Vol 1 Chapter 1 (1/2)

LEVEL 1: A Whisper, an Aria, a Prayer, an Awakening

Chapter 1: Without Knowing Anything

There were areas where buildings made of stone lined the streets and there were areas filled with nothing but wooden ones The cobblestone street was full of so many twists and turns that it was difficult to see where it led Muddy water flowed down narroays along both sides of the broad road, but not in any great aht have been hu no one seemed to notice it anymore

Hiyoroup of twelve into the city that had been visible at the top of the hill According to her, the toas called Altana The group passed a large nuht be expected in a city, even though it was still quite early in theThe townsfolk stared at the newcomers as if they were exotic animals But the opposite was also true, just because the townsfolk were all dressed so strangely Their clothing was much simpler, with no decorations, and rather shabby compared to their own

“Is this place…” Happy-Go-Lucky began “I n country?”

“Ahh…” Messy-Hair tilted his head to one side as if that answered everything “A foreign country Country? Hold on, which country am I from? Weird, I don’t remember I don’t know my address either… Why?”

“You haven’t noticed yet?” Silver-Hair said in a low tone “I can’t re but my name either”

So about the way everyone phrased it bothered the boy Can’t remember The connotation was different than if it was siotten Maybe like himself, when Silver-Hair tried to recall certain rab hold of them

“Name?” Messy-Hair thumped his chest “My na else My one? Seriously?” His tone cauy would say in a two-man comedy routine

“Putting it that way…” And the boy felt hiht retted it a little, but he couldn’t stop now “Sounds like … probably…”

“Hey” Ranta sighed “If you’re gonna play the straight man, do it withit in a half-assed wayeither Whatever, I’ll forgive you this time And your name’s?”

“You’ll… ‘forgive’him a retard? Ranta’s the one who sounded even s like that He didn’t want to leave it just at that but… name What was his name? “My name’s… Haruhiro I think”

Messy-Hair, Ranta, toppled hierated fashi+on “You think? Don’t tell me you don’t even know your own naht? This whole conversation’s about re but our names, remember?”

This kid This kid was exceedingly annoying, Haruhiro thought, eyeing Silver-Hair as he walked behind Hiyouy’s name? He wanted to know but was too afraid to ask Haruhiro was not looking to avoid asking Silver-Hair on purpose, but still he instead asked about the silky haired boy next to him “What about you?”

Silky-Hair gave Haruhiro a smile He seemed like an extremely composed, cool-headed person “I’ht?”

“Oh Yeah, sure, that’s fine Can I call you by first name only too then?”

“Sure, I don’t mind at all”

Manato grinned and Haruhiro returned it without thinking Outwardly Manato seeuy, a trustworthy person Meanwhile the brat’s name was Ranta As for Silver-Hair, he was too afraid to ask and Buzz-Cut Boy had a rather unfriendly deot the impression that Gaudy-Girl was froh Glasses-Boy looked approachable enough, he found him hard to actually ask for some reason

What about Twin-Braided Girl, Shy-Petite Girl, and Super-Small Girl? Shy-Petite Girl was nearest to hi to strike up a conversation with her for a while now For starters,her naet a little nervous

He gave a short cough “Excuse me”

“…Ye—yes…?”

“It’s uh, it’s nothing really but, u—”

“The na a queer pose “Forget about the boys though, let’s start with the girls! How about getting to know each other, right now, all in one go?”

Twin-Braided Girl tilted her head to the side “Or how about no”

“A…” Happy-Go-Lucky, Kikkaas pathetically shot down in one blow

Haruhiro thought it kind of served hiained a little of his own composure “Er his best to make the question as direct and short as possible “I mean, it’d be easier to talk with you if I knew Well, easier than not knowing”

“Ued rather forcefully on her bangs, as if she were doing her best to hide her face behind her hair

Her features were all ratherconsiderably cute about her face There was definitely nothing to hide

“My… My name is shi+horu My first name Probably Sorry…”

“You don’t have to apologize”

“I’m sorry, it’s a bad habit Sorry, I’ll be more careful”

shi+horu was tre to be okay? Haruhiro couldn’t help but be worried; she was the sort that he instinctively wanted to protect

“You’re pretty tall,” Haruhiro said to a seeuy “How tall are you?”

The giant blinked, his expression rather vacant “Height? 5’9””

“Five-nine!?” Ranta cut in “You mean that makes my over 5’6” officially short?!”

“No, that’s not right…” the giant said “I think it’s sozo Probably”

“Give zo!” Ranta deet 5 inches from you, I’ll be 5’11” and you’ll be 5’8” and our places would be switched! Awesoht?”

“I would if I could…”

Haruhiro didn’t have anyone to blaain by Ranta “You’re not over 5’6”, you’re only 5’5””

“Shut up! And that’s bad how? Judging by looks, you’re the same as me!”

“I’h”

“You’re such an ass! A jackass that discriainst people because of one little inch!”

“You are seriously one bratty little kid”

“Did you say so? I couldn’t hear you What did you say?”

“Nothing I didn’t say anything”

“Liar! You just calledperverted fiendish bastard, didn’t you! You can’t fool ood ears! I heard what you said! You said, ‘Go to hell, curly haired bastard’!”

“I seriously didn’t say anything like that”

“And you called me curly! No one’s allowed to call me that! The very word is banned!”

“I told you, I didn’t call you that Don’t put words in other people’s mouths”

“I heard you! These devil’s ears hear too et talked off! Whatever For now, just reoes so far as calling me curly! It’s the death penalty for anyone who does Death!”

“Curly,” Silver-Hair said, turning around “You’rea scene Shut it”

“Yes sir” Curly Ranta see”

“I thought you said you wouldn’t forgive anyone who called you that,” Haruhiro said with a shrug

“Idiot,” Ranta said in a whisper “I’m a man who chooses his ti of Decision!”

“Yeah, okay Beco of Derision”

“Not King of Derision, King of Decision! When I’, I’ll show you…”

“Curly” Silver-Hair stopped and turned to look back at Ranta again “Shut up”

Ranta iiveness!”

“Instead of the Decision King,” Haruhiro said, gazing down at Ranta, “why don’t you ai?”

“Prostration King?! No way! Nomyself, that’s just too uncool!”

“Curly” Silver-Hair’s tone now had a dark edge to it “This is the third time”

Ranta again went to his knees, bowing so low his forehead touched the cobblestone road “I-I’ive me Pleeeeeease…”

This guy’s already the King of Prostration, Haruhiro thought, but kept it to hi to have a retort at the ready and the conversation would never end They walked on in silence until Hiyoht the

Raised above the building was a flag with a red crescent nboard ‘Alt frontdidn’t look right Upon a closer glance, he noticed that parts of the words were faded and some of the letters had fallen off

“Tada!” Hiyon “We’ve finally arrived! This is that famous place! Altana Frontier Army’s Reserve Force, Crimson Moon’s Headquarters”

“Crin onceletters were added back in, it read: Altana Frontier Army Reserve Force Crimson Moon

“Let’s go on in!” Pro to find that the inside looked much like a pub The room was spacious, equipped with tables and chairs, and there was a serving counter at the back Behind the counter stood a man with his arms crossed in front of his chest No one else was present

“This is where Hiyomu leaves you!” Hiyomu bowed to the h to explain to them the details so on and so forth like usual?”

“Right,” theHiyo motion

“Then if you’ll excuse me, bye-bye!”

The tension in the roo shut behind Hiyo at the an inspection No, not ‘perhaps’ It was definitely because of Bri He was odd Very odd

Bri leaned forward, placed his elbows on the counter, and rested his chin atop folded fingers Haruhiro noticed he had a cleft chin Enough about that though, it was his hair color Green And that maybe he had lipstick on, but the color of his lips were black That he had long, bushy eyebrows encircling blue eyes… a gorgeous sky-blue, whichThat his face was covered very heavily with ht red blush

But no matter how Haruhiro looked at him, he was definitely a man

“Hhtened and continued, “Welco officer, or ‘boss’ if you will, of Altana Frontier Army’s Reserve Force, Crimson Moon You can call me ‘commander’ or Bri-chan Whichever you use, make sure you use it affectionately, like a child to his mother Got it?”

“Co his head to one side, deot that this place is called Altana What’s the Frontier Army? What’s the Reserve Force? Why am I here? You know, don’t you?”

“You’ve got spunk!” Bri re “I like kids like you What’s your name?”

“Renji I don’t like homos like you”

“Is that so?”

What happened next, Haruhiro didn’t quite catch Bri’s movements were not only fast, they were smooth as butter and almost casual

“Renji Letto slits But by the ti the tip of a knife right under Renji’s chin “No one who’s calledafterwards You see Want to keep pushi+ng me?”

“Really?” Renji replied Haruhiro gasped as Renji grabbed the knife with a bare hand He was gripping it firh in his fisted pal profusely froe cut into the flesh below his thu life anyway, and it’s not in my nature to back down to threats If you intend to kill me, then kill me, Commander homo”

“Eventually…” Bri licked his black painted lips and stroked Renji’s cheek “I’ll do you perfectly Again and again In a way you’ll never forget”

“You know,” Ranta whispered to Haruhiro, “when he says ‘do’ he probably means a different ‘do’ than the usual do Mostly likely”

“How exactly is he going to ‘do’ him?” Twin-Braided Girl asked Ranta, expression confused

“Err, that’s uh, I inally supposed to be put in You know, the place where it usually coht, Haruhiro?”

“Don’t get me involved You started this conversation, you take full responsibility”

“That’s cold Are you anti-social or so? Your people skills are lower than absolute zero”

“Hey, hey” Happy-Go-Lucky Kikkawa inserted himself between Renji and Bri “Didn’t you two justLet’s just forgive and forget! Be happy and get along, okay? Okay? For my sake!”

“For your sake?” Renji scoffed, glaring at hio of the knife

Bri also withdrew the knife, wiping off the bloodied blade with a cloth “There always seeirls A little short on girls, but I like it that way better anyway Boys tend to be better at fighting, so no problem”

Manato’s eyebrows narrowed “Fighting?”

“You heard rossed Haruhiro out “Fighting”

“This place is the reserve force’s headquarters so…” Manato glanced doards “We’re volunteer soldiers?”

“Very good!” Bri applauded slowly “You show proht You can all becoh you do have the choice to decline”

“Choice-Master,” said Haruhiro, patting Ranta on the back “Looks like you’re up”

“Oh? Ah! Right! That’s right! I’m… up?”

“You all can choose,” said Bri, flicking his index finger lightly at them “Take my offer or leave it And my offer is this: Enlist as a member of Altana Frontier Army’s Reserve Force, Cri you’ll be learning how to become self-sufficient soldiers”

“Just what,” Gaudy-Girl asked, her expression frightened, “do members of the reserve force do?”

“Fight, of course” Bri flicked a hand in annoyance, as if reluctant to explain “Here on the frontier, we humans clash with the other races, and there are lots, and I s we call monsters The frontier army’s job is to kill those monsters and protect our borders But to be honest, it’s not an easy job The frontier ar Altana as a forward base That’s where we, the reserve force, come in”

“In other words,” Glasses-Boy said, pushi+ng his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, “while the frontier aroes out to quell their nuht?”

“To put it si the it to look cute, but in reality, it ca “Actually, we’re a part of the regular frontier ar Expeditions are sent out to hit our enemies where they lurk However, these sular ar and preparation of logistics, supply lines, and such That’s where we’re different”

Kikkawa nodded enthusiastically, perhaps excessively, at Bri’s every word “And hoe different?”

“The reserve force” Bri folded his hands and twiddled his fingers “We’re mobile and adaptable We scout, infiltrate, hit and run We weaken the eneht Even if ere to cooperate with the regular aranized in sroup uses their oits, ability to collect infor on enemies This is e, the reserve force Crimson Moon, do and hoe operate”

“And…” Renji flexed the fingers of his right hand The bleeding seemed to have stopped “What if ere to refuse your offer to join?”

Bri tilted his head to one side, and then thrust his hips back and forth Was he trying to be funny or was hea threat in some comical sort of way? Whatever it was, it was actually rather scary “Nothing I said it before, you all can choose If you choose not to become a member of the reserve force, you can leave here now and never come back”

“In that case, I guess I’ll pass,” said Ranta He ran his hands through his disheveled hair “I still don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I’m a pacifist by nature”