Editing Leviathan:Volume 8 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 2===

"My, aren't you enjoying your chat with Princess Yukikaze?"

"Asya, why are you suddenly saying this?"

"Haruga-kun and the princess sounded so happy when they were chatting. The tone was quite cheerful."

"You too, Juujouji!?"

"It even led to the princess declaring 'I will become yours' to Haruomi... Orihime-san, he's unforgivable, don't you agree?"

"Seriously, it gives me this vibe of 'who does Haruga-san think he is, getting so carried away?'"

"You're head over heels when talking to the princess."

"I-I was desperately handing the princess for the sake of the mission, okay!? Besides, how do you know I was head over heels if all you heard was my voice!?"

"I knew it when I heard a different tone of voice, unlike your usual pretenses."

"Asya-san is correct. Just now, you were acting different from your usual self."

"W-What choice did I have? I was trying my hardest to chat with her, trying my best to divert the princess' attention."

After chatting with the princess for a long time...

Hal bid her goodbye and returned to his companions. He took out the cellphone he had been carrying secretly and used audio recording software to replay his conversation with the princess for the two girls.

After listening, both the childhood friend and Juujouji Orihime started to reprimand him.

"I can't believe I used my precious battery power to record the conversation. There's no way to recharge cellphones here, you know..."

He had originally hoped to save time on explaining by making a recording, but it turned out to have the opposite effect.

In any case, Hal put his feelings in order and said, "No matter what, the princess agreed, so we can strut about and travel on the Moon. It'd be problem if she dragged me away in the middle of the investigation."

"Going to the princess after investigating, right...?"

"After all, the princess ordered you to return to her..."

"Conversation is over! We don't have much time left. Let's get on with our work."

Further squabbling would affect the mission coming up next.

Hal said to the two girls who had finally settled down.

"Head straight to the crater to investigate that Mother Dragon rune."



The task of climbing the Plato Crater would require Earthlings to prepare an orbiter spacecraft, but Hal was able to skip such a step. He used the Ruruk Soun rune of Teleport.

"We arrived in an instant..."

"Because it's teleportation."

"I can't believe I'd come to somewhere like this by relying on Haruomi's magic... Half a year ago, I never would've thought of this," said Asya poignantly.

Just earlier, Hal and his childhood friend were still in a room inside the stone tower.

But now, they were standing on a vast land of white. White&mdash;dry sand as far as the eye could see. They had finally arrived on the surface of the moon.

"Doraemon's Anywhere Door would definitely be convenient if it actually existed, but the joy of traveling would instantly diminish to zero. Speed and fun are mutually exclusive."

"This time, we're taking the practical route."

The two of them were wearing casual clothes from Earth.

They did not have access to channels for purchasing spacesuits worth over a billion yen apiece. Neither did they need to buy them. Using the power of Tyrannoi, they summoned imperishable protection&mdash;A colorless and transparent barrier to cover the body.

This protection normally manifested in the form of a pearly glow, but because Asya commented "I don't care about it during battle, but... The color of our protection gets in the way when we're investigating," so they tried erasing to color.

Although it made for less ambiance, prioritizing practicality was the point here. Hal nodded and took a casual step forward.

"Uwah!"

He was startled. With just a tiny step, his body floated up lightly.

"Even with imperishable protection, we're still not completely free from the effects of low gravity."

"This is a defensive ability to begin with. It's still better than hopping around like astronauts. We simply float a little."

"It's fine as long as you pay attention. But ahead of us..."

After examining the place carefully for a while, Hal and Asya summoned two runes of Ruruk Soun.

This simple arrangement signified "Flight."

Hal levitated into the air. He had never undergone training for moving around on the moon, but with this, he could fly anywhere he wanted. The gravity, one sixth of the Earth's, no longer affected him.

"I see, so you use it this way, huh?"

Murmuring, Asya stared at her right hand.

On her palm was the Rune of the Chain, a symbol similar to the "巳" kanji. The master-class witch and native Earthling swung her right hand&mdash;

She summoned the same "Flight" runes as Hal.

Whoosh. Asya likewise floated into the air, flying effortlessly next to Hal.

"Impressive as ever, Asya. You're able to use Ruruk Soun magic now."

"I can only use the ones involving a few runes. Unless I get more familiar, I most likely won't be able to use magic that'll be useful on the battlefield."

Once again witnessing how much of a prodigy his childhood friend was, Hal felt quite impressed. However, Asya herself merely shrugged nonchalantly.

"Unlike you, I don't even have a magic wand yet."

"On the other hand, I think you're more amazing for using magic without a wand."

The two of them started moving to their destination using flight magic.

The flying was quite stable. Even if they were holding cups in their hands, the water inside would probably just tremble slightly.

However, they were actually flying at up to four or five hundred kilometers per hour.

After all, too slow a speed would be no good for flying around inside a crater with a diameter of a hundred kilometers. For human standards, this was extremely amazing high-level magic. Without a leviathan's assistance, even master-class witches could not achieve this.

However, Hal said, "From the perspective of dragonkind, this magic is even easier than radio calisthenics... Probably like 'lighting a match.' Thus, I don't think this will accelerate my transformation into a dragon."

Conversely, one could also say&mdash;

Haruga Haruomi had already become this close to being a dragon.

Hal deliberately kept this last comment to himself. Asya did not pursue the matter either, probably out of consideration. It was just like in the past when Hal avoided broaching the subject of Rushalka's lifespan running out.

"By the way... Your earlier loss of appetite seems to have recovered. What was the reason after all? You've been acting strange lately."

Hal had not had a chance to spend time alone with his childhood friend for quite a while. The duel against Princess Yukikaze was also coming up soon. Perhaps he should get this cleared up first.

Worried that it might affect his coordination with Asya, he made his decision to ask about ''that''.

"Do you remember? Take for example the time when we were alone in that hotel in New York..."

"!?"

Before the battle against Dragon King Hannibal at New York, his childhood friend had kissed him. Furthermore, she had told him something profound. This scene, which had caused Hal much agitation lately, was like a fish bone stuck in his throat.

It caused him to think "Huh? Does Asya actually feel that way about me..."

Hal thought it might be a boy's tendency to consider themselves more attractive than they actually were, common during puberty, but what if it was not the case this time?

When he cautiously asked, his childhood friend reacted emotionally.

"W-What are you talking about, Haruomi!? Recently, my magical power has been in a poor state. There are even times when I don't remember what I've done. Did I do something in front of you!?"

"Eh? Is that what's been happening?"

"That's right! So I'd be very happy if you could be generous and forgive me for my mistakes!"

"I see..."

The one who had acted suspiciously was now very nervous and panicking.

Hal felt it would be bad to pursue the matter any further, so he stopped.

Asya immediately raised another question, "Putting that aside, there's something that bothers me about your dragonification. While I was away, weren't you merging with the Crimson Queen?"

"Don't worry, the others helped cure me."

"That's precisely it. How did they cure a body that had dragonified completely?"

"!?"

Hal's heart instantly went cold.

"Th-They didn't tell you?"

"They didn't. There wasn't enough time last time so I know nothing about the details. Orihime-san did mention to me that Luna and Hazumi-san helped and it apparently took a lot of work."

Apparently, his childhood friend was not aware what Orihime, Luna and Hazumi, the three young maidens in a state of nudity, had done for Hal when he had turned into a red dragon.

"Having become a Tyrannos myself, I'm quite curious."

"Relax. I already know how to cure you if you turn into a dragon in the future."

"W-What do you mean by that!?"

The trigger for Haruga Haruomi's recovery was apparently rooted in lust.

In that case, Asya's was "gluttony" of course. Fully satisfying human desires was the key to avoid dragonification.

Thinking he would explain this later, he told Asya, "I'll explain in detail to you later... Right now, let's prioritize the mission."

Using flight magic, Hal and Asya arrived near the center of the Plato Crater whose diameter was a hundred kilometers.

On the surface of the moon, a couple hundred meters below them was an infinity symbol, roughly five or six kilometers wide and half that in length.

This was apparently the Rune of the Mother Dragon.

Its color was black. On the moon's white surface, it was particularly striking.

However, humans without magical sight could not see it. Were it visible, the observation center on Earth would have discovered it long ago.

In any case, they had flown for roughly ten minutes in total.

The two of them finally arrived just above the edge of the infinity sign.

"This comment is like a very old gag now, but I'm reminded of the Nazca Lines."

"Indeed. Weren't we seven when we went to look at the Nazca Lines together&mdash;Hmm?"

Just as they descended rapidly and were about to land on the surface of the moon...

Hal widened his eyes. To encounter an acquaintance here out of all places. Given that unique manner of dress, Hal could not have recognized the wrong person.

"Uh, fine," Hal muttered in a grumbling voice. "I shouldn't be surprised this guy ran all the way to the moon."

Hadn't he said before?

'So long as it is to see you, Tyrannos and dragon king, I am willing to venture anywhere, not just on Earth but even the far ends of the sea of stars.'

The man who kept his word was named Sophocles.

Too dark a complexion to be Caucasian. Too deep set his facial features to be oriental.

Of indeterminate race, yet he was undoubtedly a handsome man. Like Hal and Asya, the mysterious man was dressed in a manner that completely ignored their environment in space. In his case, he was wearing a black suit under a black coat.

Alone, he was standing on the white moon.