Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 5 Chapter 1

2015-06-24T16:00:33Z

76.179.252.215: /* Part 2 */

==Chapter 1 - Unreturned Memories==

===Part 1===

"Nii-san, wake up! Nii-san!"

Calling me loudly, someone was shaking my body, rousing my consciousness from deep sleep.

When I woke to a start, before my eyes was a familiar face.

A beautiful girl with gorgeous long black hair. Currently, she was pouting childishly. Rather than beautiful, cute would probably be a better description.

She—Mononobe Mitsuki—was my younger sister. Despite having no blood relations, we apparently lived together since childhood as family.

The reason why this sounded so vague was because it was purely knowledge. I lack the basis to support this knowledge... Memories.

I had now lost my memories from when Mitsuki and I were family in the past. To download data on the lost weapon for fighting Hraesvelgr, the price I paid was overwriting all memories prior to three years ago.

Hence, right in front of my face, glaring at me, she was nothing more than just a beautiful girl.

My heart raced. Unable to stare at her eyes directly from up close, I avoided eye contact.

"G-Good morning, Mitsuki."

I greeted her hoarsely.

"Do not give me 'good morning'! It is past 7am, you know? Hurry, get changed and come to the dining hall."

I found the alarm clock next to my pillow by touch and checked the time.

"Oh... I'm so sorry."

Normally, I got up at 6:30am but I seemed to have forgotten to set my alarm.

I frantically tried to get up but I felt a sharp pain when I applied force on my left hand.

"Ow..."

I frowned and drew out my left hand from under the covers, only to see a new swelling near the dragon mark on the back of my left hand.

"This is—"

I remember something similar happening before. Not long after defeating "White" Leviathan, a scar had appeared next to my dragon mark, then after that—I became able to create antigravitational matter.
[[image:UnlimitedFafnir v05 021.jpg|thumb]]

"Nii-san, what is with that wound?"

However, Mitsuki peered at my left hand, purely worried about me.

"I probably scratched it on something while I was asleep. This isn't anything serious, so don't worry. It'll heal up soon on its own."

Perhaps I might be able to perform new transmutations. Although this was possible, since there was no proof, I simply glossed over it randomly for now. First, I should confer with Principal Charlotte B. Lord since she had suspected a causal link between scars on the dragon mark and obtaining powers.

"No! What if it gets infected? I will bring the first aid kit. Please wait, Nii-san."

Saying that, Mitsuki frantically rushed out of the room without waiting for my answer, apparently forgetting that she was still angry a moment ago.

Left alone in the room, I exhaled.

It was the third day after returning from the Principality of Erlia with the intense showdown against "Yellow" Hraesvelgr.

Finally free of battle fatigue and jet lag, my body had returned to normal.

But I was still unused to playing the role of Mitsuki's older brother properly.

I had not lost my memories at Midgard, so I knew how to get along with Mitsuki. But even so, my acting was still poor.

Mitsuki treated me as family and would interact with me at this kind of distance, but it troubled me and made me involuntarily nervous.

I had considered coming clean to her.

Seeing as I did not consider Mitsuki family on an emotional level, I should not be feeling excessive fear towards hurting her with the truth.

But in actual fact, I could not say it no matter what. Whenever I wanted to bring it up to her, I found myself unable to make a sound.

It was almost like ''the real me'' was holding me by the throat, telling me "don't hurt Mitsuki."

Hence, I was still playing the role of Mitsuki's older brother—while simultaneously tormented with the guilt of continued deceit.

Soon after, Mitsuki returned to the room and placed the first aid kit on the bed.

"Then I shall treat it for you, Nii-san. Please hold out your left hand."

"O-Okay."

As soon as I extended my left hand, Mitsuki grabbed it without hesitation. The feeling of her hand, a size smaller than mine, was making my heart race. Nervousness froze my body.

"It might sting a little, so please endure it."

"Ow!"

I made a small groan reflexively when the antiseptic was applied to the wound. Mitsuki immediately held my hand firmly and smiled gently at me.

"Do not worry, it will be done in a second."

As though coaxing a child, Mitsuki then wiped the antiseptic with cotton and applied a large band-aid to the wound.

"Okay, finished."

Mitsuki released my hand and ended the treatment.

"—Thank you."

"Not at all, you are welcome."

Mitsuki answered with a delighted smile.

"It feels like... you're very happy."

Feeling strange, I asked her. Mitsuki widened her eyes and showed surprise on her face.

"Is that how I look?"

"Yeah."

"Then perhaps it is because—It has been a while since I finally got the chance to look after you, Nii-san. Because lately, you seem to be helping me all the time."

Mitsuki scratched her face, seemingly quite embarrassed and turned her back to me.

"Well then, Nii-san, get changed quickly and come to the dining hall, because I would like to eat breakfast together with you."

Saying that, Mitsuki left the room without looking back.

"Got it, I'm freshen up and get changed as fast as I can."

Touching the band-aid Mitsuki had applied for me, playing the role of her older brother, I replied.

Twenty-five years ago, the first dragon suddenly appeared in the sky above Japan—"Black" Vritra.

Causing massive calamity while moving across the world, Vritra had vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.

And starting from that point in time, children possessing the same ability as Vritra's began to be born among humans.

These children were known as Ds.

Just by thinking silently, these Ds were able to generate dark matter that could be transmuted into all kinds of substances. Currently, they were gathered to live at Midgard, an island far south of Japan with a diameter of several kilometers.

But three years ago, instead of Midgard, it was the military organization NIFL, in charge of handling dragon-related matters, that took me in.

I went through combat training at NIFL to become a member of the special forces team Sleipnir. Then for the next three years, I fought as a soldier on various battlefields. One day, I was suddenly reassigned to Midgard, and now, I was studying at the Academy like all the other Ds.

Indeed—Midgard was the self-governed educational institute of the Ds. Since Ds lost their powers after getting pregnant or reaching the age of twenty or so, all Ds at Midgard were at an age meant to attend school.

Life was very fulfilling and full of fun, going to school with people of the same generation. However, if there was one thing I felt unaccustomed to, it was the fact that there were no boys apart from me.

Although the reason was unknown, all Ds were born female. Currently I was the lone exception as a male D with the power to generate dark matter.

Hence, after Mitsuki and I left the dorm and started on our way to school, we became surrounded by school girls when reached the intersection where the road forked off to the girls dormitories.

When I first arrived in Midgard, the girls would stare at me from afar, making me feel very uncomfortable. But after returning from the Principality of Erlia, the situation got uncomfortable in a different sense.

"Kyah—!"

When Mitsuki and I appeared before the commuting school girls, they instantly screamed and cheered.

I jumped in fright instantly while Mitsuki calmly greeted them "Good morning, everyone."

"Good morning!"

Immediately the surrounding girls replied in unison.

Everyone stopped and gazed intently at us. Walking side by side with Mitsuki, I felt uncomfortable all over.

"What's with this situation..."

Hearing my quiet mutterings, Mitsuki looked up and said to me:

"This is the way things are. Because Brynhildr Class is currently regarded as the equivalent of heroes in Midgard."

"What heroes? That's way too exaggerated."

Hearing my answer, Mitsuki exhaled in exasperation.

"You are lacking in self-awareness, Nii-san. In anti-dragon combat so far, Brynhildr Class has always served as the mainstay of our forces. Apart from that, last time, we even defeated Hraesvelgr which was thought to be 'impossible to defeat by group tactics alone,' so being the center of attention is only natural."

"Hmm... Is that the way it works?"

Hraesvelgr was recognized as the hardest foe to deal with. For people to rejoice and feel particularly relieved after finding out that such a dragon had been vanquished, that I could sympathize. When Basilisk was defeated, everyone was ecstatic too.

But I got the feeling that this type of attention was different from last time's.

"But in your case, Nii-san, rather than a hero, it would be better to say you are seen as a prince."

"P-Prince?"

Hearing this term that suited me poorly, I felt quite troubled.

"This stems mostly from your relationship with Firill-san. Ever since returning to Midgard, rumor has it that she talked to many people about you, Nii-san, saying that you are like her Prince Charming—"

For some reason, Mitsuki's tone of voice was somewhat displeased.

Firill was my classmate who got targeted by Hraesvelgr. She was also a princess from the Principality of Erlia. I paid a heavy price to obtain victory in the fight to protect her.

"What Prince Charming, that's even more embarrassing than a hero..."

"However, Nii-san, you look very happy despite your claims on the contrary."

Mitsuki glared coldly and me then murmured quietly:

"...At this rate, someone might violate the rule against inappropriate interactions between the genders. I must pay more attention."

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"—Please pay it no mind. I was simply talking to myself."

Mitsuki replied coldly then quickened her pace.

I tried to ignore the surrounding gazes as much as possible and followed Mitsuki.

"Umm! G-Good morning!"

Along the way, several school girls greeted me. Seeing their eyes flash with excitement, I replied despite feeling troubled.

"Oh, good morning."

"...!"

Immediately, the girls blushed intensely and ran away. This situation repeated itself many times, but for some reason, Mitsuki's mood got increasingly worse.

"Nii-san, surely you must be happy to be so popular, but do not get carried away and disrupt public morals, okay?"

Mitsuki looked up to glare at me and warned.

"I-I know."

Oppressed by her inexplicably intimidating vigor, I nodded involuntarily. Perhaps feeling the tense atmosphere exuded by Mitsuki, fewer students came to talk to me after that.

However, there were also people who would not need to worry about that, namely, our classmates who belonged to Brynhildr Class.

"Oh, it's Yuu and Mitsuki!"

A joyful voice sounded from ahead.

Coming into view in front of us were some of our classmates. Since Mitsuki and I were walking rapidly, we soon caught up to them.

"Good morning, Yuu! Mitsuki!"

The first to notice us was a young girl. She greeted us energetically. Between the strands of her pale hair, which looked pink under the light, two red horns protruded.

This girl was named Tia Lightning. Roughly two months ago, she had gotten out of the dragon-worshiping cult, the Sons of Muspell, taken into custody and sent to Midgard here. Her horns were not decorations but real horns conferred to her through the biogenic transmutation of dark matter by Kili Surtr Muspelheim, the leader of the Sons of Muspell.

Then the other girls in Tia's company greeted us too.

"Good morning, both of you."

Turning around with fluttering long blonde hair was Lisa Highwalker.

Despite her strict attitude towards me, she was a girl who helped others generously and was very considerate for her friends. It would not be a stretch to say that Brynhildr Class was united with her as the center.

"Good morning, Mitsuki, Mononobe-kun."

"Mm."

Next to greet us were the tomboyish Ariella Lu and the reticent redhaired Ren Miyazawa.

"Good morning, everyone."

"Good morning."

Mitsuki and I waved our hands in response.

However, there was one last person present—Firill Crest—holding a paperback in her hand. Instead of greeting us, she silently approached me.

"Firill?"

I looked at Firill doubtfully, only to see her close up her paperback, spread her arms and approach me with a hug.

"What!?"

Hidden under her uniform, two massive bulges pressed against me. That soft sensation was making my face heat up.

Watching from a distance, there was a commotion among girls.

"...Good morning, Mononobe-kun."

Standing on tiptoe, Firill whispered in my ear. Feeling her breath against my ear, my heart jumped intensely.

"Wait, Firill-san! What are you doing suddenly!?"

Mitsuki screamed.

"I'm not doing anything. This is just a hug. An ordinary method of greeting, filled with love."

However, Firill answered nonchalantly in a calm tone of voice.

Despite hearing noisy screams and cheering in the surroundings, she seemed completely unfazed.

"L-Love?"

Intimidated by her forcefulness, Mitsuki could not help but falter.

"It's so unfair that Firill gets a hug! Tia wanna hug too!"

Tia circled around behind me and hugged me from behind. Sandwiched between the two girls, I could not move.

Despite her young age, Tia's body still had feminine curves, no matter how small, and the softness unique to girls. Surrounded by the two girls' body warmth and fragrance, I could not help but feel dizzy.

"Even Tia-san too! Even if it is a greeting, this excessive intimacy is forbidden in public. It is detrimental to public morals!"

Red in the face, Mitsuki forced the two girls to separate from me.

"Mitsuki so stingy!"

Tia grumbled unhappily while Firill backed away obediently.

"Sorry, then I'll pick somewhere without people next time."

However, Firill left behind those words when she returned to Lisa's side.

"That is even more unacceptable!"

Mitsuki yelled angrily, glaring at me with her face blushing to her ears.

"Nii-san, stop letting others have their way with you. Fewer problems would arise if only you could pay more attention."

"I-I'll be more careful."

Intimidated by Mitsuki, I could only nod.

"—Putting that aside, I wonder what's up with Iris? Why hasn't she appeared..."

To change the subject, I looked for the girl who was not here. Including me, Brynhildr Class had a total of eight students. One person was still missing—Iris Freyja.

"Speaking of Iris-san, she overslept. We decided to leave for school first because she did not leave her room and it was getting late."

Lisa sighed while answering me.

"I see... But anyway, I guess she's always like this."

Iris was a bit airheaded, often oversleeping or forgetting things.

"Had I not roused you from bed, Nii-san, you would have overslept too."

Hearing Mitsuki murmur that softly, Lisa looked at me in amazement.

"Don't tell me that you require Mitsuki-san to rouse you from bed every day?"

"N-Not every day. It's just once in a while when I oversleep."

"If you rely on Mitsuki-san to wake you up, that means the same thing. Goodness gracious... If you are still dependent on your younger sister, that means you are not a full-fledged man, got that? Look, your hair is sticking up a bit."

Saying that, Lisa smoothed my hair in a natural motion.

Seeing me and Lisa close together, surrounding girls screamed "kyah!" instantly again. Hearing the screams, Lisa instantly became self-aware and rapidly left me with her face bright red.

"W-What did you make me do!?"

"You're asking me? ...Lisa, you touched my hair on your own."

Feeling a bit shaken inside, I gave a matter-of-fact counterargument.

Watching our interactions, Firill smiled warmly and placed her hand on Lisa's shoulder.

"I understand how you feel, Lisa. Mononobe-kun is clearly so handsome, but he doesn't put up his guard against others. It makes you want to look after him, right?"

"Indeed, perhaps there is that side to him... Wrong, I am simply agreeing with what you said about him lacking vigilance! I don't find him handsome at all!"

Pointing at me with her finger, Lisa spoke in rapid fire.

Then as though trying to hide her reddened face, she turned her back to me and strode off to school.

"Time to go, everyone. If we keep chatting here, all of us will be late."

"Oh, wait for me, Lisa."

Firill ran after Lisa and we followed.

Watching us from afar, the other girls cheered and screamed noisily while resuming on their way.

Looking around, I found that the bystander crowd had increased a lot without me noticing.

I normally only had contact with my classmates, but whenever I was surrounded by girls from other homerooms like this, I got overwhelmed by the totally one-sided gender ratio.

Fortunately, class sizes were less than ten people in Midgard's system. I could not help but feel thankful for this bit of good luck.

===Part 2===

"Iris... is so late."

I arrived at school with Lisa and the others but Iris still did not appear when the bell rang for homeroom to begin.

The seat to my left remained empty. Sitting to my right, Mitsuki also had a worried expression.

"Shinomiya-sensei is already here."

After Mitsuki spoke, the classroom door immediately opened and our homeroom teacher, Shinomiya-sensei, entered.

This woman was Midgard's commander and also held the rank of colonel.

Shinomiya-sensei's black ponytail swayed behind her as she stood at the lectern.

"Rise."

Hence, Mitsuki commanded the class.

After confirming everyone had bowed and sat down, Shinomiya-sensei spoke.

"There are several important announcements today. Before that, let me inform you of Iris Freyja's condition. She is absent with a fever today, probably due to long-distance travel fatigue. If anyone else feels unwell, please report immediately to me and don't strain yourself."

After listening to the teacher, the students began to whisper to one another.

"...So she overslept because of a fever. If only I had checked carefully."

I heard Lisa murmuring in regret.

I worried about Iris too while thinking back to what had happened at the Principality of Erlia.

Iris had tried her hardest to recount to me my shared memories with Mitsuki that I had told her before I lost them, then comforted me, declaring she would definitely help me recover my memories.

Probably due to this psychological burden, she was much more exhausted than the others. Perhaps I was partly to blame for Iris' fever.

"Shinomiya-sensei, can I visit her after school?"

I raised my hand and asked the teacher.

"It's fine for the others, but since you are male... Entering a girls dormitory is rather inconvenient."

However, Shinomiya-sensei showed hesitation.

"Back when I was hospitalized from the battle against Kili, Iris came to visit me, so I'd like to cheer her up a bit."

Even so, I still pleaded with Shinomiya-sensei and did not give up. Arms crossed, she contemplated silently for a while.

"Hmm... Considering your merits during the battle against Hraesvelgr, I suppose a small wish of this sort ought to be indulged. So long as you adhere to my conditions, I can authorize you to visit her."

"Conditions?"

"Yes. Firstly, you must obtain Iris Freyja's consent. Secondly, a student of that dorm must accompany you. Thirdly, you are not allowed to enter unnecessary places. Finally, you must leave the dorm before curfew."

Shinomiya-sensei raised four fingers and spoke.

"I understand."

"Very well. If you obtain Iris Freyja's consent and find someone to accompany you, report back to me during homeroom after sixth period."

After saying that, Shinomiya-sensei swept her gaze around the room once.

"—Any other questions? Then I will begin the announcements."

Shinomiya-sensei cleared her throat, paused for a moment then informed us solemnly.

"First of all, some not so good news. Hekatonkheir seems to have reappeared."

"In the end, it still appeared!?"

Mitsuki remarked with worry.

"Yes, it seems that Hekatonkheir still can't be killed permanently. Although it is not showing any signs of advancing here, we cannot rule out the possibility of it suddenly appearing in Midgard like last time, so please be prepared at all times, everyone."

Shinomiya-sensei demanded everyone's attention with a solemn expression then relaxed her demeanor.

"Then let's talk about the next item, which is not so serious a topic, although it might be a bit laborious for you..."

Shinomiya-sensei looked at us as though enjoying our misfortune.

"By laborious, do you mean we have another mission?"

Lisa asked Shinomiya-sensei.

"Well, in a certain sense, it does count as a special mission. Suggested by the principal—A school festival will be held one month later."

"S-School festival?"

Lisa spoke in puzzlement. The rest of us were equally surprised.

"When Midgard first started operating as a school, the number of Ds was quite small. The only event held was probably just the Christmas party at the end of the year. But now that the number of students and homerooms has increased, it should be possible to hold a relatively lively event—That's what the principal thinks."

After reaching this point in her explanation, Shinomiya-sensei lowered her voice slightly.

"This event was proposed not only for the students but also includes the significance of external promotion. I hope you will treat this school festival as a chance to make up for our mission failure last time."

Make up...?

I frowned, not knowing what this was about.

The last mission was heading to Firill's homeland, the Principality of Erlia, to protect Kili Surtr Muspelheim and transport her to Midgard.

However, Hraesvelgr attacked during the mission. Although we managed to defeat the dragon, Kili went missing.

But what did that have to do with holding a school festival?

"Kili Surtr Muspelheim publicly stated that NIFL has been eliminating anti-social Ds all this time. The influence of that statement still persists. And our inability to protect her has also marred Midgard's credibility. Thus, we are forced to prove to the outside world that Midgard is an educational institute, composed of Ds and founded for Ds."

"Speaking of which, will many external visitors come to attend the school festival?"

After hearing the explanation, Lisa asked.

Indeed, if we had to make a statement to the outside world, there would be no point unless we entertained external visitor.s

"Yes, we plan to invite VIPs from various countries, major sponsors, and relatives of students. Naturally, all of them will go through strict background checks."

Relatives—

Hearing this word, I felt my heart jump violently. Having lost my memories from before I was taken to NIFL, I could not even recall the faces of my parents. How was I supposed to face them if they came?

"Nii-san—We might be able to see Father and Mother."

But in contrast to my internal panic, Mitsuki said happily to me.

"...Yeah."
[[image:UnlimitedFafnir v5 041.jpg|thumb]]

I smiled clumsily and nodded.

"Every homeroom will be required to prepare an activity for the school festival. Since Iris Freyja is absent today, we will delay the decision for now. I will find another time for you to discuss but before that, please plan your proposals. Also, Mononobe Yuu—"

Shinomiya-sensei called my name at the end.

"Yes?"

Wondering what it was about, I raised my hand and responded.

"The principal apparently wishes to speak to you regarding the school festival. Please report to the principal's office during lunch."

"Got it."

Although I had no idea why she wanted to see me, this was perfect, because I wanted to discuss with the principal about the wound that had appeared next to my dragon mark.

Feeling the band-aid on my left hand that Mitsuki had applied for me, I wondered what the principal wanted to talk to me about—

===Part 3===

When the lunch break arrived, I went to the principal's office as instructed.

The clock tower was where the Academy's important facilities were gathered. Destroyed by Hekatonkheir at one point, it had been rebuilt during our expedition to take down Basilisk. It was only now that I finally stepped into the restored clock tower for the first time.

I originally thought the principal's office might have been relocated, but the internal layout seemed almost identical to before. The principal's office was still on the clock tower's top level.

"—You came at the right time, Mononobe Yuu."

I knocked and entered the room. Originally doing paperwork at her desk, the young blue-eyed blonde instantly looked up. At first glance, she seemed to be a girl the same age or slightly younger than me, but in fact, she was Midgard's chief administrator, Principal Charlotte B. Lord. The woman standing next to her, dressed as a maid, was the principal's secretary, Maika Stuart-san.

This room was the same as when I visited before. The curtains were tightly shut with a dim interior.

"Umm, I heard you wanted to talk to me about the school festival..."

I brought up the subject while feeling slightly nervous.

"Yes, there is one problem regarding the matter of inviting external visitors to take part in the school festival, but before that—"

The principal narrowed her eyes, stood up from her seat and approached me.

"Show me your left hand."

She turned her gaze to the back of my left hand where a band-aid had been applied, then ordered me.

"—Yes."

Impressed by how observant she was, I obediently extended my left hand.

"Is there any change in the dragon mark?"

"Actually, just like last time, a swelling appeared—Oh, hold on, I'll peel it myself."

I stopped the principal who was about to tear it off, and removed the band-aid carefully. To avoid causing Mitsuki unnecessary worry, I intended to put it back on later.

The principal stared at the exposed wound on my left hand then as before, extended her little red tongue and licked my wound.

"...I-I was curious since last time. What do you learn by licking like this?"

I felt a bit of a sting from the wound along with a tickling sense of pleasure, forcing me to shudder.

"This is my personal method of diagnosis, don't mind it."

"Method of diagnosis..."

Ignoring my puzzlement, the principal stared at the wound, moistened by saliva.

"—Just as expected, it doesn't disappear. Perhaps the fundamental properties themselves changed. Looks like it's a wound of the same nature as last time."

The principal muttered words which I could not quite understand. Despite merely licking with her tongue, the principal seemed to have conducted many analyses.

"Umm, Principal...?"

I called to her, hoping she could explain and help me understand. She looked up and glared at me.

"So—Have you tried it?"

"Tried it? Tried what?"

I asked in puzzlement, but the principal went "how dense" and sighed.

"Of course I'm asking if you tried to see whether you can perform new transmutations."

"...No, not yet."

Because I thought trying randomly might be dangerous, I wanted to confer with the principal first.

"Really? Then try it here."

"Eh? Are you sure? Shouldn't I go to a training site..."

"Don't worry, as long as you control the dark matter generated to a very small amount, even if there's an accident, effects will be minor."

"I-I understand."

I nodded then generated a sphere of dark matter on my left hand with a radius of one centimeter.

"—Great, what will it be this time? Speaking of which, so-called Ds are the rare people who wield the same ability as 'Black' Vritra. And among them, Mononobe Mitsuki even obtained the antimatter controlled by 'Purple' Kraken' whereas you have reproduced 'White' Leviathan's ability through antigravitational matter..."

The principal stared at the small sphere of dark matter hovering over my palm, then continued with excitement on her face:

"Although I did not receive any report when Mononobe Mitsuki gained a new ability, your dragon mark went through an unusual change before you created antigravitational matter. If the current wound near the dragon mark has a causal link to obtaining new abilities, then you should have obtained a dragon's power. Come, try it out quickly and show me."

Like a child, the principal tugged my clothing and urged.

"Uh... Now that I think about it closely, how do I test it?"

Generated dark matter was transmuted according to transmitted thoughts, hence I could not create something I did not know about.

"First try recalling the powers exhibited by the dragons you fought and defeated. Either 'Red' Basilisk or 'Yellow' Hraesvelgr. Considering past precedents, these two dragon's powers might very well have been inherited by Ds."

"—Got it."

I listened to the principal's instructions and started to concentrate.

I first pictured the red light fired from "Red" Basilisk's eyes. The terrifying ability known as "Catastrophe," capable of speeding up time.

However, the dark matter on my left hand did not change

Okay—Next one.

I recalled the appearance of "Yellow" Hraesvelgr that I had fought in the Principality of Erlia.

Hraesvelgr used golden particles as a medium and possessed a power known as "Ether Wind," capable of manifesting souls.

Then just as I pictured the particles enveloping Hraesvelgr's body, shining with golden light, instantly, the dark matter on my palm changed into tiny glittering particles.

"Oh..."

The particles shone with golden radiance. Flying up lightly into the air, they faded then finally disappeared.

"Wow, so you succeeded! What was that just now? Which dragon's power were you thinking of?"

With reddened cheeks, the principal asked me.

"Uh, just now, that was probably... the particles hanging around Hraesvelgr, capable of manifesting souls."

Amidst the delightful surprise of succeeding in a new transmutation, I answered the principal excitedly.

"Yes, Hraesvelgr's power, that's truly wonderful. Let's run through examinations and tests more concretely in a few days. Please cooperate when the time comes."

"Understood."

I was grateful too for a more definite check. After antigravitational matter, I seemed to have gained the ability to use Hraesvelgr's power, but this further baffled me right now.

Because speaking of which, I still had no idea what was the root reason why I became able to use the powers of dragons. To be honest, I did not feel happy about becoming stronger.

"However, if that was Hraesvelgr's ability just now, then there's a problem."

"Problem?"

Seeing the principal's worried expression, I cocked my head in puzzlement.

"Indeed, you tried to reproduce Basilisk's ability, right?"

"Yeah, but nothing happened."

"In that case, where exactly did Basilisk's ability go? Basilisk was defeated before Hraesvelgr, right?"

"Ah..."

Hearing what the principal said, I understood what worried her.

"You mean that someone else apart from me has already inherited Basilisk's power?"

I asked cautiously and the principal nodded solemnly.

"That's the only natural conclusion. Perhaps she has not noticed or is deliberately hiding it... There are many possibilities. But leave it to me to think about how to handle this."

Saying that, the principal left me and walked to her desk.

After sitting down forcefully on her grand chair, resting her elbows on the desk, she clasped her hands together, fingers crossed, looking extremely impressive. No—In fact, she really was quite impressive.

"Mononobe Yuu, please do not use Hraesvelgr's power lightly before you are examined. I will notify you of the examination time later."

"Got it, then I'll be on my way."

"Okay—No wait, wait! We didn't get to the main point!"

Just as I turned around to leave, the principal called to me frantically.

"Oh right, I was called here about the school festival."

I originally thought the conversation had ended, but scratched my head.

"That's right. Maika, hurry and get it done."

"Affirmative."

Maika had been waiting on standby in a corner of the room. Receiving the principal's order, she approached me.

"W-What's going on?"

Seeing me get nervous and wary involuntarily, Maika-san smiled sweetly.

"Don't worry, it will be over in an instant if you stay still."

Saying that, Maika-san knelt down and suddenly rolled my pants up.

"Uwah, hold on..."

"You have good-looking legs."

Ignoring my distress, Maika-san then rolled up my sleeves as well, staring at me as though confirming something. Then taking out a measuring tape from a pocket in her maid uniform, she started taking various measurements of my body. Due to being so close, Maika-san's massive bust was touching me through our clothing.

"U-Umm..."

Troubled because I had no idea what she was doing to me, combined with repeated contact with that soft bosom, my mind was already blank.

"My apologies, please endure a while longer, next is here and there...... Done, thank you for your cooperation."

Maika-san put away her measuring tape, bowed to me and walked away. Only after the soft sensation left me did I finally come to my senses.

"W-What the heck was that?"

I turned my gaze to the principal and demanded an explanation.

"Hmm, actually—No, I'd better not say for now. I'll tell you once preparations are complete. After all, it'd be a pain if you fled."

"I have a very bad feeling about this... Please tell me clearly."

Seeing the principal make an evil smile, I felt a chill along my back.

"Fufufu, it's best that you don't ask. Because if you found out, you probably won't be able to focus on preparing for the school festival."

"What... the heck are you planning—"

"Secret. Very well, we're done here. Get lost. Maika, show him the way out."

"Yes, thank you for your efforts."

Pushing my back, Maika-san drove me out of the principal's office.

"What the heck was that..."

Although the possibility that someone had inherited Basilisk's dangerous ability was quite unsettling, what gave me an ominous feeling was the principal's smile instead.

Hence, I walked to the classroom while not knowing what the future had in store for me.

===Part 4===

"So this is the girls dorm..."

After school, after emailing Iris to get permission to visit, I came with my classmates to the girls dorm where they lived.

Although the original condition was to ask someone to accompany me, since my classmates wanted to visit Iris too, everyone came with me except for Mitsuki who had student council work to do. Instead, Mitsuki prepared concise and easily-understood notes on today's lessons for me to take along.

"Please don't snoop around. It's very vulgar."

I looked up at the curved architectural design of the dorm but Lisa glared at me coldly.

"Come on... No matter what, it's not like I'll have lustful intentions from looking at a building."

I sighed and responded. Immediately, Firill peered at my face from the side and said:

"Really? I read in a book once that all men are perverts without exceptions."

"What the heck kind of book is that...? At least I'm not the kind of pervert that gets aroused by architecture."

"Then you're a different kind of pervert?"

"Stop nitpicking at my words."

Feeling that anything I said would be taken the wrong way, I slumped my shoulders dejectedly.

"Even if Yuu is a pervert, Tia doesn't mind at all!"

"T-Thanks..."

Although Tia tried her hardest to comfort me, my feelings were quite complicated.

"Tia, be careful what you say. If Mononobe-kun really is a pervert, he might do nasty things to you."

Hearing Ariella warn Tia in this manner, I became even more depressed.

"What are nasty things?"

"Huh? T-That's, umm..."

Questioned by Tia, Ariella went red in embarrassment. What the heck was she imagining?
[[image:UnlimitedFafnir v05 055.jpg|thumb]]

Listening to such a conversation, Ren swiftly distanced herself from me.

"Ren?"

"Mm!"

I called to her but she glared at me with her face red. Now that the unfair label of pervert was imposed on me, Ren seemed to be guarding against me.

To avoid further provoking them, I decided to walk silently.

—Speaking of which, the person who had inherited Basilisk's power was possibly among these girls.

Rather, since the members of Brynhildr Class were the one who defeated Basilisk, the probability should be very high.

But as far as I knew, no one had reported an unusual symptoms after defeating Basilisk. Still, the principal said she would handle it, so I guess I should leave it to her for now.

Switching my thoughts, I passed through the dorm entrance.

The instant I entered the entrance hall, I felt cool air brush against my cheek.

The air conditioning was set at a suitable temperature and very comfortable. I saw the noticeboard in the entrance hall with all kinds of colored notices stuck there. Things seemed more vibrant here than Mitsuki's dorm. Due to the faint scent of girls indoors, I felt my heart rate rise inexplicably.

"Come this way."

I followed Lisa's guidance to head to Iris' room. Along the way, although I ran into girls from other classes several times, Lisa explained things for me each time.

Every room had a nameplate on the door. Judging from that, some students seemed to have roommates while others lived alone.

Walking along the second floor corridor, I reached Iris' room where the nameplate only had "Iris Freyja." It looked like Iris did not have a roommate.

"I shall enter first to tidy up the room. I expect it to be very messy still."

Saying that, Lisa knocked on the door.

"Iris-san, I'm coming in."

After confirming a muffled "Oh... Sure" response coming from inside, Lisa swiftly entered the room. Then we waited for roughly three minutes and the door opened from inside. Lisa waved to us.

"Please enter, it's now tidied up."

"...Pardon the intrusion."

I stepped into Iris' room nervously. During the trips to the volcanic island and the Principality of Erlia, I had entered rooms that were assigned to Iris at the time, but this was still my first time seeing her real bedroom, of course.

The floor was laid with a carpet with a calming color. A calendar hung on the wall. Unused spaces on furniture were decorated with photos and pretty shells, probably found on a Midgard beach.

Perhaps due to Lisa's tidying up, I did not find the place particularly messy.

Lying in bed, Iris smiled at us as we entered.

"Mononobe... Everyone... Thanks for coming to see me."

Iris thanked us in a feeble voice. I approached her and examined her face that was red from a fever.

"You look like you've got it rough... Are you okay?"

I brushed away her silver hair that was sticking to her forehead due to sweat. I touched her forehand with my palm to find that it really was quite hot.

"Hmm... Although it's rough, I've already taken my medicine... I'll get well soon enough, so don't worry."

I was slightly relieved to hear Iris' answer. Since she was allowed to rest in her own room after being diagnosed, it was probably not a severe flu. Since Midgard had a fully equipped medical building, a serious illness would have required her to be forcibly admitted to the medical building.

"These are the notes Mitsuki asked me to bring. It includes today's announcements and lesson content. Also, she asked me to tell you to take care."

I took out the notes from my school bag and placed them on the sideboard next to the bed.

"...Thanks, help me thank Mitsuki-chan."

"No problem."

I nodded. Then as though waiting for our conversation to wind down, Firill and the others instantly gathered around Iris' mattress and started talking to her.

"I bought jelly and sports drinks. I'll put them in the fridge."

Firill raised the plastic bag in her hand.

"I brought fruit. If you're hungry, let me peel an apple for you?"

Ariella held up a red apple and asked Iris

"Tia and Ren bought snacks together!"

"Mm."

Tia and Ren presented a gift box of snacks.

"Iris-san, get well soon."

After wiping off Iris' sweat, Lisa applied a cold sheet to her forehead.

"I'm so happy... everyone, thank you so much."

Perhaps feeling too touched, Iris had tears in the corners of her eyes while she thanked eyes.

Hence, after we encouraged Iris and did everything we could to look after her, Lisa said to Firill, Ariella, Ren and Tia:

"I think having so many of us here is too noisy and Iris-san will not be able to relax. Let us leave the rest to Mononobe Yuu."

"I agree. That way, Iris will cheer up more. Since she has a flu, I'll let her have special treatment just for today."

Firill smiled suggestively and nodded to concur.

"Eh? But is okay to let Mononobe-kun and Iris to be alone? It's because that's not too appropriate that Shinomiya-sensei added a condition to require someone to accompany them..."

However, Ariella objected with a slightly troubled expression.

"I will wait outside the door, so there won't be any problems. If Mononobe Yuu shows any signs of making an indecent move, I will rush into the room immediately and punish him."

Despite answering Ariella's question, Lisa glared sharply at me. I felt cold sweat slide down my cheek but this was probably her method of being considerate for me.

"I promise I won't do anything requiring punishment from you, Lisa."

Hearing me swear seriously, Lisa nodded with satisfaction.

"Please keep that promise no matter what. Then I shall leave Iris-san in your hands. I will escort you to exit the dorm when you're leaving."

Thus, the girls left the room one after another and the room suddenly felt spacious with a silent atmosphere.

"Why... is everyone being so nice?"

Lying in bed, Iris looked at the door and murmured.

"That's because they all love you, Iris."

Lisa would probably reply "because classmates in the same homeroom are family" but the way I saw it, everyone's actions stemmed from simple affection.

"Then... Is it the same for you, Mononobe?"

Blushing, Iris looked up at me and asked.

"W-Well—Yeah, compared to the others, I love you more, Iris. More than anyone, I worry more about you. That's why, for my sake, you have to get well soon."

Enduring my embarrassment, I answered her.

"For... you, Mononobe."

But for some reason, Iris' expression became gloomy.

"What's wrong?"

"—Sorry, Mononobe."

"Huh?"

Hearing her suddenly apologize to me, I was baffled.

"Right now, you're clearly the one suffering the most... Mononobe, you lost your memories with Mitsuki-chan and I clearly have to support you... I clearly promised to help you regain your memories... But I haven't done anything."

Iris showed chagrin in her face and forced these words out.

Only after hearing her say that did I understood how heavy a psychological burden Iris was bearing.

Since I had entrusted my ''memories with Mitsuki'' to Iris before I lost them, Iris was giving herself too much pressure, feeling that she must help me.

Furthermore, Iris had declared that she would help me recover my memories even if it meant defeating Yggdrasil.

Iris was sincerely angry and sad on my behalf about the theft of my memories.

Putting aside whether it was actually possible to regain my memories, Iris' thoughts and feelings were already giving me sufficient salvation.

However, Iris was seriously searching all this time for a way to recover my memories. Relentlessly challenging a question that had no answer would bring a lot of mental stress.

"Iris, you've already helped me enough. I'm the one who should apologize. Sorry for making you overexert yourself."

It was all because I relied too much on Iris. I was responsible for this.

"N-Not at all, Mononobe, you did nothing wrong."

"No, in my mind, I probably gave up on getting my memories back already. Earlier, I think I was shoving everything on you because I thought it's impossible to recover the memories. But doing that is wrong."

I spoke regretfully then chose to correct my mistake.

"From now on, I'll think carefully to see how I can get my memories back... I'll search for that method together with you, Iris, rather than have you shoulder everything alone."

I placed my hand on Iris' cheek and vowed while staring into her eyes.

"Mononobe..."

Irisi' face was hot and her eyes moistened.

My heart was pounding loudly.

We were gazing at each other up close. Our faces naturally leaned in.

My mind was blanked out. All I could think about was Iris.

My heart rate increased. Our breaths mixed together.

Iris' lips, exhaling hot breath, was drawing me to them—

"Oh... N-No, you'll get my flu."

But just before our lips touched, Iris blocked her mouth with her hand.

"R-Right."

Brought back to my senses, I frantically separated from her.

Although it was a bit embarrassing, amidst a silence that tugged at our heartstrings, Iris and I peered at each other's face.

"Mononobe, your face is so red."

"You too."

"Because I've got a flu."

At the end of this exchange, we both laughed at the same time.

After our laughter resounded in the room and vanished—The room returned to silence, but it was a comforting kind of serenity.

"—Mononobe, thank you. I'm very happy that you're saying we'll find a way together."

After a while, Iris said calmly.

"You don't need to thank me. It's something that logically I'm supposed do, but it's just that I haven't."

"Even so, I'm still very happy. To be honest, the only method I thought of is defeating Yggdrasil... But that doesn't necessarily mean your memories will recover for sure..."

Iris smiled wryly and confessed that she had run into a wall.

"Yeah, we know too little right now. It's not a good idea to blame Yggdrasil for everything."

"...Mononobe, do you really think Yggdrasil is standing on our side?"

Hearing me speak in support of Yggdrasil, Iris watched me with worry.

"I don't trust it completely. But thanks to Yggdrasil, I was able to save you and the others. That's the truth too. I'm very grateful to it about this and I'd like to uphold my contract with it."

"Contract?"

"I obtained data on powerful weapons on the condition that I exterminate all dragons apart from Yggdrasil Excluding Vritra which has gone missing, the revived Hekatonkheir is the only dragon left. If that thing could be killed off completely... Yggdrasil's goal might be accomplished."

I thought of the dragons that had been vanquished so far while I spoke. Two years ago, "Purple" Kraken was taken out. In the last three months, we defeated "White" Leviathan, "Red" Basilisk and "Yellow" Hraesvelgr. Of the original seven dragons, only three remained, of which "Black" Vritra had never surfaced again after disappearing twenty-five years ago.

"Hekatonkheir revived?"

"Yeah—Shinomiya-sensei mentioned it this morning."

"I see... But won't it be dangerous to fulfill Yggdrasil's wish? We don't know what it plans to do once the other dragons are gone, right?"

"Well—"

I found myself at a loss for words.

I used to think that exterminating all dragons apart from Yggdrasil was close to impossible, so I never thought that deeply about it.

But in fact, Yggdrasil's objective might be after that.

"I still cannot forgive Yggdrasil for making you go through so much suffering, Mononobe... And I believe we mustn't lower our guard. If we don't all possible precautions ahead of time, we might end up being exploited for nothing."

Despite her state of fever, Iris' gaze was still very serious.

"That's why, although you might not want to, Mononobe—How about asking someone else for advice?"

"Huh?"

It troubled me to hear Iris' suggestion. I could not help but exclaim in surprise.

"I've been thinking about this the whole day. As much as I want to help you, Mononobe... At this rate, I might not be able to do anything and end up wasting time pointlessly. So, I'm wondering if we should get more assistance?"

"But I—"

"I know, Mononobe, you don't want Mitsuki-chan to know, right? Also, it could be troublesome if the higher-ups heard about it, right?"

"Yeah."

If Midgard's superior organization Asgard learned about this, I would undoubtedly be placed under strict surveillance. I would be quarantined as a traitor or even executed.

"However, I think there are people who'll keep the secret and help us. So let's try finding someone trustworthy to discuss."

"Someone trustworthy huh..."

My classmates' faces flashed in my mind.

Considering the girls who had fought alongside me many times, surviving many crises, gradually getting to know each other, I could trust them but—

"You're worried about getting them involved and causing trouble for them, right?"

Lying on the bed, Iris stared at my face and smiled wryly.

"That... goes without saying."

She had guessed what was on my mind. I avoided eye contact and nodded.

"Mononobe, you're so kind, but you have to cherish yourself more..."

Perhaps her fever was getting worse, Iris spoke with some suffering.

"Iris—"

I held her hands as though covering them up.

"Please, Mononobe. You don't have to decide now, but could you think over it?"

"...Okay."

Although this was not a conclusion that could be reached so easily, I promised Iris would consider her suggestion.

Perhaps relieve to hear my answer, Iris relaxed her body and closed her eyes.

Before long, I heard quiet breathing noises.

Hence, I released her hands gently, left the bedside and walked to the room's entrance.

I exited the room as quietly as possible, only to see Lisa, leaning against the wall in the corridor, turn her head to look at me.

Everyone else had probably returned to their own rooms. They were not in sight.

"Already done? There is still some time until curfew."

"I'm done, Iris is sleeping now so I decided to leave."

Hearing my answer, Lisa left the wall and walked over.

"Then I shall see you off to the entrance."

"Thanks for your help."

I thanked Lisa then walked with her side by side.

—Find someone trustworthy to discuss huh...

Recalling what Iris said to me, I stared at the side of Lisa's face.

Although I trusted every classmate, if I had to pick someone as the most reliable, Lisa would be the first to come to mind.

For the sake of Mitsuki who was tormented from guilt for killing her own best friend, Lisa could play the role of "the character who condemned Mitsuki's crime" persistently for as long as two years. That was the kind of girl she was, considerate for her friends and possessing great mental strength.

She had openly declared that classmates were equivalent to family, supporting all of us with strictness sometimes and gentleness on other occasions. If it was her, she would probably help me.

Hmm... Hold on. On further thought, Lisa still considered me a "probationary classmate," right?

Thinking I was still not acknowledged as a member of Brynhildr Class, I felt a bit unconfident.

"Is there something on my face?"

Noticing I was staring at her, Lisa asked me with a surprised look.

"No, I suddenly remembered something. Thinking back, I'm still a 'probationary classmate,' right?"

"Probationary classmate?"

Lisa cocked her head, evidently not understanding what I was talking about.

"After defeating Leviathan, Lisa, you mentioned promoting me to 'probationary classmate,' didn't you? But after that, you never promoted me again."

"And I was wondering what on earth you were talking about... I've long forgotten something so far back."

Looking at me, Lisa looked totally exasperated.

"Come to think of it, Lisa, have you already acknowledged me as a classmate?"

"Huh? W-Well, umm..."

Confronted with my question, Lisa blushed and reacted with awkwardness.

"And?"

"—Who cares! Decide for yourself!"

Lisa turned her face away fiercely and replied in anger, but this answer was equivalent to saying she acknowledged me.

She quickened her pace and kept moving forward, almost leaving me behind.

"Wait up."

I frantically chased Lisa. Because we walked so hastily, we reached the dorm entrance within the blink of an eye.

"Well then, off you go."

Sending me to the door, Lisa bid me farewell coldly, turned around and was about to return to the dorm.

"Oh, Lisa, one last thing. Can I ask a question?"

Watching Lisa's back as she receded away, I asked her.

"...What is it?"

Despite making a displeased look, she still stopped and looked back candidly.

"Suppose I said I needed your advice on something, Lisa, will you hear me out?"

"—If you are truly in trouble, I will help you. But if you're just trying to push trouble onto me, then I will rectify your character flaw."

Hearing Lisa answer so readily, I was quite surprised.

"Even if what I want to discuss is a very tricky affair?"

"Tricky or not is irrelevant. The key point is whether help is necessary. So—What would you like to discuss with me?"

Lisa stood arms akimbo and urged me to speak.

"N-No, I said 'suppose,' didn't I? I just wanted to check, that's all."

Because it was not something to discuss at this location and I had not yet prepared myself to talk to her either.

Hence, I frantically swept it under the rug.

"—Is that so? Then I shall take my leave."

Although Lisa should have noticed the wavering in my heart, she departed without pursuing the matter.

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

After saying goodbye to Lisa as she left, I turned around and departed too.

Whether to discuss with her or not, I'd better leave the decision a bit later.

While praying for Iris to come to school in good health the next day, I started walking back to Mitsuki's dorm.

===Part 5===

"Good morning!"

Perhaps the heavens heard my wish—The next day, Iris greeted me energetically then entered the classroom together with Lisa and the other residents of the girls dorm.

"Good morning. I'm glad you recovered from your flu."

Iris approached and I greeted her in turn.

"Yeah, I'm fully recovered."

Iris made a victory hand sign to emphasize her recovery.

I originally worried that she was forcing herself, but she really seemed to be well.

—Hmm?

I sensed someone's gaze vaguely, so I looked back, only to meet Lisa's eyes.

"!?"

However, Lisa instantly looked away in panic.

She was probably curious after I mentioned yesterday about having something to discuss.

While everyone was exchanging pleasantries and getting seated, Iris stopped walking to talk to Mitsuki.

"By the way, Mitsuki-chan, the notes I received yesterday talked about holding a school festival. Is that for real?"

"Yes, it was the principal's suggestion, to be held a month later. Since you are here today, Iris-san, I think we should discuss and decide what we will present as a class."

"Wow~ I'm looking forward to it! Mitsuki-chan, do you have something you want to do?"

"I have basically picked out several orthodox projects... But I do not plan on pushing any individual choice in particular."

Mitsuki answered solemnly. It seemed like she had set her boundaries clearly. Her responsibility was to provide choices to the class.

"How about you, Mononobe?"

Iris raised the same topic with me.

"Hmm... I don't really have an opinion either way."

To be honest, the term school festival did not evoke any feeling in me at all.

Due to losing all my memories beyond three years ago, I did not have any concrete impressions of school festivals.

"Come on~! You need to think about it more seriously!"

"If many suggestions are made, I'll choose among them seriously. What about you, Iris? Is there any activity you'd like to do?"

"Of course! I—"

Just as Iris was about to answer, the warning bell rang.

When the noisy clanging stopped, Iris smiled mischievously.

"—I'd better keep it secret for now. I'll propose it later."

Saying that, Iris returned to her seat.

Her excitement made it feel as though she did not just recover from illness. I could see how happy she was at the prospects of holding a school festival.

Next, just as Mitsuki said, during morning homeroom, Shinomiya-sensei announced a change to first period, to use that time to decide what our class was going to present at the school festival.

"—Thus ends the announcements. Mononobe Mitsuki will now chair the proceedings."

"Understood."

Mitsuki took Shinomiya-sensei's place at the lectern. After looking at everyone, she spoke:

"Then to begin, I would like all of you to nominate candidate activities. Does anyone have suggestions?"

The first to raise her hand in response to Mitsuki's question was Iris.

"Yes!"

"Please tell us, Iris-san."

"I want to do goldfish scooping!"

"......Huh?"

After a period of silence, Mitsuki showed a shocked expression.

"It's one of those stalls that always show up in Japanese festivals, right? I saw it frequently in the manga Firill-chan lent me."

"Uh, although school festivals are festivals, the meaning is a little different from that kind of festival..."

"It's no good?"

Iris asked sorrowfully.

"No, I am not saying it is no good, just that on a practical level, I believe that preparing goldfish will not be easy. This is because Midgard has strict regulations on bringing live animals into the Academy."

"I see... What a shame."

Iris put her hand down, disappointed from the bottom of her heart. It looked like she really looked forward to scooping goldfish.

"Any other suggestions?"

Mitsuki sought ideas again. This time, Firill put her hand up and spoke:

"How about a haunted house? We could do a Japanese-style haunted house."

"An excellent suggestion. In Japan, it is featured in every school festival."

Hearing a normal idea, Mitsuki seemed a little relieved while writing Firill's suggestion on the blackboard.

Sitting in front of me, Tia then looked back and asked me.

"Yuu, what's a haunted house?"

"It's a kind of entertainment venue where people dress up as scary monsters or ghosts to frighten visitors."

Although I had lost all memories more than three years ago, I had not lost any knowledge. Even without memories of visiting a haunted house, I still had that level of basic knowledge.

"Eh!? Tia hates being scared."

"It's okay. Even if we're doing a haunted house, we'll be the ones scaring others."

"But Tia is scared of becoming a monster too..."

Hearing her say that, I gasped.

—Becoming a monster.

Those words evoked the image of Ds targeted by dragons, turning into the same type of dragon.

Other people heard our conversation. Ariella smiled wryly.

"Looks like we'd better scrap the haunted house."

"Mm."

Ren concurred with Ariella.

"Yeah, because everyone having fun comes first."

Mitsuki exhaled lightly then wiped the words "haunted house" from the blackboard.

"No other ideas?"

Mitsuki sought opinions for the third time but no one raised their hand this time.

"Then to get some measure of direction, I will provide several examples."

Saying that, Mitsuki listed out what could be considered school festival cliches.

Drama performance, cafe, dancing, singing, music performance, planetarium, maze, movie, fortune telling, exhibition—

Fluently providing plenty of examples to the class, Mitsuki had evidently done prior research.

"I am not simply asking for you to pick from these. For example, there are many types of drama performances, such as plays, puppet shows, picture story shows, etc. I would appreciate it if everyone could use these as references to offer specific plans."

After listening to Mitsuki, everyone began to think seriously.

While I staring at the words on the blackboard, racking my brain, sitting to my left, Iris raised her hand again.

"Mitsuki-chan, can so-called cafes sell food?"

"Yes. Normally speaking, snacks are added to the menu."

"Then I think a cafe is best. Besides, I'd like to eat tasty food too."

Iris seemed to have voted for a cafe with food enjoyment as the priority.

"Hey, we're not opening a shop for gorging ourselves, you know?"

I confirmed with her from the side but Iris nodded as though she knew from the start.

"But we can taste test many dishes, right? Actually, if possible, I originally wanted to try eating goldfish once."

"—Hold on, Iris, what do you think goldfish scooping is about?"

"Eh? Don't you eat the goldfish after scooping them out?"

"Wrong, they're not for eating!"

Hearing this gigantic misconception on Iris' part, I could not help but scream.

"Then why do we scoop them out?"

"I think most people take them home to keep in an aquarium..."

"O-Oh I see, because Japan has sashimi, I was thinking they're for eating."

After knowing it was her misconception, Iris scratched her head rather embarrassedly.

This was typical Iris, so I could only smile wryly.

"Nii-san, Iris-san, please do not get too off-topic."

Mitsuki reminded us with exasperation.

"Oh, sorry."

"Sorry, Mitsuki-chan."

After Iris and I apologized, Mitsuki circled "cafe" while sighing.

"—Iris-san wants to open a cafe. Any other opinions?"

"I agree with opening a cafe. All of us cooking together and serving customers, that sounds like fun."

Lisa supported Iris' idea. All the others nodded with no objections.

Since there were only eight students in the class, collecting opinions was very fast.

"So, let us brainstorm the cafe idea."

Mitsuki rubbed out the other suggestions and continued the discussion. Hearing her say that, Ariella asked incredulously:

"Since we picked the cafe, isn't what we're doing all decided now?"

"Even a cafe has many different types. For example, in Japanese school festivals, the majority are maid cafes or cosplay cafes, etc, namely, cafes accentuate themselves by adding in their own unique appeal."

After hearing Mitsuki's answer to Ariella, Lisa concurred "indeed."

"Deciding on our selling point is very important. However, I believe that maid cafes are not unique enough, because a maid's job is naturally to serve customers. There's nothing novel about that."

"I agree."

Firill concurred with Lisa.

Lisa and Firill apparently knew each other from high society before coming to Midgard. Having lived life at the top, they probably found maid cafes unrefreshing.

"I don't really know much about appeal, but since we're cooking anyway, I'd like to cook fish in Japanese style."

Iris offered her opinion again.

Although she was probably still thinking about goldfish, this suggestion itself was not bad. Mitsuki looked like she thought the same thing as me. Under "cafe," she wrote down "fish cuisine."

"If fish is the ingredient, it should be approved as long as we apply to Midgard. But ingredients go bad easily in Midgard where it is hot and humid, so they will not allow us to make sushi or sashimi. If we are doing Japanese cooking, I believe grilled fish will be the method."

"As long as it's Japanese, anything's fine! I'm happy as long as I learn to make one dish."

Iris' reply was inexplicably motivated. Then she glanced at me.

"Oh~ So Iris, you're interested in cooking."

I felt a little surprised and commented. Iris blushed red and answered quietly:

"Umm... Because I was thinking... If I could learn Japanese cooking, Mononobe, you'd probably be happy..."

"What—"

Hearing Iris say something like that shyly, I felt my face instantly heat up.

But apart from me, other people apparently heard what Iris had said. Tia also joined in the conversation.

"If Yuu will be happy, Tia will learn cooking too!"

Then Firill also faced me and said:

"Although I've never cooked before... I'll try my best too."

Witnessing this scene, Lisa shook her head in exasperation.

"Then this is equivalent to a decision. If we are going to serve grilled fish, why not simply unify everything to Japanese style and switch to a Japanese teahouse instead?"

"Oh, that's great. In that case, we'll wear Japanese clothing to serve customers, how's that? I like wearing outfits that are like national clothing."

Ariella concurred with Lisa's suggestion.

There were no opposing opinions after that. Everyone began to discuss constructive ideas such as using green tea for drinks and the like.

"—Then we of Brynhildr Class will decide on a Japanese teahouse. Any objections?"

Mitsuki asked everyone for a final confirmation.

"Looks like there is no dissent, then it is decided. After school today, I would like everyone to start preparing. However, since I must direct the overall school festival, I will not be able to oversee our class."

As the student body president, Mitsuki's workload was quite heavy.

"Consequently, I would like to select two classmates to lead the class as members of the festival executive committee. Any volunteers?"

"—I shall do it."

Before Mitsuki had a chance to wait for people's reactions, Lisa raised her hand matter-of-factly.

How amazing of Lisa...

Precisely because she was well aware of her own position and competence, she could act without hesitation like that.

"Thank you, Lisa-san. Then the other spot will be filled by Nii-san."

"Huh? I didn't say anything, did I?"

Suddenly put on the spot, I frantically asked Mitsuki.

"Because you are the only boy in the Academy, Nii-san, it would be problematic if you did not work industriously. Also, there is plenty of physical labor, right?"

Hearing her say that, I could not refuse.

But seeing as I intended to work hard for everyone in the first place, I had no complaints.

"—Understood, I'll take on this job."

"Very well, I am counting on you, Nii-san."

Mitsuki smiled sweetly.

Thus, we started preparing for the school festival that was to be held a month later.

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| Back to [[Unlimited_Fafnir:Volume_5_Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Unlimited_Fafnir|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Unlimited_Fafnir:Volume_5_Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 3 Chapter 3

2015-06-23T04:17:53Z

76.179.252.215: /* Part 2 */

==Chapter 3 - Mistelteinn Falling from Heaven==

===Part 1===

The red monster was moving across a whitened sea surface.

Roughly fifty meters in body length, its appearance would probably be best summed up as that of a giant lizard. However, this creature was not just a gigantic reptile.

A clearly harmful existence that humanity even feared to fight, while being the dragon that humanity had left alone for roughly two decades—"Red" Basilisk.

It was also the name of a legendary monster recorded in ancient myths.

It was extremely difficult for humans to approach Basilisk, but if they could witness this monster up close, anyone would probably hold their breath in response to its intimidating visage.

As humanity's foe, Basilisk was quite magnificent and resplendent in appearance.

After all, Basilisk's body was covered with red-tinted scales of diamond. Around its neck and on its back where giant crystals shaped like stone pillars, giving off dazzling brilliance.

Accordingly, its body weight seemed quite heavy. On every step, its feet sank into the ground of salt. The scene was almost like watching a small mountain move.

Despite moving slowly, Basilisk was undoubtedly moving steadily. Without hesitation, neither sleeping nor resting, it gradually approached its destination.

Finally, the world of white broke off, giving way to the navy-blue ocean. However, as soon as Basilisk shot out red beams from its eyes, the wavy sea surface instantly turned into a desert of salt.

This was precisely why Basilisk was feared. The power known as "petrification" in legends of the past.

However, such a description was inaccurate, because the true nature of Basilisk's power was something else.

While creating a road of salt on the sea, Basilisk moved forward, step by step.

Nothing was capable of halting its advance. At least, that was the way things were originally—

With a shudder of its body, Basilisk seemed to react to something and looked up into the sky.

The monster's eyes, the bane of all creation, clearly captured what had appeared high in the sky, even beyond the range of its red beams of petrification.

Then Basilisk instantly realized it was something dangerous to it—

===Part 2===

After Mitsuki and the girls left the hot spring in a hurry, I made my way to the changing room while staying vigilant of my surroundings. An emergency meeting was about to be held, so I had to hurry back. My terminal back in my cabin had probably received the same notification too.

Unable to find my clothes in the changing room, I felt nervous for a moment until I found them placed behind the shelves. Firill probably hid them for me to prevent others from seeing them.

Hence, I hastily put on my clothes, returned to the ship and went directly to the conference room. It looked like I made it in time. Everyone was still chatting in the room.

The flush on their faces from the bath had not subsided yet, making them look especially sexy. I also seemed to be smelling a fragrant scent.

"—Nii-san, you are late."

Just as I was experiencing their after-bath aura, Mitsuki spoke to me from the side.

"Oh, uh... I was a bit occupied."

"Judging from the way you look Nii-san, you just had a bath too?"

Mitsuki asked while staring at my face. Thinking closely, I was soaked in the hot spring even longer than everyone else. That combined with abundant stimulation, my face was probably even redder than the girls'.

"Y-Yeah, I happened to be showering, so I found out about the notification a bit later."

Concealing the wavering in my heart, I explained myself. Mitsuki glared at me suspiciously but after seeing Shinomiya-sensei enter the conference room, she sighed.

"Hoo—Very well, let us assume that was what happened. Shinomiya-sensei has arrived too. Nii-san, take your seat."

Hence, I sat down at Mitsuki's urging.

After confirming that everyone were seated, Shinomiya-sensei stood in front of the whiteboard and started to talk.

"—I was just notified by NIFL that they will carry out their long-planned operation at 0600 tomorrow. They believe that things will be settled with almost complete certainty with this. If their prediction proves to be correct, then there will be nothing left for us to do."

Hearing this, Lisa raised her hand and spoke.

"From our standpoint, if NIFL were to defeat Basilisk, that would be fine and all... But would things really go that smoothly?"

"Well, they seem to have substantial grounds backing their claim. Apart from detailed specifics of the operation, NIFL has provided us with all the latest data they have gathered and analyzed. Let's take a look together now."

Shinomiya-sensei operated something resembling a remote, then a screen was lowered from the ceiling. The lights switched off and the screen displayed what seemed to be the data provided by NIFL.

"According to this data, NIFL has not only identified Basilisk's power but also used various methods to corroborate. If their operation was devised based on this data, reliability ought to be quite high."

"...So they've identified Basilisk's power."

Hearing Firill's light whisper, Shinomiya-sensei nodded in confirmation while using a laser pointer on the data on the screen.

"It has already come to light that the true nature of the phenomenon caused by Basilisk's red light is—Weathering."

Hearing Shinomiya-sensei say that, a clamor started in the room. But sitting in front of me, Tia looked back and asked me quietly:

"Yuu, what is weathering?"

"Uh... Take a huge rock for example. If it's exposed to sun and rain constantly, it'll crack and break apart, becoming smaller and smaller, right? Weathering refers to changes like that, which are caused by time."

Listening to our conversation, Shinomiya-sensei nodded firmly in agreement then continued:

"—Indeed, the cause of weathering is time. In other words, Basilisk attacks by speeding up time."

Speeding up... time?

Although Shinomiya-sensei said it so nonchalantly, wasn't that actually quite outrageous?

"By experimenting with different radioactive substances of varying half-lives, NIFL observed the passage of hundreds to several tens of thousands of years in materials that were exposed to the Basilisk's red light. Although the range is quite wide, further analysis revealed that the effect depended on the duration of exposure. Taking this factor into account, it is now known that a single second of exposure results in fast forwarding two thousand years or so."

"T-Two thousand years huh..."

Even Mitsuki's voice went hoarse.

"Yes, a human would turn into bones or dust in an instant. This is the most terrible attack for living creatures. We have tentatively named this power 'Catastrophe.' Although scholars seem to be hypothesizing something about tachyons, the fundamental mechanism still eludes understanding. But now that the phenomenon has been identified as weathering, it is possible to devise countermeasures."

Shinomiya-sensei shifted her laser pointer then proceeded to explain the NIFL's intended plan.

"Time will affect all matter without exception. But even so, there exists materials that do not change easily. Materials of that sort should be able to endure Basilisk's light to some extent. The method they are using this time is to drop a mithril-covered bomb vertically from the sky above the target."

The laser pointed at a photograph depicting the bomb's appearance. Shaped like an upside-down cone, wide and flat, it resembled a top.

"Just as all of you know, mithril is the toughest and most stable alloy, the best choice for making shields. Through rigorous calculations regarding the durability of mithril, a weapon capable of reaching Basilisk has been designed—the large-scale anti-Basilisk bomb, Mistilteinn."

Mistilteinn... I recalled that it was a spear featured in Norse mythology, made from a parasitic plant, but that was not important. If what was said so far were true, then this weapon could almost certainly kill Basilisk. No wonder NIFL was so confident.

I raised my hand and asked Shinomiya-sensei:

"What is the probability of success in your view, Shinomiya-sensei?"

"—50%, I guess. Dragons are unknown beings and the data obtained so far cannot be guaranteed to be correct. NIFL believes that there are no other options apart from this. They seem to think that their operation will succeed, but I cannot share such optimism."

Shinomiya-sensei shrugged and answered gravely.

"No other options...? Since its power has been analyzed so thoroughly, there should be other ways..."

"It can be said that there are no other methods precisely because its power has been analyzed. Dropping a bomb vertically was chosen because a ballistic missile flying on a parabolic trajectory would have its kinetic energy ''weathered'' away the instant it is exposed to the red light. In this regard, if gravity substitutes for propulsion, its effects will still persist despite the fast forwarding of time. And using projectile weaponry is also a crucial point, because NIFL's beam weaponry is useless due to scattering by the diamond scales."

After hearing this explanation, I definitely could not think of other methods. But perhaps Mitsuki could. She raised her hand and asked Shinomiya-sensei.

"What about land mines? According to precedent, the red light does not affect the ground surface very much, possibly because there is very little change to the land even after thousands of years. If that is the case, as long as bombs were installed underground before hand..."

"That has been tried already, but Basilisk will sweep everything in front of its direction of advance, which means that the land mines must be placed deep in the ground to be free from the effects. But with that, the explosion would be discovered before it reaches the ground surface and the explosion itself would end up getting fast forwarded by the light."

"The explosion itself will... Then our plan needs to thoroughly revised too."

Mitsuki fell into deep thought with a troubled expression.

On the Midgard side, our plan was to use the volcanic island as cover to launch our attacks, wiping out Basilisk together with the island. But that was almost no different from detonating landmines at Basilisk's feet. As the saying goes, attack is the best defense. Basilisk's power was precisely that.

"Fortunately, we still have time, so let's think of a new battle plan based on the data we have received this time. That being said, if NIFL were to defeat Basilisk for us, we won't need to worry."

Shinomiya spoke with a wry smile then switched on the light in the room and retracted the screen.

"Assemble at the bridge at 0530 tomorrow. NIFL will send a live feed of their operation to us. They seem quite eager to show off their power to us."

"0530..."

Firill expressed overt resentment in her tone. Perhaps she was not good at getting up early.

"Don't oversleep, okay? If anyone fails to show up at the appointed time, I will personally punch them awake."

After reminding us, Shinomiya-sensei left the conference room. Perhaps with things to discuss, Mitsuki also chased after Shinomiya-sensei rapidly. The other classmates chatted while leaving their seats.

Like everyone else, I was walking to the door when I noticed Tia still sitting in her seat.

"What's wrong, Tia? Meeting's over."

I went back and placed my hand on Tia's shoulder. I immediately felt minor trembling.

"...Are you scared?"

"Yeah... After hearing about Basilisk, Tia suddenly started shaking."

Tia showed uneasiness on her face while looking up at me, speaking in a feeble tone of voice.

"Well, its power is quite outrageous, after all. I can't believe it can fast forward time. It's totally out of this world."

"If someone gets hit by the beam... They'll turn into bones?"

Tia asked me with tears in her eyes.

"It'd be lucky to have bones remaining."

"Tia... absolutely don't want Yuu and everyone to die."

"Don't worry, we don't want to die either. We'll fight without turning into bones. Shinomiya-sensei and Mitsuki will think of a plan to achieve that."

To reassure Tia, I gently stroked her head.

Most likely, Tia finally became able to imagine concrete danger after hearing detail information about Basilisk.

"If only Tia could do something..."

"Tia, you're doing your job just by being here."

"Yeah... But if possible, Tia still wants to do more."

After listening to her, I thought for a while then suggested to her:

"In that case, it'll be very helpful to us if you cheer for us at critical moments. Just by doing that, chances of success will definitely rise for the operation."

"Really?"

"Yeah, because we will have better morale if someone cheers for us. With morale, we'll be able to bring out more power than normal."

Hearing me say that, Tia's face brightened up.

"Tia got it! Tia will cheer for everyone!"

"Good, but you'd better head back to your cabin and sleep earlier tonight. Otherwise, you won't be able to get up tomorrow, you know?"

"Yes! Goodnight, Yuu!"

Tia nodded vigorously and got up from her seat.

"Goodnight, Tia."

I smiled and answered while watching Tia racing off.

===Part 3===

The next morning, we the members of Brynhildr Class gathered at the bridge punctually.

Perhaps because the transport ship was moored, I did not see many crew. The sun still had yet to rise. From the bridge, the scenery consisted of a volcano's silhouette and a black sea surface with the starry sky as the background.

The bridge had a large monitor divided into several screens showing different videos. One of them showed a dark scene with noise in the signal. Another showed a group of fierce-looking men in military uniforms, standing in a row in a conference room.

'Colonel Shinomiya, watch carefully. Witness the moment when we of NIFL vanquishes Basilisk.'

"Yes, I look forward to it, Major-General Dylan."

Shinomiya-sensei was conversing with Major-General Dylan, a elderly man with a scar on his forehead. Judging from this, the people in the conference room shown on screen were the NIFL cadres involved in this operation.

'Naturally, I hold high regard for your abilities in vanquishing Kraken and Leviathan and driving off Hekatonkheir. Nevertheless, we cannot rely on Ds in every case. Now is the time when we need to defeat a dragon using mankind's power!'

Major-General Dylan shouted loudly. Simply stated, NIFL wanted the accomplishment of defeating a dragon. Surely, they wanted to erase their image as an agency for cleaning up after dragon disasters.

"Mm..."

Seeing the NIFL military officer speak with intimidating presence, Ren hid behind Ariella.

"Ren, what's the matter?"

Feeling strange, I asked her. Ariella smiled wryly and answered for her.

"Oh, Ren isn't very used to adult men."

"I see... Oh, then what about me?"

I was thinking I should feel bad if I had scared her in the past, so I asked.

"Haha, Mononobe-kun, you're fine. Ren said before that you feel like an older brother to her."

"—!? Mm! Mm~!"

Ren went red in the face and hammered her fists on Ariella's back.

"Oh, it was a secret? Sorry sorry."

Ariella scratched her head and apologized. Then Firill, whose upper body had been swaying in drowsiness the whole time, shook, then leaned over and said:
[[image:UnlimitedFafnir v03 150.jpg|thumb]]

"...Yes, I feel the same way too. Is it because he's Mitsuki's older brother that this impression is reinforced?"

"Eh, but Mononobe is definitely the younger brother type!"

Iris objected at this point.

"That is something I agree with. Mononobe Yuu is not cut out to be an older brother."

"L-Lisa-san, you are being very rude! Nii-san is undoubtedly my older brother!"

Hearing Lisa say that, Mitsuki refute her.

Major-General Dylan could apparently see what was happening on our side. He exhaled with an exasperated look.

'...Your subordinates are quite carefree.'

"I am terribly sorry—Everyone, please be quiet."

Hearing Shinomiya-sensei's warning, we all shut up.

"Umm..."

Tia's tiny voice was heard. Timidly, she walked up to the monitor and stared at the men on the other side.

'That pair of horns... You are the one whose dragon mark changed color this time.'

Major-General Dylan seemed to know about Tia and he spoke in a stiff tone of voice. Tia's horns were reminiscent of a dragon's and were seen as inauspicious, perhaps.

"Umm, Tia will cheer for everyone!"

However, Tia ignored the men's reactions and spoke as loud as she could.

'C-Cheer?'

On the other side, slightly uneasiness was spreading.

"Yes—Thank you for protecting Tia, Uncles! Tia will cheer for you all, so do your best!!"

The fierce-looking men were clearly shaken.

'W-What a good girl.' 'My daughter went through that kind of phase once—' 'Don't those horns look cute on closer examination...?'

Whispering voices could be heard.

Major-General Dylan was speechless for a while, but he coughed then said to Tia:

'Thank you for your well wishes. Leave it to Uncle.'

...I can't believe he called himself "Uncle"...

I stood there in shock, watching them converse, but Major-General Dylan resumed a soldier's demeanor and glared at me, forcing me to gasp.

'You look like you have something to say, soldier.'

"...N-No, nothing of that sort."

Intimidated by a seasoned warrior's forceful aura, I frantically shook my head and denied.

"Jeez, don't bully Yuu!"

'M-My apologies. I will put my all into this operation. Pray forgive me.'

As soon as Tia got angry, the Major-General went into a fluster and his tone of voice changed. He was almost like a grandfather doting on a granddaughter.

Then Major-General Dylan's fierce voice could be heard from the other side: 'Hey—Patch me through to Mistilteinn's transport team immediately. I will speak directly to their spirit.'

Thus, we had a bit of interaction with NIFL and the operation was finally about to begin.

'—Mistilteinn's mithril barrier has been thickened to the maximum weight that can be carried by four large transport aircrafts. Since Basilisk's attack range is roughly 5000 m, we will drop from an altitude of 8000 m.'

Major-General Dylan explained the operation to us.

"Regarding the vertical drop, is it possible to hit the target from that height?"

'Before it enters Basilisk's range, we will use fuel-injected thrusters to make minor position adjustments. Once exposure to the red beam begins, wind will no longer have an effect because all excess energy will be "weathered" away. Pulled by gravity alone, Mistilteinn will fall straight down.'

Major-General Dylan calmly answered Shinomiya-sensei's question.

"What about the possibility of Basilisk focusing on evasive maneuvers instead of counterattacking Mistilteinn?"

'According to all data collected to date, Basilisk always halts and stops moving to intercept whenever any object approaches it. Chances of it committing to escape are very low. Even if it switches to evasive action at the last second, Mistilteinn is capable of homing to some extent. Given Basilisk's slow speed, fleeing is impossible.'

Although Major-General Dylan sounded very confident, I could only find many flaws in the plan based on what I had heard so far. If Basilisk took any unexpected action, the plan would very likely fail.

However, even if the chances of success were almost certainly exaggerated, this plan was definitely the most effective attack devised so far. I hated to admit it but my mind was unable to come up with a better one.

'Well then... It is almost time. We will observe Mistilteinn's outcome together.'

The conference room video feed shrank in size while the screen with signal noise enlarged. This screen had grown brighter than earlier. I realized it was an image of Basilisk, taken from high in the sky extremely far away.

A small black shadow appeared on the white horizon. Although it only looked the size the of a pea, it was most likely Basilisk's figure.

Shown on the top left of the screen, the clock indicated the operation start time.

There was no change in the image, but Mistilteinn should have been dropped from 8000 m already.

Everyone stared at the monitor with bated breaths.

Just as someone gulped audibly, a red light flashed past. The red flash extended from the ground all the way up to the sky. Mistilteinn had probably entered Basilisk's range, 5000 m in the sky.

However, the horrifying time-stealing glow stopped before reaching the top of the sky, then started to be pushed gradually towards the ground.

Most likely, the descending Mistilteinn was blocking the red light. Just as NIFL's data indicated, Mistilteinn could withstand "weathering" from the red light.

But then calamity struck.

The narrow beam of red light rapidly expanded, increasing several times in girth, tearing through the pre-dawn sky.

Then several seconds later, the glow that originally seemed to be pushed back shot straight through the sky all at once.

It was evidence that the obstacle blocking the light had vanished.

'—Hey! What the hell happened!?'

Major-General Dylan's furious shot could be heard from the other side. Then a subordinate appeared on screen.

'Mistilteinn confirmed to be destroyed at approximately 2000 m high in the air. Operation failed, sir.'

'What!? Didn't Mistilteinn use enough mithril to withstand the attack?'

'All we can say is that the weathering rate exceeded our predictions. The observation and analysis team reports that Basilisk's back opened up to reveal a giant eyeball.'

'A new eyeball? Is that the reason why "Catastrophe" powered up...'

Major-General Dylan muttered with a grave expression. He turned his gaze to us.

'—Just as you all saw and heard, our power is apparently still insufficient against dragons.'

"No... Absolutely not. Basilisk opening a previously unseen third eye is evidence that it was cornered."

Although Shinomiya-sensei said that, Major-General Dylan shook his head with a wry smile.

'Even so, it means nothing unless we defeat Basilisk. This new eye—let's call it the third eye from now on—We will send the data over later. Please use it to ensure the success of your operation.'

"Thank you."

Shinomiya-sensei bowed in gratitude. Major-General Dylan nodded in acknowledgement then looked at Tia.

"Uncle..."

'Apologies, our strength was not enough even though you cheered for us.'

"No, it's okay, Uncle, thank you!"

Hearing Tia thank him, Major-General Dylan smiled.

'...Good luck.'

Communications were cut off after these words. The screen turned black. In contrast, the world outside the window gradually brightened, because the sun was rising.

I looked at everyone's face. Although we were a little disappointed, more or less, I could see the light of resolve in the girls' eyes.

They all understood that it was our turn to enter the battlefield.

I clenched my fist and faced forward. Squinting from the rising sun's bright rays, I turned my thoughts to the imminent day of the decisive battle—

===Part 4===

Ever since NIFL's failed operation on that day, all semblance of a vacation vanished completely.

The battle to protect Tia, laying our lives on the line, was approaching second by second.

Using the data sent by Major-General Dylan, we devised a new plan. Spending every day on pre-operation drills, we stopped having regular lessons.

The new data regarding Basilisk was quite despairing.

When the eye on its back opened, the range was roughly 10000 m. Exposure to the light caused time to fast forward on the order of hundreds of millions of years.

In light of that, Shinomiya-sensei and Mitsuki thought of an exceedingly simple plan.

Launching attacks capable of piercing diamond scales, with speed faster than it could react, from a blind spot outside Basilisk's attack range—This was what the new plan was about.

NIFL's beam weaponry did not have enough firepower, but Midgard had Ds who met requirements.

On a flat piece of unused land roughly a ten-minute walk from the pier, they were practicing nonstop today as well.

"Well then, Ren-san, let us begin!"

"Mm."

Lisa summoned her fictional armament while Ren placed her hand on Gungnir.

Immediately, Lisa's fictional armament grew in size with astounding speed, turning into a giant spear dozens of meters long. It was so large that one could not even wrap their arms around it, but Lisa and Ren were able to hold the fictional armament up simply through touch.

Fictional armaments were formed by altering the shape of dark matter, hence they could be manipulated through imagination alone. Furthermore, there was one fact, namely, dark matter had the property that it could be passed onto other Ds.

Right now, Lisa was borrowing Ren's dark matter to enlarge her own fictional armament.

However—

"Ah!?"

Lisa cried out in panic.

The spear's outline suddenly distorted then as though melting into the air, the fictional armament disappeared.

Borrowed dark matter ultimately belonged to someone else, hence controlling it was difficult and it would collapse like this immediately if one were to lower their guard for a moment. Hence, it was believed that using dark matter from more than two people was impossible.

When creating anti-dragon weaponry, I had borrowed dark matter from Mitsuki and Iris in the past, but in the actual process of transmutation, what I used was not my own imagination but blueprints downloaded onto my brain. Hence, I did not need to worry about such matters despite using other people's dark matter.

But delicate control was required in the case of Lisa and Ren.

"One more time!"

"Mm!"

Ren nodded in response to Lisa and they formed the giant fictional weapon of a spear again.

The school curriculum also included training on the transmission of dark matter. However, this technique was definitely unstable even with daily practice. Unless for exceptions like me, it would not be used in actual combat.

Nevertheless, there was no alternative but to rely on this technique to perform the attack needed for this operation.

—I had to work hard myself too.

I stopped watching them and returned to my own training.

In this operation, I was not assigned a clear task. Even if I wanted to attack using anti-dragon armaments from the island, the projectile firing Megiddo would get intercepted before the hit connected whereas Babel's supergravitational discontinuity probably could not be fired from outside Basilisk's range.

If there was something I could do, that was providing more options when everyone ran into an emergency. For this purpose, I kept training my control of antigravitational matter.

I raised my fictional armament—Siegfried—which had the appearance of an ornamental gun, then shot three bullets of antigravitational matter that had been adjusted to three different levels.

"Half Gravity."

The bullet fired upwards turned into brightly glittering white particles, falling on me. Then my body instantly felt lighter.

By covering myself with low-density antigravitational matter, I could reduce my weight by half. This technique lasted a long duration and its effects could be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the transmutation mass. In actual combat, this might be the most convenient transmutation to use.

"Gravity Zero."

The next bullet was shot into the ground ten-odd meters away. A sphere of antigravitational matter appeared with a bright white glow. All the pebbles in its surroundings also floated upwards. Then the sphere gradually shrank and when it disappeared, the floating pebbles fell down as well. Although this technique could create a temporary space of weightlessness, it would affect everything in a specific range, hence there were difficulties in using it.

"Antigravity."

The final bullet was transmuted into high-density antigravitational matter. Giving off blindingly bright light like a camera's flash, it caused nearby objects to fly away radially.

I had pretty much mastered the key principles, but I could probably control the Antigravity bullet better. During the battle against Kili, while under Fafnir's control, I was using antigravitational matter with greater skill than right now.

Using the Antigravity bullet with directionality to repel gunfire, distorting space to block attacks—If possible, I wished to reach that level.

The Fafnir that Major Loki had implanted into me and cultivated was a monster existing for ''murder''. Hence, its responses were sluggish when fighting dragons instead. In the battle against Hekatonkheir last time, even when I was in a crisis, Fafnir still did not heed my calls. The same would probably happen in the case of Basilisk.

Precisely because of that, I must become adept in using antigravitational matter even my normal state, otherwise it would be pointless.

Since Siegfried disappeared after firing three shots' worth, I exhaled for now and looked around my surroundings. The others were keeping sufficient distance away, engaged in their own training.

Mitsuki, Firill and Ariella were part of the support team to take action if the first attack wave failed. They were practicing nonstop their task of protecting Lisa and Ren while switching to launch the second attack.

Meanwhile, Iris was standing alone at a cliff on the edge of the clearing, raising her Caduceus towards the sea.

Several buoys with red flags were floating on the sea, extending on a cord tied to large rock protruding out of the sea surface.

"—O holy silver, explode!"

Iris caused silver explosions, destroying the buoys one by one. She was carrying out sniping training. Point blank explosions of mithril might possibly be effective against Basilisk.

It was highly likely that lethal damage could be inflicted if she could aim from outside Basilisk's range.

However, aiming required the target to be within view, which meant she must enter Basilisk's line of sight as well. Even if she could be positioned outside Basilisk's range, such a high-risk plan could not possibly be approved.

Hence, Iris was in the same position as me, without any assigned task for now. Even so, because this was the only thing in her ability, she was honing her skills like this.

Currently, she had perfect aim as long as it was within 200 m, but her accuracy would decrease in stages the farther she got. Hence, aiming from outside Basilisk's attack range was probably impossible no matter what.

"O holy silver, explode!"

Just as I was thinking that, a buoy near the rock exploded. Its location was probably close to 1000 m away.

—No, if it's Iris, perhaps it might be possible after all.

I corrected my thought.

Iris always created explosions no matter what she made, hence, by applying that special trait to offense, she had acquired a strong advantage unique to her and no one else.

But what I wondered recently was whether the true nature of Iris' power might be something else?

For example, machines normally broke down when used incorrectly. Hence, perhaps Iris' ability was malfunctioning and causing explosions because her method of usage was incorrect?

If she used it correctly, perhaps something extremely amazing might result.

But this was just baseless fantasy.

Still, watching Iris working hard, I could not help but get this feeling.

—Perhaps Iris might turn out to be an amazing person far surpassing my imagination?

Maybe she noticed my gaze, Iris turned around and waved to me.

"Mononobe! Did you see that just now?"

"Yeah, I saw it!"

Iris asked me loudly and I shouted back.

—It's time I kept my promise to visit her room.

No one could predict what might happen on the battlefield. Anyone could easily lose their life, myself and the others included.

That was how things went on so-called battlefields. One would surely regret not doing things when the chance was available.

"Everyone! It's almost time for lunch!"

At this moment, Tia arrived, flying with her fictional armament, a pair of wings. Skillfully controlling the transmutation of air, she landed on the ground then ran towards me.

"Yuu, Tia helped with lunch today!"

"Then I definitely have to try it. I'm looking forward to it."

"Yeah!"

Tia nodded happily.

While we were training, Tia attended classroom lessons according to a separate timetable and sometimes helped the crew.

Since Tia was Basilisk's target and could not go on the frontline, she was working hard to do what she could do.

No one in Brynhildr Class was wasting their time.

Although under heavy surveillance, I must pay Iris' room a visit before the operation.

I committed this determination of mine firmly in my heart.

===Part 5===

When Basilisk reached the location two kilometers away from the volcanic island, my chance finally arrived. Since enemy contact would happen within three days at the quickest, everyone participating in the operation were summoned after dinner.

However, since Iris, Tia and I did not have particular tasks, we were excluded from the meeting.

I could not miss this excellent chance, so I left my cabin and made my way to Iris' cabin near the prow end of the ship.

Apart from cabin numbers, the girls' cabins also had their student numbers marked on the doors. B7—Seeing the plate that seemed to read No.7 of Brynhildr Class, I concluded it was probably Iris' cabin.

I tried my best to knock quietly. Then the door opened from the inside. Dressed in school uniform, Iris poked her head out.

"...Eh? Mononobe, what's up?"

"Well—Umm, didn't you invite me to your room last time?"

I scratched my cheek and replied.

"Oh, you still remember! I thought you already forgot!"

Smiling happily, Iris invited me into her cabin. Having lived on this ship for almost a month, Iris had left ample signs of someone living in this cabin. More specifically—It was very messy.

"Oh..."

Noticing pink underwear among the random mess of articles, I could not help but freeze.

"What's wrong—Eh? Ohhh! H-Hold on a sec, I'll tidy things up straight away!"

Blushing to her ears, Iris frantically ran about the cabin, gathering everything on the floor in a pile to create space. Only after making sure her underwear was out of sight, Iris let me into the room.

"S-Sorry about that. Come, sit down."

Iris scratched her head shyly and asked me to sit on the bed.

"It's okay, I've learned a bit more about you as a result, Iris."

"W-What did you learn?"

Sitting down next to me, Iris asked, shaken.

"You're not good at keeping your room tidy, right?"

"Ooh, d-don't say it out, please... Lisa-chan gets mad at me about this often too."

Iris slumped her shoulders dejectedly. I could immediately imagine Lisa lecturing at her to clean up her room.

"Speaking of which, back when I first transferred, you seem to have become closer friends with Lisa better."

"...Yeah, ever since the Leviathan incident, Lisa-chan has been caring for me often, but sometimes I'm scared of her, that's all."

Iris smiled wryly while she replied. Then suddenly thinking of something, she asked me:

"Oh right... I totally didn't notice, but Lisa-chan and Mitsuki-chan got into an argument, right? I heard Firill-chan say that you're working hard to resolve it."

"No really, what I did doesn't count as working hard..."

"It's not resolved yet?"

Seeing Iris with a worried face, I hastily said:

"Yeah, but don't worry. Right now, there's no spare time because of the Basilisk crisis, but I believe things will get settled soon."

Lisa was at the heart of the current operation. She definitely had no time to contemplate her "terms of forgiveness" to demand from Mitsuki.

"I see... That's a relief."

Iris breathed a sigh of relief then reached out to touch my left shoulder.

"...Iris?"

My heart skipped a beat. I called her name quietly.

"Mononobe, you seem to have taken the bandage off... Has the wound stopped hurting?"

"It's okay, the wound is almost fully healed. I can move freely now."

Saying that, I placed my left hand on top of Iris' hand that was touching my shoulder.

"Ah—"

Iris blushed. Seeing her react like that, I felt my heart rate skyrocketing.

Our gazes became entangled. There was a sweet yet anxiety-inducing silence, but we did not speak for a while.

"Uh, Iris, what did you intend to tell me originally?"

"U-Umm... Anything at all. What do you wanna know, Mononobe?"

"E-Even if you ask me what I wanna know, I..."

I did not know what to say in response to her question.

"Since it's so rare for us to be alone in a room... You should ask something that you can only confirm only now, right?"

Iris looked up at me and made this suggestion.

"Something that I can only ask now..."

"Yeah..."

Iris nodded. As soon as I met her gaze, I felt as though I was going to be sucked into her eyes, unable to avert my gaze. But her entire being felt so attractive, no matter whether her face, her body, arms or legs. My heartbeat could not calm down at all.

"...Iris, your hair is so pretty."

I finally turned my gaze to her hair then voiced exactly what I thought.

"Thank you... Then go ahead and touch it."

At Iris' urging, I lightly touched her beautiful silver hair.

"So soft, it feels very nice to touch."

"Fufu, I'm so glad that you're touching my head, Mononobe. You're always patting Tia-chan and Ren-chan's heads, I'm so jealous."

Iris remarked a little unhappily.

"Well, it's because Tia and Ren feel like little sisters to me, so I subconsciously... But Iris, your hair isn't something I can touch casually."

"Why?"

"If you ask me why... It's because I'll get nervous."

Hearing my answer, Iris tilted her head and made a surprised look.

"In that case, you're nervous right now?"

"That goes without saying..."

I combed Iris' hair with my fingers and nodded in admission.

Then Mitsuki's face flashed in my mind. I recalled back when I was hospitalized, what she had said to me when we were alone in the sickroom.

—Please handle Iris-san's kiss with upfront honesty, okay?

If I was going to bring that up, now was the only time.

"...Iris, is it really okay for me to accept that kind of thank you reward from you?"

"That kind of thank you reward? What are you talking about?"

"...I-I don't need to spell it out, right? O-Of course I mean the kiss that time."

I listened to my own hoarse voice while explaining to her.

"Eh? Oh—"

Iris' face went red.

"Iris, your reaction implies that you thought of that kiss as special, right?"

Initially, I thought all she wanted to express was gratitude, nothing more, because she had acted too normal. But after knowing she felt conscious about that kiss too, I could not calm my feelings.

"...Right. Although we greet one another with kisses between family, that's on the cheek... A-A kiss on the lips, Mononobe, you're my first..."

Iris replied. She was blushing all the way to her ears.

"For me to be your first... Is that really okay?"

Hearing me ask that, Iris lowered her head and nodded in affirmation.

"If it's you, Mononobe, my second time... can be yours too."

Hearing that, my heart jumped intensely. I could not tear my gaze away from those gorgeous pink lips.

So this really was the case? I was not imagining her favorable impressions of me, Iris actually felt—

My heart rate quickened and my palms grew sweaty.

Then I had no choice but to reply to her seriously. Since Iris had confessed to such an extent, I had to voice my feelings too.

I gulped to moisten my throat that had become parched by the time I noticed.

I inhaled then exhaled.

Then I took a deep breath again and spoke while breathing out:

"Iris, I—"

I made my decision to put my thoughts into words, but Iris looked up in alarm and covered my mouth with her hands.

"N-No! Don't say it out yet!"

"...?"

I asked her with questioning eyes then Iris took her hands off my lips, a wry smile on her face.

"Because... If it's a saddening reply, I will be very depressed. The operation is about to start, if I'm in that kind of state... I won't be able to keep up with the operation in an emergency."

"No, but—"

"Even if it's a gladdening reply, now's not the time either. Because you must fight for Tia-chan's sake next!"

Iris looked at me with serious eyes and persuaded me.

To be honest, I really did not want to drag this on longer, but pressured by Iris' vigor, I could only nod in agreement.

"...Got it. Then let's talk again once Basilisk is taken care of."

"Thank you, Mononobe."

Iris breathed a sigh of relief then thanked me.

"It's just that this kind of dialogue is kind of unlucky on the battlefield..."

"Oh, I know that one! I'm going to get married after the war... That kind of dialogue, right?"

I had no idea where she heard it from, but Iris followed up on the subject I raised.

"Yeah, but I've seen many people on battlefields. In my view, it's not simply a matter of luck."

"What do you mean?"

"The more serious a person's personality or the more reason they have to return, the less they want to use that kind of thing as an excuse. As a result, they will force themselves harder than the others, desperate to survive, which makes them die early, of course."

Hearing my explanation, Iris instantly began to panic.

"D-Don't die, Mononobe! I-If it might make you die, I don't mind canceling our promise from just now!"

"No need to be that worried. Compared to the others, we're safest on standby on the ship."

Indeed, Iris and I were simply watching from the sidelines. If something unexpected happened, perhaps we might come in handy, but the plan's success hinged on that not happening, right?

"R-Right... Okay, in that case, I'll wait for your reply, Mononobe."

"Great."

I nodded clearly as a promise.

There was an increasing number of reasons not to lose, but that was not going to slow me down.

===Part 6===

Then the time for the decisive battle arrived at last.

It was 11:20am, the sun had risen to its highest point in the sky. Sunlight was shining mercilessly all around.

Everyone was in position. The transport ship had retreated to a position where the volcanic island could be barely seen on the horizon. Iris, Tia and I were at the bridge, watching Shinomiya-sensei issue orders.

Tia staying on the ship was different from the initial plan, but Tia had suggested that if she were on the ship, Basilisk might hesitate against attacking the ship. Based on this reason, the plan was modified.

In other words, Tia was our hostage against Basilisk. We had no idea whether it would work as intended. There was no way of testing it after all, since it would be pointless if Tia lost her life in the experiment.

Even so, Tia's request was accepted, because if she unfortunately got caught up in the attack, at least the worst-case scenario of "a new Basilisk's birth" would be averted.

Lisa and Ren were on the volcanic island, preparing for the attack. Mitsuki, Firill and Ariella were between the volcanic island and the transport ship, on standby while keeping a certain distance from one another. This formation allowed Mitsuki's instantly support Lisa and Ren if anything happened to them.

The backup sent by Midgard had also arrived. They were on standby dozens of kilometers away from the volcanic island. Due to the nature of the operation, sending a large force to the frontline would only add unnecessary risk. That was what Shinomiya-sensei and others apparently decided.

Basilisk was currently twelve kilometers away from the volcanic island. One could probably see its figure from a position over the volcanic island.

As universally known, the Earth is round. Hence, simply by keeping a certain distance, things on the surface would be naturally blocked out of view by the horizon. A person standing on a coast would see no farther than five kilometers. Based on the Basilisk's body size, its visual range was probably ten kilometers or so. If looking out from the volcano's peak, it was probably possible to observe nearby waters within twenty or thirty kilometers.

In other words, we were using natural cover consisting of two things, the volcanic island and the horizon.

A large number of surveillance devices was distributed in the nearby waters. Images from them were displayed on the screen in the bridge. Although seawater along Basilisk's route of advance had turned into salt, surveillance devices would function normally and continued to send data as long as they were not exposed to the red light directly.

"The dragon mark feels so hot..."

Seeing the Basilisk on the monitor, Tia said softly. I could see her pressing her hand against her thigh near the top of her skirt. That was where her dragon mark was located.

Right now, Basilisk had not opened the third eye on its back. It was probably a trump card it used only when cornered. In other words, its attack range was still 5000 m at the moment.

"Don't worry, Tia. The way the situation looks, we'll be able to lure Basilisk to a sufficient distance before attacking. Since it's Lisa we're talking about, she's definitely not going to miss."

I placed my hand on Tia's head and spoke.

What Lisa and Ren were planning to execute was a super long-range sniping attack using the volcano as cover.

With Ren's assistance, she was going to attack Basilisk using a high-powered positron cannon.

Lisa was wearing a pair of goggles, allowing her to perform aiming calculations using data sent by the surveillance devices and therefore snipe through the mountain. Basilisk should not be able to see the attack until it arrived, hence in theory, it should not have time to counterattack.

But even so, just in case, the sniping was to be done from beyond Basilisk's attack range, which was over 10 km with the third eye open and 5 km when shut. Of course, the farther the distance, the harder it was to snipe, hence it was advantageous to us that the third eye was closed.

"B1, B6, execute Plan A. Begin attacking when the target reaches six klicks away."

Shinomiya-sensei issued orders to Lisa and Ren through the communicator.

'Affirmative.'

'Mm.'

Their voices answered.

"I hope they'll succeed..."

Iris closed her eyes and prayed.

Thus, the moment arrived.

"Target at six klicks!"

The crew member serving as the communications officer reported.

"Begin the operation!"

Shinomiya-sensei instantly commanded.

I looked at the screen showing Lisa and Ren's situation. Just as they had practiced many times, they created a giant fictional armament in the shape of a spear.

The spear's tip began to glow brightly. A positron ray gun surpassing modern weaponry was about to appear.

But just before that, the communications officer yelled:

"Basilisk stopped moving! Its back opened up! Third eye gradually popping out!"

No way—It noticed?

I was greatly surprised. Lisa and Ren should not have entered Basilisk's view. Did it sense the massive amount of energy? As soon as the third eye appeared, even the volcanic island had come within its attack range.

A giant eyeball had appeared on Basilisk's back. Supported by muscle fibers, it was thrust outside of its body. Next, that red eyeball aimed forward.

"This is bad—Halt the attack!"

Shinomiya-sensei shouted urgently.

But about to fire, Lisa and Ren were unable to stop the attack immediately. A positronic beam was emitted from the tip of the gigantic fictional weapon of a spear.

Brilliant golden light stabbed into the volcano.

But at the same time, Basilisk's third eye also released red light.

Through the volcano, the gold and red beams were about to collide. But at this rate, the instant, the mountain was punctured, the positronic beam would get erased and the red light would devour Lisa and Ren.

"You two take evasive action immediately! Change to Plan B!"

Shinomiya-sensei rapidly issued orders.

After that—The top of the volcano was turned into dust. Red light streaked across the sky. Even a mountain could not oppose the torrential flow of time, apparently.

The red glow could be seen from the ship's bridge by the naked eye. Shooting out the other end of the volcanic island, the beam traveled straight to the far end of the sky, sweeping away cloud layers along the way.

Several seconds later, the light stopped. What remained where clouds with unnaturally gouged shapes and a volcano with its top half vanished.

The volcano showed a clear-cut cross-section, but after a while, lava flowed out while dense smoke rose into the sky.

"What happened to Lisa and Ren!?"

I shouted. Perhaps hearing my voice, an answer came from the communicator.

'Worry not, we dodged in the nick of time. We will converge with Mitsuki-san immediatly.'

It was Lisa's voice. Hearing her answer, Iris and Tia also showed relieved expressions.

However, Shinomiya-sensei immediately issued orders without relaxing.

"All units return to the ship quickly. Fly at as low an altitude as possible!"

The method of flying using air transmutation could be sped up by flying in formation. After meeting up with Firill and the others, Lisa and Ren should be able to return even faster.

Having blown away the volcano's top half, Basilisk resumed its advance towards Tia behind the volcano. Captured from quite far away, a long-range video showed the Basilisk advancing.

Perhaps finding the lava and smoke ahead of it a hassle, Basilisk shot out two red beams from its eyes. Immediately, the smoke screen vanished while the lava solidified into rock while maintaining its flowing shape.

Solidified unnaturally, the lava was shaped as strangely as avant garde artwork. I was once again confronted with the astounding powers of "Catastrophe." However, something also bugged me.

—It didn't use its third eye just now?

The third eye remained open. If Basilisk found the lava a nuisance, it could have fired a beam from its third eye again. But Basilisk chose to approach the lava first without using its third eye. I felt that there seemed to be some kind of purpose in that.

"...Yuu, the operation failed?"

Tia tugged my clothing worriedly.

"Basilisk noticed the sniping attack and took countermeasures first but we still have the next plan. That's using the initial idea of destroying Basilisk together with the island."

"Then it'll be victory?"

"—Who knows? But there's no other way right now, so all we can do is try our best."

After I answered, I heard Iris, who had been listening on the side, say quietly:

"...We won't be able to enjoy that hot spring again."

"It's a shame but that can't be helped. Okay, Lisa and the others should be back soon. Let's head over to the deck. Starting now, this ship is the frontline."

I grabbed Iris' arm and said. As much as I hated to think this, once this operation failed, everyone, including us, would have no choice but to adapt accordingly.

"Yuu, Tia too—"

"No. When entering Basilisk's attack range, the first to become vulnerable is here, the ship's highest point. As Basilisk's hostage, Tia, you have to stay here to protect the bridge."

I stopped Tia from following.

"...Tia got it. Yuu, do your best!"

Despite showing a look of regret, Tia still cheered for me as she saw me off.

"Okay, I'm off!"

Iris and I left the bridge together, went down the stairs and rapidly made our way to the deck.

The ship had started moving to get away from the island. We went to the deck on the aft.

After waiting there for a while, we saw everyone flying back at low altitude.

"Welcome back!"

Iris waved to welcome everyone. Seeing all of them back safe and sound, she seemed quite happy.

"...I really wished I could reply 'I'm back' cheerfully, but sorry, we failed."

Lisa spoke with chagrin. Ren also went "mm..." and lowered her head.

"That was only because Basilisk's sensory powers seem to be stronger than expected. It is not your fault, Lisa-san and Ren-san. Next—It is my turn."

Mitsuki encourage the disheartened pair then gazed sharply in the volcanic island's direction.

Part of the solidified lava was the only thing barely in view. The island itself was hidden on the other side of the horizon.

"I will use the horizon to hide myself while shooting an extra large missile of antimatter. Since my arrow with fly in a parabolic trajectory, I will be able to shoot at a lower altitude than everyone else. Ren-san... Please lend me your assistance this time."

"Mm!"

Ren agreed and walked over to Mitsuki's side.

"Brionac."

Mitsuki generated her fictional armament of a bow then used air transmutation to hover into the air along with Ren.

She looked like she was going to take aim after rising to a certain height. Very likely, she was going to attack Basilisk while it was barely sunken on the other side of the horizon.

Although I was clearly receiving essential information on a communicator, I still watched in trepidation.

"Mm."

Ren touched Brionac. Immediately, as for Lisa, the fictional armament enlarged all at once.

Mitsuki raised the iridescent and shining bow, ten-odd times her own height, then nocked an arrow of dark matter, long and thick, commensurate with the bow's size.

Looking up at the scene, Lisa could not help but offer praise.

"—Nothing less expected from Mitsuki-san. She is skillfully controlling the dark matter that Ren-san is handing over to her. Given the scale, Basilisk should disappear together with the island."

Mitsuki pulled the arrow back then yelled:

"Terminating Arrow—Last Quark!"

The arrow of antimatter was shot out, flying like a shooting star streaking across the celestial sphere.

However, the shooting star was devoured by a torrent of red light, flowing in the reverse direction.

"What..."

I could not find any words.

Judging from the light's range and scale, Basilisk had undoubtedly used its third eye to counterattack.

Our attack had been discovered again.

The Basilisk was on the other side of the volcanic island. Although its top half was blown away, the mountain should still restrict Basilisk's field of vision. It could not possibly have captured the antimatter projectile visually.

—To be able to react so swiftly, what on earth was the reason?

The red light passed over us, flying to the far side, but we had no time to space out.

Because the beam was descending.

Piercing clouds, the beam was approaching overhead this time.

It was light a giant red sword swinging down from the sky to the ground.

The instant I witnessed that scene, I reflexively took action.

"Siegfried!"

I created my fictional armament of an ornamental gun in my right hand.

A red beam in the sky descended. After touching the horizon, it was blocked for a while.

This was a natural barrier formed from the Earth's curvature. On the Earth's round surface, there was a limit to distances that could be aimed with straight-line attacks. Exploiting this fact, Mitsuki and Ren had stayed at a height where they would be safe from Basilisk's counterattack in an emergency.

Through the passage of vast amounts of time, the navy-blue sea instantly turned into white salt.

However, the "weathering" did not stop there. The time-stealing produced by the third eye continued, turning the plain of salt into smaller particles, gradually paring it down.

The Earth's curvature was gradually corrected, forcibly expanding Basilisk's attack range. The horizon that we were originally using as our shield was shaved off within the blink of an eye.

—How could such a bastard exist!? Basilisk's power could even alter the Earth's shape?

The sword of red light chopped down while gouging the horizon.

Below it was Mitsuki and Ren. The two of them were descending, but the red beam was faster than them.

—I have to make it in time!

"Antigravity!"

I poured the entirety of my generating capacity into a dark matter bullet, firing it into the air.

The bullet turned into high-density antigravitational matter in front of the red light. Accompanied by a glow of pure white, a powerful repulsive field was generated.

Next to the repulsive field, Mitsuki and Ren were deflected downwards. The spatial distortion bent the trajectory of the red beam.

Thus, the red beam extending upwards ended just like that. Descending, Mitsuki and Ren used the wind around them to land safely.

"—Nii-san, than you. I almost... made Ren-san die together with me."

Mitsuki gnashed her teeth with an expression of chagrin.

"Save your regrets for later! What do we do next!? If that attack just now continued, we will not be able to escape even if we wanted to!"

Lisa urgently asked for Mitsuki's decision.

"...Iris-san, I have a favor to ask of you."

After thinking quietly for several seconds, Mitsuki called out Iris' name.

"W-What is it? Just tell me!"

"Please detonate explosions in the air above the island to rain down mithril. No need to aim precisely. Though they will most likely be intercepted, at least it should buy us some time."

"I-I got it—Caduceus!"

Iris held the fictional armament in her hand and stood on the edge of the aft.

"O holy silver, descend!!"

Iris raised the silver-white staff and yelled. Immediately, silver explosions occurred in the distant sky while countless fragments of mithril fell upon the land.

Basilisk seemed to be within that range. Small flashes of red light could be seen darting around in the sky in complicated movements. Just as Mitsuki said, the mithril would probably be struck down completely. If such a saturation attack worked, NIFL would have chosen this tactic a long time ago.

Iris caused explosions repeatedly while the ship used the opportunity to get away from Basilisk. The distorted horizon of white salt gradually went out of sight.

This was—A retreat in defeat.

Our entire operation ended in failure. We could only flee with our backs to the enemy.

"Ooh..."

Mitsuki bit her lip, her fists clenched tightly, her shoulders trembling slightly.

She was surely full of regret. I suspect that she could not forgive herself for lacking power and for endangering her partner.

Seeing Mitsuki like that, Lisa showed a look of anxiety.

After causing large-scale explosions repeatedly, Iris sat down on the deck, utterly exhausted.

In this heavy atmosphere, no one said a word.

As for me, I quietly left the scene without making a sound.

This was not because I found the mood stifling. Rather, it had occurred to me that there was something I should do—Something only I could do, which was why I was putting it into action.

How could I watch Mitsuki make that kind of look again?

I had sworn to never abandon Mitsuki's happiness, to defeat dragons for this purpose, hence—I could not have any qualms about methods.

Returning to the bridge alone, I sensed a gloomy atmosphere there too.

"Oh, Yuu..."

Tia noticed me and called my name, but I made a beeline for Shinomiya-sensei.

"Shinomiya-sensei."

"Yes... Mononobe Yuu? You reacted smartly there just now. Well done."

It was rare for Shinomiya-sensei to praise me, but her voice lacked her usual vitality. She was probably preoccupied with thinking about their next plan.

"Thanks for the praise, but putting that aside, I've got a request to make, Shinomiya-sensei."

"A request?"

Shinomiya-sensei frowned while I told her my request:

"Yes—Could you let me make a call to NIFL's Major Loki?"

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