Editing Hyouketsu Kyoukai no Eden:Volume 4 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 5===

The smell of earth was carried upon the wind. Inside the forest that was visible behind the steam that had humidity mixed in, the figures of five people walked on the desolated animal trail that couldn’t even be called a path.

“Ahh, damn it. I’m sleepy and sluggish……and because of the humidity, the ground is sticky and annoying.”

The one who was grumbling endlessly by himself was the third in the line, a young man with blond hair who was the tallest of the group.

“Vaiel, don’t be so noisy and look around you. This isn’t just a stroll.”

“I go──t it. I tell you if I find the mist of mateki, the traces of mateki or I feel a presence hiding. Right?”

Monica who stood at the forefront of the line assented without turning around. Just like yesterday, her left hand was empty and the blackened {{furigana|crossed rods|Rosario}} in her right hand glinted with a dull shine.

Looking at that───

“Fuun. That girl, she’s overly serious, but she might fit the role of a captain. There’s one noisy problem child, but she’s keeping him down somehow……”

At the very back of the line, I’sa the examiner smiled like something was interesting.

The second day was the day that their unit would be traveling with the examiner. Their every movement being scrutinized and this feeling of being unable to settle down had both already continued on from when they’d awoken at four in the morning until now several hours later.

“That kind of thing is also graded?”

“Of course. So that nothing is left up to arbitrary decision by the examiner, it’s a given that the basics of the grading are extremely picky.”

She probably won’t say. Thinking that, Sheltis turned around and she had told him honestly with an affable smile.

“By the way, if just by grading, Nash’s group is perfect. The unit’s discipline, capacity in patrolling and in their reports to the examiner, there’s nothing to mention.

“……That’s a story to add pressure.”

“That’s what I’m doing. Because in grades, you’re completely losing.”

I’sa combed her blonde hair that shone even in the dark forest. It was in a small voice so it probably didn’t reach Monica, but Kagura might have caught wind of it.

“……Well, in the first place, there was nothing good to say about that group’s attitude towards the examiner. If there was a demerit to be given, that’s where it would be. Even then, their total is outstanding.”

“Their attitude wasn’t good?”

“That would be him in your group, right? Nash’s group is rebellious. It seems they’ve been a unit for a long time so they have enough merit points. Amongst them, they believe that they’re already Regular Guards. That’s why they have a tendency to take the words of a Regular Guard examiner lightly.”

“Yes, I told Nash in accordance with those grades. However”

Do you understand what I want to say? ─── I’sa smiled with that kind of challenging look in her eyes.

“Nash’s group is here with the intention to win with only that demerit. Do you get it? For them, this kind of demerit is like a handicap.”

“You mean they’re looking down on us that much?”

“That’s right. For me, well……I more or less know about you and Monica but you haven’t been a unit for very long and there are points about subordination I’d like to groan about. Nash’s group understands their superior position very well.”

……Kagura also said something similar.

That it was his job to give orders in the unit battles. He would look at how the battle was progressing and put Monica and Kagura’s specialties to use by controlling his surroundings. She said he would have to adapt to that kind of new way of battling.

“But it’s strange.”

“Why Nash’s group is rebelling against me that much?”

Yes, even moreso since Nash’s unit had been completing missions for a long time. When they became Regular Guards, they would also have to think about forming up with I’sa as fellow Regular Guards depending on the situation.

Having discord over a trivial thing like this would only do harm.

“They’re the same as me.”

“……The same?”

“Not too long ago, in the western area of the Nature District, a case where a unit of Cadet Guards ceased contact occurred. An instructor from headquarters was also in the group so they gathered the best of the best and dispatched a rescue unit to the location they thought the unit was lost at.”

“……That wouldn’t be”

“Yes. The case from that time. The case of ‘Golden’ Maha’s attack. At that time, the first rescue unit chosen was Nash’s. And then same as me, they lost.”

Snap.

I’sa toes snapped a small branch.

“Do you get it? A man who was outstanding until becoming a Regular Guard was all of a sudden mixed up in a case he didn’t understand and injured; it’s his chagrin from having the position of a Regular Guard distanced from him. The Instructor had expectations for him which is why he was recommended to the rescue unit but it became the feeling of having betrayed those expectations.”

“…………”

He shouldn’t not understand it. Having ascended to an Elite Guard, the despair of losing the entirety of his position after falling into the Garden of {{furigana|Corrupted Song|Eden}} ─── Sheltis had also tasted that.

“I don’t know if it’s right to call it impatience but I think he hasn’t come to terms with it even now. That’s why he’s leading a unit despite not having fully recovered.”

That rebelliousness had become a distortion, and manifested as a rebellious spirit against Regular Guards.

“……That’s frustrating.”

“Well, but that’s that. There are those who should sympathize with him but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t strike back as the examiner. The exam will proceed fairly.”

I’sa brushed a leaf off her skirt.

Like that, they both kept their silence───

“By the way, this is a personal question, but you said you knew my onee-sama?”

He certainly remembered saying that in front of the door to the training grounds.

“Because the name of Ishtar is famous even amongst the Elite Guards.”

“……Could it be”

Her small voice he could feel from behind resonated with his slight shaking.

“You’ve fought with onee-sama?”

“……Can’t be. I’m a Cadet Guard and she’s the Cadres Guard. Our positions are completely different.”

“That’s right. If that’s so, then that’s fine. I was just a little interested.”

It looked like she had something left to say. Leaving behind that lingering feeling, I’sa fell silent.

“We should take a break soon.”

The light murmuring of a river carried over.

Monica stopped as they approached an open rocky area.

“Ah── so hot. How many hours more is this gonna continue?”

Vaiel fluently dipped his hands in the flowing water. Just like that, he scooped up water and washed his face and Kagura who was drinking the water downstream knitted her brows.

“H-hey, do that kind of thing downstream! I nearly drank the water you washed your face in!”

“Ah? It’s your fault for being downstream.”

“No, it is your fault for being upstream.”

Putting aside the two who were glaring at each other───

“Monica, how much have we walked now?”

“Embellishing it a bit, about thirty percent. We might return to the cottage in the dead of night, or it’ll go right through into the morning.”

“……That’s right.”

Sitting down on the rocky area that was jutting out, Sheltis looked up at the brilliantly shining morning sun. They’d walked for five or six hours. The sun that had been at the horizon when they left now neared the zenith.

……In the future, this will be something we have to experience even if we don’t like it.

……It would be for the best if we suffered a little right now.

The center of the floating continent was the Living District, beyond that lay the Nature District and either further out was the Biotope. This one would end with the Nature District but they’d be entrusted with patrolling the Biotope as well when they became Regular Guards.

It was the turf of first-class dangerous creatures starting with dragon types.

Regardless of noon or night, the patrol missions were always fraught with danger. It would last for about a week, but during that time, he had no memories of sleeping enough.

……That’s right, I wonder if I’sa has been to the Biotope before.

“Say, I’sa. Have you been to the Biotope───”

There was no response.

“I see……I got it. After going around the indicated area once, there were only traces at that one place. Yes, there were also traces of an escape, right?”

The female Regular Guard who was more upstream than anybody in the unit was currently in a conversation on the small communicator in her hand. Without blinking even once, her expression as she held the communicator to her ear had slight traces of tension.

“Pursuit? That’s a job for Regular Guards. Yes, please contact the Guard Institute of {{furigana|Tenketsu Palace|Sophia}}. I will be returning in the middle of the night.”

She cut off the conversation and returned the communicator to her belt holder.

A breath that wasn’t a sigh or deep breath leaked out from between I’sa lips.

“It doesn’t seem like that was a regular contact.”

Listening to the conversations of your superiors is a demerit ─── or so I’d like to say, but I’ll let you off this time.”

Getting off the rock she was sitting on, she looked down at the unit members lined up downstream. Normally, this should be where she gave a high-pitched laugh.

“Listen up, okay, I have a notice. Sorry for doing this in the middle of a break but I have something to say.”

That expression contained the same tension as when she was on the communicator.

“There was a report from Nash’s unit. ───It seems they found traces of a Yuugenshu.”

Monica gripped her {{furigana|crossed rods|Rosario}}, Kagura held her {{furigana|machine pearl|Machina}} and Vaiel, who sat away from the group, knit his brows slightly.

“The location is the northern area of the Nature District, ward 8, on the western side of section 68. It extends several metres in all directions and the large trees and ground, whatever it may be, have been corrupted by mateki and corroded. An image of the scene was also transmitted, ……eight or nine times out of ten, there’s no mistake.”

“Our current location is ward 8, section 4′s north side. It would take time to get there. What shall we do?”

Kagura’s {{furigana|machine pearl|Machine}} displayed a digital map.

“The assignment shall continue; that’s also written in the Guard Institute’s manual, right?”

I’sa response was quick.

“It’s not odd to find traces of a Yuugenshu in the middle of an assignment. If the assignment was stopped partway because of that, it wouldn’t work. That’s why, well, we’ll just respond as usual.”

The assignment would continue so long as the Cadet Guards had no qualms.

The fastest in terms of dealing with the Yuugenshu would be the Regular Guard unit closest to the scene, so they would be in pursuit.

“What’s the Yuugenshu’s direction of movement?”

“Nash’s unit reported that they would remain on standby at their cottage so the details are still unknown. At any rate, a Regular Guard unit is in pursuit so I think this will be confirmed soon.”

“……It’s quite tense.”

Kagura murmured with the same expressionless face as always.

“If the Yuugenshu’s escape route overlaps with our patrol route by a one in ten thousand chance”

“Observing the response at that time is the assignment, so be prepared.”

Four metal spheres floated around I’sa’s proximity.

They were the puppeteer I’sa’s puppets, endowed with shinryoku as her weapon. She had increased that to five previously but it seems she returned to using four as she was used to it.

“I’ll give the orders in an encounter. Everyone, keep that in mind.”

Saa……kasasaa……

An instant. Directly behind the rocky area Kagura was sitting at, the thicket shook unnaturally.

───No way.

“Kagura, get away from there!”

Materializing the translucent purple blades, he carried the twin swords in his hand and moved into position to defend her. In replacement of Kagura who hurriedly lept to the rear, he held his twin swords at the ready at the frontlines closest to that spot.

The time that wouldn’t forgive even a blink. From there, three seconds……five seconds……ten seconds passed.

Kasaa……sasaa……

The thicket swayed once again and something flew out from within.

“───A rock fox?”

Looking at the fox that jumped along and was getting further, Vaiel murmured.

It had blackish gray fur, large ears and a small tail. It was a herbivorous species of fox that lived in the Nature District. Its numbers were small so it was rare to come across one.

“……Jeez, don’t surprise me, damned fox popping out.”

“It’s better than a Yuugenshu. Rather than that, we should end our break. There’s still a lot to go.”

Gripping her {{furigana|crossed rods|Rosario}} with both hands, Monica flapped her formal wear.

Following that were Kagura then Vaiel.

“''It’s rare that a rock fox would come out in front of people.''“

The only one left behind of the unit, Sheltis continued to leer at the interior of the thicket.

“Ilis, what’s the possibility that the rock fox just now was being chased by something?”

“''It’s not zero. And it was something scary enough that it didn’t mind being seen by people. I think that possibility exists.''“

“……Ilis, go into standby as well, so you can produce the blades at a moment’s notice.”

Sheathing the twin swords that had lost their blades into their holders, he went off after Monica.

The deep green forest of trees, the reddish-brown earth and the perfectly clear azure sky.

Sunset ─── the time when everything was died in a color that was a mix of yellow and scarlet. The cottage that was one shade of white as well, its walls were dyed in a vivid shade of scarlet.

“I’m saved. I’m already exhausted.”

“Sheesh, in the end, after that, not a single animal came out. Such a fuss.”

Kagura and Vaiel continued to sigh. They were normally talkative, but because of the fatigue from the second half of the patrol, they had become silent.

“……In the end, we completed the seventy percent we planned to do in the morning.”

Monica folded her arms with a complicated expression. At first, they had had the intention of patrolling the entire area but she had suggested a sudden change. They would give up on the late-night patrolling and return at sunset.

“I think it was a decisive judgment.”

Exchanging looks with Monica who was talking to herself, Sheltis pointed at the setting sun.

The sea of trees in which they couldn’t tell if a Yuugenshu was hiding. For Cadet Guards like them, searching in the forest at night after the sun had sunk was fraught with peril.

Should they persevere to match up with Nash’s unit or pull back to ensure the safety of the unit.

At the end of troubling over that, Monica had chosen the latter.

“The assignment is to patrol the assigned area over three days. It’s obviously better to get it done faster but we’ll just be thorough to make up for what we’re missing.”

“……That’s right. The test lasts until noon tomorrow, after all.”

Maybe she had wanted support from somebody else as Monica’s expression relaxed.

“Anyway, let’s end today’s patrol. We need to make an official report to the examiner……or so I thought, but she’s in the middle of a conversation with Nash’s unit.”

I’sa had the communicator up to her ear. But what let on that something was strange was her voice being too quiet.

……She’s not talking?

I’sa was wordlessly holding the communicator to her ear.

Normally, like this afternoon, she would give affirmations or give orders as the examiner.

And then.

“……No response. It looks like they got done in.”

I’sa muttered while putting force into her hand that was holding the communicator.

“Everyone, I’ll have you perform a single job now.”

“Mm? Hey, hey, what’s this, you’re not gonna say you’re tacking on an exam, right.”

In response to Vaiel who was conspicuously scowling,

“I won’t say that. It’s not an exam, it’s a real battle.”

I’sa cut him off with a calm tone.

“All members, listen well. Communications from Nash’s end have ceased. I think it’s likely that they engaged the Yuugenshu in combat and were wiped out. ……You understand, right? As members of {{furigana|Tenketsu Palace|Sophia}}, what you must do in times of receiving a direct injury from a Yuugenshu.”

Placing the communicator in its holder, the Regular Guard girl held up her left hand.

─── [Deploy] ───

Responding to the puppeteer’s directions, four metal spheres rose into the air.

“The time is seventeen hundred hours and twenty-three minutes. In accordance with article nine of the Guard Institute’s regulations, the assignment is temporarily on hold. Starting now, the Cadet Guard unit’s rescue and Yuugenshu pursuit shall commence. ───Come with me.”