Vol 3 Chapter 1 (1/2)

So My body was unable to move

Every breath I took carance

Although smothered, it did not feel unpleasant at all With that kind of unbelievable feeling, I opened htly

Then I was so surprised that I even forgot to breathe

In front ofoff a fragrant scent—A voluptuous bust was covering my face

”Mmm Mononobe”

Sohtly next tome

As for that someone—I was 80-90 sure it was Iris

Without looking at her face, I could instantly tell from her voice

Iris Freyja was my class silver hair

She was also the only person who had given me the taste of a kiss

But that was like a reward gift—Although Iris and I were good friends, it was not the kind of relationshi+p where we could be locked passionately in embrace like this in bed

Hence, ure out the situation, I could not think properly

Iris' bodily scent and soft boso out my mind

”Ah Mononobe Mmm”

Hearing Iris' voice next to my ear, my back shuddered

It felt like soers to comb my hair Iris was apparently awake

Then I heard the sound of so

”Mononobe's s”

Iris buried her face inhot breath

I shi+fted h Iris had her top unbuttoned, she essentially still had her clothes on She earing her school uniform

My vieas do more detailed infor up, I recalled that this was a sickroo rather than my own room

I was injured during the battle five days earlier—in other words, ”Blue” Hekatonkheir and Kili's attack on Midgard, which hy I was currently under treat

Although the more heavily injured left shoulder still could nottoday, I could attend classes Hence, I was scheduled to be discharged today if there were not problems

”Mononobe will feel soothed too, right Hugging you like this You'll forget your pain and suffering, right?”

Iris hugged e It felt very soft, warh I was almost about to suffocate

I heard the beat of Iris' heart Or was this my own heartbeat?

”Don't worry, Mononobe You won't have night as sohtmares that time”

Iris was probably talking about the tieted her To help her feel at ease, I had lent my back for her to lean on

—Maybe I was having a nightmare earlier

Although I had no recollection of it, that was probably the case Now that the painkiller's effect had subsided,It did not cohtmares in such a state

I guessed that Iris was doing this to put er panicking but that still did not change the situation

Or perhaps, now that I had less to think about and occupy ly conscious of Iris' body warmth

Iris relaxed her e softly to herself:

”However For sohhot—soh it didn't happen before it doesn't feel right somehow so weird hmm—”

Iris' exhaled breaths were hot Sheour bodies, in close contact, to touch and rub against each other, forcing me to hold ht have succumbed to an indescribable impulse

”Ah Mmm Mononobe”

Irismanner

Iris' heart had been beating fast since a while ago My heart was beating madly too

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before I lost self-control But under such conditions, even if I told her I had already woken up, I had a feeling that it would still bring about so irrevocable

”Ya Mmm”

Iris exhaled hot breath and sandwiched my face between her soft breasts I understood that there was no ti skills”

”Ooh”

I deliberately groaned as a hint to Iris that I was about to wake up

”Hyah!?”

Iris i, I should have woken up from her cry but I continued to pretend I was still asleep

”Hmm”

”M-Mononobe, don't wake up yet! Don't wake up!”

Iris frantically climbed off the bed As reluctant as I was to leave her body war thirty seconds silently in htly with caution

”G-Good , Mononobe!”

Iris was sitting in a chair next to the bed, sreeted me Her face was still flushed red but I deliberately pretended not to notice and responded:

”Good ?”

Seeing that her unbuttoned top was already fixed up, I secretly felt relieved and asked her that At the ital clock on the side of the sickbed read 6am

”Oh, uht? So I wanted to welcome you back!”

”Welco that but isn't it a bit too early?”

Although Iris' busty embrace had swept all sense of drowsiness from me, I would normally be asleep at this hour

”Oh, right, actually I was planning to wake you up later So I', you know?”

Iris spoke apologetically

”It's okay, I feel particularly energized waking up today so I'ood dream”

”I-I see!”

Iris replied happily, a s on her face

It was probably thanks to Iris that I did not rehtmare Surely, it was Iris' heartbeat and body war

But since I could not thank her directly while feigning ignorance, ood dream

No, in actual fact after waking up, I really did enjoy a wonderful dream

I could not help but recall Iris' snohite skin, so I hastily shook hts away

”Mononobe, what's with you? Do you know that your face is very red?”

Despite her own red face, Iris asked me with puzzlement

I suppressed the urge to retort, avoided eye contact and said ”it's nothing”

”Really? Then since you have to get up, Mononobe, why don't I help you change? Your left arht?”

Iris stood up froing in the closet My sister Mitsuki had brought this uniform from the dorm for me yesterday

”Sure, that'd be a great help—”

However, I stopped mid-sentence I discovered there would be a serious problee

”—No wait, forget it! I can get changed on my own!”

Not only had I just woken up, I had also viewed Iris' tender skin up close i up How could I calm down is would be extremely bad

”Jeez, Mononobe, you're a patient You're not allowed to act polite towards ht open up”

Iris had a very good point Unless I told her the real reason, she was probably not going to be dissuaded But that would onlyThis was foreseeable too

”T-That's right, but there et changed after that”

Since I could not find an excuse, I tried to stall for time so that I could calm down first

”Oh, I asked the nurse about that already She said you just need toto class Also, I heard that breakfast will be served at the school cafeteria, so let's go together after you're done changing”

Iris smiled with 100 benevolent intentions Given her carelessness, this was quite well thought out of her, but it mercilessly sealed off my avenues of escape

”No, but”

Just as I was breaking out in cold sweat, thinking of excuses, Iris peered at

”Mononobe, don't tellundressed by me?”

”Urgh”

Iris was not far fro h a great idea had occurred to her and chuckled

”I see, so Mononobe gets shy too! I was so embarrassed when you saw me naked, Mononobe, with this we'll be even”

Perhaps as revenge for that ti

”H-Hey, wait! Wait first, just a short while!”

”No, don't move recklessly or it'll affect your injuries, okay? Don't move”

Iris cli directly reen hospital gown

”H-Hey!?”

”Fufu, it feels like you're a bit cute today, Mononobe, h my bum—”

”!?”

Just as the situation turned desperate, the sickroom's door was opened loudly

”Ah! What are you doing, Iris!?”

The petite little girl with horns on her head entered the room and yelled loudly

Saying she had horns on her head was not a er Rather, it was a true description of her appearance A D nae would put her in elementary school, but due to various reasons, she had transferred into Brynhildr Class where I studied

Shaking her beautiful fluttering hair, which looked pink in the light, Tia rushed over to the side of my bed

”Yuu will beco with anyone apart from the wife!”

Tia cli me

”W-We're not doing anything dirty I just wanted to help Mononobe get changed!”

Iris exchanged glares with Tia across

Because she realized what the scene looked like to others, with her straddling and undressing me

”Then Tia will help Yuu change too! Because taking care of the husband is the wife's job!!”

”You haven't married Monobe, Tia, so you don't have that kind of priority! So first coet up early!”

Refusing to back down against the aggressive Tia, Iris retorted and argued

I could al between them No, there really could be sparks because Tia had a bad habit Whenever she got eenerate darkit into electrical currents

””

Without interjecting thoughtlessly, I quietly watched theue

Norht nohat I needed most was time

After roughly ten reement They would cooperate and take turns to assist

During those ten ed to settle down

Part 2

Twenty-five years ago, the first dragon—”Black” Vritra—made its appearance in the sky above japan

Ever since, children possessing the saenerate darkhuard here

When Midgard was first established, it leaned heavily towards a detention facility in purpose, but now, it had becoanization with massive influence over the world

There was extreh economic value in the ability to transmute dark matter into any substance Hence, Ds contributed to society by using their powers to undertake jobs to produce rare resources

However, Midgard also had an undisclosed function Na in search of mates

Targeted Ds would turn into the saon targeting the on my lap

The red dragon—”Red” Basilisk—had chosen Tia and was apparently crossing the African continent right now in pursuit of her However, there was an ocean between Midgard and the continent, hence, it was still unknohether Basilisk would cross the ocean, seeing as its body structure was not suited to swi

”Here, say ah—”

Sitting sideways ona sandwich towards me with an innocent and pure smile on her face

She looked coo, she had been insisting she was a dragon, thus raising a huge wall between herself and the other Ds

But in response to her classentle treatment, Tia had by her oill rejected Kili, the leader of the dragon worshi+ping cult the Sons of Muspell, thus choosing to live with us as a hu here now

Initially, Tia had refused to leave my side but because I was hospitalized, she was currently living with her classmate Lisa in the student dormitories

”Yuu, hurry up”

Asking h she was now getting along ith others, she still did not change her tendency to ested to her that I hope she would not sit on my lap any class but I had to obey her now

”Can't be helped”

I gave up resisting and obediently bit the sandwich

We were currently in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the catering building Of course there were other people watching and this sort of behavior was very euing again

In the sickroom earlier, Tia and Iris had reached a consensus to take turns helping e But they continued to ”care” forto the cafeteria

”Mononobe, it's my turn next”

Sitting on ht, Iris leaned closer and presentedsandhile Iris was holding a tuna sandwich

My right hand could move normally so it made me feel bad that I even needed help to eat meals Nevertheless, when I voicedto do with that”

”Thanks”

Ignoring the surrounding gazes, I bit Iris' sandwich as well

”Ehehe!”

Iris' face relaxed and sheunable to look her in the eye, I chewed the sandhile

”Hurry hurry, eat Tia's too”

Seeing this, Tia iain

Under their urging, I ate their sandwiches in alternate bites However, eating sandwiches alone made me start to feel thirsty

But because the sandwiches were delivered to my mouth without pause, I could not find the chance to speak for a long time

”—Tia-san, Iris-san, this cannot be called care, you know?”

I tones

I turnedeye contact with a pair of clear blue eyes

”Gulp Good , Lisa”

I hastily sed the sandwich in hwalker Lisa tossed her long blonde hair and answered me with a scowl

”Good irls serving you so early in the ”

Hearing Lisa's sarcastic tone, I frantically explained myself

”No, I didn't ask the to help me in my injured state—”

”Oh, is that so? But do you truly need the assistance?”

”Well”

If it was just eating, I could e without their help, so I fell speechless

”Letting others help unnecessarily is tanta them to serve you Also, Tia-san and Iris-san—The two of you have erred to an absurd extent”

”Kyah!?”

”Lisa so scary”

Hearing Lisa's harsh tone of voice, Iris and Tia shrank their shoulders in fright

”Did you know that excessive care may sometimes burden the receiver? You two should try to think from his perspective and only assist him on necessary tasks”

After saying that, Lisa took a cup of water that was on the table and presented it to me

”You are thirsty, am I correct?”

”Y-Yeah, thanks”

I thanked her and took the cup with my left hand, then drank the entire cup

”Mononobe Yuu, you must decide for yourself the occasion when you need to ask for help If it is so truly necessary, I will assist you with my full power too”

Despite turning her head away fiercely, Lisa made me that kind of offer

Stunned, Iris and Tia stared at Lisa

”Lisa-chan is so cool”

Iris murmured with eyes of worshi+p

”Lisa is a”

Tia offered her a gaze of respect

”I-I si that was a matter of fact”

Seeing Lisa explain modestly in embarrassment, I also praised her

”Lisa really is a good woman indeed”

On further thought, it was quite unnatural for Lisa to appear on ca Perhaps she had co me resume school life

”Y-You are saying that again! Is !?”

Instantly gone red in the face, Lisa glared at me viciously

”No, I' about you It's just that I couldn't think of any other way of putting it”

”Then my wish is that you could study seriously and learn more vocabulary”

Arms crossed, Lisa replied unhappily but her cheeks remained red

Seeing that kind of reaction from her, I could not help but smile This time, I really wanted to play a joke on her

But just as I was about to tease her, there was suddenly a quiet counusual vibes in the voices, everyone stopped what they were doing

”Did so happen?”

Intrigued, Iris asked quietly

There were staff having breakfast in the cafeteria like us and they also looked towards the lounge, unsure what had happened Things like ”hey, co on” could be heard froe

”Yuu Tia has a bad feeling about this”

Tia clutched htly with a worried look

Only then did I re e as well

”Let us head over to verify what happened”

Saying that, Lisa urged us to move

Hence, The four of us went to the lounge and saw many staff with their eyes fixated on the television Shown on the screen was the overhead view of a coast somewhere

”What”

Seeing that screen, I was instantly speechless

One type of news had absolutely first priority no matter which country in the world

Naons that ard for national borders, the disasters they caused, as well as disaster predictions

Currently airing were ion disaster

But this was a type of dragon disaster I had never seen before

The sea had a patch of it dyed pure white Judging froht of the screen, the scene was near the equator on the African continent, a place where the ocean could not possibly freeze

In fact, whether the words on screen or what the newscaster reported, neither indicated that the ocean was exhibiting a freezing phenomenon

What the news reported was—

Moving across the African continent, after reaching the coast, Basilisk had turned the surrounding seawater into salt completely

Part 3

”I believe h the un to cross the sea”

Standing on the podiuravely was my little sister, as siard Academy—Mononobe Mitsuki Despite her short stature, one did not get any impression of unreliability from her A sense of solemnity could be felt from her tense expression

”Believed to be unable to swi seawater into salt Rather than taking the land route of the Eurasian continent, it is advancing towards Midgard along the shortest distance Roughly one month fro the Indonesian archipelago to reach us”

A slight cla to Mitsuki

The first day I returned to school, the tied to hold an iinally visiting me frequently at the sickroom, but today was the only day when she did not appear, probably because of the Basilisk incident Also, the asseround instead of the usual gym

When the clock toas destroyed by Hekatonkheir the other day, its debris had apparently struck the gyy around me, I could see the lower half of the slanted, collapsed and bifurcated clock tower

”However, this developard and NIFL has independently planned operations capable of dealing lethal dae to Basilisk and made preparations We have sufficient chances of victory”

Perhaps to encourage everyone, Mitsuki declared fir many students to nod in response with deter under the assu Basilisk, everyone had a certain level of confidence and preparedness There was no gloomy mood like for Leviathan's attack

”Detailed plans will be explained to ation Squad Please prepare yourselves, everyone”

After announcing the necessary facts concisely, Mitsuki descended from the podium

Although noon had not arrived yet, the sun was already shi+ning intensely Perhaps Mitsuki had judged that a long speech in tropical Midgard would be a bad idea

After a teacher went on the podium to make a few announcements, the full-school assembly was dismissed

”After hearing Mitsuki-chan's speech, it really feels like there won't be problem”

Walking side by side with me, Iris spoke

”Mitsuki so cool, as expected of Yuu's little sister”

On my other side, Tia also praised Mitsuki

”Yeah”

Although I concurred with the uneasy inside

I felt the saons, Mitsuki's

Just now, although she had urged everyone to prepare themselves mentally, in Mitsuki's case, it seemed like she had prepared toono in to spare mentally

Mitsuki had personally killed her dragonified best friend in the past She had also said that she was continuing to battle in order to atone for that crime

Hence, I had also vowed to put everything on the line to terminate her battle

Even if Mitsuki did not want ainst my vow

—If Mitsuki does anything reckless, I must stop her

I was thinking over theseto our classrooe in the back row in the center, flanked by Iris and Mitsuki

Earlier, Tia had kept treatingin the seat in front ofme, ”Is Tia obedient?”

”Very obedient”

I caressed her head Tia showed a contented smile and turned to face the front

Sitting on her two sides were the red-haired prodigy, Ren Miyazawa, and the toan to chat with the this from behind, I knew she had noalong as a member of Brynhildr Class

Seated in the front roere Lisa and the bibliophile as always reading, Firill Crest The seat between them was empty Before I transferred in, the entire middle colu left in the Brynhildr Class

At this moment, the door opened Hoether

Seeing the one empty seat that was now emphasized, ould Mitsuki think? I was quite curious about this

Student No 4, shi+nomiya Miyako, was shi+nomiya-sensei's little sister and also Mitsuki's best friend

Were she still alive, all the seats in the classroom would be filled

”—Please be quiet, everyone Homeroom time still has not ended, so please listen to a feords from me”

Mitsuki stood at the lectern and swept her gaze across us while she spoke Everyone stopped chatting and directed their gaze at Mitsuki

On the other hand, shi+no in the chair next to the lectern, using the register book in her hand to fan herself

”The ation Squad for this operation will be centered on our Brynhildr Class Most likely, every member of the class will be selected Hence, I will first tell you about the operation's key points”

Almost everyone? In other words, everyone apart froeted by Basilisk?

I found it a bit strange but did not interrupt, deciding to listen to Mitsuki first

”Basilisk fires red beaaze into stone, dust or salt The range approaches five kiloht it directly but ht However, there are objects for cover on the sea Consequently, Midgard has decided that the most effective tactic is to lure Basilisk to a desert island in neighboring waters, then blow Basilisk to sether with the island”

Hearing that, Ariella raised her hand to ask a question

”YouBasilisk, but how?”

”Tia-san will be transported to that island teet is Tia-san, it will surely head towards the island Naturally, before Basilisk arrives, ill let Tia-san retreat”

”Oh, that sounds like it'll work”

Putting down her hand, Ariella seemed to accept the answer It felt like she had expected this answer more or less

Then Firill raised her hand and asked Mitsuki:

”What are chances that the island will be flattened by Basilisk as soon as it enters visual range?”

”According to data collected so far, even when Basilisk turns vegetable i its advance into dust, the landscape re exposed to the red beaes”

”Now that is quite unbelievable So Basilisk's red beah firepower attack?”

After listening to Firill, Mitsuki nodded solemnly

”Indeed Although there have been various theories regarding Basilisk's ability, abundant data has been obtained fro deductions to narron the overall direction Before the operation is put into action, it should be possible to put forward a more accurate theory”

Basilisk's ability was not fully analyzed yet, it see, it had stayed in the desert for the past twenty years or so since it appeared, hence a lack of data was very normal

Prior to this, Basilisk was a dragon that caused no problems unless one approached it Of course, the country where Basiliskhappened as long as one kept their distance But precisely because nothing happened, no data was gathered about the dragon, and now, that was the price paid

All the anti-Basilisk training conducted so far were probably based on the assumption of that Basilisk would not leave the desert

I had to take a test where I had to attack and pierce diamond from a distance of a hundredthat close to Basilisk was ie combat probably assus like sand dunes for cover

”—Anyone have other questions?”

Mitsuki swept her gaze across us and asked

Since no one else seemed to have one, I decided to pose the question that had bothered me from the start

”I do”

I raised aze at me

”Go ahead, Nii-san”

”Just now, Mitsuki, you mentioned that almost every on Subjugation Squad, which means someone will be excluded?”

At first, I thought Tia would stay behind but according to Mitsuki, she was the center of the operation and absolutely indispensable This meant that there was someone else ould be excluded

”Well, although it has not been confirmed yet I intend to have you stay behind, Nii-san”

”What Me? Why?”

I asked in surprise

”Obvious, is it not? Because you are a patient”

”No, wait a sec, there's alht? Before that,part in the operation shouldn't be a problem”

I hastily objected but Mitsuki sighed with an exasperated look on her face

”What would be the point of straining yourself to take part? What this operation requires is high offensive power Although you possess anti-dragon weapons, Nii-san, you also mentioned before that they cannot be used froht?”

”That's true, yeah”

Countered so coan to stammer

The anti-dragon weapons I created by borrowing other people's dark matter were only parts from the lost weapon known as Marduk Hence, there weresomewhere unstable, I had no confidence I could aim accurately In addition, I had no idea whether my foothold would be able to withstand the recoil

”When destroying Basilisk together with the island, of course the attacks will be launched from a shi+p Hence, there is no need for you, Nii-san Furtherh as the candidate to look after Tia-san”

”Hmm”

Mitsuki's arguree candidly If she were to do anything reckless, I needed to be at her side to stop her