Vol 23 Chapter 1 (2/2)
But he had indeed lost the desire to fight.
In that case...... it would be troublesome. If Layfon had any sort of charm, it was because he was very strong.
That was a difficult-to-change truth for Claribel, although different people viewed him differently. People couldn't see every side to another person right after an encounter. People would first see the face and see that side, then decide their impression of the other, and then decide how they would interact with that person.
The Layfon Alseif who attracted Claribel was Layfon Wolfstein Alseif, and the power that had easily taken a Heaven's Blade successor position at a young age.
In addition to being attracted by his strong power, she wanted to surpa.s.s him because he was strong.
Also, at the same time she also hoped that he would be a tall wall. A difference in strength that couldn't be easily surmounted despite their mere one-year age difference.
Fighting strength changed very easily. Walking the line between life and death could affect the mind as well as physical ability. Once the heart gave in, the flesh would weaken like a house of cards.
If Layfon wanted to reduce his desire to fight and his thirst for battle, should she awaken those feelings?
She had to become strong. Her heart wavered...... It had been her desire to surpa.s.s Layfon that made Claribel think about this, but now it was not the case. No matter what, she had to become strong.
In order to reach that goal, Layfon had to be the Layfon from the past - no, she had to surpa.s.s the Layfon from the past.
She wanted to surpa.s.s that Layfon. At that time, she could definitely approach towards an even farther goal. Also, when that time came, Layfon would become a great help.
But what should she do......?
In the end, she couldn't think of an answer during dinner.
◇
After long thought, her body felt incredibly tense, so Claribel ran outside to catch some fresh air and for some after-meal exercise.
She ran a loop around the outer area first. Normally, Claribel would maintain Sakkei and train her silent movement, but tonight she really wasn't in the mood for such a thing. Come to think of it, since this was the outer area, a bit of sound would be drowned out by the huge noise of the city's legs. Claribel sprinted past the outer area without holding anything back.
One loop, two loops, three loops...... When she finished her fourth loop, Claribel finally felt like stopping. She regulated her slightly heavy breathing, spreading Kei through her whole body to scatter sweat. The light of Key instantly pushed back the darkness of the night.
”Mmm.”
Her body gave off a satisfied feeling of release, and Claribel nodded with a smile.
Then, what should she do next...... As she was thinking this, someone watching from the side approached her.
”What are you doing?”
Claribel had sensed that someone there on her second loop, but that person seemed to be just a pa.s.serby, so Claribel had ignored him. However, that person was not approaching her, so he must have business with her.
There actually should have been one more observer, but that person didn't approach.
”You really are different from the other students, hugely different.”
Vance stood there.
”Ah, you're - uh......”
However, Claribel didn't remember his name. She had lumped Vance in as one of the many platoon captains obsessing over to recruiting her.
”I'm Vance, the captain of the third platoon.”
”Oh. Then what do you need from me?”
”I want to ask you to join our platoon.”
Claribel knew it was a pointless question, and she hadn’t missed the impatient look that flashed over Vance's face when she had asked it. Maybe this person was very irritable. But he was willing to take the time to approach her on his own, so Claribel felt that she ought to endure such trivial matters.
”Unfortunately, I have no interest in things like platoons right now.”
Because you're so weak - in the end, Claribel didn't give those words voice. However, Claribel's thoughts were understandable. With her strength, a half-baked platoon wouldn't work out. Also, if she didn't have this much self-confidence, she would never realize her goals.
Vance seemed to find Claribel's answer unexpected.
”But as a Military Artist, protecting the city is......”
Vance elaborated on what all Military Artists ought to comply to, as well as on how to effectively use Military Artists' strengths under Zuellni's system. The platoon system was indeed very useful to use as core groups during group battles. Grendan's Military Artists underwent group battle training in order to be able to fight cooperatively with others. But in the end, that was with the premise that those groups would be temporary. Of course teams that had been a.s.signed beforehand would perform more effectively, since they acc.u.mulated training experience in a different way.
However, that wasn't the important point.
”Yeah~”
Vance clearly felt impatient about Claribel's vague att.i.tude. He had even come to find Claribel this late at night, which was showed quite the enthusiasm. However, there was too much enthusiasm, so it felt a bit...... gross. Excessive enthusiasm felt repulsive. Hmm, take note of that. Claribel's maiden portion considered this.
However, in the next moment, he said something that made Claribel waver:
”You would be able to fight against Layfon Alseif of the seventeenth platoon.”
”Ah......”
Right, that was it.
”Ugh, I can't believe I forgot.”
How negligent. Perhaps it had been that Layfon hadn't done anything related to the platoon since Claribel came to Zuellni, so Claribel had completely overlooked the fact that he was a platoon member.
”If he doesn't want to practice with me...... then fine, if it's a platoon match...... But...... no, it's fine if I leave that to her......”
”You......?”
After hitting that juncture, her thoughts started moving in a flash.
”Right, that's not a bad idea.”
”Then do you want to join our platoon?”
”Ah, I haven't decided on that yet.”
”What?”
”Well...... let me test something on my side first.”
After saying that, she brought up a proposal that surprised Vance.
◇
So, the bell rang again.
”And the compet.i.tion starts! This is an anomaly among anomalies, an incredible anomaly! To think that the Military Artist new student Claribel Ronsmier, wanted by many platoon captains, would turn the tables and test the strengths of the platoons! But the bigger anomaly is - not just one or two platoons accepted this request! The third, fifth, seventh, fourteenth, and sixteenth platoons, five in total, announced that they would partic.i.p.ate in this compet.i.tion! Claribel obtained victory in the new student compet.i.tion held before - but no, the compet.i.tion this time is proof that she's just so amazing! Which platoon will be able to obtain this much-antic.i.p.ated, extraordinary rookie? We’ll decide that today, on this battlefield----------!”
The female emcee's voice shot through the sky of the battlefield, exciting the people squeezed in the spectator seats.
Claribel stood in an un.o.bstructed area near the entrance to the battlefield. Her figure was being tracked by cameras and projected to various screens in the spectator seats.
”......It feels like this has become something huge.”
Layfon murmured in the spectator seats as if frightened by the loud cheers.
”Kind of.”
Nina smiled wryly next to him.
”There's no Military Arts Compet.i.tion this year, so this platoon won't be a round robin like last year's, it'll be a bracket compet.i.tion. Also, the results of the platoon members will affect their scholars.h.i.+ps less than last year, so platoons will have win compet.i.tions frequently. But even so, every platoon wants to strengthen their fighting power. When you think of it that way, there actually aren't that many platoons partic.i.p.ating.”
Felli replied plainly from her seat on the other side of him.
”Ah, it's because the others are angry at the way Clara's doing things.”
After she said that, Nina thought of the platoon captains who had approached Claribel after the compet.i.tion. The platoons who hadn't announced they would partic.i.p.ate in this compet.i.tion had definitely gotten angry at her att.i.tude and methods.
Claribel was shown on the screen, holding the Kochouens.h.i.+ken with safety gear that Harley had reproduced for her rather than the practice sword from the previous compet.i.tion. New students usually couldn't hold Dites until half a year of getting used to the campus life. Only those who joined a platoon or city police could obtain permission.
She hadn't yet joined a platoon. To be honest, she ought not to be able to hold a Dite.
”It seems like this was a special provision laid down for this compet.i.tion. I heard that the platoon captains partic.i.p.ating in the compet.i.tion even signed a pet.i.tion.”
”Really.”
Claribel had definitely brought that item up as an additional condition for holding this compet.i.tion. Did even someone like her feel that dealing with so many people using a practice sword would be extremely unfavorable?
No, it was purely because she felt strange holding a Dite other than the Kochouens.h.i.+ken that she used. Layfon thought so.
”Come to think of it, she didn't have any interest in platoons, so why did she suddenly become like this?”
Claribel had been griping about how everyone was trying to pull her into platoons when she had eating dinner before, so Layfon brought up that question.
When Layfon mentioned how he couldn't understand her fickleness, glares shot at him from his left and right.
”......Huh? What?”
”Is it really an incurable disease?”
”Huh? Huh?”
As Layfon was confused by Felli's words, Nina explained:
”It's because she wants to fight with you. Don't you always refuse her? But if it's a platoon match, you'll have to fight with her. That's definitely what she's thinking.”
”Oh......”
”How troublesome.”
Felli's tone made him and Nina smile wryly.
The starting bell sounded.
◇
However good she was, Claribel couldn't fight all the platoons right from the start. Though Claribel herself felt that might work, the platoon captains didn't agree with those methods.
So they would draw straws to decide the battle order.
The rules of the battles were: If Claribel is unable to fight, the platoon wins. If the platoon members are all unable to fight, then Claribel wins.
”Just by looking at the rules, you can see that contestant Claribel is extremely disadvantaged. But apparently, it was contestant Claribel herself who proposed these rules. How arrogant, or is that an expression of absolute self-confidence? In any case, their first opponent - the sixteenth platoon - is starting to move!”
A boom pa.s.sed through the battlefield.
The sixteenth platoon had been the seventeenth platoon's first opponent last year. Just like last year, they were good at battles of speed, and as soon as the compet.i.tion started five of their fighters bravely charged. They were attempting to avoid the central area with more obstacles, planning on fighting near the entrance.
”Oh?”
Claribel noticed the opponents' intent, but deliberately stayed where she was.
However, she didn't do nothing at all.
”Ohh, contestant Claribel is using a move. What is that? Kei is glowing, but we have no idea what's going on. Is it some kind of offensive technique to counterattack?”
The emcee's uncertainty was eliminated when the sixteenth platoon members pa.s.sed through the central forest.
Dust kicked up by high-speed movement spat out from the forest and five platoon members flew out. They continued shortening the distance to attack Claribel accurately and simultaneously from multiple directions.
However, they couldn't do it.
”Stop there.”
Claribel murmured.
Then, things changed.
External-type Kei, Karen Kei variant - Scattered Flowers.
Orbs of red light suddenly appeared in Claribel's surroundings... but not just her surroundings, they also appeared in the surroundings of the sixteenth platoon members who pa.s.sed through the forest. Though they were only as small as a thumb, their numbers were - uncountable.
”What!?”
The sixteenth platoon members cried out, then their figures vanished in explosions of red light one by one.
After the light cleared, their figures slumped naturally to the ground.
”........................O-Oh...... Ohhh------! This is really incredible! Really incredible! The unimaginable scene made me speechless for a moment. But what exactly is going on? To think the sixteenth platoon was instantly beaten! It's hard to believe. Is this really happening? Are we seeing some sort of illusion!?”
The spectators cheered again alongside the emcee's excited voice.
Amidst this thunderous sound of cheers, Claribel looked at Layfon.
How was that? Don't you think I'm qualified to stand before you?
She asked in her heart.
However, Layfon was replying to the two girls next to him with an ordinary, commonplace expression.
”............Ugh!”
A very disinteresting scene.
”Come on, have the next team come out!”
Claribel uttered those words as she expelled the impatience from her heart.
Claribel won easily after that.
The remaining order of the compet.i.tion was the fifth, then the seventh, then the third platoons.
The fact that the compet.i.tion continued meant that Claribel continued winning.
The first time they had drawn straws, the platoon captains had all believed 'I'll be able to get her if we draw first'.
However, their beliefs had already changed, changing to believe that it would be more favorable for them to go at the end, when she started to show signs of weakness.
”Impossible!”
Vance's grieved cry echoed resounded the battlefield.
”Ohh! Even the fourth team, the third platoon, has been defeated - contestant Claribel's overwhelming victory. Her fighting style hasn't shown any weakness at all - how exactly will things play out? If this goes on, will we end the battle with no platoon partic.i.p.ating in the compet.i.tion able to get her? Then she's make a record that no one has ever attained until now - winning singlehandedly against five platoons in a row!”
”Just that much would be boring.”
Claribel murmured this at the emcee's words. That voice was picked up by the flakes of the Psychokinesists helping to run the compet.i.tion, then amplified and broadcast to the entire area.
”Maybe I'll end up leading these five platoons...... Right, I might as well just be a squadron leader.”
”Th......There's no such system!”
Vance cried out, collapsed on the ground and waiting for medics.
”Oh? Then I would have won for nothing? I even gave myself up as a prize, but you won't give me anything when you lose? Isn't that a bit stingy?”
”......Ugh!”
Vance hadn't expected a situation like the current, so he had nothing to say.
”Ah, there's still one team after this, so the possibility that I lose hasn't completely vanished.”
”! That's right! If it's s.h.i.+n, if it's that guy............!”
”Ahahahahaha! I see there are high expectations of me!”
That voice suddenly rang out.
It wasn't a voice broadcasted from the speakers set up by the operating crew.
”Ah?”
Claribel noticed that. There were several new flakes above her head, and the voice was reaching her through them.
”This voice - is it s.h.i.+n?”
Vance looked up at the sky. He has also noticed the flakes.
”That's right!”
”......s.h.i.+n?”
The voice responded, but Vance showed a surprised expression.
”It's finally my turn to take the stage!”
”s.h.i.+n, I always thought you were lighthearted, but aren't you particularly laid-back today? No, rather than laid-back......”
”Laid-back? No, that's wrong. Starting from today, starting right now, the fourteenth platoon will be reborn!”
At the same time as that voice reached them, a new voice came from another flake - one that had already been surrept.i.tiously positioned in the battlefield...... or more accurately, positioned above the spectator seats.
No, it was a recording.
A thirty-two-beat, extremely fast song played out through the air. It was a solemn keyboard melody interspersed with distorted, high-pitched string instruments. Combined with an original, rough percussive rhythm, it made an incomparably somber tune.
The melody produced by the trackless, intense sound filled the battlefield, attempting to create a different world.
”Come, let everyone witness the rebirth of the fourteenth platoon!”
Then, they appeared.
From the sky.
If you asked how they did it, they had probably slipped onto the top of the outer wall of the battlefield, but that kind of thing was boring when the trick was revealed.
In any case, they descended from the sky.
With pitch-black appearances.
Like envoys of the night.
Or like Rakshasa[1] leading evil demons.
The reborn fourteenth platoon descended to the area, crowned with new names.
”Teresa the Black Rose.”
”G.o.d of Death Tony.”
”Moon Shadow Cody.”
”We are the Three Jet-Black Stars!”[2]
Military Artists wearing black clothing and with black accessories appeared there.
Then, the final person.
”And the great me! s.h.i.+n, the Falcon!”
Wearing a long black coat decorated with silver chains that fluttered like a mythical bird, the fourteenth platoon leader s.h.i.+n Kaihan descended from the sky.
Upon seeing that figure, Claribel......
Doki♪[3]
◇
In the spectator seats.
Two girls stared at the figures, their bodies quivering.
”....................................Felli?”
”No, I have nothing to do with this.”
”Uh, but no matter how I see it, this......”
”At least I didn't come up with that person's outfit.”
”Why are you muttering?”
Layfon, the only one left out, looked to the girls to his left and right.
”And aren't those fighting clothes? So in that sense, this has nothing to do with me.[4] Yeah, absolutely nothing to do with me.”
”But as for that nickname, come to think of it......”
”But that was just once, wasn't it? During last year's matches and Military Arts Compet.i.tion, they were still dressed normally......”
”We saved our budget from last year and were thus reborn!”
s.h.i.+n said. Though the timing was perfect, the words he said were a bit lackl.u.s.ter.
”Senpai......”
Nina covered her face.
”Under the guidance of the Silver Angel[5], we have been reborn as envoys of darkness!”
”They absolutely aren't talking about me. Yeah, definitely not. And what's up with that nickname? No way no way no way no way......” (repeat to infinity)
Felli, who began mumbling again, cringed due to some unknown pain.
As an explanation, this was the intense mental pain produced as a result of a tiny prank unexpectedly going out of control and becoming unstoppable, and her once again witnessing the embarra.s.sing outcome.
”Uh, that...... is it...... Felli?”
”Shut up, Lay the Flash[6]!”
”Huhh? Or rather, I feel like you've called me that before. Then, did you really make those peoples' nicknames?”
”Uh, oops.”
After accidentally shooting herself in the foot, Felli panicked.
As the two of them spoke, the situation on the battlefield continued.
◇
We return to the battlefield.
”Heh, heheh...... you look pretty good.”
Claribel's murmur made Vance, s.p.a.cing out nearby, widen his eyes in surprise.
”Heh...... I knew you'd say that.”
s.h.i.+n's mouth curved into a smile.
Claribel realized in that moment that s.h.i.+n had been the other observer that night in the outskirts. However, that definitely wasn't something that displeased her.
”Since the moment I saw you, I knew you were a human searching for darkness. A beautiful flower that can only bloom in the darkness...... Right, the Scarlet Princess.”
”A great name.”
”Hey, wait! Are the two of you both serious?”
Vance was the only one present left unhappily behind in reality. However, he couldn't believe his eyes and could only put on an alarmed look.
Ignoring the dumbstruck Vance, the dramatizing two continued speaking.
”However! Without power, you cannot command me!”
Claribel shouted this, then stabbed out the Kochouens.h.i.+ken. The tip of the blade shone sharply. The ruby-colored metal reacted, and crimson light scattered from the blade.
Her burning fighting spirit left Vance speechless.
However, s.h.i.+n didn't move. s.h.i.+n the Falcon didn't move.
Also, the Three Jet-Black Stars behind him didn't cower.
Teresa the Black Rose smiled.
G.o.d of Death Tony and Moon Shadow Cody stood there with confident expressions.
”You're mistaken.”
Waves of Claribel's Kei made s.h.i.+n's clothes flutter. He fearlessly approached her.
”I have no intention of commanding you. Didn't I say - you're a princess, one who commands darkness. We'll pledge allegiance to you, and our proof is - this.”
Tony, standing behind him, opened the package they had prepared, and took out an outfit from inside it.
”This is......?”
”This is the outfit of the princess who will ring the bell of victory for us.”
”How......”
”But this is only temporary, so the measurements still haven't been adjusted.”
After s.h.i.+n quietly said that, he instantly smiled wryly.
”Come, command us, princess!”
”Of course!”
Claribel's eyes sparkled like a small girl's, her hands grabbing tightly on to the black clothes.
”For real?”
Vance made that last groan.
However, no one in this drama recognized his existence any longer. No, even if people noticed him, his role was just that of a sad fool whose enthusiasm had been perfectly manipulated by others. Though Vance noticed that fact, he was unwilling to admit it.
Claribel draped the black garment over her shoulders, and s.h.i.+n the Falcon moved behind her and to her right side, with the Three Jet-Black Stars moving behind and to her left.
”Our enemy is there!”
Kochouens.h.i.+ken's blade turned directions.
It pointed to the spectator seats.
”It's you! Lay the Flas.h.!.+”
”Why do you know about that!?”
Layfon wailed from where he sat in the spectator seats.
A month-long commotion happened after that, and she was later named the Princess of Chaos afterwards, but we'll recount that later when there's more time.
Translator's Notes and References ↑ Demonic beings from Hindu and Buddhist mythology. ↑ This whole fourteenth-platoon thing is a joke off of something made up in the Regios manga. I urge you to read that manga because it's hilarious. ↑ Sound effect of a beating heart. Apparently, she likes their costumes. ↑ Explanation: Felli chooses the outfits for the Three Jet-Black Stars in the manga. She chooses normal clothes, though, so what they're wearing is apparently not exactly what she picked out for them. ↑ Rough translation ↑ Reference to a terrible nickname Felli made for Layfon way back from Volume 2.
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