Editing Leviathan:Volume 1 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 1===

It all started two months earlier.

Back then, the calendar read February.

That would be midwinter&mdash;Well, only inhabitants of the northern hemisphere would jump to that conclusion. At the time, Hal was actually in Australia on the southern hemisphere, and at a little coastal town to boot.

With summer in full swing, the sky overhead was blue and distant while the clouds were so white that they were dazzling.

Although the sunlight was quite intense, it added further to the liberating feeling of summer.

There was also the sea. A beautiful sea, navy blue and crystal clear, together with a white beach.

This was a town where one could take a quick walk to the shore and fully enjoy summer. Even if meant as flattery, calling this area metropolitan would be quite a stretch. However, it was not sparsely populated to the point that one would begin to miss urban life.

Tranquility in moderation. Comfort in moderation.

Hal's purpose here was work.

&mdash;Flying in from the moon and satellite orbits, the frequency of recent dragon attacks on urban areas had almost reached the level of sudden natural disasters.

As a safety precaution, local administrations in developed nations had written up tremendously detailed emergency evacuation manuals.

Furthermore, rigorous simulation drills were held at regular intervals to ensure flawless execution of evacuation procedures. This had already become the norm.

Apart from that, further self-defense measures would be desirable.

However, there were no military installations near this little town. In addition, despite being a coastal area, there were limitations in relying on the patrolling fleets of the TPDO&mdash;the Trans-Pacific Defense Organization.

Hence, it was commonplace for people to desire "assurance" unhindered by these conditions.

Hal worked for an organization whose main business was selling "knowledge" to these people.

Back when he first arrived here at the organization's referral, the southern hemisphere was still in winter.

During this period before the arrival of summer, Hal rushed all over Australia like the world-famous archaeologist and grave robber, Indiana Jones, and finally completed his mission. Having handed the obtained Grave Goods to local big shots, he was freed from his task.

He did not know if the ladies selected as eligible candidates would succeed in becoming witches known as "magi."

However, that did not fall under Hal's jurisdiction.

In the short term, all he needed to do was recuperate and enjoy this leisurely vacation without restraint.

Hence, he first went to a cafe by the sea. In the middle of slurping his mixed fruit juice, Hal received an incoming phone call that would disrupt all his plans.

"...Asya."

The touchscreen-operated portable terminal displayed the caller's name.

Anastasya Rubashvili.

Born in Georgia. Nicknamed Asya. Childhood friend. An unfortunate but inseparable relationship. For Hal, who did not have many friends, she was a rare case of a long-term friendship he maintained.

Touching the LCD, Hal picked up the call.

'It's been a while, Haruomi. How have you been, lately?'

The childhood friend's voice was both lovely and gentle.

In fact, she was also blessed with natural beauty that offered a perfect match for her voice.

But for some unknown reason, Hal found it extremely challenging to treat her as a member of the opposite gender. Maybe it was because he had often witnessed the way she wolfed down two-kilogram steaks while claiming "I'm lacking in appetite today" before finishing off another three plates of Korean-barbecued beef ribs.

In any case, to the childhood friend whose dreamy appearance only ran skin deep, Hal replied: "Good enough, I suppose. After all, I just finished a job."

'That's really good news. Well then, I happen to have a request fo&mdash;'

Beep. Hal disconnected the call.

Rather than a carefully thought-out action, this was a reflexive impulse.

'Could you please explain why you suddenly hung up?'

Calling again, Asya's voice still sounded adorable but now there was also something terrifying about it.

"Sorry. I couldn't help myself because you're like the monster that's trampling my paradise."

'That does not constitute a valid reason. And please avoid describing a young maiden as some kind of monster.'

"Then let me break this to you... As I've already mentioned before, my dream is to save up enough money to retire in seclusion at a quiet little town somewhere."

A light sigh was emitted on the other side in response to Hal.

'...Oh that one. If my memory serves me right, your target is to achieve your dream before the age of thirty-five, isn't it?'

"Yes. Then I'll spend the rest of my life freely indulging myself in my interests without doing any work at all."

'For a teenage boy's ambitions, that's severely lacking in the dream department.'

"Is it? On the other hand, I believe that as far as life's planning goes, there's nothing more dream-like than this. If you ask some pedestrians on the street, I'm sure many people will support the notion."

'Many people may agree, but I'm quite sure not many teenagers will be among them.'

Rather than caustic, Asya's tone of voice was indifferent.

She seemed to have had enough. However, Hal remained unfazed and continued, "In any case, that's my dream. My current location is quite ideal. This town offers just the right level of tranquility, it's comfortable to live in and has good proximity to the sea."

'By ideal, you really mean...'

"Yes. As a secluded residence, I think this place is completely flawless. Asya, I just finished a job and am now in a place where I can fulfill my dream. Wouldn't you agree that it'd be a most natural development if I want to take a vacation and have a trial run of my future while I'm here?"

'Speaking of which, it happens to be summer over on your side right now...'

"And yet you call at a time like this to discuss a 'request.' In any case, I'm sure it must be work related? That's why I hung up. In order to stop a certain insensitive monster from invading the sanctity of my paradise..."

'Please do not use a word like 'sanctity' to describe an excuse for slacking off.'

"I want to spend my time here lazing about like some sort of slovenly creature. Please find someone else."

'I refuse.'

The two sides had no common ground.

In order to overcome the impasse, Asya began to explain tirelessly.

'There's some personal research I'd like to conduct, so I plan to go to Tokyo New Town soon and use that place as a temporary base of operations.'

"Research, you say? And you deliberately go all the way to New Town?"

'Yes. However, I'm not too familiar with that city. I've also heard that SAURU does not have much staff there who could provide assistance.'

Hal and Asya both belonged to the research organization SAURU.

Undertaking the revival and research of the Metaphysical Body of Knowledge for resisting dragons, their mission was to promote this to the entire world&mdash;A secret association.

"The current Tokyo is nothing more than a regional city. I believe it has fallen into a deep recession, so having large numbers of staff stationed there is pointless," said Hal indifferently.

After the "Dragons' Return" and First Strike event over twenty years ago, the humans were forced into an unequal treaty, resulting in the establishment of over two hundred "concession" territories ceded to dragonkind.

The Tokyo Concession was one of them.

Currently, all the capital functions had been moved to central Japan.

'However, it would make a huge difference just by having one trustworthy companion by my side... Haruomi, you were born there, am I right? I also seem to remember you mentioning that you have a home there. So I wanted to discuss&mdash;'

"I haven't gone back for three years already. Neither do I have any intention to do so now," Hal swiftly rejected Asya before she could finish.

'Could you compromise a little on that point? Think of it as helping your childhood friend.'

"Friends are best kept out of sight, in one's heart."

'...Heartless.'

"I don't mind if you call me a fiend."

'Then I won't hold back. Fiend, demon! You are totally human scum, the worst lowlife!'

"Hearing that from a young girl gets me a little excited."

'You're a total pervert as well!?'

"......Heh."

'P-Please at least pretend to deny that last allegation!'

After grumbling at Hal's chuckling, Asya coughed and cleared her throat.

'In that case, Haruomi, let us have a chat about old memories. Do you still remember the time when we went to town by ourselves and ended up getting lost?'

"I seem to remember you were leading the way and took a wrong turn?"

'If anything, it was your fault for losing the map, Haruomi. Anyway, we were wandering about town back then, our stomachs rumbling with hunger.'

"Right, that's why I suggested: 'Given how cute a girl you are, Asya, all you need to do is plead tearfully and some benevolent adult or dirty pedophile will surely treat us to a meal, why not give it a shot?'"

'That's right, you said that... When clearly that kind of beggar-like behavior is totally unacceptable.'

"Rather than beggar-like, it's truly authentic begging."

'That's even worse! Putting that aside, back to the subject... Back then, by spending the little money I had to buy a hamburger, I was rendered penniless. Yet I divided my precious food and shared half with you to alleviate your hunger.'

"Hold it right there. From what I remember, your share was a lot more than half, you know?"

'W-Whatever. Anyway, roughly a half, okay!'

"Judging from your arguing, you're really doing this on purpose."

'...Please cast away those suspicions that are tainting our wonderful reminiscence. In any case, you understand now? After that, the bond we've built up has become our shared treasure. In order to respect that bond, shouldn't we support each other through good times and bad?'

"I think that reason's really stretching it."

'I don't care. Back then, you took away half of my food, Haruomi, so it's not fair unless you repay me accordingly!'

"...If I remember correctly, we were in Luxembourg back then?"

Hal attempted to recall the price level and local currency value from that time.

"A hamburger, right? Probably less than two Euros..."

'What's important is the benevolence of sharing roughly half of one's possessions with another. It's not very manly of you to calculate the value of a favor in terms of money.'

The above conversation led Hal to return to his homeland of Tokyo.

Despite going on a massive tangent filled with nonsense, Anastasya Rubashvili, aka Asya, was indeed Haruga Haruomi's old friend.

To be honest, Hal's true thoughts were "By this point, why bother going to a place like Tokyo..."

He had not returned all this time. Furthermore, despite being his homeland, there was no one waiting for him back there. There was no need to confirm this fact deliberately&mdash;That was what Hal believed.

However, his long and deep friendship with Asya prevented him from rejecting with that kind of reason.

Hal could only shrug and go "good grief" in resignation.

Hence, his vacation was cut short after lasting a mere three days. Hal started preparing for his return to Tokyo New Town.