Editing Hyouketsu Kyoukai no Eden:Volume 4 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 1===

Located in the center of the floating continent, a tower so large it pierces the heavens — {{furigana|Tenketsu Palace|Sophia}}.

With two hundred ninety one floors and a height of two thousand metres, it was the largest structure on the floating continent. The pure white tower that extended into the azure sky, creating a beautiful contrast between blue and white which could be seen from the distant living sector.

On the 11th floor of that tower, in a corner of the Cadet lodging.

“No, no, I’ve already said I don’t know anything. I mean it.”

Unique reddish brown hair and on top of that, the eyes of the same color but slightly stronger. A seventeen-year-old boy with a slim body suited to a teenage boy and balanced figure wearing a black jacket.

“Don’t lie. There’s no way you don’t know, being the person himself.”

“……Please spare me.”

In an enjoyment space at a corner of the floor. <ref>[T/N: It uses 団欒 which is for when people sit in a circle or a gathering of friends for fun. It might be talking about how the table is round (I don't know if it is)? The "space" is written directly in katakana, so I'm keeping it despite how strange it sounds.]</ref>

He dipped his head and sighed without thinking at the table there.

“Say, Kagura, I’m already sleepy. ……It’s already four in the morning; isn’t this becoming an all-nighter barrage of questioning?”

“There is no problem, the sun won’t rise for a few hours.”

Answering without delay, Kagura sat in the chair opposite him.

She wore a mechanical helmet that had an eye shield that fell below her eyes. <ref>[T/N: I'm using the kanji for mechanical helmet. The katakana just says "メット" which is simply "helmet". I think it's too vague...]</ref>

Her ears, which were longer and more pointy than those of humans, were of the [Nell Folk], and she had an impressive, intellectual manner of speaking that mismatched with her youthful appearance.

“I’m not tired?”

“That’s because your Carcadian rhythm is out of sync with mine by half a day. Normally people sleep at night and wake up in the morning, so if somebody doesn’t sleep at night, he or she will be tired.” <ref>[T/N: Carcadian Rhythm: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm. Any biological process with an oscillation of roughly 24 hours. That just means it repeats over 24 hours.]</ref>

“It’s fine. Rather than that, I can’t help but be interested in the Garden of {{furigana|Corrupted Song|Eden}}, so tell me about it.”

“……It’s as I said before.”

Rubbing his eyes that were drooping from drowsiness, Sheltis leaked a breath out.

—Though he did know how Kagura felt.

—But he truly did not remember.

The Garden of {{furigana|Corrupted Song|Eden}} which lay ten thousand metres below the floating continent. Brimming with thick miasma and foul water, it was the habitat of the Yuugenshu that repeatedly invaded.

“But three years ago, you fell into the Garden of {{furigana|Corrupted Song|Eden}}, did you not?”

“It looks like I passed out from the impact. ……Though I just thought of that now.”

The dual swords user that fell into the Garden of {{furigana|Corrupted Song|Eden}} three years ago at the age of fourteen was Sheltis.

{{furigana|Tenketsu Palace|Sophia}} had listed him publicly as KIA, but that the boy had lived to return to the floating continent and that he had lost the Shinryoku that people are endowed with in exchange for the exact opposite — the same Mateki as the Yuugenshu, even within this tower there were few that knew.

“Fumu, fumu, well, it’s a miracle you’re even alive.”

{{furigana|Machine Pearl|Machina}} — the girl nodded as she typed something into this personal-use computer. <ref>[T/N: The "computer" is the katakana to 演算機 which means "processor". They don't seem different enough to warrant {{furigana|writing processor|Computer}}. And that sounds stupid. Also, I'm keeping it as machine pearl even though the more common translation for the kanji is a sphere or orb. Anybody who really cares, DEAL WITH IT.]</ref>

“You’re quite the vigorous pursuer.”

“That’s because I am half Cadet Guard and half researcher.”

The handful of those who knew that Sheltis had fallen into the Garden of {{furigana|Corrupted Song|Eden}}.

Kagura was one of those few people. No, she also intended to hide that secret. A few days ago when they had battled the powerful Shinryoku practitioner called ‘Golden’ Maha, he had used Mateki in order to save her which led to her coming to know of it.

“But I am truly deeply interested in it. I never thought there was a survivor of the Garden of {{furigana|Corrupted Song|Eden}} and that he would house Mateki within himself. It would cause quite a commotion if it were to become publicly known.”

“If you know that, then—”

“It’s fine. I won’t tell anybody else that you carry Mateki.”

She smiled beneath her mechanical helmet.

……Isn’t she a lot more open than before?

The Nell were an openly wary race. When he had first met Kagura who descended from that lineage, she had been wary of him and even been openly hostile. That had improved as a result of the battle with Maha; it could be considered great progress as she even showed him her smile.

“Of course, that also includes Monica, right?”

“……I’m seriously requesting that.”

“Yes. Well, putting that aside, it’s about what the question just before but……I see, it can’t be helped if you can’t remember.”

Kagura regretfully drooped her shoulders.

“Right?”

“But it’s a pity. Somehow……mm? That’s right, it might work if I just ask your body directly.”

“……My body?”

“Yes. I’ll administer sleeping medication and run a CT scan on the entirety of your head. After that, I’ll commence surgery at the operation room. It might work if I attach electrodes to your brain and forcibly stimulate your brain cells.”

“That’s scary!?”

He jumped backwards without thinking while still seated.

“It’s decided! Go on a date with me next time, Sheltis. We’ll meet at this tower’s clinic’s entrance, go around to the X-ray and MRI scan rooms and end off at the emergency surgical room!”

“What kind of date plan is that!? Or rather, what do you plan to do to me!?”

“Don’t worry, it won’t hurt, you know? I’ll be gentle since it’s your first time?”

“That’s why I’m asking what you plan to do!?”

“No need to worry. I was just joking a little.”

“……Don’t mislead people.” <ref>[T/N: It says "false alarm" but that doesn't seem to go in well.]</ref>

She placed the teacup that was on the table to her lips,

“But there aren’t many people I can joke with like this, you know? You could even count how many of them are within {{furigana|Tenketsu Palace|Sophia}}.”

“……Are those words of praise? Should I be glad?”

“Yes. Looking at it like this, I’m also looking forward to doing my best with the rest of the guards. I’m also a researcher from the Tower Control Bureau, so I haven’t truly experienced anything with the entire force. Of course, I know we’re not playing around but I’m still looking forward to it.”

……Looking forward to it, huh.

Supporting the teacup with both hands, Kagura’s tone matched her words as she seemed a little happier and livelier.

“How about you, Sheltis? As a former Elite Guard.”

“Things that I enjoyed……probably not much.”

“Elite guards are Sennenshi candidates. As a result, the responsibility they shoulder is also great.”

“That’s also true, but that’s not all.”

He rested his head on one hand above the table as he stared into space.

“At any rate, three years ago I strongly felt that ‘I have to become a Sennenshi even a day sooner’. That’s why apart from Leon, I had nobody I was especially friendly with.”

“You were rushing?”

“Yeah, thinking back on it, that’s how it was.”

“Fu—n. Why?”

“Eh. Well, Y………………”

Ymy was waiting — he frantically closed his mouth that was about to say that.

“N-n-n-n-no reason, you know?”

“……How suspicious of you to falter right there. Ah, don’t avert your eyes!”

“Hey, Kagura, how about another cup of tea?”

“You won’t trick me, what’s the rest after “yu”!”

“Yu……Yu-Yuto asked me to do something.”

“Yuto? Ahh, that young girl that’s been coming and going from {{furigana|Tenketsu Palace|Sophia}} with Eyriey lately. Wait, you won’t fool me! If you won’t tell me, I’ll reveal your secret to Monica.”

“That’s dirty!?”

“Come on now, if you don’t say it quickly, I’ll tell Monica—”

“What’s this about me?”

The figure of a person patted Kagura’s shoulder.

“Talking in such a loud voice so early in the morning, and what’s more, yelling out my name.”

Her vivid sakura-colored hair seemed to shine against her pure white ritual clothes. It was a girl with a dignified aura whose {{furigana|crossed rods|Rosario}} were fastened at her waist.

“Ah, good morning, Monica.”

“Kagura and Sheltis, you two are up early as well. There’s still one hour before early morning training.”

“Good morning……actually, for me, rather than waking up, I haven’t even slept yet.”

He greeted Monica, who was tilting her head, with a shrug. Looking at his condition, she seemed to have sensed something as she smiled wryly.

“You’ve been caught by Kagura’s barrage of questioning, haven’t you.”

“You realized?”

“I’ve been through the same thing many times. You just have to wait until her curiosity has been sated.”

Monica put a coin into the meal dispenser beside the enjoyment space.

A bread in packaging came out of the left box and from the water heater in the right box came a teacup which was then filled with coffee.

“What are you two doing for breakfast?”

“Sheltis and I have also bought sandwiches from there. By the way, Sheltis chose hot milk and I had black tea.”

A sweet fragrance was still wafting from the teacup of Kagura who answered with that.

“In Kagura’s case, it’s dinner, right?”

“You could say that. Having dinner while watching the morning sun is also nice.”

Kagura added sugar to her teacup as she answered. She added one, two, three…………and when it came to the fifth scoop.

“Kagura, what are you doing?”

“You ask strange things, Sheltis. Black tea is something you drink, isn’t it?”

“Well……the sugar’s not dissolving in anymore. I seem to recall you also putting in a mountain of honey just before, but you’re still adding more?”

Sheltis pointed at the black tea which had metamorphosed into a syrupy sludge.

“Rather than calling that black tea, it’s more appropriate to say it’s a black tea-like sugar lump. Can you really drink that? Or rather, is it even okay for a human to put that in their mouth?”

“Sugar is a necessary requirement for the brain’s functionality, after all. I drink this ten times a day.”

“Geh……my tongue feels numb just from imagining it.”

“I’m a thinker, so it’s fine. By the way, Monica, what’s the status on the new unit?”

“It was accepted yesterday. It seems the unit’s activities will also begin today.”

Monica stacked her coffee cup on top of her plate with a clack.

“Sheltis, how’s your condition?”

“Thanks to you, I seem fine.”

He had sustained an injury at the {{furigana|floating archipelago|Lagoon}} and grown weary from the harsh battle with ‘Golden’ Maha. He had abused his body in succession, but spent the last few days here resting.

“There’s some reason you’re asking about my condition.”

“Yeah. I wanted to immediately go and take on a mission from the Merit System. We’ll also be able to improve the unit’s teamwork in actual combat.”

“A mission……was there some interesting reward?”

“We’ll search for that as well. I’ll explain, so just wait until I finish drinking this.”

Monica placed the coffee cup to her mouth again.

And Kagura’s expression under the mechanical helmet distorted.

“I can’t believe it no matter how many times I see it. How can you drink that without sugar, Monica; I can’t think of it as something sane to be ingesting that bitter liquid without adding anything.”

Seeing Kagura’s actions, Monica turned to Sheltis with a deeply meaningful look.

“It’s that. How about you, Sheltis?”

“Yeah. I think that’s how it is for me too.”

“That? What’s this about you two?”

Sheltis and Monica answered together in response to Kagura who was tilting her head with a serious expression.

“It’s because somebody’s a child.”