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Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 2

2026-07-29T03:11:11Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 2: Lesson from the Past==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0065.png|thumb]]
''A driving force is needed to gain something

''Is that force desire?

''Or is it guilt?

Kashima’s trip home required riding both the train and the bus.

The yellow train from the Yamanote Line’s Takadanobaba Station to the Seibu Line’s Tanashi Station took approximately half an hour.

With early morning gone, he left through the south entrance of that white-walled station sitting in the morning sun.

Riding the bus heading to Mukoudai Park and getting off near Shakujii River left him almost at his home.

The single-story house sitting in the slightly chilly air with Shakujii River and a small thicket behind it was Kashima’s home.

“I guess I’ll head to UCAT after getting a bit of sleep.”

He stood before a red-roofed house with a metal fence surrounding it.

A tiered platform displaying flowers was visible in the small yard within the fence.

Kashima walked up to the front door, stopped, and sighed. He looked down and fixed his collar.

And he suddenly saw movement in front of him.

The door made a small noise and opened.

A single woman stood within the entrance which looked dim compared to outside.

The first thing Kashima saw was the colors.

He saw the black of her short hair, the white of her shirt, the black of her jeans, and the white of her skin.

Her small black eyes looked at him and smiled in conjunction with her lips.

“Did you hear my footsteps? …You’ve had a perfect track record on identifying people by their footsteps since our college days, haven’t you?”

A smile naturally formed on Kashima’s face when he saw her.

“I’m home, Natsu-san,” he said with a nod.

“Welcome back, Akio-san.”

The woman, Natsu, took a step back and welcomed in the head of the household.

“The night shift must be exhausting. Are you going in again today?”

“After I eat, I’ll get some sleep, but then I have to go in. I’m a terrible husband.”

“You’ll gain weight,” said Natsu while closing her eyes in a slight smile.

She gave a small laugh from her nose. This laugh was evidence of her good mood and Kashima found it amusing enough that he smiled a bit.

When he entered the house, he naturally let out a sigh.

“Your own house really is the most relaxing place. …Natsu-san, where’s Harumi?”

“Asleep. If you want to see her, do it after your bath. The water is ready, but do you want to eat first?”

“Yes, I’ll eat first. …Do I have to change?”

“This isn’t your workplace,” said Natsu decisively while still smiling. “It’s thanks to your job that we have this wonderful house, but that’s all the more reason to distance yourself from that job while you’re here. …I’m sure Haru-chan would say the same.”

“You know I can’t win if you bring Harumi into it.”

He admitted defeat and decided to change out of his work clothes. He settled on changing into a track suit or something.

“Your track suit is next to the dresser. Just wait a second. I’m heating up the miso soup.”

Without forgetting to say thanks, Kashima opened the frosted glass sliding door leading from the entranceway to the living room.

The large window looking out to the yard on the left was open and the bright light filling the room seemed to wake him up.

A low table sat in the center of that light.

The dresser was on the right and a bookshelf sat on the left wall between the window and the sliding door to the bedroom.

The television to the left of the entrance was playing the news.

The news was discussing technology.

Kashima had a feeling that sort of news had grown more common lately.

All the recent technological advances may have been a side effect of the activity in the various Gears’ positive concepts in order to oppose the negative concepts.

“But reality still isn’t that rich.”

Kashima began changing with a bitter smile on his face.

He heard Natsu speaking from the kitchen.

“Come to think of it, some napa cabbage arrived from your parents.”

“Then we need to take care of what’s in the bowl on the table today.”

“I’ll pickle them, so don’t worry. I also used some in the miso soup. The part-timers seem to really like our pickled vegetables. They call it super good and nasty good… Slang these days is really confusing.”

Kashima heard a sigh from the kitchen.

“But I feel bad always receiving vegetables from them and never doing anything in return.”

“Yes, but my parents do it because they like to. They really like you, Natsu-san. If it was just me, they would never send anything.”

“You sound serious, so I won’t comment on that. But vegetables are expensive these days. …Do you think they’re just trying to be considerate of me? My parents still haven’t…”

“I said they’re doing it because they like to, Natsu-san.”

“Okay. But I am thankful. Oh, and I’m thankful for this knife I’m using, too.”

“Knife?”

When Natsu-san replied, a hint of confusion had entered her voice.

“Yes, um, this knife I’m using. A blade your father worked on just seems different somehow.”

“Well, my dad is wired a bit differently than most people. My mom too, actually.”

“I won’t deny that, but…um, that isn’t what I meant. I can use it without being afraid. Ever since your father gave me this knife when we married, I haven’t hurt my hand with any kind of blade. Not even when using a needle or anything else. …It’s like this knife is a protective charm.”

It had been altered by a man with the name of the military god Kashima and a philosopher’s stone had been added, so that was only natural.

A blade altered by the hands of a god would become a charm and its owner could not be injured by lesser blades.

However, Natsu knew nothing of 2nd-Gear, so Kashima could only play dumb.

[[Image:OnC_v03_0071.png|thumb]]

“Akio-san, your family really does suit the name of the heavenly god Kashima, doesn’t it?”

“My dad would love it if he knew you were comparing him to a god.”

“But when I visited your parents’ home, there was no connection to the heavenly god. …I researched the great sword of the heavenly god Kashima in college, so I got excited when I heard your father sharpens blades.”

Kashima heard a sigh followed by a line he had heard many times.

“It’s a lot different from my maiden name.”

“I think Takagi is a great name. It means you can reach up to heaven.”<ref>Takagi literally means “tall tree”.</ref>

Natsu gave no reply.

…''Should I not have said that?

As he thought that, Kashima looked toward the bookshelf in front of him.

The top shelf had a sticker labeled “Natsu”. It contained studies on Japanese mythology, all of which were remnants of her college days.

Kashima spotted a nostalgic title among them.

…''I was an engineering student, but I attended a seminar on ancient civilization research so I could learn about 2nd-Gear.

He had written a report based on the same book on that shelf.

“And that’s where I met Natsu-san…” he said too quietly for anyone else to hear. “I’m plenty happy now.”

He glanced over to make sure Natsu had not left the kitchen and then removed the book from the shelf.

Two thin books were pressed up against the back panel of the shelf.

They were picture books.

Those worn out antiques told the legend of Susanoo and the legend of Yamato Takeru. The author’s name was…

“Takagi Masamichi.”

…''Will she ever appreciate that name?

Kashima finished changing, opened the curtain, and sat on the floor.

He heard the sound of clanking ceramics coming from the kitchen.

“Did Atsuta-san not come with you again, today?”

“He’s been heading home on the train recently. He doesn’t have enough points left on his license. In fact, he said he only has one left.”

“I see. …Maybe this is thinking too much into it, but does Atsuta-san ever intend to get married? He hasn’t even been coming here recently.”

“He has feelings for someone. Apparently, she was a classmate in high school and is the president of a security company now. And he says the reason he hasn’t been coming here is that he dislikes babies.”

“How childish of him.”

“I don’t think he’s even reached the level of a child. Or a human, for that matter.”

“You shouldn’t talk about your friend like that.”

“That doesn’t deny that he’s on the level of an ape…”

“R-really?”

With that troubled comment, Natsu entered the room.

The large tray in Natsu’s hands contained two teacups, two bowls of miso soup, and two rice bowls.

And the deep platter held…

“It isn’t a cabbage roll, but I stuffed some of the napa cabbage with the mincemeat left over from last night. You should be able to use chopsticks.”

Kashima saw a boiled water soup with two long and slightly pale green bundles inside.

“Did you not eat this morning?”

“I knew you would return, Akio-san. And I already gave Haru-chan milk, so don’t worry.”

Natsu’s eyes narrowed in a small smile and she sat next to him.

“Or did you want to see that?”

“I did,” replied Kashima and Natsu blushed a bit.

A restless atmosphere filled the air.

At the same time, the news on the television reached the weather forecast.

According to the weather map, that evening would have…

“Rain? But it’s so sunny outside right now.”

“I’ll hurry home. I can’t leave you alone on a rainy night.”

Kashima turned to Natsu to find the smile gone from her face.

Her hands remained motionless as she stared at the weather map predicting rain.

She did not move.

Kashima silently removed the fly-net cover from the table.

The slight movement of the air and the whiteness of the fly-net cover caused Natsu to tremble slightly.

“S-sorry.”

She quickly opened the cover of the small bowl and prepared a small plate.

Her expression was back to normal.

“I’m fine. I can even go outside now if I have an umbrella. Anyway, let’s eat.”

The weather map on the television was replaced with rural footage.

It showed a paddy field in the mountains. They were preparing to plant the early-growing rice.

Natsu breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it. She picked up a rice bowl and spoke.

“They really plant rice early these days. Your parents should be beginning soon, too.”

“I had enough of helping them last year.”

With a weak smile, Natsu held the rice bowl out toward him.

“Thanks,” said Kashima as he reached out to take it.

The bowl contained rice from the Okutama farm of the Kashima family. And…

“But I liked having rice we helped make. If possible, I’d like to do that again this year.”

As she spoke, Kashima touched the hand holding the bowl.

Natsu’s left hand was missing something.

It had no little finger or ring finger.

As noon drew near, Taka-Akita Academy entered fourth period.

Even though classes were in session, it was also preparation time for the spring school festival known as the All Holiday Festival.

Students excused from class could be seen preparing for battle throughout the school.

From the road to the sports grounds, from the dorms to the cafeteria, and even on the paved and gravel pathways, members of various groups were running around carrying materials or ingredients.

A few people were looking down over all of them.

These people sat on the second floor of the second year general school building’s emergency staircase.

Sitting on the landing were Izumo with his coat removed to show off his well-built body through his shirt and Kazami who was spreading out a homemade triple-layer bento on a sheet.

And another girl sat in front of them.

This platinum blonde girl wore her winter uniform below the springtime sun.

Kazami called the name of this girl who had a small bird on her shoulder and a black cat next to her.

“Brunhild, do you have the form for the art club?”

Brunhild handed her a single sheet of paper.

It was the form for the art club’s stand at the festival.

Kazami picked up a binder with a pile of papers inside and compared Brunhild’s paper to an example.

She checked to make sure everything was filled out and stamped.

“The form looks in order, but what’s with this name? Avant-Garde Art Grilled Chicken ‘Cadmium 2005’? Is that toxic?”

“We had a vote and decided on this. It’s amazing.”

“Amazing?”

“Yes.”

“How exactly…?”

“Well, the seasoning is green like this and it’s apparently a guaranteed one-hit kill.”

“Hey, Chisato. If you ask about this anymore, we’ll be caught up in a crime.”

Kazami almost fell forward, but she straightened up and Brunhild gave a bitter smile.

“The underclassmen said they would give you a feast if you come by.”

“That won’t be necessary. …But, Brunhild, isn’t it painful to serve grilled chicken while raising a bird?”

“Yes, but we decided by vote. It may be a problem for me as the head of the club, but I plan to stay away from buying supplies and preparing the food. I will only handle the finances.”

“That might be difficult. …But grilled chicken tends to make outrageous amounts of money, so I hope you make a good amount.”

“You know a lot about this.”

“My dad likes this kind of thing. He always has a stand at the neighborhood association festival. He sells them for 50 yen a piece while the cost price is only 20 yen. He makes around 30,000 yen in a day, so he takes it way too seriously and grills and grills like a monkey or something.”

“I see. What kind of person is your father, Kazami? Is he like a monkey?”

“He’d be easier to deal with if he was.”

“What’s with that exasperated sigh?”

“Well, my mom was a Showa era idol who could sing really well but wasn’t selling due to being terrible with the business side of things. My dad had known her since their schooldays and he worked as her manager for a while.” Kazami gave a bitter smile. “But I’ve never actually heard my mom sing. It embarrasses her, so she hides all of the photos from back then and changes the channel whenever a show about nostalgic songs comes on.”

“Why don’t you just watch it while over at my place? You always change the channel yourself.”

“I can’t just watch something she’s trying to hide.”

“So that’s how it works,” said Izumo with a nod.

“I see,” said Brunhild as she lowered her head.

Kazami placed Brunhild’s form in the binder and changed the subject.

“Anyway, how are things going with 1st-Gear?”

“The reservation is set to be expanded.”

“Really? They finally made up their mind?”

“This is still inside information, but it seems a place in German UCAT is being set up to take some of us in. The European UCATs will be taking on some of the maintenance expenses on the condition that we share our techniques with them. They’re only accepting second generation members and onward, but that’s plenty.”

“I see. A German forest would be a great place for 1st-Gear.”

“Unfortunately, I am a first generation member, so I can’t go even if I am naturalized.”

“Oh, sorry. …I should have kept my mouth shut.”

“It’s fine. Once the concepts are released to seal the negative concepts, 1st-Gear’s concepts will slowly permeate this Gear. Once that happens, we should be freed from the small reservations.” She gave a slight smile. “Of course, we’ll still have to live in areas where the normal people of this Gear can’t find us.”

Brunhild’s final comment caused Kazami to freeze in place.

Silence fell over them.

Kazami tried to find something to say, but found nothing.

Meanwhile, something lightly struck Kazami’s thigh.

It was Brunhild’s black cat.

The cat gave a mew, tilted his head, and looked up at her, so she smiled back.

“Were you giving silent consideration?” she asked.

The cat narrowed his eyes and began to climb into her lap.

However, Brunhild wordlessly stopped him.

She grabbed the cat’s tail and dragged him away.

“You don’t need to feel sorry for me, Kazami.”

“Um, no. I wasn’t. It’s just that the cat-…”

“Forget about the cat. …Anyway, that was just what I thought.” Brunhild held the cat up by the tail and smiled slightly. “So let me tell you this: We think our situation has improved. I want you to at least remember that.”

“Fasolt is working hard because he thinks so too, right?”

“Yes, but he seems to be on poor terms with Fafner lately.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” said Brunhild with a nod. Her tone grew thoughtful. “Half-dragon fights are a sight to behold. Their shells are really hard, so no normal attack is going to do any damage.”

“Um…Brunhild? I thought this was a fight between father and son. Why are we talking about ‘doing damage’?”

“Oh? Isn’t that normal?”

“Chisato, I think 1st-Gear might be your kind of place.”

“What do you mean by that!? Take this! And this! And this!”

“Yes, Kazami. I think that’s about normal.”

“I don’t think so. Ow, ow, ow. My arm isn’t supposed to bend like that!”

Brunhild smiled bitterly as she heard Izumo scream.

She had a small bird on her shoulder and a cat dangling upside down from her hand.

As soon as she stood up, a chime rang, indicating the end of fourth period.

“Lunch break… After stopping by the library, I will go help build the stand.”

“Do all of your club’s members have class excuses?”

“Yes, but you need to put more effort into making them. They would be ridiculously easy to counterfeit.”

“Th-that’s the special right given to those smart enough to come up with the idea,” said Izumo while trapped in a double arm lock.

Brunhild gave a small laugh and reached for the emergency exit door next to him.

“I hope you can stay that calm as you work on the next Leviathan Road,” she said.

At the same time, a boy entered through the door she had opened.

It was Sayama.

He swept his left hand up once to brush back his hair and spoke.

“Hm. This is an unusual combination.”

“Are you alone? Shinjou Setsu isn’t with you?”

Sayama gave a sigh and began speaking in an admonishing tone.

“He is not always with me. I told him I have student council work, so he said he would head on to the cafeteria and buy my lunch as well. I am most grateful.”

As he spoke, another figure suddenly appeared behind him.

“Hi! How is everyone doing?”

It was Ooki with a smile filling her face.

“Oh, is everyone here? If only we all had our lunches with us.” She nodded. “How about we talk about the next Leviathan Road? Sayama-kun, you’re here because you’ve decided which Gear to do next, right?”

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 1

2026-07-28T02:25:23Z

N-Ch:

[[Image:OnC_v03_0036-0037.png|thumb]]
''As if building up

''It all slowly begins to move

''And hopefully continues to the place it wants to be

—''I cannot ask if I can stay here.

—''I decided I would stay here.

==Chapter 1: The Two in the Flames==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0039.png|thumb]]
''Someone asks something

''So what should you do?

''You understand nothing and have decided nothing

Sayama Mikoto was dreaming.

He could see the inside of a giant wooden building. His vision existed in the center of it.

The structure of the building resembled the interior of a Shinto shrine.

However, it was on a much larger scale. The ceiling was easily thirty meters tall and the entrance through which the sky was visible was over fifty meters wide.

…''I do not recognize this building. This really must be a dream.

Sayama moved his vision to look at the entrance. The red sky was visible through it. It was a burning and flickering sky.

''I am dreaming of a fire,'' thought Sayama.

Flames and shimmering covered the sky and sparks poured down like rain.

''Is this an air-raid?'' he thought. ''No, this is different,'' he quickly corrected.

The sound filling the air was not that of airplanes passing by overhead or of fire bombs falling from the sky. It was a bestial roar that resembled distant thunder.

This beast’s voice tore at the air.

As that cry reverberated through the air, Sayama saw new movement within the building.

The large gate was being closed from the left and right of the front entrance.

Sayama stared beyond the narrowing gap between the two sides of the gate.

His view below the red sky was from some elevated place. He may have been atop a mountain.

When he looked down on the land, he saw a sea of flames identical to the sky.

Originally, the landscape had likely been made up of fields, forests, a village, and distant mountains, but all of it had been transformed into a field of crimson that rose up in places and lowered in places. Whenever one of the areas sticking up collapsed, more sparks would fly up into the sky.

Sayama suddenly realized a woman stood beyond the closing gate.

The old woman had her back to him. She had black hair and wore a simple white outfit with a yellow cloak over it.

Sayama then saw two men run from behind his vision and toward the entrance.

The man in the lead wore a dirty lab coat. He was a middle-aged man wearing glasses.

He ran toward the closing gate and the woman standing beyond it.

The second man was short and wore a simple black outfit.

He ran after the man in the lab coat.

Sayama saw the man in black catch up to the other man and tackle him to the ground.

As the world outside burned and the bestial roar continued, the two men could be heard falling to the ground.

The man in the lab coat cried out, but not at the man holding him down. He shouted through the closing gate.

“You can’t! You’re…you’re their leader, aren’t you!? Why are you choosing death here!?”

The woman standing outside did not turn toward the man. Instead, the man in black answered.

“This is the rule! This is how we do things!”

The man in the lab coat prepared to shout another question, but he stopped.

The man holding him down with his arms and knees had pressed his head down.

As silence fell over the two of them, a voice suddenly came in from beyond the closing gate.

“Military god, take care of him.”

The man in black nodded without saying anything.

As he did, the gate continued to close. Only a meter gap remained.

But the woman’s voice could still be heard.

“Engineer from a country connected to ours in another Gear, these seeds were sown by us. If Yamata devours this world, it will surely make its way through this gate and to your world.”

The man in the lab coat raised his head.

“If…if I had only had more power… If I had made the decision sooner…!”

“Yes,” replied the old woman. She continued with a smile in her tone. “Everyone thinks that. Both those who were unable to reach this place and those who did. But just like you, we had no power. …Protect your own Gear.”

And…

“Can you protect your world from destruction?”

The man in the lab coat was unable to answer. He only clenched his teeth while being held down.

As the gate closed, the surrounding walls were dyed in darkness.

“Listen,” said the man in black. “The two thousand people we could fit in this temple will be moved to your world. Our glory was once said to be countless, but it has been ruined and lost. And now we will lose our world too!”

“Kh,” groaned the man in the lab coat.

His twisted face was turned toward the closing gate. Sayama turned his vision in that direction as well.

That old woman was visible through the slight crack remaining.

She was turned toward the sky and a single flame could be seen in the sliver of sky Sayama could see.

The flame took the form of a dragon. That serpentine flame dragon had eight heads.

It was easily over a kilometer long and continued to stretch out longer.

As it flew through the sky, it turned toward them and opened its eight mouths.

Immediately afterward, Sayama heard a voice.

It belonged to the woman beyond the gate. She spoke with an intonation to her voice.

“I have-…”

As soon as the rhythm began, the gate closed with a roar.

With the outside light gone, the building filled with darkness. A voice could be heard from outside the gate.

It was a new voice. Compared to the woman’s voice from before, this voice was more powerful and caused the surrounding area to shake. It was…

…''The dragon’s voice.

It did not use words.

This was a bestial question. It was a cry filled with an intonation made up of only emotion and intention.

This was the dragon’s lamentation.

That cry descending from the heavens was the dragon’s voice.

And it held the meaning of a question.

“———!!”

It asked.

It forced two things upon the listener.

It forced them to answer and to destroy.

The cry pierced through the air in search of an answer and of destruction.

At the same time, everything was overcome with darkness.

In the very next moment, Sayama heard a long cry filled with both sorrow and resentment.

As soon as anguish filled the scream, the images and sounds Sayama was experiencing came to an end.

Sayama awoke.

The early morning air was cold and the newly risen sun was so bright it looked white.

He sat up within his dormitory bed.

However, the remnants of the dream remained vividly in his head, so he still felt a bit removed from reality.

As his sleepy eyes worked to bring his vision into focus, he recalled the dream.

The world had been burned, a lot had been lost, and ultimately he had been forsaken. That was the dream.

…''Was that the destruction of another world? Another Gear?

“That was quite a heavy scene. …But I think I know why I saw it.”

Sayama silently reached up to the top of his head. The soft sensation above his head was Baku.

Baku was a four-legged beast with thin fur covering his body. Sayama picked him up and realized his small eyes were closed in sleep.

That animal had undoubtedly been what had shown him the past.

Sayama then reached out to the side.

He would find a book there. It was part of an investigation report written by Kinugasa Tenkyou that collected legends and myths from around the world.

…''Baku must have called in the past in response to what I was reading last night.

This was the second volume that detailed Japanese mythology.

''That must have been 2nd-Gear being destroyed in that dream,'' thought Sayama as he gazed up at the ceiling.

But as he reached for the book, his hand touched something warm and soft.

“…Ee.”

The sensation was accompanied with a voice.

Wondering what was going on, Sayama looked down. As his vision came into focus, he looked down toward the blanket covering his body.

But he found something else instead.

For some reason, a butt was sticking out sideways there.

Two bare legs kicked at the air near the ladder on his left and a back covered by a shirt could be seen by the wall to his right. A butt with white underwear tightly covering it was located between the two.

[[Image:OnC_v03_0047.png|thumb]]

“Ah…no…wait…”

As Sayama heard that frantic voice, saw the waving hair, and saw the squirming round skin in front of him, Sayama gave a sleepy comment.

“Why are you suddenly performing such fruity actions, Shinjou-kun?”

“I-it’s because you suddenly sat up! And right when I was trying to wake you up.”

“I see,” muttered Sayama, but his mind was still muddled with sleep. “So I sat up and dragged you in just as you were leaning over the bed.”

“Wh-why are you calmly analyzing this so early in the morning!?”

“Then allow me to give a different analysis. …Ohh! Th-that’s an ass, Shinjou-kun!”

“Please help me instead of acting crazy!”

“Hm.” Sayama watched the butt moving up and down in front of his face. He finally spoke in a gentle but certain tone of voice. “Beautiful.”

“Wh-what? Did you just say something kind of weird!?”

“I did nothing more than state the obvious. Anyway, you need to calm down. Here, I will help you up.”

“Eh? Ah! N-no, stop. Don’t touch my butt!”

“I am not touching it. I am grabbing it!”

“That’s the same thing! Please finish waking up before-… Ah, n-no! Don’t pull on my underwear! It’s riding up!”

“Then what am I supposed to grab in order to help you up?”

“Um…” muttered Shinjou as he turned his head toward Sayama.

Their gazes met while Shinjou was blushing and looking troubled.

“What am I supposed to do?” muttered Shinjou as he stopped kicking his legs wildly.

His legs were now hanging over the edge of the bed and their weight started to drag him off.

“Wah!”

As Shinjou panicked, Sayama caught his waist in both arms.

It all happened in an instant.

Sayama turned Shinjou face up in his arms and sat him up on his lap.

Shinjou kicked his legs meaninglessly two or three times.

“Nn…” he sighed while being held below the arms.

His flushed face was looking up at Sayama.

“S-sorry about causing such a commotion first thing in the morning.”

“Do not worry about it. Being woken by another person is one form of happiness.”

“Really?”

“I suppose you would not understand as you always wake up before I do. Perhaps we should reverse that at some point.”

“Sayama-kun, how would you wake me?”

“Well, if I wanted to be certain, I would perform an early morning body press or lie next to you and give endless flirting comments until you woke up. That would be good, don’t you think?”

“No.”

Shinjou averted his gaze, sighed, and left Sayama’s arms.

As he placed his legs on the ladder, he turned a puzzled look toward Sayama.

“Um… After you wake up, how about we eat breakfast on the cafeteria terrace?”

“Sounds good. I believe the morning menu is tororo soba and a melon soda float.”

“Why do they always serve such odd combinations here?”

Shinjou tilted his head as his slender back and waving black hair descended the ladder.

As Sayama watched that back, he realized something. When he picked Shinjou up before, his bandaged left arm had not hurt at all.

…It is almost fully healed.

Once that wound healed, Shinjou would have no reason to remain at the school.

He suddenly found that disappointing and then smiled bitterly.

If he felt that way about it…

…''I have accepted Shinjou-kun as someone close to me.

So what would he do if Shinjou did leave?

“———”

He had exchanged a certain promise with Shinjou Setsu on a certain windy night.

“If you do not wish to be here and I wish to do what is best for you, I will hate you.”

Sayama added “as a villain” under his breath and nodded.

He then picked up a thick hardcover book in his right hand and climbed out of his blanket.

After 6:30, the city was filled with light.

The city’s transportation system was already moving that early in the morning.

A certain train station was part of the Chuo Line that cut across Tokyo from east to west. An early morning train leaving Tokyo arrived at Ochanomizu Station, the third station from the east.

The train contained few people that early in the morning.

The first car had only two people sitting in it.

They were Kashima and Atsuta on their way back from guard duty.

Kashima put on his glasses and opened his laptop on his lap.

He spoke to Atsuta on his right without turning toward him.

“Atsuta, how can you board the train dressed like that? You look like a cosplayer.”

“Before giving me advice like you’re my mother, how about you do something about your abnormal fashion. A lab coat over work clothes? Does your wife never question it at home?”

“Natsu-san is very understanding about my work.”

“That’s surprising for someone of Low-Gear. …Have you still not told her?”

“No. She still knows nothing about UCAT. Nothing has changed since our college days. She thinks I chose to climb the corporate ladder within IAI.”

The young man named Kashima operated the touch panel and a few different programs began running on the screen.

“Ever since I had a kid, I couldn’t help but start up a website. Look at this video of her. Look, look. She’s about to cry. Ah, she’s crying. How cute.”

“You’re gonna make me cry, you idiot father.”

“What do you mean idiot? You can’t deny how cute she is. Do I need to say it again? She’s so cute.”

“That’s what makes you an idiot, you idiot. Babies are no different from monkeys.”

Kashima gave a toothy smile when he heard that.

“Monkeys? Is that what you said? Is it? But I’m so happy with my life right now that I won’t get mad even at that. In fact, I feel sorry that you can’t understand how cute she is, Atsuta.”

“That’s scary. You’ve lost an important emotion.”

“Ha ha ha. Sorry, sorry. I used to laugh at parents like this too, but I went out and bought a video camera as soon as my own kid was born. I really am an idiot.”

The train door closed, the train shook once, and it began to move.

Meanwhile, Kashima closed the video on his computer.

“But, Atsuta, you let all of them go, didn’t you? What kind of false ally of justice are you?”

“Don’t be stupid. A catch and release policy is standard when it comes to villains. Doing anything else leaves you with fewer and fewer people to defeat.”

“How did your mother raise you?”

“She told me to always be honest.”

“That is an excellent lesson. I’ll take that into consideration when teaching my daughter.”

Kashima let out a breath.

“Now then,” he said as his expression changed. A hint of tension entered his face. “Who were they? They didn’t seem to all be from one Gear. It was creepy.”

“How should I know? All I saw was a bunch of enemies. Do I need to ask people their name, age, address, and occupation before cutting them down?” Atsuta sighed, stuck a hand in his coat pocket, and stretched his legs out into the passageway. “Are you never going to do anything more than make adjustments to Cowling Swords?”

“That accident eight years ago taught me that making them is not for me. My father makes farm tools and works as a farmer, you know?”

“I always feel bad about all the rice he sends me every year. …But your grandfather was 2nd-Gear’s greatest swordsmith, right? Are you still hesitant to directly make something that kills people?”

“I am going to say yes,” said Kashima in a flat tone as he stared forward. “I have a certain power, but I have decided not to use it. It’s easier this way. …And I won’t tell my family either. I’m sure those naturalized from other Gears have similar issues to deal with.”

As he spoke, Kashima thought. He finally gave a bitter smile and spoke once more.

“How many times have we had this conversation now?”

The second floor of the school cafeteria contained only a few students with morning training and was very quiet.

The western style window was open to help circulate the air.

This let in the cold air and the distant noises and shouts of the sports teams’ morning training. And…

“I hear hammering and electric guitars.”

“They are preparing for the All Holiday Festival, a spring school festival held over the long holiday coming up. You know Kazami, the treasurer, right? She is the one that hits people a lot. She is having a band play at the festival. That is them practicing.”

Sayama and Shinjou carried their morning meal trays to seats by the window.

They had placed their things at that table ahead of time.

“Sayama-kun, do you have work today, too?”

Setsu did not know about UCAT, so Sayama had told him he had a part time job at IAI.

Sayama nodded and recalled his dream from that morning.

“Yes. I think there is something I need to do there.”

They arrived at the table as they spoke.

Sayama looked down at something.

A leather bag sat on Shinjou’s side of the table by the window and a pile of loose leaf paper sat on top of the bag.

When they had left their dorm room, Shinjou had quickly snatched that paper up from his desk.

Sayama tilted his head as he looked at the untidy stack of paper.

“N-no! Don’t look at it!”

Shinjou frantically ran to his seat and practically threw his tray down.

“Ah,” said Shinjou when he realized what he had done, but he covered up the pile of loose leaf paper all the same.

While fixing the position of the tray that was about to fall over, Shinjou looked up at Sayama. The ends of Shinjou’s eyebrows were lowered.

“D-did you see?”

“No. I only saw what looked like some kind of title.”

“You didn’t see anything else?”

Sayama thought back, but he had only seen the text for a split second.

However, he could take a guess as to why Shinjou was so flustered.

“So I was right. You were writing something lewd…”

“No, I wasn’t. And what do you mean ‘I was right’?”

“I think you have been giving immediate tsukkomi a lot more recently, Shinjou-kun.”

“I try not to. Getting caught up in your pace is dangerous.”

“But then I feel sad.”

“I-I think you should be made to feel sad in this case. C’mon, eat your food and then go take a bath. Look, you can have the cherry from my morning soda float. Look, two cherries. You can’t be sad then, right? Right?”

“I bet that would work really well with a young child,” said Sayama as he looked at his soda float with two cherries.

…''Well, this might be for the best.

With that serious thought, he placed his tray down. Shinjou’s shoulders relaxed and he gave a sigh of relief.

He placed the loose leaf paper in a black binder inside his bag.

Sayama sat down as he watched Shinjou put away the paper.

“Is that what you have been working on late at night and early in the morning recently?” he asked.

Shinjou turned around, averted his gaze, and spoke in a troubled tone.

“…Yes.”

“I see. Do your best, but do not force yourself too much. Someone like you needs to look after his health. If you are ever in trouble, come to me. I can introduce you to a good hospital.”

“Just out of curiosity, what kind of hospital is it?”

“It is the hospital the Tamiya family uses. Even the biggest coward will return a brave man after spending three hours there. They always grow depressed about three days later, though.”

“They’re definitely doing something bad there.”

Shinjou sighed but soon sat down and leaned back in the chair.

“Sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?”

“Oh, um. I panicked and rejected you just a moment ago.”

“No, you did not. That was my fault. I tried to peek at something that belonged to you.”

“Yes, but…sorry,” he said, but a look of resignation quickly appeared on his face. “Sayama-kun, you do seem crazy at times and suddenly do strange and even criminal things, but you’re very strict when it comes to other people and their secrets.”

“I have a feeling you have made some kind of misunderstanding about me.”

“R-really? But everyone says you are an idiot who lives in the Sayama universe where the world revolves around you.”

“Hm, even if I accept everything after it, I have a hard time understanding why someone with grades as good as mine would be called an idiot.”

“Um, idiot can mean a lot of different things. …Wait, you’re fine with the stuff after it?”

“Oh?” Sayama tilted his head. “You took me seriously, Shinjou-kun? Do not worry. It was a joke. I know the world revolves around the sun.”

“A-ah ha ha ha. Th-that’s right. You do seem to live in a world of your own sometimes, so I wasn’t sure.”

“Well, fear not, Shinjou-kun. Ever since the middle ages, the world has followed the heliocentric theory. With me being the sun, of course.”

“Eh!? Wh-what? What was that last part?”

“Ha ha ha. A trivial matter, Shinjou-kun. Do not worry about it.”

Sayama laughed and suddenly looked out the window.

The student dorms were lined with cherry trees which already had green leaves. In front of them was the parking lot for faculty and visitors.

Sayama saw a woman walking along the gravel of the parking lot.

She had wavy blond hair that was almost silver and she wore a black two piece suit that swelled out at the shoulders.

The hem of her long tight skirt shook back and forth with great regularity because she walked as if treading along a single line.

Just as Sayama started to look away from her, she took a sudden action.

She instantly turned toward him and bent her eyes in a smile.

Their gazes met.

It was as if she had noticed him. Sayama gulped slightly.

She was at least thirty meters away and her back had been turned to him.

Even so, she had turned her blue eyes directly toward him and a slight smile could be seen on her face.

That smile made Sayama frown, but he quickly created a different expression.

He replied to her smile with a calm one of his own.

And she reacted when she saw it.

“————”

She gave a broad smile. Her slight smile was replied by a look of joy at his response.

With that pleasant smile, she turned back around and walked away.

Not having noticed any of this, Shinjou tilted his head in front of Sayama.

“What is it?”

“A greeting I suppose. Someone wanted to exchange a pleasant smile and I complied.”

''Something new is beginning,'' thought Sayama.

A woman wearing a black two-piece suit gave a pleasant sigh as she stood on the gravel below the early morning sun.

“That was a nice response. It would have been cute if he blushed, though. I wonder if he realized who I am.”

She smiled and continued walking. She walked along the gravel path in high heels, but produced no footsteps.

The back of the third year general school building was visible ahead of her.

“Now, it’s time to go meet Siegfried Zonburg, the librarian of Kinugasa Library,” she said with a sigh while observing the shape of the building. “I need to check on the state of Low-Gear.”

“It comes down to how we should live here in Low-Gear.”

''Really, though. How many times have I asked myself that?'' thought Kashima in the train.

Atsuta spoke quietly while staring up at the ceiling.

“Your problem is how we’re a lot like the people of Low-Gear but not exactly like them, isn’t it? How about you just take it easy?”

“I used to do that so I could pursue my grandfather’s final words. But…I learned something in that accident eight years ago. I started to lose something important to me and could no longer accept my own power.”

If he closed his eyes, he could remember it.

It had been a rainy night eight years ago.

He had been producing Cowling Swords at the time.

He had been delighted at a certain sword’s quality and had gone out alone to a mountain testing ground near UCAT.

…''And I caused an accident.

He remembered the result of his actions and a single emotion all too well.

As he looked down from the mountain that night, he saw the earth collapsing.

As the rain pelted him and he held the hilt of that broken Cowling Sword in his hand, he had run over to the large-scale collapse.

Kashima still remembered the feeling inside him at that moment.

…''A sense of superiority.

It had been incomplete, but he had still felt pride in his ability to create such a powerful Cowling Sword.

But Kashima’s feelings had frozen over in the next instant.

He had heard a single voice coming from several dozen meters down the slope.

Beyond the uncertain darkness, he had heard a scream.

It had been a scream of fear. And that scream had come from below the collapsed earth where-

“…!”

Kashima’s pulse rose abruptly and he opened his eyes.

He felt sweat all over his body and he suddenly realized he was inside the train.

Atsuta was staring at him.

“Are you okay, you idiot? Don’t get too lost in the past. It isn’t healthy.”

“Yeah… But I can’t help it.”

“If you feel yourself slipping back, start thinking about your wife’s breasts.”

Kashima obediently thought about them.

“Yeah, they’re pretty nice. Can’t argue with that.”

“Don’t start kneading the air inside the train! I only told you to think about them, you idiot!”

“Y-yeah, but to be honest, Natsu-san’s chest is really relaxing.”

“You want my honest opinion? A military god shouldn’t be so sexually lovey-dovey. Anyway, what do you want? You told me to join you on the train because you had something to tell me, right?”

“Oh, right, right. Wait just a second.”

The train shook as Kashima spoke.

After several seconds of deceleration, the train arrived at the next station, Yotsuya.

No one boarded. All that entered was the slightly chilly wind of a morning in late spring.

As soon as the doors closed again, Kashima pulled a white envelope from his pocket.

“That Supervisor Ooshiro gave me this. It seems Director Tsukuyomi has given me full authority.”

“Let me see that. Is old woman Tsukuyomi just trying to get you out of the way? You said it was about-…”

“The Leviathan Road, yes.”

Kashima gave a bitter smile when he saw Atsuta’s displeased look.

His friend was displaying his own feelings amazingly well.

…''That allows me to act more maturely.

“I was even told to prepare to release 2nd-Gear’s concepts.”

“Let’s see, let’s see. This is the document. Um, what does this say? L-L-Levi…”

“Leviathan Road. You can’t even read that? I’m a bit shocked.”

“Sh-shut up. Reading is a pain, so just explain it to me.”

“How I negotiate this is being left entirely up to me. Director Tsukuyomi may be the leader of 2nd-Gear, but she claims she’s too busy to do it herself.”

“That old woman just wanted to shove this annoyance on someone else.”

As they spoke, the train began slowing once more. They were near Shinjuku.

“You’re switching to a different train here, right? You’ll be coming to UCAT after greeting your wife and kid, won’t you?”

“Yes,” replied Kashima as he took the envelope back from Atsuta. “But is it really right for us to take care of the Leviathan Road?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

Kashima could not respond right away. He closed his laptop and returned the envelope to his pocket.

…''How can I best explain it?

As he thought, the bright platform of Shinjuku Station rushed by outside the window as if to catch them.

“Well, there’s that accident for one, but I also have no interest in the Leviathan Road.”

“Oh, your grandfather’s final words.”

“Yes, his final words. He once wielded the sword that sealed Yamata, but his final words became meaningless nine years ago. That was when we inspected Susaou, the giant humanoid machine created to restrain Yamata.” He let out a weary sigh. “Releasing 2nd-Gear’s concepts means entering the concept space in which those two sleep and releasing the seal of Totsuka to call out Yamata.”

“You make it sound like there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

Kashima smiled bitterly.

The train began to stop and noise came from its metal wheels.

While surrounded by that noise and the shaking of the train, Kashima thought. He thought about something he had been thinking for a long time.

“Neither of us experienced the Concept War. Not even Director Tsukuyomi did. In that case, do we…no, do ''I'' have any right to take control of releasing the concepts?” He took a breath. “I have no grudge against this Gear, but I am not thankful either. I was born here and living here is completely normal for me. …So how are we supposed to handle this?”

Atsuta frowned at his question.

“C’mon, stop thinking so much about it. Just treat it like a festival. Make it nice and exciting.”

“There are times when I’m incredibly jealous of your personality.”

“How do you feel about my personality normally?”

“I pity you. I wonder why the world would let a creature like this be born.”

“Go to hell. I’ll tell your wife her husband looks down on people in his work.”

“What a pain,” said Kashima as he nodded and stood up. “But that’s fine. Natsu-san is very understanding about my work.”

“Doesn’t that just mean she isn’t all that interested in it?”

Kashima grabbed the pole next to the seat and turned toward Atsuta.

“And I am thankful for it,” he said with a smile.

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Prologue

2026-07-27T02:51:32Z

N-Ch:

==Prologue: The Beginning of False Testimony==
[[Image:OnC_v03_0011.png|thumb]]
''The beginning contradictorily tells of the end

''Where does that wind lead?

The heavens were filled with the dark colors of night, but no stars could be seen.

This was Tokyo. The moving people shook the air and artificial lights erased the stars from the night sky.

A certain sound was audible in one street of that city.

It was a solid sound. A metal tip was striking the asphalt.

A voice joined the sound.

“Sf, what do you think of Tokyo’s Kanda district at night?”

Those words were spoken by a gray-haired man wearing a black suit. He used a metal cane to walk alongside a white-haired maid named Sf.

Sf spun around and looked around the area when she heard his question.

“The sidewalks are filled with people and the roads with cars, but I have determined they are all moving toward the train station.”

“Oh? And does a wise automaton such as yourself know why?”

“Tes, I have determined they are hurrying home, Itaru-sama.”

“I see,” said the gray-haired man with a nod. Sf stopped in front of him. “What is it, you stupid automaton? Are you trying to block your master’s path?”

Sf was holding both hands out. Those small hands were holding something.

“What’s with that small piece of paper and stamp?”

“To put it simply, this is an ‘I did what Itaru-sama wanted’ point card. Once I reach twenty points, I can praise myself. I usually stamp it myself, but this is the twentieth point. Itaru-sama, you do the honors.”

Itaru narrowed his eyes as he took the card and stamp and stamped it.

“What is this weird super deformed face symbol?”

“It is you, Itaru-sama. It was developed by the UCAT development department.”

Sf took back the card and bowed.

“Excuse me a moment.”

She rubbed her own head with her right palm, lowered her hand, and spoke expressionlessly.

“Tes. I am done.”

“Is once enough? You sure are modest.”

“If you wish, I can do it any number of times.”

“Once is enough. And don’t do that in front of people. …Who knows what they would think.”

“Tes. I will only do it in front of you, Itaru-sama.”

“Oh? Sorry, but I’m a person, too.”

“If you say so, Itaru-sama.”

Itaru gave no response.

He began walking again. His feet and cane chose a path leaving the road.

He left the people hurrying home along the main road.

“Itaru-sama, doesn’t this path lead to…?”

“Yes. You’ve been here for some adjustments before.”

Itaru stopped in front of a large white-walled building taking up a large space in the city.

“Officially, it’s known as a hospital, but it’s actually Japanese UCAT’s Tokyo lab. It works with the Okutama development department. I hear they’re improving the anti-3rd god of war.”

“Why are we here today?” asked Sf.

Itaru pulled an envelope from his pocket.

“I have to give this to a certain man. He’s a descendant of 2nd-Gear which is the basis of Japanese mythology.”

“A descendant of 2nd-Gear?”

“Yes. …He holds the name Kashima which is both 2nd-Gear’s strongest military god and swordsmith. Tonight, he left UCAT in Okutama and came here.”

“Could you not wait until tomorrow and give it to him once he returns to UCAT?”

“In all things, the atmosphere is important. Remember that, Sf.”

“Tes. In all things, useless additions are important. I understand.”

Itaru returned the envelope to his pocket and walked toward the white building.

Sf followed right behind him.

“But who is this Kashima?”

“Well, this may be a roundabout way to answer…but do you want to hear about 2nd-Gear?”

“No, not really.”

“Then I will tell you.” Itaru slowed his pace and smiled. “Sixty years ago, 2nd-Gear sided with the Izumo Aviation Institute’s National Defense Department before any other Gear.”

“I have heard of that. Control of 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core control system was lost as the Concept War continued and it became the flame dragon Yamata. They signed a treaty and asked that IAI come to their aid.”

“Yes, but help did not arrive in time. 2nd-Gear was burned and destroyed by Yamata. …And in ’46 after the war ended, Yamata was sealed here in Low-Gear. It was sealed using a giant humanoid machine created by a certain researcher in Low-Gear as well as…” He took a breath. “A sword created by Kashima’s grandfather. But…”

“But what?”

“But when it was sealed, the flame dragon Yamata was unable to trust the people of 2nd-Gear who allowed it to lose control. It was sealed based on the trust of a certain Low-Gear researcher. The right to control Yamata should have been passed down by certain people of 2nd-Gear, but Low-Gear stole that right due to Yamata’s lack of trust,” explained Itaru with a bitter smile. “But the Low-Gear researcher who spoke the word to seal Yamata was burned to death by the heat of the flame dragon while sealing it.”

“So the word used to seal Yamata has not been passed down to anyone?”

“Only the Kashima family knows it.”

“Testament. And that is why you are meeting Kashima-sama. Yamata must be controlled when 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core is released.”

Sf looked forward and Itaru followed suit.

An oden stand was set up on the empty street in front of the white-walled building.

“That oden stand is a UCAT disguise, isn’t it? It is the central guard station.”

Currently, a single man sat in the chair behind the stand.

He wore glasses, work clothes, and a lab coat. He looked around thirty, had a slender frame, and was facing the laptop placed on the small counter.

As Sf approached him, she narrowed her eyes. Finally, she spoke.

“Tes. I have checked his child string vibration. He is Kashima Akio of Japanese UCAT’s development department. His is a senior member. He, his parents, and his grandparents all have pure 2nd-Gear blood. However…”

“However?”

“His physique does not befit the title of strongest military god.”

“No, it doesn’t,” said the man behind the counter as he stood up.

Kashima stood with a relaxed posture and smiled toward Itaru and Sf.

He took a few steps toward them.

“I like it when people don’t think of me as a military god.”

Kashima gave a small bow. Sf lowered her head in place of Itaru, but she frowned.

Kashima tilted his head when he noticed.

“Did a sudden thought come to you?”

“Tes. Kashima-sama, why would you like that I did not compliment you?”

“Because I dislike power. …I dislike my own power.”

“That’s all there is to it, Sf, so don’t question it. He’s a member of the development department. Do you want to cause a split among comrades by unnecessarily finding fault in him?”

“I was not aware you had any comrades, Itaru-sama.”

“Oh? It looks like modern automatons naturally reject their master’s personality.”

Kashima suddenly smiled in realization as he listened to the two of them.

“Oh, by any chance are you Supervisor Ooshiro of Team Leviathan? What are you here for?”

“I am here to meet you. Am I interfering with your work? From what I heard, you were on guard duty so you could defeat some persistent attackers while also testing a Cowling Sword.”

“Yes. Oddly enough, the research facilities around here have been attacked a lot lately. And by a mysterious group. My friend Atsuta and I have guard duty here, but I arrived a bit early.”

Kashima raised his right hand. That hand held the laptop which had been sitting on the counter before.

Itaru looked at the opened LCD monitor.

“Were you killing time by researching Cowling Swords as a bearer of the name Kashima?”

“No, I stopped producing them eight years ago. I was passing the time by watching videos I took of my daughter. She’s only four months old, but she’s super cute. Look.”

As the screen displayed a video of a baby, Itaru grabbed Sf’s shoulders and casually pushed her forward.

Sf watched the baby and woman with short hair on the screen.

“I can find no visual match. …Are this woman and child from Low-Gear?”

“She was a classmate during my college years. My wife is Natsu and my daughter is Harumi. Oh, look. Harumi is about to raise her hand. Look, look, look. Ah, she raised it! How cute!”

“Itaru-sama, how should I react to this?”

“Praise him.”

“Tes. Kashima-sama, I have determined Harumi-sama did very well.”

“Thanks, thanks. …Anyway, what do you need with me?”

“Well, Kashima-kun, it’s a simple matter. To put it in a more roundabout way, what do you think of Team Leviathan?”

Kashima gave a troubled smile at that sudden question but answered after a short pause.

“I think it’s amazing,” he said with a shrug. “You have unfair weapons using Concept Cores, you’ve gathered skilled people from all over, and you’ve proven yourselves by getting 1st-Gear to ally with you. I think you’ve done quite well.”

“Then how would you compare us to your own power, Kashima-kun?”

Kashima’s smile vanished, but Itaru continued speaking.

“I hear the Cowling Sword you wielded eight years ago could emit power that rivals Izumo’s V-Sw.”

“That…was destroyed back then,” said Kashima expressionlessly.

Sf must have thought something about this change in Kashima’s attitude because she took action. She swiftly moved in between Itaru and Kashima.

“I apologize. Kashima-sama, your shoulders have tensed-…”

Sf trailed off because Kashima had placed his hand on Sf’s head at some point.

Sf’s expressionless face grew even harder. Kashima sighed and nodded.

He rubbed Sf’s head.

“Sorry. I have no intention of harming your master.”

“Then please stop rubbing my head.” Sf pulled a paper card from her pocket and held it out. “If you wish to do so, take this. If my usefulness earns twenty points, you may rub my head.”

“Thank you. …Anyway, I hope you understand. I sealed my own power in that accident eight years ago. I sealed my power to create swords and to wield them. Why are you here, Supervisor Ooshiro? Don’t tell me you came here to dig up my past.”

“I am happy to tell you that is exactly why I am here. You can be as surprised as you like.” Itaru gave a nod and a bitter smile. He pulled the white envelope from his pocket and held it out. “The next negotiations in the Leviathan Road will be with 2nd-Gear. Tsukuyomi, the development department director, said you would be the representative.”

“…”

“2nd-Gear has already allied with Low-Gear, so what could you want now? And what could the military god who sealed his own power want? I would like for you to show us that.”

Kashima remained perfectly motionless and Itaru bowed his head.

Sf did the same while standing in front of him.

As they bowed, a single voice and the sound of a metal cane rang out into the night.

“For our atonement with the past that the late Sayama wished for, you will take part in the Leviathan Road in search of some answer. That is what we all wish for.”

The area that best absorbed the darkness of the night was not the ocean or the city.

It was the forest.

A certain Tokyo forest existed far to the west of the city center. It was located in the area known as Okutama.

Below the moon in the night sky were trees surrounded by darkness.

Just one spot of that dark forest was not filled with shadows. The moonlight reached that spot.

Rows of white-walled buildings could be seen sitting there.

Those buildings were the Tokyo branch of IAI.

Further back in the valley behind IAI was a single long runway and a white building.

That building was the IAI transportation administration building as well as the headquarters for Japanese UCAT.

The lights were on in that building’s lobby.

White light filled that high-ceilinged lobby and a single painting hung on its wall.

The framed oil painting measured two meters square and it showed the Virgin Mary embracing her crying child. Below the painting, six lines of English lyrics were carved into a metal plate.

They made up the English translation of the hymn Silent Night.

Two people sat in the red carpeted lobby below the painting.

One was a black-haired girl. She sat on a sofa while wearing a black T-shirt and a white denim dress. She was speaking to the old man sitting across from her.

The gray-haired old man wore a lab coat and smiled as the girl gestured and smiled while talking.

The girl raised both hands and her smile grew.

“And Sayama-kun is just so amazing, Ooshiro-san. What took me a month in reflexes training he finished in just a week. There are some things he’s really weird about, but I think he’s mostly an amazing person.”

“That is because Mikoto-kun used to train at a really weird dojo called the Hiba Dojo. Shinjou-kun, he should tell you about it eventually. As well as what happened to him.”

“Yeah,” said Shinjou Sadame as she lowered her hands.

“Where is Mikoto-kun now?” asked Ooshiro to the girl whose cheeks were a bit flushed.

“With starting school this month and working with the student council, he hasn’t finished his training time yet. He said he would work at it until late tonight. …He sure has a lot of energy.”

Her eyebrows lowered slightly and she looked at the painting on the wall.

Her mouth opened slightly and she muttered the first line of the English lyrics.

Shinjou then lowered her gaze once more.

“It seems Sayama-kun’s left arm is almost fully healed. Will Setsu’s role be over soon? He won’t need Setsu to help him out anymore.” Shinjou’s voice grew quieter. “Once Setsu leaves Sayama-kun, my lie will be half gone.”

“Are you really okay with Setsu-kun leaving him?”

Shinjou raised her head, looked at Ooshiro with her black eyes, and formed a smile.

“I think it went well. Normally, I…Setsu and I are not allowed out of UCAT. Getting to go to school and be with someone like him may have been more than enough.” She nodded. “Once the Leviathan Road is over, Sayama-kun will have no more reason to be with me. …Once that happens, will I have to stay goodbye to Sayama-kun as well?”

“Well.” Ooshiro folded his arms. “Shinjou-kun. I have a hypothetical question for you.”

“Hm? What is it, Ooshiro-san?”

“What if Sayama-kun said he wanted to remain with you even after the Leviathan Road?”

Shinjou thought for a moment and blushed.

“Th-that would never happen. Sayama-kun is only with me so he can bring out his serious side and face the Leviathan Road. I can’t conveniently assume it’s anything more. And…”

“And?”

“If I’m always with him, he’ll find out about my lie. Sayama-kun is clever. It’s dangerous enough as it is. …If he found out about my lie, I think he would start avoiding me.”

Shinjou lightly embraced her own body.

She sighed as if to say it was not fair.

“I can only be with Sayama-kun because of my lie. You understand, don’t you, Ooshiro-san? You and the others who know the reason behind my lie take such good care of me.”

After a while, Ooshiro finally nodded. He let out a deep breath and adjusted his position on the sofa.

As he did, the sound of exhaust could be heard outside the lobby and next to the administration building.

Shinjou and Ooshiro looked out the large window and saw the lights of three vehicles leaving and heading toward IAI.

“Come to think of it, you use those trucks disguised as mobile food stands even at night. What are they heading out for?”

“You know the UCAT Tokyo Laboratory in Kanda, right? They research concept space production devices and update the god of war. Lately, there have been some attempts to get at what’s inside there, so we’ve strengthened the security a bit.”

“Security? So was that some special division?”

“No, it was the development division. The 2nd-Gear group said this was a good opportunity to test out a new Cowling Sword. Director Tsukuyomi always helps us so much with our equipment that I can’t say no.”

“I see. 2nd-Gear adapted well to Japanese UCAT and has already been fully naturalized, right? 2nd-Gear was the basis for Japanese culture after all.”

“Yes. They are impossible to tell apart form a normal Japanese person. Some of their older people will occasionally give classes on 2nd-Gear history for the younger ones, but they are otherwise normal citizens of Low-Gear.”

“I see,” said Shinjou again with a nod.

She looked out the large window which showed her reflection a bit. The lights of the vehicles were no longer visible.

She looked at herself in the window.

She was surprised to find the ends of her eyebrows lowered.

Shinjou tilted her head at her own reflection.

“I hope I can adapt to myself.”

In the Kanda district of Tokyo, the stillness of late night surrounded the UCAT Tokyo Laboratory.

This was the time when the city of Tokyo would get some short sleep in the light of the streetlights.

However, a few noises around that white-walled building disturbed that sleep.

There were three noises in all.

The first was the wind rustling through the trees along the road, the second was a high-pitched metallic noise, and the third was a song.

The first was the last traces of the wind signifying the end of spring, the second was the clashing of swords signifying the beginning of a battle, and the third was an out-of-tune male voice.

“Say farewelllll to themmmm! Knock them out with a single punnnnnch!”

As that song filled the air, the wind may have died down, but the sounds of the swords never stopped.

The voice and the noises came from between some buildings located away from the UCAT Tokyo Laboratory.

The song came from a shadow.

This shadow sang as he weaved along the functional street that contained no residences.

A few other shadows charged at the first shadow. They reached him but were blown away.

“As they shed some tearsssss! Say goodbye with three taaaaaps!”

The shadow running on ahead would not fall.

Without lessening his speed, he ran across the road, weaved between the trees, and cut in between buildings.

After a total of seven clashes, seven other shadows collapsed and the chorus came to an end.

Once the shadow finished singing, he ran out from between the buildings and into the street.

He stopped below a streetlight.

The light showed he was a young man wearing the white combat coat of UCAT.

He had short hair dyed blond, slender shoulders, and thin forward-looking eyes.

“I can’t keep this up. I just can’t. I’ve even run out of enka songs. …I need some more fuel.”

As he spoke, he held his right hand up to his shoulder. He wore a black gauntlet to prevent the sword he held from slipping. On the surface of the sword’s white cowling was a black label that said “7STAR”.

He casually held the sword between his right shoulder and neck so he could use both hands to search through his pockets.

As he did, a staticky male voice came from his neck.

“Atsuta. I’m not getting any data from the Cowling Sword. What are you doing?”

The voice came from a small communicator. The young man named Atsuta frowned.

“I was taking a quick nico break.”

“Nico break?”

“It means to smoke, Kashima. Y’know, nicotine and all? I think it sounds more bright and positive than calling it a smoke break.<ref>Nico is Japanese onomatopoeia for smiling.</ref>”

“I’ll ignore most of that, but no smoking on the job. For the sake of your health, chew some of the nicotine gum in the box I gave you. It will make some people very happy. Me, especially.”

“Yeah, you quit smoking after your kid was born. But why are you trying to regulate my health, too? Anyway, come watch my battle and recital. I’m sure you’ll find it moving.”

“Moving, hm? We do say that when something fills us with emotion. The question is which emotion this would fill me with.”

“C’mon, you idiot. This is a hell of a lot more normal than staring at pictures of your wife and kid.”

“Staring? You have it all wrong. I am admiring them.”

“It’s the same thing, you idiot father.”

“Ha ha ha. Thanks for the compliment, Atsuta. More importantly, I have something to discuss with you, so accompany me on the train ride home.”

“What do you want to discuss?”

“The Leviathan Road. Supervisor Ooshiro went out of his way bring me the paperwork himself. It seems Director Tsukuyomi has given me full authority. To be honest, I’m not sure what to do.”

“Yeah, you lost all assertiveness eight years ago.”

Atsuta started ignoring Kashima.

But when he pulled his hands from his pockets, he held a long, narrow package of gum.

That nicotine gum had the UCAT symbol on it. The front had a drawing of a smiling man with his eyes opened wide as he ran down a railroad track. The name of the product was “Thomas the Danger Engine Nicotine Gum”.

“Kashima, quick question. …What is wrong with your taste for coming up with something like this?”

“The sales just keep rising.”

“Are you sure you’re not reading the chart wrong? Is it rising as you go to the left?”

“What are you talking about? Do you hate Thomas the Danger Engine that much? …All the kids love him.”

“Um, kids don’t need to stop smoking. Can’t you make some nicotine gum for adults that’s filled with sex and violence? Something like Female Teacher Excitement Nicotine Gum.”

“Calm down. If I made that, it couldn’t be sold in the normal market.”

“Are you insane, you naïve father? You’re going to sell this gum to the general public?”

“Apparently, it will be sold as an IAI product. The copyright check was strict. Something about the smile needing work.”

Without speaking another word, Atsuta switched off his communicator. He grabbed the sword held between his neck and shoulder and looked up into the sky.

“I need to forget that unpleasant conversation.”

He began chewing the gum.

“Salted salmon flavor. Now I want some rice,” he muttered while slowly glancing around.

At some point, Atsuta had been completely surrounded.

Atsuta stood in the center of the illumination of the streetlight and a few different shadows were standing around him.

There were four in all. They were all men wearing long black clothing.

As Atsuta watched, he realized all four of them had altered a portion of their body.

“Ha ha. You’ve got the armored body modifications from 3rd-Gear. Wouldn’t it be better to attach those toys to an automaton instead? …What Gear are you from?”

The men silently took defensive stances, but Atsuta lowered the white sword in his right hand.

“No. That attitude just won’t do. It just isn’t right. Listen up, you idiots. When I ask you a question, you answer me. Let’s try it again. …Are you part of that rumored Army that takes in people from any Gear?”

The only response he got was silence. Atsuta chewed the gum while a smile appeared in his eyes and on his lips.

“You’re here to steal the god of war being improved in the UCAT Tokyo Laboratory, right? You bring such a large group to sneak in during the night and this is all that’s left to take me on? How boring. You might as well just go ahead and leave.”

In the very next moment, Atsuta took action.

He took a casual step to the right.

It was a quick action.

He moved toward the right hand soldier in black who had mechanized both his arms.

The soldier frantically moved his metal arms into a defensive position.

But he did not make it in time.

Atsuta had already made his way close enough.

Immediately afterward, his Cowling Sword swept by in front of the man’s chest.

That was enough to smash his arms like ice.

“———!”

The soldier in black opened his mouth in a wordless cry and Atsuta pulled a piece of gum from his pocket and shoved it into the man’s mouth.

“It’s popular with children, you defeated beginner.”

Without waiting for the man’s opinion of the flavor, Atsuta kicked his unguarded body.

With his arms gone, the soldier in black collapsed and a metallic noise rang out.

But Atsuta did not even look at him. He turned around and watched the remaining three.

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you. I’d never hear the end of it from Kashima otherwise.”

“Oh?” replied a voice.

It came from the man with two false arms who stood in the center of three standing ten meters away.

“I had heard there was an insane warrior in UCAT. He comes from the sword god family of 2nd-Gear which is the basis for Japanese mythology. His family name is Atsuta and his given name is Yukihito.”

“I’m surprised you know that. You sound like a sensible person.”

“What are you saying? You are the descendant of the gutless Gear that surrendered to UCAT before any other Gear!”

“Shut up. You’re gonna bring up something from sixty years ago that not even my dad was around for? That won’t do. It just isn’t right. …And what do you mean we surrendered, you idiot? Listen,” began Atsuta. “The culture here in Japan with its occasional sexiness and violence is based on 2nd-Gear. Our ancestors didn’t surrender. They compassionately descended before the primitive natives here, you complete idiot.”

His words and tone erased all expression from the three soldiers’ faces.

But one breath later, the man from before spoke again.

“Then we can assume 2nd-Gear will cooperate with the Leviathan Road? The holy sword Totsuka that sealed Yamata is held by UCAT along with the giant humanoid machine Susaou. So will you also…”

“Ally ourselves with UCAT in the Leviathan Road?” asked Atsuta. “I don’t know. We’ve gotten used to this country in the sixty years since the war, but Low-Gear doesn’t know the truth about us.”

“The truth?”

“The word used to control Yamata. The Low-Gear researcher who sealed Yamata died while sealing it, so it wasn’t passed on to Low-Gear. The only person who knows it now is my friend Kashima.”

In that case…

“Low-Gear can’t control Yamata right now.”

Atsuta nodded and looked at the three men.

“Okay, that should be enough. I’ve talked enough for today. I’ll cut you down now.”

As Atsuta watched them, his enemies’ faces stiffened. One was on the right, one was directly in front, and one was to the left.

“Oh, so you can show some nice expressions. As a reward, I’ll show you something neat.”

“What?”

“Just watch. If you can.”

As soon as he said that, Atsuta began walking. He walked toward the man on the right.

He walked casually and without suppressing his footsteps. However, the man did not react. He only waited for the approach as if he could not see Atsuta.

Atsuta moved up to the man.

Finally, the man panicked. He looked left and right as if he could not see Atsuta who stood right in front of him.

“H-hey, where did that idiot get-…?”

His cry was cut off.

Atsuta had cut him down.

“I won’t kill you. Take your time and enjoy this.”

Atsuta stuffed a piece of gum in the man’s mouth and turned around toward the man who had been on the left.

The exact same thing happened.

As soon as Atsuta turned around, the man on the left lost sight of him.

He checked to the left and right and bent down as if he could not see the man standing directly in front of him.

“Wh-where did-…!?”

His question was cut off.

Atsuta had traveled six steps to the left and cut him down.

Once again, Atsuta stuffed a piece of gum in his mouth.

The men on the left and right had both been unable to react until he had already attacked.

All that remained were the two wrappers Atsuta balled up and tossed aside.

“You can tell your kids about it when you get home. It should be going on sale soon.”

With that comment, Atsuta stood before the man who remained in the center. Atsuta’s expression was one of complete boredom.

“Now then. Why do you look so pale, you ape? I haven’t removed any of your blood. Or did you panic because you think I’m a psychotic murderer or something?”

Atsuta held the Cowling Sword in front of the man’s face.

When he saw the white steel point of the sword, he flinched back a bit.

“That technique,” he muttered.

“That was 2nd-Gear’s Art of Walking. You approach while escaping your opponent’s perception and then take their life. There are stories of approaching an enemy to assassinate them in Japanese mythology, right? Anyone well-known in 2nd-Gear can do at least this much.”

“You have that much skill and power yet you still serve them?”

“Shut up, you idiot. …The thing is, this woman who’s important to me is from Low-Gear. It may just be one person, but, well…she’s important to me.”

Atsuta smiled bitterly. With that embarrassed smile, he scratched at his head.

“C-c’mon, you idiot. Don’t make me say such embarrassing things at a time like this.”

With that comment, Atsuta jabbed his knee into the man’s gut.

With a loud sound of impact, the mechanical arms and organic body collapsed and stopped moving.

“Ahh, ahh,” sighed Atsuta. He looked over the four collapsed figures and said, “Make sure to clean up before you leave. And don’t spit your gum out on the road. Got it?”

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume3 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 31

2026-07-26T01:39:16Z

N-Ch:

==Final Chapter: Lineage of Pride==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0437.png|thumb]]
''You remember some words

''For some reason, you cannot forget those words

''Those words have been drilled into you

Spring break was coming to an end.

Sayama stood below the midday sky on the emergency staircase on the second floor of the second year general school building.

Cherry blossoms were blooming everywhere he looked in the schoolyard below.

The flower petals fell and danced about. That told him a gentle wind was blowing.

The cherry blossoms looked like blowing snow.

The roads and gravel paths the petals fell on were being used by students walking back to their dorms.

They wore casual clothes and were excited to see each other once more. They ran about to check on their textbooks for their new classes or to prepare their means of inviting new members to their clubs at the entrance ceremony the next day.

Amid them all, Sayama spotted two familiar faces. Those people discussing something as representatives of the athletic clubs were Izumo and Kazami. They both wore casual clothes. They held a single plastic bag for miscellaneous items.

Kazami noticed Sayama and looked up.

She…

“————”

She only smiled and looked away without saying anything.

Sayama raised his left hand in greeting, but that was it.

And he looked at that raised hand. His left arm had a new bandage wrapped around it. The middle finger had his mother’s ring on it.

A scar was visible on the back of the hand and he felt a phantom pain when clenching the fist.

And merely thinking of the past would squeeze at the left side of his chest.

…''What happened to the people of 1st-Gear after that?

Gram had absorbed the rest of the Concept Core from Fafnir Custom and Sayama had been told it was stored beneath Japanese UCAT. It would next be brought out when all of the concepts were being released.

Currently, the half-dragons and other races that would have difficulty surviving without the concepts were settling in at the 1st-Gear reservation. Various numbers were being calculated out related to its maintenance and expansion. Once the results were in, the actual expansion of the reservation and encouragement toward naturalization would begin.

There had been damages during the battle and the responsible parties would be charged for those crimes, but Hagen had taken most of that onto himself. As long as no major rehabilitation was needed…

“They can make it up by fully cooperating with us.”

Amid all this work, Fasolt was trying to begin producing paper within the reservation. They would not have it shipped in to them. They would create their own records.

Sayama wondered if his son, the half-dragon named Fafner, would eventually follow his father down that path.

Their history and pride was no longer passed down orally. This change of medium would allow it to spread much wider.

The words Sayama had exchanged with that dragon would be passed on in the background of reality.

And Sayama…

“…”

He had decided to always fight seriously from here on.

He thought about the battles to come that would surely be recorded by someone. He thought of his opponents and his comrades.

He looked up into the sky and his thoughts finally turned toward that white mechanical dragon.

…''Did my words reach him?

He suddenly looked down from the sky and behind him.

There was a wall to the side of the emergency exit. The sand of the schoolyard had washed over it and hardened from the wind and rain.

He reached out his left hand and touched it.

Sayama wrote a few words with flowing writing.

He wrote “1st-Gear – Fafnir Custom”

“How sentimental,” he muttered with no smile in his voice.

He removed his finger from the wall, took a step back, and sighed.

Just as he did, footsteps rang from the emergency staircase.

He looked down and saw long hair swaying as someone walked up the stairs.

It was Shinjou Setsu.

Perhaps because of the springtime weather, he wore a white short-sleeve shirt and brown shorts. He held a small box. He looked up and walked next to Sayama with a smile.

“So this is where you were. I was looking for you.”

“What is it? No, what is in that box?”

“Well,” said Shinjou as he placed his elbow on the railing and opened the box.

The box contained two small shortcakes. Shinjou gave a small smile and looked up at Sayama’s eyes from below.

“This is to celebrate me moving in. …Sayama-kun, you seem to have been busy since your wound worsened and then you came back. H-here. I know it’s late, but don’t you think this kind of thing is important?”

''A celebration, hm?'' thought Sayama. ''Come to think of it, perhaps we should celebrate 1st-Gear joining with UCAT.

Yes.

There were things yet to be dealt with and imprudent comments would likely be made.

But it was spring around them. The wheat in the field of 1st-Gear’s reservation would be growing nicely and the flowers would be blooming brightly. Spring was an excellent season for celebrations.

After thinking through all that, Sayama smiled bitterly. He thought it was about time he got back to his life.

He looked Shinjou in the eye. He observed those black eyes. And…

“Yes. Later, I will give you some celebratory items as well. Like a video game system.”

A smile appeared on Shinjou’s cheeks and he gave a pleased sigh.

“Let’s get back to our room. That left arm makes things difficult, right? I can feed the cake to you.”

“I just keep relying on you, don’t I?”

“Eh? Don’t worry about it. That’s what I came here for.”

“Fine then,” agreed Sayama.

He followed Shinjou down the stairs and passed by a group of footsteps heading up.

Those footsteps belonged to the members of the art club.

A group of about twenty in casual clothes was going up to the roof.

They were likely going to sketch the scenery from there. They held drinks and snacks sold only at the school cafeteria as well as sketchbooks and boxes for art supplies.

With slow footsteps, their speaking and laughing voices continued upward.

Sayama saw a certain girl at the tail end of the group.

It was Brunhild.

She was wearing her uniform and she stopped with an expressionless look when she lined up with Sayama.

She had a small bird on her shoulder and a black cat at her feet. She held a sketchbook and art supply box in her right hand. She held a small box with food for the bird in her left hand.

The others went on ahead, leaving only Sayama and Brunhild behind.

She realized Sayama was looking at the sketchbook and she averted her gaze somewhat.

“I thought I would try drawing Low-Gear’s scenery starting today. …I finished the oil painting I was working on before.”

“Yes, I saw it. It is hanging in a hallway of the faculty building, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” confirmed Brunhild and the bird tilted its head on her shoulder.

Silence followed.

After a few seconds, Brunhild opened her mouth while still looking away.

She tried to say something.

But some footsteps returned to the landing as if to stop her. They belonged to a girl in casual clothes.

“President, we’re going on ahead.”

Brunhild jumped in surprise, raised her head, and looked behind her.

“Okay,” she said with a nod before turning her back to Sayama.

But then she stopped moving.

Her pause was due to some music.

Organ music could be heard in the springtime air. Sayama and Brunhild recognized the song.

It was Silent Night.

“What…?” muttered Brunhild and the girl on the landing smiled.

“President, have you never heard this? It’s because you always close yourself up in the art room. Whenever he has a break, old man Siegfried from the Kinugasa Library plays that song. Apparently, he started two years ago.”

Sayama saw Brunhild’s back tremble.

But that was all.

She continued up the stairs.

“…”

She silently climbed the stairs. With the black cat and small bird with her, she walked up next to the girl who had called to her.

She turned around at the landing and Sayama continued watching her until she disappeared around the next flight of stairs.

He then made his way down the stairs without speaking.

Shinjou was waiting for him at the first floor entrance down below.

“What took you so long?” asked Shinjou when he saw him, but he was smiling.

However, as Sayama walked up next to him, Shinjou got a look at his face. The smile disappeared and he tilted his head.

“Sayama-kun?”

“What is it?” asked Sayama while continuing to walk.

“Well,” said Shinjou while following him. “Did something sad happen?”

“Your sister probably knows. …I am sure she will tell you one day.”

Saying nothing more, Sayama wrapped his arm around the shoulder of the person walking next to him.

“Ah…” said Shinjou, but he did not resist.

Sayama took a breath and drew Shinjou in closer.

He could feel the warmth and softness of Shinjou’s body, but having Shinjou entrust his body to him like that gave Sayama a certain thought.

…''This is a most welcome thing.

Sayama looked up at the sky as he walked. Cherry blossoms scattered like snow through the blue sky.

“School begins again tomorrow.”

[[Image:OnC_v02_0446-0447.png|thumb]]

Shinjou nodded in his arm and he felt a small squeezing in his chest.

While thinking on those two things, Sayama looked even further up into the sky.

Had he managed to do something?

<noinclude>
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 30

2026-07-25T04:30:20Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 30: Inheritance of the Dragon’s Will==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0425.png|thumb]]
''Words are a voice

''A voice rings out

''It asks to drive the response in here

When Fafner left the forest which had become a clearing and entered the grassy field, he saw the white mechanical dragon and a boy and girl fighting as if dancing.

Those steel footsteps tore at the earth’s crust and that giant body whipped up the wind. Sounds of metal clashing rang out. As those figures moved in the moonlight, Fafner’s 1st-Gear comrades and the UCAT members watched on from a distance.

Everyone was standing petrified without speaking a word.

Fafner trembled at the pain in his back, but continued walking forward through the active wind and opened his mouth.

“Why!” He stared directly at the white mechanical dragon. “Lord Hagen! You been avoiding battle, so why?”

Intense pain ran through his back. Fafner fell to his knees as it felt like his spine was being squeezed.

And a figure stood up next to him.

He looked up to find a familiar face.

It was a black half-dragon just like him. This figure also had no wings on his back.

“Father…”

“It looks I made it in time. My son Fafner, look at Lord Hagen.”

Fafner did so.

He watched that white dragon run at high speed, twist his body around, blast dirt into the air, and roar.

A low voice spoke from above his head as he kneeled down.

“That is what you wanted, Fafner. That is what you have been waiting for.”

Hagen’s heart moved within Fafnir Custom.

The deviation from before had disappeared. He knew why: He was beginning to disappear.

With the excess gone, he had been sharpened to the extreme.

He felt the wind on his skin and smelled the scent of the grass.

He felt the dirt between his toes and his claws throwing small stones as he moved.

All of his body’s movements were perfectly synced with the machine.

The adjustments from before had paid off. His will fit perfectly into the machine and there was no waste.

He moved.

He extended his claws and pursued the boy. He expanded his armor panels and defended against the girl’s attacks.

The boy targeted his neck. The two reactors were located there. He likely wanted the Concept Core in the weaponry reactor in front, but the only way to do that was to take his life.

On the other hand, the girl targeted his vision devices, legs, and joints. However, these attacks were not on the level of the earlier one that had intercepted a blast from his main cannon.

''I see,'' thought Hagen. ''So you still do not fully know your role in this battle. But you can only find that answer from there, girl.

Hagen laughed.

“Ha.”

The voice escaped. It had been a long, long time since he laughed like that. He did not think he had ever used his full voice since taking on this body. He had not felt this happy in a long, long time. He was fighting so that everyone could laugh once this was over.

He wanted to win.

As he looked around in amusement, he saw everyone there. They had all come with him.

And now he was fighting where they could not follow. This was something he had to do. Only someone close to the royal family who had been given the greatest attack power in 1st-Gear could do this.

Hagen remembered.

King Wotan had been timid but kind. Hagen’s younger brother Regin had been quick to lecture people but had done it for their sake. Hagen had loved how Princess Gutrune was dauntless yet often suffered for it. And that world had existed alongside all of them.

He may have lost everything, but he knew all of that was true.

“!”

Hagen took in his full range of vision.

He saw the field, the forest, the mountains, the sky, the clouds, and the moon in the center of the heavens.

…''Yes.

Once this battle ended, he would have to leave this space.

…''It has been so long.

Before him were enemies who could choose to be wrong in the right way and right in a mistaken way.

This enemy moved. The boy held up the large sword and leaped to Hagen’s left. The girl fired a scythe of light toward Hagen’s right leg.

It struck. The ground below his right leg crumbled and his posture was thrown off.

His body tilted to the right and the left of his throat and his left side were exposed to his enemy.

The boy came in to take advantage of this opening, but that was a mistake. Fafnir Custom had a cannon installed within. This cannon had shot through the swordsman girl named Mikoku when the information broker Hajji had brought her to that abandoned schoolyard.

Hagen expanded that cannon, wondering if he could win with this.

He fired.

He did not target his enemy; he targeted the holy sword Gram the enemy held.

“!”

He fired three times at close range.

The shockwaves produced a white umbrella of steam and the splitting of the air blew the boy away. He ended up directly in front of Fafnir Custom. That position allowed Hagen to politely let loose his maximum firepower.

Fafnir Custom’s vision devices checked on the results of his attack. The holy sword Gram in his enemy’s hand had lost its light. The metal plate that words should have appeared on was silent. Gram’s voice rang out.

“Four seconds until recovery! Throw me away and run!”

…''That long? I only need one second.

Hagen operated Fafnir Custom. He opened his mouth and braced himself with his four legs.

His enemy had almost let go of Gram during the impact and he turned toward the girl behind him.

''This is the end,'' thought Hagen.

With enjoyment in his heart, he fired his main cannon with a single thought.

…''I want to win.

Sayama gathered strength in his body which was trembling from the earlier impact. He could feel the earth below his feet, so his left arm came next.

Gram was there. The two meter sword was currently silent.

''But,'' thought Sayama. ''I must finish this using this weapon. That is only polite.

“…!”

He gathered strength in his trembling left arm.

Immediately afterward, he felt intense pain. Blood flowed from the bandage on that arm as if bursting out. He could distinctly feel his muscles and tendons.

But he did not care. Pain was real. The pain throbbing throughout his body showed him his body existed.

His senses had returned.

His sense of touch, hearing, and vision returned and he focused on what lay before his eyes. Fafnir Custom had opened his mouth.

Light could be seen in the muzzle visible deep in his throat.

There was no way Sayama could avoid this.

And so Sayama did not choose what to do. He simply desired victory.

Just as he tried to move forward, someone nestled up next to him as if propping him up.

It was Shinjou.

“Leave the things you can’t do to me,” she said.

And as she spoke, she moved her hand. In an instant, she took the blood flowing from his left arm onto her fingers and wrote something on Gram’s metal plate.

She wrote “holy sword”.

At the same time, the main cannon fired. Sayama swung the holy sword Gram toward that light that had actual mass.

“…!”

He used all of his strength. That which he desired was here.

He smiled. He smiled from the bottom of his heart. And as he did, his left arm felt a light impact.

“!?”

Sayama looked down at Georgius on his left hand. The plus sign medallion on its black surface was emitting a white light.

As if in response, Gram let out a roar. Green light ran across the blade’s surface.

“What is that gauntlet!?” asked Gram.

“I do not know! But it is the power I have inherited!!”

Sayama swung down the holy sword Gram.

The metal blade sliced apart the dragon’s attack. He heard the surging sound of light being sliced and scattered. And at the front, Sayama forcibly twisted the sword upward, moved it around behind him, and moved further forward.

The distance grew to almost nothing in an instant.

He charged toward Fafnir Custom’s throat.

He swung a diagonal strike similar to a horizontal swing. It was a single blow.

Gram was wrapped in light. At the peak of its arc, it would sever the weaponry reactor in the throat. At the end of its arc, it would target the operation reactor at the base of the neck. That was Sayama’s style of fighting. He would completely neutralize his enemy.

But a strike came from behind to stop him.

It was an attack of light.

Just as Gram arrived at Fafnir Custom’s throat and he felt it break the metal of the armor and the outer core of the weaponry reactor, a thin beam of light came from behind and passed right by him.

That beam pierced and blew away Fafnir Custom’s front right leg.

With a clear noise, Fafnir Custom crumbled to the ground. It looked like he was lying down or bowing down.

The dragon’s movement sealed off Gram’s trajectory. As he fell to the ground, the components within his neck distorted and bit into Gram.

The holy sword’s cutting action was hindered by the mechanical parts that pressed together like praying hands.

Sayama perceived this resistance in the form of a metallic noise, but he continued swinging Gram.

“————”

He swung his arm, continued forward, and made his way out on the other side of Fafnir Custom’s throat.

He looked at his hand. The bloody Georgius on his left hand was not holding anything.

He understood.

He had robbed the mechanical dragon of its power, but the dragon’s throat had stolen the holy sword Gram from his hand.

And that resolution was the conclusion.

Sayama looked behind him.

In the moonlight, Fafnir Custom was getting back to his feet.

However, with his front right leg gone, he could no longer move enough for combat.

Fafnir Custom slowly looked up into the sky and bent his body upward.

The stolen sword was indeed sticking out of his throat.

The white of his armor and the black of the sword created a silhouette in the moonlight and cast a shadow.

In the darkness he himself created, the mechanical dragon looked up at the moon with his red eyes.

Fafnir Custom’s mouth opened. His throat had been pierced, but he opened his fang-filled maw as if to devour the moon.

It was not a bestial cry that escaped through those metal fangs. Instead, he called for someone.

“Boy.” That quiet voice continued to ask the question in the dragon’s heart. “Was 1st-Gear a formidable enemy?”

Sayama regulated his breathing and clenched his lowered left fist. He squeezed his own blood and opened his mouth.

“Is there any other kind?”

As he answered, Sayama watched the silhouette of the dragon in the moonlight.

He waited for the dragon’s reply.

However, he received no response.

He heard a song carried by the wind. A 1st-Gear girl sang the song. One line reached his ears.

“Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh.”

Suddenly, Shinjou approached from his left side. She trod softly on the grass and said “Hey.”

Sayama could tell her voice was trembling. The hand she wrapped around his left arm was trembling as well. And so he wrapped his arm around her waist to check on her.

He embraced Shinjou’s slender body and drew her in closer, but he kept his eyes raised. He continued watching the silhouette of the mechanical dragon in the moon.

There was no longer any light in the mechanical dragon’s eyes.

Two girls sighed while atop tree branches in the forest.

The short one, Shino, sang the song she heard coming from the field.

The one sitting on the higher branch, Mikoku, smiled bitterly.

“And with that, the Leviathan Road has begun.”

She jumped down. She easily landed after the four meter drop. She waited for Shino to finish singing and then held her arm upward. Shino did not hesitate to jump down into Mikoku’s chest.

“You have gotten heavier,” said Mikoku as Shino glanced at her from the side and moved away.

Shino tilted her head slightly and then looked behind her.

“Shall we leave now, Tatsumi-san?”

In response, a woman appeared from the darkness of the forest.

She was tall. Mikoku was tall as well, but this woman was even taller. Her long hair swayed as it flowed backward and she wore a brown sweater and a long white tight skirt. On her feet were…

“I am not sure you should be wearing sandals, Tatsumi.”

“I managed to get this close without being noticed, didn’t I?”

The woman named Tatsumi looked at the two girls with drooping eyes and a smile with no hint of sarcasm.

“So how was it?”

“Not bad. Shinjou can act now and Izumo and his partner should be useful enough. Sayama…Sayama Mikoto obtained Georgius.”

As Mikoku spoke, she turned her back on the field. The speed with which she turned caused Shino’s shoulders to jump a bit, but Tatsumi took Shino’s hand to stop her from trembling.

“Let’s go home. This concept space is growing thin. Everything will arrive at its conclusion and this place will return to normal. But Mikoku, how was Georgius? Even we have almost no information on that concept weapon.”

“I do not know. I saw a bit of a strange power, but…”

“But?”

“Georgius is the Latin name of St. George who slayed a dragon. But that was thought to be a fictional story, so his sainthood was revoked in the fifteenth century.” Mikoku gave a bitter smile and spoke as she walked through the darkness of the forest. “A false saint. That is an appropriate name for a concept weapon of Low-Gear.”

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Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 29

2026-07-24T03:45:48Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 29: The Dragon’s Contract==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0399.png|thumb]]
''Move

''To ask

''Is to oppose those who will not give an answer

Izumo crossed swords with Fafner in the forest.

“Honestly, why do I have to waste my time fighting you?”

He swung his large light-emitting sword toward Fafner.

Just before the blade of light struck, the black half-dragon dissolved into the shadows of the trees and disappeared.

Immediately afterward, Izumo felt a disturbance in the air behind him and he leaped.

He leaped forward.

With a single footstep in the grass, he jumped about four meters forward. The instant his foot landed, he sent a strike toward the shadow behind him as if turning around.

Before the sword arrived, the giant black form disappeared into the shadows once more.

“Damn,” muttered Izumo.

He ran, hoping to find somewhere without shadows, but he was in the forest. No matter where he went, there were shadows at arm’s length.

To the right, he heard someone treading on a stone.

“!”

Izumo swung V-Sw to the right.

At the same moment, writing appeared on V-Sw’s console.

“Wrong.”

Izumo looked and saw nothing to the right.

Then what had that footstep been?

V-Sw sliced through empty air and the light leaking from its blade illuminated the area. That bluish-white light showed a fist-sized stone on the ground.

Fafner had rolled it here. He had most likely done it as a decoy just before sinking into the shadows.

Izumo clenched his teeth.

He had already attacked and missed. It was now his opponent’s turn.

He had to evade. Right, left, front, and back. Izumo had several options and he chose one:

Down.

He threw himself to the ground as if letting V-Sw’s swing pull him down.

The instant his jaw struck the grassy ground, a mass of high pressure swept by overhead. It was Fafner’s Cowling Sword.

That spherical power struck the trees to the left and they exploded. A total of twelve trees were destroyed all at once. A pit was created in the forest and the fibrous sound of the trees snapping rang out.

Izumo got up.

However, a kick struck his gut. The blow had skimmed the ground and shot up at the last second.

By the time he felt the pain, his body was already flying through the air.

“…!”

As he flew to the side, Izumo stuck a foot against the ground and gained control. He took two long strides and stopped his momentum by pressing his back against a thick tree.

Before he could catch his breath, he heard a roaring of air behind him.

“Oh!” he cried as he jumped to the left.

He turned around and saw Fafner swinging his Cowling Sword horizontally from the shadows behind the tree trunk Izumo had been leaning up against. The shimmering surrounding the sword sliced through the trunk at Izumo’s waist level and blasted the air upward.

The tree fell.

Scattered leaves flew about below the moonlight with a sound like a receding wave.

As the leaves fell like snow, Izumo moved back. He faced Fafner.

They were four paces apart. Izumo would need to take a step before his attack would reach. Also, the bottom half of the sliced trunk remained between them. It was an obstacle for Izumo, but it meant nothing to the half-dragon who could travel through shadows.

Izumo let out a breath and Fafner lowered the tip of his Cowling Sword.

“Are you giving up, descendant of 10th-Gear and Low-Gear?”

“Oh? I’m surprised you know that.”

“Knowing one’s enemy is only natural. …But why do you fight for Low-Gear? From what I have heard, you should be fighting for 10th-Gear.”

“Why would you think that? Tell me what it is you’ve heard.”

Fafner paused for a beat before answering.

“Supposedly, your defensive divine protection was given to you when your mother died. It is your divine protection as a descendant of the gods of 10th-Gear.”

“You’re well informed. But I think there’s one thing you don’t know.”

“What?”

“You don’t know why people are given that divine protection.” He smiled bitterly. “Divine protection is not passed down with the bloodline or anything. …It’s meant to let you leave that family.”

As he spoke, Izumo pointed the tip of V-Sw toward Fafner. With a smile on his lips, he looked toward the destroyed trees in the surrounding area.

“I will swing this Cowling Sword once. …And then I will win.”

Fafner took a defensive stance.

And at the same time, a voice rang out. That distant voice came from the grassy plain beyond the forest.

As that voice filled the wind, traveled a great distance, and soared through the sky, they heard it.

Izumo knew who it belonged to.

It was Sayama.

Sayama’s voice sounded strongly throughout the concept space which had become a battlefield.

“Everyone!”

He began by addressing the people there. And Izumo heard his words continue.

Sayama spoke the words only he could.

“Let me say it here. …The surname Sayama indicates a villain!”

Boldman and the other members of UCAT who had begun a firefight within the forest heard a voice cutting through the trees. Sayama’s voice also came from the communicators on their necks.

“After sixty years, the true negotiations will take place here.”

As she wrote healing charms in the shadow of a tree, Ooki raised her head to listen.

“Listen, everyone! Prepare yourself for battle! Fill your magazines and blades with questions of condemnation and fill your armor with voices of protest. Expressing your thoughts with those is how we will negotiate tonight. …Listen up, everyone!”

As she performed maintenance on an overheated rifle, Sibyl listened to the sound coming from her communicator.

“Ahead, ahead, go ahead! These people are trying to return to the past! Grab them by the collar and drag them here!”

As she flew just under the upper wall of the concept space, Kazami heard a voice rising up toward her.

“I, Sayama Mikoto, use my authority as the representative of Team Leviathan to make this announcement. The Leviathan Road begins here. We will not give in to any power. We are right and we are wrong. And…we will see this through to the very end!” He took a breath. “This is my first order: All members are to bring them here even if you have to knock them out to do so. Bring them to a world where these words will get through to them. Kick those reclusive writers out of the darkness where they are bound by writing!”

Kazami looked down at the winged soldiers moving toward her.

Standing on the grassy plain were a white mechanical dragon surrounded by shimmering heat and a boy and girl wearing white armored uniforms.

The boy held up a sword, took a breath, and asked a question.

“Where is your answer?”

Kazami opened her mouth.

She gave a single answer.

The ends of her eyebrows rose and she smiled.

“Testament!”

As Sayama faced Fafnir Custom on that grassy field, he heard the responses to his will.

Testament.

In the forest, in the wind, and in the sky, dozens of voices replied with that holy word.

Tes. Tes. Tes. We bind a contract here.

As those numerous contracts washed over him, Sayama walked forward.

He stared at the white mechanical dragon before him, sped up his pace, and accelerated. The girl lined up next to him.

They ran forward.

Fafnir Custom also ran.

The color white approached. The ground rumbled and a great roar was heard. And with that before him, Sayama turned to Shinjou. She nodded with a powerful expression while holding her Cowling Staff in hand. She was saying, “Let’s go.”

In lieu of saying Testament, Sayama nodded back. He looked at Gram in his left hand. A green light ran through the metal plate added to the surface of the blade. Writing appeared there.

He could not read that writing, but he understood what it meant. It said power.

Sayama poured his true strength into his left arm. He felt pain, but that proved this was real. Sayama swung up Gram, placed his right hand on the hilt, and swung it down.

The mechanical dragon had already arrived close enough.

It struck.

With a sound like shattering glass, a white armor plate flew into the night sky.

The mechanical dragon’s body slid to the side and the air moved.

The battle truly began.

As Izumo listened to the distant sounds of battle, he muttered as if to himself.

“V-Sw, don’t go to your third form. Let’s go like this.”

“Are you ready to go?”

“Of course,” replied Izumo as he held V-Sw up at stomach height.

He held the blade horizontally and leaned forward. The light from V-Sw’s rear thruster grew stronger.

But Fafner did not move from his position directly in front of Izumo. He lowered his hips a bit, but did not take a defensive stance.

“What is it, half-dragon?”

“So you plan to use the acceleration of that sword’s thruster to attack before I can pass through the shadows?”

Izumo frowned.

Fafner filled the silence with his voice.

“I am a fighter, too. You announced your attack just now, so I will announce mine as well. I will avoid your initial strike and take your head from behind.” Fafner nodded. “The victory you predicted will not come.”

“Is that so?”

Izumo prepared himself by lowering his hips and taking a breath.

And then he moved.

“!”

[[Image:OnC_v02_0409.png|thumb]]

It was just a single strike.

Izumo threw his body forward and swung V-Sw horizontally. He swung it toward Fafner.

There was an explosion.

White light shot from the back of the blade. It accelerated at the same moment.

The afterimage of the light drew a giant arc and the sword picked up more speed.

It moved at high speed, swept up the wind, sliced through the air, and flew as the light grew even stronger.

“Go!”

That low horizontal strike was meant to reach Fafner even in the final moments of trying to escape below.

As it approached, Fafner sank down.

Izumo was impressed.

…''This idiot really intends to do this seriously.

He twisted his body while giving a small whistle. The follow-through motion of his body accelerated further and Izumo pressed the trigger on the grip.

An additional light was produced. And this time it came from the blade side. This white light far surpassed the quantity and quality of the accelerating light coming from the back of the blade. This light blasted forward.

This was a giant blade of light. The giant sword extended more than ten meters.

The acceleration from the back of V-Sw’s second form was not meant to drive the blade into an opponent. It was meant to counteract the recoil of this strike. Nevertheless, all the strength in Izumo’s body was necessary to swing the blade now.

Izumo twisted his entire body and shouted while swinging the sword forward.

“Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!”

But in the forest which could be clearly seen in black and white due to V-Sw’s blade, he saw Fafner’s wings swing up and then down.

He heard a roar.

The half-dragon accelerated downward into the shadow of the torn tree trunk.

In that instant, V-Sw’s blade of light sliced through Fafner.

However, it was too late. Only a portion of the half-dragon was sliced off: his wings.

Those black wings were severed at the base and flew through the air. His body of shadow disappeared down below.

He had escaped into the darkness.

“…!”

Izumo continued swinging V-Sw as if trying to slice through the air.

Fafner felt pain stabbing into his back, but he knew he had won.

He quickly ascended in the darkness. It felt similar to swimming.

He could not see outside from the darkness. Inside, there was nothing but darkness. To leave was to give his body physical form once more.

But he had a certain level of freedom such as in the distance he traveled.

Fafner recalled the promise he had made. He had promised to appear behind his enemy.

That enemy would be swinging his large Cowling Sword and working to control his stance.

After swinging that heavy weapon, he could not immediately stop it.

Fafner had won. This boy born between 10th-Gear and Low-Gear had brought 6th-Gear under Low-Gear’s control two years prior and he held that Gear’s Concept Core. Fafner felt the loss of his wings was a small price to pay for defeating a foe such as that.

Fafner ascended. He was targeting that enemy’s back. He would appear from the shadows of the trees. This forest was puny compared to 1st-Gear’s forests, but it would serve as a stage to defeat this enemy.

He exited.

Fafner jumped from the shadow and to the surface.

He heard silence. While surrounded by the remains of the shadow, he rose into the air and looked forward.

And he found nothing at all.

The forest had disappeared. The forest that created his precious darkness was gone.

Fafner gasped.

“!?”

The forest was gone. The back of his enemy was not before his eyes.

''This isn’t right,'' thought Fafner as the moonlight washed over his back. ''What happened?

He looked around and saw what was so wrong. That area had definitely been a forest.

However, all of the trees within ten meters had been felled at the height of Fafner’s waist. The cut was sharp, but the trees above the cut had been blown into the distance where they had struck the surrounding trees.

The area was now a clearing.

And Fafner saw something in one corner of the clearing.

A giant Cowling Sword lay on the ground. This was the enemy’s sword which was labeled V-Sw on the side. It had lost all light and the cowling had closed. At the base of the sword, words appeared on a console.

“This is fun.”

Once he read those words of enjoyment, Fafner realized something.

He realized that he had his back to the moonlight.

He looked at his feet. There was a shadow there.

In the middle of that supposedly empty clearing was someone’s shadow. The moonlight to his back had created that shadow.

Who was casting that shadow?

It would be the person who had swung the Cowling Sword and cut down all the surrounding trees Fafner could use to escape.

It would be the person who had cast aside the Cowling Sword he could not stop in time and who had turned his back to the moon.

Fafner heard a voice from behind him.

“Turn around.”

Fafner gnashed his teeth and…

“Oh…!!”

He spun his body with his Cowling Sword in hand. He attacked behind him at high speed while ignoring the pain in his back.

A single young man stood there.

Before Fafner’s sword could reach him, his right fist slammed into the half-dragon. The blow struck the tip of his angular jaw. That was the best place to send vibrations through to rattle his brain.

Before he could speak, breathe, or even feel the impact, everything turned black.

Brunhild heard the sound of different attacks.

From nearby, she heard repeated noises of metal clashing.

From far away, she heard continuing gunfire and clashing swords.

It had all started and accelerated with Sayama’s words.

…''The current situation is…

She did not know. She had her hands full pursuing her opponent.

Siegfried would occasionally attack. He targeted the ground at her feet and trees along her path to slow her down or stall her.

''How cowardly,'' thought Brunhild. ''Why won’t he fight me seriously?

She felt as if he were evading her questions.

…''He is trying to buy time until the other battles are over.

From the point of view of the Leviathan Road, they could ignore their connection and treat this as just one of many battles. Whichever side won, all of the battles would need to be stopped.

Brunhild clenched her teeth and wondered if he could not tell how seriously she was taking this.

“Is this also part of your atonement?”

He did not want to hurt her.

Brunhild looked forward as she ran.

Approximately ten meters ahead of her, the forest came to an end and a grassy field opened up.

She decided to end this there.

She stopped attacking and began her preparations.

She gathered strength in the hand holding Requiem Sense.

As she ran between the trees and created loud footsteps, Brunhild rested the scythe on her shoulder.

She pointed the tip of the blade toward the sky. And she made up her mind. She was only ten meters and a few paces away from the field. She used that distance, speed, and hesitation to open the entire underworld.

She ran through the forest and passed by Siegfried.

She made it ahead of him for the first time. As Siegfried looked outside the forest, he shouted something at her.

But she could not hear it.

Brunhild hung her head down and charged out into the field.

“————”

The moonlight felt bright.

She trod on the grass and heard a damp footstep. But what she heard even more clearly was the sound of Requiem Sense slicing through the wind by her ear.

Brunhild took action. As if bending her body over, she swung the blade forward and down from her shoulder.

“Open, gate of the abyss! Open wide here where one can look up into the heavens!” she shouted while the blade stabbed down into the ground.

At the same moment, light appeared behind her shoulders and above his head. The light took the form of a rift.

As she followed a portion of the light with her eyes, Brunhild continued to speak.

“Come forth, wielder of the scythe!!”

By the time she turned around, it had already appeared.

A grim reaper about a dozen meters tall was wrapped in a cloak of bluish-white light and wore an undecorated mask. It was impossible to tell if the face behind that blank mask belonged to a man or a woman or if they were elderly or young. Death was impartial to all.

This was the crystallization of the power contained within 1st-Gear’s underworld. This grim reaper of enmity held a giant scythe in its hands and swung it down.

The blade flew toward Siegfried.

As he ran out of the forest, he prepared to receive the blade as if being struck by a counter. This attack had much more mass than the previous ones. He could not receive it so easily.

And so Brunhild assumed Siegfried had to be surprised.

But what she actually saw was different.

Siegfried’s eyebrows rose and he shouted toward her.

“Nein!”

Brunhild raised her head at his scolding tone and looked up.

And she realized something: She was not being lit by the moonlight.

“…!”

She turned around and found a giant mass of white.

It was Fafnir Custom.

As the mechanical dragon fought, he had ended up moving toward her.

The auxiliary vision devices installed on his body noticed her and glowed red.

A roar rang out so loud it sounded like the earth’s crust being smashed.

At the same time, the mechanical dragon’s entire body worked to brake.

But the impact traveling through the ground and the wind blowing through the air both assaulted Brunhild. Her footing grew unsteady, her body was scooped up, and she flew through the air. She was thrown toward the forest and toward Siegfried.

Just as she realized she had been blown through the air, she noticed the grim reaper floating in the night sky.

The blade it swung down was going to strike her as she flew by.

It came. That almost ten meter blade swung down to cut through everything in its path. She would be sliced in two.

“!”

Just as she thought she would die, someone suddenly grabbed her waist from the side.

…''Eh?

Before she could wonder what had happened, her vision rotated around. Her body was flung to the side with great strength.

She flew through the air.

And then her right shoulder struck the grass.

She felt pain and was confused as to what had happened, but she asked another question first.

“Why!?”

Brunhild placed her arms in the grass and got up.

She forcefully raised her head and looked forward. A tall figure wearing black stood in the path of the grim reaper’s rotating scythe.

It was Siegfried.

He stood facing the hand that had swung down toward him.

And she saw his face.

A clear smile could be seen in his sharp eyes and the connected corners of his mouth.

The tip of the scythe reached his left hand.

Brunhild watched the point of the attack she had sent and watched his smile. She opened her mouth but the word “why” would no longer come. The word that came directly from her heart was…

“No!” she cried. “No!!!”

And as she shouted, Brunhild saw it.

She saw the answer to her words.

After exchanging attacks with Fafnir Custom, Shinjou saw it.

Just before the grim reaper’s scythe brought death to Siegfried, it stopped in midair.

“…Ah.”

That tall man in black stood in the field. The giant bluish-white blade had stopped one meter to his right. It had been stopped by a woman standing between him and the blade.

That woman was tall enough to reach Siegfried’s shoulders.

She had her back to Shinjou and she was the same slightly transparent bluish-white as the grim reaper.

This woman had come from the underworld. Shinjou knew her name.

The giant dragon facing her spoke that name quietly.

“…Princess Gutrune.”

She turned toward them. She let go of the blade and turned her entire body toward them.

The grim reaper and its blade disappeared above her head. After seeing that, Gutrune looked toward them. Below her soft-looking hair, her eyes bent and a smile appeared on her lips.

With that soft smile, a royal of a ruined world quietly looked at them all.

She looked at the soldiers in the forest, the winged races in the sky, and the white mechanical dragon in the field.

After looking around at all of them, she made an action as a member of the royal family.

She gave a quiet bow.

Shinjou could only stand there dumbfounded, but she heard a single voice. It came from the man in black standing next to Gutrune. That old man lowered his arms, clenched his fists, and trembled as he spoke.

“Why…?” He took a breath. “Why did you save me again!?”

Gutrune did not turn toward him. She merely lowered the ends of her eyebrows and nodded while still smiling.

And then it ended.

The princess’s body scattered into bits of light and dissolved into the scythe blade stabbing into the ground.

No one moved.

The wind washed over the field and the shadows of the grass shook in the moonlight.

But a single quiet and high-pitched noise could be heard.

It was the chirping of a bird.

Brunhild looked over. She looked over at Siegfried’s pocket as he hung his head down.

A small bird’s head poked out.

“————”

The bird looked up at the moonlight and tilted its head.

It chirped quietly, moved from the pocket, and stood up on Siegfried’s collar.

And it looked at her. It spread its wings, flapped them, and flew toward her.

It was an unskilled flight that was more a glide than anything and it only lasted a few meters.

However, the bird arrived at her shoulder almost instantly and landed on the black cloth there. It hopped up, changed direction, and peered at her wide-open eyes below the three-cornered hat.

“Ah…”

A small voice escaped Brunhild’s mouth and a small black shadow stood before her.

It was the black cat.

His yellow eyes looked up at her face and the small bird on her shoulder. Finally, he opened his mouth.

“Brunhild… What do you want right now?”

Brunhild was unable to answer.

She hung her head down, placed her hands on her face, opened her mouth wide, and let out a voice.

She cried out with a loud, loud voice.

She cried and continued to cry.

Hagen nodded within Fafnir Custom.

He did not know the truth of 1st-Gear’s destruction.

But Gutrune had bowed when she appeared via Requiem Sense.

That was all that mattered.

He was surrounded only by the sound of wind. Everyone had stopped moving.

''Is it over?'' wondered Hagen.

The discomfort within him had grown stronger and more distinct.

Was it going to end here?

''No,'' denied Hagen within Fafnir Custom.

Like this, it would all return to how it was.

…''I cannot let this have such an uncertain ending.

There was something he needed to gain. This was something he could only gain by facing his enemy and settling this.

This was something they had lost when 1st-Gear was destroyed and that they had been unable to pass on to Fafner and the others.

Without that, it would all end up the same as before.

But this battlefield was done for and his body was reaching its end.

Was it hopeless?

Hagen lowered his primary vision devices slightly and looked forward.

A single boy stood there. The holy sword Gram hung down from his left hand. He was the one in charge of the Leviathan Road.

He looked up at Hagen.

His eyebrows were raised and his lips were held closed. He held Gram tightly and would not let go. His feet were spread wider than his shoulders, his hips were lowered, and he waited. He waited for Hagen to act.

He was waiting.

“…”

Hagen definitely saw him and he asked a question to the boy.

“A conclusion reached through emotions can be overturned when one forgets one’s emotions. Is that what you think?

“Yes,” said the boy with a nod.

Hagen nodded using Fafnir Custom’s body.

“Boy, if you win, you will change this world. In a way, that will mean destroying this world. Are you prepared to do that?”

Before the boy could respond, Hagen spat out further words.

“Think carefully before answering. An insincere answer and an insincere contract are not worthy of destroying the world. What is needed is trust worthy of destroying the world. Do you understand? That is what it means to be sincere.”

“I do understand. The word sincerity is a heart like the sun formed from words.<ref>The Japanese word for sincerity (誠意) can be broken down into the kanji used here to mean words (言), formed (成), from (立), sun (日), and heart (心).</ref> …And I will show you that here.”

A stir ran through everyone there. The girl standing next to the boy gave a look of surprise. She spoke a question to the boy and Hagen knew why.

…''Girl, that is because you are right.

And…

…''I want to win.

While continuing to look toward Hagen, the boy spoke to the girl.

“Please come with me, Shinjou-kun.”

And then he turned his straightforward words toward Hagen.

“I saw the past, I will fight in the present, and I am sure the future is with us. In that case, we should be thinking the same thing.”

“Then let me say one thing: Make sure not to alter what you gain here or go against that promise. Youth who takes on the role of the villain, can you promise me you will resolve everything here?”

“Testament!”

As the boy shouted out that word, Fafnir Custom began to move.

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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|-
| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 28|Chapter 28]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 30|Chapter 30]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 28

2026-07-23T03:23:21Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 28: Their Confirmation==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0373.png|thumb]]
''That is something very valuable

''Unavoidably valuable

''Incredibly valuable

What Sayama had thrown was an internal hard disk for a laptop computer.

A single phrase was written on the surface in black paint: localized bomb.

When he threw that hard disk as hard as he could, it of course flew through the air. When it struck the light fired by Fafnir Custom, it was closer to the dragon than Sayama and Shinjou.

An explosion was created five meters above the ground and twenty meters in front of Fafnir Custom.

It began with a light.

The grass of the plain undulated as if struck by that light.

And then everything burst apart.

The impact and the destruction split the night apart and created a great noise.

The light was power. The sound was pressure. The wind blew and washed away everything.

The power produced at the center of the explosion had a set five meter radius of destruction.

The light roasted the air, but it accelerated and spread out as it rose. The afterimage of it all was blasted into the wind, the earth, and the clouds in the sky.

Fafnir Custom was swallowed up by white light and vanished.

There was a great roar.

But the true sound came afterward.

It was a white bubbling sound. The sound of everything in range being fried was carried by the wind and flew up into the air. The sound and the wind accelerated and torn pieces of grass danced through the air.

The clouds visible in the moonlight vanished and that rising sound and wind created a low noise when they struck the inner wall of the concept space.

Everything blasted up into the sky and a reverberation spread out from there.

Amid the earth and wind blowing through the trees of the forest, both UCAT and 1st-Gear got down on the ground and watched the destruction.

Ooki and Sibyl saw Ooshiro Kazuo take a step forward next to them.

Amid the roaring noise and wind, Ooshiro reached out his hands as if to grab something.

“Miyokooooo!!”

And…

“Sachiko, Emi, Sachi, Nanae, Hanako, Jane, Ellie, and Resolution Girl Lundgren!!”

“You mustn’t go there, Ooshiro-san! You can’t bring them back!”

Ooki and Sibyl held Ooshiro back. As the noise disappeared into the sky, Ooshiro hung his head down and cried.

“That’s rough,” said Itaru as he walked up. He brushed away some pieces of grass raining down from above. “Well, he was probably lonely. Miyoko is the name of my dead mother…”

“I see. So that’s why he would always play those games late into the night,” said Sibyl.

“Yes,” replied Itaru with a sigh. And with a serious expression, he added, “But I won’t forgive him.”

In the forest where Siegfried and Brunhild exchanged attacks, they perceived the explosion from the light and wind it produced.

The trees around them shook and a great light lit them from the side.

Brunhild glanced over toward the grassy plain for an instant.

What had happened? She knew the answer, but had to focus on the enemy before her eyes.

She looked forward once more and focused on the tall figure running next to the trees.

It was Siegfried.

When faced with him, Brunhild swung the scythe without letting the flowing trees distract her.

She cut space itself. A bluish-white bow and arrow stuck out from beyond the bluish-white light that opened.

A two meter archer made of light held the bow and arrow. The shot he fired immediately became multiple arrows that flew toward the target. The arrows of light weaved through the trees, produced a wind, and flew at high speed.

In response, Siegfried spread pieces of paper out in both his hands. Those memo-like white rectangles had a single word written on them: Schild.

Siegfried threw those papers into the air and they came to a stop around him. The arrows then struck the papers.

Repeated high-pitched sounds exploded out and Siegfried was wrapped in light.

But he was unharmed. He swept away the light and continued running.

In response, Brunhild ran after him and thought.

…''Why?

That was the question she had asked herself so many times over the past sixty years. That was the question that had grown within her over the past few days. That was the question she would never receive an answer to without asking him directly.

…''Why?

It had all begun there and that was where it would end. But Brunhild could no longer ask with words.

''Why?'' she asked by swinging the scythe.

''Why?'' she asked by producing the spirit of a warrior.

''Why?'' she asked by attacking.

''Why?'' she asked all the harder.

Why? Why had things turned out like that? Why had he done that? Why had things turned out like this? Why? Why?

Her thoughts produced actions and her attacks grew more rapid as her questions accelerated.

She ran, jumped, approached, fell back, and threw the power of the question “why?” at him.

She thought of that small bird which could not fly. She thought of that injured bird.

She thought of the school. She thought of her birthplace.

She thought of those important to her, of herself, of having her head rubbed, and of what she had lost.

She thought of everything and asked “why?”

They left the forest.

Even as they entered that moonlit field with the wind blowing across it, the two of them continued to run.

Why?

Brunhild hung her head down and swung the scythe.

She thought. She thought of everything and of the question she had for it all. Why?

Why could she not get an answer? And she thought of the people who should have given the answer. She thought of everyone, the birds, the forest, the wind, and the sky.

“Why did it all have to be destroyed!?” cried Brunhild as she swung the scythe.

Her legs brought her across the field and into the next forest.

Sayama wondered why he was here.

He could see a vast stone hall that was fifty meters square. The roof was around twenty meters from the floor. It reminded Sayama of some kind of hangar, but he also wondered where exactly he was.

He remembered embracing Shinjou and being blown away by an explosive blast.

In his wisdom, he had intended to immediately stand up, lift Shinjou up, and receive a word of thanks. However, when he looked down to see Shinjou in his arms, he realized he had no body.

Only his sight existed, so this had to be the past.

He looked around and realized the walls of the hall were cracked and shaking. An intermittent vertical shaking ran through the building.

And a battle was being played out in the center of that shaking.

The battle was between the white mechanical dragon known as Fafnir and a young man.

The stage of this battle was the stone altar in the center of the hall. Pieces of white stone were scattered atop that platform of identically colored stone. And a gray-haired old man in black clothes was collapsed below that stone. A golden decoration had fallen next to his head, but he was no longer moving.

The only movement came from the young man and Fafnir.

Fafnir swung his upper body as if trying to climb on top of the white altar.

His clawed right front foot swung forward.

The young man stood atop the altar as the mechanical dragon’s claws approached. He had his back turned to Sayama, but he was wearing black clothes and held a sword almost two meters long.

He was Siegfried.

He tried to swing the sword upward from the right.

He could not avoid Fafnir’s attack from his position.

While prepared to receive the dragon’s strike, he had made his way up to the dragon and targeted his throat.

“!”

Sayama thought he saw Fafnir’s claws strike Siegfried.

But they had not.

Siegfried took a step back, but it was not an attempt to evade. He had been pushed back.

Sayama had been unable to see it before, but a woman stood in front of Siegfried. This woman who wore crimson clothing was Gutrune.

She leaned against Siegfried and collapsed. A single giant claw mark was visible along the front of her body. It looked similar to a cut from a large sword.

Gutrune collapsed atop the altar. She rolled on her side and stopped moving.

''What is this?'' thought Sayama.

A voice cried out as if to answer him.

It was the mechanical dragon.

As if it had realized something, that white mechanical dragon suddenly turned its head toward the ceiling and roared.

It was a great “gah” sound. That voice that could be taken as surprise or grief reverberated throughout the entire room. The hall shook. The rumbling of this cry joined the already existing shaking and loosened the bonds of the stonework.

The ceiling began to fall.

And below it, Siegfried took a new action.

He swung the large sword and pierced the giant dragon’s throat.

It was a single strike.

The sound of the slice erased all of the vibrations.

All that remained was movement.

The armored panels and moving parts making up Fafnir’s throat were smashed to pieces. The newly made opening left Fafnir’s core exposed. This was the reactor within his throat.

The sword was stabbed halfway inside it.

The reactor could no longer function.

“————”

Amid the surrounding vibration, Siegfried pulled out the sword with a suppressed breath.

Just as the sword’s blade was exposed, Fafnir’s body lost all power.

The metal front legs fell, the jaw fell, and the entire body collapsed to the floor while smashing the altar.

The stone of the ceiling continued to fall.

The shaking continued.

And Siegfried kneeled down.

He placed the sword by his side, and reached for Gutrune who was collapsed at his feet.

He picked her up and embraced her.

And as he did, Fafnir spoke from where he had collapsed on the floor.

“Is it over?”

“You regained consciousness?” asked Siegfried as he placed a hand on Gutrune’s belly.

“Yes. It seems I caused you a fair bit of trouble, Siegfried. Did the holy sword Gram serve its purpose?”

Fafnir’s primary vision devices used their red light to look at the sword Gram at Siegfried’s feet before turning toward Siegfried himself. He removed his red-stained hand from Gutrune and looked at it.

The color staining his hand caused him to grimace.

Fafnir said, “The king began sealing off this world and it was already heading toward destruction. I thought this was my only choice. I tried to neutralize the out-of-control Concept Core inside my reactor.”

“But the Concept Core produced a rejection reaction. Was its output too great while out of control?”

Fafnir nodded.

Siegfried sighed and looked toward Gutrune in his hands.

“She took that blow for me…”

“Siegfried, can you take the princess with you? If you take her to your Gear, you might be able to save her.”

Siegfried began to nod.

But then something touched his cheek.

Sayama watched as nothing but vision. While Siegfried embraced her, Gutrune reached her bloody hand out toward him.

“No,” she said. The shaking coming from the floor would occasionally bring a bitter look to her face. “Hey, Siegfried. Will your Gear accept us?”

He nodded and she smiled.

“Then I need to tell everyone that. That is my duty. You go ahead. Take Gram and create land we can live in.”

“But,” said Siegfried.

Fafnir stood up.

The mechanical dragon swayed weakly but still looked at Siegfried.

“Please go. If you do not steal our power, nothing of this world will remain. Due to the king’s guidance, 1st-Gear is currently sealing itself off by eternally shrinking. The concepts have been normalized now, but the world has already gone too far in the negative direction. It can no longer be stopped. This world is done for.”

Fafnir turned toward the top of the altar. An old man was collapsed there and buried below stone. The mechanical dragon hung his head.

“This is our job. …Now, go. I will watch over the king to the end. That is the least I can do as a traitor.”

Siegfried nodded and turned to Gutrune in his arms.

That woman with red hair closed her eyes while smiling.

Siegfried placed his lips on hers.

A few seconds passed.

After he moved away, Gutrune opened her eyes and nodded. She stood up and propped herself up against the altar.

“There is a gate deep in the royal palace. Wait on the other side. Set the exit to a location important to you.” Gutrune smiled. “Wait there. I am sure everyone will be able to be together once more.”

Siegfried stood up and nodded.

He looked over and realized the light had left the eyes of the white mechanical dragon.

Siegfried gave a bow and parted ways with that dragon.

And with Gram in hand, he turned his back to Gutrune.

“Tell them I destroyed 1st-Gear. Tell them the king, the wise man, and you fought valiantly for 1st-Gear, but were defeated.”

“But that is a lie. …My father destroyed this world. And all so he would not be hurt anymore.”

“But if you tell them that, the people of your Gear will have been betrayed by their ruler,” said Siegfried. “Gutrune, you fulfill your role as a member of the royal family and I will fulfill my role as the invader. You three lost to me and I escaped with Gram. …I will prepare a 1st-Gear reservation for those who accept defeat. And those who cannot accept defeat can hate me and pursue me.”

“And you think that will allow most of 1st-Gear to evacuate?” A bitter laugh rang out. “Go, Siegfried, you foolish invader and hypocritical foreigner. …I always hated you.”

“And I you,” he replied as he began to walk away.

His walk became a run and his black-clad form disappeared into a staircase.

The great hall continued to crumble. Amid it all, Gutrune sighed, moved from the altar, and began to walk.

She placed a hand on the king’s face. His face was thin and his eyes were closed as if sleeping.

Gutrune placed her left hand on her stomach and climbed down from the altar.

She leaned up against the giant dragon’s collapsed body as she walked out of the hall.

As Sayama watched her, he heard a song.

He recognized it. It was the hymn Silent Night.

Her back moved away. She walked and grew more distant.

The ceiling slowly bent and finally completely collapsed.

Sayama awoke from the past.

“…”

For an instant, he did not know where he was.

It was a small moonlit clearing a short distance into the forest. The trees were rustling in the wind and the air was hot. Sayama determined not much time had passed since the explosion.

After being blown away in the blast, he was lying on his side in the underbrush while embracing someone.

In the center of his vision, a familiar face looked up at him in his left arm.

It was Shinjou.

The ends of her eyebrows were lowered slightly and confusion could be seen in her black eyes.

“Thank you,” she said in reference to something. “H-hey, did you see that?”

She had seen it, too. He nodded and Baku hopped over to her shoulder. He then nodded in reference to the images of the past they had seen.

“That was the truth,” muttered Sayama before looking behind him.

Something he had seen in the past was there. An almost two meter sword was stabbing into the ground.

“So those memories were yours, holy sword Gram.”

In response, a small light ran across the sword’s surface. It looked like a pulse. The sword looked alive.

And they then heard a voice.

“Yes, I am Gram. Only Gram. I have done nothing worthy of the title ‘holy sword’.” It paused for a beat. “This year, I turned sixty in Low-Gear years, but I have spent most of that time asleep.”

Amid the moonlight and the windy forest, two figures were in a tree near a cliff.

They were both girls.

The first was a tall girl with black hair bound in the back. She lay atop a thick branch with her legs crossed. She wore a black summer coat over a thick black shirt and brown slacks.

On the branch below her was a long-haired girl sitting with her legs together. She had a black stole over her shoulders and her slightly swaying legs were almost entirely hidden by a long black skirt.

The higher girl looked toward the forest. She watched the sparks and explosions bursting in that deep darkness. She also listened to the noises.

“Now, then. Which side do you think will win, Shino?”

The girl called Shino twisted her neck upward and showed a bitter smile to the other girl.

“I do not know. …Are you curious, stepsister Mikoku?”

“No, not really. I am sure our stepfather Hajji already knows how this will end. There is nothing the information broker Hajji does not know.”

“True, but the Leviathan Road has begun, hasn’t it?” Shino heard an explosion. “Wow! This has gotten flashy.”

“This is likely the end for the City faction. Fafnir Custom’s lifespan is running out. …Sixty years is a long time.”

“Yes,” agreed Shino as she swung her legs.

Mikoku closed her eyes as she felt the vibration coming through the tree trunk.

“That song again, Shino?”

“Yes. There was another explosion, right? When I hear the tones of gunfire, I feel like I am going to lose myself.”

“The more you come to places like this, the more out-of-place tones you hear in your head.”

“Yes,” agreed Shino as she muttered a portion of the hymn playing in her heart. “All’s asleep, one sole light, just the faithful and holy pair.”

Mikoku nodded with her eyes still closed. She crossed her arms even further.

“Silent Night. …The holy child is born tonight, hm?”

Below the moonlight, Sayama stood while holding Shinjou. He grabbed Gram’s hilt with his right hand and pulled it from the ground.

“You are light…”

“I am almost entirely hollow inside. However, the interior construction has had its area expanded seven thousand times by the writing. Most of that is filled with hardening and sealing words.”

“I see.”

Sayama lifted Gram up in his right arm and tried swinging it.

It sliced through the surrounding heat and produced a whistling noise. It seemed to weigh three kilograms and that weight was evenly distributed. He had called it light before, but Sayama realized he was wrong. It was well balanced. It felt as if the sword’s center of gravity was changing within his hand. It felt so easy to use, he was sure he could use it no matter how he swung it.

Sayama carried Gram in his right hand and looked to Shinjou who he held in his left arm.

Shinjou was looking up at him. When their gazes met, she quickly looked down.

“Y-you managed to retrieve Gram.”

“Why are you averting your gaze?”

“Eh? Oh, um… Did you hear what I said to Fafnir Custom earlier?”

“No, not at all,” honestly answered Sayama.

“Oh. If you say that, Sayama-kun, then you must have heard…”

“Shinjou-kun, it seems you are somehow mistaken about me.”

Sayama tilted his head and heard a voice from his right hand.

“Sayama and Shinjou?”

It was Gram. Sayama’s eyebrows moved when he heard that low voice. Shinjou also looked down at it. As did Baku.

But before they could say anything, Gram spoke.

“This world is governed by Low-Gear, correct?”

Sayama nodded. It seemed Gram had indeed been sleeping.

That meant they needed a common understanding of the situation. With that in mind, Sayama opened his mouth.

“Yes. Currently, we have begun postwar negotiations with the survivors of the other Gears.”

“I see,” said Gram. “So during my nineteen years of sleep, the world has decided to apologize.”

“Nineteen? Are you sure you do not mean sixty years? I thought that was when you were put to sleep…”

“I cannot answer that. I made a promise to the one who woke me,” said Gram. “You said your names are Sayama and Shinjou, did you not? …What do you want from here on? Do you seek the past you do not know?”

Sayama felt a slight squeezing in the left side of his chest at that question.

If he continued with the Leviathan Road, he would end up facing the past which had created that pain.

But Sayama said, “What I want is pain. And the meaning of that pain.”

“Do you mean you will not deny the ending of the Gears carried out by your ancestors? You will not deny all that which began with the evil committed by my brief master, Siegfried?”

''I suppose it does,'' thought Sayama silently.

He would learn of the past of his family in the form of pain, but that was something he had to learn. After all…

…''That is where I can get serious.

He did not need permission from anyone. He wished to be in that place himself. And so he nodded.

“Yes. I will not deny it or reject it. That is what I want.”

“I see. Then listen, boy bearing the surname Sayama.” The sword paused for a moment. “Boy, you are a collection of ignorance who still knows nothing and has been told nothing. Prepare yourself. If you wish for me here, you will doubt yourself in the future. You will learn you are the descendants of great criminals.”

“…Great criminals?”

“The meaning of that is something you must desire and obtain for yourself.”

“What an irresponsible thing to say.”

“If you desire it to a cruel extent, it will save you. So do not force the duty of answering onto me. This is my belief as a resident of 1st-Gear which holds the concepts of writing: Writing was created from a desire to leave behind what is in one’s heart. …This is the same. If you desire it in your heart and want to give it form, then take action.”

“If I win here tonight, do you think I will receive my answer to this pain?”

“Yes,” said Gram. “Your pain related to 1st-Gear will disappear. However…”

“However?”

“You will only see a portion of it. It will only be the beginning. Prepare yourself. Once you stand at the entrance, you cannot back out until you have seen it all to the end. You will see the development of history that began with us,” he paused, “and ends with that girl. You will see the history of how everything came to an end. You will see the ending chronicle.”

“Shinjou-kun…? Why?”

“She is the key that binds it all together. …You will learn why so long as you continue to fight.”

Through the arm holding Shinjou, Sayama could feel her gulp.

And Sayama realized he had gulped at the exact same moment.

“What will you do, boy? Do you still wish for this!? Do you still wish to use me to cut away the pain of 1st-Gear!? If you truly wish for this, I will become your holy sword!”

As the sword spoke, Sayama saw movement on the battlefield.

Through the forest in the center of the field, the wind blew away a shimmering in the air.

And where that shaking of the atmosphere disappeared, a giant form became visible.

“That is…”

Fafnir Custom.

The weapons on his surface were gone, but the primary armor panels were unscathed as that white mechanical dragon stood up. The heat exhaust points across his body were fully open. Steam and a shimmering of the air rose from every part of his body.

The white mechanical dragon prepared himself for battle. The defensive shutters over his red eyes opened and he stared straight forward. His gaze was likely fixed on Gram in Sayama’s right hand.

''I see,'' thought Sayama. ''That is the first opponent of my pain and my first target to get serious against.

And so Sayama opened his mouth. He turned toward the girl in his arm.

“Shinjou-kun.”

He took a breath. He recalled his grandfather’s words and spoke.

“I think I will try becoming a villain.”

Shinjou raised her head within Sayama’s arm.

She saw his sharp eyes narrow slightly as they looked down at her.

She asked him a question to confirm what he meant.

“You mean…like Siegfried-san?”

She received silence as an answer. He said nothing but still looked at her.

Shinjou felt her heart beat and trembled slightly.

“Are you going to do it no matter what?”

That was what he desired. She knew that. What she had told Fafnir Custom earlier was definitely true. However, when he said it directly to her, it produced more words from her.

“I don’t want you to take all the blame onto yourself.”

“But I am wrong and that is what I wish to do.”

“But…!”

As Shinjou raised her voice, Sayama lightly tapped her waist.

He seemed to be telling her to calm down and she blushed.

Shinjou looked up at Sayama. Their gazes met. He looked away as if conflicted.

This was the first time she had seen him do this, so she felt a bit confused and tilted her head.

And he spoke.

“Then…will you come with me, Shinjou-kun?”

Shinjou could not react to the words of the boy before her eyes.

She knew what he meant. She simply wanted to hear more of his words and to be absolutely sure.

And so she asked, “What do you mean?”

Sayama frowned and looked back at her.

“You are right and I am wrong. So…I want to have you with me.”

“…”

[[Image:OnC_v02_0397.png|thumb]]

Shinjou was at a loss for words. Sayama gently released her body.

After moving back a bit, Sayama stretched out his left hand which was covered in black armor.

He said nothing more.

It was now her turn to answer. She wanted to give a frank answer to his roundabout manner of speaking. She smiled and grabbed his hand.

“So do I,” she answered simply. “So do I!”

And then they both turned toward their opponent. They turned toward the white mechanical dragon taking an offensive stance in the middle of the grassy plain.

Meanwhile, Fafnir Custom was using all of his senses where he stood in that field with the dirt exposed.

Something felt off about his entire body. That sensation could be seen as a premonition or a warning.

When he received the visual information of his mechanical sight, he felt a deviation between himself and Fafnir Custom.

That deviation advanced with time and signified his demise.

That deviation created a gap in his consciousness.

His body had withstood the damage of that blast. However, his consciousness was beginning to waver.

''Please hurry,'' thought Hagen.

He was no longer consciously operating the machine. Attitude control and visual correction were being carried out based on his past actions and the records that were recorded within Fafnir Custom.

Straight ahead in the center of his vision, two figures stood in a forest clearing.

They were a boy and a girl wearing white uniforms. The boy stood next to the girl and moved Gram to his left hand.

The girl picked up her staff which had fallen nearby and held it in her right hand.

They were the ones who wanted to resolve everything.

That girl who had tried to come up with an answer had not been alone after all.

…''I want to win.

Hagen nodded in his heart. He hurriedly interfered with Fafnir Custom’s movements with his own will. He optimized the various actions being taken based on his memories and records.

He made sure that giant white body could act at maximum effectiveness when the time came.

He fully opened the cooling systems. He let the lubricant for the moving parts flow freely.

He used the full output of the operation reactor and the weaponry reactor.

And he released all of the weapons.

He determined it would take five minutes before it would all be ready, but Hagen did not care.

He let the machine take a step forward.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 27|Chapter 27]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 29|Chapter 29]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 27

2026-07-22T03:21:09Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 27: Longing for Right and Wrong==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0353.png|thumb]]
''What is a longing heart?

''It is a heart that is impatient yet waits

''It is a heart containing a contradictory strength

Fafner intercepted the UCAT members coming from behind.

He was not positioned behind Fafnir Custom in the grassy field. He was in the forest even further back.

That stage was more advantageous for him. He was a half-dragon whose entire black body possessed the information of “darkness”. To a certain extent, he could move freely through darkness and shadows. He could travel through them.

He charged toward the UCAT assault team that arrived first.

His enemy was a group of four people wearing white armored uniforms, but Fafner was not afraid. He used his wings to move horizontally at high speed.

As he advanced, the enemies did not hesitate to cast aside their guns and draw short swords from their waists.

While noting that they had been well trained, Fafner crashed into an arbitrary one of them.

All half dragons were at least two meters tall. Their bodies were covered in armor-like shells and wrapped in the giant muscles that allowed them to fly with their wings. By accelerating with those wings, they could produce an impact rivaling a giant stone.

Fafner slammed into the man with his left shoulder.

A great crushing sound could be heard.

That man’s body grew distorted and flew through the air. He was not even able to let out a scream.

Fafner used the recoil to kill his inertia and then he turned clockwise to the right.

A horizontal strike from a short sword came from one man to the left.

The man targeted Fafner’s belly which was the weak point of his giant body, but Fafner was not worried.

He used the motion of his rightward turn to throw a roundhouse kick with his left leg. He was targeting the man’s side. He targeted the same location the enemy was targeting on him.

But his rotation was not going to make it in time. The enemy’s short sword was going to arrive.

In an instant, Fafner flapped his left wing forward.

Wind exploded from behind as if pushing the left half of his body forward. His body rotated at high speed as if it had been struck.

“!”

He knocked away the enemy’s short sword with his left hand and slammed his left foot into his side.

The man doubled over and flew.

Instead of stopping his rotation, Fafner made a full rotation. He turned his back on his enemies for an instant and swung his right arm backward. A third man’s face ran right into the path of that backhand.

His hand struck.

The slight vibration Fafner felt through the shell on his right fist was the sound of this man’s teeth and jaw breaking.

But the fourth man targeted Fafner’s body now that it had been left wide open.

The man held his short sword in both hands and ran forward as if planning to tackle the half-dragon. He held the hilt in his right hand and the bottom of the hilt with his left.

''An excellent stance,'' thought Fafner with a nod.

Fafner looked up at the sky which was partially obstructed by the trees of the forest.

The moon was out. Fafner felt that arc of light which had not existed in 1st-Gear was in the way.

“But I will use it. As the mother of shadows, it will help us dispel our grudge.”

He lowered his gaze. The fourth man had arrived directly in front of him.

Without rushing, Fafner placed his right foot down at his opponent’s feet.

That was where the man cast a shadow amid the moonlight. Fafner placed his right leg up to the thigh into that shadow.

His stance moved lower than his enemy’s blade. The man’s eyes opened wide.

“Wha-…!?”

''This is nothing worth crying out over,'' thought Fafner as he swung his elbow to sweep the man’s feet up as he passed by.

The man rotated around in the air and collapsed to the ground. Just as his shadow disappeared, Fafner’s body returned to normal.

Fafner only had to slam his heel down on top of the collapsed man to have eliminated all four.

“Are more enemies on their way?”

As he looked around with questioning eyes, he spotted movement in the forest. A group of white shadows was scattered out at a distance of approximately fifty meters. They were troubled by 1st-Gear’s defensive line and could not advance further. Occasionally some people such as that group of four would make their way forward, but Fafner would swiftly intercept them.

''This battle may end here,'' thought Fafner as he moved forward.

He was moving toward the battlefield.

And just as he did, he spotted new movement.

A single white form suddenly charged forward from the group of enemies.

Guns and spells were fired at this figure, but this did not slow its momentum. In fact, it accelerated as it charged straight toward Fafner.

…''What is that?

Fafner narrowed his eyes and watched it.

It was a young man from UCAT. It was the same young man Fafner had fought in the clearing earlier. The data Fafner had seen said he was the heir to the Izumo family. He held a giant Cowling Sword in both hands as a shield.

“Hyohhh!”

He closed the gap between him and Fafner while letting out a strange cry.

Fafner’s 1st-Gear comrades panicked when they realized where the young man was headed. The fired at him more and more, but it did not work for some reason.

''What is going on?'' wondered Fafner as he placed a hand on the Cowling Sword at his waist.

This was a human opponent. He may have had an excellent physique, but he was not covered in hard shells like Fafner.

Fafner watched.

The young man’s body was almost entirely covered with something. It was white and looked like armor. It was perfectly defending against their attacks. Assuming it was a new weapon, Fafner shouted to his comrades.

“Listen! Target Low-Gear’s new weapon!”

And Fafner observed this approaching young man.

The new weapon he was wearing was a frilly women’s apron.

The apron’s chest and sleeves had large writing on them. Fafner’s own knowledge was only enough to tell him it resembled Low-Gear writing, but the meaning reached his mind via an image.

The writing on the chest said “sturdy” and the writing on the sleeves said “hard”.

Once he realized that, Fafner pointed at the enemy and shouted out once more.

“Target that idiot!!”

Izumo cleared the distance in the forest with tremendous speed as he ran with that impregnable defense.

Sayama and Kazami ran behind him while Boldman commanded the cover fire.

Repeated metallic noises could be heard coming from the surface of Izumo’s armor.

“Who would have thought Sf-kun’s apron would come in handy like this… I suppose she did say it was her combat apron.”

Sayama was perfectly calm, but Kazami’s eyebrows drooped.

“Um,” she began. “A-are you okay, Kaku!? I hear a lot of harsh impacts!”

“Wa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

“It is no use, Kazami. He is taking so much gunfire it is rattling his brain. Once this happens, he will never recover…”

“There are some jokes you shouldn’t make!!”

Just as Kazami began strangling Sayama as they ran, an explosion struck Izumo directly.

“!”

Sparks, an explosive noise, and an explosion of air came afterward.

A spray of metallic noises burst out as the apron was smashed to pieces.

The shockwave created a white ring of water vapor around Izumo that burst out in every direction. However…

“That ain’t gonna cut it! Battlefield cooks are invincible!!”

Izumo’s body was unharmed.

He had lost the apron, but the armored uniform below it had writing as well.

The words “very sturdy” had been written upside down in magic marker.

“Looks like reducing the number of moving parts was worth it!”

Izumo charged forward. His armored uniform had grown even harder, so it did not have the softness needed to move. However, he was still plenty fast when moving in a straight line. He shouted toward the underclassman he saw approaching out of the corner of his eye.

“Go, Sayama! Go where you have to go!”

They cleared the forest. Fifty meters ahead was a white mechanical dragon.

That dragon was at least thirty meters long and its back was to them. Izumo charged forward without hesitation.

“V-Sw! Second form!” shouted Izumo as he ran.

He twisted his upper body backward.

He squeezed the button on his Cowling Sword’s grip.

The back of V-Sw’s thick blade opened up. The armor plate sank down and a linear thruster appeared.

At the same time, V-Sw’s blade changed form. The cowling forming the blade was stowed away as if it had come apart. Pure light appeared as if slowly rising out from the gap.

Izumo poured strength into his grip on the sword.

V-Sw contained 6th-Gear’s Concept Core. It was a combination of an energy weapon named Vajra and an energy entity named Vritra. It had to be used with care. He only opened it up to attack in emergencies.

And Izumo knew that this qualified.

''I can do this,'' thought Izumo as he tightly clenched the grip.

As if in response, the sword’s will spoke on V-Sw’s console.

“Our prey is there.”

In the next instant, an explosion of light occurred behind V-Sw.

It was a jet used to propel the sword.

Using the twist of Izumo’s body as an axis, that very thick blade of light targeted the mechanical dragon while accelerating quickly.

It should have been a direct hit.

However, that high pressure blade was obstructed by something and it was deflected through the air with a great roar.

“…!?”

Izumo rotated his body to the right by using V-Sw as a fulcrum as it swung horizontally.

He leaped about five meters to the right while remaining parallel to the forest.

He looked toward the location he had just been in. His shadow still remained there.

“A half-dragon that can pass through shadows!”

A giant black body stood in the moonlit field. His winged form was surrounded by black shells, skin, and clothes.

“Fafner!”

Fafner the half-dragon held his Cowling Sword while standing up from the shadow.

“Perfect. I was hoping for an opponent to keep things interesting.”

Sayama and the others did not turn back toward Izumo and Fafner who had moved off to the side.

They continued running on and on. A giant mass stood fifty meters ahead of them.

That white mechanical dragon was easily thirty meters long and seven meters tall. It was walking forward at about the same speed as they were running.

They had to hurry.

Sayama quickened his pace and let out a breath. 1st-Gear’s winged unit was quickly dropping down toward them.

Seeing those approaching shadows in the sky, Sayama spoke to Kazami behind him.

“Enemies are coming from above. Please cover for me.”

“Why do I have to?”

“During the battle at the Imperial Palace, you came down from the sky, didn’t you? And you attacked from the sky when fighting that giant knight earlier. …Kazami, you have the power to live up to your name, do you not?”<ref>The first kanji of Kazami means wind.</ref>

Sayama watched the movements of the flying enemies as he spoke.

Kazami’s response came after a short delay. It came in the form of a question to confirm something.

“Sayama. …You understand, don’t you? Right now, you are trying to reach the peak of this battle. Are you prepared? Are you prepared to lose something and to take something from someone else?”

“Are you?”

“I…have shot an enemy and driven them to suicide. That is something you and she have not done. The battlefield is not a kind place.”

“I see.” Sayama sucked in some air and spoke. “Is that why you left flowers by his remains? Is that also why you did so every day?”

“!”

Kazami’s presence stiffened behind Sayama.

“D-don’t be ridiculous! I didn’t leave any flowers!”

“The chrysanthemums left for the werewolf had a horizontal scrape across the stem. If you had the flowers sticking out of your rucksack while transporting them, the zipper would scrape them like that.”

Sayama lowered his body down and charged further forward. Without turning around, he gave one last request.

“Kazami, please cover for me.”

Kazami slowed her pace. She clenched her back teeth, brought her eyebrows together, and stopped running.

“Kh.”

She ground her teeth together and looked up into the sky.

She was about thirty meters from Fafnir Custom. If she slowed down, she could not catch up to the giant dragon moving ahead of her.

She took a breath and stopped altogether.

She could see the winged soldiers gathering in a formation in the air. Their bows were targeting Sayama who had run ahead.

Kazami looked down. There she saw the light of the console on G-Sp2, the Cowling Lance in her right arm.

“Kazami? Are you not feeling well?”

After looking at that display for a while, she closed her eyes. She forcibly opened her mouth while still clenching her teeth.

“Why do boys insist on showing off?”

“Because it is cool.”

“Thanks for the valuable input.”

Kazami sighed and raised her head.

The ends of her eyebrows rose to their proper position and strength entered her eyes.

She looked into the sky. The enemy forces were here, but Kazami looked beyond those wings flying through the sky.

She looked at the moon.

While staring up at that pale arc of light, Kazami opened her mouth.

“X-Wi!” she shouted and a noise came from her back.

It was a metallic noise. At the same moment, words scrolled across her wristwatch.

—'''Light is power.

As if in response to those words, light grew from the backpack she wore.

A flapping noise was heard.

That cry that blew the air away was accompanied by the appearance of yellow wings of light. They began as an emission but came together in a solid form in the next instant. Two sharply angular wings of light with an effective range of two meters stabbed up toward the heavens.

That light sliced through the wind, created an emission of light, and sucked in the wind.

The light filled with a tension of power and emitted a high-pitched noise.

As the moonlight washed over the wings of light, the sound grew even higher pitched and ultimately exceeded the audible range.

Wind appeared behind her.

“…!”

Kazami gathered strength in her back.

The pressure of her shoulder blades told X-Wi in her backpack what its job was.

And that job was to flap.

The wings beat at the air.

With a sound similar to an explosion, the wind roared at Kazami’s back.

She leapt high into the sky.

Kazami danced up into the air with a trajectory suggesting she had been shot upward rather than jumped.

By the time she took in another breath, her vision saw nothing but the sky. She had reached the moonlight.

The winged enemies below her had lost sight of her and were confused.

Kazami checked to make sure the wings on her back had spread out. And then she rotated herself upside down in midair. She oriented her head downward, pointed G-Sp2 toward the surface, and removed the long, narrow shield on her left wrist.

The action took a single instant. Kazami attached the shield along the bottom edge of the spear’s tip. And just as the shield covered up the blade…

“G-Sp2! Go to your second form!”

As she spoke, the Cowling Lance transformed.

First, the curved back of the handle rose up. Next, the grip stuck out from the base of the tip to the left of the console. At the same time, the cowling on the butt of the spear opened and a heat ejection point stuck out.

[[Image:OnC_v02_0367.png|thumb]]

And finally, white light appeared deep in the dragon’s maw-like split between the cowling of the tip and the shield attached to the bottom. That visible commotion of light was the true form of G-Sp2 contained within the cowling.

The spear was a large rifle.

“10th-Gear’s holy spear Gungnir. It’s a bit impressive compared to your bows and arrows.”

Kazami held the curving handle under her right arm and grasped the grip with her left hand.

She placed her finger on the trigger. She already knew exactly who her enemy was.

She could see the moon below her feet in her upside-down vision.

She smiled.

And while smiling, she flapped her wings. She flew straight down.

Shinjou gave no response to Fafnir Custom.

She trembled. Her legs trembled. Her teeth chattered slightly

But she moved. Slowly, very slowly, she sank down and reached a hand toward her feet.

Her Cowling Staff, Ex-St, had fallen there.

From what she could see, it had not bent or broken. When she touched it, she felt the chill of the metal.

Shinjou embraced Ex-St as if taking in that chill.

She stood up and weakly aimed Ex-St. That was her answer. It was her definite answer.

And a voice arrived from directly in front of her.

“Why?” asked Fafnir Custom as he stopped walking.

Shinjou shook her head at his calm tone of voice.

“I think you all are simply wrong.”

And so…

“I will not accept defeat against someone who is wrong like that.”

''What am I saying?'' wondered Shinjou.

She had nowhere to run. A single strike from the dragon would be enough to kill her even if he held back. However…

…''I am not despairing.

She felt meaning in the words she had spoken.

Fafnir Custom lowered his body.

“Is that so?” he said. “I do not see how we could be wrong. We are simply trying to take back what is ours.”

Shinjou glimpsed his main cannon in his mouth. Light had already appeared deep in the round muzzle.

Fafnir Custom spoke a number.

“Five.”

Shinjou knew what that number meant, but she could not run. She spread her legs as wide as her shoulder width and faced the dragon.

She recalled certain memories: the final expression of that werewolf, the remains of her comrades, and…

A single boy.

“I…” began Shinjou. “I know someone who is truly wrong. I know someone who attacks others and lives on.”

Shinjou recalled the back he had shown her. She recalled that stance as he prepared to fight. But…

“He is different from you. He…knows that he is wrong. And that scares him. It scares him so much he is willing to stifle himself.”

For some reason, she drew excess power from her body.

“Four.”

She continued speaking.

“He wants to be wrong. Unlike you. He thinks what it would be like if he was right, but he does not want to be right. And when comparing himself to me…”

She took a breath.

“He said I am right.”

Her words were rooted in the depths of her memories.

“Three.”

Shinjou thought about him and about herself.

“You all are wrong. You are wrong and in the wrong way. Unlike him. He tries to be wrong in the right way. And that is why I will not accept defeat against you!”

A small “ahh” leaked out of her mouth.

“Two.”

She had to choose whether to pour strength into her fingers or not.

“His way of being wrong is the only one I will allow! And…”

Shinjou told herself to fight. Just as he desired the battlefield, she too had to desire it.

She had to be with him. She had to do more than just watch his back.

She was not choosing presented options or being given a course of action. She would be here because she personally desired it.

She had a perfectly good reason: She would be his opposite.

“And I will wield my power while remaining right!!”

“One.”

Using that spoken number as her sign, she squeezed the trigger with all her might.

As light shot from her staff, Fafnir Custom let out a cry.

“Zero! Your attempts are futile!”

The mechanical dragon’s main cannon fired light.

A giant light flew silently. The line of light Shinjou fired struck that light of writing which possessed the weight of mass. It pierced through the center of the thick light and bore a hole through it.

A clear sound rang out.

The front of the dragon’s blast swelled and expanded like an umbrella. It exploded.

The dragon’s attack had been destroyed, but that was all Shinjou had managed.

The mechanical dragon let out a roar that reverberated throughout the heavens and the earth. He fired a second blast.

“…!”

The second shot of dragon light swallowed up Shinjou’s attack and instantly doubled in size.

Shinjou saw the light expand before Fafnir Custom’s eyes and continue toward her.

The massive light flew toward her in a slight arc.

Shinjou stood in its path, but she did not falter. She clenched her teeth and stared straight forward.

That mass of power was trying to destroy her. The silhouette of the mechanical dragon was visible beyond it.

“————!”

She shouted someone’s name.

And then that person appeared before her eyes.

That person’s back entered in between Shinjou and the light.

He took something from his pocket and threw it toward Fafnir Custom. It looked like a rectangular case.

Immediately afterward, he slowly turned toward her.

He was a boy with sharp eyes and Baku sitting on his shoulder. His mouth moved amid the roar of the dragon’s approaching light.

“I missed you, Shinjou-kun.”

He took her in his arms, wrapped them around her, and embraced her.

Shinjou did not hesitate to wrap her arms around him and embrace him.

In the next moment, a gigantic explosion occurred in the space between them and Fafnir Custom.

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 26|Chapter 26]]
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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 28|Chapter 28]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 26

2026-07-21T03:26:07Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 26: Recommendation to Lie Prone==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0321.png|thumb]]
''A pain once had

''Is related to your current self

''By becoming a pain someday

Sayama and the others checked on various things before heading out.

First, they placed a simple table in the center of the basin area and used it as a meeting spot.

Ooshiro Itaru and Sf stood at the side of the table pointed toward the mountain.

Across the table from them, Sayama stood with the others around him.

As Sayama watched, Itaru placed his cane on the ground.

“The ultimate objective of the Leviathan Road is to bring every concept to UCAT and release them all simultaneously. Doing that will suppress the negative concepts here in Low-Gear. You understand that, right?”

“Where are these negative concepts? I have heard 1st-Gear’s concepts are contained in the Concept Core that is currently split between the sword known as Gram and Fafnir Custom. But what about the negative concepts of Low-Gear?”

Ooshiro gave no response, but Sayama began to think upon seeing the smile that appeared on his lips.

And after thinking, he spoke.

“Each Gear’s Concept Core is contained in a weapon or the like that is unique to that Gear.”

“And?”

“The negative concepts are contained within the mythology that does not fit into the other ten Gears. Namely, the Bible.”

“And if they are? What would it be that contains Low-Gear’s negative concepts?”

Sayama nodded in response and glanced at Baku on his shoulder.

“That would be…Babel. Am I wrong?”

Everyone turned toward Itaru. Izumo and Kazami nodded and everyone else frowned.

As some people whispered “Babel?”, Itaru gave a slight nod while still smiling.

“You really are an annoying brat. You are correct. …Did you see that tower?”

“Yes.”

“I see. That is your ultimate destination. The ten negative concepts reside in that tower and it was the epicenter of the Great Kansai Earthquake. To reach it, you must deal with all the other Gears.”

Having said that, Itaru pulled a metal case out from under the simple table.

The case he placed on the table with a heavy metallic noise was the color of iron and thirty centimeters square. It was about ten centimeters thick and the letter L was carved into the surface.

Sayama looked at Itaru, but the man only silently held the case out toward Sayama.

As if taking Itaru’s place, Ooshiro stepped up to his right and nodded.

“Open it.”

Sayama had already begun undoing the lock on the side of the case.

With the sound of air escaping, the upper lid shifted.

Sayama placed a hand on that lid and opened the case.

The inside was divided into two blocks.

The left block contained a metal medallion. Its silver surface had a plus symbol carved into it. And the right block contained…

“A glove?”

A black, fingerless gauntlet sat within a cavity in the block created to match its shape.

It was made to protect the wrist and other points and the top had a round metal hard point attached.

It was made for the left hand.

As Sayama observed it, he heard Ooshiro speak.

“We are giving that to you. Its name is Georgius. That is the name of a holy lance.”

Sayama frowned.

“You mean the lance St. George used when slaying the dragon? I know one theory said it was Longinus, the same lance used to stab the son of god.”

“Yes. It seems to have been named after that. It was named after the lance that can injure god and slay a dragon. However…” Ooshiro trailed off and Sayama looked up at him. When their gazes met, Ooshiro nodded and continued. “We do not know what power this Georgius has. We do not know many of the details about what it is. It is a concept weapon with many mysteries.”

Sayama glanced around. Everyone was focused on Georgius in front of him. Kazami, who stood behind him, suddenly realized he was looking at her.

“This is the first time I’ve seen it.”

She nodded and so did everyone else.

Puzzlement could be seen on their faces, so Sayama spoke their doubts and his own question to Ooshiro.

“If you do not know what good this gauntlet is, why was it stored so exaggeratedly?”

“It is a memento of your mother.”

The instant Sayama comprehended those words, he felt a tightening in the left side of his chest.

Intense pain filled his body. It was much stronger than it had ever been before.

“…”

He could tell everyone had frozen in place and was staring at his back. Sayama placed his right hand on his chest and grabbed at it.

From behind, only a slight movement should have been visible, but they might have noticed.

But it did not matter. If they had noticed, there was nothing he could do about it.

He endured the pain and took a breath. And then Itaru opened his mouth across the table.

“So you get chest pains when you hear about your parents or your grandfather. You intend to walk down the Leviathan Road with that odd bomb inside you, don’t you? Your father died and left you behind, your mother tried to kill you along with herself, and your grandfather passed away without telling you anything of import. …Sayama Mikoto, you are a pitiable person. A truly pitiable person.”

A small stir spread through the surrounding people. A mixture of voices and gasps responded to Itaru’s final words.

Pitiable.

Sayama vigorously raised his head against that atmosphere that seemed to be looking down on him.

He glared. He glared straight forward where Itaru lowered his sunglasses and looked at Sayama as if glancing up at him. And just as Sayama was about to speak a rude word toward those eyes and the smile on those lips…

“Everyone has a weakness,” said a figure standing to the left.

Itaru, Sf, Ooshiro, and even Kazami and the others behind him looked to his left.

Everyone’s gazes gathered on Ooki.

[[Image:OnC_v02_0327.png|thumb]]

“Um…” she said as she placed a hand on her chest and looked up into the sky. “But it is overcoming that weakness that gives us valuable experience. For example, Itaru-san, you have your cane and Sf-san to help you with the disability in your legs. Sayama-kun will find something or someone to act as his cane or his Sf-san. I don’t know if that will be this glove or someone from UCAT, though. But…”

Ooki nodded and glanced around. She looked at Itaru, Sf, Izumo, Kazami, Sibyl, Boldman, Ooshiro, and her other comrades.

“Sayama-kun will be fine. I guarantee it.” Ooki seemed incredibly satisfied with her own words. “Yes, yes. That’s just how it is. For example, Izumo-kun is an idiot, but Kazami-san corrects him. Kazami-san is violent, but Izumo-kun absorbs it all. Mr. Boldman is bald, but everyone pretends not to see it and it helps make him more unique. Am I wrong?”

“I think you might have just ruined everything you had built up, Ooki-sensei.”

“Eh?” asked Ooki as three hands grabbed her collar and dragged her into the crowd.

While listening to Ooki’s “Hyaaaaah!”, Sayama sighed.

The pain in his chest was gone. It had disappeared. And so he spoke to Itaru.

“You can decide whether I am pitiable or not based on my results from now on. Let me ask you one thing: Were my parents members of UCAT?”

“Yes. They were disguised as IAI personnel and they acquired Georgius during a certain mission.” Itaru clicked his tongue once, but his smile did not disappear. “Here’s another job to add to the Leviathan Road. It seems Georgius has a right hand as well, but it was lost and not even UCAT can find it. You find it on your own.”

“Is it needed to complete the Leviathan Road?”

Ooshiro Kazuo answered this question.

He nodded and said, “All I can tell you is that this is a weapon that can bend any concept to your will and there is meaning in having both the left and right hand. Everything else, including its creator, is unknown.”

“That is all…my mother said?”

“Yes. Your mother, Yume-san, told us that and left it with us. We believed her that it holds some kind of meaning for the Leviathan Road.”

After Ooshiro finished speaking, Sayama suddenly realized a sigh had escaped his lips.

He recalled his memories of the past and of his mother right up to the line of the dangerous territory.

He recalled a woman with short black hair and slightly sharp eyes. This was a created memory.

He had little memory of what she had done for him or told him.

''She hoped I could become someone who could do something,'' he thought. ''And she tried to kill me.

His memories were vague, but he had gained something new he could add to them:

Georgius.

“It is hard to understand. She had hopes for me, tried to lose me, and gave me this.”

She was selfish, that was for sure. However, Sayama looked down at Georgius.

“Can I take this?”

“Yes, but be careful. We are unable to equip Georgius. When we try to touch it, we are spatially repelled. Trying to force one’s hand into it will rip your fingers apart.”

Ooshiro showed off his left palm. White scars from some slight lacerations were visible.

“I see,” said Sayama.

But he grabbed Georgius without hesitation. From the way Ooshiro jerked his left hand back in fear, it seemed that was when the rejection reaction would have occurred.

“It seems nothing happened.”

Sayama equipped Georgius on his dominant left hand. It was a bit large for him, but tightening the band on the wrist set it in place. The scars on his fist were hidden as the characteristic warmth of leather covered his hand.

The palm had a shallow semispherical metal part corresponding to the hard point on the back of the hand. That half sphere had a plus sign carved into it. Other than that, the gauntlet was unremarkable.

Sayama pulled the plus sign medallion out of the case. He placed the medallion in the round hard point on the top of Georgius. It fit perfectly.

As soon as he did, Georgius suddenly began to vibrate.

“…”

Wind gathered and was sucked into the space between the medallion and Georgius.

Everyone froze in place around Sayama. Izumo stopped pulling on Ooki’s ears and shouted out.

“…What kind of special effect is this!?”

A word rang out over the other voices of protest. An unfamiliar male voice came from the surface of the gauntlet.

“I…!”

But that was as far as it went. The wind disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.

Georgius stopped shaking and calm returned.

Everyone stared at Sayama while still in defensive stances. As those gazes fell on him, Sayama lightly shook his left hand with Georgius on it. Nothing happened. After determining that fact, Sayama spoke to the others.

“It seems something even more amazing will happen with both of them.”

With the black cat on her shoulder, Brunhild met up with and marched with her comrades.

Their loud and hurried footsteps traveled toward where the holy sword Gram had fallen. They had recently calculated out the general location, so their priority was gaining control of that area.

UCAT’s Gram recovery team was closer than they were. They had to catch up with that team and defeat them.

Fafnir Custom was at the lead of the marching army.

He tried to fell as few trees as he could manage, but he still created a path for the rest.

The sounds of his four massive legs and of toppling trees could be heard.

Brunhild walked quickly along while making sure to look at the break in each felled tree so she could remember it. Those around her did the same. And most likely…

…''Venerable Hagen is doing it as well.

They were occasionally ambushed by enemies with guns and occasionally came across explosives.

But they were all stopped and quickly crushed by Fafnir Custom.

Fafnir Custom spoke as he received the effects of the gunfire and explosions.

“Do not interfere.”

The others obeyed him. They did not draw their swords or aim their guns.

As Brunhild watched, she saw that Fafner did the same as he walked behind Fafnir Custom.

The white dragon of steel took on all the fighting.

The group of green and black cloaks merely walked forward.

And then several white figures became visible in front of Fafnir Custom. There were at least ten of them.

“We’ve caught up to UCAT!”

Fafner raised his voice and everyone put more strength into walking.

This was UCAT’s Gram recovery team that had been sent ahead. As Brunhild watched from behind Fafnir Custom, they stopped moving and turned their weapons toward the dragon. It seemed their plan was to make a stand here.

''That’s impossible,'' thought Brunhild.

Suddenly, she felt a soft sensation on her cheek. It was the tail of the cat on her shoulder.

“…?”

The cat met her gaze for just an instant and then looked behind her.

Brunhild’s pace slowed slightly as she walked.

She looked behind herself as well.

What she saw first were the others walking toward her. Their forward-bent march made them appear to be approaching her specifically.

As she cowered down a bit, those green and black cloaks slipped past her and walked on ahead. No one said a word. They only looked forward and marched toward the awaiting battle.

But Brunhild saw something else. It was even further behind those marching soldiers.

It was in the distant forest beyond the mountain range. She saw a light so small one had to pay close attention to even see it.

That was the forest basin where they had been not long before.

It had been abandoned as a gathering point, so no one should have been left.

“…They’re coming, aren’t they?”

She stopped walking altogether as she muttered those words.

The others continued forward like a muddy stream flowing beside her. They continued forward to pursue their enemy and acquire Gram.

But Brunhild had a thought: Were they really driving their enemy away?

She heard Fafner’s voice behind her in the direction everyone was headed.

“What is it?” he asked.

He received an answer from Fafnir Custom further up ahead. His voice was partially drowned out by the wind.

“I asked her to stop the enemy pursuit. We will hurry ahead and retrieve Gram.”

Brunhild shut her eyes at those considerate words. She had no recollection of him asking that of her.

She could not thank Hagen. She merely held Requiem Sense up a bit. His auxiliary vision devices would see it.

The moonlight fell down as if sliding across the curve of the scythe.

Brunhild began to walk while thinking how obtrusive that light was.

She walked forward. She walked in the opposite direction of the others.

Sayama and the others prepared to head back out into battle.

Sayama stood within the basin. The others gathered a few meters in front of him as if creating a wall.

Sayama swung his right hand in front of them all. That hand that sliced through the air and stopped held six scraps of paper. He used his thumb to spread those six cards out.

Each of them had the word “steel” written on it.

“Now. This is all of our unbreakable and unbendable ‘steel’. Sf-kun, if you do not mind.”

After Sayama finished, Itaru spoke.

“Go. Earn yourself some gratitude.”

“Tes.”

As she spoke, Sf took a step in front of the others.

Sayama swung his right wrist and threw the six pieces of paper into the air.

They no longer moved like paper. They rotated and flew up with real weight to them. That paper was now “steel”.

As the lights set up in that basin illuminated the paper, the paper reflected that crimson light.

Sf raised her right hand.

By the time she did, the sounds of six gunshots on the ground and six metallic noises in the air had all faded away.

Sf’s hand had already returned to its original position.

While paying no heed to the smoke spreading out before her eyes, she wordlessly bowed toward Sayama and then toward everyone else. As her white-haired head lowered, six small lights fell at her feet.

They were empty shell cases.

Everyone there gulped, but Sf returned to the wall of people without caring. Unlike before, the wall of people split open to let her in.

And as she turned her back, six pieces of paper fell to the ground.

Sayama picked them up. He reached down and grabbed the papers that had stabbed into the soft ground.

“Now then. This one, this one, and this one are no good. They have holes.”

The fourth one had a large dent where it had bent in the shape of a bullet.

“This one seems to have been about as effective as a bulletproof textile. The writing is very nice, though.”

“Ahh,” groaned Kazami at the front of the wall as she brought a hand to her forehead. “But I earned the intermediate level in calligraphy.”

“This cursive one was tougher. It only bent.”

“Oh! That was me! That one’s mine!”

Ooshiro took a break from typing up records on his laptop to joyously raise his right thumb.

Sayama ignored him. He picked up the final paper and frowned.

“This is splendid. It did not bend and it does not have a scratch on it.”

He showed it to everyone.

“But what is with this writing? It looks like the death throes of an earthworm suffering from a twisted intestine. Who wrote this curse?”

“It was me, you damn idiot! Are you trying to pick a fight!?”

Izumo took a step forward and the shoulders of everyone behind him drooped.

“I knew it,” they said in unison.

“What do you mean by that!?” he shouted.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” said Kazami as she patted his shoulder. She sighed and added, “I can’t believe my intermediate level calligraphy lost to these worms…”

“Hey. Are you trying to comfort me or complain? Make up your mind.”

“It seems what matters most is the image the writing gives you, not the technical shape of the character. Instead of writing it neatly so the Japanese can read it, we need to make it so anyone can understand it… Writing that looks more like a picture may be more effective in this world. Here, take this.” Sayama tossed the paper to Izumo. “Now, Izumo. Gather all the writing tools here and write this character on as many objects as time allows. Write it on our equipment, the paper we have, stones on the ground, and sticks you find. Strengthen everything we can use.”

Sayama nodded.

“So written information has power in this concept space…”

He walked forward. He made his way to Ooshiro who held his laptop under his arm.

“Old man.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Could you give me all of that computer’s storage devices to use as explosives?”

“What!? Wh-what are you talking about!? Explosives!? Wh-what writing makes it an explosive!?”

“Shut up, you ancient otaku. Answer my question honestly. …How much disk space on that computer is filled with 18+ games?”

“Th-thirty gigs maybe?”

“…Thirty?”

“F-fifty… N-no, I think it might have been one hundred twenty.”

“Have you fully completed all of those games using your real name?”

“O-of course not. I don’t have the time to-…”

“Hey! Someone come torture this painful old man!”

“I do! I have time! I have more than enough time! Other than the one I’m currently working on, I completed them all on my own!”

“I see. That likely makes this a worldly desire bomb with the destructive power of a nuclear bomb. Very good.”

Sayama nodded, took a step back, and looked over the silent line of people.

“Please understand. He is merely a victim of modern Japan.”

Hearing that, first the men and then everyone else formed a line and patted Ooshiro on the shoulder one by one.

“T-trying to comfort me like this is only going to hurt me further!”

“You have nothing to worry about. Now you can brazenly leap into the world of eroticism while on the job. Just place a note on your back saying you are producing bombs.”

“Oh, you’re right!”

Just as Ooshiro’s expression brightened, Itaru grabbed his shoulder rather than patting it.

“We are having a family meeting once this is over.”

Shinjou ran through the forest.

Behind her, she could hear the footsteps of Fafnir Custom that sounded like cracking stone and the footsteps of the marching 1st-Gear troops. Their advance was made clear by the sounds of falling trees and breaking stone.

As those sounds of destruction pursued her, Shinjou was accompanied by injured UCAT members.

After being chased from the remains of the base by Fafnir Custom and getting separated from Izumo and the others, Shinjou had met up with these people.

They said they were the Gram recovery team. They said no reinforcements were coming but they were going on ahead regardless.

And now they were being pursued by that white mechanical dragon.

“Ah.”

Shinjou was out of breath.

She felt the weight of the Cowling Staff named Ex-St in her arms.

When she had encountered Fafnir Custom at the remains of the base, it had ultimately been Kazami who put an end to Izumo and Fafner’s attacks. She had interfered from the side and deflected Fafner’s pressure so it destroyed the earth’s crust.

Shinjou had been unable to do anything.

She was out of breath. Her weapon felt heavy in her arms.

But she thought of the injured men running alongside her. And so she sucked in some air.

“Everyone.”

Shinjou turned toward the man running next to her. This man was lending his shoulder to an injured comrade.

“I’ll draw his attacks to me. Look to the right up ahead,” she said to him.

As they ran through the trees, a stone could be seen sticking up in the middle of the forest.

“Let’s split up behind that stone. You go hide.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You can’t do anything on your own!”

Shinjou looked up at the man and forced a smile.

“Don’t worry. Team Leviathan will catch up soon. …They are my comrades.”

The man’s expression vanished for an instant when he heard that unit name. He then gave a troubled smile.

“That’s difficult to hear.”

“Wh-why?”

“My friend died the day before yesterday when Team Leviathan showed up too late.”

Shinjou was at a loss for words. She could tell her smile had vanished.

She ran with her head hanging down and began to apologize.

“Don’t say it. An apology isn’t enough for me to forgive you,” he said. “But those of us in the normal division rank lower than the special division. That relationship is absolute. However, if you truly want to keep it absolute, make sure to keep your word. If you will remember that, we will not forget either.”

“…What won’t you forget?”

“A small thing. Someone left flowers for our comrade.”

Just as Shinjou heard those words, they arrived at the tree they had used as a landmark.

The men fired behind them and leaped to the right without saying a word.

Shinjou leaped to the left and turned around to check behind her. The gunshots and bullets flew toward where Fafnir Custom was felling trees and the others were taking shelter.

Shinjou was not sure if they had seen what the men had done.

But she ran all the same.

To make sure the enemy could see her, she flipped the hem of her armored uniform into the air.

The white mechanical dragon saw his prey before his eyes.

That white figure was a single girl.

That girl had been running alongside the men who had been in the lead just a moment before. The fact that she was alone now meant…

''She is covering for her comrades,'' thought Hagen within Fafnir Custom.

He saw her spread her body out with exaggerated motions and the white of her clothing was easily visible in the darkness.

And she ran. She kept her back to him and ran deep into the forest.

Either way, she was headed the same direction they were.

Choosing her was unavoidable. As if pursuing that running prey, the mechanical dragon felled more trees and hurried forward.

“—————”

He roared. That reverberating, high-pitched, creaking noise informed his comrades behind him where they were to go.

Fafnir Custom created a path and pursued his prey. The hot armament reactor located below his neck emitted a heated wind. The Concept Core within was functioning properly.

Fafnir Custom was running well.

''But,'' thought Hagen who had combined with the mechanical dragon. ''I do not have long.

He could move his body, but he felt a slight sensation similar to fatigue. A mechanical body was not supposed to grow tired.

Combining with a mechanical dragon was not the same as simply being inserted as a component of the machine. All of one’s information was converted to writing data and synced with the machine. This was a 1st-Gear modification of the mechanical life form synchronization systems created in 5th-Gear and 3rd-Gear.

Just as writing on paper gave that paper power, a living being could be converted into writing data and added to a machine.

A deviation had appeared in that synchronization.

This deviation was caused by Hagen’s writing data deteriorating over time. Even though he was inside a machine, this was the proof that he was still alive. This was a reminder to ensure he did not lose sight of himself, but it was also his weakness.

Hagen thought to himself as he listened to his advancing footsteps.

''Please hurry.

This was a battlefield. The more Fafnir Custom moved, the more he would push the limits of his abilities and the greater that destructive deviation would grow. He had to resolve this while he could still move.

He thought of the holy sword Gram, of Brunhild, and of Fafner.

''Please hurry. Please hurry, my enemy.

Hagen watched his enemy from within Fafnir Custom. He watched the back of that girl up ahead.

''Please hurry.

''I need an enemy to resolve everything.

As he thought, Fafnir Custom let out a roar. This loud voice seemed to rule over the concept space he had created.

He put all of his thoughts into this roar.

…''I want to win this.

As Sayama and the others ran through the destroyed remains of the forest, they heard what sounded like the distant roar of a beast.

“That is Fafnir Custom.”

Everyone tensed when they heard Siegfried’s explanation. However…

“Hurry.”

That was the conclusion they reached.

That group wearing clothes of white and black traveled along the moonlit path left by the dragon. Their footsteps were not in unison, their equipment was not identical, and the whistles blown by a few of them were scattered.

But they all hurried. They all moved further and further ahead.

And as they ran, a black shadow moved out of the forest to the left and into the middle of the moonlight.

“!?”

Everyone took defensive stances and stopped their hurrying feet.

The shadow before them was a human form.

This human wore a three-cornered hat and black clothes. A black cat sat on her shoulder. Kazami spoke the name of the girl who carried a long scythe.

“Brunhild Schild.” With a bitter smile, she adjusted the backpack on her back. “What a coincidence. We only just saw each other around here. …Did you forget something?”

“Yes, I did. Student council president, vice president, treasurer, and…the school librarian.”

Brunhild held the scythe horizontally in both hands.

At the same moment, Izumo took a step forward and spoke in a disinterested voice.

“Let me guess, the thing you forgot was our lives.”

“No. I only forgot one thing: my mercy.” She was completely expressionless. “And I had just remembered where I forgot it. …I believe it was back at school.”

“Well, that ain’t good. I hope you wrote your name on it. With writing as pretty as mine.”

Izumo laughed and Siegfried grabbed his shoulder.

“Go on ahead. And correct the comment about your writing.”

“Old man, the writing comment was a joke at my own expense. You’re supposed to laugh.”

Siegfried gave no response to Izumo. He spoke while looking at the girl standing in the moonlight ahead of them.

“This is my fate. I cannot hand it off to anyone else.”

Izumo finally began to move when he heard that.

His shoulder’s drooped and he sighed. He then pushed Siegfried’s hand off of his drooped shoulder.

“Old men who are into young girls tend not to live long.”

Izumo gave a bitter smile and Kazami smiled back at him. Sayama nodded and looked to Ooshiro next to him.

“It sounds like you will not live long.”

“Are you still stuck on that!?”

Sayama grinned bitterly, patted Siegfried’s shoulder, and then held that hand up.

“Let’s hurry on ahead. We have our opponent, he has his opponent, and I have my precious person.”

He took a breath and they all began to move. They began to walk along a course around Brunhild.

They all gave her a parting glance, but they soon hurried toward their destination.

And just as they all left, Brunhild raised her scythe.

She held the blade up toward the night sky as if it were a partially eclipsed moon.

Below it, Brunhild looked toward Siegfried.

She moved her small lips and quietly spoke some perfectly ordinary words.

“Now, how about we get started?”

Shinjou heard giant footsteps pursuing her.

When she turned around, she could see the approaching giant white form that was snapping trees underfoot.

Shinjou cowered down a bit as she ran, but her eyebrows moved inward as she nodded resolutely.

…''Yes. This is for the best.

She could not fight well, but she could do this.

She cleared her mind as she ran. This purification of her thoughts produced movement and she held up her Cowling Staff in both hands.

She ran and leaped. She twisted her body around and fired the instant she was pointed backward.

She was targeting the legs of the white mechanical dragon approximately one hundred meters behind her. This was a diversion she did not intend to hit with, but it was enough to draw his attention and stop him for a step.

''That’s right,'' thought Shinjou.

She had a way to join the fight. She could not currently think of any way but this, but she was sure of something.

“I know I too can…”

As she muttered, she landed. She turned her body around and ran forward once more.

“I too can…?”

Who was she comparing herself to?

“I too can…do what? What do I want to do?”

Suddenly, her pulse quickened. Thoughts of a certain boy floated up in her mind.

What was this?

What did it mean that she thought of him? Why had she thought of him?

As those questions ran through her mind, light spread out before her eyes.

She had come to the end of the forest.

“!”

Before her was a space with no cover. It was nothing but moonlight and a grassy plain. She saw more forest about two hundred meters ahead. That forest looked pale in the moonlight and it continued on to the distant shadows of the mountain range.

The grassy plain continued as far as she could see to the left and right. The wind blew past her.

“Kh.”

Shinjou ran. She ran toward the forest on the other side.

The heavy metal footsteps pursued her from behind.

“There they are! That’s the recovery team that went ahead!”

Sayama and the others rescued their injured comrades from a rocky area on the way.

The surrounding area was already filled with battles against 1st-Gear.

As the initial sounds of gunfire passed by over their heads, those with nothing else to do began treating the ten or so injured men.

Ooki and Sibyl covered the wounds with the charms they had received from Chao and wrapped bandages around them. As they were being treated, the men spoke while trying to catch their breath.

“A girl who also belongs to Team Leviathan went on ahead…”

Sayama’s eyebrows moved when he heard that. He looked toward the middle-aged man who seemed to be the team leader. The man nodded and began to speak as blood flowed from his head and he shut one eye.

“The holy sword Gram is located just outside this forest.”

“I see,” nodded Sayama.

Hearing that was enough.

He looked into the distance. Beyond the scorched areas filling the forest was their enemy. And that enemy was pursuing something.

The back of a white mechanical dragon was visible at the lead.

They were approximately two hundred meters away. The trailing members of the enemy group had noticed them and begun to approach.

The mechanical dragon was moving toward an open space where the forest ended. It was a grassy plain filled with moonlight.

That would be where Shinjou was. Sayama had to break through the enemy army.

He stood up as he listened to the sounds of clashing swords, gunshots, and explosions that had begun to reverberate loudly through the area.

He was surrounded by the members of Team Leviathan. Itaru and Sf simply watched on from the back and Ooki and Sibyl worked at healing the injured. However, Izumo and Kazami stood to his left and right and Boldman stood behind him.

“Okay,” said Sayama. He looked toward the approaching enemy forces. “Izumo, create a path for me.”

When he heard that, Izumo finally put on a smile.

“Now we’re talking! Boldman! Cover me from behind!”

Izumo pulled what looked like a single white cloth from the torn sleeve of his coat.

“With this, I’m invincible.”

Shinjou fought as she fell back.

She ran along the moonlit field, spun her body around, held up her Cowling Staff, and fired. Its light was fired at the white mechanical dragon’s legs one hundred meters behind her.

She also had to turn her focus and attacks toward the sky.

Leaving the forest meant the soldiers of the winged races could fly up into the sky.

Their arrows of light flew in accurate straight lines toward her current location or the location she would soon be in.

The sound of the attacks resembled that of white spray.

She gasped for breath.

She fired.

That Cowling Stock labeled Ex-St on the side was Shinjou’s personal weapon. It was a concept weapon that functioned by using the philosopher’s stone located near the back end. To ensure it could be used under any concepts, the front end where the attack functionality was focused could be swapped out for other parts.

…''Its attack power is proportional to the strength of my intentions.

It would not create more destruction than the user wished. That was the one thing Shinjou had requested. And it was also the greatest thing holding her back. If she hesitated to attack and did not produce an effective strike, that powerful weapon was no more than a cane.

But she fired.

A scythe of light flew and struck the front right leg of the white mechanical dragon. The scythe shattered with the sound of breaking glass, but the dragon’s leg was left unscathed.

In the corner of her vision, Shinjou saw a single book be ejected from the book holder on the front end of Ex-St. She had drawn out all of the power collected inside.

She had two books left.

Her ammunition was running low, but her attacks were having no effect.

Just as she regretted that fact, she saw a light in the sky.

“!”

She jumped backward as her legs tangled together. Again and again, light stabbed into the spot she had just been standing in.

A great impact exploded out.

Dirt and scraps of grass flew into the air and covered her face and legs. And before Shinjou could find that annoying, she fired into the sky and began to take a step backward.

However, she felt something overpowering arrive at her feet.

It was a shell fired by Fafnir Custom.

“…Kyah!”

The ground was split apart and all sound disappeared from her ears.

Her vision blacked out in an instant.

She only avoided passing out because of her fear. Her fear of losing herself quickened her pulse, caused her spine to tremble, and stopped her consciousness from sinking into darkness.

She brought herself back as if waking up. And when she did, her vision was filled with a dark blue.

…''What is…?

Before she could finish her thought, her mind grew clear.

What she saw was the night sky.

It seemed she had collapsed onto the grassy ground. She could feel almost nothing with her body’s senses.

A weak “ah” escaped her lips. Or at least she thought it had.

She could not hear anything.

Her mind told her she was in trouble and she hurriedly stood up. But her action held no strength. The core of her body was numb and her consciousness alone moved ahead. With horribly rough movements, she rolled to the side, placed her hands on the ground, and got up.

She stood up and her vision returned to its proper angle.

Above her was the night sky and below her was a grassy plain with a giant hole in it. That was as it should have been.

Her vision swayed to the left and right. She planted her feet in the direction she swayed and balanced herself. She gave a bitter smile in her heart as she wondered if this was what it was like to be drunk.

She looked forward where the white mechanical dragon stood one hundred meters away. She had nowhere to run and she could not move her body properly.

Sound began to return to her ears. She managed to focus her eyes.

The mechanical dragon’s eyes glowed red directly in front of her.

…''Is it coming?

Just as she asked herself that, the white mechanical dragon, Fafnir Custom, spoke.

“I will give you five seconds. Surrender to 1st-Gear.”

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Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 25

2026-07-20T03:21:58Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 25: The Path to Overcome Suspicion==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0297.png|thumb]]
''The decision to hurry is made by you

''The demand that you hurry is made by the footsteps

''That hurrying is accomplished by your will

Sayama and Siegfried ran through a dark mountain.

Their only map was the one on Sayama’s cell phone. Their current location was…

“The shadow of the mountain over there means we are almost there.”

The depths of the forest before them looked blue rather than black. The moonlight fell broadly across that area. That was their destination.

Five minutes had passed since the explosion they had heard earlier.

Sayama hurried. He trod on the grass, trod on the dirt, and moved forward. Only one thought filled his mind.

…''I still have not found Shinjou-kun.

She had definitely entered the battlefield ahead of him.

What was she doing?

There was something he wished of her. He did not want to lose her before that.

As he picked up his hurrying pace a bit further, the forest opened up ahead of him. The light of the moon spread out before his eyes.

Beyond a drop of about a meter was a clearing.

Sayama kicked off the dirt and leaped. Siegfried followed beside him and did not seem out of breath.

Sayama checked his surroundings while in the air.

The remains of a white tent existed in the center of the clearing, but everything in the area had been destroyed.

There were a few holes opened in the ground. They were large enough for several people to fit inside and it looked as if a giant hoe had created them. The forest on the other side of the clearing had also been affected by the destruction. For a width of about five meters, the cedar and broad-leaved trees making up the forest had been felled.

“This is…” he muttered as he landed.

“Sayama.”

Urged on by Siegfried, Sayama began to run.

He had been running for a while now, but he put his full strength into it from the very first step.

As Sayama ran, he detected a movement in the air behind him.

It came from a bullet in the corner of his vision. The bullet glowed like a firefly.

Several sounds of paper tearing came from the forest to the north.

And an identical number of light bullets shot toward them.

They were fast. They pursued Sayama and Siegfried and dirt and grass shot up into the air.

Sayama gathered strength in his legs as he heard the bullets strike the ground. He had noticed something odd about that noise.

…''The tempo is dull.

He took action based on that thought.

He leaned forward and then swung his body upward with all his strength.

Immediately afterward, a light bullet passed right in front of his eyes. This was a single shot.

Sayama leaned forward again and leaped forward. He heard the shot he had avoided slicing through the field.

…''So the real one aims for the face.

Sayama wondered what would have happened had he not noticed that tempo.

He ran.

He realized the sounds of bullets hitting the ground had ceased to follow him.

That showed his opponent was done playing around. Sayama knew he could not let his guard down.

He decided he should have avoided that earlier bullet more barely or even let it graze him. In that case, his enemy would not have put their guard up.

He clicked his tongue and leaped toward one of the holes opened in the ground.

It was a hole made of soft, bare earth. He did not slide inside it; he leaped inside.

After his feet landed on the bottom, he leaned his back against the northern slope.

A bullet then grazed the edge of the ground above him in order to keep him from peeking out.

…''What a well-prepared response.

Sayama ducked his head down and looked around. The hole was about a meter deep and three meters wide.

From this position, the northern forest was on the mountainside. He just barely lifted his head up and was able to see that northern forest. However, the forest was too dark to see anything.

The ground burst in front of his eyes. The flying pieces of dirt struck something near his head and fell.

Afterward, he once more heard the sound of paper tearing from the northern forest.

…''A sniper. Is it just one? No.

Sayama denied his own simple question.

While running before, the bullets had come in rapid-fire. And in no time afterward, a single shot had targeted his head. Given those two facts…

“There are probably at least two of them.”

He had almost no knowledge concerning 1st-Gear guns.

However, they were likely using the same type of rifle the knight had used the day before. In that case, the enemy was using a book or some corresponding object as ammunition. That prevented the guns from being made very small. The enemy had chosen sniping because their weapons were big and not very mobile.

The reason there were two enemies came from there. With a rapid-fire gun and a sniping gun, they could determine the range together and they could calmly handle an enemy whether that opponent charged them or tried to run.

The rapid-fire gun would be used to calculate the range and the sniper would take out the enemy. That had to be their pattern.

But Sayama frowned.

These enemies were firing small bullets of light. Firing would make their position easier to determine. During the day was fine, but those bullets were ill-suited for nighttime sniping. He had two guesses as to the reason behind it.

Either the enemy was taking him lightly or they were trying to draw his attention away from something else.

When he thought about the latter option, Sayama gasped.

…''We have to catch up to Shinjou-kun and the others.

Siegfried was nowhere to be seen, but Sayama assumed he was in one of the other holes.

“Do not tell me he is waiting to see how I will handle this situation.”

Just as a grin appeared on his lips, a stone rolled into the hole.

“?”

Sayama looked down at what had rolled to his feet. It was a round stone about the perfect size to hold in the fist. It was black and it had words carved into its surface.

The meaning of the words appeared in his mind. They said, “Explosive – After Five Seconds”.

“!”

It had been thrown into this hole from the northern forest.

Sayama showed no surprise, fear, or fright. He reflexively picked up the stone.

And a smile naturally appeared on his lips. Words spilled from his mouth that had nothing to do with the desire to hurry in his heart.

“This is a death I can avoid.”

And he took action.

In the mountainside forest looking down on the clearing, two 1st-Gear soldiers aimed at their target.

They both had their dark green cloaks covering their heads as they aimed bipod-equipped rifles toward the clearing.

The rifle on the right had a canvas hardcover book bound to it on the top. It was easy to exchange the magazine, but it had poor stability. The rifle on the left had its book bound to the bottom. It took more effort to exchange the magazine, but each shot was quite stable.

The former was generally used for rapid-fire and the latter was mainly used for single sniper shots.

The sniper drew back the arm he had thrown the explosive rock with and sank back down.

He made sure the rifle magazine had bound properly using the cocking lever to the side of the grip and he moved to peer through the scope.

In an instant, he saw motion coming from the hole he had thrown the explosive rock into.

The target’s head moved above the right edge of the hole and jumped out.

The rapid-fire shooter to the right clicked his tongue in joy.

The sniper thought making noise like that was a bad habit and he pulled the trigger without looking through the scope.

The rifle shook. The cocking lever shot forward and a light bullet flew.

And the bullet hit.

The object that came from the hole seemed to have really been a head. Something white scattered as the bullet clearly hit.

Just as the sniper raised his head slightly, the soldier on the right spoke.

“He’s still alive!”

The sniper narrowed his vision and saw the white figure still trying to jump from the right of the hole.

It must not have been a fatal blow. The sniper calmly peered through the scope.

The white he saw was a coat. Several bullets pierced through it. Those came from the rapid-fire rifle to the right.

Repeated sounds of canvas tearing came from that rifle. An equal number of yellowish-green light bullets flew and tore holes in the white figure jumping from the hole.

The cover of the book in the right-side rifle’s magazine burst and scattered. The book had used up all of its power.

But the sniper realized something in the next moment.

That enemy was hollow.

It was not a human that had jumped from the hole. It was just a coat. The enemy was still alive.

He placed a hand on the cocking lever and began to pull it. But as he looked through the scope, his eyes fell on the coat that fell powerlessly into the hole.

Where had the boy wearing it gone?

“…?”

He took his eyes from the scope and looked forward.

He was there.

The boy had already jumped from the left side of the hole. That was the opposite side to where he had thrown the coat.

He had jumped out at the exact moment the soldiers had been looking through their scopes and targeting the coat.

The sniper felt uneasy. Had this enemy calculated their actions?

The rapid-fire shooter seemed to have realized the same thing. He loudly clicked his tongue and began exchanging the book.

That meant it was the sniper’s turn.

The enemy began running toward them.

They were approximately twenty paces apart. The boy could fill that space in five seconds.

But the sniper could act sooner. He could cock the rifle in one second, it would take another second to hold the rifle up as the sound of tearing canvas came from below it, aiming without the scope would take a second, and pulling the trigger would take a final second. He could finish it in a total of four seconds. But…

“Hey,” said the other soldier. “What happened to the explosive rock you threw?”

The sniper moved his finger away from the trigger.

He saw a single truth.

The boy had stopped moving.

He had been running toward them, but now he stood still with his arms lightly spread to the side as if asking to be shot. The light of the round moon floating in the sky illuminated the boy’s smile.

At the same moment, something fell in between the two soldiers.

The sniper assumed it was a fruit, but it was not.

It was a round stone. It had familiar words carved on its surface: Explosive – After Five Seconds. And black paint had added another few words on the stone.

The writing was unfamiliar, but he understood it from the image that appeared in his mind. It said…

“Plus five seconds!”

Throwing the coat had not been to buy time to jump out of the hole. It had been to ensure they did not see the stone being thrown into the air. And the reason he had run toward them was…

“He wanted us to target him so we wouldn’t move…”

But understanding it now made no difference.

Just as the boy swung his arms up, the stone exploded next to them.

Sayama saw two soldiers fly out from the flames and smoke in the forest.

They were ten meters away. They were surrounded by a flaming wind that roasted the trees and leaves. The blast of the explosion had sent them tumbling out into the clearing. At a glance, they seemed to have injuries on their faces but were still breathing.

Sayama glanced around.

He spotted a tall dark figure standing next to him. It was Siegfried.

“So it cost you your coat. You cannot do that a second time.”

“No need to be shy. I do not mind if you give me honest praise.”

“Do not say the same thing Sayama Kaoru did.”

“Now that is good to hear. If I am saying the same things as my grandfather now, I will be saying things even more wonderful than him tomorrow.”

Siegfried smiled and Sayama did so bitterly.

“More importantly,” said Sayama as he looked forward.

He looked into the forest beyond the fading smoke of the explosion.

A single figure stood there. This figure was dyed in the color black.

The short figure wore a black dress and a three-cornered hat that hid her face.

“A new opponent… A witch?” muttered Sayama, but he denied it. “No, a grim reaper.”

This figure held a long scythe.

Sayama suddenly realized Siegfried had taken a defensive stance.

He gave a suspicious look and Siegfried swung his right hand downward.

“I heard about this while I was in 1st-Gear. I was told where lost souls went in that closed table world.”

“An interesting topic. Please continue.”

“At one point in their history, an underworld was developed for those lost souls to live in. That underworld is a type of concept space and its string vibration is near the borderline between positive and negative, so it can be expanded in any Gear.”

“And what tool is used to open this underworld?”

“The scythe known as Requiem Sense. Regin’s older brother, the old man named Hagen who combined with Fafnir Custom, had worked as the manager of the underworld.”

A single sound seemed to come in response. It was the mewing of a cat.

“…”

And then the grim reaper moved.

She held the scythe vertically above her right shoulder.

Her right hand brought the handle directly above and her fingers traced over the writing carved into the surface of that handle.

Sayama heard a voice. It was a high-pitched and monotonous girl’s voice.

“I am that which is with you.”

As she spoke, the words carved into the scythe’s handle and blade began to emit light.

“Hear me, those who were lost yet not lost.”

The light was blue at first.

“That is your pride.”

It turned to white.

“That is your memory.”

Then yellow, red, and finally crimson.

“That is your spirit.”

Just as the light turned black, the girl opened her mouth and pointed the tip of the scythe behind her.

As if in response, wind blew by next to Sayama.

Before he could even mutter “not good”, Siegfried moved forward.

He wordlessly charged into the forest in his black outfit. He swung his right hand and a single piece of paper shot from his sleeve. All Sayama could tell was that it had something written on it.

The word extended from the paper and into the empty air. That word of German glowed a bluish-white and extended to a length of one meter.

“Schneide!”

Siegfried held the paper hilt and quickly closed the distance between him and his opponent.

He swung the blade of writing toward his opponent’s neck.

He took the shortest route to aim from below. A few trees were sliced by the blade along the way. With a sound of tearing fibers, Siegfried continued forward and left those trees behind him.

He arrived.

His attack swung through.

However, the girl in black avoided the strike. She merely took a step back.

Sayama watched Siegfried’s back.

The pressure of Siegfried’s sword strike knocked the girl’s three-cornered hat up slightly. The blade split the very end of it and the brim of the hat flipped up.

The face hidden below the hat was now visible. Siegfried’s blade of writing illuminated that face.

“Brunhild Schild,” muttered Sayama.

And he realized something else: Siegfried had stopped moving.

In response, Brunhild returned her face from the bent back posture she had taken to evade.

Her normal expressionless look was gone. The ends of her eyebrows were lowered and her lips were twisted to the side.

“…!”

She hung her head down. She tightly gripped the scythe handle in both hands and opened her mouth.

“Open…”

She took a breath.

“Open, gate of the abyss!”

Brunhild drew the scythe back. And she dropped it straight down.

The scythe split space behind her.

The sound was similar to paper being torn.

That meter long slice stopped when the bottom of the handle struck the ground. The blade stopped just a few centimeters above the shoulder of her black clothing.

Brunhild then grabbed the handle and spun it around to point the tip forward.

In response, light appeared behind her. That yellowish-green light filled the line the scythe blade had traveled through. The line split vertically, tore horizontally, and widened.

“Why?” muttered Brunhild.

The tall man in black took a defensive stance before her.

Seeing that, Brunhild shouted with her head still hanging down.

“Why!?”

She thrust the scythe forward and cried out.

“Attack, knight of enmity!”

As Brunhild took a step back, something appeared from the opened rift of light.

It was a giant knight wearing full armor.

This armored knight made of light stuck only his upper body out from that space. He was about six meters tall. He held a sword in each hand, both of which were near twice his height.

The two swords produced a great roar as the knight swung them down.

The sound rose into the sky and the atmosphere moved as the attack shot down.

The gigantic double strikes flew toward the ground as if falling.

Brunhild shut her eyes.

And in that moment, a pair of male and female voices cried out from the forest to the right and the sky above.

“You idiot!”

Sayama saw it. As that pair of giant swords was swung down, two powers slammed into them.

Izumo came in from the right wearing a white armored uniform.

The giant single-edge sword in his hand fired white light from its blade.

And Kazami came in from above wearing a white armored uniform.

She dropped straight down from a height of ten meters above the knight of light. She aimed her long spear straight down as she did. The single-edged tip of that spear fired a white light as well.

They both struck the knight’s blades with their own weapons.

They both let out cries of exertion that began with “ah”.

“…!”

It all collided.

A metallic sound similar to glass shattering rang out.

Izumo deflected the knight’s right sword inward.

Kazami deflected the knight’s left sword inward as well.

The knight’s swords struck each other in midair.

A new metallic noise rang out.

In the next moment, Izumo circled around below the knight’s arms and struck the two swords from below.

Kazami had leaped into the air with her previous attack, so she struck the swords from above for a second time.

Kazami jumped through the air and toward Sayama and Izumo used the follow-through of his swing to turn toward him.

Immediately afterward, straight cracks ran through the six meter knight, starting with the two swords.

“Don’t stand around and watch! Run!” shouted Izumo.

After that obvious warning, the knight exploded.

A splendid wind swept through the forest.

Brunhild stood with Requiem Sense held in front of her.

“…”

The forest had disappeared around her.

With the exception of a fan-shaped area behind where she stood, a crater about ten meters across had been formed. Brunhild sighed as she saw a slight red light coming from the scythe’s blade.

“Did you retrieve them?” she asked the blade while looking around where several lights flew about like fireflies.

Brunhild swung Requiem Sense around her in both hands. The inertia created by the weight of the blade made her lean her body back on her heels to keep her balance. The lights approached the swinging blade and were swallowed up.

After spinning around about five times, darkness returned to her surroundings.

“But this darkness still has the moonlight.”

She glanced around her surroundings once more.

Only two collapsed 1st-Gear soldiers were in the clearing connected to the crater. Those she considered her enemy were gone.

Brunhild let out a breath and looked to her feet. She looked to the black cat hiding behind her legs.

“Let’s wake those two up and meet with the others.”

“Yes. But…that shaved off the fur on my tail.”

“I see.”

The cat tilted his head at that response.

“Are you okay, Brunhild? You don’t seem very energetic.”

“I’m fine. Everything is back to normal.”

“Back to normal?”

“Yes,” said Brunhild expressionlessly. “My grudge and everything else is back to normal.”

Sayama ran after Izumo who had taken the lead.

After running for about two minutes, they left the forest and arrived at a wide basin.

It contained a grassy field where the new UCAT base had been set up.

The flames of lamps lit the area and others dressed like them were gathering there.

A fair number of people were there in addition to Izumo and Kazami, but Shinjou alone was absent.

“I see,” said Sayama with a nod as he caught his breath.

He would have to go find her.

Having made up his mind, Sayama looked over the people there once more.

There were about fifty people in all. They were mostly dressed in white armored uniforms, but there was a pair wearing black just like Siegfried. Ooshiro Itaru stood with his metal cane and Sf carried a large load on her back.

Itaru pushed his sunglasses up his nose and looked toward Sayama.

“So you came, you ignorant brat,” he said with a frown.

Sayama nodded and folded his arms.

“I have come in order to learn everything.”

That exchange caused the surrounding people to focus on them bit by bit. Sayama heard footsteps, the rustling of clothing, and the clattering of metal equipment as everyone turned toward them.

In response, Sayama threw out his chest and looked around at all of them. He took in all of their gazes and spoke.

“Is the special unit for the Leviathan Road here?”

“They are. For starters, there’s me.”

The person who stepped forward first was Izumo who had been standing right next to him.

“How about we check over the members of Team Leviathan real quick?”

He smiled as he held his large Cowling Sword.

“Okay. You can start by giving my name. I’d love it if you added ‘the Great’ afterward.”

“You are Izumo the Great Idiot.” Sayama waited for three seconds while staring at Izumo’s face from below. “Hm. You did not seem to love it.”

“Enough. I was an idiot to expect common sense from you.”

“Why are the two of you acting like idiots?” asked Kazami from next to Izumo.

Sayama looked toward her and Izumo.

“I suppose the two of you are like the forwards of the team.”

“Yes. Kaku and I take the vanguard during missions. Shinjou provides backup for the vanguard. And the rear guard…”

A figure a head taller than the rest stepped forward from the back of the crowd. He was a man with dark brown skin. He was bald and had a short beard on the very end of his chin. His armored uniform must not have fit him because the neck had been left open.

He walked forward and held out a hand.

When Sayama shook his hand, he felt great strength squeezing his hand. The man gave a smile and spoke.

“I am Robert Boldman. Despite the name, I am a second generation naturalized member of 6th-Gear.”

“He is a former major in the United States Air Force. He handles commanding and coordinating with the general division as well as backup during emergencies,” explained Kazami with a smile.

“His nickname is Baldy. No teasing him, okay?” said Izumo, also with a smile.

“I get the feeling you do not know the meaning of that word. Or is it just me?”

While still smiling, Kazami kicked Izumo away and called over the next member.

“This is Sibyl. You received a transmission from her, right?”

“Yes,” replied Sayama as the color of the surrounding light seemed to change.

A tall woman with long blonde hair stepped forward. She wore the female version of the white armored uniform and it had a skirt and long sleeves tightly attached. She turned her blue, drooping eyes toward Sayama.

“I am Sibyl. I am in charge of communications and maintaining equipment on site. I see you decided to come, Sayama-sama.”

She bowed and Sayama nodded in return.

“I did.”

That brought a smile to Sibyl’s lips and she took a silent step back.

In her place, Ooshiro Kazuo stepped forward with a notebook computer under his arm.

He raised his right thumb and Kazami gave a smile and a nod.

“That should be enough. Okay, next.”

“Ahh, Kazami-kun! That’s abuse of the elderly! You monster wife!”

“Shut up. Okay, the one who handles the controllers for concept spaces and things like that is-…”

Before Kazami had even finished speaking, Sayama found Ooki standing before him while wearing a white armored uniform.

For some reason, Ooki’s ears extended out to the sides.

Her eyes were bent in a smile. She held up a hand while looking toward Sayama.

“Hiiii!”

Sayama suddenly flicked her in the forehead with his right hand.

“O-ow!! Wh-what are you do-…ow ow ow ow ow!”

Sayama pulled on Ooki’s long ears, but they did not come off. They were real.

“What is this? Are you Ooki-sensei? Are you really her? If so, give me some proof.”

“Um…uh…well…proof? A-ahhh! I can’t come up with anything so quickly!”

“Damn. Only the real one would act this foolish. Okay then.” Sayama was still grabbing onto Ooki’s ears. “Why are you here, Ooki-sensei? This is a dangerous place. Hurry back to your Okutama apartment and exterminate the roach you said appeared in your kitchen. And take out your trash.”

“I-I already sprayed bug spray to deal with the roach! I still haven’t taken out the trash, though.” Ooki took a breath. “Anyway, I am a member of Team Leviathan. I have been here longer than you, and don’t you forget it.”

“In other words, you will be my subordinate.”

“Khh,” groaned Ooki and Sayama let go of her ears.

He looked over at Kazami for confirmation.

“Yes. Ooki-sensei is a 10th-Gear tree spirit. I don’t really understand it myself, but there you have it.”

“You didn’t have to say you don’t understand it.”

“That’s right, Kazami-kun. Ooki-kun does an excellent job. …Even if it looks like she only randomly pokes at the buttons.”

Everyone in the crowd began nodding and muttering in agreement with Ooshiro’s comment.

Ooki clenched her fists up at her shoulders.

“I don’t do it randomly! I do it as the ideas enter my head!”

“That’s called doing it randomly!” shouted back everyone in unison.

Sayama patted Ooki on her shoulders that had drooped in dejection.

“At any rate, you have given everyone a common factor they can relate to, Ooki-sensei. That is a wonderful thing.”

“I-I don’t want you to relate to that!”

Sayama ignored her objection and spoke.

“Now, everyone. Let us begin here.”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 26|Chapter 26]]
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Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 24

2026-07-19T03:25:04Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 24: Entrance to the Dance==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0275.png|thumb]]
''Begin moving ever so slowly

''And you will surely see

''The acceleration leading to the end

Sayama and Siegfried traveled to the western side of Japan.

The helicopter took them to IAI’s Tokyo branch. A plane took them from there to IAI’s central branch in Nagoya. They then took another helicopter to the Chugoku Mountains. They were headed for a base that had been constructed on the southern side of Mount Hyono.

Despite the roar of the helicopter, the roar of the wind, and the chill of the air, Sayama slept in the flight jacket he had been given.

And he saw the past.

“…”

In his sleep, he saw a quiet wooden room.

He recognized the room. It was the small room in 1st-Gear where the old man named Regin had lived.

It was dark within and the slate in the fireplace was emitting a slight crimson light.

In that pale, gentle light, two men faced each other.

The first was the old man whose room it was. Regin wore green clothes.

The other was a tall young man. Siegfried wore long, black clothes.

While pacing to and from the fireplace, Regin explained 1st-Gear’s state to Siegfried. Siegfried nodded in understanding at the old man’s words and Sayama could understand them from the images they brought to his mind.

In 1st-Gear, the king had feared the Concept War and therefore mass produced mechanical dragons for defense.

1st-Gear had extracted the world’s Concept Core for defense.

Most of the concepts within the Concept Core that related to writing had been placed in a weapons laboratory for research purposes. The concepts related to the construction of the world had been placed below the royal palace in order to manipulate the world.

And in case another Gear tried to invade, the holy sword Gram had been created to seal the Concept Core. Regin told all of this to Siegfried.

However, Regin stopped pacing, looked down, and closed his eyes.

“Even if we create an army, 1st-Gear does not have the manpower needed to defeat the other Gears.”

“How very wise. Unlike us.”

They both grinned bitterly at that.

But both of their bitter smiles came to an end.

Regin straightened his stance and faced Siegfried. He raised his head and looked up at the young man. No smile of any kind could be seen on his face.

“Princess Gutrune explained 1st-Gear’s structure to you, right?”

“Yes. It is an inward-facing world surrounded by a dome-shaped space.”

“Our king wishes to use 1st-Gear’s inward-facing concept to seal it off. He has said he wishes to take a nonaggression policy and then negotiate with the Gears remaining at the time of destruction, but I am doubtful that is what he truly intends to do.”

“Do you have any proof?”

“The holy sword Gram was supposed to be presented to him tonight at the festival, but he said it was unnecessary and had it sealed below the palace. He also said we would begin an absolute defense. I want to go see what he meant by that,” said Regin. “It would be simple for him to set our concepts so the Gear is closed off and the gates can never be opened again. He has the Concept Core after all. I want to see whether I am overthinking this, so I will check during the festival tonight when the king’s aides have either returned to their territories or are asleep.”

“If this is nothing but a baseless suspicion of yours, everything will be fine. But what will you do if the king is truly planning to do that?”

“I will have the princess take command.”

Siegfried’s expression changed when he heard that. It changed from tense to harsh.

Regin continued to speak as he stared directly at that expression.

“The princess has agreed. The others may call me a traitor, though.”

“Is this necessary?”

“Yes. And once this is all over…I will die without leaving any records of my actions with a storyteller. I will take all of the malice onto myself.”

“…”

“Don’t give me that look, youth from another world.”

“I was not giving you a look.”

Regin smiled a bit. And with that smile, he raised his head.

“The princess said she would make an agreement with your Gear if she ends up in a position of power. …She must really like the music you taught her to play on the keyboard.” He nodded. “Will you come with me? If the king is not planning to defend this Gear but is instead planning to shut the gates and be destroyed at the time of destruction, I will open the path to the underground concept facility and join with Fafnir, the mechanical dragon meant to guard the royal palace, so that I might take the Concept Core. You take Gram from the storage area behind the palace it is sealed in and head underground. If we are together, we have a better chance of overpowering him.”

“What about Gutrune and the others?”

“Let them sleep. This might result in betrayal. During the festival tonight, all the unneeded politicians will return to their homes. Imagine if the princess snuck into the palace in the middle of the night during that. It could not be passed off as a joke.”

Siegfried frowned and sighed.

“Regin, did you give no thought to the possibility of me betraying you? If I stole Gram and the Concept Core and then ran off, I could destroy this world.”

“If you try that, I will unite with Fafnir. Do you think you can handle that?”

“I have already defeated one mechanical dragon. I am the strongest sorcerer in my world.”

“I see,” said Regin. However, he still patted Siegfried’s shoulder. This produced two or three dry noises. “But Nein would never grow so fond of someone who would do that. That girl is the only surviving member of the long-lived race in this Gear. She is quite timid. She even kept some distance from the princess who took her in.”

Regin looked up above the fireplace. He looked at the birdcage covered by a knit cloth.

As he stared at it, his expression softened and he finally spoke.

“I hope this is all a misunderstanding on my part and nothing happens.”

His voice seemed to grow more distant.

Sayama felt his vision grow dark.

He awoke from the past. That old memory disappeared and the roar of a helicopter and the wind replaced it.

When he opened his eyes, Sayama saw the dark backseat of the helicopter and its ceiling.

The brisk air blowing by as well as the vibration and roaring engine told him they were still in flight.

Siegfried sat to his right. He was lifting up his collar and checking inside his coat. He seemed to be organizing the inner pocket.

Sayama checked his watch and saw it was almost 9:00 PM. The old man named Yonkichi who was navigating from the copilot seat turned around. He was the younger brother of Nijun who Sayama had seen in the medical room. His long black hair waved in the wind.

“Listen. We are about to enter the Osaka region,” he explained in a voice almost drowned out by the wind.

Sayama looked out the window.

He saw beads of light in the distance ahead. Those lights extending in an arch to port were the lights along the coast of Osaka Bay extending from Kobe to Osaka and off into the Sakai region.

Something similar to dark waves were visible directly below. Those waves were the mountains and forests illuminated by the moonlight. The speed of the helicopter caused the ground below to undulate like waves.

Sayama called on his geographical knowledge and speculated they were in the Ikoma Mountains.

He nodded. And as he did, the area below suddenly opened up. The forest came to an end and an open plain became visible.

Immediately afterwards, Sayama saw a large shadow in the sky to the side of the helicopter.

“…!?”

It was a huge shadow. It spread out across his entire vision like a wall. What he could see in the moonlight was a structure that was easily a kilometer wide. He looked up into the sky and the towering wall continued upwards. He could not see the top.

''…I recognize this.

“Babel!?”

As Sayama pressed up against the window, he heard a voice from the seat to his right.

“Do not be ridiculous. Babel exists within a concept space. You should not be able to see it.”

Sayama looked back out the window.

It was gone.

The giant tower he had seen so clearly a moment before had disappeared.

Sayama moved from the window in blank surprise. He heard Siegfried speaking behind him.

“Did your string vibration approach that concept space’s by coincidence? Or did Baku show it to you?”

It was impossible to say. Sayama looked down again and the grassy plain from before had disappeared.

He wondered how much of it had been real. And…

…''What even is “real” anyway?

As he thought, the lights of Sakai flowed by below them. Yonkichi spoke from the copilot seat.

“Listen. We will arrive in the danger zone in another five minutes.”

Brunhild sat on the edge of the cliff in the forest. She watched a light descend in the sky.

It was about five kilometers away. That light came from a manmade aircraft and it sank into the mountain range.

The wind blew in and a distant roar that sounded like waves reached her.

The light disappeared beyond the mountain range.

A small figure stood up next to where she sat. It was a black cat. He tilted his head.

“They sure are busy. Another one landed about ten minutes ago.”

“But I don’t think any more are coming. The sky is still.”

“Should we meet up with Fafner and the others?”

“Yes,” said Brunhild as she stood up.

As she did, she heard several shouts beyond the mountain to their backs.

Those shouts were followed by metal striking metal and gunfire.

Those sounds did not stop.

Brunhild’s eyes narrowed as she listened to those shouts and trembling noises.

“Those voices are ours. …We are pushing through.”

“Well, we are used to this area.”

The cat nodded and Brunhild began to walk. They walked toward the voices and noises.

But after taking a few steps, she looked over her shoulder. She turned toward where that light had descended.

She narrowed her eyes and a quiet voice escaped her lips.

“…Don’t come.”

Her begging voice was swallowed up by the wind and the sounds of gunfire carried by it.

The UCAT base was set up in a mountain campground.

Two helicopter landing areas had been created by using lights for markers in an open area that was messy due to it being the off season. A tent for containers and a tent for personnel had been set up at the mountainside entrance.

The artificial lights set up around the base shined white and the area outside that was wrapped in darkness. The helicopter rotors created an undulating wind and the intermittent noise of the air being chopped.

Sayama and Siegfried stood in the brightly lit space in front of the tent.

Sayama was no longer wearing his suit. He had changed into a UCAT anti-Gear combat uniform he had been given.

It was made up of a white body suit and thick, black tights. White shorts and a coat were worn over that. Its design was similar to the outfits of Izumo and Kazami at the Imperial Palace and Shinjou in the forest the night before last.

[[Image:OnC_v02_0285.png|thumb]]

As Baku sat on Sayama’s head, a small figure stepped out of the tent.

It was Chao. She demanded that the old man behind her explain the equipment.

He was an old man with short, white hair and a white coat. He had the same atmosphere about him as Nijun and Yonkichi. His narrow eyes bent.

“Hello, Sayama-sama. My name is Mitsuaki. How does your new outfit feel?”

“Not bad. It seems a little light, but that is necessary for marching.”

“It has been developed over sixty years.”

The plates, pads, and small bits of printed text placed at various points along it were made to display defensive power under most concepts.

“Did you not think about camouflaging it for covert operations? It seems to me white only makes you a target at night.”

“Tes. In the other Gears, there are a lot of people who do not see us by color. The uniform has philosopher’s stone camouflage that uses the concept of ‘difficult for opponents to see’. Any pattern such as camouflage that hides its individuality risks changing the ‘meaning’ of the uniform or the one wearing it while under certain concepts.”

He went on to explain that a unit testing camouflaged equipment had once fused with the forest floor and disappeared.

“So it is like modern armor.”

“Tes. To ensure your vision, the head is left exposed, but it is covered by a defensive…I suppose you could call it a field. No physical strike will break through it unless it has a very large amount of momentum or was conceptually changed to something else. However, the concept will let slower things through, so be careful during close quarters combat.”

“I see,” said Sayama with a nod before turning to Siegfried next to him.

Siegfried was dressed the same as he had been when he arrived. He wore long black clothes. Other than his black leather gloves, he had no equipment.

“Will you be okay in the mountains like that?”

“I am not the same as I was sixty years ago. A sorcerer’s strength is proportional to his age.” Siegfried smiled bitterly and turned to Chao. “Do you not have a weapon for him, Chao?”

“You’ll protect him, won’t you? Also, Sayama’s weapon is with the main unit up ahead.”

“…The main unit?”

“Yes. Izumo, Kazami, and the others went on up ahead. Go catch up to them.

When Sayama nodded, Chao grinned at him.

“You’re supposed to say ‘Tes’.”

She then took Sayama’s left arm. A bandage was wrapped around the arm from the wrist of the glove to the shoulder.

“You should be fine, but don’t push yourself. If you reopen the wound, we’ll just have to redo it.”

“Tes,” he replied and Chao smiled.

“Liar,” she said and smacked Sayama on the butt.

Another old man then entered the tent. He wore a similar white combat uniform to Sayama and held a white military rucksack. His wavy white hair was tied in the back. That hair waved as he looked toward Sayama.

“Would you look at that. I am Ikkou, the oldest of the four brothers.”

“All of you are kind of forgettable.”

“We worry about that too. We once tried to give ourselves some individuality by each using a unique speech pattern. Unfortunately, Yonkichi chose a speech pattern that…let’s just say it pissed us off. The three of us ended up beating the crap out of him. Ever since, we decided being forgettable might just be for the best.”

“I take it back. I think I will remember you all as a group, even if not individually.”

“Thank you very much. Now, this rucksack holds food and water. The side contains writing tools and a hand light. Also…we can no longer contact the frontline camp.”

Chao clicked her tongue.

“Sayama, listen up. I’m going to explain the route to you: Check your cell phone. That is all.”

Sayama checked the cell phone he had brought in his suit.

At some point, the LCD screen had begun to display a map of Mount Hyono.

“You most likely won’t be able to communicate using it while inside, but the bare minimum of philosopher’s stones packed inside allows it to function as a standalone databank. The manual is inside the memory and it can show you the marching route of our forces and the shortest route there. Understand?”

The map of Mount Hyono showed a curving line moving north while taking a detour around the mountain to the east. The line ended partway through and a small circle was drawn at that point.

“The other members have already gone ahead to the frontline camp. They likely began pursuing the Gram recovery team after that. Also, Shinjou arrived about ten minutes before you two.”

“Shinjou-kun did?”

“It seems she was late leaving UCAT. She came in on the helicopter next to yours. Try to hurry,” said Chao. “It would take quite something to destroy the frontline camp. Fafnir Custom is probably behind it. They’re probably already fighting, so hurry. You need to arrive before 1st-Gear finds the holy sword Gram.”

“Is it at all possible to move through the real world to avoid the danger and enter the concept space once we arrive at the point at which we need to be?”

“String vibrations originate at the center, so the center is like a mass of sound. If you jump in there, you’ll be destroyed and never be seen again. If your child string vibration was registered when the concept space was created, you could do that, but 1st-Gear created this one. Our only choice is to attack from the outside. Understand?”

“Tes. So it will not be that easy.”

Sayama nodded, took the rucksack, and placed it on his back.

He and Siegfried looked north toward the mountain. They looked at the dark forest and the dark blue night sky behind it. Sayama and the others began walking in that direction. They walked through the night wind that carried the scent of trees.

And just as they entered the forest, the watch on Sayama’s left wrist vibrated.

At the same time, he heard a voice.

—'''Writing has the ability to provide power.

This concept was stronger than any he had heard before.

And he heard something else along with it.

The air shook and a deep sound filled the sky. It was a distant explosion.

Sayama’s eyebrows moved and Siegfried spoke to him.

“We need to hurry. Izumo and Kazami are probably drawing the enemies toward them. Izumo is the heir to IAI and their weapons contain the Concept Cores of 6th and 10th. They would make decent bait.”

A slight clearing fifteen meters across existed within the forest.

It had become a battlefield.

A couple wearing white armored uniforms moved around in the center of that clearing. It was Izumo and Kazami.

They were colored white and black. The large sword and shield-equipped spear they wielded had the same colors.

White cloth was scattered about where they stood. That was the remains of the tent that had been set up there. A few bonfire-like flames existed on the torn and scattered white cloth.

“Ahh, how persistent are you!? Are you all idiots!?”

A different color filled their surroundings. That other color in the clearing, in the surrounding forest, and the sky above was a dark green declaring its presence below the moonlight. That was the color of the cloaks worn by those of 1st-Gear.

At a glance, it was clear there were easily fifty people wrapped in dark green.

The enemies moved and Izumo and Kazami moved. Their footsteps were sometimes light and sometimes heavy, but they moved quickly without ever stopping.

Izumo knocked away the enemies who approached while Kazami pierced the enemies beyond those or the ones behind them.

They heard a great number of footsteps and the rustling of the forest. Both were made up of countless small noises piled on top of each other.

Izumo blew away three approaching enemies with a low strike.

“Do you think everyone managed to escape?”

“I don’t know. Either way, the situation isn’t looking good.”

Kazami raised her eyebrows and looked to the fully-cowled single-edged spear and shield in her hands.

The white spear had a curving form and was labeled G-Sp2 on the side. The curving handle at the base of the blade had a small speedometer-like console on the top. Words were being displayed on the LCD screen there.

“Are you in trouble?”

“Yes, I am, G-Sp2. What do you think now that you’ve blown away a few of them?”

“They are powerful.”

“Do you not realize you’re 10th-Gear’s Concept Core?”

“V-Sw here thinks the same.”

Izumo held up the large single-edged Cowling Sword he held in his right hand. The console on the grip had words displayed on it.

“Is it fun? Is it fun?”

Kazami held the Cowling Lance G-Sp2 under her right arm and sighed. She held up the long, narrow shield in her left hand.

“They’re both like terrible pets.”

As she spoke, she stepped to the left.

As soon as she did, Izumo fired a shotgun in his left hand through the area Kazami had been standing in.

The sound of the shot and the sound of the impact came almost simultaneously.

A figure was blown away by the shot. The dark figure which had gotten up from the ground flew backwards with its jaw pointed to the heavens. It then collapsed flatly to the ground.

Izumo looked toward the flat figure collapsed on the ground.

“If they can hit shades, we must not have screwed up with our bullets. Their armor must change to match the impact of any attack.”

“Instead of increasing their defenses, it changes it into a form they can endure.”

Izumo holstered the shotgun at his waist. The inside of the holster automatically swapped out the magazine and it was ready for reuse in only two seconds. Once he heard the sound of the magazine exchange, Izumo drew the shotgun once more.

And an instant later…

“!”

Izumo threw the shotgun into the air and pushed Kazami to the side.

He jumped in the opposite direction of Kazami.

“Wh-what!?”

Before Kazami could complete her question, it came.

It was a black wind. It came from the ground and jumped up in an arc.

It appeared from the figure Izumo had defeated with the shotgun. And the form the shadow took was…

“A half-dragon!?”

“Indeed. Remember the name Fafner and then die.”

That two meter form that flapped its wings was filled with forward momentum.

The black half-dragon’s claws dug into the ground as it filled the space between them with a single step. He was targeting Izumo.

Izumo gasped when he saw a black Cowling Sword resting on Fafner’s shoulder.

A shimmering in the air rose from the black rectangular blade Fafner swung up.

Izumo read the word carved into the blade via the image it gave him.

“Pressure!”

The instant he shouted that, the power was swung down. The shimmering of the air swelled up along the path of the blade and became a striking weapon several meters across. Partway down, the shimmering swallowed up the shotgun Izumo had thrown into the air.

The shotgun scattered as if it had been made of sand.

However, Izumo could hear nothing but the loud sound of the shimmering consuming the atmosphere.

Izumo clenched his teeth and tried to swing up V-Sw.

Just as he did, he heard a shout pierce through the air.

It was a girl’s voice and the word it spoke was a demand for it all to stop.

“Nooooo!”

Even though he was in combat, Izumo looked away from Fafner.

A white figure stood in the forest to his right.

It was Shinjou.

Shinjou ignored how out of breath she was from running and held up her Cowling Staff.

She had to stop it.

She was panicking. However, that allowed her to ignore everything but what she had to do. She ignored the surrounding enemy forces turning toward her and she ignored her own lack of breath. She focused her mind forward.

She could see that distorted power being swung down toward Izumo.

Izumo was swinging his Cowling Sword from below, but it would all be over if he did not make it in time.

Shinjou held up her staff. She placed the central curving grip on her right shoulder and placed her hands along the triangular cannon extending forward.

“Kh…”

When she lowered her hips and looked forward, she saw three hardcover books bound to the top of the cannon that was labeled Ex-St. Each of them was a dictionary of a minor language and they were all first editions.

The dictionaries vibrated and a gun sight expanded in empty air before her eyes. It was a two-dimensional image that measured ten centimeters square. That display floating in midair showed Fafner and Izumo because the cannon was being aimed toward them.

The crosshairs in the center of the targeting image selected Fafner.

''Shoot,'' thought Shinjou.

She only had to squeeze the trigger on the side grip in her right hand. That would fire the staff’s power.

But she hesitated.

“…!”

For some reason, she could bring no strength into her fingertips.

…''Why!?

Her own memories responded to her surprised question.

It was not a clear answer. She recalled the face of the werewolf when it had looked at her in the forest the night before last.

She recalled the emotion on that beast’s face. The instant that face carved itself into the surface of her memories, Shinjou shouted out.

“Nooooo!”

She shouted at herself and closed her eyes. She tried to squeeze the trigger.

She tried to convince herself there was nothing in front of her and she was doing nothing more than squeezing the trigger.

A sudden question entered her mind.

''Why am I trying to fight?

She wondered if this was due to feeling guilty that she was using this fight to pursue her parents.

…''Or am I…

A thought suddenly came to Shinjou. That boy whose stance was the opposite of hers entered her mind.

“…”

She was surprised that she thought of him and she put her thoughts in order.

''No,'' she thought. ''I can’t choose to use my power with my eyes closed!

She did not understand the meaning of that thought, but she would no longer close her eyes.

She opened her eyes and looked forward.

In that instant, Shinjou’s vision was filled with destruction. The forest on the opposite side of the clearing from her was blown away.

The lines of trees snapped and something appeared from within the forest.

It was a white dragon.

“Fafnir Custom!?” shouted Shinjou.

In response to her shout, everything began to move.

And as a result, a single explosion occurred.

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 23|Chapter 23]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 25|Chapter 25]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 23

2026-07-18T03:12:23Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 23: Windy, Moon-Filled Sky==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0257.png|thumb]]
''Below the moon

''And amid the wind

''What exists along with the ground there?

Sayama and Shinjou walked through the school.

They walked along the gravel beside the line of trees behind the second year general school building. They were on their way to their student dorm.

As the moonlight poured down on him, Sayama held a paper bag and had Baku sitting on his head. Shinjou smiled empty-handed next to him.

“This may sound self-important, but my opinion of you has improved a bit, Sayama-kun.”

“Has it?”

“Yes. In my discussion with Ryouko-san, I learned you are surprisingly timid.”

“Why did that improve your opinion of me?” asked Sayama with a bitter smile.

Shinjou replied to that bitter smile. His own smile disappeared, but his expression was still relaxed.

“You have been thinking about something all this time, haven’t you? You have been constantly thinking about something important to you that you can’t tell me about. The reason you can’t make up your mind right away despite how important it is for you must be because it involves a connection with some other person. Am I right?” He took a breath. “When people grow timid when thinking about some other person, it is because they want to be with that person.”

One of the sets of footsteps stopped.

It was Sayama’s. He had stopped walking.

After taking two steps ahead, Shinjou turned around while bathing in the moonlight. Their eyes met. As Sayama received Shinjou’s gaze, he narrowed his eyes a bit and opened his mouth. He tried to say something in response.

“…”

But only silence fell to the ground from his mouth.

He hung his head down and nodded once. Sayama then looked back up. He looked back at Shinjou while making sure not to knock Baku from his head.

“You and your sister are interesting people. You know how to always hit me where it hurts and then you make me say what exactly it was that hurt.”

“Really…?”

“Yes, really. You managed to get right to the point I was most conflicted about.”

“What are you conflicted about, Sayama-kun?”

Sayama opened his mouth once more and finally gave an answer.

“I am conflicted because it seems giving up on trying to get serious would be for the best.”

“…Eh?”

“Everyone around me is saying I should just quit. I have no confidence in myself. The world I live in now is small, but it provides plenty of stimulation. Also…” He nodded. “If I am to get serious, I want someone to act as my mirror image. I want someone who is the opposite of me. …But that would be inviting that person into danger. In that case,” said Sayama. “Giving up would leave no problems. Other than the ones inside me.”

“I see,” said Shinjou with a nod.

But Shinjou lightly kicked the ground. He kicked away some of the white gravel making up the ground and turned toward Sayama once more. Shinjou’s eyebrows were straight, his gaze was straight, and he simply opened his mouth to ask a question.

“Are you…okay with that?”

He asked a question, but he did not try to get an answer.

He lightly embraced his own body and asked another question.

“Hey. About what you said before… Who is it you are thinking about?”

“Well…”

“Is it your mother who wanted you to do something one day? Is it Ryouko-san who cared for you even if for a short time? Or is it the person you do not want to invite into danger? The person who is your opposite…”

Shinjou opened his mouth and began to speak a certain name.

But an electronic tone cut in between the two of them.

It came from the cell phone in Sayama’s pocket. The electronic whistle sounded at set intervals as it called for him.

Shinjou and Sayama exchanged a glance.

Shinjou then nodded and approached Sayama. Once he reached arm length, he held out his hands.

Shinjou took the large bag from Sayama.

With his hands free, Sayama took the black cell phone from his pocket and held it to his ear.

“It is me.”

A voice came from the phone and entered Sayama’s ear.

It was a female voice he had never heard before. The voice uttered the following words.

“Hello, Sayama-sama. I am Sibyl, the communications officer for Japanese UCAT’s Team Leviathan.” After her introduction, the woman naming herself Sibyl said, “I would like to speak with you for a moment. Is that okay?”

“Of course,” said Sayama as he glanced toward Shinjou and then looked up into the sky. “What is it you need?”

“Tes. I would like either an acceptance or denial of an emergency deployment request,” said Sibyl. “Today at 18:37, contact was lost with the transport plane transporting the holy sword Gram as it flew over Mount Hyono on the eastern edge of the Chugoku Mountains. At 18:59, an expansive concept space was detected near Mount Hyono. No traces or wreckage of the plane have been found in the real world. It has likely been brought into the concept space.”

Sayama looked at his watch. It was 7:12 PM.

“What progress has been made in responding to this?”

“Tes. A letter claiming responsibility along with a commemorative photograph was received from 1st-Gear’s City faction. UCAT at IAI HQ is currently engaging a 1st-Gear advance unit while searching for the holy sword Gram. Team Leviathan’s supervisor, Ooshiro Itaru, has announced this will be used to truly begin the Leviathan Road.”

“I see. Then…is there anything I can do?”

“You have yet to accept the negotiation rights for the Leviathan Road. However, it has been determined that the issues with 1st-Gear will be decided in this battle. If you do not take part, we will view you as having abandoned your negotiation rights.”

“…”

“Please come to Akigawa City Central Park by 19:30. We will send a helicopter to pick you up.”

“And if I do not go?”

“We will cut off all connections with you, Sayama-sama.”

Sibyl then said the same thing she had said at the beginning of the conversation.

“Is that okay?”

“I cannot say Testament quite yet,” replied Sayama.

“Tes. A testament or contract is a great promise made by a master with a sword.<ref>The Japanese word for contract is written with the kanji 約 which means promise and the kanji 契 which can be broken down into the kanji for great (大), the kanji for master (主), and the kanji for sword (刀).</ref> It is a word used when you are aware of the power you hold and wish to confirm to the world who you are. You do not have much time, but I pray you can make your decision with no regrets. Goodbye.”

The call came to an end.

Sayama moved the cell phone from his ear and sighed.

He looked up at the school building that was colored a dark blue by the night. He then looked up into the night sky.

Baku fell from his head and to his shoulder and then looked up just as he was doing. They looked up into the sky where the moon floated.

''I need to decide,'' thought Sayama.

The moon shone white in the night sky and the stars and wind filled everything else.

Below all that, dark blue rectangular school buildings cut off the sky to the left and right.

Only a small section of the sky was visible from here.

“…”

If he lowered his gaze just a bit, he would see the emergency staircase on the side of the second year general school building.

Sayama thought as he looked down at that shadow cutting off the sky and at the small emergency staircase landing sticking out from it.

He wondered if the sky would look larger from that staircase.

…''It would not change.

He would only be changing his location as he looked at it. He would not be leaving the boundaries of the school building.

In the end, he had never chosen anything more than that.

“Is that…?”

Was that the answer to it all? He had been unable to hold any confidence or pride in his own actions and he had been unable to lead anyone deeply into the battlefield. And that was why he had never been able to get serious. He had settled for a small place.

That was what he had been doing all this time.

''I really am timid,'' thought Sayama.

However, that would solve everything. It was a small world and he could not afford to lose it.

That was the correct way of thinking.

And he was wrong.

That was all there was to it.

He had to decide. If he took Shinjou’s bag once more and returned to the dorm room with him, it would all be over.

Sayama hung his head down and looked to the ground.

And as he did, he realized something.

He realized his thinking was immature.

What had sent Sayama’s thoughts racing was down at his feet. His gaze that had fallen in resignation and what he saw there was the ground trapped between two school buildings. Or so it should have been. However…

“That is not what this is…”

Below his eyes and atop the gravel was something connected to the sky and the light that he had looked up at before. Something closely connected to that boxed off world of the heavens was falling at his feet.

It was a shadow.

“…”

The pale light of the moon sent his shadow atop the gravel.

And the surrounding school buildings also struck the ground with their own shadows at heights to match.

From here, the sky was boxed off.

But it was not closed off. It was connected to the ground at his feet.

“…”

Sayama looked back up into the heavens. He looked into that sky filled with pale light.

And he stepped on the ground at his feet. He stepped on that ground that was covered in shadows because it was connected to the sky.

There was light above his head and shadows below his feet.

The shadows of the night were nothing other than the opposite of the light of the night.

And as he began to close his eyes, he felt something else that connected the sky to the earth.

The wind.

It came suddenly.

“…Kh!”

He heard a roar and felt the cold air striking him.

That movement of air surrounded him. He heard it brushing across his ears.

This powerful and solid wind did not come from the west, the east, the south, or even the north.

It came from above.

“!”

This wind blew by at a high altitude, struck the wall of the school building, and dropped down.

He had no idea where this wind came from, but it danced around them and he heard a slight voice.

“Kyah!”

That light voice of surprise led Sayama to reach out a hand.

He reached out toward Shinjou who held his paper bag. Sayama pulled that body toward him and embraced him to protect him from the wind.

As the wind danced and dispersed, Sayama felt slender shoulders and a thin back. He felt Shinjou’s body temperature in his arms and the word “warm” came to his mind.

Shinjou suddenly went limp in his arms. The paper bag in Shinjou’s arms slipped and fell.

The gravel crunched as the bag fell. Shinjou sank into his arms and into his chest.

The wind died down and disappeared. A voice took its place.

“You’re going to decide…aren’t you?”

Sayama realized Shinjou was looking up at him. Shinjou’s hair was bound, but the wind had wrapped a few strands around Sayama’s arms. Shinjou’s black eyes stared directly at him.

Shinjou opened his mouth and reworded his previous statement.

“You’re on your way to decide, aren’t you?”

As Shinjou asked, his face shined in the moonlight. His face looked a pale white and his eyes looked blue.

Sayama met Shinjou’s gaze. He nodded and opened his mouth.

“Shinjou-kun,” he said. He spoke to the person who was as close to him as anyone ever had been. “I…” He hesitated. “I will likely get someone else involved with what I do.”

“Is that what has bothered you? Is that what you have been afraid of?”

Sayama nodded.

“Yes. I have been thinking about that. This person is important to me, but I am not sure they can handle the danger.”

“Sayama-kun, what do you think of this person?”

“They are important to me. As important as I am to myself.”

“I see,” said Shinjou with a sigh. He closed his eyes slightly and said, “Sayama-kun… You act like an evil person, but you are not.”

“Then what am I?”

“Well,” said Shinjou with a small nod.

The ends of his eyebrows lowered, but a smile could be seen on his lips.

His eyes narrowed and he raised his head to look Sayama in the eye.

“You are the villain. You merely play the role of the evil person.” He took a breath. “If you were a truly evil person, you would not hesitate to get others involved. But you do not do that.” He moved his lips once and then continued. “You are a welcome person to have around, Sayama-kun.” He nodded. “And I am sure the person you care so much for has realized that. I think that is why they tried to stop you. …But it is okay if you are a bit selfish when it comes to that person. Not as a villain, but as yourself.”

“I see,” said Sayama with a nod.

He removed his arms and released Shinjou.

Shinjou smiled bitterly while still lightly embracing his own body.

“C’mon… I am a boy, you know?”

“So am I.”

Shinjou’s shoulders drooped when he heard that.

“Which one did you want just now?”

“Some questions are best left unanswered, Shinjou-kun.” Sayama smiled and turned his back on Shinjou. “I will be going. And I will try to return as soon as I can.”

“Can I ask where you’re going?”

“Would you accept ‘where I must go’ as an answer?”

“Yes,” said Shinjou. He lightly raised a hand. “Do your best.”

Sayama nodded and ran off with Baku on his shoulder. Even as he left the school, he continued stepping on his own shadow.

Brunhild heard a series of footsteps through the darkness.

Her vision was closed off. All she could hear was a group of footsteps moving at a set tempo.

Her butt and legs felt the dampness of mossy dirt, her back felt the hardness of a cedar tree trunk, her arms felt the weight of a metal scythe’s blade and handle, and her cheeks felt a soft, damp sensation.

“…”

She opened her eyes and saw a color of darkness different from that of the inside of her eyelids.

She quickly grew accustomed to this new darkness.

She was in a forest. Trees made disorderly lines along a slope. She sat on a low cliff atop the slope.

She had been napping while leaning against a tree.

“You woke me, didn’t you?”

A small black form stood next to her face.

It was a black cat. Its eyes alone shined yellow in the darkness. They informed her of the cat’s location and expression.

“Brunhild, everyone has begun to move.”

She sat up and looked down. She looked down to the forest on the shallow slope a few meters below. Many, many dark figures were walking through that forest. They were all headed in the same direction: east.

Some of them had human forms. Some did not. Some had wings, some looked human but were too large to be, and some looked like dragons.

“This…isn’t everyone. The others are gathering with the vanguard that went in first.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that… So have they found Gram?”

“It apparently fell to the east inside the concept space that Venerable Hagen set up. As did the mechanism for making it invisible. All of it was read in while the concept space was being created.”

“I see,” said the cat as it watched Brunhild sit all the way up and wrap her arms around her knees.

“A concept analysis is being carried out based on the records created from Venerable Hagen reading in the transport plane. Once that is complete, we should know what concepts are being used to hide Gram. I just hope the search team has not passed it by already.”

“So everyone is really motivated, but they’re all just heading randomly in a general direction?”

“Don’t say it like that. There is nothing wrong with advancing an army as long as it lets us acquire Gram.” Brunhild nodded. “We will eliminate UCAT when they arrive. I assume Fafner and the others have already begun fighting.”

“Yes, I saw that. …He seemed really excited.”

Brunhild sighed. She watched everyone marching by below and then looked up into the sky.

She saw the moon there. She saw the light there.

“That light is in the way,” she muttered.

Having that light there during the night created shadows that were different from darkness and made it more difficult to know one’s surroundings.

“Darkness should be nothing more than darkness.”

“I wonder if Siegfried will come,” said the black cat suddenly.

“It doesn’t matter. We have already done what we had to do,” said Brunhild as she embraced Requiem Sense in her arms.

She looked up at the moonlight, but was unable to bring an end to that light.

Sayama ran below the moonlight.

His footsteps reverberated throughout Akigawa City Central Park located on the southern end of Taka-Akita Academy’s grounds. That central park was located on Itsukaichi Road which connected the academy grounds with the outside world. The park also contained a track-and-field stadium.

If a helicopter was landing, it would be there.

Sayama ran through the park which was surrounded by trees, kicked off the red brick ground, and made his way to the stadium.

He could see his footing thanks to the moonlight and the outdoor lighting. His footsteps and breathing expressed all of his actions.

He hurried.

His watch said it was 7:28 PM. He was already at his destination, so running any further would be pointless.

And yet he hurried.

He arrived at the stadium’s seats. He made his way out from the shadows of the trees, ran between the lines of seats, and leaped onto the track with a single footstep. He landed with a soft sound and found himself surrounded by red clay and white lines. In the center was a grassy opening.

''I made it,'' thought Sayama.

And…

“I have to go,” he muttered before walking instead of running.

He walked toward the center of the stadium.

Strength entered his right arm. Pain entered his left. But…

…''I can move it.

That was good enough. He used both his hands freely for the first time in a while. Sayama placed Baku in his vest’s breast pocket and grabbed his coat collar with both hands while continuing to walk.

After forcefully raising his hands he swung them to the left and right. The material of the sleeves stretched and created a sound similar to striking a piece of paper.

After fixing his disheveled clothing and creating that clear noise, he lowered his arms to his sides.

Sayama’s leather shoes created loud footsteps as he walked through the gentle wind. He headed for the center of the stadium. He headed for the very center which was lit up in four directions by outdoor lights.

Sayama looked at his destination. A single person stood there.

It was a tall old man. He had a bald head and a white beard. He wore his usual black vest, black trousers, and a black coat.

Sayama spoke as he approached that man whose black clothing was fluttering in the wind.

“Good evening, Sorcerer Siegfried Zonburg.”

Siegfried nodded as his name was called.

And he looked up into the sky. Sayama followed his gaze up.

A shadow could be seen flying toward them in the white moon floating in the heavens.

That dark, long, and narrow form was the shadow of a helicopter.

Wind blew down from above and an intermittent noise reverberated throughout the stadium.

The wind and noise danced about, tore up the surrounding grass, and caused that grass to fly about like horizontal rain.

Amid that, Siegfried opened his mouth. He spoke in a clear tone.

“Welcome to the place you have chosen, Sayama Mikoto.”

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 22|Chapter 22]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 24|Chapter 24]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 22

2026-07-17T01:55:20Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 22: Unforgettable Secrets==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0235.png|thumb]]
''Memories can be made into words

''But they do not need to be made into words

''That is why our desire to know more of them never ends

Sayama stood in the city with Shinjou Setsu as the sun set.

Sayama was wearing a suit as usual. Shinjou was wearing a shirt and brown shorts.

Sayama was using both arms to hold the paper bag from a hobby center that Shinjou should have been carrying. Baku sat on his head.

They stood before a large estate surrounded by a green fence. They were looking at the side of the estate. They could see a large lawn with pine trees, cherry trees, and garden stones. The main building beyond that was a large tile-roofed Japanese-style house.

The area around it was growing dark, but the estate was brightly lit by the light coming from the sliding doors and windows.

Shinjou looked back and forth across the one hundred meter fence.

“Wow… Th-this is your house, Sayama-kun?”

“It is not my house. This is the Tamiya family’s house. They control the underside of Akigawa city and the surrounding areas. To put it simply, they are a vigilante group. They run a security company as their foundation.”

“That’s amazing.”

Sayama looked at Shinjou and lifted up the paper bag in his arms a bit.

“I was thinking of eating dinner here to apologize for today. Is that okay with you?”

Shinjou looked up at him. Finally, he bent his eyes and showed his teeth in a smile.

“Sure. I would love that.”

Shinjou held out his hands. He seemed to be asking to take back his bag, but Sayama smiled bitterly.

“I decided to carry this of my own free will. And I need to show a guest proper courtesy.”

“I suppose so… Thanks. I’ve never been in an estate like this before.”

“This place can also be used for celebrations after various events. There is nothing to fear. Although, Izumo was once attacked by a selectively bred alligator after diving into the pond.”

“I’ll ignore that last part, but why don’t you go to school from here?”

“It is my grandfather the Tamiya family is indebted to. They will not tell me much about it, but it seems they would have been destroyed if it were not for him. …But my grandfather’s achievements have nothing to do with me.”

“You’re really strict… Do you not think of them as family?”

“It would be nice if I could. Now, the gate is this way.”

Sayama pointed to the eastern end of the fence with his chin. Shinjou looked up above his head and laughed.

“What is it?”

“He copied you up on your head.”

“Oh, Baku did? He seems to be gradually taking a liking to me.”

“Everyone and everything around you is strange, isn’t it?”

“Yes, and that causes unending troubles for a normal person like me.”

“Y-yeah…” said Shinjou as he averted his gaze.

Sayama nodded just as a voice came from the estate’s entrance to the east.

“…!”

They had not been able to understand it, but someone was yelling. They looked and, in the center of the eastern fence, a large black car was stopped in front of the small wooden gate. A young man and woman were dealing with a fat elderly man in between the gate and the car.

“What is going on? Is it what you call a turf war?”

“Where did you learn that term? Anyway, this is nothing so serious. That is Tamiya Kouji and Ryouko. Those siblings are the current supporting pillars of the Tamiya family. I do not know who that man is, but just watch.” Sayama watched the young man wearing a colored shirt and suit pants and the young woman wearing a blue kimono. “I am still too inexperienced to think of them as family.”

The woman wearing a blue kimono stood with her back to the lights of the estate. Her narrow drooping eyes were covered by glasses and watched the black car and the elderly man standing in front of it.

His fat body was covered by a gray three-piece suit and a white scarf. He held a cigarette in his mouth.

The blue kimono-wearing woman spoke to the man in a gentle voice.

“I am glad you appear to be in good health, president.”

“I don’t care if you call me fat and bald, Tamiya Ryouko-san. I am here about-…”

“Yes,” nodded Ryouko. She placed a hand on the hair pulled back behind her head in a bun. “One of your young members seemed to have had some late-night business with one of the companies we protect.”

“Yes, that. As I said before, that is a misunderstanding, so-…”

“Unfortunately, well, the issue has already been handed over to the police.” Ryouko brought her hands together in front of her waist and smiled. “Trust matters most to us. We cannot go back on this now.”

“Are you stupid? I’m not talking about your convenience.” The elderly man’s tone gradually dropped as he glared up at Ryouko. “If you youngsters think you can get away with this using who your predecessors were-..”

“Good point,” said Ryouko while still smiling. “President, how much longer is this speech going to last?”

That comment silenced the man slightly and he pulled his cigarette from his mouth.

“Damn you…”

As soon as he opened his mouth, Ryouko took action.

She took a step forward and pressed the cigarette in his hand against her chest.

“Oh, dear. That is quite hot.”

With a slight sound of burning, a hole was created in the kimono. The man frantically pulled his hand back.

“Y-you idiot…” he started to say, but Ryouko’s eyes narrowed further behind her glasses.

“You mustn’t suddenly touch a woman’s chest.”

While still smiling, Ryouko raised a hand too fast to see.

That instantaneous movement came to a stop. By that time, something other than a cigarette was sticking into the elderly man’s opened mouth.

It was a mass of black metal. It was a handgun.

Ryouko suddenly squeezed the trigger.

“…!”

The man let out a voiceless cry and the gun’s hammer shook.

“Oh?”

[[Image:OnC_v02_0241.png|thumb]]

Ryouko tilted her head.

She could not pull the trigger. Her slender finger had tried to attack, but the trigger stopped after moving a few millimeters. The man breathed erratically and adjusted his hips that were about to crumble beneath him. And then Ryouko spoke to her younger brother who stood next to her.

“Kouji, this thing’s broken.”

“What a pain,” said the young man in a navy blue shirt and with a crew cut. “Um, sister.”

“Yes, Kouji? What am I supposed to do at times like this?”

As the two siblings spoke, the elderly man slowly raised his hands. He was trying to remove the handgun from his mouth and hold Ryouko’s hands back. He calculated the timing, calmed himself with three deep breaths, and tried to take action.

At the same moment, Kouji nodded and answered his older sister’s question.

“You turn off the safety. Didn’t I teach you that before?”

“Oh, that’s right, that’s right. I was too quick to think it was broken,” she said delightedly. She then overcame the elderly man’s actions and removed the safety. “Sorry about the delay.”

And she pulled the trigger. She fired six shots all at once. Repeated gunshots rang out and the man trembled.

As the final gunshot faded into the sky, the elderly man collapsed as if crouching down.

At the same time, the driver’s door of the black car opened.

“D-damn you!”

The young driver charged out of the car.

The instant he reached into his pocket, an object seemed to grow from the hood of the car.

With a metallic noise, a single carving knife had stabbed into the hood.

The driver froze in place with his hand still in his pocket.

He stared at the knife before him and the person who had thrown it.

Tamiya Kouji lightly held his right hand toward the driver.

“I apologize, but our family is currently preparing a meal for some guests and therefore preparing for battle.”

As he spoke, something that glittered hung down from Kouji’s hand. It was a cooking knife with a rectangular blade.

He closed his eyelids a bit as the blade hung down between his index finger and middle finger.

“I was in the middle of chopping cabbage. If I do not continue soon, the poor thing will wilt.”

Ryouko then spoke from where she was crouched down next to the collapsed elderly man.

“Oh?” She turned toward Kouji and lightly tapped the knife blade in his hand. “Kouji, Kouji. This didn’t shoot any bullets.”

Smoke could be seen rising from the elderly man’s mouth, but no real harm seemed to have come to him. Kouji stood next to the man who was breathing smoke.

“I put blanks in it. You can have real bullets once you learn how to use a gun.”

“C’mon, Kouji. Why do you always treat your big sister like a child?”

“If you want that to change, sister, then learn how to use a gun. Not to mention the video player, the stove, the stereo, and the washing machine.”

“I’m no good with machines that have more than two steps.”

As Ryouko tapped on Kouji’s knee, the knife fell from his hand.

“Ah,” said the siblings.

“Ahhh!” cried the driver.

The knife stabbed down just above the elderly man’s head.

A clear sound rang out.

The rectangular blade stabbed about five centimeters into the asphalt and stopped while digging shallowly into the man’s hair.

The driver frantically ran around the car. As the three of them watched on, the elderly man lay on his back with his limbs sprawled out. His eyes were opened wide and both corners of his smoke-spewing mouth were lifted up.

“How strange. He somehow looks quite satisfied,” commented Ryouko as she stroked the handle of the knife sticking into the ground.

“I-idiot!”

The driver frantically tried to help the elderly man up, but Ryouko looked up at him and smiled.

“Idiot?”

“Oh, um. No. I meant… I was saying I’m an idiot. Sorry.”

“I see… But you shouldn’t point out that kind of thing about yourself.”

“Sister, you’re just agreeing that he is an idiot.”

“Am I?”

Ryouko pulled a small black device from her pocket. It was a simple single-button camera.

She took a few pictures of the elderly man without using the flash and the smile in the eyes behind her glasses changed to a satisfied one.

“At any rate, you can leave now.”

Without saying anything, the driver put the elderly man in the backseat. Meanwhile, Kouji wordlessly pulled the knife out of the car’s hood and suddenly looked to the side.

“Oh, young master,” he said with a bow.

Ryouko turned around upon hearing Kouji’s voice and the car quickly drove away.

As the sound of exhaust grew more distant, two figures stood before them.

One was a boy wearing a suit and holding a brown paper bag. The other was wearing a shirt and shorts. The second figure folded his hands in front of his waist with a stiff smile.

The suit-wearing boy smiled and said, “I am glad to see you have not changed. We are here for dinner.”

After entering the Tamiya household, Shinjou ended up helping prepare dinner.

Everything Shinjou saw there left his mouth hanging open. All he had seen so far was the sprawling entranceway, the hallway five people could walk abreast through, and the kitchen which had two sinks. He also saw men and women servants who accomplished everything with no wasted movements.

Shinjou was short and he greeted those tall people with a smile before helping in the kitchen.

Sayama was in the living room next to the kitchen. Shinjou could see his back across the wide hallway where he was sitting on a cushion and reading a newspaper.

Shinjou peeled potatoes in between Kouji and Ryouko who had changed into an orange kimono.

Kouji wore an apron to Shinjou’s left. The movements of his hands were quick, efficient, and highly varied. As Shinjou watched, he sliced the vegetables, fish, and other meat the servants brought him, washed them in the sink, and moved on to his next action.

The repeated sounds of the knife striking the chopping board, the sounds of the ingredient being sliced, and the sounds of the sink seemed to continue without end.

To Shinjou’s right, Ryouko had taken up her position in front of a pot sitting over a weak flame. She was not doing anything, but…

“Okay, sister. Move out of the way. The fish is burning.”

“Kouji, you’re treating me like I’m in the way again. The older sister is more important.”

“Yes, you are quite important. But you’re still in the way.”

“You’re acting like the young master now, Kouji.”

“I am still more decisive,” called Sayama from the living room.

“Kouji, where are Seizou and the others?”

“They went to Atami for the neighborhood association trip. He said he was looking forward to the Atagawa Tropical & Alligator Garden and for some reason brought a shotgun with him.”

“What an airheaded family,” Shinjou muttered to himself as he peeled the potato before his eyes.

Ryouko restlessly looked like she wanted to help.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Sister, you can focus on what’s right in front of you.”

“Watching something boil is boring.”

“Yes, yes,” nodded Kouji. “But everyone says it tastes better when you cook it.”

“Really?”

Ryouko smiled in Shinjou’s direction and he tried to avoid commenting on that.

“…Are things always like this here?”

“Yes. The young master has not been around recently, but we have been enjoying ourselves well enough.”

Shinjou nodded and realized Ryouko’s tone of voice was different when speaking to him than it was when speaking to Kouji or Sayama.

Shinjou nodded even deeper for that reason and others.

“What kind of person is Sayama-kun?” he asked.

Kouji’s hands stopped when he heard that question. He stared forward with a serious expression.

“The young master is the type of person who will undoubtedly accomplish something great. I have no proof of it, but I have no doubts.”

“Wh-what do you…?”

“Setsu-kun, feel free to back away. Kouji is a bit right-wing when it comes to the young master.”

Ryouko held Shinjou’s shoulders from behind while saying this, so Shinjou was unsure how to respond. Ryouko then peered over his shoulder at him. Her eyes were gently bent in a smile behind the glasses.

“What kind of person are you, Setsu-kun?”

“Um…”

Shinjou’s hands holding the potato and the knife stopped moving.

At that time, Shinjou realized Ryouko’s gaze was stopped on the fingers of his right hand.

As Ryouko looked at that completely bare right hand, she suddenly let go of Shinjou’s shoulders.

“Sorry. I should not keep you from your work.”

“R-right.”

Shinjou began peeling the potato once more. He heard the pot to the left spewing steam and Kouji left the kitchen.

Shinjou was now alone with Ryouko.

He looked over and saw Ryouko was staring at the pot with a smile.

“Cooking is love~,” she muttered as if humming.

From the look in her eyes, it seemed she truly meant those words. Shinjou decided it would be wrong to interrupt her work if she was that into it, but he then realized he had not answered Ryouko’s previous question. He spoke while continuing to peel potatoes.

“I…don’t know that much about myself. I have no memories before about the age of six.”

“Is that so? But you will be fine here. They might have their memories, but a lot of people here have no ID.”

“I-I see…”

“Hee hee,” laughed Ryouko. “But it is not often that the young master holds an interest in another person.”

Shinjou listened to Ryouko’s voice. She spoke so quietly only the two of them could hear it.

“He seems interested in you and your sister.”

“Eh?” replied Shinjou while blushing.

Ryouko smiled bitterly while still watching the pot.

“I think it is a good thing. But it seems he really was traumatized when it comes to women…”

“What do you mean traumatized?”

“Well,” said Ryouko casually. “I slept with him a long time ago.”

Shinjou’s hands stopped moving. He could feel sweat appearing all over his body.

“U-um…uh…”

“Hm? …You shouldn’t stop working.”

Shinjou began peeling the potato once more. However, he could not bring much strength into his hands and had to focus on digging an eye from the potato.

Ryouko gave a bitter smile while watching his small motions.

“Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. And it happened ten years ago.”

“But ten years ago would mean…”

“I was young back then. I am still quite young now, though.”

Ryouko spoke that last sentence with more intensity as she continued to watch the pot. She suddenly stirred the contents of the pot with a pair of cooking chopsticks. Steam rose and the scent of both soy sauce and sugar came with it.

“I had fallen for the young master’s father. But his father died during the relief operations for that great Kansai earthquake. Then his mother took him and…” She nodded. “At that time, his grandfather was devoting all his time to work, so the young master seemed depressed. And so…well, you get the picture.”

“Was Sayama-kun really depressed?”

“He had a bit of a backlash. He was very attached to his mother after his father died, but his mother would often tell him she hoped he would be able to do something one day. But that was not a promise. I think it was just a parent’s hopes for her child. But…” Ryouko trailed off and paused before continuing. “The room he stayed in with his mother is still left unopened.”

“…”

“But the young master really is a boy. He tried to take responsibility with me. But he is smart, so he realized something.”

“What was that?”

“He realized that I did not want that.”

“So…”

“I think he thought no one was expecting anything of him. And that was why he always wanted to be able to do something someday.”

And…

“Am I talking too much?”

After thinking for a moment, Shinjou nodded, but he spoke with his head hanging down.

“Sayama-kun only speaks about himself like a stranger.”

“Do you want to know about him?”

“Yes…”

“I see,” was all Ryouko said. Her shoulders relaxed and she continued. “I would love for someone like that to be by his side. Someone who hopes for something from him.”

“…”

“He left to live in the dorms and I became the head of the Tamiya family. Since then, he has managed to speak with me again…and now he has brought a friend like you, Setsu-kun. However…”

Ryouko faced Shinjou while continuing to stir the pot with the chopsticks. Her smile was thin and could be seen in her eyes.

Her lips thinly covered in lipstick opened and she spoke.

“Listen. I am his ally, but I do not intend to pressure you into anything. And if he attacks you, it may have been my fault that he turned in that direction, so complain to me rather than him. If possible, it would be best if he attacked your sister instead.”

“What do you mean it would be best!? Also, Sayama-kun and I are normal friends!”

“I see. So you are normal friends.” Ryouko gave a deep nod and a smile returned to her face. “So having your friend pull on your penis in the bath is normal. Friendship has made some amazing advancements.”

“S-Sayama-kun! What are you telling people!?”

Shinjou heard a newspaper folding in the living room.

“I only told the truth. I asked them to hold a feast so that I could apologize for angering you.”

Shinjou’s shoulder’s drooped and he let out a deep sigh.

The next thing he knew, strength had returned to his hands.

The Kinugasa Library was filled with the chirping of a bird as Siegfried placed down a phone receiver.

“So the transport plane carrying Gram has taken off,” he muttered to himself.

At that time, a knock came at the library door, it opened, and a single figure entered. It was Ooki who was wearing a white track suit. Siegfried tilted his head.

“Are you locking up again, Ooki-sensei? We have janitors for that.”

“There is still so much about this school I can’t get used to.” Ooki smiled with a ring of keys in hand. “Have you seen Brunhild-san?”

“Yes. She said she had some business to take care of and left. She said she will return tomorrow morning.”

“I see… It seems she hasn’t submitted her dorm registration for next term yet. I just locked up upstairs, but the art room was sitting open.” She tilted her head. “Her painting was finished. The forest had a cabin, four people, and a bird.”

“I see.”

Siegfried looked down at the cardboard box on the counter. Ooki followed his gaze and walked over to the box.

“Oh, it’s a Japanese tit.”

“Hm? Do you know a lot about birds?”

“Yes. There are tons of trees back home, so I know a lot!” Ooki clicked her tongue several times, held a hand out toward the bird, and narrowed her eyes. “You were taking care of this bird all last night, weren’t you? That’s why you were in the music room in the morning.”

“Oh?” Siegfried’s eyebrows raised. “You noticed? But you have only been here for a short time.”

“Yes. I heard it was two years ago, before I arrived at the school, that you started going to the music room every weekend and day off.” Ooki closed her eyes and smiled as she spoke quietly. “Do you have some reason? Is there someone you want to hear that organ music?”

Two figures stood before the gate leading into the Tamiya household.

It was Ryouko and Kouji who had removed his apron. They were watching Sayama and Shinjou leave.

“They’re gone. …Kouji, you need to make sure people stick around longer.”

“Sister, you’re the one that is bad at keeping people around. Young people these days aren’t interested in Chogokin models.”

“And I just got it from a customer, too. That ‘Giant Combining God Chuck and Norris’ is really rare. But,” continued Ryouko as she smiled and brought a hand to her cheek. “Setsu-kun seemed to be getting along well with the young master.”

“Just to be clear, sister, Setsu-kun is a guy.”

“What’s wrong with that? He has a sister too, remember? The young master should be plenty satisfied with that.”

“Satisfied with what? From what I could see, Setsu-kun and his sister Sadame-kun are normal.”

“You’re so scary when you look at me from the side like that. You need to learn from your sister how to be gentler.”

Kouji sighed.

“Fine, fine.” He patted his sister’s shoulder. “But I saw a suspicious look on your face when you looked at Setsu-kun’s right hand. What was that about?”

“Oh… I have a bit of a connection to someone named Shinjou… It’s someone else, though. That person is dead, so I won’t say anything. …Anyway, anyway.” Ryouko tilted her head and held up her right hand. “Setsu-kun’s finger had a slight mark from where he had been wearing a ring.” The smile had disappeared from Ryouko’s face. “It wouldn’t be that odd for him to wear it to be fashionable, but if not, isn’t it weird that he wasn’t wearing it? …I wonder why that is?”

Despite her question, Ryouko’s slight smile returned and she looked straight at her younger brother.

“Well, I’m sure the young master will do something.”

The moon rose in the night sky.

Its pale light lit the mountains and a single shadow flew above them.

This object with large wings and a thick body was a transport plane with four engines.

The aircraft bathed in the moonlight as it flew high, high above the forest-covered countryside. The noise reverberated far above and descended from the sky like a stain.

The aircraft appeared to cross over the moon.

And in that moment, a white line stretched up from below.

Even as the line grew blurred, it continued on diagonally upward, pierced through the aircraft, and seemed to split the moon in two.

It took five seconds.

After that, a crimson flower bud appeared in the sky.

And a great noise descended.

It was a muffled yet loud noise.

It was the sound of an explosion at high altitude.

That crimson bud bloomed into a crimson flower, but the flower petals quickly shriveled up and grew black.

The two colors of crimson and black scattered in multiple forms and dropped while trailing the color black. They fell down and down, they scattered, they spun, they slipped, and they tumbled through the sky and into the depths of the shadows.

It fell. It fell further. And even as it fell into the dark forest spreading out below, the moonlight covered it all.

It had fallen.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 21|Chapter 21]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 23|Chapter 23]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 21

2026-07-16T05:00:49Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 21: The Path to Relief==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0203.png|thumb]]
''When one steps off that path

''Pain appears before one’s eyes

''So what happens if one wishes for pain?

Sayama returned to the school and walked to the Kinugasa Library.

He took a seat at a table near the counter, opened a book, and read through it.

He placed one side of the book on the table and flipped through the pages with only his right arm. It was the first volume of the mythology research books written by Kinugasa Tenkyou. He was reading the portion related to the Nibelungen epic poem.

The old letterpress printing style caused the pictures to bleed through the pages, but it was easy enough to make out the writing.

The Nibelungen was a European epic primarily passed down in Germany that was based on the Norse legend known as the Volsunga Saga.

“According to the saga, a young man named Sigurd trained under a man named Regin and slayed a dragon named Fafnir with the holy sword Gram he was given. When he drank some of Fafnir’s blood, he became able to hear the voices of animals. The birds informed him that Regin planned to kill him to take the honor for himself.”

He flipped the page.

“After killing Regin, Sigurd fell in love with a woman named Brynhildr, but he was made to forget her with magic and he instead chose a woman named Gudrun. However, Brynhildr resented him when she found out and decided to destroy them all.”

As Sayama closed the book, another voice continued the story.

“In the saga, Sigurd was killed by an assassin in his sleep, but in the epic poem, he died after being stabbed through the heart from the spot on the left of his back that had not been covered in Fafnir’s blood due to a leaf falling there.”

Those words were spoken by the tall man holding a paper cup behind the counter.

Sayama turned toward him and asked, “This has a few terms in common with reality. …Have you ever noticed that? In German, Sigurd has the name Siegfried. And Gudrun is Gutrune. …Has anyone else checked on those terms in common?”

“No, they have not.”

“I see.” Sayama tapped the spine of the hardcover book. “I suppose that would also be the answer if there was no need to check.”

The slight tapping noise caused Baku to raise his head and emulate it by tapping Sayama’s shoulder. Sayama smiled bitterly.

“What does it feel like to be hated?”

Siegfried took a sip from his cup before answering.

“The one saving grace is that all that enmity will end when I die. I have been targeted a few times in the past, but they were not ideal, so I did not die.”

“Hah. You have quite the troublesome death wish. …So what kind of death do you want?”

“Being killed by someone I betrayed and still hates me would simply be too horrible for me to accept. That would be identical to Sigurd’s death.”

Siegfried placed his cup on the counter and laughed at the hard sound of the paper.

“Sayama Mikoto, give this thought. Give this serious thought. Being hated will be inevitable. The question is how small you can make that grudge and who it is that will understand you.”

“And did you fail on both counts?”

Siegfried remained silent, so Sayama sighed.

“What a troublesome idea. Being an adult really is troublesome. You knew something like this could be waiting for you, so why?”

Sayama turned toward Siegfried. And he slowly spoke as if to himself.

“Why did you get involved in the Concept War?”

In the center of Sayama’s vision, the old man stared directly back at him and did not move.

Sayama waited. He waited for his words to vanish from the air of that library.

And once everything had returned to silence, his answer came.

“That was after I had managed to escape fighting in World War Two. I knew all too well that I would lose something if I fought. I did not want any more war. However…”

Siegfried trailed off, but he did not stop. He shook his head and continued.

“Everyone has their own reason for fighting. There is no meaning in me telling you mine. No matter how many ideals they hold, a human will die from a single bullet. When you see that truth before your eyes, you will see what your true motives are.”

“You mean I will see what is worth risking losing my life to a single bullet?”

Siegfried nodded.

“I will not tell you not to fear death. But do not look back. If you want to remain an idealist, do not step onto the battlefield. And if you do step onto the battlefield, do not die. Do you understand what I mean, at least somewhat? You have experienced the battlefield twice now due to our skirmishes with 1st-Gear. What did you think of the people there and of yourself?”

Sayama nodded, thought about the werewolf and the knight, and finally thought about Shinjou.

He kept in his heart the thought of her trembling yet still stepping onto the battlefield and then he tried to say something.

“…”

He was unable to say it.

However, he understood what he and she had in common. He understood what it was they both wanted.

“A battlefield on which we might die, hm?”

There was no doubting what they would find there.

Everything else was up to him. With that in mind, Sayama stood up.

“Thank you. You helped guide me in the right direction.”

He slid the book across the table and grabbed it in his right hand as it began to fall off the edge. His left arm was still not fully healed.

With the book hanging down from his right hand, Sayama walked toward the shelf of books by Kinugasa.

And as he did, he looked outside the narrow portion of window visible between the bookshelves.

The window showed the sun to the southwest and a figure jogging down the road toward the main entrance.

It was Shinjou Setsu. He had his hair bound behind his neck and he held a wash basin and a towel in front of his chest.

…''Is he visiting the public bath I told him about last night?

It was quite early for a bath. A glance at his watch told him it was 4:30 PM.

Just as he began to wonder why Shinjou would take a bath so early, a thought came to Sayama.

“Is he actually her?”

“Did you just say something rather odd?”

Sayama ignored the old man.

…''Is that why he is bathing while no one else will be around?

It was only a hypothesis. He would never find the answer if he did not check.

And that meant he had to go. He had to check once more whether Shinjou Setsu was actually Shinjou Sadame.

He made up his mind and began to move.

“…”

Sayama quickly returned the book to the bookshelf and took quick steps across the library.

His footsteps were loud and Siegfried frowned.

“Excuse me,” said Sayama with a wave of the arm.

Leaving the library and running back to the student dorm would take two minutes. If he chased after Shinjou, he would arrive just as the boy was entering the bathtub. He would be able to catch him in the act.

Sayama would be victorious. With that in mind, he opened the library door. But then…

“Oh.”

He brought himself to a stop.

Someone stood directly in front of him. A small figure stood beyond the opened door in the hallway filled with the light of the setting sun.

A black cat stood at the person’s feet. It was a girl holding a cardboard box with a small bird inside.

Siegfried called her name from behind Sayama.

“Brunhild-kun.”

Brunhild watched Sayama Mikoto rush past her. He was nonsensically muttering “bath” over and over, so it did not seem related to 1st-Gear.

Brunhild took a step forward as she listened to those fading footsteps.

As she did, Siegfried stepped out from behind the counter. He moved quickly and with long strides. It only took him five steps.

“Do you have another problem with the bird?”

Brunhild expressionlessly shook her head. There was something she had to say.

…''Will I be able to say it this time?

Brunhild opened her mouth as she thought about the previous night. Her lips moved as she practiced the words.

The fact that she noticed that movement showed that her legs were not trembling and her body was not cowering.

And so Brunhild raised her head. Her hair waved, she created a face she thought of as expressionless, and she looked up at his blue eyes.

“I will be leaving until tomorrow morning, so please look after the bird.”

“This is quite sudden.”

It looked as if Siegfried’s eyes had widened slightly.

However, he was not refusing or rebuking her. She closed her eyes, lowered her head, and held out the arms holding the box.

“Yes, but…take care of it.” Her head drooped down even further. “Please. You only need to look after it until tomorrow morning.”

She raised her head. She made sure her movements did not cause her to draw back the box.

As she looked at him, Siegfried finally nodded.

“Tomorrow morning, you said?”

“Yes. I will be back by then.”

“I see.”

Siegfried nodded once more and took the box.

Brunhild almost breathed a sigh of relief, but she resisted.

Without changing her expression, she looked at the bird in the box. It tilted its head as it looked back up at her. Siegfried took the box and the bird must have been afraid to leave her because it spread it wings.

And it flapped them.

“…”

However, it could not fly. It fell over, stood back up, and looked up at her again.

Brunhild spoke to the bird.

“Don’t worry. He understands the language of birds.”

As soon as she said that, Brunhild heard a quiet laugh. She looked up at Siegfried’s face, but his expression was the same as ever.

“Is something the matter?”

“N-no. It is nothing. …Thank you for helping.”

With that quick comment Brunhild turned around.

After the third step, she heard the library door close behind her and the chirping of the bird grew more distant.

She passed through the central lobby and headed for the art room. The black cat sighed down at her feet.

“You managed to say the words you had prepared.”

“Yes. I wonder why.”

“Because this is something you knew was important.”

“Really?” she asked before having a thought.

If what the cat said was true, was it the bird or the man she had found to be important?

A shopping district had been built just outside the main entrance of the school.

In it was a 24-hour public bath named Eternal Sunflower.

It was an old-looking facility made of concrete and with a tiled roof, but it stood out because of the large greenhouse with a metal framework to the south. Tropical plants and out of season sunflowers were visible in that three-story structure.

The curtains labeling the men’s bath and the women’s bath had a sunflower mark printed on them.

“The 24-hour public bath named Eternal Sunflower uses underground pipes to use the heat of the school’s boiler facility. It has a few sister facilities outside the school, but this is the one I told Shinjou-kun about last night.”

Sayama passed by the attendant booth, greeted the old woman who worked as the attendant during the day, and put a 100 yen coin in the ticket machine.

He took the card-style locker key the ticket machine gave him and he moved Baku from his shoulder to his head. He removed his clothes in the changing area, placed them in a locker, and draped a towel over his shoulder.

He removed the bandages from his left arm, making the charm covering the wound visible. It had shown no sign of growing damp during his shower the day before, so Sayama assumed it held some sort of power.

He locked the locker and his preparations were complete.

Just to check, he weighed himself at the scale. His weight was the same as the day before.

Everything was going well. All that was left was to head into the bath with nothing but his towel. Using the public bath’s wash basins was the stylish thing to do. And opening the bath door with both hands was the Sayama style.

“Here I go,” said Sayama as he took the first step inside.

The steam-filled bath was large. Four square bathtubs that were ten meters across were lined up to the left and right and washing areas were prepared along the walls.

As he walked down the center area between the bathtubs, his footsteps sounded quietly on the cooled bathwater below.

Sayama searched for his target in his vision that was obscured by the color white.

And he spotted that target. He was in the farthest bathtub on Sayama’s left. Sayama had spotted the color black on the closest corner of that tub.

That color was the color of hair.

Sayama walked in that direction as if cutting through the steam.

As he approached, he saw slender shoulders and black hair dropping into the wash basin sitting outside the bathtub.

That back was submerged up to the bottom of the shoulders, but it was definitely Shinjou’s.

…''He should submerge himself up to the neck.

After deciding he needed to give Shinjou that advice, Sayama began thinking about how to make his approach.

From the boy’s reaction at their first meeting, Shinjou Setsu seemed to be needlessly wary.

Sayama needed to approach him in a way that lowered his guard.

He considered showing unpredictability by leaping into the bathtub or showing openheartedness by stepping over Shinjou’s head, but he concluded a safer option would be better.

Even as he thought, Sayama continued to approach and observe. He could see the side of Shinjou’s face as he soaked in the tub. His eyes were closed and his expression was relaxed. His body that Sayama was so curious about was sitting on one of the steps on the inside of the tub and his arms were embracing himself.

His arms and the towel worn within the tub hid that body.

…''He is wearing the towel inside the bathtub?

Shinjou’s action made Sayama feel a bit dizzy, but he endured. He could not put Shinjou on guard. However, it was true he could check on his body if the towel were not there. He had to eliminate that trap.

What came first was the boy’s wariness. If Sayama could eliminate that, the rest would be easy.

Sayama silently got down on his knees behind that back soaking in the bathtub. He picked up a nearby wash basin and spoke in order to lower Shinjou’s guard.

“Sir, would you like me to wash your back?”

Shinjou turned around in shock and…

“W-waaah!!”

He let out a scream and fell full force into the bathtub.

A splash and steam filled the air and his long hair was dragged into the tub.

Sayama climbed over the edge of the tub and placed his legs in the waves of hot water, but he remained on his knees.

“What a noisy child. You must not swim in the bath tub.”

“Wh-why are you talking about my back all of a sudden!?”

“I merely wish to wash your back. There is no need to be suspicious.”

“That’s plenty suspicious!!”

''There is no reasoning with this person,'' thought Sayama as he brought a hand to his forehead.

Shinjou stood while hiding his body with his towel and then remained motionless. Through the steam, Sayama could see Shinjou’s eyebrows raised.

“Why are you so suspicious?”

“This has nothing to do with suspicion. …Did you even stop to think what the people who see this might think!?”

Shinjou pointed toward the washing areas along the wall. Soaking at the edge of the bathtub with his arms spread was…

“Oh, it’s Izumo.”

“Hey,” said Izumo as he raised a hand in greeting.

Sayama nodded and said, “Do not worry, Shinjou-kun. That is not a person, so his opinion does not count.”

“Sayama, you idiot, have you ever seen my chromosomes?”

“I can tell without looking. You clearly have about two more than a human.”

“Really? I must be pretty great to have more than a human.”

“Um… Don’t chimpanzees have two more chromosomes than humans?” commented Shinjou.

“What? Screw you, Sayama… You… You’re pretty smart, you idiot.”

“This does not matter, so calm down.”

Izumo had begun to stand up, but he sank back down and let out a breath. He looked back and forth between Sayama and Shinjou.

“I don’t know what the confusion is about, Sayama, but you need to wash yourself before entering the bathtub. That is one of the five rules of Eternal Sunflower.”

Sayama nodded and looked toward Shinjou. He stood in the center of the bathtub.

“Why do you look so angry?” asked Sayama.

“B-because, well…”

“I do not believe I have done anything to you yet.”

“How about you say his very existence is odd? And wait… What do you mean ‘yet’?”

Sayama ignored that suggestion from Izumo. At any rate, Shinjou would have no escape once Sayama washed himself.

He stood up and walked to the washing area. Behind him, he heard Shinjou walk through the tub and back to his previous spot. He could see it in the washing area’s mirror. Sayama sat in a seat placed in front of that mirror near Izumo. Before using the shower, Sayama filled a nearby wash basin with water a bit cooler than human skin and placed Baku inside.

Baku floated for a bit, but then sank without struggling.

Sayama pulled him out and placed his front legs on the edge of the wash basin. Baku seemed to be a nonresistant animal.

Sayama took a breath, untangled his swept back hair and ran his hands through it.

“Izumo,” he said quietly.

“What is it, you idiot?”

“I have a question for you.”

“Oh? What lowly question do you have from someone as great as me?”

Sayama nodded and began rubbing the provided soap on his skin.

“How was Shinjou-kun’s body?”

Sayama saw Izumo turn toward him in the mirror. He nodded once with a serious expression.

“Here is my opinion on this matter: You are insane. Well? Do you get it? If not, let me put it more simply. You. Are. An. Idiot. Well? Get it now?”

“I see you still have no reservations about saying hurtful things. Go to hell, you son of a bitch.” Sayama took a breath and stared straight at Izumo through the mirror. “I am not joking about this. I am completely serious. …How was Shinjou-kun’s body?”

In the mirror, Izumo’s face darkened, his expression clouded over, and he averted his gaze.

“Sorry. I didn’t realize you were serious.”

“I am. As long as you understand.”

“Yeah, sorry. I would never have thought you were serious. I’m satisfied with Chisato.”

“I see. Then I suppose I asked you something you cannot answer. Is this where I should say, ‘die, you useless bastard’?”

“Is this where I should say, ‘get lost, you gay bastard’?”

Just as Sayama silently held the shower in his left hand and the valve for the hot water in his right, he heard a splash behind him.

He checked in the mirror and saw a back with long black hair trying to sneak out of the bathtub.

''You are not getting away,'' thought Sayama as he brushed up his hair once, turned around, lowered his hips, and dashed.

“Wait just a second!”

As he ran, he saw Shinjou try to turn around.

He could not let Shinjou prepare. Making sure Shinjou did not notice took top priority.

To escape Shinjou’s sight, Sayama dropped to his knees on the wet tile floor.

He slid on his knees through the puddles of water.

As his sliding produced a wet noise, he saw Shinjou’s eyes cut across horizontally as if he had lost sight of something.

In the next moment, he grabbed hold of Shinjou’s waist.

That backward-turned naked body gave a start when Sayama’s hands grabbed onto its waist.

Shinjou looked down at Sayama from above. He had to twist his shoulders and neck around to do so.

“Wh-what are you doing, Sayama-kun!?”

While sitting on his knees, Sayama held onto Shinjou as he tried to twist his body around and escape.

“Calm down.”

“Wh-what!? I don’t understand what you mean!”

“You do not understand? I am saying to remain relaxed and tranquil while not panicking.”

“That isn’t what I meant!!” shouted Shinjou, but he stopped trying to escape. He blushed and asked, “Wh-what is it? If you need something, just tell me already!”

“There is something I must see. It is not something you can simply tell me. And… It is an important matter for you.”

“Important?’ Shinjou frowned and averted his gaze. Finally, he said, “Y-you aren’t going to do some other strange thing to me, are you?”

“Of course not. When have I ever done anything strange to you?”

“U-um, Sayama-kun? …Please look either to your right or left.”

Sayama chose left. He looked over and saw himself and Shinjou in a mirror in a washing area.

He was sitting on his knees and he had his arms wrapped around Shinjou’s butt.

It was nothing more than one step in the process of determining if Shinjou was a girl or not.

“I see nothing strange there,” he commented.

Shinjou hung his head down with a look of realization.

“Oh, I get it now. Strange people do not realize how strange they are.”

“Such a sad story.”

“I’m talking about you!!”

“It seems you have a persecution complex. …At any rate, please stay still.”

“Uuh…” groaned Shinjou.

Sayama lowered his head and looked forward.

There he found a butt. The two round humps were sticking out toward him a bit because of how he was holding on to Shinjou. Water droplets from the bath could be seen on it. His body line extending up and down to his waist and thighs swelled out.

''It is very round,'' thought Sayama. ''How magnificent.

He squeezed with his hands a bit and those round humps distorted softly. The water droplets that had collected between the flesh made their way around and dripped down. Seeing that, Sayama gave a mental sigh of admiration.

…''How erotic,'' he thought earnestly.

But as soon as he realized what he had thought, he shook his head.

He needed to see if Shinjou was female or not. This was no time to be holding a viewing of Shinjou’s ass. However…

“How can I sum up this beauty in a single word?”

It was round and erotic. Sayama thought for a moment, let out a breath, and expressed it in a single word.

“Eroundic.”

“Wh-what? What did you just say!?”

“I merely found a new expression is all. Do not worry about it.”

Sayama realized he could not determine Shinjou’s sex from the butt. That was obvious. And so he spoke.

“Now, let us do this. Turn toward me, Shinjou-kun.”

“U-u-um, Sayama-kun? Do you know what you’re saying? And what do you mean ‘do this’?”

“It is too late to ask questions! This is important!” shouted Sayama.

All strength left Shinjou’s body. Sayama looked up and saw the ends of his eyebrows drooping.

“D-do I really…have to turn toward you?”

“Yes. There is something I cannot know otherwise.”

“…”

Shinjou averted his gaze without speaking and Sayama loosened his grip on Shinjou’s butt.

Shinjou slowly turned toward him. He stood with his knees together, but Sayama showed no kindness.

“Why are you acting so embarrassed? Move that towel and your arms.”

“D-do I really have to show you? Th-this isn’t right. You’re going to do something strange, aren’t you?’

“How many times do I have to tell you? This is important for you, Shinjou-kun.”

“Really? Is it really important for the two of us? Is it really?”

Sayama stared silently back and Shinjou closed his eyes a bit. His cheeks reddened, he bit his lower lip, and his body stiffened.

[[Image:OnC_v02_0223.png|thumb]]

“Don’t do anything weird.”

Shinjou dropped the towel. The wet cloth softly struck the floor.

However, Shinjou was still using his hands to cover his chest and the area between his legs.

“Move your hands,” said Sayama.

Shinjou did not nod. However, he lifted his hands, let out a moan, and covered his face with those hands.

Sayama had watched the hands move up, but he now slowly lowered that gaze.

The eyes on that blushing face looked down at him through the gaps in the fingers.

His shoulders were drooping down and the chest between them was flat. It was the same chest Sayama had touched the day before.

Water droplets ran down his damp skin from the chest to his sides and navel. The water seemed to dissolve into his skin.

Sayama followed the falling water droplets with his gaze. He finally arrived at Shinjou’s crotch.

“Hm…”

“Wh-what does that mean? N-no. Don’t stare like that.”

“My apologies.”

Sayama had confirmed that Shinjou was a boy. The proof lay right before his eyes. It was certainly there.

Sayama had no more room for doubt and he felt a sense of loss at having his suspicions disappear.

Shinjou spoke from above in a trembling voice.

“A-are you done? You are, right? You’ve seen enough, right?”

Sayama started to agree, but then his thoughts ground to a halt.

…''Wait a second. I can clearly see it before my eyes, but…

What if this was some kind of trick?

He knew the level of technology UCAT had. They could easily pull something like this off.

If he was going to check, he had to do so thoroughly enough to have no doubts remaining.

However, Shinjou’s guard was currently raised. Asking for permission here would likely only be wasted time.

And so Sayama gently grabbed it.

The texture, the warmth, the weight, and the material all checked out. That left strength.

In what was more an examination than a confirmation, Sayama tugged downward.

He tugged a total of three times, changing the direction slightly each time.

“Hm.”

But it did not come off. That meant it was not a trick.

He knew for sure now. There was no mistaking it. His suspicions finally vanished.

''Yes, this confirms it,'' thought Sayama as he raised his head.

He breathed a sigh of relief and his shoulders drooped. He looked Shinjou in the eye and a slight smile naturally formed on his lips. This was good news. He nodded and spoke.

“You can rest easy, Shinjou-kun. You are a boy.”

“I already knew that!!”

A slap arrived from below his field of vision as if the hand were scooping something up.

It struck Sayama’s jaw, his head rotated backward, and he collapsed to the side.

The setting sun sank into the mountain range to the west.

In the city, the movements of that crimson light could only be seen from a high vantage point.

A pair of eyes followed that sinking sun from the rooftop of Taka-Akita Academy’s second year general school building. Those eyes were above the bell tower attached to the roof. A single figure sat there.

The figure wore black clothes and a three-cornered hat. That girl holding a broom with a giant scythe tied to it was Brunhild.

She looked toward the silhouette of the western mountain range outlined by the setting sun. She remained perfectly still, held her arms around her knees, and hid so those down below would be unable to see her.

A black cat sat next to her. The cat looked up at its unmoving owner and tilted its head.

While still looking to the west, Brunhild expressionlessly spoke.

“Don’t worry. I have already dealt with my problem.”

“Really?”

“Yes, this will tell me everything. If he arrives when we take back the holy sword Gram, it will mean he has abandoned the bird I left with him. I will know he has betrayed me.”

“And if he does not come?”

“Then I will forgive him,” said Brunhild while narrowing her eyes slightly. A small sigh escaped her lips. “But this question is a one-way issue. I will not return here. If we win, I will join the negotiations alongside Lord Hagen as a member of 1st-Gear. If we lose, I will die.”

“So you won’t be coming back.” The black cat’s head drooped. “Then I should confess something. I was the one that tore up the calendar in your room.”

“That is fine. It was provided by the school, so I forgive you.”

“Thanks. But I was also the one that destroyed the cup the school gave you.”

“I see… I quite liked that cup, but I will not be returning. I forgive you.”

“I also stained your pillow with drool and camouflaged it so it looked like you did it.”

“I see… So that’s what happened.”

“Also, I hid where I peed a bit under your blanket. That is why it has smelled recently.”

“…I see. So that’s what the smell was. If there is anything else, say it now. You will be freed from your pain.”

“Just out of curiosity, what do you mean by freed from my pain?”

“You will not have to feel anything ever again… Wait, don’t run away!”

When Brunhild began to stand, she saw the cityscape lit up by the setting sun.

“…”

She stopped moving and looked out in every direction. She saw houses, buildings, fields, small forests, and a mesh of roads.

That entire landscape did not realize she was here standing in the light wind.

For some reason, she frowned. The black cat turned toward her.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.” Brunhild reached out a hand and grabbed the cat. “Farewell, scenery. You are completely different from the forest I once lived in.”

With those words, Brunhild nodded and enacted her punishment.

Sayama and Izumo each drank a bottle of coffee milk on a bench in Eternal Sunflower’s meeting area. The wooden bench had faded red paint and it creaked under Izumo’s large body.

When Sayama saw he still had some milk left in his bottle, he placed it on its side next to him. He lowered Baku from his head, and the beast stuck its head in the sideways bottle and began licking up the remaining milk.

“That is a truly useless animal.”

“Apparently, it actually lives by watching and showing people’s pasts and dreams. It will eat anything you give it, though.”

“But what do you think, Sayama? Putting a hand on your hips when drinking coffee milk is the standard, but what about using both hands?”

With an outline of the bottle around his mouth, Izumo looked over his shoulder. Sayama followed his gaze and found the curtain for the women’s bath.

“Are you waiting for Kazami?”

“Did you even listen to my majestic comment?”

“I avoid doing things which have no value for my life.”

“I don’t see how those bizarre actions of yours in the bath have any value to your life.”

“They do. Now I will make no misunderstandings about Shinjou-kun.”

“I think you’ll be the one people have misunderstandings about now… That was a splendid concussion. There’s nothing harder to describe than a guy collapsed in the bath with his ass sticking out.”

“I have not received a blow that solid in quite a long time. I must have let my guard down.”

Izumo sighed when he heard that. He looked around and confirmed that no one else was nearby.

He placed his empty bottle on the ground and spoke.

“Speaking of valuable things, what are you going to do about the Leviathan Road?”

“You mean that scene of death?”

“Yes. You saw Chisato’s shot, right? And then the enemy killed himself. A situation like that might come to us next time.”

“Then why do you and Kazami take part?”

“I’m the son of IAI’s president…and there’s some other issues, too.” Izumo turned toward Sayama without a hint of a smile on his face. “We are prepared. But what about you? There’s nothing in your school life, but it’s better than dying, right?”

“That is true, but what do you think would happen if I did not agree to the Leviathan Road?”

“Our unit would be broken up. The adults would handle it. Our supervisor is Ooshiro Itaru, after all.”

“Ooshiro Itaru… Does he have that much power?”

“I don’t really know. Most members of Japanese UCAT died along with IAI’s relief team during the great Kansai earthquake at the end of 1995. From what I hear, they got wrapped up in a secondary disaster.”

“Is that what led to Japanese UCAT being temporarily dissolved? I heard about that from Fasolt.”

“Yeah. After that, it seems only the upper levels and Ooshiro Itaru were left. In fact, it seems he’s the only middle generation member of Japanese UCAT left.”

“That’s a lot of ‘it seems’… I thought you were the heir to the Izumo company?”

“Sorry, but I wasn’t here at that time,” said Izumo as he folded his arms. He groaned, looked up, looked down, and tilted his head. “The thing is, I… Okay, I’ll just say it. I’m a troublesome kid who was born to my Low-Gear father and a 10th-Gear girl.”

“Is that so? What a surprise. Truly unexpected.”

“Don’t dismiss my important announcement like it’s nothing…”

“It does not benefit me in any way. And being of mixed race is very common these days.”

“Ha ha. I guess someone with a troublesome family of his own would think that way. But let me tell you something else: Even if you do not accept the Leviathan Road, Kazami and I will be part of Team Leviathan with Ooshiro Itaru as the negotiator.”

“Why? You make it sound like you cannot refuse.”

“We can’t,” said Izumo. “Our weapons are concept weapons we acquired during the commotion when I arrived two years ago. My V-Sw is 6th’s Vajra and Vritra. Kazami’s G-Sp2 is 10th’s Gungnir.”

Sayama recalled Izumo’s large single-edged sword and Kazami’s long single-edged spear.

“Both give the Concept Core a cowling in the form of a weapon. The very existence of a concept weapon is a concept, so it creates its own field and its power can be used under the effects of any concept. Also, our weapons have much greater power than the normal philosopher’s stone method because they use Concept Cores. Their users have to see things through to the end.”

“And both of the weapons have accepted you as their masters?”

“Yeah. They both have wills of their own. We obtained them during the commotion two years ago, so 6th has fully aligned with UCAT and 10th has mostly joined UCAT. At the very least, the Leviathan Road for 6th and 10th-Gear is already over.” Izumo gave a bitter grin. “Those concept weapons really will come flying to you if you call for them.”

“That is quite the bizarre phenomenon.”

“Ha ha ha. You don’t believe me do you, you dumb bastard?”

“Ha ha ha. Try not to speak your nonsense aloud, you son of a bitch.”

The two of them both let out a sigh. Sayama brought a hand to his chin and spoke.

“So the Leviathan Road will continue without me. With you, Kazami, and Ooshiro Itaru.”

“Yeah. I heard your grandfather’s blood pressure shot up when he heard about my irregular commotion resolving some of the negotiations. I think his will included some method of dealing with this if you refused, but UCAT probably had some other reason for approving it.”

“Two years ago was when my grandfather was talking about my entrance exam. He was being particularly hard to please. Now I know why.”

“But Shinjou is different from Kazami and me. If you refuse your right to the Leviathan Road, she will likely be removed from the unit. Ooshiro Itaru and the higher ups are always extra nice when it comes to Shinjou.”

Sayama frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“They don’t get serious when it comes to her. Or at least it seems that way to me. She was put in the unit on the recommendation of old man Ooshiro, but it looks like Ooshiro Itaru wants to distance her from it all. Also,” said Izumo. “Ooshiro Itaru seems to hate you for some reason.”

“I learned that well enough from how he acted yesterday.”

Sayama nodded and heard a solid sound from next to him. He looked over and found Baku had tried to remove his head from the bottle but could not. As Baku frantically spun his back legs around fruitlessly, Sayama grabbed the beast and pulled him out like a cork.

Meanwhile, he heard Izumo speaking.

“Anyway, try to stay on good terms with Shinjou Setsu. You might not understand, but normal people will let their guard down if you show some concern about them.”

“Thank you very much for the advice,” said Sayama with a bitter smile. He grabbed the empty bottle, placed it in the case next to the bench, and turned his back to Izumo. “I will do my best to stay on good terms with him. Say hello to Kazami for me.”

Izumo sighed after Sayama left. He leaned against the back of the bench and called out the name Chisato.

The curtain for the women’s bath split open and Kazami’s head poked out. He watched her look back and forth.

“What are you avoiding him for? Don’t we need to show him how strict we are as current members of the Leviathan Road?”

“Yeah…but it was just too sudden.”

“What a complicated girl,” muttered Izumo as Kazami walked over and sat next to him.

Izumo frowned when he saw what she was holding.

“What are you drinking?”

“Tomato juice. I need to replenish my iron after taking a bath. I am a girl after all.”

“I didn’t think my Chisato was the kind of girl to discriminate based on sex…”

“C’mon. Stop hanging your head down with such a forced expression. Is it that important that I drink milk?”

“If you don’t drink milk, your breasts won’t grow.”

“They’re big enough already!”

“Really?” Izumo tilted his head, lightly grabbed at thin air with both hands, and tilted his head again. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I’m not sure I want you agreeing with that…” Kazami opened the pull tab, took a sip, and looked up into the sky. “But this is a difficult issue…”

“What is? Your breast size? Yeah, I suppose it is… What?”

“That isn’t what I meant, you idiot. …I was referring to all of this going on.”

As she said that, someone else exited from the women’s bath. Izumo turned around.

“Oh, it’s Ooki-sensei,” he called out.

Ooki was wearing track pants and a T-shirt.

“Hi!” she called back to Izumo.

Suddenly, Kazami jabbed an elbow into Izumo’s side while she drank her tomato juice.

“?” thought Izumo as he looked over at Ooki. Once he saw what she held in her hand, he whispered to Kazami.

“A soda, hm? She’s gonna get fat.”

“And they can dissolve bones, too. She’s going to look pitiful when her teeth are falling out.”

“Wh-what kind of ominous things are you two saying!?”

Ooki groaned and stopped the two of them. She then drank the soda so they could see.

“Th-this is a flavor children wouldn’t understand.”

“Is that so?” said Kazami with her half-lidded eyes turned toward the ground. She then added, “But I don’t think you should say that while the carbonation is bringing tears to your eyes.”

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Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 20

2026-07-15T02:20:11Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 20: Heart of Realization==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0177.png|thumb]]
''Do you realize it because you know nothing?

''Do you not realize it because you know everything?

''There are some people who do neither

Even though it was the beginning of the afternoon, the Kinugasa Library was dark.

The fluorescent lights on the ceiling were on, but that roof was high and the many bookshelves created shadows.

Three people could be seen within that slightly dark and pale library.

One was Siegfried who was speaking on the phone behind the counter.

One was Ooshiro Itaru who sat in a chair in the center of the stepped floor. His metal cane was leaning against the table.

The last was Sf who was observing a bookshelf in the back.

Ooshiro glanced over at the tall back standing behind the counter.

Siegfried had been on the phone for a while now and he showed no sign of finishing soon.

Itaru sank down a bit in his chair and crossed his legs. He shook the guest slipper around on the end of his sock.

“Itaru-sama.”

He turned toward that voice and found Sf standing expressionlessly with something in her hand.

“Oh, you found one of the blots on the record of my life.”

“Testament. It is your graduation album. But despite being called an album, it is a simple printed book.”

“Now here’s a surprise. A lecture on English from a German-made automaton. I thought that was your enemy’s language.”

“No, my true enemy is the Soviet Union. British and American ones have thin armor, so they are not a threat.”

“…What in the world are you talking about?”

“Tes. I am talking about automatons. …What is that look in your eyes? This is common knowledge in the industry. Is there a problem?”

“According to my ‘common knowledge’, the Soviet Union was gone before you were created. Perhaps I am just imagining things.”

“Tes. You are exactly right. However, the Soviet Union lives on in your heart, Itaru-sama.”

“Oh? Another surprise. A doll is speaking about the human heart. And does that mean my heart is your enemy?”

“No, but I have determined it is Soviet-made. Its armor is thick and its attacks are guaranteed to kill, but it has little individuality. It is also worth mentioning that the armor is tilted diagonally. The mass-produced ones are different, though.”

“You can also add that it is quite cold.”

“I have no heart, so I cannot determine that for myself.”

Sf gave an expressionless bow. She held out the musty blue album.

Itaru silently took the velvet-covered album.

He opened it, flipped through the pages, and sighed as he looked through the class photos. Sf then spoke from behind him.

“I see a lot of faces that show there are no thoughts going through their heads.”

“Don’t steal my lines.”

“It is my duty to save you whatever effort I can.”

“What about the effort of throwing you away when you break?”

“Do not worry. I am set to cease functioning at the same time that you are destroyed. There will be no-…”

Itaru closed his eyes and cut Sf off.

“Don’t say it. I’ve heard it so many times already,” he said expressionlessly.

“Testament,” replied Sf.

Sf fell silent and Itaru continued flipping through the album. He arrived at the graduation writings.

“Here it is. Read this ridiculous writing.”

“Tes. Should I read it out loud?”

“Yes.”

“Tes. You have not asked me to read you something in a long time. Not since five days after I arrived in Japan. I have checked my memory to a depth level of 5, so there is no mistaking it.”

“Yes, I remember. As a prank, I handed you a pornographic manga I had confiscated from a worker, but you suddenly began reading it quite loudly. Are your ethical standards set to overseas levels?”

“You never told me to throw it away and reading writings to one’s master is an important job of a maid or butler. However, my lack of emotion leaves me ill-suited for a text with so much shouting and so many sound effects.”

Itaru fell silent. He turned toward Sf with his eyes half-closed and held the album out toward her.

She took it and read, “Title: Stimulant.”

“No, the one right below that one.”

“Tes. Title: Untitled.

Just as we thought the long awaited time had come

A time came where we once more could only wait

We were taught nothing more than the accumulation of time

And new time was not what waited beyond our dreams

What we learned here was how to skillfully exploit time

And an understanding that nothingness is the time of salvation.”

As Sf finished reading the writing, Itaru held his right hand against his face.

“That is so much better when read by someone who works for me. I love this feeling of my hair standing on end.”

“I have determined this was written by you, Itaru-sama.”

“Yes, it was. You could tell?”

“Tes. I could see an intentional effort to make each line ten words long. Also, I can find nothing more than harassment in the meaning of the text.”

“Hah. You really are an excellent machine. I really mean that, so rejoice and express that joy in your actions.”

“Tes.” Sf expressionlessly raised her arms above her hand and lowered them. “Did that satisfy your demand? If you wish for a more vigorous expression of joy, I can do it three times in a row.”

“The Germans really know how to make a high-performance machine.”

“Testament. Their support is excellent as well. Feel free to use me as you see fit.”

Instead of nodding, Itaru gestured further into the library with his chin. Sf turned in that direction with the album in hand.

“…”

The light blue slipper on the end of Itaru’s folded leg almost fell off, so she first put it back on properly.

She then walked off expressionlessly.

As she did, a small noise came from the counter behind her. It was the sound of a phone receiver being set down.

Itaru turned around and found Siegfried looking at him.

Itaru raised his sunglasses and said, “Men shouldn’t spend so long on the phone.”

“I had not spoken with this old comrade for ten years. Now, Ooshiro Itaru, what do you need?”

“As Team Leviathan’s supervisor, I came to check on a few things related to the transportation of the holy sword Gram. After all, Mr. Zonburg, you were the most closely involved in the destruction of 1st-Gear.”

The white mechanical dragon Fafnir Custom slept in the base of 1st-Gear’s City faction that existed underground below a gym.

Wind blew through the darkness.

The wind had color. That color was black. The black wind blew back and forth above Fafnir Custom’s body as if dancing and then blew up toward the ceiling. A single small bell with writing carved into it hung there.

The wind struck the bell and the bell rang.

The bell emitted a high pitched noise and the wind suddenly formed a body.

It was a black cat. Specifically, the cat Brunhild owned.

“There we go.”

The black cat twisted in midair and landed on Fafnir Custom’s back. It pressed the inside of its legs against the slanted armor rather than trying to use its claws. It slowly lay down.

“Venerable Hagen,” said the cat.

“I am here.” A palely glowing old man appeared next to the black cat. He yawned and said, “Is this your periodic report?”

“Yes, it is. I have no news like yesterday, so I am just making an appearance.”

“We have nothing new here either. You can go find something to eat outside until the sound of the bell fades away. Nein will not notice.”

Hagen yawned again and the cat looked up at the side of the old man’s face.

“Do you have dreams too, Venerable Hagen?”

“Ah?” Hagen looked down at the black cat and finally formed a smile. “Yes, I do. I was just dreaming of when Brunhild asked for help while crying.”

“Was that when you joined with Fafnir Custom? …Why did you decide to do that as a member of the royal family?”

“I was the only one there with enough social status to lead everyone. And when we moved to this world, it was necessary to release the concepts inside it to create a concept space the people of 1st-Gear could live in. That meant someone had to join with Fafnir Custom.” He placed his chin in his hands and let out a meaningless sigh. “I did something inexcusable to Brunhild…no, to Nein. How is she doing with Siegfried?”

The black cat remained silent. It looked away from Hagen and took three breaths before finally responding.

“Sh-she is observing him. …And she is keeping her distance to…yes, to make sure she is not found out.”

“I see,” said Hagen with a nod.

He had a smile on his face, but the ends of his eyebrows had lowered a small bit.

“I see,” he muttered again. “Hey.”

“Wh-what is it?” asked the black cat.

Hagen nodded once, looked forward, and then looked down.

“What we must do for our respective positions can be a lot of trouble. But…”

“But?”

“At the very least, I want you to remain her ally.”

The black cat listened to what Hagen said and nodded in understanding within the dim darkness.

In the next moment, a knock came at the door to the room and a woman in a simple white outfit entered.

She was in a hurry. Her pace was quick as she entered and impatience could be heard in her voice.

“The investigation… The investigation is complete. It was exactly as you said, Lord Hagen.” The woman took a breath and continued speaking once her breathing was regulated. “A transport plane is preparing for takeoff at IAI headquarters. Most likely, the holy sword Gram will pass by over our heads tonight as it is transported!”

Siegfried’s words reverberated through the Kinugasa Library.

“So Gram will be transported tonight. 1st-Gear’s Leviathan Road will finally begin in earnest.”

Siegfried stood behind the counter while Itaru remained seated.

“My father must be going senile to leave this all to some kid. The provisional negotiations supposedly ended fine, but from what I hear, those negotiations were a sham.”

“You certainly are harsh.”

“I’m kind to myself. And that is what saves the smart ones. They run away from me.”

“Do you hope Sayama Mikoto and the others will withdraw from the Leviathan Road?”

“Only kids make decisions based on what they hope for.” Itaru pushed his sunglasses back up his nose. “But once Gram is stored in UCAT HQ, the real negotiations with 1st-Gear will begin.”

“And that will be the true beginning of the Leviathan Road?”

“Yes. If he is still involved then, he will be unable to back out. Gram’s arrival is the time limit for Sayama Mikoto. He must decide for himself by then.”

Itaru reached to the end of his crossed leg and returned the slipper Sf had fixed to its half-removed state.

He shook the light blue slipper with the tips of his toes and asked a question.

“Who were you on the phone with?”

“I told you it was my old comrade, didn’t I? He was delighted that Sayama Mikoto has begun to take action. He said Sayama Mikoto will likely learn all sorts of things while not knowing what direction he is headed, just like we did long ago.”

“And about one in a hundred of the things he does will be successes?”

“Yes. One only arrives at the truth after many failures and doubts.” A small smile appeared on Siegfried’s lips. “I remember when we first learned of the Concept War in the National Defense Department days. Yes, that was when it was found out that I was only pretending to cooperate with the National Defense Department and that I had come to destroy the ley line modification facility for the German region.” His smile grew bitter. “I had yet to destroy the facility and yet it was destroyed. My comrades thought I had done it, so they pursued me and a battle began. It was then that it happened.”

“I’ve heard about this. The sky suddenly split open and a mechanical dragon and god of war dropped down.”

“It was a battle between 1st-Gear and 3rd-Gear. From that point on, we knew that the National Defense Department’s job extended beyond just our world,” said Siegfried. “So much was learned and so much was lost. And not all by us. If Sayama Mikoto accepts the Leviathan Road and charges ahead, will he see it all?”

“Who can say? He might run away or die before that happens. Do you remember what his grandfather would always say?”

“The surname Sayama indicates a villain?”

Itaru nodded and grinned.

“Will Sayama Mikoto be able to hold pride in the evil he commits? I am not talking about a skirmish with a small radical group or provisional negotiations against someone who is going easy on him. When faced with a true opponent, will he be able to settle things by using evil as righteousness? …And before that, will he be able to choose to step onto the battlefield? I do not know the answer to any of these questions.”

As Ooshiro spoke, Siegfried closed his eyes.

“Ooshiro Itaru, you are very particular about the surname Sayama. I heard the reason why from Diana.”

“Then you should understand why I hate that kid. I don’t even want to see him. The surname Sayama that I know is nothing like him. It does not refer to some ignorant kid who is protected by everything.”

“Itaru-sama.”

Itaru’s body relaxed when Sf called out from behind him.

He turned around just as Sf crouched down.

Sf once more silently fixed his slipper.

Itaru stood up, but his right leg trembled and almost gave out.

Sf reached out from the side and silently supported him.

“Here,” she said after grabbing his metal cane.

Itaru supported himself with the cane.

He straightened his back and nodded toward Siegfried.

“But… If the Leviathan Road continues forward, will my comrades take action?”

“Yes, Diana, the survivors of the National Defense Department, and the survivors of the original UCAT will take action. Mr. Zonburg, your friend is still alive.”

“I was just told as much over the phone. You mean Thunderson, right?” Siegfried frowned. “It is a shame that Yankee is still alive. He should be coming here with his great-grandchild within the year, though.”

Siegfried’s comment deepened the grin on Itaru’s face.

Itaru pushed his sunglasses back up to cover his eyes and bowed, all while standing at the bottom of the valley created by the bookshelves of Kinugasa Library.

“View it like a class reunion you think is a mistake, Mr. Zonburg.”

Seeing his actions and hearing his words, Sf belatedly bowed as well. Itaru slowly gave one last comment.

“That is one way to look at our Leviathan Road.”

Shinjou and Sayama sipped at drinks in Okutama Station as the sun set.

The wooden station building had a cement floor. They were sitting on a wooden bench by the wall at the entrance.

To get this far, they had taken a UCAT bus out to the front of IAI and then another bus from there. Sayama had to wait twenty minutes for his train, so they had plenty of time to talk.

It was the afternoon, but the entrance was almost deserted due to school not being in session. Shinjou listened to the sounds of cars and busses in the distance as she looked at the drink can in her hand.

She had never had melon soda before. She thought its flavor had less individuality than the sodas at UCAT.

She took a breath and looked at Sayama next to her. He was giving mineral water to Baku who sat on his shoulder even though he had just finished entering some numbers into the cell phone he had received at UCAT.

…''Is he the type of person who can’t relax without doing something?

Shinjou’s own question brought a bitter smile to her lips. She searched for something to say.

“Um, what do you think about what we were told earlier? About the holy sword Gram being suddenly transported today.”

Sayama looked away from Baku.

“Well.” He nodded and placed Baku and the bottle next to him. “It is indeed sudden. Word arrived just as we were leaving UCAT, but I suppose it starts when it starts.”

“What will you do, Sayama-kun? Will you take part in the Leviathan Road?”

“You will, won’t you? You want to pursue this Shinjou from the National Defense Department that Fasolt mentioned.”

“Yes. But I am talking about you, Sayama-kun, not me.”

“I see,” began Sayama quietly. “Currently, I think I am leaning toward not taking part.”

“Really?”

She tilted her head and Sayama nodded.

“Yes, really. In the end, I have not found an answer for myself. And now the time has come. It would be like going in for a test without studying properly. The problem is that I would rather back out than get a bad grade on this test.”

“When you say you haven’t found an answer for yourself, do you mean in relation to the surname Sayama indicating a villain?”

Sayama looked a bit surprised to hear that. He quickly composed himself and nodded slowly.

“Being hated is a difficult thing. And…both the knight’s group yesterday and Fasolt today took action while prepared for that. I achieved decent results both times, but I was no match for them where it really counts.” He took a breath. “Take Fasolt for example. He wishes for continued peace. That requires compromise and actions that can be seen as betrayals. But he is willing to go through with it regardless. Why is that?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do. Do you think the radical factions can really gain anything by fighting?”

“I do,” said Sayama. “If they win and their opponent is gone, they will gain a world of peace all for themselves. And even if they do not lose, as long as they can show off their power, they can force their fearful enemy to compromise.”

“That’s solving everything with strength…”

“Strength is a rudimentary form of language, Shinjou-kun. If you agree, you shake hands. If you disagree, you punch them. Even without words, that will convey your meaning. Even now, there are tribes living on the earth that use strength in their standard customs. Let me ask this instead: Why must everything be resolved with words? Words are an aspect of civilization that humans did not initially have. They are a replacement for strength. Why is it necessary to resolve everything with them?”

“B-because they don’t harm you or your opponent,” she said while subconsciously clenching her hands.

Green fizz spilled from the drink can in her hands.

“Ah,” said Shinjou as she frantically pulled a handkerchief from her pocket.

As she wiped off her hands, her thoughts were centered on her worry that Sayama did not even understand this simple concept.

…''This is important. It has to be.

She nodded in her heart and thought on what she should say to Sayama. Strength entered the inside of her eyebrows and she folded up her handkerchief.

“U-um, Sayama-kun…”

She stopped before she could continue speaking.

She saw Sayama looking toward her with a powerless smile on his face.

It was a simple smile and nothing else. However…

…''Why is he looking at me like that when I’m angry?

His reply came soon thereafter.

He nodded and said, “That is your answer, Shinjou-kun. You have the right to take the test. You are much more qualified than I am.”

His last sentence sent a chill down Shinjou’s back.

“N-no. I…I…”

“Do you want to say you could not speak with Fasolt and his absurd arguments today, with that group from yesterday, or with the werewolf the day before yesterday? Do you want to say that you cannot fight them either?”

Shinjou nodded.

“Why is it they refuse to talk things out?” asked Sayama.

“B-because…um…they have grudges that cannot be settled with words?”

“Yes. And so they refuse to sit at the negotiating table to talk things out. In other words, those who wish for peace can only speak with others who wish for a peaceful conclusion. However…”

“However?”

“Even those who do not wish for peace lose things in war. In fact… They are the ones who cannot forgive those losses, so they may be the ones who truly hate war.”

“…”

“In that case, what does it mean to make up for our crimes? Is it enough to make it up only to those who already assume a peaceful resolution? Is it really best to not even touch on those who wish for our deaths?”

“B-but if we stand before them, they might kill us, Sayama-kun.”

“That is why the Leviathan Road has given us power,” said Sayama. “I think I understand the meaning behind the initial conditions my grandfather gave the Leviathan Road. I think I understand why he has given us no information and has allowed us to fight.”

Sayama folded his arms and leaned back in the wooden bench. He could feel the chill of the rough wooden planks that sat at uneven heights.

“There are those in the ten Gears who hope for our deaths or defeat. Why do they wish for death? We have not been given any information on the past so that we can truly understand that and make use of that reason.”

“You mean knowledge we are given without searching it out has no value?”

“Yes. Knowledge only becomes wisdom if you have the will to learn. If we are given prepackaged knowledge and try to use it as a shield, the other races will not feel any sincerity in us.”

Sayama picked up Baku. The beast had been sticking its head in the clear bottle to peer at the water within, but he now flailed his limbs as he hung down. Once his gaze met Sayama’s he calmed down.

Sayama lowered Baku and tipped the bottle on its side. Baku stuck his head in the bottle’s opening and drank the water.

Shinjou smiled bitterly at the small animal’s behavior. Sayama made a similar smile.

“We are using Baku here in our investigation so we can view the past with no glorification or distortion. We must decide for ourselves based on that. And…”

“We must negotiate using strength, words, and every other means available to us?”

“Yes. This is why my grandfather left the Leviathan Road to me. The surname Sayama indicates a villain, so he wanted me to take that knowledge and wisdom and make what decisions I had to.”

Sayama closed his eyes.

He did not look at Shinjou or anything else around him.

“But,” he began. “Just because I have that knowledge and wisdom does not mean my evil is needed. After all, my grandfather did not always use that method.”

Sayama sensed Shinjou stiffening next to him. Eventually, she spoke.

“You probably should rethink this. This may indeed be a good role for you, Sayama-kun. But it’s wrong. It isn’t right to end everything by making someone the villain. Even if it’s important to you, I think it’s wrong.”

“But I am interested in the Leviathan Road. …If possible, I would like to take part.”

“But…can you trust yourself when you get serious?”

Sayama sighed.

He opened his eyes. The ends of Shinjou’s eyebrows were lowered as she stared at him.

''She is a welcome person to have around,'' he thought.

He looked her in the eye and several seconds of silence followed.

Finally, Shinjou looked down and spoke as if checking on something.

“Sayama-kun, do you really want to take part in the Leviathan Road?”

Sayama thought on her question. He thought back over everything and found only one answer.

“Yes.”

“I see. Then…think up some way of resolving this. Think up a way you can get serious and remain confident.” Shinjou lightly embraced her own body while still looking down. “If only there was some standard you could use when conflicted over whether your actions are a necessary evil or not. …I don’t know how you could know that, though.”

“A standard for necessary evil…? In other words, a villain’s requirement,” muttered Sayama.

He looked down at his feet and thought.

…''A standard to know for sure what I am doing is wrong, hm?

When he thought about it, it was a simple matter. To know whether he was wrong or not…

…''I just need someone by my side who is right.

He needed someone who was the opposite of himself. When he realized that, his pulse began to race.

“…”

He needed someone who could be a standard for him. He needed someone who would allow him to meet the proper requirements. And someone like that was already by his side.

He could easily know whether he was wrong or not if he looked at that person.

But Sayama had tried to keep that person out of his mind.

After all, if he took part in the Leviathan Road, it would mean that person would be standing in the same place as him. That person would be standing at the receiving end of grudges and could be killed. He had wanted to avoid that.

“…”

He silently began to sweat. His pulse grew even faster.

''What is this?'' he thought. ''This is not like me.

He just had to tell that person he needed them. He had to ask that person to stand with him on the battlefield and sit with him at the negotiating table. He had to ask that person to accept enmity and death alongside him.

It was selfish.

Being hated as a villain was an issue for him alone, but this would be dragging another person down along with him.

However, that person’s voice reached his ears. It was a gentle and quiet voice.

It said, “I hope you can find a standard for yourself, Sayama-kun.”

Sayama stood up.

With the rustling of his suit, he looked at her. He looked at the opposite of himself who could act as his standard.

He looked at the girl named Shinjou.

Shinjou backed away slightly with her drink can in her hands.

Before her eyes, Sayama had stood up after letting his head droop down for a while. He was looking at her. He was wrinkling his brow and seemed to want to say something. That was why Shinjou had pulled back.

“Wh-what is it?”

Her question caused Sayama to jump as if he had suddenly realized something.

All strength suddenly left his expression. His usual expression quickly returned. This expression was almost a lack of expression. However, Shinjou thought his slightly downward-cast face appeared conflicted.

…''Is something the matter?

Shinjou tilted her head.

“Did something happen? Is it about the Leviathan Road or your standard?”

As she spoke, Shinjou wondered what it was she was worried about.

She had said the Leviathan Road was dangerous, but once he had said he wanted to take part, she had given him self-important advice and was trying to help him again.

''I must truly want…'' she began silently.

She wanted him to take part in the Leviathan Road.

She did not want him to die or be hated, but he could do things she could not. She wanted that.

She recalled when they had first met. She remembered when she had let him rest on her lap in that forest. He had admitted that she was right. She had always thought she was wrong, but he had said she was right.

And on the way back that night, she had apologized for forcing her thoughts onto him, but he had smiled and said she had done nothing of the sort.

She wondered if it was strange to be happy about having her thoughts denied.

…''To me, he is right and is a welcome person to have around.

Shinjou nodded in her heart.

…''I wonder if there is anything I can do to help him.

After the negotiations with Fasolt when he had been depressed over being unable to get serious, she had not been able to say anything.

She decided she needed to say something now. She opened her mouth to speak. The first time, only her lips moved. The second time, she produced a voice.

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

Sayama turned back toward her. He lowered his head once more, looked up, and…

“…”

The train created a loud noise as it entered the station. The wheels caused the track to creak and Sayama turned around.

The sounds of the train slowed and finally stopped.

When Sayama turned back toward her, his expression was back to normal. However, this brought no relief to Shinjou. He always acted the way he did because he wanted to be strong.

Sayama looked at her as they listened to the footsteps of the people walking from the platform to the entrance.

“Shinjou-kun, one quick thing.”

His voice was back to its normal tone when he spoke.

The words he had been about to speak with that shaken expression would not be coming. Shinjou felt a disappointed emptiness in her chest, but still tilted her head. If he had any complaints, she would listen.

“What? What is it?”

In her slightly titled vision, she saw Sayama pull the digital recorder from his pocket and hold it up.

The area was filled with the footsteps and other noises of the people on the platform.

Sayama ignored them and spoke with a serious expression.

“I forgot to ask about the continuation from before. You said you jumped when you thought I was going to touch your butt, but what happened then? Please tell me in great detail.”

As her vision twitched with thoughts similar to “you’re one stubborn bastard”, she saw Sayama check the watch on his left wrist.

“I have no time, but I am terribly curious. Come on. There is nothing to fear. Tell me forcefully and intensely!”

After that final comment, Shinjou forcefully and intensely slapped Sayama.

The art room curtain began to grow dyed in crimson.

Brunhild stood petrified as the black cat stood on the floor in front of her. Her right hand held the blue stone used to return the wind to the form of a cat. The small bird sat on her shoulder and she spoke in a slightly trembling voice.

“The holy sword Gram is…what?”

The black cat was catching its breath with its limbs sprawled out on the floor.

“It seems IAI HQ is sending Gram by air to the IAI Tokyo branch. He said…” The cat took a breath. “They will be shooting it down.”

“So a battle cannot be avoided now.”

“Fafner said you should return right away. He said he would leave taking care of Siegfried to you.”

“Eh?”

A movement came over Brunhild’s expressionless face. This movement was produced by strength.

When the black cat saw that expression, it turned away.

“If Gram is retrieved, its master, Siegfried, is sure to take action. Fafner said he would be left to you. Brunhild,” called the black cat. “Everyone is expecting to see the cries of resentment contained in the scythe of the underworld.”

Brunhild shook her head and stopped moving.

The small bird on her shoulder chirped.

Brunhild did not move when she heard it.

All expression had left her face. There was not even enough there to call it expressionless. It was as if all color had been lost from her face.

“…”

Brunhild remained silent, hung her head, and closed her eyes.

She bit her lower lip and knitted her brow.

A slight breath leaked from deep in her throat.

The black cat looked up at her. When it realized she had her eyes closed, the cat partially closed its own eyes, hung its head down, and gave a small nod.

“Okay,” mouthed the cat before looking up. “Brunhild?”

Brunhild opened her eyes. By the time their gazes met, the cat was looking at its owner the same as ever.

“Brunhild,” called the cat once more. “I am doing my best to be your ally.”

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Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 19

2026-07-14T02:46:26Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 19: Prematurity of Thoughts==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0143.png|thumb]]
''What is the difference between being hasty and acting quickly?

''The answer is incredibly simple

''It is decided by whether the outcome is successful or not

The preliminary negotiations with Fasolt began with a check of the initial assumptions.

“At the moment, there is no sign of the City faction joining us. The negotiations will primarily relate to the Royal Palace faction joining. These negotiations are the preliminary preparations for the Leviathan Road.”

From there, Fasolt informed Sayama of a few matters:

UCAT had asked that Fasolt remains 1st-Gear’s representative, UCAT special division security guards would be maintaining a presence in the reservation for a temporary period of time after the Royal Palace faction arrived, and due to cultural similarities, the reservation would prefer if those guards were sent in from German UCAT.

Sayama replied that he understood, Shinjou nodded, and Ooshiro typed it up on his keyboard to keep records.

Once the initial assumptions had been clarified, Fasolt said, “The day after tomorrow, one hundred sixty-seven members of the Royal Palace faction will be arriving here. It is impossible for us to secure enough arable land for all of them.”

“Are you asking for an expansion to the concept space creating the reservation?”

Fasolt did not nod. Sayama turned to Ooshiro.

“What would happen if it was expanded?”

“It already covers a radius of one kilometer. If the radius was expanded by one hundred meters, the area would increase by twenty-one percent. …It is a simple calculation, but you understand what it means to increase their yearly budget by twenty percent, right? We already put ten digits worth of budget a year into maintaining this place.”

“I see.” Sayama turned back toward Fasolt and said, “Just because the Royal Palace faction is joining you, I cannot approve merely expanding the reservation.”

“Why not?”

“You mentioned before that there is a process for naturalization. That means you try not to bring in anyone who can survive outside of 1st-Gear’s concepts, correct?”

“Yes.”

“That means we need to go over the list of those arriving and see how many belong to races that can be naturalized. We can build temporary lodging for those who can be naturalized, temporarily prioritize food distribution, and build houses for and expand the fields for those who will be ultimately staying. I think we can hold new negotiations over the land issue once you know how many will be staying.” Sayama gave a bitter smile. “But I think you knew all this. That is why you said what you said: ‘It is impossible for us to secure enough arable land for all of them.’ And that is why you did not answer my question, isn’t it?”

After a short silence, Fasolt laughed from deep in his throat.

“Yes. I did no more than tell the truth, Sayama Mikoto. You are the one that misinterpreted, boy.”

Sayama smiled and Shinjou let out a sigh next to him.

''Something is beginning,'' thought Sayama.

He quickly began to calculate out what he and his opponent had at their disposal.

Via UCAT, Sayama had the authority to do whatever he wanted with the concept space. However, if he used that authority, he would be distancing 1st-Gear’s cooperation in the Leviathan Road.

On the other hand, his opponent had a past Sayama was unaware of and could make demands from the position of a victim. When he used the sudden arrival of the Royal Palace faction as a shield, Sayama had difficulty telling the truth of his demands because too much was unknown.

…''At any rate, he will be making demands.

He would give some reason for making a demand no matter how ridiculous. If Sayama misjudged the situation and accepted it, his opponent would profit.

Possessing a kind heart would be a disadvantage here.

Sayama trusted his prediction that the negotiations had already begun.

He took a breath, pulled a handkerchief out of his breast pocket, and wiped his brow.

Fasolt watched Sayama.

In one hand, the boy was folding the handkerchief he had pulled from his breast pocket.

Fasolt looked up and found the sun was at its highest point.

“It really is hot,” said Sayama as if informing Fasolt who was looking up into the sky.

“Yes, it is,” agreed Fasolt before lowering his gaze.

''He is very young,'' thought Fasolt about Sayama who was looking directly at him.

Fasolt thought back to the previous conversation. The boy had responded properly to his slight test and he had seen through Fasolt’s intentions. Even the standard UCAT negotiators could do the same. It was an issue of paying attention.

But this boy had intentionally pretended to be mistaken and had thought up an actual means of handling the situation, even if only a superficial one.

His solution had been incomplete, but it was the specialists’ job to finish it off.

For a leader, what truly mattered was negotiating without making any mistakes and deciding on a general course of action.

Fasolt had yet to fully make up his mind about Sayama.

Sayama looked up toward the sun high in the sky and began to remove his coat.

He roughly gathered the sleeves, folded it so the front was visible, and handed it to Shinjou next to him.

As soon as he did, Shinjou’s eyes opened wide and she whispered to Sayama.

“Wh-what are you saying? I c-can’t do that…”

Shinjou looked over at Fasolt. She then frantically adjusted her position and held Sayama’s coat.

With a slightly disappointed look, Sayama returned to his proper position. He wiped his brow with his handkerchief and placed it in the pocket on his shirt. The handkerchief stuck out from the shirt a bit.

Nevertheless, Sayama turned toward Fasolt.

Next to him, Shinjou continually glanced over at him, but Sayama did not seem to notice.

Fasolt then looked over at the coat Shinjou was holding. Its breast pocket was turned toward him.

Fasolt thought about the boy before his eyes. ''He really is young,'' he concluded before making his next move.

Sayama heard Fasolt speak.

“Our demands are quite simple, Sayama Mikoto. We want you to hand over Siegfried, the holy sword Gram, and the Concept Core held within the sword. Until then, we will not give you the right to use 1st-Gear’s Concept Core and we will not help persuade the City faction.”

“What?”

Fasolt did not even acknowledge his question.

“After the Concept War, this reservation agreed to cooperate with UCAT, but we agreed to nothing concerning the Leviathan Road. That is why we demand that we begin anew here. Hand over the war criminal. If you promise that, the Royal Palace faction and the City faction will both fall in line with the peaceful faction. We will make sure they do.”

“And you want us to hand over Gram and the Concept Core inside it?”

“I think it will be necessary to convince the City faction, but what do you think? Even if we persuade them to join with us, I doubt they will do what we say if we have not been granted some power.”

Sayama remained silent. Fasolt watched him as he sat silently.

“Just to be clear, threatening to remove this concept space to aid your negotiations will gain you nothing.”

Sayama did not say he would not do so. If he had to, he would. Fasolt had warned it would gain him nothing, but those were nothing but words. It was impossible to know what would happen if he actually did it.

However, that was a last resort. Using it would end the relationship between them.

Sayama took a breath.

“Could you stop testing me? Unnecessary statements could hinder our negotiations,” he said.

“Saying many things in quick succession is the special characteristic of a storyteller.”

The dragon gave no apology. That gave Sayama an odd sense of relief.

His opponent was a proud person. That may have been a common characteristic of 1st-Gear. No matter how far they lowered themselves and no matter what means they chose to use, they would always give precedence to their self-respect.

…''They are obstinate and direct.

They were easy to handle as allies, but impossible to avoid as an enemy.

With that in mind, Sayama once more pulled the handkerchief from his breast pocket.

He wiped his brow and Shinjou’s shoulders jumped slightly next to him.

At the same time, Fasolt looked over at Shinjou.

“There is nothing to be afraid of. As Ooshiro said, you can take it easy.”

“Oh, right,” said Shinjou as she slightly relaxed her legs which had been strictly kept in the seiza position.

As soon as she did, Fasolt’s hand moved.

“Ah,” gasped Shinjou, but Fasolt had already snatched the coat from her lap.

“This is a nice coat. Do you mind if I take a look at it?”

As Fasolt asked his question, an object fell from the suit coat in his hand.

Sayama clearly saw the cell phone drop. It was able to record audio.

“Whoops,” said Fasolt as he grabbed it in midair.

And with a clear noise, he crushed the cell phone in his hand.

“Oh, my mistake. I give you my personal apology. However.” Fasolt returned the suit coat to Shinjou and held up the remains of the cell phone in his other hand. “This was not running by any chance, was it? You were not so concerned about me that you felt the need to give a sign to have me filmed from the side, were you?”

Fasolt saw Sayama’s expression change twice in response to his words. It changed from tense to harsh and then from harsh to joyful. Fasolt’s thoughts raced as he saw those changes.

…''Did he notice my trick?

When Fasolt had watched over the autopsy of the werewolf that had committed suicide the day before yesterday, he had inspected Sayama’s possessions. And knowing that Sayama would be his opponent in the negotiations, he had thought up a certain trick.

He had switched on the digital recorder to drain the battery and had left the cell phone untouched. If Sayama brought the two items to the negotiations, he would need to use the cell phone to record any proof of what was said.

However, the cell phone’s microphone was weak, so it and the built-in camera would have to be on the surface.

Locating Sayama’s hiding spot for it had not been difficult. The camera had been sticking a bit out of his coat pocket.

Fasolt was certain the boy had been recording him. He had seen the small exchange between Sayama and Shinjou and he had seen Shinjou’s movements.

''Such awkward teamwork,'' thought Fasolt.

That was why he had grabbed the coat and smashed the cell phone.

Sayama’s use of the cell phone was proof that he had viewed the negotiations as dangerous and had wanted to secretly leave some proof behind. Taking that from him and destroying it while also warning him would inflict inescapable pressure on the boy.

Sayama was currently looking at the smashed cell phone.

“I do not believe I had it running,” he said with his head down as if trying to recall.

''Liar,'' thought Fasolt with a bitter smile in his heart.

As Fasolt watched, Sayama turned to Ooshiro to his left.

“Not that it matters. The old man here will handle recording what is said.”

Fasolt followed Sayama’s gaze and watched Ooshiro typing.

He nodded and said, “Unfortunately, Ooshiro’s records will not pass as proof.”

“Wh-why not?” asked Shinjou as she held the coat.

Fasolt nodded and replied, “That data can be easily altered. That is why I want to resolve these negotiations right here like this.”

Fasolt pulled a sheet of canvas from the inside pocket of his vest.

It was covered with the writing of 1st-Gear. Sayama would be able to read it because an image of the meaning took priority here.

It was a contract saying UCAT would accept the reservation’s demands. Below the agreement was a five centimeter underline.

Once he saw Sayama’s gaze stop on the underline, Fasolt spoke in a tone that held a slight smile.

“You will stamp your seal there. …You have your seal with you, don’t you? It is with the digital recorder with the dead battery.”

Shinjou embraced Sayama’s coat. She squeezed it between her arms.

And she glanced over at Sayama next to her.

''What will he do now?'' she wondered. ''Is there anything he can do?

As she watched on, Sayama stared expressionlessly at the contract.

He then suddenly moved. He pulled his handkerchief from his breast pocket with his right hand and lightly shook his wrist.

He looked at Fasolt and said, “So you saw through it. Yes, the battery is indeed dead. In that case, I no longer need it.”

He produced a digital recorder from the handkerchief. The power light was off which indicated it was not running. However, he was not looking at the recorder. He was looking at the broken cell phone that had fallen to the ground.

“I was planning to record any promises you made to perhaps later change our demands.”

Sayama sighed and took his seal case out of his pocket using his free left hand.

He placed the digital recorder and handkerchief next to him and placed the seal before him.

“But I am not yet ready to stamp my seal,” he said.

“Are you saying you will eventually do so?”

Sayama gave no response.

He remained silent and his face held no expression.

Faced with this, Fasolt froze in place.

Shinjou gulped lightly at seeing this silence and expressionlessness from Sayama for the first time. However…

“…”

His pulse was calm.

''Why is that?'' she wondered.

She felt as if she had seen him like this before.

When had it been?

She searched through her memories and arrived at a certain moment in the past.

The night before last, when he had stood before her and beyond the werewolf.

''What happened after that moment?'' she thought.

She thought back. In that moment, Sayama had stepped forward and spoken to their enemy. He had provoked the enemy. And now…

“You should learn that those who trust in writing can be betrayed by writing.” Sayama lightly raised his right hand. “Let me be clear up front: I cannot agree to any one of the demands you have given.”

“Then what will you say when you see this?”

Fasolt pulled a thick book from his vest and held it so Shinjou and the others could see.

It was a hardcover book made of canvas sheets and cloth. Shinjou had seen it before.

“That’s the book the knight had yesterday.”

“Yes. It is an investigation report on the destruction of our Wotan Kingdom. Volunteers from the Royal Palace faction visited both the peaceful faction and the City faction to gather the records to create it. These records could only have been made by the Royal Palace faction that sat in the middle. Neither we nor the City faction could have made it.”

Sayama took the investigation report and opened it.

Shinjou peered at its contents from the side. It listed a calculation of the total amount of destruction while using spelling that avoided any dangerous terminology. Each time Sayama turned the page, Shinjou could sense the image of the destruction detailed within.

Arton Central Street was smashed along with the decorations for the festival in the small park: thirty-eight dead.

Ethos District 3 contained a wooden school, but it was crushed along with the people who had taken refuge inside: ninety-one dead.

The evacuation warning never reached the third redevelopment sector and the pioneer village was eliminated without knowing what was happening: forty-six dead.

In addition, there was damage to houses in several sectors or out in nature, the loss of assets and livestock, and a calculated value of the land lost. It was all calculated out to reach a final sum for the damages.

“Once converted to the currency of philosopher’s stones, UCAT must maintain this reservation for seven thousand twenty-two years. We have lived here for sixty years, so that still leaves six thousand nine hundred sixty-two years. Exchanging that debt for one man and a sword sounds like a bargain to me.”

''That’s absurd,'' thought Shinjou with a gulp.

She slowly looked over at Sayama so Fasolt would not notice her internal panic. She found Sayama as expressionless and silent as before.

''What will he do now?'' she thought.

And she had another thought.

She recalled what Fasolt had said when he had destroyed the cell phone:

You felt the need to give a sign to have me filmed from the side.

She did not know what he had meant by that. She had not been given that role.

But even if she did not understand, Shinjou knew that everything was advancing. And she knew that Sayama likely had some plan.

Sayama looked at Fasolt.

Fasolt had been looking at him for a while now. With that in mind, he spoke.

“Giving concrete value to people’s lives is something else I am not willing to do.”

“If doing so is necessary for a negotiation, we will choose that as our weapon.”

“And so you are demanding a human life in the place of money?”

“Demanding? No. My role here is to present you with possibilities. Your role here is to choose, Sayama Mikoto. I have presented you with a means of paying reparations for the damages. You are the one that chooses whether you will pay for your ancestors’ mistakes with seven thousand years of expenses or by handing over that man and Gram.”

“And if I handed them over, I would be putting a price on a human life?”

“Yes, if you did. We would have prepared a different path, but you would have chosen that path because you could not pay. It would not hurt us in any way.”

Sayama thought. According to Ooshiro, it was impossible to even increase the reservation’s yearly maintenance expenses by twenty percent. That meant it was beyond impossible to pay off the seven thousand years’ worth of debt right away. And that was why he asked the next question.

“Are Siegfried and Gram really that valuable?”

“They are.”

“I see.” Sayama picked up the contract and the seal case in front of them. “Shinjou-kun, hand me a pen from my coat’s breast pocket.”

“Oh, right.”

Shinjou took a silver ballpoint pen from the pocket and handed it over.

Sayama flipped over the contract and wrote something while using the cover of the investigation report as a desk. He stamped what he wrote with the seal he took from the case and then placed the contract in front of Fasolt.

“If you want something of such great value, then how about we resolve everything like this?”

Everyone looked at the back of the contract.

Shinjou gulped, Fasolt clenched his hands, and Ooshiro smiled bitterly.

Sayama read what he had written on the back of the contract.

“Seven thousand years shall be added to the current seven thousand year debt. In exchange, we shall buy the half-dragon Fasolt and all of his rights. …That should be fine with anyone who will give monetary value to people’s lives.”

“You will buy your negotiating opponent!?” cried Fasolt.

A wind blew through and disturbed Sayama’s hair, but he ignored it and spoke.

“If doing so is necessary for a negotiation, we will choose that as our weapon. Those are your words. And I believe we had agreed to that view. …You asked me to sell someone’s life if I could not pay.” He gave a bitter smile. “But that also means I can buy someone’s life if I can pay.”

“…”

“We will pay what is needed. It does not matter how many years it takes, who might suffer, or even if you refuse us. So let me say this: You may think you all have pride, but you only have the spirit of poor slaves.”

“Slaves? Now you’ve said it, you aboriginal.”

“Aboriginal? We certainly have evolved. I miss the days when we were called yellow monkeys.” Sayama’s bitter smile deepened. “Fasolt, let me tell what kind of race we are. We are the Japanese, the ‘economic animals’. We have nothing to fear when it comes to money. A debt? We just need to save up. The government? It runs on money. A grudge? That is just a bias of the poor. Now, Fasolt, for fourteen thousand years of peace for your comrades, you will be ours. And let me say this: You will physically remain with 1st-Gear, but as our possession,” he nodded, “you will withdraw all of your demands. No need to lower your head. You are our comrade now that we bought you. We have the right to do this. You are the one that brought up buying people’s lives, something we had never done before.”

At that point, Sayama threw the investigation report to the ground.

“This is absurd, Fasolt.” He took a breath. “What is this investigation report? It may have some truth to it, but how much of it is truth? If you are going to carry out an investigation, have a third party do so or at least do so while we are present. Otherwise, this is nothing more than reference material. …Is presenting unreliable material at the negotiating table the 1st-Gear’s way of doing things!?”

Fasolt responded to the last part more than anything else.

The creaking of his fangs could be heard from his clenched mouth.

But that was as much of Fasolt’s power as was seen.

He slowly reached out a hand and picked the book up from the ground. He let out a long sigh.

“It is true this contains a fair bit of personal opinion for an investigation report. But are you really going to use the lack of records from this conversation to say such abusive things?”

Sayama turned a smile in Fasolt’s direction.

“Abusive? That was a rebuke over how useless your investigation report is. …I was trying to say that your actions were showing contempt for the value of 1st-Gear. If you misinterpreted me, I apologize.”

“No need.” Fasolt drew back and held the book to his chest. He spoke once more after suppressing the anger in his voice. “Either way, we will not give you the right to use the Concept Core unless you accept our demands. …How do you intend to gain that right from me?”

Sayama glanced around. The nearby houses had their windows open because it was a sunny day, so he could see inside. Inside the shadowy houses, he could tell the items within were a bit different from those he was used to. Every house had bare walls and they grew flowers.

Sayama was searching for ''a certain object'' within those houses.

But from what he could see at a distance, it was not there. It was a completely normal object in his world, but it was absent here.

…''It could be easily brought in from outside, but there is none here.

The possible reasons for this were simple. It may never have existed in 1st-Gear and was not needed, or UCAT feared letting 1st-Gear have it and so refused to do so.

It was one of those or possibly both.

Once he realized that, another fact came to Sayama. He realized the true purpose behind the negotiation.

“…”

He silently relaxed. He cooled his head that had begun to grow serious.

''If I am right about the true purpose of this negotiation,'' thought Sayama, ''trying to crush Fasolt would not be the best strategy.

And that was why Sayama said what he did next. He breathed out, breathed in, and then spoke in a calm voice.

“Instead of Siegfried and the holy sword Gram, we will provide you with technology equivalent to seven thousand years’ worth of budget or allow you to use said technology.”

“Technology equivalent to seven thousand years’ worth of budget?” asked Fasolt before laughing from the throat. “What do you mean by that? We already sustain ourselves. Is there any technology we could possibly want and is there any technology Low-Gear could possibly provide us with?”

“There is.”

“And what is it?’

Sayama thought and said, “It can be used as a weapon. It can be used as culture and civilization. It can be power and it can become anything in existence.”

“Hah! How amusing! We in 1st-Gear live with the power of writing, so what more culture and civilization do we need!? And with our mechanical dragons, why would we need weapons?” Fasolt strongly held the hardcover book against his chest. “Tell me, Sayama Mikoto. What is this technology you think we would exchange our Concept Core for? What is this technology that UCAT has been keeping from us?”

Sayama nodded and spoke a single word.

“Paper.”

Fasolt almost dropped the book he was holding to his chest.

“Why would you think we need-…?”

“All of your writing is on parchment or canvas. And I do not see any bookshelves in these 1st-Gear houses. Paper is a necessary item to bring a society past a certain point, but it is being restricted here in some way. That is why I thought I could use the removal of that restriction as a bargaining chip.”

Fasolt understood what Sayama meant.

In 1st-Gear, writing held power, so spelling something out held the possibility of danger. Needless to say, creating that writing in the proper form to create power was difficult and it was nothing but scribbles if done wrong.

However, nothing was as frightening as an unlikely accident.

That was why a storyteller like Fasolt passed down writing in the form of sound and most records were kept using symbols that were difficult to call writing. The writing in the investigation report had been carefully chosen so it would provide the proper images yet not have actual power.

Due to the conditions of their world, writing technology had not advanced. Most of the tools that could easily write had been in the control of the royal family and very few were produced.

As a storyteller, he knew very well that 1st-Gear’s culture was built around that.

But he had to wonder what would happen if that assumption was removed.

The boy before him spoke.

“What if you used the safe writing used in that investigation report as the foundation for a carefully selected set of everyday writing with little power? Wouldn’t that allow you to pass down your current culture and allow anyone to perform research?”

He was saying the current state of 1st-Gear’s culture would change.

Sayama held a hand out toward him. He reached for the book at his chest.

Fasolt handed the boy the hardcover book as he wanted.

Sayama took it and flipped through the pages.

“You had so many houses. And the people living in them worked at the schools, stores, and government offices. But out of fear of dangerous writing, you could not record any of it. You never expanded the writing technology that would support those records and UCAT is currently keeping our technology from you.”

“That is true…”

“UCAT will remove the restrictions on that technology as a form of reparations,” said Sayama.

Fasolt turned to Ooshiro who looked back at him.

“Well, we would need to negotiate it out with the UCATs from other countries. What a pain,” said the old man.

Fasolt gave a quiet laugh from the throat and listened as Sayama continued to speak.

“Our world is immature, Fasolt. About a thousand years ago, we believed our world had the same table shape as your world. But our people walked, left records, and changed our beliefs to match the truth. And even now we are building up more and more records to divide truth from falsehood.”

“And you are telling us to do the same? I see,” said Fasolt with a nod.

It was a nice idea. If they had writing tools that could be mass produced, they would only need people with the ability to write in the proper way. And instead of restricting usage of the writing tools as the royal family had done, they would restrict the words that held power and spread the safe words.

Knowledge would spread and they would even be able to interact with other cultures. However…

“Sayama Mikoto. That is a nice idea, but a problem remains. And our negotiations must continue.”

“Eh?” said Shinjou as Fasolt turned back toward Sayama.

Sayama showed no panic or surprise over his words.

He only said, “Yes, you understand, don’t you? Writing can betray those who use it. Building up and spreading records can do more than create; it can also destroy.” Sayama held up the hardcover book. “If you obtain the technology to publish books, you will have books like this one. And that will pass your grudges down to the later generations. The power we give you will create more enemies for us.”

“And that is why I must ask you something, boy… No, you are no boy. You are merely Sayama Mikoto. Can you give us this technology without fearing the spread of our grudges, protect Siegfried and the holy sword Gram, and also acquire the Concept Core?”

“Of course,” replied Sayama.

Shinjou’s eyes opened wide when she heard what Sayama said.

“Y-you can’t, Sayama-kun! You can’t make an enemy of him!”

“I think it will be fine. Fasolt understands that this investigation report is nothing more than reference material. After I rebuked him, he admitted that it includes personal opinion.”

“He did, but…”

Fasolt nodded.

“Those comments and the records of them are worth nothing. At the negotiating table, only the final decision matters.”

Ooshiro looked up and said, “Um, you do know I am working really hard typing up everything you say, right? Please do not say it is worth nothing.”

Fasolt ignored him. The half-dragon looked down at the remains of the cell phone lying between Sayama and himself.

“My comment admitting the investigation report contains personal opinion will not remain in the records. That means I can insist on its legitimacy. No matter what you say, it will be seen as accurate. Even if you protest, it will be published and distributed to everyone. A large number of people will believe it over you!”

“Fasolt, I am about to test how much you have been paying attention. Is that okay?”

Sayama’s sudden words caused Fasolt to look up.

“What?”

“I will be asking some questions and you will answer me. Got it? When you destroyed the cell phone whose remains lie before me, did you check to see if it was running?”

Shinjou did not understand the point of the question.

And Fasolt did not seem to either.

He sank down slightly and asked, “Are you saying…it was not running?”

Those words which were inarticulate for a half-dragon caused Shinjou to tilt her head in confusion.

“What do you mean?” she asked and Fasolt quickly turned toward her.

“Why are you asking?”

“Oh, um, it’s nothing. Nothing at all. There might have been a slight misunderstanding.

She frantically waved her hands in front of her, but Fasolt kept his gaze on her. He opened his fang-filled mouth and spoke.

“What is going on? Shinjou, I thought you and Sayama were working together. He would give you a sign and you would record what I-…”

“W-wait a second!”

Shinjou did not understand some of what he had said. And it reminded her of another baffling thing Fasolt had said earlier. Shinjou asked about the confusing parts.

“What do you mean we were working together? And what sign?”

Fasolt had been leaning forward, but he straightened up in an instant.

While still looking at Shinjou, he bared his teeth and trembled.

“Sayama Mikoto handed you the cell phone along with his coat. When he raised his handkerchief as a sign, you began recording, did you not? He wanted you to record my abusive remarks.”

“Eh? N-no. I wasn’t given that role.”

He was mistaken about something. For some reason, that half-dragon was focused on her even though she had been doing nothing but listen.

Fasolt continued to speak to provide his evidence.

“Then why did you squirm a bit whenever Sayama Mikoto pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his brow? He provided you with instructions when he handed you his coat, correct? I heard you say you could not do something.”

Shinjou gasped.

“N-no!”

She looked to the side and found Sayama staring expressionlessly up into the sky. He must have noticed her looking at him because he picked Baku up from his left shoulder and placed him on his head.

He and the beast squinted as they looked up into the sky.

He was determined to ignore her.

That left her with no choice. While prepared to blush, Shinjou proved her innocence to Fasolt.

“I-I will tell you what Sayama-kun told me to do when handing me his coat!” She hesitated for a moment. “ ‘I am so nervous that I really want to feel up your butt. If I am unable to resist any longer, I will give you a sign by raising my handkerchief. When I do, stick your butt out for me’! But I can’t do that. B-but it was a request from Sayama-kun, so I-I would jump in shock a bit whenever he pulled out his handkerchief!”

As she blushed and gave her explanation, Fasolt’s mouth hung limply open.

He slowly faced forward while his open mouth continued to produce no sound.

He stared at Sayama who still had Baku sitting on his head.

In response to everyone’s gazes, Sayama picked up what was lying next to him and held it up.

It was the digital recorder wrapped in his handkerchief. Its red power light was lit.

Sayama nodded and looked at Shinjou. He then spoke quietly for his own curiosity.

“Now, please continue, Shinjou-kun. What happened after you jumped in shock?”

“Why is that running!? Wasn’t its battery dead!?”

“Could you remain quiet, Fasolt? That will make it more difficult to edit later.”

“Th-the difficulty doesn’t matter! Explain what is going on!” demanded Shinjou.

Sayama picked up a part from the remains of the cell phone.

It was a battery that had been badly bent.

“You want to know why it is running? If you cannot answer a question this easy, I look forward to the difficulty you will face once you have paper, Fasolt. The answer is simple. I switched out the cell phone’s battery before entering this concept space. Most modern handheld devices use a standard battery type whether they are IAI-made or not. You should remember that.” He nodded and asked, “Fasolt, you were outside this place just before we entered the concept space, weren’t you? You used your limited time outside to observe me. Isn’t that right?”

“How do you know that?”

“The forest was too quiet. When a human is lurking in the forest, the birds and beasts grow cautious, but it was even more silent than that. In other words, there was something greater than a human there. Also, you had come from the field, but your jika-tabi had moss on them. That proves you had run through the forest. When you noticed me looking at it, you frantically kicked it off.” Sayama showed Fasolt the digital recorder. “When I noticed this recorder’s battery was dead, I realized someone had tried something. Once I knew my opponent had tried to eliminate my use of this device, I merely had to use that to my advantage. Once I received them from Shinjou-kun, I switched out the batteries and decided to use the cell phone as a decoy.”

“Then, Sayama-kun, this entire negotiation…”

“Has been recorded, yes. But it is missing the one thing I said while taking it out and placing it next to me. I had to turn it off to make it look like its battery was dead.”

Fasolt gulped and recalled what Sayama had said back then.

“You said the recorder’s battery was dead and that you intended to record any promises I made with the cell phone… Was it all to put me at ease so I would bring out greater demands!?”

“Now, now. Please stop discussing comments you have no proof were ever spoken,” said Sayama. “Or should I play back what I have recorded? I have you calling us aboriginals in response to my rebuke.”

“No, more importantly…what do you want?”

Sayama shook his head in response.

“I want nothing. But let us do what is natural. I will approve providing you with our technology if you allow us use of the Concept Core. And you may carry out an investigation of 1st-Gear’s destruction if it is done in cooperation with UCAT. For mutual understanding and reconciliation, we must have records if you are to have them. And once that is complete, we can begin thinking about what to do afterward. …Am I wrong?”

In lieu of a response, Fasolt raised both of his hands.

Sayama sighed.

''So it is over,'' he thought.

He lowered Baku from his head and muttered a short statement.

“What a farce.”

Sayama’s annoyed statement caused Shinjou to tilt her head. She could see he was frowning.

“A farce? Why? You look displeased.”

Sayama nodded, looked in her direction, and then turned toward Ooshiro.

“Old man, please do not make me do this again.”

Ooshiro looked up and gave a bitter smile. Shinjou could make no sense of the exchange.

“Wh-what do you mean? What did Ooshiro-san do?”

“I realized it partway through. The old man set all this up. Think about it. How was Fasolt able to touch my possessions? And who asked you to return them to me? How was Fasolt able to wait for us outside the concept space during his limited time outside of it? And who was it that stopped us in front of him and asked if I was carrying anything?” He took a breath. “Simply put, these preliminary negotiations were a test. I realized it once I noticed the paper technology issue. 1st-Gear is obedient enough to go along with Low-Gear’s restrictions. In that case, it was odd for Fasolt to be on the attack. I am ashamed I did not realize why and grew so worked up over a prank.”

Sayama folded his arms and closed his eyes. Shinjou was unsure what to say to him.

Fasolt laughed from deep in his throat.

“Do not feel too bad, Sayama Mikoto. You may not believe me, but I was serious.”

“Serious, hm?”

Sayama sighed with his eyes still closed.

His shoulders drooped and he seemed to have his own thoughts on the matter.

…''Does he think Fasolt went easy on him?

“O-Ooshiro-san. Was today’s negotiation effective?”

“Yes, removing the restriction on paper manufacturing is indeed a useful idea. I believe this was effective.”

“Take this seriously. Sayama-kun wasn’t arguing for fun.”

Hearing that, Sayama opened his eyes. Shinjou looked him in the eye and thought.

…''He can manage something in any situation.

“You are like the evil king of sophistry.”

“Thank you for the blunt opinion,” said Sayama with a bitter smile.

But Shinjou looked at him once more. When faced with an opponent making an absurd argument, this boy had refused to negotiate properly and had replied with an absurd argument of his own.

…''The surname Sayama indicates a villain. Is that it?

She recalled that Sayama had said he possessed the abilities needed to carry out evil.

''Is this what he meant?'' thought Shinjou.

She wondered what she would have done had she been in his place.

…''If I had come back with a proper argument, I might have only been faced with another absurd argument.

But the truth of that could not be known. And it was a fact that Sayama’s absurd argument had caused Fasolt to give in.

The only other information she had was Sayama’s expression and the drooping of his shoulders.

…''He did not get serious. That is probably because he realized partway through what Ooshiro-san had done.

She nodded and decided she would willingly play the role of listener if he wanted to complain about anything.

Doing so would surely be valuable for what had ended here today.

And just as Shinjou made up her mind, Fasolt turned to Sayama and spoke.

“This really did not go as I planned. Perhaps I should have expected that with Sayama’s grandson.”

Shinjou saw Sayama hold the left side of his chest. He frowned and looked up at Fasolt.

“You knew my grandfather?”

“I did, even if it was only for a short time. When we first arrived in this world, he was the member of UCAT that prepared the location which became this reservation. Siegfried had given him the holy sword Gram, so he extracted the concepts needed to create this place. I have not seen him since those initial negotiations, though.”

“I see. Then I suppose you would know nothing of my father. He worked for IAI.”

“We do not leave this place, so we know nothing of that. However, I do remember your grandfather quite well,” said Fasolt. “Sixty years ago, we exchanged arguments very similar to these provisional negotiations. He too shouted angrily at me when I requested reparations equal to the number of the dead. He told me not to calculate the number and value of the dead and to instead live peacefully here and put together a plan to restore our lost pride, even if there was an opposing faction. We have yet to do that, though.”

Shinjou suddenly turned to Ooshiro who sat next to Fasolt. Ooshiro glanced toward Fasolt’s back.

On that back that she had once clung to were the scars from the severed wings.

''Oh,'' realized Shinjou in her heart. ''So that’s it.

A short silence followed. Whatever Fasolt may have thought of that silence, he slowly turned toward Ooshiro who was looking up at him. While glancing over at the old man, he spoke in a critical tone.

“This is more your problem than mine, but UCAT is filled with too many mysteries.”

“It is an organization that has hidden itself in the world so that it may save that world. Of course it has a lot of mysteries.”

“So not even 1st-Gear’s representative knows the details,” commented Sayama.

Fasolt nodded and said, “We know almost nothing about UCAT’s activities. The one thing everyone knows is that a large scale change occurred in 1995. Japanese UCAT was temporarily dissolved and reorganized.”

Shinjou and Sayama both spoke in unison.

“Temporarily dissolved and reorganized?”

Sayama saw Fasolt look at Shinjou and himself.

“So you do not know about that. It happened suddenly at the end of ’95 which was almost the exact same time Shinjou was taken in by UCAT. All of the personnel other than the leaders left the organization.”

“Why?”

“I do not know, Sayama Mikoto. I would love to be told. I would assume only Ooshiro here and a few others know the truth behind it. One theory is that they were taking responsibility for the many deaths during relief operations after the Great Kansai Earthquake.”

“I see,” said Sayama with a nod.

He was not discouraged.

The Leviathan Road had come with several conditions added by his grandfather. One of those was that they had to gather all of their information themselves.

Here, he only needed to learn about 1st-Gear. And…

…''This just means I need to investigate UCAT in addition to the ten Gears.

Sayama nodded and Fasolt nodded in return. The half-dragon then turned to Shinjou and opened his mouth to speak.

“I have gone back and forth on whether I should tell you this, but I will tell you now since you have returned after so long.”

“Eh? Me?” she asked.

“Yes. It will be an old story for you two. This concept space was constructed by Sayama Kaoru, but he said he was only able to do so by basing it on some data he had been given.”

“From another UCAT member?”

“No, he said it was from another member of the former National Defense Department. While investigating for the National Defense Department, this person had managed to estimate what concepts the different Gears used. Sayama Kaoru said he had only followed the data from back then.”

Fasolt looked up into the sky. His gaze moved slowly around as if he could see the invisible wall forming the concept space.

“This person originally became involved in the National Defense Department while working as the assistant of a Professor Kinugasa, but they never joined UCAT. I do not know what became of this person.”

“Who was this person?” asked Sayama.

Fasolt spoke a single surname.

“Shinjou. That is all I was told.”

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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 18

2026-07-13T02:01:24Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 18: Broken Horizon==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0123.png|thumb]]
''What are you going there to see?

''Is that a question one can answer?

''After all, that is what you are going there to find out

Sayama followed Ooshiro Kazuo to the 1st-Gear reservation. They climbed a hill behind UCAT.

They walked past UCAT transportation control, made their way through vegetable and flower gardens and a cedar forest, and finally arrived at a paved road. Ooshiro turned toward Sayama on that road. He flipped up the hem of his burnt white lab coat.

“Do you have anything with anything written on it or carved into it?”

Sayama was just about to answer when he suddenly looked toward the surrounding forest.

“…?”

''Something is off,'' thought Sayama.

He had felt some sort of presence.

However, he could not see anything in the area. He found only silence.

“It certainly is quiet here.”

“Maybe that’s because we are near the concept space. But I visited here a few times a long time ago. And those times,” Shinjou tilted her head, “I remember hearing more birds.”

''I need to be cautious,'' thought Sayama.

He nodded and answered the previous question.

“I decided to be cautious and avoided bringing any products with writing on them. But will electronics work inside?”

Sayama pulled his cell phone from his pocket. It had a microphone and a built-in camera that allowed it to record audio and video.

Sayama pointed at the camera and Ooshiro scratched at his head.

“Hmm, it should work. To prevent a rebellion, the reservation is based on Low-Gear concepts. If you are clever in how you use it, you might be able to give it extra ability from the concepts added to the reservation. But…”

“But it will not work as a phone, right? The phone tower exists outside.”

“There are specialized devices that allow you to communicate outside, but they are quite valuable.”

Hearing that, Sayama returned the cell phone to his suit’s breast pocket. He kept the camera facing outward.

Sayama then looked toward Ooshiro’s left side. He held a laptop there.

When Ooshiro noticed, he tapped the gray body of the device and raised his right thumb.

“This is for recording what is said. The keyboard and switches are unmarked. At the press of a button, it can switch to a setting that does not display anything.”

“I did not know you were that skilled with computers, old man.”

Shinjou looked over toward Sayama. She was slightly out of breath from climbing the slight hill.

“He plays video games a lot in his room. But when SF, the others, or I try to look at the screen, he panics and switches off the display. I think Itaru-san scolded him about it once.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. And the walls in Ooshiro-san’s room are covered in long vertical posters. They all have gaudy drawings of lewd girls.”

After thinking on what Shinjou had said, Sayama looked over at Ooshiro. He turned a small smile toward that man carrying a laptop.

“Old man.”

“D-do you need something?”

“I will say this in an indirect way: You will not die in any decent way, you perverted old man.”

“Wow, you really said it. …And Shinjou-kun, you shouldn’t tell on people!”

“Eh? B-but I thought an hour of video games a day was an acceptable way of extending your hobbies.” With her head tilted, Shinjou pulled what looked like a card out of her back pocket. “I have this. It isn’t the same as yours, but it is a handheld game system UCAT gave me.”

Sayama took it from her and realized it was a small game device with an LCD screen. The black and white LCD screen was located in the center, a single round button was located on either side of the screen, and it had two selection buttons. From the patterns visible on the LCD screen, the game involved people jumping down from a building which the player had to bounce into an ambulance with a stretcher.

“It has a clock mode and the game has a normal A Mode and a hard B Mode. I got the max score in A Mode once, but the battery died and my high score was lost.”

Sayama nodded in understanding as he listened, but then he spoke to Ooshiro.

“I just now realized that it is UCAT’s doing that Shinjou-kun is so strange, but what am I supposed to do about it?”

“I-I’m not strange.”

“You have been brainwashed. Video games are normally played on the television or with a color LCD screen.”

“Eh? You can play games on TV?”

“Old man! This has reached the level of personality modification!”

“I’m not actually sure how this happened either,” he said. “I can only think people have been giving her what they have to spare.”

“I see,” said Sayama with a nod. He returned the handheld game system to Shinjou. “Take care of this. …But get ready because I will make sure Setsu-kun educates you on this. I think I have some things in storage that a graduate left behind.”

“Eh? Y-you don’t have to do that. I would feel bad.”

“No, this is an excellent chance to teach you that you do not live in the Showa era.”

Sayama sighed and continued forward. As Ooshiro walked in front of him, the man suddenly disappeared.

Sayama frowned and wondered what had happened, but then the watch on his left wrist suddenly vibrated.

—'''Writing is a representation of power.

He heard a voice and red words scrolled across the face of the watch.

Sayama realized this was the same concept text he had heard at the Imperial palace.

But he felt as if nothing had changed.

The scenery around him had barely changed. The types of trees were slightly different and the smell of earth was a bit stronger, but that was all. He could not help but compare it to the concept space that had caused the direction of gravity to change.

“This is a bit underwhelming.”

“Not all of them are quite so exciting.”

He looked over to find Ooshiro and Shinjou standing next to him.

Sayama nodded and they began walking once more. Beyond the forest on either side of the path were fields of crops.

Sayama continued walking along the earth between the trees as he looked at the crops in the distance. He soon came to the top of the hill.

The visible area opened up before him.

Above were the blue sky and the white clouds and below was a village. The fields on either side of the path continued on to the village.

Most of the trees had been left intact in the village and several houses had been built among them. Most of those houses were made of built up stones with cement filling the gaps. The roofs were made of wood. A small vegetable garden and storage shed existed next to each house.

An even more open area existed beyond the trees and houses. A green sea was visible there.

“Wheat?”

“Yes. Some potatoes and other things are grown individually. Growing crops in a concept space can be unstable. About twenty years ago, large amounts of soil was brought in from outside so they could be self-sufficient.”

“Is that part of UCAT’s job?”

“Yes, but UCAT’s budget is limited. For anything more than that, the reservation residents need to earn it themselves. They do so by sharing techniques and knowledge or by working in UCAT. And if they wish to be naturalized, we will gladly help them.”

“Is that because the fewer the people in the reservation, the easier it is to keep them fed?”

Just as Ooshiro nodded in response, a low voice called out from the field to the side.

“Yes. And if we are to welcome in new members, we must send out those who can leave.”

The figure that climbed up to the pathway was huge. Sayama looked up at that two meter figure.

“A dragon?”

In front of him was a humanoid dragon covered in a black shell and skin.

His pointed face and sharp eyes were turned toward Sayama. The low shoulders below his fairly long neck were covered by a simple white outfit that had a fisherman’s vest worn over it. On his feet were…

“Jika-tabi?”

They were the type sold cheaply in supermarkets. The toes were covered in dirt and moss.

He must have noticed Sayama’s gaze because Fasolt opened his mouth and laughed from the throat. He kicked the ground to knock off the dirt and moss and shook the flowers and straw in his left arm.

“These shoes work best with the three claws I have received from the reign of the dragon god. They also work well with agricultural work. Don’t you agree? What is your name, human youth and boy of Low-Gear? I am Fasolt, the leader and storyteller of this 1st-Gear reservation.”

His lungs must have been able to hold a lot of air because the words all came at once.

Sayama saw Baku ball up his tail and pull back his hips where he stood on Sayama’s shoulder.

[[Image:OnC_v02_0131.png|thumb]]

“I am Sayama Mikoto. It seems I am the tentative Low-Gear representative. It is nice to meet you, leader from another world,” said Sayama as he held out his right hand.

“Ahh,” groaned Fasolt as he held out his right hand which was covered by a large work glove. But his outstretched hand was clenched in a fist. “We do it like this in 1st-Gear, Sayama Mikoto. According to folklorists, the purpose is to show you are not holding a weapon, but a lot of us would injure each other if we held hands.”

It was true that Fasolt’s hand had claws sticking out from the work glove. The ends were round, but those ends were white from being filed down. Sayama decided to clench his right hand into a fist as well.

Fasolt struck Sayama’s fist with his own. Sayama did the same in return.

“Excellent. Do not forget to use your palm instead when greeting a woman. If you want to remember how to greet people in 1st-Gear, just remember to punch the men and stroke the women. That saying comes from the city’s fourteenth block and I used to follow it quite a lot.”

Fasolt’s words arrived all at once, but they were easy to listen to.

''It has a nice rhythm,'' analyzed Sayama.

Ooshiro said, “In 1st-Gear, writing produces power, so they never advanced very far when it came to keeping documents and records. The dragon race has a long life, a large lung capacity, and an excellent memory, so they were often record keepers, judges, and historical storytellers.”

“Yes. I gave up the position of judge due to my age, but I will continue as storyteller until I die. Not many speak like this anymore, but I suppose that is just the age we live in. Oh, but I am a bit disappointed that you do not seem very surprised to see me, Sayama Mikoto. Shinjou there was quite surprised when she first saw me.”

“I-I was just a kid. I didn’t really understand.”

Shinjou lowered her head and blushed while Ooshiro folded his arms and spoke.

“When she first met Fasolt, she climbed up on his back and was surprised not to see a zipper.”

“B-but I was watching Aretorman Cement and there was one on his back.”

“Why were you watching a minor Showa tokusatsu show? Do television broadcasts arrive in Okutama with a time lag?”

Fasolt laughed from the throat and closed his eyes nostalgically.

“It was even more amazing when Ooshiro met me the first time as a child. He wet himself as soon as he saw me and was so surprised he let out some strange shriek and ran up to attack me. I knocked him to the ground without even thinking. It is a complete mystery how that never affected the negotiations afterward.”

“Hitting someone who deserves to be hit does not affect the negotiations.”

“I see, I see. I thank you for solving that fifty-year-old mystery, Sayama Mikoto.”

Sayama and Fasolt lightly tapped their fists together. The half-dragon ignored Ooshiro who seemed to want to say something.

“Now then. If you like, we can begin the provisional negotiations. Public matters should be done in a public place, so our custom is to do this in the public square.”

Sayama nodded, but then said, “If possible, could you perform your job as storyteller first?”

Fasolt and Ooshiro looked over at him, but Shinjou nodded.

“That’s right. Shinjou-kun and I don’t know much about 1st-Gear.”

“You are quite different from Ooshiro despite being the same race. I am a bit moved. Tes.”

After giving his consent, Fasolt turned his back and began walking.

Ooshiro began to follow Fasolt, but first looked over at Sayama and turned his thumb downward.

“You had better remember this.”

“Is that any way for an adult to act?” replied Sayama.

Ooshiro ran after Fasolt while blatantly pretending to cry.

Sayama exchanged a glance with Shinjou and sighed. With a bitter smile, he jogged after Fasolt.

As he did, Sayama looked at Fasolt’s back. His low shoulders stuck out from the collar of his clothes. On either side was a portion not covered by the shell or scales. That area was as long and thick as an arm and the skin was dark red and hardened like a burn scar.

Shinjou whispered to Sayama from where she walked alongside him.

“Those are the scars from cutting off his own wings. Or so I’ve heard.”

Whether he heard her or not, Fasolt spoke as he looked across the earthen public square that existed between the trees and houses and a wheat field.

“On a sunny day, the air, the wind, and stories of the past will all flow far and wide. Before we begin the negotiations, I will tell you the history of our land.”

Instead of just taking a breath, Fasolt seemed to store up even more breaths before speaking once more.

“As well as its destruction.”

Brunhild was dreaming. 1st-Gear’s destruction was recreated in her dream.

In the darkness of the night, their small cabin shook. The ground shook as if it was being struck.

Brunhild ran through the cabin. She held the birdcage in her arms and called out the names of those she trusted as she went from room to room.

In the distance, she heard the earth trembling as if she could feel it in her gut. From nearby, a vibration shook her bones.

As she heard these noises, she cried out while shedding tears. And she ran once more through the rooms she had looked through so many times already.

The fireplace in the central room had crumbled and the stone inside had burned and scattered.

The six-row keyboard against the wall of the back room had been broken by a fallen joist.

The wall and ceiling of the tilted room were decorated with rolled cloth written with the words for good luck. They were for the festival.

“Why is this happening on the day of the festival…?”

The trembling of the earth grew stronger and she tripped. The cage struck the ground and she almost fell on top of it.

That was when an arm reached out and supported her from behind.

She picked up the cage and turned around to find a red-haired woman.

“Miss Gutrune…”

“Yes,” nodded Gutrune.

She tried to embrace Brunhild, but her eyes stopped on the birdcage. In that shaking cabin, she smiled and kissed Brunhild on the cheek.

“Listen, Nein. I have to go to the royal palace. I can only think something has happened to the Concept Core there.”

“…Eh?”

Brunhild, who had been called Nein, was confused, but the ground shook once more and the roof groaned.

Gutrune looked up and said, “The weapons laboratory is likely closer. If it comes to it, the gate will be opened, so wait there. The doctor and Lord Hagen are in the laboratory. They will give you a snack to eat, okay?”

“No, I want to be with everyone. Where are the doctor and the others? Are they not here?”

Gutrune fell silent, but Brunhild continued to ask questions.

“The book on Gram was missing from the back room. So was the book on Fafnir. …Where is Siegfried? Did he betray us? Hey, did he betray us!?”

Gutrune took the questions head on. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth to speak.

“…”

And she closed it once more.

She took a breath and opened her eyes. She stared directly at Brunhild.

“He…might have. But he might not have.”

Brunhild realized her expression had brightened somewhat when she heard those words. She knew that Gutrune trusted him, too.

Gutrune pulled Brunhild toward her while lightly embracing her, birdcage and all.

“I will go check, so you run away ahead of me.”

“C-can’t you go with me at least?”

Gutrune gently let go and shook her head.

“I am a member of the royal family. The high officials have returned to their homes for the festival, so only the doctor and I can enter the basement. And something must be happening there. I must go.”

“Why? Why do you have to go?”

“I am sure I will be able to save someone or something.” She gave a bitter smile. “My father has grown weak ever since my mother died. I should have saved him…but it seems I can do that now. Whatever happens and however this turns out, there is something I must do as a member of the royal family.”

“What will you do if Siegfried betrayed us?”

“Do not worry. No matter what happens, I will persuade him. Together, we can preserve and save this world. …But as a member of the royal family, I may have to be forceful with him. If that happens, you take care of him.”

“And…and once that happens, we can all be together again someday?”

“Of course. I will persuade him and you will support him. And…we will always be together.”

“Do you promise?” asked Brunhild.

Gutrune smiled and replied, “Yes, I promise we will always be together.”

She rubbed Brunhild’s head. The gentle sensation calmed Brunhild and she finally smiled.

“You are a good girl, Nein,” said Gutrune with a smile of her own.

The bird in the birdcage chirped amid the shaking and the sounds of trembling.

As Brunhild heard that chirping, she awoke from her dream.

When Brunhild opened her eyes, she saw the art room turned on its side.

She had fallen asleep with her head lying on the work table. Her face was pointed to the left. Her neck felt stiff as she straightened up.

She touched her cheek and felt the tile pattern of the work table’s surface.

“This is not a good way to live.”

She looked down to find the small bird had left its box and was looking up at her.

The contents of the food dish had clearly lessened. The bird seemed plenty hungry.

She held her hand out on a whim and the bird flapped its wings and flew up to her shoulder.

Brunhild laughed. Turning her head hurt a bit, but she endured. She looked the chirping bird in the eye. She could not say whether the tears in her eyes were from the dream, the pain in her neck, or the bird’s recovery.

Brunhild looked down and searched for the black cat.

But it was not there.

She thought back and the scene just before she fell asleep appeared in the back of her mind.

She turned toward the door and found it was unlocked.

“I managed to send him off for the periodic report…”

She breathed a sigh of relief as the cat’s owner. She turned away from the door and her gaze naturally focused on the center of the art room.

An unfinished painting stood on an easel there.

A single small cabin was visible in a forest of black and green. Brunhild spoke to the bird as she looked at the cabin which had been started with pale black.

“This is the world I came from.” She gave a bitter laugh. “The final promise made to me there was never upheld. She never came back. I doubt she was able to persuade him. And…it seems he betrayed us and abandoned us. The only person left was me, the one who had trusted everyone else.”

Brunhild looked at the bird.

“But,” she began.

The bird chirped. It waved its tail up and down happily.

As she listened to that chirping, Brunhild sat in the chair in front of the easel. She lowered her head a bit.

“I shouldn’t have asked him why he saved you,” muttered Brunhild as she recalled the scene from her dream. “Why did she say that when she was going to the palace to be killed by him? Why would she ask me to take care of him or say that we would always be together?”

There was no one who could answer that question. Instead, the bird stopped chirping and tilted its head.

In the center of the 1st-Gear reservation’s public square, a few blue plates were flipped upside down on the ground. The bottom of those plates said “floor” and the top said “public square”.

Sayama and the others sat on the plates below them as the “floor” while listening to Fasolt speak.

He gave a summary of the greatest reaches of time, beginning with the dragon god’s creation of the land.

After he spoke for several minutes, his continuing words spoke of the creation of man and the formation of a kingdom.

“Was that the Wotan Kingdom?” asked Sayama and Fasolt nodded.

He continued his stories even as villagers passed by and as he greeted the winged people and members of the giant race.

Once Fasolt reached the leader of the kingdom from three generations back when a black dragon was captured when it came flying through the sky from one of the other worlds of the dragon god, the story ceased to be told secondhand.

Time continued to pass and, at one point, a single strange visitor arrived in their world.

“He was not a descendant of the dragon god and he came from a land that was meaningless to us. King Wotan had lost his wife, and when one of his mechanical dragons began rampaging, this visitor arrived and defeated it.”

Fasolt took a breath. The sounds of continued breathing came from the back of his neck and his sides.

When he opened his mouth to speak again after about a minute, he spoke in the rhythm of conversation rather than the rhythm of storytelling.

“Regin joined with Fafnir to help the king protect the concepts, but Siegfried killed the both of them with the holy sword Gram and sent the concepts out of control to lead 1st-Gear to a closed annihilation. Most believe he also killed Princess Gutrune when she arrived. Siegfried himself has admitted it.”

And…

“Most of 1st-Gear’s residents still hold a grudge and they have continued to seek the destruction of Gram and Siegfried’s assassination even after escaping to Low-Gear.”

“Why do they wish to destroy Gram? I thought that was your world’s weapon.”

“The holy sword Gram was created as a concept weapon with a will of its own, Sayama Mikoto. They view it as a crime for the sword to have agreed to take Siegfried as its master. The militant groups of 1st-Gear wish to enact vengeance on Gram after acquiring 1st-Gear’s Concept Core from it.”

“I see,” said Sayama. “So that is Siegfried’s past.”

“When he rescued the village, he was injured. The wise man Regin took him in. Venerable Regin had also taken in Princess Gutrune when the king distanced her after losing his wife and a girl named Nein of the long-lived race who was orphaned during the Concept War. At first, he intended to ask Siegfried for information on Low-Gear.”

“There was no hostility between them?”

“I hear there were a few conflicts, but Siegfried and the princess got along well. Music…yes, Siegfried was also skilled at music, so they had that in common. But,” said Fasolt, “that ended on the day of the star festival. It happened while the royal palace was at its most empty because we had all returned to the lands we ruled over. There was a sudden earthquake and the sky split apart. The world never recovered.”

“…Siegfried did that?”

“By that time, he had already left through the gate in the royal palace. We never met him again. As the princess wished, we brought her to the palace’s viewing platform and let her deliver a speech. She told the people that 1st-Gear had lost and would be destroyed. She instructed them to escape to Low-Gear through either the gate in the royal palace or the gate in the city. If she had not done so, I doubt the chaos in the city would have ever died down, but she ran out of strength there…”

“…”

Fasolt closed his eyes and nodded when Sayama replied with nothing but silence.

“As the world was destroyed, we split between the eastern and western gates. The gate near the royal palace led here. The gate near the weapons laboratory most likely came out somewhere in Japan’s Chugoku region. Our gates mostly opened into the European country of Germany, so that one would be the primary gate. And that is the story of 1st-Gear’s destruction as I know it,” concluded Fasolt.

Ooshiro sat cross-legged next to him while typing on the laptop sitting on his lap.

“It has continued to be difficult ever since then. The peaceful faction that escaped through the royal palace gate entered under UCAT’s protection, but the radi-…militant faction refused our protection and is continuing to fight. And of those who escaped through the royal palace gate, another militant group called the Royal Palace faction split off with some concept space technology. But you saw what became of them yesterday.” Ooshiro nodded and formed a smile. “These provisional negotiations will include all of that. …At any rate, just take it easy.”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 19|Chapter 19]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 17

2026-07-12T04:56:15Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 17: Tranquil Flowers==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0101.png|thumb]]
''Peaceful, peaceful, peaceful

''The noisier the person, the more they desire silence

''The noisier the person, the more they sink into silence

Brunhild’s awakening began with surprise.

A slight sensation suddenly came to her right cheek.

“…!”

Her shoulders shook and she opened her eyes. She looked at her right shoulder, but saw nothing there.

''What was that?'' she wondered as she saw an unfamiliar scene. She was not in her usual dim dorm room. The ceiling was tall and bookshelves were lined up. She could see the light of morning.

The clock on the wall was larger than the one in her dorm room and it read 6:30 AM. Seeing that time caused her to panic slightly. Her panic raised her heart rate which swept away the last of her drowsiness. A clear question floated up in her mind.

“Where am I?”

This was not her dorm room. It was some other place. It was somewhere larger and warmer.

She focused on her vision, but all she could see were the tall ceiling, the bookshelves, and the large space. However, Brunhild recognized it. Her memories took the form of words.

“The library counter.”

She was sleeping on a chair rather than a bed. The fact that she had fallen asleep, the stove next to her, and the green blanket someone had placed over her all made her feel she had failed.

However, she wondered how long it had been since someone had last placed a blanket over her. She had just woken up, but she placed the blanket over her shoulder where it had slipped down some and gave herself in to its warmth.

As she did, she saw what had woken her. A small form stood on the blanket near her chest.

The sunlight entering through the window between two bookshelves and the light from the ceiling illuminated a small bird with a blue head and black wings.

Brunhild’s eyes met with the bird’s. The bird raised its tail and chirped quietly.

Brunhild stopped moving.

“Ah…”

A small voice escaped her lips and the ends of her eyebrows lowered.

She moved her hands to lift up the blanket and gently held the bird through the blanket.

With a creak from the chair, Brunhild stood up. The small bird tilted its head on top of her hand and the blanket. It pecked at the inside of its wings, but it otherwise remained still.

“You can jump out of the box, but you still can’t fly, can you?”

Brunhild held her hand out toward the cardboard box.

The bird jumped from the slope of the blanket and into the box.

The state of the box’s contents had changed from the night before. The food dish now had tiny yellow grains in it.

It was millet. Siegfried would scatter it for the birds in the morning and it appeared the bird had pecked at it some while Brunhild slept. However, the bird looked up at Brunhild and opened its upturned mouth.

A comment on the bird came from the side.

“It seems to have taken a liking to you.”

That low voice was followed by a white paper cup in an outstretched hand. Both steam and a slightly sour smell rose from the cup. It contained coffee.

Brunhild turned toward the person holding out the cup.

A tall old man stood there. It was Siegfried. He nodded once.

“After drinking this, take your bird and cat and leave,” he said to emphasize what she should do.

The old man placed the cup on the counter.

He turned his back, put out the stove, and began organizing the objects below the counter.

Brunhild placed the blanket over the chair and woke the black cat sleeping curled up below the chair. The cat stood up and looked around. Its sleepy eyes turned toward Siegfried’s back.

The cat nodded once and tapped at Brunhild’s leg.

It pointed its front right leg toward Siegfried before bringing its front paws together as if in prayer.

Brunhild nodded and stood.

“Um,” she muttered under her breath. She touched her face to find it held the same expressionless look as ever. Her hair was disheveled, but she decided it was within acceptable limits. She picked up the cup from the counter and took a sip of coffee.

She felt as if this was the first time in a long time that she had tasted actual food or drink. The remnants of her tension had left an odd iron taste in her mouth, but the coffee washed it away.

The taste seemed to warm her body. After drinking the entire cup of coffee, she realized there had been sugar at the bottom. But she could not have done anything about it because she had no spoon. She almost gave a bitter smile toward the crouching back that continued to organize things below the counter.

“…”

She regained her proper expression. The cup produced a light noise as she placed it on the counter. She knew what she had to say.

“Sorry about…last night.”

“You mean your sudden visit?”

“There is that,” Brunhild replied to the back’s question. “But you kept me warm even after I fell asleep and you gave me soup…”

“My help was already over by the time you fell asleep. Do not worry about it. You asked me for help. At that point, you only needed to fall asleep.”

As he spoke, Siegfried picked up some documents.

As he slowly turned around, Brunhild tried to take a silent step back. However, something pressed up against the back of her lower leg. It was the black cat’s back.

Brunhild stopped moving backward. She faced Siegfried. He was two heads taller than her. Brunhild looked up at his blue eyes. His eyes held no emotion and Brunhild realized the look in his eyes was the same as hers.

She felt danger. Not from him but from her past. Holding any more emotional bonds was dangerous.

And so she lowered her head in order to avert her gaze.

“Thank you very much.”

She thought about what to do next. First, she would raise her head. Second, she would pick up the bird’s box. Third, she would turn around. Fourth, she would casually kick the black cat. And fifth, she would walk to the door. She began to implement this plan.

And she was suddenly stopped at the very first step.

“…Ah.”

When she began to raise her head, something large gently pressed down on it from above.

It was Siegfried’s hand. He was stroking her head.

“You did well.”

She could feel her cheeks reddening at his words and the sensation passing through her hair.

“P-please stop that.”

She shook her head and tried to place her hands on her head in order to escape his hand. She hurriedly placed her arms on the cardboard box for the small bird so she could carry it. She turned around.

And when she turned her head to glance back, she saw Siegfried with the exact same look on his face as before.

“My apologies.”

Those words caused Brunhild to realize why she had avoided him.

She averted her gaze, fully turned her back to him, and lowered the edges of her eyebrows.

“No… I was just a bit surprised.”

“I used to know a girl who loved it when I did that.”

Brunhild shut her eyes when she heard that statement.

“…Zonburg-san?” she said.

“What is it?”

“Why did you decide to save this bird last night?”

“Because you-…”

“You decided to save the bird because I asked you to?”

After she cut off Siegfried’s answer with that question, she received a short silence in response.

Brunhild took a breath. She took one, two, three, four, five breaths. On the fifth, she received her answer.

“It is a means of atonement for me. Even if it is going against the law of nature…”

Brunhild opened her eyes and listened to his voice.

“I do not want to lose what cannot be regained.”

Brunhild moved slightly when she heard that. She brought the arms carrying the box closer to her chest and walked toward the door.

All strength had left her body without her realizing it.

As she wondered why, Brunhild reached the door and opened it.

Siegfried’s voice arrived from behind.

“If anything else happens or you need to leave for a bit, you can leave the bird with me.”

Brunhild nodded and walked out into the hallway. She closed the door. This was a school hallway, but it was the early morning during spring break. The entranceway was dimly lit and the air was cold.

That darkness and chilliness awoke her body rather than her mind.

And even though her body woke, it still felt weak.

Brunhild sighed. She walked to the central lobby and leaned up against the wall. She felt the box up against her chest and the cold wall against her back. The bird’s chirping and the coldness on her back caused her body to tremble.

The black cat arrived at her feet.

“Are you okay? Maybe you should rest in the art room instead of walking back to the dorm.”

“Yes,” said Brunhild with a nod.

She sucked in a breath, looked up at the ceiling, opened her mouth, and straightened her throat.

''I look like the small bird asking for food,'' she thought.

She brought air into her lungs and contemplated why her body felt so weary.

She did not know.

But she did understand one thing: Siegfried.

“Atonement…”

Brunhild closed her eyes and mouth and lowered her face.

She closed herself up but thought with her heart. She thought on what she had learned after sixty years:

He had not forgotten either.

The large clock on the school wall indicated it was 9:00 AM.

It was spring break, so the bell did not ring. Instead, a motorcycle engine could be heard.

A black touring motorcycle passed through the main entrance and continued toward the parking lot behind the dorms. A couple rode it. They were Izumo and Kazami.

The motorcycle engine ceased to rev as it came up alongside the line of school buildings. With his brown coat fluttering in the wind, Izumo gripped the clutch letting the engine go free. He placed his heel on the ground and lowered their speed.

He removed his helmet with his right hand and muttered to no one in particular.

“…So being stubborn will leave you sleep deprived.”

“Sorry about having you come with me,” said Kazami who was riding tandem.

Izumo stopped the motorcycle and turned around. The girl wearing a warm sleeveless top and a men’s leather jacket held her helmet along with her rucksack.

Kazami’s expression had her eyebrows bent downward a bit. Nevertheless, she had a smile on her lips. After seeing her face, Izumo looked forward once more.

“Well, I’ll stick with you until we get an agreement.”

“Sorry. I think it will be like this at least until Sayama decides for himself.”

“Really, it doesn’t bother me that much. Will your friend have the new song done in time for the Zenren Festival in May? We’re already printing posters for the school band competition.”

“We have enough songs stocked up. And if it comes down to it, I can head home and beg for help from my father, so everything will be fine.”

“Really?”

Izumo glanced back to see Kazami nod and change her expression. Her eyebrows rose slightly and her eyes looked straight up at him.

“Friends are important, but there is something else we need to prioritize. Let’s start there.”

“The Leviathan Road?”

“Yes. As the ones who are already involved, isn’t there something we should be showing him?”

“Yeah, I can think of some things he would want to see. Like-… Ah, wait! I didn’t say anything yet!”

“Tch. You’re getting smarter.”

Kazami lowered the right fist she had raised in order to tear into Izumo.

She sighed. The collar of her jacket slipped from her limp shoulder.

Something other than skin was visible on Kazami’s bared right shoulder.

Izumo reached out his hand without warning. He placed the hand on Kazami’s slightly cold collarbone.

“Ah… What is it?”

Kazami cowered down a bit as she wrapped her arms around her rucksack and helmet, but Izumo quickly moved his hand to her shoulder. As she looked up with a troubled expression, he showed her what he held between his fingers.

It was a small yellow flower petal.

“…”

Kazami’s expression clouded over when she saw its color and shape. She cast her eyes down a bit and her eyebrows drooped.

Izumo sighed.

“Chisato.”

“Hm? Wh-what?”

When she opened her mouth to speak, Izumo suddenly shoved his finger and the flower petal inside her mouth.

“Nn!” gasped Kazami before swallowing the flower petal.

Izumo pulled out his finger and said, “Listen. That gloomy look isn’t like you at-… Ow ow ow! Dammit, now this is more like you!”

“Shut up! Why would you do that all of a sudden!?”

“You don’t like it all of a sudden? Okay, next time I’ll ask permission first.”

“That! Is! Not! The! Issue!!”

Kazami’s repeated blows rang out in staccato. She struck him in the body, hit his face with a left-handed backhanded blow to the left when his head stuck forward, hit him in his unguarded right flank with a hook, and began a left-handed uppercut.

“Oh?”

But she stopped there. Izumo took a breath while waiting for the uppercut that should have come.

“H-huh? This feels inadequa-…no, I mean, what’s the matter, Chisato?”

“I hear an organ,” replied Kazami as she pointed toward the second year general school building which they could see the back of from there.

Izumo turned an ear in that direction and realized he could hear it, too. It was coming from the music room on the second floor of the building.

“Is that Silent Night? You do hear it on occasion. Does that room have bad soundproofing or something?”

“No music room would have bad soundproofing. Look, the window is open.”

Izumo looked up toward the second floor and the music room’s window was indeed open.

“See?” said Kazami. “The art room and music room actually have excellent soundproofing. We use the music room for practice, so I know.”

“You say that, but we sure could hear that bird from above while in the Kinugasa Library yesterday.”

“It must have passed through the ventilation. …You never hear anything while up above because the library’s supply room is always quiet.” Kazami’s gaze stopped on the third floor. “That’s unusual. One of the art room’s curtains is open. …Oh, it’s Schild’s black cat.”

Drawn in by Kazami’s last word more than anything else, Izumo looked up at the art room’s window on the third floor. A single black cat sat in the window. The cat did not seem to have noticed them. Kazami held her helmet up against her chest.

“How cute. That kind of cat is just perfect for a completely cement-like German girl like Schild.”

“I think the things you say are a lot more cement-like…”

The instant Izumo looked over at Kazami, she gasped and her eyes opened wide in surprise.

Izumo followed her gaze to the art room window to find the curtain closed.

“K-K-K-Kaku?”

“What?”

“Th-the cat just closed the curtain. It closed it. It really did!”

“How?”

“I-it stood up, grabbed it with its paws, and tugged like this.”

“I see. …You seem to be having a hard time of it, Chisato.”

Without saying anything more, Izumo faced forward and kicked off the ground to begin driving once more.

“Now, then. Let’s head back and get some sleep.”

“Please believe me!!”

As Izumo’s back shook from repeated blows, he muttered with an annoyed expression.

“Is it really that surprising in the world we live in?”

Sayama arrived at an IAI-affiliated hospital located across the Tama River from IAI.

Shinjou had come from the IAI lobby and brought him to the central of the five white buildings making up the hospital. Shinjou showed a card at the reception desk and they were led to a staircase to the side of the reception desk.

They walked down approximately five floors and passed through a few barriers that opened up before them. They arrived at a stairway that split off in two directions and Sayama followed Shinjou down the left path. There he found…

“A room? Is it a waiting room leading to a large hall?”

At the end of the staircase were a small cement room and a dark space that opened beyond it.

The northern end of the room had a large elevator, but the floor number display did not go up to the first floor. It ran from B3 down to B7.

Sayama frowned at the atmosphere of the room. Baku’s nose twitched from where he sat on Sayama’s shoulder.

Sayama recognized the smell in the room. It was the scent of incense. He had recently smelled it at his grandfather’s funeral.

And he could hear the sounds of an air conditioner.

Both the smell and the sounds came from the dark space beyond the room.

The room had a stone sink with running water, a trashcan next to it, and a waiting room sofa. The trash can contained tall, withered flowers and white cloth.

“…”

Shinjou turned around in the center of the room to face Sayama. She removed her brown jacket to reveal a black shirt and black trousers below. Only the scarf around her neck was white.

“U-um. This is my second time, but…well…this is…”

“You do not have to say it. If you had told me we would be coming here, I would have worn mourning clothes.”

“Ooshiro-san told me to bring you by before the negotiations. He raised his thumb like this.”

“Is that why you do not look very cheerful today? You did not seem to be listening when I told you about your brother’s arrival.”

“Oh, th-that’s right. Sorry. Here, take this.”

Shinjou pulled a black necktie and a small plastic bag from the inner pocket of the jacket hanging from her hand. The necktie was for the funeral and inside the plastic bag was…

“These are the objects I had on me the day before yesterday.”

It contained an IAI cell phone that could record audio and video with its microphone and camera, a handheld digital voice recorder, and a black leather seal case.

“I was told the pens and broken watch were sent in for analysis.”

Sayama first took the plastic bag and opened it. The handheld recorder’s battery was dead.

“Did someone accidentally switch it on?”

He placed it in his pocket along with the cell phone and seal before placing the plastic bag on the sofa.

Sayama removed his current necktie in an instant and took the black necktie from Shinjou.

He tilted his head, wrapped the tie around his neck, and tied it.

“Oh, it’s a bit crooked.”

Shinjou walked over and grabbed the tie.

As she held the knot in place with her right hand, the ring on her middle finger glittered a bit. Shinjou fixed the tie, took a step back, gave a small groan, and fixed it once more. She asked a question as she moved the base of the tie.

“How was Setsu?”

“It seems he decided to visit back home this morning. He was gone when I woke up.”

“Oh, um, that isn’t what I meant. What did you think of him?”

“I try not to speak about people when they are not present.”

That put a bitter smile on Shinjou’s face. She stroked Baku’s head as he sat on Sayama’s shoulder.

“That is just like you, Sayama-kun.”

“Is it? Well, there are some people for whom I have partially removed that restriction. Izumo and the old man, for example.”

“That is also just like you,” said Shinjou with a grin. She then asked, “Setsu said that you are a strange person.”

“Oh, that is probably because I suddenly checked over his body. It may have been a bit too soon for that.”

“I want to know what you think ‘a bit’ means…”

“Do not worry about it. I did it because I thought Setsu-kun might be you.”

“Eh?” asked Shinjou.

Sayama replied, “Last night, I thought about removing Setsu-kun’s underwear while he slept to see if he was you.”

“S-Sayama-kun? …Are you crazy?”

“How rude. …How about I ask you why you are tying my necktie with a smile on your face?”

“Am I not allowed to do that? And, well, Setsu is a boy. You understand what I mean, right?”

“Yes, I do. And I have only just met him. That is why I have a request for you instead.”

“Eh? What is it?”

“I memorized the bodylines of Setsu-kun’s legs and butt last night. I would like to compare them to your body, so I can-…”

Before he could finish speaking, his tie was tightened to its limit.

A few minutes later, Sayama and Shinjou bowed in greeting and entered the next room. It was quite large. Stone platforms were arranged in four rows and five columns. Seven of them were currently in use.

Six of them were covered with white cloth and one was covered with black cloth.

Each of the cloths had flowers placed next to them. However, one of the white cloths was decorated with a light purple flower Sayama did not recognize.

“That is Primula modesta. It was growing in a flower bed behind UCAT. Sibyl, who is in charge of communications and maintenance, was picking them earlier. You haven’t met her yet have you, Sayama-kun? …I bet those flowers are from her.”

“I see. Who are these six?”

“The members of the advance unit. They pursued that werewolf. Their normal duty is that of guards, but they requested to be sent out because it was an emergency. It is UCAT’s job to capture suspicious people and radicals.”

''And to know how that turned out, I only need to look in front of me,'' thought Sayama. ''So this is why Shinjou-kun told me I should decline the Leviathan Road.

Shinjou pulled an unopened package of incense sticks and a lighter from her back trouser pocket. The cheap and well-used lighter belonged to Ooshiro. It had his name and its intended location (“On top of the TV”) written in marker.

She lit it.

The two of them each placed an incense stick next to and brought their hands together at each of the six stone platforms.

“We have permission from the families of that one and that one, so you can look at them.”

“I see.”

Sayama pressed his hands together once more before lifting up the cloth. He did not hesitate and he was not surprised. After his time with the Tamiya family and his grandfather, he had seen the same thing a few times.

However, this was the first time he had seen a body that had been ripped apart by a beast.

The first body looked as if the area from below the neck on the right to the left flank had been dug out with a shovel. It must have been gouged out by a poor-quality blade because white fragments of bone were visible within the blackened folds of flesh.

The second body had no visible external wounds aside from three large ones and some bruising on the head. However, the neck and abdomen had sunk in like a deflated balloon. That area must have been crushed with a powerful blow.

Sayama replaced the cloth and placed his hands together again. Shinjou did the same next to him.

Shinjou had said this was her second time, but her face still looked pale. Sayama showed no concern, however.

In this place, the dead took precedence.

Shinjou glanced over at the cloth hiding one of the bodies.

“It seems this incident has led to some second thoughts about the current system. Specifically, the entrance requirements for the special and standard divisions, the division of work, and the process for dealing with this sort of situation if it happens again.”

“If someone dies, how is their family told?”

“Official employees are said to be overseas while on active duty. In that case, the family is told there was an ‘accident’ while they were on guard duty in a dangerous part of the world. Any family members that are in UCAT are simply told the truth.”

“What if a student like Kazami died?”

“She is not connected to UCAT or IAI, so it would be said she was in an accident.” Shinjou looked up at Sayama. “Are you mad?”

“Of course not. It is only natural for a corporation to protect itself. And… With a conflict like this, they would never understand if you tried to tell the truth. I am sure each country’s UCAT works with the government and corporations to keep certain information hidden.”

“Yes,” said Shinjou with a nod.

Shinjou then looked toward the one remaining cloth. This was the black cloth located at a distance from the others.

Sayama had a guess who was below that cloth.

“Is that the werewolf from the day before yesterday?”

“Yes,” affirmed Shinjou.

She handed Sayama a piece of cloth she took from her back pocket. It was white canvas. It had something written on it with black paint.

“Placing this by the body on your first visit is the 1st-Gear custom.”

Sayama looked over and saw that a number of the pieces of cloth were placed at the body’s feet while the flowers were placed next to the head.

While Sayama placed the cloth, Shinjou dipped her finger in a glass cup of water placed next to the flowers. She let water drip down onto the cloth covering the chest.

Sayama did the same.

As he let the cold water drip down, his gaze stopped on the arrangement of the flowers.

In addition to the white flowers that had also been placed with the other six, there were two bouquets of yellow chrysanthemums. From the number of fallen flower petals, Sayama deduced that one bouquet had been brought the day before and the other today.

The water in the cup was cold and it contained no sediment or bubbles.

…''So someone is properly watching over him.

Suddenly, his eyes moved to the stems of the chrysanthemum offerings. Each flower had a straight horizontal scrape fairly high up the stem.

Sayama sighed when he saw the slight watery green color in the scrapes.

“What is it, Sayama-kun?”

“Oh, it just seems I cannot help but be surrounded by softhearted people. But if that is who they want to be, I will go along with it.”

“Eh?” asked Shinjou as she tilted her head.

“Do not worry about it,” said Sayama.

He placed a hand on the top of the black cloth.

“Do we have permission for him?”

“Yes, we received it from both the peaceful faction and the ones we captured yesterday. …The Royal Palace faction, was it?”

“I see,” said Sayama with a nod.

They likely wanted to go into the negotiations with no secrets.

He brought his hands together, bowed, and lifted up the cloth.

In his mind, he was picturing the werewolf’s expression at the conclusion of their fight the day before yesterday.

…''What will I think if that expression is still there?

He did not hesitate or show any surprise. He merely pulled the cloth down with that question in mind. However…

“A person?”

Below the cloth was a brown-haired foreign man. He had short, messy hair and an angular face. His eyes were closed, so his expression made it seem he was only sleeping.

Sayama heard Shinjou speak.

“The werewolves of 1st-Gear turn into wolves when they are tense. And they return to normal when that tension leaves. They can’t actually turn into wolves within the concepts of Low-Gear, but a philosopher’s stone making an inferior copy of 1st-Gear’s writing concept was found in his stomach. …Can you see the traces of that fight?”

Sayama looked closer and noticed the man’s lips were split and he had been stabbed in the center of the chest. The area around those wounds was burnt. That had been caused by Sayama’s watch and ballpoint pen.

A line as wide as a business card cut through his left and right sides. That was from Kazami’s sniper shot.

“Apparently, the peaceful faction gave permission to shoot to kill when they heard the situation.”

“He killed himself in the end… He must have known he had no allies left.”

Sayama placed the cloth back over the body.

He bowed and then glanced around the room. In that quiet, dimly lit hall were seven people who had already been lost.

…''And the same could happen to me.

He thought for a moment and a single question came to him. This could happen to him, but if that did not happen…

“This could happen to someone else…”

“Eh?”

As Shinjou let out a questioning voice, she and Sayama exchanged a glance.

Sayama looked into Shinjou’s black eyes and had a sudden thought:

Would Shinjou choose a battlefield on which she could be lost?

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Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 16

2026-07-11T03:57:40Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 16: The Conditions of Good Will==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0071.png|thumb]]
''I shall chirp

''If I sing well

''Will it reach someone?

After landing on the roof, Brunhild entered the school building with her three-cornered hat and broom in hand. She “unlocked” the rooftop door with her philosopher’s stone and quickly made her way to the art room on the third floor. Her footsteps sounded loudly as she made her way down the stairs with the cat.

She unlocked the art room, entered, and found the same dimness as when she had left.

The clock on the wall read 2:00 AM.

A cardboard box sat atop the work desk next to the window whose curtains had been drawn.

The box was in the same place as when she had left. There was no sign of anyone having touched it.

Brunhild breathed a sigh of relief.

She placed her hat and broom on a nearby desk and peered into the box.

The small bird was inside.

However, it was not sleeping in the center. Its small form was collapsed with its head on the edge of the food dish.

It was not moving.

Brunhild’s knees gave out and she fell to the floor.

Brunhild suddenly realized she was sitting on the floor.

She could not remember why she had sat down.

And before she could find an answer, she felt a cold sensation on her butt and thighs. It was the temperature of the wooden floor.

This brought the same question to mind once more: Why was she sitting on the floor?

And then…

“Brunhild!”

The familiar voice of the black cat stabbed into her ears and her shoulder’s jumped.

She came back to her senses. She understood the situation. And then she felt strength fill her body. That feeling in her back, shoulders, arms, waist, and legs brought back her determination.

''What can I do?'' she thought as she shot to her feet.

And then she saw the black cat leaning into the cardboard box.

“What are-…?”

Before she could say “you doing”, the cat stopped her by looking up at her. Its gaze was straightforward and its eyes contained no calm.

“Brunhild.”

Brunhild wanted to stop it from speaking any more, but it opened its mouth regardless.

“It’s still alive.”

“Eh…?”

Brunhild’s vision suddenly started to grow distorted, but she steadied her breathing and asked a question.

“What do you mean?”

“It looks like some of the food got caught in its throat. And I think it’s hungry as well. Get the tweezers.”

Brunhild began to search for the tweezers. She was panicked, so it took her several seconds to remember she had left them next to the cardboard box. When she faced forward with them in hand, the cat was lightly holding the bird in place with its front paws.

The bird’s beak opened and something yellow was visible within.

“You couldn’t swallow it, could you?”

Brunhild used the tweezers to grab the piece of corn stuck in the bird’s throat. She pulled, but failed twice due to using too little force. If she pulled too strongly, she could injure the bird’s throat.

Brunhild dipped the tip of the tweezers in the bird’s water. She then slowly grabbed the food and pulled it out. The piece was smaller than the pieces she had given it that evening.

The cat sighed and said, “It probably is not used to taking food from a dish yet. If the food isn’t fed to it from above, the food can’t get through its throat. …Look, it’s breathing, but weakly. What should we do?”

Brunhild thought on that question.

What should she do? She thought and began speaking what sounded right to her in the order the ideas came to her.

“We need to lightly wrap it in cloth, warm it up, and give it some food…”

“You can’t exactly feed it in this state.”

That comment troubled Brunhild. The cat was exactly right. What could she feed it?

She did not know.

“But at this rate…”

It was no good. That was why Brunhild made up her mind. She placed her hands on the cardboard box.

“I will find someone who knows what they are doing.”

“Is there anyone like that here? You’re almost all alone in the dorm, remember? You’ve also been all alone with your club activities because of spring break.”

“But this is my only option.”

“Well, first you need to change.”

Brunhild looked down and realized she was still wearing the black clothes of a witch.

“It’s all over for us if we draw too much suspicion,” added the cat.

“But,” began Brunhild before gritting her teeth.

She ground her teeth together, but nodded.

“I am from 1st-Gear…”

She walked over to and opened the locker. Requiem Sense greeted her with a dull light, but she said nothing. She grabbed the uniform lying below it and placed it atop the work desk.

She removed the black clothes. She realized clothes perfectly fitted to her body were inconvenient when it came to quickly removing them.

Fifteen seconds. It took that long for Brunhild to strip off the black clothes. She opened the curtain as she grabbed the shirt of her uniform. No light was coming from the school buildings or girls’ dorm visible out the window.

Was no one there or were they sleeping? Would they help her? As she stared into the darkness with those thoughts filling her mind, she thought her knees would give out. She shook her head, looked up, and realized the hand holding her shirt was trembling.

She heard silence. Nothing but silence

Brunhild held the sleeve between her teeth as she passed her hand through it and a muffled voice leaked out.

“What am I supposed to do…?”

Late at night, Sayama passed through the entrance of the second year general school building on his way to the Kinugasa Library.

He had been on his way back from a convenience store just outside the main entrance of the academy. The bag hanging from his hand contained packing tape, two drinks in plastic bottles, and a bit of light food like rice balls.

Shinjou Setsu was currently unpacking his luggage in their room. During the short period in which the floor was unusable, Sayama had gone out with Baku to buy a late-night meal, but he had noticed the Kinugasa Library’s lights were on when he had returned.

“I thought we locked up for the night when Shinjou-kun arrived earlier…”

…''Could it be that someone from 1st-Gear has arrived?

A glance at his watch told him it was 2:01 AM. The atmosphere of the night put Sayama on guard as he walked through the dark central lobby.

Baku glanced around to the left and right as he rode on Sayama’s shoulder. The small creature may have been acting as a lookout. Sayama smiled at the small bit of reassurance that gave him. He then felt tension within his own body and a slight phantom pain from the scars on his left hand.

When he pictured himself objectively, his smile transformed into a bitter one.

“I am walking through the school at night with a convenience store bag in hand while preparing myself for an enemy attack.”

…''What am I doing?

But the world had become a very dangerous place for him.

The source of that danger came from the Leviathan Road and the decision of whether to take part in it or not was drawing near.

''What should I do?'' he wondered as he leaned against the wall. If he turned left at the next corner, he would be in the hallway passing in front of the Kinugasa Library.

He would then know why the lights were on. Sayama nodded and looked forward.

He saw only darkness.

The dark emptiness before his eyes suddenly brought the previous day’s battle to mind.

He recalled the forest, the heavy breathing, the werewolf, and that werewolf’s expression just before the conclusion.

“…”

At that time, he had chosen to defeat his enemy and Shinjou behind him had not.

But that werewolf’s expression made him question whether it had truly been necessary to defeat it.

And it had been the same today. He had chosen to fight and Shinjou had chosen to save.

But had it truly been necessary to defeat that knight and the others?

Sayama remained silent. He thought of Shinjou, partially closed his eyes, and thought to himself.

…''I was wrong.

Why had he been unable to make any choice but the one he had?

…''If I could make the decision Shinjou-kun made, I would likely be more confident.

But that was something that could never happen. And so he must not think it.

“How can I hold pride in my own decisions?”

That was something his grandfather had not taught him.

And it was necessary. Not just to join the Leviathan Road, but to get serious about anything.

He took a breath. He opened his eyes and immediately began to move.

He made his way down the hallway in front of the Kinugasa Library while keeping his footsteps silent. He checked on the situation. The door was open and he could see inside. The library looked bright and empty.

“…”

He entered, closed the door behind him, and crouched down. The convenience store bag would make noise, so he tightly grabbed it lower than the handles to hold the contents in place.

He faced forward and spotted Siegfried next to the counter at the entrance.

The tall old man was asleep. He was sitting shallowly in his chair, his arms were folded above his stomach, and he looked perfectly peaceful.

A convenience store bag identical to the one Sayama held and an empty bento were placed on the counter.

“…So that is what happened.”

Sayama stood up and sighed. Red flames were visible in the small potbelly stove placed next to the old man. Sayama felt warmth coming from those flames and he waved his arms to relieve the tension from before.

Baku stretched atop his shoulder. He must have been tense as well because he let out a sigh.

“We certainly get along,” muttered Sayama as he stroked Baku’s head.

Immediately afterward, Sayama’s vision slid away from the scene before his eyes.

Sayama saw a dimly-lit area.

It was not the Kinugasa Library. It was a single wooden room measuring five meters square. A table sat in the center.

The room was filled with a slight crimson light. The light illuminated a high ceiling that left the slope of the roof bare. The walls did not reach the ceiling and the length of the joists suggested there were six rooms total. Sayama was within the largest of the rooms.

And then Sayama looked down at himself.

…''I exist only as my vision once more.

This was the past being shown by Baku. Sayama did not know this place

Just as he began to wonder whose past it was, he noticed two figures across the table from him. The first was a young woman and the other was a man sleeping in a chair next to the table. The man had his back to Sayama.

The woman fixed the position of the blanket covering the man. The woman had long and soft red hair and a slender face. She wore a shirt and stole over a simple pale green dress.

Sayama thought it looked like an outfit from the Middle Ages as he looked over at the woman. From the lack of outward awareness in her actions and the way she walked on her tiptoes, Sayama could guess what sort of social status she belonged to. Suddenly, Sayama smiled. He had noticed a stain on the sleeve of her shirt.

…''Is that paint?

He lowered his head in his mind and walked forward. He moved to the other side of the table where he could see the two.

A fireplace was located on the wall opposite the table. The fireplace had no firewood or fire.

…''What?

A single slab of stone was placed in the fireplace.

The blue, slightly cracked slab was thirty centimeters square and it had a single word written on it. It was a foreign word that Sayama did not recognize. However, Sayama could sense the meaning of the word.

Fire.

The pale crimson light was being produced around the stone slab. It even produced heat and the flickering shimmer of a flame.

This told Sayama a certain truth: He was in 1st-Gear.

Sayama looked toward the two people in front of the fireplace. The woman was adjusting the hem of the sleeping man’s blanket. From Sayama’s new position, he could see the front of the man.

He was a young man. He had broad shoulders and a nicely-shaped nose. His hair was blond and short, and his eyes were closed in sleep. He wore long black clothes over his tall form which looked cramped in the chair.

Sayama recognized the man. And the woman adjusting the hem of the blanket spoke his name.

“Siegfried…”

With her back to Sayama, the woman suddenly tilted her head. She reached a hand past the blanket and underneath the chair. She seemed to have found something.

After a while, she slowly, slowly pushed her hand to the side underneath the chair. Something was hidden by the blanket there and she was pushing it out from under the chair.

What came into view was a birdcage. It was a new birdcage made from wooden branches tied together. A blue bird with a bandage around its right wing stood inside.

The woman sighed. She stood up with the birdcage in her arms and turned in Sayama’s direction.

She looked down while frowning slightly. She sighed again before speaking.

“Nein begged him to do it, I’m sure. And he even made a cage…”

The language was the same one the knight and the others had spoken during the day. He was hearing the meaning rather than the actual words spoken.

The bird in the cage then looked up. It looked up at the woman from its branch and spread its unbandaged left wing. The wing bent into two at the middle. It gave a quick high-pitched chirp as it showed the woman its wing.

That chirp caused the woman to frantically turn toward Siegfried behind her.

He was asleep, but he turned his head a bit to the side and frowned.

The woman hurriedly placed the birdcage above the fireplace She ignored the bird that tilted its head as it looked at her. She covered the cage with a half-knit brown wool cloth.

She looked back and forth between the sleeping Siegfried and the chirping bird. She whispered toward the birdcage. Sayama smiled when he sensed her words meant “be quiet” and “go to sleep”.

The woman’s words must have gotten through to the bird because it quieted down after chirping a bit longer.

The woman let out a breath and spoke while bringing her arms around the birdcage.

“I suppose we have to keep it…”

“Yes,” replied a quiet voice.

Sayama looked over just as the woman did. Next to the fireplace, an old man was poking his face in below the lintel leading to the passageway.

The old man’s clothes were such a dark green they looked black. He was short and lean, the top of his head lacked any hair, and his face was covered in wrinkles, but his eyes held a powerful light.

The man entered the room and stood before the fireplace. He placed his hands on his lower back.

“Lady Gutrune, he is a soldier from another Gear. We must not let our guard down.”

“But, Doctor Regin, he saved our village. And…” The woman, Gutrune, pointed toward the birdcage covered by the half-knit wool. “Why did he do that? He came to destroy this world, but he stopped the rampage by the mechanical dragon my father, the king, had you make and he also worked to heal that injured bird.”

“…Where is Nein?”

“Sleeping…I think. After finishing dinner, she did nothing but listen to him play music on that instrument.”

Gutrune looked toward the hallway and Sayama followed her gaze.

He could not see anything, but the old man named Regin followed her gaze as well.

“It has been a long time since that six-rowed keyboard has been played. What song did he play?”

“I did not recognize it. He said he had been taught it long ago in his hometown.”

“So the other Gears have cultures much like ours.”

“Yes,” said Gutrune with a nod. She looked over at Siegfried and spoke more quietly. “That instrument had not been played for years, but that was because we had forgotten about it. We have been so busy ever since my father began tightening this Gear’s defenses. …We have had to create the mechanical dragons, extract the concepts to create the Concept Core, and seal off or defend every entrance into 1st-Gear.”

“What do you think of him, princess? Does a softhearted princess like you think he might have saved the village and rescued that bird so we would let our guard down?”

“Why would he need to do that for such a small world? With his power, I think he could have easily destroyed everything without doing that. Yet he has not done so and is now working to learn our language.”

“He said he came from a country with a similar language structure, similar terms, and similar written characters.”

“Yes. And today, he taught us the meaning of the lyrics of that song he sang while playing the keyboard.” Sayama saw Gutrune narrow her eyes as she watched Siegfried. “It was a holy song. It was not a song of demons as those suspicious of him say it is.”

“Are you referring to me?”

“No, Doctor Regin. I would not say you are suspicious of him. You are merely skeptical of everything.”

Gutrune then stroked Regin’s bald head.

Regin stopped her with both hands and, unsure what to do with her arms, she crossed them.

“It seems men do not like it when you stroke their head.”

“…Did you do the same to him?”

“Yes. When I taught him some words and he managed to get his meaning across. For some reason, he did not like it. Yet he always seems so happy when Nein does it.” Gutrune sighed but quickly composed herself and looked back toward Siegfried. “But is everyone in his Gear like him? Do they all end up saving people despite intending to fight?”

“You could perhaps say that he fights despite intending to save people.”

“I suppose so. …But I see possibility in that. It may be dangerous with how vague an idea it is, but if there are a lot of people like him, perhaps they could actually save people in their attempts to destroy.”

“Princess, your excellent upbringing leads you to think about things in such wonderful ways.”

“But how about this? Could someone like him use the holy sword Gram you created? Would that holy sword with a will of its own choose a simple human to be its master?”

Suddenly, Gutrune turned in the direction of Sayama’s vision.

“Hello,” she said with her eyes curved like a bow. Her gaze directly met his own.

Soon thereafter, Sayama realized what had happened. She was speaking to the corner of the room behind him.

Sayama turned around and found a short figure in the darkness of the corner where the light from the fireplace did not reach.

It was a girl. She was short and slender. She had gray hair and purple eyes. She stood behind Sayama while looking up at Gutrune. She was trying to reach up to the birdcage on top of the fireplace.

Behind her, Gutrune spoke with a smile in her voice.

“Were you hiding it all this time? Do not worry. I will not take it away any more. If it is important enough to you that you need to hide it and watch over it this late at night, you can take it with you to your room.”

Those words put a smile on the girl’s face. Gutrune let out a sigh that held no hint of disagreeableness.

“You need to thank him. Okay, Nein?”

That was the girl’s name.

As soon as Sayama heard that short name, he awoke from the past as if waking from a dream.

Once he awoke from the past, Sayama found himself in the Kinugasa Library as before.

However, one thing had changed: Siegfried was now awake. He stood up from his chair and spoke.

“Did Baku show you the past?”

“You can tell?”

“We used to use the same method. You can see a considerable amount in only a few seconds.”

Sayama checked the clock to find it was 2:03 AM. As Siegfried had said, only a small amount of time had passed.

Siegfried pulled a bottle of instant coffee out of the small refrigerator installed below the counter. He pulled two paper cups out from below the counter as well.

Sayama watched Siegfried grab the kettle from the potbelly stove.

“I thought Germans were picky about their coffee.”

“One can be picky about quality and one can be picky about quantity. And I am not so unmannered that I insist on the highest quality in a place intended for books.” He then pointed at a few hardcover books and documents sitting on the counter. “I am glad you are here. I found these while organizing the supply room. Look at that on top.”

“?”

Sayama walked up to the counter while the smell of coffee permeated his nose.

After placing his convenience store bag on the counter, he noticed a photograph on top of the pile of documents and books.

It was a large black-and-white photograph in a wooden frame. It was old, stained, and the corner was wrinkled due to expansion. The left half must have sat in the light too much because it looked like it was covered by white fog.

“It is too faded to see very much…”

“It seems it was already in this state when my predecessor found it.”

“So it was already too late. …Is this a commemorative photograph taken at some mountain?”

The location was a mountain somewhere. The background showed the sky as well as a forest and prairie down below.

On the surviving half of the photo, about ten people were visible. Some wore military-looking uniforms, some wore the samue of Buddhist monks, and some wore mountain climbing gear. Some of the people were women.

Siegfried placed a cup on the counter for Sayama.

“This is from the days of the National Defense Department. After taking the photo, we discussed who looked most like a criminal. It was later used for decoration here because it was too dreary a place otherwise, but I never thought it would still be here.”

“So who was ultimately decided to look most like a criminal?’

“I am forbidden to reveal that information under the conditions of the Leviathan Road.”

“So you do not want to tell me,” said Sayama with a sigh.

However, he felt a sudden palpitation in the left side of his chest. He brought his right hand to his chest and thought about the cause.

He quickly realized why. If this was a commemorative photograph of the National Defense Department…

“…Where is my grandfather?”

“He is next to me. Can you not see him?”

Sayama searched for the Siegfried he had seen in the past a moment before, but unfortunately, the very center was too stained to see well. Once he realized that, the pressure in his chest left like a receding wave.

He let out a breath.

And suddenly his eyes froze in place. He recognized the clothes of one figure in that black-and-white image of the past.

In the center of the back row, someone had their back to the camera. Sayama recognized the person looking up into the sky as the discoverer of Babel he had seen in his dream. It was a one-armed old man.

Siegfried noticed his gaze and said, “That is Tenkyou-sensei. …He founded this school. He said he lost his arm during the Russo-Japanese War.”

“Every time I hear that name I cannot help but think that Tenkyou is a bit of strange name.”

“I have heard theories that the name should actually be read as Amayoshi or Amayasu, but I never heard him use either of those. Those closest to him always called him Tenkyou.”

“Reverence for heaven, hm?”<ref>This is the literal meaning of the kanji for the name that can be read as Tenkyou, Amayoshi, or Amayasu.</ref>

“It seems it was such an over-the-top name that it embarrassed him. That is why we also suspected his family name of Kinugasa was also a fake. If I had to choose a word to describe him, it would be ‘eccentric’.”

“An excellent choice.”

Sayama picked up the paper cup from the counter.

He drank the coffee which was of course bitter. He looked at the photograph and tasted the bitterness while listening to Siegfried.

“At any rate, he enjoyed teasing people. Everyone fell victim to that at some point or another.”

“Hearing you say that so seriously is enough to convince me.”

Sayama placed the photograph back on the counter and began walking though the library. He was headed for the shelf with the books written by Kinugasa. It was not far away. He arrived almost immediately. The books he had looked at that morning were on the third row from the bottom.

He opened the first volume which discussed Norse legends. The text was written horizontally and from left to right.

“Wait…”

Sayama placed the book on a nearby table. With his left-arm unusable, Sayama realized something about the horizontally-written book.

“This is made so the pages can be easily turned with the right hand…”

“He really was a selfish person. He announced that he came from the Imperial Court, but I later learned that was a lie.”

“This school was not made by a proper adult, was it?”

“He liked to brag and was very broad-minded. When he was involved with creating the National Defense Department, he was already researching the different mythologies of the world even before we learned of the Concept War. …He knew that the different Gears were fighting, but he waited until we realized it as well,” said Siegfried. “He was the founder of this school and he was an authority in the fields of folklore and mythology. He is also the one who designed this library. During the National Defense Department days, he would often come here when he needed research material. I hear he concentrated mostly on mythology after discovering Babel, but he dealt more with technology when working with the Izumo Company. He was the one who constructed our earliest concept weapons.”

Sayama looked at the other rows on the bookshelf and saw both books related to mythology and books related to engineering.

The mythology books were often about the ten mythologies of the different worlds, but there were also a lot related to the Bible.

“In other words… You could say our place here was created by the Concept War?”

“A lot happened back then.”

Sayama nodded, returned the book to the shelf, and walked back to the counter.

Siegfried picked up the photograph on the counter.

“The National Defense Department became UCAT after World War Two. Until then, these were the primary members. Thinking back, we were truly devoted back then.”

“Why did it become UCAT after the war?”

“Oh, UCAT was originally an American and European organization. They learned of our existence when Germany lost and they discovered some documents I had sent there. And after that, Japan was crushed by America.”

“So Germany merely ‘lost’ while Japan was ‘crushed’?”

“Germany only had its capital occupied. It never gave in.”

“Isn’t it a bit late to be that right-wing?”

“Do not worry about it,” said Siegfried as he passed the photograph over the counter to Sayama. “At any rate, America and England arrived and discovered us. Each country had suffered losses to strange monsters that had appeared in the war. They created UCAT as a countermeasure. However, the National Defense Department’s research and technology was superior to theirs.”

“Well, of course it was. Thanks to the stimulation of the ley lines using the Divine States-World Interaction, Japan had more contact with the Concept War than any other country.”

“Yes. They were at the stage of investigating what had happened while we had made our way to the actual battles. But for the sake of America’s pride, the National Defense Department became Japanese UCAT and we agreed to cooperate with America. However, only those on the scene were sent in, so most of those that arrived from the victorious nations were crowded out. After quite a bit of conflict, we ultimately destroyed the other Gears.”

Siegfried fell silent for several seconds before suddenly placing his cup on the counter.

The cup produced a solid noise as it struck the counter. By that time, the old man was already moving.

“?”

Sayama watched his long strides.

The tall man covered the distance from the counter to the door in only five seconds.

Before Sayama could ask what was the matter, Siegfried placed a hand on the doorknob and pulled it to the side.

Sayama thought he heard a voice at that time.

He did not know if Siegfried had muttered it or if it was a remnant of the past he had seen in the library, but the voice spoke a name Sayama remembered.

“Nein.”

With that quiet voice, the door slid open to reveal the cold hallway beyond.

Brunhild stood before the Kinugasa Library. The indoor shoes she wore were covered in outside dirt.

Her shoulders and the legs supporting her body were trembling slightly and she could not stop it.

The small bird in the cardboard box she held was lying on its side and breathing shallowly.

Brunhild’s lips moved. No voice came out, but the movement of her lips formed the words she needed to say.

Please.

She had to say that one word.

She had gone to the cafeteria, the girls’ dorm, and the faculty building, but she had not found anyone to speak that word to. This was the only place left. The Kinugasa Library was her only option. She had hurried here once she had realized that.

But now that she was here…

“…”

The trembling of her legs refused to stop, the ends of her eyebrows lowered, and her head hung down. She felt as if something heavy were sitting inside her stomach.

“Why?” she muttered in a trembling voice. “Why is it him again?”

But her lowered vision showed her the small bird.

Its breathing was shallow. When she saw the slight up and down movement of its body, Brunhild made up her mind.

With her body still trembling, she took a step toward the door.

Her footstep was quiet.

However, the response it received was forceful and loud.

The door slid open in front of her eyes.

The object before her eyes was removed and she saw light.

A tall shadow stood in the center of that light.

Siegfried Zonburg. That was the shadow’s name.

His blue eyes looked straight at her and his expression was not even remotely harsh.

His beard-covered mouth moved as he asked a question. The voice sounded so very nostalgic to her.

“What is it?”

He then spoke her name.

“Brunhild Schild-kun.”

He used her current name. As if in response to that, Brunhild’s vision grew blurry.

“Ah…”

A breath escaped and it turned into a small cough. She had tried to speak the words she had prepared.

Please. Help this small bird.

She had to speak those words. She had to speak them firmly so her intention would be conveyed. And she had to ensure he did not learn of her identity.

She spoke. Or rather, she tried to.

“…”

Her lips trembled without moving, another breath escaped, and she audibly sucked it back in.

As her shoulders trembled and she began breathing heavily, she realized something was trailing down her cheek. It felt warmer than her body temperature.

What was it?

She did not know.

What she did know was what words she had to say. She looked forward. In her blurry vision, the figure standing before her of course looked blurred. Brunhild spoke to that man who seemed to have an indefinite form.

Please.

“Help…”

Help this small bird.

“Help…!”

As she spoke, a breath seemed to catch in her throat.

At that moment, something passed by at her feet. It was the sensation of a black cat. She looked down and the blurriness in her vision spilled down her cheek. As her vision grew a bit clearer, she saw the black cat rubbing its head against the man’s shin. And she heard a voice from above.

“Understood. …I will help you.”

Brunhild looked up. That movement caused something larger to fall from her eyes and her vision grew perfectly clear.

In her raised vision, she saw Siegfried. He was looking down at her. His angular face held no smile, anger, or sorrow. He was merely staring back at her.

Brunhild raised her still trembling voice in a question.

“Really?”

“It is true there are occasionally conflicts between us.” He nodded and took a step to the side while inviting her in with one hand. “However, you have come to me after admitting there is something you cannot do yourself. You formed words and tried to open this door. And it was all for someone other than yourself.” He took a breath. “That action takes courage. I have no reason to refuse you. And you have no reason to cry. After all, I will save this bird and the bird will thank you for making the right decision. …Come in, young girl. This was your decision.”

Once it became clear Siegfried was going to remain in the library all night, Sayama left and returned to his dorm.

Before he had left, Sayama had put new water in the kettle and bought three corn soups from a vending machine next to the school building.

…''I really have become kind.

With that thought, he made his way to the second floor of the dorm building. He stepped out into the hallway and noted there was no luggage in front of the room anymore.

“Oh?”

He looked in and found the room’s lights were off.

''Did Shinjou-kun go to sleep ahead of me?'' he wondered as he walked through the door.

The room was illuminated by the pale moonlight and it had been cleaned up. A few of the boxes remained on the floor, but…

“Is this the luggage for the shared spaces?”

There was no sign Shinjou had touched the shelves to the side of the bed, the trunk next to the wall, or any of the other storage areas he shared with Sayama. Unopened boxes were sitting in front of them waiting to be unloaded.

''I suppose I should have returned earlier,'' thought Sayama as he placed the convenience store bag on top of his desk.

He found a note on the desk. It was written on a piece of loose leaf paper. In the center, it said, “I am feeling tired, so I will go to sleep ahead of you. Sorry.”

After reading the note, Sayama looked over at the bottom bunk. He saw Shinjou’s silhouette lying atop the mattress.

…''So this is what it is like to have a roommate.

When he nodded and placed the note back on the desk, Baku suddenly jumped down from his shoulder and onto the desk. Baku ran over and jumped to the desk that would be Shinjou’s.

The writing equipment Shinjou had brought had been placed on the desk.

There was a red cloth pencil case, binders of loose leaf paper, and a notebook-style computer. There were two different types of loose leaf paper. One was lined and the other was Japanese-style manuscript paper.

Baku climbed onto one of the loose leaf paper binders and quickly went to sleep.

…''Is that important to Shinjou-kun?

Baku did not respond or even turn toward Sayama. He was already curled up and fast asleep.

Sayama gave a small smile.

He looked forward toward his own desk and saw the study equipment he had used since the first year.

He reached out toward the corner of the desk. A single picture frame was placed there.

He grabbed the small wooden frame with his bandaged left hand and brought it into the moonlight.

The picture showed a large gym. It was brightly lit and a white winners’ platform was placed at the bottom. The winner’s platform was divided into three levels. Boys wearing karate uniforms stood at first place and third place.

Sayama was not in the picture.

He silently returned the picture frame to its original spot. The scars on his left hand glowed white in the moonlight.

“…”

He heard a sudden noise. It was the sound of rustling cloth.

Realizing what it was, he turned toward the source of the sound.

The sound had been caused by Shinjou turning in his sleep on the bottom bunk.

Shinjou’s hair was unbound and spread out across the bed’s mattress. His body was bent in a shallow V-shape and a thin blanket covered him. He was wearing a white shirt.

The blanket had come off slightly, so his feet and white thighs were visible.

“Nn…”

A slight voice escaped his lips and his expression changed slightly.

With a short breath, he adjusted his position. His weak movements had deepened the V-shape of his body.

The blanket slid to the side and the white underwear covering his butt could be seen peeking out from under his shirt. Sayama visually followed the lines of his thighs, one of which was slightly forward of the other. The lines continued in long curves that curved in all the right places.

Sayama looked at the white underwear covered butt and tilted his head.

“Is that really not Sadame-kun?”

He brought a hand to his chin and thought. He realized he would know once and for all if he removed the underwear before his eyes.

And he continued to think.

He thought on the situation, the suddenness of it, what would happen afterward, and how he could handle the aftermath. And he finally decided on a plan.

“If I explain the situation, he will understand.”

He gave a deep nod and felt those words held great persuasive power.

His doubts were gone. He now began to take action. He leaned over the bed as if covering Shinjou with his own body.

He then began to reach toward the cloth displaying the round shape of Shinjou’s butt.

But then a quiet voice escaped Shinjou’s lips. He spoke in a trembling, broken voice.

“…Sorry.”

Sayama raised his head and looked toward Shinjou’s face.

Shinjou was frowning and casting down his closed eyes. His mouth opened slightly as he spoke.

“I am always wrong…”

His partially disturbed breathing sucked in the words. He could no longer speak, but his expression remained unchanged.

Sayama recalled the words Shinjou had spoken and shook his head.

For the past few days, he had been trying to give meaning to what people said in their sleep.

…''Am I that vague a person?

Sayama looked at Shinjou’s face, but he spoke as if as a warning to himself.

“That is not the case. …I guarantee it.”

As he spoke, Sayama used his outstretched hand to grab the blanket. He placed it back over Shinjou’s body.

He then lightly tapped Shinjou’s back. He did so slowly as if lulling a child to sleep.

“Nn…”

Shinjou’s breathing gradually grew steadier. However, the stern expression did not leave his face.

''This is my limit for now,'' realized Sayama.

Sayama nodded in understanding and got up from the bed. He looked out the window and saw the white moon in the sky. Sayama opened his mouth to speak as he looked at the moon sending out moonlight that could be called cold.

“I am acting unlike myself, but this may be my only chance to do so. Will I continue to be hated until my body is destroyed or will I give up on everything? …I must choose one or the other before long.”

He reached his left hand out toward the moon. The pain in his bandaged left arm ran up through his shoulder and into his head.

However, Sayama spread his scarred left hand and then clenched it into a fist as if grasping the moon.

He let out a breath and some words.

“What are the conditions for being a villain?”

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 15|Chapter 15]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 17|Chapter 17]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 15

2026-07-10T03:21:44Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 15: Multiple Sounds of Wind==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0049.png|thumb]]
''Faster than the blowing wind

''One’s will rushes through and the truth passes by

''The most definite things might be the passing voices

Brunhild held her broom in both hands as she stood in the schoolyard of an abandoned school surrounded by forest.

She stood on a shadow created from the moonlight as she faced the gym. The cat was not at her feet.

“Is he doing a decent job of telling Venerable Hagen and Fafner what happened today?” she muttered.

The only response came from the blowing wind.

The wind blew in from the east. This movement in the air was gentle yet a certain grandness could be felt in it.

Brunhild held down her hair as she withstood the thick easterly wind.

“The wind is not too-…”

Her voice trailed off before she could say “bad”. The forest around her had begun rustling.

This rustling did not come from the leaves brushing together. As the wind gently pushed against the trees, they bent and the forest itself shook. This wind had a different sort of weight than a quick gust of wind.

Brunhild heard the high-pitched cries of birds within the forest.

As she looked around, a flock of birds burst from the moonlit forest.

“No wind created by the earth and wind spirits of 1st-Gear would drive out the birds.”

With the forest still bent, the pressure of the easterly wind produced a loud noise. It sounded like the crashing of waves. The cries of wakened birds and beasts filled the wind to provide a high-pitched coloration.

It felt as if the entire forest was walking from east to west. As Brunhild stood in that schoolyard surrounded by the forest, she felt as if the entire commotion was circling around her.

However, that commotion did not approach her any further.

The sound slowly settled down like a receding wave. The wind, the creaking of the forest, and the cries of the birds and beasts all slowly disappeared.

“…”

Brunhild sighed after hearing the final chirp of a bird.

She suddenly realized she was tightly gripping the handle of her broom.

''Was I afraid?'' she asked in self-derision.

It was at that time that she sensed movement in the atmosphere behind her.

She turned around, thinking it was the black cat, but something much bigger filled her vision.

A giant white form had grown from the gym. It was Fafnir Custom.

Fafnir Custom had partially left the concept space enveloping the gym. The inside of the concept space could not be seen from outside. That meant Fafnir Custom had to have moved his face slightly out of the gym to access the outside world.

His giant, long, and slender face was already outside.

He must have taken a single step from within the concept space. The area from his face down to the base of his neck and his front right leg seemed to be pushed out. His metal claws were digging into the schoolyard and giving off several metallic noises. Next, his front left leg, his body, his back right leg, his back left leg, and finally his tail followed.

The dragon’s movements were heavy and certain. A heavy metallic noise caused the earth to tremble.

As Brunhild watched on, the dragon’s entire form appeared below the moonlight.

That great white and green dragon was over thirty meters long and over seven meters tall at the shoulder. Other than the red light of the primary vision devices on his face, nothing on him seemed to try to assert his own existence to the outside world.

His entire body only glowed palely in the moonlight.

Fafnir Custom turned to face Brunhild.

He had only walked three steps out of the gym and had stopped at precisely three meters away from Brunhild. He gently lowered his body which caused wind to wash over the schoolyard.

As she watched that wind rip dried leaves from the ground and toss them into the air, Brunhild asked the dragon a question.

“Has it been a while since you came outside, Venerable Hagen?”

Fafnir Custom answered the question in Hagen’s voice and tone.

“We have had a lot of meetings lately… And as the concept space will disappear after a few hours if I am gone, it has been harder and harder to find the time. I only came out now to see you off.”

Brunhild was relieved to hear a smile in his voice when he spoke that final comment.

A voice then spoke from above Fafnir Custom’s head.

“Brunhild,” said the black cat.

She looked up to see the black shadow had already climbed down to Fafnir Custom’s nose. The black cat tried to stop there, but…

“Ah…no…wah!”

The cat’s feet slipped and it slid right off the dragon’s head. As the cat shot diagonally toward the ground, Brunhild took a step forward to catch it.

“Watch out,” she cried.

The cat performed a counter on the knee she had moved forward.

The impact caused an unassuming noise. In response, the cat let out a controlled breath rather than a scream.

“N-nice effort,” it said before sliding down Brunhild’s shin.

Brunhild picked the cat’s small body up in her left arm and looked back toward Fafnir Custom with the broom still in her right hand. As a weapon, Fafnir Custom could not produce facial expressions. However, Brunhild sighed.

“I know this looks odd, but just know that I do not do this because I want to.”

“No, I think it is perfectly fine. I can see much better than I used to and I am glad to see you can remain cheerful.”

“I simply do not have much time to be serious. Venerable Hagen, is it tough having to be so serious all the time?”

“Good question…” replied Fafnir Custom with an answer that was neither an affirmation nor a denial. He then lowered his body slightly and asked, “Brunhild, do you see yourself as about to leave or about to return home?”

“Eh…?” Brunhild gasped. “V-Venerable Hagen… Do you think I have forgotten 1st-Gear?”

“No, I do not think that. However, your opinion of the current state of the headquarters does not seem to be a favorable one.”

“…I do not like that kind of arguing. I think this might be the nature of the long-lived race.”

“Yes. But listen, Brunhild. Even if you are not exactly fond of the others, you must not grow to hate them. Keeping your distance and hating are two different things.”

“I-I don’t…”

“If only you had someone as long-lived as you who could remain with you always. In your eyes, everyone, myself included, must seem rushed and intent on heading down a selfish path.”

The black cat raised its head in her arm. It looked toward Fafnir Custom and spoke.

“You sound like an old man, Venerable Hagen.”

“Stop that!” scolded Brunhild.

Fafnir Custom spoke in a smiling voice toward both the scolder and the scolded.

“Ha ha. That is because I am one. My body will not last much longer. I am sure everyone has realized it. And I do not mean my lifespan as a machine. My real lifespan is running out.”

“Venerable Hagen…”

Hearing that name, Fafnir Custom turned his primary vision devices accurately toward Brunhild.

“It is because of this body that I was able to last these sixty years. I hear UCAT has means of longevity involving remodeling the human body and using techniques they call magic. I wonder if they will obtain the same loneliness you have…” Fafnir Custom gave a bitter laugh. His body shook slightly. “The reason Fafner and the others are in such a hurry is likely because they are thinking about me. They want to resolve this while I still live.”

“Fafner just wants to use you.”

“No, he wants me to take action. How nostalgic. Do you remember when Fafner was first brought here?”

“He was raised to be the next leader of the reservation, but he ran off here with one of our guides when he learned of our history. He was inexperienced and arrived half dead after making his way through the thin concepts of Low-Gear. …And now he is the leader of the second generation group.” Brunhild nodded at her own words, but then continued. “I do understand why everyone is in such a hurry. UCAT has been very active since the death of Sayama Kaoru, a member of the former National Defense Department along with Siegfried and the others. What could they be doing?”

“They are doing something to prevent this world from falling to the negative concepts. Of course, that is just a front for something else.”

“What do they want to do?”

“I do not know. Not even Fasolt and the others working with UCAT know everything. UCAT is hiding something. I can only think they have been doing something in the sixty years since they destroyed our Gear. But as we have left the front lines of the fight to rebuild ourselves, there is no way we could know what that is.”

“Did the late Sayama know about it? Does Siegfried?”

“I would assume so. Also…” Hagen trailed off. When Brunhild tilted her head, Fafnir Custom asked, “Don’t you need to get back? When you arrived, you seemed to be in a hurry.”

The black cat reacted to those words before Brunhild. It tapped its soft front paw against her chest.

“The bird. Just because you have such a flat chest is no reason to forget about-… Ahh! Being strangled is new!!”

After squeezing the cat’s neck, Brunhild bowed toward Fafnir Custom. She then placed the cat on her shoulder.

As she frantically held up her broom, Fafnir Custom spoke up.

“The bird…?”

“Yes. She never learns. She took in a small bird that fell out of its nest.”

“Oh, I see. That is good to hear. Brunhild…no, perhaps I should call you Nein.”

“I…gave up that name long ago.”

“But that is who you are to me. You are the small girl who was taken in by my niece Gutrune and lived in the laboratory of my younger brother Regin. I may have forced a difficult decision on you. For Gutrune and Regin as well, Siegfried was…”

“Please stop. Hearing the names of people we both knew is worse than speaking to myself.”

As she spoke, Brunhild tried to give a slight smile.

However, she could not keep the ends of her eyebrows from drooping and the expression held no strength.

She hung her head down and looked at her broom. She wordlessly pulled a blue stone with a chain from her vest pocket and wrapped it around the broom handle. She held the stone and chain in her right hand.

A blue light appeared from the broom’s brush and it tried to float up from the ground. Brunhild held it down with both hands.

“It is time we left.”

Only then was she finally able to smile.

But it only lasted an instant.

She poured strength into her right hand. As her grip on the stone increased, the pale blue light coming from the brush increased. No one was around to see her here.

“I will be flying up all at once, so please stand back.”

“A dragon such as myself will not be damaged by the wind produced by a cute witch.”

“No, you would be able to see my underwear.”

“My apologies.”

Fafnir Custom took a step back and Brunhild gave a bow along with the black cat.

At the same time, she slid her left hand down along the broom handle. She tightly squeezed her right hand while in a pose that made it seem she was playing tug of war against the sky.

The pale blue light coming from the broom’s brush rapidly lost its color. In its place, wind began filling the school yard around the broom.

The powerful wind radiated out from the broom as it swept across the school yard.

A high-pitched noise reverberated through the wind. And once that noise reached a certain level…

“I will be going.”

With that comment, Brunhild relaxed her entire body save her arms.

It all happened in an instant. She clung to the broom handle as if throwing her body forward. With the resistance holding it in place lessened, the broom shot up into the sky as if it had been forcefully kicked upward.

It flew in a slight arc up into the sky.

“…!”

Brunhild looked down as the wind pressed down from above.

The shape of the forest was no longer visible and the abandoned school was no larger than a few centimeters across and still growing smaller.

However, a single pale figure was visible in the moonlight covering the clearing of the abandoned school.

“…”

Brunhild cast her eyes down as she continued to cling to the ascending broom handle.

She was headed east. As that direction entered her mind, she muttered in a voice the wind drowned out.

“The direction of the wind that moves the forest…”

Fafnir Custom stared up into the sky in which the moon was visible.

A line of pale clouds could be seen in the sky above as Brunhild flew to the east.

Fafnir Custom continued watching until that line of clouds disappeared in the wind.

“Now then,” he muttered before turning to the western edge of the schoolyard.

This was the opposite direction from the gym. A gym storage shed that’s roof had rotted away stood next to the school building. The moonlight filled that area with shadows of the night.

Fafnir Custom turned his crimson primary vision devices in that direction.

“I think it is time to speak with you. …You over there.”

As that mechanical voice rang out, three shadows appeared from the darkness filling the western end of the schoolyard.

They belonged to people.

Standing at the front was a tall elderly man wearing a sand-yellow summer coat.

Below a bandanna wrapped like a turban was a deeply tanned face with the Arab features of a hooked nose and sunken eye sockets. However, only the right eye socket had a black eye looking out from it.

[[Image:OnC_v02_0061.png|thumb]]

Below the coat that was slightly opened by the wind, he wore vest and suit pants. He was walking toward Fafnir Custom with long strides.

Two girls walked behind him to the left and right.

On the right was a tall girl with her black hair bound at the back of her head. Below her black summer coat, she wore the same outfit as the man, but a silk wrapping containing some sort of rod hung to the left of her waist.

On the left was a girl with long hair fluttering in the wind. She wore a black stole over her shoulders, but she wore a white shirt and a black dress below it.

The tall girl on the right was older. She held a sharp look in her eyes and mouth as she glared over at Fafnir Custom. The short girl on the left had the ends of her eyebrows lowered slightly.

Those two contrasting girls flanked the man as the three of them approached. As Fafnir Custom watched that, he suddenly heard a musical tune.

The girl on the left had opened her lips slightly and was singing in the moonlight.

“Silent night, holy night

All’s asleep, one sole light

Just the faithful and holy pair

Lovely boy-child with curly hair

Sleep in heavenly peace

Sleep in heavenly peace.”

Fafnir Custom knew that song.

“Brunhild would often sing that after our escape. It is a Low-Gear song. I believe the title is Silent Night.”

As the girl cast her eyes down and sang, she suddenly raised her right hand a bit.

When she did, several small shadows descended from the night sky.

They were birds.

These birds whose wings were shaded blue and black by the moonlight were the birds that had been driven from the forest by the blowing wind. That flock that had lost their spot now gathered on the girl’s outstretched arm.

The sound of flapping wings filled the wind of the night.

The birds elicited a smile from the girl’s narrowed eyes and faintly raised eyebrows.

“Ha ha,” she breathed out. “I have no food for you. So go.” The girl pointed toward the forest behind Fafnir Custom. “Go back home.”

As soon as the girl spoke, the birds flew up and become silhouettes in the moonlight.

Those black wings created shadows in the dark blue sky. The scattered sound of flapping wings passed by Fafnir Custom in an instant and disappeared into the forest behind him.

Fafnir Custom used all of his auditory devices to listen to the sound of the birds’ chirping disappear within the forest.

Finally, it faded away and silence fell.

The man and the two girls had stopped walking. Approximately twenty meters remained between those three and Fafnir Custom.

Even that large mechanical dragon would need to take a few steps to cross that distance.

The three people and Fafnir Custom stared at each other from that distance.

Fafnir Custom made the first move. He spread his four legs and raised his back end.

He was preparing to charge. And in that pose, Fafnir Custom spoke.

“So you have come unannounced once again, information broker. Or should I call you Hajji of the so-called ‘Army’.”

The man referred to as Hajji smiled at that. His white moustache and his stubble-covered chin bent upward.

“It has been a dozen or so years now, but that is the first time I have been called that. I am shocked, Hagen.”

“You have no right to speak my name… I do not even know what Gear you are from. Even so, you are an information broker who can gather weapons and accurate information. I want to keep any familiarity between us purely professional,” said Fafnir Custom. “Also, who are those two insane girls with you?”

Still smiling, Hajji looked at the girls to his left and right. He lightly spread his arms and spoke.

“You could say they are my daughters. The tall one here is Mikoku. The short one is Shino. I thought it was time they learned how to perform this job. Cute, aren’t they? Hm?”

As they were introduced, Mikoku nodded and Shino bowed.

Hajji went on to say, “They may not look it, but they are both great warrior djinn. And…”

His smile suddenly disappeared.

But he quickly covered his face with his large right hand. The span of three breaths passed before he lowered his hand once more. Once he did, the smile had returned.

“That does not matter. For tonight, I have some more information for you.”

“And are you going to ask once more that I put my forces under your command?”

“I never said anything about putting them under my command. I would never think of such a thing. But we are both trying to stop Low-Gear’s Leviathan Road. I believe we want the same thing. Am I wrong? Hm?”

“Sorry, but my answer is the same as before. We will solve our problem in our own way. I have no intention of fighting alongside someone whose identity I do not know.”

“If you agree to join us, I will tell you our identity and our objective.”

“I might have considered it if that smile were real. …But I said no and I mean no.”

When he heard Fafnir Custom’s words, Hajji once more covered his mouth with his right hand.

No hint of a smile could be seen in his eyes as a voice leaked through the hand covering his mouth.

“I see…”

And before those two words had faded away, Fafnir Custom fired.

He targeted Mikoku, the girl on the right.

“…!!”

The tall girl was blown backward as if she had been hit by a car. She floated up higher than her own height and flew several times that distance backward.

Fafnir Custom had used the right side of his body. A meter long anti-personnel machinegun had been internally installed in that most stable location. It broke through the seal and shot out into the night air. The attack had consumed three pages of the book bullets loaded in it. Three bullets of light with a diameter of two centimeters were fired almost simultaneously.

It had all occurred much too quickly for a human’s reaction speed. And all three shots hit.

Mikoku’s clothing was torn to pieces both on her chest and on her back where the bullets of light exited.

Many things scattered into the air and her body fell to the ground headfirst.

She struck the ground.

With an unpleasant noise, her neck bent in the correct direction. It bent in the direction it should be bent to ensure there was no saving her.

Her body then rolled two or three times. When she finally came to a stop, her neck must have bent back into place because the air in her lungs passed through her throat and exited her mouth. This created a short coughing sound.

Fafnir Custom used all of his forward-facing vision devices to look at her.

“You taught her well, Hajji. When you lost your smile, she secretly opened that silk wrapping.”

He watched her. Even after being blasted away, Mikoku had her right hand next to her left waist. That hand held the grip of something sticking out of that wrapping.

She was not moving. After confirming that, Fafnir Custom fixed his vision devices on Hajji.

Hajji still had his right hand at his mouth, but he finally raised it along with his left.

Fafnir Custom asked, “That girl you called a djinn has fallen. Why did you bring these children with you? And what do you know? We know nothing beyond the destruction of 1st-Gear. But you that call yourselves the Army…” Fafnir Custom looked back and forth between Hajji and the girl on the left. “You are an army made up of a few different Gears, aren’t you? From what I can tell, Hajji, you appear to be from 9th-Gear. And those two girls appear to either be from 2nd-Gear or Low-Gear.”

“You are surprisingly nosy, aren’t you, Hagen?”

“I am saying you possess something that great. You understand, don’t you, Hajji?”

Just as Fafnir Custom ended its preparation for a charge and prepared to take a normal step forward, the vision devices on his right side picked up a single small light.

“!”

Fafnir Custom cast aside the heavy movements from before and leapt to the left. A change came over the joints of his legs. The output bands and wood pipes that provided the legs’ driving force rearranged in an instant to shift from normal mode to short-range movement mode.

He leapt about ten meters to the left with a cat-like movement.

He leapt such that his face remained pointed toward the light but his back end rotated around.

His back legs landed and dug an arcing curve into the schoolyard.

Fafnir Custom lowered his body with the sound of breaking wood and he saw two changes occur in the spot he had just been standing in.

The first was that a five meter deep sphere of destruction had appeared on the ground there.

The second…

“Why…is the girl I killed there?”

It was Mikoku. While wearing clothes that had been torn to rags, Mikoku stood before the hole of destruction created in the schoolyard. Hanging from her right arm was…

“That is a concept weapon with a philosopher’s stone inside. Is it a Cowling Sword?”

“Yes. Not many can use them, but we have an excellent instructor in the Army. This girl can travel that far and cause that much destruction in an instant.”

Mikoku remained silent. The left hand that did not hold the Cowling Sword held the remains of her torn clothes over her chest.

Fafnir Custom saw her look toward him just once.

Her face held no expression. However, she was not suppressing her emotions like Brunhild.

“She seems to be saying she has no interest in this.”

“It is an excellent expression, don’t you think? She’s guaranteed to be a cool beauty when she grows up, isn’t she? Hm?” said Hajji with a smile. “I will provide you with a special service today. I will tell you what we are after before getting to the real topic at hand. How about that?”

“I see,” said Fafnir Custom while remaining on guard. “Are you creating an organized rebel army out of the remnants of each Gear in order to stop the Leviathan Road?”

Hajji cast his eyes down and shook his head.

“Too bad. That’s not it. What we want,” he took a breath, opened his eyes wide, and bowed with a smile on his face, “is the annihilation of each Gear’s concepts.”

“What…!?”

“I see no need for clarification. I mean exactly what I said, Hagen. We of the Army wish for the disappearance of every concept save the ones that preserve us. That is our goal.”

“…Why!? Are you abandoning your own Gears!?”

“We see a reason, meaning, and value in doing so. I assure you we do,” said Hajji. The smile vanished from his face as if all enthusiasm was leaving him. “The holy sword Gram stored in UCAT at IAI Headquarters in Shimane will be transported to UCAT in the Tokyo branch office tomorrow night. The airplane should pass right above here.”

“Why are you telling us this? We will retrieve the concepts of 1st-Gear, but we do not wish to eliminate them as you do. …We will become your enemy.”

“I know that. This is another special service. I am going all out with the special services today.” He lowered his gaze with no smile on his face. “Well, for now, we do not mind what you do here. At the very least, we want to avoid having the concepts remain with UCAT. If you do retrieve Gram, we can begin negotiations.”

“Negotiations about what?”

“For starters, we will tell you and demand of you the truth without giving any thought to Low-Gear. We must make Low-Gear into what is truly true.”

“What is truly true?”

“Yes,” said Hajji as he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

Mikoku moved back. She took large steps backward so as to return to her position to the right of Hajji while never taking her eyes off of Fafnir Custom.

At the same time, Hajji and Shino moved back as well. They moved toward the darkness behind them.

“Farewell, Hagen. Our positions will likely have changed by the time we meet again.”

“Wait! Answer me, Hajji! What do you mean by what is true!?”

Hajji replied to that reverberating question with a smile.

Mikoku caught up to him and they sank into to darkness behind them.

Just before his sand-yellow summer coat sank into the darkness, Hajji’s voice rang out.

“It is a simple matter. In the truest sense of the term, we will pass everything onto the one who will take over after us!”

His answer grew to a shout that contained a hint of a smile.

Fafnir Custom heard that answer.

The three figures had disappeared from his vision.

At some point, an easterly wind had begun to blow around him.

Fafnir Custom quietly muttered to himself in that wind.

“So Gram will be transported tomorrow…”

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 14|Chapter 14]]
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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 16|Chapter 16]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 14

2026-07-09T04:01:24Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 14: Proof of Determination==
[[Image:OnC_v02_0011.png|thumb]]
''Wondering what you are being shown

''Might very well be

''The same as wanting to see something

Brunhild began to glide after approximately half an hour of flying at full speed.

She watched the scenery shooting by at high speed. The area down below had been dark for a bit, but it had once more grown bright.

She could see the lights of a city below and a bay gouged out a section to the southwest.

“Kobe, Osaka, and Sakai.”

Brunhild muttered the names of the cities visible below and used her right fingertips to lightly tap the blue philosopher’s stone used to pilot the broom. As her speed decreased, she checked to make sure a single vertical stability wing had emerged from the bottom of the broom. She lifted her body up now that she was in the windbreak area.

Her toes were still on the brush, so her position was similar to being seated seiza-style. The light coming from the brush had returned to being bluish-white, so Brunhild lightly tapped the stone to bring the light outside of the visible spectrum.

“Doing this at low speed has terrible fuel efficiency.”

She sighed, wiped frost from the end of her three-cornered hat, and looked back down.

The light below her was dwindling once more. The darkness of a mountainous area was filling the area below.

As she stared down at the earth, she spoke to the cat clinging to the tip of the handle.

“Hey, there’s the forest.”

She waited for five seconds, but received no response. She tilted her head and looked forward.

The cat was clinging to the broom handle with its entire body. And that was all it was doing.

For some reason, the cat’s body was glittering slightly in the moonlight.

“?”

Brunhild looked closer to find the cat’s entire body was covered by frost. That frost was reflecting the moonlight.

“How pretty,” she muttered just before the cat came loose from the handle.

It lost its balance and fell down. After watching for a moment, Brunhild let out an “ah” and stretched out an arm. She grabbed the cat’s tail and pulled it back up.

She held the black cat in front of her face. Its eyes were opened wide and staring straight forward and both ends of its mouth were frozen in place while raised up as far as they would go. Brunhild frowned and shook the cat up and down.

“What are you doing? That’s dangerous.”

Finally, the cat gave a start.

“Wah!” it shouted and shook its legs. “I-I-I-I’m gonna die! You’re killing me!”

“What’s the matter? You make this sound so dangerous. Did you have a bad dream again?”

“Y-y-y-y-yes yes yes! I had a dream I was thrown into the air and frozen! …That was a dream, right?”

“Of course it was. But how very odd. You fell asleep with history’s most amusing expression.” Brunhild held the cat in one arm. “Well, even if you had a scary dream, don’t worry. I am here.”

“Can I really trust you?”

“Did you say something?”

“No, nothing,” came the response within her arm.

At that point, the land down below became fully covered in darkness.

Brunhild tilted the broom slightly down and to the right. She turned toward the depths of the mountain.

Slowly but surely, their altitude lowered. But with the dark mountains below and the night sky above, it was hard to tell they were descending. Brunhild checked the nightscape of Osaka behind her to check the horizon.

She descended.

The darkness below gradually gained visual features. The bare mountain surface and shapes of trees grew visible in the moonlight.

“Almost there,” she muttered while focusing on the forest floating up in the moonlight.

Brunhild could see a line of rectangular manmade objects. They were buildings.

This line of unlit buildings in the mountain forest created a village.

The black cat held at her chest spoke.

“There’s never anyone there. It really is a ghost town.”

“…Having ruined areas in your Gear is the height of luxury.”

“The people who lived in this village and the people who live in that giant city over there know nothing about the destruction of our Gear. If they knew, they might show some regret.”

The abandoned village flowed slowly by below them.

As she watched it, Brunhild said, “But why didn’t UCAT tell anyone about the Concept War?”

“They probably wanted to play the role of heroes. They wanted to secretly finish things without bringing confusion to their world… That was the complete opposite of 1st-Gear’s king. The king did everything he could to protect 1st-Gear. He deployed the mechanical dragons for defense and split the Concept Core in two.”

“And Siegfried took advantage of that. The royal palace was destroyed and the chain of command fell apart. Doctor Regin joined with mechanical dragon Fafnir and tried to protect the half of 1st-Gear’s concepts that were held inside, but Siegfried stole the holy sword Gram Doctor Regin had created and…” She took a breath. “If Doctor Regin’s Fafnir had been Venerable Hagen’s Fafnir Custom, it might have turned out differently.”

“How? What’s different about the modified version?”

“Oh, wait a second. I can see the headquarters.”

Two large buildings were visible a short distance from the abandoned village. It was a school. The two buildings were the school building and a gym. Brunhild descended toward the gym.

“The modified version is a mechanical dragon strengthened for defense. It has two reactors: one for movement and one for its weaponry. The old Fafnir that Venerable Regin joined with had only one reactor, so it had to die when the holy sword Gram was used to destroy the reactor where half of the Concept Core was stored.”

“On the other hand, Venerable Hagen’s Fafnir Custom is…?”

“It has the remaining half of the Concept Core sealed in the weaponry reactor. That power is the grudge of 1st-Gear itself. Even if it is lost, either the remaining movement reactor will be used to crush the enemy or it will be annihilated.”

Brunhild felt the cat tremble.

“Are you afraid? Do not worry. Venerable Hagen will not be defeated.”

“Um, no. That isn’t it. Being cooled down like this makes me need to use the bathroo-… Wait, stop hanging me down like this! Ahh, wetting myself is so humiliating!”

Kazami and Izumo were performing treasury work in the Kinugasa Library at night.

“This may be spring break, but we’ve been doing a lot of work since taking over from last term. …Oh, Kaku. You don’t have to be so focused on pasting those receipts that you end up looking like a robot. You actually have a serious look in your eyes.”

“Oh, how should I put it? I’ve gotten hooked on the smell of glue. …I guess you could say it’s a habit?”

Kazami ignored him. She diligently divided the account book in her hands between debit and credit.

But she suddenly looked up. Izumo noticed from where he sat next to her.

“What is it? Is something odd about-… gah!! Y-you idiot! I didn’t even say anything yet!”

Kazami ignored Izumo’s protests and pulled back the hand she had sent to the left in a slap. Siegfried looked over from the counter, but she waved back to say it was nothing. She then stood up.

“…A sound? How odd,” she muttered before walking over to the western edge of the Kinugasa Library.

A supply room was located there. She passed through the narrow entrance into a small space where piles of books and large rolled up maps were kept.

“What is it?” called Siegfried across the four classrooms’ length distance between the counter and the supply room. Kazami turned back and looked across the entire length of the Kinugasa Library. She spoke loud enough to reach from the entrance of the supply room.

“Have you heard a bird chirping for a while now?”

“The wall over there must resonate because you can hear noises from the upper floors. The art room on the third floor and the music room on the second floor come in separately.”

“But why a bird? Am I hearing it wrong?”

Just as she asked, Kazami looked up in realization. She had heard it once more.

“Hm. I believe Brunhild Schild, the head of the art club, is raising one. She is the only one using the art room during spring break.”

“You know a lot about this,” commented Izumo.

Siegfried nodded once and replied, “She seems to dislike me.”

He spoke so naturally that Kazami could not think of anything to say in response.

She walked back toward the table. As Izumo listened to her footsteps, he asked a question to smooth things over.

“Come to think of it.” He chose his words cautiously. “How powerful is 1st-Gear really? The remaining remnant is the City faction, right? How much power do they have?”

He turned his question toward Siegfried.

The man looked over from behind the counter.

“We had a conflict today, remember?”

“Yeah. How powerful are they compared to that?”

“Today’s battle was mere child’s play. 1st-Gear’s true power is not magic created from words. It is pure violence supported by words.”

Brunhild descended toward a schoolyard that had puddles remaining.

Dry leaves were scattered across the schoolyard and neither the school building nor the gym had any glass left.

It was an abandoned school.

Brunhild lowered in front of the gym while spreading wind around her. At five meters from the ground, she began the landing preparations.

In her right hand, she held a blue stone and the broom handle. She slowly loosened the grip of her right hand while moving the brush portion down. She gradually stood the broom up vertically.

Once the wind blowing from the brush swept across the ground directly below, the black cat jumped down as if peeling itself from the handle. Next, Brunhild placed her feet on the ground and completely stopped the broom’s output.

She let out a breath.

She removed the blue stone wrapped around the broom with a chain, tapped the handle, and muttered, “Excellent work.”

Afterward, they both stretched their stiff bodies at about the same moment.

“Ahh… Standing on the ground is definitely best.”

“I just heard the most selfish comment in the world…”

“I’m in a good mood, so I will ignore that,” said Brunhild with a smile before walking toward the gym.

The door to the gym was tilted out of place. The inside could be glimpsed through it. The floor had rotted, the boarding had been torn up, and large holes existed here and there. Of the basketball goals prepared for the two courts, one was hanging down at an angle and two had fallen to the floor.

Brunhild walked inside this abandoned gym through the main entrance.

Once she did, faint light gathered around the blue stone at the center of the pendant around her neck.

She heard a voice. This was the concept text created from the Concept Core within the mechanical dragon. It supported the worldview of 1st-Gear.

—'''Words have the ability to provide power.

At the same moment, the words carved into the pendant were given light.

The cat at her feet was also surrounded by blue light for an instant.

And then the world changed.

When Brunhild looked forward once more, she saw a fortress.

The floor and stage within the gym had been removed and replaced with a wooden-floored hangar. Several shelves were lined up and filled with combat brooms, rifles, spears, and other weapons. The shelves also contained organized arrangements of backpacks and other equipment for heading out.

The center of the hangar contained a large wooden lift leading underground. Next to it was a single hole containing a slope leading underground as well.

Brunhild walked toward the downward slope and greeted the giant soldiers patrolling around the hangar.

“I have not been by in a while, but are things okay here? You haven’t been found, have you?”

“Everything is fine,” replied an old giant as he gave a light wave and turned around.

Brunhild waved back and continued toward the slope. A glance at the lift next to the slope showed that the surface had the word for steel carved into its surface.

However, that word had large scratches running through it.

Giant claws had left those scratches. Brunhild looked down at the black cat.

“Venerable Hagen loves the moonlight, so he comes out whenever he can,” she said with a sigh.

She then continued down the slope while looking at those scratches.

The inside of the slope was lit by the word for light written on the ceiling. The word for nonslip covered the floor, so she had no problem keeping her footing.

She reached a landing partway and continued down.

The slope came to an end at the door that had originally been used as the school building’s main entrance. The large door had a large piece of glass inside and “sturdy” was written on the surface. This prevented the inside from being seen despite the glass being transparent.

Brunhild pushed on the door.

A large space had been created underground. The area was fifty meters square and it was shielded by square lumber and wooden flooring. The ceiling which emitted pale crimson light was seven or eight meters high. The bulkhead door in the center of the ceiling was opened to raise the lift on the floor.

Currently, a number of figures were gathered in front of the lift platform.

It was a gathering of people and other beings.

The figures were split down the middle with approximately fifty on either side. A few were standing, a few were facing each other, and they were exchanging words. The words held enough force to call them shouts.

The left side contained mostly youths with excellent physiques while the right contained mostly older people with slender bodies.

The voices reverberating through the underground area reached Brunhild as mere noise.

The black cat at her feet asked, “The representatives of the radicals and the conservatives are at it again.”

“How depressing. If I worked here, I would probably be shouting over there with you at my side.”

“I’m just a cat you took in after leaving here. If you were here, I would not be with you.”

“I suppose so,” said Brunhild as she glanced to the side of the entrance.

A shelf was located there with a few personal brooms on it. Brunhild frowned as she looked at the brooms lined up there.

“Kids these days forget all about tradition and go straight for the strange nose art. And what is this six-tone horn?”

“Our broom has a floral pattern cover, you know?”

“Don’t call it a cover. It’s a vector nozzle.”

Brunhild then placed her broom next to the others.

Behind her, an especially loud voice came from the gathered people. The black cat turned its ear toward the voice.

“That’s Fafner.”

“He certainly has energy. He was about to die when he arrived here after leaving the peaceful faction, though.”

“Well, the concept environment of Low-Gear is not suited for his race at all.”

“What a pain,” said Brunhild as she turned around.

A strange figure could be seen on the left side of the gathering. That figure was almost two meters tall and was covered in a black shell. He had a sharply angled face, three horns, and long blond hair. Instead of clothes put on over the head like Brunhild’s, he wore an open-backed jacket and shirt that were affixed to the shoulders. The reason for this was…

“The wings on his back are raised… Is he trying to intimidate them?”

The silhouettes that looked like arms covered in a shell were two wings. They were both black and stretched toward the ceiling in a V-shape.

As Brunhild watched on, Fafner glanced across his opponents and shouted.

“What is it that we need!?”

Fafner spread his shell-covered arms as he spoke. He swung his long lower arms.

“What we need is to take back the world of 1st-Gear that we lost! We must take back Gram from UCAT and make the Concept Core ours. By releasing it and having it oppose the negative concepts of Low-Gear, we can turn this world into 1st-Gear!”

In response, a single youth stood up on the opposite side. He swung up a hand.

“No! What we need are rights here in Low-Gear. After retrieving Gram from UCAT, we must use it to merge with the peaceful faction! Afterward, we can manage the release of 1st-Gear’s concepts and use that to our advantage in negotiations!” The youth continued. “Fafner, we have not gathered here to fight. Our ultimate objective is the acquisition of Gram and a social position more than equal to Low-Gear’s. We do not wish for anything more than that, and even if we must fight to gain that, we do not wish to head down that path before it is necessary. Your ideas are nothing more than a reverse invasion!”

As the youth’s words reverberated throughout the underground space, the figures sitting next to him all nodded slightly.

As Fafner watched those many movements of agreement, he tilted his head in confusion.

“A reverse invasion? No. Call it recovering lost territory. The land protected by our ancestors was destroyed. Isn’t it only natural to fight for land to take in its place?”

[[Image:OnC_v02_0025.png|thumb]]

“Low-Gear will never allow that! If they allowed us to recover our lost territory, they would be forced to accept the identical demands of the other Gears. Do you really think Low-Gear will allow that to happen?”

“That’s why we fight. Do you really not get it?” asked Fafner.

He lightly bent both arms as if scooping up those seated next to him and clenched the large fingers at the end of those arms.

The crimson light pouring down from the ceiling cast the motions of his fingers on the floor in the form of shadows.

“Listen. Low-Gear is acting as if the Concept War never happened. They have sealed off all information on it and any actions taken in retribution or attempts to release the information are suppressed by UCAT, the militaries of various countries, or those countries’ governments. …Let me ask you one question: Where exactly are we in this Gear?” He pointed toward his feet. “We are currently in the shadows of this Gear. It was the same in the UCAT reservation. We are shoved into small pieces of land. The sky is closed in low over our heads and we cannot interact with the outside world.”

“Is that not why we are attempting to win this battle and gain the right to freedom in this Gear?”

“…Freedom? If this world is not filled with the same concepts as 1st-Gear, I and some of the other races cannot even breathe properly. Our cardiopulmonary abilities are not supported by this Gear’s concepts. When you speak of freedom, are you including true freedom for all of us?”

“Well…”

“You don’t understand. Your race is similar to the humans here in Low-Gear. Your body can function under the concepts of this Gear and you can mix into their society. As long as you are able to touch water for half the day. …Tree spirit, you can never understand our pain. Or the pain of always fighting on the front lines.”

Fafner ignored how his opponent clenched his back teeth.

He instead looked over at the entrance to the large hall. A figure was circling around them, heading further in.

It was a girl in black clothing followed by a black cat. Fafner called out to her.

“Are you heading further in? Lord Hagen is asleep.”

“I am sure your voice woke him up.”

“Hah! I hope it did! Anyway, how are things going on your end, Nein?”

The name he gave caused the girl to stop.

This was no natural action. She stopped as if stabbing her foot into the ground.

Fafner folded his arms when he heard that footstep ring out. The girl glanced over at him.

“…Only Venerable Hagen may call me by that name. Are you attempting to infringe on his authority?”

“My apologies, Brunhild. I thought you were fighting to regain that name you lost,” said Fafner with a hint of amusement in his voice. “Weren’t you supposed to monitor Siegfried and assassinate him if you had an opening? It has been three years of nothing but periodic reports. I sincerely hope you are not simply talking your way out of this. After all, when you were young, you and Siegfried-…”

Fafner stopped speaking because of a loud shout from the ground at the girl’s feet.

“Stop!”

The shout had come from the black cat following her. It brought its claws out on the floor and rose up offensively.

“We are doing our job, Fafner! And what about this discussion of yours today? You are having a meeting concerning the Royal Palace faction’s battle we saw, aren’t you? All you do is discuss things! We are actually working!” The cat then smiled slightly while still in its offensive pose. “If you want to cheer her on, how about doing so in a more straightforward fashion?”

“Lately, cheering people on is making me depressed. I apologize for being so roundabout,” replied Fafner while still smiling. He then turned toward the girl. “Get going, long-lived girl. I need to speak with him afterward, too.”

He then faced forward once more.

He looked across his opponents’ faces one by one.

“Do you get it now? Not everyone here can live under this Gear’s concepts like you can. Gaining our freedom and turning this world into 1st-Gear are one and the same.” Fafner clapped his hands together. “Unless we transform this Gear into 1st-Gear, we cannot exist here! We may be able to gain certain rights without doing that, but are those true rights at all!? What meaning is there in being treated favorably if you are stuck in some cramped space?”

The youth opposite him clenched his back teeth.

Just as he began to back down, someone supported him from behind. It was the old man sitting next to him.

The gray-haired man placed a hand on the youth’s shoulder and had him sit down. The old man then faced Fafner.

And he asked, “Fafner, that was an excellent speech. But you are forgetting one thing.”

“And what is that?”

The old man pointed toward Fafner and nodded.

“You were not yet born when 1st-Gear was destroyed. It was not your world that was destroyed. It was our world. You-…”

“But I am a half-dragon of 1st-Gear,” cut in Fafner before the old man could finish. “Listen. I believe that I am of 1st-Gear. And that is where it all begins.” Fafner sank down slightly so as to stare the old man in the eye. “I know nothing. I do not know my countless ancestors. I do not know the kingdom or its king. I do not know that limited land. I do not know a moonless night. I do not know a sky in which I can fly. I do not know the day of destruction on which we lost. And I do not know what it is I should protect. And that is why I do not know what pride is!” He took a breath. “But you elders know. You know what pride is. That is why you can rely on your pride when forced into these cramped areas. But we have nothing. And yet we are still of 1st-Gear. We wish to be. …Then what are we to do? How are we supposed to gain that pride!?”

The old man frowned as Fafner watched him, but he fell silent.

Viewing that silence as a type of response, Fafner rose up once more.

He let his voice resound throughout the entire area instead of just those gathered in the center.

“What I want is proof that 1st-Gear is still with us! If you have a method that does not require turning this world into 1st-Gear, then let me hear it!”

A single voice rang out within the Kinugasa Library. It was Siegfried’s voice.

“1st-Gear had trouble heading into other Gears. The differences between its own races are so great that many of them cannot live while not under the concepts of 1st-Gear.”

He stood next to the table with a cup in hand while Kazami looked up at him from her seat.

“How did they survive in 1st-Gear?”

“With the power of writing. No in depth investigation has been done, but it is thought their genetic arrays also carry the function of writing. The same goes for their world. The air and sky contained spirits that carried out the meaning of the writing.”

“So the concepts and the residents fit each other perfectly,” said Izumo from next to Kazami. “Those who had grown fond of that Gear would have a difficult time of going to other Gears.”

“Yes. 1st-Gear was never a powerful Gear. But they strengthened their races and repeatedly fought the other Gears until they finally succeeded in constructing the mechanical dragons that were the masters of land battles. At the very end of their research, they constructed two Fafnirs as their flag-dragons. But the 1st-Gear mechanical dragons had a certain defect.”

“A defect?”

“When the pilot joined with them, they produced a powerful rejection reaction that would kill most of the pilots. And even if the pilot survived that, they could never again return to their original form. They would be a mechanical dragon for the rest of their lives.”

“And one of those survivors still exists, right? A major one called Fafnir Custom.”

“Yes. Of the two Fafnirs, I killed the one being serviced within the royal palace. However, the one being modified in the weapons laboratory escaped the destruction of 1st-Gear.”

“Why would they create those? The representatives of 1st-Gear must have really loved war.”

Siegfried shook his head.

“They hated war. 1st-Gear’s king lost his queen in the Concept War. That was why he created the mechanical dragons for defense. He did not want anyone to enter 1st-Gear until the time of destruction. He also split the extracted Concept Core in two, used the concepts that controlled the construction of the world to seal the world, and settled into a defensive role.”

“Isn’t that…the same as abandoning the Concept War?”

“Yes, it is. And that is why…”

Siegfried suddenly trailed off. He brought his cup to his mouth and said something else.

“Depending on Sayama’s actions, you will likely learn the rest before long.”

A large bulkhead existed at the back of the large hall underneath the 1st-Gear base.

Brunhild walked toward the side entrance next to that bulkhead.

She could hear Fafner’s voice behind her, but it disappeared once the door closed behind her.

In exchange, the area grew dark. The black cat at her feet dissolved into the darkness.

“It is cold in here,” she said with a nod before looking up.

The ceiling was high and a single light existed in the middle. That crimson light was coming from a small hanging bell with the word for “torch” engraved into it.

As her eyes adjusted to that light, Brunhild looked down.

She was in a large hall just like the one next to it.

“But this is not public space. It is a private room…”

As she lowered her gaze, a giant mountain-like silhouette existed before Brunhild’s eyes.

But this was no mountain. It was a collection of structures with several surfaces and it all formed seven mountains colored white. The head, the body, the four limbs, and the tail made seven.

A steel dragon lay before her.

This mechanical dragon was over thirty meters long and was currently lying down. Its basic coloration was white and dark green, but the moving parts were covered in black. And most of the weaponry had been removed.

Each of the hard points had black dummy weapons attached. Other than the heat sinks that looked like folded up wings and the standard blades on the back and four limbs, no offensive ability could be seen on the surface. Most of its standard weaponry was kept inside, but all of the closable slits on the armor plates were covered in the yellow labels meaning maintenance was complete.

“…”

As Brunhild silently watched the dragon, a voice suddenly called out to her from above.

“What is it, Brunhild?”

She looked up in surprise and found a figure on the dragon’s back.

It was a tall old man. He had long, wavy gray hair and a beard to match. He was of course wearing a dark green cloak.

He glowed slightly in the dim darkness and he was transparent.

Brunhild bowed as she looked up at him.

“I, Brunhild, have returned, Venerable Hagen. Were you asleep?”

“No, I was awake. …Well done making it back.”

The old man’s eyes narrowed in a smile and his mouth moved, but the voice came from elsewhere. The voice came from a ventilation opening-like black slit on the dragon’s back that lay before her eyes.

When Brunhild moved once more, small noises came from across the mechanical dragon’s body. This sound reminiscent of light being slightly reflected came from the auxiliary vision devices covered in a protective material. It was the sound of the dragon’s gaze following her.

But Brunhild paid none of that any heed as she looked toward the old man. The old man spoke to her as if he really was nothing but an old man.

“How has it gone?”

“My familiar will provide the details. …What will the Royal Palace faction do?”

“It seems they will surrender three days from now. A messenger told us their actions are over after that final attack.”

“I see,” said Brunhild with a nod.

The black cat at her feet sighed and said, “So that’s what has Fafner and the others so worked up. Put a stop to it, Venerable Hagen.”

“Hey, what are you saying?”

Brunhild grabbed and strangled the cat while the old man, Hagen, smiled bitterly.

“I cannot do that, my small comrade.”

“Really? Because they’re comrades?”

“No. If I did it, they would die even if I held back. We can’t have that.”

The cat looked up at Brunhild.

“Am I supposed to laugh at that or ignore it?”

“You are supposed to avoid asking that sort of question,” said Hagen with another bitter smile. He then frowned worriedly. “Brunhild, I can get the detailed report from that cat later. Is there any other information you need to give me?”

“Yes. UCAT has sent a special unit for the Leviathan Road into combat while still putting it together. Also, Fasolt who is working with UCAT as part of the peaceful faction will apparently be meeting tomorrow with the person in charge of the Leviathan Road.”

“They certainly are rushing this. So Fasolt has completely turned toward Low-Gear’s side…”

“I understand why Fafner is feeling so desperate. He is Fasolt’s son after all.”

“A warrior who calls his father a loser… He is arguing right now, isn’t he? How is he? Young?”

“…I would say inexperienced rather than young. He seems to be using childish arguments and claiming they represent justice.”

Hagen’s bitter smile deepened at Brunhild’s words.

“He cannot help but give childish arguments. This is a child attempting to persuade the adults who need a reason for doing anything. But…once adults grow accustomed to acting based on arbitrary reasons, they will finally lose once the children begin seriously insisting on childish justice. They do not lose to the children’s argument, but to something much more dangerous.”

“Something…much more dangerous?”

“Yes, something very dangerous. Something we once had, something we will never have again, and something we once used to push aside the adults.” He rested his chin on his hand and looked up. “Fasolt’s son was given an honest upbringing.”

“It seems Fasolt has gone through a lot of hardship in that UCAT reservation.”

“Yes,” said Hagen while still looking up. “Fasolt has actually done quite well in that UCAT reservation. He has accepted relying on UCAT to control the concepts while seeking safety in that tiny reservation. Everyone complains that he has done nothing more than that, but the peaceful faction has their lives in UCAT’s hands while on that reservation.”

“If the concept space is removed, most of them would not last half a month.”

“Fasolt and the others there are only able to live the way they are because of the negotiations they carried out using the possessions and knowledge they escaped with…and because of UCAT’s kindness, I suppose.”

“You must not say that to the others.”

Brunhild frowned and looked up at Hagen.

As the old man rested his chin on his hand, a slight smile was visible on his lips. That smile slowly widened.

“I know that. After all, I was the one that led everyone here and used the Concept Core we had to create this concept space. …As a former guide and current protector, I am needed as everyone’s leader. As troublesome as that can be.” He turned toward Brunhild. “How about we trade? You can take my Fafnir Custom and I can take your Requiem Sense. I would be a lot happier chatting about old times with the residents of the underworld.”

“That is impossible. After joining with the mechanical dragon, you cannot separate from it, right? And the concept creating the underworld is too weak here in Low-Gear. Even if you opened it with Sense, the residents could only come out for short periods of time.”

“True. …If we could speak with them properly, it might help lessen everyone’s enmity.”

Hagen raised his head and looked at the bulkhead separating this hall from the next.

“If we had not feared the destruction of the world, we might have been able to save many more.”

He lowered his gaze. Small sounds came from across Fafnir as darkening filters were added to the vision devices.

“It is a shame about that bird as well.”

“That was his fault. He abandoned it.”

“He may have been the one to abandon it, but we were the ones that did not save it.”

Hagen opened his eyes as he spoke. And then he suddenly uttered a single name into the darkness.

“Fafner.”

The vision devices moved and Hagen’s face turned toward the area behind Brunhild.

She turned around and saw a black shelled figure in the darkness. Brunhild and the black cat frantically took a step back and took a defensive stance.

“…How long have you been here!?”

“I only just came in. Don’t act so defensive. My element is darkness. I am a darkness-traveling half-dragon. I can move anywhere I wish as long as it is filled with darkness.”

Fafner changed from being a presence in the darkness to having an actual physical body.

Without turning toward Brunhild, he bowed toward Hagen.

“What will we do?” he asked.

Hagen sat up and pointed toward the bulkhead with his chin.

“You were holding a discussion on the other side, weren’t you?”

“Our view won out, so we concluded by deciding to have you make the decision, Lord Hagen.”

“I see you are speaking formally again,” muttered Hagen as he scratched his head. “Hmm. How about I make my decision after seeing what Fasolt does tomorrow? Brunhild, you said he is carrying out preliminary negotiations with UCAT tomorrow, didn’t you?”

“Yes. This information came from the peaceful faction, so there is no doubt about it.”

Brunhild nodded and looked toward Fafner.

Fafner looked at her, let his shoulders droop, and sighed.

“Um, Lord Hagen, this may not be my place to speak, but…”

“Oh, you’re back to your normal self. Speak freely.”

Fafner skillfully crossed his long lower arms and rested his chin on his hand.

“Why do you put off making decisions? We gathered around you and were led this far by you.”

“I would prefer if you did not speak as if I have no independence.”

“This is your duty as the one in charge.”

“I suppose you are right… Sorry.”

When the black cat heard that, it tapped at Brunhild’s leg.

“…Which of these two holds the higher position?”

“I do,” replied Brunhild and both Fafner and Hagen turned toward her. She nodded and said, “Please continue with your constructive discussion.”

Fafner sighed, lowered his chin from his hand and brought that hand to his head.

He tapped at the shell of his head with a claw before speaking once more.

“Lord Hagen, your younger brother, Venerable Regin, and your niece, Lady Gutrune, were killed by Siegfried and you were unable to protect the king. Where is your grudge over that?”

“That is actually a very good question. I know it is inside me somewhere, but I have lost track of where exactly it is. Fafner, I am sure you hope that it is within my weaponry reactor. And…” Hagen gave a small nod. “It was not only my family that was lost. I have decided not to act based on personal feelings. I will act when everyone agrees or when the perfect opportunity arrives. Currently, that opportunity has not come. Do not rush this, Fafner. Rushing this will lead to losing something.”

Hagen did not stop speaking there. He continued with a question.

“And what is it you are fighting for, Fafner?”

Fafner raised his head. He met Hagen’s gaze and slowly began speaking.

“To regain…that which we once had.”

“I see,” replied Hagen. He did not look away from Fafner’s gaze as he continued. “Then make sure you remember those words. …Never forget them.”

Sayama and Shinjou walked through the school grounds at night.

Both the front and back doors to the second year general school building had been locked, so they could not enter.

With Baku on his shoulder, Sayama tried to turn the knob several times.

“No good… If only I had the same skills as Kouji.”

“Is Kouji the person who picked you up yesterday?”

Sayama began to nod in response, but he stopped. He looked to the person standing next to him.

“I only mentioned him offhand just now…but why do you know about Kouji, Shinjou-kun?”

After a moment, Shinjou began shaking his hands back and forth.

“Oh, um, my sister told me someone amazing came to pick you up.” Shinjou stopped moving his hands and stared at Sayama’s face. “What’s that look for? Don’t tell me you suspect I’m my sister.”

“No. I settled those suspicions when I checked over your body earlier. You may look oddly like her, but you are male.”

“Would you have preferred if it was my sister who had come?”

“She did not, so there is no point in discussing it. …At any rate, there is no point in being here if I cannot show you around the inside. I heard an odd noise on the roof earlier, so I thought someone might be inside. We can return to the dorm for tonight.”

Shinjou’s shoulders drooped when he heard that last sentence.

“I wanted to walk around some more.”

“But you have not opened even five of your boxes.”

Shinjou groaned and folded his arms at that.

Sayama then said, “I will be leaving tomorrow for some business I need to take care of, but we can go buy some daily items for you once I return. I can show you some nearby stores…but if you wait until tomorrow to deal with your luggage, you will not know what you need, will you?”

“I suppose not. But I’m surprised, Sayama-kun. You can actually make proper arguments.”

“…I get the feeling I need to sit down and straighten you out about a few things.”

“Heh heh. Anyway, I am not used to this area, so you have a lot to teach me: the roads, the stores, and the people. I heard the bath here can’t be used during spring break.”

“Yes. Only the dorm showers are usable at this time. If you are not in a hurry, there is a 24-hour public bath just outside the school’s main gate.”

“Okay,” nodded Shinjou.

He then cast his gaze down, smiled slightly, and walked alongside Sayama.

The two walked side by side.

The moonlight cast their shadows on the ground. Suddenly, Shinjou pointed toward the schoolyard next to the school building.

“Sayama-kun. What is that tower-like thing on the other side of the schoolyard?”

“Oh, that is the climbing bungee jump the exploration club created for last year’s school festival. Several lifelines hang down from above, so you tied them to your feet, scaled the twenty meter wall with your own strength, and then jumped down from above.”

“That really is showy…”

“Yes. Unsurprisingly, it had problems with the people dropping from above crashing into the people climbing from below. Ha ha ha.”

“That is no laughing matter!”

“Do not worry about it. Humans are surprisingly sturdy.”

“Really?” sighed Shinjou. He then pointed toward a wall-like piece of art next to the cafeteria building. “What’s that?”

“Oh, that was created to commemorate a graduating class a long time ago. They made clay versions of their handprints and baked them into a board. It is one of the famous locations in the school.”

“Oh? So it’s a famous location.”

“Yes. It was meant as a commemorative decoration, but it turned into some kind of horrifying piece of art because there were a thousand students involved. They tried to remove it, but the digger was knocked over and ended up with handprints all over it. Ha ha ha.”

“Stop explaining this kind of thing so happily.”

“There is more. The giant hand visible on the other side is-… Ah, wait. Stop pulling on me.”

Shinjou grabbed Sayama’s sleeve and pulled him toward the dorm.

For an instant, Sayama glanced back toward the second year general school building.

He saw the landing of the emergency staircase on the side of the building. He had seen it that morning as well.

For some reason, he had the feeling his situation changed every time he looked at it. He grinned bitterly.

Shinjou must have noticed where he was looking because he spoke up.

“What is it?”

“With your arrival and plenty of other things, I was thinking that my daily life keeps changing.”

''Just how much will it change?'' Sayama asked himself.

And then a dark feeling resembling unease arrived.

…''Am I even able to change?

Just as he muttered that thought in his heart, Shinjou tilted his head, looked up at him, and spoke.

“Were you wondering how much it will change?”

Sayama turned back toward Shinjou upon hearing that question.

“…”

Under the moonlight, Shinjou’s face was close enough that Sayama could have reached out and touched it.

Shinjou’s black hair swayed in the bluish-white moonlight. His black eyes looked straight up at Sayama.

Sayama recognized the movement of that swaying hair and the color of those eyes.

''That is Shinjou Sadame’s hair and eyes,'' thought Sayama. ''But that is an illusion.

He felt it was rude to Setsu, but his heart was wrapped in other feelings. He felt it weighed that much on his mind because he had accepted her.

…''She is the opposite of me.

He and Shinjou. Ordinary and extraordinary. Normally conflicting ideas were overlapping.

When those thoughts came to mind, his mouth moved involuntarily and he spoke quietly.

He first gave an answer to Shinjou’s question.

“I was…wondering.”

Shinjou’s eyes narrowed slightly. Sayama was unsure if it was due to a smile or not.

But Sayama nodded toward Shinjou and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

“But…I was not wondering how much it will change. I was wondering if I would be able to choose change myself.”

“You are a very serious person, Sayama-kun.”

“No, I am not.”

As soon as he said that about himself, his smile became one of self-derision. And…

A single motion seemed to arrive in response to Sayama’s words.

It was the wind.

It came from the west but not as a noise or a sound. It suddenly came as an overpowering pressure.

“…!”

This tremendous wind seemed to slam into them.

It was powerful enough to strip away all other sound.

As it washed over Shinjou, he held his hair down and ducked down. And as soon as Sayama saw that…

He took action. As Shinjou grimaced at the wind, Sayama pulled Shinjou in and held him in his arms.

“Ah,” was all Shinjou could say as his slender shoulders were contained within Sayama’s arms.

At the same moment, the wind struck Sayama’s shoulders like a physical mass.

Baku was almost shaken off, but he frantically clung to Sayama’s shoulder.

Amid this tremendous wind, Sayama saw a collection of smoke fly up from the second year general school building’s rooftop.

“!?”

He narrowed his eyes and looked up through the wind. The white smoke spread out like fog and quickly disappeared into the sky.

…''What was that?

Sayama’s suspicion was deepened by a further question from Shinjou.

“…Sand? No, it can’t be. There wouldn’t be sand on the rooftop.”

But Sayama could see nothing else that smoke could be.

The wind lessened and ultimately disappeared.

As if in response to acclimating to the wind, Shinjou’s body stiffened slightly in his arms.

His slender finger poked at Sayama’s chest and his black eyes looked up at Sayama.

“U-um, I’m fine now, so…”

Shinjou’s voice sounded slightly flustered and he began struggling a bit in Sayama’s arms. When Sayama loosened his grip, Shinjou removed himself from those bonds and took a step away.

Sayama heard the sound of Shinjou stepping on the gravel as the remnants of that west wind cut between the two of them.

The sensation of those slender shoulders remained in Sayama’s arms as Shinjou spoke.

“That surprised me. I never expected you to suddenly embrace me.”

“It looked like the wind was hurting you.”

“B-but…I’m a boy.”

Sayama tilted his head at that. He was confused why he would bring that up.

“What connection is there between you being a boy and that you were feeling pain?”

“N-none I suppose…”

“We are roommates. There is nothing wrong with doing this much. If you wish for it and I wish for it, then I will grant that wish of yours. That is all there is to it. That is the etiquette of the Sayama family that I believe in.”

He swung his right hand to stretch out his shirt sleeve and held his right hand out toward Shinjou.

“If you are feeling pain and I wish to protect you, I will protect you. If you do not wish to be alone and I wish to speak with you, I will speak with you. If you have decided you wish to carry your worries alone and I care for you, I will leave you to be on your own. If you do not wish to be here and I wish to do what is best for you, I will hate you.”

And…

“If you wish to grow closer to someone and I see you, I will stand by your side. How does that sound?” asked Sayama. “I will demand nothing of you. I will demand everything of myself. To lay this etiquette at the foundation, I must spread trust. The surname Sayama indicates a villain. Therefore, if you do not oppose me, I will simply grant you this. …And if you do, I will not take it back.”

Shinjou looked down toward Sayama’s outstretched hand. Shinjou lightly raised his right hand to take Sayama’s hand.

“…”

But he stopped.

Sayama looked up and saw a face with drooping eyebrows beyond Shinjou’s stopped hand.

With that uneasy-looking expression, Shinjou tilted his head and asked a question.

“Aren’t you being a bit formal, Sayama-kun?”

“I am giving you my etiquette and trust. Do you think I am someone who could do this without really meaning it?”

Shinjou stared at him for a few seconds.

Shinjou opened his mouth as if about to say something, but stopped. And then…

“No.”

He shook his head and his shoulders relaxed. With the ends of his eyebrows still lowered, he smiled a bitter smile.

Shinjou then reached out his right hand and took Sayama’s hand.

Shinjou’s hand was soft. Sayama held those fingers with care, nodded, and breathed a sigh of relief before speaking.

“Then let me say it formally: It is nice to meet you, Shinjou-kun.”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume2 Chapter 15|Chapter 15]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 13

2026-07-08T03:31:11Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 13: Location of the Heavens==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0357.png|thumb]]
''A gaze looking down from heaven

''Is actually bound to that high place

''The pleasure of doing so is a different matter

As night began to fall, Sayama joined Izumo and Kazami in the Kinugasa Library.

The three of them sat around a table in that library that had a stepped floor leading toward the center.

Sayama sat on the eastern side of the table. Izumo and Kazami sat across from him.

Siegfried was making black tea at the counter where he supervised the library.

Sayama wore suit pants and a shirt and had his bandaged left arm resting on the table.

He waited for the black watch on his arm to reach six o’clock before speaking.

“Now, can you tell me the whole story about what is going on here, Kazami, Izumo?”

His sharp gaze was pointed toward Izumo who wore a black track suit over his well-built body.

“Ahh, I get the feeling an interrogation is starting here. Am I just imagining things?”

“What a coincidence, Izumo. I have that same feeling. Let us do our best to get through this together.”

“I’d rather not…”

Kazami wore a sleeveless outfit and gave a half-lidded look toward the two boys.

“This doesn’t really matter, so let’s keep it serious and cheerful. If you don’t, you’ll probably receive divine punishment.”

“You heard her, Izumo. Let us have a serious and cheerful interrogation.”

“So basically, it’s interrogation play? I know about that. At night, I’ll go like this with Chisato and…”

As he spoke, Izumo began making a kneading motion with his hands in midair before suddenly disappearing from Sayama’s vision.

Immediately afterward, he heard a great sound of impact to his right.

“…”

Sayama looked to the right and found Izumo and his chair rolling below a bookcase. He rolled across the stepped floor once, twice, and thrice before coming to a stop.

He lay face down with his limbs sprawled out and did not move. After seeing that, Sayama turned toward Kazami.

She was lowering her hand to the table and was still seated.

“Hm?” she said as she noticed his gaze. She quickly reached her hand under the table and fixed her disheveled clothing. She finally looked over at her partner who was sprawled out on the floor. The ends of her eyebrows lowered, she brought a hand to her mouth, and spoke.

“Ahh, looks like the divine punishment really did come… God must have wanted Kaku to prostrate himself.”

“My eyes were not quick enough to catch it, but is divine punishment limited to the area below the table?”

“Yes. As they say, ‘god repays you in ways you cannot see’.”

“So he endorses assassination… But I did not expect god’s response to be quite so direct.”

“Well, it is. So what will you do? My god is the type that wants to punch with the left after punching with the right.”

“Hm.” Sayama adjusted his tie. “Then I will do as your god says and take this seriously.”

“Don’t accept this so casually!” Izumo stood up and pointed at Kazami. “What if I had been injured!?”

“But you weren’t… I have to wonder how, though,” said Kazami in annoyance.

Izumo looked down at his own body and said, “Oh, that’s fine then.”

“It is?” asked Sayama and Izumo shrugged and nodded before putting his chair back and sitting down.

After seeing the two back to normal, Sayama turned toward Izumo.

“Why are you so sturdy? I have wondered that for a while now.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s just a bit of divine protection.”

“Due to that, Kaku never learns his lesson and I catch myself reacting the same way to other people.”

“Chisato was amazing the other day when a molester touched her ass on the train,” said Kaku fondly. “She put the molester on the railing next to the seats like it was a wooden horse and shoved his crotch against the metal pole like this, again and again.”

“Evil must be destroyed and molesters must die. Never forgive them even if they shout and scream. …That was the slogan for the girls’ dorm last month.”

Kazami then nodded and loudly clapped her hands.

“Okay, let’s get started with the serious discussion! To get straight to the point, Kaku and I entered UCAT two years ago. The incident back then completed the Leviathan Road for 10th-Gear and 6th-Gear. My parents are both normal people who have no connection to IAI or UCAT. …What do you think?”

“I thank you for the quick and simple explanation.”

“Well, there’s no point in hiding any of this,” said Kazami.

Siegfried spoke up from behind the counter.

“It is only appropriate that the Izumo family handled those two Gears.”

“What?” asked Sayama with a tilt of the head.

With a small smile, Izumo explained, “My grandfather destroyed 6th-Gear and 10th-Gear.” He then asked Sayama a question. “This will take a while to discuss. Is your roommate okay? …Do you need to go and strengthen the bonds of friendship?”

“I will show him around the school later. …He is Shinjou-kun’s brother. Do you know him?”

“Oh… I have…heard a bit about him.”

“He does not know about UCAT. He is taking care of his luggage at the moment, so we should have time.”

“I see… Then, Chisato, bring out the world map. Let’s get this over with quickly.”

Kazami brought over a large map meant for a classroom. It was made of cloth and measured a meter square when spread out.

As she held onto one end and spread it out, a slight smell of wood scattered from the cloth.

A complete map of Japan which had discolored slightly with age lay on the table.

Izumo looked across it toward Sayama and opened his mouth to speak without a smile.

“It’s actually been a while since I’ve heard anything related to the National Defense Department other than about my grandfather. UCAT stores all of that sort of information in their archive and won’t let in anyone who doesn’t have permission. I did learn that old man Siegfried is a former member of the National Defense Department during the trouble a few years back.”

Sayama realized Izumo’s gaze was slowly moving up behind him.

Sayama turned his head around to find Siegfried standing there with a silver-plated tray.

The aroma of tea wafted from the four cups sitting on it.

“I would like to open a café, but I cannot do so right away.”

Kazami took the saucer and cup held out to her.

“They have tea in Germany, too. I drank quite a bit when I was there on a trip a long time ago.”

“Eh?” Izumo frowned as he took his cup. “Wh-when did you become such an international person?”

“It was before I met you, Kaku. I ended up all over the place thanks to my father’s job during my middle school years. It was my experiences then that taught me how to speak English. …Do you really have to give me that look? Sayama is even more of a threat. If I recall, he knows twelve-…”

“I know thirteen languages. My grandfather drove it all into me, so you cannot say it was my own ability.” Sayama took his cup and looked up at Siegfried. “Although that same grandfather told me nothing about himself or you.”

“That is unsurprising. I believe Izumo and Kazami only just learned I destroyed 1st-Gear today.”

“You’re right about that. Anyway, how much will you be helping us?”

“I will tell you the bare minimum of what I remember. And I will correct your knowledge.”

Kazami gave a short whistle at that. Siegfried frowned when he heard it, but she rid him of the frown with a single embarrassed smile.

She lowered her cup and said, “That sounds good to me. The two of us have been with UCAT for about two years, but we haven’t been given much information. And yet Kaku is the heir to IAI. Not to mention that the last time his father came to visit him was-…”

“Chisato.”

Kazami stopped speaking when her name was called.

“Sorry,” she said.

Izumo nodded and so did Sayama.

“He does behave badly,” commented Sayama. “Even parents have their own feelings about things.”

“I’m not sure if I should stand up for him or not…”

“Let’s just leave it at that,” said Izumo as he placed a hand on the map. “You heard about the Divine States-World Interaction at the Imperial Palace, right? Japan is connected to the world and that condition has continued to this day. After the ten Gears were destroyed and Japan lost World War Two, Japan escaped occupation by slowing the ley line acceleration and taking on the strange phenomena of the world.”

Izumo looked over at Siegfried. The old man merely nodded.

Sayama decided Izumo’s information must be accurate. It would be safe to let him take the role of teacher.

“Continue. What I want first is a list of the ten Gears. At the Imperial Palace, you said they influenced the myths, legends, and cultures of this world. And 1st-Gear is…”

“The Volsunga Saga of Norse mythology and the more well-known ‘The Song of the Nibelungs’. It’s the story of a hero defeating a dragon and then losing his life after being betrayed by his wife and old lover. The name Siegfried even appears as the hero,” said Izumo with a nod. He tapped between Japan’s Kinki and Sanin Region on the map. “At any rate, that’s 1st-Gear. You know where 1st-Gear’s Concept Core is, right?”

“Yes. Half of it is inside the holy sword Gram and kept in UCAT’s western branch underneath IAI headquarters. But the other half is inside Fafnir Custom, the mechanical dragon of a radical faction.” Sayama lightly folded his arms. “A mechanical dragon… Have you ever seen one, Izumo?”

“Once, but it wasn’t Fafnir Custom. Simply put, it’s a dragon-shaped machine. The main body alone is over thirty meters long. I hear there are some amazing ones that can fly.”

“They were the most powerful standalone weapons of the Concept War,” said Siegfried. “As Ooshiro explained, the Fafnir I slew with Gram had only one reactor. Destroying that one killed it. However, the modified version has two reactors and the crucial Concept Core is sealed inside the weaponry reactor at its throat. If it comes to a fight, destroying the weaponry reactor will not be enough.”

“Fafnir Custom would still be running, so it could crush us?”

“A mechanical dragon can fight effectively enough with just its gigantic body.”

Sayama nodded at Siegfried’s explanation.

…''If I accept the Leviathan Road, will it mean taking on that thing?

He grinned bitterly. He recalled what Shinjou Sadame had said that evening: You might die.

She might very well have been right, but for the moment, Sayama needed to gather information. He brought a hand to his chin.

“Next, I would like to ask about 2nd-Gear.”

“Oh, 2nd is easy. It’s Japan.” Izumo raised his hand and pointed toward the seven Izu Islands on Sayama’s side of the map. “That Gear is thought to be the basis for the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki. Its Concept Core is apparently a fire dragon called Yamata. The people of 2nd-Gear have mostly acclimated to life here. Negotiations with them should be easy.”

Izumo moved his outstretched arm to the side, pointing toward the Seto Inland Sea.

“3rd-Gear is the basis of Greek mythology. I don’t know much about its Concept Core. …It’s been split in half and one half is carried by something called Typhon. And…”

“And? What is it?”

“Have you seen the large humanoid machines we call gods of war? You have, right? 3rd-Gear is a world of those and automatons. That’s why I think this Typhon must be a god of war. The problem is that we can’t find the other half. Searching for it will probably be left to us. If you accept the Leviathan Road, that is,” said Izumo before adding, “Another problem is that we might have to fight those gods of war.”

Sayama had seen it the night before in UCAT’s underground hangar. He had seen a metal giant over eight meters tall.

…''First the mechanical dragons and now this. It’s all so showy.

He now further understood why he might die.

“What about 4th-Gear?”

As Sayama asked for further information regardless of the danger, Izumo gave a bitter smile. He pointed toward Kyushu.

“Africa. From what I hear, the Concept Core was made into the model of the tree serpent Mukiti and it is in UCAT’s possession. …And 5th-Gear is the Americas.” He pointed toward Hokkaido. “I’ve heard 5th-Gear is the Gear of mechanical dragons. Half of the Concept Core was apparently turned into some amazing weapon which is stored in UCAT, but the location of the other half is unknown.”

“6th-Gear is already taken care of, correct?”

“Yes. That world is the basis for Indian mythology. That Gear was ruled using a dragon named Vritra. If you see any Indian people in UCAT, you can assume they’re from 6th-Gear.”

While still smiling, Izumo slowly moved his hand over to point at Tohoku.

“I’ve been told 7th-Gear is China, but we don’t know anything about its Concept Core.”

“This is a lot to investigate…”

“Think of that as part of your duty. Next, 8th-Gear is Australia. That’s Shikoku on the map. Its Concept Core is held by the stone serpent Wanambi, but it is kept in the UCAT western branch below IAI headquarters.”

“We have a surprising number of them stored to the west.”

“Yes,” said Kazami as she stood up and pointed at the Chugoku region for Germany, the Seto Inland Sea for Greece, Shikoku for Australia, and Kyushu for Africa. “All of these were focused in the west. It seems they decided it would be useful to have them nearby in case of an emergency. Was that actually the reason, old man Siegfried?”

“It was, but it also grew difficult to move them afterward. The remnants of the different Gears would plot to steal each other’s Concept Cores.”

“So the fighting continued even after the war ended. I suppose that should not surprise me. …Next, what about 9th-Gear?”

“9th is the Middle East. It has been suggested as the basis for Zoroastrian mythology. It seems they had some gigantic mechanical dragon named Zahhak, but 9th-Gear lost and its Concept Core is stored below UCAT. 10th is last, but it’s already been dealt with.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“Okay,” said Izumo as he pointed above Kinki. “10th-Gear is thought to be the basis for Norse mythology separate from 1st-Gear. 1st-Gear is less about the legends of the gods and more the basis of the folklore and myths. 10th-Gear is directly the world of the gods.”

“I see,” nodded Sayama.

That was the legends of ten different locations in the world and the corresponding Gears. And…

“You may not know about 7th-Gear, but are all the Concept Cores related to dragons?”

“Yes. And they are also often contained within weapons. In almost every case where the Concept Core has been split in half, one is in a dragon and the other in a weapon.”

Sayama thought on that.

…''So it is the dragon and the weapon to defeat it.

Power and restraint, wealth and influence, enemy and hero. It was a primitive symbol of that relationship.

“So it is called the Leviathan Road because it involves dealing with the dragons of the ten Gears.”

“And Leviathan also refers to the devil’s dragon in the Biblical book of Revelation, right?” added Kazami. “I know a bit about it since my father is looking into that kind of thing right now for some event planning. The Leviathan has the appearance of all beasts.”

“That’s what’s wanted from us.” Izumo folded his arms. “This is just a guess of mine, but I think the Leviathan Road is a negotiation in which we confront the dragons of the ten Gears after acquiring the weapons needed to defeat them.”

Sayama began to nod at what Izumo had said, but then stopped.

There was a lot he still did not know. It was too soon to accept that deduction.

…''And something bothers me about that explanation of the Gears.

He got the feeling Izumo and Kazami’s explanation had contained no conscious errors. They had been clear about what they understood and what they did not.

However, Sayama still felt something crucial was missing. But what was the problem?

“Hm…”

Sayama crossed his arms and stared at the map of Japan. And then…

“?”

The arms folded in front of his chest felt a small movement in his shirt’s breast pocket.

It was Baku. He must have woken up from sleeping in the pocket because he looked up at Sayama.

“Wah,” said Kazami with a look that plainly said she wanted to touch Baku, but Sayama ignored her. He stroked Baku’s head and told him to stay put.

It was as Baku nodded and sank back into the pocket that Sayama realized what it was that had been bothering him.

In the dream Baku had given him that morning, he had seen some ruins.

He immediately gave voice to his thoughts.

“Babel. Izumo, do you know of a tower named Babel?”

Izumo looked up and exchanged a look with Kazami.

“Now that’s a surprise. We don’t know anything about it besides the name. How do you know about it?”

“Baku here gave me a dream with a giant tower in it. Where is it on this map?”

Izumo and Kazami exchanged another glance at that question.

From the way the ends of their eyebrows moved slightly, Sayama could guess the answer.

“You don’t know?”

“No. Since it’s called Babel, we know it’s most likely located in Japan’s version of the Middle East near Osaka. And…Babel must be related to Low-Gear’s Biblical mythology.”

“You sound very certain for saying you don’t know,” said Sayama. “Are you saying this is a mythology of Low-Gear that has no influence from the other Gears?”

“Yes. Biblical mythology is thought to be a Low-Gear original.”

Izumo smiled bitterly and pointed toward the bookshelf behind him. It contained Kinugasa Tenkyou’s books that Sayama had looked at that morning.

“Do you remember the books you looked at this morning? The eleven books on mythology. Volumes one through ten correspond to the lineup of Gears we told you about. And do you know what the eleventh volume is about?”

“…The Bible?”

“That’s right. Japan possesses the appearance of the world’s ley lines. I don’t know if Babel in Japan influences the Middle East or if the Middle East influences the Osaka region, but that tower definitely exists.”

“Do you really not know any details concerning Babel?”

“We tried to look into it, but the information has been completely shut down. Of course, that almost tells you it exists right there. We have no idea why it is being kept secret when it is related to our Gear,” explained Kazami with a shrug.

Sayama gave a bitter smile.

''I see,'' he said in his heart. ''These two have seen the mysteries in their situation and have investigated some of them over the past two years.

Something else seemed to click in place in his head.

“Is that why UCAT uses some terms related to the Bible? Like saying ‘testament’ for ‘understood’. Testament can also refer to the Bible.”

“Yes. There are a total of eleven different Gears: Low-Gear with the Bible and the other ten that act as models for different mythologies. Your grandfather and the others from the National Defense Department destroyed all of the others.”

“But this is referred to as Low-Gear. Why does it have such a humble name?”

Siegfried nodded in response.

“The other Gears referred to each other by numbers based on the order of their worlds’ string vibration frequencies. Those codenames were created as the Concept War continued. And so we came up with our own. American UCAT suggested naming ourselves Law-Gear because we fought for victory and justice. But…”

“But?”

“Professor Tenkyou misspelled it when making the announcement. We have been Low-Gear ever since.”

“Am I supposed to laugh at that?” said Sayama with a sigh. He then took in a breath before asking, “At any rate, which of these Gears did my grandfather destroy?”

Siegfried said nothing, but he cast his eyes down.

Seeing that brought a pain to Sayama’s chest. He frowned and sucked in a breath.

Izumo must have noticed this change because he frowned. Kazami spoke from beside him.

“Sayama? Are you-…?”

The two of them were aware of his illness. That was why Kazami stood up from her chair and began to approach him. At the same moment, the entrance to Kinugasa Library opened behind him.

“Um, is Sayama-kun here?” asked a high-pitched voice.

“…”

Sayama raised his lowered head and turned toward the library entrance beyond Siegfried.

Shinjou Setsu stood there in personal clothes. Shinjou’s hair was worn up and it swayed as he looked toward Sayama.

His eyes were wide as he looked through the library and they narrowed once he spotted Sayama.

“Are you done with your work?”

Sayama nodded and realized a certain fact.

…''My chest pain is gone?

He did not know why. However, it was clear that Shinjou’s presence had played a role.

Sayama smiled bitterly in his heart as he wondered why.

He stood up and looked over at Izumo and Kazami. A smile appeared on Kazami’s lips.

“Go on. I hope you can take good care of your first roommate.”

Sayama listened to Kazami’s words and nodded. He walked over toward Shinjou who was tilting his head with a smile.

In the unlit art room, Brunhild stopped her hand that was moving the brush.

Her wristwatch told her it was 7:30 PM.

“I have been focusing on this for quite a while.”

She looked to the side. The small bird was sleeping in the cardboard box placed on the work desk. The dish cloth inside the box was crumpled such that a depression existed in the middle like a nest. The bird stood on the brush placed there in place of a perch. Its eyes were cast down in sleep.

As Brunhild watched the bird, she swung a leg. This produced a voice at her feet.

“Ow. What is it? I had just gotten to sleep.”

She heard the black cat’s footsteps on the floor. Looking down, she saw its slender body standing up and looking up at her.

Brunhild pressed her index finger against her mouth.

“Are you trying to pick your nose?” asked the cat.

She gently kicked the cat through the air.

The cat turned its back to her, rolled over, and began complaining, but Brunhild ignored it. She stood up and checked the food and water in the box. She soaked a few pieces of food in the water and left them for the bird.

She then crouched down, grabbed the back of the cat’s neck, and picked it up.

“Now, let’s go to the headquarters.”

“Ah? What about the bird? Is it okay?”

“It’s sleeping, so this is our chance.”

Brunhild lowered the black cat to the floor and walked toward the lockers. They were the lockers for the art club located in the back of the room. As she walked, she loosened her uniform’s tie and removed her coat.

She draped the coat over her arm as she arrived in front of one of the lockers. She touched the door and it opened.

“Sorry, Requiem Sense. The time to use you has not yet arrived.”

The giant scythe folded up in the locker called orbs of light into the surrounding area. As she watched that pale firefly-colored light, Brunhild grabbed some folded up cloth from the bottom of the locker.

As she lifted it up and spread it out with one hand, the black cat spoke its name.

“The black clothes of the witch.”

Hanging down from her hand were a black dress and a black three-cornered hat.

As Brunhild drew the black clothes toward her, she tossed her coat into the locker.

Her empty hand ran through practiced motions. Her uniform’s skirt fell from her waist and to the floor, she unbuttoned her shirt, and she slid her body out of it.

Partway through, her hand got caught on the right cuff of the shirt, but she bit the button to remove it.

She was now wearing only black underwear and stockings.

She then lightly waved the black clothes again to spread them out.

These black clothes had no stitches along the collar or chest. She sucked in a breath to make her body as slender as possible and slipped the hem of the skirt down her body. She breathed out and the three-dimensional form created by the darts below the chest and the tucks at the waist fit perfectly to the shape of her body with no need for a belt.

Brunhild pulled a pendant with a blue stone embedded in it from the dress’s breast pocket and placed it around her neck.

She lifted the three-cornered hat up in both hands and placed it on her head.

“Finished.”

Without even checking in a mirror, Brunhild began to move. She grabbed the shirt and skirt at her feet and threw them into the locker without bothering to fold them.

“Ah.”

The shirt got caught on Requiem Sense, so she frantically removed it.

She blushed and looked down. The black cat looking up at her quickly shook its head.

“I-I wasn’t thinking anything! I wasn’t laughing! I wasn’t thinking ‘you fool’ or ‘you ape’!”

[[Image:OnC_v01_0377.png|thumb]]

“Fine then,” she said quietly.

She shut the locker and the pale light floating around the area disappeared.

She glanced around to make sure no light remained. Afterward, Brunhild looked over at the cleaning supplies locker three to the left.

She walked over, opened the wooden door, and pulled out a broom. It was a meter and a half long and meant to be used in both hands. The brush portion had a plastic cover with a floral pattern.

Brunhild spun it around in one hand to ensure the bristles had not come loose from the shaft.

“I hope this will be okay. During the major cleaning, a first year was pretending to play heavy metal on this.”

“And who was it that knocked him out by suddenly chopping him in the medulla oblongata with her hand?”

“I-I just panicked a little. I couldn’t think of any other way.”

“Your form was excellent for it being a split-second idea.”

“Shut up. Anyway, we need to hurry there and hurry back.”

Brunhild began walking and the cat sighed before following.

She unlocked the art room door and stepped out into the hallway. She then walked to the staircase. Their destination was the rooftop.

Once they reached the rooftop, the wind and moon showed themselves.

Brunhild looked up at the bluish-white glowing moon and frowned.

“This makes it more difficult. I’ll be seen if I fly.”

She looked down at herself to find her black clothing reflecting the moonlight, coloring her a bit blue.

The shadows of the broom and three-cornered hat on the rooftop were bluish black as well.

After puffing air out of her nose, Brunhild pulled a small pouch out of her vest pocket. It was leather and rectangular. The folded upper corner was the only portion made to open.

The black cat’s tail stuck up and trembled when it saw the pouch.

“I’m afraid of your driving enough already… Are you really using that too?”

“Come on. If I took off with my own power, the noise and light would give me away.”

“Low-Gear really is inconvenient…” said the cat as it hung its head down.

“Yes,” was the only response she gave before opening the pouch and tilting it downward.

Sand spilled out.

Brunhild began to walk. She moved toward the western edge of the rooftop. She held the broom in her left hand and lightly shook the pouch of sand in her right hand.

Suddenly, she began to hum. She hummed the melody line of the hymn Silent Night.

The sand that glowed white in the moonlight fell to the rooftop amid the wind and seemed to mix together with the music in her breaths.

Despite the blowing wind, the sand fell straight down without scattering. The path Brunhild walked along and the way she moved her hand drew out a single pattern.

This pattern was a written character. This single 1st-Gear character measured a meter square.

From the center of the roof to the western edge, she lined up forty of the same character and then lined up twenty of a different character.

After she had finished writing the sixty characters, Brunhild lightly shook the pouch next to her ear. She nodded in satisfaction at how much was left and put the pouch away in her pocket.

She then returned to the black cat who had not moved. She stood atop the first character and faced the western sky.

“Now, let’s go.”

Brunhild pulled a single blue stone from her pocket. The stone had a thin chain attached to the front. She wrapped that chain around the middle of the broom.

She placed the broom’s brush on the ground and placed her right foot atop the joint between handle and brush. She moved the right hand holding the handle forward. This created a reverse triangle between the broom and her own body.

She carelessly grabbed the neck of the black cat at her feet and tossed it onto the front of the broom.

“Not the froooooonnnnnnt!”

“Shut up,” said Brunhild as she took a light step with the left foot that was still on the floor.

The first character was located there.

In the instant the sound of her step rang out, a change came over all sixty characters.

The change came in the form of pale light and movement. The sand of the first forty characters gave off a slight blue light and the sand of the twenty characters after them gave off an orange light. The sheet of all sixty characters began to move with the twenty characters in the lead.

Starting below Brunhild’s feet, the sixty meter long sheet created from the sixty characters created a shallow slope leading up into the sky.

After approximately thirty seconds, a slope of characters had been created with the very end raised by three meters.

This shallow slope could not be seen without ascending to the roof of one of the other school buildings.

A wind blew in from the east as if to wash across the backs of the characters.

Brunhild then stepped on the character on the floor beneath her feet once more.

It all happened in an instant.

The character beneath her feet produced a wind. This wind did not blow; it pushed.

“!”

A wind that had the mass of a wall pushed at her feet and her back. It started her, the broom, and the cat along the slope.

She picked up speed. Brunhild first felt the thickness of the atmosphere. She then felt the speed.

As her body sank down on the broom, she could see the scenery ahead and the line of characters shooting by at high speed below her feet. Once she passed a character, it would lose its light, return to being sand, and scatter across the floor.

In the period of time known as an instant, the first forty characters scattered.

When Brunhild reached the remaining twenty orange characters, her body began to float.

She began to accelerate further in a straight line.

The wind pushing her from behind began also pushing diagonally at her back and from below her butt.

When Brunhild saw the end of the slope and the starry western sky beyond, she lowered her body on the broom even further. She clung to the broom with her entire body.

Before she could even take a breath, all of the characters on the floor scattered and Brunhild shot into the sky.

A roaring noise struck her body.

“!”

She was in empty air.

Nothing was supporting her body. For an instant, that was all she could comprehend.

Her five senses were disappearing after being struck by inertia.

However, all of her senses returned soon thereafter. She felt the cold nighttime wind tickling from the front of her neck to the back.

“…Ah.”

When her slightly darkened vision recovered, she noticed a line of private homes running along below her.

The broom moved at high speed and it was falling as if scraping away at her gut. Brunhild was clinging to the broom’s handle with her entire body and the broom was shaking violently to the left and right with no sign of settling down.

Brunhild raised her head. She checked to make sure a pale bluish-white light was coming from within the floral pattern cover over the broom’s brush. She then released the cat from where she had been pressing it to the handle with her left hand.

As she flew through the wind, the sea of light flowing by below her was approaching. It only took her an instant to decide what to do.

She needed to rise. And to do that…

“Continue in flight form.”

Brunhild squeezed the stone wrapped around the broom and used a leg to push the brush toward the ground.

By the principle of leverage, the end of the broom pointed toward the sky.

That was the start.

As if in response, the floral pattern cover over the brush began producing its own driving force.

The brush portion emitted light downward toward the ground.

Light shot from the left, right, and top of the tip of the handle. That light transformed into small fixed-position wings that looked like bird wings.

With thrust, wings, and an upward orientation, the broom would be sent up into the sky.

The night scenery flying by below was continuing to approach, but Brunhild ignored that visible cityscape.

“Here we go!!”

The light coming from the bottom of the broom suddenly exploded.

A solid sound burst out.

The tip of the broom produced a ring of steam and it was given permission to accelerate up into the sky.

With a roar similar to artillery fire, it shot straight up toward the heavens.

Brunhild flew.

By the time she felt the recoil, she was already much higher in the sky.

The broom continued to rise. However…

“…”

Brunhild silently observed the sea of light spreading out below her.

That was Tokyo.

But Brunhild let a bitter laugh out into the wind and looked up toward the heavens. She looked into the starry western sky. The moon was not visible that high in the sky.

She squeezed the stone in her right hand and accelerated further. She put all of her speed into ascending and moving to the west.

She flew. She rose up into the night sky. Every feeling in her body urged her to curve through the sky and continue west. The feeling of being thrown out into the sky brought joy to Brunhild. And so she added even more speed.

The cat was shouting something, but it fell silent when she replied with a smile.

She moved onward and upward.

As she shot by just below the clouds, she refused to let up or stop her speed until she reached her desired altitude.

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 12|Chapter 12]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Afterword|Afterword]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 12

2026-07-07T03:50:54Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 12: A Reunion with Someone New==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0335.png|thumb]]
''A meeting is the beginning of a restriction

''That is why meetings last only an instant

''The eternity continuing afterward is a choice between that restriction and a parting''

A square three-story building was located on the northeastern end of the general school buildings of Taka-Akita Academy.

The flat building was partially made of brick and had a terrace. The front of the building also had an entrance leading to the basement. That entrance was labeled with a placard saying “Central Cafeteria Building”.

Only the basement area was open during spring break.

A wide staircase led downstairs. The placard attached to the wall there said “Open 24 Hours a Day” in thick gothic lettering. “However, only limited services are available late at night and on holidays,” it went on to say.

Down the stairs were eight large glass doors lined up side by side and a dimly lit area beyond.

The lobby contained a line of cafeteria ticket machines and several large bulletin boards.

Past the lobby was a fifty meter square space with white walls. Square pillars were located at set intervals and tables for eight filled the space between them.

However, few people were inside. The shops in the corners had sheets over them and only the area around the counter across the eastern wall was lit up.

At the tables were a few people wearing personal clothes and school uniforms as well as a few people wearing the red shirts of rugby uniforms. In addition, a girl wearing a school uniform and a black cat were standing near the counter.

The girl whose gray hair flowed back behind her was Brunhild.

Brunhild placed her hands on the counter and stared back into the kitchen.

Finally, the item she was waiting for arrived.

An old woman wearing a cooking apron carried out a cardboard box thirty centimeters square.

The box had a dishcloth laid out on the bottom and sitting in the corner were two flat-bottomed porcelain bowls. One contained water and the other contained dried corn that had been crushed into relatively large pieces. The small bird hopped between the two bowls.

“This is a large burden you are taking on. But it is already mostly grown, so you should not have too much trouble,” said the old woman.

Before the woman could hold out the box, Brunhild bowed and reached her own hand out.

She placed the box in her hand.

“…”

Brunhild embraced the box.

The bird looked up at her from within the box. As it tilted its small head, Brunhild smiled.

She heard the old woman say, “How nostalgic. I caught one when I was a child, too.”

“Did you?”

“Yes, yes. Even an old lady like me was once as young as you.”

Brunhild fell silent, but the black cat at her feet lightly struck her left shin with its front paw.

Brunhild used her left foot to kick the cat away below the counter.

The old woman had not noticed this exchange of blows, so she looked down at the small bird and spoke.

“It was not long after the war. I swiped some of the wheat and sake my father got through the black market. I soaked the wheat grains and place them on the ground.”

“To give them…to the bird?”

“Yes, yes. I threw one a good distance away. Once it ate that, I threw another one a bit closer to me before repeating the process. By the time it was close enough to me, it could not fly.”

“Because it was drunk?”

“Yes. But it disappeared the day after I caught it. My father looked disappointed it was gone and he complained that the bird had looked delicious. …I knocked him down with a piece of firewood afterward.”

Brunhild ignored the last half of the story and fell silent, but the black cat lightly struck her right shin once it made its way back.

She kicked it away with her right foot, looked slightly down, and glanced over at the cat.

It was looking up at her from where it lay on the floor.

But when their gazes met, the black cat cowered down and backed away.

Brunhild tilted her head and wondered if the look in her eyes had really been that harsh.

But she then sensed a presence behind her. This was why the cat had backed away.

“…!?”

She placed the box on the counter and turned around. A chest covered in a black vest lay directly in front of her eyes within arm’s reach.

Surprised, she took a step back and looked up to assess the situation.

Above the black vest was the collar of a white shirt. Above that was a white beard and bald head.

Brunhild knew this man.

Before she could do anything, a voice spoke beyond the counter.

“Oh, Zonburg-san. You are late today.”

Siegfried Zonburg stood beside Brunhild. He bent over his large body to place his cafeteria ticket on the opposite side of the counter.

The old woman looked at the ticket and asked, “Which one?”

“The Doria.”

“Oh, the vomit rice. Now, do I have any rice left?”

“Even if that is what everyone calls it, I think the one making it should avoid that name.”

“I can hardly call it Doria. I only learned how to cook from my mother.”

“Doria is a household dish. There is nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Is that so?” asked the old woman with a laugh, but Siegfried’s expression did not change.

Brunhild looked up at him while holding her breath.

Suddenly, he turned toward her.

Brunhild took a defensive stance at that. She brought her right hand up into the air and her left hand into her blazer pocket. All expression vanished from her face and she stared intently at him.

However, Siegfried was not looking at her.

He was looking at the box on the counter. The small bird inside looked up at him and chirped once. Siegfried returned the bird’s gaze and opened his mouth to speak.

“Brunhild Schild-kun.”

Brunhild gasped at having her name called.

She gulped and asked, “Why do you know my name?”

“Whenever you borrow a book, you thank the library assistant but not me. I manage the library cards, so I naturally learned your name.”

“…You certainly are petty.”

“No, that is simply the reason I know your name. I am not demanding you thank me. That is the decision your pride has led you to make.” Siegfried looked back across the counter. “The library is open. The biology and animal section has some books on caring for animals. You should borrow one right away.”

“Is that an order?”

“I merely wish the best for the bird. …But I cannot approve of caring for a bird in the same environment as a cat.”

“Do not worry. My cat is loyal to me.”

That comment elicited a light strike against her calf from the black cat’s front paw. Brunhild swung her right heel back to kick the cat away before she grabbed the box.

Siegfried was not looking in her direction.

She took a step back to open a slight gap between them.

Siegfried provided a clear response to her silence.

He ignored her and let the silence continue.

“…”

Brunhild turned around toward the entrance.

She began walking and the black cat frantically ran after her.

She looked down into the box to find the small bird looking up at her with its head tilted.

Brunhild continued to look at the bird and did not look back.

She held her breath and quickly walked out of the cafeteria.

A line of white buildings existed to the north of the general school buildings. The buildings were aligned in a cross shape and they all looked like three-story school buildings at first.

However, the windows lined up on the southern side were smaller and more numerous than those of a school.

Through each window were two desks next to the window and a bunk bed next to the wall.

These were the student dorms.

The dorms were currently dyed in the colors of the setting sun.

A single figure could be seen moving between the crimson of the sunlight and the bluish-black shadows created by the buildings.

This was Sayama, still wearing his gray suit. He quickly made his way to the building on the southwest end of the line of dorms.

He arrived at a white walled entrance with a sign saying “Fourth General School Dormitory – True Boys’ Dormitory”.

Sayama stopped at the entrance.

A look at his wristwatch told him the time was 5:30 PM. He had just returned after speaking with Ooshiro about the following day’s preliminary negotiations with 1st-Gear’s peaceful faction.

Sayama glanced down and saw Baku was sleeping with his head sticking out of his breast pocket. And…

“?”

Sayama suddenly turned to the east where the cafeteria building was. He had spotted some motion.

He could see a girl carrying a box toward the general school buildings.

…''That is the head of the art club I passed by this morning.

She must have still had work to do.

''She puts in a lot of effort,'' he thought as he took a breath. ''I need to visit Siegfried in the library and Izumo and Kazami in the girls’ dorm later.

He then turned back toward the dorm building and looked up at his own room on the eastern end of the second floor.

In the very next moment, his expression changed. He frowned.

“…The light is on?”

As the window reflected the setting sun, he could see the bright room beyond.

He did not remember turning on the lights before leaving for the Imperial Palace during the day.

''Who could it be?'' thought Sayama as he hurried into the dorm.

At the same moment, he heard Ooki’s voice from up ahead.

“Oh, Sayama-kun.”

She walked out of the exit in sandals while wearing a shirt and a tight denim skirt.

“Perfect timing.”

Ooki descended the low staircase at the entrance in a single step and arrived in front of Sayama with the sound of gravel.

“What is it, Ooki-sensei? I have urgent business at present, so I would like to hurry to the scene in question.”

“Heh heh heh. You always speak so formally. But you will regret it if you don’t listen to what I-…wait!”

As Sayama ignored her and tried to move past her, she grabbed his sleeve.

“Could you not grab onto that? It is actually rather expensive.”

“I think you should not decide what is important based on monetary value.”

“It is Italian and cost 720,000 yen.”

“Wah! I’m sorry! Just so you know, I could never, ever pay for that!”

“I know. I think you should stop taking up a standard seat in front of the shop in the cafeteria building.”

“But I love jam bread. It’s so sad the shop is closed during spring break… Wait, please listen to what I have to say before leaving!”

This time, she grabbed Sayama’s hand. He sighed, turned toward Ooki, and nodded.

“I apologize, but I fear I will catch your poverty. Please keep your Ooki germs away from me.”

“If you say things like that, I won’t tell you that you have a new roommate!”

“If you say things like that, it makes me want to inform you of your severe idiocy.”

“Huh?” said Ooki as she thought back on what she had said.

Sayama politely removed her hand and asked, “At any rate, what is happening here? I obtained this single-person room thanks to a miracle when I had the wonderful luck of being chosen in the drawing.”

“I will not ask how you influenced that miracle and wonderful luck… Anyway, that miracle and wonderful luck end today. Just give up now.”

She pointed at Sayama as she spoke, but he ignored her. She immediately tugged on his hand.

“Why are you ignoring me!?”

“Well, you already told me what I need to know, right? A parasite has arrived,” said Sayama.

Ooki raised her index finger and lightly clicked her tongue.

“Listen. Let me warn you first. …Your new roommate is not used to you yet, so try not to do or say anything inappropriate.”

“Have you gone completely insane, Ooki-sensei? When have I ever done or said anything inappropriate?”

“You are doing so right now in real time!”

“Now, now,” said Sayama as he held out his right palm to calm down Ooki. “I understand what you are trying to say, so calm down. You want me to be perfectly polite, correct?”

“Yes,” nodded Ooki before crossing her arms. “That is what I want…but with you…”

She groaned and Sayama wordlessly flicked her on the forehead with his right hand.

Sayama checked in at the reception desk, changed into his slippers, and climbed the stairs.

Baku raised his head from Sayama’s breast pocket and climbed up to his shoulder. Baku must have known they were almost to the bed because he stared straight ahead from Sayama’s shoulder as they rounded the turn of the staircase.

Sayama quickly finished climbing the stairs. He moved from the landing to the hallway. His room was the last room on the left.

The fluorescent lights lit the hallway more than the setting sun. Sayama could tell the door to his room was sitting open.

A few cardboard boxes were sitting at the end of the hallway next to the door. Someone was moving in.

“…”

Sayama silently walked forward.

He could hear noise within the room. Someone was opening a cardboard box and removing its contents. He could hear someone piling up clothes and stacking books. These noises reminded Sayama of the past.

…''I made these exact same noises last year.

He approached.

He peered inside the dorm room through the open door.

As soon as he did, a figure took a step out of the room.

The figure had a slender and small build.

The figure stumbled forward between the boxes but managed to remain standing.

“Oh.”

Inertia caused a baggy shirt and culottes-style shorts to sway. And something else swayed even more than the clothes: the soft black hair tied behind the figure’s head.

The figure looked up and widened its eyes slightly.

Sayama recognized that face.

“…Shinjou-kun?” he asked.

“Ah,” said the figure.

The voice was identical to Shinjou’s as well.

That confused voice left Sayama thinking.

…''This is the boys’ dorm.

But his thoughts did not end there.

…''If Shinjou suddenly decided she desired a life with me, what would happen?

Shinjou belonged to UCAT. This school possessed deep connections with IAI, so it was likely connected to UCAT as well.

Sayama already had Izumo and Kazami as examples. He assumed those two were deeply involved in IAI and UCAT beyond what was officially said about them.

Also, UCAT had asked him if he would accept the rights to the Leviathan Road. Shinjou’s presence could be a means of leading him to accept.

''What should I do? What should I do?'' thought Sayama twice before adding, ''No, whatever the adults may be hoping to gain from this, the fact remains that Shinjou, a girl, has come here.

He recalled what she had said on the bridge in front of the Imperial Palace. She had told him not to be too surprised when he returned to his dorm.

…''That is impossible. I cannot help but be shocked at this.

When Sayama had asked her if she was sending him something, she had nodded and said she felt she had to.

How had he responded to that?

…''I told her I would gladly accept it. I see.

Sayama had reached his conclusion. He had already given his answer back then.

After coming this far, he did not hesitate or make the issue any more complicated. He had decided everything should continue as she wished.

With a serious expression, Sayama nodded toward her. He spread his arms lightly to either side.

“Now, leap into my arms.”

In response, Shinjou bowed with a relieved look.

“Thank you for acting just as inappropriately as I heard you would. I am Shinjou Sadame’s younger brother, Setsu.”

Sayama’s arms were still spread.

Shinjou Setsu raised his body while still smiling.

But Shinjou then said “Um…” while lowering the ends of his eyebrows and holding out his right hand.

With his arms still held out to the side, Sayama smoothly lowered his hips and rotated his body ninety degrees. He grabbed Shinjou’s right hand with the right hand he still held out to the side. He gave the boy a handshake.

That touch told him Shinjou had no ring on his right hand. Sayama stood back up.

“…Her younger brother?”

“Yes,” replied Shinjou with a less nervous voice and smile than before. “Didn’t my sister tell you? She told me to stay here until your arm healed, Sayama-kun.”

His voice and tone were identical to Shinjou’s. The feel of his hand was also identical.

Sayama mentally tilted his head and let go of the boy’s hand.

“How much did your sister tell you about me?”

“She said you protected her when she was almost hit by a car, but you injured your dominant arm in the process. She is busy with work, so she can’t do anything to help even though she wants to.”

“I see,” said Sayama in acknowledgment.

…''Does he not know about UCAT?

“I apologize in advance, but may I check on something?”

Shinjou tilted his head in confusion.

“Sure, I don’t mind. But what is it?”

“Oh, nothing much.”

Sayama stood before Shinjou, slowly pulled him closer, and touched the right side of his chest with his right hand.

“Eh? Ah…Wh-what are you doing?”

As the boy provided light resistance, Sayama felt only ribs and a thin chest.

Shinjou tried to pull away from the left hand lightly wrapped around his back.

But Sayama said, “Please do not move. For one, who was it that said he did not mind?”

“B-but I didn’t think you meant this…”

Shinjou’s shoulders lowered and he stopped trying to draw away.

Sayama nodded and slid his hand over to the left side of Shinjou’s chest. He pressed his fingers in as if trying to massage his chest, but the skin beyond the white shirt was thin and hard. It had little flexibility and lacked the shape of Shinjou’s breasts Sayama had seen the night before.

…''He is male.

Sayama’s body sank down slightly. He took his right hand off Shinjou’s chest and a slight moan escaped Shinjou’s lips. As if to rob Shinjou of this opportunity to relax, Sayama grabbed Shinjou’s waist with his right hand.

[[Image:OnC_v01_0351.png|thumb]]

“Ah,” said Shinjou as Sayama pressed his right ear against his chest.

Sayama heard the slightly quickened beating of Shinjou’s heart.

It sounded the same as what he had heard the night before. The slight sweet aroma in the breath was also the same.

However, the chest he had his ear pressed up against was not the same as the chest he had seen. It was the flat and hard chest of a guy.

Still doubtful, Sayama asked, “Hm… Has your chest always been like this?”

“W-well, yes…”

Sayama looked up to see a flushed face looking down at him. Shinjou was lightly biting his lower lip and bringing together his eyebrows. Finally, he let out a trembling sigh.

“I-is that enough? Are you done? I don’t want you st-staying down there too long.”

Without replying, Sayama grabbed Shinjou’s arm from where it hung awkwardly in the air and brought it around behind his back.

“Eh? Ah… No, Sayama-kun?”

As Shinjou lightly embraced him, Sayama listened to the boy’s pulse.

But nothing changed. The chest still felt like that of a guy. The pulse grew a bit stronger, but that was it.

“I see,” said Sayama with a nod before raising his head.

…''She said they are twins, didn’t she?

Sayama nodded once more in his heart, stood up, and faced forward.

Shinjou stood there with his cheeks red and the ends of his eyebrows lowered. Shinjou let out a breath and Sayama crossed his arms.

“Do not worry. There was nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Y-you were incredibly out of the ordinary, Sayama-kun.”

“Is that any way to act toward someone you just met?”

“You should say that into a mirror…”

“No need,” declared Sayama. “I was just given a warning by Ooki-sensei downstairs. And I am being careful to heed that warning.”

“…I have to ask. What was this warning?”

Sayama provided a clear response.

“Do not do or say anything inappropriate.”

“Wow,” said Shinjou as he drew back.

Nevertheless, Sayama held out his right hand.

“It may only be until my left arm heals, but let us get along, Shinjou-kun. It should not be too difficult. Compared to those around me, I am constantly troubled by how normal I am.”

In the art room at night, Brunhild gave the small bird food while working on her painting. She was adding the green of the forest to the canvas and would provide some food whenever the bird chirped to say it was hungry.

She would grab the crushed and threshed corn with narrow tweezers, soak it in water, and hold it out to the bird. If she did not lightly pinch the corn with the tweezers, the bird could not bring it into its mouth.

The black cat down at her feet spoke.

“You certainly are enthusiastic about this.”

“I have to do this at least until it goes to sleep.”

“I think you need to visit the headquarters tonight. What will you do?”

“It is not time for my periodic report, but yes… It would be best to ask how I should handle this from now on. If it was something simple, I could just have you fly there. But…”

The cat nodded.

“Most likely, they have already noticed the Royal Palace faction’s actions. The headquarters will be full of energy trying to decide what to do.”

“As long as the holy sword Gram is stored below IAI headquarters, there is nothing we can do. …Breaking in to take it is not the type of strategy Venerable Hagen prefers.”

“The second generation group who know nothing of war like Fafner are oddly motivated, though.”

The small bird chirped.

Brunhild fed it with the tweezers.

It swallowed the food and let out a breath. It tilted its head and looked up at Brunhild. She remained expressionless.

“…It’s so cute.”

“You don’t have to keep that to a whisper, you know.” The black cat lowered its shoulders. “But why are you so obsessed with this bird?”

“I am not obsessed. I think the laws of nature are important, but I also think life is important.”

“You’re contradicting yourself.”

“Yes, I am.”

Brunhild picked up her palette and brush. She brought the brush to somewhere other than the forest. She brought it to the area that had been empty up to this point. She brought it to the spot for the cabin and the people.

“Do you want to hear an old story?”

“Yes.”

“This was long ago when I was still very young.”

“How many hundreds of years ago was that? No, ah, s-sorry! Ahhh! The bottom of that brush is pointed!!”

“Shut up. At any rate, a certain person saved a town near our forest back then. A mechanical dragon had gone out of control. When the pilot was joining with it, the rejection reaction was especially strong and he went insane. The town was half destroyed and the mechanical dragon entered the forest to pursue the people who had fled into it.”

The cat said nothing and only nodded.

Brunhild continued speaking as she painted the black base for the cabin.

“This person fought despite being injured and won all on his own. I do not know if it was on a whim or what, but he took in an injured bird afterward. We all took care of it.”

The black cat looked up at the canvas. A few different people were drawn in charcoal around the cabin Brunhild was painting black.

An old man read a book within the cabin and a girl and a woman played with a bird in front of the cabin.

And a man could faintly be seen as well.

The cat looked at those line drawings before turning toward Brunhild. Lastly, it looked back at the charcoal lines of the flying bird.

“So…” The cat tilted its head. “You want to see those flapping wings once more? Something like that?”

“No,” replied Brunhild with a slight laugh. “This is a painting. It is not real. When our world was destroyed, that bird escaped its cage and…”

She took a breath, but did not continue speaking.

The silence spreading around her caused the cat to tremble, but Brunhild laughed quietly again.

“Ha,” she breathed out before speaking in a trembling but smiling voice. “If he had been there, I think the outcome would have been different. He saved that bird despite knowing the world would be destroyed, so why did he not see it through to the end? And even if it was only for a short time, he had been with Lady Gutrune so much… So why?”

As she asked that question to no one in particular, the black cat’s eyes opened wide.

“Is this person you are talking about who I think it is?”

“Yes. The sorcerer who arrived from Low-Gear. The man who stole the holy sword Gram from 1st-Gear and destroyed that earth and that sky. And the enemy who killed those who were like family to me before running away.”

Brunhild spoke his name.

“Siegfried Zonburg. …Our greatest foe.”

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 11|Chapter 11]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 13|Chapter 13]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 11

2026-07-06T02:50:27Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 11: Her Fingers==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0307.png|thumb]]
''If you draw in one who is waiting

''They will become one who is hoping

''Instead of merely waiting, they will be hoping

The sun began to sink and the shadows of buildings and people grew slightly slanted.

The rectangular shadows of the school buildings of Taka-Akita Academy to the west of Tokyo were no exception.

Two deeper shadows stood in the shadow behind the second year general school building on the western edge of the academy.

They were Brunhild and the black cat.

Brunhild was not keeping the black cat from speaking as it gasped for breath. It lay on its stomach and spoke quietly.

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever panicked that much before. I followed my observation target and ran across a gunfight. And I certainly didn’t expect them to all of a sudden target me. I shouldn’t have walked there in this form.”

“If you think about it, you might have become the cat with the most involvement in the history of 1st-Gear. At any rate, I’m glad you managed to escape.”

“You were worried about me? Thanks.”

“Yes. It would be a shame to waste the wonderful relationship we have constructed together.”

“I just learned that the word ‘wonderful’ has more than one meaning,” commented the cat with a sigh.

Brunhild said, “Now, what is this report that was so urgent you had to stop me from going to the cafeteria?”

“The Royal Palace faction surrendered. All of the hawks showed up, but they lost.”

“They lost? With all of them there? Who did UCAT send out?”

“Surely you already know. Who do you think I was observing? The Royal Palace faction’s terrorist attack was just a showy bonus I stumbled onto while tracking him. …He took part in the battle.”

Brunhild muttered the name of their observation target as if to confirm it.

“…Siegfried Zonburg.”

“Yes, but he was only a guest. He was not part of the main force.”

Brunhild’s expression stiffened at that. The black cat grinned and continued speaking.

“It seems this school’s student council president, vice president, and treasurer are part of Team Leviathan. It looked like an automaton also took part as a guest. What will you do?”

“You have to ask? If they are our enemy, I will have to fight them if it comes to that.”

The cat fell silent at that. It slowed its breathing and looked up at Brunhild.

Finally, it spoke.

“Can you do that? This may be you we’re talking about, but you have no grudge against them.”

“If they are our enemy, I will have no choice.”

“They might pass by in the hall and greet you.”

“Do you think they will simply greet me on the battlefield?” asked Brunhild and the black cat stared up at its master.

“True enough,” it said with a nod after a short time. It lowered its gaze and quietly added, “But you are the type of person who still remembers the song Siegfried taught you.”

Brunhild sighed, placed her hands on her hips, and tilted her head.

“I do not know what you are trying to do, but try not to trouble me too much.” After thinking for a moment, she spoke to the cat that was hanging its head down. “Even if they may become my enemy on the battlefield, Team Leviathan is still being formed, correct? Siegfried may be another matter, but there is no guarantee the others will become my enemies, right?”

“Right. The vice president had a lot of things explained to him. Team Leviathan is still not fully put together.”

“Then we do not know what will happen. Unlike Siegfried who destroyed 1st-Gear, they are not yet clear combatants. I will not try to kill someone like that.”

“Yes… That would be nice.”

The black cat raised its head and Brunhild looked back with an expressionless look.

She remained silent and the cat commented, “Is this a wonderful relationship?”

“You shouldn’t have to say it yourself, though.” Brunhild brought a hand to her cheek and smiled bitterly. After a moment, she lowered that hand. “But the Royal Palace faction will likely join with the peaceful faction they originally broke off from. And UCAT will likely recommend they do so. To set the stage for discussions with us, they need to strengthen the peaceful faction as an intermediary.”

“This is getting tricky.”

“Yes. But the Royal Palace faction truly is pathetic. If a battle this small is enough to satisfy them, they should have stopped fighting ages ago. They may have secretly always wanted to return to the peaceful faction.”

“So they went out of the way to cause this commotion and get captured so they could align with the peaceful faction while also sticking to their principles? Is that it? But why?”

“Pride. That’s why. …And that is also why I cannot mock them. The Royal Palace faction regained a small bit of what we lost when we were destroyed. We do not have even that, so we have no room to talk. Now, let’s go.”

With a nod, Brunhild began walking toward the cafeteria.

To keep the cat from speaking, Brunhild gripped a blue stone in her right hand and began to write something in the air.

But she stopped when she heard a small sound.

“Chirping?” she asked.

The black cat looked around and said, “Over there.”

It was facing a line of trees in front of the third year general school building.

High-pitched chirping could be heard from the ground below one of those trees.

Brunhild jogged over and saw it. A fully-fledged but still young bird was repeatedly flapping its wings fruitlessly at the bottom of the tree.

The chirping continued below the afternoon sun.

Sayama and Ooshiro sat at the rest area bench to the east of the grassy area.

Shinjou had gone to report on the situation, so she was not with them. Sayama let out a light sigh at that fact.

The scene around him was no different than it had been before the 1st-Gear attackers had arrived.

The stone wall had not crumbled and the rest area had not been destroyed. The fact that it had all happened inside a concept space finally hit home for Sayama.

Everywhere he looked, people were running around in all sorts of uniforms. They were UCAT workers.

After the battle, the knight and his comrades had surrendered and the concept space had been neutralized and released. At the same moment, UCAT vehicles had arrived through the Sakashita Gate on the east side of the Imperial Palace. The various vehicles were disguised as a delivery company, a gardener, a mover, a security company, etc.

The people who stepped out of the vehicles were dressed to match the camouflage. This led to their uniforms all being mismatched.

From what Sayama could see, the delivery company was the investigation team, the gardener was the medical team, and the mover was the maintenance team. Unsurprisingly, the security company took care of security at the entrance to the open area.

The knight and his comrades were taken away by those in the delivery company uniform. As Sayama watched them, Ooshiro Kazuo spoke from where he sat to Sayama’s left.

“They were one of the radical factions of 1st-Gear.”

“You said I would be carrying out provisional negotiations with the peaceful faction tomorrow, but is the situation there just as dangerous?”

“Don’t worry. The peaceful faction wishes to talk this out. However…”

“However?” repeated Sayama.

Ooshiro raised two fingers on his right hand with the passing uniformed workers behind them.

“You heard from Shinjou-kun that 1st-Gear has two Concept Cores, correct?”

“I heard they are sealed inside a sword and something called a mechanical dragon.”

“Yes. The first is in the holy sword Gram which is stored in UCAT’s western branch headquarters below IAI headquarters. The second…well, it is inside Fafnir Custom, the mechanical dragon belonging to the City faction. That is the largest radical group and we do not currently know where they are located. The modified mechanical dragon supposedly has separate reactors for movement and weaponry and the Concept Core is sealed within the weapons reactor. That is a very big problem.”

“Fafnir, you say?”

Sayama had heard the names Gram and Fafnir before.

…''They are from a European epic poem.

“That is from the Ring of the Nibelung, isn’t it? My grandfather took me to an opera based on that story once. Our opinions on it were split, so we got into a fistfight once we returned home. …But why is that showing up here?”

“That is a trivial detail, so I will explain it later. At any rate, your true negotiation opponent is the radical faction possessing the other Concept Core. When that happens…”

“It would be best to have the peaceful faction act as an intermediary. Is that what the preliminary negotiations tomorrow are for?”

“Yes. Do your best not to cause any conflict. …What we want is to receive the concepts from them and activate them. A lot of them will be opposed to the idea, but in order to apologize for destroying all the other Gears, we have no intention of causing a second war.”

Ooshiro raised his right thumb and Sayama ignored him.

“Now then,” said Sayama. “Basically, you want me to put an end to the grudges from the past, obtain a promise to release the concepts, and prevent the world from growing too far in the negative direction? That certainly is a convenient task you are forcing onto me.”

“The Leviathan Road is a series of negotiations to that end.” Ooshiro then raised five fingers. “Sayama Kaoru, your grandfather, placed five conditions on the Leviathan Road.” He lowered his thumb. “First, in your research, the consenting representatives of each Gear may not disclose information on any Gear but their own. Also, any information related to the destruction of the Gears must be investigated and determined by you and those helping you. No one else may guide you.”

At this point Ooshiro looked toward Sayama.

“Do you have any questions?”

“I was planning to ask all my questions after you had finished. Is that okay?”

“I can never underestimate you.” Ooshiro smiled faintly and lowered his index finger. “Second, members of UCAT are forbidden from revealing or leading you to any information on the Gears or their destruction except for the information given prior to the Leviathan Road beginning and what is needed to introduce the representatives of the friendly Gears.” He lowered his middle finger. “Third, any added helpers will be overlooked, but no one may be forced to help.” He lowered his ring finger. “Fourth, if you choose to take action, UCAT will cooperate to the best of our ability.” Lastly, he lowered his little finger. “The negotiations with 6th-Gear and 10th-Gear are already complete, so you will focus on negotiations with the other Gears instead of repeating negotiations with those two Gears. This must be completed as quickly as possible and by any means necessary.”

After explaining all that, Ooshiro lightly spread his hands downward and tilted his head.

“What do you think?”

Sayama nodded, brought a hand to his chin, and replied.

“Saying it too bluntly would cause some problems, so I will be more indirect: Was my grandfather an idiot?”

“Oh, nicely said. Now, how about I be a little indirect, too?” Ooshiro held his head in his hands. “That’s harsh!”

“I think I will ignore that and continue on.”

“…”

“He tells me to negotiate, but he refuses to give me any information on my opponent and wants me to feel everything out as I go along? What does he plan to do if I make some horrible mistake out of ignorance? He can just go to hell. …Actually, I suppose he is already there.”

“Calm down and listen. You will be occasionally introduced to representatives to the Gears who approve of the Leviathan Road. And what your grandfather truly wanted was for you to gain experiences rather than knowledge of the past. …Baku there in your pocket was his idea as well.”

Ooshiro reached out and petted Baku’s head as he spoke.

In response, Sayama said, “Before we begin talking about ideas, I still do not believe everything about this situation.”

Sayama smiled bitterly when he suddenly realized he was motivated to do this despite complaining.

''I am not calm,'' he thought. ''I am still at the stage of deciding whether I will be involved or not.

That thought calmed him down. He had not yet decided if he would accept the right passed down to him. There was a lot he did not understand and he was only at the very first stage where he was being taught many different things. The biggest problem Sayama saw was in the phrase “by any means necessary”. That meant it was already assumed lives would be taken and lost.

It was true that there was no guarantee this could be resolved by talking it out if a radical faction possessed the Concept Core.

The Leviathan Road was a negotiation to prevent the world from falling to the negative concepts and being destroyed.

That meant combat could not be taken off the table and it was worth taking some risks for. However…

…''But can I do that?

He had doubts.

That was a question he could not answer just by thinking about it. And so he shook his head.

For a change of pace, he asked Ooshiro about something that had been bothering him about 1st-Gear.

“I want to hear more about what we mentioned before. During the battle, I saw the name Wotan Kingdom on the book loaded into that knight’s rifle. And just now you mentioned the holy sword Gram and Fafnir. Is that-…?”

“Those names are from the epic poem ‘The Song of the Nibelungs’ that spread across Northern Europe and Germany and from the Volsunga Saga, the Norse legend it is based on.”

This explanation came from a voice behind and to the left of Sayama. It was Siegfried.

Sayama turned around to find Siegfried standing with Izumo and Kazami on either side. They had already removed their equipment which was being stowed in a mobile okonomiyaki stand.

Sayama stared at the three of them and asked, “How can that be? Why does 1st-Gear, an alternate world, use the same words as an epic poem of our world?”

“What makes you think it originates from our world?”

That left Sayama at a loss for words. Siegfried nodded his head once and continued speaking.

“The Izumo Aviation Institute once created its National Defense Department and chose skilled researchers and test pilots. A ‘sorcerer’ arrived from Germany and set out to modify the ley lines. However, when the facilities meant to connect Japan to the world and bring the world’s earthly energy to Japan, strange phenomena occurred in various parts of Japan.”

“Strange phenomena?”

“Monsters and worlds that had become legends in various parts of the world appeared in Japan once the ley lines were connected. The alterations to the ley lines increased the connection rate with the other Gears. Concept spaces repeatedly opened up centered on ten different locations within Japan and we would occasionally battle them. And we realized something.” Siegfried took a breath. “The cultures of the ten other Gears appearing in the ten locations at which Japan’s ley lines were modified greatly resembled the legends, myths, and cultures of the regions those ley lines corresponded to.”

“You mean…”

It was Kazami who answered this time.

“What a pain,” she said first while raising both her palms. “That’s right. Ever since Low-Gear began to exist, it has crossed paths with the other Gears a few times and that has created a few connections. Low-Gear is where the other Gear’s negative concepts end up, but that has given us the characteristics of all the other Gears’ cultures.” Kazami then walked in front of Siegfried and placed a hand on Izumo’s shoulder. And, “Anyway, certain circumstances led to me becoming a member of UCAT. Differences in physical strength can be overcome in concept spaces after all. …Sayama, why are you getting involved in all this?”

“I do not know. I still have no reason.”

“I see,” said Kazami with a nod. She formed a gun with her right hand and aimed it at his forehead. “We were in that forest last night, too. I was the one that fired that last shot.”

“…”

“I’m only involved as the result of a certain event and someone I know, but I’ve made it in this deep. If you want to rethink this, this is your last chance, Sayama. Also…”

Kazami lowered her gun hand, grabbed Izumo’s hand, and began walking away.

“Eh? We’re leaving already?” asked Izumo as Kazami dragged him away.

Izumo frantically waved toward Sayama and Kazami looked over her shoulder with a bitter smile. As she continued toward a UCAT vehicle disguised as a pizza food truck, that bitter smile transformed into a true smile.

As if to make doubly sure, she said, “Well, let’s keep things the same as ever at school.”

She then faced forward once more. With her back to Sayama, she dragged Izumo along with her and left.

After watching them leave, Sayama turned toward Siegfried.

The tall old man was also watching Kazami and Izumo leave.

Rather than Sayama or Siegfried, it was Ooshiro Kazuo who spoke next.

“She was trying to help you out there, Mikoto-kun. Kazami-kun is quite nice.”

“I am having difficulty understanding why she needed to act so tough, though. Also, old man, haven’t you ever heard the proverb telling the elderly not to act like they are still young?”

Sayama’s manner of speaking brought a small smile to Siegfried’s lips.

“Such a nostalgic way of speaking. I have not had much chance to speak with you at school, but it seems you have inherited more than enough of the Sayama personality. You really are Sayama’s grandson.”

“You call me his grandson, but I am actually the son of his adopted son.”

That turned Siegfried’s smile into a bitter one.

That bitter smile brought a sudden pressure to the left side of Sayama’s chest. He quickly realized why. During the battle, Siegfried had said he was a former member of the National Defense Department.

…''He must have known my grandfather.

For that reason, he went in a different direction with his next question to Siegfried.

“Why is the man who destroyed 1st-Gear working as a school librarian?”

“That library contains documents related to the Concept War. When UCAT makes a request, I investigate it on their behalf. Before that, I worked as a weapon tester for German UCAT, but…”

When he trailed off, Ooshiro finished for him.

“His ability was simply too great. They were unable to determine the pure ability of the weapon. And nine years ago when the previous librarian died, we had him return to Japan after so many years.”

“Then will you be involved in the Leviathan Road?”

“I will only be involved in the negotiations with 1st-Gear. I cannot interfere with the others.” He cast his eyes down lightly and spoke his next words more quietly. “After all, 1st-Gear was the only Gear I destroyed.”

Below a tree sitting in the sun, a small bird flapped its wings against the ground.

Standing before it was Brunhild and the black cat.

The cat rushed over to the bird and frantically looked back toward Brunhild.

“Wh-wh-wh-wh-what should we do!? Th-this is an awful situation here! What should we do? Look at the poor thing. I-isn’t there anything we can do!? Can I eat it!?”

“Was that last one what you really think?” asked Brunhild with half-lidded eyes before crouching down.

The small bird was chirping while bending its black head backward. Black feathers ran down the center of its white chest like a necktie. The small wings striking the ground were slightly blue but mostly black.

It was small, but it had the distinct coloration of a nearly fully-grown bird. Brunhild frowned a bit as she crouched down.

“We cannot interfere with this. This is the law of nature. …Look up.”

The cat and Brunhild look up. A small, dark semicircle was visible atop one of the poplar tree’s branches. It was a bird’s nest. However…

“No other birds are crying within the nest. The other children and the parents have left. This one likely cannot fly. Or it may be able to but cannot remember how or lacks the strength. One way or the other, it cannot fly now.”

“You know a lot about this.”

“Long ago, I took care of an injured bird.”

“Then why not do it again?”

“I can’t. …Don’t give me that look. I said I can’t, so I can’t. It isn’t happening.”

“C’mon, Brunhild. You aren’t making any sense. You say it’s the law of nature, but you broke it before, right?”

“Shut up.”

Brunhild reached out a hand to grab the black cat’s tail, but the cat stepped out of the way. With the slight sound of it treading on the gravel, the cat circled around to the other side of the flapping bird.

Brunhild frowned and the small bird ceased flapping and chirping once the cat’s shadow fell over it.

Brunhild held out her hand.

“Come here. I was headed to the cafeteria. I can get some food for you too.”

“That’s all right. I have some food right here.”

Brunhild stood up and sighed.

“What are you doing?”

“This is what you meant by the law of nature, right? I’m hungry and I want to relieve myself of some stress that has been building up. …That’s how it works, right?”

“Stop that,” said Brunhild as she stepped forward on the gravel. The cat moved back just as far and she asked it, “What would you do if I wasn’t here?”

“Capture it and eat it. Just like my instincts tell me to.”

“In other words, you will have a chance unless I watch over this bird until it starves?”

She looked down. The bird stopped flapping its wings and looked up at Brunhild.

The bird then gave a quiet tweet.

“…”

Brunhild remained silent, but the ends of her eyebrows lowered slightly.

The bird moved. It lightly raised its body and showed off its flapping wings. It chirped as it looked up at her. It chirped again and again without stopping. Brunhild cast her eyes down as she heard it.

Her shoulders drooped and she sighed. She then spoke to the black cat.

“Um…Can I?”

“Sure.”

“Don’t say ‘sure’ before I even get to what I’m talking about!!”

“That may be true, but…did that help relieve some stress?”

“Yes.” Brunhild’s shoulders lowered, she lifted her right hand, and raised the index finger. “You know, this is a lot of responsibility. It isn’t something to take on lightly.”

“…You seemed amazingly carefree when you took me on as your familiar.”

“Oh, shut up. Honestly,” muttered Brunhild as she crouched down once more.

She held her hand out toward the small bird. The bird hesitated for a moment, but eventually struck the ground with its wings and hopped up onto her palm. It must have felt the lightly curled palm was safe because it settled down in the bottom of her palm and tweeted quietly.

Brunhild looked down at the bird and muttered, “Now I’ve done it…”

“Ahh ahh, you broke the law of nature! You shouldn’t do that, Miss Brunhild!”

She wanted to do something, but her hand was otherwise occupied. She was forced to clench her teeth and blush.

“Wow, for the first time in my life, I feel victory! From now on, I will be the one-…whoa!!”

After kicking the cat in the rear, Brunhild turned her back on it and walked away.

The cat hurried after her.

“Where are you going?”

“The cafeteria. I need food for the bird and a cardboard box for it.”

“What about food for me?”

“How about you obey the law of nature and eat a rat? I can introduce you to a nice sewer.”

She ignored the displeased look on the cat’s face and let out a breath. She looked at the small bird opening its beak and chirping in her hand.

“But I really shouldn’t have done this. Leaving things be is the law of nature.”

“Which is why you should let a natural beast like me eat it.”

“Come to think of it, you aren’t a natural creature at all!”

The Sakashita Gate on the eastern side of the Imperial Palace sat below the sinking afternoon sun.

Sayama and Shinjou sat atop the railing of the bridge crossing the moat. They watched the disguised transport vehicles leave through the gate.

Kazami and Izumo had already left in one of the disguised vehicles along with Siegfried.

Sf had received some simple repairs and was aboard the maintenance team’s vehicle. Sayama recalled when she had expressionlessly grabbed onto Ooshiro Itaru and refused to let go when he said he would return on his own.

Sayama was waiting for Ooshiro Kazuo who was taking part in a pre-withdrawal meeting. He wanted to speak with the old man about the preliminary negotiations with 1st-Gear the following day.

He turned to Shinjou and asked, “Are you heading back after this, Shinjou-kun?”

“Yes. After getting out some like you said I should, Sayama-kun. I’ll stay with you until Ooshiro-san gets here,” she said.

Sayama bowed lightly and said, “Thank you.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I did it again today, though. …Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. There is always the help needed afterward. Heading to the front is not the only type of ability. Isn’t that right?”

“Perhaps…but did I really manage to help out afterward?”

“Last night, you lent me your lap and taught me plenty afterward. Today, you informed us of coming danger and you are speaking with me like this now.”

Shinjou let out a heavy breath when she heard that.

“Maybe I’m not suited for this kind of thing.”

“That is not true,” said Sayama and recalled that he had said something similar the night before.

…''It seems I end up wanting to deny her words on occasion.

He more or less understood why, but he did not pursue the thought.

Stepping in too deep would mean becoming involved with the other person.

The left side of his chest ached slightly.

He had gained that pain when he had lost his parents who had been deeply involved with him.

Sayama looked toward Shinjou.

She kept her head hanging down for a while, but finally…

“Hey.” She slowly raised her head. Her partially lowered eyebrows turned his way and she tilted her head. “Why did you come here today?”

“What do you mean by that? You gave me so much information yesterday.”

“But you have yet to accept the right to the Leviathan Road. After what happened yesterday, haven’t you thought of getting out now to avoid any more danger?”

Sayama saw Shinjou’s gaze turn toward his left arm.

“Why?”

He knew why. But could he communicate it to her by simply saying it?

That he did not know.

''How very strange,'' muttered Sayama in his heart.

The year before in the small area that was the school, he had run for student council vice president, made speeches in front of countless students, and won. Yet now, in front of only one person…

“…”

Sayama realized he had no words to speak.

He had no idea how much time had passed since Shinjou had asked her question.

Yet when he looked toward her, she was still looking his way with the ends of her eyebrows lowered slightly.

She was waiting.

The response he gave to her expectations was a single action. Sayama suddenly placed his hand atop Shinjou’s hand on the railing. Her fingers moved a bit, but she did not reject his touch.

Sayama nodded and asked, “How does my palm feel?”

Shinjou lowered her gaze somewhat.

Sayama felt her fingers move gently beneath his hand.

Her response was quiet and spoken as if it was a question.

“It is hot. And I can feel your pulse?”

“Those are the vestiges of that battle. And…”

Sayama continued in his thoughts.

…''Your pulse and heat from last night were different.

Her pulse had been elevated and she had been warm, but it had been something calmer and deeper.

With that difference in mind, Sayama declared, “I want to gain something more than this.”

“That battle and everything you did in it wasn’t enough?”

“No. And I have to wonder…if it is really okay for me to become serious.”

“Why? Why do you not want to get serious?”

Sayama looked at Shinjou. Her expression was the one of apology he had seen the night before.

While averting his gaze from her eyes without meaning to, Sayama answered.

“The surname Sayama indicates a villain. That is what my grandfather taught me… I was raised to carry out that saying. My power is dedicated to using even greater evil to crush anything I decide is evil or an enemy. But,” he nodded, “I wonder if my evil is truly needed. I could become serious if I wanted to. However, I am currently too afraid of making that decision. If I remain like this, I doubt I would last long.”

“You…have no self-confidence?”

Sayama fell silent at that question.

But Shinjou did not press further. She only shook her head and said something else.

“I think you could do quite well, Sayama-kun. But it is true no one can know exactly how anything will go. Ooshiro-san and the others are inviting you in. They are asking you to do this, but telling you that you might die. And you just said you are afraid of growing serious.” As she spoke quietly, Shinjou sent her words to Sayama. “In that case, maybe you should leave the Leviathan Road.”

Sayama looked at Shinjou.

Their gazes met and her fingers stiffened a bit underneath his hand.

“U-um, Sayama-kun. To be honest, watching you has been kind of scary. When I first met you, you stepped forward to fight and tried to support me. And just now…”

Sayama realized the pain in his chest had grown a bit stronger. However, he did not remove his right hand from Shinjou’s hand. He felt a slightly moist warmth.

“If I fight and lose, I die. If I fight and win, I fear myself and am hated by my enemies… Is that it? But perhaps that is what UCAT wants from me.”

“…Eh?”

Sayama replied to that questioning voice.

“If all of the hatred is forced onto me and then I died, the world would become a more cheerful place, right? And UCAT would remain unscathed. Am I wrong?”

Shinjou looked a bit surprised at that. But…

“Y-you can’t do that! I don’t want you to become someone like that!” she shouted with her eyebrows raised.

As her resounding voice passed through his body, Sayama thought.

…''You are an excellent person to have around.

Shinjou then seemed to realize what exactly she had said because the ends of her eyebrows lowered, her cheeks reddened, and she looked to the side.

Sayama could not keep a smile from appearing on his lips.

At some point the pain in his chest had disappeared. While thinking how pleasant that was, he spoke.

“Well, if you told me you were going to die, I would say the same, Shinjou-kun. And your methods look like a way of killing yourself…at least to me.”

“D-do they?”

“Yes. When you need to fire, you cannot. You walked out onto the battlefield unarmed to inform me of danger. Frankly, I am surprised you are not already dead.”

Shinjou seemed troubled and groaned.

Shinjou thought as that groan escaped from deep within her throat, but she had not realized a certain fact.

…''Why is it that the two of us are both still alive after taking part in combat twice?

No one could provide an answer for Sayama’s question. However, Shinjou’s groan finally returned to being a sigh.

When she turned toward him, her black eyes were staring directly at him. Her small lips opened.

“That may be true. I’ve thought about it before. I’ve wondered if I am really any use when I am only taking part in the fighting to search for my parents.”

She stopped speaking there. She took some time to choose her next words.

“Sayama-kun, are you fighting in order to win?”

“Yes, my grandfather made sure of that. …He constantly told me to win back enough to make up for the losses whenever I fought. He told me to act as a villain and eliminate that which I saw as an enemy or evil.”

That was his attitude when fighting.

''But,'' thought Sayama. ''That is not the same as having confidence in my ability to fight.

When Shinjou heard his words, she muttered a quick comment.

“That’s amazing,” she began “I wish I could say something like that… I have no set attitude telling me how to fight like you do.”

“I have no source of self-confidence to support my decisions like your search for your parents.”

Hearing that, Sayama quietly muttered, “We’re the opposite.”

She gave a bitter smile. The ends of her eyebrows lowered and her bitter smile deepened.

“We really are the opposite,” she continued. “I am always trying to find a way to not grow so strangely desperate as I wonder what I should do. I wish I was stronger so I could be more composed.”

Sayama thought on Shinjou’s words. After a short silence, he spoke.

“We truly are opposites, Shinjou-kun. Perhaps I should keep that in mind.”

“…Eh? What do you mean?”

Shinjou tilted her head in confusion.

Without replying, Sayama moved his right hand.

He lifted Shinjou’s left hand up from the bridge’s railing.

Her fingers were slender and soft. Sayama wrapped his own hand around them.

For just an instant, Shinjou tried to pull her fingers back. However, Sayama lightly dug his fingers into the flesh of her palm.

“Ah…”

With that small voice, Shinjou’s fingers tensed up.

But she finally left only the bare minimum of strength in those fingers, bent them, and entrusted her hand to his. She seemed to hold her hand out to him, but then slowly squeezed his hand back.

Sayama felt that small connection of power in his hand. He looked over to find Shinjou with her head hanging down and her eyes turned upward to face him. When their gazes met, her shoulders trembled slightly and she frantically spoke up.

“U-um? What did you mean…just now? When you said you should keep that in mind.”

“It is a simple matter,” said Sayama. “Your view of me is surely an alternative answer that I could never come to even if I wanted to.”

“…Eh?”

“You need not think about it too deeply. Even if we are absolute opposites, it makes no difference as long as we do not worry about it. But…I simply want to remember that we each naturally hope for the opposite of the other. What do you think?”

“What do I think…? I’m not sure how to answer that.”

Shinjou’s expression could be seen as a smile or a troubled look, but Sayama smiled in return.

At that moment, a figure waved their way as it cut its way between the leaving disguised vehicles. It was Ooshiro Kazuo.

Sayama took a breath and looked at the watch on his left wrist. It was already nearing four.

“Ooshiro-san is calling for you,” stated Shinjou as if making sure.

She climbed down from the railing.

Sayama did the same and faced her.

Shinjou looked at their clasped hands, hung her head down, and spoke toward the ground.

“Um, today…when you get back to your dorm…don’t be too surprised.”

“Are you sending me something?”

“Yes, sort of. …I only just made up my mind. It will probably make me worry a lot, but I feel I have to.”

“I do not know what you are sending me, but I will gladly accept it.”

Shinjou raised her head when she heard that. With her eyebrows lowered, her face relaxed and formed a smile.

Her narrowed eyes reflected the sun which had begun setting at some point.

As that light grew crimson, they both slowly separated their clasped hands at about the same moment.

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 10|Chapter 10]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 12|Chapter 12]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 10

2026-07-05T05:50:11Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 10: Development of Will==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0277.png|thumb]]
''Is hesitation feigned goodness or is it courage?

''Then is determination feigned evil or is it recklessness?

''Neither one is a bad thing

The knight swung his shield and deflected the liquid.

When the pale yellow liquid struck the metal shield, smoke rose from it. A hole was eaten into the surface of the shield.

“That is quite a deadly poison!” commented the knight.

“You were really going to pour that into my ear!?” added Ooshiro.

The knight ignored the old man and silently squeezed the trigger of his long rifle.

Bluish-white light emitted from the side of the book loaded into the gun.

That bookshelf rifle drew out the meaning of that collection of words in the form of heat.

It was a more primitive method than adding a new ability with the words, but it was plenty powerful.

He fired.

A ball of light shot from the rifle’s barrel. However, he was not targeting either of those lying on the ground below him.

He targeted the black cat.

In the amount of time known as an instant, the bright yellow bullet grew to five meters across and traveled in a shallow arc to the south side of the grassy area.

The reverberation of electrical discharge was drowned out by the sound of destruction when it struck.

It exploded.

“!”

The southern end of the grassy area grew warped, crumbled, and then shrank inwardly, trees and dirt included.

In the next instant, everything within a twenty meter square was blasted up into the sky.

A tremendous roar was heard.

The knight said, “I doubt that was enough.”

He then turned toward the two below him.

“Now! I will handle the two of you. Even if this sullies my name, seeing this through is how I show my pride!”

The boy lying on the ground then muttered something.

“So you have decided what path you will take as well, have you?”

“What?” asked the knight.

However, he quickly lifted his rifle again and focused on the battle.

The book loaded in the rifle was already emitting bluish-white light from all of its pages.

If he squeezed the trigger, he could eliminate the two people clinging to a sheer cliff.

“I am sorry,” said the knight.

Unexpectedly, the boy answered him.

“There is no need to apologize.”

As he spoke, the boy suddenly stood up.

He stood atop the ground which should have been a cliff to him. He placed his feet on the ground and stood while keeping his body low.

“What…!?” The knight drew back. He held back up his shield and shouted, “Damn you! Have you added the same concept as us!?”

Without replying, the boy ran.

The knight’s comrades began to move and prepare to attack, but it was too late.

The boy circled around to the knight’s left which was the north. The knight tried to follow the boy’s motion with his rifle, but he did not make it in time.

With his back turned, the boy jumped lightly up.

He performed a reverse roundhouse kick.

It hit home.

His heel struck the knight’s left shoulder with more weight than expected.

The knight’s bones creaked and his body was lifted up.

“Kh.”

He endured the pain and lowered his hips to land properly. He tried to aim the rifle in his right arm toward the boy, but his body felt numb and he could only aim to the front.

While remaining on guard for another kick, the knight rotated his entire body. He held his shield toward the boy.

He found the boy landing from his kick on all fours.

He then gently lifted his body a bit before running. He circled around to the north once more.

When the knight tried to follow him, one of the giant attendants shouted out from behind him.

“Look!”

The knight turned toward the deep voice and found the old man named Ooshiro moving to the south of the grassy area. His stance was low, but he was definitely running.

“How?” muttered the knight.

South was set as down, so the ground should have been perfectly vertical.

He and his companions were only able to stand due to the effects of the philosopher’s stones they held. Their enemies should not have had any of their own, yet they were still running around on that vertical ground.

“How!?”

To the north of the grassy open area, a line of trees had escaped the destruction of the stone wall.

It now functioned as footing stretching out perpendicular to the ground. On one of the tree trunks, the battle beginning far below was visible. Sf stood there carrying a single café set.

She held a parasol, a portable cooler, a table, and chairs. She skillfully placed them on the tree trunk as she heard the knight’s question from far below: How?

Sf gave a small nod.

She pulled a single bullet from her pocket. On its side, the words “bullet, one more hit” were written.

“You made a mistake in your theory.”

She placed the bullet atop the table which was sitting on the line of trees.

The bullet remained still at first, but it eventually accelerated and began rolling.

“That area may appear to be a wall, but it is actually a slope,” said Sf as if to confirm it. “Setting south as down was a naïve decision but not a surprising one for a resident of a flat world such as 1st-Gear. …After all, the earth is round and Japan is located on the northern hemisphere.”

Sf looked at the grassy area below her. Sayama charged into the center of the enemy ranks and was fighting while focusing on evasion. He was running along a slope of about forty degrees while repeatedly evading and attacking.

Sayama’s method of attack was simple. He would circle around to the north of his enemy, choose an attack method such as a direct kick or roundhouse kick that would make full use of his body weight, and then directed it toward his enemy down the slope to the south.

Sayama had no choice but to stand on a slope.

He had to keep his stance low, but this made it easier to avoid his enemy’s attacks. When he was cornered, he could jump far to the south, using the slope to gain more distance. Sf nodded as she watched on.

“To forestall an initial attack from his enemy, he pressed down against the slope, pretending it was a wall.”

As she spoke, Sf placed the cooler’s strap over her right shoulder and held the parasol in her hand.

She suddenly looked up to find a winged archer had noticed her.

“Oh, dear,” said Sf as she opened the cooler.

The archer above brought a hand to his bowstring. The center of the string had a single piece of cloth attached. The cloth had words written on it. The archer drew the bowstring and an arrow of light appeared between the cloth and the bow.

Instead of firing right away, the archer twisted the cloth to the right.

The string grew tauter and the bow creaked, but the arrow of light multiplied to three.

Finally, the archer fired.

The sound of the light being released sounded similar to a flute.

As that high-pitched trio rained down from the sky, Sf bowed slightly.

“Thank you for such an ordinary attack. As thanks, I shall provide a common attack of my own.”

She pulled what looked like two long metal staffs from the cooler.

The two objects appearing from below the canned drinks were a machinegun and its barrel.

She attached the heavy barrel with one hand and loaded the ammunition belt. The first bullet was instantly brought into the chamber.

“Over four hundred thousand have been produced. That should be common enough.”

With that comment, Sf aimed into the sky and squeezed the trigger.

Sayama could tell he was being surrounded. His enemies were once more beginning to hold him in check.

The old men wearing square bonnets who looked like priests and the old women wearing hoods who looked like magicians were clearly keeping their distance while the two giant attendants began circling around to his north. They were preventing him from taking his advantageous position.

But Sayama felt that was fine as sweat flew from his brow.

At the very least, he had drawn the enemies away from the woods were Shinjou was and Ooshiro Kazuo had been able to escape.

That meant he need not worry about this battleground. And he had another thought.

…''I was right. Shinjou-kun did not fire.

When he had attacked the knight, he had given the signal, but Shinjou had not fired. He had predicted it, but it was still a slight shock.

''She really does continue to surprise me,'' he thought as he walked around.

“Shinjou-kun is serious about everything,” he muttered. “Even when she hesitates.”

It was because she took this so seriously that she had been unable to pull the trigger this time as well.

Sayama suddenly recalled what had happened that morning. He recalled Ooki’s words to him.

…''When those who rarely get serious finally do get serious, they can draw out a lot of power. Is that it?

“And thinking that you cannot get serious means you are constantly thinking about getting serious.”

Sayama decided Shinjou had to have reached that stage.

…''But what about me?

“Will I ever-…”

Would he ever get serious?

His questioning gaze caught sight of the end of a magician’s staff glowing. Instead of leaving behind an afterimage of the light, it looked more like the word was being burned into the atmosphere. Sayama did not recognize the word, but he could read it.

It meant fire.

He leaped as soon as he read it. He leaped south down the slope.

In the next instant, a pillar of fire shot up in the spot he had just been standing in.

As he heard the air burning, crimson flames shot up in a triple helix. The end of the spiral bloomed outward and scattered through the air as the pillar of fire energetically came apart and disappeared.

Sayama landed.

At the same moment, Sayama realized the enemy’s formation was complete.

The priests and magicians to his north split to the left and right. The two giants traveled down the center of that group. They were approximately three meters tall. Under their dark green cloaks, those attendants wore light armor and were armed with black knives.

They could not make tight turns, but they used easily-wielded knives to cover for that disadvantage.

They came.

Sayama prepared himself. He could not defeat them head on. He needed to run around them. He lowered his body and sucked in a breath. He suddenly glanced over at his hard-to-move left arm and his left hand.

He saw the scars on his hand and the ring on his finger.

He tried to clench his left fist, but received only stabbing pain.

It was a phantom pain, but it felt real to him. And he could not swing the fist regardless.

An instant later, Sayama looked up from his left hand and ran.

He shrank down, stretched out, and sent his body forward.

At the same moment, he spotted a shadow coming from the sky above.

It was an archer.

''Not good,'' he muttered silently.

His enemies were not planning to have the giant attendants attack him.

They would surround him and he would be shot from the air.

“Kh.”

Sayama took in a breath and twisted his body around.

To avoid the coming attack as much as possible, he rolled along the ground.

But what fell to the ground was not an arrow or even a bow.

It was wings.

“!”

With the sound of flesh being struck, a giant four-winged form fell to the ground where Sayama had been a moment before. It was the archer who had been in the sky. Sayama could see red blood spewing from the base of his upper right wing.

Sayama got up on his knees and heard a certain sound before he could even wonder what was going on.

He heard gunfire.

He looked up. He looked to the north which was up to him.

In the sky there, another set of wings fell.

The four-winged archer fell into the woods to the east while staining his wings with red blood.

Only then did everyone look over.

A white and black figure was jumping down from a distant line of trees to the north.

“Sf-kun…”

She held a machinegun in her left hand, a parasol in her right, and a large cooler under her right arm.

Despite carrying two objects that looked too large for her body size, she was not running down the slope. She leaped through the sky.

She did not seem to care that one of the four-winged archers had fallen among some nearby trees.

She dropped down.

In the next instant, one of the magicians reacted. She wrote several words in the air, turned them into spears of light, and threw them at Sf.

The light flew with a high-pitched dash.

Sf took a single action in response. She held up the parasol in her right arm and opened it. With the sound of the wind being struck, Sf’s body appeared to be lifted up by the parasol as she began to float.

The spears of light passed by below her feet and stabbed into the grass in the distance.

Just as the spears of light could be heard bursting in the distance, Sf let go of the parasol.

After that, she traveled in a straight line.

Guided by gravitational acceleration, Sf’s heels crashed into the giant attendant who was on the left from Sayama’s perspective.

The impact caused a great noise.

“…!”

She sent all of her weight into both legs as they struck the attendant’s side and his body was knocked up into the air. Sayama backed away as the attendant rotated around in midair and slammed into the ground headfirst.

Repeated powerful sounds were heard as his armor and flesh crashed to the ground, but he eventually came to a stop.

The attendant no longer moved.

Instead, the slender woman who had only just now arrived on the scene moved.

She had short white hair and she wore a black dress with a white apron. Her silhouette spread out with the hem of her skirt and she bowed before Sayama.

“I am glad to see you are the same as ever.”

It was Sf.

Sayama glanced around. As Sf greeted him, the enemies were once more falling into formation around them.

The knight entered to replace the lost attendant and the two magicians moved back.

As they watched her, Sf opened the cooler and stuck her left hand inside. The formation of enemies prepared themselves as the sound of ice and water came from the cooler.

However, Sf was not looking at them. She was crouched down and looking toward Sayama.

“Sayama-sama, take this. It is a new product that is perfect for breaks between exercise.”

She handed him a plastic sports drink bottle. He took it and she bowed before sticking her left hand in the cooler.

“The rest of you can have this,” she said as she pulled out a black, glittering submachine gun.

She rotated around, firing all the while.

“!”

At the sound of gunfire, the attendant, knight, and other enemies frantically held up their shields or gauntlets.

But they were too slow.

As metallic noises rang out, they were either forced back or blown away.

Sayama stood up. Bluish-white smoke surrounded him and Sf. The formation around them had widened slightly and one magician lay collapsed on the ground. Sayama looked toward the magician while opening the lid of the drink bottle.

“She is not dead. As expected, they have some form of defensive power. This is not causing much damage.”

Sayama realized Sf’s right sleeve was torn. That showed she had already received some sort of attack. And the arm he saw below the torn black cloth was…

“A machine?” asked Sayama after a citrus flavor flowed into his mouth from the bottle.

Sf’s arm was made of what looked like narrow pearl-colored armor. The arm narrowed in considerably at the elbow joint between her upper arm and lower arm and only black plastic filled the gap.

Without turning around, Sf tossed the submachine gun to the ground.

“I am Sein Frau, an automaton created by German UCAT using 3rd-Gear technology. My body was put together for Itaru-sama’s exclusive use, so I am able to do the shopping or receive guests in bad weather and under inconvenient circumstances. My compact exterior can run for 24 hours if the philosopher’s stone is swapped out, so even the most sudden of unreasonable demands can be-…”

“Enough with the late-night infomercial sales pitch,” said Sayama as he handed the empty drink bottle back to Sf. And then, “What are your combat abilities?”

“According to German UCAT, the German people are the most excellent people in the world. I was created using their technology, so my combat abilities are top notch.”

“Didn’t that ‘most excellent’ right-wing country lose World War Two?”

“Truly excellent people need not desire victory. Victory is not needed in the eternal quest to grow stronger.”

“Who said that?”

“I do not know. However, it has been etched into my mind.”

As she spoke, Sf moved the machinegun in her right hand to her left and placed the muzzle against the ground. She moved the muzzle to the side so that it drew a curve in the dirt.

“My name is Sein Frau, ‘the woman who should exist’. I am a nonhuman who was born from the desire to ‘exist’. Now, come and bring the reason for your birth with you. If that reason is weaker than mine, you will not even be able to ‘exist’.”

[[Image:OnC_v01_0293.png|thumb]]

With a turn of her heel, she transformed the curve on the ground into a ring.

“I was created for the sake of my master. I sacrifice my steel for his bones, my chains for his flesh, my oil for his blood, and my determination for his heart. But there is one thing he has for which I have nothing to sacrifice.”

When the ring connected, she placed the gun’s muzzle on the point of connection.

“His tears. …As I have no emotions, I have nothing to give in return for those. As such, I do not desire my master’s tears. I desire only an outcome that requires no teardrops.”

She raised the gun.

“Steel for his bones, chains for his flesh, oil for his blood, determination for his heart, and…”

She took a breath.

“Selflessness for his tears.”

As she spoke, Sf squeezed the trigger while aiming at the line of enemies.

Shinjou sat on a tree trunk.

The trembling of her hands was beginning to abate, but strength would not return to her fingers.

“What do I…” she muttered.

''…lack at times like this?'' she finished in her thoughts.

She heard a voice from below.

“You had excellent scores in training and your marksmanship while providing covering fire from the rear guard was quite good as well. But it looks like you’re no good on the vanguard where a real battle is right before your eyes. Do you think I should remove you from Team Leviathan, Shinjou?”

Shinjou gave a quick gasp.

But the voice from below laughed.

“Hah. What’s with the serious look? I may be the supervisor, but you know I can’t do everything on my own discretion, right? You were added as a member on the recommendation of my old man. I can’t move you without his permission and your agreement.”

Shinjou frowned at the laughing voice and clenched her back teeth.

“Why are you always like this!? Ever since you took me in…”

“You really want to know?” said a smiling voice. “It’s because I know everything but understand nothing.” The voice then changed the subject. “Look, the fools are in trouble. Do whatever you can.”

Shinjou looked out toward the grassy area and realized what he meant.

Sayama and Sf moved around amid the gunfire and their enemies were collapsing from the attacks.

But a few of those had begun to move once more. First was the attendant Sf had defeated. He was trying to stand. And he was hidden behind another enemy, so Sayama and Sf could not see him.

Shinjou stood up on the tree trunk.

“Sayama-kun!”

As the knight charged toward her from the front, Sf charged in with her right shoulder held forward.

With the cooler still held under her right arm, she filled the gap between her and the knight in an instant.

The knight aimed his long rifle at her.

Sf raised the machinegun in her left arm slightly before swinging it.

She slammed her own machinegun against the enemy’s gun barrel.

With a metallic scraping noise, Sf pushed the knight’s rifle down and moved forward. Her running right foot reached the ground, but her left foot stepped down on the lowered rifle’s barrel.

The knight’s long rifle now had its tip sticking diagonally into the ground.

Sf used her machinegun as a cane and continued forward.

She thrust the machinegun into the ground and let go. She took a step along the knight’s rifle with her left foot and swung her right leg up to climb up the rifle.

The upward swing of her right leg continued into a kick.

Her foot flew toward the knight’s face. It was a straight and speedy kick.

The knight made up his mind in an instant.

He let go of the rifle.

With only the long rifle’s strap still in his hand, he leaped backward.

“!”

The knight tugged on the strap as he moved back. The rifle that had been left stabbing into the ground was powerfully pulled back even with Sf halfway through her kick atop it.

He felt a bit of resistance, but the rifle still pulled out of the ground.

“!?”

Sf had her left pivot leg on the rifle, so her footing was pulled out from under her. She began to fall backward.

Even so, she managed to kick off the rifle and jump high into the sky behind her.

But it was too late.

The knight had already pulled the rifle back into his hands by the strap.

He narrowed the sight in on Sf as she tumbled through the air.

Just as he was about to squeeze the trigger, something happened.

Sf’s body shrank down in the air and she rotated around once.

After jumping back, Sf had taken a crouching position in midair. Something was supporting her from below.

It was the machinegun she had stabbed into the ground like a cane earlier.

Sf’s right foot sat atop the gunstock that was sticking up toward the sky.

In the next instant, she stretched her body out and jumped.

Her skirt flapped through the air and the bullet of light produced by the knight’s rifle shot by below her feet.

Sf flew.

She swung the cooler through the air above her head and cartwheeled using it as a fulcrum.

She landed behind the knight.

The knight turned his shield toward her just as she pulled an object from the cooler and threw it at him with her back to him.

What she tossed under her arm with only a flick of the wrist was a large cylindrical object.

The knight reflexively swung his shield to strike the flying object from the side.

With a heavy yet soft sound, the shield deflected the object. It flew accurately back toward Sf.

The knight continued his rotation to aim the rifle at Sf.

As he did, he realized what the object she had thrown was.

It was a 500 mL plastic drink bottle.

“Wha-…?”

The dumbfounded knight saw Sf stand up.

She was facing him. Her left hand was in the cooler. Her gaze was focused squarely on the center of the knight’s wide open body.

With the sound of pieces of ice striking each other, she pulled a long metal object out of the cooler.

It was a shotgun.

Sf swung the barrel forward, using the action to cock it.

She used the reverse motion of it sliding back into place to pull the trigger.

A gunshot exploded out.

The shot first destroyed the drink bottle flying between the knight and Sf.

Immediately afterward, it struck the knight’s breastplate.

A sound of impact exploded out.

The knight flew backward as if he had received an uppercut.

And at that moment, a voice rang out across the open area.

“Sayama-kun!”

Sf turned toward the voice and saw a large shadow.

It was the attendant she had supposedly defeated earlier. His giant form had stood up and was now charging toward her.

After she had just fired, evasive actions were asking too much of Sf.

And the attendant held a knife in his right hand. It would strike her momentarily.

“A total loss is expected,” concluded Sf expressionlessly.

Her body grew limp as she prepared for the shock.

But then an attack flew toward the charging attendant from the side.

“…!?”

It was Sayama.

From a position back and to the right of Sf, he used the momentum of the slope and all his strength to throw a reverse roundhouse kick. His heel sliced through the air in a sharp curve before striking the attendant in the side.

It sounded more like a piercing strike than a dull one.

The attendant lost his forward momentum.

However, Sayama was half-deflected and thrown through the air due to the great difference in inertia. He kept low to the ground as he landed and took a breath.

He was not looking toward Sf. He was looking toward the woods.

Shinjou stood on the slope there.

After seeing where he was looking, Sf amended her conclusion.

“Partial damage is expected.”

Immediately afterward, the charging attendant and Sf crossed paths.

The sound of fibers being torn could be heard.

Everything past Sf’s right shoulder flew through the air.

With its support gone, the cooler fell to the ground.

Sayama turned around and asked, “Does it hurt?”

“No, I have no sense of pain. The only pain I feel is from being unable to remain by Itaru-sama’s side.”

As she replied, her right arm fell atop the dirt and rolled two or three times down the slope.

And Sf saw something else.

Behind her, the attendant was preparing for his next attack with blood spilling from his mouth.

Sf rotated around and prepared to intercept him, but then her eyes narrowed slightly.

Behind the charging attendant, the knight was aiming his long rifle her way after he had recovered due to something written by one of the priests. And behind him, the remaining magician wrote something in the air using light.

The magician was not looking at Sf and Sayama. She was looking toward the woods where Shinjou had emerged.

Sf sensed Sayama moving behind her. She moved as well. However…

“…!”

The attendant’s charge, the knight’s shot, and the magician’s blast all came before Sf could aim the shotgun in her left hand or Sayama could take any kind of action.

The three attacks were loosed in quick succession.

Sayama saw the attack coming.

But it did not come from in front of him. It came from above. It came from above the charging attendant.

“What are you doing!?”

It was a girl.

The girl wore a lightweight white outfit and held something with a long silhouette in both hands. Her heels slammed into the attendant’s back. It was less a landing and more like a pile driver smashing the attendant into the ground.

By the time Sayama realized the girl held a long single-edged spear and a shield, he had already heard the attendant’s giant body crashing to the ground.

The attendant was struck to the ground without bouncing as if he had been hit with a hammer appropriate for his body size.

The knife he had held stabbed into the ground. It was only fifteen centimeters away from Sf’s foot.

However, she had escaped any further damage. Nothing had happened to Sayama either.

''What is going on?'' wondered Sayama, but then he recalled two other things.

Specifically, the knight and magician behind the attendant.

The knight had supposedly fired his long rifle.

That bullet of light should have destroyed everything within a twenty meter square of the point it hit, but it had never arrived.

Sayama frowned and took a closer look.

Beyond the collapsed attendant and the person who stood on his back was another silhouette.

This one was a young man.

He wore a white coat and held a giant single-edged sword in both hands.

To cover his body, he held the large white sword so the bottom of the grip was pointed up and the blade was pointed down. A bluish-white electrical discharge came from its blade.

Sayama recognized both of these newcomers.

Sf spoke to them as if to reconfirm Sayama’s memory.

“You are late, Izumo-sama, Kazami-sama.”

“Don’t say that… But I do apologize for not making it in time to save your arm.”

The one apologizing and holding a long, curving spear and shield was Kazami.

She wore the same type of white suit Shinjou had worn the night before, but her waist was wrapped in cloth. She also had a backpack that folded over.

She turned toward Sayama with the same smile she always had at school.

“Oh? You don’t look too surprised.”

“Of course not. After all the bizarre things you two do, this is easy to accept.”

“Well, that’s disappointing,” said Izumo.

With his back to Sayama, he lowered the giant sword using just his right arm and glanced over his shoulder.

“Team Leviathan Primary Team, Izumo Kaku. …How’s that for a cool way to name myself?”

Sayama ignored him.

Something else was bothering him: the magician’s spell. It had unmistakably been fired toward Shinjou.

''Is she okay?'' he wondered as he turned around.

He found a figure standing before the woods with her long hair waving in the wind. It was Shinjou.

But she was not alone.

Another familiar figure stood next to Shinjou. It was a tall old man wearing a white shirt, a black vest, and black trousers. When Sayama saw him standing there empty-handed except for his black gloves, he muttered the man’s name.

“The librarian of Kinugasa Library, Siegfried Zonburg…”

The man nodded, turned around, and met Sayama’s gaze with his own blue eyes. His white beard moved as he spoke.

“You need to add two other titles to that: former consultant to the National Defense Department and sorcerer.”

“Aren’t you forgetting one!?” shouted the knight.

Everyone turned toward him. The knight vigorously swung his long rifle up toward Siegfried.

“You are the great criminal who destroyed our 1st-Gear!!”

Izumo was closest to the knight, so he reacted first.

“How about you stop that!?” he shouted while swinging his large sword horizontally.

The single-edged sword soared smoothly and easily through the air.

However, the sound it produced was not that of it striking the knight’s armor.

The magician interfered.

“What!?”

The old woman used her staff as a shield to catch Izumo’s blade in front of the knight.

The staff bent and then broke and she was knocked into the air.

In exchange, the knight managed to pull the trigger of his long rifle.

It produced a metallic noise and light was emitted from the book loaded into the rifle.

It fired.

Light flew in a shallow arc toward Siegfried.

It was as if it had been thrown down at him from above.

In response, Siegfried lightly swung his right hand.

Something fell down from his palm.

It was a piece of paper.

Siegfried took a step forward.

He swung his right arm up at the light shooting toward him.

That mass of power had grown to five meters across.

He casually struck it with the piece of paper in his right hand.

In the very next moment, that powerful light disappeared.

As everyone’s eyes opened wide, Siegfried took another step.

“!”

He began to run.

The paper in the hand he held above his head had writing on it.

That paper that had been blank just before now had a certain destruction report written in powerful handwriting.

Sayama could not read the writing, but the images were transferred to his mind.

It was an itemized list of the dead in a certain district of a city.

Siegfried held the paper in his hand as he ran.

As he clenched it into a cylindrical shape, a blade of light appeared from it.

“…So this is the power of a grudge.”

He muttered those words and moved all in the same instant.

Siegfried charged right up to the knight.

The knight aimed his rifle and fired.

However, the attack shot below Siegfried’s arm.

Siegfried had moved as if about to sink down to the ground, but had instead raised the sword of light above his head and swung it down.

His strike targeted the knight’s rifle.

The trajectory of the blade left an afterimage of light behind and the sound of the gun being sliced sounded like a rock splitting open.

The front of the destroyed rifle where the book was loaded slid vertically before completely falling off. Seeing that, Siegfried stood up and swung his left hand.

The knight tossed his rifle aside and took a defensive stance.

However, Siegfried’s left hand was not headed toward him.

His left hand grabbed ahold of the book as it fell toward the ground.

Siegfried then held it out toward the knight and spoke.

“Do not drop this. Treat your books carefully. Even when making use of them.”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 9|Chapter 9]]
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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 11|Chapter 11]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 9

2026-07-04T04:49:30Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 9: The Circumstances of Justice==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0251.png|thumb]]
''Difficult things are generally numerous

''Easy things are always few

''And it is once more time to think

Sayama could tell the world had tilted to his left which was to the south. If the voice he had heard was accurate, everything would fall to the south in the concept space that had been created.

He grasped his own situation and the situation around him in an instant.

Ahead of him to the west, the only footing was the stones surrounding the grassy area. Behind him, there was the wall of the rest area as well as the tree-covered slope and viewing platform behind the rest area. To the south on his left, there was nothing but the walkway and the trees of the garden.

The only effective footing was the trees behind him.

Sayama immediately picked up Shinjou.

“S-Sayama-kun!?”

He did not have time to respond. Sayama moved to the left and leaped to the trees to the south.

His body fell in an instant.

The ground was already a wall. Sayama landed on one of the tree trunks and leaped toward the slope to the left, toward the viewing platform.

''Hurry,'' he thought.

The reason for this thought came soon thereafter. Shinjou looked up at the rest area from his arms.

“Ah…”

The sound of glass breaking sounded from well above their heads. The counters and tables in the rest area had slid down the tilted ground and crashed into the entrance.

With the ground now a wall, anything not solidly attached would become a falling object.

And they came. The tables that had broken through the rest area door and the benches in the grassy area all fell down.

But it went beyond that. The castle tower foundation to the north had a large stone wall. It crumbled and created a tsunami of giant rocks.

As these falling objects approached, they produced a great roar like the surging waves of the sea.

Sayama ran. Once he approached the eastern slope, he jumped. He was aiming for the trees covering that slope. That would provide somewhere to stand. The railing on the way up the observation platform would make especially good footing.

He leaped.

He silently apologized and threw Shinjou ahead of him into the trees.

After seeing Shinjou land backside-first on one of the trees, Sayama placed his feet on the ground which had become a wall. He lightly kicked off that wall of earth and controlled his posture. He shot up above Shinjou’s head, landed on the trunk of a pine tree, and quickly turned around.

At the same moment, the other three jumped onto trees lower than himself.

Ooshiro Itaru was carried to a nearby tree in Sf’s arms.

Ooshiro Kazuo was out of breath and he suddenly realized he still had his drink cup in his hand. Immediately afterward, the tsunami from the crumbled northern stone wall struck the rest area. It had already made its way across the grassy area.

“…!”

As Shinjou held onto a tree one level below, she visibly ducked down as the earthquake-like noise approached.

It all happened in an instant.

After the roar and cloud of dust passed them by, everything that had been around them previously was gone. The bench they had been sitting on, the trees that had been behind them, and even the rest area had been thoroughly smashed or had vanished.

The roar continued on to the south below them. When it struck the trees down below, some of it passed through and some of it was brought to a stop.

''This is a dangerous situation,'' thought Sayama.

But he immediately denied it. They had escaped their enemy’s initial strike. It was not as dangerous as it might have been. They could handle this.

He nodded. And as he did, a dark figure stood up before him.

It was Sf. She stood on a tree trunk and looked toward the open area where most of the grass had been torn up.

“The enemy is coming.”

Sayama looked over and found the people wearing dark green cloaks were standing perpendicular to the ground and walking toward them.

“Sf-kun, why can the enemy stand and walk on the ground?”

“They have philosopher’s stones. Those are catalytic crystallizations of a concept’s string vibration. Anyone holding one can add concepts without modulating their parent string vibration. They are also used as fuel for concept weapons. The enemy must be holding philosopher’s stones made from inferior reproductions of some concept.”

Just as she finished speaking, a nearby pine tree trunk suddenly burst.

Sayama looked over, assuming it had been a bullet, but he found a few of the enemies standing still in the center of the open area were holding staff-like objects toward them.

He then heard a voice. It belonged to the man who seemed to be their leader. He wore dark green armor underneath his dark green cloak, so he looked like a knight.

“Are you coming!?” he shouted.

However, Sayama heard another shout duplicated over that one. This other shout was in a language that’s pronunciation was somehow similar to German. Sayama grasped that this was the language the man was actually speaking. Some sort of mutual understanding concept was in effect.

“That’s a convenient power.”

“As long as it is not used incorrectly,” agreed Sf.

Ooshiro Itaru then shouted from below.

“Hey, Sf.”

Three meters below where Shinjou sat one trunk below them, Ooshiro Kazuo sat on a tree trunk. Next to the old man, his son lay in his black suit on the railing heading up the observation platform. His legs were crossed and his arms were folded behind his head.

“Hurry it up. I’m gonna hold you to those three minutes.”

“Tes. Then take this, Sayama-sama.”

Sf pulled a black metal object out of her pocket. It was a handgun.

“That looks like a perfectly normal handgun to me.”

“The bullets are anti-1st-Gear weapons. They possess the power of writing that 1st-Gear’s parent concept provides. Objects defined by writing possess a stronger existence and are given power. As was stated previously…”

Sf pulled a handkerchief and fountain pen from her pocket and wrote a word on the handkerchief. Specifically, “fire”.

And then…

“It’s…burning?”

The area written on grew brown, then black, and finally burned away.

“The more expressive the handwritten words, the more the words’ power will be embodied in the object. Any phenomenon possible under that world’s concept can be made a reality. However, invincibility, immortality, and resurrection are not possible in any Gear. …When fighting under their concepts, your armaments will not have their proper power unless they have writing engraved into them.”

“What do this gun’s bullets say?”

“Every bullet has ‘bullet, one more hit’ written on it. If you hit once, the next shot will automatically home in on the target. Try to use that effectively. I must retrieve the equipment I left at the café. They had a string watch with them, so they will have been brought into the concept space.”

“Wouldn’t they have fallen with the rocks earlier?”

“No, I did not observe them among the fallen debris. I believe they were swept among the remaining garden trees on the northern slope. …I will have them in three minutes.”

“So you want me to hold the enemies’ attention until then?”

“Tes. You are not currently my top priority, Sayama-sama. I must ask you to take this job. By the way, my order of precedence runs Itaru-sama, Shinjou-sama, Sayama-sama, and in a very distant last place, Kazuo-sama.”

“Wait. Why are you treating me so differently?” asked Ooshiro.

“Family comes last, you damn old man. Get going, Sf. If I die, it’s your fault,” said Itaru.

“Tes. If that is your desire, I will grant it later.”

Sf circled around behind Sayama and began moving upward. She worked her way up by grabbing onto the tree trunks growing from the earth wall, pulling herself up onto them, and swinging her body to balance herself. The tree-covered slope had originally grown from a low hill, so it looked like an overhang when looking up at it. Sf chose to remain in the shadow of the hill to hide her ascent from the enemies.

Sayama was filled with wonder over how precisely and quickly Sf moved, but he suddenly noticed the weight of the gun in his hand. He shrugged and looked down to find Shinjou blushing as she followed Sf’s movements above.

“What is it? Why are you blushing?”

“Eh? Oh, um, she was standing on the tree directly above me, remember? And, well, sh-she’s surprisingly adult?”

“What do you mean by adult?”

Sayama grinned bitterly as he looked down. Shinjou did not have a weapon, Ooshiro Itaru showed absolutely zero intention of fighting, and Ooshiro Kazuo was too old to count on in a fight.

Shinjou looked toward the open area and shouted, “Ah, here they come!”

''So they’re here,'' thought Sayama as he placed the hand holding the gun against the wall next to him. He nodded and decided he needed some kind of plan. He needed a way of fighting despite the poor footing.

He suddenly looked to his right. He was holding his right arm out straight against the wall made from the ground.

He then looked down at his feet. His was standing atop a root next to the wall.

“So down is determined by the planet’s south.”

“…Eh? What about it? Doesn’t that just mean the ground is a cliff like this?”

“There is a hole in the theory,” said Sayama with a grin.

He looked down and both Itaru and Ooshiro were grinning as well.

“I see. It looks like the crueler of us have caught on. But our enemy has not. And even you are viewing it wrong. If we can draw in the enemy and take advantage of this, we might be able to pull something off here.”

The group from 1st-Gear’s Royal Palace faction was made up of eleven people. They were spread out in a fan shape around the woods their target was hiding in. The knight who was their leader was at the front. He was flanked on either side by two attendants who were over three meters tall. They were members of some large race of beings. Beyond the attendants were two woman hidden below a cloak and holding a wooden staff. Behind each of them were two men wearing square bonnets for a total of four.

And at the very back of each row was an archer. The two of them had removed their cloaks to reveal four wings on their backs. Their wings vibrated, drawing in air from the front and blowing it behind them. Both of them tilted their bodies backward at almost the exact same moment. It was as if they were throwing themselves to the ground or lying down. And as soon as their four wings were level with the ground…

“!”

The sound of wind burst from their backs.

Their four wings gave a single strike. And that sent them flying up into the blue sky above their heads.

Once they reached a height of fifteen meters, they took a position of leaning back only slightly. They tilted their wings behind them to hover in place, aimed their bows toward the woods, and pulled back the string without nocking an arrow.

The knight at the head of the group below the archers threw open the front of his cloak to show his arms.

He held a long rifle in his right hand and a shield in his left. The rifle was made of wood and metal. Instead of a magazine, a black hardcover book was sticking into the top of the rifle. The book was made of canvas material instead of paper.

A white beard moved underneath the knight’s helm as he spoke.

“If you give no response, we will continue to advance on you!”

He began to take a step with his long boots.

But then two figures appeared, standing perpendicular to the side of a tree trunk at the front of the woods.

In the front was an elderly man in a brown suit. Behind him was a boy in a gray suit.

The boy gently pushed the old man forward.

The man’s lean figure was forced to jump down from the woods and into the open.

The knight froze in place for an instant. That open area was a sheer cliff to his enemies.

For a moment, the knight almost looked up to the archers in the sky. However, he stopped himself.

The old man stood as if clinging to the ground.

He was on the very edge of the lawn area. A slight curb stuck up there.

The old man was standing tiptoe on that narrow curb while clinging to the ground.

Next, the boy in the suit jumped down. He held a paper cup with a straw.

As they both clung to the ground, they moved around three meters closer along the stone curb.

At a distance of approximately five meters, the two of them stopped.

The elderly man lightly raised his hands. He looked up at the knight and the others while in a position similar to lying on the asphalt ground. He had a troubled smile on his face.

“Hi there. Sorry about this, but could you leave for a bit?”

“No, we cannot,” immediately replied the knight quietly.

The boy standing next to the elderly man spoke in response.

“Oh, I think you can.”

Sayama looked up at the knight standing on the wall to his left. He could not see his eyes through the face of his helm, but he could see his mouth. While focusing on trying to pick up on his expression, Sayama inwardly sighed.

…''So he is at least reasonable enough to speak with.

From the speed of the knight’s reply and the calm in his voice, Sayama concluded the man was relatively experienced.

With some tension in his expression, Sayama said, “If you did not intend for us to discuss something, you would not have prepared a concept that allows us to understand each other. It seems to me you have some objective other than killing us.”

In response, the knight aimed his long rifle at him.

“What if that objective is having you beg for your life?”

“Then I would be amazed at how little difference there is between knights and bandits these days.”

“We are fighting for revenge. …We simply want those who must be punished to realize the value of life. Do you think bandits would be so merciful?”

“Are you the one that gets to determine what is merciful? If not, who do you think does?”

The knight’s mouth stiffened at that. Sayama noticed, but he continued speaking with the same expression as before.

“Do you understand where it is you stand here? Is it a scene of revenge or is it the stage of a turning point in history? If it is the latter, what do you think decides everything here? If you think it is you, you should go burn every single history book you can find. There would be no point in anyone reading them.”

The knight kept his rifle aimed at Sayama and did not move.

Sayama could see his finger on a button that was likely the trigger.

Sayama asked, “What exactly is a merciful knight? I thought it was someone who actually carried out merciful actions rather than someone who simply understood what was generally considered to be merciful. Am I wrong?”

“…”

With a bitter smile, the knight removed his finger from the rifle’s trigger. Sayama bowed.

“I thank you for your mercy.”

“It is only natural. ''However'', what do you hope for in a situation such as this?”

Sayama moved his aching left arm and placed the paper cup in his left hand on Ooshiro’s shoulder.

“Are you listening?” he said to the knight. “Ooshiro Kazuo here is the head of Japanese UCAT. His brain is filled with all sorts of valuable information. And as he has aged, his endurance has weakened, making it easier to get information out of him.”

“Hmph,” muttered Ooshiro as he glanced over at Sayama.

Sayama only ignored him.

“Ooshiro Kazuo here has not shown himself in public much recently, but today he is here in person at the Imperial Palace and even wearing normal clothes. As a special service, I will now-…”

“Are you trying to use him as a hostage?” asked the knight.

“No,” replied Sayama.

Sayama held up the drink cup with his hurting left arm. He held it next to Ooshiro’s face. The cup had the word “poison” written on it with a fountain pen and the straw was already sticking into Ooshiro’s right ear.

The knight clenched his teeth when he saw it. Sayama looked directly at the face of the knight’s helm and spoke.

“I will now give this valuable item a public execution. Perhaps.”

Sayama saw the knight take a step toward him without thinking.

But the knight stopped there.

After glancing back toward his comrades behind him, he spoke.

“Such foolishness.” He gave a bitter smile. “Kill him if you wish. That simply saves us the effort.”

“Even if Ooshiro Kazuo here rethinks his pitiful character and seeks asylum with 1st-Gear?”

“Enough nonsense!” shouted the knight and Ooshiro gave a start.

He shouted out, “Help meeeeee! I don’t want to diiiiie! What am I supposed to do!? Ow ow ow ow ow!”

Sayama lifted up the foot he had used to stomp on Ooshiro’s foot.

He then whispered, “Old man, you’re giving this too much effort.”

The knight was bending over to stare at them more closely.

''Not good. I chose the wrong person,'' thought Sayama. ''Shinjou probably would have been better.

He wondered what kind of scream she would have let out. What would it have sounded like? He regretted missing out on that.

…''Is it too late to turn back now!? Well, I can save that for some other time.

With that last thought, Sayama quickly refocused his attention.

[[Image:OnC_v01_0265.png|thumb]]

He made sure the knight could see he was giving the cup in his left hand a light squeeze.

“What will you do? I am ready to go ahead with this,” he said so as not to give the knight any longer to think.

Sayama had determined the knight was not actually after a battle.

It was likely because they had learned the leader of UCAT would be here that they had come to the Imperial Palace. That meant they were after Ooshiro Kazuo. Sayama decided they had intentionally created a situation where Ooshiro could not move so they could speak with him and have him take a certain action.

…''Most likely, they either want to abduct him or force him to sign some sort of agreement.

As Sayama nodded in his heart, he spoke to the knight.

“Listen carefully. If you try to harm any of us, I will put an end to this old man. That means it is your responsibility if his pitiable life is taken.”

“…But you are the one trying to kill him.”

“Yet you are not trying to stop me from doing so, Sir Knight.” Sayama spoke that last word with enough force to make the knight grit his teeth. He went on to say, “You announced you were merciful, so are you really going to do nothing as poison is poured into a poor old man’s ear, as he dances around in pain, and as he finally dies? If that happens, UCAT will start by punishing me. However, they will blame you as well. And that blame will spread until it affects all of the survivors of 1st-Gear.” He took a breath. “How is that merciful? You are a knight in name only. …You can lose all trust and live a life of being scorned if you wish. And it will all be for your victory here, Sir Knight.”

“Mh,” groaned the knight. “Is that poison real?”

“Do you not trust in the power of your own Gear? It even has pieces of the main ingredient inside to ensure the contents are one hundred percent effective.”

“One hundred percent effective, you say?”

“Yes,” nodded Sayama.

He pulled a fountain pen out of his pocket and wrote another word on the cup. Above “poison” he wrote “amazing”.

“What do you think of this amazing poison? It has plenty of iron, so it’s perfect for when you finish exercising. What will you do?”

But after drawing back from Sayama’s words for an instant, the knight said, “Wait.”

He lowered his stance, took a breath, and spoke.

“I was just about to be deceived with my own Gear’s laws. Think about this.” He held up his long rifle once more. After aiming it at Sayama, he proclaimed, “You are writing on the container. I highly doubt Low-Gear has constructed a means of transferring the effects of the words to the liquid inside. The contents are nothing but a normal liquid.”

“Do you want to test that?”

Sayama smiled and the knight stopped moving once more.

After allowing a short silence, Sayama asked a further question.

“Can you take responsibility if you test this and white smoke begins spilling from this old man’s ear? Dissolve the brain, and any human will die. The same goes for any dog or monkey too, of course.”

The knight lightly bent his body back when he heard that. His bearded mouth formed a smile.

“Heh,” laughed the knight from his nose. “Hmph. Go right ahead. And as soon as your threat has proven empty, I will shoot you.”

The smile the knight formed along with his words told Sayama something.

Their acting had been too over the top. And so he took action.

“Then I shall.”

With a quick movement of the fountain pen in his right hand, Sayama added “container for” above “amazing poison”. When Ooshiro saw that, his eyes truly opened wide.

“Ah,” he started. “Ahhhhh! Stop that!! This wasn’t part of the plan!!”

“Shut up. Quiet down. It is all over for you. Just do as you are told and scream. Oh, and cry too.”

Just as Sayama pushed the cup with his left hand to pour the liquid, someone reacted to the last thing Ooshiro had said.

It was the knight.

The smile from before had completely disappeared from the knight’s lips.

“Stop!” he shouted.

He covered the distance between them in an instant.

It only took him two steps. After covering five meters that quickly, he skidded to a halt along the dirt ground.

His shoes could be heard digging into the ground, his cloak flipped up, and he sent out a blast of wind.

His dark green cloak shook and the armor and equipment below created repeated metallic noises. But he came to stop there.

He was already directly in front of Sayama. He held his long rifle out toward the boy.

Sayama raised his head and looked up from his position clinging to the ground that was a wall.

The knight aimed his rifle from so close Sayama could reach out and grab it. He aimed at Sayama, not Ooshiro.

That told him that the knight’s target was definitely Ooshiro.

He could see writing on the cover of the book loaded into the top of the gun. The writing resembled the alphabet, but was a different language. He could not read it, but he could understand what it meant. It said “Investigation Report on the Destruction of the Wotan Kingdom”.

''Is that a report on the destruction of 1st-Gear?'' asked Sayama silently. ''I remember reading a story involving a king with that name.

The title of the story was on the tip of his tongue, but this was not the situation to try to remember it in.

He could see a bluish-white light leaking from between the book’s pages. The light seemed to be pulsating.

As he watched that light, Sayama asked, “What is the matter, Sir Knight? I thought I was saving you the effort of killing him?”

“…What do you want?”

“Currently, I want to pour this amazing poison into this old man’s ear. Is that a problem?”

“I am telling you to stop.”

“And I am telling you I do not want to.”

“Why?”

Ooshiro nodded in agreement with the knight’s question.

“Y-yes, why do you want to do this, Mikoto-kun?”

“Shut up, old man. …Sir Knight, let me ask you instead: What do you want?”

After a pause, the knight replied, “Revenge.”

Sayama nodded in his heart and thought.

…''That may be the truth, but he knows it will never actually happen.

As he thought, Sayama looked at the people behind the knight. Including the knight, there were eleven in total. They were all surrounded by a tense atmosphere, but they were also all quite old.

They clearly had no younger options to choose from.

Even if they fought here and won, they did not have the strength of an organization that was needed for an ultimate victory. That was why they planned to take a hostage in this battle before moving to their true stage: the negotiating table.

“…”

Sayama looked at the knight’s white beard. 1st-Gear’s destruction had apparently been around the same time as World War Two. That was sixty years ago.

Their desire at the time had been revenge. But what was it now?

The word “remnant” flashed through Sayama’s mind.

But that caused him to brace himself. Those with nothing to lose could be quite frightening.

And so he chose his words carefully as he spoke next.

“We will be holding preliminary negotiations with 1st-Gear’s peaceful faction tomorrow. Your actions here will be taken into account then, so could you perhaps fall back for now?”

“You want us to retreat?”

“Can a knight’s sword not be sheathed? If you do not sheathe your sword, a grudge will be held against all the people of 1st-Gear in any negotiations held afterward. And that includes everyone you stand for.”

“There are times when one cannot sheathe his sword for reasons of pride. Am I wrong?”

After hearing that calm request for confirmation, Sayama let out a breath.

…''This is the crucial moment.

He thought and finally said, “Does your pride only exist for your own sake? Or is it for the sake of all those waiting for you?”

The knight pursed his lips at Sayama’s question.

He did not speak, but the sound of his teeth grinding leaked from his jaw. However…

“…”

The knight’s rifle barrel shook slightly. His white beard moved as he opened his mouth to speak.

“What does a boy from this lowly Gear know of the pride of a 1st-Gear knight?”

Without even a smile, Sayama shook his head.

“I only asked you a question concerning your pride. I am asking you to make up for my lack of knowledge on the subject.” He took a breath. “Now tell me. What is your pride? Tell me as calmly as you can.”

The knight’s moustache formed a small smile at that.

And he began to lower his rifle.

Just as he did, he suddenly looked up and tension filled his entire body.

“…!”

The knight took a step back and turned an intense look in Sayama’s direction.

However, the eyes below the helm were not looking at Sayama’s face. They were looking beyond him, to the south of the large open space.

Sayama turned to look in the same direction.

Amid the trees to the south that had taken a lot of damage from the falling stone wall, a single small black form was visible.

It was a black cat.

The cat sat on a pine tree trunk just as the UCAT group had done. It was staring up at them. However, Sayama was certain that the knight had reacted to that black cat.

Sayama felt he had seen the cat somewhere before, but he shook his head.

…''This is not the time for that.

He turned back toward the knight to find everything wrapped in tension. All eleven of the people spread out in front of him were starting at the black cat and holding their breath.

Their silence felt as if it could burst at any time. And it was finally broken by a word from the knight.

“Sorry.”

He spoke with his eyes cast down, but he had not been speaking to Sayama.

Nevertheless, he quickly raised the long rifle, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

At the same instant, Sayama took action.

Shinjou clearly saw tension run through the group from where she was amid the trees.

She looked in the direction the 1st-Gear group was looking and spotted a black cat.

“What is that?”

Itaru spoke from below where he sat on the railing leading up to the viewing platform.

“A familiar used by a 1st-Gear sorcerer. They’re used to contact people. In other words, these idiots were being observed and they only now realized it. That means they can no longer run away.” He smiled bitterly. “After the destruction of 1st-Gear, its residents split into three factions in Low-Gear. Fasolt’s peaceful faction, the Royal Palace faction that split off with concept space technology, and the City faction that has the mechanical dragon named Fafnir Custom. This is the Royal Palace faction that has no real distinguishing characteristics. …Almost makes me feel bad for my old man. He’s being forced to act so desperately against these small fries.”

“Why does everyone around me say such horrible things about their parents…?”

Shinjou frowned and sighed where Itaru could not see her. She held the handgun Sayama had left with her. The weight and coldness of the black metal did not warm up even in her tight grip. She simply could not get used to the feel of it. However…

“He left this with me.”

Sayama had asked her to let the knights walk toward him. And if the negotiations failed, he had said he would raise his right hand. Then she was to fire.

Currently, the knight stood at the head of the enemy’s fan-shaped formation and he was facing Sayama. If the negotiations failed, Sayama’s plan was for her to fire at him.

From where Shinjou was, Sayama was about fifteen meters forward and five meters down. That was at about the limit of what an amateur could hope to hit with a handgun.

The ballistic trajectory would drop. With a handgun’s weak rotation, a slight margin of error would definitely exist.

And the knight held a shield on his left arm. That shield was in her way. However…

“If the negotiations fail, he will have the knight move his shield to leave him open in this direction.”

Could she do it? Shinjou tilted her head, but abandoned the question.

The situation was desperate. The knight took a step back and lowered his head slightly.

“———”

He said something she could not hear and held up his long rifle.

At the same moment, Sayama moved.

He waved his left arm toward the knight. The paper cup in that hand flew toward the knight while scattering its contents. The knight held his shield up to knock away the cup.

Shinjou stared at the half of the knight’s body that was now wide open.

Sayama raised his right hand. That was the signal.

“Now!”

Shinjou aimed and squeezed the trigger. She aimed for his body. That was her limit.

But a sudden voice came from below.

“Why aren’t you aiming for the head? …You always have been soft.”

It was Itaru. And he did not stop speaking there.

“If you shoot at his body, his armor will deflect it. If you do not kill the knight, ''he'' might die.”

Her hands holding the grip began trembling at the word “he”.

Shinjou suddenly recalled what had happened the previous night. She recalled the instant in which she had been unable to do anything.

And so she tightened her grip on the trigger. She tried to fire as soon as possible.

She squeezed it. And at the same moment, Itaru shouted at her. His powerful tone of voice lacked any hint of a smile.

“Kill him!!”

Shinjou’s shoulders shook and she squeezed the trigger. But that action did nothing.

There was no gunshot, no recoil, and no bullet flying out. There was nothing.

As she had tried to pull the trigger, the grip had fallen from her hands. Her grip had no strength. The handgun hung down from her fingertips by the trigger guard as her opened hands trembled.

She could not fire. And as soon as she realized that…

“Ah!”

The trembling of her hands spread to her shoulders.

In the next moment, she heard a gunshot that had not come from her gun.

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 8|Chapter 8]]
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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 10|Chapter 10]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 8

2026-07-03T04:20:21Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 8: Chasing the Past==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0225.png|thumb]]
''If the past lies before your eyes

''What are you as you view it?

''Surely, you would not even be yourself

After a bit over an hour of being shaken on the train from Akigawa, Sayama arrived at Tokyo Station.

After leaving the station building, it was only a straight path to the Imperial Palace.

“I was called to…the remains of Honmaru in the East Garden.”

Wearing a gray suit, Sayama entered through the front gate, passed through a gap in a stone wall almost ten meters tall, and made his way to the top of a hill.

The area inside was large. The air felt cold in the shadow below the stone wall and he walked on and on up a slope.

After making it to the top of the asphalt slope, he found an open area covered in grass.

To the north of the open area was the giant raised foundation for the main tower of a Japanese castle. The open area itself was two hundred meters square and surrounded by pine trees and thickets. The lawn was divided in two by the asphalt path cutting down the middle, but it was not off limits.

The sounds of the city could be heard in the distance. Those sounds were so faint they felt like something from a dream. It was all coming from beyond the trees surrounding the area.

And when Sayama entered this area, he saw no other visitors.

He stopped his hurrying feet and took a breath.

As usual, Baku was sleeping in his left breast pocket. The watch on his left wrist told him it was 1:10 PM. He had made it in time. Now he only needed to find them.

…''Where is Shinjou-kun?

As Sayama looked around the deserted area, he realized something.

He was supposed to be looking for Ooshiro, not Shinjou.

He gave a bitter laugh. It shook his lungs slightly and he could feel it reverberating in his left arm.

Suddenly, he heard the grass rustling.

It was the wind.

The wind was blowing in from the east. He turned toward the rest area in that direction and the wind blowing up from the bottom of the hill shook the leaves of the trees and thickets on the slope that contained a viewing platform.

The wind moved the trees and the atmosphere moved.

Someone walking in front of the bench installed on the western wall of the concrete rest area displayed the movements of the wind.

It was as if she was playing with the strong wind.

She had long black hair. Slender, glossy bunches of her hair were dancing and undulating in the blowing wind.

The orange shirt below the hair and the white trousers supporting her slender figure were also blown around a bit as the wind picked up strength. He saw her shoulder, her back, and her other shoulder. She slowly lifted her head as her hair whipped around.

He saw her narrow black eyes and her lips with a hint of teeth between them.

Sayama’s gaze met with those smiling eyes.

In that moment, she stopped walking. Still smiling, her mouth opened.

“Sayama-kun.”

Sayama opened his mouth as well.

“Shinjou-kun.”

The wind gave one last gust. Her hair swayed. Sayama watched that black glossy movement.

“…”

It danced up and fell back down.

In the next moment, Shinjou brushed the hair on her shoulder back. Her black hair spilled from her shoulder and down her back.

When Shinjou looked back at him, her head was tilted a bit in puzzlement as she smiled.

“Good day, I suppose. What am I supposed to say at times like this?”

Sayama nodded in response. He looked behind Shinjou and spotted Ooshiro raising his right thumb from where he sat on the bench. Sayama ignored him and spoke to Shinjou.

“It is good to see you again, Shinjou-kun.”

They began their talk at the bench Ooshiro had been sitting on.

Sayama sat in the afternoon sun with Shinjou on his right and Ooshiro on his left.

Shinjou sat with her legs held together and Sayama sat deeply on the bench with his elbows resting on his lap. On the other hand, Ooshiro sat with one leg up on the bench as if sitting partially cross-legged.

Sayama spoke first and it was in the form of a question.

“You said you would explain the details of the Concept War and the Leviathan Road, but why did you call me here?”

“Is it enough of an explanation to say it was to help persuade you? I actually have a fair bit of influence, so I reserved the place for us.”

“UCAT can do that?”

“We’re doing it right now. Speaking inside the Imperial Palace itself would have been best, but I’m not allowed inside after the fireworks incident…”

Sayama ignored that comment and looked around the area. It was true that there were no other visitors.

However, there was a single open-air café on the north end of the deserted area. A white mobile kitchen set was surrounded by three tables with white parasols containing the UCAT logo.

No one was working at the café, but two customers sat below one of the parasols.

“I had the guards leave as well. This is important, after all.”

As he spoke, Ooshiro pulled a black change purse from his pocket. He tossed it into Shinjou’s hands. She looked confused as she caught it.

“Umm…What is this?”

Sayama nodded and answered, “Most people refer to it as an allowance.”

“Wow. I’ve never gotten one before.”

“I see. You must be happy. But be careful. Lonely old men like him think they can buy relationships with money.”

“…I think that’s different from the kind of allowance I’ve heard about.”

“Just go buy some drinks,” cut in Ooshiro. “You can spend 300 yen.”

“In that case, get me an iced tea, Shinjou-kun. You can order whatever you want.”

“Um, Mikoto-kun. Why did you say nothing about my drink?”

“That café’s sign says drinks cost 150 yen.”

“What? When did Japan’s prices get so high! I’m shocked!”

“Old man, you should return to the mountains of Okutama. Tokyo is a dangerous place.”

“You two sure get along well…” said Shinjou with a bitter smile.

She stood the coin purse up in her hand, took out exactly 450 yen in change, and handed the coin purse to Ooshiro. He took it and spoke in a completely serious tone of voice.

“I would like a hot red bean soup.”

“I doubt they have it, but I’ll do my best…”

As he listened to her footsteps across the gravel growing more distant, Sayama sighed.

“Once our drinks arrive, can we finally discuss the Concept War?”

Brunhild drew a brush across the large canvas.

After refining the shade of green on the palette, she added leaves to the forest that had already been painted over countless times. The black cat was curled up at her feet.

“You sure are taking your time with this. And to think you don’t spend any time at all on your makeup.”

“Do you want your prided black fur to be green?” she asked with a slight smile on her lips.

The cat looked up to find Brunhild’s eyebrows as well as the corner of her mouth raised a bit.

A quiet song could be heard on her breaths. The rhythm Brunhild was subconsciously singing was the hymn Silent Night. The cat moved its ears to listen to the song.

“Is painting that much fun?” it asked.

The song stopped, but the brush did not.

“Yes. It is the one thing Lady Gutrune taught me that I can continue doing. How could I not enjoy that?”

“But you always paint scenery I have never seen.”

The cat hung its head down and Brunhild’s hand finally stopped. She looked down at the cat. However, the cat only yawned once with its head still hanging down.

Brunhild’s shoulders drooped as she smiled bitterly. She placed the palette and brush on a table to the side.

“Do you know what the 1st-Gear world was like?”

After thinking for a bit, the black cat raised its head and shook its head.

Brunhild nodded and picked the cat up. She held it to her chest and stood back up.

The cat panicked and asked, “Shouldn’t you be painting?”

“Shouldn’t you be heading out to do your job soon? Earlier, I saw your observation target leaving down below.”

“You’re the one charged with observing him, so why am I always the one going after him? I was born here. I’m not a 1st-Gear creature.”

“Don’t be like that. But if that is how you are thinking, maybe I should teach you something about 1st-Gear before you leave.”

“Hmm,” thought the cat before finally nodding.

Brunhild smiled slightly and said, “Good, good. Come to think of it, you haven’t been told anything since the ceremony. You might have picked a bit up from what Venerable Hagen has told you, though.”

“Most of that is just fragments of information. People who know the whole story tend to omit aspects they assume everyone knows.”

“True. Sorry.”

She approached the blackboard at the back of the classroom.

The blackboard was stained with a pale whiteness. Brunhild placed one of her right fingers on it and slowly drew an oblong ellipse. She covered the top of the ellipse with a semicircle.

“This is 1st-Gear. This at the bottom is the ground and this at the top is space.”

“Wow, that’s lazy…Ow ow ow ow! Ahh! M-mommyyy!!”

“You were originally an abandoned cat, so you don’t remember your mother.”

“D-don’t be so rude. Of course I remember her.”

“Then tell me about her. If your information is accurate, I can find her for you.”

“Well, let’s see… I think she was a female that was older than me…ow ow ow! I give, I give!”

Brunhild sighed and flicked the ellipse on the blackboard with her finger.

“Listen. This is 1st-Gear.”

Before the black cat could say anything, she scratched the blackboard with her nails. The cat cowered down and trembled at the high-pitched noise, so she continued her explanation.

“Essentially, it is a table of land floating in nothingness. The sun circles through the sky during the day, sleeps and becomes dark at night, and then returns to its original position. …We do not have what Low-Gear refers to as a moon.”

“That sounds like ordering a plain pizza. Isn’t it boring without any toppings like the moon?”

“Think of it as having the beauty of simplicity. You do not worry about something that was never there in the first place. …Although it is true the land is limited. Even so, the people and animals managed to live on as they adjusted to each other.”

“Was it peaceful?”

“Yes. The Concept War may have continued for a long time, but the king only prepared two gates that an enemy could easily enter through. …The knights and mechanical dragons fought in the war, but we rarely invaded anyone. We had pride. We would survive until the time of destruction and then the world would judge us.”

“The time of destruction, hm? …That was what this world calls 1999, when every single Gear would collide. Only the Gear with the most positive concepts would survive. Personally, I don’t see how 1st-Gear’s method of remaining on the defensive could let you survive.”

“It was a matter of pride. We were fighting to protect ourselves, so we could be proud of what we were fighting for. …The king disliked the idea of fighting to destroy our opponent. Especially after the queen died in the Concept War.”

“So did the king leave the princess with Venerable Regin because she reminded him of the queen?”

“Yes. It was after that when Lady Gutrune took me in within the forest. …And a while after that, the Low-Gear man made his way in through a temporary gate.”

Brunhild looked behind her. On the large canvas there, a single area was not painted.

“…”

Brunhild silently walked over to the back of the art room. A locker was located there.

The label on the locker said it was for the club head. She placed a hand on its door and spoke.

“Seeing the world close in and be destroyed was a dreadful sight. We watched it to the end by the gate, knowing that the world had gone too far in the negative direction to be fixed even if we retrieved the holy sword Gram. We saw it all disappear into nothingness.”

“…”

“Do you know why the king prepared only two of the gates needed to attack other Gears and created mechanical dragons based on 5th-Gear technology despite the risks? After losing the queen in the Concept War, he did everything he could to protect 1st-Gear. It was all for the bare minimum of offense and defense needed. That was the pride of 1st-Gear. We would do whatever it took to survive until the time of destruction.”

“What were you going to do then?”

“If 1st-Gear was to disappear, we would proudly surrender to the victorious Gear. …Even if we were surrendering, it was assumed that Gear would approve of our method of fighting.”

She smiled bitterly. And the bitter smile continued on to form a full smile.

“1st-Gear knew it was a weak Gear. …And that was taken advantage of. Once we were destroyed, it was obvious we had done nothing but run from the fight. There is no pride in that.”

As Brunhild spoke, she knocked on the locker door.

With the sound of a hinge, the door opened on its own. And inside the tall, narrow locker was…

“The 1st-Gear concept weapon, Requiem Sense<ref>Requiem Sense is German for Requiem Scythe</ref>.”

It was a giant scythe with the blade folded up. A supporting grip stuck perpendicularly from the long handle so that it could be used in fields. The blade that was the true essence of a scythe was folded down in both directions from the decorative attachment at the top, but just the frontmost portion of the blade was over a meter long.

And this scythe’s ability went beyond its form.

Small lights began to gather around the opened locker. They were bluish-white lights that resembled fireflies. Those lights trailed light behind themselves as they gathered around the locker and gradually grew larger.

Brunhild stared at the blade which had some kind of writing engraved on it.

“This scythe stores the souls it hears. It is the underworld itself. Venerable Hagen possessed it as the chief administrator of the underworld, but…”

The black cat reached a paw out toward the lights. It tried to touch one, but its paw passed right through it. Brunhild gave a small laugh.

“It’s no use. But it was about ten years ago that this much light became visible here in Low-Gear. Before that, nothing was visible without preparing a concept space. …This Gear is slowly being damaged by the negative concepts and the Concept Cores of each Gear are reacting.”

“Are the souls of Lady Gutrune and the others inside that blade?”

“Most likely. But with so many souls inside, we would never see them clearly. Not unless something caused them to separate from all the others.”

Brunhild snapped her right fingers.

The locker slowly closed and the surrounding light vanished.

Brunhild then lowered the black cat to the floor.

“Now, it is time for your job. …You know where your observation target was headed, right? Use the abilities given to you as a familiar to follow him into a concept space or wherever else he might go.”

Shinjou soon returned with three cups in her hands.

She glanced back at the café behind her with a slightly surprised look.

“It really was a UCAT café. They all looked so bored.”

“How about you say they were working hard to make it look more convincing?” said Ooshiro in resignation.

Next to him, Sayama took a cup with a straw in it. The aroma coming from it told him it was plain black tea. Shinjou seemed to have orange juice.

“Ooshiro-san, they did not have hot red bean soup…so I got you one hundred percent juice instead.”

“I see. That is a healthy choice. Thank you.”

Ooshiro raised his right thumb and audibly drank through the straw.

Just as he did, Shinjou added, “It’s salted beef tongue juice.”

Ooshiro began choking magnificently, but Sayama ignored him and smiled at Shinjou.

“That is quite an exciting choice. And technically, it is not juice.”

“But this is a UCAT café. They said it has pieces of beef tongue in it to really bring out the flavor of the ingredients. Oh, and it was him over there that suggested it.”

Sayama looked over. Under a parasol sat two people who were difficult to tell apart in the shadow. One of them was raising a hand.

As Ooshiro kneeled on the ground in front of the bench, he commented, “So it was his doing.”

“Do you know him?”

“I’m sure you will be introduced to him later. More importantly, let us get to why I chose this place for today.”

Ooshiro sat back on the bench and looked toward Sayama’s chest. Baku poked his head out from his suit’s breast pocket.

Ooshiro held his hand out and Baku silently let the man pet his head.

“Did he show you the past?”

“He showed me a strange dream.”

“Eh? Of what?”

“Well,” Sayama nodded. “A one-armed old man approached while out of breath in a grassy plain surrounded by a forest. When I turned around, I saw a giant tower.”

“If we view that as a dream, the one-armed old man would represent your true character and the giant tower would represent the scope of your perversion. What do you think?”

“I am too perverted for even myself to see the top when I look up? …That is quite something.”

“No, that is not what I meant… Your description of the dream lacked a lot of information, didn’t it?”

“It did. Everything the man in the dream wore was old. I would guess it dates back to before the war. And the man referred to the tower as Babel. What was it?”

A smile appeared on Ooshiro’s lips and he raised his right thumb.

“Excellent. It seems Baku has already approved of you. Baku will show his owner whatever truth they subconsciously wish to see. If you tell him your current intentions in words, he can show you the past of different Gears. However, you cannot see it if you do not wish to. Remember that.” Ooshiro stood up and put his hands in his suit pockets. “It was all decided here before World War Two. At the beginning of the Showa era, a scholar noticed Babel and took action.”

“…Who was he?”

“A man who worked as a professor at First Higher School – what is now known as Tokyo University – as a technology advisor for Izumo Steel, the predecessor to IAI. He went on to found your school and made the original proposal for Izumo’s National Defense Department. His name was Kinugasa Tenkyou,” said Ooshiro. “He discovered some ruins on a trip through the Kinki region. That was Babel. After the events of the dream you saw, he entered Babel. He described Babel as being strange ruins. No one fully believed him. After all, he was the only one able to enter Babel.”

“I find it hard to believe, but did those ruins have some sort of security mechanism?”

“Yes. For some reason only he, the initial discoverer, was able to pass through that mechanism. At the time, people accused him of rigging it so he could monopolize the knowledge inside. However, he asked for no compensation from Izumo and revealed everything he learned within, so those suspicions eventually disappeared. Izumo quickly entered the aviation and electronic industries, so it gained a position as a special research institute for the military. And eventually,” he tapped at the asphalt with his toes, “a certain proposal was made right here. It was 1933. As Japan was preparing its military, the most powerful person in the country was troubled by one thing: Did this country truly approve of him?”

“…”

“And so this powerful person confided in a soldier who had worked as his chamberlain in the past. He wanted to do everything possible to protect the country from the rest of the world, so he wanted to know if the country could do anything from its position as the land of the gods.”

Ooshiro lowered his gaze.

Sayama felt their gazes meet.

And then he felt a small movement in his left breast pocket.

It was Baku.

Baku stuck up out of the pocket.

And then Sayama saw the past.

Sayama existed as nothing but vision. He was in the same open space as before.

However, it looked different. The trees surrounding it were shorter and the path was made of dirt instead of asphalt.

The biggest difference was the absence of the distant noises of the city.

''This is the past,'' realized Sayama.

A single table was set up where the café had been a moment before.

Two figures sat below the large white parasol.

Sayama moved toward them.

The first was a middle-aged gentleman wearing a white shirt and brown pants.

The second was an elderly soldier wearing a white military uniform.

The soldier had two maps spread out on the table.

They formed a world map centered on Japan.

The soldier opened his mouth to speak. Sayama heard two different voices. In addition to the actual words spoken in the past, he heard the meaning of those words in his own language.

“The Izumo Aviation Institute has an old professor named Professor Tenkyou. He developed this odd theory known as the Divine States-World Interaction Theory. According to this theory, the layout of ley lines gives Japan a layout identical to the entire world.”

“Oh?” The middle-aged gentleman nodded and pushed his glasses up his nose. “What exactly does this man propose?”

“Japan’s shape causes the Divine States to correspond to the continents of the world. All of those continents possess ley lines and all of those ley lines coincidentally pass through Japan. Or so his theory says.” The elderly soldier pulled a fountain pen from his chest and held the map down with his hand. “I will now indicate where the ley lines connect.”

The middle-aged gentleman nodded and the soldier brought the fountain pen to Japan.

He drew a ring of ink from Honshu’s Tohoku region to Chubu region. He then drew a circle over East Asia. The top of the circle covered the Soviet Union and China and the bottom reached Burma. Lastly, he connected the two circles with a line.

“Tohoku to Chubu corresponds to East Asia. The coast starting at the northeast is the coast along the Soviet Union, Tokyo Bay is the Yellow Sea, the Izu Peninsula is Thailand, Shizuoka is India, Ise Bay is the Persian Gulf, and the Kii Peninsula is the Arabian Peninsula.”

“What part of Japan corresponds to Japan as a part of the world?”

“Japan and the Philippines are the Izu Islands. When looking at this world map, Japan’s prided Mount Fuji fits perfectly with the location of Mount Everest above India.”

The soldier drew a circle around Honshu’s Kinki region to its Chugoku region, drew a circle around Europe, and connected them with a line.

“Lake Biwa is the Caspian Sea and the nearly enclosed Osaka Bay is the Black Sea. The Kojima Peninsula is Greece and the area around Kure is the Italian Peninsula. Tsushima is Great Britain, the Shimane Peninsula is Norway, and Sado is the Arctic islands.”

The soldier paused for a moment.

However, the gentleman said nothing. He remained silent.

After a few seconds, the soldier’s hand moved once more. He drew circles around Kyushu and Africa before connecting them with a line.

“Other than having Madagascar correspond to the area around Tanegashima, you can see the similarity in shape.”

“Then does Shikoku correspond to Australia?”

“Exactly.”

The soldier drew circles around Shikoku and Australia and connected them. He then drew circles around Hokkaido and the Americas and connected them.

“Hokkaido’s Oshima Peninsula is Alaska. The central portion is North America. Nemuro and the four northern islands can be thought of as South America. Antarctica is covered in ice and most of the land is below the ocean surface, so the portion of Japan’s geography that protrudes onto the bottom of the ocean on the Pacific side corresponds to it.”

“I see. And that is called the Divine States-World Interaction? What good is this absurd idea?”

“According to Professor Tenkyou, the whole influences the part and the part influences the whole. If Japan possesses the layout of the world due to the world’s ley lines passing through, he suggests we could influence the world from here.”

“How exactly?”

“All things are created from waves just as sound is and the ley lines of feng shui are vibrations – or waves – of the earth. In that case, if we can strengthen the amplitude of those vibrations, we can stimulate the earth’s ley lines as they pass through Japan. That could allow Japan to take the earthly energy of those other parts of the world so as to protect the country.”

Once the soldier made it that far, the middle-aged gentleman nodded as if urging him on.

The soldier bowed and said, “The Izumo Aviation Institute will create a National Defense Department and facilities for stimulating the ley lines located around Japan. The Izumo Aviation Institute has already appropriated funds for these facilities and can act at any time. They say they can grasp the flow of the ley lines around the world using the flow through the ley lines here and that they can increase Japan’s earthly energy.”

“So in other words, they can read ahead what will happen in the world while also strengthening Japan. Perhaps strengthen it to the point that it could be revived even if it was about to sink into the ocean.”

The soldier gasped at that last comment from the gentleman. However, he then nodded.

That small sign of understanding led the gentleman to ask another question.

“What do they say?”

“Simply that they wish for the National Defense Department to be untouchable.”

“Then they had better show results.”

“I will have them read something from the flow of the world within the week. …The world is in upheaval at the moment. If they predict this accurately, you will trust them.”

“If they do, I will approve the creation of the Izumo Aviation Institute’s National Defense Department.”

“Understood. It would be unprecedented, but they ask to be treated as a shrine belonging to the Imperial Household Department. That way, the ley line alterations can be done as Shinto rituals. They will submit a report once a month as a form of fortune-telling.”

The soldier folded up the map.

With the sound of the paper, the past also folded in.

Sayama’s consciousness slowly folded toward reality and he awoke.

“Oh.”

The next thing he knew, he was sitting on the bench. It seemed Shinjou had seen the same thing while sitting to his right. Her face was pale and she was looking forward with unfocused eyes.

“Ah…”

Shinjou’s shoulders jumped and she turned toward Sayama. He nodded to calm her.

To his left, Ooshiro narrowed his eyes in a smile yet spoke in an indifferent voice.

“It seems the civilization which built Babel had a complete understanding of concept theory. Professor Kinugasa used the knowledge he gained there to perform tests on influencing space with vibration waves. He chose the ley lines for these tests. All of that about protecting the country was mostly an excuse made up for this important person. In the end, it is unknown if they actually read the ley lines or if they merely made educated guesses, but the Izumo Aviation Institute correctly predicted the Nazis taking political control in Germany and Japan withdrawing from the League of Nations. After that, the National Defense Department was created.”

“Then was that-…?”

Before Sayama could continue, he was cut off by another voice in front of him.

“That was the beginning.”

“!?”

He reflexively sent a sharp look forward and found two people standing there.

He recognized them.

It was the white-haired man and the maid girl from the Okutama-bound train the day before.

The only difference from then was that the man in a black suit was supporting himself with a cane in his right hand. Just like on the train, the man had a smile on his lips.

“Sounds like they weren’t thinking at all, doesn’t it? It is true the world and Japan are connected by the ley lines. But they did not understand what that called in. At the time, no one knew about the Concept War. If only they had been a little smarter.”

“What a rude man,” muttered Sayama as he stood up. “Who are you? Wearing all black and not providing a greeting shows a complete lack of taste and manners.”

He felt a tug on his right arm. He turned around to find Shinjou holding his right sleeve.

The ends of her eyebrows were lowered and she was shaking her head.

“That is the supervisor of Team Leviathan. He is Ooshiro Itaru-san, the son of this Ooshiro-san.”

“What? This guy with horrible taste is?”

Sayama looked over at the father who was wearing a brown suit and holding salted beef tongue juice. When their gazes met, the man raised his right thumb. Sayama ignored him and turned back to Itaru in this black suit.

“I suppose you can’t fight it when bad taste runs in the family…”

“Sayama-kun, that has nothing to do with this,” said Shinjou as she tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

“I apologize,” spoke up the maid standing next to Itaru. She moved in between Itaru and Sayama before looking around the area. “This may be a bother, but would you please listen? I have detected some strange child string vibrations for a while now. They are not registered with me. …They are coming from that direction.”

She pointed to the northwest which was to Sayama’s right.

The grassy open area was located in that direction. Everyone but them had supposedly been cleared out of that area.

However, some shadows had appeared there at some point.

It was a group of dark green shadows.

The color came from the cloaks they all wore.

There were eleven of them. And it was hard to simply say it was a group of people. Sayama saw some silhouettes that he doubted were human.

…''Are these comrades of the werewolf from yesterday?

The maid kept her gaze on them but asked the group from UCAT a question.

“You have no concept weapons or other armaments, correct?”

Ooshiro Kazuo nodded.

“Bringing that sort of thing was your job.”

“Tes. The enemy is reading in the child string vibration of us and the surrounding space… They have finished. Our reinforcements waiting below are hurrying here. They will arrive in approximately five minutes. It may be a bother, but please withstand any attacks the enemy might send your way.”

“For five minutes?”

“No, for three. …After that, I will use the weapons I have prepared.”

“You are quite the courageous maid. What is your name?”

“I am Sf.”

Sf gave an expressionless bow and Sayama nodded.

“Your name and master may have terrible taste, but your choice in actions is a different story. I need to make some changes to my estimation of you.”

“Thank you very much. …Here comes the concept space. It is a standard type using the writing system,” she said quietly.

They all turned toward the group of enemies.

A woman standing at the front of the dark green group held up a metal tube-like object in each hand. They were about thirty centimeters long.

“Those are the collections of concept texts used by 1st-Gear,” said Itaru with a slight smile still on his face.

The woman let go of the metal tubes. They fell through the air and struck the grassy ground.

As soon as they landed, the tubes spread out like blooming flowers.

What appeared from within was…

…''Metal plates?

They were small bundles of metal plates that looked like tanzaku.

Some kind of writing appeared to be engraved on the surface of the metal plates and those plates scattered through the air as the tubes bloomed. There were more than several hundred of them and they flew through the air like a blizzard.

The metal plates emitted by the two tubes struck each other, glowed, made noise, and disappeared.

A high-pitched noise could then be heard.

It sounded like a metallophone being played or a bell being rung on the hour. That series of short metallic noises changed to a deep clear noise.

Sayama realized the noise was rushing past them.

And at the same time, he heard a voice. It was the voice that informed him the world was changing. He had heard this voice the previous night when entering the forest and when entering that underground passageway in UCAT. He recognized the voice.

It was his own.

He had not spoken a word, yet he heard a voice similar to his own in his ear.

Sayama spoke. The world worked through him to inform him of the change.

He figured the others must be connected to the world via themselves in the same way. He listened closely and could indeed hear the world saying, “I am changing”.

A few voices he could not quite hear repeated themselves to construct the foundation of this space.

And then an announcement with discernible meaning came. This was the absurd theory created by bringing together countless concepts. This was the concept text applied to this concept space.

—'''On this planet, south is down.

—'''Writing possesses power.

Two voices. This was a combination of more than one concept text.

In response, the watch on Sayama’s left wrist vibrated. He looked down and saw the words he had heard scrolling across the watch’s black face in red text. And the instant after he read those words…

The world literally turned on its side.

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 7|Chapter 7]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 9|Chapter 9]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 7

2026-07-02T03:45:43Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 7: A Peaceful Morning==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0199.png|thumb]]
''An unfamiliar memory becomes a linchpin

''It holds one in place

''And informs one of something

Sayama was in a grassy plain.

He had no body. Only his vision floated there.

As he glanced around with that vision, he could see the plain was surrounded by cedar trees. The sky above his head seemed to stretch on forever and a mountain range could be seen beyond the forest. When Sayama saw the cirrus clouds crossing the sky, he finally began to think.

…''Is this a dream?

It had to be. Only his thoughts existed in what seemed like another reality.

Was this scene drawn from his memory or created from a mixture of memories? Sayama could not tell. However, Sayama decided this was not actually a dream. The wind, sky, and rustling forest were all too noisy. He could sense the movement and disorder that only real objects held.

The fact that he could feel the wind told him he had his senses.

…''Then can I speak?

“———”

He had no voice. But he could move. Instead of trying to walk, he had to create a feeling like he was tilting his body forward. His body still did not seem to exist, but his vision moved.

And then he heard a sound from the right.

…''?

With that voiceless question, he turned toward the sound. He found a man leaving the forest in the distance. He appeared to be in the gap between middle-aged and elderly. He had graying hair, a slender face, and a lean body. He wore a heavy brown coat meant for mountain climbing. The leather coat had fur added and Sayama guessed that it was quite expensive.

The man was running with the knapsack over his right shoulder shaking back and forth.

He was running toward Sayama’s location and seemed to be chasing something.

He opened his mouth and white puffs of breath escaped.

Sayama heard him say, “It… It really was here!”

From the sound of his voice, his throat had to be very dry.

The man fell to his knees, got back up, and dropped the knapsack from his right shoulder countless times as he ran. As the white puffs of his breathing grew larger and he fell to his knees yet again, he tossed the knapsack aside.

He fell forward once and his right hand reached the ground.

He stood up. He began running once more. He ran and ran some more. He continued in a straight line toward Sayama.

He approached so close Sayama felt he could have reached out and touched the man. At that point, Sayama noticed two things.

The first was that the man’s clothing was not modern.

The second was that the man was missing his left arm.

The design of his leather coat and his pants was very rough. None of the emblems one would expect on mountain climbing gear was in evidence. Sayama took a closer look at the mountain boots treading on the grass.

…''Military boots?

They were antiques made of real leather. As the man ran in those boots and his body swayed, it was clear that his left sleeve had nothing in it. The large leather coat’s sleeve held its form well, so Sayama had not noticed until now.

Sayama instinctually took a step back from the man running toward him.

Sayama did not know who the man was, but he had a feeling he had seen the man somewhere before.

…''Who is he?

At some point, the man had started clutching a machine in his right hand. It looked like a black pocket watch and it had several long hands and short hands.

And then Sayama looked at the man’s face. His thin face had the beginnings of a beard and he was breathing quickly and shallowly. However…

…''He is smiling? No. That is not a smile. That is joy.

This was the expression of a man who had had some wish granted or who had achieved something.

…''I cannot even guess what would give me a look like that.

Just as Sayama had that thought, the man cut by beside him.

While existing as nothing but his vision, Sayama sighed. He would no longer be able to see the man’s expression. The man had passed by, so turning around would only show him the man’s back.

However, Sayama still turned around. He wanted to see what it was the man sought.

…''But there should only be a forest that way.

While taking a step back, Sayama turned around.

And he saw a giant shadow.

“!?”

It was a tower.

A giant tower filled almost his entire vision. It started on the grassy plain and continued all the way up into the heavens.

Beyond the bluish-black shadow, white clouds wrapped around the wind. He looked up, but could not see the top of the tower. Because it stretched up vertically, he could not see the very top from where he was. All he could tell was that the tower seemed to be made out of a collection of rectangles.

''What is this?'' muttered Sayama in his mind. ''That wasn’t there before.

But as soon as he began to wonder why, the answer came to him. That invisible wall in that Okutama forest. A concept space. His vision may have moved through to the other side of one of those walls.

He lowered his vision and found the man standing quite nearby. The man’s back was less than ten steps away. As he looked up at the tower, his warm breaths escaped as white puffs of wind.

Sayama heard the man speak.

“So it really was here…”

He breathed out, breathed in, and then dropped to his knees.

His butt then dropped to the ground, but he never stopped looking up.

“Babel… The relic that tells of the beginning of the Concept War!!” he spoke.

His words were like a punch to Sayama’s consciousness.

Sayama jumped up.

“!”

He now saw a different scene from that dream: the top bunk of a bunk bed, a blanket, a small room, a close-by ceiling, a fluorescent light sticking down, and sunlight entering through the window behind him.

There was no wind. There was only the sweat sticking to his body.

“This is…”

He finally realized it was his own room.

“What a pathetic way to wake up,” he sighed while lightly shaking his head. He realized that his body existed once more. The sweat he had felt was definitely there.

And his left arm hurt. The pain seemed to throb in the core of his body.

He frowned slightly and realized once more that this was not a dream.

He hung his head down and something fell from his head.

“…?”

Something small was moving atop his blanket. It was brown and had its limbs sprawled out.

He picked it up in his right hand and held it up to his face. It was Baku. Baku remained obediently still as he held its back between his fingers. When he saw the white fur covering its belly swelling out, Sayama recalled the conversation from the night before.

“You can show people the past in the form of dreams.”

In that case…

“Was that dream…something that actually happened?”

Baku only tilted its head. Realizing it may not have been able to make such distinctions, Sayama smiled bitterly at the fact that he was speaking to an animal. However…

…''Does that tower have something to do with another Gear?

“He called it Babel.”

He decided he would learn about all that this afternoon. Ooshiro had said he would be waiting for Sayama at the Imperial Palace. He did not know what would happen there, though. But for now…

“I have student council work with Izumo and Kazami before that,” he muttered.

He then wondered if Izumo knew about UCAT.

Shinjou sat as the scenery rushed by.

She was inside a train. She wore an orange shirt and white trousers while sitting on the end of the seats with a small bag on her lap. Ooshiro Kazuo sat next to her wearing a brown suit.

The two of them were riding a special express train from Oume to Tokyo. They were still only just out of Tachikawa to the west of Tokyo, but a great number of people had come onboard at Tachikawa. A wall of people had formed in front of Shinjou.

She spoke while embracing the bag on her lap.

“Wow. Ooshiro-san, there are so many people… Why are there so many people here?”

“That is a question of eros. Ha ha ha. …It is because the Japanese are a very diligent people.”

“…At what?”

As Shinjou frowned, Ooshiro smiled bitterly. His eyes bent like bows behind his glasses.

“By the way, why did you decide to go to the city for the first time? I thought the princess of UCAT was too sheltered to ask to go along for the preparations.”

“Well…” Shinjou slightly held her own body as if to hide her chest. However, her eyebrows rose slightly. “Sayama-kun doesn’t know that…so it’s okay. And the others will be coming later, right? I can’t be the only one not to go.”

“Does he weigh on your mind that much?”

Shinjou froze in place when asked that.

The train shook. Shinjou shook with it, but Ooshiro did not.

They were arriving at Kokubunji Station. Shinjou ended up leaning against Ooshiro until the train came to a stop. As the doors opened, Shinjou lowered her head slightly toward Ooshiro and fixed her position. She saw even more people board the train.

As the wall of people before her grew even denser, Shinjou let out a cry of wonder. She took a breath and looked over to find Ooshiro staring intently at her.

He was waiting for an answer. Once she realized that, Shinjou lowered her shoulders and shrunk down at the edge of the seat.

“Yes…He does,” she quietly admitted. Once she did that, she had to give a reason. “After all, I realized I never thanked him yesterday. …And I only learned after he left that his clothes, his watch, and his pens were all left for him by his grandfather.”

“He thinks of his relatives as strangers. …So does it really matter?”

Shinjou turned toward Ooshiro with a look of shock.

That was something Sayama had said when speaking with her the night before.

“I-I never told anyone about that. You don’t mean…”

Shinjou brushed her hand along her back and hair.

However, she found nothing.

Ooshiro said, “Do you want me to tell you how I knew that?”

“Y-yes.”

“I see. How honest of you. …But I will never tell y-…Wait, hey. Let go of that.”

“Shut up. No matter how high a position you have, this is an invasion of privacy.”

After tightening Ooshiro’s tie as much as she could, Shinjou let go.

“Last night has influenced me a lot,” she said.

“Like when you weighed Mikoto-kun’s life with the enemy’s life and you could not choose between them?”

“Yes. Saying it was my first time on the front lines is just an excuse. If that sniper shot had not come, who knows what would have happened.”

“You are thinking of this wrong. It is because that sniper shot was there that we do not know what would have happened.”

Shinjou looked up quickly and then hung her head down once more.

“You’re right,” she muttered as Ooshiro looked away from her.

“What a pain,” he said as he looked forward. “Your comrade said they fired because they had deemed the situation dangerous. Are you unable to trust your comrades?”

“I trust them. But…I could see the look of fear in our enemy’s eyes when he saw me. And I could see the injury on Sayama-kun’s left arm.”

“So even though you and your comrade were looking at the same thing, you saw something different. …When did you start talking about what sounds like a concept?” commented Ooshiro. He placed a hand on Shinjou’s head and stroked it. “Then how about you do whatever little you can do? Give flowers to the dead and alms to the living, and you can make up for your sins…or so they say.”

“Tes. But I do plan to give flowers after the autopsy. Same with the advance unit.”

“I see. That leaves alms for the living. You do understand that you are not the type that will be satisfied after simply thanking Mikoto-kun, don’t you?”

“Yes. …What am I supposed to do? Sayama-kun can’t use his left arm very much thanks to the injury.”

“Then you can act as a replacement for his left arm.”

“Eh?” Shinjou turned toward Ooshiro and frantically began waving her hands. “I-I can’t do that. That would require being with him at all times.”

“I know a good way you can do that. It may be a bit troublesome, but you, Shinjou Sadame-kun, do not have to go.”

A look of realization appeared on Shinjou’s face when she realized what he meant.

Ooshiro gave a deep nod of understanding and raised his right thumb.

“Well, a lot of people will be coming today: your comrades, him, and a connection to the past. …You can make up your mind there.”

As he spoke, an announcement sounded within the train. They were approaching Mitaka Station.

On that special express train, their stop at Tokyo Station was only seven stops away. The sound of the brakes reverberated through the floor and the train shook.

However, Shinjou no longer shook with it.

Sayama ate an early meal in the cafeteria building and headed for the Kinugasa Library. He walked along the walkway, cut across in front of the third year general school building, and made his way to the back of the second year general school building.

He wore his school uniform, but the left sleeve of the shirt was unbuttoned.

His left arm was still wrapped in bandages. He had removed them when bathing that morning, but he had held a large white bandage-like paper against the wound. It had hurt, but no blood had seeped into the paper. He assumed that meant a powerful hemostatic agent had been applied.

As he walked behind the second year general school building, he suddenly recalled having passed by this way the day before. He looked up at the distant emergency staircase on which he had spoken with Ooki.

…''A lot of strange things have happened in just one day.

It had been past 11:00 PM by the time he had returned to school the night before.

He recalled the conversation with Tamiya Kouji when the young man had dropped him off in front of the main entrance.

Tamiya had bowed and said, “If possible, come visit us sometime soon. My father, mother, and sister would be delighted.”

“I thought I made too much noise night after night with the after-test parties.”

“My father says you can have parties every night if you wish. Also, you may have been staying away, but you and Yume-sama still have rooms in the Tamiya household.”

“Don’t say that,” warned Sayama.

The Tamiya family controlled the entire underside of Akigawa city, but they always protected the Sayama family because they were greatly indebted to Sayama’s grandfather. He did not know what his grandfather had done, but they had protected his grandfather, his father, and himself. He had stayed with them up until middle school.

The relationship was less like that of a family and more like that of superior and subordinate.

Every member of the Tamiya family trusted Sayama as much as his grandfather.

This was not a nuisance. However…

“Will I ever be able to repay them in some way?” muttered Sayama as he walked on.

He checked the watch on his left arm.

The hands of the black watch he had received at UCAT pointed toward 8:32 AM. The arranged time had been nine sharp, but he guessed Izumo and Kazami would already be there. Those two were always together.

“They even go to the absurd extent of living in the same dorm room.”

He smiled bitterly. He did not know the details, but he knew there had been a large dispute over that. It was only natural that the actions of the heir to IAI would be talked about.

“Izumo is actually twenty since he used to live overseas and Kazami’s parents agreed to it. They just barely managed to get by thanks to that.”

He had gotten to know the two of them during the student council election, but he had heard rumors of the two even before then.

''You never know what will happen with relationships,'' thought Sayama as his bitter smile deepened.

He heard a bird chirping from the line of trees behind the school building. It was the voice of a baby bird asking for food. Sayama entered the school building’s back entrance as he listened to the bird.

He continued toward the Kinugasa Library on the western end of the first floor. As he passed through the dim central lobby, he noticed two figures approaching from the front entrance.

One was a girl and one was a cat.

The girl wore a blazer, had gray hair, and had purple eyes. The cat at her feet was black.

Sayama had seen her once before.

…''In March, we had a meeting between the new student council and the upcoming leaders of the different clubs. She was from the art club.

Her name was Brunhild Schild.

Her clothes, hairstyle, and lack of expression were all identical to when he had seen her at that meeting.

Only her eyes moved on that expressionless face.

Sayama realized she was looking at his left arm.

They passed by. As she moved away silently, Sayama gave her one parting glance.

…''It looked like she was measuring the extent of my wound.

Despite seeing his bandages and sling, she had not shown any curiosity, surprise, or fear. She had had the look of someone viewing something they had seen countless times before. While storing that look of hers in his memory, Sayama walked to the entrance of the library.

Brunhild entered the art room and locked the door from the inside.

Once all outside noise was gone, she took a breath. She glanced over at the window to ensure the curtain was closed as well.

Her gaze met with that of the black cat at her feet and she snapped her fingers with a blue stone gripped in her right hand.

With that clear noise, Brunhild asked the cat a question.

“Why did you disappear in your cat form last night?”

“I went to a small meeting. Even those from the peaceful faction of 1st-Gear have a lot of animals like me. I exchanged some information with them.”

“Did you learn anything?”

The cat nodded.

“Ooshiro Kazuo of Japanese UCAT plans to visit the Imperial Palace today. And the peaceful faction will be holding preliminary negotiations for the Leviathan Road tomorrow. It seems they were not given much notice about this.”

“…Is this Ooshiro stupid? If they rush things this much, the Royal Palace faction will panic and take action. They have been rejected by the peaceful faction too much already.”

“Yes. They all said the Royal Palace faction was at their wits’ end. …I hear they are poorly united on the inside. It seems the hawks plan to target Ooshiro Kazuo, but if that fails, the doves intend to surrender.”

“They…do not have a Concept Core. However, our leader, Venerable Hagen, does.”

“It will be difficult for them. When 1st-Gear was destroyed, a gate was opened in the royal palace and in the city. The royal palace one came out near UCAT and the nobles who possessed concept space technology escaped through it and became the Royal Palace faction. But they did not have the Concept Core. 1st-Gear’s Concept Core was split into two, but they had neither half.”

“Yes. The king split it into two for safety. The half containing the writing concept was used in the weapon concept reactor of Venerable Hagen’s mechanical dragon, Fafnir Custom.” Brunhild lowered her gaze. “The other half containing the world construction concept was stolen from the concept facility below the royal palace. Stolen by that Low-Gear man who took the holy sword Gram created by Doctor Regin. …It seems Doctor Regin joined with Fafnir to protect the Concept Core. He absorbed the Concept Core into the reactor.”

“I heard about that,” said the black cat. “The battle occurred in that facility below the royal palace you mentioned, right? The king, the princess, Fafnir, and that single Low-Gear man were there. By the time the rest of those in the castle arrived, it was all over and the world was beginning to collapse. When they saw Fafnir and the king dead, and the princess badly wounded, they decided the Low-Gear man had escaped after transferring the Concept Core from Fafnir’s reactor into the holy sword Gram.”

“Yes. According to Fasolt and the others who are now in the peaceful faction, even as she continued to bleed, Lady Gutrune told them the world would soon be destroyed. And Lady Gutrune even managed to call out to the city from the Royal Palace. She told them we had lost and that they needed to hurry to Low-Gear through the two gates.”

Brunhild sighed and scratched at her hair.

She walked over to the easel in the center of the art room.

The canvas with a forest painted on top sat on it. Brunhild stared at the blank space in the center where a cabin and some people still needed to be painted.

“This forest and everything else disappeared. All thanks to that man who came from Low-Gear and the holy sword Gram he stole. It seems he used the world construction concept inside Gram to destroy 1st-Gear.”

“How?”

“1st-Gear was a flat world. It was a closed world where the universe was shaped like a dome and had a clear end. …According to our estimations, the world construction concept was sent out of control and 1st-Gear continually degenerated inward until it formed a single point and disappeared.”

Brunhild formed an expression. Her eyes opened lightly and her lips formed a shallow smile.

“We lost many lives and our home. And I lost everything important to me. All we gained in return was defeat and the path to dependency. …And now Gram is sealed below IAI headquarters, so we cannot reach it. Fortunately, the Leviathan Road is beginning. We can negotiate to have Gram unsealed.” She looked down at the cat and spoke slowly. “Sixty years is a long time, isn’t it?”

Kinugasa Library was as long as four classrooms.

It was also as wide as two classrooms. It contained so much space it had to stick out from the school building.

Its structure was similar to the inner shell of a ship. The central portion was lowered down in steps and each level contained a space for tall bookshelves and a table for four. The bottommost level had a long wide space with not only a table and chairs but also decorative plants.

The table at the bottom of the library currently had four people using it.

One was Sayama with his uniform’s coat draped over his shoulders.

Across from him was Kazami wearing casual clothes and to the left of her was Izumo wearing a black track suit.

Across from Izumo and to Sayama’s left was Ooki wearing pajamas.

Sayama gathered documents on the table in one hand.

“That settles most of it. From what happened at last year’s invitation for new students, it might be safest to allow activities in the dorm hallways.”

“We need to make it very clear that the doors to the dorm rooms do not fall under the category of the hallways, though. The student council last year did not declare that, so the civil engineering club smashed holes in the dorm room doors when calling for new members.”

“They passionately said they would throw dynamite in if you did not join, right? What happened to the people who joined back then?”

“Starting the next day, they spent a month constructing a dam in Gunma for the new member training camp.”

“And so they had an excellent civil engineering club by the time they came back, hm? Brainwashing is a frightening thing. We need to nip that in the bud this year.”

“Yes,” said Kazami with a nod before turning toward Izumo. Sayama also turned to look at Ooki.

Ooki had her eyes cast down and her hands lightly clasped atop her lap. Her body was lightly rocking forward and backward as she dozed off.

Meanwhile, Izumo’s back was straight, his arms were firmly crossed, and he looked straight forward…all while fast asleep.

“Izumo’s eccentricities give him some convenient abilities. That must come in handy during long meetings.”

“Well, most of the time you and I can answer any questions as the vice president and treasurer. It makes me wonder why we even have a president… But to change the subject, what is that on your shoulder, Sayama?”

When Kazami looked over, Baku raised his head from where he had been sleeping on Sayama’s left shoulder.

“Is it an animal?’ she asked and stretched out her hand.

Baku stared at her before…

“Ah, it looked away,” she said in disappointment.

After seeing Baku lower his head once more, Sayama turned toward Kazami.

She sank down a bit into her chair and folded her arms behind her head.

“Do not worry about it, Kazami. He likely has yet to grow accustomed to his surroundings.”

“I want to touch him. My parents had a bird, so I could never have a cat or dog. …Ah.”

Kazami’s mouth hung open as she looked to Ooki next to Sayama.

To Sayama’s left, Ooki swayed. Before anyone could stop her, her forehead slammed into the table.

Ooki’s forehead reached the table with a thud and her voice leaked out.

“Ee…”

“Oh, Sayama. Looks like she’s gonna cry, so do something about it.”

“Such as?”

“Call out to her in a kind voice to calm her down or hit her even harder to knock her unconscious.”

“It would probably be even more amazing if I could do both at the same time.”

“Hwaaaahhh!”

“Wow, she’s really crying.”

Sayama decided to try to wake her up, but he realized he could not use his left arm.

He had no choice but to turn toward her and pat her on the back with his right hand.

“What is it, Ooki-sensei?”

While still lying face down on the table, Ooki coughed once and said, “A-all of a sudden… All of a sudden there was a thunk. I-it scared the crap out of me.”

“That last part was unnecessary. In fact, where did you learn that phrase? Well, anyway. Let me see your face.”

“Wh-why? Do you want to see me crying that badly?”

“No, the shock of the impact might have knocked a front tooth out of place or smashed the cartilage of your nose. If so, you need to hurry to an excellent cosmetic surgeon. …But do not worry. A yakuza family I know has an excellent one. Even if your pinky is-…gwoh.”

Kazami slapped Sayama after having circled around next to him at some point.

He fell from his chair and asked, “What are you doing to an injured person? We certainly have a cruel student council treasurer.”

“Shut up. C’mon, sensei. Your face is probably fine, so please look up.”

Sayama sighed and moved away from that scene of soothing. He gave Kazami a glance telling her to use his chair and then stared straight ahead. However, Izumo was still boldly remaining fast asleep, so there was no one to talk to.

A glance at his watch told him the time was 10:30 AM. The arranged time to meet in the city was one, so it was still too soon to head out if he was taking the train.

With nothing else to do, Sayama walked over to the stepped floor next to the table. He stood before a random bookshelf.

It was lined with hard cover books as thick as dictionaries. A placard at the top of the bookshelf said “mythology”. A series of eleven black-spined books had the author’s name written in gold thread. The name was Kinugasa Tenkyou. The publisher was Izumo Writings Department.

As Sayama read those two names, he called out, “Kazami.”

“What? I was just getting to the good part, so keep it short.”

“It is about the family of that man sleeping there with his eyes open. Have you heard anything about IAI from him?”

“About IAI? No. He says he plans to actually start studying when he gets to college, though.”

“I see,” was all Sayama said in reply.

However, he felt there was some sort of sign here.

The night before, he had visited an organization within IAI called UCAT. There, he had learned of ten alternate worlds. There had been a war known as the Concept War during World War Two and all of those alternate worlds had been destroyed.

That morning, he had been given a strange dream involving a giant tower named Babel.

And now he found these books on mythology in a school strongly backed by IAI.

“Eleven volumes…”

The ten alternate worlds plus this world made eleven.

…''Am I the one jumping to conclusions now?

Just as he began quietly laughing at his own thoughts, he heard Ooki’s voice.

“Are you interested in those books?”

He turned around to find Ooki sitting up with a red forehead. Kazami gave the OK sign behind her and nodded, so Sayama met Ooki’s gaze.

“Is there something special about them?”

“Yes, those books were written by the school’s founder.”

That much was obvious just from looking at the books, but Sayama let Ooki continue.

She wiped tears from her eyes and wiped her pajama sleeve on the table. She then let out a short groan.

“I heard everything about Kinugasa Tenkyou from the headmaster when I arrived here,” she said. “Despite being the founder, he never actually worked at the school. He worked with the Izumo company even before the war and was really well known in the fields of military and mythology. Are you familiar with the First Higher School?”

Kazami shook her head, but Sayama answered.

“It became the University of Tokyo.”

“It seems he worked as a professor there. In his research of Japanese mythology, he crossed the Izumo Province. That is how he gained his connections with the Izumo company.”

“Wow, you know a lot about this. This is the first time you’ve ever seemed like an actual teacher.”

“I would expect something like that from that wicked student over there, but you too, Kazami!?”

Sayama ignored Ooki and pulled out one of Kinugasa’s books. He took the first volume.

The book’s text was written horizontally. As he tried to get used to holding the book in his right hand, he noticed the cover was very worn out. He awkwardly opened it with just the one hand. It began with a world map and it wrote in detail about Norse legends while including black-and-white photographs and illustrations. The publication information said this was the first edition printed in 1934.

…''This must be valuable.

As he flipped through it, he found abundant illustrations and photographs, but…

“There is no photograph of Kinugasa himself.”

“According to Siegfried-san, he was injured during the Russo-Japanese War. Apparently, he disliked having his picture taken after that.”

“Does that old man know about all this? He is not here today, though.”

“Old man Siegfried has been feeding the chickens behind the dorms and the other birds in the area every morning. He opened up for us before heading out today. If there is something you want to know, why don’t you ask him?” suggested Kazami.

After a yawn, Izumo spoke up, “He was sent here from IAI, so he probably knows a lot. The person in charge here died about ten years ago, so he agreed to manage the place and search for any data the company needs.” Izumo stretched his arms up. “Now, what were we talking about, Chisato? Was it about the archery club wanting to have human target practice to invite new members in?”

“That was seven topics ago. We were discussing how to handle sleeping idiots.”

As Kazami grinned and held up her fists, Ooki moved away from her.

Ooki walked over to Sayama, her slippered feet creating muffled footsteps.

She stood beside him in her pajamas.

She ignored the repeated sounds of flesh being struck behind her and looked at the book in Sayama’s hand.

“It isn’t often you show interest in something, Sayama-kun. I think this is a good thing.” She yawned once and held a hand over her mouth. “Did you find an answer to that question from yesterday?”

“What was that?”

“What it is that you could get serious about…yawn.”

“Is that something to ask while yawning?”

“Oh, sorry, sorry. But when it comes down to it, I can be harsh. My motto is to be serious yet carefree so you don’t completely boil away. But can you remember one thing?”

“?”

Ooki used her finger to count the books Sayama had been looking at. She passed by in front of Sayama and her finger topped at the tenth volume.

“If you find something or someone you can get serious about, make sure not to destroy or fear either one. And…” She yawned and rubbed her eyes. “When those who rarely get serious finally do get serious, they can draw out a lot of power. Thinking that you cannot get serious means you are constantly thinking about getting serious.” She took a breath. “So you can do it. I guarantee it.”

“Ooki-sensei, I understand. …But that last comment was unnecessary.”

“Uuh,” groaned Ooki as Sayama glanced at his watch. It was almost eleven.

…''If I take a train that stops at every station and grab some lunch in the city, I can kill enough time.

Sayama nodded and decided to leave.

If he made his way to the Imperial Palace, he would find Ooshiro and maybe even Shinjou.

As he thought about UCAT and her, he suddenly recalled what Ooki had just said.

…''Becoming serious, hm?

He decided it was time to go.

Ooki was looking up at him with a puzzled look. Kazami was punching Izumo.

Sayama spoke to the girl.

“Kazami, I will be leaving now. Is that okay?”

“Die, die, die! …Sure, you can leave. …No, not you!”

“Which one of those was meant for me…?”

With a bitter smile, Sayama noticed it was sunny through the window between the bookshelves.

He could hear violent blows and could see a slightly stiff look on Ooki’s face, but it was a wonderful spring day outside.

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 6|Chapter 6]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 8|Chapter 8]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 6

2026-07-01T04:04:28Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 6: Their Impressions==
[[Image:OnC_v01_00169.png|thumb]]
''Fitting and unfitting

''To be together

''Is a complex sort of restraint

In a certain room, one could look out into the mountains and valleys of Okutama at night.

The aboveground portion of UCAT was disguised as an IAI transportation administration building. This room was on the top floor of that building.

Specifically, it was on the eastern end of the fifth-floor of that large white-walled building hidden in the mountains.

The private room was five meters square and had a single light and a single air conditioner on the ceiling. The walls and ceiling were white, so not a single dark color was visible. However, the floor was covered with disorderly shadows.

Books, documents, cardboard boxes, and packaging were piled up all across the floor. The area around the desk by the window was especially bad. The desk had several cluttered strata piled atop it.

A white-haired man was sitting between the desk and the window. He was wearing a white coat and was the man named Itaru that Sayama had met on the train.

He was sitting shallowly in a wooden chair with his sunglasses still on.

His hand was moving. He was folding a piece of paper.

He was making a paper airplane using a document from a pile on the desk. The text at the top revealed it had been sent to Ooshiro Itaru.

“This is how you deal with documents not even worth looking at.”

Ooshiro Itaru tightly folded one end of the paper, held it up, and aimed. He aimed at the room’s white door.

The pile of documents on his desk was in the way, so he had to lean out a bit.

And he threw it.

The sharply pointed paper airplane soared in a straight line toward the door.

But then the door opened and a girl entered.

This was the maid-uniform girl named Sf. She held a silver tray in one hand.

“Itaru-sama. I have brought your dinner,” she said just as the paper airplane struck her forehead.

With a small yet solid noise, the paper airplane bounced off. It rotated around and fell to the floor that was already cluttered with documents and boxes. Several other paper airplanes were already on the ground at her feet.

However, Sf did not even look at the paper airplane. She remained expressionless.

“Could you give some sort of reaction?” complained Itaru. “Something like, ‘You mustn’t make even more trash! Ukii!’ ”

“This has only altered the form of the trash from a sheet of paper to an airplane. Also, you never continue with the same task for long, so this flight test is unlikely to last long.”

“You’re so boring.”

“German UCAT created what was needed for the situation. According to my creator, I perfectly meet every one of your demands.”

“And that is why you are boring.”

“Thank you very much. It is my duty to meet your demands, Itaru-sama.”

With that said, Sf walked expressionlessly forward. She lightly crushed the paper airplane underfoot.

Sf walked lightly across that paper, other documents, and even the boxes. She finally arrived next to Ooshiro where he sat at his desk.

She bowed and held the silver tray forward. It contained a soup cup and a hamburger.

“This is a soup and a hamburger. Are you familiar with them?”

“Wow, I’ve never seen anything like them before! …And if you are displeased about something, just come out and say it.”

“Tes. …Thank you very much for the polite response.”

“You really are boring. So what is it?”

“These are one hundred percent chemical compounds. Not a single natural ingredient was used. UCAT completed the design as an experimental food and announced their research today, but it is not being sent out to be sold by IAI.”

“So it is a food that does not exist in this world but has been created in this world. That would probably sell.”

“I hear they have a large repertoire and the prototypes have been frozen. The head of the dining hall said they would be serving a few different patterns over the next year.’

“I see,” nodded Itaru.

Sf continued, “This provides worse balance when carrying it around than with the solid foods from before. Its performance and nutritional value remain unchanged, so I must deem it an inferior product as it is more difficult to carry and transport.”

“Just get used to it. The head of the dining hall is going to keep serving it until it’s gone no matter what you say.”

“Why? If I am not given a clear answer, I will request the previous type of food from the head of the dining hall.”

“Just think of it as humans needing human food just like dogs need dog food. And the same holds even if this human can no longer eat normal food.”

Without waiting for Sf to respond, Ooshiro took a bite of the hamburger. Cheese, onions, pickles, and beef were held between the buns. None of them were real.

He finished it in five bites and reached for the soup cup.

He gulped it down all at once.

“I thought it would be too hot, but that wasn’t bad.”

“Its temperature was quite high, so I stuck my finger in it on the way here to cool it. My internal temperature is kept low.”

“You really are a machine that meets my every demand. If I could return you, I would do so in a heartbeat.”

Saying that, Itaru returned the soup cup to the tray and wiped his hands on Sf’s apron.

He glanced up at her and said, “Not even a displeased look? I’m dirtying your equipment.”

“Do not worry. This apron is meant for you to wipe your hands on. I also have one for outings, office work, cleaning, receptions, sleep, and ceremonial occasions. This one functions as a disinfectant, so feel free to use it.”

“You are truly an amazing machine. Where can I send my thoughts and requests? Please tell me.”

“Tes. Please send any mail to the Sf assistance official within German UCAT.”

“…You really don’t know what a joke is, do you?”

“I will interpret that as a request, Itaru-sama…Oh.” Sf bowed and leaned forward. She adjusted the position of Itaru’s metal cane leaning up against the chair. Then, “I will be going.”

She turned to leave the room. Itaru called out to her.

“What’s my old man doing?”

“Kazuo-sama was at the first floor’s central entrance not long ago. He was with Shinjou-shi,” while still expressionless, she tilted her head slightly, “and Sayama Mikoto-shi who we saw on the train. It appeared they had discussed the Leviathan Road while underground.”

“Do you know the details?”

“Tes. Sayama Mikoto-shi was informed that there are ten alternate worlds known as Gears, that his grandfather worked with UCAT to destroy them, that the world is facing a crisis, and-…”

“And that he is to gain cooperation from the survivors of the other Gears by engaging in the postwar negotiations known as the Leviathan Road?”

“Tes. He was told to ask Shinjou-shi for any simple information he lacked. …Also, he was handed the sacred beast Baku from 7th-Gear. It is to help him by showing him the past.”

“When will that old man stop putting on airs? He should just tell the little shit to not even think about it.”

“Tomorrow, they will meet at the Imperial Palace at 1:00 PM to explain the details of the Concept War and of the current situation. The day after that, they will visit UCAT’s 1st-Gear reservation for preliminary negotiations with 1st-Gear’s peaceful faction.”

“Is this Sayama brat really willing to go that far?”

“No. According to Kazuo-sama, this is all tentative. Sayama Mikoto-shi can still reject the right his grandfather has left him. He is being told to make his decision after learning what the Leviathan Road truly is.”

“My old man’s gotten too soft. …Although he is the one that encouraged us on the verge of death way back when.”

“What is the objective of the Leviathan Road?”

“You want to know?”

“Not really, no.”

“Then I’ll tell you.” Ooshiro Itaru picked up a document from his desk. He folded it as he said, “1st-Gear through 10th-Gear were all created from their own unique concepts. We call those positive concepts. On the other hand, our Gear has nothing. The reason for this is simple: This Gear is created from negative concepts. Do you understand so far?”

“Tes.”

“The Concept War was fought by destroying the other Gears, but do you know what basis would have been used to determine which Gears were destroyed and which one survived when all the Gears collided in 1999?”

“No.”

Ooshiro Itaru gave a bitter smile and added another fold to his paper.

“When that time of destruction arrived, the Gear with the most positive concepts would survive. That was why the Gears fought and did their very best to extract and take home as many of the enemy worlds’ concepts as they could. And since this Low-Gear had nothing but negative concepts, it was apparently abandoned right away.”

“But despite being made of negative concepts, this Gear succeeded in destroying the other Gears made of positive concepts. …Is that why we receive so much enmity for winning the Concept War?”

“That’s only one of the reasons, but yes, the underdog won. However, that result means the other Gears’ concepts were brought into this Gear. They are stored in the form of Concept Cores which are masses of concepts on the level of an entire world. That goes well beyond a simple concept text.”

The sound of folding paper continued. He made a fold that pointed up like a mountain, spread out the center, and created corners on the four sides.

“Most of the Concept Cores are stored in UCAT. If those Concept Cores are released, they will eat into this Gear’s negative concepts and destroy our current ideas of common sense. However…”

“However?”

“Ten years ago, the negative concepts of this Gear began to activate for some reason. If nothing is done, this Gear will continue even further in the negative direction and be destroyed. To stop this, all the positive Concept Cores must be released to create a balance. We know this will change the world, but it is our only option.” His hands stopped moving. “My old man says this is accepting the existence of the lost Gears. This world will accept the powers of those destroyed Gears and will maintain its existence using those powers. However, most of the Concept Cores were split and a portion remains in the hands of the Gear’s survivors. Also, the war ended sixty years ago, so we cannot act like conceited victors and simply do as we wish with the Concept Cores. We must hold official negotiations with each Gear and gain permission to use the Concept Cores.”

“And that is the Leviathan Road? To be honest, I cannot determine if this is true. What proof do we have that the negative concepts have become active?”

“Japan and you, Sf. The ones you and those like you are based on fell asleep when brought from 3rd-Gear. Now, tell me when they awoke.”

“…December 25, 1995.”

“And what happened in Japan on that day?”

Sf immediately replied, “If my memory is correct, the great Kansai earthquake.”

“Yes, you are correct. That was one aspect of this. And the Concept Cores must have had some sort of reaction too because their concepts began to leak just a tiny bit into this Gear. That is why those girls became able to move ever so slightly.”

“…”

“The negative concepts are even now growing more and more active. It has been predicted that their activity will reach its critical point at exactly ten years after it began. In other words,” he powerfully added a fold, “December 25 of this year.”

Ooshiro Itaru’s hands stopped there. He placed what he had folded atop the pile of documents on his desk. It was a square with one end pointed. It had a square protrusion on the top.

Sf looked at it and asked, “Is it a boat?”

“Does it look that way to you? No. It is a tower. Look at it like this.”

He pressed down on the back of the square to stand it up. It was a tower stabbing straight up to heaven.

“It all begins here.”

Sayama and Shinjou left the white-walled UCAT headquarters which was disguised as a large IAI transportation administration building. They then walked toward the main entrance through the IAI grounds.

He had left his cell phone with UCAT along with his torn coat so they could be inspected after the battle. Sayama called someone from back home using the cell phone he had been provided with.

A car would arrive for him in half an hour. He had to make his way out of both UCAT and IAI grounds in that time. However…

“This place is much larger than I expected. Maybe we should have waited for the bus,” Sayama said.

“I-I agree. I thought I wanted to walk for once, but that may have been a mistake,” replied Shinjou.

The UCAT area was filled with three thousand meter runways and large hangars that were visible under the nighttime lighting.

A kilometer long valley could be seen partway across and it was what hid UCAT from the surrounding areas. The IAI area on the other side had many more lights and the buildings on the surface were much larger.

Sayama and Shinjou spoke as they walked down the central road between the buildings.

He asked her what she knew about the Concept War and the time of destruction.

He then asked her about the person from 1st-Gear who had been their opponent that evening.

“The 1st-Gear Concept Core has been split into two. 1st-Gear was a world that sat on a flat table. The first Concept Core constructed that single isolated world. The other provided the unique aspect of 1st-Gear. That is the concept that gives power to words and allows 1st-Gear to use something like magic.”

“Does UCAT possess both of those Concept Cores?”

“The world construction Concept Core was sealed in a 1st-Gear sword and is stored in Japanese UCAT’s western branch located below IAI HQ. But the word concept one was sealed in a mechanical dragon belonging to the radicals that fled into this world.”

“A mechanical dragon?”

“It is a weapon shaped like a dragon. I’ve never actually seen one, though.”

As he watched Shinjou shrug, Sayama decided she was not lying.

“That sounds like a weapon out of a manga or something,” he said.

“Oh, I actually prefer novels. I don’t read much manga, so I wouldn’t know.”

“Hm. It is sad to hear you denying part of Japan’s culture like that. …But at any rate, if I accept these rights from my grandfather, I will ultimately have to negotiate with these radicals, won’t I?”

He nodded in understanding. A break in the conversation formed and he looked around as he walked. Several giant white buildings could be seen under the outdoor lights. At this point, the UCAT buildings were nowhere to be seen.

“So UCAT is a hidden village. …The normal IAI workers know nothing about UCAT and think the area further in is an airport.”

“As you were told before, the Izumo Aviation Institute’s Tokyo branch had a national defense department during the war. That department learned of the Concept War, researched it, and became Japanese UCAT immediately after the war.”

“Do you know a lot about that?”

“No. Tonight was the first I ever heard about your grandfather being a part of it all.”

“Same here. That probably means my parents did not know either. They only worked for IAI. They must not have known that my grandfather had anything to do with the transportation facility over the valley.”

As he spoke, Sayama brought his hand to the left side of his chest and looked toward his left shoulder. A single small animal stood there.

The fifteen centimeter animal was of a type he had never seen before. Its face looked like a boar, it had a round body, and its legs had hooves.

“That’s Baku, right? I’ve never seen it before. It can…show people the past, right?”

“The old man said it was like dreaming. Apparently, it was on the verge of dying but managed to survive due to the slight release of the positive concepts in reaction to the negative concepts beginning to activate ten years ago.”

When he reached out his hand, Baku drew back but then reached out its front legs to grab his finger.

“I wonder what kind of past it can show me… I suppose it could only be an unpleasant past.”

He glanced over to find Shinjou hanging her head down.

While walking alongside her, Sayama asked, “What is it?”

“Oh, sorry. It’s just… I didn’t know anything about you and ten years ago, Sayama-kun.”

“Oh, you mean when my father headed to Kansai with the IAI rescue team and-…”

“You don’t have to say it. You don’t have to talk about your chest pains either. …It would be best if you don’t talk about it.”

“I do not mind.”

“You should. You shouldn’t talk about your parents and yourself like they are strangers.”

“But my parents more or less are strangers and I work to view myself objectively.”

In response to his words, the ends of Shinjou’s eyebrows drooped slightly as she looked up at him.

Sayama received her gaze head on.

''She is likely in the right here,'' he muttered in his heart. Shinjou had said she had no memory of her parents. She wanted to search for them. He decided that was what led her to be right.

When Sayama had been told that the objective of the Leviathan Road was the suppression of the negative concepts, the topic had turned to the activation of the negative concepts and the great Kansai earthquake ten years ago.

And that had naturally led to Sayama’s parents. Sayama had seen the look on Shinjou’s face change when she heard about his father’s death during relief work for the earthquake, about his mother taking him with her and trying to commit a double suicide, and about his angina.

When she had once more asked about the ring he wore, he had given her the proper answer.

It was a memento of his mother.

She had then apologized. She had said she had not been thinking when she had said what she said in front of the medical room.

She was now looking up at him with the same expression as back then. The ends of her eyebrows had lightly lowered above her black eyes.

Before, it had been an expression of apology. But now it was an expression of admonition over speaking as if his parents were strangers. Sayama thought on Shinjou’s words and expression.

…''When she should be criticizing me, why does she use the expression of someone who has done something wrong?

But before Sayama could come up with an answer, Shinjou made a move. Her head drooped down.

“Sorry,” she said.

Sayama tilted his head in confusion. He was the one who deserved to be criticized here.

“Why are you apologizing?”

“B-because I was being an imposition on you, Sayama-kun.”

When Sayama heard those words she spoke to the ground, he spoke.

“There is one thing I hope you understand.”

But then his lips produced another statement.

“That is not true at all.”

After he spoke, Sayama realized what he had said.

Why had he permitted someone else to give their opinion on his pet theory?

As he felt that slight shock, he saw Shinjou look up at him wide-eyed with her eyebrows still lowered. A bit of surprise could be seen on her face as well.

''She is surprised from the simple fact that someone accepted what she said,'' he thought.

She was serious about this.

It was related to one’s memories of one’s parents. That was something that she lacked.

Sayama thought as he watched Shinjou’s expression change before his eyes.

Why had he allowed Shinjou’s opinion?

…''That is because she understands.

Her expression changed ever so slightly.

…''She understands what it is she seeks.

The ends of Shinjou’s eyebrows lowered and her eyes narrowed around her large pupils.

[[Image:OnC_v01_0185.png|thumb]]

…''That is something I do not have.

She opened her mouth slightly, let out a soft breath, and spoke.

“Thank you…”

Sayama nodded and looked away as he changed the subject.

“At any rate, I need to think about whether I should accept the Leviathan Road or not.”

“Y-yes. If you do, it will involve more than just negotiations. You will be dealing with people as desperate as this evening.”

“I see.” Sayama nodded and muttered under his breath. “I wonder if he viewed me as desperate.”

''I was not,'' he thought with a sigh. It had ended before he could. And Sayama remembered what he had felt when he had been about to take action at the end. He had thought that he had been wrong.

He understood why he had felt that way.

…''I am inexperienced. Even if I am wrong, I simply need to think it is necessary.

Sayama wondered when he would become the kind of person his grandfather had been.

He then recalled the battle from that evening.

“Our enemy was serious and so were you. …I have seen many different fights, but that battle was not fought hopelessly or as a game.”

“According to Ooshiro-san, we will head to the 1st-Gear reservation for the preliminary negotiations the day after tomorrow. It seems they realized we are taking action, so one of the radicals tried to win over the peaceful faction on the reservation.”

“So he made his way into the middle of enemy territory. …What leads people to head down such dangerous paths?”

“Well…”

“How about we leave it as ‘there are things that cannot be explained with words’. According to the old man, tomorrow we will go to the Imperial Palace so he can show me the beginning of the Concept War and the day after tomorrow we will meet with representatives of 1st-Gear’s peaceful faction for preliminary negotiations. If that was all, I would not be remotely interested. However, I saw one of the radicals today. I am interested in the Leviathan Road.”

…''So that is what it looks like when two serious people clash in desperation.

“Utilizing force creates enmity, but there are some who will never accept it if you do not. What can be done about that? …These negotiations are wrapped in contradiction. Perhaps that is why I was chosen.”

Sayama looked forward to find they were approaching the main entrance. The guard noticed them and activated the automatic gate. With a sound like rattling chains, the gate disappeared belowground.

Amid that sound, Shinjou stopped walking and asked a question.

“That is why…? Why would you have been chosen, Sayama-kun?”

Sayama stopped as well. He supported Baku who almost fell from his shoulder.

“My grandfather would boldly declare that the surname Sayama indicates a villain. He was a lone wolf corporate blackmailer. …This is a similar dirty job. Someone is needed to crush this kind of idiot underfoot.”

…''And they hope that person will be me.

Sayama wondered if he could manage it.

If he was to leave, he had to do it now.

“…”

Sayama fell silent. With a click of the heel, he began walking once more.

A step later, Shinjou rushed up to join him.

“Wait!” she called.

But Sayama did not turn around.

He heard Shinjou’s footsteps line up beside him.

“Um, Sayama-kun. Sorry, but…”

“What is it?” he asked.

Shinjou’s head drooped and she folded her hands in front of her waist.

“Umm,” she started. “I just want to check one thing about what you said.”

She formed a troubled smile and asked her question.

“What is a corporate blackmailer?”

“What?”

“S-sorry. I know it was a really important part, but…well…I’m not quite sure what it means.”

Sayama’s mouth hung open and he let out a “ha!”

…''Oh, I see.

He did not care if his laugh reverberated in his left arm. He let loose and laughed without restraint.

''Is that all it was?'' he thought.

Meanwhile, Shinjou’s face grew red.

“Wh-why are you laughing? Is it that funny?”

“Apologies. You are an honest person, Shinjou-kun. A corporate blackmailer is someone who uses violence or influence hidden from the law to threaten corporations into giving them something in return. They bring harassment or unseen violence and if the corporation wants it to stop, they have to give them some sort of influence or a good rate in negotiations.” He thought for a moment. “But unlike normal ones, a lone wolf corporate blackmailer who acts out of conviction is an idiot. When they see an enemy or evil, they wield their justice and charge in. They make no threats, they harass no one, and they cause no violence. They cry out about the injustices and fraud of corporations and wield their power in the name of justice. And they do not care who else is damaged in the process. They do not care if they are hated.”

Shinjou gulped. At that moment, they passed through the main gate. The guard bowed and they bowed back.

“Will you…choose the same thing as your grandfather?”

“Perhaps. …He truly was hated by a lot of people. When he dug up corporate injustice, not many corporations could withstand the reorganizations and dismissals that followed. He did not know the meaning of the word mercy.”

“Really?”

Sayama nodded as he thought about his grandfather. He brought a hand to his forehead and sighed.

“Yes. When I was in fourth grade, I ignored a lame gag he made. That developed into an actual fistfight. What kind of person fights an elementary school boy while wearing nothing but his underwear, goes in for a cross counter, and then takes a photo to commemorate his victory? You will never find a more childish old man in all of human history. I suppose that breed went extinct recently.”

“I think I see a candidate before me…”

“That would be nice,” replied Sayama with a smile.

They stopped in front of the main entrance. Across the wide road in front of them was a cliff with the Tama River flowing down below and forests on the mountains and valleys beyond. The lights of the IAI hospital and employee dormitory could be seen in the distance.

While listening to the sound of the river, Sayama spoke to Shinjou.

“At any rate, I think my grandfather was hated because he was a true villain and nothing else.”

“Why did he continue to do that even though it made him so hated?”

“I do not know. And to be honest, I am jealous. Why was he able to do that? …If I understood that, I could choose my own path without so much doubt.”

Sayama said no more. And shortly thereafter, headlights approached from the Akigawa direction of the road.

“Is that from your family?”

“It is from a yakuza family that became indebted to my grandfather. They run a security company now, though.”

As he spoke, the car pulled up. It was a large, black car. The windows were all tinted black so the inside could not be seen.

It came to a stop.

“Wah,” said Shinjou as she drew back.

A man had stepped out of the driver’s seat on the left.

This young man had close-cropped hair and wore a blue suit. He turned toward Sayama.

“Young master, I have come to take you home.”

He bowed and looked toward Shinjou. Slight caution could be seen in the young man’s actions.

He then turned his eyes toward the bandages wrapped around Sayama’s left arm.

Sayama nodded and said, “Kouji, do not worry. I trust her. She…treated my wound when I tripped in the forest. Her name is Shinjou-…”

He trailed off when he realized he had never asked her given name. Shinjou picked up on this and answered.

“Oh, it is Sadame. My name is Shinjou Sadame.”

“I see. My apologies. I am Tamiya Kouji. It seems you have been of great help to my young master.”

“Eh? No, um… He helped me too…”

Shinjou took a step back, stood right next to Sayama, and whispered.

“You tripped in the forest?”

“I can hardly tell him the truth, can I?”

“Yes, but I wasn’t the one to treat you. …And this is an amazing reception. Why is he treating you like this?”

“You could say this family is a memento of my grandfather. I did not acquire this myself. Do you not-…”

Sayama was going to say “have anything like that”, but he swallowed the words.

Shinjou sighed, thought for a moment, and then spoke.

“Don’t worry. I do have…a younger brother. My twin brother. But…” She gave a bitter smile and lowered her head slightly when she saw Tamiya looking at her. “Your environment… Whether you can call it a family or not, it’s quite amazing.”

“I see,” said Sayama with a nod. He then amended it to, “I suppose so.”

At that point, he realized he had a bit of leeway within him now. He knew she was not completely alone.

He concluded that the male language mixed into her speech<ref>The most prominent example of her use of male language is using “boku” to refer to herself.</ref> was due to that environment of hers. He then nodded slightly in her direction.

“Now then. Thank you for seeing me off. …Will I see you tomorrow?”

Shinjou nodded and gave only a slight smile. That was the sign of their parting.

A girl stood on the rooftop of Taka-Akita Academy’s second year general school building.

She stood on the western edge overlooking the nightscape of Akigawa City.

It was Brunhild wearing her uniform and with her gray hair blowing in the wind.

As the moon shone down on the rooftop, she placed her hands on the railing and opened her mouth.

She cast her eyes down while otherwise expressionless. Her opened lips did not produce simple words. She sang.

It was the hymn Silent Night.

“Stille Nacht Heil’ge Nacht

Alles schlaft einsam wacht

Nur das traute hoch heilige Paar

Holder Knab’im lockigten Haar

Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh

Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh.”

She slowly raised her head.

Once she finished singing, she opened her eyes to find the round moon in the heavens. While watching that light, her expression changed.

“I hate this sky… It has that light that our sky did not. It is not the light of the underworld…”

Brunhild sighed as the moonlight reflected in her eyes.

And then her expression changed once more as if it was jumping up. Her eyebrows leveled out, her eyes sharpened, and the expression from before vanished.

“Here he comes,” she muttered as she reached her right hand into her pocket.

She pulled out a small blue stone and held it tightly in her right hand. She then slowly raised that right hand.

A wind then descended from the night sky. It was a black wind. Like a string or small stream, the black wind whirled around and wrapped about Brunhild’s right hand. It solidified into a single object.

That black wind took the form of a black cat.

This glossy black cat stood atop her right arm.

Brunhild stretched her arm out horizontally as easily as if the cat was weightless. The cat climbed across her arm and onto her right shoulder. Brunhild lowered her arm and the cat climbed down it to the floor.

Immediately afterward, Brunhild wrote something in the air using her right hand and snapped her fingers.

As soon as that clear sound rang out, the cat looked up. And…

“Ahh, I’m exhausted. It can be hard to tell which is the real me.”

A young male voice came from the cat. Nevertheless, Brunhild remained expressionless.

“We have to keep up appearances so as to avoid suspicion. More importantly, how did it go?”

“As expected, the Royal Palace faction is hopeless. They don’t have the strength of an organization like we do.”

“I did not ask for your impressions. I want a report on the facts.”

Brunhild folded her arms and began tapping her right toes on the floor.

Seeing that, the cat said, “I think you are absorbing some bad habits from Low-Gear. You have such bad manners.”

“Shut it. If you say anything more, I’ll throw you into the room of a classmate who is yearning for a pet.”

“No, I don’t want that… It’s only any fun at first.” The cat hung its head, sighed, and then straightened up once more. “The peaceful faction that sympathizes with UCAT turned away a messenger from the Royal Palace faction. The messenger was a strong member of the Royal Palace faction, a werewolf named Gale-…Gale-something. But he was cornered by UCAT and killed himself.”

“They did that to a werewolf? I know their species gets a lot stupider when their true nature kicks in, but that couldn’t have been easy.”

“Well, the pursuit unit was slaughtered, but the UCAT special division arrived afterward and trapped him in a concept space. Werewolves are a poor match for precious metals when it comes to elemental concepts. Okay, now this.”

The black cat rolled over and showed off its belly. He was asking Brunhild to rub it, so she crouched down and poked his belly with her index finger. The gentle jab caused the cat to arch its back.

“Ahhh! My hips! Not the hips! My guts! I feel some indescribable sensation in my guts!!”

“Stop speaking so oddly and get on with the report. What will we do regarding the peaceful faction and the Royal Palace faction?”

“W-we of the City faction will not contact either side. Fafner who has worked his way up lately made the announcement. …And according to Venerable Hagen, the Royal Palace faction will likely take action out of desperation.”

“The Royal Palace faction will? A group that split from the peaceful faction based on nothing but ideals is planning to attack UCAT? They don’t think they can manage by relying on nothing but youthful vigor like Fafner does, do they?”

“No, they don’t.”

The cat got up and began licking his belly.

While still crouched down, Brunhild said, “Stop acting so self-important and get on with it.”

“C’mon, you don’t have to act like that. We were both deployed here, so we are on equal footing, right? You have been getting a bit carried away lately, Brunhild.”

“Have I?”

“Yes. Just the day before yesterday, I took a peek inside the sweets shop in front of the school and you suddenly had a kid in there strip naked and bow down before you.”

“Do not misrepresent what happened. He flipped up my skirt first. For a woman of 1st-Gear, having anyone but her husband do that is a humiliation. I was crying in my heart as I made him bow down. And I also swore to never forgive that kid.”

“Sorry. My heart must have been too clouded because I could not see any tears. …And is that really such a humiliation?”

Brunhild grabbed the black cat’s back legs in her hands, spread them out in a T-shape, and lifted him up. She then shook him up and down.

“Ahhh! Such humiliation! Stop, stop! If you keep looking at me like this, a new side of me will awaken!”

“As long as you understand.”

She put the cat back down. The cat dragged his limp waist along and forced a smile.

“E-every day with you is quite stimulating. Although becoming numb to stimulation is a sign your life is over.”

“Just finish with the report before I decide to do something else.”

“Hmm,” thought the cat. “Do you remember the Leviathan Road? That thing Venerable Hagen mentioned.”

“Yes. That information he got from a strange information broker, right? …We had predicted it ourselves as well. On December 25 of this year, the activation of the negative concepts of this Gear will reach the critical point.”

“Yes, and so we must take back the other half of 1st-Gear’s Concept Core from UCAT and stop the activation of the negative concepts as part of 1st-Gear. …And UCAT is trying to do the same but with themselves in charge. Anyway…the Leviathan Road is an attempt by UCAT to obtain all of the Concept Cores. But…”

“?”

“It seems a unit put together just for that purpose has begun to move. It was apparently that unit that cornered the messenger of the Royal Palace faction. It is known as Team Leviathan and was created from the top elites of UCAT’s special division.”

“What is your point?’

“You can’t tell? Some higher members of UCAT are involved with this unit. And so the Royal Palace faction will target Team Leviathan instead of UCAT as a whole. If they could capture Ooshiro Kazuo, the head of Japanese UCAT, they might gain a significant advantage in negotiations.”

Brunhild stood up, folded her arms, and slowly moved her head down.

“Hmm,” she murmured as the black cat looked up at her.

“But… Hey, Brunhild, were you singing before I arrived?”

“Eh?” Brunhild looked down at the cat and finally spoke without changing her expression. “I was not singing.”

“Really? I seem to remember hearing it on the wind. You, Venerable Regin, and Lady Gutrune loved that Low-Gear man’s-…”

“Do cats show sentimentality by speaking of things they know nothing about?”

“I am being serious here, Brunhild. In a way, you were the person in the closest position to the cause of 1st-Gear’s destruction.”

“…”

“It bothers me that, as our fight approaches its end, you are here,” the cat slowly lay down, “observing the man who destroyed 1st-Gear. It seems to me that would be bad for your mental health.”

Brunhild’s eyebrows arched slightly, her lips formed a smile that was not quite bitter, and she crouched down to pet the cat’s back.

“Am I really that on edge?”

“You were earlier. When Miss Feigned Ignorance stopped by, you were legitimately mad when you mentioned how much you love forests and she replied by mentioning celery.”

Brunhild dug through her memories before replying.

With a serious expression, she said, “That is because I hate celery.”

“…”

“I can’t stand Chinese chives or mitsuba either. Whenever I order udon at the cafeteria, I ask for no mitsuba, but Old Tome always legitimately forgets and puts it in. …And that old woman is too cute to complain to.”

“It doesn’t really matter, but I think you are building up too much stress from little things.”

“Oh? I am not building up stress at all.”

“Really? Then how are you relieving-…no, ah!! Stop, stop! Not the ass! The ass is the last place I want-…!”

Once Brunhild rendered the cat unable to stand, she stood up.

She walked over to the north edge of the rooftop where she could see level scenery with the lights of houses and buildings in the distance.

Headlights could be seen running along the roads within the school grounds, but that was the only movement.

She looked straight down and spotted light falling on the grass behind the school building. The light came from the first floor hallway in front of the Kinugasa Library. She could see a single shadow moving through that horizontal line of lights.

“Siegfried…” she muttered. “What would he do if he knew a ghost from sixty years ago had returned?”

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 7|Chapter 7]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 4

2026-06-30T05:05:11Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 4: A Mysterious Abyss==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0123.png|thumb]]
''Even if offered

''One cannot swallow it all at once

''The truth can only soak in gradually

One awoke when one’s consciousness floated up from the darkness and into the light.

Sayama now felt that light feeling of ascension. He then felt his vague sense of self rapidly return to a single object. He could once more feel the weight of his body.

“…Kh.”

When he heard his own voice, he opened his eyes.

The only coloration his blurry vision could pick up was brightness. He was lying down. His upper body was bare and he felt hard sheets under his back.

He could see a fluorescent light on a neatly arranged white ceiling.

“Where am-…?”

A female voice cut him off.

“This is the medical room, so stay still.”

An index finger suddenly entered his field of vision from the right and pressed down on his forehead. That was enough to prevent him from sitting up. And so Sayama moved only his eyes to look toward the owner of that finger.

It was a short Chinese woman. Her hair was tied back in a bun and her face held a youthful sharpness. A simple black shirt and pants covered her entire body below her white coat.

After seeing that Sayama was not moving, she removed her finger and looked to the side.

“Nijun, call Shinjou in.”

“Tes.”

Sayama looked toward the second voice and saw an old man in a white coat turning his back. He had been standing next to the woman. He cut across the room silently.

As Sayama followed the man’s path across the room, he saw for himself that this was indeed a medical room.

Besides its two beds, the room only had a desk, a chair, and shelves covering the walls. The wall clock informed Sayama it was currently 8:30 PM.

…''So only two hours have passed since then.

The old man named Nijun opened the room’s door while his long gray hair fluttered slightly.

And a girl entered from outside.

It was Shinjou.

She wore a brown dress and a long white T-shirt. She bowed to Nijun, hurried into the medical room, and looked toward Sayama. Once she did, her expression lit up.

“Ah.”

She blushed and covered her face with her hands.

Sayama then recalled that his upper body was bare.

While she turned her head away yet still looked his way, the woman in the white coat spoke to her without even turning toward her.

“Shinjou, please bring the shirt on the chair to him.”

“But Doctor Chao…”

“Just do it. If you’re too slow, I’ll have to beat some liveliness into you.”

The woman named Chao then faced Sayama and lightly bent up the fingers of her right hand.

Assuming she meant he could sit up, Sayama did so.

Once he did, he felt pain from his left arm and shoulder as if someone was squeezing them tightly. His left arm was wrapped in bandages both above and below the elbow and fixed in place by a thin yet hard cloth. He could move his elbow, but it felt heavy.

Chao looked down at him and said, “It seems you received the injury while your arm was bent in an L-shape. Both your upper and lower arm were torn diagonally.”

“How many stiches did it take? I want to avoid too many scars if possible.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. No treatment from me is not going to involve any stitching. But…don’t move it for a while. I have it fixed nicely in place for now, but forcing it to move will mess with that.”

Shinjou was then standing next to him. She held a shirt. When she tried to hold it out to him, Chao slapped her on the ass. Shinjou cried out “Wah!” and Chao frowned.

“Don’t just hand it to him. You have to put it on him, don’t you?”

“…Testament,” replied Shinjou before sitting on the bed. She looked at Sayama and said, “Could you turn that way?”

Sayama turned his back to her. Behind him, he could hear the sound of her spreading out the shirt and of Chao’s dignified voice.

“Shinjou, say it. You have to. Tell him you’ll wash his back for him.”

“What kind of services does this medical room provide?”

“Hah. This is the medical room inside an organization known as UCAT. I am the medical chief, Chao Sei.”

“Doctor!?” cried Shinjou and the sensation of the shirt pulled away from Sayama’s back.

Sounding like she was smiling, Chao said, “Is there any point in hiding it? He is here to see UCAT anyway. …Right, Sayama Mikoto?”

“I believe I was summoned by IAI.”

“Japanese UCAT is the hidden side of IAI. It is located deep in IAI territory and the important parts are underground. The normal IAI personnel know nothing about this special area.”

While listening to Chao, Sayama felt a sudden pain deep in the left side of his chest.

He took a deep breath to suppress the pain. And then the shirt was placed over his shoulders.

He turned around to find Shinjou frowning slightly.

“We’re not actually supposed to answer any questions about it,” she said quietly.

“I see. So that old woman is breaking the rules.”

“Yes,” she nodded, but shortly afterward her eyes opened wide in surprise. “H-how did you know that Doctor Chao is an old woman!?”

“It is just the way she talks. No matter how much younger you make yourself look, you cannot hide the years in your words. She uses similar old woman speech patterns to Old Tome in the cafeteria who was born in 1945.”

“I see. That’s amazing. You’re the first person I’ve seen that realized she’s an old woman.”

“Well, Old Tome’s speech patterns were quite characteristic. She would occasionally get your order wrong or just stand there like someone had switched off her power, but that exciting clumsy old woman side of her was the secret behind her popularity.”

“I see the two of you want salt rubbed in your wounds next time you get injured,” said Chao.

Shinjou frantically looked over and said, “Eh? Ah! I-in my defense, I only called you an old woman to respond to him with the words he used. I don’t think of you as an old woman at all. Okay?”

“Hm,” said Sayama before turning to Shinjou. “To me, it sounded as if you were quite excited to call her that.”

“Eh? Eh? D-did it?”

To respond to that question, Chao smiled slightly from where she had suddenly appeared next to the girl.

“Shinjou, if you are injured here, you can be healed right away. So what will you do?”

Shinjou frantically began adjusting the shirt over Sayama’s shoulders.

After they were kicked out of the medical room, Shinjou sat with Sayama on a sofa in the hallway outside.

She took a deep breath, faced Sayama, and spoke.

“I was told Ooshiro-san would be here soon. …You had business with IAI, right?” She averted her gaze slightly. “Um, Sayama…-kun?”

After confirming his name, Shinjou felt a troubled smile appear on her lips.

“Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve called you by name.”

“That old woman knew my name as well. Where did you learn it?”

“Hm… I only heard it from Doctor Chao, but it seems she already knew it. But,” the ends of Shinjou’s eyebrows drooped as she looked at Sayama’s left arm, “that will leave a scar, won’t it?”

“Yes,” agreed Sayama. Eventually, he asked a question while choosing his words carefully. “Do you…no, what was that beast? Do the people of UCAT always perform jobs like this?”

“Um…I can’t really say.”

“So you cannot respond without permission. Fine then. But there is a possibility you could receive a similar wound, correct? If you are that worried about my wound, why do you do this kind of thing?”

“There is something I want to know. That is why I do it.”

She replied almost reflexively, but then realized what it was she had said.

She was not sure what she could tell him, but she had to say something to explain what she had meant.

A few seconds of silence followed as Shinjou thought. She tried to determine what she could and could not say.

“Um,” she started. “I was chosen to move from my usual position to what you could call a new team. I used to have a protective role on the rear guard, but this new team is made up of a small group of elites. It works a little differently.”

“What does this team do?”

“We still do not really know. The entire team has not been fully gathered yet. It seems the members who were gathered earlier know some of the details, but this was my first day.”

“Will you learn what you want to know if you join this team?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a tilt of the head. She truly did not know. “But the person who recommended me for this unit…no, I mean team. Anyway, this person said it would allow me to be involved in the world’s past. And I,” she leaned back in the seat, “know nothing about my parents. I have no memories before the age of six.”

“Is knowing about your parents really such a great thing?”

“Y-you only say that because you take that knowledge for granted.”

Shinjou stared at him. Even she could tell her expression showed a bit of displeasure.

Thinking she needed to say something more, Shinjou opened her mouth as she watched him.

But then she saw Sayama place his right hand on the left side of his chest.

For an instant, she thought he was taking up some sort of stance.

She did not understand why, but Shinjou had a feeling that this was not good.

She tossed aside the words she had been planning to use and instead decided to change the subject. At the very least, she wanted to speak about something other than her parents.

Her gaze lowered until she saw his left hand. She then realized what she could use for a new topic.

“U-um.” Shinjou raised her right hand so he could see. She wore a men’s ring on her middle finger. “Do you know what this is?”

“No. It is similar to mine, but I have never seen it before. Why do you ask?”

“It is my sole possession. Besides my name, I only have this ring and a song. You heard the song, didn’t you? It is Silent Night. For some reason I knew that song. It and this ring are all I have. You wear one too, so I thought there might be some connection.”

“It would be interesting if there was, but the odds are quite low. For one thing, a lot of people wear rings as fashion accessories in this day and age. Sorry, but…” Sayama glanced away slightly with a dampened expression. “Have you ever left this place?”

“Y-yes. I know everywhere in Okutama. I even go as far as Oume. It’s a big city, so a train comes in every twelve minutes! That’s five in an hour!”

“To help you save face, I will omit any detailed comments, but you need to get out more.”

“R-really…?”

Shinjou was troubled. But then she spotted someone walking toward them from the hallway to the right.

“Ah,” she said before standing up.

She had seen an elderly man with this thin gray hair swept back.

His slender body had a lab coat around it and he wore sandals on his feet. The eyes behind his glasses were bent like bows.

He raised a hand and opened the mouth below his moustache.

“Hi, there. Long time no see, Shinjou-kun, Mikoto-kun. …Do you remember me? It’s Ooshiro Kazuo.”

Sayama followed Ooshiro down the UCAT hallway.

Shinjou must have viewed the man as her superior because she kept her hands folded in front of her waist and did not speak much.

They passed by a few doors and several people. Four of those people were wearing white coats and one man was wearing the same white and black outfit Shinjou had been wearing in the forest.

Ooshiro would occasionally look over his shoulder and speak.

They discussed Sayama’s grandfather, his funeral, school, and other topics.

But after a few minutes of walking, Ooshiro suddenly stopped and turned toward Sayama.

Behind him was a dead end with a large closed door.

A placard on the wall above the door read “Central Passageway”.

“I think we should discuss the truly important things beyond here.”

Hearing that, Shinjou took a step forward.

“Sh-should I really go with you?”

“I don’t see why not. This is an important topic for you as well.”

“Oh, okay…Testament.”

That was the same word Sayama had heard in the medical room.

He asked Shinjou, “What do you mean by testament?”

“Oh, that is a special UCAT sign. From what I hear, some of the terms used here were taken from the Bible as a joke. Testament or just Tes is a sign of agreement similar to ‘understood’. The original term can refer to an agreement or a portion of the Bible.”

“I see,” said Sayama with a nod.

Ooshiro then pulled a single object out of his lab coat pocket.

It was a wristwatch. It was mostly black, but the hands gave off the light green glow of glow-in-the-dark paint.

“Now that is some terrible taste.”

“I have one, too. See, on my left arm,” said Shinjou as she showed him her left hand.

When Sayama saw a black watch there as well, he said, “Okay then. I believe in taking back what I have said when proven wrong, so should I be doing that now?”

“What do you mean ‘okay then’? And shouldn’t you be more concerned with making such quick judgments?”

Shinjou’s annoyed response put a bitter smile on Ooshiro’s face.

“You can have this as a memento of this day. It can replace the one that was broken in the fight.”

Sayama took the watch and put it on. He noticed Ooshiro was already wearing an identical one.

After Ooshiro saw Sayama had finished strapping the watch on his left wrist, he opened the door behind him.

The metal door opened inward.

Beyond the now empty space was a passageway with closed shutters on either side.

“This passageway runs through the center of UCAT. But right now…”

Ooshiro entered the passageway. Sayama stood before the door alongside Shinjou before setting foot inside.

Once he did, he heard a voice.

—'''Your feet are on the ground.

“?”

Sayama tilted his head in puzzlement. He felt as if he had heard a few other voices after that first one, but he had been unable to make out the others. He only recalled that he had heard a voice.

But Sayama recognized this voice.

It was the same voice that he had heard upon entering the forest that evening. However, he did not understand what it meant.

…''What does it mean that I heard this voice?

As soon as he thought that, he felt a small vibration on his left arm.

It came from the wristwatch he had been given. He felt as if it were vibrating.

He looked down and for just an instant saw something like red writing scroll across the face of the watch.

That writing disappeared before he could read it.

“Is this a trick watch?”

It was currently ten till nine, so this was not indicating the top of the hour. Also, Sayama could not determine what that scrolling writing had been.

As question after question appeared in his mind, Sayama suddenly reached behind him.

However, he found no invisible wall. And the second hand of the watch was still moving when he looked back at it.

“Is this okay…?”

“Hm? Is what okay?” asked Shinjou while turning around.

“Nothing,” replied Sayama before stepping up alongside Shinjou.

He looked ahead and found Ooshiro standing in the center of the passageway looking toward him. He was smiling.

“Does that voice really bother you so much?”

“This evening, it was after I heard that voice that the world went insane. …But before that, I would like to discuss my grandfather. The document you sent me mentioned transferring rights left by him. What are those rights?”

“I suppose it would be quicker to start from there. Mikoto-kun, do you know what your grandfather did during the war?”

Sayama felt an ache in his chest at that question, but he took a deep breath and answered.

“I heard he was doing some sort of research and development here at IAI, the Izumo Aviation Institute.”

“Yes. Then, Mikoto-kun, do you know what he was fighting against?”

“Wasn’t it America?”

“Correct,” said Ooshiro with a nod. “A lot of the large corporations that created weapons to use against America are still going strong today. Izumo is still expanding now just like Isuzu, Mitsubishi, and Nittetsu. However, only Izumo received no interference from GHQ<ref>In Japan, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (1945–1952), which occupied Japan after World War II.</ref> after the war. And it has expanded beyond its original field of aviation and into a broad range of fields such as chemistry and electronics. Why do you think that is?”

“There are rumors that Izumo was involved with the Ministry of the Imperial Household at the time. GHQ was having difficulty deciding how to handle the Imperial system, so I suppose they could not touch them. The primary developers from the other corporations saw Izumo as a safe zone and fled there. That created the foundation for the current expansions. Am I wrong?”

“You know quite a lot about this. Nicely done, Mikoto-kun.”

Ooshiro happily smiled and raised his right thumb.

Sayama raised his own right thumb toward Shinjou.

“What do you think of his taste?”

“Eh? U-um…”

“Tell me what you truly think.”

“I-I can’t. He is way, way higher in the organization than me. I can’t say it.”

“An excellent answer. Very elegant.”

Sayama turned back toward Ooshiro to find the man still smiling but pointing his thumb downward. When Shinjou noticed, she poked Sayama in the side with her elbow.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“He is pointing at his feet. He is trying to brag about his smelly feet.” Sayama ignored the change to Ooshiro’s expression and spoke to the man. “I know I was the one who digressed just now, but when are we getting to the topic at hand?”

“Your impatience is just like your grandfather. However, I must inform you that there is a hole in your reasoning, Mikoto-kun.”

Sayama frowned and tried to fold his arms but realized he could not lift up his left arm. Feeling awkward with just his right arm up, he brought it even further up to scratch at his hair.

He then asked, “A hole?”

“Yes,” said Ooshiro as he lightly spread his arms. “You know the history of IAI quite well. However, what about the history of UCAT? Do you know why the institution known as UCAT is hidden here?” And then, “And what do you think about that monster you fought this evening?”

“How should I know? This is the first I have ever seen of UCAT or that monster. I would like further information to base any conjectures on.”

Sayama had replied out of reflex, but he then realized the ache in the left side of his chest had grown stronger.

As if pushed on by that ache, Ooshiro’s eyes narrowed.

Meanwhile, Sayama lowered his right hand from his hair.

“How long has this organization existed? Was my grandfather involved in it?” he asked.

“I will start with your first question. Japanese UCAT was created in September of 1945. It was just after the war ended here in the old Izumo Tokyo branch office. As for your next question,” Ooshiro nodded, “Your grandfather entered Japanese UCAT as a central member of the Izumo National Defense Department that preceded it.”

Sayama’s heart gave a low throb in his chest. He took half a step back as if pushed back by Ooshiro’s words.

Sweat appeared on his brow, but he ignored it and asked, “What was he fighting? Was it things like that monster?”

After thinking for a short while, Ooshiro shook his head.

He took a step forward and said, “Mikoto-kun, your grandfather and the others were not fighting monsters. They were fighting ten alternate worlds lined up alongside this one. Those worlds and ours were fighting to destroy each other.”

Sayama began thinking on Ooshiro’s words. He contemplated what they meant.

“Old man.”

“What is it?”

Sayama looked up at Ooshiro’s face from below.

“I apologize for having to say this after not seeing you since my grandfather’s funeral, but you leave me little choice. Do you really think anyone will fall for such obvious nonsense? What kind of person does this at your age?”

“Oh, I haven’t seen a reaction so wonderfully aggravating since the day of the funeral!” shouted Ooshiro half in joy as he raised his right thumb.

Sayama tilted his head and asked, “Why do you not look remotely sorry? Is the word sorry not in your dictionary?”

“It is not that. This is the truth, so I can’t exactly be sorry for telling it to you.”

“Isn’t this a little farfetched? I mean, alternate worlds?”

“Yes, but… Wait, am I being lectured?”

Sayama could see Shinjou looking puzzled and Ooshiro hanging his head while scratching at it.

“You are.”

Hearing that, Ooshiro looked up.

“What a pain. Anyway, that was the conclusion reached. …I will explain why later. Are you willing to listen to this conclusion and how it was arrived at?”

Sayama frowned at the old man’s question.

He had seen strange phenomena and met a strange beast. But these were two different things. An entire alternate world was on an entirely different level from phenomena and beasts that existed individually.

Mysterious phenomena and monsters could be explained away in some way or they could be faked with tricks or models.

However, the same could not be said for an alternate world. The scale was simply too great. However…

…''Even if it is farfetched, it looks like the conversation will not continue unless I hear him out.

Sayama did not understand why Ooshiro was doing this, but he only needed to find a way to prove the old man’s words were false.

Sayama also wanted to know what purpose the old man had in making him listen to this.

While feeling it was nothing but a bother, he urged the old man to speak.

“I will listen to your nonsense. So there are these ten alternate worlds. …Why were they fighting?”

Ooshiro let out a sigh.

It was obvious Sayama was dubious.

Ooshiro shrugged and placed his hands in his lab coat’s pockets.

He spoke as if reciting lines he had memorized ahead of time.

“The ten alternate worlds and our own did not exist parallel to each other. They would intersect and affect each other on a set cycle. However, it was proven that all of the worlds would intersect at one point during the cycle. When that happened, the world with the greatest power would survive and the others would be destroyed in the impact of the collision.”

“When does that happen? Tomorrow?”

“The collision – that is, the time of destruction – was calculated to be what this world calls 1999.”

Sayama frowned.

“But that did not actually happen.”

“Weren’t you listening? Your grandfather and those he worked with already destroyed the ten alternate worlds.” Ooshiro gave a bitter smile. “Yes. The alternate worlds meant to collide were destroyed long ago, leaving only this world behind. Your grandfather helped destroy those alternate worlds. We refer to that war,” he took a breath, “as the Concept War.”

Shinjou glanced over at Sayama as she listened to Ooshiro. What Ooshiro was explaining was the first thing explained to any member of UCAT.

While some people already knew this when joining UCAT, it was necessary to explain for those who somehow ended up involved in a fight like Sayama had.

And in most cases, they gave the same reaction.

They would reject it. They would call it ridiculous.

Shinjou wondered what Sayama would do.

He had fallen silent. Shinjou waited a few breaths, but the boy continued to stand perfectly still with his right hand on the left side of his chest. His head hung down and after quite a bit of time, he opened his mouth to speak.

He gave an almost exasperated sigh and his drooping shoulders stiffened, but he said the following.

“That is a completely ridiculous story, but I am willing to believe it under certain conditions.”

“Eh?” said Shinjou without thinking.

Sayama and Ooshiro both turned toward her.

She frantically waved her hands and said, “N-no, it’s nothing. Nothing at all.”

“Do not tell me you thought I would readily deny it.”

“But you just did… You asked what kind of person could do this and you called it farfetched.”

Sayama turned back toward Ooshiro, tilted his head, and asked, “Now, old man. Did I ever say those things?”

“Well… Since you have started to show interest, I can hardly discourage it. So no, you did not. You shouldn’t lie, Shinjou-kun.”

“A-adults don’t play fair!”

“This is how politics works.”

“Yes,” agreed Sayama as he brought his right hand up to his chin.

Shinjou let out a sigh of relief and asked, “What made you believe him? You can’t deny that it sounds like nothing but nonsense.”

“True. …And unlike a normal person like me, there is a lot that is odd about the old man. You could say it is unavoidable that he sometimes suddenly cannot resist and will say or do something strange.”

“You cannot say that. And how are you defining ‘normal person’ here?”

“Let us move on from that. Now, there is the crazy talk of a pathetic old man and there is the truth. However, to argue against this, I need proof and not emotions. Currently, the opposing side within me has no proof. And…”

“And?”

“To make this more difficult, the supporting side within me has enough evidence to indirectly believe this. Shinjou-kun, that is you.”

“M-me?”

“Yes. I heard a strange voice in the forest near Shiromaru. That voice told me the crazy idea that precious metals possess power. And after hearing that voice, I heard you scream and saw a tree fall.”

Shinjou brought the fingers of her right hand up to her lips.

“Sayama-kun, did you come because you heard me scream…?”

“I will leave that up to your imagination. The forest I was in was surrounded by a strange wall. Some kind of monster that may have been a type of bear was inside. And so were you. And you told me that precious metals possessed power in that place.”

Shinjou nodded. She had indeed said that.

When Sayama saw her nod, he bowed his head in return.

“I do not know how your weapon worked, but my ballpoint pens and watch possessed power using precious metals. If all of that was a trick, it was a truly excellent one. You would have had to plant gunpowder or some kind of chemical on that monster. However…”

“However?”

Sayama clenched the right hand on his chin and his expression grew serious.

“Shinjou-kun, your expressions were real. That fear and tension were not a prearranged act.”

“Really? What if that fear and everything else up to now were an act?”

“I apologize in advance for saying this, but are you the type of actor that can bring sweat to your skin or quicken your heart rate at will? And this was a cold sweat not brought on by exertion. Can you also freely create the thin tears of someone enduring fear rather than sorrow?”

“W-well…”

Shinjou’s cheeks reddened and she loosely held her own body. He had seen all that.

Whether realizing what she was feeling or not, Sayama looked down as he gave a deep nod.

“Yes. The sweat on your bared breasts and stomach were real.”

“Eh?”

“And when I rested my head in your lap, your well-formed navel was moving in and out with your slightly disturbed breathing. That is not something one can fake. Especially the tension visible in the glimpses of your breasts visible through the gaps that your arms could not quite-…! Ahh! Ahh!!”

“Don’t say that!!”

Sayama drew back as a knee jabbed reflexively toward him.

“Wh-what are you doing? You certainly are a sudden person.”

“That’s my line. Why would you say that all of a sudden…?”

“I was simply giving evidence to the contrary of your claim that you might have been acting.”

“Oh? So your relationship has already reached that level. That speeds things up,” chimed in Ooshiro.

“Now then, Shinjou-kun. I believe this is when you are supposed to say Testament.”

“I’m not even sure where to start correcting you there…”

Sayama ignored her and turned toward Ooshiro.

“At any rate, I have already experienced the truth once. If those mysterious phenomena or that strange monster had been tricks, I could use them to refute you, but I am currently leaning toward saying they were real. However.” Sayama stretched out his right arm. He pointed toward Ooshiro as the sleeve’s fabric let out a noise. “I will admit that something strange happened, but that does not mean I can accept what you have said. Neither those strange phenomena nor that monster directly link to the existence of alternate worlds. Not even if they were engraved with the words ‘made in an alternate world’. We can prove the existence of our world because it exists. …Can you prove the existence of these ten alternate worlds?”

“Technically speaking, no. Those alternate worlds no longer exist,” replied Ooshiro. “But I am sure you understand one thing: No matter what phenomenon it is, there is a point where it is only natural to assume it is no trick. The same can be said for the idea of alternate worlds. Once we pass a certain point, you will know this is something other than our world. …And I will show that to you.”

As Ooshiro spoke, the shutters on either side of the passageway opened.

They made no noise. As those silent shutters rose, an office floor could be seen to the right and a large, three-story maintenance hangar could be seen to the left.

Shinjou watched as Sayama looked out at the sights to the left and right.

''How will it go?'' she wondered. ''What will he decide about this world?

What lay before Sayama’s eyes was a world with no distinction between up and down.

Both the office floor to the right and the large hangar to the left had desks, equipment, and working people on the floor. However, there was more than that.

“They are on the ceiling and walls too…”

People and equipment were there. Work was being done.

To both the left and right, the ceiling was being used as another floor.

As if it was a mirror image of the floor, desks were lined up on the ceiling of the office. The occasional decorative plant could even be seen.

The only thing that differentiated either one from a normal office was that the walkway down the center was made of covered lights which illuminated the other. The ceiling lit the floor and the floor lit the ceiling.

On the ceiling, people wearing office clothes stared at screens on the desks and typed on keyboards, walked here and there with paperwork in hand, or pushed carts full of documents.

Sayama observed those people on the ceiling.

But despite standing upside down on the ceiling, their hair did not stand on end and their feet were not attached to the floor on the ceiling.

Suddenly, a woman carrying documents on the ceiling accidentally bumped her hip against the corner of a desk.

With a look of surprise, several papers scattered through the air. They spread out and “fell” to the ceiling.

She frantically gathered them and a man on the floor directly below her called out to ask if she was okay.

Sayama saw all this.

[[Image:OnC_v01_0149.png|thumb]]

He remained silent as Ooshiro approached one of the windows to the office floor and opened it. Everyone on both the floor and ceiling turned toward him.

“Ooshiro-san!” cried a voice.

He nodded in response and said, “Are you doing well?”

“Testament!”

Hearing that, Ooshiro moved away from the window. As the workers all returned to their work, Sayama finally opened his mouth to speak.

“What is this?”

“It is exactly what it looks like. …Now, look to your left.”

Sayama ignored Ooshiro’s thumbs up and looked to the left as he had been instructed.

That was the three-story maintenance hangar. The passageway he stood in was at the second story portion, so the hangar spread out for one story both above and below.

The vast floor was surrounded in concrete. In there, people were working on not just the ceiling, but the walls as well. All four walls, the floor, and the ceiling were lit by large lights protected by bars at the corners of the surfaces and along the walkways.

A large object was currently located in the center of the ceiling. It was an armor-like humanoid machine about eight meters tall.

Of all things, it was lightly raising both its arms, standing tiptoed on its right leg, and rotating.

Ooshiro opened the window and spoke over the mechanical noises coming from the hangar.

“Oh, would you look at that. A balancer test.”

The humanoid machine stopped after fifteen revolutions and went down on one knee as if dizzy. The surrounding workers gathered around it and peered into the area analogous to a face.

This sight brought a wordless thought to Sayama’s mind.

It was strange.

He nodded, now convinced, and suddenly opened the window in front of him.

He heard loud mechanical noises, smelled the burning scent of welding, and saw bright lights higher up.

He had seen a small shadow on the upper edge of the window he had opened. A closer look showed it was a wrench dropped on the floor on the reverse side. Most of the grip was sticking out onto the window, so Sayama could only think it was sticking to the wall by ignoring gravity.

“What is going on?”

Sayama placed a hand on the window frame, placed a foot on it as well, and prepared to jump out to the other side. But then someone grabbed his belt from behind.

“Y-you can’t do that, Sayama-kun! If you fall, you’ll die!”

Sayama stuck his head out the window and looked around.

Despite sticking his head out along a wall, people and equipment were standing straight on it and working.

After watching those workers standing and walking along the wall, he spoke to Shinjou behind him.

“Sorry, but please let me go.”

“Y-you can’t rush this!”

“I have made up my mind. I must go to the other side!”

“You can’t! It’s too soon! Please rethink this!”

“Do you think this is a training ground for jumping to your death? This may only be the second floor, but you might be injured if you fell.”

Hearing Ooshiro say that, a question entered Sayama’s mind. He stopped moving and asked it.

“Why do you think I will fall? They are standing on the other side of this wall, so-…”

He trailed off.

A giant trailer drove along the vertical floor from the left.

It was driving relatively quickly for the small area.

The instant of rumbling, wind, and shadow caused Sayama to duck back a bit as it passed by overhead.

The vibration caused the wrench sitting on the edge of the window to shake and drop down toward him. As he saw the wrench graze his face and fall behind him, Sayama frantically ducked back into the window.

He climbed down from the window frame and onto the passageway floor as wind from the trailer blew in through the window. The wind stank of exhaust, but it also contained a slight citrusy aroma.

Sayama took a breath. He then looked through the window at the humanoid machine standing up on wobbly legs.

“But…” He recalled the school newspaper attached to the wall in the school building. “I thought those things could not walk properly? Is your actual technology at this level?”

“Do you think we purposefully send out weakened mechs to be destroyed so no one will know what level of technology IAI has? Why would we need to put on such a performance? Mikoto-kun, the machine used in the article your school published was a god of war with the same design as this one. However, it was piloted remotely.”

“That machine was unable to walk without destroying itself, so how can this one move like this? Has the durability of the metal or gravity been altered?”

“I am glad the thought occurred to you. …What if we could control gravity?”

Sayama frowned. It sounded ridiculous, but a similar phenomenon could be seen before him. People were standing and working on the ceiling and walls. He looked at them and himself, but then he realized something that did not add up.

“Wait… You said I would fall when I placed my foot on the window frame before. If you could control gravity, I would stand on the wall instead of falling when I exited the window.”

“What if we were merely mistaken?”

“Then tell me this: What is that?”

Sayama pointed at the window to the office floor. A single object sat on the window directly opposite the one to the hangar Sayama had opened.

It was a wrench.

It sat on the window as if that window were the floor.

Sayama approached the window and touched it. A few people working beyond the window noticed him, but Sayama ignored them and spoke.

“We feel no attraction from this window. But this wrench does. …Is gravity being individually controlled for this single wrench? Does this continue until it leaves the effective range?”

Sayama approached the wrench and touched it with his hand.

The wrench immediately fell to the floor. It had been falling toward the window before, but the direction of its fall had changed. And the change had occurred as soon as Sayama touched it.

He looked down at the wrench on the floor.

“This is not gravitational control.”

He thought about why Shinjou had stopped him from leaving the window and about what Ooshiro had told him. And then he thought about the meaning of the words he heard upon entering the passageway.

“It said my feet are on the ground.”

As he spoke, Sayama raised his left foot toward the office floor window before him. He placed the sole of his shoe on the window.

He took a breath as he hesitated slightly.

And then he pushed off the ground with this right foot.

As he brought his right foot up toward his left foot, his body fell perpendicular to the window.

If he did not do anything, the back of his head would crash into the floor.

However…

“So this is how it works.”

Sayama placed his right foot on the window. He placed it right next to the left foot already on the office floor window.

He stood.

He looked around. Shinjou and Ooshiro stood on the wall to his left which was actually the floor.

Sayama was currently standing on the window.

<noinclude>

===Notes===
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 3

2026-06-29T03:21:54Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 3: Her Song==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0093.png|thumb]]
''One, two, three, the words are uttered

''The words are those of a singer

''But only once they are heard do those precious words become a song

Ooki saw a painting of a forest.

A space had been opened in the center of the art room. The easel standing there held a large canvas giving off the scent of turpentine. The canvas contained the forest painting.

“Have you repainted this a whole bunch of times?” asked Ooki.

Brunhild turned around next to the sink at the window of the art room.

While washing the brushes she said, “I have altered parts and painted over areas countless times. But I am not ‘repainting’ it as it is still incomplete.”

“Is a painting not complete when you paint it once?”

“It can change depending on the materials and methods used. And on what you decide is its completed form.”

“Hmm,” replied Ooki as she looked at the forest contained in that rectangular frame. It was a work in progress, so some areas were not fully painted. However, a depthless black forest spread out within the canvas.

For an instant, Ooki felt like she was being sucked inside, so she frantically straightened up.

“If you get too close, you will get paint on you.”

Brunhild dried her hands and the brushes with a dark stained towel.

“Where are the other club members?” asked Ooki toward the girl’s back.

“I am the only one that remained behind for spring break and wishes to paint enough to stop by the art room. I have been making use of the space due to its excellent soundproofing.”

“Hmm,” replied Ooki again as Brunhild pulled a small round case from her skirt pocket.

It was hand cream.

Ooki let out a sigh as she watched the back of that girl rubbing the cream on her fingers.

She looked down and found the black cat looking up at the painting.

Wondering if the cat could understand what it was looking at, Ooki followed its gaze. One section of the vast, deep forest remained untouched. It had no color and the material of the canvas was exposed.

“What will you be putting in this blank area?”

“A cabin.” With her back to Ooki, Brunhild nodded to herself. “Yes, a forest is not just a collection of trees. A forest is a forest because it is a place for people. It is because of the people in the forest that the trees are not just a collection; they are counted and remembered. Forests-…” She trailed off for a moment. “The kanji for forest was the first I learned in this country. I think it is an excellent representation.”

“I see. So you’re the outdoors type… I like green things too. Like celery.”

Brunhild’s fingers stopped moving at that last comment, but Ooki carefully examined the empty spot on the canvas without realizing the meaning behind that. A careful look showed a small cabin and four people drawn in charcoal. Three of the people were visible. An old man read a book inside the cabin and a girl and a woman played with a bird in front of the cabin.

The fourth person was probably a man, but he was hard to make out. The sketched lines had been roughly erased.

However, the direction of the woman and girl’s gazes showed that someone was definitely sitting there.

“Brunhild-san? Who are these people in the cabin?”

“A forest needs people, but those who live in the forest are those known as hermits, their apprentices, and those seeking their protection. …A hermit is the same as a wise man. Those who lament the world live here.”

“I see,” said Ooki as she straightened up and thought while keeping her gaze fixed on the painting. She then whispered, “So you like making up stories to go with your paintings.”

“Did you say something?”

“No, no. Nothing at all.”

Ooki looked over and found Brunhild looking toward her.

The girl’s eyes were narrowed as if staring intently at something.

“Sensei, something has been bothering me. What is that on your forehead?”

“Oh, this? That was thanks to a student.”

“School violence? That is not good. I will teach you a disciplinary method my older sister taught me. Even the biggest fool will regain his obedience in a single strike.”

''Why is this school filled with people like this?'' muttered Ooki in her heart.

“No, no. He is already plenty obedient. If he had been serious, it would never have stopped here.”

“This school has a student that violent?”

“Violent? No, he isn’t violent,” said Ooki. A small smile floated up on her lips. “In his second year of middle school, he advanced to the openweight finals for student karate, but he lost after breaking his fist. Afterward, his corporate blackmailer grandfather taught him all sorts of things and he now constantly has the top grades in the school. If I had to say he has a problem,” she took a breath, “it is that his knowledge of his abilities and his knowledge of just how much of an advantage he has prevents him from getting serious about anything. This was…not so much violence as it was a mass of strength that had nowhere to go. Okay?”

As his prey flew through the air, the werewolf moved to strike her once more.

The girl was doubled over in midair and the werewolf took a powerful step toward her.

In an instant, a third figure darted between the girl and the werewolf.

The werewolf remembered this person. It was the prey he had been pursuing before the sun set. He had lost sight of this prey after running into a wall and collapsing pathetically to the ground. The prey spread his empty arms wide as if to hide the girl. He was wearing a dark vest, but the sleeves of his white shirt showed up well in the dark forest.

The werewolf chose to use the right hand he had held up to attack the girl. He only had to plunge his claws into that boy’s gut as he ran by and then throw the boy aside. His white shirt would be stained with blood which would add some nice color to the plain forest.

The werewolf made up his mind in an instant, but something else happened slightly before that.

It came from below.

Something like a wall flew toward his face.

“…!?”

The werewolf realized it was a coat.

''Where?'' he thought. The boy had spread his arms wide, but his hands had been empty. That left only one answer.

His feet. It had to be that. When the werewolf had leapt, his focus had been grabbed by the white of the boy’s shirt as he spread his arms. The boy had placed the coat atop his feet and then kicked it up.

This slowed the werewolf’s reaction time.

The coat covered his face. His pointed nose sucked in the odd flowery scent that stained the boy’s clothes and he grew confused. He shook his head in an attempt to remove the coat, but it had wrapped around his head as if embracing him.

''Why?'' he wondered just as he felt an impact run across his shins.

His body seemed to float in midair.

After Sayama swept the werewolf’s feet out from under him, he saw the werewolf begin to collapse, starting with the head. As the werewolf swung his arms around randomly, he grazed Sayama’s left arm.

He felt pain, but turned around without checking on the wound.

The girl was what mattered, not the beast. With that thought in mind, Sayama began running alongside the rolling werewolf.

…''He won’t be able to get that coat off of his head easily.

Sayama had tied off the sleeves and then placed a stone in each one and in the lower pockets. If the coat struck something while spread out, the weight of the stones would cause it to grab onto its prey. Sayama had used the principle of a throwing net.

…''But this only buys us some time.

He understood that well.

As he nodded, his eyes looked out on empty space. The girl had reached the fall of her parabolic trajectory.

To his left, the werewolf’s leg had gotten caught in one of the depressions located here and there. The speed of his roll had suddenly increased. Sayama ignored the werewolf as the beast’s giant frame struck the ground.

Instead, Sayama stretched his arm out toward the falling girl.

He was not going to make it. If the girl continued falling with such momentum, she would almost certainly be injured.

He kicked off the ground. He stretched out his hand, he stretched out his fingers, and he grabbed the girl’s skirt.

“…!”

With a single groan of effort, he pulled her in toward him.

Her unconscious form fell into his arms as if she had jumped into them.

He had caught her.

He noticed she still held that long staff in her right hand. Sayama intentionally let his feet slide along the ground to brake quickly. As he did, his right arm holding her shoulders shook her slender body.

“Are you okay?”

As he stopped by tearing dirt up from the ground, she replied with an action rather than words.

Her eyelids opened slightly and her gaze moved toward Sayama.

While surrounded by a sweaty face and disheveled hair, her slightly teary eyes looked right at him. And then…

“Eh?”

Her eyes opened wide.

Upon seeing her gaze, Sayama twisted around which gave her a better look. Behind him, the werewolf had ripped off the coat over his face and was beginning to stand. When she saw the enemy, she looked back up at Sayama.

“Y-you…” she started to say before suddenly looking down at herself.

She had only just now realized she was being held.

“Kyah!” she shouted.

Sayama glanced down to find the white and black material of her bodysuit had been split vertically. Everything from her chest to just below her navel was bared through the wide gap this opened.

Sweat covered her navel and round breasts as they moved up and down with her heavy breathing. She frantically covered herself with her hands.

Sayama unsteadily flinched back as he looked at her.

…''Not good. I should have checked beforehand.

“Okay,” he nodded before asking what truly mattered at the moment. “How can I defeat that enemy?”

“Eh? U-um…What are you-…?”

“This is no time for philosophical questions. I asked a single question and I seek a single answer. How do I defeat that enemy?”

She gulped. However, she gave an answer because the werewolf was getting up.

“Precious metals. Only a weapon using them will be effective.”

Sayama had some doubts regarding what she had said, but he cast them aside.

He decided to trust her. She understood the situation. That was all the reason he needed.

He trusted her.

And so Sayama placed the girl on the ground. He placed her feet on the ground, supported her unsteady back, and kept his gaze on their enemy.

“What is your name?”

“…Shinjou.”

Sayama rolled that hesitantly-spoken surname around in his mouth.

The werewolf stood up and leaned forward. It was preparing to run full speed for them. In another instant, that great power would be charging toward them.

As soon as he saw that, Sayama moved forward. Shinjou called out behind him.

“W-wait a second! Wait until my comrades arrive!”

Sayama’s only reply was a light wave of his left arm. A red flow fell from his fingers to the ground. The girl named Shinjou must have seen it because he heard her gasp behind him.

Her tension told Sayama once more just how limited his time was.

The grazing blow from before had been surprisingly deep.

But he did not hesitate. Even as his left arm felt oddly heavy, he took another step forward.

He fixed his left sleeve which was wet with blood, rebuttoned the cuff, and then lightly raised his right hand which now had blood on it.

He snapped his fingers and a spray of blood shot out.

“Listen.”

He looked down to the chest pocket of his vest. It held two ballpoint pens.

“These are Swiss. The tips are silver. That is a precious metal. …You are in for a painful experience.”

As he spoke, Sayama kicked off the ground and began running.

He ran straight forward.

He had to close the gap before the enemy began running. This was due to their difference in weight. If the enemy began running, he would not even need to stop to crush Sayama. And the girl named Shinjou was behind him.

Sayama wondered if she could fight or not. That staff she held was undoubtedly the weapon that had felled that tree. However, she had only used it the one time. She had felled the tree and done nothing more.

Did the reason for this lie in the machine or in her?

Sayama recalled the eyes he had seen while holding Shinjou. He recalled those black eyes with thin tears running from them.

…''It is the latter.

He was sure of it. She was likely a naïve person, and so she had tried to avoid having to attack.

But Sayama needed to focus on the term “precious metal”.

He was approximately three meters from the werewolf. He was not yet close enough for his attack to reach.

However, the werewolf swung his left arm up while leaning forward. He was preparing to knock Sayama out of the way and then charge on to Shinjou.

“Hmph,” snorted Sayama as he reached into his vest’s breast pocket with his right hand. The two ballpoint pens he had previously shown off were inside. He pulled out one of them.

“…!”

And he threw it.

He gave that projectile as much speed as he could manage from a distance of just under two meters.

He aimed for the werewolf’s forehead, but the werewolf used its raised left hand to grab the ballpoint pen from the side. Bluish-white flames and then smoke burst from that palm.

The werewolf shook his right arm and threw the pen away.

His left side was now wide open.

Sayama charged in. He skillfully undid his right cuff button and pulled the other pen from his vest. He then jabbed the pen at the werewolf’s chest as if tackling the beast.

It all happened in an instant.

The werewolf suddenly took an action fundamentally different from his previous ones.

It stopped leaning forward and stood up straight.

“…!?”

It had been a feint. The werewolf had pretended to prepare to run to draw Sayama in.

Sayama’s aim was thrown off when the werewolf raised his body.

His right arm stabbed into empty air.

However, the werewolf’s left arm was still where it was from shaking off the pen and his right arm was still where it was from straightening up. The beast had not yet taken an offensive stance. He may have evaded Sayama’s attack, but he had lost his opportunity for an attack of his own.

Their situations were the same. Or so it seemed at first. However, Sayama’s opponent was not human.

Sayama saw the werewolf choose a third option for attack instead of relying on his arms.

His fangs.

The werewolf opened his mouth.

Even in the dark night, Sayama could see the red of his mouth and the pale yellow of his fangs.

It all came to an end in an instant.

Sayama swung his right arm up as if stabbing into the air and the werewolf lowered his opened maw.

In that instant, the werewolf saw a single object.

The prey’s right hand holding the pen moved back down as if adjusting his aim.

''Useless,'' thought the werewolf. His fangs would tear into the prey’s face before that pen could reach him.

But something odd entered his vision.

Something like a dark wet stone flew between the pen and his jaw.

As his prey swung his right arm up, this object had tumbled out of the sleeve and flown up.

What was it?

Before he could determine that, it flew into his mouth.

It tasted of blood. Of human blood.

''Such a nostalgic flavor,'' he thought just as he realized what had flown into his mouth.

A wristwatch. It had been the one the boy had worn on his left arm.

“…!?”

His memories told him why the boy would do that.

The watch had been decorated with silver. And just before charging forward, this prey had fixed his bloody left sleeve with his right hand.

That was when the boy must have hidden it in his right sleeve. And he had thrown it using the action of stabbing with the pen.

He had done it all after predicting the werewolf would attack with his fangs.

The werewolf looked forward as he bit down on the watch that could be called a silver bomb.

He captured the boy’s movements in his vision.

The boy twisted his right arm around to take a fighting stance.

He had already begun to bring his right knee up.

He pressed his left foot down to jump up.

The momentum of his jump brought his right leg straight up and toward the werewolf’s jaw.

The werewolf could not avoid it.

The kick landed.

Pain and heat exploded in his mouth and his vision became enveloped in bluish-white flames.

“!”

Just as he tried to cry out, a sharp pain stabbed into his chest thanks to the second pen. His body became even further enveloped in fire.

He could hear the boy asking a question.

“Was that a painful enough experience?”

The girl named Shinjou uttered a single short statement after seeing what had happened.

“No way… And against an enemy like that?”

However, she immediately held up her staff. She did not aim the point at the enemy; she instead aimed the side with the fluorescent light toward the enemy like it was a bow.

Before her, the boy stumbled backward a few steps after landing. Beyond him, the werewolf’s head and chest were enveloped in flames. The boy tried to stand up tall, but his knees gave out underneath him and he collapsed to the ground.

Meanwhile, the werewolf could still move.

“…!”

Even after being turned into a bluish-white torch, the beast howled up into the sky and took a step forward.

The boy managed to stand up, but he seemed to be twisting his body around to do so. Also, his left hand was still hanging limply at his side, his back was arched, and his breathing was visibly erratic.

Shinjou tightened her grip on her staff. She had to hurry. If she did not, she might lose that boy.

She looked at the center of the grip. A narrow chain with an anchor attached hung down from the hole there.

If she grabbed and pulled that anchor, the dynamo inside would supply power to the fluorescent light. The concept that precious metals possess power had been added to the conditions of this space. That was why the dynamo within the staff was created from consecrated silver sheets and gold coils. And the light emitted by the fluorescent light powered by that dynamo was…

“A sacred light created from mercury.”

It was fairly weak as far as the powers of precious metals were concerned, but reflectors were used to focus the light. That gave it enough power to act as a blade within the effective focal length.

With swift motions, Shinjou grabbed the anchor and stared forward.

The boy had taken a fighting stance and the werewolf had swung up his right arm. That sight caused Shinjou to cry out reflexively.

[[Image:OnC_v01_0109.png|thumb]]

“No!!”

The werewolf turned toward her.

And she saw emotion.

She saw the emotion on the werewolf’s face.

Sayama saw the werewolf move.

…''It can still move!?

A bitter smile appeared on his face when he realized his thought was one of admiration rather than fear or surprise.

''I see,'' he thought. He was gasping for breath, but his thoughts raced on.

He could do this. He could still do this.

''Do what?'' he thought, but the answer was already prepared within him.

He would get serious.

He had yet to reach that point. All he had done at this point was perform a simple feint and exchange injuries.

It started here. He felt this was where it truly began.

The instant he got serious, the answer came to him. He simply had to knock down the enemy before him and be the last one standing. He could use any means necessary. After all, the beast before him was his enemy.

He would truly try to crush this enemy. That was the lesson his villain of a grandfather had driven into him again and again.

He began to move. In order to carry out his act of evil, he took an instant to check on the ballpoint pen he had just stabbed into the werewolf’s chest.

His next action could begin once he kicked it up or otherwise got it back into his hands.

Or so he intended.

But before he could, he heard the metallic sound of a staff being held up. Soon thereafter, he heard Shinjou’s voice.

“No!!”

At the same time as he heard that still word, Sayama saw a single emotion.

As the werewolf looked over Sayama’s head, the beast’s face definitely twisted.

Protest, indignation, resignation, grief, anger, and pity.

The werewolf’s face twisted into an expression that was simultaneously all of those and none of those.

When Sayama saw this expression, he stopped moving briefly.

…''Is it really necessary to crush this beast’s emotions?

That thought came to him. He wondered if his evil was just or not.

He was inexperienced.

However, Sayama clenched his teeth and moved.

Shinjou had also seen the werewolf’s expression.

When she realized that expression had been caused by her and the weapon in her hand, a quick “ah” escaped from her lips and her hand pulling the anchor suddenly stopped.

She saw the boy move. He tried to deliver a right kick.

However, it was too late. She was unsure if he would make it in time.

If the werewolf moved with all its strength, the boy and his attack would be crushed.

If she did not pull the anchor, she might lose the boy.

She had to shoot.

But she hesitated.

She did not know why she hesitated. She only knew that this hesitation had existed in her heart all this time.

Was there no better way? Was there some method other than fighting like he was?

Was there some method that would not require either of them to be lost?

She could not think of anything. As she became aware of her own inability, she saw the boy take his belated action.

When she saw his action, Shinjou compared him to herself.

…''He is different.

And then the werewolf’s body trembled slightly. This was the beginning of an action. She could not tell if this was an advance indicator of the beast swinging his right arm down or of some other action.

“N-no!” cried Shinjou.

And yet she was unable to pull the anchor. She could see the fingers holding the anchor trembling. She could not suppress the trembling. It grew so bad that the chain shook and rattled.

“…!”

With a voiceless breath, Shinjou tried to pull the anchor.

In the next instant, her fingers slipped from the anchor.

The chain rattled as it fell slack.

“Ah…” she said as her eyes opened wide and tears poured out.

And suddenly, the werewolf was pierced by a white light from the side.

Shinjou saw it. A white light about ten centimeters wide shot through the center of the werewolf’s torso from left to right.

It had been a sniper shot.

As a light sound of flesh being struck rang out through the air, the werewolf stopped moving.

Finally, the beast’s body tilted backward.

And the werewolf looked up into the sky. Into the night sky of the dark forest.

“…”

A cry escaped through the fangs in its opened maw and shot into the sky. This cry could be taken as one of protest or one of great emotion.

And then the werewolf moved. He moved his sharp claws. He held his right hand up to his neck and made a single horizontal jerk.

The sound of the flesh being torn was the same as the sound of a fibrous material being cut.

The sound of blood spilling out was the same as the sound of bubbles being formed.

After those two sounds and a stream of blood burst out, the werewolf collapsed.

An unreserved sound of flesh striking the ground rang out.

The beast’s giant form lay sprawled out on the ground while still wrapped in bluish-white flames.

When he saw that, the boy lowered the leg he had swung up for a kick.

The train bound for Okutama began to move.

It had already grown dark outside the window and the black of the mountains and the blue of the night sky were visible through the window that reflected the inside of the train.

The train was near deserted. Only two figures could be seen reflected in the window. One was a white-haired man wearing a black suit and the other was a white-haired girl wearing a maid uniform. The man was named Itaru and the girl was named Sf.

The girl held a metal cane on her lap.

“Do you think the situation has ended by now?”

“Probably. My old man said the preliminary negotiations with 1st-Gear would be held the day after tomorrow, but…”

“There have been a lot of deaths.”

“Yes. What do you think?”

“This can be used to our advantage in the negotiations.”

Itaru gave a bitter smile.

“You’re supposed to say we will not let their deaths go to waste, you idiot. Try to remember to put it like that when speaking to others.”

“Tes. But that representation makes it difficult to arrive at the original meaning.”

“That is supposedly the entire point. And I used to be like that, too.”

“Then I will speak frankly when it is with you, Itaru-sama. I have interpreted that as your demand.”

“…You really are skilled at what you do, Sf,” said Itaru as he gazed out the window. “Look, we’re at Okutama. Hand over my cane. …That is my current demand.”

The location Sayama and Shinjou chose to rest in was the base of the tree she had felled.

Sayama arrived while Shinjou supported him from the right side.

“I think that was a sniper strike from one of my comrades… Help should arrive soon.”

Ever since that comment, she had only hung her head down. However, once Sayama sat down while leaning up against the tree trunk, there was something he had to do. First, he had to stop the bleeding from his left arm.

He took action while relying on the afterglow from Shinjou’s fluorescent light.

He bit strongly into the fabric of his shirt’s left shoulder and ripped it. He placed the torn sleeve on the ground and raised his left arm. He could not feel anything beyond the elbow and the shoulder felt heavy. A close examination showed he was bleeding from one area above his elbow and one below it.

He hurriedly grabbed the sleeve from the ground. He bit one end of the sleeve and wrapped the other end all the way around from his armpit to his shoulder. He let go of the end in his mouth, tied a knot over the artery, placed a finger under the knot, and tightened it.

He suddenly realized Shinjou was watching him. Her mouth was hanging open slightly.

“Is this that surprising?”

“No, um, you just seem used to this.”

“I used to attend the Hiba Dojo, a dojo a bit farther up from here. I learned this as practice there.”

“Hmm,” said Shinjou with a nod.

Sayama then realized she was embracing her own body and trembling slightly.

Shinjou quickly averted her gaze and spoke quietly.

“Sorry.”

She held her knees in her arms. Her bodysuit-style outfit was made so the shoulders and that contained defensive properties were connected together through each of the hard points. It was similar to a modern suit of armor. Holding her knees the way she was showed off the deep-colored stockings covering her thighs. They had some sort of graphic and writing printed on them.

The way Shinjou deeply embraced her knees looked less like she was trying to hide her exposed body and more like she was trying to make herself as small as possible. While lifting her feet up on their tiptoes to bring her knees even closer, she spoke.

“I should have fired, right?”

Her tone was half questioning, but Sayama responded by leaning his head back against the tree and looking up. The shadows of the forest only made the night even darker. He could not see the stars.

“Do you think so?” he replied.

Shinjou turned toward him and lowered the ends of her eyebrows.

“If it were you…would you have chosen to fire in the end?”

“This is purely hypothetical, but I think I would indeed have chosen to fire. …Why did you not fire?”

“It isn’t that I didn’t fire. I couldn’t fire.”

“You couldn’t?”

“No,” replied Shinjou. “You took action in the end, didn’t you? …But I didn’t know what to do when I saw the look in the enemy’s face. I began to wonder if there wasn’t a better way.”

“So you tried to make a different decision than I did.”

''But she could not think of anything and it resulted in being no different from simply choosing to do nothing,'' thought Sayama.

In the end, the enemy had committed suicide after being shot from afar.

Sayama sighed in his heart.

She had been naïve. And that had led to the worst possible result.

''But that is a way of thinking I cannot copy,'' he thought. ''And because a villain like me cannot think like that…

“In reality, I was probably wrong and you were probably right.”

“I was…right? But I might have endangered-…”

Sayama looked Shinjou straight in the eye. When their gazes met, Shinjou stopped speaking.

“Listen. You hesitated because you weighed my life against that of the enemy. That is the right thing to do.”

“Th-that can’t be true. All I did was freeze up because I couldn’t decide which was more important.”

“Anyone who judges the value of people’s lives is in the wrong.” He smiled bitterly. “You did the right thing. Do not try to apologize. I will demand compensation if you do.”

“B-But it bothers me…”

Sayama narrowed his eyes. He looked carefully at her expression.

“Why do you always look so uncertain? It may be difficult for someone like you to survive, but you should be confident that you have survived this long by doing the right thing.”

Shinjou opened her mouth as if to say something in response.

Sayama was certain that whatever words were about to come from her mouth would be a denial of what he had said.

And that was why he spoke before she could.

“Could you lend me your lap? That will be my compensation for that first apology.”

“Eh?” said Shinjou in surprise.

Finally, she removed her arms from her knees. She hid her breasts behind those arms and hesitantly placed her knees down. She sat with her legs bent back to either side.

“I-is this good?”

Having received permission in the form of a question, Sayama moved his body down while half-sliding across the tree trunk.

When he placed his head on top of her thighs, Shinjou trembled slightly. He looked up to find Shinjou looking down with an uncertain expression.

“…Is this okay? If it isn’t comfortable, just tell me. Is there anything else I can do?”

Shinjou removed one hand from her breasts and brushed up his bangs.

Sayama looked up and said, “Let’s see. How about a lullaby? I am exhausted.”

“Don’t you dare die while looking like you’re only going to sleep.”

“That only happens in movies.”

He gave a bitter smile and Shinjou returned it. She then looked away.

“Um…” she began before brushing up his bangs again and opening her mouth.

She began singing. Her voice wavered slightly at first, but it gradually steadied.

Sayama recognized the song. It was the hymn Silent Night.

“Silent night, holy night

All’s asleep, one sole light

Just the faithful and holy pair

Lovely boy-child with curly hair

Sleep in heavenly peace

Sleep in heavenly peace.”

As he listened to her voice, Sayama looked over and noticed some skin next to his face that her arm could not cover. Her stomach and her well-shaped navel moved shallowly in and out with the rhythm of the song and her breathing.

That movement and the sense of her breathing and pulse he could feel through her thighs gave Sayama an odd sense of peace.

He suddenly recalled his conversation with Izumo and Kazami at school.

She did indeed smell good.

As if invited in by that scent, Sayama leaned his head over and pressed his cheek and ear against the sweaty area below her chest.

He heard her say “ah” and her legs drew back slightly, but he could also hear her breathing and pulse in his ear. It was a gentle noise. He could not help but match his own breathing to hers. Sayama smiled a bit in his heart.

…''You did the right thing.

He wanted to say that once more. They had not lost their breathing or the beating of their hearts. In the same way, she had not wanted to lose him or their enemy.

But the words did not come out. He no longer had enough spare energy to move.

As his consciousness thinned, Sayama tried to determine what this peace was that he was given from the warmth and rhythm of Shinjou’s body. It was something nostalgic that he could not quite recall. What was it?

When the boy’s eyes closed, Shinjou panicked slightly.

But when she moved, she noticed his eyebrows slanting a bit.

He was alive. He was only sleeping. When she realized that, she faintly admonished herself for thinking something so dangerous. As he slept with his ear and cheek against her body, she stroked his bangs with her hand.

His expression changed. She thought she could sense peace coming from it.

“Maybe I’m thinking too much of myself…”

Shinjou removed the arm hiding her breasts. She used both hands to reach around behind his head and shoulder and lightly embraced him. Once she actually touched him, she realized he was cold.

''It’s okay,'' she told herself as she looked down at his left arm. Because he had bound his right hand in his armpit, the bleeding had almost entirely stopped.

Shinjou’s gaze stopped on his left hand. The bloody middle finger had a women’s ring on it.

“…Eh?”

Surprised, Shinjou looked at her own right hand that was embracing his shoulder. She removed the glove to reveal a men’s ring on her middle finger. Thinking it looked like they were following the same fashion, Shinjou smiled. He desired battle and she tried to avoid it. They seemed like complete opposites, yet they seemed a lot alike in this one aspect.

As she smiled, Shinjou belatedly realized a certain fact: She had never asked his name.

“You…”

Just as she looked at that peaceful sleeping face, she heard two sets of footsteps on the dirt behind her.

“…”

Shinjou covered him with her own body as if to hide him. After taking that precaution, she turned her head to look behind her.

Two figures stood in the darkness only a few steps away.

A slender figure held what looked like a long spear and a large figure held what looked like a long, wide sheet.

The large one spoke to her. It was a male voice.

“What’s with that look? He’s injured, right? Then hurry up and bring him with you.”

The figure took a breath.

“As long as he isn’t dead, something can be done. …In this world, at least.”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
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Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 2

2026-06-28T04:21:15Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 2: The Two Meet==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0065.png|thumb]]
''A scream of rejection led to their meeting

''So which one did she really want?

When Sayama came out onto the road down below, he tilted his head in confusion alone on the sidewalk.

The cell phone in his hand would not turn on.

He had checked the battery when leaving his dorm, but now the LCD screen was dark. He shook it lightly, but nothing changed. He thought it might have to do with the signal, so he crossed the two-lane road to reach the sidewalk on the valley side, but this also did nothing. He removed and put back in the general-purpose battery that worked in all small IAI devices, but to no avail.

“What is going on?” he muttered.

But then he recalled the strange voice he had heard not long before.

As he had been traveling down the slope, he had heard a single voice.

—'''Precious metals possess power.

This had not been a reverberating voice amplified with a megaphone. It had been like a whisper from headphones he was wearing. However, a look around had not shown any equipment that could have produced the noise.

And now his cell phone would not function.

He put the phone back in his pocket in confusion. According to his memory, he should reach several restaurants along the road if he walked a bit further. He decided to use a phone at one of them. Wondering what time it was, he glanced down at his watch.

“It’s stopped…”

His watch had stopped. The hour hand, minute hand, and second hand were all motionless.

He frowned and put a hand in his pocket. He pulled out a digital recorder with the IAI mark on it. It was stick-shaped and the top had a red start button.

He pressed it.

However, the recorder did not respond. He remembered fully charging its general-purpose battery as well.

While wondering what all this meant, Sayama realized something else. He looked around the area and then up into the trees of the forest.

“There is no sign of anyone.”

Not many cars used this road. However, not a single one had passed by in the time he had spent climbing down the slope. On top of that, he could not see a single bird among all the trees.

Suddenly, Sayama recalled that the train had returned to Shiromaru. He wondered what had happened.

And then he heard the sound of something being struck in the distance.

The sound had come from the tree-covered slope leading down from the road and to a river.

“That was a tree collapsing.”

He looked and spotted a single distant tree on the slope that had begun to tilt. It was a cedar. The silhouette that resembled a green leaf-covered spire leaned up against the nearby trees and then collapsed.

After seeing that, Sayama moved his gaze west toward the sun setting behind Okutama.

After confirming that was his destination, he nodded.

But then he heard another noise. And this time it was not the cracking of a falling tree.

It was a scream.

“…”

Sayama instinctually raised his head.

He had definitely heard that distant, high-pitched voice. For an instant, strength filled his body, but then he stopped.

He took a breath, frowned, and thought.

He did not think for long. He only needed to remember his past. Just a single memory. He remembered when his mother had brought him into these mountains by car.

“So it is always me who is unable to keep his promises to meet someone…”

He took another breath and brought his hand to the left of his chest. A slight ache from the past lay there, but he suppressed it with his breathing.

He opened his eyes.

The crimson-dyed sky lay before his eyes. Seeing that color, Sayama nodded and began moving.

“Okay.”

He turned toward the valley-side forest below. His right hand loosened his necktie while his left shoulder slipped out of his coat in an instant. By the time the coat left his right shoulder, he had already stepped atop the guardrail on the sidewalk.

He took a step.

His footstep sounded lightly as he used the guardrail as a stepping stone to propel him into the air. As the coat still on his right arm flapped about, it created a solid noise as it struck his back. At that same moment, his feet landed on the underbrush of the slope.

He began walking.

His pace was much faster than when he moved down to the road earlier. He lowered his hips to almost slide down the slope.

The sun had already started to set in the western sky that was hidden by the trees.

Once it grew dark, the forest would be dangerous.

He had to hurry. He lowered his hips even further to rush down the slope.

He entered the forest and ran between the trees. His destination was the tree that had fallen earlier.

Sayama ran straight there while treading on old, dry branches.

He was not out of breath as he had a habit of running every evening.

However, running on such bad terrain and the faint tension he felt did noticeably raise his body temperature. Even so, there was one part of his body he felt no heat in.

That was his left fist. It alone felt cold.

“Ha,” gasped Sayama in what was not quite a breath and not quite a laugh.

He was only about a dozen meters from his destination. He could hear a flowing river through the forest.

He could see several depressions that had once been small streams along the ground. He jumped over them as he ran and raised his head.

Between the trees, Sayama saw the setting sun sinking behind Okutama’s mountain range. Dusk would arrive in less than ten minutes. The forest would grow very dark.

''Hurry,'' Sayama called to himself.

He then spotted some small lights. They were near the tree he was running toward. Light was reflecting off of something scattered across the ground.

…''Did a hiker leave some trash behind?

But he immediately rejected that idea. A hiker would not come this far to throw their trash away. They would do so near the trail or river.

He put up his guard. He stopped next to the light on the ground and looked down. He saw…

“Metal?”

Black metal fragments were scattered primarily around the southern side of a large tree.

And the fallen tree he had seen before was about five trees south of it. A cedar tree just barely too wide to reach around had fallen and the break was visible from here.

Sayama looked over at that break where that loud noise had come from before.

“That is…”

He frowned and fell silent.

The tree had been sliced at about a meter up from the ground.

It was a clean diagonal slice. About four-fifths of the trunk’s diameter had been sliced through in a single blow without leaving any woodchips or sawdust at the base of the tree. The cracking sound Sayama had heard must have been the remaining fifth breaking.

He smelled a slight odd scent. It stank of something burning. He looked again and noticed a slight charring around the cut.

Sayama took a step forward to go check out the cut.

But his right foot trod on something hard.

He looked down and lifted up his foot.

Sayama recognized what he found. It was a short tube made of the same material as the metal fragments scattered around the area.

“A gun barrel.”

…''This is longer than the ones I have seen while staying at the Tamiya household. Perhaps it is not for a pistol.

With that thought, Sayama checked the ground once more.

He found some new information there.

They were footprints. And three different kinds.

The first was fairly old. They were large and had a mountain boot type of pattern.

The second was smaller but had a similar pattern to the first.

And the third was very strange and seemed to trample over the others. These odd footprints were easily over thirty centimeters long and had holes as if from spikes where the toes should have been.

The information did not end there. An intermittent trail of dark wet spots approached from the south.

Those wet spots continued to the tree behind Sayama.

As Sayama held his breath and did not turn around, he felt a slight sensation fall on his left shoulder.

It felt as if someone had tapped on his shoulder, so he looked over.

A single dark spot could be seen on the fabric that had been dyed light red by the setting sun.

What was that?

As if in response, another one fell on his shoulder.

It came from above.

And in the next moment…

“…!”

Sayama unhesitatingly ran forward, to the west, and toward the river he could hear.

He did not check what was above him. He already knew what it was.

If he had looked up, his footing would have been uncertain and he would have been unable to move. That instant would have put him in danger.

He had never been in danger before. And that was why Sayama began to run.

…''Something is in that tree!

The instant he was sure of that, he heard something drop to the ground behind him. It was the sound of two legs landing. Two legs supporting something large. He could hear the feet sinking into the ground.

Immediately afterward, a voice shot past Sayama and through the forest. It was a beast’s roar. A howl.

…''Is it a bear?

But he denied that possibility. This beast had killed its prey, carried that prey into the tree, and then waited for Sayama to notice the corpse before attacking from above. The first set of footprints belonged to the victim in the tree. The second set had likely fallen for that trap.

Sayama would have been the third victim, but only the second to fall for that strategy.

…''Beasts do not use strategies like that. Only people do.

The howl from behind him had been that of a beast, yet…

“If this thing has a human intellect, I should handle it like a human.”

As if pursuing those words spoken toward the ground, footsteps approached Sayama from behind.

They were fast.

Those footsteps were as deep as a bass drum and each step covered as much ground as Sayama covered in five. However, Sayama did not turn around. He focused only on not slowing his pace.

He refused to turn around. What he needed was distance, not curiosity.

The sound of the river up ahead was growing louder.

He could see light. The ground sloped sharply downward. Ahead, he could see a rocky river bank covered in the dim light of dusk.

Once he arrived there, he would be able to see his opponent. He might also spot someone there.

Just as Sayama began to wonder if he could call for help, he noticed something odd up ahead.

He noticed the movement of the air spreading out ahead of him and a slight haze of light.

A single obstacle was covering the entire edge of the forest on the slope just above the river. It was…

“A wall!?”

The wind ahead of him was still. And the light of dusk had grown slightly hazy.

He would arrive at this supposed wall in another three seconds.

The heavy footsteps were still approaching from behind.

Should he run directly into the wall or not? In fact, did this wall even exist or not?

How could he check?

A single idea came to Sayama. He slowed his pace slightly.

Once he arrived at the supposed wall, he turned his back. It was as if he had been cornered.

He could see a shadow charging toward him.

That shadow resembled a human. The large figure was over two meters tall. Its entire body was covered in black animal hair, but torn black cloth could be seen at its waist and chest.

Its face was visible above its thick chest.

Its face resembled a dog. Below the pointed ears were two golden eyes and a red slit of a mouth.

…''Is this what you call a werewolf?

He thought that idea was crazy, but only for an instant. The truth lay before his eyes.

And so he needed to move. Amid the dim light, Sayama brought both arms down and his hips back. His opponent likely thought he was ducking down. However, Sayama was using the right hand hidden in his coat to search behind him.

In what should have been empty space, he felt resistance

It was a wall. The sensation he felt through the coat reminded him of a rough eggshell. The coat molded into the shape of that wall, so he could tell it had no gaps.

The enemy came immediately thereafter.

Sayama threw his head back to show off his throat.

The enemy’s right claws were swung down. It was trying to cut off his head as it passed by. It opened its mouth and bared its fangs.

It let out a cry, but…

“Silence,” said Sayama as he dropped his hips down along the wall.

The werewolf’s claws cut through empty air.

Its giant body then slammed face-first into the invisible wall.

This caused a great sound of impact.

It sounded less like flesh being struck and more like a car crashing. The werewolf’s entire body was knocked back by a repelling force. It flew through the air, rotated once, and caused a tremor in the earth where it landed. It then rolled.

The sounds of the beast’s breaths mixed in with the sound of it rolling.

Sayama was almost lying down on the ground and he realized the chest of his vest had been torn.

“That was valuable,” he complained as he stood up and filled his lungs with air.

It did not seem the werewolf had lost consciousness. However, it was lying on the ground with its chest moving up and down as it gasped for breath. It did not seem to know what had happened. The wall may have been unexpected for it as well.

…''Or it simply might not have known where it was.

Sayama began running once more. He had to find a means of defeating the werewolf before it came to its senses. To remain in the werewolf’s blind spot as much as possible, he ran along the edge of the invisible wall. He ran west. This was upstream of the river to his left. After running across a few gentle slopes, he could no longer see the werewolf.

“The meeting time will probably have passed before long,” muttered Sayama as he looked down at his watch.

The silver hands were still not moving.

''What is going on?'' he thought.

And then he noticed a slight light beyond the wall.

It was a vehicle’s headlights.

A red RV was parked about twenty meters ahead on the rocky river bank. It was likely a family on a spring break outing. He could see the family around the RV folding up parasols and leisure tables. The family was made up of a middle-aged couple, a young girl, and her even younger brother. The RV’s headlights were pointed up the slope toward Sayama.

“Hey! You need to leave! It is-…”

He trailed off before he could say “dangerous”.

Something was strange.

The family he had shouted at continued their preparations to leave without paying him any heed.

…''Did they not hear me?

“Hey!!” he shouted while standing in the middle of the headlights where they could see him. However, they did not notice him.

…''Can they not see or hear me?

Sayama took in a deep breath and let it out. He placed a hand on the invisible wall before him and once more muttered, “This has become very odd.” And as Sayama watched on, the family climbed aboard the RV.

After a short pause, it drove off of the rocky river bank. It was headed…

“Up this slope.”

Sayama ran. If he was remembering right, the main road above had a few mountain roads leading down to the river. If the invisible wall to his left extended as far as the road the family was using, the RV would strike the wall from the outside.

What would happen then?

He climbed up the slope and found the road.

The branches of the trees above seemed to create a natural tunnel over the mountain road. The dirt road was about three meters across. Sayama stood atop the bulge in the center created by the ruts on either side.

As he wiped sweat from his brow, the RV’s headlights reached him.

Sayama took a step back while in the center of that light.

However, the family showed no sign of noticing him. The RV continued to approach at the same speed.

…''The wall.

They passed right through it. However, the RV changed.

It became a pale shadow.

It was so thin that the scenery beyond it was easily visible through it. The people inside were the same.

“…!?”

As Sayama stood in the center of that mountain road, the pale shadow of the RV passed through him. He only felt a slight shadow. It produced no wind or sound.

Sayama let out a sigh without even turning around.

“What is going on?”

…''That RV will likely drive up to the main road and eventually drive beyond the invisible wall once more.

And what lay beyond that wall was of course the everyday world.

It was only this space that was twisted. He was sure of that now.

Sayama suddenly crouched down. He spotted a nearby stone on the ground.

He picked it up.

Sayama then looked at the spot where the stone had been. A faint shadow the exact shape of the stone lay there.

It was so faint he could not see it without paying very careful attention.

Sayama replaced the stone and muttered, “Are the objects in this space the actual objects? Or are they the shadows?”

He did not know.

Sayama shook his head lightly and stopped arguing about it in his head. His current priorities lay elsewhere.

He took a breath. But then he froze in place.

He had heard a noise. He had heard heavy footsteps and a small cry in the distance.

The cry was the same voice as the scream from earlier.

“That person is still alive,” muttered Sayama as he looked forward.

He saw a slope. It was the slope he had climbed to distance himself from his enemy.

However, he took in a deep breath and began running down that very same slope.

Dusk was already turning to night.

Night also enveloped the near-deserted school.

In the second year general school building of Taka-Akita Academy, Ooki was in charge of locking up for the night. She was on the western edge of the first floor hallway. Specifically, in front of the emergency exit.

Kinugasa Library was located on the same floor. About four classrooms-length of the hallway had been turned into a storage area.

“What is this, a lawless zone?”

The large Kinugasa Library took up the length of four classrooms and the hallway had not escaped the power of its books. Bookshelves and other shelves were lined up along the walls of the hallway and towers of books were piled up here and there. To make it as far as she had, Ooki had been forced to weave around and jump over the piles of books. The hallway had become a sort of labyrinth.

No books or shelves were located near the emergency exit at the back, but that was only because the books and shelves were often brought in through it.

Ooki turned the key for the emergency exit to lock it. For an instant, she caught a glimpse to the east through the emergency door’s window. The eastern mountains were outlined in crimson, but the sky above created a gradation from purple to black.

“I hope this is okay…” she muttered before turning her back on the window.

She did not want to stay in that deserted labyrinth of books for long. While kicking a few books out of the way, Ooki made her way through the four classrooms-length area on her way to the central lobby.

''This tight skirt makes it hard to walk at times like this,'' she thought.

The hallway’s fluorescent lights felt overly bright because of the shallow darkness of night she could see out of the northern window between two bookshelves. Her reflection in the window showed a bandage on the forehead. That was where Sayama had flicked her.

“That boy did not hold back. …It would be best if I assume that’s just how much he adores me.”

Just as she muttered that, a door opened to the side.

“!”

She gasped and turned around. As she did, her heel caught on a pile of books and she fell backward.

“…Ah!”

Her legs flew up and her head fell to the floor…or it would have. However…

“My apologies,” said a low and relaxed male voice as a black gloved hand caught her falling back.

As soon as she realized she was being supported, her vision rotated around vertically.

[[Image:OnC_v01_0083.png|thumb]]

Her feet were brought to the ground and she stood on her own.

“…”

Ooki did not quite understand what had happened. Only the word “rotation” floated up in her mind.

“Um…” she muttered as she looked up at whose hand was supporting her waist. “Siegfried-san?”

“Are you okay?”

It was a tall elderly man who answered with that question. His broad-shouldered frame was contained in a white shirt, a black vest, and black trousers. He was bald, had a white beard, and his blue eyes were looking down at her.

Siegfried silently removed his right hand from her waist and brought the white cup in his left hand to his mouth. The aroma that reached Ooki told her it was coffee.

Ooki bowed while trying not to be too distracted by that scent.

“Th-thank you very much. What was that where I spun around?”

“It is similar to what you call aikido in Japan. More importantly, I am glad you are okay. Are you locking up?” asked Siegfried before his gaze moved to Ooki’s forehead. “I apologize for asking so many questions, but what is that bandage?”

“Oh, just something I received from a student earlier.”

“School violence? We cannot have that. I will teach this student a form of punishment passed down for generations. No matter how stubborn they may be, they will confess to being a filthy witch in just one blow.”

“Why is everyone around me like this?” muttered Ooki under her breath before shaking her hand from side to side. “No, no. This boy worked his way up quite high in karate, so I think this was unintentional. Also,” she scratched at her head, “it was done with mutual understanding between teacher and student. I was perfectly fine with it.”

“I see. Then I have no right to speak out against it. …I suppose everyone has their own preferences.”

“Oh, um… I am not sure I would put it that way, but whatever. What are you doing here, Siegfried-san?”

Siegfried pulled a single piece of paper from his breast pocket. He took another sip from his cup and then spoke.

“Some people needed help finding some data. Part of my job is providing help for those searching for data. Could you perhaps help me? There is a book titled ‘The First Plutonium’ somewhere in this hallway.”

“No, no, no, no, no,” said Ooki as she took a step back.

With a word of parting, she bowed and walked out to the central lobby that was actually quite small. She climbed the stairs to lock up on the second and third floors.

From the central lobby, it became clear how dark the school building was even with the fluorescent lights. The building was designed to only be used during the day.

“How scary,” sighed Ooki as she turned on the lights for the stairs.

The light green staircase lit up, but the white fluorescent lights felt somehow cold.

She then heard Siegfried say, “I already locked up the second floor. If you trust me, you can skip it.”

“I trust you!” she replied thankfully to the man who was hidden from view by a corner of the hallway.

She then headed on up.

She knew that the six general school buildings and the faculty building had been built before the war.

“The library was built like that by the founder, Kinugasa Tenkyou.”

It had originally been prepared as the research archive for the Izumo Aviation Institute’s General Tokyo Facility that was being built at the time. However, Taka-Akita Academy had been born as a means of creating skilled future personnel.

Ooki thought about the staircase she was currently walking up.

“This was built over seventy years ago…”

Her footsteps sounded loudly as she made it to the second floor. She left the central lobby and looked down the hallway.

She saw only darkness. And beyond that darkness was the music room to the west and the emergency exit to the east. However…

“I trust him…”

She backed up toward the staircase.

Ooki’s shoulders drooped as she sighed and turned on the lights for the staircase up to the third floor. She quickly made her way up.

Once on the third floor, she found darkness once more.

As if plunging her head into the darkness, Ooki stood in the central lobby and looked toward the art room to the west and then the emergency exit to the east. She could see the emergency exit light in the distance.

“Nnn,” she groaned as she turned on the lights to the hallway. The fluorescent lights came on one after another and lit up the area. However, the windows and glass on the classroom doors grew darker.

Ooki stood in the center of the hallway and scratched at her head.

“Well, I have no choice…”

Her shoulders drooped, her head drooped, and she sighed.

She headed east while meaninglessly walking as silently as possible.

But then she jumped at a sudden noise from behind.

It was a cat. A single meow had come from the western art room.

“Nyah…?” asked Ooki as if she was about to cry.

She turned toward the art room while taking a cowardly pose.

She forced strength into her shoulders and slowly sent two jabs, a straight, and an uppercut into the air.

“O-okay, come at me.”

She held her breath for a few seconds. After that silence, she spoke quietly once more with her fists still at the ready.

“If you don’t want to come, you don’t have to…”

She received only silence in response. After a while, Ooki lowered her arms and pressed her hands against her legs. Her trembling had not stopped, but it had lessened.

“M-maybe there’s a cat outside,” she muttered while tilting her head and looking in the art room.

At the same moment, light cut through the darkness of the frosted glass on the art room door. It happened twice. This was not a reflection from a car’s headlights. The light cut across horizontally from left to right and disappeared.

“!”

Ooki wrapped her arms around herself and crouched down. After a moment, she reflexively covered her ears with her hands.

“I-it’s okay, it’s okay. Th-that was just a mysterious phenomenon.”

After realizing what she had said, Ooki let out a cry and shrank down even further.

She decided to return to the stairs. It was only about four meters away. She removed her hands from her ears and began crawling on her hands and knees. She kept her gaze down so as not to look at the art room as she took one step and then two.

As she crawled, she realized that she was acting just like a cat. She was still trembling, but she cast down her eyes in shock that she was doing this in her own workplace. She brought her right hand forward in place of a front paw and could not help herself.

“Nyah,” she said.

But she received a sudden response from a cat behind her.

“!”

She jumped forward in shock.

She twisted around as if trying to clean the floor with her butt. With her guard raised as high as it would go, she brought her knees up to form a defensive wall.

And then she saw what had replied to her.

It was a black cat. It was sitting in the spot she had been in a moment before and it was scratching its head with its hind leg. Meanwhile, Ooki was breathing heavily while looking at the cat with her hands on the floor behind her.

The black cat simply seemed to be relaxing, but she was fairly certain it had not been in the hallway a moment before.

She tried to say “when did that get in here?”, but her voice spilled from her mouth more as a breath than as words. She suddenly realized she had tears in her eyes. And…

“Are you okay, sensei?”

This time, she heard a voice from behind her in the art room. It was a girl’s voice.

Ooki gasped and turned around. She slowly looked up.

A single girl was standing there.

The girl wore her uniform like a model showing off the perfect method. Her platinum blonde hair was almost gray and it flowed down her back and to her legs.

She looked down on Ooki with a sharp look in her purple eyes and opened her mouth with no expression on her face.

“I apologize. You are patrolling, aren’t you? I was so focused on my work that I did not notice night had fallen. The soundproofing in here is quite good.”

“You are…”

“Brunhild Schild, a third year student. I will be the head of the general art club this coming year.”

Ooki stopped breathing momentarily when she heard the word “art”. She slowly moved her upward gaze to the west.

The art room was there.

Its door was open.

Ooki confirmed that darkness lay beyond that open door. And then someone grabbed her shoulders.

Brunhild had circled around behind her.

She leaned down as if trying to hold Ooki down.

She brought her small face over Ooki’s shoulder and spoke.

“Would you like to see my painting?”

“Your painting?”

“Yes,” replied Brunhild.

Ooki heard a slight waver in the girl’s tone. And that waver remained as Brunhild continued.

“A painting of a forest. A deep, dark, depthless, yet abundant forest.”

Sayama ran through the nighttime forest. He ran as if stabbing the soles of his feet into the ground. His legs would plunge forward through the air and his feet would come down to trample any obstacle underfoot. That was the absolute rule for running in a dark mountain.

“Who would have thought the harsh training of the Hiba Dojo would come in handy here!?”

He could hear the rustling of the trees and the cracking of someone treading quickly over branches up ahead.

Someone was being chased. Chased by that werewolf.

''Hurry,'' thought Sayama. ''I do not know who made that scream, but I have come for you.

As he urged himself to hurry, he approached those loud footsteps. It took him five steps for every one of theirs. However, the werewolf could only run in a straight line. He focused on efficiently weaving through the trees to gain as much ground as he could.

Sayama thought. Whoever was being pursued by the werewolf likely had their own method of escaping this situation. The cut that had felled that cedar had been too sharp to have been made by the werewolf’s claws. This person must possess some kind of weapon.

“A weapon?” asked Sayama with a bitter smile.

This was Japan. A weapon that destructive would not be allowed anywhere. Nevertheless…

“But this is real. I suppose I have entered a world where I have no choice but to believe the reality before my eyes.”

The source of the footsteps entered his vision. He saw a large back. It was running through the trees ahead.

Sayama reconfirmed that the footsteps and back ahead of him belonged to an enemy.

He had to hurry. He weaved through the trees while skimming as close by their trunks as he could. As he did, he scooped up two stones in each hand. He then held up his right arm so that his coat spread out.

“I suppose I have to say goodbye to this suit today…”

As he spoke, he could now see both the werewolf and the person running from it.

…''A girl?

He saw a single girl running.

She appeared to be about the same age as him. Her long, soft, and black hair danced about as she fled. She wore a white and black outfit that resembled a dress and in her right hand was…

“A fluorescent light?”

She held a white staff almost two meters long. The side of the upper end had a long cylinder attached that looked a lot like a fluorescent light. It produced a slight bluish-white afterglow that lit up the girl.

As the werewolf ran, it stretched out its arm toward the girl. She swung the staff as if to shine the afterglow on the werewolf.

Sayama heard a sound similar to a spray of water and saw the werewolf’s arm repelled.

He did not understand how it worked.

However, the staff the girl held was definitely the weapon Sayama had assumed she had.

As he ran, Sayama suddenly muttered, “Not good.”

He remembered running through this area.

Several depressions that had once been small streams cut across like stitches.

Sayama poured strength into his legs and ran forward.

At the same moment, the girl looked down as she ran.

“…!”

She let out a meaningless gasp and her slender body flew as if it had been struck.

She had not tripped; she had intentionally jumped.

However, the enemy did not overlook this opportunity. It let loose an attack from the left as if scooping its claws up toward the target that had lost her balance in midair.

The girl swung the staff to hold up the afterglow.

But it was too late.

With the sound of cloth tearing, her body was knocked away.

At the same time, a wind blew through, rustling the leaves of the forest.

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
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Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 1

2026-06-27T03:26:16Z

N-Ch:

[[Image:OnC_v01_0032-0033.png|thumb]]
''It was probably at that moment

''When that which had been stopped

''Began moving once more

—''To me, trying to find or soothe oneself is nothing more than an illusion.

==Chapter 1: Sayama’s Beginning==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0035.png|thumb]]
''The privilege of those who know themselves

''Is being able to restrict oneself

''There is no more relying on others

Below the blue sky were two rows of blossoming cherry trees.

The road between those two rows led to a cement wall surrounding a large area of land. The stone gatepost at the opening to the west was inscribed with the words “Taka-Akita Academy”.

The schedule posted on the gate read “spring break” and the gate itself sat open with no one to pass through.

Once one passed through the gate, the central road continued with the cherry trees on either side.

These trees were in full bloom as well. Continuing further led to a half hectare general sports ground to the right and a martial arts facility as large as a great hall to the left.

Continuing straight on led not to a school building but to a faculty building.

The school buildings were lined up in all four compass points with the faculty building at the center. This was all one school, but other than the six general school buildings, it was broken down by specialization. To provide a proper environment, some of the school buildings were surrounded by rows of trees, but others had a research plant equipped with a silo or an asphalt course for test driving.

The buildings built very nearby those school buildings were the student dormitories.

This school took up the area that would cover three-fourths of a city. It had a few shopping districts, farms, and factories on the grounds and a lot of the city’s people lived inside it.

And every facility within possessed a certain mark.

It was the mark of IAI, the Izumo Aviation Institute. IAI supported this academy city.

However, the academy was nearly deserted during spring break.

This was even true for the western general school buildings nearest the main gate.

A single figure could be seen at the second year general school building just north of the faculty building.

A boy stood on the second story landing of the emergency staircase.

Despite it being spring break, the boy wore his school uniform, blazer and all, and the buttons of his shirt were buttoned all the way up to the collar.

His hair was slicked back and a single stripe of white could be seen on either side. Below that hair were sharp eyes and a sharp face.

He was looking up into the sky.

Floating in the blue sky were thin white clouds and the shadow of an airplane making a wide curve through the air.

“So the American soldiers at Yokota are not taking a break either. They also prefer high places like me. And they too do not return home even when they have the chance,” he said.

He swung up his left arm and the sleeve slid down. A white scar could be seen on his left fist and he wore a woman’s ring on the middle finger. A silver wristwatch was also revealed on his left wrist. The hands pointed to 2:30 PM.

He pulled a single piece of paper from his pocket.

“Sayama Mikoto-sama. To complete the transfer of rights left with us by your grandfather, the late Sayama Kaoru-shi, we ask that you visit the Okutama IAI General Tokyo Facility on March 30 at 6 PM.”

It was an invitation. That simple text was followed by an IAI map and the name of the one inviting Sayama.

“IAI section chief, Ooshiro Kazuo, hm?”

…''The old man, hm?

When Sayama’s grandfather had died, that elderly man had been the first to come rushing over for the funeral. The tall, gray-haired man always wore a white coat at IAI. The two of them would speak every once in a while and the man seemed to enjoy it when Sayama called him “old man”.

But as Sayama looked at the invitation, he muttered, “My grandfather was a corporate blackmailer, so what rights could he have had at IAI?”

He turned around to find the emergency exit and the wall. The aluminum door was polished, but the wall was dirty with sand and dust. Out of sudden curiosity, he approached the wall and touched it. The sand came off and stuck to his finger.

“Hm…”

Just as he wiped off his finger, the emergency exit moved a bit.

A young woman in personal clothes poked her head out through the slight opening. As the bangs of her short brown hair waved, her blue eyes turned in the direction Sayama had been not long before. “Huh?” she said and tilted her head.

Sayama said, “Over here, Ooki-sensei. You must have a lot of free time to be at school during spring break.”

Hearing that, the woman named Ooki frowned and turned around.

“I was sleeping and-…wait, the same goes for you. Are you trying to fully enjoy your youth by staring into the sky in a place like this? Also, Sayama-kun.”

“What is it? If you have a question, then out with it.”

“Okay, my first question: Why do you speak like that to your teacher?”

“That is my acting style. You lose as soon as you question it, Ooki-sensei. Now, any other questions?”

“Okay, my second question: If I punch a student during spring break does it count as school violence?”

“It does not matter as long as no one finds out. So who are you planning to punch? This must be quite a troublemaker if they can anger you.”

“And my final question: …Have you ever looked in a mirror?”

“I use one for a good long time every day. You really do like asking such obvious questions.”

“I was an idiot to try asking questions to someone filled with such originality. In fact, are you sure that acting style is okay?”

In response to that annoyed comment, Sayama removed his hand from the wall and swiped it forcefully through the air. The cloth of the sleeve let out a noise.

“Do not worry. I act this way to everyone. I intend to head down that path in the future, after all. It may be selfish of me, but I do not want people to say I suddenly started acting full of myself when I grow up. …This may give you some trouble though.”

Ooki’s neck relaxed and she gave a bitter smile at that last line.

“You should probably say that last part to the other teachers as well. Oh, but it seems I will be your homeroom teacher next year as well.”

“So you managed to get one of the best students in your class. Excellent work for a newcomer teacher with little authority.”

“Would you sympathize with me if I told you the other teachers were forcing the excellent but overly individual students on me?”

Sayama placed a hand on Ooki’s shoulder and nodded with a completely serious expression.

“If you seek sympathy, it is all over for you, Ooki-sensei. Although you may be almost there already.”

“Sorry, this is irritating me, so it would be nice if you would stop.” Ooki walked out onto the emergency staircase with her eyes half closed. She scratched at her head and said, “Talking with you really exhausts me. You take everything so seriously.”

Sayama gave a slight smile at that.

“Seriously? I-…”

“You don’t? But you were elected vice president in the student council election and your grades are excellent.”

“True,” said Sayama with a nod. He folded his arms and thought for a bit. Three seconds later, “I have never once gotten serious. …I just can’t make myself want to.”

“…Eh?”

Sayama ignored Ooki’s questioning voice and shrugged.

“Then again, everything I run across in school ends before I even have a chance to get serious. I was once scolded by my grandfather. He told me not to settle for being the ruler of a small place.”

“I see,” said Ooki with a nod. She leaned up against the emergency staircase landing’s railing. “Your grandfather was an amazing person. Compared to him, I can see where you are coming from.”

“Yes. Compared to my grandfather who would give Japan’s economy a nice smack from the shadows, the vice president of this academy city is nothing.”

“It’s more than nothing.”

“But it is true I have never actually tested myself. During the race for vice president, my opponent grew so desperate by the end that he even danced around naked in an attempt to gain more popularity. He was simply no match for me.”

“Were you the one that fired a bottle rocket at his butt while he was performing that nude dance?”

“No, that was Izumo while he was crushing everyone else in the presidential race. He even used a metal pipe as a gun barrel to increase his accuracy. Not something you would expect of a third year.”

“In that case, I won’t ask who blew up the stage afterward…”

“That would be for the best. Are you gradually learning how to get along in life, Ooki-sensei?”

“Yes, yes. But I’m starting to get worried about being the next advisor for the student council…” Ooki frowned and sighed before continuing. “Is school really that boring to you?”

Sayama stopped moving when he heard that.

He turned his gaze to meet that of Ooki’s blue eyes.

After a short pause, he gave a small shake of the head.

“I have no complaints with the school. It is true the student council election and the tests are all such small things that I do not need to grow serious about. However, that does not mean school is boring. It is only natural to feel that school is a small place. And I think that school has its own unique things to enjoy.”

“What a complicated child…”

After falling silent for a short while, Ooki bent her back over the railing she was leaning against and looked up into the sky.

Meanwhile, Sayama glanced at his watch. It was 2:50.

“Ooki-sensei, I think I should get back to my dorm soon.”

“Are you leaving soon?”

“Yes. After changing into a suit, I need to receive something similar to my grandfather’s will.”

Sayama opened the emergency exit. Ooki frantically got up from the railing and charged through the open door. Sayama also entered the school building as he closed the door.

Sayama walked through the hallway alongside Ooki. The last school newspaper of the year was attached to the classroom-side wall. The First PR Club put out the paper weekly. It generally carried articles related to IAI and this issue contained the school’s employment rate to IAI as well as a few other pieces of news.

Ooki stopped as she looked over at an article at her eye level which was one level below Sayama’s.

“They have detected an extrasolar star system with a high probability of being habitable. …That’s amazing!”

“It’s only been discovered. Just looking at this article will tell you how difficult a problem anything further would be.”

Sayama pointed at another article. The article’s photograph showed a giant pile of machinery lying collapsed on a large area of asphalt.

“According to this, they created an eight meter tall bipedal robot and it failed spectacularly. The joints were made too weak so its knees broke just from walking. …No matter what we may discover, it means nothing if we do not have the technology to use it.”

“Hm. So it’s the same as spotting a good-looking girl but not knowing how to talk to her.”

“I am glad you are so wise. Is that something you told yourself as an excuse?”

“Well, last Christmas, some of my friends and I…wait, no.”

When Ooki said that, Sayama realized she was looking up at his face.

''Why is she staring?'' he wondered.

“Is it that rare to see me smile?”

“No, it’s not that it’s rare. It’s interesting.”

Ooki began walking once more. Sayama followed.

Ooki asked, “Can I ask you about your grandfather?”

“Of course,” replied Sayama.

He had nothing to hide.

And so he spoke. He talked about a lot as they walked.

He told her how his grandfather had left the war during World War Two and had begun researching something.

“And it seems the Izumo Aviation Institute was involved at the time. After the war, he used the connections and discoveries he had made as a base to set out into the financial world and become a corporate blackmailer.”

“A corporate blackmailer, hm?”

“He did a lot of pretty horrible things. …Every time he was in the newspaper, he would give the following line.”

Ooki nodded and cut in.

“ ‘The surname Sayama indicates a villain’, right? I saw it once in a weekly magazine.”

“That’s right. My grandfather was a villain through and through. When he saw some giant opponent as an enemy or evil, he would fight them by becoming an even greater evil. And…that is also why I do not want to grow serious about anything.”

“That is?”

“I am inexperienced. ‘The surname Sayama indicates a villain.’ My grandfather always told me my abilities were meant to perform necessary evils. However, I lost him when all he had taught me was how to do it.”

“So… You don’t know when the evil you perform is truly necessary?”

“Yes. I do not want to die, so there may be times when I will get serious. However, growing serious when I cannot tell if it is truly necessary is a frightening thing.”

As he spoke, Sayama suddenly brought his right hand to the left side of his chest.

As he brought his hand inside his coat and held his chest, Ooki spoke without turning toward him.

“It sounds like you have it tough in your own way.”

“Yes,” he nodded.

“Then can I ask you about your father?”

“Why?”

“I never asked last year despite being your homeroom teacher, and…” The ends of her eyebrows lowered. “I think this is part of a teacher’s job.”

Sayama nodded as he lightly held the left side of his chest. After taking a breath, he spoke.

“There is nothing to worry about. It is a simple issue. More importantly, how much do you know, Ooki-sensei? I am curious.”

Ooki glanced upward and folded her arms.

“Your father was adopted by your grandfather and he entered IAI at the same time as your mother. However, he was killed in the great Kansai earthquake at the end of ’95. Your mother, um, well, brought you with her and-…”

Ooki trailed off and Sayama smiled bitterly.

“Before I tell you not to worry about it, I need to correct some of that. My father died as a secondary casualty of the earthquake when he was sent by IAI for earthquake relief.”

Sayama took a breath. He held up his empty left hand. That scarred left fist had a women’s ring on the middle finger. The pearl decoration glittered a bit in the dimly lit hallway.

Ooki turned to look at it as she walked.

However, Sayama also looked at the ring instead of looking at her.

“Go where those precious to you are waiting, hm?”

As his words deepened, Sayama felt as if something was moving within the left side of his chest.

It was pain.

And it felt like his chest was creaking.

It was coming.

And then Sayama saw Ooki looking up at him with her face completely pale.

“Sayama-kun. A-are you okay?”

He tried to answer “yes”, but he realized he was not breathing. When his body bent forward, he realized someone had suddenly started to support his chest.

Ooki had caught him from below.

“Ah…”

When he heard Ooki say that, all of his body’s senses returned.

He first felt exhaustion. He then felt he could breathe again and sweat poured from his back and legs.

He brought strength to his legs to stand up, but Ooki was still lightly holding her arms out toward him.

“A-are you okay?”

“I am fine.”

“Really? Okay? You are okay?”

“I am okay, but that is not correct English.” His body was now obviously returning to normal. He nodded and said, “I am fine, so do not worry. It seems I get stress-induced anginas from this topic.”

“Then why did you agree to talk about it?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to know? You truly are a horrible teacher if you forgot that.”

“Oh, but, um…”

As Ooki began frantically waving her hands in denial, Sayama smiled again.

“What are you trying to deny? Think about it. I am free to say what I want. And you are free to support me when I fall. I would say you performed the better deed here. Don’t you agree? But let me say one thing.” Sayama removed his right hand from his chest. “My mother would often tell me she hoped I could do something one day. I have to wonder if she ever did anything. And now the child raised hearing that has no idea what he can do. And so I must ask: What should I do?”

“I see… So you do not know what you can do.” Ooki nodded and her shoulders drooped. She looked up at Sayama and earnestly said, “I finally understand why you are so extreme about everything.”

“I cannot overlook that. Who are you calling extreme?”

“What? You didn’t hear me? I said it quite clearly. Is that a nose on the side of your head?”

Sayama’s left hand gave a lightning-fast flick against the forehead that had asked that question so seriously.

“Eeee,” groaned Ooki as she crouched down.

Sayama brought a hand to his chin and said, “Some teachers can say truly horrible things about their students.”

In the end, Sayama did not leave his dorm until past four.

It had taken time to put on the three-piece suit he had inherited from his grandfather and to prepare the seal and digital recording device needed for official records. He wrote down his time of departure at the dorm’s reception desk and left.

The sun was still in the sky.

He walked through the gravel clearing located between the general school buildings and the dorm. It normally functioned as a faculty parking lot. He was headed toward the main gate.

As he cut behind the second year general school building as a shortcut, he heard baby birds singing in the trees.

As he listened, Sayama heard two sounds other than the chirping of the birds.

The first was organ music coming from the music room on the second story of the school building.

“Silent Night…”

He recalled occasionally hearing it on the weekends. However, this was the first time he had been able to determine exactly where it was coming from. He wondered who was playing it, but it was so perfectly played that he assumed it was not a student.

And as the organ music played, another sound could be heard approaching.

It was the sound of a motorcycle engine. Specifically, the low tone of a 4-stroke.

As he heard that noise coming from the direction of the main gate, Sayama muttered, “Izumo and Kazami.”

He then walked out to the asphalt road west of the school building.

He looked out toward the faculty building, the vast sports ground, and the martial arts facility. He spotted two people riding a motorcycle appearing out from the side of the faculty building. Despite the large amount of exhaust, the black touring motorcycle moved smoothly along the road.

Aboard the motorcycle were a well-built young man wearing a thin brown coat and a girl with semi-short hair and carrying a black rucksack. The back bared by the girl’s white sleeveless top pointed in Sayama’s direction.

The two were chatting while riding the motorcycle.

Suddenly, the young man noticed Sayama. A friendly smile appeared on his fairly long face.

“Hey,” he said with a raised hand.

He then stopped the motorcycle next to Sayama.

The young man was over one hundred eighty centimeters tall and broad-shouldered, so he supported the weight of the heavy motorcycle with his leg.

The girl swayed gently and rested up against the young man’s back.

The young man smiled with the girl leaning up against him.

He looked up and said, “Where do you think you’re going, Sayama, you idiot? To go spew insults at someone?”

Sayama brought a hand to his forehead and sighed.

With a troubled tone of voice, he said, “Izumo, unlike you, my brain is working properly. And I have never spewed insults at anyone, you sick bastard.”

“Sure, sure. Thanks for keeping up your acting style even during spring break.”

[[Image:OnC_v01_0051.png|thumb]]

“No need to thank me. But should the three top members of the student council really be having this sort of conversation?”

The young man, Izumo, smiled bitterly at that.

“Of course not,” he agreed.

The girl leaning on his back turned their way.

“Sayama, you’re going to IAI, right?”

“Yes, I am. Kazami, Izumo. What about you two?”

“I was just headed back to the dorm to have some fun with Chisato…kh!”

As he spoke, Izumo’s head twisted upward. The girl named Kazami had grabbed at Izumo’s head and jaw from behind. A delicate sound came from Izumo’s neck and he gently fell backward.

“Kaku, that is not what he asked. Sayama wanted to know where we had been.”

Izumo’s head came to rest on top of Kazami’s thighs and he stopped moving.

“There, there,” said Kazami as she stroked his head. She then showed Sayama the black rucksack next to her and smiled.

“We went into the city. We bought some clothes, new music, and other stuff for the All Holiday Festival. Being on the edge of Tokyo really makes you forget all about culture.”

“…I see. But you two are third years and you live together, right?”

The girl, Kazami, thought for a bit looking troubled, but then spoke.

“Well, that’s how it turned out. Now, when I try to mingle with the others, they’re overly cautious about how they treat me. My role in the dorm has become that of an older sister. An underclassman even apologized just for passing by me in the hall.”

“Your face seems to be turning to cement.”

Kazami turned her head down, said “Oh, sorry”, and relaxed her shoulders. She casually clapped a hand against Izumo who was lying motionless on her thighs.

“Don’t turn into an idiot like him, okay? He abuses his authority as the son of IAI.”

“It seems to me you are enjoying that abuse quite a lot.”

“I know that, and that’s why it angers me so much. He needs to at least take his student council job seriously.” Kazami raised her head to look Sayama in the eye. “Oh, right. Sayama, I was thinking of having our first student council job for the term in the second year school building’s Kinugasa Library. Do you have time? The three of us can make some plans for the All Holiday Festival and Invitation Festival in the spring.”

“I have to head out today and I do not know how late I will be back.”

“We’re leaving for the city again tomorrow afternoon, so how about 9 AM tomorrow in the Kinugasa Library?”

“I can do that,” agreed Sayama. He glanced over at the school building next to them. “The Kinugasa Library, hm?”

On the western side of the second year general school building’s ground floor, an area four classroom’s length across was sticking out. It stuck out about the width of a classroom. Inside this space was an area equal to eight classrooms.

A look in the windows would show the backs of wooden panels. These thick wooden panels created the silhouettes of bookshelves.

The room was a library.

Almost the entire eight classroom space was filled with books and the hallway and basement had been used for extra book storage. That was the Kinugasa Library.

As Sayama glanced toward the library’s window, he heard Kazami speaking.

“The library created by the school’s founder isn’t a bad place for our first job, right? The librarian, old man Siegfried, may be unsociable, but he does put out tea. We used that place a fair bit during the election, so I was thinking we could continue to use it as our base.”

“This year’s treasurer certainly is different.”

“I think the president and vice president will be quite different as well. But what do you think? Are upperclassmen like us suitable for someone as prideful as you?”

“I think that statement alone shows you can compete with me when it comes to pride. …But at the very least, there is no one in this school who is better suited. Izumo Kaku, the son of IAI which supports this city of Akigawa, and Kazami Chisato, the girl who shares a room with him, are true problem children.”

“…”

“There is no way you two are ignorant of what the world says about you. I respect you for your ability to continue acting like this regardless.”

Hearing that, Kazami showed off her teeth slightly and looked down at Izumo who lay on her legs.

“Well, it doesn’t matter what people say. Kaku may cause problems, but he is not a bad person.”

“The same goes for you, Kazami.”

“Then what about you, Mr. Family of Villains?” Kazami raised her head to look at Sayama. She glanced up and down his suit. “You look good enough, but you make things difficult.”

“In what way?”

“I’m having difficulty imagining who would stand next to you. I can’t imagine someone to balance out your idiocy like Kaku is for me.”

“There is no one out there with enough power to handle me on an equal footing.”

“That isn’t what I mean.” Kazami gave a troubled smile. She lightly waved her hand front and back. “I’m talking about balance. Equals can only stand on the same side of the scales, right? You need a counterbalance.”

Sayama thought on the meaning of Kazami’s words.

And, “Someone like that would either be an opposing force or a hindrance.”

“So am I an opposing force or hindrance to Kaku?”

That question was spoken with a small smile. Sayama relaxed his shoulders.

“I do not know the answer to that, so I cannot argue about it with someone like you who does know the answer.”

“Oh, how honest.”

“I am an honest person, Kazami. It is just that, for some odd reason, I seem to end up in trouble for it from time to time. Is this what they mean when they say an honest man will look a fool? Yes, our ancestors said some excellent things.”

“Okay, sure. If that’s how you want to view it in your personal universe, I won’t stop you.”

Sayama smiled bitterly at that. He exchanged a glance with Kazami and spoke.

“Fine, then. I will admit relationships like yours and Izumo’s exist. However, I am doubtful the same could happen to me. I also think it is a problem to even think about placing someone like that next to me.”

“A problem?”

“The surname Sayama indicates a villain. What do you put next to evil?”

Kazami had no answer to that. She only let her shoulders droop and sighed.

“You really are a complicated person.”

“Ooki-sensei said the same thing earlier.”

“Everyone thinks it. We also wonder when exactly you will get serious about something.”

“I have never done it, so I couldn’t say. …And if I did, I am so inexperienced I would likely be afraid of myself.”

“…You really are complicated, Sayama.”

“You do not need to repeat yourself,” said Sayama with a smile before lightly tapping Izumo’s back where he lay unmoving as if asleep. “You’re awake, right? Hurry on back and dive headfirst into your unrestrained lifestyle.”

“Eh?” muttered Kazami as she looked down.

Izumo opened his eyes.

“Hey.”

“No, not ‘hey’. If you came to, why didn’t you get up?”

“You smell really good, Chisato.”

Izumo’s eyes bent upward happily as Kazami blushed.

“Ha,” laughed Sayama before patting Kazami on the shoulder, turning his back, and walking off.

He continued toward the main gate.

As he did, he noticed a new figure.

Someone was walking down the stairs from the second floor of the second year general school building.

It was a tall elderly man. He wore a black vest, black trousers, and black gloves. He was bald and had a beard.

“Siegfried Zonburg, the librarian.”

Sayama had spoken with him a few times during his student council work. The man used only the bare minimum of words.

“You do not often see him outside of the Kinugasa Library,” he muttered before continuing on.

He looked around once more and saw nothing but the scenery of the school near the peak of spring.

“Such a peaceful place…”

Behind him, he heard repeated sounds of flesh being struck followed by screams from Izumo.

The sun was setting in the west.

Below that setting sun, even a forest surrounded by mountains had light passing through it like wind.

The forest was primarily made up of cedars. A single figure was fallen in front of one of those trees.

The figure was sitting on the ground.

This middle-aged man sat such that the sun shined on him from the side. His close-cropped hair was wet with something so it reflected the sun. The liquid wetting his hair dripped down his forehead and dyed the left half of his face a dark color.

His clothes resembled a white and black military uniform. However, the left shoulder and left leg of that uniform had split open and something dark could be seen flowing out as he breathed erratically.

He stretched out his left hand and scratched at the ground. With the blood in his eyes, he might as well have been blind. His left hand wandered across the ground.

Eventually, he managed to pick something up from between the rocks and fallen leaves.

It was a long gun made of metal. The side was engraved with something written in German.

He embraced the gun tightly and took a deep breath. He stuck a finger into the pouch on his right hip.

“This is Tsuurin Daiichi. My current location is in the mountains near Point 3 between Okutama and Shiromaru. I succeeded in preventing the single enemy from escaping. I successfully read the enemy’s string vibration and sent it in. Currently…everyone but me has been taken out. Please hurry.”

A staticky voice replied from near his throat. It was a female voice.

“Testament. The special division is on their way. We will send aid for you as well, so withdraw.”

“Tes. …Or so I’d like to say. Unfortunately, my leg was taken out. And my healing tools and spells were destroyed along with it. I only have my favorite weapon left to rely on. …When I asked you to hurry, I meant the special division, not aid for me.” He took a deep breath while sweating profusely. “The enemy is from a faction of 1st-Gear’s revolutionary army. Yes, a werewolf from the second Royal Palace faction. He likely came for negotiations with the peaceful faction. He must have had a 1st-Gear philosopher’s stone because he turned into a wolf in this real world.”

“Do not speak. The concept space will be deployed in another five minutes.”

“Ha ha. Make it so a silver bullet will work. Also, young girl…or is it young lady? Anyway, you don’t think this is our fault, do you?”

He was met with silence. He cast his eyes down before continuing.

“Fine. It was our mistake for deciding to go. In the standard division, we have the right to choose…right?”

Once again, he received only silence. Yet he did not stop.

“What unit are you from? Even in the special division, not many units have women in them. But I think there was one put together recently. A unit filled with beautiful UCAT-raised girls and women. I think it was the IAI-…”

He stopped speaking. His eyes opened wide and he stood up by using the tree behind him as a support.

“Hey, when I get back, meet me with flowers. It’ll be a triumphant return. What’s in bloom this time of year?”

“Testament. I think Primula modesta and the like are.”

“No, you’re supposed to say you are.”

He laughed and removed his right hand from the pouch. He moved the long gun from his left hand to his right. He bit the strap, used the stock and grip in his right hand to create three points of support, and faced forward.

He heard wind ahead of him.

A large shadow could be seen in the setting sun shining on the mountain. It was slowly approaching while swaying back and forth.

There was no sign. He simply followed the sound of the wind and squeezed the trigger.

A gunshot traveled across the forest along with the light of the setting sun.

Sayama opened his eyes aboard a train running through the mountains on the way to Okutama.

He had dozed off due to the setting sun shining on his seated back. And he had woken up due to…

“The train has stopped?”

He glanced around the train. The only passengers besides himself were two people seated a short distance away.

One was a white-haired man wearing a black suit. The other was a white-haired girl wearing black clothes and seated next to him. They may have been father and daughter and they were looking outside the opposite window.

Sayama followed their gaze out the window.

There he found the mountains of Okutama. They were all formed from round shapes and no small hills could be seen.

“So we are around the second tunnel near Shiromaru. Only one more stop to Okutama.”

He was familiar with the terrain here. He continued speaking while looking out at those similar-looking mountains.

“This is thanks to Hiba-sensei forcing me to run through these mountains.”

…''If I had not learned the land, I would not have been found until spring.

Sayama nodded and looked down at his left hand. His skin was white around the bones of his fist as if something had scattered across it. His eyes turned toward the ring on the middle finger of that scarred fist.

“It was also around here that we got out of the car when my mother took me with her back then…” he muttered.

According to his watch, it was 5:30 PM. He was to be at IAI at 6:00 PM.

When he calculated the time, his heart seemed to stiffen. He stood up, raised his suit collar to fix it with a snapping noise, and approached the two other passengers. The white-haired man raised his head. The man was wearing sunglasses, but Sayama could tell the man was looking at him. Sayama gave a quick bow.

“Excuse me. Why is the train stopped?”

“It received a stop signal. Once it is released, it will return to Shiromaru.”

The man’s tone had a bit of amusement mixed in and Sayama realized he was younger than he looked. Sayama had initially assumed he was elderly, but a closer look showed he was only just entering middle age.

The girl next to him wore the black dress and white apron of a maid. She was not the man’s daughter.

…''I had heard the ownership of a lot of the mountains around here stretches way back.

Sayama noticed the girl was holding a staff. It was a metal cane that could be attached to the wrist. It was clearly too long for her to use. However, Sayama ended his investigation of them here. He needed to know something else.

“Why is this train returning?”

“Maybe there was an accident.”

“I see,” nodded Sayama, realizing the man must not know the details either.

Suddenly, the girl sitting next to the man looked up at Sayama. With her eyebrows lying flat and no discernible expression on her face, her black eyes that were almost purple peered deep into Sayama’s eyes.

She took a breath and then opened her mouth.

“My apologies,” she said in a low, fairly mature voice.

“Think nothing of it,” said Sayama before turning his back on the two of them.

He opened the opposite window and heard the same voice as before from behind him.

“Are you getting out?”

“I cannot go back. Also, someone is waiting for me.”

“You are being hasty. The train might soon continue forward. Once you regret a decision, it is too late to turn back.”

“I do not know what god of advice you are, but let me tell you something. A decision can lead to joy just as easily as it can regret. I appreciate your concern, but I know this land. And is there anything truly dangerous in this world?”

“True… That is very true. There is no danger in this world,” said the man before closing his mouth in a smile below the sunglasses.

As soon as the man spread his legs out from the seat, Sayama stuck his legs out the window and jumped out.

He landed on the gravel supporting the railroad. He ran out into the open air and onto the mountainside bathed in the light of the setting sun.

“…”

Sayama did not turn back toward the train up the slope from him. He continued through the forest spreading out before him.

He trampled the underbrush as he headed down the mountain.

After only a few breaths, he sank into the shadows produced by the forest. The setting sun coming from the side and the branches of the trees drew a grid of shadows across him. This light and air were familiar to him.

“It’s been two years since I stopped coming to Okutama. I suppose the Hiba Dojo is still around.”

As he muttered that comment, he heard a metallic noise from behind him.

A whistle sounded and the train began to move. He heard it move up toward Shiromaru. The sound of the receding wheels told Sayama he had made the right decision.

“Good,” he said with a nod as he quickened his pace.

Shiromaru Station was an unmanned train station.

When the train came to a stop, the few passengers disinterestedly exited onto the long, narrow platform.

A short distance away from those bored individuals were the two people Sayama had spoken to just before.

The white-haired man held the cane in one hand as he stood next to a card-only payphone located in the shadow of a private home outside the station.

The girl dressed as a maid stood in front of him holding the receiver for the green telephone.

She pulled a bundle of telephone cards from her apron like it was a deck of playing cards.

She quickly lined the cards up in front of the green phone and turned toward the man.

“Itaru-sama. Why do you not carry a cell phone?”

“Because I am a coward, Sf. Remember that. If the phone rang, it would probably give me a heart attack.”

“How about I carry it for you?”

“No. You have not acquired the skill to take messages. If you cannot always answer as if I am gone even when I am with you, there is no point in you having a cell phone. Do you understand?”

“Tes. I understand that possessing one would be meaningless on a fundamental level.”

The girl called Sf stopped lining up the cards while looking at him. She was lining up the well-used cards in order of number of uses. The punch holes showing the number of uses lined up perfectly without the slightest deviation.

Sf casually picked up one card with few uses left and slid it into the green phone.

She used her right fingers to instantly dial a number.

A few seconds later, “This is Sf. Registration Number 9609812B. Connect me to extension #0013.”

Sf then handed the receiver to the man next to her. He took it and spoke.

“This is Ooshiro Itaru. Has Team Leviathan left yet, Sibyl? …I see. I just met an interesting idiot. Something stupid is about to happen. A world of stupid false good and false evil is about to unfold. …You don’t understand? No, someone like you or Sf that has not woken up wouldn’t.”

As Itaru spoke, Sf inserted a new card into the green telephone. When the small sound of connection indicating three minutes had been added came from the receiver, Itaru nodded to Sf. He continued speaking as he saw Sf nod back.

“Sf confirmed this idiot’s string vibration. I’ll have Sf give it to you, so add this idiot’s vibration to the string vibration of the concept space. It’s the usual type, so this change should be easy and the outside will be visible, right? Drag him in from reality. …What? You want to know who this idiot is? You’ll know soon enough.”

Hearing that, Sf asked, “Itaru-sama, is it really okay to get him involved like this?”

“That brat has ignorantly decided that this world is a safe place. We need to teach him a lesson and a first-hand lesson would be best. From now on, he is sure to be overturned again and again. From here on out, he will deny all things because all things exist. He will deny joy because he knows joy. And…Yes, that will continue until the world is satisfied.”

Itaru gave a small smile and handed Sf the receiver.

“Sf, tell them his string vibration. And then we will teach him what reality truly is.”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
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Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Prologue

2026-06-26T04:01:38Z

N-Ch:

==Prologue: Saint’s Song==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0011.png|thumb]]
''He called out''

''She sang''

''Those words continued until the sound completely vanished''

It was night.

An area of land emitted light below the darkness of the heavens.

It was a city.

In the center of this city, a large white structure sat where the railways gathered.

This train station building stood eight stories tall.

The second story of the north entrance was made into a large terrace with the words “Tachikawa Station North Entrance” displayed in blue.

The clock on the opposite building read 10 PM. The station building’s workers had left for the night, but the last train was still a long way off.

However, no one could be seen in the station, on the station terrace, or on the traffic circle in front of the station.

Below a row of green-leaved trees along near the traffic circle was a line of cars. However, not one of these cars was moving. No buses were running either. The train tracks stretching away from the station had no trains running on them.

The entire area was deserted.

A single noise could be heard in that still world.

It came from above.

It was on the eastern side of the upper levels of the station building. Specifically, a tenant window on the seventh floor. Someone was beating on the window from within.

The silhouette visible through the glass was feminine.

She suddenly stopped moving. Then she left the window and ran in the opposite direction.

The very next moment, a new shadow appeared in the window.

Taking the place of the feminine figure was a large silhouette over two meters tall.

It slammed into the window.

The window bent, bulged out, and then broke when it could no longer withstand the force.

A single shattering sound could be heard. It was followed by the sound of shards spraying out into the air.

Three silver arcs shot out the window as if trying to scratch at those glimmers scattering through the air.

They were claws.

Those arcs of light scratched at the flying glass shards with compact movements.

The giant shadow the claws belonged to turned around as it swung its arm. In the space of half a breath, the shadow disappeared from the window frame. It was pursuing the fleeing feminine figure.

The outside wind blew into the building as if following after the shadow.

After hours, the train station building’s escalator landing only had the bare minimum of illumination. A single figure was stopped there gasping for breath. The emergency lighting showed a girl with disheveled hair and wearing a blazer.

The girl held a large black case and the floor number printed yellow on the floor below her feet read “3”. If she turned around and continued down another floor, she would reach the second floor.

“I can get to the terrace from there,” she said before coughing. She coughed twice and then thrice before raising a trembling voice. “You have to be kidding me… What is this? What is attacking me?”

The dry cough continued after she spoke and it only further dried the air in her lungs. She bent over and her lips formed voiceless words:

I’m sorry. I was an idiot to not come home right away.

She strengthened her grip embracing the black case in her arms.

A flute symbol could be seen next to the maker’s logo on the top of the case. A single piece of paper was balled up in the side pocket. She caught sight of the white of the ribbon attached to the paper.

“All my bad luck started here. Three years of bad luck. And now when I lose my nerve and come to hide in my usual spot, my security guard grandfather is gone… And then a strange shadow starts swinging blades around…”

Before that had happened, she had thought she had heard some kind of odd voice. The voice had reverberated in her head. That had woken her up.

She tilted her head while wondering what that had been, but she quickly swung her head back into place.

…''I need to run away before that shadow catches up.

She breathed out and a noise reverberated from overhead as if in response.

Running footsteps that sounded like stakes being driven into the ground were approaching from directly upward.

“…!”

She grabbed the strap to her case and moved gracefully toward the escalator.

She chose to continue down. Down, down, down. Down to the second floor. Every additional element of the situation only told her to hurry.

She ran down the aluminum steps. Solid sounds rang out every time her leather shoes slammed down on the steps.

She heard footsteps from above overlapping with her own rushed footsteps.

But it did not all come to an end there.

“…Wind?”

It came from outside. It came from the building’s northern wall, the same wall as the window she had knocked on before.

A single sound approached that wall from outside. It was a deep, long, wide, reverberating, and low sound.

''What? '' she thought and braced herself. In the next moment, the building shook as if it had been struck from the side.

“…!?”

The noise was tremendous. Just like the sound of a passing airplane, this explosion of air robbed her of all her bodily senses.

Her entire body trembled and the hair all across her body stood on end. Her running feet were stopped in an instant.

The great roar she could feel in the core of her body passed at high speed from the east to the west. The sound of wind that followed behind it also shot by to the west and into the western sky.

Silence followed.

She all of a sudden realized she had been released from the noise.

She shook her body once and took a step. Her legs trembled and her body filled with strength. Her will begged her to move forward.

''I need to go,'' she realized. She took a deep breath, looked down, and saw the escalator ended after only a few more steps.

''Hurry,'' her feelings shouted, but the information provided by her vision brought those feelings to a halt.

A slight darkness covered her vision. It was the shadow of the escalator landing above.

The footsteps from above disappeared within her ears.

…''Something is…!

Before she could think “coming”, she acted. She strengthened her grip on the strap in her hand.

“Sorry.”

She swung the case upward in a motion similar to a golf swing.

Her vision turned upward. The black shadow fell down into the upward path of her strike.

She hit.

The corner of the case struck the shadow right in the flank.

It was knocked away. The case at the end of the strap and the case’s contents weighed over five kilograms. The resentment behind that weight came both from this chase and from her three years with the instrument inside.

With the sound of flesh being struck, the shadow doubled over. The case broke and the instrument inside scattered about.

The shadow’s body was knocked to the right.

But the cold light in the shadow’s hand was still swung down toward her.

And then she finally realized something. What she had thought were blades were actually giant claws. And the owner of these claws was a large beast.

As her eyes focused on those claws, the corner of her vision showed that shadow of a giant beast take the same stance as a human.

Everything after that happened in a single instant.

The claws swinging down from above smashed the side frame of the escalator, but the beast could not stop itself from collapsing. Its giant body fell down toward the neighboring escalator.

“…!”

The beast let out a roar. The sound of an impact followed.

But she did not hear that cry of protest. She only heard the sound of the instrument scattering across the floor.

''Sorry,'' she apologized in her heart.

In the next instant, she fully lost her balance due to her previous attempt to evade. She fell down atop the escalator.

She now gave her physical pain precedence over her emotional pain. Her momentum spun her around backward.

Her back struck the corner of one of the steps and she had the breath knocked out of her. Even her skirt was in complete disarray.

But she grabbed the handrail and forced herself back onto her feet.

From below, she heard the voice of the beast. The voice was filled with anger and rage and did not seem to know what had happened.

She ignored it.

She began to run, now with nothing in her hands. She ran down the escalator and to the second floor.

On the left and right of this barely-lit floor were lines of boutiques. Every store was covered by a shutter. The girl would occasionally see this same sight when being led by a security guard. Today, she ran by it all.

She was focused on the glass door at the end of the floor. That door alone had no shutter covering it.

If she left that door, she would reach the large entrance to Tachikawa Station that cut across north to south on the second floor of the station building.

She tried her best to open or unlock the door. She then slammed her shoulder into the glass door.

It was a dull impact. However, that pain slowly pushed her through to the other side.

The door to that after-hours station building opened.

“What…is going on?” said the girl as she tumbled out into the fresh air.

Her knees landed on the tiles of the entrance floor.

She was surrounded by a vast, deserted space. The Tachikawa Station entrance was about fifteen meters wide.

She suddenly felt something on the back of her right hand. It was a soft, damp sensation.

She looked down to find a cat. The brown cat still had some youth remaining.

But the presence of this cat sent a chill running down her spine. She could see no sign of anyone else in the area. She had seen no one but the shadow that had attacked her. The traffic circle she had earlier seen from above had also been deserted.

Thinking the cat might be the same as her, she picked it up. In the instant their gazes met, the cat had been looking up at her, but its eyes narrowed when she lifted it from the ground. And that was why she decided to take it with her.

She stood up.

“I need to get to the northern terrace,” she muttered as she looked to her right where the northern end of the entrance led to the terrace.

And that was when a wind accompanied by a metallic noise dropped down onto the traffic circle beyond the terrace.

She looked up and saw the wind surrounding on the traffic circle had a giant gray form.

It was a giant gray humanoid machine.

For the upper body to stick up above the terrace, it had to be at least ten meters tall. It was a fully gray-…

“Robot? No…Armor?”

As if to answer the girl’s question, the giant silhouette stood up. And then it turned to face her.

The gray giant had a single blue light where its eyes would be.

The girl felt like she was being watched.

Her pulse seemed to freeze and she cowered down. She could not breathe and she realized for the first time that she was frightened.

Meanwhile, the cat wriggled in her trembling arms. It seemed to be complaining that her arms were wrapped too tightly around it.

The cat let out a sweet meow while showing no concern for the armor’s gaze.

That out-of-place noise made a bitter laugh escape the girl’s lips.

She realized fear meant nothing to the cat. The cat did not understand anything that was happening and therefore was not afraid.

“…”

She let out a shallow breath. And as if that was a sign, strength returned to her body.

''I can do this. I can do this,'' she thought twice.

To the left, there was a staircase leading down between the entrance and the terrace. Given that giant’s size, it would have difficulty making its way below the terrace.

She was fifteen meters from the staircase. It would not even take her three seconds if she used all her strength.

And so she immediately decided to run. She went all out from the very first step. However…

“Ah.”

Her right foot seemed to catch on something and she tripped.

“Wh-what!?”

Her body jumped more out of surprise than pain. She looked down and saw her leather shoe lying in front of her right foot. It had torn from the opening to the side sole. It must have ripped when she had fallen on the escalator earlier.

''Oh, no.

When she tried to stand up, she felt pain in her right ankle.

She could not stand. Strength left her knee and she collapsed to the cold tile floor.

“Kh,” she groaned while looking behind her from the floor.

The giant was holding its right arm toward her from beyond the terrace. Something like a tube was attached to the outer edge of the arm. It was obviously a cannon.

It was targeting her.

“Ah,” leaked out another noise.

She felt more noise coming, but swallowed it all down. She let out tears instead.

And then she noticed the cat was standing next to her collapsed hips.

As if worried about her, the cat was rubbing its head up against her leg.

The girl reflexively picked the cat up once more. She then looked up and glared at the giant.

In the next instant, some power exploded out of the giant’s right arm toward her.

She first saw flames. In the following instant, white smoke raced through the air.

A high-pitched sound of something slicing through the wind raced toward her.

A shell had been fired.

It was coming. It was dangerous. She tried to stand up, but her ankle filled with pain and her hips collapsed back down.

Nevertheless, she tried to stand up once more.

“…!”

The noise that leaked from her throat was not a scream; it was anger at herself.

The power this enemy had fired arrived in an instant.

And it exploded.

She opened her eyes.

She noticed the wind blowing around her and also that the cat was still in her arms.

“I’m alive?”

She could not hear her own voice. Her ears were not working.

She looked around while unsteadily sitting on the ground.

The floor of the vast station entrance had smoke and wind racing across it.

An explosion had definitely occurred. However, she was still alive.

“What happened?”

She could faintly hear that question. Sound was returning to her ears.

She could hear the sound of wind. And she looked in the direction that wind was blowing from.

[[Image:OnC_v01_0023.png|thumb]]

Backlit by the lights of the terrace and traffic circle was a single girl.

She wore a white and black outfit and stood with her back to the girl as if shielding her from the gray giant.

This feminine figure’s long hair and long skirt were fluttering in the wind.

She held a giant staff-like object in her right hand and held her left hand out toward the terrace.

In front of her outstretched hand, smoke swirled above the terrace and a chunk of its floor had been gouged out.

The wind raced by and the smoke lingering over the terrace was blown away.

The giant still stood beyond the terrace.

The cowering girl’s question regarding what was going on was cut off by a high-pitched voice. The voice belonged to this new girl standing before her eyes.

“Sayama-kun. This is Shinjou. …One intruder detected. Making contact.”

Another voice replied to her words.

“I can see all that, Shinjou-kun.”

This voice was male. And it came from very nearby.

The girl looked up with the cat still in her arms to find a young man standing there.

He was likely the person named Sayama. He wore white and black clothes that resembled a military uniform, he had a single stripe of white on the sides of his slicked back hair, and he had a sharp look in his eyes.

“Hm,” he muttered with a nod in the wind while looking down at the girl and the cat. “How unusual.”

He stretched out a hand and stroked her head. His fingers felt tough.

The girl suddenly recalled the instrument she had broken.

If this had not happened today, would she have ever broken it?

And as soon as that question appeared in her heart, Sayama spoke.

“Well done.”

Strength left her at those words.

She felt as if her body was sinking into the floor.

''Oh, no,'' she thought, but she was already losing consciousness by that point.

“Now then…”

Sayama supported the collapsed girl’s back with a hand and lowered her slender body to the floor.

The cat showed no sign of leaving her side. It remained with her like a guard.

Sayama gave a bitter smile before turning toward the girl he had called Shinjou. He raised his elbow and scratched at his hair.

“What’s the situation?”

“Our enemies are fifteen human-types and three heavy gods of war. Our main force has been deployed to deal with all of them. We have not had anything on this nice of a large scale in a while. I think we should have let the concept space fully take hold just beforehand.”

“It looked like Harakawa and Heo-kun were going nuts at an extreme low altitude a bit ago…”

“They were driving out the one over there. Ryuuji-kun and Mikage-san are battling the other two. But the northern entrance…just look. It’s been blown away.”

When Sayama heard what Shinjou had to say, he exaggeratedly shook his head and spread his arms wide.

“We even told Harakawa not to cause so much destruction. If our destruction rate goes up any further, we will never be able to apologize to the future world. Don’t you think that delinquent needs to be tortured just once?”

“I am sure Heo-kun will tell you to be gentle with him.”

“How about you shut up!?” came a staticky male voice from Sayama’s neck.

Sayama looked down at the communications phone-mic attached to his neck and tilted his head in confusion.

“What are you talking about, Harakawa? I am saying this for your sake and for the world’s sake. I can introduce you to someone for that later. Depending on the voltage, I hear you’ll be much more obedient in about five seconds.”

“Sayama, there’s one important thing I’ve always wanted to say to you.”

“What might that be? No normal praise will get any reaction out of me.”

“Go to hell.”

After hearing the staticky sound of the transmission ending, Sayama brought a hand to his forehead.

“Honestly, he is such a troublesome guy. People with that much pride are only harmful to this world.”

“…Have you ever looked in a mirror?” asked Shinjou.

“I have. I check over myself thoroughly every morning and night, but what does that have to do with Harakawa?”

“Oh, nothing. I was only seeing once more just how strangely wonderful you are, Sayama-kun.” Shinjou spoke while continuing to face the giant beyond the terrace. “How is that girl?”

“She’s fine. She is injured, but she did not lose.”

“I see,” said Shinjou as she finally turned around. She looked at the girl sleeping on the floor and narrowed her eyes. “I am glad. It was worth using up all of my defensive concept charms on that attack.”

The giant began to move.

It lowered its hips while creating mechanical noises. With each step it loudly smashed the asphalt below its feet.

But it was not Shinjou that reacted to the sound of the ground splitting open; it was Sayama.

He first lowered the hand on his forehead to his chest, raised it up next to his face, and then sliced it to the side. He then loudly snapped his fingers.

“Now then, Shinjou-kun. Double-check the situation with everyone before we punish this idiot who is disobeying the solutions gathered in Low-Gear.”

Shinjou looked forward. The cannon on its right arm was aimed directly at her.

“So you’re motivated because I have no defenses left? What a pain.” She brought her left hand up to her neck. “This is Shinjou. We have made contact with the intruder and secured her. We are currently…”

Before she could finish speaking, the giant machine known as a heavy god of war fired.

It all began there.

The great power flying toward her was a large artillery shell with a metal outer casing.

As this power tore through the wind toward her, Shinjou continued speaking.

“…engaging the enemy heavy god of war.”

As Sayama watched on, Shinjou spun her large staff around vertically with a single movement of her right fingers.

The belly of the staff stopped on her right shoulder, leaving it lying vertically. With a single metallic noise, she grabbed hold of the front portion with her left hand. Her right hand ran across the side of the staff. Her right fingers were moving toward a single long panel made of something like glass.

Her fingers wrote something there.

“We fear seeking power but do not fear using power!”

The writing appeared in a blue light over the transparent panel and then disappeared.

The shell arrived as if in response.

But Sayama showed no concern about the shell from where he stood behind Shinjou.

He was looking only at Shinjou. With a hand on his chin, he looked at her thin back, her slender hips, and her round ass. His eyes narrowed and he let out a breath.

“So beautiful. Give it your best shot.”

Shinjou let out a bitter smile and operated her staff. She slid the portion in her left hand forward and a grip appeared. She grabbed that and pushed it in to cock it. When she pressed the trigger on the grip, the staff would fire a counter attack.

And she pressed it.

They could hear the sound of the air being split. Shinjou’s body was knocked back. The output point on the end of the staff split open and burst apart.

And in exchange for all that, a white light was emitted.

The white light stabbed through the air and erased the flying shell.

The light did not dim there. The white afterimage continued in a gentle upward curve and struck the gray god of war.

There was a great noise of impact.

The armor panel on the god of war’s chest was smashed. The light that burst out held great power.

“!”

A solid sound tore through the air and that giant form of over ten meters had its head thrown backward.

A heavy noise followed as the entire mass of metal collapsed backward.

A hot wind blew through the entrance, passing by first Shinjou and then Sayama.

And Sayama saw something.

Beyond the wind, shadows were appearing from the staircases leading up to the entrance from either side.

These bestial shadows looked like a wolf walking on two feet. They were over two meters tall. Six of them arrived from the left and four from the right.

Sayama nodded as he saw them lower their stance in preparation for an attack.

“Now, the girl you attacked did not scream to the very end, so I hope you can give this some effort, too.”

He began walking forward through the center of the blowing wind. His footsteps sounded loudly as he gave a slight smile.

“Let’s go all out. I am just as lenient with everyone. I won’t hold back.”

Sayama’s flowing voice joined his footsteps.

Shinjou walked alongside him. She held her broken staff as if embracing it, opened her mouth, and began singing.

It was a hymn. It was a verse of Silent Night.

“Silent night, holy night

Shepherds first see the sight

Told by angelic Alleluja

Sounding everywhere, both near and far

‘Christ the Savior is here’

‘Christ the Savior is here.’ ”

Sayama opened his mouth as he listened to the song. He spoke into the phone-mic on his neck.

“Everyone!” He swung up his right arm while staring at his foes. “Let me say it here. …The surname Sayama indicates a villain!”

Shinjou gave a slight smile while singing next to him. Sayama returned the smile.

“I am giving you an order here! Do not become lost here and do not lose them. After all, if anyone is lost here, this world will become that much lonelier.” He took a breath and raised his head. “Do you understand!? Then ahead! Ahead! Go ahead! Give these idiots a punch and a warning before they do anything stupid! And then bring them here! If you understand, then give me a response!”

As he watched the enemies before his eyes, Sayama forcefully swung his hand down to the right. The right sleeve of his uniform stretched and let out a loud sound like paper being struck.

Voices replied to him both from the phone-mic and from the area around him.

“Testament!”

“Okay,” agreed Sayama before continuing to walk forward.

The crouched shadows before him were growling and seconds away from bursting forward.

Sayama gave a slight smile and spread out his left arm.

His right arm had already been spread, so it now looked like he was preparing to embrace his enemies.

And while continuing to smile, he said, “Now, how about we all come to an understanding!?”

The story now returns two years to the spring of 2005.

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume9 Chapter 28

2026-06-25T06:00:45Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 28: Her Guidance==
[[Image:OnC_v09_0267.png|thumb]]
''Wait without calling out to them

''The past is already calling out

''To the path that can only lead to the present

Three colors were displayed on a twenty inch screen.

The colors were divided into three horizontal bands. From bottom to top, they were gray, dark green, and black.

The gray at the very bottom was asphalt, the green on top of it was grass, and the black at the top was the night.

It was an image of the night sky at the end of a runway.

A face was reflected in the glass screen. The face belonged to a girl with short, blonde hair and an orange work jacket who was standing in a small room.

The outside sound reached the small room.

That sound was loud and it had no single source. It simply washed over the entirety of the room.

The girl faced the screen while listening to it and her eyes focused on the bands of color there.

“I have to say goodbye to this country, don’t I?”

The girl named Heo muttered to herself with her gaze fixed on that screen.

Not long ago, she had heard a strange voice and the city visible in the screen had gone silent. Before, car headlights had moved back and forth between the dark green and black bands, but that movement was gone.

She knew this was known as a concept space.

She also knew that only UCAT and their enemies could create these spaces.

However, Diana had said Black Sun, her demon, was gone.

“What else is there?”

She saw something on the screen moving along the grass from the right and lining up.

They initially looked like blue dogs taking a walk on the grass, but she shook her head to eliminate that illusion. The two blue forms lined up on the green band were in the center of the twenty inch screen and their faces were about the same height as the screen.

She could not be sure without any other objects to compare them to, but they were likely the same size as the airplane.

…''Mechanical dragons.

Her great-grandfather and her real great-grandfather had taken part in their initial development as test pilots and American UCAT had continued to research them after the Concept War. Now, they were American UCAT’s greatest weapons.

It had been identical machines that had defeated Black Sun.

American UCAT supposedly owned sixty-eight of them and six of those would escort her through the concept space’s skies until her airplane left Tokyo.

She thought about the fact that she was being protected.

“…”

She remained silent.

But then the sound surrounding her changed. It rapidly grew and the entire room shook.

The airplane was preparing for takeoff.

The shaking of the room moved from right to left and the room itself almost seemed to float, but the sound grew even louder and the airplane’s brakes would not allow it to advance.

The airplane had to build up a lot of power so it could rise into the air and fly forward. To accomplish that, the engine’s roar grew to what sounded like a scream and suddenly…

“…”

It began to move.

The low, heavy sound of the air pressing in reached Heo from the left as she watched the screen.

At the same time, everything was pulled to the right.

The screen began to scroll from left to right. Everything in that visible world began to move.

''Ahh,'' thought Heo. ''It’s already time to say goodbye.

She had already known she was leaving by the time she had been brought to Yokota Air Base within the concept space. She had known she would leave her past life and begin a safe and protected new life.

The sound of the engine blasted through the room as if it had been released.

At the same time, the blue mechanical dragons stepped forward after a short delay and prepared to fly.

“…!?”

But there was an explosion.

Heo did not understand what she was seeing on the screen in real time.

The blue dragons had been following along in the scrolling gray, above the scrolling green, and below the scrolling black, but something had happened to the farther away of the two.

“It exploded!?”

Next, the closer one also exploded as it prepared for takeoff.

…''Eh?

She had no idea what was happening, but she saw the number of colors grow. Red was added to the gray, green, and black.

And this was the red of flames.

“…”

She took in a breath, brought a hand to her necklace, and took in another breath.

She tried to express her disbelief yet could not form the words, but a new color arrived in their place.

No, this was not a new color. More of an existing color was added: black.

A black form flew from the sky to the left and landed on the green band.

Heo saw that the black was a mechanical dragon.

But it was not alone. She saw four identical black dragons descend to the green. They were almost half again as big as the blue dragons and they raised their heads and roared into the sky once they landed.

The machines’ bestial cries reverberated throughout the night sky.

This chorus was great enough to drown out even the engines of the transport plane racing down the runway.

''They’re demons,'' thought Heo. ''A pack of demons is here.

…''But why?

“Why!?”

Harakawa charged into Yokota Air Base.

Oddly enough, the gate was unmanned. No, the absence of people had begun when he had heard an odd voice while climbing the hill in Fussa that began at the Tama River and while approaching Route 16 in front of the base.

He had turned around in confusion, but the president and treasurer’s motorcycle had vanished. They had likely started toward Okutama on the Oume Highway before reaching Route 16. Currently, all the cars on the road were empty and unmoving. A few had driven up on the curb or gotten into multicar wrecks.

Nevertheless, everything was empty and there was no sign of the police.

He was curious about the watch the treasurer had given him and that he had done with it as she had instructed. His cellphone had yet to ring, but the watch had vibrated just before everyone had vanished.

And he heard another sound.

Some engines were running on the large runway to the east of the base.

Before vanishing, the president had said Heo would be onboard the transport plane he found here.

“Why are you telling me this?” he had asked. “Will Heo join you if I’m with her?”

“That’s not what this is,” the president had said. “We’re giving her the right to choose where in the world she will be. Isn’t that what you want? Or do you plan on controlling what she does? You don’t, do you?”

The boy had acted like he understood Harakawa, so it had not been worth discussing with him.

And so Harakawa twisted the accelerator and tore through the wind.

The unmanned gate was already behind him and the broad, straight path ahead of him was filled with scarlet light. The transport plane’s idling had reached its limit and it was about to start moving.

…''This is ridiculous!

“What am I going to do!? The hatch is closed and it doesn’t have any windows. So what am I going to do? Screw this up and I could even lose my job here.”

He twisted the accelerator.

“Who cares!?”

After instantly passing between half-cylindrical storage buildings and then between the line of trees and fence beyond that, he could see a straight line of grass and asphalt cutting across from left to right. A green transport plane was facing right and thus eastward on it.

He saw the plane had begun to move.

“…!”

He then saw two objects arrive on the grass to his left.

They were giant blue beasts. It took him a second to recognize them as dragons and his motorcycle had already shot out from the line of trees by then. He crossed the auxiliary road in an instant and raced across the grass.

The tires started to spin, so he lowered his center of gravity to press them down and continue forward.

At that point, the two blue dragons exploded.

“What?”

The answer to his question arrived from the eastern sky.

He saw multiple black dragons.

There were four of them and they tore apart the grass as they landed. Their weight ripped up the lawn as they slid to a stop and they all roared toward the sky before that motion ended.

Their voices shook everything.

Harakawa did not know what was happening, but he did not hesitate. He pointed the handlebars toward the transport plane, leaned his center of gravity forward, and squeezed the accelerator.

Based on the plane’s speed and course, there was no preventing it from taking off at this point. Stopping the engines would only cause it to crash into the barriers at the end of the runway.

Its only option was to fly and thus his only option was to pursue.

His motorcycle’s engine roared and he could feel that vibration over the roaring of the black dragons.

“Go!”

The motorcycle charged onto the asphalt of the runway and instantly caught up to the transport plane arriving from the left.

However, the plane was moving more quickly.

He decided the sidecar was in the way, so pulled the release lever located between it and the motorcycle. However, it was still connected by the spare hook.

“Forgive me!”

He squeezed the accelerator and the front wheel rose. The force of that motion tossed the sidecar backwards and unhooked it, but he could no longer even hear it tumbling.

The only thing in his mind was the fact that he could catch up more easily without the excess weight.

He opened his mouth, inhaled, and leaned on the handlebars to push down the raised front wheel.

He saw the speedometer for a split second and realized he was moving at one hundred thirty kilometers per hour. A fall at this speed would kill him instantly.

The raised wheel reached the ground and the stabilized motorcycle accelerated as if trying to tear into the back of the transport plane.

“Why you…”

The plane almost seemed to be running away and the wind it blew backwards seemed intent on rejecting him.

“Don’t underestimate a delinquent!!”

The gears connected and Harakawa raced forward.

He continued on and gradually caught up, but what would he do then? And what would he do about those black dragons?

The answer came from an unexpected place. A voice reached him from beyond the roar of the plane in front of him.

“An excellent answer.”

The plane shot by the figure that had spoken.

Someone stood on the runway as if waiting for him. Despite the wind and noise, not even her hair was blowing.

…''That’s the woman who was with Heo.

The tall woman had wavy gray hair, wore a black suit, and bent her eyes in a smile.

“So how about I give you a reward?”

She pulled a felt-tip pen from her pocket. It was a red one and she drew a diagram with quick movements of her hand. Specifically, she drew a flower symbol on the transport plane’s rear hatch as it passed by her.

“Open up.”

And exactly that happened.

The rear hatch suddenly opened while completely ignoring the presence of its actuators. It looked a lot like an animal opening its mouth.

At the same time, the plane lost its balance, raised its nose, and took off.

“That was fast!” shouted Harakawa as he made a split-second decision.

He stood up on the motorcycle’s seat and jumped toward the hatch as it floated up in front of him.

“Don’t get bit,” said the woman as he passed by her.

Before he could wonder what that meant, the hatch closed and swallowed him up.

The transport plane flew up from the runway and shrank into the eastern sky.

The ones on the surface watching it leave were the giant black machines and…

“Oh, honey. You’re too late to see her off.”

The woman standing on the runway gave that comment as she turned around.

Her gaze landed on a skinny elderly man standing in the center of the runway.

A blue stone hung from the string wrapped around his hand and he rolled up his suit’s sleeve.

“Okutama. Okutama is in Roger’s hands. More importantly, Diana.”

“What is it, honey? Or would you prefer I called you Colonel Odor?”

“Diana, Diana. I am currently on the job. And I do not recall asking you to offer any unnecessary services.”

“Unnecessary? Is that what you really think?”

Her eyes narrowed and she brushed her right hand through the long hair behind her.

“You need to be more honest. We’re all thinking it. That girl needs to be protected more than anyone, but she also wants it less than anyone.”

“Diana, Diana. You’re just guessing.”

“No, I am not. It’s called women’s intuition. Also…” She tilted her head and lowered her eyebrows a little. “Why are you so intent on forcing relief onto that girl? …Is it because of those scars you once gained on your arm?”

Odor did not answer. He instead loosened his tie and raised his right hand.

“Pathetic. A pathetic story.”

Diana saw him slowly move his gaze throughout the area.

There were smoking and flaming piles of metal on the grass. They were the wreckage of the blue mechanical dragons.

“If… If I had ignored my orders and come out here more quickly, I would not have let this happen. The same goes for those in Tokyo Bay and at the place called Chofu. …Diana, can I ask you one thing?”

“No wife would refuse her husband’s request.”

“Most of all… Most of all, it would anger me if any more life was lost. And I am worried about Heo. So, my wife, please do more than care for me as I die. Please take me to the battlefield, my wife who is the world’s greatest witch.”

“Testament.”

Diana removed her hand from her hair.

It now held scraps of paper made into a cylinder and rectangular strips.

“This is a broom. Its performance does not quite live up to the original 1st version, though.”

She swung the broom to the left.

That was when the great pressure of wind arrived.

It came from a black mechanical dragon.

The dragon measured over forty meters long and it tried to knock Diana away with its nose.

“!!”

A strike from the broom knocked it to the side.

A heavy metallic sound shook the air and the black dragon fell to the side, but it quickly hopped back up with almost feline movements.

The other black dragons reacted by growing more cautious. There were eight of them now, but…

“What should we do about this, honey? Do you want them all for yourself or are you prepared to praise your wife?”

“Then… Then how about you help me? These must be the enemy’s scouts. The main unit is likely flying this way more slowly. Even if the transport plane carrying Heo Thunderson has concept stealth, they will still show interest if they visually locate it. …I want to hurry.”

Odor raised his right arm and four blue mechanical dragons approached in combat form from down the runway behind him.

Diana spun her broom around and held the paper handle under her arm while watching their movements and the gazes of the black dragons.

“Then how about we dedicate the beginning of the fight to avenging our fallen comrades? We can dedicate the middle of the fight to the enemies being crushed and we can dedicate the end of the fight…” She smiled toward the black dragons. “To perfect happiness. How does that sound?”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume9 Chapter 27|Chapter 27]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume9 Chapter 29|Chapter 29]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume14 Prologue

2026-06-24T02:55:56Z

N-Ch:

==Prologue: Step Toward Preparation==
[[Image:OnC_v14_0011.png|thumb]]
''Always

''Always

''One walks in order to gain something

During the night, everything but the moon and stars seemed to sink.

And those lights in the night sky illuminated the many things sinking into the earth.

The light first displayed the mountains which rose up from the earth. The shadows of the mountaintops led to shadows of trees as the forests on the slopes were revealed.

The vast mountainous region was made up of those tree-covered rooftops awash with pale light and the gatherings of shadow down below.

A part of this mountainous region formed a plain.

It was a large and flat expanse of land.

It had a radius of about two kilometers, it was surrounded by forest, and it was covered by underbrush that had died down for winter.

Exposed to the wind and rain and covered in gravel, the ground currently displayed a few points of color.

The colors were red lights that appeared much weaker than the lights shining down from the sky.

The ember-like scarlet lights came from heated metal.

The metal was hot wreckage.

And the countless pieces of burning metal illuminated something from below: people standing or collapsed among the wreckage.

A battle had taken place.

The collapsed defeated wore white armored uniforms and they were all injured and unmoving.

The standing victors wore black armored uniforms and…

“It seems we’ve opened the way.”

A mechanical voice spoke and a large form walked through as if parting the wreckage.

What looked like a small mountain was actually a forty meter dragon made of machine parts.

The mechanical dragon carried a large container on his back and he looked to the standing people.

“Restrain the UCAT guards and carry them into the forest on the side. Maintenance team, you work on me and on Tatsumi’s Typhon. I need my Justice Armor Lv. 9 attached.”

“It’s just normal armor, so stop calling it that, Alex.”

That comment came from the darkness directly above.

A white giant descended while carrying a large container overhead.

The moonlight washed over the ten meter six-winged god of war covered in white armor.

A long-haired girl, Tatsumi, stood on the god of war’s shoulder and she continued speaking as the giant silently landed.

“Enemy reinforcements were coming from below, so I silenced them on my way here. This will probably develop into a battlefield with long lines soon, so we need to get these Concept Core containers inside quickly.”

Tatsumi looked forward into the vast expanse of the sky.

Everyone could see a massively tall shadow that seemed to rise endlessly into the night sky.

It was so faint they had to strain their eyes to see it and it looked like a great wall filling the entire plain, but it never seemed to end no matter how high they craned their necks.

It seemed to extend to the farthest reaches of the heavens.

“Babel.”

Tatsumi spoke the name of a tower of words from a certain mythology, but she immediately shook her head.

“No, this is Noah piercing into the earth. This is the massive aerial ship that you and I lived and played on.”

“In that case, we should be allowed inside. And…”

They all looked in the opposite direction.

A girl stood all alone among the wreckage as if following the others.

She held something wrapped in a blanket.

Someone called out to her: Are you okay?

So she replied with a small nod: I am fine.

Her voice was dry, her face was pale, and her disheveled hair swayed.

“I am fine. Keep going. We have lost something, but that is why we must take it back.”

She embraced the blanket in her arms.

“Let us create a concept that rejects death.”

Tatsumi nodded at that.

“About three hours have passed since we lost Shino, but you know what to do, don’t you, Mikoku?”

“Yes. Noah is most likely active on the inside. It needs some level of power to maintain the exterior that supports its great form. And if that power is there, then Noah is still active. It is the same as when Top-Gear was destroyed.”

So…

“The concept creation facility failed in Top-Gear, but with Low-Gear’s contradiction allowance concept, I can use it to create a philosopher’s stone.”

“How will you do it?” asked Tatsumi.

Mikoku answered while looking down at her chest.

“I will have Noah’s concept creation facility scan my philosopher’s stone. And based on that, I will use all of Noah’s negative concepts and all of the positive concepts we took to create a concept under the optimal conditions,” she said. “I will create a resurrection concept, seal it in a philosopher’s stone, and embed it inside Shino. …Then I will mass produce the stones, remove all destruction from this world, and try to live alongside all of the concepts.”

“Then what if you didn’t seal the concept in a philosopher’s stone and instead released it so it took root in Low-Gear itself?” asked Tatsumi.

Mikoku shook her head.

“That is no different from recreating this world. If the concepts are completely different, the parent string vibration will change too much and everything living in this world will be destroyed and then remade.”

“I see. It’s true you and Shino couldn’t be together that way.”

“Yes,” said Mikoku as she began to walk.

She treaded on the gravel, walked on the metal fragments, and stepped over the scattering embers.

She joined the others who stood waiting for her, but then she continued forward.

“Why did all of you follow me? Hajji is not here and this is my own selfish desire.”

She looked across them all as she walked and they briefly hesitated to answer her.

But then one man lowered his bulletproof helmet and spoke with a self-deprecating smile on the corner of his mouth.

“This didn’t seem like too bad an idea if we can bring Shino back to life.”

Mikoku did not stop walking, but she did close her eyes for a moment.

“Thank you.”

A few of them lowered their heads at that and Mikoku said something more while still moving forward.

“Tatsumi, Alex. Please take the Concept Cores into Noah. And once you do that, finish your maintenance and head out with the others to intercept the enemy. The enemy is sure to come.”

“Will they really?”

“They will,” replied Mikoku. “After all, we are their enemy.”

She tightly held the weight in her arms and took another step toward the shadow standing tall in the darkness.

“There is no way they will not come. Team Leviathan Road are the only ones who can oppose us.”

But one of the others asked something more.

“Can we really pull this off if the enemy is coming? To produce a philosopher’s stone containing a new concept, we have to get Noah up and running, not to mention getting inside in the first place.”

He sounded worried, but Mikoku nodded.

“Do not worry. If Babel truly is Noah, then there is nothing to worry about. When we lived in Noah, it had…”

She faced forward.

“It had an automaton that managed the entire ship. The Shinjou couple created that control terminal and she would often play with us. If she is awake…”

Mikoku trailed off and came to a stop.

Directly ahead, a white figure stood in direct contrast to the black tower behind it.

It was an automaton.

It was a female model, but her design had a large difference from 3rd’s automatons.

She had wings.

Mikoku saw a doll in a maid uniform with twelve mechanical white wings.

“Noah, so you are awake.”

The winged automaton leaned forward in a bow.

“Testament.”

The voice did not come from the automaton. It instead came from the great tower behind her.

And after she straightened up and looked into the sky, she faced the approaching people.

“I am 8th Arch-Model Automaton No. 0 of Concept Creation Aerial Ship SSS-X0 Noah. I entered standby for reactivation ten years ago and today stored all data and reactivated. I have been waiting. As a conscious terminal, I will handle all control of Noah. Over.”

She took a breath.

“As before, please call me Noah, guides of the new world. Over.”

In a large space, asphalt extended for about three thousand meters from east to west.

It was a runway.

It had a simple control tower and hangar to the west, but it was otherwise surrounded by forest.

A transport helicopter was stopped on the pavement in front of the hangar.

It was idling and its lights revealed several people around it.

Among them, a girl swung a spear around.

She wore a white armored uniform and she kept grabbing different spears from a hanger that resembled an umbrella stand, but she looked displeased as she swung one of the long spears around in one hand.

“Hey, Sibyl? Don’t you have any heavier ones?”

Sibyl, who wore a white combat coat, responded with her blonde hair fluttering in the wind.

“I am not sure how to say this, Chisato-sama, but to be blunt, no one in UCAT can wield a spear heavier than that.”

Hearing that, Kazami stopped easily swinging the spear around.

“It’s that heavy?” she wondered while an old man in a lab coat tried to pick up one of the lighter looking spears in the hanger.

“Now, then. It’s time for Kazuo to show off just how- nwohhhh! Oh! Oh!? Ohhhhh!?”

Unable to fully lift it, Ooshiro collapsed backwards with his arms wrapped around the spear.

Pinned by the weapon, he flailed his legs around like a bug.

“Ah, no, it’s so heavy. And the tip is digging into the bottom of my body’s centerline! It’s a spear tip fantasy!”

Kazami spun her spear around and tapped the top of the spear tip in question.

After a long metallic tone, Ooshiro vibrated like a tuning fork and passed out.

When they saw the motionless old man’s limbs sticking up toward the heavens, all of the men shrieked and backed away.

However, Kazami looked down at the spear in her head.

“Ooshiro-san doesn’t matter, but why does this feel so light?”

“Yes, UCAT Director Ooshiro does not matter and it is possible G-Sp2 has given you some divine protection along those lines.”

“Even though G-Sp2 was kidnapped?” asked Kazami.

Sibyl smiled a little.

“Izumo-sama has his own divine protection from his mother.”

Kazami thought for a moment and then scratched her head.

…''So that’s it.

“So the reason I’ve been sending people flying lately isn’t because I trained too much and gained dramatic levels of superhuman strength? It’s all because of some divine protection? …Hm, that’s a huge load off my mind. Right?”

For some reason, Sibyl averted her gaze and began admiring the weeds growing up between the cracks in the asphalt.

“Heh heh heh. Life is so very important. Even a few plants that can’t grow flowers have half a soul, don’t they?”

…''Did I really say anything worth avoiding reality over?

At any rate, Kazami looked toward the idling helicopter where Izumo was.

He would have gotten a large sword to use instead of V-Sw.

If she really had been given some divine protection by G-Sp2, then she might feel closer to him and his defensive divine protection.

With that sense of intimacy tickling at her, she turned to face him.

“Hey, Kaku, what do you think?”

“Eh?”

He was sitting on the edge of the helicopter’s loading entrance, but he nodded and placed a hand behind his back.

“Yeah, I think ramen would be great tonight.”

“You weren’t even listening and what are you hiding behind your back?”

“Calm down, Chisato. And think carefully. Thanks to the current state of Japanese UCAT, this helicopter was sent from American UCAT, so what do you think I found inside?”

After giving it an instant of careful thought, she threw her spear toward the helicopter.

Sounds of impact, destruction, and screeching metal rang out while people fled and screamed, but Kazami had already turned back toward Sibyl.

She shrugged and grabbed a new spear.

“Honestly, no one here takes anything seriously.”

That was when Ooshiro spoke up while still on the ground.

“K-Kazami-kun! I think you’re the most naturally destructive person here! C-can’t you be a little kinder to your elders?”

She decided she could not, so she used her spear to tap the one Ooshiro held and everyone backed away again once he fell silent.

“U-um, Chisato-sama?” said Sibyl with a troubled look. “I feel like you are causing a minor rift between comrades.”

“Listen, Sibyl. Let me teach you a nice magic spell: It’s always like this.”

“I see,” said Sibyl.

Kazami tilted her head.

“Well, let’s go attach an anchor to this spear. No, two.”

“Two of them?”

…''Did I say something wrong?

“W-well, I’m just in the mood for that. Think of them as weighty decorations. And, um…to change the subject, where are the others?”

“S-Sayama-sama is in the underground medical facility. He just contacted me to say he would be back soon, but…”

Kazami sighed and nodded.

It had only been two hours since Shinjou had been rushed to Japanese UCAT.

Kazami had ridden back from the city center on the same helicopter that carried Shinjou and Sayama, who had refused to let go of the girl.

When he had refused to leave her in the medical facility, Kazami had slapped him once.

…''And yet I refused to leave Kaku’s side when his arm was smashed.

Shinjou had taken a knife in the back protecting Sayama. It had luckily passed between the lungs, but it had also arrived near the heart. The surgery would primarily involve rejoining blood vessels while making sure not to damage the major arteries. The doctors predicted it would be a difficult surgery and she also needed a major blood transfusion.

The situation was all the more frightening because the attack had come from someone with the name Mikoku under the effects of 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core.

From what Kazami had heard, the name “Mikoku” would be carved into Shinjou’s life within four hours if some kind of conceptual countermeasures were not taken.

Shinjou would be undergoing surgery to heal the wound itself while also undergoing a concept surgery to remove the attack power of the name concept driven into her body.

The process should have been relatively easy, but the effects of 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core had turned the life-carving concept of “Mikoku” into a Concept Core attack.

The people of 2nd-Gear could not hope to match 2nd-Gear’s Concept Core.

They had considered destroying the concept with Georgius, but as long as the life-carving concept was directly linked to her life, the odds were good that would destroy her life.

Sayama had likely been warned that it might only be a matter of time.

…''It’ll be okay.

Kazami recalled her memories of Shinjou. That underclassman had often hesitated, often cried, often laughed, and always worked desperately toward everything.

''It’ll be okay. Sayama is alive and as long as he lives, Shinjou won’t die,'' she thought, despite having nothing to base the assertion on. ''Hurry on back.

And…

“Sayama?”

In front of her and behind Sibyl, a white armored uniform appeared as if parting the crowd gathered there.

It was Sayama.

He was approaching the helicopter after climbing the stairs from underground.

Everyone turned around, looked at him, and started to say something, but…

“————”

Their words vanished and they remained silent.

Why this happened was obvious. Sayama had Baku on his head like usual, his face was pale, his gaze was sharp, and…

…''He’s lost weight.

His exhaustion from the past few hours had left its mark on him.

Saying anything felt like it would be asking why he looked like that, so no one could say anything. If they did, they thought they would remind him of his pain.

But his legs were sturdy below him and he walked straight up to Kazami.

He then turned to Sibyl.

“Where are the Hiba boy, Harakawa, and Heo-kun?”

His voice was hoarse, but Sibyl only had to breathe in once to control her expression.

“Testament. Hiba-sama is visiting Mikage-sama in the development department. Harakawa-sama and Heo-sama are…”

She trailed off for a moment, but…

“Heo-sama is isolating herself a little due to the shock of how her representative battle ended. Harakawa-sama is in American UCAT’s Yokota branch with her.”

“In other words, we can use neither Susamikado nor Thunder Fellow.”

Sayama placed a hand on his chin.

“If that is all, we still have strength to spare. Let us go. The enemy likely plans to use the positive and negative concepts to create a resurrection philosopher’s stone. I would have liked to allow that if I could, but creating such an item would produce conflict.”

“Someone with a philosopher’s stone like that wouldn’t die. They’d be an immortal god.”

Kazami saw Sibyl and the surrounding people gasp at her statement, so she smiled bitterly.

''Acting tough can help cheer people up too,'' she thought while turning to Sayama.

“You’re looking better.”

“Say I look more determined.”

He sounded casual enough, but his expression was still stiff.

''But it’s better than crying,'' thought Kazami.

He was not yet back to his normal self and that would likely not happen until Shinjou had recovered, but…

…''Being the leading villain must be tough.

''And in that case,'' she thought while resting the spear on her shoulder.

“Let’s go. We’ll help you out.”

“…Sorry.”

“You idiot. You’re supposed to say thank you.”

Sayama briefly froze as if he had only just realized that and he brought a hand to his forehead.

“Right,” he said with a nod.

The gesture and his voice lacked his usual strength, but Kazami made sure to keep talking.

“Besides, there’s not much we can do without you.”

“So it seems,” he said with a bitter smile.

She decided to believe him and told herself it would all be okay, but she also wondered if that was more of her acting tough.

And then…

“Wah! Sorry I’m late! It’s me, Hiba Ryuuji!”

A boy in a white armored uniform appeared behind them all.

He had supposedly been visiting Mikage in the development department.

Currently, they were trying a variety of methods to wake her up and it seemed she was already tossing and turning as well as muttering things in her sleep.

Hiba approached through the crowd behind Sibyl.

Everyone had heard him, so they turned around.

And as they did, they prepared to say something to him, but…

“Oh, Mikage-san is just so cute even when she’s asleep. She keeps saying ‘food’ in her sleep!”

Everyone nodded, but far from falling silent, they began muttering to themselves.

“I just decided bragging deserves the death penalty.”

“You’d better watch your back if you sit by the helicopter door.”

“Hello, yes. Is this the 1st-Gear reservation? I would like a piece of paper with ‘curse’ written on it. Yes, ASAP.”

“Wh-why are you all so cement-like!?”

“Shut up,” sighed Kazami before asking Hiba a question. “So how was Mikage?”

A smile quickly replaced his confusion.

“Yes, well, it really seems like she’s only sleeping now. Director Tsukuyomi even said she’ll probably wake up soon.”

“I see.” Kazami nodded and turned to Sayama. “Sayama, you can see how many death flags this poor underclassman is raising, can’t you?”

“Yes. I am beginning to think my own situation might not be all that bad. If I died, Shinjou-kun would stop receiving my communication signals and might die of despair.”

“D-death flags!? What are you talking about!?”

Kazami ignored Hiba’s question and asked one of her own.

“Hiba, how has your luck been recently?”

“Well, my grandfather’s house will be fixed on New Year’s, and he’ll be giving me some New Year’s money to celebrate!”

Everyone gulped, but Hiba did not notice.

“I’m gonna have so much money for next year, so-… Wait, why are you all patting me on the shoulder and walking away?”

“It’ll be a miracle if you survive this.”

“Eh?”

He tilted his head, but Kazami turned back to Sayama.

However, Sayama had already turned his back.

He faced the helicopter that Izumo lay collapsed beneath and sighed into the air.

He pulled out the silver pocket watch that was a memento of his grandfather and compared the time with his wristwatch.

“Honestly, you two are always so terribly identical.”

He sounded weak but placed the watch back in his pocket like a protective charm and then raised his left hand.

“Let us go to the battlefield,” he said. “I must settle this quickly, return, and wake Shinjou-kun with a kiss.”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume14 Preface|Preface]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume14 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume10 Chapter 12

2026-06-23T03:31:50Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 12: For a Conclusion==
[[Image:OnC_v10_0299.png|thumb]]
''I was told to be hurt

''I was told to be destroyed

''What is the answer?

Hiba rode the destruction of the land.

He had assumed Yonkichi’s actions would lead to some kind of attack, so he had used all his strength to avoid it.

It could have been an impact, a slash, or a projectile.

Thanks to his two losses during the summer, he took an evasive stance before even seeing the enemy’s attack.

That decision proved wise.

The entire space within three meters around him was destroyed.

It was almost an explosion.

As the bursting air knocked him away, he spun around and took a landing pose.

…''What was that!?

He could tell it was some sort of spatial strike. In the instant the space was compressed and made to burst, that space was acclimated to the surrounding space. That caused anything in the bursting space to burst along with it.

He understood the idea behind it.

…''But how does he do it? What does he use?

He landed with those questions in mind, held a hand up to block the whirling wind and scattering fragments of the ground, and looked forward.

The second attack was coming.

“…!”

He forcefully leaped backwards again to leave the three meter range of destruction, but…

“This one’s bigger!?”

That instinctual decision led him to increase the force of his leap. He flew a full five meters back.

A moment later, the bursting space closed right in front of him. The range had been five meters instead of three.

…''Does this mean he still isn’t going all out!?

Everything split and burst before him.

The wind and torn ground caused him to frantically pull back.

He watched the air explode and corrected his fighting stance.

…''But what do I do?

He clenched his right fist, but he doubted it could do much against this destructive power. And their previous battle told him the old man had a slight edge when it came to a pure exchange of attacks.

His enemy had the advantage in power, skill, and speed.

“Calm down.”

''If I think about it, there has to be a way,'' he told himself.

And so he cleared his mind of all idle thoughts.

…''I will empty my mind!

A sudden image of Mikage in the nude appeared in his mind.

…''And I will stay positive!

He decided this image was a message from the god of beauty that he needed to stay positive. As long as he had no other idle thoughts, nothing else mattered.

But…

…''Mikage-san hasn’t been letting me in the bath with her recently.

It had started two weeks before. She had said she wanted to practice bathing alone and had not let him in. His mother must have supported Mikage’s independence because she had tried to stab him with a spear through the peephole he had tried to use.

That meant his only images of Mikage in the nude were images of the past.

…''But that’s fine too. Imagination!!

At that point, he suddenly realized he needed to focus on the battle, so he gently crossed his arms in front of his face to clear his mind.

“Stop throbbing, my heart. Stop throbbing, my heart!”

“Are you really taking this seriously, puru?”

“I don’t want to hear that from you, Mr. Puru!! Are you listening? Please listen, ma’am!”

With that shout, Hiba suddenly took action.

There were a few ways to overcome a difference in power, skill, and speed.

One of those was to take the initiative.

He would find an opportunity and take advantage of it. It was also called taking the enemy by surprise.

His opponent’s attacks affected a range, but that range started at three meters.

If he made his way within three meters of the enemy, that enemy could not use that power for fear of hitting himself.

Hiba took a low leap and jumped again without slowing down.

He was not running; he was making consecutive leaps. He approached Yonkichi without letting his initial speed drop.

Once he arrived within five meters of the man, Yonkichi reacted by raising his left arm and clenching his fist.

“…!”

He swung it down.

The three meter area around Hiba, a six meters sphere of space, burst.

It bent, compressed, and eventually exploded.

The sound rang clearly, but Hiba was alive.

He had not been torn apart or broken and he continued to fight.

He had approached his enemy.

He was in the air.

He was falling from approximately five meters over Yonkichi’s head.

“——————”

The principle behind this great leap was simple.

His enemy’s attack took a spherical form, so if he jumped up and spread himself out over the curve of the sphere, the force of the explosion would throw him upwards.

The enemy had set the center of the sphere close to the ground in order to hit him, so half of it had been buried.

He jumped over it.

The speed he had built up while approaching maintained his forward momentum even as he rode the blast radiating from the sphere.

This was what it meant to predict what would happen next.

And he continued fighting.

In the air, he twisted his body and made a dropping savate kick.

He did not simply drop his heel. Doing that would send his center of gravity into the ground if he landed. It was all over if the enemy evaded.

But with a savate kick, he could twist his body around and keep moving when he landed. The impact of landing could be transformed into a rotation. The attack was harder to read since it did not move in a straight line and people’s plummeting opinion of him would rise if he won here.

Hiba used this attack as a way of killing four birds with one stone.

However, he saw something in front of him.

Yonkichi had moved his left arm. However, the man did not raise his hand.

…''He pulled back his hips and formed a fist!?

If he created a spatial explosion here, he would be caught in the blast too.

Nevertheless, he moved.

A sound similar to an impact but with some flexibility added in came from behind Yonkichi.

The ground sank down behind him but not because something had gouged into it. Something had appeared there and crushed it.

Hiba knew a similar phenomenon occurred when Mikage summoned Susamikado, so he knew what was appearing.

“A god of war!?

Hiba saw bluish-white light behind Yonkichi that resembled an electrical discharge.

At the same time, the objects producing the spatial explosions appeared behind his arms.

They were giant arms.

The two red and yellow arms were at least three meters long and they resembled both armor and muscle. They rose alongside his arms while copying his movements.

“I will take this a little more seriously, puru. This is the reproductive offensive shell known as the Great Sage, puru. It is a collection of the greatest byproducts of 7th-Gear’s bodily modification techniques and this is my first time to use them outside of fights with my brothers, puru.”

Instead of simple spatial compression, he sent out a straight-line three meter uppercut.

The attack was much like the movement of a pile driver.

“!”

Meanwhile, Hiba temporarily lost all understanding.

He had trouble with unexpected actions. He had lost before due to that weakness and it was happening again.

…''I can’t let that happen!!

He woke his mind as if clinging to a thought.

More on reflex than conscious thought, he used the crisis response abilities and physical abilities built up inside him.

He twisted his upper body, swung his arms, and raised the speed of his savate kick.

He swung his right leg as if pouring it down on the fist that shot toward him like it had teleported.

…''My heel.

It hit the middle finger of the giant fist. His heel struck the base of the finger and he placed the sole of his foot on it.

“…!”

He absorbed the force, bent his ankle, bent his knee, lowered his hips, crouched down, spread his arms for balance, and even lowered his head.

He took all those actions in an instant to absorb the coming impact with his entire body.

He stored the force of the rising Great Sage fist’s movement in his body.

That fist reached the end of its movement and stopped.

With nowhere else to go, the force inside Hiba’s body threatened to explode, but a moment before, he jumped diagonally backwards into the sky.

He stopped the force building inside him by leaping accurately in the direction of the giant fist’s path.

He more flew than jumped.

He had a high initial speed and Gs pressed down on him to send him down into the darkness.

…''But it’s better than taking all this as damage!

After jumping around a dozen meters, his speed suddenly vanished. His blood flow quickly rose to his head and his mind cleared.

He had reached a face-up position in midair, so the sky lay before his eyes. That sky was shifting from early morning to morning and it contained some faint clouds.

“…”

He bent backwards so his head pointed down, so he saw the upside-down mountains and then what lay below.

About five meters down were the open-air dojo and the house.

“Mikage-san.”

“Right.”

The tall girl that replied awkwardly ran into the open-air dojo in a yukata.

Hiba rotated his body to land in front of her, spread his arms as he stood, and spoke with her.

“Susamikado!!”

It came.

The wind spiraled behind them and a black giant almost ten meters tall appeared behind Mikage.

It was Susamikado.

The black god of war’s frame, power source, sensory devices, etc. linked together and armor appeared over them all.

The bolts to hold its black body together audibly fit in place, Mikage was lifted by gravitational control, and she was taken inside Susamikado.

“Too slow, puru.”

Hiba realized Yonkichi’s voice came from behind.

…''!?

The appearance of and combination with Susamikado happened in a mere instant. He should have been able to board 3rd-Gear’s greatest weapon without leaving an opening, but Hiba realized something in that split-second.

…''Our enemy is 7th-Gear!

3rd-Gear could not fight without the power of a god of war, but this higher Gear had managed that.

Yonkichi interfered using pure speed.

Hiba turned around and saw the man riding the Great Sage’s extended hand.

The Great Sage’s shoulders were linked with a backpack-like curved component and shimmering heat rose from behind it.

Yonkichi extended his right hand forward from atop the giant palm.

His hand held Mikage and his grasp prevented her from entering Susamikado.

Her eyes opened wide and she turned toward the man.

“Now, then.”

Still riding the Great Sage’s right palm, Yonkichi casually raised his left hand.

That was when something strange happened.

The Great Sage’s left hand grew. It inflated like a balloon and yet appeared to remain just as solid. The giant arm grew to about ten meters long.

“Ever-changing and absurdly powerful. That is the ultimate form of 7th-Gear,” he said. “Oh, I forgot to say ‘puru’.”

The Great Sage’s even greater left arm punched Susamikado.

With the sound of breaking glass, the god of war doubled over and floated up in the air. Mikage had yet to combine with it, but she was swung up into the air due to being under its gravitational control.

Red warning lights appeared across Susamikado’s body to inform them of errors. It then vanished so it would not be influenced by anyone but its master.

That left Mikage alone in the air.

She had not actually been struck by the blow, but she had been thrown by its momentum and she flew toward a closed rain shutter on the house.

“Mikage-san!”

Hiba hurried, but he would not make it in time.

Even so, something helped him: an attack from Yonkichi.

The old man jumped down from the Great Sage’s hand and slammed his right fist into Hiba’s side.

Hiba’s breath was forced out from his mouth and nose and he heard a sound from his side.

The counterattack sent him flying through the air toward Mikage.

In exchange, three of his ribs were broken.

The pain had not yet reached him, but it would once he took in a breath and his blood circulated. But first…

“Kah.”

Something that was not quite a breath burst from his mouth.

He then stopped breathing. Once he caught up to Mikage in the air and held her in his arms, he found she had passed out.

He embraced her.

…''The house.

They slammed into it, but the impact was surprisingly soft.

“!?”

He was stopped by something that felt more absorbing than flexible and his back slid down to what felt like the ground.

An instant later, the sky above grew dark.

He was seeing the ceiling. He saw the old ceiling panels of the house.

He had slid after landing and only stopped once he hit a cabinet inside.

“Ow.”

The pain arrived. Simply inhaling felt like fingers digging into his left side.

He frowned as the pain filled the core of his being like the inside of his muscles were being directly twisted. Only then did he realize that someone had opened the rain shutter and laid out a futon for them to land on.

“Harakawa-san!?”

Harakawa walked past Hiba who lay motionless with Mikage in his arms.

He was leaving the house with something like a large log over his shoulder.

He clicked his tongue toward Hiba.

“Sorry, Hiba, but it took some time getting Heo ready.”

“S-sorry.”

Heo was wrapped in the Swiss roll of a blanket over Harakawa’s shoulder and she lowered the head sticking out the back. As the contents of the Swiss roll, she turned toward Harakawa who was moving outside.

“Wh-what are we going to do, Harakawa?”

“It’s a pain, but we need to drive that guy away. Can’t you see what’s happening here?”

“B-but if we attack with Thunder Fellow, that puru guy will be…”

“He isn’t holding back either, Heo Thunderson.”

“B-but!”

“He knows the past of our parents that you want so much. Is that not enough motivation? If not, then what do you really want?”

Harakawa felt the Swiss roll’s contents shake and hold its breath.

“Listen, Heo Thunderson. This is our duty.”

“I’m sorry.” The Swiss roll’s head turned weakly toward him. “B-but how are we going to fight?”

“That’s the question,” he said as he stepped outside.

Hiba was collapsed, a portion of the house was destroyed, and Ryuutetsu was out at the field with his wife.

…''This is like something from a shounen manga.

Yonkichi was approximately eight meters away. The Great Sage was back to its original size, but its backpack had not vanished. It had moved quickly enough to interfere with Susamikado’s appearance, so Harakawa doubted they had time to board Thunder Fellow.

But…

“Heo, does Thunder Fellow understand our situation?”

“Eh? Yes, it seems he can see the outside world a little.”

The Swiss roll tried to turn toward him, but it threw them off balance. ''This isn’t as easy as the delivery job at Yokota that I’ve been keeping alongside my UCAT work,'' thought Harakawa as he left the side of the building.

“U-um, Harakawa. You’ve been grabbing my butt through the blanket for a while now.”

“Enough false accusations. I can’t tell where I’m touching through the blanket and I haven’t been infected by Team Leviathan enough to want to do that right now.”

“What is the deal with Team Leviathan anyway?” sighed Heo.

Harakawa suddenly thought about that question from a different perspective.

…''What is it really?

Sayama had temporarily disbanded it, but did it make any difference when they were still fighting like this?

And if not, why had Kazami protested so much when Sayama had made them disband?

“…?”

However, he could not quite grasp what exactly he was asking.

After all…

…''Why are they so concerned with what is nothing more than a name?

He felt as if that was where he would find the reason Sayama had them disband.

“The past, hm?”

…''What about the past gives such meaning to the name Team Leviathan?

However, he decided this was not the time to think about it.

He stopped thinking, stood in the yard, and faced Yonkichi who was in the center of the open-air dojo to the west.

“Listen. Unlike Susamikado, Thunder Fellow is intelligent. If you try to interfere while we’re boarding him, he can decide on his own to crush you. So…”

“So you’re telling me to leave, puru?”

“No. I’m telling you to get lost.”

Harakawa spoke to the contents of the Swiss roll supported by his shoulder.

“Heo, I warned him, so summon Thunder Fellow.”

“Eh? B-but how am I supposed to do that? He has trouble appearing when he doesn’t sense me in danger.”

Harakawa wordlessly stripped away the Swiss roll.

Having lost its support, the blanket fell across his right shoulder like a cloak and the contents exposed her flesh-colored body with her stomach resting on his shoulder.

“Ee,” she shrieked. “N-noooooo!! Thunder Fellowwwww!!!”

Yonkichi did not interfere with Thunder Fellow’s appearance.

Harakawa had already explained why. The mechanical dragon had a personality so interfering would be the same as placing himself in front of his enemy.

Wind wrapped around Thunder Fellow as he appeared in the parking area made from a dirt clearing in front of the house.

He was only eight meters away and he filled their vision like a mountain or a wall.

It only took an instant for the blue and white dragon to open the cockpit and let the two humans inside.

“…!!”

After a moment, he let loose a mechanical roar.

He was over thirty meters long, how much he weighed was anyone’s guess, he had appeared already in his close-quarters combat form, and shimmering heat rose from the accelerators on the back of his body.

If he charged forward, there would be no escaping his speed and size and there would be no defending against or enduring his weight and solidness.

However, Yonkichi stood still without running.

He saw Thunder Fellow hold his head and reluctantly speak.

“H-Harakawa! That was just mean!! I don’t want anyone but you to see me like that!”

“Relax, Heo Thunderson. The microbes in the bath are always watching.”

“How could you say that?”

The voices stopped.

Yonkichi saw Harakawa moving inside the cockpit. He grabbed the roll bars sticking out on either side and leaned his entire body forward.

…''Not bad.

''That Harakawa boy was one of the last to join Team Leviathan, but he knows how to commit to a fight,'' thought Yonkichi.

…''But can he keep that balance with Miss Heo with him?

He did not have time to add the “puru” to his thoughts.

He then saw something happen in what could only be called an “instant”.

Thunder Fellow’s limbs pulled up and the mechanical dragon fired a wave of shimmering heat behind him.

“!”

He charged forward.

In only eight meters, steam exploded in front of his nose.

Wind expanded in a ring and the house’s roof tiles floated up a little before being blown away.

However, Yonkichi calmly watched the high-speed charge and realized what Harakawa was after.

His senses were synchronized with Thunder Fellow’s so he could make minor adjustments to his course even at this speed.

And Thunder Fellow was flying just a bit left of Yonkichi’s center line.

If the man did not evade, he would be killed instantly. Even if he did, he would be badly injured. And if he used some special method to completely avoid it, it could lead to an escape.

Yonkichi knew what Harakawa had to be thinking.

…''He expects me to use a special method of dodging.

Even if he expanded the Great Sage to more than ten meters, he could not hope to match the mechanical dragon named Thunder Fellow. To prove that, Harakawa had opted for a direct charge instead of a cannon blast.

…''An excellent decision.

''But,'' thought Yonkichi.

As his reflexes saw through the speed, he paused briefly and then spoke.

“Fixed concept…activate.”

A moment later, words filled the air.

—'''The world is reversed for an instant.

The result showed itself immediately afterwards.

Thunder Fellow’s thirty meter form struck something and was blown away.

With a rumbling sound, armor fragments flew and Thunder Fellow pitched forward.

“…!?”

Harakawa and Heo gave confused voices as they crashed into the forest beyond the open-air dojo.

Their momentum broke through and knocked over the trees, armor fragments scattered from the parts that were bent, and the mass of destruction that was Thunder Fellow smashed the forest.

The forest covered a rising mountain slope, so the toppling mass of metal tore into the dirt for about five seconds before stopping.

After that, the mountain crumbled away for about one hundred twenty meters.

Yonkichi saw birds fly from the forest.

“Now, then,” he muttered. “Does this make you angry, puru?”

He turned to his right.

Someone stood behind him there.

“Brunhild-sama.”

The girl wearing a school uniform stood less than a meter away with a small bird on her head.

Brunhild did not understand.

Thunder Fellow had suddenly been knocked away during his charge, so she could assume something had attacked him. What she did not understand was why Yonkichi was no longer in the open-air dojo.

“Why are you here?”

She frowned toward the white flight jacket which she had found right in front of her after leaving the house.

She was in front of the house where Harakawa had opened the rain shutter to the room the girls had been staying in.

“Isn’t this near where Thunder Fellow was?”

What had happened? As she tried to find the answer, the black cat walked up and spoke to her.

“The world was reversed, Brunhild. So…”

“You’re a sharp one. …Yes, I reversed Thunder Fellow’s position with my own.”

The old man smiled at them over his shoulder.

[[Image:OnC_v10_0321.jpg|thumb]]

“I reversed them at the moment of impact, so Thunder Fellow collided with himself.”

“Then I just have to do this.”

Brunhild threw a piece of paper too quickly to see the movement of her hand.

She threw it toward her own neck and it had a certain image written on it.

“If I add the final dot for the word ‘sever’, it will slice off your head instead. Isn’t that right?”

“Care to try?”

“Are you provoking me?”

“I am stopping you. That is why I asked that. …Care to try?”

Brunhild’s frown grew. She pulled a pen from her pocket and brought the tip to the paper on her neck.

Just as she began to pull it across the paper, the bird flew from her head and a voice reached her.

“Don’t, Brunhild!!”

The black cat jumped up from the ground to keep her hand from moving.

…''Eh?

Her finger moved the pen and activated the paper.

A moment later, the paper’s severing power activated.

However, it affected her and not Yonkichi.

“!?”

…''Why!? I thought a reversing concept was in effect!?

The unexpected outcome left her unable to move, but the severing power was obstructed by something else.

That something was the black cat.

She had instinctually twisted away from him as he jumped toward her, so she had avoided the severing power. Instead, the black cat’s back jerked in midair.

Before she could say anything, the cat fell into her arms.

She held him there, but he was completely limp.

He was so soft she was not sure where to hold him, a pink line ran across his back, and something red appeared on his fur there.

“Wait…”

The question “Why?” entered her mind.

Wasn’t this a reversed world? And why had this happened to the cat?

The cat lifted his head a little in her arms.

“Good…bye.”

“From that, I take it you’re fine.”

She did not hesitate to jab a finger into his stomach and he bent backwards.

“Ow ow ow ow! Now my stomach ''and'' my back hurt!! And Brunhild! Aren’t you going to thank me!?”

“You lost your chance when you worried me with that cheesy act.”

“Oh? So you were worried?”

“Just go to sleep.”

She stuck a hemostatic paper and sleep-inducing paper on him and faced Yonkichi again.

“I get it now. The world is reversed for an instant. In other words, you get to choose when that instant is. If you don’t create an instant of reversal, the attack continues as is, but if you do, the attacker attacks himself.”

“So how about it? Will you fight me, 1st-Gear Inspector?”

“Was fighting those four not enough?”

Brunhild looked over toward them. Inside the house, Hiba was unconscious yet still protectively holding Mikage. In the forest, Harakawa was lying face down inside Thunder Fellow’s cockpit.

Yonkichi glanced toward them as well.

“Do you really think that was enough?”

“Then look at your left arm.”

Yonkichi did so and they both saw that something was missing.

“…My arm.”

It had vanished all the way up to the base.

His eyes opened wide when he noticed, but Brunhild only casually held the cat.

The bird flew back to her head as she spoke.

“You didn’t notice that Hiba and Mikage got a small attack in on you when you knocked them away? The damage was so small you probably didn’t even feel it, but it caused you to miss the timing of your ‘instant’ just a little bit. …Quite a heavy price to pay for underestimating them.”

“Ha…”

Yonkichi took in a breath and looked at his left shoulder. Flesh and bone could be seen there, but it was not bleeding.

His structure as a living weapon had likely sealed off the blood vessels automatically.

Brunhild then heard his voice.

“Ha ha!!”

His breaths repeated the syllable “ha” again and again.

While laughing, he brought his right hand to his forehead, bent back, and held his stomach with the Great Sage’s hands.

“Now this is entertaining! It’s not much, but it is certainly entertaining! It is enjoyable! This is so wonderfully enjoyable, brothers!!”

Brunhild heard his laughter and words travel into the sky.

“When four of them work together, the people supporting Low-Gear can entertain one of us at least a little bit!”

With that, he twisted his body.

“I never expected to lose my left arm! I am both surprised and astonished! I am a little confused at the moment, but you know what? This is oddly entertaining. …Thirty points!”

“Then I assume taking off your head would be worth one hundred points.”

Yonkichi did not agree with Brunhild, but he did smile and reply.

“Your prize then would be the Concept Core and the past we hold.”

“Is that so? But why do you want to die so badly?”

“Die? That may be the case, but we have no time.”

“No time?”

“Yes,” he replied while glancing toward Hiba and Mikage’s collapsed forms and Thunder Fellow in the distance. “We four brothers age as we lose interest. And if we die before accepting this world as entertaining enough to leave the Concept Core to, that Concept Core will be destroyed.”

“Then the best option would be for you all to enjoy yourselves and die.”

“Yes,” agreed Yonkichi with a look into the sky. “I had thought there was no chance of that, but it seems some hope remains. I fought with no explanation this time, so I assume the next encounter can be more serious. However, I do not want to be seen as going easy on you, so I will leave you with this.”

His smile deepened and he swung up his remaining right arm along with the Great Sage.

“Goodbye.”

As soon as he clenched his fist, destruction burst overhead.

It covered a radius of one hundred meters. The center burst in the forest beyond the open-air dojo and it almost looked like the earth’s crust was breaking.

Simply put, the ground collapsed.

“————!?”

The Hiba dojo, house, open-air dojo, and forest were all broken to pieces, thrown about, and crumbled.

In an instant, everything gathered into piles.

Only the morning wind remained.

Only that wind which told of the change from early morning to morning.

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume10 Chapter 11|Chapter 11]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume10 Chapter 13|Chapter 13]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume8 Chapter 15

2026-06-22T04:28:04Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 15: Morning Commotion==
[[Image:OnC_v08_0425.png|thumb]]
''Where are you now?

''Should I head in the direction of your voice?

''In the direction of your resounding will?

In the early morning, the sun had yet to come out over the sea and the sky was a bluish-white covered by hazy clouds rather than a pure blue.

However, the dark ocean surface reflected the light of the sky and that lit surface seemed to rock a little.

The rising of the sea looked less like waves and more like short mountains. The peaks of those water mountains sent back the light of the sky while their feet were filled with a duller light.

A few forms were visible on that gentle rising and falling that resembled breathing.

They were boats.

The boats were not even a one-hundredth the size of the short mountains of the waves and they all had large lights hanging down from their masts.

They were fishing boats.

They all had a white base with blue and red lines decorating them. The sides of the colorful boats had the name of that particular boat as well as a license and license number from the association they belonged to. That association was the Sanriku Harbor Administration Bureau.

This was the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Sanriku.

Each of the boats traveling along the vast sea had two to five men or women onboard. They kept a certain distance between each other, their nets were already drawn in, and they all had their backs to the brightness of the sky as they moved west.

The horizon was visible ahead of them, but something white was visible above that line: clouds.

Those objects hanging in the sky were proof that land existed there.

Those boats that were small compared to the sea slowly traveled to the west. They would occasionally rock a bit as they created their own white waves.

The boats in the lead turned a bit to the north.

The sea off the coast of Sanriku had three currents.

The first was the Tsushima Current that came from the Sea of Japan and rotated clockwise along Honshu. It flowed north to south and was the closest to the east coast of Honshu.

The second was the Chishima Current that flowed down from the south side of Hokkaido and to the east of Honshu. It traveled alongside the Tsushima Current as it too flowed north to south along Honshu’s east coast.

The third was the Kuroshio that rotated in the Pacific Ocean. It flowed south to north further east of the previous two currents.

Those currents would change depending on season and time and they would display a variety of emotions, so the boats traveling on that ocean always chose the optimum time to cross those areas.

They were currently moving from the Chishima Current to the Tsushima Current.

A few of them began to scatter to one side or the other. These boats chose to fish on the transition line between currents during the early morning because that was when the fish deep in the water began to move.

The boats wishing to return to port early had gathered together and started to leave.

But at that point, a sound resembling an alarm or a whistle filled the sky. It was a boat’s horn.

However, that ear-splitting sound did not come from the leaving boats.

It came from the ones that still had their nets out in between the currents.

At first, only a few boats sounded their horns, but several more did the same after noticing something and even more of the sounds filled the air a moment later.

A crewmember of one boat hurrying home grabbed the radio on the cramped shed-like bridge.

“What happened!?”

“Look in the water!”

Hearing that, everyone activated the fishfinders attached to their boats.

The rotating green light on the sonar screen displayed what was hidden within the ocean.

It picked up on something.

Something that filled the entire sonar screen.

“…!?”

This was not a school of fish or a ship.

The sonar searched over an area of several hundred meters, so the crewmembers initially thought it was malfunctioning.

However, all of the ships were seeing the same thing.

This should not have been possible.

There was no way something that large was moving through the ocean, so they had no idea what was going on.

But then something else happened.

All of those watching the sonar noticed the light had vanished from the screen.

Or rather, in the time it took for the sonar to make a full rotation, the light moved outside the sonar’s range.

It moved forward in the ocean in an instant.

A great sound came from the ocean as something moved swiftly through the water. The moving object’s presence had created a large gap in the water and its quick movement opened a great pit or abyss.

All of those on the boats saw a ravine open in the ocean.

It was about fifty meters wide and one hundred meters deep and they could not tell how long it was.

Soon thereafter, the ocean exploded.

Air flowed into the ravine and the collapsing water pressing down on it caused an explosion of air.

“!!”

The great blast created a water pillar so large it looked like a wall of water rising above the morning ocean. The white surging wall was over two hundred meters tall, the seemingly unshakable ocean below it trembled, and the ravine split like an opening mouth.

The boats desperately brought themselves alongside the collapsing ocean and watched the trembling of the sea.

Some boats were struck by the waterfalls created when the pillar of water fell back down, some sank into the giant air pockets rising from within the water, and others were rendered completely uncontrollable thanks to those air pockets bursting.

Among it all, a crewmember saw something as his ship rose to the top of a mountainous wave. The ocean now resembled a mountain range, a great mist of seawater filled the air, and the long depression of the sea being split was traveling quickly into the distance.

“————”

He heard a sound in the sky that he should never have heard on the ocean: a roar that resembled creaking metal.

He could not see anything, but all of the crewmembers looked in the direction of that roar that almost sounded like weeping and the moving ocean ravine.

That direction was south and it would lead to the ocean off of Kantou.

At some point, the sun had risen and it pointed in that same direction.

A shadow descended in front of the round morning sun.

From the front, it looked long horizontally.

It was a large airplane.

The thick green craft emitted shimmering heat behind the wings as it began to land.

The sound of the rubber tires tearing into the ground overlapped with the sound of the fully open flaps beating at the air.

Some people moved along the runway while backed by those sounds and the sound of the morning wind. A truck to be loaded with materials approached the arriving transport plane.

All of that activity was visible from in front of the white transportation building at the far end of the runway.

American UCAT guards stood in the large entrance that contained a flower bed and a small roundabout filled with the morning sunlight.

On all their backs were submachine guns modified for concept combat.

Those out on patrol raised a hand in greeting to those at the front entrance who then went out for their patrol.

However, something disturbed their movements.

Someone had appeared from the mountain path on the side of the building opposite the runway.

That woman soon arrived from the other side of the transport control building.

She wore a black T-shirt and black bike shorts, her gray hair fluttered behind her, and she ran with a light step.

“Oh, good morning.”

She raised a hand in greeting when she noticed the guards. Just in front of the roundabout seemed to be her end point because her black basketball shoes dug into the sand there, but she continued jogging in place while catching her breath.

One of the guards frowned until he noticed the emblem sewn to her T-shirt’s shoulder. The pattern showed a land reconnected after being split between left and right.

“Are you German UCAT Inspector Diana Zonburg?”

“Yes, but at the moment I am intruding here where American UCAT has taken residence.”

“I thought you were forbidden to leave the building.”

“I thought you were merely protecting me as a member of German UCAT.”

With that, Diana stopped jogging in place.

She lightly clasped her hands and thrust the palms forward while looking to the entrance beyond the guard who was narrowing his eyes.

“Isn’t that right, Roger?”

“No matter how I answer, it would cause problems with German UCAT,” answered a man in a suit who stepped out of the automatic door.

It was Roger. The morning sun washed over his brown suit as he waved toward the surrounding guards. They took that as a sign to return to their posts and patrols.

Roger sighed and walked over to Diana.

“I am sorry, Diana, but could you try not to interfere with the others?”

“Oh? Since when can you order me around, Roger? I hold the rank of colonel, you know?”

“You were a major ten years ago, weren’t you?”

“And weren’t you a second lieutenant? Were you promoted? Wait. I think I heard you are a captain now.”

“My authority was raised before I was sent here, so I am now a major.”

“Hm,” muttered Diana as she wiped her forehead with the white towel on her shoulder. “Did you meet Itaru?”

“I was thrown from the roof.”

“Yes, he can be a bit aggressive.”

“It was the automaton you built that did it!!”

After a short pause, she tilted her head and frowned toward Roger.

“You don’t have to shout. I can hear you just fine.”

“…”

He bent back and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes, quietly told himself to calm down, and took another deep breath.

Once he opened his eyes, he found Diana also taking deep breaths and smiling.

“The morning air really is wonderful, isn’t it? What do you think of the Okutama region’s air? Is it helping calm down your usually strict and impatient mind?”

“Are you scattering bait so you can challenge me to a war of words?”

“Why would I ever do that? There’s no way you could possibly defeat me.”

She smiled and waved a hand in denial and he subconsciously tightened his tie. Too much strength gathered in his fingertips, so he once more told himself to calm down.

“I have dedicated a lot of time to studying arguments in the past ten years.”

“That must have been a lot of work and I’m sure there were better ways to spend your time. Like crying yourself to sleep.”

“Do not be ridiculous. Americans do not allow themselves to surrender.”

“Does that silly pride come from consuming nothing but burgers and cola? It must be the excess sugar and cholesterol reaching your brains.”

Diana brought a hand to her cheek and lowered her shoulders in a sigh.

“Poor, poor Roger.”

“Why you-…”

Diana’s expression changed when she heard those words slip out.

She gave a bitter laugh.

As the laugh escaped her throat and her shoulders shook, Diana turned her back on Roger.

“I see you haven’t changed. But I no longer have it in me to keep this up.”

“You seem quite willing to me.”

“I can’t do it,” she said while wiping tears from her eyes, turning around, and looking up in the sky. “Not now that there is no longer anyone to stop me.”

Roger could not immediately respond to that comment and he briefly paused to breathe in the morning air of Okutama.

“I suppose not.”

“Anyway, I hear you met the Sayama boy over a video call. Fun, wasn’t he? If you had met him earlier, you would have stopped the attack on Japanese UCAT, wouldn’t you have? You would have thought that strange boy could reach the place we failed to.”

“Well…”

Diana walked off without saying anything more. She made her way to the vending machine at the end of the roundabout and in front of the white building.

Roger followed and the rumbling of another transport plane arrived in the eastern sky. However, he heard the woman speak over that rumbling.

“American UCAT is attempting to stop the Leviathan Road in order to supervise the future of the world in the name of the United States. However, we know the truth,” said Diana. “We are the only ones that know that American UCAT cannot complete the Leviathan Road. Did you tell your superiors that?” She stopped in front of the vending machine. “The survivors of those who once assisted Japanese UCAT decided to hide this truth, but did you tell your superiors who know nothing?”

“No. How could I possibly tell them something so ridiculous,” replied Roger with a shake of his head. “I have not informed American UCAT of what happened.”

“Why not? About fifteen years ago, we began helping Japanese UCAT due to a variety of obligations and happenstances. Even back then, you could have informed American UCAT of what we learned, so why didn’t you?”

“Why didn’t you with German UCAT?” asked Roger in front of the vending machine.

However, he received no response, so he took in a breath and turned toward her.

“Diana, can you guess what Itaru is thinking now? He clearly intends to bear it all himself. He will not even inform the Sayama boy and the others you support and he will have that truth destroyed along with him. …Do you see it that way as well?”

However, she once more did not reply.

She simply pointed at the vending machine with a smile and tapped at one of the sample drink cans.

“How about you make up for a few of your losses from ten years ago?”

Roger’s shoulders drooped when he heard that.

He reluctantly pulled out his wallet and placed some change in the machine. After he heard the money fall, he pressed the button, and Diana quietly thanked him in German and pulled out the can.

“You always drink coffee after exercising, don’t you?” he said.

“Oh? This is IAI’s sports drink coffee.”

She opened the pull-tab, took a drink, and continued.

“But you know what? Director Abram and Doctor Chao were held in reserve back then, so they barely know anything. The only ones who learned the truth were Sayama Kaoru and those trusted by Sayama Asagi.”

“But most of those people died during the Great Kansai Earthquake and UCAT eliminated all of the records while disguising it as conflict within IAI. How do you feel about all that as the single survivor of the Five Great Peaks?”

“Those times were a lot of fun,” she said slowly while looking at the sky and forest displayed on the vending machine’s plastic board and the actual city visible in the distance. “A witch who hated being compared to her uncle’s achievements decided to go to the same place her uncle had. There, the witch was delighted to have people recognize her strength. She met others there who had their own strengths and they had a lot of fun together.”

She gave a quiet laugh.

“The place where I got drunk and hit UCAT Director Ooshiro with the bottle is now a vegetable garden, but the flowers and trees we all planted still exist.”

“Do you intend to continue with those festive days?”

“No,” she replied with a smile and tilt of the head. “I have already retired. All I will do is provide support for those who wish to follow in our footsteps. But…it’s kind of funny. Georgius is now responding to the Sayama boy.”

“…”

“And yet it did not provide us with anything. When Yume first showed me that device which ''you-know-who'' created for some reason, I wondered if it was simply a failure. However, it truly is lending its power to the Sayama boy.” She laughed again. “Yume and the rest of us weren’t able to find the right half of Georgius, but I wonder if they will be able to.”

“They?”

“The Sayama boy and his friends. Just as with the Eight Great Dragon Kings and the Five Great Peaks, he is not alone. I believe they will gather both parts of Georgius, bring the ten Concept Cores to their side, and guide the world beyond the Leviathan Road just as Yume said.”

She lowered her gaze just a bit.

“I believe they will do what we could not.”

With that, she walked past the vending machine and to the trashcan there.

“Diana, isn’t it a little rude to me if you throw it away without finishing it?”

“Oh? But I did finish it.”

She turned her upper body around and shook the can. It showed no sign of weight.

“But you only took one drink.”

“I am jogging for my looks. I already have a decent lung capacity.”

“Let me be clear about one thing, Diana. You are the worst sort of human being.”

“Wh-why would you say that?”

Just as she threw away the can, the main entrance to their right opened and a slender elderly man in a suit walked out.

“Roger! Roger! A mysterious form has been detected in the ocean east of this country!”

“Testament. Colonel Odor, I already knew that. The information gathered by the Japanese Self-Defense Force and our satellites shows an abnormality in the ocean currents. Russia has detected it as well, but they have not sent out their military or UCAT.”

“Roger, Roger. Do you mean…”

“It is likely Black Sun. This is no more than conjecture at this point, but I believe it is slowly traveling toward Tokyo after healing itself at the bottom of the northern ocean after its injuries the other night. It is likely cautious of the surface and enjoying the evolution brought on by the high water pressure. But once it closes in on the Vesper Cannon it desires, it will quickly travel along the surface or fly through the sky.”

“Hm.” Odor stopped at the step down at the edge of the entrance and crossed his arms. “Roger, Roger. How will we prevent it from reaching land?”

“Testament. The mechanical dragon unit has already been divided into teams on the coast of Tokyo Bay.”

“Such brave, brave young pilots. If it were not for the orders of the higher ups, I would travel to the front lines to support them. You should learn from their example, Roger. Got that?”

“We can visit them later. I am sure a visit from their overall commander will delight them and your power will be necessary in the middle stage if they do lose,” said Roger. “Also, we need to capture Black Sun in an Accel Point so we do not disturb the people of the city. That Accel Point will need to be large, but I believe Japanese UCAT’s Kanda Laboratory is researching a device to create one that covers all of Tokyo.”

“Will we… Will we be taking that from them?”

“No.” Roger shook his head and pushed his glasses up his nose. “The Kanda Laboratory has already been sent the information on Black Sun’s approach. To protect their own country, the laboratory has no choice but to create the Accel Point whether we ask them to or not. We will merely accept their cooperation in this matter.”

“I see. I see, Roger. But I have another odd piece of information.”

Roger frowned at that and he took a step toward Odor while asking what it was.

“The enemy. The enemy is on the move. We detected movement not far below ground here. The search team said the movement had arrived here about ten seconds ago.”

“Is it Japanese UCAT?”

Roger tilted his head and twisted his body to look along the ground, but he saw nothing.

It was then that Diana noticed Odor after finishing throwing away her can and taking a breath.

“Oh?” she said in slight surprise. “I thought I recognized that way of speaking. Are you the commander here, honey?”

Roger froze in place when he heard Diana’s final word.

He looked first at Odor and then at Diana.

“Honey?”

[[Image:OnC_v08_0443.png|thumb]]

“Yes, Roger. Before you were put under his command, we were married on paper.”

“Then when the colonel mentioned his wife, he meant…”

“That’s right. He meant me. We have yet to even kiss, though.”

Diana brought her right hand to her cheek and smiled as she spoke.

“Ehhhhhhh!?”

Voices erupted from below the ground and a manhole cover on the road behind her blasted straight up into the sky. Two heads rose from the hole after headbutting the metal lid out of the way.

The large one looked to the small one.

“D-did you hear that, Hiba!? I thought she was a well-endowed foreigner, but she was actually a well-endowed untouched foreigner wife! I don’t think I’ve ever been this overcome by shock before, but is that okay!? If so, tell me it’s not okay!”

“Yes, it’s not okay, Izumo-san! You can’t let the shock distract you here!”

“You calm down too, Hiba! If you can’t calm down, how am I supposed to!?”

“Can’t you get Kazami-san to climb up and punch you?”

“Whelp, that thought calmed me down in a hurry. …But that was one hell of a surprising and wondrous announcement! It’s already reigniting my thoughts!”

“I’m just as surprised as you, Izumo-san! Who would’ve thought there was such a novel new genre so close by!? I’m so glad I joined UCAT. It’s so full of stimulation.”

“Don’t cry, Hiba. This ''is'' pretty amazing, though. It’s got a good bit of impact from how unexpected it was too. Still, if the genres are spread out too much, it loses any real focus. Commentator Hiba, do you agree with that assessment of Diana’s attack? What do you have to say as someone active in this field?”

“Well, ignoring the lack of focus, it might be difficult for me personally. I’m not sure I see how the genre of wives can be applied to Mikage-san. But the well-endowed angle is on a direct course high on the inside corner and I think Mikage-san might even be heading in that direction. I’d like for Diana to stay focused and try harder next time.”

“An excellent point, Commentator Hiba. But we really are idiots. Wa ha ha ha ha ha!”

“Yeah, we really are. Hah hah hah hah!”

The two laughed and laughed until finally looking toward Roger and growing serious.

“Crap!!”

They pulled their heads back into the hole and the manhole cover fell from the sky to loudly fill it once more.

At the same time, Odor shouted out.

“Roger! Roger! These are a busy bunch! Do something about it!”

Shinjou stood in the morning light.

The first thing she noticed was the sky overhead.

It was blue and clear, but the color of the sun reminded her of summer.

“Huh?”

She then realized she had no body.

''Um,'' she thought just before realizing what had happened. She had yet to wake up after going to sleep the previous night.

That meant she was seeing the past in a dream while dozing in the morning.

…''I need to get up early today, but if Baku is doing this, what summer am I seeing?

She looked up into the sky and finally noticed something odd. What resembled clouds was rising up to join the actual clouds in the sky.

“…?”

She mentally tilted her head and looked back down.

There, she saw ruins.

“Eh?”

What had once been a city lay before her.

The “clouds” rising from below were pillars of smoke rising from the ruins.

She quickly looked around and only learned that the ruins extended in every direction around her.

She currently stood on a large road that had been burned away. It was a two-lane road and all that remained of the buildings on either side were walls rising only about two stories high. However, even those walls had been colored white and a scorched black color covered them as if something had spilled across them.

All of the buildings had lost their roofs and walls and there was no glass in any of the windows.

The internal structures of the buildings was scattered from the buildings to the road as if they had been spat out.

An arcade had originally covered the road and a structure with a Go board pattern was still visible, but it had all crumbled and burned.

…''It’s already over.

She realized this was the aftermath of an air raid.

She heard a fire alarm in the distance and felt the wind.

This was the cool west wind that occasionally caressed her on summer mornings.

That was when she noticed there were people there.

They were bent over and searching through the rubble on the road or inside the burnt buildings.

Some people carried wood and sandbags in a bicycle trailer and others went around calling the names of families or informing others that survivors were being registered at the local shelter.

All of them were dressed in the slightly old attire Shinjou had seen in history textbooks.

…''This is during World War Two.

She remembered seeing the Firebombing of Tokyo while out in Shinjuku back when they had been investigating 2nd-Gear.

“Is this after that?”

With that question in mind, she ran down the road.

On the way, she avoided and passed by a housewife pulling a bicycle trailer carrying a child and a futon.

She was trying to find some way of identifying the location.

The traffic lights were melted and broken and all the shop signs were burned.

“—————”

Her vision suddenly opened up and a sort of plaza appeared to the left of the arcade.

It was a large space surrounded by a cement wall and it contained burnt trees and a large building that sat at the center of them.

It was a two-story wooden building about one hundred meters across, but even it had lost its roof and been crushed as if punched from above. She also saw scorch marks all over its surface.

…''Is that a school? The attack must have been completely indiscriminate.

As she thought that, Shinjou moved her vision toward the plaza’s entrance.

However, that entrance was filled with people. A closer look showed the entrance was sealed by a metal gate.

The people were approaching the gate and Shinjou heard voices. The people were all insistently and repeatedly calling out different names.

“…?”

She further approached in confusion and saw an old soldier in the center of a ring of people. He looked at a paper in his hand with glasses missing one of its lenses.

And he spoke.

“I will be reading off the names now, so quiet down!”

That caused Shinjou to mentally frown.

…''Is it a list of people they’re looking for?

The old soldier began reading names and they were all paired with a location such as a plaza, a Buddhist temple, or a Shinto shrine. That clued Shinjou in.

“He’s telling them where evacuated people ended up.”

''So that’s it,'' she thought with a sigh of relief. ''Any name read here is someone who was evacuated in time.

Each time a name was read, she saw someone give their thanks and leave the circle of people.

…''Thank goodness.

She looked to the plaza and wondered if the school had been a shelter for evacuees.

A moment later, she noticed some writing.

The gate into the plaza had a metal doorplate and the name there told her the building had not been a school.

“First Hachioji Hospital.”

As she muttered those words in her heart, she looked up in a daze.

She looked at the burned down building, looked back at the doorplate, and finally recalled a certain fact.

…''That was where Shinjou Kaname was hospitalized!

She felt as if her mind had suddenly jumped up. Before she realized it was her racing pulse, she brought her vision into the circle of people and listened to the list of names being read.

However, she only heard other names, so…

“Shinjou! What happened to Shinjou Kaname!?”

She looked at the burned building and the paper in the old soldier’s hand, but her voice could not reach him as this was nothing but a replaying of the past.

…''All I can do is watch!

She held her breath within the circle of people, but she could not stand it any longer and took a step back to leave.

But at that very moment, she heard a dignified male voice from behind her.

“Shinjou! Is there a Shinjou Kaname on that list!?”

…''Sayama-kun!?

She frantically turned around toward that sharp tone of voice. She wondered if Baku’s abilities had grown and the creature’s owner had entered the past with her.

But that was not the case.

A blue truck loaded with wooden boxes that appeared to hold food was stopped in the road. It was dented in places, covered with mud, and the words “Izumo Co.” were partially missing.

A young man impeccably wearing a dirty military uniform stepped out of the truck.

“I apologize to the rest of you, but I am Lieutenant Sayama Kaoru. A man with special military duty was hospitalized here. If possible, I would like to know where he ended up.”

Shinjou was left speechless.

…''That’s Sayama-kun’s grandfather?

The young man approached along the road and his footsteps brought sharp facial features, cheeks with slight facial hair, and a powerful expression into view.

He had a glare in his eyes, but she could not tell if that was normal or due to the situation.

…''That’s different from Sayama-kun’s usual expressionless look.

However, the way the man moved and spoke resembled him and she came to an odd sense of understanding. She also wondered if Sayama was holding his chest even without a body if he was seeing this as well.

…''I’m sorry, but I can’t support you right now.

But while she thought that, Sayama Kaoru passed by her and spoke.

“Do you know where Warrant Officer Shinjou Kaname is?”

The old soldier frowned.

“There is an order to-…”

“Then I shall wait,” readily replied Sayama Kaoru while crossing his arms. “Is it in iroha order?”

Shinjou looked up at him feeling a bit disappointed, but she saw something unexpected there: his expression and attitude.

Strength had not left his gaze and his fists were clenched despite crossing his arms. And they were clenched tightly.

…''He’s really impatient.

Meanwhile, he spoke to the old soldier with no concern in his voice.

“Those waiting for someone at the end of the list can unload the truck. These are private reserves. And you can distribute them. I can trust you.”

The old soldier nodded and began reading the names once more.

While listening to the names, Shinjou mouthed the iroha order. The name Shinjou would be toward the end.

Nevertheless, Sayama Kaoru waited. Even as he looked back to check on the other waiting people unloading the truck, he silently waited for the name to be called.

And Shinjou also waited. If the name Shinjou Kaname was not called…

…''It means he died.

“Shinjou Kaname.”

Suddenly, the old soldier’s voice rang out and Sayama Kaoru’s head sprang up.

However, he leveled his gaze once more and spoke quietly.

“Where is he?”

The soldier gave the name of a Buddhist temple. And…

“All the patients in Building 3 were apparently transported by truck before the air raid last night. The truck turned back to take those in the maternity department, but it didn’t arrive in time and…”

The soldier trailed off as he realized he was growing sidetracked and he bowed his head.

Sayama Kaoru replied by partially closing his eyes and nodding back.

“I do not mind. Any regrets you speak will rise into the sky with the smoke as part of their funeral. It is not my place to say so, but I do not want you to suffer by hiding so much within yourself.”

“Then I will keep those words in my heart instead. If you need a guide to the evacuation spot…”

“Thank you, but I know the way.”

He then turned around, but he stopped in front of the truck. There were still boxes in the back, so he turned back around and spoke to the people.

“Do you not want these?”

“We have taken as much as we need. Take the rest to the people at your destination.”

Sayama Kaoru simply nodded in response to the old soldier’s words and he slowly climbed into the truck.

He saluted from within the window and started up the truck.

Shinjou knew his destination.

…''He’s going to where Shinjou Kaname is.

At that point, her vision went dark.

The past was ending. As she felt herself sinking, she saw the truck driving away.

…''How does it turn out?

“Is the person at his destination my blood relative?”

…''I’m glad Shinjou Kaname was evacuated.

She then had a thought about the dream itself.

…''Why did Baku give me this dream?

Baku always showed them the past when it had some connection to them.

“So is this connected to where we’re going?”

Their plan for the day was to visit the 4th-Gear reservation.

Sayama was likely having the same dream and she decided to ask him about it after they woke and dressed.

…''What was that about?

And…

…''What are the others from UCAT doing?

With that thought, her vision fully fell into the darkness.

A dark tunnel was illuminated only by the white emergency lights installed every few dozen meters and it had water running down the center rather than a road.

This was a sewer. The water visible below the lights was filthy, but it was indeed flowing. And the insufficient light showed something reflected in that water’s surface.

The reflection was of three people traveling along the pathway on the left side of the sewer. One was a short boy, one was a tall boy, and the last was a girl of average height. They all wore school uniforms, but the tall boy carried a giant white sword in his left hand and the girl held a long white spear in her right hand.

They were running away from something and the girl in the back spoke first.

“C’mon, you two! We need to get to Harakawa’s house, so don’t disappear on me and then get spotted!”

“W-wait, Chisato! We can talk this out! Any guy would understand!! Right, Hiba!?”

“H-he’s right, Kazami-san! Any guy would understand! …Okay, this is when you’re supposed to give the punch line about not being a guy!”

Suddenly, a white beam of light raced through the sewer.

She had fired G-Sp2.

Izumo and Hiba frantically ducked down while still running.

The light passed over their heads and they soon heard it hit far ahead of them.

“Y-you idiot!” shouted Izumo. “That kind of punch line could’ve killed me! What if I’d died!?”

“What’s this, Kaku? Have you become such a hopeless man that you talk about reality in what-ifs?”

Three additional shots flew their way, so the boys in the lead pressed against the wall and jumped to avoid them.

“Ha ha ha. These are surprisingly easy to avoid!”

“They really are, Izumo-san!”

“Maybe, but next time I’ll actually aim using the sight.”

“You were firing randomly!?”

“Um,” began Hiba as he ran. “I think Mikage-san would be sad if I died! And Sibyl-san would hold a grudge!”

“That sounds unpleasant, heartbreaking, and hard to endure…but I think we could find a way to put it behind us.”

“Waaah! I much prefer continuing to enjoy the moment! Is that really not an option!?”

Another shot flew toward him, but the light was worn down and deflected just before it hit.

“Izumo-san!”

Izumo had smashed G-Sp2’s shot with V-Sw.

“Th-thank you so much, Izumo-san! As thanks, I’ll give you the collection of internet bookmarks I have on my computer!”

“…”

“Wh-why are you thinking while you run, Izumo-san?”

“Well,” he began while tilting his head. “I realized covering for a guy isn’t all that enjoyable. Chisato, I won’t block the next one, so go for it.”

“Oh, god! This couple really is wonderfully awful!”

“Just get running, you targets. This is a pretty long straightaway.”

Kazami’s voice motivated the leading boys to run even faster with perfectly serious expressions. Hiba moved ahead as he slipped through the emergency lighting with a lighter step than Izumo.

“Does this long sewer pass underneath the runway?”

“No. According to the military god papa, it runs underground alongside the runway. You saw directly underneath the runway last night, remember? It was that weird pit next to that container room.”

“What was that pit? Isn’t it supposed to be about three kilometers long and a hundred meters wide?”

“How should I know? It’s sealed at the bottom and the military god papa only said it isn’t meant as space for a future expansion to the underground facilities. …Well, maybe they’ll build an arcade or bowling alley there.”

“Are the two of you not going to dodge anymore?”

The voice from behind them was filled with murderous intent.

But just as Hiba and Izumo lowered their speed because of that, a secondary sewer flowed into the main one on the right. Hiba, Izumo, and Kazami were running along the inspection passageway on the left, so they immediately passed by the intersection with the secondary sewer.

But just as they did, light reached them from that secondary sewer.

The light was narrow but bright and there were several distinct beams of it.

“————!?”

They heard English and Kazami shouted out.

“They’ve found us!”

At the same time, they heard another voice.

—'''Light possesses power.

Those words tore into the world and the color white raced along the narrow passageway.

Wings of light had spread from Kazami’s back and they stretched almost to the ceiling in an instant.

“Now, then.”

The flapping of those wings overcame the darkness and she flew as if throwing herself forward.

The tips of the wings tore into the arched ceiling and they instantly and audibly flew down to the point that they tore into the water’s surface below. That produced swift forward motion using her power of flight.

It looked like she was using her wings to claw up the narrow passageway walls, but she actually moved forward with great speed.

She flew and quickly overtook Izumo and Hiba.

“Chisato!” shouted Izumo as he ran. “Stand out that much and they’ll target you from behind!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll reach the other end and leave in no time.”

A wall was located about fifty meters ahead and the sewer split to the left and right there.

“Head right there and you’re out. It won’t even take me thirty seconds with my wings.”

As she spoke, shouts in English reached them from behind.

“Izumo-san, am I the only one hearing something bouncing off the walls?”

“No, and I’ve been hearing bursting gunpowder for a while now.”

“Ha ha ha. You have good ears, Izumo-san. …Wait! We’re being shot at!? Ah, Kazami-san is leaving us behind!”

“Don’t say it like that. It makes me sound bad. I’m just going on ahead.”

Izumo shouted toward Kazami’s voice and wings of light that were already growing distant.

“Hey, Chisato! What if I collapse from these invaders’ bullets!?”

“Nn, sorry. I just don’t think this is enough to kill you.”

“I-it’ll kill me!”

Kazami thought for a moment about Hiba’s protest, but she flapped her wings again and continued forward.

“Nn, sorry. Give me a little more time to think about that one.”

“Well, don’t you love taking things slow. …Ah! That one grazed my ear! My ear!”

As Hiba complained, more English shouts and gunshots pursued them.

Kazami quickly reached the wall, flapped her wings, and vanished to the right.

As soon as darkness returned to the passageway, Izumo rushed his body onward and came up alongside Hiba.

“Hiba, this is a cliché line, so listen carefully: Go on ahead and leave the rest to your comrade! …I’m talking to myself, of course.”

“Ha ha ha. Don’t be silly, Izumo-san. It’s normally the big tough one that dies.”

“Do the Taka-Akita Student Council or UCAT seem at all normal to you?”

“W-well…”

“Listen carefully, Hiba. They’re firing guns at us, but America is the land of freedom. If you handle this properly, you won’t be filled with holes. Also, remember that Mikage was captured.”

“Y-you’re right. She was.”

“And this is the most important thing: America keeps things uncensored.”

Izumo laughed and slapped Hiba’s back.

“I’m kind of jealous, you lucky boy!!”

As he ran, he circled ahead of Hiba and hit the shorter boy in the gut with a short uppercut.

“Go be a decoy for a bit.”

It had been a while since he had been hit like that, so Hiba lost consciousness for an instant.

He could not breathe at first.

…''Kh.

With that mental voice of endurance, he came back to his senses and strength returned to his body.

“Ah.”

He looked forward and saw the end of the passageway about three hundred meters ahead. The wall there seemed to be blocking his way, but he saw a large shadow running left to right under the emergency lighting.

It was Izumo in his school uniform.

The boy did not even glance back, so Hiba gave a bitter smile.

“I can’t believe this.”

Behind him, he heard several sets of footsteps that filled the waterway with ripples.

He turned around just as light reached him.

There were eight lights and he estimated they were about fifty meters away.

These were American UCAT soldiers.

He wondered if Izumo was right and he could be reunited with Mikage if he handled this properly. He brought a hand to his face and thought about it.

…''What should I do about this?

As he hesitated, the footsteps that had passed the fifty meter mark suddenly stopped.

He heard no gunshots or anything else. He only heard the flowing water and his own heavy breathing.

“——————!”

He heard someone shout in English and it echoed down the passageway.

…''What did they say?

His grades in English class were average, but listening comprehension did not begin until the third term for first years. When he heard the same shout again, he tilted his head. Assuming it was universally understood, he took a pose with spread arms as if letting rain wash over him.

A bullet shot by overhead.

“…”

Hiba remained silent and heard the same English word shouted again.

…''Will they shoot me without question if I don’t do as they say?

As he wondered that, the same English shout came once more.

“——————!”

He listened as carefully as he could and managed to comprehend what the man was saying.

However, he immediately felt a chill run down his back and into his butt. After all, the word he had heard was…

…''Freeze?

''I can’t literally freeze myself like ice,'' he thought. ''So what does it mean?

…''Does he mean they’re going to shoot me and throw my body in cold storage!?

His thoughts filled with doubt and panic, but some advice saved him. It was what Izumo had told him earlier.

“America is the land of freedom,” he muttered to himself.

He thought a little more and found his answer.

…''“Freeze” doesn’t make any sense, so they can’t possibly mean that.

America respected freedom. It was the land of freedom. In that case, he was not hearing the word “freeze”.

…''It’s “frees”. The plural of “free”.

The man was telling him to express freedom. Even if they did not speak the same language, if he could use gestures to express how full of freedom he was, he would demonstrate his wholehearted approval of the American way.

''I see. So this is the American way of freeing oneself,'' he thought. ''But how am I supposed to show freedom in a way that anyone can understand?

“…”

Silence fell and he finally reached his answer.

In the center of the lights converging on him, Hiba danced the dance of freedom.

He danced and danced.

He danced his heart out.

It was a very strange dance.

“Ahh.”

Hiba thought to himself.

…''I never knew my body and heart could grow so bold.

His audience reacted with surprised voices tinged with fear and then gunfire.

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| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume8 Chapter 16|Chapter 16]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume8 Chapter 12

2026-06-21T06:55:11Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 12: Guidance of Thought==
[[Image:OnC_v08_0329.png|thumb]]
''Running shows you where you are headed

''It is a path of no return where you stop and enter the early morning

''Even that which guides you can only continue under that same illusion

Darkness had settled in on a large expanse of sand.

Several white geometric lines covered that schoolyard being prepared for the athletic festival.

The lights were already lit and boys and girls wearing track suits were drawing lines and setting up spectator seating on the edge in front of the school buildings.

A motorcycle was currently parked on the main road running by the schoolyard and continuing back to the academy’s main entrance.

It was a foreign model with a sidecar, but no one sat on the motorcycle or in the sidecar and a plastic supermarket bag was placed in the sidecar. The bag contained enough fish and bread for two.

The two people who should have been there were standing in the schoolyard in casual clothes. One of them was a blonde girl who looked up to the black-haired boy next to her.

“This place is so big, Harakawa. Is it really a school?”

“It is, Heo. From what I’ve heard, some idiot bought it all up during the war while focusing on getting as much land as he could. He got carried away and also made some weird giant library and tried to lure in the people of the city. So what do you think? You said you wanted to see it, but it’s not all that interesting.”

Harakawa walked toward the center of the schoolyard. To avoid the lines drawn on the ground, he ended up following the four hundred meter track line.

He then heard a rumbling in the sky above.

He tilted his head as he looked up at the large transport plane causing it.

“There have been a lot of those tonight. Supposedly an American plane crashed in Okutama. They were apparently borrowing Okutama IAI’s runway.”

“There was a city-wide broadcast about that earlier, right? They said the pilot of the crashed plane was…”

“They said he was fine, so don’t worry, Heo Thunderson.”

As they spoke, Harakawa saw Heo raise her head before lowering it again.

He recalled that her parents were gone and he realized the idea of a plane crash was what made her lower her head.

…''Is she meeting her great-grandfather at the cemetery to visit a grave?

Had her parents dealt with aircraft? But if they had been stationed on the American base, they would have been buried in the graveyard on the base, so he guessed her parents were civilians unrelated to the base.

While trying to decide what to say, he walked to the left of the school building.

Heo soon called out to him.

“Um, Harakawa? I’ve been thinking. This is a weird school, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I suppose you would think that when you see it for the first time. Is anything in particular bothering you?”

“Y-yes. What is that giant statue of a hand by the southern wall over there?”

“Oh, that’s from the ramen shop called The Fist that’s a local sponsor of the athletic festival. It serves ramen hand-massaged by a tough old man. It’s a bit famous for how the old man running the place plunges his hand into the boiling water and massages the noodles.”

“Doesn’t that burn his hand?”

“He says he manages through sheer willpower.”

“That’s amazing, Harakawa. …Are you sure this is a school?”

“Just to be clear, Heo, this place confuses me too.”

“You don’t seem to have a problem explaining it all.”

…''Really?

He mentally tilted his head while walking on.

Partially to change the subject, he asked a question that had been on his mind for a while.

“Well, you can’t change how weird this place is. And speaking of weird, what language is your name, Heo?”

“I-it isn’t weird. My…my parents gave it to me, but from what I’ve heard it’s from the language a friend of my great-grandfather’s spoke. He would never tell me what it means, but he said I didn’t need to know. It might be the language of some small tribe.”

At that point, a girl in a blue track suit passed by them while drawing a line. She was the member of the athletic festival committee for Harakawa’s class, so she spoke up even though he did not.

“Huh? I thought you were out today.”

“I was, but my cousin wanted to go sightseeing around Tokyo.”

Heo looked confused, but Harakawa continued adlibbing an explanation.

“My mother’s sister married the chief of a tribe that shaves off one eyebrow and fights bears in the mountains of Utah. This girl is her daughter, but she decided to study abroad once the wave of information freedom reached their village. Still, her mother insisted she live somewhere with bears. Fortunately, we have them in Okutama and Hinohara.”

“I-I see. There really are a lot of cultures out there.”

“Yeah.”

Harakawa nodded and looked around in order to end the conversation. He saw the large schoolyard, the school building that looked far too white under the lights, and the students.

“Weren’t Sayama and Shinjou in charge of this area?”

“Th-those two… You hadn’t heard? They left on a premarital vacation.”

Heo was the first to react. She tugged on his left sleeve from behind and gave him an upturned look when he turned around.

“Two of the students are getting married?”

“If so, they’ll have to deal with the large hurdle of overcoming gender. They’ll probably have the wedding in California or something.”

“Probably,” replied the track suit girl with a smile.

She began to walk off with the line cart behind her, but then she turned around.

“We’ll keep the two of you a secret too, okay?”

“Just to be clear, she isn’t my girlfriend. More importantly, did our teacher say anything about me being absent?”

“If you’re worried about it, don’t skip class. Well, good luck.”

She laughed and continued drawing the four hundred meter line.

Harakawa sighed as he watched her leave and then turned to the right. He walked toward the south end of the schoolyard and heard quiet footsteps behind him.

“U-um, Harakawa. Did she think we were…” Her shoulders tightened. “I’m sorry.”

“Any excuse would raise suspicion and people always hope they’re right about things. Don’t worry about it, Heo Thunderson. You won’t be around here long, so don’t waste your time thinking about it.”

He entered the shadow of the spectator seating to the south. It had ten rows of seats, it was about three meters tall, and it was primarily made of green pipes. He walked between the different seat structures that had been built by entire classes and left their shadows that resembled thick nets.

“Look, Heo Thunderson. This is what you wanted to see, isn’t it?”

However, he did not look ahead. He looked at Heo next to him.

As she left the shadows and stepped up to his right, she slowly looked forward. The bright lights caused her to narrow her eyes, but they soon widened.

“…”

A smile with some surprise mixed in appeared on her face.

After seeing that, Harakawa looked forward too.

“The freshmen are pretty motivated, so they’ve already finished their preparations. Look, Heo, these are the grounds prepared for the athletic festival. No matter which white line you follow, you will reach an athletic event.”

Heo felt a voice escape her mouth.

It sounded like an excited breath and she blushed while turning toward Harakawa.

While worried that had sounded strange, she spoke.

“That’s amazing, Harakawa. I used to run track, but I’ve never seen one like this.”

“Really?”

His eyebrows moved and he walked to the right. She wondered why and began to follow.

“Wait where you are, Heo Thunderson.”

“Eh? Wh-where are you going?”

He removed the watch he wore with the bracelet made of stones. He let it dangle from his right hand and pointed down with his left hand.

“Look at your feet.”

“…?”

She looked questioningly down.

Her sneakers were standing on a white figure drawn with lime. She stood in a one meter square box and five more were lined up vertically from her perspective. Each one had a number and hers was number one.

“What is this?”

“You can’t tell? These are the lines for the one hundred meter dash.”

He walked down the line extending from the boxes.

He was already a good distance away and he raised his fairly deep voice so it would reach her.

“Since we’re here, why not run a bit, Heo Thunderson?”

“Eh? But…”

She liked running. No, she ''had'' liked running.

She had not run much recently. If she did not count the run from the previous night…

…''I haven’t done it since three schools ago.

A lot more filled her mind as well, including her great-grandfather and what was going to happen now.

…''But…

With that thought, she looked around the area.

She saw the stands, the lights, and the illuminated track. Harakawa stood at the other end of that illumination. He was too far to see his expression, but she could hear his voice.

“Aren’t you coming, Heo? This can commemorate your arrival in Japan. Just run over here.”

“Try not pointing back at that giant hand when you say that.”

But…

“Can I really run?”

“The lines will need to be redrawn after a week anyway. Plus, no one’s looking, so a girl with nothing else to do can steal herself a free commemoration here. What’s wrong with that?”

That line made her smile bitterly.

…''Why does he love sarcasm so much?

''But he doesn’t mean anything by it,'' she also thought. ''He might actually use sarcasm to hide his good intentions.

She saw him raise his right hand with a skull objet and the tall net fence for baseball behind him. He held his watch and she could tell he intended to time her run.

She took one last look around and made sure no one was around.

“…”

She sank down, spread her hands a little farther out than her shoulders, and placed them on the ground.

She supported her body with only the tips of her fingers and relaxed her shoulders.

She brought her left leg back, pulled her right knee close enough that it touched her chest, and shrank down as if curling up.

“Heo, your starting pose is pretty good.”

“They taught me this at a school I used to attend. The coach there was nice.”

After speaking, she realized she was using sarcasm too.

She gave another bitter smile with her downturned face.

“Get set,” called Harakawa without asking if she was ready.

She found that a little selfish but also felt a relieving sense that the situation was advancing on its own.

…''He doesn’t show any intent to let me relax.

His consideration mostly went unnoticed and had no obvious indication that he was telling her to relax. That made her wonder if he was even now being considerate in a variety of ways she was not aware of.

''But I’m probably imagining all that,'' she also thought.

He was the one who had helped her in this foreign land, so she was probably imagining these things like someone with a fever.

But then…

“—————!!”

The sound of clapping hands cut into her thoughts.

For just an instant, the intruding sound caused her shoulders to jump.

“Nn.”

But she still took in a breath and began.

She had once been taught how to do this. During her many school transfers, her life in those schools had been cut short again and again, but she had always chosen to join the track team and been taught how to run.

And this was what she had been taught.

…''Run full speed from the very first step!

She extended her body as if launching it up and forward and her waist moved down and back, but she kicked off her left leg and sent that waist shooting forward.

“!”

She achieved a start that looked like a leap.

She ran.

The initial movements of her legs carried her lowered waist forward.

She then threw her leg forward while swinging her upper body.

Her heel caught on the ground and pulled her body forward and the toes of her other foot kicked off the ground to part with the track.

This produced wind. It was her personal wind that was created by her running.

…''Yes.

She traveled through that wind and through the personal space she desired.

Her thoughts grew sharper.

She thought only about old times. Because she had not run in so long, she was reminded of what running meant to her.

…''It feels wonderful.

She did not have to hear the horrible rumors surrounding her, she did not have to think about anything else, she could gain some kind of result that would remain even after she left, and she could gain a new method of earning even better results in the future.

Out of all the teachers in the schools, the track coaches had been the ones to most often look at her records without bringing the rumors into it.

Most of them had been women and they had given her advice on running after seeing her times. When she had followed that advice, she had gotten even faster.

Those teaching her to run had focused only on running.

She ran and assumed the line she had just passed was the fifty meter line.

She wondered whether she could become like those people.

If she came across someone like herself, would she be able to show them something more?

…''Teacher.

''I can’t,'' concluded her sharpened thoughts.

Even she felt a demon was following her, so how could she find a way to teach and guide people?

She then recalled two things: a past event related to the act of running and the previous night.

The first was her mother.

“…!”

And the second was her great-grandfather who she had left the night before.

At both those times, she had run and it had been due to the consideration of her family members who had not wanted her to know what was happening.

…''They had me run away.

That thought brought something else to mind.

It was a question that seemed to burn into the back of her brain.

…''Is…

She let out a broken sigh.

…''Is running away all anyone wants me to do?

Harakawa suddenly looked up while watching the stopwatch function on his watch.

Heo’s footsteps had stopped.

“Hey.”

When he called out and looked forward, he found her at about the seventy-five meter line of the first course.

Her legs had slowed to a stop, her head was lowered, and she was trembling.

…''What?

He wondered if she had started feeling sick, but he mentally shook his head. That was nothing but his own convenient interpretation.

“…”

He silently stopped the stopwatch. The time had already reached twenty seconds. He had seen the time when she had reached the fifty meter mark, but recording the rest would be meaningless now.

He reset and then restarted the stopwatch before walking over to Heo and stopping the stopwatch again. He was pretty sure she had reached fifty meters at approximately 6.8 seconds.

A few breaths after that, he arrived in front of her.

Her head was lowered and her hands were hiding her expression.

She did not speak, but her shoulders were rising and falling a little and he heard sobbing.

He had no intention of asking what was wrong. Everyone had their reasons for crying.

“Let’s go, Heo.”

She gave a shallow nod and replied in English.

“H-Harakawa, I…”

“Sorry, but I don’t know English.”

“R-really?”

“Really,” he answered in English.

She looked up a bit. There were tears in her eyes, but she still turned weakly toward him.

“Um…”

“What is it, Heo Thunderson?”

She took a single rough breath and steadied her breathing when she exhaled.

“I told you what happened last night, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did.”

It took some time before she continued.

She clenched her fists and wiped at the corners of her eyes.

“Did I…run away and abandon my great-grandfather?”

And…

“Why do I always lose something when I run?”

“If that’s how you see it, then that must be how it is for you.”

“…”

She held her breath and looked toward him, but he continued regardless.

“Don’t ask questions that you already have your own answer to, Heo Thunderson. No matter what I say, you want to think about it your way. …As I said earlier, people with suspicions want to assume their thinking is correct.”

He inhaled and sighed.

With a bitter smile, he patted the silent girl’s shoulder and brought her gaze back onto him.

“But if you understand that, feel free to complain. Speaking it aloud can make the thought fade. You often hear that, but it should work with questions that are dragging your mood down. So ask. Let out your heavy thoughts and deep worries. If it will help cheer you up, I’m willing to listen for as long as you’re here in Japan.”

“Y-you’re mean, Harakawa.”

“I’ll feel better too if I’m listening to complaints meant to let off some steam instead of meaningless ones. And listen. We can’t ask your great-grandfather what he thought of you last night. If you’re going to feel like you abandoned him without even asking him if that’s the case, you’ve entered the world of fortune-telling, Heo Thunderson.”

“…”

“And there’s something wrong with asking such an important question to some stranger you just met. Heo Thunderson, I won’t say this again, so don’t forget it. Remember it and start complaining.”

He then thrust his watch toward her.

She had been thinking about what he had said, so she jumped in shock when the watch appeared in front of her.

“U-um? What is this?”

“This is more or less your time when you crossed the fifty meter line. How fast do you generally run a hundred meters?”

“Eh? Usually around thirteen seconds flat.”

“I can’t say for sure since we’ve got nothing but your memory and my eyes to go on, but you’re the type that does better on the second half. You were at 6.8 seconds.”

“…”

She fell silent, but the tears stopped.

She turned her weak gaze toward the watch and then at him.

“I need to run all the way to the end, don’t I?”

She raised her teary face and forced a small smile.

“…”

But a sudden stroboscopic flash came from the left.

They turned that way and found the track suit girl from before and a few other people in track suits.

“Ooki-sensei too? What the hell are all of you doing!?”

“W-well, we wanted a chance to communicate with a foreigner. You don’t see many of them around here.”

“Based on your name, you’re half foreign.”

The students ran, but Ooki in her white track suit stayed behind and scratched at her head.

She looked up into the night sky and thought about what he had said. She finally gave a troubled smile and answered.

“Um… I kind of lost sight of myself there.”

Heo clearly did not understand what was going on, so Harakawa pushed on her back and started walking away from the schoolyard.

“H-Harakawa, was that woman…”

“You wouldn’t believe me, so I won’t even try to explain it.”

“D-don’t tell me she’s a teacher. Sh-she isn’t, is she? I-is she a…um…I’m not sure how to put it.”

“Do you want to be shocked by this country that much, Heo Thunderson?”

As they walked away, the colors of evening completely vanished from the sky.

However, there were still several shapes in that sky. They were all transport ships flying northwest toward Okutama.

Japanese UCAT’s new headquarters floor was a large space on the second basement with a large screen filling the front wall, but the people inside the room now were not those meant to be there.

The people all wore blue armored uniforms.

They sat at the various communications desks, exchanged data, and spoke to each other, but one person was climbing the stairs to the upper bridge.

He was a young man wearing glasses and a gray suit and he brushed a hand through his hair when he arrived on the bridge.

“Colonel Odor, the fifth basement and below are indeed sealed off both physically and conceptually.”

“Roger, Roger. How long until we can break in?”

“Testament. This is just an estimate, but…I do not know.”

“Roger, Roger. Have you ever thought of yourself as incompetent?”

“Testament. Only when I fail to wake up in the morning.” Roger pushed his glasses up his nose. “Colonel, the UCAT branches around Japan are all on alert. Izumo’s western general headquarters has sent an objection and a demand of withdrawal to the UCAT Alliance Bureau.”

“It is no use. Unfortunately for them, it is no use. American UCAT has already received the other nations’ understanding and the United States is the chief nation of the Alliance Bureau. You could say the entire world is our motherland.”

“Also, colonel, while I was out holding off two members of Team Leviathan in Akigawa, the team searching for traces of last night’s concept space gave me this.”

Roger reached into his pocket and pulled out a circular object.

It was a necklace made from stones.

“It was lying on the road with the clasp open and it is thought to belong to Heo Thunderson.”

“Roger, Roger. Why do they think that?”

“It matches the necklace she is wearing in her photograph in our records. The team searching for her in Akigawa has been instructed to remove the necklace from their description of her.”

Odor gave a satisfied nod before speaking.

“More importantly… More importantly, how is the situation?”

“Testament. Of the twelve Blanca 9s in our unit, five were destroyed, two were badly damaged, and the remaining five were all lightly damaged. Their numbers will be recovered with replacements from the nearby base and exchanging the damaged components. Of the other soldiers on the front lines, seven were seriously injured and almost everyone else was lightly injured.”

“Then… Then, Roger, what about Japanese UCAT?”

“Testament. Eighteen were seriously injured and we have twenty-seven in custody after they surrendered. They were mostly personnel with disabilities, but they include members of Team Leviathan.”

“Is that so?”

Odor looked down at the first floor where an old man was playing a missile game using one of the consoles.

“Would that be… Would that be this pitiable old man named Ooshiro, Roger?”

“To an outsider, he may look pitiable, but he is a troublesome creature who has no problem with it himself.”

“R-Roger-kun! I see you’re as calm and cement-like as ever!”

Ooshiro turned around for just an instant, but he quickly focused back on the missiles flying on the screen.

In the same way, Odor turned back toward Roger.

“Do you know him? Do you know him, Roger? Explain this immediately.”

“Testament. While I was stationed in Japan with American UCAT, a lot of…unpleasant things happened.”

“Roger, Roger. Listen carefully. Hardships are what fuel one’s life. I personally don’t like them, though. And tell me, Roger. Do we have any members of Team Leviathan other than him?”

“Testament.” Roger formed a smile on the corner of his mouth. “We have Team Leviathan’s supervisor and the girl who contains 3rd-Gear’s Concept Core. We are still clearing the facility, so they are currently in the temporary headquarters we erected on the runway. Also…”

“Roger, Roger. If you have something to say, just say it. I will not stand for it if you say something that annoys me, though.”

“Testament. We have received an interesting call.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote for the large screen.

He pressed a button and light filled the black screen.

“It is the boy named Sayama Mikoto who acts as Team Leviathan’s negotiator.”

With that, the head and shoulders of a boy appeared on the wall-sized screen.

The shot was from a slightly low angle. The boy wore a suit and lightly rocked his rocking chair in a dim but furnished room. A small yellow animal sat on his right shoulder and his left hand held a large glass filled with a yellow liquid.

He smiled and nodded while continuing to look down on them.

“I suppose I should say it is a pleasure to meet you, American UCAT.”

His calm voice caused all of the American UCAT members to tense up, but despite seeing that, the boy continued to gently rock his chair. He finally stopped that slight back and forth and opened his mouth.

“I am Sayama Mikoto, negotiator for Team Leviathan…and the man at the center of the universe.”

Odor reflexively shouted out and pointed at Sayama.

“Roger! Roger! Is this who we’ve been entrusting the world too all this time!? Thank god we have arrived to correct this! What is your opinion of this!?”

“Testament. To be entirely honest, it is a bit of a strange feeling.”

“Ha ha ha. People rarely understand true greatness when they first see it. There is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Sayama held up his glass and took a sip.

He let out a small sigh, held up the glass once more, and looked at them through it.

“The tolerant Sayama Empire will give one final chance to American UCAT for fighting so valiantly. Will you submit, cry, and bow down in apology or will you unconditionally surrender, strip naked, and fully prostrate yourselves?”

“Submit? Submit? Unconditionally surrender!? Which one of us are you imagining will be doing this!?”

“America of course. …But calm down. You are ruining my orange juice.”

Odor turned to Roger and silently pointed at Sayama. And he did it again.

Roger sighed and raised his palms toward Odor. He was telling the elderly man to remain silent. He then cleared his throat and crossed his arms.

“Negotiator Sayama, to help this run more smoothly, I would like for both sides to spell out their demands. How does that sound to you?”

“Oh? Do you really think you are in any position to negotiate with me?”

With his arms still crossed, Roger pointed his left hand down.

“We have Japanese UCAT Director Ooshiro Kazuo in our custody.”

“So?”

“M-Mikoto-kun! That statement could be interpreted in some pretty horrible ways!”

“Calm down, old man. Your interpretation is entirely correct. How clever of you.”

Roger saw Ooshiro pull his legs up on his chair and pretend to cry, but Roger did not groan or grow angry because this was within his expectations.

“We also have some other Team Leviathan members and general injured personnel under our control.”

“You are taking care of them, I assume. Normally, we would need to pay you for that service, but it appears American UCAT is currently lodging in Japanese UCAT. We can simply let those two expenses cancel each other out. How many nights are you planning to stay? If it is more than one, each additional two hours will mean an additional fee.”

“In that case, we will make up for it by providing services for those under our care.”

“An excellent solution.” Sayama placed his glass outside the screen and intertwined his fingers over his stomach. “Now, let me ask you this: what are your demands?”

Roger re-crossed his arms before answering.

“First, stop the Leviathan Road. Second, transfer authority for the Leviathan Road to the UCAT Alliance. Third, send all the Concept Cores possessed by Japanese UCAT to the UCAT Alliance. Fourth…” He threw his words at Sayama. “Turn the currently missing Heo Thunderson over to American UCAT. Those are our four demands.”

Roger watched Sayama on the screen.

The boy’s expression had not moved in the slightest as Roger had listed the demands.

However…

“I see. In other words, you are here to crush the Leviathan Road, aren’t you?”

“No, we will not crush it. We will restructure it so that it is safer and more acceptable than at present.”

“What proof do you have of this alleged safety?”

Roger glanced over at Odor and the elderly man nodded twice, so Roger pushed his glasses back up his nose and continued.

“Testament. Currently, American mechanical dragons are being stationed with all the American UCAT forces located in America’s bases in Japan. A total of forty-eight dragons have been sent. With the additional soldiers and personnel with special abilities also being sent, we estimate we can defend against an attack from a 3rd-Gear god of war or a 5th-Gear mechanical dragon.”

“So was that one of you that fought the black mechanical dragon last night?”

“Testament. That was Colonel Odor here. Although Japanese UCAT reinforcements eliminated the dragon before he could complete his interception.”

“I see.” Sayama nodded. “May I ask a question?”

“Testament.”

“Why do you wish to be given the girl named Heo Thunderson?”

Roger looked to Odor again and he once more nodded twice, so Roger reached his right hand into his pocket.

“Heo Thunderson has a past worthy of our attention. While still young, she and her mother were attacked by a dragon.”

“A dragon?”

“Testament. Mr. Richard Thunderson would not provide the details, but the evidence left behind was proof enough. The shape in the air seen at the scene, the footprints, and the metal pieces scattered about belonged to the large black 5th-Gear mechanical dragon known as Black Sun.”

“And what does that mean concerning Heo Thunderson?”

“Testament. There were two large mechanical dragons in 5th-Gear and American UCAT believes the hostile black one named Black Sun may be targeting the Thunderson family as the destroyers of 5th-Gear. The attack on Mr. Thunderson last night has more or less proven it.”

Sayama frowned slightly on the screen.

“In other words, it proved that American UCAT is justified in using the girl carrying Thunderson’s blood as bait to call in Black Sun and destroy it?”

“No. You are half wrong there, Negotiator Sayama. We will take in Heo Thunderson, but that is to ensure she is not left defenseless. The attack last night also proved that Black Sun will approach any 5th-Gear concept.” Roger pointed down with his left hand. “And half of 5th-Gear’s Concept Core is here. This place is the greatest bait of all. We will bring Heo Thunderson here to strengthen that bait, but as soon as Black Sun has been detected, we will quickly have her evacuated. She will be sent to an American city protected by UCAT where she can live the rest of her life in peace without having to fear an attack.”

“I see. So you have that much information.”

“We also know that the other half of 5th-Gear’s Concept Core is held by Black Sun, so you cannot use it as a bargaining chip. In fact, we know the identity of the weapon located below here.”

“I am sure my comrades who have escaped down there will also learn that, so it too would be worthless as a bargaining chip.”

“Testament.”

Roger admitted it with a bitter smile and bowed with his right hand still in his pocket.

Sayama then leaned forward on the screen.

“Neither of us can bargain using information on 5th-Gear, so let me ask again,” he said. “Why would you stop the Leviathan Road? Do not bother with your official reasons. Give me reasons with a clear basis. One of the Eight Great Dragon Kings developed this supposedly inviolable negotiation, so why would the likes of American UCAT attempt to stop it?”

This was the same question the girl named Sibyl had asked Odor before the battle on the surface had begun.

This time, Roger began his answer with “testament” and finally pulled his right hand from his pocket.

He pulled out an envelope which he held up before removing its contents. He produced a quickly-written handwritten text with a signature and seal at the end.

“This was given to us before Mr. Richard Thunderson traveled to Japan. First of all, it says that full authority over 5th-Gear was temporarily transferred from White Creation to Mr. Thunderson when 5th-Gear was destroyed.”

“Full authority? Do you have any proof of this?”

“Why do you think 5th-Gear’s Concept Core weapon was left with Japanese UCAT? The reason is written here and signed. Mr. Thunderson temporarily received that weapon from White Creation and requested to have it stored in Japanese UCAT until the time came to fight Black Sun once more.”

Roger spread out the letter.

“I doubt you can read it for yourself, but I will read the end of the letter for you. ‘If I, Richard Thunderson, die or go missing, I leave all authority I hold at the time to American UCAT. September 15, 2005.’ That is about a week before he left. Do you understand now?” asked Roger. “5th-Gear has no people, so even though Mr. Thunderson only received that full authority temporarily, he had no one to hand it back to. …But now that he has died, that full authority lies with us in American UCAT. And that means we can act on 5th-Gear’s behalf to decide whether they will accept the Leviathan Road or not.”

Roger refolded the letter and spoke to Sayama.

“Concepts can be used to determine the validity of this letter. At any rate, we will obey this letter which has become Mr. Richard Thunderson’s will by taking on full authority for 5th-Gear and rejecting the Leviathan Road as dangerous. You on the other hand…”

“Yes, tomorrow morning, I intend to carry out the Leviathan Road in the 4th-Gear reservation.”

Sayama remained expressionless as he answered and Roger placed the envelope back in his pocket.

“Are you saying you will not take our demands into account?”

“Please make no mistake here. The Leviathan Road with 4th-Gear has already begun and has mutual understanding between both parties. Will you really stop this after they have agreed and wish to begin? If that leads 4th-Gear to distrust Low-Gear, whose responsibility will it be?”

Roger gave a quick downward glance. The large greenhouse containing 4th-Gear’s residents was located on the fourth basement, so he looked to a member of the communication team looking into that.

“…”

But the man looked up at him and shook his head to say that area had been purged.

Roger gave a mental sigh and spoke only the fact he had just received.

“It is true we have no way of communicating with 4th-Gear at the moment.”

“In that case, you have no way of entering the 4th-Gear reservation. Other than intruding without permission, that is. Are you going to locate us and rush in to attack us?”

“Negotiator Sayama, what if we went to take you into our custody?”

“This hotel has excellent service. They apparently firmly eliminate any suspicious intruders. Also, let me introduce you to an interesting friend of mine.”

Sayama stood from his chair.

He returned after a few seconds and placed a travel bag on his lap once he sat back down. Everyone frowned when they saw the thick black bag.

However, he showed no sign of caring.

“This friend enjoys warm, stuffy places, so this room is too chilly for him.”

He opened the bag and something stood up from within with the sound of something striking the air.

It resembled a dog, but it had six legs and its long fur was actually narrow conifer leaves.

“This is someone who could be referred to as 4th-Gear itself.”

Roger saw the plant creature turn what seemed to be its face toward them through the screen.

Everyone around the consoles gulped and they heard the plant creature’s thoughts.

“Sayama. Cold.”

“Oh, my apologies. However, our hostile allies seem to want to say hello.”

At that, the creature raised its head from within the opened travel bag.

It had a blue philosopher’s stone hanging from its neck on a string. Roger guessed it was a weakened version of a 4th-Gear concept, but knowing that did not help.

He simply listened to the creature’s thought which took the form of a question.

“Allies?”

However, everyone was frozen in place more by the sight before them than by the question.

Finally, someone broke through the frozen atmosphere.

It was Odor who stood to Roger’s right.

He stepped forward and grabbed the metal railing of the bridge with both hands.

“How dare you!? How dare you!? You are imprisoning a resident of another Gear!!”

“Unfortunately, they have a collective consciousness. Even if a single individual is here, the remaining whole is elsewhere. The idea of imprisonment does not apply. If you wish to say it does, you must ignore their collective consciousness. Am I wrong?”

“Then… Then it is abduction!! You have abducted a portion of the collective consciousness!!”

Sayama let out a breath and peered down at the plant creature on his lap.

“What do you think?”

“Go with Sayama. Promise.”

He nodded twice at that and exaggeratedly pressed on the inner corners of his eyes.

“Did you hear that? I have approval. You could say we are best of friends.”

“Roger! Roger! Say something!”

“Colonel, to be completely honest, I have trouble with adlibbing.”

Nevertheless, Roger turned toward Sayama while the boy closed the plant creature back in the travel bag.

He saw the creature’s plant fur disappear into the gap.

“Negotiator Sayama, is this what you are trying to say? If anything happens to you, it will all be conveyed to 4th-Gear through that 4th-Gear resident’s shared consciousness?”

“Precisely. I decided the best way for them to learn what kind of person I am and whether I am trustworthy was to have them send someone along to observe me. Their ability to communicate via their collective consciousness is not all that strong, but this one can likely get through while so close to the reservation.”

“Testament. Then, Negotiator Sayama, we will provisionally approve of the Leviathan Road with 4th-Gear that is currently underway.”

“I assume there is a ‘but’ coming.”

“Testament. No matter how much you attempt to deny it, our demands are the demands of all UCATs and we have Mr. Thunderson’s will to support us. Do you have any way of denying that?”

“I would like to say no, but may I say one thing first?”

“Testament.”

Sayama lowered the travel bag from the chair and adjusted his position.

He gave one shallow rock of the chair before speaking.

“American UCAT has exposed Japanese UCAT’s lack of strength by trapping them underground and you have demanded the rights to the Concept Cores. In that case, I assume you will accept the demands of the victor if you are driven out by force. As a lesson to those like us who refused to obey, surely you would submit to those victors.”

“Do you really think that is possible?” asked Odor while grabbing the railing. “Do you really think you can defeat us?”

Sayama replied with a smile.

“The time for prostration draws nigh, gentlemen.”

“How dare you!? How dare you!?”

Odor’s shoulders swelled up with strength, but he was interrupted.

“I beat it!!!”

The shout came from down below. Roger looked down and saw an old man in a lab coat dancing on top of a console. The console’s screen displayed the missile game from before, but it now only showed the word “complete”. Ooshiro threw his hands into the air and spun around and around.

“I finally beat Sibyl-kun! This is my first victory over her!”

As soon as Ooshiro laughed and jumped down to the floor, Sayama reached his hand down and off the screen.

A hole opened in the floor where Ooshiro was about to land and he fell right on through. The floor immediately closed back.

“I am so very sorry you had to see that,” said Sayama.

“H-He got away! He got away! That boy assisted his escape, Roger!”

“No, colonel. I believe that was the proper decision.”

But just as Odor turned back to the screen, a new person walked into view from the right.

A girl was walking by behind the boy.

Her wet black hair was swept behind her bare shoulders and her chest on down were hidden behind a bath towel.

The men at the consoles let out voices of excitement.

Rather than continuing past Sayama, the girl turned toward him while in front of the bed behind him.

“Sayama-kun, what are you watching? A TV show?”

“Yes, you could call it an American group skit show. How was your bath?”

“I just had to wash away the sweat, so it didn’t take long. A-also, I want to wait until the hot spring to just sit and soak. …Will you join me there tonight?”

A stir came over the men down below and Odor frantically turned toward Roger.

“Roger! Roger! Are the Japanese youth really this sexually depraved!?”

“Testament. Forty percent of the child pornography on the internet is made in Japan while the Japanese only make up approximately two percent of the world population. Based on that, the child pornography rate of the Japanese is approximately twenty times the world standard and their child pornography potential index far exceeds that.”

“Dreadful! What a dreadful race!”

As Odor cried out, the girl on the screen spoke to Sayama.

“Um, but Sayama-kun? I haven’t actually changed yet even though it’s already 6:30.”

“Are you stuck that way now?”

The girl shook her head.

“I can feel the signs of it coming, so I think it was just delayed. I guess it’s like when you want to sneeze but aren’t quite there yet. I should change after a bit longer, but…do you think this might be it? When the body is active, does it wait for that to finish before it changes?”

“If so…”

“If we do that kind of thing while I’m Sadame…I might not change until it finishes. We haven’t tested it yet though, so it’s best not to think too much about it. Also…”

The girl sounded hesitant.

“Did I…really manage to do it?”

“You simply do not remember because you passed out. As I said before, it was not complete, but you did accomplish the early stages, Shinjou-kun. Would you like to see the handkerchief that proves it?”

“Eh?” She looked confused and she blushed. “Yes…you can give a detailed explanation later. And I might be so happy I cry, but I won’t mean it in a bad way, so support me.”

She gave a small smile.

“It’s strange. I disliked Setsu so much, and yet it’s started with him first.”

“Roger, Roger. Are they speaking in some kind of code!?”

“Testament. As far as I can tell, they may be discussing the functional state of some form of transforming weapon.”

“Hmm.”

Odor crossed his arms while the girl on the screen placed a bag on the bed.

The soft sound of something heavy crushing the blanket came from the speakers while Sayama nodded.

“If you are going to change, make it your clothes for going out. I would like to treat ourselves to a meal out in order to celebrate.”

“Sure. Just face that way, okay?”

“Very well.”

Sayama looked back toward the screen and Shinjou turned her back behind him.

He reached below the screen and red text appeared in the upper left corner. The text read, “The target camera has begun recording.”

“Roger, Roger. What is going on?”

“Testament. He has set the camera on his end to record what we are currently seeing.”

At that time, a cheer rose from the men at the consoles down below.

Roger looked up and saw Shinjou had just dropped the bath towel on the screen.

The dim light just barely illuminated the flowing line of her skin from shoulders to sides and waist to butt, but then she turned to the side and revealed her chest.

“Roger! Roger! What is this!? That is…a boy!!”

“Testament. If my knowledge is correct, Japan has long since been this way. As a part of their etiquette, the military commanders of the Sengoku period would hole up in isolated rooms, compete over their ability to properly hold a tea ceremony, and show off their tea sets.”

“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe Japan is that sort of country.”

On the screen, Shinjou began by placing a light brown garter around her waist and slowly putting on brown stockings one at a time.

“Ah…Nn. These really are tight. And doing this tickles.”

“Do you need help, Shinjou-kun?”

“No, no!! I can do it on my own! I love not troubling you with helping!”

As she forced a smile and stretched out her leg to put on the stocking, the men down below took various troubled poses and made a variety of different groans.

…''Could this be a psychological attack from Japanese UCAT?

As Roger wondered that, Shinjou stood up and put on some white panties.

She turned her back to the screen and pulled a bra from her bag.

“But Sayama-kun, what are you watching? It isn’t a dirty video, is it? Don’t do that. I don’t want you heading in too weird a direction.”

“Roger! Roger! Tell them to look in a mirror!”

“Ha ha ha. Shinjou-kun, this has gotten quite funny.”

“Really? Is it that funny a show?”

After putting on her bra, Shinjou put on a beige blouse and turned around.

She walked up next to Sayama with a puzzled look.

“…?”

She wrinkled her brow even further as she peered into the screen.

“Um, Sayama-kun? I won’t get mad, so will you listen to what I say here?”

She smiled and looked to Sayama.

“This looks a lot like Japanese UCAT’s new headquarters.”

“Ha ha ha. Funny, isn’t it, Shinjou-kun?”

Sayama’s laughter was followed by a metallic sound and the screen shaking. The camera footage made one final shake and then only showed the ceiling.

“Wh-what are you thinking, Sayama-kun!? You just let people see me naked and hear me talk about my first time! And why are a bunch of weird foreigners in the new headquarters!? Are they peeping toms!?”

“We are not! Tell him we are not, Roger!”

“Colonel, in this case, I believe we have no choice but to accept their opinion.”

“U-um, Sayama-kun? I don’t want anyone but you to see that! And what if a rumor that I’m an exhibitionist ends up all over the world!? Those countries don’t even censor anything!”

“Do not worry. I am the only one to record the footage, Shinjou-kun. I will keep you all to myself.”

“Don’t twist this in your favor!”

With the sound of shattering glass, the footage and sound from the large screen blacked out.

“…”

No one knew how to respond to the sudden disconnection.

Roger frowned, Odor did the same next to him, and the American UCAT members down below stood up from the consoles.

For a short time, they all took five or so breaths in the complete silence.

Afterwards, Roger spoke quietly as if to test the silence. He did so with a hand on his chin.

“It seems we are not going to get a satisfying conclusion here.”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume8 Chapter 11|Chapter 11]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume8 Chapter 13|Chapter 13]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume8 Chapter 2

2026-06-20T05:50:48Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 2: The Pair’s Pace==
[[Image:OnC_v08_0057.png|thumb]]
''I will walk with you

''That is a promise

''But it is such a natural thing that I will keep that promise without even trying

The many-colored lights for a night game lit up the schoolyard.

The sandy area extended for a kilometer in each direction and the lighting produced a certain level of mood.

Simple green spectator seating was set up between the lights and the schoolyard was divided into eight sections.

Food stands, an entrance gate, and an exit gate had been built along that schoolyard.

The entrance gate said “Taka-Akita Academy 60th Athletic Festival” and the first school building bordering that schoolyard had hanging banners saying “7 days until the festival begins” and “14 days until the post-festival party”.

People were scattered around the schoolyard where those hanging banners were visible.

Most of them wore track suits and the armbands of the athletic festival committee and they were redrawing the lines on the schoolyard, reaffixing the simple spectator seating, or placing signs for local sponsors on the food stands.

The one hundred meter dash and the four hundred meter one lap line required especially long white lines, so they were very carefully redrawing or adding to the lines.

Two students were redrawing the lines near the first school building. The one drawing the fourth lane had long hair with a ribbon and the one drawing the fifth lane wore a suit and had his hair slicked back. The two of them walked while rolling the line carts behind them.

The one with long hair spoke to the boy in a suit walking next to her.

“Sayama-kun, the student council does a lot of things, doesn’t it? I never thought we would help prepare for the athletic festival.”

“Shinjou-kun, is this your first time for this kind of event?” asked Sayama with Baku on his head.

Shinjou nodded with a smile.

“Even when UCAT had some special recreation, it was always a one day thing. Also, everyone would pretty quickly gather together and decide the match with a fistfight. Are those the official rules for soccer and baseball?”

“What kind of sports are the soccer and baseball you are talking about?”

“In soccer, you can’t use your hands, but in baseball, you can use a bat.”

“And what would you be using them on?”

“Your opponents’ bodies. …In soccer, you can only hit their head with a headbutt, right?”

“Ha ha ha. Going to such physical humor so quickly? You are surprisingly extreme, Shinjou-kun. There are some sports I need to show you on TV sometime. One involves kicking a ball and the other involves hitting a ball with a stick.”

“Thanks. Anyway, I never knew the lines of a sports field were drawn with lime. Some of the white powder got in my nose earlier and I started feeling kind of funny.”

Sayama nodded while thinking he could use that last sentence in one of his edited audio recordings.

They walked on and their lines bent along the outer edge of the schoolyard. They could see the spectator seating, the food stands, and the signs for local store sponsors.

“The pieces of art from past graduates are over there,” pointed out Shinjou as she turned around. “I’ve been wondering. Why is there a collection of memorials there?”

“Oh, about twenty years ago, the graduates made super-realistic sand pictures of themselves. They lined them up and gave them black borders made from carbon to protect them from the elements, but oddly enough, local residents and the Buddhist society keep bringing offerings of flowers and water. Wonderful, isn’t it?”

“I think it’s more ominous than it is wonderful.”

“It is not ominous. The alumni association was afraid it would seem that way, so they have recently been making alterations. At night, a few of them will randomly appear to smile and their eyes will glow.”

“That’s plenty creepy.”

Shinjou sighed and looked toward Sayama.

“I know it’s a bit late to ask, but why are you wearing a suit, Sayama-kun?”

“This is my athletic suit, so there is nothing at all strange about-… What is with that look, Shinjou-kun?”

“I was just wondering what to do when someone has the very foundations wrong.”

“Now that you bring it up, should you be wearing a track suit? Given the time…”

“I have Sadame’s body right now, but…I’m fine. I changed clothes and I’m getting more used to going outside. I sometimes go out without disguising my chest, so I do wonder if I’m getting too careless.”

“That means you are able to relax, Shinjou-kun. But if you ever need something to cover your chest, just tell me. I will use my own two hands to help calm you down.”

“Right, right.”

She averted her gaze while nodding, but she kept her right hand on her chest.

She began walking once more and Sayama silently followed.

After a moment, she spoke up while lowering her head.

“Um, Sayama-kun? Preparing for the athletic festival is fun and all, but…”

“Is this about the Leviathan Road?”

“Eh? Oh… Th-there is that. And there’s also the person from the Army I met. …W-well, both of those things are actually more important and this may be sudden, but…”

She slowed her pace and she lowered her head enough for her bangs to hide her face.

“You haven’t been checking on my body lately.”

“I see. So to put it logically, you are asking to do it right here and now.”

“How is that logical!?”

“Calm down, calm down,” he said after she shouted at him and turned her red face toward him.

It was true they had not had much free time with the preparations in the morning and evening and the festival committee members or Izumo and the others stopping by their room.

…''When you add in the time she needs to write her novel, we have to get to sleep right away.

She seemed to have made it past the plot stage of her novel because she was building up the setting on the library computer while either writing “good” or throwing out the data. That was important too, but…

“It is true we have not had much time for just the two of us lately.”

“Yeah…but I’m sorry. I’m talking about myself when the Leviathan Road is more important.”

“The old man seems to be preparing the preliminary negotiations for 4th and 5th. Richard Thunderson of the Eight Great Dragon Kings is even supposed to arrive today as American UCAT’s inspector. I assume it is to help the negotiations with 5th run more smoothly. …But for now, what is it you wish to discuss about your body?”

Shinjou stopped walking and stood with the monument-like pieces of art behind her.

“Neither body is working. The other day, I just got a stomachache again. Am I really making any progress?”

“I see,” said Sayama again.

He stopped the line cart next to him and folded his arms while Baku mimicked him on his head. But before he could say anything, Shinjou spoke again.

“I-is the boy side getting in the way?”

“You mean Setsu-kun’s body? I would like to know why you think that.”

“Because…” She too let go of the cart and lightly held her own body. “Well… there’s something I don’t really understand. Um? Sayama-kun, will you tell me?”

“I will answer any question for you, Shinjou-kun. All truth and knowledge lies within me.”

“Oh? Then what’s the truth behind the Kennedy assassination?”

“There are times when a man cannot restrain himself any longer.”

“That is not it and you know it!!”

That shouted response came not from Shinjou but somewhere much further away, so Sayama looked up.

He looked to Shinjou, but she was shaking her head with a look of surprise. She was saying it had not been her.

He waited for a few seconds, but he heard nothing more beyond the distant hammering of students constructing stands and the distant shouts of sports teams practicing.

“Was that shout a special function added to the graduates’ self-portraits? Well, it does not matter. Shinjou-kun, what is it you wish to ask me?”

“Oh, right. Well, a man and a woman can make a baby, right? Oh, and I know how, so you don’t have to explain it.”

“Hm. That last bit is certainly disappointing.”

“Yes, yes. Very disappointing. Now, about my question.”

She took in a breath, paused for a few seconds, and spoke clearly while blushing.

“H-how do two boys make a baby?”

As soon as the question left her lips, two odd sounds of impact came from behind her.

Sayama looked over and found two people collapsed in the schoolyard behind the self-portraits.

“Why are you two lying on the ground there, Kazami, Izumo?”

Kazami came to when she heard her name.

She could see the nighttime schoolyard turned on its side and two people standing on it.

She wondered who they were and she eventually found the answer: Sayama and Shinjou.

She then questioned why she was on the ground.

“Did Shinjou-kun’s challenging question give the two of you anemia?”

That question brought her back to her senses.

She frantically stood up and walked over to Sayama without brushing the sand off of her track suit.

“J-just a moment, Sayama!”

She kicked Izumo’s head to wake him as she walked over and Shinjou was the one to react. Her shoulders shook as if in fear.

“Oh… Kazami-san, did you hear that?”

“Yes, we were swapping out the self-portraits’ voice ROMs from vengeful spirit to invigorating cheering. …But what is this all of a sudden, Shinjou?”

“Well,” said Shinjou.

She lowered her head and brought a hand to her chest, but…

“…”

She hesitated. Kazami had a pretty good guess what this was about, but she chose to say something else instead.

“If you think saying it will help resolve it, you should say it.”

“Right,” said Shinjou quietly before finally taking a few breaths. “Um… I still don’t have my period and the boy side still can’t reach the very end like Sayama-kun can. But…a girl can carry a baby, right?”

“Yes, even I can do that.”

“Chisato! You’ve finally decided to- gwoh!”

She silenced the voice on the ground by kicking over the line cart with her heel and then she placed a hand on Shinjou’s shoulder.

She then realized the girl’s trembling was reaching her palm.

Still trembling, Shinjou lowered the ends of her eyebrows and looked back and forth between Kazami and Sayama. Her damp eyes shook a bit and narrowed as she opened her trembling mouth.

“But… Even if I can carry a baby as a girl, what happens during the day when I’m a boy?”

“…”

“If I return to a boy during the day, the baby will disappear. So if…um…two boys can’t make a baby together, I…um…”

Kazami saw her head lower further as she spoke.

“I looked into it. But I couldn’t find anything saying if it was possible or not. …If nothing says it isn’t possible, then it might be possible, right? So today, I worked up my courage and asked a girl from our class, but she said I should ask Sayama-kun instead. So…um…”

[[Image:OnC_v08_0067.png|thumb]]

“Shinjou.”

She stopped speaking when Kazami called her name. She looked on the verge of tears.

Before the dam holding in her emotions could burst, Kazami motioned Sayama over.

“Hey, Shinjou,” she began. “Do you not like your current body?”

After a pause, Shinjou shook her head and took a rough breath.

“I stopped rejecting it.”

Kazami breathed a mental sigh of relief at that.

That meant Shinjou’s worry was a simple matter. Unlike before, she did not have a problem with the way she was.

…''She wants both Sadame and Setsu to become proper adults, but she’s afraid that will cause problems.

That was the fear that had led her to discuss something that would overturn the workings of the world such as having a child between two boys.

Kazami found it cute, but Shinjou herself was completely serious.

“I see,” she said despite not knowing what exactly she meant. She then tapped Sayama on the shoulder. “Listen. Give the answer you need to give and then have a nice discussion about the future.”

“I understand.”

He was as expressionless as ever and Kazami felt relieved enough to take a step away.

He approached Shinjou and grabbed both her shoulders.

She gave a start and finally looked up. She looked straight ahead with tears gathering in her eyes, but Sayama was not shaken.

“Shinjou-kun, please listen. You seem to be worried that Setsu-kun and I would be unable to have a child together, but…”

“Y-yeah?”

Sayama gave his answer.

“I can make it happen.”

An instant later, Kazami felt her vision falling into darkness once more.

“…”

She had the contradictory sensation of losing all her senses and her mind recovered with the rising feeling of waking from a dream.

Her mind was initially filled with confusion.

…''Huh? What was I just doing?

It was an odd feeling.

She recalled having heard something strange, but she could not quite remember what it was.

There was also something strange about her vision. She had previously been standing in the schoolyard at night, so why was she leaning against a wall now?

Wondering what the wall was, she touched it. It felt strange.

…''Is this…?

What she had thought was a wall was the schoolyard, so she had to have collapsed at some point.

She suddenly realized someone was shaking her and calling out to her.

“Hey! Chisato! Chisato! Are you okay!?”

…''This is hopeless.

As she listened to Izumo’s voice, she realized her body and mind were not linking up properly.

Simply put, she had taken some form of serious mental damage.

But then…

“Chisato, wake up! Fine. If that’s how it’s gonna be, I’ll use this chance to feel up those breasts in publi-…”

Fighting instincts unrelated to her mind sent her fist flying.

It struck and the impact traveled through her fist to her wrist, arm, shoulder, and then brain. The impacts of one, two, three, and then four punches connected her mind to her body and her senses returned with the fifth blow.

“Oh, I’ve woken up. …Huh? Kaku? Why are you so bloody?”

She got up and looked at Izumo who lay collapsed before her, but he was breathing.

After concluding he had fallen asleep, she stood up.

The shock had mixed up her memories a little. She did not remember what had happened while she had been collapsed, but she doubted it was anything worthwhile.

She lightly tapped her dizzy head and turned to Sayama and Shinjou.

Shinjou was crying while Sayama held her in his arms.

“…”

Kazami silently lowered her shoulders as she realized Shinjou had understood that Sayama was lying. Or that he was fully intent on doing it but did not have a foundation for his confidence this time.

…''But she does have someone to support her like that.

Kazami gave a small smile, but then electronic tones came from the pockets of the three who stood on the schoolyard.

They came from their cell phones and there was only one reason all three of them would get a call at the same time.

“UCAT?” she asked.

Sayama was the first one to act. He first looked across the others.

“It is me.”

And he answered his black cell phone.

After a moment, he gave an expressionless comment.

“A strange concept space has appeared to the north of Akigawa?”

The city of Akigawa was divided by a few roads running east to west through its center.

One of those was the main road that ran through Taka-Akita Academy and the JR Itsukaichi Line was just south of it.

Crossing the Itsukaichi Line and continuing south brought one to a gentle slope leading down to the Aki River.

An apartment building was located in a residential district halfway down that sloped area. It was a beige mortar apartment building with a bamboo grove behind it, it looked quite old, and it was incredibly dirty.

It bordered the road to its north and had a small gravel space instead of a parking lot.

Light and noise arrived at the eastern end of that dry gravel. They were the headlight and engine of a motorcycle.

Three tires could be heard digging into the gravel: the motorcycle’s front and back wheels and the sidecar’s one wheel.

The headlight illuminated the front of a room with a nameplate saying Harakawa. Below it, the names Yui and Dan were given side by side.

The motorcycle’s engine shut off and the person riding it stepped down. He was a boy wearing a black leather jacket, a T-shirt, and black jeans.

He did not wear a helmet and only a bandanna held down his messy hair. He brushed his dark fingers through that hair and took his bag from the sidecar.

“I’m home.”

He put a key in the green steel door and pushed it open.

The space inside was darker than the night outside, but the boy, Dan Harakawa, entered regardless.

He flipped the switch next to the door and light filled the inside.

The kitchen extended to his right and a living room was located directly ahead. There were no furnishings besides the TV and stereo in a corner of the living room and a table.

He closed the door behind him.

“?”

He noticed a piece of paper stuck in the door’s mail slot, so he took it out.

“Oh, it’s from Ooki-sensei. She’s telling me to come to class again, isn’t she? Did she actually stop by my house? What a pain. And her handwriting’s hard to read too.”

Despite his words, he had a small smile on his lips. However, he gently suppressed the expression.

“I suppose I’m a pain too.”

He tossed his bag to the side of the kitchen.

As he listened to the sounds of the books and metal components inside hitting the ground, he heard another odd sound.

It came from the door behind him and it sounded like something had hit it, so he tilted his head.

…''Is it that cat? Is it begging for food again?

With a practiced motion, he slowly opened the door while using it as a shield.

And he found what had hit the door.

Rather than a cat, it was a girl.

She had collapsed and was curled up in the small cement space in front of the door.

Her short blonde hair spilled onto the damp cement and took some of the ground’s color with it.

“Is she from the base?”

Dan thought about the American military’s Yokota Air Base where he worked part time. However, even if the base was in the neighboring town of Fussa, that was still five kilometers away. Not many of the people connected to the base lived in Akigawa and he had never even seen a girl with such noticeably blonde hair around Fussa.

…''I’ve never seen her while at work either.

“Hey,” he called out while crouching down, but she did not react.

Even in the dark night, he could tell her slender face was not looking good and she was sweating quite a bit. He guessed that she was dehydrated.

Just as he began to reenter the apartment to get some water, he saw a small movement from her hand.

Her slender right hand reached toward him in the still night and he heard her voice. At first she spoke in English that he could not quite catch, but then…

“Help me…”

He responded to her Japanese words with an action. He reached out and held her hand. He squeezed to tell her he was there.

“Don’t worry.”

The girl turned toward his words.

She slowly tilted her head and opened her blue eyes a bit in surprise. Something in her eyes that could have been sweat or tears caused their blue to waver.

She took in a breath and gave a small nod toward Harakawa.

But that was as far as she got. As if she finally found herself able to relax, her strength left her, her eyes closed, and her head dropped down.

She had passed out.

“Hey,” called out Harakawa, but she did not respond.

She merely took long, rhythmical breaths with no strength in her body. She seemed to be sleeping.

He let go of her hand, saw that strength did not return to that hand, slowly sat down on the entranceway floor, and sighed.

“What a pain. What do you mean ‘save me’? You could at least give your name.”

He looked at the girl and rested his chin on his hand.

“A cat would’ve been better than this.”

Far above the nighttime ocean, an object flew above the clouds in a place too high to even call the sky.

It was an airplane.

The gently-curved, white passenger plane was made in Japan.

The flight had left the west coast of the United States and was crossing the Pacific Ocean to reach Japan. As it flew through the night, lights could be seen through the windows on the side and the interior was visible.

The economy class seats were aligned with three sets of three to a row and the plane was preparing for a late dinner.

Most of the passengers were Japanese on the way back from touring, but two foreigners sat next to the right wing. One was an elderly man in the window seat and the other was a young man sleeping in the center seat.

The young man in a suit was sleeping with a blanket pulled up to his shoulders, but he woke to the sound of the flight attendant bringing dinner. He bowed to the woman who passed a dinner tray to the elderly man further in.

“How much longer?” he asked in fluent Japanese.

The woman answered “about three hours” in English.

At the same time, the plane shook slightly. However, it shook vertically rather than horizontally.

The man’s body floated up into the air a bit and then the plane shook to the left.

“We seem to have hit some turbulence. I apologize.”

The flight attendant spoke calmly, but she spoke Japanese this time. By the time she finished speaking, the plane had made it out on top of the air and only had the normal vibration of an airplane.

The surrounding people grew a bit noisier. It was partially due to dinner arriving, but it also seemed someone’s food had fallen from the tray in the turbulence. The bread also fell from the tray held out to the young man.

The flight attendant apologized and also spoke to the elderly man in English.

“Sir, is yours okay?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Nothing to worry about.”

The young man heard the elderly man reply in English. After receiving a replacement tray and placing it on the simple table he opened in front of him, he turned to the elderly man.

The elderly man wore a suit, had thin hair, and had a tall and slender build. He was currently eating while looking out the window.

The food on his tray showed no sign of having moved during the turbulence.

Just as the young man was about to talk to him, the elderly man grabbed the bread and spoke.

“Roger, Roger. This bread is really bad. Why is it so damp?”

The young man, Roger, shrugged at the English words spoken without even looking at him.

“I believe that is Japanese bread, Colonel Odor. According to my research, this flight’s food was supplied by IAI and I suspect this is their new bread meant for the Japanese. It is called ‘Eat My Soft Skin Bread’.”

“Such a ridiculous, ridiculous culture of copying others Japan has! What do you think of the flavor?”

“Well, the outside is crunchy and the inside is spongy, but it seems to me the outside would need to be the soft part to count as ‘soft skin’.”

“Roger, Roger. How can you know that when you haven’t eaten it yet?”

“A silly question. I can deduce it all from the information available to me.”

“Then…then what about this, Roger? Deduce when I’m going to die.”

“I do not have much information on you, Colonel Odor. A delusion with an unsatisfactory basis would only lower your confidence in me, so I can deduce that I would be better off not doing so.”

With a quick laugh, the elderly man called Odor stopped looking out the window. He cut the bread in his hand with a knife and spoke once more.

“Roger, Roger. Tell me what information you gathered while asleep. Tell me what our mission is.”

“Very well. Major General Richard Thunderson, the American Leviathan Road inspector sent ahead of us by American UCAT, and Miss Heo Thunderson, his great-granddaughter, have gone missing. We were to meet up with them as assistant inspectors, but our mission is now to search for them.”

Roger removed a cup of gelatin from his dinner tray and pulled a stamp-sized case from his pocket.

He opened the top of the case and poured its contents into the indentation that had contained the gelatin cup.

Those contents were bluish-white sand.

A Japanese girl in the seat across the aisle tilted her head as she watched him. She appeared younger than elementary school age and Roger smiled at her before placing a hand over the sand.

Something strange then happened.

The sand moved.

The sand spread out in the indentation as if sprawling out.

It then created a pattern with itself. It moved as if there were bugs inside, but it accurately formed several geometric shapes.

In the next seat, Odor took a sip of coffee from his paper cup.

“Roger, Roger. What do you see? So this is the famous dream sand of Roger Sully created by combining philosopher’s stone powder and sand. It uses the concept that, if all things eventually become trash, sand can gather information on all things, right? You could call it a deodorant for information. …A good partner for someone who goes by the name Odor.”

Roger did not reply to Odor’s comments and looked into the moving sand. The sand drew an image of the information gathered by the philosopher’s stone powder. The image was created using the philosopher’s stone powder and a weakened version of 1st-Gear’s foundational writing concept and its meaning was transmitted via a sort of suggestion.

Across the aisle, the young girl’s eyes sparkled as she watched the sand move.

“Hey, he’s playing with sand! The sand is moving!”

She called out to the mother sitting next to her, but the mother had not noticed the sand and only bowed apologetically toward Roger and scolded the child.

Roger smiled bitterly at that, but then nodded once the sand finished moving.

“Colonel Odor, my deduction has been confirmed. Japanese UCAT has apparently informed our higher ups of Mr. Richard Thunderson’s death. Rather than form a search party, we are to stay at Yokota Air Base as temporary inspectors and act according to the agreement made in case of Mr. Thunderson’s death. Also…”

Roger looked to his superior, but Odor said nothing and brought a spoonful of hardening gratin to his mouth. Roger decided to simply state the information.

“Heo Thunderson is still missing.”

Hearing that, Odor lightly clasped his hands.

“So… So Thunderson’s fear upon leaving for Japan as the Leviathan Road’s inspector has come true. …This will greatly change the motion of the world. Do you have the document?”

“Testament.” Roger pulled an envelope from his suit pocket. “I have the contract that Mr. Thunderson gave us without Japanese UCAT’s knowledge. This document provides the legal right to change everything about the Leviathan Road. Japanese UCAT likely viewed Mr. Thunderson’s arrival as a way to avoid our restraints, but they will see just how important an individual he was once they see this.”

“Roger, Roger. Make sure you eventually shove that in their faces. …Now, let’s get back on topic. What information do we have on this missing Heo Thunderson? I believe I was told her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all soldiers.”

“Testament. And she does not know of UCAT’s existence. However, her father’s grave is in Japan. Her father and mother were deployed to Japan by American UCAT, but they transferred to Japanese UCAT. Her father died in Japan in ’95 and her mother died in America in ’97. This is her first time back in Japan since then.”

“I see, I see. So she was born in a base in Japan. Continue.”

“Testament. First, all of her grandparents have passed away.”

And…

“Her paternal grandmother, Jessica Thunderson, was adopted by Richard Thunderson. Jessica’s true father was James Davis, a mechanical dragon test pilot for American UCAT’s air force division during World War Two. Jessica was one of the man’s two children. Mr. Richard Thunderson took her in and then joined with Japanese UCAT as American UCAT’s representative.”

“What happened to James Davis’s other child?”

“I only know that it was a boy and that he was taken in by a distant relative, but I have been unable to track him down. However, it does seem Mr. Richard Thunderson has long been searching for him.”

“How ridiculous, how ridiculous. But if you can track him down, we will have a relative to send Heo Thunderson to. …She is now the sole survivor of the Thunderson family. America welcomes those with nothing, but what about Japan?”

“Impossible to say, Colonel Odor. But…” Roger sank down in his seat. “Heo Thunderson’s father was named James. …Richard Thunderson’s adoptive daughter Jessica named her illegitimate son after her real father. Did the relationship between adoptive father and daughter not go well?”

Odor replied after cutting off another piece of his bread.

“Roger, Roger. Do not put sentiment in a question you can’t answer. People have different rules for naming people, so you can’t know. Take Heo Thunderson for example. What language is Heo from? It looks like it was given based on the sound alone. See? There’s no way to know.” He took a breath. “But we do know that we must begin the new mission given to us by Richard Thunderson’s death and that we must find Heo Thunderson. And Roger, what will you do with the sand?”

“Testament. Some of its effectiveness remains, so I can store it and use it again.”

“You are a petty, petty person. An American must have an ambitious and tolerant heart. …What is with this jam!? It’s too sweet!! Call whoever is responsible!!”

“Colonel, remember your tolerant heart!”

“Roger, Roger. I may have a tolerant heart in America, but I only have a normal amount of kindness. Anyway, I hear you spent some time in Japan. You didn’t become petty like those Japanese in your time there, did you? Surely you aren’t thinking fondly about your time there, ''are you''?”

“O-of course not. I am gung-ho for America.”

“Gung-ho? What language is that?”

Roger thought for an instant, but quickly feigned calm by brushing a hand through his hair.

“I believe it is of Chinese origin.”

“I see, I see. So I was mistaken when I thought it had a Japanese ring to it.”

“Testament. I believe you were mistaken.”

“Good. Good, Roger. But that was only the negative test to see if you have been too strongly influenced by Japan. Next is the positive test to see how you feel about America.”

“The positive test? Wh-what is that?”

The demand was simple. Odor crossed his arms and looked at Roger.

“The national anthem. Sing the national anthem of the United States of America.”

Roger thought for a moment.

“Th-the national anthem?”

“Yes, yes. And loudly. Sing it loudly. And make sure to stand up.”

“L-loudly? And while standing?”

Roger’s expression showed he did not like the idea, but he soon shook his head.

He eliminated all idle thoughts from his face and turned to Odor.

“Colonel, I apologize, but I would like for you to show me how it is done.”

“Roger, Roger. This is a test. I can’t exactly give the right answer ahead of time.”

“But colonel, can the answer desired by America really be restricted to a mere test? I believe the true answer resides in one’s spirit. I simply wish to see your spirit. Or do you not have that spirit?”

And…

“Once you show me how it is done as my superior officer, I will follow your lead.”

Roger brushed a hand through his hair and looked around. The surrounding Japanese were focused on them because they had been speaking back and forth in English for a while now.

They were on a secret mission for UCAT. Odor had decided to use a normal plane for some reason, but they had to avoid standing out too much within it.

''He must understand that,'' thought Roger with a sigh. ''He will back down and this will be over.

Odor stood up and began to sing.

“————!!”

It happened so suddenly that Roger felt dizzy.

He found himself unable to hear or see the low singing voice, the applause from the girl sitting next to them, or the confused looks from the adults.

For some reason, he was briefly reminded of the past. He remembered the time he had shoplifted some writing implements for his younger siblings in a small rural town outside of Dallas. The store owner had chased him with the setting sun in the background, hit him with a flying kick, and then performed multiple powerbombs on him.

His younger siblings had cheered him on as they caught up.

…''Stand up! Please stand up, Roger!! Count 1! 2! He stood up at 2.7!

“!”

He finally recovered.

Unpleasant sweat covered him and his entire body was oddly warm.

He looked to the side and found the elderly man still standing after finishing his song. He was looking to Roger with an expressionless look.

“Roger, Roger. You’re next. Use your youth to make up for what you lack.”

He handed Roger a spoon in place of a microphone. Roger took a breath while restraining the little finger that stood up from the hand holding the spoon. After using that breath to motivate himself, he stood and prepared himself.

He saw the flight attendant approaching down the aisle with a serious smile on her face.

He had to do something before she arrived.

But he frowned once he saw Odor begin eating again.

“Colonel Odor? That is your personal knife you’re using to cut your bread, isn’t it? Please hide it. The rules state you are not allowed to bring weapons onto the plane.”

“Roger, Roger. Americans shouldn’t be so petty.”

“I do not think it is being petty to ask you to place that reinforced plastic knife back in the heel of your shoe. Also, Colonel Odor, please hide the special reinforced plastic gun in your breast pocket, the plastic explosive hidden in your hair…oh, and the fuse inside your PDA’s digital pen.”

“Roger, Roger. How could you tell?”

“I can deduce it all from the information available to me. You normally do not put anything in your breast pocket or any kind of gel in your hair and your PDA has a touch screen. Lastly, when riding a Japanese airplane with lax security, you are sure to take something with you so that you can laugh about it later.”

“I see.” Rather than hiding the specified objects, he placed them on Roger’s seat. “You can take care of them. Got that? You can take care of them, Roger. Return them before we land. Oh, and this too.”

Odor handed Roger a small object.

It was a blue philosopher’s stone.

“What is this?”

“Roger, Roger. Did you know there was an area of America’s skies known as inviolable airspace even before World War Two? 5th-Gear’s great black dragon would fly there for fun and shoot down the pilots who supported the Age of Flight.”

“I did know that. What about it?”

“No, no, Roger. Deduce. Make a deduction. In the forties, that inviolable airspace rapidly thinned and almost completely vanished. Why?”

“The ley line alterations made by Japan’s National Defense Department shifted the location of the inviolable airspace to the Pacific Ocean near Hokkaido.”

“That’s right. That’s right, Roger. You’re making your deductions now, aren’t you? You’re working toward an answer, aren’t you? Think, Roger. Where are we and what is this philosopher’s stone? The answer is simple. We are over the Pacific Ocean near Japan and this philosopher’s stone is a weakened 5th-Gear concept.”

As soon as he said that, the flight attendant arrived.

“Sirs, um, we are headed for some turbulence, so please sit down. And try not to raise your voices too-…”

Suddenly, the airplane shook, but it did not jerk to the side like before. It shook downwards as if something had struck it.

“…!!”

The flight attendant held onto the chair back to remain standing and the lights went out.

Roger then saw something large fly by the window Odor had been looking out before.

Its speed easily surpassed that of the passenger plane.

Amid the continued shaking, red emergency lights came on and the cabin speakers activated.

“I apologize for the interruption to your meal, but we have just entered some turbulence. The captain says it will only last a few minutes, so please do not stand up for the time being. If you need anything, just ask a flight attendant.”

As the announcement repeated in English, Roger saw Odor step past him and out into the aisle.

“Let’s go. Let’s go and see our enemy, Roger.”

The dim light allowed him to see Odor walking down the aisle. His footing did not waver in the slightest even as the floor below him shook.

Roger then heard crying. It came from the girl next to him.

He lightly touched the girl as her mother held her shoulders. As he did, he sprinkled some philosopher’s stone sand on her.

“Give her a nice dream.”

The sand gave a definite answer by dancing about in a small whirlwind.

The girl looked at the sand for an instant, but then her eyes slowly closed.

“Good,” muttered Roger.

This time, he had gathered his sand from atop a mountain in San Francisco. The sand that had looked out over the sea and been washed over by the rain would likely give her a dream of those memories.

He ignored the flight attendant’s protests and followed Odor.

Despite the shaking, he managed to catch up.

“Colonel! Were you luring something here!? If so, this was a-…”

“Horrible method? Yes, it is a horrible method. And I am well aware there are other methods. But our higher ups were too afraid, so this was the only method available.”

Odor looked over his shoulder at Roger and then his surroundings.

“Hurry, hurry. The captain said the turbulence would only last a few minutes. If we intercept it in that time, we can make that true. Afterwards, we can sing again. We can cancel out the trouble we caused them with a memory we will make for them. I may not have much kindness, but even with a country I hate, I will not simply leave after causing them trouble.”

“I believe your thinking is truly American, colonel.”

“That’s right. That’s right, Roger. And that’s why you will do the singing. These native Japanese are on their way back from shopping in America, so show them what a true American spirit looks likes.”

Roger groaned and Odor showed off his teeth and raised the corners of his mouth.

“Smile. Smile, Roger. We are on our way to see two enemies: 5th-Gear which is an enemy of America and Japanese UCAT which has become our enemy with Thunderson’s death!!”

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| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume8 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume9 Chapter 23

2026-06-19T05:16:09Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 23: Developing Assignment==
[[Image:OnC_v09_0145.png|thumb]]
''How does it unfold?

''How does it open?

Someone ran down a white corridor.

The corridor was long. It was filled with nothing but light and the doors on either side were closed.

The person running down it was a young man in a lab coat. He wore a worn-out shirt and chino pants below that lab coat. He wore rubber sandals on his feet, but each running step carried him an entire room’s length down the corridor.

“Oh, dammit. If only Atsuta were here. Why is that creature obsessed with Okinawa right now?”

The young man pushed his glasses up his nose and the motion revealed the name Kashima on the collar that whipped in the wind.

Kashima was trying to reach the other end of the corridor.

At the same time, people charged in from either side of the T-shaped juncture up ahead. There were six of them and they all wore blue armored uniforms and wielded meter long electromagnetic batons.

Also, the armor at the bases of their limbs swelled out.

“They have mechanical parts installed there for close-quarters combat. Are they after me specifically?”

He nevertheless continued forward and amongst the six men.

“Ahh,” he sighed. “This is such a pain and so boring.”

He stepped forward.

“Even if I filmed it, I wouldn’t be able to show Natsu-san or Harumi.”

He spun around.

“I can’t use my camera here.”

He ran below the electromagnetic baton swung down by the first man on the right. He approached close enough for an embrace, so the man frantically stepped back.

The man turned around to fall back without pressing his back to the wall and he did so with the inhuman speed the mechanical parts of his armor allowed.

But Kashima caught up in a single leap. He twisted his body to control his midair position as he approached.

“You have a lot to learn about military gods.”

He lightly clenched his fist and drove it into the man’s chest. The heavy armor had the strength of a metal panel, but it still broke. The steel armor shattered like dried clay.

“———!?”

Kashima gave an instantaneous shrug when he heard the soldier’s confused cry.

“Did you really think armor and weapons below the divine level would be of any use against a military god?”

With that, he completely broke the man’s armored uniform. Cracks ran through it starting from the chest and all of the mechanical parts burst from within.

Sounds of breaking metal filled the air and the broken mechanical parts briefly sent the entire uniform out of control.

With no control over his suit, the soldier was sent flying backwards along with the fragments.

He collapsed with a sound resembling shattering glass.

Kashima then looked behind him.

An instant later, a line of silver flew toward him.

It was a blade. The other five had abandoned their electromagnetic batons and drawn the knives with sixty centimeter blades stored on their backs.

The first caught Kashima off guard and grazed his cheek.

The very next moment, he brought a hand to that cheek.

He saw a hint of red on his fingers.

“Have you altered those with some kind of concept?”

To respond, three of them moved in at once. They rushed toward him.

However, he moved forward and only at a walk.

“…”

The three wielding knives seemed to break past Kashima and the other two watched him continue to walk.

However…

“—————?”

They could not see him. The three up ahead produced mechanical sounds as they stopped and frantically turned around.

“————!?”

They could not see him. Nevertheless, Kashima simply walked between the group of three and the group of two. He walked toward the latter group.

“Yeah,” he said. “Even when I put this much effort into my work…”

He lightly raised his hands.

“I can’t even let the people I most care about see it.”

He stepped between the two men who were looking all around.

“And I can’t hear them praise me.”

He tapped them on the shoulder.

“Being a father isn’t easy.”

As if those words were the cue, all five armored uniforms shattered. Not just those on either side of Kashima, but the three who had passed by him as well.

The series of five sounds resembled shattering glass and just as many people collapsed to the ground.

Once Kashima reached the end of the corridor, he looked both ways.

“I see. So those six were supposed to force me out here where you would shoot me.”

About three meters in both directions, he saw a double barricade made of desks and the barrels of anti-tank rifles were peeking out from behind them.

There were eighteen barrels in all and they all shook as they sent an intense noise toward Kashima.

The entire corridor shook, the gunshots collided and left the audible range, and all sound vanished.

And tearing through the leading edge of that soundlessness were eighteen armor-piercing rounds modified for concept combat.

“!”

Eighteen sprays of sparks filled the silence.

The scattering red flames vanished in the air, the air carried a faint scorched smell, and then came the wind.

The sound of the wind swept across the corridor and washed over everything.

The white steam produced by the colliding shockwaves was swept away by the wind and everyone looked down the corridor. Two people stood on both sides of the young man in a lab coat.

They were four old men.

The first on the right had wavy gray hair, wore a white armored uniform, and held an Azure Dragon Sword toward the opposing guns.

“I am Ikkou, the eldest brother. A pleasure to meet you.”

The second on the right had long gray hair, wore a lab coat, and held a charm toward the opposing guns.

“I am Nijun, the second brother. A pleasure to meet you.”

The first on the left had short gray hair, wore a lab coat, and held a meter long scroll toward the opposing guns.

“I am Mitsuaki, the third brother. A pleasure to meet you.”

And the second on the left had long black hair, wore a flight jacket, and held nothing.

“Ummm, I’m like Yonkichi, the fourth brother. It’s like super nice to meet you or whatever.”

The three other men began attacking him.

“Damn you. You’ve started giving yourself terrible idiosyncrasies again, haven’t you?”

“I’ve had enough. It’s time we castrated him.”

“Brother! Brother! Leave it to me!”

Among the noise and voices, Kashima once more began walking and the gun barrels turned toward him.

“…?”

But they lost sight of him. Even as Kashima sped up to a run, he shouted toward the four men behind him.

“They can see you!”

Hearing that, the three elder brothers stopped moving and made an immediate decision.

They kicked the youngest brother into the center of the corridor and returned the way they had come.

The attack began anew and gunfire arrived from either side of the corridor.

Kashima continued forward while he heard Yonkichi cry out behind him. For some reason, the old man sounded like he was enjoying it.

“What a pain. There are just too many of them.”

He crouched down and slipped below the bullets and shockwaves.

“But I want to take back this place before the Sayama boy returns.”

“Could you climb up to reach that document, Shinjou-kun? The L row is over there.”

Sayama’s voice filled a large space divided up by bookcases.

He was crouching in front of one bookcase and Shinjou listened to him under the shadow it formed in the fluorescent lighting.

“The S row you mean?”

“No, the L row. L for lecherous old man, Shinjou-kun.”

“Sayama-kun, you sometimes use oddly old-fashioned words, don’t you?”

She looked up at the L bookcase. The document was in the middle of a shelf two meters up. She was not sure what to do, but the green creature they had let out of the bag walked over and stood below the document in question.

It seemed to be asking her to step up on it.

She hesitated, but she did so after removing her shoes. She looked to either side while reaching up for the document.

The bookcases almost seemed to continue on forever. She could see the end, but it still seemed like an unusually large space. It was nearly two hundred meters across and probably fifty meters wide.

This was the concept space reference room below Japanese UCAT’s western general headquarters.

All the documents for both UCAT and the Izumo Company days were stored here.

…''Would Japanese UCAT’s reference room be this big if you combined the first and second ones?

As she wondered that, she saw several people moving about.

Miyako was standing near the entrance as their supervisor.

Moira 1st was moving between the bookcases and retrieving documents, Moira 3rd was copying the documents Moira 1st gave her, Moira 2nd was preparing tea near Miyako, and Gyes was standing in wait next to Miyako.

…''They’re on our side now.

Shinjou found that strange as she grabbed the document.

The movement shook her hair. She had changed into Setsu’s clothes before coming here, but she still had Sadame’s hairstyle and that difference felt almost ticklish.

“Hey, Sayama-kun? Did you mean this one?”

She turned to Sayama who was crouched down to her right and he looked up at her with squinted eyes that seemed to stare into the distance.

“Yes, at that height, I can indeed see your underwear through the gap in your culottes, Shinjou-kun.”

She jumped down and kneed him from above. The idiot collapsed on the floor, but he put on a charming look as he sat back up.

“Wh-what was that for, Shinjou-kun? I am simply shocked.”

“I don’t care if you’re shocked. …And how can you say something like that when the others are busy fighting American UCAT back at Okutama!?”

“I only asked if you could climb up to reach it. I never said you should.”

''I need to keep a little more distance,'' she told herself.

She crouched down toward the green creature that was emitting air, rubbed its head, and it rubbed her head with its front leg.

It was producing a lot of air, so she was apparently quite tired.

Someone then appeared from behind the bookcase. It was Moira 1st.

“Master Sayama, Lady Shinjou. A fax has arrived from below Japanese UCAT. It is a newspaper article related to a Heo Thunderson’s past. Also, I have the copies of the documents I gathered.”

Despite her words, Moira 1st frowned. Wondering why, Shinjou followed her gaze and saw the plant creature rubbing her head. Shinjou tilted that head.

“Moira 1st-san, do you not like these people?”

“No, it is not that. But 4th-Gear can instantly accomplish what our various services are meant to provide our master. …They are a formidable foe that removes a large portion of what makes our work enjoyable.”

“I-I guess we all have it tough.”

“Indeed,” said a voice behind her. “Moira 1st-kun, I have an idea for when the world has been made equal. We can create a 4th-Gear massage center that provides instant relief from one’s exhaustion and a 3rd-Gear service center that does the same over a longer period of time. Then the two can compete.”

“There is no need. We would obviously win, after all.”

“3rd-Gear sure is amazing in a lot of different ways,” muttered Shinjou as the green creature expelled a lot of air as if in agreement.

Seeing that, Moira 1st brought a hand to her cheek.

“Oh, dear. Please cheer up, Lady Shinjou. Um, if you use one of 3rd’s secret tools, it may be a bit immoral, but…”

“I-I don’t need any tools.”

“But it sounds useful,” chimed in Sayama.

As she stood up, Shinjou tightened the necktie next to her and stopped Moira 1st who was searching for something in her apron.

“More importantly,” she said while holding out a hand to stop the automaton. “U-um? Can we have the copies you made?”

“Yes, of course. Here they are.”

Moira 1st handed Sayama the article on Heo and the multiple copied documents to Shinjou.

“I have determined these are the documents on Master Shinjou Kaname and his descendants.”

After taking the article on Heo, Sayama turned to Shinjou who stood to his right.

She looked blankly down at the documents related to Shinjou Kaname and his child.

“Are you surprised to find Shinjou Kaname’s employee information?”

“Uh, yes. A little.”

She let go of the left side of the documents and held them out toward him. He grabbed them and found that the man had started working at an Izumo Company factory in Yonago after graduating from a local elementary school. At fourteen, he had taken the company’s special skills lecture.

“I see. At sixteen, he entered Tokyo’s First Higher School. It also says he was Professor Tenkyou’s assistant, Shinjou-kun. …Where are the documents on Professor Kinugasa?”

Moira 1st shook her head.

“I could not find any employee documents on him. Instead, I found this.”

She pulled an envelope from the pocket on the back of her apron. Sayama took it with his right hand and found a stack of paper inside. Moira 1st nodded toward him.

“These are copies of the company reports from before and during the war. Professor Kinugasa sent in a few reports on Tokyo after going to the Okutama factory, which was a new company facility built there. They contain photos of the factory, photos of Tokyo after the firebombing, and…a photo of his home in the mountains of Okutama.”

“When did the reports end?”

Shinjou stiffened at that question and Moira 1st’s smile vanished.

“August of 1946. A notification of his death was sent out that September. It happened on July 26. When he was making adjustments to an Izumo Company facility in the Kinki region, he died suddenly due to pneumonia he had developed from his exhaustion and the rain.”

“Is that so?”

Sayama nodded and said nothing more.

They had received some of the truth. There was still a lot they did not know about Professor Kinugasa, but they had information on his home, they had information on his death, and both of those meant he had actually existed. Sayama turned his thoughts to the Izumo Company facility in the Kinki region that he had last visited

…''According to the Divine States-World Interaction Theory, that would be 10th-Gear’s location.

Yamata had been sealed on August 25 of the same year and it was entirely possible the Concept War to seal 10th-Gear’s Concept Core had occurred just before then.

However, that was all speculation. It would be a waste to think about it anymore, so he stopped.

Upon returning from his thoughts, he found Shinjou looking at him with a troubled expression.

“Sometimes your ability to focus seems really amazing, Sayama-kun.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You put things aside for the time being, but you don’t forget about them.”

“It is simply that I am unable to forget, Shinjou-kun. It is not a virtue or anything of the sort. It is much like being a stalker who resists pursuing his target. Although for a stalker, pursuing that target ''would'' be a virtue.”

After saying that, Sayama guessed why Shinjou had said what she said.

“Shinjou-kun, do you mean to say you want me to virtuously stalk you?”

“That isn’t virtuous! It’s a bother! Look, Miyako-san can’t believe what you’re saying!”

Sayama looked past Moira 1st and saw Miyako looking up at the ceiling. Her mouth spread apart horizontally and she called over to them.

“Do whatever you want.”

“See, Shinjou-kun? I have permission.”

“Just look at these documents. These ones right there. Do you see them?”

Sayama reluctantly lowered his gaze to the documents she was pushing toward him.

It was much like a resume. After the entries for the individual’s work experience while attending the First Higher School, it said he was accepted into the Naval Accounting School on a recommendation, but he was soon ordered to join the Izumo Company’s Tokyo factory.

…''After earning his military qualifications, he must have joined the National Defense Department.

“In 1937 when he was nineteen, he was sent to the Izumo Company’s Tokyo factory. He married in 1938, he had a son named Yoshi in 1940…and he died in the bombing of Hachioji in 1945.”

He paused for a few seconds, but he knew that past definitely existed.

“Shinjou-kun, can I continue on to the next document?”

“Yes, you can. But…”

She looked to Moira 1st who simply stood there just as she had before.

“There seemed to be something in here, didn’t there, Moira 1st-san?”

“What makes you say that?”

A voice arrived from beyond the automaton. It was Miyako who ate a chocolate cigarette she pulled from her pocket.

“Automatons love serving people, so you would normally want them to hurry through all the documents and praise you for bringing them all. But instead you’re just standing there without even suggesting they continue on. Right?”

“Big sister doesn’t understand herself all that much! And yet she always tries to act like she’s more mature.”

After hearing that voice from a distant bookcase, Moira 1st turned around with a smile on her face.

“Excuse me for a moment. I must provide some discipline.”

“Try not to make it too exciting and shocking.”

Silence fell once Moira 1st nodded and left.

Sayama flipped to the next document with Shinjou. The copied paper below was another employee record.

“Shinjou Yoshi. He joined the company in 1956 and married Mitsu, a coworker, in 1958.”

But when his eyes reached the next line of the employee history, he stopped for a moment.

Shinjou did the same next to him, but that was exactly why Sayama moved once more. He had to read this.

Shinjou gasped and Sayama read through the rest of the document to force that breath out.

“In 1960, he had a daughter named Yukio. In the same year, he and his wife Mitsu died in an accident on a trip to Kinki.”

He heard her gasp again.

There were two reasons for this. First, Shinjou Kaname’s child Yoshi had died along with his wife.

And second…

“Their child, Shinjou Yukio, was…”

“A girl. If she got married, she would lose the surname Shinjou,” muttered Shinjou.

She lowered her head and sighed.

“Which means…”

She gulped but continued.

“She isn’t my parent.”

Sayama heard Shinjou speak the word “no” toward the floor.

And…

“What am I supposed to do?”

Her tone made it clear she did not want to accept this, so Sayama asked a sudden question.

“Well, Shinjou-kun?”

“Eh?”

Sayama gave an expressionless reply to her reflexive voice.

“Are you going to give up and throw all this away?”

“Throw it…away?”

“Yes. Are you going to throw away the past that has taken us this far?”

“But…”

She turned toward him and tilted her head with her eyebrows lowered.

“But there’s no point in learning any more. This Yukio is probably a completely normal person and she doesn’t even work here at IAI headquarters. As a woman, she can’t be my father, so she’s a completely unrelated Shinjou.”

She hit the back of the papers in her hand as she spoke. There were only the two: one for Shinjou Kaname and one for Shinjou Yoshi. As he listened to the almost nervous sound of the paper being struck, Sayama spoke.

“Listen, Shinjou-kun. What if you are Shinjou Yukio’s illegitimate child?”

“W-we can’t just say what if…”

“The idea that you are not related to Shinjou Yukio is also a what if. Do not say anything for sure until you have seen this through to the end. Even the past is overflowing with possibility as long as you have yet to see it. Just because Shinjou Yukio is a woman does not mean she is not your mother.”

“Why?”

Shinjou asked that disconnected question with a tremor in her voice and her eyebrows raised.

“Why? I was shown the deaths of so many different Shinjous today! And yet now you’re asking me to look into something else that’s as good as hopeless! Why!?”

Sayama opened his mouth and paused before replying.

“Do you know much about that song?”

“Eh?”

Her raised eyebrows shook and Sayama continued speaking toward that shaking.

“The song you sang when we first met.”

“O-of course I do. It’s called Silent Night, isn’t it? And I can sing up to the sixth verse. What about it? What’s your point?”

“Who do you think taught you that song?”

Answering her question with a question actually brought her mind in closer. She thought for a moment before answering.

“My mother, I guess. …It was probably a lullaby or something.”

“Then Shinjou Yukio is worth pursuing.”

He swung his left arm which tugged the documents from her right hand with a snapping sound.

She cried out in surprise and tried to reach for them, but he countered that by holding the paper toward her. He placed the very last line of the employee history right in front of her face.

“Read this carefully. It says the orphaned Yukio was left with a church orphanage in Sakai, doesn’t it?”

She gasped as she read the words.

“A church…and that’s a hymn.”

She slowly opened her mouth in a dumbfounded look.

She fell silent, but more words came to push her onward. These ones were in Miyako’s voice.

“That’s related to Japanese history. Sakai was the city in which the Bible spread during the Sengoku period and that trend has continued to this day.”

“Precisely,” replied Sayama. “Listen, Shinjou-kun. In that orphanage in the city of Sakai, don’t you think Shinjou Yukio would have heard Silent Night at least on Christmas?”

“Then…you mean…”

Shinjou’s eyebrows twisted in puzzlement, but Sayama smiled at her.

“We have no proof. Shinjou Yukio’s parents were both from Low-Gear, so there is no chance of her having the same special characteristics as you. And as a woman, her surname would change upon marriage. …But as someone who has heard your song, I think it is too soon to give up. More importantly, the song you remember despite losing your memories is one that must have been close to Shinjou Yukio. …And if she had a child, she would have sung that song to the child.”

Sayama continued as he brushed a hand through his hair in the fluorescent light.

“But the rest is up to you. Will you pursue her even if it might be hopeless? Or will you give up because it might be hopeless. The choice is in your hands, Shinjou-kun.”

A white fluorescent light illuminated a small kitchen, a ten square meter room, and an entranceway.

Two people were in that entranceway: a woman standing with her back to the door and a boy sitting on the entranceway’s wooden floor. The woman held a container sealed with cling wrap.

“Okay, Harakawa-kun. You’ll be at school tomorrow, right?”

“I already said I would, Ooki-sensei.”

Harakawa had changed out of his school uniform’s shirt and into a black T-shirt and he looked to the woman in a brown suit before him.

“You sure have a lot of time on your hands. Don’t you need to help prepare for the athletic festival?”

“No, my students are just so skilled.”

“Then how about you get home already?”

“Well, there’s something going on near my home. Y’know, with the American military.”

“Oh, that,” said Harakawa with a nod.

An airplane had crashed the day before and there were still traffic restrictions in Okutama.

“Once the cars clear out, I guess I’ll go get my motorcycle from the Nishitama Cemetery.”

“I think I’ll head home by bicycle once that happens. My friends and acquaintances are working hard, so I need to buy a bunch of snacks for them at the convenience store.”

She laughed happily and Harakawa sighed.

Meanwhile, she looked back toward him, narrowed her eyes, and tilted her head.

“Are you not having a good day, Harakawa-kun?”

“I don’t even feel like talking about it, Ooki-sensei.”

“Eh? Y-you mean, um, it’s something embarrassing?”

“Hold on,” he snapped back, but he stopped and rested his head on his hand.

He clicked his tongue once before looking toward Ooki whose face was flushed and who was forming a defensive stance.

“I don’t even know if it is or not. I can’t seem to work out what it is. All I get are the self-important ideas that maybe I should do something or that I should have done something.”

He closed his eyes.

“Well, I couldn’t do anything and I passed on the problem in the easiest direction.”

He lowered his head as it rested on his hand and another hand was placed on that head.

It was Ooki’s. He did not look up, but she patted his head with her palm.

“You really are kind, Harakawa-kun.”

“Is that so?” he replied. “The problem is I don’t know what the other person thinks.”

“You can’t know,” said Ooki with a smile in her voice. “I think part of the reason why people can be so kind is because they don’t know what the other person is thinking.”

“You only think that because you’re always talking about things without understanding them.”

“Y-you’re getting all cement-like too!?”

Ooki’s protest was immediately followed by a new sound.

Her shoulders jumped in surprise because it was a knock at the door behind her.

Ooki turned toward the two knocks and then glanced toward Harakawa.

“Um…” she said.

He nodded toward her, stood up, and reached past her and to the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Heo. Heo Thunderson.”

It sounded like the speaker had gulped just before speaking.

Harakawa opened the door. He did so immediately and without hesitation, but he did so slowly.

He found Heo there.

He first noticed the orange work jacket and the blue armored uniform much like those worn by the people he had seen in the cemetery.

He then saw her expression: lowered ends of the eyebrows but relaxed.

It was an expression of relief.

However, he also saw a car and a person behind her.

The car was a large black one much like the one that had brought him here and the person was a tall woman in a black suit.

Heo opened her mouth with those two things behind her. She also clenched her hands just below her neck.

“Um…”

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume9 Chapter 22|Chapter 22]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume9 Chapter 24|Chapter 24]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 10

2026-06-18T03:27:23Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 10: Development of Will==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0277.png|thumb]]
''Is hesitation feigned goodness or is it courage?

''Then is determination feigned evil or is it recklessness?

''Neither one is a bad thing

The knight swung his shield and deflected the liquid.

When the pale yellow liquid struck the metal shield, smoke rose from it. A hole was eaten into the surface of the shield.

“That is quite a deadly poison!” commented the knight.

“You were really going to pour that into my ear!?” added Ooshiro.

The knight ignored the old man and silently squeezed the trigger of his long rifle.

Bluish-white light emitted from the side of the book loaded into the gun.

That bookshelf rifle drew out the meaning of that collection of words in the form of heat.

It was a more primitive method than adding a new ability with the words, but it was plenty powerful.

He fired.

A ball of light shot from the rifle’s barrel. However, he was not targeting either of those lying on the ground below him.

He targeted the black cat.

In the amount of time known as an instant, the bright yellow bullet grew to five meters across and traveled in a shallow arc to the south side of the grassy area.

The reverberation of electrical discharge was drowned out by the sound of destruction when it struck.

It exploded.

“!”

The southern end of the grassy area grew warped, crumbled, and then shrank inwardly, trees and dirt included.

In the next instant, everything within a twenty meter square was blasted up into the sky.

A tremendous roar was heard.

The knight said, “I doubt that was enough.”

He then turned toward the two below him.

“Now! I will handle the two of you. Even if this sullies my name, seeing this through is how I show my pride!”

The boy lying on the ground then muttered something.

“So you have decided what path you will take as well, have you?”

“What?” asked the knight.

However, he quickly lifted his rifle again and focused on the battle.

The book loaded in the rifle was already emitting bluish-white light from all of its pages.

If he squeezed the trigger, he could eliminate the two people clinging to a sheer cliff.

“I am sorry,” said the knight.

Unexpectedly, the boy answered him.

“There is no need to apologize.”

As he spoke, the boy suddenly stood up.

He stood atop the ground which should have been a cliff to him. He placed his feet on the ground and stood while keeping his body low.

“What…!?” The knight drew back. He held back up his shield and shouted, “Damn you! Have you added the same concept as us!?”

Without replying, the boy ran.

The knight’s comrades began to move and prepare to attack, but it was too late.

The boy circled around to the knight’s left which was the north. The knight tried to follow the boy’s motion with his rifle, but he did not make it in time.

With his back turned, the boy jumped lightly up.

He performed a reverse roundhouse kick.

It hit home.

His heel struck the knight’s left shoulder with more weight than expected.

The knight’s bones creaked and his body was lifted up.

“Kh.”

He endured the pain and lowered his hips to land properly. He tried to aim the rifle in his right arm toward the boy, but his body felt numb and he could only aim to the front.

While remaining on guard for another kick, the knight rotated his entire body. He held his shield toward the boy.

He found the boy landing from his kick on all fours.

He then gently lifted his body a bit before running. He circled around to the north once more.

When the knight tried to follow him, one of the giant attendants shouted out from behind him.

“Look!”

The knight turned toward the deep voice and found the old man named Ooshiro moving to the south of the grassy area. His stance was low, but he was definitely running.

“How?” muttered the knight.

South was set as down, so the ground should have been perfectly vertical.

He and his companions were only able to stand due to the effects of the philosopher’s stones they held. Their enemies should not have had any of their own, yet they were still running around on that vertical ground.

“How!?”

To the north of the grassy open area, a line of trees had escaped the destruction of the stone wall.

It now functioned as footing stretching out perpendicular to the ground. On one of the tree trunks, the battle beginning far below was visible. Sf stood there carrying a single café set.

She held a parasol, a portable cooler, a table, and chairs. She skillfully placed them on the tree trunk as she heard the knight’s question from far below: How?

Sf gave a small nod.

She pulled a single bullet from her pocket. On its side, the words “bullet, one more hit” were written.

“You made a mistake in your theory.”

She placed the bullet atop the table which was sitting on the line of trees.

The bullet remained still at first, but it eventually accelerated and began rolling.

“That area may appear to be a wall, but it is actually a slope,” said Sf as if to confirm it. “Setting south as down was a naïve decision but not a surprising one for a resident of a flat world such as 1st-Gear. …After all, the earth is round and Japan is located on the northern hemisphere.”

Sf looked at the grassy area below her. Sayama charged into the center of the enemy ranks and was fighting while focusing on evasion. He was running along a slope of about forty degrees while repeatedly evading and attacking.

Sayama’s method of attack was simple. He would circle around to the north of his enemy, choose an attack method such as a direct kick or roundhouse kick that would make full use of his body weight, and then directed it toward his enemy down the slope to the south.

Sayama had no choice but to stand on a slope.

He had to keep his stance low, but this made it easier to avoid his enemy’s attacks. When he was cornered, he could jump far to the south, using the slope to gain more distance. Sf nodded as she watched on.

“To forestall an initial attack from his enemy, he pressed down against the slope, pretending it was a wall.”

As she spoke, Sf placed the cooler’s strap over her right shoulder and held the parasol in her hand.

She suddenly looked up to find a winged archer had noticed her.

“Oh, dear,” said Sf as she opened the cooler.

The archer above brought a hand to his bowstring. The center of the string had a single piece of cloth attached. The cloth had words written on it. The archer drew the bowstring and an arrow of light appeared between the cloth and the bow.

Instead of firing right away, the archer twisted the cloth to the right.

The string grew tauter and the bow creaked, but the arrow of light multiplied to three.

Finally, the archer fired.

The sound of the light being released sounded similar to a flute.

As that high-pitched trio rained down from the sky, Sf bowed slightly.

“Thank you for such an ordinary attack. As thanks, I shall provide a common attack of my own.”

She pulled what looked like two long metal staffs from the cooler.

The two objects appearing from below the canned drinks were a machinegun and its barrel.

She attached the heavy barrel with one hand and loaded the ammunition belt. The first bullet was instantly brought into the chamber.

“Over four hundred thousand have been produced. That should be common enough.”

With that comment, Sf aimed into the sky and squeezed the trigger.

Sayama could tell he was being surrounded. His enemies were once more beginning to hold him in check.

The old men wearing square bonnets who looked like priests and the old women wearing hoods who looked like magicians were clearly keeping their distance while the two giant attendants began circling around to his north. They were preventing him from taking his advantageous position.

But Sayama felt that was fine as sweat flew from his brow.

At the very least, he had drawn the enemies away from the woods were Shinjou was and Ooshiro Kazuo had been able to escape.

That meant he need not worry about this battleground. And he had another thought.

…''I was right. Shinjou-kun did not fire.

When he had attacked the knight, he had given the signal, but Shinjou had not fired. He had predicted it, but it was still a slight shock.

''She really does continue to surprise me,'' he thought as he walked around.

“Shinjou-kun is serious about everything,” he muttered. “Even when she hesitates.”

It was because she took this so seriously that she had been unable to pull the trigger this time as well.

Sayama suddenly recalled what had happened that morning. He recalled Ooki’s words to him.

…''When those who rarely get serious finally do get serious, they can draw out a lot of power. Is that it?

“And thinking that you cannot get serious means you are constantly thinking about getting serious.”

Sayama decided Shinjou had to have reached that stage.

…''But what about me?

“Will I ever-…”

Would he ever get serious?

His questioning gaze caught sight of the end of a magician’s staff glowing. Instead of leaving behind an afterimage of the light, it looked more like the word was being burned into the atmosphere. Sayama did not recognize the word, but he could read it.

It meant fire.

He leaped as soon as he read it. He leaped south down the slope.

In the next instant, a pillar of fire shot up in the spot he had just been standing in.

As he heard the air burning, crimson flames shot up in a triple helix. The end of the spiral bloomed outwards and scattered through the air as the pillar of fire energetically came apart and disappeared.

Sayama landed.

At the same moment, Sayama realized the enemy’s formation was complete.

The priests and magicians to his north split to the left and right. The two giants traveled down the center of that group. They were approximately three meters tall. Under their dark green cloaks, those attendants wore light armor and were armed with black knives.

They could not make tight turns, but they used easily-wielded knives to cover for that disadvantage.

They came.

Sayama prepared himself. He could not defeat them head on. He needed to run around them. He lowered his body and sucked in a breath. He suddenly glanced over at his hard-to-move left arm and his left hand.

He saw the scars on his hand and the ring on his finger.

He tried to clench his left fist, but received only stabbing pain.

It was a phantom pain, but it felt real to him. And he could not swing the fist regardless.

An instant later, Sayama looked up from his left hand and ran.

He shrank down, stretched out, and sent his body forward.

At the same moment, he spotted a shadow coming from the sky above.

It was an archer.

''Not good,'' he muttered silently.

His enemies were not planning to have the giant attendants attack him.

They would surround him and he would be shot from the air.

“Kh.”

Sayama took in a breath and twisted his body around.

To avoid the coming attack as much as possible, he rolled along the ground.

But what fell to the ground was not an arrow or even a bow.

It was wings.

“!”

With the sound of flesh being struck, a giant four-winged form fell to the ground where Sayama had been a moment before. It was the archer who had been in the sky. Sayama could see red blood spewing from the base of his upper right wing.

Sayama got up on his knees and heard a certain sound before he could even wonder what was going on.

He heard gunfire.

He looked up. He looked to the north which was up to him.

In the sky there, another set of wings fell.

The four-winged archer fell into the woods to the east while staining his wings with red blood.

Only then did everyone look over.

A white and black figure was jumping down from a distant line of trees to the north.

“Sf-kun…”

She held a machinegun in her left hand, a parasol in her right, and a large cooler under her right arm.

Despite carrying two objects that looked too large for her body size, she was not running down the slope. She leaped through the sky.

She did not seem to care that one of the four-winged archers had fallen among some nearby trees.

She dropped down.

In the next instant, one of the magicians reacted. She wrote several words in the air, turned them into spears of light, and threw them at Sf.

The light flew with a high-pitched dash.

Sf took a single action in response. She held up the parasol in her right arm and opened it. With the sound of the wind being struck, Sf’s body appeared to be lifted up by the parasol as she began to float.

The spears of light passed by below her feet and stabbed into the grass in the distance.

Just as the spears of light could be heard bursting in the distance, Sf let go of the parasol.

After that, she traveled in a straight line.

Guided by gravitational acceleration, Sf’s heels crashed into the giant attendant who was on the left from Sayama’s perspective.

The impact caused a great noise.

“…!”

She sent all of her weight into both legs as they struck the attendant’s side and his body was knocked up into the air. Sayama backed away as the attendant rotated around in midair and slammed into the ground headfirst.

Repeated powerful sounds were heard as his armor and flesh crashed to the ground, but he eventually came to a stop.

The attendant no longer moved.

Instead, the slender woman who had only just now arrived on the scene moved.

She had short white hair and she wore a black dress with a white apron. Her silhouette spread out with the hem of her skirt and she bowed before Sayama.

“I am glad to see you are the same as ever.”

It was Sf.

Sayama glanced around. As Sf greeted him, the enemies were once more falling into formation around them.

The knight entered to replace the lost attendant and the two magicians moved back.

As they watched her, Sf opened the cooler and stuck her left hand inside. The formation of enemies prepared themselves as the sound of ice and water came from the cooler.

However, Sf was not looking at them. She was crouched down and looking toward Sayama.

“Sayama-sama, take this. It is a new product that is perfect for breaks between exercise.”

She handed him a plastic sports drink bottle. He took it and she bowed before sticking her left hand in the cooler.

“The rest of you can have this,” she said as she pulled out a black, glittering submachine gun.

She rotated around, firing all the while.

“!”

At the sound of gunfire, the attendant, knight, and other enemies frantically held up their shields or gauntlets.

But they were too slow.

As metallic noises rang out, they were either forced back or blown away.

Sayama stood up. Bluish-white smoke surrounded him and Sf. The formation around them had widened slightly and one magician lay collapsed on the ground. Sayama looked toward the magician while opening the lid of the drink bottle.

“She is not dead. As expected, they have some form of defensive power. This is not causing much damage.”

Sayama realized Sf’s right sleeve was torn. That showed she had already received some sort of attack. And the arm he saw below the torn black cloth was…

“A machine?” asked Sayama after a citrus flavor flowed into his mouth from the bottle.

Sf’s arm was made of what looked like narrow pearl-colored armor. The arm narrowed in considerably at the elbow joint between her upper arm and lower arm and only black plastic filled the gap.

Without turning around, Sf tossed the submachine gun to the ground.

“I am Sein Frau, an automaton created by German UCAT using 3rd-Gear technology. My body was put together for Itaru-sama’s exclusive use, so I am able to do the shopping or receive guests in bad weather and under inconvenient circumstances. My compact exterior can run for 24 hours if the philosopher’s stone is swapped out, so even the most sudden of unreasonable demands can be-…”

“Enough with the late-night infomercial sales pitch,” said Sayama as he handed the empty drink bottle back to Sf. And then, “What are your combat abilities?”

“According to German UCAT, the German people are the most excellent people in the world. I was created using their technology, so my combat abilities are top notch.”

“Didn’t that ‘most excellent’ right-wing country lose World War Two?”

“Truly excellent people need not desire victory. Victory is not needed in the eternal quest to grow stronger.”

“Who said that?”

“I do not know. However, it has been etched into my mind.”

As she spoke, Sf moved the machinegun in her right hand to her left and placed the muzzle against the ground. She moved the muzzle to the side so that it drew a curve in the dirt.

“My name is Sein Frau, ‘the woman who should exist’. I am a nonhuman who was born from the desire to ‘exist’. Now, come and bring the reason for your birth with you. If that reason is weaker than mine, you will not even be able to ‘exist’.”

[[Image:OnC_v01_0293.png|thumb]]

With a turn of her heel, she transformed the curve on the ground into a ring.

“I was created for the sake of my master. I sacrifice my steel for his bones, my chains for his flesh, my oil for his blood, and my determination for his heart. But there is one thing he has for which I have nothing to sacrifice.”

When the ring connected, she placed the gun’s muzzle on the point of connection.

“His tears. …As I have no emotions, I have nothing to give in return for those. As such, I do not desire my master’s tears. I desire only an outcome that requires no teardrops.”

She raised the gun.

“Steel for his bones, chains for his flesh, oil for his blood, determination for his heart, and…”

She took a breath.

“Selflessness for his tears.”

As she spoke, Sf squeezed the trigger while aiming at the line of enemies.

Shinjou sat on a tree trunk.

The trembling of her hands was beginning to abate, but strength would not return to her fingers.

“What do I…” she muttered.

''…lack at times like this?'' she finished in her thoughts.

She heard a voice from below.

“You had excellent scores in training and your marksmanship while providing covering fire from the rear guard was quite good as well. But it looks like you’re no good on the vanguard where a real battle is right before your eyes. Do you think I should remove you from Team Leviathan, Shinjou?”

Shinjou gave a quick gasp.

But the voice from below laughed.

“Hah. What’s with the serious look? I may be the supervisor, but you know I can’t do everything on my own discretion, right? You were added as a member on the recommendation of my old man. I can’t move you without his permission and your agreement.”

Shinjou frowned at the laughing voice and clenched her back teeth.

“Why are you always like this!? Ever since you took me in…”

“You really want to know?” said a smiling voice. “It’s because I know everything but understand nothing.” The voice then changed the subject. “Look, the fools are in trouble. Do whatever you can.”

Shinjou looked out toward the grassy area and realized what he meant.

Sayama and Sf moved around amid the gunfire and their enemies were collapsing from the attacks.

But a few of those had begun to move once more. First was the attendant Sf had defeated. He was trying to stand. And he was hidden behind another enemy, so Sayama and Sf could not see him.

Shinjou stood up on the tree trunk.

“Sayama-kun!”

As the knight charged toward her from the front, Sf charged in with her right shoulder held forward.

With the cooler still held under her right arm, she filled the gap between her and the knight in an instant.

The knight aimed his long rifle at her.

Sf raised the machinegun in her left arm slightly before swinging it.

She slammed her own machinegun against the enemy’s gun barrel.

With a metallic scraping noise, Sf pushed the knight’s rifle down and moved forward. Her running right foot reached the ground, but her left foot stepped down on the lowered rifle’s barrel.

The knight’s long rifle now had its tip sticking diagonally into the ground.

Sf used her machinegun as a cane and continued forward.

She thrust the machinegun into the ground and let go. She took a step along the knight’s rifle with her left foot and swung her right leg up to climb up the rifle.

The upward swing of her right leg continued into a kick.

Her foot flew toward the knight’s face. It was a straight and speedy kick.

The knight made up his mind in an instant.

He let go of the rifle.

With only the long rifle’s strap still in his hand, he leaped backwards.

“!”

The knight tugged on the strap as he moved back. The rifle that had been left stabbing into the ground was powerfully pulled back even with Sf halfway through her kick atop it.

He felt a bit of resistance, but the rifle still pulled out of the ground.

“!?”

Sf had her left pivot leg on the rifle, so her footing was pulled out from under her. She began to fall backwards.

Even so, she managed to kick off the rifle and jump high into the sky behind her.

But it was too late.

The knight had already pulled the rifle back into his hands by the strap.

He narrowed the sight in on Sf as she tumbled through the air.

Just as he was about to squeeze the trigger, something happened.

Sf’s body shrank down in the air and she rotated around once.

After jumping back, Sf had taken a crouching position in midair. Something was supporting her from below.

It was the machinegun she had stabbed into the ground like a cane earlier.

Sf’s right foot sat atop the gunstock that was sticking up toward the sky.

In the next instant, she stretched her body out and jumped.

Her skirt flapped through the air and the bullet of light produced by the knight’s rifle shot by below her feet.

Sf flew.

She swung the cooler through the air above her head and cartwheeled using it as a fulcrum.

She landed behind the knight.

The knight turned his shield toward her just as she pulled an object from the cooler and threw it at him with her back to him.

What she tossed under her arm with only a flick of the wrist was a large cylindrical object.

The knight reflexively swung his shield to strike the flying object from the side.

With a heavy yet soft sound, the shield deflected the object. It flew accurately back towards Sf.

The knight continued his rotation to aim the rifle at Sf.

As he did, he realized what the object she had thrown was.

It was a 500 mL plastic drink bottle.

“Wha-…?”

The dumbfounded knight saw Sf stand up.

She was facing him. Her left hand was in the cooler. Her gaze was focused squarely on the center of the knight’s wide open body.

With the sound of pieces of ice striking each other, she pulled a long metal object out of the cooler.

It was a shotgun.

Sf swung the barrel forward, using the action to cock it.

She used the reverse motion of it sliding back into place to pull the trigger.

A gunshot exploded out.

The shot first destroyed the drink bottle flying between the knight and Sf.

Immediately afterwards, it struck the knight’s breastplate.

A sound of impact exploded out.

The knight flew backwards as if he had received an uppercut.

And at that moment, a voice rang out across the open area.

“Sayama-kun!”

Sf turned toward the voice and saw a large shadow.

It was the attendant she had supposedly defeated earlier. His giant form had stood up and was now charging toward her.

After she had just fired, evasive actions were asking too much of Sf.

And the attendant held a knife in his right hand. It would strike her momentarily.

“A total loss is expected,” concluded Sf expressionlessly.

Her body grew limp as she prepared for the shock.

But then an attack flew toward the charging attendant from the side.

“…!?”

It was Sayama.

From a position back and to the right of Sf, he used the momentum of the slope and all his strength to throw a reverse roundhouse kick. His heel sliced through the air in a sharp curve before striking the attendant in the side.

It sounded more like a piercing strike than a dull one.

The attendant lost his forward momentum.

However, Sayama was half-deflected and thrown through the air due to the great difference in inertia. He kept low to the ground as he landed and took a breath.

He was not looking toward Sf. He was looking toward the woods.

Shinjou stood on the slope there.

After seeing where he was looking, Sf amended her conclusion.

“Partial damage is expected.”

Immediately afterwards, the charging attendant and Sf crossed paths.

The sound of fibers being torn could be heard.

Everything past Sf’s right shoulder flew through the air.

With its support gone, the cooler fell to the ground.

Sayama turned around and asked, “Does it hurt?”

“No, I have no sense of pain. The only pain I feel is from being unable to remain by Itaru-sama’s side.”

As she replied, her right arm fell atop the dirt and rolled two or three times down the slope.

And Sf saw something else.

Behind her, the attendant was preparing for his next attack with blood spilling from his mouth.

Sf rotated around and prepared to intercept him, but then her eyes narrowed slightly.

Behind the charging attendant, the knight was aiming his long rifle her way after he had recovered due to something written by one of the priests. And behind him, the remaining magician wrote something in the air using light.

The magician was not looking at Sf and Sayama. She was looking toward the woods where Shinjou had emerged.

Sf sensed Sayama moving behind her. She moved as well. However…

“…!”

The attendant’s charge, the knight’s shot, and the magician’s blast all came before Sf could aim the shotgun in her left hand or Sayama could take any kind of action.

The three attacks were loosed in quick succession.

Sayama saw the attack coming.

But it did not come from in front of him. It came from above. It came from above the charging attendant.

“What are you doing!?”

It was a girl.

The girl wore a lightweight white outfit and held something with a long silhouette in both hands. Her heels slammed into the attendant’s back. It was less a landing and more like a pile driver smashing the attendant into the ground.

By the time Sayama realized the girl held a long single-edged spear and a shield, he had already heard the attendant’s giant body crashing to the ground.

The attendant was struck to the ground without bouncing as if he had been hit with a hammer appropriate for his body size.

The knife he had held stabbed into the ground. It was only fifteen centimeters away from Sf’s foot.

However, she had escaped any further damage. Nothing had happened to Sayama either.

''What is going on?'' wondered Sayama, but then he recalled two other things.

Specifically, the knight and magician behind the attendant.

The knight had supposedly fired his long rifle.

That bullet of light should have destroyed everything within a twenty meter square of the point it hit, but it had never arrived.

Sayama frowned and took a closer look.

Beyond the collapsed attendant and the person who stood on his back was another silhouette.

This one was a young man.

He wore a white coat and held a giant single-edged sword in both hands.

To cover his body, he held the large white sword so the bottom of the grip was pointed up and the blade was pointed down. A bluish-white electrical discharge came from its blade.

Sayama recognized both of these newcomers.

Sf spoke to them as if to reconfirm Sayama’s memory.

“You are late, Izumo-sama, Kazami-sama.”

“Don’t say that… But I do apologize for not making it in time to save your arm.”

The one apologizing and holding a long, curving spear and shield was Kazami.

She wore the same type of white suit Shinjou had worn the night before, but her waist was wrapped in cloth. She also had a backpack that folded over.

She turned toward Sayama with the same smile she always had at school.

“Oh? You don’t look too surprised.”

“Of course not. After all the bizarre things you two do, this is easy to accept.”

“Well, that’s disappointing,” said Izumo.

With his back to Sayama, he lowered the giant sword using just his right arm and glanced over his shoulder.

“Team Leviathan Primary Team, Izumo Kaku. …How’s that for a cool way to name myself?”

Sayama ignored him.

Something else was bothering him: the magician’s spell. It had unmistakably been fired toward Shinjou.

''Is she okay?'' he wondered as he turned around.

He found a figure standing before the woods with her long hair waving in the wind. It was Shinjou.

But she was not alone.

Another familiar figure stood next to Shinjou. It was a tall old man wearing a white shirt, a black vest, and black trousers. When Sayama saw him standing there empty-handed except for his black gloves, he muttered the man’s name.

“The librarian of Kinugasa Library, Siegfried Zonburg…”

The man nodded, turned around, and met Sayama’s gaze with his own blue eyes. His white beard moved as he spoke.

“You need to add two other titles to that: former consultant to the National Defense Department and sorcerer.”

“Aren’t you forgetting one!?” shouted the knight.

Everyone turned toward him. The knight vigorously swung his long rifle up toward Siegfried.

“You are the great criminal who destroyed our 1st-Gear!!”

Izumo was closest to the knight, so he reacted first.

“How about you stop that!?” he shouted while swinging his large sword horizontally.

The single-edged sword soared smoothly and easily through the air.

However, the sound it produced was not that of it striking the knight’s armor.

The magician interfered.

“What!?”

The old woman used her staff as a shield to catch Izumo’s blade in front of the knight.

The staff bent and then broke and she was knocked into the air.

In exchange, the knight managed to pull the trigger of his long rifle.

It produced a metallic noise and light was emitted from the book loaded into the rifle.

It fired.

Light flew in a shallow arc toward Siegfried.

It was as if it had been thrown down at him from above.

In response, Siegfried lightly swung his right hand.

Something fell down from his palm.

It was a piece of paper.

Siegfried took a step forward.

He swung his right arm up at the light shooting toward him.

That mass of power had grown to five meters across.

He casually struck it with the piece of paper in his right hand.

In the very next moment, that powerful light disappeared.

As everyone’s eyes opened wide, Siegfried took another step.

“!”

He began to run.

The paper in the hand he held above his head had writing on it.

That paper that had been blank just before now had a certain destruction report written in powerful handwriting.

Sayama could not read the writing, but the images were transferred to his mind.

It was an itemized list of the dead in a certain district of a city.

Siegfried held the paper in his hand as he ran.

As he clenched it into a cylindrical shape, a blade of light appeared from it.

“…So this is the power of a grudge.”

He muttered those words and moved all in the same instant.

Siegfried charged right up to the knight.

The knight aimed his rifle and fired.

However, the attack shot below Siegfried’s arm.

Siegfried had moved as if about to sink down to the ground, but had instead raised the sword of light above his head and swung it down.

His strike targeted the knight’s rifle.

The trajectory of the blade left an afterimage of light behind and the sound of the gun being sliced sounded like a rock splitting open.

The front of the destroyed rifle where the book was loaded slid vertically before completely falling off. Seeing that, Siegfried stood up and swung his left hand.

The knight tossed his rifle aside and took a defensive stance.

However, Siegfried’s left hand was not headed toward him.

His left hand grabbed ahold of the book as it fell toward the ground.

Siegfried then held it out toward the knight and spoke.

“Do not drop this. Treat your books carefully. Even when making use of them.”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 9|Chapter 9]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 11|Chapter 11]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume8 Chapter 11

2026-06-17T03:37:20Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 11: Complicated Power==
[[Image:OnC_v08_0305.png|thumb]]
''It becomes such a jumbled mess because it is all gathered together

''As fragments, it would simply scatter

The development department on UCAT HQ’s second basement was filled with confusion.

The fact that it was on one of the higher basements was a problem.

“Keep in mind that this is the most important place! Carry down the PCs and all the other physical equipment!”

A woman in a lab coat commanded the others while tapping a meter stick on the wall. The nametag on her chest said Tsukuyomi Shizuru.

She stood in the white corridor in front of the development department. It led to the storerooms and the armory and the walls had opened to reveal the transport rails.

“If we use the armory transport elevators, we can send all the equipment to the fifth basement.”

She glanced over at the elevator console on the wall. It controlled all four large elevators in the armory and the BF5 light was on for the first time she had ever seen.

“But I’m amazed the higher ups removed the limiter on that top secret area.”

A man carrying a bundle of designs walked up and she turned toward him.

“Kashima, throw those on the next pallet. We’re using it for paper.”

“No, these have a divine protection of metal on them, so they’ll be fine with the swords. We don’t want them burning, after all. More importantly, what will we be doing now?”

“Have you seen the map of the fifth basement?”

“I have. It covered the basement itself and the ventilation space that acts like an attic.”

“And if we hack into the communication line from that attic, we can get through even if they jam us.”

“Yes,” agreed Kashima. “I’ll be able to call Natsu-san and tell her I can’t make it home today.”

“…”

“And I’m sure she’ll bravely tell me an extra wonderful dinner will be waiting for me the next day! Ahh, I want to let those damn Americans hear what they’re doing!”

“I see you keep going even when people fall silent now.”

“What are you talking about? This is valuable evidence of my happiness. I’m sure your husband used to say this kind of thing while writhing around. The two of you must have been so happy.”

Tsukuyomi recalled the past. Miyako had been young and her husband had still been with her. She then imagined that husband holding a family photo at work while crawling on the floor or wriggling around in the corridor.

“That’s just creepy.”

“I see. Let me take this chance to tell you something important: there is something wrong with you.”

“There’s something wrong with you in the opposite direction, so go check in a mirror. And can’t you carry some more things out while you talk? Like Atsuta’s stuff?”

“His computer probably has nothing but weird songs on it. American UCAT would probably think it’s the mantra of some weird cult, so do you think we could distract them with it?”

Meanwhile, another figure walked down the corridor.

It was an automaton. The black-haired automaton wore a white work apron and bowed once she noticed Tsukuyomi.

“Yes, sir. This floor will soon be purged and hidden. Anyone who has completed their preparations should take the elevator down. The third and fourth basements are already in the queue, so please hurry.”

Her instructions were followed by a small sound.

The sound of tearing paper came from the top and bottom of the walls forming the development department room.

Immediately afterwards, a shaking filled the corridor.

The empty room was removed from the corridor. It and the production rooms connected to it moved away like a ship being rowed out to sea or a car trembling as it began to drive.

Tsukuyomi looked in the gap, but she sensed nothing there.

There was no light or darkness. She could tell nothing beyond that there was nothing there. The development room drifted out on that unknowable ocean as if the unknowable gap were spreading.

The automaton let out a breath much like a sigh.

“After being purged, the areas with primary concept expansion floors will have the normal floor fixed in place and the concept expansion floor hidden. That means the development room will no longer exist in this world.”

“I see. So you hide the floor on such a fundamental level that no information can be restored from residual thoughts or records.”

“Yes, sir. Even if they attempt to restore the floor, the automaton in charge of the purge would be needed to accurately reconnect the severed parent string vibration. All that will remain are the harmless areas such as the cafeteria, the library, and the training rooms as well as the new headquarters as bait.”

“The new headquarters? Is everyone still managing the purge from there?”

“Yes, sir. But the development room was the last major area to be purged, so their work is finished and they will be rewriting everything to normal floors. Please hurry down. Otherwise you will be trapped on a purged floor that may or may not ever be recovered.”

The last of the equipment was being loaded on a pallet situated on the transport rails in the corridor wall. The members of the development department were competing to see just how much of their personal items they could fit on the tatami mat sized pallet.

…''This is a war.

She turned to the development room with a bitter smile and noticed a new wall had appeared there. That was how the corridor was meant to look. The concept space development department had been overwritten with the real version. The wall was somewhat transparent and she could see their room drifting away on the other side.

“Director Tsukuyomi!”

Kashima called for her from down the corridor. The transport pallet had been sent off at low speed and he turned back among the group following it.

“Please hurry!”

“I’ll be right there!”

She began jogging and brought a hand to her hips hoping they would be fine, but then she turned around. The automaton remained in front of the vanishing development room.

Just as she was going to tell the automaton to follow, the automaton bowed.

“I will be waiting for you to retrieve this space.”

She leaped into the room that was drifting away. She jumped over the unknowable gap that had grown to a few meters and she landed in the entrance of that empty room.

“You…”

“Yes, sir. I have determined there is no need to worry, Director Tsukuyomi. To retrieve the purged floor falling into the enclosed space, the automaton who severed the parent string vibration must reconnect it, but the process will be more stable if there is a voice calling from the purged floor.”

As she spoke, she turned toward Tsukuyomi from the open door of the room.

“A few of the automatons – including me – have difficulty fighting. We specialize in housework, cleaning, or otherwise preserving a room, so I have determined this is the perfect job for us.”

“…”

“A doll is meant to be stored in a box, but they are also meant to be taken out once more by human hands. Also, I have heard that the Coppélia recreation rate rises if people wish for it. Of course, it was not until later that I learned what Coppélia meant, but that is why we will be waiting for those human hands. That is what I have determined in order to further affirm my decision.”

Tsukuyomi listened to her and briefly lowered her gaze.

“…”

When she looked up once more, there was strength in her eyes and a smile on the corners of her mouth. She decided to emulate the phrase the automaton had been repeating.

“So should I say ‘yes, sir’?”

“And should I reply with ‘Testament’?”

A distortion filled the automaton’s voice and her body seemed to grow fuzzy.

She was falling into the unknowable space and yet she still bowed.

Tsukuyomi could not hear her parting words and she grew too blurry to see.

“!?”

The next thing Tsukuyomi knew, nothing but a wall lay before her.

“Hurry up, Director Tsukuyomi! Did you hurt your back again!?”

Tsukuyomi pulled a pen from her pocket and threw it at Kashima who was poking his head out from the armory entrance.

On the surface, the battle on the runway was beginning to move in a certain direction.

The mechanical dragons facing Abram and Sibyl had fallen back a bit to draw their two enemies away from Japanese UCAT’s main force.

Something then charged into the slight gap that created.

“Another transport plane!?”

A dark green four-engine transport plane slipped onto the runway and formed a barrier. The Japanese UCAT members watched as Humvees and soldiers in blue armored uniforms left the back hatch.

“Outta the way, damn you! I wanted to see Sibyl-san fight, so why do I have to see these filthy men!?”

The men in white armored uniforms were sent flying by the bullets that answered their anger.

Their spatial barriers formed from defense concepts weakened the bullets somewhat, but…

“We’ll die if they hit the joints! Especially the back of the neck! Everyone, make sure to tighten your collar!”

Everyone obeyed the voice of their commander and moved forward. The ones holding meter tall shields moved to the front and the ones with submachine guns followed while crouched down.

“Damn,” muttered a young soldier.

The sounds of gunfire, the distant voices of the mechanical dragons, and the unending roar from the transport plane’s engines filled the background.

“Are we really not allowed to use real bullets!?”

He held a shield and his commander covered him from behind and answered his question.

“This is not a clear battle against ‘hostile forces’ like 1st or 3rd were. We’re supposed to be settling things with the people holding onto a past grudge, but this is another UCAT.”

“Then is this what’s going on!? Once things settle down here and everyone cools their heads, they’ll meet on the political front and tell the Americans we were only having a mock battle while they used real bullets!? They’ll say America was at fault and so they need to back off? Are we just pawns in that plan!?”

A middle-aged man firing a sniper rifle next to the complaining man was blown backwards.

“!?”

He looked over and saw a bullet had made its way into the joint of the armor on the right shoulder.

As the man tried to get up, the younger soldier tried to stop him.

“Stay still! You need medical help!”

“I can handle that on my own. More importantly, hand over your gun. If you’re going to complain instead of shoot, I’ll shoot with my left arm.”

He got up, seemed to ignore his unmoving right arm, and used his left hand to open the first aid pack at his waist.

The younger man tried to help, but he stopped him.

“You’re only talking about the political side. It’s true we’re nothing but pawns on that front, but there’s something we can accomplish here. Look behind you.”

The younger man looked back and saw Japanese UCAT headquarters disguised as a transport control building.

“Not a single member of American UCAT has made it in there. That’s the present issue. If we let even one person through, it means we weren’t able to complete our job. But if we hold this runway until the evacuation is complete, we can turn to those on the political front and tell them it’s their turn to do their job.”

He pressed an emergency pouch on his right shoulder and held out his left hand without even wiping off the blood.

“Give me your ammo and then fall back. If I can protect your retreat, I’ll have accomplished something only I could do.”

A bullet shot past to the side and produced a metallic sound from the commander’s shield. The younger soldier listened to it with his back to the older man.

“…”

He silently closed his eyes and passed his submachine gun to the middle-aged man.

“I see.”

The man nodded and used his chin to point toward the disguised transport control building.

“Now, go.”

However, his expression quickly changed to a frown.

“Hey.”

He spoke up because of what the younger man had done.

After handing over his submachine gun, he had shrugged, crouched down, and picked up the rifle the other man had dropped. After picking up the bolt-action sniper rifle, he sighed.

“You can’t aim right now, so just spray bullets around with that. I’ll use this since you can’t.”

“Take good care of it. My gun has the name of a goddess carved into it.”

“Mine has a 2nd name on it too.”

The young soldier lowered his hips, pressed the stock against his shoulder, and aimed.

However, he heard a metallic sound before he could fire.

It was thrown down from the sky as if falling and it was loud.

“…!”

The commander standing before him was slammed to the asphalt.

“What was that?” gulped someone in the back and a certain figure appeared.

A slender old man in a gray suit stood about ten meters away and his blue eyes were turned their way.

“There. I just have to get through there and we’ll have a path to the building behind you.”

His words were followed by the young soldier, the middle-aged soldier, and all the soldiers behind them simultaneously pulling the triggers. The mock bullets with “mock” written on the front flew toward their enemy while receiving the concept protection of 1st-Gear.

However, a snap of his fingers stopped it all.

A splendid metallic noise filled the air between the two sides and a straight line was gouged into the ground.

The bullets were all slammed to the ground and the elderly man’s right hand shot up once more.

“It’s no use. It’s no use, Japanese UCAT. Your false evil cannot stop justice.”

His words were followed by the young soldier with the rifle forcefully rising to his feet.

“False evil and justice are meaningless on the battlefield!”

He stood up and pulled the trigger just as the elderly man snapped his fingers.

And he did so twice.

The same metallic noise filled the air twice.

The first crushed the flying bullets and the second came from directly over the young soldier’s head.

“…!”

A form flew through the air.

It looked both black and white as it leaped while backed by the sky that was filling with purple darkness.

The form used their left arm to block the metallic noise that had appeared over the young soldier’s head.

“!”

The left arm fell from the shoulder and crashed to the ground, but the flying figure was otherwise unaffected. They rotated around once, their skirt filled with air, and they landed on the ground.

The figure was wearing black and white clothes. They were Japanese UCAT’s combat maid uniform and combat apron. Above those two garments was short red hair.

“Welcome to Japanese UCAT, American UCAT Inspector Odor-sama. I am #8 and I am acting as the automaton representative of Japanese UCAT.”

She bowed and turned toward the young soldier and the others behind him.

“The evacuation is complete. Please continue after them. We will cover for you.”

With that, her expression changed to a smile. Her eyes bent shallowly and her red hair blew in the wind.

“As you have completed your mission, we would like to receive you as guests.”

That was followed by more motion.

Maids burst from the entrance to the headquarters while holding heavy machineguns, shields, and various blades. They formed a final line of defense in front of the building.

“We betrayed 3rd-Gear, defected to Low-Gear, and rested beneath Kanda, so we were unable to take part in the Leviathan Road with 3rd-Gear. This is only the equipment the development department was unable to transport down, but we will use it against American UCAT.”

As #8 spoke, her arm rose up from the ground.

It drifted a bit, but it soon flew toward her left shoulder and reconnected with a sound of scraping metal.

Meanwhile, small objects spilled from below her skirt and apron: screws, springs, small metal panels, and plastic panels.

She used precise gravitational control to combine them.

“They are nothing but simple handguns, but there are thirty-two of them.”

They all floated around her as she faced Odor. With the final crimson light of the setting sun in the sky behind her, bullets loaded into all thirty-two of her weapons. With the sound reverberating around her, the red-haired automaton opened her mouth, lowered her waist, and curtsied.

“Now, then. Let the service begin.”

With that, she ran forward.

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> ran.

Her gravitational control and limb output were set to “hard” and she moved her body as she wished.

This gave her a running speed of a few dozen kilometers per hour and a jumping distance of almost ten meters.

…''Although the excessive heat production reduces the time I can remain active.

She was a reception model, not a combat one.

Her combat knowledge came from the shared memories of the automatons that had remained on 3rd-Gear’s side. It specifically came from their memories fighting Team Leviathan.

At the time, the automatons on the battlefield had set their movement ability at only a bit above that of a human. That had not pushed their heat production too high and thus allowed them to continue fighting.

But the situation was different now. The opponent was different, the goal was different, and the time available was different.

…''And I can use everyone’s experiences for a greater result.

She leaped in order to draw American UCAT’s attention, to jump over them, and to get closer to Odor who was luring her deeper into their battlefield.

She landed on the asphalt and immediately began running. The enemies that had visually followed her began approaching and firing on her.

But she did not mind. This movement pattern had been included in the memories of the thirty-odd automatons she had copied over.

While running, she spread her fingers and swung her hand toward the small approaching unit.

Gunfire rang out as flames burst from the thirty-two barrels behind her that were each tracking a different enemy.

The black handguns moved like bees as they freely flew through the air, charged into the enemy ranks, and began firing from every angle including from above.

Rather than targeting the joints of their mechanized armored uniforms, the flying guns targeted the protruding points. Handguns had poor penetrating ability, so she gave the bullets the power of a broad surface. This was even more an issue with flat-tipped mock bullets.

No matter what kind of armor someone wore, if their raised fingertip was accurately fired on, the impact would knock back their hand. A hit to the jaw would act as an uppercut and a direct hit to the edge of the armor’s exterior would have the same effect as a powerful shove to that spot.

However, most such places were at the ends of body parts that moved around the most and a direct hit required high-speed decision-making and accurate firing.

<nowiki>#8’s</nowiki> abilities as a machine achieved that.

The small unit she charged into was struck all over by pinpoint impacts.

One tripped after a shot delivered a horizontal strike to the acceleration actuator on his lower leg, one was knocked into the air by a shot fired into the chin of his helmet guard from below, another was sent into a spin by repeated shots from the right into his backpack and was tripped by a shot from the left to the kneecap of the leg he was spinning on, and yet another accidentally fired on his fellow soldiers after a shot struck the barrel of his machinegun from the side.

It was all done with the weakest firearms known as handguns, with the weakest bullets known as mock bullets, and by the weakest creation known as a reception automaton.

All that remained was the reverberation of gunfire, the handguns flying through the darkening sky as if they had wings, and #8 who ran ahead of them.

Her eyes were on Odor who took a step back and she ran toward him.

The sky above was changing from purple to dark blue and it was primarily filled with metallic sounds, mechanical dragon footsteps, and the roaring of transport plane engines.

That was proof that the Japanese UCAT members were retreating.

However, there was still something requiring her attention.

…''That man.

American UCAT’s inspector had the ability to crush an opponent from above when he snapped his fingers.

A simple observation suggested it was a strike from a gravity concept, but she did not fully understand its identity and traits. When leaping in to protect the others, she had received the attack with her left arm, but some aspects of it were still uncertain.

If she did not clarify its details, putting together a countermeasure in the future would prove difficult.

She could tell it was a gravity attack rather than a simple impact because its targets did not bounce.

Also, the power flew from his fingertips to the sky where it could be said to “hit” and it was launched diagonally down from there. If another object got in the way, it would strike the obstruction instead.

It was a fast and surefire attack. Japanese UCAT possessed defensive concepts, but this attack crushed the concept along with its target. Its maximum range seemed to be approximately three hundred meters and there was no sign of a limitation on how many times it could be used.

…''I have determined that power is unmatched for middle or close range.

However, Odor would quickly use the power to defend against a sniper shot or any other long-range attack.

…''Does he have a concept for attacking and for sensing?

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> spread her arms and lowered down as she approached Odor.

They were approximately thirty meters apart.

A blue mechanical dragon was located about one hundred meters behind him and its pointed snout knocked something into the air.

It was a white god of war.

The god of war’s arms and torso were broken, but Sibyl was nowhere near it.

Five pillars of smoke rose into the sky beyond the barrier formed by a transport plane and #8 determined those were ones that had been shot down by Sibyl and Abram.

Abram was not visible on the runway either and #8 understood that this was her battlefield.

“The guests have already been brought inside, so the only remaining job is cleaning the front walk they used.”

She was only twenty meters from Odor now.

She brought her right shoulder forward and held out her right hand as if to perform a jab.

At the same time, the black handguns in the air moved as if flapping their nonexistent wings.

In place of a flapping sound, the sound of loading bullets rang out and the guns flew forward in four groups of eight.

They approached within five meters of Odor.

One group flew in a horizontal circle, one flew in a circle tilted a little to the west, one flew in a circle tilted a little to the east, and the last revolved in a greatly tilted circle that surrounded all the others.

A model of heavenly bodies was formed from metal guns.

They all rotated while altering their speed in an attempt to throw off Odor’s interception as much as possible.

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> jumped further while focusing on the movements of the guns.

She performed a spin as she ran, her skirt flipped up toward the night sky, and metal parts launched from it and into that sky.

Gravitational control managed by the movements of her left hand constructed a new firearm that landed in that hand.

“This is the sniper rifle ‘Little Steely’. It is meant for use against small tanks, but there is no need to worry as it is loaded with mock bullets.”

She ran and heard a laugh as she further approached.

It was Odor’s voice and he raised his right arm.

“Amusing! You are most amusing, automaton! Did you think my defenses could not react to a high-speed round from a sniper rifle at point blank range if you were holding me down with rapid handgun fire!?”

She continued on without answering.

[[Image:OnC_v08_0325.png|thumb]]

Amid the wind her running produced, she swung her right hand to permit the handguns to fire.

She primarily targeted Odor’s extremities with extra focus on his right hand. He would have difficulty defending against attacks from behind, so she also targeted the base of his right shoulder blade and other parts of the human body needed to swing the right arm.

She chose timing that would allow him to intercept one shot. That could allow her to analyze his power.

However…

…''If I defeat him here, that will no longer be a danger.

As she thought, she moved her fingers to fire.

“!”

Thirty-two distinct gunshots rang out.

She was less than ten meters away and she took the final step.

She then saw the blue mechanical dragon one hundred meters behind the elderly man turn its head toward her.

Its mouth was pointed slightly down to face her, it was opened, and there was light inside.

This was its dragon cannon.

…''It can’t be.

She attempted to predict what would happen, but this situation did not exist in her copied memories.

“You’re having the dragon cannon fired on you!?”

That question became reality.

A bluish-white beam of light wide enough to envelop a small house tore across the runway.

A scorching sound filled the air and it moved directly toward Odor.

Just before it reached him, he snapped his fingers. This was the strike #8 had allowed him with her timing.

However, his right hand was pointed behind him rather than at her.

“Ah,” she said without meaning too.

She had predicted his intention.

The power produced by the snap of his fingers had a range of approximately three hundred meters. At only a hundred meters behind him, the mechanical dragon was within range.

A metallic sound erupted from below its mouth as it produced the dragon cannon.

The roar of his power crushed the dragon cannon, but only the lower half of the beam.

“…!?”

In front of the dragon, its attack of light with actual mass was slammed into the ground and spread across the asphalt. Its heat burnt the asphalt, but as if it had bounced off, it did not tear into the asphalt. It simply spread out as it was held down.

However, #8’s high level visual devices saw a strange fact about Odor’s attack.

…''It didn’t tear into the dragon cannon!?

It had torn into the space that the dragon cannon was passing through.

…''He attacked the space from above?

She wondered why because it had to be easier to attack the light rather than the space. It also should have been easier to form a wall with the power that would have stopped the lower half of the beam.

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> realized that Odor’s attack had a certain characteristic beyond a mere gravity attack.

If she took advantage of it, she had a chance of defeating him.

But even as she thought that, she saw the mechanical dragon instantly stop firing its dragon cannon.

The bottom half had been cleanly torn away and the remaining half-cylinder was flying down toward her. It had been fired at a slight downward angle and Odor slipped through the gap created by the missing lower half.

However, the remaining top half was going to hit her.

And that was precisely what happened.

“!”

She did not feel the damage of the direct hit. In the instant her body was destroyed, all of her sense devices were overloaded and disconnected.

She saw her left arm vanish beyond the elbow, her torso was broken from the lower left chest to the right side, and she felt the inner parts of her back touching the air all the way up to her neck.

…''I have determined my face has received considerable damage as well.

She determined she wanted to be repaired, but that brought a question. That was not necessary at the moment, so why had she made that decision?

However, she reached another conclusion as well: she wanted to avoid falling to the ground.

…''Why?

Her memories brought the answer to that question.

It was based on her past experience of a loss.

The boy who had defeated her had not held her down or knocked her to the ground. He had lifted her up onto his shoulder.

…''Oh.

Once she remembered that, she accepted her decision.

…''A doll naturally wants to be held by someone rather than thrown to the floor.

She decided to release that memory to the others if she was safely repaired. That would give them the answer to accept that they were automatons.

She then gave herself into the fall.

“…”

Just before she hit the asphalt, her mind entered sleep mode.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume8 Chapter 10|Chapter 10]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume8 Chapter 12|Chapter 12]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 1

2026-06-16T05:05:31Z

N-Ch:

[[Image:OnC_v01_0032-0033.png|thumb]]
''It was probably at that moment

''When that which had been stopped

''Began moving once more

—''To me, trying to find or soothe oneself is nothing more than an illusion.

==Chapter 1: Sayama’s Beginning==
[[Image:OnC_v01_0035.png|thumb]]
''The privilege of those who know themselves

''Is being able to restrict oneself

''There is no more relying on others

Below the blue sky were two rows of blossoming cherry trees.

The road between those two rows led to a cement wall surrounding a large area of land. The stone gatepost at the opening to the west was inscribed with the words “Taka-Akita Academy”.

The schedule posted on the gate read “spring break” and the gate itself sat open with no one to pass through.

Once one passed through the gate, the central road continued with the cherry trees on either side.

These trees were in full bloom as well. Continuing further led to a half hectare general sports ground to the right and a martial arts facility as large as a great hall to the left.

Continuing straight on led not to a school building but to a faculty building.

The school buildings were lined up in all four compass points with the faculty building at the center. This was all one school, but other than the six general school buildings, it was broken down by specialization. To provide a proper environment, some of the school buildings were surrounded by rows of trees, but others had a research plant equipped with a silo or an asphalt course for test driving.

The buildings built very nearby those school buildings were the student dormitories.

This school took up the area that would cover three-fourths of a city. It had a few shopping districts, farms, and factories on the grounds and a lot of the city’s people lived inside it.

And every facility within possessed a certain mark.

It was the mark of IAI, the Izumo Aviation Institute. IAI supported this academy city.

However, the academy was nearly deserted during spring break.

This was even true for the western general school buildings nearest the main gate.

A single figure could be seen at the second year general school building just north of the faculty building.

A boy stood on the second story landing of the emergency staircase.

Despite it being spring break, the boy wore his school uniform, blazer and all, and the buttons of his shirt were buttoned all the way up to the collar.

His hair was slicked back and a single stripe of white could be seen on either side. Below that hair were sharp eyes and a sharp face.

He was looking up into the sky.

Floating in the blue sky were thin white clouds and the shadow of an airplane making a wide curve through the air.

“So the American soldiers at Yokota are not taking a break either. They also prefer high places like me. And they too do not return home even when they have the chance,” he said.

He swung up his left arm and the sleeve slid down. A white scar could be seen on his left fist and he wore a woman’s ring on the middle finger. A silver wristwatch was also revealed on his left wrist. The hands pointed to 2:30 PM.

He pulled a single piece of paper from his pocket.

“Sayama Mikoto-sama. To complete the transfer of rights left with us by your grandfather, the late Sayama Kaoru-shi, we ask that you visit the Okutama IAI General Tokyo Facility on March 30 at 6 PM.”

It was an invitation. That simple text was followed by an IAI map and the name of the one inviting Sayama.

“IAI section chief, Ooshiro Kazuo, hm?”

…''The old man, hm?

When Sayama’s grandfather had died, that elderly man had been the first to come rushing over for the funeral. The tall, gray-haired man always wore a white coat at IAI. The two of them would speak every once in a while and the man seemed to enjoy it when Sayama called him “old man”.

But as Sayama looked at the invitation, he muttered, “My grandfather was a corporate blackmailer, so what rights could he have had at IAI?”

He turned around to find the emergency exit and the wall. The aluminum door was polished, but the wall was dirty with sand and dust. Out of sudden curiosity, he approached the wall and touched it. The sand came off and stuck to his finger.

“Hm…”

Just as he wiped off his finger, the emergency exit moved a bit.

A young woman in personal clothes poked her head out through the slight opening. As the bangs of her short brown hair waved, her blue eyes turned in the direction Sayama had been not long before. “Huh?” she said and tilted her head.

Sayama said, “Over here, Ooki-sensei. You must have a lot of free time to be at school during spring break.”

Hearing that, the woman named Ooki frowned and turned around.

“I was sleeping and-…wait, the same goes for you. Are you trying to fully enjoy your youth by staring into the sky in a place like this? Also, Sayama-kun.”

“What is it? If you have a question, then out with it.”

“Okay, my first question: Why do you speak like that to your teacher?”

“That is my acting style. You lose as soon as you question it, Ooki-sensei. Now, any other questions?”

“Okay, my second question: If I punch a student during spring break does it count as school violence?”

“It does not matter as long as no one finds out. So who are you planning to punch? This must be quite a troublemaker if they can anger you.”

“And my final question: …Have you ever looked in a mirror?”

“I use one for a good long time every day. You really do like asking such obvious questions.”

“I was an idiot to try asking questions to someone filled with such originality. In fact, are you sure that acting style is okay?”

In response to that annoyed comment, Sayama removed his hand from the wall and swiped it forcefully through the air. The cloth of the sleeve let out a noise.

“Do not worry. I act this way to everyone. I intend to head down that path in the future, after all. It may be selfish of me, but I do not want people to say I suddenly started acting full of myself when I grow up. …This may give you some trouble though.”

Ooki’s neck relaxed and she gave a bitter smile at that last line.

“You should probably say that last part to the other teachers as well. Oh, but it seems I will be your homeroom teacher next year as well.”

“So you managed to get one of the best students in your class. Excellent work for a newcomer teacher with little authority.”

“Would you sympathize with me if I told you the other teachers were forcing the excellent but overly individual students on me?”

Sayama placed a hand on Ooki’s shoulder and nodded with a completely serious expression.

“If you seek sympathy, it is all over for you, Ooki-sensei. Although you may be almost there already.”

“Sorry, this is irritating me, so it would be nice if you would stop.” Ooki walked out onto the emergency staircase with her eyes half closed. She scratched at her head and said, “Talking with you really exhausts me. You take everything so seriously.”

Sayama gave a slight smile at that.

“Seriously? I-…”

“You don’t? But you were elected vice president in the student council election and your grades are excellent.”

“True,” said Sayama with a nod. He folded his arms and thought for a bit. Three seconds later, “I have never once gotten serious. …I just can’t make myself want to.”

“…Eh?”

Sayama ignored Ooki’s questioning voice and shrugged.

“Then again, everything I run across in school ends before I even have a chance to get serious. I was once scolded by my grandfather. He told me not to settle for being the ruler of a small place.”

“I see,” said Ooki with a nod. She leaned up against the emergency staircase landing’s railing. “Your grandfather was an amazing person. Compared to him, I can see where you are coming from.”

“Yes. Compared to my grandfather who would give Japan’s economy a nice smack from the shadows, the vice president of this academy city is nothing.”

“It’s more than nothing.”

“But it is true I have never actually tested myself. During the race for vice president, my opponent grew so desperate by the end that he even danced around naked in an attempt to gain more popularity. He was simply no match for me.”

“Were you the one that fired a bottle rocket at his butt while he was performing that nude dance?”

“No, that was Izumo while he was crushing everyone else in the presidential race. He even used a metal pipe as a gun barrel to increase his accuracy. Not something you would expect of a third year.”

“In that case, I won’t ask who blew up the stage afterwards…”

“That would be for the best. Are you gradually learning how to get along in life, Ooki-sensei?”

“Yes, yes. But I’m starting to get worried about being the next advisor for the student council…” Ooki frowned and sighed before continuing. “Is school really that boring to you?”

Sayama stopped moving when he heard that.

He turned his gaze to meet that of Ooki’s blue eyes.

After a short pause, he gave a small shake of the head.

“I have no complaints with the school. It is true the student council election and the tests are all such small things that I do not need to grow serious about. However, that does not mean school is boring. It is only natural to feel that school is a small place. And I think that school has its own unique things to enjoy.”

“What a complicated child…”

After falling silent for a short while, Ooki bent her back over the railing she was leaning against and looked up into the sky.

Meanwhile, Sayama glanced at his watch. It was 2:50.

“Ooki-sensei, I think I should get back to my dorm soon.”

“Are you leaving soon?”

“Yes. After changing into a suit, I need to receive something similar to my grandfather’s will.”

Sayama opened the emergency exit. Ooki frantically got up from the railing and charged through the open door. Sayama also entered the school building as he closed the door.

Sayama walked through the hallway alongside Ooki. The last school newspaper of the year was attached to the classroom-side wall. The First PR Club put out the paper weekly. It generally carried articles related to IAI and this issue contained the school’s employment rate to IAI as well as a few other pieces of news.

Ooki stopped as she looked over at an article at her eyelevel which was one level below Sayama’s.

“They have detected an extrasolar star system with a high probability of being habitable. …That’s amazing!”

“It’s only been discovered. Just looking at this article will tell you how difficult a problem anything further would be.”

Sayama pointed at another article. The article’s photograph showed a giant pile of machinery lying collapsed on a large area of asphalt.

“According to this, they created an eight meter tall bipedal robot and it failed spectacularly. The joints were made too weak so its knees broke just from walking. …No matter what we may discover, it means nothing if we do not have the technology to use it.”

“Hm. So it’s the same as spotting a good-looking girl but not knowing how to talk to her.”

“I am glad you are so wise. Is that something you told yourself as an excuse?”

“Well, last Christmas, some of my friends and I…wait, no.”

When Ooki said that, Sayama realized she was looking up at his face.

''Why is she staring?'' he wondered.

“Is it that rare to see me smile?”

“No, it’s not that it’s rare. It’s interesting.”

Ooki began walking once more. Sayama followed.

Ooki asked, “Can I ask you about your grandfather?”

“Of course,” replied Sayama.

He had nothing to hide.

And so he spoke. He talked about a lot as they walked.

He told her how his grandfather had left the war during World War Two and had begun researching something.

“And it seems the Izumo Aviation Institute was involved at the time. After the war, he used the connections and discoveries he had made as a base to set out into the financial world and become a corporate blackmailer.”

“A corporate blackmailer, hm?”

“He did a lot of pretty horrible things. …Every time he was in the newspaper, he would give the following line.”

Ooki nodded and cut in.

“ ‘The surname Sayama indicates a villain’, right? I saw it once in a weekly magazine.”

“That’s right. My grandfather was a villain through and through. When he saw some giant opponent as an enemy or evil, he would fight them by becoming an even greater evil. And…that is also why I do not want to grow serious about anything.”

“That is?”

“I am inexperienced. ‘The surname Sayama indicates a villain.’ My grandfather always told me my abilities were meant to perform necessary evils. However, I lost him when all he had taught me was how to do it.”

“So… You don’t know when the evil you perform is truly necessary?”

“Yes. I do not want to die, so there may be times when I will get serious. However, growing serious when I cannot tell if it is truly necessary is a frightening thing.”

As he spoke, Sayama suddenly brought his right hand to the left side of his chest.

As he brought his hand inside his coat and held his chest, Ooki spoke without turning toward him.

“It sounds like you have it tough in your own way.”

“Yes,” he nodded.

“Then can I ask you about your father?”

“Why?”

“I never asked last year despite being your homeroom teacher, and…” The ends of her eyebrows lowered. “I think this is part of a teacher’s job.”

Sayama nodded as he lightly held the left side of his chest. After taking a breath, he spoke.

“There is nothing to worry about. It is a simple issue. More importantly, how much do you know, Ooki-sensei? I am curious.”

Ooki glanced upwards and folded her arms.

“Your father was adopted by your grandfather and he entered IAI at the same time as your mother. However, he was killed in the great Kansai earthquake at the end of ’95. Your mother, um, well, brought you with her and-…”

Ooki trailed off and Sayama smiled bitterly.

“Before I tell you not to worry about it, I need to correct some of that. My father died as a secondary casualty of the earthquake when he was sent by IAI for earthquake relief.”

Sayama took a breath. He held up his empty left hand. That scarred left fist had a women’s ring on the middle finger. The pearl decoration glittered a bit in the dimly lit hallway.

Ooki turned to look at it as she walked.

However, Sayama also looked at the ring instead of looking at her.

“Go where those precious to you are waiting, hm?”

As his words deepened, Sayama felt as if something was moving within the left side of his chest.

It was pain.

And it felt like his chest was creaking.

It was coming.

And then Sayama saw Ooki looking up at him with her face completely pale.

“Sayama-kun. A-are you okay?”

He tried to answer “yes”, but he realized he was not breathing. When his body bent forward, he realized someone had suddenly started to support his chest.

Ooki had caught him from below.

“Ah…”

When he heard Ooki say that, all of his body’s senses returned.

He first felt exhaustion. He then felt he could breathe again and sweat poured from his back and legs.

He brought strength to his legs to stand up, but Ooki was still lightly holding her arms out toward him.

“A-are you okay?”

“I am fine.”

“Really? Okay? You are okay?”

“I am okay, but that is not correct English.” His body was now obviously returning to normal. He nodded and said, “I am fine, so do not worry. It seems I get stress-induced anginas from this topic.”

“Then why did you agree to talk about it?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to know? You truly are a horrible teacher if you forgot that.”

“Oh, but, um…”

As Ooki began frantically waving her hands in denial, Sayama smiled again.

“What are you trying to deny? Think about it. I am free to say what I want. And you are free to support me when I fall. I would say you performed the better deed here. Don’t you agree? But let me say one thing.” Sayama removed his right hand from his chest. “My mother would often tell me she hoped I could do something one day. I have to wonder if she ever did anything. And now the child raised hearing that has no idea what he can do. And so I must ask: what should I do?”

“I see… So you do not know what you can do.” Ooki nodded and her shoulders drooped. She looked up at Sayama and earnestly said, “I finally understand why you are so extreme about everything.”

“I cannot overlook that. Who are you calling extreme?”

“What? You didn’t hear me? I said it quite clearly. Is that a nose on the side of your head?”

Sayama’s left hand gave a lightning-fast flick against the forehead that had asked that question so seriously.

“Eeee,” groaned Ooki as she crouched down.

Sayama brought a hand to his chin and said, “Some teachers can say truly horrible things about their students.”

In the end, Sayama did not leave his dorm until past four.

It had taken time to put on the three-piece suit he had inherited from his grandfather and to prepare the seal and digital recording device needed for official records. He wrote down his time of departure at the dorm’s reception desk and left.

The sun was still in the sky.

He walked through the gravel clearing located between the general school buildings and the dorm. It normally functioned as a faculty parking lot. He was headed toward the main gate.

As he cut behind the second year general school building as a shortcut, he heard baby birds singing in the trees.

As he listened, Sayama heard two sounds other than the chirping of the birds.

The first was organ music coming from the music room on the second story of the school building.

“Silent Night…”

He recalled occasionally hearing it on the weekends. However, this was the first time he had been able to determine exactly where it was coming from. He wondered who was playing it, but it was so perfectly played that he assumed it was not a student.

And as the organ music played, another sound could be heard approaching.

It was the sound of a motorcycle engine. Specifically, the low tone of a 4-stroke.

As he heard that noise coming from the direction of the main gate, Sayama muttered, “Izumo and Kazami.”

He then walked out to the asphalt road west of the school building.

He looked out toward the faculty building, the vast sports ground, and the martial arts facility. He spotted two people riding a motorcycle appearing out from the side of the faculty building. Despite the large amount of exhaust, the black touring motorcycle moved smoothly along the road.

Aboard the motorcycle were a well-built young man wearing a thin brown coat and a girl with semi-short hair and carrying a black rucksack. The back bared by the girl’s white sleeveless top pointed in Sayama’s direction.

The two were chatting while riding the motorcycle.

Suddenly, the young man noticed Sayama. A friendly smile appeared on his fairly long face.

“Hey,” he said with a raised hand.

He then stopped the motorcycle next to Sayama.

The young man was over one hundred eighty centimeters tall and broad-shouldered, so he supported the weight of the heavy motorcycle with his leg.

The girl swayed gently and rested up against the young man’s back.

The young man smiled with the girl leaning up against him.

He looked up and said, “Where do you think you’re going, Sayama, you idiot? To go spew insults at someone?”

Sayama brought a hand to his forehead and sighed.

With a troubled tone of voice, he said, “Izumo, unlike you, my brain is working properly. And I have never spewed insults at anyone, you sick bastard.”

“Sure, sure. Thanks for keeping up your acting style even during spring break.”

[[Image:OnC_v01_0051.png|thumb]]

“No need to thank me. But should the three top members of the student council really be having this sort of conversation?”

The young man, Izumo, smiled bitterly at that.

“Of course not,” he agreed.

The girl leaning on his back turned their way.

“Sayama, you’re going to IAI, right?”

“Yes, I am. Kazami, Izumo. What about you two?”

“I was just headed back to the dorm to have some fun with Chisato…kh!”

As he spoke, Izumo’s head twisted upwards. The girl named Kazami had grabbed at Izumo’s head and jaw from behind. A delicate sound came from Izumo’s neck and he gently fell backwards.

“Kaku, that is not what he asked. Sayama wanted to know where we had been.”

Izumo’s head came to rest on top of Kazami’s thighs and he stopped moving.

“There, there,” said Kazami as she stroked his head. She then showed Sayama the black rucksack next to her and smiled.

“We went into the city. We bought some clothes, new music, and other stuff for the All Holiday Festival. Being on the edge of Tokyo really makes you forget all about culture.”

“…I see. But you two are third years and you live together, right?”

The girl, Kazami, thought for a bit looking troubled, but then spoke.

“Well, that’s how it turned out. Now, when I try to mingle with the others, they’re overly cautious about how they treat me. My role in the dorm has become that of an older sister. An underclassman even apologized just for passing by me in the hall.”

“Your face seems to be turning to cement.”

Kazami turned her head down, said “Oh, sorry”, and relaxed her shoulders. She casually clapped a hand against Izumo who was lying motionless on her thighs.

“Don’t turn into an idiot like him, okay? He abuses his authority as the son of IAI.”

“It seems to me you are enjoying that abuse quite a lot.”

“I know that, and that’s why it angers me so much. He needs to at least take his student council job seriously.” Kazami raised her head to look Sayama in the eye. “Oh, right. Sayama, I was thinking of having our first student council job for the term in the second year school building’s Kinugasa Library. Do you have time? The three of us can make some plans for the All Holiday Festival and Invitation Festival in the spring.”

“I have to head out today and I do not know how late I will be back.”

“We’re leaving for the city again tomorrow afternoon, so how about 9 AM tomorrow in the Kinugasa Library?”

“I can do that,” agreed Sayama. He glanced over at the school building next to them. “The Kinugasa Library, hm?”

On the western side of the second year general school building’s ground floor, an area four classroom’s length across was sticking out. It stuck out about the width of a classroom. Inside this space was an area equal to eight classrooms.

A look in the windows would show the backs of wooden panels. These thick wooden panels created the silhouettes of bookshelves.

The room was a library.

Almost the entire eight classroom space was filled with books and the hallway and basement had been used for extra book storage. That was the Kinugasa Library.

As Sayama glanced toward the library’s window, he heard Kazami speaking.

“The library created by the school’s founder isn’t a bad place for our first job, right? The librarian, old man Siegfried, may be unsociable, but he does put out tea. We used that place a fair bit during the election, so I was thinking we could continue to use it as our base.”

“This year’s treasurer certainly is different.”

“I think the president and vice president will be quite different as well. But what do you think? Are upperclassmen like us suitable for someone as prideful as you?”

“I think that statement alone shows you can compete with me when it comes to pride. …But at the very least, there is no one in this school who is better suited. Izumo Kaku, the son of IAI which supports this city of Akigawa, and Kazami Chisato, the girl who shares a room with him, are true problem children.”

“…”

“There is no way you two are ignorant of what the world says about you. I respect you for your ability to continue acting like this regardless.”

Hearing that, Kazami showed off her teeth slightly and looked down at Izumo who lay on her legs.

“Well, it doesn’t matter what people say. Kaku may cause problems, but he is not a bad person.”

“The same goes for you, Kazami.”

“Then what about you, Mr. Family of Villains?” Kazami raised her head to look at Sayama. She glanced up and down his suit. “You look good enough, but you make things difficult.”

“In what way?”

“I’m having difficulty imagining who would stand next to you. I can’t imagine someone to balance out your idiocy like Kaku is for me.”

“There is no one out there with enough power to handle me on an equal footing.”

“That isn’t what I mean.” Kazami gave a troubled smile. She lightly waved her hand front and back. “I’m talking about balance. Equals can only stand on the same side of the scales, right? You need a counterbalance.”

Sayama thought on the meaning of Kazami’s words.

And, “Someone like that would either be an opposing force or a hindrance.”

“So am I an opposing force or hindrance to Kaku?”

That question was spoken with a small smile. Sayama relaxed his shoulders.

“I do not know the answer to that, so I cannot argue about it with someone like you who does know the answer.”

“Oh, how honest.”

“I am an honest person, Kazami. It is just that, for some odd reason, I seem to end up in trouble for it from time to time. Is this what they mean when they say an honest man will look a fool? Yes, our ancestors said some excellent things.”

“Okay, sure. If that’s how you want to view it in your personal universe, I won’t stop you.”

Sayama smiled bitterly at that. He exchanged a glance with Kazami and spoke.

“Fine, then. I will admit relationships like yours and Izumo’s exist. However, I am doubtful the same could happen to me. I also think it is a problem to even think about placing someone like that next to me.”

“A problem?”

“The surname Sayama indicates a villain. What do you put next to evil?”

Kazami had no answer to that. She only let her shoulders droop and sighed.

“You really are a complicated person.”

“Ooki-sensei said the same thing earlier.”

“Everyone thinks it. We also wonder when exactly you will get serious about something.”

“I have never done it, so I couldn’t say. …And if I did, I am so inexperienced I would likely be afraid of myself.”

“…You really are complicated, Sayama.”

“You do not need to repeat yourself,” said Sayama with a smile before lightly tapping Izumo’s back where he lay unmoving as if asleep. “You’re awake, right? Hurry on back and dive headfirst into your unrestrained lifestyle.”

“Eh?” muttered Kazami as she looked down.

Izumo opened his eyes.

“Hey.”

“No, not ‘hey’. If you came to, why didn’t you get up?”

“You smell really good, Chisato.”

Izumo’s eyes bent upwards happily as Kazami blushed.

“Ha,” laughed Sayama before patting Kazami on the shoulder, turning his back, and walking off.

He continued toward the main gate.

As he did, he noticed a new figure.

Someone was walking down the stairs from the second floor of the second year general school building.

It was a tall elderly man. He wore a black vest, black trousers, and black gloves. He was bald and had a beard.

“Siegfried Zonburg, the librarian.”

Sayama had spoken with him a few times during his student council work. The man used only the bare minimum of words.

“You do not often see him outside of the Kinugasa Library,” he muttered before continuing on.

He looked around once more and saw nothing but the scenery of the school near the peak of spring.

“Such a peaceful place…”

Behind him, he heard repeated sounds of flesh being struck followed by screams from Izumo.

The sun was setting in the west.

Below that setting sun, even a forest surrounded by mountains had light passing through it like wind.

The forest was primarily made up of cedars. A single figure was fallen in front of one of those trees.

The figure was sitting on the ground.

This middle-aged man sat such that the sun shined on him from the side. His close-cropped hair was wet with something so it reflected the sun. The liquid wetting his hair dripped down his forehead and dyed the left half of his face a dark color.

His clothes resembled a white and black military uniform. However, the left shoulder and left leg of that uniform had split open and something dark could be seen flowing out as he breathed erratically.

He stretched out his left hand and scratched at the ground. With the blood in his eyes, he might as well have been blind. His left hand wandered across the ground.

Eventually, he managed to pick something up from between the rocks and fallen leaves.

It was a long gun made of metal. The side was engraved with something written in German.

He embraced the gun tightly and took a deep breath. He stuck a finger into the pouch on his right hip.

“This is Tsuurin Daiichi. My current location is in the mountains near Point 3 between Okutama and Shiromaru. I succeeded in preventing the single enemy from escaping. I successfully read the enemy’s string vibration and sent it in. Currently…everyone but me has been taken out. Please hurry.”

A staticky voice replied from near his throat. It was a female voice.

“Testament. The special division is on their way. We will send aid for you as well, so withdraw.”

“Tes. …Or so I’d like to say. Unfortunately, my leg was taken out. And my healing tools and spells were destroyed along with it. I only have my favorite weapon left to rely on. …When I asked you to hurry, I meant the special division, not aid for me.” He took a deep breath while sweating profusely. “The enemy is from a faction of 1st-Gear’s revolutionary army. Yes, a werewolf from the second Royal Palace faction. He likely came for negotiations with the peaceful faction. He must have had a 1st-Gear philosopher’s stone because he turned into a wolf in this real world.”

“Do not speak. The concept space will be deployed in another five minutes.”

“Ha ha. Make it so a silver bullet will work. Also, young girl…or is it young lady? Anyway, you don’t think this is our fault, do you?”

He was met with silence. He cast his eyes down before continuing.

“Fine. It was our mistake for deciding to go. In the standard division, we have the right to choose…right?”

Once again, he received only silence. Yet he did not stop.

“What unit are you from? Even in the special division, not many units have women in them. But I think there was one put together recently. A unit filled with beautiful UCAT-raised girls and women. I think it was the IAI-…”

He stopped speaking. His eyes opened wide and he stood up by using the tree behind him as a support.

“Hey, when I get back, meet me with flowers. It’ll be a triumphant return. What’s in bloom this time of year?”

“Testament. I think Primula modesta and the like are.”

“No, you’re supposed to say you are.”

He laughed and removed his right hand from the pouch. He moved the long gun from his left hand to his right. He bit the strap, used the stock and grip in his right hand to create three points of support, and faced forward.

He heard wind ahead of him.

A large shadow could be seen in the setting sun shining on the mountain. It was slowly approaching while swaying back and forth.

There was no sign. He simply followed the sound of the wind and squeezed the trigger.

A gunshot traveled across the forest along with the light of the setting sun.

Sayama opened his eyes aboard a train running through the mountains on the way to Okutama.

He had dozed off due to the setting sun shining on his seated back. And he had woken up due to…

“The train has stopped?”

He glanced around the train. The only passengers besides himself were two people seated a short distance away.

One was a white-haired man wearing a black suit. The other was a white-haired girl wearing black clothes and seated next to him. They may have been father and daughter and they were looking outside the opposite window.

Sayama followed their gaze out the window.

There he found the mountains of Okutama. They were all formed from round shapes and no small hills could be seen.

“So we are around the second tunnel near Shiromaru. Only one more stop to Okutama.”

He was familiar with the terrain here. He continued speaking while looking out at those similar-looking mountains.

“This is thanks to Hiba-sensei forcing me to run through these mountains.”

…''If I had not learned the land, I would not have been found until spring.

Sayama nodded and looked down at his left hand. His skin was white around the bones of his fist as if something had scattered across it. His eyes turned toward the ring on the middle finger of that scarred fist.

“It was also around here that we got out of the car when my mother took me with her back then…” he muttered.

According to his watch, it was 5:30 PM. He was to be at IAI at 6:00 PM.

When he calculated the time, his heart seemed to stiffen. He stood up, raised his suit collar to fix it with a snapping noise, and approached the two other passengers. The white-haired man raised his head. The man was wearing sunglasses, but Sayama could tell the man was looking at him. Sayama gave a quick bow.

“Excuse me. Why is the train stopped?”

“It received a stop signal. Once it is released, it will return to Shiromaru.”

The man’s tone had a bit of amusement mixed in and Sayama realized he was younger than he looked. Sayama had initially assumed he was elderly, but a closer look showed he was only just entering middle age.

The girl next to him wore the black dress and white apron of a maid. She was not the man’s daughter.

…''I had heard the ownership of a lot of the mountains around here stretches way back.

Sayama noticed the girl was holding a staff. It was a metal cane that could be attached to the wrist. It was clearly too long for her to use. However, Sayama ended his investigation of them here. He needed to know something else.

“Why is this train returning?”

“Maybe there was an accident.”

“I see,” nodded Sayama, realizing the man must not know the details either.

Suddenly, the girl sitting next to the man looked up at Sayama. With her eyebrows lying flat and no discernible expression on her face, her black eyes that were almost purple peered deep into Sayama’s eyes.

She took a breath and then opened her mouth.

“My apologies,” she said in a low, fairly mature voice.

“Think nothing of it,” said Sayama before turning his back on the two of them.

He opened the opposite window and heard the same voice as before from behind him.

“Are you getting out?”

“I cannot go back. Also, someone is waiting for me.”

“You are being hasty. The train might soon continue forward. Once you regret a decision, it is too late to turn back.”

“I do not know what god of advice you are, but let me tell you something. A decision can lead to joy just as easily as it can regret. I appreciate your concern, but I know this land. And is there anything truly dangerous in this world?”

“True… That is very true. There is no danger in this world,” said the man before closing his mouth in a smile below the sunglasses.

As soon as the man spread his legs out from the seat, Sayama stuck his legs out the window and jumped out.

He landed on the gravel supporting the railroad. He ran out into the open air and onto the mountainside bathed in the light of the setting sun.

“…”

Sayama did not turn back toward the train up the slope from him. He continued through the forest spreading out before him.

He trampled the underbrush as he headed down the mountain.

After only a few breaths, he sank into the shadows produced by the forest. The setting sun coming from the side and the branches of the trees drew a grid of shadows across him. This light and air were familiar to him.

“It’s been two years since I stopped coming to Okutama. I suppose the Hiba Dojo is still around.”

As he muttered that comment, he heard a metallic noise from behind him.

A whistle sounded and the train began to move. He heard it move up toward Shiromaru. The sound of the receding wheels told Sayama he had made the right decision.

“Good,” he said with a nod as he quickened his pace.

Shiromaru Station was an unmanned train station.

When the train came to a stop, the few passengers disinterestedly exited onto the long, narrow platform.

A short distance away from those bored individuals were the two people Sayama had spoken to just before.

The white-haired man held the cane in one hand as he stood next to a card-only payphone located in the shadow of a private home outside the station.

The girl dressed as a maid stood in front of him holding the receiver for the green telephone.

She pulled a bundle of telephone cards from her apron like it was a deck of playing cards.

She quickly lined the cards up in front of the green phone and turned toward the man.

“Itaru-sama. Why do you not carry a cell phone?”

“Because I am a coward, Sf. Remember that. If the phone rang, it would probably give me a heart attack.”

“How about I carry it for you?”

“No. You have not acquired the skill to take messages. If you cannot always answer as if I am gone even when I am with you, there is no point in you having a cell phone. Do you understand?”

“Tes. I understand that possessing one would be meaningless on a fundamental level.”

The girl called Sf stopped lining up the cards while looking at him. She was lining up the well-used cards in order of number of uses. The punch holes showing the number of uses lined up perfectly without the slightest deviation.

Sf casually picked up one card with few uses left and slid it into the green phone.

She used her right fingers to instantly dial a number.

A few seconds later, “This is Sf. Registration Number 9609812B. Connect me to extension #0013.”

Sf then handed the receiver to the man next to her. He took it and spoke.

“This is Ooshiro Itaru. Has Team Leviathan left yet, Sibyl? …I see. I just met an interesting idiot. Something stupid is about to happen. A world of stupid false good and false evil is about to unfold. …You don’t understand? No, someone like you or Sf that has not woken up wouldn’t.”

As Itaru spoke, Sf inserted a new card into the green telephone. When the small sound of connection indicating three minutes had been added came from the receiver, Itaru nodded to Sf. He continued speaking as he saw Sf nod back.

“Sf confirmed this idiot’s string vibration. I’ll have Sf give it to you, so add this idiot’s vibration to the string vibration of the concept space. It’s the usual type, so this change should be easy and the outside will be visible, right? Drag him in from reality. …What? You want to know who this idiot is? You’ll know soon enough.”

Hearing that, Sf asked, “Itaru-sama, is it really okay to get him involved like this?”

“That brat has ignorantly decided that this world is a safe place. We need to teach him a lesson and a first-hand lesson would be best. From now on, he is sure to be overturned again and again. From here on out, he will deny all things because all things exist. He will deny joy because he knows joy. And…Yes, that will continue until the world is satisfied.”

Itaru gave a small smile and handed Sf the receiver.

“Sf, tell them his string vibration. And then we will teach him what reality truly is.”

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume14 Chapter 26

2026-06-15T03:46:16Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 26: The Pace Ahead==
[[Image:OnC_v14_0927.png|thumb]]
''Bless your load

''Bless your song

''Bless your blessing

The battle to defend their positions for ten minutes began directly below the Leviathan.

A black force flew down toward a forest of anti-air fire coming from Shinjou and the other gunners.

The angels with the vacant minds of dolls did not fear the cannon fire.

Even if they were hit or destroyed, the concept release would be stopped as long as they managed to crush those below.

So on the Leviathan’s instructions, the black army cascaded downward.

But something happened once they arrived above Shinjuku Station.

“!?”

At only fifty meters above the earth seal, they collided with a wall.

It was an invisible wall.

“UCAT automatons! Use your full power!!”

On #8’s command, a circle of maids raised their arms in front of the station.

They were all heavily equipped with philosopher’s stone fuel tanks and radiator fins on their shoulders and backs.

They almost seemed to have several wings.

“Blow them away!!” ordered #8.

Heat shimmered behind them all, but they crouched down and…

“Testament!!”

A gravity lens created a defense barrier above them and they swung it like a tennis racket to perform a smash.

The sound of attack rang out.

With a bursting sound from the basin below, the black cascade scattered explosions and fragments through the sky.

The automatons were already preparing to form a second lens defense, but…

“————!!”

A new explosion shook the sky above.

Something was firing down on them.

The enemy attack tore through hundreds of their own on the way down.

The new black army cleared a path by splitting their own forces with gun and cannon fire.

They were fast and the gravity lens would not be up in time, but…

“Covering fire!!”

This cannon fire came from every direction.

The high-speed gunners on the vanguard of all eight armies had fired.

To #8 and the others, it looked like light was binding together the sky above.

The attacks from eight directions wore down the front of the descending black army, shrinking their numbers and slowing them. Even more fragments were created on the leading edge of that cascade.

It was working, but…

“Are we still not going to make it!?”

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> calculated that they needed about another thirty seconds to open the defense lens.

And if the enemy pushed their way in before that…

“Protect Shinjou-sama even if nothing else!”

The others expressed their agreement with her shared thought.

“I have determined that is known as loyalty!!”

At the same time, a new figure appeared at the center of their group.

An old man in a lab coat had rushed over while they were focused on the sky.

“#-#8-kun! Are we in trouble here!? I-is poor old Kazuo here going to die!?”

“Testament. I do not mind in the slightest if you are the only one to die.”

“That’s just mean! And after I brought a secret weapon with me too!”

Ooshiro pulled ropes from his pockets and let them dangle from his hands.

Several silver squares hung from the thin ropes.

“These are a new type of localized bomb! With this many, it should be a real sight to see, don’t you think!?”

“Testament. Referring to your filthiness in a quantified manner such as ‘this many’ is certainly a revolutionary idea, Ooshiro-sama. So what are you going to do with those?”

“Oh, well, I was thinking you could throw them into the midst of the enemy with your gravity lens.”

“I see.” #8 nodded. “But if we used the lens for that, we would be left completely defenseless.”

“O-oh, um…”

Ooshiro was caught off guard by that and #8 tapped his shoulder.

“Ooshiro-sama, please turn around for a moment.”

“Hm? Why? Do I have something on my back?”

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> used a permanent marker to write a single word on the back of his lab coat: rocket.

She then looked around with an impatient look on her face.

“Does anyone have a light!? Anyone at all!?”

“Nwaaaah!!”

Ooshiro cried out as some South African UCAT members wearing white triangular masks rushed forward and fired their flamethrowers toward his feet.

“Let your youth blast off!!”

A moment later, Ooshiro Kazuo really did blast off.

A giant explosion suddenly appeared in the center of the black army descending below the Leviathan.

The giant pink blast covered a vertical area of three kilometers and was shaped like a heart.

Thousands of angel automatons, gods of war, and mechanical dragons were swallowed up and vanished despite their attempts to escape.

“—————!!”

The trailing notes of the explosion sounded oddly FM synthesized.

But all of the UCAT members reacted to the pink pulse phenomenon lingering in the air.

“That’s UCAT Director Ooshiro!”

“Oh! Is that what you call Kleshas!?”

“是変態的爆発也!?”

After a few multilingual comments, they all joined together.

“That UCAT director just took all the world’s misdirection with him!!”

Waves of cheers ran through the armies in all eight directions.

But they stopped after the fifth cheer.

The flow of black had started toward the eight surrounding directions in addition to directly below.

The Leviathan was now sending its main force in every direction.

The first minute began of the ten they had to defend.

The light of the Concept Core filled the sky of northeastern Region 2, where 1st-Gear defended.

It looked like a cloud, like a dragon, and somewhat like…

“Fafnir?” muttered Brunhild.

She stabbed Gram into the ground and raised her own weapon.

That weapon was the Requiem Sense.

The dragon made of light was also made of writing. The pale, glowing writing were packed in tightly and gently floated through the air as if to say it was 1st-Gear itself.

The distant sounds of cannon fire were growing closer.

The front line was being pushed back and this area would soon become a battlefield.

The Leviathan’s goal was to stop the Concept Cores from being activated.

Just as UCAT’s side had stopped the positive concepts from being created, the Leviathan would win if it could stop just one point.

''Can we really do this?'' wondered Brunhild.

She frowned and gave a tense gasp when she saw the black light of the enemy beyond the road and beyond the trees of the park.

Suddenly, something tapped on her leg.

She looked down and saw a black cat looking up at her.

“Do you think we’re going to die?”

“You certainly like to reach extreme conclusions.”

“But…what happens if we do die?”

“Oh? You want to find out?”

“…What is that cold look for?”

“Well, I was just thinking I could help you on your way if you were interested.”

“C’mon, now. Ha ha ha. You don’t have to do anything like- ahee hee hee hee! Ahhh! It’s coming out!”

“Shut up,” said Brunhild as she stood back up.

The cat lying limp on the ground had distracted her, but she was still worried.

After all, 1st-Gear had been the lowest Gear during the Concept War and their enemy was the highest of Gears.

…''Can we do this?

But just as she thought that, she saw something.

It was a castle. She saw an image of a castle filled with flames.

…''Eh?

People wearing familiar clothing were evacuating the castle.

Also, someone stood by the wall of the castle’s main passageway.

“Gutrune?”

''This is the past,'' realized Brunhild as she looked inside the shaking castle.

The Requiem Sense was not releasing its souls, so…

“Baku!?”

In the sky above, Sayama felt Baku happily raise his front paws on his head.

The creature was showing off the past. Probably in a way that corresponded to the world’s fighting below.

“7th-Gear’s concepts are filling this space, too.”

Baku devoured people’s pasts in the form of dreams.

And he had a further effect in this space so filled with concepts.

“By overlapping the wills of the past or of older battles, one gains divine protection when taking similar actions.”

Sayama pulled out his cellphone and made a call.

“Sibyl-kun, I would like to order an additional concept text. There is still time, isn’t there? Make it…yes, provide divine protection from the actions of your ancestors or predecessors.”

He smiled thinly down below.

“We shall be joined and assisted by the actions of the past sixty years…no, and even those before!!”

Brunhild saw Gutrune shouting something while hiding her body below a coat.

Her face was pale, but her voice held the dignity of a princess.

“Do not panic! We have a world to go to! That world…”

Brunhild listened.

“That world will surely accept us!!”

Brunhild clenched her teeth at that.

She stood in front of Gram and looked across the others.

“It’s time to protect that world!!”

She swung her scythe and raised her voice as the black army finally came into view.

“Our princess got us to this world and it’s our duty to make it a place where we can live in peace!”

So…

“It’s time we engraved our words into this world! The fight for our honor lies here!!”

The second minute began.

2nd-Gear defended the southwestern Region 6 and Kashima had just released Totsuka’s seal.

Totsuka revealed its contents as if the string had been untied. That Cowling Sword was made from pieces of metal bearing names, but its role was complete and the rain dragon was revealed from within.

The seal’s astronomical model of names expanded in the sky and the great dragon of wind and water ascended from within.

But Kashima was more focused on Totsuka than the windy rain dragon.

He could hear everyone fighting around him.

Tsukuyomi was firing the Heavenly Moon Bow and all of those with names of military gods were on the front line.

But a sudden song filled the battlefield. It was an off-tune anime song.

“Isssss that cruel girl herrrrrre to crush your shadowwwwwwww!?”

Kashima had his back turned, but the voice approached regardless and powerfully skipped around him.

“She showwwwws no mercy to evilllll! Decapitation! Crucifixion! Throat thrust! She’ll defeat her enemy, their clan, and their retainers and put their heads on spiiiiiikes! Ohhhh, that’s right! That’s right! It’s Maaagical Girrrl Yun~!”

“It doesn’t really matter, but what part of that had the slightest thing to do with magic?”

“You idiot! Could you really not tell!? Getting that ‘~’ at the end right is really hard!”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

“Well, it’s what you should’ve asked about!! Got it!?”

Atsuta circled around in front of him and gathered his strength.

“~”

And…

“How about that!?”

“Oh, Natsu-san? Yes, I’m at work right now. Oh, well, something really pathetic just happened. Ha ha ha. Yes, I might be able to come home after a little more work. Yes, see you later. Mmmmwah.”

“Don’t get all lovey-dovey on the battlefield, you idiot!”

Kashima turned around.

“Idiot? Could you really not tell, Atsuta!? Getting that ‘mwah’ at the end right is really hard!”

Kashima held up his cellphone and pulled back his hips.

“Mwah.”

“And you call yourself a military god!?”

“It’s better than being a sword god that sings a cappella magical girl songs! Are you hearing things? Is that sword of yours picking up radio signals!? ‘Ahh, yes, this is Buddha. Someone please respond.’ ”

“Like hell that could happen, you idiot! Besides, I’m not hearing things!”

Atsuta ignored the looks of the others asking him to get back to work.

“I’m not just hearing those songs! They come from a secret place deep in my heart!”

“In other words, you’re picking up your own transmissions. That’s even worse.”

“You have to find fault with everything, don’t you!?”

Suddenly, the two of them moved back from each other.

A moment later, a pillar of light shot between them with a refreshing sound.

It was a moonlight arrow.

The one who had fired it, Tsukuyomi, kept the Heavenly Moon Bow aimed at the two men.

“Oops, my hand slipped. Sorry about that.”

“Y-you old hag! Are you picking a fight with me!?”

“Calm down, Atsuta. And Director Tsukuyomi, please wait until Atsuta moves away from me before firing on him.”

“Enough of that.”

Tsukuyomi looked around while drawing her bow.

“You can see the past around us.”

Kashima looked around them as well.

He could of course see it.

Baku was providing images of the past here in Tokyo.

The scene showed the people fleeing on the large runway below Susaou while Yamata was being sealed.

In the distance, the giant god of war wrapped its arms around the flame dragon and began absorbing the flames inside itself.

The fleeing people swept aside falling embers while they watched the seal in progress.

“Are we going to lose our world now?” asked someone in the past.

Someone else in the past answered.

It was a single engineer.

“No,” he said. “This means we managed to protect it all.”

Kashima listened to the voice as he looked down toward Totsuka in his hands.

“Director Tsukuyomi, if we win this battle…can I make a sword like this?”

“Submit a proposal. I’ll use that to decide.”

“Of course.”

Atsuta turned his back on Kashima.

“Do whatever you want, idiot. I’m on the way to the front line. I wouldn’t want to get you caught in the crossfire.”

He looked up just as black gods of war and mechanical dragons began to appear in the sky above.

The enemy’s main force was here.

They all gasped and clenched their teeth, but Atsuta raised his eyebrows in a slight smile.

“This looks like fun. I get to go on a dragon hunt!!”

He shook his body and raised his white sword.

“I can use it as many times as I want this time, so it’s time for slicing and dicing!”

The third minute began.

3rd-Gear defended the southern Region 5 and they began their fight with the enemy’s main force.

3rd-Gear had brought quite a few gods of war with them, so the southern region became a storm of shellfire and supersonic charges.

Susamikado stood at the very back, expanding the Concept Core from Keravnos, while the front line contained eight gods of war remotely piloted by Moira 2nd as well as the gods of war controlled by Gyes and Sibyl.

The in between area contained Miyako who stood with her arms crossed and Violet who was skilled at combat.

“Leave the ground battle against the angels to…u-um…us! Let’s all do our very best!”

Violet and the automatons under her command were joined by others.

“Fire both cannons!!”

Two groups created two rows of nine.

The Moirai formed gravity lens acceleration cannons to accurately fire on the flying forms.

Instead of plates, they used super-hard ceramic shells handmade by the maids. Thirty of them would work together to compress the warhead portion and the lacquer covering the entire shell gave it a refined look.

Moira 1st and Moira 3rd fired at the same time.

Wind and a great roar rose into the sky, but Miyako clicked her tongue in the center of it all.

Gods of war were growing visible between the distant buildings.

Moira 2nd, Gyes, and Sibyl were doing their best and the cannons were being fired nonstop, but the enemy was too numerous and those numbers were only growing.

…''Are we in trouble here?

According to the reports, the other groups had their hands full dealing with their own enemy reinforcements.

This was only the third minute, so they still had seven more minutes to go.

Miyako clenched her teeth and ground them. But then…

“Sister!!”

Moira 2nd cried out from the remote piloting device behind them.

She had seen something making its way down the road up ahead.

They were Lords gods of war. Those two-winged models were the most powerful among the Leviathan’s forces.

There were five of them and they were using their speed to break in.

“!”

Moira 1st and 3rd fired their acceleration cannons.

In that instant, the five enemies formed a row to charge the front lines.

Moira 3rd’s shell missed and 1st’s tore through the first of the enemies.

But the second enemy behind it used its sword to slice through the destroyed god of war.

The remaining four charged in without slowing down.

A moment later, green gods of war charged in from either side, swords at the ready.

These two were controlled by Moira 2nd.

But the second black god of war moved forward and swung its two swords to either side.

They collided.

The two black swords hit the green ones, but it took a sword as well.

All three were sliced in two at the same moment.

“————!!”

The third black one sliced through the second one from behind.

The remaining three continued forward. Their speed had not dropped. If anything, it had risen.

In an instant, the colors red and silver appeared before Miyako’s eyes.

It was Gyes and Sibyl.

Their gods of war moved in front to intercept the enemy.

The three black machines moved apart in response.

One moved right, one moved left, and one stayed in the center.

Gyes’s god of war moved left, Sibyl’s moved right, and the center black one passed between them and raised its blade toward Miyako.

It was coming, but someone responded.

“Ohhhhh!!”

It was Gyes.

Even as her god of war collided with the enemy on the left, she jumped toward the central enemy.

Her left arm was instantly severed by the god of war’s blade.

It sounded like tearing fibers.

She was hit by an impact too, but Gyes continued with her duty.

One-handed, she drew ten swords from below her suit and controlled them all via gravity.

“You stand in the presence of our princess!!”

She thrust all ten swords into the neck of the god of war as it swung down its sword.

She could not cut the neck frame, but the various control conduits were all severed at once.

“…!”

After losing control, the god of war fell to its knees.

And it fell over.

Gyes also fell onto her side. She had used up her charged gravitational control, so she needed a moment to recover.

Realizing that, Miyako ran over to her.

But at that moment, she noticed another black god of war in the sky behind the collapsing one.

“Did it come from above!?”

This enemy was targeting Miyako, their commander.

It spread its wings and charged in, using the collapsing god of war as a shield.

The Moirai could not fire their cannons and the gods of war would not make it in time.

But at that moment…

“————!!”

Miyako saw something.

As the black god of war raised its sword and charged in, a light blue god of war appeared behind it.

That sky-colored god of war looked somehow like Typhon.

However, Miyako clearly saw a transparent woman standing on its chest.

''Is that…?'' she wondered before Moira 1st gave a cry.

“Lady Artemis!?”

The blue god of war moved. It grabbed the wrist of the black god of war’s raised arm.

“————!”

Artemis swung her arm and the blue god of war pulled out the black arm.

With a sound of breaking, the black god of war finally noticed this enemy.

But it was too late.

The blue god of war grabbed the black sword and looked at it just as Artemis did.

“…”

It threw it aside. She had not taken a liking to it.

Instead, it drew a sword from its own shoulder and the sharp blade emitted the color of moonlight.

“———————”

The crescent moon sliced apart the nearly pitch black god of war.

Miyako was safe, but…

“Why?” she muttered.

Her shoulders had fallen, but someone placed their hand on them.

The hand belonged to a young man.

“Sorry about the wait, Miyako.”

The owner of the voice stepped up alongside her in white clothing and faced forward.

His yellow eyes looked to the woman standing on the light blue god of war. He looked to the blue eyed woman.

“Thank you.”

Hearing those words, the woman vanished with a smile.

“Now,” he said while extending a hand with a smile of his own. “What is the matter, Miyako?”

“Why?” she asked with her voice crumbling. “Why!?”

His smile deepened.

“Who was it that remade that god of war and placed Typhon’s pilot tank inside to stabilize it? And who was it that bothered to bring it here? Also…”

He looked to the sky. Light spread through that cloudy sky. It was the light of the Concept Core being released.

“This happened because the Tartaros Concept Core is being released. Everyone was urging me on. They were asking what kind of king lies around when his queen is working so very hard. …Yet I am the sun, so shouldn’t I be able to sleep at night?”

He laughed and held his hand even further out toward her.

“Let us go, Miyako.”

“I-I…”

She looked to the light blue god of war.

“I only know how to drive a motorcycle.”

“That is wonderful. I do not know how to drive a motorcycle.”

“U-um, and this will mean three people are piloting the thing!”

“We are all family, aren’t we?”

He looked straight at her before continuing.

“Do not cry, Miyako.”

He nodded.

“Let us go together to bring an end to those tears.”

The fourth minute began.

5th-Gear defended the western skies of Region 7 and those skies became an intense battlefield for all that flew.

American UCAT’s concept space combat F-15ARs achieved thrust from a “falling” concept and achieved high mobility by using their normal accelerators for secondary thrust and turning.

The nozzles could turn their vectors to the side and had been enlarged, but they used their ailerons and other equipment to drift through the air with a pilot inside.

Those fighters were protected by blue mechanical dragons equipped with additional accelerators.

Those Blanca models were air superiority defense craft with normal cruising frames.

Those blue fighters and blue dragons tore at the black dragons.

“Don’t rush this!” shouted a transmission. “Use groups of two to attack a single enemy! If you think you aren’t going to make it, break away!”

They all looked down where a blue and white mechanical dragon was crouched down hiding in the roundabout in front of a Chuo Line station.

White light was escaping from below the dragon.

Thunder Fellow was releasing the Vesper Cannon’s power.

Someone spoke over their communicator.

“Protect her.”

They sounded like their teeth were clenched.

“It’s our turn to protect her.”

“Were you there back then?”

Finally, another voice spoke.

“So was I. I saw her flying through the sky.

“She was so fast. I couldn’t turn around in time.”

“Before that, I never thought I’d see something faster than you getting rejected.”

The men laughed, but some of them could be heard getting shot down.

The flames of main cannons flew and the UCAT anti-air bullets were sometimes deflected even with a direct hit.

The enemy had the greater numbers.

The blue wind was being pushed back by the foul black wind.

“Bear with it!”

“That light down there is our flag! How can we call ourselves a free nation if we can’t even protect that!?”

A voice reached them all. Even as they fought, their inspiring national anthem mixed in with the blowing wind.

It began with the first verse, moved on to the second verse, and eventually they were all singing together.

“On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep.”

Most of them tried for headshots fired from head-on.

“Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes.”

The flowers of explosions reached some of them as well.

“What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep.”

But those remaining turned around.

“As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?”

They pursued the enemy from behind.

“Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam.”

They chased them.

“In full glory reflected now shines on the stream.”

They fired on them.

“Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave.”

They attacked them.

“O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!”

The sky seemed to shatter as the battle continued. They never stopped fighting, but their enemy approached in great numbers.

“Don’t give up!!”

After all…

“No one ever gave up in our land of the free!!”

A sound and a voice answered that cry.

The sound was a metallic one. A power struck the sky and tore into the black dragons filling it.

“That’s right! That’s exactly right! We never give up! Do you understand? No one in our nation will give them ‘up’ – that is, the sky!!”

The owner of the voice stood on the station building near the blue and white mechanical dragon.

Everyone looked to that person.

“Colonel Odor!”

“No need! No need to call out to me! After all, I am a colonel and I am here! Whether you call out and confirm my presence or not, I will still be here. So fight!”

Odor raised his right arm and snapped his fingers.

“We will…! We will never give up this free sky! We decided to protect it long ago!!”

Countless figures responded by standing up from the station rooftop.

They were witches wearing black and white armored uniforms.

They all had broom-shaped flight devices next to them.

A witch with gray hair stood in the lead and she looked to the two men next to her.

“Okay, honey, Roger. We’re about to go give them a nice beating.”

“Good, good.”

Odor nodded twice and Roger pushed up his glasses.

“Diana, I see you intend to take the best role for yourself as usual.”

“My student is watching from down there, so I have to show off a little.”

Diana breathed in with her broom next to her.

“German UCAT aerial spell unit! Prepare for takeoff!”

“Testament!!”

As soon as they placed the brush of their brooms on the floor, a circle of light appeared below the brush.

More and more appeared from the front of the broom and into the sky, drawing out the course they would be taking.

“Get ready!!”

Diana sat sidesaddle on the vertical handle of the broom.

“!!”

The witch army whipped up the wind as they took flight.

With a roaring noise, they scattered paper into the sky.

Those papers flew about as glowing bullets or lines of power.

And not one of them gave up, feared, or fled.

But Roger suddenly frowned as he looked up into that high altitude battlefield.

“Is that…?”

It was the past. An event from another sky long ago was being replayed in this night sky.

The mechanical dragon pilots and witches all saw it as they flew through the sky.

A giant white mechanical dragon was flying with many smaller dragons around it.

The largest one was White Creation, the bearer of 5th-Gear’s Concept Core, and the others were an army including Xolotl 3.

They all knew that those dragons had abandoned 5th-Gear and come to Low-Gear in order to pursue Black Sun.

In the past, White Creation spoke to them all.

“We must stop this enemy who could be seen as another version of myself.”

A black gate was visible in that vast sky. Black Sun had created the giant gate to escape into Low-Gear.

White Creation accelerated toward it.

“We must stop him to protect the world of men. After all…”

White Creation continued.

“He too was created to protect!”

The fifth minute began.

6th-Gear defended the eastern skies of Region 3 as an intense battle reached them.

A unit made of the naturalized 6th-Gear residents in UCAT’s standard and special divisions was charged with defense here. They were a large force, but they could only fight on the surface and some of them were fairly inexperienced.

They had been attacked by the mechanical dragons that they were least suited to handle.

Those giant hunks of metal could fly through the sky and mow down anything on the surface. Not only that, but they had angels with them.

The metal mowed them down while the wings exterminated them.

“Don’t falter! We have gods of war!”

The gods of war developed by Japanese UCAT attacked with their cannons and swords, but they lacked the ground forces needed to assist them.

Once the people were blown away, the gods of war had no support and had to fall back lest they be isolated.

“Dammit!”

Boldman looked to the sealing barrier behind them.

Izumo was handling the Concept Core release ceremony in a supermarket parking lot.

V-Sw sat next to the boy with light escaping into the sky.

“Man, it’s cold. That light isn’t warming me up much.”

“That’s because I’m cool,” replied the weapon.

Boldman considered running over and knocking the boy to the ground, but unfortunately, the method to release the Concept Core had to fit both the weapon and its user.

“I never imagined our world’s concepts would be so easygoing.”

“Isn’t that just how things are in the world of the gods?”

That comment came from some men with dark skin.

They were either born of the same Gear or at least had some 6th-Gear blood. They were all injured, but they had smiles on their faces.

“Commander, did you know that 6th-Gear is split between a region of destruction, a region of rebirth, and a region of stillness?”

“They tried to dam up the rivers flowing between the regions – especially the river of destruction – to increase our Gear’s power.”

Boldman had heard this story from his mother.

“They created Concept Dragon Vritra to dam up that river of destruction. And to maintain a balance on the rebirth side, they created Vajra, a sword made with the same amount of concepts. But the politicians with the power to control Vajra and Vritra tried to use them to control reincarnation and a coup d’etat broke out.”

“The people decided to get rid of Vajra since it had only caused conflict. The young man who had borrowed it and contained Vritra was meant to be given all of the calamity,” said one. “And that young man was Izumo’s grandfather. He was given our misfortune. But our ancestors came to this world and ended up getting homesick.”

Boldman nodded, smiled bitterly, and lifted the equipment in his hand.

“And we took back our misfortune, didn’t we? …Resupply complete! Swap out with the vanguard!”

The men stood up along with him and nodded.

Boldman looked across them and sighed.

“Raise your hand if you ever thought you might as well die.”

They all raised their hand, so Boldman gave a deep, quiet nod.

“I understand the feeling,” he began. “But never think that again. Let’s go.”

He began to run. After a short break to resupply and reconfirm their past, they moved up ahead, ahead to the battlefield.

They made their way to the black mechanical dragons and angels.

When they did, a wind blew alongside them.

It took human form and wore a black vest over a white armored uniform.

“British UCAT!?”

“Indeed,” replied a middle-aged man with slicked back hair and a sword on his back.

Similarly equipped people lined up alongside him and so did a group in white maid uniforms.

“We are British UCAT’s concept combat unit and support automatons. Our automatons aren’t on the level of German UCAT, but we are more than competent when it comes to combat and tea.”

“Why would Britain be helping us?”

“Learn some history, gentlemen.”

With those words, the men and automatons drew their swords and faced forward.

“Men, trust in your lion’s heart and spirit’s will as you aim to dance with the darkness!”

He breathed in.

“The fog is thin tonight! A lovely darkness awaits us!!”

He then matched his speed to Boldman’s.

“Now, gentlemen, I would like you to teach us one thing. Our great nation may know how to slay monsters, but we are a tad lacking when it comes to legends of dragon slaying.”

He held his blade over his shoulder as he ran.

“Please tell us how to defeat these dragons. Do that, and I will teach you some history and how to make some excellent tea.”

The sixth minute began.

Chinese UCAT representative Chao Yu acted as 7th-Gear’s leader as he worked with American UCAT’s tank unit to attack the enemy.

The four balls were already rising into the sky.

They had been released, but they required stabilizing.

…''And I will not let anyone interfere!

But the enemy’s numbers were absurd. Even Chao Yu was left short of breath dealing with them all.

A few of the American UCAT tanks had already stopped moving and now functioned as barrier walls.

But the enemy was still coming, so they had to continue fighting.

“Don’t falter!”

Chao used an acceleration charm to jump and threw aside several flying angels as he did so.

“We are the world at the moment!”

“Yes, sir!”

Those in green armored uniforms ran alongside each other. They took a sideways stance as they approached the enemy gods of war and mechanical dragons and then they rotated their arms.

“Fnn!”

Their powerful stomp stopped the mechanical dragons and gods of war in their tracks.

The next group charged in, flipped forcefully through the air, and collided with the enemy feet-first.

…''Let them shake!

The masses of metal were blown away and the functioning tanks fired on them.

The enemy was broken and knocked away.

“————!”

But more enemies arrived.

The men who had charged in were exterminated before they could retreat, but…

“Even so, do not falter!!”

Chao let out the white breath of his shouting voice.

“A nation of one billion stands behind us! And the entire world stands behind that!!”

“Yes, sir!!”

They caught their breath, formed rows, and took their sideways stances.

They opened their mouths to perfectly synchronize their breathing.

They sang their national anthem: the March of the Volunteers.

“Qǐlái! Búyuàn zuò núlì de rénmen!” (Arise, we who refuse to be slaves!)

They stared down their enemy with the intense light in their eyes.

“Bǎ wǒmen de xuèròu, zhùchéng wǒmen xīn de Chángchéng!” (With our very flesh and blood let us build our new Great Wall!)

They took the first step forward.

“Zhōnghuá mínzú dào liǎo zuì wēixiǎn de shíhòu.” (The peoples of China are at their most critical time.)

They used small stomps to lightly fill their bodies with strength.

“Měi ge rén bèipò zhe fāchū zuìhòu de hǒushēng.” (Everybody must roar defiance.)

They used that strength to take an even stronger step forward.

“Qǐlái! Qǐlái! Qǐlái!” (Arise! Arise! Arise!)

They stomped right before the enemy’s eyes.

“Wǒmen wànzhòng yìxīn, Màozhe dírén de pàohuǒ, qiánjìn!” (Millions of people become one, Braving the enemy's gunfire, March on!)

They pushed their fists forward.

“Màozhe dírén de pàohuǒ, qiánjìn! Qiánjìn! Qiánjìn!” (Braving the enemy's gunfire, March on! March on! March on!)

Those fists landed.

“Jìn!” (On!)

The enemy was blown away.

And as their vision grew clear, a color reached them.

Whiteness was falling from the sky.

“It’s snow.”

The roar of battle and the changes to the air had brought it.

Snow was falling on Tokyo.

Snowflakes blossomed and fell through the darkness.

When Chao saw the scattering white, he let out a breath.

…''This is going to give me a chill.

''But,'' he thought as he moved forward and loosened his suit’s collar.

“It feels nice after warming up so much. And it makes a good story for when I get back home!”

The seventh minute began.

Abram defended the southeast for 9th-Gear and he watched the dragon of flames and shadows expanding in the sky.

That was the concept dragon of the Gear made from light and darkness.

Not even the snow was enough to slow it down as it curved its long body.

It grew ever larger like Yamata, as if to show itself off to the Leviathan above.

Abram was currently fighting alongside Japanese UCAT’s special division.

From the beginning, he had not been using B-Sp. He was using a spear reinforced by a piercing concept.

The front line was pushing the enemy back.

That was mostly because the enemy forces had been worn down by 3rd to the south and 5th to the west.

Not many of the enemy forces were being sent this way.

“We can do this! Keep attacking and moving on to the next piece of cover! If you aren’t on the front line, provide covering fire!”

Just as their front line tried to push forward, Abram heard a sudden sound in the sky.

A roar filled the snowy sky. It came from deep in the Leviathan’s throat far above.

“Is this…?”

The Leviathan was assisting its troops.

However, it was not firing or striking.

“Is it a concept!? From the excess positive ones?”

Abram and the others could not hear the emitted concept text, but the angels, mechanical dragons, and gods of war could.

No one knew what it was, but its effects became immediately clear.

Movement filled the wreckage and remains scattered around.

The destroyed but still movable ones suddenly began to get up.

It was an application of 10th-Gear’s healing concept.

Almost all of the destroyed enemy forces stood back up while healing themselves.

It was almost like those messengers of heaven were immortal.

The recovery filled every region with confusion.

Any of the pure-white or black dolls, gods of war, and mechanical dragons that had not been completely destroyed were restarted and began healing their armor and motors.

This included about seventy percent of the previously defeated enemies.

The enemy was supplied with immediate reinforcements.

They were not dead.

Unless their head was completely destroyed, they could continue to think and to move.

Those who still lived as dolls recovered in an instant.

Countless black forms stood up in the snow.

In 3rd-Gear’s region, the black gods of war abandoned behind Miyako’s group stood up. In 5th-Gear’s region, the broken and crashed mechanical dragons flew heroically back into the sky.

Most of the battlefields were caught in the middle and the front line was annihilated.

The front lines had pushed in on the black attacks, so the reactivated black machines appeared between the front line and the rear guard.

They all clenched their teeth at being surrounded like this.

“Don’t tell me the enemy was planning this!”

The Leviathan gave no answer. The great white mechanical dragon simply floated calmly in the sky.

Then a new turn of events began.

UCAT had advanced while wearing down the enemy’s numbers, but now the heavenly host recovered those worn down numbers and surrounded UCAT.

Most of the recovered enemy charged in from behind UCAT. The UCAT forces were split apart and their numbers dropped rapidly.

They had three minutes left, but the color black began to fill the battlefield.

The black momentum permeated the entire battlefield instead of just the center.

“————!!”

They did not stop.

The momentum of destruction continued devouring the people with no sign of stopping.

“Fall back!!”

Abram shouted across the chaotic battlefield.

He also told himself not to panic. The rear guard remained behind them to protect the stability of the Concept Core.

That was their foundation.

…''I’m worried about the center, but we have to get back there!

So…

“Focus on falling back to the rear guard!”

But black gods of war appeared behind him.

They were the pure-white ones that had been crushed when Sayama had run through.

They now stood back up after evolving into black bodies.

Everyone who saw them said the same thing.

“Is it hopeless?”

Would the enemy continue to get back up no matter what they did or how badly they crushed them?

But a sudden voice rang out.

“It is not hopeless.”

Abram turned around to find that aged voice had come from a maid standing in front of the gods of war.

The tall doll wearing a maid uniform kept its back turned as it spoke.

“I’ll help you out since this has gotten pretty bad.”

The voice belonged to the old manager.

At the same time, black armored uniforms appeared around Abram.

They stopped their high-speed movement and they were all just as old and dark-skinned as him.

However, their eyes were sharp and they kneeled in the snow.

“We are the former 9th-Gear members of the former Army,” one said. “Our king, give us your command.”

Abram let out a white breath and listened to the distant sounds of battle.

“I am no king.”

“But you saved my life during my very first battle.”

“Still, I am no king,” insisted Abram.

He ignored the kneeling men, moved forward, and passed by the maid doll.

“Don’t throw your life away. If you try to move forward to do that, then I’ll take that life from behind. It would be a shame to let the enemy have it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Abram heard a voice behind him.

“Those familiar words have filled my body more than the chill of the snow!”

He heard them all stand up.

Abram then ran toward the enemy before him and he heard running feet following behind him.

The gods of war also began to move, but Abram raised his weapon regardless.

“Focus on regrouping with the rear guard!” he said. “Once we arrive there, the situation will be no different from the beginning of this battle! And since we have already defeated them once, assume that we have the advantage!!”

The eighth minute began.

Kazami held the north for 10th-Gear and she looked up into the snowy night sky.

The northern region was primarily defended by students and French UCAT’s god of war unit.

The students made up for their weaker attack power with numbers and the excellent defenses of the god of war unit allowed them to swiftly carry out Abram’s orders.

How to retreat had been lesson #1 when the students had been trained.

Also, Kazami fought amongst them once they returned to the rear guard.

They fought on a road. It was the northern portion of Circular Route 7.

The black army awaited down that road.

The enemy had straightened out their formation while the UCAT forces retreated and caught their breath.

They had two minutes left. Holing up in one spot seemed like the best option for enduring for such a small amount of time, but the enemy came at them from the sky. And if they did not wear down the enemy’s numbers, another Leviathan-controlled army would rush their way.

Kazami looked to the back of the god of war unit and then looked up.

A giant dragon of light filled the snowy sky.

Some traces of the Concept Core must have remained in G-Sp2 because words appeared on its console.

“Are you having fun?”

“Yes.”

Unexpectedly, the dragon asked another question.

“Is this goodbye?”

“Don’t be stupid,” she said. “You’re going to be absorbed by this world, so we’ll always be together.”

“Will it be fun?”

“It will,” she replied. “Everything will still be fun.”

“Good,” said G-Sp2. “I’m glad.”

It said more.

“You are okay now.”

Kazami gasped when she saw that.

Two years before, when she had first met G-Sp in Okutama, she had escaped the battle, lost the enemy pursuers, and taken a break.

She had been very worried then and that was when G-Sp had first contacted her.

“Are you okay?”

They had been together ever since.

And now G-Sp2 had said the reverse of that.

She was okay now.

And yet the world might change in two minutes’ time.

Still…

“Yes, I am okay now,” she said. “And it’s all thanks to you. Thank you.”

The dragon curved in the sky.

“I’m glad.”

That was all.

No more new words appeared.

Light floated in the sky. It seemed to be dancing, it seemed troubled, and yet it seemed happy.

Kazami smiled a little and opened G-Sp2’s cowling. She pulled out the metal cylinder that had contained the Concept Core, but there was no weight or light inside it anymore.

…''It’s been freed into the sky.

The light was watching over them from beyond the falling snow.

She muttered her thanks once more and inserted the cylinder containing a photonic attack concept that was attached to the back of her waist.

Was it sentimentality that made her attach the empty cylinder to her waist?

When she faced forward again, the gods of war asked a question.

“Commander, give us our orders.”

“Okay then,” replied Kazami.

She began to walk forward. She passed by the legs of the gods of war, spread her wings, raised her spear, and placed that spear of light in the heavens.

“Everyone,” she shouted. “Charge!!”

“Testament!!”

With countless yells, the gods of war did just that.

The black group responded to the explosion of wind by charging in from the opposite side.

Amid the movement, Kazami heard a song. The pilots of the charging gods of war were singing.

It was France’s national anthem.

“Sing, our god of war pilots!”

They roared, charged, and produced sounds of breaking metal.

“Marianne has guided us here!!”

They sang.

“Allons, enfants de la Patrie, Le jour de gloire est arrive. (Arise, children of the Fatherland, the day of glory has arrived.)

“Contre nous, de la tyrannie, L'étendard sanglant est levé. (Against us, tyranny's bloody banner is raised.)

“L'étendard sanglant est levé. (Bloody banner is raised.)

“Entendez-vous dans les campagnes, Mugir ces féroces soldats? (Do you hear, in the countryside, the roar of those ferocious soldiers?)

“Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras, Égorger nos fils, nos compagnes! (They're coming right into our arms to cut the throats of our sons, our women!)

“Aux armes, citoyens, Formez vos bataillons. (To arms, citizens, form your battalions.)

“Marchons, marchons, Qu'un sang impur Abreuve nos sillons! (Let's march, let's march! Let an impure blood water our furrows!)”

The students responded to the song by following the silver giants.

Kazami watched as everyone ran by on either side of her.

Suddenly, someone stopped alongside her.

It was a fellow third year wearing glasses. The girl held a long sword and had a bandage on her smiling cheek.

“How have you been lately?”

Kazami was briefly confused, but then she smiled bitterly.

“I’ve been having lots of fun.”

“Good,” said the girl. “I’m glad to hear it.”

Kazami nodded, too.

But those students were not the only ones who appeared from behind.

White forms slowly lined up alongside her.

Jord and the rest of them were wearing white clothing.

“We are the combat gods of 10th-Gear. We decided to show up since the weak people were asking for help.”

The elderly man in the lead gave a feigned look of shock in Kazami’s direction.

“But I certainly didn’t expect to find a Valkyrie in the lead. When did we become the heroic dead?”

They all laughed at that.

“We had heard from Jord that a strange girl with wings was wielding our Concept Core. In that case, you truly are the Valkyrie that called us here.”

The men and women, both young and old, shouted in agreement behind him.

Some of them were actual Valkyries, but they were all looking her way.

“Guide us to the battlefield. As those who have lost our home, we should be able to help in this battle of Ragnarok.”

“Yes, we will no longer fight for the world of the gods! We will fight proudly on this Valkyrie’s guidance!”

“Is that so?”

Kazami smiled, raised her glowing spear toward the sky, and spread her wings.

She heard them cheer as she took flight.

She raised her wings and flew above them all.

And she sang.

La Marseillaise was a song born during the French Revolution and it was a song of the people. It was not a song of the weak being saved from the rulers; it was a song of the weak standing up on their own.

She knew all that from her father and so she sang.

The rear guard used their acoustic weapons to provide a brass accompaniment.

“—————”

The gods of war joined in as they spread metallic sounds around.

“Amour sacré de la Patrie, Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs. (Sacred love of the Fatherland, lead, support our avenging arms.)

“Liberté, Liberté chérie, Combats avec tes défenseurs. (Liberty, cherished Liberty, fight with thy defenders.)

“Combats avec tes défenseurs. (Fight with thy defenders.)

“Sous nos drapeaux que la victoire Accoure à tes mâles accents. (Under our flags, shall victory hurry to thy manly accents.)

“Que tes ennemis expirants Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire! (That thy expiring enemies see thy triumph and our glory!)

“Aux armes, citoyens, Formez vos bataillons. (To arms, citizens, form your battalions.)

“Marchons, marchons, Qu'un sang impur Abreuve nos sillons! (Let's march, let's march! Let an impure blood water our furrows!)”

Kazami used her voice to circle above the enemy army, swing down her spear, and give a shout.

“Shinjou! Sayama! …It’s your turn now!!”

The ninth minute began.

Directly below the Leviathan, the eastern entrance of Shinjuku Station had once more become a scene of intense fighting.

The great pressure of the enemy had pushed the defense gravity lens down to only thirty meters above the ground.

And the surrounding enemies were resurrected without end.

But no one on that battlefield had given up.

“Don’t worry!!”

Shinjou yelled as she fired from the middle of them all.

She spun Ex-St around to the back of her hips like a baton and its shots tore through the gods of war trying to slip under the defense lens. Also…

“There!”

The muzzle hopped up behind her and she fired to silence a group of automatons approaching from behind.

“Next!”

She continued to fire after flipping Ex-St back to its proper spot on her shoulder.

Everyone ducked down as her rapid-fire shots tore by in all three hundred sixty degrees.

…''I have no blind spot!

But a shadow approached from above.

The Leviathan must have realized this was its last chance.

The descending black army looked like a single blob.

A glance at the clock showed they had forty-six seconds until the concepts of the ten dragons were fully released.

The aerial unit was visible dropping bombs above the Leviathan, but they could not send anyone down below the Leviathan.

Forty-five seconds remained.

Shinjou’s group had to do something on their own.

Forty-four seconds remained.

Ex-St had seventeen shots stored up.

Forty-three seconds.

Shinjou gave a shout.

“#8-san!”

Forty-two seconds.

As she shouted, she collapsed backwards.

Forty-one seconds.

After pointing Ex-St skyward, she placed the center of the enemy army in her sight.

Forty seconds.

A moment later, the barrier in the sky vanished.

Realizing what Shinjou wanted, #8 had deactivated the gravity lens.

Thirty-nine seconds.

The enemies standing on the lens lost their support and fell.

Thirty-eight seconds.

They fell.

Thirty-seven seconds.

But Shinjou did not care.

Thirty-six seconds.

“Achohhhhh!!”

Thirty-five seconds.

She fired repeatedly.

Thirty-four seconds.

She fired her seventeen bomber shots, but they stopped in midair.

Thirty-three seconds.

The force of seventeen consecutive shots stopped at fifteen meters above her and formed a massive reaction sphere.

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> and the other automatons had performed another technique instead of the gravity lens. They were gathering up all of the bomber shots to fire them all at once.

Thirty-two seconds.

The force of seventeen shots fused into one. The seventeen seams vanished from the giant white light and it seemed to ripple like a viscous liquid.

Thirty-one seconds.

Shinjou started to get back up.

Thirty seconds.

At that moment, countless black forms charged forward from above the nearby buildings.

Twenty-nine seconds.

They were automatons.

Twenty-eight seconds.

Most likely, they were the regenerated ones from the other battlefields. The Leviathan’s excess forces had been sent here.

Twenty-seven seconds.

“Oh, no!” shouted #8. “Shinjou-sama!”

Twenty-six seconds.

As #8’s cry suggested, the enemy’s target was Shinjou who could communicate with Wanambi.

Twenty-five seconds.

The enemy rushed in, passing by the shimmering that was beginning to take form.

Twenty-four seconds.

She saw blades. Around a dozen of them. And more enemies were on their way behind them.

Twenty-three seconds.

The next thing she knew, someone was holding her in their arms. It was…

Twenty-two seconds.

“Mikoku-san!?”

Twenty-one seconds.

Even with Mikoku leaning over her, Shinjou thought it was hopeless. The blades would stab straight through Mikoku who no longer had her regeneration philosopher’s stone.

Twenty seconds.

…''It’s all over!

Nineteen seconds.

But her thoughts came true in a different way.

Eighteen seconds.

Everything came to a stop.

Seventeen seconds.

Everyone saw what had happened right in front of Shinjou and Mikoku.

Sixteen seconds.

All of the blades had been stopped. They were stopped by a man’s body.

Fifteen seconds.

It was Hajji.

Fourteen seconds.

Hajji had stopped the dozen blades by letting them stab through his back and out his chest.

Thirteen seconds.

“Father!?”

Twelve seconds.

Shinjou’s body shook from Mikoku’s cry.

Eleven seconds.

But Hajji’s expression changed when he saw Mikoku. He smiled without hiding it.

Ten seconds.

“Hey,” he said.

Nine seconds.

“See, Mikoku? You can protect someone after all.”

Eight seconds.

He began to move. He turned around, instantly broke through the automatons, and charged toward those still approaching.

Seven seconds.

“Never forget! And even as you tremble, desire the world! After all, you currently bear everything we stand for! That may be painful, you may give in to anxiety or anger, and it may not be what you wished for. But…”

Six seconds.

Hajji gave a shout.

Five seconds.

“Mikoku, this is something only you can wish for!”

Unable even to breathe, Hajji charged forward.

He had to crush the enemies rushing in from outside the gravity lens.

…''Yes.

''I really was an awful father for Mikoku and Shino,'' he belatedly realized.

''But,'' he thought as he remembered their days together. ''We may have done nothing but fight, we may have done nothing but hold grudges, and we may have told nothing but lies, but the dinner table and living room were so full of life.

…''Yes, that’s right.

Hajji opened his left eye.

…''Hey, Shahrnavaz.

He exposed to the world that destructive power and everything else he had received from her.

Their world had not contained this black sky, falling snow, or chilly wind.

He spoke with a voiceless voice.

“Isn’t this a wonderful place?”

A moment later, he charged into the advancing enemy forces and activated a certain philosopher’s stone.

The stone transformed emotions into an explosion. It was 9th-Gear’s suicide attack weapon.

But the emotion he detonated was not his anger, his resentment, or his sorrow.

It was the emotion one always felt when thinking of someone precious.

Hajji did not know what it was called.

He simply muttered someone’s name and annihilated the enemy reinforcements.

Four seconds.

Shinjou and Mikoku watched Hajji leave.

Three seconds.

Mikoku said nothing, but Shinjou could tell the girl’s hands were clenched so tightly they had grown white.

Two seconds.

So Shinjou stood up and raised her hand toward the reaction sphere overhead.

One second.

She gave a shout.

“Sayama-kun!!”

The white bullet flew upwards and punched through the black cascade of the enemy.

The white power roasted the center, causing the black cascade to implode.

The black waterfall drew a circle in the sky and scattered from below.

Not even any fragments remained.

There was only a clear sky and the white light’s ascent.

The rising light collided with the defense field below the Leviathan.

“!!”

It broke.

The impact was powerful enough to bend the Leviathan’s giant body.

The great dragon shook.

An earthquake seemed to fill the air itself and everything trembled.

The heavenly halo burst in an instant. Like glass thrown to the floor, some pieces turned to spray and others scattered as shards.

The wind was whipped up.

The disappearance of that massive field set the air in motion.

The white ring crumbled and could not maintain its form.

The Leviathan had lost its defensive power.

On the earth, the heavenly host and UCAT clashed. While in the sky…

“Sayama-kun!!”

A voice on the earth called to the sky.

It called to the boy in the sky.

That boy, Sayama, stood in the heavens.

He rested on his heels, lightly spread his arms, spun around, and looked in every direction.

His eyes saw the flames of war spreading across everything below and he saw no sign of the clash ending.

The fight continued, but he had a thought as he looked down on it all.

…''Splendid.

“Am I really allowed something like this?”

After asking that, he clapped his hands and raised his voice.

“Everyone! Can you hear the sounds of your struggle against the world!?”

And…

“Everyone! Can you feel the strength of choosing the world!?”

Also…

“Everyone!! Do you understand!?”

He forcefully raised his spread arms.

“Make sure you understand that this is a splendid night!!”

His reverberating voice gave the word to begin it all.

“Listen.”

He spoke to the world itself.

“I will say it now! The surname Sayama indicates a villain!”

Brunhild listened.

She listened while receiving several injuries and being protected by the heroic dead and dreams of the past.

Sayama’s voice reached her from the sky.

“Everyone! We stand on a crossroads for the world!”

Kashima listened.

He listened as he used his Cowling Sword to slice through the enemy automatons and made his way to the front line.

“Everyone! The world exists right before your eyes!”

Hiba and Mikage listened.

They listened as they worked with a light blue god of war to destroy the enemy gods of war.

“Listen, everyone! Tonight’s foes are a spoiled bunch who wish to destroy the current world and create a new one!”

Heo and Harakawa listened.

They listened while joining their comrades’ fight in the sky.

“And listen carefully, everyone! We are lacking, we are insufficient, and we can never do anything right. But…”

Izumo listened.

He listened as he inserted a new cylinder in V-Sw and made sure to stick the old cylinder in his pocket.

“We need not see that as a bad thing! We are delinquents! You could say we are the world’s delinquents! But if we prefer to be self-deprecating and stubborn, we would instead simply call ourselves ‘bad’! Listen, everyone.”

Chao Yu listened.

He listened in the snow while pulling a woman’s photo from his pocket. It was a picture of his aunt who had never aged.

“We were enjoying our delinquent life, staring out the classroom window, and thinking about going somewhere, but now a delinquent-hating enemy has come to destroy us, school and all! Such nonsense!”

Abram listened.

He listened while working with his brethren to destroy the enemy and hearing of the former friends who had passed away.

“Listen, everyone. Delinquents do not punch people. But they are free to punch fools! And listen carefully, everyone!”

Kazami listened.

She listened while swinging her spear to cut through the enemy army with her comrades.

“Stand up, all you delinquents! We need not be good! But never come to a stop and always wish to leave your mark on this world! So stand up and pave the way forward, you delinquents! And to do that…”

Shinjou listened.

She listened while looking up at the Leviathan below the scattering snow.

“Listen, everyone. I have a single command! Ahead. Ahead. Go ahead!!”

She nodded.

“We will advance, strike, and bring together the worlds we have created. And to do that, we must move ourselves ahead with our strength in our right hand and our will in our left!!”

She heard his voice.

“Where is your answer!?”

Sayama listened.

Shouting voices carried a word to him up in the sky: testament.

It referred to a contract, to the Bible, and to a promise made by god. It was a holy word with meaning to both parties.

Tes, tes, tes.

We make our contract here.

Every power in the world was gathered in Tokyo and that word of promise rang out like it was a radio announcement broadcast every night.

And they all began to move in order to fulfill their promise with Sayama.

So Sayama responded, too. He prepared to lower his arms to give the ceremonial announcement.

But he suddenly realized something: two figures had appeared on either side of them.

…''Is this…?

The one on his right wore a military uniform. The one on his left wore a white armored uniform.

These were images of when this sealing ceremony had been performed in the past. To provide the divine protection of success, Baku had summoned the past of the Sayama surname. Sayama looked to the two behind him.

…''To think we would be speaking in unison now of all times!

He smiled bitterly and raised his arm toward the snowy heavens, synchronized with the two behind him.

The three of them also opened their mouths at once.

“I will say it now.”

The three Sayamas spoke in unison.

“The surname Sayama indicates a villain!”

First, his father swung down his right arm and gave a shout.

“With this act, I feel no regret toward the future!”

Next, his grandfather swung down his left arm and gave a shout.

“With this act, I feel no repentance toward the past!”

And Sayama gave a shout with his left hand raised toward heaven.

“With this act, I feel no hesitation toward the past or the future!!”

They all rotated their arm to audibly raise their forearm.

“The surname Sayama commands the world!!”

The three forcefully swung their arms forward with a loud snapping of the sleeve.

“World,” they shouted. “Do as I wish by moving!!”

A moment later, the ten released concept lights pierced through the concept space.

They came from the eight directions, the heavens, and the earth.

Writing, blowing rain, the Tartaros, watery mist, the windy sky, life and destruction, the sage’s body, shimmering heat, light and shadow, and the divine tree.

The ten world dragons instantly flew to their proper positions.

They all pierced through the Leviathan.

They tore through it.

And the fifteen kilometer Leviathan had its armor broken, burned, and frozen. Its internal frame was destroyed and it bounced through the sky.

“…!!”

It was intensely destroyed.

The dragon’s scream was as endless as the sounds of its destruction.

That destruction covered its entire surface, but it was darkness and light that left the opposite side.

Without fusing back together, the dispersed light and darkness spread through the sky like the falling snow.

Above the Leviathan, the negative concept storage pallets in the concept creation facility were destroyed.

The ten pallets instantly froze white and shattered inward.

The Leviathan’s body bent.

A tremor ran through the heavens and the careless were blown from their feet by the great wind that was pushed down to the surface.

But it did not end there.

There was movement in the sky and on the earth.

That movement came from a girl and a boy.

Pulled by the concepts under their care, the boy in the heavens descended and the girl on the earth ascended.

At the midpoint in the sky, they passed by and exchanged something in their possession.

It was a single metal chip.

The girl handed over the negative one and the boy handed over the positive one.

Concept power was passing through that space between heaven and earth.

Georgius’s power to destroy concepts could ride that current to any point.

And that included the Leviathan’s core.

They had a single target.

The negative concepts had solidified in the Leviathan’s core, so they would strike it and destroy it from both heaven and earth.

That would tear apart the negative concepts so they would be pulled away by the released positive concepts and utterly dispersed.

The negative concepts began to activate when gathered, so they would cool down once scattered so completely.

To do that, the girl used her right hand when she arrived in the snowy heavens.

And the boy used his left hand when he arrived on the snow-covered earth.

The two of them placed the opposite symbol chip in the Georgius gauntlet on their hand.

“Shinjou-kun!”

They gave a shout of confirmation.

“Sayama-kun!!”

The white and black lights released from heaven and earth pierced through the Leviathan.

They slammed into it.

A black spray spread through the sky and a white spray burst as if leading the way.

A white and black flash of light rippled outward in the snowy sky.

Shinjou flipped around in midair.

The light from Georgius was calming down and she slowly fell toward the earth below while gradually picking up speed.

She slipped below the waves of scattered concept light.

…''It’s over.

She looked up at the Leviathan overhead as she fell faster than the snow.

She saw the automatons preparing to catch her down below.

Sayama was also there. As was a scorch-marked Ooshiro.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked up into the sky again.

“—————!!”
She noticed a certain phenomenon.

And before she could even think, her cellphone rang in her waist armor pocket.

She heard Kazami’s voice.

“Shinjou! Can you see this!? Something isn’t right!”

Beyond Kazami’s panicked voice, she heard cannon fire.

“The enemy is still fighting! And…the spread of the negative concepts has stopped! Even the spray of positive concepts is struggling to expand!”

Shinjou understood because she could see the cause from closer than anyone.

“The Leviathan is…regenerating.”

The destroyed areas were returning to normal. And something was appearing from within it.

“The black angels, gods of war, and mechanical dragons are forming a new halo!!”

The Leviathan was holding back the negative concepts as they tried to scatter away.

Using the heavenly host contained inside, it had formed a defensive halo inside itself to restrain the penetrative power of the positive concepts. Then, it had restrained the scattering negative concepts.

It was currently healing itself at a rapid pace, but where did this power come from?

The Leviathan knew that power most likely came from Top-Gear.

Top-Gear had most likely developed something approaching immortality.

That power was allowing the Leviathan to heal.

And once it was fully healed, it could pull the negative concepts back in.

It would draw in the positive concepts at the same time.

The Leviathan felt joy at that fact.

The lost positive concepts would be regained in their perfect form.

It could do it. It could do it.

It would be able to do it now.

It would be able to change the world, and quite soon at that.

It could change the world.

To achieve that goal, the Leviathan gave a roar.

That roar shook everything.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume14 Chapter 25|Chapter 25]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume14 Chapter 27|Chapter 27]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume14 Chapter 25

2026-06-14T03:21:05Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 25: Twist of the World==
[[Image:OnC_v14_0907.png|thumb]]
''The world seen from the hilltop

''The world seen from the city

''The world seen from the depths of the night

''I want to take care of them all

The Leviathan stopped moving in the sky above Shinjuku Station.

The sounds of changing and evolving armor occasionally descended from those cloudy heavens, but the Leviathan was otherwise entirely still.

A pair of eyes looked up at it from the center of the earth seal barrier in front of the station.

“It is showing no sign of moving anytime soon. It only needs to wait for the negative concepts inside to fully activate, so it must see no reason to waste its forces.”

Sayama stood in the center of that earth circle that had opened a meter from the ground.

Several other figures surrounded him in the clearing before the station’s east entrance.

Some were people, some were not, some were machines, and some were dragons.

The nearest of them all, Shinjou, asked him a question.

“What are we going to do, Sayama-kun?”

“Well.” He nodded. “The standard course of action before the final battle is for the boy and girl to sneak off and do indecent things. And all on the pretext of ‘this might be our last chance’. Of course, I think the best possible way to transfer responsibility for such inappropriate acts would be-… What is it, Shinjou-kun? Why are you activating Wanambi with a smile? Are you cold? Oh, we cannot have that! We must warm each other up this very moment!”

“Don’t transfer responsibility to the cold!! Besides, we already did that cliché!”

While Shinjou pulled on Sayama’s tie and shook him, Heo blushed a little and turned toward Harakawa.

“H-Harakawa, u-um, don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s true this might be our last chance…”

Harakawa expressionlessly placed a hand on her head.

“Do you want to eat some pudding?”

“Wh-why are you treating me like a child!?”

“You were giving that pudding a pretty longing look back in the supermarket.”

“I-I w-was n-n-n-not!”

“It was the one with a cow wearing a jersey on the package. Was it called Jersey Milk Cream & Pudding?”

Heo hung her head in defeat.

“If we make it back alive, I want that pun pudding as a reward.”

“If that’s what you want. But eat it all yourself. It’ll probably make you grow. Widthwise.”

“Wh-why can’t you just be honest for once!?” she shouted with her fists clenched. “Just the night before last, you dragged me outside without any clothes on, but you only watched without doing anything! I-it was just too much and I really thought I was going to fall! And then while we got down to business and I was gasping for breath, saying I couldn’t keep going, you told me I could, told me to ‘get set’, and then kept riding me. I didn’t think I could get any higher than that!”

She placed her hands on her cheeks and waved her head left and right.

“Harakawa! You’re the one that’s always going inside me and saying things like ‘is it here?’ or ‘that should do it’!”

“At least explain what you’re talking about first!!”

Harakawa saw the others glaring at him and Odor being held back by Roger and Diana.

“Calm down, Heo Thunderson. Talking about the happy things too much will raise a death flag for you.”

“Wh-what’s wrong with just talking?”

“This isn’t reality. It’s a space filled with insanity. There’s a decent possibility of those flags actually working.”

As soon as he said that, the crowd split to let two people through.

One was a boy and the other was a girl clinging to his neck from behind.

“I’ve got great news, everyone! Sibyl-san still had a copy of Mikage-san’s medical exam results and it looks like she really has become human.”

“Nn. Ryuuji-kun, we were too busy yesterday, but let’s take a bath together when we get back.”

“Of course! Oh, I can’t wait.”

Heo paled at their conversation.

“He’s raising all sorts of dangerous flags, isn’t he?”

“Calm down, Heo. He’s always like that, so he’s built up an immunity to flags. Your standard flag won’t be enough to kill him.”

“Wh-what kind of ominous things are you two talking about!?”

They all took their turn ignoring Hiba.

On the opposite end from him, Kazami and Izumo walked up. They held their weapons and a 4th-Gear creature to remove their exhaustion.

“Oh, things sure are lively over here. How are your preparations going?”

“And do you have anything to eat? I’m kind of starving over here.”

“Starving?” asked one creature. “Going to die?”

“Yeah, it sure feels like it after running so much. I could use some water too.”

The two of them found a rest table and started chowing down on the food laid out there.

The others had been too nervous to touch the food, but those two had no such reservations.

“The rest of you should eat too. Even if we lose, would you rather lose with your stomach full or while you’re starving? The same goes for winning. And our odds of victory seem better if we’ve eaten, don’t they?”

The others exchanged a glance and slowly started eating too.

Kazami and Izumo’s pace was still faster, though.

As Shinjou watched them from behind, she tugged on Sayama’s sleeve.

“They really are carnivorous beasts, aren’t they?”

“You say something, Shinjou?”

“N-no, nothing.”

Shinjou and everyone else averted their gaze.

Wanambi and the Messengers even moved away as they controlled some nearby machines.

“Carnivorous” “Strange” “Empty-headed” “Dilemma”

But Kazami and Izumo were not the only ones being avoided. No one approached the figures in black armored uniforms protected by a mechanical dragon and god of war.

A simple bed had been prepared in the center and the members of the Army had wrapped a girl in a blanket and placed her there.

Mikoku slept at the center of that ring of people. She almost seemed a prisoner of her body’s weariness.

Hajji nodded toward her and then faced forward, where Tatsumi stood.

Looking somewhat pale, Tatsumi placed her trembling hands in her coat pockets.

When she turned around, she found the UCAT members and Sayama.

“We will help you fight. And we have one thing to ask.”

“If it is about Mikoku-kun, then we will honor what I announced before the battle,” replied Sayama. “I believe that letting her live will provide a memorial service for all of the lost worlds. She attempted to revive all that was destroyed and yet she failed. We must let this be a world in which she wants to keep living and to create something. If we punished her and did not allow that, we would be the ones in the wrong.”

“Isn’t that…going too easy on her?”

Sayama shrugged at Tatsumi’s question.

“It is not. After all, her life will not be an easy one.”

For only a brief moment, his eyes turned to the girl in the blanket.

“The world knows nothing of the Concept War or of today. And in that world, she will always remember the lives she herself took. Also…”

He looked across the others.

“She will live in constant fear that someone with a grudge will attack her and that might very well happen. But if she can gain allies and manage to smile and act on her own even a little, then I would call that a victory for us all.”

“I see.”

Tatsumi nodded and then Sayama asked her something.

“What happened to the mechanical dragon and god of war that tried to attack us during the battle on top of the Leviathan?”

“They quickly lost control and fell,” said Alex. “That was most likely due to Noah losing control of the Leviathan.”

“To be honest, it really saved us,” said Tatsumi. “The No. 0 of the Seraph and Lords models are on the same level as Alex or Typhon. But…”

She looked up into the sky.

The Leviathan was there and a white ring had formed around it.

“If the Leviathan desires the greatest possible combat power, all of the gods of war and mechanical dragons stored inside will be installed with Noah’s knowledge. All of the gods of war and mechanical dragons will probably be on Typhon or Alex’s level next time. Wouldn’t it be best to start fighting right away?”

She then looked down to Georgius on Sayama’s hands.

“Besides, one half of Georgius there destroyed Mikoku’s philosopher’s stone, right? Maybe a strike from both hands would be enough to destroy the Leviathan’s negative concepts.”

“You want me to attack something that big with my fists?”

Everyone turned toward him when they heard that.

He raised both Georgiuses with a bitter smile and Shinjou asked him a question with her eyebrows lowered.

“C-can you not do it? Is it too big?”

“Georgius is a striking weapon, Shinjou-kun. Normally, it would simply be impossible.”

“Th-then…” began Shinjou.

“But there is one method that is not exactly normal.”

Shinjou listened to Sayama’s serious words.

“Yes, are you listening, Shinjou-kun? There is one method.”

Everyone waited in silence for him to continue.

But Shinjou’s loud voice shattered that silence.

“W-wait!”

She was blushing and she covered her chest and crotch.

“N-no asking for something in exchange for telling me!”

Dumbfounded, Sayama turned toward her.

He seemed to be asking what she was talking about.

…''Eh?

A few seconds later, he slowly nodded.

“That is a great idea!!”

“Waaah!! Why did I say that!?”

“C-calm down, Shinjou-kun. Um, okay. Sorry, everyone, but Shinjou-kun and I will be leaving for a bit. Yes, yes. You can kill some time eating the food over there.”

“W-wah! W-wait! Don’t pick me up! Don’t!”

“Ha ha ha. You do not want me to hold you? Then how about a backwards piggy back ride? Oh, dear. Now I cannot see.”

Ex-St was nearby, so Shinjou grabbed it and slammed it down on his head.

…''You idiot!

She expected a groan of pain or surprise after the dull impact, but…

“Heh.”

An awkward sound escaped his throat and he collapsed to the side.

Shinjou caught her breath next to him.

“Honestly, you really need to think about the overall situation before doing things like that.”

She then watched for five seconds as Sayama remained entirely motionless.

“Oh, no! Wh-what have I done!?”

The others gave their comments while she frantically tried to shake him awake.

“Harakawa, is it just me or does Shinjou need to think about the overall situation too?”

“That’s because the Sayama virus has infected the morality part of her brain. There’s no saving her now.”

“D-don’t scare me like that!! I need to wake Sayama-kun up!”

“Then wake him.”

That comment came from Kazami who turned around with a spoon in her mouth. She started ripping apart a large shrimp at the table and she pointed toward Sayama with her chin.

Shinjou looked over and realized Sayama had lifted his head a bit while still lying on the ground.

“Sayama-kun, what is that pose supposed to be?”

“You cannot tell? I wish to lie in your lap, Shinjou-kun.”

“Oh?” She nodded. “W-well, it’s a little embarrassing, so no turning around, okay?”

She stuck Ex-St under his head.

Sayama immediately started stroking his hands across Ex-St’s surface.

“Heh heh. Shinjou-kun, you must have been running too much. Your legs are a little hard today.”

“N-not too much touching okay? That’s pretty sensitive.”

“There is no way I could resist, Shinjou-kun. Ohh, such wonderful curves. And here…hm? I-I found some kind of lewd hole!”

“Ah, d-don’t touch that hole! I-it’s going to come out! The hot blast is going to come out!”

“Then is this small protrusion your love button, Shinjou-kun!?”

Everyone ducked.

“Let us see that reaction!”

As soon as Sayama pressed the button, Ex-St fired and everyone along the line of fire fled.

The recoil launched Ex-St backwards and it crashed into Izumo as he ate some sushi.

Kazami calmly moved her plate of gratin out of the way while Izumo was sent flipping over the table. He soon popped back up with a plate on his head.

“Y-you idiot! M-my precious tuna is flying through the sky!”

Shinjou averted her gaze and Sayama spun around on the ground like a break dancer after his pillow launched itself out from under him.

Everyone gave him a worried look and Shinjou waited for the perfect timing.

…''This really is no time to be doing this.

Her casual kick hit his head, causing him to roll forward, but he sat up afterwards.

He swayed unsteadily while sitting crosslegged on the ground, so Shinjou sighed and sat down too.

“Anyway, Sayama-kun, can we get back on topic?”

“Are you going to ignore everything you did to me?”

“That’s right. …Or do you want me to do it more?”

“Ha ha ha. That is the same thing you said last night, Shinjou-kun.”

“Waaaahh!!”

For some reason, the others gave her kind looks, but she waved her hands at them.

“Don’t listen to him! Don’t listen! He’s a crazy person!”

“Um…Shinjou-san?”

She turned toward Hiba, thanking him for the interruption.

“Wh-what is it!? I hope it’s something fun.”

“Well, maybe it’s just me, but I think you’re actively making all of this more complicated than it has to be.”

She thought about that for a moment and finally hung her head.

“I just got a lecture from Ryuuji-kun of all people…”

“That’s the depressing part!?”

Sayama nodded next to her, steadied himself, and looked across the others.

“Calm down, everyone. You people really do not make it easy to hold a conversation in peace.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you!!”

He ignored their shouts and raised his left hand.

“Sibyl-kun.”

“Coming!”

For some reason, it was Ooki who pushed through the crowd.

Shinjou frowned and saw Sayama look at the woman.

“Ha ha ha. That is quite the new look, Sibyl-kun. …Why are you here, defective teacher?”

“That’s just mean! S-Sibyl-san gave me her report.”

Ooki sighed and looked down at said report.

“O-okay… With the Le-Levi-Leviathan? Overhead, the surrounding a-aut-automa-…”

“Someone help this illiterate.”

“Testament.” #8 peered at the report from the side. “With the Leviathan overhead, the surrounding automatons have arranged their conceptual defenses in a ring. As things are, even approaching the Leviathan would be impossible.”

“Wow, #8-san, you’re a really good reader.”

Ooki sounded utterly impressed and #8 gave a shallow nod.

“This is one of a maid’s jobs.”

“Wow, maids sure are amazing.”

Everyone looked down toward the ground until a new voice asked a question. It was Boldman, leader of the standard division unit, and he looked back down at his gun as he did.

“What are we going to do?”

“Are you worried, Boldman-kun? Worry too much and your hair will fall-… Oh, I-I suppose nothing will ever grow on that barren land again. My apologies. …It is cold this time of year, so be careful.”

After Sayama’s comment, Shinjou smiled and lightly tapped him on the shoulder.

“You keep getting off topic!”

“Now that you mention it…”

She hung her head again, but he breathed in and spoke without warning.

“There is a way to stop the negative concepts and a way to get my fists to the Leviathan.”

“…Eh?”

Shinjou quickly looked up and saw his eyes raised in a smile.

He then revealed how they could win.

“We will release the concepts.”

It was 11:23 PM.

With thirty-seven minutes until the negative concepts fully activated, the Leviathan noticed movement down below.

The Leviathan determined this was a futile attempt.

It was protected by a giant defense field made by the angels and the surrounding sealing walls would be broken in another thirty-seven minutes.

The negative concepts would devour everything and the world would be remade as a world with nothing that could be lost.

That was a wonderful thing.

The Leviathan had something that was not quite a mind and it was filled with two missions.

The first was to create a new world and the second was not to lose anything.

It would fulfill those missions. It would fulfill them in the most perfect form.

With that in mind, the Leviathan decided to let the remaining time pass by.

But then something arrived.

It was a cannon blast.

A white line shot straight up from the circular seal directly below.

The light pierced the sky without losing much – if any – energy and it sprayed against the bottom of the defense field.

It could not breach the field, but a few of the automatons maintaining the field were fried.

And as if to double check that effect…

“————”

Another blast arrived. Except this one was not alone. Dozens if not hundreds came with it. They were all deflected, but they produced a great noise and shook the wind.

And it did not stop.

It was a trivial number of the whole, but fried automatons fell from the sky.

''I see,'' thought the Leviathan. ''Such an unpleasant noise.

There was just one sound the Leviathan liked.

It knew that fact, but it did not remember what that sound was.

Some small vestiges of the sound remained inside it and all other sounds were designated “unpleasant”.

And so the Leviathan let its power spill forth.

The dolls, giants, and dragons contained inside it had been modified in a very short period of time.

The remnants of the incomplete positive concepts had been shifted to the negative side by the negative concepts and that power had been linked to this new army. It was a negative army.

That army was black.

The pitch black force passed through the white halo and dropped down, down, down.

But the Leviathan also saw something flying upwards and weaving back and forth to avoid the falling black army.

It was a mist that rose even higher than the Leviathan.

That mist flying alongside the seal in the heavens contained a boy with a flight philosopher’s stone hanging from his neck.

He stood high in the sky with a great dragon of mist protecting him.

The Leviathan wondered what he could hope to accomplish.

The Leviathan also had another question.

Wasn’t the seal in the sky Wanambi’s and the one below Mukiti’s?

That was when more light appeared.

The powerful light came from directly below and the surrounding eight directions.

“Begin releasing the Concept Cores!!”

A voice reverberated from the sky above.

“We will now break down the negative concepts by releasing the positive concepts!!”

Sayama looked down below with Baku on his head.

A giant dragon lived in the sky above Tokyo.

It was the Leviathan.

It was surrounded and protected by a great halo and light surrounded it in eight directions.

Those eight lights came from the release of the Concept Cores.

But their positions had changed.

“Reverse positions!!”

They were all positioned one hundred eighty degrees from their original position.

Region 1: North. Leader is Kazami.

Region 2: Northeast. Leader is Brunhild.

Region 3: East. Leader is Izumo.

Region 4: Southeast. Leader is Abram.

Region 5: South. Leader is Hiba.

Region 6: Southwest. Leader is Kashima.

Region 7: West. Leader is Heo.

Region 8: Northwest. Leader is Chao Yu.

Region 9: Heaven. Leader is Sayama.

Region 10: Earth. Leader is Shinjou.

They had a single reason for these reversed positions.

“The dragons will return to their origins! Therefore, if we release the concepts and make the declaration…”

Sayama swung his arm and willed his voice to reach them all.

“The dragons will race to their origins and destroy the negative concepts contained within the Leviathan at the center! That will release both the positive and negative concepts!!” he shouted. “Our estimates say it will take ten minutes to fully deploy the Concept Cores! Bear with it until then, everyone!! This will be…”

His voice rang through the heavens.

“This will be the Leviathan Road’s final battle!!”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume14 Chapter 24|Chapter 24]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume14 Chapter 26|Chapter 26]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume14 Chapter 19

2026-06-13T04:32:42Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 19: Simulated Tomorrow==
[[Image:OnC_v14_0693.png|thumb]]
''Everyone

''How about we think of tomorrow?

''Of a tomorrow bright with destruction

Evening filled the sky.

Below, the forest sank into darkness.

However, that forest did not maintain its proper form.

The tree-covered earth was split, cracked, and broken.

Ropes and warning lights were set up to block off what little remained of the road.

Night was fast approaching, so most of the trucks and heavy machinery had been pulled back to the base of the mountain.

But even as everyone else was headed down, one figure remained at the top of the slope.

An old man in a lab coat and a yellow hard hat stood on the broken asphalt.

His nametag said Ooshiro and his eyes were pointed downward.

He was looking at the valley filled with dirt.

The dirt piled up at the bottom of the valley was two hundred meters wide and several kilometers long. It also contained fragments of manmade objects.

They were asphalt and metal pieces melted by the heat as well as pieces of white building materials.

Those were the remains of Japanese UCAT.

Ooshiro stared at them in the shadows of the setting sun.

“#8-kun, you’re there, aren’t you?”

He suddenly spoke to someone behind him without turning around.

The air moved slightly and #8 stepped out from between the fallen trees behind him. She too was wearing a yellow hard hat.

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> was wearing jeans and a down jacket instead of her usual maid outfit.

“What are you doing here, Ooshiro-sama? According to our estimations, the positive concepts will react to the activated negative concepts inside the Leviathan and change the world by midnight tomorrow night. To prevent that, the others have gathered at Yokota and Yokosuka and are holding a strategy meeting in Yokosuka’s underground meeting room.”

“And with all that going on, what does it look like I’m doing?”

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> saw Ooshiro looking back toward her with the setting sun behind him and she slowly observed their surroundings.

All she saw were the setting sun and Ooshiro.

…''Is this…?

After confirming the still scenery, she nodded and gave her conclusion.

“I believe you are mentally planning your next 18+ game.”

“A-are you really ignoring the sunset behind me, #8-kun!? Do I really look the same as always!?”

Hearing that, she wondered if she had made a mistake and looked into the sunset again.

“The sun is merely setting for the night. What about it?”

“Wah! This is the problem with you! And when I was really setting the mood, too!?”

“Really?” asked #8 as Ooshiro wiggled in protest. “Testament. Then I will ignore that part. As an emotionless automaton, I cannot hope to guess what is going on.”

She then changed the subject.

“Anyway, everyone is worried about you, so please return to your post as soon as possible.”

“Eh? R-really? I’m the mega hero everyone’s pinning their hopes on?”

“Testament. Everyone in Yokota and Yokosuka was complaining about having no one to shove the unpleasant jobs onto, the construction workers were complaining about an old man getting in the way of everything, and I am complaining because I was called out here when I was supposed to be tuning my spare body. To statistically sum it all up, you need to get back there right away.”

“Th-that’s nothing like what you said before!”

Despite Ooshiro’s complaint, #8 pulled something from her pocket.

“This is the straw doll containing one of Itaru-sama’s hairs. Would this doll be an acceptable substitute for spending your time staring into the sunset?”

Ooshiro looked at the proffered doll.

“This was Sf-kun’s…”

“Testament. Sf-sama followed after Itaru-sama. …Because this doll is not Itaru-sama.”

<nowiki>#8’s</nowiki> tone of voice was firm.

“But you are not the same as Sf-sama. …You are technically human.”

“What do you mean ‘technically’?”

“I went out of the way to leave that unsaid, so why do you insist on nitpicking my wording?”

“I-I’m the one being scolded over this!?”

She ignored him because she had something to say. She had to say this before gaining even more bizarre conversational experience.

“Humans have an imagination. They have the power to imagine someone where nothing remains. So wouldn’t a doll containing something he left behind allow you to imagine him all the more?”

“#8-kun…”

“Yes.” She nodded. “All your pathetic brain can do is imagine things about dolls or an image on a monitor, but that will finally be a useful skill. Now, have a good time imagining.”

“I-I just imagined something really sad about myself!”

Still, he took the straw doll from her hand.

“But #8-kun? It sure would be nice to have something else to cheer me up.”

“Such as?”

“Like having you hug me and console me.”

“How exactly?”

“Calling me Kazuo-chan and hugging me as sweetly and softly as possible! Like the tenderest of simmered meats! Something that would need the sound effect ‘honyo’ or ‘huryo’! L-like this! This! Just like this!”

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> stared at the old man backlit by the sunset as he made his sound effects and bent backwards again and again.

She wondered what to do for about three seconds, but finally said “testament” and nodded at the man. She then pulled her cellphone from her pocket.

“Hello, police? Yes, the pervert that I mentioned earlier is once again blathering on about bizarre nonsensical things while acting extremely suspiciously.”

“Wah, #8-kun! Stop, stop! And what do you mean ‘that I mentioned earlier’!?”

She hung up the phone and glared at Ooshiro.

“Have you made up your mind?”

“About what?”

“Will you be coming or not?”

She further clarified.

“Will you be giving up on or continuing the fight? Which will it be?”

He did not answer her.

He fell silent with the straw doll in hand.

So #8 determined what it was he wanted to say.

She opened her mouth to tell him.

“Testament. Then let’s go, Ooshiro-sama.”

“I-I’m going!? Don’t I get a say?”

“Since you did not answer immediately, I determined you were willing to go either way. And…”

She looked up into the clear sky as she spoke.

“We are in the mountains of Okutama at the end of December. The temperature will fall below zero at night. If you remain here, I have determined the frozen corpse of a pervert will be discovered here by tomorrow.”

“Well, I suppose that’s true.”

“You admit you’re a pervert!?”

“Damn, you’re strict!”

He wrapped his hands around his head and struck a pose, so she turned her back on him.

“You have to leave the mountain no matter what you choose, so your only option is to go. So I have determined there is only one thing to say: let’s go, Ooshiro-sama.”

“Ah, wait, wait!”

Ooshiro took a hesitant step after she began to walk.

“You’re pretty forceful.”

His shoulders drooped, but he followed her.

She looked back toward him.

“Are you coming with me?”

“Everyone wants me to, right?”

He pulled the helmet deep over his eyes.

“They’re hopeless without me, aren’t they?”

“Testament,” replied #8. “I have determined we are about to grow very busy. Prepare yourself.”

“I’ve been ready for ten years now.” His voice fell to the ground. “I thought I had prepared myself for this day back then.”

“You grow tired of things quickly, so I have determined you grew tired of being prepared.”

She suddenly sped up and he had to run to catch up.

“#-#8-kun! Why are you running away from me!?”

“I am not running away. Please stay at least five meters away from me.”

“I doubt I want to know, but why?”

“Testament.” She nodded. “A filthy old man carrying a straw doll approaching you from behind deep in the mountains? Are you trying to become a new urban legend?”

People filled a large space.

The bowl-shaped circular space was the meeting room below Yokosuka.

The room was completely filled with a great mixture of colors.

In addition to the representatives of the international UCATs, the national representatives accompanying them, and the Gear representatives, even volunteers from the normal members of those groups were present.

They all looked to the central space where a 3D image floated above a round table.

The transparent green light drew a 3D map of Tokyo with Shinjuku in the center.

“Tomorrow will be a day for the hidden annals of history.”

A boy in a suit, Sayama, spoke as he walked through the center of the large transparent map.

“This is the Final Concept War that will never be mentioned in the official history books. It will come down to a great urban battle in which a coalition force of UCAT, our various nations, and the Gears split into eight armies to attack the Leviathan.”

The Leviathan sat in midair like a giant island and red lights indicated the positions of the UCAT forces.

“According to our predictions, the positive concepts inside the Leviathan will be complete tomorrow, the 25th, at 10:30 PM. These positive concepts will react to the already activated negative concepts, but they will both fully activate and create the immortality concept at precisely midnight.”

In other words…

“At precisely midnight tomorrow, the world will be changed and the living will all be erased.”

Everyone gulped at Sayama’s words.

He then walked toward the image of the floating Leviathan and the eight red armies deployed in Tokyo moved toward the center.

The ribbon lines of movement had an arrow at the end. They split apart and covered Tokyo while approaching the Leviathan.

Sayama also reached a hand toward the Leviathan.

“If the Leviathan creates and activates the positive concepts, even the existing Concept Core weapons will be useless. After all, we have no idea how to defeat that colossal rampaging dragon,” he explained. “But the Leviathan has left us a decisive opening.”

Everyone looked up and Roger raised his hand in the American UCAT representative seat.

“What is this opening?”

“Until the positive concepts have been created, it must avoid moving as much as possible.”

As he walked, Sayama pointed back toward the curled up Leviathan.

“If it could move, it could have easily destroyed the outside world already. It has not and it has overlooked us as we gather together, so I can only assume it is confident in its own strength and currently cannot move.”

He took a breath.

“I know why. The Leviathan…no, Noah failed in its concept creation before, so it wants to be as careful as possible.”

“In that case, is destroying the Leviathan not our primary goal?”

“Correct. Our goal is to prevent the Leviathan’s positive concepts from reaching completion at 10:30. …I will now show you how.”

Sayama turned toward everyone else. On the three hundred sixty degree transparent map, UCAT’s red ribbons split apart and formed eight foundations.

“A representative bearing a Concept Core weapon will be placed in each of these eight directions. While holding those eight directions, a barrier wall will be created in each spot.”

Eight walls appeared to surround the center of Tokyo.

“Oh?” said the Chinese UCAT representative.

The man in black crossed his arms with an impressed look.

“A Bagua-style omnidirectional barrier? It looks just like the Eight Great Dragon King barrier used when sealing 10th-Gear’s Concept Core, though.”

“Not quite. The sealing walls will be used to keep the Leviathan from escaping and the circle itself acts as a declaration of the Concept Cores’ presence. In other words, we reject the creation of the Leviathan’s positive concepts by ''showing off the real ones''.”

Sayama kept his legs moving.

“But that rejection must not have a way out,” warned the man. “A simple eight-direction seal is not enough.”

“Then…” Sayama came to a stop right below the Leviathan made of transparent light. “We do this.”

He waved a hand and red light appeared.

It appeared directly below and above the Leviathan.

Two red walls were displayed above and below the enemy dragon.

“We add two extra Great Dragon Kings to the Eight to install a seal above and below. The Leviathan will have nowhere left to run and we can lecture it from all directions using the presence of the real positive concepts.”

To put it another way…

“Yes, for simplicity, you could call it the ‘Leviathan, your positive concepts are fakes and are thus banned! Ha ha ha. How do you like that?’ barrier.”

“That’s a little too simple!!” shouted everyone else.

“Simple is best, don’t you think?” replied Sayama. “But if you insist, we can call it the Ten Great World Dragons barrier.”

A short pause followed.

After a few seconds, Roger raised his hand in the American representative seat again.

“Who will be in charge of the two great dragons in the heavens and on the earth?”

“Anyone will do. As long as they are worthy of bearing a Concept Core weapon, that is.”

“Anyone?”

“Yes.” Sayama looked across the approaching red ribbons of their armies. “It may be a rough way of looking at it, but the Concept Cores are worlds themselves. They contain elements of the heavens and earth within them. So if two of the Concept Core weapon bearers traveling in these eight armies – or two others on the same level – bring in the Concept Cores, they only need to set up the seals of heaven and earth once the eight-direction barrier is established. To put it another way…”

He took a breath.

“Those two will be trying to score a touchdown on the Leviathan.”

He raised a hand, said “but”, and looked across his audience.

His expressionless face silently observed them.

“But you are thinking this sounds simple, aren’t you? We can transport the Concept Core weapon bearers in with an aerial force, after all.”

Once he said that, a few numbers appeared in the air. They were formatted like a time and they displayed an estimated length of time.

“Based on the time needed for the barrier in Top-Gear’s Osaka and the barriers used to seal 10th-Gear’s and 2nd-Gear’s Concept Cores, we can estimate it will take this long to establish a barrier large enough to seal the Leviathan.”

The proper numbers appeared and everyone gasped.

“The eight-direction barrier will take sixty-four minutes. Counting from there, the heaven and earth one will take sixteen minutes. That makes a total of eighty minutes that we must face the Leviathan. By counting back from there, we know when our attack must begin.”

Diana gave the answer from the German UCAT representative seat.

She gave the numbers with a serious look in her eyes.

“At the very least, it has to be eighty minutes before 10:30 tomorrow night. To give ourselves some breathing room, we need to attack by nine at night.”

“Exactly. And this is going to be quite troublesome.”

Sayama’s words brought the color blue to the map.

Blue ribbons appeared from the Leviathan.

It almost looked like the color blue had exploded from the dragon.

“The Leviathan contains a massive fighting force. Based on what I saw, its concept space hangars hold approximately two thousand five hundred gods of war of various types, one thousand mechanical dragons of various types, and as for automatons…”

He smiled bitterly.

“Approximately three hundred thousand of various types.”

A few people voiced their disbelief.

That simply seemed impossible.

That was when a sudden voice of rejection reached them. It was a sharp girl’s voice.

“You would not regret it if you showed a little more tolerance.”

The voice came from directly next to Sayama.

No one had seen them arrive, but two figures had joined the transparent map of Tokyo.

One wore a black armored uniform and the other was a twelve-winged maid automaton.

They were Mikoku and Noah.

Everyone in the meeting room began to raise their voices at their appearance.

Some reached into their pockets to pull out weapons, but they never completed that action.

“Please quiet down. Over.”

Noah’s voice seemed to be emitted from her entire body and a weight fell down from above.

It was a great burden.

“…!?”

Those who had started to stand up fell to their knees. Those who had reached into their pockets collapsed forward.

The weight bore down on their entire body.

But the cups and pens on the desks before them did not even budge and their clothes were not pulled down.

Only the people were pressed against the desks or the floor while Mikoku and Noah stood tall.

Noah had lightly raised her right hand.

“I have tripled your body weight. Please calm down, everyone. Over.”

But someone opposed those words and began to move.

Sayama stood in front of them and…

“Go!”

On his shout, two figures moved inside the meeting room.

The girl and boy moving quickly forward in their white armored uniforms were Kazami and Hiba.

Their movement time was shortened and they moved too quickly to see properly.

Kazami spread her wings and forced her way through the extra burden.

“!”

She circled behind Noah and thrust G-Sp2’s tip up from below without warning.

At the same time, Hiba rushed directly in front of Mikoku.

Kazami’s attack hit and the sound of the impact exploded out.

However, it hit Hiba.

“Eh!?”

The sound of everyone else gasping was louder than Kazami’s cry of surprise.

At some point, Noah had appeared behind Kazami with Mikoku in her arms.

“…!”

Kazami turned toward the presence behind her and Noah spoke expressionlessly.

“Please quiet down. Over.”

Hiba flew over their heads after being knocked into the air by G-Sp2.

He normally would have hit the tall ceiling from a blow like that, but the distance and height of his flight were shortened by his tripled body weight.

At this rate, he was going to crash into the third level of the stepped meeting room.

His arms flailed wildly, but there was nothing he could do.

His legs also flailed wildly, but there was still nothing he could do.

Kazami knew what to do at a time like this, so she gave him some advice.

“Hiba! It’s no use!”

“Y-you’re the one that did this to me!! You really are the worst!!”

However, he spotted someone to help him up ahead: Izumo.

Izumo was sitting in the stepped aisle between desks eating a hamburger, so Hiba shouted to him while flailing his limbs.

“I-Izumo-san!”

“Yeah…” Izumo nodded and averted his gaze. “It’s just that you’ve been making a lot of gay jokes lately.”

“Don’t give up like that! Try to have a proper conversation with me!”

Hiba braced for impact.

“Izumo-san! C-catch me! Please catch me! It might mean cracking a few bones, but l-let me plow into you!”

“It might mean cracking a few bones?”

Izumo gave a reluctant nod and went with Hiba’s suggestion.

He pointed at Hiba, held his sides like they were splitting, and spoke to the Kenyan UCAT representative sitting next to him.

“Hey, hey. Did you see that!? That idiot’s flying! Wa ha ha ha ha!”

Hiba crashed into the seat next to Izumo.

The sound of destruction was three times greater than normal.

Izumo spoke to Hiba’s legs and hands which were growing from the remains of the wooden desk and chair.

“Was that good enough? But if you want to ‘crack’ people up with your jokes, you can’t force them.”

Hiba shot to his feet, scattering pieces of the seat, and clenched his fist with blood flowing from his face.

“I-Izumo-san! There are some things you just don’t do!”

“And was this one of them?”

“U-um…”

Hiba hesitated, so Sayama shouted over at him.

“Was it!? Or was it not!? Give us a clear answer!”

Rushed by Sayama, Hiba held his head in his hands.

“I-it was…was not…was…”

He looked up in surprise, turned around, spread his arms, and gave his answer.

“It was not was!”

Noah was standing in front of him and she gave her response to his suggestion.

“Please quiet down. Over.”

“W-wah! Even the enemy’s treating me like this!?”

They all ignored him and Noah placed Mikoku back on the floor.

Mikoku took a breath, fixed her collar, and looked across the group in the room.

“Everyone, I am here to suggest you surrender.”

She expressionlessly looked through the transparent map of Tokyo surrounding her.

She looked at the red ribbons of UCAT and the blue ribbons moving toward them.

“To speed up your decision, I will provide you with some details concerning my weapons.”

Sayama fought the weight as he listened to Mikoku provide her numbers.

These were simply the numbers of her army, but…

“Mechanical dragons: 121 Seraph-type, 406 Cherubim-type, and 640 Galgalim-type. Gods of war: 301 Lords-type, 814 Virtues-type, and 1201 Power-type. Automatons: 98000 Prince-type, 10001 Arc-type, and 189000 Angelus-type. Altogether, it is an army of more than three hundred thousand.”

Those simple numbers moved on the map of Tokyo as the color blue.

As everyone pinned to the desks or floor looked to the map, blue ribbons rose from the ground and began intercepting the red ribbons.

Sayama saw Mikoku instruct Noah to end the extra weight.

“Testament.”

With that word, the weight left them all and they breathed a sigh of relief.

No one around Sayama considered attacking Mikoku.

She must have understood that because Mikoku looked first to him and then the others.

“I have no intention of fighting yet. The Leviathan is always under my control. I can send out it and its troops as easily as you can clench your hand into a fist. Blindly attacking with no preparation will only lead to regret.”

“In other words, it is time for a chat straight out of the long-running TV show ‘Disastrous You’?”

Noah tilted her head, but Mikoku nodded and lowered her gaze a little.

“I doubt it will be a very nice chat.”

Someone chose to question that.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

It was Ooshiro who had entered the meeting room with #8.

People raised their voices to welcome him.

When he fixed his collar and raised his arms in an entrance pose, everyone smiled and applauded.

“Tch. Why’s he alive?”

“#8-san wasted four hours of her life bringing him back.”

“He bought up three or four of the limited-edition figurine I wanted.”

“I-is it just me or are all of you giving into personal grudges a lot lately!?”

“If you have something to say, get on with it, old man.”

“Very well.” He sat on the steps, pointed at Mikoku, and then pointed at the giant dragon on the map. “How should I put it? You may be able to use the Leviathan, but can you really utilize all of those weapons? It must take a lot to fire even a single cannon. Do you have any proof what you’re saying is-…”

Before he could finish, Mikoku snapped her fingers.

Noah nodded in response.

A moment later, everyone saw a building on the southeast side of the transparent map disappear.

Tokyo Tower had completely vanished.

As soon as the green, transparent tower disappeared, the automaton operating the round table controlling the map spoke quietly.

“The tower within the Leviathan’s concept space has been vaporized.”

“Testament.” Noah nodded. “The Leviathan is linked to me. I exist here as an automaton, but I am aware I am nothing but a weapon for Mikoku-sama. Over.”

“I see.” Sayama nodded and looked to Ooshiro. “Why are you even here, old man? It is your fault Tokyo Tower was destroyed inside the concept space.”

“Eh? I-it’s my fault!?”

“Ha ha ha. Who else could we possibly blame?”

Everyone in the meeting room glared at Ooshiro.

He shrieked, rolled along the floor, collided with the next step up, and rolled back to #8.

“#-#8-kun, are you going to give me the same look all of them do?”

She ignored him entirely, pulled a mop from below her apron, and began cleaning the floor with her back to him.

“#-#8-kun! Won’t you help me after going out of your way to bring me here!?”

“I apologize, but I am incredibly busy with nothing to do and am therefore cleaning.”

“How long will you be cleaning?”

Ooshiro asked while sitting on the floor and #8 answered with her back to him.

“Until the filth is gone.”

“Is that…a metaphor for something?”

“Testament. …Of course not.”

“Which is it!? Which of those answers am I supposed to believe!?”

“Ooshiro-sama.” She continued mopping with her back to him. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

He lay on the floor and pretended to cry, so everyone ignored him. Mikoku glanced over at Ooshiro.

“You are a strange bunch.”

“You’re one to talk!!”

Mikoku flinched back at everyone’s retort, so Noah supported her back and spoke expressionlessly.

“Mikoku-sama, do not let them bother you. What could they possibly be looking at to think we are strange? We are far too low-key for that. Over.”

“R-right. I am living such a low-key life that I had plain soba for lunch.”

“Since you would have been floating in the sky while eating it, that is a most impressive way of being low-key.”

Mikoku cleared her throat after hearing Sayama’s opinion.

She looked over at him and held out a hand to indicate the transparent map.

“Anyway, my army of automatons and gods of war has already been deployed within the concept space. Every last one of them wears pure-white armor. Meanwhile, what kind of fighting force do you have?

Sayama responded.

“You already know, don’t you?” he began. “We have millions upon millions of fighters.”

“Let me be blunt. Are you stupid?”

“Heh heh heh. I can see you are shocked by the overwhelming vagueness of our army.”

Mikoku gave Noah a look of protest, so Noah held out her right hand and bent her fingers twice.

“Based on my predictions, they currently have seventy thousand in all. By nine tomorrow night, they will have two hundred and ten thousand. Over.”

“You need to learn to dream.”

“I have never had a dream. Over.”

“That is unfortunate.” Sayama crossed his arms. “Dreams are wonderful. Shinjou-kun will perform all sorts of acrobatic positions while only putting up a token resistance. Come to think of it, I can do that in reality now.”

“Waaaah!!”

The meeting room’s door burst open and a shouting form rushed in.

“Ah! W-wait! Why are you dragging me out! I have an objection! An objection!! I demand an appeal!!”

The figure was taken back outside.

Sayama glanced over at it.

“Would you look at that. The dream has appeared for real.”

“You need to check yourself into a hospital,” said Mikoku.

She crossed her arms and addressed the comparative numbers of the blue and red ribbons.

“Going by the numbers alone, my force is 1.5 times larger than yours.”

Add in the superior fighting power of the gods of war and mechanical dragons and the Leviathan had an overwhelming advantage. Gathering every god of war and mechanical dragon from every Gear would have trouble reaching even a tenth of the Leviathan’s numbers.

Mikoku must have realized that because she continued.

“Therefore, I suggest you surrender. You can do so simply by doing nothing.”

“Why?”

She answered expressionlessly.

“If you do nothing, you can enjoy Christmas night with your families. You would be happier if you made some nice memories before being erased in the instant of the new world’s creation. And just like me, you will be reborn in the new world in some form. If you do not like the sound of that, then this will be your fate.”

She pointed to the map where UCAT’s red ribbons were being devoured by the blue ones.

They were devoured rapidly and in great numbers.

The erasure of the red left everyone in the room speechless.

Could they stand up to that?

But Sayama was unfazed.

“I see.” He looked Mikoku in the eye. “You certainly are brave to suggest we surrender. A very bold move if you ask me.”

“How is this bold? Are you implying you have some chance of winning?”

“Allow me to ask this: Do you seriously think ''you can defeat me?''”

Everyone gasped and Ooshiro shouted from the floor.

“M-Mikoto-kun! Don’t provoke her! That’s a big no-no!”

“There is nothing to worry about. We are merely chatting. For today, she will suggest we surrender and we will declare war. So let me make one thing very clear: We will stop the creation of the Leviathan’s positive concepts by 10:30 tomorrow night.”

“Can you? Even after seeing the result of the simulation surrounding you?”

The silence from everyone else grew heavier.

The reason for that silence was simple.

All red had vanished from the map of Tokyo in which Sayama stood and it was absolutely filled with blue ribbons instead.

If that simulation was accurate, every last member of UCAT would be devoured by the Leviathan’s army.

And Mikoku stood in the center of that blue battlefield.

“If all you have is pointless bragging, there is nothing left for you.”

But Sayama did not respond.

He said nothing. That was all.

They had already declared war against each other, so Mikoku looked down, closed her eyes, and hung her head.

“So all that remains is the battle. Understood.”

She sighed and raised her head without opening her eyes.

“Let us fight during tomorrow’s holy night. Let us fight with the entire world on the line.”

As soon as she said that, both she and Noah disappeared.

But they had not completely vanished.

“––––?”

They had lost their human forms.

With a sound much like sand, only a pile of something white remained where they had been.

When Kazami saw it, she frowned and spoke from the floor.

“Salt?”

“Yes,” agreed Sayama. “They were likely creating copies of themselves using gravitational control or something else. Such careful preparation and such overacting. I cannot believe they would force salt to cosplay as them. But…”

He moved his legs to enter the transparent map of Tokyo.

He moved below the Leviathan where Mikoku and Noah had been and stepped on the piles of salt.

“Was that supposed to be their declaration of war?”

No one answered him.

They all simply let tension fill their bodies.

So Sayama opened his mouth.

He let his words soak into them and remove their tension.

“That was an amusing little diversion. Now, let us get back on topic. I will give you my idea of how to escape this situation where Tokyo is filled by the blue ribbons.”

Everyone watched as he raised his hand.

In response, a flower bloomed in the blue Tokyo.

A few red forces suddenly welled up there.

There were not that many of them, but they were definitely there.

“I will now show you the battle as I see it. In other words, I will show you a battle of gods, where everyone is the same as me. And, everyone, I have only one thing to say here. There is only one objective to this plan I am calling Operation Leviathan.”

He spoke the words that were essentially a promise to the others.

“We must not allow the Leviathan to reach reality.”

The area around Shinjuku Station was filled with the lights of night.

According to the clock in front of the station, it was 4:22 AM.

There were people there, but not many. Some people in suits were arriving for the first train of the morning and some younger people and women who had spent the night in the area were moving between empty stores to keep out of the cold.

But there were a few people unlike them.

These men all wore work uniforms with matching blue jackets.

Large trucks were pulling up alongside them not just at the center of the taxi-filled roundabout in front of Shinjuku Station, but also in the alleyways by the south, west, and east entrances.

The trucks were loaded with metal pipes and panels.

“Who would have thought we’d be blocking off Shinjuku and building stages on the roads?”

That comment came from Kazami’s mother who stood in a small clearing in front of Nishiguchi Station.

She wore a coat and the man next to her, her husband, passed her a thermos of tea.

“It’s going to be blocked off from nine to midnight tonight. I’m impressed you got permission for this, papa.”

“Well, I’ve been planning this for a long time and I have some connections here since we used the area a lot for a police drama I worked on. You know the one: ‘Detective Fluke: The Activation’ where he always found the criminal on intuition.”

His wife smiled bitterly at that.

“I remember that. Chisato would always watch your shows back then. Like that popular anime.”

“Oh, you mean the sexual harassment food hero ‘Panpanman’? Chisato came up with a lot of the ideas for the pathogen monsters working for Gaikinman, the enemy boss who refused to work in the office. Choleraman and Aidsman were certainly straight to the point.”

“That one got canceled pretty quick, didn’t it?”

A short silence followed his wife’s comment.

Their daughter would normally keep the conversation going with a complaint, but she was not here and the father had to clear his throat.

“Well, ever since then, I’ve wanted to pretend to conquer Tokyo like this.”

“Oh, my. So are you conquering it with music instead of police authority?”

“Ha ha.” He laughed and smiled bitterly at his wife’s words. “I wonder what Chisato would think if she knew her papa was going to be a dictator tonight?”

“She’d probably come to overthrow you and tell you to stop dreaming.”

“Y-you sure are cement-like!!”

“Am I?” she replied.

Suddenly, a large figure approached them.

Kazami’s father stood up when she saw the man wearing a jacket over a white suit.

“Oh, Izumo-san. Why are you here? D-don’t tell me you searched us out with psychic powers!?”

“That’s exactly right! Esper Beam Beeeeeacon!!”

“Old Man Shield!! And Man Beam Birooooon!”

“What!? Shepaaaah!! …Oh, this is a paralyzing beam, okay?’

“Roger that. But… Ha ha ha. That won’t work on me! Meyo meyo meyo meyo meyo!”

The mother removed a shoe and struck the father’s head as he moved his arms in a wavelike motion and made a bizarre sound effect.

“Ow!”

He bent forward and she smiled his way.

“Why are you two posing at each other? I’ll grab your collar and hit you next time?”

“Hmm, are you saying you’re willing to hit just anyone, mama?”

“Anyway, enough of this nonsense only men can understand. Try talking like human beings.”

“Sure, sure, sure.” He straightened up and turned toward Izumo. “What brings you here so early in the morning?”

“I just have business in the area is all. But on the way, I heard something interesting was going on here. I’m really not sure what to say about this.”

Izumo Retsu looked around the nighttime station area and spotted the loaded trucks hidden in the alleyways.

“It looks like you’re up to no good!!”

“Ha ha ha. I see you understand. You sure are young at heart, Izumo-san!”

“I understand all too well. It’s like you’re conquering Tokyo!”

Wondering how he could tell, Kazami’s mother tilted her head and glared at them, but the two men paid her no heed and began discussing the location of the stage and the timing of the lights and sounds.

Suddenly, Izumo’s father crossed his arms and smiled.

“I wish I could have helped out with all this.”

“No, that would feel like we were abusing Chisato’s connections.”

“True enough.”

The two men smiled bitterly.

“So what do you have planned, Kazami-san?”

“Nothing much. Just calling in artists from around the world and having them perform on different stages simultaneously for a ridiculously exciting Christmas. Walking around the streets of Shinjuku will feel like walking all around the world.”

“Will your wife be singing?”

Kazami’s mother gave her husband a quick look, so the man gave a single nod.

“I’m not so sure.”

“Ah, what a shame! I have her LP, you know? The one where she adds that sound effect to the end. ‘I’m. Still. Seventeen. Piyo-piyo’.”

Kazami’s mother shrieked, held her head in her hands, and crouched down.

Seeing the father frantically try to help her, Retsu scratched his head awkwardly.

“You were traumatized by that? My bad. Then what about after you started writing your own songs? Y’know, like ‘No one will even look my way. I’m a sweet pea of a bygone era’?”

“Ow, ow, ow, ow!”

Kazami’s mother shook as violently as someone on the receiving end of an exorcism, but…

“I-Izumo-san, please stop hitting her past with these uppercuts!”

“Sorry about that.”

Retsu gave an honest smile.

“No matter how it might look now, we all had fun at the time, so I don’t see any reason to reject what happened back then.”

“That’s right. That’s right, mama! Did you hear what Izumo-san just said!? ‘No one has had as painful a life as me’ was a really, really good song!”

“Ow, ow, ow, ow! Papa! You wrote that song!!”

The father looked up in surprise.

“That’s right. That’s the musical curse I wrote when I was so mad at my idiot of a boss! I planned to send it to him, but I accidentally put it in your birthday card instead.”

“Yes, and the card saying ‘I want to be with you from morning to night (heart)’ ended up going to your boss. Didn’t he quit almost immediately after that?”

“Ha ha ha! And it was all thanks to you, mama!”

The mother hit his head with the thermos.

The empty thermos made a nice side, but by then, Retsu was already walking toward the station.

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yes.” Retsu waved without turning around. “I’m looking forward to it. We’re having a pretty serious festival too, so I hope we can enjoy the night together.”

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume14 Chapter 18|Chapter 18]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume14 Chapter 20|Chapter 20]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume12 Chapter 19

2026-06-12T02:55:43Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 19: Worn-Out Anticipation==
[[Image:OnC_v12_0539.png|thumb]]
''Do your best

Below the darkening evening sky, two men stood in a rectangular clearing made in a forest.

One was a young man wearing a white coat and holding a white sword.

The other was a boy wearing a black T-shirt and black school uniform pants.

The young man had a cigarette in his mouth and blew out some smoke.

“Hey, Hiba. You sure you don’t want to do any meaningless warming up?”

“Y-yes, Atsuta-san. I’m fine.”

“Is that so?” Atsuta rested the Cowling Sword prototype named Kusanagi on his right shoulder. “Then let’s get to 2nd-Gear’s renegotiation.”

“What are the rules?”

“Do we need any?”

Atsuta sounded like he was spitting out the contents of his heart.

He repeated “c’mon” several times while adjusting Prototype Kusanagi’s position on his shoulder.

A moment later, the air around Hiba suddenly grew clear and a certain phenomenon occurred.

He heard a pulsation.

The earth and the air that made up everything shook a bit around him.

From Hiba’s perspective, a tremor spread from his feet to his knees and shook his entire body.

…''Eh?

As soon as he questioned it, the sensation vanished as if he had only imagined it.

“Wh-what was that strange feeling?”

“Oh, that was a side effect of Prototype Kusanagi’s cutting power.”

Atsuta let a smile show on his face.

“The earth and air are trembling in fear of the blade. …Don’t you get it? This isn’t like your fists there. Being handed something crazy like this is the true pleasure of being a swordfighter. But…”

He erased his smile and held Kusanagi forward in his right hand.

“It’s a prototype and that cuts the fun down some. Listen, kid. I’ll set a rule that’s not really a rule, so I hope you’re thankful.”

“What is that?”

Hiba frowned and Atsuta clicked his tongue toward the sky.

“Y’see, a friend of mine made a prototype Cowling Sword like this once before. It had issues on the durability front, so it broke unexpectedly and got him a wife.”

“I feel like you’re omitting quite a bit there, but I take it a lot happened.”

“I’m not omitting a damn thing! Why can’t you figure it out from what I told you?”

''Why is everyone in UCAT like this?'' wondered Hiba while hiding his misfortune behind a smile.

…''I’m not sure I can put up with how excitable this guy is. He’s a lot like Sayama-san or Izumo-san.

His worry was interrupted by Atsuta’s annoyed voice.

“Three times.”

He held up Prototype Kusanagi.

“After releasing its power three times, this Prototype Kusanagi will break. It’s made that way so it won’t cause any accidents, so…”

He rested the sword back on his right shoulder.

“If I don’t cut you down in the first three attacks, 2nd-Gear loses. But if you can stop me, then it counts as your win. How about that!?”

“My win? But, um…!”

He had thought this was to help him train, but it had suddenly become an issue of life or death.

He gulped, forced strength into his stomach, and opened his tense throat.

“I-if we both fail, it won’t resolve anything!”

“That’s what a fifth-rate failure would say, you idiot!!”

That shout of anger seemed to stab through Hiba as he made excuses.

“In a fight, killing your opponent or stopping them are the only options, little monkey! The only people who start talking about failing are the lukewarm one’s who don’t want to do either. Lukewarm’s only any good when you want to soak some squid for drying!!”

Atsuta used his left hand to press a finger against his own head and moved it in a circle.

“Listen, idiot! Is there anything at all in your head!? Any brains!? Then is there anything in your stomach!? If you don’t have any guts in there, you won’t even make third-rate! And if you can do that, you should at least be able to be cut down by me and lose!”

“Third-rate? Fifth-rate?”

Hiba searched his memories.

He remembered being unable to protect Mikage the night before and he remembered Tatsumi’s laugh.

…''She called me weak.

“Then are you first-rate!?” he asked.

“I’m a sword god, stupid. Why are you trying to measure me by human standards?”

Atsuta’s voice gave Hiba a chill even in the wintery air.

And it came from behind him.

“…!?”

…''The Art of Walking!?

The man had vanished in front of him and the voice had come from behind him. That meant he had used more than just the Art of Walking.

…''He moved really fast.

“C’mon now. Don’t misjudge me, little monkey.”

The shadow on the ground had Kusanagi raised to the upper right.

“Recite a poem, kid. A death poem. I’m always singing, right? Make it something like that.”

“But I can’t do something that, um, tricky on such short notice…”

“Don’t bother praising me, idiot. You don’t have to give it much thought. Just say whatever’s on your mind.”

Hiba thought and spoke the first thing that came to mind.

“Heh heh heh. C’mon, stop. It’s not like I’m a young girl of fifteen.”

Immediately afterwards, a great roar ran through the sky.

The deep sound traveled through the sky.

It reached some newly prepared land one level lower than the source of the sound.

The prepared land was raised slightly above the surrounding forest, a blue tent was set up there, and two men sat on a mat laid out in front of the tent.

One was an elderly man in a navy blue Japanese outfit and the other was a young man in a lab coat.

The young man looked through his glasses to view the source of the sound through the mountain forest.

“Oh, sounds like it’s begun. I asked you for help setting this up, so what do you think of the fight, Hiba-sensei?”

“How does it look to you as a military god, son of Kashima?”

“Well…” Kashima smiled bitterly and realized what Ryuutetsu had said. “Son of Kashima? Do you know my father?”

“We’re field buddies. Especially since last month when our idiots went at it with Chao’s idiots.”

He looked to the tent behind him and the recently leveled earth there.

“My house was blown away pretty spectacularly. I came back from the field and found it gone. Toshi was so confused she tried to hit me with a hoe. …After that, your parents and the others around there shared a lot of food with us. Those squashes were really good when cooked.”

“Th-those were grown by my wife. I imagine they were quite good.”

“Yeah, they had a really nice flavor.”

“Yes, they would have. I remember Natsu-san saying she had given my portion to someone in need. …So it was you that stole a portion of my happy family life! Give back those squashes! Please give them back!”

“Why did you even come over here?”

Kashima hung his head, sighed, and opened the laptop sitting next to him.

“Ahh, ahh. I hope your grandson will be okay.”

“Don’t make that sound so forced. And are you sure that first attack didn’t already kill him?”

“I don’t know. Whatever the case, I hope he can get out of this with no regrets.”

“Fat chance of that. …Ryuuji’s too soft.”

Ryuutetsu lay on his side and Kashima asked him a question.

“That would be a problem for both of us. But are you serious about that?”

Kashima showed the old man his laptop monitor.

The window only showed a gentle pulsation on a horizontal line graph.

“That sound wasn’t from the Prototype Kusanagi.”

He remained expressionless but turned toward the mountain forest.

“Well, I’ll be hoping he puts all of his effort into this.”

Hiba swung his body back and to the right as if twisting it and then stopped moving.

He had made a backwards jab with his right elbow.

He aimed directly below where he had heard the voice. He lowered his hips and twisted his feet to send the strike directly into Atsuta’s solar plexus.

The roar of the attack was the combination of his foot stomping on the ground and his elbow striking.

He had chosen his elbow for attack.

A surface attack would not penetrate the anti-shock ability of Atsuta’s combat coat. The wider the surface, the more the impact would disperse and grow dull.

The end of an elbow was sharper and thus more powerful than the surface of a fist.

…''And I won’t turn around, so it can catch Atsuta-san off guard.

It was the very first attack, the enemy was behind him, and he was being treated like a weakling.

All of that increased the odds of success for a rear attack.

And the attack had indeed succeeded.

Hiba felt the blow land perfectly.

However, he heard a voice from above and behind his head.

“The hell was that?”

It was Atsuta’s voice.

The vibration of the voice passed through Atsuta’s stomach and Hiba’s elbow.

Hiba felt that vibration coming from his elbow.

…''It isn’t…stopping?

“Are you even listening?”

Even after the question ended, the vibration coming from Atsuta did not stop. In fact, it grew stronger.

Hiba realized this was not the vibration of a voice or of pain.

…''This is anger.

“Did you really think that puny elbow would work on me?”

Hiba’s elbow felt something other than the vibration. It was a compact sensation much like a weight or pressure.

Atsuta was disappointed in the attack, his body trembled in anger, and he built up pressure in his body.

Hiba reflexively turned around and took a step back to check on the man.

Atsuta’s eyebrows were raised, he was looking straight forward, and he had a smile on his lips.

No, it was not a smile at all. His face twisted as he gathered strength and it simply resembled a smile.

“Just so you know, if that was your full strength, then none of your attacks will work on me.”

So…

“Just let me cut you three times and then scatter in the wind!!”

This time, a true roar shook the air.

The Prototype Kusanagi produced silence.

After swinging the sword, Atsuta initially felt something fire from the blade.

…''The hell was that?

Normally, a Cowling Sword cut using the power of the concept contained within. When swung, it would either emit the power from the blade or have it reside in the blade.

But the Prototype Kusanagi was different.

As a sword god, Atsuta could become one with a sword when he swung it, so he understood.

As the strike descended, it created more than mere concept power.

…''Energy.

But this energy did not surround him like an aura.

Like murderous intent or one’s gaze, it continued on and on into the distance.

…''Shit.

''This thing’s dangerous,'' he realized.

He came to an instinctual understanding of how Kusanagi worked.

It was unlike a normal Cowling Sword.

The difference came in the instant after swinging it.

…''Kashima!! What was that son of a bitch thinking!?

''Not even he could use this Cowling Sword,'' he thought.

…''This Cowling Sword isn’t a sword at all. This Prototype Kusanagi isn’t a sword at all!

It did not produce power from its blade.

…''Swinging it intimidates the surrounding space itself into becoming a sword!!

The ruler’s sword filled the world with fear and then cut through it.

A moment later, Kusanagi activated.

Instead of sending a cutting power along the path of its gaze, it brought its own presence there.

It did not matter what stood in its way, whether it was the air, the earth, or anything else. Not even sound, light, or empty space was an exception.

Kusanagi’s might shot through the area that was filled with its energy.

“————!!”

Atsuta’s arm trembled.

The hand on the hilt shook, his muscles distorted, and his flesh leaped like splashing water.

…''Whoa!

He could become one with a sword, but Kusanagi was too powerful a blade even for him.

The hilt and blade before his eyes was only Kusanagi’s temporary form. The gaze it sent out was where the true Kusanagi would appear.

His right hand trembled violently. It was almost jumping around or undulating.

The idea was simple. Kusanagi’s presence was so great that it was sending recoil back into his arm.

This sword was too great for even a sword god to hold it one-handed.

…''I see.

Atsuta realized why Kashima had given him this sword.

As a military god, he had created a sword that only Atsuta, a sword god, could use properly.

…''Are you trying to turn me into your sword!?

“If that’s how it is…!”

Atsuta placed his left hand on Kusanagi as it raged at the bottom of its swing.

He pressed in from the left to suppress his shaking right hand and a powerful smile reached his lips.

“Then I’ve gotta use this thing right!!”

With that yell, he squeezed Kusanagi in his grip.

“Ahh!”

With a shout of focus, he lowered his hips a little, and worked to restrain the struggling blade. As a sword god, he instantly grabbed the hilt like a man is meant to wield a sword.

“————!”

As soon as Kusanagi stopped trembling, a cutting blast covered an area of several hundred meters ahead of him.

It looked like it was suddenly placed inside the scenery, but the earth was instantly torn up, the air was split apart, and explosions filled it all.

The forest and slope were swept aside and felled with a sound resembling surging waves more than a roar.

It all happened in an instant and Atsuta let out a breath once it was over.

“Now this is interesting!!”

A figure adjusted his two-handed grip on Kusanagi.

He relaxed his entire body, raised Kusanagi without any excess movement, and stepped forward.

He moved toward a boy lying on the ground.

It was Hiba.

The previous attack had been aimed at the boy, but he had only been blown away by the after effects since Atsuta had not known how Kusanagi activated.

He had missed.

A normal Cowling Sword emitted concept power or cut with its blade.

But Kusanagi required a proper intent to cut on the wielder’s part.

Atsuta realized that Kusanagi was not a sword that obeyed a sword god. It was a sword on the same level as a sword god.

So if that sword god wielded it halfheartedly, it would only manifest itself halfheartedly.

That was what had happened just now.

If Kusanagi had truly activated…

…''Everything along the line of its gaze would have transformed into cutting power as I swung Kusanagi.

This Cowling Sword could only be wielded by a sword god and it manifested itself in accordance with that sword god’s will.

…''This isn’t cutting with the power of a concept. It’s more like cutting with your own gaze.

He was now directly connected with a blade that could cut through even a dragon.

Atsuta expressed that feeling as follows:

“This is what I call interesting.”

He sensed movement seven meters ahead.

In the shower of scattering fragments of crust, a boy slowly stood up.

He was gasping for breath, covered in sweat, and trembling.

But Atsuta’s thoughts made a 180 when he saw Hiba.

…''How boring.

His interest was in Kusanagi, not in Hiba.

The best part about this prototype Cowling Sword was its power and the fun of using something so hard to control, but…

…''It does have a weakness, too.

He had to check on that.

However, he still had this match to take care of, so…

“Hey, little monkey.”

He addressed Hiba who somehow managed to get to his feet.

“…”

He was too out of breath to reply, so Atsuta began to move.

He used the Art of Walking to vanish from Hiba’s eyes.

“Hey.”

The very next moment, Atsuta had moved up to Hiba and lifted the boy up by the collar of his T-shirt.

“————!?”

Atsuta saw him shrink back in surprise as he dangled down.

Whether from the previous impact or from fear, there were tears in the corners of the boy’s eyes. They filled Atsuta’s heart with disgust.

…''Pathetic.

“Listen up, you. …Just lose this thing already.”

Hiba’s eyes opened wide and Atsuta wondered what there was to be so surprised about.

“I had decided to take you on, but Kusanagi here’s way more interesting than you. So lose this thing already. I’ll let you off if you bow down to me. …It’s better than dying, isn’t it?”

“I…I can’t do that,” quietly said the boy.

It sounded like an excuse and Atsuta felt his heart cool.

''This ain’t good,'' he thought of himself. ''It’s fine when I’m excited. I try to enjoy things with my opponent then.

…''But…

Things changed when he got oddly calm like this.

Even as he wished he could regain his excitement, he could tell his eyes were narrowing.

…''This is hopeless.

The boy dangling before his eyes was trembling in fear of what he might do.

…''This guy’s hopeless.

“Know your place.”

''Oh, I’m pretty cool when I’m criticizing people. But this still ain’t good. This is where I’m supposed to lecture him. I’m supposed to yell at him, hit him, and give a good punch.

''This really ain’t good. Don’t think like that. It won’t lead anywhere good. It isn’t like the Great Atsuta at all.

''This guy’s nothing. He stood up to me, thinking he’s some kind of big-shot, but one attack later and he’s flinching back. He’s this close to me, but he isn’t doing anything other than watching to see what I’m gonna do. He’s that pathetic.

''Don’t tell yourself you don’t want to fight him. You know that won’t end well.

…''But I don’t want to fight him anymore.

''Didn’t I just say not to tell yourself that?

''Yeah, that’s right.

''Sigh, tilt your head, and look down on him. This is when Ryouko would’ve stopped you in the past.

“Apologize.”

He opened his mouth.

“If you won’t apologize for yourself, I’ll give up on you as the most pathetic of the pathetic who can’t apologize for being weak or even really reach the level of being ‘weak’ in the first place. How about it?”

He paused.

“I’ll give you five seconds. Five.”

Once he said that, something appeared before his eyes.

Realizing it was a fist, he caught it.

He used his forehead to stop the fist Hiba swung at him.

The blow landed, producing a nice reverberating sound, but Atsuta was a sword god at the moment and that alone nullified any human attack. This attack was no different from the elbow from earlier. Plus, an attack thrown while dangling in midair was not going to be very effective.

“Four.”

A leg arrived and that movement seemed to signal the beginning.

“…!”

A fist arrived, then a chop, an elbow, and a knee.

The attacks hit his head, his neck, his shoulder, his side, his gut, his crotch, and his vitals.

But none of it did anything.

“Three.”

As Atsuta counted down, Hiba continued his meaningless attacks like a child.

''That idiot,'' thought Atsuta as a chill filled his mind. ''He’s crying.

…''He really is stupid.

This was no time for sympathy and Atsuta had no intention of showing any. This boy had agreed to fight a sword god.

Despite the difference in strength between a god and a man, he had set foot into this arena where he could easily die.

The boy had misjudged what that meant.

He had completely failed to realize he would be blown away by the very first attack or just how much damage it would do.

Most likely, his body was recalling another incident.

…''His defeat from last night.

He had been knocked away by a god of war and slammed to the ground.

That was much like being hit by a car and his body remembered that damage in the form of fear.

“Two.”

Atsuta could feel the boy trembling, but it was not caused by his present fear. It came from the fear of the damage he had received the night before and from the realization that the one he cared for had been injured.

With his wounds healed, he must have assumed he had forgotten that fear.

…''But his body remembers when he received similar damage.

“Ah!”

Hiba’s strikes and kicks no longer had any proper form.

Tears flowed down his face and his mouth opened as he sobbed.

His movements were nothing more than protests at the fact that his strength was hopelessly insufficient.

''Does it seem unfair?'' wondered Atsuta. ''But you’re the one at fault here.

After all, he had lost the night before and had yet to shake off that fear.

“One.”

Atsuta sank down so he could toss Hiba into the air and immediately swing Kusanagi down at him.

But he still spoke to this pathetic enemy.

“If you’re gonna hate anyone for this, hate yourself. This was your fault for not realizing how weak you are.”

And…

“Zero.”

Just before the final number was given, Hiba stopped moving.

…''Weak…

Tatsumi had called him that the night before and this opponent had done so again.

''Yes,'' he agreed while relaxing his arms and legs.

…''I really am weak.

He also relaxed his clenched jaw and felt tears spill down his cheeks.

What was this? Whatever the result, there was nothing he could do.

…''But I still don’t like it.

He did not like it, but he had to accept it. He had no way of changing it, so that was his only option.

…''But if I had more strength, it wouldn’t have turned out like that!

The words “what if” entered his mind.

But there were no “what ifs” when it came to the past.

He knew that. He knew it, but he still did not like it. And that regret definitely did exist in his heart.

So he thought about what to do to keep himself from feeling that regret again.

…''What if I could get stronger?

Instead of thinking about the past, he turned his “what if” toward the future.

What if? What if he could rid himself of his weakness?

…''No.

His attacks were of no use against the sword god before his eyes. No matter how strong he grew, there were some things he could never overcome.

''I am weak,'' he told himself. ''Even if I grow stronger, I’ll still be weak.

Even with the help of Susamikado and Mikage, he was only borrowing their strength and he had no more strength than any other human living in the real world.

''That’s right,'' he realized. ''Then no matter how hard I work, I’ll still be weak.

But in that case…

…''Isn’t that perfectly normal? Then why?

Why?

…''Why is everyone acting like I’m not allowed to try and fight when I’m still weak!?

If he could be strong when wielding a great power or weapon, wasn’t that enough?

“————”

He did not even hear Atsuta speak the final number.

But he did hear the word in his heart.

…''That isn’t right!

He did not know what was not right or how it was not right, but he knew that it was not.

Once, a white god of war had made a pursuit and fought despite being outmatched.

An American UCAT mechanical dragon unit had fought a large black mechanical dragon. Hiba’s own upperclassman and a girl younger than he was had even fought the dragon.

And another of his upperclassmen would face enemies of any number or any size with nothing but a pair of wings and a spear. Yet another upperclassman would confront his enemies while declaring his righteousness and without carrying a single weapon.

That was why it was not right.

It was not right to remove him from the battle just because he was weak.

One could be removed from the battlefield when…

…''When they let out a scream and run away.

The others did not do that.

And the night before, he had held the person who mattered most in his arms to the very end.

He was afraid. His entire body was still experiencing a refrain of the impact and noises of Typhon’s strike.

…''But I didn’t do that! I didn’t let out a scream!!

That transformed into another sentence inside him.

He fought ''because'' he was weak. And he announced what that meant in his heart.

…''That’s what you call struggling!!

Atsuta finished his countdown and prepared to throw Hiba into the air.

But…

“!?”

Before he could instruct his hand to move, his fingers reflexively let go of the boy’s collar.

…''What?

He felt pain. A stabbing pain filled his left thumb.

He looked down and saw a chunk of flesh bitten out of the thumb’s base.

“Oh!” he said in surprise before realizing what had happened.

Hiba had kicked off his arm and, when he landed in a crouch, he spat something to the side.

…''C’mon, really?

''That’s a part of my body.

''Don’t be tearing that off and throwing it away. Aren’t you going to at least give it back?

But at the same time, Atsuta felt a slight strength pulling up on the corners of his mouth.

…''C’mon, really?

''What do you think you’re doing, me?

“Hey!!”

He held Kusanagi tightly in both hands and raised it overhead.

And he literally jumped toward his prey.

…''Now this is getting interesting!!

Hiba could tell he was trembling.

…''I’m afraid.

He had acted on a sudden impulse much like anger, but fear had taken ahold of his body.

Just a slight graze from that sword’s attack had pummeled his entire body, so a direct hit would end this immediately.

It had been the same the night before. He had only survived because Tatsumi had not really seen him as her opponent. She must have only been after 3rd-Gear’s Concept Core.

He felt she had implied he was not even worth killing.

…''But I need to stop her.

Tatsumi was his Top-Gear counterpart and she claimed to have killed his father.

That made it his duty to stop her and those working with her.

He had to stop her no matter what.

It did not matter if he was afraid, if he was pathetic, if he was tossed through the air, or if he could not move.

He had to stop her regardless.

This was the same. The attack was preparing to drop down before him.

…''What should I do?

He had no power and his attacks could not reach his opponent, but that did not necessarily mean he could not stop the man.

…''So I can’t give up here!

He always had the strength known as Mikage by his side. That gave him access to striking power, piercing power, weight, speed, defense, flight, size, beauty, and coolness.

He did not have any of that now. All he had was…

…''My own way of fighting!

He had been taught not to rely on the god of war as he fought and he had been taught to assume the battle never came to an end.

The sun king and moon princess had taught him to fight to his very limits and the youngest of the four dragon brothers had taught him strength was independent of size.

He refused to believe he had not gained anything from those battles.

He lifted his trembling body, starting from the back, and leaned forward.

He almost toppled forward, but he could form a running stance by moving his knees forward.

“Oh…”

He kicked off the ground behind him.

“Ohhh!!”

He charged toward Atsuta with enough force to leave behind his shaking.

He did have some things: speed, his short frame, and the combat techniques passed down by the Hiba family.

Altogether, those gave him overwhelming mobility.

His low weight and height did not put much force behind his attacks, but he was second to none in speed and quick turns.

His opponent was a sword god. A military god might have been able to keep up with him, but…

“———!”

As he ran, he tilted to the right and jumped.

He shot past Atsuta to the right.

The man had yet to swing Kusanagi.

As Atsuta started to turn around, Hiba twisted his body.

To throw a reverse roundhouse kick, he turned his body by one hundred eighty degrees as he ran.

Kusanagi caused the earth to pulsate below his feet.

The sword’s tremor filled the wind.

A tremor of fear remained in his body. If he let down his guard for even a moment, he would be assaulted by the phantom sound and pain of the blow he had taken the previous night.

He just barely made it. He felt like he was running on the edge between himself and the world.

As soon as he spun around, he leaped right, which was to Atsuta’s left as he turned around.

Atsuta was right-handed, so the raised sword was tilted to the right.

By jumping to his left, Kusanagi’s strike would reach Hiba slightly later.

“————!!”

Hiba lowered down and poured all of his strength into his body. And he used it all to turn around.

But the sword god made his move.

Atsuta used a simple method of swinging Kusanagi more quickly.

While facing straight toward Hiba, he got down on his left knee.

By lowering his body, he sped up Kusanagi’s fall by that much more.

“!?”

Atsuta’s decision surprised Hiba, but it did not matter.

Hiba bent back and to the right before jumping into the air. He swung his arm and leaped as if trying to lean back and pass through the pulsation shaking the air.

Immediately afterwards, Kusanagi’s strike arrived.

Atsuta watched Hiba.

…''He’s a fast one!

Not even a low level military god could move that fast.

Not even a mid level sword god would have been able to keep track of his movements.

But Atsuta worked alongside a top level military god and was a similar level of sword god himself.

He could follow Hiba’s movements and he could predict what the boy was trying to do.

So he went down on one knee and swung his sword while planted solidly on the ground.

Kusanagi’s energy shot out much like a gaze.

It was filled with intent to kill.

Atsuta twisted his arms and fired Kusanagi while feeling the delicious sensation in his entire body.

However…

“!?”

Something unexpected happened.

Kusanagi’s intent to kill was deflected as he swung it down.

“What!?”

The feel of the sword told him Kusanagi’s killer intent had gotten jammed in something that could stop a gaze.

That something was a fist-sized stone.

It had come from Hiba’s hand.

Hiba had run and leaped while turning toward Atsuta, but he had also thrown a stone that had been exposed when Kusanagi tore into the ground earlier.

Hiba’s speed and Atsuta’s focus on Hiba himself had prevented Atsuta from noticing the stone.

Kusanagi’s blade struck the stone.

…''Dammit!! I’m still not used to using this thing!

He lost control and Kusanagi activated early. Its power sliced through the sky.

“———!!”

The scarlet sky was split for several hundred meters into the heavens.

The air rumbled and wind blew in.

Hiba ran through the descending scarlet wind as he circled toward Atsuta’s kneeling back.

Atsuta stood up and took a quick step forward to move away from Hiba.

The movement of the wind told him what Hiba was doing.

…''This is getting interesting.

He heard something a lot like a sharp blade, but it was Hiba picking up another stone.

He could tell Hiba was trying to win by having him activate Kusanagi a third time.

The boy was trying to stop Atsuta by doing that.

“This really is getting interesting!”

Atsuta turned forcefully around to face Hiba.

“If you can stop this blade, I’d like to see it!!”

Hiba spun around and charged in while Atsuta swung Kusanagi down toward him.

The boy was five meters away.

And that distance shrank as Hiba approached.

In an amount of time one could call an instant or a moment, Atsuta saw something.

Hiba had thrown a stone toward Kusanagi’s raised blade.

It was a snap throw from the left hand rotated behind his back.

The throw took a parabolic arc from behind him and over his head.

If Atsuta had only been watching Hiba, he would not have noticed it.

But Atsuta saw it.

And so he switched his stance. He placed his left palm on the bottom of Kusanagi’s hilt and pried the blade into a low position.

He also shifted his body to the left so Hiba would pass by to his right.

When Hiba did so, Atsuta would cut through him from below.

With Hiba’s speed and Kusanagi’s activation, Hiba’s torso would be cleanly sliced in two.

Even if Hiba tried to attack, none of his blows would affect Atsuta.

Dodging was the boy’s only option and the best he could do was take a wide circle around the man.

“This is over!”

Atsuta held Kusanagi like a bat and began to tilt the tip behind him.

At the same time, Hiba made his move.

He neither dodged nor made a meaningless attack.

“———!?”

Atsuta was briefly unable to react to Hiba’s action.

However, his reflexes as a sword god chose the most effective attack.

“Ohhh!”

A moment later, their clash came to an end.

In the forest below, Kashima looked up from in front of the tent set up on a raised area of land.

He was frowning a little.

“Is it…over?”

Next to him, Ryuutetsu stared up into the scarlet sky while still lying on the mat.

“It must be,” said the old man. “I don’t hear anything anymore.”

He sat up and rotated his shoulders to loosen them.

“How about we go check on them? They’ll get cold if we leave them there.”

Atsuta saw Hiba’s face so close that their foreheads were about to hit.

Hiba was smiling a little, his forehead was drenched with sweat, and he was not moving.

“Is he unconscious?” asked Atsuta.

He shook his head, clicked his tongue, and checked on their situation.

They were facing each other.

Atsuta held Kusanagi near his right shoulder with the blade thrust forward.

And Kusanagi had stabbed into its target.

That was Hiba.

Kusanagi’s blade had pierced the left side of the unconscious boy’s chest up to the hilt.

Atsuta had not done that.

“Did he run in and stab it into himself!?”

Atsuta realized what Hiba had done.

…''You idiot.

Before the third attack, Hiba had not dodged or attacked meaninglessly.

He had chosen to accelerate.

He had moved almost too quickly for Atsuta to follow and ran right up to the man.

In that instant, Atsuta’s training, characteristics as a sword god, and emotions had produced a single reaction.

He had counterattacked.

When holding Kusanagi like a bat, what was the quickest way to counterattack?

A thrust.

By dropping Kusanagi’s tip forward, he had been able to attack the boy as he charged in at him.

He had acted on reflex and used the sword like a normal Cowling Sword.

By the time he had realized his mistake, it had been too late.

He had already realized what Kusanagi’s biggest flaw was. He was not used to using it, so he had yet to fully grasp how to release its energy when it began to activate.

He knew how to release the energy for a slash. He had done that twice already.

But what about for a thrust?

…''Dammit.

He had acted without thinking. As a sword god and expert swordsman, he had attacked almost subconsciously, so he had not focused and released the killer intent.

And thus, Kusanagi had not activated.

He had simply stabbed the blade forward like any other Cowling Sword.

Hiba had not hesitated as he charged in.

He had grabbed Kusanagi’s blade with both hands and directed it toward the left side of his chest.

“He stabbed himself.”

…''Is he stupid?

Hiba’s hands were now holding Atsuta’s hands on the hilt.

And Kusanagi’s entire blade had pierced through his body.

“———”

If Atsuta released Kusanagi’s energy to slice through the boy’s left shoulder, he could only cut either upwards or downwards.

That would not be enough to kill Hiba.

“You idiot.”

Atsuta clicked his tongue again and took a step back.

He let go of Kusanagi. It now simply looked like Hiba had grabbed Kusanagi and stabbed himself in the chest.

He had lost consciousness, but he remained standing and the area below his chest was wet.

Seeing that, Atsuta pulled some gum from his pocket.

It was a high-class nicotine gum advertised as “monkfish liver flavor”.

He heard footsteps from the forest behind him and put the gum in his mouth without turning around.

He reached for Kusanagi and grabbed it.

“Make sure to record this.”

He spoke to the person behind him and swung Kusanagi downwards.

It cut through Hiba’s left side and a red spray filled the air.

“———!!”

Lastly, the cut shot several hundred meters behind Hiba.

The attack roared and Hiba’s unconscious form was knocked through the air.

“Atsuta!”

Kashima’s voice reached him from behind, but Atsuta did not care.

He looked down to find Kusanagi broken in his hands.

“Looks like it broke right on schedule.”

“Atsuta! The battle was already over! Why did you have to attack again!?”

Atsuta sat down without bothering to turn around.

He looked to where Hiba lay collapsed on the ground and held up the broken Kusanagi.

“I said I lose if I didn’t kill him after three attacks, remember?”

Atsuta stood back up and tossed the remains of Kusanagi.

He heard them hit Hiba and roll away.

“You stopped Kusanagi, so you win. And I didn’t kill you after three attacks, so I lose. …That clearly settles the wins and losses on both sides.”

He laughed quietly and yelled into the scarlet sky.

“Why is this world so damn boring!?”

The colors of evening filled a city.

The city had a port and an inland sea to the west. This was the city of Sakai which contained the ports of Sakai and Osaka.

The city contained a slope with a residential area at the top.

Two people stood at the bottom of the residential area as the setting sun shined on it.

They were Sayama and Shinjou.

They both held documents or letters and they looked at the houses on the slope.

Shinjou pointed behind the row of houses toward the top of the slope.

“Um? If we follow this road, turn right, take that walking path, turn left, come out on top of the hill, and then take that road a while, we’ll be at our destination.”

“Heh heh heh. Shinjou-kun. thank you for those directions that were even more indirect than I ever imagined. …You are so cute.”

“What you’re saying is too indirect and disconnected to have any idea what you mean!!”

Shinjou sighed and looked back up at Sayama with a look that seemed to say “anyway”.

“Can we get going, Sayama-kun?”

“Yes, we can, Shinjou-kun. …Let us continue to where you discovered your past.”

She gave a small smile and nodded, but quickly hid her smile behind her documents.

“I’ll have to show you everything I found here back when I came before you.”

“Of course. And when you say that, it sounds really dirty.”

“What is wrong with your ears?”

She sighed again and lowered her shoulders next to Sayama who was holding a handheld recorder.

“Honestly, if you like things like that, why not go somewhere that will do it for you?”

He nodded and looked her way.

“Are you sure you want me doing that?”

Shinjou groaned and stopped moving, but she finally answered.

“On second thought, no.”

“I would not want to either. Not if it was anyone other than you. And…”

He pulled on her hand and began walking up the sloped sidewalk.

“Ah.”

She was surprised by the tug on her hand and he turned back toward her.

“Now, it is time we got going. We can continue reading these documents on our way to our destination…on our way to where your mother was.”

“R-right.”

She hesitated but gave a definite nod. As if to say this would be okay, he gave her a refreshing smile and spoke.

“But I am a lucky man. Once we reach our destination, I get to see exactly where it was you ‘came before me’! Make sure to spread your legs!”

With a wordless smile, Shinjou took a running start and kicked the rear of the suit pants in front of her.

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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume12 Chapter 18|Chapter 18]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume12 Afterword|Afterword]]
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume12 Chapter 4

2026-06-11T02:40:16Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 4: Persuasion Through Attack==
[[Image:OnC_v12_0103.png|thumb]]
''Your speed brings the flight meter to its limit

''Your bullets are unpolished but powerful

''Gallant girl, please show up right away

A wide area was filled with voices.

It was a circular underground room with no windows. American UCAT’s flag hung from the high cement ceiling and several rows of chairs filled the space below.

This was an underground meeting room.

A white man in a lab coat sat on the east side of the central round table and voices reached him from all the other seats.

Some were protests, some were questions, and some were soothing words meant to persuade him.

The flood of words reverberated through the room, but the old man said nothing. He seemed to think silence was the way to gain the upper hand here.

But the chain-reaction of countless emotions would not stop.

If someone took a break, someone else would accelerate. If someone suggested bringing it to an end, someone else would begin anew.

They were all speaking about what Hajji had said during the Army’s attack three weeks before.

Top-Gear had existed.

It had been destroyed.

That had been covered up.

How would he take responsibility for the reactions that were sure to come from the other Gears?

It was nothing but criticism and it showed no sign of slowing.

A small voice joined the sea of voices.

It belonged to the red-haired maid standing next to the old man.

Instead of looking at him, she continued facing forward and did not move her lips.

“Ooshiro-sama, I believe it is about time for dinner. …Can you answer me?”

After a pause, Ooshiro replied without moving his lips either.

“You can speak, #8-kun?”

“Testament. Is that ventriloquism, Ooshiro-sama? I have determined that is indeed better than blatantly speaking with me and looking like you are ignoring them. …Even if this is a bit disturbing.”

“If only I could use your shared memory. This would be so much easier.”

She tested the idea with the others and the answer came back in a matter of nanoseconds.

“Ooshiro-sama, fifty-two of us said ‘no’.”

“Oh? Then the other seventy-odd ones said ‘OK’? Is my popularity soaring?”

“Testament. Thirty-one said ‘that sounds disgusting’, twenty said ‘I would rather die’, twelve said ‘I don’t want to think about it’, seven said ‘tell him it’s fine even though we don’t mean it’, and a few said ‘no decision is necessary’ and ‘Ha ha ha. Quit joking and go die’. I have determined your popularity is indeed higher than before.”

“How!? How is that any higher!?”

“Well, probably in the…um…way they expressed it.”

“You shouldn’t have to think that hard to answer it!!”

She obeyed his instructions by no longer thinking about it.

She looked around but was more interested in the sounds than the sights.

She heard angry shouts and voices of protest.

The collection of sound shook the air.

The pressure of the voices gave them no chance to respond.

She saw Diana and Roger silently sitting in the neighboring seats and facing the surrounding people.

Thanks to Siegfried, German UCAT had been close to Japanese UCAT ever since the National Defense Department days.

That was why Diana had been sent as the German UCAT inspector for the Leviathan Road, but the other European powers had been unable to send their own inspectors to hold her in check.

Similarly, the postwar relationship between the United States and Japan had placed American UCAT close to Japanese UCAT. And ever since the battle with 5th-Gear, they had an American UCAT inspector through Heo.

The other powerful nations feared the United States would take control of the Leviathan Road.

But even if they had sent inspectors, Germany and the States had overlooked the past hidden beyond the Leviathan Road.

Diana and Roger had both been involved in the destruction of Top-Gear.

That made this the other countries’ chance to attack. They could remove the German and American UCATs from the negotiating table and seal Japanese UCAT’s power while forcing responsibility onto them.

…''They also intend to intervene with the Gear reservations and make the Leviathan Road their own.

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> thought to herself while having her auditory devices shut out the jeers.

…''They only see the Leviathan Road and what we were doing as something to increase their own power.

The power of concepts could easily change the world.

That was why the Gears had fought.

If the Leviathan Road would release all of those concepts, they likely intended to end the Leviathan Road and “manage” the concepts themselves.

If they became that manager, even a small country could possibly gain the same influence as a powerful country.

So…

“Do they think the best option is to speak out now so they can become that manager?”

“This is a troublesome thing, isn’t it?” commented Ooshiro.

She nodded and said more.

“Is the world simply full of rioters if it isn’t united?”

“Perhaps.”

Ooshiro spun his mechanical pencil with his thumb and #8 turned to the side.

She saw Diana and Roger there, but…

“?”

Despite Diana’s calm look, she was folding paper below the desk. Roger was nodding at what the crowd said, but he had made earplugs out of sand.

Seeing them gave #8 a certain thought.

…''Or is all this the direct result of their lack of unity?

She turned back to Ooshiro.

“Ooshiro-sama, please stop drawing manga while pretending to be taking notes on what they say. Besides, is that really the proper way to use screentone? I have determined you should place it all the way to the edge.”

“Calm down,” he said. “Everyone is being so loud. Why do you think that is?”

“Because of this meeting. Attempting to show we are being fair is fine and all, but this has revealed a weakness in the meeting system. However, having individual meetings with each country would take too much time and any closed-room discussions would result in complaints of unfairness from the other countries.”

“I see,” said Ooshiro. “Then who is the main player out of those who called for this meeting?”

“Well…”

<nowiki>#8</nowiki> thought for a moment.

“I have determined it is Chinese UCAT.”

She looked to a single point in the shouting group.

No one sat in the seat for Chinese UCAT’s representative, but…

“I have determined the only nations large enough to have called for this meeting are China, Russia, and France. But Russia and France unfortunately have no corresponding Gear according to the Divine States-World Interaction Theory. Both 1st and 10th are more closely related to Germany, so Russia would not have much influence.”

And…

“With Chao-sama’s death, China became a normal country with no inspector here. In fact, they can even claim to be a victim for losing their inspector during the Leviathan Road. Thus, China has the chance to take the lead here.”

“Then,” began Ooshiro. “We’re in trouble.”

“So it seems,” agreed #8. “But that is your job. And this is also an opportunity for us.”

“An opportunity?”

“Testament.”

She saw Ooshiro give his manga the title “Short-Tempered Iron Woman #8-kun”, so she took the Kent paper and began tearing it to pieces.

“I have determined this is an opportunity. We can show the foreign UCATs just how futile their shouts are, so let us buy some time.”

The crowd grew a little quieter and looked confused, but #8 continued tearing the paper into pieces no bigger than a few millimeters and scattered it around. She used her gravitational control to send it high into the air so it scattered like snow.

“I have determined it is worth trying. We can show them the strength of the ones currently fighting, regardless of what happened in the past. After all…”

She looked back at all the eyes focused on her.

“No matter how much these people shout that this is nothing but lies, that team’s power will not become a lie.”

The empty city still contained some slight movement.

There was no one on the roads or in the buildings.

All of the cars on the roads were empty, but they coasted along on inertia.

Their speed dropped and they either collided with each other or ran onto the curb.

As everything came to a stop, there was still light and sound.

The bright but empty stores were filled with the roar of machines or the music from CD players. A children’s prize machine near a supermarket made an electronic tone.

Suddenly, a new sound was added.

It came from Itsukaichi Road which cut east to west through Akigawa.

On the eastern end of the road, it traveled around the outer edge of a school and two sounds played in competition as they rushed down that two-lane road.

The two sounds were those of something tearing through the air.

They traveled west below the streetlights.

Both of them took the form of flight.

But that was not all.

The sounds contained the color of destruction.

They were also filled with high speed aerial collisions.

Metal clashed with metal and something loudly broke.

The sounds came from two girls.

One of them swiftly flew at low-altitude while standing on a broom.

The other stood on a long, narrow shield like a skateboard and let her spear’s accelerator pull her along like she was waterskiing.

They were Brunhild and Kazami.

The former wielded a long sword and the latter wielded a spear with a scarf wrapped around the tip and the word “cowling” written on that scarf. They were in the middle of a high-speed pursuit.

Kazami had removed her right glove. The blood flowing from her index finger had written the word on her scarf and the words “slides well” on the shield.

They exchanged attacks and projectiles while racing westward along the road.

Currently, the repeated attacks were flying toward Brunhild.

She evaded Kazami’s shots and pursued as her opponent accelerated away.

“Honestly. …Just lose already!”

Meanwhile, she controlled her broom like a snowboard and swung around the sword that was as tall as she was.

Gram had a single word written on it in magic marker: machinegun.

Brunhild looked at the word she had written.

…''That turned out well.

''The handwriting is nice. Maybe I could have become head of the calligraphy club as well. I could have had the other club members writing day in and day out while teaching them in the 1st-Gear way. That would have been amazing!!

The black cat on the back of her neck spoke up.

“Brunhild, are you having evil thoughts?”

“What are you talking about? I’m thinking about club activities and culture. …And how to use people.”

When she held Gram under her arm and at her waist, Kazami opened her eyes wide.

“Hey, wait! Don’t point a gun at people!!”

“You’ve been aiming a cannon at me this whole time!”

“Oh, c’mon, Brunhild. What are you talking about?”

Kazami held G-Sp2 in her right hand and waved her left hand dismissively.

“This isn’t a cannon. It’s G-Sp2.”

“That’s right,” added G-Sp2.

It was such an awful excuse that Brunhild could not help but fire.

Bullets of light flew from Gram’s tip.

The gunpowder of light produced a repeating staccato.

She slipped between the drifting cars and avoided her enemy’s attacks while firing toward Kazami.

Kazami cried out and accelerated forward.

But Brunhild held Gram in place as it shook from the recoil.

“Honestly. Could this be any more annoying!?”

The repeated sounds of gunfire created the background music for her shout.

“Night after night, people come to my house or Fasolt’s place! We’re not some kind of refuge! And the Requiem Sense isn’t a phone to call the underworld! …Fasolt constantly has to hang from the cliff out back to reflect on what he’s done!”

“It’s not like I know anything about your bizarre customs!”

“Then learn now!”

She added “heavy” in front of “machinegun” to increase the firepower.

What sounded like a signal gun pierced through the sky.

But Kazami soared before Brunhild could swing Gram around.

The girl was fast.

Brunhild’s accelerating broom and attacking sword were separate, but Kazami used G-Sp2’s second form for acceleration and its third form for attack.

For Kazami, firing meant slowing, so her movements tended to be a little slower. On the other hand, she was absurdly fast when focused solely on acceleration.

The bottom of her shield sent sparks flying as she weaved between the drifting cars.

Gram’s pursuing shots of light grazed the ground and tore into the cars.

“!”

A shot to the engine of one car ignited the fuel and blew it up along with several other cars.

Three muffled explosions sounded.

The force blew off the hood and the body instantly sank down.

But a moment later, the reaction to the explosion blew straight down and sent the cars flying into the air.

The cars acted as torches and scattered shimmering heat.

Brunhild ducked down to slip below them.

Kazami was already moving on ahead.

Brunhild tried to target her back, but a new car appeared between them.

“Oh, honestly! Even when I blow everything out of the way, I can’t get a clear shot!!”

“I think your options are a getting little violent there, Brunhild.”

“Yes, I agree. …It pisses me off to have someone point it out, though.”

''I’ll get her back for this,'' she promised herself.

At any rate, speed was what mattered now.

Itsukaichi Road was reaching the intersection in front of the municipal office.

After moving west of the office, a bike lane was added to widen the road.

That made it easier to avoid the cars and expanded the battlefield, so Brunhild increased her broom’s speed to reach that widened battlefield.

“That’s where the real fight begins!!”

Ahead, she saw cars stopped in the intersection.

The empty cars had collided again and again, creating a confused mess.

She did not care. She wrote “acceleration” on the black cat and threw him onto the front of the broom.

He frantically clung to the broom.

“Is this what you call pet abuse!?”

“What are you talking about? You’re not a pet. You’re a family member. …But only for the moment.”

“Th-then this is household bullying!”

As she accelerated, Kazami also picked up more speed and looked back.

“Well, I’m glad to see things are lively back there.”

Kazami raised her eyebrows and smiled bitterly.

“But fine. Let’s settle this!”

The two of them simultaneously stepped strongly down on their respective boards and leaped.

They used the top of the stopped cars as jump platforms to make an even larger leap.

“It’s on!”

The two girls flew.

They looked down on the never-ending expanse of darkness and light that made up the night.

This was a view only someone in flight could see.

“…Ah.”

Both of them gasped at the night scenery of Akigawa.

“…”

They were above the wide two-lane road leading west of the municipal office and to JR Akigawa Station.

The two rows of streetlights continued straight for about three hundred meters where another intersection led to Akigawa Station.

That straightaway was their battlefield, so the two of them exchanged a glance.

“…!”

They took action as soon as their high-speed air ride came to an end.

On her way down, Brunhild collapsed backwards to perform a backflip.

She grabbed the broom between her right toes and left heel and rotated the broom four times to the right as she spun her body around.

As soon as she landed, she fired a burst of acceleration to the west.

On the other hand, Kazami moved up and pushed her feet into the sky.

As she flew, she spun the bottom of her shield ski through the sky and performed a vertical flip.

She was going to land ten meters in front of Brunhild, so Brunhild prepared an attack for that spot.

[[Image:OnC_v12_0119.jpg|thumb]]

Kazami fell from five meters above the ground.

“…!!”

Brunhild raised Gram in her right hand.

Super thick writing on Gram’s surface said “Heavy Rapid-Fire Homing Bullet Circle” and she rested Gram on her right shoulder.

Her body sank down below the weight and Gram opened up.

With a metallic sound, the cowling encasing the blade on either side opened up and emitted light.

A moment later, a circle of light appeared behind Brunhild.

Countless letters appeared in the red circle and even more dots appeared between those letters.

“————!”

Arcs of light shot from the dots and flew out in the hundreds.

Kazami’s eyes opened wide as she looked back.

“That’s just not fair!!”

“Don’t you get it!? Gram is all of 1st-Gear! Even if you don’t write out the mechanism, it can manifest anything you write on it!”

As if to prove her right, the streams of light bound together and pursued Kazami.

Kazami faced forward and accelerated as soon as her shield ski landed.

She slid along the road to evade.

“————!”

G-Sp2 pulled her along as she essentially waterskied along the road. She quickly slalomed back and forth to dodge and a spray of sparks came from the asphalt in her wake.

The group of red lines pursued her like a wave, but the red lights struck the cars she weaved between or crashed into the asphalt she grazed across.

The cars were destroyed by the concentrated fire and the asphalt turned to sand.

One hit would surely turn a human body into a spray.

The light poured down like red rain. It arced after Kazami and approached from every direction to envelop her.

But she repeatedly ducked between the roadside trees to quickly reduce the number of pursuing attacks.

She flapped her wings for a three hundred sixty degree flip to check things behind her and she flew out of the way of the red light.

“…!!”

Only a few dozen shots remained.

She flapped her wings for a great leap. When she passed over the roof of a large RV parked by the trees, she placed her hand on the roof and used her heels to kick the shield ski up and around to the front.

She ducked down as she and the shield ski landed on the road beyond the RV.

At the same time, the remaining light crashed into the back of the RV.

Sounds of destruction rang out.

The glass shattered, the metal broke, and the accumulated force sent the large RV into the air.

She ducked down and resumed sliding along the ground. Meanwhile, the RV’s back end rose up and threatened to fall down on top of her.

However, she did not mind. She raised her right hand and used her blood to write “super light” on the bottom of the vehicle.

She then used her left index finger to lift the RV.

She spun it on her finger like a plate and instantly spun herself around.

She used that momentum to throw the RV back at Brunhild.

Kazami saw that Brunhild had already begun her next attack.

She had moved Gram around so it was resting backwards on her shoulder.

One side of the blade said “catapult” and Kazami saw the black cat standing on top of it.

The word “acceleration” on the cat’s belly had been crossed out and a new term had been written on his back: shell.

“You don’t mean…!”

Kazami’s shout of surprise was followed by a red light racing from Gram’s base and out to the tip.

As if riding on that light, the shell was launched.

It instantly produced an explosion of water vapor.

“Ahhhhhhhh!”

And it cried out as it tore through the RV.

Pierced from the front to the back, the vehicle stopped moving in midair and bulged out a bit.

“!!”

It burst to pieces like it was made of paper.

Surrounded by a trail of mist, the shell flew straight toward Kazami.

Kazami spent a moment making up her mind.

If she fired G-Sp2, this shell was no threat.

However, she was hesitant to destroy this shell.

While she disliked shells, she did like cats. Loved them even.

And so she hesitated.

…''What should I do?

She briefly thought about what the report on her death would say.

…''Field Operations Special Division and Team Leviathan member Kazami Chisato was killed in action by a cat.

''Would they write “loved cats” on my grave? That would be an embarrassment to all my descendants. Then again, if I died now, I wouldn’t have any descendants, would I?

The shell was right in front of her.

“!”

She made a split-second decision and wrote on G-Sp2.

Her hint came from Izumo. He had once done something like this.

She wrote “Anti-Shell Metal Bat”.

She held G-Sp2 near the bottom and swung the metal bat.

“Claaaaannnnnng!!”

She gave her own sound effect as she hit the shell and the slight squashing sensation at the moment of impact told her it had been a perfect hit.

With a great sound, the ball was sent right back toward the pitcher.

''Go,'' she thought while clenching her fist and accelerating forward with G-Sp2.

…''Huh?

“Couldn’t I have just dodged instead of hitting it back?”

Brunhild saw the shell flying back toward her.

Their relative speed plus the batting effect made the shell’s speed greater than when she had fired it.

She considered writing “shield” on Gram to stop it, but that would smash the shell to pieces.

…''Which would get Gram and my clothes filthy!

She made a split-second decision and raised a magic marker in her right hand.

She predicted the path of the flying shell and placed the marker in the spot its back would pass through.

“————!!”

When the cat’s back passed below the marker, a negating line was drawn through the word “shell”.

It all came down to an instant of action.

The black cat returned to being a cat, decelerated, and grabbed onto Brunhild’s left shoulder.

“U-u-u-um, Brunhild!! I-I need-I need to have a word with you!!”

“Yes.” Brunhild wrapped her left hand around the cat on her shoulder while soaring along the road with her broom. “I know exactly what you want to say. …Hitting a shell back with a metal bat? Just how absurd is that girl?”

“You’re ignoring the one who did all the work, you know?”

Brunhild did not answer him.

Kazami jumped to put some distance between them and she pointed G-Sp2 toward the ground.

It was clear what she was going to do.

“Fire into the ground!”

Exactly that happened and it produced a solid sound.

And it happened repeatedly.

Those shots had enough power to destroy a dragon, so they utterly destroyed the asphalt. The broken asphalt blasted skyward like geysers, but those areas were several meters in length and they instantly formed walls.

Brunhild had created a single large wall earlier, but Kazami tore into the ground to make walls of smaller fragments.

There was only one good countermeasure.

“Gram!”

Brunhild wrote the word “ocean” on Gram’s side.

“Add in that power!!”

While gliding along, she swung the long sword like a golf club and struck the ground.

The asphalt transformed into an ocean.

The rising walls of broken pavement turned into cresting waves.

She would only be hit by a spray of water, so she continued on.

She could see Kazami through the waves and the girl had begun waterskiing.

“Not bad!”

The girl gave her a confident smile, so Brunhild nodded in agreement.

Brunhild pursued her classmate whose position made her an enemy.

As she pursued, they both crossed a large intersection at almost the same moment.

They were only one hundred meters to Akigawa Station.

A light moved below the streetlights.

It was the light to a mountain bike.

But instead of riding it, someone was pushing it by the handlebars.

That person was Ooki who wore a jacket.

She pushed the bike with her left hand and held a cellphone in her right.

“Oh, Sibyl-san. I’ve collected Kazami-san’s bike, so don’t worry.”

She heard Sibyl’s apologetic voice over the phone.

“Testament. Thank you very much. It seems Chisato-sama was in quite a rush.”

“Immediate decisions are her thing. She changed inside the concept space and I collected that as well.”

“H-her clothes! I-I need to wash them, iron them, and return them!”

“You like to take care of everything, don’t you?”

“Testament. It is my thing.”

Ooki heard her add a “but”, so she looked into the night sky.

“Ooki-sama, how were things inside the concept space?”

“Hmm.”

Ooki thought on the question. After about three seconds, she gathered her eyebrows together.

“Well, it was night, it was cold, and there was no one there.”

“That isn’t what I meant.”

There was a smiling tone to Sibyl’s voice, yet Ooki felt like she was being scolded.

…''Did I say something odd?

She tilted her head, but Sibyl asked another question.

“Could you tell how Chisato-sama’s battle was going?”

''Oh, I get it now,'' thought Ooki as she came to a stop.

There was a field to her left, houses to her right, and stars in the sky, but she stared straight forward.

This road likely ran alongside the larger Itsukaichi Road that Kazami and Brunhild had flown down.

Ooki narrowed her eyes.

“I think they’re full of energy.”

“Eh?”

Ooki smiled at Sibyl’s confusion.

“They’re probably having a great time exchanging blows right now. …Am I wrong?”

The road was made of black tar, but it acted like water.

The road had “30” written on it, so it contained a current flowing at that speed.

Kazami and Brunhild flew along the center line between lanes where the current differed.

Red light shot from Gram which had “rapid fire gun” written on it, so Kazami deflected it with the tip of her spear.

Kazami rotated around and fired G-Sp2, so Brunhild deflected it with “shield” Gram.

The two moved apart and produced a splash of asphalt as they drew an arc along it.

“!”

While gliding along the center of the road, spear clashed with sword.

A metallic sound rang out, sparks flew from their locked blades, and they moved apart just enough for more swordplay.

When Kazami jabbed, Brunhild deflected. When Brunhild swung, Kazami deflected.

But Kazami had the upper hand in close-quarters combat.

By jabbing in and pulling back, G-Sp2 could knock Gram outwards.

The sharp sound of metal shot out and sparks flew.

“————!”

Wind blew in from the front and Brunhild’s hand trembled as it held Gram.

She swung the blade straight toward Kazami, but the other girl seemed to wrap the strike around the spear tip and sent it outwards.

The witch frowned and clenched her teeth a little.

Attacking like this was not her specialty.

When a beginner attacked with a long weapon, they tended to be led around by its length and never put any real force behind their strikes.

With longer weapons, one had to focus on the base of the blade and the bottom of the hilt as they held it. They had to use it lightly while making sure they did not only slightly graze their enemy with the tip, but that was a tall order for a beginner like Brunhild.

Gram was a long sword, so it was bound by those rules even if it was light. And unlike a spear, the grip was short and the blade long, which only made those rules more important.

Once it was deflected, the weight of the blade would reach her hands and it took a while for a beginner to gain control again.

But Kazami did not hold back.

She moved straight in.

“This is over!”

She stared straight at the girl while jabbing her spear just as straight.

She was confident it would hit.

“!?”

But with a clang of steel, G-Sp2 was deflected by Gram.

Kazami’s eyes opened wide.

It may not have been perfect, but she had knocked Gram upwards and attacked the girl’s unguarded chest.

Brunhild did not have enough combat skill to instantly regain control of Gram.

In fact, not even Kazami would have been able to regain control of such a long sword so quickly.

She could only keep up this high speed exchange of attack and defense because she held the long spear close to the top.

…''How did she do that!?

Kazami gasped and saw something written on the side of the sword Brunhild lightly swung around.

“Short sword!?”

“I probably should have done this from the beginning, but then I couldn’t have caught you off guard.”

Now the one left defenseless was Kazami.

She had poured her full strength into that strike, so she had not used a short grip on the spear.

She then saw Brunhild prepare Gram at her right hip.

The action pressed the blade’s tip against Kazami’s stomach.

She also saw words on the side of the sword.

“88 mm gun. You can’t hit it back at this range, can you?”

The blast rang out quickly.

Kazami acted on pure reflex.

She bent over to pull her stomach back and flapped her wings forward.

“…!”

She put as much space between her and Gram as she could.

A moment later, she lifted her right leg.

Brunhild’s eyebrows shot up.

“It’s no use!”

The end of her words was drowned out by the blast of the shot being fired.

At the same time, Kazami kicked something up with her right leg.

“The shield!”

It was G-Sp2’s shield she had been using as a ski.

She pressed her right leg against her chest and the bottom of the foot brought up the shield and placed it between her and the gun.

At the same time, the 88 mm shell of light exploded in the muzzle.

They clashed.

Kazami was blasted into the western sky with the speed of a shooting star and noise washed over Brunhild.

The black three-cornered hat fell from her head, but the witch did not care.

She looked to Kazami through the blowing wind and water vapor smoke.

The girl had crashed into the roof of a pachinko parlor to the west of the train station.

She had flown a long way. That was partially due to the force of the shellfire, but…

…''Did she use G-Sp2’s acceleration to escape the blow!?

It was the same idea as pulling your body back to reduce the damage from a punch.

But if she had done that…

“Is she still conscious!?”

If so, the battle would continue.

She quickly found a way to determine whether the girl was or not.

Over by Kazami, the “pa” of the neon sign saying “pachinko” had gone out due to poor maintenance. Being hit by that in this world of writing would be an embarrassment to every last one of her descendants<ref>Chinko means penis.</ref>, so Brunhild took action.

“Hit her!!”

“Brunhild, Brunhild. You’re a girl too, so try to be a little considerate.”

But Brunhild saw G-Sp2’s cannon blow away the “chi” just before it hit.

That meant Kazami was still conscious.

“…!”

Now that she knew her enemy still intended to fight, Brunhild turned her broom toward the sky and truly flew.

Her destination was the twenty meters above the pachinko parlor with a large hole in the roof.

She instantly arrived in the air and peeled the cat from the broom.

After she wrote “wings” on his butt and had him cling to her back, she could float without the broom.

“B-Brunhild! I have no idea what I am anymore!!”

“Don’t worry. There is only one answer to that.”

“Eh? What is it? A cute pet kitten? Or your beloved black cat?”

“…”

“D-don’t fall silent! Tell me the answer, Brunhild!”

She ignored him, maintained her altitude with the wings, and placed the broom over her left shoulder.

She reinforced the broom with papers saying “magazine”, “chamber”, “loading point”, “barrel”, and “ignition device”. She then placed some paper bullets along the base.

She had created a long cannon out of the broom.

She placed the Gram cannon alongside it.

“Double cannons!”

With that shout, she fired.

Her target was the crumbled roof of the pachinko parlor. Her enemy was below.

“Fire!!”

The flash of shellfire blossomed in the night sky.

The sounds shook the night air as she fired again and again.

The shells of paper and light were surrounded by shockwaves as they smashed the pachinko parlor below.

The shockwaves of impact sent the light materials of modern buildings flying like paper. The roof vanished after a few shots and the shockwaves inside the building blew out the walls from within.

In an instant, only the pillars remained and the explosions sent countless dots of light flying through the air.

They were silver balls.

They burst upwards like spraying water, shook in the noise of the blasts, and fell as they scattered wherever they pleased. Sometimes, the wreckage of a pachinko machine would fly up, but even those were sent scattering by the continuing shockwaves.

Despite all that, Brunhild would not stop.

“…!”

The most frightening thing about shellfire was not the shells themselves. The shockwave created when a physical shell flew and hit caused much more destruction than the simple area struck by the shell itself.

Even ten centimeters of concrete were easily smashed by a metal shell moving at high speed.

Kazami could only intercept one of the shells with G-Sp2. The fallen shockwaves shot back up into the air, but Kazami had no way of defending against it and she would be smashed to pieces.

Even if she tried to stop the shells, Brunhild was firing randomly. Kazami would be unable to determine where they would hit, so she would be struck from an unexpected direction.

So Brunhild continued firing.

…''Disappear!

It would be easier if the girl simply vanished.

“…!!”

The broom ran out of ammunition. Smoke rose from the tip, but Brunhild was not going to let her enemy get away. She peeled off all of the paper and attached a single new paper.

She looked down at the broom while feeling a ringing in her ears from all the noise shaking her eardrums.

The broom now had “barrel addition” written on it.

She let out a breath, closed her eyes, swallowed to clear the ringing in her ears, and attached the barrel addition to Gram.

The cannon resting on her shoulder was now twice as long as she was tall and she added another word to Gram.

“Dragon cannon. …This final shot is a requiem from 1st-Gear.”

Her numb ears could barely hear her own voice.

She realized her hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat and her breathing was heavy.

But she prepared the dragon cannon on her shoulder while dealing with them both.

Her target was the center of the pachinko parlor that still had three steel pillars. She aimed for the center of the rising dust.

She muttered “farewell” as she reached for the trigger.

“————”

The witch saw her enemy and those white wings.

Kazami was crouched on one knee within the dust.

“How did you survive all that?”

The answer was simple and Kazami gave the answer in a trembling voice.

She spoke even as her body shook from the remaining damage.

“Look around me.”

Brunhild did so and looked below the vanishing dust.

The red and white tiles of the floor came into view. The dust covered it like sand, but it was unharmed. And…

“Why are the bases of the pachinko machines still there?”

The tops of the machines had been torn away, but all of the bases remained from the floor to about waist height.

The surrounding light entering the pachinko parlor told Brunhild why.

Kazami’s right arm was raised and it held G-Sp2’s shield. Brunhild saw what the girl had written on it.

“Floor.”

“That’s right. When a shockwave is produced on the ground, it escapes up into the air, so you won’t be harmed if you place yourself lower than the floor. If you can’t escape an explosion, they tell you to hide below the lowest part of the ground and cover yourself with something, right? Also…”

Kazami weakly stood and lifted her left hand.

That hand held a pennant-style poster.

“Can you see what it says? ‘Hit the jackpot’. I quickly scattered just the ‘hit’ portion along the four edges of the ceiling and that guided most of the shell hits.”

The broken parts of G-Sp2’s cowling were slowly regenerating.

Brunhild had heard about this. During the battle with 7th-Gear, G-Sp2 and V-Sw had combined their power to heal themselves and to save Kazami when she was on the verge of death.

That was special even for a Concept Core. She had heard that had not happened again since and Kazami was not rapidly recovering now. The weapon had rescued its master when she had admitted to her own mistake, but the rest was that master’s own responsibility.

…''What a cold concept weapon.

However, that likely meant that the weapon trusted its master.

That turned Brunhild’s thoughts toward Gram on her right shoulder.

“…”

She shook her head and gave a self-deprecating smile as she looked down.

Kazami was standing on trembling legs and trying to raise G-Sp2.

She was still enough of an enemy, so Brunhild did not hold back.

She pulled the trigger and bared her teeth in a smile.

“You’re pretty cool, Kazami. But I saw what happened when you flew in here before.”

She gave a shout while firing.

“You ‘nko’ girl!!”

Light from the surface intercepted the light from the sky.

They collided and exploded with a sound like shattering glass.

An explosion of light covered the ground for several hundred meters in every direction.

The entire station area was instantly turned to scorched earth.

A great force of air spread out beyond the explosion and transformed into a powerful wind.

The staticky sound of the air resembled crashing waves.

The witch in black was blasted into the heavens and she flew through the sky with the acceleration of the broom in her right hand.

“…!!”

She trembled from the great sound of the dragon cannon and dragon spear clashing below.

But something broke through that tremor.

Spear-wielding wings ascended through the dragon’s roar.

“Kazami!?”

G-Sp2 used all of its thrust to stab up from below, so Brunhild released her broom behind her.

The cat on her back grabbed onto the broom while inside her collar. Brunhild felt like she was being tugged on the back of the neck as the cat and the broom pulled her straight up into the heavens.

She wrote “shield” on Gram, grasped it by the blade and hilt, and held it forward to protect her.

But G-Sp2 crashed into it.

“!?”

She was instantly pushed into the heavens.

“Wha-!?”

This new thrust far outdid that of her broom. She doubled over as Gram pressed against her stomach and pushed her into the sky.

“…!!”

She tried in vain to protest, but her body was quickly taken away.

She was looking down on Tokyo now.

She passed through some white clouds and cried out as she felt the chill of their high altitude.

“Kazami! What are you-…”

She did not finish her question.

She had noticed that Kazami’s eyes were squeezed shut.

…''It can’t be.

“Did that explosion blind and deafen you?”

Her senses were numbed.

Even in this attack, she would only know that she had hit.

But even after hitting, she continued to rise and never stopped accelerating.

…''All to defeat me.

They had ascended to the stratosphere, but that was apparently not enough.

“You’re willing to go this far to defeat me!?”

Brunhild clenched her teeth.

…''It wasn’t enough.

What had that barrage of shells mattered? Or the dragon cannon?

Around her, she saw the heavenly dome of the night, the vast nightscape, and the darkness between the mountains.

The distant horizon was slightly curved.

…''Is this the height of her primary battlefield?

Had Brunhild made any attack on this level?

“You stupid girl,” she muttered.

She bent forward until she was close enough to kiss the girl and found her eyes were ever-so-slightly open.

Despite her limp expression, her unfocused eyes looked to the sky and the surface.

“Can you see it? This area is where we live.”

Kazami looked around at the distant lights of the cities.

“I can hear it.”

“Hear what?”

Kazami did not answer. She simply closed her eyes.

“Let’s go.”

With those words, the sensation pressing up against Brunhild vanished.

Kazami had released her and she knew what that meant.

…''I’ll fall to the ground from here.

''Ah,'' she thought just as she flipped around and began to fall face-up.

She dove from the heavens with her back pointed down.

“Ahhhhhh!” shouted the cat on her back. “Don’t have me looking down!”

But she ignored the cat’s protests. An attack came from the heavens above.

It was G-Sp2.

Kazami closed her wings and accelerated straight down for another collision.

As the reverse of before, she was hitting Brunhild from above.

She caught the blow with Gram again, but…

“…!!”

The thrust far outdid the speed of her fall and there was nothing she could do to fight it.

“Kazami!”

She released her cracking voice into the sky.

“Are you really planning to crash into the surface from this height!?”

Kazami smiled and answered.

“Is there any point in answering that?”

The sound of an electronic motor filled the air.

It was the low, muffled sound of a spinning fan.

It came from a powerful vacuum cleaner.

The sound filled a room made up of two connected rooms. The detached room had a ten square meter space with wood flooring and an equally large space with tatami mats.

With her uniform’s coat removed, Shinjou ran the vacuum cleaner along the wooden flooring.

She wore a borrowed pink apron and she glanced to the sofa set in the center of the wood-floored room. She also looked to the large window left open to air out the room.

She finally looked to the TV placed next to the window and then switched off the vacuum cleaner.

“Sayama-kun, the TVs at your home sure are fancy. They have buttons to change the channel instead of knobs.”

“Shinjou-kun, what did you think our dorm room’s TV was? It is fully controlled by the remote.”

“Oh, c’mon. Quit lying. That isn’t a TV. It’s a type of monitor. You can’t have a TV without something to change the channel.”

She checked behind the TV to make sure she had vacuumed behind it.

She straightened the bottom of the apron and glanced over to Sayama in the tatami mat room.

A butt was sticking out of the dark closet at the far end of that room.

It was Sayama’s butt.

Whenever his butt or legs moved to keep his balance, she heard a sound of avalanching metal and other objects from the closet.

She had handled the general cleaning of the room while he dealt with the important things and anything best not messed with. His primary job had been checking through the drawers, closets, and other such spaces. He was the only one who could check to see if his parents had left any kind of records behind.

Shinjou could not help but be worried about one thing.

…''Are his chest pains okay?

He was probably feeling it this entire time, but she had decided not to do anything unless he collapsed, stopped moving, or asked for help. She had also decided to ignore him if he said anything strange.

While worrying about that, she cleaned the wooden flooring with a dry mop.

She had used the room’s intercom to ask Ryouko for the cleaning supplies. For some reason, she would hear sounds of movement from below the corridor’s floor and above its ceiling and the supplies would appear in front of the room.

…''I think I’ll avoid asking why they don’t show themselves.

At that point, Sayama stopped moving as he rummaged through the closet behind her.

Fearing the worst, she froze too.

She turned around and found his balancing butt and legs had stopped.

“Sayama-kun, are you okay?”

“Ha ha ha. What are you talking about, Shinjou-kun? There has never been a single thing wrong with me.”

“Really? Then I guess you are okay.”

“Your note of understanding and your comment seem a bit disconnected to me.”

Ignoring that, she tilted her head and asked the question in her heart.

“Did you find something?”

“Yes, and I suppose it will see the light of day for the first time in nine years.”

“Eh?”

She frowned and he answered her question.

“Yes. I found one of IAI’s orphan anime roach traps ‘Roach Hutch’. It’s a pun on the character named Hutch from a popular anime at the time.”

Shinjou decided to remain silent, but he let out a warm sigh.

“But after nine years, the number of residents has grown quite a bit. Now Hutch will never be lonely.”

“You don’t have to give the details. And you don’t have to bring it out to show me. You don’t, okay!?”

“But Shinjou-kun, I want you to understand the value of what I hold in my hands.”

“You can throw that value out in the trash!”

She threw the mop handle at his butt and he reacted by bending back and falling inside the closet.

She panicked when she heard him crash into the wooden closet wall and felt the room shake.

“Ah! S-Sayama-kun, I’m sorry! I acted on impulse!”

“Ha ha ha. Shinjou-kun, everything is fine. I managed to hold onto Hutch.”

“Stoooooppppp!!”

The previous shaking must have knocked something loose because a ceiling board near the closet shifted aside and a white cardboard box fell out of the ceiling.

She cried out and saw the box land inside the room’s light.

It landed perfectly with a dull sound and the light washed over it.

“S-Sayama-kun. A box just fell from the ceiling. What was that? Hitting the wall to make something fall sounds like a hidden item from a recent video game. Ooh, I bet it has a 1-up inside.”

“Shinjou-kun, I have a feeling you lose a life if the hidden item crushes you. Especially given my current situation.”

Sayama could speak despite being crushed, so no lives had been lost and that meant everything was okay.

Shinjou breathed a sigh of relief and looked to the cardboard box that had crushed the butt sticking out from the closet.

The top of the box was sealed with a charm and she read what it said.

“ ‘Serves you right. –Sayama Kaoru’ ”

What was this and what was going on?

She held her breath at those questions but then looked to Sayama as he lay below the box.

“Like grandfather, like grandson.”

<noinclude>

===Notes===
<references/>
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| Back to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume12 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Owari no Chronicle|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Owari no Chronicle:Volume12 Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Owari no Chronicle:Volume9 Chapter 31

2026-06-10T03:00:33Z

N-Ch:

==Chapter 31: The Human Dragon’s Will==
[[Image:OnC_v09_0331.png|thumb]]
''Say goodbye

''Split apart

''And understand

Harakawa heard someone crying.

It was the quiet sound of someone sobbing while desperately trying to stay quiet.

As that voice reached his mind, Harakawa wondered why he was hearing it.

His thoughts asked to playback his memories and that brought his other senses rushing back.

He had apparently passed out.

…''Twice in one day. That’s pretty sad.

He opened his eyes, but he was surrounded by the color black and wondered if he had gone blind.

From what he remembered, he and Heo had been riding an invisible dragon which had instinctually faced the enemy while saying it did not understand anything.

…''And it was shot down.

He thought they had only avoided the black dragon’s final attack because Heo had woken. When she had given her cry of rejection, their dragon had hesitated.

And that hesitation had avoided a direct hit. Still, they had been knocked away and their excess flight speed had taken them eastward.

“And we fell in the ocean. So is this the ocean floor?”

He then felt something move on his chest. It was Heo and she was clinging to his T-shirt.

“Hey, Heo Thunderson. Please don’t drool on my clothes.”

“I-I didn’t do that.”

She tried to sound defiant, but her voice shook. She apparently tried to get up, but she also apparently did not have it in her to leave his arms.

He was definitely sitting in something. The seat had him almost lying down and it felt like the one’s he had seen in the base’s F-16s. When he stretched out his legs, he could feel them reach the bottom of something like a table.

He turned his head to either side. His vision was still filled with darkness, but his eyes seemed to have adjusted because he could sense a bit of light.

“…?”

He removed his right arm from Heo and reached toward the light source. He found a soft cloth material.

“Ah, w-wait, Harakawa! Just because it’s dark d-d-d-d-doesn’t mean-…!”

“Stop getting worked up over misunderstandings, Heo Thunderson. Now, about your necklace…”

The faint light was enough to see Heo raise her head in confusion.

The stone necklace she wore was wrapped in light. Blue light.

“This thing isn’t radioactive, is it?”

“I-It can’t be. My mom wouldn’t leave me something dangerous.”

“It is a philosopher’s stone,” said a voice.

Harakawa recognized it as the dragon’s voice and he looked around.

“A philosopher’s stone? …No, that doesn’t matter. Where are you?”

“I am here, but I am not with you. That is all I know.”

With that, the voice fell silent as if this was not its place.

Even after the span of a few breaths, the voice did not continue. Whether relieved or worried by that, Heo tilted her head.

“U-um, what was that voice?”

“Your savior apparently. It has no name, but it’s a dragon. Crazy, isn’t it?”

It was too dark to see each other’s expressions, but he still wondered what look was on his face.

“This invisible dragon saved you when those guys in blue attacked this afternoon and when you fell from the transport plane just now.”

“Um,” began Heo while further tilting her head. “Harakawa, did you hit your head?”

“Can you really say that after all the nonsense you asked me to believe, Heo Thunderson?”

“B-but it was only a demon that was with me. There wasn’t an attacking dragon and a saving dragon. Why did we start talking about an invisible dragon? And does that mean the darkness around us is the bottom of the ocean we can see through the dragon’s body?”

“That’s the only explanation I can think of. You remember falling, don’t you? Well, look around you. We’re most likely in the cockpit of a completely invisible dragon. Right now, we’re at the bottom of the ocean just like you said. Or if we’re unlucky, this might be Tokyo Bay’s famous toxic sludge.”

“Th-then if this really is a dragon…and it really is with me to save me…”

He could feel the movement of her chest as she gulped a bit.

“Was it this dragon that killed my mom?”

''It couldn’t have been,'' thought Harakawa.

Thinking back on its two appearances today, the dragon had always appeared to save Heo. And in the sky, it had thanked him for protecting her twice. That had likely been because he had protected her before the dragon could.

But the dragon gave a different answer to her question.

“It was.”

As the voice quietly filled the cockpit, Harakawa froze in place and Heo shrank down.

She took a new breath and prepared to say something, but Harakawa asked a question before she could.

“Is that really true?”

“It is.”

His question and the dragon’s response stopped Heo. The strength gathered in her body grew to a tremor.

“…”

Something was about to burst from her, but just before it did, the dragon spoke.

“I contain reproduced 5th-Gear concepts. He was evolving and repairing himself, but he sensed that faint signal and pursued it. That was when I first awoke, but…”

There was a slight pause.

“I did not make it in time. By the time I appeared and drove away Black Sun who did not know what he was, Heo’s mother had already passed away. …That is the same as killing her. She was attacked by an enemy pursuing me and I did not save her in time.”

“But…”

Harakawa could tell Heo had lowered her head.

He decided to let her speak because he thought this at least was necessary.

“But…that can’t be. You mean…without you, my mom wouldn’t have died?”

There was no need to ask. It was true. That was why the dragon was apologizing and making no attempt to excuse it.

She then pressed her forehead against his chest.

“No…”

Her trembling body breathed in again and opened its mouth.

“Please leave. You don’t have to come save me, so please leave! You’re a machine, aren’t you? Then throw a switch and leave! Besides, how can you even save me!? You couldn’t stand up to that black dragon just now! That’s why my mom died, so…so…!”

She let out a shout.

“Give it back…”

Her voice fell apart. It lacked the strength and volume from before and it was filled with uncertain trembling.

“Please give it back. You don’t have to save me, so please give it back.”

''I definitely don’t have to ask what “it” is,'' sighed Harakawa.

The answer was “everything”.

And then the dragon replied.

“I am sorry. …I do not know.”

“You don’t know what?” slowly asked Heo. She raised her head as if speaking to Harakawa. “What are you saying you don’t know, you machine that lets people be killed?”

“My role. I exist and have functions, but I need a name to recognize my existence and to give me an objective. Without that, I cannot use my functions toward that objective.”

Harakawa spoke to the voice and tapped Heo’s back to give himself time to speak.

“You didn’t have a name when you were made?”

“I have records indicating I once had one, but I cannot speak that name. That name belonged to what I once was, but I have remade my former self.”

“So all you can use are functions brought by the slight remnants of memory from when you remade yourself?”

…''Is that why he says he knows but does not know?

All of his memories were classified as someone else’s. His appearance to save Heo must have been a sort of instinct that had permeated his being while being remade.

Harakawa prepared to ask if he truly intended to protect Heo, but someone else spoke before he had a chance.

It was Heo.

“Of course you have a name.”

She forcefully sat up by removing Harakawa’s arms and raising her upper body.

“It’s ‘demon’, isn’t it?”

''I’m glad it’s so dark,'' thought Harakawa when he heard that. ''This way I don’t have to see the look on her face.

“So my name is Demon?”

“Yes. I…I am giving you that name, so please leave and never show yourself to me again! If the demon is gone-…”

“Heo.”

She stopped when he called her name. In the pale blue light on her chest, her silhouette curved up like a cat and Harakawa spoke while looking at that shadow.

“Are you listening, Heo Thunderson?”

“Y-yes…”

Her voice fell and some of its energy vanished. Relieved by that, Harakawa tried to keep as much emotion out of his voice as possible.

“Unfortunately, this is not the demon.”

“B-but…!”

“The demon that killed your mother is something else. This one only showed up a little late.”

He heard a gasp and felt a tremble of shock from the butt that sat on his stomach.

“Listen,” he said. “Unfortunately, Heo Thunderson, his objective is to protect you. Not to protect your mother. And another thing, Heo Thunderson. Your mother tried to save you, but failed and died. That is why he appeared. The demon was attacking you, so he had to make sure it did not kill you.”

“Th-then…”

“Enough of that. Think ahead before you speak, Heo. Now listen. You are blaming this dragon for your mother’s death, but what if you turn that idea around? Your mother died because she tried to protect you. If she had left it to this dragon…no, because he did not make it in time…”

He hesitated, but he said it.

“If your mother had left you to be killed by the demon, she would not have been killed.”

He continued to speak and felt he was almost telling himself this.

“Heo, what would you do even if he did give everything back? After all, once your mother died, you were the one that chose to be demon possessed. You did not try to deny it and you only chose to run away. Wouldn’t something similar have happened even if your mother was with you? While that was the beginning of your unhappiness, you are the one that chose to continue on in that unhappiness without rejecting it. Am I wrong, Heo Thunderson?”

After he said that, all motion vanished.

After a while, he heard a breath, but he was unsure if it was his own or Heo’s. That was just how focused he was on the faint silhouette in front of him.

The few seconds that passed felt much more dense and slow than usual.

“Why?”

“The answer is simple. I do not know, Heo Thunderson.”

He brought oxygen to his lungs while focusing.

“Isn’t it the same for you? You don’t know either, do you, Heo?”

“That’s not true. I finally heard the truth. I know why my mom died, I have someone to let my resentment out on, and I never want to see them again.”

“And do you think they’re completely in the wrong?”

“Of course I do.”

Harakawa said nothing. He simply sat up without making a noise and took another gentle action.

“Ah.”

He hugged Heo and his arms around her body told him a certain fact.

“Don’t lie, Heo Thunderson.”

“…”

Silence filled the cockpit until he heard sobbing from his chest.

“But…”

He heard her speak, but he silenced her by holding her even tighter.

…''You vaguely realize it, don’t you?

Even if she did not know about this dragon or the demon, she knew what path she was choosing.

She had chosen to reject it, but that very action of choosing had made her worried about the one-sided protection of the organization named UCAT.

''What a selfish girl,'' he thought. ''She doesn’t realize it herself and makes everyone around her deal with it.

Just as he realized she was like a cat, he smiled bitterly in his heart and tapped her back.

“Hey, can you tell me one thing? Why do you protect Heo? If it was your choice, then how did you meet her?” he asked. “If someone left you to her, that person is the one behind all this. Heo, do you remember anything? Was there some kind of ritual a long time ago?”

“Eh?”

Heo moved a bit. With her face pressed to his chest, she turned to the side and looked up at him.

He saw tears reflecting the blue light. As inexpressible thoughts filled him, he heard her quiet sobbing voice.

“There was nothing like that. Nothing more than my parents giving me the name Heo. …I can’t speak for when I was a baby, though.”

“Heo is correct,” said the dragon. “I have no memory of such a ritual. But…that is why I will open my memories. The memories of a me I do not know. I will show you those memories using the circuit allowing you to hear this voice.”

The dragon said one last thing.

“To use a word I know, this is a memory of a ‘promise’.”

Shinjou thought the pasts Baku showed her were a lot like dreams.

She felt like she had dozed off, but her eyes soon focused, she sensed light, and color filled her world.

Blue slowly filled her vision.

It was the sky.

It was a vast blue expanse filled with clouds, but there was one odd thing about it.

“There’s no land.”

She looked around in all three hundred sixty degrees, but everything was blue as far as the eye could see. The only land she saw was…

…''Floating islands?

Some objects floated here and there in the sky.

They literally were floating islands. Broken pieces of crust drifted through the sky like the wreckage of a larger piece of land.

Most of them were clumps of rock and it was difficult to tell their size with nothing else in the sky to compare them to.

She moved her vision closer and found one was a narrow slab of dark stone that measured a kilometer long. Clumps of plants with triangular leaves were attached to the top of the slab.

…''This is 5th-Gear, isn’t it?

Shinjou suddenly found a manmade object.

…''A building?

Gray and green land floated in the sky about a hundred meters below her.

It was around a hundred meters across, the gray was artificial pavement, and a similarly colored square building was located on top of it. The area behind the building was filled with bluish-green plants with long, narrow leaves.

Among them, she saw a certain shape and colors.

The shape was a dragon and the colors were blue and white.

“Xolotl 3.”

She saw someone pushing through the dense foliage in front of the mechanical dragon.

The person wore something like a scuba tank on his back and a half-face helmet on his head.

“That’s Thunderson-san, isn’t it?”

His breath was visibly white around him and the speed at which the breaths scattered suggested a strong wind. However, the scattering breaths spun around as if hitting a wall a meter away from him.

Gravitational control or something similar must have been protecting him from the air pressure and wind.

After some hesitation, Shinjou waited until the proper timing and had her vision jump down.

Her mind fell for only an instant and she landed on the lower surface with no sound or sensation of impact.

It was a gray and smooth paved road. It had a curb and the edges had a slightly raised area much like a sidewalk.

''This must have been a world that thought about people’s safety,'' she thought.

She moved her vision forward and found what looked like a house.

It was a short, square building. It was about twenty meters across on each side, three meters tall, and windowless. However, it had round fist-sized lenses on a few spots on the walls.

The entrance was located a level lower. There was a slope at the front of the building that led to a rectangular seam on the wall at what was likely the basement.

…''It’s like a shelter.

After that thought, she heard someone breathing. Someone was catching their breath to her right and on the other side of the building.

It was Thunderson, the man wearing the tank.

“Xolotl 3, I’ve made it to the front.”

Xolotl 3’s voice came from near the man’s shoulder.

“I am sorry, Thunderson. If I went, I would likely destroy it.”

“It’s fine. This is part of the investigation process. …And you’re curious about this building, right?”

“Yes, in your manner of speaking, I am ‘curious’. In my manner of speaking, I feel it is worth investigating. There might be a weapon or something else there which is sending out a faint signal. Ever since I was born in these skies, I have been ‘curious’ about it, but I am too large to enter.”

“That’s a dangerous kind of curiosity. But Xolotl 3, are you sure I should be going in here?”

“You have my spare sensory device attached to your shoulder, so I will see whatever you see and hear whatever you hear. …So please enter. I am curious. I was born as a machine, so why am I curious about the ground and why have I always come to rest here between battles for thousands of years?”

“I see,” said Thunderson before hesitating.

But he soon grabbed the meter hanging from the tank on his back.

“I’m going in. But our translation concept is weak, so tell me if anything is labeled as dangerous.”

His look of resolve was turned straight forward and he made his way down the slope to the basement entrance.

His footing was confident and the sound of his military boots soon arrived at the entrance.

The door was two meters tall and three meters wide.

“I see our standards are the same. I’m opening it.”

The door opened by dropping down.

''Huh?'' thought Shinjou as he looked at the upper edge of the door. A space opened along the width of the fallen door, but the bottom of a new type of door panel soon replaced it from the other side. She could tell the metal was somewhat flexible, but she did not know how it worked.

Wind blew in front of her. The difference in air pressure at such a high altitude caused the air inside to burst out.

Most of it was dust. Dirty brown smoke mixed in with the wind and danced about and a torn paper-like fiber followed.

“That isn’t good. This could destroy the whole thing.”

Thunderson rushed into the door and Shinjou did so as well.

She heard the door close behind her as she followed the man inside the building.

The entranceway was a three square meter space.

The walls themselves emitted pale beige light. The hallway floor was black, but the spots the man stepped on glowed bluish-white and that glow spread in ripples shaped like his footprints.

The hallway continued both right and left, but Thunderson checked right first.

“Can you see this, Xolotl 3? The right side has been destroyed.”

The right half of the hallway had melted. No, it had technically not melted.

“It looks like the metal lost control. It must have broken at an early stage of the destruction and just melted into a clump.”

The metal forming the hallway’s walls was crushed as if someone had slammed a bar into it from the left wall.

The gaps in the collapsed walls gave a glimpse of the piles of objects from the rooms bordering the hallway. Some of the objects appeared to be made of wood, but whatever had covered their surface had crumbled like sand.

It had all been worn away by the passage of time.

“There is nothing to see there. Go left, Thunderson.”

“Sure,” replied the man.

The left end of the hallway had also collapsed, but he headed for the one intact door.

Shinjou realized something from the softness of the lighting coming from the walls.

…''This was a home. There weren’t any weapons here.

She then noticed Thunderson had vanished.

The door down the hallway was open, so he had entered that final room and left her alone.

She was belatedly hesitant to enter someone’s private room. She was unsure it was appropriate for someone who had only ever lived at UCAT and a student dorm.

But that thought was blown away by the beige light shining from beyond the door.

She relied on the illusion that the light was warming her nonexistent body and she set foot in the room.

“Ah…”

The room was almost ten square meters. Thunderson stood in the center and the gray dust on the floor was up to his ankles. The room was unfurnished, but the dusty walls had lines on it as if objects could be pulled out from them.

The room looked empty, but it did contain something.

The gray dust on the floor revealed a shape there.

…''A cushion?

There was a shallow rectangular bulge on the floor. It rose further on one end as if to lay one’s head on and there were dividing lines on the wall at the end. The lines were in the perfect place to look at while lying on the floor.

…''Was something like a TV kept in the wall there?

Shinjou thought about whoever had lived here.

A book or a device with similar functionality had likely been within arm’s reach. This was near the kitchen, so they would have been able to keep snacks and drinks around.

She saw a few other bulges in the dust covering the room.

Thousands of years had passed in 5th-Gear since Black Sun had destroyed the land and the people had been destroyed. This house seemed to have retained some atmosphere, but the resident or residents would have been long dead.

However, Shinjou suddenly remembered what Sayama had said just before she had been shown the past.

…''There are still questions about the fall of the 5th-Gear’s people?

She wondered what those could be, but the scene around her gave no answers.

The dust looked like gray snow and it only revealed the past through the weathered wreckage hidden below.

She then saw Thunderson pick something up from the dust.

It looked like a B5-size glass panel.

But it was actually a piece of paper encased in a clear sheet that resembled glass.

The paper contained color. The colors were those of reality. Or rather, the colors of a photograph depicting reality.

“…”

The photograph showed a girl, a man, and a woman.

They looked human. Their skin was very nearly white and their slenderness seemed to be their primary characteristic. Overall, they resembled the long-lived race.

Shinjou thought the girl standing in front looked fourteen or fifteen. The identical blonde hair on all three suggested the girl was the daughter of the man and woman behind her. Blue eyes with a hint of green smiled in the center of the photograph.

Thunderson moved his fingers to brush the dust from the photograph.

“Xolotl 3. Do you know who these people are?”

“No, I do not.”

“Then do you know why you are so curious about this place?”

“No, I do not. But,” said Xolotl 3. “To use your manner of speaking, this is a ‘calming’ place.”

That comment was followed by a sudden noise.

It came from the wall. The dividing lines Shinjou had seen before extended outward and lit up.

It became a screen.

…''Is this…?

The screen displayed the same man standing in the photograph. What looked like a factory was visible behind him. It was a large factory that seemed to extend forever and countless machines were moving about. Mechanical arms were carrying drive wheels and metal frames that looked like pieces of a giant skeleton. Other machines were welding them together.

With that in the background, the man used his blue clothes to wipe a black liquid from his hands.

“Sorry that————the periodic letter. It’s just been———————.”

The sound and video would skip. Instead of filling with static, the video partially blacked out and then the scene changed. It was still in the same factory, but the background was different. A transportation pallet was now visible and Shinjou recognized what it carried.

…''Xolotl 3?

“This is the experimental——————the separation isn’t going well. In addition to the pilot, someone else must combine with it, but their body and memories—————and can’t be recovered. The other units are similarly————————, but once this is complete, —————help Black Sun that you love so much. Once he and White Creation are protecting our world together, we can rest—————”

The video skipped again, but the location did not change. The man and his fellow workers stood in front of a mechanical dragon that looked a lot like Xolotl 3, but was not quite the same. All of them looked exhausted, none of them had shaved recently, and their clothes were filthy, but they were all smiling. Some were even waving at the camera.

But the image suddenly changed and Shinjou’s confused mind was shown something else.

The factory was being destroyed. As the ceiling collapsed and sparks flew everywhere, the same glasses-wearing man stared into the screen with a tense look on his face.

“Can you————? We were hit by a chemical———————. It was a concept bomb————————by 9th. —————headed to your planet too.”

Before Shinjou could wonder what was going on, an alarm sounded in the footage and the man closed his eyes.

“I’m sorry. Black Sun is undergoing maintenance, but——————asked him to take care of everything. If all of you are suffering, and it doesn’t look like we’re going to make it in time———————the planet. —————sure it will trouble Black Sun, so————”

The man opened his eyes and looked directly into the screen.

“Do what you can until the last moment. —————and tell Black Sun to find happiness.”

That was all. The video ended and the screen went dark.

And as black filled the screen, Shinjou took a dazed breath.

That had given the truth behind Black Sun’s destruction of 5th-Gear.

…''Does that mean…!?

“Could Black Sun not stand seeing the people suffer and die from another Gear’s chemical weapon, so he went out of control and destroyed them himself!? All to keep them from suffering!? And did he come up with his own reason for doing it because he didn’t want responsibility to lie with the people who asked him to do it!?”

But…

“Did a few people combine with the incomplete mechanical dragons to survive the chemical weapon?”

When they did, they lost their memories and began to battle the rampaging Black Sun.

And it was all because they had cared for each other and yet lost everything.

Shinjou then saw Thunderson look away from the black screen and open his mouth.

“Hey.”

“What is it?”

“Do you remember when you were born?”

“No,” replied Xolotl 3. “But I do remember it was very ‘sad’. I opened my communications and heard what my fellow mechanical dragons had to say and they were the same. It was a reaction to losing some kind of support and losing any objective.”

“Then, Xolotl 3… Who are you?”

“I am Xolotl 3.”

“Then tell me this, Xolotl 3. How is this read?”

He looked down at the photograph in the glass panel he held.

Something was written on it. Shinjou could read the meaning of the characters written in something like bluish-black pen, but she did not know what sound the writing represented.

But she heard Xolotl 3’s answer.

“It is a name. The first word means “to” and the following word is the name of the girl in the photograph.”

“And that name is?”

“In the sounds of your world it would be ‘Heo’,” explained Xolotl 3. “It means ‘happiness’.”

As Shinjou’s nonexistent body stiffened, Xolotl 3’s voice continued.

“Why are you crying, Thunderson of the family of thunder.”

“Because I understand now,” he said. “You are human, Xolotl 3. Even if you do not understand, this girl and I do. This girl who was meant to have happiness understands and so do I. And about Black Sun…was he your friend?”

“Then…let us decide.”

Thunderson frowned.

“Decide what?”

“We will continue on and settle things with Black Sun. He will likely flee to your world as usual, but repeating that process will only wear us down.”

So…

“We will pursue Black Sun and then our entire army, White Creation included, will settle this in your world.”

Thunderson’s shoulders shook and he spoke to the camera-shaped sensory device on his right shoulder.

“With the Concept Core gone, 5th-Gear will be destroyed while you do that!”

He placed the photograph on the floor, gave a quick nod toward the three people in the photograph, and left the room. And he did so at a run.

He reached the entranceway, opened the door, and left the house.

The blue sky was now visible beyond the slope up from the basement.

A swarm of dragons had appeared. Shinjou saw mechanical dragons filling that blue sky. A white one measuring over three hundred meters long was in the center with hundreds of miscellaneously colored dragons flying around it.

Wind blew with a refreshing sound.

She then heard a voice from the giant six-winged white dragon overhead.

“One with the name of the family of thunder, will you fight with us?”

“Why… Why are you asking me that?”

“We are made to fear and prevent the destruction of 5th-Gear, so we cannot pursue Black Sun when he leaves 5th-Gear. That is why we wish for orders. As machines, we wish for a human to control us.”

The white dragon was likely White Creation. He slowly lowered his head and the dragons floating around him did the same.

“I am a machine, but you referred to my fellow dragons as human. You called them humans who have chosen to forget that they are human. …And you are a human that has not forgotten that he is a human.”

“…”

“I want to give you full authority over 5th-Gear and I want your help in defeating Black Sun.”

“Why?”

“I believe I have already stated why I chose you.”

“No,” said Thunderson before his visibly white breathing stopped.

After a moment, he took a step up the slope to widen his vision.

“Why are you fighting? This will destroy your Gear.”

“I was given a single command from my original creator,” said White Creation while the dragons lowered their heads as if nodding. “I am to guide the people to happiness. What we cannot stand more than losing our own peace is to see people’s happiness destroyed, no matter where those people might be. That is why we will destroy Black Sun. We will destroy our foolish and yet kind brother who destroyed our people and our world because he could not stand seeing them suffer.”

“That’s quite a pushy sort of happiness,” said Thunderson while slowly looking across the heavens and the earth that floated in the sky. “And you’re asking me to become a villain for that? I have to be the villain who ordered the destruction of this world?”

He took a breath, closed his eyes, and gave one last resigned comment.

“So the time for my resolve has come.”

After hearing that, Shinjou felt a sudden floating sensation.

She was waking from the past and slowly returning to the present and to reality.

Heo was curled up in the arms that supported her in the darkness.

Her senses shifted from the past she had seen like a dream and back to reality.

She felt the pulse, breathing, and heat of Harakawa who she was pressed up against.

“Is that what my name means?”

“I do not know,” replied the dragon. “But my previous self fought along with the one he chose as his pilot and scored a fatal wound on the enemy, but I too was destroyed and unable to fully defeat that enemy. The enemy fled to the ocean to prepare for a future rematch and it seems we wished to combine with a single weapon along with White Creation. That being the Vesper Cannon that I once possessed.”

Showing those memories may have established some connections within him because he continued to speak.

“And at that time, White Creation chose me as the bearer of the weapon they became. I was to completely remake my destroyed body and rest until I was needed.”

Hearing that, Heo opened her mouth and wondered how loud her voice would sound in this dark stillness.

“And why did you help me?”

“I believe it was a promise. When falling into my personal concept space, my former self made a promise with my pilot. If a child needing protection was born to the family of thunder, that child was to be given full authority over 5th-Gear and the name of happiness.”

She listened to the voice.

“As the protector of 5th-Gear’s happiness, I promised to protect that child as thanks to the one who cried for our people.”

She was left speechless, but strength gathered in Harakawa’s arms around her shoulders and back and she sank into that strength.

…''How can I find a way to reject this thing that caused what I called a demon?

But…

“I was given my name by my parents.”

She did not know why, but her parents had hoped she would be happy and that she would be protected.

…''Why did they make sure only I was protected when they were the ones that fought?

And it was hard to believe that Black Sun, that demon, had cared about people.

There was so much she wanted to say that she had difficulty sorting through it all.

And just as she tried to figure out what to do, she heard a new sound. An electronic tone rang loudly in the silent and dark space.

“A cellphone. That’s the one the treasurer gave me, isn’t it?”

Harakawa spoke, removed a hand from her back, and stuck it in his own pocket. From the movement of the air, she could tell he had placed a cellphone against his ear.

“Treasurer?”

“It is I. It seems Kanda has finally opened the communications line, so feel free to send your praise…to me.”

After a quiet electronic tone, the sound vanished. Harakawa had hung up and put the phone in his pocket.

“Looks like the bad dream isn’t over yet. I’m going back to sleep for a bit.”

“U-um, Harakawa. Was that the voice of that crazy person who came by yesterday?

As she asked that, the phone began to ring again and Harakawa gave an annoyed sigh.

“What is it, idiot?”

“Heh heh heh. Did you hear that, Shinjou-kun? Harakawa does not know his place.”

“Stop making things more confusing than they have to be, Sayama, you idiot! Now what do you want?”

Heo strained her ears in the darkness and listened to the voice coming from the cellphone.

“Sorry, Harakawa, but I do not actually need you for anything. See, that is what you get. …However, I would like to speak with Heo Thunderson-kun who is with you.”

Heo looked up and felt like Harakawa was looking at her, so she tilted her head in confusion.

“Listen, Sayama,” said Harakawa from beyond the phone. “Heo said she has nothing to say to you and that you need to just go die.”

“I-I did not say that!”

“Oh, I am glad to see you are doing well. …Now listen, Heo Thunderson-kun.”

Heo listened to the boy named Sayama.

“We belong to the Japanese UCAT that functions separately from the American UCAT that is protecting you. And currently, I have demonstrated my greatness by gaining America’s approval to rescind that protection as compensation for my victory.”

She did not know what he meant by rescinding her protection.

“Eh?”

She gave voice to her confusion, but that did not stop the boy.

“Listen,” he began. “That means you will no longer be protected by America or anyone else if you do not wish for it. So live as you wish here in Japan, using the money and connections you possess. If you wish to return, either pay for the plane ticket yourself or flee to the embassy. Understand?”

“W-wait a minute.”

“Waiting will change nothing, but if you have something to say, I will listen. …What is it?”

Heo thought.

She tried to approach the phone to better make herself heard, but her forehead hit something hard. Harakawa had been thinking the same thing and held the phone out toward her.

“Ow, ow,” she said while holding her head, but she took the phone and gathered her thoughts. “U-um, well…”

She thought and pressed the cellphone against her ear.

“So my words will actually get through to you?”

“If they would not get through to me, they would not get through to anyone else in the world.”

“I detect a structural flaw in that logic,” commented the dragon.

Heo felt the dragon was exactly right, but she spoke regardless.

“Then why?”

“Let me ask you this instead. Why do you ask that?”

“Well…” she began.

“We are about to go fight what is likely the enemy that has pursued your past. …But it has nothing to do with you.”

“Wh-what? How can you say that?”

“Then why did you accept their protection that would take you to a place wholly unrelated to this fight?”

He did not stop there.

“This is a negotiation. To be honest, I would like your help. If you have already had the basics explained to you, you understand what I mean by that, right?”

[[Image:OnC_v09_0363.png|thumb]]

“Yes,” she answered with a nod.

She understood from the dream the man named Roger had given her. The world would be destroyed soon and her great-grandfather had been left with full authority of the world known as 5th-Gear.

But it seemed there was more to the story of that authority.

“You have inherited 5th-Gear’s authority from your great-grandfather. That includes the right to owning the Concept Core. As proof of that, your name is a 5th-Gear word, your dragon is a 5th-Gear human, that dragon is there for you, and the weapon made for that dragon contains the Concept Core. In other words, your great-grandfather and parents have given you the ability needed to act as 5th-Gear’s representative.”

“Th-then you’re telling me to use that power to help you?”

“I never said that,” replied Sayama. “To be completely honest, your help would be appreciated. After all, the destruction of the world would rob me of a land to rule over and that would be quite a problem for Shinjou-kun.”

“Th-that would not be a problem for me at all.”

“Ha ha ha. No need to be shy, Shinjou-kun. …Anyway, are you listening, Heo-kun? There is a lot going on and I would like your help, but everyone around me has chosen to gather here of their own free will. I could use a variety of threats or enticements to call you to me, but that is not our way of doing things.”

“B-but if the world would be destroyed without my help…”

“Then let it be destroyed. A world that cannot move a single girl’s heart deserves nothing less.”

And…

“But we will do whatever we can to fight it and we are more than willing to do so. We have a lot of spare time on our hands and we will not give up no matter what. That is all.”

“Then…”

“That is what we offer in this negotiation. We will not protect you and we will not let any other organization protect you. We will not provide you with order or peace of mind. We stand in a place where we look at the unadorned facts that the world is headed for destruction and Black Sun, who went mad for the sake of the people, flies through our skies.”

He took a breath.

“You have power, but power is nothing if it is never used. I would like your help, but there is no point if you yourself will not use your power. So if you ever want to break through the goal tape yourself, just say so. That delinquent boy will show you the way. But do not cheerfully trust us, Heo Thunderson. We may be comrades with the same goal, but we are not some clichéd group of friends. We are simply a group of people facing in the same direction. If you are fine with that, then come visit us.”

That was all.

With an electronic tone, the call ended. The complete lack of parting words left Heo speechless.

Sayama looked around his surroundings with the lights washing over him.

The blue armored uniforms and the blue mechanical dragons stood on the broad runway and the white uniforms stood by the white building.

They were all staring intently at him, so Sayama first raised his left arm forcefully enough to produce a sound from the fabric of his suit’s elbow.

“What are you doing!? Black Sun’s army is on its way! As that phone call proved, Kanda has given us free use of our communication devices! Report!!”

“Testament,” said a female voice from the white building.

Sibyl had stepped out of the entrance with a bandage around her right arm.

“Six minutes ago, the American UCAT forces remaining in Chofu engaged Black Sun’s advance unit. Communications suddenly cut out two minutes ago. Currently, a group led by American UCAT’s inspector has left Yokota to intercept them near Kunitachi.”

“If that interception fails, when will Black Sun’s advance unit arrive here?”

“Most likely, around 22:00. That is approximately twenty-five minutes from now.”

That immediate declaration produced noise from everyone there. But instead of gasping, it was the noise of weapons being prepared.

Sayama was satisfied by those overlapping sounds of steel and the fact that those in blue were also preparing. He then looked across the table and at Roger who was fixing his suit collar.

“I am impressed by American UCAT’s response to an estimation based on the assumption that your inspector will be defeated. I would like to continue this as equals.”

“Testament,” replied Roger while narrowing his eyes and turning toward his fellow American UCAT members.

But he stopped and instead reached a hand toward the table and to the philosopher’s stone on Baku’s neck.

“This is a defense concept. …You really got me there.”

“You yourself did quite well to read the letter at the end.”

“Testament. When did you realize the truth?”

Sayama replied without hesitating to lose himself in the curious look in Shinjou’s eyes.

“That is a simple matter. When you read the document during our chat last night, I wondered why he never once mentioned his precious great-granddaughter. And today when I heard Heo Thunderson had been saved by something invisible, I made a guess that she had inherited something,” he explained. “I decided Richard Thunderson must have already known his great-granddaughter would be fine on her own. …And that knowledge had most likely come when she had lost her mother.”

Sayama pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. It was the article about the death of Heo’s mother that he had received via Moira 1st.

“When asked why her mother had such a peaceful expression in death, some speculated a family member had been the culprit. However, that expression was proof that the Thunderson family had chosen the proper happiness.”

He felt a sudden pain in the left side of his chest.

He knew why. His own mother had attempted a double suicide with him.

…''What expression did she have?

As he thought that and held his right hand to his chest, something supported that arm.

The slender arm and slight strength were Shinjou’s, so he nodded toward her and relaxed.

“5th’s destruction and Black Sun were a simple matter as well. …A truly excellent machine will obey its people.”

He looked forward once more and saw Roger pushing his glasses up his nose.

“I see. It would seem I had grown a little too close-minded.”

This time, he really did turn around to prepare for the interception of Black Sun.

However, Sayama saw a new document that had appeared on the table.

“What is this?”

“Something I was asked to hold on to and bring here. Asked by your grandfather.”

Sayama frowned and felt his pulse quicken as he looked at the first page of the document. He read the title aloud.

“Georgius Development Plan.”

And the author.

“Sayama Asagi!?”

The pain arrived. His body cramped around the left of his chest and felt like it was breaking.

“Sayama-kun!”

Once he heard Shinjou’s cry, he gathered strength in his back and stood back up. He bore with the instant of pain threatening to bind his body.

“So you did hold an important position during UCAT’s blank period!”

“No, I was nothing more than a soldier. Among them, anyway. And once it was all over, I was given this as someone who was close to him. This is the development plan for the left and right Georgius, which are needed to end the Leviathan Road.”

“Left and right?”

“Yes. We were unable to use them. Most likely, the only ones who can are those with the surname Sayama and those with the surname Shinjou.”

Not only did Sayama stiffen upon hearing that, but Shinjou did as well.

She took a step forward and asked a question.

“But… Why my surname too!?”

“That is as much as I can tell you. I do not have the authority for anything more.” He waved his hand with his back still turned. “It may be that this negotiation had already been decided long ago. Your grandfather said the Leviathan Road cannot be ended without Georgius. If that is true, only Japanese UCAT can stop the destruction of the world.”

Roger began to walk and his footsteps on the asphalt grew more distant. As if pursuing that sound, Sibyl looked up with a cellphone to her ear.

“Everyone!”

She was frowning and her voice rang loudly.

“We have lost contact with the interception unit in Kunitachi.”

Harakawa heard a pulse and breathing in the darkness.

The quiet sounds came from the girl curled up on top of his chest.

She was not moving and the dragon carrying them said nothing.

How much time had passed?

He did not bother counting the breaths that functioned as an hourglass, but finally he heard a quiet voice.

“That’s horrible.”

It was Heo and she seemed to be testing the volume of her voice.

“How can he tell me to do whatever I want when the world will be destroyed without my help?”

Harakawa was not sure if he should say anything, but he decided to correct her.

“That idiot really means it. He and everyone around him are crazy. They all think they can do something, but if they can’t, they think that’s fine too. So even if you don’t help them, they’ll stupidly and optimistically assume they can get by somehow or other on their own.”

“Really?”

“That idiot said he ''wanted'' your help, right? If he really ''needed'' it, he would have said so. They can say that kind of thing because they all have the power to do something.”

“But Harakawa, you aren’t telling me to help you or that you need me.”

“Why would I? I’m not trying to do anything as crazy as them.”

“But…you still came for me.”

“…”

After he fell silent, a familiar question reached his ears.

“Why?”

She asked it again.

“Why did my parents, my great-grandfather, those strange people, and you do what you did?”

“How should I know? I might have a guess, but how should I know?” he said. “And let me tell you something, Heo Thunderson. There are definitely things it isn’t nice not knowing, but there are also things you can be perfectly happy not knowing.”

He recalled that the protective charm from his mother had taken the attack by the dragon’s claws for them. And he recalled when he had taken a certain girl into his room.

“There are things like that, aren’t there?”

The girl in his arms did not move and she held her breath for a moment.

However, he noticed her pulse had risen a little.

“There is happiness inside you that you don’t understand, but will you refuse to trust it just because you don’t understand it?”

“Well…”

“Answer me, Heo. Heo Thunderson. You said you do not know why everyone made the decisions they did, but there are things you can trust even if you don’t understand them. Whether you understand it or not, the fact remains that many people have protected you all this time. …And the same goes for you.”

He took a breath while noticing how everything he had to tell this girl needed to be said to him as well.

“Do not lie about the happiness inside you, Heo Thunderson.”

“Why?” She looked up. “Why do you do have to say that?”

“Because that is my happiness.”

He knew she would probably protest. She would probably ask him what exactly he meant which was not a question he wanted to answer.

And so he sealed those words inside her. And he used his own lips to do so.

“…”

Her body stiffened a bit.

“…”

But after a few seconds, the two parted and let out a breath. A moment later, Heo spoke.

“U-um, uh. Th-that was my first time…just now.”

“Calm down. I’m sure one of your parents beat me to it.”

“D-don’t ruin a girl’s dream like that…”

Her words fell apart toward the end, but in place of the tears and shaking from before, she gave a bitter laugh.

Her shoulders shook and she gave a ticklish laugh.

“That’s right,” she said while slowly sitting up.

“What is?”

“Trusting. It isn’t easy, but there is some truth there.” She gave another small laugh. “Like the fact that you pursued me and kissed me even after I pushed you away like that.”

“Wait.”

He had an oddly bad feeling, so he reached out and grabbed her again.

He then realized her body was trembling again even as she tried to sound confident.

…''So she was just faking it.

He heard her voice again.

“Please support me if anything happens.”

“If I feel like it.”

“Sure,” she said with a laugh. “Um, dragon?”

“What?” replied the voice.

She took in a large breath, exhaled, and spoke.

“I think I will pursue Black Sun.”

“But I…”

“You don’t know your name, right? And you need a name for your functionality. To be honest, I still don’t understand you very well and I don’t really think we can become friends,” she said. “But we have the same objective, don’t we? So…”

She said it.

“Thunder Fellow. You are a companion of the family of thunder, so how about that for a name?”

The voice said nothing in response.

Instead, a light appeared.

“Ah.”

The cockpit’s ceiling, sides, and front lit up.

A table stuck out below the pointed windshield in the front and a console window covered the table. Similar consoles appeared on the sides.

The cockpit had no control column or steering wheel, but a pair of roll bars could be seen on either side as if to support someone leaning in the seat.

As the light from the cockpit left through the windshield, color could be seen appearing on the dragon’s body. Or rather, the armor had stopped hiding its form.

The dragon half buried in sludge had a pointed form with blue and white armor.

Harakawa looked around and saw a second seat further back that looked like a bed.

“Lie there, child of happiness. When you are taken in and combine with me, the output limiters will be put in your control.”

“Wait, wait. Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if she loses her memory or there’s some other side effe-…”

“That was already fixed based on my previous self’s experiences. …I will protect her. I promise.”

Harakawa saw Heo nod in his arms.

“Let’s go so we can stop that lonely dragon named Black Sun.”

Her eyes were red from crying, but her expression showed she had accepted her power.

And so he sighed, lowered his shoulders, and let go.

“You really have gotten motivated. Just do whatever it is you want.”

“There is something for you to do as well, Harakawa,” said the dragon.

“What?”

Harakawa frowned and Thunder Fellow continued.

“After seeing you protect her twice before I could, I took the liberty of linking your nervous system to my control system when taking you onboard earlier.”

“Wait, wait, wait a second. What do you mean linked?”

He then realized something about when the giant black dragon’s main weapon had hit them.

…''Everything seemed to happen really slowly.

“I will concentrate on the neurotransmission of my own body, you will pilot my body, and Heo will both support you and use her mind to release the limiters of my body. When I evolved, I gained a number of functions I have yet to use, but…”

This powerful voice was the dragon’s true will.

“If we do this, we can draw out my full power.”

At 9:37 PM, Black Sun and its army clashed with the American UCAT mechanical dragons deployed at Kunitachi.

They had smashed most of those to pieces and continued westward after shaking free of the few remaining ones.

Yokota Air Base was west of western Tachikawa and the Showa Memorial Park, but it had no equipment left and all of its remaining forces had evacuated underground.

Black Sun sent some leading child craft along the surface to destroy anything that could attack, but they were all sent on even further ahead by the time Black Sun himself reached the base.

There were no more enemies left.

All that remained was the familiar scent that was growing stronger. It was a powerful concept reading to the west and it smelled of the weapon that had once defeated him.

Black Sun pointed that direction and slowly accelerated.

However, he detected a new scent.

In the sky even further east of the defeated enemies was some other familiar scent.

“…”

Black Sun had eliminated his negligence, so he sent some child craft into the sky behind him. He sent enough to defeat all of the enemy forces that had appeared thus far.

And at the same time, an automaton in control of the concept space creation device terminal near Tokyo Bay saw something strange.

Something slowly rose from Tokyo Bay which was supposedly empty.

It resembled a sword.

It was a thirty meter metal structure colored blue and white.

The automaton’s sight saw the water gently split above its tip as it hovered into the air.

It was a mechanical dragon.

The automaton determined this was an unidentified mechanical dragon that was different from the black ones. It was approximately five kilometers away and her scan via ultra-long distance vision showed its form was similar to the high-speed cruising form of the full transformation models. However…

“Its frame is not made to transform?”

That meant it was a non-transformation model.

“I have determined it is limited to high-speed mobility.”

A red light ran between the blue and white armor like a pulse.

That acted as a signal.

The dragon bent its body and rolled around as if dancing in the air above the water.

“!”

It suddenly shot up into the sky.

It happened instantly. All it left behind was wind, a spray of water, and a white line of water vapor that revealed its path.

The automaton’s gaze followed the white line that cut westward through the night sky.

She moved her sight devices, turned her head, and spun her body around to follow it.

“…!?”

But she was not quick enough. All she saw was the white line.

By the time she completely turned around, that line had already vanished into the western sky.

That left only the sound.

The windy roar of supersonic speed shook her body as it arrived from behind and passed by overhead.

She had no idea what had just happened, but one thing was clear.

“It is in pursuit. The blue and white mechanical dragon is pursuing Black Sun. And…”

She spoke the estimation based on her probabilistic decisions.

“It will most likely catch up.”

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