Vol 4 Chapter 1 (1/2)
”Nii-san, hurry We are going to be late”
While running along the path froedblack hair would flutter lightly
”There's still time Even if we just walk briskly, we'll still make the first bell”
Holdingwhich contained a laptop-style portable terminal, I answered in a carefree tone of voice
”As the student council president, how could I serve as the role model for others students if I arrive at school in the nick of tiates fivelate”
”In that case, Mitsuki, you'd better run first I' breakfast, so let me walk at my own pace”
Due to oversleeping, I had just finished breakfast in a hurry Holding my stomach, I replied
”Unacceptable! Because I a you, Nii-san, it is ether”
Mitsuki finished then held my hand matter-of-factly
”H-Hey”
”We are aler”
Holding my hand, Mitsuki quickened her pace
The sensation of slender fingers, a size smaller than mine, made it hard for my emotions to remain calm
After the Basilisk battle, only a couple days had passed since the transport shi+p took us back to Midgard
Having learned that Mitsuki was not my blood-related sister and listened to her confession of her feelings—I could no longer not notice her
After Mitsuki declared she would not give up on me, she started to act more proactively, no More accurately, she had decreased the amount of unnecessary reservations
Currently, Mitsuki looked very natural As Midgard's student council president, as idly to standards That kind of lifefor Mitsuki
Mitsuki now looked full of vitality At her urging, I quickened my pace
Arriving at the intersection between the road to school and the girls doro of ht that it would be unseeh the school gates in a hurry
But having run all the way up to this point, there was plenty of ti clock tohich could be seen from anywhere on the island, the minute hand indicated that there were still fifteen minutes until class
—The clock toas already restored to normal Its broken and tilted state earlier seemed like it had never happened
Recalling how the top portion had been destroyed and the clock toas in a state of ruin earlier, I could not help but feel impressed inside
Roughly a e from Kili and Hekatonkheir but while ere away to put down Basilisk, the clock tower had been repaired for the most part
Precisely because Midgard was the castle of the Ds who fought dragons, they had finished construction as quickly as they could
Both Mitsuki's rooy debris, were likewise repaired
The only lingering signs of destruction were probably the trees trampled by Hekatonkheir
We swiped our ID cards and passed through the school gates to head to our classroom—Brynhildr Class
Along the way, after we entered the school building, I immediately heard someone call my name from behind
”Yuu—”
I spun around and looked back to see a young girl with tiny horns on her head Tia Lightning Her light-colored hair swaying while she ran towards ht in a kind of optical illusion
”Good !”
Tia used theonto my neck
”Oh—G-Good , Tia”
I caught her light body and greeted her
”Ehehe, so happy to see Yuu today again”
Tia shtly to my body
”Tia-san, please do not make excessive displays of intimacy in public”
Mitsuki put on her student council president face to correct Tia, but Tia pouted unhappily
”Not excessive, this is within normal for Tia”
”In community life, you need to respect co to that, Tia-san, your actions are excessive”
”Hmph Mitsuki is too strict”
Tia reluctantly let go of me and stared pitifully at me
”Yuu, if just a little bit, did your heart flutter because of Tia?”
”Huh? Suddenly getting hugged Of course a little”
Hearing s honestly, Tia happily closed her eyes partially
”Great, Tia will continue to make Yuu's heart flutter, then Yuu will love Tia the most!”
”Urgh—”
Confronted with her pure and sincere feelings, I could not help but panic
Ever since returning to Midgard, Tia had been acting this way Compared to the previous phase when she pleaded like a child for us to getit even harder for me to kno to react
”Nii-san, what are you losing coet to class”
Mitsuki finished with slight displeasure in her tone, then grabbed ed me off
”Ah! So unfair that only Mitsuki gets to hold hands So that's not excessive?”
”Because Nii-san and I are family This level of contact is very normal”
Mitsuki guiltily shi+fted her gaze away and answered
”Then Tia will hold hands with Yuu too! Lisa said that comrades in the same class are no different from family”
”Co to is Fine, I suppose the two s are not entirely dissimilar”
Mitsuki replied auously
Thinking back now, I had spotted Mitsukisimilar expressions many times before So actually, Mitsuki had always been conscious that ere not siblings by blood, it was just that I never noticed
In the end, Mitsuki and Tia held ht hands respectively The three of us made our way to the classroom
”By the way, Tia, you came to school alone? What happened to Lisa?”
In the beginning when she first transferred here, Tia refused to leave my side, but now that she had opened her heart to her classhwalker
I looked back along the corridor but could not see any signs of Lisa
”Lisa says she has to talk to Firill, so Tia came to school alone today”
”Talk to Firill? Did so happen?”
What could have happened that required her to ask Tia to go to school first? Feeling curious, I asked
”Dunno But Firill seee”
”Strange?”
”She see a book today”
”That really is quite strange”
I frowned and nodded
As a bibliophile, Firill always had a book in her hand Soht now, there was no way to confirm why
All I could do ait quietly for Firill to get to school
Right before entering the classroom, Mitsuki released my hand and opened the door Three students were already inside
”Hi, good ”
Greeting us in a casual tone was the toirl—Ariella Lu
”Mm”
Then greeting us with just a wave of her hand was the redhead, Ren Miyazawa
”Good ”
”Morning!”
Mitsuki and Tia greeted while entering the classroom
”Good , Ariella and Ren”
I greeted the two girls then turned irl in the classroom
”G-Good ”
Sta was Iris Freyja
”Good , Iris”
I saze away frolance
Even after I sat down next to her, Iris continued to stare out thePreviously, Iris would always start talking to me frequently on her own, so this felt quite uncomfortable to me
”Nii-san, did you get into a fight with Iris-san?”
Seeing us like that, Mitsuki asked me
”No, that's not it”
Actually, Iris and I had grown even more intimate after I confessed my memory loss
However, in direct contrast to Mitsuki who had started behaving er initiated inti with Tia for my attention, especially when in front of Mitsuki
She was probably worried about Mitsuki's feelings
I think that after she hearddeclared she would retrieveshe could do
Because of the path she had chosen, perhaps in the end, she ive up on ”the current me”
Seeing Iris push herself like that, I felt very useless but I did not knohat to do But there was one thing I could be certain So seemed to be off about the current situation
While I was thinking about the correct thing to do, the bell rang for class Just before the ringing stopped, only then did Lisa and Firill enter the classroom
Just as Tia said, Firill was not carrying a book in her hand She looked very preoccupied with her thoughts
”It will be fine, Firill-san I shall help you find a solution”
”Lisa But—”
”Speak no more Leave it to me”
There was a heavy at around Lisa and Firill while they talked and took their seats Then because shi+nomiya-sensei, our hoet a chance to talk to theement of desks and chairs, I could only look at the backs of the the girls who sat on the left and right ends of the front row
”Now let's begin with the register”
Including h one could tell at a glance asin this sister and took roll call one by one
”Lisa Highwalker”
First to be called was Student No 1, Lisa
””
However, Lisa did not respond straight away She was staring silently at Firill
On the other hand, Firill was taking on Lisa's gaze with a lost and hesitant look on her face
”Lisa Highwalker, are you listening?”
shi+noain Immediately, Lisa's expression looked like she had aze away from Firill, she pushed her chair back and stood up
”shi+nomiya-sensei, I have a request for you”
”You do know that this is hoht? Save it for later”
”I aency, it cannot be saved for later Sensei, ard as soon as possible?”
Lisa asked shi+nomiya-sensei solemnly
—perard?
Although I did not knohy, this was truly an unreasonable request anization of Ds—users of dark matter creation—but also an isolation facility at the same time
Midgard existed both to isolate Ds from all sorts ofharmed by Ds
”What are you suddenly talking about? You should know that prior to reaching the age of twenty, when powers naturally vanish, Ds are essentially forbidden froard”
shi+no in Midgard, Ds must live in this school until they reached adulthood This decision was chosen to keep friction between them and ordinary people to a minimum, to avoid conflict with the world
”Of course I know that, but could you make an exception?”
”Do not ask for the impossible Besides, why on earth—Oh, I see now Because he passed away”
shi+noaze to Firill and spoke
”Yes, that is why I would like Firill-san to attend the funeral”
It looked like someone related to Firill had passed away No wonder she was acting differently from normal, but—
”I understand how you feel But I cannot allow her to enjoy special treatment as a lone exception”
shi+nomiya-sensei's ansas just as I expected There must be quite a few people who had encountered the sah to allow thes for such reasons
Lisa should understand this very clearly, but still, she refused to give up
”shi+no on many assumptions Firill-san is a special case The Principality of Erlia has ht to autonoard All things considered, she is their—”
”No ard, she is only an ordinary student here Your line of reasoning does not work”
shi+nomiya-sensei interrupted Lisa and told her clearly
”But—”
”Lisa, forget it Thank you That's enough”
Lisa was about to argue back when Firill stopped her
”Firill-san”
”Rules must be followed after all Sorry, Sensei, I made a willful request”
Firill bowed her head and apologized to shi+nomiya-sensei
”No, wanting to attend a family funeral is a ree to your request”
shi+noized to Firill while Lisa sat down reluctantly
Hence, horave at, but there was still one thing I did not understand
Right now, it was hard for me to speak to Iris, so I asked Mitsuki quietly:
”Mitsuki, what did shea special case?”
”Nii-san, do not tell me you still have no idea? Surely you must have heard the name of the Principality of Erlia mentioned in class?”
Mitsuki looked at me with an expression of surprise and lamentation
”Huh? Oh, of course I know the Principality of Erlia I rely for the restoration of the Ds' huht?”
This name was mentioned frequently in the Ds' modern history class The Principality of Erlia was a sh the export of scarce resources, they had reportedly achieved astounding econorowth in recent years
Apparently only japan, where the birthrate of Ds was the highest, and the Principality of Erlia were the two sponsors of Midgard that far outstripped all other countries
”Although the Principality of Erlia is a democracy, the royal family has been retained as national sy for the restoration of the Ds' hu So, what is his name, may I ask?”
Mitsuki tilted her head slightly with a mischievous look and posed that question to me
”N-Naotten”
”Seriously Hoorry for your next exam if you cannot even remember this The correct answer is Albert Crest, but unfortunately—He passed away several days ago”
”Crest? I remember that's”
I had some recollection of this fa in the front row
Following aze, Mitsuki nodded affirmatively
”Yes, she—Firill-san—is the granddaughter of the late King Albert She is veritably a true princess”
Part 2
—A princess huh
During the lunch break, we ether Walking alongside Lisa in front, Firill was still e still
The depressed Firill exuded a drea her see at her now, I could feel an air of nobility in her posture and gait
—After her grandfather passed away, if her father succeeded to the throne, that would hter
Princess, the king’s daughter—positions that only appeared in fiction were now presented before my eyes
It was a strange feeling, lacking in a sense of reality
”You've been staring at me for a while nohy?”
She see at her Firill slowed down and walked side by side with me
”Huh? F-Forgive this unworthy peasant”
”Why are you suddenly speaking so deferentially?”
”Oh—I just learned that you're a princess, Firill, so I subconsciously”
I smiled wryly and replied
”I see, so you're staring at me because you find princesses very exotic”
Firill asked somewhat sharply
”Well, I can't deny feeling a bit of that—But orries me more is that you don't have a book in your hand That proves that you're really sad, right?”
”Oh”
Firill stared at her own hands in surprise
”You only noticed now?”
”Yes”
Firill nodded gloomily and answered Now it looked really serious
”Your grandfather—passed away, right?”
”Yes, he died, before I could repay him at all”
Firill nodded and murmured quietly
”Repay?”
Apart froret as well
”Grandfather took great pains on my behalf When he found out I was a D, he said 'How could I allow hter to be locked away in a soard staff”
”What an arandfather”
Asgard was the international organization coard and NIFL Its express purpose was to oppose dragons Rejecting Agard's de the world
”However, the rules could not be ignored coed his approach and worked towards ot the entire world involved and started a hts Despite his poor health at the time”
”So, it's all thanks to your grandfather's painstaking efforts that we have the current Midgard”
Through the export of resources, the Principality of Erlia was very well off financially Over the years, the Principality had also provided great aued by dragon disasters and economic recessions Perhaps due to such interactions, the Principality was able to exert widespread influence
”Right But I have yet to repaid him at all At least at the end—I really wish I could have said 'thank you' to Grandfather”
She wanted to say ”thank you” rather than ”goodbye”
I could feel intense feelings of gratitude in those words of ”thank you”
If possible, I wanted to take her to the funeral, to allow her to say those words directly But I had neither that sort of authority nor that kind of power
”—Don't worry”
Originally listening to our conversation on the side, Ariella suddenly joined in and asserted in a strong tone of voice
”Ariella?”
Hearing me call her name, she smiled cheerfully and said:
”No hts will definitely reach your grandfather's soul”
”Do souls really exist?”
Firill murmured with a complicated look on her face She was admittedly happy about Ariella's ishes, but it was probably impossible for her to accept that notion readily
”Yes, because I've see them myself”
However, Ariella confirmed without hesitation
With no idea whether she was serious or not, Firill and I could only stare at each other with troubled looks on our faces
As soon as we entered the cafeteria, I quickly noticed the unusual mood
”Did so happen?”
Mitsuki seemed to notice the same sense of dissonance and looked around
The air was tense in the cafeteria and abnormally quiet
”There's a lot of people gathered in the lounge”
Iris pointed at the lounge where a large television was installed
A e flashed across ain?
”Although it doesn't feel like anything good Let us head over to have a look”
Lisa led the hile we followed
As soon as we neared the crowd gathered around the lounge, I heard voices from the television
'—What are your views on the incident?'
'Well Fundamentally, it's certain that the situation resulted fros by force'
Judging from the fact that NIFL was mentioned, this did not seem to be a topic irrelevant to us
I tiptoed slightly to get the television into view Since all the people in Midgard were girls, my vieas not blocked in situations like these
I could see the newscaster and commentators on the screen, discussion a certain topic
”Yuu, Tia can't see, please let Tia ride on your shoulders!”
Tia tried to cli her arms around my neck, she choked me
”C-Can't breathe I got it, let go first”
To et on my shoulders, I knelt down
”Thanks!”
Tia thankedhtly As for the sensation of fabric against my neck
”Eh?”
Discovering the absence of so that should be present, I could not help but exclaim in surprise
”Yuu?”
Sitting on my shoulders, Tia peered at my face from above with an incredulous expression
”Tia, I'd like to ask you a question”
”What is it?”
”Don't tell ot to wear underwear?”
I asked Tia in trepidation
”Muu, Yuu, you're so rude Tia is not the kind of little kid who forgets to wear underwear, because Tia is already a mature lady”
”T-That's true Sorry for asking you a weird question”
Although there was classmate who really would co to put on panties despite being the sa, that was impossible She was an exception in many ways
”Oh, but Tia's are different today”
Tia see and leaned in closer to whisper in my ear
”What's different?”
Seeing Tia wary of getting overheard by Lisa, I whispered back as well
”Lisa was speaking with Firill the whole tie of clothes for Tia So Tia went to look for panties alone, but couldn't find any So Tia borrowed Lisa's to wear”
”What B-But the size won't ht?”
”Yeah, so Tia chose the type that's string-tied It won't fall off if tied tightly”
”S-String!”
I raised my voice involuntarily
”Wearing her panties without perht?”
”N-No It can't be helped in this case, I don't think Lisa will be mad”
Seeing Tia quite worried, I reassured her
”Thank goodness”
Tia breathed a sigh of relief but to e problem, because I had to carry Tia onthe type of underwear that others couldany
—Stop thinking nonsense I must keep my mind clear, keep my mind clear
I warnedup and holding Tia's legs
”Wow, so high up!”
Tia cheered but ignoring the sensations aroundmy full effort
Just as I finally turned aze to the television with much difficulty, the commentators' discussion came to a close
'Then let us return to the situation at the press conference'
It looked like they were going to play a news video clip While talking to Tia just now, I had heard alrasp on the situation
Iirl
”Eh—”
Tia's hoarse voice entered asped in surprise too The worries about underwear earlier were instantly evicted from my mind
'I sincerely thank this country for acceptingfor them'
Shown on the television was a girl with long black hair and a pri into the camera I knew clearly who she was
”Kili”
Tia called her na voice
Indeed, she was Kili Surtr Muspelhei cult, the Sons of Muspell Deeeted for priority elimination
Roughly aon the identity Tachikawa Honoka to infiltrate Midgard, intending to take Tia away
Kili had disappeared without trace after that, so why did she openly make an appearance on television?
The fact that a D was the leader of a terrorist organization was not disclosed to the public, because such neould discredit all Ds if it spread throughout the world
Hence, the news probably was not reporting on her as a cri before the cameras of the media?
'I—Kili—am a creator of dark matter In other words, what everyone calls a D My position would normally require me to head to the autonoard, but due to certain reasons right now, I cannot go to Midgard'
After listening to Kili's statement, a reporter asked: 'By certain reasons, you mean?'
Judging fro as a D whose powers had awakened, rather than as a terrorist
'Because NIFLthe process of transportation to Midgard Until the very end, this NIFL organization opposed Midgard's independence Even nohen the Ds' huards us as monsters I really cannot trust theard Has anyone heard of this rumor?'
Gathered around Kili, the reporters clamored while cameras flashed nonstop
'Of course, I don't know if it's true or not But ever since I started investigating the veracity of this rumor, I've heard several times about the disappearance of Ds I wouldn't hand anization for even a second'
Gathered around the television, Midgard's students hispering a themselves
I heard someone say stuff like ”I knew it”
'But protected by the secure defenses of Midgardsorard is in a state of isolation fro the to contact them is impossible Hence, I can only rely on this country'
Kili spoke gravely to the camera:
'Considering the Principality of Erlia that had rejected Asgard and NIFL's de their princess who had awakened as a D—I believe they will guarantee estion'
”Principality of Erlia?”
Hearing that name, I looked for Firill who should be nearby She was coe on the television
'I hope to be transported directly froh Asgard or NIFL If Ds come directly to pick me up, I will be able to hand myself over to them without worry I hereby request—Please save me'
Kili bowed deeply with her head down Then the camera switched scenes
Inside the recording studio, the coan another round of discussion However, I alister any of their opinions
”What on earth is going on?”
Kili's goal was co ti NIFL's pursuit If it was her, there was no need to seek any side's protection, right? Even if she had so it this ould attract way too much attention
Considering her ability to perfor herself into a totally different person would be a more practical method
”Apart from us, no one seems to notice she is Honoka-san”
Lisa whispered after observing the nearby students
Indeed, everyone was fervently discussing whether what they just saas real or not, or whether Midgard would tak e any action None of theh it was coe by now that Honoka was a terrorist who had infiltrated Midgard, her na Kili was not disclosed to ordinary students
When infiltrating as Tachikawa Honoka, she had glasses and earing her hair in braids Despite looking the saave off a completely different impression, which was probably why people failed to associate Honoka with Kili
Disguised as Honoka, she was tientle, but in the video, she was co in tone
”What is she doing in my country? I must hurry and inform Father and the others of her true identity—”
Firill spoke with anxiety
”I understand how you feel, but please caler your parents”
Mitsuki placed her hand on Firill's shoulder and cautioned her