Vol 6 Chapter 5 (1/2)
Chapter 5: The center of the world
Leerin ran in the unfaht up to her and
”Ha, Ha” She panted, her lungs tightened in need of air Her stomach hurt as if it were twisted
”II don'texercise enough”
She had been sitting everyday in the roa bus, and that fact hadn't dawned on her when she requested to leave the city Now she didn't even have enough strength to smile bitterly
”Aaah, already done?” Roy s ten steps behind her This was the saan
”Sorry, I can't do ood to exercise sometime! You can also cut back on some fat”
”Shut your nonsense!”
”Excuse
”Isn't it about ti over?”
She still held Myath, the Electronic Fairy that had the same name as this city The bird could have escaped far away by flying off, but it stayed in her hand, inert as if it were sleeping
”It's useless! It has used up its strength inside the barrier It can't move It's half dead! You understand ould face this city if the Electronic Fairy died?”
The death of an Electronic Fairy was directly linked to the death of a city A Regios that couldn't move would not be able to escape filth monsters It'd be consumed sooner or later Leerin trembled at that possible future
”What do you Wolf Faces want?”
”If you were a Military Artist, things would be so easy!” There was a mask in Roy's hand ”Once you wear this, you can see the world that Ignasis wishes for You can see the Drea the mask ”World peace can be achieved when the majority of Military Artists hold the sa How pretentious
”The Electronic Fairy is needed to stop the fate of continuous fighting between filth monsters and Military Artists That's e must move numerous Electronic Fairies to Senou I came here to find En”
”What's En?”
”The network of Electronic Fairies It shows the genealogy of them Electronic Fairies can find Electronic Fairies of other cities through En, and it can also tell whether other Electronic Fairies belong to the sa to the say So I must catch Myath to obtain the En”
”It's ok to do that even to sacrifice this city?”
”Yes, it's a necessary evil”
”You, you live in this city, don't you?”
”Yes, so?”
”This city ? Aren't you a Military Artist?”
”Ho, hoooooooo” Roy laughed ”Who cares! How do you look at an Acadeood This isn't a per it”
”How dare you say thisThe people here are normal students!”
”The principles of Military Artist? Hu in it? Fear! Pain! The hell of Military Arts! bastards who push these things to us so they can survive! Their lives or deaths have nothing to do with uys who only look for the results and care nothing for our effort! Those bastards!”
Who did Roy hate? Who was Roy being angry with? Insanity and madness spread across his countenance He didn't look like a hu any soh it That was her way of escape
(To understand Military Artists)
She thought of the Military Artist that was the closest to her, Layfon What would Layfon do? She thought desperately as she distanced herself bit by bit from Roy She had to protect the Electronic Fairy in her hand Its death was the equivalent to a city's death Military Artists were usually the ones who protected it!
(Ah) She understood
”I see,” she stopped h made her face twist ”That's your reason!”
”I said so!”
”You're wrong” Leerin's tension rose She e her position and attack ”That isn't a reason to abandon Myath! That's the reason that you fell into such a state?!”
”You!!!” Roy's voice was louder than a nor wind assaulted Leerin
She laughed ?”
”Wh”
”You said it yourself Fear, pain, the hell of Military ArtsThat hell, you , don't you? That's simple then What about the rest? Fear and pain Of what? If you want others to understand you, you should show your feelings and help the! Don't say it as if you know!”
”As if I know? Why do you think so?” Leerin asked coldly
Silence He had nothing to hold onto Roy noayed between his dignity and weakness Leerin had no confidence in hoould react She was just taking a risk
(That's my only weapon)
And
”Pain YouAs strict as et up! Then what about fear? So that a Military Artists is afraid of Fellow Military Artists? That caneach other is horrible! But those who are asked to take the job are elites like the captain of City Police Besides, you can't feel that level of fear in a fight between Military Artists In that case, what's left is?” her gaze moved from the sky to Roy
Roy's entire body trembled
”Filth monsters!” she scolded ”You ran away from filth ed his head ”damn! damn! damnnnnnnn!! Those bastards, those bastards! Playing with me They don't kno horrible it is! They haven't even seen it!”
Leerin's guess was right It was beyond her iination how much it had hurt Roy mentally
He ran away fro an assault! Fleeing fro filth monsters for the first time! Military Artists were born to protect the city, so they were protected by h that doesn't apply to Layfon)
Grendan had countless number of Military Artists, so they only received the lowest level of insurance ly if the Military Artist showed he had great strength Layfon had given that e, so his and Leerin's standards of living reether in poverty Even so, he did not run away Perhaps Layfon did feel that enorround matches in order to dispel that fear He worked hard to keep the orphanage stable
(Compared to him, this man)
Roy was so, so very weak! No, she didn't think being as a sin, but a Military Artist who lost to his weakness was even worse than an average person
”Unforgivable” Roy said in a low voice ”Unforgivable, woman! You're just a normal person, but you dared to insult me” he crouched and rushed towards her He didn't need any weapon Just a fist would do The Kei in his fist was enough to finish a nor blocked his attack
”Wh”
”How shameful!”
It wasn't Leerin Different hair colour Different voice A sharp gaze pierced him
”You”
”Your attitude does sound like one who is banished fro unable to face your weakness, you picked the easy path, didn't you?” Nina let go of his fist
Leerin stood behind her She was just buying some time She knew Nina would coone
”Theycalled En and used it to lure MyathAn En for Schneibel”
Leerin had won her bet
”You abandoned the city you should be protectingYou fool Know your shame!” Nina said
Roy stepped back with a speed that Leerin hadn't yet seen He had restored his Dite into a sword
”Ha, Hahaha! You're joking? Can you defeat ht have defeated other Wolf Faces, but you can't defeat me!”
”I will, just like how I stopped you before,” Nina stretched out the hand she used to stop his attack ”But I won't kill you That would be the sa up from a dream I don't plan to kill you”
Leerin could only see Nina's back, but Roy, seeing Nina, showed fear in his face
”I'll deal out the punishment that suits your criure disappeared as wind in the next second Nina hadn't moved
He had fled
”Is that ok?” Leerin asked
”No time to play with him Besides, that's all I could do”
”IsIs that true?”
A traveler who caht, but she knew Nina shouldn't be here Nina already said that she felt like she was in a dream Leerin didn't believe her back then And now She didn't quite believe her either
”I can't explain in detail This is , after all I'm not sure of the exact details myself,” Nina turned around with a troubled smile ”I'hteousness Itmisfortune to my city sometimes, but this is different This isn't what I wanted I can't force other people to finish it No s are, it's some consciousness outside ht be the sazario Belief?” Leerin said, re the conversation between Nina and the Wolf Faces
”PerhapsAs for Rigzario, I don't knohether it's a person's nazario?”
”So from the city I was born in In the Senou City Schneibel, there's a et of the Wolf Faces
”And?”
”I haven't seen it, but dad said it's the ives birth to Electronic Fairies”
”Huh?”
”The womb that the Electronic Fairy Schneibel usesThat's probably what Rigzario is We have other Electronic Fairies besides Schneibel innumber of Electronic Fairies?”
”Electronic Fairies travel as time passes to find their own cities That's probably it I h”
The inert Electronic Fairy in Leerin's hand, sive it life? The Alcheios, cities that the level of y could not make
”Sorry, I didn't know it'd turn out like that But Electronic Fairies are born in Rigzario The Wolf Faces have targeted it, and that has so to do with their actions here”
”So Nina's helping Myath because this has so to do with your city?”
”Perhaps That benefits me, doesn't it?”
”You can't conclude with that”
Nina took action before she knew about the Wolf Faces' aim Some consciousness inside Nina had driven her to take action
”As I thoughtYou did it because you're strong,” Leerin said, though she thought to herself ”Ah, why did I say that?” She continued, ”I know so, but he doesn't run away I can't say we're his burdens, but he's probably freer without us I want to be strong, but I', Leerin,” Nina shi+vered
”Nina?”
Nina's face was a shade of pale green
”Noa person is, he's the sa Besides, I'ht the Wolf Facesmy, power” she crouched
Leerin went to her and crouched doith her Sweat beaded Nina's forehead ”I have so to protect, so I, I want to protect itAnd then, I”
”Wh, What happened?”
”Nothing,” she frowned and stood up Her face was still green No signs of recovering
”Hurry, we're running out of time”
She walked away and Leerin ran to keep up with her
He hadn't considered where to run off to He just happened to be there while running away
”Ah ha, Ahha” Roy panted He was standing on the roof of a certain building, standing in the shade of a water tank He gritted his teeth then breathed in deeply
”You bastard!” he screamed
Roy was born in a peaceful city No filth monsters had ever attacked that city The city kept a certain distance fro buses only came a few times a year The city rarely had outside influences It was a city with peace as its pride The city that Roy grew up in Roy's grandfather had fought filth hts in the old days Still, that city did meet filth ht desperately Wearing protective suits, they fought the filth monsters About a hundred or so of theht in desperation The elders who had had experience devised the strategies for the youngsters to carry it out The fight had a miraculous ith just one stain Tens of people died out of the hundred or so Military Artists, and one person fled
Roy Entorio
In a battle they had never fought before, everyone used all their Kei except Roy The death of Military Artists revealed the city's negligence in its defense despite the victory Besides, the dead Military Artists all had families And Roy Entorio fled the battle The Roy as an elite ae Those who weaker than him had rushed forward to open a hole in the filth ht of the fallen filththat, Roy had fled, an escape that no one would ever forgive
”damn”
And he had then come to Myath, sent to Myath like rubbish by his faain run away Given up the pride of a Military Artist and lured by Ignasis, he had run away from Nina Antalk
”That womanJust you remember! I'll kill you”
But the person he hated wasn't Nina
”She's just a normal person How dare she treat me like that!”
He had never told anyone of his secret in MyathBut Leerin Marfes had seen through hiivable”
”Ah, I see”
Roy lifted at face at the sudden voice
”This is what it ood and evil around So cute A fall can't be a fall if it isn't this tragic” The voice came fro above the water tank Roy hadn't noticed hihtened and Roy could now see his face He was the Military Artist that ith Leerin, namedSavaris Luckens
”Is it ok to be here?” Roy asked
”How could II just happened to have tiently, unlike you, wasting ti place”
”Uh”
”Well, I sahat you did”
”What?” Roy confirmed his current location He was quite far away froirl were ”How could you have seen”
”I saw it and also heard what you said to yourself”
Roy was shocked Too shocked to feel the insult He hi at that distance Luckens had the kind of strong Internal Kei that Roy couldn't even iine possible
”I was ordered to protect her Considering that you ht harm her, I have to resolve this probleer doubted that this person was a Military Artist as too strong for hiht back on how the City Police had confiscated Luckens' Dite, but did that s over there are settled If possible, I want to settle this quickly too! Since I can't predict the future”
”Uh” Escape Roy decided No ti back He would sustain heavy injuries if he accidentally buh speed He didn't even have the time to put Kei into his feet, and suddenly found Luckens' face before him A pressure pressed down on Roy's head
”There's a strategy to retreat, but a Military Artist who likes to run aon't do!” Savaris said as he grabbed hold of Roy's head and shook it
”Ah Uh”
Roy found it hard to breathe Unable to strengthen his body through Kei, he could do nothing but suffer the consequences
”I don't have the obligation to teach you I do want to see how you'd react, as so but abuse the systeh for Roy to breathe But the next et the feeling of having the bones of his head almost shattered
”Anyway, I won't kill you yet Cole It only took Savaris a few jumps to reach his destination
Military Artists had asseo of Roy Being tossed onto the ground, Roy coughed Before he finished coughing, he was back on the roof
”Looks like they're going to greet the filth monsters' attack here!”
Roy went numb
”I want to knohat you'd do as someone who had fled a battle What would you do next?” Savaris looked at the closest filthhis eyes The Military Artists out there should be able to see it clearly at this distance
”Not much time till its arrival”
”Humph!”
”Oh”
Savaris' foot on Roy's back kept hi
”Allow me to confirm! Can a Military Artist who has fallen once stand back up? You're a Military Artist of this city, aren't you? Would a Military Artist begin life anew or head for the sa, can you stand back up and have a fresh start?”
Savaris wanted to know ”If you don't get prepared, time won't wait for you!”
The Military Artists outside the city called to each other to defend the city They an to fill in the Kei cannon The faces of those in the fighting tea
The Kei cannon fired The condensed Kei cannonball hit the filtha nuhout Myath Eyes bloodshot with outrage and pain, the reeted with another Kei cannonball The filthfroh the air purification shi+eld and entered the city
Savaris removed his foot from Roy's back
”Ahhhhhhhh” Roy treive voice to his terror
”No way? Didn't you feel you were once an elite?”
”No, no! Nooooooooooo! I don't want to fight!” he crawled, hoping toKei No, perhaps he didn't even realize that Savaris had moved his foot froht
”Ah!” Roy screamed Savaris had shot Roy's body with small balls of Kei and shattered the bones of his head
”Just lie here and sigh about your current situation,” the Heaven's Blade successor jumped off the city to land on the head of a filth monster ”First phase A , but her word is the sahed and put his hand on the filth monster's head
”Fu----”
He released his Kei External type Kei – Drip His Kei seeped slowly through the filthto destroy it from its inside Savaris left No one would discover what he did here What Myath's Military Artists saas the filthdown They had to seize this opportunity All Kei cannons fired their shots Explosions covered the filth monster Its body collapsed and bits and pieces fell away as the dust cloud cleared So questions, but doubt disappeared in the tide of cheers Savaris watched this froaze moved from the dead filth monster to Roy
”Is Layfon also as useless?”
The Layfon who fought to protect and betrayed it all Would he redeem himself or repeat the sa at Roy
”I don't want to fight a fellow Heaven's Blade successor, but I just don't want to disappoint myself,” he ? He must hurry and confir by the time she reached the entrance to the Mechanical Departht?”
Nina panted, leaning against the wall of the lift Her face was pale, but her eyes e within herself
”Why to such a degree” Leerin paused
The doard lurch of the lift put Nina's internal organs into a wreck, yet she refused to give up and lose to it She considered Leerin's words ”Didn't I say it before? The power I possess now is far from what I truly am Only in a drea to what I should have defeated, andprotected by what I want to protect”
Leerin listened to her talk about her powerlessness, but at the same time, she didn't feel Nina eak
”This is a necessary experience toexperience The experience to expose th I lack all these experiences Nothing is h to the end, and that's what I need to make up for what I lack”
So that hy Nina was tolerating it?
”But Nina is strong!” Looking at the light in her eyes, Leerin thought the ”strong will” that she said was already in her grasp
”No”
And Leerin saw the first treaze
The lift stopped and opened its door Nina staggered out Leerin went over to steady her She didn't refuse her help They could smell the oil in the machines Tubes covered the place in a coaps of the tubes The di atmosphere
”My comrade was injured in the Mechanical Department,” Nina watched the scenery in the Mechanical Depart ive myself People probably think it's natural to borrow soh, but I can't rely on so that I can't forgive thesense of self-reproach fro herself to lose That kind of deterest weakness
For some reason, Nina's words put unease in Leerin
”How about you relax a bit?”
”What?”
”I understand so her own experience ”In the past, I had thought of growing up I wanted to become an adult so I could earn soe Though she couldn't earn a large su as she could earn some ”But I kneasn't easy to beco condition at the orphanage has improved but he was exiled from the city”
Leerin had a shock too when she heard Layfon had been participating in underground er children in the orphanage She just felt very painful that Layfon was shouldering everything himself
She sht happiness to the orphanage Even if he didn't do that, I thought it'd be better if we did so afterwards The money he left behind was limited, but we could make preparations I need to learn e”
What she was doing noas for the sake of Layfon's past efforts Hence, she had chosen to study ”Your comrades knohat you try hard to do It's ok even if you fail It's all right to fail many times now so you won't fail in the most important moment”
”Don't say that so easily!”
”Then failure can't be forgiven?”
”What?”
”I'll forgive UhOn the other hand, I know he thinks he can't be forgiven”