Editing Tasogare-iro no Uta Tsukai:Volume2 4th Play (section)

===Part 2===

In the research institute, holding her breath in the small, dimly-lit room, Enne searched for the presence of living things on the other side of the door.

She pressed her ear to the door for a few seconds— There was no sound of the creatures coming closer. Ten seconds…… twenty seconds. She listened carefully for over a minute, but she heard no change in the silence outside.

……Whew. Enne finally let out the breath she had been holding.

“For now, it seems safe here.”

They were in a small room beside the straight hallway. The room contained a few sofas and an elliptical table, so it was probably a lounge.

“How’s your arm?”

Enne turned around to look at Zessel, who was sitting on a sofa. With a bitter smile, Zessel used his movable right arm to tap his left arm, which had turned to stone.

“Well, it doesn’t feel painful or uncomfortable. It’s just that no matter how much I try, I can’t move anything below my shoulder.”

The grey snakes and lizards were hiding in the entrance hall. Also, the majority of the researchers who had been turned to stone were around there. They had definitely been attacked by the snakes and lizards.

“It probably wasn’t just a single person who called out all of those Recited creatures.”

Turning his gaze to the table, Zessel stayed silent. That was also something he had been wondering about.

—But right now, there was something more important to think about.

“For now, we need to think of a way to cure your left arm.”

Right now, it was better to think of those things as Recited creatures, like Zessel had said.

What they had discovered so far was that all of those creatures were grey, without exception. Also, there were large amounts of ash everywhere in the research institute, as well as creatures with grey skin. It was hard to think that those two facts were not connected.

Snakes and lizards were hiding inside those piles of ash. But instead of being just a hiding place, could the ash be the catalyst that was used to call out the Recited creatures?

“Using ash left over from fires as a catalyst? I’ve never heard of such a Recitation.”

“We don’t have enough evidence yet, so it’s difficult to understand. For now, let’s assume those things are Recited creatures. If we think of it like that, then we can make some sense of this situation. Also, there’s an additional benefit to thinking like that.”

“An additional benefit?”

Zessel repeated like a parrot. Enne stared down at his left arm.

“If that was caused by a Recited creature, then there’s a way to cure both your arm and the researchers who were turned to stone. We just need to take away the Recitation effect that’s turning your arm to stone.”

“—A Reverse Song?”

Among Recited creatures, there were some species that had poisonous fangs. The poison didn’t disappear when the Recited creature disappeared, but had to be treated in a way that sent back the poison itself. It would be worth trying the same method on Zessel’s arm.

“I wish we had a specialist {{Furigana|Exorcist|Gillshe}} here. If I were to do it, it would probably take a lot of time.”

From a pocket in her suit, Enne took out a flask containing a liquid catalyst.

“There’s no point being impatient in a situation like this. Take your time.”

Zessel said philosophically and casually to his childhood friend.


<div align="center">***</div>


“……Where’s Kate-sensei going?”

In a quiet voice, Neight asked Ada, who was walking in front of him.

“We’ll know if we follow her.”

The girl shrugged her tanned shoulders.

Holding the test papers that he had filled out, Neight had been in the middle of heading to the staff room.

‘Chibi-kun. Come with me, just in case.’

Ada had whispered as she continued to follow Kate. Just how much farther would they walk? Ten minutes, or perhaps a few dozen minutes? The tension and weariness of not being used to tailing someone numbed her sense of time.

The teacher headed down the one-way road going away from the beach. The road was sparsely bordered by thin trees, so there were only a few places to hide as Ada and Neight tailed her. Furthermore, the ground was sandy. Sand flew up with each step, making a small noise.

That should have been the case, but— The only footsteps Neight heard were the teacher’s and his own.

The footsteps of the girl who walked slightly ahead of him were so quiet that they were nearly silent.

Ada walked in a silent way that left even no footprints on the sand. Neight remembered when she had been practicing with her spear on the beach. That time, she also hadn’t left any footprints in the sand.

……Was this also part of an {{Furigana|Exorcist|Gillshe}}’s training?

{{Furigana|Exorcists|Gillshe}}— Those who sent back Recitations. They were people who completely contrasted Reciters.

‘Neight…… What do you think a Recitation is?’

That was what his bedridden mother had said.

‘These things called Recitations are used to call out yourself. That’s what I think. A true Reciter is one who gives form to his heart and calls it out.’

If he were to believe his mother’s words from that day— If a Recitation was the same as calling out one’s heart, then why was there a need to send it back?

……Mother, perhaps I still don’t understand it.

He had decided that he wanted to believe in the words of nobody but his mother. However, the fact that there were people giving it their all to live their lives as {{Furigana|Exorcists|Gillshe}} was an undeniable truth.

“Ah, um, Ada-san.”

“Hm? What is it, Chibi-kun?”

“N……No, I’m sorry. It’s nothing.”

Letting the lump stay in his chest, Neight closed his mouth.

He didn’t understand. Hey, Ada-san, do you feel like that too?

Neither Reciters nor {{Furigana|Exorcists|Gillshe}} were unneeded. Was Ada suffering like this because she was trapped, unable to move between those songs and spears?

The girl stayed silent. Neight moved a single step closer to her, shortening the distance between them.

He believed that he could shorten the distance between her heart and his, if only by a little bit.

—Kelberk Research Institute, Fidellia branch.

Farther down the road, a signpost engraved with those words came into view.


<div align="center">***</div>


On the surface of his arm that had turned into grey stone, a crack appeared. A fissure. It extended from his fingertip to his elbow—

“Hey, this—”

Wasn’t this bad? Before her colleague finished speaking, Enne placed a hand over his mouth.

“It’s fine. Don’t move.”

While saying that, her gaze was focused on his shoulder.

……Alright. A pale white light leaked out from within the crack. Like steam rising up, the particles of light slowly floated towards the ceiling. It was evidence of the Reverse Song’s effects.

Along with the particles of white light, pieces of grey rock peeled off Zessel’s arm. And then……

“So, how do you feel?”

Breathing a sigh of relief as the color returned to Zessel’s left shoulder, Enne wiped away the sweat that had formed on her forehead.

As Enne spoke, Zessel put some strength into his left shoulder.

“……I can move it. It doesn’t feel painful or uncomfortable.”

His arm looked the same as it did before it had been turned to stone. Honestly speaking, both of them had been prepared for some aftereffects to remain after the healing process.

“This is a bit of luck in all our misfortune, huh?”

“Hey, where’s my thanks?”

His childhood friend showed an oddly innocent smile.

“When we get back, I’ll buy you a new swimming ring.”

“I’ll be expecting it!”

After loosening up for a second, Enne’s solemn expression quickly returned.

“There’s one thing we know about it so far. I tried [{{Furigana|Surisuz|Yellow}}] and [{{Furigana|Beorc|Green}}], but those two Reverse Songs had barely any effect. The one that worked was [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}]. If I had to categorize this Recitation, I’d say it’s closest to [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}].”

“……What do you mean by ‘closest’?”

[{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}] certainly had an effect on it. But in reality, it was somewhat different from the [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}] that Enne was familiar with. A subdivision of [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}]…… No, a Recitation derived from it and then altered?

Academically, within the five colors, it would be classified as a White Recitation because it was unmistakably that Reverse Song which had worked. But it would be risky to classify it completely under White.

“For convenience, perhaps we should call it [{{Furigana|Isa|Grey}}] for now.”

That’s right. In other words, Grey Recitations.

It wasn’t a Recitation just called out grey things, but also turned the opponent into grey stone. By making that assumption, most of the unusual circumstances could be explained.

“Grey Recitations? Can we acknowledge such a color so hastily?”

Enne’s colleague spoke with a doubtful expression on his face. Enne understood his disbelief. Altogether, there were only five colors of Recitations that existed in the world. There were no exceptions. Enne had believed that also.

“But we know of an exception to the five colors.”

The exception was called Night Color Recitations.

They had seen with their own eyes the Night Color’s singer, its song, and its True Spirit.

“……Well, I guess that’s true.”

With a discouraged expression, Zessel quieted down.

“If you don’t want to think of Night Color Recitations as an abnormality, then let’s consider Grey Recitations as an abnormal variation of [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}]. And moreover, an astoundingly aggressive variation.”

There should have been only a few creatures in White Recitations that were offensive in nature, yet Grey Recitations was an aggressive color that managed to defeat the whole research institute by itself. 

“You seem disgusted.”

“Because this isn’t the true way that a Recitation should be used.”

If this was a subdivision of [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}], then all the more reason so.

That horrible Recitation shouldn’t be used like that, for no matter what reason.

“Hey, does that mean you can also cure all of the researchers?”

……Although Enne wanted to do that, it would take too much time and effort.

“We don’t have any time to spare right now.”

They hadn’t made contact with the school for quite a long time. The branch school and possibly the main campus were probably in a state of confusion about the situation right now. They needed hurry and contact the schools, but a large number of Recited creatures were currently still blocking their escape route.

“For now, let’s head farther into the research institute. This is a large institution, so there should be one or two emergency escape passages. Or we might be able to find an exit not blocked by a group of those annoying things.”

Zessel rotated his left arm around to return some body heat back into it. His colleague stood up from her place on the sofa.

“I’m not too eager to do this, but we have no other choice.”

With a tired expression, Zessel nodded. Placing her hand on his shoulder, Enne nodded back. This was the only thing they could think of doing right now.

—Let’s hurry. Our strength is reaching its limit.