Vol 1 Chapter 3 (1/2)

3rd Play: The Beginning and the Promise’s Opera

Part 1

It was the day of the recital contest

Just when she opened the door of the first-year fee room, she discovered……

……Wah, what’s this?

Before she had even walked in one step, the choking smell of perfume made Kluele stop her footsteps In other words, the perfuirl herself wanted to retreat from it

“Ah, Kluele, good — I’m here first today!”

Mio was putting her uniform in a locker It seemed that she didn’t mind the smell of perfume

“Good , everyone’s all so early today”

Even Ada and Serges, ere usually late, were already in the change room

“It’s you who’s too slow Oh right, you’re the ‘King of arriving late’!”

While putting on lipstick, Ada raised her eyebrows

“Eh…… Kluele, could it be that you want to wear your unifore today?”

Faced with stunned expressions, Kluele raised the bag that she held in her hands and showed everyone

School uniforms were usually required in Tremia Academy, but the recital contest was one of the few opportunities where everyday clothes were allowed Nearly one hundred percent of female students would dress up Due to six hundred fifty fe their most beautiful clothes, a fashi+on show is held every year at this time As for males, half of them would wear tailcoats, thirty percent would wear a Reciter-style robe, and the rest would wear jackets or coats

“……Wearing a dress will only make your shoulders stiff”

Actually, Kluele had originally planned to participate in the recital contest wearing her school uniform, but the senior students at yesterday’s club activity had preached to her about this matter for two hours

No, Kluele! To participate while dressed up prettily should be the intention of feoal is to becoet about this! Also, you are tall to being with, and you have a good body figure Are you going to just let go of this chance? Honestly speaking— that’s the situation you’re in

—Speaking of chances…… Exactly what chance is this?

Finally, under the threats and powerful persuasion of the senior students, she had decided to take out the dress hidden in the depths of her closet

“Hey, Kluele, look Don’t you think this looks really good?”

Wearing her underclothes, Mio proudly lifted up her own dress It was pearl-colored and had been le of the audience, it would shi+ne with seven colors

“Wow, that’s really pretty!”

It was brand neith not a single crease in it After finding out that Xins Airwincle was coht it yesterday Also, to have it specially match with his title of Rainbow Color Reciter, this really see Mio would do

“It certainly is pretty, but Mio, isn’t that too flashy?”

Watching her put on the dress in the crowded rooes cleaned up her makeup and interrupted

“There certainly are , but last year, apparently ! In addition, those ore overly exposing clothing were also warned… Ah, but you don’t need to worry about that point, Mio Because in tero—”

“Ahh, you actually dare to say it! I still care about that!”

Mio pouted This action seemed completely childish, but nobody dared to point it out

“Mio, you can head off first I probably still have to take some time”

“Okay Then, I’ll go to the ca ceremony, so you should hurry up!”

Carrying dress shoes the sae room

Following after Mio, Ada and Serges also left, but in a considerably ht that they usually only cared about sports, but she didn’t expect they would also be skilled in putting on makeup

Even a sreatly different than usual But Mio still lacked this aspect Kluele let out a laugh while taking her dress out of the bag

Alright, next was the major problem

……This dress, how do you put it on?

Part 2

On one corner of the square ca place of first-year students, the students had already finished lining up according to their classes At the very end of the 1-B line, was a boy as a head shorter than the students around him

“Ah, Kluele-san, good ”

Kluele waved in response to Neight, earing a dark blue robe The size of the robe was too big, so it didn’t fit hiave him the outward appearance of a Reciter

“Good reat today”

There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky Extreht forced everyone to their eyes

“Found you, found you! Kluele, and Neight-kun is here also!”

She turned to face the voice coes were co closer

“We went looking for you, but it seems like we missed you”

“……Speaking of which, Kululu—”

Mio stared fixedly at Kluele

“What?”

“Nothing I was just thinking, Kluele’s body figure really is great It’s really suited for wearing a dress”

“Eh?”

Mio had suddenly said those nonchalant words Furthere person say so like that? Just when that notion crossed her an to nod, “Yeah, yeah!”

“Also, the dress you’re wearing looks pretty good, let me admire it for a moment— Ah, ! It’s an open back dress!”

Mio, who had circled around behind her, let out an exaggerated shout

“……I only have this dress, so it can’t be helped”

Kluele wore a mermaid-style dress

A swath of pure white cloth was thedown fro down as decoration It seeinally ested, this dress had a close-fitting design, so that even if you didn’t want to, it would still reveal the curves of your body

However, it see the curves of her body wasn’t too bad

“Mio, don’t worry It’s too bad that ”

Serges surveyed her while nodding

“This kind of high-quality material is very rarely seen, especially the chest and the waist’s—”

“That’s enough, Serges If you keep going…… I’ry!”

Before she had finished speaking, Kluele es’s nose Even if she was praising her, why must she say it in front of so many people?

Just when Kluele turned around to escape the gazes of people around her—

[Really? I don’t think there’s much difference between her physical body—]

She didn’t knohen, but the lizard on Neight’s shoulder had slowly lifted up its head

……How should she respond at a ti it would earn coes

“Ah, ah! Arma, you shouldn’t talk!”

Neight wanted to hurriedly cover its rip

[I think I’ve heard that voice somewhere before]

“……What, is this lizard talking?”

Serges glanced at the lizard, astonished

“He’s Neight’s pet”

To retaliate, Kluele quickly added that sentence

[Hey, little girl—]

The reptile hadn’t finished speaking, when the sound of the clock declaring the beginning of the opening cerehout the campus

Part 3

“This is a general announcenated locations”

The recital contest was divided into two parts,was for the perfor in those two colors began to make their way to the center of the caes moved to the front

Students specializing in Green went to the right side of the headquarters, while those specializing in White gathered on the left side Five Reciters challenged each other at a tiroup As for her other classroup

“Good luck—”

After hearing Neight’s encouragement, Mio waved her hand as she walked to the center

“What does Mio plan to call out?”

“She said it would be so”

[Speaking of large Green animals…… A wyvern?]

The lizard said, co the point

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

A dragon was considered to be Green’s High noble AriaFirst Scale Recitation Even to the faes, it was a very challenging Recitation If a first-year student could call out that kind of creature, it would ruin the reputation of the grown-ups First-year students, including Kluele, could only conduct Coe—a normal creature that could not understand hu even Mio could not change She should know the ath that she herself has

“I’ forward to it”

“It will be fine as long as she doesn’t get too nervous in front of the judges”

……If I remember correctly, Mio is unexpectedly weak at performances

In accordance with her prediction

Because that Rainbow Color Reciter was a judge, students ere too nervous and failed their Recitations appeared one after the other It wasn’t just first-year students, there were even rade students whose concentration was broken and they had to urgently lower their planned Recitation by one rank

Also, this was also within the predictions—The Rainbow Color Reciter Xins Airwincle also caused the unusually enthusiastic Mio to be a part of that group

“Aaaaah! I’!”

Sure enough, she had turned out like that Sighing, Mio pulled up her dress and sat down on the ground Because Kluele was also wearing a dress, she couldn’telse, she waved her hand and called Neight beside her

“It’s alright, stop crying Hey Neight, help me pull her up”

According to Mio, who had large teardrops in her eyes, she had been able to concentrate s However, when the ChannelRecital Gate opened, she made eye contact with “Xins-sama” Her memory after that was blank for ten seconds…… When she was back in control of her body, the ChannelRecital Gate had already closed, and she was disqualified because of surpassing the time limit

“Now I’ve definitely failed Xins-sama”

With both Kluele and Neight pulling at the sairl start to walk forward unsteadily

“So, Mio What did you want to call out?”

Mio sobbed and replied in a tearful voice

“Um, a Quetzalcoatl” [1]

……Quetzalcoatl?

“Mio, are you serious?”

“Yeah”

……Oh, I see So it’s like that

Suddenly, Kluele let go of Mio’s hand Because Mio had been holding on and Kluele had let go without any warning, she lost her balance and wildly turound

“Wait, wait a moment…… Kluele, you’re terrible!”

“Neight, you don’t need to keep pulling Conore this kind of person”

Ignoring the girl pouting behind her, Kluele walked away Ah, it was really stupid of her to feel slightly sympathetic

A Quetzalcoatl is classified as a subspecies of dragon Of course, it was considered as a High noble AriaFirst Scale Recitation, so it was impossible for Mio to succeed At least she had succeeded ineye contact with the Rainbow Color Reciter

[Neight, what are you planning to do?]

The Night Color lizard being held in Neight’s left hand dangled down its tail

“I want to try calling out the black horse This is a rare opportunity, so I want to challenge myself and see what happens”

“What ti?”

Because Night Color Recitation isn’t an official Recitation Color, Neight had obtained special permission to join the perfor that their teacher, Kate, had directly requested from the headmaster

“I think it’s the twenty-first group in the afternoon”

“Ah, that’s right”

Kluele was in the afternoon’s twentieth group Based on the prograht begins perfor

“I see Our tiht not be able to see each other’s performance”

“Even if I won’t see it, Arma atch Kluele-san’s performance for me”

For some reason, she felt pleased but also unhappy

—Eh?

Suddenly, a peculiar feeling appeared in her body

Her body began to trehtly, and as the time of her performance approached, she shuddered harder

A like this has never happened before

“I’m sorry, but can I be excused for a while? This is a rare opportunity, so I want to practice a bit before my time comes”

“Yes, go ahead”

Neight waved his hand, the one that Ar on

“The afternoon perforroup, please gather at the entrance I repeat, Students in the fourteenth group, please proceed to the entrance—”

Froathering The progra smoothly since no accidents had happened, and it was still on time with the schedule

In a corner of the cahtly closed her eyes and sat on a wooden chair under the shade of a tree Her hands were placed on her knees, and she was repeatedly visualizing the Recitation process She iined herself in theout of a single thread, she wove the vague ie into a concrete vision

However, even after trying that several times, that thread would always snap midway In the very end, before she could call out “that”, her concentration suddenly broke

……Why?

Because of her anxiety, the speed of her eyes blinking naturally became faster Why? It certainly wasn’t a very difficult Recitation She had succeeded in it both yesterday and the day before, and she could even do it thisHowever, just before the official performance, she was suddenly unable to conduct a Recitation

[You are troubled]

Someone’s voice sounded from beside her, where there should be nobody Also, it was quite close to her Keeping her head aze, she saw that on the bench she was sitting on— The Night Color lizard sat calmly on the other end

“You were too loud just now—”

[You are unable to enter the state of concentration for conducting a Recitation]

Perking up his nose, he gazed at Kluele’s face

“I’htly worked up, that’s all Please be a bit quieter—”

[Do you want to stay like this for your whole life?]

……For my whole life?

The declaration that sounded like a death penalty left Kluele speechless

[Little girl, you are torn between two things It is a conflict between growth and stagnation Just like a little bird that wants to break free of its shell, but is unable to come out]

The tone of the Night-colored judge sounded unchanged fro a voice that she had only recently becoered in her mind and wouldn’t leave She usually wouldn’t take those ht now

[Before, you had high standards for yourself It meant that no matter what you did, it would be completed without difficulty For this next performance, you planned to carry it out s any risks because you would certainly succeed even without the the effort Neight puts in, you started to feel confused about your way of thinking]

That golden pupil like a crescent moon made her feel pressured even if she didn’t want to

“……You sure talk a lot”

Was she resisting the strong pressure? Under circuht-colored lizard’s pupils intertwined with her gaze

[The thing that you’re gripping preciously in your hands, is it a catalyst?]

The pair of crescent moons focused on her hands, which rested on her knees After letting out a sigh, Kluele uncurled her fingers The tube of paint with a red label stuck on it rolled in her hands

“I need it when I’ Isn’t it obvious?”

[Really? I think that is the cause of your troubles]

Still sitting on the other end of the chair, the Night-colored Recited creature declared airily

[Paint is a very convenient catalyst, even I know that So you plan to use it as a catalyst, and perform a safe and steady Recitation However, isn’t the situation of the recital contest different froinally expected?]

Kluele didn’t intend to reply, because the lizard hadn’t finished talking She sensed that he would continue speaking

[Is he called Xins? In order to earn his recognition, soe theh he doesn’t have that intention, he is brave enough to keep on accepting failures for the sake of co his promise These accumulated failures are so that one day, he will definitely be proficient in Night Color Recitations In this perforreat exah he clearly knows that he simply doesn’t have that kind of ability]

From somewhere far away came the sound of a clock Kluele could clearly feel those words pounding heavily on her heart

However, it didn’t arouse her curiosity or excitement It was probably because the lizard did not show any personal e orin aher

[Under these circumstances, you only have to use a simple catalyst to conduct a si so themselves to your attitude, it makes you feel suffocated]

The tube of paint slipped out of her hands

[Do you want to withdraw into your shell onceyou have to decide]

Having finished speaking, he lapsed back into silence

She didn’t kno h it may have only have lasted a few breaths, it felt like the weariness of sitting for a few hours straight

Finally, just when the sunlight spilling out froaps in the forest caused her to squint, a soft voice flowed out through the speakers

—Students in the twentieth group, please gather at the entrance I repeat……—

……It was time

Without looking down at her feet, staring only at the place which she was about to leave, Kluele stood up

[Aren’t you going to pick it up?]

As if waiting for her to take a step, an inquiring voice called out froht intonation, and she didn’t need to turn her head to know that he was teasing her Therefore, there was no need to stop her footsteps or turn around

—I just need one word, to reply to that

“I don’t need it, you can have it”

Without turning around, Kluele declared in a low voice She didn’t stop walking, andfor Arma’s reply

[That’s good You’ve figured it out, haven’t you?]

Hearing that voice which barely held back a s a push from behind

“Ah, I found you, Kluele! Where did you run off to? It’s almost your turn”

Kate and Mio had been standing in front of the entrance for a long ti at the teacher Kate, Mio’s expression finally relaxed

“You’re here, Kluele That’s a relief Since you hadn’t co worried”

The four people other than her had been gathered at the front gate for a long ti a red dress to be used as a catalyst Another person see a torch in one hand All of them had their catalysts ready

“Kluele, where’s your catalyst?”

“Don’t worry, I have it”

Because she didn’t have anything, Kluele clenched her fist

—Red group twenty, please move to the performance site—

The spectators and judges welcomed them with applause She could see several hundred, several thousand people staring at them

But I must stay calm

Even though she said that, the nervous feeling felt rather co the beat of excitement in her chest, she advanced forward She felt cal overflowed endlessly like a fountain of spring water

She stopped her footsteps in the middle of the ca noise quieted down Kluele entrusted herself to the world of resounding silence whispered by the wind

'You are unable to enter the state of concentration for conducting a Recitation'

Right now, that nagging lizard was surely watching her

'Do you want to withdraw into your shell once le to escape?'

……I won’t thank him

After curling the corners of her htly, Kluele closed her eyes I won’t thank him, because I wasn’t really th from those abstract words

But even so, she had made a firm resolution

Resound from within the deep red

[—sheon lef ped-l-clue riren-c-soan]

I will call out the thing I want to recite It doesn’t ardless of whether I succeed or fail, I can swell up o to the place where everyone is, and report it to them

Praise (you) your name

YeR be orator Lom nehhe

Red, Shaentle), Pitiful (beautiful)

lor besti redi ende keofi-l-lovier

Floating in the gentle breeze (drifting) Frag up

Hir qusi clue lelue I

Slowly, as if teaching a child, she sang the <oratoriosong of=”” praise=””>

Turn fro, weave, open a ChannelRecital Gate to the object I seek

Weave a song to the beyond, My thoughts pile up and perform (dance)

melodia fo Hio, O ect ti hear Yem sophit

If the world desires you……

ife I she cooke Loo zo via

Come, Be born, O child

Isa da boema foton doremren

A cheering noise sounded in her surroundings It seemed that one person, or even several people, had succeeded in their Recitation But don’t rush Surely there is enough time Surely I can do it

'Kluele-san is definitely suited to beco a Reciter'

……Neight, your words from that time, can I believe them?

The beyond beco dancers

[O evo Lears— Lor besti bloo-c-toge = ende dence]

Opening her eyes, red light swirled in the center of her hands The light slowly strengthened, gradually engulfing her body This is my identity as a Reciter, the first Recitation I ever conducted

Flashi+ng, the red light cracked open

——[Red SongKeinez]——

In that instant, as if flowing froirl’s hand, countless deep crimson feathers flew out

It wasn’t a bird, but a Recitation purely for calling out those feathers

It could have been hundreds or thousands An innu her figure

It was as if they were blessing her, e her

Each and every feather was like a red fairy The objects receiving praise— The things suirl were very pitiful and illusionary, just like the “Crimson World” itself

A gust of wind blew through the campus With a zaa noise, the red wind surrounded the ca feathers fell on the seats of spectators, the bodies of surrounding students, and the guests sitting in the judges’ seats

……Ah……

Finally re hot The red color enveloped the campus, and even now, feathers still floated in the sky Co at all However, it was her first tie aht lifted off her heart

—But…… Why?

With her fingers, she gently picked up a feather that had landed on her right shoulder

It was precisely the scarlet feather that she had iined However, the feather before her eyes was surrounded by fla of this world?

I definitely hadn’t planned to call out this kind of fla feather

……Fla feathers No…… Flames in the shape of feathers

Even though it was burning, it didn’t feel hot This is……

Before she finished thinking about the question, Kluele glanced all around her

An unnatural silence enveloped her surroundings

Eh? What’s wrong? Had so bad happened—

At that instant, Kluele’s eardrum nearly ruptured

The applause was like a stor with unprecedented cheers Wave after wave of applause sounded But, why are they clapping?

She instinctively wanted to clap with theaze was focused on her

Amidst the thunder-like applause that had not yet quieted down, Kluele returned to her seat a towards her

“Kululu, you were a! That was really pretty!”

“Really? I don’t even remember what I did”

In any case, she had been absorbed in what she was doing Although it wasn’t like Mio had done, she truly didn’t have memories of what had happened

[What did you use as a catalyst?]

The unusual creature on Mio’s shoulder asked in an inquiring voice

Seeing it once is better than hearing about it a hundred ti on the pinky of her left hand close to his nose, and let hielow It was a ruby Although it was an iood results when used as a catalyst Until now, she had never succeeded at conducting a Recitation using the geinally hadn’t planned to use it this time

“Actually, I only wore it because it was fashi+onable”

Once it is used as a catalyst, the ring would be unable to conduct any more Recitations However, the end result had been worth that decision

“What do you think after seeing it?”

[You were lucky that the as blowing If there had been no wind, you wouldn’t have gotten such applause]

Pausing in the esture, the lizard narrowed his eyes in happiness

[However, if you explain it by saying that you took advantage of the wind, the result wasn’t bad It was a Recitation suited for an arrogant little girl, isn’t that right?]

“……Anyway, I still want to express ratitude”

The lizard unexpectedly began to admire himself in a meek manner It made her feel unusually embarrassed