Vol 1 Chapter 2 (1/2)
Chapter 2: Life as a student
How are you? I'ood here
How's life at the new school? Have youas there are new people around me, the levels of experiences are different and very surprising
I hold a curious and refreshi+ng view of 's so new and different that sometimes I think back to the past Recently, I re
Perhaps it's too early to call that the past, but I can't change the things that have already happened Maybe it's better to call theo well at first, but I think they'll become better
I've made new friends here A senior senpai really looks after me
How're you over there? I shouldn't have to worry because it's you You must havewith people
Oh yes, I' I a, but it's surprisingly interesting This was ht it was like that Perhaps Grendan's real form is like that too? Maybe Grendan'sIt's quite fun to i up to here, you ry? If you want to knoait till we ain
May we meet somewhere other than Grendan
To my dear Leerin Marfes
Layfon Alseif
◇
Layfon chose a sword fro on the wall It was a sith a long, wide blade
”I can't change the setting as it's a practice sword Is that ok?” the boy in the working suit said
Layfon nodded
”But I feel that a sword doesn't suit your body build”
To the dissatisfaction uttered by the other boy, Layfon felt the grip of the sword and didn't pay uy said it's ok You're such a nag”
Sharnid stopped Harley with a flippant tone Even so, Layfon could still hear Harleythe sith one hand, his body htly, pulled by the point of the sword Herooh warm up?” Nina asked as Layfon stopped his ht, then”
”Restoration,” Nina whispered The two rods in her hands transfor as if their black surface was absorbing the light of the roo-like things had expanded along the part of the weapon used for attack Nina's wrists lowered naturally
It looked totally different from what it was before
It was a weapon called Iron Whips
The changes to the weapon came from the combination of the voice and the memories of the Dite The alloy used in alcheht of the item
”I won't hold back”
Nina flicked the iron whip in her right hand and the sound of air being torn apart rang out in the roo the non-existent pain on his forehead, Layfon nodded wordlessly
He readied his fighting stance
And what happened next was fast as lightning
Nina rushed over, giving Layfon no time to calculate the distance between theht iron whip Layfon turned aside to avoid the attack aimed at his chest, but Nina's left iron as already pounding doards his exposed back He raised his sword-arainst his back to counter Nina's whip His wrist could have dislocated in between receiving the pressure of the attack and recovering, after having spent all the strength on countering the whip Not with Layfon He guided the heavy pressure down the wavering blade, relaxing his grip on the handle and letting the flat side of the blade hit his own back At the same tih the opening between the thips
Layfon opened up the distance between hi stance
He heard a short whistle
”Haha! This issomeone stop Nina's first move,” Sharnid said
To Layfon, Nina didn't care about Sharnid's co its prey, never moved away frohed their distance Layfon's stance changed in response to Nina's, as slowly changing her position
The hard build of the iron whip made it clear that it was an offensive weapon For the sake of convenience, its length wasn't too long One didn't have to worry about an iron whip being da at will and would not break It could also receive a direct attack Grendan's police force used the iron whip as a standard weapon because of its convenience However, norht iron whips Layfon's sword-ar the attack, he could tell that this pair of iron whips was as heavy as it looked
She could use the iron whips however she liked Her strength and her familiarity with her weapons made Layfon speechless
The two of them circled each other
Tension built up in the room The air felt thick, and on Layfon's forehead were beads of sweat
Again, Nina was the one to close the gap She rushed over as Layfon's foot left the floor,in reaction to her Layfon tried to avoid the sudden and straightforward attack by pulling back and openingin He had no choice but to use his sword He dipped the sword point low to bring it up in an attack, but it was knocked aside by Nina's whip In seconds, he flicked his wrist to adjust the track of his sword
Layfon's attack changed fro doards Nina She blocked it with her right iron whip and counterattacked from the left with her other iron whip Layfon quickly stepped to her right and once again, pulled open the distance between the with more distance, but Nina seemed unsatisfied
”Can you use external-type burst Kei?”
Her unexpected question made Layfon lose the rhythm of the plan he already had in mind
”Can you use external-type burst Kei?” she repeated He nodded
Nina smiled ”Good”
She crossed the iron whips before her chest
A huge noise and vibration that could have toppled a giant ran through the floor
”Take this!”
When he had collected hiht before him
In the next moment, Layfon had fainted
◇
Layfon lifted his sword He slashed out with the blade without any sense of confusion, and his heart was calm and unruffled He slashed out without any sense of confusion, but what about the thing that had been slashed?
There was no questioning it
Of course it was a proble as one lived, one would encounter all sorts of proble” was in itself the cause of all problems
When one problem was solved, the next would surface
The end was never in sight One continued to re in
The light filtering down fro bounded off the blade of the white alloy Dite
”Do you desire the Heaven's Blade? You can have it”
Layfon mumbled the words in the arena that was so quiet that even a fallen needle could be heard The blade fell froround echoed in the arena and the lonely blade lay on the floor
The problem that's been cut away now lay beside the blade
Layfon uttered an ”Ah” at the scene It wasn't a sound of surprise and joy, but just a simple response at reality
Numerous hands appeared to point at Layfon The people surrounding him were faceless and formless They were only there to repudiate hiuy!
All kinds of denounce at Layfon
Layfon didn't care He looked at them coldly
So what?
Could they solve the proble answer in the space reserved for the answer to the question?
He was only striding forward on the path to the right answer Who'd know that the Heaven's Blade would fall onto the ground because of that
His gaze put fear into the people pointing at him Subconsciously, he looked at the solution which had rolled close to his feet
Beside the fallen blade was a body
A body that looked like Nina
No, it was Nina The tracks of Layfon's sere clearly carved into her body She lay on the floor, shocked and speechless
”Is this the answer?” sole phrase solved it all
◇
The first feeling he had after waking up was extreme self-hatred
”Wuaah, that's impossible!”
His body curled up, Layfon held his head
The metal frame of the bed squeaked A cabinet filled with ainst the modest, white wall He smelled faint disinfectant and realised he was in the clinic He wasn't surprised about it In the second when he was about to faint, he knew Nina's attack would make him lose consciousness
Compared to this, that dreae That's not possible I'!”
He rolled back and forth on the bed and finally fell off it He moaned as his side hit the floor
He lay on the cold floor andthe temperature of the floor to cool down the heat in his face
”What're you doing?”
”I' so useless”
Layfon stopped et up
Wait a bit moreHe couldn't stand up before his reddened face had coht, I want you to stand up”
The voice was froirl who came to the coffee shop and took hiive me more time”
”Why?”
”Please say yes”
”Must I?”
”Yes”
The girl seemed to understand more from his repeated request Layfon didn't knohat she had understood, but she didn't persist in questioning him, and she didn't force him to stand up He could feel the tip of her toes beside his head, staying there, immobile
The two of them fell silent
Silent
Silent
Silent
Losing to the silence in the room, Layfon said, ”I still don't know your name Can you tell me your name?”
”Oh, yes I haven't introduced myself yet I'm Felli Loss, second year in Military Arts”
(Loss?)
Nasty memories surfaced in his ”
”You're not wrong Karian Loss is my older brother,” Felli cut him off to confirm his unease Layfon felt weak
”Is that so”
”Yes Do you hate ain
”Isn't it about tiet up?”
Layfon picked himself up slowly from the floor As expected fro on the floor didn't dirty his uniforirl's appearance and found her eyes a bit like Karian's They had a beautiful look about theh froid expression relaxed
”It really is better to see the face of the person I' to”
”UhSorry?”
”Not really I didn't coet that she'd seen hiain
”Do you hateyou to transfer into Military Arts?”
Felli returned back to the previous topic, indifferent to Layfon's current expression
” I think it's a bit too extreme to describe it as 'hate'”
He couldn't find any other word to say
”I hate
”What?”
He couldn't understand what she meant by that
(She hatesher own brother?)
From Felli's pale lips came the words, ”I didn't want to study Military Arts, but he forced me into it”
”Why”
”For victory,” Felli concluded without hesitating
”He'd do all he could to reach his goal, noto him”
”No, but”
Felli watched Layfon while judging her own brother No sadness and anger could be detected froone
So Layfon couldn't sense any sort of reflections from her in her previous words
He was confounded
”He'd perform any foul acts in order to win It's ridiculous that we have to work for such a person”
”Then what do you want me to do?” Layfon asked in confusion
For a delicate senpai with a short stature, her doll-like perfect face contained no traces of perplexity Once again, she concluded, ”You only need to remain as you are”
”What?”
”Reht Nina”
”What do you mean”
Felli had already turned her back and opened her schoolbag on the long bench
She took out so from it and left it on the chair
”Uh, excuse e and the pere on your unifor Department and take the pers”
Having quickly told hihtly and left the clinic
He had lost his conversation partner Layfon's words rolled in his mouth His outstretched hand had lost its purpose, and could only eakly in the air
What cah
Felli complained heavily about Karian, but she left i Layfon with the instructions she was told to deliver, whereas Karian had dismissed him from the room Felli's manner was exactly the same as her brother's
”Just what now?”
Layfon bent down on the long bench He couldn't think of any good strategies Beside hie and a piece of paper
It see the platoon won't be changed
”Ah—geeWhy did it turn out like this!?” Layfon sighed
◇
The next day after school
Just when Layfon was about to escape, not knohere Harley's classroo suit that he wore yesterday
”After watching the fight yesterday, I don't feel that the sword fits you Nina holds heavy weapons that don't suit her either, but she kno to handle the weight and has been fighting through in her oay,” he said to Layfon, as following behind him with a fed-up expression in his eyes
Harley never once noticed it
He continued with enthusiasm ”But your situation is different Your bodystyle is ht? That's how you were trained, isn't it?”
”No I only learned a little at the Dojo I don't know the details that well The weapon I used was about the same as yesterday's practice sword”
”Really?” Harley said, looking confused
”You don't look like an aone through professional training”
”Not really In GrendanI was born in Grendan Dojos of that level are everywhere I went to train a bit because there was a dojo near my home”
”Military Arts is really popular in Grendan Well, I see So that hters like you?”
”Well, how should I put it? I haven't fought much with others, so I'm not sure”
”Whatever it is, you th?”
”Not at all”
A smile appeared on the kind and friendly senpai They ca Department” on the wall, and entered it
Harley handed the docuh the , took a wooden box fro Layfon
”Come to my research lab”
Harley thrust the box to him and led the way out of the department
”Uh, to put it correctly, it's ned to groups and each group had its own research lab In there, they could perforet your own research lab if you regularly take the top place or you publish soood thesis In here, I can't really do what I want to do”
”What is senpai specializing in?”
”Weapon adjustment Sure, I need to invent, but I prefer to adjust weapons so they best fit their owners”
Layfon now understood why Harley was so stubborn and deter unsuitable
”That's a bit different from trainers How should I put it?”
”In Grendan, we call theood title”
The research lab was messy
No, the lab itself was thethe door, Layfon saw sohtly to the floor Near the wall beside the door was a pile of azines and papers with difficult na with a dirtied edge and a piece of half eaten bread thrown aside
The life of a single maleand its worst stereotype had beco smell in the air made Layfon dizzy
Harley looked to be practical, but that seemed to be only limited to what he was interested in