or for half a year, the 10th platoon loses its fighting power. In that case, I could use the authority of a Student President to disband the team.”

“Does that mean wounding Dinn or Shena?” Sharnid said.

Zuellni’s level of medical treatment could help heal a broken bone in one week, which meant a broken bone wouldn’t be enough to effect the collapse of the 10th platoon. In that case, the 17th platoon needed to destroy the nervous system, as that would need a longer treatment period. But that was difficult. A Military Artist’s nervous system was connected to the flow of his Kei vein…….. meaning the nervous system was extremely close to that of the Kei’s path. The path of the Kei vein flowed naturally to protect the nerves. It wasn’t that easy to just destroy them.

“Are you saying we have to hit the head and paralyze the other person for the rest of his life? Isn’t that overboard?” Sharnid said angrily.

A hit to the head was extremely serious to a normal person. It was the same to a Military Artist who had his physical body strengthened through Kei. Intense shock received on the head from the outside could cause death, and even if that person didn’t die, he would suffer serious side effects. Zuellni’s medical treatment was not enough to treat that kind of an injury.

“It’d be troublesome if we fail to do that. If it really doesn’t work, all we can do is add a few crimes on their heads and exile them….. but things like being exiled are large enough punishments to cause a scandal. Besides, we don’t know whether Dinn would abide by the Student Council’s decision.”

“It probably won’t work. It’s Dinn’s style to reach his end with any means once he’s made his decision. He’s probably working underground and gathering people who think like him…….. Things like that.”

“Yes. In fact, he might become the next Student President. He’s clear-headed and acts on his decisions. He might make a good leader, though his intense sense of mission could cause problems. The Vice Captain Dalshena is elegant and popular. If she becomes an advisor…… Perhaps the combination of her being the Student President and Dinn holding the real power could be a very good match. It’s a shame that it’s impossible.”

“Ahah…… That would really suit them,” Sharnid agreed.

“I think it’d be even better if that combination included you.”

“Joining the Student Council is too much for me.”

“Really? You can do what they can’t. Don’t you think that’s very important to them?”

“Not at all,” Sharnid tossed down his comment and turned around as if the topic wasn’t worth discussing anymore.

“Never mind. It’s meaningless to talk about that now. Coming back to the topic, the problem is Layfon-kun. Can you do it or not…… That’s the question. Can you?”

“………”

“Can you injure him so he needs more than half a year of medical treatment?” Karian asked.

“…….. Layfon,” said Nina.

Layfon couldn’t answer them. Should he say he can or that he can’t…… He could achieve both answers.

“Layfon, if you can’t do it, then just say you can’t,” Nina said, as if she was entreating him to give such an answer. Although Layfon made a decision to come here himself, he had become confused in the face of Karian’s calm analysis.

Clearly, Layfon showed unwillingness for this outcome. He could only answer like this.

“Sure.”

But the answer came from someone else.

The answer that came from the direction of the door caused Layfon to stand up and snatch out his Dite. He had heard that voice before.

“Eavesdropping is a bad hobby,” Karian said to stop Layfon short.

“Oh, excuse me, but I can’t help it. This topic is interesting. Besides, I’ve something to say to someone in here,” the person who voiced the answer for Layfon strode into the conference room.

“Haia……”

It really was him but his presence wasn’t the only surprising factor.

“Felli……… senpai?”

A girl Layfon didn’t know stood beside Haia, and standing next to that girl was Felli with a troubled look in her eyes.

“Wh….. Who are you people?” Nina said with her guard up. Haia and the other girl didn’t look like they were students.

“I’m Haia Salinvan Lyia, the leader of the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang…… I think that’s enough introduction. What do you think?”

“What did you say?”

It seemed Nina hadn’t heard of the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang. She glanced at Layfon with a doubtful expression, showing that she knew Haia had something to do with Grendan.

“Why do you think he can do it?” Karian asked after a sigh.

“The Psyharden technique can do it. Don’t you know? The highly difficult skill in External Type Burst Kei. It’s also a common technique used in different schools under different names.”

“That……. I do know,” Nina nodded, hiding her surprise at Haia’s sudden appearance.

“But that’s a move to wound all inner organs. If we use that……..”

“Yes. Well, that move is pretty interesting if it’s used against the head.”

“He’ll die,” Karian frowned.

“Ah, Kei is a move that affects a large area, so normal defensive mechanisms never work. At least, Zuellni shouldn’t have any such mechanisms to defend against Wolfstein using that move.”

“What do you want to say?” Karian urged.

“Wolfstein and I………. I mean the previous Wolfstein. We have both inherited the Psyharden technique. It’s impossible that Wolfstein can’t use a move that I know. Besides, he’s a Heaven’s Blade successor. He can live till now because he was a Heaven’s Blade successor. He managed to survive and defeat filth monsters because he continuously created and altered the Psyharden technique. His technique is one that he has honed through many battles against other Military Artists.”

Haia watched Layfon. Layfon…… was unable to take that gaze head-on. The weight of the Dite in his weapon harness felt heavier.

“You’re the apprentice of my Master’s older brother (older brother in the school, not blood related). He’s inherited the name of Psyharden in Grendan. It’s impossible that you can’t use that move. You can, can’t you? Using Fuushintou.”

“What kind of a move is this Fuushintou?” Karian asked on behalf of everyone else in the room besides Layfon.

“It’s simply a move that turns Kei into needles and hits the Kei vein with them. That way, the effect of the needles spreads out to the entire body, including the nervous system. It’s similar to the needles that the doctors use on Military Artists. This isn’t medical treatment but Fuushintou that was created through Military Arts.”

(Speaking of the unnecessary.) Layfon thought.

He could no longer say that he couldn’t do it. If he said that, then the move would have become a move that Deruk taught him in secret. And that would bring huge shame on the Psyharden School. A person who carried the name of the school bore the meaning that he would teach the next generation the Military Arts without keeping anything back himself. Layfon wouldn’t let Deruk carry such shame even though he no longer was in Grendan.

“But……” Haia said, as if wanting to say more.

(Stop.) Such a thought yelled in Layfon’s head, but he failed to give voice to it.

“But I don’t know whether you can execute Fuushintou perfectly using a sword. Psyharden’s technique is made for the Katana. You can’t execute that move with a sword. Might be better for you to try using Whirl Kei moves.”

“So…… It can be solved with a Katana?” Karian asked.

Layfon didn’t reply. All he was doing was to suppress the anger rising inside him.

(It’s the same with him and the same with him……)

This guy and that guy, they were all trampling over the deepest part of Layfon, whether it was Kiriku or Haia. Checking the atmosphere around him, Layfon decided to swallow his words. But…… Was he just going to let……..

“Excuse me……..” Nina raised her hand slowly. “Although it’s not suitable for me to raise this, but can you give us some time?”

“No problem. What do you think, Sharnid?”

“…….. Sure.”

“Since you want more time, then I’ll wait, but I wish you’d give me an answer before the match. I’ll talk to the City Police, but that won’t last long.”

“I know.”

Nina’s angry countenance surfaced in Layfon’s mind, but right now, his head was too full to take in that kind of a worry.

“Ah, Layfon-kun, please stay behind for a sec,” Karian said.

“What is it?”

“I’ve something to talk to you about. Please just stay behind for a few minutes.”

“What?” Nina asked.

“It could be something very important. You know I wouldn’t talk to Layfon about something irrelevant in this situation,” Karian said to Nina, who regarded the Student President with caution.

“It’s all right. Please go ahead, Captain,” Layfon said.

“…… Ok,” Nina left the conference room, looking back every step she took to the exit. Layfon still felt her gaze the moment she closed the door.

“…… So, what’s the situation?”

Layfon faced the people left in the room with his back to the door. Never mind…… Karian and Felli. The people Layfon took notice of the most were Haia and the girl beside him.

“Ah, um….. Nice to meet you. I’m Myunfa Rufa,” Myunfa greeted him.

“Are you from the Mercenary Gang?”

“Yes……..” Myunfa said. She fled back to Haia’s side after having introduced herself. She exuded an air like Mei-Shen, but Layfon wiped away that thought.

“Student President, Haia is suspected of helping transport the illegal drugs.”

“Didn’t we already take care of that, Wolfstein? Right, why did you call me by my name?” Haia smiled beside Karian.

“I’m not a Heaven’s Blade successor any more,” Layfon glared at him.

“I know, so sometimes you act like you were back at home, right? You’re just a normal person here, and you’re a student too. Shouldn’t you be more mindful of the manner you address your senior, Layfon?”

Sparks flew off from above their heads in an instant. Layfon had already snatched out and restored his Safaiadite. Haia also had his Dite ready.

“……… I won’t hold back this time.”

“Just as I wanted. I want to see whether those weak moves of yours can work against me without using a Katana.”

Both Layfon and Haia held their weapons ready, about to leap at each other.

“Stop there!” Karian said. “Haia-san, I’ll have to go back to what you did before if you go overboard with a student here.”

“That’d be troublesome.”

“Layfon too, take back your sword. Your attitude’s too lax even though you’ve been provoked.”

“………”

Wordlessly, Layfon retreated a step back as Haia did so. Both of them slid their weapons back into the weapon harnesses.

“Just as you said, Haia, the Mercenary Gang had nothing to do with the illegal drug dealings. This’ll be announced as such publicly. At the same time, you must provide us with any information related to the illegal drugs. Is that all right?”

“I guess so, but I think the secret transportation of drugs will probably stop.”

“Why?”

“Because the Mercenary Gang will destroy them. Since the contract’s finished, it’ll be too foolish of us to allow any secret police to expose those illegal sellers and let them get hold of any evidence against us,” Haia said simply. His casual attitude in a reply full of blood and murderous intent made Karian swallow.

“Well then, what do you want with me?” Layfon asked Karian, not at all surprised at Haia’s reply. Layfon just wanted to get his business done and leave this room.

“It’s I who want to talk to you.”

“………. I know.”

Layfon knew that Haia’s presence meant he must have business dealing with Karian. Besides, Felli had mentioned how she would assist Karian even though she hated him. This must also have something to do with Haia’s goal. As he thought of this, Layfon felt new anger rising in his chest.

“I want to hear from you about it, since you’re the only one who witnessed it. Either way, I want to hear it from you.”

“Witnessed?” Layfon watched Haia cautiously, not sure what he meant. “What do you mean?”

“You saw it right? That amazing creature that’s beyond common sense, appearing in that ruined city? It’s very dangerous for that thing to be there, so I’m here to make a trade. As payment, we’ll protect this city from filth monsters. Let’s do a fair and square trade.”

<center>◇</center>

Sitting inside the cake shop, Naruki was feeling terrible. Mifi was there too, staring at her friend with wide eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Mei-Shen said. Mifi and Naruki had been sitting at the table till it was time to close the shop. The cake in front of them was from the shop owner’s goodwill. Mifi and Naruki had helped clean the kitchen as gratitude and then sat back at the table to eat the cake.

“It’s nothing much, really,” Naruki said listlessly.

“Can’t see anything wrong from her at all,” Mifi shrugged.

“Did you fight with Formed?”

Mei-Shen, who had her hair tied behind her, was moving around as she helped clean and tidy up the shop. Mifi watched her and continued, “Or did you fight with Layfon? You can’t do that for Mei-chan's sake.”

“Tha… That’s not it,” Naruki raised her voice.

“Then what is it?”

“Something to do with work. This has got nothing to do with Mi-chan.”

“Ah, you’re so cold.”

“It’s not a problem of being cold and not cold?”

“How about telling us your troubles?”

“Uh…..”

“Never mind. I’m joking.”

“If it’s you……….” Naruki shot her a tired glare. Mifi laughed, finding Naruki’s expression funny.

“Well, it was a joke, but right now, you look the same as Layfon when he first entered the Academy.”

“As for that……….”

“If you’ve something you want to do, then do it. This is your childhood friend’s advice.”

Mifi, Mei-Shen and Naruki grew up together in the Traffic City Joeldem, so Mifi knew Naruki’s personality. The way Mifi phrased her advice made it hard for Naruki to refuse.

“Really…. Thanks.”

“So? What is it?” Curiosity burst from Mifi’s face.

Naruki looked at her with suspicion. She sighed and opened her mouth. “Actually………” She didn’t speak in details, but she did say that she entered the platoon for some specific reason. She told Mifi that it would be problematic if she let her know what that reason was. Mifi didn’t mind. The journalist-aspired student was able to judge what should and what shouldn’t be reported. If she reported this, even Naruki had to bear the responsibility. Mifi would never do anything to betray her friend.

“But I just received the order to stop the investigation.”

“Why?”

“How am I supposed to know? But the higher-ups have given that order. Since the Chief of Police gave that order, we can’t do much about it.”

“Meaning this is something to do with politics.”

“Exactly. I hate this.”

“Um…………” Mifi stuffed cake into her mouth. Since Naruki had to investigate by joining a platoon, then this case must be related to the platoons.

“So the one who wants the investigation stopped is either the Military Arts Commander or the Student President?”

“What?”

“The Military Arts Commander has the authority to appoint the Chief of Police, and to dismiss him too. The Student President is the other person who can get the Chief of Police to do this and that. When it comes to politics, it has to be one of those two.”

“Right……….”

“Perhaps those two think that it’ll bring huge trouble if they were to publicly announce this case. I don’t know the Student President and the Military Arts Commander, and I don’t quite understand how they work. Do you feel the same?”

“Yeah…….. About that………”

“It’s ok if you can’t say it,” Mifi concluded, stopping Naruki from saying more. “What happens next is no longer part of your duty. Normal criminal charges can’t solve a political problem.”

“That’s why I’m angry,” Naruki said with a bitter expression.

“So what do you plan to do?”

“……….. Plan to do?”

“Isn’t this obvious. The platoon.”

“Just pretend nothing’s happened. Isn’t that matter of fact?” Naruki only entered the platoon to assist in the investigation. Since the investigation was stopped, it was meaningless for her to stay in the platoon. But Mifi thought differently.

“Humph……. Really? Just like that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Though you can’t investigate, can’t you still observe? The Student President won’t let this go if the situation turns extremely serious. If that happens, how would this person be handled? Isn’t that something you should watch out for? Whether you sit and watch with us from a distance or observe from somewhere close………. You don’t really need me to point that out, do you?”

“Right………. So that’s a way too………” Immersed in her thoughts, Naruki quickly stood up. “Sorry, I’ve got to go. You head off first.”

Naruki left the shop.

“Mi-chan………” Mei-Shen had heard the conversation. She was standing beside their table, holding a mop. “Were you encouraging her?”

“Um? Yeah, probably. It felt different though.”

“Huh?”

“Because Layfon’s team doesn’t have enough people, and they’re worrying about that? Naruki needs to be on her feet.”

“Mi-chan……..”

Mifi smiled at her. Mei-Shen had spaced out.

“How about it? Since I’ve helped Layfon, why don’t you treat me to another cake?”

“Don’t go overboard,” Mei-Shen blushed and threw the handle of the mop at Mifi.

Yes, this was pretty difficult.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume4 Chapter3

2009-12-21T00:08:19Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 3: Envisioning and Reality */

===Chapter 3: Envisioning and Reality===

Early morning the next day, Layfon went to the alchemy building for the new Dite that Harley had made for him.

“That kind of damage is so……. exaggerated,” Harley said with wide eyes at Layfon’s Dite. He was spreading jam on a piece of bread.

“Beautifully broken into pieces.”

Layfon’s sword was in its restored form. The level of damage made it unable to turn back into its hand held Dite. On Harley’s table was the handle of Layfon’s Dite. The broken parts were like brittle stones, so fragile that a touch of a finger was enough to send the remaining pieces scattering down.

“It’s not possible to repair this. It’ll be faster if I just make a new one.”

“Ok. Thanks.”

“Got it. I should have it done quickly with the data left from last time. I’ll take care of the admin procedures too.”

“Sorry about that.”

“No problem. I’m responsible for maintenance in the 17th platoon. Besides, I have some admin registration things to do for the Dites too…… Geeez, that Kiriku’s totally useless in this area, so I have to do everything,” Harley shrugged and suddenly clapped his hands together.

“Can we do the adjustments for that now?”

“Can we? Kiriku-senpai’s not here.”

“No problem, no problem. I’m doing the final adjustments anyway. Besides, we don’t know when he’ll show up,” he said as he went into the research room and took out a Dite from one of the drawers.

Layfon took the Dite and felt its heavy weight in his hand. It seemed to be extremely dense, perhaps three times denser than a normal Dite.

“We took out the side effect of “Haijo”, so this one is better than the last. But the loss of “Haijo” means the Dite has now lost several combinations. And that has created a weakness. You can use different types of Kei, so it might be a bit troublesome. As for the shape, the Dite’s recorded different appearances. Theoretically, you should be able change the Dite according to different uses.”

“But it might not work as well in reality.”

“Yeah? Um……”

Layfon spoke the key word and restored the Dite. Only one setting was made.

“We originally wanted to make two settings. The advantage of an Adamandite with its combined alloys is its variety in shapes and quality, but we didn’t have time to make that setting when manufacturing the simple version. When the final product came out, it wasn’t possible to turn it back.”

“It’s all right, since I still have the green Dite (Safaiadite).”

He didn’t have to use the steel threads in platoon matches, so it didn’t matter that the Adamandite didn’t have that setting. Also, Harley and his colleagues were researching on another model to be used against filth monsters. Layfon had no need to ask them to add the steel threads setting in at all.

“Give it a try.”

Under Harley’s urging, Layfon allowed his Kei to pour into the Adamandite. The Dite turned slightly hot in his hand and its shape changed in a split second.

“……. Huh?”

The new shape made Layfon widen his eyes.

“It’s……. a katana.”

“Yes,” Harley said, cocking his head. “Kiriku made it that way.”

“…….. Could you change it?”

“Impossible,” came an impatient voice from behind Layfon. Layfon had already sensed the newcomer before the voice reached him and before Harley noticed. He turned around.

“It’s because this shape suits you more,” the handsome man sitting in the wheelchair said, glaring at Layfon in irritation.

“Kiriku, how rare to see you here so early,” Harley said.

“I came to see him so that this thing could be used to its fullest potential,” he pushed his wheelchair through the mess in the room.

“According to classification, both a sword and katana are the same, but a huge difference exists between their usage. A sword is used to slash then cut, and a katana is used to cut then let its enemy fall apart. Both are used to cut, but the movement of the wielder differs. Your movement is first to cut, which causes the object to fall apart. The model before was made like that of a katana, but the blade was still a sword’s. This time it’s different. We made it so it could cut perfectly,” he said while watching the Adamandite. “I’ve included my family’s secret data on many famous katana in this Dite. Usually, you won’t see a second Dite with power as high as the first, but this is close enough. It’s the best tool to help you become the strongest. Are you still unsatisfied with this?”

“I didn’t mean that……”

“Then why?”

Layfon couldn’t answer him.

“You stand at a level that all Military Artists want to reach, but you’re not willing to use your full strength. Even I get irritated at that.”

Noise came from Kiriku’s wheelchair. Layfon looked at him and realized the noise originated from Kiriku’s tightening grip on the handles of the wheelchair. He noticed something else. Although there wasn’t much, Kei existed in Kiriku’s body. The flow was clumsy and slow in a muddy color. His flow of Kei was unusual, but it didn’t look fatal. It might have something to do with his legs. Because of his legs, the Kei flow became less smooth, or perhaps it was the other way around, that the unusual flow of Kei had disabled his legs………. Layfon didn’t want to ask about it. Kiriku himself probably wouldn’t answer anyway, but… he could tell that Kiriku regretted it a lot.

“You probably don’t have to use your full strength in this place, but why are you like that too when you fight filth monsters? Are you saying they aren’t opponents worth your time?”

Layfon was in a life and death situation when he fought the matured filth monster. He didn’t plan to not use everything he had. But…….

“…….. Why do you refuse to use a katana?”

“Refuse………”

“Yes, you ARE refusing.” Kiriku said, as if he would jump up at Layfon’s weak protest. “You choose to fight with a sword, but your true self has the impression of a katana. Doesn’t that mean you’re refusing the katana? What else can explain it?”

“Although I’m interested in why you aren’t using a katana……..”

Haia, the leader of Salinvan Mercenary Gang, raised under Layfon’s adopted father’s brother in the same martial arts school as Layfon, had said that last night. His fighting power matched that of a mercenary leader who had had lots of experience accumulated from countless battles.

A katana. He used a katana that was the same as the one Deruk Psyharden used. His movements were the same, using Fleeting Shadow to attack with high speed, a move that Deruk took pride in. Although Layfon wasn’t willing, his memories of Grendan surfaced one by one. His true self fought with a katana. His weapon was originally a katana. He trained with a wooden katana.

It was the beginning of Layfon as a Military Artist.

“What is it?”

Looking around in confusion to confirm his location, he ran across Nina. It was the road to the Military Arts training complex. He was heading over there after leaving Harley’s research lab.

“Ah, ah…… no, nothing,” surprised at the close distance between them. He took a step back, but Nina didn’t.

“Are you not feeling well because of yesterday? Or do you have a fever?” she pulled him over with a worried expression and felt his forehead with her hand.

“It’s ok. It’s really ok,” Layfon said, feeling the coolness from Nina’s hand and took another step back.

“Um, doesn’t feel like you have a fever. Then what were you thinking?”

“No, nothing much…….”

“Really. Don’t you find it strange that I was this close to you but you didn’t notice?”

“Huh……. Not really.”

It seemed like today was the day when his opinions wouldn’t be accepted. No, if he were to think closely, were his words even believable?

(…….nope.)

It was a bit sad. Well, Nina had been able to tell truth from lies from very little.

“Then what’re you worrying about today?”

They ended up having lunch together in the training room of the 17th platoon. They had bought bento at a convenience store and had some drinks from the locker room of the training complex.

“No, nothing.”

“Don’t say that.”

“No, really….”

“I don’t believe you.”

“As I said……..”

“Spill it honestly.”

She totally ignored his protests. Looking troubled, Layfon dug into his lunch. As long as his mouth was full, it was all right to not answer even if he heard her question. On the other hand, Nina had a good education, so she hated chatting while eating. Yesterday she had a terrible expression when Sharnid and Harley were talking and eating at the same time.

“……. Leave lunch for a while. I will make you speak the truth,” she said in a low voice as he continued to eat.

(Please God, send someone now. Anyone.) He could only pray. But that “anyone” could only be Felli, Sharnid or Harley. Felli and Sharnid were always late. He couldn’t imagine them heading over straight after lunch. Harley was the last one left, but he’d probably be late too as he was making Layfon a new Dite.

(……… No other way.)

If that was the way it was, he had no choice but to spill the beans. This time, Nina was very forceful. He understood her that much from accumulated experience. In order to reach her goal, she would do everything she could for it.

“Why do you want to know so much?” he asked after swallowing.

“What? Isn’t it natural……….”

For some reason, she said so after shifting her position so there was some distance between them. “Because you’re my subordinate.”

A predictable answer. In the face of such an answer, Layfon couldn’t find any reasons to resist her.

(……..Um?)

But she looked strange today. Having said what she wanted, Nina turned her face to a side as if she had sealed her mouth.

“……… Did you steal that bento?”

“Of course not, stupid.”

She was mad.

They continued to eat like that with their backs facing each other. She’d probably ask him again when they finished eating. Thinking of that, he planned to chew slowly, but the food wasn’t enough for a young man in his growing stage. He ended up finishing the bento quickly.

Nina was almost finished with her lunch.

(Oh no…….)

He dragged out the time to finish his juice as much as possible, praying for someone to open the door to the training room.

When Nina was about to speak, the door opened.

“You’re already here? Good.”

“Formed? And…..”

Behind Formed Garen was Naruki, who walked in with an annoyed expression.

“You two look to be in a good mood. May I?”

“Uh, no problem,” Nina nodded.

“Got anything?”

“I don’t want to waste time either. I’ll cut to the chase,” Formed said and looked at Naruki. Naruki still wore the expression of someone who wasn’t satisfied with something.

“Ah~ Before that, I want to say I’ll accept the captain’s request.”

“Really?”

That request must be Nina’s previous request to the City Police to allow Naruki to enter the 17th platoon.

“Huh? Really?” Nina said.

Nina’s reaction was slower. Surprised, Layfon looked at Formed and Naruki for confirmation. Nina didn’t look convinced either. On top of that, Naruki’s expression showed that it wasn’t her idea in the first place.

“But there’s a condition.”

“As expected.”

“I’m not accepting all your conditions. I’m sorry, but she won’t officially enter the platoon. Besides, she herself doesn’t want to.”

“………. Although it’s true that we need her, but if she doesn’t want to, she’ll only lower the team’s fighting strength,” Nina said frankly. Talking about wanting to, Nina was number one in the entire team.

“Yeah, I understand. But if you listen to my request, I’m sure she’ll feel better about it. Besides, you can dismiss her if she doesn’t have what it takes, and we can pretend we haven’t had this conversation. What do you think?”

“Leader!”

“Isn’t that natural? Listen, infiltration is part of a police officer’s work. If it isn’t done properly, it’ll be life-threatening. Perhaps this kind of dangerous work won’t be needed in an Academy City, but if you plan to work in the police force after leaving this city, this is a very good training opportunity. If you’re to infiltrate an organization, then you must first know your purpose. Be more spirited. If you can’t do this, then you fail.”

Naruki lowered her head. She was like a big sister in front of Mei-Shen and Mifi, but now she was being rebuked like a little kid. Layfon found that unexpected.

“……. Well, back to the topic,” Formed said to Nina.

“What is it?”

“Ah, first, it’s about yesterday. Layfon, thanks for your help.”

“But he escaped….” Layfon lowered his head.

“That can’t be helped. Besides, we already reached our original purpose. We caught the fake students and suppressed the circulation of their goods.” Formed went on to explain yesterday’s operation to Nina.

“Illegal drugs…… Does that mean what you came here for has something to do with that?” Nina said, suddenly very serious.

Formed nodded. “Yes.”

“This is ridiculous. How would a platoon member have anything to do……”

“Can’t imagine? Even if it’s to do with the current situation Zuellni is in?”

“Um……..”

“If we lose the mine we’re using right now, Zuellni’s finished. This year’s Military Arts Competition is decisive. Many students in the platoons love this school deeply. If they feel the heavy burden of Zuellni’s fate, then it wouldn’t be strange for them to be associated with this, right?”

Layfon understood Formed’s words. Illegal drugs……. The drugs that increased the flow of Kei were perfect for this kind of use.

“…….. This is just speculation.”

Nina didn’t agree with him.

“Yes, it’s just my speculation. Perhaps Military Arts students with bad marks want it. Perhaps, some fools exist, thinking the side-effects of the drug won’t appear on them. Regardless, this is all speculation, but I’m willing to bet on it since the possibility of it happening is so high.”

“………. Do you have any clues of platoon members participating in illegal drug dealing?”

“……..We’ve obtained a firm clue while checking the paths of imports. Goods that come in by roaming buses cannot possibly escape our investigation, but that’s only limited to legal trade goods. Checks are more lax on private things in small numbers. Fake student IDs can get past a human eye, but not a computer. The illegal drug dealing can only be made through a real student’s address. Mail is sent to real students, then the fake IDs are taken to where the fake students gather. We’ve been checking all personal mails and mailing records for a year, and we’ve been double checking everything. The six people who are on the records the most……..” he sighed and paused. “I’ve already said too much. I can’t do anything else if you decide not to accept us. Naruki entering the 17th platoon is to help with the investigation. I hope you can keep quiet about it and cooperate with us.”

“I accept.”

“Are you sure? Do you need to consider it……”

“No need. Since you have clues, we’ll help out.”

“What would you do if they take illegal drugs because they want to protect this city?” Formed tossed out the doubt to Nina’s answer.

“If they do it out of protecting the city, what would you do? It’s illegal, but it’s a choice made to resolve the crisis. What if they do it because there is no other way? Zuellni is at its end. They plan to sacrifice themselves to save the city. What would you do?”

Why was Formed pushing Nina? He’d have probably asked Layfon the same questions. Layfon didn’t understand why.

He spaced out a bit, and came to some understanding. Formed was eliminating later problems by raising them now. Layfon didn’t know what he himself would do. He looked at Nina. How would she answer?

“……. To sacrifice oneself in order to save something. It sounds good but it’s just being selfish. It’s just facing difficulties and choosing the easy way out. I’m determined to protect everything in this city. I don’t want to sacrifice anyone. I’ll protect everything, including myself.”

No matter when it was, she could always say something this strong to pierce Layfon.

“…….. I’ve never heard such willful words,” Formed shook his head, at ease.

“But I’ve never heard something that reassuring. Well, I’m leaving it all to you.”

“Roger.”

Nina and Formed shook hands.

“Ok, they are……”

“…… Six people. I said so. Five of them are……”

He wrote the names with his finger. Nina’s face stiffened.

“No…….”

“Their mail all came from the same city, but they themselves aren’t from that city. It’s the home city of the sixth person. About this sixth person’s name….”

Layfon vaguely remembered the name. Probably a platoon member. That was it.

Nina should have understood the truth when she heard the name. Then why…….

He thought for a moment and finally recalled which platoon this person belonged to. Layfon’s expression now matched Nina’s. The tenth platoon.

“Dinn Dee.”

The face of a bald young man surfaced in Layfon’s mind.

<center>◇</center>

The sound breathing during sleep hovered in his ears. In a way, it was the same as an interrogation.

“Geez……” Sighing and tired, Gorneo was on the way back to his dormitory. The time was after platoon training and dinner.

Naturally, Shante sat on his shoulders. She was fast asleep, her chin leaning on his head. Gorneo worried about whether she might fall off. Having spent a lot of her strength in training, she just ate afterwards and slept. Although he had been with her since he started first year here, she was still like a beast and a kid.

”Really…….” he sighed again and entered the dormitory. He walked past his room.

Shante’s room was next to his. He pressed the doorbell and passed Shante to her roommate, Rumamao, who was from Shante’s home city. Gorneo returned to his room.

He felt the unusual atmosphere the moment he opened the door.

He opened the door slowly but didn’t switch on the light. He brought out the Dite from his coat pocket, keeping it at hand so he could restore it at any time.

“Who is it?” he asked, increasing his internal Kei in readiness for a fight.

“……. Um, you pass. I was hoping you’d have noticed before you opened the door,” a voice came from inside the room.

“I said, who are you?”

The light was switched on. Carefully, Gorneo walked deeper into the room and saw a young man sitting on the sofa. The small table before the man was littered with fast food wrappers. He was drinking juice and reading a magazine. A strange tattoo decorated the left side of his face.

“This is my room,” Gorneo said.

The young man’s attitude wasn’t hostile, but it wasn’t enough of a reason for Gorneo to relax. He watched the young man stand up……. Haia.

“And the female hiding in the kitchen. Come out,” he said.

“……Ah.”

“Come out,” Haia said, and a young woman walked out of the kitchen’s shadow. Golden hair framing a slender body, she was about the same age as Haia. A pair of big glasses sat on the small bridge of her nose. She held a huge bow. It shrank back into a small Dite after she cancelled the restoration.

“Myunfa, your Kei isn’t up to standard,” Haia said to the young woman.

“……. Sorry.”

“If you can’t hide your presence, you’ll have trouble as an archer, so I’ve been giving you more practice like trailing a target and such.”

“Uh, uh, uh, I can’t do that kind of thing,” she shook her head.

“We just need to find a guy you like. You could follow him and observe him for a whole day, as well as train yourself. Isn’t that like shooting two birds with one stone?”

“That….. That kind of thing…….” She shook her head fiercely with her face all red.

Haia laughed.

“…… Just who are you people? Are you here just for this show?”

“Yeah~ Would we be happier if we came just for this show? But we’ll have to get serious now. My name is Haia Salinvan Lyia.”

Anyone from Grendan would have noticed Haia’s second name. Gorneo’s alertness increased.

“From the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang?”

“I’m the third Head. This is Myunfa, my first Military Arts student.”

“Uh, pleased to meet you.”

“Um……” Gorneo returned the nicety and swung his gaze back to Haia.

“…….. What’s the Guidance Mercenary Gang doing in an Academy City? Has the Student President hired you?”

“That side too….. Speaking of which, isn’t that better? Yeah, I’m regretting a little. Never mind, I’ll leave that for later.”

Haia’s more relaxed tone was confusing for Gorneo.

“I didn’t come here for business. I hope you can cooperate with me. Since Wolfstein Alseif doesn’t know anything about it, I’ve come to seek your help.”

“Cooperation? Or is there something else..?”

“What I want is your help in intelligence. The people living in the city know it best. Of course. Well then, about the information…… I’ll let you in if you have something useful. How does that sound? Since you’re the second son of the Luckens family, I thought it wouldn’t be strange if you knew of it. Actually, it is part of the Mercenary Gang’s secret history.”

“……. Could it be……”

“Oh, you do know.”

“Could it be real……? Haikizoku,” Gorneo watched Haia in disbelief. The time Gorneo heard of this term was when his older brother became a Heaven’s Blade successor. He heard of it in a conversation between his grandfather and his older brother.

“It’s a crazy power nurtured from a destroyed city……..”

That was what his grandfather said. The Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang left the city in order to search for this power.

“I thought it was just a legend…….”

“If it really was a legend, then the first generation Head didn’t have to work so hard.”

“So it does exist?”

“What a deep doubt. But it isn’t in Zuellni, it’s in the ruined city next to here. We’ve searched that city already, but didn’t find anything, so we came over here.”

“In that city……..” Gorneo fell into his memories. “…….. Right, I think the psychokinesist of the 17th platoon said she found something.”

“Oh?”

At that time, the psychokinesist of the 5th platoon didn’t find anything, but Layfon’s 17th platoon might have. But if that really was the Haikizoku……

“The twisted Electronic Fairy of a dead city…… I never thought it was real.”

“Can’t help it if it is real, but even I only half believe it. I want to find one and have a look, but I can’t find it.”

“Well………. Leader,” Myunfa raised her hand.

“What is it?”

“Um……. It’s the 17th platoon, isn’t it? Its psychokinesist, right? How about we ask for her help? Fermaus only knows the general direction, but he can’t come here……..”

“That’s a good suggestion. Well then, Gorneo, who is that psychokinesist?”

“Felli Loss, the younger sister of the Student President.”

“The Student President…… meaning the leader of this city, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then this is simple, isn’t it?” Haia laughed, and after that, he obtained various kinds of information on Zuellni from Gorneo.

<center>◇</center>

On that day, they continued training in the fundamentals as usual after introducing Naruki to the other three team members. Other than that, Nina announced the cancellation of the training camp that they had planned for tomorrow and the day after. Naruki tripped and fell numerous times in the balance training with the balls scattered on the floor. Under Layfon’s advice, she finally managed to walk faster than a normal pace around the room after two hours of training. Afterwards, they had combat training on the balls between members divided into two teams. Naruki somehow managed to control her movements after falling countless times. When Nina ended training, Naruki was covered in sweat, unable to move on the floor.

“Are you all right?”

Everyone had gone to the shower room. Only Layfon came to deliver an energy juice to her.

“………. Do you do this everyday?”

“Today’s training is more relaxing already.”

They didn’t even do the ball-hitting training. In fact, today’s training wasn’t intense, but it wasn’t useless. Training in the fundamentals was extremely important, especially now they had a match coming soon. Rather than memorizing new moves, it was more practical to get the fundamentals right.

“This is hard,” Naruki said as she drank. She wiped her mouth. This level of difficulty made her feel down. Her reason here was to observe the 10th platoon and obtain evidence of their use of the illegal wine.

“Now I fully understand why Layton is so strong. I’m totally exhausted, but you haven’t sweated one single drop.”

“But you’re not trying to become a platoon member, right?”

“…….. Yeah, but I’m a Military Artist. I’m in the City Police, but I haven’t given up the mission of a Military Artist. Besides, sometimes I might have to handle a violent case. Physical strength is still necessary,” she regulated her breathing and sighed deeply.

“It’s meaningful to come here. I can become stronger. If it’s a reason for Military Artists, the reason is enough for me to be here. I understand being weak is a sad thing for a Military Artist. But I can’t fully accept this. I’m not really sure how to express myself clearly.”

“…….. I know.”

Although he wasn’t too clear on this, he knew.

“I’m the same as you, becoming strong without explicitly wanting to, though I had a reason to become strong, so I’ve been struggling for that. But since I arrived here, I’ve lost my reason to keep trying, and this period of time is troublesome.”

He wanted to be stronger so he could earn money and feed the children in the orphanage. His wish went out of control without his knowing, wanting to feed all the orphans in Grendan………. Although it turned out that way, it was still the simple reason that sustained him.

“But isn’t Layton still here?”

“Um, yeah.”

“Layton’s here because of certain reasons. You’re here, doing your best. Aren’t you struggling more compared to when you first started?”

“True. That thing in Grendan’s already sorted out.”

“………. I’m not sure, but you feel strange today,” she cocked her head to look at him. “Is something wrong?”

“Um, not really.”

“That’s not an answer free of worry, Layton.”

“Yeah, well, it’s ok.”

“You’re worried. What is it? Can you tell me about it?”

“It’s not really something to be worried about, but it’s just a feeling I can’t turn around…….? It’s like that. I haven’t yet sorted it out.”

A heaviness came from his weapon harness hanging around his waist. Two Dites hung from it. One was Harley’s newly adjusted green Dite (Safaiadite), the other was Kiriku’s Shimu Adamandite – the simplified version in the shape of a Katana.

“……… The way you said it, isn’t it just a worry?”

“Yeah?”

“If that isn’t something you’re worrying about, then there’s nothing we’d call ‘worry’.”

“Um—”

Perhaps it was a worry for him, but how should he resolve it…… considering it like that made it feel like something else.

He was unwilling to handle a katana. If possible, he didn’t want to give in. Kiriku said this would make him the strongest. Becoming the strongest was critical to a Military Artist. It was the power needed to protect the city. Of course it was natural. If you didn’t become strong, you couldn’t protect anything. He fully understood that.

He also knew that strength alone couldn’t protect anything.

He could imagine Kiriku’s agitation and frustration, a Military Artist with a damaged body who couldn’t do anything. But Layfon couldn’t fully comprehend that because his body was in a good condition.

In Kiriku’s eyes, Layfon was probably just an existence for him to let out his frustration on. That in itself was troubling for Layfon, but it might not be that, it was Kiriku’s sincerest wish, the remnants of Kiriku’s wish to become strong to guide Layfon onto the correct path of a Military Artist.

And on the path that Kiriku’s made for him was the road sign of the Shimu Adamandite. Kiriku asked “Why don’t you walk the correct path?”

There was an answer to this question. Yes, there was an answer to it. Why didn’t he walk that path? But who would accept that answer if he said it? Or maybe someone would accept it. Kiriku had asked that question because he accepted it.

“So, Layfon………..”

He didn’t want to hear it.

“Sorry for making you wait,” Harley’s vibrant voice filled the training room. Earlier, he had greeted Naruki, handed back Layfon’s two Dites and returned to his lab. Now he was back.

“What is it?”

“What’s what? Now that we have a new member, isn’t it natural for me to show myself more?” Harley gestured. He was holding a textbook on weapon maintenance.

“Naruki’s weapon needs to be prepared.”

“Ah…. No, I can use this…..”

Harley looked at the Dite in Naruki’s hand and shook his head.

“That’s for the City Police. A City Police weapon isn’t suitable for a platoon match.”

“Ah, but………”

“All right, all right. I can make whatever you want. Come.”

Eyes sparkling, he grabbed Naruki’s hand and dragged her to the research lab.

“What do you want it to be like? A shortstick type? In that case, Nina’s type might be more advantageous. Ah, right, what’s this around your waist? A rope? Oh—a rope skill. How interesting.”

Naruki was pulled outside like that into a sea of questions. She looked at Layfon pleadingly, but he replied with a “take good care of yourself” expression.

“Well………..”

Naruki was gone, leaving Layfon alone in the room, but even without her, he couldn’t ignore the case that Formed had left for them.

“Then I’ll have to do this,” he said and used Kei to eliminate his presence.

She knew when Naruki was introduced to the team.

“Looks like someone’s kidnapped him.”

After a shower, Felli walked alone out of the training complex. She didn’t get to walk with Layfon today. Since it was useless to wait for him, she decided to leave.

She had thought of why Layfon had left……… but she knew by just looking at him. He was always in combat with his true feelings. Even without him saying anything, she could tell by his expression that he was hiding something. To tell the truth, she wasn’t that interested. Wasn’t interested, because she didn’t want to get involved………. And she got frustrated.

Originally she planned to search with the flakes, but she gave up. She had confidence that Nina and Naruki could not detect her flakes, but not with Layfon. She wasn’t sure whether she might be found out under normal circumstances, but if Layfon was in battle condition, he would definitely discover her flakes. Layfon’s senses were incredible, as if he could sense everything around him.

What would happen if he found Felli’s flakes………..

It’d have been good if he just prepared for battle………..

Leaving the training complex with these thoughts in mind, she headed for the tram station. Not that many people were here since the training complex was built in an isolated area. Many Military Artists preferred to run back home, not allowing their bodies to cool down after training. Nina and Sharnid were the same. Layfon tended to take the tram when he was with Felli, but if he were alone, he’d probably have run back like all the others.

Psychokinesists of other platoons tended not to ride the tram either. Although they couldn’t use Kei to strengthen their bodies, a lot of them preferred to train their physical side to combat the effects of tension on their bodies during a platoon match.

Although the tram didn’t go all the way to Felli’s place, she still decided to ride it. She was probably the only person who rode the tram on a daily basis. Many students moved to other areas for work, study and entertainment.

Hence, Felli felt something wrong when she saw someone at the station. The figure sitting on the only chair under the roof stood out vividly with his red hair. Felli didn’t recognize him. It wasn’t a problem to wear casual clothes outside class time, but it was unusual to change into casual clothes and come back here. A Dite hung from his waist. That was against the school rule. Very few students were given special permission to carry a Dite in their private time, and even so, that was restricted to certain times and locations.

Whether this rule was taken seriously was another question, but a student wouldn’t be carrying a Dite so blatantly like this guy.

The feeling wasn’t very strong, but the atmosphere was definitely not the same. It was better not to get any closer to him before the tram arrived. No, she’d let him board it first, and she’d wait for the next tram. Either way, a tram was always empty at this hour. She didn’t want to ride in a sealed off tram with him.

It felt unnatural to just stand here, so she decided to just turn around and head back to the training complex. All the while, a thought floated in her mind that this was a good reason for her to check on Layfon.

“Are you Felli Loss?”

Somehow, he was standing behind her without her noticing.

“!”

Felli jumped forward and turned around, snatching the Dite from her weapon harness. Restoration. A staff with petal-like scales appeared in her hand.

“Hey, hey, wait up. I didn’t do anything.”

The young man raised his hands to show he wasn’t hostile. His Dite remained in his weapon harness. Even so, Felli scattered the flakes and kept her distance from him. She had instinctively taken this measure.

He was a young man with a strange tattoo on his left face, Haia Salinvan Lyia.

“We can’t talk when you’re so far away.”

“I can hear over here. You should be able to hear me too.”

Haia wasn’t surprised at Felli’s voice in his ear. One of the flakes hovered before him.

“This flake contains psychokinetic explosives. It can cause an explosion and I’m not kidding,” she didn’t think one explosive could match this Military Artist’s speed, so when she put some distance between them, she had scattered a few psychokinetic explosives around.

“You do think ahead. If not now, I’d really want you to join me.”

“I refuse.”

“So quick!”

“Well, what is it?”

“Woah…….. Looks like you’re the difficult type.”

“I don’t want to be the type you like.”

A tram had come to a stop on the track behind Haia. Someone exited after the door opened.

“Felli!” Karian called.

“Ah, finally here,” Haia put out his chest and went to Karian. A girl with glasses that Felli didn’t know walked beside him.

“I was troubled that you left first.”

“Because I didn’t think the talk would end so quickly. Speaking of which, your sister is troublesome, like a cat with a temper.”

“Can’t judge a person by his looks,” Karian concluded.

“……… Just, who are these people?”

While demanding an explanation, Felli decided to refuse what Karian was going to say next. It must be something that she wasn’t willing to do.

Having hidden his presence through Kei, Layfon sat on the roof above the entrance to the training complex, letting the hours pass.

(Well, what do I do………..)

The 10th platoon seemed to still be in training. Layfon could see their faces if he opened the door, but he’d be discovered, so he strained his ears, hoping to catch Dinn’s voice. If Dinn left the room, Layfon would tail him.

He couldn’t think of a better way.

What Formed wanted was the location of where Dinn hid the illegal drugs, or some convincing evidence of his taking them.

(Just how I do look for that kind of thing?)

Go into Dinn’s room? But thievery probably wouldn’t constitute evidence.

(It would been easy if all I needed was to go into his room.)

Although he couldn’t open a door lock with a needle like a professional thief, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to hide his presence through Kei and use his sword to cut open the lock. Then he’d search for evidence………. But, if he couldn’t find anything, Dinn’d be more watchful.

If only Naruki was here… but that didn’t seem possible for today.

Well then, he’d do some observation work.

(Um--)

Could he do this? Doubt surfaced. It wasn’t hard to use Kei for a prolonged period. He could keep this up for an entire day while tailing someone, but what he was worried about was whether this was effective at all. Although Dinn hadn’t yet done anything, he probably wouldn’t do anything that Layfon expected. Layfon silently planned his possible moves.

No matter what, he couldn’t go in and expose the truth like the police. While Layfon was thinking of other ways, Dinn emerged from the building.

(I can only take this way then.)

Same as before, Dinn was with his team members. There were seven people altogether, the full number of people in the 10th platoon. The last person looked to be the psychokinesist. Layfon could tell by the way he walked. People who trained with weapons had a special way of moving.

It wasn’t strange for a student to shave his head, but to even pull out the roots, now that was unusual. Slightly behind Dinn, walking adjacent to him was a beautiful girl that Layfon hadn’t seen before.

(Is she the vice captain?)

That must be Dalshena Che Matelna. Rather than describing her as a beautiful adult woman, it was more appropriate to say she had the air of a beautifully crafted statue.

The two of them led on, with the five others following behind.

Layfon was about to jump down from the roof but he suddenly stopped. He saw someone trailing the platoon.

(Captain?)

It was Nina. She didn’t say anything after training, and had headed straight for a shower. He didn’t think she’d take any action today, but………. She was masking her presence with internal Kei. It wasn’t as well done as Layfon’s, and it couldn’t be compared to Sharnid’s, whose presence just simply melted into the air, but she did manage to eliminate her presence.

(At this rate, she’ll be exposed.)

From his experience with her in the past, he knew it was useless stopping her now, and if he went up to her to talk her out of it, he’d end up exposing both of them before Dinn.

(I’ll keep it the way it is then.)

Having confirmed some distance between them, Layfon jumped down from the roof.

What should he do……….?

Dinn and his team didn’t head for the tram. It seemed they were planning to walk back to town. Nina trailed Dinn and Layfon followed behind. Layfon found this situation delicate, and he didn’t plan to destroy this balance. Either way, he judged this situation to be disadvantageous.

(If Naruki were here……….)

But Harley had Naruki. Assuming the fact that Harley didn’t know anything, he wouldn’t let Naruki go so easily. Wondering whether he was doing something that would put his audience into a speechless stupor, Layfon continued to move after the group.

It seemed Dinn and his team were making casual conversation while walking: who had been rejected by whom, who had a new girlfriend, laughter mixed in with the chat. This was normal. It even happened in the 17th platoon sometimes, and the 10th platoon didn’t seem to intend to do anything different soon.

The one who acted the bad character like Nina was Dinn.

Layfon found that unexpectedly surprising. He thought the Vice Captain Dalshena would have played that role. The atmosphere she exuded was similar to Nina’s, and they were both refined in a way. Beautiful and elegant……… that type of a feeling. To the team members’ jokes, she’d reply with a firm attitude.

For some reason, this atmosphere felt similar to Sharnid.

Dinn Dee. Dalshena Che Matelna. Sharnid Elipton. That was the combination in the 10th platoon that held the strength to threaten the 1st platoon.

Layfon recalled Nina’s horrible expression when she heard Dinn’s name from Formed. Why was she surprised and agitated? Maybe Sharnid…….. that might be the answer. No matter what had happened, the truth that Sharnid had left the 10th platoon would never change. But what had happened between the deep trust of those three people? Layfon didn’t know.

What would Sharnid do if he knew about the illegal drug dealing? That guy who was flippant all day long – if he knew……

(Ah, I see………)

That was probably what Nina was worried about.

The 10th platoon finally showed signs of dispersing. First it was one person, then the next parted with the team, probably because their dormitories lay in different locations. Finally, Dalshena also left, leaving Dinn alone.

Nina didn’t hesitate and continued to trail Dinn. Layfon followed behind them. Formed said Dinn must be the main culprit. His home city was Kerunes, the city specializing in medical herbs. It was one of the few cities to date that hadn’t banned the production of illegal wine. Dinn was the only person who would know the ways to import the drug.

Layfon thought Dinn would head back to his dormitory…… As Dinn walked on his own, something else moved.

It was Nina.

“Dinn Dee.”

She suddenly removed her disguise and called out, causing Layfon to panic. He was too late to stop her. Dinn turned around and Layfon managed to maintain his Kei around himself to conceal his presence.

“Nina Antalk? What does the 17th platoon want with me?”

Dinn’s attitude wasn’t friendly. It was close to hatred.

“I have to talk to you.”

“I don’t want to talk to you though. Don’t think what you have to say has any value.”

“It’s very important,” she said, as he planned to turn away from her. “Don’t take illegal drugs again.”

“……. What did you say?” he stopped in his tracks and watched her.

“The City Police are watching you. They’re looking for evidence. You can still make it if you stop now.”

“Don’t speak as if you’re everything. You don’t even have proof and you’ve already decided I’m in the wrong?”

“It’ll be too late if proof is found,” she said with anxiety.

Dinn’s expression remained cool and cold.

Under these circumstances, to be branded as a criminal, wouldn’t he be angry? But not Dinn. Was this enough to show that he really was involved in illegal drug trade?

No, compared to that…..

Why was Nina doing this? She had made him put up his guard.

No……… Things weren’t like that at all.

(Looking at this, as if……..)

She was trying to make Dinn come to his senses.

“……. Stop. What are you saying?”

“You’re damaging your body. Why are you still taking such dangerous things? If it continues, doesn’t that mean you won’t be able to protect anything?”

“This is for the sake of protecting the city. To win against the 1st platoon. To win a match and get the highest accumulated score. This is significant for authority. If I have neither authority nor reputation when the Military Arts Competition begins, my plan will be useless. That can’t happen. That won’t win anything. I’m using my way to protect this city. You should understand. We’re both strategists in our teams. For the sake of the next Competition, don’t you think so too?”

“Of course I’ve thought of it. I did, but I thought I’ll support the plan that will truly win the Military Arts Competition.”

“Only the result in battles can support a plan. A plan without that is not believable. You’re naïve.”

“No, it’s not. Calm and observant insight is needed to find a possible strategy. What we’re looking for now are those two things. You can only increase your own power through continuous training. Only through continuous diligence and effort can you have enough confidence to give commands. How can you prove you’re right by escaping reality through illegal drugs?”

“You’re the one who shattered my dreams. Your way is truly low!” Dinn shouted. Nina held her breath.

“You took away Sharnid with despicable means, and now you’re acting all kind and wonderful.”

“No, I didn’t……. take him away…..”

“What can your words do now? If you want to give the police this information, then fine. I’m doing everything to realize my dreams. Only I can protect this city. Tell Sharnid that I’ll fulfill that oath even without him.”

Dinn turned around. Nina didn’t prevent him from leaving.

Layfon had no way of following him, so he stayed where he was and quietly watched Nina's back.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume4 Chapter3

2009-12-20T22:52:04Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 3: Envisioning and Reality */

===Chapter 3: Envisioning and Reality===

Early morning the next day, Layfon went to the alchemy building for the new Dite that Harley had made for him.

“That kind of damage is so……. exaggerated,” Harley said with wide eyes at Layfon’s Dite. He was spreading jam on a piece of bread.

“Beautifully broken into pieces.”

Layfon’s sword was in its restored form. The level of damage made it unable to turn back into its hand held Dite. On Harley’s table was the handle of Layfon’s Dite. The broken parts were like brittle stones, so fragile that a touch of a finger was enough to send the remaining pieces scattering down.

“It’s not possible to repair this. It’ll be faster if I just make a new one.”

“Ok. Thanks.”

“Got it. I should have it done quickly with the data left from last time. I’ll take care of the admin procedures too.”

“Sorry about that.”

“No problem. I’m responsible for maintenance in the 17th platoon. Besides, I have some admin registration things to do for the Dites too…… Geeez, that Kiriku’s totally useless in this area, so I have to do everything,” Harley shrugged and suddenly clapped his hands together.

“Can we do the adjustments for that now?”

“Can we? Kiriku senpai’s not here.”

“No problem, no problem. I’m doing the final adjustments anyway. Besides, we don’t know when he’ll show up,” he said as he went into the research room and took out a Dite from one of the drawers.

Layfon took the Dite and felt its heavy weight in his hand. It seemed to be extremely dense, perhaps three times denser than a normal Dite.

“We took out the side effect of “Haijo”, so this one is better than the last. But the loss of “Haijo” means the Dite has now lost several combinations. And that has created a weakness. You can use different types of Kei, so it might be a bit troublesome. As for the shape, the Dite’s recorded different appearances. Theoretically, you should be able change the Dite according to different uses.”

“But it might not work as well in reality.”

“Yeah? Um……”

Layfon spoke the key word and restored the Dite. Only one setting was made.

“We originally wanted to make two settings. The advantage of an Adamandite with its combined alloys is its variety in shapes and quality, but we didn’t have time to make that setting when manufacturing the simple version. When the final product came out, it wasn’t possible to turn it back.”

“It’s all right, since I still have the green Dite (Safaiadite).”

He didn’t have to use the steel threads in platoon matches, so it didn’t matter that the Adamandite didn’t have that setting. Also, Harley and his colleagues were researching on another model to be used against filth monsters. Layfon had no need to ask them to add the steel threads setting in at all.

“Give it a try.”

Under Harley’s urging, Layfon allowed his Kei to pour into the Adamandite. The Dite turned slightly hot in his hand and its shape changed in a split second.

“……. Huh?”

The new shape made Layfon widen his eyes.

“It’s……. a katana.”

“Yes,” Harley said, cocking his head. “Kiriku made it that way.”

“…….. Could you change it?”

“Impossible,” came an impatient voice from behind Layfon. Layfon had already sensed the newcomer before the voice reached him and before Harley noticed. He turned around.

“It’s because this shape suits you more,” the handsome man sitting in the wheelchair said, glaring at Layfon in irritation.

“Kiriku, how rare to see you here so early,” Harley said.

“I came to see him so that this thing could be used to its fullest potential,” he pushed his wheelchair through the mess in the room.

“According to classification, both a sword and katana are the same, but a huge difference exists between their usage. A sword is used to slash then cut, and a katana is used to cut then let its enemy fall apart. Both are used to cut, but the movement of the wielder differs. Your movement is first to cut, which causes the object to fall apart. The model before was made like that of a katana, but the blade was still a sword’s. This time it’s different. We made it so it could cut perfectly,” he said while watching the Adamandite. “I’ve included my family’s secret data on many famous katana in this Dite. Usually, you won’t see a second Dite with power as high as the first, but this is close enough. It’s the best tool to help you become the strongest. Are you still unsatisfied with this?”

“I didn’t mean that……”

“Then why?”

Layfon couldn’t answer him.

“You stand at a level that all Military Artists want to reach, but you’re not willing to use your full strength. Even I get irritated at that.”

Noise came from Kiriku’s wheelchair. Layfon looked at him and realized the noise originated from Kiriku’s tightening grip on the handles of the wheelchair. He noticed something else. Although there wasn’t much, Kei existed in Kiriku’s body. The flow was clumsy and slow in a muddy color. His flow of Kei was unusual, but it didn’t look fatal. It might have something to do with his legs. Because of his legs, the Kei flow became less smooth, or perhaps it was the other way around, that the unusual flow of Kei had disabled his legs………. Layfon didn’t want to ask about it. Kiriku himself probably wouldn’t answer anyway, but… he could tell that Kiriku regretted it a lot.

“You probably don’t have to use your full strength in this place, but why are you like that too when you fight filth monsters? Are you saying they aren’t opponents worth your time?”

Layfon was in a life and death situation when he fought the matured filth monster. He didn’t plan to not use everything he had. But…….

“…….. Why do you refuse to use a katana?”

“Refuse………”

“Yes, you ARE refusing.” Kiriku said, as if he would jump up at Layfon’s weak protest. “You choose to fight with a sword, but your true self has the impression of a katana. Doesn’t that mean you’re refusing the katana? What else can explain it?”

“Although I’m interested in why you aren’t using a katana……..”

Haia, the leader of Salinvan Mercenary Gang, raised under Layfon’s adopted father’s brother in the same martial arts school as Layfon, had said that last night. His fighting power matched that of a mercenary leader who had had lots of experience accumulated from countless battles.

A katana. He used a katana that was the same as the one Deruk Psyharden used. His movements were the same, using Fleeting Shadow to attack with high speed, a move that Deruk took pride in. Although Layfon wasn’t willing, his memories of Grendan surfaced one by one. His true self fought with a katana. His weapon was originally a katana. He trained with a wooden katana.

It was the beginning of Layfon as a Military Artist.

“What is it?”

Looking around in confusion to confirm his location, he ran across Nina. It was the road to the Military Arts training complex. He was heading over there after leaving Harley’s research lab.

“Ah, ah…… no, nothing,” surprised at the close distance between them. He took a step back, but Nina didn’t.

“Are you not feeling well because of yesterday? Or do you have a fever?” she pulled him over with a worried expression and felt his forehead with her hand.

“It’s ok. It’s really ok,” Layfon said, feeling the coolness from Nina’s hand and took another step back.

“Um, doesn’t feel like you have a fever. Then what were you thinking?”

“No, nothing much…….”

“Really. Don’t you find it strange that I was this close to you but you didn’t notice?”

“Huh……. Not really.”

It seemed like today was the day when his opinions wouldn’t be accepted. No, if he were to think closely, were his words even believable?

(…….nope.)

It was a bit sad. Well, Nina had been able to tell truth from lies from very little.

“Then what’re you worrying about today?”

They ended up having lunch together in the training room of the 17th platoon. They had bought bento at a convenience store and had some drinks from the locker room of the training complex.

“No, nothing.”

“Don’t say that.”

“No, really….”

“I don’t believe you.”

“As I said……..”

“Spill it honestly.”

She totally ignored his protests. Looking troubled, Layfon dug into his lunch. As long as his mouth was full, it was all right to not answer even if he heard her question. On the other hand, Nina had a good education, so she hated chatting while eating. Yesterday she had a terrible expression when Sharnid and Harley were talking and eating at the same time.

“……. Leave lunch for a while. I will make you speak the truth,” she said in a low voice as he continued to eat.

(Please God, send someone now. Anyone.) He could only pray. But that “anyone” could only be Felli, Sharnid or Harley. Felli and Sharnid were always late. He couldn’t imagine them heading over straight after lunch. Harley was the last one left, but he’d probably be late too as he was making Layfon a new Dite.

(……… No other way.)

If that was the way it was, he had no choice but to spill the beans. This time, Nina was very forceful. He understood her that much from accumulated experience. In order to reach her goal, she would do everything she could for it.

“Why do you want to know so much?” he asked after swallowing.

“What? Isn’t it natural……….”

For some reason, she said so after shifting her position so there was some distance between them. “Because you’re my subordinate.”

A predictable answer. In the face of such an answer, Layfon couldn’t find any reasons to resist her.

(……..Um?)

But she looked strange today. Having said what she wanted, Nina turned her face to a side as if she had sealed her mouth.

“……… Did you steal that bento?”

“Of course not, stupid.”

She was mad.

They continued to eat like that with their backs facing each other. She’d probably ask him again when they finished eating. Thinking of that, he planned to chew slowly, but the food wasn’t enough for a young man in his growing stage. He ended up finishing the bento quickly.

Nina was almost finished with her lunch.

(Oh no…….)

He dragged out the time to finish his juice as much as possible, praying for someone to open the door to the training room.

When Nina was about to speak, the door opened.

“You’re already here? Good.”

“Formed? And…..”

Behind Formed Garen was Naruki, who walked in with an annoyed expression.

“You two look to be in a good mood. May I?”

“Uh, no problem,” Nina nodded.

“Got anything?”

“I don’t want to waste time either. I’ll cut to the chase,” Formed said and looked at Naruki. Naruki still wore the expression of someone who wasn’t satisfied with something.

“Ah~ Before that, I want to say I’ll accept the captain’s request.”

“Really?”

That request must be Nina’s previous request to the City Police to allow Naruki to enter platoon 17.

“Huh? Really?” Nina said.

Nina’s reaction was slower. Surprised, Layfon looked at Formed and Naruki for confirmation. Nina didn’t look convinced either. On top of that, Naruki’s expression showed that it wasn’t her idea in the first place.

“But there’s a condition.”

“As expected.”

“I’m not accepting all your conditions. I’m sorry, but she won’t officially enter the platoon. Besides, she herself doesn’t want to.”

“………. Although it’s true that we need her, but if she doesn’t want to, she’ll only lower the team’s fighting strength,” Nina said frankly. Talking about wanting to, Nina was number one in the entire team.

“Yeah, I understand. But if you listen to my request, I’m sure she’ll feel better about it. Besides, you can dismiss her if she doesn’t have what it takes, and we can pretend we haven’t had this conversation. What do you think?”

“Leader!”

“Isn’t that natural? Listen, infiltration is part of police’s work. If it isn’t done properly, it’ll be life-threatening. Perhaps this kind of dangerous work won’t be needed in an Academy City, but if you plan to work in the police force after leaving this city, this is a very good training opportunity. If you’re to infiltrate an organization, then you must first know your purpose. Be more spirited. If you can’t do this, then you fail.”

Naruki lowered her head. She was like a big sister in front of Mei-Shen and Mifi, but now she was being rebuked like a little kid. Layfon found that unexpected.

“……. Well, back to the topic,” Formed said to Nina.

“What is it?”

“Ah, first, it’s about yesterday. Layfon, thanks for your help.”

“But he escaped….” Layfon lowered his head.

“That can’t be helped. Besides, we already reached our original purpose. We caught the fake students and suppressed the circulation of their goods.” Formed went on to explain yesterday’s operation to Nina.

“Illegal drugs…… Does that mean what you came here for has something to do with that?” Nina said, suddenly very serious.

Formed nodded. “Yes.”

“This is ridiculous. How would a platoon member have anything to do……”

“Can’t imagine? Even if it’s to do with the current situation Zuellni is in?”

“Um……..”

“If we lose the mine we’re using right now, Zuellni’s finished. This year’s Military Arts Competition is decisive. Many students in the platoons love this school deeply. If they feel the heavy burden of Zuellni’s fate, then it wouldn’t be strange for them to be associated with this, right?”

Layfon understood Formed’s words. Illegal drugs……. The drugs that increased the flow of Kei were perfect for this kind of use.

“…….. This is just speculation.”

Nina didn’t agree with him.

“Yes, it’s just my speculation. Perhaps Military Arts students with bad marks want it. Perhaps, some fools exist, thinking the side-effects of the drug won’t appear on them. Regardless, this is all speculation, but I’m willing to bet on it since the possibility of it happening is so high.”

“………. Do you have any clues of platoon members participating in illegal drug dealing?”

“……..We’ve obtained a firm clue while checking the paths of imports. Goods that come in by roaming buses cannot possibly escape our investigation, but that’s only limited to legal trade goods. Checks are more lax on private things in small numbers. Fake student IDs can get past a human eye, but not a computer. The illegal drug dealing can only be made through a real student’s address. Mail is sent to real students, then the fake IDs are taken to where the fake students gather. We’ve been checking all personal mails and mailing records for a year, and we’ve been double checking everything. The six people who are on the records the most……..” he sighed and paused. “I’ve already said so much. I can’t do anything else if you decide not to accept us. Naruki entering platoon 17 is to help with the investigation. I hope you can keep quiet about it and cooperate with us.”

“I accept.”

“Are you sure? Do you need to consider it……”

“No need. Since you have clues, we’ll help out.”

“What would you do if they take illegal drugs because they want to protect this city?” Formed tossed out the doubt to Nina’s answer.

“If they do it out of protecting the city, what would you do? It’s illegal, but it’s a choice made to resolve the crisis. What if they do it because there is no other way? Zuellni is at its end. They plan to sacrifice themselves to save the city. What would you do?”

Why was Formed pushing Nina? He’d have probably asked Layfon the same questions. Layfon didn’t understand why.

He spaced out a bit, and came to some understanding. Formed was eliminating later problems by raising them now. Layfon didn’t know what he himself would do. He looked at Nina. How would she answer?

“……. To sacrifice oneself in order to save something. It sounds good but it’s just being selfish. It’s just facing difficulties and choosing the easy way out. I’m determined to protect everything in this city. I don’t want to sacrifice anyone. I’ll protect everything, including myself.”

No matter when it was, she could always say something this strong to pierce Layfon.

“…….. I’ve never heard of such willful words,” Formed shook his head, at ease.

“But I’ve never heard of something that easing. Well, I’m leaving it all to you.”

“Roger.”

Nina and Formed shook hands.

“Ok, they are……”

“…… Six people. I said so. Five of them are……”

He wrote the names with his finger. Nina’s face stiffened.

“No…….”

“Their mail all came from the same city, but they themselves aren’t from that city. It’s the home city of the sixth person. About this sixth person’s name….”

Layfon vaguely remembered the name. Probably a platoon member. That was it.

Nina should have understood the truth when she heard the name. Then why…….

He thought for a moment and finally recalled which platoon this person belonged to. Layfon’s expression now matched Nina’s. The tenth platoon.

“Dinn Dee.”

The face of a bald young man surfaced in Layfon’s mind.

<center>◇</center>

The sound breathing during sleep hovered in his ears. In a way, it was the same as an interrogation.

“Geez……” Sighing and tired, Gorneo was on the way back to his dormitory. The time was after platoon training and dinner.

Naturally, Shante sat on his shoulders. She was fast asleep, her chin leaning on his head. Gorneo worried about whether she might fall off. Having spent a lot of her strength in training, she just ate afterwards and slept. Although he had been with her since he started first year here, she was still like a beast and a kid.

”Really…….” he sighed again and entered the dormitory. He walked past his room.

Shante’s room was next to his. He pressed the doorbell and passed Shante and her roommate, Rumamao, who was from Shante’s home city. Gorneo returned to his room.

He felt the unusual atmosphere the moment he opened the door.

He opened the door slowly but didn’t switch on the light. He brought out the Dite from his coat pocket, keeping it at hand so he could restore it at any time.

“Who is it?” he asked, increasing his internal Kei in readiness for a fight.

“……. Um, you pass. I was hoping you’d have noticed before you opened the door,” a voice came from inside the room.

“I said, who are you?”

The light was switched on. Carefully, Gorneo walked deeper into the room and saw a young man sitting on the sofa. The small table before the man was littered with fast food wrappers. He was drinking juice and reading a magazine. A strange tattoo decorated the left side of his face.

“This is my room,” Gorneo said.

The young man’s attitude wasn’t hostile, but it wasn’t enough of a reason for Gorneo to relax. He watched the young man stand up……. Haia.

“And the female hiding in the kitchen. Come out,” he said.

“……Ah.”

“Come out,” Haia said, and a young woman walked out of the kitchen’s shadow. Golden hair framing a slender body, she was about the same age as Haia. A pair of big glasses sat on the small bridge of her nose. She held a huge bow. It shrank back into a small Dite after she cancelled the restoration.

“Myunfa, your Kei isn’t up to standard,” Haia said to the young woman.

“……. Sorry.”

“If you can’t hide your presence, you’ll have trouble as an archer, so I’ve been giving you more practice like trailing a target and such.”

“Uh, uh, uh, I can’t do that kind of thing,” she shook her head.

“We just need to find a guy you like. You could follow him and observe him for a whole day, as well as train yourself. Isn’t that like shooting two birds with one stone?”

“That….. That kind of thing…….” She shook her head fiercely with her face all red.

Haia laughed.

“…… Just who are you people? Are you here just for this show?”

“Yeah~ Would we be happier if we came just for this show? But we’ll have to get serious now. My name is Haia Salinvan Lyia.”

Anyone from Grendan would have noticed Haia’s second name. Gorneo’s alertness increased.

“From the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang?”

“I’m the third Head. This is Myunfa, my first Military Arts student.”

“Uh, please to meet you.”

“Um……” Gorneo returned the nicety and swung his gaze back to Haia.

“…….. What’s the Guidance Mercenary Gang doing in an Academy City? Has the Student President hired you?”

“That side too….. Speaking of which, isn’t that better? Yeah, I’m regretting a little. Never mind, I’ll leave that for later.”

Haia’s more relaxed tone was confusing for Gorneo.

“I didn’t come here for business. I hope you can cooperate with me. Since Wolfstein Alseif doesn’t know anything about it, I’ve come to seek your help.”

“Cooperation? Or is there something else..?”

“What I want is your help in intelligence. The people living in the city know it best. Of course. Well then, about the information…… I’ll let you in if you have something useful. How does that sound? Since you’re the second son of the Luckens family, I thought it wouldn’t be strange if you knew of it. Actually, it is part of the Mercenary Gang’s secret history.”

“……. Could it be……”

“Oh, you do know.”

“Could it be real……? Haikizoku,” Gorneo watched Haia in disbelief. The time Gorneo heard of this term was when his older brother became a Heaven’s Blade successor. He heard of it in a conversation between his grandfather and his older brother.

“It’s a crazy power nurtured from a destroyed city……..”

That was what his grandfather said. The Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang left the city in order to search for this power.

“I thought it was just a legend…….”

“If it really was a legend, then the first generation Head didn’t have to work so hard.”

“So it does exist?”

“What a deep doubt. But it isn’t in Zuellni, it’s in the ruined city next to here. We’ve searched that city already, but didn’t find anything, so we came over here.”

“In that city……..” Gorneo fell into his memories. “…….. Right, I think the psychokinesist of the 17th platoon said she found something.”

“Oh?”

At that time, the psychokinesist of the 5th platoon didn’t find anything, but Layfon’s 17th platoon might have. But if that really was the Haikizoku……

“The twisted Electronic Fairy of a dead city…… I never thought it’s real.”

“Can’t help it if it is real, but even I only half believe it. I want to find one and have a look, but I can’t find it.”

“Well………. Leader,” Myunfa raised her hand.

“What is it?”

“Um……. It’s the 17th platoon, isn’t it? Its psychokinesist, right? How about we ask for her help? Fermaus only knows the general direction, but he can’t come here……..”

“That’s a good suggestion. Well then, Gorneo, who is that psychokinesist?”

“Felli Loss, the younger sister of the Student President.”

“The Student President…… meaning the leader of this city, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then this is simple, isn’t it?” Haia laughed, and after that, he obtained various kinds of information on Zuellni from Gorneo.

<center>◇</center>

On that day, they continued training in the fundamentals as usual after introducing Naruki to the other three team members. Other than that, Nina announced the cancellation of the training camp that they had planned for tomorrow and the day after. Naruki tripped and fell numerous times in the balance training with the balls scattered on the floor. Under Layfon’s advice, she finally managed to walk faster than a normal pace around the room after two hours of training. Afterwards, they had combat training on the balls between members divided into two teams. Naruki somehow managed to control her movements after falling countless times. When Nina ended training, Naruki was covered in sweat, unable to move on the floor.

“Are you all right?”

Everyone had gone to the shower room. Only Layfon came to deliver an energy juice to her.

“………. Do you do this everyday?”

“Today’s training is more relaxing already.”

They didn’t even do the ball-hitting training. In fact, today’s training wasn’t intense, but it wasn’t useless. Training in the fundamentals was extremely important, especially now they had a match coming soon. Rather than memorizing new moves, it was more practical to get the fundamentals right.

“This is hard,” Naruki said as she drank. She wiped her mouth. This level of difficulty made her feel down. Her reason here was to observe the 10th platoon and obtain the evidence for their use of illegal wine.

“Now I fully understand why Layton is so strong. I’m totally exhausted, but you haven’t sweated one single drop.”

“But you’re not trying to become a platoon member, right?”

“…….. Yeah, but I’m a Military Artist. I’m in the City Police, but I haven’t given up the mission of a Military Artist. Besides, sometimes I might have to handle a violent case. Physical strength is still necessary,” she regulated her breathing and sighed deeply.

“It’s meaningful to come here. I can become stronger. If it’s a reason for Military Artists, the reason is enough for me to be here. I understand being weak is a sad thing for a Military Artist. But I can’t fully accept this. I’m not really sure how to express myself clearly.”

“…….. I know.”

Although he wasn’t too clear on this, he knew.

“I’m the same as you, becoming strong without explicitly wanting to, though I had a reason to become strong, so I’ve been struggling for that. But since I arrived here, I’ve lost my reason to keep trying, and this period of time is troublesome.”

He wanted to be stronger so he could earn money and feed the children in the orphanage. His wish went out of control without his knowing, wanting to feed all the orphans in Grendan………. Although it turned out that way, it was still the simple reason that sustained him.

“But isn’t Layton still here?”

“Um, yeah.”

“Layton’s here because of certain reasons. You’re here, doing your best. Aren’t you struggling more compared to when you first started?”

“True. That thing in Grendan’s already sorted out.”

“………. I’m not sure, but you feel strange today,” she cocked her head to look at him. “Is something wrong?”

“Um, not really.”

“That’s not an answer free of worry, Layton.”

“Yeah, well, it’s ok.”

“You’re worried. What is it? Can you tell me about it?”

“It’s not really something to be worried about, but it’s just a feeling I can’t turn around…….? It’s like that. I haven’t yet sorted it out.”

A heaviness came from his weapon harness hanging around his waist. Two Dites hung from it. One was Harley’s newly adjusted green Dite (Safaiadite), the other was Kiriku’s Shimu Adamandite – the simplified version in the shape of a Katana.

“……… The way you said it, isn’t it just a worry?”

“Yeah?”

“If that isn’t something you’re worrying about, then there’s nothing we’d call ‘worry’.”

“Um—”

Perhaps it was a worry for him, but how should he resolve it…… considering it like that made it feel like something else.

He was unwilling to handle a katana. If possible, he didn’t want to give in. Kiriku said this would make him the strongest. Becoming the strongest was critical to a Military Artist. It was the power needed to protect the city. Of course it was natural. If you didn’t become strong, you couldn’t protect anything. He fully understood that.

He also knew that strength alone couldn’t protect anything.

He could imagine Kiriku’s agitation and frustration, a Military Artist with a damaged body who couldn’t do anything. But Layfon couldn’t fully comprehend that because his body was in a good condition.

In Kiriku’s eyes, Layfon was probably just an existence for him to let out his frustration on. That in itself was troubling for Layfon, but it might not be that, it was Kiriku’s sincerest wish, the remnants of Kiriku’s wish to become strong to guide Layfon onto the correct path of a Military Artist.

And on the path that Kiriku’s made for him was the road sign of the Shimu Adamandite. Kiriku asked “Why don’t you walk the correct path?”

There was an answer to this question. Yes, there was an answer to it. Why didn’t he walk that path? But who would accept that answer if he said it? Or maybe someone would accept it. Kiriku had asked that question because he accepted it.

“So, Layfon………..”

He didn’t want to hear it.

“Sorry for waiting,” Harley’s vibrant voice filled the training room. Earlier, he had greeted Naruki, handed back Layfon’s two Dites and returned to his lab. Now he was back.

“What is it?”

“What’s what? Now that we have a new member, isn’t it natural for me to show myself more?” Harley gestured. He was holding a textbook on weapon maintenance.

“Naruki’s weapon needs to be prepared.”

“Ah…. No, I can use this…..”

Harley looked at the Dite in Naruki’s hand and shook his head.

“That’s for the City Police. A City Police weapon isn’t suitable for a platoon match.”

“Ah, but………”

“All right, all right. I can make whatever you want. Come.”

Eyes sparkling, he grabbed Naruki’s hand and dragged her to the research lab.

“What do you want it to be like? A shortstick type? In that case, Nina’s type might be more advantageous. Ah, right, what’s this around your waist? A rope? Oh—a rope skill. How interesting.”

Naruki was pulled outside like that into a sea of questions. She looked at Layfon pleadingly, but he replied with a “take good care of yourself” expression.

“Well………..”

Naruki was gone, leaving Layfon alone in the room, but even without her, he couldn’t ignore the case that Formed had left for them.

“Then I’ll have to do this,” he said and used Kei to eliminate his presence.

She knew when Naruki was introduced to the team.

“Looks like someone’s kidnapped him.”

After a shower, Felli walked alone out of the training complex. She didn’t get to walk with Layfon today. Since it was useless to wait for him, she decided to leave.

She had thought of why Layfon had left……… but she knew by just looking at him. He was always in combat with his true feelings. Even without him saying anything, she could tell by his expression that he was hiding something. To tell the truth, she wasn’t that interested. Wasn’t interested, because she didn’t want to get involved………. And she got frustrated.

Originally she planned to search with the flakes, but she gave up. She had confidence that Nina and Naruki could not detect her flakes, but not with Layfon. She wasn’t sure whether she might be found out under normal circumstances, but if Layfon was in battle condition, he would definitely discover her flakes. Layfon’s senses were incredible, as if he could sense everything around him.

What would happen if he found Felli’s flakes………..

It’d have been good if he just prepared for battle………..

Leaving the training complex with these thoughts in mind, she headed for the tram station. Not that many people were here since the training complex was built in an isolated area. Many Military Artists preferred to run back home, not allowing their bodies to cool down after training. Nina and Sharnid were the same. Layfon tended to take the tram when he was with Felli, but if he were alone, he’d probably have run back like all the others.

Psychokinesists of other platoons tended not to ride the tram either. Although they couldn’t use Kei to strengthen their bodies, a lot of them preferred to train their physical side to combat the effects of tension on their bodies during a platoon match.

Although the tram didn’t go all the way to Felli’s place, she still decided to ride it. She was probably the only person who rode the tram on a daily basis. Many students moved to other areas for work, study and entertainment.

Hence, Felli felt something wrong when she saw someone at the station. The figure sitting on the only chair under the roof stood out vividly with his red hair. Felli didn’t recognize him. It wasn’t a problem to wear casual clothes outside class time, but it was unusual to change into casual clothes and come back here. A Dite hung from his waist. That was against the school rule. Very few students were given special permission to carry a Dite in their private time, and even so, that was restricted to certain times and locations.

Whether this rule was taken seriously was another question, but a student wouldn’t be carrying a Dite so blatantly like this guy.

The feeling wasn’t very strong, but the atmosphere was definitely not the same. It was better not to get any closer to him before the tram arrived. No, she’d let him board it first, and she’d wait for the next tram. Either way, a tram was always empty at this hour. She didn’t want to ride in a sealed off tram with him.

It felt unnatural to just stand here, so she decided to just turn around and head back to the training complex. All the while, a thought floated in her mind that this was a good reason for her to check on Layfon.

“Are you Felli Loss?”

Somehow, he was standing behind her without her noticing.

“!”

Felli jumped forward and turned around, snatching the Dite from her weapon harness. Restoration. A staff with petal-like scales appeared in her hand.

“Hey, hey, wait up. I didn’t do anything.”

The young man raised his hands to show he wasn’t hostile. His Dite remained in his weapon harness. Even so, Felli scattered the flakes and kept her distance from him. She had instinctively taken this measure.

He was a young man with a strange tattoo on his left face, Haia Salinvan Lyia.

“We can’t talk when you’re so far away.”

“I can hear over here. You should be able to hear me too.”

Haia wasn’t surprised at Felli’s voice in his ear. One of the flakes hovered before him.

“This flake contains psychokinetic explosives. It can cause an explosion and I’m not kidding,” she didn’t think one explosive could match this Military Artist’s speed, so when she put some distance between them, she had scattered a few psychokinetic explosives around.

“You do think ahead. If not now, I’d really want you to join me.”

“I refuse.”

“So quick!”

“Well, what is it?”

“Woah…….. Looks like you’re the difficult type.”

“I don’t want to be the type you like.”

A tram had come to a stop on the track behind Haia. Someone exited after the door opened.

“Felli!” Karian called.

“Ah, finally here,” Haia put out his chest and went to Karian. A girl with glasses that Felli didn’t know walked beside him.

“I was troubled that you left first.”

“Because I didn’t think the talk would end so quickly. Speaking of which, your sister is troublesome, like a cat with a temper.”

“Can’t judge a person by his looks,” Karian concluded.

“……… Just, who are these people?”

While demanding an explanation, Felli decided to refuse what Karian was going to say next. It must be something that she wasn’t willing to do.

Having hidden his presence through Kei, Layfon sat on the roof above the entrance to the training complex, letting the hours pass.

(Well, what do I do………..)

Team ten seemed to be still in training. Layfon could see their faces if he opened the door, but he’d be discovered, so he strained his ears, hoping to catch Dinn’s voice. If Dinn left the room, Layfon would tail him.

He couldn’t think of a better way.

What Formed wanted was the location of where Dinn hid the illegal drugs, or some convincing evidence of his taking them.

(Just how I do look for that kind of thing?)

Go into Dinn’s room? But thievery probably wouldn’t constitute evidence.

(It would been easy if all I need is to go into his room.)

Although he couldn’t open a door lock with a needle like a professional thief, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to hide his presence through Kei and use his sword to cut open the lock. Then he’d search for evidence………. But, if he couldn’t find anything, Dinn’d be more watchful.

If only Naruki was here… but that didn’t seem possible for today.

Well then, he’d do some observation work.

(Um--)

Could he do this? Doubt surfaced. It wasn’t hard to use Kei for a prolonged period. He could keep this up for an entire day while tailing someone, but what he was worried about was whether this was effective at all. Although Dinn hadn’t yet done anything, he probably wouldn’t do anything that Layfon expected. Layfon silently planned his possible moves.

No matter what, he couldn’t go in and expose the truth like the police. While Layfon was thinking of other ways, Dinn emerged from the building.

(I can only take this way then.)

Same as before, Dinn was with his team members. There were seven people altogether, the full number of people in platoon 10. The last person looked to be the psychokinesist. Layfon could tell by the way he walked. People who trained with weapons had a special way of moving.

It wasn’t strange for a student to shave his head, but to even pull out the roots, now that was unusual. Slightly behind Dinn, walking adjacent to him was a beautiful girl that Layfon hadn’t seen before.

(Is she the vice captain?)

That must be Dalshena Che Matelna. Rather than describing her as a beautiful adult woman, it was more appropriate to say she had the air of a beautifully crafted statue.

The two of them led on, with the five others following behind.

Layfon was about to jump down from the roof but he suddenly stopped. He saw someone trailing the platoon.

(Captain?)

It was Nina. She didn’t say anything after training, and had headed straight for a shower. He didn’t think she’d take any action today, but………. She was masking her presence with internal Kei. It wasn’t as well done as Layfon’s, and it couldn’t be compared to Sharnid’s, whose presence just simply melted into the air, but she did manage to eliminate her presence.

(At this rate, she’ll be exposed.)

From his experience with her in the past, he knew it was useless stopping her now, and if he went up to her to talk her out of it, he’d end up exposing both of them before Dinn.

(I’ll keep it the way it is then.)

Having confirmed some distance between them, Layfon jumped down from the roof.

What should he do……….?

Dinn and his team didn’t head for the tram. It seemed they were planning to walk back to town. Nina trailed Dinn and Layfon followed behind. Layfon found this situation delicate, and he didn’t plan to destroy this balance. Either way, he judged this situation to be disadvantageous.

(If Naruki were here……….)

But Harley had Naruki. Assuming the fact that Harley didn’t know anything, he wouldn’t let Naruki go so easily. Wondering whether he was doing something that would put his audience to a speechless stupor, Layfon continued to move after the group.

It seemed Dinn and his team were making casual conversations while walking: who had been rejected by whom, who had a new girlfriend, laughter mixed in with the chat. This was normal. It even happened in platoon 17 sometimes, and platoon 10 didn’t seem to intend to do anything different soon.

The one who acted the bad character like Nina was Dinn.

Layfon found that unexpectedly surprising. He thought the Vice Captain Dalshena would have played that role. The atmosphere she exuded was similar to Nina’s, and they were both refined in a way. Beautiful and elegant……… that type of a feeling. To the team members’ jokes, she’d reply with a firm attitude.

For some reason, this atmosphere felt similar to Sharnid.

Dinn Dee. Dalshena Che Matelna. Sharnid Elipton. That was the combination in team 10 that held the strength to threaten the 1st platoon.

Layfon recalled Nina’s horrible expression when she heard Dinn’s name from Formed. Why was she surprised and agitated? Maybe Sharnid…….. that might be the answer. No matter what had happened, the truth that Sharnid had left team 10 would never change. But what had happened between the deep trust of those three people? Layfon didn’t know.

What would Sharnid do if he knew about the illegal drug dealing? That guy who was flippant all day long – if he knew……

(Ah, I see………)

That was probably what Nina was worried about.

Team 10 finally showed the sign of dispersing. First it was one person, then the next parted with the team, probably because their dormitories lay in different locations. Finally, Dalshena also left, leaving Dinn alone.

Nina didn’t hesitate and continued to trail Dinn. Layfon followed behind them. Formed said Dinn must be the main culprit. His home city was Kerunes, the city specializing in medical herbs. It was one of the few cities to date that hadn’t banned the production of illegal wine. Dinn was the only person who would know the ways to import the drug.

Layfon thought Dinn would head back to his dormitory…… As Dinn walked on his own, something else moved.

It was Nina.

“Dinn Dee.”

She suddenly removed her disguise and called out, causing Layfon to panic. He was too late to stop her. Dinn turned around and Layfon managed to maintain his Kei around himself to conceal his presence.

“Nina Antalk? What does platoon 17 want with me?”

Dinn’s attitude wasn’t friendly. It was close to hatred.

“I have to talk to you.”

“I don’t want to talk to you though. Don’t think what you have to say has any value.”

“It’s very important,” she said, as he planned to turn away from her. “Don’t take illegal drugs again.”

“……. What did you say?” he stopped in his track and watched her.

“The City Police’s watching you. They’re looking for evidence. You can still make it if you stop now.”

“Don’t speak as if you’re everything. You don’t even have proof and you’ve already decided I’m in the wrong?”

“It’ll be too late if proof is found,” she said with anxiety.

Dinn’s expression remained cool and cold.

Under this circumstance, to be branded as a criminal, wouldn’t he be angry? But not Dinn. Was this enough to show that he really was involved in illegal drug trade?

No, compared to that…..

Why was Nina doing this? She had made him put up his guard.

No……… Things weren’t like that at all.

(Looking at this, as if……..)

She was trying to make Dinn come to his senses.

“……. Stop. What are you saying?”

“You’re damaging your body. Why are you still taking such dangerous things? If it continues, doesn’t that mean you won’t be able to protect anything?”

“This is for the sake of protecting the city. To win against the 1st platoon. To win a match and get the highest accumulated score. This is significant for authority. If I have neither authority nor reputation when the Military Arts Competition begins, my plan will be useless. That can’t happen. That can’t win anything. I’m using my way to protect this city. You should understand. We’re both strategists in our teams. For the sake of the next Competition, don’t you think so too?”

“Of course I’ve thought of it. I did, but I thought I’ll support the plan that will truly win the Military Arts Competition.”

“Only the result in battles can support a plan. A plan without that is not believable. You’re naïve.”

“No, it’s not. Calm and observant insight is needed to find a possible strategy. What we’re looking for now are those two things. You can only increase your own power through continuous training. Only through continuous diligence and effort can you have enough confidence to give commands. How can you prove you’re right by escaping reality through illegal drugs?”

“You’re the one who shattered my dreams. Your way is truly low!” Dinn shouted. Nina held her breath.

“You took away Sharnid with despicable means, and now you’re acting all kind and wonderful.”

“No, I didn’t……. take him away…..”

“What can your words do now? If you want to give the police this information, then fine. I’m doing everything to realize my dreams. Only I can protect this city. Tell Sharnid that I’ll fulfill that oath even without him.”

Dinn turned around. Nina didn’t prevent him from leaving.

Layfon had no way of following him, so he stayed where he was and quietly watched Nina's back.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume4 Chapter2

2009-12-20T22:48:39Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 2: Different nights */

===Chapter 2: Different nights===

“Ah……” Having spaced out for a while on the sofa, Leerin looked out the window.

“It’s already night.”

She hadn’t realized that at all. The sun had sunk down completely. Darkness swallowed the buildings. Light gradually lit up the street lamps and their surrounding buildings. Leerin felt strange, looking down at the city from such a high place.

“So slow,” Leerin’s adopted father said beside her.

He didn’t look like he once had broken numerous bones and was admitted into the hospital. Now, he rested with his usual stiff and expressionless face, eyes closed. Grendan possessed excellent medical skills, but Deruk’s atypical rate of recovery granted to a Military Artist contributed greatly to his speedy rehabilitation.

“Is the injury ok?”

“Yeah.”

Even so, Leerin was still worried. At the time during Gahard’s attacks, she thought her adopted father had died. The wounds he had sustained would have brought him death if not for the Heaven's Blade successor Savaris’s timely arrival. Although Deruk had received the newest medical treatment available, Leerin still felt doubtful about his speedy recovery.

“I’m all healed, thanks to the royal family,” her adopted father…… Deruk said, opening his eyes.

The fact that Deruk could receive the newest and most expensive treatment was all thanks to the royal family. Gahard was possessed by a special filth monster, so Deruk’s injuries were treated as war-related injuries. However, both Leerin and Deruk thought it wasn’t just as simple as that. The insurance for war injuries wouldn’t be enough to cover the treatment fees. A special organization other than the royal family had paid for the extra.

(And also……)

Leerin once again confirmed her location.

She was in a high-class room covered by a carpet with exquisite patterns. The sofa she was sitting on, whether it was the seat itself or the back, was made splendidly. It was a costly piece of furniture. Truthfully, the material of the seat was too good, and she felt uncomfortable sitting on it. She had overdone herself choosing the highest-class clothes from all the clothes in her possession, but it still wasn’t enough to match the expensive surroundings she was in.

Deruk, on the other hand, wasn’t worried about that at all. As a Military Artist, wearing the formal Military Artist suit or training clothes was enough. Still, he had chosen the best-looking clothes he had. That was only natural.

She looked out the window again.

Only one place in Grendan was high enough to allow a view of the entire city – the palace in the middle of Grendan, and this was where Leerin and Deruk were.

(Formalities aren’t needed if this is just for the usual insurance.)

As she thought of that, she felt pain in her stomach. It wasn’t time for dinner yet, but tension made her stomach call out.

After leaving the hospital, Deruk had sent out a request for an audience with the Queen so he could thank her personally. This was the appointed day for the meeting. Leerin was suspicious of why she was brought along with Deruk, but she saw her name on the reply invitation brought in by the other girl.

(Why am I here?)

Leerin had been used as bait at that time. It was all done to eliminate the filth monster, so it couldn’t be helped. Leerin couldn’t imagine what it was like to be protected desperately by Military Artists while she herself lived her daily life as usual. Both Deruk and Layfon were Military Artists. Although Deruk had picked up Leerin and took care of her, she still couldn’t accept the thought of living safely while people around her fought to protect her.

…… If possible, she wished she’d know before danger arrived.

The incident with Gahard Baren had complicated Leerin’s thinking, but she had not yet tidied up her train of thoughts enough to turn them into words. As she pondered, the door opened and a maid came to lead them to another room.

“Sorry for the wait. Her Majesty’s finally finished her work.”

“That’s all right,” Deruk said.

(Finally……)

The tension in Leerin intensified. Her stomach cramped. She wasn’t good in critical moments. Speaking of which, Layfon was the same. He was indifferent in his fights with filth monsters and with powerful Military Artists in Grendan, but in the day before the Heaven’s Blade successor ceremony and during the time when he had to apologize to the scary looking Heaven’s Blade successor, he wore a troubled expression.

(Do I have…… the same expression now?)

Leerin wanted to confirm in a mirror. If possible, she wanted to wash her face with cold water in a bathroom, but if she did that, her makeup would’ve been destroyed. Besides, the maid leading them showed no signs of stopping.

(Wuwu……)

While Leerin muttered to herself, the maid came to a stop.

“I’ve brought them,” she said to the guards. The Military Artists pulled open the huge double door.

The maid walked in front, followed by Deruk and Leerin.

This room was bigger than the one they were in before. In the middle of the room was a large sofa, and deeper into the room was a stage. A figure hid behind the curtains shadowing the stage.

Alsheyra Almonise – The Queen of Grendan.

Leerin and Deruk kneeled down before the sofa and bowed deeply.

“Thank you for your Majesty’s kindness……” Deruk began his thank you speech.

Leerin was too tense to lift her head. She kneeled there, rooted in the spot. Normally, one wouldn’t even have a chance to get so close to this person behind the curtains. Curiosity won against tension. Leerin lifted her head. She couldn’t make out the Queen’s face clearly because of the curtains, but that figure felt familiar.

“You don’t have to worry. This level of compensation is nothing compared to what you’ve done for Grendan for so many years. It really makes me feel awkward.”

The bell-like sound of the Queen numbed Leerin’s body.

“I’m sorry for……”

“This is the truth. You were active when you were on duty. The sword you nurtured was also active under my command.”

She meant Layfon. Leerin considered the Queen’s words as she waited for her reply.

(How does Her Majesty view Layfon……?)

If Alsheyra forgave Layfon, it would be equivalent to opening Layfon’s path back to Grendan…… Leerin concentrated, listening without missing one single word.

“His present situation is due to his immaturity and his ignorance of the world. It has nothing to do with you.”

“No, Your Majesty. His immaturity and his ignorance of the city that Your Majesty rules over were all because of me. He’s carrying the burden of the consequence of my one-sided education in Military Arts. I should be the one to carry his punishment.”

“Uh……. Please sit down.”

“Yes.”

“This isn’t the public room where I receive people. It’s a much more private room. You can relax. I’ve chased out the annoying servant.”

(Huh……?)

That last words, the way she joked….. Leerin seemed to have heard them somewhere before. But she couldn’t think of whom.

(Is this my imagination?)

The maid appeared again and laid out two cups of tea.

“How is he doing?”

“Huh?”

Leerin never thought the Queen would ask her a question.

“Is Layfon doing all right? Or have you two not been communicating?”

“Aa, yes. ……Ah, no, we’ve been mailing each other!”

Laughter sounded from behind the curtain.

“Sure, it’s not that persuasive to speak behind a curtain, but please don’t be so tense.”

“I, I see……”

“Then, is he well?”

“Yes. Um…… He’s in a city called Zuellni……”

“An academy city…… even though he received the Heaven’s Blade at that age. I think it must have been hard for him to graduate because of his uselessness? But he passed the entrance test. Are you the one teaching him?”

“Yes.”

“You study in a senior school, right? You’re excellent.”

“No, not at all.”

And under Alsheyra’s guidance, Leerin began to speak more normally. She talked about all sorts of things – when she taught Layfon how to do his homework, the days close to his departure from Grendan, and the time when she first received his letter……

In the conversation, Leerin realized she had been showing something of herself. She was chatting happily to the other after getting rid of her tension. Perhaps she was getting above herself. Talking so closely to this person before her just didn’t cut it.

“Layfon……. Can he not return to here again?”

“Leerin!” Deruk scolded.

“Ah……!” she realised she had talked too much.

“I’m sorry…….”

“Don’t worry. To Layfon, this place is his birthplace. To him, he’s always your most important person, isn’t that right?”

“…… Yes.”

“…… Perhaps he’ll return. If the timing’s right, then it’s not impossible.”

“Then……”

“But, whether he’ll come back when the time comes……. That I can’t decide for him.”

Leerin’s eyebrows dipped at her firm conclusion.

“…….. Deruk, your martial arts school is from a traveling tribe outside, isn’t it?” Alsheyra turned the topic to Deruk.

“Yes……” Deruk spaced out a little, not expecting the topic to suddenly shift to him.

“Most of the Military Artists who followed the first generation Salinvan to travel outside were Psyharden’s students. If Psyharden himself wasn’t in his old age, he’d probably have gone with them.”

“I’ve heard of that too.”

“Your senior has also joined as the trainer of the mercenary gang right?”

“Yes. Ryuhou Gazier, a man much stronger than I. Originally, he should have been the one to inherit the name of Psyharden.”

“He’s already dead.”

Very sudden. So sudden that Deruk failed to comprehend its meaning momentarily. When he finally digested that piece of information, his eyes widened.

“…… That can’t be.”

“Ryuhou Salinvan Gazier, the man who was the second generation Head is already dead. It’s a real shame, but that is the truth.”

The curtain was pulled up a little, and Alsheyra’s arm appeared, holding a metal box.

“This is for you.”

Deruk stood up and shakily kneeled down to receive the box. He opened it on the spot. Inside were wrapped a small metal cylinder and a Dite.

“……. This is Ryuhou’s Dite. My master gifted him with it…… but, how come..”

“It appeared the field medics were unable to completely remove the pollutants in his body after his fight with several filth monsters.”

Inside the cylinder was Ryuhou’s hair. When a person who died outside the city could not be buried, his hair was taken back to the city.

“…… Ryuhou, did he have any children?” Deruk looked at Alsheyra, his face stiff and his shoulders trembling.

“The third generation Head is Ryuhou’s student. Just 18 years of age. He’s good material.”

“I see,” he closed his eyes, looking as if he hadn’t been shaken by the news just then.

“Can I take care of Ryuhou’s funeral?”

“Yes……… The Salinvan mercenary gang has spread the glory of Grendan to the outside world. Their work on it is considerable. Besides, the martial arts of their leader is precious to Grendan. We definitely can’t lose it. Deruk Psyharden, don’t worry about the dojo and any other trivial matters. All you need is to focus on teaching your students.”

“I understand.”

“…… Leerin Marfes.”

“Yes.”

“The tribe of Psyharden has a tendency to extend its branches to the outside. This isn’t done through blood relations, but through passing down the spirit of the martial arts. That is what is inside Layfon. Even when he had the Heaven’s Blade, he refused to use the katana. I hope you can be suitably prepared about that.”

Leerin didn’t respond.

The meeting finished like that. Deruk left the room with the box containing Ryuhou’s hair. Leerin followed behind him.

In the split second when the door was in the midst of closing behind her, she said lightly but firmly, “No.”

To Leerin, the present was exhausting.

She was like a spoiled kid. A kid who cried and shouted because she didn’t like the present situation……… if she was a little child, she’d be allowed to do so. But Leerin wasn’t of that age anymore. Fifteen, and she would be sixteen this year. She’d have reached the age that allowed her to work.

She was about to reach the age in which she had to personally do something to change the situations that she didn’t like.

But what could she do?

She thought of this as she walked alone in Grendan under the dark sky. She had parted with Deruk and was on the way back to the dormitory. Leaving the boisterous street, she turned into a quieter street of the residential area. Under the light of the street lamp, irresistible loneliness enveloped Leerin.

No, this wasn’t loneliness.

She reached an intersection. On her left, the path led to the school, and her right led back to the dormitory. Where would she end up if she kept going straight? The days of walking to the left or to the right were normal to the sixteen year old Leerin.

To keeping walking straight……… if she kept walking……..

Was there one? Was there a road that would bring her to Layfon? Impossible. Rationalism told her so. Before her was only the mansion of some unknown person. Lying ahead of her was also a medium sized street with not too busy shops that managed to stay viable. There were clothes and accessory shops and also cafes and bakeries. If she kept on walking, it’d only be normal – the normal days of Leerin Marfes “without Layfon”.

This wasn’t loneliness.

She was lost.

“Ah.”

Someone had patted her shoulder. She turned around and saw Synola.

“Senpai?”

“What is it? Spacing out here?”

“Ah, no……….” she lifted her head, failing to prevent the words from tumbling out. “Nothing.”

“……..”

She planned to return to the dormitory. In order to not cause Synola any worries, she pretended nothing was wrong and planned to leave like that, but her feet refused to move.

“Uh~…………..”

”Wa.”

Suddenly, Synola put her hand on Leerin’s head and caressed her hair.

“Wh, what’re you doing?”

“I’m hungry, let’s go eat something.”

“Huh?”

“Why?” before she could say more, Leerin’s hand was taken up and she was pulled in another direction.

The place she was taken to had little to do with filling one’s stomach, a bar………

“Senpai…….. I’m not of age yet.”

“That’s fine. They’ve got juice, and the food’s not bad.”

From somewhere unknown shone dim green light that failed to illuminate the faces of customers in the bar. Only through the normal light of the bar where the drinks were kept could Leerin see clearly the figure of the bar owner.

“But……….”

“All right, all right. Hey, owner. Get me something to eat.”

“………….. This is a bar.”

“Right, right.”

“We don’t have that kind of thing. Geez…….” the owner sighed, holding a wine glass.

“This guy used to study in the same research institution as me.”

“Huh?”

“He really likes wine, so he left.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What’s so bad about that? It’s most important to live a life you like.”

During their conversation, the owner had finished cooking chicken fried rice.

“Uh~ That’s too usual. You could have wrapped it in egg.”

“Shut up, you spoiled lady. Drink up. Drink up,” he placed two glasses in front them.

“Ah, I……….”

“I know. This is just a cocktail.”

Sitting before Leerin was a glass of green liquid.

(For some reason, I don’t think this is healthy.)

If she said that, the owner would get angry. But…… the green drink suited the atmosphere of the bar. Under the bright light, the ice inside the glass shone like gems.

Gu<nowiki>~~~~~~</nowiki>

“Wu.”

Her stomach was calling.

“Ahhahahahaha!”

“Please don’t laugh.”

“Never mind. Let’s eat.”

Under Synola’s laughter and the owner’s persuasion, Leerin took a spoon, her face red, and she started eating the chicken fried rice along with the cocktail.

This was a world of green diamonds.

Unable to see the customers’ faces clearly, Leerin felt as if she was underwater. She viewed everything with silence. That was the world it was like. Underneath the clear light, the owner gazed around, or it could be that the customers were looking at the owner. What an unbelievable world. This was the feeling she got, as if she was walking in a tunnel underneath an artificial lake.

(Ah, how unrealistic.)

As if her words leapt into the water, a sound of water floated to her ears.

(I feel so at peace.)

The anxiety within her melted in the water. Having finished the rice, she drained the remainder of the cocktail. The ice in the glass had already melted. The owner offered her another glass, but she refused. If she kept on drinking, she would not be able to stay in this watery world. For some reason, that was how she felt about it.

“Ah~lala, she’s asleep.”

After drinking three glasses of cocktail, Synola noticed Leerin had fallen asleep.

“Speaking of which, don’t bring in someone who isn’t an adult yet,” the owner said.

“I wonder who wanted to forget his troubles by getting drunk,” Synola ordered her fourth wine.

“Anyone with worries can come here. Isn’t it human to want to forget reality at this moment?”

“But nothing is resolved by drinking.”

“I need a spare.”

“Huh, I guessed so already. Besides, it must be you bullying the other? You’re like that, pretending to be a kid when you find someone you like.”

“What’s so bad with it? It’s enjoyable to observe a girl in love.”

“What a strange hobby.”

Synola smiled bitterly at that conclusion.

<center>◇</center>

After parting from Layfon and the others at the restaurant, Sharnid headed alone to a noisier part of the area. He didn’t plan anything special. He was just going to show himself in familiar shops and chat with people to spend his night.

The long night was a source of Sharnid’s worries. He had thought numerous times of how great it’d be if he could just jump into bed and sleep when he felt the night was too long. There wasn’t a need to take insomnia tablets and set up a date with a girl. He just needed to spend his time somehow.

No, he wasn’t deliberately trying to use up time. He just wanted to stay here. At least that was how he thought of it.

Sharnid left the shop and saw someone making a musical performance on the street. He backed away from the crowd surrounding the performer, and hid himself in the shadow of the door of a closed shop. Closing his eyes, he listened without putting too much heart in it.

He didn’t want to stand out too much right now. He was well known for showing his face in the inter-platoon matches. At school, he always had girls chasing after him. At this time, he might have wanted them to catch him too, but nobody came to chat with him – because he didn’t want them to find him. He had naturally hidden his presence.

On the street were the musical performer and the crowd, people who sold their handmade crafts, lovers who picked their favorite pieces. The half-decent tune accompanied the stiff singing amplified by the microphone. The singing was even softer than the music. No matter which side it was, people were everywhere around Sharnid. Standing in the midst of all that, Sharnid had closed his eyes as he felt the passing of time. He listened carefully and waited quietly for the moment to come.

Today, that moment came particularly earlier than usual.

At that sound pouring through his ears, Sharnid opened his eyes. Light leapt into darkness. The light around the shops stabbed his eyes. Among the stream of people, the figure that Sharnid was watching had disappeared from the shop without his noticing.

Sharnid waited, and a golden light flashed past him.

Long and curly hair, as if ready to attack at any minute, shook according to her gait. Her chin was like a polished dagger. Lips clamped, she only gazed ahead of her. Always ahead.

She walked past Sharnid. Their gazes didn’t overlap. Would she have stopped if he had called out? Perhaps. Shena had kept on walking ahead. Just what was she doing? Sure, there had to be an answer to this, but he was anxious in finding out the answer.

Feeling like laughing at his indecisiveness, Sharnid left the shadow of the door to follow her.

She exited the busy street without hesitation. Her pace didn’t slow. It seemed she had already made up her mind to leave this place.

(Hm?)

Looking at her fearless back, a question floated up in Sharnid’s mind, unbidden.

(Could she be…….)

Tension surfaced in him. Cautiously he kept his Kei inside him and followed her at a distance.

They arrived at the outer area of Zuellni near the practicum area of the Construction course. He remembered there were some shops around here when he first enrolled in the Academy City. Few people would come to this place, but it was well-known because of its suitability as a hide-and-seek location. However, when Sharnid had taken notice of this place, the shops were already closing down. In the end, its one-year level of popularity was sustained by what was in vogue in the Academy City.

An explosion pulled him out of his memory.

She stopped in her tracks and got ready to fight. The sound of the explosion was from a far distance. Sharnid hid himself in the shadow of a building, keeping his Kei at the ready. A horrifying presence flashed above his head.

(Layfon?)

That presence felt familiar. In one split second, Sharnid saw Layfon pursuing someone unfamiliar to him. The two figures left his view of vision quickly. It seemed Shena wasn’t worried about Layfon and the guy he was chasing. She kept moving towards the direction of the sound. Sharnid used internal type Kei to strengthen his muscles and he leaped onto a rooftop after her.

As he expected, her destination was around the shops. The water guns put on display were blown away as Military Artists of the City Police rushed in.

Sharnid strengthened his vision and confirmed the situation through the dim moonlight.

The City Police surrounded one Military Artist, who got past the police enclosure with ease. Sharnid saw Layfon chase after that guy, but he didn’t move over to help. He watched the Military Artist that had gotten away. A female. About the same age as Layfon.

(…….. Not her.)

That wasn’t something that she (Shena) must not see. Relieved, tension left his stomach.

When he had recovered himself, he felt a presence at his back.

“Why are you here?”

It was her. Something hard touched his back. To think the person he had been chasing had doubled back to come behind him. So unsightly of him…… He couldn’t help but mock himself.

“Taking nighttime strolls is my hobby. Like you, I saw something interesting today. Don’t you think it’s quite an exciting night tonight?”

“I don’t think so. It’s just a noisy and uncomfortable night.”

Incredible killing intent poured out behind him. He raised his arms above his shoulders.

“Don’t move. Even with the safety lock on, you won’t last at this distance.”

Sharnid turned around regardless. He wasn’t pierced through. She held a lance made of white alloy, her eyes holding Sharnid’s in dissatisfaction.

“Why are you here?” she asked again.

“Didn’t I say taking a night time stroll is my hobby, Shena?”

“Don’t call me by my name.”

Shena……. Dalshena looked discontent. Dalshena Che Matelna, the Vice Captain of the 10th platoon, who used to be Sharnid’s comrade.

“…...... Have you noticed, Sharnid?”

“Noticed what?”

Only the two of them were on the rooftop of the pub. He made light of the question that no one else but only the two of them would understand.

“…….”

“What’re you saying? I was just strolling alone and ended up here. That’s all. Isn’t it the same with you?” he said.

“…….. Yeah.”

“Right. Well, we ran into each other because of the ruckus.”

With doubt in her expression, she put away the lance.

“Then…….. Seems like the chaos over there’s finished. Time for me to go,” Sharnid said, having glanced at the shop.

“Sharnid.”

He stopped in his steps.

“Why did you leave us?”

Why? Just why? He had also asked himself that question numerous times. He had made Dinn and Shena very angry, bringing them huge trouble.

“Don’t you know?” he said.

“I’m asking because I don’t know!”

“Really…..?”

“….... Um.”

Looking at her trying to suppress her anger, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Why……. Didn’t we swear? We decided to guard Zuellni together. Have you forgotten?” she reproved him.

“I didn’t.”

“Then…..:

“I’m keeping the oath in my own way.”

“Is the 17th platoon the answer?”

“Probably.”

“Do you think you can better keep that oath by staying with the 17th platoon than with us?”

“I’m not sure about that, but…..”

“But….. What?”

“Shena, sometimes when you want everything, you lose everything. If you keep speaking like that, you’ll end up like me.”

“What are you saying?”

Sharnid didn’t reply. He headed in the direction back to his dormitory. Shena didn’t chase after him. Was she thinking of the meaning behind Sharnid’s words, or had she already tossed it away and continued on her path…….

Just keep moving forward. That phrase was the most suitable for Dalshena. Throw away all burdens and keep moving forward towards the roads ahead. Dalshena Che Matelna was the most suited to this phrase.

“Ah……. Geez.”

He was so laughable to hope for her to look back at him.

He didn’t have the confidence to sleep well tonight.

<center>◇</center>

The rumble of an explosion woke Nina from her sleep.

“What’s happening?”

While strengthening her ears to listen to any sounds, she dressed herself in the sports uniform with lightning speed. She grabbed the weapon harness sitting by her bedside and left her room. Outside the dormitory, waves of Kei assaulted her.

“It should be from that direction…….” she started running.

The Kei from a certain direction felt similar.

(Layfon? Is he fighting?)

As she ran, she pulled out the Dites and restored them. She had no idea what was happening right now. Why was there a fight around here? All she understood was that Layfon was fighting. This was enough of a reason to propel Nina forward.

However, this level of Kei……. Thanks to Layfon’s training, Nina managed to feel it. The Kei she felt just then was more intense than the Kei that Layfon used in the inter-platoon matches. His opponent’s Kei was the same. A type of Kei that was stronger than any platoon members.

No, even stronger than that.

The fact that Layfon was fighting alone with that type of an opponent worried her.

“Why can’t that guy…..” the rest of the words never got out of her mouth.

“!”

The sudden presence stopped Nina in her tracks. She leapt to her left. The path she was on just a moment ago exploded. External type Kei.

Nina climbed to her feet. She checked her surroundings but didn’t find her attacker.

“Who is it!?” she shouted.

The sound of something slicing through air answered her. Nina avoided that attack too. As the ground exploded again, Nina saw the gathered Kei.

(An arrow?)

An arrow that was shot with Kei? It seemed the weapon was a bow, which meant the enemy wasn’t anywhere close.

“This is bad.”

She had deduced the enemy’s location from the direction the shot came from, but she had yet to see the enemy himself. Speaking of which, Nina’s Kei was not enough to counterattack at this distance. If she ran in to get closer, her enemy would probably retreat to maintain a desired distance, but if Nina was willing to spend some time on this, she could probably find a way to……

But if she did that, then Layfon would have to fight alone. She must hurry and get to Layfon’s side.

(Well…….)

She had decided. A light nod of the head, and she ran for Layfon’s direction.

The arrow came.

“Ha!”

Her iron whip blocked the arrow. An instantaneous explosion sent Nina flying. She rolled back to her feet and immediately ran through the dust cloud.

Internal type variation of Kei – Gongoukei.

Layfon had taught her this defensive Kei technique. She hadn’t completely mastered it yet, but it was enough to cancel the impact of the Kei in the arrow.

“I don’t have time to play with you!” she roared at her enemy and kept on running

Another arrow shot at her. She flicked it down. Another explosion, another cancellation and she continued moving forward, repeating the same process.

After the third arrow, the precision of the enemy archer started to decline. One of the arrows hit the ground behind Nina before exploding. The archer needed some time to prepare before shooting more accurately. The arrow that had failed to hit Nina only managed to break the ground’s hard surface into tiny pieces.

The Kei of the arrows that were crashing against Nina’s back suddenly disappeared.

“What!”

She had a bad feeling about this.

The archer had stopped shooting. Nina kept on running while increasing her speed. When she reached her destination, everywhere was quiet.

The ground of the destination was torn apart, evidence of an intense fight. Sparks scattered across the ground. Layfon’s back faced her. He didn’t look injured, but he was just standing there. Looking at the inert Layfon, Nina’s bad feeling didn’t go away. She saw a Dite lying among the debris on the ground. Layfon’s Dite in its restored form. Only the handle was left. It didn’t seem to have held the steel threads form. Besides, a huge crack ran down the handle.

“Layfon…….”

“………Huh? Senpai?” Layfon turned around, looking shocked. Nina was surprised that he didn’t notice her when she was standing so close to him.

“Why are you here?”

“That should be my line. Just what happened?” she asked, trying to make it sound casual.

“Ah, uh….. well….. how should I put it? Um……” he stammered with a troubled expression.

(Ah………. As I thought.)

He tried to explain but ended up saying nothing. As she watched him, she also felt something strange about him. Layfon had a strange habit of standing in the disadvantaged side. He was like that when attacked by the larvae. He was like that when he fought the matured filth monster alone. He was probably like that too when he was in the ruined city’s Mechanical Department a few days ago. He was always getting injured, choosing to get injured, by himself when he fought.

That was hard for her to imagine.

But……..

(Have you noticed it?)

Whether Layfon noticed it or not………. Nina could not make a conclusion.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume3 Chapter5

2009-12-20T22:01:54Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 5: Dance in midnight */

===Chapter 5: Dance in midnight===

Layfon and his team ate the simple lunch they brought with them, then opened the side door into the Mechanical Department of the city.

“The power’s cut off,” Nina said. The lift wouldn’t work no matter how many times they pressed the lift button.

“I guess we’ll have to get down along the cables. In case anything happened, we’ll confirm whether the switch is off or not. Felli stays here as reinforcements.”

“Roger.”

They put on their helmets and confirmed that Felli’s flakes were working normally. They opened a hole on the bottom of the lift and moved downwards along the cables.

Darkness surrounded them, but green vision appeared as Felli supported them with night vision.

Feeling the touch of solid ground, Layfon retrieved the steel thread he used in place of a cable.

Huge tubes surrounded them, and in between the tubes were crisscrossing corridors meant for human use. It looked exactly the same as Zuellni’s Mechanical Department. Or not exactly the same. This city had more tubes than Zuellni. It was a more complicated maze. So dense that Layfon couldn’t see through to the central area. He didn’t smell any rot. What tickled his nose were the special smell of oil and gel and the weaker smell of metal and chemicals.

“The air down here is terrible, and you guys have been working in this kind of place?” Sharnid frowned.

“If we had more light, it would feel more spacious here.”

“But we can’t use a flare here. It might catch fire.”

“Exactly. Felli, anything strange?”

“Nothing so far.”

Nina nodded. “I see. The thing from yesterday night is hiding. This has to be where it is.”

“Do you believe us, captain?” Layfon said, surprised. Although Felli sensed the creature, Layfon was the one who confirmed it. The 5th platoon didn’t seem to believe him. And even Layfon himself lacked the confidence to guarantee what he saw had been true.

“Of course. What reason do I have to doubt what you two saw?”

“…… Yeah, you two aren’t the type to lie,” Sharnid agreed.

“And I have my suspicions.”

“Huh?”

“Since this city still ‘lives’, then it shouldn’t be strange that that thing exists, right?”

“Ah……”

Zuellni in its little girl form surfaced in Layfon’s mind.

“I think what you two encountered was this city’s consciousness.”

“I see……”

“We’ll decide on what to do once we reach the center of the Mechanical Department. We’ll split into two groups. Me and Sharnid, and you move alone. Is that all right?”

Layfon nodded.

“If you don’t find anything, meet back here in one hour. Let’s go.”

Layfon, alone, headed deeper into the maze.

<center>◇</center>

“…… Why?”

This question hovered in Leerin’s mind. It was hard to believe Gahard Baren had appeared here.

“What….. did you do?” Deruk said. “Is this Kei in your body? I heard that your Kei vein was destroyed……”

Yes.

Rumor had it that Gahard’s Kei vein was destroyed in his match with Layfon, and he had lost his consciousness and fallen into a vegetative state. So why was he here?

No Dite armor wrapped around his remaining arm. Gahard was wearing a worn out and thin hospital robe. They could see his stomach through the thin robe. It was once full of muscles, but they had now disappeared through a long period of time spent in the hospital.

“You’ve given up your humanity,” Deruk said.

Gahard’s dominating eyes did not belong to a human.

“I don’t know how you gave yourself up, but what did you come here for?”

“……”

Gahard hadn’t opened his mouth. It was as if he was eating with his mouth closed, and noise sounded from his stomach.

“…… Wu.”

And that noise became louder and louder.

“Close your eyes and cover your ears!”

Gahard’s entire body shook abruptly.

“Ga Haaaaaaaaaaa!!”

It drowned out Deruk’s voice. Glasses and eating utensils shattered around them. Their bodies shuddered, their eyes and ears enduring intense pain. The ground swayed.

When the noise stopped, Leerin wondered whether her eardrum had burst.

Then……

“Gu.”

The moaning of father and the shaking of the ground proved to her that her eardrums were still intact. Leerin opened her eyes and saw Deruk kneeling on the ground.

“Father!”

His clothes were torn, revealing the old yet still firm and strong body underneath. Blood seeped from his back.

“Could that be Roar Kei? You shouldn’t be able to use the ultimate move of the first Luckens,” Deruk said and vomited blood. The Katana he used to support his weight broke under him. This wasn’t any normal Katana. It was a restored Katana. The vibration earlier had destroyed its alloy structure, weakening it.

“You…. What did you do….” Deruk toppled.

“Father!”

Deruk showed no response. Blood pooled around him. Leerin’s cheeks paled as if Deruk’s blood had also drained the blood from her face.

“Ah, ahah….” she stood up and ran to Deruk, completely forgetting Gahard. Losing Layfon and then the father who brought her up from when she was a child had stripped off Leerin’s sense of the present.

“Father……” she shook him, his blood staining her hands.

“No….. No…. Please…..” she shook her head like a child, desperately shaking Deruk.

“Hurry, get up. Father…… Everyone…… We have to wake everyone,” she cried, cried like she was a child. She was always the first to get up, and next was Layfon. They would call everyone after preparing breakfast. Deruk was a Military Artist, but he always stayed in bed. It was difficult to wake him up.

Yes, he was just asleep like he was in the past. Yes.

“Father….” she called. She didn’t hear the sound of Gahard above her. Her consciousness was rejecting it.

Just when the noise reached its climax….

A beast landed beside her.

Thick silver fur swayed. The beast stood in front of Gahard as if to protect Leerin. It had the body of a dog, but it wasn’t a dog. Its abnormally long ears stretched backwards under long fur, and the toes at the tip of its limbs had not devolved into those of a dog. It supported its body like a human female caressing her five long fingers. Its lengthy tail wrapped around Leerin. Human-like pupils burned as they glowered at Gahard.
[[Image:CSR vol03 203.jpg|thumb]]

Gahard’s mouth opened.

External type burst Kei, the ultimate move of the Luckens – Roar Kei.

His mouth opened to destroy the structures of particles. But what came out of that mouth was just the noise of the night.

“…… Speaking of which, you’ve also read father’s secret book, haven’t you?”

Hearing that new voice, Gahard turned around.

Savaris Qualafin had appeared.

“Well, you couldn’t have reached this stage if you weren’t the way you are…… but, isn’t it a shame that you didn’t realize while you were still human? Or are you now satisfied because you’re finally able to perform that move?” Savaris said as he looked down on Deruk. “To have suppressed the vibration of the Roar Kei with the threatening variation of Internal Kei…… Quite some work there. Perhaps I should say, as expected of Layfon’s Master? No other person could have achieved this.”

Meaning Savaris had cancelled the second Roar Kei attack.

“But because of this, I’ve gained some valuable experience. Nobody’s used this move on anything other than filth monsters, so this is what it’s like when it hits a human. It’s fortunate that Layfon isn’t aware of the consequences of this move.”

“…… Lay… fon……”

Savaris smiled at Gahard’s first word.

“Oh, so you still remember? I was afraid you slept for so long that you had forgotten him. I knew you’d make a move after you woke up, but it’s just a little different from my expectations. I didn’t think you would be so energized since your body condition was so bad.”

“Wh…… Where? Lay….. fon……”

“Or maybe because you couldn’t hang in there, so you managed a rebirth through stubbornness?”

“Lay……”

“What’s torturing you? Your ambition? Dream? Evil means? Or is it everything? Desire? Outrage? I’ve already told you that age has nothing to do with it. A Heaven’s Blade successor is born to be a Heaven’s Blade successor. That’s how our fates are. This has nothing to do with speed. You should now probably understand the result of your vanity.”

“Gu. Ah….. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Hahaha! Are you angry? Then come. Not Layfon, but I, shall be your opponent. If you win against me, then you can become a true Heaven’s Blade successor.”

Savaris backed away from Gahard’s sudden attack, and using that momentum, he leaped over the fence onto the street beyond.

“Follow me. I’ve already prepared the battlefield.”

Savaris vanished in the next second. As if to follow him, Gahard also disappeared.

Leaving Leerin alone to stare at the back of Deruk.

“Father……. The blood, it won’t stop……”

Tears rolled down her cheeks, her hands and knees stained with blood.

And she looked at the beast.

Someone was standing behind it.

“…… Ah.”

“It’s all right, Leerin-chan.”

“Synola-senpai…… Why?”

“We can save Deruk. Don’t shake him anymore. He’s got a few broken ribs. It’ll be troublesome if they damage any of his internal organs.”

“Senpai.”

“You’ve done your best. Now rest,” Synola gestured at the beast and patted Leerin’s head.

Feeling her consciousness fading, Leerin fell into a slumber. Synola caught her as she fell towards the inert Deruk, then she placed her on the back of the beast.

“If only sleep could heal his wounds….. but it’s not that simple.”

Synola breathed out deeply and lifted her head. “Damn that Savaris. He was deliberately late. It might have been too late if not for Grendan.”

The beast Grendan leaned its head against Synola’s arm. Wind rose around Synola.

“Your Majesty……”

Three figures kneeled before her.

“Take Deruk to the hospital. I’ll bring this child back to the dormitory. Lintence, is the battlefield prepared? You stay over there and keep watch. Just in case.”

“Yes.”

Two figures disappeared at her orders.

“It’s so exaggerated to just eliminate a harmful bug,” Synola said and studied the damage around her.

“I have to give out funding too, and also an explanation about Deruk. The royal family has already forgiven everyone related to Layfon’s case….. but it’s still hard on the child if the public doesn’t agree.”

“Your Majesty……” the remaining person said. A woman with long dark hair who looked like Synola. “…… It’s about time to return to the palace.”

“Yeah—” she looked anything but wanting to return.

“Your Majesty!”

“But there shouldn’t be a problem with the governing of this city even if I’m not around. It’s like it doesn’t…. doesn’t really need me.”

“…… Please don’t be willful. Perhaps there really won’t be a problem when Your Majesty’s not around, as there’s the Parliament and I here to manage it. But this is an issue of responsibility.”

“If you need a symbol, then all you need is this child here. If it’s about the public, then Kanaris, you’re enough. Why don’t you just become the real Queen?”

“Stop joking. I can’t command the Heaven’s Blade successors. If that happened, we might have a second or a third Layfon.”

“That child didn’t go on a rampage because of that.”

“Even so, look at Savaris. Doesn’t that say there’s a need for Your Majesty’s pressure to manage them?”

“Ha~~ Ah~~…. Geez.”

She looked at Leerin as if running away from Kanaris, and sighed.

“You’re also a Heaven’s Blade successor. Aren’t you being too serious?”

“I’m very tired because of a certain someone,” Kanaris said.

“Ah, that’s going overboard.”

“Whatever it is, hurry up, toss away this alias and return,” Kanaris frowned and left.

“Really……” Synola made a face. “Even if you tell me to return……”

She lifted Leerin.

“My existence is meaningless if not all twelve Heaven’s Blades are here.”

She suddenly recalled Savaris’ words. “A Heaven’s Blade is born to be a Heaven’s Blade….. Then Layfon isn’t my Heaven’s Blade? Perhaps……” she shook her head, disbelieving the ridiculous thought.

“It’s useless to consider what has been lost,” Synola carried Leerin and left through the hole in the wall with Grendan.

Savaris leapt from the walls and roofs of different buildings to run in the moonlit night. Gahard followed him in much the same way.

What exciting scenery.

“If you were that good when you were still alive, I’d have taken care of you more,” Savaris laughed mockingly and leaped to stand on a place that was higher than the tallest building in Grendan.

Mid-air.

Gahard similarly landed on air.

“You can see it right? Come up,” Savaris nodded in contentment.

Gahard looked around him.

“You’re standing on Lintence-san’s steel threads. They’re as thin as spider threads, but they don’t break easily, so don’t worry. But if you lose balance, your weight will drag you down and you might be split in half on a steel thread, so your feet must always be filled with Kei. And don’t think of escaping. If you do that, Lintence-san will gather all the steel threads and cut you into pieces. Aside from that, we’ve decided to hold your burial ceremony at the Luckens’ family home,” Savaris explained with a smile. “I think you understand me, don’t you? I’ll be happier if you could say my name. Either way, you’re my junior in the same Military Arts school. Though I didn’t look after you much, you have in turn looked after my brother. It’s embarrassing, but I still want you to call me by my name.”

“…….”

“Have you recalled my name? What a shame. Looks like you’ve surrendered totally to the filth monster,” Savaris said. He didn’t look like he cared.

Grendan had a fight with filth monsters about one month ago. A filth monster in its aged phase seized an opening created by the larvae attacking the city and entered the city’s inner area. The Heaven’s Blade successors had all sensed the invasion and subsequently chased after it, but this filth monster was a strange parasitic type. It could live off a human body by absorbing nutrients from its host. Grendan’s psychokinesists had trouble finding its location.

And that was when Savaris suggested a plan.

After tracking the filth monster several times, they found that the filth monster tended to attack a new host when it was about to exhaust all of the nutrients of its current host. The time when the filth monster transferred to another host was the best timing for a psychokinesist to discover its location, and also, the host would move according to his original personality, so that would create an opening to eliminate the filth monster.

Savaris and a huge number of psychokinesists waited for the next moment when a victim would be attacked, and they prepared for the filth monster a host of their choice.

Gahard.

Although the filth monster almost escaped, Savaris’ preventative measure worked, allowing Gahard to become the filth monster’s new host. Affected by its host’s hatred, the filth monster also developed hatred for the people associated with Layfon.

That was what Deruk had sensed.

“You’re serving the city’s defense in your very last moment as a Military Artist. Is that your wish?” Savaris said as he inserted several cards into the armor on his arm. Dites in the form of cards. He had already inserted the cards into the armor on his legs.

Savaris never knew whether that was Gahard’s wish…….. Gahard’s wish when he was in a vegetative state.

He didn’t need to know.

“Military Artists who can’t fight against filth monsters are worse than trash. Shouldn’t you thank your senior for kindly preparing this last glorious mission for you?”

Gahard howled. Savaris didn’t know whether it was Gahard’s outrage or the filth monster’s howling. He ran on the thin steel thread to close in on Gahard, smiling as he did so.

“Let me confront you a little bit seriously……. Restoration.”

Light shot forth from his limbs to cover his entire body. The card Dites expanded into their original weight and form. An exquisite design gathered around the armor above his elbows and on his legs, giving off bright white light that melted into the air of the night.

Savaris’s Heaven’s Blade had been restored to its original form.

He lifted his arm and with the sound of the air being torn apart, his arm received Gahard’s fist.

“Not a bad sudden attack,” he said, relaxed, as if he was just taking off his jacket.

Gahard kicked out at him. He backed off a step. Gahard’s next kick followed, he was performing consecutive kicks on the steel thread.

“Hahaha. Not bad!”

The air around Gahard spun. On occasions, blades of air assaulted Savaris from a direction different to Gahard’s kick. As the number of kicks increased, so did the number of air blades, but Savaris avoided them all with ease.

“Hm, I’m happy. Who would have thought you could execute this move so perfectly? I really want my brother to take a look at this.”

His smile remained.

“I wanted to fight seriously with someone from the same school. That was why I chose you. It’s great that you haven’t failed my expectations.”

Gahard continued his attacks in the same pattern as Savaris leapt around. The Heaven’s Blade successor received a kick on the armor plate on his arm, which sent him flying. Gahard increased the speed of his next kick. Wrapped in the wind of his spin, it was a decisive attack that simultaneously released Kei along with Gahard’s kick.

Blades of air shot towards Savaris like rain. Facing the invisible attacks as he kept his flying pose, Savaris breathed in deeply.

”AH HA!”

And blew out his Kei that completely eliminated the air blades, leaving behind the wind of Gahard’s spins.

“This is one way of using Roar Kei,” Savaris smiled as he landed on a steel thread. “And also, even if you don’t execute the entire move, as long as you can bounce back the Kei, then……”

The lower part of Savaris’ body blurred.

Gahard crossed his arms before him reflexively.

A sound that felt low and heavy. Then Gahard’s body floated.

“Don’t you know the “Fierce Wind Kei” style? It doesn’t matter if we don’t use the wind when our basics are grounded in the Luckens’ style of Kei. Our moves are powerful as long as we move with the flow. The “Quick Wind” move is made with its flow along with the effect of additional Kei training, and that levels up the power of the move into “Fierce Wind Kei”. You didn’t do a bad job with it, but I already knew what it’d be like. As expected, it’s not as satisfying to fight with a guy from the same school.”

About to deliver a kick, Savaris lowered his leg.

The expression on Gahard’s face made Savaris think “How could this be?”

A human face emerged from the threatened beast that was Gahard.

“Why such despair? Can Gahard’s human consciousness still remain? Have you realized the distance between you and a Heaven’s Blade successor…… On that day, you failed to obtain the Heaven’s Blade title even though you got hold of Layfon’s weakness. Have you finally understood that?”

“I. I was just…. Just…” Gahard’s lips trembled to weave the words.

“Humph, you can still talk normally.”

“I just….. couldn’t tolerate. That brat…… a Heaven’s Blade successor….. on par with the young Master…… Became a Heaven’s Blade successor at an age younger than the young Master…… I couldn’t tolerate.”

A light of humanity shone in his eyes.

Had he escaped from the filth monster’s control?

“I decided….. to defeat him. For that brat to become a Heaven’s Blade successor….. It must have been chance. I couldn’t stand him……. And…… his dirty hands…..”

“Enough self-defense. How unsightly.”

Savaris cared nothing for the dying words of a man controlled by a filth monster.

“Either way, the fact that you threatened Layfon won’t change. You’re also responsible for it. As a senior, shouldn’t you have participated in the match calmly and pulled him down from his position rather than threatening him before the match?” Savaris’s body swayed lightly, and in that second, internal Kei spilled out from his body, making the air vibrate.

“You’re only at a passing level in terms of keeping the principles of a Military Artist. At least die and leave a good memory for my little brother. No more of your unsightly protests.”

“Ho. Ho, hoooooo….”

Pain showed through Gahard’s icy words. The human existence disappeared again in his eyes. The pupils that showed control before changed back to a filth monster’s. As if to match that alteration, Gahard’s body changed.

“Finally realizing that you can’t win as a human, huh? But……”

Gahard’s body expanded. The tattered clothes tore apart, exposing the muscles in bunches. A black body. The expansion stopped after the body was three times its human size. Huge wings appeared on its back and thick scales covered it from head to toe. Fingers were replaced by three long claws. Long and sharp teeth showed through the mouth.

A roar rent apart the night sky.

Savaris watched coldly as the filth monster declared its presence in Grendan.

“You guys lost to us outside the air purification system. What can you do inside then?”

The lazy smile had been wiped off Savaris’s face. A sharp expression like a blade emerged to stare at the filth monster.

The three claws swiped at Savaris.

Savaris’s body dispersed into the wind.

It was an illusion.

“Gahard Baren, this is my last mercy to you.”

That voice sounded from all around the filth monster. Everywhere were Savaris’s images. Like an army of Savarises, each Savaris faced the enemy with a different pose.

“Die on Luckens’ most elegant move.”

This was a variation of Internal Kei – Luckens’ move – A thousand people rush.

Countless Savaris made their moves. They attacked at point-blank range. The filth monster had no way of resisting.

Batter, hit, kick, attack, slash, shoot, destroy, twist, crush.

Numerous attacks fell onto the filth monster without ceasing, pounding down that thick outer shell. The filth monster didn’t have the time to think as it was assaulted in all directions. Its self-protection function worked automatically underneath the innumerous attacks to make changes to its body. Having lost its outer shell, the black body transformed.

In that split second, the rain of fists ceased.

It was Gahard’s painful face. Voiceless, he looked at Savaris bitterly as if to convey something.

“Scum,” Savaris said against his junior’s begging. His fist landed on Gahard’s face and broke through the filth monster’s body.

“If I had known you’d be scared of this, I wouldn’t have used you,” he said coldly as the remaining Savarises assaulted the filth monster at the same time, completely tearing it into pieces.

“All done……” he laughed, watching fragments of flesh fall through the gaps of and onto the steel threads.

“Guess I gotta nail the coffin lid firmly. It’d be terrible if people see what’s inside……. But is a normal coffin big enough for it?”

He rested his chin on his palm and pondered.

“Never mind.”

And gave up.

“I’ll just let father handle this.”

So that was what happened.

Lintence watched the dismemberment of the filth monster’s body.

“It’s finished,” he confirmed. Everything was fine now. He retrieved the steel threads as if he hadn’t seen Savaris still standing on one of the threads.

Although Savaris seemed to be grumbling about something as he fell, Lintence didn’t bother to listen. Savaris had no right to be a Heaven’s Blade successor if he could die from that height.

Speaking of which…..

What Lintence thought about wasn’t the filth monster’s corpse, but the fight just then. The move that Savaris used – A thousand people rush. Layfon stole that move from the Luckens and used it as his own. He didn’t just remember parts of it. Even Lintence couldn’t understand the structure of a move just by looking at it.

“No one is better at understanding the skills of Kei than he.”

Besides Lintence’s skill in steel threads, Layfon had turned almost all of the skills in the Dojos of Grendan into his own. He was able to digest those moves and use them just by observing them. The fact that Layfon could become familiar with those moves in a shockingly short period of time had overwhelmed even Lintence.

“Is that guy a seed to transport those skills to the outside of Grendan?...... Was he born with that mission?”

He gazed at the city as he thought of the only person whom he acknowledged as his apprentice.

Nothing reflected back in the darkness of the night.

<center>◇</center>

Layfon headed deeper to the inside of the Mechanical Department illuminated with pale green light. He had spent an entire night at Zuellni’s Mechanical Department, but the silence here gave off a bad feeling. It was even quieter than the buildings after school hours.

“Did anything happen?”

“Felli….. What’s wrong? Answer me.”

Background noise entered Nina’s voice. The same happened to Sharnid’s voice, as if his voice was coming from a far distance……

Suddenly……

“Huh?”

His vision turned black, and the background noises ceased.

“Felli. What’s happened? Felli!?”

Even though he shouted into the transmitter, his voice only vanished into the bitter darkness.

Layfon was left alone in the dark.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter6|Chapter 6]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume3 Chapter6

2009-12-20T21:51:07Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 6: Scarlet pride */

===Chapter 6: Scarlet pride===

A bad feeling made him irritated and impatient.

“…… Uh.”

Someone was collapsed on the ground, underneath the trees by the entrance of the Mechanical Department. Gorneo went down to check on the person. She was the psychokinesist of the 17th platoon, named Felli, who had unashamedly drawn Layfon into the Military Arts course. He felt her forehead. She had only fainted.

“Looks like she hasn’t gone overboard.”

He worried when he saw Shante and this girl arguing.

“Geez, she’s not that little anymore!”

As if a beast was living temporarily in her, sometimes Shante acted in a way unfitting for a Military Artist. This had given Gorneo a headache.

Shante was an orphan, a point that made her similar to Layfon. Unfortunately, she had lived for a long time under the care of non-humans. Erupa, an enormous city-like forest, specialized in raising livestock. In its possession were many different kinds of animals, and Erupa sold information to other cities on the best breeds of animals it had. Among this colossal number of animals in the city, some of them had escaped the eyes of the management and lived in hiding in the deeper parts of the forest.

Although no one knew whether Shante’s biological mother abandoned her in the forest, but when the Wild Animal Investigation Unit found Shante, the young girl was already hunting alongside her “other” mother, a beast. Her ability in Kei had allowed her to live together with these animals that hunted for food.

The Military Artists in the Investigation Unit took Shante away from the forest, gave her a name, and educated her together with other humans. Yet, for someone who had been living with wild animals, she was lacking some decisive factor that would allow her to naturally fit in the human world. In the end, she was delivered to Zuellni like someone unwanted.

Gorneo knew what the lacking factor was. Shante had been raised by wild animals. The concept of trading labor for food was nonexistent for her. In the five years since Gorneo had entered school, he had been looking after her. Only recently did he manage to turn her way of thinking back onto the right track, but that was only thanks to Shante’s hunting instinct and her place in the platoon. Wild animals hunted in packs. A platoon was similar to a pack for her, keeping her entrenched in the way of animals.

“Damn. It was my mistake to tell her about Layfon.”

He laid Felli down neatly and entered the Mechanical Department, jumping in through the hole in the floor of the lift. It wasn’t easy to climb down the cable, but that was probably the same for Shante.

Because of Gorneo, Shante had marked Layfon as the enemy. Although Gorneo had explained to her about Layfon’s past, she still had been waiting for a chance to hunt down the enemy. The narrow space inside the Mechanical Department, a place where movements were made difficult, was the best hunting ground for her. She thought she could definitely defeat Layfon here.

“Damn.”

What a naïve way of thinking.

Raised by wild animals, Shante’s patterns of thought and action were different from other Military Artists, making her unpredictable. Gorneo taught her variations in Kei because it suited her, and she had proven her suitability, but……

“She can’t defeat him at her level.”

He knew the level of a Heaven’s Blade successor. He understood it more than anyone else, because since birth, he had been around the person who later became a Heaven’s Blade successor.

“Does she want to die?”

He prayed as he descended through the darkness.

Layfon couldn’t see anything after taking off the helmet, but he couldn’t have seen anything with it since Felli’s reinforcement was gone.

“What’s happened to Felli? I have to go back.”

He could find his way back even without his vision. He had already memorized the route he took, and it wouldn’t be a problem if he were to check his route with the steel threads. Still, there was no guarantee that he would return to where Felli was.

“Damn.”

Here was exposed the weakness of a small platoon. If they had seven people, one or two could have stayed back to guard Felli…… Now he felt the importance of the phrase “Only because of too few brilliant students”.

“Either way, I must hurry……”

No point in regretting the past. He let Kei run through his body to increase the pace of his movements. Darkness hindered him. He couldn’t see anything at all. Nina and Sharnid probably couldn’t even move to another location under these circumstances.

(If they’re attacked by filth monsters……)

What would happen? Was Felli trying to say that she had discovered a filth monster? A chill crept up his spine. He could handle a filth monster in the darkness, somehow, but not Nina and Sharnid. Impatience sped him up, but who knew what would happen if he moved too fast in neglect? Fighting against impatience, he backtracked.

And he suddenly stopped.

(Murderous intent……)

A gaze sharp as a needle pricked him from his right. A murderous intent. As if it had marked its prey. A long time ago, a kid living near Layfon’s orphanage brought along his nasty dog to scare the orphans. And now, an instinct that was crueler and more bestial than that dog had marked him.

(From yesterday? No……)

The goat from yesterday didn’t have a murderous intention. Only its presence had strained Layfon.

“They aren’t…. the same?”

He turned the steel threads into the form of a sword. If he moved carelessly, he’d die.

(Can it see me?)

It probably could, given how its murderous intent had marked out Layfon with uncanny accuracy in total darkness.

(To be able to see in darkness, a psychokinesist? But……)

If that were the case, it wouldn’t be strange for the air to vibrate in the wake of the flakes’ light movements.

(Anyway, since I can’t see…… I’m at a disadvantage.)

He failed to even see his sword. Layfon waited silently for the other party to make the first move. Anxiety could cause confusion, but that was just a waste of time. Right now, he was worried about Felli, but he had no choice but to eliminate the obstacle before him.

The other party was also waiting for him to move. Either way, he must not let the enemy find out how he would react.

His opponent had not moved an inch. Layfon could distract the enemy’s concentration by releasing external Kei, but he would risk combusting the liquid-formed selenium in the corridors. This was pure selenium mined only once a year to provide for the entire city’s electricity. If it exploded, the entire city might be blown apart. Layfon didn’t think there was enough selenium here to achieve that level of destruction, but if an explosion occurred, the entire Mechanical Department would be plunged into a sea of flame. Layfon would die, and so would Nina and Sharnid.

(If he’s targeted me and chosen this place especially for our battlefield, then he’s done well.)

A calm analysis worked somewhere deep in his mind, as Layfon waited for the other party to move.

(Speaking of which……)

If it wasn’t that goat…… He tried to figure out his enemy’s identity via the method of elimination. He found it surprising that there was another unknown existence here besides the goat.

It moved.

From where it remained hidden…… No. It came from a tube Layfon couldn’t see and using that tube as a foothold, it changed directions.

Layfon’s sword reached out in the direction of the murderous intention –

– and the Safaiadite took an attack. Sparks flew off the contact.

Layfon confirmed a face in that split second.

“In here!!” he called out, as red hair disappeared along with the fading light.

“Gorneo’s enemy is my enemy,” Shante’s voice echoed in the dark.

“It’s against school rules to bring a problem from other cities into the Academy city.”

“This is outside Zuellni! Stupid, stupid.”

“Woah……” Layfon felt debilitated, facing such a childish rebuttal.

Shante had not stopped her attacks. She jumped through the spaces in between the corridors. Layfon couldn’t predict the direction of her attacks.

(A Kei user that employs variation techniques. Has that made changes to her eyes too?)

Gorneo must have taught her the Luckens skills, but Layfon knew there wasn’t such a physical strengthening skill in the Luckens family.

(Is this her special ability? Or is it the Kei technique special to the city she was born in?)

No matter. He had no way of analyzing this technique in the dark, and being unable to analyze it meant he could not steal it.

(This really isn’t good. How laughable.)

He blocked all of her attacks, and Layfon couldn’t help but laugh inside.

(But……)

He didn’t have the time to play with her.

“…… Can I confirm something with you?” he asked.

“What?” Shante’s movement stopped. Her voice sounded perplexed.

“Felli’s psychokinesis has stopped. Is it because of you?”

“Yes,” she confessed immediately. “You can’t see anything in the dark, can you? Then that girl was my only interference.”

“…… Did you kill her?” As those words came out of Layfon’s mouth, his heart had gone completely numb, as if it was plunged into ice. The Kei inside his body surged in its amount, and a sound as of teeth grinding sounded from deep in his heart.

“I don’t really like her, but only you are Gorneo’s enemy.”

“…… I see.”

Meaning she hadn’t done Felli any harm.

The ice around Layfon’s heart melted, and the grinding sound slowed. Relieved, Layfon slowly pointed his sword in the direction of Shante.

This gave her a huge shock. She had already increased the complexity of her moves. How could this guy have located her just by the sound of her movements in the wind?

“In that case, I’ll play with you until you’re satisfied.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself!”

Shante lunged straight at him with the red spear. Layfon flicked the spearhead away with his sword and changed its direction.

“Damn you!”

Shante adjusted her position and performed several consecutive thrusts. Layfon blocked every single thrust, backing off one step at a time.

Red light exploded on the tip of the spear. This was a variation of Kei, if Layfon took it with his sword, he might get burnt.

“This is madness. If you cause a fire here, we’ll all die.”

“As if I care about what you say!” she shouted, continued to rain down her attacks on him. If that spear stabbed into one of the tubes…… Putting as little Kei as possible on the tip of his sword, Layfon shook away her assaults.

“Damn!”

Shante kept on stabbing, knowing her attacks weren’t effective. Layfon continued to back off, but he didn’t just step anywhere, he was cautiously weighing his position before taking a step back. He hadn’t lost his balance in the dark, but he was gradually losing his sense of location in the maze.

“Shante! Stop!” A voice intruded.

“Gorneo.”

“Stop. This isn’t what I wanted!”

Shante’s attacks stopped and Layfon pulled back his sword. Through a Kei variation technique, fire appeared on Gorneo’s palm, reflecting Shante’s sweaty face.

“Isn’t this guy an enemy? Didn’t he wound Gorneo’s important senior so he can’t move anymore? Then why? Why can’t I kill him?”

A painful expression crossed Gorneo’s face. “I don’t want to kill him. This guy is a wall to me. I must overcome it. Only then can Gahard-san……”

“I don’t get it! Don’t get it. Don’t get it. Don’t get it! Kill the enemies. Eliminate any interferers! I hate the Gorneo who doesn’t smile. Move aside!”

Red light suffused her spear.

“No!” Gorneo called.

Feeling something strange, Layfon lifted his sword.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!’

She threw the spear at Layfon.

Kei turned flame enveloped the entire spear. If he avoided it, it would penetrate the tube behind him and set the selenium on fire……

(Strike it and turn it upward, then catch it!)

He made a decision in that swift moment. The spear contacted with the blade and was bounced upward. As expected, the weapon’s direction was changed.

And……

Shante leapt up. Predicting Layfon’s move, she had jumped onto the tube above to grab hold of the spear and thrust down with it. Catching the spear like that had also hurt her physically.

At a loss of what to do, his body reacted reflexively and leapt aside.

“No……”

The spearhead pointed straight at the tube that Layfon was previously protecting. Shocked, he turned around and caught the smile on Shante’s face. Inside the tube came the sound of something expanding. It seemed the selenium left in it was burning.

Shante had planned to die along with Layfon……

In that split second, the fire spraying out from the crack of the tube surrounded her small body.

“Shante!” Gorneo rushed to her side, pulled her out and held her, attempting to protect her with his body.

Layfon also moved.

Without holding back, he sent Gorneo flying with a kick. The feeling of Gorneo’s ribs cracking ran up Layfon’s foot. He took a deep breath.

Scarlet flame closed in on Layfon along with the rumble of the explosion.

(I hope this works!)

And he released the air inside him, praying.

“Ah Ha!”

External type burst Kei – Roar Kei.

A Luckens move. Although Savaris thought Layfon had not yet stolen this move, in reality, he had already analyzed all its details. Vibration strong enough to destroy the structure of particles shot out of Layfon’s mouth, and it shattered the flame along with the tube and a lot more…. Several tubes and corridors were also destroyed…. As well as the outer wall of the Mechanical Department.

The scenery of the city lay before Layfon. The sky assaulted his eyes, vision that he hadn’t used for some time. Fresh air rushed in as the fierce and wild flame rushed out.

The rumble of the explosion shook his eardrums.

“Ah!”

Heavy pressure struck his entire body. Because this was his first time using the Luckens’ move, he hadn’t managed to properly handle the remnants of the Roar Kei. The wind swept him into the air.

But the changes caused by the explosion didn’t stop here.

The city was already weakened by the attack of the filth monsters. It had little strength to cushion the impact of the explosion. The sound of things collapsing, as of an earthquake occurring, moved the city.

<center>◇</center>

Nina frowned at the shaky ground and the rumbling noise. “What’s going on?”

“How should I know?” Sharnid also frowned. The shaking intensified, so much so that it was hard for Sharnid to keep his balance.

“We can’t move like this.”　

They couldn’t see anything without Felli’s support. In this situation, all they could do was hold on and try to remain standing. The ground buckled wildly underneath them. Nina felt the sweat on her body. Tension caused her blood pressure to rise, but the real reason behind the sweat was because of the rising temperature around her.

“Did something just explode?” she said.

“More filth monsters?”

“…… If that’s the case, then we’ve no hope left.”

Nina's serious expression cut his joke short. She reached for her Dites to confirm they were still there.

“…… Sorry, I fainted,” Felli’s weak voice sounded in Nina’s ears.

“Felli, are you all right?”

“Yeah, seems I was hit by someone, but I’m not hurt.”

Nina and Sharnid put their helmets on. With Felli’s revived psychokinesis, everything was illuminated once more. Nothing had changed much around the two.

“What just happened?” Nina asked.

“It seems there was an explosion inside the Mechanical Department.”

“What?”

“The selenium in the tubes was ignited. Please don’t touch the walls of your corridor. The temperature inside is extremely high.”

“So that’s why it’s so hot here……” Sharnid said and moved away from the wall.

“The outer wall of the Mechanical Department has collapsed and the fire has dispersed outside so it’s all right, but the pollutants are flowing back in, so please hurry and leave.”

“Roger. Is Layfon ok?”

“……”

“Hello?”

“Nothing from Layfon. It seems the flake was damaged in the explosion. I’m now searching for the original location of the explosion.”

“Then…… Then….”

I must save him…… Though that was what Nina wanted to say.

“The rising temperature in the tubes might cause a bigger explosion later. Please evacuate.”

“To search for Layfon is our priority!”

“I’m looking for him and I won’t have time to support you. If you’re just standing around getting in the way, then move back.” In Felli’s voice was not anxiety, but cool chill. Still, Nina sensed dismay from her.

“I understand. We’ll evacuate.”

Felli didn’t reply.

The shaking of the ground had stabilized a bit, but it still shook occasionally. Backtracking their trail, Nina and Sharnid safely reached the lift. All they needed now was to toss up the rope and switch on the machine to pull them up.

“Felli, you can cut it.”

The vision on their helmets was cut off instantly, plunging the two back into darkness. The sounds of the rope being reeled in and the vibration underneath them enveloped the two.

“That guy, please be ok,” Sharnid said.

“Are you worried?” he asked, but Nina hadn’t reply.

“Oi, I’ve thought of this before. That guy sticks in your mind, doesn’t he? I don’t think you need to hide that. Felli-chan might steal that guy over in this situation. Calm is what’s needed right now, but it’s all right to get a bit confused. Just look at Felli. As if she doesn’t care, but she tries her best for that guy’s sake. We know it, but we aren’t embarrassed by her actions.”

Nina still hadn’t replied.

“Nina?”

The light from the entrance spilled in to illuminate his surroundings. As for the gola gola sound of the machine….. It was the sound of two machines working.

“….. Ah, am I a moron?”

Nina was gone.

<center>◇</center>

He had only fainted for a brief moment. Only the places that were hit felt somewhat strange, and he still couldn’t move for now. He ran his Kei through his body and was satisfied to find the flow of Kei normal.

“Right……”

He attempted to sit up, but still felt some pain in his chest. The clothes on his front were torn with blood seeping through. That must have happened during the explosion. The temperature all around him was high, which caused him to sweat constantly. His face hurt in the dryness.

“Right, what should I do next?” he looked around, and felt a bit dizzy.

He was in a random space created inside the rubble of the collapsed ceiling, tubes and corridors. It was just high enough for him to stand in it. He wanted to contact Felli, but the flake and his helmet were not anywhere near him. They might have been destroyed in the explosion.

He was still holding the Safaiadite.

It was possible to open a hole in the debris then rush out before the rubbles fell down, and he could exit through the hole opened in the outer wall during the explosion, and return to the surface…… Except he had lost his sense of direction when he fainted. If he rushed out now and got the direction wrong, things might turn ugly.

“Gorneo Luckens! Are you still alive?” he shouted.

“…… Still alive?” a voice filled with annoyance came from the other side of the rubble. The wall of a corridor was in between the two of them.

“I seem ok.”

“Ah, still alive.”

The voice sounded like an echo.

“Have you got broken bones?” Layfon recalled kicking Gorneo back to help him escape the explosion, and he didn’t hold back in that kick.

“Yeah, I was struck by flying rubble.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t worry…… Either way, that was to save me, wasn’t it?”

“……”

He really didn’t know what to say with this kind of a result.

“Speaking of which, I don’t understand why you saved us.”

“……”

“If we died, no one at Zuellni would know of your deeds in Grendan. Without someone born in Grendan, the Student President would have kept silent, and your comrades too.”

“Perhaps,” Layfon nodded.

“Then why? You killed Gahard-san. Why didn’t you kill us too?”

“……”

“Have you forgotten Gahard Baren?” came the sharp reproof. Murderous intent and hostility filled the face looking at Layfon from between the crack in the corridor. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten……”

“How could I have forgotten.”

“I can’t forget….. and I don’t want to forget, but I don’t force myself to remember.”

“…… What?”

“…… That’s what he means to me. That’s all,” Layfon said, knowing this reply would antagonize Gorneo, but that was all he had to say. He thought it would have been great if he had managed to kill off that guy in the match, but if he did kill Gahard, he’d have broken the biggest principle of Military Artists and might have suffered even more severe punishment. Either way, the result…… If he did kill off Gahard, he was only delaying the problem.

“Dam you……”

“Is Gahard Baren dead?”

“What!” Gorneo swallowed a breath. It wasn’t a murderous intention. Judging from his anger, Gahard might still be alive… or perhaps, Gorneo didn’t really know.

Anyway, when Layfon left Grendan, he hadn’t heard of anything about Gahard waking from his unconscious state. A Military Artist whose Kei vein was destroyed had no chance of living. This action that led directly to another’s death had always been a heavy burden to Layfon.

But.

“It’s time to let go of him,” he said. No matter when it was, his past would surprisingly become his own stumbling block. It wasn’t possible for him to trace back to every single cause.

This had become his unavoidable reality.

In that case, he had to go around it. Go around that stumbling block. Since he couldn’t eliminate the sin of killing Gahard, then he’d have to live with it. In Grendan was Leerin, who always thought of and took care of him. In here, Nina, Felli, Sharnid and Harley….. All of the members of the 17th platoon accepted him. In order to not let down the people who accepted him, he must not allow his past to shackle him.

“If I killed you two, I’d have more enemies.”

For example, there was Shante, who viewed Gorneo’s enemy as her own. Other Military Artists in Grendan who had connections with the Luckens might also look at Layfon as an enemy. Whether it be the 5th platoon or friends of Gorneo at Zuellni, it was possible they’d all turn hostile towards Layfon. This would then become a nasty cycle. Nothing would have been gained.

“So I didn’t kill you.”

“Hmph, even you know how to say wise words.”

“…… but, I don’t know what I’d have done if Felli was hurt.”

“……”

“I’m narrow-minded. Same as when I was in Grendan, and same now…… Frankly, anyone besides my comrades doesn’t matter to me. The thing a Heaven’s Blade successor must adhere to can’t be compared with protecting comrades. I suppose this is my weakness as a human.”

To the extent that this intense way of thinking sometimes went on a rampage. That was what happened in the match in Grendan and his fight with the filth monster in its matured phase.

Nina and Felli’s words suppressed his way of thinking.

“I won’t make the same mistake here for the sake of these people. As long as they’re here…… They’re the reason why I didn’t kill you.”

“…… Then, what about my feeling?” Gorneo said. “What about my anger? Despite what I said to Shante, I truly want to kill you. As a Military Artist……. It doesn’t matter to me what your deeds were in Grendan.”

Layfon remained silent as Gorneo poured out his heart.

“Gahard-san is like my true older brother. Savaris Nii-san is a faraway existence to me. He doesn’t even feel like family, so far away. He’s the only Heaven’s Blade successor in the family since the first generation. We’re totally different. Everyone sees only him…… and only Gahard-san noticed me. Am I wrong to want to kill you for taking all these away from me?”

“…… You’re not wrong. I won’t tell you to give up your hatred. What I want to say is “Do what you want”. You’re free to view my past the way you want. I can’t stop you.”

“…… It seems you’re the one who’s right.”

There was pain in Gorneo’s voice.

“But what’s right doesn’t always work. You should know this too,” Layfon said.

In that trembling voice was anger. “I’ll, I’ll……”

As if he was trying to stop himself from saying more.

“Ah, Ahah…… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

It was neither Layfon nor Gorneo.

“Shante!” Gorneo shouted, moving away from Layfon’s position.

“What is it?”

“….. It seems your protection was a bit late,” Gorneo replied. Shante must have been burnt in the explosion, but this keening was something else……

A more intense pain assaulted Layfon’s chest as he thought back to the time of the explosion. His chest felt as if it was being eaten by flames.

And he recalled it.

“Could this be……”

He rubbed off the blood on his chest to confirm his suspicion. The area around the wound was turning black.

“…… Pollutants.”

(Has the air purification system stopped working?)

So the pain on his face was also because of the pollutants, and he had thought it was the high temperature that was causing it. The pollutants were trapped in the small space between the rubble. Layfon stripped off his protective suit, leaving only the fighting clothes underneath, and stuffed the protective suit through the crack to Gorneo. Entirely exposed to the polluted air, pain ran through his entire body.

“Wrap her in this. That’ll hold for a while.”

“Do you think I’ll accept your pity?”

“You should know what a dead person’s like. Treasure the comrade before you,” Layfon said and pulled back his arm.

(Well…… There’s no time to drag my feet.)

He breathed in deeply, tightened his grip on the blade and let Kei run through his body. He had no intentions of dying yet.

The blade changed into its steel thread mode. He spread out the threads through the rubbles and searched for the location of the hole in the outer wall.

“Fon Fon……”

“Felli, are you all right?”

“Don’t you think that should be my line?” Felli said sarcastically.

Layfon had no answer for her.

“Just what were you doing?”

“If you ask what I’m……”

“Why did you save them?”

“…… Do you have to make me mad? If anything happened to you, I’d never have forgiven them.”

“….. Perhaps, I was too careless.”

But…… Layfon considered Shante. She had targeted him because of Gorneo.

Nina said this yesterday night after that discussion. “Yeah, Layfon. I’ve thought of it too. Military Artists might not be human. When Military Artists become more powerful, they might be just as you said, flesh with Kei that can only live with humans. But for us Military Artists to live normally as if we’re one of them, to live with them without deliberately thinking of it, could this just be our instinctive reaction? Isn’t it normal to not understand the other person, whether it be a Military Artist or a normal human? We’re all the same here. We all hope to find someone who can understand us. Aren’t we living in this world because of that someone? Because of those people? And for us to think of this, isn’t that proof that we’re human? Although our body structures are different, our ways of thinking are the same. Isn’t it good that I can understand your crime? And then it’s your turn to understand me. If you can connect with others like this, then you’ll be ok.”

His silence was interpreted as acceptance.

Layfon released all his Kei. In this narrow space, he couldn’t even extent his sword fully. It’d be all right if he could use Roar Kei, but he decided not to since the result of the previous move demonstrated his unfamiliarity with it. This meant his only option was to rely on his trusty sword technique. He waited for his body to adjust to its current best condition, then he raised the point of his sword.

He poured Kei into the blade. More, and more. The blade trembled with “chin, chin” noise. He gathered the destructive force of External Kei around his blade, an amount of Kei greater than the amount he used when cutting through the scales of a filth monster.

“It’s time……”

He’d slightly reduce the pressure binding the Kei together. He’d then release that Kei against the rubble around him and collapse the space he was in, leaving him with no place to retreat to.

He turned around to face Gorneo’s direction. He lifted the sword high and swung down.

External burst type Kei – Flash.

The released Kei shot out in a curve, cutting through the obstacles before him to reveal Gorneo, who was holding Shante in his arms.

“Now!”

Internal type Kei – Whirl Kei.

Half spinning, he leapt out of the rubble and past the outer wall. His arm moved to steady his body.

“Ah!”

The outside air was filled with much more pollutants than the tiny spaces in the rubble. Layfon’s skin burnt and his eyeballs hurt as if dipped in flames. But he needn’t open his eyes yet.

He had extended his steel threads, one bunch to wrap around Gorneo when Gorneo leapt out, and another bunch to anchor them in the ground.

But…..

They were falling and their momentum was too much for them to stop.

(No.)

Layfon should have no trouble escaping, but Gorneo might get torn in half by the steel threads. Gorneo had already used up all of his strength to leap clear of the rubbles. He had nothing left to stop his descent, and Layfon was having trouble controlling his movement because of the pollutants eating at him.

At this rate……

As if to deny Layfon’s thoughts, a part of the city’s multi-legs appeared in Gorneo’s falling direction.

“Turn around! Step over there!” Layfon shouted, but he didn’t see Gorneo move.

(Has he fainted?)

Maybe. Gorneo did protect Shante in the explosion, and he had also received Layfon’s hard kick.

(Oh no.)

Layfon couldn’t stop their descent in midair. Despair filled him.

A figure suddenly flew out from the hole that Layfon made, dispersing the dust and smoke.

“Huh?”

The figure flashed over Gorneo to stand perpendicularly on the city’s leg. The impact of its landing banished the smoke around it to reveal golden hair.

“Captain?”

Nina smiled sourly as she received Gorneo and Shante to halt their downward rush. She had used up all of the strength in her knees to execute that feat. Layfon used the steel threads to wrap around the three of them, pulled them up and tossed them to the ground.

A moment later, Layfon also returned to the ground.

He wasn’t seeing things. It was Nina. She was sitting, weakened, next to the unconscious Gorneo and Shante.

[[Image:CSR vol03 269.jpg|thumb]]
“Guess we’re all ok,” she smiled, traces of tears on her reddened face.

“Please…. Don’t do anything that reckless again,” Layfon said and sat down heavily.

The air purification system on the ground level was still working. The pain in his body gradually faded. The wound didn’t look to be healing, but at least it didn’t seem to have opened up.

“Do you understand my feelings?” Nina said.

“Huh?”

“Do you understand how I feel when you’re doing such dangerous things? I must have felt the same the last time too. Definitely.”

“Ha, haha…..”

Spacing out for a little while, Layfon chuckled. For whatever reason. He didn’t know, and when he realized his actions, he was laughing loudly.

“What’s so funny? Geez……” Nina said, and she also smiled.

So the two continued to laugh. When Felli and Sharnid arrived, they had exhausted their strength from laughing too much and from sustaining the pain caused by the pollutants.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume4 Chapter1

2009-12-20T21:44:49Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 1: Her idea */

===Chapter 1: Her idea===

“I don’t agree.”

Naruki pulled him up while Layfon was taking a nap on the library lawn in the morning.

Students were in holiday mode while Zuellni mined selenium. The Student President said the mining would take one week to finish at its earliest. Mechanical students dug up the selenium using heavy machines. Volunteers and students from other areas undertook supporting roles, resulting in a lack of senior year teachers, so the academy had temporarily closed.

Layfon had just returned from his shift at the Mechanical Department and was planning to nap a little on the library lawn before the library opened. Yesterday, Mei-Shen and her friends had suggested a schedule for him during Zuellni’s break. He had wanted to return to the dormitory and sleep, then change clothes and come over, but…… that seemed too troublesome, so he had laid down on the lawn with his backpack as his pillow. When he came to, Naruki already had him in her grip and was pulling him up.

“Huh? Huh?” he looked around, not sure what was happening.

Why was Naruki so angry? Mei-Shen and Mifi stood behind her with confused expressions. It seemed even they didn’t know the reason behind Naruki’s actions.

“Hm……. What’s wrong?”

“It was Layton, right? What you said to my captain.”

“Ha?”

This was getting more confusing.

“I don’t know what you said……. But I don’t agree with it.”

“…… I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“….. Wasn’t it Layton?” she let go of his collar.

“Just what is it?”

The usually calm Naruki was worked up about something.

“The captain. Your captain came to me yesterday night at the office.”

“….. Ah. Ahaha.’

“So it really was you!?”

“No, I didn’t say anything. No. Maybe I did say….. ah, wait, wait. I said it because the captain wanted my advice. She noticed you before that,” Layfon said hastily and prevented Naurki from grabbing his collar again.

“Why?”

“How should I know?”

Naruki mumbled. Layfon finally felt fully awake.

“Uh…. I’ve no idea what just happened,” Mifi raised her hand.

“What’s going on?” Mei-Shen asked.

“…… I just received an invitation from Layfon’s captain,” Naruki replied bitterly.

“…… Uh, Uh!” the two girls said, shocked.

To put it simply, Nina had finally taken action. It looked like she was planning to add a new team member before the 17th platoon’s camp. The team was in a crisis in the last investigation mission due to a lack of members. Nina had already said earlier that she was searching for more members.

Layfon didn’t know which part of Naruki had attracted Nina’s attention, but since Nina had asked him about her, she’d probably talk it over with Naruki herself in the future.

“This is troublesome,” Naruki said as she read the newspaper in the library’s study room. “I don’t plan to become a platoon member.”

“Yeah, I think so too, but……”

Nina probably won’t give up.

The weakness of the 17th platoon was glaringly obvious. It only had just enough members to become a platoon. The maximum number of fighting members was seven, the minimum four. They could manage if the team was on the offensive in a match. As long as the captain, Nina, remained standing, then the team wouldn’t have lost. Layfon and Sharnid just needed to do better when the enemies were focusing on Nina.

But when the team was on the defensive, the difference in numbers became critical. One person would have to stay back to guard the flag, leaving only three people to move freely. It’d be good for the team if their number increased by even just one person. However, students who were good enough to become platoon members had already been netted by other platoons. Even if there were some left, no senior students were willing to join a team made up of juniors. Hence, Nina had changed her targets to year 1 and 2 students.

And Naruki was chosen……

“I’m already with the City Police. I’m sorry, Layton, but I don’t have time to serve in a platoon too.”

“Yeah – I know.”

There must be a way to resolve this……. But things weren’t that simple. Either way, Nina was the type to put her thoughts in action. Her enthusiasm was amazing. It seemed impossible to stop her once she’d made a decision.

“What’s so bad about it? Take it, Naruki,” Mifi said, already tired of this topic.

“Don’t say that as if this has nothing to do with you.”

“Huh – Why? Layton’s joined a platoon and he works at the Mechanical Department. Isn’t that captain also working like Layton? I don’t think you can’t do it.”

“It would be ok if this were just about whether I could do it or not, but I don’t want to do things halfheartedly. I’m not as competent as Layton, and I don’t have that kind of strength.”

Layfon smiled bitterly at that comparison. Though he didn’t think he was that competent, he couldn’t deny his true strength. Possessing excelling skills in Military Arts, he was given the title Heaven’s Blade successor back at Grendan. Now that he had given up on Military Arts in Zuellni, yet still entered the Military Arts course, he could only respond to Naruki’s comparison with a “never mind”.

He hadn’t given up on finding a path besides Military Arts. Zuellni’s situation had forced him to delay his search. That was all.

“No matter what, Layton, please convey my intentions to your captain.”

“….. I’ll try,” he said, suppressing his thoughts. In the end, this conversation distracted him from concentrating on the next period. After eating Mei-Shen’s lunch, they chatted about trivial matters. The four of them parted ways when it was time to leave. Layfon said bye to the three girls and headed for the training complex.

The temperature wasn’t as cold at night anymore. During the day, Layfon would sweat a bit in his uniform. It seemed the city had entered someplace hot. Zuellni had stopped for the Selenium mine. The temperature might get even higher when the city resumed its journey.

Layfon lifted his head to look at the sun, then entered the training complex.

The complex was originally very spacious. It was now divided into numerous rooms. These rooms were built with soundproof materials that nevertheless shook with the impact of training. Layfon entered the training room for the 17th platoon.

The other training rooms were noisy as if a war were going on, but in here, it was very quiet.

Very peaceful.

“Morning.”

The sound of doh, doh, doh rebounded in the room. It was natural for Nina to get here even earlier than Layfon. She was hitting numerous hard spheres off the wall with her iron whips.

“Morning,” Nina replied as she hit back all the balls that rebounded from the wall.

“I saw Naruki.”

“……Ah,” she replied, distracted. A ball crashed on the wall behind her. The ball was hit with the Kei of a Military Artist. It didn’t slow down, but rebounded off the wall to attack Nina. Nina avoided it and once again struck it with her iron whip.

“I got blamed,” Layfon said as he restored his Dite. The green blade shone under the light. He checked his body condition by letting the internal Kei run through his body. Nina struck the balls at Layfon. All of them.

Layfon hit them all back with his sword.

“I didn’t think she’d hate it to that level,” she said in surprise, as she hit back the balls.

They struck the balls at each other while continuing the conversation.

“Why did you have to meet her at the office?”

“I said before that I noticed her, right? Besides, the limit’s almost here.”

“Limit?”

“The Military Arts Competition…… the fight between cities. We still haven’t received notices?”

“Oh, I see.”

Although the Academy City Alliance set down and managed the rules for the fights between Academy Cities, humans didn’t get to decide on when a Competition was to be held. The City’s consciousness made that decision. Until the day of the fight, no one was able to predict just when it would happen.

“The referee from the Alliance hasn’t yet showed up, but there are many cases of cities holding competitions without a referee. I think it’s about time.”

“Why?”

“Because of the selenium mines. If we lost after the competition, we couldn’t even resupply, so isn’t this the best time to have a match?”

“I see. That’s true. If we’re to fight, it would be best to do so in our best condition.”

“Exactly. For cities to meet each other, they must move from their territories. That means resupplying is necessary.”

Having listened to her, Layfon now truly felt the harsh reality of the Military Arts Competition. If they lost in this Competition, Zuellni would have lost its one and only selenium mine. What awaited it was a slow death. In that case, Layfon would face his second move. Though he could start fresh by moving out of Zuellni, he couldn’t ignore the Competition. Because he had met Nina here, as well as Felli, Mei-Shen, the members of 17th platoon and everyone in his classes. He’d have lost the time he could have spent with these people in Zuellni.

After he left Grendan, he hadn’t had the opportunity to meet with the children at the orphanage, and he could only communicate with Leerin through letters. He couldn’t let his meeting with everyone in Zuellni end like that.

“Even with a new person, our team still has a gap in strength. Let’s just leave the question of whether our strength can catch up or not. It’s too late to start training for our own particular positions in the match.”

The conversation returned to Naruki. Nina missed the ball again. The ball rebounded off the wall and flew underneath her armpit in a direction that Layfon’s sword couldn’t reach.

“Morn’!”

The ball flew straight for Sharnid’s face. He had just opened the door to the room.

“Wa!” he just managed to dodge it. The ball bounced off the wall in the corridor.

“This game again? You two are enthusiastic,” he said, grabbed hold of the ball jumping back and forth in the narrow corridor and brought it back into the room.

“Come join us.”

“Then Felli-chan would join too, and we’ll see the scene of hell like last time.”

“If I lose, I’ll treat you to dinner. How about that?”

Surprised at Nina’s unusual provocation, Sharnid joined in.

“Pretty good.”

He restored two of the three Dites from his weapon harness. They were guns made in black alloys and they looked quite heavy. One glance showed they were made for close combat. Although Sharnid was a sniper, he had had training in close quarter gun combat. His participation in the game made the bouncing of the balls more intense.

The rules were simple. One would get a black mark against him for failing to hit back a ball or hitting back a ball with a large margin of error in terms of direction. The person accumulating the most number of points in the time limit lost. The time limit was the time till training hour ended.

It wasn’t as simple as hitting back a ball. Because everyone included feints in their actions, this made the timing of the hit difficult.

Felli entered as Sharnid was starting to warm up. She wasn’t willing to join in, but in the end accepted Nina’s proposal.

“The one who will lose is probably captain or senpai,” she said lightly and restored her Dite. Flakes in the shape of flower petals scattered in the air in response to her power of pyschokinesis.

The flakes were like a part of Felli’s body, and their uses weren’t limited to just sensing. Some used the flakes to attack and some used them to defend. Hitting back the hard balls wasn’t a problem to Felli at all.

“Aiya, is it ok to say that?”

“Yes. I can’t lose to you two.”

As Sharnid and Nina conversed, they gave each person five hard balls.

“Ready?” Nina said, and the twenty hard balls went into a rampage, drawing out the picture of a hellish scene. Sharnid called it a game, but it was a very proper and formal type of training. Layfon was the one to suggest this type of training. Nina had then brought in a large number of hard balls.

Training with the balls scattered on the floor helped to increase the basis of internal Kei. As for today, hitting the balls back and forth trained reflexes and also increased coordination. When that reached a certain level, one could even use Kei to hit a ball and cancel the Kei of someone else. This way, one could also increase one’s basic skill in external Kei. There were many different types of skills in the use of internal and external Kei, but if one managed to master the basics, then one could better adapt them. Compared to spending a large amount of time learning a new skill in Kei, it was better to increase the level of the basics first…… that was Layfon’s suggestion, and Nina found it plausible.

When training ended, it was already sunset.

“Next time, I’ll……” Nina said with regret as she stared at the menu in the restaurant.

Layfon got zero, Felli three points, Sharnid twelve points and Nina thirteen points…… Nina lost by just one point.

“…… I’ll pay half. How does that sound?” Layfon asked.

“No need,” she replied.

Nina’s family was rich, but she didn’t get any financial support here because she came to Zuellni against her parents’ wishes. Layfon wasn’t sure how she paid for her school fees, but all her living expenses were paid by the money she earned at the Mechanical Department.

“Layfon, it’s forbidden to sympathize with the loser,” Sharnid said smugly and patted Layfon’s shoulder. His attitude and wordings declared him a victor.

“Damn, just a little bit more……”

“That little point determined the win and loss. This world is cruel.”

“That’s the truth. Ah, I want that,” Harley said, looking at his menu. He was sitting next to Nina.

“….. Hang on, I didn’t say I’ll treat you.”

“Huh? Is that so?”

“Of course. If you’re not satisfied, then fight me.”

“No way. I can’t win against a Military Artist.”

“Then you can’t.”

“Tsk, never mind,” Nina’s childhood friend, the 17th platoon’s Dite Mechanic, moved his gaze to Layfon indifferently. “Layfon, I’ve finished the simple version of what we talked about before. Can you drop by tomorrow? I want to run a final check.”

“Ah, sure.”

“What? Is it the heavy and clumsy sword from before?”

“Restored alloy. This time I made the simpler version. It’s lighter than before.”

“That means Layfon’ll gradually turn vicious.”

“That’s right.”

“No, vicious or not……”

“Very vicious. Normally speaking, it’s impossible to imagine a person fighting a filth monster alone.”

“Perhaps, but……”

“Thanks to you, we’ve done something out of the ordinary.”

Layfon was troubled by them, as Sharnid and Harley started chatting about it.

“But we won’t make that reckless move a second time,” Nina said firmly to him.

Everyone had placed their orders. The dishes were spread out before them.

“Speaking of which, did Layfon come up with the training with the balls?”

“No, it was….. Captain.” (TL note: referring to another person here)

Sudden footsteps sounded near their table, interrupting the conversation.

“…… Oh?”

“…… Uh?”

Sharnid lifted his head. The closing footsteps ceased.

“Yo, Dinn.”

“…… You seem in high spirits,” the man at the front of the group said. He was bald, small and lanky. He wasn’t that thin, one could tell just by looking at him. He had a very sharp looking gaze. A badge with the number 10 was pinned on his uniform. The badge of a platoon.

Sharnid had called him Dinn.

(Uh, seems to be……)

Nina searched her mind for the name of this platoon member. Dinn Dee. The captain of platoon 10. The male students behind him all bore the same badge. They must be his teammates.

“I suppose. Did you see my active performance?”

“I’ve confirmed through the video. As usual, your first shot was brilliant, but not the second one.”

“What harsh advice.”

“…… The concentration of my team is much better since you left.”

“Hahaha, that’s good. How’s Shena?”

“…… Sharnid,” Dinn placed his hand on the table. Sharnid’s expression changed slightly.

“You’re not our comrade anymore. Don’t act so close.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Sharnid’s words easily defused the anger in Dinn’s words. Layfon noticed how Dinn wasn’t too pleased with that.

“My next opponent is your 17th platoon. Sharnid, I’ll show you that you don’t have a place in platoon ten.”

“Good luck,” Sharnid waved. Dinn and his teammates left quickly. The back of Dinn’s bald head had turned red from anger.

“…… He’s still the same octopus as always,” Sharnid said to Dinn’s back.

“Bi.” At Sharnid’s words, Harley couldn’t help but spill the drink in his mouth.

“Sharnid was in team ten last year,” Felli told Layfon on the way back to the dormitories. Their dormitories lay in the same direction, so unless something special came up, the two of them usually went back together.

“Sharnid and Dinn, and the vice-captain, Dalshena. They were all in first year. When they worked together, their team had the number 1 assault power. The 10th platoon exceeded the first platoon in its excellence.”

“But senpai left the team.”

Layfon didn’t have to hear the answer from Felli. If Sharnid hadn’t left the 10th platoon, then his existence in the 17th platoon would not be possible.

“Yeah. He left in the middle of a platoon match.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure, but the performance record of team 10 has gone downhill from then. Even now, it only ranks somewhere in the middle.”

This was neither the problem of the three team members being unable to join hands nor that of the team losing one member. This was the collapse of a team combination, a fatal strike at the trust between team members. That was the main reason that caused the slip in the performance record of the 10th platoon.

In the end, the relationship between Sharnid and Dinn was like fire and water.

“I’m certain something’s happened between the three of them. I don’t know what, but if it’s better not to know about it, then I’d rather remain in the dark.”

“True,” Layfon agreed.

They didn’t know what had happened, but Layfon felt that Sharnid would tell them if the time to tell came. Although Sharnid was always flippant with an attitude of ignorance, he was able to make wise judgments in critical moments.

It wasn’t something that words could convey.

Layfon knew just by looking at Sharnid’s performance in the platoon match. Senpai cut off his presence through his Kei, moved to the position where he was needed and fired the fatal shot at the right timing. A person’s true self was revealed while he fought. The perfect sniper was Sharnid’s true face. That was a part of him that no one was able to feel in his usual daily life.

“Really?” It seemed Felli didn’t agree with Layfon’s opinion.

“He’s got the skill, but his personality is beyond help.”

“Not at all. I can rest assured with senpai here.”

“…… As I said before.”

“Sen…… Felli’s psychokinesis feels different,” Layfon made a hasty change in his address of Felli when she glared at him.

“What type of feeling is it?”

“As if my senses have been opened.”

“Of course, I’m a psychokinesist.”

The mission of a psychokinesist was to gather information in the match and convey that information to their teammates. Another duty was to facilitate communication between team members.

“A psychokinesist is their teammates’ eyes and ears, but I didn’t mean that…… What’s wrong?”

“Ah, no. Nothing.”

Felli seemed to have changed recently. She still hadn’t been participating in training enthusiastically, but the atmosphere she exuded that caused people to dislike her wasn’t as strong as before.

If it had been the Felli before, she wouldn’t have said a word about the bet in the training room. As a psychokinesist, she’d never have spoken confidently about her own ability before Nina and Sharnid. However, she still hated her own ability, and that was the present Felli.

Even so, Felli had changed.

(Why?)

Felli had shown her weaker side a few days ago in the destroyed city. She was unable to give up being a psychokinesist, unable to calm down without using her abilities. This implied that she had no way of discontinuing being a psychokinesist. She looked depressed because of it.

Layfon didn’t know how to help Felli either. He also was experiencing the same problem as her. He couldn’t give up his identity as a Military Artist, not because of Karian’s discovery of his past, but because he couldn’t calm himself down when he didn’t use Kei.

He didn’t know what to do about it. Since he also faced the same problem, he could only accompany Felli and chat with her.

“What is it?” Felli glared at him, dissatisfied with his silence.

“No. Really, nothing.”

He wanted to know just exactly how she had changed, but he didn’t voice it. Perhaps Felli would talk about it when the time came.

Layfon decided to end the day like that since he didn’t have work tonight. He planned to lock the door of his room and nap a while in the bath, but the security guard came over while he was locking the door, telling him there was a phone call for him.

He had no choice but to leave his dormitory once more.

The call was from Formed Garen, the Head of City Police, Naruki’s boss.

“I’m sorry about this,” Formed said in greeting, wearing a pretty sly expression.

The location was the outskirts of Zuellni. The City Police were all wearing heavy armor. They had fenced off the shops. Formed was holding something that looked like an explosive type weapon. The other Military Artists were all waiting for something with tense expressions.

“This weapon is for suppression purposes,” he lifted the cylinder shaped weapon with a bitter smile. “I’m not good at using this. I hope we can avoid a fight if possible.”

“What’s it today?” Layfon said. The tension around Formed was extremely high. This smelt unusual.

“It seems there’re a huge number of fake students here.”

“Fake students?”

“People who came with fake student documentations and pretended to be students of Zuellni.”

“There are such people……” Layfon’s eyes widened, hearing this for the first time.

“Sometimes we do have people who want to learn but can’t afford the fees, but our student IDs are renewed every year. The library has a record of all incoming and exiting students. They keep the record for about a year or so.”

“Ha……” Layfon didn’t know about it at all.

“Try imagining.”

“Can’t.”

“Just coz you don’t feel like imagining. It takes lots of money to produce fake identities. Isn’t it a waste to just pretend to be a student?”

“Then for what?”

“Anything that’s outside the purpose of gaining knowledge, such as illegal drugs, buying and selling illegal wines, stealing intelligence…… things like that.”

“I see.”

“This time it’s about illegal wines. Have you heard of ‘Beneficial gel’?”

“The drug used to accelerate the production of Kei?”

The discovery that the product of fermenting a certain genetically modified fruit could cause an unusual reaction to a Kei vein was made before Layfon’s birth. It was once commonplace among many cities because its use could increase the power of Kei in Military Artists and psychokinesists exponentially.

“If it didn’t have side effects, it would be something that all Military Artists would dream of having.”

Yes, this wine had its side effects. The unusual flow of Kei vein was abnormal. It increased chances of developing malignant tumors by 80%, causing numerous Military Artists and psychokinesists to become useless. As such, each city had set down laws banning the production and importation of the wine according to its judgment. This wasn’t a result of a meeting between cities, but it came about because of fear. Even so, not all cities had set down such measures, hence the method of production wasn’t lost.

There were Military Artists who didn’t have the confidence to face their current level of strength. There were those people who wished for such a drug, not willing to face failure in battle. There were also people who sold such illegal drugs at a high price.

“…… they want to import it into the Academy City and store it up?”

“That depends on the timing. Perhaps they think this small and insignificant city has need of it? Maybe our Student President has already sent people over to buy the stuff,” Formed said with a cold smile. A joke that wasn’t funny at all.

Layfon confirmed the shop again. The message on the sign showed the shop sold water guns, a fairly popular sport in many cities.

“Are they hiding in there?”

“Yeah, we’ve confirmed the presence of fake students.”

“Are there military artists?”

“Yes…… Can you tell?”

Layfon’s hand naturally reached out to his weapon harness. He wasn’t surprised at Formed’s information.

“Yeah…… and they’re provoking me.”

Those people weren’t even hiding their presence. The Kei they were releasing covered the entire shop. The Kei opposite the opened door swept through Layfon in intense waves. Layfon cancelled out their Kei with his own.

“The movements of Military Artists on our side are slow, so I called you over with that suspicion. And you were right where I wanted, which was great.”

Even though Formed and his team couldn’t see the Kei with their eyes, they could still feel it in the atmosphere. Seeing how relieved Formed was, Layfon once more focused his attention on the shop.

They were veterans, Military Artists whose power was way beyond the group of thieves Layfon had encountered previously. Surrounded on all sides, these guys exhibited the attitude “just come if you dare”. This insolence…… provoked Layfon’s Kei and aroused his fighting spirit.

“Leader….. We’ve surrounded the building,” Naruki said.

“Good, then……”

“…… It’s here,” Layfon interrupted.

“Huh?”

A sudden explosion…… behind the speechless Naruki.

“Aaa!” Formed fell, blown by the waves of Kei. The door was blown off its hinges to fly towards them. Naruki moved swiftly to defend Formed, whereas Layfon……

“Don’t get carried away,” he restored the Dite he had pulled out of his weapon harness. The sword cut through the door in the middle.

Hiding behind the door was…

“!”

Layfon blocked the attacker’s strike with his sword. The owner of the assaulting Kei laughed in the air. A one-sided sword…… katana. The material was also steel alloy. Deruk flashed through Layfon’s mind…… and quickly disappeared.

The face beneath the attacker’s nose was covered by a mask. Red hair bounced in the air as if it was firing up the darkness of the night. Male, a young man……. He looked to be about the same age as Layfon.

“Don’t think you can escape!”

“Damn, go in! Go in!” came Formed’s shout from behind.

Layfon chased after the young man. The attacker sped on the roads and jumped from rooftop to rooftop without any unnecessary movements. He was extremely fast.

“Heh.”

If Layfon kept on chasing, this might take quite a while. He gathered the Kei at the soles of his feet.

Internal Kei variation – whirl Kei.

The next moment he was right behind his target, swinging down with his sword. He aimed for the shoulder of the weapon arm. He’d smash the bone so the guy couldn’t use his weapon anymore and surrender.

“What!”

His target had dodged the attack.

The young man stood at someplace higher than Layfon’s current location. He seemed to have timed Layfon’s attack.

(No.)

If this guy escaped... but the price of using Whirl Kei had left Layfon with the only choice of moving in a straight line now. This guy would have escaped while Layfon tried to stop his headlong rush.

“That was pretty dangerous.”

A feeling of something expanding came from above Layfon’s head. Layfon turned in midair to face his attacker. The young man readied his pose, also in midair, his body surrounded by Kei. As his foot landed on the wall of a building, he suddenly disappeared.

At the same time, Layfon was attacked on all sides.

Internal type Kei variation – Fleeting shadow.

“What!”

Shocked, he swung at his right. The crisp sound of metal clashing against metal rang out, and the heavy impact ran up Layfon’s arm. As Layfon hadn’t yet stopped his headlong rush, the impact of that strike sent him flying backward.

“As expected, you read my move.”

The eyes of the young man sparkled with joy.

Layfon blocked the consecutive attacks with his sword. The young man was attempting to stop him from braking his headlong rush. As Layfon moved, his weapon clashed numerous times with the young man’s. Each strike from his attacker was heavier than the previous strike. As they exchanged blows, Layfon was prevented from changing his direction.

“Ha!”
“!”

The young man’s strike went from low to high and Layfon reacted by leaping up. As his flying momentum reached its peak, he finally managed to slow himself down. He confirmed his location in the air.

He was still in the outskirts of the city, moving along Zuellni’s outer area. This was the practicum area of the Construction course. Nobody was around at night. One could say it didn’t matter if you destroyed the buildings here.

(Good.)

He increased the density of Kei running through his body, and swung downward at the young man following him from below.

External Kei – Whirl Kei.

Kei in the form of a twisting whirl embedded with Kei bullets spun towards the young man. The young man raised his katana in the direction of the air flow and struck down every single Kei bullet. In the sound of successive explosions, Layfon charged his opponent.

“Too naïve!”

The young man received Layfon’s strike. The two types of Kei joined together, then rebounded off each other in all directions. Sparks flew off the Dites and lit up the young man’s face. The left side of his face that wasn’t masked was carved with a tattoo.

“Wolfstein…… is only of such a level?”

Words that were like the rumbling of thunder to Layfon.

At the same time, Layfon felt something wrong with his sword.

“Ha!”

Internal type Kei – Fleeting shadow.

As the young man leapt up for high speed movement, he scattered the Kei gathered at that one single point against Layfon’s Kei. Layfon confirmed the sword in his own right hand. The flow of Kei had turned clumsy. He watched more closely and saw a number of small dents in the blade.

External type Kei – Rot.

His sword had been damaged.

When he realized something was wrong with his weapon, he had released his Kei to resist his opponent’s move, but it was already too late.

(At this rate….. already..)

He couldn’t fully release the strength of his Kei at this rate.

“Is this your full power? …… that can’t be. This was already in the past, but the strength of a Heaven’s Blade successor can’t be this hopeless.”

This guy wasn’t lost in the trap.

“…… Are you a Military Artist from Grendan?” he watched his opponent.

The young man took down his mask.

“I’m Haia Salinvan Lyia~”

A tattoo covered his entire left face. The same tattoo also covered his left arm.

“…… The Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang.”

Because of the tattoo, his face looked even more vicious than it was.

“Yes. I’m the leader of the third generation.”

A provoking smile showed on the right side of his face.

Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang. It was a mercenary organization made up of Military Artists born in Grendan. They rode their own roaming bus, moving between cities and were hired to fight filth monsters or participate in intercity wars. Sometimes, they would train a city’s Military Artists. On the contrary, Heaven’s Blade successors only existed in a certain city. Their power wasn’t allowed to be leaked to the outside world. Hence, the most famous group of people outside Grendan was the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang.

“I never expected you to be involved in the illegal drug trade.”

“That doesn’t matter~ I only used them to get in here. I’ve no intention of helping them.”

“Then why……?” Layfon said as he increased the density of his Kei, readying for the next attack.

“You shouldn’t have to ask that question. Only one reason explains my actions besides business purposes – the Haikizoku.”

“Haikizoku……?” Layfon frowned. He hadn’t heard of that term before.

Haia also frowned. “What? You don’t know? Ah…… Has it been that long since you were a Heaven’s Blade successor? Oh? No way? Could it be a secret?”

What a vexing guy, Layfon thought. Having flowed for so long, the density of Haia’s Kei showed no signs of decline.

(Speaking of which……)

The problem was Layfon’s sword. His flow of Kei was pretty rough. Who knew whether the sword could block the next attack?

“Never mind, whatever. Either way, I’m only interested in you and your skill. Your master is my master’s, the 2nd generation leader, brother? Then you and I are like brothers in terms of receiving the same skill from the same tribe.”

(TL notes: in here, “brother” refers to people who study under the same martial arts school. They aren’t blood related brothers, but their relationship is likened to that of brothers – even if they don’t know each other.)

“That is my first time hearing it.”

Yes, Layfon’s first. But, in that case, he now understood why Haia could execute the move Fleeting shadow and also use a katana. The skill of Layfon’s adopted father was different from others. It emphasized more on the way one cut and sliced. Because of that, a katana was chosen as the weapon, and the material was of steel alloy. The blade needed more delicate adjustments compared to weapons used for chopping. The material for the Dite reflected the skill of its maker.

“I’m interested in why you aren’t using a katana…… but never mind.”

In one swift moment, Haia resumed his attack. Layfon leapt up to avoid it.

“Since you aren’t using your full strength, I don’t plan to fight you seriously.”

Haia’s attacks intensified.

(That’s not too seriously……!)

Layfon concentrated on avoiding Haia’s attacks as he didn’t want to receive them on his sword. He was impressed by Haia’s movements. He had fought numerous Military Artists before becoming a Heaven’s Blade successor, and none of them had Haia’s strength. Who would have thought that such a guy existed outside Grendan? But digging into the core, Haia was also from Grendan. Even so, that did not make him less impressive. Layfon was acknowledged by everyone as a genius, but he didn’t think he was the strongest in the world. There were people within Heaven’s Blade successors who had more experience than Layfon, who were harder to beat. Layfon didn’t think he could win against Queen Alsheyra.

“Hey, hey. What is it? Show me some spirit.”

But Layfon still felt that he belonged to a special group. In Grendan, a huge distance existed between Heaven’s Blade successors and other Miliarty Artists.

“Could it be that Heaven’s Blade successors are only of this level?” Haia said, gradually speeding up his movements.

Layfon swung down his sword at him.

Both blades filled with Kei, the green sword clashed against the steel katana. The air around them shook.

Metal moaning ran in that air.

The green sword cracked and broke apart. Opposite the debris giving off a green light, Haia smiled happily. But Layfon hadn’t finished.

“Haaaaaa!”

Internal type Kei, roar Kei, a threatening skill. The air shook along the wake of the huge noise, and the scattered debris flew at Haia.

“Woah!” Haia bent backward to evade the debris. Seizing this opening, Layfon gathered his Kei in his limbs. He kicked at Haia’s chest and pounded into his opponent’s stomach with his fist.

Haia managed to block that with his arm. Layfon’s Kei sent him flying away to crash into a building still in its construction stage. Layfon varied his Kei.

External type Kei, Nine Bullets.

Layfon shot out the Kei bullets formed in between his fingers. Kei as tiny as needles chased after Haia to pierce through the building, causing huge explosions.

“Did I get him?”

No……

He sensed two more presences within the dancing dust. It seemed Haia’s companions had arrived.

(Are they coming……)

Layfon readied his fighting stance, but the presences……. were fast disappearing.

(Should I…… chase after them?)

Still, Layfon was at a disadvantage for having lost his Dite. He decided to give up chasing them as their presences retreated into the far distance.

“…… Just what’re they planning?”

Haikizoku. The term aroused a feeling of dislike in Layfon.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume4 Prologue

2009-12-20T20:43:10Z

Ricky12440: /* Volume 4: Prologue */

===Volume 4: Prologue===

As the signal sounded, the still air vibrated as of an explosion hitting the air. Sharnid rushed out like rapids of a river, moving swiftly but cautiously. The gun in his hand made no sound.

If he didn’t make noise, then no one else would find out his location……. That was Sharnid’s current mission. He carried it out loyally. There was meaning in being true to a mission. The members of the other platoon were constantly on the lookout for Sharnid, especially the psychokinesist, who had sent out his flakes to fly back and forth in the field. Sharnid kept moving forward as he evaded detection. The tension inside him felt like something hard in his stomach, bursting to escape.

The anxiety that he was suppressing ran through his entire nerves. If he made a noise here…… This unnecessary thought bounced off every corner of his mind.

Ignoring this thought for the future, he concentrated on the mission and smoothly arrived at his position. He maintained his cover, hiding from the opposing platoon’s members and psychokinesist as he quietly increased the flow of his Kei to strengthen his vision.

He could have located his enemies through the psychokinesist on his team, but his own intuition and feelings were the most reliable when accidents occurred. Relying on a psychokinesist meant making time for redundant communication, slowing everything down. Speed was extremely important in a fight between Military Artists. One must eliminate what could be eliminated.

In a split second, Sharnid poured Kei into his bullet, as if the Kei had been solidified. Inside the bullet compartments were anesthetic bullets. One of the bullets was covered with Kei. Once the trigger was pressed, the Kei covering that red bullet would transform – it’d become flame-like, expand, explode into flames, and the Kei bullet would shoot forth.

Sharnid would feel all that in one swift moment. Now all he was doing was waiting for that moment to come, as the fight in the middle of the field began.

He saw the golden flowing hair that was his comrade - Dalshena Che Matelna. She wielded a huge gun as she moved, moved like a wild river, like an arrow leaving its bow.

A golden river roaring wild. That was all Sharnid could compare her with as he watched her curly hair draw numerous whirls about her. She ran forward, leading her teammates and drowning her enemies along the way.

Sharnid and one other person existed to keep that river overflowing – Dinn.

Sharnid’s mission was to cut through the obstacles attempting to stop the flow of that current, Dalshena, and Dinn’s goal was to extend the path that Sharnid made.

He pulled the trigger. Having confirmed the psychokinesist’s information with his own eyes, Sharnid fired the Kei bullet at the enemies that were suddenly cutting in to attack Dalshena. One of the three enemies fell. Dinn finished off the other two. He was as close to them as if he were their shadow.

After covering for Dalshena, Sharnid stood up to change his position. The psychokinesist in his team informed him of approaching enemies. Even without that information, Sharnid would have to move since he had exposed his position. This already had reduced his chance of making a hit next.

Before he changed position, he glanced at Dalshena, who was dashing forward. She’d enter a fight with the defending members of the enemy team soon. That was when she could demonstrate her true potential. Sharnid must not slack off before she reached her destination. His mission was to lead her to the place where her potential could shine. He must move swiftly. Sharnid watched her back.

(We must win today.)

Following her gaze to the enemy’s flag, Sharnid quickly moved, propelled by a natural feeling to hurry up.

It had been one year since then.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume3 Epilogue

2009-11-09T00:35:57Z

Ricky12440: /* Epilogue */

===Epilogue===

When she opened her eyes, something felt strange.

It was the ceiling of her room that she was used to seeing. Every room had the same wallpaper, but the stains on them couldn’t be the same. The feeling of the blankets, the atmosphere around her. Yes, this was Leerin’s room.

But why was she here? That was the source of her unease.

And……

“…… Ah”

“…… What’re you doing?”

Something was covering her.

For some reason, Leerin was wearing her pajamas, and Synola was trying to unbutton them.

“Ah…. Well, it isn’t comfortable to sleep with a bra, is it?”

“That’s useless consideration.”

“Leerin-chan’s breasts are normal, but there isn’t a need to wear this, right? Don’t you feel uncomfortable?”

“I said….. this is useless consideration,” Leerin sat up. There were only four buttons for these big pajamas, and Leerin’s face heated up as two buttons were already unbuttoned to reveal her bra.

“Really…..” she said, calming down after buttoning up her pajamas.

(Why am I here?)

She remembered. She went to father’s place yesterday and was attacked by Gahard. But…. Everything was messed up in her memory, except she did recall seeing Synola there.

“Senpai…… My father?”

She was afraid of confirming the worst situation from Synola’s lips.

“He’s ok,” Synola smiled. “Leerin-chan’s father is in the hospital. It’s ok. It’ll take some time, but he’ll heal.”

“….. What a relief.”

Losing strength, she lay back down on the bed. Her eyes burnt from relief. Her words didn’t come out properly. Her throat shook as if it had cramps, and Leerin cried with her face in her hands.

She thought she had lost him. She thought that, once again, she had lost an important person to her.

Synola hugged her, and like that, Leerin fell back into sleep.

Synola placed Leerin back on the bed once again and left the room.

“…… Was it wrong to exile that child?”

Leerin didn’t hear that at all.

“But there wasn’t any other way. I’m sorry.”

Listening to Leerin’s breathing, Synola closed the door, praying she’d once again meet Leerin on the next weekend.

<center>◇</center>

[[Image:CSR vol03 275.jpg|thumb]]
Two cities existed under the same sky. Zuellni and the unknown, ruined city. The ruined city was completely deestroyed from the explosion. It sat beside Zuellni like a shadow.

Golden light appeared on the edge of the ruined city. It hovered in the sky, caressing the darkness. Another form appeared in that light, a young girl, naked, with hair longer than she was tall. The city’s consciousness.

The name was the same as the city’s. No, that was originally the girl’s name. This wasn’t strange at all.

Zuellni was here.

Used to flying around in the Mechanical Department, Zuellni had now flown outside the city. She watched the sky with wide eyes. A new flash of light appeared below her, and she lowered her gaze to see a golden goat.

Sadness spread across Zuellni’s face.

The goat shook its head quietly.

What were they talking about…… No humans could hear.

And after that short encounter, the goat disappeared.

Zuellni flew in a few circles, then headed back to the Mechanical Department, leaving behind the usual night of an Academy city.

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|-
| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter6|Chapter 6]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume4_Prologue|Volume 4]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume3 Chapter6

2009-11-09T00:27:54Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 6: Scarlet pride */

===Chapter 6: Scarlet pride===

A bad feeling made him irritated and impatient.

“…… Uh.”

Someone was collapsed on the ground, underneath the trees by the entrance of the Mechanical Department. Gorneo went down to check on the person. She was the psychokinesist of the 17th platoon, named Felli, who had unashamedly drawn Layfon into the Military Arts course. He felt her forehead. She had only fainted.

“Looks like she hasn’t gone overboard.”

He worried when he saw Shante and this girl arguing.

“Geez, she’s not that little anymore!”

As if a beast was living temporarily in her, sometimes Shante acted in a way unfitting for a Military Artist. This had given Gorneo a headache.

Shante was an orphan, a point that made her similar to Layfon. Unfortunately, she had lived for a long time under the care of non-humans. Erupa, an enormous city-like forest, specialized in raising livestock. In its possession were many different kinds of animals, and Erupa sold information to other cities on the best breeds of animals it had. Among this colossal number of animals in the city, some of them had escaped the eyes of the management and lived in hiding in the deeper parts of the forest.

Although no one knew whether Shante’s biological mother abandoned her in the forest, but when the Wild Animal Investigation Unit found Shante, the young girl was already hunting alongside her “other” mother, a beast. Her ability in Kei had allowed her to live together with these animals that hunted for food.

The Military Artists in the Investigation Unit took Shante away from the forest, gave her a name, and educated her together with other humans. Yet, for someone who had been living with wild animals, she was lacking some decisive factor that would allow her to naturally fit in the human world. In the end, she was delivered to Zuellni like someone unwanted.

Gorneo knew what the lacking factor was. Shante had been raised by wild animals. The concept of trading labor for food was nonexistent for her. In the five years since Gorneo had entered school, he had been looking after her. Only recently did he manage to turn her way of thinking back onto the right track, but that was only thanks to Shante’s hunting instinct and her place in the platoon. Wild animals hunted in packs. A platoon was similar to a pack for her, keeping her entrenched in the way of animals.

“Damn. It was my mistake to tell her about Layfon.”

He laid Felli down neatly and entered the Mechanical Department, jumping in through the hole in the floor of the lift. It wasn’t easy to climb down the cable, but that was probably the same for Shante.

Because of Gorneo, Shante had marked Layfon as the enemy. Although Gorneo had explained to her about Layfon’s past, she still had been waiting for a chance to hunt down the enemy. The narrow space inside the Mechanical Department, a place where movements were made difficult, was the best hunting ground for her. She thought she could definitely defeat Layfon here.

“Damn.”

What a naïve way of thinking.

Raised by wild animals, Shante’s patterns of thought and action were different from other Military Artists, making her unpredictable. Gorneo taught her variations in Kei because it suited her, and she had proven her suitability, but……

“She can’t defeat him at her level.”

He knew the level of a Heaven’s Blade successor. He understood it more than anyone else, because since birth, he had been around the person who later became a Heaven’s Blade successor.

“Does she want to die?”

He prayed as he descended through the darkness.

Layfon couldn’t see anything after taking off the helmet, but he couldn’t have seen anything with it since Felli’s reinforcement was gone.

“What’s happened to Felli? I have to go back.”

He could find his way back even without his vision. He had already memorized the route he took, and it wouldn’t be a problem if he were to check his route with the steel threads. Still, there was no guarantee that he would return to where Felli was.

“Damn.”

Here was exposed the weakness of a small platoon. If they had seven people, one or two could have stayed back to guard Felli…… Now he felt the importance of the phrase “Only because of too few brilliant students”.

“Either way, I must hurry……”

No point in regretting the past. He let Kei run through his body to increase the pace of his movements. Darkness hindered him. He couldn’t see anything at all. Nina and Sharnid probably couldn’t even move to another location under these circumstances.

(If they’re attacked by filth monsters……)

What would happen? Was Felli trying to say that she had discovered a filth monster? A chill crept up his spine. He could handle a filth monster in the darkness, somehow, but not Nina and Sharnid. Impatience sped him up, but who knew what would happen if he moved too fast in neglect? Fighting against impatience, he backtracked.

And he suddenly stopped.

(Murderous intent……)

A gaze sharp as a needle pricked him from his right. A murderous intent. As if it had marked its prey. A long time ago, a kid living near Layfon’s orphanage brought along his nasty dog to scare the orphans. And now, an instinct that was crueler and more bestial than that dog had marked him.

(From yesterday? No……)

The goat from yesterday didn’t have a murderous intention. Only its presence had strained Layfon.

“They aren’t…. the same?”

He turned the steel threads into the form of a sword. If he moved carelessly, he’d die.

(Can it see me?)

It probably could, given how its murderous intent had marked out Layfon with uncanny accuracy in total darkness.

(To be able to see in darkness, a psychokinesist? But……)

If that were the case, it wouldn’t be strange for the air to vibrate in the wake of the flakes’ light movements.

(Anyway, since I can’t see…… I’m at a disadvantage.)

He failed to even see his sword. Layfon waited silently for the other party to make the first move. Anxiety could cause confusion, but that was just a waste of time. Right now, he was worried about Felli, but he had no choice but to eliminate the obstacle before him.

The other party was also waiting for him to move. Either way, he must not let the enemy find out how he would react.

His opponent had not moved an inch. Layfon could distract the enemy’s concentration by releasing external Kei, but he would risk combusting the liquid-formed selenium in the corridors. This was pure selenium mined only once a year to provide for the entire city’s electricity. If it exploded, the entire city might be blown apart. Layfon didn’t think there was enough selenium here to achieve that level of destruction, but if an explosion occurred, the entire Mechanical Department would be plunged into a sea of flame. Layfon would die, and so would Nina and Sharnid.

(If he’s targeted me and chosen this place especially for our battlefield, then he’s done well.)

A calm analysis worked somewhere deep in his mind, as Layfon waited for the other party to move.

(Speaking of which……)

If it wasn’t that goat…… He tried to figure out his enemy’s identity via the method of elimination. He found it surprising that there was another unknown existence here besides the goat.

It moved.

From where it remained hidden…… No. It came from a tube Layfon couldn’t see and using that tube as a foothold, it changed directions.

Layfon’s sword reached out in the direction of the murderous intention –

– and the Safaiadite took an attack. Sparks flew off the contact.

Layfon confirmed a face in that split second.

“In here!!” he called out, as red hair disappeared along with the fading light.

“Gorneo’s enemy is my enemy,” Shante’s voice echoed in the dark.

“It’s against school rules to bring a problem from other cities into the Academy city.”

“This is outside Zuellni! Stupid, stupid.”

“Woah……” Layfon felt debilitated, facing such a childish rebuttal.

Shante had not stopped her attacks. She jumped through the spaces in between the corridors. Layfon couldn’t predict the direction of her attacks.

(A Kei user that employs variation techniques. Has that made changes to her eyes too?)

Gorneo must have taught her the Luckens skills, but Layfon knew there wasn’t such a physical strengthening skill in the Luckens family.

(Is this her special ability? Or is it the Kei technique special to the city she was born in?)

No matter. He had no way of analyzing this technique in the dark, and being unable to analyze it meant he could not steal it.

(This really isn’t good. How laughable.)

He blocked all of her attacks, and Layfon couldn’t help but laugh inside.

(But……)

He didn’t have the time to play with her.

“…… Can I confirm something with you?” he asked.

“What?” Shante’s movement stopped. Her voice sounded perplexed.

“Felli’s psychokinesis has stopped. Is it because of you?”

“Yes,” she confessed immediately. “You can’t see anything in the dark, can you? Then that girl was my only interference.”

“…… Did you kill her?” As those words came out of Layfon’s mouth, his heart had gone completely numb, as if it was plunged into ice. The Kei inside his body surged in its amount, and a sound as of teeth grinding sounded from deep in his heart.

“I don’t really like her, but only you are Gorneo’s enemy.”

“…… I see.”

Meaning she hadn’t done Felli any harm.

The ice around Layfon’s heart melted, and the grinding sound slowed. Relieved, Layfon slowly pointed his sword in the direction of Shante.

This gave her a huge shock. She had already increased the complexity of her moves. How could this guy have located her just by the sound of her movements in the wind?

“In that case, I’ll play with you until you’re satisfied.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself!”

Shante lunged straight at him with the red spear. Layfon flicked the spearhead away with his sword and changed its direction.

“Damn you!”

Shante adjusted her position and performed several consecutive thrusts. Layfon blocked every single thrust, backing off one step at a time.

Red light exploded on the tip of the spear. This was a variation of Kei, if Layfon took it with his sword, he might get burnt.

“This is madness. If you cause a fire here, we’ll all die.”

“As if I care about what you say!” she shouted, continued to rain down her attacks on him. If that spear stabbed into one of the tubes…… Putting as little Kei as possible on the tip of his sword, Layfon shook away her assaults.

“Damn!”

Shante kept on stabbing, knowing her attacks weren’t effective. Layfon continued to back off, but he didn’t just step anywhere, he was cautiously weighing his position before taking a step back. He hadn’t lost his balance in the dark, but he was gradually losing his sense of location in the maze.

“Shante! Stop!” A voice intruded.

“Gorneo.”

“Stop. This isn’t what I wanted!”

Shante’s attacks stopped and Layfon pulled back his sword. Through a Kei variation technique, fire appeared on Gorneo’s palm, reflecting Shante’s sweaty face.

“Isn’t this guy an enemy? Didn’t he wound Gorneo’s important senior so he can’t move anymore? Then why? Why can’t I kill him?”

A painful expression crossed Gorneo’s face. “I don’t want to kill him. This guy is a wall to me. I must overcome it. Only then can Gahard-san……”

“I don’t get it! Don’t get it. Don’t get it. Don’t get it! Kill the enemies. Eliminate any interferers! I hate the Gorneo who doesn’t smile. Move aside!”

Red light suffused her spear.

“No!” Gorneo called.

Feeling something strange, Layfon lifted his sword.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!’

She threw the spear at Layfon.

Kei turned flame enveloped the entire spear. If he avoided it, it would penetrate the tube behind him and set the selenium on fire……

(Strike it and turn it upward, then catch it!)

He made a decision in that swift moment. The spear contacted with the blade and was bounced upward. As expected, the weapon’s direction was changed.

And……

Shante leapt up. Predicting Layfon’s move, she had jumped onto the tube above to grab hold of the spear and thrust down with it. Catching the spear like that had also hurt her physically.

At a loss of what to do, his body reacted reflexively and leapt aside.

“No……”

The spearhead pointed straight at the tube that Layfon was previously protecting. Shocked, he turned around and caught the smile on Shante’s face. Inside the tube came the sound of something expanding. It seemed the selenium left in it was burning.

Shante had planned to die along with Layfon……

In that split second, the fire spraying out from the crack of the tube surrounded her small body.

“Shante!” Gorneo rushed to her side, pulled her out and held her, attempting to protect her with his body.

Layfon also moved.

Without holding back, he sent Gorneo flying with a kick. The feeling of Gorneo’s ribs cracking ran up Layfon’s foot. He took a deep breath.

Scarlet flame closed in on Layfon along with the rumble of the explosion.

(I hope this works!)

And he released the air inside him, praying.

“Ah Ha!”

External type burst Kei – Roar Kei.

A Luckens move. Although Savaris thought Layfon had not yet stolen this move, in reality, he had already analyzed all its details. Vibration strong enough to destroy the structure of particles shot out of Layfon’s mouth, and it shattered the flame along with the tube and a lot more…. Several tubes and corridors were also destroyed…. As well as the outer wall of the Mechanical Department.

The scenery of the city lay before Layfon. The sky assaulted his eyes, vision that he hadn’t used for some time. Fresh air rushed in as the fierce and wild flame rushed out.

The rumble of the explosion shook his eardrums.

“Ah!”

Heavy pressure struck his entire body. Because this was his first time using the Luckens’ move, he hadn’t managed to properly handle the remnants of the Roar Kei. The wind swept him into the air.

But the changes caused by the explosion didn’t stop here.

The city was already weakened by the attack of the filth monsters. It had little strength to cushion the impact of the explosion. The sound of things collapsing, as of an earthquake occurring, moved the city.

<center>◇</center>

Nina frowned at the shaky ground and the rumbling noise. “What’s going on?”

“How should I know?” Sharnid also frowned. The shaking intensified, so much so that it was hard for Sharnid to keep his balance.

“We can’t move like this.”　

They couldn’t see anything without Felli’s support. In this situation, all they could do was hold on and try to remain standing. The ground buckled wildly underneath them. Nina felt the sweat on her body. Tension caused her blood pressure to rise, but the real reason behind the sweat was because of the rising temperature around her.

“Did something just explode?” she said.

“More filth monsters?”

“…… If that’s the case, then we’ve no hope left.”

Nina's serious expression cut his joke short. She reached for her Dites to confirm they were still there.

“…… Sorry, I fainted,” Felli’s weak voice sounded in Nina’s ears.

“Felli, are you all right?”

“Yeah, seems I was hit by someone, but I’m not hurt.”

Nina and Sharnid put their helmets on. With Felli’s revived psychokinesis, everything was illuminated once more. Nothing had changed much around the two.

“What just happened?” Nina asked.

“It seems there was an explosion inside the Mechanical Department.”

“What?”

“The selenium in the tubes was ignited. Please don’t touch the walls of your corridor. The temperature inside is extremely high.”

“So that’s why it’s so hot here……” Sharnid said and moved away from the wall.

“The outer wall of the Mechanical Department has collapsed and the fire has dispersed outside so it’s all right, but the pollutants are flowing back in, so please hurry and leave.”

“Roger. Is Layfon ok?”

“……”

“Hello?”

“Nothing from Layfon. It seems the flake was damaged in the explosion. I’m now searching for the original location of the explosion.”

“Then…… Then….”

I must save him…… Though that was what Nina wanted to say.

“The rising temperature in the tubes might cause a bigger explosion later. Please evacuate.”

“To search for Layfon is our priority!”

“I’m looking for him and I won’t have time to support you. If you’re just standing around getting in the way, then move back.” In Felli’s voice was not anxiety, but cool chill. Still, Nina sensed dismay from her.

“I understand. We’ll evacuate.”

Felli didn’t reply.

The shaking of the ground had stabilized a bit, but it still shook occasionally. Backtracking their trail, Nina and Sharnid safely reached the lift. All they needed now was to toss up the rope and switch on the machine to pull them up.

“Felli, you can cut it.”

The vision on their helmets was cut off instantly, plunging the two back into darkness. The sounds of the rope being reeled in and the vibration underneath them enveloped the two.

“That guy, please be ok,” Sharnid said.

“Are you worried?” he asked, but Nina hadn’t reply.

“Oi, I’ve thought of this before. That guy sticks in your mind, doesn’t he? I don’t think you need to hide that. Felli-chan might steal that guy over in this situation. Calm is what’s needed right now, but it’s all right to get a bit confused. Just look at Felli. As if she doesn’t care, but she tries her best for that guy’s sake. We know it, but we aren’t embarrassed by her actions.”

Nina still hadn’t replied.

“Nina?”

The light from the entrance spilled in to illuminate his surroundings. As for the gola gola sound of the machine….. It was the sound of two machines working.

“….. Ah, am I a moron?”

Nina was gone.

<center>◇</center>

He had only fainted for a brief moment. Only the places that were hit felt somewhat strange, and he still couldn’t move for now. He ran his Kei through his body and was satisfied to find the flow of Kei normal.

“Right……”

He attempted to sit up, but still felt some pain in his chest. The clothes on his front were torn with blood seeping through. That must have happened during the explosion. The temperature all around him was high, which caused him to sweat constantly. His face hurt in the dryness.

“Right, what should I do next?” he looked around, and felt a bit dizzy.

He was in a random space created inside the rubble of the collapsed ceiling, tubes and corridors. It was just high enough for him to stand in it. He wanted to contact Felli, but the flake and his helmet were not anywhere near him. They might have been destroyed in the explosion.

He was still holding the Safaiadite.

It was possible to open a hole in the debris then rush out before the rubbles fell down, and he could exit through the hole opened in the outer wall during the explosion, and return to the surface…… Except he had lost his sense of direction when he fainted. If he rushed out now and got the direction wrong, things might turn ugly.

“Gorneo Luckens! Are you still alive?” he shouted.

“…… Still alive?” a voice filled with annoyance came from the other side of the rubbles. The wall of a corridor was in between the two of them.

“I seem ok.”

“Ah, still alive.”

The voice sounded like an echo.

“Have you got broken bones?” Layfon recalled kicking Gorneo back to help him escape the explosion, and he didn’t hold back in that kick.

“Yeah, I was struck by flying rubble.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t worry…… Either way, that was to save me, wasn’t it?”

“……”

He really didn’t know what to say with this kind of a result.

“Speaking of which, I don’t understand why you saved us.”

“……”

“If we died, no one at Zuellni would know of your deeds in Grendan. Without someone born in Grendan, the Student President would have kept silent, and your comrades too.”

“Perhaps,” Layfon nodded.

“Then why? You killed Gahard-san. Why didn’t you kill us too?”

“……”

“Have you forgotten Gahard Baren?” came the sharp reproof. Murderous intent and hostility filled the face looking at Layfon from between the crack in the corridor. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten……”

“How could I have forgotten.”

“I can’t forget….. and I don’t want to forget, but I don’t force myself to remember.”

“…… What?”

“…… That’s what he means to me. That’s all,” Layfon said, knowing this reply would antagonize Gorneo, but that was all he had to say. He thought it would have been great if he had managed to kill off that guy in the match, but if he did kill Gahard, he’d have broken the biggest principle of Military Artists and might have suffered even more severe punishment. Either way, the result…… If he did kill off Gahard, he was only delaying the problem.

“Dam you……”

“Is Gahard Baren dead?”

“What!” Gorneo swallowed a breath. It wasn’t a murderous intention. Judging from his anger, Gahard might still be alive… or perhaps, Gorneo didn’t really know.

Anyway, when Layfon left Grendan, he hadn’t heard of anything about Gahard waking from his unconscious state. A Military Artist whose Kei vein was destroyed had no chance of living. This action that led directly to another’s death had always been a heavy burden to Layfon.

But.

“It’s time to let go of him,” he said. No matter when it was, his past would surprisingly become his own stumbling block. It wasn’t possible for him to trace back to every single cause.

This had become his unavoidable reality.

In that case, he had to go around it. Go around that stumbling block. Since he couldn’t eliminate the sin of killing Gahard, then he’d have to live with it. In Grendan was Leerin, who always thought of and took care of him. In here, Nina, Felli, Sharnid and Harley….. All of the members of the 17th platoon accepted him. In order to not let down the people who accepted him, he must not allow his past to shackle him.

“If I killed you two, I’d have more enemies.”

For example, there was Shante, who viewed Gorneo’s enemy as her own. Other Military Artists in Grendan who had connections with the Luckens might also look at Layfon as an enemy. Whether it be the 5th platoon or friends of Gorneo at Zuellni, it was possible they’d all turn hostile towards Layfon. This would then become a nasty cycle. Nothing would have been gained.

“So I didn’t kill you.”

“Hmph, even you know how to say wise words.”

“…… but, I don’t know what I’d have done if Felli was hurt.”

“……”

“I’m narrow-minded. Same as when I was in Grendan, and same now…… Frankly, anyone besides my comrades doesn’t matter to me. The thing a Heaven’s Blade successor must adhere to can’t be compared with protecting comrades. I suppose this is my weakness as a human.”

To the extent that this intense way of thinking sometimes went on a rampage. That was what happened in the match in Grendan and his fight with the filth monster in its matured phase.

Nina and Felli’s words suppressed his way of thinking.

“I won’t make the same mistake here for the sake of these people. As long as they’re here…… They’re the reason why I didn’t kill you.”

“…… Then, what about my feeling?” Gorneo said. “What about my anger? Despite what I said to Shante, I truly want to kill you. As a Military Artist……. It doesn’t matter to me what your deeds were in Grendan.”

Layfon remained silent as Gorneo poured out his heart.

“Gahard-san is like my true older brother. Savaris Nii-san is a faraway existence to me. He doesn’t even feel like family, so far away. He’s the only Heaven’s Blade successor in the family since the first generation. We’re totally different. Everyone sees only him…… and only Gahard-san noticed me. Am I wrong to want to kill you for taking all these away from me?”

“…… You’re not wrong. I won’t tell you to give up your hatred. What I want to say is “Do what you want”. You’re free to view my past the way you want. I can’t stop you.”

“…… It seems you’re the one who’s right.”

There was pain in Gorneo’s voice.

“But what’s right doesn’t always work. You should know this too,” Layfon said.

In that trembling voice was anger. “I’ll, I’ll……”

As if he was trying to stop himself from saying more.

“Ah, Ahah…… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

It was neither Layfon nor Gorneo.

“Shante!” Gorneo shouted, moving away from Layfon’s position.

“What is it?”

“….. It seems your protection was a bit late,” Gorneo replied. Shante must have been burnt in the explosion, but this keening was something else……

A more intense pain assaulted Layfon’s chest as he thought back to the time of the explosion. His chest felt as if it was being eaten by flames.

And he recalled it.

“Could this be……”

He rubbed off the blood on his chest to confirm his suspicion. The area around the wound was turning black.

“…… Pollutants.”

(Has the air purification system stopped working?)

So the pain on his face was also because of the pollutants, and he had thought it was the high temperature that was causing it. The pollutants were trapped in the small space between the rubble. Layfon stripped off his protective suit, leaving only the fighting clothes underneath, and stuffed the protective suit through the crack to Gorneo. Entirely exposed to the polluted air, pain ran through his entire body.

“Wrap her in this. That’ll hold for a while.”

“Do you think I’ll accept your pity?”

“You should know what a dead person’s like. Treasure the comrade before you,” Layfon said and pulled back his arm.

(Well…… There’s no time to drag my feet.)

He breathed in deeply, tightened his grip on the blade and let Kei run through his body. He had no intentions of dying yet.

The blade changed into its steel thread mode. He spread out the threads through the rubbles and searched for the location of the hole in the outer wall.

“Fon Fon……”

“Felli, are you all right?”

“Don’t you think that should be my line?” Felli said sarcastically.

Layfon had no answer for her.

“Just what were you doing?”

“If you ask what I’m……”

“Why did you save them?”

“…… Do you have to make me mad? If anything happened to you, I’d never have forgiven them.”

“….. Perhaps, I was too careless.”

But…… Layfon considered Shante. She had targeted him because of Gorneo.

Nina said this yesterday night after that discussion. “Yeah, Layfon. I’ve thought of it too. Military Artists might not be human. When Military Artists become more powerful, they might be just as you said, flesh with Kei that can only live with humans. But for us Military Artists to live normally as if we’re one of them, to live with them without deliberately thinking of it, could this just be our instinctive reaction? Isn’t it normal to not understand the other person, whether it be a Military Artist or a normal human? We’re all the same here. We all hope to find someone who can understand us. Aren’t we living in this world because of that someone? Because of those people? And for us to think of this, isn’t that proof that we’re human? Although our body structures are different, our ways of thinking are the same. Isn’t it good that I can understand your crime? And then it’s your turn to understand me. If you can connect with others like this, then you’ll be ok.”

His silence was interpreted as acceptance.

Layfon released all his Kei. In this narrow space, he couldn’t even extent his sword fully. It’d be all right if he could use Roar Kei, but he decided not to since the result of the previous move demonstrated his unfamiliarity with it. This meant his only option was to rely on his trusty sword technique. He waited for his body to adjust to its current best condition, then he raised the point of his sword.

He poured Kei into the blade. More, and more. The blade trembled with “chin, chin” noise. He gathered the destructive force of External Kei around his blade, an amount of Kei greater than the amount he used when cutting through the scales of a filth monster.

“It’s time……”

He’d slightly reduce the pressure binding the Kei together. He’d then release that Kei against the rubble around him and collapse the space he was in, leaving him with no place to retreat to.

He turned around to face Gorneo’s direction. He lifted the sword high and swung down.

External burst type Kei – Flash.

The released Kei shot out in a curve, cutting through the obstacles before him to reveal Gorneo, who was holding Shante in his arms.

“Now!”

Internal type Kei – Whirl Kei.

Half spinning, he leapt out of the rubble and past the outer wall. His arm moved to steady his body.

“Ah!”

The outside air was filled with much more pollutants than the tiny spaces in the rubble. Layfon’s skin burnt and his eyeballs hurt as if dipped in flames. But he needn’t open his eyes yet.

He had extended his steel threads, one bunch to wrap around Gorneo when Gorneo leapt out, and another bunch to anchor them in the ground.

But…..

They were falling and their momentum was too much for them to stop.

(No.)

Layfon should have no trouble escaping, but Gorneo might get torn in half by the steel threads. Gorneo had already used up all of his strength to leap clear of the rubbles. He had nothing left to stop his descent, and Layfon was having trouble controlling his movement because of the pollutants eating at him.

At this rate……

As if to deny Layfon’s thoughts, a part of the city’s multi-legs appeared in Gorneo’s falling direction.

“Turn around! Step over there!” Layfon shouted, but he didn’t see Gorneo move.

(Has he fainted?)

Maybe. Gorneo did protect Shante in the explosion, and he had also received Layfon’s hard kick.

(Oh no.)

Layfon couldn’t stop their descent in midair. Despair filled him.

A figure suddenly flew out from the hole that Layfon made, dispersing the dust and smoke.

“Huh?”

The figure flashed over Gorneo to stand perpendicularly on the city’s leg. The impact of its landing banished the smoke around it to reveal golden hair.

“Captain?”

Nina smiled sourly as she received Gorneo and Shante to halt their downward rush. She had used up all of the strength in her knees to execute that feat. Layfon used the steel threads to wrap around the three of them, pulled them up and tossed them to the ground.

A moment later, Layfon also returned to the ground.

He wasn’t seeing things. It was Nina. She was sitting, weakened, next to the unconscious Gorneo and Shante.

[[Image:CSR vol03 269.jpg|thumb]]
“Guess we’re all ok,” she smiled, traces of tears on her reddened face.

“Please…. Don’t do anything that reckless again,” Layfon said and sat down heavily.

The air purification system on the ground level was still working. The pain in his body gradually faded. The wound didn’t look to be healing, but at least it didn’t seem to have opened up.

“Do you understand my feelings?” Nina said.

“Huh?”

“Do you understand how I feel when you’re doing such dangerous things? I must have felt the same the last time too. Definitely.”

“Ha, haha…..”

Spacing out for a little while, Layfon chuckled. For whatever reason. He didn’t know, and when he realized his actions, he was laughing loudly.

“What’s so funny? Geez……” Nina said, and she also smiled.

So the two continued to laugh. When Felli and Sharnid arrived, they had exhausted their strength from laughing too much and from sustaining the pain caused by the pollutants.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume3 Chapter6

2009-11-08T23:38:09Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 6: Scarlet pride */

===Chapter 6: Scarlet pride===

A bad feeling made him irritated and impatient.

“…… Uh.”

Someone was collapsed on the ground, underneath the trees by the entrance of the Mechanical Department. Gorneo went down to check on the person. She was the psychokinesist of the 17th platoon, named Felli, who had unashamedly drawn Layfon into the Military Arts course. He felt her forehead. She had only fainted.

“Looks like she hasn’t gone overboard.”

He worried when he saw Shante and this girl arguing.

“Geez, she’s not that little anymore!”

As if a beast was living temporarily in her, sometimes Shante acted in a way unfitting for a Military Artist. This had given Gorneo a headache.

Shante was an orphan, a point that made her similar to Layfon. Unfortunately, she had lived for a long time under the care of non-humans. Erupa, an enormous city-like forest, specialized in raising livestock. In its possession were many different kinds of animals, and Erupa sold information to other cities on the best breeds of animals it had. Among this colossal number of animals in the city, some of them had escaped the eyes of the management and lived in hiding in the deeper parts of the forest.

Although no one knew whether Shante’s biological mother abandoned her in the forest, but when the Wild Animal Investigation Unit found Shante, the young girl was already hunting alongside her “other” mother, a beast. Her ability in Kei had allowed her to live together with these animals that hunted for food.

The Military Artists in the Investigation Unit took Shante away from the forest, gave her a name, and educated her together with other humans. Yet, for someone who had been living with wild animals, she was lacking some decisive factor that would allow her to naturally fit in the human world. In the end, she was delivered to Zuellni like someone unwanted.

Gorneo knew what the lacking factor was. Shante had been raised by wild animals. The concept of trading labor for food was nonexistent for her. In the five years since Gorneo had entered school, he had been looking after her. Only recently did he manage to turn her way of thinking back onto the right track, but that was only thanks to Shante’s hunting instinct and her place in the platoon. Wild animals hunted in packs. A platoon was similar to a pack for her, keeping her entrenched in the way of animals.

“Damn. It’s my miss to tell her about Layfon.”

He laid Felli down neatly and entered the Mechanical Department, jumping in through the hole in the floor of the lift. It wasn’t easy to climb down the cable, but that was probably the same for Shante.

Because of Gorneo, Shante had marked Layfon as the enemy. Although Gorneo had explained to her about Layfon’s past, she still had been waiting for a chance to hunt down the enemy. The narrow space inside the Mechanical Department, a place where movements were made difficult, was the best hunting ground for her. She thought she could definitely defeat Layfon here.

“Damn.”

What a naïve way of thinking.

Raised by wild animals, Shante’s patterns of thought and action were different from other Military Artists, making her unpredictable. Gorneo taught her variations in Kei because it suited her, and she had proven her suitability, but……

“She can’t defeat him on her level.”

He knew the level of a Heaven’s Blade successor. He understood it more than anyone else, because since birth, he had been around the person who later became a Heaven’s Blade successor.

“Does she want to die?”

He prayed as he descended through the darkness.

Layfon couldn’t see anything after taking off the helmet, but he couldn’t have seen anything with it since Felli’s reinforcement was gone.

“What’s happened to Felli? I have to go back.”

He could find his way back even without his vision. He had already memorized the route he took, and it wouldn’t be a problem if he were to check his route with the steel threads. Still, there was no guarantee that he would return to where Felli was.

“Damn.”

Here was exposed the weakness of a small platoon. If they had seven people, one or two could have stayed back to guard Felli…… Now he felt the importance of the phrase “Only because of too few brilliant students”.

“Either way, I must hurry……”

No point in regretting the past. He let Kei run through his body to increase the pace of his movements. Darkness hindered him. He couldn’t see anything at all. Nina and Sharnid probably couldn’t even move to another location under these circumstances.

(If they’re attacked by filth monsters……)

What would happen? Was Felli trying to say that she had discovered a filth monster? A chill crept up his spine. He could handle a filth monster in the darkness, somehow, but not Nina and Sharnid. Impatience sped him up, but who knew what would happen if he moved too fast in neglect? Fighting against impatience, he backtracked.

And he suddenly stopped.

(Murderous intent……)

Gaze sharp as needle pricked him from his right. A murderous intent. As if it had marked its prey. A long time ago, a kid living near Layfon’s orphanage brought along his nasty dog to scare the orphans. And now, an instinct that was crueler and more bestial than that dog had marked him.

(From yesterday? No……)

The goat from yesterday didn’t have a murderous intention. Only its presence had strained Layfon.

“They aren’t…. the same?”

He turned the steel threads into the form of a sword. If he moved carelessly, he’d die.

(Can it see me?)

It probably could, given how its murderous intent had marked out Layfon with uncanny accuracy in total darkness.

(To be able to see in darkness, a psychokinesist? But……)

If that were the case, it wouldn’t be strange for the air to vibrate in wake of the flakes’ light movements.

(Anyway, since I can’t see…… I’m in a disadvantage.)

He failed to even see his sword. Layfon waited silently for the other party to make the first move. Anxiety could cause confusion, but that was just a waste of time. Right now, he was worried about Felli, but he had no choice but to eliminate the obstacle before him.

The other party was also waiting for him to move. Either way, he must not let the enemy find out how he would react.

His opponent had not moved an inch. Layfon could distract the enemy’s concentration by releasing external Kei, but he would risk combusting the liquid-formed selenium in the corridors. This was pure selenium mined only once a year to provide for the entire city’s electricity. If it exploded, the entire city might be blown apart. Layfon didn’t think there was enough selenium here to achieve that level of destruction, but if an explosion occurred, the entire Mechanical Department would be plunged into a sea of flame. Layfon would die, and so would Nina and Sharnid.

(If he’s targeted me and chosen this place especially for our battlefield, then he’s done well.)

A calm analysis worked somewhere deep in his mind, as Layfon waited for the other party to move.

(Speaking of which……)

If it wasn’t that goat…… He tried to figure out his enemy’s identity via the method of elimination. He found it surprising that there was another unknown existence here besides the goat.

It moved.

From where it remained hidden…… No. It came from a tube Layfon couldn’t see and using that tube as a foothold, it changed directions.

Layfon’s sword reached out in the direction of the murderous intention –

– and the Safaiadite took an attack. Sparks flew off the contact.

Layfon confirmed a face in that split second.

“In here!!” he called out, as red hair disappeared along with the fading light.

“Gorneo’s enemy is my enemy,” Shante’s voice echoed in the dark.

“It’s against school rules to bring a problem from other cities into the Academy city.”

“This is outside Zuellni! Stupid, stupid.”

“Woah……” Layfon felt debilitated, facing such a childish rebuttal.

Shante had not stopped her attacks. She jumped through the spaces in between the corridors. Layfon couldn’t predict the directions of her attacks.

(A Kei user that employs variation techniques. Has that made changes to her eyes too?)

Gorneo must have taught her the Luckens skills, but Layfon knew there wasn’t such a physical strengthening skill in the Luckens family.

(Is this her special ability? Or is it the Kei technique special to the city she was born in?)

No matter. He had no way of analyzing this technique in the dark, and being unable to analyze it meant he could not steal it.

(This really isn’t good. How laughable.)

He blocked all of her attacks, and Layfon couldn’t help but laugh inside.

(But……)

He didn’t have the time to play with her.

“…… Can I confirm something with you?” he asked.

“What?” Shante’s movement stopped. Her voice sounded perplexed.

“Felli’s psychokinesis has stopped. Is it because of you?”

“Yes,” she confessed immediately. “You can’t see anything in the dark, can you? Then that girl was my only interference.”

“…… Did you kill her?” As those words came out of Layfon’s mouth, his heart had gone completely numb, as if it was plunged into ice. The Kei inside his body surged in its amount, and a sound as of teeth grinding sounded from deep in his heart.

“I don’t really like her, but only you are Gorneo’s enemy.”

“…… I see.”

Meaning she hadn’t done Felli any harm.

The ice around Layfon’s heart melted, and the grinding sound slowed. Relieved, Layfon slowly pointed his sword in the direction of Shante.

This gave her a huge shock. She had already increased the complexity of her moves. How could this guy have located her just by the sound of her movements in the wind?

“In that case, I’ll play with you until you’re satisfied.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself!”

Shante lunged straight at him with the red spear. Layfon flicked the spearhead away with his sword and changed its direction.

“Damn you!”

Shante adjusted her position and performed several consecutive thrusts. Layfon blocked every single thrust, backing off one step at a time.

Red light exploded on the tip of the spear. This was a variation of Kei, if Layfon took it with his sword, he might get burnt.

“This is madness. If you cause a fire here, we’ll all die.”

“As if I care about what you say!” she shouted, continued to rain down her attacks on him. If that spear stabbed into one of the tubes…… Putting as little Kei as possible on the tip of his sword, Layfon shook away her assaults.

“Damn!”

Shante kept on stabbing, knowing her attacks weren’t effective. Layfon continued to back off, but he didn’t just step anywhere, he was cautiously weighing his position before taking a step back. He hadn’t lost his balance in the dark, but he was gradually losing his sense of location in the maze.

“Shante! Stop!” A voice intruded.

“Gorneo.”

“Stop. This isn’t what I wanted!”

Shante’s attacks stopped and Layfon pulled back his sword. Through a Kei variation technique, fire appeared on Gorneo’s palm, reflecting Shante’s sweaty face.

“Isn’t this guy an enemy? Didn’t he wound Gorneo’s important senior so he can’t move anymore? Then why? Why can’t I kill him?”

A painful expression crossed Gorneo’s face. “I don’t want to kill him. This guy is a wall to me. I must overcome it. Only then can Gahard-san……”

“I don’t get it! Don’t get it. Don’t get it. Don’t get it! Kill the enemies. Eliminate any interferers! I hate the Gorneo who doesn’t smile. Move aside!”

Red light suffused her spear.

“No!” Gorneo called.

Feeling something strange, Layfon lifted his sword.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!’

She threw the spear at Layfon.

Kei turned flame enveloped the entire spear. If he avoided it, it would penetrate the tube behind him and set the selenium on fire……

(Strike it and turn it upward, then catch it!)

He made a decision in that swift moment. The spear contacted with the blade and was bounced upward. As expected, the weapon’s direction was changed.

And……

Shante leapt up. Predicting Layfon’s move, she had jumped onto the tube above to grab hold of the spear and thrust down with it. Catching the spear like that had also hurt her physically.

At a loss of what to do, his body reacted reflexively and leapt aside.

“No……”

The spearhead pointed straight at the tube that Layfon was previously protecting. Shocked, he turned around and caught the smile on Shante’s face. Inside the tube came the sound of something expanding. It seemed the selenium left in it was burning.

Shante had planned to die along with Layfon……

In that split second, the fire spraying out from the crack of the tube surrounded her small body.

“Shante!” Gorneo rushed to her side, pulled her out and held her, attempting to protect her with his body.

Layfon also moved.

Without holding back, he sent Gorneo flying with a kick. The feeling of Gorneo’s ribs cracking ran up Layfon’s foot. He took a deep breath.

Scarlet flame closed in on Layfon along with the rumble of the explosion.

(I hope this works!)

And he released the air inside him, praying.

“Ah Ha!”

External type burst Kei – Roar Kei.

A Luckens move. Although Savaris thought Layfon had not yet stolen this move, in reality, he had already analyzed all its details. Vibration strong enough to destroy the structure of particles shot out of Layfon’s mouth, and it shattered the flame along with the tube and a lot more…. Several tubes and corridors were also destroyed…. As well as the outer wall of the Mechanical Department.

The scenery of the city lay before Layfon. The sky assaulted his eyes, vision that he hadn’t used for some time. Fresh air rushed in as the fierce and wild flame rushed out.

The rumbles of explosion shook his eardrums.

“Ah!”

Heavy pressure struck his entire body. Because this was his first time using the Luckens’ move, he hadn’t managed to properly handle the remnants of the Roar Kei. The wind swept him into the air.

But the changes caused by the explosion didn’t stop here.

The city was already weakened by the attack of the filth monsters. It had little strength to cushion the impact of the explosion. The sound of things collapsing, as of an earthquake occurring, moved the city.

<center>◇</center>

Nina frowned at the shaky ground and the rumbling noise. “What’s going on?”

“How should I know?” Sharnid also frowned. The shaking intensified, so much that it Sharnid was hard to keep his balance.

“We can’t move like this.”　

They couldn’t see anything without Felli’s support. In this situation, all they could do was hold on and try to remain standing. The ground buckled wildly underneath them. Nina felt the sweat on her body. Tension caused her blood pressure to rise, but the real reason behind the sweat was because of the rising temperature around her.

“Did something just explode?” she said.

“More filth monsters?”

“…… If that’s the case, then we’ve no hope left.”

Nina serious expression cut his joke short. She reached for her Dites to confirm they were still there.

“…… Sorry, I fainted,” Felli’s weak voice sounded in Nina’s ears.

“Felli, are you all right?”

“Yeah, seems I was hit by someone, but I’m not hurt.”

Nina and Sharnid put their helmets on. With Felli’s revived psychokinesis, everything was illuminated once more. Nothing had changed much around the two.

“What just happened?” Nina asked.

“It seems there was an explosion inside the Mechanical Department.”

“What?”

“The selenium in the tubes was ignited. Please don’t touch the walls of your corridor. The temperature inside is extremely high.”

“So that’s why it’s so hot here……” Sharnid said and moved away from the wall.

“The outer wall of the Mechanical Department has collapsed and the fire has dispersed outside so it’s all right, but the pollutants are flowing back in, so please hurry and leave.”

“Roger. Is Layfon ok?”

“……”

“Hello?”

“Nothing from Layfon. It seems the flake was damaged in the explosion. I’m now searching for the original location of the explosion.”

“Then…… Then….”

I must save him…… Though that was what Nina wanted to say.

“The rising temperature in the tubes might cause a bigger explosion later. Please evacuate.”

“To search for Layfon is our priority!”

“I’m looking for him and I won’t have time to support you. If you’re just standing around getting in the way, then move back.” In Felli’s voice was not anxiety, but cool chill. Still, Nina sensed dismay from her.

“I understand. We’ll evacuate.”

Felli didn’t reply.

The shaking of the ground had stabled a bit, but it still shook occasionally. Backtracking their trail, Nina and Sharnid safely reached the lift. All they needed now was to toss up the rope and switch on the machine to pull them up.

“Felli, you can cut it.”

The vision on their helmets was cut off instantly, plunging the two back into darkness. The sounds of the rope being reeled in and the vibration underneath them enveloped the two.

“That guy, please be ok,” Sharnid said.

“Are you worried?” he asked, but Nina hadn’t reply.

“Oi, I’ve thought of this before. That guy sticks in your mind, doesn’t he? I don’t think you need to hide that? Felli-chan might steal that guy over in this situation. Calm is what’s needed right now, but it’s all right to get a bit confused. Just look at Felli. As if she doesn’t care, but she tries her best for that guy’s sake. We know it, but we aren’t embarrassed by her actions.”

Nina still hadn’t replied.

“Nina?”

The light from the entrance spilled in to illuminate his surrounding. As for the gola gola sound of the machine….. It was the sound of two machines working.

“….. Ah, am I a moron?”

Nina was gone.

<center>◇</center>

He had only fainted for a brief moment. Only the places that were hit felt somewhat strange, and he still couldn’t move for now. He ran his Kei through his body and was satisfied to find the flow of Kei normal.

“Right……”

He attempted to sit up, but still felt some pain in his chest. The clothes on his front were torn with blood seeping through. That must have happened during the explosion. The temperature all around him was high, which caused him to sweat constantly. His face hurt in the dryness.

“Right, what should I do next?” he looked around, and felt a bit dizzy.

He was in a random space created inside the rubble of the collapsed ceiling, tubes and corridors. It was just high enough for him to stand in it. He wanted to contact Felli, but the flake and his helmet were not anywhere near him. They might have been destroyed in the explosion.

He was still holding the Safaiadite.

It was possible to open a hole in the debris then rush out before the rubbles fell down, and he could exit through the hole opened in the outer wall during the explosion, and return to the surface…… Except he had lost his sense of direction when he fainted. If he rushed out now and got the direction wrong, things might turn ugly.

“Gorneo Luckens! Are you still alive?” he shouted.

“…… Still alive?” a voice filled with annoyance came from the other side of the rubbles. The wall of a corridor was in between the two of them.

“I seem ok.”

“Ah, still alive.”

The voice sounded like an echo.

“Have you got broken bones?” Layfon recalled kicking Gorneo back to help him escape the explosion, and he didn’t hold back in that kick.

“Yeah, I was struck by flying rubble.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t worry…… Either way, that was to save me, wasn’t it?”

“……”

He really didn’t know what to say with this kind of a result.

“Speaking of which, I don’t understand why you saved us.”

“……”

“If we died, no one at Zuellni would know of your deeds in Grendan. Without someone born in Grendan, the Student President would have kept silent, and your comrades too.”

“Perhaps,” Layfon nodded.

“Then why? You killed Gahard-san. Why didn’t you kill us too?”

“……”

“Have you forgotten Gahard Baren?” came the sharp reproof. Murderous intent and hostility filled the face looking at Layfon from between the crack in the corridor. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten……”

“How could I have forgotten.”

“I can’t forget….. and I don’t want to forget, but I don’t force myself to remember.”

“…… What?”

“…… That’s what he means to me. That’s all,” Layfon said, knowing this reply would antagonize Gorneo, but that was all he had to say. He thought it would have been great if he had managed to kill off that guy in the match, but if he did kill Gahard, he’d have broken the biggest principle of Military Artists and might have suffered even more severe punishment. Either way, the result…… If he did kill off Gahard, he was only delaying the problem.

“Dam you……”

“Is Gahard Baren dead?”

“What!” Gorneo swallowed a breath. It wasn’t a murderous intention. Judging from his anger, Gahard might still be alive… or perhaps, Gorneo didn’t really know.

Anyway, when Layfon left Grendan, he hadn’t heard of anything about Gahard waking from his unconscious state. A Military Artist whose Kei vein was destroyed had no chance of living. This action that led directly to another’s death had always been a heavy burden to Layfon.

But.

“It’s time to let go of him,” he said. No matter when it was, his past would surprisingly become his own stumbling block. It wasn’t possible for him to trace back to every single cause.

This had become his unavoidable reality.

In that case, he had to go around it. Go around that stumbling block. Since he couldn’t eliminate the sin of killing Gahard, then he’d have to live with it. In Grendan was Leerin, who always thought of and took care of him. In here, Nina, Felli, Sharnid and Harley….. All of the members of the 17th platoon accepted him. In order to not let down the people who accepted him, he must not allow his past to shackle him.

“If I killed you two, I’d have more enemies.”

For example, there was Shante, who viewed Gorneo’s enemy as her own. Other Military Artists in Grendan who had connections with the Luckens might also look at Layfon as an enemy. Whether it be the 5th platoon or friends of Gorneo at Zuellni, it was possible they’d all turn hostile towards Layfon. This would then become a nasty cycle. Nothing would have been gained.

“So I didn’t kill you.”

“Hmph, even you know how to say wise words.”

“…… but, I don’t know what I’d have done if Felli’s hurt.”

“……”

“I’m narrow-minded. Same as when I was in Grendan, and same now…… Frankly, anyone besides my comrades doesn’t matter to me. The thing a Heaven’s Blade successor must adhere to can’t be compared with protecting comrades. I suppose this is my weakness as a human.”

To the extent that this intense way of thinking sometimes went on a rampage. That was what happened in the match in Grendan and his fight with the filth monster in its aged phase.

Nina and Felli’s words suppressed his way of thinking.

“I won’t make the same mistake here for the sake of these people. As long as they’re here…… They’re the reason why I didn’t kill you.”

“…… Then, what about my feeling?” Gorneo said. “What about my anger? Despite what I said to Shante, I truly want to kill you. As a Military Artist……. It doesn’t matter to me what your deeds were in Grendan.”

Layfon remained silent as Gorneo poured out his heart.

“Gahard-san is like my true older brother. Savaris Nii-san is a faraway existence to me. He doesn’t even feel like family, so far away. He’s the only Heaven’s Blade successor in the family since the first generation. We’re totally different. Everyone sees only him…… and only Gahard-san noticed me. Am I wrong to want to kill you for taking all these away from me?”

“…… You’re not wrong. I won’t tell you to give up your hatred. What I want to say is “Do what you want”. You’re free to view my past the way you want. I can’t stop you.”

“…… It seems you’re the one who’s right.”

There was pain in Gorneo’s voice.

“But what’s right doesn’t always work. You should know this too,” Layfon said.

In that trembling voice was anger. “I’ll, I’ll……”

As if he was trying to stop himself from saying more.

“Ah, Ahah…… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

It was neither Layfon nor Gorneo.

“Shante!” Gorneo shouted, moving away from Layfon’s position.

“What’s it?”

“….. It seems your protection was a bit late,” Gorneo replied. Shante must have been burnt in the explosion, but this keening was something else……

A more intense pain assaulted Layfon’s chest as he thought back to the time of the explosion. His chest felt as if it was being eaten by flames.

And he recalled it.

“Could this be……”

He rubbed off the blood on his chest to confirm his suspicion. The area around the wound was turning black.

“…… Pollutants.”

(Has the air purification system stopped working?)

So the pain on his face was also because of the pollutants, and he had thought it was the high temperature that was causing it. The pollutants were trapped in the small space between the rubble. Layfon stripped off his protective suit, leaving only the fighting clothes underneath, and stuffed the protective suit through the crack to Gorneo. Entirely exposed to the polluted air, pain ran through his entire body.

“Wrap her in this. That’ll hold for a while.”

“Do you think I’ll accept your pity?”

“You should know what a dead person’s like. Treasure the comrade before you,” Layfon said and pulled back his arm.

(Well…… There’s no time to drag my feet.)

He breathed in deeply, tightened his grip on the blade and let Kei run through his body. He had no intentions of dying yet.

The blade changed into its steel thread mode. He spread out the threads through the rubbles and searched for the location of the hole in the outer wall.

“Fon Fon……”

“Felli, are you all right?”

“Don’t you think that should be my line?” Felli said sarcastically.

Layfon had no answer for her.

“Just what were you doing?”

“If you ask what I’m……”

“Why did you save them?”

“…… Do you have to make me mad? If anything happened to you, I’d never have forgiven them.”

“….. Perhaps, I was too careless.”

But…… Layfon considered Shante. She had targeted him because of Gorneo.

Nina said this yesterday night after that discussion. “Yeah, Layfon. I’ve thought of it too. Military Artists might not be human. When Military Artists become more powerful, they might be just as you said, flesh with Kei that can only live with humans. But for us Military Artists to live normally as if we’re one of them, to live with them without deliberately thinking of it, could this just be our instinctive reaction? Isn’t it normal to not understand the other person, whether it be a Military Artist or a normal human? We’re all the same here. We all hope to find someone who can understand us. Aren’t we living in this world because of that someone? Because of those people? And for us to think of this, isn’t that proof that we’re human? Although our body structures are different, our ways of thinking are the same. Isn’t it good that I can understand your crime? And then it’s your turn to understand me. If you can connect with others like this, then you’ll be ok.”

His silence was interpreted as acceptance.

Layfon released all his Kei. In this narrow space, he couldn’t even extent his sword fully. It’d be all right if he could use Roar Kei, but he decided not to since the result of the previous move demonstrated his unfamiliarity with it. This meant his only option was to rely on his trusty sword technique. He waited for his body to adjust to its current best condition, then he raised the point of his sword.

He poured Kei into the blade. More, and more. The blade trembled with “chin, chin” noise. He gathered the destructive force of External Kei around his blade, an amount of Kei greater than the amount he used when cutting through the scales of a filth monster.

“It’s time……”

He’d slightly reduce the pressure binding the Kei together. He’d then release that Kei against the rubbles around him and collapse the space he was in, leaving him with no place to retreat to.

He turned around to face Gorneo’s direction. He lifted the sword high and swung down.

External burst type Kei – Flash.

The released Kei shot out in a curve, cutting through the obstacles before him to reveal Gorneo, who was holding Shante in his arms.

“Now!”

Internal type Kei – Whirl Kei.

Half spinning, he leapt out of the rubbles and past the outer wall. His arm moved to steady his body.

“Ah!”

The outside air was filled with much more pollutants than the tiny spaces in the rubble. Layfon’s skin burnt and his eyeballs hurt as if dipped in flames. But he needn’t open his eyes yet.

He had extended his steel threads, one bunch to wrap around Gorneo when Gorneo leapt out, and another bunch to anchor them in the ground.

But…..

They were falling and their momentum was too much for them to stop.

(No.)

Layfon should have no trouble escaping, but Gorneo might get torn in half by the steel threads. Gorneo had already used up all of his strength to leap clear of the rubbles. He had nothing left to stop his descent, and Layfon was having trouble controlling his movement because of the pollutants eating at him.

At this rate……

As if to deny Layfon’s thoughts, a part of the city’s multi-legs appeared in Gorneo’s falling direction.

“Turn around! Step over there!” Layfon shouted, but he didn’t see Gorneo move.

(Has he fainted?)

Maybe. Gorneo did protect Shante in the explosion, and he had also received Layfon’s hard kick.

(Oh no.)

Layfon couldn’t stop their descent in midair. Despair filled him.

A figure suddenly flew out from the hole that Layfon made, dispersing the dust and smoke.

“Huh?”

The figure flashed over Gorneo to stand perpendicularly on the city’s leg. The impact of its landing banished the smoke around it to reveal golden hair.

“Captain?”

Nina smiled sourly as she received Gorneo and Shante to halt their downward rush. She had used up all of the strength in her knees to execute that feat. Layfon used the steel threads to wrap around the three of them, pulled them up and tossed them to the ground.

A moment later, Layfon also returned to the ground.

He wasn’t seeing things. It was Nina. She was sitting, weakened, next to the unconscious Gorneo and Shante.

[[Image:CSR vol03 269.jpg|thumb]]
“Guess we’re all ok,” she smiled, traces of tears on her reddened face.

“Please…. Don’t do anything that reckless again,” Layfon said and sat down heavily.

The air purification system on the ground level was still working. The pain in his body gradually faded. The wound didn’t look to be healing, but at least it didn’t seem to have opened up.

“Do you understand my feelings?” Nina said.

“Huh?”

“Do you understand how I feel when you’re doing such dangerous thing? I must have felt the same the last time too. Definitely.”

“Ha, haha…..”

Spacing out for a little while, Layfon chuckled. For whatever reason. He didn’t know, and when he realized his actions, he was laughing loudly.

“What’s so funny? Geez……” Nina said, and she also smiled.

So the two continued to laugh. When Felli and Sharnid arrived, they had exhausted their strength for laughing too much and for sustaining the pain caused by the pollutants.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume3 Chapter5

2009-11-08T23:19:29Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 5: Dance in midnight */

===Chapter 5: Dance in midnight===

Layfon and his team ate the simple lunch they brought with them, then opened the side door into the Mechanical Department of the city.

“The power’s cut off,” Nina said. The lift wouldn’t work no matter how many times they pressed the lift button.

“I guess we’ll have to get down along the cables. In case anything happened, we’ll confirm whether the switch is off or not. Felli stays here as reinforcements.”

“Roger.”

They put on their helmets and confirmed that Felli’s flakes were working normally. They opened a hole on the bottom of the lift and moved downwards along the cables.

Darkness surrounded them, but green vision appeared as Felli supported them with night vision.

Feeling the touch of solid ground, Layfon retrieved the steel thread he used in place of a cable.

Huge tubes surrounded them, and in between the tubes were crisscrossing corridors meant for human use. It looked exactly the same as Zuellni’s Mechanical Department. Or not exactly the same. This city had more tubes than Zuellni. It was a more complicated maze. So dense that Layfon couldn’t see through to the central area. He didn’t smell any rot. What tickled his nose were the special smell of oil and gel and the weaker smell of metal and chemicals.

“The air down here is terrible, and you guys have been working in this kind of place?” Sharnid frowned.

“If we had more light, it would feel more spacious here.”

“But we can’t use a flare here. It might catch fire.”

“Exactly. Felli, anything strange?”

“Nothing so far.”

Nina nodded. “I see. The thing from yesterday night is hiding. This has to be where it is.”

“Do you believe us, captain?” Layfon said, surprised. Although Felli sensed the creature, Layfon was the one who confirmed it. The 5th platoon didn’t seem to believe him. And even Layfon himself lacked the confidence to guarantee what he saw had been true.

“Of course. What reason do I have to doubt what you two saw?”

“…… Yeah, you two aren’t the type to lie,” Sharnid agreed.

“And I have my suspicions.”

“Huh?”

“Since this city still ‘lives’, then it shouldn’t be strange that that thing exists, right?”

“Ah……”

Zuellni in its little girl form surfaced in Layfon’s mind.

“I think what you two encountered was this city’s consciousness.”

“I see……”

“We’ll decide on what to do once we reach the center of the Mechanical Department. We’ll split into two groups. Me and Sharnid, and you move alone. Is that all right?”

Layfon nodded.

“If you don’t find anything, meet back here in one hour. Let’s go.”

Layfon, alone, headed deeper into the maze.

<center>◇</center>

“…… Why?”

This question hovered in Leerin’s mind. It was hard to believe Gahard Baren had appeared here.

“What….. did you do?” Deruk said. “Is this Kei in your body? I heard that your Kei vein was destroyed……”

Yes.

Rumor had it that Gahard’s Kei vein was destroyed in his match with Layfon, and he had lost his consciousness and fallen into a vegetative state. So why was he here?

No Dite armor wrapped around his remaining arm. Gahard was wearing a worn out and thin hospital robe. They could see his stomach through the thin robe. It was once full of muscles, but they had now disappeared through a long period of time spent in the hospital.

“You’ve given up your humanity,” Deruk said.

Gahard’s dominating eyes did not belong to a human.

“I don’t know how you gave yourself up, but what did you come here for?”

“……”

Gahard hadn’t opened his mouth. It was as if he was eating with his mouth closed, and noise sounded from his stomach.

“…… Wu.”

And that noise became louder and louder.

“Close your eyes and cover your ears!”

Gahard’s entire body shook abruptly.

“Ga Haaaaaaaaaaa!!”

It drowned out Deruk’s voice. Glasses and eating utensils shattered around them. Their bodies shuddered, their eyes and ears enduring intense pain. The ground swayed.

When the noise stopped, Leerin wondered whether her eardrum had burst.

Then……

“Gu.”

The moaning of father and the shaking of the ground proved to her that her eardrums were still intact. Leerin opened her eyes and saw Deruk kneeling on the ground.

“Father!”

His clothes were torn, revealing the old yet still firm and strong body underneath. Blood seeped from his back.

“Could that be Roar Kei? You shouldn’t be able to use the ultimate move of the first Luckens,” Deruk said and vomited blood. The Katana he used to support his weight broke under him. This wasn’t any normal Katana. It was a restored Katana. The vibration earlier had destroyed its alloy structure, weakening it.

“You…. What did you do….” Deruk toppled.

“Father!”

Deruk showed no response. Blood pooled around him. Leerin’s cheeks paled as if Deruk’s blood had also drained the blood from her face.

“Ah, ahah….” she stood up and ran to Deruk, completely forgetting Gahard. Losing Layfon and then the father who brought her up from when she was a child had stripped off Leerin’s sense of the present.

“Father……” she shook him, his blood staining her hands.

“No….. No…. Please…..” she shook her head like a child, desperately shaking Deruk.

“Hurry, get up. Father…… Everyone…… We have to wake everyone,” she cried, cried like she was a child. She was always the first to get up, and next was Layfon. They would call everyone after preparing breakfast. Deruk was a Military Artist, but he always stayed in bed. It was difficult to wake him up.

Yes, he was just asleep like he was in the past. Yes.

“Father….” she called. She didn’t hear the sound of Gahard above her. Her consciousness was rejecting it.

Just when the noise reached its climax….

A beast landed beside her.

Thick silver fur swayed. The beast stood in front of Gahard as if to protect Leerin. It had the body of a dog, but it wasn’t a dog. Its abnormally long ears stretched backwards under long fur, and the toes at the tip of its limbs had not devolved into those of a dog. It supported its body like a human female caressing her five long fingers. Its lengthy tail wrapped around Leerin. Human-like pupils burned as they glowered at Gahard.
[[Image:CSR vol03 203.jpg|thumb]]

Gahard’s mouth opened.

External type burst Kei, the ultimate move of the Luckens – Roar Kei.

His mouth opened to destroy the structures of particles. But what came out of that mouth was just the noise of the night.

“…… Speaking of which, you’ve also read father’s secret book, haven’t you?”

Hearing that new voice, Gahard turned around.

Savaris Qualafin had appeared.

“Well, you couldn’t have reached this stage if you weren’t the way you are…… but, isn’t it a shame that you didn’t realize while you were still human? Or are you now satisfied because you’re finally able to perform that move?” Savaris said as he looked down on Deruk. “To have suppressed the vibration of the Roar Kei with the threatening variation of Internal Kei…… Quite some work there. Perhaps I should say, as expected of Layfon’s Master? No other person could have achieved this.”

Meaning Savaris had cancelled the second Roar Kei attack.

“But because of this, I’ve gained some valuable experience. Nobody’s used this move on anything other than filth monsters, so this is what it’s like when it hits a human. It’s fortunate that Layfon isn’t aware of the consequences of this move.”

“…… Lay… fon……”

Savaris smiled at Gahard’s first word.

“Oh, so you still remember? I was afraid you slept for so long that you had forgotten him. I knew you’d make a move after you woke up, but it’s just a little different from my expectations. I didn’t think you would be so energized since your body condition was so bad.”

“Wh…… Where? Lay….. fon……”

“Or maybe because you couldn’t hang in there, so you managed a rebirth through stubbornness?”

“Lay……”

“What’s torturing you? Your ambition? Dream? Evil means? Or is it everything? Desire? Outrage? I’ve already told you that age has nothing to do with it. A Heaven’s Blade successor is born to be a Heaven’s Blade successor. That’s how our fates are. This has nothing to do with speed. You should now probably understand the result of your vanity.”

“Gu. Ah….. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Hahaha! Are you angry? Then come. Not Layfon, but I’ll be your opponent. If you win against me, then you can become a true Heaven’s Blade successor.”

Savaris backed away from Gahard’s sudden attack, and using that momentum, he leaped over the fence onto the street beyond.

“Follow me. I’ve already prepared the battlefield.”

Savaris vanished in the next second. As if to follow him, Gahard also disappeared.

Leaving Leerin alone to stare at the back of Deruk.

“Father……. The blood, it won’t stop……”

Tears rolled down her cheeks, her hands and knees stained with blood.

And she looked at the beast.

Someone was standing behind it.

“…… Ah.”

“It’s all right, Leerin-chan.”

“Synola-senpai…… Why?”

“We can save Deruk. Don’t shake him anymore. He’s got a few broken ribs. It’ll be troublesome if they damage any of his internal organs.”

“Senpai.”

“You’ve done your best. Now rest,” Synola gestured at the beast and patted Leerin’s head.

Feeling her consciousness fading, Leerin fell into a slumber. Synola caught her as she fell towards the inert Deruk, then she placed her on the back of the beast.

“If only sleep could heal his wounds….. but it’s not that simple.”

Synola breathed out deeply and lifted her head. “Damn that Savaris. He was deliberately late. It might have been too late if not for Grendan.”

The beast Grendan leaned its head against Synola’s arm. Wind rose around Synola.

“Your Majesty……”

Three figures kneeled before her.

“Take Deruk to the hospital. I’ll bring this child back to the dormitory. Lintence, is the battlefield prepared? You stay over there and keep watch. Just in case.”

“Yes.”

Two figures disappeared at her orders.

“It’s so exaggerated to just eliminate a harmful bug,” Synola said and studied the damage around her.

“I have to give out funding too, and also an explanation about Deruk. The royal family has already forgiven everyone related to Layfon’s case….. but it’s still hard on the child if the public doesn’t agree.”

“Your Majesty……” the remaining person said. A woman with long dark hair who looked like Synola. “…… It’s about time to return to the palace.”

“Yeah—” she looked anything but wanting to return.

“Your Majesty!”

“But there shouldn’t be a problem with the governing of this city even if I’m not around. It’s like it doesn’t…. doesn’t really need me.”

“…… Please don’t be willful. Perhaps there really won’t be a problem when Your Majesty’s not around, as there’s the Parliament and I here to manage it. But this is an issue of responsibility.”

“If you need a symbol, then all you need is this child here. If it’s about the public, then Kanaris, you’re enough. Why don’t you just become the real Queen?”

“Stop joking. I can’t command the Heaven’s Blade successors. If that happened, we might have a second or a third Layfon.”

“That child didn’t go on a rampage because of that.”

“Even so, look at Savaris. Doesn’t that say there’s a need for Your Majesty’s pressure to manage them?”

“Ha~~ Ah~~…. Geez.”

She looked at Leerin as if running away from Kanaris, and sighed.

“You’re also a Heaven’s Blade successor. Aren’t you being too serious?”

“I’m very tired because of a certain someone,” Kanaris said.

“Ah, that’s going overboard.”

“Whatever it is, hurry up, toss away this alias and return,” Kanaris frowned and left.

“Really……” Synola made a face. “Even if you tell me to return……”

She lifted Leerin.

“My existence is meaningless if not all twelve Heaven’s Blades are here.”

She suddenly recalled Savaris’ words. “A Heaven’s Blade is born to be a Heaven’s Blade….. Then Layfon isn’t my Heaven’s Blade? Perhaps……” she shook her head, disbelieving the ridiculous thought.

“It’s useless to consider what has been lost,” Synola carried Leerin and left through the hole in the wall with Grendan.

Savaris leapt from the walls and roofs of different buildings to run in the moonlit night. Gahard followed him in much the same way.

What exciting scenery.

“If you were that good when you were still alive, I’d have taken care of you more,” Savaris laughed mockingly and leaped to stand on a place that was higher than the tallest building in Grendan.

Mid-air.

Gahard similarly landed on air.

“You can see it right? Come up,” Savaris nodded in contentment.

Gahard looked around him.

“You’re standing on Lintence-san’s steel threads. They’re as thin as spider threads, but they don’t break easily, so don’t worry. But if you lose balance, your weight will drag you down and you might be split in half on a steel thread, so your feet must always be filled with Kei. And don’t think of escaping. If you do that, Lintence-san will gather all the steel threads and cut you into pieces. Aside from that, we’ve decided to hold your burial ceremony at the Luckens’ family home,” Savaris explained with a smile. “I think you understand me, don’t you? I’ll be happier if you could say my name. Either way, you’re my junior in the same Military Arts school. Though I didn’t look after you much, you have in turn looked after my brother. It’s embarrassing, but I still want you to call me by my name.”

“…….”

“Have you recalled my name? What a shame. Looks like you’ve surrendered totally to the filth monster,” Savaris said. He didn’t look like he cared.

Grendan had a fight with filth monsters about one month ago. A filth monster in its aged phase seized an opening created by the larvae attacking the city and entered the city’s inner area. The Heaven’s Blade successors had all sensed the invasion and subsequently chased after it, but this filth monster was a strange parasitic type. It could live off a human body by absorbing nutrients from its host. Grendan’s psychokinesists had trouble finding its location.

And that was when Savaris suggested a plan.

After tracking the filth monster several times, they found that the filth monster tended to attack a new host when it was about to exhaust all of the nutrients of its current host. The time when the filth monster transferred to another host was the best timing for a psychokinesist to discover its location, and also, the host would move according to his original personality, so that would create an opening to eliminate the filth monster.

Savaris and a huge number of psychokinesists waited for the next moment when a victim would be attacked, and they prepared for the filth monster a host of their choice.

Gahard.

Although the filth monster almost escaped, Savaris’ preventative measure worked, allowing Gahard to become the filth monster’s new host. Affected by its host’s hatred, the filth monster also developed hatred for the people associated with Layfon.

That was what Deruk had sensed.

“You’re serving the city’s defense in your very last moment as a Military Artist. Is that your wish?” Savaris said as he inserted several cards into the armor on his arm. Dites in the form of cards. He had already inserted the cards into the armor on his legs.

Savaris never knew whether that was Gahard’s wish…….. Gahard’s wish when he was in a vegetative state.

He didn’t need to know.

“Military Artists who can’t fight against filth monsters are worse than trash. Shouldn’t you thank your senior for kindly preparing this last glorious mission for you?”

Gahard howled. Savaris didn’t know whether it was Gahard’s outrage or the filth monster’s howling. He ran on the thin steel thread to close in on Gahard, smiling as he did so.

“Let me confront you a little bit seriously……. Restoration.”

Light shot forth from his limbs to cover his entire body. The card Dites expanded into their original weight and form. An exquisite design gathered around the armor above his elbows and on his legs, giving off bright white light that melted into the air of the night.

Savaris’s Heaven’s Blade had been restored to its original form.

He lifted his arm and with the sound of the air being torn apart, his arm received Gahard’s fist.

“Not a bad sudden attack,” he said, relaxed, as if he was just taking off his jacket.

Gahard kicked out at him. He backed off a step. Gahard’s next kick followed, he was performing consecutive kicks on the steel thread.

“Hahaha. Not bad!”

The air around Gahard spun. On occasions, blades of air assaulted Savaris from a direction different to Gahard’s kick. As the number of kicks increased, so did the number of air blades, but Savaris avoided them all with ease.

“Hm, I’m happy. Who would have thought you could execute this move so perfectly? I really want my brother to take a look at this.”

His smile remained.

“I wanted to fight seriously with someone from the same school. That was why I chose you. It’s great that you haven’t failed my expectations.”

Gahard continued his attacks in the same pattern as Savaris leapt around. The Heaven’s Blade successor received a kick on the armor plate on his arm, which sent him flying. Gahard increased the speed of his next kick. Wrapped in the wind of his spin, it was a decisive attack that simultaneously released Kei along with Gahard’s kick.

Blades of air shot towards Savaris like rain. Facing the invisible attacks as he kept his flying pose, Savaris breathed in deeply.

”AH HA!”

And blew out his Kei that completely eliminated the air blades, leaving behind the wind of Gahard’s spins.

“This is one way of using Roar Kei,” Savaris smiled as he landed on a steel thread. “And also, even if you don’t execute the entire move, as long as you can bounce back the Kei, then……”

The lower part of Savaris’ body blurred.

Gahard crossed his arms before him reflexively.

A sound that felt low and heavy. Then Gahard’s body floated.

“Don’t you know the “Fierce Wind Kei” style? It doesn’t matter if we don’t use the wind when our basics are grounded in the Luckens’ style of Kei. Our moves are powerful as long as we move with the flow. The “Quick Wind” move is made with its flow along with the effect of additional Kei training, and that levels up the power of the move into “Fierce Wind Kei”. You didn’t do a bad job with it, but I already knew what it’d be like. As expected, it’s not as satisfying to fight with a guy from the same school.”

About to deliver a kick, Savaris lowered his leg.

The expression on Gahard’s face made Savaris think “How could this be?”

A human face emerged from the threatened beast that was Gahard.

“Why such despair? Can Gahard’s human consciousness still remain? Have you realized the distance between you and a Heaven’s Blade successor…… On that day, you failed to obtain the Heaven’s Blade title even though you got hold of Layfon’s weakness. Have you finally understood that?”

“I. I was just…. Just…” Gahard’s lips trembled to weave the words.

“Humph, you can still talk normally.”

“I just….. couldn’t tolerate. That brat…… a Heaven’s Blade successor….. on par with the young Master…… Became a Heaven’s Blade successor at an age younger than the young Master…… I couldn’t tolerate.”

A light of humanity shone in his eyes.

Had he escaped from the filth monster’s control?

“I decided….. to defeat him. For that brat to become a Heaven’s Blade successor….. It must have been chance. I couldn’t stand him……. And…… his dirty hands…..”

“Enough self-defense. How unsightly.”

Savaris cared nothing for the dying words of a man controlled by a filth monster.

“Either way, the fact that you threatened Layfon won’t change. You’re also responsible for it. As a senior, shouldn’t you have participated in the match calmly and pulled him down from his position rather than threatening him before the match?” Savaris’s body swayed lightly, and in that second, internal Kei spilled out from his body, making the air vibrate.

“You’re only at a passing level in terms of keeping the principles of a Military Artist. At least die and leave a good memory for my little brother. No more of your unsightly protests.”

“Ho. Ho, hoooooo….”

Pain showed through Gahard’s icy words. The human existence disappeared again in his eyes. The pupils that showed control before changed back to a filth monster’s. As if to match that alteration, Gahard’s body changed.

“Finally realizing that you can’t win as a human, huh? But……”

Gahard’s body expanded. The tattered clothes tore apart, exposing the muscles in bunches. A black body. The expansion stopped after the body was three times its human size. Huge wings appeared on its back and thick scales covered it from head to toe. Fingers were replaced by three long claws. Long and sharp teeth showed through the mouth.

A roar rent apart the night sky.

Savaris watched coldly as the filth monster declared its presence in Grendan.

“You guys lost to us outside the air purification system. What can you do inside then?”

The lazy smile had been wiped off Savaris’s face. A sharp expression like a blade emerged to stare at the filth monster.

The three claws swiped at Savaris.

Savaris’s body dispersed into the wind.

It was an illusion.

“Gahard Baren, this is my last mercy to you.”

That voice sounded from all around the filth monster. Everywhere were Savaris’s images. Like an army of Savarises, each Savaris faced the enemy with a different pose.

“Die on Luckens’ most elegant move.”

This was a variation of Internal Kei – Luckens’ move – A thousand people rush.

Countless Savaris made their moves. They attacked at point-blank range. The filth monster had no way of resisting.

Batter, hit, kick, attack, slash, shoot, destroy, twist, crush.

Numerous attacks fell onto the filth monster without ceasing, pounding down that thick outer shell. The filth monster didn’t have the time to think as it was assaulted in all directions. Its self-protection function worked automatically underneath the innumerous attacks to make changes to its body. Having lost its outer shell, the black body transformed.

In that split second, the rain of fists ceased.

It was Gahard’s painful face. Voiceless, he looked at Savaris bitterly as if to convey something.

“Scum,” Savaris said against his junior’s begging. His fist landed on Gahard’s face and broke through the filth monster’s body.

“If I had known you’d be scared of this, I wouldn’t have used you,” he said coldly as the remaining Savarises assaulted the filth monster at the same time, completely tearing it into pieces.

“All done……” he laughed, watching fragments of flesh fall through the gaps of and onto the steel threads.

“Guess I gotta nail the coffin lid firmly. It’d be terrible if people see what’s inside……. But is a normal coffin big enough for it?”

He rested his chin on his palm and pondered.

“Never mind.”

And gave up.

“I’ll just let father handle this.”

So that was what happened.

Lintence watched the dismemberment of the filth monster’s body.

“It’s finished,” he confirmed. Everything was fine now. He retrieved the steel threads as if he hadn’t seen Savaris still standing on one of the threads.

Although Savaris seemed to be grumbling about something as he fell, Lintence didn’t bother to listen. Savaris had no right to be a Heaven’s Blade successor if he could die from that height.

Speaking of which…..

What Lintence thought about wasn’t the filth monster’s corpse, but the fight just then. The move that Savaris used – A thousand people rush. Layfon stole that move from the Luckens and used it as his own. He didn’t just remember parts of it. Even Lintence couldn’t understand the structure of a move just by looking at it.

“No one is better at understanding the skills of Kei than he.”

Besides Lintence’s skill in steel threads, Layfon had turned almost all of the skills in the Dojos of Grendan into his own. He was able to digest those moves and use them just by observing them. The fact that Layfon could become familiar with those moves in a shockingly short period of time had overwhelmed even Lintence.

“Is that guy a seed to transport those skills to the outside of Grendan?...... Was he born with that mission?”

He gazed at the city as he thought of the only person whom he acknowledged as his apprentice.

Nothing reflected back in the darkness of the night.

<center>◇</center>

Layfon headed deeper to the inside of the Mechanical Department illuminated with pale green light. He had spent an entire night at Zuellni’s Mechanical Department, but the silence here gave off a bad feeling. It was even quieter than the buildings after school hours.

“Did anything happen?”

“Felli….. What’s wrong? Answer me.”

Background noise entered Nina’s voice. The same happened to Sharnid’s voice, as if his voice was coming from a far distance……

Suddenly……

“Huh?”

His vision turned black, and the background noises ceased.

“Felli. What’s happened? Felli!?”

Even though he shouted into the transmitter, his voice only vanished into the bitter darkness.

Layfon was left alone in the dark.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter6|Chapter 6]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume3 Chapter5

2009-11-08T22:23:59Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 5: Dance in midnight */

===Chapter 5: Dance in midnight===

Layfon and his team ate the simple lunch they brought with them, then opened the side door into the Mechanical Department of the city.

“The power’s cut off,” Nina said. The lift wouldn’t work no matter how many times they pressed the lift button.

“I guess we’ll have to get down along the cables. In case anything happened, we’ll confirm whether the switch is off or not. Felli stays here as reinforcements.”

“Roger.”

They put on their helmets and confirmed that Felli’s flakes were working normally. They opened a hole on the bottom of the lift and moved downwards along the cables.

Darkness surrounded them, but green vision appeared as Felli supported them with night vision.

Feeling the touch of solid ground, Layfon retrieved the steel thread he used in place of a cable.

Huge tubes surrounded them, and in between tubes were crisscrossing corridors meant for human use. It looked exactly the same as Zuellni’s Mechanical Department. Or not exactly the same. This city had more tubes than Zuellni. It was a more complicated maze so dense that Layfon couldn’t see through to the central area. He didn’t smell any rot. What tickled his nose were the special smell of oil and gel and the weaker smell of metal and chemicals.

“The air down here is terrible, and you guys have been working in this kind of a place?” Sharnid frowned.

“If we had more light, it would feel more spacious here.”

“But we can’t use a flare here. It might catch fire.”

“Exactly. Felli, anything strange?”

“Nothing so far.”

Nina nodded. “I see. The thing from yesterday night is hiding. This has to be where it is.”

“Do you believe us, captain?” Layfon said, surprised. Although Felli sensed the creature, Layfon was the one who confirmed it. The 5th platoon didn’t seem to believe him. And even Layfon himself lacked the confidence to guarantee what he saw had been true.

“Of course. What reason do I have to doubt what you two saw?”

“…… Yeah, you two aren’t the type to lie,” Sharnid agreed.

“And I have my suspicions.”

“Huh?”

“Since this city still ‘lives’, then it shouldn’t be strange that that thing exists, right?”

“Ah……”

Zuellni in its little girl form surfaced in Layfon’s mind.

“I think what you two encountered was this city’s consciousness.”

“I see……”

“We’ll decide on what to do once we reach the center of the Mechanical Department. We’ll split into two groups. Me and Sharnid, and you move alone. Is that all right?”

Layfon nodded.

“If you don’t find anything, meet back here in one hour. Let’s go.”

Layfon, alone, headed deeper into the maze.

<center>◇</center>

“…… Why?”

This question hovered in Leerin’s mind. It was hard to believe Gahard Baren had appeared here.

“What….. did you do?” Deruk said. “Is this Kei in your body? I heard that your Kei vein was destroyed……”

Yes.

Rumor had it that Gahard’s Kei vein was destroyed in his match with Layfon, and he had lost his consciousness and fallen into a vegetative state. So why was he here?

No Dite armor wrapped around his remaining arm. Gahard was wearing a worn out and thin hospital robe. They could see his stomach through the thin robe. It was once full of muscles, but they had now disappeared through a long period of time spending in the hospital.

“You’ve given up your humanity,” Deruk said.

Gahard’s dominating eyes did not belong to a human.

“I don’t know how you gave yourself up, but what did you come here for?”

“……”

Gahard hadn’t opened his mouth. It was as if he was eating with his mouth closed, and noise sounded from his stomach.

“…… Wu.”

And that noise became louder and louder.

“Close your eyes and cover your ears!”

Gahard’s entire body shook abruptly.

“Ga Haaaaaaaaaaa!!”

It drowned out Deruk’s voice. Glasses and eating utensils shattered around them. Their bodies shuddered, their eyes and ears enduring intense pain. The ground swayed.

When the noise stopped, Leerin wondered whether her eardrum had burst.

Then……

“Gu.”

The moaning of father and the shaking of the ground proved to her that her eardrums were still intact. Leerin opened her eyes and saw Deruk kneeling on the ground.

“Father!”

His clothes were torn, revealing the old yet still firm and strong body underneath. Blood seeped from his back.

“Could that be Roar Kei? You shouldn’t be able to use the ultimate move of the first Luckens,” Deruk said and vomited blood. The Katana he used to support his weight broke under him. This wasn’t any normal Katana. It was a restored Katana. The vibration earlier had destroyed its alloy structure, weakening it.

“You…. What did you do….” Deruk toppled.

“Father!”

Deruk showed no response. Blood pooled around him. Leerin’s cheeks paled as if Deruk’s blood had also drained the blood from her face.

“Ah, ahah….” she stood up and ran to Deruk, completely forgetting Gahard. Losing Layfon and then the father who brought her up from when she was a child had stripped off Leerin’s sense of the present.

“Father……” she shook him, his blood staining her hands.

“No….. No…. Please…..” she shook her head like a child, desperately shaking Deruk.

“Hurry, get up. Father…… Everyone…… We’ve to wake everyone,” she cried, cried like she was a child. She was always the first to get up, and next was Layfon. They would call everyone after preparing breakfast. Deruk was a Military Artist, but he always stayed in bed. It was difficult to wake him up.

Yes, he was just asleep like he did in the past. Yes.

“Father….” she called. She didn’t hear the sound of Gahard above her. Her consciousness was rejecting it.

Just when the noise reached its climax….

A beast landed beside her.

Thick silver fur swayed. The beast stood in front of Gahard as if to protect Leerin. It had the body of a dog, but it wasn’t a dog. Its abnormally long ears stretched backwards under long fur, and the toes at the tip of its limbs had not devolved into those of a dog. It supported its body like a human female caressing her five long fingers. Its lengthy tail wrapped around Leerin. Human-like pupils burned as they glowered at Gahard.
[[Image:CSR vol03 203.jpg|thumb]]

Gahard’s mouth opened.

External type burst Kei, the ultimate move of the Luckens – Roar Kei.

His mouth opened to destroy the structures of particles. But what came out of that mouth was just the noise of the night.

“…… Speaking of which, you’ve also read father’s secret book, haven’t you?”

Hearing that new voice, Gahard turned around.

Savaris Qualafin had appeared.

“Well, you couldn’t have reached this stage if you weren’t the way you are…… but, isn’t it a shame that you didn’t realize while you were still human? Or are you now satisfied because you’re finally able to perform that move?” Savaris said as he looked down on Deruk. “To have suppressed the vibration of the Roar Kei with the threatening variation of Internal Kei…… Quite some work there. Perhaps I should say, as expected of Layfon’s Master? No other person could’ve have achieved this.”

Meaning Savaris had cancelled the second Roar Kei attack.

“But because of this, I’ve gained some valuable experience. Nobody’s used this move on anything other than filth monsters, so this is what it’s like when it hits a human. It’s fortunate that Layfon isn’t aware of the consequences of this move.”

“…… Lay… fon……”

Savaris smiled at Gahard’s first word.

“Oh, so you still remember? I was afraid you slept for so long that you had forgotten him. I knew you’d make a move after you woke up, but it’s just a little different from my expectations. I didn’t think you would be so energized since your body condition was so bad.”

“Wh…… Where? Lay….. fon……”

“Or maybe because you couldn’t hang in there, so you managed a rebirth through stubbornness?”

“Lay……”

“What’s torturing you? Your ambition? Dream? Evil means? Or is it everything? Desire? Outrage? I’ve already told you that age has nothing to do with it. A Heaven’s Blade successor is born to be a Heaven’s Blade successor. That’s how our fates are. This has nothing to do with speed. You should now probably understand the result of your vanity.”

“Gu. Ah….. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Hahaha! Are you angry? Then come. Not Layfon, but I’ll be your opponent. If you win against me, then you can become a true Heaven’s Blade successor.”

Savaris backed away from Gahard’s sudden attack, and using that momentum, he leaped over the fence onto the street beyond.

“Follow me. I’ve already prepared the battlefield.”

Savaris vanished in the next second. As if to follow him, Gahard also disappeared.

Leaving Leerin alone to stare at the back of Deruk.

“Father……. Blood, it won’t stop……”

Tears rolled down her cheeks, her hands and knees stained with blood.

And she looked at the beast.

Someone was standing behind it.

“…… Ah.”

“It’s all right, Leerin-chan.”

“Synola-senpai…… Why?”

“We can save Deruk. Don’t shake him anymore. He’s got a few broken ribs. It’ll be troublesome if they damage any of his internal organs.”

“Senpai.”

“You’ve done your best. Now rest,” Synola gestured at the beast and patted Leerin’s head.

Feeling her consciousness fading, Leerin fell into a slumber. Synola caught her as she fell towards the inert Deruk, then she placed her on the back of the beast.

“If only sleep could heal his wounds….. but it’s not that simple.”

Synola breathed out deeply and lifted her head. “Damn that Savaris. He was deliberately late. It might have been too late if not for Grendan.”

The beast Grendan leaned its head against Synola’s arm. Wind rose around Synola.

“Your Majesty……”

Three figures kneeled before her.

“Take Deruk to the hospital. I’ll bring this child back to the dormitory. Lintence, is the battlefield prepared? You stay over there and keep watch. Just in case.”

“Yes.”

Two figures disappeared at her orders.

“It’s so exaggerated to just eliminate a harmful bug,” Synola said and studied the damages around her.

“I have to give out funding too, and also an explanation about Deruk. The royal family has already forgiven everyone related to Layfon’s case….. but it’s still hard on the child if the public doesn’t agree.”

“Your Majesty……” the remaining person said. A woman with long dark hair who looked like Synola. “…… It’s about time to return to the palace.”

“Yeah—” she looked anything but wanting to return.

“Your Majesty!”

“But there shouldn’t be a problem with the governing of this city even if I’m not around. It’s like it doesn’t…. doesn’t really need me.”

“…… Please don’t be willful. Perhaps there really won’t be a problem when Your Majesty’s not around, as there’s the Parliament and I here to manage it. But this is an issue of responsibility.”

“If you need a symbol, then all you need is this child here. If it’s about the public, then Kanaris, you’re enough. Why don’t you just become the real Queen?”

“Stop joking. I can’t command the Heaven’s Blade successors. If that happened, we might have a second or a third Layfon.”

“That child didn’t go on a rampage because of that.”

“Even so, look at Savaris. Doesn’t that say there’s a need for Your Majesty’s pressure to manage them?”

“Ha~~ Ah~~…. Geez.”

She looked at Leerin as if running away from Kanaris, and sighed.

“You’re also a Heaven’s Blade successor. Aren’t you being too serious?”

“I’m very tired because of a certain someone,” Kanaris said.

“Ah, that’s going overboard.”

“Whatever it is, hurry up, toss away this alias and return,” Kanaris frowned and left.

“Really……” Synola made a face. “Even if you tell me to return……”

She lifted Leerin.

“My existence is meaningless if not all twelve Heaven’s Blades are here.”

She suddenly recalled Savaris’ words. “A Heaven’s Blade is born to be a Heaven’s Blade….. Then Layfon isn’t my Heaven’s Blade? Perhaps……” she shook her head, disbelieving the ridiculous thought.

“It’s useless to consider what has been lost,” Synola carried Leerin and left through the hole in the wall with Grendan.

Savaris leapt from the walls and roofs of different buildings to run in the moonlit night. Gahard followed him in much the same way.

What exciting scenery.

“If you were that good when you were still alive, I’d have taken care of you more,” Savaris laughed mockingly and leaped to stand on a place that was higher than the tallest building in Grendan.

Mid-air.

Gahard similarly landed on air.

“You can see it right? Come up,” Savaris nodded in contentment.

Gahard looked around him.

“You’re standing on Lintence-san’s steel threads. They’re as thin as spider threads, but they don’t break easily, so don’t worry. But if you lose balance, your weight will drag you down and you might be split in half on a steel thread, so your feet must always be filled with Kei. And don’t think of escaping. If you do that, Lintence-san will gather all the steel threads and cut you into pieces. Aside from that, we’ve decided to hold your burial ceremony at the Luckens’ family home,” Savaris explained with a smile. “I think you understand me, don’t you? I’ll be happier if you could say my name. Either way, you’re my junior in the same Military Arts school. Though I didn’t look after you much, you have in turn looked after my brother. It’s embarrassing, but I still want you to call me by my name.”

“…….”

“Have you recalled my name? What a shame. Looks like you’ve surrendered totally to the filth monster,” Savaris said. He didn’t look like he cared.

Grendan had a fight with filth monsters about one month ago. A filth monster in its aged phase seized an opening created by the larvae attacking the city and entered the city’s inner area. The Heaven’s Blade successors had all sensed the invasion and subsequently chased after it, but this filth monster was a strange parasitic type. It could live off a human body by absorbing nutrients from its host. Grendan’s psychokinesists had trouble finding its location.

And that was when Savaris suggested a plan.

After tracking the filth monster several times, they found that the filth monster tended to attack a new host when it was about to exhaust all of the nutrients of its current host. The time when the filth monster transferred to another host was the best timing for a psychokinesist to discover its location, and also, the host would move according to his original personality, so that would create an opening to eliminate the filth monster.

Savaris and a huge number of psychokinesists waited for the next moment when a victim would be attacked, and they prepared for the filth monster a host of their choice.

Gahard.

Although the filth monster almost escaped, Savaris’ preventative measure worked, allowing Gahard to become the filth monster’s new host. Affected by its host’s hatred, the filth monster also developed hatred for the people associated with Layfon.

That was what Deruk had sensed.

“You’re serving the city’s defense in your very last moment as a Military Artist. Is that your wish?” Savaris said as he inserted several cards into the armor on his arm. Dites in the form of cards. He had already inserted the cards onto the armor on his legs.

Savaris never knew whether that was Gahard’s wish…….. Gahard’s wish when he was in a vegetative state.

He didn’t need to know.

“Military Artists who can’t fight against filth monsters are worse than trash. Shouldn’t you thank your senior for kindly preparing this last glorious mission for you?”

Gahard howled. Savaris didn’t know whether it was Gahard’s outrage or the filth monster’s howling. He ran on the thin steel thread to close onto Gahard, smiling as he did so.

“Let me confront you a little bit seriously……. Restoration.”

Light shot forth from his limbs to cover his entire body. The card Dites expanded into their original weight and form. An exquisite design gathered around the armor above his elbows and on his legs, giving off bright white light that melted into the air of the night.

Savaris’ Heaven’s Blade had been restored to its original form.

He lifted his arm and with the sound of the air being torn apart, his arm received Gahard’s fist.

“Not a bad sudden attack,” he said, relaxed, as if he was just taking off his jacket.

Gahard kicked out at him. He backed off a step. Gahard’s next kick followed, he was performing consecutive kicks on the steel thread.

“Hahaha. Not bad!”

The air around Gahard spun. On occasions, blades of air assaulted Savaris from a direction different to Gahard’s kick. As the number of kicks increased, so did the number of air blades, but Savaris avoided them all with ease.

“Um, I’m happy. Who would have thought you could execute this move so perfectly? I really want my brother to take a look at this.”

His smile remained.

“I wanted to fight seriously with someone from the same school. That was why I chose you. It’s great that you haven’t failed my expectations.”

Gahard continued his attacks in the same pattern as Savaris leapt around. The Heaven’s Blade successor received a kick on the armor plate on his arm, which sent him flying. Gahard increased the speed of his next kick. Wrapped in the wind of his spin, it was a decisive attack that simultaneously released Kei along with Gahard’s kick.

Blades of air shot towards Savaris like rain. Facing the invisible attacks as he kept his flying pose, Savaris breathed in deeply.

”AH HA!”

And blew out his Kei that completely eliminated the air blades, leaving behind the wind of Gahard’s spins.

“This is one way of using Roar Kei,” Savaris smiled as he landed on a steel thread. “And also, even if you don’t execute the entire move, as long as you can bounce back the Kei, then……”

The lower part of Savaris’ body blurred.

Gahard crossed his arms before him reflexively.

A sound that felt low and heavy. Then Gahard’s body floated.

“Don’t you know the “Fierce Wind Kei” style? It doesn’t matter if we don’t use the wind when our basics are grounded in the Luckens’ style of Kei. Our moves are powerful as long as we move with the flow. The “Quick Wind” move is made with its flow along with the effect of additional Kei training, and that levels up the power of the move into “Fierce Wind Kei”. You didn’t do a bad job with it, but I already knew what it’d be like. As expected, it’s not as satisfying to fight with a guy from the same school.”

About to deliver a kick, Savaris lowered his leg.

The expression on Gahard’s face made Savaris think “How could this be?”

A human face emerged from the threatened beast that was Gahard.

“Why such despair? Can Gahard’s human consciousness still remain? Have you realized the distance between you and a Heaven’s Blade successor…… On that day, you failed to obtain the Heaven’s Blade title even though you got hold of Layfon’s weakness. Have you finally understood that?”

“I. I was just…. Just…” Gahard’s lips trembled to weave the words.

“Humph, you can still talk normally.”

“I just….. couldn’t tolerate. That brat…… a Heaven’s Blade successor….. on par with the young Master…… Became a Heaven’s Blade successor at an age younger than the young Master…… I couldn’t tolerate.”

A light of humanity shone in his eyes.

Had he escaped from the filth monster’s control?

“I decided….. to defeat him. For that brat to become a Heaven’s Blade successor….. It must have been chance. I couldn’t stand him……. And…… his dirty hands…..”

“Enough self-defence. How unsightly.”

Savaris cared nothing for the dying words of a man controlled by a filth monster.

“Either way, the fact that you threatened Layfon won’t change. You’re also responsible for it. As a senior, shouldn’t you have participated in the match calmly and pulled him down from his position rather than threatening him before the match?” Savaris’s body swayed lightly, and in that second, internal Kei spilled out from his body, making the air vibrate.

“You’re only at a passing level in terms of keeping the principles of a Military Artist. At least die and leave a good memory for my little brother. No more of your unsightly protests.”

“Ho. Ho, hoooooo….”

Pain showed through Gahard’s icy words. The human existence disappeared again in his eyes. The pupils that showed control before changed back to a filth monster’s. As if to match that alteration, Gahard’s body changed.

“Finally realizing that you can’t win as a human uh? But……”

Gahard’s body expanded. The tattered clothes tore apart, exposing the muscles in bunches. A black body. The expansion stopped after the body was three times its human size. Huge wings appeared on its back and thick scales covered it from head to toe. Fingers were replaced by three long claws. Long and sharp teeth showed through the mouth.

A roar rent apart the night sky.

Savaris watched coldly as the filth monster declared its presence in Grendan.

“You guys lost to us outside the air purification system. What can you do inside then?”

The lazy smile had been wiped off Savaris’ face. A sharp expression like a blade emerged to stare at the filth monster.

The three claws swiped at Savaris.

Savaris’s body dispersed into the wind.

It was an illusion.

“Gahard Baren, this is my last mercy to you.”

That voice sounded from all around the filth monster. Everywhere were Savaris’ images. Like an army of Savarises, each Savaris faced the enemy with a different pose.

“Die on Luckens’ most elegant move.”

This was a variation of Internal Kei – Luckens’ move – A thousand people rush.

Countless Savaris made their moves. They attacked at point-blank range. The filth monster had no way of resisting.

Batter, hit, kick, attack, slash, shoot, destroy, twist, crush.

Numerous attacks fell onto the filth monster without ceasing, pounding down that thick outer shell. The filth monster didn’t have the time to think as it was assaulted in all directions. Its self-protection function worked automatically underneath the innumerous attacks to make changes to its body. Having lost its outer shell, the black body transformed.

In that split second, the rain of fists ceased.

It was Gahard’s painful face. Voiceless, he looked at Savaris bitterly as if to convey something.

“Scum,” Savaris said against his junior’s begging. His fist landed on Gahard’s face and broke through the filth monster’s body.

“If I had known you’d be scared of this, I wouldn’t have used you,” he said coldly as the remaining Savarises assaulted the filth monster at the same time, completely tearing it into pieces.

“All done……” he laughed, watching fragments of flesh fall through the gaps of and onto the steel threads.

“Guess I gotta nail the coffin lid firmly. It’d be terrible if people see what’s inside……. But is a normal coffin big enough for it?”

He rested his chin on his palm and pondered.

“Never mind.”

And gave up.

“I’ll just let father handle this.”

So that was what happened.

Lintence watched the dismemberment of the filth monster’s body.

“It’s finished,” he confirmed. Everything was fine now. He retrieved the steel threads as if he hadn’t seen Savaris still standing on one of the threads.

Although Savaris seemed to be grumbling about something as he fell, Lintence didn’t bother to listen. Savaris had no right to be a Heaven’s Blade successor if he could die from that height.

Speaking of which…..

What Lintence thought about wasn’t the filth monster’s corpse, but the fight just then. The move that Savaris used – A thousand people rush. Layfon stole that move from the Luckens and used it as his own. He didn’t just remember parts of it. Even Lintence couldn’t understand the structure of a move just by looking at it.

“No one is better at understanding the skills of Kei than he.”

Besides Lintence’s skill in steel threads, Layfon had turned almost all of the skills in the Dojos of Grendan into his own. He was able to digest those moves and use them just by observing them. The fact that Layfon could become familiar with those moves in a shockingly short period of time had overwhelmed even Lintence.

“Is that guy a seed to transport those skills to the outside of Grendan?...... Was he born with that mission?”

He gazed at the city as he thought of the only person whom he acknowledged as his apprentice.

Nothing reflected back in the darkness of the night.

<center>◇</center>

Layfon headed deeper to the inside of the Mechanical Department illuminated with pale green light. He had spent an entire night at Zuellni’s Mechanical Department, but the silence here gave off a bad feeling. It was even quieter than the buildings after school hours.

“Did anything happen?”

“Felli….. What’s wrong? Answer me.”

Background noise entered Nina’s voice. The same happened to Sharnid’s voice, as if his voice was coming from a far distance……

Suddenly……

“Huh?”

His vision turned black, and the background noises ceased.

“Felli. What’s happened? Felli!?”

Even though he shouted into the transmitter, his voice only vanished into the bitter darkness.

Layfon was left alone in the dark.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter6|Chapter 6]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume1 Chapter1

2009-11-08T22:23:15Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 1: School begins */

===Chapter 1: School begins===

Since leaving you, I’ve been on the bus for a month and have finally arrived at Zuellni. I made it to the opening ceremony for the term. During my journey, I changed five buses. Living in only one city back then, I never realized travelling could be so taxing. It’s really tiring and difficult to reach another city, since all cities move according to their own consciousness. I never understood why the alchemists back in the old times gave the cities self-consciousness. But that was so to enable them to avoid the filth monsters and save us. I can now think deeper on this issue.

During my journey, I once saw a group of filth monsters at a close distance. Their cruel and dangerous appearance is really appalling. The thought of being attacked on a bus with nowhere to escape to was enough to raise all of my hairs.

But don’t worry, our bus didn’t get attacked. I think our driver was quite the professional. He made the bus stop for three days to avoid discovery. At that time, I felt pain in my heart. It was terrifying to be attacked by the filth monsters. Compared to that though, it would be worse for the bus to sustain heavy damage and be marooned on this dry and scarlet earth. We had no way of surviving. Even so, in the end, I arrived safely at Zuellni.

I’m writing this letter in the dormitory at Zuellni. It’s a twin room, and luckily, no one else’s living here beside me. I’ve never lived in a room all to myself. Really happy about this.

How are you doing over there? Getting used to your new life?

I just realize that I still don’t know your address. I’ll send the letter to your school. Hope it can arrive safely to your hand. It’d be great if you could include your new address in the return letter. Though I lived at the orphanage, the head wouldn’t want to receive my letter.

Well –

I wish for eternal peace for your new life and the city you’re standing on.

To my dear Leerin Marfes.

Layfon Alseif

<center>◇</center>

The self-moving cities, Regios, spread across the world in their own forms, ranging from the simple, standard form that provides everything for human survival, to forms that strengthen particular areas.

One of that forms is the Academy City.

Zuellni – The Academy City Zuellni.

The school buildings in the center of the city provided facilities for all study areas.

Large groups of students were heading for the great hall that was large enough to accommodate all students inside.

Dressed casually, the General Studies students walked as they chatted with friends.

Reluctant smiles surfaced on Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering students who weren’t used to the uniforms that they hadn’t worn for a long while.

The Alchemy and Medical students wore dirty white coats on top of their uniforms.

The Military Arts students, who differed from others, stepped towards the hall with heads lifted high.

Students with different characteristics were each swallowed into the interior of the hall.

The purpose of this autonomous city was to exist for and be used by students. Today, it held an opening ceremony to receive new first year students.

But it looked like the ceremony would be delayed.

One hour later.

[[image:CSR vol01 021.jpg|thumb]]
Layfon stood with a confused expression on his face.

“Anyway, shall we sit down and talk?”

“Ye-Yes!”

Having given a tense answer, he still couldn’t sit on the sofa as instructed.

The student before him sat at a large business desk. He was different from Layfon in his adult-like aura. Silvery white hair decorated the elegant face filled with a gentle expression, but his calm and judging silver eyes were fixed on Layfon.

That piercing gaze of his caused Layfon to dart his gaze around in panic. Through his shoes, he could feel the softness of the carpet beneath him. The sofa and table used for reception lay before him. A bookshelf lined one of the walls, filled with informative scrolls.

Before Layfon entered this room, he saw the name of the room carved with “Student president” on it.

“I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Karian Loss, a sixth year student.”

It was six years of studies in Zuellni, so Loss was in the highest grade.

And he was also the Student President.

The person in charge of this school.

“I’m Layfon Alseif.”

With a straight back, Layfon clearly delivered his name. He felt cold sweat beading his forehead.

Karian smiled.

They were alone in the room.

“I wasn’t planning on punishing you.”

The voice tinged with a bitter smile helped Layfon to calm down. He’d been tense all the while, as he had no idea why he had been summoned to this room.

“First, let me convey my gratitude. Because of your help, none of the new students were injured.”

The opening ceremony was cancelled because of a commotion.

Two Military Arts students, being from enemy cities, had met by chance before the ceremony, resulting in the commotion. They went from staring to quarreling and eventually to fighting.

Military Arts – Different special powers were born to protect humanity from harm on this polluted earth.

The Military Arts is the area that fostered such special power users.

If people fought each other seriously using such powers, worse coming to worst, even normal students would have suffered injuries or death. In Karian’s eyes was genuine gratitude.

“The new rule that only allows new students to be armed after half a year is because some of them don’t understand where they now are……This is unbearable. It's a huge amount of work for me to settle things every year.

But, it was still people who used weapons. Sometimes a single fight might turn into a group fight that would draw blood.

To the Student President who had been smiling bitterly but talking with a straightforward and frank manner, Layfon could only respond confusedly.

“Speaking of which, a General Studies student who managed to outdo Military Arts students. You must have some skills in the Arts area, don’t you?”

“It’s just a hobby. Um……”

Silence from the Student President made Layfon swallow.

“If yours is just the level of a hobbyist, then we ought to increase the admission standards for the Military Arts major.”

''The news about the fight between Military Arts students at the opening ceremony had spread to new students in other courses. New students arriving at Zuellni constituted a diverse background. Besides the students getting involved in the fight, there were foreigners whom nobody liked. The dangerous atmosphere spreading out from the Military Arts center was influencing students from other courses.

The rioting atmosphere also affected the General Studies area. Students closer to the fight scene bumped and crashed into each other while escaping, igniting the adolescent anger sleeping in male students.

Just when everything was about to get out of hand, a huge noise echoed throughout the hall.

Immediate silence followed, and all eyes turned to the source of that noise.

Where the two students who started the commotion lay immobile on the floor with Layfon standing between them.''

“That was just luck. They were blinded by anger and didn’t even notice me.”

“Yes, yes.”

Karian happily nodded at Layfon’s excuse. He was smiling with his face, but not his eyes. Again, Layfon felt the Student President had seen through him.

Honestly, this wasn’t a comfortable feeling.

While bearing the pressure that he felt would force him into some dangerous place, Layfon attempted to end this conversation.

“Since I haven’t done anything wrong, I’m returning to class.”

“You can’t!”

Karian prevented Layfon from turning his back to him.

The short denial halted Layfon’s footsteps.

“As I said, I’ve no intention of punishing you, Layfon ''Wolfstein'' Alseif.”

The title in between name and surname caused Layfon to raise his eyebrows.

“…… What does that mean?”

“I don’t care if you continue to play the fool. Here’s a suggestion. Layfon Alseif, how about changing from General Studies to the Military Arts?”

“What?”

“Luckily, there are now two empty slots in Military Arts thanks to those two troublemakers. We have a rule here preventing students from bringing the issues of their home cities into the academy. Those who signed the contract and broke it during the opening ceremony don’t have the right to be fighters. The blame for the riot is on them, so I’ve already banished them in the form of their 'voluntary withdrawal' from the course.”

“No, please wait.”

The two students were not important to Layfon.

“I don’t plan to change majors.”

He clearly conveyed his opinion. To switch to the Military Arts…… don’t kid him.

“I came here to study General Studies.”

“Military Arts is a study area too. No, no matter what course you’re in, General Studies is compulsory till third year. Even if you pick General Studies, you still have to specialize in something after three years, so you aren’t learning different things by switching.”

“The problem doesn’t lie there.”

“So what is the problem?”

Faced with that question, he found his breath being caught in his throat.

“……I have no interest in Military Arts.”

“I see,” Karian gave an exaggerated nod. It was clearly an act. The expression in his eyes hardly changed, just a twisted curve of happiness.

“Besides I’m on a scholarship. I’ve already applied for a job and studies. I've got to work in my spare time. I won’t have enough energy left for Military Arts.”

“I see. That’s a good argument.”

Karian was only agreeing with his mouth. He didn’t look persuaded at all.

He took out a document from a drawer.

“Um, Layfon Alseif, D-Rank scholarship, part-time work and studies. Your job is to clean the Central Mechanism Chamber…… I see, this is a taxing and time-consuming job. Do you know that the cleaning takes place while the city rests from after sunset to past midnight? A lot of working students hate cleaning there. It’s hard work and the hours are terrible. Do you get it? The pay isn’t too bad, but the work is toilsome. Every year, numerous students apply to work somewhere else, or leave the academy for not passing the scholarship assessment. And the scholarship you have is D-Rank. Have you ever considered that you’ll be spending all of your pay on school fees?”

“Yes, it's just as you said.”

“Frankly, won’t it be hard to pass six years like that?”

“I’m confident in my physical strength.”

Karian’s smile changed. Karian was full of smiles in Layfon’s eyes, and something that felt like a favourable feeling towards Layfon came through.

“Aa, perhaps you’re right. You should have confidence in your physical strength. That’s exactly why I wish you would change to Military Arts.”

“What for?”

“Do you know of the Military Arts Competition between Academy cities?”

“……Nope.”

Karian spoke without any disappointment in Layfon’s lack of knowledge, “To put this simply, the Competition takes place once every two years.”

Layfon could guess what Karian was getting at.

“This is a habit of cities. I’ve no idea what the alchemists were thinking, but cities fight for territory every two years. What’s more interesting is that they only compete with the same type of cities……I could only say that the cities were made too well.”

Although the cities were fighting for territories, it was actually the people living in the cities who carried out the fights.

“Sure, it’s called the Military Arts Competition, but in reality, the competition is the same as……the wars that takes place between normal cities.”

War. Layfon’s expression turned grim.

“Of course, our goal is to conduct a student-like all-encompassing fight. The Alliance of Academy Cities supervises every fight. Non-lethal weapons are used. Swords are sheathed. Anesthetic bullets are used. But since it’s a war, there’s no much difference between what the winner obtains and what the loser loses. It’s not as tragic as a real war, but the ending is the same.”

“Is this the city’s……life?”

“Yes,” Karian nodded.

Cities have awareness. They’re alive. They need food to keep on surviving. Even though they are machines, they need energy to maintain their functions.

The source of a city’s life……is their food, a type of metal called selenium.

“Selenium is a metal born after the earth became polluted, and so it’s easy to obtain. To put it simply, you can probably find it by digging at the earth over there. But that’s a dangerous action with filth monsters around. Besides, we can only obtain pure selenium from mines with a certain level of energy.”

So, the winner took possession of the mine and the loser lost it. While increasing the prosperity of their own piece of land, people were reducing the lifespan of another piece of land.

“When I first entered the Academy, Zuellni had three mines. Now it’s down to one,” Karian signed.

Meaning Zuellni had lost in the last two competitions and its Military Arts level was much lower than the neighbouring cities.

“It’s doubtful on how much pure selenium we can mine from that remaining mine. I plan to send some alchemists over to investigate the next time our city nears it.”

“In other words, if we lose the next time, there’s no backup plan?”

“Exactly. The cities determine the topic of the upcoming Competition. We can’t not participate.”

'If we lose……' Just the thought made Layfon shiver.

Even if a city loses all of its mines, its functions won’t stop because it has an emergency reserve of selenium.

But that could only delay the inevitable for a short time.

The city would die. Humans would have lost space to live. Once a city died, it was returned back to the earth. People couldn’t salvage it.

To have a city die of starvation was the same as its people dying of famine.

Thinking of that, a sudden shiver shook Layfon’s cold body. The city he had just arrived in would die. He didn’t have much of a link with this Academy, but the possibility of the city dying was terrifying.

When a person was young, if he found out that the city he lived in could die, he’d have been scared enough to tremble all over. That experience would be the same for everyone.

Hearing that the fear he felt in his childhood could become reality, Layfon felt he really was like his childhood self, trembling all over.

But, even so……

“I……”

To fight…… I can’t do that.

Yes, let’s say that.

With determination, he lifted his gaze, preparing to refuse the Student President watching him from the desk.

But, the words wouldn’t come.

The Student President watched Layfon.

The smile on Loss’ face had disappeared. The emotionless expression appeared to be too calm. This contrasted with the icy gaze of his pinning Layfon.

To the breathless Layfon, Karian spoke, “I’m graduating this year. As long as this remains an academy city, no one can stay here after graduating. This means once I graduate, I’m not linked to this place anymore. But I really like the academy. Don’t you think it’s sad to lose your favourite thing even though you can never set foot on this piece of earth?”

“It’s natural to want to protect what is precious. For one who goes mad with love. Don’t you feel that it’s their fate to reach that their goal with whatever means possible?”

A light smile appeared on the countenance of the Student President. Just that. It was his way of joking in a solemn situation.

“Your scholarship will be raised to Rank A. All your fees will be waived. You will only need to earn for your living. If you aren’t keen on fashion, you won’t need to spend much, so you don’t have to force yourself to clean at the Central Mechanism Chamber. Is that all right?”

Rationality told him not to nod.
But his instinct howled for him to nod.

And then, Layfon left the room with swaying steps, holding a Military Arts uniform that had somehow been placed into his hands.

<center>◇</center>

A few minutes after weakly closing his door, there came impatient knocking on his door.

“Come in.”

It was a girl in Military Arts uniform. A girl with short, golden hair. A girl with determination and resolution.

“Sorry for intruding.”

A pair of sharp eyes rested beneath neat and thick eyebrows. Those eyes watched the Student President with challenge. The sound of the harness clasped around her waist accompanied her every step. What was inside the harness was not a sword, but two rod-like things. The threads on the harness indicated she was a third year student.

The girl stood straight before the desk and her gaze met the Student President’s.

“I’m a third-year in Military Arts, Nina Antalk. I heard you’re looking for me?”

“Yes, I’m looking for you.”

Karian smiled.

“What is it about?”

“Have you found enough members?”

The sudden question caused Nina to furrow, but she checked her attitude and replied, “Not yet.”

“Yes, I thought so too. You haven’t yet sent me the report on your team members since the day you took the application form. The opening ceremony ended. If you don’t hurry up and produce your team member list, you won’t be able to participate in the next City competition. In that case, you’ll become the lowest-level soldier in the next round of platoon competitions.”

“Excuse me, Student President. Hasn’t the opening ceremony been delayed?”

“It’s been cancelled thanks to other schedules. It’s a shame. I won’t call everyone to the hall again. Because of this year’s Military Arts competition, there are lots of things to do.”

Nina’s face fell. She kept silent.

“I think it’s enough to observe the new students at the opening ceremony. What do you think?”

“No one is suitable. Everyone was affected too much by the atmosphere. You can’t tell what’d happen in a battle. I want someone who can observe calmly without getting caught in the confusion.”

Nina had been watching the entire commotion today. Every new Military Arts student was affected by the two who started the whole thing. Violent expressions on their faces said they wanted to join in and make the mess even bigger.

To get caught up by the enemies like that was the same as digging their own graves.

“Is there really no one suitable?”

Nina didn’t reply immediately. Her confused gaze moved up and down.

“No……”

In her hesitation floated up the image of the new student. The one who suppressed the two troublemakers without anyone knowing. He suppressed the center of the commotion to prevent the violent emotions from spreading, and at the same time, he exaggerated his act to threaten people who were caught up in the commotion. She found his response very certain.

But……

“He’s in General Studies.”

That new student wore the uniform of General Studies. This way, he couldn’t participate in the competition.

But the Student President smiled happily.

“Yes, that was true, until now.”

“……What does that mean?”

“He’s just transferred into Military Arts.”

A disapproving expression appeared on Nina’s face.

“I can’t waste such good material.”

“So you ignored his wish?”

“I didn’t ignore it. I showed him the highest level of sincerity. He should be quite satisfied with it.”

“Really?”

Nina understood how hard the Student President’s attitude could be. Last time during the Student President election, Karian wasn’t nominated, yet at the time when he gloriously became a candidate, he had waged a rare intelligence fight with his opponents, causing them to all lose out.

“It doesn’t matter what the truth is. What do you think now that he’s in Military Arts? That’s the only answer I want to know.”

“What is it to be? At this rate, you won’t have enough members. Do you plan to experience the same shame as before, but now as a low-ranked soldier?”

Nina cramped her teeth together.

“I have no such intention.”

“Then what should you do? I think the answer is clear.”

Karian slid a document on the desk to Nina. It was a resume with the name “Layfon Alseif” written on it. The document was clearly in the structure of a resume, along with a close-up photo of Layfon.

“Please excuse me.”

Having taken a glimpse of the document, Nina turned her back to Karian and left the room. He smiled at the back of the girl who didn’t give him a reply.

Alone once more, Karian took out a new document and laid it beside Layfon’s resume. It was also a resume, but with the name Nina Antalk on it.

“If things go well, this will become the strongest team. The problem is how to operate it……” he murmured. He didn’t look cheerful at all.

<center>◇</center>

On the way back to his classroom, Layfon changed into the new uniform in a health clinic he found. The Student President threatened him that if he continued to walk about not in uniform, he’d be considered as committing a fraud.

Holding the uniform of General Studies, he entered the classroom to collect his bag. From a uniform he hadn’t gotten used to yet to another unfamiliar uniform…… He wasn’t yet familiar with this uniform, but it gave him an intriguing feeling.

Also, the new uniform fit him perfectly.

“Damn, this must have been planned!”

Walking in the corridor, Layfon couldn’t help but curse out loud. His height and weight were standard for a male of his age, but his right arm was slightly longer than his left. His General Studies uniform had been fixed to cater for that difference, but how could the Military Arts uniform given to him on a spur of the moment decision be such a perfect fit?

Meaning – the truth can’t be changed.

“Why…… How did they find out?”

Anxiety filled him. He came here to major in General Studies, to seek a world that had nothing to do with Military Arts, but on the first day of his arrival, he had once again stepped into that world he wanted to leave behind.

“Ah Ah! Why didn’t I refuse him? I’m such a coward…… a coward!” Layfon shouted.

Only the opening ceremony was on today, so nobody was in the corridor. Without considering, he shouted again, “How should I have put it? That Student President’s too scary! What kind of gaze was that? It really terrifies me. How could I have resisted that type of person?”

Having let it all out, Layfon arrived at his classroom. Ah, meaning his classroom would be different now. But the Student President didn’t mention that at all? What should he do? Layfon opened the door.

The door opened and the scene inside the room entered Layfon’s sight.

“Ah!”

That sound came through.

There were still students in the classroom.

“Look, look. He really is in Military Arts. Yeah~~ It’s my win. I’m lucky --!”

One of the girls jumped up in excitement. Chestnut coloured hair, tied into two tails on each side of her head shook with her movement.

Only three girls were in the room.

Their curious gazes were glued closely to Layfon without reserve. Layfon halted his steps.

“Why! Wasn’t he wearing a General Studies uniform? That was deceptive,” said a red-haired girl. She wore the same uniform as Layfon’s. And like Layfon, the empty harness swayed around her waist.

“You don’t have a General Studies uniform. Hey, just what is that about?” she questioned him as if she was bringing him to account.

“Uh, something happened……”

“So? Do you mean I don’t get that uniform coz I’m not cute? Is that it?”

Even if you ask me that, I can’t do anything about it. As for the girl, she was more handsome than cute. Compared to the General Studies uniform designed for cuteness, Layfon thought the sharp edges of the Military Arts uniform suited her better.

But the girl was dissatisfied.

“Wait a moment, Gelni, calm down. You’re causing trouble for Mi-chan,” the girl with two tails concluded. The red-haired girl paused as if she had thought of something, then she moved aside for the other girl.

“That’s right. Hurry up, Meishen.”

With one hand on the back of the third girl, the red-haired girl moved her to stand in front of Layfon.

[[image:CSR vol01 043.jpg|thumb]]
The third girl had long hair streaming past her shoulders. She looked shy and gentle. Her face facing the ground, she seemed afraid. Her eyebrows curved as if she was about to cry. Her face was faintly red.

“Uh, thank…… thank you very much.” Just saying that seemed to take all of her energy. The black-haired girl hid behind the red-haired girl, her face reddened.

“Sorry, she’s always been this shy. Even so, she still wants to thank you for saving her at the opening ceremony, right?” said the girl with two tails.

The black-haired girl buried her face into the back of the red-haired girl.

Layfon had no recollection of that ever happening. He only recalled pushing away those people about to get caught in the fight. He might have saved her during that time.

The red-haired girl sighed. “This child…… yes, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Naruki Gelni in the Military Arts.”

“I’m Mifi Rotten. The one playing hide-and-seek is Meishen Trinden. We’re both in General Studies. Us three came from the Transit City Joeldem. Do you know of it?”

“Yes, it’s the center where roaming buses gather. I passed through on the way here. I’m Layfon Alseif, from the Lance Shelled City, Grendan.”

“Oh, that was where Military Arts was born. No wonder you’re so strong.”

“No, that’s not it……” Layfon replied vaguely. Just when he thought of how to explain it……

“Ah, don’t just stand there and talk! I’m hungry. Let’s find something good to eat.”

“Again? Do you have to make a map of this area too?”

“Of course! Maps for food, fashion, territory…… so long as it can be drawn, I’ll do it. Since I’ll be here for six years, I don’t want to lose out by not having a map. Ah! It’s my hobby to gather intelligence. If you want to know something, just ask me. Even if I don’t know, I’ll investigate it and find out.”

“Yeah, I’m hungry…… besides, I’ve something to ask you, like the thing you’re holding.”

With a pair of sharp eyes, Naruki looked at the General Studies uniform that Layfon was holding.

He didn’t even get a chance to speak. They decided it for him then.

“Uh, well…… look. This is troubling for Meishen. And you said she’s shy.”

“…… I’m ok with it,” Meishen said from behind Naruki’s back.

“Ok. That’s decided.”

And that was decided.

<center>◇</center>

The location was then changed to a coffee shop close by. The coffee shop was made of red bricks and designed not to stand out too much. Since it was already past lunch time, the shop was nearly empty. The four of them somehow managed to catch up to lunch time special. While eating, Layfon explained why he was transferred to the Military Arts – he didn’t mention that he was forced to transfer.

They were eating dessert.

Only Layfon wasn’t eating, instead drinking juice.

“Oh, I was worried that Academy City only had healthy food for students. It’s great that my worry was unfounded,” Mifi said with satisfaction, her mouth filled with cake.

“This really is worth drawing a map for.”

“And I was wondering what a city operated by students was like. Who’d have thought it would be quite organized,” Naruki said with admiration.

In reality, many shops lined the roads heading from the dormitories to the school, but because it was an Academy City, most of the shops were closed during class hours. Once classes finished, the shops were full of people. These shops were managed by senior General Studies students who studied Commerce or Management. Other students came here to work as employees.

The food was made by seniors in Gastronomy.

“There’s a Police Department and a Court here too. I’ll try applying to the Police.”

“Gelni’s dream is to be a policewoman.”

“Yes.”

“As for me, the newspaper. Since it’s related to publishing, I’ll try to find somewhere that publishes news. What about Mei-chan?”

“……. Somewhere that makes dessert.”

“Then you’ll have to find somewhere with delicious food. Uh, eating while you walk…… watch out so you don’t get fat.”

“You're pretty red right now, aren't you?”

“Um, what do you mean? Gelni’s all sweaty from exercising. You smell~~”

“He, that’s the smell of youth.”

“Wa, I don’t get you.”

The conversation expanded, and Layfon watched it all with a distant feeling. Those three were from the same city. From their conversation, it seemed they already knew each other before coming here. Shut outside the intimate conversation, Layfon sipped his juice.

Mifi suddenly directed a question at him. “That’s right. Where’ll you be working, Layton?”

“…… Layton?”

Startled at the unexpected name change, Layfon opened his lips with juice still inside his mouth. He almost spilled it all.

“Yeah, Layton. That’s easier to say, isn’t it?” Mifi said cheerfully.

“Gelni, Mei-chan, Layton, and I’m Mi-chan. Is that ok?”

“You didn’t give the names a good thought. Coming back to this, my nickname’s the same.”

“It’s boring to think up a nickname for myself. Besides, if I say “Just call me Mimi~”, doesn’t that sound revolting?”

“Revolting. At least I wouldn’t want to be friend with that person.”

“Exactly. Then that’s ok. So Layton is called Layton now!”

“That can’t be helped. Then we’re counting on you from now on, Layton.”

“Yeah, Layton, Layton~”

“…… Layton.”

Even Meishen was calling him by that name. For some reason, Layfon felt like he had come from a really far away place. Where was this place? Just in which dimension was he lost in?

Till now, none of his female friends had ever called him like that. Even his closest friend Leerin would only call him by his first name. For his nickname, she just called him “Lay.”

Layton…… Layfon was dumbfounded.

“So, where will you be working at, Layton?”

He could only answer the question, though he knew it wasn’t possible to resolve the name issue.

At this moment, no words came to him.

Speaking of which, somebody just said Layfon’s scholarship had been upgraded, so it didn’t matter if he didn’t go and work.

“Don’t tell me it’s all right if you don’t work?”

“No, I’ve still got to work,” Layfon shook his head. “I’ll be working in the mechanical department.”

All three girls burst out with “wa” and frowned.

“Why such a hard working job?”

“I heard you need lots of strength for Military Arts. This kind of lifestyle will damage your body. Are you sure about this?”

“…… Won’t that be very tiring?”

All three girls expressed their worries. Layfon could only smile bitterly.

Even he knew it’d be hard work. But it was dangerous to rely fully on the Student President. If something happened and he had to oppose the Student President, his scholarship might be cancelled. It’d be the worst case scenario to be left without money, unable to continue his studies.

“Yeah, but that can’t be helped. I’m an orphan. I don’t have anything else besides the scholarship.”

He thought the way he put it was natural and inconspicuous.

But the word “orphan” caused the three girls to widen their eyes. Embarrassed, their uneasy gazes then darted around.

“Ah~~ I see. Sorry. Do your best.”

“Yeah, if it’s anything I can do, I’ll help out.”

“…… Me too.”

“It’s ok. Don’t think about it……”

Their attitude made him feel troubled.

“I don’t find that particularly hard. I feel troubled when I'm pitied.”

Even so, Mifi and Meishen exchanged a glance, their faces full of anxiety. From his previous experiences, Layfon knew it wasn’t possible to make them understand it right away, so he wasn’t bothered by their reaction.

“Ok, I get it. I won’t worry about it,” Naruki nodded immediately. Her quick response was a surprise to him.

“Uh? What? Did you say you wouldn't think too much about it?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

It was clear that Naruki wasn’t just talking about it. She meant it. Layfon nodded hesitantly, then he couldn’t hold it back anymore and laughed.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just that you act like a big sister.”

“What did you say?”

Naruki frowned, but Mifi agreed.

“Ah, I understand. I understand. Gelni’s got that feel about her. She’s cool.”

“…… And she’s popular with lots of girls.”

“Yep, she always receives lots of presents and love letters.”

“Well, I’m troubled by that. I’ve never known what to do with them.”

Although she said so seriously, Layfon laughed again.

(The atmosphere feels good.) Layfon thought as he laughed. Although what he experienced at the opening ceremony was a setback for him, from his conversation with the girls, it felt as if he was now back on track.

“Uh…… excuse me.”

A voice broke through the laughter.

As their eyes found the owner of the voice, everyone couldn’t help but held their breath.

[[image:CSR vol01 053.jpg|thumb]]
Standing beside the table was a girl. The silvery hair hanging down to her waist shone as if to reflect the light of the coffee shop. She had snowy white skin and a heart shape-like lower jaw. A peek just inside her collar was a delicately small neck and a kind of a dangerous charm. Long eyebrows trembled above slightly lowered gaze of those silver eyes.

A girl who was as beautiful and delicate as a doll.

No one noticed she was wearing the uniform of Military Arts.

The first to finally notice was Naruki.

“Aren’t you a grade older than us? Do you want something?” Naruki said.

Layfon realized the colour of the threads on her harness was different from his own. From the harness hung a long thin rod like thing.

“Are you Layfon Alseif?”

Silvery eyes caught Layfon’s image.

“Yes.”

“I’ve something to tell you. Could you come with me?”

“….. Okay.”

Layfon stood up naturally, compelled by that voice to obey.

The girl turned her back to leave the coffee shop. Layfon would have followed behind just like that, but he returned to the seat. He took his bag and from his wallet, left some change on the table for his juice.

“Sorry, I gotta go.”

“Sure. Then go,” Naruki said on behalf of her two still silent companions.

“Yeah. But, just what……”

Wordlessly, Layfon rushed after the silvery girl.

The bell tied to the coffee shop door swung out crisp notes as Layfon passed. Thinking back on how confused Layfon appeared to be, Naruki smiled bitterly.

“Wh…… What just happened?” Mifi muttered.

“Of course he’s been targeted after that elegant performance at the opening ceremony.”

Mifi didn’t understand what Naruki’s just said. She looked at her friend with questions on her face.

“Isn’t there a different badge on that senpai’s chest pocket?”

“Yeah, really?” Mifi frowned.

“…… It’s a silvery round thing?”

“Yes.”

Meishen did see it.

“…… There’s the number 17 on it.”

“A badge that only people belonging to a platoon would have.”

“A platoon…… what is that?”

“To put it simply, they’re the candidates to the officials in the Military Arts course. It carries the additional meaning of a fighter with high level of skill.”

“Um…… yes?”

Naruki explained. “They’re the core teams in the Military Arts competition. Underneath the General headquarter are the platoons….. They’re called commanding teams. Beneath them are the larger teams, and those take charge of people who don’t belong to any teams, meaning, normal Military Arts students like me……”

“Wow, if that’s the case, then it’s like climbing all the way up to the top,” Mifi said, clapping her hands.

“But it’s not that easy in there.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t I mention it? That badge holds the meaning of a high level fighter. Students belonging to a platoon must excel in certain area, from commanding ability to the control of psychokinesis. Mostly, they specialize in certain weapon. Besides the individual skills that are judged, the strength of how well an entire team does is also assessed. Whether a person can work in a team is also evaluated. As such, there’s competition going on between teams for the ranking list. In other words, it’s a fight in between students at the academy. During those fights, if a team doesn’t perform well, the worst situation is it’d be disbanded. Official candidates turning back to normal students. Fighters normally have strong self-esteem. If one returns to being a normal student, other people would say he’s fallen from the clouds to the bottom of a valley…… no one can take that kind of a setback. His life in the Academy would become too painful to bear.”

Naruki glanced at the door that Layfon had just left through. No new customers had entered. The bell remained solemn.

“…… Layton said he’s going to clean in the mechanical department,” Meishen said.

“Ah, that will be tiring for him!” Mifi said. “Will he be all right?”

“Yeah, it should be quite smooth for him.” Naruki could only give such an answer. She washed down the last piece of cake with red tea.

<center>◇</center>

What Naruki said to the other two at the coffee shop also came to Layfon’s ears, but from the terrifying girl with golden hair.

The beautiful, silver-haired girl took Layfon deep inside the first year dormitories, to was a certain building with an old and worn out feel about it.

Layfon was taken to one of the rooms and was greeted by a terrifying girl with golden hair.

“I’m Nina Antalk, the captain of the seventeenth platoon,” the girl said firmly.

The room Layfon was in had been split into two by a huge wall, so the space was only twice as large as a normal classroom. On the wall were hung many different types of weapons.

Including Layfon, there were five people in the room.

The first person was the girl Nina Antalk, standing right before Layfon. Next was the girl who took Layfon here. The beautiful silver-haired girl had moved immediately to a corner after having entered the room.

The rest were two male students. The taller boy lay lazily in a corner. The other wore a dark green working suit that was stained with engine oil and some other type of machine related liquid.

Nina gave the confused Layfon an explanation about the platoon.

Layfon half listened, with his mind somewhere else.

“Do you understand?”

“Ah, yes.”

Turning his gaze back to Nina, Layfon gave her a quick answer without really meaning anything he had just said.

“Then why was I called here?”

Layfon understood everyone here was an official candidate.

But, that was all he knew.

Nina didn’t explain why Layfon was here.

Half of Nina’s eyebrow trembled as if it had the cramps.

“I understand from your explanation that everyone here is an elite. But, if that’s the case…… because of that, I don’t get why I, as a first year student, was called here,” Layfon said, trying to mediate the atmosphere. Nina closed her open mouth, her shoulders moved as if she was breathing deeply, then she opened her mouth again to speak.

But before that—

“Hehahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

The tall male student burst out laughing from his position.

“Sharnid-senpai!” Nina said loudly, her shoulders trembling in anger.

“Gahaha! Hahohoho…… AhAh, my stomach hurts! Nina, it’s your fault. All because you beat around the bush and gave the new student there an opportunity to pretend he was a fool.”

“Um!”

Nina clamped hard on her teeth.

“Heh!” Sharnid jumped up, watching Layfon in a flippant manner.

“I’m Sharnid Elipton, a fourth year. I’m a sniper.”

“Ah, nice to meet you.”

“Well, let me explain clearly in place of our captain. Layfon Alseif, we asked you to come because we need the right number.”

“Huh?”

“Hey, hey, hey. Stop pretending. Everybody saw your performance at the opening ceremony. The excuse of you being a new student and not having enough skill won’t work. You’ve already proven your skill. We thought you were good, so we want you in our team.”

Sharnid gave Nina a meaningful glance.

Nina cleared her throat and stood before Layfon again.

“Layfon Alseif. I order you to become a member of team seventeen. No refusal will be accepted. The Student President has already given permission and formally proposed for your application. Either way, for those who are in the Military Arts, they’re not allowed such feeble action as refusing to enter a platoon.”

What a resolute speech. Nina’s unyielding attitude meant Layfon had no way to run.

“We’ll now conduct a test to see which position you’re best suited for in the platoon.”

Nina took out the two singlesticks from her weapon harness. She pointed at Layfon with the singlestick held tightly in her right hand.

“Choose whatever weapon you like!”

Perturbed by the seriousness in Nina’s eyes, Layfon turned to examine the weapons on the wall.

The price of free school fees….. what an A grade scholarship.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume1_Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume3 Chapter4

2009-11-08T22:14:11Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 4: The darkness of gushing water */

===Chapter 4: The darkness of gushing water===

Even if he wanted to forget what had happened on that day, he couldn’t. To Layfon, it was a branching point of his fate, and to Leerin, it was the usual end of a day. The curtain of the stage fell on that day.

It was a fine day, as if nothing unfortunate would happen during it. The tiles of the roof used for rainy days were spread out in the audience seats at the battle arena, bouncing back the glare of the sun. The shadow of Queen Alsheyra could be seen through the thin curtain on the stage, and before her stood eleven Heaven’s Blade successors.

The twelfth stood in the middle of the arena.

“Wolfstein!”

Loud cheering rose from the audience. The young Heaven’s Blade successor waited in the arena, his Heaven’s Blade already restored as he regulated his breathing with eyes closed.

Leerin watched with the kids from the orphanage in the audience stand. The young girls put their hands together in anxiety, as if they were praying. The young boys stirred in their seats, their hands balled into fists. They were all calling “Nii-san” (brother). Leerin confirmed the younger kids were all right, then turned her attention to Layfon.

Today’s match was the deciding match as to whom the title of ‘Heaven’s Blade successor’ would be bestowed upon.

There were only twelve Heaven’s Blade successors. The only time when a vacancy appeared was when a Heaven’s Blade successor died and a match was conducted to decide on the next Heaven’s Blade successor. The other way to become one of the prestigious twelve was when the Military Artist who topped the year’s fight record was appointed for a match with a Heaven’s Blade successor of his choice, and won in that match.

The match for today fell into the latter category.

The challenger hadn’t yet shown himself.

In a fight for a Heaven’s Blade, the current Heaven’s Blade successor was usually the one to appear first in the arena.

Leerin couldn’t see Layfon’s face as he was facing her with his back, but she could see him waiting with eyes closed on the screen. That was enough to put a stir in Leerin’s heart.

She knew he was worried in the recent days. He was always smiling in front of everyone, but she caught the shadows flitting past his face. She knew he was worried, but she didn’t ask him about it.

He was practicing as hard as usual and he was obviously avoiding being alone with her.

She had finally found a chance to be alone with him yesterday night.

She couldn’t sleep, so she got up and went to the kitchen for some water, and as she passed through the corridor, she saw him out in the yard. She changed her route and headed for him.

“Layfon.”

“You’re still awake.”

Layfon wasn’t surprised at all. He must have noticed her when she entered the corridor.

“Yeah, I’m not sure why. Layfon too?”

“A little.”

“Could you be worried about tomorrow’s match?”

“That’s part of the reason. My opponent was trained by the Luckens, a Heaven’s Blade successor. He’ll be harder to beat than other opponents.”

His voice was dry and irritated. She knew in the blink of an eye that that wasn’t the reason behind his anxiety.

“But you won’t lose.”

“Of course not.”

As expected.

Although he was indecisive about a lot of other things, he was full of confidence and arrogance when it came to Military Arts. Because of this reason, he had very few friends outside the orphanage. This end result was because of his being a Military Artist, a Heaven’s Blade successor when he was outside the orphanage – Layfon Wolfstein Alseif.

Nobody knew the side of him when he was in the orphanage with his younger siblings. He picked up babies and paced around to keep them from crying. He stayed up all night to look after Leerin who had a high fever. He stopped going to school in order to earn money. So to comfort the angry Leerin, he flattered her like a dog to make her happy. Whether she was sad or happy, he was always by her side.

No one. No one understood Layfon.

But Leerin knew. She knew very well when it came to things associated with Layfon.

So.

“It’ll end quickly,” Layfon smiled……

“Tomorrow’s match will be boring.”

No one but Leerin would have noticed his heartbreaking back as he strode away.

“The challenger, Gahard Baren!”

As the announcer shouted out the name, the Layfon on the screen opened his eyes.

It was an extremely icy expression, an expression of a Heaven’s Blade successor that would never appear in the orphanage.

The challenger appeared on the screen. He was in the same Military Arts school as the Luckens. The restored Dites that had changed into armors enveloped his arms and feet.

The Luckens family was a family of Military Artists, excellent in the Arts of hand to hand combat. Gahard had been trained by that family. The rumor that there might be two Heaven’s Blade successors from the Luckens school was a hot topic before the match.

Strong and firm muscles showed on Gahard’s sleeveless arms. The difference between Gahard’s and Layfon’s body builds was the difference between that of an adult and a child.

“Can Nii-san win?”

“Don’t worry,” Leerin patted a younger girl’s cheek. “Layfon is invincible.”

She didn’t care whether he could win or not. What she worried about was his expression she saw yesterday night.

(Layfon. What are you thinking?)

More like, what was he planning?

But she never guessed his plan.

She thought she knew everything about him, but she still didn’t know what he had in mind. She knew he was obviously troubled and it was something he had to make a decision on.

Leerin was angry and uneasy about herself for not understanding Layfon.

“Begin!” the announcer called.

Gahard readied his fight stance.

Layfon raised his sword.

The match ended in the next second.

Intense light enclosed the arena. The air vibrated and the ground echoed that vibration. The entire arena shook, and Leerin hugged the younger brothers and sisters as they gathered close. The keening of the arena ran through her head. Fear ate into her heart.

Silence came soon enough.

Feeling the pressuring silence in the air, Leerin lifted her head. She watched the screen. It showed nothing but rolling dust and sand.

Layfon stood in the middle of the arena – in the middle of a huge crater. He swung down his blade naturally, the end of his finishing move.

Gahard had flown back to a corner of the arena along with sand and debris.

“Oh…… Ah……” His chilly screams echoed in the silence of the arena. He coughed up blood. His left hand trembled.

Pointing at his right hand.

“Ahah…… Ahhhhhhhhh……..”

Moaning with despair as he bled.

Gahard’s right hand was gone. More like his entire right arm was gone. Blood pooled around him.

“Ah, Ahhhhhhhhh…… Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh……..”

The screen cleared.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

The screen showed the side of Layfon’s face. Within that icy expression, his muscle twitched.

Gahard had exposed Layfon the next day to the entire population of Grendan. The match became the best proof of Gahard’s accusation.

She remembered it all. When it came to anything with Layfon, she would recall that day. In that match, Layfon Wolfstein Alseif was turned back to Layfon Alseif.

The day when she didn’t understand Layfon.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t wanted to ask why things turned out like that. But she couldn’t blame anyone. Not Layfon, not father.

She couldn’t consider things like “Just whose fault is it?”

If she didn’t look for the reason behind this incident, but rather for the person involved in it, she might have traced the cause back to the debris scattered on her clothes.

That case must be something she couldn’t easily face.

The time of peace continued. No filth monsters had yet attacked Grendan. Nothing had changed much around Leerin. Savaris and Lintence’s worry hadn’t affected her. She continued to enjoy her normal school life with Synola. These were Leerin’s current feelings.

Protect. That was what Savaris had said.

To protect her from what……? Although she wasn’t comfortable with his answer, she knew that it must have nothing to do with her. Heaven’s Blade successors would never protect a normal resident like Leerin this closely.

But…… It must have something to do with the city.

She pondered this question, but she didn’t have a clue.

Noise that didn’t match the scenery of dusk drifted to her. Leerin frowned.

The noise came from the high metal fence that was fencing in a flat-topped building. It was a familiar noise of something heavy. As the sound of sparks scattering off contacted blades drifted into Leerin’s ears, her stiff expression softened.

She opened the door to the building and the sound pressed towards her.

Inside the building, it looked much the same as other Dojos in Grendan. Males and females wearing protective gears practiced with training swords. As a normal person, Leerin couldn’t see the unseen force that sometimes hit her. The wind inside the Dojo blew her hair around.

She headed deeper into the Dojo to the audience stage.

The person sitting in an audience seat nodded at her. An aging male whose short hair was streaked with white. Leerin nodded back and opened another door to head deeper into the Dojo.

“Then…… Next.”

The waiting room was narrow, but it was enough space to live. Leerin walked into the kitchen, checked the food in the freezer and thought of what to buy. She picked up a shopping bag and the key to the medicine box, then left through the backdoor.

She bought what she needed in the shops nearby and returned to the kitchen to make dinner.

The noise in the Dojo stopped when the smell of food dispersed from the wok. As she set up the eating utensils, the people from the Dojo entered the kitchen in a racket.

“Good work, father.”

“Aye,” the person from the audience seat responded simply and sat down at the table.

Deruk Psyharden. Leerin’s adopted father.

“There seems to be more apprentices.”

“Yeah.”

“Looks good. Oh yes, did a letter come from the administration?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Then let’s look at it later.”

The sound of moving eating utensils spread out in the kitchen. Deruk was usually quiet, but his silence felt strange today.

His apprentices were being noisy as usual, sitting around the table as if it was a war.

Father had resigned as the Head of the orphanage. He resigned and gave the position to someone else so that the orphanage, the place from where Layfon hailed, could avoid public attention. The people living near the orphanage knew Deruk’s personality, so they didn’t have much of a response to Layfon’s event, and they came to the Dojo as usual, but it wasn’t the same with others. The current Head of the orphanage also hailed from the same orphanage. In reality, the real Head was still Deruk, but he didn’t show himself in the orphanage and had moved out to live in the Dojo.

Leerin was given permission to live in the Dojo once a week to look after him.

“…… Are you not going over there?”

“Hm?”

“There shouldn’t be a problem even if you show up in the orphanage.”

“…… I can’t.”

“People over there should have calmed down and thought through it all by now.”

“Perhaps……. However, this is a problem of responsibility. I’m Layfon’s comrade. To other people, I shouldn’t appear in that place anymore.”

“If you’ve decided, then there’s nothing more I can say.”

“That’s the way things are.”

The conversation ceased. They didn’t speak till the end of dinner.

“….. Did anything strange happen recently?” Deruk asked suddenly when she was washing the dishes.

“Huh?” Leerin’s hands stopped their motion and she turned around.

“What do you mean by strange?”

“Do you feel something awkward recently?”

“Awkward? Is something wrong?”

“Hm, it’s difficult to explain. It could be caused by a human… or could be not……”

“What……”

She wanted to laugh, but she couldn’t.

(Could it be……)

Was this what Savaris meant when he said she was targeted?

But she wasn’t sure whether this was linked to Layfon.

“I have an impression of it. It feels like something totally different. How should I put it…. Well…..” he stood up, turned around to enter his room and came back out holding something.

“Father,” she looked at him, shocked.

He was holding a Dite.

“Leerin, stay behind me.”

“What?”

“There’s a murderous intent in the air….. It’s here.”

He pulled her behind him and restored his Dite, watching one of the walls in the room.

The suffocating feeling only stayed for one moment…..

The next moment, the wall had been destroyed.

“Ha!”

Kei shot out from Deruk’s sword, bounding off the debris.

The cold night wind blew in. Leerin saw a huge hole in the wall.

“Who……?”

Water gushed out from the water pipe.

A figure appeared. Through the hole and the gaps in between the high fence, Leerin saw someone standing on the road outside the Dojo. That person drew close to them in a relaxed manner.

“…….”

Deruk resumed his fight stance.

Light in the room illuminated that figure.

“…… Huh?”

“What……?

Both Leerin and Deruk were dumbstruck.

This person didn’t have a right arm.

They had seen him before and they would never forget him.

In Layfon’s last match.

The one who had turned Layfon from a hero into a criminal.

“Why……”

That person appeared before her….. and in this situation.

He hated, but he had no way of avenging himself.

And he must still hate a certain person…….

“Gahard Baren,” Deruk murmured.

<center>◇</center>

A golden goat.

Layfon restored his Dite.

“Just what…… is this thing?”

It was a strange feeling. Numerous horns extended from its head to legs like the many branches of a tree, and the golden light emitting from it overwhelmed the darkness around it. It was about as tall as Layfon. This wasn’t some livestock.

Tension rushed up inside Layfon, gushing out, showing no sign of stopping. This was a warning Layfon knew from long-term battle experience.

He readied his fight stance and cautiously kept his distance from it.

The golden goat watched Layfon.

(It doesn’t look like a filth monster, but……)

He didn’t feel the hunger from it that a filth monster would have standing before a human. Was it temporarily full because it had already eaten from this city…… but that wasn’t the kind of feeling Layfon had.

The golden goat didn’t seem to want to fight. Still, Layfon was concerned about its eyes. Those green eyes continued to watch him. No murderous intent, but rather curiosity.

Layfon’s image reflected in clear green pupils that were as calm as the surface of a lake.

He didn’t like that feeling.

Those pupils weren’t those of a normal beast. It was like a human in the body of a beast… That made him uncomfortable. He tightly held his sword.

“…… You look different.”

A sudden low voice entered Layfon’s ears. The voice shook the darkness they were in. Layfon looked around for the source of it. But there was nothing worth his attention around him.

“Are you looking for the people in this territory? Then let me tell you.”

“…… Are you speaking to me?” Layfon looked at the goat, but its mouth remained closed.

The voice spoke again. “My body is rotten. It’s useless. Driven by mad hatred, my body’s turned into flame. I seek a new master. You who I hope for, obey my wish. Possess my soul and see my value. I’ll turn the Dust of Ignasis into a sword, and burn your enemies into ashes.”

“Were you the one who spoke? Who are you?”

Unknown terror filled Layfon. Was this a trap? Could there be a psychokinesist controlling it? But he didn’t sense any psychokinesist. If there was one around, he couldn’t have escaped Felli’s attention.

So this beast was the only thing here……?

(I should know what this is if I capture it.)

He stepped forward.

(……Eh?)

He did step forward, but how come the distance between him and the goat had not shortened? Did the goat move? He confirmed again and the distance between them remained unchanged.

“Why……” He looked down at his feet.

(….. How?)

His feet hadn’t moved. His entire body was frozen stiff.

The goat watched him, its green pupils reflecting Layfon’s image.

(I can’t move…… I can’t move? Me?)

His Kei flow felt regular, running normally through his body and his sword. He didn’t have the exhaustion he had had while fighting the filth monster a few days ago. He was in a good condition to fight again. But why couldn’t he move?

(Could I…. Could I….. !?)

Fear dominated him. He felt his own reflection in the goat’s eyes shaking. Impossible. He couldn’t have seen that. This was nighttime. Even if its pupils reflected his image, even if his vision was strengthened through Kei, he couldn’t have seen it.

But he felt he really did see it.

Somehow, the pressure from the goat had overwhelmed him.

(It…. It’s swallowed me?)

Could it be the goat’s existence that had swallowed him? If not, then why couldn’t he move?

“….. I must convey this in details,” the goat said.

Layfon didn’t see its mouth move, as if the voice came from heaven. This voice felt overwhelming.

“Who….. are you?” he managed. It was difficult to speak. He increased his Kei, hoping that could break him out of whatever that was interfering with his body. Kei spilled out onto the ground, and the small stones around him exploded.

“Stop. You’re fighting yourself.”

His consciousness clouded, but he didn’t give up. He was beginning to forget why he had to defeat the goat, but Kei still filled his body, spilling out from him. He was resisting by instinct. His Kei flowed out for that simple goal.

(Move….. Move. Move…..)

He repeated that word in his brain.

What should he do if he couldn’t move? No. Anything’s fine. As long he can move… It didn’t matter what happened next.

But…..

(Dangerous. This guy is extremely dangerous.)

[[Image:CSR vol03 169.jpg|thumb]]

That was his feeling.

It was all right if this danger was only before him, but if Nina and the others encountered it, who knew what would happen? For Layfon to become like this, Nina and the others had no way of countering this goat.

(I must not let it get past me.)

He must fight back. If he avoided the fight, what he would recall afterwards would be his failure, a failure that he didn’t even attempt to overcome. He must not collapse inside himself.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” he roared.

His internal Kei changed…. External type burst Kei burst out of his body. With the sound of the ground tearing behind him, Layfon’s feet finally moved.

(Here!)

He swung as the point of the sword traced a line on the ground. The Kei burst forth to cut through the night sky. Explosions.

“Beautiful……”

The voice melted into the air.

It didn’t hit back. The goat had vanished. Layfon couldn’t sense it anymore.

“Layfon…… Fon Fon!”

Felli’s flake arrived beside him.

“Felli….. Where is that thing?”

A relieved sigh came through the flake. Just how long had he been like this, fixed on the spot? His concentration was so intense that he didn’t hear Felli’s voice.

“I don’t know. The response’s disappeared.”

Confusion filled Felli’s voice.

“It’s run away? No……”

It had left.

He had no idea know why it left. It wasn’t hostile, meaning it didn’t plan to fight from the beginning.

“….. How long have I been like this for?”

“About a minute. The captain and the others are about to arrive.”

“One minute? Is that all?”

It felt like much longer. He felt debilitated for having released too much Kei. His body felt heavy, and his fingers shook.

“Just what was it……?”

He could still feel the terror. His body shook despite his trying to suppress it.

“Damn.”

The sword point quavered.

Footsteps drifted to him. No matter what, he must stop his shaking before Nina and the others arrived.

They continued their investigation the next day.
Felli and the psychokinesist of the 5th platoon had investigated the city and found no traces of the goat from yesterday night. But, they did find something else.

“Who would have thought, it’s like this….. Ah,” Nina sighed.

Layfon and Nina faced a huge agricultural field. In a distant, the green vegetables seemed to be waiting for harvest, but as Layfon and the others drew close, they smelled the rot in the air.

Before them were tea coloured small hills covered in moisture.

“Seems to be this one,” Layfon said.

The hills were about the size of a house. The smallest one was the same size as Layfon’s room. They dotted the field in no specific pattern. The hills were piled up in a rough manner. Digging out a pit then refilling it. That was the feeling Layfon got.

Still, a certain level of difficulty and endurance must have been exhibited in how the remaining pieces of the city were buried like this.

“…… This is painful,” Nina said. Even Sharnid had nothing flippant to voice, watching silently these small hills as Layfon did.

Just how long did it take to make so many graves? To search out for all the corpses, transport them, dig up the earth and at last bury them. A long time it must have been to finish that entire process in a city filled with the charnel smell of the dead.

“…… Hey, what’re you doing!” Nina shouted.

Looking around, Lafyon saw the 5th platoon members digging at one of the small hills with spades that they had found somewhere.

“We’re digging it out for our investigation,” Gorneo said stiffly.

“What? Is there a need?”

“…… This might not be a graveyard. And if it is, then who made these graves?”

“Well……”

“It couldn’t be the beast from yesterday night? That’s ridiculous. Can a beast do such thing?”

Shante laughed.

“Besides, we’re still not sure whether that goat thing is real or not. You were the ones who confirmed it, not us,” Shante said from her sitting position above Gorneo’s shoulders.

“You……”

Layfon wanted to stop Nina from rushing over to beat up the 5th platoon, but Sharnid had already pulled her back.

“Gorneo-san ah, is there a need to bring back a skull for a reward? We’ll investigate somewhere else.”

Gorneo glared at him.

“….. Do whatever you like.”

“Good…… Either way, Zuellni’ll arrive here at sunset. I pray dinner isn’t a dish with meat.”

Members of the 5th platoon frowned.

“Well then, let’s go,” Sharnid said, leading Layfon and the rest away.

Nina was harping on what just happened back then beside Sharnid.

It was good to have Sharnid senpai around. Layfon would never have been able to defuse that situation so casually. Neither could Nina or Felli. If Sharnid hadn’t been there, who knew what the quarrel might have turned out to be like?

“Fon Fon……”

“…… Senpai. That’s different from our promise,” Layfon said. At Felli’s voice, he had turned automatically to observe Nina and Sharnid’s reaction. He didn’t want people to know of this nickname of his.

“I didn’t hear it,” Felli said calmly. “More importantly, please crouch down a bit.”

“Ha?”

“Just do it,” she insisted. Layfon crouched down.

“Lower.”

He was practically bending down on the floor, just like the pose he held in the sports hall.

“What is it?”

“…… Your shoulders are a bit narrow.”

“Ha, I’m pretty average.”

“….. That can’t be helped.”

He didn’t have the time to think of anything else.

“Eh?”

Felli put her hands on his shoulders and added her weight to his shoulders and back. He felt something hard…… knees? Something white appeared in his vision.

“What…… What’re you doing?”

“This can’t be helped. I’m riding on your shoulders.”

“…… I don’t think there’s anything that can’t be helped about this.”

“Never mind. Let’s go.”

He stood up, thinking whether he had done something wrong to make her do this to him.

“Uh…… Is this what it’s like?” Felli sighed as if dissatisfied, but Layfon was increasing his pace to catch up with the other two.

“Fon Fon, please don’t shake.”

“That’s not possible. You aren’t a kid. It’s hard for me to keep my balance.”

“Wa! That hurts…. Please don’t pull at my hair.”

“Then walk with a stable gait.”

“The captain and Sharnid-senpai are a bit far from us now.”

“I can tell where they are.”

“Are you a kid? Really…… No matter. Just hold on tight.”

“I know.”

Swallow.

“Hm? What is it?”

“Ah, nope, nothing……”

“……. Your face is red.”

[[Image:CSR vol03 183.jpg|thumb]]

“Re, really?” he stammered.

(No… my miss……)

He could feel her thighs around his neck. Her skirt was right behind his head. It was made with a special material, but it was quite thin. The feeling of coldness seeping through his neck from Felli’s pantyhose increased his heartbeat. Anyway, he must stay calm and not touch anyplace embarrassing. He gripped her legs tightly.

“Ah…… Looks like they’ve decided to go to the ground.”

He realized Nina and Sharnid had disappeared into the buildings below.

“Then we’re heading that way?”

“Over there…… Wa.”

Felli pointing out the direction had destroyed his balance.

“Chuuuuu….”

“Fon Fon, don’t fall.”

“Even if you say so, I can’t help it. Besides, it’s already difficult to walk balanced. Why don’t you get down and walk on your own?”

“No, you’re wrong. There’s a very good reason behind this…..”

“It must be something shallow and twisted. Just leave it.”

“……”

He tried to maintain his balance and kept on moving without thinking of anything else.

She spoke after a pause. “…… I’m sorry about yesterday.”

“Eh?”

“For letting you face that strong an opponent yourself.”

“I don’t see it that way.”

“No, I’m sorry. I’m ashamed of not keeping to our promise. My determination is so weak.”

“…… But that can’t be helped.”

“…… Huh?”

“Didn’t you say so, that we’re this type of creature? I think so too. We’re humans, but we aren’t human. I’ve said this to the captain, that Military Artists aren’t human. We just possess human forms that can use Kei. It’s natural for us to use Kei, as natural as breathing. It’s painful if we don’t use it. …… That might be the reason for what happened to me in the opening ceremony. I’ve thought through this recently.”

From the time of his last match in Grendan to when he arrived at Zuellni, he had never once used his Kei. And he thought he had found a new way of living. The living of a normal human, unassociated with Military Arts.

“Was Fon Fon tolerating it too?”

“I thought back then that I had totally tossed it away. I thought I could spend all my time working for my living and studying to pass exams.”

“But, it didn’t work out.”

Yes, there were times when it gnawed at him. Times when the area around his waist where the Kei vein flowed experienced spurts of pain like small explosions, but those times didn’t show on his face. In everyone’s eyes in Grendan, Layfon was dangerous. If he used Kei, even Leerin and the kids in the orphanage would get hurt, so all he could do was tolerate the pain in a casual manner.

All he could do.

“….. If I really seek a life outside Military Arts, I must first overcome this problem.”

The pain of a Kei vein followed one’s entire life. It couldn’t be removed through surgery. A Military Artist survived with his heart, brain and Kei vein. Lacking either one of these organs would lead to one’s death.

Military Artists were stronger than humanity, but were also weaker than normal humans.

“…… What Gorneo said is right, but Felli’s right too.”

From the perspective of a student of Zuellni, Felli’s words were unquestionable. Layfon was dragged into this situation because Zuellni’s Military Artists were too weak. This was an insult to them. But to the Grendan-born Gorneo, Layfon following his old way of living was intolerable. Gorneo probably didn’t know what he should do about it.

Felli was probably thinking the same.

Riding on Layfon’s shoulders, she fell silent and waited for him to continue.

He spoke worriedly, “Her Majesty once said to me……”

“I must constantly remind myself that we, as Military Artists and psychokinesists aren’t normal. As humans, we must not allow ourselves to forget this.”

“Eh? What does that mean?”

“…… What I did was wrong.”

“I suppose. That definitely isn’t an excellent example of a Military Artist.”

“Then do you know why I don’t have the Heaven’s Blade successor title anymore?”

“Well……”

Layfon seemed to be thinking of something.

“…… Because Heaven’s Blade successors are special in Grendan, so they are models for the Military Artists in Grendan as a whole?”

“No.”

“Um?”

“Heaven’s Blade successors aren’t models. All they seek is to show their strength in battles with filth monsters. There aren’t many in the twelve who have a noble heart. Of course, it’s not like they’d commit a crime publicly.”

“Then why……”

“But since they’re Heaven’s Blade successors, representing the best Military Artists, they naturally become the examples for Grendan’s other Military Artists. The Layfon Alseif who broke this rule has no right to hold the Heaven’s Blade successor title. So they took away his blade, and exiled him for one year.”

“……. They’re already being soft on me for only exiling me.”

“But that isn’t the true reason, is it?” Felli asked.

“No. The problem lies with my actions during the match.”

So he relayed to her what he told Nina last night. About what he planned to do in the match with Gahard Baren, about what he did do and people’s reaction to it.

Felli remained silent. Only her breathing was conveyed to him.

“……. Frankly, if Her Majesty didn’t take back the Heaven’s Blade and exile me, a riot might have broken out in Grendan. If I hid myself afterwards and Her Majesty placed Heaven’s Blade successors around the orphanage as an excuse of surveillance, there might really be a riot.”

“……”

“This is what I mean to constantly remind yourself. Military Artists possess human forms, but they aren’t human. It isn’t as simple as having an extra organ. They exist to protect the city from outside threats, but like heavy weapons, they can be double-edged and end up injuring the city itself. Military Artists must be bound by good morals. Even though occasionally there’re bad Military Artists, they’re only an existence on the extreme end of the spectrum. They’ll usually be eliminated by other Military Artists.”

“Heaven’s Blade successors must be righteous. This principle doesn’t exist in the form of the city’s law. You must constantly remind yourself that such an extreme Military Artist is actually a Heaven’s Blade successor. For someone as strong as a Heaven’s Blade successor to do that, then other Military Artists would laugh at and ignore the mutual principle. What would happen if more than one Heaven’s Blade successors did what you did…… If I ignore this deed, then this city is finished. Not because of filth monsters, but because of people going on a rampage.”

Queen Alsheyra said this to him the next night.

“Today’s situation is a direct result of your naïve cunning. Do you understand? Your young age won’t get you forgiveness, but it is what led to today’s situation. Military Artists are weak. Without Military Artists, people have no way of escaping the threat of filth monsters, and without people, Military Artists cannot maintain a society. The truth that we can’t survive if we don’t live together is the same for both humans and Military Artists. We must sustain this relationship.”

“Since I still don’t feel I’ve done something wrong, there must be a problem in it,” Layfon said.

“…… And so Gorneo targets you?”

“Not only that. There must be a deeper reason. Gorneo Luckens, the younger brother of the Heaven’s Blade successor Savaris Luckens, who is also trained in the Luckens’ ways of hand to hand combat. I haven’t seen this, but he might have trained in the same period as Gahard Baren. Gahard might have taught him the skill, since his brother has already given up in teaching Military Arts.”

“So he’s avenging someone from the same school?”

“I think so.”

“…… Is that ok?”

“I don’t care if he targets me alone, but I’m worried about the safety of everyone in 17th platoon.”

If he attacked not just Layfon, but the entire 17th platoon……

He knew it was wrong. If that happened, he was prepared to fight the same way when he decided to kill Gahard Baren.

“That wasn’t what I meant,” Felli struck his head.

“Eh?”

“…… Really, why are you so stupid?”

“Eh? Eh?”

“Although as a moron, you’ll never understand it….. we’re about to reach the rendezvous point. Let me down.”

In the end, he didn’t understand her at all.

<center>◇</center>

The smell of rot filled the air.

“…… Ok, bury it,” Goreno ordered and his team members put the dirt back in place.

Beneath the small hills were corpses. Not a single corpse was whole. Pieces of bones, fragments of flesh. This wasn’t even a burial. But someone had buried it all.

“Just who did this….?”

It must have been a maddening job to collect all the human pieces and bury them all, but it didn’t look like whomever did this job had gone insane.

Day was about to end. Zuellni would arrive by sunset. Although they wanted to find out the reason before it arrived…… They would rest a little then investigate the city one more time. “…… Uh?” Gorneo realized his shoulders felt lighter.

“Where’s Shante?”

The second captain was nowhere in sight. She seemed to have jumped off him the moment when they started digging. He asked his team members and no one knew where she had gone off to.

“….. Could she have….?”

He had a bad feeling about this. After ordering the team to continue putting the hill back together, he ran out of the production area using Internal Kei.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume3 Chapter3

2009-11-08T21:11:22Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 3: The time of a destroyed city */

===Chapter 3: The time of a destroyed city===

The Student Council had only called Nina, but Layfon decided to accompany her to the Student President’s office. The thing was, if it had something to do with Nina, then this might be connected to the fate of the entire 17th platoon.

“What do you think happened?”

“What? Judging by how that phone call was made, this isn’t anything secretive.”

This was different from the last encounter with the filth monsters, in which Felli was the one who conveyed the secret information to Layfon.

“I suppose, but well…… oh, it’s already morning. It must be something urgent for them to call us over at this hour,” Nina mumbled as she lifted her head to look at the sky. Gloom shrouded the city. The streetlights were fighting as hard as they could to disperse the surrounding darkness.

Layfon followed Nina’s gaze. Purple rays gradually seeped through the horizon, spreading out to engulf the sky.

“Don’t overdo it.”

“Eh?”

“No matter what happens, I won’t let you face it alone,” she looked at him.

Morning light seeped through the gaps in between buildings, outlining Nina’s face. Layfon couldn’t make out her expression, and found that regrettable.

“…… Thanks,” he said. “But, senpai, don’t force yourself too much either.”

“What’re you saying? You’re my subordinate. It’s natural that I’m to protect you, isn’t it?”

Layfon chased after Nina, who had suddenly picked up her pace. They headed for the Student President’s office.

Inside the office were Karian and Felli. Despite the early hour, both of them were in uniforms.

(Did they sleep like that too?)

Imagining the two siblings sleeping immobile like corpses, Layfon found Felli glaring at him from the sofa.

“Excuse me. Did something happen?” Nina asked.

“That’s true but…… excuse me, would you wait a bit? Not everyone’s here yet,” the female helper in the room indicated for the two to sit down, then she spread out food and drinks on the table.

“It looks like this will take some time. You two haven’t had breakfast because of work, have you? Eat up. We’ve already eaten.”

“Ok,” Nina reached out for the bread. Layfon did the same.

He glanced at Felli. She was drinking tea.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just thinking about what’s happened……”

“You’ll know soon,” she continued to glare at him.

“Yeah, still……” he could only shut his mouth.

Someone knocked on the door as they finished breakfast.

“Military Arts commander…. And……”

Standing beside Vance was someone as robust as Vance himself. Layfon remembered him.

“Captain of the 5th platoon, Gorneo Luckens.”

“Thanks for coming.”

“What’s happening so early?”

None of the two carried with them the sleepiness of having just been roused out of bed. Karian nodded as if he was very satisfied with them.

“It’s very urgent.”

Under Karian’s indication, the two sat down on the sofa opposite Layfon. Gorneo’s sharp gaze swept over him in one split second.

“Please look at this,” Karian took out a photo from a drawer of his desk and placed it on the table.

“This is…… Did the drone take this?”

“Yes, about two hours ago.”

“Two hours? Then isn’t this urgent?”

“A bit.”

“Um,” Vance let it go and resumed examining the photo.

In the photo was a mountain, its outline sharply captured. It didn’t look that tall but the problem surfaced quickly. A huge shadow covered the upper right hand side of the photo. It didn’t look natural. In the middle of the table-like thing were numerous tower-like objects that were connected together, and beneath them was something that was similar to a ball cut in half.

Numerous multi-legs sustained this gargantuan thing.

“Can this be a city?”

“Yes.”

“A war?”

“Who knows.”

Under the tense atmosphere, Karian calmly took out another photo.

“This is the zoom-in photo of the city.”

“This is……” Nina swallowed. Layfon frowned at the tragic scene.

It was a city in ruins.

“So cruel……” Gorneo said softly.

The metal plates covering the first level of the city were either broken or had been peeled off. Only half of the multi-legs were left and some looked to be broken. The buildings in the city seemed to have sustained severe damage. A number of mechanical plates were conducting auto-repair on the second level. Vines and moss covered the exterior of the city. Judging from the progress of the auto-repair, it had been quite some time since the city was attacked.

“It seems the air purification system is working normally……”

“This city’s been attacked by filth monsters.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

The photo was taken at night, but there wasn’t any light in the city.

“……. Meaning there’re filth monsters around here?”

“We’ve checked the information in the vicinity of the city and didn’t find anything suspicious. We’ll continue the investigation. Compared to that, what I’m more concerned about is this,” Karian pointed at one of the photos.

“About this place, Vance, does it ring a bell?”

“…… Ring a bell…” Vance stopped.

“Wait……”

“I’m not sure since this photo was taken at night, but the things scattered on this mountain look familiar.”

“Could this be…… a selenium mine?” Nina lifted her head and saw Karian nodding at her.

“Yes, this is Zuellni’s one and only mine. It looks like Zuellni’s trying to resupply.”

“Then that city was also……”

“But why here?”

“According to my speculation, that city might have deviated from its territory while fleeing from filth monsters, so it failed to reach its own mine.”

“Even a city can go mad with hunger.”

“What a tragic reality,” Vance sighed deeply. Layfon couldn’t tell whether he was thinking of the same thing as Karian.

“Well then, Gorneo Luckens, Nina Antalk. Besides Vance, I called you two over for a reason.”

“Is it to investigate the city?”

Karian nodded at Vance. “Looking at the numbers sent back from the drone, there’re no filth monsters around the mine and the city, but that city was obviously attacked. We don’t entirely understand the biological condition of filth monsters, and we don’t know whether this city is a trap the filth monsters have set up to lure in more prey. Under these circumstances, we can’t wait and do nothing, so I’m requesting your teams to enter the city and investigate the situation. Obtain some real proof.”

“…… I’ve no objection with the mission, but I want an explanation on why these two teams were chosen.”

“Simple. Numbers. We don’t have newly improved protective suits for outside city work to fit two teams with full members. Of course, I also did consider the strength of the teams shown in the platoon matches, so I believe you should have no objection to my decision. What do you think?”

“We’ll complete the mission.”

“…… Roger.”

“I’m counting on you. Departure time is two hours from now. Gather your members in these two hours.”

“That’s quite rushed.”

“I wish to save some time, as there’s no way of stopping Zuellni from moving,” Karian said and saluted Nina and Gorneo.

“…… Well, so that’s how it turned out like this. Geez,” Sharnid said at the exit located by the city’s edge. He was the last to arrive and held the biggest complaint among the team. He jumped around, his unkempt hair showing his lack of sleep. “I was planning to sleep till noon.”

Nina watched him numbly. “You…… It’s not the weekend today. What’re you planning?”

“You can’t imagine the night life of a handsome guy.”

“Whatever. It’s better to live normally,” Nina said, cross and tired as she closely examined her protective suit.

“It really is light.” She wore the protective suit beneath the normal fighting clothes. It didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, as if she wasn’t really wearing an extra layer of clothes.

“Not bad. Ah, this is what I have to wear,” Sharnid looked at this own protective suit meaningfully.

“What is it?”

Sharnid watched Nina and the Felli who was sitting in the back seat of the bike, his eyes serious.

“……. Really sexy.”

“Hurry up and get changed, stupid.”

“Got it,” he took down the protective suit that was tossed onto his head, and dragged himself to the Change Room.
[[Image:CSR vol03 111.jpg|thumb]]

Layfon had watched the exchange of the two with a sour smile. The check-up on the bike was finished. What was left was Harley’s check-up on the Dites. Without meaning to….. his gaze fell down on Felli, who was bending down on the bike.

“What’s it?” she said.

“Um…… Did senpai discover that city?”

“…… Fon Fon,” she glared at him.

“Aaaa, sorry. Did Felli discover the city?” he collected himself, not certain why she hated to be called senpai.

“I found it by chance.”

“Of course, but……” What was surprising was that she used her psychokinesis power when she wasn’t in a match. Even if this were chance, her action would just prevent Karian from transferring her out of Military Arts.

“……” Feeling as if something had struck him, Layfon quickly turned his head away.

The 5th platoon was going through their preparations a little distance from the 17th platoon. Unlike Layfon’s team, none of the members from the 5th platoon voiced any complaints. They completed their preparation under the orders of Captain Gorneo.

(Again……)

The gaze came from the 5th platoon. The members of their team were discussing something with Gorneo standing in the middle of them. His back was against Layfon.

(Strange?)

So it wasn’t Gorneo’s gaze. He was busy talking with his team members. As a 5th year, he had the qualities that made him a captain. He could fully understand his members’ needs.

It was the girl sitting on the bike beside Gorneo who was looking at Layfon.

Shante Laite.

Judging from the color of her harness, she was also in her fifth year. She wouldn’t qualify as a teenager since she was twenty, but she was shorter than Felli, with a face that looked even more childish than Felli’s. Underneath her red hair, pupils stirring like a cat’s stared straight at Layfon.

(Eh? Eh?)

Layfon appeared flustered; having thought it was Gorneo who was staring at him.

Seeing how Layfon cringed at her hostile gaze, Shante looked away with satisfaction.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, nothing…..”

Felli followed Layfon’s gaze to the 5th platoon, and saw Shante grinding her teeth.

“…… How petty.”

“Hahaha……” Layfon laughed dryly and took the Dite that Harley was handing back to him.

“Is this about the last match?” Harley said.

“I suppose?”

“The 17th platoon is pretty popular outside the Military Arts course, so there are many people who don’t like this.”

“Ha……”

“Winning matches elegantly. Every member is a junior. The captain is a beauty. Their opponents are elites. Don’t you think that looks very interesting to the audience?” Harley analyzed.

“…… If we didn’t have to rush, I planned to give you your new Dite,” he continued.

“…… Did you guys come up with something yesterday?” Layfon ventured.

“Well…… something about a weapon specialized for combat against filth monsters,” Harley’s voice lowered. “The problem of the Dite not being durable enough remains. We don’t want this problem to persist, but we still hope to avoid a Dite breaking in the middle of a fight.”

“Yes.”

“What we can do now is make a Dite that is more suitable for the user, meaning, you. The price of a lighter Dite is to forsake the combined Dites you previously used. When the new Dite’s done, please come over and try it out. Even you wouldn’t want your weapon to fail in a key moment, right?”

“True.”

After Sharnid had finished changing and received his Dite from Harley, the 17th platoon had completed its preparation.

Under the icy gaze of the 5th platoon, everyone from the 17th platoon mounted their bikes. Layfon and Sharnid were the ones driving Nina and Felli. They put their supplies in the spare space. Their helmets were connected to Felli’s flakes, making the world before them more vivid. The gate to the exit opened.

“Good luck, everyone. I hope you can bring back some good news,” Karian’s voice came through the transmitter as Layfon and others headed out into the desolate land.

It took them half a day’s driving to arrive at the destination.

“Well……” Sharnid’s shock came through the transmitter.

Experiencing this in reality was much different from looking at the photos. Above Layfon’s head was the surface of the broken multi-legs, and covering the mechanical plates in auto-repair mode was moss that looked as if it could fall off at any moment.

“Even if it was attacked by the filth monsters, does it have to be so over the top?”

“It was just a guess.”

“The Student President’s speculation…… something doesn’t look right here.”

“The investigation of the west side is completed. The parking bay is totally destroyed and the anchor rope doesn’t look like it’s been used.”

“This is the 5th platoon. We’ve finished investigating the east side. There’s no parking bay and the gate outside is locked,” the psychokinesist of the 5th platoon said.

“Ah.”

“Doesn’t look like we’ve got a way up.”

“We have to use a rope,” Layfon said.

Nina nodded. “This is the 17th platoon. We’ll enter the city with a rope and begin our investigation.”

“Roger. We’ll continue our investigation and let you know of the rendezvous later.”

Layfon took out his Dite. A green light followed after the keyword. The Dite in his hand disappeared to be replaced by a weapon with only a handle.

Steel threads.

Under Layfon’s Kei, a countless number of steel threads connected Layfon to the city.

“Layfon, we’ll go together.”

“Got it.”

Wrapping Felli with the steel threads, Layfon was the first to reach the city. The feeling of the air shield passed by him. As he scanned the scene, the steel threads moved under his command, investigating anything within a 10 meters radius in detail…… and he completed that task the moment he landed.

“I guarantee you it’s safe here. Or are you more at ease unless you’ve checked it yourself, Fon Fon?” Felli said.

“Of course I trust you, but this is my habit. I still want to confirm for myself,” he retrieved the steel threads. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

“How meaningless. Rather than wasting your energy, you should be more cautious.”

“…… I’m sorry.”

Speaking of which…… He was covered in chill sweat as he watched Felli.

This wasn’t his first time checking the vicinity with the steel threads, but such delicate and detailed work was a huge burden on his brain.

(The brain structure of a psychokinesist really is different from ours.)

Normal people would never think of handling a massive amount of information at the same time. As a human, she was human. As a Military Artist, she was also a psychokinesist.

(…… I can’t ignore that part.)

“What is it?”

“…… Nothing,” he replied, swallowing back his words.

Nina and Sharnid had arrived.

“How is it?”

“No corpses so far,” Felli said emotionlessly. She had restored her Dite and the flakes were now scattered in the sky.

“Then investigate the important facilities one by one in our vicinity.”

“If it’s to investigate half of the city, I will have finished it in an hour.”

“Yeah, can’t we just wait here?” Sharnid said.

“I don’t doubt Felli’s ability, but there are people who don’t accept the result of this type of investigation.”

“…… Fine,” Felli accepted. She had no other choice.

“…… Have you found the entrance to the Mechanical Department?”

“Not yet, it doesn’t look to be anywhere close to here.”

“Right.”

“But I’ve found the shelter.”

“Then let’s start over there. We might find survivors.”

“A very tiny hope,” Sharnid muttered, earning a glare from Nina.

Led by Felli, the 17th platoon headed deeper into the city.

“Oi, Gorneo.”

“Hm?” he observed his surroundings as he replied to the voice coming from above his shoulders. He had divided his platoon into three teams. The team with the psychokinesist had stayed behind to wait for orders. Gorneo and the other team had begun their investigation of the area.

“If we set traps here, that can be explained as an accident” Shante suggested.

Gorneo stopped walking.

They were on a street lined with shops and empty of people. Debris littered the street.

“It’s almost impossible to ambush a Heaven’s Blade successor.”

“Really? But we’ll never know if we don’t try.”

Shante swung her legs before Gorneo’s chest, but he paid no attention to them.

“Saying we’ll never know if we don’t do it, shows you’re still not mature enough.”

“Wu……”

Gorneo’s nose stirred. Something smelled rotten. There was the smell of blood mixed in it too. That didn’t surprise him, since he had seen crowds of flies gathering in fast food shops, but blood……

He understood after looking at the black substance spread here and there on the street.

Something horrible and tragic did happen in this city.

Military Artists and psychokinesists had fought desperately against filth monsters and had failed. The filth monsters had entered through the air shield and spread out in the city to enjoy food other than pollutants.

But, even so……

“Why are there no corpses?”

The residents must have hidden in a shelter during the attack, then their corpses should also be rotting there quietly……

“It’s strange there aren’t any Military Artists’ corpses here.”

He could tell there were quite a number of Military Artists in the fight even though he didn’t know how good they were. Traces of intense fighting remained everywhere, but not one single corpse…… not even a sliver of flesh was in sight.

“As if someone’s cleaned this place,” Shante said in a low voice.

In a city devoid of the living, just who……

“Oi, Gorneo.”

Shante’s voice called him back to reality.

“Hm?”

“Is it all right to leave that guy because of it?” she returned to the original topic.

“Of course not. I’ll never let that guy go.”

He’d never forget the shock he had when he heard of the news from the letter. “That guy killed Gahard-san. The Military Artist Gahard-san.”

If that was the only thing, Gorneo might have swallowed his anger with a sigh.

But, it wasn’t like that.

The letter had explained in detail the cause of the event.

“That guy is an insult to Military Arts. I’ll never let this go.”

Layfon participated in underground matches as a Heaven's Blade successor, and he planned to kill Gahard, who wanted to expose his foul deeds, through legal means. Gahard wasn’t dead, but the loss of his arm had caused some unusual reaction in his Kei vein. For a Military Artist, this was the same as being crippled, never be able to use Military Arts again.

“Her Majesty is too kind to only exile that guy from Grendan.”

Having committed the crime, Layfon had appeared as a Military Artist in Zuellni. Although nothing had happened so far, this didn’t mean the same thing wouldn’t happen again.

“I can’t stop him.”

“Gorneo, I’ll help out too.”

Gorneo shook his head. “Even though his heart’s rotten, he's still a Heaven's Blade successor. I understand that. I can’t let you face that kind of danger.”

“Moron!” Shante pounded her fist down on his head.

<center>◇</center>

There was a huge hole on the ceiling of the shelter, and beneath it, debris. On the edge of the debris was black blood, dried and hardened.

“How terrible,” Sharnid said, covering his mouth and nose with his hand.

The smell of rot filled every corner of the shelter. Layfon and Nina were also covering their mouth and nose. Felli had refused to enter and was waiting outside.

“Is anyone alive?” Nina asked.

“No,” Felli replied coldly through the flake.

“Damn,” she stomped the ground.

“There really isn’t a single corpse here,” Sharnid frowned.

“As if someone’s cleaned this place,” Layfon said.

Even though the filth monsters had eaten everyone in the city, there must be some trace left of the people here.

It was possible there were survivors since the air purification system was functioning normally, but Felli hadn’t yet found a live response. Even if there was a response, it might have come from livestock.

“Unless this city encountered the type that attacked Zuellni before?”

Layfon shook his head. Sure, if there were that many number of larva, they might not leave behind any corpses.

But……

“There’s suspicion on how the city’s been destroyed. Almost all of the buildings started collapsing from the top. If it was a group of larvae, the buildings should have folded from the middle.”

The filth monsters had descended from the sky and left via the sky. More than one. And the larvae weren’t huge enough to flatten a building.

“So someone’s been cleaning the corpses here?” Nina asked.

Even if there were survivors, it was hard to imagine their cleaning up all of the corpses…… at least to bury all the corpses in Layfon’s area.

The team returned back to the surface. Their mission was to confirm whether there was danger around rather than finding survivors.

“Fu, I can’t stand this,” Sharnid said. Layfon and Nina also breathed deeply the air of the surface. The smell of rot was also above ground, but it wasn’t as intense as back in the shelter.

“Just what’s wrong with this city?” Sharnid complained.

“Since there’re no filth monsters, it isn’t dangerous, right?”

Zuellni would arrive here in one more day. Before it arrived, they had to confirm whether the place was safe.

“There aren’t any filth monsters, but if we leave this riddle, something worse might happen later,” Nina said.

Felli remained silent.

“Anyway, we’ll stop here for the day. The sun’s about to go down. Let’s meet up with the other team while there’s still daylight.”

“The 5th platoon has given us instructions for rendezvous.”

“Ok. Tell them we’re heading over….. Let’s go.”

They followed Felli’s description.

Layfon took up the rear and suddenly halted his steps.

Something revolting and hateful seemed to shroud the city. Perhaps it was because of the smell of rot and the unusual silence, coupled with the descending night.

The 5th platoon had chosen to meet up in the middle of the city where the Military Arts dormitory was located.

“The machine still works.”

Nina entered the corridor and checked around.

The machine, though weak, was still working, producing its own electricity, and it was fortunate that the air-conditioning worked. The smell of rot had enveloped them from the very first moment when they entered the city.

Felli had received a message from the 5th platoon.

“Captain, Captain Luckens wants to talk to you about room allocation.”

“Right, I’ll head over.”

Nina left, leaving Felli alone. Layfon and Sharnid were checking the vicinity to make sure it was safe.

As Felli lifted her hands to feel the current of air-conditioning and wind, someone walked in through the door.

“Ah……”

“……Ah”

Displeasure showed on Shante’s face, and Felli narrowed her eyes to look at the other icily. It seemed Shante was checking the place was safe, just like Layfon and Sharnid.

The moment when the two gazes met created sparks between them.

She didn’t know why she was hated, but Felli wasn’t one to ignore the other’s hostility. On the contrary, she struck back at the other’s challenge.

Felli had a number of flakes around her to defend herself, and with these, she had enough to handle Shante. A psychokinesist’s power wasn’t limited to the gathering and analyzing of information. It wouldn’t be bad to use it against this petty girl.

Shante’s hand was on the Dite in her harness. Keeping that pose, she looked as if she was about to brush past Felli.

“Hey!” she called when Felli neared her.

“You, do you know that guy’s true face?”

This question made Felli stiffen.

“What do you mean?”

“…… Serious? Or are you pretending? I’ve heard of what that first year guy is like.”

Although Felli planned to ignore Shante, she had failed to cover up some of her outrage.

“…..”

“Humph, you know of it but you’re still using him. In that case, the Student President also knows already.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Using that despicable guy…… To hide the truth at this stage, do you think we’re so untrustworthy?”

Invisible murderous intent flew to Felli’s throat like a knife. Shante’s red hair danced like strong flame.

“What?”

“…… If you’re covering up your tragic failure two years ago, I think you need to take it out on someone else.”

“What?”

“He would be able to live peacefully as a student in General Studies if you guys weren’t so weak. Isn’t it because of your immaturity that we are facing the situation we’re now in? Military Artists who can’t guard their cities are useless. Look long and hard in the mirror and see how much strength you have before you say anything else.”

“What? You…… You, damn you……” Shante trembled and snatched up her Dite, but a voice stopped her before she could say the keyword.

“Stop it.”

“Gorneo!? But!”

“Don’t start a fight here.”

“Wuuuuuuu!!” she stuffed her Dite back into the harness and stomped hard on Gorneo’s foot before disappearing out the door.

Gorneo received the attack casually and apologized to Felli. “I’m sorry. My teammate’s been troubling you.”

“…… No,” Felli answered after breathing in deeply. She pressed down on her outrage and looked at the stocky man before her.

“But, that is also my doubt. Shante’s only conveyed my feeling, that’s all.”

“Are you from Grendan?”

“Yes. I’m Gorneo Luckens. I’m the younger brother of Grenden’s Heaven's Blade successor, Savaris Luckens.”

“…… I see. What I just said are my own feelings. They aren’t my brother’s opinions.”

“I understand. About that guy… they’re just my own feelings too. I hope you understand.”

“…… You don’t look like you accept my take on things.”

“I can’t accept it.”

“…… How displeasing,” she whispered.

Only Nina made a simple greeting to the other team after room allocation. None of the members from the 5th platoon wanted to associate with the 17th platoon. The rooms for both teams were quite far apart.

From inside the common room of the 17th platoon floated the aroma of food.

“Ah, we made the right choice of having Layfon prepare food,” Sharnid sat contentedly on the sofa, drinking warm tea. Layfon had made something from the edible ingredients found in the grocery shop in the city.

“All of the vegetables are ruined except for the beans. Fortunately, the fish in the cultivation pond were still alive.”

The meal was simple, but it was better than eating the cold food they brought with them. Layfon relaxed.

“Um…. This way, we don’t have a problem.”

“What do you mean?” Layfon asked, but Nina only nodded.

“It takes at least one week to resupply Zuellni. During this time, classes will be suspended. I want to use this chance to strengthen our team.”

“Training?” Sharnid said, unwilling.

“We’ve accumulated some prize money so we have a lot to spare. There’s a good location in the produce area. I wanted to train there but I was concerned about food.”

“But there aren’t any shops over there. Ah, sorry, I can’t make food.”

“Me neither.”

Felli hadn’t said anything, but Layfon understood, having seen her cooking.

“So I planned to ask for a friend’s help, but since Layfon can do the cooking, then there isn’t a problem anymore,” Nina looked at the tea in her cup.

Mei-Shen surfaced in Layfon’s mind. Her cooking was even better than his, but it wasn’t possible for her to live together with the 17th platoon. She was too shy. If there was no helping it, he’d have to ask Naruki and Mifi to come too.

But if he did that, Nina wouldn’t give up that golden chance to persuade Naruki to join the team.

No matter what Naruki might think, Layfon hoped Mei-Shen and the girls wouldn’t become entangled with the 17th platoon before Nina had made her decision.

(I guess I’ll have to cook.)

In that case, he’d have to consider the nutrients in the food. As Leerin pointed out in her letters, it was a headache to think up a meal that was well balanced in nutrients. He pondered this as he packed up the dishes.

Sharnid and Felli left the room.

“Sorry for making you do all this,” Nina apologized.

“It’s ok. I’m used to it.”

“Do you have time later?”

“Do you want something?”

“I want to have a chat.”

“Then let me make some tea.”

He made tea and sat back on the sofa.

“I have a question about what just happened.”

“…… Then Senpai……”

“…… yeah, it seems to be a warning for me.”

“For me too, I suppose.”

Layfon and Sharnid were far away when Felli had her confrontation with Shante. Sharnid hadn’t said much. He just shrugged.

“Do you remember?”

“I know about Savaris, but not much about his brother. The Luckens are a family famous for Military Arts back in Grendan.”

“Really?”

“And……”

“…… What?”

“Nothing.”

If it was about the Luckens, then there must be another cause behind Gorneo’s hostility.

“Layfon?”

“……. Hm?”

“This is hard for me to say, but I’m your captain and I also know of your past. I’ve decided to stand with you no matter what.”

“Captain……”

“You did something unforgivable as a Military Artist. No matter what the reason is behind it, your deed is unforgivable.”

(You must constantly remind yourself.)

Layfon recalled once again what Her Majesty had said. After his deeds were exposed, the Queen had beaten him up and had said this to him.

Nina’s words placed Layfon back in the past.

“There’re many who don’t understand you, and many who understand but can’t forgive you.”

Leerin was his only comrade. Even the orphans in the orphanage who used to view him as a hero had looked at him with hatred.

His world was flipped upside down in a short period of time.

“If others find out, your situation in Zuellni may become the same as Grendan’s.”

Go look at the world. The Queen had said. But no matter where he was at, Layfon still recalled his past and remembered it. Karian had known. And Gorneo, the younger brother of Savaris Luckens. People still moved around even though cities were basically isolated and sealed off. Layfon’s past seemed to patrol in the darkness, waiting for a chance to jump out of his shadow.

“But I’ve decided to be your comrade. Since I’ve decided, no matter who becomes your enemy, I’ll never be your enemy.”

“Senpai…… please give this up. If you do this, you’ll be in danger even as a captain.”

He was happy that Leerin had remained by his side, but at the same time, it pained him. He could keep on living peacefully because he was in another city, but there were people back in Grendan who wanted to hurt Leerin because she stood by him.

“Stop this nonsense,” Nina laughed. “If I’m afraid of that, how can I be your captain?”

Her smile pulled him back from the past. Leerin’s smile was probably like that too.

“What is it?”

“Hm?”

“If you decide something on your own, you’ll tend to think towards something bad. It’s the same with feelings and thinking style. It’s the same with everything. It’s because you want to shoulder everything yourself…… How should I put in? Well, I’m not one to talk.”

Layfon recalled how he lectured Nina when she was in the hospital.

“What is it?”

“I’m thinking that it’s great to have senpai here.”

“Wh… Why so sudden?” her face went pink.

“I’m just expressing my honest feelings.”

He would tell her everything. Everything that happened in Grendan.

<center>◇</center>

After parting with Nina, Layfon hesitated a bit, then he went to a door. He breathed in deeply to disperse the pressure on his shoulders and knocked on the door.

After a pause, a voice filled with dissatisfaction called out. “…… Who is it?”

“Um….. It’s Layfon.”

Felli opened the door and let him in.

The room wasn’t that big. Two single beds took up most of the space. Because of the limited number of rooms, the team members couldn’t each have a room to themselves. It was just for one night anyway. Sharnid was against Nina’s suggestion, but Felli had agreed solemnly.

Felli should be in the same room as Nina, but it appeared those two weren’t willing to spend a long time together.

“It’s not good to eavesdrop,” Felli said after closing the door. She understood why he had come to her.

“Sorry,” Layfon lowered his head.

“But those two are the worst saying what they said in that situation.”

“Senpai too……”

“Fon Fon……”

“Ah, um, I’ve given Felli trouble……”

“Really, I don’t feel as good,” she mumbled.

Layfon lifted his head.

“Whose fault is it that we’re in this situation? Those people don’t understand at all. That’s why I don’t feel good.”

“Still angry?”

“Of course.”

Nina had known of Felli’s true strength in the previous fight with the filth monster in its aged phase. No one but Felli could support with psychokinesis over the distance that took one day to cover.

From that time on, Nina had reduced her demands of Felli in training.

Layfon wasn’t sure why the captain was doing that. It didn’t seem she had let Felli go because of Felli’s lack of enthusiasm. Same as Layfon, Felli had also wanted to ask Nina the reason behind her unusual action.

But what she did was continue to observe the captain and did all she could to avoid being alone with her.

“…… I’m concerned that she allows me to participate with the way I am,” Felli sighed lightly.

“Felli?”

“Fon Fon, I don’t think we have any other way.”

Lying on the bed, she looked smaller than before. The calmness she maintained was nowhere to be seen. What she gave off was an air of intense exhaustion.

“To a psychokinesist, using psychokinesis is as matter of fact as breathing in the air. I’m so tired of suppressing it.”

“Even so, you still hate it.”

“Of course.”

Layfon was put at ease by Felli’s usual reaction.

But that only lasted one moment……

“Fon Fon…… Why aren’t we normal?”

He couldn’t answer her.

(You must constantly remind yourself.)

The Queen’s words surfaced in his mind once again.

(Constantly remind yourself that we, as Military Artists and psychokinesists aren’t normal. As humans, we must not allow ourselves to forget this.)

Those words whipped him more painfully than his injuries.

“We……” Felli mumbled and suddenly lifted her face.

“Felli?”

“Outside. A live response 200 meters south west of here. It definitely isn’t livestock!”

“!”

Layfon responded swiftly. Internal Kei ran through his body as he picked up his harness and jumped out the window. The steel threads spread out as he headed for the direction Felli had indicated, running in the city illuminated by the pinprick stars.

Running silently on steel threads thin as spider threads, Layfon arrived early at the destination.

The thing hadn’t run away, as if it was waiting for him.

‘What is this?”

Dumbstruck, he looked at the shadow of a four-legged creature. A horn protruded from its head. Standing before Layfon was a golden goat.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
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| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
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Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume3 Chapter2

2009-11-08T04:52:26Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 2: After a day of rest */

===Chapter 2: After a day of rest===

A breeze blew in the morning. Leerin felt as if she hadn’t slept the night before. This strange feeling came about because of what had happened the day before yesterday. Whatever had happened, the passing of a day had put that event in the past. Time was merciless, but it treated everyone fairly. No matter how astonished and shocked Leerin was, it wasn’t possible to reverse the flow of time.

As she neared the school, she heard other classmates greeting each other. She only joined them, as she walked on the path shaded by tree canopy that headed towards the school entrance.

“Fu……” She had been sighing continuously since morning, and she was aware of the reason behind it.

“…… The muscles on my back are twisted.”

All of a sudden, something intruded from behind Leerin’s armpits to grab hold of her breasts.

“Ahahahahahaha!!’

A pair of hands was caressing her front. Because it was so sudden, Leerin had dropped her schoolbag and stood spaced out for a little while.

“Oh, Leerin-chan’s chest is the same as before. It feels good.”

“…… Please stop voicing your lamentations so deeply.”

A face leapt into Leerin’s line of sight.

“Ah~ If I don’t do this, I can’t feel the arrival of a new day.”

“Please get rid of your habit…”

Long black hair covered a large part of Leerin’s vision. The “hehe” laughter ruined the elegant face that the black hair revealed.

“But Leerin-chan’s breasts feel too good.”

“That’s not true.”

Finally escaping the evil palms, Leerin felt helpless.

Synola Leisler. She belonged to the research laboratory that was located in the same area of the school. Leerin felt many gazes on her side.

A body that matched her long limbs…… The protruding parts and depressions of Synola’s body were perfectly outlined. Lab personnel had no uniform. Synola’s clothes seemed to emphasize her body build, so it couldn’t be helped that she stood out in the crowd.

“No, no. It’s a shame really, but whether it feels good or not is meaningless to the owner of the body. It’s your body after all, but it isn’t necessarily the best for anyone. What’s most important is that it suits my hands. That feeling of being just right, but with enough left over. That’s a soft feeling that no sweets can match. Ah~~”

Synola looked like she was reminiscing something really deep…. She started to shake her head like an old man.

“You’re the best.”

“…… Please stop,” Leerin said.

Synola really didn’t look normal to say something like this early in the morning. Besides, she was gesturing before Leerin’s breast as she said. “Well, did something happen to Leerin-chan?”

“Huh?”

Synola’s hands returned to her pant pockets. Her expression turned back to normal. She was already beautiful, and that pose made people’s hearts jump.

“You’ve been sighing while fidgeting. This says that something’s happened.”

“Ah……” Leerin thought she had done enough to cover her worries, but it seemed she had failed.

“Sorry.”

“Isn’t it meaningless to apologize to me?”

“Yeah……”

“Never mind. It’s ok if you don’t want to explain.”

Sometimes Leerin wanted to pull in that distance, but their relationship was far apart. She was thankful for Synola’s sensitivity, her ability to see through what should be and should not be touched, but she also felt her own inadequacy in this area.

(Maybe I can try telling her?)

She looked at Synola. Either way, as a beautiful woman, she was somewhat strange in wanting to touch other girls’ breasts. And for some reason, Synola started laughing in that ‘hehe’ way.

(Um……)

“Ah, cookies are nice, but it’s not bad to try nuts sometimes.”

“Ha?”

“I’m saying Leerin-chan’s breasts are very soft, and they’re also bouncy. This is great! To put it the other way… they feel like cookies.”

“…… Thanks.”

“So I say cookies are always the best, but I can better experience that feeling by not eating cookies all the time. So it’s good to change taste sometime and try the hard nut.”

Her hands moved.

“Like this. I can feel their weight by holding their bottoms, and caress them with that resistant feeling of hardness. I guess they don’t lose their shape in sleep…… I can feel them by searching and touching like this.”
[[Image:CSR vol03 059.jpg|thumb]]
“Just what are you saying?”

“Ah, it’s not bad to touch Leerin-chan’s breasts like this sometimes, but wouldn’t that hurt? I can’t do something that makes you hate me.”

“Just what are you saying!?” Leerin shouted angrily with her face all red. Synola showed no intention of answering.

“I was just talking to myself ambitiously.”

Looking at Synola’s breasts, Leerin burst out. “Isn’t your ambition over there……?”

(Ah…… Grendan is so peaceful.)

This was the Lance Shelled City, Grendan, a city that had more fights with filth monsters than any other city in the world. Every year there were five to six emergencies. As the emergency siren sounded, Grendan’s residents would move towards the shelters as if they were out on a road trip. They followed the procedures without pushing and fighting for a place in the shelter.

Yes, that wasn’t necessary at all, because their Queen was leading them. A Queen who also was a Heaven's Blade successor.

Alsheyra Almonise.

Grendan was probably the only city that had experienced this much danger, but Grendan’s residents believed it was the safest city on earth. Under the protection of the Queen and the Heaven's Blade successors, the threat of filth monsters was nothing. Grendan had also fought many times against filth monsters in their mature phases, and that wasn’t recorded in Grendan’s history books. In the fifteen years of Leerin’s life, Grendan had fought those mature forms many times.

The number of fights the city encountered was unusual for a mobile city that aimed to evade as many filth monsters as possible. Even if a large number of filth monsters stood in Grendan’s path, Grendan did nothing to change its path and avoid them. Some people from other cities even called Grendan “A city that has gone mad”.

Leerin thought that that might be true. Her conviction received support when she read from Layfon’s letters that Zuellni had not encountered any filth monsters for a long while. Even so, there were also the Heaven's Blade successors in Grendan. The people relied on their skills to protect them.

After parting with Synola, Leerin headed for her classroom. She greeted her classmates, went to her seat, and once again fell into her own thoughts. She was thinking of what had happened to her.

“Sorry, please let me protect you for now,” Savaris said on the rooftop.

“Uh……”

“Your question is rejected,” Lintence said.

“Sorry about this, but that’s the way it is,” Savaris apologized.

“But, Layfon……” Leerin wanted to say more, but fell silent when she glanced at Lintence.

No one would disobey a Heaven's Blade successor in Grendan. That wasn’t a law, it was just a mutual habit of everyone living in this city.

“I won’t interfere with your daily life….. until something happens. Meaning what concerns me is the time when you’re alone. If possible, I hope you can refuse even your friends’ invitations. Find some reasonable excuse.”

“Um…… Am I being targeted?”

“I said your question is rejected…… never mind.”

Savaris nodded with a sour smile. “Yes, you’re being targeted. I know you want to know why, and what people have targeted you, but please don’t ask.”

“….. And this is related to Layfon?”

That was what Savaris said in the Resting Room.

Lintence said any questions were rejected. Any resident of Grendan would listen to him. Any of them would think nothing bad would come out of listening to a Heaven's Blade successor.

Leerin felt the same. But if this had to do with Layfon… And that was the only thing she couldn’t keep silent about.

Lintence’s gaze turned intense. Leerin failed to move under that pressure.

“Ah…… I told her that,” Savaris sighed.

In that split second, Leerin was released. Her body trembled as if her bones were broken. Her legs had lost their strength, and she sat down on the rooftop. Savaris, who received Lintence’s gaze in her place, didn’t look pressured at all. He shook his head.

“Then I’ll just tell you this. This is related to Layfon. You’re involved in something that’s got nothing to do with you. That’s all I can say.”

(…… Meaning, this is Layfon’s world.)

Meaning.

This was the other world of Grendan.

<center>◇</center>

Within the cheering in the shop, a waitress placed a bowl in front of Layfon.

“Please enjoy,” she smiled and walked to the screen. The screen was showing a platoon match in the war field.

“…… Is this ok?”

“Huh?” Layfon looked back at Mei-Shen, who was peeking at him.

A bowl of noodles also sat in front of her. The smell of food tickled her nose.

“Is it ok not to watch the platoon match?”

“Ah, yeah, the captain’s watching it.”

Nina had gone to the match with a camera, wearing a serious expression. They would probably watch this video when they next had training.

“So it’s ok. Don’t worry about it.”

“I see.”

Mei-Shen looked to be finally at ease.

This shop was always full because of their delicious noodles, but today, the shop was surprisingly empty. The few customers sitting in the shop were watching the screen, so no one sat around Layfon’s table. Everyone must have gone to watch the platoon match.

Because the audience seats were booked out, lots of people would have gathered outside to watch the match on the giant screen. For this shop that only had a small screen to offer, of course the number of customers was small.

“Thanks to that, we don’t have to wait long for the food. We’re lucky,” Layfon concluded, picked up his fork and attacked the noodles.

“Ah, yes……” Even so, Mei-Shen still nodded awkwardly and picked up her fork in haste.

(Well, this can’t be helped.)

Because Naruki and Mifi weren’t here.

Originally, Layfon planned to invite all three as thanks for Mei-Shen’s bento.

“We can’t go,” Mifi had said.

The shop was nearly empty, but Mei-Shen still failed to calm down. It would have been better if the other two girls were here.

(Why didn’t they come?)

Naruki said she had something on, but Mifi’s sly smile seemed to suggest she was hiding something.

Because Layfon had received his pay for cleaning at the Mechanical Department, he had wanted to treat the three of them.

Originally he planned to work at the Mechanical Department for his school fees, but Karian had transferred him to Military Arts and waived all his fees, so now he had spare money.

“Ha…… Wu……” Mei-Shen moaned at her failure at coiling the noodles around her fork.

Looking at Mei-Shen, Layfon wondered whether he should have delayed the date and waited till all three girls could come.

“Sorry……”

“Huh, Huh?” Mei-Shen lifted her head to look at him fearfully. The noodles that she finally managed to roll up fell back into the bowl.

“I’m thinking whether it might have been better if I had waited till the three of you could come together……”

“Noooottttt. Not at all.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, yeah. Yes,” Face reddening, Mei-Shen continued to work on the noodles.

Layfon pushed down the impulse to repeat himself, and continued to eat.

Sudden cheers filled the shop. Mei-Shen looked over, and so did Layfon.

“…… What’s happened?”

“Sorry, I can’t see it either.”

They couldn’t see the screen because of the employees and other customers gathering before it. He could have strengthened his hearing with internal Kei, but he wasn’t that interested in the match.

“…… You don’t seem to be concerned.”

“Um?”

“About winning or losing a match.”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“So you’re still not interested in it now?”

“Um… not really.”

“Layfon isn’t concerned about his opponents because he’s very strong?”

“Not really. It’s just that……”

“Ah, I’m sorry…..” Mei-Shen lowered her head, feeling as if she had asked too much.

“Oh, no. I don’t feel like that. Um… how should I put it?” he paused.

“….. Military Artists are always the center of attention in Grendan.”

“…… Center of attention?”

“Yeah. You know that Grendan has an unusual number of encounters with filth monsters?”

“…… Yes.”

“There’re lots of people in Grendan who can use Kei, but it’s totally different for one to use that Kei to fight filth monsters……”

“Especially in Grendan, a place having numerous fights with filth monsters, those Military Artists are valued. So between Military Artists, there are many matches like the platoon matches here. There are also official contests to choose members who are to fight filth monsters. In Grendan, one must obtain acknowledgement in an official match to become a Military Artist.”

To Layfon, the students of Zuellni were too lax. Although he never let down his guard in a platoon match, he had never felt the tension he had back in Grendan. He was better at fighting without knowing any information beforehand. He could concentrate more in a fight when he was ignorant of everything.

On some level of meaning, perhaps he really was despicable.

But that was matter of fact in a match. One couldn’t always wait for five minutes before a war starts.

“I’ve heard of it, something about a title that Grendan’s Queen gives. Has Layton participated in that kind of a contest?”

“Yes.”

Not only that, but he had also obtained the title that the Queen gave out – a Heaven's Blade successor.

He didn’t have the courage to tell Mei-Shen and her friends about that.

Either way, he did something that caused the Queen to take back his title. He didn’t think he was in the wrong, but in the end, what he did was a big issue against the city’s system. He was afraid that Mei-Shen and her friends would fear him.

(Do I really have an issue inside me?)

He remembered those sad eyes of Nina’s when she knew of his past. Would that pair of eyes appear on another person too?..... Thinking of that, everything became painful for him.

“…… Have you also fought filth monsters?”

“Yeah.”

Layfon was unsure whether it was because his answer was too simple, but Mei-Shen had a shocked expression on her face.

“…… Weren’t you scared?”

“Huh?”

“I was so scared when that happened not long ago. I was in the shelter all the time, not like Naruki and Layton, fighting out there…… Thinking that I might die, I was very scared.”

“But that’s a part of any Military Artist’s job.”

“Naruki wants to be a policewoman, and Layfon…… You don’t want to be like that, do you?”

“No, but……”

In a world where humanity could only survive in cities, a world where Military Artists were a threat to filth monsters…. For Military Artists to be given privileges in cities, they weren’t permitted to run away from filth monsters.

This was the absolute rule of any city.

(Even so, I want to abandon my identity as a Military Artist.)

He didn’t resent Karian for transferring him into Military Arts anymore, but he hadn’t removed all of his dissatisfaction with Karian for preventing his dream from becoming a reality.

(Perhaps……)

Perhaps the part of him in Grendan didn’t want him to abandon his identity as a Military Artist. It seemed almost impossible to give up Military Arts and pick up something else. It was like starting all over again, walking an even harder and more painful road.

The name Layfon Alseif was taboo in Grendan.

(Her Majesty had no choice but to exile me.)

He shook his head, scolding himself for revisiting the possibility of returning to Grendan and realizing how foolish he was to consider it.

“Layton?”

“Uh? Ah, nothing.”

Mei-Shen’s bowl was empty.

“Shall we go to another shop for dessert? It’s noisy here.”

“Huh? Yeah, ok.”

“Do you know of any good places around?” Layfon said.

“…. Um, anyplace’s fine?”

“Anywhere’s fine if you think it’s good.”

“Then, just a little bit farther from here.”

“Let’s go then.”

Mei-Shen led him out and in the direction of the school where many facilities were gathered.

“Is it ok there?”

“Yeah, it’s got some very delicious ice-cream.”

“Oh, um, that’s all?”

The place they were heading for was near the school, but it was different from the place they went to everyday. Layfon wasn’t aware of such a shop.

“I chanced across it a few days ago.”

Walking and talking like that, Mei-Shen seemed quite happy. The tension she held back in the shop was gone. She seemed to have gradually gotten used to not having Naruki and Mifi around.

(Does that mean she’s accepted me?)

He felt that this was his proof for getting used to his life in Zuellni.

They came to a park. The gaps between the trees fencing the park revealed a few school buildings. Inside the parks were also a large number of trees. A place to put one’s worries at ease.

“This is close to the Alchemy course campus.”

“Yeah.”

It was the weekend, and smoke in hard-to-believe colors blew out from the windows of an Alchemy building. Someone must be conducting some strange experiment. Although Layfon didn’t know whether the experiment was a success, he hoped there wasn’t any harmful substance mixed in that smoke. As for his lack of surprise in the sounding of the alarm, that must be more proof of his being inured to life in the Academy city.

“It’s that stall over there,” Mei-Shen pointed at a stall painted in the colors of the rainbow. She too, didn’t seem to notice the alarm going off.

“A stall?” He thought they were only taking a shortcut through the park.

“I found it by coincidence. Great that it’s open today.”

For sure. Most people should be gathered at the war field or outside it, so the chance of the stall opening today couldn’t be that high.

Mei-Shen ordered a tea leaves flavoured ice-cream. Layfon spent some time worrying about picking a not too sweet ice-cream and in the end decided on one with a sour taste.

“You don’t seem to like sweets, sorry……”

“Not a problem. This is delicious.”

Yes, the sourness was exactly the taste he liked. While looking around as he licked the ice-cream, he saw someone pushing a wheelchair.

“…… Ah.”

“Ah……”

Having seen each other, Layfon and the person pushing the wheelchair called out.

“How strange meeting you here,” Harley said.

So to speak with Harley, Layfon stuffed the ice-cream in his mouth and stood up from the chair to wave at him.

“Good afternoon. Did you go to the lab today too?”

“Yeah, just to accompany someone. We’re restocking some sugar for the brain,” Harley said with a that’s-how-it-is expression as he looked at the person eating ice-cream in the wheelchair.

That person hadn’t yet turned his head around.

“He’s Kiriku Seron. We work in the same lab.”

Kiriku stared at Harley with a troublesome gaze, but Harley ignored him.

“You said you wanted company. Oh, he’s Layfon.”

“….. What did you say?” Kiriku’s gaze swung to Layfon.

A delicate face and pale, unhealthy skin for spending too much time indoor. Kiriku gave off the weak air of a patient, which might have something to do with the wheelchair he was sitting in. But the way he glared at Layfon swept clean that feeling of weakness he gave off.

“So you were the one who destroyed my work?”

“Work?”

“He made your new Dite.”

“Oh……”

In the previous fight with the filth monster in its aged phase, Layfon was given a Dite that was combined with different types of alloys. And the inventor of that Dite refused to show himself using the excuse of his dislike of meeting strangers……

“Really, you really did it. Rather than letting you handle my art like that, I’d have had it eaten by worms.”

“Hey, hey……”

This guy had a critical mouth.

“I don’t think Layfon’s skill is that bad.”

“I could tell from the remnants of the Dites. What’s with the messy swings? It’s a miracle that you managed to stay alive, swinging the weapon without looking at the paths of the swing.”

Layfon, speechless, could deeply feel this man’s anger.

(Has he watched my fight?)

Two of the three Dites inserted into the restored Dite were damaged, and Layfon only managed to return the last Dite to Harley. This man was able to determine the progression of Layfon’s fight just by analyzing the traces left on the Dite.

“As I said, the compressed Dites are easily affected by heat. Heat expands and reduces the solidness of the Dites, which in turn damages them. So I installed a safety lock to prevent that from happening, but that has yet to become reality because it still overheats after a long period of time in use. Two of the Dites were damaged due to this reason. This is unforgivable.”

“You couldn’t have perfected it for lack of real battle experience,” Harley said.

“No, that’s not the case……”

“……!”

“……!”

Kiriku and Harley started arguing. Layfon observed them.
[[Image:CSR vol03 085.jpg|thumb]]

“…… Is it all right not to stop them?” Mei-Shen said.

“The ice-cream’s about to melt. Hurry up and eat it,” Layfon said.

“….. Yeah, I guess so.”

Mei-Shen accepted Layfon’s advice. The two Alchemy students were debating with technical jargon. Mei-Shen and Layfon didn’t understand a word. Looking at how the two had deviated from the original topic, Mei-Shen decided not to interfere. The two of them finally stopped their debate when Layfon and Mei-Shen had finished their ice-cream.

“Haven’t we wasted the sugar we just stocked up?” Harley wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve.

“Then we’ll restock and review the problem again. I want strawberry flavor.”

“As you wish. I’ll have chocolate.”

After having this conversation that sounded like an argument or a genuine decision on what to buy, the two parted. Harley walked to the stall, so he must also be buying for Kiriku.

Kiriku glared at Layfon. “…… What? You’re still here?”

It seemed he had totally forgotten them.

“Um, well….. I’m sorry for ruining your work,” Layfon lowered his head and heard the tense Mei-Shen swallowing her saliva behind him.

“…… A tool is made to be broken,” Kiriku looked away. “But if possible, I want the reason behind it being broken to be more meaningful…… Isn’t this your responsibility?”

“Yes. If I had used a normal Dite, I’d have had trouble escaping.”

“…… Yeah,” Kiriku turned the wheelchair around to have his back facing Layfon.

“My next work will be even better. I hope you can also use it well.”

“…… Yes,” Layfon lifted his head and left the park with Mei-Shen. He saw Harley strolling back to Kiriku with two ice-cream in his hands.

“Ah, when those two get together, things get out of hand.”

After telling Nina about his day, her attitude became different.

They were cleaning in the Mechanical Department, scrubbing a wall of a corridor.

“Out of hand?”

“Out of hand.”

“….. Yeah.”

“Yes!” Nina nodded, suppressing her laughter.

“I’ve seen him a few times, but I still don’t quite understand him. “You only know to use brute force” those kind of things. He’s lectured me a lot, but the way he says it is too professional. It’s hard to understand.”

“Did he make senpai’s Dites too?”

“Ah, yes. Even if I got lectured, he really is amazing.”

At the park, Kiriku had said “the path of the swing”. Everything had an angle that allowed it to be cut through easily. If one sped up the swing from that particular angle, no matter how hard the thing was, it could be cut apart. Of course, the path of the swing was different in different situations for the same thing. If one wasn’t familiar with the Art of the sword, it was hard to discover the path.

“That person might have been a Military Artist in the past.”

“Perhaps.”

Nina must also be thinking of Kiriku’s wheelchair.

If Kiriku really was a Military Artist, it was natural for him to look at the path of the swing and become angry with Layfon for breaking the Dites. And that was why Layfon apologized to him.

“Speaking of which, though it’s his style, but to say your skill is bad, that’s a bit……”

“No. He did point out my error.”

“Really?” Nina said, disbelieving.

“Yeah, senpai saw it too. The reason of that situation was because of my two times failures.”

Of course, there was also another reason that broke his concentration when he was attacking the filth monster. Both misses had something to do with Nina. Moreover, the Dite itself had been overworked. But Layfon couldn’t say that.

The main cause was because he fought with the way he fought in Grendan.

After the fight, Layfon had done some researching in the library on records of how other cities fought with filth monsters. And as expected, Grendan…… the way that Heaven's Blade successors fought filth monsters was extremely unusual.

To fight alone outside the city was the same as being foolhardy.

And the Dite made for this style of fighting didn’t exist anywhere except in Grendan.

“Layfon.”

“Hmm?”

Nina might blame herself if they analyzed too deeply the reason behind his failures, so he was glad that she changed the topic. And he realized that she had turned around hesitantly. Layfon bent and saw her face reddening.

“What is it?”

“Oh, um…. About the girl named Naruki, what do you think?”

“Naruki?”

“Yeah. Just say whatever you think,” Nina coughed as if to cover up something.

(Why is she saying this?)

“Well, she’s pretty strong for a first year. She’s better at internal type Kei. Besides that, her movements are also exceptional.”

“I see,” she smiled shyly.

“….. Could it be, that you want to recruit her into the team?”

Nina nodded. “Ah, perhaps.”

“But why so sudden…”

“It’s not sudden. I’ve been thinking about it,” she said, cleaning the brush in a bucket of clean water.

“It’s a must to train the best from the very beginning. In the Military Arts course now, there aren’t any who are good enough to join a platoon. We can get good results if we recruit some quality members and nurture them….. so I’ve been looking around. That’s also why you attracted my attention in the opening ceremony.”

“Is that so?”

“But with you, you don’t need anyone to pick you out,” she laughed.

He shrugged. If he didn’t get involved with the two Military Arts students who started the whole fiasco because of their home cities, Layfon wouldn’t be the way he was now. At first, he was tired of being forced back to Military Arts, but now he didn’t regret fighting.

“I’ve observed the first years for a while, but I still haven’t found anyone better than that girl.” The noise of the gears drowned out Nina’s sigh.

People whose ability in Military Arts was discovered at a very young age were usually kept in their home cities. To any city, the number of excellent Military Artists it held denoted its fighting strength. For the crisis of filth monster assault and war between cities…… these people were irreplaceable. It was every city’s dream to hold in hand exceptional Military Artists, so they wouldn’t have let them go easily.

(Could it be……)

Could this be the reason that Nina ran away from home? She was recruited into a platoon when she first started school here. She should have been acknowledged at her home city. In that case, she should have no means of leaving the city. She also said her family was rich. Perhaps it was a family of great Military Artists.

The ability of Kei was what made one a Military Artist – the internal type Kei that strengthened one’s flesh, and the external type burst Kei that could directly damage and destroy anything outside one’s body. The source of Kei was a special type of organ that these people had, the Kei vein.

There were two types of people with Kei veins – the type that was born in a normal family, and the type that was born in between Military Artist parents to increase the rate of a baby born with the Kei vein. In order to increase the rate of babies born with the Kei vein, every city had prize money given out to families who managed to produce those special kids. And if a person with the Kei vein had his ability proven…… For example, one could be given a status equal to a Heaven's Blade successor in Grendan.

(Am I thinking too much?)

The possibilities he thought of might not be zero. This was the world of Regios that he knew. And he had managed to earn large sums of money because of using, no, abusing this relationship the cities had with the world.

“What is it?”

“Ah, nothing……”

He had stopped cleaning, diving too deeply into his thoughts. He started cleaning again.

“No matter what, I’m going to invite her in. I’m counting on you when the time comes,” Nina concluded and went back to work.

(I guess it’ll be quite hard.) Layfon thought.

(Oh no, I asked something unnecessary again.)

Having picked up Layfon’s letter and read it, although she pretended not to have done so, Nina felt tired about it. She still wasn’t sure what she was feeling now. Irritation and a bit of disappointment. She was angry with him but at the same time, she couldn’t really get angry. She wanted to bellow, but somehow just couldn’t.

For reasons unknown, she wanted to understand Leerin….. the sender of the letter.

(Even if I ask, I wouldn’t have known anything. Let’s just leave it.)

It was time to finish up. Layfon and Nina packed up their cleaning tools.

“Speaking of which, Zuellni is behaving well recently,” Nina said as she opened the door for the cleaning equipment. She didn’t mean the city itself, but the city’s consciousness – the Electronic Fairy.

“Yes.”

The Electronic Fairy who used to escape from the center of the Mechanical Department once a week and play hide and seek with the workers had not appeared this week.

Sure, the Mechanical students had no plans of playing hide and seek.

Nina was concerned about Zuellni. The Electronic Fairy always escaped when it was Nina’s turn to clean at the Mechanical Department, and it always ended up being Nina who shouldered the responsibility of finding Zuellni. Layfon helped out with Nina, so he also had had a few encounters with the Electronic Fairy. The Zuellni flying freely around with light emitting coolly from her body always gave off a mysterious feeling.

“It can’t be any filth monsters coming near again……” Nina said after confirming there was no one else around.

The Mechanical students were thankful enough if Zuellni could stay where she was and behave, but it might feel strange for her not to act the way she used to. Perhaps the city had sensed a distant crisis instinctively. If the Mechanical students knew of this, who knew what expression they would wear?

“Just what is happening?”

“Even if you ask, I can’t give you an answer. I’ve never come across a situation of the city’s consciousness separating from its physical form in Grendan.”

“Yeah? Well, it’s not like this kind of thing will just happen.”

“Yeah.”

Unlike Grendan, Zuellni hadn’t encountered any filth monsters for a long time. That was before Layfon arrived at the city.

“I suppose.”

“Yeah.”

The two of them said as if confirming with each other.

“Oi, over there!”

It was the head of the Mechanical Department, calling them with a tired face.

“What is it?”

“There’s a phone call for you, from the Student Council.”

“The Student Council?”

“Yeah.”

He handed the phone to Nina, mumbled “finally got rid of it” and left.

Layfon and Nina exchanged a glance.

“It seems something’s happened.”

“Seems so.”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
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| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
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</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume3 Chapter1

2009-11-08T03:53:01Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 1: Proposal */

===Chapter 1: Proposal===
“Fu……”

Leerin sat on a stool, holding a juice packet she had bought from the vending machine. The lounge of this high-class, two-story school was comfortable and soothing. Many students came up to the second floor during the day. Only one floor was needed to accommodate those who decided to stay after school. Since this wasn’t the only lounge available, the student athletes who came over to buy drinks from the vending machine tended to move to a place closer to the gymnasium.

This place was quiet and close to the library. The senpais of the Language Club gathered regularly on the first floor, but by the time their voices drifted over to Leerin, they had become mere background noise.

“Fu……” Leerin sighed again, gazing off in the distance under the dim light, the edge of the paper cup on her lips. Warm, sweet chocolate dispersed in her mouth. The warmth slid down her throat into her chest.

“Ah……Geez, what’s with me……” She watched the floorboards, her hands cupping the cup for warmth.

“……Should I go back like this?”

She didn’t feel like bringing the books over from the library. Her space in the library was already filled with numerous books and report papers. If she went back to the library, she wouldn’t be able to leave them alone. That was Leerin.

“The importance of news updates between cities and their consequences on the economy.”

The professor had suddenly given Leerin this assignment, to be handed in a week later. Although there was still time to do it, the question was close to impossible for Leerin, who had only recently entered this school. All of the reference books were professional. If she wanted to understand them, she would have to have a large repertoire of professional vocabulary. She had been pulling books off to read just to understand the reference books, and in turn, had been pulling more books to understand the books that explained those reference books.

“……Guh, my basic knowledge isn’t good enough. Besides, these numbers mean nothing if I can’t understand them. Really……what should I do?”

And so she had spent two hours after class piling up books. This wasn’t a problem with tepid enthusiasm. To escape the problem dogging her, she reached inside her breast pocket.

She touched something hard and took out a small box for letters. She cautiously took out a letter and spread it out.

“His handwriting’s still ugly……”

Leerin’s face relaxed automatically. She started to read the letter that she had already read numerous times.

''How have you been lately? I’m still the same.

''Ah, not entirely the same as usual. What you were worrying about has happened over here. A filth monster came close to Zuellni again. Zuellni wasn’t aware of it, as the filth monster was in its molting phase. Fortunately, the city’s drones discovered it and we managed to avoid the worst-case scenario. But……just like what you were afraid of, I chose to fight alone.

''The fight was intense, just like the battles I had tired of in Grendan. As a Heaven’s Blade Receiver, I had no time for anything besides fighting filth monsters outside the city. I was being extremely careful to avoid getting wounded, because if I did, I might have fallen to pollutants.

''I knew about that danger, but I’ve never chosen to fight with anyone before.

''No, even from the beginning I never considered it.

''I forgot I no longer had the Heaven’s Blade, and I did something foolish. In truth, it was dangerous. No, extremely dangerous.

''I even knew my weapon wasn’t reliable. Although I know what a Heaven’s Blade is, when I was holding my weapon, I fought like before……Am I too arrogant? I couldn’t help but be immersed in it, so your words cut straight to my core.

''But, about that fight, it won’t happen again.

''I’ll try not to fight alone again.

''I no longer believe I cannot give up Military Arts. It’s tiring, but I’ll try to overcome it.

''I haven’t given up on finding a path besides Military Arts, except, right now, I can’t lose Zuellni. This place is a new place, a fresh start for me, so I can’t lose it. Perhaps this feeling can relieve some of my tiredness.

''Leerin, it’s because of you that I can accept Military Arts like this. I think I haven’t entirely given up Military Arts because you’re part of my past in Grendan. Perhaps this is a very fortunate thing.

''You said that, in truth, I like Military Arts. I haven’t yet had that feeling, but since you said so, it might be true. At least, the me now came from the me who spent ten years immersed in Military Arts, so that must be an important part of me. It’s a blessing that I haven’t lost it, and the Leerin who prevented me from losing it is also someone irreplaceable and important to me.

''I also feel that it’ll be very hard to communicate for six years through letters.

''Why can’t we break through this wall of distance?

''I believe we can.

''Hope everything works out for you!

''Layfon Alseif.''

She finished reading……Although she had read it many times, she still read it closely. Reading it and losing herself in thought. Reading it in joy…And anger.

She was happy that he said she was important to him, but he was so slow that he didn’t understand her real feelings. She was lost in thought because of his slowness and clumsiness, and then she became angry. Just how many more pieces of paper did she have to sacrifice until he would understand……

“Aah, really……”

She knew that by reading the letter, she’d forget about the report she needed to write…But it still made her feel tired.

''(I’ll just sleep here on the stool.)''

"Haha……"

“?”

Someone was laughing.

“Hm?” Leerin turned around and saw a young man sitting on a chair against the wall behind her.

“Ah, excuse me.”

Seeing how he had watched her while she was reading the letter, Leerin’s face grew hot. She studied the young man.

A long mane of silver hair hung neatly down his back. His sleeves were short despite the cold weather. A harmless laugh, and his laugh wasn’t tasteless.

But if he was laughing at her, then she wouldn’t feel well disposed towards him.

“……Excuse me, who are you? You don’t look like a student here.”

His arms were muscular. Not like a student at all. A Military Artist. It wasn’t strange to see Military Artists walking around. Some of the students were Military Artists, but this young man didn’t look like a student here.

“Yes, you’re right. I’m not a student here.”

“Do you need something? There’s the office……”

“No, I’m not here for the school.”

“Huh?”

“I’m looking for you, Leerin Marfes.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, let me make this clear. I’m not chatting you up.”

“……Why are you pointing that out?”

“Well, for some reason, the girls always try to chat me up, so I’m just making sure. Just in case.”

“You’re too self-conscious.”

True. Perhaps it was a girl’s dream to be chatted up by this guy in this way. But not in this situation……To be mocked after she had read Layfon’s letter. She would have seriously refused this man.

But he had made it clear, and that made his face more displeasing to her. Especially the point that he didn’t mean it at all.

“I really didn’t mean it. I really didn’t mean it!”

“I don’t want to listen to this.”

For some reason, she felt nothing evil and malicious from him. On the contrary, he felt like a kid.

“Well, what do you want me for? I’m busy.”

The report became her excuse. In principle, Military Artists were noble in character, but there were some who were criminals. Even if this young man wasn’t a Military Artist, Leerin didn’t feel like talking to a stranger who suddenly started talking to her.

“Oh, is it Professor Randeon keeping you busy? If so, you don’t have to do it.”

“Huh?”

“The Professor said anything’s fine if you’ll stay in this school. 'Leerin Marfes is a bright student. She can solve simple problems very quickly. Let’s give her a harder assignment to do.' That was what the Professor said. If you’re busy because of that, then it’s okay not to attempt it.”

“……What do you mean?”

Unable to express her astonishment, Leerin felt tired. She didn’t know why the Professor wanted her to stay, but knowing the reason behind the difficult report……Somehow, it didn’t feel like it reflected well on her.

“Even so, you should have talked to the office and let them contact me……” she said weakly.

“If possible, I wanted to meet you in secret……It’s about Layfon.”

“……Huh?”

Time seemed to stop.

“Yes. How should I put it? Actually, it’s not that bad, but when it comes to Layfon, some people may get sensitive. So I wanted to keep this meeting between us.”

“You…you are?”

“It may not be a happy topic for you, but, uh, well……Fate? It probably is that. It’d be great if you can think that way.”

“……Ha.”

She understood the situation even if he didn’t repeat himself. She had no idea what motive he had to get close to her, but now she knew who he was.

The Professor should really have listened to this man’s request.

If it was this man’s request…Then only the Queen could have that much power.

Under this light of understanding, the name of the young man surfaced.

“Then what do you want me……”

That was all she managed to say.

“Ah!”

And was suddenly pulled away. Her vision blurred. She couldn’t make sense of what was happening. The scene of the dim lounge became a series of lines.

Leerin was pulled over in a very exaggerated way.

“Aah!”

She could only make out the young man’s shadow in her blurred vision. She was flying through the air. Being pulled out of the lounge and moving upwards. She was being pulled forcefully, but she wasn’t hurt at all. It felt as if some unknown power had lifted her into the air.

“Hah.”

Finally she was let down on the ground.

A guest had already arrived on the rooftop. A man with wild hair, a stubble of hair trying to be a beard, and wearing a dirty-looking coat. He was surveying the world around him from his high vantage point, his gaze sharp and clear.

“What did you do that for?” Leerin said crossly.

The young man walked leisurely along the roof, looking at the man in the coat reprovingly. But the man in the coat ignored him and continued to study the scenery.

“You took too long, and kept us all waiting. Just how long did I have to wait? Until I married this girl?”

“If you want it, it can be as long as you want. Since it’s you, you can complete Her Majesty’s orders anywhere and anytime.”

“Stop joking. From the day I was born, I had never heard Her Majesty give me an order.”

“That’s what you think, right, Lintence-san?”

“Isn’t it the Queen’s order to kill billions of filth monsters?”

“Aren’t the Queen’s orders to us to protect this city?”

“It never ends when it comes to talking with you.”

“That’s true.” The man in the coat looked disappointed. The young man shrugged.

“……Well.”

Leerin studied them closely, unable to determine whether the two people before her had a strained relationship or not.

‘’(Just how did it turn out like this?)’’

“So, you’re Lintence-sama and Savaris-sama? What do you want with me?” she asked the two Heaven’s Blade Receivers – the pride of Grendan.

<center>◇</center>

Fervent cheering dominated the battle arena.

Layfon felt those eyes looked similar to someone else’s, someone he knew.

“There’s another one behind you.”

“I know.”

Although Felli was slower than him, he wasn’t frustrated about it….If it was Felli, she could have found the enemy even earlier, but that couldn’t be helped. She hated her own ability.

The cheering from the audience drowned out Felli’s voice.

Layfon could see a strong-looking man wearing the badge of the 5th platoon captain on his battle uniform. Meanwhile, the emcee’s voice commented.

“Oh, oh! The audience is cheering Layfon on. He has already participated in a few matches; he’s one of Zuellni’s strongest attackers. In a match against the captain of the 5th platoon, Gorneo, how will he match up!?”

The opponent wore armor around his arms and legs. Judging by the color, the armor was made with red Dite alloy.

‘’(For melee combat……No, not just that.)’’

With that thought, Layfon changed his green Dite into a sword.

“And now what, Gorneo? He can’t protect the flag if he doesn’t stop Layfon.”

Layfon had charged straight in from the beginning of the match, ignoring the psychokinesist of the 5th platoon. His target was the flag in the other team’s base. Sitting on the defensive side, the 5th platoon would have lost the match if they failed to protect their flag. On the contrary, if the captain, Nina, of the offensive team fell, the 17th platoon would lose.

‘’(Melee combat…..Maybe……)’’

What Layfon was concerned about was the red Dite. He stopped and studied the strong-looking man, Gorneo. Gorneo had short silvery hair. His face and body were hard and solid. There was nothing cute at all about his serious and harsh looking face, eyes and nose. Eyes that might look like the eyes of a good man if he smiled, that sharp gaze was staring at Layfon. A huge fist pounded towards him.

Kei was gathered in that fist, surrounding it with red light. The armor on his arm had become something totally different.

“Dispersed Kei……?”

Layfon jumped back.

The huge fist hit the ground. The dancing rubble from that strike didn’t just disperse into the air. Mixed with Kei, sand and soil particles attacked Layfon. At the same time as he leapt back, Layfon released the Kei from his blade through Whirl Kei. Blasts of wind struck down Gorneo’s pieces of earth, causing them to explode.
[[Image:CSR vol03 025.jpg|thumb]]

Within the sand-covered space, Layfon felt a stirring in his opponent’s direction.

“Restoration!”

The key word revealed a red spear and a small body that closed in fast on Layfon’s position.

‘’(This is a red Dite too.)’’

He had already known about this other enemy from the beginning, waiting for her to attack. The problem was …

‘’(What kind of attack?)’’

Layfon was still in the air. It was impossible for him to change his posture, so he decided to settle this in one swift moment when he landed. Green, red, turquoise……The difference between them lay in the amount of black alloy in them. Black alloy made the Dite harder and sturdier, but it also decreased the conductive rate of Kei. Black alloy directly affected the function of the weapon.

Dispersed Kei……This required the highest level of skill in Kei manipulation. To a Military Artist of this type, no Dite could be better than a red Dite.

Having analyzed what he was facing, Layfon couldn’t face this move with an easy manner. He didn’t have the leisure to wait for the enemy to strike first. Dispersed Kei was famous for its variety of offensive moves. Against this type of opponent, Layfon’s correct response was to strike first and attempt to slow down the enemy’s movements.

And in this one swift moment, he had decided on how to slow down his enemy.

Gorneo ''had'' to do something on the other side of the smoke screen.

It should be advantageous for Layfon to slide back further when he landed, aided by the remnants the Kei he used for the Whirl Kei. This way, his opponent would miscalculate.

Layfon added a rotation to his basic sword move and swung the blade backwards against the existing flows of Kei to add momentum to his movement.

“Enke Shoudan!”

A loud, strong voice announced the name of the attack. Kei burst out from the spearhead in the form of bullets of fire. Heat pressed down on Layfon’s head, and he gathered Internal Kei into his wrists as he brought the sword back to him. A huge amount of Kei spread around him. Layfon spun in the air like a top.

Combining the Internal and External Kei….

All around Layfon, Kei spun up into the clouds like a tornado.

“Aaah!”

That tornado dispersed the heat and the voice of his opponent. The enemy with the spear was blown away, but that small body turned in the air and landed on Gorneo’s shoulders.

“Damn. I thought I’d be able to get him.”

It was a small girl with red hair, carrying a red Dite on her back. She had an intimidating look about her.

“Looks like using a variety of Kei techniques won’t work against that guy.”

“I said so already! Speaking of which, how could you attack in that situation? You’re too reckless.”

“Anyway……About that guy……”

They looked for Layfon as the tornado gradually lost strength.

And they were astounded.

“What!”

“No way……”

They found a number of Layfon before them.

“An afterimage attack? And so many!?”

Behind them, on the tree branches, in the sky, in front, to their sides……The two members of the 5th platoon were entirely surrounded by Layfon’s many images.

“A thousand……” Gorneo watched the Layfons around him, biting his lips and feeling a bit dizzy. This was a variation of combined Internal and External Kei – The Thousand Killers.

In reality, there weren’t a thousand, probably just about twenty or so.

With nowhere to escape to, Gorneo and his subordinate received Layfons’ attacks, but the attacks all missed by a few inches. Even though the Dite had a safety lock on it, it would have been fatal to receive that many attacks at once. After receiving the merciful attacks, the two Military Artists fell on the ground.

At about the same time, the siren signaling the destruction of the flag rang out, but the cheers of the audience almost drowned it out. Layfon swung his blade to disperse the remnants of his Kei, and saw the girl with Gorneo……He remembered her name from the news: A member of the 5th platoon, Shante Leite.

“Uhhhhhh!” Shante groaned as she collected herself.

“Bastard,” Gorneo got up slowly, watching Layfon.

His eyes looked like they were staring up from the bottom of a deep valley…Where had he seen it before?

‘’(If I remember correctly, his name is…Gorneo…Luckens…)’’

Luckens……A name that rattled Layfon.

<center>◇</center>

“My performance was perfect today too,” Sharnid praised himself as he spun the two Dites in his hands.

“Yeah, I didn’t expect it to go that smoothly. Nina’s strategy was successful.”

“Hey, hey. Don’t forget that it was all on me, Harley.”

“Of course,” Harley shrugged and took Sharnid’s Dites for maintenance.

“In truth, the captain’s strategies have been pretty successful in the last two matches.”

Sitting in a chair, Layfon listened to their conversation and looked at Nina.

“That was because of everyone’s hard work,” Nina smiled sourly. She didn’t look satisfied.

First, Layfon acted as bait, followed by Nina. Sharnid sneaked through the enemy line, avoiding the psychokinesist as he did so. When Layfon fought enemies, Nina drew out the rest of the enemy teammates to make an opening for Sharnid, who successfully moved into his firing position overlooking the flag.

Sharnid was using close-quarters gun combat, and the technique fitted beautifully with Nina’s strategies.

While trying to reinforce the main attackers, Gorneo and Shante, the rest of the 5th platoon members had been a bit slow in their reaction. Sharnid had always fought long distance. Changing from that to a close range attack had given them unexpected results.

“Sharnid’s hidden ability has given us good results so far…….But that strategy must have been analyzed thoroughly in the last two matches. We still haven’t fought the 1st platoon, Commander Vance’s platoon. So I don’t think we should let down our guard.”

“Hey, hey, I’ve been waiting a long time for this feeling. Don’t smother it with worry.”

“But……”

“Let’s just celebrate our victory today. If you got anything to consider, you can leave it till tomorrow.”

Layfon could tell Nina wanted to say something, but she swallowed it because of Sharnid’s words.

“Okay, let’s do that then.”

“Yeah, let’s leave the terrible topic for now. Let’s celebrate. The usual at Melo? I’ll book a table. Let’s meet up again at 6. Now, dismissed.”

“Hey, don’t just decide on your own,” Nina said. Sharnid was already heading for the showers.

“Oh alright. Dismissed.”

Looking at the Nina like that, Layfon smiled. Someone’s gaze pricked his face, so he turned around.

Standing to the side was Felli, pouting.

<center>◇</center>

The world was polluted.

When did that happen? Why? How did it happen?

Those questions were lost in antiquity. No records remained.

Pollution stopped the normal cycles of life and killed all the creatures. The earth turned red and arid. Wind and sand swallowed the bones of corpses. The plants that adapted and survived were filled with poison. A strange new ecosystem arose in this new world, giving birth to greedy and stubborn filth monsters. This was no longer a place for humans.

Regios.

Humanity’s new earth. The only place where humans, rejected by nature, could live. A world drifting in this world, created by a long lost technique.

In these artificial worlds, people were born, and people died……

At the same time, they fought……

<center>◇</center>

“Number 3! Mifi! I’m gonna sing!”
[[Image:CSR vol03 037.jpg|thumb]]

Mifi grabbed a microphone and all of a sudden the shop was filled with loud cheers.

Zuellni had a number of streets lined with shops. The most prosperous street was the one with numerous stations for roaming buses, parking lots and facilities for people planning to go to other cities – Sanak.

Layfon and everyone else were inside a shop on Sanak Street called Melo. Inside Melo was a bar and a lot of empty space, with only a few tables and chairs. Usually, the bar was full of wines and beers, but today, the shelves were filled with empty bottles. On the counter were trays and trays of sumptuous dishes.

“Oh well. If it’s something they like it’ll be alright even if they aren’t drunk.”

Sitting at the bar, Sharnid placed a wine cup to his lips with dull eyes. This bar had no audio equipment. The members of the 17th platoon and their guests must have brought some along with them.

“Sharnid, aren’t you gonna sing?”

“I’ll pass. My singing isn’t for everyone.”

“Ah, really? Then when do you sing?”

“When I’m alone with someone.”

“Fuun, would that someone be someone not here tonight?”

“You’re harsh,” Sharnid said to the hostess. Sitting next to Sharnid, Layfon was drinking juice and letting the rowdy atmosphere roll over him.

Along with Mifi’s song, singing that didn’t sound too bad echoed through the shop and the male students couldn’t help but cheer. They were Sharnid’s classmates, a male and female choir, reading from scores and chatting at the same time. Harley was also there with his friends. Another group was there, staying slightly distant from the other groups. A group of girls who looked serious and earnest. The atmosphere over there was a bit different. The girls were all chatting happily amongst themselves.
In that group were Meishen and Naruki, and Nina was in the center of the group. Nina was talking to Naruki, who listened with a troubled expression on her face.

‘’(What’s she talking about?)’’ Layfon thought, but he had no intention of walking over to find out. He had just escaped from Nina’s friends and moved over to the bar. He didn’t want to go back to the thick again.

“It really is rowdy here.”

Mifi’s singing and the sound of the door opening drifted over to Layfon. Having already sensed the movement through his Military Artist ears, Layfon turned to watch the door.

“Formed-san?”

“Yo, how’ve you been, ace?”

Formed Garen. The City Police’s Chief of Security walked over with a smile that didn’t match the seriousness on his face.

“Please don’t call me that.”

“Well, isn’t that the truth? No one in Zuellni can defeat you. You’ve already become a legend. What do you think?” He sat down matter-of-factly beside Layfon and asked for a drink from the hostess. He reached out for the food.

At first he had called Layfon “Alseif-kun”, but now he was already calling him “You guy”. Against Formed’s familiarity, Layfon could only shake his head lightly.

“I can’t help with that title, but a lot of things have taught me that being strong alone can’t do anything much.”

“Um, it’s as if you’re talking about someone else. You aren’t that old, but it feels like you’re looking at someone from far away. Have you had some painful experiences?”

Formed Garen was also a fifth year student in Cultivation. In Zuellni, the youngest student was sixteen, so a fifth year student was around twenty years old……Perhaps Layfon felt some pity for Formed Garen. He doubted anyone would object if he said Formed was around thirty. He waited for the Chief to explain what he had come for.

“So do you need anything today? If it’s Ge…. Naruki, she’s over there,” Layfon had almost called Naruki by her first name. Good thing he caught himself so quickly.

“Ah, I came specifically to congratulate you, but it looks like I’ve been misunderstood. I feel so lonely,” Formed smiled.

Layfon had once been asked by Naruki to apply as a temporary member of the City Police. It was a job dealing with events that might involve Military Artists, meaning only Military Artists were capable of doing it. Of course, there was danger involved. Layfon was asked to cooperate with the police and prevent the culprits from escaping.

“Relax, there’s nothing you need to solve right now……But, if possible, I want to ask you a favor.”

“Ha……”

Formed was looking at Layfon’s drink.

“That’s not wine? It might be a problem from my standpoint, but I think in this situation, it’s all right to drink a little. But it doesn’t feel like you want to drink. Anyway, don’t be too harsh on yourself. Your captain is very serious and strict,” Formed turned his gaze on Nina. Layfon looked over too.

Nina Antalk. A Military Artist who formed a platoon when she was only in third year, whereas all the other captains were fourth year or above. Her short, golden hair brightened up the dimness around her. The curves of her face seemed to accentuate her beauty.

“Not a bad looking person. It was tragic that we lost in the last Military Arts competition. You and the captain over there appearing in Zuellni probably is a good thing.”

“Is it really that tragic?” Layfon asked.

All Regios needed pure selenium to function. Selenium, a mineral discovered only after the world was polluted. Low-level Selenium could be found anywhere, as much as one wanted. But a large amount of pure selenium was needed for a city to function, and that could only be found in a mine. The ever-changing paths of Regios revolved around selenium mines. This was assumed to be true, even though people didn’t have maps of the world to check. They could just tell by the yearly re-supply at a selenium mine. And it was a certainty that a selenium mine would reach its limit one day, so….How many mines a city possessed symbolized a city’s lifespan.

The fight between cities for selenium mines took place once every two years. The people living in the cities were the ones fighting in this war. A city’s life and death was directly related to the people living in it, so they had to fight without holding back.

“Yeah, it was very tragic,” Formed frowned, remembering the past.

A city would only fight against the same type of city. For example, Academy City Zuellni would only fight with other cities that specialized in education. In other cities, they might fight with blood, but for Academy Cities, the Alliance of Academy Cities had set down rules for the Military Arts competition, turning the war into a sport that wouldn’t see anyone getting injured.

“It’s hard for someone who’s not an expert to explain……Anyway, they totally owned us. They predicted our every move, and they went through our openings whenever they wanted. That was the type of feeling I got.”

“Was it because they had excellent psychokinesists?”

Psychokinesist……Military Artists with a special type of Kei who could turn it into psychokinesis and use it to gather and analyze a massive amount of information.

“Well, I don’t really know much about the opposing force,” Formed scanned the shop. “Speaking of which, the psychokinesist of your team isn’t here? The Student President’s sister.”

“She doesn’t like this type of atmosphere,” Layfon replied.

“I see.”

Felli was a genius in psychokinesis, but she hated her ability. Although her brother forced her into the platoon, she didn’t plan to use her true strength.

Layfon couldn’t do anything about it.

To Layfon, born in Grendan and given the title of Heaven’s Blade Receiver, he hadn’t used his true strength in the platoon matches. It wasn’t because there wasn’t a need to use his true strength, and not because he would be invincible if he displayed his true strength. Layfon came to Zuellni in the first place in order to give up Military Arts but he had become a platoon member and was working hard for the next Military Arts competition. The fact that he ended up fighting again was surprising to him.

“Do all Military Artists in Grendan have to have strength like yours?” Formed asked.

“…… Not really. What is it?”

“Ah, nothing. Besides you, the captain of the 5th platoon also came from Grendan, and both of you are platoon members. I don’t know any Military Artists from other cities, perhaps it’s just my prejudice. From an outsider’s perspective, Grendan’s a place of monsters.”

“Uh-huh……” Layfon nodded without putting meaning into it, and asked. “Was Gorneo Luckens born in Grendan?”

“Yeah, seems so. What? Do you know him?”

“No, I don’t know him directly, but the name Luckens sounds familiar.”

“Oh, then he was probably born into a pretty good house.”

Layfon smiled.

“I don’t know why he came here, but to him and I, we have a certain confidence in our own skills. Before coming to Zuellni, we fought many battles. Of course, there were opponents like monsters.”

Layfon found it hard to say he was also a monster.

“Then I’m fine,” Formed smiled, but something shone in the depth of his eyes. Perhaps he had understood something, or perhaps nothing at all. He was a student but also a person who had handled all sorts of things in the city. Nothing could escape his eyes – a person’s language, expression…On the contrary, Formed’s eyes seemed to be a trap, tempting people to make a mistake. It looked like Layfon couldn’t relax after all.

“Ah, chief.”

Naruki and Meishen came over.

“Oh.”

“Did something happen?”

Looking at Naruki, who was all keen and ready, Formed sighed. “Am I someone who would neglect my work? I’m still a student.”

“You aren’t too convincing,” Not knowing what Formed was keeping from her, Naruki relaxed her shoulders, discontent.

“Aren’t you the workaholic?”

“I’m not up to Chief’s level yet, but I’ll catch up soon.”

“Never mind. Don’t waste your precious school life.”

“It’s my right to choose.”

Looking at the silly conversation between a superior and his subordinate, Layfon and Meishen exchanged a glance and smiled.

“…..Is it about time to go?”

“About time. Need me to take you back?”

“It’s okay. There’s Naruki.”

“Ah……it really is ok.”

“Right.”

Both Naruki and Layfon were in Military Arts, and they both worked for the City Police. Meishen was safer with Naruki than with any man.

Mifi wasn’t around. Layfon checked and saw her still reading music sheets.

“She can’t stop once she’s started singing.”

“I’ll take her back then,” Layfon said.

Naruki returned to the conversation. “Well then, we’ll go back first. Layton, thanks for tomorrow.”

“Oh, yeah. Is it really alright? If you really can’t, we can change the date.”

“Don’t worry. I’m pretty accurate at the timing of being a light bulb.”

“Gelni!” Meishen said as she pulled the smiling Naruki out of the shop.

“What’s going on tomorrow?”

“We’re hanging out.”

“Oh.”

“Originally the four of us were going together, but Naruki and Mifi said something sudden has come up and they can’t go. We wanted to change the date, but in the end, we still decided on tomorrow.”

“Is that girl beside Naruki going to go?”

“Yes, I’m going to thank her for the bento she made.”

“…..I feel that I’m wasting my precious school life because of work, but you’re wasting it in another way.”

“……Ha?”

Formed slowly shook his head and said nothing.

<center>◇</center>

She held the heavy staff Dite in a place devoid of people.

‘’(I still can’t control it completely.)’’

Not long ago…….She trained here after the fight with the Phase 1 filth monster and after Nina had fainted.

Nina hadn’t wanted anyone to see her.

It was the same with Felli. She didn’t want anyone to know. Standing on the outskirts of the city, Felli gazed at the faraway command tower. There wasn’t any wind today. Without wild dancing sand, the nighttime scenery around the command tower was clear and unhampered. Felli thoroughly understood the inconvenience of being unable to pierce this darkness.

The world was clearer and more vivid.

She knew. Countless stars dangled in the sky, in the darkness opposite the command tower. They shone and sparkled beautifully beyond the reach of the city’s artificial light. The pale moonlight shined down, as if to look through the polluted earth.

Felli knew there was another lifeform besides filth monsters in this world. Microscopic creatures that weren’t categorized as animal or insect. She knew those sad little creatures lived in the depths of the earth, their power of life not losing out to that of the filth monsters. She knew of that point of grandness.

Knew. Filth monsters howled under this moonlight that seemed to come from a dream or perhaps, from reality. Sad and lonely conquerors.

Felli understood this world better than anyone else.

“Ah……”She breathed in the silent air.

She relaxed, and bathed in the light that ran down her long hair to illuminate her surroundings. The light emitted from her hair suppressed the darkness and enveloped her.

Psychokinesis.

A huge amount of psychokinesis exuded from her body, conducted through her hair. Felli was a genius in psychokinesis. Even psychokinesists born without training in the special power but born with their hair emitting light could not be like Felli. It was the same with psychokinesists schooled and familiar with their ability. The power of psychokinesis couldn’t be increased through training.

The Kei of psychokinesis flew into her Dite. Felli did not need a keyword to restore her weapon, a translucent staff made of flakes.

The flakes scattered, leaving nothing in Felli’s hand. The flakes were connected to Felli through the power of psychokinesis. They became her eyes, mouth and ears. These flakes increased the communication range of a psychokinesist. Felli sent the flakes out to feel the existence of the world. She filtered out the burns of pollution, going back to the time when humanity and earth existed in harmony. She experienced the pale world of night, imagining a picture dotted with the jewels of the stars.

It was a psychokinesist’s privilege to feel the world outside the city. Anyone else would have to wear an environmental suit to walk outside the city. If they went out naked, their lungs would rot in five minutes. Their skin would burn. They had no way of touching this world, because the world rejected them. Even so, there were people who still had to get out. Those who fought.

“I don’t understand,” Felli murmured.

Through her innate feeling and the feeling she acquired through maturity, something else felt peculiar. Perhaps…. Something wasn’t right. This feeling was similar to the one she had when she met him.

Layfon Alseif.

A feeling of hating one’s own ability, but being admired by others……. His past was different from Felli’s, and for that past, he planned to abandon Military Arts. Layfon’s past was more strained and distressing. He had experienced more hurt and pain than Felli. He was different from her, who was born to be a psychokinesist.

No. If it was about ability, then his ability had forced him to choose the path of a Military Artist. Layfon used his ability as a tool for survival. People wanting Felli to become like that were all around her.

Both Layfon and Felli attempted to head for a path other than the paths they were already treading, and both had experienced setbacks. And their experiences were different. Layfon had experienced a setback, whereas Felli chose to have a setback.

‘’(Could I be wrong?)’’

‘’(No.)’’

Layfon came to Zuellni for a road besides Military Arts. What prevented him from chasing his dream were Zuellni’s current situation and Felli’s brother, who knew of Layfon’s past – Karian.

At first, Layfon hated it. He should have hated the platoon match…… But he didn’t look like that now. He didn’t look keen in the matches, but he didn’t give up fighting.

‘’(He really is indecisive.)’’

He hadn’t given up on finding a path outside Military Arts, but he didn’t ignore what he was capable of doing.

And people thought he was zealous.

‘’(A helplessly good-natured person.)’’

But perhaps, the road Layfon picked was right.

‘’(Or……)’’

Or…… feeling something murky weighing on her, she shook her head and called back the flakes. She came here to clear her mind. Wasn’t it meaningless to consider so much……

“?”

Something was out there in the darkness. She had almost missed it because of the mountains. It wasn’t possible to discover it through the reflection of light. She probed with ultrasound and electromagnetic waves. The flakes approached the source of the disturbance. It wasn’t far. Judging by the city’s speed, that thing was two days or so from Zuellni. If she let the flakes head for that thing’s location, daylight would arrive. The flakes hovered a short distance from it and began their investigation.

Looking at the numbers surfacing in her consciousness, Felli swallowed.

“This is……”

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume2 Chapter5

2009-11-07T05:15:42Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 5: Things in life */

===Chapter 5: Things in life===

The tight armor-suit felt cool on his skin. The suits looked like they'd be heavy and hot on the outside, but didn’t feel hot after he put them on. They had surprisingly good ventilation. He had worn something like this back in Grendan. Wearing the suit wasn’t new to him.

Under the light, one could just make out the color of his skin beneath the sheer cloth used for filtering pollutants outside the city.

The fitting was done at the last moment, so this was his first time wearing this suit.

He left the fitting room.

“It feels fine,” Layfon said.

He was underneath the city, inside what was called the waist of the city, located beneath the Engine Room and connected to the multi-legs. A space that was basically a gap.

A lot of work, mostly involving the maintenance of the multi-legs, started and ended here.

And in here right now were Layfon, Karian and a couple other students.

The student leader of the technology course let out a relieved sigh. On his face were traces of sleepless nights.

“That’s great, next is the helmet……”

The helmet was made of two parts. The hard component that made up the outer part of the helmet pressed down on the same material as the cloth that made up the armored suit. The cloth was cut according to the contours of Layfon’s face. Once he put on the helmet, his face was sealed from the outside world. Lastly, the student leader connected the piece of cloth hanging out from beneath the helmet to the suit to cover Layfon's neck.

Nothing illuminated the helmet. In total darkness, the Student President sent out a signal to someone through his transmitter.

A scene of somewhere else appeared before Layfon.

Barren earth greeted Layfon’s eyes.

“Oh……”

Right before him was the desolate and sterile earth, with cracks like spider webs across its surface. The dry smell of the earth drifted into his nose. Wind filled with a huge amount of sand beat against Layfon as it blew past him……Like an illusion, the clear images coming through the helmet gave him the feeling that he was seeing things with his own eyes and feeling things with his own body.

“Does it work?”

Felli’s voice.

But she wasn’t beside him.

“Perfect.”

“That’s good,” came the cool reply.

The helmet was connected to Felli’s flakes. They replaced Layfon’s vision and conveyed to him all kinds of information. This way, he wouldn’t have to see the world with his own eyes and risk burning them through contact with the pollutants, and he would also avoid the inconvenience of the sand sticking onto the helmet and obstructing his vision.

“Then everything’s prepared.”

In his harness hung the Dite he got from Harley. It differed from the normal Dite in that it was slightly longer. A small and thin slab of metal curved inward from the handle, and on it were three holes.

This was the completed version of the Adamandite……And its inventor still hadn’t shown up.

Lastly, Layfon equipped himself with four more Dites.

“Please use the bike,” Karian pointed at the thing beside him.

It was a vehicle from the past that had long since lost its original function. Its design was wide but delicate. Underneath the dim light, liquid silver ran across its black outer shell.

The rubber wheels could not be used on the barren earth. Long distances were out of the question, and there was little meaning in making using the wheels for short distances. The obvious conclusion was to adjust the design in a way that was similar to how the robotic legs moved. Even so, its movement far exceeded the speed of robotic legs. Every city had a few of these bikes for emergencies.

The seat for the person needing rescue had been taken off this bike.

Layfon took his seat and switched on the engine. A low rumble sounded out from beneath the vehicle as the bike vibrated.

Karian and the others went to the control room, and the gate leading to the outside world opened. A lift lowered Layfon to the ground.

Furious wind and the city’s slowly moving multi-legs surrounded Layfon. As the lift descended, he gazed at the mountain protruding from the ground far away.

The filth monster was there.

It would take him one day to get there……The long and lonely journey began.

<center>◇</center>

Time rewinds to just a short while before Layfon’s departure. This was the hospital room.

“This is……”

At the voice that sounded lost, Layfon looked away from the vase. It was Nina. The nurse had removed the needles from her back, turned her over and pulled a blanket over her. The remaining light of the sunset shone through the window. Light and shadow separated the room into two colours. Except for the dusky red on Nina’s bed, everywhere else was dim.

Layfon turned on the light. It reflected off the whitewashed walls and shooed away the darkness. Nina squinted at the dazzling light and saw Layfon's silhouette.

“This is the hospital.”

“Hospital……?”

“Don’t you remember?”

“……Uh……”

She slowly shook her head as she watched the ceiling, followed by a light sigh. The sound of quiet movements from nurses, patients and visitors outside the room caused small vibrations in the air.

Layfon looked at the vase again. In it sat Sharnid’s flowers.

“I see, so I fainted.”

“You overused your Kei, senpai.”

Layfon felt suffocated at the sparseness of the conversation. Nina gradually reached the logical conclusion she didn’t want to accept it……A premonition of her struggling to escape and failing at it.

“Were you watching?” she said.

Watching the vase, Layfon felt her gaze stab one side of his face, but the Nina at the edge of his vision was looking at the window painted red by the sunset.

“No.”

“Do you find me ridiculous?”

“I didn’t laugh.”

“But I want to laugh at myself.”

He sensed the blanket move a little.

“I’m so unsightly……”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why?” Irritation filled her question. Mixed in it was also the sound of crying, but he didn’t attempt to confirm that. Perhaps……He didn’t want to look at the Nina gazing at the sunset.

“This might seem cruel, but I think some things can only be understood after a near-death experience. No one can help with that.”

“And this is one of them?” she asked in a mocking tone. Mocking herself.

Layfon nodded.

“……We have to give up on the next platoon match.”

“……I see.”

She must have understood it.

“Did I waste my time?”

“Waste?”

“I want to win and become stronger. In that case, haven’t I been wasting my time?”

“Have you lost just because you can’t participate in the next match?”

“That’s not it!” She tried to sit up, her face twisted. Her entire body hurt so much that she couldn’t even sit up properly. She lay back down heavily, the pillow supporting the sudden weight of her head.

“……Even so, I still want to win and get stronger. If I stop here and can’t do anything in the real match, then nothing else is worth mentioning.”

“True.”

“So haven’t I been wasting my time?”

She didn’t turn to him. Inside the blanket, her body seemed to become smaller.

“……At first, I thought it would be enough if I used my own strength and helped out Zuellni in the next Military Arts competition,” she said softly, still not turning to face him. “But I got a bit greedy. Because you’re so strong. I was scared when I first witnessed it. I wondered whether you were even human, but when I confirmed you were, desire came to me. I didn’t want just to help, I wanted to become the driving force, the core of victory. I thought the 17th platoon had become stronger even though there was no proof of it. If you want to laugh, then go ahead.”

Layfon shook his head solemnly.

“But I lost the match. Of course. And I feel it was fortunate that we lost. That match corrected my error, but I stopped moving forward after that……If that’s the case, what do I have to do to win?”

As long as the team became stronger.

The answer was simple, but Layfon didn’t voice it.

He understood a little of Nina’s line of thinking. Sharnid had a lukewarm attitude, and Felli clearly had no interest at all.

Especially because Felli told him that she wouldn’t use her true strength. She hated herself for being a psychokinesist.

The strength of a team showed in their coordination. It was meaningless for one person to be strong.

The opposing team had demonstrated this truth in the previous match.

“I thought only I needed to become strong. Even if I can’t fight alongside you, at least I can be strong enough not to become a burden, so……”

So she increased the time spent training herself?

The unusual training schedule meant she had a high evaluation of Layfon’s strength.

“But I might have wasted my time.”

Something quiet and heavy pushed down on the air in the room.

“…Does senpai know about the irregularity in your Kei breathing?”

“Huh?”

“I mean the breath of Kei. Senpai was very painful in that last moment.”

“Ah, Ahah……”

The sudden change in topic confused her.

“The irregularity of your Kei breath shows you’ve wasted your training, to a certain point. It’s natural for that to happen because you lie to your body and, despite your exhaustion, you continued to use Kei. This is the same theory as how one can’t breathe in at will while exercising. When a person first breathes with Kei, the Kei vein generates an amount of Kei that’s larger than usual. The training method for the Kei vein is different from how you increase the capacity of your lungs. In the final phase of Kei training, you can live your daily life using the breath of Kei without having to use Internal- and External-type Kei.”

“Layfon……?”

“It’s hard work to maintain the Kei breath without generating a Kei flow, but if that can be done, then it’ll increase the person’s sensitivity to her Kei and the amount of Kei she holds. It’s like the Kei becomes your nervous system. Kei breathing is the foundation of using Kei.”

Kei breathing is the foundation of using Kei.

That was explained in the junior textbook in Military Arts.

But he had said something that wasn’t included in the textbook. None of the textbooks mentioned maintaining a daily life with Kei breathing.

“If humans with a Kei vein want to survive by relying on Military Arts, then it’s meaningless to live the same as normal people. They breathe differently, so the meanings are different. Please look at the flow of Kei as more important than blood. Believe the information from the Kei flow more than what you feel from your nervous system. Don’t become a blood bag that thinks, but please become a formless body of Kei that thinks,” he said lightly.

Nina remained silent and inert as she listened. She watched him with surprise, her eyes slightly red.

“If you want to live by the Military Arts, then give up trying to live as a human.”

He said that to the Nina who was at ease because he was a human – don’t live as humans do.

“That’s all I can tell senpai,” he smiled. It was a forced smile, so it must have looked quite stiff. He could feel the hard muscles of his face.

“Have you noticed? Sharnid-senpai has a new Dite.”

“Huh?”

“He seems to know how to use gun-fu. I don’t know what level he’s at. You can check later. Perhaps we can have more variation in strategies now. But all the formations we've used so far have used everyone to attack; maybe you can do it aother way and stay at the back. My brain’s terrible with strategies, and they probably aren’t right, so I have to leave it to Senpai.”

“……”

“I’m good at fighting alone, but I’m terrible when fighting in a team. It’s not easy to fight while thinking of the comrades fighting alongside me. Frankly, I feel that the battle arena is too small.”

“Layfon……”

“Please give me orders, and I’ll try to act them out to the best of my ability. Sharpid-senpai seems to have his own thinking on this. As for Felli-senpai……Well, let’s work hard together.”

He stammered out those last words, so he laughed to cover them.

“It’s all up to senpai whether we can become the strongest platoon, so please don’t abandon us.”

“Abandon you……How could I……”

Nina recalled her recent actions.

Yes, it wasn’t strange to think she had abandoned them when she was training to become strong by herself.

“Yeah……I’ve nothing to say.”

“I’m not against senpai getting stronger. I’ll help out the best I can if there’s anything I can do. Although all I can do is teach you how to train your Kei…If you can find anything more useful than this, then learn from me as much as you can.”

He smiled, a bit embarrassed. This time his smile might have been even stiffer. Please don’t abandon us……That felt just like a kid not wanting to part with someone.

Had he come to like the 17th platoon this much……? Without knowing himself……?

Or was it because of……her?

He didn’t want to leave Nina Antalk?

''(Which is it?)''

He wasn’t sure himself.

“I see……So I’m the only one who's wavering.”

Her soft voice stopped his train of thought.

“We’re comrades, so let’s get stronger together.”

He couldn’t deny the other him who was happy thanks to the intense light in her eyes.

<center>◇</center>

“It was like you were saying your last words.”

“Huh?”

The bike moved forward, bumping across the deserted earth. He was already driving on the smoothest surface, but he wasn’t sure what good it did. He'd had training back in Grendan for driving, but he had never driven for so long a distance. There was a spare tire. If possible, he didn’t want to encounter a situation where he had to use it.

[[Image:CSR vol02 227.jpg|thumb]]
The sun had sunk down in the west. The headlights cut out a circle from the darkness around him.

As long as he got the location right, he’d arrive there, so he constantly checked the compass on the bike's dashboard as he drove.

And Felli was guiding him, so things shouldn't be confusing.

He still hadn’t taken any action at this distance regarding the filth monster. One reason was because of the limited preparation time and movement, but the main reason was his need to coordinate with Felli’s information.

Felli’s voice came through the flake on his helmet. “I heard……What you said in the hospital room.”

“Those weren’t my last words,” he laughed.

“But it’s not strange to think so in this situation, right?”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“But I don’t plan to lose.”

“You didn’t say you wouldn't die.”

“I don’t know anything besides the fact that the filth monster is male. I can’t say what isn’t certain.”

“See?”

He felt the low howling of the wind through his armor-suit. The pollutants beat against him.

On the other side of the skin-thin suit lay a dead world.

Nothing lived except the filth monsters. On the barren earth, shards of soil jutted from the ground. Pollution poisoned the air. Contact with pollutants would cause burns, the skin peeling off in flakes. If one breathed in the air, one’s lungs would rot.

One person was in this dead world.

The uneasy feeling of being in a place he shouldn’t be invaded Layfon.

He had fought in this dead world numerous times, fighting continuously in an arena that was far wider and vaster than any city, but filled with a sense of suffocation. Was he truly alive right now? Even that feeling of “Of course I'm alive” was fading.

His mission was all that kept him going in this place, so when he faced battle, he always felt his life was somewhere far, far away from him.

“I don’t plan to say my last words here,” he repeated.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Fon Fon……”

He almost crashed.

“Have you really decided on that name?” Embarrassed at the nickname that didn’t suit the current atmosphere, he steadied the vehicle.

“I’ve decided.”

There was stubbornness in her icy voice.

“Can you not use that name?”

“No……I remember. We were deciding on something to call me. How did we end up deciding on your nickname?”

“……Don’t ask me.”

He didn’t even get a say in the name of Fon Fon.

“Ah……I get it, because my brother showed up. He has to interfere in everything I do. My emotionless and tearless brother is the cause of my misfortune. I pray daily that he’ll be forced to withdraw because he’s been exposed using public funds for private purposes and other crimes he’s committed.”

“What are you saying……”

Her solemn expression surfaced in his mind.

“Then you decide.”

“Now?”

“I’m bored, so you can either talk to me, or you can make some funny jokes?”

Yes, there was still some time before he reached his destination.

“Um, I can’t, but……”

“Please don’t make jokes. I’ll get a headache if you turn into Sharnid-senpai.”

“…Then what do I do?”

“Just think of what to call me.”

“Um……”

“Hurry……”

He was troubled. Anyway, all he needed was to say what he thought.

“……Felli-chan?”

“I’m already used to that. I've been called that since I was very little. Use more creativity. This name’s denied.”

“Felli-chi?”

“I feel like a moron. Rejected.”

Then what about when Meishen was called Mei-chi? But he didn’t say that to Felli. Recently, he had been calling her Mei. Speaking of which, that was how he called Naruki too, but that seemed different……

“Felli-chon.”

“Is that even meaningful? Rejected.”

“Felli-yan.”

“My name is not a joke. Rejected.”

“Felli-lin.”

“Are you laughing?”

“Felli Felli.”

“I hate rehash. Rejected.”

“Feffen.”

“Sounds like a strange laugh. Rejected.”

“Fernandez.”

“Who's that? Rejected.”

“Felli-tan.”

“Do you want to die~? Rejected.”

“…Sorry, I give up.”

“You’re not permitted to give up.”

What should he do……He wanted to hold his head. Besides, the name was usually shortened or changed to add variations to its tone. Or he could use some similar thing as an analogy……

“……”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

He decided not to say she was a cold, bloodless doll. That would definitely hurt.

“Please hurry,” she urged. His head felt like stone. He couldn’t think of anything else.

''(Fe?......What is that?)''

If he shortened her name, it became some strange sound. What if Naruki became Fekki? How strange.

“Hurry up. What’s with you?”

“Felli,” he said in resignation. There were no variations and no comparisons.

Just her original name. Perhaps that sounded rough. Even so, he couldn’t help it. He had no other ideas.

''(How about that?)''

“……”

“……Say it again.”

“Um…Felli.”

“Mm……”

Felli’s image wasn’t displayed in the helmet, but he felt he saw her. Her right hand caressed her chin, left hand supporting her right elbow, her head slightly cocked, her gaze lightly stroking the sky above her......This image of her surfaced in his mind.

“It’s not creative at all, and you didn’t put any effort into it. No respect for your senpai at all, and there’s no affection for me. It’s so bad that you can’t call it a name.”

So that didn’t work……Well……

Layfon tried to think of another name, but instead was surprised by what Felli said next.

“Never mind, we’ll just use that.”

“Heh?” He was rather shocked, then glad of her letting him go.

“But you have to say it with more emotion. I don’t need the respect for a senpai though. Call me that from now on, okay?”

“Uh…Um…”

“Well, Fon Fon. Say it again.”

“Ah, yes……Felli.”

“Good.”

Layfon relaxed.

“Promise me.”

“……What?”

“Call me that from now on, ok?”

“Uh, in front of others too?”

“Of course.”

“And Fon Fon too?”

“Sure.”

“Sorry, please forgive me.”

If he was called Fon Fon during team training and after school……

(No……NoNoNO!)

That would be so embarrassing.

“Fine, then I’ll call you Fon Fon when we’re alone.”

He could truly relax now.

“In exchange for that, I’ll add one more condition.”

“Yes, leave it to me,” Layfon said, not really having heard what Felli had just said. He’d agree to any request as long as she didn’t call him Fon Fon in front of everyone.

“Please remember to call me by that name when you return.”

“……”

“It’s a promise.”

Those were the last words; Felli stopped talking after that.

He took a quick nap before dawn. The swaying of his body stuck to him like echoes. And like that, he lay on the vehicle and closed his eyes.

The wind had died down and everywhere looked dead. He didn’t know what Felli was doing on the other end of the flakes. She hadn’t spoken to him for a while now.

It was really quiet, as if even his own voice had died off. When he moved slightly, the sound of Dites bumping against the bike shook his eardrums. On the other hand, the feeling of him being alive was more intense than ever.

He knew there was no such thing, but that feeling came unbidden to him. He had no one beside him, no one to help him. The people living in Zuellni were far behind him, and he had no idea where the other cities were.

What was Leerin doing?

This flashed through his mind.

After the attack on Zuellni, he had only written one letter to Leerin. He felt that he was waiting for a return letter from somewhere. It wasn’t that strange that he still hadn’t received a letter. The roaming buses hadn’t delivered any letters, so the mail would probably come soon.

He candidly told her about the current Layfon in that letter. How he was forced to transfer into the Military Arts, enter a platoon and fight the larvae……And his inability to give up on the Military Arts. What would Leerin think? Would she smile bitterly and say “Can’t be helped since it’s you,” or would she lecture him with a pink face……

The harness swayed and the Dites jostled against each other.

(I……am quite afraid of being alone.)

He deeply thought that. He used to write to Leerin every week, but he hadn’t been doing that now. One reason was his losing the fresh and curious feeling he had when he first started school. The second reason was that Leerin didn’t write as much in her letters to him. He felt a distance between them.

He hadn’t received a letter from Leerin since her last letter.

''(It must be the distance between cities.)''

In the time when cities couldn’t contact each other, Layfon was doubtful as to whether his letter had arrived safely at Grendan. He didn’t think Leerin would not want to write to him. The unreliable connection between cities, the Layfon involved in this situation, the Layfon who thought of Leerin in this time…… He arrived at this conclusion from all these factors combined.

Had the people he met in this city filled his loneliness of not being with Leerin?

No.

It didn’t fill his loneliness. It replaced it. The truth of leaving Leerin remained in him. He was just so busy with school and everything that he hadn’t the time to feel lonely.

This was the Layfon in Zuellni. Perhaps it was a good thing that he wasn’t as tense as he was in Grendan.

''(Although there’s a lot of troublesome things, and I’m doing what I did before……)''

And as part of his life in Zuellni, he was out here in the open, in a desolate environment, totally isolated from his normal life.

Particles of sand beat against the vehicle and his Dites.

The wind was rising again. Listening to the sound of the wind, Layfon’s consciousness sank into shallow darkness.

<center>◇</center>

Time rewinds back to just after Layfon’s departure.

The door was pushed open.

“Yo, Nina! Are you alright?”

“I don’t think that’s a question you ask a patient.”

“Yep. Just like this!” Sharnid walked into the room, smiling flippantly as he winked at a nurse walking past in the corridor. Harley was right behind him.

It was the morning of a weekend. Nina put aside the book she was reading.

“What’re you reading? Ugh, a textbook! And it’s 'Military Arts Principles I'……Why’re you reading this now?”

Nina nodded as she confirmed the Dites hanging around Sharnid’s waist.

“Because I have something I need to relearn.”

“Haha, even though you fainted all of a sudden, you’re still so serious,” Sharnid shrugged.

“Forget it. What about today’s match? Is it okay not to watch it?”

“If you want to know, I can bring you the disc later. Because of the sudden holiday, it was too abrupt to arrange a date, so I’ve got time on my hands.”

If so, then just go and watch the match. But Nina didn’t say that. Harley’s smile lacked his usual cheerfulness, and that bothered her.

“But it’s tragic to faint due to over-exhaustion. And you’re still so serious about it after fainting; I greatly admire our captain.”

“……I’m sorry,” Nina apologized, lowering her head.

“No, no…” Sharnid said. “I don’t want you to reflect on this. I’ve that that sort of thing many times already…… besides, I have something else to talk about today. Sorry I have to push back visiting the patient.”

“Something else?”

Sharnid snatched up his Dite. “For someone who’s not in a team, my words probably don’t mean much……” He said as he deftly spun the larger-than-palm-sized Dite.

“Everyone has secrets, but there are two types: ones that don’t matter, and ones that people take notice of. I don’t care if it’s the former type, but the latter……”

A rapid movement from him.

The Dite restored in his hand in the blink of an eye and it was pointed right at Harley.

[[Image:CSR vol02 243.jpg|thumb]]

“Sharnid!” Nina said loudly. A smile still hung on Sharnid’s face. As for Harley, he was frozen stiff at the sudden Dite’s appearance.

“If my comrade’s keeping secrets, then I can’t move freely, cuz I’ll worry that he’ll stab me in the back. For example, whether this guy would shoot the wrong target…Something like that,” Sharnid stared closely at his Dite pressing down on Harley’s forehead.

Meaning he was suspecting Harley?

“How could that be?” Nina said.

“Harley is my childhood friend. He’ll never betray me.”

“I don’t doubt this guy’s skill, and I don’t think he’ll betray the team, but it seems we were the only two left out.”

“What?” Nina looked at Harley. Resignation filled his stiff expression.

“Harley?”

“……Sorry.”

“The weapon you made in haste a while ago was for Layfon, right? That ridiculously huge sword, just what was it for?”

Nina remembered, but she had never suspected Harley. Recently, she was only thinking about herself.

“What do you guys plan for the ridiculously strong Layfon with that type of a weapon? I think I can guess. Felli’s with you guys and that's enough confirmation. But if it’s possible, I want to hear it from you.”

Nina kept silent.

“Sorry,” Harley’s lips were clamped tight against each other.

Slightly shaky lips opened again.

Nina had forgotten her own breathing, and the same feeling remained with her as she listened.

After that……

The nurse went in to deliver lunch, and seeing the bed empty, she ran out into the corridor.

<center>◇</center>

Layfon arrived at his destination shortly after noon.

He drank down protein paste with a straw, and confirmed the information conveyed through Felli’s flake.

The high and jutting mountain gave off an unapproachable bearing.

The scene appeared on his helmet.

The inert filth monster was fastened onto the surface of the mountain, its posture almost the same as the image in the second photo. The filth monster’s body had slightly expanded. Its length, from head to tail, was long like a snake’s. Two insect-like wings extended from its back. Muddy green veins spread across the tattered wings, which were weakened to such an extent that they were bent, almost broken off, by the wind.

Legs were attached to the curled body of the filth monster, and the claws of the forelegs weren’t dug into the wall of the mountain. The filth monster must be degenerating. A thin layer of white covered its green compound eye.

The prey whose nutritious value was much higher than the pollutants…the filth monster made no reaction to the prey, the human standing within reach.

As if it was dead.

But what about the sudden chill he felt?

“How is it?” Felli said.

“A Phase 4 or 5 male. I can tell that from its shriveled legs.”

“Is it that thing in the photo?”

“The filth monsters lose their legs every time they molt……Uh, females are different. They stay underground when they’re laying eggs.”

He dismounted the bike and took out two Dites from his harness.

In his right hand was the special Dite that Harley made.

“When its body’s grown old, its legs will completely degenerate. This is the mature phase. Once the male fully degenerates, it’ll be able to fly, and that is its cruelest and wildest form. Next is the second maturation phase with increasing functions and variations. The form of a Phase 2 is never stable.”

“Fon Fon?”

Leaning stiffly against the bike, he tried to relax his body. It was meaningless to get anxious now. He allowed his Kei to run through his body.

“Just like its unstable appearance, it’s also hard to judge the filth monster’s level of strength. We have to be particularly wary of Phase 2 filth monsters. If this filth monster is in its first phase, then there’re still ways to handle it.”

“What are they?” Incomprehension seeped through Felli’s voice, but Layfon wasn’t paying attention.

“A Phase 2 filth monster is rare, so perhaps there’s no need to be concerned, or it’s simply not possible to recognize it. But there is a difference between knowing and not knowing. If one knows, then one can take appropriate action. Please remember, sometimes Phase 2 filth monsters don’t attack humans because they’ve learned to be more than simply violent.”

“Fon Fon……What’re you saying?”

“Something that might be my last words.”

Cracking noises. As if the air was rent apart. A loud noise hiding the sound of a secret’s breath. The chill on Layfon’s skin turned into needle sharp pain. As the noise increased in intensity, the tattered wings collapsed and the scales covering the filth monster’s body peeled off in flakes. The entire compound eye popped out and rolled down the side of the mountain.

Felli’s voice intruded. “I've got a report……Zuellni’s changed direction. The entire city’s made a rapid turn.”

“As expected……”

Now he knew why Zuellni kept moving straight before. The city hadn’t discovered the filth monster, or maybe it thought it was only a corpse. In the end, Zuellni found out it wasn’t that at all, so it changed its route.

“Fon Fon…This is……”

“It’s molting. This is my first time seeing this, but it has to be that.”

“Zuellni’s changed direction……Please escape!”

Layfon ignored her. “Restoration 01,” he said the key word, restoring the Dite in his left hand. The green blade tore through the air.

“It’s too late. This guy was waiting. After molting……It holds a different body type and will get hungrier than usual. It was suppressing its molting moment until the prey got too close. The reason why a Phase 2 filth monster is particularly aggressive is because of its extreme hunger.”

It was too late for Layfon to escape. The filth monster had waited for the smell of prey to get close, to the point where it couldn’t escape. Layfon readied his fighting stance and increased the amount and density of his Internal Kei. The back of the monster split into two and sticky body fluid oozed from it, down the face of the mountain in many branches.

Low howling made the air vibrate. The filth monster announced its rebirth, lifting itself from the empty shell to spread its pure and moisture-filled wings. The intense red of the wings stained the sky.

The liquid covering its head fell off, revealing a head different from before. A long protruding jaw, sharp teeth on the outside, diamond blue light like a human’s eyes……It looked very similar to an insect.

“Phase 1……Please remember. You can defeat this monster if you are prepared to sacrifice half a city.”

He connected the end of the restored Dite to the end of the other Dite in his right hand. He grasped hold of the connected Dites carefully with his right hand then charged forward.

Internal-type Kei – Whirl Kei.

Strengthening his feet, he leaped onto the face of the mountain.

The monster’s wings vibrated as the liquid enveloping its body shot out, painting rainbows around it. It must have caught the scent of countless humans in Zuellni. The filth monster’s nose pointed directly behind Layfon.

The steel threads bounded up the entire filth monster, the action quiet as a mouse.

The filth monster kept on ascending without signs of slowing. The difference between their two sizes was too huge. Unable to suppress his opponent, Layfon was lifted up to dangle in midair.

''(If it were Lintence, he could cut off its wings like this……)''

As expected, its shell was much harder than a larva’s……He wondered how Nina and the others would think of him if they saw him like this……As he returned his attention to the current situation, he focused on binding the monster tighter.

Intense vibration shot down his wrist. The wings beat fast and rapid, and the steel threads bounced off them.

“It still isn’t working……”

Layfon didn’t have the time to try another tactic and aim at the base of the wings. The filth monster was now in the air and it could head for Zuellni whenever it wanted. Layfon let the steel threads loose into two bundles; one binding the filth monster, the other shot into the face of the mountain.

“I’ll have it land.”

The monster rumbled in pain. Its body twisted and its wings danced more intensely, but the monster failed to ascend. At the same time, keen wailing came from the mountain.

Layfon removed the part of the combined Dite that was anchoring the steel threads in the mountain, then twisted in midair to land on one of the steel threads and ran across it, his face green and stiff, as if he was performing in a circus. While running, he took out the rest of the Dites from his harness and inserted them into the holes in Harley’s Dite.

“Restoration AD,” he said as Kei flowed through his entire body.

Heavy weight burst out from him at the weight of the weapon and the power flowing in his body. The steel thread dipped, and he used the momentum of its rebound to jump up to the filth monster’s back.

A huge blade was born in Layfon’s hand.

Three different types of Dites…Combined with a Dite that was already an amalgamation of different alloys. This feat wasn’t possible before.

But the end product was just a different type of Dite. It wasn’t particularly special in any way.

The new Dite maintained and combined all the advantages of three types of Dite. There was a disadvantage though. It wasn’t possible to reduce the weight and density of the restored forms of the three types of Dites, so Layfon was practically holding four weapons.

Any normal person would have had trouble controlling that weight.

He landed on its back. Using his left wrist, he reeled in a steel thread anchored in the mountain, all the time running, dragging the huge blade with him.

His targets were the wings.

He headed for the left wing. Furious winds buffeted him, but he shot through them using Internal Kei. He raised the sword and chopped down. The red of the wing scattered. The monster howled, not in pain, as the wing had no nerves, but because it lost its balance.

The filth monster sloped to one side. Layfon released the sword and retrieved it using a steel thread. Letting loose the steel thread looped around his left wrist, he ran up the back of the monster.

He jumped and descended. He had wanted to shoot out a steel thread to reduce his falling speed, but there wasn’t anything above him to latch onto.

A shockwave on the ground signalled the filth monster’s landing. The wind rolled back from the monster and caught some of Layfon’s weight as he landed.

The filth monster struggled to its feet. Blood filled its raging eye as it watched Layfon, the small creature who was interfering with its dinner. Its starving and furious gaze seemed to be enough to stop a person’s heart.

“How long does it take to regenerate your wing? Two days? Three? As long as there’s a big enough gap, then Zuellni can escape……” Layfon murmured, feeling the wetness coming from inside his armor-suit.

He was sweating profusely.

The murderous intent of a Phase 1 filth monster was this amazing.

But more focus than that was needed for him to cut off its wing.

“How long will it take you to die of hunger? One week? Or one month? I’ll play with you no matter how long it takes.”

The filth monster had used up all of its stored nutrients to enter the first maturity phase. It didn’t have enough strength to molt a second time.

Layfon couldn’t run. This thought caused his stubbornness to lift its head, and that was enough indication of his collapsing will to fight. If this continued, an opening would appear for the teeth of the filth monster to sink into.

The monster headed straight for Layfon, its body waving away the clouds of dust and its movements generating more dust. It had no legs as it had already given them up in the molting process, but its snake-like movements were fast even without legs.

This huge body of the filth monster in itself was a weapon, its every scale hard and sharp. Even if it didn’t make direct contact with Layfon, a brush with it could tear open Layfon’s armor-suit.

Although Layfon had taken away the opponent’s advantage by forcing it to move on the ground, he himself was still at a disadvantage.

“Fon Fon……”

Layfon leapt back into the close pressure of death.

<center>◇</center>

“I think if it’s him, he can do it……I admit I didn’t consider fully in my passion to invent the new Dite, but I really think he can do it!”

Harley’s voice hovered in Nina’s mind.

The sound of the running bike shook her entire body. The sun shone overhead. The temperature should be cold, but she felt hot. This must be because of the armor-suit.

Seated in the sidecar with nothing to do but sit still, she wasn’t at all impatient and anxious because……

“But looking at him, I thought I might have been wrong. Layfon - He, how should I put it……He was very serious. Of course he’d have such a reaction encountering this event. He has to fight a filth monster alone……His reaction is natural, but I don’t feel that that’s the only reason.”

The bike flew across the earth.

Sharnid was the driver. Only one set of armor-suit had been improved, so Nina and Sharnid wore the old type of armor-suit. They had worn it once when they were on a training mission outside the city. This old type restricted the body’s movements, but it was better than wearing nothing.

But even if she could move more deftly, what could the present Nina do?

After listening to Harley, Nina went to find Karian at the office of the Student President. He received her with an expression free of guilt.

“Just what is this?!” Nina said angrily.

“Nothing. Layfon-kun said he doesn’t need any help. I believe in him. Believing is different from abandoning.”

Nina’s fist pounded down on the desk. The documents rose an inch and the pen holder swayed. The fountain pen next to the documents rolled to the side.

Her hand hurt.

“……He also said, don’t let anyone get close.”

“Huh?”

Picking up the pen which was about to fall off, Karian turned it about skillfully with his fingers.

“It seems a fight with a filth monster is dangerous. I can’t tell how dangerous since I’m not a Military Artist, but it seems that one would die while looking for somewhere safe. He said he doesn’t need anyone to wait for orders in a safety zone in that type of battlefield. There are only two outcomes in a battle with filth monsters outside a city – either come back alive, or die. He said we had better be mentally prepared……”

Nina held her breath. That was all she could do.

Layfon was all alone out there……

Her fist tightened on the desk. Her muscles still hurt. Her condition was hardly normal in this present state. If she tried to generate a Kei flow, her waist would hurt painfully.

What could she do in this situation?

But she couldn’t stop herself.

“Please let me go.”

“And what do you plan to do there?” Karian’s question was reasonable. “I understand your condition. Even if I don’t know the details, as President, I can’t allow a pale-faced student to enter that dangerous a place.”

“He’s my subordinate and my comrade. Even if we can’t fight together, at least let me go and rescue him……”

She didn’t know what she could do to help out.

But when she said “comrade”, she could imagine Layfon’s genuine smile.

“Mmm……Okay. I’ll give you permission to use a bike. My sister will guide you.”

“Thank you.”

“But you must come back alive. Escape immediately if the situation turns bad.”

“……I won’t run away.”

“You people are the only ones who can keep this city alive.”

“Layfon’s the same,” Nina said and ran out of the room.

She was now riding the bike. The problem was, what could she do to help?

Only a few days ago……Layfon was alone, pondering on how to the fight the filth monster without telling anyone. Facing the him like that, what could she do?

She and Layfon differed in strength and experiences, but fighting as a platoon and fighting the filth monsters were different things.

Even so, she couldn’t continue her normal daily life not knowing what was going on outside.

Didn’t Sharnid say that there were two types of secrets? Ones that mattered and ones that didn’t?

This was a secret she was concerned about. She couldn’t stay hidden in the dark.

''(We aren’t the only ones who want you to live.)''

The sender of that letter must feel the same. That letter was written with ease, worry and jealousy. It was clear that the girl felt something for Layfon. To leave this person behind in a place where only one choice, life or death, was possible…Just what was Layfon thinking?

''(Perhaps that’s what she meant by “difference?")''

Pain rose in Nina’s chest. Was this what Leerin meant when she said in the letter that she was happy Layfon didn’t give up the Military Arts but she didn’t want him to become the Layfon of Grendan?

Thinking of this, a tightness spread through Nina’s chest.

''(Aaa!)''

She chased away the uneasiness inside her. What she wanted to know wasn’t how much Leerin knew of Layfon, but what Layfon’s true intention was in this fight.

For him to head alone into this kind of a place.

Even if it was the fate that no Military Artist could escape from.

She didn’t know what to do if she failed to find out.

''(Just what is he thinking……)''

And……

''(What do I do after I find out?)''

If she didn’t understand that either, she felt she had no way to move forward.

Did this concern belong to the future? Or was it because of her present self……She wasn’t too clear on the question itself.

“……You’re almost there,” Felli’s voice came through.

Fatigue came through Felli’s voice. Nina never knew Felli’s psychokinesis could reach this far. This made her acknowledge once more just how ignorant she was of her team members’ strength.

''(I’ll think about that later……)''

“What is it?”

“Hey, over there……” Sharnid said before Felli did. He shook his head and pointed ahead.

The bike entered a dust cloud.

And this was what Nina saw after a while.

The deserted ground looked as if someone had been madly slashing at it, and in that ground laid a huge, deep gutter. The sand and dust fluttering around were proof of it.

A lone shadow had fallen inside that gutter.

Nina’s hand pressed down on her chest, her heart tightened.

Sharnid slowed down the bike, heading towards the dark shadow.

It was the bike that Layfon had taken with him, but Layfon himself was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is he……?” She couldn’t see properly through the dancing sand, but something was certain.

She didn’t get it. The mountain where the filth monster had fastened itself onto should be right ahead of them. But it was gone.

“Felli, where’s Layfon?”

Felli didn’t reply.

They were already one day late. Was Layfon all right?

“Answer me. Is he all right?”

“He’s okay, but……”

“But…? What’s it?”

“He said don’t get closer. Run far away.”

“What did you say?”

And the sound of some distant explosion filled her eardrums, and she saw a dark shape spattering the sky.

A huge rock was descending towards Nina and Sharnid.

<center>◇</center>

In an instant, his concentration broke.

Something had happened, but he had immediately focused back on the task before him.

It seemed to be some information…And he had shouted out something in panic.

The break in concentration was almost fatal.

Layfon didn’t have time to remember it. He didn’t dig through his memories as he had no time to think or do anything extraneous to the battle.

Because if he did that, then death awaited him.

The huge monster filled Layfon’s entire vision. It roared as its body batted at Layfon. The steel threads flew at the filth monster’s tail and wrapped around it. The tail thrashed, pulling Layfon up and down, as if Layfon was a fish struggling off a hook.

When Layfon stopped spinning, he lowered himself – His destination was the filth monster’s head.

The filth monster seemed wounded. It seemed to have been buried quite deep, and it still hadn’t managed to shake loose the rubble on top of it.

The huge sword chopped down towards its body.

The scales resisted the sword point, but in one swift movement, Layfon had pierced through the tough outer-shell - only to feel yet another resistance, another layer of scales.

“!”

It was one layer after another. Every time the sword hit a scale, sparks lit up. Bathed in a shower of sparks, Layfon realized he had failed. His usual self could have torn through the monster like it was paper……But why couldn’t he do it?

At this rate, the filth monster’s flesh would have swallowed Layfon’s blade. Before that happened, Layfon had turned the blade around. He grasped hold of the handle again and put his foot on the monster’s back. He pulled the steel threads to confirm they were anchored about one Jimel ahead of him in the mountain face, then he ‘pulled’ again as he kicked at the monster’s back. As Layfon was torn skyward, the huge blade leaped out of the flesh. Red blood sprayed from the filth monster’s wound.

Layfon landed on the ground.

He turned around quickly to face the monster and he looked down at the Dite.

Smoke rose from one of the Dites inserted into the three holes. A closer look revealed small cracks along the Dite. Its colour also looked different.

“One’s broken……”

He took out that Dite and tossed it away.

Although the Dite had the strength to maintain its form, that strength was limited. It had managed to hang on till now because of its high density, but now it was broken.

The combined Dite felt lighter in his hand. This different feel might cause the next fatal error, but he couldn’t stop fighting.

He watched the filth monster.

Many scales had fallen off its body. Blood spurted from its wound. It had lost too much blood. Slabs of something black fell off from its body.

It had also lost half of its remaining wing. To Layfon, the filth monster looked like a gigantic snake prostrated on the ground……But the scales covering its body weren’t as smooth as a snake’s. They were as tough and sharp as rocks.

Layfon had destroyed its left eye. The blood flow seeping from under that shattered eye had slowed. The wound must be recovering. Layfon didn’t know whether the filth monster would regenerate the nerves in its eyes. He had no wish to find out.

So hot……The ventilation function of the armor-suit had reached its limit. Layfon’s sweat became steam.

He knew his concentration was slipping.

“Damn!”

He refocused himself. He wanted to defeat this monster without sustaining any injuries. While doing that was nearly impossible, how could he get distracted?

He didn’t plan to die. Although he did say something to Felli that might be his last words, still, it was just a possibility. He hadn’t had time to talk with her properly since the fight began. As for last words…All he needed was to smile after returning safely to Zuellni.

The filth monster struggled to get up. It must be because of the heavy wound in its head. The monster didn't seem to know where it was while its anger increased with every passing second. Its rough and wild movements sent sand flying everywhere, and the various wounds on its body sprayed out more blood.

''(I’ll rest a little before it finds out where I am.)''

Layfon didn’t know how much time he’d get to rest. He might not even have one minute, but all he needed was a gap in the fight so he could generate more Kei and let it fill his body. It was painful that he had nothing to replace the water and salt he had lost. He licked his lip and tasted something salty – his sweat.

“Fon Fon……Can you talk?”

How long had it been since he last heard her?

“Ahah…...How long has it been?”

“About a day.”

“I see……”

''(I should be able to stay up for two more days without water.)''

He thought as he watched the filth monster. It hadn’t discovered him yet.

“And……?”

“Well……It’s about the captain.”

“The captain? What’s happened to her?”

“……I said before that the captain and Sharnid-senpai are heading this way. Though you said they were to retreat……Don’t you remember?”

Now he knew why he had lost his concentration.

“Ah……Sorry, I don’t. Did they retreat?”

The astonishment back then felt so far away from him. Felli’s question wasn't because she doubted him. She said it out of obligation.

Although he was resting, he didn’t let down his guard. He was still focused on the fight, so everything else felt far away from him.

“Well……”

He had no time to listen to her.

It had discovered him.

What should he do?

He felt uneasy at the lighter weight of the Dite, but it wasn’t just because he had lost one of the Dites. The clumsy feel of the Kei flow indicated that the combined Dites themselves had sustained a certain level of damage after a fight that lasted one entire day.

''(How many moves can I still execute?)''

Compared to his physical strength, the weapon itself might be the first to fail. This wouldn’t have happened if he had the Heaven's Blade with him.

Fighting to his limit, he realized for the first time how rare and valuable the Heaven's Blade was. That was strange. Did he not have the vision to understand that?

“It’s useless to make excuses.”

He had decided what he had to do. In that case, all he needed to do was finish his duty.

He would defeat the filth monster with one move, so he must find an opening.

As he thought of this, the enemy made a peculiar movement.

“Uh……?”

It didn’t seem to intend to attack him. As if it was getting distracted.

Layfon followed it…And his concentration broke again.

A small dust cloud. A bike with a sidecar……It wasn’t the one that Layfon rode on.

Yes, the filth monster was looking at it.

“How could they come here!?”

Although he couldn’t tell who they were as they were wearing armor-suits, he was sure they were Nina and Sharnid.

He leaped up to a steel thread and ran towards them, using Whirl Kei.

Sharnid’s shower of bullets had little effect on the filth monster. As Layfon passed their position, he felt Nina’s eyes stabbing his face. Perhaps he was being oversensitive. And like that, he appeared in front of the filth monster. His body suddenly bounded upwards.

Flying in the air, supported by the steel thread, Layfon turned the huge sword around and swung down to cut open the monster’s forehead.

He flew back as blood mixed with a howling noise shot high into the air. Layfon landed on the moving bike.

[[Image:CSR vol02 275.jpg|thumb]]
“Layfon!?”

“Why are you here!?” he asked angrily and looked back at the filth monster.

It was on a rampage as the pain twisted its long body. The feeling in Layfon’s hand told him he had failed in delivering a fatal strike to the brain.

And……

He looked at his Dite. Smoke rose from another hole. That couldn’t be helped as he had tried to cut through the already tough scales along with the even harder forehead bone.

''(The strike I have left……)''

Feeling the lightness of the weapon, he made his decision.

''(Then what?)''

He still had his own green Dite that he could use to buy time. He had been using its steel threads as support so it hadn’t sustained any heavy damage. But if he used his last move, he’d forego the steel threads move that had helped him escape countless times. Losing that option would be a huge setback for him.

Perhaps this was better than losing his chance to attack, but he would be forcing himself into a dead end. Buying time would ensure Zuellni could move to safety, but if he did that, he’d lose his life.

And there were also Nina and Sharnid……

This was the only way…To determine the outcome of the fight before he lost use of the steel threads.

And it was a highly dangerous gamble. If he failed, he’d die, Nina and Sharnid would die, Zuellni might also die. Everything would vanish.

Should he bet everything on the last move……He hesitated.

“Hey, are you listening?”

“No……Anyway, you guys hurry up and escape.”

“Listen up! Your bike’s broken. This is the only vehicle that still works.”

“As long as I beat this guy, people will come to get me.”

“Can you defeat it?”

“……”

“That weapon’s at its limit. Can you really beat it with this thing?”

“……It’s starting to move. I have to go!”

He had no answer for her. He hadn’t the confidence that she’d agree with his answer. His only reply was to head out and fight.

Sharnid pulled him back by his collar, steering the bike with one hand.

“Aaa, wait!”

“Please let go of me!”

“It’s rare for the captain to order others to listen to her.”

“I’ll use force.”

“It’s fine if you tear off my arm. Please go ahead.”

In reality, if he pulled himself out of Sharnid’s grasp with Kei, he really might just end up tearing Sharnid’s arm off. And even if that didn’t happen, the bike might lose its balance and flip over.

“It’s too embarrassing to come out here and not do anything. That's how it is for me, and the same goes for the injured captain. The 17th platoon can’t embarrass its captain!”

“I hadn’t that order before.”

“Same here. I just made that decision.”

By looking at Sharnid’s back, Layfon could tell he was smiling.

“Have you got a plan?” Nina said. “Are you absolutely sure that you can win with your next move?”

She had even seen through this.

“……Yes. It’s the wound on its forehead. If I strike there again……”

The scales were shattered. Half of the forehead bone was probably cracked……If he struck there.

The wound must be healing, but not the scales and the bone. If he could stab its brain and release his Kei there……But Nina had calmly pointed out the uneasiness he felt about that move.

“Do you have a plan that can take you there and make sure you strike it on its head?”

“……”

“Okay.” Nina nodded. “Then we’ve increased our chance of success.”

“Heh?”

“You were listening in, Felli? Find the setting I want nearby. Hurry.”

Then Nina listed out her conditions of the place she had in mind.

“It’s near. Head southwest. It’s about 20 Jimels from you.”

“Sharnid.”

“Roger, captain.” He changed the bike’s direction.

“Layfon, will the filth monster leave us?”

“Huh?……Probably not. It moves faster than this bike.”

“Then buy enough time for us to head for that place. Don’t damage your weapon.”

“With this……”

He could interfere with the filth monster’s movements using the steel threads.

“Keep at it.”

He nodded reflexively.

How should he put it? It was a feeling of suddenly being swallowed. He saw Nina’s face through the helmet and the armor-suit……He looked at that face and the tension he held wavered.

He felt more at ease.

Should he be comforted by the wavering of the destructive pressure on him? Or be alarmed at it……He wasn’t sure. Even so, he felt a part of him wasn’t able to deny Nina.

He continued to control the steel threads.

Twenty Jimels.

He focused on buying them time.

<center>◇</center>

They arrived at a valley surrounded by cliff faces. Green plants and clear water might have once flourished here. Now the valley was dry, extremely dry.

Nina had explained her plan as they rode the bike. They looked back at the slope, as if waiting for something to fly into its mouth.

“How long till that guy catches up?”

“Three minutes.”

Nina nodded. “We’re getting off. It’s impossible to drive the bike here. Sharnid, take the bike to the firing position. Layfon, carry me.”

Felli explained the terrain and Nina asked a few questions based on Felli’s information. It seemed just by doing that, she had already formed an accurate map in her head. Layfon dismounted, clear about instructions he had received.

The sound of shattering rocks came closer.

The filth monster was already here.

“Hurry!”

Layfon carried her deeper into the valley.

“Is this really all right?” he asked, uncomfortable with how light she was in his arms.

“The plan will be successful as long as that thing stops moving, right?”

Layfon nodded on the bike.

“It’s hungry, so it’ll rush straight for food, right?”

Layfon nodded again.

“Well, all we need is bait……No need to think of anything else.”

“……Captain?”

“Limit your enemy’s movements and turn the situation into your advantage. That’s a basic tactic.”

“You aren’t thinking of……”

“I’ll act as bait. Who else can do this besides me? Sharnid’s got his mission and you have to give it its fatal strike. If you do everything, including what’s unnecessary, isn’t that the same as what you’ve been doing in the past?”

“That was how I did things in Grendan.”

He had always done things this way. To change his way now……

“Weren’t there many people to replace you in Grendan? Aren’t there twelve Heaven's Blade Receivers? So eleven people could replace you. Even if you fall, there are still other ways, so you fought with those kinds of tactics. But nobody can replace you in Zuellni. Grendan and Zuellni are different. Grendan’s way is not my way. You’re my subordinate. I can’t just leave you.”

“But……” Layfon stopped speaking. Her determination in her eyes. Her furrowing eyebrows as if she was glaring at him, as if she was staring at him with trembling eyes…He felt he was being sucked into them.

Those eyes suddenly turned gentle.

“You want to abandon the you of Grendan, don’t you?”

“……But, I can’t.”

Because the threat of meeting filth monsters existed everywhere.

“It’s okay to abandon it.”

“Heh?” His eyes widened in astonishment.

“Your desire to protect Zuellni arose after you came to the Academy City, right? Then treasure it. As for your way of fighting, living and thinking in Grendan…… leave them all. It’s enough to protect Zuellni. Leave everything.”

“……”

“You don't think that helps you? But, that’s how I feel and how the person waiting for you in Grendan feels. Isn’t that what was written in the letter?”

“Letter……?”

“I can repeat this as many times as you want. I won’t let you, my comrade and subordinate, die. I’ll do whatever it takes to reach that goal!”

An intense light emitted once again from those gentle eyes. A determination that would never bend and break. Those eyes were what made him swallow his words. Looking at his image in them, Layfon nodded.

“I understand. Then, I’ll hold senpai’s life in my hands for a bit.”

“Stop talking nonsense,” she laughed. “I’m the captain. Your lives are in my hands.”

<center>◇</center>

Nina was all alone in the valley.

Trees once stood here. Clear water once flowed. Fish once swam, and everything must have been filled with birdsongs. Lives drowned the earth as a matter of course. The lives were short, but creatures continued to sing out the song of life’s chains.

Something white was stuck to the rocks. They were probably the bones of some fish.

It was a life that failed to keep on living.

The world had shriveled up. And the reason behind that…How did the pollutants manage to spread across the entire world? Some said it was a material created from humanity’s insolence when human civilization reached its peak. Some said it just happened all of a sudden. And Nina had heard of many other different explanations. She didn’t know which was the truth, and didn’t know whether there was meaning in looking back at the past. Everyone else now only lived in Regios, living under the threat of filth monsters.

Nina hated that feeling. Couldn’t something be done? She wanted to do something about it.

She hated herself for being born into a narrow world. She wanted to see other worlds. It didn’t matter if it was just a tiny outside world, and so she had come to Zuellni. But she still understood how useless she was, even though she had reached Zuellni. She understood more of the cruelty of this world and her own insignificance, her own weakness.

Surviving in this world, what she should do, what she could do……

She wanted to keep on living.

And to survive, she must become stronger. Because she lived in this kind of world, she must become stronger. Because heaven blessed her with the power of Kei, she must become stronger. That was what she thought.

Except for a small failure.

She didn’t think she was entirely in the wrong. She just didn’t use the correct way. And now, the Layfon who corrected her was making the same mistake.

To Nina, Layfon’s mistake was a small failure on his part, since he didn’t know where he stood. In that case, she had to wake him up.

The rumbling closed in.

It was the filth monster, the existence on the very top of the pyramid. Covered in wounds, the creature headed towards Nina, driven by nothing but hunger.

Compared to the injuries that Layfon had sustained……If Layfon and the filth monster kept on fighting, which side would win?

She recalled she had been pondering on what the strongest existence was not long ago. Filth monsters lived in a larger world than humans, a world that humans could not enter without protection. On this level, the filth monsters were the strongest.

In the filth monster’s starving stage, fighting for the most basic requirement of life, pollutants weren’t enough for it.

So it had to eat humans.

Compared to this creature, humans lived in their own worlds without having to worry about food. Looking from this perspective, just who was stronger?

“What boring thinking.”

The dominating presence neared Nina, its gaze piercing her like teeth. She couldn’t help but imagine her tiny body being crushed by those sharp and gigantic teeth, her organs rolling on the tongue of the massive monster.

“Is this the world that he sees……”

Facing this horror alone, Nina’s legs shook. The present her who was unable to use Kei was too weak. Besides, even if she could use Kei, what could she do? This must be the decisive gap in strength between humanity and filth monsters.

Layfon had been facing this type of creature all alone.

“I won’t let you do this alone from now on,” she said to the subordinate who was nowhere beside her.

But he should be able to hear her.

“You have me and your comrades.”

A sound.

A tiny sound compared to the rumbling of the filth monster, but it echoed in the sky and in Nina’s ears.

One side of the cliff face suddenly collapsed.

Caused by Sharnid’s sniping.

The sudden avalanche of rocks, sand and soil descended on the filth monster and towards Nina. The creature howled anew.

Nina’s body shot upward.

A long thin thread……A steel thread was wrapped around her body. She saw him as she was pulled up.

A figure that brushed past her, descending rapidly……Layfon.

He plunged straight for the trapped enemy, his ravaged sword pointing downward.

Nina confirmed her plan was successful.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume2_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume2_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume1 Chapter6

2009-11-07T04:27:27Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 6: On the polluted earth */

===Chapter 6: On the polluted earth===

"It" has been living inside the earth for a long time. Without moving, only ingesting pollutants from within the soiled earth, for a long time.

Maybe "It" doesn't even have a sense of time; living beneath the surface without ever feeling discomfort, moving slightly between sleeping and waking to eat soil. Time is wasted away in slumber.

However, the time to awaken is approaching. Since "It" is already a Mature Form, it can survive by consuming pollutants. But it's offspring are different. Since the larvae are intolerant of pollution, they can't digest it.

That's why they need unpolluted nutrition.

In order to thrive, it can no longer sleep.

With the cracking of the earth, the signal to awaken begins ringing.

<center>◇</center>

The sounds of grinding pipes screeching echoes all over the place. The violent shaking of the floor causes Nina to lose her balance, but Layfon catches her by the arm.

For a moment, there was a sparkle on her face. Feeling that he just did something which shouldn't be done, Layfon thought of letting go of her arm. However after reconsidering it instantly, he slowly stooped.

"What...is this...?"

To overcome the sound of metallic screeching all over the place, Nina raises her voice. Otherwise, her voice won't be heard by Layfon, who is standing next to her.

"It's a cityquake."

Layfon also raises his voice.

"This is... a cityquake?"

''Looks like this is the first time Nina has experienced such a thing.'' Layfon thinks, as she looks at her surrounding with a confused face.

"At first it was shaking up and down; maybe the city took a misstep into a ravine..."

Layfon carefully checked the pattern of the shaking. At first it was shaking vertically, and then it was shaking diagonally. The bucket and brushes that were near their feet are now sliding freely along the floor.

''If it took a bad step, maybe it's sliding into some kind of hole?'' If so, then this was the worst possible situation. A city which cannot move is perfect prey for filth monsters.

Nina, who was momentarily overwhelmed by the shaking, has quickly recovered herself and shouts, "There should be an emergency call! We have to return, quickly!"

"But the floor is unstable! We can't move around yet!"

"Even so, we still have to go back!"

Nina shook off Layfon's hand and stood up, Kei running through her body. Using Internal-type Kei to enhance body movement, Nina runs between the gaps of the pipes, as if weaving them together like a needle.

"Ah, the hell with it!"

Also using Internal-type Kei, Layfon chases after Nina. Even faster then Nina, Layfon quickly moves forward, as if he is half-flying.

In front of him, Nina is running through a passageway suspended in mid-air.

"She's too reckless."

Although that is the shortest route to go to the surface, it is a risky action. At the moment, the passage is swinging left and right, as if saying it could collapse at any moment. As such, it wouldn't be strange if Nina, who is running with all her strength, suddenly gets thrown out from the passage.

There wasn’t time to use the stairs. Layfon leaped upwards, using the pipes around him as footholds. Beneath the corridor was the heart of the machinery, where the Electronic Fairy lived. While chasing after Nina, he caught Zuellni at the edge of his vision, an existence pulsating with dim light. In the form of a child, Zuellni was gazing at the deep earth with a terrified expression. She was curled up, as if she was too scared and was trying to hide somewhere narrow.

As if she was peeking at some terrifying existence and hoping it wouldn’t surface……And Layfon's got his confirmation.

“Oh, no!”

Muttering, he jumped off the last pipe to land on the corridor.

“Wait up!”

Just as Nina was about to run past him, he grabbed hold of her wrist again.

“Let go! There’s no time to spare!”

“Yes! No time!” Layfon said, his anger matching hers.

Even the bold Nina paused, caught by his aura. She stared at him with wide eyes as he shouted.

“This is an emergency. We don’t have time to laze around. If we don’t escape……”

“What did you say?”

“Hurry up and head for a shelter. We need every single second we have.”

“Just what are you talking about?” she questioned. Irritation and annoyance filled him at her reaction.

''(How could she be used to such peace!?)''

He just wanted to shout out in lamentation, but Nina still didn’t know anything. If this was Grendan, anyone would have known what Layfon’s expression was about. But this wasn't the case in Zuellni. Perhaps the other students here were the same. Just how many people knew the real situation? The more he thought of it, the more irritated he became.

“Layfon!?” Nina’s angry voice called him back to reality.

He slowly let out his breath and tried to speak in a way that would affect every corner of Nina’s body.

A simple and absolute message.

“The filth monsters are here.”

<center>◇</center>

The siren rang. Informed of the situation through the phone in his dormitory, Karian immediately left and went to the school building.

His destination wasn’t the Student President’s office. He entered a conference room in the middle floor of a tower that was surrounded by the Military Arts buildings. The few students in the room turned their gazes on him, including Vance.

“Situation?”

A thin, tall male student replied to Karian's short question. “One-third of Zuellni’s legs are trapped in the ground, unable to escape.” His pale skin looked green.

“Escape?”

“Yeah……It should be able to move on its own under normal circumstances, but now……Well, the legs are stuck.”

Karian addressed Vance. “How’s the evacuation going?”

“The City Police are evacuating the students, but it’s too chaotic; they don't have the situation under control yet.”

Vanze shook his head with a scowl. Karian nodded to comfort him.

“That can’t be helped. We don’t have enough people here with real fighting experience. But I hope you can speed up the evacuation as much as possible.”

Next he turned to the representative of the Alchemy course.

“Release the safety setting of all the Dites of Military Arts students, and please hurry and activate the city’s defense system.”

“We’re already on it.”

“Gather all the platoons. We must fight with them as the core.”

Karian once again looked at Vance, who nodded but voiced a question with a stiff face. “Do you think we can do this?”

Everyone looked at Karian.

The problem of an Academy City was that it lacked experienced fighters. Everyone in it was a student. There were no adults in any of the grades, from seniors down to freshmen. These factors caused the greatest pressure and doubt in its citizens.

Could they pass this crisis safely?

“Only a dead end awaits us if we don’t do this. Not only will the Military Arts students die, but everyone in Zuellni,” Karian concluded.

Everyone in the room was holding his breath. Once again, they understood the situation they were in. Under the shadow of death, no one wanted to say “Let’s run away”.

Even if they ran out of the city, they still couldn’t survive on the polluted earth.

“We have to live no matter what. This is for everyone's - no, also for our own future. Please understand this fact and act accordingly.”

Everyone nodded at Karian’s icy resolution.

<center>◇</center>

“……The filth monsters?” Nina said after pausing for half a second. She had taken some time to digest his meaning. This told Layfon how serious her lack of experience was in regards to the danger around them.

“How could that happen?! The city should be moving and avoiding the filth monsters. This can’t be happening……”

“A city can only avoid the filth monsters on the earth, and even then there are limits. What Zuellni encountered this time is likely a mature mother-form sleeping beneath the ground.” He told her his hypothesis.

The female filth monsters had eggs inside their bodies. The mother hibernates until the eggs mature into a larval stage. The young ones that just hatched could not absorb the pollutant, so the mother would provide them clean nutrients she had stored in her body during her hibernation. If this still wasn’t enough food, the babies would devour each other. The mother would choose a few of the leftover ones and care for them till they fully matured.

And if even that wasn’t enough, the mother would become food for her young.

The instinct of filth monsters to reproduce and care for the next generation was this strong.

“The mother won't become food if there isn’t a need for it.”

If there was close enough food source……

“What……”

Now Nina understood what Layfon was saying.

The people of Zuellni would become food. Nina’s hand trembled.

Was it fear? But, if so……

Without understanding, Layfon continued to speak.

“So please head for the shelter……”

“Stop it!”

Her reaction hit him on the face.

“You’re telling me to evacuate!? You’re telling me to run away!? Do you think I could do that!?”

He looked at her, lost. The light of Kei enveloped her, a symbol of her fighting spirit. He held his breath at the Kei that was more intense and beautiful than the Kei she had exhibited during the platoon match.

She was too naïve.

“What is our power for? What is the purpose of this power within us!? Isn’t it for times like this!? Not for fights between people, but for our survival! Do you think we are allowed to run away at a time like this!? Stop joking!”

He knew why she was trembling. It wasn’t fear, but the drumming of the heart waving away that fear. Her honest and determined heart had overcome her horror. This was the drumming eliminating her fear.

And that was why it was so bright.

Layfon squinted at that brightness.

He never thought a person’s Kei could be this bright. He knew of someone whose Kei light was more intense than Nina's, and someone whose Kei was fiercer. But he knew of no one whose Kei was the same as the Nina’s right here, exuding this level of light.

“……You really are despicable,” she said in a low voice, suppressing her violent emotion. “You have great power. Why don’t you use it for something useful?”

Her eyelids lowered.

“I don’t know the terror of having nothing to eat. I don’t get it, so I can’t fully understand your standpoint with money. But even so, there must be something else that’s worth pursuing, right? You don't need to use dirty means that taint your strength and station. From your viewpoint, it isn’t wrong to purely chase after money. But for someone strong like you, shouldn't you be able to do something greater than what I can do? Won’t you be able to save many things? If the comrades you want to save are proud of you, then aren’t you also saving their hearts?”

Her words stabbed him like a knife.

The eyes of his comrades at the orphanage when he became a Heaven's Blade Receiver.

Their eyes when he lost his right to the title of "Heaven's Blade."

Their sudden change in attitude convinced Layfon that no one understood him.

He had been betrayed.

But could they have been the ones who felt they had been betrayed?

“I’m going.”

“Wait.”

''(Even if you go, you……)''

He swallowed the other half of his words.

''(You can’t possibly win.)''

He was dizzied by Nina’s Kei, but this Kei was just a symbol of her inner heart. A strong heart was no indication of increasing strength.

So what would happen if he said that?

“If we don’t fight now, when do we fight?”

The words she left behind indicated her determination to fight. Besides, what if he stopped her? It was natural for Military Artists to fight against filth monsters – it was their mission, given to them from heaven – the duty of those given Kei and psychokinesis. All of them would think like that.

If they don’t fight, who would?

''If it was me……''

Layfon was no longer a Military Artist. Even though he possessed Kei, he was no longer duty-bound as he had given up the standpoint of a Military Artist.

He didn’t want to fight for the sake of others.

He made many wrong decisions in Grendan. The attitude of the people around him was a great shock to him.

“Who’s fighting for others……”

Having chased after Nina, he was now back on the surface. He strolled towards the dormitory, listening to the sirens and the commotion of people evacuating.

“I don’t have a goal to fight for anymore,” he repeated again and again, as if chanting a spell.

The dormitory was empty. Of course, everyone had evacuated. The silence made him uneasy. He knew he had come to a place that he shouldn’t have, but he had no idea where else he could go. He headed straight for his room.

Layfon changed into his Military Arts uniform. The fact that the weapon hanging from his harness calmed his heart mocked him. But since he didn't go to a shelter, he let himself keep it for self-defence. Even if it wasn’t for others, he had to fight for his own life.

The weight of the Dite had wiped clean his uneasy feeling, but this only made him feel restless about what he was doing. The dormitory was empty, and he was in here, doing nothing.

The strange feeling that he wasn’t on the field fighting filth monsters.

“Fighting them has become a habit,” he said, mocking his own wound. Back in Grendan, he could make extra money by killing filth monsters, so he was always at the front, standing alone upon the battlefield. For some reason, there were always lots of filth monsters in Grendan's way. The number of fights that Grendan had had could not be compared to other cities.

And that could be why Grendan was called the birthplace of Military Arts.

But this didn’t matter anymore.

“I don’t want to fight for others anymore……”

Then he noticed something behind the door.

“!”

He picked it up, not knowing what it was.

“A letter...”

It was an envelope that was bigger than the size of his palm. Its crumpled corners were proof of its long journey. On its back was an address in Grendan and a nostalgic name.

“Leerin……”

The dorm security must have stuffed the letter through the crack of the door. It must have arrived while Layfon was at the school.

He let go of the unimportant speculation and cautiously opened the letter.

His eyes widened at the first line, which completely shattered his lie.

''Don’t lie!''

''I’m very angry. Layfon, why are you lying? Oh, and this is my reply to your second letter. Your first letter was somehow sent to me together with the second letter. Don’t blame me. I wasn’t lazy in replying. But please, at least remember my address.''

''Anyway, I’m angry. It’s impossible for you to become good friends with people so quickly, and live a normal academy life like ordinary people. Please don’t underestimate me.''

“So mean……” He sat back on the floor. Her evaluation of his terrible social skill…So that was how he appeared in her eyes……

He continued reading in spite of that setback. Leerin had been the closest to him in the orphanage and she was one of the few who still talked to him after what had happened. He couldn’t ignore her words.

As he read, a feeling stirred inside him. The stirring intensified, striking him hard from the inside. He couldn’t sit still anymore. He read as he stood up, unable to suppress the urge inside him.

As he finished reading, he shoved the door aside and rushed through the corridor.

He ran. He ran heedlessly and recklessly.

As he ran, he stuffed the letter into his pocket, reflecting on its contents.

''I understand your desire to forget your past in Grendan. If it was me, even I’d want to run away and forget everyone’s cold gazes.''

''But you don’t really want to forget everything, do you? You’re still sending letters to Grendan, to stay in contact with me. If you truly wanted to seal off your past in the depths of your mind, then I should also be forgotten.''

''I always watched you train, watched you grow strong. Back then, I never thought 'that person doesn’t want to train in the Military Arts.' That stance of yours when you were waving your longsword with the whole of your heart, training in the dojo, was dazzling to me.''

''I also want it; the thing that can propel me forward with all my strength.''

''Layfon, you’re the hero of the orphans in Grendan. Everyone finds you dazzling, and that isn’t a lie. You, who knelt before the Queen, felt so distant, even for me. It was a lonely feeling, but it gave us hope, that we could also make something ourselves. We grew up under the same circumstances. If you could give off such heat, then we could also be successful.''

''It was all because of you that I chose to study instead of work.''

''I want to study management. The Head of the orphanage has also changed his thinking because of you. He regrets that you became like that because of him. He said he'll pay more attention and be wiser when spending money.''

''Our father is so useless. But whether it’s the past or the present, he’s caring for us in his own way. If it wasn’t for him, you and I wouldn’t have met.''

''And you’ve changed him.''

''I’ve decided to help father. I want to study management and build an orphanage not plagued by money issues.''

''I want to protect our orphanage, just like father.''

''It’d be good if Layfon could protect the orphanage, when we live together in Grendan once again. Do I sound stupid? Like returning to the past but with some advancement. Can’t we change ourselves like this and go back to what it was like before?''

''I pray for the day when you once again step on the soil of Grendan.''

''To my dear Layfon Wolfstein Alseif.''

''Leerin Marfes.''

<center>◇</center>

The sound of heavy movement pierced the atmosphere, as if the entire world was twisting into another form.

A number of Zuellni’s legs were stuck in the ground. The metallic sound of the joints of Zuellni’s legs struggling to move filled the air.

And the other noise was……

'''Gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha, gacha……'''

The sound, like water oozing forth, came from under the earth, twisting the world more intensely than the metallic lamentation. The lamentation of Zuellni.

Something climbed up from the ground along with the noise. On the ground that Zuellni stood, they came one after another……

Dots of red light lit up the deep night.

One, two, three, four……One after another, red lights climbed out of the hole in the ground. Soon, Zuellni was drowning in a sea of red light.

The warning light underneath Zuellni lit up, proof that the Military Arts Students had equipped themselves. Strong light tore through the darkness to illuminate a fraction of the red lights gathering on the ground.

It had a shell that was as scarlet as the earth. Encircled by the polished shell, a single compound eye on it's head flashed with red light. The *Gacha* sound came from the
friction betweent its moving body and its shell.

This was the larva of a filth monster.

Driven by their instinct to eat, all the larvae turned their eyes to the light shooting down from above.

Where the food was.

The earth cried out. It was their mother’s voice.

'''Hurry and eat. What can keep you alive is over there.'''

'''Eat.'''

'''Slaughter.'''

'''Drink.'''

'''And become strong, strong, strong……'''

The larvae stirred. They didn’t even yet know how to move their bodies, but they obeyed their mother and tried. Irritation grew from their unfamiliarity with their bodies, but, driven by their appetite, they bore it and learned, moving as their mother’s voice directed them to.

The shell above the body split in two.

And beneath it was something half-transparent; it was filled with something that looked like crumpled paper. As the larvae shook, the crumpled paper that was wet with moisture pushed and spread out to become wings.

And, a new noise dominated the scene.

'''Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz………………'''

The sound of fast-beating wings floated into the air, and the larvae lifted off from the ground.

Hundreds of larvae floated in the air and headed straight for their food – Zuellni.

Nina watched this scene from the edge of the city, facing the northwest.

The disturbing sound echoed through every fiber of her being. Then groups of larvae appeared, as if a floodgate had been opened.

The shocking numbers of larvae made her hold her breath. Their numbers overwhelmingly exceeded the number of Military Arts students she led. Each of the seventeen platoons assigned to different sectors must be witnessing the same scene……

''(Are there more filth monster's than people in Zuellni?)''

She swallowed the despair flashing through her. This wasn’t the time to despair. If she, the commander, revealed that feeling, how could the platoons under her continue fighting?

The sea of red and black swept towards Nina’s position, the noise of beating wings loud enough to shatter her eardrums.

“Artillery, commence firing!” she shouted into her transmitter.

The artillerists, led by Sharnid, fed their Kei into the cannons on the outskirts of the city.

They fired.

The condensed Kei hit the larvae's frontlines and detonated. Red sparks exploded everywhere. Shells shattered and small legs fell, scattered onto the ground.

The surviving larvae landed, folded their wings and stored them underneath their shells.

“They can’t fly for extended periods. Sharnid, target those that fly. Don’t let any reach the city.”

“Roger. I can’t die here. I still have a date tomorrow.”

[[Image:CSR vol01 261.jpg|thumb]]

Usually, she would have been irritated by his joke, but this time his laughter made her smile. She relaxed, and Restored the two Dites she took out from her harness. The Kei flowing through the iron whips with their safety locks released looked more vivid and clearer than usual.

Out of the 17th platoon, only Nina and Sharnid were here. Layfon was useless, and Felli had not heeded the call of the Student President. Nina heard that the psychokinesist had not been spotted at the shelter.

Then where was she……?

There wasn’t time to ponder this question.

Before Nina were numerous larvae.

The larva’s head, which looked tiny compared to its body. Below the flashing red compound eye, a small orifice opened to extend a jaw, in which four sharp teeth were stirring.

“How could we be eaten by these things! Attack!”

Nina bellowed and rushed towards the larvae.

<center>◇</center>

Harley’s eyes widened.

“Why are you here?”

Not far from the frontline at the city’s edge was a temporary tent. Students from Medicine and Alchemy waited inside it.

The sound of the larvae could be heard here.

The medical students checked their medicine with stiff faces. The alchemy students also had the same expression as they prepared the Dites.

The machine Harley had been using to release the safety locks on the Dites was now cooling down, and standing before him was Layfon, who appeared to be breathless from running.

“Great, you’re here……” Layfon relaxed his breathing and removed the Dite from his harness.

“Huh? Is the safety lock still on?”

“Yes, but I have to ask another favor……”

Harley quickly set to unlocking it. “A favor?”

“Can you make two settings?”

“Two?”

He widened his eyes.

“Yes, two.”

Harley looked back and forth between the Dite and the machine. The Dites with the safety locks were the same type as the machine that made the setting, so he could adjust the settings here too. Because if that couldn’t be done, students whose Dites were damaged wouldn’t be able to fight. Many spare Dites had been prepared here, and many more were coming in.

“Can you do it?”

“Yes. It’s not difficult to adjust the settings, but……Can you use it?”

It was natural to have doubts. He had never heard of a Dite having two settings. It wasn’t impossible on a technical level, but it was harder for the wielder.

One had to use a keyword and his Kei to Restore a Dite. The Dite would Restore into its adjusted form according to the wielder’s voice and his Kei. The quality of a Dite could be adjusted to suit anyone’s Kei. As long as a setting remained the same, only the Dite’s original owner could use it.

The problem was the Dite’s adaptation to Kei. To make two settings meant there had to be two keywords.

But a person couldn’t make two types of Kei. The attributes of Kei differed from person to person. It wasn’t impossible, but it was rare for a person to have two types of Kei flow.

“Can you use two different Kei?”

“No, but that won’t be a problem. All you need to do is enter the exact value of the Kei output.”

“And that's the hard part.”

“I can do it. Please make the setting.”

“But there’s no time to make adjustments. And if you really want to, you can use two Dites……”

That was reasonable enough a suggestion, but Layfon shook his head. “I want to experience it the way I did in the past. Please.”

Harley sighed. He inserted the terminal into the Dite. A number came up on the display.

“What's the setting I have to enter?”

Layfon told him the number and Harley entered it on the keyboard.

His fingers stopped.

“Uh?”

The detailed number caused him to widen his eyes for the third time.

“Can you really do this?”

“Yes,” Layfon answered without hesitation.

Harley cautiously entered the detailed number once again, so accurate that it made him dizzy.

“And do you know where Loss-senpai is?”

“What? The Student President?”

“No, our senpai.”

“Ahah……Isn’t she with Nina?”

“No. Well, I’m not sure, but I don’t think she’s there.”

Felli wouldn’t be there. She hates being used.

''(Where is she? This won’t work well without her help.)''

Perhaps she was somewhere nearby. He looked around but couldn’t see her.

While he was doing that, Harley finished the adjustments.

“……Will we survive?” Harley said as he handed over the Dite. He looked at the floor, patting his gear.

“We easily forget that we live in a harsh world. I was very scared when I came here on the roaming bus. We were extremely uneasy without any equipment. I was relieved when we safely arrived at the school. I once saw a city destroyed by the filth monsters. A city called Peligi. I didn’t know what that city was like. I was scared, thinking that the fate of Peligi might befall us one day.

"Nina looked regretful. I think at that time, she realized how useless she was.

"But after arriving at this city, I forgot about it. Forgetting…It’s more like I didn’t believe that would happen to us. The greatness of a mobile city……But it isn’t perfect. And that imperfection is now before us……”

The filth monsters were attacking Zuellni.

“Will we survive? Nina, everyone, me, and you……”

“Of course,” Layfon nodded. Harley lifted his face. Layfon nodded again to wipe away the doubt on the other’s face.

“I’ll definitely protect this place.”

Layfon began to run again just after saying that.

“Where are you going?” Harley called.

“To someplace high!”

The highest place in Zuellni……Was the command tower next to the Student President’s dormitory.

He headed for it.

There was some distance between the outskirts of the city and the Student President’s dormitory. He could have ridden a tram, but its route wouldn’t have taken him directly to the place he wanted. Instead, he used Internal-type Kei and flew along the rooftops to his destination.

And landed in front of the dormitory.

Intending to head for the tower, he saw a girl standing at the entrance.

“Senpai……”

It was Felli.

She stood there, lonely and without purpose. She wasn’t surprised to see Layfon. Her lips trembled lightly.

“Senpai, why are you here?”

“No reason……”

He could guess what was happening, looking at her lowered gaze. Perhaps she was overcome. He studied her closely and saw her cheeks were slightly pink.

“Does it have something to do with the Student President?”

“It’s unrelated.”

She turned to leave, and he quickly grabbed her delicate wrist.

“……What is the meaning of this?”

Her eyes narrowed. He hadn’t the time to shrink under that gaze.

“I need your help.”

A shiver ran through her body.

“What do you want?” She shook off his hand, her glare sharper than ever.

“Do you so want me to use psychokinesis? I don’t want it. Isn’t it fine to not use it? I don’t need this ability. I hate it enough to toss it to someone else. Do you still want me to use it?” Her voice was calm, but every single word was reproving him.

“I thought you were the same as me. You didn’t want to use your power, but I was wrong. You……”

“I also don’t want this power.”

Layfon talked, seizing his chance to speak without interruption.

“I’m only using what I possess. Perhaps I’ve never liked this ability.”

But Leerin didn’t think so. He thought he was only using it to reach his goal, but perhaps deep down inside, he truly liked wielding the katana. He couldn’t be sure. It was already in the past, and he didn’t feel that he liked Military Arts in the present. In reality, he had such painful memories because of the Arts of the Katana.

Even if he had used it wrongly.

“Besides this, the current situation needs us. This can’t be helped.”

Displeasure showed in Felli’s eyes.

He said solemnly, “I don’t want anyone to fall victim. I want to eliminate every single filth monster, and I need senpai’s power to achieve that. I need your help. Please!”

He bowed. Looking at her feet, he had no idea how she would react. Her feet remained still, and Layfon kept silent.

“……Even I know this isn’t the time to be willful,” she said. “But I still don’t like being used. I hate it.”

“If you don’t use your power, people will die,” he said still bowing his head. “I also want to find a future without Military Arts in this city, but for that purpose, this city must live. I’ve already failed once in my life. I don’t want to fail again.”

''(And also……)''

“And also, I don’t want the people here to lose their futures because of today.”

Mifi, Naruki and Meishen were here. Their dazzling lives made him dizzy. He didn’t want their futures to be dashed.

He only fought for his survival back in Grendan, but that wasn’t enough. The world of Regios allowed people to live with dreams. The Electronic Fairy, the little girl Zuellni protected them and gave them the chance to have dreams. In that case, this time, let him fight seriously for his goal.

To keep on living and fighting for the satisfaction of living.

And for that purpose, he would not allow Meishen and her friends to meet a tragic end. They gave off so much light and allowed him to look forward to a dream.

“……You really are a good person, beyond help.”

He heard her sigh.

And then Layfon looked up after hearing the sound that followed.

In Felli’s hand was a Restored staff.

“What do I have to do?” she asked lightly.

Layfon bowed to Felli again.

Her face reddening, she turned away from him.

<center>◇</center>

Droplets of sweat rolled down from her forehead and wet her eyebrows. Nina wiped it away with her sleeve to prevent it from seeping into her eyes. Absorbing the sweat, her sleeves turned heavy. Impatience sent Kei flowing through her entire body, and the Kei blew off some of the sweat sticking on her. With her iron whips, Nina kept striking the larvae that had lost their legs and couldn’t move.

“Tsk!” she called out at the result of her attack.

Internal-type Kei strengthened her body and she struck the larva with the force of External-type burst Kei, and all that did was make a small dent on its shell.

“Damn, just how hard is this thing?”

She retrieved the iron whips and jumped aside. Another larva landed in the spot she was in just a moment before.

The number of larvae showed no sign of decreasing.

The larvae that were hit by Sharnid’s team crashed down onto the ground, and instead of flying once more, dragged their bodies towards Nina and her platoons. The students had been attacking these larvae for a long while now.

It felt like a long while.

Nina couldn’t tell just how much time had passed. Usually, she had no problem measuring time with her biological clock, but that failed her today.

“Damn!” She knew she was tense because of her inexperience. She would have gotten used to the fight soon enough if her opponent was human.

But not to these larvae. None of the students had fought any non-human targets in mock training.

Nina attacked the larva beside her with Kei, managing to destroy a compound eye and tear open the red veined muscles. The larva continued to sway forward and then stopped, blocked by a fence. The high voltage electricity flowing through the fence lit up the larva in green light. The larva ceased struggling, as black smoke rushed out from beneath its shell.

Perspiration dotted Nina’s forehead.

Fortunately, the movements of the larvae were clumsy and repetitive. All the larvae did was move in a straight line. If they didn’t fall flat on their opponents, pressing down hard, they couldn’t use their jaws.

What Nina had to look out for was the horn that extended out from beneath the shell. All of the Military Arts students were working hard to incapacitate the larvae, aiming for the shell.

But without much of a success.

The problem was obviously the huge number of enemies they were facing.

“This never ends……”

Sharnid’s team kept hitting the flying larvae as Nina’s troops continued to eliminate the larvae that had landed. They kept repeating this strategy, but the combination of air and land combat was nothing compared to the larvae’s advantage in number. The larvae had the absolute upper-hand in this fight.

“Ha!”

The shouts pulled Nina’s attention away to where three Military Arts students were fighting against one larva.

“Ah……”

Nina watched, forgetting the fact that everyone else was also fighting.

The three fought with a female student as the center. The colour of that female student harness showed she was in first year. It was a tall and awe-inspiring looking female. A badge of the City Police was on her baton. This explained why she was on the battlefield, even though she had not yet obtained an arms permit.

A speedy rush took the female student to the side of the larva, and she kicked out at one of the joints in the leg. It looked like she hadn’t yet trained in External-type burst Kei, but the Internal-type Kei sustaining her was amazing.

The larva howled in pain and changed its direction, charging towards its attacker.

The girl pulled open her distance with it.

And while that happened, the other two seniors struck the larva with their Kei, causing a crack to appear on its shell.

The larva wanted to again change its direction, but the girl kept on distracting it.

Their repeated strategy had destroyed one larva after another. A number of larva corpses lay strewn in their vicinity.

What a brilliant plan, to fight three against one.

But what attracted Nina’s attention was the girl who acted as bait. Her movements were deft and skillful.

“I’ve seen her somewhere,” Nina muttered.

She had no time to dig further into her memory, as another larva approached her. Nina would learn later that the girl was called Naruki Gelni.

A small mountain had piled up at the edge of the city, made of the larvae that Sharnid’s team had hit with their cannons. As the larvae couldn’t reform their attacks, they had given Nina and her troops a chance to keep on fighting.

The shooting team took out that mountain of larvae. The larvae scattered to fall onto the ground.

A larva suddenly came close and Nina bent down to avoid its horn, flicking out her whips to strike at its head. She rolled back, narrowly escaping the fate of being trampled by other larvae, but a larva was already waiting at the spot where she would roll to a stop. The tension and pressure in her head made her act reflexively. Her External Kei burst out, and using that momentum, she widened the gap between her and the larva.

She regained her fighting stance and entered the fight once more. As a shell covered the larva’s body, the larva’s head was the easiest target. Nina’s strike was off by a few millimeters, and her whips broke one of the larva’s forelegs. The larva shifted its movement, and headed left.

What a close call.

She relaxed a little.

“Captain!”

Whose angry voice was this that came through her transmitter? Sharnid?

Without the time to determine who the owner of that voice was, she instinctively leaped to a side. A presence kept closing in from behind, and pain flared in Nina’s shoulder. Her body flipped through the air.

She crashed onto the ground, the things in her vision spinning. Her wound brushed against the earth. Bearing that intense pain, she stood up.

The wound was on her left shoulder. Muscles had been torn apart from her shoulder and arm. The iron whip fell from her numb hand. The larva that rushed past her had crashed into another student. Blood and pain gushed out from Nina’s wound, staining her tattered sleeve scarlet, and her wrist turned numb.

''(No!)''

The loss of blood took away the vitality of her Kei. Her body felt heavy.

''(No, this isn’t good……)''

Anxiety halted her steps and made the iron whip heavy in her right hand. The spasms running through her left fingers irritated her.

Her consciousness was starting to fade. No. She must move……Despite her thought, her knees refused her order and could only tremble. The exhaustion that she couldn’t feel thanks to her Kei now overwhelmed her.

She stared off blankly, her consciousness slipping. She stared, and failed to move her body. In her vision was a larva, its huge body turning, its polished black horn targeting her.

The vibration in the air hit her first.

''(I’m about to die……)''

She accepted her impending fate as the vibration pierced through her body. This didn’t feel like the Kei from the cannons, but from a normal Dite, and it rained madly down on the larvae. Who was it? Sharnid? The rain of Kei successfully destroyed many larvae’s heads, but it wasn’t enough to eliminate every single filth monster.

Even the iron whip in Nina’s right hand fell to the ground. She watched the larva head towards her. She’ll die. She’ll die. Facing this reality, she could only watch it happen.

“Uh……” She let out her breath.

And murmured.

“Damn.”

''(What a detestable way to die, out here,)'' but her body refused to move. The Kei that flew out of her with her blood showed no signs of reviving. Having lost too much blood, she hadn’t the strength to consider how to reactivate her flow of Kei. Perhaps that was why she could watch what happened next with hazy calmness.

All movement ceased.

Temperature lower than zero descended onto the entire battlefield. In Nina’s eyes, the stirring of air particles seemed to have stopped, as if the coldness had frozen the water vapor in the larvae’s bodies, halting their movements.

The entire world was holding its breath for what was to come.

At first, the scene was of it falling apart.

The larva closing in on Nina had been split apart.

Its huge body broke in two. The upper part fell off, its simple innards tumbling out from beneath the severed shell. Thick green liquid sprayed, its smell stinging Nina’s nose.

And the larva behind that was also split apart.

And next, and next……

And next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, and next, was split in half and tumbled to the ground as lumps of meat.

In the blink of an eye, the corner where the larvae had gathered became empty.

“What……”

What had happened?

Nina did all she could to support her body and remain conscious. What was it, that could so easily break through the hard shells of the larvae?

She didn’t see what it was.

But the changing atmosphere……

An indescribable feeling filled the area. A feeling of something strong, like a heart drumming. The beat of flowing blood hovered in the air.

Was it this feeling that had wiped out all of the larvae?

It didn’t feel real. The haziness in her brain was reality.

Someone dragged her aside. Could be someone from her team. That person dragged her to the back and pulled her onto a stretcher.

She weakly pushed away the medical student from her.

“Retreat, you fool!” the voice of the Student President drifted through the air.

“We’re entering the final phase. All Military Arts students, follow my instructions and retreat behind the fence.”

Searching for the source of that voice, Nina saw petal-like things floating in the air.

“Flakes?”

They were the flakes that a psychokinesist used. The flakes could analyse information from their surroundings and transmit messages from far away.

Who was controlling the flakes?

''(The Student President……)'' But what surfaced in her mind was his sister. Was she actually with the Student President?

“Are you all right?”

The voice came from the flakes.

“Layfon?”

“Yes. Please leave now.”

“Wait. Did you do that? Just what did you do?”

“I don’t have time to explain. The countdown’s about to begin.”

He repeated. “Listen carefully. You must retreat to the area within the fence. There wasn’t time to make minute adjustments, so I might not be able to control it as well. Worse comes to worse, this could tear up even the Student President.”

“Wait!” she shouted, but Layfon didn’t reply.

The flakes lifted into the air and flew outside the city.

“Countdown begins,” came the voice of the Student President.

Nina pushed away the medical student, hard. Her brain had cleared a little. As the person responsible for this section, she couldn’t retreat into the back. She must coordinate with the countdown and make sure everyone has evacuated. Besides, she wanted to see what Layfon was about to do with her own eyes.

Because he was her subordinate.

Reproving her swaying body, she stayed rooted to the spot, watching the larvae before her.

<center>◇</center>

Felli stood alone on the rooftop of a dormitory for senior students, not wanting to enter the command tower. She watched the sky with eyes closed. She hadn’t lifted her head. The images from the sky surfaced in her mind, conveyed by the flakes.

Thick cloud cover floated in the north, blocking the moonlight.

And on that piece of land were Zuellni’s legs, trapped in the scarlet, filthy earth, surrounded by countless numbers of larvae.

Nine hundred and eighty-two.

“That's a small number. I fought more than ten thousand larvae at Grendan once.”

Layfon’s voice was sober. The horror of those larvae made it difficult to breath. A breath escaped from Felli’s lips.

She opened her eyes.

To her left was the command tower.

The flag of the Academy City fluttered in the wind, revealing the drawing of a girl, Zuellni, and a fountain pen.

A person stood beside that flag.

Layfon.

The dim light outlined his silhouette. All of the flakes had scattered outside Zuellni. Only one flake remained to keep contact between Felli and Layfon.

As she couldn’t make him out under the insufficient light, she used the flake to confirm his location. Out of the many images overlapping each other in her mind, she plucked out the image of Layfon.

Dim light. The artificial light of Zuellni illuminated Layfon’s shadow.

Something felt different about that face.

The Layfon Felli knew always wore a troubled expression. Tense gaze, an unnatural feeling that he never attempted to hide, of knowing he shouldn’t be where he was. That was the Layfon she knew.

On the top of the tower, Layfon’s line of vision hovered on the outskirts of the city – the earth filled with filth monsters. The vision of a normal person would be unable to make out what went on in the darkness outside the city. But what about the Layfon now?

The way he stared faraway was like he had confirmed something.

''(Good.)''

“Senpai, have you found it yet?”

“……Not yet.”

To reply, she swallowed what she was about to say. Her face was hot. What was she thinking, looking at him? As if to toss away her shyness, she switched off Layfon’s image and went to check all of the other images.

The hovering flakes brought back information to her through many means. Vision reflected by light, infrared rays, ultrasound, etc. She searched for Layfon’s target through what humans didn’t originally possess.

To possess strong psychokinesis was not enough to be called a genius.

Felli was a genius because she could process a massive amount of information simultaneously.

“Please hurry. I can destroy as many larvae as I like, but it’ll be hard even for me if the mother calls for reinforcements.”

“I know.”

The voice of the Student President counting down drifted over. From ten down to one. Felli increased her processing pace. Ultrasound could not pierce the ground, so she made the flakes enter the crack where Zuellni’s legs were, heading deeper into the depths of the earth. At the same time, she searched above the ground through infrared rays. She filtered through the heat sources of numerous larvae, and using Layfon’s information as the basis, extended her search for a bigger heat signal.

At last……when the countdown reached “Two”.

“Found it. Heading 2205. Distance, 30 Kimel. Depth, 12 Mel. I’ll lead you in.”

“I’m counting on you.”

Zero.

<center>◇</center>

''(What will happen when the signal goes off……)'' At the end of Felli’s thought was Layfon.

But he remained immobile, gazing straight ahead with the Dite held tightly in his hand.

The flakes conveyed their search results to Felli.

Nine hundred and eighty-two. Nine hundred and sixty-five. Nine hundred and three. Eight hundred and seventy-seven. Eight hundred and thirty-three. Seven hundred and seventy-eight. Six hundred and ninety-one……The red lights of the larvae were snuffed out one after another.

Four hundred and seventy-seven. Three hundred and sixty-five. Two hundred and twenty-three. One hundred and ninety-eight. One hundred and fifty-seven. One hundred and two. Ninety-nine……The huge number that had exhausted all of the Military Arts Students was greatly reduced over a short period of time. Felli didn’t want to confirm with the images. The moment that Layfon saved Nina was too tense for her.

She looked at him again.

He had Restored his Dite.

A strange looking weapon with only a handle.

“What’s important is control. Once you have the key, even senpai could be so much better than me,” he said.

But she truly doubted whether she could exhibit such power.

The Dite held another form of Restoration that Harley had adjusted.

It wasn’t just a handle. Countless numbers of long, thin threads hung from the tip of the handle, so fine that one couldn’t distinguish them with the naked eye.

A weapon of steel threads. The pressure and friction of a normal string could cut through flesh. The threads were enough to be a murdering weapon.

Layfon deftly controlled the threads, as if they were a part of him. The threads spread across the edges of the city, tearing up the larvae.

Ninety-eight. Ninety-seven. Ninety-six. Ninety-five. Ninety-four. Ninety-three. Ninety-two. Ninety-one. Ninety……The threads targeted their prey with shocking speed. The disappearing red dots were another countdown to Felli. She must find the mother before all the lights disappeared. If not, the mother would call over any filth monsters in the surrounding area and Zuellni would become a feast for the young of other filth monsters. The filth monsters’ determination to extend the survival of one’s kin sank Zuellni deeper into its current crisis.

If Felli couldn’t find the mother……

Fifty-six. Fifty-five. Fifty-four. Fifty-three. Fifty-two. Fifty-one. Fifty……

Her consciousness flew alongside the flakes deep in the earth. Deeper and deeper, flowing through the twisted caverns and snake-like corridors.

There.

A huge and ugly abdomen. The body of the mother as if it was dead. A huge heat signal.

“I found it. I’ll lead you over.”

“Thanks.”

As he replied, he disappeared from the tower.

To fly in the air.

[[Image:CSR vol01 293.jpg|thumb]]

No, not flying. He was probably pulling himself over, using one of the threads as an anchor. Through the Kei in his legs, he sped from the center of the city to its outskirts. While flying through the air, he continued to control the threads. The number of larvae was reduced to zero when he reached the edge of the city.

Felli sent another flake to his side.

“You have five minutes. Your lungs won’t hold beyond that.”

“I know.”

His soft reply worried her. Humans could not live long on the polluted earth outside the city. The pollutant floating in the air would rot one’s lungs.

She didn’t understand why he was risking his life. Because of his ability? The ability that’d only bring him danger……

“He doesn’t want to do this,” she said to no one.

It was for others, and also for himself.

Felli couldn’t understand his naïve thinking.

But……

“Please don’t die,” she said to his image through the flake.

She didn’t send the words to him.

<center>◇</center>

He felt sticky the moment he left the air shield.

Layfon leaped down from the very edge of the city. He controlled the threads and set them as anchor points, using them to lower himself down into the crack of the earth. He minimized contact with the ground and kept his breathing shallow.

Soil particles fell into his eyes, causing intense pain. The pollutant ate at his flesh. He squinted, and tears filled his eyes. He regretted not bringing a mask with him. Did they have it in Zuellni? Perhaps the Mechanical Department would have some.

The Kei-filled threads replaced his nervous system and led him through the dark cavern. He chased after one of the threads wrapped around his guide, a flake.

Humidity came through the threads. The moisture in the air was laced with pollutants. Even the skin beneath his uniform felt pain.

How much time did he have left?

Pain flared from deep inside his throat. It wasn’t possible to completely stop the seepage of pollutant, even though he kept his breathing as shallow as he could. If he held his breath, then he couldn’t create Kei. He had never managed to get used to the anxiety and irritation that arose from fighting filth monsters.

No matter how many times he had done it.

A world not habitable to humans.

What a harsh world.

The world was cruel to the people living in sealed off cities, who could only communicate with the outside world through the danger that hid in the shadow of roaming bus. Yet humans continued to live in this world. A world that did not permit their existence.

But they had to pay a price to keep on living……

The pain reached his lungs, and he could feel the juice in his stomach flowing backward into his throat. If this feeling became more intense, so intense that he couldn’t bear it, then everything would be over.

Considering the time he had spent getting here, he probably only had one minute left.

“The mother’s right behind this last corner,” Felli said.

He flew around the corner, released all the threads and turned the Dite back to its original form. A normal Dite.

He opened his eyes. He was standing on humid earth.

And before him was the mother form of a filth monster.

Her abdomen was two-thirds of its bulky body. The body had been damaged. The uterus in the abdomen was where the larvae were nurtured. Earth buried the immobile wings above its shell. In its head, so much larger than a larva’s, was a compound eye. Its jaw was half closed, as if it was breathing out its last breath. The sound of friction caused by the shells grinding against each other filled the cavern.

“Restoration 01.”

The Dite restored into the blue green sword.

“Perhaps, our will to live is the same.”

Without fearing the waste of breath, Layfon talked to the mother.

“Perhaps, the feelings of not wanting to die is the same.”

Layfon strode towards the mother while talking. Every step increased the light of Kei in the blade, driving back the darkness.

“Those people who aren’t satisfied with that alone, are probably too rich.”

The filth monsters who had adapted to the polluted earth might be the masters of this world. According to history, when humans didn’t have to rely on Regios, they did whatever they wanted as masters of this world. The fact that humans could only survive in artificial worlds in this era meant the filth monsters had risen to become the new conquerors.

Whether the mother had discovered Layfon or had sensed danger from Layfon’s Kei, its jaw started to close and open rapidly, and the sound of friction deepened.

The mother was about to call for reinforcements.

“But we still want to live on,” Layfon said in a low voice and raised his sword.

“I don’t plan to apologize.”

The blade swung down.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume1_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume1_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
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</noinclude>

PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter5

2009-08-26T03:10:35Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 5 Majnun of Lunacy */

===Chapter 5 Majnun of Lunacy===

Against the dark night sky, the pale full moon shone clearly.

It was eleven o’clock…still one hour before the designated time. In the dead of night, the school grounds were gravely silent. With all the lights out, it was absolutely dark.

"How strange."

It was the first thing out of Jin’s mouth as he whispered, looking at the school.

Sierra had gone home once, then some time later, returned again. If something should happen, the fluttery dress would have been a problem, so she had changed into leggings that were easier to move around in. Jin was also wearing street clothes. For fear of ghosts, Sierra was clinging to Jin’s back.

He was a bit troubled as he could feel her slender body against his back, but if he were to point it out, he could just see her saying, "How can you think about such things now?! You lech! Pervert! Commoner!" Actually, he felt like he could practically hear her voice. However, he kept silently telling himself to ignore it.

Still clinging to him, Sierra asked.

"What’s strange?"

"Even if it’s the middle of the night, there should at least be guards patrolling the halls. And you should be able to see the beams from their flashlights through the windows, but…"

When he placed a hand against the bars of the school gate, it opened easily. Surprised, Jin retracted his hand.

"It’s open."

"Because someone’s expecting us?"

With a gulp, Sierra swallowed. While remaining wary, Jin entered through the school gates. Sierra held onto his hand and timidly followed along behind him. As expected, it made it hard for him to walk, and Jin told her as much.

"Hey, don’t cling to my arm."

"I-I’m not clinging!"

"Well then, you’re curling your fingers and holding on tight, right? I can't walk like this, so let go."

Jin tried to shake Sierra loose from his arm, but refusing to let him, she gripped his arm like a koala. Sierra’s slender yet soft body was pressing against Jin’s stiff arm. It was making his heart race.

"Sorry, but all I’m doing is holding onto you!"

"Ah, geez, it’s really hard to move!"

As the two argued back and forth, the gate closed with a bang behind them. Startled, they turned around; however, they found no one there. They tried pushing the gate open, but it wouldn’t budge.

"…I figured something like this might happen, but it seems like we’ve been trapped."

They heard a deep laugh coming from somewhere. Frightened, Sierra clung even closer to Jin. With the clearly shining moon at his back…Atop the school roof, a human figure could be seen. Long hair fluttering in the wind, the long slender figure was standing motionless. It was Konoe Ukyou. Jin squinted his eyes in disbelief.

"The dorm head…What is he doing?"

Actually, he hadn’t been present during dinner. The staff residents, Yuuya, and a number of others hadn’t returned even though it was past curfew, Jin remembered. Uykou was still dressed in his uniform.

"Just as I surmised. Always leaving things to the servants, you’re a girl who can’t do anything alone…I just knew you wouldn’t come alone."

As he spoke clearly from afar, he took the magic lamp and held it up high.

"Ah, the lamp! Then, you’re the one who called me earlier!"

From behind Jin’s back, Sierra pointed at Ukyou atop the roof.

"You, I’ve forgotten your name…but, I’m sure you’re the student president, I think! Are you saying it’s okay for the student president to go around stealing things?!"

"Dorm head, what’s the meaning of this?!"

Jin also spoke fervently. Ukyou just smiled coolly.

"By midnight, come up here. If you can make it, I’ll return the lamp, but if you don’t…"

"You’ll make me your slave, you mean, right?"

Sierra scowled up at Ukyou with a determined look in her eyes.

"No way! Just you wait, we’re going to drag you to the edge and drop you off the side of the roof!"

"You’re suddenly energetic, huh. Are you over your fear of ghosts as well?"

While hiding behind his back, Sierra declared in response to Jin's interjection,

"Of course you’re the one going, commoner."

"I’m seriously shocked by this surprising turn of events. You still plan on making other people do things for you?"

"Naturally. Right now, I haven’t been called out from the lamp, so it’s not like I’m your servant or anything. Actually, I’m the kind to give orders, you’re the type to follow them."

"You know, I get the feeling you sidestepped the question rather cleverly just now."

"Whatever, just go!"

"You dare to ignore me? Looks like you two've got some guts."

Ukyou suddenly snapped his fingers. Just then, a mob of more than a hundred students shuffled out onto the school grounds.
High schoolers and middle schoolers were present, boys and girls alike, although most of them were boys from the high school division. Taken aback, Jin and Sierra looked at the mass of people nervously.

"W-What’s with them?"

The guys from the football club, wearing their armor-like protective gear, were standing like a wall in front of them. The eyes staring out from within the helmets were completely unfocused.

"Si…Sierra…Zadou…So cute…So…cute…"

Shuffling like zombies, they had their arms out in front of them and were heading towards Sierra. Sierra was creeped out and clung tight to Jin’s back. Regardless of how selfish Sierra was, as a man, there was only one acceptable course of action he could take. A bit reluctantly, Jin spread out his arms and stood to meet them. As Sierra watched him, she started to blush.

"Ghrahh~!"

Suddenly, those giants roared like wild-beasts and tackled Jin. Hit by those nearly two meter tall brutes, the relatively average Jin was blown away.

"Wahh~!"

"Kyaah~! Commoner!"

Crying out as she watched Jin get tossed aside, Sierra tried to rush to his side. However, the guys came from behind and caught Sierra by the arm then started fighting over her. Sierra angrily fought back, but her opponents were too much. With her slender feminine arms, no matter how much she might struggle, she simply couldn't break free.

"What is wrong with you all?! Let me go, you insolent wretches!"

"Zadou...Cute. Zadou...Love!"

The guys swarmed all over her.

"Kyaahh~!"

Sierra's cry was swallowed up as they piled on top of her. It looked as if they were in the middle of a scrum. Holding his head in pain after that terrible blow, Jin picked himself up and desperately rushed over.

"Hey, what do you think you’re doing?! Get away from Zadou!"

He could hear Sierra pitiful cry from beneath all the bodies. In order to save her, Jin pushed and pulled as hard as he could to remove the giants. However, the averagely built Jin stood no chance against such large guys. The moon at his back, Ukyou laughed.

"It’s futile. Those guys don’t have a shred of sanity left."

"What do you mean?"

"They’ve been driven mad by the moon. Their restraints have been lifted, and their true desires manifest. Discretion, sympathy, kindness, all that has vanished...Now, only such human instincts as jealousy and hatred drive them. Those boys longed for that girl, but tied down by the fetters of reason, they never allowed themselves to act upon their feelings. I have cut them free from their chains."

In addition to the moon, Ukyou's body itself gave off a bluish white light. Jin scowled.

"Did you use hypnotism on them or something?"

"It's the light of the moon...I already told you that, didn’t I?"

"I didn’t understand a single word out of your mouth!"

Jin took hold of a tonbo  meant for preparing soil that had been left in a corner of the grounds and started whacking the pile of guys on their backs, but it had absolutely no effect on them.

"Like I said, it's futile. Those guys are madly in love with Sierra Zadou. Their stifled hearts have been set free...They won't be stopped by something so minor."

"Why would you want to do this to Zadou? You like Zadou too, right? So are you just going to let those guys have her?"

"Like…you say? Hmph, I may certainly seem the same as those other guys, but…Hmph."

Ukyou laughed derisively. Unable to understand what he was saying, Jin was confused. Sierra's cries were growing fainter. What was happening to her under there...Jin couldn't help but worry, sticking the handle of the tonbo into a gap between the giants' backs and attempting to pry them off. However, before he'd even made an inch of headway, the handle broke. He couldn't even hear Sierra's cry anymore. The blood drained from his face. Things were looking beyond bad...

Just then, there came a sharp yell.

"Close your eyes! Here I go~~!"

Before he could determine what it was, Jin was compelled by the power of the voice and closed his eyes instinctively.

"Bsh~~!"

There was a violent spraying noise.

"Gwahh~!"

Shrieking howlishly, the beasts who had been covering Sierra rolled about clutching their faces. Sierra emerged from within the pile. Curled up on the ground, she was hacking and coughing. Jin quickly took her into his arms.

"Are you alright, Zadou?! Did they do anything to you?!"

"...Reeks..."

"Eh?"

"It reeks of sweat! When was the last time they even washed those uniforms?! I thought I was going to suffocate!"

"...That's all you're complaining about, the smell?"

Jin was dumbfounded but relieved. It seemed that with all the members fighting for the right to go first, it became a real scrum with each member pushing and shoving the other, and so not a single one of them had been able to secure the prized Sierra for himself. Full of anger, Sierra shouted at Jin.

"Saying "that's all", what's with that attitude! You should hurry up and save me sooner."

"Acting like that after being rescued, you must be quite the cheeky one, huh."

The one saying that as she approached was none other than Alf. Carrying fire extinguishers under her arm, with even more of them slung behind her back, she even had some smaller ones holstered to her belt. Full of surprise, Sierra stared at her with huge eyes.

"Y-You're...that girl from the curry shop!"

[[Image:Puipui vol01 203.jpg|thumb]]
"Nowadays, you don't call it that! It's a Persian restaurant, not a curry shop!"

Alf snapped sharply at Sierra. With extinguisher chemicals in their eyes, the big guys were on the ground, writhing about in horrendous pain. Alf pointed at the school and vigorously declared,

"Come on, we're going! We're taking back that lamp!"

"Yeah! Good luck, commoner!"

As if she weren't involved, Sierra ordered like always, pushing Jin roughly from behind. Unsteady on his feet, Jin felt as if he might fall. Alf grabbed Sierra firmly by the arm.

"You're coming too. You have to help your Master, you know!"

"Wha-? I-It's not like this commoner is my Master or anything!"

Sierra retorted on reflex. With a hint of suspicion, Jin asked Alf,

"How do you know about that? It couldn't be that you're also..."

"Don't be ridiculous. If I was your enemy, do you really think I would have gone to all this trouble to save you?"

Alf smacked him on the head. It seemed that even when she wasn't delivering orders, her manual dexterity was as quick as ever. On top of the roof, Ukyou's face scrunched up spitefully.

"Guh...that girl is...!"

Soon, even more students started shuffling out from the school building. Amongst them was Himuro Keita.

"That guy, he's the first year who didn't give me a riceball before. So does that mean all the guys who didn't come back were over here...Then, maybe Yuuya is here as well?"

Similar to those giants from earlier, every one of these students also had Sierra in their sights.

"Ooh...Za-Zadou...Super cute..."

"These guys too, huh! What's going on here?!"

"It's the Daemon of Adultery, Majnun."

Licking her lips, Alf pulled out a fresh extinguisher. Adultery, put in relatively hard-and-fast terms, meant a man and a woman amorally forming an illicit relationship. Sierra shivered and asked for clarification.

"What...what is a 'Daemon of Adultery'?"

"Actually, I was sure that Jin was Majnun at first because of the way he smelled, so I kind of followed him. Things are different if he's a 'key' though."

"What do you mean by 'key'?"

"The 'key' to sealing and releasing the Genie of the Lamp."

Just then, the students rushed them, so cutting the conversation short, Alf once again fired the extinguisher.

"Save the questions for later, let's go get back the lamp now!"

Alf led the way, taking the other two into the building. Looking down upon them from the rooftop, Ukyou slowly drew the sword in his hand from its scabbard. He was starting to pale.

"The Shamshir girl couldn't possibly be thinking of forming a union...Well, I still have minions left within the school. And even in the one in a million case that they somehow make it up here, ''this'' man should not lose. Even if ''that'' man gets his hands on the Shamshir...he still lacks the necessary power."

The silver blade glinted coldly in the moonlight.

Jin and the others headed up towards the rooftop. The school interior was swarming with students as well, and more continued to come down the stairs one after another. The three continued to take them down one at a time with the fire extinguishers.

"I don't get any of this!"

Panting because the extinguisher was heavy, Sierra took the time to shout in annoyance.

"What the heck happened to all these guys? And you, just who in the world are you?"

"Just as you've been born into the family of Genies of the Lamp, I'm part of the family of Genies of the Shamshir."

"Shamshir?"

Suddenly, Yuuya climbed over the stair railing and jumped down, grabbing onto Alf's back.

"Wah!"

Alf kept upright by quickly clutched onto the railing, but because Yuuya had clung to her, her sling holster had broken and a fire extinguisher fell down the stairs.

"Yuuya! I knew it, you're being controlled too!"

"Zadou...Cute...Want kiss...!"

Yuuya leapt at Sierra and knocked her down. Embracing Sierra's slender body against her will, he brought his lips closer and closer. Flailing away at Yuuya's head, Sierra tried to escape as if her life depended on it.

"Stop it, you insolent wretch!"

"Zadou...Fluffy...Soft...So nice~..."

Yuuya was rubbing his face into Sierra's chest. Blushing furiously, she tried to force Yuuya away, grabbing his head with both hands and pushing with all her might. However, as frail as she was, she was no match for him.

"Noo~, pervert! Someone save me!"

"Yuuya, come to your senses!"

Taking a hold of Yuuya's shoulder, Jin pulled him off of Sierra. Compared to the army of giants from earlier, Yuuya who had probably never lifted anything heavier than a guitar was almost too easy an opponent. When Jin, who was used to mountain climbing and digging with a shovel when excavating ruins and the like, exerted his full strength; Yuuya was sent flying and his back hit the wall.

"You okay, Zadou?"

Jin stood to protect Sierra behind him. After being attacked by the group of guys and Yuuya, Sierra's nicely combed hair had become tangled while her pretty clothes were speckled with dirt and even torn here and there. On the verge of tears, she was gripping her shirt that had the buttons ripped off, making sure to keep herself covered.

Though he had been momentarily stunned by the crash with the wall, Yuuya's face quickly twisted with hatred as he laid eyes upon Jin, baring his fangs and nails as he switched targets and moved in to attack Jin.

"Uwah~!"

Jin was knocked down. Of course, the intention this time was not to kiss the target but to slice open Jin's windpipe with his sharp nails. Jin grabbed both of Yuuya's wrists and desperately tried to stop him.

"Yu...Yuuya? Why would you attack me? Do you resent me that much for littering our dorm room with all those books?"

"It's Majnun's doing. The love this boy has for the girl has turned into jealousy."

Hearing what Alf said, Jin stared at Yuuya in disbelief. His eyes were glowing red."

"You mean he's jealous enough to want to kill me?

"It's because Majnun takes the darker aspects of the human heart and amplifies them several-fold, you see,"

Alf said before grabbing Yuuya's hair from behind and yanking him off of Jin.

"Ugah?!"

While still on the ground, Jin stomped Yuuya in the stomach without giving him any time to defend himself.

"Sorry, Yuuya!"

"Gyah!"

Yuuya gave a beast-like cry as he flew backwards and fell down the stairs. Alf smirked seemingly satisfied while Sierra stared wide-eyed at Jin.

"Y-You're rather strong...for a commoner at least."

"As long as it's one-on-one, I guess."

Jin looked down at Yuuya who lay prone at the base of the stairs.

"Hey Alf, will these guys remember what happened while they were being controlled?"

"No, Majnun's method of controlling people pushes their minds to the depths of their psyche, so it's similar to if the person was simply sleeping. Why do you ask?"

"I'm glad. I think I might've kicked him a bit too hard, so it could've put a strain on our friendship."

"Taking advantage of the desires that are dormant within people's hearts, Majnun manipulates them in a state of madness. Instilling jealousy into those who are in love and the urge to loot into those who are poor, he creates criminals and starts wars. If he isn't stopped, this town will fall into anarchy."

Alf glared up at the top of the stairs. From the base of the stairs, students were noisily making their way up. The sound suddenly reminded Jin of their situation.

"They're coming, so let's go up!"

"W-Wait. I-I always come to school by car, so my endurance is kind of..."

After rushing up the stairs, Sierra's legs were quickly becoming stiff.

"It's just a bit further, hang in there!"

Jin grabbed Sierra's arm and pulled at her encouragingly as he started rushing up the stairs. While blushing at the strength of Jin's hands as he tugged her forcefully along, Sierra nevertheless got angry.

"D-Don't touch me so familiarly, commoner!"

"This isn't the time to be saying such things!"

Acting as the rear guard, Alf continued to blast the oncoming students with extinguisher fluid, keeping them at bay as she continued climbing.

The school had three floors. Nearly up three floors, Jin and the others were only a few steps away from the roof...when the staff residents who had been waiting for them descended upon them.

"Gaahh!"

They were wielding shinai. Alf took the mini extinguisher from her belt and sprayed them in the face.

"Damn, this is the last of the extinguishers."

The staff residents were taken care of, but the students who had recovered were coming up the stairs behind them.

"Let's just hurry and go up!"

Jin rushed up the stairs towards the roof. Sierra and Alf followed after him.

On the rooftop, Ukyou sensed their approach and calmly turned around. With a thud, the iron door that led from the stairs to the roof slammed open.

"...So you made it."

Ukyou gave a devilish smile and licked his blade. Sierra was hiding behind Jin's back, while Alf closed the door and bolted it shut. The students chasing them beat on the door, the sound echoing eerily.

"Dorm head! Just what in the world are you up to?"

Jin yelled sharply, but then Alf interjected.

"He's not the dorm head. He's Majnun."

"You said the same thing earlier, but what does that mean?"

"A Daemon. From the Ark of the Covenant...He's one of of the Daemons of the Ark.

"You know, you're as confusing as a computer manual."

"Basically, this guy has been possessed and lost his sanity."

"So even a sensible guy like the dorm head can be possessed so easily?"

Hearing that, Ukyou...no, the Daemon possessing Ukyou laughed scoffingly.

"''This'' man, sensible? Rather than sensible, I'd say he's a lump of vanity, cowardice, and inferiority complexes. He's madly in love with that girl, yet he valued his pride and was too afraid of becoming a laughingstock if rejected to say it clearly, but on the other hand, while other men had given up on her as a prize beyond their reach and never confessed, he had the confidence that he would be accepted by her...He gave her a love letter, but it was thrown away without even being read."

"How cruel. I can't believe how self-important you are, Zadou."

"I guess you reap what you sow, huh."

Being accused simultaneously by both Jin and Alf, Sierra hastily objected,

"I wouldn't do that sort of thing! I'm quite sure that I maintain proper appearances, after all!"

"What a frank declaration."

Jin remembered back to the first day when Sierra had come to his room that Yuuya had said "The dorm head's been in a bad mood recently, so you better prepare for the worst". Ukyou must have been in a bad mood because he had been rejected by Sierra.

But...Sierra, who really did maintain her appearance to others, wouldn't have just gone and thrown away a love letter, Jin thought. So, couldn't it be Ukyou made a mistake and was bearing this grudge for no reason? Just to make sure, Jin asked the Daemon.

"When you say love letter, exactly what did he give her?"

"Following old customs of the nobles from the Heian period, he wrote a poem, and together with a tree branch, he placed it into her shoe rack. It was a tachibana branch, to make it easy to understand who it was from based on the scent."

"A tachibana branch?"

Hearing that, Sierra realized. A bit shocked, she covered her mouth.

"So then, the caterpillar that I thought was left by someone who hated me was actually...?"

"Ahh, I get it. Tachibana is a citrus plant after all, so there might have been a swallowtail larvae stuck to it, right?"

"No one would normally think that was a love letter! There's no helping that it was thrown away!"

"Yeah, really...it fits with his tastes, but I don't think such a thing would be generally well known."

"A man so madly in love such as this one would not pay attention to such things. Not to mention that to this day, he has never dated a woman and never had even much interest before."

Ukyou...or rather, Majnun who was inhabiting Ukyou pointed at himself and smiled coldly.

"With his pride crushed, his love turned to vengefulness and jealousy. Such weakness of the heart made it so very easy for me to invade."

"By pride...do you mean not reading his letter? But it's not like I actually rejected him or anything!"

"He was in love, but in the end, he lost his composure. He was convinced that his entire existence had been refuted, and so his mind was filled only with thoughts of how to make you acknowledge him. And eventually with thoughts of how to get the lamp, and thus obtain you as well."

"It's impossible to make someone return your love by force, you'd just be wasting your time. Besides, bought love is fake!"

As Sierra declared while pointing her finger accusingly, Jin muttered to her.

"Isn't that basically what I said to your father before?"

"S-Shut up! It's a common enough saying!"

"We're not talking about copyright infringement here, you know."

"He can no longer tell the difference between real love and false love...This is my Daemonic ability. Moonlight that drives the heart into lunacy, the power of Majnun."

"You're really the worst. So, that's how you Daemons of the Ark go about corrupting humans, huh."

Alf faced Ukyou and taunted him, gesturing with her index finger for him to come.

"Get out of that boy! I'm going to eat you!"

"Eat?...So then, were you really not trying to eat me before?"

"My family line treats Daemons as a primary form of sustenance. Similar to how you are raising the power of the Genie of the Lamp, I have to hunt and eat Deamons, not only to level up, but also to avoid starvation. This attribute is also passed on to the next generation, so rather than porridge, I've been weaned on some low level Daemons brought here by my parents."

"Exactly how...do you eat them?"

"Well, it's not with sugar and soy sauce, that's for sure. Why don't you try saying "Abracadabra"?"

Just then, Ukyou brandished his sword.

"As if I'd let you! Al-Kamar!"

The blade reflected the moonlight. A bluish white light ran along the sword's edge, then flying from the tip, it shot towards them like a bullet in the form of a spinning crescent.

"Look out!"

Jin and the others ducked behind the structure housing the staircase they had come up from earlier. Striking the door with a tumultuous crash, the bluish white crescent crashed into the iron door, bending it inward. The deflected blade slipped past the obstruction and ran into the concrete railing that surrounded the rooftop. The railing broke and fragments were sent flying.

"Kyahh!"

Sierra covered her head instinctively while Jin immediately moved to protect her, covering her back.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah..."

The determined look in Jin's eyes made Sierra's heart race. While peeking at Ukyou from the safety of the staircase housing, Alf spoke to Jin.

"Rather than do it himself, Majnun is a good-for-nothing Daemon who possesses people's hearts and makes them do the dirty work for him. He's scared of being eaten by me, so he'll probably avoid close-range combat. For now, just hurry up and say Abracadabra."

"I don't want to say any more dumb incantations like 'Chichinpuipui' or 'Abracadabra'!"

"How rude! Abracadabra is the name of one of the old gods of Mesopotamian society, and Chichinpuipui is derived from Chijinbuyuu. It's not like it's all just nonsense or something."

"Chijinbuyuu?"

"Wisdom, benevolence, might, and courage. The four traits valued in a ruler."

"The magic lamp is from the Middle East, isn't it? So why would it have a Japanese incantation?"

Sierra asked with a bit of doubt. Mindful of Ukyou's movements, Alf replied somewhat impatiently.

"Rather than Japanese, it's derived from Chinese characters. The Confucian Virtues of benevolence, justice, courtesy, and wisdom appear in the Analects of Confucius, you know? So well, Chijinbuyuu goes along the same lines. The magic lamp was in China, after all."

"Isn't it an Arabian story though?"

"Have you never read Arabian Nights? Aladdin's story takes place in China, and the magic lamp was buried in China too."

"I'm too influenced by the animated version, so I can only think of it as a Middle Eastern story."

"For three thousand years from the time of King Solomon, it was carried along the Silk Road until it reached China. In that time, the incantation also changed, going from Arabian to Chinese."

"I see...Then, from the time that Arabian Nights was written, it took another thousand years to reach Japan, right? Maybe the same holds true for Solomon's treasure as well?"

Jin murmured, then Alf nodded.

"It's likely. A thousand years ago, the treasure was brought to China...Also, the Clavicle of Solomon must have come with the lamp. The Clavicle of Solomon is necessary to seal the Daemons after all."

"Ahh, I get it. So there's a book for controlling Daemons?"

"That's not it. It's not a book, it's..."

Alf tried to say something, but just then, another flying crescent came at Jin and the others. The three of them cried out, clutching their heads and huddling down. As the crescent rapidly sliced into the wall, Alf yelled.

"He's just striking out blindly, but he'll hit us eventually! Hurry up and say the incantation!"

"At the very least, can't it be a somewhat cooler incantation..."

"Now's not the time to be complaining about that sort of thing, you cheeky commoner! I don't completely get it, but just do as she says, that's an order!"

The impatient Sierra grabbed him by the collar and shook him. Jin replied as his head practically rattled.

"J-Just why are you even giving orders anyway! Fine, whatever, Abracadabra!"

At his limit, Jin had shouted. Ukyou furrowed his brow.

"Damn...!"

As he watched Alf glow silver and shrink thinner and thinner, a silver sword appeared and dropped to the ground. Surprised, Jin peered about.

"A-Alf? Where'd you go?"

"You really are quite dense, aren't you? I'm right here!"

An echoing voice could be heard from the sword. Jin picked it up. The sword was light enough that he could even wield it with one hand. Unable to understand exactly what was going on, Jin was in a state of shock.

"Hey now, instead of spacing out, fight! I'll be guiding you, so don't worry!"

The sword spoke with Alf's voice. Just then, the shadow cast upon the rooftop floor by the protruding stairwell structure was joined by another shadow. Looking up, Jin saw Ukyou standing on top of it. With sword in hand, Ukyou leapt at him.

"Tch, so you've gotten the Shamshir now, have you! But, as you are now, I'm not afraid!"

Jin swiftly parried the sword with the shamshir. Both the Japanese katana and the shamshir had curved blades and were the type used for downward slashes. The sword spoke to Jin.

"Once I'm in this form, I can't turn back until I eat an Ark Daemon. If you're defeated, 'Alf' will be gone forever."

"T-That's quite a load of responsibility! In that case, you really should have chosen a kendo-club member or something."

"An ordinary human can't hope to defeat an Ark Daemon, you know."

"But I am an ordinary human. I've only ever swung a blade in kendo class, and only ..."

"It'll be okay. I'm backing you up, so let's take him down."

"But still, the dorm head is no pushover!"

"I'll have you know, my intuition is very accurate."

"What do you mean 'intuition'?"

"I mean knowing the Clavicle of Solomon's whereabouts."

"I-Is now really the time to be talking about archaeology texts?!"

"Anyway, do your best. The Genie level of the sword will only go up if I eat Ark Daemons, you know."

"You're kind of like a parasite, aren't you?"

"You should think more before you say such things to a girl!"

Jin was somehow able to fend off Ukyou's pressing attacks. The sword was maneuvering Jin's body to fight for him, which is why he could afford to banter with her, but as the opponent was Ukyou, the captain of the kendo club, that the Daemon was possessing, there was still an overwhelming difference in their abilities. It took all he had just to defend himself from Ukyou's strikes, each parry sending sparks flying and a distinctly metallic ring. Sierra held her hands crossed over her heart, watching on with her heart aflutter.

"Do your best, commoner! Beat that guy black and blue!"

"Don't just say whatever, help me out here."

"You want me to wash something?"

"So useless!"

Despite his efforts, Jin was losing out to Ukyou's offensive and being pushed back. Ukyou smirked and prepared to swing his sword down heavily.

"As I thought, as inexperienced with the sword as you are right now, I have nothing to fear! Go ahead and die!"

"Gah...!"

Jin tried to intercept, but the sword had become extremely heavy and wouldn't budge. Considering it was the sentient sword that moved its owner to fight, would that mean if it succumbed to fear that it would lose its strength and become even worse than useless...Jin wondered, noticing the dual nature of the weapon for the first time.

"What the heck, Alf, you have to move! What are you doing?!"

Jin shouted out in desperation, but the sword remained absolutely silent.

"Die!"

Ukyou's sword descended upon him. An odd noise resounded in the moonlit night, the sound of the blade striking something solid. Blood splattered. Sierra stood in shock.

"N, no way...!"

Struck on the left side of his collar, Jin spouted blood and collapsed. From Sierra's perspective, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.

"Commoner!"

Sierra ran to Jin's side. As blood continued to flow freely from his wound, his face was extremely pale and he wasn't moving at all. Sierra shook him desperately and cried out.

"Commoner, wake up! It was your fault that the lamp was stolen, you know, so I won't forgive you if you just abandon your responsibility and die on me! I simply won't allow it!"

Sierra continued to shake him and even slapped him in the face a few times, but realizing that nothing would help, she leaned over him and cried out tearfully.

"It's all my fault! Because I'm the one who asked you to get back the lamp!"

"Kukuku...what an unworthy fellow."

Ukyou stood behind her. Her eyes filled with tears, Sierra turned to face him.

"You demon!"

"You're not incorrect in calling me that. I am an Ark Daemon after all."

Ukyou took out the Magic Lamp that he had tucked away earlier. Sierra sharply yelled.

"How did you even get your hands on the lamp?!"

"I caught scent of the lamp, so I had been searching that room for quite some time. The place was full of junk so I hadn't been able to find it, but it was easy once the place was cleaned out..."

"You were searching?"

"You saw me there, saying I was disgusting. That was quite rude."

After hearing that, Sierra was surprised.

"That spider, that was you?"

She felt a certain sense of calm. Despite the situation, instead of feeling afraid of the enemy who was standing nearby, knowing for certain that Jin hadn't just handed the lamp to someone else made her feel relieved.

"Huh, so I really should have killed you after all. Talking about useful insects, what nonsense. When it comes to exterminating bugs, I'd rather buy insecticide than rely on spiders. Really now, commoners are so stingy!"

"Looks like I win, Zadou Sierra. I have no use for you any longer. Why not become my slave for eternity...rather than that pitiful boy, wouldn't I be a better master?"

Ukyou was just about to rub the lamp. But then, like a spring, Sierra leapt at him and snatched back the lamp. Caught completely off guard by Sierra's sudden actions, Ukyou faltered for a moment. In that moment, Sierra took the lamp in both hands, slid head-first over to the collapsed Jin, and made him rub the lamp.

"Shi..."

Ukyou covered his face with his arm. A purple smoke erupted from the lamp and from within that haze, Sierra appeared dressed in her maid's uniform.

"You demon, it's a million years too early for you to even think of becoming my Master! I'll be the one to choose my own master!"

Sierra pulled out her spellbook from within her apron pocket. On the first page, the characters Jsj...or at least characters that looked something like that were written. Ukyou scowled and moved in to attack her.

"Change of plans, guess I'll have to kill you after all!"

"Now how do you read this again...umm..."

In her haste, she couldn't quite remember. She was slashed at with Ukyou's sword, but while crying out 'kyah!', she was able to use the magic lamp to deflect the strike. It clanged as it was hit.

"How impudent! This time I'll..."

Ukyou tried again, swinging once more. Just as the blade came within five centimeters of Sierra's head, the words suddenly clicked in her mind.

"Ah, I remember now...Lammul!"

After she uttered the phrase, a noisy billowing gust assaulted the rooftop. Sand carried by the wind was making a rough sound and wrapped about Ukyou. Startled by her own ability, Sierra stood in shock as her hair was fluttered about by the wind.

"A-Amazing...I was really able to use magic...!"

Unaware of what sort of effect the Lammul spell might have, she was a bit worried, but it seemed to have worked on him for the time being. Ukyou fell face-first where he stood, startling her.

"D-Did I kill him?"

Her heart racing, Sierra carefully approached him to check whether or not he was still alive.

"Ooh~"

"Ah, so he's just sleeping."

Sierra clutched her chest in relief. Lightly snoring, Ukyou seemed to be sleeping like a baby. Just then, there came a bluish white smoke from Ukyou's back.

"W-What is this?"

Startled, Sierra backed away. Drifting about the darkness, the bluish white smoke took shape, turning into what looked like a sea anemone about five meters in diameter with hundreds of tentacles and eyes. Feeling rather creeped out, Sierra had goosebumps all over.

"Is...Is this Majnun's true form?"

"You think you're so clever. As if you really could have figured that immobilizing the host would render me unable to fight."

It was an odd hoarse voice. In fact, Lammul was the only spell she knew and she didn't even know what sort of effect it would have, so it really was just coincidental that it worked, but deciding to bluff, Sierra shouted.

"T-That's right, I did! With my magic, I can beat someone like you in an instant!"

"I didn't think that you had progressed to such magical proficiency already. Well...Then I guess I'll eat you now."

Majnun laughed darkly, descending upon her slowly. Not expecting this turn of events, Sierra started backing away.

"E-Eat me...?"

"Though I avoided Suleiman's ring, I can't just abandon my comrades."

"Suleiman?"

"The king who was a magician, or perhaps I should say, the magician who became king."

"I don't get what you're saying at all! Why do all these hard to understand things keep happening one after another?! I wanted to be a normal girl, I didn't want any of this magic or anything...I don't even need money. I just wanted my mom and dad to stay together with me, that was all!"

But, without magic, there'd be no money, and without money her mother would file for divorce. Sierra was well aware that was the case, so much so that it pained her.

"Fuh...Shall I tell you as your parting gift to the Underworld?"

"Who you calling a maid?!"

Sierra yelled angrily. Majnun's many eyes blinked in surprise at her anger.

"...It seems this era is seeing an excess of comedians. Or maybe she's just an airhead?"

"W-What a rude monster!"

"Suleiman is the Arabic rendition of Solomon. Solomon's ring is capable of sealing us Ark Daemons into the Ark..."

"The Ark?"

"The lost Ark of the Covenant. When Moses led the enslaved Israelites out of Egypt, ten laws were engraved upon the stone tablets the prophet Moses received from God upon Mount Sinai on the peninsula of Sinai...The Ten Commandments."

Hearing about Moses, Sierra was reminded of what she heard yesterday from Jin behind the gym.

"The temple at the center of Jerusalem, the capital of Israel...David placed the sacred Ark that contained the Ten Commandments that was recovered from the Philistines within Jerusalem Temple, maintaining adherence to the laws. However, after the division of Israel, when the Babylonians destroyed the Jerusalem Temple that was rebuilt by the people of Judah, the Daemons sealed within the Ark escaped."

Majnun continued while his tentacles waved. Sierra was standing in a daze. Seeing her stand unable to move even the slightest, Majnun narrowed his eyes and laughed.

"Fufufu...Too scared to even reply, are you? We Daemons are spirits lurking within the human heart, spirits baser than reason. Acting based on instinct would often lead to wicked intentions that exceeded the rules of society...Because of that, God sealed us Daemons into the Ark with the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. Upon the Ark's destruction, we were freed...Ten forbidden wrong acts were set loose. Denying the one true God, worshiping false idols, taking the Lord's name in vain, ignoring the Sabbath, forsaking one's mother and father, committing murder, stealing, bearing false witness, committing extortion, and then there's myself, Majnun, representing adultery...It became a paradise where we could spread our control across all the land!"

"Zzz."

"Zzz?"

Majnun looked more closely at Sierra. Her eyes were closed, nodding off.

"Are you sleeping?!"

"No way. I'm really listening to your wonderful story, but it seems like I've become too absorbed, teacher."

"Teacher?"

"Ooh."

"First off, don't reply automatically as if you're in class, even pretending as if you were listening like a proper student! You're not in class, wake up!"

Majnun waved his tentacles. The ends that were like sucker pads clung to Sierra's head, shaking her. Sierra opened her eyes, startled awake.

"Huh, I guess I just dozed off."

"You have some nerve. And here I was giving you such a nice parting gift..."

Just then, Sierra heard a familiar voice come from somewhere.

"Well then, I'll take your offer, so tell me where you guys are from, will you? And where's the Ark?"

Confused, Sierra started looking about. Irritated, Majnun's many eyelids were twitching.

"Now see here. What's with you asking someone something and then suddenly turning your back on them, just how were you raised?"

"Wait, that wasn't me..."

"Now that I've decided to kill you instead of capturing you, I did want to give you that parting gift, but unfortunately, I don't know their locations either. If I had, this would have been much easier...But it'll just have to be like this."

Majnun's countless eyes glowed bluish white. A high-pitched sound started to echo within Sierra's mind. Her head felt like it was going to split in half.

"Kyahhh~!!"

Wriggling like a garden hose, its tentacles wrapped around Sierra's body. The tentacles creeped over her still undeveloped chest, groped her hips, and firmly gripped her slender arms and fair legs. Trying to remove its grip around her neck, Sierra struggled, but she was slowly being strangled in an ever tightening grip. Desperately flailing just to breathe, she cried out falteringly.

"S...Stop, you monster!"

"Even now, you want to give orders? Seems you don't understand the predicament of your situation. I wonder if you'd shut up if I tore you limb from limb?"

Holding her by her wrists and ankles, it stretched her apart firmly. It was almost as if Sierra was being crucified. Her joints creaked, her limbs felt as if they really were going to be torn off. The fierce pain made Sierra raise her face to the sky and cry out in agony. Yet her pained cry could not be clearly voiced.

Just then, a silverish light cut through the darkness. With a heavy sound, a sword struck its target.

"Gryahh!"

Slashed rather deeply down the middle, Majnun let out a dreadful cry. Spewing violet blood, its tentacles writhed about in pain. The tentacles holding Sierra's head removed their grasp, and there stood the person holding the sword.

That is, Jin was standing there. With a diagonal tear from earlier, his clothes were in poor shape. He was even still bleeding, but he at least seemed to be doing okay.

"Commoner!"

Her eyes shining brightly, Sierra rushed to Jin's side and in sheer delight, hugged him from behind. Unused to such open displays of glee and tenderness, Jin was taken somewhat aback.

"So you were still alive, huh! How is your wound so much better?"

"Sorry I'm late in rescuing you, but Alf stopped and...You didn't crack your skull or something, did you?"

Jin touched her head. Blushing bright red, Sierra stepped back hastily.

"D, d, don't touch me so familiarly, you commoner!"

"Good. If you can show that sort of irritation, then it seems like you're fine."

"I don't want you to misunderstand, so I'll tell you now, I wasn't worried about you even a bit, okay! Not at all!"

Still blushing, Sierra yelled almost desperately. With a dispirited look, Jin sighed.

"Since it doesn't know where the Ark is, we have no more use for it. Okay Jin, you can do it now!"

Alf declared mercilessly. Just then Sierra realized that it was Alf who had pretended to be her earlier.

"You...Alf or whatever your name was! Were you planning on just watching me die just so you could find out where the Ark was?"

"I was just adding a bit of spice into the everyday tedium of a pampered princess."

"Just what about getting my head blown off counts as 'a bit of spice', huh?!"

"So you were only...pretending that you were dead!"

Majnun managed to yell despite his wound.

"Hey, I'm the one who let you go thinking you were a beneficial creature, and this is how you repay the favor? I guess even amongst spiders there are those like the redback variety that you just have to kill!"

Jin brought his clenched right hand towards Majnun. On his middle finger, a golden ring engraved with the star of David was glowing. As fluid continued to drip from its body, Majnun's hundreds of eyes opened wide. All its eyes swelled as if about to explode as it gazed at the dazzling light.

"But, but the Ring was just recently awakened, so there's no reason I should lose! With all the desire from those humans who sought after that girl fueling me, I can't possibly lose to novices like you!"

Majnun suddenly lashed out with his tentacles, assaulting Jin like a storm. As Sierra screamed behind him, Jin firmly held his ground.

"Get back, I'll handle this. Or, actually, I guess Alf will."

"Don't be too careless, 'cause in the end, I'll need your power after all!"

"You're quite cheeky for a commoner! What's with that ring anyway!"

"The ring was inside of the lump on Jin's collar. It seems that along with the lamp, the ring had also been amidst that pile of books that was in his dorm room. Aware that Majnun was nearby, it burrowed and hid inside of Jin's body. The ring was like a parasite, and so Jin got the power of the ring...that's also why he was able to undo the seal of the lamp."

"If it was a parasite, I should go to a hospital. So anyway, that must be why when the dorm head struck me, the cut wasn't really that deep because the blade hit the ring. Hey wait, Alf, I bet you let him slice me open on purpose, didn't you."

Glancing down at the golden ring, Jin muttered rather bitterly.

"If I had asked you to let me perform surgery on you to get it out, there's no way you would have believed me and accepted, right?"

"Well, yeah, that's right, there was no way I'd have let you cut into me."

"Solomon's ring, which can seal all manners of things, has stronger magical power than an Ark Daemon, so I'd bet as its host, you must taste quite good yourself."

"Hey you! You're still thinking about eating me, aren't you!"

"Oopsies. Never mind, never mind, just forget all that, since without the owner of the ring, there'd be no one to wield me and I wouldn't be able to eat anymore, after all."

Alf spoke off-handedly, then moved his body to face him against Majnun.

"As long as you've got it, all the free Ark Daemons will come for the ring to avoid being sealed away. In short, you have to do your best and fight them all."

"Oh man, why me."

"You can't stop my hundreds of tentacles, no matter what kind of sword you've got! I'll easily crush a weak human like you!"

Mobilizing all his tentacles at once, Majnun prepared to wrap itself around Jin.

Jin sliced horizontally at the approaching tentacles. Being controlled by Alf, Jin's movements were so swift and precise, he couldn't help but gulp.

"It'd be nice if you could help me like this in kendo class."

"Don't distract me. Focus and synchronize yourself with me!"

Jin's ring glowed vividly. Surprised, he unthinkingly exclaimed.

"W...What is this?"

The ring unpeeled like a banana, becoming a golden layer that enveloped Jin's hand. Joining with the sword, it spread along his forearm to become a gauntlet, hardening into an armor and continuing along his upper arm and wrapping his right shoulder, expanding into a metallic wing. The wing curved slightly as if to protect Jin, and when the attacking feelers struck it, they burst with a pop.

"Gahhhh!!"

[[Image:Puipui vol01 233.jpg|thumb]]
Majnun shrieked. Jin stared dumbfoundedly at his right hand that was now covered in a golden metal. The sword that had merged with his hand had turned golden as it was also enveloped by the ring, and to its left and right, three metal blades extruded like wings. Alf sounded quite pleased.

"Amazing, it's even greater than I thought! So this is the power of the ring!"

"D...Damnittt~!"

Turning desperate, Majnun started spinning and rushed forward. Manipulating the still shocked Jin, Alf thrust herself forward.

"What an idiot! The power of the ring won't be defeated by strength alone! Jin, use the sealing incantation!"

"Sealing incantation?"

Suddenly told something like that, Jin was confused.

"Concentrate on the ring. Just like you synchronized with me, do it with the ring!"

"You keep saying so many difficult things."

"As if I'd let you win, I'll destroy you!"

Majnun had drawn right up to Jin. With all the tension of the moment, Jin felt his pores contract...And just then, as naturally as breathing, his mouth uttered an incantation involuntarily.

"Ol sonuf vaoresaji! I reign over ye!"

And with that Jin and his sword started glowing, numerous shards of light scattering about him and spiraling towards the heavens. His sword branched into two and turned into an enormous maw lined with sharp teeth that engulfed Majnun.

"Gyahhh!"

Majnun let out a final pained death cry. After it had finished swallowing Majnun, the sword returned to its original size. Subsequently, in a puff of smoke, the sword reverted back into Alf. There was just a slight swell to Alf's slender stomach.

"Hmm. The essence of Majnun the devil of adultery, it had quite a unique flavor I think.

She rubbed her belly looking rather satisfied. Jin's armor had also reverted to its original ring form at the same time that Alf reappeared. Jin touched his mouth in disbelief.

"...How, exactly did that incantation come from my mouth all of a sudden?"

"Humans use only 5% of their brains as their actual consciousness. The other 95% remains as the subconscious...the excess mental power remaining dormant. The instance of stress from Majnun's assault led to a temporary awakening or sorts."

"Incredible. I'm more sleepy after that one instant than when I'm in class."

"If you want to freely use such brain power, you'd have to gain control of your subconscious. They use the method of Zen for that sort of thing in Japan, right?"

Sierra let out a sigh and plopped down on the ground where she stood.

"...So it is dead, right?"

"Seems that way."

Jin also wasn't entirely sure. Alf smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"Without the sealing ring, I could only eat weak demons on my own...I should be quite full for a while."

"But, turns out the Clavicle of Solomon isn't a book but a key...Solomon's ring, huh. And here I had thought that it was a text, what with all I've read about it."

"Maybe it was done by the demagogues to throw the Ark Daemons off the trail. Clavicle and key sound kind of similar anyway.

Alf spoke while touching Jin's collarbone where the blood was still in the process of clotting.

"In short, not just anyone can become the master of the magic lamp. In the story of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, he must have rubbed the lamp with the ring in order to call out the genie."

"So then whoever has the ring can control the Genie of the Lamp?"

"Yep. If they possessed the ring, then even an Ark Daemon could do it."

"N, no way, I refuse to be a slave to those monsters!"

Sierra shook her head defiantly from side to side. Alf replied to her.

"But in other words, even if some ordinary person stole the lamp and tried to use it, they wouldn't be able to summon you. That's why after hundreds of years, your ancestors were able to move about without being called upon."

"So if I hadn't become a host to the ring, then I wouldn't have to have gone through all of this...?"

Jin sighed mournfully. The sound irritated Sierra.

"You're just a commoner, yet you would dare complain about having someone as wonderful as I am as your servant?"

"Haa, well I did get my room cleaned up a lot faster."

About at the end of his rope, Jin was holding his head in his hands. Sierra came up with a sudden realization and asked him a question.

"Oh hey, isn't Solomon's ring part of Solomon's treasure? That's what your parents are searching for right? So why don't you call them? This could prove that the treasure is in Japan after all."

"I can't. I haven't been able to reach them by phone at all. For adults, they're rather flaky."

Jin didn't hesitate to speak harshly of them. However, even though he might not have been completely aware of it himself, acting aloof, Jin really must have been rather lonely...As someone familiar with wanting family affection, Sierra could relate. With an unusual tenderness, Sierra spoke to him.

"It's okay, you'll be able to talk to them soon. If not, you can use one of my family's employees to send them a message, okay?"

"So even you can be kind sometimes, huh."

"Well, why don't you show me lots of gratitude and rub my head now please."

"So that's all it was, after all!"

Jin pressed his forehead, amazed. As if she were trying to run him over, Sierra pushed closer to him.

"Of course, why else did you think someone like me would be helping a commoner like you?!"

"Helping, you say...Aren't you the one who'd be in trouble if the lamp got stolen?"

"Putting it that way is a sophism!"

"There must be some other completely different meaning to the word 'sophism' than the one I know then."

"Anyway, just listen to what I tell you to do! Now rub my head!"

Speaking firmly, Sierra pressed her finger into Jin's chest like a drill. Bowing to Sierra's forcefulness, Jin sighed.

"I take back what I said earlier. You don't have a single redeeming feature."

"Whatever, just rub my head! Really, I can't stand to have my head rubbed by a commoner like you, so you should by grateful that I'm even allowing you the privilege of doing so!"

"Your logic is so out there, I'm not even going to try to argue with you."

Suffering from a headache, Jin placed his hand on Sierra's head and unwillingly uttered the still unfamiliar incantation.

"Chichinpuipui."

Sierra became engulfed in a silver glow. Her long hair fluttered and Sierra felt the satisfaction gauge rise, but it only went up just a bit.

"Ah...huh?"

Her fluttering hair returned to its normal place and the glow eventually died. She quickly checked her magic book, but there weren't any new spells to be found. Angry, Sierra snapped at Jin.

"Hey! I worked so hard, so what's up with the gauge's increase?! Show some more gratitude!"

"Not really. The one who worked the hardest was Jin, so I think even that amount of gratitude is quite something, considering..."

Alf muttered quietly in surprise. Noticing that Ukyou had started to move slightly while still collapsed on the rooftop, Jin spoke to the other two.

"If we're done here, we should go. The dorm head's such a serious guy, who knows what he'll say if he finds me in the middle of the night here together with girls. I won't have anywhere to go if I'm kicked out of the dorm, you know."

"What do you mean 'serious'?! He tried to make me his slave, didn't he?"

Sierra puffed up her cheeks. Alf chidingly replied.

"That's only because he was possessed by Majnun. He's back to normal now."

"That's the Japanese way of ignoring drunken antics. In that case, you're just a commoner who doesn't accept globalization!"

"It's only because he likes you that he was taken over by Majnun. Just forgive him already."

Just when things had calmed down, Sierra snapped at him like a razor's edge.

"Hey you, don't you feel mortified?"

"Huh? Why would I?"

"You're supposed to be my master! Your servant was taken by someone else, you know? Didn't it irritate you? Didn't you think 'Don't lay a hand on my servant!' or something like that?"

"But, it's not like I'm really your master, and you're not really my servant, right? You don't call me Master, and you're always giving me orders."

Jin's accurate rebuttal left Sierra unable to reply. Left without a valid argument, Sierra shouted angrily.

"That's that and this's this!"

"What's what?"

"Whatever! Act a bit more regretful, or else I'll take the ring and make someone else my master! What do you think of that, hm?!"

"That'd probably be for the best actually. I'll take off the ring now, okay?"

Completely serious, Jin was about to remove it, making Sierra thoroughly indignant. Picking up the magic lamp that had fallen on the floor, she pushed it on Jin.

"W-Well there's only a bit more until I reach the next level, so do your duty and call me again tomorrow! After all this trouble there's no way I'm going back to level zero!"

After saying her bit, Sierra was enveloped by purple smoke and disappeared back through the lamp.

"Hey, wait just a minute! Don't impose whenever you want, it's annoying!"

"Hmm, looks like you don't have a choice. Think of it as destiny and accept it."

Alf laughed heartlessly. Jin scowled at her.

"This isn't my problem! So why do I have to get involved?!"

"I guess it's because you like archaeology? It even seems like you might be better at it than your parents."

Alf spoke while staring at him with a serious face.

"History repeats itself...or so they say. In that case, to study the past is to know the future, right?"

"Hm, maybe...There are times when it mimics the past."

"In other words, archaeologists are like prophets. So being chosen by the ring...You're like a prophet."

"Me, a prophet?"

He blinked at such an unexpected term. Alf nodded firmly.

"I told you before that the 'Clavicle' of Clavicle of Solomon is meant to be Key, right? It's the key that seals or frees the genie of the lamp within the magic lamp...That's the ring of Solomon. That Aladdin would be chosen as the user was already predetermined. That he would be the one to dig out the buried lamp. In other words, the ring's master won't be just anyone."

"...Then, you're saying I was also chosen by the ring?"

"That's right. It wasn't in your room by chance, but by a forgone destiny. However, now that the ring has revealed itself, if it should be stolen, then that person would become the ring's new master. The Ark Daemons will be coming for the ring, and if one should get their hands on the ring, it could very well mean the end of the world, Jin."

Jin could suddenly feel a heavy responsibility press upon him, thinking how he had been chosen. And also...according to Arabian Nights, a thousand years ago the ring had come to China from the west and even before that the magic lamp had already made it to China and been buried underground, so...

"Just like Solomon's treasure, the lost ark could also be in Japan, couldn't it?"

"Even I don't know that much. If I could find the Ark, I bet I could have my pick of tasty Ark Daemons though."

"So you don't know, huh..."

Jin sighed disappointedly. Alf patted him on the shoulder.

"Well, until we find the Ark that's capable of sealing all demons, we'll just have to watch out for any Ark Daemons. At the very least, be mindful of the lamp and the ring. The Ark Daemons will be trying to kill off the descendants of the magic lamp, or else even try to make them their slaves."

"Even if they were able to make that girl a slave, they wouldn't be able to make full use of her anyway."

"Right now she can only use pitiful magic, but...Her ancestors simply passed down the book with spells already written in it and didn't gain any levels to add to it. If she's able fill the book up to the last page, then she could very well wield enough magical power to level a nation."

Jin could only gulp in response to Alf's suggestion. Someone as selfish as Sierra having that kind of ridiculous amount of power...The phrase "Genie" (evil god) would be quite apt, considering her extremely troublesome personality, and then to add to it the power to shake the world, he could just imagine what sort of trouble that could spell.

"If that was to happen, then she'd make herself an empress and rule over Japan."

"Well, the Ark Daemons are seeking to either possess her or kill her, most likely. The Genie of the Lamp may be a double-edged sword to both humans and Ark Daemons alike."

"So because I've found the Genie of the Lamp, they'll be coming to attack seriously then...?"

"That's what I said. To prevent the destruction of the world, you must make sure that no one else gets their hands on her, 'kay?"

"Hmph. If those guys really want her so bad, I'm perfectly willing to wave bye-bye to that troublesome girl."

Jin turned his back. Alf smirked.

"You know, I don't think that'll happen."

"...Hm, maybe so. The fate of the world depends on her, anyway."

As Jin gave a helpless sigh with a grave expression on his face, Alf narrowed her eyes and gave him a sidelong glance that seemed to have some subtle meaning.

"Nah, I think on a personal level, it's simply not something you could control."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Alright then, I think I'll head home now too."

Ignoring Jin's question, Alf opened the deformed iron door to the stairs and started making her way down. Left unanswered, Jin had an odd feeling in his chest.

"Thanks for tonight's meal, make sure to let me eat more Ark Daemons in the future as well, 'kay? I'll give you ten coupons for meals at our family restaurant for each one...Hm, but Solomon's ring looks pretty tasty too though."

"I'd really be better off if I didn't have to deal with a woman like you!"

Jin faced Alf's back and shouted hysterically.

The silverish moon in the sky shone coldly, completely oblivious to anything that had happened. The story had been passed down since long ago in Persia about Majnun who, using the light of the moon, would sneak into people's hearts. The despair of a hopeless longing, and yet unwilling to give up, the person would be driven to lunacy.

"Yuuya, and even the dorm head, what exactly about Zadou drove them to it..."

Jin asked of the moon. An image of the conceited, selfish, and self-centered Sierra danced around in his head. And also...her smiling face when she successfully cooked the omelette, and her teary-eyed expression of relief when she realized that he was still alive after being sliced by Ukyou.

Jin didn't question any further. It was as if the moonlight could pierce to the deepest reaches of a person's heart. Staring at the moon, he couldn't help but feel that even he was being changed oddly by the moon.

As if running from the moon's gaze, Jin departed from the rooftop.

No different than usual, the night passed into morning.

Jin arrived at school and, with a somewhat queasy expression on his face, approached Yuuya who was seated at his desk. Jin greeted him even while his heart beat nervously.

"Morning Yuuya. Where'd you go last night?"

Yuuya turned around and looked up, his face swollen and purple. Jin drew back in shock. As he had thought, he must've used just a bit too much force...Jin thought in reflection.

"Jin, I think I might be a sleepwalker."

Looking tired, Yuuya held his hand to his forehead. There was a large bump there that must have come from when he fell down the stairs.

"This morning, I was lying down at the foot of the stairs when I woke up...I was even in my school uniform. I don't really remember what happened after school yesterday. And my entire body hurts..."

"Isn't that from studying too much? You know, because sometimes your brain shorts out or something."

Jin tried to convince him while smiling. Yuuya still looked rather doubtful.

"What about you, what's with your shoulder?"

Yuuya reached out and touched Jin's left shoulder. The wound from yesterday had been treated and wrapped in gauze, but perhaps it had reopened on the trek to school, because now his shirt was slightly stained with blood. Jin hastily covered the bloody spot with his jacket.

"Oh, that's just from the lump."

"Maybe you're also injuring yourself while sleepwalking? Even the dorm head did, you know. Could there be such a thing as mass sleepwalking, 'cause this is really weird. Dozens of people were collapsed in the gym and the courtyard, covered in extinguishing foam."

"Well, it was a full moon last night. They do say strange things happen on the night of a full moon, right?"

"You mean like werewolves and fish spawning?...Well, I guess they do say that."

Jin relaxed as Yuuya seemed to be buying it.

If the existence of the Ark Daemons was made public, there was the possibility that people with bad intentions might try to seek them out. That's what Alf had told him when she called him afterwards. Solomon had used the sealed demons to gain prosperity, but after his death, he had sealed the demons back into the Ark and hidden the ring so that no one could abuse the power.

Though Solomon in his great wisdom had been able to control them, the Ark Daemons were still likely too crafty for humanity. In any case, the wisdom of mankind couldn't even keep up with its own overall growth. Depletion of resources, environmental pollution, and persistent strife...Examining the exceedingly large civilization of man, people are leading themselves on a road to extinction that goes beyond simple problems of overpopulation, to where it's as dangerous as when children think of guns as toys.

Well...I'm no different, Jin thought. He can't be sure of just how much power Sierra actually has. As the one who had come into the ring which could call upon her power, he wondered if he would be able to use it responsibly. And, he wondered if he would be able to keep it out of the hands of the Ark Daemons, whose appearances and backgrounds were still unknown to him. Jin was a bit overwhelmed with doubt. As he was lost in thought, Sierra arrived to class.

"Morning everyone."

As always, Sierra radiantly took the center of her classmates' attention. As he had just been thinking about her, Jin unconsciously stared at her. As soon as she noticed his gaze, she made a slightly perplexed face. Then, almost as if trying to run, she looked away. Jin was baffled and a bit uneasy.

It was annoying when she'd speak as pompously as she pleased, but it was almost all too clear as to what she thinking at least. Now though, as she put on that nice and friendly act, he had no idea what she could be thinking. Until just days before, he wouldn't have paid her any heed, and yet now it was weighing quite heavily on his mind.

That day, Jin ran back to the dormitory.

Honda Satoko was standing in front of the dorm, a book clutched to her chest. Surprised, Jin stopped.

"You're...that library committee member, right?"

"I've brought the Arabian Nights book that senpai was looking for."

Satoko's eyes were generally hidden by her bangs, so he couldn't really make out her expression. Jin knit his brow suspiciously.

"You came here just for that?"

"Yes, just for this."

Satoko's mouth was twisted into a smirkish smile. Jin shivered.

Just then, Ukyou came walking out of the dorm's entrance and called Jin's name.

"Hey, Araki. Come here a sec."

"Ah, coming! Thanks, it seems I'm being called by the dorm head, so..."

Jin took the book from her and turned on his heel. Watching him go, Satoko let out a low laugh.

"Please feel free to ask me anything at any time. As long as it's something within my means, I'll help you with anything. Kukuku..."

"Yeah, I really don't get what's with her going 'kukuku'..."

With his head tilted in thought, Jin returned to the dorm. Ukyou, wearing his kendo uniform, started talking while pressing an icepack against the large lump that he probably got from yesterday when his head hit the rooftop floor.

"Araki, don't fraternize with women near the dorm. You'll destroy the public morals we uphold!"

Ukyou was as persistent as ever. Seeing him act so normal, Jin relaxed for the time being.

"My apologies."

"Also, Araki...Did anything happen to you last night?"

"Last night?"

"It's just that, I get the feeling I was sleepwalking. I was carrying my sword and lying on the rooftop, and I even seem to have caught a cold. Your roommate Utada was also collapsed within the school, and...I even have the oddest sensation of meeting with you floating in the back of my mind."

Jin stiffened, shaking his head back and forth.

"I was at the dorm the entire time. I ate dinner there too...Ask anyone and they'll tell you."

"I see. Well, it must've been a dream then. Along with trying to make Zadou into a servant..."

Ukyou muttered practically to himself. It was almost impossible to hear, so Jin asked.

"Did you say something just now?"

"Ah, no. It's nothing."

Ukyou shook his head thoroughly before turning away.

"Having such a shameful dream, I must have some pretty vulgar desires hidden away in my heart somewhere. I must need more discipline...Today, it'll be a thousand swings and ablution, then I'll purify my mind by copying sutras."

"What is that you're muttering about?"

"In any case, for me to have...to have dreamed of Zadou dressed as a maid, it's like the end of the world. 'Moe' shouldn't be used as something so frivolous! In bushido, it's something you'll only find hand in hand with death!"

Ukyou left while in the middle of a verse from the Hagakure. It seemed like he would forget all about last night, but that didn't mean he'd let go of any of his feelings for Sierra.

"So even the dorm head has bouts of idle imagination, huh. What's so good about that spoiled girl anyway?"

From the shadows of a thicket in the dorm's garden, there was someone watching Jin. Hiding while gripping the tree's branches with both hands, a digital camera hung from the neck of the vice-president, Himuro Eriko.

"Araki Jin..."

Eriko's intelligent eyes glinted behind her lenses.

"I don't know exactly what you're hiding, but I'll definitely prove that you brought Zadou into your dorm room. That way, even the president will see that girl's true colors and forget all about her. Then, he'll notice me, the one who has always been by his side...Ufufufu..."

"Sis, what are you doing here? If the dorm head finds you, he'll get angry."

From behind, Eriko's younger brother Keita called out to her, sounding reasonably worried.

Back in his room, Jin sat down at his desk.

Yuuya had said he was worried about sleepwalking and gone to see the school counselor about it, so it seemed he wouldn't be back for a while. He still couldn't reach his parents by phone.

The magic lamp was still inside one of his drawers. Last night he had been thinking that he wouldn't call her out a second time, but...as he considered what Alf had said, they needed to raise Sierra's genie level as much as possible if they wanted to oppose the Ark Daemons.

"I'd rather not have to see that selfish girl, but...Well, it can't be helped I guess."

Jin took the ring out from his shirt pocket and rubbed it against the magic lamp.

Sierra popped out right away dressed in her maid outfit. For some reason, her hair was dripping wet, and her dry uniform was being rained upon. Here and there, shampoo bubbles coated her hair. Her forehead was furrowed angrily. Jin was surprised and took a glance out the window.

"Is it raining?"

"As if! What's with your timing, calling me out when I was taking my daily after-school shower!"

Sierra snarled at him. So, it seemed like he had called her when she was right in the middle of taking a shower. Her long hair was completely drenched, so her dry clothes were becoming wet and at her feet was a pool of water.

"Oh man, it's going to ruin the floor."

"Hey! Are you just going to ignore the bigger problem here?"

"You're the one who told me to summon you, so what's the problem?"

Immediately regretting summoning her, Jin sighed deeply. Sierra grabbed the hem of her skirt and started wringing it out as she yelled.

"I'll call you when I'm available for this, so summon me then!"

"If it's like that, then just which one of us is really calling out the other?"

"I guess I'll have to teach you about masters and servants or you won't understand who's the master."

"Hey wait, I'm the master here!"

After Jin shouted, someone in the neighboring room banged on the wall.

"Araki, if you want to make so much noise by yourself, go do it outside!"

"See? Because of you, people are getting mad again."

Jin glared at her. Sierra was drying her hair with a towel-like bedsheet that had been hanging from the bunked beds. Jin quietly muttered.

"Maybe rich people don't use these, but that's not actually a bath towel."

"Never mind that, hurry up and tell me what you called me for."

"Don't you mean, 'Master, how may I be of service?'!"

Exasperated by the domineering Sierra, Jin rested his forehead against his hand.

"Fine, just go ahead and wipe up the wet floor. Though this scene feels kind of backwards."

"What a mundane task. Isn't there anything more befitting for me, just a bit more flashy or something?"

"Just get to it!"

Jin shouted in irritation. Sierra sharply turned away.

"Fine. It's fine as long as I get it done, right?"

And so, she took the bedsheet that she had been using to dry her hair and started wiping the floor with it.

"Don't use a bedsheet as a towel!"

[[Image:Puipui vol01 255.jpg|thumb]]
The moment he yelled, he hesitated. Sierra was on her hands and knees. With the maid uniform's miniskirt, her thighs were clearly visible, but...ah, but that wasn't all. He was pretty sure that just a bit higher, what should have been there, wasn't. Jin became flustered and his face tinged red.

'Ah...That's right, she was in the middle of a shower when I called her. Seeing as how she gets changed into the maid uniform right when she comes out, then...what about her underwear?'

Jin felt a sudden cold sweat overtake him. He wanted to point it out. He just had to. And yet he couldn't. As if there was any way he could.

"T-That's enough, you can stop."

Looking off to the side, Jin quickly spoke. Sierra looked up and stared at him blankly.

"What? You're the one who said to dry the floor."

"It's fine, so go home!"

"It's not fine. I have to raise my genie level or..."

Sierra stood up and scowled at him. Jin was somewhat taken aback.

"...Ah, I know. Since I don't like wiping, there's a better way. Actually, I heard this from my head maid Mary about the essentials of cleaning."

"The essentials of cleaning?"

Jin's eyes were widened with surprise. Sierra looked back at him proudly with her head held sharply upwards. She looked a bit happy even. Sierra was certainly domineering and selfish, but with her fierce competitiveness, she was surprisingly serious about her work as the Genie of the Lamp...Jin was once again reminded of that fact. Whether it was a good thing or not, it was an irrefutable truth.

"Okay, if you get it, then get out of the way! Whatever gets in the way of cleaning, I'm going to crumple and toss in the trash!"

...But, is the abusive tongue really necessary? Jin climbed up to the top of the two beds. Sierra spoke with an energetic air.

"This spell works quite well with cleaning. In other words, the better I remember the magic, the easier it'll be to level up."

"What works well with cleaning?"

"I heard this from Papa. That Lammul in Arabian means sand. Though it's an incantation related to sand, I had no idea that it was a sleep spell..."

"Ah, yeah. The sandman...Makes sense."

"So you know about it?"

"At night, he's a fairy that comes to put children to sleep by placing sand in their eyes, right?"

"Yeah. When I asked Mary, she told me that in medieval Europe there were people who made a living by scrubbing the floors and kitchenware with sand. So, if you use sand to polish the floors, they'll become rea~lly nice and pretty."

Suddenly, Jin got a bad feeling about where this was headed. But, by the time he realized what was coming, it was too late.

"Ah wait, stop!"

"Lammul!"

Holding her spellbook in one hand, Sierra held her index finger up high with gusto and chanted the incantation.

Bringing along a fierce sound, the sandstorm raged within the room. Lighter things were picked up by the wind, the curtains were suddenly coated in sand, his desk was buried, and the bits that hit him in the face stung like being shot with a pellet gun.

"Stop it, you idiot!"

"Who's the idiot! Even though I said I'd clean for you, you're not showing the least bit of gratitude? What a terribly senseless commoner you are!"

"As if I could be grateful for this! Which of us is the senseless one?!"

As Jin yelled, sand flew into his mouth, sticking crunchily in his mouth. Because of that, he found it hard to even speak.

"I don't think there's enough sand. More Lammul!"

"Stop already!"

Jin screamed at the end of his rope. Rather than worry about the Ark Daemons, Sierra could probably destroy the world all on her own. Once again, one of the neighbors pounded heavily on the wall.

"Hey, don't make such a ruckus every single frickin' day!"

The room was already filled up to at least knee level. Sierra stood alone amidst the piled sand. Covering his eyes, Jin coughed up some sand and yelled.

"Zadou, hey, cut it out!"

"Guh."

Sierra, who was still standing in the sand, had her head tilted to the side. Drool hung from her mouth. Even as she stood, she seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

"Don't get put to sleep by your own magic!"

Because Sierra had fallen asleep, there was no way to stop the magic. The sand continued to pile up. It seemed like Jin would be killed off even before the world might be destroyed.

"Just go home, and don't come back!"

Speaking of the Genie of the Lamp, Sierra really fit the bill for a genie (demon god)...Jin was fully aware of that. And, he was the one who was now stuck with that genie...Yeah.

"Somebody, please, do something about this girl for meeeee!"

Jin held his head, screaming mournfully as the sandstorm continued to rage.

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| Forward to [[PuiPui:Volume1_Author's Notes|Author's Notes]]
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PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter2

2009-08-26T02:44:11Z

Ricky12440: Undo revision 50446 by Ricky12440 (Talk)

===Chapter 2: Solomon's Treasure===

In the dorm room the next morning, Jin donned his uniform in a refreshed mood.

With a large smile, he happily scanned the room. Not since moving in had the room been so clean.

"Aaaah, what refreshing weather."

Looking out the window, he gave a big stretch. The morning's breakfast had also been quite wonderfully delicious. Yuuya was also in a good mood, listening to music with his headphones.

"You organized the room pretty quickly. Sorry about yesterday, blood just rushed to my head that's all."

Yuuya apologized to Jin, moving his headphones down to his neck and letting the sound spill out.

"Everybody makes mistakes. Don't worry about it."

"Hey, what's with that high and mighty way of speaking?"

Despite all the trouble Sierra had brought upon Jin, it was still thanks to her that all the boxes were gone. It would have been troublesome for the Genie of the Lamp to have helped out...at least that's what he thought.

(I really should have shown more thanks for yesterday. Because I can't call her again.)

The lamp had been put in a box, and then sealed into the deep recesses of a desk. This was for safety. That way Sierra wouldn't be called out from the lamp being accidentally rubbed. It solved everything.

When it came time to go to school, the two left the room. The smell of sweat and mold were a unique part of the inside of the men's dormitory, but for some reason there was a new unique fresh scent in the air. Yuuya wriggled his nose, sniffing.

"This smell...where have I smelt it before."

"I wonder if it's incense."

Jin replied while his nose sniffed the air as well. Yuuya shook his head.

"An incense stick doesn't have this kind of scent."

"That's not what I meant, here. It's kind of like the smell of an old lady using a folding fan."

"Ah, I see. It's like the smell of an old lady."

Yuuya laughed aloud, while over his back something taller than him cast its long shadow.

"This incense is a type of citrus fruit. Calling an upperclassman an old lady, the first years this year sure have a lot of courage."

In shock, the two could only shake. A tall slender figure wearing a traditional [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/G_Blaize_Kokiu_Nague_2.JPG Kendo Gi and Hakama] was holding a bamboo sword. With long hanging hair, the young man stared down with cold, strict eyes. Behind him, and wearing their school uniforms, were four members of the Skinhead group. They were the dorm head's right hand guardsmen, subordinates under his direct control, and all were third year students at the dorm.

The scent had risen from the Kendo Gi which Ukyou was wearing. Incense used to be burned in the Heian Period to provide kimono's with a pleasant smell, and it seemed Ukyou had these traditional hobbies.

“No way dormitory head, that is......no.”

Yuuya's face was becoming a shade of pale green. Ukyou took Yuuya's music-blaring headphones from around his neck, slamming them into a nearby wall.

“You're a Japanese man, yet here you are indulging in the Western Music Culture, how weak!”

Ukyou was the head of the Kendo club. He was pale from practicing indoors all the time, and as time continued that feature began to grow more and more pronounced. Yuuya shook from his uncontrollable fear of him.

“S-Sorry, please forgive me.”

“You trash, well, it's true you're in the Light Music Club. For the sake of winning the girls you buzz around like a mole cricket! If you keep up the flirting, I'm going to beat you up!”

Ukyou thrust against Yuuya's shoulder with the bamboo sword. Terrified, Yuuya stood unsteadily as his legs wobbled. Watching this, Jin blocked the way.

“Wait a minute! The first one to say you smelled like an old lady, was me!”

Ukyou lifted his thin eyebrow in response. The surrounding protection squad moved to stand in front of Jin.

“First year kid! Watch what comes out of your mouth when speaking to the dorm head!”

“Yeah, well I haven't broken any of Tachibana Dorm's rules yet! You just want to get to the punishing!”

“J-Jin, hurry up and apologize!”

Yuuya was being encircled by the protection squad. However Jin had leapt out powerfully like a bunny, evading capture.

“I don't think there's anything to apologize for though. I just said what I was thinking that's all.”

“What the, you first year brat!”

“Anyway, wait a minute.”

With that, Ukyou raised his hand, restraining his protection squad. He had an icy composure as he reigned them in.

“If I remember correctly, you're Araki Jin. To not be afraid of these guys, you're pretty gutsy. But with the authority I hold, it's not good for you to mouth off.”

Ukyou gripped Jin's chest, pulling him close. The smell of tachibana incense filled the air.

“We protect the rules and order of the dorm, so show some more respect to your upperclassmen. This is an order from your senior, and you aren't allowed to speak out against it. Araki Jin, normally you would be sent off to be punished but......since you're a new student, we'll just take away your meals.”

“T-Take away my meals?”

Jin's raised voice held a bit of hysteria.

“That's right. There will be no lunch or dinner for you today.”

Jin was astonished at Ukyou's cold words. Suddenly a member of the protection squad spoke up.

“Dorm head, it's about time to attend school. The morning patrol in the neighborhood......”

“Okay. Just let me change my clothes.”

Ukyou and his protection squad withdrew, leaving a chilling wind over their shoulders. Yuuya grabbed ahold of Jin.

“For saying all that, it's kind of good you got off so easy.”

“Where does it say they can take away meals?”

Dinner at the dormitory started at six, and unless everyone was there no one could start eating. Also, that time was closing time for the dorm, so from that point on no one was permitted to go out. Those were the rules for meals, so outside food couldn't be brought in later. Consequently, withholding meals actually meant that until the next day's breakfast, there would be nothing to eat. Yuuya pressed his forehead in shock.

“In this situation what are you going to do for food! Why didn't the guys with the dorm head say anything about him taking food from you?”

“I know, meals are the basis for human life after all.”

“With all this talking about human life and all, we don't have anymore time, but......geez it's because you transferred from another school that you don't understand yet how scary the dorm head is. When he's in a bad mood, do you have any idea how lucky it is to get off with only a few meals taken away?”

“Even though you said that yesterday too, he really wasn't in that bad a mood. Still, what an obstinate guy.”

“Shhhh! You may think it's fine to say stuff like that, but that's what lost you your food! Back when I was in my second year of junior high, I stepped on his shadow, and did you know I got punished just for that?”

“Sounds like an anachronism.”

“His entire household is extremely old fashioned, they're like nobles. Especially from the weak position of a second year junior high student.”

A stand was put out in front of the dorm's entrance hall, with packages of onigiri stacked up. They were bentos for the boarding students. There were five second year junior high school boarding students distributing, bowing their heads each time they handed one out.

Because of their weak position as underclassmen, their job as second years was to prepare the meals. Shopping, breakfast, lunch and bentos, and also dinner, each of the three meals had a system made for it. There was also the dish washing group. It had been arranged so that there would always be around ten first year high school students, with thirty junior high second years, so that there would always be people to take care of the work.

Jin and Yuuya both reached out their hands towards the bundles, when a boy on duty shook his head. The first year student had a serious expression on his face.

“I'm sorry. But the dorm head said that Araki doesn't get any.”

“You don't have to be so uptight. What if there are extras?”

“It's alright. Anybody that wants seconds can have as much as they'd like.”

“So you're listening to an upperclassman's orders then?””

“The dorm head's orders are absolute.”

The boy cut the conversation coldly. Stout hearted and with the appearance of a kid, he really didn't seem to be a primary school student. It was starting to look like he wouldn't be getting anything to eat......Jin dropped his shoulders in defeat.

“Let's get going, Jin. It'll be bad if the dorm head finds you here, you might end up losing breakfast tomorrow as well.”

With that Yuuya began pulling him away by his shirt's collar. Jin reluctantly moved out into the entrance hall, waving goodbye to the onigiri he was unable to obtain.

Turning towards the school and walking along the embankment, Jin asked Yuuya for help.

“Hey, Yuuya. Is there any way you'll split your lunch with me?”

“Don't joke around. If I don't eat my blood sugar will decrease.”

“Ah! I forgot the book I borrowed from the library.”

“Come on! Listen when people are talking to you. Can't you go to a convenience store and buy something?”

“It's the end of the month already, so I'm kinda out of money. Let me borrow some.”

“Don't give me any of that. I'm also running out of money. But I can manage to lend you thirty-eight yen.”

“Together with my eighty-five yen......there's not even enough to buy bread.”

“If it's 'Alf Layla,' they use tabs.”

“'Alf Layla'?”

A thousand nights......that's what it means in Arabic. It was a phrase found in Arabian Nights, where it was used as 'One Thousand and One Nights.'

“We're at the back of the place. The food is cheap yet delicious. You've never been?”

“No. I haven't been yet......”

Jin looked to his side, as just then Yuuya had laughed.

“Then, just follow me. Since it's your first time, you can't put the meal on a tab yet. There's a shop girl who's ridiculously cute. But not at Zadou's level. Zadou climbed up to the first rank, so she's in a totally different world.”

Ignoring Yuuya's words while he was in dream mode, Jin remembered yesterday's escapade with Sierra, wondering what was so good about her......he couldn't comprehend the mystery. Of course, saying something like that to Yuuya who had entered a worship group from his love of her, would cast him out as a traitor, he would become a demon for having spoken his mind.

As they continued walking along the embankment, sounds approached from the back that sounded like the pattering of a small deer's footsteps.

“Onii-cha~n!”

Jin was being waved down. A small girl was running towards him with bobbing hair, as her face was blushing deep red. She seemed to be a lot like a small mouse, especially with her large eyes. Yuuya tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“Jin, you know her? Which kindergarten is she from?”

“......Ai-Aika?”

Jin was surprised for a moment, when the girl......Kasumi Aika, suddenly fell on her face. With both hands thrown out in front of her, it looked as though she had dove for home base. Jin rushed over to her side.

“Aika! A,-Are you alright?”

“Just now......she tripped when there was nothing to trip on...”

Yuuya muttered with stiff eyes. Aika picked herself up, and turned to face Jin.

[[Image:Puipui_vol01_069.jpg|thumb]]
“Onii-chan, we finally meet!”

Jin's body was hugged tightly. The other person's body was slender, and seemed as though it might break easily. That body like a matchstick was wearing the Harusha Middle School Academy's uniform. Surprised, Jin asked Aika about it.

“You, why are you wearing that uniform?”

“Huh. That girl, she's from yesterday's......”

Yuuya pointed at Aika. That time yesterday when they had seen Sierra's car along the embankment, this was the girl that had been sitting next to her. He turned an amazed look towards Jin.

“How do you know Aika?”

“Wasn't she in Zadou Sierra's car yesterday? I thought she was in kindergarten, but could it be she's in middle school?”

After Yuuya's question, Aika was embarrassedly hiding behind Jin's back.

“W-Wait, why are you hiding?”

“Don't get too close. She's not very immunized against guys.”

“Immunized, what, do you think I'm some kind of infectious bacteria?”

Disregarding an upset Yuuya, Jin turned to ask Aika a question.

“You were in her car?”

“Yeah. On my way home I hurt my leg, and she helped me by taking me back to the dormitory.”

“......You probably, just fell onto the level ground like you did just now.”

“Being able to ride in Sierra's car, was like a dream. Because of my nervousness, I was being careful about what we were talking about.”

“Hmmm...... It's nice that such a selfish girl can show some kindness.”

Slightly surprised, Jin brushed his forehead with his index finger.

“Dormitory?”

“Yeah. Sakura Dormitory.”

“Wait a minute. Why did you transfer from the all girls elementary school? Actually, why did your parents say 'okay' to you living in a dorm when here you are tripping over nothing?”

“That's because, Onii-chan moved here so suddenly.”

Aika puffed out her cheeks.

“I asked auntie if I could transfer to this school, and she said if there's a vacancy in the new students entrance exam it would be okay.”

“That's right......in spite of your slowness, you must have done pretty well.”

“Geez! Onii-chan! Don't call me slow!”

Angrily Aika closed both hands into fists. But slamming into Jin's stomach was instead, Yuuya's elbow.

“She's pretty cute. Your [[PuiPui:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes|little sister]] that is.”

“She's not my sister. She's a friend from my old neighborhood.”

“Uhm, Onii-chan. Can we go to school together?”

Looking out to make sure Yuuya wasn't getting any closer, Aika was shimmying around Jin.

“Sorry, Yuuya. I'll meet you in the classroom.”

“Why are you suddenly so cold-hearted? My my, I never noticed.”

After finishing his sarcasm and slowly increasing his pace, he paused suddenly.

“Wait a minute. Did you say Sierra was a selfish girl?”

“Well I didn't have a more appropriate adjective. Evil maybe, or brutal.”

“Don't say something you don't understand. Since it's me, it's okay, but if anyone else heard you talk about her like that, I don't think it would be good. You'll probably be attacked in the back of the head.”

Yuuya walked off first, as Aika latched herself onto Jin's shoulder.

“It's just as he was saying, Onii-chan. Sierra-sama is beautiful and kind, so all us middle school girls want to be like her.”

“......I simply can't imagine that we're talking about the same person.”

Thinking about how Sierra had appeared from the lamp yesterday, Jin crossed his arms.

(It couldn't be that there's a different person with the exact same first and last name, right......?)

“She brought me back yesterday. In reality Sierra-sama, even though she is a beautiful person with a lot of money, she's really kind, and I'm becoming more and more of a fan of hers.”

“Well......according to Yuuya, it's rare for a guy to not be entranced by her.”

Jin didn't really understand. Aika tried to reign in her laughter.

“Is that true. I think everyone's the same, that they all really like her a lot. But, I was the only one she had a heartfelt conversation with.”

“What's that?”

“Well, it looks like there's someone who dislikes Sierra. The other day, someone put a green caterpillar on a twig, into her shoe locker.”

“Seriously?”

Jin thought Sierra was certainly selfish......but after listening to those cruel words, his stomach began to get a little upset.

“What kind of idiot would do something like that.”

“I don't know but......after asking the boy next to her about it, he just said it was a really bad thing for someone to have done. That's why I encouraged Sierra-sama, and she thanked me, so then we talked about all kinds of things. If everyone in class knew this, then they'd be burning with jealousy. Tehehe.”

“I guess it must be pretty troublesome, for her to stand out so much.”

“Ah, that's right. Onii-chan, Are you free for lunch break today?”

Aika asked, with her head tilted to the side. Performing that motion her hair shifted over her face. With that, Jin remembered he didn't have his bento, at the same time his stomach rumbled loudly.

“A-Ah. I didn't have any plans......I don't have a bento to eat......”

Hearing that, Aika happily clapped her hands together, followed by grabbing onto Jin's arm.

“Yay! Today, third, fourth period is home economics. We're making cupcakes, so I'll bring some extras to outside the staff room. Onii-chan, would you eat them?”

Aika brought her flushed face up to look at Jin. It was a sight for the gods......but because of how it looked to have Aika plastered to his arm, he was growing more nervous as he furrowed his eyebrows.

“Ah, nah......it's better if you don't cook. Back when you were in elementary school, you'd cut your fingers and get all kinds of wounds, remember? Even now, it seems like you've been getting an occasional scrape.”

“I'm fine now. After entering the school, the reason I haven't been able to search for you until now is because I've been on kitchen duty at the dorm the whole time......even though I've gotten hurt, I've been getting better and better.”

“Hmm. I thought it would be impossible for you to live as a boarding student, but it seems you're doing okay.”

“Geez, I'm in middle school after all. I'm not a kid anymore.”

In a provoking gesture, Aika placed a fist on her hip, while sticking out her tongue and making a “blaah” sound.

“Yeah, I guess you've really grown up from that time when you were just like a baby. I guess you don't use diapers anymore then huh.”

“D-DIAPERS WHAT THE HECK'S WITH THAT!?”

“You don't wear pampers now do you?”

“Geez! I hate you! You're not getting any cake!”

Aika quickly turned her face away. If this continued he would end up losing his meal.

“Sorry. I apologized, so please don't take my cake away.”

“A cake?”

“That's right. A cake.”

“......Geez!”

Shocked, Aika began laughing. It was a bright, rolling laugh. Because they had both lived in the same neighborhood, Jin had known her since the time she had worn diapers. Having been raised in a warm, loving family, Aika had been quite obedient. Her name had come from her white body, which reminded the parents of a white bridal rose, symbolizing happiness and love. Her name literally meant “love” and “flower”. And the laugh, showed the light from her soul.

“If you want forgiveness, will you say ChiChinPuiPui?”

“ChiChinPuiPui?”

Remembering something, Jin's eyebrows were knit tightly. Clinging to Jin, Aika showed him her knee.

“This is yesterday's injury. Onii-chan, didn't you say whenever I have an injury, you'll say ChiChinPuiPui?”

Like a baby deer she was looking up at Jin with her eyes and long eyelashes. Saying “Ahh,” Jin brought himself towards Aika's knee, making his finger act like a dragonfly as it came closer.

“♪ChiChinPuiPui, pain pain, hurry up and fly to the mountain top.♪”

Having often done the spell for her when she was younger, even though it was the same chant, he didn't feel the same sort of embarrassment with Aika. Jin thought nothing of it as he finished the incantation.

“Ehe. Onii-chan look, it's being effective.”

“It's just your mood that's all. It's just a superstition after all.”

“Hey. Are you still searching for that treasure thing?”

“Nn......more or less.”

Jin turned his face. Aika was grinning.

“It's confusing for me, but......Onii-chan, you'll definitely find it. When you do, show it to me, k?

At the same time, the problem of Sierra was revolving in Jin's head. A smiling face like this came to mind. A beautiful girl with money and an excellence record, and one day could suddenly use magic......what kind of wish could be granted, and why, did she sometimes appear sad.

Even though it was fun to go together with Aika, Jin was feeling heavy. Wondering what to do, he still had no idea.

After parting with Aika and entering Class 1-B, his eyes focused abruptly on Sierra. Up till now, Jin had never even noticed her before. Always buried deep in an archeology book, he had never paid attention to who was in his class.

Finally realizing this, he noticed that out of everyone in class, she really did stand out. Anyway, who knows how many people were circled around her. With a bright smile, she was speaking elegantly. As though they were attendants, they surrounded the Ojou-sama. If Sierra was compared to others, in terms of kindness, certainly he was starting to see what Yuuya and Aika were talking about.

(This is strange......what I saw yesterday, did I mistake her selfishness?)

Looking at Sierra's surroundings, he noticed all the boys were staring at her with burning eyes.

Upon Jin entering the classroom, Sierra turned her eyes towards him. Jin was taken aback. Prepared for something like what happened yesterday, he put himself on guard, but instead Sierra returned to talking with the other girls, taking no notice of him.

(Hah?)

Receiving a tap on his shoulder, Jin blinked his eyes in surprise. Yuuya was taking his seat, with his thread thin eyes turned towards Jin.

“Despite what you said before, you seem fascinated by Zadou.”

“No, it's not like I'm fascinated.”

“Everyone's fascinated by her.”

“Even if they are, it doesn't seem like anybody is talking to her though.”

“Well, everyone knows they can't catch her, so all they can do is watch her in awe. Someone that would talk to her with their own voice, doesn't exist right?”

Thinking about the Sierra from yesterday, he didn't think that was so. But, looking at the Sierra of now, he could understand Yuuya's desire to get closer.

(Are all the guys in class like that?)

Inundated with such complex questions, Jin hugged his chest. Not wanting to speak up and instead keeping silent, he had one thing that he wanted to ask. After Sierra had left his room, he was wondering what had happened to all those cardboard boxes.

(I don't even know her phone number......but calling out now wouldn't be right.)

Sierra as well, seemed to want to keep yesterday a secret, so she probably hadn't told anybody anything. Looking for a suitable time to voice his thoughts, Jin patiently waited for the right moment.

She had definitely seen him, having turned her gaze to stare right at him, but paying no heed, she continued to ignore him.

However, with the coming of lunch break......the middle school girls entered Class 1-B with cupcakes, and the situation began to change.

“Onii-chan, I got them!”

Aika handed Jin a paper bag stuffed with cupcakes. With his stomach already rumbling, Jin took the cupcakes, feeling relieved.

“Thanks. You really saved me.”

From behind Aika, around another ten middle school girls entered, carrying cake boxes. They were all heading for Sierra. As all the other girls gathered to Sierra's desk, she had to hold her small lunch box in her palm.

“Sierra-sama, I made cupcakes in home economics, please eat them!”

“Please take mine as well!”

The middle school girls were surrounding Sierra nervously with high tension. Saying, “Eh, Thank you,” and, “well then, let's all eat together,” a kind smile had risen on her face, which showed her ability to cope while remaining courteous, while at the same time Jin and Aika were intermittently turning their gaze in her direction.

The cupcakes Aika had given, had risen when baked to resemble the color of a fox, while they gave off a sweet vanilla scent. Holding them, they were steamy and warm. Jin admired how well done the cupcakes were.

“These, you really made them?”

“Heh heh, great aren't they?”

Standing next to Jin's desk, Aika had both her hands wrapped around to her back, hugging herself with pride.

“Yeah, they really look great. It's like you bought them from a store.”

“Don't just look at them, praise their taste too.”

Placing a hand on top of Jin's desk, Aika brought her face in close to Jin's.

“You, don't want to eat?”

“We're not supposed to eat in the middle of home economics. Come on and show some discretion when you eat!”

Trembling nervously, Aika urged Jin on. Picking one out to test, Jin ate it, and suddenly the sweet scent of milk and eggs expanded inside his mouth, as it's light texture melted in his mouth.

“Woah. These are actually pretty good.”

“Really? Yes!”

Aika struck a victory pose. Extremely hungry, Jin crammed two to three into his mouth, his cheeks giving away his furious chomping.

“Yah......preddy good.”

“You tried them again?”

“Yeah. I was thinking you were going to feed me mud pies again.”

“Th......that was back in kindergarten!”

In her anger Aika turned scarlet. Aika always tended to show her emotions on her face instantly, as she always had since they had known each other as kids, so they could chat leisurely without worries. In comparison with the stressful situation he was in with Sierra yesterday, Jin really felt much more relaxed and at ease now.

Watching Aika attentively, Jin dropped cupcake after cupcake into his stomach, when Yuuya and some other boys' voices cut through.

“Hey. It's obvious none of us would have received anything, but why is it you're the only one who gets cupcakes!”

“Because we were in the same neighborhood as kids.”

As Jin was stuffing his face with cake, that blunt reply was all he could manage. And as all the high school boys started to gather around, Aika ducked behind Jin. Even though she was energetic when around Jin, around other guys she was really quite shy. Sierra as well, had a different attitude in the classroom than she had had in Jin's room. ''I just don't understand girls.'' Jin was becoming more confused.

“Jin-kun. It's not good for you to horde. Aren't we your friends?”

While clinging to Jin, Yuuya spoke with a voice like a cat. With the cake box, Jin separated from Yuuya.

“Aika's upset, so quit getting so close.”

“If you give us cake, we'll go away.”

“Who'd believe that. You didn't freaking give me any Onigiri this morning.”

“Forget about stuff in the past.”

“It's a super sweet cupcake isn't it?”

“Jin-kun, please. Give us some cupcakes.”

All the other guys were coming up one after the other, clinging to Jin, all for the sake of the cupcakes. Jin raised his voice into a yell.

“It hurts, it HURTS! I'll smash 'em! I'm smashing the cakes!”

Aika was completely flustered. Suddenly, Sierra was right beside Jin and the others.

“Could I please have a moment.”

“Za......Zadou!”

All of the boys stopped moving at once. Always surrounded by girls, Sierra had moved after hearing the voices from the boys. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Sierra, the unattainable flower, someone who was only admired from afar by the boys, had actually come over so suddenly, it was as rare as a baby eating [[PuiPui:Volume1_Translator's_Notes|yakiniku]]. Not knowing what to do, they all just stiffened in panic.

“I have received so many cakes, and I am unable to eat them all by myself......so I asked the middle school girls, and they have said that it would be okay if I split them, so if you'd like you may eat some.”

Smiling in a friendly manner, the boys couldn't help but be excited.

“I-Itadakimasu, Itadakimasu!”

In a moment, all the boys were separated from Jin, and like hyena's, they madly snatched the cupcakes stacked at Sierra's seat. After the guys had left, Aika emerged from behind Jin's back.

“Sierra-sama, thank you very much for yesterday.”

Straightening herself out with both hands, Aika seemed to gain strength. Sierra was smiling, but Jin could only remember her other face. There was no one else who had noticed but, for some reason there seemed to be something wrong with her smile.

“Is your injury healed yet?”

“Yes! Ah, sorry. If you'd like, I've also made some cupcakes for Sierra-sama.”

“No, it's fine. I've received a lot from other friends already, so it's okay.”

“But, that Onii-chan was in the same class as you, like I heard yesterday......”

Trying to apologize, Aika's shoulders had dropped. Jin remembered something.

(That means Aika heard something about me yesterday? Did this all happen before I got home yesterday, on that road?)

With a poker-face smile, Sierra turned to Jin.

“I didn't know. You two have already met.”

“We were in the same neighborhood. Onii-chan was really nice, and helped teach me how to study!”

Aika boasted of this, as her eyes twinkled with pride. Sierra turned her gaze towards Jin. She seemed to be smiling nicely, but under it Jin could sense something as though she were telling him “freakin' explain!”

“Well, Araki-kun is so excellent after all.”

“Onii-chan knows everything there is to know about history. Auntie and uncle are both archaeologists.”

“Is that so. Well, in my house there are mountains of lithographs and earthenware, so it would be wonderful if someone could come and explain it to me.”

Sierra pointed towards the corridor. Jin stepped back, realizing what this was about. Yesterday, he had thrown a bunch of cardboard boxes and their contents into the bright gate. Flawlessly, Sierra's eyes were flashing hidden anger.

“Onii-chan, amazing! Sierra-sama is actually asking for your help!”

Hugging both hands to her chest, Aika looked at Jin in admiration. Meanwhile, Sierra's face muscles twitched as she struggled to maintain a smiling face.

“Uhm, is it alright if I come too?”

“No. It's going to be a tough discussion, and I want focus, so it's just for one person. I'm sorry.”

Sierra gently refused Aika's request. Jin's stomach was starting to feel heavy. Yesterday the same situation had unfolded......

“Ah-no, It's fine Aika! Just wait here with everyone.”

Aika drew back obediently. Yet as the two left, Jin's eyes turned to Aika. They seemed to be saying “Help me!”......even though Sierra looked like a wonderful Ojou-sama, she really was more like a demon.

“Well then, over there's fine.....”

Amidst her smiling face, she seemed to be saying, “If you say no, I'll eat you,” as they moved out into the corridor. Finished with the cupcakes, the boys had taken notice and were raising their upset voices.

“Ah! Zadou's called out Jin!”

“Dang it that Araki, so conceited!”

Upset, Aika cried out at the boys,

“Don't say mean things about Onii-chan!”

Unintentionally she had yelled out in a loud voice. Before Aika had been really shy, so suddenly snapping out like that she had really startled the guys, stopping them in place. Aika was just as surprised with herself, turning beet red and covering her mouth with her hand.

Reaching a stopping point, Sierra had lead Jin around to the back of the gymnasium. There were no windows, and it was in the blindspot of a fence, so nobody would be able to see.

“Well then, here is fine.”

Standing before him, Sierra was shaking. The smiling mask from earlier was off, revealing her true anger. Having confirmed his expectations, Jin slumped his shoulders dejectedly.

[[Image:Puipui_vol01_087.jpg|thumb]]
“You've done well to turn my place into a trash mansion, commoner!”

Sierra jabbed her index finger into Jin's chest. Transfigured in her anger, Jin was pushed by her two hands.

“You're, just completely different from how you were before!”

“Isn't it useless to act cat-like in front of you? But you know my embarrassing secret, so you'll have to disappear.”

“You're still like a cat, with those offensive claws you have.”

“There's no way I'll act like a cat for someone who turns other people's mansions into trash heaps!”

“It couldn't be helped. But I really owe you my thanks, because it kept me from getting kicked out.”

“Well being thankful after I'd left didn't make the satisfaction gauge go up! Useless.”

“That's why, act a little more like a cat for me.”

Exhaling, Jin began to worry about his possessions. Sierra didn't seem as angry, causing Jin to think she might have thrown out all the items.

“Then......what happened to all the stuff?”

Showing her teeth as she turned to answer Jin's question,

“Who knows.”

“No way, you threw them out?”

“What would you do if I did throw them away?”

“You threw them away?”

Jin placed his head in his hands. Pouting, Sierra took his arm.

“After that spider came out of that filthy junk, did you think I would just let the stuff lie around in my beautiful room?”

“Hey, hey, hey, what did you do?”

“That junk, you don't need it.”

“Those were my dad and his friend's books!”

Jin shouted. Sierra just gave him a sidelong glance.

“I guess you did say yesterday they were excavated or something. What do your parents do?”

“Why do I have to tell you that.”

“Don't you know the embarrassing secret of me being a Genie of the Lamp? You know my mother and father a bit as well. But since I don't know anything about you, it's not even.”

“Things like equality, that's the problem! Where'd you throw the stuff away?”

“If you don't talk, I won't tell.”

“It's definitely not an interesting story or anything.”

“What are you trying to hide?”

“Not hiding anything......!!”

Jin had raised his voice. After spontaneously spitting that out, Jin covered his mouth. Sierra simply smiled.

“You're really touchy after all. I'm wanting to hear this more and more.”

“M-My parents story is actually kind of annoying. They're just university Professors. They're both archaeologists studying......”

“Well well. For an impertinent commoner, it seems your household is pretty elite.”

“I don't know about elite but, the research subsidiary from the country wasn't enough, they had to cover the leftover expenses on their own. They're searching for Solomon's Treasure.”

“Solomon's Treasure?”

Sierra's eyes widened.

“Last year, there was a rumor of its whereabouts, so to pay for the dig, we ended up selling our house where we lived. Because of the excavation, we lost our home and I ended up having to transfer to this school because they have a dorm for the students. Then they gathered up all the junk in the house, and sent it to the dorm.....geez! There's no money to even rent a storage shed.”

Jin seemed to be spitting as he spoke. Listening intently to that story, Sierra's eyes were sparkling, as she moved in on Jin.

“Your problems don't matter. However, about this Solomon's Treasure....”

“I said all this against my will, but what do you mean none of my problems matter?”

“That, it could be a huge treasure right? If it was exchanged in todays market, it could be worth like one-trillion yen right?”

“What's with those stars flying around inside your eyes.”

“Afterwards I can leisurely level up as the Genie of the Lamp, and get all the money I want.”

“As for money, sweat from your forehead is in your hands, it seems like it's really valuable, huh?”

“That's a commoner's logic.”

“Well I just think people going 'money money money' are a bit greedy.”

“That's a good thing you've said but, I'm not interested in arguing the point. So, where is this Solomon's Treasure then?”

“Don't know, that's why it's being searched for.”

Upset with the greedy Sierra, that was all Jin replied with. Looking for his true meaning, Sierra searched his face. Jin noticed how the miniskirt from the maid uniform suited her well, but the school uniform's skirt suited her just as much. If her outward appearance was this graceful, then why......was her inside like a curse from heaven?

“Really? I'll get a cut of what's taken, you're not deceiving me?”

“It's too late, as it's a bit hazy about what happens after it's found.”

“You're always reading archeology books so, you must be searching for it as well, right?”

“How the heck do you know that I'm always reading archeology books?”

Surprised at Jin's question, Sierra shut her mouth, and becoming red, turned away.

“Th-That's uhm, I hear a lot of gossip from people. All day, people talk about a weird guy that just reads books all the time.”

“Well sorry for being weird.”

Jin crossed his arms, becoming sullen. It was the first time he had heard it said.

“Solomon was the third king of the people of Israel, around the year 1000 BC. His father was the second king, David.”

“David...David as in the statue of David?”

Like the image found in many textbooks, Sierra mimicked the pose of Michaelangelo's statue of David. The pose of David against the Philistines was heroic and soul-stirring, but when Sierra did the pose, she instead looked pretty cute. At a loss as to why he would think this, Jin pushed it from his mind, continuing on with his story.

“David unified Israel, overcame the surrounding countries, established the Capitol of Jerusalem, and amassed wealth for the kingdom of Israel.”

“If that was the second king, then what about the one from the first generation?”

“After Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, they wanted to have their own king, so the leader then, Samuel, anointed Saul to rule as the first king. David was a servant to Saul, but, after killing a hostile nation's great warrior, Goliath, he became famous, later becoming king after Saul's death. And then to house the ten commandments given by God to Moses, a temple in Jerusalem was built by David's son, Solomon.”

“That came out pretty well. You're like a global history teacher.”

Sierra complimented Jin after listening to his story. For the normally selfish Sierra to show this attitude, Jin was perplexed.

“Pretty much everyone calls you a weirdo because of those books you're always reading though.”

And, increasing her sarcastic comments, Sierra returned to her usual self.

“What is it. I even spoke nice things to a commoner like you.”

“Solomon received wisdom from God, which led the country to prosperity, with a large palace and loads of acquired treasures.”

“You're being extremely rude by just cutting through what I just said.”

“However, having built the temple small, and bringing in pagan practices and having many concubines and wives, Solomon invited in the wrath of the people, and after his death, Israel divided into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.”

“So with a small temple and what Solomon gave to God, it wasn't enough? So, giving thanks is important after all, like as we learned from history. You have to show more gratitude to me, commoner.”

“Don't just go along with something to suit your own convenience.”

"Oh? But isn't using history for one's own convenience a common political strategy?"

“How can you say it's so obvious?”

“Well, it's because I'm a person on the side of authority.”

“To separate people into winners and losers, there's so much wrong with that.”

Letting out a tired breath, Jin continued his explanation.

“After the kingdom of Israel divided, the northern kingdom was invaded by Assyria, and the southern kingdom, Judah, was invaded by Babylon, and the citizens were taken as captives. Some time later, they returned from captivity and rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem but, after that, the kingdom of Rome came and destroyed it, scattering the people, then World War II, and until Israel was re-founded as it is today, the people wandered as vagrants. In other words, things like Solomon's Treasure, the 10 Commandments that were kept in the temple, were either taken away by Assyria, Babylon, or the Roman Kingdom, or else were hidden by the exiled Israelites, and it's the location of that hiding place we don't know. Not to mention, for a long time people have also been searching for the 10 Commandments.”

“The 10 Commandments were lithographed, weren't they. So they're just stone, I don't care about that.”

“You have the Roman history's comprehension, so I must look pretty good.”

“Forget that, going back to Solomon's treasure, what kind of stuff is it? Things like money and jewels?”

With her eyes opened wide and sparkling, Sierra brought forth a feverish appearance.

“In the palace, golden tableware was used, and also......Solomon's ring is really famous.”

“Solomon's ring?”

“Written in “Solomon's Collarbone,” and also found documented in the text in Arabian Nights, it was the rarest of all the treasures Solomon possessed. With it one could obtain “Kenryoku.””

“What's Kenryoku?”

“If a person stamped something with it, those orders would be followed, that's its powerful meaning. That's the duty of a seal on a ring. In the old days, when an envelope was sealed, wouldn't the hanko be pushed into candle wax, sealing it? To prevent loss, people in the past would put the hanko into a ring. Using this kind of sealing ring, King Solomon could seal spirits into jars, by closing the jar and stamping it with the hanko, and if he wanted, he could even make the spirit serve him.”

“Serve him, could that mean......my ancestor was sealed into that lamp by Solomon?”

“My Mom and Dad think Solomon's Treasure is somewhere in the Middle East, and continue to search there. But......the way I see it, there's a strong line to the treasure being somewhere in Babylonia. Later though, Babylonia flourished into Mesopotamia, which is now current day Iraq, and Mesopotamia's capitol of commerce is today's bustling center in Baghdad. The original Kugo Harp from there is stored here in the Shōsōin Institute.”

The Shōsōin Institute is a building located in Nara near a place known as the Todaiji Temple, a wooden building on stilts. There is a Buddhist statue of an Emperor of Japan and other such things, taken from the Tenpyou Era of the arts.

“In other words, both Babylon and Japan were part of the Silk Road. Iraq and it's neighbor Iran, have glass bowls handed down from ancient day Persia, and the Shōsōin Institute also has the same type of cut-glass bowl recovered from an emperor's tomb. So I think Solomon's Treasure could also have made it to Japan in the same way but......my father and his team won't even listen to my opinion. What do children know, that a specialist couldn't have already figured out through research, is what they think.”

“Well, the Tokugawa buried treasure is pretty pathetic.”

“I thought so too when I was little, until I started to read the books my dad would bring back and began studying archeology. If it was just information, my dad and his team wouldn't lose. That's why, when I started looking for the treasure myself, I was able to discern the information through what my dad and his team had.”

After explaining all that to Sierra, Jin sank back into his own thoughts. As Sierra watched him lost in his own thoughts, he seemed to be lost in imagination. His eyes were searching a time and place far from here. Sierra also couldn't begin to guess at that far distant world, yet he lifted the palm of his hand up, looking out over the vivid landscape as if he could see it.

Sierra was looking around absent-mindedly, when she noticed Jin jump out of his thoughts.

“Crap, I was flying around inside my own thoughts again.”

“I see......something like that, it's no wonder you never noticed me.”

Unsure why Sierra was relieved with her hand on her chest, and having not heard properly, Jin asked again.

“What did you say again?”

“Ah, it's nothing. For now, it seems like Solomon's Treasure might be in Japan?”

Flustered, Sierra changed the subject.

“I'll help too so, let's go searching! With all the money left in the house we'll hire people, then using infiltration tactics we'll dig, and find it quickly. As for division, I'll get 80% and you can have 20%.”

“Wha, don't go deciding stuff yourself!”

“Ownership over lost property, isn't it after half a year whoever finds it keeps it? Solomon never took back his treasure so, it's fine if I find it.”

“It's different if someone owns the land, in that case whoever that person is has rights to whatever is dug up.”

“Then, we just have to keep the secret from the owner of the land, then go ahead and buy the land. After we get Solomon's Treasure, I won't have to be a maid again!”

“If you could do that, I'd be really grateful too.”

“What's with that! I even came as a maid for you, and that's all you got? How rude!”

“You want to be a maid, you don't want to be a maid; which is it!”

After being yelled at by Jin, Sierra stopped her snarling, and shut her mouth.

“Th, that's......it's obvious I don't want to.”

“But, if you stop being a maid, the magic book will be wiped blank again.”

“The abilities of the genie are handed down to the kids right? If I can be comfortable, I'll just give the Genie of the Lamp to some kid who's pursuing that kind of thing, and leave it in a field or a mountain or something.”

“Your character is just like that of the personality of a Genie.”

“Then it's decided, let's go search for Solomon's Treasure!”

Cheerfully Sierra seemed to be floating while walking, without touching the ground. Jin could only shake his head to the side.

“It's not that simple to find, I've been looking already. Ever since I was in junior high, I was going everywhere during breaks and vacations searching, but there's still nothing to show. Even if we used infiltration tactics, where would you even start.”

“So after all a commoner is pretty unintelligent.”

“What's that!”

“But the magic lamp, hasn't it already crossed the Silk Road? So in other words, Solomon's Treasure should have taken the same route. If we know where the magic lamp came from, we just need to retrace right?”

“Ah.”

Jin looked at Sierra in wonder.

“You know, you're pretty sharp.”

“Heh, that's obvious. It's different when compared to a commoner's intelligence, isn't it?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“That sounds nice, so flatter me more.”

“Don't push it!”

Jin pulled a cell phone from his pocket.

“Let me ask my dad. If it's in Japan, then it might have been bought by an antique shop, or lent to a University.”

Shaking, Sierra watched Jin. She just noticed something written at the bottom of the phone screen when, “Power is cut” came out of the phone in a dry, announcer's voice. Surprised, Jin turned his gaze to the phone.

“Power is cut?”

“What about the time difference?”

“It should be around seven in the morning......they would have woken up, and eaten before the excavation. Actually, in the middle of the excavation there should be a lot of communications, so for the phone to give out, I wonder what happened.”

He tried to contact his mother's cell phone, but this one had the same power failure.

“......Maybe power can't reach all the way out into the sticks. If that's the case, then it doesn't look like there will be any communication until the excavation is over.”

“When will the excavation be over?”

“When they give up, or find something.”

“But, isn't Solomon's Treasure in Japan?”

“Probably. But, those two definitely won't give up, so they probably won't be coming back for a long time.”

“Then, it'll be an eternity before we can contact them!”

“That's why I've been searching myself. Geez, they have to make life so hard!”

Jin vented his anger out on the gymnasium's wall. Sierra wrapped her arms tightly around herself, staring at Jin. Their circumstances were kind of similar. With such strong willed parents, Sierra could kind of understand Jin's feelings.

“That's why......it'll work out.”

Sierra said in a soft voice. But as she didn't usually speak softly, it was hard to hear.

“What did you just say?”

“Ah. No that's, uhm, what I mean......”

Sierra quickly stopped speaking, becoming flustered.

“T-That's - you look like some dead common servant; but to get Solomon's Treasure, we just need to raise the level of the Genie of the Lamp. So, hurry up and call me today as well!”

“W-Wait! Call you, but you can't even do anything!”

“That's right, yes. If I'm called out someplace the public can see, then I'll get a sniper to erase you.”

“Do celebrities intermingle with people in those kind of jobs?”

“Ah, that's right. I forgot the most important thing I had to ask.”

Turning herself towards Jin, Sierra firmly planted her feet.

“I didn't know that you were acquainted with Kasumi Aika.”

“Aah. Yesterday you took her back home in a car right?”

“She already told you about that?”

Drawing close to Jin, Sierra stared up at him with fierce eyes. For some reason the mood felt rushed. She was facing up, with her large eyes reflecting the light of the sky as she breathed deeply. Afraid of asking what she was thinking, she was pressing against her chest as she swallowed her saliva, preparing her heart for what she wanted to ask.

“Something else.....anything, you didn't hear anything else?”

“Something else?”

“That is......anything, about myself? Like something I talked about?”

“Nothing, why?”

Unsure as to why he was being drilled to such an extent, and sensing something strange he tilted his head to the side.

“Really?”

Again probing Jin, Sierra had on a scary expression. With her drawn close and calmed down some, Jin shifted away.

“Yeah, it's true.”

“......I see.”

With a hand to her chest, Sierra let out a breath of relief. Whatever it was, Jin's intuition told him it must be something pretty big. However, for example, if the hiring fees get transferred to the Swiss bank account of that sniper, he might end up with some kind of deadly snake bite, so instead he took the warning and figured that the best thing he could do was to stop asking.

“That's right, yeah. There was one more.”

Sierra pulled a small book out of her pocket. On the back cover of the old-looking book, the stamp of “Harusha Academy Library” was imprinted. Sierra tossed the book to Jin.

“This was in with all the books you abandoned at my place.”

“Ah, sorry. I forgot where I'd put that.”

Taking the book with both hands, Jin had a premonition.

“......Wait so, you must have looked through all those books.”

“Hah. I mobilized the maids, and they organized them into the archives.”

“Eh!?”

Surprised, Jin opened his eyes in astonishment.

“I thought you threw them away......you didn't?”

Sierra was staring at Jin as though trying to bore a hole in him, when she quickly turned her face away.

“Hm, hmpf. Don't get the wrong idea, it wasn't for your sake. It's just that it would be unthinkable for that filthy junk to be thrown away from our house. That good enough!?”

“Either way you still held onto them.”

With all his energy, Jin turned his smiling face towards Sierra.

“It really helped. Thanks.”

Sierra's face turned red. But like blowing out a fire, Sierra returned back to herself, wondering what was next.

“The return date for that book was last week! Just go and return it!”

“Why did you go to MAX TENSION all of a sudden?”

Whatever it was Sierra was thinking about, Jin couldn't read it.

“Anyway, that's that and today you'll call me out as well. A little later!”

Angrily, Sierra left the area by the gymnasium, walked into the school yard, and was noticed by Konoe Ukyou. He had come to the gym wearing his Kendo uniform, for the Noon Kendo Practice, and was casually checking the back entrance to the gym to see if it wasn't locked.

Sierra hadn't seen him, as he had been hidden by the shadow of a tree. With her getting further away, Jin chased after her.

“Wait a minute, what did I say about making decisions by yourself......”

“Araki Jin?”

Surprised, Ukyou had unintentionally raised his voice. Jin turned his own surprised gaze towards him.

“Ah, Dorm Head. Why are you here?”

“That should be my line. What are you doing at the rear of the gym?”

Ukyou gave him a cross-examination, causing a look of tension to cross his face. Since there wasn't much of a threatening attitude, Jin was a bit surprised.

“What am I......nothing, really...”

“If you weren't doing anything, then why are you even in this remote place! Don't lie to me!”

Ukyou waved his bamboo sword around angrily. He was always angry, but it was the first time Jin had seen the usually level-headed Ukyou with blood pulsing in his face.

“But, I really wasn't doing anything.”

Ukyou was surprised by Jin's response. With that, he turned back into his original self, clearing his throat with a cough.

“W-Well, that's fine then, as long as you aren't trying to smoke secretly. Just like your guys' parents, I have to watch over the lives of each of the boarding students.”

“......Well, thanks for that.”

Anyhow, thinking that Ukyou's manner was a bit strange, Jin looked at him more in depth. It seemed Ukyou was worried about something, shown by the tone he used, and the sweat he was perspiring. Whatever it was he was worried about, Jin couldn't even place a finger on it.

While Ukyou was in that strange state, two high school first-year girls came over. With short skirts and dyed hair, they made their way over in a skylarking manner. Ukyou turned his gaze, and rose his voice to a shrill pitch.

“Kyaa~, Ukyou was looking over here!”

“Ukyou-sama, we're freshmen from the high school division......we were thinking of joining a club.”

At this, Ukyou's thin eyebrows lowered.

“......Do you have any experience with Kendo?”

“Nope, none at all. That's why, we were hoping Ukyou-sama would teach us personally.”

“Yeah, yeah. For dieting, a little bit of sports is good, right?”

Looking at the two obviously flirtatious girls with distaste, Ukyou pulled himself up to his full stature.

“......Leave. If girls enter, the Dojo will become dirty.”

“Wh-What was that?!”

The girls angrily raised their voices to a shrill pitch. However, in complete dismissal of them, Ukyou took out the key to the gym, and walked into the instructor's room. Turning themselves away, the two lifted their cursing voices.

“What the heck! Even with a good face and money, you're really disappointing!”

“Acting cool saying it's a Dojo, but it's just the gym! If it's the gym, then people are only going to enter for P.E.!”

Jin watched the girls in amazement as they stamped their feet.

(So the rumors about the Dorm Head really are true.)

Jin wasn't really sure, but he thought that according to current trends, the two of them must be pretty cute, yet Ukyou remained calm and collected through the whole scenario, not even losing his cool for a second. Jin passed from shock into admiration at Ukyou's thoroughness.

Earlier in the morning, Ukyou had called out to Yuuya, mentioning him being in the Light Music Club to chase girls, and to say such a thing gave off a repelling feeling......but for the male of marriageable age to continue to protect order in the dorm, it seemed he thought he needed to be that strict all the time.

(If he found out that a girl, Genie of the Lamp as she may be, had trespassed into the dorm......I surely would have been kicked out without even being able to complain.)

In any case, there's no way I can summon Sierra now...Jin thought.

Just then, the two angry girls turned to Jin, and began venting their anger at him.

“Hey, you over there, what the heck are you looking at!”

“Ah, nothing. I'm just getting up.”

Jin was regretting the fact that he hadn't gotten away earlier.

(I don't get how girls can have mood swings like that, geez this is stuff I'm just not good at.)

Even though Jin was thinking about leaving, the girls had lashed out in a dark mood at whoever was there, and that person was reeling from hunger pains. They weren't even letting him run away. In such a difficult situation, Jin's face contorted.

Heading towards them, came a lone girl from the junior high school. Jin remembered who she was. She was the girl that had been sitting at the counter in the Library Room when he had borrowed the book. For current times, her name was rare as it was simple, so he was able to remember it...She was Honda Satoko, a student in her third year at the Junior High School.

She had dark hair that was quite long. It reached down her back to her waist, and hung low over her eyes, and because of this long hair, her facial expression was indistinguishable.

“Ku~ku~ku. That's why I didn't say anything, my upperclassmen.”

Adjusting herself, Satoko gave an eerie laugh. Startled, the two girls drewback.

“W-Why did you come out from back there?”

“Do you understand it now? My prediction was correct. So you see it would have been good if you had taken my good luck charm. Kukuku......”

Satoko again let out her soft chuckle. The two girls glared angrily at her.

“Shut it! No matter how it would have been, the ones that would have dumped that guy who thinks men are superior would have been from this side!”

“You would have dumped him......All the evidence says that would have been strange...The rejection came from that side didn't it?”

Jin was lost in confusion, watching the two. Things like the last bit of pride of someone rejected, the inexperienced Jin could not understand.

“Thanks for your big meddling! Besides, who would want some disgusting lucky charm for help!”

“Freakin' annoying, let's go!”

With that angry mood, the two headed off. Satoko turned her face to watch them go, looking pityingly after them.

“I should have sprinkled some of my love potion on them......made from the black powder of a fried black newt.”

“If you put that on someone like them, there's a one-hundred percent chance they would completely hate you.”

Jin spoke in a firm voice. Satoko swung around, stretching out her hand towards Jin.

“Well this is perfect anyway. Senpai, please return that book you borrowed.”

“Ah, s-sorry.”

Jin took the book he had in his hand and returned it to Satoko. Taking the book in both hands, Satoko hugged it to her chest with both arms as though it was of extreme importance.

“The check-out time on this book was supposed to be just until last week on Friday. You have to be more careful about delays.”

“You remember things pretty well.”

Jin blinked his eyes in admiration. The library, used by both the High School and the Middle School, was built separate from the main school buildings. As it was common use, there were a lot of people that would use it, so because of that it was pretty large. Furthermore, whenever the students living at the dorm were free, a lot of times they would borrow a book from the library.

In other words, every day some hundreds of students would come to borrow books. So the fact that someone could remember everything about each of the High School students who came was really surprising. Thinking “That's right, if it's her memory power...,” Jin turned to ask Satoko a question.

“I'd like to read as much as I can about the text Arabian Nights, so is there anything in the library?”

[[Image:Puipui_vol01_109.jpg|thumb]]
Thinking about looking up the route the lamp might have taken to reach Japan, this was what Jin asked Satoko. Holding the book to her chest, she tilted her head in thought.

“Arabian Nights? Yes, if it's a request from senpai, then I can search the archives.”

“No, you don't have to, I can look it up myself. The book archives are huge after all. Sorry.”

“It's fine. Just leave it to me, Ku~ku~ku...”

“Wha, why did you start laughing?”

Jin asked with an eerie feeling. In reply, Satoko changed the direction of the conversation.

“Those two were going to confess to the student council president so, I just told them to give up."

The student council president......that was Ukyou. He was also the dorm head. Certainly he did have a good face, he was also tall, so with just looks, Jin could understand if only a little why the girls all liked him so much.

“But you know, the surviving girls will hate him.”

“For now, that seems to be the case.”

“'For now'......what's that supposed to mean?”

Satoko didn't listen to Jin's question, ignoring him.

“As for the president's horoscope, the planets are in a bad position, his biorythm is also at its worst, and when the deer bones were put into the fire, cracks of misfortune appeared. So in his current state, the decision to confess came at the worst possible time.”

“Probably, it's just the curse of the deer.”

“All the books in the library about predictions, I've read them all. There is now nothing anymore which I do not know.”

Satoko's words were hard to understand, yet still eerie and mysterious. Slowly raising her hand, she pointed it at Jin.

“That said......I have already secretly predicted something about you.”

“Why do you suit your own agenda around others?”

“If there is something you desire, let me tell you the consequence. Kukuku......”

Satoko's shoulders were shaking with her laughter. Her eyes were hidden so, her real intention couldn't be see, as only a light smile surfaced on her lips. Jin, who was never one to get too agitated, found himself shivering all along his back.

“No, it's fine. It'll work out somehow.”

“My predictions are correct you know......Kukuku.”

While laughing in a humble voice, she had stuck some kind of paper onto Jin's back. Shocked, he peeled the paper off. On it, some kind of strange charm was written on it. As a blood vessel showed itself on Jin's temple, he glared at Satoko with twitching eyebrows.

“Hoy, just what did you, what kind of incantation is that?”

“Ah, you found out? Don't worry about it.”

“It's an impossible probability.”

“Do you have pain in your collarbone?”

Shocked at what Satoko had just said, Jin lifted his hand to press against his left shoulder.

“For that person as well, I was waiting eagerly......Kukuku.”

“What's with that “kukuku” gibberish? Anyway, don't stick weird things on me!”

Thrusting his finger before Satoko, Jin began letting fly a flurry of words. Smiling, Satoko turned herself towards Jin's back, waving goodbye by fluttering her hands.

“Kukuku......I understand now. Please use the library again. Ku~kukuku.”

Holding the book to her chest, she continued to smile as she gave her farewells.

With the keys in hand, Ukyou came back from the gymnasium. Seeing Satoko standing there fixedly, he gave a start.

“W-What is a girl doing out in a place like this! There are no girls allowed in the Kendo Club!”

“It is okay. After all, I am not planning on joining a club.” Satoko said, standing firmly before Ukyou.

Though with her eyes hidden, it was impossible to tell where she was looking, or what she was thinking. Ukyou also picked up on the eerie feeling, and drew back a step.

“W-Well then...what are you doing? With girls loitering around, it'll be a distraction during practice, so hurry up and disappear!”

“Understood. Ku~ku~ku.”

“What are you laughing at!”

In disregard of Ukyou near hysterics, Satoko headed off.

“...In the middle school, huh. There's someone I don't know. Because of this, stuff like that weird girl......”

Ukyou took a deep breath to release his disdain. But, suddenly lifting his face, and leaning on his shinai as though it were a walking stick, he looked off towards a place that couldn't be seen, and just stood like that for quite some time.

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| Back to [[PuiPui:Volume1_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[PuiPui|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[PuiPui:Volume1_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
|-
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</noinclude>

PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter2

2009-08-26T02:41:49Z

Ricky12440:

PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter2

2009-08-26T02:38:04Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 2: Solomon's Treasure */

PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter4

2009-08-26T01:20:08Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 4: The Day of Sierra’s Absence */

===Chapter 4: The Day of Sierra’s Absence===

The following day…Sierra was absent from school.

Within the classroom, the seat that was always the center of attention, that was normally radiant like a flower in bloom, was starkly empty. Currently in the middle of English reading class…The girl who stood up from her seat started reading, her voice resonating like an incantation throughout the quiet classroom.

Until just the day before yesterday, he wasn't even aware of Zadou Sierra's existence…And yet, now, the classroom without her presence felt like it was missing its color, seeming as if time had stopped and the world was in grayscale.

Not really listening to the reader, the other students whose eyes were all glued to their textbooks also seemed to be like lifeless dolls. It felt as if, without her there, all the energy had disappeared from the world.

“Jin. Well aren’t you looking unusually sharp today.”

Hearing Yuuya’s voice, Jin reeled in surprise. Class was already over, and the board was already erased by those on duty.

“Ah…so class ended?”

“I feel ya. I can barely keep awake myself in English class.”

Yuuya laughed then pinched Jin’s collar.

“You dried your clothes by the window last night, right? As I thought, when you wash it by hand, you don’t have to use an iron to get it crisp like this. I had no idea that you cared so much about looking good.”

“Ah, no. This wasn’t my doing…”

“Using the dorm’s laundromat, they end up all wrinkled, you know. I’d like to wash mine by hand too, but…If my hands get too rough, I won’t be able to play the guitar anymore.”

“I see. So handwashing…makes your hands rough, huh.”

Jin looked down at his shirt. Although it hadn’t been ironed, it had been properly washed, spread out, and dried. That Sierra, who had until recently had everything done for her, had washed it with her fair hands that had probably never even touched a scrubber before.

''I really said something quite mean…'' he thought to himself. He should have been well aware…that she hadn't done it just for money or to level up as the Genie of the Lamp. After she had smiled so happily when he praised her omelet too...

“Yuuya. Have you ever, hurt someone’s feelings by saying something you shouldn’t have?”

Jin hung his head as he questioned Yuuya.

“Tons of times, I should think. What about it?”

“Afterwards…were you able to patch things up?”

“Well, they said they’d never forgive me as long as they lived, so I guess not?”

“They must have been really pissed off…”

Jin let his shoulders slump. Replying trivially, Yuuya tilted his head to the side, completely clueless as to why Jin was acting so depressed.

Staying home from school, Sierra was in bed wrapped up in her silk sheets. As of yet, she had not gotten out of bed even once today though the clock read three in the afternoon. About time for afternoon tea, there came a knocking at her door.

“Excuse me, Lady Sierra. I’ve brought you your tea, may I come in?”

Merely glancing out from within the bundle of sheets, Sierra replied in a thin voice,

“…Fine.”

The door opened and Nikolai Pavlov, the butler, walked in. Atop the gold-colored cart he pulled along, there sat a Samovar kettle, which looked like an old-fashioned furnace.

“I am surely being a nuisance, but as my lady has yet to eat anything all morning, I was worried and took the liberty to prepare this. If it is hay fever…Well, I have heard that black tea is effective against hay fever.”

“Thank you. However, it is just a cold.”

“Black tea works for that as well. It warms the body, and it is even gargled to prevent catching a cold.”

Opening the Samovar’s tap and pouring out hot water, Nikolai cooled the teapot before preparing a rich black tea. Sitting up in bed, Sierra donned a shawl over her negligee. Though one might call it a negligee, it was magnificently crafted with such an abundance of silk that it was more like a dress.

“I always enjoy drinking Nikolai’s Russian tea.”

Sierra drank the hot black tea while eating the apple jam prepared by the maids with a spoon. Bathed in the warm steam, her pallid face began to take on a reddish tinge. Nikolai adjusted his monocle while maintaining a poker face.

“Because you have shut yourself up in your room, the master is starting to worry.”

“Mm. I don’t feel like seeing Papa’s face at the moment.”

Sierra was feeling a considerable amount of bitterness against her father. If only she hadn’t been born into this lineage as a Genie of the Lamp, then she wouldn’t be suffering like this.

It would have been fine even if they didn’t have money so long as they could live together happily as a family. But, without money, their family was going to fall apart. At this rate, she couldn’t be the Genie of the Lamp. She was going to end up losing it all, the money as well as her family…And just losing Jin was already enough to hurt her this badly.

Sierra clutched her chest tightly with both arms. Since the moment she had woken up, she had felt a stabbing pain in her heart.

“Nikolai. If I were to become completely destitute…You’d surely leave me too, wouldn’t you?”

“Hm? Completely…destitute?”

Slightly taken aback by the sudden question, Nikolai stopped to adjust his monocle. Then, without faltering, he responded firmly.

“I would not, my lady. The Pavlov family has been a lineage of servants for generations. Before, we even served the royal Romanov family of Russia. Among the serving families, ours is among the most prestigious. I have been raised from birth to be a quality butler. And now, as I am able to serve such a wonderful master as my lady, I am content. I do not serve for money. I shall work for no other, only for you, my lady Sierra. If by some slim chance, this house should happen to fall, I shall remain and go to any lengths to restore it to its former glory!”

Nikolai proudly puffed out his chest. With a pained look, Sierra shook her head side to side.

“Thank you…Nikolai is quite strong. I cannot accept my fate so readily…”

“Has something happened?”

Looking at Sierra with a worried look on his face, Nikolai asked with some reserve.

“Before, I heard that someone placed an insect in my lady’s shoe rack, but…Could something else have happened after that?”

“Ah, no. That, it ended there, so it’s fine.”

“Then…Araki Jin. Could it be something involving a classmate by that name?”

Hearing Nikolai casually speak that name, Sierra was taken aback, her face turning suddenly red.

“W…where did that come from?!”

“The other day, while taking that young girl named Aika Kasumi to the Sakura dorm…I apologize, but I overheard my lady Sierra speak such a name.

“Ah.”

Sierra quickly fell silent, bringing her hand to her mouth. ''It seems I was somehow on target,'' Nikolai thought, and while maintaining his distance from Sierra, started speaking in a calm voice,

“That girl from the middle school division, I don’t know if it was because you felt she was a rare sort or maybe because she was a kind girl who worried about you so much after the incident with the insect in your shoebox…but my lady was unusually open with her feelings during that conversation.”

“W-What do you mean by saying ‘unusually’?!”

“Along with my father, I have served in this house from a young age. I know my lady well, about as early as her birth. My lady always goes to such extreme lengths to present herself well, matching other people’s expectations without fail and consistently conducting herself with the utmost elegance. However, such a perfect human being does not exist, I should think. So, is it not difficult to act like that?”

''Certainly, it was just as Nikolai said,'' Sierra thought. She and Jin even shared a secret…even though they had started off with an argument, she had been able to speak freely with him. She had certainly gotten angry; however, for Sierra who had never been able to express her anger to anyone else, it was refreshing. For the first time she had been able to openly show her feelings like a normal person. But, now she and Jin were on permanent non-speaking terms.

Unable to watch Sierra curl up seemingly in pain, Nikolai placed a gentle hand upon and kindly caressed her shoulder.

“If you would like, please call upon me anytime for advice. I would like to be my lady’s pillar of strength.”

“Thank you for the offer, Nikolai, but it’s fine. That is, if I were to lay bare all my feelings, I would end up losing my protective shell. Then if I was hurt a second time, I doubt I would be able to stand back up again.”

“But the weight of such a shell, surely it would make it impossible to stand back up a second time as well.”

“It is much preferable to being hurt.”

“I heard my lady say something to that girl named Aika. That, in your class, there is someone ignoring you…That there is a boy who simply reads books all the time without acknowledging your existence. And that, as you have never encountered such a boy before, it was weighing on your mind. About that, is there a problem?”

“W-Well, that’s...just,”

Momentarily taken aback, Sierra hung her head. Really, she would have never considered the possibility that Aika would be Jin’s childhood friend. Fortunately, it seemed like Aika wasn’t treating what Sierra had said with too much significance and hadn’t told Jin about any of it, so at least that was a relief.

“I think I understand your concern. Like a rose, even if my lady does not speak up, she attracts considerable attention. But for someone to not take notice, they must be quite the odd one. Could he possibly hate me, or maybe there is something about me he hates even though I have never done anything to him…such behavior as his would surely make a girl worry and ask herself such
questions, but someone as splendid as my lady does not have any characteristics that would warrant others’ spite. So please, do not mind it too much.”

With all his might, Nikolai continued on.

“To be interested in mere archaeology books rather than my lady Sierra, this boy’s ideal girl is probably something outrageous like a mummy or some such. Since he has such a skewed sense of aesthetics as that, there really is no helping it.”

Nikolai was trying so hard to encourage her. It was precisely because he was always like this, worrying about her so much, that Sierra couldn’t confide in him. She didn’t mind if it was someone like Aika who would basically shrug it off afterwards…But she didn’t want to needlessly trouble Nikolai, who would seriously worry himself for her sake.

“I guess so…”

Pretending to accept his take, Sierra forced a smile.

“Thank you, the tea was delicious.”

Acting like she was fine, she returned the cup. Nikolai understood this to mean "please leave already." However, as he was still worried about her, he asked just to make sure.

“Would you like seconds?”

“No, thank you.”

For Nikolai, her empty smile and words were full of loneliness. Because, he understood that Sierra would continue on in her confusion by herself without confiding in anyone else.

“Well then, excuse me. If you need anything else, please call for me right away.”

Reluctantly, Nikolai bowed and moved the cart out of the room. Right outside, he found Mary, the head maid, waiting. She had her arms crossed and looked a bit angry.

“Mister Pavlov. The servants have been looking for you, since they cannot proceed without your command.”

“Ahh…my apologies, Miss Savant. Thank you.”

He gave a small bow of his head, then just as he was passing by Mary’s side, she murmured.

“Conversing with the mistress is a job for the maids.

“I apologize…As the mistress’s driver, it was simply accidental. I was by no means trying to intrude on your territory, Miss Savant.”

“Let me give you a piece of advice…Of course, I am sure that, with your pedigree as part of a serving lineage that even served the Romanov royal family, you must have heard what I am about to say before.”

Mary was looking at Nikolai with a sharp glint in her eyes.

“We are merely serving staff. A master and a servant are of decidedly different levels, a difference that cannot be overcome. A romantic relationship with a master is forbidden…That is an absolute law for butlers and maids.”

“I-I know that!”

Nikolai’s pale face reddened with anger. While Nikolai was frazzled, Mary turned an even colder glare upon him.

"Oh my. So even Mister Pavlov gets angry, I see. Showing emotion so openly is unbecoming of a servant. Handed down through the generations from my ancestors who served the royal families of England, that is a personal family tenet."

“N-No, it’s not like I was actually angry.”

Nikolai hastily tried to put on a blank expression, but as flustered as he was, it was simply impossible. Thinking that at this rate, he'd be further criticized, Nikolai hastily made his escape. Watching him go, Mary released her ice-like expression and let out a mild laugh.

"Such an easy boy to tease. I’ll make him realize that Russian servants are no match for England, the motherland of maids. That, even as servants, we are still of different status…Taste the pride of the British Empire!"

Mary did an about face on her heel. Elegantly and magnificently, her apron dress fluttered as she turned. Then, facing the battlegrounds where her next job awaited her, she walked heroically forward.

At the same time, after drinking the black tea, Sierra was feeling warm and sleepy.

As she was on the verge of sleep within the embrace of her bed, her cell phone that she had left atop the bedside table began ringing. Checking the caller ID, she didn’t recognize the number.

“Probably a solicitor?”

Sierra covered her head with her sheets and attempted to ignore the call. However, the phone simply would not stop ringing. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, Sierra reluctantly picked up the phone. Immediately, there came a quiet male voice.

“You were absent today, weren’t you, Genie of the Lamp.”

Sierra’s face went stiff. The only ones who should have known that she was the Genie of the Lamp were her father and Jin, no one else.

“You…Who is this?”

Holding the cell phone in both hands and sitting upright in bed, Sierra asked while trembling. From the other end, there came only a laugh.

“Right now, your lamp is in my hands…If told you that, what would you do?”

“Eh? W-Why do you have it?”

“I could make you my servant right now if I rub this lamp. Oh, I know…Wouldn’t it be funny if I called you out in the middle of the school, to let as many people find out as possible.”

“D…Don’t joke like that! That sort of disgraceful…Rather than that, anyone would refuse becoming the servant of some stranger!”

“I thought you’d say something like that. Besides, it wouldn’t be good to change ownership of the lamp midway anyway…Since your level will return to zero and all the spells from the spellbook would disappear, after all.”

“How do you know about that?”

“If I summoned you, you’d understand…you’d even find out who I am.”

<nowiki>*Clink*</nowiki>, she heard a metallic sound. Thinking it might be the sound of the lamp, Sierra desperately gripped her cell phone tightly.

“W-Wait! If it’s money, I’ll give you however much you want, so please don’t rub the lamp, just give it back!”

“Are you that opposed to becoming my servant? What’s so good about that Araki Jin?”

“A…About Araki Jin?”

Sierra’s face turned bright red, blushing as if on fire.

“It’s not like I actually want to be his servant or anything! I, it’s just that I don’t want to go back to level zero after finally leveling up, so…Never mind that, just give back the lamp!”

“Well then, you should come to the school at midnight tonight.”

“I can’t leave my house that late. Mary is very strict, plus my driver Nikolai would be asleep then.”

“When midnight comes, I’ll rub the lamp. Then, you’ll be my servant…permanently. Until I rub your head, you won’t be able to return. I'll never let you leave my side.”

“W-What are you thinking?! That’s horrible!”

“Well, make sure to come to the school then.”

“Why are you doing this to me?! Do you have a grudge or something?”

“A grudge…well, I guess you could say that. You could also say I hate because I love. My love letter, you threw it away without even reading it, didn’t you?”

“Love letter? I didn’t receive anything like that, are you sure you didn’t get the wrong person?”

“…I’ll be waiting for you at the school.”

“Wait a moment, just deciding all on your own…!”

Sierra shouted, but he had already hung up. Dumbfounded, Sierra just stared at her cell phone. The lamp had passed from Jin’s hands into those of a stranger…She just couldn’t believe that had happened. Maybe it was a lie. But in that case, he knew too many things that no one else should know.

She was scared to check for sure. But, she had to check. While struggling to calm her racing heart, Sierra got out of bed and rang the golden bell that lay atop her bedside table. Right away, Mary and another one of the maids arrived.

“You called, my lady?”

“I’m going out.”

“Understood.”

Mary respectfully nodded. While she brushed Sierra’s hair, the other maid pulled out a change of clothes from the closet and started getting Sierra changed.

Standing still like a dress-up doll, Sierra thought about Jin. Even though she had told him that she didn’t want anyone else to see her dressed in a maid outfit, for him to have given up the lamp, she just didn’t want to believe that he could have done such a thing. Rather than anger, she felt an overwhelming sadness.

As she allowed the maids to dress her, Sierra sighed bitterly.

Long fingers closed the cell phone with a click.

They belonged to the one who called Sierra…That is, to Konoe Ukyou. Dressed in his uniform and seated comfortably in the student council room, Ukyou wore a devilish smile upon his carefully readied face. Upon the president’s desk in front of him was the magic lamp.

“President, are you here?!”

Hastily knocking as she passed, Eriko Himuro the vice president rushed into the room.

Eriko, a second-year, was relatively tall and was stylish like a model. Her expression tended to be rather cold, and perhaps because of that, her sharply designed glasses suited her quite well. Along with her semi-long hair, she really gave off a mature impression. With a blank face, Ukyou asked Eriko.

“What’s the matter? It’s not like you to make a ruckus.”

“It’s a serious problem, so I felt I needed to inform you directly.”

Placing her hands on Ukyou’s desk, Eriko leaned forward and with an almost vicious air, vehemently expressed her concern.

“The boys from room 204 of the Tachibana dorm brought the freshman Zadou Sierra into their room! It’s a clear violation of the dormitory rules!”

“Hmph…Impossible.”

Ukyou practically snorted. Eriko hit the desk roughly with both hands.

“It’s true, President! Sierra often calls the pizza place where I work part-time to order things off the special menu, and…last night, she wanted to place an order to the centermost room on the Tachibana dorm’s second floor!”

“The ones in that room are her classmates, Araki Jin and Utada Yuuya. Yesterday, as punishment for breaking regulations, Araki was deprived of dinner, so feeling sympathetic, Zadou must have been trying to send him something, don’t you think?”

“No, it didn’t seem like that at all!”

“If, as you say, she was in their room, then do you really think they would have ordered food or anything like that? All the dorm residents know that girls and ordering out are prohibited, after all.”

“You…no, all the students of our school even, they have been completely taken in by Zadou Sierra! Even now, I’m a little hesitant to say it since it might sound like mere slander, but…I know for a fact how cunning she is. That girl is nothing like the perfect girl everyone seems to think of her as. She’s just pretending!”

Eriko was standing with her fists in the air as she stressed her point, but Ukyou disregarded her without interest.

“It’s an impossible story.”

“I don’t think it’s good for someone with authority to involve personal feelings into their decisions.”

As Eriko watched him with a concentrated look in her eyes, Ukyou asked with a hint of suspicion.

“Personal feelings?”

“To the president who would always say ‘boys and girls should be kept separated after age seven’ and kept his own distance from all the girls, only Zadou Sierra became an exception…You gave a love letter to her, didn’t you?”

“W-What nonsense are you spouting?!”

Eriko pressed the bewildered Ukyou even further.

“I found it while I was cleaning the president’s room.”

“And so you just went and read it?”

“…As the vice president, I want to know everything there is to know about the president.”

“Hmph…And here I thought that at least you were different from all those other foolish girls.”

“Y-You’ve got it all wrong! This isn’t jealousy or anything like that…!”

“Get out. Please, if you would, so you don’t disappoint me any further.”

Ukyou coldly pointed to outside his room. Eriko gulped without trying to argue, but quietly, she murmured.

“…In that case, I’ll just have to get proof and make it clear to him. I’ll remove Zadou Sierra’s mask and completely erase the president’s attachment to her…”

Eriko ran out of the president’s room. However, she ran into a boy who was walking down the hallway and fell.

“Ah, ow~!”

“Oh, sister! Are you alright?”

The one she had run into was a large-eyed, large-haired, and all around large looking version of her younger brother, Keita. The near-sighted Eriko had dropped her glasses and couldn’t see anything properly.

“M-My glasses, my glasses…”

[[Image:Puipui vol01 181.jpg|thumb]]
“They’re right here, sister.”

Keita picked them up and placed them onto Eriko’s face. Sitting on the ground with eyes like a puppy’s, he was looking worriedly into Eriko’s face.

“Sorry, I was in a hurry…”

“It’s fine. How about Keita, you weren’t hurt, right?”

Calmly readjusting her glasses, Eriko asked as a big sister in a genuinely kind voice.

“Yeah, I’m totally fine…”

“That’s good, as long as nothing happened to my precious Keita. If anything does happen, I’ll…”

Eriko hugged Keita tightly. The small Keita fit snugly into the taller Eriko’s arms. Keita was completely embarrassed and a little unsettled.

“U-Umm, sister? Could it be that your pay from your part-time job has been reduced?”

“Eh? Whatever do you mean?”

“Sister, even though you’re here on scholarship and commute from our house, which is far away…To let me concentrate on my studies, you work late into the night and put me up in the dorms, right?”

“That’s only a matter of course. Keita is a boy after all, so I want you to study whatever you want and follow your dreams. As your sister, I’ll work to that end as much as it takes.”

“But you study after that late into the night too, which is why your eyes have even gone bad…”

Keita clutched his pained heart.

“But, I’ll try my best to become an exemplary dorm resident, so maybe the dorm head will recommend me for the living fees exemption. I actually came here to talk to the dorm head about that.”

“Hmm, exemplary resident? Amazing, as expected of the brother I’m so proud of!”

As Eriko hugged him one more time, she took to wiping dust from his uniform and brushing his hair, pulling at the edges of his clothing to straighten them out, and generally making sure he looked his best.

“There we go. Well, take care. And make sure you don’t do anything rude in front of the president.”

“Yeah, thank you.”

Kouta gave a meek nod before going into the president’s room. Ukyou turned to look at him.

“I’ve been waiting, Himuro. I have your recommendation letter written here.”

“T-Thank you very much, dorm head!”

Kouta gladly took the envelope from Ukyou’s hands. Taking a glance at the magic lamp sitting on his desk, Kouta asked Ukyou.

“Um, dorm head. About that lamp…I took it from Araki-sempai’s room like you ordered, but…is it really okay?”

“Of course. Bringing personal items is prohibited after all.”

“But, even if it was the dorm head’s orders…To just sneak into his room without permission while he was away, don’t you think there’s something wrong with that?”

“In a dorm, the dorm head’s orders and rulings are absolute. There is no room for those who question it. An exemplary resident should accept that completely, Himuro.”

Ukyou placed a hand on Kouta’s shoulder. Then, he whispered quietly.

“You know, your sister seems to have some unusual dislike for Zadou Sierra and is useless to me…But, it seems like I may have some use for you.”

“Huh?”

“Himuro, what do you think of Zadou Sierra?”

“A-About Sierra-san?”

Kouta started blushing furiously. It seemed that, unlike his sister Eriko, he admired Sierra as much as any of the other students.

“W-Well…I think she’s extremely pretty. I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as her…Ah, of course, with the exception of my sister, that is.”

“Would you like to confess to her?”

“Of course not! She’s on another level, just like everyone says. Sierra is like a celebrity, so it’s enough to just admire her from afar. For someone to even try to monopolize her, it just wouldn’t be allowed.”

“So you’re saying that the probability of being rejected if you confess is too high…so you wouldn’t want to risk it.”

“Eh…No, that’s not what I…”

“I get it completely, you’re worried that your pride will suffer as you’ll be the only one rejected.”

“W, what are you saying?”

“Love is not something to be reasoned with…You should take what you want without hesitation.”

In that moment, Ukyou’s body shined bluish white. Along with that radiance that was hard to look at, there came a shrill noise…The high pitched noise resonated in Keita’s head. Before he knew it, he was on his knees, holding his head.

“It’s splitting! My head is going to split open!”

“I see. Separate the heart from reason. By liberating the subconscious self behind the consciousness, a human being can reach a potential several-fold greater than usual.”

As an unbearable pain filled Kouta’s head, he continued to wail loudly. But then, all of a sudden, he fell silent. As he lay crumpled on the floor, the light had gone out of Kouta’s eyes.

“…Sierra-san…”

With nary a thought in his head, Kouta whispered her name. Ukyou grinned.

“I hope you come, Zadou Sierra. And I hope you bring that man with you…”

Like a phantom, Kouta rose to his feet. While still shining bluish white, Ukyou gave a low laugh.

Around the same time, Jin had stopped by Alf Layla again on his way home from school.

He hadn’t been able to find Yuuya, who usually walked home with him, so he thought maybe Yuuya was here though it turned out not to be the case.

“Hey, sorry for the wait!”

Good-naturedly as ever, Alf brought him a large plate of Persian curry. Fluffy white rice topped the manhole-sized plate, along with a great deal of sweet-and-spicy curry that included pomegranates. There was even a heap of green salad. 

“Ah, wait. I’m just here looking for Yuuya…Also, I’m broke right now.”

“That’s why I brought you this, since it’s free as long as you finish it in ten minutes. Our Persian curry is the best on earth, so eat it with gusto!”

Full of cheer, Alf slapped Jin on the back.

“So, eat a lot, then once you’re plump..."

“Plump?”

“Ah, no, nothing.”

Alf covered her mouth. From in between her fingers, drool was seeping out her mouth. Jin scowled.

“…Hey you. You couldn’t possibly be planning to eat me, could you?”

“No way, no way!”

A bit too hastily, Alf repeated back like a parrot. Actually, now that he looked, he noticed the shop owner and mistress looking his way for some reason, suspiciously enough.

“I’m going home.”

Feeling uncomfortable, Jin stood up.

“Ah, wait!”

Alf desperately grabbed onto Jin’s collar and clung to him from behind. Jin, unable to support her weight, fell on his face, surprising all the nearby customers who were eating. He wondered if Alf might be the type who looked thinner in her clothes than she actually was, because as he lay pinned beneath her, he could feel her chest pushing amply against his back. However, as his face was pressing painfully against the floor, now really wasn’t the time for such idle thoughts.

“What are you doing, that hurts!”

“Now now, don’t hurry yourself, just take your time being eat…I mean, let us eat…I mean, eating, okay?”

“Do you want to eat me so much that you messed up twice?! Or rather, why would you eat humans?!”

“No, it’s not that we eat humans.”

Alf was trying to completely contain the struggling Jin beneath her, but then when she felt the hard lump on the left side of his collarbone, she stopped moving.

“This is…!”

The instant Alf paused, Jin desperately escaped from beneath her.

“Ah, wait a second! I can do something about your shoulder!”

“It’s just a swollen lymph node, well see ya!”

Jin shook Alf off of him. Just as he was about to escape the shop, the shop door opened and Sierra rushed in.

Jin was surprised breathless. Besides the fact that they had fought the last time they met, it was also the first time he had seen her wearing plain clothes. Made extravagantly with top-grade chiffon georgette, covered in frills and flowers, a pale pink…it looked just like the kind of clothes a flower faerie might wear.

“Sierra-sama!”

“It’s Zadou! And in her own clothes!”

The students nearby were making a ruckus. They had all been enraptured by her and left gaping. Crouching down in front of the collapsed Jin, Sierra held her anxiously pained heart as she asked.

“…You, did you hand over the lamp to anyone?”

“Eh? The lamp?”

Bewildered, Jin just stared at her blankly. Then, Alf poked her head in from the side.

“What’s this about a lamp?”

“Ah, nothing, please excuse us a moment.”

Taking Sierra by the shoulder, Jin quickly made his way out of the shop.

“I said to wait, didn’t I! Geez already…What about the curry?!”

Alf shouted at Jin’s back.

Outside the shop, Jin kept a firm grip on Sierra’s arm and led her to a narrow alleyway between a couple of buildings so that they would be out of the public eye. Making a sullen face, Sierra shook off his arm.

“That hurt! Don’t touch me so familiarly, commoner!”

“What were you thinking, with all those people there! Weren’t you the one who said to keep the magic lamp thing a secret?!”

“You’re the one who leaked the secret, weren’t you? You even gave the lamp to someone!”

“It seems like daydreaming must be your specialty, huh.”

“I must have been annoying you, so you just pawned me off on someone, didn’t you?!”

“Well you certainly have been a bother! But, you did say that you’d be embarrassed if anyone else saw you wearing a maid outfit, so I’ve kept it a secret that you’re a Genie of the Lamp and I haven’t given the lamp to anyone either!”

“But, I just got a call from someone saying that they have the lamp!”

“If you don’t believe me, come with me to the dorm. I’ll show you the lamp!”

“Fine, I want to see it!”

Responding in kind with vehemence, Sierra shouted back.

In front of Tachibana Dormitory, Sierra waited. All the dorm residents were peering out their windows, generally making a fuss.

“Hey, why is Zadou in front of the dorm?”

“Oh man~! She’s cute out of uniform as well~!”

“What’s the meaning of her coming here with Araki Jin? The nerve of that freshman!”

Amongst the dorm residents, rumors and speculation spread along with admiration and jealousy.

Jin was in his own room, looking for the lamp in the trashcan where he had tossed it. However, as hard as he looked, the magic lamp simply was not there. All the rest of the trash was still there, so it’s not like it had been taken during trash collection. He wondered if he might have left it somewhere else on accident…So, he looked all around his room, even in his bed, but it wasn’t to be found anywhere.

Now pale, Jin walked out of the dorm. After waiting impatiently, Sierra rushed to meet him as he came out.

“Hey, that freshman is talking with Zadou!”

“And I haven’t even talked to her once yet!”

The stares of the other residents pierced Jin’s backside. Jin, after moving somewhere out of view from all those guys, took a breath and confessed to Sierra.

“Sorry. I’ve lost the lamp.”

“What do you mean you lost it?!”

Sierra was shocked, and gripping Jin’s hands, she started shouting hysterically.

“How could that have happened?! It’s such a small sparse room, just how do you lose something like that?!”

“I have no idea! I threw it into the trashcan. Because I didn’t think I’d be calling you ever again!”

“What did you say?! Just because of one teensy-weensy mistake, you were planning on never calling me out again? Moreover, to throw such an important lamp into the trash, you’re such a narrow-minded commoner!”

“You know, you really don’t seem to have reflected on your mistake at all…”

“Couldn’t it have been thrown out with the trash?”

“No, the rest of the trash is still in the trashcan. So in other words, the lamp must have been taken by the guy who called you, right? There must be a thief living in the dorm, how troublesome.”

“Forget about that, I’m the one who’s troubled! That messed up guy called me and…”

“Should a lady be using the term ‘messed up’?”

“This isn’t the time to be criticizing my choice of words! That messed up guy said he was going to summon me and then he’s never going to rub my head.”

“Well then, can’t you just become an independent Genie of the Lamp?”

“I'm filling the satisfaction gauge so that I can go home, don't you see? If my head isn’t rubbed, then the satisfaction gauge won’t fill up and I won’t be able to go home ever. I’ll be trapped in a room!”

“Isn’t that called…confinement?”

Jin finally grasped the gravity of the situation.

“Also, if he calls me out in public…Then everyone will find out that I’m a Genie of the Lamp. They’ll see me in that embarrassing maid outfit! If I have to suffer such humiliation, I’ll bite my tongue and kill myself!”

“Maybe that’s a good idea as a last resort, but can’t you think of another way out of this?”

“Like buying a doomsday weapon or something?”

“Umm, I was thinking more along the lines of taking back the lamp.”

Jin replied calmly to the overly extreme Sierra.

“He said that he’d give back the lamp if I come to the school at midnight.”

“That sounds too much like a trap.”

“And I have a curfew, so walking around at night is…”

“Yeah. And I bet you’re scared you’ll run into perverts and the like.”

“As if! I won’t be scared if ghosts appear!”

Sierra shouted, her face pale. She really seemed serious. Gripping her hands tightly into fists, she insisted vehemently. His eyes turning into points, Jin couldn’t help but start laughing.

“…Ghosts? You actually believe in them? You’re surprisingly childish, huh.”

“There’s a Genie of the Lamp standing right in front of you, and yet how is that you can’t accept the possibility of ghosts!”

Being laughed at, Sierra puffed up like a transparent meat bun in her anger.

“Besides, if I go meet with that creepy unknown man by myself, then who knows what he’ll do to me. To begin with, if a certain ''someone'' hadn’t lost the lamp, then I wouldn’t even be thinking about any of this stuff…”

Sierra glanced at Jin with a hint of accusation in her eyes. Jin put on a steadfast expression and, for a while at least, ignored her, but as she continued to stare at him, he eventually couldn’t play innocent any longer, and his shoulders slumped.

“…I understand. It’s my fault since I lost the lamp…I’ll go with you.”

Hearing him say that, Sierra relaxed. However, instead of showing gratitude, crossing her arms and upturning her face,

“That’s right. It’s all your fault, so take responsibility like a man.”

She replied haughtily. Seeing how troublesome this was likely to become, Jin sighed deeply.

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| Back to [[PuiPui:Volume1_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[PuiPui|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[PuiPui:Volume1_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
|-
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</noinclude>

PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter3

2009-08-26T00:35:15Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 3: Letter from the Desert */

===Chapter 3: Letter from the Desert===

On the way back home that day, Jin and Yuuya stopped by the restaurant on the back of the school, Alf Layla.

Alf Layla was a restaurant for special Persian dishes. But, because the shop was catering to the current fashionable female university students, the ethnic atmosphere wasn't as large.

Even so, the shop had not changed into just a place to go for cheap meals. There were tables, chairs, and counter seats, and above the table stood chopsticks, and on the wall there was an unskillfully written menu hanging.

“W~elcome!”

Jin and Yuuya, as they opened the door and entered the shop, were greeted by a waitress with a powerful, pleasant voice. She was a girl with darkish skin, and precisely bound golden hair. The only daughter of the shopkeeper, she was Alf Shamshir.

“The attractive shop girl Alf. Cute right? You know she's the same age as us.”

In the kitchen, the shopkeeper with dark skin and black hair was joggling the frying pan, as his counterpart, Alf, with her golden hair, was grilling some meat for shishkabobs. Directing Jin to a seat at the counter, Yuuya lifted his voice to the shopkeeper.

“Hey Unks, I'd like to put today's order on a tab, is that alright?”

“Watch it ya bloody fool. I'm young and my stomach's still small, so don't be calling me 'Unks'!”

An authoritative shopkeeper, he answered like a true Tokyoite. Yuuya sat in his seat, turning to talk to Jin.

“By the way, your little sister is still pretty cute herself you know.”

[[Image:Puipui vol01 115.jpg|thumb]]
“She's not my sister, just a kid from my old neighborhood.”

“Whatever it's all the same. If you compare them to Zadou, they're still just acorns.”

"Who are you calling an acorn!"

Alf came over, hitting Yuuya on the head with a silver tray. In a strong mood, her lips were bound together in a straight line. Pressing his head, Yuuya let out a shout.

“That freakin' hurts! That's why I said they were different, Zadou isn't as tomboyish as this.”

“You think so?”

Jin let out what he was thinking. Yuuya turned to glare at him.

“What's up with your question!”

“Ah, no. Nothing really.”

What happened yesterday was a secret. There's no way he could tell anyone. With his sense of duty, there was no way Jin was going to talk. Nearly spitting, Yuuya was shaking his fists as he dropped his claim.

“Listen up, Jin. It looks like you've got another opinion but, there's no room for you to doubt her gentle kindness. Well, there's not really any proof that she's reached perfection, but something like that is fine, isn't it? There's no dignity in dragging down such a girl. Don't you think so?”

“Nope. I've never gone out with a girl up till now after all.”

At Jin's response, Yuuya clutched his hand to his chest.

“......Ah, I see.”

“Since the past I've never really cared much about girls. It's a bit different from you, as you're always listening to music and stuff to learn more about them and stuff.”

“Nah that's...”

Struggling for words, Yuuya spoke in a small voice.

“Actually for me too......as I've never gone out with someone before...”

“Eh!? Is that how it is?”

Under Jin's shocked gaze, Yuuya grew red, turning angry.

“Don't friggin' stare at me like that!”

“What, you want me to stare at you with a fuzzy warm look?”

“Besides that, during lunch break, you taught Zadou archeology? So what kind of thing is she interested in?”

“A-Ahh. That's......”

“You can tell me. There's no way it's a secret is it? If everyone in class finds out there's a secret between just you and Zadou, they'll hang you from jealousy.

“No. There's absolutely positively no way it's anything good like that.”

Jin affirmed his earlier denial. Familiar with his mannerisms, Yuuya placed his hand on Jin's shoulder, preparing to ask again.

“Well then, tell me. Even though I listen to light music to try to understand women, it hasn't worked at all. Since I'm interested in Zadou, I feel like I've got to do my best.”

“I see. It deals with the ancient silk road, and how goods would be......”

“Zzzz.”

“You went to sleep pretty quickly.”

Jin looked at Yuuya, with his head lying prostrate on the counter, in surprise. At that moment, Alf came over to the place where they were, roughly setting down their cups of water.

“Look here, if you're going to sit, then place your orders already! Else the shop's routine is going to be interrupted.”

Looking surprised, Jin turned his gaze up to look at Alf.

“Your Japanese is great. Just like a true Tokyoite.”

“Well that's obvious. I was born and raised here after all.”

“Hey, Young'un! It's way too early for ya to be flirtin'! If you lay a hand on my daughter, you'll be gettin' a surprise in your curry!”

Alf's father could multi-task quite well, shouting those things while still managing to keep the frying pan going. Yuuya turned to speak to Jin.

“The owner was born after his parents came to Japan. “The third generation will continue as a Tokyoite,” is something he's said as well. And that third generation is Alf.”

“You two, what are you going to do about your order?”

With her hand on her hip, Alf had asked Jin. All Yuuya could do was laugh.

“Even if you ask what we're going to do, without the menu there isn't much we can do, right Jin? Naan and shish kebab sound like some kind of incantation. With that said, two shish kebab specials please.”

After making his order, Alf responded by restating it.

“Understood, two special shish kebabs!”

Next, she began putting the servings of rice on two plates. When the meat on skewers was being grilled on the gridiron, Jin turned a curious gaze over to watch.

“So there was a Persian restaurant this close after all......”

He began looking around the shop. Just like Yuuya had said, the restaurant did indeed have a lot of cheaper dishes, and it really was full of classmates from Harusha Academy.

“The wait's over! Here's the two sets of shish kebab!”

With some force, Alf set the tray down before Jin and Yuuya. On top of the large plate, was a donburi bowl filled with a mountain of rice, on top of which was spread the beef skewers, which was spiced with a curry smell. There were even true green vegetables. There was also a tomato stew to top it all off.

“Excellent. Amazing,” is all Jin could utter in his overwhelmed state. Yuuya was already digging in.

“In the grilled chicken bowl, there's even salad and miso soup. It was the same for me when I was in middle school and a senior took me here, I was extremely nervous thinking about this place being a foreign restaurant. But since the food from the middle east is soft, you can use chopsticks to eat it.”

Jin picked up his skewer, covered with meat. The mix of herbs and spices was combined to form a miraculous flavor. After the teeth bit into the meet, the flavors in the condensed bullion were released.

“SUPERB!”

Jin screamed out his thoughts. Even though he had never seen the endless Arabian sands, the images seemed to surface on the inside of his eyelids. Due to the added smell of the salt used, it seemed to draw out a feeling of the flavor of rock salt. Standing with a caravan of camels in the desert, were the ruins of an ancient city in the sand.

''So that's the kind of place my parents are working at......'', Jin thought to himself.

(Solomon's Treasure huh...I wonder where it could be...)

Jin was thinking deeply as he savored the meal. Jin's parents were searching with many archaeologists and adventurers, but had yet to find anything. The treasure had yet to be found. The last resort he could see, was only in thinking about the birthplace of the magic lamp which was Sierra's, that, and the fact he didn't know what else to do as he couldn't contact his parents. At his wits ends, Jin could only cradle his head in his arms.

Just then, a plate was placed in front of him. It was a massive omelet with spinach inside.

“I'll be leaving this with you~”

Jin quickly tried to hand the plate of omelets back to Alf, only to have her shake her head and push the omelets back towards him.

“That's my treat. Haha, the Persian Wind Omelets.”

“Your treat.....why?”

“The spinach has a lot of nutrients in it. It's something that was carried over from Persia along the Silk Road here to Japan. Since you mentioned the Middle East, and the Japanese culture is thought to have been graced with a great deal from there.”

“But, I'm eating on credit, so how can you give me something like this?”

“It doesn't disturb the business to keep the mood in the shop bright.”

Alf puffed out her cheeks while crossing her arms. The muscles in Jin's face were twitching rapidly.

“Sorry. It's really delicious, it's just I had to think for a bit.”


“Don't worry, I'm a girl yet I couldn't explain very well. But what you said earlier, actually made me really pleased with you.”

Raising his finger to point at Jin, Yuuya smacked his head on the tray, causing Alf to turn a bit red.

“Don't say weird things to this dope!”

“Quit hitting me with each and every tray! This isn't Yoshimoto Shinkigeki!”

Rubbing his face Yuuya drew himself towards Alf, and indicating Jin's thumb, he pushed it into Jin's mouth.

“If it's Jin...You know he's a weirdo, it's like he's always looking up stuff about the Middle East. Until yesterday, our dorm room was stuffed full of book after book about that stuff. And since he likes the Middle East so much, he must like Alf too.”

“Don't say such stupid stuff! You're troubling her!”

Jin scolded Yuuya seriously. But, surprised, Alf rested her elbow on Jin's shoulder.

“Heeeh, so you've got some interest in the Middle East.”

“Not really. You say interest but......it's just thinking about if the magic lamp from Arabian Nights could have made it to Japan.”

After Jin's statement, both Alf and her Father's faces froze, followed by a stiffening expression.

“N-N-N-N-N-No way. That's just talk right? Right Dad?”

Looking a bit confused, Alf turned the direction of her speech to the shopkeeper. He also turned a cold shoulder on the conversation.

“T-T-T-T-T-That's right, bloody fool! What's up with ya? Something like a lamp from Arabia having a Genie of the Lamp come rumbling out, you believe that?”

“Jin, even though you're always thinking and studying about archeology, you're still thinking about stuff like that? Unexpectedly, you're pretty childish.”

Yuuya was bouncing around in his laughter. Jin simply put his elbows on the table, crossed his fingers, and though about how disappointing it was.

“I see...no matter how many Middle Eastern people there are, they don't know after all. If it's a Japanese person, there's no way anybody would know anything about a wicked pedestal.”

“U, uhm...that there was a magic lamp in Japan, who did you hear that from?”

Calmly, Alf took hold of both of Jin's shoulders, and enquired of him with serious eyes. Because what had happened between Sierra and him was a secret, Jin could only shake his head in negation.

“It's fine. I'm sorry for asking about such a strange thing.”

“Ah, it's fine, don't worry don't worry. For us too, we're sorry we couldn't be of more use.”

Even though Alf ended it like that, Jin suddenly noticed something for the first time, and sniffed at his surroundings. Becoming a bit worried, Jin asked about it.

“You smell something?”

“Ah, no. It's nothing.”

Sniffing quickly, Alf turned to her side. Just then Jin was elbowed by Yuuya.

“You know, it's probably because off all the garbage in the dorm room, so you just smell like mold.”

“I wonder if it's an outbreak of a new life-form.”

Someone like Jin, who always cares about his manners, to be wearing dirty clothes that hadn't been washed, was completely unthinkable. Yuuya sniffed at Jin's surroundings, simply saying “Ahh.”

“Isn't this the smell from the Dorm Head?”

“Ah, you mean that whatever it's called incense?”

In the morning, when Ukyou had gripped Jin's collar, the incense he was wearing had probably been captured by Jin. Alf, who couldn't have thought of this, was taking this in stride.

“That's right. It's that smell, that smell. Ah, while I've been talking, you've already finished eating everything. You know, you eat pretty quick.”

Alf was looking at Jin's plate. There was nothing left. Yet on Yuuya's plate, there was still at least half of his meal left. Jin's reply came as he took a swig of water.

“Really, I don't think I eat all that fast.”

“It's fast, fast, yet you're still so thin even with your gluttony.”

Come to think of it, when he had gone searching for Solomon's Treasure on a day off and gone mountain climbing and excavating, he had gotten really hungry from using his stamina, so he might have to eat more than others......Thinking so, Jin pushed against his stomach. Yuuya spoke while he was still chewing a mouthful of shish kebab.

“This shop, fits you doesn't it? The food tastes good, it's not too expensive......Next time how about we challenge that extra large Persian Curry? If you can eat it within 30 minutes, it's free. That right, Alf.”

With Yuuya's statement finished, Alf had been engrossed in sniffing with her nose around Jin, when her body started to shake.

“A-Ahh. That's a delicious scent.”

“Delicious?”

Wondering what she was talking about suddenly, Jin lifted his eyebrows in puzzlement. Giving a short start, Alf proceeded to shake her head.

“Ah, no. I just misspoke.”

“Alf, you're drooling.”

Being pointed at by Yuuya, Alf quickly shut her mouth. It was kind of suspicious.

“Ah, that's right. What you said about coming to eat again, it can't be today,” said Alf as she focused her attention onto Jin.

Rubbing his stomach, Yuuya could only shake his head.

“It's alright, today's fine as it is. Anymore and we'll get fat.”

“I wasn't talking to you. So Jin, won't you come to eat again today?”

Alf's waitress side was so developed. Different from how she had curtly given him the omelets earlier, she used the voice of a cat, and a mysterious smell was coming from her body.

It would be his evening meal, so he wanted to go on eating more and more, but he couldn't eat too much on credit, he had also received quite a lot of shish kebab, so he wouldn't be able to really fit much else into his stomach. So showing his restraint, Jin shook his head.

“I'm good with today as well.”

“Well, if you say you won't eat anymore. Our Persian Curry is made with pomegranates so they will restore your energy, and you can eat as much as you'd like.”

“To someone eating on credit, to make a recommendation like that...”

“It's fine. Isn't that right Dad.”

Alf raised her voice so it would carry to the kitchen, following which a response came from the shopkeeper.

“Yep. If that's what Alf said, then eat as much as you'd like. Bloody Fool!”

“Yeah, like he said, so you don't have to show restraint. So eat to your hearts desire, and become round round fat.”

“Round round fat, what's with that?

A part of what Alf had just said was strange. Before Jin could think too hard about it, Alf had already stretched out her arms deceivingly.

“Ah, ah, no you don't need to worry about it. So, come over tomorrow for some more great service!”

Alf was laughing sweetly. For her to not smile......was unthinkable, indeed whatever it seemed, her habit was her smiling face. But there was something else besides her smiling face that Jin had become conscious of, looking like he wanted to reply, he was stuck on her chest, unable to say anything.

After returning to the dorm, Jin checked his cell phone for any messages, but in the end nobody had called.

“After all, nobody returned my call. Just where are they fooling around at.”

There were plenty of times when he would get a call and he wouldn't answer, but for them not to pick up when he wanted to call, Jin was a bit worried.

Flipping the phone shut, Jin tossed it onto the upper bunk-bed. In order for the dorm to maintain order, they had a dress code to wear gym clothes, as the dorm had chosen the uniform for the exercise club, so that's what he and Yuuya were unwillingly wearing. Unaffiliated with the exercise club, Jin and Yuuya were wearing their gym clothes. Yuuya was wearing his shorts, while Jin had on his jersey. While looking at a music score for a guitar on the bed, he lifted his gaze to the clock on the wall.

“It's five-thirty, about time for dinner, Jin, you hungry?”

“......Starving. Even though I ate so much at Alf Layla...”

“As expected of a glutton, you have quite some fast digesting skills. Anyway, what if you went on a diet for just today?”

Thinking like a stranger, Yuuya was laughing lightly. However, until breakfast the next day, it would be over 12 hours, which he didn't think he could make. There were no archeology books either, so there was nothing to read as well. He also didn't have the willpower to do his homework. Feeling a pang in his stomach, Jin let out a sigh.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door. Standing up from the bed, Yuuya went to answer it.

“Yes?”

Standing there was a first year middle school student. The number one lowest in regards to the Senpais, he wasn't even trembling.

“Hey, weren't you that first year handing out onigiri this morning?”

Bowing his head, the boy came into the room.

“I'm Himuro Keita. Araki Senpai, there's a letter that came for you.”

“Letter? Aah, thanks.”

Keita handed the letter to Jin, who was sitting up on his bed. With a tone of admiration, Yuuya spoke to him.

“You've got some guts to come in here not scared. Something like delivering a letter to a Senpai's room, usually people would be pretty scared, and just wait in the hallway or something.”

“But, in order to follow the dorm rules to not have something lost or stolen, all private letters and the like have to be relayed quickly to whoever they're made out to. That's what the dorm head is always saying.”

“Hah? Wait a minute...Himuro......the vice president of the student council?”

“That's right. Eriko is my older sister.”

“Ah, so that's why you've got guts.”

At that, Keita turned a stern gaze on Yuuya.

“I am not hiding or likewise taking profit from the shadow of my sister! Even though you're my Senpai, if you talk like that, I won't forgive you!”

“S-Sorry sorry. I didn't mean to say something so light, so don't get so mad.”

“Well then, please pardon my intrusion.”

Once more lowering his head, Keita left the room. With that Yuuya let out a sigh.

“Geez geez, it's so hard to get along with that honor student type, their prides are so high and all. Doesn't he look like his older sister, Jin?

“I'm not sure, I don't know his older sister after all...”

“Aah, that's right it's impossible to ask you anything about girls. But I can ask you stuff about cuneiform writing can't I?”

“I'd be more helpful with something like that.”

“It's a joke. Who'd ask about that stuff.”

“The oldest cuneiform written laws were Hammurabi's Code.”

“The Student Council Vice President's name is Himuro Eriko. She's famous for holding down a job now to help cover living costs. After getting permission from the school, she goes to a part-time job after class.”

Matching himself to Jin's pace, Yuuya explained it all.

“But apart from that, what's the letter about?”

“Ah. Uhm......”

Jin turned his gaze back towards the envelope. It had a stamp from abroad stuck to it, and the address was even written in English. The paper was rough, and the quality wasn't that high, and with it's scent, it gave off a very ethnic feel. There was also 'Global Express' stuck to the paper. It's postmark date was labeled as a week previous. Written cursively and with a blue fountain pen's ink, the name [Daigo Araki] was clearly written.

“It's from my Dad!”

He had just been thinking about his parents as well, so the timing for the letter was really surprising. On the letter in the blue fountain pen ink, was definitely his Dad's handwriting.

To Jin.

Are you doing well? Since we started the excavation over here, half a month has already passed. We met up with a guide named Sawaad, and he had some reliable information about Solomon's Palace. When the preparations are done, we'll enter the excavation phase tomorrow. It seems like a place where there's no cell phone service, so for a while we won't be able to communicate, but don't worry. It was good we got the satellite phones for your mom, but with the service now she's pretty upset.

Every day your mom worries about you. She's not too sure about life at a dorm, so as to whether you're eating right or not, she's pretty worried.

For me as well, because I don't have the extra funds, I'm causing you a lot of trouble, which I'm sorry for. It's fine if you're mad at us. With all that said, currently in regards to the progress of finding Solomon's Treasure,

At that point the letter began turning into a romance play, so Jin took it, put it back in its envelope, and put that in his shirt pocket. Suiting his own convenience... The contents of the letter just made him angry.

“That's right, you cause me nothing but trouble. You think I wanna hear your excuses?”

With Jin in his elevated anger stage, Yuuya raised his voice to speak.

“With a mood like that, is it Haraheri's fault? Sorry if it's in Haraheri, but I'm heading to the dining hall now.”

“Already? It's still pretty early though.”

“Well, to not have my seat taken, and to get one close to the upper classmen, I can't afford to wait. Well, I'm off solo to go eat chicken soup, beef and miso, but don't feel bad.”

“Then don't give out the menu!”

With that Jin's stomach gave a hungry growl. Laughing maliciously, Yuuya exited the room. How was he supposed to live off just a cupcake.

“...Geez, what a bad personality.”

Trying to figure out what to do about his hunger, he remembered the letter. Though Jin sincerely believed Solomon's Treasure was in Japan, he couldn't help but recall the lines written that said, “We've obtained some reliable information dealing with Solomon's Palace.”

“What does that mean? That it's different from my hypothesis? Just how reliable is the information?”

Thinking to read the letter all the way through this time, he reached his hand into his pocket to take it out.

At that moment, Jin's cell phone began vibrating. Everyday between school and the dorm, there was practically no free time, so their cellphones were always set to silent mode.

''Maybe it's from my parents''... thinking that, Jin picked it up. It might have to do with something like telling him directly about Solomon's Palace. That's why, when he heard Sierra's voice, he was extremely disappointed.

“...What, it's just you.”

“[W, what do you mean by that!]”

From the very beginning Sierra was already filled with rage. With all that energy it seemed the cellphone's speaker might break. Jin let out a sigh.

“You're already in top gear.”

“[I already told you to call me! What the heck are you doing!?]”

“Don't ask for the absurd. School ends at three, and the dorm doesn't close until six, so there's no way I could call you right?”

“[I heard from your roommate Utada Yuuya, that you'd be missing dinner, so you should be alone now, right?]”

Shocked, Jin couldn't come up with a reply. She was unexpectedly sharp.

“So... did you get my phone number from him as well?”

“[You idiot, if I did that it would turn into a misunderstanding. When I saw your phone at noon break, your number was written on it, right?]”

Shocked again, Jin looked at his phone. Written beneath the LCD screen in thin magic marker was his phone number.

“[A lot of commoners do that. Because there's a lot of people who get their phone number from the company.]”

Sierra laughed with her nose. Above her intelligence was little she would overlook. She gave off the impression of someone in a secluded world, but in reality it was completely different. Another way of thinking is that she doesn't understand the world, but that's not it either. It was a misrepresentation of herself as a humble person, when it was realized how she really acts.

“...That's right. Right now I'm in the room alone, and Yuuya won't be back until seven.”

“[Since it's in a room, and there's no chance of someone seeing me in the maid uniform, then it should be safe. So hurry up and rub the lamp.]”

“The word Genie really does suit you perfectly.”

“[That's rude! Where does that fit me!]”

“It's obvious, 'evil spirit' and 'god' are what make up the symbols for 'Genie' after all.”

To not continue riding on the mood, Jin got off his bed, went over to the desk and pulled the lamp out from one of the drawers, hitting his hand in the process.

“Ah, that's right! Hey, Zadou.”

“[Don't put off calling me, commoner!]”

“More importantly, stop calling me a commoner.”

“[You need something?]”

“When you come, could you bring something with you? Is there any kind of food you could come with?”

Thinking to himself what a good idea he'd had, he asked for Sierra's help. On the other side of the phone, Sierra let out an 'I see' sound.

“[That's a good idea. I'll come soon with something made. Then I won't have to do anything, and you'll thank me tons, right?]”

“Ah, of course! I'll be sure to give you loads of thankfulness.”

It was Hell. Jin said this as he pushed his hand against the rumblings his stomach was making.

“[Then after ten minutes rub the Magic Lamp. You got that?]”

“Ahh, you've let me reach ultimate happiness today.”

Holding the Magic Lamp on his knees, Jin was unusually calm and when he turned to the clock on the wall trembling in anticipation, five minutes had already passed.

The waiting time was long, and the sounds of his empty stomach were painful to hear. And so another five minutes passed. After waiting so long, Jin took the lamp and began scrubbing it frantically. With a popping sound, a violet smoke came out from the lamp. There Sierra stood in her maid clothes, holding a bowl with an unknown number of eggs in it.

“Bow down commoner! Before the almighty Matsusaka Beef Sukiyaki!”

“Yahooo!”

Even with Sierra shouting insults, before his hunger they paled in comparison. Lifting both hands Jin was about to go 'Banzai!' when he suddenly opened his eyes wide, looking at Sierra in front of him.

“....uh, so where is the sukiyaki?”

“Huh?”

Sierra looked around her feet. There an iron pot was spread out with a tiny portable gas stove, but that was all.

“Wh, what's this mean? It was definitely here, the finished sukiyaki! There was also some rice definitely in here as well...”

“Well there isn't anything but ingredients and cooking tools. So to raise your magic level...maybe you have to cook yourself?”

Jin shook his head as he looked at the raw egg. Sierra stuck her fist worriedly by her mouth.

“Cooking. What a problem...”

“Don't you have any cooking practice from home economics class?”

“The people that are in my group always end up doing it for me. They keep saying since I'm an idol I shouldn't have to do that stuff.”

“Being pampered goes to show that you can't do something for yourself.”

“Well, just wait until I get started. Then I'll let you try the cooking I have pride in.”

“How can you have pride when you can't cook anything...?”

Jin raised his eyebrow at the mystery. Laughing lightly, Sierra withdrew her cellphone from out of her apron's pocket.

“Ah, hello? Yeah, it's Zadou Sierra. I was wondering if I could have the usual pizza delivered?”

“You mean it's delivered pizza!”

Heatedly Jin took the phone away from Sierra.

“Food that gets delivered is banned here, so if a Pizza Store delivered here, they'd be chased off!”

“That's fine, we can just have them deliver it through the window.”

Sierra snatched back her cellphone. With an “ahh,” Jin clapped his hands.

“You're pretty smart.”

“Isn't that obvious. Don't compare me with a commoner like you.”

“I thought you were supposed to be nice and happy when you get praised.”

“How's that supposed to be when I get praised by some commoner like you!”

“[Uhm...Is anybody there?]”

A voice could be heard from the phone's speaker. With a soft girls voice that sounded quite grown up, the speaker still seemed to be quite young.

“Ah, I apologize. Then please give me the usual deluxe pizza. Ah, and the place of delivery is different than usual. Harusha Academy's Male Dormitory, do you know of it?”

“[Tachibana....is that it?]”

“Yes yes, Tachibana.”

“[Uhm, Tachibana shouldn't have any girls allowed inside...]”

“You know it pretty well. And so I'm in a room on the second floor of the Tachibana dorm, and to not be noticed by some stranger, I would like it if the pizza could be delivered in through the window.”

“[W-Window?......I don't think we can do that...]”

The operator on the other side of the phone seemed to be grinding her teeth as she talked. It wasn't unreasonable to assume it had something to do with the phone call having come from a girl in the the no-girls-allowed, all-male dormitory.

“[Well then, as for your order, if it's the same as always....that's the fourteen inch large size, with truffle, caviar, and foie grass as topings, correct?]”

“Yeah. Also...”

From behind Sierra's shoulder, Jin impatiently interrupted.

“Hey, I'm just asking to make sure but...you do have money right?”

“Ridiculous. When ordering high class food at a restaurant, 'Is there any money in the wallet?' is something only those destined to be poor would ask.”

Snickering lightly from her nose, Sierra reached her hand into the pocket of her apron.

“......eh!?”

Her hand felt only emptiness. There was nothing there at all. Turning her pocket inside out, still nothing came out.

“NO WAY! Where's my wallet!? Before I was called out I took every precaution to make sure there would be enough money to cover whatever expenses might show up!”

“So from the beginning you were just thinking of using money anyway.”

“When I passed through the lamp, my clothes did turn into the maid uniform but...that it would disappear as well! Aaah geez! What an annoyingly useless lamp!”

Sierra kicked the lamp in her fury. Sierra followed the rebounding lamp with her eyes as it fell back down. With a clang, she was beat down onto the bed after being hit in the head. Her figure upon kicking it was splendid, with her leg raised over her head. Though at the same time the skirt she was in lifted up high as well.

Jin heatedly slapped his hands over his eyes, turning himself around quickly. Screaming “Kyaa!” and sitting up hurriedly so she was kneeling with the tops of her feet touching the ground, Sierra pushed down on the skirt with one hand while using the other to hold the back of her head.

“You saw it didn't you, Commoner! My head hurts! You saw it!”

“Wh, who saw what!? You were the one who fell by yourself!”

Jin turned back around again, while still holding his hands over his eyes. The operator on the other side of the phone spoke in a worried voice.

“[Uhmm, hello...? Just now there was some kind of loud noise but, how about your order?]”

“It can't be helped. For today, you'll be the one to get it.”

Sierra said this with her finger pointed at Jin.

“Why do I have start going with what you say all of a sudden?”

“If it's a little bit it should be fine right, besides I'll return it at school tomorrow.”

“Even if you say that, right now, I've got no money.”

“You don't even have fifty-thousand yen?” 

“There's no way I'm gonna have that! Rather, there's no way one person could plan to eat that much pizza!”

With all his heart Jin was trying to relay this fact of common life to Sierra. Covering her mouth, Sierra seemed to be in distress.

“I, it can't be helped then...There's nothing to do but cancel...”

“[Cancel?]”

Even though the operator asked only for the sake of confirmation, Sierra went into a frenzy with her hair seemingly on end, as she turned to the phone.

“I'll tell you one thing though, I'm not canceling because I have no money! There's no way that would happen to someone like me!”

“[I, I didn't say anything though...]”

“To prove it I'll be ordering one-hundred pizzas tomorrow! All of them are going to be double caviar!”

While still fuming Sierra cut the call. Amazed, Jin opened his mouth to speak.

“Even double cheese is over extravagant....but to not just order caviar which they wouldn't normally have anyway, but to order double caviar...”

“Not having money really is humiliating.”

Heartbroken, Sierra fell back onto the bed. Jin clapped his hand onto Sierra's shoulder.

“You didn't actually fall too low you know. After all, there are quite a few times when people will buy too much at a super market, and have to say 'Sorry but, could you please return this and that,' at the register.”

“That's humiliating! In the end there's just no way I can stand to be poor. And for now, there's no other way than for me to raise my level as a Genie!”

“You just have to wait until we find Solomon's Treasure.”

The route was still being read but, according to the letter his parents had sent, it seemed they had uncovered some historic ruins that had a connection with Solomon. Sierra's expression and silence exceeded his expectations, though it didn't continue for long.

“That's because, there's no guarantee when we'll find Solomon's Treasure right? If we wait like that and it takes too long, I don't want to see my parents get divorced. Because of that, I have no choice but to be the Genie of the Lamp.”

Sierra was grasping him firmly. Because of the courage she showed, Jin couldn't help but stroke her head. When Aika was little, after something good happened, or after something that made her cry sadly, “Big Brother” Jin would always stroke her head like this. Stroking her head like that, Aika would always end up showing a happily smiling face. That's why he just reflexively started stroking her head...but Sierra wasn't Aika. One moment blinking in surprise, the next, not understanding what was happening and becoming angry, she turned her scarlet face towards Jin.

“What do you think you're doing all of a sudden!”

“Ah, just...”

“Even if you do that when I haven't done anything, It won't raise my level as a Genie you know! A commoner like you, don't go touching my head like that!”

“So, the satisfaction gauge won't go up if I just rub your head then?”

“That's unavoidable! Don't do useless things!

“Useless...”

“Don't you have any kind of order or something?”

Sierra spoke forcibly to Jin. In the end, with his stomach making rumbling noises, he just wanted something to eat.

“I've said it before already, that I'm hungry. But since there's nothing to eat, there's no helping it.”

“Even so, if you don't have anything to tell me to do, it's going to bother me.”

Saying that......Sierra dropped her gaze to the raw eggs she was holding.

“That's it then, it'll be fine as long as I can make an omlet! Luckily there's also a gas stove.”

“Ah, I get it. You'll fry the egg using the iron pot.”

Jin's eyes were sparkling. With a similar happy appearance, Sierra took Jin's hands.

“I know I know! I might just be a genius!”

“With this, I just might be able to make it the twelve hours until tomorrow's breakfast!”

At the same time, the atmosphere turned chilly and quiet as they realized they were hand in hand. Following which they quickly let go. Jin turned to the side looking like he had done something wrong, as Sierra turned her back to him, her face deep scarlet.

“Any, anyway, today I'll have you make the satisfaction gauge go all the way up! I don't want to spend any more time than I have to each day in this dirty place!”

Setting the portable gas stove atop the bed, Sierra lit the flame with a cracking sound. ''While she's frying up the omelet, I wonder if I should take the time to read the rest of the letter...'' Jin thought, as he reached his hand into shirt pocket, preparing to take the letter out.

However,

“How would you like it fried? Medium, Rare, or Well-Done?”

Jin scrunched his eyebrows at Sierra's strange question.

“Isn't that how you would cook a steak?”

Rare is when the meat is still relatively pink, Medium is when you use a moderate amount of heat, and most of the pink is gone, while Well-Done is when there is no pink left in the meat, because of leaving on the flame for a long time. He watched as Sierra put three eggs still in their shell into the iron pot above the gas stove, to “fry” them.

“What are you doing?”

In a voice not usually used, Jin had spoken in a tone that was an octave higher than usual.

“It's obvious from watching that I'm frying eggs.”

Sierra replied in a matter of fact tone, as she began to poke the eggs.

“Idiot! Stop it! The eggs will explode, it's dangerous!”

Grabbing her shoulders from behind, Jin pulled Sierra back away from the gas stove. A girl's shoulder width was narrow, and so she fit easily between his hands. Completely dubious about Sierra's cooking method, Jin could only be suspicious.

“You don't want the satisfaction gauge to go up? Don't get in the way of my cooking.”

“Just how is this cooking!”

“Sure it's an omelet, though it may not be what you're used to, but it's actually much more difficult to make than you'd think by watching.”

“This conversation seems like something from a different dimension.”

“I am an idol, so this different dimension is because you're a commoner, right?”

“Don't try to explain it like that! This isn't an omelet, and it doesn't seem like cooking either!”

Turning off the flame of the gas stove, Jin recovered the eggs from the pot. Taking off his jacket, he put them together on the back of a chair at the study desk, leaving him dressed casually in a short-sleeved shirt.

“Listen up, if you're going to make an omelet, you first have to actually crack the egg.”

Next, Jin took the egg and cracked it along the side of the bowl and put the yoke in. Sierra seated herself on her knees, watching attentively the cooking lesson.

“You want to mix the white part and the yellow yoke together, but not too much or it will become hard, so mix lightly. Then, add some sugar for taste, heat up the pot, top it off with some oil, and then put in the eggs...”

He had sugar and oil for cooking. If it was just omelets, Jin's skill was pretty good. Impressed, Sierra clapped her hands together as she continued watching.

“Heh, it's unbelievable how you can do this.”

“I think you're the unbelievable one.” Jin whispered so it couldn't be heard.

“After letting the egg run into the pot, stir it with chopsticks to make sure the air is mixed evenly as well.”

“Why do something like that?”

“If you do it like this, it will come out much better. When it's half done, roll it up as it finishes hardening.”

“I didn't think you were this good.”

“When my parents were away on excavations, I was always left to watch the house, so that's why. I've even learned a lot about doing chores around the house too.”

“Even without a spatula, using just chopsticks you've done really good.”

“If you apply the oil properly, there's no problems. Put in another egg, roll it up again, as much as you like you can do it...”

“They look good.”

“Here, you give it a shot.”

Jin put the omelet he had just finished atop a plate. Cutting the omelet with a utensil she had brought from her home, Sierra ate the piece in one bite. Even though she wasn't wearing lipstick, there was still a noticeable pretty pinkness to her lips as she opened her mouth, and bit into the omelet with white teeth. With just that, Jin felt a throb in his chest.

“Wow, it's really delicious. It's so light and airy...and the layers make the omelet taste like a Millefeuille and a Baumkuchen cake. And it has just the right texture for chewing.”

“Well, you know. The omelet was the first item I learned to cook, so I've got some confidence.”

Slightly embarrassed from being praised by Sierra, Jin lifted his nose into the air. Sierra carried another bite to her mouth.

“Yep, you're really good at cooking.”

“I guess I'm probably not too bad, if I do say so myself.”

“If it's just the omelet, then the taste is worthy of my personal chef.”

“Th, that so...”

“Really, it was delicious. But, if it had been left on the flame for a little bit longer, it would suit my preferences better.”

“A little longer huh...I got it.”

“Well, next time do your best. I'll be waiting.”

“Thanks.”

“Then, thanks for the meal. You may bow."

“I understand, my master.”

With his head bowed, Jin began cleaning the plates. Stopping suddenly, he turned towards the satisfied looking Sierra, who was busy wiping her mouth with a handkerchief.

“....This isn't right!!!”

“What is it? Is there still desert?”

“That's not it! This is backwards!”

Jin took her arm, forcing her to stand. Sierra knit her eyebrows.

“That hu~rts! Compensate for a girl when you use your strength, commoner!”

“What are you going to do about my satisfaction! You're the one that keeps going 'I want to raise my Genie level!'”

“Ah, ah that's right. I just, started to act like I normally do...”

“You've got this super 'Master' like aura you know. Actually, you're a “Genie”, right? So then, are you really even able to do something for somebody else?”

“Are you suggesting that the word 'impossible' is written in my dictionary?”

“Even if you're burning with pride...”

“I can do it. I can definitely do it!”

Angrily Sierra grabbed hold of the front of Jin's shirt, looking up at him. Sierra's chest pulled in closer to Jin's stomach, until they just touched. Hastily he began pulling back, but Sierra followed forward with him, and the distance between the two closed. It seemed she didn't realize what she was doing to Jin.

“Wait, why are you trying to run away! Listen when people are talking to you!”

“I'm not really trying to run away though.”

“You know, it's because you're here that's the problem! Because you're here, are you trying to interfere while I work!?”

“That's just another excuse.”

“Well I've got that trait about when people are next to me. If there's nobody there, then I can do it!”

With her hands grasping Jin's chest, she stared at him with her lips drawn back. Her cheeks were colored light red. Her frustrated expression made Jin realize she was having trouble.

From the previous results of the “Egg Roast,” he was very uneasy about leaving her alone. But, looking at Sierra with her lips trembling from frustration, Jin felt it couldn't be helped.

(Right now she's got to be frustrated not just by the Genie Level thing, but also because she's having trouble doing this...She's someone with a lot of pride who cares a lot about failing.)

Jin let out a sigh admitting his defeat.

“...I got it. It's fine if I just leave then.”

“Yeah, please do.”

With her response to Jin, she puffed herself up and gave the request in an overbearing manner. Jin gave another sigh at her lack of remorse for her attitude.

“So what's the plan then....”

“Give me thirty minutes. You can come back in after thirty minutes. Because I don't want to be in this dirty room for more than that long.”

“Okay, okay.”

Sighing one last time, Jin left the room.

Even though he left the room, he didn't have any place to go. It was currently dinner time right now, so he didn't think it would happen but, if someone happened to enter the room and see Sierra, he would be chased out of the dorm with no place to go. Since it was going to be thirty minutes and he had nothing else to do, Jin thought about reading the letter from earlier, but when he tried to get it, he realized he had no pocket on his shirt. He had taken it off earlier.

“Ah...It's still in the pocket.”

He was really impatient to start reading the next part. But if he entered the room again at this point, he'd get the third degree from Sierra.

“Well, whatever. It's just thirty minutes...thirty minutes...”

Jin sat down in the corridor, and began waiting restlessly.

During that interval, he heard screams and sounds like 'BANG!', 'SLAM!' and 'CLANG!'. Worried yet helpless to do anything about what was going on in his room, while wanting to storm in, he could only close his eyes and ears to the ruckus.

After a while, the door to the room opened with a creak. Standing there with her apron soiled from the ordeal, was Sierra. Mouth agape, Jin could only stare at Sierra with her hair in disarray, while smiling triumphantly.

“Haha. What do you think? Have a look, Commoner!”

She pointed with a slender white finger to the interior of Jin's room. Cautiously, Jin entered the room.

“An omelet that you made, would be....”

Halting in mid sentence, Jin's eyes bulged as he gazed upon a delicious looking omelet resting atop his desk.

“The shape's right!”

“That's the first thing you say?”

A blood vessel pulsed on Sierra's temple. Impressed, Jin admired the omelet from various angles.

“Well that's...I didn't really believe you could do it.”

“Even I can do it if I give it my all you know.”

Sierra was acting with a little more humility than she normally would. It was most likely due to the great effort she had put in. Giving it her all to make the omelet, that was what Jin thought had made her happy. He also ended up becoming a little happy as well.

“Here, give it a taste!”

Sierra grabbed onto his shoulders, and pushed him down onto a chair. He turned to face the omelet, which he thought would be a waste to eat, as it looked so fantastic.

“A,-Ah...then here I go.”

He carried a piece of the omelet that Sierra had already prepared into his mouth. Standing in front of Jin with both hands clasped before her breast, Sierra waited with beating heart and closed eyes. She had looked depressed from earlier, but looking at her serious appearance now, Jin thought that what he had done earlier had really been his mistake.

''She's...really not just all talk is she. She's really competitive, but also does things seriously to the best she can.''

Putting the layered omelet into his mouth, it unraveled and crumbled with softness as he ate. The fragrance from the egg drifted up and added seasoning as it entered his nose, increasing the overall quality of the omelet by several ten's of times.

“Amazing!” Jin shouted with all his might.

“Really...it's really good?”

Jin's heart beat hard as Sierra asked, holding his arm. She really had small hands. With these small hands and fragile appearance, she had carried a heavy iron pot and portable gas stove all for the sake of letting him eat something...thinking of that, Jin felt even more that what he had done was inexcusable.

In the end the sukiyaki had disappeared, but thinking that she would make him an omelet, and that it
would turn out to be done well, no flattery added, he felt really grateful. He was simply expressing how impressed he was to Sierra.

"It's really, really good you know. It's even better than this omelet I had at a Persian Restaurant.

"Haha, Yes!"

Sierra gave a small jump from her happiness. This happiness didn't come from any connection to the
Genie of the Lamp's level, but because with her own power she was able to do something, that was what made her happy. Still impressed, Jin continued eating the omelet. Staring at him, Sierra's palms were getting sweaty as she watched over him.

"It's really amazing. I can't even see how the same person who was going to use the whole egg, ended
up making this so good.”

"F, for now, hurry up and forget about that!"

Sierra had definitely turned completely red.

"I got it. Since you're rich, you always eat good things, that suit your taste. That's why, when you
make something you think tastes good, it comes out with the most delicious taste."

With that understanding, Jin finished eating the omelet. That was better than if he had given the
best praise.

"Thanks for the meal. Really, it was great. Surprisingly good."

"That's a relief."

Breathing a sigh of relief a smile spread across her face. Jin's heart seemed to skip a beat.
Looking at his face, Sierra once again blushed deep scarlet, shaking her head furiously from side to
side.

"N, no...that's not it! Are you satisfied? Is your chest overflowing with thankfulness to me?"

As Jin Looked at the one who always speaks from a higher position's appearance after having worked
so hard, a smile somehow showed on his face. He stopped his verbal abuse, and nodded his head.

"A~h. Because you let me eat something this good, there is no limit to my thanks."

Even without thinking about being happy, a smile floated to his face. For Sierra, it was the first
time seeing his smile. She had thought him to be an ill-tempered, brazen man, but she realized his
smiling face was very kind. Becoming embarrassed, she for some reason grew angry, with a purposely
over-bearing bad mood.

"Your th-thankfulness can't be just words! Can't you even remember that by now!?"

"I got it. It's 'ChiChinPuiPui' right?"

Jin calmed down, but wasn't returning to his normal self, so instead Sierra grew angrier and even
redder.

"I...if you get it, then hurry up and rub my head!"

With her eyes downcast, the upset Sierra held her head out towards Jin.

"Then here goes. ChiChinPuiPui."

Focusing on his thankfulness, Jin rubbed her head. Suddenly, Sierra's whole body became wrapped in
light. Looking at the shining Sierra with an appearance like an Angel, Jin sucked in his breath,
watching. Sierra was also surprised with herself giving off light, and looked down at her body.

"Amazing! With this, it just might..."

Sierra took the Magic Book from out of her pocket. Opening the very first page, Arabian writing had
started to appear. Sierra lept with joy.

"Yay! I've got my first spell!"

"That's good."

"Yeah- it's thanks to you!"

Sierra said with force to Jin who had on a kind expression, causing her to return to herself. Embarrassed and with a scarlet face, Sierra again picked up her attitude.

[[Image:Puipui vol01 155.jpg|thumb]]

"N,-No...It's because I went all out, so it's obvious you should be thankful. The satisfaction gauge
could have gone up more. Since you're just a commoner, eating such a delicious omelet, there could have been two or three more spells that showed up, don't you think?”

"I guess."

Seeing through Sierra who had become more reserved and embarrassed, Jin couldn't stand any more. It
really seemed to him that her actions much more suited a kid.

"So, how do you read...this spell?"

Sierra asked Jin sullenly.

"A Magic Book you can't use, you're hopeless!"

"Well, how am I supposed to know Arabian! It's not J-S-J you know."

"This is read 'Lammul.'"

Jin read the Arabian letters confidently. Impressed, Sierra looked at Jin with eyes as round as
saucers.

"How come you can read it?"

"Well, because to search for Solomon's Treasure, I've read a lot of Arabian books."

"You know...you're pretty amazing."

Impressed, Sierra let out a sigh. It seemed she couldn't fully appreciate his skills. By no means
was he inferring that Sierra was praising him, he just became a bit shy and his head spun lightly.

"It's not really that...amazing. It's just, from using my dictionary I've slowly been able to
remember stuff..."

"Well, I thought the only thing I could do was just ask Papa when I get home. So, what's it mean?"

"That's..."

Preparing to reply, Jin took a deep breath. Sierra was staring intently at him. Her eyes were deep
and sparkling just like space, and seemed to be drawing in their surroundings.

It was that which really made Jin realize what it was about Sierra that Yuuya, the other guys, and
even Aika saw. It was the first time he understood that, she had a quality that anybody would find
attractive.

Feeling as though he were about to be swallowed up by Sierra, staring at her, Jin was unable to
stand. Sierra as well, could feel Jin stiffen. The next thing they both thought of was why they
didn't know why this was pleasant, and so they waited a bit, standing upright like a pole.

Just then, Jin noticed the sound of dripping water, and looked around.

“What's that sound?”

Searching around, Jin noticed clothes hung outside his window on hangers. The water was dripping from the clothes, and hitting the window sill.

“Are those my clothes?”

The clothes he had taken off sometime earlier and left on the bed, his shirt, pants and even his underwear...Since it was so much trouble to take care of dirty laundry, he had decided to amass a pile before going to wash them at the dorm's coin laundry place. Little by little he was building up, but...

“W-Where did you wash them?”

“At the sink over there, they were really dirty.”

“You even washed my underwear? By hand?”

Jin's face turned scarlet. At that time, he noticed that among the hanging laundry was also his jacket.

“Huh?”

Jin focused his eyes. Now that it was brought up, he couldn't recall seeing the jacket on the back of the study chair when he had eaten the omelet. Getting worried, Jin turned his gaze back to the chair. It really wasn't there. His blood pressure began to rise.

“You washed it?”

“You can tell by looking.”

“Why did you wash it?”

“It's like I said earlier, they were dirty. It was because of that mountain of books, I wasn't thinking of washing them for you, but I didn't want their dirt contaminating the omelet, so I washed them first.”

But what Sierra had said never entered Jin's ears. In order to confirm it, he went over and picked out the jacket. Reaching his hand into the pocket, he searched around before finding the letter mailed to him by his father. It had been washed as well, so the paper was all ruined. The blue ink had blended with the water, having caused it to disappear completely.

“The letter's...”

At that point, Jin stood with a mix of astonishment and terror.

“Before washing, you didn't check to see if anything was in the pocket?”

“There's no way I'd stick my hand into some Commoner's pocket, is there?”

Sierra said, full of confidence. Despairing, Jin turned his head to the side.

“Checking for pockets before washing, isn't that obvious!? You've totally destroyed what was in there!”

Jin thrust the ruined letter out under Sierra's nose. She froze. IT seemed she had just realized what she had done. Her pride was too high though to allow her to apologize.

“It's...it's all your mistake for putting something in your pocket.”

Listening to Sierra with her arms crossed blame him instead, Jin's voltage jumped a level.

“What are you saying! All I did was take off my clothes in my own room, and you went and washed them on your own! You didn't even ask!”

“W-Why do I have to ask permission from a Commoner like you!”

“If you do something wrong, usually you'd apologize!”

“Why do I have to lower my head to a Commoner like you! A, all I did was get the paper a little wet!”

“This was a letter from my old man. There was a high possibility that there was something written about Solomon's Treasure!”

An interval passed after Jin raised his voice, and in that time Sierra's mouth was open in shock.

Sierra knew that Jin was searching for Solomon's Treasure, and she was looking for it for her own sake as well. But, the fact that Jin was so angry over something like this, was probably because he was lonely after his parents had left him and gone off, and Sierra, who held onto the same feelings in regards to her own parents, could somehow understand how he must be feeling. It seemed he himself wasn't aware of it, but that's exactly why he became so angry over the letter, she could understand that better than anybody.

Because she understood what had happened, she could feel the pain of it. It was obvious Jin would be angry, and her heart beat painfully, but even so she just couldn't bring herself to apologize.

“I...I didn't know.”

The best she could do was just make excuses. Jin couldn't take any more of the unapologetic Sierra, and so he took a deep breath, pushed the hair in front of his eyes away,, and spoke in a low voice.

“I'm sick of being used in your money-making scheme. Just go home.”

He had spoken in a distant, cold voice. Up until now this hadn't happened...His distanced appearance also seemed as if it were telling Sierra the same thing. Sierra's scared body trembled, and she squeezed her eyes tight. Just him disregarding her to this extent was enough to wound her fragile heart, is something Jin didn't think about. Until now, there had never been one person to disregard her existence, which was why this hurt so much.

After Jin gave her the order to go back home, Sierra was sucked back into the lamp. At that moment, it seemed as though there were tears in her eyes, but with the blood rushed to his head, Jin couldn't care less.

“It would've been better had I never summoned that selfish girl. I won't summon her again.”

Jin threw the Magic Lamp into the trash bin.

Wanting to read the letter from his Father once more, he tried to open it, but it was useless.

“...it really is no use.”

Crumpling the letter into a ball, Jin tossed it into the trash as well.

Hanging from the ceiling was a black and red spider, the same one that Jin had chased out through the window the other day. The spiders onyx-black eyes glittered in the light, it had heard everything, having climbed in the window at the time the laundry had been put out.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[PuiPui:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[PuiPui|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[PuiPui:Volume1_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter3

2009-08-26T00:33:26Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 3: Letter from the Desert */

===Chapter 3: Letter from the Desert===

On the way back home that day, Jin and Yuuya stopped by the restaurant on the back of the school, Alf Layla.

Alf Layla was a restaurant for special Persian dishes. But, because the shop was catering to the current fashionable female university students, the ethnic atmosphere wasn't as large.

Even so, the shop had not changed into just a place to go for cheap meals. There were tables, chairs, and counter seats, and above the table stood chopsticks, and on the wall there was an unskillfully written menu hanging.

“W~elcome!”

Jin and Yuuya, as they opened the door and entered the shop, were greeted by a waitress with a powerful, pleasant voice. She was a girl with darkish skin, and precisely bound golden hair. The only daughter of the shopkeeper, she was Alf Shamshir.

“The attractive shop girl Alf. Cute right? You know she's the same age as us.”

In the kitchen, the shopkeeper with dark skin and black hair was joggling the frying pan, as his counterpart, Alf, with her golden hair, was grilling some meat for shishkabobs. Directing Jin to a seat at the counter, Yuuya lifted his voice to the shopkeeper.

“Hey Unks, I'd like to put today's order on a tab, is that alright?”

“Watch it ya bloody fool. I'm young and my stomach's still small, so don't be calling me 'Unks'!”

An authoritative shopkeeper, he answered like a true Tokyoite. Yuuya sat in his seat, turning to talk to Jin.

“By the way, your little sister is still pretty cute herself you know.”

[[Image:Puipui vol01 115.jpg|thumb]]
“She's not my sister, just a kid from my old neighborhood.”

“Whatever it's all the same. If you compare them to Zadou, they're still just acorns.”

"Who are you calling an acorn!"

Alf came over, hitting Yuuya on the head with a silver tray. In a strong mood, her lips were bound together in a straight line. Pressing his head, Yuuya let out a shout.

“That freakin' hurts! That's why I said they were different, Zadou isn't as tomboyish as this.”

“You think so?”

Jin let out what he was thinking. Yuuya turned to glare at him.

“What's up with your question!”

“Ah, no. Nothing really.”

What happened yesterday was a secret. There's no way he could tell anyone. With his sense of duty, there was no way Jin was going to talk. Nearly spitting, Yuuya was shaking his fists as he dropped his claim.

“Listen up, Jin. It looks like you've got another opinion but, there's no room for you to doubt her gentle kindness. Well, there's not really any proof that she's reached perfection, but something like that is fine, isn't it? There's no dignity in dragging down such a girl. Don't you think so?”

“Nope. I've never gone out with a girl up till now after all.”

At Jin's response, Yuuya clutched his hand to his chest.

“......Ah, I see.”

“Since the past I've never really cared much about girls. It's a bit different from you, as you're always listening to music and stuff to learn more about them and stuff.”

“Nah that's...”

Struggling for words, Yuuya spoke in a small voice.

“Actually for me too......as I've never gone out with someone before...”

“Eh!? Is that how it is?”

Under Jin's shocked gaze, Yuuya grew red, turning angry.

“Don't friggin' stare at me like that!”

“What, you want me to stare at you with a fuzzy warm look?”

“Besides that, during lunch break, you taught Zadou archeology? So what kind of thing is she interested in?”

“A-Ahh. That's......”

“You can tell me. There's no way it's a secret is it? If everyone in class finds out there's a secret between just you and Zadou, they'll hang you from jealousy.

“No. There's absolutely positively no way it's anything good like that.”

Jin affirmed his earlier denial. Familiar with his mannerisms, Yuuya placed his hand on Jin's shoulder, preparing to ask again.

“Well then, tell me. Even though I listen to light music to try to understand women, it hasn't worked at all. Since I'm interested in Zadou, I feel like I've got to do my best.”

“I see. It deals with the ancient silk road, and how goods would be......”

“Zzzz.”

“You went to sleep pretty quickly.”

Jin looked at Yuuya, with his head lying prostrate on the counter, in surprise. At that moment, Alf came over to the place where they were, roughly setting down their cups of water.

“Look here, if you're going to sit, then place your orders already! Else the shop's routine is going to be interrupted.”

Looking surprised, Jin turned his gaze up to look at Alf.

“Your Japanese is great. Just like a true Tokyoite.”

“Well that's obvious. I was born and raised here after all.”

“Hey, Young'un! It's way too early for ya to be flirtin'! If you lay a hand on my daughter, you'll be gettin' a surprise in your curry!”

Alf's father could multi-task quite well, shouting those things while still managing to keep the frying pan going. Yuuya turned to speak to Jin.

“The owner was born after his parents came to Japan. “The third generation will continue as a Tokyoite,” is something he's said as well. And that third generation is Alf.”

“You two, what are you going to do about your order?”

With her hand on her hip, Alf had asked Jin. All Yuuya could do was laugh.

“Even if you ask what we're going to do, without the menu there isn't much we can do, right Jin? Naan and shish kebab sound like some kind of incantation. With that said, two shish kebab specials please.”

After making his order, Alf responded by restating it.

“Understood, two special shish kebabs!”

Next, she began putting the servings of rice on two plates. When the meat on skewers was being grilled on the gridiron, Jin turned a curious gaze over to watch.

“So there was a Persian restaurant this close after all......”

He began looking around the shop. Just like Yuuya had said, the restaurant did indeed have a lot of cheaper dishes, and it really was full of classmates from Harusha Academy.

“The wait's over! Here's the two sets of shish kebab!”

With some force, Alf set the tray down before Jin and Yuuya. On top of the large plate, was a donburi bowl filled with a mountain of rice, on top of which was spread the beef skewers, which was spiced with a curry smell. There were even true green vegetables. There was also a tomato stew to top it all off.

“Excellent. Amazing,” is all Jin could utter in his overwhelmed state. Yuuya was already digging in.

“In the grilled chicken bowl, there's even salad and miso soup. It was the same for me when I was in middle school and a senior took me here, I was extremely nervous thinking about this place being a foreign restaurant. But since the food from the middle east is soft, you can use chopsticks to eat it.”

Jin picked up his skewer, covered with meat. The mix of herbs and spices was combined to form a miraculous flavor. After the teeth bit into the meet, the flavors in the condensed bullion were released.

“SUPERB!”

Jin screamed out his thoughts. Even though he had never seen the endless Arabian sands, the images seemed to surface on the inside of his eyelids. Due to the added smell of the salt used, it seemed to draw out a feeling of the flavor of rock salt. Standing with a caravan of camels in the desert, were the ruins of an ancient city in the sand.

''So that's the kind of place my parents are working at......'', Jin thought to himself.

(Solomon's Treasure huh...I wonder where it could be...)

Jin was thinking deeply as he savored the meal. Jin's parents were searching with many archaeologists and adventurers, but had yet to find anything. The treasure had yet to be found. The last resort he could see, was only in thinking about the birthplace of the magic lamp which was Sierra's, that, and the fact he didn't know what else to do as he couldn't contact his parents. At his wits ends, Jin could only cradle his head in his arms.

Just then, a plate was placed in front of him. It was a massive omelet with spinach inside.

“I'll be leaving this with you~”

Jin quickly tried to hand the plate of omelets back to Alf, only to have her shake her head and push the omelets back towards him.

“That's my treat. Haha, the Persian Wind Omelets.”

“Your treat.....why?”

“The spinach has a lot of nutrients in it. It's something that was carried over from Persia along the Silk Road here to Japan. Since you mentioned the Middle East, and the Japanese culture is thought to have been graced with a great deal from there.”

“But, I'm eating on credit, so how can you give me something like this?”

“It doesn't disturb the business to keep the mood in the shop bright.”

Alf puffed out her cheeks while crossing her arms. The muscles in Jin's face were twitching rapidly.

“Sorry. It's really delicious, it's just I had to think for a bit.”


“Don't worry, I'm a girl yet I couldn't explain very well. But what you said earlier, actually made me really pleased with you.”

Raising his finger to point at Jin, Yuuya smacked his head on the tray, causing Alf to turn a bit red.

“Don't say weird things to this dope!”

“Quit hitting me with each and every tray! This isn't Yoshimoto Shinkigeki!”

Rubbing his face Yuuya drew himself towards Alf, and indicating Jin's thumb, he pushed it into Jin's mouth.

“If it's Jin...You know he's a weirdo, it's like he's always looking up stuff about the Middle East. Until yesterday, our dorm room was stuffed full of book after book about that stuff. And since he likes the Middle East so much, he must like Alf too.”

“Don't say such stupid stuff! You're troubling her!”

Jin scolded Yuuya seriously. But, surprised, Alf rested her elbow on Jin's shoulder.

“Heeeh, so you've got some interest in the Middle East.”

“Not really. You say interest but......it's just thinking about if the magic lamp from Arabian Nights could have made it to Japan.”

After Jin's statement, both Alf and her Father's faces froze, followed by a stiffening expression.

“N-N-N-N-N-No way. That's just talk right? Right Dad?”

Looking a bit confused, Alf turned the direction of her speech to the shopkeeper. He also turned a cold shoulder on the conversation.

“T-T-T-T-T-That's right, bloody fool! What's up with ya? Something like a lamp from Arabia having a Genie of the Lamp come rumbling out, you believe that?”

“Jin, even though you're always thinking and studying about archeology, you're still thinking about stuff like that? Unexpectedly, you're pretty childish.”

Yuuya was bouncing around in his laughter. Jin simply put his elbows on the table, crossed his fingers, and though about how disappointing it was.

“I see...no matter how many Middle Eastern people there are, they don't know after all. If it's a Japanese person, there's no way anybody would know anything about a wicked pedestal.”

“U, uhm...that there was a magic lamp in Japan, who did you hear that from?”

Calmly, Alf took hold of both of Jin's shoulders, and enquired of him with serious eyes. Because what had happened between Sierra and him was a secret, Jin could only shake his head in negation.

“It's fine. I'm sorry for asking about such a strange thing.”

“Ah, it's fine, don't worry don't worry. For us too, we're sorry we couldn't be of more use.”

Even though Alf ended it like that, Jin suddenly noticed something for the first time, and sniffed at his surroundings. Becoming a bit worried, Jin asked about it.

“You smell something?”

“Ah, no. It's nothing.”

Sniffing quickly, Alf turned to her side. Just then Jin was elbowed by Yuuya.

“You know, it's probably because off all the garbage in the dorm room, so you just smell like mold.”

“I wonder if it's an outbreak of a new life-form.”

Someone like Jin, who always cares about his manners, to be wearing dirty clothes that hadn't been washed, was completely unthinkable. Yuuya sniffed at Jin's surroundings, simply saying “Ahh.”

“Isn't this the smell from the Dorm Head?”

“Ah, you mean that whatever it's called incense?”

In the morning, when Ukyou had gripped Jin's collar, the incense he was wearing had probably been captured by Jin. Alf, who couldn't have thought of this, was taking this in stride.

“That's right. It's that smell, that smell. Ah, while I've been talking, you've already finished eating everything. You know, you eat pretty quick.”

Alf was looking at Jin's plate. There was nothing left. Yet on Yuuya's plate, there was still at least half of his meal left. Jin's reply came as he took a swig of water.

“Really, I don't think I eat all that fast.”

“It's fast, fast, yet you're still so thin even with your gluttony.”

Come to think of it, when he had gone searching for Solomon's Treasure on a day off and gone mountain climbing and excavating, he had gotten really hungry from using his stamina, so he might have to eat more than others......Thinking so, Jin pushed against his stomach. Yuuya spoke while he was still chewing a mouthful of shish kebab.

“This shop, fits you doesn't it? The food tastes good, it's not too expensive......Next time how about we challenge that extra large Persian Curry? If you can eat it within 30 minutes, it's free. That right, Alf.”

With Yuuya's statement finished, Alf had been engrossed in sniffing with her nose around Jin, when her body started to shake.

“A-Ahh. That's a delicious scent.”

“Delicious?”

Wondering what she was talking about suddenly, Jin lifted his eyebrows in puzzlement. Giving a short start, Alf proceeded to shake her head.

“Ah, no. I just misspoke.”

“Alf, you're drooling.”

Being pointed at by Yuuya, Alf quickly shut her mouth. It was kind of suspicious.

“Ah, that's right. What you said about coming to eat again, it can't be today,” said Alf as she focused her attention onto Jin.

Rubbing his stomach, Yuuya could only shake his head.

“It's alright, today's fine as it is. Anymore and we'll get fat.”

“I wasn't talking to you. So Jin, won't you come to eat again today?”

Alf's waitress side was so developed. Different from how she had curtly given him the omelets earlier, she used the voice of a cat, and a mysterious smell was coming from her body.

It would be his evening meal, so he wanted to go on eating more and more, but he couldn't eat too much on credit, he had also received quite a lot of shish kebab, so he wouldn't be able to really fit much else into his stomach. So showing his restraint, Jin shook his head.

“I'm good with today as well.”

“Well, if you say you won't eat anymore. Our Persian Curry is made with pomegranates so they will restore your energy, and you can eat as much as you'd like.”

“To someone eating on credit, to make a recommendation like that...”

“It's fine. Isn't that right Dad.”

Alf raised her voice so it would carry to the kitchen, following which a response came from the shopkeeper.

“Yep. If that's what Alf said, then eat as much as you'd like. Bloody Fool!”

“Yeah, like he said, so you don't have to show restraint. So eat to your hearts desire, and become round round fat.”

“Round round fat, what's with that?

A part of what Alf had just said was strange. Before Jin could think too hard about it, Alf had already stretched out her arms deceivingly.

“Ah, ah, no you don't need to worry about it. So, come over tomorrow for some more great service!”

Alf was laughing sweetly. For her to not smile......was unthinkable, indeed whatever it seemed, her habit was her smiling face. But there was something else besides her smiling face that Jin had become conscious of, looking like he wanted to reply, he was stuck on her chest, unable to say anything.

After returning to the dorm, Jin checked his cell phone for any messages, but in the end nobody had called.

“After all, nobody returned my call. Just where are they fooling around at.”

There were plenty of times when he would get a call and he wouldn't answer, but for them not to pick up when he wanted to call, Jin was a bit worried.

Flipping the phone shut, Jin tossed it onto the upper bunk-bed. In order for the dorm to maintain order, they had a dress code to wear gym clothes, as the dorm had chosen the uniform for the exercise club, so that's what he and Yuuya were unwillingly wearing. Unaffiliated with the exercise club, Jin and Yuuya were wearing their gym clothes. Yuuya was wearing his shorts, while Jin had on his jersey. While looking at a music score for a guitar on the bed, he lifted his gaze to the clock on the wall.

“It's five-thirty, about time for dinner, Jin, you hungry?”

“......Starving. Even though I ate so much at Alf Layla...”

“As expected of a glutton, you have quite some fast digesting skills. Anyway, what if you went on a diet for just today?”

Thinking like a stranger, Yuuya was laughing lightly. However, until breakfast the next day, it would be over 12 hours, which he didn't think he could make. There were no archeology books either, so there was nothing to read as well. He also didn't have the willpower to do his homework. Feeling a pang in his stomach, Jin let out a sigh.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door. Standing up from the bed, Yuuya went to answer it.

“Yes?”

Standing there was a first year middle school student. The number one lowest in regards to the Senpais, he wasn't even trembling.

“Hey, weren't you that first year handing out onigiri this morning?”

Bowing his head, the boy came into the room.

“I'm Himuro Keita. Araki Senpai, there's a letter that came for you.”

“Letter? Aah, thanks.”

Keita handed the letter to Jin, who was sitting up on his bed. With a tone of admiration, Yuuya spoke to him.

“You've got some guts to come in here not scared. Something like delivering a letter to a Senpai's room, usually people would be pretty scared, and just wait in the hallway or something.”

“But, in order to follow the dorm rules to not have something lost or stolen, all private letters and the like have to be relayed quickly to whoever they're made out to. That's what the dorm head is always saying.”

“Hah? Wait a minute...Himuro......the vice president of the student council?”

“That's right. Eriko is my older sister.”

“Ah, so that's why you've got guts.”

At that, Keita turned a stern gaze on Yuuya.

“I am not hiding or likewise taking profit from the shadow of my sister! Even though you're my Senpai, if you talk like that, I won't forgive you!”

“S-Sorry sorry. I didn't mean to say something so light, so don't get so mad.”

“Well then, please pardon my intrusion.”

Once more lowering his head, Keita left the room. With that Yuuya let out a sigh.

“Geez geez, it's so hard to get along with that honor student type, their prides are so high and all. Doesn't he look like his older sister, Jin?

“I'm not sure, I don't know his older sister after all...”

“Aah, that's right it's impossible to ask you anything about girls. But I can ask you stuff about cuneiform writing can't I?”

“I'd be more helpful with something like that.”

“It's a joke. Who'd ask about that stuff.”

“The oldest cuneiform written laws were Hammurabi's Code.”

“The Student Council Vice President's name is Himuro Eriko. She's famous for holding down a job now to help cover living costs. After getting permission from the school, she goes to a part-time job after class.”

Matching himself to Jin's pace, Yuuya explained it all.

“But apart from that, what's the letter about?”

“Ah. Uhm......”

Jin turned his gaze back towards the envelope. It had a stamp from abroad stuck to it, and the address was even written in English. The paper was rough, and the quality wasn't that high, and with it's scent, it gave off a very ethnic feel. There was also 'Global Express' stuck to the paper. It's postmark date was labeled as a week previous. Written cursively and with a blue fountain pen's ink, the name [Daigo Araki] was clearly written.

“It's from my Dad!”

He had just been thinking about his parents as well, so the timing for the letter was really surprising. On the letter in the blue fountain pen ink, was definitely his Dad's handwriting.

To Jin.

Are you doing well? Since we started the excavation over here, half a month has already passed. We met up with a guide named Sawaad, and he had some reliable information about Solomon's Palace. When the preparations are done, we'll enter the excavation phase tomorrow. It seems like a place where there's no cell phone service, so for a while we won't be able to communicate, but don't worry. It was good we got the satellite phones for your mom, but with the service now she's pretty upset.

Every day your mom worries about you. She's not too sure about life at a dorm, so as to whether you're eating right or not, she's pretty worried.

For me as well, because I don't have the extra funds, I'm causing you a lot of trouble, which I'm sorry for. It's fine if you're mad at us. With all that said, currently in regards to the progress of finding Solomon's Treasure,

At that point the letter began turning into a romance play, so Jin took it, put it back in its envelope, and put that in his shirt pocket. Suiting his own convenience... The contents of the letter just made him angry.

“That's right, you cause me nothing but trouble. You think I wanna hear your excuses?”

With Jin in his elevated anger stage, Yuuya raised his voice to speak.

“With a mood like that, is it Haraheri's fault? Sorry if it's in Haraheri, but I'm heading to the dining hall now.”

“Already? It's still pretty early though.”

“Well, to not have my seat taken, and to get one close to the upper classmen, I can't afford to wait. Well, I'm off solo to go eat chicken soup, beef and miso, but don't feel bad.”

“Then don't give out the menu!”

With that Jin's stomach gave a hungry growl. Laughing maliciously, Yuuya exited the room. How was he supposed to live off just a cupcake.

“...Geez, what a bad personality.”

Trying to figure out what to do about his hunger, he remembered the letter. Though Jin sincerely believed Solomon's Treasure was in Japan, he couldn't help but recall the lines written that said, “We've obtained some reliable information dealing with Solomon's Palace.”

“What does that mean? That it's different from my hypothesis? Just how reliable is the information?”

Thinking to read the letter all the way through this time, he reached his hand into his pocket to take it out.

At that moment, Jin's cell phone began vibrating. Everyday between school and the dorm, there was practically no free time, so their cellphones were always set to silent mode.

''Maybe it's from my parents''... thinking that, Jin picked it up. It might have to do with something like telling him directly about Solomon's Palace. That's why, when he heard Sierra's voice, he was extremely disappointed.

“...What, it's just you.”

“[W, what do you mean by that!]”

From the very beginning Sierra was already filled with rage. With all that energy it seemed the cellphone's speaker might break. Jin let out a sigh.

“You're already in top gear.”

“[I already told you to call me! What the heck are you doing!?]”

“Don't ask for the absurd. School ends at three, and the dorm doesn't close until six, so there's no way I could call you right?”

“[I heard from your roommate Utada Yuuya, that you'd be missing dinner, so you should be alone now, right?]”

Shocked, Jin couldn't come up with a reply. She was unexpectedly sharp.

“So... did you get my phone number from him as well?”

“[You idiot, if I did that it would turn into a misunderstanding. When I saw your phone at noon break, your number was written on it, right?]”

Shocked again, Jin looked at his phone. Written beneath the LCD screen in thin magic marker was his phone number.

“[A lot of commoners do that. Because there's a lot of people who get their phone number from the company.]”

Sierra laughed with her nose. Above her intelligence was little she would overlook. She gave off the impression of someone in a secluded world, but in reality it was completely different. Another way of thinking is that she doesn't understand the world, but that's not it either. It was a misrepresentation of herself as a humble person, when it was realized how she really acts.

“...That's right. Right now I'm in the room alone, and Yuuya won't be back until seven.”

“[Since it's in a room, and there's no chance of someone seeing me in the maid uniform, then it should be safe. So hurry up and rub the lamp.]”

“The word Genie really does suit you perfectly.”

“[That's rude! Where does that fit me!]”

“It's obvious, 'evil spirit' and 'god' are what make up the symbols for 'Genie' after all.”

To not continue riding on the mood, Jin got off his bed, went over to the desk and pulled the lamp out from one of the drawers, hitting his hand in the process.

“Ah, that's right! Hey, Zadou.”

“[Don't put off calling me, commoner!]”

“More importantly, stop calling me a commoner.”

“[You need something?]”

“When you come, could you bring something with you? Is there any kind of food you could come with?”

Thinking to himself what a good idea he'd had, he asked for Sierra's help. On the other side of the phone, Sierra let out an 'I see' sound.

“[That's a good idea. I'll come soon with something made. Then I won't have to do anything, and you'll thank me tons, right?]”

“Ah, of course! I'll be sure to give you loads of thankfulness.”

It was Hell. Jin said this as he pushed his hand against the rumblings his stomach was making.

“[Then after ten minutes rub the Magic Lamp. You got that?]”

“Ahh, you've let me reach ultimate happiness today.”

Holding the Magic Lamp on his knees, Jin was unusually calm and when he turned to the clock on the wall trembling in anticipation, five minutes had already passed.

The waiting time was long, and the sounds of his empty stomach were painful to hear. And so another five minutes passed. After waiting so long, Jin took the lamp and began scrubbing it frantically. With a popping sound, a violet smoke came out from the lamp. There Sierra stood in her maid clothes, holding a bowl with an unknown number of eggs in it.

“Bow down commoner! Before the almighty Matsusaka Beef Sukiyaki!”

“Yahooo!”

Even with Sierra shouting insults, before his hunger they paled in comparison. Lifting both hands Jin was about to go 'Banzai!' when he suddenly opened his eyes wide, looking at Sierra in front of him.

“....uh, so where is the sukiyaki?”

“Huh?”

Sierra looked around her feet. There an iron pot was spread out with a tiny portable gas stove, but that was all.

“Wh, what's this mean? It was definitely here, the finished sukiyaki! There was also some rice definitely in here as well...”

“Well there isn't anything but ingredients and cooking tools. So to raise your magic level...maybe you have to cook yourself?”

Jin shook his head as he looked at the raw egg. Sierra stuck her fist worriedly by her mouth.

“Cooking. What a problem...”

“Don't you have any cooking practice from home economics class?”

“The people that are in my group always end up doing it for me. They keep saying since I'm an idol I shouldn't have to do that stuff.”

“Being pampered goes to show that you can't do something for yourself.”

“Well, just wait until I get started. Then I'll let you try the cooking I have pride in.”

“How can you have pride when you can't cook anything...?”

Jin raised his eyebrow at the mystery. Laughing lightly, Sierra withdrew her cellphone from out of her apron's pocket.

“Ah, hello? Yeah, it's Zadou Sierra. I was wondering if I could have the usual pizza delivered?”

“You mean it's delivered pizza!”

Heatedly Jin took the phone away from Sierra.

“Food that gets delivered is banned here, so if a Pizza Store delivered here, they'd be chased off!”

“That's fine, we can just have them deliver it through the window.”

Sierra snatched back her cellphone. With an “ahh,” Jin clapped his hands.

“You're pretty smart.”

“Isn't that obvious. Don't compare me with a commoner like you.”

“I thought you were supposed to be nice and happy when you get praised.”

“How's that supposed to be when I get praised by some commoner like you!”

“[Uhm...Is anybody there?]”

A voice could be heard from the phone's speaker. With a soft girls voice that sounded quite grown up, the speaker still seemed to be quite young.

“Ah, I apologize. Then please give me the usual deluxe pizza. Ah, and the place of delivery is different than usual. Harusha Academy's Male Dormitory, do you know of it?”

“[Tachibana....is that it?]”

“Yes yes, Tachibana.”

“[Uhm, Tachibana shouldn't have any girls allowed inside...]”

“You know it pretty well. And so I'm in a room on the second floor of the Tachibana dorm, and to not be noticed by some stranger, I would like it if the pizza could be delivered in through the window.”

“[W-Window?......I don't think we can do that...]”

The operator on the other side of the phone seemed to be grinding her teeth as she talked. It wasn't unreasonable to assume it had something to do with the phone call having come from a girl in the the no-girls-allowed, all-male dormitory.

“[Well then, as for your order, if it's the same as always....that's the fourteen inch large size, with truffle, caviar, and foie grass as topings, correct?]”

“Yeah. Also...”

From behind Sierra's shoulder, Jin impatiently interrupted.

“Hey, I'm just asking to make sure but...you do have money right?”

“Ridiculous. When ordering high class food at a restaurant, 'Is there any money in the wallet?' is something only those destined to be poor would ask.”

Snickering lightly from her nose, Sierra reached her hand into the pocket of her apron.

“......eh!?”

Her hand felt only emptiness. There was nothing there at all. Turning her pocket inside out, still nothing came out.

“NO WAY! Where's my wallet!? Before I was called out I took every precaution to make sure there would be enough money to cover whatever expenses might show up!”

“So from the beginning you were just thinking of using money anyway.”

“When I passed through the lamp, my clothes did turn into the maid uniform but...that it would disappear as well! Aaah geez! What an annoyingly useless lamp!”

Sierra kicked the lamp in her fury. Sierra followed the rebounding lamp with her eyes as it fell back down. With a clang, she was beat down onto the bed after being hit in the head. Her figure upon kicking it was splendid, with her leg raised over her head. Though at the same time the skirt she was in lifted up high as well.

Jin heatedly slapped his hands over his eyes, turning himself around quickly. Screaming “Kyaa!” and sitting up hurriedly so she was kneeling with the tops of her feet touching the ground, Sierra pushed down on the skirt with one hand while using the other to hold the back of her head.

“You saw it didn't you, Commoner! My head hurts! You saw it!”

“Wh, who saw what!? You were the one who fell by yourself!”

Jin turned back around again, while still holding his hands over his eyes. The operator on the other side of the phone spoke in a worried voice.

“[Uhmm, hello...? Just now there was some kind of loud noise but, how about your order?]”

“It can't be helped. For today, you'll be the one to get it.”

Sierra said this with her finger pointed at Jin.

“Why do I have start going with what you say all of a sudden?”

“If it's a little bit it should be fine right, besides I'll return it at school tomorrow.”

“Even if you say that, right now, I've got no money.”

“You don't even have fifty-thousand yen?” 

“There's no way I'm gonna have that! Rather, there's no way one person could plan to eat that much pizza!”

With all his heart Jin was trying to relay this fact of common life to Sierra. Covering her mouth, Sierra seemed to be in distress.

“I, it can't be helped then...There's nothing to do but cancel...”

“[Cancel?]”

Even though the operator asked only for the sake of confirmation, Sierra went into a frenzy with her hair seemingly on end, as she turned to the phone.

“I'll tell you one thing though, I'm not canceling because I have no money! There's no way that would happen to someone like me!”

“[I, I didn't say anything though...]”

“To prove it I'll be ordering one-hundred pizzas tomorrow! All of them are going to be double caviar!”

While still fuming Sierra cut the call. Amazed, Jin opened his mouth to speak.

“Even double cheese is over extravagant....but to not just order caviar which they wouldn't normally have anyway, but to order double caviar...”

“Not having money really is humiliating.”

Heartbroken, Sierra fell back onto the bed. Jin clapped his hand onto Sierra's shoulder.

“You didn't actually fall too low you know. After all, there are quite a few times when people will buy too much at a super market, and have to say 'Sorry but, could you please return this and that,' at the register.”

“That's humiliating! In the end there's just no way I can stand to be poor. And for now, there's no other way than for me to raise my level as a Genie!”

“You just have to wait until we find Solomon's Treasure.”

The route was still being read but, according to the letter his parents had sent, it seemed they had uncovered some historic ruins that had a connection with Solomon. Sierra's expression and silence exceeded his expectations, though it didn't continue for long.

“That's because, there's no guarantee when we'll find Solomon's Treasure right? If we wait like that and it takes too long, I don't want to see my parents get divorced. Because of that, I have no choice but to be the Genie of the Lamp.”

Sierra was grasping him firmly. Because of the courage she showed, Jin couldn't help but stroke her head. When Aika was little, after something good happened, or after something that made her cry sadly, “Big Brother” Jin would always stroke her head like this. Stroking her head like that, Aika would always end up showing a happily smiling face. That's why he just reflexively started stroking her head...but Sierra wasn't Aika. One moment blinking in surprise, the next, not understanding what was happening and becoming angry, she turned her scarlet face towards Jin.

“What do you think you're doing all of a sudden!”

“Ah, just...”

“Even if you do that when I haven't done anything, It won't raise my level as a Genie you know! A commoner like you, don't go touching my head like that!”

“So, the satisfaction gauge won't go up if I just rub your head then?”

“That's unavoidable! Don't do useless things!

“Useless...”

“Don't you have any kind of order or something?”

Sierra spoke forcibly to Jin. In the end, with his stomach making rumbling noises, he just wanted something to eat.

“I've said it before already, that I'm hungry. But since there's nothing to eat, there's no helping it.”

“Even so, if you don't have anything to tell me to do, it's going to bother me.”

Saying that......Sierra dropped her gaze to the raw eggs she was holding.

“That's it then, it'll be fine as long as I can make an omlet! Luckily there's also a gas stove.”

“Ah, I get it. You'll fry the egg using the iron pot.”

Jin's eyes were sparkling. With a similar happy appearance, Sierra took Jin's hands.

“I know I know! I might just be a genius!”

“With this, I just might be able to make it the twelve hours until tomorrow's breakfast!”

At the same time, the atmosphere turned chilly and quiet as they realized they were hand in hand. Following which they quickly let go. Jin turned to the side looking like he had done something wrong, as Sierra turned her back to him, her face deep scarlet.

“Any, anyway, today I'll have you make the satisfaction gauge go all the way up! I don't want to spend any more time than I have to each day in this dirty place!”

Setting the portable gas stove atop the bed, Sierra lit the flame with a cracking sound. ''While she's frying up the omelet, I wonder if I should take the time to read the rest of the letter...'' Jin thought, as he reached his hand into shirt pocket, preparing to take the letter out.

However,

“How would you like it fried? Medium, Rare, or Well-Done?”

Jin scrunched his eyebrows at Sierra's strange question.

“Isn't that how you would cook a steak?”

Rare is when the meat is still relatively pink, Medium is when you use a moderate amount of heat, and most of the pink is gone, while Well-Done is when there is no pink left in the meat, because of leaving on the flame for a long time. He watched as Sierra put three eggs still in their shell into the iron pot above the gas stove, to “fry” them.

“What are you doing?”

In a voice not usually used, Jin had spoken in a tone that was an octave higher than usual.

“It's obvious from watching that I'm frying eggs.”

Sierra replied in a matter of fact tone, as she began to poke the eggs.

“Idiot! Stop it! The eggs will explode, it's dangerous!”

Grabbing her shoulders from behind, Jin pulled Sierra back away from the gas stove. A girl's shoulder width was narrow, and so she fit easily between his hands. Completely dubious about Sierra's cooking method, Jin could only be suspicious.

“You don't want the satisfaction gauge to go up? Don't get in the way of my cooking.”

“Just how is this cooking!”

“Sure it's an omelet, though it may not be what you're used to, but it's actually much more difficult to make than you'd think by watching.”

“This conversation seems like something from a different dimension.”

“I am an idol, so this different dimension is because you're a commoner, right?”

“Don't try to explain it like that! This isn't an omelet, and it doesn't seem like cooking either!”

Turning off the flame of the gas stove, Jin recovered the eggs from the pot. Taking off his jacket, he put them together on the back of a chair at the study desk, leaving him dressed casually in a short-sleeved shirt.

“Listen up, if you're going to make an omelet, you first have to actually crack the egg.”

Next, Jin took the egg and cracked it along the side of the bowl and put the yoke in. Sierra seated herself on her knees, watching attentively the cooking lesson.

“You want to mix the white part and the yellow yoke together, but not too much or it will become hard, so mix lightly. Then, add some sugar for taste, heat up the pot, top it off with some oil, and then put in the eggs...”

He had sugar and oil for cooking. If it was just omelets, Jin's skill was pretty good. Impressed, Sierra clapped her hands together as she continued watching.

“Heh, it's unbelievable how you can do this.”

“I think you're the unbelievable one.” Jin whispered so it couldn't be heard.

“After letting the egg run into the pot, stir it with chopsticks to make sure the air is mixed evenly as well.”

“Why do something like that?”

“If you do it like this, it will come out much better. When it's half done, roll it up as it finishes hardening.”

“I didn't think you were this good.”

“When my parents were away on excavations, I was always left to watch the house, so that's why. I've even learned a lot about doing chores around the house too.”

“Even without a spatula, using just chopsticks you've done really good.”

“If you apply the oil properly, there's no problems. Put in another egg, roll it up again, as much as you like you can do it...”

“They look good.”

“Here, you give it a shot.”

Jin put the omelet he had just finished atop a plate. Cutting the omelet with a utensil she had brought from her home, Sierra ate the piece in one bite. Even though she wasn't wearing lipstick, there was still a noticeable pretty pinkness to her lips as she opened her mouth, and bit into the omelet with white teeth. With just that, Jin felt a throb in his chest.

“Wow, it's really delicious. It's so light and airy...and the layers make the omelet taste like a Millefeuille and a Baumkuchen cake. And it has just the right texture for chewing.”

“Well, you know. The omelet was the first item I learned to cook, so I've got some confidence.”

Slightly embarrassed from being praised by Sierra, Jin lifted his nose into the air. Sierra carried another bite to her mouth.

“Yep, you're really good at cooking.”

“I guess I'm probably not too bad, if I do say so myself.”

“If it's just the omelet, then the taste is worthy of my personal chef.”

“Th, that so...”

“Really, it was delicious. But, if it had been left on the flame for a little bit longer, it would suit my preferences better.”

“A little longer huh...I got it.”

“Well, next time do your best. I'll be waiting.”

“Thanks.”

“Then, thanks for the meal. You may bow."

“I understand, my master.”

With his head bowed, Jin began cleaning the plates. Stopping suddenly, he turned towards the satisfied looking Sierra, who was busy wiping her mouth with a handkerchief.

“....This isn't right!!!”

“What is it? Is there still desert?”

“That's not it! This is backwards!”

Jin took her arm, forcing her to stand. Sierra knit her eyebrows.

“That hu~rts! Compensate for a girl when you use your strength, commoner!”

“What are you going to do about my satisfaction! You're the one that keeps going 'I want to raise my Genie level!'”

“Ah, ah that's right. I just, started to act like I normally do...”

“You've got this super 'Master' like aura you know. Actually, you're a “Genie”, right? So then, are you really even able to do something for somebody else?”

“Are you suggesting that the word 'impossible' is written in my dictionary?”

“Even if you're burning with pride...”

“I can do it. I can definitely do it!”

Angrily Sierra grabbed hold of the front of Jin's shirt, looking up at him. Sierra's chest pulled in closer to Jin's stomach, until they just touched. Hastily he began pulling back, but Sierra followed forward with him, and the distance between the two closed. It seemed she didn't realize what she was doing to Jin.

“Wait, why are you trying to run away! Listen when people are talking to you!”

“I'm not really trying to run away though.”

“You know, it's because you're here that's the problem! Because you're here, are you trying to interfere while I work!?”

“That's just another excuse.”

“Well I've got that trait about when people are next to me. If there's nobody there, then I can do it!”

With her hands grasping Jin's chest, she stared at him with her lips drawn back. Her cheeks were colored light red. Her frustrated expression made Jin realize she was having trouble.

From the previous results of the “Egg Roast,” he was very uneasy about leaving her alone. But, looking at Sierra with her lips trembling from frustration, Jin felt it couldn't be helped.

(Right now she's got to be frustrated not just by the Genie Level thing, but also because she's having trouble doing this...She's someone with a lot of pride who cares a lot about failing.)

Jin let out a sigh admitting his defeat.

“...I got it. It's fine if I just leave then.”

“Yeah, please do.”

With her response to Jin, she puffed herself up and gave the request in an overbearing manner. Jin gave another sigh at her lack of remorse for her attitude.

“So what's the plan then....”

“Give me thirty minutes. You can come back in after thirty minutes. Because I don't want to be in this dirty room for more than that long.”

“Okay, okay.”

Sighing one last time, Jin left the room.

Even though he left the room, he didn't have any place to go. It was currently dinner time right now, so he didn't think it would happen but, if someone happened to enter the room and see Sierra, he would be chased out of the dorm with no place to go. Since it was going to be thirty minutes and he had nothing else to do, Jin thought about reading the letter from earlier, but when he tried to get it, he realized he had no pocket on his shirt. He had taken it off earlier.

“Ah...It's still in the pocket.”

He was really impatient to start reading the next part. But if he entered the room again at this point, he'd get the third degree from Sierra.

“Well, whatever. It's just thirty minutes...thirty minutes...”

Jin sat down in the corridor, and began waiting restlessly.

During that interval, he heard screams and sounds like 'BANG!', 'SLAM!' and 'CLANG!'. Worried yet helpless to do anything about what was going on in his room, while wanting to storm in, he could only close his eyes and ears to the ruckus.

After a while, the door to the room opened with a creak. Standing there with her apron soiled from the ordeal, was Sierra. Mouth agape, Jin could only stare at Sierra with her hair in disarray, while smiling triumphantly.

“Haha. What do you think? Have a look, Commoner!”

She pointed with a slender white finger to the interior of Jin's room. Cautiously, Jin entered the room.

“An omelet that you made, would be....”

Halting in mid sentence, Jin's eyes bulged as he gazed upon a delicious looking omelet resting atop his desk.

“The shape's right!”

“That's the first thing you say?”

A blood vessel pulsed on Sierra's temple. Impressed, Jin admired the omelet from various angles.

“Well that's...I didn't really believe you could do it.”

“Even I can do it if I give it my all you know.”

Sierra was acting with a little more humility than she normally would. It was most likely due to the great effort she had put in. Giving it her all to make the omelet, that was what Jin thought had made her happy. He also ended up becoming a little happy as well.

“Here, give it a taste!”

Sierra grabbed onto his shoulders, and pushed him down onto a chair. He turned to face the omelet, which he thought would be a waste to eat, as it looked so fantastic.

“A,-Ah...then here I go.”

He carried a piece of the omelet that Sierra had already prepared into his mouth. Standing in front of Jin with both hands clasped before her breast, Sierra waited with beating heart and closed eyes. She had looked depressed from earlier, but looking at her serious appearance now, Jin thought that what he had done earlier had really been his mistake.

''She's...really not just all talk is she. She's really competitive, but also does things seriously to the best she can.''

Putting the layered omelet into his mouth, it unraveled and crumbled with softness as he ate. The fragrance from the egg drifted up and added seasoning as it entered his nose, increasing the overall quality of the omelet by several ten's of times.

“Amazing!” Jin shouted with all his might.

“Really...it's really good?”

Jin's heart beat hard as Sierra asked, holding his arm. She really had small hands. With these small hands and fragile appearance, she had carried a heavy iron pot and portable gas stove all for the sake of letting him eat something...thinking of that, Jin felt even more that what he had done was inexcusable.

In the end the sukiyaki had disappeared, but thinking that she would make him an omelet, and that it
would turn out to be done well, no flattery added, he felt really grateful. He was simply expressing how impressed he was to Sierra.

"It's really, really good you know. It's even better than this omelet I had at a Persian Restaurant.

"Haha, Yes!"

Sierra gave a small jump from her happiness. This happiness didn't come from any connection to the
Genie of the Lamp's level, but because with her own power she was able to do something, that was what made her happy. Still impressed, Jin continued eating the omelet. Staring at him, Sierra's palms were getting sweaty as she watched over him.

"It's really amazing. I can't even see how the same person who was going to use the whole egg, ended
up making this so good.”

"F, for now, hurry up and forget about that!"

Sierra had definitely turned completely red.

"I got it. Since you're rich, you always eat good things, that suit your taste. That's why, when you
make something you think tastes good, it comes out with the most delicious taste."

With that understanding, Jin finished eating the omelet. That was better than if he had given the
best praise.

"Thanks for the meal. Really, it was great. Surprisingly good."

"That's a relief."

Breathing a sigh of relief a smile spread across her face. Jin's heart seemed to skip a beat.
Looking at his face, Sierra once again blushed deep scarlet, shaking her head furiously from side to
side.

"N, no...that's not it! Are you satisfied? Is your chest overflowing with thankfulness to me?"

As Jin Looked at the one who always speaks from a higher position's appearance after having worked
so hard, a smile somehow showed on his face. He stopped his verbal abuse, and nodded his head.

"A~h. Because you let me eat something this good, there is no limit to my thanks."

Even without thinking about being happy, a smile floated to his face. For Sierra, it was the first
time seeing his smile. She had thought him to be an ill-tempered, brazen man, but she realized his
smiling face was very kind. Becoming embarrassed, she for some reason grew angry, with a purposely
over-bearing bad mood.

"Your th-thankfulness can't be just words! Can't you even remember that by now!?"

"I got it. It's 'ChiChinPuiPui' right?"

Jin calmed down, but wasn't returning to his normal self, so instead Sierra grew angrier and even
redder.

"I...if you get it, then hurry up and rub my head!"

With her eyes downcast, the upset Sierra held her head out towards Jin.

"Then here goes. ChiChinPuiPui."

Focusing on his thankfulness, Jin rubbed her head. Suddenly, Sierra's whole body became wrapped in
light. Looking at the shining Sierra with an appearance like an Angel, Jin sucked in his breath,
watching. Sierra was also surprised with herself giving off light, and looked down at her body.

"Amazing! With this, it just might..."

Sierra took the Magic Book from out of her pocket. Opening the very first page, Arabian writing had
started to appear. Sierra lept with joy.

"Yay! I've got my first spell!"

"That's good."

"Yeah- it's thanks to you!"

Sierra said with force to Jin who had on a kind expression, causing her to return to herself. Embarrassed and with a scarlet face, Sierra again picked up her attitude.

[[Image:Puipui vol01 155.jpg|thumb]]

"N,-No...It's because I went all out, so it's obvious you should be thankful. The satisfaction gauge
could have gone up more. Since you're just a commoner, eating such a delicious omelet, there could have been two or three more spells that showed up, don't you think?”

"I guess."

Seeing through Sierra who had become more reserved and embarrassed, Jin couldn't stand any more. It
really seemed to him that her actions much more suited a kid.

"So, how do you read...this spell?"

Sierra asked Jin sullenly.

"A Magic Book you can't use, you're hopeless!"

"Well, how am I supposed to know Arabian! It's not J-S-J you know."

"This is read 'Lammul.'"

Jin read the Arabian letters confidently. Impressed, Sierra looked at Jin with eyes as round as
saucers.

"How come you can read it?"

"Well, because to search for Solomon's Treasure, I've read a lot of Arabian books."

"You know...you're pretty amazing."

Impressed, Sierra let out a sigh. It seemed she couldn't fully appreciate his skills. By no means
was he inferring that Sierra was praising him, he just became a bit shy and his head spun lightly.

"It's not really that...amazing. It's just, from using my dictionary I've slowly been able to
remember stuff..."

"Well, I thought the only thing I could do was just ask Papa when I get home. So, what's it mean?"

"That's..."

Preparing to reply, Jin took a deep breath. Sierra was staring intently at him. Her eyes were deep
and sparkling just like space, and seemed to be drawing in their surroundings.

It was that which really made Jin realize what it was about Sierra that Yuuya, the other guys, and
even Aika saw. It was the first time he understood that, she had a quality that anybody would find
attractive.

Feeling as though he were about to be swallowed up by Sierra, staring at her, Jin was unable to
stand. Sierra as well, could feel Jin stiffen. The next thing they both thought of was why they
didn't know why this was pleasant, and so they waited a bit, standing upright like a pole.

Just then, Jin noticed the sound of dripping water, and looked around.

“What's that sound?”

Searching around, Jin noticed clothes hung outside his window on hangers. The water was dripping from the clothes, and hitting the window sill.

“Are those my clothes?”

The clothes he had taken off sometime earlier and left on the bed, his shirt, pants and even his underwear...Since it was so much trouble to take care of dirty laundry, he had decided to amass a pile before going to wash them at the dorm's coin laundry place. Little by little he was building up, but...

“W-Where did you wash them?”

“At the sink over there, they were really dirty.”

“You even washed my underwear? By hand?”

Jin's face turned scarlet. At that time, he noticed that among the hanging laundry was also his jacket.

“Huh?”

Jin focused his eyes. Now that it was brought up, he couldn't recall seeing the jacket on the back of the study chair when he had eaten the omelet. Getting worried, Jin turned his gaze back to the chair. It really wasn't there. His blood pressure began to rise.

“You washed it?”

“You can tell by looking.”

“Why did you wash it?”

“It's like I said earlier, they were dirty. It was because of that mountain of books, I wasn't thinking of washing them for you, but I didn't want their dirt contaminating the omelet, so I washed them first.”

But what Sierra had said never entered Jin's ears. In order to confirm it, he went over and picked out the jacket. Reaching his hand into the pocket, he searched around before finding the letter mailed to him by his father. It had been washed as well, so the paper was all ruined. The blue ink had blended with the water, having caused it to disappear completely.

“The letter's...”

At that point, Jin stood with a mix of astonishment and terror.

“Before washing, you didn't check to see if anything was in the pocket?”

“There's no way I'd stick my hand into some Commoner's pocket, is there?”

Sierra said, full of confidence. Despairing, Jin turned his head to the side.

“Checking for pockets before washing, isn't that obvious!? You've totally destroyed what was in there!”

Jin thrust the ruined letter out under Sierra's nose. She froze. IT seemed she had just realized what she had done. Her pride was too high though to allow her to apologize.

“It's...it's all your mistake for putting something in your pocket.”

Listening to Sierra with her arms crossed blame him instead, Jin's voltage jumped a level.

“What are you saying! All I did was take off my clothes in my own room, and you went and washed them on your own! You didn't even ask!”

“W-Why do I have to ask permission from a Commoner like you!”

“If you do something wrong, usually you'd apologize!”

“Why do I have to lower my head to a Commoner like you! A, all I did was get the paper a little wet!”

“This was a letter from my old man. There was a high possibility that there was something written about Solomon's Treasure!”

An interval passed after Jin raised his voice, and in that time Sierra's mouth was open in shock.

Sierra knew that Jin was searching for Solomon's Treasure, and she was looking for it for her own sake as well. But, the fact that Jin was so angry over something like this, was probably because he was lonely after his parents had left him and gone off, and Sierra, who held onto the same feelings in regards to her own parents, could somehow understand how he must be feeling. It seemed he himself wasn't aware of it, but that's exactly why he became so angry over the letter, she could understand that better than anybody.

Because she understood what had happened, she could feel the pain of it. It was obvious Jin would be angry, and her heart beat painfully, but even so she just couldn't bring herself to apologize.

“I...I didn't know.”

The best she could do was just make excuses. Jin couldn't take any more of the unapologetic Sierra, and so he took a deep breath, pushed the hair in front of his eyes away,, and spoke in a low voice.

“I'm sick of being used in your money-making scheme. Just go home.”

He had spoken in a distant, cold voice. Up until now this hadn't happened...His distanced appearance also seemed as if it were telling Sierra the same thing. Sierra's scared body trembled, and she squeezed her eyes tight. Just him disregarding her to this extent was enough to wound her fragile heart, is something Jin didn't think about. Until now, there had never been one person to disregard her existence, which was why this hurt so much.

After Jin gave her the order to go back home, Sierra was sucked back into the lamp. At that moment, it seemed as though there were tears in her eyes, but with the blood rushed to his head, Jin could care less.

“It would've been better had I never summoned that selfish girl. I won't summon her again.”

Jin threw the Magic Lamp into the trash bin.

Wanting to read the letter from his Father once more, he tried to open it, but it was useless.

“...it really is no use.”

Crumpling the letter into a ball, Jin tossed it into the trash as well.

Hanging from the ceiling was a black and red spider, the same one that Jin had chased out through the window the other day. The spiders onyx-black eyes glittered in the light, it had heard everything, having climbed in the window at the time the laundry had been put out.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[PuiPui:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[PuiPui|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[PuiPui:Volume1_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter2

2009-08-25T23:17:53Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 2: Solomon's Treasure */

===Chapter 2: Solomon's Treasure===

In the dorm room the next morning, Jin donned his uniform in a refreshed mood.

With a large smile, he happily scanned the room. Not since moving in had the room been so clean.

"Aaaah, what refreshing weather."

Looking out the window, he gave a big stretch. The morning's breakfast had also been quite wonderfully delicious. Yuuya was also in a good mood, listening to music with his headphones.

"You organized the room pretty quickly. Sorry about yesterday, blood just rushed to my head that's all."

Yuuya apologized to Jin, moving his headphones down to his neck and letting the sound spill out.

"Everybody makes mistakes. Don't worry about it."

"Hey, what's with that high and mighty way of speaking?"

Despite all the trouble Sierra had brought upon Jin, it was still thanks to her that all the boxes were gone. It would have been troublesome for the Genie of the Lamp to have helped out...at least that's what he thought.

(I really should have shown more thanks for yesterday. Because I can't call her again.)

The lamp had been put in a box, and then sealed into the deep recesses of a desk. This was for safety. That way Sierra wouldn't be called out from the lamp being accidentally rubbed. It solved everything.

When it came time to go to school, the two left the room. The smell of sweat and mold were a unique part of the inside of the men's dormitory, but for some reason there was a new unique fresh scent in the air. Yuuya wriggled his nose, sniffing.

"This smell...where have I smelt it before."

"I wonder if it's incense."

Jin replied while his nose sniffed the air as well. Yuuya shook his head.

"An incense stick doesn't have this kind of scent."

"That's not what I meant, here. It's kind of like the smell of an old lady using a folding fan."

"Ah, I see. It's like the smell of an old lady."

Yuuya laughed aloud, while over his back something taller than him cast its long shadow.

"This incense is a type of citrus fruit. Calling an upperclassman an old lady, the first years this year sure have a lot of courage."

In shock, the two could only shake. A tall slender figure wearing a traditional [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/G_Blaize_Kokiu_Nague_2.JPG Kendo Gi and Hakama] was holding a bamboo sword. With long hanging hair, the young man stared down with cold, strict eyes. Behind him, and wearing their school uniforms, were four members of the Skinhead group. They were the dorm head's right hand guardsmen, subordinates under his direct control, and all were third year students at the dorm.

The scent had risen from the Kendo Gi which Ukyou was wearing. Incense used to be burned in the Heian Period to provide kimono's with a pleasant smell, and it seemed Ukyou had these traditional hobbies.

“No way dormitory head, that is......no.”

Yuuya's face was becoming a shade of pale green. Ukyou took Yuuya's music-blaring headphones from around his neck, slamming them into a nearby wall.

“You're a Japanese man, yet here you are indulging in the Western Music Culture, how weak!”

Ukyou was the head of the Kendo club. He was pale from practicing indoors all the time, and as time continued that feature began to grow more and more pronounced. Yuuya shook from his uncontrollable fear of him.

“S-Sorry, please forgive me.”

“You trash, well, it's true you're in the Light Music Club. For the sake of winning the girls you buzz around like a mole cricket! If you keep up the flirting, I'm going to beat you up!”

Ukyou thrust against Yuuya's shoulder with the bamboo sword. Terrified, Yuuya stood unsteadily as his legs wobbled. Watching this, Jin blocked the way.

“Wait a minute! The first one to say you smelled like an old lady, was me!”

Ukyou lifted his thin eyebrow in response. The surrounding protection squad moved to stand in front of Jin.

“First year kid! Watch what comes out of your mouth when speaking to the dorm head!”

“Yeah, well I haven't broken any of Tachibana Dorm's rules yet! You just want to get to the punishing!”

“J-Jin, hurry up and apologize!”

Yuuya was being encircled by the protection squad. However Jin had leapt out powerfully like a bunny, evading capture.

“I don't think there's anything to apologize for though. I just said what I was thinking that's all.”

“What the, you first year brat!”

“Anyway, wait a minute.”

With that, Ukyou raised his hand, restraining his protection squad. He had an icy composure as he reigned them in.

“If I remember correctly, you're Araki Jin. To not be afraid of these guys, you're pretty gutsy. But with the authority I hold, it's not good for you to mouth off.”

Ukyou gripped Jin's chest, pulling him close. The smell of tachibana incense filled the air.

“We protect the rules and order of the dorm, so show some more respect to your upperclassmen. This is an order from your senior, and you aren't allowed to speak out against it. Araki Jin, normally you would be sent off to be punished but......since you're a new student, we'll just take away your meals.”

“T-Take away my meals?”

Jin's raised voice held a bit of hysteria.

“That's right. There will be no lunch or dinner for you today.”

Jin was astonished at Ukyou's cold words. Suddenly a member of the protection squad spoke up.

“Dorm head, it's about time to attend school. The morning patrol in the neighborhood......”

“Okay. Just let me change my clothes.”

Ukyou and his protection squad withdrew, leaving a chilling wind over their shoulders. Yuuya grabbed ahold of Jin.

“For saying all that, it's kind of good you got off so easy.”

“Where does it say they can take away meals?”

Dinner at the dormitory started at six, and unless everyone was there no one could start eating. Also, that time was closing time for the dorm, so from that point on no one was permitted to go out. Those were the rules for meals, so outside food couldn't be brought in later. Consequently, withholding meals actually meant that until the next day's breakfast, there would be nothing to eat. Yuuya pressed his forehead in shock.

“In this situation what are you going to do for food! Why didn't the guys with the dorm head say anything about him taking food from you?”

“I know, meals are the basis for human life after all.”

“With all this talking about human life and all, we don't have anymore time, but......geez it's because you transferred from another school that you don't understand yet how scary the dorm head is. When he's in a bad mood, do you have any idea how lucky it is to get off with only a few meals taken away?”

“Even though you said that yesterday too, he really wasn't in that bad a mood. Still, what an obstinate guy.”

“Shhhh! You may think it's fine to say stuff like that, but that's what lost you your food! Back when I was in my second year of junior high, I stepped on his shadow, and did you know I got punished just for that?”

“Sounds like an anachronism.”

“His entire household is extremely old fashioned, they're like nobles. Especially from the weak position of a second year junior high student.”

A stand was put out in front of the dorm's entrance hall, with packages of onigiri stacked up. They were bentos for the boarding students. There were five second year junior high school boarding students distributing, bowing their heads each time they handed one out.

Because of their weak position as underclassmen, their job as second years was to prepare the meals. Shopping, breakfast, lunch and bentos, and also dinner, each of the three meals had a system made for it. There was also the dish washing group. It had been arranged so that there would always be around ten first year high school students, with thirty junior high second years, so that there would always be people to take care of the work.

Jin and Yuuya both reached out their hands towards the bundles, when a boy on duty shook his head. The first year student had a serious expression on his face.

“I'm sorry. But the dorm head said that Araki doesn't get any.”

“You don't have to be so uptight. What if there are extras?”

“It's alright. Anybody that wants seconds can have as much as they'd like.”

“So you're listening to an upperclassman's orders then?””

“The dorm head's orders are absolute.”

The boy cut the conversation coldly. Stout hearted and with the appearance of a kid, he really didn't seem to be a primary school student. It was starting to look like he wouldn't be getting anything to eat......Jin dropped his shoulders in defeat.

“Let's get going, Jin. It'll be bad if the dorm head finds you here, you might end up losing breakfast tomorrow as well.”

With that Yuuya began pulling him away by his shirt's collar. Jin reluctantly moved out into the entrance hall, waving goodbye to the onigiri he was unable to obtain.

Turning towards the school and walking along the embankment, Jin asked Yuuya for help.

“Hey, Yuuya. Is there any way you'll split your lunch with me?”

“Don't joke around. If I don't eat my blood sugar will decrease.”

“Ah! I forgot the book I borrowed from the library.”

“Come on! Listen when people are talking to you. Can't you go to a convenience store and buy something?”

“It's the end of the month already, so I'm kinda out of money. Let me borrow some.”

“Don't give me any of that. I'm also running out of money. But I can manage to lend you thirty-eight yen.”

“Together with my eighty-five yen......there's not even enough to buy bread.”

“If it's 'Alf Layla,' they use tabs.”

“'Alf Layla'?”

A thousand nights......that's what it means in Arabic. It was a phrase found in Arabian Nights, where it was used as 'One Thousand and One Nights.'

“We're at the back of the place. The food is cheap yet delicious. You've never been?”

“No. I haven't been yet......”

Jin looked to his side, as just then Yuuya had laughed.

“Then, just follow me. Since it's your first time, you can't put the meal on a tab yet. There's a shop girl who's ridiculously cute. But not at Zadou's level. Zadou climbed up to the first rank, so she's in a totally different world.”

Ignoring Yuuya's words while he was in dream mode, Jin remembered yesterday's escapade with Sierra, wondering what was so good about her......he couldn't comprehend the mystery. Of course, saying something like that to Yuuya who had entered a worship group from his love of her, would cast him out as a traitor, he would become a demon for having spoken his mind.

As they continued walking along the embankment, sounds approached from the back that sounded like the pattering of a small deer's footsteps.

“Onii-cha~n!”

Jin was being waved down. A small girl was running towards him with bobbing hair, as her face was blushing deep red. She seemed to be a lot like a small mouse, especially with her large eyes. Yuuya tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“Jin, you know her? Which kindergarten is she from?”

“......Ai-Aika?”

Jin was surprised for a moment, when the girl......Kasumi Aika, suddenly fell on her face. With both hands thrown out in front of her, it looked as though she had dove for home base. Jin rushed over to her side.

“Aika! A,-Are you alright?”

“Just now......she tripped when there was nothing to trip on...”

Yuuya muttered with stiff eyes. Aika picked herself up, and turned to face Jin.

[[Image:Puipui_vol01_069.jpg|thumb]]
“Onii-chan, we finally meet!”

Jin's body was hugged tightly. The other person's body was slender, and seemed as though it might break easily. That body like a matchstick was wearing the Harusha Middle School Academy's uniform. Surprised, Jin asked Aika about it.

“You, why are you wearing that uniform?”

“Huh. That girl, she's from yesterday's......”

Yuuya pointed at Aika. That time yesterday when they had seen Sierra's car along the embankment, this was the girl that had been sitting next to her. He turned an amazed look towards Jin.

“How do you know Aika?”

“Wasn't she in Zadou Sierra's car yesterday? I thought she was in kindergarten, but could it be she's in middle school?”

After Yuuya's question, Aika was embarrassedly hiding behind Jin's back.

“W-Wait, why are you hiding?”

“Don't get too close. She's not very immunized against guys.”

“Immunized, what, do you think I'm some kind of infectious bacteria?”

Disregarding an upset Yuuya, Jin turned to ask Aika a question.

“You were in her car?”

“Yeah. On my way home I hurt my leg, and she helped me by taking me back to the dormitory.”

“......You probably, just fell onto the level ground like you did just now.”

“Being able to ride in Sierra's car, was like a dream. Because of my nervousness, I was being careful about what we were talking about.”

“Hmmm...... It's nice that such a selfish girl can show some kindness.”

Slightly surprised, Jin brushed his forehead with his index finger.

“Dormitory?”

“Yeah. Sakura Dormitory.”

“Wait a minute. Why did you transfer from the all girls elementary school? Actually, why did your parents say 'okay' to you living in a dorm when here you are tripping over nothing?”

“That's because, Onii-chan moved here so suddenly.”

Aika puffed out her cheeks.

“I asked auntie if I could transfer to this school, and she said if there's a vacancy in the new students entrance exam it would be okay.”

“That's right......in spite of your slowness, you must have done pretty well.”

“Geez! Onii-chan! Don't call me slow!”

Angrily Aika closed both hands into fists. But slamming into Jin's stomach was instead, Yuuya's elbow.

“She's pretty cute. Your [[PuiPui:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes|little sister]] that is.”

“She's not my sister. She's a friend from my old neighborhood.”

“Uhm, Onii-chan. Can we go to school together?”

Looking out to make sure Yuuya wasn't getting any closer, Aika was shimmying around Jin.

“Sorry, Yuuya. I'll meet you in the classroom.”

“Why are you suddenly so cold-hearted? My my, I never noticed.”

After finishing his sarcasm and slowly increasing his pace, he paused suddenly.

“Wait a minute. Did you say Sierra was a selfish girl?”

“Well I didn't have a more appropriate adjective. Evil maybe, or brutal.”

“Don't say something you don't understand. Since it's me, it's okay, but if anyone else heard you talk about her like that, I don't think it would be good. You'll probably be attacked in the back of the head.”

Yuuya walked off first, as Aika latched herself onto Jin's shoulder.

“It's just as he was saying, Onii-chan. Sierra-sama is beautiful and kind, so all us middle school girls want to be like her.”

“......I simply can't imagine that we're talking about the same person.”

Thinking about how Sierra had appeared from the lamp yesterday, Jin crossed his arms.

(It couldn't be that there's a different person with the exact same first and last name, right......?)

“She brought me back yesterday. In reality Sierra-sama, even though she is a beautiful person with a lot of money, she's really kind, and I'm becoming more and more of a fan of hers.”

“Well......according to Yuuya, it's rare for a guy to not be entranced by her.”

Jin didn't really understand. Aika tried to reign in her laughter.

“Is that true. I think everyone's the same, that they all really like her a lot. But, I was the only one she had a heartfelt conversation with.”

“What's that?”

“Well, it looks like there's someone who dislikes Sierra. The other day, someone put a green caterpillar on a twig, into her shoe locker.”

“Seriously?”

Jin thought Sierra was certainly selfish......but after listening to those cruel words, his stomach began to get a little upset.

“What kind of idiot would do something like that.”

“I don't know but......after asking the boy next to her about it, he just said it was a really bad thing for someone to have done. That's why I encouraged Sierra-sama, and she thanked me, so then we talked about all kinds of things. If everyone in class knew this, then they'd be burning with jealousy. Tehehe.”

“I guess it must be pretty troublesome, for her to stand out so much.”

“Ah, that's right. Onii-chan, Are you free for lunch break today?”

Aika asked, with her head tilted to the side. Performing that motion her hair shifted over her face. With that, Jin remembered he didn't have his bento, at the same time his stomach rumbled loudly.

“A-Ah. I didn't have any plans......I don't have a bento to eat......”

Hearing that, Aika happily clapped her hands together, followed by grabbing onto Jin's arm.

“Yay! Today, third, fourth period is home economics. We're making cupcakes, so I'll bring some extras to outside the staff room. Onii-chan, would you eat them?”

Aika brought her flushed face up to look at Jin. It was a sight for the gods......but because of how it looked to have Aika plastered to his arm, he was growing more nervous as he furrowed his eyebrows.

“Ah, nah......it's better if you don't cook. Back when you were in elementary school, you'd cut your fingers and get all kinds of wounds, remember? Even now, it seems like you've been getting an occasional scrape.”

“I'm fine now. After entering the school, the reason I haven't been able to search for you until now is because I've been on kitchen duty at the dorm the whole time......even though I've gotten hurt, I've been getting better and better.”

“Hmm. I thought it would be impossible for you to live as a boarding student, but it seems you're doing okay.”

“Geez, I'm in middle school after all. I'm not a kid anymore.”

In a provoking gesture, Aika placed a fist on her hip, while sticking out her tongue and making a “blaah” sound.

“Yeah, I guess you've really grown up from that time when you were just like a baby. I guess you don't use diapers anymore then huh.”

“D-DIAPERS WHAT THE HECK'S WITH THAT!?”

“You don't wear pampers now do you?”

“Geez! I hate you! You're not getting any cake!”

Aika quickly turned her face away. If this continued he would end up losing his meal.

“Sorry. I apologized, so please don't take my cake away.”

“A cake?”

“That's right. A cake.”

“......Geez!”

Shocked, Aika began laughing. It was a bright, rolling laugh. Because they had both lived in the same neighborhood, Jin had known her since the time she had worn diapers. Having been raised in a warm, loving family, Aika had been quite obedient. Her name had come from her white body, which reminded the parents of a white bridal rose, symbolizing happiness and love. Her name literally meant “love” and “flower”. And the laugh, showed the light from her soul.

“If you want forgiveness, will you say ChiChinPuiPui?”

“ChiChinPuiPui?”

Remembering something, Jin's eyebrows were knit tightly. Clinging to Jin, Aika showed him her knee.

“This is yesterday's injury. Onii-chan, didn't you say whenever I have an injury, you'll say ChiChinPuiPui?”

Like a baby deer she was looking up at Jin with her eyes and long eyelashes. Saying “Ahh,” Jin brought himself towards Aika's knee, making his finger act like a dragonfly as it came closer.

“♪ChiChinPuiPui, pain pain, hurry up and fly to the mountain top.♪”

Having often done the spell for her when she was younger, even though it was the same chant, he didn't feel the same sort of embarrassment with Aika. Jin thought nothing of it as he finished the incantation.

“Ehe. Onii-chan look, it's being effective.”

“It's just your mood that's all. It's just a superstition after all.”

“Hey. Are you still searching for that treasure thing?”

“Nn......more or less.”

Jin turned his face. Aika was grinning.

“It's confusing for me, but......Onii-chan, you'll definitely find it. When you do, show it to me, k?

At the same time, the problem of Sierra was revolving in Jin's head. A smiling face like this came to mind. A beautiful girl with money and an excellence record, and one day could suddenly use magic......what kind of wish could be granted, and why, did she sometimes appear sad.

Even though it was fun to go together with Aika, Jin was feeling heavy. Wondering what to do, he still had no idea.

After parting with Aika and entering Class 1-B, his eyes focused abruptly on Sierra. Up till now, Jin had never even noticed her before. Always buried deep in an archeology book, he had never paid attention to who was in his class.

Finally realizing this, he noticed that out of everyone in class, she really did stand out. Anyway, who knows how many people were circled around her. With a bright smile, she was speaking elegantly. As though they were attendants, they surrounded the Ojou-sama. If Sierra was compared to others, in terms of kindness, certainly he was starting to see what Yuuya and Aika were talking about.

(This is strange......what I saw yesterday, did I mistake her selfishness?)

Looking at Sierra's surroundings, he noticed all the boys were staring at her with burning eyes.

Upon Jin entering the classroom, Sierra turned her eyes towards him. Jin was taken aback. Prepared for something like what happened yesterday, he put himself on guard, but instead Sierra returned to talking with the other girls, taking no notice of him.

(Hah?)

Receiving a tap on his shoulder, Jin blinked his eyes in surprise. Yuuya was taking his seat, with his thread thin eyes turned towards Jin.

“Despite what you said before, you seem fascinated by Zadou.”

“No, it's not like I'm fascinated.”

“Everyone's fascinated by her.”

“Even if they are, it doesn't seem like anybody is talking to her though.”

“Well, everyone knows they can't catch her, so all they can do is watch her in awe. Someone that would talk to her with their own voice, doesn't exist right?”

Thinking about the Sierra from yesterday, he didn't think that was so. But, looking at the Sierra of now, he could understand Yuuya's desire to get closer.

(Are all the guys in class like that?)

Inundated with such complex questions, Jin hugged his chest. Not wanting to speak up and instead keeping silent, he had one thing that he wanted to ask. After Sierra had left his room, he was wondering what had happened to all those cardboard boxes.

(I don't even know her phone number......but calling out now wouldn't be right.)

Sierra as well, seemed to want to keep yesterday a secret, so she probably hadn't told anybody anything. Looking for a suitable time to voice his thoughts, Jin patiently waited for the right moment.

She had definitely seen him, having turned her gaze to stare right at him, but paying no heed, she continued to ignore him.

However, with the coming of lunch break......the middle school girls entered Class 1-B with cupcakes, and the situation began to change.

“Onii-chan, I got them!”

Aika handed Jin a paper bag stuffed with cupcakes. With his stomach already rumbling, Jin took the cupcakes, feeling relieved.

“Thanks. You really saved me.”

From behind Aika, around another ten middle school girls entered, carrying cake boxes. They were all heading for Sierra. As all the other girls gathered to Sierra's desk, she had to hold her small lunch box in her palm.

“Sierra-sama, I made cupcakes in home economics, please eat them!”

“Please take mine as well!”

The middle school girls were surrounding Sierra nervously with high tension. Saying, “Eh, Thank you,” and, “well then, let's all eat together,” a kind smile had risen on her face, which showed her ability to cope while remaining courteous, while at the same time Jin and Aika were intermittently turning their gaze in her direction.

The cupcakes Aika had given, had risen when baked to resemble the color of a fox, while they gave off a sweet vanilla scent. Holding them, they were steamy and warm. Jin admired how well done the cupcakes were.

“These, you really made them?”

“Heh heh, great aren't they?”

Standing next to Jin's desk, Aika had both her hands wrapped around to her back, hugging herself with pride.

“Yeah, they really look great. It's like you bought them from a store.”

“Don't just look at them, praise their taste too.”

Placing a hand on top of Jin's desk, Aika brought her face in close to Jin's.

“You, don't want to eat?”

“We're not supposed to eat in the middle of home economics. Come on and show some discretion when you eat!”

Trembling nervously, Aika urged Jin on. Picking one out to test, Jin ate it, and suddenly the sweet scent of milk and eggs expanded inside his mouth, as it's light texture melted in his mouth.

“Woah. These are actually pretty good.”

“Really? Yes!”

Aika struck a victory pose. Extremely hungry, Jin crammed two to three into his mouth, his cheeks giving away his furious chomping.

“Yah......preddy good.”

“You tried them again?”

“Yeah. I was thinking you were going to feed me mud pies again.”

“Th......that was back in kindergarten!”

In her anger Aika turned scarlet. Aika always tended to show her emotions on her face instantly, as she always had since they had known each other as kids, so they could chat leisurely without worries. In comparison with the stressful situation he was in with Sierra yesterday, Jin really felt much more relaxed and at ease now.

Watching Aika attentively, Jin dropped cupcake after cupcake into his stomach, when Yuuya and some other boys' voices cut through.

“Hey. It's obvious none of us would have received anything, but why is it you're the only one who gets cupcakes!”

“Because we were in the same neighborhood as kids.”

As Jin was stuffing his face with cake, that blunt reply was all he could manage. And as all the high school boys started to gather around, Aika ducked behind Jin. Even though she was energetic when around Jin, around other guys she was really quite shy. Sierra as well, had a different attitude in the classroom than she had had in Jin's room. ''I just don't understand girls.'' Jin was becoming more confused.

“Jin-kun. It's not good for you to horde. Aren't we your friends?”

While clinging to Jin, Yuuya spoke with a voice like a cat. With the cake box, Jin separated from Yuuya.

“Aika's upset, so quit getting so close.”

“If you give us cake, we'll go away.”

“Who'd believe that. You didn't freaking give me any Onigiri this morning.”

“Forget about stuff in the past.”

“It's a super sweet cupcake isn't it?”

“Jin-kun, please. Give us some cupcakes.”

All the other guys were coming up one after the other, clinging to Jin, all for the sake of the cupcakes. Jin raised his voice into a yell.

“It hurts, it HURTS! I'll smash 'em! I'm smashing the cakes!”

Aika was completely flustered. Suddenly, Sierra was right beside Jin and the others.

“Could I please have a moment.”

“Za......Zadou!”

All of the boys stopped moving at once. Always surrounded by girls, Sierra had moved after hearing the voices from the boys. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Sierra, the unattainable flower, someone who was only admired from afar by the boys, had actually come over so suddenly, it was as rare as a baby eating [[PuiPui:Volume1_Translator's_Notes|yakiniku]]. Not knowing what to do, they all just stiffened in panic.

“I have received so many cakes, and I am unable to eat them all by myself......so I asked the middle school girls, and they have said that it would be okay if I split them, so if you'd like you may eat some.”

Smiling in a friendly manner, the boys couldn't help but be excited.

“I-Itadakimasu, Itadakimasu!”

In a moment, all the boys were separated from Jin, and like hyena's, they madly snatched the cupcakes stacked at Sierra's seat. After the guys had left, Aika emerged from behind Jin's back.

“Sierra-sama, thank you very much for yesterday.”

Straightening herself out with both hands, Aika seemed to gain strength. Sierra was smiling, but Jin could only remember her other face. There was no one else who had noticed but, for some reason there seemed to be something wrong with her smile.

“Is your injury healed yet?”

“Yes! Ah, sorry. If you'd like, I've also made some cupcakes for Sierra-sama.”

“No, it's fine. I've received a lot from other friends already, so it's okay.”

“But, that Onii-chan was in the same class as you, like I heard yesterday......”

Trying to apologize, Aika's shoulders had dropped. Jin remembered something.

(That means Aika heard something about me yesterday? Did this all happen before I got home yesterday, on that road?)

With a poker-face smile, Sierra turned to Jin.

“I didn't know. You two have already met.”

“We were in the same neighborhood. Onii-chan was really nice, and helped teach me how to study!”

Aika boasted of this, as her eyes twinkled with pride. Sierra turned her gaze towards Jin. She seemed to be smiling nicely, but under it Jin could sense something as though she were telling him “freakin' explain!”

“Well, Araki-kun is so excellent after all.”

“Onii-chan knows everything there is to know about history. Auntie and uncle are both archaeologists.”

“Is that so. Well, in my house there are mountains of lithographs and earthenware, so it would be wonderful if someone could come and explain it to me.”

Sierra pointed towards the corridor. Jin stepped back, realizing what this was about. Yesterday, he had thrown a bunch of cardboard boxes and their contents into the bright gate. Flawlessly, Sierra's eyes were flashing hidden anger.

“Onii-chan, amazing! Sierra-sama is actually asking for your help!”

Hugging both hands to her chest, Aika looked at Jin in admiration. Meanwhile, Sierra's face muscles twitched as she struggled to maintain a smiling face.

“Uhm, is it alright if I come too?”

“No. It's going to be a tough discussion, and I want focus, so it's just for one person. I'm sorry.”

Sierra gently refused Aika's request. Jin's stomach was starting to feel heavy. Yesterday the same situation had unfolded......

“Ah-no, It's fine Aika! Just wait here with everyone.”

Aika drew back obediently. Yet as the two left, Jin's eyes turned to Aika. They seemed to be saying “Help me!”......even though Sierra looked like a wonderful Ojou-sama, she really was more like a demon.

“Well then, over there's fine.....”

Amidst her smiling face, she seemed to be saying, “If you say no, I'll eat you,” as they moved out into the corridor. Finished with the cupcakes, the boys had taken notice and were raising their upset voices.

“Ah! Zadou's called out Jin!”

“Dang it that Araki, so conceited!”

Upset, Aika cried out at the boys,

“Don't say mean things about Onii-chan!”

Unintentionally she had yelled out in a loud voice. Before Aika had been really shy, so suddenly snapping out like that she had really startled the guys, stopping them in place. Aika was just as surprised with herself, turning beet red and covering her mouth with her hand.

Reaching a stopping point, Sierra had lead Jin around to the back of the gymnasium. There were no windows, and it was in the blindspot of a fence, so nobody would be able to see.

“Well then, here is fine.”

Standing before him, Sierra was shaking. The smiling mask from earlier was off, revealing her true anger. Having confirmed his expectations, Jin slumped his shoulders dejectedly.

[[Image:Puipui_vol01_087.jpg|thumb]]
“You've done well to turn my place into a trash mansion, commoner!”

Sierra jabbed her index finger into Jin's chest. Transfigured in her anger, Jin was pushed by her two hands.

“You're, just completely different from how you were before!”

“Isn't it useless to act cat-like in front of you? But you know my embarrassing secret, so you'll have to disappear.”

“You're still like a cat, with those offensive claws you have.”

“There's no way I'll act like a cat for someone who turns other people's mansions into trash heaps!”

“It couldn't be helped. But I really owe you my thanks, because it kept me from getting kicked out.”

“Well being thankful after I'd left didn't make the satisfaction gauge go up! Useless.”

“That's why, act a little more like a cat for me.”

Exhaling, Jin began to worry about his possessions. Sierra didn't seem as angry, causing Jin to think she might have thrown out all the items.

“Then......what happened to all the stuff?”

Showing her teeth as she turned to answer Jin's question,

“Who knows.”

“No way, you threw them out?”

“What would you do if I did throw them away?”

“You threw them away?”

Jin placed his head in his hands. Pouting, Sierra took his arm.

“After that spider came out of that filthy junk, did you think I would just let the stuff lie around in my beautiful room?”

“Hey, hey, hey, what did you do?”

“That junk, you don't need it.”

“Those were my dad and his friend's books!”

Jin shouted. Sierra just gave him a sidelong glance.

“I guess you did say yesterday they were excavated or something. What do your parents do?”

“Why do I have to tell you that.”

“Don't you know the embarrassing secret of me being a Genie of the Lamp? You know my mother and father a bit as well. But since I don't know anything about you, it's not even.”

“Things like equality, that's the problem! Where'd you throw the stuff away?”

“If you don't talk, I won't tell.”

“It's definitely not an interesting story or anything.”

“What are you trying to hide?”

“Not hiding anything......!!”

Jin had raised his voice. After spontaneously spitting that out, Jin covered his mouth. Sierra simply smiled.

“You're really touchy after all. I'm wanting to hear this more and more.”

“M-My parents story is actually kind of annoying. They're just university Professors. They're both archaeologists studying......”

“Well well. For an impertinent commoner, it seems your household is pretty elite.”

“I don't know about elite but, the research subsidiary from the country wasn't enough, they had to cover the leftover expenses on their own. They're searching for Solomon's Treasure.”

“Solomon's Treasure?”

Sierra's eyes widened.

“Last year, there was a rumor of its whereabouts, so to pay for the dig, we ended up selling our house where we lived. Because of the excavation, we lost our home and I ended up having to transfer to this school because they have a dorm for the students. Then they gathered up all the junk in the house, and sent it to the dorm.....geez! There's no money to even rent a storage shed.”

Jin seemed to be spitting as he spoke. Listening intently to that story, Sierra's eyes were sparkling, as she moved in on Jin.

“Your problems don't matter. However, about this Solomon's Treasure....”

“I said all this against my will, but what do you mean none of my problems matter?”

“That, it could be a huge treasure right? If it was exchanged in todays market, it could be worth like one-trillion yen right?”

“What's with those stars flying around inside your eyes.”

“Afterwards I can leisurely level up as the Genie of the Lamp, and get all the money I want.”

“As for money, sweat from your forehead is in your hands, it seems like it's really valuable, huh?”

“That's a commoner's logic.”

“Well I just think people going 'money money money' are a bit greedy.”

“That's a good thing you've said but, I'm not interested in arguing the point. So, where is this Solomon's Treasure then?”

“Don't know, that's why it's being searched for.”

Upset with the greedy Sierra, that was all Jin replied with. Looking for his true meaning, Sierra searched his face. Jin noticed how the miniskirt from the maid uniform suited her well, but the school uniform's skirt suited her just as much. If her outward appearance was this graceful, then why......was her inside like a curse from heaven?

“Really? I'll get a cut of what's taken, you're not deceiving me?”

“It's too late, as it's a bit hazy about what happens after it's found.”

“You're always reading archeology books so, you must be searching for it as well, right?”

“How the heck do you know that I'm always reading archeology books?”

Surprised at Jin's question, Sierra shut her mouth, and becoming red, turned away.

“Th-That's uhm, I hear a lot of gossip from people. All day, people talk about a weird guy that just reads books all the time.”

“Well sorry for being weird.”

Jin crossed his arms, becoming sullen. It was the first time he had heard it said.

“Solomon was the third king of the people of Israel, around the year 1000 BC. His father was the second king, David.”

“David...David as in the statue of David?”

Like the image found in many textbooks, Sierra mimicked the pose of Michaelangelo's statue of David. The pose of David against the Philistines was heroic and soul-stirring, but when Sierra did the pose, she instead looked pretty cute. At a loss as to why he would think this, Jin pushed it from his mind, continuing on with his story.

“David unified Israel, overcame the surrounding countries, established the Capitol of Jerusalem, and amassed wealth for the kingdom of Israel.”

“If that was the second king, then what about the one from the first generation?”

“After Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, they wanted to have their own king, so the leader then, Samuel, anointed Saul to rule as the first king. David was a servant to Saul, but, after killing a hostile nation's great warrior, Goliath, he became famous, later becoming king after Saul's death. And then to house the ten commandments given by God to Moses, a temple in Jerusalem was built by David's son, Solomon.”

“That came out pretty well. You're like a global history teacher.”

Sierra complimented Jin after listening to his story. For the normally selfish Sierra to show this attitude, Jin was perplexed.

“Pretty much everyone calls you a weirdo because of those books you're always reading though.”

And, increasing her sarcastic comments, Sierra returned to her usual self.

“What is it. I even spoke nice things to a commoner like you.”

“Solomon received wisdom from God, which led the country to prosperity, with a large palace and loads of acquired treasures.”

“You're being extremely rude by just cutting through what I just said.”

“However, having built the temple small, and bringing in pagan practices and having many concubines and wives, Solomon invited in the wrath of the people, and after his death, Israel divided into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.”

“So with a small temple and what Solomon gave to God, it wasn't enough? So, giving thanks is important after all, like as we learned from history. You have to show more gratitude to me, commoner.”

“Don't just go along with something to suit your own convenience.”

"Oh? But isn't using history for one's own convenience a common political strategy?"

“How can you say it's so obvious?”

“Well, it's because I'm a person on the side of authority.”

“To separate people into winners and losers, there's so much wrong with that.”

Letting out a tired breath, Jin continued his explanation.

“After the kingdom of Israel divided, the northern kingdom was invaded by Assyria, and the southern kingdom, Judah, was invaded by Babylon, and the citizens were taken as captives. Some time later, they returned from captivity and rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem but, after that, the kingdom of Rome came and destroyed it, scattering the people, then World War II, and until Israel was re-founded as it is today, the people wandered as vagrants. In other words, things like Solomon's Treasure, the 10 Commandments that were kept in the temple, were either taken away by Assyria, Babylon, or the Roman Kingdom, or else were hidden by the exiled Israelites, and it's the location of that hiding place we don't know. Not to mention, for a long time people have also been searching for the 10 Commandments.”

“The 10 Commandments were lithographed, weren't they. So they're just stone, I don't care about that.”

“You have the Roman history's comprehension, so I must look pretty good.”

“Forget that, going back to Solomon's treasure, what kind of stuff is it? Things like money and jewels?”

With her eyes opened wide and sparkling, Sierra brought forth a feverish appearance.

“In the palace, golden tableware was used, and also......Solomon's ring is really famous.”

“Solomon's ring?”

“Written in “Solomon's Collarbone,” and also found documented in the text in Arabian Nights, it was the rarest of all the treasures Solomon possessed. With it one could obtain “Kenryoku.””

“What's Kenryoku?”

“If a person stamped something with it, those orders would be followed, that's its powerful meaning. That's the duty of a seal on a ring. In the old days, when an envelope was sealed, wouldn't the hanko be pushed into candle wax, sealing it? To prevent loss, people in the past would put the hanko into a ring. Using this kind of sealing ring, King Solomon could seal spirits into jars, by closing the jar and stamping it with the hanko, and if he wanted, he could even make the spirit serve him.”

“Serve him, could that mean......my ancestor was sealed into that lamp by Solomon?”

“My Mom and Dad think Solomon's Treasure is somewhere in the Middle East, and continue to search there. But......the way I see it, there's a strong line to the treasure being somewhere in Babylonia. Later though, Babylonia flourished into Mesopotamia, which is now current day Iraq, and Mesopotamia's capitol of commerce is today's bustling center in Baghdad. The original Kugo Harp from there is stored here in the Shōsōin Institute.”

The Shōsōin Institute is a building located in Nara near a place known as the Todaiji Temple, a wooden building on stilts. There is a Buddhist statue of an Emperor of Japan and other such things, taken from the Tenpyou Era of the arts.

“In other words, both Babylon and Japan were part of the Silk Road. Iraq and it's neighbor Iran, have glass bowls handed down from ancient day Persia, and the Shōsōin Institute also has the same type of cut-glass bowl recovered from an emperor's tomb. So I think Solomon's Treasure could also have made it to Japan in the same way but......my father and his team won't even listen to my opinion. What do children know, that a specialist couldn't have already figured out through research, is what they think.”

“Well, the Tokugawa buried treasure is pretty pathetic.”

“I thought so too when I was little, until I started to read the books my dad would bring back and began studying archeology. If it was just information, my dad and his team wouldn't lose. That's why, when I started looking for the treasure myself, I was able to discern the information through what my dad and his team had.”

After explaining all that to Sierra, Jin sank back into his own thoughts. As Sierra watched him lost in his own thoughts, he seemed to be lost in imagination. His eyes were searching a time and place far from here. Sierra also couldn't begin to guess at that far distant world, yet he lifted the palm of his hand up, looking out over the vivid landscape as if he could see it.

Sierra was looking around absent-mindedly, when she noticed Jin jump out of his thoughts.

“Crap, I was flying around inside my own thoughts again.”

“I see......something like that, it's no wonder you never noticed me.”

Unsure why Sierra was relieved with her hand on her chest, and having not heard properly, Jin asked again.

“What did you say again?”

“Ah, it's nothing. For now, it seems like Solomon's Treasure might be in Japan?”

Flustered, Sierra changed the subject.

“I'll help too so, let's go searching! With all the money left in the house we'll hire people, then using infiltration tactics we'll dig, and find it quickly. As for division, I'll get 80% and you can have 20%.”

“Wha, don't go deciding stuff yourself!”

“Ownership over lost property, isn't it after half a year whoever finds it keeps it? Solomon never took back his treasure so, it's fine if I find it.”

“It's different if someone owns the land, in that case whoever that person is has rights to whatever is dug up.”

“Then, we just have to keep the secret from the owner of the land, then go ahead and buy the land. After we get Solomon's Treasure, I won't have to be a maid again!”

“If you could do that, I'd be really grateful too.”

“What's with that! I even came as a maid for you, and that's all you got? How rude!”

“You want to be a maid, you don't want to be a maid; which is it!”

After being yelled at by Jin, Sierra stopped her snarling, and shut her mouth.

“Th, that's......it's obvious I don't want to.”

“But, if you stop being a maid, the magic book will be wiped blank again.”

“The abilities of the genie are handed down to the kids right? If I can be comfortable, I'll just give the Genie of the Lamp to some kid who's pursuing that kind of thing, and leave it in a field or a mountain or something.”

“Your character is just like that of the personality of a Genie.”

“Then it's decided, let's go search for Solomon's Treasure!”

Cheerfully Sierra seemed to be floating while walking, without touching the ground. Jin could only shake his head to the side.

“It's not that simple to find, I've been looking already. Ever since I was in junior high, I was going everywhere during breaks and vacations searching, but there's still nothing to show. Even if we used infiltration tactics, where would you even start.”

“So after all a commoner is pretty unintelligent.”

“What's that!”

“But the magic lamp, hasn't it already crossed the Silk Road? So in other words, Solomon's Treasure should have taken the same route. If we know where the magic lamp came from, we just need to retrace right?”

“Ah.”

Jin looked at Sierra in wonder.

“You know, you're pretty sharp.”

“Heh, that's obvious. It's different when compared to a commoner's intelligence, isn't it?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“That sounds nice, so flatter me more.”

“Don't push it!”

Jin pulled a cell phone from his pocket.

“Let me ask my dad. If it's in Japan, then it might have been bought by an antique shop, or lent to a University.”

Shaking, Sierra watched Jin. She just noticed something written at the bottom of the phone screen when, “Power is cut” came out of the phone in a dry, announcer's voice. Surprised, Jin turned his gaze to the phone.

“Power is cut?”

“What about the time difference?”

“It should be around seven in the morning......they would have woken up, and eaten before the excavation. Actually, in the middle of the excavation there should be a lot of communications, so for the phone to give out, I wonder what happened.”

He tried to contact his mother's cell phone, but this one had the same power failure.

“......Maybe power can't reach all the way out into the sticks. If that's the case, then it doesn't look like there will be any communication until the excavation is over.”

“When will the excavation be over?”

“When they give up, or find something.”

“But, isn't Solomon's Treasure in Japan?”

“Probably. But, those two definitely won't give up, so they probably won't be coming back for a long time.”

“Then, it'll be an eternity before we can contact them!”

“That's why I've been searching myself. Geez, they have to make life so hard!”

Jin vented his anger out on the gymnasium's wall. Sierra wrapped her arms tightly around herself, staring at Jin. Their circumstances were kind of similar. With such strong willed parents, Sierra could kind of understand Jin's feelings.

“That's why......it'll work out.”

Sierra said in a soft voice. But as she didn't usually speak softly, it was hard to hear.

“What did you just say?”

“Ah. No that's, uhm, what I mean......”

Sierra quickly stopped speaking, becoming flustered.

“T-That's - you look like some dead common servant; but to get Solomon's Treasure, we just need to raise the level of the Genie of the Lamp. So, hurry up and call me today as well!”

“W-Wait! Call you, but you can't even do anything!”

“That's right, yes. If I'm called out someplace the public can see, then I'll get a sniper to erase you.”

“Do celebrities intermingle with people in those kind of jobs?”

“Ah, that's right. I forgot the most important thing I had to ask.”

Turning herself towards Jin, Sierra firmly planted her feet.

“I didn't know that you were acquainted with Kasumi Aika.”

“Aah. Yesterday you took her back home in a car right?”

“She already told you about that?”

Drawing close to Jin, Sierra stared up at him with fierce eyes. For some reason the mood felt rushed. She was facing up, with her large eyes reflecting the light of the sky as she breathed deeply. Afraid of asking what she was thinking, she was pressing against her chest as she swallowed her saliva, preparing her heart for what she wanted to ask.

“Something else.....anything, you didn't hear anything else?”

“Something else?”

“That is......anything, about myself? Like something I talked about?”

“Nothing, why?”

Unsure as to why he was being drilled to such an extent, and sensing something strange he tilted his head to the side.

“Really?”

Again probing Jin, Sierra had on a scary expression. With her drawn close and calmed down some, Jin shifted away.

“Yeah, it's true.”

“......I see.”

With a hand to her chest, Sierra let out a breath of relief. Whatever it was, Jin's intuition told him it must be something pretty big. However, for example, if the hiring fees get transferred to the Swiss bank account of that sniper, he might end up with some kind of deadly snake bite, so instead he took the warning and figured that the best thing he could do was to stop asking.

“That's right, yeah. There was one more.”

Sierra pulled a small book out of her pocket. On the back cover of the old-looking book, the stamp of “Harusha Academy Library” was imprinted. Sierra tossed the book to Jin.

“This was in with all the books you abandoned at my place.”

“Ah, sorry. I forgot where I'd put that.”

Taking the book with both hands, Jin had a premonition.

“......Wait so, you must have looked through all those books.”

“Hah. I mobilized the maids, and they organized them into the archives.”

“Eh!?”

Surprised, Jin opened his eyes in astonishment.

“I thought you threw them away......you didn't?”

Sierra was staring at Jin as though trying to bore a hole in him, when she quickly turned her face away.

“Hm, hmpf. Don't get the wrong idea, it wasn't for your sake. It's just that it would be unthinkable for that filthy junk to be thrown away from our house. That good enough!?”

“Either way you still held onto them.”

With all his energy, Jin turned his smiling face towards Sierra.

“It really helped. Thanks.”

Sierra's face turned red. But like blowing out a fire, Sierra returned back to herself, wondering what was next.

“The return date for that book was last week! Just go and return it!”

“Why did you go to MAX TENSION all of a sudden?”

Whatever it was Sierra was thinking about, Jin couldn't read it.

“Anyway, that's that and today you'll call me out as well. A little later!”

Angrily, Sierra left the area by the gymnasium, walked into the school yard, and was noticed by Konoe Ukyou. He had come to the gym wearing his Kendo uniform, for the Noon Kendo Practice, and was casually checking the back entrance to the gym to see if it wasn't locked.

Sierra hadn't seen him, as he had been hidden by the shadow of a tree. With her getting further away, Jin chased after her.

“Wait a minute, what did I say about making decisions by yourself......”

“Araki Jin?”

Surprised, Ukyou had unintentionally raised his voice. Jin turned his own surprised gaze towards him.

“Ah, Dorm Head. Why are you here?”

“That should be my line. What are you doing at the rear of the gym?”

Ukyou gave him a cross-examination, causing a look of tension to cross his face. Since there wasn't much of a threatening attitude, Jin was a bit surprised.

“What am I......nothing, really...”

“If you weren't doing anything, then why are you even in this remote place! Don't lie to me!”

Ukyou waved his bamboo sword around angrily. He was always angry, but it was the first time Jin had seen the usually level-headed Ukyou with blood pulsing in his face.

“But, I really wasn't doing anything.”

Ukyou was surprised by Jin's response. With that, he turned back into his original self, clearing his throat with a cough.

“W-Well, that's fine then, as long as you aren't trying to smoke secretly. Just like your guys' parents, I have to watch over the lives of each of the boarding students.”

“......Well, thanks for that.”

Anyhow, thinking that Ukyou's manner was a bit strange, Jin looked at him more in depth. It seemed Ukyou was worried about something, shown by the tone he used, and the sweat he was perspiring. Whatever it was he was worried about, Jin couldn't even place a finger on it.

While Ukyou was in that strange state, two high school first-year girls came over. With short skirts and dyed hair, they made their way over in a skylarking manner. Ukyou turned his gaze, and rose his voice to a shrill pitch.

“Kyaa~, Ukyou was looking over here!”

“Ukyou-sama, we're freshmen from the high school division......we were thinking of joining a club.”

At this, Ukyou's thin eyebrows lowered.

“......Do you have any experience with Kendo?”

“Nope, none at all. That's why, we were hoping Ukyou-sama would teach us personally.”

“Yeah, yeah. For dieting, a little bit of sports is good, right?”

Looking at the two obviously flirtatious girls with distaste, Ukyou pulled himself up to his full stature.

“......Leave. If girls enter, the Dojo will become dirty.”

“Wh-What was that?!”

The girls angrily raised their voices to a shrill pitch. However, in complete dismissal of them, Ukyou took out the key to the gym, and walked into the instructor's room. Turning themselves away, the two lifted their cursing voices.

“What the heck! Even with a good face and money, you're really disappointing!”

“Acting cool saying it's a Dojo, but it's just the gym! If it's the gym, then people are only going to enter for P.E.!”

Jin watched the girls in amazement as they stamped their feet.

(So the rumors about the Dorm Head really are true.)

Jin wasn't really sure, but he thought that according to current trends, the two of them must be pretty cute, yet Ukyou remained calm and collected through the whole scenario, not even losing his cool for a second. Jin passed from shock into admiration at Ukyou's thoroughness.

Earlier in the morning, Ukyou had called out to Yuuya, mentioning him being in the Light Music Club to chase girls, and to say such a thing gave off a repelling feeling......but for the male of marriageable age to continue to protect order in the dorm, it seemed he thought he needed to be that strict all the time.

(If he found out that a girl, Genie of the Lamp as she may be, had trespassed into the dorm......I surely would have been kicked out without even being able to complain.)

In any case, there's no way I can summon Sierra now...Jin thought.

Just then, the two angry girls turned to Jin, and began venting their anger at him.

“Hey, you over there, what the heck are you looking at!”

“Ah, nothing. I'm just getting up.”

Jin was regretting the fact that he hadn't gotten away earlier.

(I don't get how girls can have mood swings like that, geez this is stuff I'm just not good at.)

Even though Jin was thinking about leaving, the girls had lashed out in a dark mood at whoever was there, and that person was reeling from hunger pains. They weren't even letting him run away. In such a difficult situation, Jin's face contorted.

Heading towards them, came a lone girl from the junior high school. Jin remembered who she was. She was the girl that had been sitting at the counter in the Library Room when he had borrowed the book. For current times, her name was rare as it was simple, so he was able to remember it...She was Honda Satoko, a student in her third year at the Junior High School.

She had dark hair that was quite long. It reached down her back to her waist, and hung low over her eyes, and because of this long hair, her facial expression was indistinguishable.

“Ku~ku~ku. That's why I didn't say anything, my upperclassmen.”

Adjusting herself, Satoko gave an eerie laugh. Startled, the two girls drewback.

“W-Why did you come out from back there?”

“Do you understand it now? My prediction was correct. So you see it would have been good if you had taken my good luck charm. Kukuku......”

Satoko again let out her soft chuckle. The two girls glared angrily at her.

“Shut it! No matter how it would have been, the ones that would have dumped that guy who thinks men are superior would have been from this side!”

“You would have dumped him......All the evidence says that would have been strange...The rejection came from that side didn't it?”

Jin was lost in confusion, watching the two. Things like the last bit of pride of someone rejected, the inexperienced Jin could not understand.

“Thanks for your big meddling! Besides, who would want some disgusting lucky charm for help!”

“Freakin' annoying, let's go!”

With that angry mood, the two headed off. Satoko turned her face to watch them go, looking pityingly after them.

“I should have sprinkled some of my love potion on them......made from the black powder of a fried black newt.”

“If you put that on someone like them, there's a one-hundred percent chance they would completely hate you.”

Jin spoke in a firm voice. Satoko swung around, stretching out her hand towards Jin.

“Well this is perfect anyway. Senpai, please return that book you borrowed.”

“Ah, s-sorry.”

Jin took the book he had in his hand and returned it to Satoko. Taking the book in both hands, Satoko hugged it to her chest with both arms as though it was of extreme importance.

“The check-out time on this book was supposed to be just until last week on Friday. You have to be more careful about delays.”

“You remember things pretty well.”

Jin blinked his eyes in admiration. The library, used by both the High School and the Middle School, was built separate from the main school buildings. As it was common use, there were a lot of people that would use it, so because of that it was pretty large. Furthermore, whenever the students living at the dorm were free, a lot of times they would borrow a book from the library.

In other words, every day some hundreds of students would come to borrow books. So the fact that someone could remember everything about each of the High School students who came was really surprising. Thinking “That's right, if it's her memory power...,” Jin turned to ask Satoko a question.

“I'd like to read as much as I can about the text Arabian Nights, so is there anything in the library?”

[[Image:Puipui_vol01_109.jpg|thumb]]
Thinking about looking up the route the lamp might have taken to reach Japan, this was what Jin asked Satoko. Holding the book to her chest, she tilted her head in thought.

“Arabian Nights? Yes, if it's a request from a senpai, then I can search the archives.”

“No, you don't have to, I can look it up myself. The book archives are huge after all. Sorry.”

“It's fine. Just leave it to me, Ku~ku~ku...”

“Wha, why did you start laughing?”

Jin asked with an eerie feeling. In reply, Satoko changed the direction of the conversation.

“Those two were going to confess to the student council president so, I just told them to give up."

The student council president......that was Ukyou. He was also the dorm head. Certainly he did have a good face, he was also tall, so with just looks, Jin could understand if only a little why the girls all liked him so much.

“But you know, the surviving girls will hate him.”

“For now, that seems to be the case.”

“'For now'......what's that supposed to mean?”

Satoko didn't listen to Jin's question, ignoring him.

“As for the president's horoscope, the planets are in a bad position, his biorythm is also at its worst, and when the deer bones were put into the fire, cracks of misfortune appeared. So in his current state, the decision to confess came at the worst possible time.”

“Probably, it's just the curse of the deer.”

“All the books in the library about predictions, I've read them all. There is now nothing anymore which I do not know.”

Satoko's words were hard to understand, yet still eerie and mysterious. Slowly raising her hand, she pointed it at Jin.

“That said......I have already secretly predicted something about you.”

“Why do you suit your own agenda around others?”

“If there is something you desire, let me tell you the consequence. Kukuku......”

Satoko's shoulders were shaking with her laughter. Her eyes were hidden so, her real intention couldn't be see, as only a light smile surfaced on her lips. Jin, who was never one to get too agitated, found himself shivering all along his back.

“No, it's fine. It'll work out somehow.”

“My predictions are correct you know......Kukuku.”

While laughing in a humble voice, she had stuck some kind of paper onto Jin's back. Shocked, he peeled the paper off. On it, some kind of strange charm was written on it. As a blood vessel showed itself on Jin's temple, he glared at Satoko with twitching eyebrows.

“Hoy, just what did you, what kind of incantation is that?”

“Ah, you found out? Don't worry about it.”

“It's an impossible probability.”

“Do you have pain in your collarbone?”

Shocked at what Satoko had just said, Jin lifted his hand to press against his left shoulder.

“For that person as well, I was waiting eagerly......Kukuku.”

“What's with that “kukuku” gibberish? Anyway, don't stick weird things on me!”

Thrusting his finger before Satoko, Jin began letting fly a flurry of words. Smiling, Satoko turned herself towards Jin's back, waving goodbye by fluttering her hands.

“Kukuku......I understand now. Please use the library again. Ku~kukuku.”

Holding the book to her chest, she continued to smile as she gave her farewells.

With the keys in hand, Ukyou came back from the gymnasium. Seeing Satoko standing there fixedly, he gave a start.

“W-What is a girl doing out in a place like this! There are no girls allowed in the Kendo Club!”

“It is okay. After all, I am not planning on joining a club.” Satoko said, standing firmly before Ukyou.

Though with her eyes hidden, it was impossible to tell where she was looking, or what she was thinking. Ukyou also picked up on the eerie feeling, and drew back a step.

“W-Well then...what are you doing? With girls loitering around, it'll be a distraction during practice, so hurry up and disappear!”

“Understood. Ku~ku~ku.”

“What are you laughing at!”

In disregard of Ukyou near hysterics, Satoko headed off.

“...In the middle school, huh. There's someone I don't know. Because of this, stuff like that weird girl......”

Ukyou took a deep breath to release his disdain. But, suddenly lifting his face, and leaning on his shinai as though it were a walking stick, he looked off towards a place that couldn't be seen, and just stood like that for quite some time.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[PuiPui:Volume1_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[PuiPui|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[PuiPui:Volume1_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter1

2009-08-25T10:49:53Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 1: To Become A Master */

===Chapter 1: To Become A Master===

A refreshing spring breeze blew across the wide river's surface. Beneath the warm sun of pleasant late April, the running water shimmered like a curtain of light.

The green grass that lined the banks gently swayed in the wind. On the road above, a high-class convertible sparkled in the light as it drove past.

Sitting in the back seat of the convertible, wearing the high school uniform of Harusha Private Academy, was Zadou Sierra of class 1-B. While her long silky hair fluttered in the spring breeze, the way she sat with her delicate hands placed gently upon her knees as if she were made of glass was very modest, as if she were a girl kept in isolation.　　Her large eyes partially concealed by long lashes, her expression was daydreamish with a peaceful smile gracing her lips.

The driver was wearing a black jacket with a hat pulled low over his eyes. Next to Sierra, a middle school girl sat with a tense facial expression.

"Is...Is it really alright for me to be riding in Sierra-sama's car like this?"

"Of course. Is your leg feeling better yet?"

Sierra smiled sweetly. With a smiling face like a blooming flower, her inner friendliness, undeniable elegance, and grace came forth.

"Yeah...or rather, it's just a scrape..."

The school girl looked down at the adhesive bandage stuck to her knee, sounding rather apologetic.

"Negligence is forbidden. It would be a problem if you overdid a little injury thinking it was nothing and it became serious."

"B-but, I'm sorry for making Sierra-sama take me, and I feel sorry for everyone in class."

"Everyone in class?"

"Because, Sierra-sama is admired by everyone..."

"Okay, then please. Take it as this upperclassman's selfishness and let me take you, okay?"

Sierra put both of her hands together, staring fixedly at her as if entreating the school girl to comply. The girl started to blush fiercely.

"Ah, Uhm, uhm, uhm, uhm..."

While clearly flustered, the school girl shrugged her shoulders shyly, finally answering in a small voice,

"Y-Yes...please do."

"Good. Then, please just relax. Would you like a pastry?"

Sierra reached into a velvet box, pulling out a high-class chocolate truffle. The girl, however, was clutching her racing heart as she instead became more nervous and her face flushed an even deeper red.

Sierra's car continued along the road, while on the embankment below......Araki Jin, in his school uniform, was lying down amidst the tall swaying grass. His clearly determined eyes and taut, well-tanned skin gave off a sort of hot and dry impression, like that of the desert wind.

As Jin used his school bag as a pillow, he read an archaeology book held closely to his lips. It contained pictures of a clay tablet with wedge-shaped characters engraved on it.

Utada Yuuya, Jin's classmate, also sat nearby. His skin and hair were weak in color, while he had a thin, frail frame. He wore headphones over his ears, with his slender eyes narrowed as he absentmindedly listened to the music.

"Ah......it's the Zadou's car."

Sierra's car continued driving on, while Yuuya blinked in an unfocused manner, muttering in happiness.

"Aaah, such a secluded young woman...... She lives on a completely different level in this world, and there are a great deal of people who want to confess to her, but she's like that flower on the top of a mountain, oh how bittersweet."

"Ehh. Beautiful flowers can grow from plants on high mountains."

Jin's gaze was directed at his book, so he only responded in a simple manner. Yuuya lifted his eyebrows like the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/katakana katakana] character 'ハ', and took his headphones off of his ears, resting them around his neck.

"Flower on a high cliff, you don't even get it! We're talking about Zadou Sierra here."

"The name of this flower sure sounds like a human."

"You're slow and you're only making a shallow point. Zadou is a beauty and a celebrity who's very kind, she's a flawless Ojou-sama. Everyday, guys at the academy talk about how they want to confess to her, but since they're too scared to confess, they can only admire her from afar. Isn't it unbelievable that you don't know her?"

"My shoulder's been hurting since yesterday. Wonder what I should do."

So, without caring, Jin rubbed his left shoulder. He hadn't listened at all to the speech; Yuuya was stunned.

"Someone's talking here! Besides, it's because you read books all the time, that's why your shoulder's hurting. You're like an old man."

"It's near the collarbone, and it feels like there is a chestnut in there grinding heavily."

"That's an inflamed lymph node you know...... hey, why are promising students like us talking about such a depressing topic?"

"Yesterday, my shoulder finally reached an intolerable level. It felt like parasites underneath my skin were eating my flesh."

"How can you say that with such a calm expression? Surely it's because they come from inside the books stacked around our room. No joke, I've actually been hearing some rustling sounds at night as well. Don't you think it would be better if you went to the hospital?"

"Hnn...... This cuneiform seems to be written in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer Sumer] writing style."

"You're not listenin' to me again!"

"If you do that, then these symbols make......S-L-M-N..........Solomon?! Perhaps this clay tablet holds the key to 'Solomon's Treasure'?"

"What are you talking about Solomon's Treasure for?"

"I'm going back to my room, there's some stuff I want to check on."

Yuuya's words went unheeded as Jin stood up, grasped the book in his hands, and ran along the embankment path. Yuuya became confused as Jin had left his bag behind.

"Hey! Wait a minute! You forgot your bag!"

But Jin never heard those words. Half wanting to give up, Yuuya nevertheless picked up both their school bags, clutching them to his chest as he chased after Jin.

Jin traveled one kilometer from the academy in order to reach Harushiya Academy's male dormitory, "Tachibana." The two-story dormitory gave off an old, historic feel, as the roof was built with wooden roof tiles. Each room was set up so that two people from the same year would board together. Jin and Yuuya were roommates.

Their room had a bunk bed, an old-fashioned desk, and mountains of books burying cardboard boxes; so many that there wasn't even enough room to put one's feet on the ground. Digging into the mountain of boxes and books, Jin was searching for something.

"Well then...... it must be buried somewhere around here."

"This is just like excavating."

Yuuya had just about given up after going through and classifying a bunch of books underneath the bunk bed.

"Geez......this room should be a place to relax."

"Ah, found it. The reference book to the Sumer characters......"

Jin gave a big pull on one book in the center of a mountain of books. The mountain of books swayed and wobbled, before tumbling on top of Yuuya.

"Gaaaah! It's an avalanche of booooks!"

Underneath the bunk bed, books had piled up. Jin ignored the "Ah", and without doing anything special, expressionlessly pulled a book out from under the bed.

"Hey, are you alive?"

As he extracted the book, a cloud of dust was released. Crawling out from inside the dust cloud, Yuuya coughed.

"Move it! By the way, where did all these boxes even come from! The only way they could have entered this dorm, is one by one."

Yuuya's body continued to struggle with the dust. But as Yuuya grew angrier, Jin, at his own pace, looked around the inside of the room without any emotion on his face.

"Even if you say that......all of these are important reference books."

"Then you should at least organize them!"

"I don't know about that. You think after they're organized, they wouldn't fall around like this?"

"It wouldn't be this bad if you had organized them!"

In Yuuya's madness, he pushed Jin's face down into the pile of books.

"I can't take it anymore! I can't live in a room like this!"

Yuuya picked up from the top of the desk, and held in his hand a small gadget......an MP3 Player, and after moving his headphones from around his neck, he stormed out into the corridor with heavy footsteps.

This normally calm and carefree guy was seriously upset.

"I'm going to the lounge, so you have one hour to organize this room. If you don't, I'm going to take a bunch of your things that are against the dormitory rules to the dorm supervisor and have a nice chat with him."

"How can you even make that kind of horrible joke?"

"You think I care! Forget about that, and hurry up with the sorting!"

Slaam! Yuuya had forcefully closed the door behind him. A bit thickheaded, all Jin could do was tilt his head to the side.

"What a weird guy. Why's he so mad?"

Jin lifted his gaze to the mountain of books. There was no way to clean all of this in an hour.

"Well......for now I'll just do what I can. If I'm kicked out of here, I don't have any place to go..."

Slowly, Jin began opening the cardboard boxes. Inside, there were things like Arabic newspapers, clay pots, and fragments of pottery. Looking at all of that, Jin began to feel very tired.

"Haah. So Dad and the others didn't even try to organize any of it......Anyway, I'll start by separating things I need and don't need, and then I'll throw out the junk......"

Jin took out the newspapers from inside the boxes, spreading them out in stacks and tying them with cord into bundles. However, even while steadily tying the newspapers into an increasing number of bundles, the cardboard boxes did not seem to diminish. Even before he started with this tedious work, Jin had already been somewhat tired.

"......Geez, why do I have to keep doing this?"

Jin kicked a nearby box into the air. After the cardboard box collapsed on landing, the contents spilled out into the room. Amongst the fragments of broken earthenware and bricks, there lay a dully shining golden object. The strange metallic vessel looked like a water pitcher with an attached leg.

"Hm……?"

Jin went ahead and picked it up.

Around the same time, Sierra had gone to the woman's dormitory, called "Sakura Dormitory," to drop off the middle school girl, after which she returned to her home.

Sierra's house was located in a very exclusive residential area, and was a quite noticeably large, stately mansion. Ten-thousand square meters had been used as the site for the construction of the large home. In the back of the property, there was a large tennis court, pool, and even a rose garden where exquisite flowers bloomed.

The automatic gate opened with the approach of the car. Just then, from within the mansion ten maids came flying out, rolling out a red carpet in welcome.

"A most welcome return, Ojou-sama!"

The employees in the mansion were all live-in workers. The maids wore lengthy, deep blue apron dresses with black tights, and wore loafers for footwear, while a headdress was affixed to the hair......the maid's uniform was old-fashioned and quite reserved. Circling the car as Sierra exited, they took her school bag.

"Now then, I will put the car into the garage. Until next time."

The driver bowed his head deeply. Giving an elegant smile, Sierra also bowed her head.

"Okay, Nikolai. Thank you for your hard work every day."

"Not at all. It is for Ojou-sama's sake."

The driver then took the car and brought it into the spacious garage by the side of the mansion. In the garage, some ten other high grade automobiles were parked. As Sierra walked atop the red carpet, the maids followed, rolling up the carpet as they went. The maids were all addressing Sierra in unison.

"You must be quite tired. Would you like an afternoon snack?"

"Thank you. I am alright for now."

"Is there any homework that you may have?"

"For home economics, my homework is to hand in an embroidered handkerchief."

"Understood. Then we shall call the world class designer from Paris shortly."

"Paris......that reminds me, how is Mother?"

Just then Sierra passed through the entry way to the mansion. The entry hall also had red carpeting, reaching up to the large stairwell. Along either side of the red carpet, another twenty maids and employees were lined up.

"A most welcome return, Ojou-sama!"

Said within the interval of a second, there had been no one off mark, as the twenty people spoke and bowed their heads in unison. After ascertaining that her mother was not within the arrayed group, Sierra inquired again.

"Mary. Is Mother still shopping in Paris?"

"She isn't. Today she went to watch an opera...... she took the private jet when she left."

The head maid, Mary Savant, was respectfully bowing her head. Older than the other maids, she still had the appearance of being in her twenties, and her movements had the standard elegance of an Englishwoman, with no flaws in their perfection.

"What about Father?"

"He is in his room."

"I see. He's probably busy earning "money" again."

Huffing, Sierra took a deep breath. Within a moment, her expression returned to that of a big smile. However, Mary didn't miss the change......realizing, but pretending not to have noticed, she maintained a poker face with her response.

"Ojou-sama, would you like to have some afternoon tea?"

"Eh?......no, why do you ask me?"

Not sure why Mary would want her to take tea, Sierra could only tilt her head to the side in puzzlement. Seeing the maids off, Sierra started up the great staircase. At the top of the large staircase, the driver from earlier was waiting and, having taken off the black coat and hat, now wore a tailcoat.

"A most welcome return, Ojou-sama."

He, Nikolai Pavlov, was the Zadou House's butler. Even though he was a butler, he was only in his twenties, and had an appearance that was tall and thin, with firm shoulders. He gave off an icy feel with his glinting blue eyes and platinum blond hair.

Standing atop the stairwell, Nikolai had not missed observing Sierra's thoughts and had seen her hasty smile.

"Ojou-sama. Are you at all tired?"

"No, but I should be saying that to you......I apologize for having you make another stop today. Looking after Father's health must also be very tiring."

"Not at all. Being a driver is a job that I enjoy very much after all."

As Sierra headed towards her room, Nikolai followed along at her pace. Sierra's emotions were weaving.

"Why are you following, Nikolai?"

"I had assumed it was Ojou-sama's intention that I should follow."

"I didn't really mean that......"

"Ah......then I deeply apologize. It's a course of upbringing."

Nikolai, in a small movement, quickly bowed his head.

"By the way, Ojou-sama......would you like some Russian Tea?"

"Mary also tried to give me some tea. Do you really want me to drink tea that much?"

"April's winds are still known to be quite cold."

Nikolai had tried to modestly hide from view his facial expression. However, Sierra had noticed his worry for her.

"That's true. Well then......I will gladly have some."

Sierra's expression changed. After confirming that, Nikolai bowed his head very deeply.

"Well then, I shall put the charcoal in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samovar Samovar Teakettle]."

With that, Sierra turned back to her room.

The room was like an ultra high-class Hotel Suite in all its splendor. It had a bedroom and a living room, where in the bedroom was a queen sized bed with a canopy, while in the living room there were three one-hundred inch plasma screen TV's. One was for television, another for games, and a third for videos.

Sierra tossed herself down on the sofa in front of the TV, staring absent-mindedly up at the ceiling. It was boring, with nothing to do. She thought about how she hadn't seen her parent's faces all week.

"Father, Mother......"

Facing up, she realized she was crying. Sierra quickly sat upright on the couch, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

Suddenly, something strange happened. Looking at her hand, Sierra noticed an unfamiliar white glove.

"Huh? When......did I, put on a glove?"

At that instant, Sierra's entire body was swallowed by a golden light.

Nikolai, with a silver Samovar Teakettle from the Romanov Dynasty, and a porcelain tea set, was pushing them down the corridor on top of a cart.

"Ojou-sama, excuse my impoliteness."

Nikolai knocked on Sierra's door. But, no reply came.

"......Ojou-sama. Sierra Ojou-sama?"

He called again, but there still was no reply. Pushing gently, he opened the door. Inside the room, strewn about atop the sofa, was a school uniform and a pair of shoes. It looked as if a body had simply vanished from within the clothes, while in the middle of sleep.

"It seems the uniform was removed. Well, that must mean......"

Nikolai turned his gaze to face the inner shower room. His normally stark white face, turned bright red.

"M-My most humblest of apologies!"

Nikolai hurriedly flew back into the corridor. He had thought Sierra was taking a shower. Rushing out, he caught his foot on the cart, smacking his face on the cart as he collapsed.

"......Mister Pavlov, what are you doing?"

In the middle of patrolling the mansion to supervise the maids in their work, Mary had stopped to inquire while glancing down suspiciously at Nikolai, who looked like a car-squashed frog lying on the floor. Sierra was nowhere to be found.

Sierra was in an unfamiliar room.

Dust was piled on a great deal of old books, and there were boxes of bowls and heaps of newspapers.

"Wha, what is this...some kind of warehouse? How did I, come to this kind of place?"

"Y...you, who are you?"

Sierra turned her surprised eyes towards the bewildered voice. She was met with flashing eyes, which belonged to Jin. In front of him, a dull golden container in the shape of an water pitcher tumbled away.

"Y-You're, Araki Jin! Why, are you here?"

"Why you ask, this is my room!"

"Eh...your room? W-Why...?"

"By the way, how come you know my name?"

"What was that? We're in the same class, so it's obvious right?"

"Eh....the same class?"

"No way, you don't know me? Me?"

"I transferred here from another high school, that's why."

"That's not the problem! April is over and yet you still don't know the names of the girls in your same class? I mean, how does someone in the academy not know me?"

Sierra angrily slapped her hand against her hip, then suddenly narrowed her eyes.

"......Ah, I see. This must mean, your eyes are bad? I thought it was strange. It's because you can't see me, that's why you're not making a fuss. Then it's agreed."

"Nope. Both my eyes are one/five."

"Hah? What's that, I don't believe it!"

"Why, when my eyes are so good, are you getting so mad. By the way, who are you really?"

"They're plain clothes, but when you look at this uniform, you still don't understand?"

"Uniform? It's okay but, our school prohibits part-time work."

"Part-time work? You, ever since before you've been saying things that I don't understand."

"But, isn't that an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihabara Akiba] Maid uniform?"

"Maid you say!? Even suggesting that I would ever be a maid is the biggest insult ever! Now apologize!"

Angrily facing Jin, Sierra glanced at her hands and became shocked. On her hand, she wore a white glove. Realizing something also felt different about her hair, Sierra lifted her hand to the top of her head. A lace headdress was pinned in her hair.

"W......what is this?"

[[Image:Puipui_vol01_027.jpg|thumb]]
Losing her calm, Sierra looked down at her body. She was wearing a mini apron dress, with long knee socks. There was also a mini skirt, just revealing her white bottom. Normally Sierra was a very conservatively dressed Ojou-sama, so wearing the mini skirt caused her to blush a deep scarlet. She tried to pull tighter with both hands and managed to conceal her bottom a bit more.

"What's......with these clothes! Why am I wearing maid clothes!?"

"Idiot, you're too loud! After coming here, do you want everybody around to see you?"

"Besides caring if someone sees, why am I even here, I have no idea how I got here myself!"

"Stop yelling so loud! In this dorm, the rules are that no girls or pets are allowed. If they find you, I'll get evicted."

"I...don't compare me to an animal! I didn't realize until just now, but I've had enough of your impoliteness!"

"I said your voice is too loud!"

"Could I request of you a little manners?"

"I'm begging you, please lower your voice."

"Will you do something for me?"

"If I can do it."

"Then die apologizing!"

"Sorry but, I think that exceeds the limits of what I'm capable of."

Jin said this in a harsh voice, devoid of emotion.

"Anyway, before somebody sees you, hurry up and get out of here."

"Until you die apologizing, I'm not moving."

Sierra seated herself in traditional Japanese style, with her face looking straight forward.

"Geez. Seriously, just give me a break."

Shifting impatiently, Jin finally accepted it and dropped his shoulders. Quickly, Sierra jabbed her finger at Jin.

"Guess there's no helping it, then I'll forgive you if you commit [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/seppuku seppuku]."

"That's not even different from earlier. You're so selfish, who do you think you are?"

"Zadou Sierra!"

"That's a pretty straight reply......Wait, Zadou? Maybe it's, the one from the same class?"

Jin remembered what Yuuya had been talking about back at the embankment. Somehow having heard some of it, he recalled, they had been talking about an Ojou-sama.

"Isn't that what I said a while ago! Do you actually have a brain in that head of yours?"

"Well. It's just that you, differ from what I thought an Ojou-sama was."

"What was that?"

"It's just that, I didn't think an Ojou-sama would have such a bad mouth."

"None of your business! Acting like a friendly cat is too bothersome!" 

"So they dress up in costumes, huh...It's a world beyond my understanding."

"Idiot, acting like a cat is a metaphor. As a commoner, is that beyond your understanding?"

"It's just, you're wearing Akiba type clothes, it's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cosplay cosplay] right?"

Taken aback, Sierra dropped her gaze to her clothes, covering herself with both arms.

"I forgot......I was wearing maid clothes."

Standing up in sudden fury, Sierra began fervently scanning the inside of the room.

"Where's the exit? Someone like me wearing maid clothes, if someone I knew came into this common room of yours, it would be the embarrassment of a lifetime!"

"Sorry for it being so common."

"I'd be so shocked, I'd probably die!"

"Well, I think I'd be the first one to go. I already feel like I'm about to die."

"Instead of grumbling, hurry up and tell me how to get out!"

"So nobody will see you when you leave, you'll have to exit through the window."

Jin pointed towards the window. With the window open wide, dust was blowing up from the books.

"What floor is this?"

"The second floor..."

"......There's no helping it then."

Pressing her lips tightly together, Sierra put her leg on the window. To Jin's astonishment, Sierra concentrated with her arms held at her back.

"Oi, you serious? The second floor is actually quite high."

"It's better than being embarrassed!"

"Yeah but everyone has something they're embarrassed about."

"Speaking of which, what's with your hand?"

Jin had crossed his hands in front of Sierra, holding her tight. He was dazed......as her body was unbelievably soft for being so thin. Taking that chance, Sierra moved to the window and prepared to exit, when she felt something similar to an electric shock, which resulted in her falling back into the room with a loud crash.

"Kyaaa!!"

Sierra tumbled, landing with her bottom on top of the floor. Her skirt lifted up revealingly, and the flustered Sierra hastily pressed it down, sitting in traditional Japanese style. Kneeling next to Sierra, Jin wondered what had happened.

"Is it, fun to play by yourself?"

"W-Why couldn't I get outside?"

Sierra feverishly began scanning the room. Finding a door, she ran towards it. Confused, Jin could only stay still.

"Oi, wait, people will see you if you go into the corridor!"

Sierra grabbed the doorknob with her hand. But, again the same electric shock ran through her hand. Grimmacing, she looked at her hand. Why couldn't she even open the door?

"Why......"

At that moment, pouring out from the water pitcher's spout, a violet smoke was rising upwards.

"Kyaa, it's poison gas!"

Sierra grabbed onto Jin, terrified. He gave a painful grimace.

The violet smoke began to take on the form of a human. A man wrapped in a red silk gown, holding a brandy glass in one hand, was spinning upwards. Wearing a ring on one finger, a necklace, and an earring, Jin's eyes reflected all the sparkling jewelry.

"Wh......what's with this flashy old guy?"

Still hanging onto Jin, Sierra's voice was filled with disbelief.

"Fa......Father?"

"Eh, your father?"

Understanding less and less, Jin furiously rubbed his eyes.

"So your fashion sense, it's hereditary?"

"I'm not wearing the maid set because I like it! That and, what's some commoner doing, being so overly familiar!"

Sierra was flushed deep red, as she thrust Jin forcibly aside. Pushed aside, Jin just raised his eyebrows.

"Obviously, I wasn't the one touching you right?"

Picking up the water pitcher, and with a friendly expression, Sierra's father extended his hand out to Jin.

"So, you're the new master huh. I'm counting on you."

"Wha......? Is it because of my weak understanding, that I have no idea what you just said?"

With all his strength, Jin glared hard at Sierra's father. Sierra was doing the same, as she snapped.

"What the heck are you saying that for, father! Bowing your head to a commoner, I can't believe it!"

Sierra's father, wagging his index finger back and forth, showed Sierra the water pitcher.

"Sierra, do you have any idea what this is?"

"It's a pot used to make curry sauce."

"Ah. So that was the name of the thing you put curry into."

A hand slapped Jin from behind. Sierra was moving around, with scornful eyes.

"It's because a commoner doesn't have one in his house, that's why you don't know it's real name."

"Quit with the commoner thing! Even I know that the word for the laddle you use with shredded ice is called a 'kanrojyakushi'.

"Shredded ice you say? Ah, how distasteful. The upper class term is a frappe."

"Regardless, how did a parent and child like you get into this dorm?"

"It's not a pot to make curry sauce. This, is a lamp," Sierra's father said. Without interest, Jin gave a weak acknowledgment.

"I see, like a lamp that has a flame."

"It doesn't have a flame."

"Then it's just junk."

"It doesn't have a flame, but the lamp does have a genie."

Sierra's father had drawn very close to Jin's face, speaking in a serious tone. For a word like that, it took Jin a while to have it register in his brain.

"......right now, listen to this strange story."

So, Jin used a finger to clear his ears. Sierra had also anxiously turned her eyes towards her father.

"Father......what will you do if there are losses in your share trading?"

"Sierra. Until now, why is it that I never had to go to work to earn money.....it's different than the explanation about trading stocks."

"Eh? Father, you weren't buying and selling stocks on the internet?"

"The things in our house, the white personal jet, all of these I used magic to make them appear!"

Sierra's father beat his own chest. For several seconds, both Jin and Sierra were completely silent.

"......But even so, the official name has to be 'curry pot.'"

"'Kanrojyakushi' I didn't know that one......"

"Oi, Oi, Oi! Don't leave me out!"

Grabbing Sierra's back, her father turned her around.

"The Genie of the Lamp really does come out, just like in 'Arabian Nights.' As a part of our family heritage, the Zadou House has the blood of that Genie of the Lamp!"

"Eeeh."

"I'm serious! The Genie of the Lamp, using magic, can make all sorts of things appear!"

"Yeah, I see. It's just like Papa says."

"Don't stare at me with such a pitiable expression!"

"That's because, who could believe something like that?"

"But it's true! The abilities of a Genie of the Lamp are handed down to the next generation. And when the next generation finds their "master", the parents lose their abilities."

"Master?"

Sierra's face stiffened as she turned her eyes towards Jin. He was taken aback, as Sierra's father pointed at the lamp in his possession.

"Then maybe......that's a magic lamp?"

"What slow comprehension..."

"Yeah but, I was just cleaning my room."

"But you rubbed the lamp at that time?"

"That's because it was dirty."

"Then that's why you are officially Sierra's Master."

"I don't believe it! Why do I have to be the servant of this commoner!"

Sierra's father turned her around with the flat of his palm,

"Sierra. Put you hand in your apron's pocket."

He said, while pointing at her pocket. Thrusting her hand into her pocket, Sierra pulled out a thin book, resting it on her palm. She blinked in surprise.

"This book, what is it?"

"It's a magic tome which has been handed down in our family for generations. It seems you are a magic maid."

The front cover of the book had the design of an arabesque of the Arabian Wind, while the inside was blank. Turning the pages, Sierra knit her eyes in confusion.

"There's nothing written here."

"Because the ability of the Genie of the Lamp transferred to you, the magic book I was holding moved to your working clothes, where at that moment, all the information stored was reset. As you level up, the skill of your magic will increase. And when you reach the status of a full-fledged Genie of the Lamp, you will be released from your Master, and will no longer have to wear your working outfit, and you will be able to always keep the magic book with you."

"Level up?"

"So make sure you fulfill all of the wishes of this boy's heart."

"W......why, does someone like me have to do that!"

"I refuse as well, don't force your own selfishness on someone to be some kind of servant. The rules of this dorm are really strict, people can't have too many personal possessions around, and women and pets aren't allowed here."

Desperately, Sierra was glaring at Jin.

"That's what's rude! Comparing me and pets on the same level!"

"Well I'll get evicted if I break any of the rules!"

"Father, I can't even believe you'd want me to work for this rude commoner!"

"You have become a magic maid have you not?"

"I don't want to be some kind of maid who uses magic for any length of time! Let's go home!"

With her feet making loud stomping noises, Sierra began to leave the room. But, Sierra's father grabbed her by the nape of her neck, pulling her back to her place.

"Wait wait wait, just wait a moment! Because you haven't used magic yet, it could be troublesome!"

"What is it. There's no need for magic, we can buy anything with the money we have."

"That-is-why! That money, all of it was conjured by magic!"

"Eh!"

Sierra's face was in the prime of utter fury. As she stood dumbfounded, her father just nodded his head at her.

"Looks like you finally get it."

"So......you can't use magic anymore which means, there is no money anymore?"

"As of this minute, it's over."

"Nooo! S......So I'll have to become this commoners companion!?"

Sierra underwent a violent shock, collapsing onto the floor. Jin turned his astonished gaze towards the jangling jewelry of the father.

"It's not really a problem. But the fact that your father's jewelry hasn't disappeared, must mean that, the conjured items won't just disappear, right?"

"But, after spending the money, it's gone! Without hiring any employees, how is my hair going to get combed every morning!?"

"Use a brush, and comb it yourself."

"Your reply, why is it always so [[PuiPui:Volume1_Translator's_Notes|abzurd!]]"

"I don't have the self confidence to win against your absurdity......"

Jin was tired of Sierra's previous panic, yet wasn't very stressed.

"Anyway, just take that ring to a pawnshop and trade it for some money, after that just start being thrifty."

"PAWNSHOP! THRIFTY!"

Raising her head, Sierra had screamed in a high pitched voice.

"I swear upon my pride as an idol, to never accept such a commoner's proposal!"

"Exactly, just like I did, all you have to do is conjure money and you can level up!"

"As I thought, money drives people crazy."

Jin muttered, taking a breath. Sierra turned her gaze towards him.

"B,-But......he'll end up with nothing."

"Don't listen to him."

"The Genie of the Lamp doesn't get to choose the master. Well, don't feel too disappointed."

Puffing his cheeks out, Sierra's father tried to comfort her, clapping his hand on her shoulder.

"Also, before someone can really become the Genie of the Lamp and get released, it's necessary to serve the Master. Doing that takes patience."

"Before someone reaches that point, about how long does it take?"

Sierra asked, clinging onto her father. He responded by simply shrugging his shoulders.

"Who knows?"

"How can you be so relaxed?"

"For my father and I, it took hundreds of years before the Genie of the Lamp was called out to do something."

"Ehhh?"

"Most likely, the lamp was buried or something. This time, your Master called you out which means the Magic Book was reset hundreds of years."

Listening to that, Jin stopped, dropping his chin to his hand.

"......But, isn't it weird that the Genie of the Magic Lamp is in Japan?"

"Hmpf. The studying of commoners is insufficient."

"Apart from your daughter, for an adult to have that kind of tone, it really annoys me."

"Did you learn how in the eighth century the silk road was used to transport articles of clothing and such? In the past, Japan and Persia traded as well. Back and forth from Persia along the silk road, the Magic Lamp finally made it here to Japan."

"I don't believe it! Why am I being pulled into poverty!?"

Clenching both fists, Sierra had snapped at her father. He turned around, defiant.

"Don't think you're the only victim here! Because I can't use magic, I'm also in quite a bind!"

"So father, does that mean you're still a servant?"

"I used a sacrifice to separate. To the end, you will be this little falcon's servant, so do your best because the fate of the Zadou House's finances rests on your shoulders, Sierra."

"Yeah but......what is it I have to......"

Sierra was still hesitating. Jin was trying to appeal to her father.

"Oi, don't disregard what I have to say! Why aren't you listening to people? You can't be here, because this is a dormitory!"

"You're still young. Just blow off the rules the adults have!"

"Saying stuff with an expression like that, if you don't want to get chased, don't say things like that."

"My circumstances aren't great either. You don't have an agreeable personality, boy."

"Why am I a problem child?"

"That's enough, boy!"

Sierra's father brought his face in very close to Jin's chest, with a startling expression.

"When I got married, I promised my wife that I would provide her with money forever. Since there's no more money, there'll be a divorce."

"So you can buy love with money?"

"Well, if you pay a lot."

"That's like, fake then."

"Quit talking! Because the divorce is your fault, I hope your whole life is cursed!"

"How selfish......"

Jin was astonished at the pressuring force exerted by Sierra's father. With a frantic appearance, Sierra tapped on her father's shoulder.

"Father, is it true you'll get a divorce? That's awful!"

"Well then, let this be a secret for just the three of us. My wife can never know about this."

Glaring at Jin, Sierra jabbed her finger at him.

"Commoner! From today on you will be my Master! I'm going to level up, and return back to being a regular idol!"

"D-Don't go deciding things on your own! I keep saying girls aren't allowed in here, even so, who would want someone as selfish as you......!"

"Now, tell me your wish! Spit it out!"

Ignoring Jin's objection, Sierra grabbed both of his shoulders, and pushed him over the top of the mountain of books. Long hair went over Jin's face, tickling him. It was extremely painful with his back pushed into the books.

"Th-That's not the attitude you should have towards your Master!"

"Shut up, you only have the status of a commoner!"

"Wait a minute, Sierra. You level up according to the satisfaction gauge of your Master, so don't be so rough."

"'Satisfaction Gauge'...what's that?"

"It's just like it sounds."

Grabbing Jin's arm, Sierra's father helped him up.

"Boy, boy. All you have to do is say 'ChiChinPuiPui♪'."

"Sorry but, I'm not that kind of happy careless person with no hobbies."

"You sure have a lot of pride, huh...."

"I don't have much pride, but it's normal to not say that right?"

"It's fine just say it."

"I'd rather die than say it!"

"What a troublesome guy! You want to eat the ingredients of a canape!"

"Let's just have a fashionable cooking party with an idol."

"You'll say it; so say it!"

Sierra's father had drawn himself up. A little more and he would have added two centimeters to his height. Jin broke under his stature.

"......Can't get out of it so...ChiChinPui......pui......"

As expected of throwing away his dignity, Jin's last word was very small. Sierra's father then took his hand, and placed it on top of Sierra's head, making rubbing motions.

"......Eh."

At that moment, Sierra was wondering what was happening. In the next moment, a high pitched scream arose, as Jin's hand moved around.

"Kyaaaaaaa! What is your filthy commoner's hand doing on my head! Someone's going to have use shampoo to disinfect it!"

"It's true I should wash my hands, but you don't have to go that far......"

Jin muttered in a hard voice. The headdress Sierra was wearing was giving off a weak shine. Sierra's father gave a heavy sigh.

"Look. You're making the Master extremely displeased, as the satisfaction gauge hasn't gone up even a little."

"Why, why is it shining?"

"As the satisfaction gauge goes up, the intensity level of the light will go up."

"Father, could you explain it normally?"

"Look, if you want a Master's mood to change, start by going into the kitchen and calling out "Master!"."

"Huhm......"

Sierra turned her puzzled eyes towards Jin.

"T......to this commoner, I have to......"

"Look here, if you keep up with that depressing face, your Master's satisfaction level is going to go down even further. Practice saying, 'Did you call me, Master?'."

Like a musical conductor, Sierra's father raised his finger with a wave. Jin then unexpectedly yelled.

"Don't call out something like that! Just go home!"

"Ca......call out, you say......"

Sierra's face was flushed deep red, as she had one hand closed into a fist on her chest, while shaking. Sierra's father laughed, nodding in satisfaction.

"Good, one more time. Next say, 'Master'!"

"M......ma......mast......"

Sierra sounded like a broken CD replaying, but she finally lost her patience, screaming out,

"Ahh geeez! Why do I have to say something like this!"

Steadily, something sounded against the wall. In shock, Jin turned his face. It had come from the wall of the next room over.

"Hey, Araki, it's Yutada. You're too loud!"

"Ah......s-sorry."

Jin apologized quickly, and putting his finger to his lips, made a "Shhhh" sound.

"You can't make noise! It'll be a problem if a girl was found in here, so just get out already!"

"Can't do that. Until something is done for the Master, it's impossible to leave."

Listening to what her father said, Sierra remembered how when she had tried to leave the room before, she had somehow been unable to leave the room.

"I can't......go home......?"

"No way......! Yuuya will be coming back any time now, what do we do!"

"That's what I should be asking! With these embarrassing clothes that make me look like a common servant to you, if I was ever found in this dirty room I would be so embarrassed that there's no way I could go to school!"

"I'm troubled as well! If the Genie of the Lamp's secret was ever found out, my wife......my wife......!"

Sierra was in a rage, while her father was worrying heavily. Jin hid the picture of his shock.

"The two of you really don't get what I'm saying."

"A-Anyway, the job dictates that something has to be done before we can go back!"

While Sierra was talking, she had begun taking the books that were lying in piles on the floor, and tossing them
into the trash bin. With Sierra doing this all of a sudden, Jin became surprised.

"Heey! What do you think you're doing!"

"It's filthy trash, so I'm throwing it away."

"If you'd recognize this stuff, you'd see that none of it is trash, these are all things sent from my father and his excavation team."

"Excavation?"

"My father and his group are in the Middle East for Solomon's......no, that has nothing to do with this!"

"So it doesn't look like garbage. Commoners, they really don't throw anything out do they."

"It's not my fault! Anyway, don't touch!"

"It's because, without any work, the Genie of the Lamp won't be able to level up! It's because you don't have a wish, so it can't be helped!"

"Then, do something to heal my shoulder."

"Have you gone to a Hospital?"

"You're not really helpful."

"Shut up! Commoners really should be quiet!"

On the other hand, Sierra had picked up a cardboard box. At that moment, holding the box with the her hands, some kind of furry thing sprung up; as an animal with red and black spots scurried to run away:

"KYAAAAAAAA!"

With a scream, Sierra scrambled to the top of a pile of books. With her voice filling the region with half the level of
ultrasonic waves, Jin spontaneously plugged his ears. Sierra screamed while looking at Jin from the top of the books.

"Spider! A spider came out!"

"What are you saying, this is something you can do."

"Disgusting, things like spiders are disgusting! Just, hurry up and exterminate it!"

"Why are you giving your Master an order!"

Jin yelled at Sierra. Again, someone beat against the wall.

"Araki! Quit being so loud! Just now, that almost sounded like a girl's voice!"

"A-Ah, it's because a spider appeared."

Jin replied automatically, with a loud voice. The response that came next sounded disdainful.

"Screaming like that because of a spider, what a weak person!"

"What's wrong with calling out like a weak person?"

With a jolt Jin turned his face towards Sierra's father. Sierra's father was in shock, hiding behind a pile of books, as
his entire neck shivered.

"I-It's not like Sierra won't level up if I don't help!"

"......Geez. The both of you, just what did you come here for."

Jin slumped his shoulders in exhaustion, as he picked up the spider. Goosebumps sprang up all over Sierra, as she
put her hands to her face, yelling.

"Kyaaa! I can't believe you actually picked it up!"

"Spiders are good creatures that eat harmful bugs, but people still kill them."

Jin opened the window, tossing the spider outside. The spider started a thread from the second floor window, and descended like a drop of water into the yard below. Closing the window, Jin turned his voice to Sierra.

"Look, it's not chasing you anymore."

"Wa-Wait, what are you going to do with that hand!?"

"What about my hands?"

"The spider was moving around on your hand! Use soap and clean your hands!"

Sierra bellowed from the top of the mountain of books. Thinking "my gosh," Jin followed the nagging order, went
over to the washbasin in the room, and cleaned his hands.

"Look, they're clean. Now hurry and get down from there."

Shaking the water from his hands, Jin spoke in a careful voice. However Sierra was still shaking.

"No way, it's not like the spider can't walk back into this place! Kill it with a rag or something!"

"That's it, actually kill it the second time, boy!"

"Quit with the stupid orders! I don't know who the servant is anymoooore, just go back already!"

With a headache, Jin continued to look at Sierra who was still staying on top of the books. She was crying.

"Bu......but that's just it, until I do a job I can't go back!"

"And, like Sierra, I can't go back until she goes back."

"I didn't ask that!......By the way, eh? Why can't you go back either?"

"When Sierra came through the lamp, the dimension space remained open for a while, allowing things to cross over. I came through that gate, but the gate has already closed."

"Even if the gate's closed, just walk home."

"I don't have shoes."

Sierra's father spoke, while showing off his feet. He was only wearing slippers. Having come from inside his own house to Jin's room, he hadn't even changed his footwear. Jin's next words were biting.

"Go back in your slippers!"

"Wait, if Papa goes back, what do I do!"

Sierra had put her anger aside, and with anxiety showed a face that looked close to crying. Her lips were trembling.

"You want to clean the floor?"

"I'd die first!"

"Then what should we do."

Jin turned his gaze towards a clock on the wall. The hands pointed to five-thirty.

When Yuuya went to the lounge, he had said he would return in and hour......it's already been almost an hour.

"Can't be helped....you, what are you able to do?"

"I can sing. Would you like me to give you my opera performance?"

"It would be bad if you were to use a loud voice and be found out, don't you get this yet?"

"Then, shall I give this room a flower arrangement?"

"Thanks. That's really problematic."

"What a selfish commoner!"

"Neither are good! Anyway, just get off the books for now!"

Jin had lifted his gaze to Sierra standing atop the mountain of books, when, at that moment, all movement stopped. From below, he had seen under the skirt, to the ruffling frills and lace that were part of the petticoat. Jin stiffened in that moment of realization, as Sierra descended from atop the mountain.

"W-What are you looking at, you lowly commoner!"

"It just happened! Besides, didn't I tell you to get off already."

Sierra and Jin glared at each other. When all of a sudden a knocking came from the door. Jin was shocked.

"Ooi, Jin, is everything in order?"

"Crap......Yuuya's back already."

Jin pushed a hand against his brow, breathing heavily. Sierra just looked at Jin in anxiety.

"Yuuya......Utada Yuuya from our class? He's coming into this room?"

"He's my roommate that's why. This isn't good......"

"Th-This isn't good is all you can say! What are we gonna do?"

Sierra had become quite pale. A key wasn't needed to open the door. Thinking hard, Jin frantically rushed to gather
cardboard boxes which he set in front of the door.

"Wait a bit, Yuuya! There's a lot of stuff in front of the door right now!"

"Ehh?"

His voice showed dissatisfaction, Yuuya turned the door knob. But because of the barricade blocking the door, the
door didn't open. For the moment Jin let out a sigh from his chest.

"What is it, is the room still not put in order? Do you want me to talk to the dorm head after all?"

"Wait, wait, wait! Just a bit more and I'm done, seriously!"

"Really~?"

Sierra's father was looking around the room. In the middle of blocking the entrance, and not having tidied up before, the room was in a terrific state. Moving around, Jin glared at him.

"And who's fault is it!"

"It's fine if there's only a little more to go, so just let me in. Because the radio program is about to start."

In a hurry, Yuuya banged on the door. Jin turned his eyes towards the top of Yuuya's desk. Textbooks were all lined up along a bookstand, across from which there was a CD Player.

"You listening, Jin? Open up right now, open up!"

Yuuya was making a ruckus beating on the door, and from the surrounding rooms other boarding students began emerging.

"Utada, what are you doing?"

"Jin's shut himself up in the room."

"Oi, Araki! How long have you been doing this!?"

The corridor was filled with people talking. Sierra was waving both hands in all directions.

"Wh-What are we going to do! In front of all those people, and I'm dressed like this......!"

"No matter what, it's too messy in here, so I'm going to get evicted from the dorm for sure. I don't even care anymore......"

Losing the will to do anything, Jin sat down where he was. With a desperate expression Sierra grabbed him by the collar　and got all up in his face. Being so close to Sierra, he could smell a pleasant soapy scent.

"Even if you've given up, there's no way I'm going to let this happen! Hurry up and just tell me to do something! You're the Master aren't you!"

"Whatever I say, you'll just refuse."

"Then hurry up and think of something that I won't say no to!"

"Is this how a servant is supposed to act?!"

"Jin, just let me in already!"

Yuuya heaved his body against the door, causing a deep sound to ring out.

"Alright, we'll lend you a hand!"

"One~Two~Three!"

Saying that, the boarding students all together rammed against the door. Made of wood, the entire old dormitory shuddered as the glass rang with the sound. Surprised, Sierra's face began to shed tears.

"It......it's no use anymore. It's no use."

Losing all the overbearing might she had up until now, Sierra sat down in despair. She had such high pride, but until now she had never gone through such a humiliating experience. She looked like a small trembling bird, and Jin couldn't help but start to pity her.

"......It can't be helped. It's all right, I'll think of something."

"Really you will?"

As Jin looked into Sierra's eyes, he noticed her brimming tears. He relied on those eyes. Heavy pressure began building in Jin's chest. He started to regret having said that, as Sierra clasped both of her hands to her chest in hopeful dependence, appearing as if she were praying. But there's no way he could betray her now.

As the frame of the door continued to be pounded against, and the loud sounds created continued on, Jin began getting frantic, but continued to think. Suddenly, a light flashed on inside his head. "Because the radio program is about to start." With a flashback Jin remembered Yuuya's words.

"That's it! This isn't something difficult, so you should be able to do it."

Jin gestured towards the CD Player on top of Yuuya's desk.

"Zadou. Could you turn the radio cassette on."

"Radio?"

Sierra worriedly had her hand by her mouth, and relying on this she was looking around.

"What's a radio cassette?

"The thing over there!"

Pushing his forehead in exasperation, Jin dragged Sierra over.

"The mechanism on top of the desk! Press the blue switch!"

"Blue switch? W, wonder if it's this."

"Sierra, since you're a Genie of the Lamp, say "Leave it to me, Master" over there!"

Sierra's father spoke to her from behind. Jin quickly ran over and plugged up his mouth.

"You're going to confuse her even more, so don't say useless things!"

"Uhmm.......blue Master......"

"Look, you confused her!"

Jin put him in a stranglehold for having spoken to her.

"The blue switch! It's the one furthest to the right!"

"Ah, t-this one?"

With a slender finger Sierra pushed the button. With a red LED light showing that power was connected, a DJ's voice came flying out with strength.

"Hey ma~n! It's Chekira! To all you listeners, you ready Yo! Until Nine o'clock today, it's Chekira~Uto!" 

"Ah! It's on!"

Sierra reflexively clapped her hands together. Even Jin felt a sense of relief. Just then, without taking even a moment ro relax, Sierra's father pushed her in front of Jin.

"Now, Sierra! Don't hesitate! Before your Master's satisfaction fades, measure the satisfaction gauge!"

"Ah, y-yeah. Just, hurry up and rub my head!"

Recovering her boldness, Sierra was now moving in on Jin. He was bewildered by her forcefulness.

"Hey, is that any way to act towards someone you want a favor from?"

"Whatever, just hurry up! That guy is going to come in here any time now!"

Sierra had previously shown such pride, so what she was doing now showed just how desperate she was. Jin reluctantly moved his hand to her head. Earlier having said "Dirty hands of a commoner" with dislike, and not wanting to be touched, Jin was now gently stroking her head.

"Boy, right there say "ChiChinPuiPui♪"!"

"I-I got it! ChiChinPuiPui!"

Becoming desperate, Jin recited the incantation nearly screaming. Then, Sierra's headdress atop her head, began shining brightly. Her eyes showing surprise, Sierra touched the headdress.

"......Wait. This is it?"

"The indispensable satisfaction gauge hasn't even leveled up above ten percent."

With a sigh, Sierra's father took a deep breath. Angry, Sierra grabbed hold of Jin, screaming at him.

"Wait! What's with this? Be more grateful!"

"All you did was push in a switch on a radio cassette, and you get this violent, you look like you drank a boiled dirty fingernail."

"I didn't have to push the switch you know! Someone like me should be telling a commoner like you to do it for me!"

"A~h Gee~z, just shut it! And go home!"

"Telling me to shut it, what an impertinent commoner! Fine then, I'm going back! I don't want to stay in this spider infested place any longer!"

The moment Sierra shouted, the lamp began to shine. Sierra's figure was surrounded by smoke, and in the next moment, all was sucked into the lamp. The lamp lit up the surroundings, revealing a vague, circular type illusion giving off light. With a look of glee, Sierra's father jumped into the circle.

"Finally, I can go back with this! Boy, next time show Sierra more appreciation!"

"I'll bet you 1,000,000 peso's I won't."

Jin muttered, as Sierra's father disappeared.

"Let me in, Jin! The radio program has already started you know!"

From outside the door, Yuuya raised his voice. The door was opening easily, little by little all the boarding students
were pushing against it, as the barricade of cardboard boxes started crumbling down. They would break in shortly, so in that case......Sierra had been swept into the rainbow colored space. Yuuya had told the dorm head that the boarding students were trying to break down a barricade to see what was going on in a room, and that person would definitely come through the entrance way. Whatever happened, he wouldn't be able to stay in the dorm any longer.

"Well then....from tomorrow on, wonder where I should sleep."

Having given up and sitting down in a sulking mood, he dropped a book to the ground. Suddenly, that book was pulled into the rainbow colored circle, vanishing with a swish. Jin opened his eyes wide. "When Sierra came through the lamp, the dimension space remained open for a while, allowing things to cross over."...Jin remembered what Sierra's father had said.

"That's it!"

Jin leaped up, grabbing every box and tossing it into the rainbow dimension space. The cardboard boxes all vanished with a pretty swooshing sound.

"All right, now everything has been removed from here."

Feeling a hundred times more energetic, Jin was surprised with the horsepower he exerted, as both the books and cardboard boxes had by now all gone into the rainbow space. Until now, he had been quite depressed, but as each box vanished with a swoosh, Jin would gloat, until finally the entire room was clean. From the corridor, all the boarding students' voices could be heard. It was definitely heating up out there.

"Next time hit it with everything you've got everybody!"

"Yeah! One, Two~, Three!"

All the boarding students rammed into the door with all their might. However, he had already removed the barricade.

"KYAAAA!"

With a crash, the ten boarding students and their leader crashed in through the door that wouldn't open earlier. Inside the clean and sparkling room, Jin put on a straight face.

"Didn't I tell you. just a little more and I'd be done."

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, why did that take so much effort."

Numbering one of many, Yuuya lifted his pale face.

"......Woah. It really got cleaned up."

Yuuya looked around with his eyes squinted as thin as a thread.

"Yo, ma~n! It's time for requests Yo, It's radio name "Aitzu Wakahotsu" Yo! Chekira!"

Within the silent room, only the bustling radio made any sound.

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| Return to [[PuiPui|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[PuiPui:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
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</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume2 Epilogue

2009-08-22T02:45:45Z

Ricky12440: /* Epilogue */

===Epilogue===

I sent you a few letters together. I think I understand a bit of Layfon’s feelings now. For some reason, I really want to read your return letter. But what separates us is something that can’t be easily overcome……It makes me impatient. Back then, I could hear from you immediately, but now I must wait till words get through.

I wrote to you before that my days are pretty ordinary, but I have to learn many new things, so it’s not that easy. Did you read my last letter?

I’m writing this after the last roaming bus left, so I think my last letter should have reached you first. But perhaps you’ll get this letter first. Who knows.

Recently, I keep having the same dream. It’s about a more grown-up you and I, living together in the orphanage. I have to wake you up in the morning and make breakfast for everyone. Layfon would help out at father’s dojo and I’d walk around in a suit……A small dream for the future. When I wake up, I’d see Layfon leaving, wearing the white and silver fighting clothes of a Heaven's Blade Receiver. This makes me sad.

I like the Layfon training in Military Arts, but not the Layfon as a Heaven's Blade Receiver. I’m proud of the hero Layfon who fights for everyone, but I don’t like Layfon going to such dangerous places alone.

I know I’m spoiled, but my wish for Layfon not to do anything dangerous is true.

I understand a bit more of your situation in Zuellni through your letters. In Grendan, it’s hard for us to imagine a threat besides that of filth monsters, but it’s possible that we might die from this other threat.

Do your best in the Military Arts Competition but I don’t hope for you to do your best in fighting filth monsters. You can’t not do your best when fighting filth monsters…… I think that’s what you’d say. You’d say, there’s no such thing as doing your best or not when you face a life and death situation.

Yeah, I know.

But, please don’t do your best. What a headache. I’m not sure how to explain this! I’m rewriting the last part of this letter.

I hope Layfon can come back to Grendan. Yeah, that’s what I want to say. It’s ok if you don’t come back as a Military Artist. Anything’s fine. I just want Layfon to come back. Six years is a long time, but if Layfon decides to return, then I’ll wait for you.

I’ll wait and write to you during this time though I don’t know whether letters can fill up this far distance between us.

That’s all.

To dear Layfon Wolfstein Alseif.

Leerin Marfes.

<center>◇</center>

“Ah……This is crap,” Sharnid complained.

“Don’t say that. It’s managed to come this far,” Nina said, but she wasn’t sure whether her evaluation was right, as this was her first time being so far away from Zuellni. The bike had stopped in the middle of nowhere.

“In times like this, we should be returning in victory. You won’t ever see this scene in a movie.”

“This is not a movie. It’s life. Forget that, if we don’t hurry up, we can’t get back before sunset. And we’ve eaten all the food.”

“If you think so, why not come and help?”

“You want a patient to work? What a terrible man you are.”

“Yes, yes, yes. I’ll do it, captain.”

“Uh.”

Sitting on the spare tire, Sharnid lowered his shoulders and sighed. He was changing the tire. Nina sat on a nearby boulder and watched him work.

“This guy can really sleep……Geez, I’ve got to do everything.”

“Don’t say that, he’s really tired,” Nina smiled.

Layfon……Wasn’t moving in the passenger’s seat. He was sleeping. He was exhausted…… of course. He had been fighting the filth monster for an entire day. He must have overextended himself.

“Let him rest.”

“……Be grateful to our kind captain.”

[[Image:CSR vol02 297.jpg|thumb]]
“Yeah,” Nina smiled again and looked at Layfon. Both his fighting and protective clothes were dirty and covered in sand. Who knew what expression he held in his sleep? Nina couldn’t tell because of Layfon’s helmet. Was he dreaming? If so, what was he dreaming about? About….. the sender of that letter? She waved away that imagination.

“This guy……Is really abnormal in many areas.”

He wanted to solve everything himself. Whether it was the past that Nina had heard of, or the things he encountered in Zuellni. She told him back in the valley to abandon those things, but could Layfon do that? Although he wasn’t that old, what she said to abandon dominated a large part of how his thinking worked. It wouldn’t be that easy to abandon everything. He would do something similar again.

(If that happens, I’ll just stop him again.)

Because Nina was his captain……

“I really don’t know what to do with him.”

She smiled again and realized Sharnid was looking at her.

“What?”

“Nothing……You really think a lot of him, so maybe the captain likes guys younger than her.”

“How’s that possible……” she smiled and shook her head. It must be because she was tired too.

“He’s my subordinate and comrade. He won’t go lower or higher than this relationship.”

Sharnid shrugged. “No fun at all.” He screwed the spare tire in place.

She looked at him and turned her gaze back to the sleeping Layfon, her subordinate and comrade.

“……That’s all there is to it.”

The tiny pain she felt when reading the letter……

Nina’s words disappeared under her protective clothes without an echo.

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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume2_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume3_Prologue|Volume 3]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume2 Chapter5

2009-08-22T02:35:41Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 5: Things in life */

===Chapter 5: Things in life===

The tight armor-suit felt cool on his skin. The suits looked like they'd be heavy and hot on the outside, but didn’t feel hot after he put them on. They had surprisingly good ventilation. He had worn something like this back in Grendan. Wearing the suit wasn’t new to him.

Under the light, one could just make out the color of his skin beneath the sheer cloth used for filtering pollutants outside the city.

The fitting was done at the last moment, so this was his first time wearing this suit.

He left the fitting room.

“It feels fine,” Layfon said.

He was underneath the city, inside what was called the waist of the city, located beneath the Engine Room and connected to the multi-legs. A space that was basically a gap.

A lot of work, mostly involving the maintenance of the multi-legs, started and ended here.

And in here right now were Layfon, Karian and a couple other students.

The student leader of the technology course let out a relieved sigh. On his face were traces of sleepless nights.

“That’s great, next is the helmet……”

The helmet was made of two parts. The hard component that made up the outer part of the helmet pressed down on the same material as the cloth that made up the armored suit. The cloth was cut according to the contours of Layfon’s face. Once he put on the helmet, his face was sealed from the outside world. Lastly, the student leader connected the piece of cloth hanging out from beneath the helmet to the suit to cover Layfon's neck.

Nothing illuminated the helmet. In total darkness, the Student President sent out a signal to someone through his transmitter.

A scene of somewhere else appeared before Layfon.

Barren earth greeted Layfon’s eyes.

“Oh……”

Right before him was the desolate and sterile earth, with cracks like spider webs across its surface. The dry smell of the earth drifted into his nose. Wind filled with a huge amount of sand beat against Layfon as it blew past him……Like an illusion, the clear images coming through the helmet gave him the feeling that he was seeing things with his own eyes and feeling things with his own body.

“Does it work?”

Felli’s voice.

But she wasn’t beside him.

“Perfect.”

“That’s good,” came the cool reply.

The helmet was connected to Felli’s flakes. They replaced Layfon’s vision and conveyed to him all kinds of information. This way, he wouldn’t have to see the world with his own eyes and risk burning them through contact with the pollutants, and he would also avoid the inconvenience of the sand sticking onto the helmet and obstructing his vision.

“Then everything’s prepared.”

In his harness hung the Dite he got from Harley. It differed from the normal Dite in that it was slightly longer. A small and thin slab of metal curved inward from the handle, and on it were three holes.

This was the completed version of the Adamandite……And its inventor still hadn’t shown up.

Lastly, Layfon equipped himself with four more Dites.

“Please use the bike,” Karian pointed at the thing beside him.

It was a vehicle from the past that had long since lost its original function. Its design was wide but delicate. Underneath the dim light, liquid silver ran across its black outer shell.

The rubber wheels could not be used on the barren earth. Long distances were out of the question, and there was little meaning in making using the wheels for short distances. The obvious conclusion was to adjust the design in a way that was similar to how the robotic legs moved. Even so, its movement far exceeded the speed of robotic legs. Every city had a few of these bikes for emergencies.

The seat for the person needing rescue had been taken off this bike.

Layfon took his seat and switched on the engine. A low rumble sounded out from beneath the vehicle as the bike vibrated.

Karian and the others went to the control room, and the gate leading to the outside world opened. A lift lowered Layfon to the ground.

Furious wind and the city’s slowly moving multi-legs surrounded Layfon. As the lift descended, he gazed at the mountain protruding from the ground far away.

The filth monster was there.

It would take him one day to get there……The long and lonely journey began.

<center>◇</center>

Time rewinds to just a short while before Layfon’s departure. This was the hospital room.

“This is……”

At the voice that sounded lost, Layfon looked away from the vase. It was Nina. The nurse had removed the needles from her back, turned her over and pulled a blanket over her. The remaining light of the sunset shone through the window. Light and shadow separated the room into two colours. Except for the dusky red on Nina’s bed, everywhere else was dim.

Layfon turned on the light. It reflected off the whitewashed walls and shooed away the darkness. Nina squinted at the dazzling light and saw Layfon's silhouette.

“This is the hospital.”

“Hospital……?”

“Don’t you remember?”

“……Uh……”

She slowly shook her head as she watched the ceiling, followed by a light sigh. The sound of quiet movements from nurses, patients and visitors outside the room caused small vibrations in the air.

Layfon looked at the vase again. In it sat Sharnid’s flowers.

“I see, so I fainted.”

“You overused your Kei, senpai.”

Layfon felt suffocated at the sparseness of the conversation. Nina gradually reached the logical conclusion she didn’t want to accept it……A premonition of her struggling to escape and failing at it.

“Were you watching?” she said.

Watching the vase, Layfon felt her gaze stab one side of his face, but the Nina at the edge of his vision was looking at the window painted red by the sunset.

“No.”

“Do you find me ridiculous?”

“I didn’t laugh.”

“But I want to laugh at myself.”

He sensed the blanket move a little.

“I’m so unsightly……”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why?” Irritation filled her question. Mixed in it was also the sound of crying, but he didn’t attempt to confirm that. Perhaps……He didn’t want to look at the Nina gazing at the sunset.

“This might seem cruel, but I think some things can only be understood after a near-death experience. No one can help with that.”

“And this is one of them?” she asked in a mocking tone. Mocking herself.

Layfon nodded.

“……We have to give up on the next platoon match.”

“……I see.”

She must have understood it.

“Did I waste my time?”

“Waste?”

“I want to win and become stronger. In that case, haven’t I been wasting my time?”

“Have you lost just because you can’t participate in the next match?”

“That’s not it!” She tried to sit up, her face twisted. Her entire body hurt so much that she couldn’t even sit up properly. She lay back down heavily, the pillow supporting the sudden weight of her head.

“……Even so, I still want to win and get stronger. If I stop here and can’t do anything in the real match, then nothing else is worth mentioning.”

“True.”

“So haven’t I been wasting my time?”

She didn’t turn to him. Inside the blanket, her body seemed to become smaller.

“……At first, I thought it would be enough if I used my own strength and helped out Zuellni in the next Military Arts competition,” she said softly, still not turning to face him. “But I got a bit greedy. Because you’re so strong. I was scared when I first witnessed it. I wondered whether you were even human, but when I confirmed you were, desire came to me. I didn’t want just to help, I wanted to become the driving force, the core of victory. I thought the 17th platoon had become stronger even though there was no proof of it. If you want to laugh, then go ahead.”

Layfon shook his head solemnly.

“But I lost the match. Of course. And I feel it was fortunate that we lost. That match corrected my error, but I stopped moving forward after that……If that’s the case, what do I have to do to win?”

As long as the team became stronger.

The answer was simple, but Layfon didn’t voice it.

He understood a little of Nina’s line of thinking. Sharnid had a lukewarm attitude, and Felli clearly had no interest at all.

Especially because Felli told him that she wouldn’t use her true strength. She hated herself for being a psychokinesist.

The strength of a team showed in their coordination. It was meaningless for one person to be strong.

The opposing team had demonstrated this truth in the previous match.

“I thought only I needed to become strong. Even if I can’t fight alongside you, at least I can be strong enough not to become a burden, so……”

So she increased the time spent training herself?

The unusual training schedule meant she had a high evaluation of Layfon’s strength.

“But I might have wasted my time.”

Something quiet and heavy pushed down on the air in the room.

“…Does senpai know about the irregularity in your Kei breathing?”

“Huh?”

“I mean the breath of Kei. Senpai was very painful in that last moment.”

“Ah, Ahah……”

The sudden change in topic confused her.

“The irregularity of your Kei breath shows you’ve wasted your training, to a certain point. It’s natural for that to happen because you lie to your body and, despite your exhaustion, you continued to use Kei. This is the same theory as how one can’t breathe in at will while exercising. When a person first breathes with Kei, the Kei vein generates an amount of Kei that’s larger than usual. The training method for the Kei vein is different from how you increase the capacity of your lungs. In the final phase of Kei training, you can live your daily life using the breath of Kei without having to use Internal- and External-type Kei.”

“Layfon……?”

“It’s hard work to maintain the Kei breath without generating a Kei flow, but if that can be done, then it’ll increase the person’s sensitivity to her Kei and the amount of Kei she holds. It’s like the Kei becomes your nervous system. Kei breathing is the foundation of using Kei.”

Kei breathing is the foundation of using Kei.

That was explained in the junior textbook in Military Arts.

But he had said something that wasn’t included in the textbook. None of the textbooks mentioned maintaining a daily life with Kei breathing.

“If humans with a Kei vein want to survive by relying on Military Arts, then it’s meaningless to live the same as normal people. They breathe differently, so the meanings are different. Please look at the flow of Kei as more important than blood. Believe the information from the Kei flow more than what you feel from your nervous system. Don’t become a blood bag that thinks, but please become a formless body of Kei that thinks,” he said lightly.

Nina remained silent and inert as she listened. She watched him with surprise, her eyes slightly red.

“If you want to live by the Military Arts, then give up trying to live as a human.”

He said that to the Nina who was at ease because he was a human – don’t live as humans do.

“That’s all I can tell senpai,” he smiled. It was a forced smile, so it must have looked quite stiff. He could feel the hard muscles of his face.

“Have you noticed? Sharnid-senpai has a new Dite.”

“Huh?”

“He seems to know how to use gun-fu. I don’t know what level he’s at. You can check later. Perhaps we can have more variation in strategies now. But all the formations we've used so far have used everyone to attack; maybe you can do it aother way and stay at the back. My brain’s terrible with strategies, and they probably aren’t right, so I have to leave it to Senpai.”

“……”

“I’m good at fighting alone, but I’m terrible when fighting in a team. It’s not easy to fight while thinking of the comrades fighting alongside me. Frankly, I feel that the battle arena is too small.”

“Layfon……”

“Please give me orders, and I’ll try to act them out to the best of my ability. Sharpid-senpai seems to have his own thinking on this. As for Felli-senpai……Well, let’s work hard together.”

He stammered out those last words, so he laughed to cover them.

“It’s all up to senpai whether we can become the strongest platoon, so please don’t abandon us.”

“Abandon you……How could I……”

Nina recalled her recent actions.

Yes, it wasn’t strange to think she had abandoned them when she was training to become strong by herself.

“Yeah……I’ve nothing to say.”

“I’m not against senpai getting stronger. I’ll help out the best I can if there’s anything I can do. Although all I can do is teach you how to train your Kei…If you can find anything more useful than this, then learn from me as much as you can.”

He smiled, a bit embarrassed. This time his smile might have been even stiffer. Please don’t abandon us……That felt just like a kid not wanting to part with someone.

Had he come to like the 17th platoon this much……? Without knowing himself……?

Or was it because of……her?

He didn’t want to leave Nina Antalk?

''(Which is it?)''

He wasn’t sure himself.

“I see……So I’m the only one who's wavering.”

Her soft voice stopped his train of thought.

“We’re comrades, so let’s get stronger together.”

He couldn’t deny the other him who was happy thanks to the intense light in her eyes.

<center>◇</center>

“It was like you were saying your last words.”

“Huh?”

The bike moved forward, bumping across the deserted earth. He was already driving on the smoothest surface, but he wasn’t sure what good it did. He'd had training back in Grendan for driving, but he had never driven for so long a distance. There was a spare tire. If possible, he didn’t want to encounter a situation where he had to use it.

[[Image:CSR vol02 227.jpg|thumb]]
The sun had sunk down in the west. The headlights cut out a circle from the darkness around him.

As long as he got the location right, he’d arrive there, so he constantly checked the compass on the bike's dashboard as he drove.

And Felli was guiding him, so things shouldn't be confusing.

He still hadn’t taken any action at this distance regarding the filth monster. One reason was because of the limited preparation time and movement, but the main reason was his need to coordinate with Felli’s information.

Felli’s voice came through the flake on his helmet. “I heard……What you said in the hospital room.”

“Those weren’t my last words,” he laughed.

“But it’s not strange to think so in this situation, right?”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“But I don’t plan to lose.”

“You didn’t say you wouldn't die.”

“I don’t know anything besides the fact that the filth monster is male. I can’t say what isn’t certain.”

“See?”

He felt the low howling of the wind through his armor-suit. The pollutants beat against him.

On the other side of the skin-thin suit lay a dead world.

Nothing lived except the filth monsters. On the barren earth, shards of soil jutted from the ground. Pollution poisoned the air. Contact with pollutants would cause burns, the skin peeling off in flakes. If one breathed in the air, one’s lungs would rot.

One person was in this dead world.

The uneasy feeling of being in a place he shouldn’t be invaded Layfon.

He had fought in this dead world numerous times, fighting continuously in an arena that was far wider and vaster than any city, but filled with a sense of suffocation. Was he truly alive right now? Even that feeling of “Of course I'm alive” was fading.

His mission was all that kept him going in this place, so when he faced battle, he always felt his life was somewhere far, far away from him.

“I don’t plan to say my last words here,” he repeated.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Fon Fon……”

He almost crashed.

“Have you really decided on that name?” Embarrassed at the nickname that didn’t suit the current atmosphere, he steadied the vehicle.

“I’ve decided.”

There was stubbornness in her icy voice.

“Can you not use that name?”

“No……I remember. We were deciding on something to call me. How did we end up deciding on your nickname?”

“……Don’t ask me.”

He didn’t even get a say in the name of Fon Fon.

“Ah……I get it, because my brother showed up. He has to interfere in everything I do. My emotionless and tearless brother is the cause of my misfortune. I pray daily that he’ll be forced to withdraw because he’s been exposed using public funds for private purposes and other crimes he’s committed.”

“What are you saying……”

Her solemn expression surfaced in his mind.

“Then you decide.”

“Now?”

“I’m bored, so you can either talk to me, or you can make some funny jokes?”

Yes, there was still some time before he reached his destination.

“Um, I can’t, but……”

“Please don’t make jokes. I’ll get a headache if you turn into Sharnid-senpai.”

“…Then what do I do?”

“Just think of what to call me.”

“Um……”

“Hurry……”

He was troubled. Anyway, all he needed was to say what he thought.

“……Felli-chan?”

“I’m already used to that. I've been called that since I was very little. Use more creativity. This name’s denied.”

“Felli-chi?”

“I feel like a moron. Rejected.”

Then what about when Meishen was called Mei-chi? But he didn’t say that to Felli. Recently, he had been calling her Mei. Speaking of which, that was how he called Naruki too, but that seemed different……

“Felli-chon.”

“Is that even meaningful? Rejected.”

“Felli-yan.”

“My name is not a joke. Rejected.”

“Felli-lin.”

“Are you laughing?”

“Felli Felli.”

“I hate rehash. Rejected.”

“Feffen.”

“Sounds like a strange laugh. Rejected.”

“Fernandez.”

“Who's that? Rejected.”

“Felli-tan.”

“Do you want to die~? Rejected.”

“…Sorry, I give up.”

“You’re not permitted to give up.”

What should he do……He wanted to hold his head. Besides, the name was usually shortened or changed to add variations to its tone. Or he could use some similar thing as an analogy……

“……”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

He decided not to say she was a cold, bloodless doll. That would definitely hurt.

“Please hurry,” she urged. His head felt like stone. He couldn’t think of anything else.

''(Fe?......What is that?)''

If he shortened her name, it became some strange sound. What if Naruki became Fekki? How strange.

“Hurry up. What’s with you?”

“Felli,” he said in resignation. There were no variations and no comparisons.

Just her original name. Perhaps that sounded rough. Even so, he couldn’t help it. He had no other ideas.

''(How about that?)''

“……”

“……Say it again.”

“Um…Felli.”

“Mm……”

Felli’s image wasn’t displayed in the helmet, but he felt he saw her. Her right hand caressed her chin, left hand supporting her right elbow, her head slightly cocked, her gaze lightly stroking the sky above her......This image of her surfaced in his mind.

“It’s not creative at all, and you didn’t put any effort into it. No respect for your senpai at all, and there’s no affection for me. It’s so bad that you can’t call it a name.”

So that didn’t work……Well……

Layfon tried to think of another name, but instead was surprised by what Felli said next.

“Never mind, we’ll just use that.”

“Heh?” He was rather shocked, then glad of her letting him go.

“But you have to say it with more emotion. I don’t need the respect for a senpai though. Call me that from now on, okay?”

“Uh…Um…”

“Well, Fon Fon. Say it again.”

“Ah, yes……Felli.”

“Good.”

Layfon relaxed.

“Promise me.”

“……What?”

“Call me that from now on, ok?”

“Uh, in front of others too?”

“Of course.”

“And Fon Fon too?”

“Sure.”

“Sorry, please forgive me.”

If he was called Fon Fon during team training and after school……

(No……NoNoNO!)

That would be so embarrassing.

“Fine, then I’ll call you Fon Fon when we’re alone.”

He could truly relax now.

“In exchange for that, I’ll add one more condition.”

“Yes, leave it to me,” Layfon said, not really having heard what Felli had just said. He’d agree to any request as long as she didn’t call him Fon Fon in front of everyone.

“Please remember to call me by that name when you return.”

“……”

“It’s a promise.”

Those were the last words; Felli stopped talking after that.

He took a quick nap before dawn. The swaying of his body stuck to him like echoes. And like that, he lay on the vehicle and closed his eyes.

The wind had died down and everywhere looked dead. He didn’t know what Felli was doing on the other end of the flakes. She hadn’t spoken to him for a while now.

It was really quiet, as if even his own voice had died off. When he moved slightly, the sound of Dites bumping against the bike shook his eardrums. On the other hand, the feeling of him being alive was more intense than ever.

He knew there was no such thing, but that feeling came unbidden to him. He had no one beside him, no one to help him. The people living in Zuellni were far behind him, and he had no idea where the other cities were.

What was Leerin doing?

This flashed through his mind.

After the attack on Zuellni, he had only written one letter to Leerin. He felt that he was waiting for a return letter from somewhere. It wasn’t that strange that he still hadn’t received a letter. The roaming buses hadn’t delivered any letters, so the mail would probably come soon.

He candidly told her about the current Layfon in that letter. How he was forced to transfer into the Military Arts, enter a platoon and fight the larvae……And his inability to give up on the Military Arts. What would Leerin think? Would she smile bitterly and say “Can’t be helped since it’s you,” or would she lecture him with a pink face……

The harness swayed and the Dites jostled against each other.

(I……am quite afraid of being alone.)

He deeply thought that. He used to write to Leerin every week, but he hadn’t been doing that now. One reason was his losing the fresh and curious feeling he had when he first started school. The second reason was that Leerin didn’t write as much in her letters to him. He felt a distance between them.

He hadn’t received a letter from Leerin since her last letter.

''(It must be the distance between cities.)''

In the time when cities couldn’t contact each other, Layfon was doubtful as to whether his letter had arrived safely at Grendan. He didn’t think Leerin would not want to write to him. The unreliable connection between cities, the Layfon involved in this situation, the Layfon who thought of Leerin in this time…… He arrived at this conclusion from all these factors combined.

Had the people he met in this city filled his loneliness of not being with Leerin?

No.

It didn’t fill his loneliness. It replaced it. The truth of leaving Leerin remained in him. He was just so busy with school and everything that he hadn’t the time to feel lonely.

This was the Layfon in Zuellni. Perhaps it was a good thing that he wasn’t as tense as he was in Grendan.

''(Although there’s a lot of troublesome things, and I’m doing what I did before……)''

And as part of his life in Zuellni, he was out here in the open, in a desolate environment, totally isolated from his normal life.

Particles of sand beat against the vehicle and his Dites.

The wind was rising again. Listening to the sound of the wind, Layfon’s consciousness sank into shallow darkness.

<center>◇</center>

Time rewinds back to just after Layfon’s departure.

The door was pushed open.

“Yo, Nina! Are you alright?”

“I don’t think that’s a question you ask a patient.”

“Yep. Just like this!” Sharnid walked into the room, smiling flippantly as he winked at a nurse walking past in the corridor. Harley was right behind him.

It was the morning of a weekend. Nina put aside the book she was reading.

“What’re you reading? Ugh, a textbook! And it’s 'Military Arts Principles I'……Why’re you reading this now?”

Nina nodded as she confirmed the Dites hanging around Sharnid’s waist.

“Because I have something I need to relearn.”

“Haha, even though you fainted all of a sudden, you’re still so serious,” Sharnid shrugged.

“Forget it. What about today’s match? Is it okay not to watch it?”

“If you want to know, I can bring you the disc later. Because of the sudden holiday, it was too abrupt to arrange a date, so I’ve got time on my hands.”

If so, then just go and watch the match. But Nina didn’t say that. Harley’s smile lacked his usual cheerfulness, and that bothered her.

“But it’s tragic to faint due to over-exhaustion. And you’re still so serious about it after fainting; I greatly admire our captain.”

“……I’m sorry,” Nina apologized, lowering her head.

“No, no…” Sharnid said. “I don’t want you to reflect on this. I’ve that that sort of thing many times already…… besides, I have something else to talk about today. Sorry I have to push back visiting the patient.”

“Something else?”

Sharnid snatched up his Dite. “For someone who’s not in a team, my words probably don’t mean much……” He said as he deftly spun the larger-than-palm-sized Dite.

“Everyone has secrets, but there are two types: ones that don’t matter, and ones that people take notice of. I don’t care if it’s the former type, but the latter……”

A rapid movement from him.

The Dite restored in his hand in the blink of an eye and it was pointed right at Harley.

[[Image:CSR vol02 243.jpg|thumb]]

“Sharnid!” Nina said loudly. A smile still hung on Sharnid’s face. As for Harley, he was frozen stiff at the sudden Dite’s appearance.

“If my comrade’s keeping secrets, then I can’t move freely, cuz I’ll worry that he’ll stab me in the back. For example, whether this guy would shoot the wrong target…Something like that,” Sharnid stared closely at his Dite pressing down on Harley’s forehead.

Meaning he was suspecting Harley?

“How could that be?” Nina said.

“Harley is my childhood friend. He’ll never betray me.”

“I don’t doubt this guy’s skill, and I don’t think he’ll betray the team, but it seems we were the only two left out.”

“What?” Nina looked at Harley. Resignation filled his stiff expression.

“Harley?”

“……Sorry.”

“The weapon you made in haste a while ago was for Layfon, right? That ridiculously huge sword, just what was it for?”

Nina remembered, but she had never suspected Harley. Recently, she was only thinking about herself.

“What do you guys plan for the ridiculously strong Layfon with that type of a weapon? I think I can guess. Felli’s with you guys and that's enough confirmation. But if it’s possible, I want to hear it from you.”

Nina kept silent.

“Sorry,” Harley’s lips were clamped tight against each other.

Slightly shaky lips opened again.

Nina had forgotten her own breathing, and the same feeling remained with her as she listened.

After that……

The nurse went in to deliver lunch, and seeing the bed empty, she ran out into the corridor.

<center>◇</center>

Layfon arrived at his destination shortly after noon.

He drank down protein paste with a straw, and confirmed the information conveyed through Felli’s flake.

The high and jutting mountain gave off an unapproachable bearing.

The scene appeared on his helmet.

The inert filth monster was fastened onto the surface of the mountain, its posture almost the same as the image in the second photo. The filth monster’s body had slightly expanded. Its length, from head to tail, was long like a snake’s. Two insect-like wings extended from its back. Muddy green veins spread across the tattered wings, which were weakened to such an extent that they were bent, almost broken off, by the wind.

Legs were attached to the curled body of the filth monster, and the claws of the forelegs weren’t dug into the wall of the mountain. The filth monster must be degenerating. A thin layer of white covered its green compound eye.

The prey whose nutritious value was much higher than the pollutants…the filth monster made no reaction to the prey, the human standing within reach.

As if it was dead.

But what about the sudden chill he felt?

“How is it?” Felli said.

“A Phase 4 or 5 male. I can tell that from its shriveled legs.”

“Is it that thing in the photo?”

“The filth monsters lose their legs every time they molt……Uh, females are different. They stay underground when they’re laying eggs.”

He dismounted the bike and took out two Dites from his harness.

In his right hand was the special Dite that Harley made.

“When its body’s grown old, its legs will completely degenerate. This is the mature phase. Once the male fully degenerates, it’ll be able to fly, and that is its cruelest and wildest form. Next is the second maturation phase with increasing functions and variations. The form of a Phase 2 is never stable.”

“Fon Fon?”

Leaning stiffly against the bike, he tried to relax his body. It was meaningless to get anxious now. He allowed his Kei to run through his body.

“Just like its unstable appearance, it’s also hard to judge the filth monster’s level of strength. We have to be particularly wary of Phase 2 filth monsters. If this filth monster is in its first phase, then there’re still ways to handle it.”

“What are they?” Incomprehension seeped through Felli’s voice, but Layfon wasn’t paying attention.

“A Phase 2 filth monster is rare, so perhaps there’s no need to be concerned, or it’s simply not possible to recognize it. But there is a difference between knowing and not knowing. If one knows, then one can take appropriate action. Please remember, sometimes Phase 2 filth monsters don’t attack humans because they’ve learned to be more than simply violent.”

“Fon Fon……What’re you saying?”

“Something that might be my last words.”

Cracking noises. As if the air was rent apart. A loud noise hiding the sound of a secret’s breath. The chill on Layfon’s skin turned into needle sharp pain. As the noise increased in intensity, the tattered wings collapsed and the scales covering the filth monster’s body peeled off in flakes. The entire compound eye popped out and rolled down the side of the mountain.

Felli’s voice intruded. “I've got a report……Zuellni’s changed direction. The entire city’s made a rapid turn.”

“As expected……”

Now he knew why Zuellni kept moving straight before. The city hadn’t discovered the filth monster, or maybe it thought it was only a corpse. In the end, Zuellni found out it wasn’t that at all, so it changed its route.

“Fon Fon…This is……”

“It’s molting. This is my first time seeing this, but it has to be that.”

“Zuellni’s changed direction……Please escape!”

Layfon ignored her. “Restoration 01,” he said the key word, restoring the Dite in his left hand. The green blade tore through the air.

“It’s too late. This guy was waiting. After molting……It holds a different body type and will get hungrier than usual. It was suppressing its molting moment until the prey got too close. The reason why a Phase 2 filth monster is particularly aggressive is because of its extreme hunger.”

It was too late for Layfon to escape. The filth monster had waited for the smell of prey to get close, to the point where it couldn’t escape. Layfon readied his fighting stance and increased the amount and density of his Internal Kei. The back of the monster split into two and sticky body fluid oozed from it, down the face of the mountain in many branches.

Low howling made the air vibrate. The filth monster announced its rebirth, lifting itself from the empty shell to spread its pure and moisture-filled wings. The intense red of the wings stained the sky.

The liquid covering its head fell off, revealing a head different from before. A long protruding jaw, sharp teeth on the outside, diamond blue light like a human’s eyes……It looked very similar to an insect.

“Phase 1……Please remember. You can defeat this monster if you are prepared to sacrifice half a city.”

He connected the end of the restored Dite to the end of the other Dite in his right hand. He grasped hold of the connected Dites carefully with his right hand then charged forward.

Internal-type Kei – Whirl Kei.

Strengthening his feet, he leaped onto the face of the mountain.

The monster’s wings vibrated as the liquid enveloping its body shot out, painting rainbows around it. It must have caught the scent of countless humans in Zuellni. The filth monster’s nose pointed directly behind Layfon.

The steel threads bounded up the entire filth monster, the action quiet as a mouse.

The filth monster kept on ascending without signs of slowing. The difference between their two sizes was too huge. Unable to suppress his opponent, Layfon was lifted up to dangle in midair.

''(If it were Lintence, he could cut off its wings like this……)''

As expected, its shell was much harder than a larva’s……He wondered how Nina and the others would think of him if they saw him like this……As he returned his attention to the current situation, he focused on binding the monster tighter.

Intense vibration shot down his wrist. The wings beat fast and rapid, and the steel threads bounced off them.

“It still isn’t working……”

Layfon didn’t have the time to try another tactic and aim at the base of the wings. The filth monster was now in the air and it could head for Zuellni whenever it wanted. Layfon let the steel threads loose into two bundles; one binding the filth monster, the other shot into the face of the mountain.

“I’ll have it land.”

The monster rumbled in pain. Its body twisted and its wings danced more intensely, but the monster failed to ascend. At the same time, keen wailing came from the mountain.

Layfon removed the part of the combined Dite that was anchoring the steel threads in the mountain, then twisted in midair to land on one of the steel threads and ran across it, his face green and stiff, as if he was performing in a circus. While running, he took out the rest of the Dites from his harness and inserted them into the holes in Harley’s Dite.

“Restoration AD,” he said as Kei flowed through his entire body.

Heavy weight burst out from him at the weight of the weapon and the power flowing in his body. The steel thread dipped, and he used the momentum of its rebound to jump up to the filth monster’s back.

A huge blade was born in Layfon’s hand.

Three different types of Dites…Combined with a Dite that was already an amalgamation of different alloys. This feat wasn’t possible before.

But the end product was just a different type of Dite. It wasn’t particularly special in any way.

The new Dite maintained and combined all the advantages of three types of Dite. There was a disadvantage though. It wasn’t possible to reduce the weight and density of the restored forms of the three types of Dites, so Layfon was practically holding four weapons.

Any normal person would have had trouble controlling that weight.

He landed on its back. Using his left wrist, he reeled in a steel thread anchored in the mountain, all the time running, dragging the huge blade with him.

His targets were the wings.

He headed for the left wing. Furious winds buffeted him, but he shot through them using Internal Kei. He raised the sword and chopped down. The red of the wing scattered. The monster howled, not in pain, as the wing had no nerves, but because it lost its balance.

The filth monster sloped to one side. Layfon released the sword and retrieved it using a steel thread. Letting loose the steel thread looped around his left wrist, he ran up the back of the monster.

He jumped and descended. He had wanted to shoot out a steel thread to reduce his falling speed, but there wasn’t anything above him to latch onto.

A shockwave on the ground signalled the filth monster’s landing. The wind rolled back from the monster and caught some of Layfon’s weight as he landed.

The filth monster struggled to its feet. Blood filled its raging eye as it watched Layfon, the small creature who was interfering with its dinner. Its starving and furious gaze seemed to be enough to stop a person’s heart.

“How long does it take to regenerate your wing? Two days? Three? As long as there’s a big enough gap, then Zuellni can escape……” Layfon murmured, feeling the wetness coming from inside his armor-suit.

He was sweating profusely.

The murderous intent of a Phase 1 filth monster was this amazing.

But more focus than that was needed for him to cut off its wing.

“How long will it take you to die of hunger? One week? Or one month? I’ll play with you no matter how long it takes.”

The filth monster had used up all of its stored nutrients to enter the first maturity phase. It didn’t have enough strength to molt a second time.

Layfon couldn’t run. This thought caused his stubbornness to lift its head, and that was enough indication of his collapsing will to fight. If this continued, an opening would appear for the teeth of the filth monster to sink into.

The monster headed straight for Layfon, its body waving away the clouds of dust and its movements generating more dust. It had no legs as it had already given them up in the molting process, but its snake-like movements were fast even without legs.

This huge body of the filth monster in itself was a weapon, its every scale hard and sharp. Even if it didn’t make direct contact with Layfon, a brush with it could tear open Layfon’s armor-suit.

Although Layfon had taken away the opponent’s advantage by forcing it to move on the ground, he himself was still at a disadvantage.

“Fon Fon……”

Layfon leapt back into the close pressure of death.

<center>◇</center>

“I think if it’s him, he can do it……I admit I didn’t consider fully in my passion to invent the new Dite, but I really think he can do it!”

Harley’s voice hovered in Nina’s mind.

The sound of the running bike shook her entire body. The sun shone overhead. The temperature should be cold, but she felt hot. This must be because of the armor-suit.

Seated in the sidecar with nothing to do but sit still, she wasn’t at all impatient and anxious because……

“But looking at him, I thought I might have been wrong. Layfon - He, how should I put it……He was very serious. Of course he’d have such a reaction encountering this event. He has to fight a filth monster alone……His reaction is natural, but I don’t feel that that’s the only reason.”

The bike flew across the earth.

Sharnid was the driver. Only one set of armor-suit had been improved, so Nina and Sharnid wore the old type of armor-suit. They had worn it once when they were on a training mission outside the city. This old type restricted the body’s movements, but it was better than wearing nothing.

But even if she could move more deftly, what could the present Nina do?

After listening to Harley, Nina went to find Karian at the office of the Student President. He received her with an expression free of guilt.

“Just what is this?!” Nina said angrily.

“Nothing. Layfon-kun said he doesn’t need any help. I believe in him. Believing is different from abandoning.”

Nina’s fist pounded down on the desk. The documents rose an inch and the pen holder swayed. The fountain pen next to the documents rolled to the side.

Her hand hurt.

“……He also said, don’t let anyone get close.”

“Huh?”

Picking up the pen which was about to fall off, Karian turned it about skillfully with his fingers.

“It seems a fight with a filth monster is dangerous. I can’t tell how dangerous since I’m not a Military Artist, but it seems that one would die while looking for somewhere safe. He said he doesn’t need anyone to wait for orders in a safety zone in that type of battlefield. There are only two outcomes in a battle with filth monsters outside a city – either come back alive, or die. He said we had better be mentally prepared……”

Nina held her breath. That was all she could do.

Layfon was all alone out there……

Her fist tightened on the desk. Her muscles still hurt. Her condition was hardly normal in this present state. If she tried to generate a Kei flow, her waist would hurt painfully.

What could she do in this situation?

But she couldn’t stop herself.

“Please let me go.”

“And what do you plan to do there?” Karian’s question was reasonable. “I understand your condition. Even if I don’t know the details, as President, I can’t allow a pale-faced student to enter that dangerous a place.”

“He’s my subordinate and my comrade. Even if we can’t fight together, at least let me go and rescue him……”

She didn’t know what she could do to help out.

But when she said “comrade”, she could imagine Layfon’s genuine smile.

“Mmm……Okay. I’ll give you permission to use a bike. My sister will guide you.”

“Thank you.”

“But you must come back alive. Escape immediately if the situation turns bad.”

“……I won’t run away.”

“You people are the only ones who can keep this city alive.”

“Layfon’s the same,” Nina said and ran out of the room.

She was now riding the bike. The problem was, what could she do to help?

Only a few days ago……Layfon was alone, pondering on how to the fight the filth monster without telling anyone. Facing the him like that, what could she do?

She and Layfon differed in strength and experiences, but fighting as a platoon and fighting the filth monsters were different things.

Even so, she couldn’t continue her normal daily life not knowing what was going on outside.

Didn’t Sharnid say that there were two types of secrets? Ones that mattered and ones that didn’t?

This was a secret she was concerned about. She couldn’t stay hidden in the dark.

''(We aren’t the only ones who want you to live.)''

The sender of that letter must feel the same. That letter was written with ease, worry and jealousy. It was clear that the girl felt something for Layfon. To leave this person behind in a place where only one choice, life or death, was possible…Just what was Layfon thinking?

''(Perhaps that’s what she meant by “difference?")''

Pain rose in Nina’s chest. Was this what Leerin meant when she said in the letter that she was happy Layfon didn’t give up the Military Arts but she didn’t want him to become the Layfon of Grendan?

Thinking of this, a tightness spread through Nina’s chest.

''(Aaa!)''

She chased away the uneasiness inside her. What she wanted to know wasn’t how much Leerin knew of Layfon, but what Layfon’s true intention was in this fight.

For him to head alone into this kind of a place.

Even if it was the fate that no Military Artist could escape from.

She didn’t know what to do if she failed to find out.

''(Just what is he thinking……)''

And……

''(What do I do after I find out?)''

If she didn’t understand that either, she felt she had no way to move forward.

Did this concern belong to the future? Or was it because of her present self……She wasn’t too clear on the question itself.

“……You’re almost there,” Felli’s voice came through.

Fatigue came through Felli’s voice. Nina never knew Felli’s psychokinesis could reach this far. This made her acknowledge once more just how ignorant she was of her team members’ strength.

''(I’ll think about that later……)''

“What is it?”

“Hey, over there……” Sharnid said before Felli did. He shook his head and pointed ahead.

The bike entered a dust cloud.

And this was what Nina saw after a while.

The deserted ground looked as if someone had been madly slashing at it, and in that ground laid a huge, deep gutter. The sand and dust fluttering around were proof of it.

A lone shadow had fallen inside that gutter.

Nina’s hand pressed down on her chest, her heart tightened.

Sharnid slowed down the bike, heading towards the dark shadow.

It was the bike that Layfon had taken with him, but Layfon himself was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is he……?” She couldn’t see properly through the dancing sand, but something was certain.

She didn’t get it. The mountain where the filth monster had fastened itself onto should be right ahead of them. But it was gone.

“Felli, where’s Layfon?”

Felli didn’t reply.

They were already one day late. Was Layfon all right?

“Answer me. Is he all right?”

“He’s okay, but……”

“But…? What’s it?”

“He said don’t get closer. Run far away.”

“What did you say?”

And the sound of some distant explosion filled her eardrums, and she saw a dark shape spattering the sky.

A huge rock was descending towards Nina and Sharnid.

<center>◇</center>

In an instant, his concentration broke.

Something had happened, but he had immediately focused back on the task before him.

It seemed to be some information…And he had shouted out something in panic.

The break in concentration was almost fatal.

Layfon didn’t have time to remember it. He didn’t dig through his memories as he had no time to think or do anything extraneous to the battle.

Because if he did that, then death awaited him.

The huge monster filled Layfon’s entire vision. It roared as its body batted at Layfon. The steel threads flew at the filth monster’s tail and wrapped around it. The tail thrashed, pulling Layfon up and down, as if Layfon was a fish struggling off a hook.

When Layfon stopped spinning, he lowered himself – His destination was the filth monster’s head.

The filth monster seemed wounded. It seemed to have been buried quite deep, and it still hadn’t managed to shake loose the rubble on top of it.

The huge sword chopped down towards its body.

The scales resisted the sword point, but in one swift movement, Layfon had pierced through the tough outer-shell - only to feel yet another resistance, another layer of scales.

“!”

It was one layer after another. Every time the sword hit a scale, sparks lit up. Bathed in a shower of sparks, Layfon realized he had failed. His usual self could have torn through the monster like it was paper……But why couldn’t he do it?

At this rate, the filth monster’s flesh would have swallowed Layfon’s blade. Before that happened, Layfon had turned the blade around. He grasped hold of the handle again and put his foot on the monster’s back. He pulled the steel threads to confirm they were anchored about one Jimel ahead of him in the mountain face, then he ‘pulled’ again as he kicked at the monster’s back. As Layfon was torn skyward, the huge blade leaped out of the flesh. Red blood sprayed from the filth monster’s wound.

Layfon landed on the ground.

He turned around quickly to face the monster and he looked down at the Dite.

Smoke rose from one of the Dites inserted into the three holes. A closer look revealed small cracks along the Dite. Its colour also looked different.

“One’s broken……”

He took out that Dite and tossed it away.

Although the Dite had the strength to maintain its form, that strength was limited. It had managed to hang on till now because of its high density, but now it was broken.

The combined Dite felt lighter in his hand. This different feel might cause the next fatal error, but he couldn’t stop fighting.

He watched the filth monster.

Many scales had fallen off its body. Blood spurted from its wound. It had lost too much blood. Slabs of something black fell off from its body.

It had also lost half of its remaining wing. To Layfon, the filth monster looked like a gigantic snake prostrated on the ground……But the scales covering its body weren’t as smooth as a snake’s. They were as tough and sharp as rocks.

Layfon had destroyed its left eye. The blood flow seeping from under that shattered eye had slowed. The wound must be recovering. Layfon didn’t know whether the filth monster would regenerate the nerves in its eyes. He had no wish to find out.

So hot……The ventilation function of the armor-suit had reached its limit. Layfon’s sweat became steam.

He knew his concentration was slipping.

“Damn!”

He refocused himself. He wanted to defeat this monster without sustaining any injuries. While doing that was nearly impossible, how could he get distracted?

He didn’t plan to die. Although he did say something to Felli that might be his last words, still, it was just a possibility. He hadn’t had time to talk with her properly since the fight began. As for last words…All he needed was to smile after returning safely to Zuellni.

The filth monster struggled to get up. It must be because of the heavy wound in its head. The monster didn't seem to know where it was while its anger increased with every passing second. Its rough and wild movements sent sand flying everywhere, and the various wounds on its body sprayed out more blood.

''(I’ll rest a little before it finds out where I am.)''

Layfon didn’t know how much time he’d get to rest. He might not even have one minute, but all he needed was a gap in the fight so he could generate more Kei and let it fill his body. It was painful that he had nothing to replace the water and salt he had lost. He licked his lip and tasted something salty – his sweat.

“Fon Fon……Can you talk?”

How long had it been since he last heard her?

“Ahah…...How long has it been?”

“About a day.”

“I see……”

''(I should be able to stay up for two more days without water.)''

He thought as he watched the filth monster. It hadn’t discovered him yet.

“And……?”

“Well……It’s about the captain.”

“The captain? What’s happened to her?”

“……I said before that the captain and Sharnid-senpai are heading this way. Though you said they were to retreat……Don’t you remember?”

Now he knew why he had lost his concentration.

“Ah……Sorry, I don’t. Did they retreat?”

The astonishment back then felt so far away from him. Felli’s question wasn't because she doubted him. She said it out of obligation.

Although he was resting, he didn’t let down his guard. He was still focused on the fight, so everything else felt far away from him.

“Well……”

He had no time to listen to her.

It had discovered him.

What should he do?

He felt uneasy at the lighter weight of the Dite, but it wasn’t just because he had lost one of the Dites. The clumsy feel of the Kei flow indicated that the combined Dites themselves had sustained a certain level of damage after a fight that lasted one entire day.

''(How many moves can I still execute?)''

Compared to his physical strength, the weapon itself might be the first to fail. This wouldn’t have happened if he had the Heaven's Blade with him.

Fighting to his limit, he realized for the first time how rare and valuable the Heaven's Blade was. That was strange. Did he not have the vision to understand that?

“It’s useless to make excuses.”

He had decided what he had to do. In that case, all he needed to do was finish his duty.

He would defeat the filth monster with one move, so he must find an opening.

As he thought of this, the enemy made a peculiar movement.

“Uh……?”

It didn’t seem to intend to attack him. As if it was getting distracted.

Layfon followed it…And his concentration broke again.

A small dust cloud. A bike with a sidecar……It wasn’t the one that Layfon rode on.

Yes, the filth monster was looking at it.

“How could they come here!?”

Although he couldn’t tell who they were as they were wearing armor-suits, he was sure they were Nina and Sharnid.

He leaped up to a steel thread and ran towards them, using Whirl Kei.

Sharnid’s shower of bullets had little effect on the filth monster. As Layfon passed their position, he felt Nina’s eyes stabbing his face. Perhaps he was being oversensitive. And like that, he appeared in front of the filth monster. His body suddenly bounded upwards.

Flying in the air, supported by the steel thread, Layfon turned the huge sword around and swung down to cut open the monster’s forehead.

He flew back as blood mixed with a howling noise shot high into the air. Layfon landed on the moving bike.

[[Image:CSR vol02 275.jpg|thumb]]
“Layfon!?”

“Why are you here!?” he asked angrily and looked back at the filth monster.

It was on a rampage as the pain twisted its long body. The feeling in Layfon’s hand told him he had failed in delivering a fatal strike to the brain.

And……

He looked at his Dite. Smoke rose from another hole. That couldn’t be helped as he had tried to cut through the already tough scales along with the even harder forehead bone.

''(The strike I have left……)''

Feeling the lightness of the weapon, he made his decision.

''(Then what?)''

He still had his own green Dite that he could use to buy time. He had been using its steel threads as support so it hadn’t sustained any heavy damage. But if he used his last move, he’d forego the steel threads move that had helped him escape countless times. Losing that option would be a huge setback for him.

Perhaps this was better than losing his chance to attack, but he would be forcing himself into a dead end. Buying time would ensure Zuellni could move to safety, but if he did that, he’d lose his life.

And there were also Nina and Sharnid……

This was the only way…To determine the outcome of the fight before he lost use of the steel threads.

And it was a highly dangerous gamble. If he failed, he’d die, Nina and Sharnid would die, Zuellni might also die. Everything would vanish.

Should he bet everything on the last move……He hesitated.

“Hey, are you listening?”

“No……Anyway, you guys hurry up and escape.”

“Listen up! Your bike’s broken. This is the only vehicle that still works.”

“As long as I beat this guy, people will come to get me.”

“Can you defeat it?”

“……”

“That weapon’s at its limit. Can you really beat it with this thing?”

“……It’s starting to move. I have to go!”

He had no answer for her. He hadn’t the confidence that she’d agree with his answer. His only reply was to head out and fight.

Sharnid pulled him back by his collar, steering the bike with one hand.

“Aaa, wait!”

“Please let go of me!”

“It’s rare for the captain to order others to listen to her.”

“I’ll use force.”

“It’s fine if you tear off my arm. Please go ahead.”

In reality, if he pulled himself out of Sharnid’s grasp with Kei, he really might just end up tearing Sharnid’s arm off. And even if that didn’t happen, the bike might lose its balance and flip over.

“It’s too embarrassing to come out here and not do anything. That's how it is for me, and the same goes for the injured captain. The 17th platoon can’t embarrass its captain!”

“I hadn’t that order before.”

“Same here. I just made that decision.”

By looking at Sharnid’s back, Layfon could tell he was smiling.

“Have you got a plan?” Nina said. “Are you absolutely sure that you can win with your next move?”

She had even seen through this.

“……Yes. It’s the wound on its forehead. If I strike there again……”

The scales were shattered. Half of the forehead bone was probably cracked……If he struck there.

The wound must be healing, but not the scales and the bone. If he could stab its brain and release his Kei there……But Nina had calmly pointed out the uneasiness he felt about that move.

“Do you have a plan that can take you there and make sure you strike it on its head?”

“……”

“Okay.” Nina nodded. “Then we’ve increased our chance of success.”

“Heh?”

“You were listening in, Felli? Find the setting I want nearby. Hurry.”

Then Nina listed out her conditions of the place she had in mind.

“It’s near. Head southwest. It’s about 20 Jimels from you.”

“Sharnid.”

“Roger, captain.” He changed the bike’s direction.

“Layfon, will the filth monster leave us?”

“Huh?……Probably not. It moves faster than this bike.”

“Then buy enough time for us to head for that place. Don’t damage your weapon.”

“With this……”

He could interfere with the filth monster’s movements using the steel threads.

“Keep at it.”

He nodded reflexively.

How should he put it? It was a feeling of suddenly being swallowed. He saw Nina’s face through the helmet and the armor-suit……He looked at that face and the tension he held wavered.

He felt more at ease.

Should he be comforted by the wavering of the destructive pressure on him? Or be alarmed at it……He wasn’t sure. Even so, he felt a part of him wasn’t able to deny Nina.

He continued to control the steel threads.

Twenty Jimels.

He focused on buying them time.

<center>◇</center>

They arrived at a valley surrounded by cliff faces. Green plants and clear water might have once flourished here. Now the valley was dry, extremely dry.

Nina had explained her plan as they rode the bike. They looked back at the slope, as if waiting for something to fly into its mouth.

“How long till that guy catches up?”

“Three minutes.”

Nina nodded. “We’re getting off. It’s impossible to drive the bike here. Sharnid, take the bike to the firing position. Layfon, carry me.”

Felli explained the terrain and Nina asked a few questions based on Felli’s information. It seemed just by doing that, she had already formed an accurate map in her head. Layfon dismounted, clear about instructions he had received.

The sound of shattering rocks came closer.

The filth monster was already here.

“Hurry!”

Layfon carried her deeper into the valley.

“Is this really all right?” he asked, uncomfortable with how light she was in his arms.

“The plan will be successful as long as that thing stops moving, right?”

Layfon nodded on the bike.

“It’s hungry, so it’ll rush straight for food, right?”

Layfon nodded again.

“Well, all we need is bait……No need to think of anything else.”

“……Captain?”

“Limit your enemy’s movements and turn the situation into your advantage. That’s a basic tactic.”

“You aren’t thinking of……”

“I’ll act as bait. Who else can do this besides me? Sharnid’s got his mission and you have to give it its fatal strike. If you do everything, including what’s unnecessary, isn’t that the same as what you’ve been doing in the past?”

“That was how I did things in Grendan.”

He had always done things this way. To change his way now……

“Weren’t there many people to replace you in Grendan? Aren’t there twelve Heaven's Blade Receivers? So eleven people could replace you. Even if you fall, there are still other ways, so you fought with those kinds of tactics. But nobody can replace you in Zuellni. Grendan and Zuellni are different. Grendan’s way is not my way. You’re my subordinate. I can’t just leave you.”

“But……” Layfon stopped speaking. Her determination in her eyes. Her furrowing eyebrows as if she was glaring at him, as if she was staring at him with trembling eyes…He felt he was being sucked into them.

Those eyes suddenly turned gentle.

“You want to abandon the you of Grendan, don’t you?”

“……But, I can’t.”

Because the threat of meeting filth monsters existed everywhere.

“It’s okay to abandon it.”

“Heh?” His eyes widened in astonishment.

“Your desire to protect Zuellni arose after you came to the Academy City, right? Then treasure it. As for your way of fighting, living and thinking in Grendan…… leave them all. It’s enough to protect Zuellni. Leave everything.”

“……”

“You don't think that helps you? But, that’s how I feel and how the person waiting for you in Grendan feels. Isn’t that what was written in the letter?”

“Letter……?”

“I can repeat this as many times as you want. I won’t let you, my comrade and subordinate, die. I’ll do whatever it takes to reach that goal!”

An intense light emitted once again from those gentle eyes. A determination that would never bend and break. Those eyes were what made him swallow his words. Looking at his image in them, Layfon nodded.

“I understand. Then, I’ll hold senpai’s life in my hands for a bit.”

“Stop talking nonsense,” she laughed. “I’m the captain. Your lives are in my hand.”

<center>◇</center>

Nina was all alone in the valley.

Trees once stood here. Clear water once flowed. Fish once swam, and everything must have been filled with birdsongs. Lives drowned the earth as a matter of course. The lives were short, but creatures continued to sing out the song of life’s chains.

Something white was stuck to the rocks. They were probably the bones of some fish.

It was a life that failed to keep on living.

The world had shriveled up. And the reason behind that…How did the pollutants manage to spread across the entire world? Some said it was a material created from humanity’s insolence when human civilization reached its peak. Some said it just happened all of a sudden. And Nina had heard of many other different explanations. She didn’t know which was the truth, and didn’t know whether there was meaning in looking back at the past. Everyone else now only lived in Regios, living under the threat of filth monsters.

Nina hated that feeling. Couldn’t something be done? She wanted to do something about it.

She hated herself for being born into a narrow world. She wanted to see other worlds. It didn’t matter if it was just a tiny outside world, and so she had come to Zuellni. But she still understood how useless she was, even though she had reached Zuellni. She understood more of the cruelty of this world and her own insignificance, her own weakness.

Surviving in this world, what she should do, what she could do……

She wanted to keep on living.

And to survive, she must become stronger. Because she lived in this kind of world, she must become stronger. Because heaven blessed her with the power of Kei, she must become stronger. That was what she thought.

Except for a small failure.

She didn’t think she was entirely in the wrong. She just didn’t use the correct way. And now, the Layfon who corrected her was making the same mistake.

To Nina, Layfon’s mistake was a small failure on his part, since he didn’t know where he stood. In that case, she had to wake him up.

The rumbling closed in.

It was the filth monster, the existence on the very top of the pyramid. Covered in wounds, the creature headed towards Nina, driven by nothing but hunger.

Compared to the injuries that Layfon had sustained……If Layfon and the filth monster kept on fighting, which side would win?

She recalled she had been pondering on what the strongest existence was not long ago. Filth monsters lived in a larger world than humans, a world that humans could not enter without protection. On this level, the filth monsters were the strongest.

In the filth monster’s starving stage, fighting for the most basic requirement of life, pollutants weren’t enough for it.

So it had to eat humans.

Compared to this creature, humans lived in their own worlds without having to worry about food. Looking from this perspective, just who was stronger?

“What boring thinking.”

The dominating presence neared Nina, its gaze piercing her like teeth. She couldn’t help but imagine her tiny body being crushed by those sharp and gigantic teeth, her organs rolling on the tongue of the massive monster.

“Is this the world that he sees……”

Facing this horror alone, Nina’s legs shook. The present her who was unable to use Kei was too weak. Besides, even if she could use Kei, what could she do? This must be the decisive gap in strength between humanity and filth monsters.

Layfon had been facing this type of creature all alone.

“I won’t let you do this alone from now on,” she said to the subordinate who was nowhere beside her.

But he should be able to hear her.

“You have me and your comrades.”

A sound.

A tiny sound compared to the rumbling of the filth monster, but it echoed in the sky and in Nina’s ears.

One side of the cliff face suddenly collapsed.

Caused by Sharnid’s sniping.

The sudden avalanche of rocks, sand and soil descended on the filth monster and towards Nina. The creature howled anew.

Nina’s body shot upward.

A long thin thread……A steel thread was wrapped around her body. She saw him as she was pulled up.

A figure that brushed past her, descending rapidly……Layfon.

He plunged straight for the trapped enemy, his ravaged sword pointing downward.

Nina confirmed her plan was successful.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume2_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Chrome_Shelled_Regios:Volume2_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume2 Chapter4

2009-08-21T21:37:52Z

Ricky12440: /* Chapter 4: Run the entire lap */

===Chapter 4: Run the entire lap===

At the same time Layfon was whispering to himself……

The heavy iron whips hung listless from her hands. Nina felt like she was suffocating, unable to stop her panting. She was sucking in air, yet her body wanted more. Despite the pain, she attempted to slow down her breathing.

She was so exhausted that her legs shook and pleaded with her to lie down, but she desperately kept standing, and slowly let her body cool off. Proper breathing technique was basic for controlling Kei. She mustn’t disturb it. Her body must not rest immediately. Everything had to gradually calm down.

On top of the drumming of blood bombarding her ears, the sound of friction from the movements of gigantic multi-legs of the city echoed from below. The city’s edge was the only place right now that was quiet and secluded enough, a place without people where Nina would not be scolded.

“……Great!”

Gaining control of her breathing, she lifted the iron whips again. In fact, she looked as if she was forcing herself, but she could keep going as long as she extended her Kei through her entire body. She controlled her breathing for that purpose.

Conscious and aware of the place she was standing, the place where Layfon had shown his strength, Nina danced alone with the iron whips.

What could she do to become stronger?

Basic moves flowed into more complicated moves.

When using a weapon, most moves were variations of the three stages of movement: retrieve, hold with increasing strength, and attack. For a sword, it was slash. For a spear or staff, it was stab and hit.

It wasn’t meaningless to repeat her moves. While the mind failed to keep up at the other end of the ladder, the body instinctively repeated familiar movements. The repetitive movements increased Nina’s physical strength, which would be helpful when she fought.

“Fu…Ha, ha, ha, ha……”

And then she rested again. Controlling her breathing, she took out a towel from her bag to wipe away her sweat. When the school year started, a bone-chilling cold would immediately cool down the body, but it was better now. Even at night. Zuellni was probably heading towards a warmer climate. Because of that, the heat from Nina's body took some time to dissipate. Irritated at the sweat continuously pouring from her skin, she lifted her head to watch the night sky through the invisible air shield.

And like that, she sat down on the ground.

The cold, hard ground felt good to her. Exhausted and feeling she hadn't the strength to stand up again, she sat there to look at the sky. Only a half moon floated above her, with the endless darkness serving as a backdrop. The existence of the moon seemed to point to the boundary of the night.

The iron whips, turned back into simple Dites, fell to Nina’s sides. Still gazing at the moon, she touched them with her fingers. To look at the moon as if reflected in her eyes, she felt for an instant that she could touch it. She didn’t reach out a hand. It was embarrassing, and she knew she couldn’t possibly touch the moon.

“……It’s so far away,” she said.

As if it was within reach, but it actually wasn’t. The moon existed between illusion and reality. It made people think it was within reach, but it was billions of Jimels away from Nina. Her arm wasn't long enough to touch the moon.

Even so, she thought there was must be a way.

If her arm wasn’t long enough, then she’d fly up there……

“Ah……”

She laughed, knowing how ridiculous it was. She couldn’t fly in the sky. This dream was meaningless. What was meaningful was her weakness, for wanting to rely on such an unrealistic way to reach the moon.

“This…Won’t do.”

She didn’t think it was meaningless to repeat the moves she’d learned, as they were directly related to her growth. She had been training like this from the very beginning. The very beginning, when she knew she had discovered Kei and decided to become a Military Artist.
She didn’t think she would become strong all of a sudden by repeating the same movements.

Was there a faster way……?

She understood that was just a wish. A wish not grounded in reality. She couldn’t help but think of it though, and that irritated her.

“Damn!”

She should become stronger if she trained at this pace. She believed if she was industrious and put more time and effort into it, she could catch up to Layfon. But how much time would she need to reach his level? One year? Two years? Impossible……It wasn’t that simple.

She had only reached her current level, after living all these years. One or two years of hard work weren’t enough for her to catch up to Layfon, who was one, three, probably many more times stronger than her.

And she didn’t even have one year.

“I won’t make it!”

What she needed wasn’t a possibility in the future, but what she could reach for now. To balance the unbalanced 17th platoon, she must become stronger. Only she could make it happen. She had decided to protect Zuellni.

“Can't I make it?”

Her hand slowly moved from the iron whip towards the moon.

Her finger caressed the air and touched the moon before her eyes.

Imagining touch.

Imagining success.

Yet she knew this was meaningless……

“Ahhhh!”

Watching the hazy moon, she lowered her wrist. Was this bitter regret or jealousy? Facing the Layfon who possessed what she desired……

And……That letter.

She had read the letter that had fallen out of the envelope. The impatience and anxiety inside her became more intense after she read the letter, along with her growing desire to catch up to him.

She didn’t know what to think of Leerin, the girl who understood Layfon more than Nina did.

Increasing anxiety. Irritation.

“Is this the end?”

She wiped the sweat off her brow and suddenly stood up.

“It can’t end here!”

She picked up the iron whips.

The night was still long. Time was limited, but it should be enough. She believed so……

“HA!”

She started her flow of Kei.

<center>◇</center>

The next platoon match was set for next weekend.

A sigh burst out of Layfon.

He hadn’t had a chance to see Nina recently.

It wasn’t easy to bump into her as they were in different grades. During training, time passed without giving them room to chat privately, and once training finished, Nina left the room immediately.

They hadn’t even met in the Engine Room. Somehow, they had been separated and placed in different groups. They now had different janitorial responsibilities.

Losing the chance to talk to Nina forced him further from the truth. Moreover, he didn’t have much spare time as he had to test Harley’s invention and attend meetings with Karian and the other Alchemists.

Although he didn't have the time to stand still, he wasn't worried about it.

But–

“How come you seem to be so busy these days?” Mifi asked.

It was now lunch break. They were eating Meishen’s special bento on the rooftop of the school building. Long benches lined the metal fences around the rooftop.

“Huh? Do I look that way?”

“Yeah.”

“……Mmh,” Meishen nodded.

Layfon scratched his head.

“We wanted to hang out with you after you were done with training, but you’re always going somewhere. And I specifically picked a time that you didn’t have work!”

How did she know his shifts in the Engine Room? Mifi’s ability to gather intelligence was terrifying.

“Maybe he's busy because it’s almost time for the next platoon match?” Naruki said.

“Huh~~ But I planned to catch Layfon when he wasn't training. Isn’t this strange?” Mifi said. Layfon was right before her, but she was indifferent to how she appeared to be gossiping about him.

Besides, Naruki didn’t seem to believe the reason she herself gave, as if she only said it to eliminate one possibility and force Layfon to tell the truth.“Then, what other reasons are there?”

Beautifully shooting down Naruki’s guess, Mifi cut straight into the chase.“Is this secret preparation for the platoon match?”

“Why do you sound suspicious?”

“Eehhhh, why?”

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not joking. I’m serious.”

“Uh?”

Mifi stared at him. He looked down at the bento.

“Have you got a woman?”

“…Why do you think that?”

“Well, you’re always with senpai lately. Isn’t that right? Senpai stands out a lot, so you can’t hide it.”

“No, that’s not it!” Layfon waved his hands, noticing how Meishen’s face had gone white.

“Our dormitories just lie in the same direction.”

“So because they're in the same direction, you have dinner with her all the time?”

“……How come you know about that too?”

Yes, since that night at the battle arena, he had had dinner a few times with Felli. It was Karian’s treat, but the Student President had never come to dinner with them. Felli was the only one eating with him.

“Don’t underestimate my information network!”

It was another arrow to his chest.

“No, it was just a coincidence.”

Layfon tried to make up another reason, but he could tell from Mifi’s eyes that she was still suspicious.

“Really? Her level of beauty and cuteness is shocking. When two people are alone, don’t they just…start shooting out the energy of youth meaninglessly? Because of a moment of thunder and fire, don’t they think they are permitted to do anything and so derail off into the lust of youth?”

“……I’m having trouble following you.”

“In other words, have you pushed her yet?”

“I wish you wouldn't use such clear words……” He shook his head. He hadn’t the courage to do such a thing to Felli. No, no, no. He didn’t mean he’d do something if he had the courage……

“So just what are you doing?”

“……”

“Uh…Is it something you can’t talk about?”

“I was asked not to.”

Karian asked him to keep it a secret. To students who hadn’t fought filth monsters, news of filth monsters in the direct path of the city would be a huge shock to them. Just like in the previous assault, when it was so chaotic within the city that students failed to follow the proper defensive procedures.

They tried to plan better for when the next wave of filth monsters hit, but that couldn’t be done overnight. And the only person who could fight back against this threat was Layfon. Hence, it was best to have Layton solve everything while everyone remained ignorant.

“Boooooooring.”

She stared at him for a while and gave up.

“Mifi……?

“This is boring. I’m gonna go to eat by myself.” She raised a hand and left the rooftop.

“Geez…She didn’t’ have to throw a tantrum like a kid,” Naruki said, standing up.“I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad.”

“No, this is my fault.”

“Really……Maybe, but her demand is unreasonable,” Naruki shrugged and looked at the uneasy Meishen.

“I’m going to stay with Mifi. Please take care of Meishen.”

Naruki took her bento and left.

“……Ah.”

While Meishen stammered, Naruki disappeared from the rooftop.

''(Why do I feel like this has happened before…)''

“Sorry,” Layfon apologized.

“……You're not the bad one here, Layton.” Meishen shook her head like a bell.

“But still, it is my fault.”

“……But, you can’t tell the truth, can you?”

“……”

He didn’t say anything. If he said “yes” then he was admitting that he was hiding something, and if he said he wasn’t hiding anything, that would expose him too.

He couldn’t say it, but also didn’t want to lie.

He didn’t want to lie because it was Meishen and her friends, so he could only shrug.

“……I think we shouldn’t ask and listen to what can’t be told. I feel that if you want to tell us, you’ll tell us one day.”

“……Thanks.”

“……Mi-chan knows that too.”

“I hope so.”

“……But, Mi-chan is curious.” Meishen smiled. Layfon envied the affection in that smile.

“……If Naruki and I had any secrets, Mi-chan would expose them immediately. But she doesn’t know what Layton’s hiding, and knowing that you don’t want her to know frustrates her.”

“She feels frustrated because I don’t want her to know?”

“……Mi-chan wants a better relationship with you. With her curiosity, she wants to be close enough to you that you can tell her things on your own. If it’s Gelni, she’ll do what she can quietly, but me……” She shook her head. “……Especially Gelni, she’s impatient too.”

“Especially?”

“……Yeah, especially.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t you help Gelni before? She’s impatient because she can’t help you out.”

“I never knew,” Layfon murmured at a loss.

“……Gelni’s good at being patient.”

“I don’t think she has to worry about it. After all, I did get paid,” he said, but he knew that wasn’t important.

To receive help from someone when she needed it, but unable to help when that person was in trouble. Naruki’s feeling of uselessness had nothing to do with Layfon getting paid.

“I see…Um, so it’s my fault.”

“……No, it’s not Layton’s fault.”

“No, it’s my fault.”

For not realizing that Meishen and the girls wanted to get closer to him. That was enough to make him at fault.

Thinking back closely, Meishen didn’t use to speak that much when they first met each other. She never talked much, always saying very little and giving snippets of words each time, but she was now talking and taking the initiative to get closer to him.

“Do I look troubled?”

“……Not troubled, more like...worried?”

“Worried?”

Layfon didn’t get it.

“……Sometimes you seem like that.” Meishen frowned.

“……Really?”

“……Yeah.”

“I see……”

…And Meishen was always on the verge of tears, but he wouldn’t say that even if someone tore his mouth apart.

“…… What is it?”

Layfon fell into contemplation.

Worried?

He didn’t worry about the filth monsters. There was a high possibility of filth monsters attacking Zuellni. Unable to run away, he had to face the crisis. This feeling was different from worrying. Either way, he was prepared for the reality that filth monsters would come near. Coming back to it, fighting filth monsters was normal in Grendan. Considering that death might become real was indeed a heavy burden, but if he lost to that pressure, he would've died already. To him, the fight of his spirit had already ended.

Then about this worry……

“Ahah……”

“Huh?”

“Ah…Hahaha…So that’s why……”

“Huh? Huh?”

“Mi-chan sounded strange, so I got it all wrong.”

“Huh!?”

“Ah…But that can’t be helped.”

“……Wuwu.”

“Uh-?”

Having laughed for a while, Layfon looked at the wall.

“……Layton……” Face white, Meishen’s hands were put together tightly, as if she was praying.

“Meihen……?”

“Um…Well…Ar……”

“Ah, Ahah…No! No…Nothing. Nothing really. I just got something wrong……So, please don’t cry?”

And as he comforted the trembling Mei-Shen, he told her the truth.

[[Image:CSR vol02 175.jpg|thumb]]

Naruki and Mifi came back to find Layfon comforting a trembling and nervous looking Mei-Shen. In order to explain he wasn’t bullying Mei-Shen, Layfon had no choice but to skip his afternoon classes.

Then he told them the entire truth.

“Uh, the captain doesn’t look strange……” Mifi nodded as she played with the empty milk packet.

“Is Layton worrying about her?”

Layfon nodded. “Yes.”

“So you want to help her?”

“If I can.” He nodded simply, burnt out from explaining things to them.

“Why?”

“Why……?” He sat up straight, surprised by the question.

Both Mifi and Naruki were watching him.

“Because you’re both in the same platoon? I thought Layton wasn't interested in the platoon and the platoon matches. If so, then the captain acting weird shouldn’t be that bad for you, right?”

“……Mifi,” Meishen looked at Mifi and Naruki, troubled, then she shook her head as if giving up.

They must have understood something between each other in that split second, but Layfon had no idea what it was. He only knew he was being asked a question.

Why did he have to do something for Nina?

“Is there a need to ask me that difficult a question?”

“Depends on Layton whether it’s difficult or not, right?” Naruki said.

“Perhaps,” Layfon nodded. Perhaps it wasn’t a difficult question, but even if Mifi kept on asking him the same question, he still had no answer to give them.

“Even now, I still don’t care about the platoon matches. But my thinking’s changed. I want to stay in the platoon before the next real Military Arts competition ends.”

“Oh? Is that the awakening of a righteous heart? A little investigation tells me Zuellni’s in a crisis. Everyone above the 3rd year knows of it.”

“I’m not that good-natured.”

“Then what is it?” Mifi said, as if she was reproving him.

“It’ll be troubling for me if Zuellni disappears. I can’t return to Grendan. If I don’t study something here for six years until I graduate, I don’t think I can survive in other cities. I don’t plan to train in the Military Arts all the way to graduation.”

“You’re not returning to Grendan?”

Layfon shook his head.

“……You probably know already. My skill in Military Arts doesn’t come about through spare training.”

“Of course,” Naruki shrugged. “If you managed to train up that skill in your spare time, then all the other Military Artists are terribly weak. I guess you had formal training in Military Arts back in Grendan? And you’ve trained to a level that the Academy City can’t teach you anything more in Military Arts. But that’s not what I’m concerned with, rather, it’s the reality of you wanting to give up Military Arts even though you’re so strong.”

The three girls watched him, increasing the pressure on him.

They were concerned about his past.

Naruki’s mouth moved, preparing to turn her suspicions into clear questions. How should Layfon answer her?

He still didn’t think what he did in Grendan was wrong. It didn’t go against his sense of morals. But he only knew that what he did had hurt a lot of people.

What would the girls think of him? Shocked? Contemptuous? Would they then leave him?

Thinking of the loneliness made him nervous. How would he feel if Nina found out about it?

“……Isn’t this enough?” Meishen said, cutting through his emotions.

“Mei-chan……?”

“……You wouldn’t want to listen to Layton’s past now, right?”

“Well……”

“But……”

“…If that’s the case, then it’s enough, isn’t it?” Meishen’s repeated question silenced the other two girls.

Layfon's reflection danced in the regret and guilt in Meishen's eyes.

“……Sorry, they……and I, just want to understand Layfon more.”

“No……”

He failed to speak, his chest feeling hot. He didn’t know how to express his weaknesses to them, and he was scared of them knowing his past.

''(Really? So I’m already so close to these three.)''

He was used to hanging out with them, going to class and studying together. This had become a part of his daily life.

He was scared of losing it.

“……I still like the people on the platoon, so I want to help.” He squeezed out those words and was left with nothing to say.

He fell silent.

He understood that just like how he was with Meishen and her friends, he was also enjoying the time he spent with Nina, Felli, Sharnid and Harley.

He was afraid of losing them.

“…In that case, I don’t have anything to complain about,” Mifi said, but still with suspicion in her voice.

“Aa, I was planning to help from the beginning. The only person who didn’t want to was Mifi.”

“You’re lying, Gelni!”

“I was never suspicious of Layton!”

“Liar. You were concerned too!”

“My concern’s not the same as your concern.”

“They’re the same.”

“No.”

“The same!”

“No.”

“Gelni was concerned about it. Definitely, definitely, definitely concerned about the captain, Felli senpai and that letter……”

“Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!”

Meishen suddenly shouted, her face all red. Everyone stared at her, dumbstruck.

“Mei…Mei-chan…?”

“……!”

Her shoulders heaving, Mei-Shen quickly covered her mouth with her hands.

“Ah……”

“So-Sorry……”

“Wuwu……” Tears filled her eyes.

''(And I thought I could apologize.)''

Meishen had been trying to find an opening to apologize for reading his letter.

But not under these circumstances...

Tears flooded down her cheeks.

This time Layfon was chased away. At a distance, he watched Mifi and Naruki comfort Meishen. Sometimes they said something wrong and made the situation worse. At other times, they mentioned the past and Meishen looked even worse at that. Meishen got angry, and was comforted, and like that the process repeated itself……

Meishen…When the three girls had calmed down, the bell signaling the end of class rang out.

The bell of the last class.

<center>◇</center>

Although they did agree on it, he never thought they’d really come.

“Well then, let me explain our mission.”

It was now night, or more like it was almost dawn. Everywhere was still dark and dim, but the sun would rise in two to three hours. They couldn’t have stayed awake all night, so they should have been sleeping till now.

Mifi’s hair was tangled, the sign of a sleepyhead.

“No, this isn't really a mission,” Naruki said to Mifi, who, for some reason, was wearing a long coat and sunglasses.

When the workers had finished cleaning the Engine Room, Meishen, Naruki and Mifi were already waiting for Layfon outside the entrance.

The quartet's breath came out as steam. Meishen had hot tea in her thermos. Everyone enjoyed the hot liquid thankfully.

“Where’s the captain?”

“The class leader’s called her over. She should still be inside.”

“Good. We’ll wait here then tail her,” Mifi smiled deviously, cupping the cup as steam from the hot tea rose to fog up her sunglasses.

“I think she’ll go back to bed like usual……” Layfon said, uncomfortable with her expression.

“Oh, I’ve been observing her. She trains until it's time to work, so if anything happens, it must happen after work.”

“Huh? Has she been training?”

“Yeah, it's pretty scary too, when she trains.”

“It’s like she’s another person.”

If even Naruki said so, then the training must have been intense.

“……”

She cancelled her training with him, but continued to train by herself.

“I see.”

“Hm? What?”

“Uh, nothing.”

That confirmed his suspiciouns.

He glanced at Naruki. She seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion.

“……Ah,” called Meishen softly. Everyone looked at the entrance.

Nina was coming out.

Breathing out steamy breaths, cold and shivering, Nina only wore her Military Arts uniform. Did she come straight from the Engine Room without returning to the dormitory? Her worksuit probably was inside the bag she carried. Layfon remembered that Nina had that bag with her when she came to team training.

Even the scattering street light, dim as it was, couldn’t cover the shadows of exhaustion on Nina’s face, but her pace while walking didn’t show her fatigue.

Layfon drained the tea in his cup and tossed the cup into a bin. The four of them waited for Nina to walk ahead a bit before following after her.

Layfon and Naruki decided on how far they had to stay behind Nina. If left to Mifi and Meishen, they’d have been discovered already. Although that was his conclusion, Nina’s appearance changed his judgement. Mifi might tail her well even by herself. A kind of tension surrounded Nina, but it looked more like an old wire fence to him. A fence with lots of openings.

“She’s very tired,” Naruki said in a low voice. Layfon nodded.

What had pushed Nina to this stage? Was it because they lost the platoon match? Could it have been that big of a shock to her? He wasn’t sure. No, perhaps he did know. He had tasted failure in Grendan. In order to survive, it was important for him to win again and again. The important point wasn’t his life and death, but more his being afraid of encountering a stumbling block in the process of doing what he wanted to do.

Was this the feeling that Nina held?

……Sure. She wanted to protect this city from harm. She said that to him not long ago.

“……She’s going somewhere?”

“Probably.”

Troubled expressions adorned Meishen and Mifi’s faces.

Nina continued towards the outskirts of the city.

The edge of the city was a danger zone, a zone where emergencies tended to arise, so residential and any important buildings were usually built further in from the city’s boundary. On the other hand, any buildings close to the danger zone were rented out cheaply.

Layfon didn’t know the exact location of Nina’s dormitory, but he could guess from the direction she headed after training and cleaning in the Engine Room that her dormitory did not lie on the city’s edge.

Nina finally arrived in a clearing devoid of buildings.

The sound coming from the movements of the city’s multi-legs rode the wind. Layfon and the girls hid in a forested area. This place was a bit far from the roaming bus station. All they could see was the wind carrying pollutant, a sandstorm rioting outside the air shield.

The wind tonight was especially strong. The sandstorm in the dark looked like some stirring creature.

Meishen held tightly to Layfon’s sleeve.

A hazy sky blocked out the traces of the moon. The cloud cover must be very thick.

Nina walked down some stairs to the middle of an amphitheatre and dropped the bag from her shoulders.

She took hold of the Dites in her harness.

[[Image:CSR vol02 189.jpg|thumb]]
“Restoration,” she said softly. At that sound, a familiar feeling ran through Layfon.

She readied her fighting stance. Layfon knew she’d then breathe in deeply and allow the Kei to flood her body.

The iron whips struck downwards or to the sides. She received, let the pressure slide off a side, and struck back at an imaginary enemy.

Nina’s body spun left and right, sometimes staying in one place as if defending against repeated heavy strikes, sometimes running forward as if attacking, charging in.

Nina practised all the moves she knew.

There was no delay or hesitation in her movements. Each move flowed smoothly into the next.

It was an Art, and it had a frightening air.

All three girls except Layfon were holding their breath.

Nina was like a first class dancer, showing every scene of the world in her movements. At the same time, she was like a mad fighter, fighting against everything in the world.

Meishen and the other two girls had already seen Nina training last night, but watching her for a second time did not reduce their amazement. They watched her wordlessly.

Layfon fixed his gaze on Nina, watching the light of Kei emitting from her. Her flow of Kei was brighter than the Kei she showed in team training. But unlike the first time, when Nina’s Kei was so dazzling that he could not look directly at her, a shadow now traced her Kei.

It was meaningless to judge one’s strength against the light of Kei, since the two held no relation to each other.

Layfon wasn’t sure whether he should to be happy or not about the change in Nina’s flow of Kei.

He was just saddened for some reason.

The remaining Kei dispersed from her body like steam, giving off light and floating up into air as of something finally being released. From her fingertips, shoulders, neck, head, back, toes…The remaining Kei shook like strings. The strings wove together to become one and stretched out to the sky like something struggling against a force too heavy to resist.

What a tragic scene.

And that was where her problem lay.

“What a mess,” Layfon murmured, earning wide-eyed stares from his companions.

“……Layton?”

“Huh? But I think she's amazing……?” Mifi asked and looked at Naruki. Naruki didn’t seem to understand Layfon. She wore a perplexed expression.

“Is something wrong?”

“The problem's not with the Kei flow or her movements……” No, that ‘was’ the problem. Internal-type Kei would not strengthen the entire body. What it did was coordinate a person’s movements and cause changes accordingly, making the moves faster and stronger. It was a type of training like Whirl Kei, generating sudden and speedy changes. But in Nina’s training, there were many redundant moves.

Layfon didn’t want to point that out. Her weakness could be improved, given more training.

“It’s not a problem that she trains by herself. Military Artists are always lonely. One must face oneself and struggle hard to become strong. Nobody can help you, and it’s not something you’ll ask someone for help with, but……” he shook his head.

How could he put it? He hadn’t yet organized his own emotions, so no words surfaced in his mind. He failed to find suitable words.

“She’s too reckless,” he said in the end.

The way she dispersed her Kei was like she was drowning, struggling to hold onto anything, even a bunch of wheat, but even so, it still wasn’t enough to escape the flood.

She could only sink.

What would happen if she continued to sink……

“……If she keeps this up, she’ll break.”

“Yes……” Naruki nodded in realisation.

Nina had classes and training in the Military Arts course, then team training after class and individual training after that, janitorial duties in the Engine Room after all of that and then individual training again……Just when did she sleep? Did she get enough rest? Looking at her, she had probably spent most of her time training alone when she wasn’t at her work.

But she would pay a huge price later.

In Grendan, Layfon once had to fight filth monsters for an entire week. A whole week without time to sleep and rest. A week that took away his awareness of time. In the end, he was so debilitated that he couldn't lift a single finger. No matter how he lied to his body, his biological clock went crazy afterwards. A twist of the normal pattern appeared. He spent two whole weeks resting before he could return to duty.

“……We must stop her,” Meishen said.

Layfon agreed. But how? It was easy to say you’d damage your body……But Nina knew that too.

Layfon knew training was not enough for Nina to reach what she wanted, and he didn’t know what advice to give in that area. Sure, he knew on a basic level how one became strong. The Head of the orphanage was the first person to teach him the Way of the Katana.

Nobody was born with an innate understanding of the Military Arts.

But teaching Nina the Katana wasn’t what she needed.

She needed better training in the basics, but……

Layfon couldn’t teach her his training in Kei flow. He had already passed that phase of needing someone to teach him how to handle the flow of Kei at a very young age. He could teach Nina some simple steps, but he didn’t have the confidence to teach the deeper theories. He knew his own knowledge in this area wasn’t an easy thing for others to obtain.

Maybe it’d be presumptuous of him to say this, but what he meant was the ability of a genius. It would be difficult to pass on all of his instincts, instincts that a genius possessed and made real. And as such, none of the other Heaven's Blade Receivers had apprentices. All they did was concentrate on their own training.

“We’re the rareest of the rare, special and strange. We’re humans but not entirely humans. Even if we pass on our knowledge, it’d only be one-thousandth, one-ten thousandth, one-billionth. We’re those kinds of people, off the beaten path.”

Lintence had said that when Layfon was slowly getting the hang of how to control the steel threads technique.

“I taught you this skill as a small experiment. You’ve reached one-thousandth of my level, but it isn’t possible for you to get any better at it. Even if you can control billions of steel threads, they still aren’t as sharp as the point of your Katana. It’s better for you to use the Katana when you’re in a crisis.”

Layfon wasn’t disappointed at those words. He understood and accepted it. This reality hadn’t changed. He felt the running of his Kei flow the best when he held a Katana – not steel threads.

Why was there a difference? He couldn’t pass on his skill to Nina when he was unable to explain his own skill.

He shook his head. She would have asked him already if she had wanted to learn from him.

“……Layton?”

Against Meishen’s question, he had no idea how to show them his helplessness at Nina’s situation.

“Can’t we do anything?”

He shook his head.

“Probably……No, I don’t know. We can tell her she's training too recklessly, that she’ll seriously injure her body; but is there a purpose to this? There’s something she wants to achieve even though she’s like this. I find it meaningless to tell her to stop training when we can’t help her at all.”

Nina wanted to become stronger.

She had always wanted to become stronger. This wasn’t some sudden idea of hers.

But……

“Why’s she only doing this now? Because she lost the match? Is that all?” Mifi asked reflexively.

Layfon couldn’t think of any other reason, but doubt remained. Was that all, really?

“……I think I understand,” Naruki said.

They all looked at her.

“This is how I felt when I asked for Layton’s help awhile ago. Layton’s too strong, so I feel that I can’t fight beside you. I don’t know how to feel about this other than that. You can say that’s how Military Artists think. This feeling is lonely and regretful…Frankly, I’m also jealous. The feeling of only being able to rely on another’s power is hard, especially for me as a Military Artist. I think it’s harder for her as the captain of the team that you’re in.”

Listening to that reminded Layfon of Sharnid testing his new Dite.

Though Sharnid had laughed, saying that sniping was not enough for him, that might not have been the only reason. Did Sharnid ask Harley to make him new Dites because of the feeling that Naruki held? And Nina too?

No, she must be criticizing herself even more intensely than Sharnid, right? Because she strongly wanted to save this city……

“If that’s the case, then I don’t have anything to say……”

It was natural for a Military Artist to want to become strong.

“……But why?” Meishen said.

“Hmm?” Layfon responded. Meishen, not being a Military Artist herself, wouldn’t understand……He could think that about her, but the way she voiced her suspicion sounded like more than mere doubt.

Meishen said something vague, but changed her mind. “……I know the captain wants to be stronger, but why can’t Layton do anything? Why does Layton have to do anything?”

At first, he didn’t understand what she was getting at.

“…… The captain wants to become stronger so she can win, right? Does she want the entire platoon to become strong? In that case, it’s not just Layfon, but everyone together……”

Was it alright to become stronger alone or was it better to become stronger together? Which one was it? Layfon thought that it was the same either way.

“Together?” he asked.

Meishen nodded, her face all red.

“Together…”

“What’s so strange about that?” Mifi asked.

He felt as if something was stuck in his throat, preventing him from speaking.

“I see, it’s that simple……” Naruki said, touching her chin.

Something sounded strange. The sound of flowing Whirl Kei had stopped.

Layfon was the first to look over, then Naruki and the other two girls.

Nina had fainted.

<center>◇</center>

It didn’t take long to get to the hospital. Layfon had carried Nina to the hospital and the medical students on the night shift had quickly prepared a room for them. The doctor that had been napping came over to do a simple checkup and ordered the nurses to get someone over and prepare an IV. During this time, Layfon had called Harley, and as he was about to return to the patient’s room met Naruki, Mifi and Meishen.

It was now another shift. A different doctor was checking up on Nina. The nurses had changed Nina into patient clothes that were open at the back.

The doctor was placing needles into Nina’s back.

“He specializes in Kei vein treatment,” the nurse said to Layfon.

“Is this 3rd year Nina Antalk!?” the doctor said, displeased. Could it be because of sleepiness? His eyes looked quite sleepy.

Layfon nodded.

“I never thought a 3rd year in Military Arts could faint in such stupid way.”

“Is it serious?”

“There’s a decreasing level of function of her internal organs. She lacks nutrients and has overworked her muscles……Anyway, everything about her is weak. The simple cause is the overworking of the Kei vein.”

As expected.

“Kei can strengthen body functions and speed up healing, but the source of the Kei vein is the flow caused by human activities. Military Artists have a special organ to generate Kei flow, but the basics are the same. No, to a Military Artist, this is the same as increasing her weakness, because that organ is the same as a heart or a brain. If it’s damaged, then it might die,” the doctor said as he placed more tiny needles into Nina’s back. From her waist going upward, as if the needles were mapping out some sort of a terrain.

“Even if the brain’s damaged, one can still live in a vegetative state. If a heart’s damaged, we can give them an artificial heart. But this is the only organ that is irreplaceable. If the Kei vein is damaged beyond repair, then it’s over. I think I said that already in class, that it has to be looked after carefully,” he said, continuing to place tiny needles on his patient’s back. Although there weren’t any professionals in the Academy City, this doctor’s skill seemed reliable enough.

“Can she be cured?”

“This isn’t fatal. I’m using acupuncture to strengthen her flow of Kei.”

Layfon relaxed.

“But she can’t move for now, and she can’t participate in the next platoon match.”

“……Really?”

“Hum? You don’t seem shocked?”

“That type of thing means nothing to me.”

“It seems like that rumour of the newbie of 17th platoon being a weirdo really is true.”

So there was such a rumour? The needles spread from the waist to Nina’s fingernail and heels.

The doctor placed the last needle on Nina’s left heel, and massaged his shoulders.

The nurses adjusted the air-conditioner and left the room.

Nina continued to sleep. Layfon’s fast and irregular breathing had now calmed down. A relaxed sigh escaped his mouth, and he remembered the three girls waiting in the corridor. He went out to tell them Nina was all right, that they could go home first. It was almost dawn and the girls also had class next.

“What about Layton?”

“I’ll stay here a bit then go.”

“……Is there anything you need?” Meishen asked.

Layfon didn’t understand what she meant.

“……She’ll need things, staying in the hospital.”

“Ah……”

“Layfon won’t be able to prepare everything. We’ll bring the things after class.”

“Thanks.”

“Aa, that’s all we can do for her,” Mifi said as he escorted them to the lobby.

And he saw Harley.

Representing the other two, who weren’t here, Harley’s face was stiff and green. “How’s Nina?”

“She’s sleeping.”

“I see…Is she all right?”

“She won’t be able to participate in the next match.”

“That can’t be helped,” Harley said without resistance. He sighed, relaxed after knowing Nina was all right. “Don’t you think it's a shame?”

“What’s important is the real match, right?”

“True.”

Harley’s reply gave Layfon courage. To Layfon, the platoon match wasn’t at all important, but he wasn’t sure whether Nina felt the same.

“I’ve contacted the other two. I think they’ll be here soon……But they aren’t the hasty types, huh?” Harley shrugged, not at all criticizing their slowness.

They returned to the patient’s room. Harley gasped at the needles covering her body, but he breathed out slowly after seeing her sleeping face.

And suddenly directed his gaze to the wall. His face turned red.

“Can we cover her?”

“…The nurses didn’t. If we do it ourselves, it seems……”

Layfon understood Harley’s meaning, and he also felt heat creeping up his own face.

After knocking quietly on the door, Felli walked in.

“……What’re you doing?” she asked coolly, her gaze sweeping across Nina, her underclothes illuminated by the light, and the two young men.

Losing interest at her tongue-tied teammates, Felli observed Nina’s face. After confirming that Nina was all right, she once again put her face closer to the captain’s.

Felli was in uniform. It was not yet dawn, but neither her hair nor uniform showed signs of her having slept.

Layfon was peeking at the two girls. Felli moved her gaze away and looked at him.

He hastily moved his gaze back to the wall.

“Pervert.”

“I didn’t see anything.”

“Giving that response means you’re a pervert.”

Unable to fight back, he could only moan.

“Never mind, that’s not important. What’s important is……” Her gaze landed on Harley, then she took out a big envelope from her bag.

“My brother gave me this.”

Layfon read the letter.

He had already guessed the contents of the letter before Felli opened the envelope. And after observing Harley’s reaction, stiffening and recovering and then looking at Nina, Layfon understood more.

Back at the bed, Felli was checking whether Nina was truly asleep.

Inside the envelope was a photo.

“This is the second image from the drone.”

The image was the same as the last one, but it was clearer and sharper. Maybe because it was closer to the city.

That thing was fastened high on the face of a mountain. Was it sleeping? Its wings were folded, laying on top of each other. Its body was curled up.

A filth monster.

It was a male……In which phase? Layfon couldn’t judge from the photo.

If only it would continue to sleep; but this hope was far from possible.

“Has the city……Has Zuellni changed direction?”

When a city detected a filth monster, it’d take evasive action. Every mobile city acted this way, including Zuellni.

Felli shook her head. “Zuellni’s still heading straight in that direction. At this rate, it’ll encounter the filth monster the day after tomorrow.”

The day after tomorrow……Was the weekend, and the day of the platoon match. It appeared that the 17th platoon would have to give up on the match.

Layfon sighed. He put the photo back inside the envelope and returned it to Felli.

“The Dite’s ready. You can use it anytime,” Harley said.

“The combat gear for external use is ready. My brother wants you to depart tomorrow night if possible.”

“I understand.”

“Are you afraid?” Felli suddenly asked.

“Hm?”

“Of fighting the filth monster.”

“Well……”

Of course he was afraid. That line touched his lips but did not leave them. It wasn’t because he thought he’d lose face by confirming his fear, but he hesitated at the expectation and hope in Felli’s eyes.

“It’s a bit late for you to be asking that question.”

“That’s……true.”

As if imitating Layfon, wanting to say something and deciding not to, Felli’s lips opened and closed. She sighed, a sigh of one who knew how many times cuter and more beautiful that sigh could be.

“Can't you stop……?” she murmured. Confirming Nina’s condition once more, she left the room.

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