Vol 2 Chapter 2 (1/2)

2nd Play – Merely Because I Desired This Moment

Part 1

With a high-pitched call of its steam whistle, the black train arrived at the platform

It continuously spat out high-teh-pressure water vapor into the air He hadn’t heard about the theory in detail, but it seemed that the steam was used to move pistons, which sent power to the wheels

“……Wow”

Looking up, Neight involuntarily let out a shout of joy and amazement

“It’s a!”

The ether ine how heavy they were, and couldn’t believe that such large masses of metal could move like this

“Neight, is this your first ti a steam train?”

So up, beside him stood a male student with a well-built physique

“It’sa train When I moved here, I came by boat What about you, Ouma-san?”

Instead of replying, with an attendance book in hand, the class representative in charge of overseeing the ed nonchalantly

“I rode a train often when returning tothose tiht now”

All approximately four hundred of Treathered at one platform Because of that, the platfor here Although each class should have ether, at this point there were only ten athered around Ouma

“How should I put it, because it’s so hard to gather together, everyone’s actually feeling cheerful”

While flipping through the class attendance list, the boy looked around with a surprised expression Although the teachers seeures of the teachers were hidden in the wave of people

“Ita class representative”

“I have it fairly easy Because if I see one of the boys in our class and call out to him, he’ll come over quickly”

Is that so? Neight tilted his head at Ou

“……So then, are there times when that isn’t the case?”

“Look, that person’s having it rather difficult”

He was gazing at— Carrying a handbag, a tall girl with scarlet hair was pushi+ng through the crowd and running around the platform with an exhausted expression

A girl wearing a Tre unsteadily toward the shops in the station She was grabbed by the neck

“Hey Mio, where do you think you’re going!”

“Ho buy some souvenirs They’re products that are only available in this part of the world”

Her classitated she was Thewas tucked under her arm

“We’re not even about to leave yet You’re too rushed!”

As soon as the girl had taken Mio back to the platform, the next person she set her eye on was—

“……Hey, wait, Serges! Why do you have such a large backpack on? That’s too big to bring onto the train!”

“This is— Kluele, listen! I need to have my own blankets and pilloithclub, I can’t bring just a sleeping bag while travelling I also need a tent, e stove, and— Ah, if it isn’t Neighty Want to sleep with ht? It’s really warm!”

“I’ all of it! No suspicious invitations either! —H allowed in the train station! Didn’t I say before that you can’t eat candy on the platform?!”

“But Kluele It’s a deluxe, limited edition cookie that I went to so much trouble to buy And as a member of the cuisine research society……”

The ht hadn’t spoken to her very much before, Kyrie was also one of his classmates

“You’re trusting the advertise is sold anywhere! ……Aah really, everyone please stay still! No, I ht obediently!”

The girls of the class ran aherever they pleased Catching the place one after the other was the other class representative

Neight stared idly at the situation

“……Poor Kluele-san”

“No irls in our class are troublesome to deal with”

Before Neight realized it, all of thebitterly

Part 2

……What should he do?

The enemy’s defense was as solid as a rock

He had no chance to surround the enemy, and a thick, protective as also spread out to prevent a concentrated attack on one spot The tunnel that he should have left was filled with ene> had already been scattered

—Should he et desperate

“Neight-kun, have you decided?”

“……P-Please let er, just thirty more seconds”

Without looking away froame board by his hand, he shook his head in Mio’s direction

Of course, his first priority was the <king>’s survival Which > must first escape to 15-F However, his opponent’s archer was already on 12-F, cornering hi> to 14-D However, sure enough, an ene there by itself was an ordinary

Since it was his turn right now, he could capture it with his <king>

—His only fear was that……it was a <jester> in the disguise of a

This position seemed like it wanted him to eat that piece It was very suspicious

“……No way”

“Huh? Neight-kun, what’s wrong?”

A question mark seemed to float over Mio’s head However, on her face was a broad grin

……But it’s no use, I have no more time I have no choice but to take a chance

“Well then, > will escape to 14-D”

“But my

is there Does that mean you want to capture my

?”

Nodding silently, he placed his own piece on top of his opponent’s

“Well then, go ahead and take a look”

As Mio spoke, he picked up her

and looked at its back side

On the back of the piece was the sticker of a cloith a strange smile

“Aaah, it really was the clown!”

“Yep, Neight-kun lost!”

While she wrote down the result of the ga like a record book, Mio cackled

“Well, in the beginning you were doing pretty good, pretty good Have diligence, boy If you continue to practice for a long tiht of day”

……Mio-san’s personality is changing

“It’s because I’ames that require you to use your head”

It would take up to three hours for the train to reach its destination During that tiaht’s first tiame, because everyone must participate he had been half forced to join the tournament Furtherame had been one of the potential winners, Mio

“Besides, Mio-san is too strong”

“It’s because I’ve heard that Xins-san also plays this game I occasionally practice because I want to be his opponent one day By the way, your playing style just noas the same as his”

The same as Xinsthe Rainbow Color Reciter-san’s?

“He appeared in the interview of soazine a while back ‘At first Senpai forcedmyself’ is what he said”

“Senpai?”

The outstanding Reciter and also the most famous, Xinsthe Rainbow Color Reciter ‘Senpai’ was a word that didn’t seee of him

‘Senpai’, could it be Mother? No, but it probably should be someone as in the same class as Xins and Mother In any case, he couldn’t think of another person who seemed to act like that

“It’s interesting, isn’t it? All the more so because he didn’t talk about it in detail Whether or not it’s a senpai ent to the same school as hi Reciter”

“No way It’s just my stubborn dad”

Slowly, the tanned girl casually raised her head and looked back from the seat one row in front

“Ada-san?”

“Huh, Ada, do you know so about it?”

The girl waved her hand at the bitterly

“Aah, don’t worry about it I was just talking to myself”

“……Ah, really…?”

Neight and Mio absent-mindedly spoke at the same time

“Anyways, Mio, your opponent for the second round is me Good luck”

“Ah Ada, did you win your first round?”

Mio spoke up in surprise

“Fufufu, try not to let your guard down Actually, I play this pretty often”

“Oh? I guess I’ll enjoy this then”

For so theht stood up from his seat

“Ouo take a look around inside the train”

“Aah, the first section of the train is taken up by another school, so don’t get lost”

Without looking up froame board, the class representative casually waved his hand

In the lead carriage which was set up as a private room—

“……You guys acting as scouts to the research institute, please be careful, alright?”

With a sigh, the fe a suit the color of new leaves lifted her head as if she had suddenly thought of it Sitting in a chair, Zessel watched her from the corner of his eye

Teacher Kate, no, more like a teacher’s advisor She was an instructor of Blue Recitations Although she hadn’t been teaching for long, he had heard frequently in the staffroom that she was an excellent homeroom teacher of first-year students

“Alright But I don’t think it’s a very difficult task All we need to do is get the research institution to keep in contact with us, and then it will be over”

Enne spoke while stroking a decorative plant placed in a corner of the room

—I highly doubt that

Without speaking aloud, Zessel muttered in his mind It was a habit of his childhood friend, Enne Whenever she felt uneasy about so, she would always stroke a nearby plant

The research institute that created the evil catalyst And now, communications between them had stopped Was it a si dangerous? Actually, last night, the headmaster himself had only whispered ‘be careful’ to them

“Well, Enne and I will take it slowly and carefully”

……But he still felt anxious

The report they had received fro infor It included the personal history up to five years ago of staff members, the research institute’s financial investments, and even the business’s achievements However, the na> was nowhere to be seen That should have been the most important piece of information

“Could Mirror-san have forgotten to include that?”

“Don’t get your hopes up When he riting up such a report, do you really think that perfectionist would forget to include so so important?”

—In other words, infor> couldn’t be found in either Tremia Academy’s information department or even Kelberk Research Institute’s headquarters

“In the end, using that……”

In the middle of his sentence, Zessel shut his mouth The sound of footsteps resounded in the aisle It went on at a fast teradually approached them

“Kate-sensei!”

At the sound of knocking on the door, the female teacher whose name was called out stood up from her seat

“Ou?”

“A student fro in a different coht with our class, and before I could stop it, a girl from our class was—”

“What do you mean?!”

Her expression stiffening, Kate quickly opened the door Standing before her was an out of breath male student

“A girl…… Was someone injured?”

But, contrary to her expectations, although he was breathing heavily, he appeared cal worried, his expression looked tired

“Uun fighting back”

“Ah, the daughter of the Yung family? That’s too bad for the other school then”

Without bothering to hide a bitter smile, Zessel stood up

Ada Yung Because of her special fale teacher in Tremia Academy who didn’t know about her In other words, her situation was even ht Color Recitations

The Yung fahout the continent as a fairl should originally have become the lead Gillsheexorcist, but she drew attention to herself by attending a Recitation school At that time, her circu teachers Even the headmaster himself had asked her about her intentions

“Ouma, has the dispute itself ended?”

“Uirls in our class have been injured ……Right now, our class is drinking juicehigh-grade sake to celebrate our victory But it seems like there were some victims from the other school”

Aah, causing trouble already…… Kate closed her eyes with a worried expression Patting her on the shoulder, Zessel stepped out into the aisle in her place

“I was once an acquaintance with Klaus-sanher father, so I’ll go It’sthere and thinking”