Editing Leviathan:Volume 6 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 2===

After chatting, refreshments and a meeting...

Hal and Hazumi parted ways with the beautiful witch from an ancient kingdom and were back being alone together.

Riding the miniaturized Minadzuki, they took flight into the sky inside the ark, filled with sky islands. As before, Hazumi rode in front with Hal behind her.

Unlike earlier, they now had a clear target.

Solomon's ark apparently had a control room like in human ships.

Shamiram entered its coordinates into Hal's "magic wand," the magic gun. Truly impressive, an ancient witch. She performed such a high-level technique effortlessly.

"But are you sure we should be splitting up from Shamiram-san?"

"Just as she said, she would have greater freedom to act alone compared to staying with us, who are so conspicuous. She'll extend a helping hand in secret when we're in danger."

After Hal replied to alleviate Hazumi's worries, he lowered his voice.

"Also... In the event that she's lying, it'd be dangerous to be around her too."

"Lying about what?"

"Lying about hating Solomon-senpai and betraying him when she actually intends to conspire against us. Moving around as a group with a traitor in our midst would be quite a hassle since you never know when you'll get stabbed in the back."

Rather than working together while worrying, it would be better to go separate ways&mdash;

That was what Hal thought. He wanted to believe in human benevolence as much as possible but they had yet to establish any trust. Trust was not something to offer to others unconditionally.

In contrast, it seemed like Hazumi had not considered that possibility at all.

Stunned over there, she looked like she wanted to argue, but she paused to think before speaking. Finally, she said, "You are right... After all, we just met her."

"Yeah. It's unfortunate, but for us, sometimes it's definitely necessary to be more vigilant."

Hal gradually felt his soul soothed by his junior.

Because Hazumi's pure heart, refusing to suspect others unreasonably, moved him a bit.

"B-By the way..."

Hazumi started up another topic of conversation, probably to change the gloomy atmosphere.

"I feel that Solomon-san was not a very decent person."

"Definitely. Forcing a woman who had an intimate relationship with him to follow him to the grave and even using a curse to force her to be his gravekeeper for all eternity, that's definitely beyond fiendish."

"Can't you use your magic to help her, Senpai?"

"I doubt it. I don't think I have any spell that'll come in handy. By this point, even if I release her from her undead state, there's no way for her to reincarnate as a human. There's no spell to help her pass on to nirvana either."

"What a... pity."

Hazumi suddenly stammered then said stiffly, "B-By the way, Senpai, I am so sorry for earlier. I can't believe I said something like 'Shamiram-san, you are not the only special one!'"

"Oh, sure. You surprised me there."

"Umm... I don't quite understand it myself, but at the time, I felt compelled to speak at all costs. I couldn't hold it in no matter what. I felt that had the situation continued, Senpai would've become Shamiram-san's&mdash;"

Hazumi was jealous after all?

Jealous of the beautiful ancient witch who seemed like she was about to monopolize Haruga Haruomi with her bold behavior. The instant he realized this, Hal breathed a sigh of relief.

(Has my "big brother" flag finally been raised...!?)

It was just yesterday when he had told Hazumi that "You're feeling jealousy when girls approach me. In other words, this is the sense of loss stemming from your perception of me as something beyond a senior—an older guy akin to an ''big brother''!"

At that instant, Hal felt an indescribable surge of emotions in his heart.

"I am truly sorry. Also, I just realized.""

"O-Oh? What did you realize?"

He feigned calmness but could not stop his feelings inside from getting stirred up.

Hal could not help but start to fantasize. He imagined Hazumi confessing to him, "Senpai, you are already 'Onii-chan' to me!" in a shocking development.

What a conundrum. ''Am I finally going to gain a little sister of no blood relation?''

However, what Hazumi said was completely outside his predictions.

"Senpai... Do you do the same thing with others as what you did when you touched my breast? Umm, like with Nee-sama or Asya-san..."

"Ah, uh&mdash;I won't do that kind of stuff to Asya. Absolutely not."

Strictly speaking, he had done something similar during Rushalka's rebirth.

Even so, Hal still thought of it as a one-time exception that probably would not happen ever again. In fact, his childhood friend was able to use the sun-shooting divine bow successfully without Hal's help. However&mdash;

"Th-Then Senpai, sure enough, towards Nee-sama and Luna-san, you will..."

"......"

Hal realized his mistake. To think he had acknowledged the truth with his own mouth!

"I-In order to win against those dragons, there was really a necessity."

All he could do was relate "the truth itself."

Hal did everything he could to tense up his expression and speak in an extremely serious tone. At this rate, he was going to lose his dignity as the "senior."

To break out of this crisis, he spoke from the heart, "In truth, I've never had the luxury of sparing thoughts on other matters during battle."

...This was the truth close to the deepest part of his psyche.

He also knew that "other matters" actually surfaced in his mind during the instants when he had touched Orihime and Luna.

That being said, Hazumi still nodded and agreed with his slightly exaggerated admission.

"I-I get it! Last time, I was facing a great showdown against Hannibal-san too. B-But it's definitely as you say, Senpai... Huh?"

The two of them were riding on Minadzuki, who had shrunk down to five meters or so.

Sitting in front of Hal, Hazumi suddenly held her sides and bent over forward.

"Ah... Ooooooh. M-My stomach hurts..."

"Sh-Shirasaka!?"

Hal wrapped his arms around Hazumi's shoulders from behind and examined her face.

The pain lasted roughly three or four minutes before Hazumi finally recovered. With a haggard look, she said softly, "Sorry... I suddenly acted weird when it crossed my mind that Senpai has done the same thing with Nee-sama and Luna-san, which means they also experienced that kind of feeling."

"I-I see."

It was most likely a stomach cramp caused by severe stress.

Health problems were common for the delicate Hazumi.

Did this mean that the mere thought of a certain guy getting intimate with other girls apart from her would cause stress, then wasn't this the same as an unrequited love...?

No no no. No way that could be possible.

Hal rejected his thought halfway through.

No matter what, this delusion was too self-centered and narcissistic.

Suppose Hazumi "felt that way" towards him, of course, he would almost die from overjoy, but Hal believed this was definitely impossible.

He should first distract Hazumi's focus from the mysterious source of stress.

Hal changed the subject.

"Speaking of which, can you be more specific on what 'that kind of feeling' is like? It's when I was sending magical power into your heart, wasn't it?"

Strictly speaking, it was a ritual to transfer magical power by touching a witch's breast with his palm.

Even now, Orihime and Luna still refused to tell Hal what they had felt. The third test subject, Hazumi, thought in silence for a moment before speaking softly, "It is very hard to describe, but... It felt very pleasurable..."

"Oh? Pleasurable huh."

"Yes. Like being in paradise, every inch of my body was very warm. But as soon as that moment passed, it felt extremely tiring."

Some kind of blissful feeling? Hal hoped it was not addictive like drugs.

Thinking "I see" to himself, Hal nodded.

Hazumi then asked, "Umm... What about you, Senpai?"

"What about me?"

"This body part of mine isn't as big as Nee-sama's or Luna-san's... or Shamiram-san's."

She pressed her right hand on her chest lightly.

Then speaking softly with uncertainty and worry, she said, "I feel very sad... as soon as I wonder if you might dislike this kind of size, Senpai. Sorry, if only I were bigger."

"W-W-W-What are you talking about, Shirasaka!?"

Hal shouted in shock.

"Although I'd definitely say 'the bigger the better' if forced to pick, that doesn't mean I reject the value of flat chests! I really like ones on the small side like yours too!"

Only after saying that did Hal realize he had misspoken.

He thought "what the heck did I say in desperation&mdash;" to himself but the weird thing was that Hazumi listened to his problematic statement to the very end and nodded.

And she even smiled with happiness.

"Really? Fufufufu, I am so glad."

"......"

Seeing his junior react with unexpected cuteness, Hal felt his heart skip a beat with a forceful "badump", then immediately&mdash;

Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuu&mdash;

Minadzuki called out softly.

Minadzuki was the "serpent" with whom Hal had established a covenant through Hazumi. Hence, he could immediately sense her intent. This was a warning.

Through her superlative senses of a leviathan's, she had detected the approach of a dangerous enemy.

"Shirasaka, land at the nearest island."

"U-Understood. Is it Solomon-san?"

"Very likely. Be careful."

Hazumi also understood her partner's warning.

She immediately followed orders with a "Yes!", gently stroking Minadzuki's back.

As a a result, the emerald serpentine dragon flew to the sky island three or four kilometers ahead, landing on it and taking a prone position.

Hal and Hazumi instantly leaped to the ground.

Then they turned their heads to search the sky. A crimson elite dragon was slowly flying over from a certain direction. The two of them spotted the beautiful figure surrounded by flames.

Unmistakable. It was the Crimson Queen.

It was the body of the dragon king that King Solomon had stolen from Haruga Haruomi.

"A direct showdown against Senpai at last huh..."

Muttering to himself, he summoned his magic gun.