Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 2 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 5===

Directly in hindsight, the worst-case scenario we were worrying about—an increase in the number of Basilisks—was finally avoided thanks to NIFL's action.

But presented before our eyes was an outcome no one predicted.

"—This time, we have new comrades joining us. After a blanket search in the towns ahead of Basilisk's advancing direction, NIFL discovered and took two Ds into protective custody."

On the Friday that happened to be one week after the health examination, a full-school assembly was held in the school gym.

Seeing Mitsuki standing there on the podium, I could not help but recall the scene when I first transferred in.

Perhaps this kind of gathering occurred whenever any newcomers arrived, so as to introduce them to the whole student body.

"Of the two, one of them has already been confirmed to have a dragon mark whose color changed. Now, it is almost completely certain that Basilisk's goal is to make contact with the D."

Listening to Mitsuki's speech, the students whispered to one another, but their gazes were not directed at Mitsuki but the newly joined Ds behind her.

"However, there is no cause for panic. Basilisk's bodily structure is unsuitable for moving in water, hence crossing the sea ought to be rather difficult. Even if Basilisk could advance in the sea as quickly as it does on land, its speed is still extremely slow. It will probably take at least a month to reach Midgard."

Mitsuki should have noticed the situation in the crowd but she continued explaining calmly.

Although I was not optimistic enough to think that things were fine with Basilisk unable to cross the sea, Midgard seemed like it might be in a safe zone.

"We have ample time to make preparations. In addition, since Basilisk is the target we have been planning to vanquish since a long time ago, so long as everyone puts in their full effort, I am certain we will be victorious!"

Mitsuki's speech was astute as ever. But given the situation today, it was hard to say that she had convinced the crowd.

As a boy, all eyes were on me when I first transferred here, but the situation now was even more severe than last time.

Because of the newcomer Ds on the podium, one of them was too unusual.

"—Then allow me to introduce the transfer students. Please step forward, the two of you."

Two transfer students walked forward as instructed.

One was a glasses-wearing girl who gave off a serious impression. Similar in age as me, she had her long black hair woven into one braid hanging behind her.

She looked like a very ordinary girl, but the problem was the other person.

All students' gazes were gathered on a little girl, probably even younger than Ren. If this was Japan, she looked like she would still be studying in elementary school.

Lacking in pigment, her pretty hair looked faintly pink due to the light. With snow-white skin and exquisite facial features, anyone would consider her a lovely young girl on these aspects alone.

However, there was one part which humans could not have.

She had two little horns, growing on the left and right sides of her head respectively.

Those horns were crimson in color. Their shape reminiscent of dragons. Under the illumination overhead, they glowed faintly.

The girl with horns on her head gazed at us with red eyes.

—Are those horns not fake?

Dragon girl. This girl's appearance could only be described with that. With gazes of curiosity and fear, the crowd was staring at her.

What on earth were those horns? Including me, all the students gathered in the gym were waiting for the explanation about her.

But instead of introducing the dragon girl first, Mitsuki pointed at the glasses-wearing girl with black hair.

"This is Tachikawa Honoka-san. I am told that her D powers only awakened recently, so please guide her generously, everyone."

"My name is Tachikawa Honoka, pleased to meet everyone."

The glasses-wearing girl—Tachikawa Honoka—took a deep bow. She looked Japanese. NIFL was searching around what was Basilisk's original territory, in other words, the region near the Sahara Desert... But there must be some reason explaining this.

In response to the applause, Tachikawa-san smiled as though feeling relieved.

Then Mitsuki finally shifted her gaze towards the horned girl.

Instantly, the applause stopped. The air went tense and even the sound of people gulping sounded extra loud.

"Next, this is Tia Lightning-san. She is the girl who has caught Basilisk's eye."

Below the podium, the crowd clamored. This girl was apparently the one whose dragon mark had changed color.

Once targeted by a dragon, a D's dragon mark would change color. Once contact was made with that dragon, the D would turn into a dragon of the same type. The girl—Tia—her appearance, did it have any relation to that phenomenon?

Most students were probably wondering that. Mitsuki seemed to understand this. Once the clamor subsided, she continued to explain:

"In order to prevent unnecessary speculation and misunderstandings, I shall tell everyone this first. There is no causal relationship between a dragon mark changing color and Tia-san's horns. After detailed inquiry and examination, we have ascertained that these horns existed before her dragon mark changed color. Created through dark matter transmutation, the horns were added postnatally. Also, no abnormalities were found in her DNA."

Hearing that, the students went into an even greater clamor.

Creating a new part connected to the body—This sounded simple.

Since dark matter could be transmuted into any substance, in theory, it was possible to perform biogenic transmutations.

However, doing it in practice was another matter.

Because a living organism's body was too complicated, it was not something that could be recreated by imagination alone.

On the first day I transferred into school, everyone was surprised by my gun creation, but the difficulty of this far exceeded that of my gun.

The surrounding students were staring at Tia in disbelief. However, I could feel that everyone's fear for the girl of unknown origins had thinned out greatly.

This was probably thanks to Mitsuki's explanation working.

Although humans felt fear towards the unknown, conversely, as long as they could understand, they would not act with unnecessary wariness.

Just a bit more and Tia would probably be accepted by this school, just like me that time.

Mitsuki continued her speech for this purpose:

"Tia-san simply possesses a rare talent. She is no different from us. We are all human, so—"

"Wrong."

However, someone interrupted Mitsuki.

The speaker was Tia. Her voice sounded like a bell, high pitched and clear.

Everyone's gaze in the gym shifted towards her.

"Uh... Tia-san, did I say something wrong?"

Mitsuki asked her with a troubled expression. Tia nodded.

"Yes, Tia isn't human."

Tia spoke in slightly choppy Japanese.

Immediately, a whispering commotion began between the students.

"N-Nothing of that sort. Tia-san, you are human!"

"No, you're wrong, Tia is—a dragon."

"What...?"

Seeing Mitsuki rendered speechless with surprise, Tia tilted her head in puzzlement.

"Why so surprised? You are clearly a D. Ds are dragons."

"Ds are dragons...? No, that is wrong, Tia-san. We are humans."

Mitsuki spoke as though teaching her, but Tia made a stiff expression.

"...Dragon, Tia is a dragon!"

Tia glared angrily at Mitsuki. Numerous particles of dark matter appeared in her surroundings like bubbles.

—Crap!

Ds from outside did not use fictional armaments. Like what I did in the past, their usual method was to transmute dark matter directly. Hence, she had entered a combat stance completely.

Tia's dark matter was probably being transmuted into electrical currents. Sparks were scattering all over the place.

Perhaps due to emotional turbulence, she had unintentionally performed an offensive transmutation.

But despite facing such a clearly dangerous situation, Mitsuki and the other students were simply stunned on the spot.

This was because Midgard did not do any training on anti-personnel combat, hence they did not know how to handle this.

—!

I rushed out of formation and ran towards Mitsuki.

"Mononobe?"

Although I heard Iris' surprised cry, I had no time to respond to her. I used my momentum to jump onto the podium, inserting myself between Mitsuki and Tia.

"Stop it! Calm down!"

Shielding Mitsuki behind me, I yelled at Tia.

"Ah..."

Immediately, the anger on Tia's face suddenly disappeared. Widening her eyes, she stared at my face and did not move. The dark matter that had been generated in a torrent all vanished into thin air.

"Hmm...? Hey, what's with you?"

Trying not to provoke her, I cautiously asked her.

"Ah—No way... To see you again here... U-Umm, are you also... Are you also a D? There are men among Ds?"

Originally stunned, Tia came back to her senses and asked me in a trembling voice. I felt that her way of questioning quite strange. Her reaction was almost like she knew me.

—Speaking of which, I might have seen this child somewhere before...

"Yeah, I'm also a D. Currently, I'm the only male D, that's all."

Unable to recall exactly, I could only reply to her question.

The instant she heard my answer, Tia smiled like a blooming flower.

"So glad... to finally see you again... You... It's you! Name! What's your name...?"

"I-I'm called Mononobe Yuu..."

"Mononobe, Yuu... Yuu... Great name. Umm... Yuu, Tia has something to tell you."

Tia stared at me with excited eyes.

Feeling that things were developing in an incomprehensible direction, I asked her:

"What... do you want to tell me?"

"Tia wants to tell you that Tia was born to become a dragon's wife!"

"A-A dragon's wife?"

I felt quite baffled by this sudden declaration.

Did she really mean that she wanted to become Basilisk's mate?

I thought if that were the case, I must do everything possible to dissuade her, but after hearing Tia's next statement, my mental circuits stopped working momentarily.

"So, from now on, Yuu will be Tia's husband!"

"What...?"

I was stunned in surprise while Tia hugged me tightly.

"Then Tia is Yuu's wife! Tia won't separate from you ever again!"

I could hear the shrill voices of girls, impossible to tell if they were cheering or screaming, as they entered an uproar together.

And because everything happened too suddenly, I could not keep up with the situation. As for the young girl hugging me tightly around the waist, I could only stare blankly at her slender shoulders and those tiny horns—
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