Vol 4 Chapter 3 (2/2)
”Oh, you do know”
”Could it be real? Haikizoku,” Gorneo watched Haia in disbelief The time Gorneo heard of this term hen his older brother became a Heaven's Blade successor He heard of it in a conversation between his grandfather and his older brother
”It's a crazy power nurtured frorandfather said The Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang left the city in order to search for this power
”I thought it was just a legend”
”If it really was a legend, then the first generation Head didn't have to work so hard”
”So it does exist?”
”What a deep doubt But it isn't in Zuellni, it's in the ruined city next to here We've searched that city already, but didn't find anything, so we came over here”
”In that city” Gorneo fell into his memories ”Now that you mention it, I think the Psychokinesist of the 17th platoon said she found so”
”Oh?”
At that ti, but Layfon's 17th platoon ht have But if that really was the Haikizoku
”The twisted Electronic Fairy of a dead cityI never thought it was real”
”Can't help it if it is real, but even I only half believe it I want to find one and have a look, but I can't find it”
”WellLeader,” Myunfa raised her hand
”What is it?”
”UmIt's the 17th platoon, isn't it? Its Psychokinesist, right? How about we ask for her help? Fereneral direction, but he can't coestion Well then, Gorneo, who is that Psychokinesist?”
”Felli Loss, the younger sister of the Student President”
”The Student Presidentht?”
”Yes”
”Then it's sihed, and after that, he obtained various kinds of information on Zuellni from Gorneo
◇
On that day, they continued training in the funda Naruki to the other three team members Other than that, Nina announced the cancellation of the training camp that they had planned for tomorrow and the day after Naruki tripped and fell nu with the balls scattered on the floor Under Layfon's advice, she finally ed to walk faster than a nor Afterward, they had co on the balls between ed to control hercountless ti, Naruki was covered in sweat, unable to ht?”
Everyone had gone to the shower rooy juice to her
”Do you do this everyday?”
”Today's training isalready”
They didn't even do the ball-hitting training In fact, today's training wasn't intense, but it wasn't useless Training in the fundamentals was extre soon Rather than et the fundaht
”This is hard,” Naruki said as she drank She wiped her mouth This level of difficulty made her feel down Her reason here was to observe the 10th platoon and obtain evidence of their use of the illegal wine
”Now I fully understand why Layton is so strong I'le drop”
”But you're not trying to becoht?”
”Yeah, but I'iven up the ht have to handle a violent case Physical strength is still necessary,” she regulated her breathing and sighed deeply
”It's er If it's a reason for Military Artists, the reason is enough forfor a Military Artist But I can't fully accept this I'm not really sure how to express h he wasn't too sure on this, he knew
”I' to, though I had a reason to beco for that But since I arrived here, I've lost , and this period of tier so he could earn e His ent out of control without hi to feed all the orphans in GrendanAlthough it turned out that way, it was still a simple reason that sustained him
”But isn't Layton still here?”
”Um, yeah”
”Layton's here because of certain reasons You're here, doing your best Aren't you struggling more co in Grendan's already sorted out”
”I'e today,” she cocked her head to look at hi?”
”Um, not really”
”That's not an answer free of worry, Layton”
”Yeah, well, it's OK”
”You're worried What is it? Can you tellto be worried about, but it's just a feeling I can't turn around? It's like that I haven't yet sorted it out”
A heaviness ca around his waist Two Dites hung from it One was Harley's newly adjusted Sapphire Dite, the other was Kirik's shi+m Adamantium Dite - a shape known as the Katana
”The way you said it, isn't it just a worry?”
”Yeah?”
”If that isn't so we'd call 'worry'”
”Um—”
Perhaps it was a worry for hi it like thatto handle a katana If possible, he didn't want to give in Kirik said this would est was critical to a Military Artist It was the power needed to protect the city Of course it was natural If you didn't beco He fully understood that
He also knew that strength alone couldn't protect anything
He could iitation and frustration, a Military Artist with a da But Layfon couldn't fully coood condition
In Kirik's eyes, Layfon was probably just an existence for hi for Layfon, but it could also be that it was Kirik's sincerest wish, the reuide Layfon onto the correct path of a Military Artist
And on the path that Kirik's n of the shi+m Adamantium Dite Kirik asked ”Why don't you walk the correct path?”
There was an answer to this question Yes, there was an answer to it Why didn't he walk that path? But ould accept that answer if he said it? Or maybe someone would accept it Kirik had asked that question because he accepted it
”So, Layfon”
He didn't want to hear it
”Sorry forrooreeted Naruki, handed back Layfon's two Dites and returned to his lab Noas back
”What is it?”
”What's what? Now that we have a new estured He was holding a textbook on weapon maintenance
”Naruki's weapon needs to be prepared”
”AhNo, I can use this”
Harley looked at the Dite in Naruki's hand and shook his head
”That's for the City Police A City Police weapon isn't suitable for a platoon match”
”Ah, but”
”It's fine, it's fine I can rabbed Naruki's hand and dragged her to the research lab
”What do you want it to be like? A shortstick type? In that case, Nina's type eous Ah, come to think of it, what's this around your waist? A rope? H”
Like a tsunaly cut down all opposition from Naruki and she was pulled outside She looked at Layfon pleadingly, but he replied with a ”take good care of yourself” expression
”Well”
Naruki was gone, leaving Layfon alone in the roonore the case that Formed had left for them
”Then I'll have to do this,” he said and used Kei to eliminate his presence
She knehen Naruki was introduced to the team
”Looks like someone's kidnapped hi coet to ith Layfon today Since it was useless to wait for hiht of why Layfon had leftbut she knew by just looking at his Even without hi, she could tell by his expression that he was hiding so To tell the truth, she wasn't that interested Wasn't interested, because she didn't want to get involvedBut she got frustrated
Originally she planned to search with the flakes, but she gave up She had confidence that Nina and Naruki could not detect her flakes, but not with Layfon She wasn't sure whether she ht be found out under normal circumstances, but if Layfon was in battle condition, he would definitely discover her flakes Layfon's senses were incredible, as if he could sense everything around him
What would happen if he found Felli's flakes
It'd have been good if he just prepared for battle
Leaving the training cohts in mind, she headed for the tra complex was built in an isolated area Many Military Artists preferred to run back ho Nina and Sharnid were the same Layfon tended to take the tram when he ith Felli, but if he were alone, he'd probably have run back like all the others
Psychokinesists of other platoons tended not to ride the trathen their bodies, a lot of them preferred to train their physical side to co a platoon o all the way to Felli's place, she still decided to ride it She was probably the only person who rode the tram on a daily basis Many students moved to other areas for work, study and entertain when she saw so on the only chair under the roof stood out vividly with his red hair Felli didn't recognize him It wasn't a problem to wear casual clothes outside class tie into casual clothes and coainst the school rule Very few students were given special permission to carry a Dite in their private time, and even so, that was restricted to certain times and locations
Whether this rule was taken seriously was another question, but a student wouldn't be carrying a Dite so blatantly like this guy
The feeling wasn't very strong, but the atet any closer to him before the tram arrived No, she'd let him board it first, and she'd wait for the next tram Either way, a tram was always empty at this hour She didn't want to ride in a sealed off tram with him
It felt unnatural to just stand here, so she decided to just turn around and head back to the training coht floated in her ood reason for her to check on Layfon
”Are you Felli Loss?”
So
Felli ju the Dite from her weapon harness Restoration A staff with petal-like scales appeared in her hand
”Hey, hey, wait up I didn't do anything”
The young man raised his hands to shoasn't hostile His Dite remained in his weapon harness Even so, Felli scattered the flakes and kept her distance from him She had instinctively taken this e tattoo on his left face, Haia Salinvan Laia
”We can't talk when you're so far away”
”I can hear over here You should be able to hear me too”
Haia wasn't surprised at Felli's voice in his ear One of the flakes hovered before him
”This flake contains Psychokinetic explosives It can cause an explosion and I',” she didn't think one explosive could match this Military Artist's speed, so when she put some distance between them, she had scattered a few Psychokinetic explosives around
”You do think ahead If not now, I'd really want you to join me”
”I refuse”
”So quick!”
”Well, what is it?”
”WhoaLooks like you're the difficult type”
”I don't want to be the type you like”
A tram had come to a stop on the track behind Haia Someone exited after the door opened
”Felli!” Karian called
”Ah, finally here,” Haia put out his chest and went to Karian A girl with glasses that Felli didn't knoalked beside him
”I was troubled that you left first”
”Because I didn't think the talk would end so quickly Speaking of which, your sister is troublesoe a person by their looks,” Karian concluded
”Just, who are these people?”
While de an explanation, Felli decided to refuse what Karian was going to say next Itto do
Having hidden his presence through Kei, Layfon sat on the roof above the entrance to the training co the hours pass
(Well, what do I do)
The 10th platoon see Layfon could see their faces if he opened the door, but he'd be discovered, so he strained his ears, hoping to catch Dinn's voice If Dinn left the room, Layfon would tail him
He couldn't think of a better way
What Fors, or so the?)
Go into Dinn's room? But thievery probably wouldn't constitute as evidence
(It would have been easy if all I needed was to go into his rooh he couldn't open a door lock with a needle like a professional thief, it wouldn't be difficult for hih Kei and use his sword to cut open the lock Then he'd search for evidence But, if he couldn't find anything, Dinn'd be more watchful
If only Naruki was here but that didn't seem possible for today
Well then, he'd do some observation work
(Um--)
Could he do this? Doubt surfaced It wasn't hard to use Kei for a prolonged period He could keep this up for an entire day while tailing someone, but what he orried about hether this was effective at all Although Dinn hadn't yet done anything, he probably wouldn't do anything that Layfon expected Layfon silently planned his possible o in and expose the truth like the police While Layfon was thinking of other ways, Dinn e
(I can only take this way then)
Same as before, Dinn ith his teaether, the full number of people in the 10th platoon The last person looked to be the Psychokinesist Layfon could tell by the way he walked People who trained eapons had a special way of e for a student to shave his head, but to even pull out the roots, now that was unusual Slightly behind Dinn, walking adjacent to hiirl that Layfon hadn't seen before
(Is she the vice captain?)
Thather as a beautiful adult woman, it was more appropriate to say she had the air of a beautifully crafted statue
The two of the behind
Layfon was about to jump down fro the platoon
(Captain?)
It was Nina She didn't say anything after training, and had headed straight for a shower He didn't think she'd take any action today, butShe washer presence with internal Kei It wasn't as well done as Layfon's, and it couldn't be compared to Sharnid's, whose presence just sie to eliminate her presence
(At this rate, she'll be exposed)
From his experience with her in the past, he kneas useless stopping her now, and if he went up to her to talk her out of it, he'd end up exposing both of them before Dinn
(I'll keep it the way it is then)
Having confirmed some distance between them, Layfon jumped down from the roof
What should he do?
Dinn and his tea to walk back to town Nina trailed Dinn and Layfon followed behind Layfon found this situation delicate, and he didn't plan to destroy this balance Either way, he judged this situation to be disadvantageous
(If Naruki were here)
But Harley had Naruki assu, he wouldn't let Naruki go so easily Wondering whether he was doing so that would put his audience into a speechless stupor, Layfon continued to roup
It see casual conversation while walking: who had been rejected by whohter mixed in with the chat This was normal It even happened in the 17th platoon someti different soon
The one who acted the bad character like Nina was Dinn
Layfon found that unexpectedly surprising He thought the Vice Captain Dalshena would have played that role The atmosphere she exuded was similar to Nina's, and they were both refined in a way Beautiful and elegant that type of a feeling To the team members' jokes, she'd reply with a firm attitude
For some reason, this atmosphere felt similar to Sharnid
Dinn Dee Dalshena Che Matelna Sharnid Elipton That was the coth to threaten the 1st platoon
Layfon recalled Nina's horrible expression when she heard Dinn's naitated? Maybe Sharnidthat ht be the answer No matter what had happened, the truth that Sharnid had left the 10th platoon would never change But what had happened between the deep trust of those three people? Layfon didn't know
What would Sharnid do if he knew about the illegal drug dealing? That guy as flippant all day long – if he knew
(Ah, I see)
That was probably what Nina orried about
The 10th platoon finally showed signs of dispersing First it was one person, then the next parted with the team, probably because their dormitories lay in different locations Finally, Dalshena also left, leaving Dinn alone
Nina didn't hesitate and continued to trail Dinn Layfon followed behind them Formed said Dinn must be thein medical herbs It was one of the few cities to date that hadn't banned the production of illegal wine Dinn was the only person ould know the ways to iht Dinn would head back to his dor else moved
It was Nina
”Dinn Dee”
She suddenly re Layfon to panic He was too late to stop her Dinn turned around and Layfon ed to maintain his Kei around himself to conceal his presence
”Nina Antalk? What does the 17th platoon ith me?”
Dinn's attitude wasn't friendly It was close to hatred
”I have to talk to you”
”I don't want to talk to you though Don't think what you have to say has any value”
”It's very important,” she said, as he planned to turn away froain”
”What did you say?” he stopped in his tracks and watched her
”The City Police are watching you They're looking for evidence You can still make it if you stop now”
”Don't speak as if you know everything You don't even have proof and you've already decided I'?”
”It'll be too late if proof is found,” she said with anxiety
Dinn's expression remained cool and cold
Under these circury? But not Dinn Was this enough to show that he really was involved in illegal drug trade?
No, co this? She had s weren't like that at all
(Looking at this, as if)
She was trying to make Dinn co?”
”You're daerous things? If it continues, doesn't that ?”
”This is for the sake of protecting the city To win against the 1st platoon To win a nificant for authority If I have neither authority nor reputation when the Military Arts Coins, my plan will be useless That can't happen That won't win anything I' my way to protect this city You should understand We're both strategists in our teams For the sake of the next Military Arts Competition, don't you think so too?”
”Of course I've thought of it I did, but I thought I'll support the plan that will truly win the Military Arts Competition”
”Only the result in battles can support a plan A plan without that is not believable You're naive”
”No, it's not Caly What we're looking for now are those two things You can only increase your oer through continuous training Only through continuous diligence and effort can you have enough confidence to give co reality through illegal drugs?”
”You're the one who shattered my dreams Your way is truly low!” Dinn shouted Nina held her breath
”You took away Sharnid with despicableall kind and wonderful”
”No, I didn'ttake him away”
”What can your words do now? If you want to give the police this infor to realize my dreams Only I can protect this city Tell Sharnid that I'll fulfill that oath even without him”
Dinn turned around Nina didn't prevent hi him, so he stayed where he was and quietly watched Nina's back