Vol 7 Chapter 2 (2/2)

”I'lad Come, Vritra-chan, please enjoy!”

”Hmm”

Despite ue and licked the white ice cream

”This is—”

Vritra widened her eyes in surprise Iris asked her encouragingly:

”How is it? It's really yuht!?”

”A huined 'Tis a different experience compared to breakfast I can understand why ye humans are so concerned with flavor”

”Uh So basically, you ht?”

Iris confirmed with Vritra, who had used difficult words in her answer The black dragon in human form avoided eye contact

”I affirm that pleasure is derived from flavor and texture However, 'tis without value to me”

”Why?”

Looking like she disagreed, Iris asked Hence, Vritra generated darka word The dark matter's outline twisted and transformed into an ice cream

”Wow A, I can't believe you made food”

Iris exclai in redients of plant and ani darkthe realh they were capable of creating salt or sugar on their own, ordinary Ds could not acco food Kili was probably the only D who could Nothing less expected from Vritra, but—

”I can create anything by myself Hence, thy favorite food is completely worthless to me”

Vritra spoke with apparent disinterest then licked the ice cream she had made However, she frowned

”What's wrong? The taste is different froht?”

This possibility occurred to me, so I asked

”Apparently a mistake in proportions Minute differences, probably I never expected such a drae in flavor”

Vritra stared at the ice crea her say that, I smiled wryly Evidently, Vritra was not omnipotent

”Given this exa No, I should say that even you can't perforenic transmutation either”

I tried to bait her to answer Recalling what Vritra had done so far, this possibility was quite likely

”What?”

Vritra frowned I shrugged at her

”You tried to offer Tia to Basilisk before and tar's enic transmutation, you would've created Ds as mates directly in the first place”

Thinking back to Hekatonkheir attacking Midgard and Kili's dragoncolor, I continued:

”You didn't because such precise tuning is very difficult, right? Just like this ice cream here”

””

Vritra re the correctness of my hunch

”Even thelife is quite suspicious too Is Kili really a human you created out of dark matter?”

If life could be created, there should be others the sa, I asked Vritra

”—She is hter”

Vritra replied curtly as though avoiding a direct answer Perhaps I had touched a sore spot Vritra glared at me with eyes of fury

”Mononobe, Vritra-chan, let's save such a hard subject for later Look, the ice creaonna melt if you don't finish it quick”

Just as the sunpowder had crept into the mood, Iris hastily intervened Just as she had pointed out, the ice crea

”Hmm”

Suddenly snapping out of it, Vritra licked the original ice cream Indeed, she liked the taste very much

”So Mitsuki, we'd better hurry before the ice cream melts completely”

”Y-Yes”

Mitsuki nodded and we licked the ice cream alternatively But the more we ate, the more necessary it became for us to lick the same spots

My heart naturally began to pound as I saw Mitsuki licking the trails left on the ice crea, Mitsuki had blushi+ng cheeks and moved quite stiffly

My eo out of control To calirls

”—Look, it doesn't look like octopus at all It's very good, so try it”

Using a toothpick to eat the freshly ed the indecisive Lisa and Firill

”It's really yummy! Not a lie!”

”Mm”

Tia and Ren were also eating takoyaki and concurred with Ariella

”Fine By this point, I cannot escape anymore”

Perhaps having readied her resolve, Lisa stabbed a takoyaki with a toothpick and brought it to her lips in trepidation Firill gulped and quietly watched her

”—Hmm”

Lisa took a bite of the takoyaki Although it seemed quite hot, she still chewed

”H-How is it?”

”The outside is grilled to perfection, the inside is fluffy and sticky The filling is cheith quite a novel texture, the flavor is not bad too”

After listening to Lisa's coht a takoyaki to her mouth

”Ah It's true, it's unexpectedly delicious and the filling's texture is definitely interesting”

”And that's precisely the octopus See, wouldn't it be a shame if you missed out because of prejudice?”

Ariella spoke proudly Lisa and Firill nodded in agreement with complicated expressions

”Yes, you make a fair point But even so, I have no wish to eat any other octopus cuisine”

”Me too”

Firill concurred with Lisa but after noticing aze, she turned to face me

”Oh Mononobe-kun, do you like octopus?”

”Hmm? I don't hate it”

”I see Then I have to work hard to stop finding octopus disgusting”

Overturning her earlier decision, Firill clenched her fist and declared

”Hold on, Firill-san, you are selling out too easily”

Lisa sighed in exasperation Watching the scene, I could not help but smile wryly Mitsuki patted me on the shoulder

”Nii-san, it will melt if you do not hurry You can finish the rest”

”S-Sure”

Since un to flow onto ether with the cone

”The one called Iris, thou shalt have this”

Vritra shoved the poor tasting self-inal ice cream—

After finishi+ng the ice creaan to visit places with memories one after another

There was the old shrine where ent for the New Year's first shrine visit and summer festival, the hobby store where Mitsuki and I would pool our New Year's ames, the bookstore we frequented in the past, the elementary school where we studied at the time—

Although the commotion caused by Vritra's appearance had caused schools to shut down te street was in business as usual

After having lunch at a fa set menu items, we took a bus to the observation platform on the mountain

”—How are you, Yuu? Are you recalling s?”

While feeling the rocking of the bus, I looked at the scenery outside theSitting in the back, Tia asked me

”Yeah I recall s us to But—”

Despite nodding, my voice showed reservation

”But what?”

Sitting next toto say

I felt a bit hesitant, unsure whether I should say it, but after deciding hiding things froain would be bad, I spoke up:

”What revived are al, I didn't find anything strange about that, but e visited the eles related to Mitsuki I clearly should have close friends but I can't recall the names and faces of them”

”That's surely because et recovered first Don't be so impatient Tia doesn't think there's a problem”

Tia encouraged ree the anxiety of being unable to recall anything apart from memories related to Mitsuki

”I hope so It sodrasil”

”The first deal—You ainst Hekatonkheir at this town?”

Mitsuki asked in confir to the lanced in our direction from her seat farther away

”Yeah I made a total of three deals The first time, all memories unrelated to Mitsuki becaot about Mitsuki before she became part of the family The third tiht now, my condition is the closest to the way I was after the first deal Maybe recovering this much is already the limit—”

”It's not like that!”

Sitting in front, Iris immediately leaned forward in my direction and said

”I-Iris?”

”Mononobe, aren't yourto recover? You should be able to reh! The observation platforht?”

Iris confir the bus, Mitsuki had already explained to the whole group the reason for going out of our way to visit the observation platform so far away

”Yes, that observation platform is an extremely important place to Nii-san and ainst Hekatonkheir three years ago”

Mitsuki spoke nostalgically Listening to her, Iris clenched her fist

”Since it's a place like that, you'll definitely reive up, Mononobe!”

”Yeah”

Overwhel to her, I felt more optimistic for some reason

Thus, the bus took fifteen minutes to reach the station near the observation platforot off the bus A sn, h the center of town

”There is an observation platforo, everyone”

Mitsuki began along the path to the observation platform

The sloped path was quite gentle Even a child would not find the journey too hard

Before Mitsuki becaether with each other's fa, I could not recall what Mitsuki's parents looked like

Just as I thought, what flashed through my mind were memories related to Mitsuki

'Yuu-kun, wait up!'

'You're too slow, Mitsuki!'

I heard voices froer selves

—Leaving our parents behind, Mitsuki and I had run up this sloped path

'Yuu-kun, don't leave me behind!'

I originally expected Mitsuki to run out of breath halfway, but she desperately followed me to the very end

I remembered that time—

While I was reh the journey felt like it should have been longer, that was probably because I was still a child back then

”The view becomes wide open all at once”

Looking at the view of Nanato City in the distance, Lisa remarked

”Although I sweated a lot, the breeze is very comfortable here”

Fanning the front of her unifor the mountain breeze

”There's no one else apart frouess that's only natural”

Looking at the deserted observation platform, Ariella murmured

”No, this place was rarely visited to begin with It feels pretty much like this all the time”

While feeling the surfacingto reed

”—That is because there is nothing else to see I heard that this observation platform was remodeled from the remains of a past castle Remnants of the castle walls remain over there too”

”Huh!? Castle walls?”

However, Lisa reacted with sensitive hearing

”I'd like a look too I'm interested in japanese castles”

”Tia too!”

Firill also expressed interest and Tia concurred

Scant rees of the observation platforn board erected on the side to introduce the historical ruins After Lisa and Firill went over, Ariella also invited Ren to go

”Ren, let's go have a look”

”Mm”

Once they departed, only Mitsuki, Iris and Vritra were left by my side

”Oh, Vritra-chan, there's a telescope over there Let's have a look”

Iris suddenly showed an expression as though she realized so loudly on purpose, she took Vritra's hand

”I have no interest in that sort of—”

”There there”

Iris forcibly dragged Vritra away She probably wanted Mitsuki and I to spend tiether

”Iris-san”

With a complicated expression, Mitsuki watched Iris leave, but as soon as she noticed aze, she smiled, somewhat troubled

”Nii-san, given this rare chance, let us look for our houses like we did in the past”

”—Yeah, I re street's arcade for a landmark”

I accepted Mitsuki's suggestion Leaning with , I looked at the scenery afar Compared to Tokyo, this place was a countryside toithout neither towering buildings nor special characteristics But if I shi+fted aze to areas even farther away, I did not even see any towns

”There hasn't beentowns”

Three years ago, Hekatonkheir had already wrought plenty of destruction before arriving at our town Mitsuki and I had witnessed the neighboring town getting trans of destruction from that time were still clear to see even now

”Since da towns, I suppose they could not spare the limited manpower”

Mitsuki held down her hair that was billowing in the wind, answering in calm tone of voice

The one who controlled Hekatonkheir was ”Black” Vritra Using her oord, it was her stand-in

Stand-in—Nor, this shi+nto term referred to ”a substitute for a God or spirit to possess”

In other words, whether that blue giant or the current human appearance, both were essentially the same to Vritra

A vessel created for the main body's consciousness to reside, a materialized physical body

The girl looking through the telescope with Iris some distance aas the perpetrator responsible for this scenery of carnage

However, she did not feel responsible Asking her to atone was probably i whose value system was incompatible with ours, what kind of relationshi+p should we build with her?

Besides, what kind of existence was Vritra's main body? And where was it?

”Nii-san, your brow is all knitted together Have you forgotten we are trying to find our houses?”

Perhaps noticing ent, Mitsuki looked up at my face and asked

”Oh right, uh”

I referencedas the land er and said:

”Look, the shopping street is over there You can see the reflecting sunlight”

”Oh, so it's over there Considering the river's position, our home is—That side”

I finally found the shopping street then deduced my home's location from the relative position

”Fufu, Nii-san, you used to be the one who toldstreet's location, you kno the situation has reversed”

”Yeah”

Her words caused my memories from that time to revive vividly

”Do you recall—our promise?”

Mitsuki askedme to focus, the memories at the time replayed in my mind

'What a surprise The buildings became so small'

My younger self looked at the scenery over the railing and exclaimed in joy

'Can you see our homes?'

Showing excite Mitsuki searched for our home

'Should be around there, right? See, that's the arcade in the shopping street'

'Eh Where? I can't see it!'

Leaning against her shoulder, I pointed into the distance Mitsuki and I carved the sight of our town into our hearts and retinas

Mitsuki looked like she was in a good ood happened

”Yeah, because I kept up with Yuu-kun today! You usually leave s?”

'That's because you're too slow'

'I'ht up today Froether forever and ever!'

Saying that, Mitsuki hugged my arm

'D-Don't do that, it's very stuffy What do you ether forever and ever? That's impossible!'

'Why is it iet ether forever!'

Mitsuki replied with an innocent smile

'What are you talking about? Don't you know kids can't get married?'

'I know, that's why I'll settle for being a fiancee until we become adults'

Hearing her declare so openly, I was stunned with surprise At this time, Mitsuki silently drew her face near

Then—

'This is the kiss of engagement, Yuu-kun'

Recalling the soft sensation of her lips, I felt blood rushi+ng to my face

”Oh, Nii-san You are going red Looks like you remember That is a relief to me”

Mitsuki blushed shyly and smiled

”It was before we becas”

”Yes Back then, I had already decided tostolen by so a child”

Mitsuki spoke in what sounded like a joking tone of voice, but her face was shrouded in gloom

”Neighbors since birth, going to the sa ties between our faether like that, ould eventually get married Until that accident happened”

Mitsuki's words drew out more ofMeed with pain and sorrow

The screeching sound of brakes could be heard from the past, then an impact that seemed to turn the world over

In that very instant, Mitsuki and my future isted dramatically

Back then, I even did not understand what had happened

While I was on a ca a mountain path with excellent visibility Mitsuki and I were chatting excitedly in the back seats We never expected to be deprived of our happy times henceforth

It was apparently an accident

An accident where two died and two survived with light injuries

The deceased were Mitsuki's parents whereas Mitsuki and I were the lightly injured ones

We survived thanks to awakening our power to generate dark matter Indeed—Mitsuki and I had become Ds after that accident

”After ed in my dream was destroyed as a result, my D powers also awakened I was uncertain what lay in store for the future Just then, Nii-san, your parents offered to adopt hter, but—”

Looking out at Nanato City's scenery, Mitsuki gripped the railing hard

Right now, I could definitely remember what happened back then

'Listen carefully, Yuu Now that Mitsuki-chan is alone, we have to become her family I hope you'll be Mitsuki-chan's older brother, Yuu'

—On the day of the funeral, Father said that to me in our backyard

To be honest, I had no idea how much of what Father said I understood at the ti fas that simple?

However, I could not leave Mitsuki all alone That one point was extremely clear

Hence, I nodded and promised Father

Nevertheless, Mitsuki reacted in surprising manner at the time

Evidently recalling what happened then, Mitsuki smiled wryly

”Tome of the future where I could be s, I burst out crying and ran away fros to you when you ca after me”

Mitsuki asked me if I still remembered

”Yeah, I remember now”

Reviving inas hard as she could

'Yuu-kun, you understand nothing! Nothing at all because—'

The young Mitsuki was voicing her feelings while crying Quietly, I hugged her I could clearly re shoulders, as well as the cold feeling fro wet from her tears

”Nii-san, you took on all of my uncertainty and e Ds so things were fine as long as we kept the secret Because we are not blood-related, we could s Every word you said reassured me”

”That's right It was there that we made a promise”

I felt furious that I had forgotten sodrasil was responsible, this was clearly the one memory I absolutely must defend—

'Don't worry, Mitsuki Even after becos, I will also always love you row up'

My younger self definitely made this vow

”Please do not look so troubled It was indeed a very precious proreement between children”

Pressing her hand against my cheek, Mitsuki smiled faintly at me

”Love? Marriage? You probably did not fully understand at the time, Nii-san, so Just as Iyou to this promise, Nii-san”

”But Mitsuki, you were serious, right? Starting then, you already”

”Because I was a precocious girl”

Mitsuki smiled wryly and withdrew her hand Then she looked at Vritra as together with Iris

”Nii-san, youmemories every time, is that correct?”

”Y-Yeah”

It troubled e the subject

”On which occasion did you forget about the e promise?”

Looking at Iris, Mitsuki asked solemnly

”I think it's either the first or the second”

”Please state clearly which time it was This is extremely important”

”Probably the second When I downloaded weapons data in order to defeat Leviathan, I think”

After the first deal, I still reetting the important promise with Mitsuki probably happened after the Leviathan battle

But as she asking about this? I looked at Mitsuki, only to see her gazing at Iris afar while she spoke:

”Then Nii-san, allow me to ask you: When did you fall in love with Iris-san? After the Leviathan battle? Or before?”

Then Mitsuki turned her gaze back and looked squarely at me while she posed her question

My heart was pounding harder and harder

Mitsuki was asking whether I started falling for Iris before I forget the promise I always believed that I fell in love with Iris because I had forgotten my promise with Mitsuki But now that I think back about it, the tiuous

After the Leviathan battle, Iris kissedthen that I became intensely aware of Iris, but if one were to ask whether I had started falling for her before that? I could not answer immediately

Seeing me at a loss for words, Mitsuki smiled wryly

”—Since you are unable to answer, Nii-san, allow ht now, Nii-san Do you love me?”

The instant she asked that question, all the accued from the depths of my heart

”That goes without saying”

This tih

”However That is surely love as faht?”

”Huh?”

”Nii-san, you probably experienced ro Iris-san I know that you hold me very dear, Nii-san, but please do not use our pros”

”Hold on, I—”

I wanted to stop Mitsuki fronored me and continued:

”Memories are simply a record of the past I believe you should follow your feelings and pursue a future shared with Iris-san, Nii-san That would be the right thing to do instead”

Saying that, Mitsuki grabbed my hand and walked over to Iris and Vritra

”M-Mitsuki!”

Dragged forcibly, I protested but Mitsuki did not stop

”Mitsuki-chan?”

Originally talking to Vritra, Iris noticed us approaching

”Iris-san We have finished talking I a Nii-san to you now”

Mitsuki released my hand and pushed me towards Iris

”Eh? Returning Mononobe to me What do you mean by that?”

Iris asked Mitsuki in surprise

”—The one Nii-san loves is you, Iris-san, so do not worry about ether with Nii-san”

”Eh? W-Why is this happening!? The one Mononobe loves the most is you, Mitsuki-chan! That's why I—”

Iris answered frantically Unable to understand their dialogue, Vritra stared at me incredulously

”You are s to you, Iris-san I know this very well”

”No! Mononobe cherishes youMononobe the whole time, so I know!”

While listening to Iris, Mitsuki turned slightly stiff

”I have watched Nii-san far longer,Nii-san, my correctness is absolute”

”It's true that my time with Mononobe is shorter than yours, Mitsuki-chan But I watched hionize over his memories from the closest position possible You don't know the current Mononobe as well as I do, Mitsuki-chan!”

In response to Mitsuki, Iris argued without backing down

”What Nothing of that sort! I know Nii-san's ht to be with you, Iris-san!”

”Wrong, you don't know Mononobe Mitsuki-chan, you totally don't understand how much Mononobe loves you!”

Mitsuki and Iris glared at each other

”H-Hey—”

Although I knew I should stop the that meant I must first come to a conclusion After the recovery of , but at the sas for Iris still reh tiainst each other

”Nii-san, stop spacing out Please kiss Iris-san right now That way, I can give up”

Saying that, Mitsuki pushed ether, Iris blushed

”Wawa!? Mononobe, no! If you want to kiss, you should kiss Mitsuki-chan!”

Despite her panic, Iris still pushed h e Mitsuki Her cheeks went red

”N-Nii-san, what are you doing!? You are e person!”

I was pushed towards Iris again, but of course, Iris pushed back

”What exactly are ye doing?”

Vritra looked atpushed on both sides by the two girls

It was then when Lisa and the others returned fro out the castle walls

”What is the situation here?”

Lisa asked with a troubled expression

”Tia knows! This is definitely the game of 'Oshi+kura Manjuu'! Tia wants to play too!”

For so Perhaps it was so she picked up from a book

”Ah, so it's that exercise Let me play too”

Firill expressed interest but Ariella stopped her

”No, I don't think so Right, Ren?”

”Mm It's not Oshi+kura Manjuu is an exercise you do in cold weather”

Ren nodded and agreed with Ariella

Seeing everyone's eyes on the and looked each other in the face

”Iris-san, let us have a good talk about this later”

”Yeah I know”

Despite glaring at each other, the two girls separated from me

”Eh? It's over already?”

Pushi+ng my abdomen nonstop, Tia cocked her head in puzzlement

I stroked her head with the horns while observing the situation between Mitsuki and Iris

The two girls kept their distance and were talking to separate people Lisa see between the

I turned aze to the view of Nanato City's streets and this ti street

My memories had definitely recovered

However, the proble from my recovered memories were not that easy to resolve

Part 5

”Really So Yuu is at that town”

Enveloped in fla after receiving a report from the Sons of Muspell

She was carrying an unconscious crossdressing girl in her arms—Jeanne Hortensia

Jeanne did not have any visible wounds on her, but the one carrying her, Kili, was all covered with injuries

Her clothing was tattered while blood dripped from her unhealed wounds

”Ah—”

Losing strength in her fingers, Kili accidentally dropped the cellphone with the call in progress

Falling down to the vast land beneath the thin clouds, the cellphone gradually vanished as a tiny d