Editing Tasogare-iro no Uta Tsukai:Volume2 1st Play (section)

===Part 1===

Perhaps it was a special case due to being at the edge of the continent, but it was a high school which thousands of students who specialized in Recitation attended— Tremia Academy. The campus was several times larger than other Recitation schools, while the quality of both the facilities and the teaching staff couldn’t be described as inferior to other prestigious schools.

Located in the center of the campus was a building in the shape of a dome-shaped arch. 

‘Books Administration Building’ —Holding around one million two hundred thousand books, it was an establishment that stretched from five floors above ground to two floors underground. It wasn’t just a place for studying, but was also used for socializing and taking a break. Not just students, but teachers also frequently visited that building, qualifying it to be called a multipurpose hall.

On the second floor. A young student wearing a white uniform gazed fixedly at the bookshelves, which were lined up in rows. He was at most twelve or thirteen years old. It was a boy with deep purple hair and androgynous features.

“Umm. This and……this.”

With both hands full of resource books, the boy excitedly descended to the lobby downstairs.

“Neight-kun, are you okay? You’re staggering.”

Seeing his figure, a girl wearing a school uniform called out.

Mio Lentear. With blond hair and a young-looking face, she calmly called out. Although she was actually sixteen years old, she looked two to three years younger.

“I’m fine…… Probably.”

Peering up from the books he held, the boy— Neight Yehlemihas nodded slightly at the girl.

“It looks hot outside, are you just resting for a while in the library?”

Closing the book that she was reading, Mio asked with an uneasy look. Books Administration Building was the school’s official name for it. But neither students nor teachers used such a long name. Instead, it was commonly called the ‘library’.

“It’s because I can’t practice Recitations anywhere other than outdoors. Also, Kluele is waiting for me outside.”

Recitations. That was the technique that the students of this school specifically studied. To picture their desired target in their heart, then while holding a catalyst of the same color, to praise the name of the target— It was a type of summoning technique.

It was classified into five colors ‘{{Furigana|Keinez|Red}}’, ‘{{Furigana|Ruguz|Blue}}’, ‘{{Furigana|Surisuz|Yellow}}’, ‘{{Furigana|Beorc|Green}}’, and ‘{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}’, and students could each choose a color to specialize in, in order to call out an object with the same color as their specialty.

“What about Mio-san? Kluele-san is waiting for us out on the campus.”

Looking at her, Neight saw that her gaze had already turned from him to the books in his arms. By the way, Mio’s specialty was in Green Recitations. In her case, whenever she wanted to call out a green frog, she would prepare green catalysts such as green drawing paper and then sing a song of praise. 

“Hang on a moment. I’m almost done reading this book. Ehh, why am I suddenly interested in the mystery genre…”

……He felt like he had been continuously hearing her say those words ever since three days ago.

After summer vacation had started, ever since she had suddenly started picking up mystery novels, Mio acted like this. Judging from her personality, she probably wouldn’t leave the library until she had read all of the mystery novels there.

“Then, I’ll go ahead and start practicing out on the campus.”

He could barely see in front of him with all the books he carried, but it couldn’t be helped. Crossing through the library exit, he continued down the corridor leading to the entranceway—

“……!”

With an impact like crashing into a wall, Neight and the books he held all tumbled to the floor.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

Looking up, it was a thin teacher with glasses. The teacher wore the standard white coat with a school badge woven in blue thread over his chest. Umm, was he one of the teachers in charge of the higher grades?

“Ah, y-yes, I’m fine. Um……I’m sorry.”

“You should look ahead when you’re walking— Well, that’s what I would usually say.”

Looking around at the mountain of books scattered on the floor, the teacher’s expression softened.

“After seeing how hard you’re studying, I won’t scold you today.” 

Picking up a book, the teacher gazed at the front cover.

“How nostalgic. I’ve read this resource book many times before. Well, that’s a story of back when I was a student.”

He picked up a stack of books and handed them back to Neight. In fact, they were in the same order as Neight had originally arranged them in. When they bumped into each other, had the teacher remembered the order of the books?

“T……Thank you very much.”

“Although it’s summer vacation, don’t forget to walk quietly down the hallways.”

Teasingly, the teacher pushed up the bridge of his glasses.


With his night-colored hair fluttering, the small boy quickly headed down the passageway.

“……Speaking of which, that boy.”

Gazing at the boy’s back, Mirror narrowed his eyes.

Was he called Neight? Soon after he had entered the academy, because of his unique situation, he had become a popular topic among teachers. Recitations consisted of five colors, and each student in the school had picked a color to specialize in. However, only that boy was learning a completely different color.

Night-Color Recitations— It was a controversial color whose existence was still not officially accepted.

“It’s too bad, I wanted to talk with him a bit longer.”

Even teachers such as himself didn’t know much about that Recitation. Naturally, he was interested in it, but there was also another topic he wanted to talk about.

What connected him and that boy, in other words, a single woman. After she had graduated from Elfand, what path had she travelled? He was considerably interested in the girl who had once been his classmate.

“Unfortunately, it’s not something I should talk about during work.”

Glancing at the documents tucked under his arm, he took a deep breath.

“Now then, time for me to start the investigation.”


<div align="center">***</div>


“……Neight.”

Carrying a flask filled with a catalyst in one hand, Neight turned around to face the voice coming from behind him.

“Y-Yes, what is it?”

“We should take a little break. You seem to be unsteady on your feet.”

The girl’s voice was calm and soft. That voice came from beneath the shade of a tree a few meters away from where he stood on the campus. In a small shadow that blocked the intense rays of midsummer sunlight— As she said that, the girl’s long, scarlet hair fluttered in the gentle breeze.

“B-But…”

“Don’t deny it. Ever since a while ago, your Recitations were continuously failing, weren’t they? Your concentration is decreasing.”

What she said was true. Without objecting, Neight reluctantly nodded.

“……Okay.”

“Here, put this on.”

She forcefully pressed a large-brimmed straw hat onto his head. Its size was slightly too big, and his whole field of vision was covered by the brim of the hat.

“……Um, I can’t see in front of me.”

Lifting up the hat, his field of vision enlarged.

But filling his whole field of view at close range—

“That’s fine. You seem to be the type of person who would keep running until you run out of energy and collapse.”

Before his eyes, a girl wearing a deep blue one-piece dress stood up. She was tall with long scarlet hair, whose appearance stood out even from a long distance away.

Kluele Sophi Net. She was sixteen, three years older than Neight. Like her hair color indicated, she specialized in Red Recitations. Ever since he had enrolled in this school, she had always been there by his side.

“But what’s troublesome is, that’s also one of your good qualities.”

Half-teasingly, the girl smiled and let out a small laugh.

“……Somehow, I don’t feel like that’s a compliment.”

Fufu— Sure enough, she cheerfully covered her mouth with her hand.

“Anyway, come rest for a while in the shade.”

Pressing down with one hand on her one-piece dress that fluttered in the wind, she turned and walked away.

“U-Um, Kluele-san?”

“The café nearby should be open. I’ll go buy some cold drinks, so wait here.”