Editing Leviathan:Volume 3 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 3===

After visiting the library's underground level, Hal took Hazumi to ride the New Town Loop Line.

Their aim was to make an appearance at SAURU's branch office, Mirokudou, at Higashikomagata. Despite the shop's appearance as a used bookstore, the manager, who also served as the organization's contact, was frequently absent.

But today was different. Rare as it was, Kenjou Genya was present in the shop located on the fourth floor of a mixed tenant building.

"Hello, youngster. You arrived really soon, even though I only just texted you in the daytime."

This was a young man who could be described as handsome without exaggeration. But for some reason, there was no "wildness" in his demeanor despite his stubble, crumpled shirt and tie, etc.

Rather, it would be better to describe him as giving off a first impression of "carefreeness."

Kenjou placed a small, A4-sized corrugated cardboard box on the checkout counter. This box was made of pH-neutral cardboard used for storing ancient texts. The object Haru had ordered was inside it.

During the daytime today, Hal had received a text on his cellphone informing him of his order's arrival.

"Because I'm a high schooler, I'm basically free after classes."

"Isn't that nice? I'd like to stay cooped up in this unfrequented used bookstore every day to enjoy times of leisure as much as possible in a celebration of sloth."

"E-Excuse me... Are you usually handling SAURU's work outside?"

The one who interjected with a question was the middle schooler, the youngest person present.

Although Kenjou and Hazumi were mutually acquainted, they were not intimate at all. Since the middle schooler witch who had defended Tokyo New Town for many years was a VIP, her interactions with SAURU's members were limited to technical consultants at most.

However, despite her reserved and polite personality, Hazumi was also highly inquisitive and bold.

Timidly yet clearly, she asked what she wanted to find out. Hal did not know if Kenjou was impressed with this attitude of hers, but he grinned and nodded.

"Yeah. Within SAURU, this New Town branch of ours is relatively small in scale. Since I'm the only staff stationed permanently here, I have to go out to handle all sorts of miscellaneous tasks.... However, things seem to have started to change in this area."

"Change? What do you mean by that, Kenjou-san?"

Ignoring Hal's impolite tone of voice, the part-time used bookstore manager replied, "You see, didn't the Trans-Pacific Area's Shootdown Ace arrive half a month ago?"

"You mean the daughter of Greg-sensei&mdash;Master Gregory?"

"In fact, she is still at New Town and also nonchalantly~ interfering in the organization's affairs. Currently, she has become SAURU's highest authority in eastern Japan. Furthermore, she is skillfully scheming to increase the New Town branch's manpower."

"Then what about Hiiragi-san?"

"Hiiragi-neesan has become Miss Gregory's direct subordinate of sorts. Oh dear, thanks to this black ship, it looks like I'll be able to tend to the shop full-time in the future."

"Yes, because of increased manpower..."

"Miss Gregory apparently intends to turn New Town into Japan's&mdash;no, the entire Trans-Pacific Area's&mdash;frontline against the dragons. These preparations are probably made in anticipation of that."

"..."

After receiving his goods together with the unexpected news, Hal left the shop together with Hazumi.

Along the way to Higashikomagata Station, Hazumi's cellphone received a call.


"That's a wrap for today's work."

"Then it's all good. Let's all have dinner together."

In the end, the four of them, Hal, Orihime, Asya and Hazumi met up in front of Higashikomagata Station.

Although the only item left on today's itinerary was going home, due to the rare opportunity, the entire group entered a nearby family restaurant to have dinner.

Hal had heard that Hazumi rarely ate out except when working as a witch. However, after phoning home to tell them she was accompanied by her cousin Orihime, she obtained her family's consent to join in.

Perhaps because such experiences were rare for her, Hazumi was smiling more radiantly than usual.

"Fufufufu. I am overjoyed to be eating out with friends like this."

"After this, let's head over to my most recommended Chinese restaurant nearby. It's a great place where you can eat authentic Cantonese cuisine imported from Hong Kong, and very few people know of it."

"Oh, that's the shop where they sell deep-fried scorpions."

Just as Hal nodded and concurred with Asya's suggestion, Hazumi widened her eyes.

"Scorpions are edible!?"

"They're crunchy and taste great. Many people like to use them as snacks to go along with beer. It's very popular."

"A-Although it sounds a bit scary, I'm quite curious..."

"However, that might be setting the hurdle too high for a Japanese girl who's just trying out Cantonese cuisine. As for Juujouji, anything goes."

"W-Why am I dismissed like that!? Haruga-kun!"

"Because you are strong and brave, Juujouji. You look like the type who'll eat anything."

"Although I know that you are probably praising me, I still feel a bit indignant about being described that way..."

Possibly due to gathering together without a purpose, the four of them chatted about inconsequential topics.

This made Hal feel surprisingly delighted. Perhaps it was a reaction to the past half a month of thoughts occupied by dragons, runes of Ruruk Soun and the like.

In addition, Hal could also sense that Orihime and Asya's smiles were more cheerful than usual.

Hal could not help but feel a bit worried due to seeing the two girls show gloomy expressions on a frequent basis lately. However, they both seemed very happy tonight.

After that, the four of them parted ways at the station.

Orihime and Hazumi were taking the Loop Line in the Shin-Kiba direction, so they went through the turnstiles together.

On the other hand, Hal and Asya were headed in the opposite direction towards Kanegafuchi. Hastily, just as they were about to pass through the turnstiles, Asya pulled Hal by the sleeve of his uniform.

"H-Haruomi, w-would you like to visit a restaurant later to see beautiful night scenery!?"

"...We just had dinner, after all. Making me accompany you for a second meal would be asking too much."

It looked like his childhood friend had not eaten her fill yet.

After the cautious rejection, Asya suddenly realized something in alarm and changed her tune.

"D-Do over, forget what I just said. How about going on an evening spin, just the two of us&mdash;"

"I'd like to read the book I bought from Kenjou-san, so give me a break tonight, okay..."

"Do over again! Uh, right. Yeah, it's about Rushalka. I'd like to have a proper discussion with you about her, so could you come with me?"


In the end, Hal and Asya went to Kogetsu Academy at Ryougoku.

Since they needed a wide area to do their "work," the school was an excellent choice. Having passed 9pm, chances of encountering anyone in school were very low as well.

Hal and Asya climbed over a wall together and successfully sneaked into the school's premises.

No lights were on apart from the staff room in the school building. Hal took out a flashlight from his bag. It was a stick-shaped flashlight the size of a ballpoint pen with the advantage of taking up little space.

Hal always carried handy tools of this sort purely due to his nature as a treasure hunter.

Relying on the faint light, Hal and Asya reached the sports ground. Just by looking up at the night sky, the 70% waxing gibbous moon could be seen glowing faintly between the clouds.

"Then I'll summon her."

Asya suddenly extended her right hand with her palm facing the ground.

Next, the figure of a blue-white magic beast was projected on the sports ground's white sand. The wyvern leviathan whose body measured dozens of meters long. Naturally, this was Rushalka.

Despite some fuzziness, it was a vivid image akin to a photo taken by a camera.

Curled into a ball, Rushalka was in deep slumber. What Asya was trying to present visually was not the blue leviathan's physical body but her soul&mdash;The state of the serpent's spiritual body.

Bathed under moonlight, the ground was substituting for a screen.

"It's already impossible to wake her up by calling quietly. Recently, Rushalka's mind has remained in deep sleep the whole time. In the near future, I fear she will enter eternal slumber."

"And earlier, her state of health had improved slightly..."

Through the infusion of dragonslaying power, Rushalka had exhibited a brief but temporary recovery.

But after the battle against Pavel Galad, her condition had worsened again. Presumably, fighting a successor of dragonslaying power would take such a massive toll on her health, right?

"But unlike back in early spring, we now have hope for a cure."

"The birth ritual, right?"

"Yes. Since Hazumi-san's Minadzuki&mdash;even a 'serpent' that heavily injured&mdash;could be revived, surely Rushalka can also be restored. You must lend a hand, Haruomi."

"Sure, as long as that weird self-styled devil agrees."

"Making her agree is your job, Haruomi."

"Besides, the magical power needed by the ritual also needs to be secured. Since it apparently has high requirements in both quantity and concentration, it's not a ritual that can be done at a moment's notice."

"...Haruomi, don't tell me you're reluctant to do it?"

As expected of the childhood friend, her perceptiveness was truly sharp. Asya narrowed her eyes with suspicion.

This was because she had sensed Haruga Haruomi's feelings on the matter through his subtle wording and indifferent attitude. Hal shrugged and voiced his thoughts.

"I want to do it. If Rushalka could recover successfully, that'd be very encouraging. But with that, the life in seclusion I've always wanted to live will become very distant..."

"Life in seclusion&mdash;Ahhh, Haruomi, you still haven't given up on that plan?"

Asya widened her eyes in surprise.

"You're clearly someone in possession of a dragonslaying rune, you know? It might be a bit much coming from me, but let alone living a peaceful life in retirement, there's a very high chance you won't die a natural death at the end of a long life..."

"You are so correct that it's not even funny."

"No helping it. This is what it means to be chosen for a hero's destiny."

Hearing Hal's calm murmurings, Asya smiled faintly.

There would be no end to it once they started worrying seriously about somber matters. Hence, since a long time ago, the two of them would deliberately make jokes out of similar issues and take the chance to engage in frivolity.

More than likely, his childhood friend intended to do the same this time too.

Treating it as conversational fuel was probably in consideration of maintaining Hal's mental balance.

"Never mind. If that's the case, I'll shelve this for now. After all, it's a problem that needs to be confronted sooner or later, no matter how unwilling, besides&mdash;"

At this moment, Asya glanced at Hal as though she had something to say.

"It looks like you've been pulling all-nighters lately."

"I discovered an RPG dating back to the era of 8-bit CPUs that has been re-released on the cellphone, so playing it has been addictive. It's the kind of game with only blocks of pixels moving around, lacking not only movies but even sound effects."

Hal explained with a random excuse while suppressing a yawn.

Due to having too many things to do lately, he was only getting three hours or so of sleep a day.

"Like stripping all money and items from a newly created character then kicking him out of the party, or going to the casino to make a killing using secret skills, or amassing enough gold to overflow the bank and using it to buy the strongest equipment, or buying out all stat-raising potions, I've tried out many things that can't be done in modern games."

"A hero's party that's out to save the world shouldn't be doing those kinds of things!"

"Oh dear, that's because there's no hero in my party. Besides, asking this mere group of four or five to save the world is an overly ambitious quest in the first place."

"That's because the people who work hard seriously in these areas are the ones who become heroes."

While chatting, Asya casually waved her hand.

Rushalka's figure vanished from the ground. Then Asya remained by Hal's side as though nothing had happened. With a calm and composed expression on her face, she did not bring up topics related to "serpents" again.

Sure enough, this ease of getting along was achievable only by the childhood friend whose fate was inexplicably entwined with his.

There was the sense of comfort that the other party would still be able to sense one's thoughts even without spelling everything out. A relaxing atmosphere without worry. Hal was truly grateful for all this.

However, at this moment, an unfamiliar girl approached the chatting duo.

A blonde Caucasian, roughly sixteen or seventeen in age. Despite the location of a school sports ground, she was in casual attire.

She was dressed in a low-cut black one-piece dress with a loose-fitting silhouette. Her hands were clad in gloves of white lace.

The combination of white and black gave an extremely mysterious impression.

"Greetings, Asya. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Haruga-san."

The girl in the dress greeted them then bowed gracefully.

In terms of facial features, she was very pretty too. A young beauty with a slender oval face. On her delicate and beautiful face, like an antique doll's, a gentle smile surfaced.

A sheltered young lady, raised in an aristocratic household&mdash;

That was the kind of airs the girl exuded just by smiling. In truth, her earlier greeting was also elegant and gracious.

"My apologies for my tardy greeting, but please listen to my explanation. Ever since arriving in Japan, I have been buried in work. I almost thought I was going to die from overwork. However, my dear friend Asya would be saying to me with a smile, 'I don't mind at all. You've worked hard, Luna♪', wouldn't you?"

"H-Here you go again with this sort of act, even after such a long absence..."

Asya frowned and stared at the blonde girl.

Then in an extremely reluctant tone of voice, she said to Hal gloomily, "Let me introduce her. This is Luna Francois Gregory, a master mage under SAURU as well as being Chief Researcher of the Trans-Pacific Area. We're acquaintances."

"My goodness, Asya. I shan't accept anything less than the description of friend with the word 'great' in front of it."

Luna Francois smiled tenderly while chiding her fellow witch.
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