Editing Tasogare-iro no Uta Tsukai:Volume2 3rd Play (section)

===Part 1===

The sound of the fan, the sound of the clock’s second hand counting time, and— the sound of the students’ pencils quickly scratching.

The students glared silently at the sheets of paper on their desks.

Sitting in rows in the large classroom were seventy students listening to the lecture. But out of those, probably only a tenth of them were actually writing furiously.

……Like I thought, is it too difficult for first-year students?

At the front of the classroom, after giving the students a brief glance, Enne crossed her arms.

When students entered Tremia Academy, they had each selected a color to specialize in. The students gathered in this classroom were the ones who had chosen [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}]. When they entered this high school, they should have had at least some basic knowledge about their chosen color. Because of that— She had listed the small spirits that could be called out under [{{Furigana|Arzus’s|White’s}}] {{Furigana|Second Scale Recitation|Noble Aria}} and explained their differences and similarities compared to small sprits of other colors.

This was the topic that Enne had prepared.

However, the students had difficulty making comparisons with small spirits of other colors. Although they could write about the spirit of their chosen color, in other words, Pegasus, only a few students remembered the characteristics of [{{Furigana|Surisuz's|Yellow’s}}] small spirit, Will-o’-wisp.

……They’re only first-year students, so it can’t be helped.

She breathed a small sigh as the preliminary bell rang, signaling that morning classes were almost over.

“Everyone, I’m sorry. It was unreasonable of me to expect that you could write about the other colors. It’s fine to skip those sections and finish only the parts about [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}]. Those of you who are finished can hand it in and break for lunch.”

Sure enough, the students who had been complaining until now looked more relaxed.

“That’s right, Sensei was being too unreasonable!”

“Well, if I had asked you guys to only do this, you would have finished an hour ago.”

The students chatted as they handed in their exam sheets. When the line at the front of the room had dispersed, there was a mountain of paper on the podium. After that, the shadows of the students disappeared out of the classroom.

Was this everyone?

Rearranging the messy stack of paper, she looked around the classroom once again.

“Oh?”

In the corner of the classroom sat one last person. The figure of the single student sat in an inconspicuous location.

“What’s wrong? It’s fine, you don’t need to do anything unreasonable.”

“Nn, but there’s only one color left that I can’t write about. I somehow wrote about the other four colors already.”

Looking down at her page, the student muttered.

“It was fine to only write about [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}], so isn’t it already excellent that you can write about the other colors as well?”

“……Umm, but that’s the problem, Sensei.”

The student finally raised her head. Her tanned, boyish features gazed straight at Enne.

“I wrote about all the colors other than [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}]. But I can’t remember what to write for the required one, [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}].”

—Ada Yung.

She wrote about all of the colors except [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}]? What did that mean?

“Can I take a quick look at it?”

She picked up the sheets of paper on the desk.

……What is this?

Keeping her hand still, she looked over what was written on the page.


'''{{Furigana|Small yellow spirits|Will-o’-wisps}}— Their outward appearance is a yellow sphere floating in the air. They do not speak the human language, but can understand simple commands. As for their size, statistically speaking, ninety-five percent of them are within 70 to 100 cm. One as large as 113 cm has been officially recorded. They float 60 to 80 cm above the ground and their movement speed is slow at 3 km/h. Because the abilities of Reciters are different, they can exist for roughly five hours. When they use their power, it shortens the time they are able to remain existing.'''

'''They give off a pale radiance when preparing for battle, so caution is necessary. They then extend pale tentacles that give off a high-voltage electric current to electrify the opponent. The speed at which they can stretch their tentacles is ten times their movement speed. The length of their tentacles is the same as the diameter of their body, although the longest ones have been recorded at 167.3 cm. They have at most three tentacles, which have a diameter of around 1 cm. Although they can attack horizontally or straight up into the air, they are unable to stretch their tentacles directly below them.'''

'''There are not particularly any special points to mention about them.'''

'''Difficulty to suppress: easy.'''


She didn’t mention anything at all about the catalyst and <{{Furigana|Song of Praise|Oratorio}}> that were essential to Reciters. Instead, she described in detail its biological features. It wasn’t knowledge necessary to conduct a Recitation. Or rather— Was this data necessary when confronting a {{Furigana|Small yellow spirit|Will-o’-wisp}}?

“Difficulty to suppress…… Easy?”

“Ah!”

As she murmured those words, the girl grimaced.

“Did I write that? It’s just a habit from a long time ago.”

“No, it’s not really a bad thing to write.”

She flipped through the pages. Things about the Recited creatures of other Recitation colors were written there. All of them consisted of detailed descriptions. They also didn’t mention catalysts or <{{Furigana|Songs of Praise|Oratorios}}>. It was simply a thorough, overwhelming list of biological data.

Perhaps she didn’t have enough time to write about [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}]?

—No, that’s not right. She really could not write about it.

Ada Yung Gillshuvesher. Looking at the name that was written on the page, Enne finally understood the reason.

{{Furigana|Small red spirits|Salamandes}}, {{Furigana|Small green spirits|Aerials}}.

“Everything written on here is about offensive Recited creatures, isn’t it?”

The girl gave no reply. More than anything, her silence confirmed Enne’s guess.

That’s right. Pegasi and unicorns included in [{{Furigana|Arzus’s|White’s}}] Second Scale Recitations did not possess offensive traits. Therefore, she hadn’t learned about them.

It was like Enne had thought. All of this girl’s knowledge of Recited creatures was for the sake of fighting against them.

“Must I write about [{{Furigana|Arzus|White}}]?”

The student had on a troubled expression.

“Well. Since you’ve written so much already, just add something like ‘……Compared to what’s written above, there are few of [{{Furigana|Arzus|White’s}}] small spirits that have offensive characteristics.’ You can hand it in like that.”

“Ah, I see! So something like that also works!”

Nodding vigorously, the girl turned her focus back to the pages.

—Eh, she’s not blinking?

Suddenly, Enne noticed that the girl’s concentration was quite strong as she wrote quickly. It was different than how she normally acted in class. Enne had thought that she usually seemed to be easily distracted during class and wasn’t a very enthusiastic student.

“Here, Sensei, I did it! Whew, it’s finally finished.”

The student cheerfully tidied up her desk. As she shouldered her bag, Enne called out to her back.

“Hey, Ada-san.”

“Hm?”

“This is a personal question, but your father is Klaus-san, right?”

Her bright expression suddenly changing, the girl’s eyes darkened.

“……Well, that famous person is something like my father.”

Klaus Yung Gillshuvesher. He was the head of the Yung family of noble warriors and the leader of the several hundred {{Furigana|Exorcists|Gillshe}}.

{{Furigana|Exorcists|Gillshe}}— They were people who had the closest connection to Reciters but at the same time were also complete opposites.

[Nussis], also called the Reverse Song, is a technique to send back Recited creatures. It can be conducted by holding a catalyst and directly touching the creature. For example, in the incident during the recital contest, in order to save Enne, Xins had used the Reverse Song by sacrificing his left arm. That technique was always dangerous.

“Do you also have an {{Furigana|Exorcist Spear|Gil}}?”

In response to that question, the girl unhesitatingly nodded.

“If a person is born into the family of {{Furigana|Exorcists|Gillshe}}, they will definitely have one.”

The Reverse Recitation was dangerous because it required directly touching the opponent. Therefore, a technique had been created to conduct the Reverse Song by using a spear instead of bare hands.

Gems of all five colors were embedded into the tip of the spear so that by piercing the target with it, the [Nussis] technique could then be used. A spear which undergoes that special treatment is called an {{Furigana|Exorcist Spear|Gil}} and a person who specializes in that technique is called an {{Furigana|Exorcist|Gillshe}}.

“Being from the Yung family, are you not thinking of going down the road of an {{Furigana|Exorcist|Gillshe}}?”

“……Who knows.”

The girl spoke ambiguously. Judging from her expression, she didn’t seem to be concerned about it.

Currently, other than the Yung family which was the main family of {{Furigana|Exorcists|Gillshe}}, there were also several other branch families. For many generations, children born in those families had traditionally become {{Furigana|Exorcists|Gillshe}}. Because the main Yung family was the originator of such practices, they were traditionally treated as important people and given escorts. Even now, the warriors had a wide-spread status.

Ada Yung. If she wished, she could become well-known as Klaus’s successor.

—No, there was no mistake that she had been practicing {{Furigana|Exorcist|Gillshe}} techniques.

This was indicated clearly by the results of her mock exam. Her knowledge was probably not something she had learned from books. All of her knowledge, just like her trained body, was something engraved into not her brain but the marrow of her bones.

“……Well, unfortunately, it seems I don’t have much talent when it comes to that.”

“Talent?”

“Yeah, yeah. When there are so-called practices or drills, I immediately run away.”

Clasping her hands behind her head, Ada laughed with a self-deprecating expression.

“……But……”

Before she could finish speaking.

“Hey hey, Sensei, can I ask you one more thing?”

What could it be? Enne’s gaze encouraged her to continue.

“Enne-sensei is the homeroom teacher of a higher grade, right? Why did you come to teach at the first-year students’ summer school?”

“One of the teachers in charge of first-year students isn’t very healthy. Because of that, I was called to join in at the last minute.”

That was one of the questions she had assumed the students would first ask. She smoothly replied with her prepared answer. That’s right, she had expected it to suffice as a response.

“Ah, that’s a lie.”

Suddenly, the girl’s gaze became penetrating.

“Eh?”

“If that was the case, then there would be no reason for Zessel-sensei to come as well. You said it was at the last minute, so I have to accept that. Sure, there is a teacher in charge of first-year students who didn’t come to summer school this time, but that teacher used to talk happily about coming on this trip, so it doesn’t make sense that the teacher’s health is the reason.”

Her thorough reasoning put Enne at a loss for words. As she was arranging it with Zessel, she had certainly thought of this. But, she didn’t think there would be a student who would think this deeply about it in the first place. In her mind, she had underestimated them.

—But she had never expected this girl, of all people, to ask about it.

Usually, no matter who talked about her, they would say that she was a troublesome child who was often late to class. Enne hadn’t expected her to notice such a trivial issue. Even her teacher, Kate, hadn’t told Enne about anything like that.

……What to do? Should she hastily make up a lie? Or should she vaguely talk around it?

“Um, that is…”

When she started to speak, the bell signaling the end of morning classes rang.

“Oh, it’s finally lunchtime!”

In a completely different manner than the tense atmosphere from before, Ada turned around and ran towards the exit of the classroom without saying anything.

“Eh, w-wait! Ada-san?”

“Sorry, Sensei, but everyone in my class planned to go to the beach together this afternoon!”

Saying those words with an innocent smile, the girl quickly ran away.

“W-Wait!”

The moment when Enne began to chase after her—

The world outside the window flared up in scarlet.

“……Eh?”

The large classroom that she was in was on the second floor. Although she couldn’t clearly see everything from the window, a strange, raging fire burned before her eyes. It was a scarlet color more vivid than pure red. Rather than the color of flames, it looked more like the color of fresh human blood.

—Just what is going on?

It was an endlessly large scarlet inferno, as if even the heavens were burning. Because of the brightness, she couldn’t fully open her eyes. Outside the window should be a view of the plaza close to the schoolyard. If she remembered correctly, Zessel had made plans to teach a Recitation practical skills lesson there at this time.

Then was this Zessel’s doing? No, even using all of his power, he couldn’t call out these monstrous flames. In the first place, there was no reason for him to do such a thing in a practical skills lesson.

She gazed at the flames that dazzled her eyes, and then— Suddenly, the radiance went out.

“The flames disappeared……?”

The chain of events that quickly happened one after the other had made Enne unconsciously hold her breath.

The calmness from before was already returning to the world outside. As she watched, the sparks that had entered the classroom also faded away.

She quickly ran to the window. But looking down at the plaza, she didn’t see a single person.

Neither the students nor Zessel could be found. In other words, his lecture had already ended. Then sure enough, that wasn’t Zessel’s Recitation. Just who—

“Enne, are you there?”

Loud knocks came from the classroom door.

“Zessel!”

A rattle sounded as she opened the door. Her unusually well-dressed coworker entered.

“Zessel, did you see the flames in the plaza?”

“Yeah, it was so bright that I couldn’t not notice it.”

In an easygoing manner, he spoke with a cheerful tone and nodded. In other words, he didn’t seem to be moved by what had happened.

“Do you happen to know who called out those flames?”

“Ah. When I was giving my lecture in the plaza a while ago, there was a single person whose hair color was unique, so I became interested. And then after the lecture ended, even though the other students returned to the school building, only that person didn’t go back. And when I couldn’t help but observe from the shade, it happened.”

No way, were the flames just now Recited by a student? A student still in their first year of high school?

“Who is that student?”

Although Enne taught students in higher grades, she knew about students in other grades who excelled in Recitations. Even among first-year students, there were several students who she had begun to take notice of.

However—

“No, you wouldn’t know who it is even if I told you.”

He slowly looked up at the sky, as if pondering something.

“How can you be so certain?”

“……Because she wasn’t one of the ones we were keeping an eye on.”

Muttering in an unsure tone of voice, he shrugged his shoulders.

“Enne, do you remember the student who called out a lot of red feathers at the recital contest?”

Red feathers? In Recitations, feathers were not considered very difficult to call out. In the recital contest, there was a student who had Recited many birds instead of feathers and gotten a lot of attention. Even she remembered the face of the student who called out the birds, but in the case of feathers…

“……Nobody immediately comes to mind.”

“Don’t think too hard about it. I also couldn’t remember at first.”

During the recital contest, that student had been at the same level as the others. But by the time of this training camp, she had already improved to the point of catching Zessel’s attention.

“So that’s how it is. I don’t know what she experienced from the recital contest up until now. But if she keeps developing at this rate, I’ll have to take note of it.”

As if Zessel seemed happy, his voice rose in pitch.

“Next year at this time, she will undoubtedly surpass other students of higher grades and become one of the top [{{Furigana|Keinez|Red}}] students. No, that might even happen in the middle of this year instead of next year. Anyways, in my point of view it’s slightly scary. She’s just an unpolished gem.”

“As a teacher, isn’t this a good time to show off your skill?”

“Well said. ……But still, I feel slightly uneasy.”

He continued speaking in a vague manner that was unusual for him.

“After they succeed in a Recitation during the lecture, most students would happily come and tell me about it. But that girl was different. I guess it could be described as absentmindedness. She had a scared expression, and it felt like she wouldn’t talk to me unless I spoke first.”

Recitation is a ritual to praise the thing one wants to call out. Therefore, there are essentially no cases where one is surprised at what they Recited. Instead of being scared, her expression should have meant something else.

“Well, those are just my unreasonable fears. I mean, I hope they’re just fears.”

Although she knew the flames were already gone, Enne once again looked out the window and down at the plaza. In any case, there didn’t seem to be anything they could do about that girl.

“Thanks, I get the general situation now. I was worried. At first, I thought it was something the students had persuaded you into doing.”

“……Ah, really?”

As if he was sulking, Zessel turned away. Honestly, how child-like. As she laughed at his actions, Enne walked down the hallway in front of him.

“Well, let’s go. If we’re slow, we might not be able to make it back on time today.”

—Their destination was the place where the <Egg> had been manufactured, Kelberk Research Institute.