"Ah, Onee-sama!"
Somia ran over to Irisdina, who gently caught her. Irisdina's face held a soft smile. She looked less like the cool, composed figure she was at the academy and more like a kind older sister. Somia kept talking to her excitedly, and Irisdina nodded at every word with a warm expression. The people nearby watching the scene found themselves smiling as well.
(So Somia-chan's older sister was Irisdina all along.)
The two of them really did look alike. The color of their hair, their eyes, their features. The auras they carried were so different that he had never noticed, but once it was pointed out, the resemblance was clear.
(Irisdina was probably the spitting image of Somia when she was little.)
Since the person Somia had been waiting for had arrived, Nozomu felt it would be rude to interrupt the sisters and started to leave. But Somia took Irisdina's hand and the two of them walked toward him.
"Hey. Thanks for looking after my little sister."
"Eh, ah, yeah…"
Irisdina spoke to him with a smile. Nozomu was surprised that the expression directed at him was not the twisted look of dislike he usually received from others. More than that, the reason he stumbled over his reply was her smile itself. Her features were already so perfectly arranged they could have been a work of art. When someone like that smiled at him…
It was not the bright, life-filled smile Lisa had once given him, but a clear smile like a pure stream of water, and Nozomu could not manage a proper response.
"…? Is something wrong?"
"N-no! It's nothing!"
When Irisdina spoke to the frozen Nozomu again, he finally managed a normal reply. The words were fine, but his voice itself remained stiff.
"Hehe, Nozomu-san. You were completely captivated by Ai-neesama's smile."
(H-hey, Somia-chan!!)
Somia's single comment threw Nozomu into a panic.
(It's true I was captivated, but you don't have to say it out loud right in front of both of us!)
"Fufu, is that so? I'm honored."
Because Somia had blurted that out, Nozomu flailed in embarrassment, but Irisdina answered without the slightest disturbance. It seemed the two of them had been playing with him. Nozomu glared at them with half-lidded eyes out of sheer embarrassment, but Somia stuck out her tongue to brush it off, and Irisdina covered her mouth with a hand while smiling. Even those expressions were cute, and Nozomu ended up forgiving them for teasing him.
(…Beautiful people really do have it easy…)
"By the way, you were in the infirmary during lunch today, weren't you? Thank you for helping out then."
While Nozomu was thinking that she was more approachable than he had expected, Irisdina thanked him for the treatment during lunch break.
"No, I just happened to be in the infirmary myself… and Norn-sensei was the one who actually treated the injury."
"Even so, the moment you realized the child we brought in was hurt, you immediately went and got the medicine, right?"
"Well, it wouldn't have been right to do nothing… and you, Irisdina-san, brought a child who had nothing to do with you all the way to the infirmary when they were injured."
"I suppose. Once something comes into view, I can't just ignore it. And helping someone who's been hurt is only natural."
She really did seem to have a good nature. If someone was in trouble, even if it had nothing to do with her personally, she would help. That appeared to be her way of doing things.
"If someone is in trouble, help them." When she said it, there was no pushiness or unnatural sense of duty. She was probably the kind of person who could help others naturally.
To Nozomu, someone like that looked dazzling, almost shining.
I was speaking with the boy in front of me, and he still did not seem like the sort of person the rumors described.
I had heard that my little sister had been helped by someone when she was in trouble in the park recently, but I never imagined it would be him.
The boy my sister spoke of so happily and the person from the rumors felt completely different, just as I had sensed in the infirmary.
Nozomu Bountis.
At the very least, no one took that name in a good light. He was the former lover of Lisa Hounds from the same year, the traitor who had betrayed her. Even when I asked acquaintances or underclassmen girls, similar stories came up, and most of them felt strong anger toward him.
Lisa Hounds had vivid crimson hair and a bright smile, and she was one of the top talents at the academy. Yet she never grew arrogant about her gifts, and she refused to accept unreasonable violence. Even from my perspective she was an attractive woman, someone easy to like.
The rumor that she had been cheated on and discarded by her childhood-friend-turned-lover had started in the summer of our first year.
At the time, our entire year had been talking about it nonstop. Many students had rushed to her side out of concern after hearing she had been abandoned by her lover. Everyone who came felt strong anger toward the male student who had supposedly discarded her, and from what I heard there had even been something close to a lynching.
As a fellow woman, when I first heard the story I also felt indignation toward the boy who had betrayed her, but I thought the response had gone too far.
I looked at the male student in front of me. He had no particularly striking features. He was an ordinary-looking boy you could find anywhere. If he disappeared into a crowd, you probably would not be able to pick him out again.
The way he playfully interacted with my sister after she had teased him was heartwarming, and she seemed attached to him. That surprised me a little.
I would rather not say it, but my family is large. It is what people call a distinguished house. We have served the country for a long time, held important positions, and devoted ourselves to the nation.
Along with that came considerable power, enough that its influence reached even into Solminati Academy.
Power that strong attracted many insects seeking to suck its sweet nectar. Those insects naturally targeted us sisters, the real daughters of the head of the house, approaching with muddy hearts hidden behind Noh-mask smiles. Perhaps because we had been surrounded by such greedy adults since childhood, both my sister and I had become sensitive to the malice inside people. When we spoke with such people we would talk cheerfully on the surface while building a thick wall in our hearts.
My sister and I had learned that way of surviving. Yet when she played with him, that wall did not exist. She was showing her true self without holding anything back. Even as I spoke with him face to face like this, no sense of caution toward him rose in my heart.
It feels strange to say it myself, but my appearance is apparently quite good. Boys my age tend to look at my chest or hips, and at the same time I can feel lustful gazes, which I do not like very much. But I felt none of that unpleasantness from him. He had panicked when my sister pointed it out, but that reaction was more endearing than anything that stirred discomfort.
A strange young man. That was the first impression I formed of him.
After that the sun began to set and the evening glow started lighting the park, so Nozomu said goodbye to the two of them and returned to the dorm. On the way back he remembered the conversation with Irisdina and felt a little happy. It had been a truly long time since he had spoken so naturally with someone his own age.
(I don't think we'll get many chances to talk, but it would be nice if we could talk again.)
As soon as he returned to the dorm he prepared and left again. His destination was Sino's cabin. Since the next day was a holiday, Nozomu planned to train at night and stay over at Sino's cabin. The cabin stood in the middle of the forest, so he could release Ability Suppression there without being noticed by people. Whenever Nozomu released the power of the Dragonslayer, he always did it there.
"…?"
Shortly after leaving the dorm, Nozomu felt a strange gaze. Someone had been following him ever since he left the dorm. He first thought it might be someone from the academy who disliked him, but the gaze held no hostility, so that did not seem to be the case. Even after he left the town the gaze continued. There was only one, so it appeared a single person was following him.
"If I enter the forest I can shake them off."
But carelessly shaking the pursuer off might cause trouble later, so Nozomu entered the forest as usual and headed for the cabin. He walked through the forest for a while. Once he confirmed that the gaze had disappeared, he stopped for a moment.
"Phew, looks like they're gone. But who was it?"
Nozomu thought about the owner of the gaze, but no answer came. When he considered reasons someone would follow him like this, he could make a guess, but it was not a welcome one.
(Could it be that they found out I'm a Dragonslayer?)
That would be extremely bad for Nozomu. If that were the case, he could not predict how the various national governments would respond.
(But if that were true they would have followed me all the way, right? I can't imagine they would stop just because I entered the forest.)
He tried various guesses, but the current Nozomu had no way of finding the answer, so he continued on to Sino's cabin as planned.
"So he really did go into the forest."
The one who had been following Nozomu was Mars. He had planned to confirm that Nozomu was entering the forest and then question him in a way that left no room for excuses. But once his target entered the forest, Mars judged that going in alone would be dangerous and turned back at the edge.
"He went into the forest, but whatever. Tomorrow is fortunately a holiday. Perfect timing for pressing him about various things."
Mars had never intended to enter the monster-infested forest alone in the first place. As long as he confirmed the fact that Nozomu was going into the forest by himself, he believed he could use that fact to question him. He also had other methods in mind. Rather forceful ones, though…
When Nozomu arrived at Sino's cabin he set his belongings inside and began cleaning. While cleaning, a memorial tablet and a single sword sitting on a shelf entered his view. It was the sword Sino had once used. After Sino's death, while sorting through the belongings left in the cabin, Nozomu had found a will she had left addressed to him. It contained only the words "I leave my sword to you." She had probably intended to convey everything that needed to be said at the very end, so there had been no need to write more. That straightforward way of doing things was just like his master, Nozomu had thought when he saw the will.
Yet Nozomu had still not used that sword. Another sword hung at his waist, but it was only one of Sino's spare blades that had been stored in the shed. Nozomu still felt that the version of himself who continued to run away was not worthy of holding Sino's sword. And yet…
(Master… I still can't take up this sword yet, but someday for sure…)
Once the cleaning was finished, Nozomu began practice swings. From a natural stance he instantly drew the blade, the cutting edge slicing through the air. He immediately reversed the strike and released a returning cut. Without killing the momentum of the reversed blade he linked it into continuous attacks.
Rising left cut, reverse diagonal slash, horizontal sweep…
Flowing weight shifts using sliding footwork and the coordinated use of his core muscles linked those cuts without waste. While performing the continuous strikes Nozomu sank into himself. Before long the sounds around him faded, and he swung the sword completely inside his own world while correcting each cut.
Next he activated physical reinforcement and began weaving qi techniques into the forms. He wrapped qi around the blade and swept it aside, then immediately sheathed it. He released "Breaking Vibration Strike" and transitioned into hand-to-hand techniques.
Straight punch, a stepping elbow strike, a spinning low sweep of the leg followed by a sheath strike as pursuit.
He linked the continuous sword attacks from the draw with body techniques, continuing to dance without pause.
At the end he brought the sword down in one powerful stroke. The air was split, and as the settling wind stirred his hair, Nozomu held the residual stance.
Nozomu corrected his posture, sheathed the sword, and closed his eyes. From here on, if he did not take the utmost care he would die instantly.
He sank into himself once more. Eventually the chains wrapped around his body came into view. They were the manifestation of Nozomu's ability, Ability Suppression. What he was about to do was release Ability Suppression and control the power of the Dragonslayer.
"…Fuu…"
He steadied his breathing and placed his hands on the chains.
If he failed to control it he would release the Destroyer Dragon King, and when that happened Nozomu would certainly not get away unharmed.
But he could not keep looking away. If he left it uncontrolled and something irreversible happened, and if the consequences reached not only himself but Anri-sensei, Norn-sensei, Irisdina-san, Somia-chan and the others, a lifetime of regret would not be enough!!
Nozomu steeled himself and removed the chains binding him.
In that instant the released power filled Nozomu's body in a flash and overflowed because it could not be contained.
"Guh… guuuuh!"
Nozomu clenched his teeth and endured, but the overwhelming power threatened to wash his mind away in an instant, and cold sweat broke out across his body.
A power that vast could easily shatter the spirit of a single insignificant human, yet Nozomu's mind somehow held on. Perhaps by becoming a Dragonslayer and obtaining even a portion of Tiamat's power, he had gained some measure of resistance to it.
But the limit still arrived. Nozomu fought desperately, yet he finally reached the point where he could no longer endure and wrapped the chains around his body once more.
"Kh! Haa haa haa haa…"
Once Ability Suppression sealed Tiamat's power again, Nozomu collapsed on the spot. The sudden flood of cold sweat and the backlash of the power left his entire body trembling violently, and it showed no sign of settling soon.
"As expected, no matter how much I hold it back, two minutes is the limit… damn it!"
Nozomu simply lay down on his back. The result was not good. With his current ability two minutes remained the limit, and there was no sign he would be able to control it any further. Frustration at the control that showed no growth at all showed clearly on Nozomu's face.
In the end that day's training produced no better results, and Nozomu headed back the next morning. When he reached the door of his own room in the dorm, an unexpected person was waiting for him.
"Yo. You sure were late."
Leaning against the door of Nozomu's room was Mars.
"…What do you want?"
"Yeah. Come with me for a bit."
Mars told him so in a tone that allowed no refusal.
"What is this about? I just got back from work and I'm tired."
Since he could not talk about entering the forest or training the Dragonslayer's power there, Nozomu lied and said he had been working until morning.
"Hmph, work, huh. Is that the kind of work you do in the forest? I'm pretty sure your rank isn't high enough to take jobs that involve the forest. So why were you going in there?"
At Mars's words Nozomu's mind went blank for an instant.
(How did he know? Wait… the one following me yesterday was…)
"Don't tell me the one following me yesterday was…"
"Yeah, it was me. …But you noticed after all, huh. Perfect timing then. There's something I want to ask you. Come with me."
Mars turned his back and started walking. Nozomu had no choice but to follow him.