Volume 3, Chapter 2: After a Day of Rest

A breeze blew in the morning. Leerin felt as if she hadn't slept the night before. This strange feeling came about because of what had happened the day before yesterday. Whatever had happened, the passing of a day had put that event in the past. Time was merciless, but it treated everyone fairly. No matter how astonished and shocked Leerin was, it wasn't possible to reverse the flow of time.

As she neared the school, she heard other classmates greeting each other. She only joined them, as she walked on the path shaded by tree canopy that headed towards the school entrance.

"Fu...." She had been sighing continuously since morning, and she was aware of the reason behind it.

"....The muscles on my back are twisted."

All of a sudden, something intruded from behind Leerin's armpits to grab hold of her breasts.

"Ahahahahahaha!!"

A pair of hands was caressing her front. Because it was so sudden, Leerin had dropped her schoolbag and stood spaced out for a little while.

"Oh, Leerin's chest is the same as before. It feels good."

"....Please stop voicing your lamentations so deeply."

A face leaped into Leerin's line of sight.

"Ah~ If I don't do this, I can't feel the arrival of a new day."

"Please get rid of your habit.."

Long black hair covered a large part of Leerin's vision. The "hehe" laughter ruined the elegant face that the black hair revealed.

"But Lee-chan's breasts feel too good."

"That's not true."

Finally escaping the evil palms, Leerin felt helpless.

Synola Aleisla. She belonged to the research laboratory that was located in the same area of the school. Leerin felt many gazes on her side.

A body that matched her long limbs.... The protruding parts and depressions of Synola's body were perfectly outlined. Lab personnel had no uniform. Synola's clothes seemed to emphasize her body build, so it couldn't be helped that she stood out in the crowd.

"No, no. It's a shame really, but whether it feels good or not is meaningless to the owner of the body. It's your body after all, but it isn't necessarily the best for anyone. What's most important is that it suits my hands. That feeling of being just right, but with enough left over. That's a soft feeling that no sweets can match. Ah~~"

Synola looked like she was reminiscing something really deep.. She started to shake her head like an old man.

"You're the best."

"....Please stop," Leerin said.

Synola really didn't look normal to be able to say something like this early in the morning. Besides, she was gesturing before Leerin's breast as she said that.

"....Well, did something happen to Leerin-chan?"

"Huh?"

Synola's hands returned to her pant pockets. Her expression turned back to normal. She was already beautiful, and that pose made people's hearts jump.

"You've been sighing while fidgeting. This says that something's happened."

"Ah...." Leerin thought she had done enough to cover her worries, but it seemed she had failed.

"Sorry."

"Hmm~, Isn't it meaningless to apologize to me?"

"Yeah...."

"Never mind. It's ok if you don't want to explain."

Sometimes Leerin wanted to pull in that distance, but their relationship was far apart. She was thankful for Synola's sensitivity, her ability to see through what should be and should not be touched, but she also felt her own inadequacy in this area.

(Maybe I can try telling her?)

She looked at Synola. Either way, as a beautiful woman, she was somewhat strange in wanting to touch other girls' breasts. And for some reason, Synola started laughing in that 'hehe' way.

(Um....)

"Ah, cookies are nice, but it's not bad to try fruits sometimes."

"Ha?"

"I'm saying Lee-chan's breasts are very soft, and they're also bouncy. This is great! To put it the other way....they feel like cookies."

"....Thanks."

"So I say cookies are always the best, but I can better experience that feeling by not eating cookies all the time. So it's good to change taste sometime and try the hard nut."

Her hands moved.

"Like this. I can feel their weight by holding their bottoms, and caress them with that resistant feeling of hardness. I guess they don't lose their shape in sleep....I can feel them by searching and touching like this."

"Just what are you saying?"

"Ah, it's not bad to touch Lee-chan's breasts like this sometimes, but wouldn't that hurt? I can't do something that makes you hate me."

"Just what are you saying!?" Leerin shouted angrily with her face all red. Synola showed no intention of answering.

"I was just talking to myself ambitiously."

Looking at Synola's breasts, Leerin burst out. "Isn't your ambition over there....?"

(Ah....Grendan is so peaceful.)

This was the Lance Shelled City, Grendan, a city that had more fights with filth monsters than any other city in the world. Every year there were five to six emergencies. As the emergency siren sounded, Grendan's residents would move towards the shelters as if they were out on a road trip. They followed the procedures without pushing and fighting for a place in the shelter.

Yes, that wasn't necessary at all, because their Queen was leading them. A Queen who also was a Heaven's Blade successor.

Alsheyra Almonise.

Grendan was probably the only city that had experienced this much danger, but Grendan's residents believed it was the safest city on earth. Under the protection of the Queen and the Heaven's Blade successors, the threat of filth monsters was nothing. Grendan had also fought many times against filth monsters in their mature phases, and that wasn't recorded in Grendan's history books. In the fifteen years of Leerin's life, Grendan had fought those mature forms many times.

The number of fights the city encountered was unusual for a mobile city that aimed to evade as many filth monsters as possible. Even if a large number of filth monsters stood in Grendan's path, Grendan did nothing to change its path and avoid them. Some people from other cities even called Grendan "A city that has gone mad".

Leerin thought that that might be true. Her conviction received support when she read from Layfon's letters that Zuellni had not encountered any filth monsters for a long while. Even so, there were also the Heaven's Blade successors in Grendan. The people relied on their skills to protect them.

After parting with Synola, Leerin headed for her classroom. She greeted her classmates, went to her seat, and once again fell into her own thoughts. She was thinking of what had happened to her.

"Sorry, please let me protect you for now," Savaris said on the rooftop.

"Uh...."

"Your question is rejected," Lintence said.

"Sorry about this, but that's the way it is," Savaris apologized.

"But, Layfon...." Leerin wanted to say more, but fell silent when she glanced at Lintence.

No one would disobey a Heaven's Blade successor in Grendan. That wasn't a law, it was just a mutual habit of everyone living in this city.

"I won't interfere with your daily life....until something happens. Meaning what concerns me is the time when you're alone. If possible, I hope you can refuse even your friends' invitations. Find some reasonable excuse."

"Um....Am I being targeted?"

"I said your question is rejected....never mind."

Savaris nodded with a sour smile. "Yes, you're being targeted. I know you want to know why, and what people have targeted you, but please don't ask."

"....And this is related to Layfon?"

That was what Savaris said in the Resting Room.

Lintence said any questions were rejected. Any resident of Grendan would listen to him. Any of them would think nothing bad would come out of listening to a Heaven's Blade successor.

Leerin felt the same. But if this had to do with Layfon.. And that was the only thing she couldn't keep silent about.

Lintence's gaze turned intense. Leerin failed to move under that pressure.

"Ah....I told her that," Savaris sighed.

In that split second, Leerin was released. Her body trembled as if her bones were broken. Her legs had lost their strength, and she sat down on the rooftop. Savaris, who received Lintence's gaze in her place, didn't look pressured at all. He shook his head.

"Then I'll just tell you this. This is related to Layfon. You're involved in something that's got nothing to do with you. That's all I can say."

(....Meaning, this is Layfon's world.)

Meaning.

This was the other world of Grendan.

◇

Within the cheering in the shop, a waitress placed a bowl in front of Layfon.

"Please enjoy," she smiled and walked to the screen. The screen was showing a platoon match in the war field.

"....Is this ok?"

"Huh?" Layfon looked back at Meishen, who was peeking at him.

A bowl of noodles also sat in front of her. The smell of food tickled her nose.

"Is it ok not to watch the platoon match?"

"Ah, yeah, the captain's watching it."

Nina had gone to the match with a camera, wearing a serious expression. They would probably watch this video when they next had training.

"So it's ok. Don't worry about it."

"I see."

Meishen looked to be finally at ease.

This shop was always full because of their delicious noodles, but today, the shop was surprisingly empty. The few customers sitting in the shop were watching the screen, so no one sat around Layfon's table. Everyone must have gone to watch the platoon match.

Because the audience seats were booked out, lots of people would have gathered outside to watch the match on the giant screen. For this shop that only had a small screen to offer, of course the number of customers was small.

"Thanks to that, we don't have to wait long for the food. We're lucky," Layfon concluded, picked up his fork and attacked the noodles.

"Ah, yes...." Even so, Meishen still nodded awkwardly and picked up her fork in haste.

(Well, this can't be helped.)

Because Naruki and Mifi weren't here.

Originally, Layfon planned to invite all three as thanks for Meishen's bento.

"We can't go," Mifi had said.

The shop was nearly empty, but Meishen still failed to calm down. It would have been better if the other two girls were here.

(Why didn't they come?)

Naruki said she had something on, but Mifi's sly smile seemed to suggest she was hiding something.

Because Layfon had received his pay for cleaning at the Mechanical Department, he had wanted to treat the three of them.

Originally he planned to work at the Mechanical Department for his school fees, but Karian had transferred him to Military Arts and waived all his fees, so now he had spare money.

"Ha.... Wu...." Meishen moaned at her failure at coiling the noodles around her fork.

Looking at Meishen, Layfon wondered whether he should have delayed the date and waited till all three girls could come.

"Sorry...."

"Huh, Huh?" Meishen lifted her head to look at him fearfully. The noodles that she finally managed to roll up fell back into the bowl.

"I'm thinking whether it might have been better if I had waited till the three of you could come together...."

"Noooottttt. Not at all."

"Really?"

"Yeah, yeah. Yes," Face reddening, Meishen continued to work on the noodles.

Layfon pushed down the impulse to repeat himself, and continued to eat.

Sudden cheers filled the shop. Meishen looked over, and so did Layfon.

"....What's happened?"

"Sorry, I can't see it either."

They couldn't see the screen because of the employees and other customers gathering before it. He could have strengthened his hearing with internal Kei, but he wasn't that interested in the match.

"....You don't seem to be concerned."

"Um?"

"About winning or losing a match."

"Yeah, I suppose."

"So you're still not interested in it now?"

"Um....not really."

"Layfon isn't concerned about his opponents because he's very strong?"

"Not really. It's just that...."

"Ah, I'm sorry...." Meishen lowered her head, feeling as if she had asked too much.

"Oh, no. I don't feel like that. Um....how should I put it?" he paused.

"....Military Artists are always the center of attention in Grendan."

"....Center of attention?"

"Yeah. You know that Grendan has an unusual number of encounters with filth monsters?"

"....Yes."

"There're lots of people in Grendan who can use Kei, but it's totally different for one to use that Kei to fight filth monsters...."

"Especially in Grendan, a place having numerous fights with filth monsters, those Military Artists are valued. So between Military Artists, there are many matches like the platoon matches here. There are also official contests to choose members who are to fight filth monsters. In Grendan, one must obtain acknowledgment in an official match to become a Military Artist."

To Layfon, the students of Zuellni were too lax. Although he never let down his guard in a platoon match, he had never felt the tension he had back in Grendan. He was better at fighting without knowing any information beforehand. He could concentrate more in a fight when he was ignorant of everything.

On some level of meaning, perhaps he really was despicable.

But that was matter of fact in a match. One couldn't always wait for five minutes before a war starts.

"I've heard of it, something about a title that Grendan's Queen gives. Has Layton participated in that kind of a contest?"

"Yes."

Not only that, but he had also obtained the title that the Queen gave out - a Heaven's Blade successor.

He didn't have the courage to tell Meishen and her friends about that.

Either way, he did something that caused the Queen to take back his title. He didn't think he was in the wrong, but in the end, what he did was a big issue against the city's system. He was afraid that Meishen and her friends would fear him.

(Do I really have an issue inside me?)

He remembered those sad eyes of Nina's when she knew of his past. Would that pair of eyes appear on another person too?....Thinking of that, everything became painful for him.

"....Have you also fought filth monsters?"

"Yeah."

Layfon was unsure whether it was because his answer was too simple, but Meishen had a shocked expression on her face.

"....Weren't you scared?"

"Huh?"

"I was so scared when that happened not long ago. I was in the shelter all the time, not like Naruki and Layton, fighting out there....Thinking that I might die, I was very scared."

"But that's a part of any Military Artist's job."

"Naruki wants to be a policewoman, and Layfon....You don't want to be like that, do you?"

"No, but...."

In a world where humanity could only survive in cities, a world where Military Artists were a threat to filth monsters....For Military Artists to be given privileges in cities, they weren't permitted to run away from filth monsters.

This was the absolute rule of any city.

(Even so, I want to abandon my identity as a Military Artist.)

He didn't resent Karian for transferring him into Military Arts anymore, but he hadn't removed all of his dissatisfaction with Karian for preventing his dream from becoming a reality.

(Perhaps....)

Perhaps the part of him in Grendan didn't want him to abandon his identity as a Military Artist. It seemed almost impossible to give up Military Arts and pick up something else. It was like starting all over again, walking an even harder and more painful road.

The name Layfon Alseif was taboo in Grendan.

(Her Majesty had no choice but to exile me.)

He shook his head, scolding himself for revisiting the possibility of returning to Grendan and realizing how foolish he was to consider it.

"Layton?"

"Uh? Ah, nothing."

Meishen's bowl was empty.

"Shall we go to another shop for dessert? It's noisy here."

"Huh? Um, OK."

"Do you know of any good places around?" Layfon said.

"....Um, anywhere is fine?"

"Anywhere's fine if you think it's good."

"Then, just a little bit farther from here."

"Let's go then."

Meishen led him out and in the direction of the school where many facilities were gathered.

"Is it ok there?"

"Yeah, it's got some very delicious ice cream."

"Oh, um, that's all?"

The place they were heading for was near the school, but it was different from the place they went to everyday. Layfon wasn't aware of such a shop.

"I chanced across it a few days ago."

Walking and talking like that, Meishen seemed quite happy. The tension she held back in the shop was gone. She seemed to have gradually gotten used to not having Naruki and Mifi around.

(Does that mean she's accepted me?)

He felt that this was his proof for getting used to his life in Zuellni.

They came to a park. The gaps between the trees fencing the park revealed a few school buildings. Inside the parks were also a large number of trees. A place to put one's worries at ease.

"This is close to the Alchemy course campus."

"Yeah."

It was the weekend, and smoke in hard-to-believe colors blew out from the windows of an Alchemy building. Someone must be conducting some strange experiment. Although Layfon didn't know whether the experiment was a success or not, he hoped there wasn't any harmful substance mixed in that smoke. As for his lack of surprise in the sounding of the alarm, that must be more proof of his being inured to life in the Academy city.

"It's that stall over there," Meishen pointed at a stall painted in the colors of the rainbow. She too, didn't seem to notice the alarm going off.

"A stall?" He thought they were only taking a shortcut through the park.

"I found it by coincidence. Great that it's open today."

For sure. Most people should be gathered at the war field or outside it, so the chance of the stall opening today couldn't be that high.

Meishen ordered an orthodox vanilla flavored ice-cream. Layfon spent some time worrying about picking a not too sweet ice-cream and in the end decided on one with a soft serve yogurt.

"You don't seem to like sweets, sorry...."

"Not a problem. This is delicious."

Actually, the soft serve yogurt suited his tastes perfectly. While looking around for a nearby bench as he licked the ice-cream, someone caught his attention.

Two people, one riding a wheelchair

"....Ah."

"Ah...."

Having noticed each other, Layfon and the person sitting on the bench next to the wheelchair called out.

"Good afternoon. How unexpected meeting you here," Harley said.

So to speak with Harley, Layfon stuffed the ice-cream in his mouth and stood up from the chair to wave at him.

"Good afternoon. Did you go to the lab today too?"

"Yeah, just to accompany someone. We're restocking some sugar for the brain," Harley said with a that's-how-it-is expression as he looked at the person eating ice-cream in the wheelchair.

That person hadn't yet turned his head around.

"He's Kirik Seron. We work in the same lab."

Kirik stared at Harley with a troublesome gaze, but Harley ignored him.

"You said you wanted company. Oh, he's Layfon."

"....What did you say?" Kirik's gaze swung to Layfon.

A delicate face and pale, unhealthy skin from spending too much time indoors. Kirik gave off the weak air of a patient, which might have something to do with the wheelchair he was sitting in. But the way he glared at Layfon swept clean that feeling of weakness he gave off.

"So you were the one who destroyed my work?"

"Work?"

"He made your new Dite."

"Oh...."

In the previous fight with the filth monster in its aged phase, Layfon was given a Dite that was combined with different types of alloys. And the inventor of that Dite refused to show himself using the excuse of his dislike of meeting strangers....

"Really, you really did it. Rather than letting you handle my art like that, I'd rather have had it eaten by worms."

"Hey, hey...."

This guy had a critical mouth.

"I don't think Layfon's skill is that bad."

"I could tell from the remnants of the Dites. What's with the messy swings? It's a miracle that you managed to stay alive, swinging the weapon without looking at the paths of the swing."

Layfon, speechless, could deeply feel this man's anger.

(Has he watched my fight?)

Two of the three Dites inserted into the restored Dite were damaged, and Layfon only managed to return the last Dite to Harley. This man was able to determine the progression of Layfon's fight just by analyzing the traces left on the Dite.

"As I said, the compressed Dites are easily affected by heat. Heat expands and reduces the solidness of the Dites, which in turn damages them. So I installed a safety lock to prevent that from happening, but that has yet to become reality because it still overheats after a long period of time in use. Two of the Dites were damaged due to this reason. This is unforgivable."

"You couldn't have perfected it for lack of real battle experience," Harley said.

"No, that's not the case...."

"........!"

"........!"

Kirik and Harley started arguing. Layfon observed them.

"....Is it all right not to stop them?" Meishen said.

"The ice cream's about to melt. Hurry up and eat it," Layfon said.

"....Yeah, I guess so."

Meishen accepted Layfon's advice. The two Alchemy students were debating with technical jargon. Meishen and Layfon didn't understand a word. Looking at how the two had deviated from the original topic, Meishen decided not to interfere. The two of them finally stopped their debate when Layfon and Meishen had finished their ice-cream.

"Haven't we wasted the sugar we just stocked up?" Harley wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve.

"Then we'll restock and review the problem again. I want strawberry flavor."

"As you wish. I'll have chocolate."

After having this conversation that sounded like an argument or a genuine decision on what to buy, the two parted. Harley walked to the stall, so he must also be buying for Kirik.

Kirik glared at Layfon. "....What? You're still here?"

It seemed he had totally forgotten them.

"Um, well....I'm sorry for ruining your work," Layfon lowered his head and heard the tense Meishen swallowing her saliva behind him.

"....A tool is made to be broken," Kirik looked away. "But if possible, I want the reason behind it being broken to be more meaningful....Isn't this your responsibility?"

"Of course. If I had used a normal Dite, I'd have had trouble escaping."

"....Yeah," Kirik turned the wheelchair around to have his back facing Layfon.

"My next work will be even better. I hope you can also use it well."

"....Yes," Layfon lifted his head and left the park with Meishen. He saw Harley strolling back to Kirik with two helpings of ice cream in his hands.

"Ah, when those two get together, things get out of hand."

After telling Nina about his day, her attitude became different.

They were cleaning in the Mechanical Department, scrubbing a wall of a corridor.

"Out of hand?"

"Out of hand."

"....Yeah."

"Yes!" Nina nodded, suppressing her laughter.

"I've seen him a few times, but I still don't quite understand him. "You only know to use brute force" those kind of things. He's lectured me a lot, but the way he says it is too professional. It's hard to understand."

"Did he make Senpai's Dites too?"

"Ah, yes. Even if I got lectured, he really is amazing."

At the park, Kirik had said "the path of the swing." Everything had an angle that allowed it to be cut through easily. If one sped up the swing from that particular angle, no matter how hard the thing was, it could be cut apart. Of course, the path of the swing was different in different situations for the same thing. If one wasn't familiar with the Art of the Sword, it was hard to discover the path.

"That person might have been a Military Artist in the past."

"Perhaps."

historical

Nina must also be thinking of Kirik's wheelchair.

If Kirik really was a Military Artist, it was natural for him to look at the path of the swing and become angry with Layfon for breaking the Dites. And that was why Layfon apologized to him.

"Speaking of which, though it's his style, but to say your skill is bad, that's a bit...."

"No. He did point out my error."

"Really?" Nina said, disbelieving.

"Yeah, Senpai saw it too. The cause of that situation was because of my two failures."

Of course, there was also another reason that broke his concentration when he was attacking the filth monster. Both misses had something to do with Nina. Moreover, the Dite itself had been overworked. But Layfon couldn't say that.

The main cause was because he fought with the way he fought in Grendan.

After the fight, Layfon had done some researching in the library on records of how other cities fought with filth monsters. And as expected, Grendan....the way that Heaven's Blade successors fought filth monsters was extremely unusual.

To fight alone outside the city was the same as being foolhardy.

And the Dite made for this style of fighting didn't exist anywhere except in Grendan.

"Layfon."

"Hmm?"

Nina might blame herself if they analyzed too deeply the reason behind his failures, so he was glad that she changed the topic. And he realized that she had turned around hesitantly. Layfon bent and saw her face reddening.

"What is it?"

"Oh, um....About the girl named Naruki, what do you think?"

"Naruki?"

"Yeah. Just say whatever you think," Nina coughed as if to cover up something.

(Why is she saying this?)

"Well, she's pretty strong for a first year. She's better at internal type Kei. Besides that, her movements are also exceptional."

"I see," she smiled shyly.

"....Could it be, that you want to recruit her into th-->>

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