Leviathan:Volume 4 Chapter 1
Chapter 1 - For that Inevitable Day in the Future
Part 1
"Senpai, it's already morning, you know? Time to get up."
An adorable voice called to him, quite an excellent match for the refreshing morning.
It was the voice of Shirasaka Hazumi, the unique underclassman of Haruga Haruomi aka Hal. Her cute voice stimulated his auditory senses, rousing Hal’s consciousness gradually from slumber.
But in the end, he still wanted to say those cliched words.
"Hmm... Please, give me five more minutes..."
"Not allowed. You'll be late if you don't rise from bed and get prepared."
Even without a prior agreement, Hazumi was waking him gently as though upholding a promise.
What a perfect underaged bride. No, what she was achieving in the "childhood friend character" realm was perhaps transcendence beyond perfection... While refusing to get up, Hal was struck by a sudden impact of bliss, instantly opening his eyes.
Perhaps interacting with Hazumi had caused some kind of secretion in his brain matter.
But this was only natural—As soon as he opened his eyes, he was greeted with an innocent smiling face by his pillow that caused him to believe so.
"Fufufu. Good morning, Senpai."
"Yeah, mornin'. I'm sorry you have to go to all this trouble to wake me up."
"Of course not. Since I am your assistant, Senpai, this trivial task is more than warranted."
Lying on the bed under the thin blanket, Hal was having this morning conversation with Hazumi.
Sunlight streaming in through the window was illuminating Hal's bedroom. However, there was an even brighter light source in the room—namely, Hazumi's angelic smile.
Beaming tenderly, the girl was exhibiting purity that was even more dazzling than sunlight to Hal.
"Starting tomorrow, just go with a morning call by cellphone, okay?"
"Yes. But if time permits... May I still intrude?"
"Of course."
Confronted with Hazumi's polite request for indulgence, Hal replied without thinking.
The pure-minded junior student nodded happily, even though the unreliable upperclassman—Haruga Haruomi—was supposed to be the one expressing gratitude no matter how you thought about it.
Once again, Hal found his heart filled up with bliss.
If life continued with Hazumi waking him up every morning, his body might suffer from side effects of excessive happiness, perhaps even leading to an early demise just like that.
Just as Hal was indulging in his delusions, Hazumi exited the room.
She was probably expecting Hal to get dressed next. Hence, he removed his pajamas decisively and put on his school uniform while reviewing all kinds of recent events in his mind.
Almost a month had passed since Princess Yukikaze's invasion.
It was now July after final exams and the students of the Academy were waiting for the summer vacation. During this period, Haruga Haruomi regressed into an oversleeper.
Perhaps it was an aftereffect of the various commotions in June.
Sacrificing sleep to investigate clues, encountering Princess Yukikaze and the ensuing battles, establishing a new covenant with Hinokagutsuchi, defeating True Genbu-Ou and handling all kinds of aftermath business...
Now that he was finally done with all this, Hal's wake up time had been postponed greatly.
Still soundly asleep at 8 or 9am, he remained in bed in spite of the ringing alarm clock.
Overexhaustion—especially a severe case of accumulated mental fatigue—was Hal's self-diagnosis.
Speaking of Haruga Haruomi, naturally, he was not the kind of person to put in any effort towards rising early.
Instead, he had forged a document, intending to submit to the school a diagnosis report of primary hypersomnia so that he could sleep as much as he wanted.
What foiled this plan was Hazumi's comment after hearing about it.
"In that case, Senpai, let me be responsible for waking you up every morning from now on!"
And this morning was the first occasion.
After getting dressed, Hal went to the living room to meet up with Hazumi.
"Fufufufu. You won't be late to school today as long as you leave the house at this time."
"Yeah, then let's set off quickly," answered Hal to Hazumi who was likewise dressed in Kogetsu Academy's uniform.
Then he reached for the table in the living room and grabbed a silver-colored pack of energy jelly and a chocolate bar just enough to fill his stomach.
Even if one was about to be late, it would be too illogial to head off to school with a piece of toast in one's mouth to stave off hunger—
Hence, the food laid out here was what Hal had purchased in advance according to this judgment. Not only were these items good enough to handle a competitive cyclist's daily requirement of five or six thousand calories, but they could also be consumed while on the move.
However, Hal's logical breakfast choice was overruled.
"Oh Senpai, if it's okay with you, could you leave the food there?"
"Sure, but why?"
"Fufufu. It's a secret."
Now that Hazumi had displayed such a smile, Hal had no choice but to comply obediently.
He returned the food to the table then picked up his schoolbag. Then exiting the entrance of the Haruga residence, known locally as a haunted house, he set off for school.
The first part of the journey was a walk to the nearest station—Narihirabashi.
Taking the New Town Loop Line, they got off two stations later at Ryougoku.
Then walking on foot from Ryougoku Station, they would reach Kogetsu Academy. As a side note, one would need to continue three stations down the line in order to reach Monzennamachi, the closest station to Hazumi and Juujouji Orihime's homes.
The underclassman had gotten up early on purpose to visit Hal's home in the morning.
"Hmm, you're such a cute underclassman, Shirasaka."
"P-Please don't make such a weird comment so suddenly."
While conversing, the two of them went though Ryougoku Station's turnstile. Their friend was already waiting for them nearby in uniform.
A female student with a head of long and beautiful hair. This was precisely Juujouji Orihime.
Dressed in the short-sleeved summer uniform, Orihime was plenty striking even amid the crowded train station.
"Good morning, Haruga-kun. It would seem that letting Hazumi go out of her way to pick you up has been highly effective."
Orihime spoke while waving to her cousin Hazumi.
Then from a tote bag she was carrying in addition to her schoolbag, she took out a cylindrical package, roughly twenty-five centimeters in length.
The wrapping paper featured patterns emulating English newsprint.
After handing the package to Hal, Orihime used her gaze to urge him to open it.
"Don't tell me this is my breakfast?"
"Indeed it is. As agreed previously. I also prepared Hazumi's portion too."
"Fufu. Thank you, Nee-sama!"
Hal opened the package to find a submarine sandwich.
A small piece of French bread had been sliced through the middle to put in a filling of ham, bacon, cheese, lettuce, diced pimento, tomato slices, olives, etc.
In addition to Hal, Orihime handed an identical package to Hazumi and smiled.
"Since Hazumi said she was getting up early to go your house, Haruga-kun, I suggested I would prepared breakfast."
"Such care and consideration really puts me to shame."
"You have been working extremely hard recently, Haruga-kun. This bit of reward is nothing in comparison. Besides—"
Orihime winked suggestively.
"It seems that you are still preparing something, but please don't let your sleep deprivation get out of hand."
"......"
"If you continue to act with imprudence, Hazumi and I will have to impose ourselves on your hospitality. To stop you from burning the midnight oil, we will supervise you every night."
"I will commit these gratifying words to memory."
"More than committing to memory, you must put words into action properly. Sleep deprivation will reduce work efficiency instead. Didn't you say that?"
"Well, that's true..."
Unless there was a true emergency, staying up all night for days in a row was definitely more harm than good.
Speaking of which, Hal's nature was a bit lazy to begin with. Consequently, he wholeheartedly agreed with this enthusiastically helpful classmate. While chatting about this topic, the trio made their way towards Kogetsu Academy.
A peaceful morning commute.
Apart from Hal, Hazumi and Orihime, many other students were walking along the same route.
However, compared to a month earlier, student numbers were definitely lower from Hal's impression. This was not baseless speculation.
Currently, Kogetsu Academy's overall enrollment had gone down by roughly 10%.
In the twenty-first century, humans were threatened by "Dragon Strikes."
However, the initial attacks did not happen too frequently. Even if one were to use the islands of Japan as a reference area, it was only two or three Raptor attacks a year.
But recently, Kantou region had become extremely anomalous—Tokyo in particular.
Ever since early spring, dragons kept showing up frequently. Raak Al Soth, Pavel Galad, Ra Exhos, together with the large numbers of Raptors summoned by them, and even Genbu-Ou and Princess Yukikaze...
The ordinary populace was not privy to the details of the attacks.
This was due to the Japanese government imposing information control. Information regarding elite dragons, dragon kings and leviathans was generally undisclosed. This was no exception.
But conceivably, the populace would gradually start feeling wary of the excessively anomalous increase in dragon appearances.
It was at this juncture that the New Town Occupation incident happened in June. Triggered by this, people assessing whether they should move away from the Tokyo area were not in the minority, rather, one should say they were the majority.
With the advent of early July now, residents committed to moving to other regions were rapidly surfacing.
"As long as the dragon princess remains stationed at Old Tokyo, perhaps it might not be a bad idea to simply evacuate the residents of New Town and western Tokyo completely," Hal remarked while walking along a corridor in the high school division.
A student in the middle school division, Hazumi had parted ways from them earlier. Hal was walking alone with Orihime now.
"Sure enough, even more battles are coming than ever before?"
"Well, it could be the opposite too."
"The opposite?"
Hal and Orihime chatted while they arrived in front of the classroom's door.
They both belonged to Year 1 Class F. The master-class witch who used to be active in Europe—Asya Rubashvili—was also in the same class.
"Good morning, Orihime-san. Good morning to you too, Harry. You finally came to school properly today."
Another master-class witch was already waiting in front of the classroom.
Luna Francois Gregory.
Born in America's Oklahoma State, she was the talented lady whose control of the leviathan, Glinda the "Good Witch of the South," made her the Trans-Pacific Shootdown Ace.
The blonde girl with doll-like beauty was dressed in the school's summer uniform.
"Good morning, Luna-san. What business brings you to a first-year homeroom?"
"Having tidied up the proposal and reference materials, I merely intend to deliver them to Harry," replied Luna Francois to Orihime's question.
Transferred into Kogetsu Academy last month, she was wearing the school badge for second-years on the collar of her uniform. In fact, she was a year older than Hal and the others.
Incidentally, the two girls were simply conversing in the corridor.
But that alone was enough to gather the gazes of passing students. Like Orihime, Luna Francois was an equally striking presence too.
All things considered, she was a blonde Caucasian beauty seldom seen in Japanese high schools.
Besides, for a transfer student to arrive gracefully given the current situation, this attracted even more gossip and speculation than Orihime.
"So Harry, this is the first step to our ambition."
Luna Francois handed over a thick A4-size envelop.
Inside was a stack of printed documents. Hal expected the competent and meticulous Luna to have already sent an electronic copy to his email. He nodded deeply.
"How efficient. It's only been a week since I asked you."
"In any case, here is the first stage. Afterwards, I shall be reading the Japanese comic you lent me as a reference, Harry, while gradually advancing the plan."
"How reliable."
"Haruga-kun, what did you lend to Luna-san?"
"I don't know if you've heard of it, but it's called The Kingdom of Ambition."
"...What is that?"
"A manga from decades ago. It's a story about two Tokyo University students who started their careers in a yakuza gang in order to realize their ambition of conquering Japan through violence. In the past, it was only after reading this manga that I figured things out—the process of how to control others and ways to grab power."
"This story shall surely serve as our bible for we are fated to discern the mechanisms of society's power hierarchy, realizing our ambition at the end of conflict to welcome a new dawn."
"...Haruga-kun and Luna-san, do you have some kind of ambition?"
"Well, it's nothing amazing if I really had to say it."
"One could consider it as something a step away from ambition, perhaps a blueprint for tomorrow or a plan for the future?"
"Summing up, you two are up to some kind of prank—Is that what you mean?"
Getting a vague sense of the truth, Orihime smiled wryly and shrugged.
Haruga Haruomi was in the first year of high school. As a member of the research organization SAURU, he had been traveling all over the world to recover Grave Goods and was responsible for forging covenants between witches and leviathans.
And now, Hal had become the only human in possession of a dragonslaying rune.
Currently, he was feeling his way around to see how he could make effective use of this new skill, to build a new career.
Orihime was lending her assistance as a friend. In addition, Hazumi and Luna Francois were also reliable helpers. With the addition of his childhood friend Asya and that lazy former dragon, Hinokagutsuchi—
All this was still not enough.
"As the first step towards realizing ambition, shouldn't I hire a few more people? At an hourly wage of 1200 yen, I suppose."
Despite the absurdity of his words, Hal's mutterings sounded quite leisurely in tone.
Part 2
There were still fifteen minutes before morning homeroom.
It was currently early July with finals already over, leaving only the end-of-term ceremony and summer vacation ahead. Consequently, Year 1 Class F was filled with a lethargic atmosphere. Hal's classmates were chatting, passing manga around, playing with cellphones and even napping this early in the morning.
However, Asya was not present. Hal muttered quietly, "Maybe she's having breakfast at a fast food joint or beef bowl shop somewhere?"
"I also prepared the same breakfast for Asya-san as for you... I guess it will have to become a break time snack."
"There's also the option of secretly eating it during class."
While talking to Orihime, Hal went to sit down.
His seat was located in the last row next to the window with Juujouji Orihime seated on his right. Thinking about it now, compared to their first conversation in early spring, Hal realized that the situation had changed completely...
While reminiscing poignantly, Hal searched his schoolbag.
Then he took out two packs of cafe au lait that he had bought at a vending machine earlier.
"This is a return gift for breakfast."
"You're very welcome. Then I'll graciously accept your gift."
After accepting the cafe au lait, Orihime smiled mischievously.
Hal could not help but feel his heart pounding at the sight of her smile. Recently, although he did not know why, this rise in heart rate had been commonplace whenever he spent time with the cheerful, considerate and understanding Juujouji Orihime with her topnotch beauty and talent, outstanding figure and boundless initiative.
It was the same right now. Although this heart racing phenomenon left him completely baffled, he did not find it uncomfortable at all.
Still with his heart rate elevated, Hal took out the breakfast Orihime had prepared for him.
"Then I'm digging in."
"Yes, please enjoy... How's the taste?"
"Mmm. It's just as tasty as a normal BLT. Thanks."
"What a perfunctory comment as usual."
"Or perhaps to express my maximum gratitude for your personal cooking, how about I perform a prostration rite? I learned the formal method in Tibet before."
Hal began to recall his childhood memories.
"First put the palms together then raise them overhead. Then hit the ground as though performing a head sliding maneuver in baseball. It makes even more of an impact if the forehead strikes the ground spectacularly with bleeding."
"It's fine. You don't have to go that far."
Orihime smiled lightly while she spoke.
"I'll still prepare breakfast for you next time even without bloodshed. Although you won't end up starving, Haruga-kun, if I leave you alone, you certainly won't eat three meals normally."
"I'd rather you call it a lifestyle prioritizing efficiency... Eh?"
At this moment, Hal noticed. Several classmates nearby had pushed their chairs back in succession, stood up in a clatter and left their seats in a hurry.
The first to move was Takayama, the male student sitting in front of Hal.
The five or six classmates to get up next were also boys. Some of them walked to the blackboard while others left the classroom directly, distancing themselves from Hal and Orihime rapidly.
And for some reason, all of them kept clicking their tongue, their faces filled with anger and frustration...
"I wonder what's the matter with them?"
"Now that you mention it, I think something similar happened before. What the heck is going on?"
Orihime tilted her head in puzzlement and Hal fell silent too.
But before the answer surfaced, a certain girl burst out laughing "ahaha."
"Oh my, it's because the mood between you two was perfect—"
"Seeing the ever popular Juujouji-san getting lovey dovey with a boy next to them, of course they're going to be mad."
" "Lovey dovey?" "
The bearers of this shocking news to Hal and Orihime were two girls in the same class. One was the short-haired Mutou-san who sat in front of Orihime while the other was the twintailed Funaki-san adjacent to her.
Their full names were Mutou Natsumi and Funaki Kyouka respectively.
Due to the opportunity created by the June incident, Hal had gotten much closer to them bthan before.
"Really? So like before, everyone still thinks I'm going out with Juujouji."
Hal nodded with a sigh.
"It's really been too busy lately, so much I completely forgot this... The rumors still haven't fizzed out? It should be more interesting to follow gossip news on celebrities than us, right?"
"I thought it would last no more than seventy-five days. What unexpected longevity..."
"Because you two keep adding new fuel regularly."
In response to Orihime's puzzled countenance, Funaki-san offered her opinion, apparently knowledgeable of the reason. She was not only a classroom gossip enthusiast but also very informed and connected.
"Listen to what I heard—This morning, Juujouji-san proposed a plan about living at Haruga-kun's home, isn't that right?"
"Th-That isn't a plan, I was just bringing it up as a possibility!"
"In terms of scandal, there's no difference between the two—"
"Even when it was clearly just a joke?!"
Funaki-san's viewpoint brought shock to the unexpectedly careless school idol.
It looked like Juujouji Orihime had dug her own grave again. That being said, she deserved pity for the fact that a throwaway comment on the way to school had been overheard by nearby students.
Meanwhile, fellow UFO Research Club member Mutou-san spoke up and asked Hal, "Can I ask a question? But I'm directing this at Haruga-sensei, the expert in that field, rather than Haruga-kun the classmate."
"Sure, but do note that my three sizes are top secret, okay?"
"No problem. I'd use forceful measures if I wanted your three sizes. Putting that aside, this is an unfounded worry from the Mutou family's pair of slightly happy-go-lucky parents—Something about whether this Tokyo New Town is actually still livable despite the recent surge in incidents."
Originally smiling, Mutou-san gradually suppressed her expression and lowered her voice.
Indeed—The Tokyo Occupation incident had happened in June.
Back then, Mutou and Funaki had escaped the "cold sleep" curse and consequently witnessed the silver dragon Pavel Galad's "transformation" as well as the scene of Orihime and Asya summoning "serpents" as witches.
After that, Hal had partially disclosed the situation to the two girls on his own accord.
(But since the truth related to Hal's identity as a dragonslayer was a hassle, he had omitted it.)
Her inquiry was being made in consideration of Haruga Haruomi's status as an "expert" in that field.
The adjacent Orihime turned to look at Hal in interest. The talkative Funaki-san also quieted down with eyes of anticipation. Everyone was waiting for Hal's answer.
"Good question. I've mentioned it a bit before, lately several dragons have launched invasions in a contest to rule over the Tokyo area... This counts as the truth, I guess."
After thinking briefly, Hal continued, "Of course, it's possible that Tokyo might be attacked again by new dragons. However, Tokyo and its vicinity is currently the turf of someone considered quite powerful, even among the dragons. Depending on the situation, it might become more peaceful than before, actually."
Last month, Old Tokyo's "wedge" had fallen into the white dragon king's hands.
Princess Yukikaze. The bearer of the Rune of the Arrow, an adorable yet violent conqueror.
"Did you know? You can say that Dragon Strikes never happen in the New York area—the sphere of influence belonging to Red Hannibal, the representative of dragonkind."
"Hannibal... You mean the King of Dragons that appeared in July 1999!"
"That's him alright. Presumably, low-ranked dragons fear Hannibal, which is why they don't enter his territory lightly."
"Perhaps the same situation might happen in Tokyo—Is that what you mean, Haruga-kun?"
Impressive as always, the UFO Research Club's upcoming ace, one might say?
Mutou-san was able to put two and two together despite Hal's crude explanation. Orihime and Funaki-san both looked at her with impressed expressions.
"Of course, I can't promise you 100%. After all, dragons could descend from the sky no matter where on Earth you go," added Hal somewhat helplessly.
"If you look back in a few years' time—You might end up concluding it was safer to stay in Tokyo in the first place. So whether staying behind or moving away immediately, either's fine. Given the current situation, that's all I can say."
In fact, Hal had given the same explanation to Orihime not too long ago.
No sooner had Hal finished than Mutou-san nodded firmly.
"Since there's no way to reach an immediate conclusion, you might as well wait and see a bit longer huh..."
"Well, it's only my personal opinion. Depending on how the situation changes, you should make preparations to move any moment."
Hal reached into his schoolbag and took out his cellphone.
"By the way, my answer is 'okay' for what you requested of me earlier, with conditions attached. Regarding the 'serpents'—what we call leviathans in technical jargon—used to intercept unruly dragons, which you wanted to learn about in detail."
"Eh? Really?"
"Yes. As long as you agree, Mutou-san, I will send the file of this compilation, titled The Artificial Lifeform Known as the Leviathan and the Ultimate Truth of the World, an Introduction,' to your cellphone and computer."
"...How thoughtful. So what conditions do you intend to propose?"
Hearing Hal's suggestion, Mutou-san smiled malevolently.
"Haruga-san, you guys belong to an organization named SAURU, right? Are you asking me to join this secret association too? Or will you threaten me with men in black who'll abduct me if I leak this secret?"
"The exact opposite, Mutou-san. Do you want to work at my private firm?"
An hourly wage of 1200 yen for now, with additional hazard pay.
Of course, there was a nondisclosure clause whose violation would bring legal and magical retribution, but with it came the chance to fully learn so-called "world secrets." This did not rule out the possibility of aiding in future publications of knowledge obtained as a result.
With the atmosphere of a chat taking place in a classroom, Hal explained these conditions.
Since there were no boys nearby, only Orihime, Mutou-san and Funaki-san, this was a very promising recruitment.
The sudden proposal took Orihime and Mutou-san aback in surprise.
Meanwhile, the third girl present, Funaki-san, raised her hand with frightening vigor.
"Y-Yes yes! I want to apply for this job too! Hiring a high school girl for an hourly wage of 1200 yen is very generous. It's only around 800 at most for other places!"
"I happen to need a few helpers to aid in keeping details organized, so your help is very welcomed."
"Awesome!"
"H-Haruga-kun, are you really certain?"
"Don't worry, Juujouji. Since a while ago, I've intended to hire personnel to a certain extent."
Hal nodded readily at Orihime's confirmation.
Hence, the first recruitment target—Mutou-san—also raised a question.
"S-Since you're recruiting me, I suppose you also plan on inviting the other members of the UFO Research Club?"
"Yeah. The only male member apart from me is Sakuraba-senpai, right? I'd like to rope him in too. President M goes without saying, but she isn't really the employee type. I might as well put up all the capital and have her in charge of an entire shop."
Hal remarked enthusiastically in front of the three girls.
"Depending on the line of business, sales figures might turn out to be quite astounding."
"True, if she were to run a life coaching consultancy, business will definitely be booming... "
"A small tavern or bar might be a good fit... Although the president is still a minor despite appearances."
After Orihime and Mutou-san expressed agreement, the warning bell for class immediately rang.
Homeroom would start in five minutes. Orihime looked around the classroom.
"Asya-san is still not here. Is she oversleeping on Haruga-kun's behalf?"
"Oh, you guys didn't know? Lately, she's been coming to school early, looking like she's plenty busy. I saw her this morning too."
Funaki-san the gossip-lover told the two of them readily.
This was news not only to Orihime but Hal too.
"What is she doing so early in the morning at school?"
"Practice—No, I think she called it special training. It looks like she'll be late to class today, I guess?"
"Special training!?"
The unexpected description made Hal widen his eyes.
Part 3
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