Leviathan:Volume 7 Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - September Revolution

Part 1

"How boring—"

Luna Francois Gregory sighed.

"The plan is proceeding smoothly without any impediments at all. And to think that I painstakingly prepared countermeasures ahead of time to win over various people involved with SAURU in the Kantou region, for the purposes of poaching, tempting, bribing, negotiating, intimidating, threatening or extorting personnel."

"Miss Gregory, I believe it is a good thing for the plan to be proceeding smoothly."

"Of the countermeasures you listed, isn't the latter half somewhat problematic in character?"

Hiiragi Yukari had responded with a cordial smile while Kenjou Genya chimed in casually from the side.

Hiiragi-san was an intellectual beauty with spectacles in her twenties and served as the chief of SAURU's Kantou branch in Japan. In charge of SAURU's Tokyo New Town office, Kenjou was a good-looking man with unkempt facial hair.

The three of them were meeting at Yokohama's Chinatown.

The trio was sitting at the open terrace section of a Chinese restaurant that was a brief walk from the train station.

The dishes on the table not only included staples of Japanese-adapted Chinese dishes like chilli shrimp and mapo doufu but also luxury delicacies such as shark fin soup and abalone steak.

These were ordered by Luna, the master-class witch commanding an extraordinary income.

Yokohama City was the heartland of SAURU's Kantou branch.

Hiiragi Yukari's office was also situated in the city. As an executive of SAURU, Luna Francois Gregory had come to this city to meet face-to-face with members of the organization—

Naturally, this was to discuss clandestine plans.

"Because everyone was so cooperative. 'Are you willing to join us...?' The new organization, the GUILD, formed around Tokyo New Town's witches and Haruga Haruomi, requiring them to quit SAURU depending on circumstances—I can't believe that currently 68% of the Kantou personnel have agreed at the first opportunity."

Luna Francois was holding several A4-size sheets of computer printouts.

Having curled up the stack of paper, she was fanning herself.

It was the name list of hundreds of SAURU members active in the Kantou region. Those who had answered "YES" were crossed out in red.

The papers were marked full of red lines.

In addition, those who consented were enchanted wtih oath magic, sworn to absolute secrecy.

"I am happy that time was not wasted, but it is rather boring."

"It's only natural for people to decide this way."

"Because everyone at SAURU knows... At this rate, mankind will only continue to suffer under the dragons' oppression, headed on a slow course for destruction."

The master-class witch at the tender age of seventeen—Luna Francois.

As representatives of ordinary people, the two adults, Hiiragi and Kenjou, responded to her tactless lament.

"Whatever, things will soon be getting hectic anyway." Luna pouted with displeasure and used magic.

The list she had been using as a fan suddenly started to burn. Within the blink of an eye, the paper was incinerated into ash by a mysterious flame, disappearing into oblivion.

At the same time, the flame vanished. This was Tinder magic.

The entire process only lasted but an instant, hence nearby people would not notice.

Even had someone noticed, they probably would have convinced themselves it was merely a fire started from a lighter.

Such was the magical power and stylishness of a Level 5 witch, whose skill in even the smallest of magic spells would still dwarf that of weaker witches.

"Looks like there are no issues in the first stage of our plan, 'in any case, let's take over the Kantou region first.' Could you two continue with advance preparations inside the Kantou branch?"

"By the way, don't we need to deal with that guy?" Kenjou nodded and asked after receiving orders from Luna.

"That elite dragon has been reported lurking at Tokyo New Town in human form. I remember the first time when he appeared before us Japanese, the location was..."

"In front of the Yokohama Landmark Tower, right?"

Hiiragi Yukari was referring to a super tall building standing at a height of 296m.

As long as the sky was clear, It was possible to see this majestic structure even from Chinatown.

"An entity named Pavel Galad, a false dragon king like Haruomi-kun."

"Leave him be. Or rather, given the current circumstances, we have no choice but to ignore him for now."

Luna showed a serious look on her face for the first time since sitting down in the open-air seating in Chinatown.

The silver dragon, successor to the Rune of the Sword, was a formidable foe who posed a threat to Harry, the boy of her love. He was very likely going to be their biggest obstacle apart from the few dragon kings.

"During the summer vacation, we had the Metropolitan Police Department search New Town but all that turned up were a few eyewitness accounts. If an elite dragon with high intelligence and magical power was truly serious about infiltrating human society, it would be very difficult to root him out... Our long-time worries have now been proven true."

During the summer, Hal and company had gone off on expeditions one after another to Izu, the American East Coast and other places.

With the turbulent vacation concluded a few days ago, September was now rolling around. For high school students like Luna Francois and Haruga Haruomi, it was also the beginning of the second school term.

After returning to Japan from New York, while drafting up plans for the GUILD, Luna and others have not lowered their guard against "the enemies."

The enemies. Countless dragons as well as Pavel Galad.

Most prominently, there was the queen who had declared Tokyo as her territory. The white dragon making her temporary residence at the Old Tokyo Concession, Princess Yukikaze—

President M, a wielder of mysterious powers whom even Luna could not ignore, had issued the following warning.

'I have been feeling uneasy the whole time recently.'

'There is a very strong premonition—Something huge will happen to the city in the near future and might need your party's power.'

Would the cause of a huge incident be Princess Yukikaze? Pavel Galad? Or a dragon previously unencountered?

Regardless, Tokyo New Town's current situation must be very dangerous.

Part 2

"Uwah... This is weird after all~"

Funaki-san—Funaki Kyouka—looked at her hand and frowned.

She was sitting in a train, what would be known as commoner's locomotion, taking the New Town Loop Line which circled Tokyo New Town, gazing at the pocket watch she had taken out from her schoolbag.

"It's been like this all the time recently."

This was a old-fashioned pocket watch with a long hand, a short hand, and a hand for indicating seconds.

The watch was just big enough to hold in one's hand. Currently, the three hands were spinning nonstop, like a compass under interference.

This was not Funaki-san's own possession. Her classmate, Haruga Haruomi had lent it to her.

This classmate, reputedly a treasure hunter and a mage for two generations starting from his father, always looking sleepy, had cast a certain spell on his personal pocket watch before lending it to her.

This was Sense Magical Power.

"When something or someone possessing powerful magic is nearby... Or some kind of creature, the tip of the long hand will point directly at the source—I remember that's what Haruga-kun said."

He apparently used this spell for hunting treasure.

Before the summer vacation, Funaki-san had asked him to lend her a "searching tool" so that she would instantly know whenever the silver dragon in the guise of the super handsome guy was nearby.

His answer was "Stealth magic can counter it, so just remember this thing isn't infallible."

However, if the other party were using stealth magic, the hands on the watch would simply remain still'. Normally speaking, the hands would not spin nonstop like now.

This response had started appearing late August.

She had discovered it while strolling around New Town.

"So this means that something weird is going to happen all over Tokyo... Right?" Funaki-san murmured.

'Haruga-kun, are you there? I'm at Class F's homeroom.'

"I'm still in school, killing time on the roof right now," Hal's answer sounded even more lethargic than usual.

It was early September, during the second school term, on an afternoon after lessons were over.

The one calling Hal's cellphone was his classmate Mutou-san. Recently, she had been helping out as a part-time employee with business matters in the founding of the GUILD.

Also, in contrast to Hal, Mutou-san's tone was energetic as always and full of cheer.

'What? That's just upstairs. I'll go find you. Don't go anywhere.'

"You're going to make a special trip?"

'Yes, I need to return the report to you. The collection of dragon trivia that's usually treasured secretly at the Haruga residence.'

"You sure read fast. Didn't I lend it to you only three days ago?"

'Because it's interesting stuff. If possible, please bring me something else to read tomorrow. See you later.'

Mutou-san hung up, so Hal put his cellphone away.

It had probably been two months since he started providing knowledge about dragons and magic to Mutou-san. Extremely thirsting for "knowledge of that sort" to begin with, the classmate read the materials with unexpected speed, reaching a level of comprehension that would put even SAURU members to shame.

I must keep increasing the number of people famililar with this type of knowledge...

Leaning against the railing, Hal thought to himself absentmindedly.

Looking down at the sports field from a height of fifteen meters, he naturally noticed.

"As one might expect... Much fewer than before."

Hal was referring to the number of people hanging around on campus.

Students participating in club activities or on their way home seemed to be fewer than even during the first school term—

This was merely Hal's personal impression, so he could be mistaken. However, it was the truth that after suffering dragon attacks repeatedly, some of Tokyo New Town's residents had decided to "move away or evacuate temporarily."

"Oh, I found you at last. Hello, Haruga-kun."

A voice called out to him from behind.

The telephone conversation had ended less than ten minutes ago and Mutou-san was already here. She was a short-haired girl with plenty of energy in both mind and body.

"Here you go. This is what I need to return to you."

Receiving the documents she handed to him, Hal nodded. "I got it. Then I'll pick out something for you tomorrow."

"Sorry for troubling you all the time. Say, Haruga-kun, are you currently writing that GUILD proposal?"

"Yeah, I even used your opinion for reference, to make a revised version."

"Have you addressed the part that everyone was concerned about? Basically, it would be desirable to have a theme that could serve as the mission statement for the second stage of 'the first stage is establishing the new organization GUILD, while the second stage is to take control of Japan's Kantou region,' something that could represent the organization.""

"This aspect is still fluid, so there's currently no way to make an official announcement yet."

Hal was quite vague.

"But we have a number of plans prepared behind the scenes. While I was in America, I came up with many different ideas."

"Oh?"

"Well, when the time comes, I'll ask you to help out."

"Understood~ Oh right, on an unrelated note..."

Mutou-san suddenly pointed behind her—The entrance to the school building's roof. The metal door had separated from its hinges and was lying on the floor.

"What's with that door?"

"Oh... During summer, it was malfunctioning a bit and couldn't be opend. I think someone broke it off by force."

"Oh~ And that door was so sturdy too."

Mutou-san widened her eyes, very impressed.

In fact, the hinges were made of metal too. If one were to look closely, they would discover that the hinges were ripped apart by brute force.

Fortunately, Mutou-san did not seem to have noticed.

Smiling, she bid Hal goodbye and left the roof.

"Kukukuku... Even you do not have the guts to admit that you were the perpetrator, huh?"

"Duh? I intend to finish my school life as 'an unassuming male student.' Besides, no one will believe that it was done by someone like me who looks like a weakling."

After Mutou-san left, a young girl in a kimono appeared.

Needless to say, this was the haughty and conceited former dragon king, Hinokagutsuchi. Laughing maliciously, she was looking at the top of Hal's head.

"The wisdom of Ruruk Soun—You are fairly experienced at using it now."

"So-so, I suppose. But this time, even I think I overdid it. This is beyond using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, it's using a sledgehammer to smash a speck of dust."

Someone with magical sight, such as a witch, probably would see five magic symbols on top of Hal's head, releasing potent magical power.

They were runes of Ruruk Soun, different from any language in the world.

The arrangement signified "telekinesis." This was magic for moving objects by emitting mental energy invisible to the naked eye.

—Thirty minutes earlier, Hal wanted to come to the roof but discovered that the door could not be opened. It looked like it had malfunctioned over the summer break.

Hal originally thought of giving up, then an idea occurred to him.

Could the telekinesis magic used by the first elite dragon he encountered, Raak Al Soth, be applied to this kind of situation?

...The reason why he had used such a mystic technique in this situation was ultimately due to his unease, probably.

Hal and his faction's current position was quite precarious. Even disregarding President M's warning, it was still necessary to be on maximum alert.

In that case, shouldn't Haruga Haruomi get used to "the wisdom of dragons" that he had yet to explore?

Since he did not know when he might need this power...

"Although I accidentally broke the door because I didn't control my strength with enough care—" Hal said quietly. "I feel like praising myself on a job well done, actually. As long as I master this magic, it's definitely possible to uproot the entire school building and suspend it in the air. The power of elite dragons is truly amazing..."

"Hmph. Compared to elites, your current power is closer to the dragon kings."

Hinokagutsuchi did not hide the smile of mockery on her face at all.

"Let alone suspending a building in the air, pulverizing it would undoubtedly be an easy task."

"Sheesh... Whatever, looks like there's no problem. It's time for me to leave. I still need to meet with Luna and the others."

"Oh?"

Hal shrugged and the eyes of the former queen of dragons instantly brightened up.

"Will the little lass with the big appetite be there?"

"No, but one of either Juujouji or Shirasaka will come. Hii—the adults on good terms with us might be present too. What's it to you?"

"Nothing of consequence. Just do your work, brat."

Hal turned his back to the maliciously smiling Hinokagutsuchi and walked to the entrance that was missing a door.

His expression was lacking in motivation and passion, the same as usual. However, Hal was feeling quite anxious inside.

Hii____. Ke____.

He could not recall the names of the two adults who were on very good terms with his group.

What a disgrace to be so forgetful at the young age of sixteen. Pretending nothing had happened, Hal took out his cellphone and swiftly operated the touchscreen to check his contact list.

Oh right. Hiiragi-san and Kenjou-san.

Hinokagutsuchi's sharp gaze was stabbing into Hal's back.

Just before leaving, Hal glanced back, only to see the self-styled devil in the guise of a young girl seeing him off, gazing at him gently as though she were observing the ecology of an exotic beast.

Part 3

After Hal left the roof of the school building, three hours went by all at once.

The venue for his meeting with his companions was a suite in a luxury hotel. Luna Francois' room.

He came here from school, but—

"...So as things stand, Harry, SAURU's Kantou branch is practically standing on our side. Young and possessing the power of dragonbane, our ability to gather support is far higher than those conservative Grandmas at the Salem headquarters."

"I-I see. Yeah, not surprising..."

After listening to Luna's report, Hal replied stiffly.

He was lying on a bed so large that having just one person sleeping in it would be a waste.

He was not relaxed. In fact, it was the opposite. His voice was high-pitched and his entire body was stiff from tension.

"Although they contributed to SAURU in the past, those Grandmas' policy... 'Not letting commoners know of the existence of magic and witches' is far too behind the times."

"Yeah. It's only because they used to be irreplaceable."

In contrast, Luna was very calm.

"More importantly, Harry, how are you feeling right now?"

"A-Awkward, I guess, or maybe uncomfortable..."

"Just relax your body. Let yourself go and leave everything to me."

Luna Francois was speaking in a sultry yet calm voice.

She was sitting on the same bed that Hal was lying on, resting his head on top of her soft thighs.

Apart from that, Luna was using a wooden ear pick, gently cleaning Hal's ear canal.

"How is it? Is it getting more and more pleasurable?"

"Ah... Well... Yeah."

"Fufufufu. Harry, you're finally being honest♪"

Luna's service was not limited to ear cleaning.

She was dressed in a purple China dress, apparently bought from Yokohama's Chinatown.

Famous for the way it accentuated a woman's curves, it clung tightly to Luna Francois' magnificently well-developed body.

Hal thought back to thirty minutes agao.

'My apologies, but I cannot go today.'

'Sorry, Senpai, please send my regards to Luna-san.'

Soon after entering Luna's room, Hal received these two texts.

They came from Juujouji Orihime and Shirasaka Hazumi respectively. Hal dared to visit the room of the boldly affectionate Luna only because he heard they were coming along.

He had not expected to be alone with her.

Furthermore, Luna was dressed in an extremely seductive China dress.

Just as Hal felt his heart rate rise, Luna told him to sit on the bed. He obeyed on reflex then—

'By the way, Harry, I have a great idea!'

Thus, Luna started to clean his ears. Unable to refuse, he was stuck and the situation unfolded to this point.

Perhaps he should have acted like a man to refuse her with determination.

However, one could hardly blame him. Because Luna had tearfully begged him "if you don't let me clean your ears, my motivation to work might be gone irrevocably" in practically a threat. As a high school boy, trying to reject the temptation of a beauty in a China dress was truly a tough challenge...

"How are things on your end?" Luna suddenly inquired. "Haven't you been contacting people involved in Tokyo New Town's efforts to resist dragons?"

"Yeah."

The gentle movements in his ear felt more and more comfortable.

More importantly, Luna's soft thighs were perfect in temperature. Savoring the indescribable sense of satisfaction, Hal said, "I asked Juujouji's grandfather for a favor... to let me contact some of the sponsors of witches in New Town and the Kantou region."

So-called sponsors made up the "committee" that funded witches and leviathan operations.

This included businesses, capitalists, religious organizations, NGOs, and local authorities based in these lands. In fact, as an important figure in certain publicly listed companies, Orihime's grandfather was also a member of this type of committee.

"It doesn't matter whether or not we're part of SAURU. The key point is our ability to assist in defending Tokyo and the Kantou region as before... That's what they said."

"In other words, we're not allowed to take Orihime-san and Hazumi-san away, is that right?"

"Yeah. As long as we agree to this stipulation, they basically don't care if SAURU turns into GUILD—Something like that."

"A verbal agreement alone isn't very reliable..."

"Maybe contract magic can be used for assurance..."

"Leave this to me to handle."

A seductive smile appeared on the corners of Luna's lips in stark contrast to her gentle motions in Hal's ear.

In this area, she and Haruga Haruomi were "birds of a feather" and so could quickly reach consensus. The two of them were not naive enough to easily trust in other people's benevolence and verbal promises.

"Say, Harry... Why are you shutting your eyes?"

"Huh?"

Hal was lying on his side to let Luna clean his left ear.

His other ear and the right half of his face was buried in Luna Francois' thighs. He was keeping both his eyes tightly shut.

"Simply stated, it's so that I won't lose to my own cowardice..."

"What do you mean? Please explain concretely♪"

Luna was questioning Hal in a teasing manner. Her hand did not pause in her ear cleaning motions. Extremely high on the impish attribute, she must have seen right through Haruga Haruomi's mind.

However, Hal would rather die than admit defeat, so he tried to resist.

"Because I'd be at a bit of loss where to look if I opened my eyes."

"There is nothing in this room that you're not allowed to look at, you know? Even Luna Francois in the bath, fully nude, is a sight I will allow you to enjoy for free."

"W-Well..."

"Fufufufu. Harry, look into my eyes. Please."

Luna's voice was incomparably seductive.

She finally stopped her hand and gently caressed Hal's hair.

If he were to lose to this sweet temptation, he would have to offer his soul... These were the devil's whispers. Despite knowing that, Hal ultimately succumbed to temptation.

He opened his eyes and looked up.

This was to gaze upon Luna Francois' lovely face—But there was something obstructing his view.

Ostensibly G-cup by visual estimates, the magnificent bust was in front of him, preventing Hal from seeing the blonde beauty's eyes and face.

Due to Luna wearing a China dress, the size and shape of her bust was clear to see.

Speaking of which, he had experienced something similar before.

It was when he had fainted at an open-air bath in Izu and Orihime had used her lap as a pillow for him to lie on. However, he had closed his eyes instantly back then, so it was hard to say that he truly "saw."

But this time was different.

He stared intently and directly at the view before him, engraving it into his mind concretely.

"Do you know, Harry? If you look at me so passionately... It makes me nervous."

"Ehhh!?"

Hal jumped in surprise due to the suddenness.

"Look."

Luna picked up Haruga Haruomi's left hand and guided him to touch her magnificent bust of cheating proportions.

Badump. Badump. Badump. Badump.

Her heartbeat could be felt through the palm of his left hand.

This was the same heartbeat he had felt a number of times so far when using the sun-shooting divine bow, a technique of assured annihilation.

"How is it? Can you feel... my heartbeat?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Perhaps this isn't bad after all. I could get addicted to this."

"W-What isn't bad?"

"Letting you touch me when it's not battle related. It feels so reassuring. Don't hold back, I allow you to touch me any time, okay?"

"I think I... need to hold back."

"Fufufufu. Harry, you're such a liar."

"W-Why do you say that?"

"Because it's clearly written on your face, 'I don't want to hold back'."

"......"

"Hey Harry, if possible, try to make me more nervous, okay? Also, I'd like to make your heart beat faster and faster so that we pass the same time together."

"We could... play a game or something?"

"Jeez, Harry, you're lying again. Look at your face, you know clearly what we need to do. There's a bed here, we're alone together, and night happens to be falling soon—There is so much time left. Don't you think it's an excellent opportunity?"

"U-Uh, well, what can I say!?"

Hal felt as though he was slowly getting caught in a spider's web.

Things would be bad at this rate. He might fail to resist. For some reason, Juujouji Orihime's face surfaced momentarily in Hal's mind, then he thought of his childhood friend's current residence. Yes, using this as an excuse would be more natural...

"I have an appointment with Asya later. Isn't she living in the suite next to yours? I was thinking now that I'm here already, I might as well discuss things with her too!"

"Oh dear, is that so? What a shame."

Unexpectedly, Luna did not push the issue.

Bringing her lips to Hal's ear, she spoke softly in a gentle voice contrary to her usual diabolical image, "But remember this well, Harry. The door to my room will remain open to you at all times. If you ever feel the need to make memories with Luna Francois, be it midnight, 3am or 4am, come over immediately. Got that?"

Rather than the devil, Luna's words seemed to evoke more of an image of a tender loving goddess.

Hal nodded subconsciously.

"Haruomi, did you take an afternoon nap? Your face looks all energized."

Asya's question made Hal jump in surprise.

He was certain that he had his expression suppressed calmly as usual with no signs of being subjected to temptation in Luna's room just now.

Recently, the silver-haired childhood friend had been quite sharp in unusual areas.

"I didn't take a nap. It's probably because I slept in later than usual today. Now that the plan has entered the execution stage, I have far fewer things to do as the one in charge."

"The color in your face definitely looks better than before the summer break."

Hal picked a safe reason and Asya did not press the matter.

The two of them were taking the New Town Loop Line towards Narihirabashi. This was the station closest to Hal's home. Instead of sitting down, they were standing, Gripping the overhead handhold rings.

It was 7pm on a weeknight but there were few passengers.

"By the way, you don't really need to send me all the way home."

"Why not? I happen to be free. You had a meeting with Luna before coming to find me, right?"

"...Yeah."

"Then let's chat until we reach your house."

"Sure."

"By the way, have you read Funaki-san's report? She said that the magical power detector has had mysterious responses all over New Town."

"Sure enough, it must be that Galad guy or some other dragon, right?"

"Could it be Princess Yukikaze?"

"I don't think the princess would stoop to such silliness."

Hal found it odd when conversing with Asya.

Was his childhood friend, whom he had known for so many years, ever the type to seize initiative when dealing with him?

Asya had been acting weird lately. Her bottomless abyss of a stomach had now become smaller than a normal person's capacity, while her behavior emanated a kind of subtle "femininity"—

When in her company, he could not stop thinking ridiculous thoughts.

Indeed, Asya even kissed him that time in New York.

This had been hanging on Hal's mind ever since. The same kind of "atmosphere" had not arisen again between the two of them, but somehow, he could not forget it just like that...

Hal suddenly thought of Orihime.

Undoubtedly, Orihime was a special member of the opposite sex from Haruga Haruomi's perspective. While reporting on work progress to his inseparable childhood friend, he would subconsciously think of Orihime. Just now when spending time with Luna too, and currently while talking to Asya—

Doing this sort of thing made him want to see Orihime badly.

At that moment, Asya launched a surprise attack as though she had read his mind.

"This is a goodnight kiss. See you tomorrow."

It happened just as he reached Narihirabashi, got off the train, and was walking along the street at night, chatting about all kinds of things.

Asya suddenly kissed Hal on the cheek.

Furthermore, she departed swiftly without looking back, leaving Hal rooted to the spot, so shaken that he could not utter a single word.

While Hal was staring blankly at his childhood friend walking away, the following thought occurred to him again.

I really want to see her face—Orihime's.

There should be a few pictures on his cellphone, taken by chance. Hal took out his phone, thinking of looking at Orihime's face, and discovered something.

There was a text from Shirasaka Hazumi.

'If you have time, Senpai, would you mind paying a visit to Nee-sama's house? Together with her, I will be waiting for you there.'

Not only Orihime but even her cousin Hazumi were there.

Hal rushed back home and took out the scooter parked in the yard. He had started riding it recently to travel more efficiently around the city.

Part 4

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