Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 2 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 5===

The next morning, the three of us went to school. Just as we opened the door to the classroom...

"G-Good morning..."

I gave Tia's back a push and she greeted quietly.

Inside the classroom, Firill and Ariella turned their gazes to Tia. The others had yet to arrive.

"......Good morning."

Firill closed the paperback in her hand and responded with a somewhat surprised expression.

"Good morning, what a wonderful morning it is. I'm so happy that you greeted us on your own."

Ariella responded with a cheerful smile.

Feeling those two's gazes, Tia hid behind my back, unsure what to do.

But this was quite good for a start. Mitsuki and I also greeted them good morning then walked to our seats.

As soon as I sat down, Tia immediately took her seat on my lap.

"Yuu... Did Tia do well?"

"Yeah, very well, amazing."

I praised Tia and stroked her head.

"Ehehe..."

Tia closed her eyes happily. Before she got along with everyone in harmony, this state seemed like it was going to persist.

I took out my portable terminal from my bag and pondered excuses to convince Shinomiya-sensei. Just at that moment, I noticed that Firill, whose seat was in the front row, was searching through her desk drawer.

Looking at her, I wondered what was up. But Firill took out a book from her desk then walked over to us.

"Excuse me..."

Rather than me, Firill was looking at Tia while talking to her softly.

"W-What?"

Tia replied nervously. Firill presented the book in her hand. A pretty girl was illustrated with delicate strokes on the cover. It seemed to be shoujo manga from Japan. Although Firill gave the impression of reading difficult novels all the time, it looked like manga was also in her strike zone.

"Here... I'm lending this to you, because I think that during class time... You're probably very bored."

"Is this really okay?"

"Yes... This manga is very interesting... I hope you'll have a look, Tia-san."

Tia looked alternately between Firill's face and the manga, then accepted the book timidly.
[[image:UnlimitedFafnir v02 131.jpg|thumb]]

"...Later."

After handing the book to her, Firill simply returned to her seat while Tia looked down at the manga's cover with a perplexed look on her face.



Regarding Tia's special treatment, thanks to Mitsuki speaking on my behalf, Shinomiya-sensei agreed readily. Perhaps she already knew that a limit of one day was too difficult, but used this method on purpose to encourage me.

However, only Iris was unhappy, glaring at me from her seat as my neighbor.

"...Mononobe is my friend, right? We are the closest, right?"

Iris pouted and asked me.

"Well... That's true, I guess."

I scratched my cheek and concurred.

Excluding my younger sister Mitsuki as an exception, Iris was my closest friend indeed.

"In that case, I hope you'll let me sit on your lap too, Mononobe."

"Well&mdash;Absolutely not!"

The wonderful fantasy surfaced in my mind, making me hesitate for a brief moment, but I shook my head in refusal.

"Ehhh!? Why not?"

"Iris, you're not a child."

"...Mononobe is so stingy."

Iris sulked and turned towards the window. She was probably trying hard to express her anger but that pouting face looked very cute from the side. If a girl like that sat on my lap, I had no confidence I could stay sane. I really hoped that Iris could be more aware of how attractive she was.

I sighed and observed Tia.

Were it yesterday, Tia probably would have complained about the dialogue just now, but she was currently silently reading the manga Firill had lent her.

Based on what I sneaked a peek from behind, it seemed to be a lighthearted romance manga with comedic elements.

After class started, Tia continued to read the manga with full focus, occasionally shaking as though suppressing laughter. Apart from that, she behaved very well the whole time, but as soon as she finished the manga, she started becoming restless.

Then when first period finished, Tia pulled my hand and walked over to Firill's seat.

"Here, thank you."

Tia timidly extended the manga she had borrowed.

"...What are your thoughts?"

Accepting the manga, Firill asked. Tia answered with a blush:

"Great read! Tia is reading this kind of book for the first time!"

"...Really? That's wonderful."

Firill relaxed her expression slightly.

"But it ended in the middle, what a shame..."

"...It hasn't ended yet. Do you want to read the continuation?"

Hearing that, Tia's face became radiant.

"Really!? There's a continuation? Tia really wants to read it!"

Firill took out the second volume of the same series from her desk and handed it to Tia.

"...Here, this is Volume 2. Volume 3 and beyond are in my dorm room... I'll bring them tomorrow."

"Thank you! Uh... Firill?"

"...Sure, you're welcome."

Hearing Tia call her name for the first time, Firil smiled gently and nodded at her.

Listening to Tia and Firill conversing, the other classmates gathered around.

"Oh, you're reading that manga too? I asked Firill to lend it to me before, it's great. Especially later when the protagonist&mdash;Mmmph!"

"Mm!!"

Ariella was about to give a spoiler when Ren covered her mouth, stopping her.

"Seriously... Ariella-san, you really need to learn to show some tact."

Lisa remarked with exasperation.

Then gathered around Tia, the girls began to chat enthusiastically about things related to manga. Tia originally seemed afraid, but gradually joined in with excitement.

I was ignored on the side but did not feel offended at all. Just seeing Tia chatting happily with everyone made me satisfied.

&mdash;Simply by not rejecting others, she made such a huge change.

Tia was not taking active steps yet but unlike me, who had transferred in as a man, Lisa and the others wanted to accept Tia proactively.

At this rate, she was going to quickly become a part of the class.

&mdash;Or rather, judging from this situation, I could tell how wary they were of me in the beginning.

Although it could not be helped, but this difference in treatment demoralized me somewhat.

Thus, Tia spent the second period reading manga as well. Third period was a practical conducted at a training site, requiring us to change to gym clothes. It was the same vast underground space used for the Basilisk battle test.

Due to everyone having different areas of specialty, this was essentially a time for individual training, but Tia had to begin with the basics first.

"Tia-san's instruction must not be left to Mononobe Yuu who only transferred in recently. Hence, I shall teach her personally."

While everyone scattered in the training site to start training, only Lisa walked towards us, volunteering to be the teacher.

"T-Thank you... Lisa."

Perhaps thanks to the manga giving them a chance to chat for a bit earlier, Tia called her name directly and thanked her.

"Lisa, I'm counting on you."

Tia refused to leave me, so naturally, I had to join in the lesson with her.

"...Although I have no intention of looking after you as well, this cannot be helped. First of all, I shall teach you the key principles to making a fictional armament."

"Fictional armament?"

Tia widened her eyes, tilting her head in puzzlement.

"To perform transmutation more precisely and efficiently, we have to shape the dark matter into a weapon. This is my fictional armament&mdash;Gungnir."

Lisa extended her palm. Immediately, a golden spear manifested out of thin air. Instead of generating dark matter then altering its form, it seemed like she had generated dark matter directly in the spear's shape, technique that required substantial mastery.

"Dark matter is strongly affected by the human will. This spear can be considered my feelings during battle, the ultimate spear that can pierce and destroy all enemies&mdash;Hence, its attacks are the strongest, of course! Through this chain of imagination, you can increase the power of your attacks."

Holding the spear, Lisa entered a stance and said.

&mdash;Feelings during battle huh...

This explanation was very apt, perhaps I could use it for reference when making fictional armaments from now on.

"But this is merely the stage before battle. If you obsess over altering the dark matter's shape, transmutation would occur at that point in time. Hence, what you should imagine is the outline of the mind, rather than dark matter, to meticulously create your own form in battle."

"Own form in battle... But Tia has never used a spear or a sword and don't know what to use for a weapon."

Tia stared at her palms and murmured.

"This does not require martial arts experience. Just imagine yourself in a stronger form. First of all, please generate dark matter while imagining yourself wielding the strongest power. With that, the dark matter will naturally take form."

Tia nodded after hearing Lisa's suggestion.

"Okay.. Tia will try!"

Tia closed her eyes and began to focus. Numerous bubbles of dark matter manifested in her surroundings.

However, I should have noticed at this time. Just by thinking carefully about what kind of girl Tia was, I should have been able to predict what was going to happen next.

Tia's dark matter gathered together piece by piece, gradually forming a massive clump.

"That's the way, slowly, carefully, no need to rush."

Lisa watched Tia while speaking to her. But when the expanding clump of dark matter gathered around Tia's body, Lisa frowned in surprise.

&mdash;I thought things were finally on track. Optimistically, I thought that once Tia got along with everyone, soon enough, she would be fine even if separated from me, be it in the classroom or the dorm.

But the root issue had not been resolved.

There was a decisive gulf between Tia and us that needed to be bridged.

Tia believed she was a dragon, not a human.

With such a belief, what would result from her attempt to create a fictional armament&mdash;we totally failed to consider that.

The black bubbles of dark matter finally surrounded Tia's entire body.

"What... T-Tia-san?"

Seeing an even larger mass of dark matter, Lisa stepped back. I simply stared at the scene in shock, no knowing what was happening.

Raging winds were blowing with Tia in the center. Continuing to expand, the dark matter floated into the air.

Originally black spheres, the dark matter gradually distorted in outline and changed shape.

The spreading wings seemed to cover our heads, while there was a long tail extending out.

A tall body, almost reaching the ceiling of the training site, dozens of meters tall.

That kind of figure&mdash;A dragon's.

It did not seem to be a materialized dragon. Its outline was shifting unsteadily like a mirage.

However, minor transmutation had occurred on the surface. The dragon's entire body shone with red light.

Only then did I realize that this was Tia's fictional armament.

It was what Tia imagined as her fierce self, her strongest form.

"...Tia?"

I transmuted dark matter into wind and yelled at the red dragon floating in the air.

The dragon turned its gaze towards me.

Ruooooooooooooooooooooo!

The loud roaring reverberated throughout the training site. Then immediately, a thunderstorm swept through the entire surroundings.

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