Editing Leviathan:Volume 2 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 2===

"Yesterday was such a trying experience..." Orihime remarked in utter exhaustion the next day after her first long-distance battle.

Since today was a normal weekday sandwiched between consecutive holidays, everyone was at school. It was currently lunch time. After finishing lunch in the cafeteria, Hal, Asya and Orihime had gone to a corner in the school next to a flowerbed looked after by the Gardening Club.

"I'm totally fine with putting effort into the likes of fighting and magic. After all, that's what I originally envisioned as part of becoming a witch. But..."

Today, Orihime's face was showing fatigue that any bystander could see.

"I was never told that I had to visit sponsors to report my victories..."

"Nee-sama, it's thanks to those elderly men that Minadzuki and your Akuro-Ou can take action freely. We've got to thank them properly."

Smiling wryly, Hazumi corrected her cousin.

Studying in the third year of the middle school section, she had been brought here by Orihime as well.

"I'm sure you could create an amicable atmosphere by smiling like an angel while calling out 'Grampsy♪' even when faced with what seems like an army of old men with weird tempers. But for a newcomer like me, it's still quite a heavy burden..."

"Ah, so what Hiiragi-san meant by 'regular business' was going over to greet sponsors."

Hal understood. The sponsors funding Hazumi and Orihime's activities were businesses, capitalists, NGOs, religious leaders, local authorities, etc stationed in Tokyo New Town and the Kantou region.

To show up at a gathering of representatives and engage in lengthy dialogue&mdash;

This was indeed a heavy burden for a girl who was still a middle schooler until recently.

Nevertheless, Orihime was bolder than average, after all. Hal felt that she would rapidly get used to these duties.

"Don't worry, Orihime-san. If you find it a pain, just put on diva-like airs and they'll actively avoid contact with you."

"Because, witches are irreplaceable human resources, their positions are ultimately much stronger."

"Start with kicking tables. Then order people to buy drinks, complain about the taste and pour the drinks over them."

"If anyone raises objections, just hint that you'll apply to be 'reassigned' somewhere else."

"Stop tempting a newcomer with such immoral suggestions!"

After listening to Asya and Hal's chattering advice, Orihime could not help but scold them.

"Good grief. Haruga-kun and Asya-san, seriously you two...  But it's not like I am totally opposed to the devil's temptation."

"N-Nee-sama!"

"In truth, I am supposed to pay my respects at a grave after school today, but Grandfather and the others suddenly announced a dinner party to celebrate yesterday's victory or something. As a result, I have to attend as the guest of honor."

Orihime sighed and explained in response to her cousin's protest.

"Is it someone's death anniversary if you're paying respects at a grave?"

"No, it's basically more of a formality. I was going to tell my father, mother and younger brother that I've become able to fight dragons."

Orihime's attitude was the same as usual, without suppressing or adding extra emphasis in her voice.

"On a certain Sunday when I happened to be free from kendo competitions, we went out as a family. While our car was passing under a highway, we unfortunately encountered a collapse accident. I was told that a few years ago, Raptors had rampaged in the area, causing the road itself to deteriorate... Oh dear, even though dragons were not fully responsible, I was thinking I should still report to my family."

Hal was informed that Orihime's family consisted only of herself and the grandfather.

Naturally, there must have been a reason for that. Hal, too, had been living alone for a long time now. Native to Georgia, Asya had no family apart from her mother who lived in Istanbul. Although this was not the reason, Hal still tried asking:

"Hiiragi-san probably owes me a favor or two. Want me to talk to her?"

"If you count me in, then that's a debt of three favors, okay?"

"Thank you both, but it's fine. I will tell her myself if I really feel opposed to going, so don't worry about it. However... If by any chance I need you to do something like that in the future, I'll be counting on you then."

After replying to Hal and Asya in a joking manner, Orihime nodded at her cousin.

As soon as this subject was brought up, Hazumi had immediately gone over to Orihime's side to silently cuddle against her.

"Oh, that reminds me. I need to talk about something completely unrelated," said Orihime very suddenly.

Hal and Asya shared a common aversion to depressing topics of conversation. Orihime apparently was the same.

"Actually, I thought about it after the battle ended yesterday. Haruga-san had Rushalka use the Rune of the Bow last time, right?"

"Oh, you mean that thing."

"Wouldn't it be very handy if Akuro-Ou could make use of that rune too?"

"Well, that's definitely true."

Hal agreed with Orihime so he nodded. But unbelievably, somehow inexplicably, Hal had a feeling that things would not go so smoothly. Why?

"Indeed, Rushalka and Asya-san were really amazing last time."

"I know, right? If Minadzuki recovers, I would like her to try using it too."

"If you put it that way... I guess there's basically no problem."

The cousins nodded at each other and Hal expressed agreement. However.

"N-No! That's a bond belonging (exclusively) to me and Haruomi (grumble grumble)..."

For some unknown reason, Asya was the only one objecting. Although there were some mumbled parts that he could not quite catch, Orihime seemed to get the idea, showing an expression that read 'Speaking of which... oh no.'

Speculating what his childhood friend was saying between the lines, Hal then spoke:

"I understand Asya's feelings in wanting to proceed with caution. After all, this power's origins are unknown so relying on it excessively will definitely be dangerous. Or perhaps side effects caused by the rune might appear."

"Uwah. As expected, Haruga-san's line of thought went in that direction..."

"What are you referring to? Whatever, let's put this aside for now. Although there's a risk, I definitely want to find more opportunities to test it out in order to gather more information..."

After muttering that, Hal stared at Orihime intently.

The arrival of a collaborator possessing a "serpent" in excellent condition had stimulated his ulterior motives.

"Now that you've suggested it, let's go test it out."

"H-Haruomi!"

"It's fine even if it doesn't work out. Let's see, how did it go last time?"

Ignoring Asya's protests, Hal began to search his memories.

If memory served him correctly, last time he had apparently thought to himself that he ''needed'' Asya and Rushalka no matter what, then extended his hand. In turn, his childhood friend had held his hand&mdash;

"Juujouji, hold my hand."

Hal extended his right hand.

Orihime nodded vigorously and slowly held Hal's hand.

The hand where a rune of Ruruk Soun resided, the location of the mysterious magic symbol&mdash;Then Hal thought intensely to himself that he needed Juujouji Orihime no matter what.

This continued for almost a minute. Hal quietly said:

"Seems like it's not working. I guess it looks like I can't entrust that rune to Juujouji."

Why was it not working? Hal began to contemplate.


Then when it was after school, Orihime departed in a hurry to attend that dinner party something or other.

Declaring "I've got something to do!", Asya stepped out of the classroom. As for Hal, instead of going home alone, he walked to a location in front of two concrete school buildings, namely, the library and the cultural clubs building.

Furthermore, he had brought Orihime's cousin, Hazumi, with him.

"But is this okay? Leaving a witch's equipment and books in school..."

"Although it's not ideal, it's still better than other random places," Hal answered Hazumi's worried whispers.

"Our school was built with funding from SAURU and was founded at the same time as another university in New Town. Both schools were apparently founded to serve a certain goal, reportedly to provide magic education to commoners..."

"Teaching magic to ordinary people!?"

"Of course that doesn't mean anyone either. If students with excellent aptitude and a love of learning appeared, SAURU would apparently recruit them for an elite education while they were young."

Why would a secret organization devoted to researching magic run schools?

Curious about this question, Hal had tried investigating. Similar schools seemed to exist all over the world.

"Becoming a witch depends purely on inborn aptitude, but working in research is different. This is perhaps a way of gathering talented people of this sort, which is why the school was designed to prevent the dangers and secrets of magic from leaking out. At the same time, it is also inside Juujouji and your circles."

Even relocating the Witch Mansion here as a temporary substitute facility would be no problem at all.

"I heard that the underground spaces here were built in consideration of such situations."

Hal began to examine the library anew. Just before he was about to leave the campus, Hiiragi-san had called him. She wanted Hal to check out the venue for the new Mansion.

Along the way, Hal happened to run into Hazumi. Then unintentionally, he revealed what had happened.

However, Hal did not expect Hazumi to make the following request politely:

"May... I come along with you? Please allow me to help out."

Was she quite concerned about the fact that she could not contribute on the battlefield despite being a witch?

Despite coming up with many excuses to reject her, in the end, Hal decided he might as well agree to let her accompany him&mdash;

Hal brought Hazumi to the first floor underground.

There was a door at the end of the hallway. He inserted the key that a member of school staff privy to SAURU-related matters had given him. After opening the door, he found a flight of stairs behind it.

Proceeding from this point, the second to sixth floors underground were to become the temporary Mansion.

Hal and Hazumi walked through each floor together.

Every room was empty. They checked whether the air conditioning, locks and lights were functioning normally. There were no problems with any of them.

"Looks like it's safe to move the materials at the previous Mansion over here. It's time to withdraw, I guess."

After the checking was complete, Hal told his impromptu partner.

"Fortunately, the checking task was relatively simple. If things always turn out like this, life would be much easier."

"Oh, I've heard. Your job involves traveling all over the world to unearth magic-infused mystical artifacts and magic textbooks... Isn't that right?"

"That's basically correct. But there are various other matters to handle too."

"Various matters, I see... For example?"

"Well, such as infiltrating concession territories in various lands for internal investigations or the like."

"So you even do that sort of thing."

"There are also ecological studies on dragons as living organisms. Like observing packs of Raptors from close range."

"That is truly dangerous..."

"Speaking of the most dangerous missions, that would probably be investigating the trail and whereabouts of elite dragons that had come to earth. Although I experienced it once with Soth last time, there's nothing worse than having those things target you."

"That's for certain. Please be careful!"

Hal felt intrigued. For a listener, Hazumi seemed too enthusiastic...

"You're interested in this kind of stuff?"

"Oh yes. I love listening to travel stories. Also, although not too many girls share the same interests, I also love adventure and exploration anecdotes."

"By adventure, do you mean conquering the tallest peaks on every continent or taking a sailboat across the Pacific?"

"Yes. Stuff like cycling across the European continent is also my favorite."

Hazumi smiled with a chuckle then added shyly:

"But I'm sure it's beyond me, that's all... Also, I have no choice but to stay in Tokyo, so in fact, I've almost never left the Kantou region..."

"You're in charge of protecting these lands after all. It can't be helped."

Hazumi was the witch tasked specifically with guarding Tokyo New Town and the surrounding region.

Although she was rewarded with handsome monetary compensation and VIP treatment, a witch shouldering duties as a "protector" could not even leave her assigned region to travel on a whim.

A "mercenary" like Asya who fought in various places was actually quite rare.

"It's not like you're Juujouji. Why not take this chance while your 'serpent' is recuperating to go on a trip?"

"Fufufu, what a lovely idea. However, that won't work."

Revealing her highly transparent smile, Hazumi shook her head.

"Yes, Minadzuki is weak, but not to the point of being impossible to summon. A situation could come up where I might be able to help despite her current condition."

"That's so so conscientious of you. But... your judgment is most likely correct."

Hal scratched his head while agreeing. He felt kind of defeated against her.

"Although Juujouji and Akuro-Ou are so strong that they don't resemble newcomers, they're inexperienced after all. There's definitely the risk of 'unexpected' dangers."

"About what Nee-sama brought up earlier about her family, it occasionally gets me thinking. If only I could've become able to summon Minadzuki earlier, to eliminate all the dragons in the area back then, perhaps Nee-sama might still have a complete family&mdash;That's almost like dreaming, right?"

"......"

"I think this type of 'cautiousness' probably isn't futile. Fufu."

Seeing this girl, younger than him, smile cheerfully, Hal thought to himself.

Although she was a bit reserved and less striking in appearance, this girl might actually be even more reliable than himself or Orihime.

She had persisted in fighting dragons over the years even though her magic was not particular strong.

Having experienced all kinds of hardship, many considerations must have crossed her mind. Hal felt himself revise his opinion of Hazumi a little.