Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 4 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 5===

"Ariella... You're amazing. Although he's a sniper, I can't believe you subdued a member of special forces..."

I felt impressed from the bottom of my heart and praised Ariella who had captured John.

"Although I did sense a different impression from you compared to other girls to begin with—Your combat skills are quite superb."

Approaching from behind, Kili had her arms crossed, staring at Ariella while she spoke.

"Eh? Not really, I have just a bit of martial arts experience. I guess I haven't grown rusty yet. Putting that aside—What are we going to do with this person?"

Ariella gestured to John with her eyes. I honestly did not think Ariella's skills were on the level of "just a bit" but the matter of John was definitely top priority right now.

"Please keep him immobilized like this for now. I've got many questions for him."

"Okay, got it."

Ariella nodded in a relaxed manner. During this time, she did not loosen John's restraints.

I bent down and spoke to John, who had his face down with an expression of chagrin.

"Long time no see, John."

"...It's been a while, captain."

He looked up slightly and replied in what seemed to be a sulking tone.

"I'm no longer a member of Sleipnir. Isn't it weird to call me captain?"

"No sir, you are the captain."

I remarked with a wry smile but John stubbornly insisted on addressing me as "captain" again.

"Fine, address me however you like if you say so. Let's talk about something else. Where's the rest of Sleipnir? Why are you the only one attacking, John?"

I raised the question that bothered me the most. If they truly intended to kill Kili, the entire team should have attacked instead.

"The others are not present because I acted alone without permission... This is insubordination."

"Insubordination? What's going on? Did you guys receive orders to assassinate Kili, John?"

Yesterday, Major Loki had said his side would handle things. Did that not mean he was sending out Sleipnir?

"Until yesterday, that was the case indeed—But orders have changed. The major wants Sleipnir to focus on surveillance then handle the aftermath if any problems arise..."

"Surveillance and clean up... Then someone else is in charge of the actual operation?"

"Yes sir..."

John nodded affirmatively with a gloomy expression.

"...I don't want you to fight that man, captain, which is why I wanted to eliminate Kili before then, because I essentially have a chance at victory... But why did you obstruct me, captain! That woman is a terrorist, equivalent to the public enemy of humanity!"

Despite Ariella's restraints, John still glared at Kili with his golden eyes.

"Midgard has decided to protect Kili—simply that. Rather, what I'm asking is why are you going so far as to disobey orders, to stop me from fighting that guy?"

"...Because I believe... will be killed."

John looked away from me and answered hesitantly.

"Who will be killed?"

"—You, captain."

To me, it was quite a shocking statement.

Sleipnir's members knew my abilities better than anyone. Precisely because they knew, that was why they acknowledged me as their captain.

"I don't know what the others think, but even now, I still respect you, captain. I don't want you to die here, so—"

John was worried for me. He said that guy was stronger than me.

Sure enough... It's him?

The tall man whom Kili said had almost killed her, who felt similar to me.

"What are that guy's characteristics?"

I asked in a dry voice.

"An unidentified man whose entire body is clad in armor. Just as we were departing for this country, Major Loki suddenly brought him. Although we attacked Kili together, because he only follows orders from the major, we were unable to coordinate on the battlefield, resulting in her escape."

John glared resentfully at Kili while replying.

"What's that guy's name?"

I gulped and made the final confirmation.

"—Hreidmar. That was what Major Loki called him."



After asking John the necessary questions, I confiscated his gun and released him.

"Captain... I believe that you should personally take care of that woman before that guy arrives."

He glared at Kili and warned me before disappearing into the depths of the dark alley.

"You allowed him to escape. Personally, I wanted to kill him, but you'll stop me, right?"

"That's right."

"What a shame. I wanted to vaporize him."

Kili shrugged and sighed.

"—Don't say that kind of stuff again if you really intend to go to Midgard. Vaporize this if you need to vaporize something."

Saying that, I handed her my Nergal and the gun confiscated from John. Both were dangerous items inappropriate to bring back.

"You leave me no choice."

Kili took the two guns and tossed them into the air.

The guns expanded from heat and exploded like fireworks.

"Woah! Why did they explode?"

Not knowing about Kili's Muspelheim, Ariella widened her eyes in surprise.

"Oh, just now, that's—"

While making our way back to the main street where Firill and the others were waiting, I explained Kili's Muspelheim to Ariella then briefly recounted what had happened.

NIFL had mobilized to eliminate Kili. The one in command was my former superior officer. Iris and the others had no experience in human combat, hence to avoid getting them caught up, I intended to take care of things with just Kili. After listening to me about all this, Ariella spoke to me, slightly angered.

"I know roughly what happened now, but I can't approve the fact that you didn't tell anyone about your plan. Everyone must be worried, right?"

"I know that... But I want to avoid getting the others involved in conflicts between humans as much as possible."

If I told them about the plan, Iris and the others would definitely try to help.

As much as I worried about their safety, what unsettled me more was that the powers they had trained for dragon combat were too powerful.

If they accidentally killed someone due to lack of control—As soon as this thought crossed my mind, I became unable to discuss with them.

"But... Perhaps one of them might be worried and come chasing after you like me. So your solution is still not the best."

"Yeah, I'll apologize to everyone when we get back."

Because Ariella did chase after me in fact, I could not retort.

"Yeah, that'd be best. Umm—Umm, I've got a question too, about the person just now."

"You mean John?"

I asked and Ariella nodded.

"So, is John the first name?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure? It's not a nickname?"

"Yeah... But why are you asking?"

I frowned, unable to understand what Ariella was getting at.

"Hmm, it just bothers me a little..."

Ariella clutched her right hand then cocked her head in puzzlement.

"...?"

Not knowing what was bothering her, I could not help but start to ponder.

"Mononobe-kun, are you close with that person?"

"Yeah, I think he's the one who admired me the most back in Sleipnir."

"Oh, that's right, it seems that person went as far as to disobey orders for your sake. If that's the case, sure enough..."

"What do you mean, sure enough?"

Seeing Ariella figuring things out on her own, I asked her.

"Hmm... I don't think this is something for me to reveal. And it's possible I could be mistaken."

"I totally don't get what you're talking about..."

Seeing Ariella wave her hands with a wry smile, I could not help but sigh.

"Ahaha, if you're curious no matter what, try asking for the real name the next time you see that person. I think everything will be all clear if you do that."

In other words, John was using a fake name? But how would Ariella know something like that?

Ariella's reply simply baffled me.

But listening in on the side, Kili murmured with great interest:

"Oh... This seems quite amusing. Perhaps I was right not to vaporize that person."

Kili's expression looked like she figured out something. A smile surfaced on her lips.

—What was going on?

It felt like Kili and Ariella had left me behind. While pondering the meaning of what Ariella had said, I walked but could not think of anything related to John's name.

As soon as we got back to the main street, I could see that things had calmed down. The initial explosion was probably just a smokescreen. Although the police could be seen in the smoking alley, the townsfolk did not seem fazed at all and were still enjoying the festivities. Brynhildr Class was assembled by the roadside.

"Oh, Nii-san!"

Mitsuki instantly ran over as soon as she spotted me.

After that, I explained what had happened—As expected, I ended up subjected to harsh lecturing.