Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 3 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 4===

"Nii-san, rise and shine, Nii-san."

The next morning, Mitsuki roused me from sleep by rocking my shoulder.

"Hmm...?"

I rubbed my eyes and got up. Mitsuki pulled me by my arm.

"Come, hurry over, we have arrived."

"Arrived where...?"

Still half asleep, I could not recall instantly why Mitsuki was in the room. Neither could i remember where this was.

But after Mitsuki brought me to the window side and I saw the expansive view beyond the glass, my drowsiness was instantly swept away.

"Wow..."

Only an island in the scenery of the sea yesterday, it was apparently a volcanic island. Beautifully triangular, the mountain peak had white smoke rising from it. There were almost no plants on the island while the sides of the mountain were covered by what seemed to be black rocks solidified from lava.

The ship seemed to be moving along the island's perimeter. After a while, an artificially developed coastline gradually came into view.

"When the operation was drafted and a reconnaissance team was sent here, a simple pier had already been constructed. Until Basilisk approached, we will remained moored there."

Mitsuki looked ahead along the ship's direction and explained.

"We'll be living here for now... Can we go on the island?"

"You may go ashore freely, but there are forbidden places including the area near the volcano's mouth. I will explain the details during today's meeting."

Saying that, Mitsuki left the window and returned to the bedside, picking up her pillow.

"You're going back to your cabin?"

"Yes, there is still time before breakfast, which is why I would like to take a shower first. Umm... Others might misunderstand if your smell lingered on my body."

Mitsuki looked away shyly.

"I-I see, then I'd better take a shower too."

Feeling conscious of the scent from my right arm that Mitsuki had hugged, I was about to bring my nose closer to sniff when...

"...Stop, d-do not do that! It is sexual harassment!"

Her face bright red, Mitsuki frantically stopped me.

"S-Sorry."

"Please enter the bathroom directly! No sniffing, anyone who does that is a pervert!"

"—Understood. I'll take a shower right away, I promise you."

Because I did not want my younger sister to think of me as a pervert, I instantly promised her.

"...Cross your heart, hope to die?"

Blushing, Mitsuki reminded me again.

"Yeah—Anyway, enough about me, Mitsuki, do you still remember last night's promise?"

Asking Lisa what it would take to forgive her—I checked with Mitsuki to confirm that she had not forgotten.

"Of course. How could I be the student council president if I were that forgetful?"

Mitsuki answered with displeasure and rapidly walked to the cabin's exit. But when she stopped when she gripped the door handle. Quietly, she said:

"...But I think that Lisa-san will definitely not forgive me."

"Even if that's true, it's still progress compared to you trying to guess Lisa's thoughts and feelings on your own."

"Indeed—You have a point."

Mitsuki smiled wryly and quietly left the room.

Then I walked to the bathroom to keep my promise with Mitsuki.



During the meeting after breakfast, we received a booklet which contained a map of the island and various reminders.

Thinking this resembled a guide for a school outing, I opened it up to have a look, only to find introductions to various attractions on the island, featuring especially cute illustrations.

—Someone really is treating this like a school outing!

I ridiculed in my heart.

I checked the copyright page to find that Shinomiya-sensei was apparently the one who put the handbook together. In accordance with her reputation of flawless perfection, she apparently had talent in drawing too. However, my image of her was shattered. She turned out to be an unexpectedly humorous person.

There were various places on the map marked with skulls. Warnings were placed near these locations to restrict entry because of poisonous volcanic gases.

At the end of examining the this overhead view of the island that was about to become a battlefield, I discovered a hot spring symbol.

As a main attraction, the hot spring even had a special feature written on a separate page to introduce it, even providing detailed explanations of the water composition and effects. The words of skin beautification were bolded for emphasis. There also seemed to be restorative effects for the sick and injured.

—Lemme check it out some time before the battle.

Thinking that, I shifted my gaze forward. Mitsuki was standing in front of the whiteboard in the conference room, talking about the contents of the booklet in her hand.

Mitsuki was not acting unusually in any way, but sitting diagonally in front of me, Lisa was staring at Mitsuki with an indescribable expression. It seemed like a chaotic mixture of emotions.

Perhaps Mitsuki had talked to Lisa already. This was very likely, seeing as Mitsuki was not the type to procrastinate on what needed to be done.

I could not guess the outcome even after looking at the two of them.

I'll know anyway once I ask Mitsuki later—I thought that to myself but did not expect the answer to arrive unexpectedly early.

After the meeting ended, just as I was about to exit the conference room, Lisa grabbed my arm from behind.

"Hold it right there, Mononobe Yuu. I have a few things to say to you."

Lisa was speaking with an angry expression and immediately closed the conference room door. With only the two of us in the room, Lisa glared at me angrily with raised eyebrows and interrogated:

"You said something unnecessary to Mitsuki-san, didn't you?"

"Hmm—Judging from this, you and Mitsuki already talked?"

Hearing me say that, Lisa became even more angry.

"I knew it was your meddling! Otherwise, Mitsuki-san could not possibly have asked me suddenly what would it take for me to forgive her!"

"...I simply told Mitsuki to think of things from your side."

I revealed what I had done truthfully. There was no reason for me to hide things.

"What... W-Why did I come up in your conversation?"

"Uh, because you don't actually hate Mitsuki, right?"

I revealed the truth I had heard from Firill.

"T-That is—W-Why would you know that in the first place?"

"I didn't know, but I got it from a trustworthy source."

"...I see now, it was Firill-san? I never expected even for her to have a part in this—"

Lisa tossed her hair in agitation.

"Then that means I'm right, doesn't it? Lisa, you've been pretending all the way until now that you haven't forgiven Mitsuki, because she craves punishment herself."

"Ooh..."

Lisa was unable to retort. I concluded that my guess was correct.

"But doing that must sadden you, Lisa, because you actually hold Mitsuki quite dear, but to keep reproaching her—"

"I do not need you to worry about me. I am simply doing what is necessary for family. If serving as her 'punishment' would help ease Mitsuki-san's guilt, I shall persist in it."

With arms akimbo, Lisa declared firmly. She was amazing indeed. I was thoroughly impressed with her kindness and fortitude, but this time, her strength in conviction was being counterproductive.

"—Yes, that definitely was necessary in the beginning. Thanks to you, Lisa, I think Mitsuki was saved quite substantially. But don't you think that you're being overprotective if you keep treating her that way even after two years have passed?"

"O-Overprotective!?"

Lisa widened her eyes, her expression looked like she had heard something unexpected.

"Yeah, Mitsuki has already decided to confront her guilt. She believes that fighting dragons incessantly is her responsibility. Isn't this single 'punishment' already enough for Mitsuki?"

"B-But..."

Lisa stammered in hesitation. She was probably quite rattled, wondering if that was really okay.

"Say—How did you reply to Mitsuki's question of what would it take for you to forgive her?"

"...Because it came too suddenly, I could not give her any reply. I still have not responded yet."

Hearing her say that, I reached out and grabbed Lisa's shoulder with my right hand.

"Kyah!? W-What are you doing?"

Lisa shrank away in fear while I said to her:

"If that's the case, you'd better consider it carefully. If you're worried about Mitsuki, set a condition for her, because I'm sure she'll clear any kind of trial no matter what it is."

"H-How confident you are. Aren't you too biased in favor of your sister?"

Blushing slightly, Lisa remarked with sarcasm.

"As the older brother, believing in the younger sister goes without saying."

"...Hmph, in that case, I will think of a very difficult condition. Even if it causes Mitsuki-san distress, it will be your fault!"

Saying that, Lisa shoved me away and quickly exited the conference room.

"Hmm, did I provoke her too much...?"

A bit worried, I walked into the corridor as well. Immediately, I found Firill poking her head out from behind a nearby pillar.

"...Good work, Mononobe-kun."

"Don't tell me you heard our entire conversation?"

Hearing me say that, Firill nodded in confession.

"...Yes, I was eavesdropping outside. Then because Lisa came out, I hid."

Fearing that things were now awkward between Firill and Lisa, I felt apologetic to her.

"Oh, umm... Sorry, because of the way I worded things, Lisa guessed that you're the one who advised me."

"...This is fine, I don't mind. To me personally, this result is good enough."

"Eh? But nothing's resolved yet?"

I was surprised at Firill's response. Currently, Lisa was still at the stage of deciding the condition required to forgive Mitsuki.

"Even if it's not resolved yet, the situation has definitely made progress... A result will probably come soon. Just as we promised... I have to give you a reward."

"No, it's okay. I didn't do much."

Although I would feel bad accepting a reward I did not deserve, that was not the entire reason. In addition, I had a sense of foreboding, prompting me to refuse Firill's offer.

"...No need to be shy. I will prepare a present you'd enjoy. Look forward to it."

But Firill ignored what I said and declared that.

Watching Firill laugh "...hehehe" suggestively, I prayed intensely in my heart, please, don't be anything troublesome—