f they could fall down at any moment. The light jumped.

"Wh wh wh- what's happening?"

Senpai grabbed hold of one of the streetlights. It seemed to be her first time experiencing a cityquake.

"This is a city-quake. The cause could be uneven ground or the city not having a firm foothold...."

"Oh? ....I see." It took a while for Senpai to understand her.

It was easy to forget this fact while living a normal life in the city. Zuellni was moving continuously.

When Naruki was very young, a city-quake of a greater magnitude than this had occurred in her city because Joeldem was trapped in ground with a weak crust. The city-quake had caused huge damage.

When the shaking gradually eased, Naruki stood up. It didn't look like there was a fire anywhere. She couldn't hear the racket from the residential district as it was a bit far from here, but things must be chaotic over there.

She thought of Mifi and Meishen. They should be sleeping in the dormitory.

"I hope there aren't any accidents."

And the shrill call of the siren dashed her hope.

◇

She was in a bad mood since yesterday because Layfon had hidden his true strength....

They were cleaning and painting the tubes to prevent the spread of rust in the Central Mechanism Chamber.

Holding the paint can and the brush, Layfon focused entirely on the sound of the moving gears behind his back.

Nina was silently cleaning a tube.

To Layfon, the sound of her brush against the tube was scolding him.

"Ah."

Nina didn't react to the sound he tried to suppress. Layfon's stomach hurt.

(What did I do wrong?)

He thought of the possible reason.

Nina had been acting strange since yesterday's celebration party. Putting Felli aside, who was absent, both Sharnid and Harley greeted him. Nina was the only one who didn't look like she wanted to talk to him. All she said was "Thanks" and then she had gone to sit by herself.

She must be angry at his hiding of his true strength.

This had to be the only reason. Even he could understand her unease. Someone with a lukewarm attitude actually exceeded her in her best area. It was like he was mocking her hard-won accomplishments.

"Excuse me...." he called to her. Her brushing movement stopped.

"What?" she said without looking at him.

"Are you angry?" he blurted out.

(I'm an idiot!)

He could have said something better.

"....No."

He thought she'd roar at him, but all she did was deny in a low voice.

"There's no reason to be mad, but...." she sighed, lowered her shoulders and turned around.

Her gaze didn't directly touch his.

"I regret letting you enter the platoon."

"Huh?"

"I was deceived by the Student President. I was satisfied to have you since the platoon match was close and we still lacked members. You took my Kei directly, so I thought if you trained well, you could become an attacker in the platoon. Even if we lost the match, you could become stronger somehow, before the real Military Arts Competition."

"But your real strength is way beyond my calculations."

"No...."

"Was the Student President lying when he said you were a successor of a Heaven's Blade?"

Looking embarrassed suddenly, Nina moved her gaze further away from him.

"Did he tell you?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"He told me what he knew, and all I can do is pray it's not true."

Her eyes, questioning him and wishing for something, made him release the breath he was holding. He felt debilitated, as if a certain tension was suddenly cut away, the weight of his body disappearing into thin air....the emotion of despair.

(It's all over....)

Just what had ended? What he had left behind in Grendan had returned to him. What he had been running away from had finally caught up with him.

"Tell me it's all a lie," she pleaded.

But she didn't think the Student President had lied to her.

Wolfstein....from the moment he learned of the twelve Heaven's Blade successors.

Everyone had been scolding him, saying it was wrong, yet nobody had taken care to explain just how wrong it was. All they did was scold him.

His stiff expression relaxed.

Yes, his old self had returned.

Nina's face turned frosty. She must have obtained her confirmation from his look.

"Was it true?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"I participated in underground matches in Grendan, tainting the reputation of the Heaven's Blade and was exiled."

He watched with indifference as the muscles on her face twitched.

"Why?"

"To earn money."

He trained in Military Arts for that purpose and won again and again.

But the prize money from normal matches was too little.

As a result of unbroken victories, he had become a successor of a Heaven's Blade to serve under the Queen of Grendan, Alsheyra. But his salary was still too small and the special scholarship he obtained was still too little.

"I needed a lot of money for the many children in the orphanage."

The money he had was enough for himself or just a normal family.

But there were too many orphans. The money he earned wasn't enough to provide for their education and living. His Master wasn't the only one managing an orphanage. Layfon needed money to give to his comrades, for all the numerous orphans in Grendan....and what he was earning wasn't enough.

He could have just earned enough for the orphanage he lived in, but he felt he needed to provide for all the orphanages. He didn't know why either. Perhaps, all the orphans were his comrades.

So he wasn't earning enough.

"And at that time, I found out about the underground matches."

Nina's expression swayed.

She probably thought what he did had tainted the Military Arts. Many people thought of Military Arts as a sacred art to defend a city from outside enemies. This viewpoint was especially strong in those who lived as professional Military Artists.

The sacred art must not be tainted by human desires.

But in reverse, because it was sacred, people wanted to taint it. The students gambling secretly on the platoon matches were immersed in the festival-like atmosphere committing their illegal act.

But compared to the students, there were people who wanted to do such things with clear-cut intent. Perhaps they weren't satisfied with the normal matches that began and ended ceremoniously in the spirit of sports. What they lusted after were the mad and bloody fights.

And for this reason, the underground matches offered huge prize money.

Layfon had found out about it. He contacted the people who organized such matches. Using the threat that came from the authority of a Heaven's Blade successor, he suggested that they could advertise his unbelievably strong power. It was easy to tell who would have won in a normal match, but it was another matter to watch a Heaven's Blade successor fight without holding back.

He used his Kei as if he was in a show, and through that, obtained money from the audience.

"But I couldn't keep that up for long."

It was difficult to shut people's mouths. The rumor of his deeds spread widely in Grendan and eventually reached Queen Alsheyra's ear.

"And so I was exiled."

"Of course," Nina said, as if to let out all the anger and irritation inside her.

Nina's outrage was the same as the people's at Grendan, including Layfon's Master, the other Heaven's Blade successors and even his comrades - the orphans.

Even so, he still didn't understand.

"Why are you so certain?"

"What? You...."

"Kei is an important treasure for humanity, striving to survive in this world. Because of it, the orphans and I didn't have to worry about food. Why must people make using it a crime?"

He truly couldn't comprehend.

"The Queen exiled me because a certain Military Artist was threatening me."

"Threatening....?"

She probably didn't know about this.

"That person wanted to participate in a Heaven's Blade match. He showed me proof of my fights in the underground matches and threatened to spread it around unless I lost to him purposefully and let him have the Heaven's Blade."

There were twelve Heaven's Blade successors. The only way to get that title was to either defeat a successor in a Heaven's Blade match or win the numerous matches after the death of a successor.

The blackmailer had another way than Military Arts to win a match, and he used it to threaten Layfon. But Layfon didn't accept the deal. He couldn't abandon his title as it was his key to the underground matches, to fight as a Heaven's Blade successor.

So he tried to kill the other person. His secret would be safe if this person died.

He planned to win with one strike. He had that confidence. Once his opponent got careless, Layfon would deal a fatal strike and finish him off.

But, he failed.

His one strike only managed to sever his opponent's arm, and the match ended as his opponent was unable to keep fighting.

And then the news of Layfon's deed in the underground matches spread.

"I don't find him despicable," he said to the speechless Nina.

"He was only doing everything he could to obtain what he desired. But he got careless in the end. That's all there was to it."

To Layfon, the way he finished his opponent was naive. One must fight desperately to survive, but the level of desperation he showed in his method was meaningless. At that time, there were still things driving him to act that way solely for the purpose of survival. And as such, he wasn't angry with the Student President. Karian's attitude of manipulating things and people to ensure Zuellni's survival was the same as Layfon's.

But Karian's concern on what Layfon had abandoned made him revisit the feeling he had in Grendan all over again.

"And that is who I am. Do you find me despicable?"

Everyone in Grendan reproved him for being base.

Was Nina the same? He waited for her reaction with a neutral expression.

He felt pain as of his heart being torn apart. The pain was an illusion, but he had no way of shaking it off, so he could only suffer it.

Why was he feeling this kind of pain?

No. He had already experienced it before - the punishment that Queen Alsheyra had passed down to him. All the Heaven's Blade successors served her, so Layfon could only surrender to her judgment.

All the Heaven's Blade successors, officials and his Master watched him as his punishment was dealt out. Their gazes were cold and icy.

The pain jolted him back to reality.

"You....are despicable," she said.

And then the ground shook violently.