Editing Hyouketsu Kyoukai no Eden:Volume 6 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 4===

Floors 276 to 280 were the five Priestesses’ respective personal training floors and floors 271 to 275 beneath that were the Sennenshis’ respective training floors. <ref>[T/N: I guess this has to be clarified now. 修道 is used for the Priestesses and it's the religious type of practice (or for arts) and the Sennenshi have 訓練 which is the more militaristic training.]</ref>

And floor 273.

One step off the elevator and there was a dense forest which faithfully modeled the Biotope.

Underfoot were very moist mud and puddles as well as fallen leaves. Overhead, countless vines hanging from the trees crisscrossed like a spiderweb.

In this forest where a real bird was flying around chirping──

A gunshot.

The repeated ear-splitting gunfire noise shook the large trees.

“──Rejected. Next?”

“Y-Yes. From the Shinryoku Theory Bureau Chief, this is about the deployment of apprentice Priestesses. There are fifty apprentice Priestesses this year that passed the first training period. How many people would the third unit like……”

The small boy holding a report read it aloud.

“That’s based on skill; apprentice Priestesses that can’t be used are unnecessary.”

The woman with a pitch black blinder spat out her answer.

Her body which was as tall as an adult man was covered in a camouflaged suit and she wore a longcoat that reached to below her knees.

She had a machine pistol in each hand.

It was a gun that had its firepower and consecutive firing speed raised to the limits to compensate for its low accuracy. She held those casually in both hands and casually pulled the triggers.

“Only choose the outstanding apprentice Priestesses.”

“B-But the struggle with other units is harsh.”

“It’s your job to deal with that.”

With the resounding of gunfire, small target machines fell down one after another.

She was shooting down the small target machines that were flying at super-high speeds in the gaps between the trees whose leaves crowded those spaces, and she was doing it without a single miss.

“…………”

“Is that all?”

“……Ah, n-no! S-Sorry!”

With the woman’s disinterested question, the boy frantically shook his head.

“Err……umm, I was fascinated by how amazing Captain Horn is.”

“How so?”

She asked again in a tone that had not a shred of sociability.

Horn Nova ── the younger sister of the third Priestess, Viola Nova; she was also the third Sennenshi who was tasked with guarding her.

“Eh?”

“I was asking what you thought was amazing.”

“E-Everything……is what……”

Physical strength that was trained to the point that she could handle those massive machine pistols with one hand easily. Then there were her elbows and shoulders which were pliable to handle the strong recoil from repetitive firings of those guns.

Above all, there was her supernatural firing accuracy which never let her miss her target even with both eyes covered.

A blinder over her eyes. In other words, Horn didn’t see the target. Without regard for that, the bullets she fired seemed to be sucked towards the center of the target machines. It was a scene that would cause normal people to doubt their eyes.

“I……If I practice, will I be able to become like the Captain──”

“Discard pointless thoughts.”

The odd jobs boy spoke some words and Horn fired off words of rejection.

“Whether it’s talent, environment, effort, time, personality or body, nothing fits. The {{furigana|mechanically armored soldiers|Ex Machina}} that you’re talking about are generalists that can handle any heavy firepower gun to suit the circumstances. What can you do when you don’t have any of the required factors?”

“…………Ah……ahh……”

Horn’s gunfire didn’t stop even as the boy was at a loss for words and downcast.

“Is that all?”

“───Yes.”

The boy turned his back to her while still downcast after putting the report under his arm. He walked towards the elevator wordlessly like that.

“Catria.”

Without having walked several steps, Horn’s voice called the boy’s name.

Silence.

The two machine pistols that were still letting off white smoke from their barrels were thrown high up into the air.

“Take these with you.”

“Waa, wawa!”

“Do the regular maintenance. I’ll come to collect it thirty eight hours later.”

The boy threw aside the report and caught the machine pistols. With her back still turned to him, Horn drew out a revolving pistol from the holder at her waist.

“I don’t need unskilled people in my unit. If you’re going to subject yourself to techniques unsuited for your height, leave my unit before the end of today.”

“…………”

──Bang!

The gunfire in front of the silent boy shot down two target machines.

They were randomly flying targets. One aside, aiming for two at the same time wasn’t possible. That’s right, it was a technique impossible unless one could see the future.

“But I acknowledge your skill in maintenance.”

“……I see.”

“I’ll say it again: thirty eight hours later. Finish the maintenance within that time.”

The boy nodded wordlessly.

This time he headed to the elevator without turning around and went straight down to the ground floor.

──Ding.

Passing by the elevator headed for the ground floor, another elevator stopped at this floor.

“Yoo─, Horn, you here─”

A boyish girl with her skin tanned brown. With light formal wear consisting of a short-sleeved shirt and short pants, shinryoku formal carved seals could be seen on her exposed limbs.

“Ran.”

“Ohh, you’re here. If you’re coming back, say so─. By the way”

“I refuse.”

“……I haven’t said anything yet.”

“I can see the future.”

“Liar.”

Ran raised one eyebrow meaningfully.

“'''You can only see future images''' but can’t hear future sounds; you said that yourself.”

Celestial map drawing.

It was a territorial type shinryoku spell that Horn Nova carried from birth like her older sister, Priestess Viola Nova. With this power that allowed one to view the future an instant prior, it was possible to tell where a target would move to and pull the trigger.

“Then I’ll just ask for your business. What is it?”

Storing the gun in her holder, Horn sighed.

“All right, then let’s have a match now. It’s been a whi──”

“I refuse.”

“…………Eh─, what’s with that. Did Leon make a reservation first? If so, I’m fine with going after Leon.”

She pulled on the edges of her coat with a childish expression.

“Time is precious and I have some business after this.”

“Is that soo? But sparring with me will definitely be fun and come in handy? It’s a complete loss if the Sennenshi skip out on training. Right?”

“Unfortunately, business that takes precedence over everything else is awaiting me.”

Glancing at Ran who was puffing her cheeks with a mu─, Horn turned towards the elevator used for the upper floors.