Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 1 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 2===

Twenty-five years ago, without any prior warning, a gigantic unidentified creature appeared in the sky above Japan.

''The first dragon'', possessing the power to generate dark matter.

A monster beyond common sense, bringing massive calamity to various locations simply by the act of moving, it vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.

Later on, the international organization Asgard, established specifically to handle dragons, announced that the gigantic creature was very likely the same type as "the enveloper" Vritra recorded in ancient Indian scripture.

Although Asgard had not publicized evidence to support this assertion, on grounds of confidentiality, thereafter, the first dragon came to be known as the black dragon—"Black" Vritra.

Ever since, people possessing the same power as Vritra—the ability to generate dark matter—began to be born among humans. These superpowered children were called Ds, or Type Dragon. Currently, they were all gathered at a certain place to be managed and protected.

And this place was my current location—Midgard.

A small remote island, several kilometers in diameter, far south of Japan. Remodeled thoroughly from a formerly uninhabited island, it was rebuilt as an educational institute.

The island was surrounded by the autonomous concentric defense system named Midgardsormr, which would mercilessly eliminate all unauthorized ships and aircraft.

I was redeployed to somewhere like this, simply because of a reassignment order.

"Say, Mitsuki, it's time for you to answer me, right? What on earth... What happened?"

I walked over to ask Mitsuki who was in front.

"There are appropriate times and venues for talking. This type of road where anyone could overhear us is not a place suitable for holding discussions."

Mituski rejected my question without looking back. I had already asked her many times, always getting the same reply. It even felt like I was listening to a pre-recorded voice.

I gave up as a result to wait for the "appropriate venue" that she mentioned.

Currently, we were following the beach from earlier, walking along a road on the shore. Although no people could be seen in the surroundings at all, Mitsuki still seemed worried about "walls have ears."

As a side note, Iris had already left. Taking her belongings that were on the breakwater, she had run away as though fleeing, still wearing my shirt as well. It looked like she really did not want to give me clothing she had already worn.

Hence, I was forced to put on the long-sleeved jacket I had initially taken off due to the heat. Being knife-proof, the jacket locked heat within its thick fabric, making me sweat like a dog.

Soon after, I saw a large building. Despite a modern design, it gave me an impression like a medieval castle. Mitsuki stopped in front of the building then placed her hand on a sensor panel next to door. Almost silently, the door opened automatically.

I followed Mitsuki indoors. As cool wind blew away the heat from my body, I instantly stopped sweating.

The entrance area was a vast hall. Taking care of all house chores, cylindrical robots were sweeping and vacuuming as fully autonomous servants.

"So grand... Is this the school?"

As I muttered to myself, I immediately heard a chuckle.

I turned my gaze to Mitsuki ahead, only to see her cough once then turn to face me.

"—No, this is not the school. These are my personal living quarters."

"Huh?"

I was instantly stunned by what Mitsuki had said.

"...P-Personal living quarters? All of this crazy big building?"

"Yes, all of it is for my use, which is why I replied to you that way."

In other words, this was apparently the "appropriate venue" mentioned by Mitsuki. I stared in disbelief to check out the interior of this building. The hall opened up to the third floor with an extremely high ceiling. It was hard to imagine how many rooms exactly there were inside.

"Why are you living in this kind of house—No, speaking of which, why are you at Midgard? This time, you can finally give me an answer, right?"

"That is because I am a special D. Brynhildr Class, Student No. 3, Midgard Academy's student council president as well as captain of the Dragon Subjugation Squad. Rank: Lieutenant Colonel. I have attained higher levels of greatness than you, Nii-san."

"What..."

I was dumbstruck from surprise. Mitsuki continued:

"Nii-san, the personnel transfer of reassigning you to Midgard was accomplished using my authority. Starting tomorrow, Nii-san, please study at this school as a student. A room in this dormitory has already been renovated for your use. Your uniform is also ready inside there, so please try it on first. If by any chance the size does not fit, I shall immediately send it away for alterations."

"H-Hold on! You're asking me to study at this school starting tomorrow? Are you for real? So this so-called personnel transfer isn't about a position in the coast guard?"

"Of course I am serious. How could I serve as a role model for all the other students if I were to lie as the student council president? Midgardsormr is sufficient as defense already. No other personnel is needed."

"No... But I'm a guy!"

I pointed out the most important problem.

For some unknown reason, all Ds were female, which meant that the students in Midgard were inevitably girls only. In other words, Midgard was an all-girls school, not a place where I could study.

"There is only one eligibility requirement to receive an education at Migard—namely, one must be a D. You fulfill this requirement, Nii-san. Being female or male is irrelevant."

Indeed. I was the sole exception.

I was the male D whose existence was concealed the moment I was  discovered.

"Maybe you're right, in theory... but is it really okay to publicize my circumstances? Asgard sent me to NIFL because they wanted to cover up the existence of someone like me, right...?"

The international organization Asgard was established twenty years ago to handle various cross-border issues related to dragons. Currently, there were two divisions under its banner.

One was the military organization NIFL, in charge of researching weaponry and tactics for fighting dragons, as well as taking measures against the dragon disasters happening daily.

The other was the Midgard, the autonomous educational institute of the Ds.

Reportedly, Midgard had been under NIFL's administration until recently, but currently, the two sides stood on diametrically opposite stances.

Due to the system of conducting join operations with NIFL under Asgard's command during emergency situations, students like Mitsuki and Iris were assigned military ranks common to NIFL.

In this kind of organizational hierarchy, I believed that even Mitsuki could not oppose Asgard's decisions as a Lieutenant Colonel, but...

"No, hiding your existence was not Asgard but NIFL. Taking advantage of the pretext of ensuring your safety, Nii-san, they decided on your treatment on their own without reporting back to Asgard. It was due to this that... it took me an extremely long time to locate you, Nii-san."

Mitsuki gnashed her teeth in chagrin.

"Mitsuki... You've been searching for me the whole time?"

"Yes, I was so surprised to find you absent when I first arrived at Midgard. It felt very odd that you were not here despite being taken away before me, so thereafter, I have been searching for you."

Despite Mitsuki's explanation, I still felt a bit worried.

"You must've used quite forceful means, right? Won't that worsen your position—"

"Worry not, it was NIFL that took unilateral action, hence there is no need to worry about them complaining on our door. Please enjoy your school life, Nii-san."

Although Mitsuki was making a face that read "absolutely no problem," I still found myself unable to agree candidly.

"Well, I basically understand the situation now and I'm very happy about your good intentions... But in practice, there are still many problems, right?"

Even if uncertain factors had decreased slightly, the fact of my gender as a man still remained.

"—Indeed, of course I have considered the many issues arising from mixing a boy into an all-girls school. Precisely because of that, I have decided to manage you myself, Nii-san."

Mitsuki made a look as though she understood my worries perfectly and nodded proudly.

"M-Manage?"

"To prevent you from disrupting public morals, Nii-san, I will supervise you properly and work hard to prevent you from causing problems. I will not allow you to engage in such shameless behavior as earlier."

Mitsuki smiled for the first time, but it was one that made me shiver from the bottom of my heart.

"Mitsuki, are you actually... angry?"

Mitsuki had not brought up the matter of Iris wearing nothing but a shirt in my presence. I originally thought she had missed the worst scene—me pinning down the naked Iris—so I was feeling relieved, but actually, Mitsuki was simply waiting for the opportunity to confront the whole matter.

"Of course, because your indiscretions are my responsibility, but I cannot believe that you started accosting girls as soon as you arrived... I fear for a terrible future."

"I-I was not accosting!"

"Is that so? But the two of you were flirting quite intimately despite having just met."

Mitsuki turned around and started walking without looking back.

"Where are you going, Mitsuki?"

"...I will take you to your room. Follow me."

Giving off an aura of displeasure, Mitsuki led me to the far end of the corridor on the first floor, the room on the right side

Every room was labeled with a numbered plate, except for that one room whose plate read "Nii-san" in bubbly handwriting.

"..."

I looked at Mitsuki silently, hoping she could change it to my name at least, but having grown up, my little sister had no intention of understanding me. Coldly, she presented a key to me.

"This is the room key. Although you may lock it with this, I do hold a master key in my possession, so please be aware of that."

"Uh, then what's the point of locking the door?"

"Please think of it as a matter of mood, but unless there was an emergency, I will not open the door without consent, so I suppose it is not entirely pointless."

"In that case, I'll accept it first..."

I took the key with uneasy feelings.

"I mainly use the room that happens to be located directly above yours in the corner of the second floor. Please knock on my door if you need anything. You may move around freely in this dormitory, but going out is forbidden after 8pm. The housework robots will prepare breakfast and dinner at the dining hall on the third floor every day at 7am and 7pm respectively. Laundry should be placed in the basket then put out in front of your door. The bath and toilet are inside the room. These are basically the rules. Any questions?"

"Uh... Nothing right now—"

Listening to so much all at once, my mind still had yet to organize all this information. Neither did I have the time to come up with questions.

"Is there anything you feel concerned about, Nii-san? For example, during these three years at NIFL... You were unable to contact Father, Mother and friends at school, right?"

"—Right, oh by the way, how are Father and Mother?"

As a matter of obligation, I inquired of the parents whom ''I could not even remember their appearances clearly''.

"Yes, they are well. I do talk to them by phone occasionally. Although communications with the outside world requires authorization, it is not forbidden. Nii-san, you should take the initiative to call them next time."

"...Sure."

Despite nodding in agreement, I had no intention of calling my parents, because as soon as I talk to them, I would definitely get exposed.

I did not want Mitsuki to know what I had lost three years ago.

"You may also call friends, Nii-san, but the phone calls will be recorded, so please take care not to say anything unnecessary. If you do not have their phone numbers, I could also help you look for them."

"Got it, thanks for doing so much for me."

—Friends? While wondering whether I had people like that, I thanked her.

"Then I shall excuse myself."

Mitsuki took a bow, turned around and was about to leave when I thought of a burning question to ask.

"Oh—Can I ask a question?"

"What question?"

Mitsuki halted and looked back at me. I gulped, steeled myself and raised the following question:

"What I did three years ago... was it a waste? Was it ultimately just a child's naive thinking?"

Three years ago, I stepped out to fight. ''To prevent Mitsuki from being sent to Midgard'', I had claimed that everything was my doing.

I insisted that ''I was the only one'' who had fought the giant.

However, seeing as Mitsuki was in this place now...

That meant that my action had ended up futile.

However, Mitsuki shook her head slowly.

"No, Nii-san, your efforts were definitely not a waste. Three years ago, my being a D did not come to light, but..."

"But?"

"I committed an error back then—An irrevocable error."

Saying that, Mitsuki smiled sadly.