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

===Part 4===

He heard the sound of small waves lapping against the shore and the quiet sound of his shoes stepping on white sand. Although every step was the same, the sound was different each time, making him unable to get bored of listening to it. To Neight, going on a stroll down the beach while enjoying the sea breeze was a new experience.

“Ah, a seashell!”

Its outward appearance was deep purple, while the inside was red. Neight picked up the bivalve, which had an unusual hue.

“……Should I give this to Kluele-san?”

The sea wasn’t blue like it had been at noon, and the horizon was dyed by the sunset. It was just before night fell. Therefore, it was probably during this time when he felt the closest to the sun.

Suddenly, mixed in with the ocean spray, the sharp sound of something slicing through the air reached his ears.

—Eh?

Directly ahead of him, the figure of a person appeared on the beach he'd previously thought was empty. As he advanced closer, the tempo of the sound increased. It didn’t just become faster, but also more powerful.

Deja-vu.

The girl who swung her spear while bathed in the light of the setting sun overlapped with the image of what he had seen on the rooftop a few days ago.

“Ada-san?”

The first time, he had felt pure amazement. The second time he saw her wielding the spear, Neight finally understood how intense it was.

When he had seen it before, only the elegance of her movements had reached his eyes— But now, along with the beauty of the girl swinging her spear, her sharp and honed actions sent chills down his spine.

Despite the sand underfoot that made it difficult to move freely, there wasn’t any change in her movements. But rather, it made her steps and leaps silent. He couldn’t hear the sound of her kicking the sand.

It was too tranquil. Her movements flowed too serenely.

The spear-wielding club. But what she was doing wasn’t at the level that a mere club member could achieve.

……It’s different. Something is different compared to back then.

Even as an amateur, Neight still clearly understood. Although he had been surprised when he saw the girl up on the roof, her movements right now seemed to go beyond that to the point of making an observer feel afraid.

Furthermore— The girl held the spear with only one hand, but her whole body moved along with it, making it spin at an even higher speed.

That’s right. Back then, on the rooftop, she had dropped her spear.

In her one hand, it turned, rotated, revolved.

Ten times, twenty times, thirty times.

No matter how much time passed, she didn’t drop the spear.

Suddenly, the girl’s movements stopped. She let out a small sigh. She had been moving so much under the hot weather, but her breathing hadn’t changed at all.

“……This is the second time, right, Chibi-kun?”

Seeming like she felt both troubled and embarrassed, with a complicated expression, Ada smiled bitterly.

“U-Um. Is it special training with your spear again?”

“Half right and half wrong. But I guess you could interpret it that way.”

After that, their conversation stopped. Neight thought that she would continue speaking, but she simply gazed at the spear she held with an almost sorrowful look.

“Ada-san, that was really amazing!”

“Hm, amazing?”

“Even though you played around with everyone for so long this afternoon, you’re still doing that special training in the evening.”

Everyone else in the class was currently resting in their room. Even Neight had been sleeping until now, and had only woken up a short while ago.

“Well, it’s already become a habit to me, just like eating dinner. That would happen to anyone who has been doing this for ten-odd years already.”

Ten-odd years? She should have joined the spear-wielding club after entering Tremia Academy, and not more than half a year should have passed since then.

“For Chibi-kun, it’s because of that, right? You want to become a Reciter because you want to complete the Recitation that your mother left you.”

“Yes. I haven’t decided whether I should become a Reciter or what, but first I want to be able to conduct Mother’s Recitation.”

“—I see.”

Tightly gripping the spear, the girl slowly looked up at the sky.

“……Chibi-kun might get angry, but I can’t do something like that. I can’t do anything about it, even though I’ve already run away.”

Slowly, slowly, like she was trying to persuade herself to tell him, the girl exhaled. 

“In my case, the family that I was born in is special. Do you know the {{Furigana|Exorcists|Gillshe}}? To put it simply, it’s a group that specializes in sending back Recited creatures.”

{{Furigana|Exorcists|Gillshe}}. No matter how far he reached into the depths of his memories, he couldn’t come up with anything relating to that word.

“……I’m sorry, but I still haven’t learned enough about such things.”

“No, it’s natural that Chibi-kun doesn’t know about them. They don’t call things out, but send them back. They’re not very well-known. After all, they can’t do flashy things like calling out enormous creatures, so their reputation is naturally lower compared to Reciters’. And out of those who do know about the {{Furigana|Exorcists|Gillshe}}, very few want to become one. That’s why being an {{Furigana|Exorcist|Gillshe}} is passed down through the family, from father to child.”

Say a Recited creature was running wild in a certain city. At that time, if another Recited creature was called out to oppose the first one, the battle between those two would probably wreck the city. For example, during the recital contest, if another hydra had been called out to oppose the first hydra, it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine the city turning to ruins.

If that situation were to occur, in order to suppress the Recited creature while keeping collateral damage to a minimum, a Reverse Song is the best option. But for nearby Reciters, for example in a situation with only Mio, Kluele, and other girls, it would be extremely dangerous to try and touch the wild Recited creature. 

Therefore, ‘Reverse Song professionals’, who had the knowledge and skill for conducting Reverse Songs and a trained body and mind to oppose the wild Recited creature, were needed.

“That was the reason for forming the group of {{Furigana|Exorcists|Gillshe}} that exists now. Of course, even now, I think the people who are working hard as {{Furigana|Exorcists|Gillshe}} are amazing. After all, it’s a job that requires them to have a strong body and to risk their lives. They can’t skip out on a certain amount of training for even a single day. That’s why they’re people who deserve to be respected.”

But— Letting out a long breath that resembled a sigh, Ada looked down.

“But even so, they aren’t very well-known at all. They don’t even have a specialized school like Reciters do. They just train alone by themselves, inconspicuously. ……The pronunciation of the word {{Furigana|Exorcist|Gillshe}} seems to have a special origin, but my dad won’t tell me. I can’t help but wonder, is it just because they felt inferior compared to Reciters?”

She smiled in a self-deprecating manner. Unsure of how to respond, Neight quietly averted his gaze.

“Ada-san’s father is also an {{Furigana|Exorcist|Gillshe}}, isn’t he?”

“……Yeah. He’s the head of the main {{Furigana|Exorcist|Gillshe}} family, the Yung, and also probably the best {{Furigana|Exorcist|Gillshe}}. Apparently he’s been to many places around the continent and knows many people. One time he gathered together all of his acquaintances, and even that Xins-sama was there.”

“Xins-sama was?”

Among Reciters, there were ten-odd large factions formed based on personal connections and the school one studied at.

There were many merits to being in such organizations, such as obtaining jobs, self-promotion, and meetings with famous people. The names of Tremia Academy’s teachers were probably also classified into a group formed by the school’s administration department. After graduating from Tremia Academy, it was a custom that students would first join that group. 

The Rainbow Color Reciter, Xins. From what Neight had heard, for some reason, only Xins hadn’t joined a single association. He had received a lot of invitations of course, and as long as he would show his face to the public, any group would have accepted him as an executive member. And yet, he still liked to act alone, on his free will. A while ago, he had attracted a lot of attention because of that.

“Well, Xins-sama seems to only be willing to participate as an observer. It seems that sometimes, he even comes to visit my home. But usually it’s when I’m at school.”

“……That’s amazing……”

“And it’s not just Xins-sama, but many other people as well. My dad has many colleagues who people would think of as strange or amazing. In fact, that gathering seemed to be something more like a hangout.”

Neight was speechless. Ada had such an amazing father. That’s right. That’s what a regular human would think, that it was an astonishing thing.

But— The eyes of the girl who had told him all of this trembled with a sad color.

“I was born as the heir to that great leader, so…… I sometimes feel pretty restricted. I have a predetermined daily routine, a predetermined path, and a predetermined future. Even though other children played with their friends, I was always by myself, gripping my {{Furigana|Exorcist Spear|Gil}}.”

The gemstones on the tip of the spear shone. Those were probably the catalysts used for sending back Recited creatures.

She had called her spear an {{Furigana|Exorcist Spear|Gil}}. Speaking of which, the spear he had seen from when she had been practicing on the rooftop was a simple spear with no such workings.

“……You noticed?”

Like she was smiling while crying, she faintly curled up the edges of her mouth.

“Because I’m always used to use an {{Furigana|Exorcist Spear|Gil}}, my body is used to something of that weight and length. But the spear-wielding club has spears of its own designated standard, so things like its weight are completely different. Because of that, I don’t feel comfortable using it…… I often make mistakes when using the club’s spears.”

Back on the rooftop, when she dropped the spear, Neight remembered how she had glared down at it. Now, he felt that he better understood the meaning behind her gaze at that time.

“Are the spears used by the club and your {{Furigana|Exorcist Spear|Gil}} that different?”

“No, not really. It’s just that I’ve become too used to my {{Furigana|Exorcist Spear|Gil}}. I know its weight up to 0.1 grams and its reach up to 0.1 millimeters. That’s why I’ll be thrown off if it’s even a bit different.”

0.1 grams and 0.1 millimeters. She spoke those words like it was completely natural.

But was something like that really possible? At least for Neight himself, he couldn’t even remember the length of the pen he normally used, nor did he have the confidence to take a guess.

“Ada-san, could it be that you can use the Reverse Song and several colors as well?”

The technique for using the Reverse Song was similar to that of normal Recitations, meaning that one had to understand each color separately. Then in the case of someone who specialized in sending back Recited creatures…

“……Yeah. Even though my memory isn’t that good, in order to use the Reverse Song, I’ve remembered the details of several colors.”

The way she said it made it seem like learning the Reverse Song was easier than learning Recitations. There were probably teachers in Tremia who were masters of several colors. But that was different when it came to students.

—But Neight had never seen this girl bragging about such a thing.

She wasn’t the type of person to lie. But still, Neight couldn’t believe it so quickly. Because what she had just told him was something that went against his common sense.

“If I say it, I’ll just be called an idiot. This guy was……my first friend.”

Hugging the spear embedded with gemstones, the girl stood up straight.

“No, not just a friend. It’s already become like a part of me. We’re always, always together. No matter if it’s weight or length, there’s nothing we don’t know about each other— There’s that kind of connection between us.”

……But even that’s not important anymore.

Her hoarse voice softly flowed out from her small lips.

“For just a little while, I wanted to try going down a path other than what my heritage decided for me. The truth is, my mother has qualifications as a Reciter, so I was interested in Recitation schools ever since I was young.”

“……I see.”

“I made a lot of friends after coming to Tremia Academy. Although it can’t be compared to Chibi-kun’s situation, I’m really glad I came here.”

After being blessed with many friends and joining a club, she had enjoyed school life from the bottom of her heart. Neight could tell from the way that Ada normally behaved.

But— He couldn’t understand.

“Ada-san.”

There was just one thing, one thing that he couldn’t understand at all.

“But if that’s so, why are you still practicing like this with the {{Furigana|Exorcist Spear|Gil}}?”

That’s right. Why? With trembling lips, Ada muttered to herself as if she were speaking a soliloquy.

“……I don’t understand very well either. But it’s probably because I don’t want to regret it anymore.”

Regret?

“Yeah. I don’t want to have that dream anymore.”

That dream. Regret. What did that mean?

No matter how long he gazed at the girl’s face, the depths of her wavering eyes hid something important and only reflected a distant scenery.