Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 2 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 4===

Tia and I first went made a trip to the classroom. After changing into our uniforms, we left the campus with our school bags.

Other people might be busy with handling the training site's aftermath. They were not in the classroom.

Since the practicals in the afternoon had been suspended due to the damaged training site, there were no more lessons today. Like yesterday, we walked along the path to the dorm, descended to the beach and took off our shoes.

"Wow, it feels like the sea can be seen clearer than yesterday."

Peering at the seawater from the water's edge, Tia jumped around, grinning from ear to ear. We visited yesterday near dusk, so the impression given off by the sea was probably quite different compared to the daytime.

The waves produced white spray, gently caressing our ankles.

Watching Tia stepping on the waves, I quietly asked her:

"Tia, compared to yesterday, do you like Lisa and the others more?"

"Y-Yes, Tia knows they're good people now."

Tia answered a bit embarrassedly. With Firill's manga as a trigger, through chatting with everyone in the class, her wariness had decreased somewhat compared to yesterday.

"However, just now, Tia... you almost injured Lisa, you know?"

"...Eh?"

Widening her eyes, Tia showed surprise on her face.

"Tia, you wanted to make a fictional armament but ended up in the form of a dragon and caused mass destruction. The training site is now all torn up by the storm and lightning strikes."

"N-No way... Tia did that—"

In a trembling voice, Tia shook her head in disbelief.

"I know you didn't do it on purpose. At the time, you weren't in a normal mental state, but it doesn't change the fact that you endangered Lisa and the others. So Tia, I hope you'll apologize to the others and promise you'll never do that again."

I bent down to speak at Tia's eye level.

"G-Got it! Tia will apologize! Let's go find everyone!"

Tia frantically pulled my hand. Like Honoka earlier whom I met at the infirmary, Tia was regretting her failure.

"...You're a good girl after all, Tia. But if things do not change, you won't be able to keep that promise. You'll probably repeat your mistakes, as long as you continue—to believe you are a dragon."

"Eh... What do you mean by believe? Tia really is a dragon. Aren't Yuu and everyone dragons too?"

Tia answered with surprise. However, I could see slight wavering in her eyes.

"No, we're humans."

"Why... Why does even Yuu say something so mean? We are dragons! Having this kind of power is the proof!"

Tia generated dark matter in the surroundings, transmuting it into electrical currents. Sparks flew with a sizzling sound. However, I stared into Tia's eyes squarely without backing down.

"Indeed, perhaps there's that interpretation too. Then I'll put things another way. At least for the Ds residing in Midgard, we are all living as humans."

"Living... as humans?"

"Yeah, so as long you insist on living as a dragon, Tia, we won't be able to coexist."

Tia widened her eyes.

"That means... We can't be together?"

"That's right, so that I hope, Tia... you can be human."

I proposed the only necessary condition for Tia to become part of the family that was Brynhildr Class.

"No... Because Tia is a dragon... With these kinds of horns, Tia is already not human..."

Touching her red horns, Tia rejected my proposal.

"It's fine if you have horns. To me, Tia, you're a cute girl and I think it's the same for Lisa and the rest.

"But, but..."

I explained to her gently but Tia kept shaking her head.

"Why do you want to be a dragon so much, Tia? Please tell me, what on earth happened after we separated in that warzone? What happened to the parents who were with you back then?"

"Tia has no papa and mama, they were... fakes."

Like last evening, Tia looked down with a stiff expression.

"Then I hope you can tell me about the fake papa and mama."

I placed my hand on Tia's face and slowly lifted her head, meeting her gaze up close

Her silence persisted a while. Only the sound of waves were heard reguarly.

Tia's red eyes moistened and her cheeks blushed

"...Yuu wants to know about Tia that much?"

"Yes, because I want to be with you too, that's why I want to know.

Hearing my answer, Tia gulped then quietly began:

"...After being saved by Yuu, Tia and they went to live in another country."

What she meant by "they" was probably her parents. Refusing to call them papa and mama, Tia continued:

"They become more gentle than before. Even if Tia did not use power, they still smiled at Tia. Working outside in the fields was hard work, but happy too. But everything... house, fields or them... One day, they suddenly burned up and disappeared."

"Burned up... Was it a fire?"

"No, not a fire. What Tia met was—Kili."

"...!"

Hearing that name, my face froze.

—I never expected to hear Kili's name here too.

Tia had been imprisoned by the Sons of Muspell, hence it was not surprising that she had met the cult's leader Kili. However, I never thought Kili was the one who had deprived Tia of her parents and her home.

"Kili told Tia they were not real, so Tia did not lose anything. Tia is a dragon and has a real mama—'Black' Vritra. The many Ds in the world... are Tia's sisters. That's what she told Tia."

After listening to Tia, I finally understood what she was running away from.

To escape the truth of her parents' death, Tia had no choice but to rely on Kili's words.

As soon as she admitted she was human, she had to accept the loss of her parents. In such a state, ordinary persuasion was not going to work on Tia. Trying to reason with her would lead to nowhere.

"—Thank you for telling me, Tia."

I thanked Tia and stroked her head lightly.

"Yuu understands... what Tia thinks?"

"Yeah... I understand clearly now. I won't say your thinking is wrong anymore."

"Wonderful..."

Tia looked relieved, but I immediately said:

"But I must correct what Kili said. As long as you're living as a dragon, Tia, you'll never be sisters with the Ds who are living as humans, you'll never be family with me, Lisa and the others."

"Eh—?"

Tia's expression instantly froze.

"This might be an unfair way of putting it, but please understand. At this rate, you won't be able to get what you want. Tia, I hope you'll choose to be human."

I could not refute Tia's belief. Even if I forcibly laid out the truth in front of her eyes, without the mental preparation to accept it, she would only end up mind broken. As a result, I could only hint towards future gains and losses and ask her to make a choice.

"Choose...? Tia doesn't quite get... what Yuu is saying."

"...True. I guess it's not something that can be explained clearly with words. In that case, I'll show you. I'll show you what you can do to become human."

After saying that, I took out my portable terminal.

"What are you doing?"

Tia asked uneasily. I smiled and answered her:

"It's still early and there are no lessons. Let's have fun with everyone next. If I say it's for Tia, I'm guessing all our classmates will gather."

"Why...? Didn't Tia do awful things to everyone? Isn't Lisa angry?"

"She'll come even if she's angry. Because all of us wants to become family with you, Tia."

Listening to my answer, Tia widened her eyes, rooted to the spot in a daze for a moment.