Vol 1 Chapter 2 (1/2)
Chapter 2— A Fleeting Encounter
(1)
Although he kneas just a dream, Raishi+n found himself once more in that same one
“Nadeshi+ko!”
The black ss felt like they were on fire His instincts were telling hier A fear deeper than anything he had ever felt assailed hiet out of there
However, Raishi+n ran forward, bursting through the flames He went deeper inside
“Nadeshi+ko, where are you!?”
Kicking down the sliding doors, he searched for his little sister He shouted for her, till the point his throat felt like it was going to rip itself apart
If there ever was such a thing as a pre it now
Please letAbout how he had to hurry And also— no matter how fast he hurried, it was probably already too late
With a loud crack like thunder, an overhead beam collapsed At that moment,
“Brother…”
He could hear a faint voice
“Nadeshi+ko! Are you here!?”
He braked abruptly Changing direction in theto a large room
What waited Raishi+n inside was—
(2)
“Think of ic circuits as a substitution for rituals, or as a certain kind of engine In the saic energy allows ic arts to be born Obviously, coic arts allows for more complicated outputs— ”
A cruelly curt and efficient voice was acco of chalk on a blackboard
The lecture rooed neatly, the seats getting higher as they went further back Raishi+n was somewhere in the middle, and he was currently in Kimberly’s lecture
This was the first ti a lecture, but to tell the truth, he was feeling sleepy
Stifling a yawn, he glanced aimlessly around the classroom
The students had serious expressions on their faces, and automata were mixed in with the student body However, the only automata he could see were those that were hue bodies had to wait outside the lecture room in a specially constructed space
Next to Raishi+n, Yaya was diligently copying down notes Since Raishi+n could neither read nor write English, Yaya copied as being written on the blackboard in his place
Suddenly he are of a pair of blue eyes that was staring in his direction
It was Charl Three rows in front of hilance in his direction
Once their eyes met, Charl hurriedly turned to face the front
Hiding her face behind a textbook, several seconds passed
This tilanced behind Their eyesintent, her thorny gaze piercing through him
(Just what does she want now…)
While Raishi+n was pondering over whether to return her glare—
So hard hit him between the eyes
“Raishi+n! Are you ok, Raishi+n!?”
Yaya was flustered Wracked with pain, Raishi+n rubbed his forehead
It was a white fragment that felt powdery— Chalk dust
Gingerly lifting up his head, he saw Kilasses an icy shi+mmer filled her eyes
It looked like she had thrown the chalk What scary control
“You have so my lecture, Second Last For whose sake do you think I’ve du way?”
“New students like me, and students who have poor results?”
“Wrong It’s for the new student who has poor results”
“I apologise for that, Professor Kih sleep”
“I see And I suppose you’re going to tellbad dreams as well?”
“It’s like you see right through me”
“You’ve got guts Fine, I’ll let you off this tie, answer this question What is the ic circuit currently?”
“Well, that’s—“
He thought it was a simple question, but he couldn’t answer promptly Raishi+n tilted his head
“Heat… No Kinetic… That’s not it either Photic… generation?”
Ki her own lung capacity
“Tell him, Charlotte”
Charl was caught by surprise at the sudden change in target,
“… Eve’s Heart”
“Correct”
There was a buzz ast the students
“Demerits to those idiots who just opened their mouths
Fresh piece of chalk in hand, Kie letters on the blackboard
“Just like Charlotte said, it’s the ives all automata life— Eve’s Heart is embedded inside them This circuit is the reason why automata have autonomous movement”
She continued on in a matter-of-fact tone
“Two different types of ic art cannot reside in the same body— this is the fundaic Activity Dissonance Theory However, there is one exception to this theory”
In other words, that was the Eve’s Heart circuit Alic circuit, in addition to Eve’s Heart
“You could say the history of Machinart only began after this circuit was discovered Whether you want to call it the source, origin, beginning, or the starting point, till this day it’s still verythe circuit itself is co it further It is said to be pretty much impossible”
Because the circuit had been popularised to such an extent, every workshop had at least oneit Because this ‘Life’ was easy to generate, automata themselves were ubiquitous as well
“Eve’s Heart is an extreence to puppets, in the hands of a skilled puppeteer both breathing and perspiration functions can be reproduced, as well as digestion of food Although how useful those functions will be in battle, I cannot say”
Kimberly’s lips twisted into a cynical smile
“If you wanted a reason fora human, then it would be in situations where your autoence gathering Having said that though, all puppeteers like to have their dolls be pseudo human, in terms of both outward appearance and inner functions I ht, Second Last?”
While saying that, Kiaze was focused not on Raishi+n but Yaya, as sitting next to hiround for her to hide herself in, but since there wasn’t she could only hang her head slightly
“I don’t knohat you’re trying to i that, but…”
Sla his elbows onto the table, Raishi+n spoke in a threatening voice
“This one here is the world’s greatest automaton”
Her black eyes beco moist, Yaya stared at Raishi+n, overcome with emotion
“Raishi+n…!”
“Because she was created by Shouko”
A vein popped
“ Yaya, what’s wrong? What’s with that demonic look on your face— ait a minute, calm down!”
“Again with Shouko… Always Shouko this and Shouko that…”
Yaya was sobbing while throttling Raishi+n, violently shaking him back and forth
The surrounding students were unable to hold back their laughter
“I see So , is it?”
Kimberly had an icy expression on her face as she pointed outside the
“Then to stave off the boredoreat hall — Get out now!”
(3)
The bell rang, signifying the start of lunch break
“Dammit… Because of you we have to needlessly perform manual labour”
Raishi+n was grurureat hall, an action which could either be attributed to integrity or a refusal to quit once he had started so
Yaya was still sobbing It seemed like she was still affected by the snide remark earlier
“That’s enough crying Was Professor Kimberly’s sarcasm that much of a shock to you?”
“Uu… Raishi+n is an idiot”
“That was unexpected Well, it’s not like I can disagree with that statement”
Tidying up the cleaning equipreat hall— or rather, he did so, but Yaya obstinately re to sniffle instead
Raishi+n was at his wits end He sighed loudly
Grabbing on to Yaya’s hand,
“Co to eat”
“O-ok… <>
Raishi+n led a now cheerful Yaya by the hand, and this tireat hall
Outside the great hall, students were already thronging the main street
A large volus and lecture halls
Most of them were headed towards the centre of the ht of so le locationtowards a de an insurrection
Going along with the flow, Raishi+n and Yayapeople, after a walking a while they saw a , one side of which was colass
“So that’s the rumoured steel reinforced concrete, huh? It looks very different fro hall in the dormitory”
Entering, the difference became even more distinct
Firstly, the ceiling was high up White tables with ht and spacious environienic and clean
As Raishi+n had exited a lecture for the first ti that this was his first time at the cafeteria as well
While standing there like an idiot, a delicious smell wafted over and he turned towards its direction
Jutting out froe quantities of food were lined up in a row Large plates and metal cutlery were stacked up next to an assortment of meat dishes, fish dishes, salads and a selection of breads
The students had queued up in a line, loading their massive plates with the food
This was a different syste hall of the dormitory, you’d select an iteot
“Look, Yaya Everyone’s just helping themselves to the food”
“Can we just take ant, then?”
“Looks like it I don’t really get how this works, but when in Rome…”
Hunger and a lack of sleep were clouding his judg any deeper about the situation, Raishi+n joined the tail of the line Even here he was the centre of attention, but it was a regular occurrence by now and so he ignored it Grabbing a tray, he placed a plate atop it and started helping himself to the food
As he advanced, the head of the queue caht, and Raishi+n finally realised his mistake
There was a cash register at the end of the queue!
Ni bits of paper from the students
“I have to pay!?”
Raishi+n was ain, it should have been obvious Even the food expenses in the dor fee
Getting a bad feeling in his gut, Raishi+n turned around and stretched out his hand
“Yaya, hand me my wallet”
“It’s in the dormitory locker”
“… So you have nothing?”
“Nope”
“… What are we going to do now?”
While the exchange occurred, the line advanced steadily onward To go against the flow of traffic noould be weird, not tothe food back to where it ca even a foreigner like Raishi+n knew
“… Do you think they’d let me put it on my tab?”
“There’s no such thing as a tab here You really, reaaaalllly are the biggest blockhead ever”
An extremely thorny voice flew over from behind him
Turning around, he saw the fa two students behind him
Gorgeous golden hair, blue eyes, and her tradeon companion
“Charl—“
“Don’t address me with such familiarity You should address me as Miss Belew”
Had she always been this close? Raishi+n wondered Today it seeaze was fiercer than usual, however it looked like she wasn’t glaring daggers at Raishi+n, but rather, the girl standing behind him
The two boys sandwiched between them turned pale, and offered to let Charlotte ave a curt “Thank you”, and walked over towards Raishi+n
Ruh her pocket, she took out three one pound notes—
And handed them to Raishi+n
This was an unexpected action Raishi+n was taken aback, but to turn down the offer would be crass of hiratefully accepted the money
“Sorry for the trouble”
“Say ‘thank you very much’ properly”
After paying for both his and Yaya’s portions, he exited the queue Waiting after he had paid at the register, Charl followed after and wordlessly thrust a notebook in his face
It was an excessively elegant notebook, and there was so written in it
Because it had been scribbled quickly, he couldn’t read it Raishi+n turned to Yaya for help, and she read it aloud in a small voice,
“I will pay Charlotte Belew four pounds”
“It’s an IOU If you value your life, you’ll sign it”
“Are you trying to rob me? And why is there interest?”
“Of course there’s interest There’s no need for me to feed a pervert like you for free after all”
“Don’t call me a pervert And fine, I’ll pay you back four pounds”
While Raishi+n struggled to sign his name with alphabets he wasn’t used to,
‘How’re you feeling, Sigmund?”
A little surprised, the s on top of Charlotte’s cap raised his head
“I’ht scratch”
“That’s good to hear There you go, Charl”
He returned the notebook “What’s this horrible scraent Charl, but she seened it, and moved to walk away from them
“Wait Since you’re already here, let’s eat together”
“Wha—“
Both Yaya and Charl exclaireat shock, for the plate on Yaya’s tray started to rattle, and Charl almost dropped her pasta and chicken
Charl’s oldfish
Then the slits of her eyes were raised in indignation
“I refuse Why would I want to dine with a pervert like you?”
“Don’t be like that Aren’t we coht beside each other?”
“Don’t be ridiculous That was because you selfishly— speaking of which, in the first place you were the insolent pervert that challenged me to battle Why would I ever dine with ait simply, you must be an idiot An idiot with a death wish A sorry, pitiful excuse of a man”
She was being very blunt Charl continued her verbal assault with Raishi+n unable to get a word in edgewise
However, he didn’t give up He followed after Charl with a nonchalant look on his face, taking the fact that she didn’t try to escape as a good sign, and sat down on a seat opposite her
Charl stared at hi into a silent frown Grabbing her fork, she stabbed viciously at her tomato pasta
It was obviously she had been thrown off her rhyth how to deal with this aard situation
Sigmund saw none of this as his concern, and started to chousto
Yaya had gone into a dark silence She hadn’t even touched her sandwich, radiating an unsettling presence instead However Raishi+n just ignored her and started talking to Charl
“Why have you gone silent? Does your sto?”
“… I’m really astounded Does your impudence know no bounds? Even your nerves are as idiotic as you Besides, I’ quiet because I’ conversations that arouse my interest?”
“Oh? So you’re saying you want to be turned on?”
“What… Grr… Sigmund! Destroy this idiot this instant!”
“Calm down Charl Let me finish my chicken first”
“Be quiet, or starting to food Now hurry up and—“
Mid-sentence, she noticed a change in Raishi+n
His eyes were fixed on solass wall, like he was trying to devour it with his eyes
“… Hey Did so just happen?”
However, Raishi+n didn’t reply—He didn’t have the composure to reply
Charl pouted in a huff,
“Ignore nore me? Just who do you think you are, you rude fellow!”
“That’s…!”
He couldn’t tear his eyes away Raishi+n’s eyeballs followed after that figure
He had a silver ure, but at the same time, had an air of composure around him as he walked
For a brief ht flashed before his eyes
(4)
Raishi+n ripped the door open with enough force to tear it
Entering the reception hall of the estate, that’s when he saw it If he had to put it into words, then it would have been best described as hell
Even a stench of blood
The fearsome amount of blood everywhere
Piled up in heaps, the countless number of corpses
A larger number of those were the remnants of automata Crushed, broken, and scattered everywhere, their fraears were strewn about Coupled with the large holes in the wall and the torn tata, they told the story of the fierce battle that had occurred here
And finally, there was a shadow standing in the middle of the corpses
It was as though it was a ghost, or a demon
It kicked away a body that was at its feet
“Old man…!”
The crown of his head had been split and his countenance had changed, but there was noit, it was the head of the Akabane clan
Surrounding his father were the bodies of his other relatives His uncles, aunts and his cousins All bearing the naht
His head felt like it was burning up as he thought What was this? Ahtmare?
It didn’t feel real
However, the heat and the s him to face reality
Slowly, he turned to face the thing in front of hiht
He wanted to believe that it was so he had mistakenly saw, or a fear induced hallucination