Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume2 Chapter5

2012-05-17T05:19:23Z

220.255.2.22: /* Part 3 */

==Chapter 5 - The One Who Will Succeed the Demon King==

===Part 1===

“What on earth is this—“

Clad in the devastating winds of the magic wind spirit, Ellis, who appeared gallantly, was speechless.

There was an unbelievable scene spread out before her eyes.

The knights of the Sylphid Knights, who maintained the public order of the academy, were collapsed on the ground in heaps.

Only academy students with excellent results could enroll into the Sylphid Knights. That was—

(Don’t tell me, they were defeated by just one intruder!?)

In the middle of the darkness, where there was a drizzle.

A small figure, who put on an overcoat with a hood, was standing in the middle of the collapsed girls.

“Was it you, bastard? The one that did this!”

Ellis asked a direct question. Her hand was already armed with the elemental waffe –<Ray Hawk>.

It was just about 30 minutes ago that she heard the report that an intruder had appeared in the academy and plundered the classified materials of the seal specification from the library. Ellis immediately put out a pursuit order to a platoon of the Knights, and while she used her wind spirit to give instructions to every platoon, she was pursuing the intruder by herself.

And then, upon travelling at high speed to the place where she lost contact with them, they were in that state.

The spirit contractor before her eyes kept quiet. Just a scorning presence was transmitted.


“—I see, in that case, I’ll make you talk whether you like it or not.”

The <Ray Hawk>, which Ellis took a stance with, got filled with wind thunderously.

Just by looking, the figure of a contracted spirit could not be found in that person’s surroundings. It seemed like that person wasn’t holding an elemental waffe either.

However, the spirit contractor, before her eyes, had already defeated 5 girls from the Knights.

(Is she using a type of spirit that possesses the flesh?)

The opponent’s identity was completely unknown. Or, far from not finding the figure of a contracted spirit, was the opponent not a spirit contractor?—No, that can’t be it. For example, even if one launched a surprised attack, something like a person, who wasn’t even a spirit contractor, to defeat five Knights members alone was impossible.

(In that case, I’ll have to ascertain it with these eyes of mine—!)

Ellis took a stance with Ray Hawk and attacked like a gale.

The opponent finally reacted. A muffled voice was heard from under the hood—

“—Manifest, Wolf Fang.”

At that moment, a pattern of lines appeared on the ground, and a spirit with the appearance of the ferocious wolf was summoned.

“That’s your spirit, huh? However, it isn’t a match for my magic wind spirit!”

As she ran, Ellis wielded her lance perfectly horizontal.

The lump of violent winds she released mowed down the roadside trees while rushing toward Wolf Fang.

Ellis accelerated like she was being sucked in by her self-made wind vortex, ignoring the stranded Wolf Fang, and aimed directly for the spirit contractor.


Tan!—She kicked the ground. Her academy skirt waved about and Ellis had jumped.

She was about to do her specialty, a nose-dive attack from the sky. It was a technique that had defeated all the upperclassmen during the practice matches.

With the contracted spirit stranded, the spirit contractor, who became defenseless, looked up.

And then, the person faced Ellis and turned his palm towards her.

“What!?”

“—Manifest, Blast Gear!”

At that moment, a bluish-white lightning, released from his palm, was fired at Ellis.

Ellis, who had not been expecting anything like an attack coming towards her, received a direct attack and was blown away without being even able to dodge in mid-air.

Without delay, Wolf Fang rushed in and attacked. It pushed down on Ellis, who was thrown onto the ground, and tried to bite down on her windpipe. On the verge of that—

Hyuu! She thought she heard a sound that ripped apart the air, then, Wolf Fang’s body was severed into four parts in an instant, burning up into ashes.

“…!?”

Eliis raised her face, and traced the crimson remains that ripped apart the night sky with her eyes—

“You owe me one, Ellis Fahrengart.”

Raven Class’s Claire Rouge descended with her Flame tongue in her hand.

And then—


“Ellis, are you alright?!”

Armed with a silver sword, Kazehaya Kamito came running.

===Part 2===

Kamito rushed over to Ellis's side, who had already fallen.

Armed with the elemental waffe—Terminus Est, he stood with his arms apart as if protecting her.

Claire was a short distance away, and Fianna also came running later, out of breath.

“Ellis, are you alright?”

“…I-It isn’t a big deal.”

Kamito lifted Ellis up by her shoulder, and she turned red and turned her face away.

“What on earth happened? Who is that person?”

“It is nothing concerning you guys. This has been entrusted to the Knights, so step back.”

“That won’t do. We are spirit contractors. And even if there weren’t the Knights, we have the obligation to fight to protect the academy.”

“It’s like that. Besides—“

Staring directly at Ellis’s face, Kamito said.

“Our precious comrade was hurt; do you think we could stay silent?”


“Kamito…”

Ellis’s face turned bright red , and she tightly pressed down on her chest.

—At that moment.

“Hey, I can’t believe you came. Kazehaya Kamito.”

The spirit contractor before his eyes raised his voice. For some reason, it was an irritating voice.

“…Who are you? Why do you know my name?”

“Your name is famous, you know. You’re the same as me, a male spirit contractor.”

“What!?”

The spirit contractor before his eyes slowly took off his overcoat with a hood.

At that moment, all of them at that place gulped.

Coming to sight from under the overcoat was—

His dark brown skin, which had tattoos applied all over his body; with glaring and shining red eyes, it was – a boy.

“Such a thing… don’t tell me, there are male spirit contractors other than Kamito!?”

Claire raised a surprised voice.

It wasn’t a girl disguised as a boy. 

Not just his voice and face, no matter how one looked at that physique, it was that of a male.

(This guy, who on earth… No, leaving that aside now –)

Before Kamito’s eyes, the injured Knight girls had collapsed.


“—Was this done by you?”

“Yea. However, I didn’t kill them. That lot was raised in a lenient miniature garden and isn't worth killing.”

“What did you say!”

“Calm down, Ellis, it’s just a cheap provocation.”

Ellis grinded her teeth and whispered near Kamito’s ear.

“Be careful, Kazehaya Kamito. He has a double contract with spirits.”

“A double contract?”

A double contract was, in other words, contracts with two spirits at the same time.

By using several spirits, one could compensate for the weakness of his battle style.

However, exchanging contracts with several spirits would only have demerits in most cases.

The fellow contracted spirits caused interference, thus it became impossible to manifest their original powers.

Kamito was certainly in that situation right now. As the contract with the darkness spirit was not broken, it ended up shutting out Est's power, who was originally an even more powerful spirit.

“…A male spirit contracter. In addition, a double contractor?”

Ellis nodded.

“Hey, could you overlook this for today? I don’t have the mood to fight you now.”

“What was that?”


Kamito frowned at the boy, who waved his hand flutteringly like he was making fun of him.

“As long as I obtain this, that’s fine.”

The boy took out a small black lithograph from his chest pocket to show them.

“What is that?”

“The classified materials of the seal specification that I stole from the academy library. By using a special spirit device, it is filled with high density information that can be deciphered.”

While arming herself with her magic lance of wind, Ellis muttered.

“The classified materials of the seal specification? Why did you steal such –“

At that moment, a leather whip flew aimed at the boy’s hand.

It was Claire’s surprise attack. Had it been foreseen? The boy easily dodged the whip—

“—Kamito, Ellis!”

“Ahh!”

Before Claire shouted, the both of them were moving.

“Tch, every one of them are one stupid lot—“

“You bastard—“

Feeling that her comrades of the Knights were insulted, Ellis was enraged.

She swung her Ray Hawk perfectly horizontally – the wind blades, dancing boisterously, severed the roadside trees.

“Huh, another charge? You have no ingenuity!”


As he dodged the raging wind blades, the boy jumped.

He had a superhuman jumping power. In a manner of passing each other with movements like those of a shadow, he drove a counter punch into Ellis’s stomach, who came charging.

“Guu—“

“Ellis!”

Kamito shouted.

(With just one strike to that Ellis…)

The boy, who made Ellis faint, had already jumped into the darkness.

“Don’t escape!”

Claire immediately let loose her Flame Tongue. Beautifully drawing an arc, the red hot killing brandish stood out vividly in the black night.

A sculpture, modeled after the appearance of the elemental lord, was severed in an instant, and was blasted with a flashy sound.

Kamito took a stance with Terminus Est, and jumped into the rising cloud of dust.

The attack just now shouldn’t have made a direct hit. He searched for the enemy’s figure by his presence—

At that moment, bloodlust was felt from behind.

Kamito immediately jumped sideways. The killing flash of a dagger mowed down at the place where his head was a moment ago.

The boy stepped in without a sound. He didn’t give him a chance to get some distance between them.

There were no wasted movements—It was like those movement of Silent Killing.

(This guy – he's a professional assassin!?)


Kamito barely stopped the blow of the drawn sword, flashing in the darkness, with his sword.

At that moment, there was a strong impact to his stomach. A strong punch was thrown, and Kamito’s stance crumbled. An assassin's dagger swooped over – but Kamito knocked off the dagger with the bottom of his fist, and rolled on the ground with the force, getting some distance.

“Hey, aren’t you pretty good, as expected of the strongest blade dancer.”

“What!?”

Kamito’s eyes widened in surprise.

(This guy, does he know my true identity!?)

In that moment’s opening, when his consciousness went astray, the boy smiled and came jumping once again.

There were no weapons in his hands. Kamito was armed with Terminus Est—

“—Manifest, Falchion!”

“Wha!?”

A violent firework exploded. Terminus Est, which was horizontally mowed down on, was repelled.

What the boy was holding in his hand was a large blue shining sword.

It wasn’t an ordinary sword—It was an elemental waffe of a sword spirit.

“His third contracted spirit!?”

He had crossed swords several times with spirit contractors that used two spirits at the same time.

However, he had not heard of anything like a spirit contractor using a third or more spirits.


“This isn’t something to be that surprised about. The demon king Solomon was said to have used seventy-two spirits, you know.”

“Don’t mess around… that’s just a legend—“

“What if the existence of that legend was now right before your eyes?”

The boy warp his lips was laughed.

“I am Jio Inzagi – The one who will succeed the demon king.”

“Kamito, get away!”

At that moment, countless fireballs were released from behind. It was Claire’s spirit magic.

Kamito immediately reacted and jumped.

It was a downpour of fireball. However, the boy –Jio Inzagi held out his hand with a calm composure,

“—Manifest, Aerial!”

A lump of compressed winds was released radically.

The violent whirling wind erased the fireballs and blew away the surrounding rubble together with Kamito.

(Aerial…His forth spirit!?)

Jio’s shadow appeared aright above Kamito, who looked surprised.

At the same time as releasing Aerial, he had used that force and jumped.

The edge of the sword spirit in his hand shone silver.

“Die—Ren Ashbell.”

“…!?”



Towards Kamito’s heart, the tip of a shining sword approached—

At that moment, a pebble came flying from the side.

“Tch—“

Jio repelled that off reflexively, and at that moment-

A flash like broad daylight filled his field of vision.

Jio, whose eyes were disoriented, lost his sword and it pierced the ground.

Kamito quickly regained his stance—

Katsun! –There was a dry sound. A smashed transparent stone fell at Kamito’s feet.

(…This is a spirit ore?)

Kamito was taken aback and turned around.

Over there—

“Hey, I wonder, could you please not forget about me?”

Fianna was standing with her hands at her waist.

===Part 3===

He might have noticed that her voice was trembling.

And yet, Fianna stout-heartedly glared at the enemy before her – Jio Inzagi.


There were 3 spirit ores held in her hand. Every piece had a flash spirit sealed in it.

The appearance definitely looked flashy, but its attack power was almost nonexistent; it was only usable as a distraction at best.

She had taken him by surprise just now, but he was probably not an opponent who would fall for such a childish trick again.

Jio Inzagi slowly turned towards Fianna.

Being watched by his glaring and shining red eyes, Fianna’s shoulders trembled.

“Hey, were you the one who hindered me?”

“He is mine. Get your hands off him.”

“I see—“

Jio faced her directly and held out his hand.

“—Manifest, Shining Ray”

A spear of ominous light was born from that hand – he had decided to aim at Fianna’s heart.

“Ah—“

Fianna – couldn’t even move.

Like a prey glared by a predator.

The spirit ores held in her palms fell out. Her fingertips were trembling due to the fear.

“No, it’s the same as that day—)

She had a flashback.

Four years ago, when she stood before her, that day.


That day when she tasted the fear of hopelessness, when Fianna’s heart had broken.

She had planned on firmly opposing him and drawing out her courage, but her body’s trembling wouldn’t stop.

“Then, die—“

Jio threw the light spear.

“Fianna!”

Claire launched her Flame Tongue, but it wouldn’t make in in time with that distance.

Fianna closed her eyes. A moment later, she resigned herself to her coming death.

However—

“…Eh?”

The pain of her heart being pierced that should have been there wasn’t there.

When she opened her eyes—

“Kamito-kun?”

Kamito was before her eyes with his arms opened, and had stopped the light spear with his left hand.

Red blood trickled down from his pierced palm.

“Whoa, I’ve misjudged you. You covered for such a useless person.”

“Shut up… Fianna is our comrade.”

Kamito groaned in order to suppress the pain, and genuflected on that spot.


“That’s fine, if you want to die so much, then I’ll immediately kill—“

“I won’t let you, that guy is my slave!”

At that moment, the Flame Tongue released by Claire attacked Jio.

The crimson flames licked the ground. Jio clicked his tongue and jumped.

—At that moment, The sound of clattering armors and helmets was heard in the distance.

It seemed that having heard the sound of battle, a reinforcement of a large group of Knights had come.

“Tch, in this situation, I’ll pardon you. I’ve already obtained the target materials.”

“You won’t escape!”

“Claire, don’t chase him too far!”

Kamito stopped Claire, who was about to pursue him.

“…Kamito, is your injury alright?”

“Ahh, it isn’t a big … Ouch!”

“Id-idiot, don’t overdo it!”

Claire supported Kamito, who was struggling with the pain, by his back.

“The same male spirit contractor as you… that guy, who on earth is he?”

“Yea…Fianna?”

Kamito noticed something and turned around.

The backlash of the tension being resolved had caused Fianna to collapse at that spot suddenly like a thread snapping.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume2 Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume2 Chapter6|Chapter 6]]
|-
|}

Iris on Rainy Days: Rebirth- Day 78

2012-04-21T13:17:46Z

220.255.2.22: /* Day Seventy-Eight */

===Day Seventy-Eight===

It's a rainy day as usual. A rainy day that definitely wouldn't end.

I'm moving the waste materials today as well.

At the coastline that extends from the piled up waste materials at the 'gut', the waste that were stacked up like a hill has decreased a lot. This would signify that our job is coming to an end.

The clanking noise of the metal in my skull was like the irregular dance moves of a person dancing on the stage that is my mind.

I couldn't help but feel like cracking open my skull, taking it out. However, using my arms to do this type of delicate work makes me uneasy. Besides, opening it would be simple, but closing it would be troublesome.

While thinking to myself, I saw a rare scene in the afternoon when I was repeating the dull labor.

It was the scene of the inspector apologizing.

On the monitoring station, the inspector that usually stays at the top was actually bowing, an appeasing smile on his face. After looking in detail, I found that a middle-aged man of medium build who's wearing a suit was standing beside the inspector, pointing here and there.

—he's probably a VIP. He might even be the general manager here.

I glanced over there while I moved the waste materials. The man on the monitoring station pointed at us quite a few times. Each time, the inspector would hurriedly jot down notes. I wonder what they're talking about.

I shifted my attention to my front, and stopped behind Volkov's large back. Lilith was at his side.

I increased the speed of my continuous track, going forward to ask them.

The clanking metal noise rang joyfully in my skull while I continued to go forward in the rain.

<span style="font-size: 300%;"><center>♠</center></span>

"Don't you feel that it's strange?"

The person who said that was Lilith.

Late night at two, we were having a book club meeting at the old wooden table in the warehouse, as usual.

"What's so strange?"

"Iris, didn't you see it too? The fat man."

Probably obtained from the waste materials, Lilith stared at me while swinging the small recorder in her hands. Her elegant, beautiful face showed a dissatisfied expression, while her brows were furrowed.

"Ah, do you mean the man wearing a suit speaking to the inspector?"

"That's right, that's right. He's probably one of the people from the 'headquarters' that came here before, right?"

"Headquarters......? Headquarters from where?"

"The headquarters of this company. Isn't there a red logo on the inspector's uniform? ...... It's a pity I couldn't read the words on it."

"A red logo......"

I can't differentiate colors, so I don't remember this.

"The car that they were on had the same logo as well, so they're probably sent here from the headquarters in Oval."

After hearing the word 'Oval', my heard started to pound. That's the name of the city that Professor and I lived in.

"Is Oval...... near here?"

"Eh? Do you mean Oval City?"

I nodded, then Lilith answered: "It's just beside here. You wouldn't even need fifteen minutes to reach it on car."

"Fifteen minutes......"

I bated my breath because of this answer. Fifteen minutes on car. After arriving here, I felt as if I was thousands of miles away from my hometown, and was at foreign soil, but never would I have thought that the this place is so close to Oval City.

At this moment, Lilith continued the topic just now.

"That's right. I heard some strange news today. Those were the words that the inspector spoke of after the VIP from the headquarters left."

After that, Lilith lowered her voice. Actually, only robots with their power sources turned off were in the warehouse even if she didn't do that.

"After the job is finished, these people are going to get fired."

"......? What does that mean?"

"That~ would~ mean~ fired, fired! After the work is done, we'll become scrap metal!"

"Uuu.......!"

I couldn't help but moan. After hearing the word 'scrap metal', I recalled what occurred 'that day'. The day when my limbs were torn off. I don't want to go through that all over again.

"...... What do you think?"

Unusually, Lilith asked Volkov for his opinion, while he answered immediately.

"Robots- must- obey- humans."

Unsatisfied, Lilith hammered on Volkov's arm.

"Seriously...... Did you think clearly about this? Don't you know that we'll become scrap metal if this continues?"

"Robots- must- obey- humans." Volkov repeated the same answer.

"That's enough, I'm the dumb one for asking you about this."

Lilith leaned her back against the junk behind her.

"I definitely don't want to turn out like that."

I gazed at Lilith: "But we can't do anything about that."

"Isn't everything solved if we just run away?"

"But there's a forced command code in our body."

"That wouldn't matter. I removed it a long time ago anyways."

"...... Eh?"

I was taken aback. The forced command code is an important component in the safety circuit of a robot's body. That is a program that is forbidden to be removed so that robots would definitely be unable to disobey humans.

"My safety circuit broke down. Probably at the forth construction site before this? It was coincidentally broken when I was squashed by a crane before this. However, I can't charge if I don't work, so I kept pretending to obey the humans."

"Is that a joke...... Then is it the same with Volkov?"

I glanced at him. He answered in his deep voice as usual: "No."

"Volkov's- safety circuit- still- same."

"It's because this guy was a military robot."

Lilith looked at Volkov while saying.

"His safety circuit is quite unusual. I tried to remove his safety circuit before this, but it ended in failure. ...... It was still successful in the process, but there's a strange black setting in the way...... "

Volkov said with his head held high: "Volkov- safe." Lilith answered uncaringly: "Yes yes, very safe."

"But this isn't the time for us to say these things calmly."

Lilith stared at Volkov directly.

"Is it really okay if you become scrap metal?"

"Robots- must- obey- humans."

"Right......"

Lilith sighed. She looked really troubled. Though she seldom shows this attitude, she indeed cares for Volkov.

"...... Never mind, compared with this, it's better if I remove your security circuit right now, Iris. If anything happens, even if they pressed the 'emergency stop button', you can still escape."

The emergency stop button is a button used for emergencies for the robots to stop moving together. I saw one of those hung on the belt of the inspector.

"Remove? Is that possible?"

"Of course. I was in charge of the emergency repair of my colleagues at a construction site before this. ...... though it's just instantaneous."

Lilith took out a toolkit from below the table. Of course, it's another 'war spoil' from the construction site.

"Don't move. The mental circuit is especially fragile." She moved behind me, coming closer to me with a screwdriver in her hands.

"I- is it really going to be okay?"

"It'll be alright! ...... Probably."

A creaking noise came from the top of m y head, Lilith had started to loosen the screws. One tiny screw after another were placed on the square box on top of the table.

Finally, with a clang, the top of my head was opened.

"Oh? It's the substandard goods from the third factory. ...... So that's how things are."

Lilith started to nod, making sounds of agreement.

"What do you understand?"

"I understood how you came to be here. From that junk parts store."

"Junk parts store?"

"Aren't new robots expensive? That's why the junk parts stores that collect second hand parts like hands or legs, making 'homemade' robots are increasing."

I've heard about this. Those places would collect second hand parts and modify them, assembling an illegal modified robot— such as myself.

"You're probably bought by the inspector from the junk parts store at Oval City. But actually, the Robots Management Department sold them to them, right?"

I thought that she's right. Thus, I explained the process of myself arriving at the construction site after being turned into scrap metal."

"Are you joking......" Just at that moment, Lilith made an odd noise.

"What is it?"

"Wow, it's the first time I saw such a small mental circuit....."

Looking at my internal parts, Lilith said in awe. "Wow! The safety circuit is so small! And it's a unique structure!?" Lilith seems very excited. I couldn't help but get embarrassed.

Lilith's expression turned solemn. She observed my face from the side, her long hair gently brushing past my shoulder.

"You, who are you?"

"...... What?" I tilted my head.

"The parts of your body are all quite old, but your mental circuit are quite advanced. What is with this?"

"That's because......"

A shadow was cast in my mind. Those were the sorrowful memories that I sealed in the depths of my heart, the past that I don't want to face.

"Ah, what's this?" Lilith said in surprise.

"What is it now?"

"There seems to be a locked object hung near your mental circuit."

"Lock?"

I suddenly remembered something. 'That noise' that kept clanking in my skull recently.

"Wait a minute......"

Lilith took out a metal wire out of the toolkit and twisted it into a hook— like the hooks on fishing rods.

"I'll get it out for you right away."

After a moment, a click echoed, then she said "It's done". It seems that the hook found its prey.

"What is this...... A pendant?" Lilith muttered in surprise while holding the metal wire.

"Eh?"

I turned my head over, only to hear Liltith say "Look", placing the object she found on the table.

It's a gray oval-shaped pendant with a lock on it.

No, it's not gray, actually a silver radiance shone from the—

Circlet cigarette case.

"Ah......"

I slowly extended my right hand, holding the cigarette case.

Stains of dried blood were still caked on the cigarette case dirtied by black machine oil.

With trembling hands, I opened the cigarette case, then a familiar 8-shaped circlet cigarette rolled onto the table, falling down silently like a bicycle that lost its rider.

"Ahhh......"

'That photo' was stuck onto the lid of the cigarette case as well.

A young girl wearing a frilled dress and a straw hat was standing in front of the signboard of a movie. Beside her, it was the tall person wearing a shirt and a pair of jeans with a mischievous smile on her face, she is—

"Pro...... fessor......"

My right arm holding the cigarette case started to tremble slightly. The trembling soon spread to the whole of my body. The emotions that I had been suppressing, the restrained pain, love and deep despair broke out of the cage at the depths of my heart, surging violently out of my body. The Professor in the photo extended her hands to me, bringing me back to the happy times of the past. "I'm back, Iris. Have you been a good girl today as well?" the Professor patting my head gently, but somewhat harshly as well. "Mnn., it's really good. Iris is really good at cooking." The Professor praising me. "Ah, Miss Iris, do you have anything to say about this?" The Professor bullying me. "Erm, Iris?" The troubled Professor. "Good night, Iris." The gentle Professor. However, Professor is now dead. I can't see Professor anymore. Professor, Professor, ahhhh, ProfessorProfessor ProfessorProfessor ProfessorProfessor ProfessorProfessor—

"Uu- aa...... UWAAAAAA—!"

I started to wail. I lied on the table in violent convulsions, making sounds of despair that frightened even myself. The happy moments and gentle memories shattered like glass, piercing into the tenderest part of my heart. The emotions that flooded out of my heart turned into a large wave, drowning myself in it.

"Iris!" At that moment, Lilith's high-pitched shout pierced into my back. Her arms forcefully hugged my body that was in convulsions.

"It's okay, everything's going to be alright......!"

"Ah, ahhh—"

I caught hold of Lilith's elbows, restraining my emotions. While drowning in the sea of pain and sorrow, I frantically waited for the moment to pass.

"It's okay...... It's alright now, Iris......"

Like a mother comforting a weeping child, Lilith kept encouraging me. The body that I felt on my back was very soft and warm, reminding me of the times when Professor hugged me before this.

My trembling gradually stopped.

Time flowed again.

My convulsions stopped, only my hands were trembling slightly.

Looking worried, Lilith held my hand soundlessly. Volkov gazed at us silently as well.

"...... Have you calmed down?"

Lilith asked in a gentle voice. I answered weakly "Yes......"

After that, she looked at the cigarette case and myself in turn, asking hesitantly: "What is this?"

I nodded slightly, then raised my head to look at them.

Lilith's large eyes that reflected my silhouette were filled with worry as well.

Volkov's square eyes emitted a steady glow, he's waiting for me to speak as well.

— That's right, tell these two......

I decided to tell them the truth. Telling them wouldn't matter— instead of saying that, it's better if I say that I wish for them to know.

Thus, details poured out of my mouth like water bursting out from a dam. I spoke of being created by the famous Professor Umbrella, the death of Professor because of an accident, of myself attempting suicide because of despair but failed, of the people from the Robots Management Department appearing before me, of myself turning into scrap metal, and of myself arriving here after I woke up.

I pointed at the photo with my right hand: "This is Professor...... This is me." At the same time, I heard Lilith gulp. Volkov's body was rather rigid as well.

After about ten minutes, I stopped. Silence returned to the warehouse.

In the cigarette case on the table, Professor and I were smiling. Professor wore a teasing expression, while I was rather angry.

"Is that so......" Lilith gazed at the photo in the cigarette case, muttering lightly, "I felt that something was odd. Iris felt like a girl's name to me......"

Then, she blinked, raising her head as though she came to a conclusion.

"Actually, it's the same for me."

She stared directly at me.

"I lived at a human's house before this as well."

After that, she started to speak of her past.

Five years ago, Lilith was bought by the prestigious 'Sunlight' family. As the Sunlight family do not have any children, they adopted a young robot model instead.

At first, Lilith lived a happy life there, accepting her the love of her 'parents'. They would buy clothes for her, play with her, treating her like their own flesh and blood. The rich array of expression that she owned was the proof that her parents spent a lot on her.

The situation changed two years after Lilith arrived. Her parents had a new child. While Lilith was happy for the birth of her younger sister at first, things weren't that simple.

Lilith's parents abandoned her.

The incident happened all of a sudden. One day, the robot recycling vendors came to her house without a sign, almost dragging her out of the house. Her parents didn't even look at her departure.

After that, she was sold again as 'second-hand stock'. She was a waiter at a restaurant at first, and was then moved to a construction company, arriving at this construction site. Though she looks fragile, both her battery capacity and load weight are immense, which is why she could persist until now.

She spoke of her sad past as if it doesn't concern her. Lastly, she told me that I'm the first person to know about this apart from Volkov.

"This person is the same as well."

After saying that, Lilith turned around to face Volkov and asked: "Can I tell Iris?" Volkov nodded silently.

"Do you remember Volkov's full name?"

"Isn't it Volkov Galosh?"

Lilith nodded, then continued: "Actually, it's Volkov Galosh Ouroboros."

"Ouroboros?"

"That's right, Ouroboros. That's originally the name of a snake that appeared in myths. ...... And then, when Volkov was in the army, he belonged to a unit called Ouroboros."

'Volkov- knows- ways- to- kill' The words resounded in my mind.

"The unit called Ouroboros was a unit that was formed of robots, a Mech...... Err, what's it again?"

Lilith glanced at Volkov, while he answered shortly: "Mech Corp."

"Right, in the Mech Corp, they were dispatched to various battlefields. However, they suddenly received an order to return when they were going to their twenty eighth battlefield."

"Why?"

"Because a newer model of robot weapon was invented. To dispatch the new weapons, the 'older models' like Volkov fell into disuse."

Actually, I think I heard about this on the news before this.

"But why is a military robot being used in a construction site?"

"It seems that the company has relations with military affairs as well. Though the background is complicated, the company is only working on subcontract projects. ...... Also, most people don't know it, but the management of military robots is actually quite lax."

"Lax?"

"Apart from Volkov, many robots that were originally used for military uses were sold in the market. They were all older robots that were left because of the decrease of wars."

"So that's how things are......"

"Pitiless, aren't they. Creating them when they need it, abandoning them when they don't."

Lilith shrugged while saying. I didn't know what to say.

After that, she picked up the cigarette case and said while looking at the photo.

"Even so...... Your situation is better."

"Better?"

"Because, didn't your Professor love you till the end?"

"But......"

Now that Professor is not here, saying things like this is meaningless— I wanted to answer that, but stopped.

Lilith was abandoned by her parents. Volkov was abandoned by the army.

Professor— didn't abandon me.

"That's right, much better." Lilith kept staring at the photo, mumbling absent-mindedly, "Up till the last moment, you were loved......"

I only understood at that moment. The reason that Lilith kept standing up for the magic ring Flo Snow.

After the new ring appeared, the old ring would lose its home.

The ring represents Lilith, and also Volkov.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Iris on Rainy Days: Rebirth- Day 73|Rebirth- Day 73]]
| Return to [[Iris on Rainy Days|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Iris on Rainy Days: Rebirth- Day 83|Rebirth- Day 83]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>