ed. Why don't you get down and walk on your own?"

"No, you're wrong. There's a very good reason behind this...."

"It must be something shallow and twisted. Just leave it."

"...."

He tried to maintain his balance and kept on moving without thinking of anything else.

She spoke after a pause. "....I'm sorry about yesterday."

"Eh?"

"For letting you face an opponent that strong by yourself."

"I don't see it that way."

"No, I'm sorry. I'm ashamed of not keeping to our promise. My determination is so weak."

"....But that can't be helped."

"....Huh?"

"Didn't you say so, that we're this type of creature? I think so too. We're humans, but we aren't human. I've said this to the captain, that Military Artists aren't human. We just possess human forms that can use Kei. It's natural for us to use Kei, as natural as breathing. It's painful if we don't use it....That might be the reason for what happened to me in the opening ceremony. I've thought through this recently."

From the time of his last match in Grendan to when he arrived at Zuellni, he had never once used his Kei. He thought he had found a new way of living. The living of a normal human, unassociated with Military Arts.

"Was Fon Fon tolerating it too?"

"I thought back then that I had totally tossed it away. I thought I could spend all my time working for my living and studying to pass exams."

"But, it didn't work out."

Yes, there were times when it gnawed at him. Times when the area around his waist where the Kei vein flowed experienced spurts of pain like small explosions, but those times didn't show on his face. In everyone's eyes in Grendan, Layfon was dangerous. If he used Kei, even Leerin and the kids in the orphanage would get hurt, so all he could do was tolerate the pain in a casual manner.

All he could do.

"....If I really seek a life outside Military Arts, I must first overcome this problem."

The pain of a Kei vein followed one's entire life. It couldn't be removed through surgery. A Military Artist survived with his heart, brain and Kei vein. Lacking either one of these organs would lead to one's death.

Military Artists were stronger than humanity, but were also weaker than normal humans.

"....What that person said is right, but Felli's right too."

From the perspective of a student of Zuellni, Felli's words were unquestionable. Layfon was dragged into this situation because Zuellni's Military Artists were too weak. This was an insult to them. But to the Grendan-born Gorneo, Layfon following his old way of living was intolerable. Gorneo probably didn't know what he should do about it.

Felli was probably thinking the same.

Riding on Layfon's shoulders, she fell silent and waited for him to continue.

He spoke worriedly, "Her Majesty once said to me...."

"I must constantly remind myself that we, as Military Artists and Psychokinesists aren't normal. As humans, we must not allow ourselves to forget this."

"Eh? What does that mean?"

"....What I did was wrong."

"I suppose. That definitely isn't an excellent example of a Military Artist."

"Then do you know why I don't have the Heaven's Blade successor title anymore?"

"Eh? That would be...." Felli seemed to be thinking of something. "....Because Heaven's Blade successors are special in Grendan, so they are models for the Military Artists in Grendan as a whole?"

"That is incorrect."

"Eh?"

"Heaven's Blade successors aren't models. All they seek is to show their strength in battles with filth monsters. There aren't many in the twelve who have a noble heart. Of course, it's not like they'd commit a crime publicly."

"Then why...."

"But since they're Heaven's Blade successors, representing the best Military Artists, they naturally become the examples for Grendan's other Military Artists. The Layfon Alseif who broke this rule has no right to hold the Heaven's Blade successor title. They confiscated the Heaven's Blade and banished me. The duration is a year."

Layfon repeated what Almonise had told him.

"....They're already being soft on me for only exiling me."

"But that isn't the true reason, is it?" Felli asked.

"No. The problem lies with my actions during the match."

So he relayed to her what he told Nina last night. About what he planned to do in the match with Gahard Baren, about what he did do and people's reaction to it.

Felli remained silent. Only her breathing was conveyed to him.

"....Frankly, if Her Majesty didn't take back the Heaven's Blade and exile me, a riot might have broken out in Grendan. If I hid myself afterwards and Her Majesty placed Heaven's Blade successors around the orphanage as an excuse of surveillance, there might've really been a riot."

"...."

"This is what I mean to constantly remind yourself. Military Artists possess human forms, but they aren't human. It isn't as simple as having an extra organ. They exist to protect the city from outside threats, but like heavy weapons, they can be double-edged and end up injuring the city itself. Military Artists must be bound by good morals. Even though occasionally there are bad Military Artists, they're only an existence on the extreme end of the spectrum. They'll usually be eliminated by other Military Artists."

"Heaven's Blade successors must be righteous. This principle doesn't exist in the form of the city's law. You must constantly remind yourself that such an extreme Military Artist is actually a Heaven's Blade successor. For someone as strong as a Heaven's Blade successor to do that, then other Military Artists would laugh at and ignore the mutual principle. What would happen if more than one Heaven's Blade successors did what you did....If I ignore this deed, then this city is finished. Not because of filth monsters, but because of people going on a rampage."

Queen Alsheyra said this to him the next night.

"Today's situation is a direct result of your naive cunning. Do you understand? Your young age won't get you forgiveness, but it is what led to today's situation. Military Artists are weak. Without Military Artists, people have no way of escaping the threat of filth monsters, and without people, Military Artists cannot maintain a society. The truth that we can't survive if we don't live together is the same for both humans and Military Artists. We must sustain this relationship."

"Since I still don't feel I've done something wrong, there must be a problem in it," Layfon said.

"....And so Gorneo targets you?"

"Not only that. There must be a deeper reason. Gorneo Luckens, the younger brother of the Heaven's Blade successor Savaris Luckens, who is also trained in the Luckens' ways of hand to hand combat. I haven't seen this, but he might have trained in the same period as Gahard Baren. Gahard might have taught him the skill, since his brother has already given up in teaching Military Arts."

"So he's avenging someone from the same school?"

"I think so."

"....Is that ok?"

"I don't care if he targets me alone, but I'm worried about the safety of everyone in the 17th platoon."

If he attacked not just Layfon, but the entire 17th platoon....

He knew it was wrong. If that happened, he was prepared to fight the same way when he decided to kill Gahard Baren.

"That wasn't what I meant," Felli struck his head.

"Eh?"

"....Really, you really are stupid, aren't you?"

"Eh? Eh?"

"Although as a moron, you'll never understand it....we're about to reach the rendezvous point. Let me down."

In the end, he didn't understand her at all.

◇

The smell of rot filled the air.

"....Ok, bury it," Gorneo ordered and his team members put the dirt back in place.

Beneath the small hills were corpses. Not a single corpse was whole. Pieces of bones, fragments of flesh. This wasn't even a burial. But someone had buried it all.

"The problem is, just who did this....?"

It must have been a maddening job to collect all the human pieces and bury them all, but it didn't look like whomever did this job had gone insane.

The day was about to end. Zuellni would arrive by sunset. Although they wanted to find out the reason before it arrived....They would rest a little then investigate the city one more time.

"....Hmm?" Gorneo realized his shoulders felt lighter. "Come to think of it, where's Shante?"

The second captain was nowhere in sight. She seemed to have jumped off him the moment when they started digging. He asked his team members and no one knew where she had gone off to.

"....She couldn't have."

He had a bad feeling about this. After ordering the team to continue putting the hill back together, he ran out of the production area using Internal Kei.