Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 8 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 3===

"—Firill and Ariella will create a barrier of air, the standard type used in against dragons. Since infantry should not have enough combat strength to break through easily, my plan is to deliberately lure the intruders to the mountain villa's surroundings where visibility is favorable, then defeat them one after another."

In front of the villa, I told the battle plan to John, Kili and Lisa, the members of the interception team.

Firill and Ariella, in charge of deploying the barrier of air, were also listening to me behind John and the others.

"John, Kili and Lisa, please stay next to the barrier and cover me with long-range shots. Hitting not required, restraining shots are good enough. If the enemy approaches, you should retreat temporarily into the barrier, or Firill and Ariella could expand the barrier in response."

"Affirmative."

John instantly responded while Lisa and the rest nodded in agreement. Only Kili stared at me defiantly.

"Defense is not a problem once I deploy Muspelheim. I'd like to go on the frontlines too and let loose."

"Denied. I know how strong you are, Kili, but this time, please place your own safety as the number one priority."

I looked into her eyes and persuaded her forcefully. After making a slightly surprised look, Kili smiled.

"What a new feeling, to know that someone is caring for me. Still... I suppose fighting while I watch your back might not be bad after all."

Kili nodded and took a step back.

"Okay, everyone—The operation begins. We will talk via the communicators from this point onwards."

I pointed at the communicator on my ear and finished speaking, then moved out.

I made my way towards the position where Shinomiya-sensei had confirmed a reaction in the detectors. Instead of taking the road for vehicles like the one we traveled on, the enemy was approaching the villa through the mountain.

In that case, they should be arriving from the direction of the forest with the stream where Iris had taken us earlier.

Walking on a path sandwiched between flowerbeds featuring vivid colors, I stopped at the midpoint between the forest and the villa.

Straying too far from the villa would prevent me from responding if an emergency came up. I looked back to see the figures of Kili's group clearly.

Firill and Ariella were standing on the villa's roof with their fictional armaments wielded, deploying a wind barrier. Kili and Lisa's position was the same as just now. On the other hand, John was holding the anti-materiel rifle—AT Ishtar—which I had transmuted before the operation. Staying on the roof of the storehouse next to the villa, he had entered sniping posture.

'Captain, no approaching target sighted so far.'

I heard John's voice over the communicator. John's excellent ''eyes'' meant that his word was more reliable than any radar.

Deciding there was still time before the enemy attacked, I slowly awakened the "Fafnir" residing within me.

This was a certain existence rooted deeply in my heart, whose purpose was murder.

Impossible to describe using words such as technique or mindset—An unknown monster.

My mind grew calm and undisturbed, gradually cooling down.

I sensed Fafnir awaken from the bottom of my consciousness, gradually melding with me.

I naturally switched over. This was an unprecedented feeling.

Until recently, I had avoided Fafnir's total control as much as possible, because it was as though I was gradually invaded by something unidentified—It was extremely terrifying.

However, during my battle against Hreidmar, Fafnir's prototype, at the Principality of Erlia, I had committed myself to kill without hesitation for the sake of protecting Firill.

Then during the battle against Vritra the previous day, I had probably crossed the line.

Thinking Mitsuki had been fatally wounded by Vritra, with anger, hatred and despair stirring in my heart, for the first time in my life, I embraced emotions wanting to kill. I embraced true killing intent.

Surely that was the kind of killing intent that had caused the boundary between Fafnir and me to become ambiguous.

Thanks to Iris stopping me, I did not kill Vritra... But I could not forget the murderous impulse that had sprung at one point.

Now was the same. As soon as I thought about someone wanting to harm Mitsuki, Iris and the others, a flood of dark emotions would surge from the bottom of my heart.

My own killing intent had sharpened Fafnir's fangs.

—They're coming.

My sharpened senses captured minute presences.

There was an intense aura of bone-chilling killing intent.

'Captain—five enemies at 1 o'clock, six enemies at 11 o'clock, but...'

Almost at the same time, John's report came, but his voice was mixed with shock.

I instantly understood why.

Silver luster could be glimpsed faintly in the forest. Soldiers in full-body armor emerged, passing through the lush greenery.

They were dressed the same way as Hreidmar whom I had fought last time.

'Hreidmar...! Why—'

"—Don't panic, John. They're just wearing the same armored outfit, that's all."

Normally, I would feel a little disconcerted but with Fafnir mixed into me right now, the scene entering my eyes was nothing more than pure information.

They could not all be Hreidmar. Even if the real Hreidmar was among them, he was an opponent I had defeated once in the past and would not affect this upcoming "hunt."

Fictional armament—Siegfried.

Holding the fictional armament I had generated in the shape of an ornamental gun, I dashed towards the enemy. The eleven armored soldiers did not hide at all. Lining themselves side by side in straight line, they attacked me. Although I did not see any weapon resembling heavy firearms, as a team sent to kill Ds, they probably had weapons hidden in their armor.

Since it was unknown how they were going to attack, letting them approach Lisa's group in the back would be very dangerous.

I pointed Siegfried's muzzle ahead and concentrated—

"—Gravity Zero."

I shot a bullet of dark matter, transmuting it into antigravitational matter. The armored soldiers took evasive action, fleeing from the line of fire, but the expanding white light enveloped them and caused their bodies to float up.

What caught them was a zero gravity zone generated from low-density antigravitational matter.

The floating armored soldiers struggled awkwardly in the air but three of them had escaped Gravity Zero's effective range and were charging at me.

The zero gravity zone could not be sustained for long. Before the eight captured enemies regained their freedom, I had to take care of these three first.

I showed no mercy, because these guys wanted to kill Iris and the others... They wanted to kill Mitsuki.

"Plasma Bullet."

I used all the remaining dark matter in my fictional armament to generate a super high-pressure bullet of air. The plasmafied bullet glowed and ripped through the air.

—The armored soldier running in the lead had his arm blown off.

The plasma bullet had pierced the armored soldier's shoulder. Despite losing an arm, the soldier did not stop running, gradually closing in on me.

What...?

I felt a strong sense of dissonance. Not because the armored soldier failed to collapse, but because I could not sense any killing intent from them.

Just now in the forest, they had clearly exuded such intense killing intent—

Speaking of which, I had shot to kill in firing the plasma bullet. My aim could not possibly be off now that I was closer to Fafnir than ever before.

But that question was swiftly answered.

I heard a thunderous boom from behind.

While the soldier with the missing arm was running, his head exploded with scattering fragments with an acute sound.

—A sniper's shot from John.

However, what scattered was not blood and brains but silver mechanical parts. Having lost his head, the soldier fell to the ground, unable to maintain balance. From the neck's cross section pointed towards me, I could see thick wires and complicated machinery.

"These guys are not human. They're humanoid drones!"

I yelled to everyone over the communicator.

Since they were not human, it was no wonder that Fafnir's instincts were dulled.

'In other words—There is no need to show mercy!'

As I heard Lisa's voice, a yellow flash of light immediately flew past me.

An approaching armored soldier was penetrated and exploded. Then came Kili's warning.

'Move aside, Yuu. You'll get hit if you stand there.'

"!?"

Just as I jumped right to evade, a red heat beam shot out, vaporizing the remaining armored soldier.

While escaping from the blistering heat, I looked ahead.

Gravity Zero's effects had ended. Falling on the ground, the eight armored soldiers were standing up again.

I could not sense anything human-like from them. However, suffocating killing intent was still coming from the forest.

"—It looks like all the enemies are unmanned drones, but... There is a person's presence in the forest, most likely the enemy's commander. I'll go defeat him, so please annihilate the drones."

I issued orders to everyone through my communicator.

Since the opponents were not human, it would be simpler and cleaner to leave them to Lisa and Kili with their greater firepower.

However, instinct and intuition warned me... I absolutely must not allow the one in the forest to approach the girls.

'Understood, leave them to us. Compared to dragons, opponents of this sort—are nothing at all.'

I heard Lisa's reliable answer. The others also responded to me.

Hence, I stepped over the broken armored soldiers and ran to the forest. Freed from the zero gravity space, some armored soldiers tried to intercept me but cover fire from Lisa and the others stopped them from approaching me.

The surroundings grew dim after I entered the forest. The killing intent felt even more intense.

Among the armored soldiers earlier—Hreidmar was not among them. But in that case, he might be up ahead.

I generated Siegfried again and cautiously advanced towards the stream.

'...Can you hear me, Captain? Please respond on a different channel.'

I heard John's voice over the communicator.

"What is it?"

I switched channels and asked. Hesitantly, John said:

'Since the enemy might be Hreidmar... There are things I have to tell you now.'

I heard him gulp over the communicator then a somber voice shook my eardrum.

'At the Principality of Erlia... I saw the contents inside Hreidmar.'

"—Contents?"

I recalled what had happened when I defeated Hreidmar.

It was a fight to protect Firill. Back then, I realized I could not win unless I was prepared to kill, so I fired a penetrating shot at Hreidmar's armored outfit from point blank range with an anti-materiel rifle. But in the next instant, white smoke obscured my vision... By the time the smoke dissipated, there was nothing left in the armor.

'No, more precisely, I should say I did not see it... Because no one had escaped from the armor at all...'

"What the heck?"

John's explanation was incoherent, causing me to frown. During this time, I stayed vigilant of my surroundings.

Walking towards where the killing intent was more concentrated, I heard the waterfall.

'White smoke—that was all the armored outfit contained. At least based on what I saw.'

"Only smoke...?"

How could that be? These words reached my throat, but I swallowed them. Because I knew very well how excellent John's vision was. At the very least, he could not have missed anything or made a mistake.

However, after fighting him directly, I could say with conviction: The Hreidmar that time was human. Lurking in my heart, Fafnir had regarded him as prey—regarded him as human.

'It's surely something shady... So to confirm Hreidmar's true identity, I deserted NIFL and worked with Kili.'

I arrived at the stream's bank. Blocked by obstacles, sunlight formed shadows at my feet. The waterfall sounded clearer.

'But the result was I still have not been able to find out his true identity. Nevertheless, after searching NIFL's bases, I have obtained two pieces of information that should be quite important. First of all, Captain, the man you fought at the Erlia had an official designation as Hreidmar 05. This number has already been erased.'

I stopped but not as a reaction to what John had said.

Standing next to the waterfall whose modest flow fell down a protruding cliff was an soldier in silver armor.

His appearance was like the other enemies but the inside was clearly different. Almost suffocating... Viscous killing intent was giving me goosebumps.

'Then the other piece of information—which you could probably guess from the numbering of 05... I have discovered that ''there are multiple beings bearing the code name of Hreidmar''.'

The armored soldier gave off killing intent that could not possibly come from machinery. He kicked the ground.

The fierce step caused sand on the bank to fly. He was holding two knives of different lengths and shapes, one in each hand.

Fast—But this speed was known to me.

"Red Bullet."

Using the dark matter in my fictional armament, I transmuted a blade of air. Compressed to high density, the blade glowed red-hot at its tip, instantly tracing out a red trajectory in the air.

The armored soldier charged with astounding momentum, swinging the two knives.

This was precisely the way Hreidmar moved. The strongest killer—whom my past self used to admire.

The speeding flash of silver was approaching to extinguish my life. I tilted my body slightly, dodging the right hand's knife by a hair's breadth.

The arm, covered in silver armor, brushed past my cheek, knocking away the communicator on my ear.

Cast out of my awareness for the time being, John's talking was interrupted as a result. The sound of slicing wind shook my eardrum.

The other knife went for my throat without a moment's delay. I used the scorching blade of air to engage the approaching flash of silver.

Clang—A dull impact sounded while the high-temperature blade sank into the knife.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

I roared and pushed the blade, swinging it horizontally.

Immediately, the blade severed the knife, carving a red slash on the enemy's chest armor.

With this—It was over.

I took a step forward and made a fatal thrust with the red blade. Although the armored soldier swung his other knife, he was too slow.

Merely a tiny gap—but it was a decisive gap. Regardless of whether this guy was the true Hreidmar or someone else, they were no longer a match for me.

So long as I fought while prepared to kill, they would be nothing more than Fafnir's prey.

I targeted the cracked part of the chest armor and stabbed the red blade, receiving a clear sensation as feedback, the feeling of penetrating a vital.

The crack began to spread from where the blade was embedded.

"—!"

Feeling a bad premonition, I instantly took a leap back. Immediately, the chest armor blew apart from inside with an intense gust of white smoke.

I covered my mouth and nose, keeping my distance to avoid breathing in the smoke. This situation was the same as when I defeated Hreidmar in Erlia last time.

'White smoke—that was all the armored outfit contained.'

John's earlier words flashed in my mind.

A light breeze dispersed the smoke... The armored soldier remained lying face up on the ground with a large hole blown out of the chest from within, exposing the hollow interior.

Empty—Truly nothing inside. There were no signs of someone escaping either.

Due to the lack of human prey, Fafnir gradually sank into the depths of my consciousness. The more I recovered my normal senses, the more troubled I felt.

"What is going on...?"

I frowned and cautiously approached the broken armor.

'Hreidmar is no longer a match for you, huh? Your growth truly fills me with joy.'

"What..."

I suddenly heard a familiar voice from the armor.

'Can you hear my voice, 2nd Lieutenant Mononobe? I hope the speaker isn't damaged.'

"Major... Loki..."

Troubled, I voiced that name. It seemed like he was talking to me through a speaker somewhere installed in the armor.

'Oh...? Why are you looking so dazed? You've defeated Hreidmar again to prove that you're the strongest. You could show more pride, you know?'

Major Loki seemed to be able to view the situation here as well. I had no idea where the camera was installed, but I shifted my gaze to the armored outfit's head.

"This armored soldier... Did you remote control it, Major Loki?"

I could not think any other reason why there was nobody inside so I asked Major Loki, but was greeted with laughter as though he found it funny.

'Haha... No way. What you fought was a human named Hreidmar. I'm sure you know that better than anyone.'

"......"

I could not say anything. Just as Major Loki pointed out, I—Fafnir—was certain that the armored soldier was human, but why was there nobody inside?

'That being said, this is a different Hreidmar from last time.'

I instantly realized in alarm when he added this sentence.

"Last time—You mean Hreidmar 05... Right?"

To approach the heart of the matter, I raised a further question.

'Oh...? To think you already know that, you truly surprise me. Although I don't know where you got that information from, that is correct. By the way, you just killed 04.'

Killed—This word made me tremble.

Indeed, I had stabbed a vital with a red-hot blade, because it was not an opponent I could show mercy to, because I could not defeat him without resolving to kill, because I hated enemies who endangered Mitsuki and the girls. However—

"If I killed him... There should be a corpse remaining."

I clenched my fist and objected.

'Yes... Normally speaking, that's correct, but they are not normal.'

"Not normal."

I gulped and repeated his words like a parrot.

'They wield great power. A great power for killing people. And power sometimes causes a being's appearance to change in nature. What you saw is the result of a deviating power.'

"Deviating... Don't tell me that NIFL is performing human modification—"

'—You fail to understand the fundamental point. It's the opposite, 2nd Lieutenant Mononobe. Rather than modifying people to obtain power, they were modified as a result of obtaining power.'

Interrupted by the deep and powerful voice, I halted mid-sentence. Major Loki's tone of voice sounded chillingly terrifying.

'Take dragons for instance. There are almost no living creatures like them. But being living creatures, they must have transformed dramatically from some kind of species to begin with, that would be the natural way of thinking about it. In that case, what was it that turned them into monsters?'

After a brief pause, Major Loki said solemnly:

'I believe it was due to power. What they possessed were abilities on the level of divine authority. Dragons acquired power and as a result, they gradually transformed into bodies suitable for using that power... Many things can be explained if you deduce logically from that. Wouldn't you agree?'

"Indeed, each dragon does possess characteristics close to organisms on Earth..."

Leviathan was aquatic mammalian, Basilisk was reptilian, Hraesvelgr was avian—The dragons we had confronted so far all featured characteristics similar to other creatures.

'In the same vein, after humans obtain a deviating power, there is nothing unbelievable about them changing in nature, is there?'

"...!"

However, I could not immediately answer Major Loki's next question. His voice, coming from Hreidmar's remains, sounded like a voice from a bottomless abyss, sinister and eerie.

"Major Loki, what are you talking about...? What the heck is Hreidmar?"

'I believe I've mentioned it before. A failed creation, nothing more.'

I felt as though a blade was pressed against my neck. Major Loki's words were too cold, too sharp.

'The reason of changing, the reason why change could not be avoided... Ultimately, the vessel's capacity was too low. Hence, if one remained unchanged even after obtaining power, now that would be truly valuable.'

The optical lenses located on the armored soldier's head made me feel as though Major Loki was staring at me from the lenses.

'...Don't you get it? I'm talking about you, 2nd Lieutenant Mononbe.'

"What—"

Hearing something so unexpected, I could not help but gasp.

'This battle has firmed my belief that you are almost complete now, to the point that I don't even need to finish up. Although I don't know why, you seem to have grasped the concept of "killing intent" at last.'

As though seeing through me, Major Loki made my heart rate rise. The dark and scorching feelings I embraced when I thought Mitsuki had been killed—The remains of those feelings burned the inside of my chest.

'Using that power to decide who lives and who dies... You are the one making that choice.'

It was Major Loki's message that I had heard from Miyazawa Kenya as well, the same words. Without getting drowned out by the waterfall noise, they reached my ear.

Boom—

Intense noise of combat could be heard in the villa's direction. Lisa's group was probably engaging the armored soldiers.

'However, I am also bound by duty to protect mankind. By any means necessary, I will prevent the worst-case scenario of "an increase in dragons"—through this method of "eliminating disasters before they germinate."'

His words made my spine shudder. Conveyed in Major Loki's voice was palpable killing intent.

The target of that killing intent were those whose dragon marks were changing in color—Mitsuki, Iris and the others.

"!?"

Getting a bad feeling, I looked for my communicator that had gotten knocked off during the battle. Although I did not think that Kili's group would lose to those drones, if Major Loki really wanted to execute those whose dragon marks had changed in color—he would not limit himself to attacks of this level.

I found the communicator that had fallen on the bank, immediately put it on and yelled.

"This is Mononobe Yuu! What is the battle status?"

'Captain—Are you alright!? We are fine here.'

John's voice immediately responded, then I heard Kili and Lisa.

'We just defeated the last one.'

'How effortless. What about you, no problem, right?'

"Yeah, I'm done here too. No injuries."

I looked at the empty armor lying on the bank then replied. Perhaps because I had left, Major Loki's voice stopped too.

'This is Ariella. The enemy doesn't seem to have reinforcements.'

I also heard Ariella, who was deploying the air barrier. Based on reports alone, we had secured total victory.

—Was I overthinking things? No, I must have overlooked something...

Just as I racked my brain, Firill's voice came over the communicator.

'Phew... Finally settled, it seems. Even though it was mentioned that we have an escape passage in case of emergency... I was still so nervous.'

Escape passage—This term stimulated a corner of my mind.

Hold on... If the enemy took control of the villa's escape passage, then it could also serve as an invasion route—

"! —Shinomiya-sensei, can you hear me?"

'I hear you. What's the matter?'

I called out and immediately got a response. It seemed like nothing had happened yet.

"Please come outside the villa immediately! The enemy might exploit the escape passage, so outdoors should be safer than indoors at the moment."

'—Understood. Right away...'

However, Shinomiya-sensei's voice was drowned out by noise in abundance.

"Shinomiya-sensei!?"

'Clang—zxzxzxzx—thud—Kyah!—zxzxzxzxz—'

Amidst noise and intense collisions, I heard what sounded like someone's scream.

"What's wrong? Did something happen—"

'Thud—kxzxzxzxzx—'

I heard an intense and abnormal noise that seemed as it would rupture my eardrum.

Then almost at the same time, there was a louder explosion coming from the direction of the villa.

"—!"

I left the armored soldier's remains by the stream and ran as fast as I could. No sooner had I received reports that the fighting had ended than the current explosion—

After passing through the forest path, the view broadened instantly broadened in front of me. The first thing I saw was the black smoke rising from various parts of the villa premises. A portion of the villa's roof had been blown away with thick smoke billowing out from within.

"Is everyone okay!? Hurry and report your status!!"

I ran at full speed while yelling into the communicator.

I looked towards the explosion's location, only to see fragments of armor falling on the ground. Probably self-destruction for elimination of evidence. Since an explosion had occurred inside the villa, it meant that the enemy had invaded the interior successfully.

—So it was the escape passage after all...!

I gnashed my teeth, regretting that I had not realized sooner. Major Loki had talked to me for so long, presumably to stall for time.

'—Lisa Highwalker reporting. I am fine.'

'I'm fine too, Yuu.'

First to answer were Lisa and Kili.

'Ariella Lu and Firill Crest. We're safe and sound.'

'I jumped in fright...'

Next, I heard Ariella and Firill's voices.

'...This is John Hortensia. Although the blast blew me away slightly—I am fine.'

I heard John's report shortly after, but no one inside the villa answered.

Iris, Mitsuki, Tia, Ren, Shinomiya-sensei and Vritra—That black dragon probably would not die just like that, but the rest of them were human and could not have remained unharmed if caught in the explosion.

"Damn it...!"

I cursed my error in judgment and ran desperately. Thinking there was no problem as long as I won—I had neglected to think further. Even if I defeated the enemy in front of me, it was pointless if I failed to protect everyone—

'What about everyone in the house...? We have to hurry and save them.'

Firill said anxiously.

'Entering might not be possible due to the fire and thick smoke! We must extinguish the fire first!'

Lisa rallied the group outside the villa to start putting out the fire.

Even at a distance from the villa, I could see water pouring down to extinguish the fire.

Presumably, they had transmuted a huge volume of water to rain down. With four Ds, the amount of water must be staggering. By the time I arrived in front of the villa, the smoke had dissipated a lot while the fire was no longer visible.

Firill and Ariella continued to pour water from the air while Kili and Lisa worked from the ground. John anxiously watched the fire fighting effort and noticed me running there.

"Captain!"

"—I will check the interior, so please continue with the firefighting!"

Without stopping, I rushed into a smoking entrance.

"W-Wait! The smoke is still—"

I could hear Lisa's voice behind me but did not slow down. Holding my breath and lowering my posture, I advanced. Visibility was compromised due to the smoke but I remembered the layout of the rooms so there was no problem. If necessary, I could transmute air to safeguard my breathing.

Everyone was probably gathered in the caretaker's room with the surveillance monitors. I entered the living room from the entrance then walked towards caretaker's room on the inner end of the corridor. The smoke was coming from that direction.

While I was walking along the corridor, something cold struck my face. I looked up to see water falling through the smoke.

I could catch glimpses of the sky through gaps in the smoke. The second floor and the roof were probably destroyed by the explosion. Judging from the scene, the explosion apparently detonated near the caretaker's room.

—Please be safe, all of you.

I prayed while searching for signs of them. Immediately, there was a thud. I had collided with something resembling an invisible wall.

That strange feeling was neither hard nor soft. A barrier of air—

Then the wind blew, dispersing the surrounding smoke. With an improvement in visibility, the half-wrecked caretaker's room came into view. The ceiling was gone, monitors were shattered, the floor had sunk down, but in front of me—Only the center of the room was unnaturally intact. Over there were precisely the companions I was searching for.

With Ren in the center, holding her gigantic hammer of a fictional armament, Shinomiya-sensei, Tia and Vritra were standing there. Due to the fire persisting until just earlier, they were probably pinned down.

"Yuu!"

Tia instantly pounced into my bosom as I ran near.

"...Thank goodness, you all seem to be safe."

"Yes, Ren protected us. Tia wanted to fight but Ren said no."

Tia hugged me and answered.

"...Mm, I had a bad feeling because the enemy was not holding a weapon. So I chose defense over offense... But it was a close shave."

Ren nodded and answered, breathing a small sigh of relief. She must have deployed an air barrier in time to protect everyone.

"Thank you, Ren."

"Mm..."

I thanked her from the bottom of my heart but Ren looked away shyly.

"An armored soldier suddenly showed up when we spoke again. Were it not for Ren Miyazawa's air barrier, we would've been wiped out."

Shinomiya-sensei stood forward and summarized the situation concisely.

"Hmph... Were it not for such restraints, I could have suppressed the explosion for ye."

Vritra looked at the restraining vine in displeasure and remarked unhappily. Seeing her say that, Tia was perhaps reminded of her job and separated from me to grab the other end of the vine.

"No, because you'll surely do something bad again. Tia won't release you!"

"C-Cease this, quit tugging! Thou art strangling my neck!"

Seeing them like that, I looked around with a wry smile.

"Eh? What about Iris—"

Seeing no signs of her, I could not help but frown.

"Oh, she said she wanted to stay by Mononobe Mitsuki's side—"

Shinomiya-sensei's expression and voice suddenly stiffened mid-sentence as she look upwards.

Oh right—Mitsuki was lying down in a room on the second floor. Wasn't it pretty much above here?

"!"

I turned around and made my way to the second floor of the villa. Fortunately, the stairs were not broken but the second floor corridor was broken off in the middle.

Due to the explosion on the ground floor, the corridor and part of the room was blown away, leaving a hole in the ceiling.

"C-Cough, c-cough... Mitsuki, Iris..."

Due to panting, I accidentally inhaled smoke and coughed a few times.

The disaster had carved a frightening trail of destruction. Mitsuki's room was located at the tail end of the trail.

Pushing open the door that was about to fall off, I entered the room. The room was a mess due to the remains of the wall and roof damaged by the explosion, however, the bed where Mitsuki was sleeping was the one place where debris had been pushed away.

Mitsuki was lying on the bed while Iris sitting collapsed on the side. The two of them looked alive, but Iris' uniform was tattered all over with holes everywhere.

"Iris!"

I yelled out. Iris' shoulders shook and she suddenly looked back.

"Mononobe—D-Don't come over!"

She hugged herself and cried out, trying to cover up her tattered clothing. Rather than shame, what surfaced in her eyes were emotions of fear.

"...What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"

"I-I'm fine! Neither Mitsuki nor I were injured, so... So—"

Iris shook her head in denial but her condition was clearly not normal.

"—!"

I stepped over rubble to approach Iris.

"Don't come over!"

Iris pulled the blanket off the bed to cover her body.

"...I can't leave you alone as you are now, Iris. Tell me what happened. Don't worry, no matter what happens, I will always stand on your side, Iris."

Iris was trembling when I stopped next to the bed and placed my hand on her head.

"Mononobe..."

Iris timidly looked up at me, gripping the blanket tightly, bt the fearful look on her face still remained.

"You protected Mitsuki, right...? Thank you, Iris."

I looked at Mitsuki who was unconscious on the bed and expressed my gratitude to Iris. She must have responded to what I said to her about leaving Mitsuki in her care.

"...Yes, when the big noise happened... The ceiling and the wall collapsed... I—instantly pounced on top of Mitsuki, but so much debris struck me, it was painful and heavy... I thought I was going to be crushed to death."

Iris stammered with a tone of unease as she recounted what had happened.

"You must've been scared... I'm sorry I wasn't by your side."

I apologized to her but Iris shook her head lightly.

"No, it's not your fault, Mononobe. But I was definitely scared. I was scared of what if I failed to protect Mitsuki... Then while I was desperately enduring... The pain suddenly went away and power surged from within."

Iris stopped here and looked at me with eyes as though she was seeking someone to rely on.

"Iris...?"

"Mononobe, you won't hate me no matter what I become, right?"

Iris asked me with an anxious expression. Although I had no idea what it was about, I was able to answer this question without hesitation.

"That goes without saying."

After I asserted firmly, Iris looked relieved and released the blanket. What came into view as the blanket slid down was the tattered uniform underneath.

"—I easily pushed away the rubble that was supposed to be very heavy. Then after that, I looked at where I should've been injured—And it had become like this."

Iris rolled up her sleeve to show me. Her skin had turned red at exactly the part where her clothing was torn.

My first thought was a bruise—But that was wrong. Lit by sunlight streaming through the porous ceiling, the reddened portion glinted with the luster of hard texture.

"Red... scales?"

I gasped and stammered blankly.

"Yes... Although I can't see it myself, probably my back too—"

Iris nodded and turned her back to me. Perhaps due to getting hit directly by debris, there was a large hole in her uniform, exposing her skin.

Red and hard scales also appeared there.

"This is—"

Iris probably sensed my reaction. Looking like she was about to burst into tears, she forced a stiff smile and said:

"What's with... me? This is almost like—Basilisk's scales."

That was what I thought of too but intentionally kept quiet about. Basilisk's body was covered in red diamond scales.

'Dragons acquired power and as a result, they gradually transformed into bodies suitable for using that power... Many things can be explained if you deduce logically from that. Wouldn't you agree?'

Major Loki's words resurfaced in my mind.

No, that was impossible. Iris was not the only person to inherit a dragon's power. Mitsuki, Tia and I had all obtained powers from dragons.

However, why was Iris the only one—

"Hey Mononobe... Will I turn into a real dragon?"

Iris held my hand with her trembling hand.

Her hand did not have the hard texture of scales. It was both soft and very warm—

<center>*</center>

"Captain..."

Jeanne Hortensia was outdoors, looking at the smoking villa from afar.

What flashed in her mind was Mononobe Yuu's face as he entered the house with reckless abandon.

His countenance had been so desperate and worried.

Back when he was serving as Sleipnir's captain, he would never show such a look.

However, this did not disillusion her. Apart from respect towards him for showing more of a human touch than before, she found him more endearing.

What changed him was surely those girls.

Jeanne looked around at the Ds who continued with their firefighting and sighed lightly.

"I suppose they are Captain's 'good fortune'..."

She whispered words that probably no one would understand except herself.

Good fortune—To Jeanne, that was a special term.

Her life had been influenced by luck far too much.

The misfortune of her family dying in civil war and the good fortune of surviving alone. The misfortune of losing her country to war and the good fortune of getting taken in by an army, thus finding a place to live and survive. The misfortune of only going to battlefields and the good fortune of having a talent useful for being a soldier—

Coincidence unrelated to her own decisions and actions—Finding herself swept away by gigantic tides beyond her control time and again, she even directed her resentment towards god in the past.

But for the sake of surviving, ultimately, she could only rely on luck.

Plucking out those rare instances of good fortune out of countless coincidences—Never letting good fortune slip out of her hand, that was how she kept herself alive.

It had occurred to her that sticking to such a lifestyle, she would probably get killed by misfortune eventually.

What she had faced was her first battle after getting assigned to the special operations team, Sleipnir—

An enemy detachment had discovered Jeanne's hiding place while she was standing by at her sniping position, thus putting her in a crisis.

Her tightrope of a life was about to end there.

Just as she was about to give up, ''he'' showed up.

'It's fortunate that I was nearby—''You have such good luck''.'

After dispatching enemy forces single-handedly, Mononobe Yuu had said to her calmly while extending his hand to Jeanne, who was collapsed on the ground.

'Thank you... Captain.'

Holding his hand made her feel like she had grasped the greatest good fortune of her life so far.

And at the same time, she could not help but think to herself—I don't want to let go.

Respect for strength and gratitude for saving her life, these feelings were mixed together. By the time she realized, he had already become someone special to her.

The reason why she was able to abandon Sleipnir, her shelter, was because she was convinced that he was the greatest good fortune.

When Mononobe Yuu was facing the unidentified threat known as Hreidmar, Jeanne had worked with Kili, wanting to become the good fortune that would rescue him.

But to support him now, she alone was probably not enough.

"......"

Hence, Jeanne looked up at the mountain villa and prayed silently.

—I hope he and his good fortune will be safe and sound.

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