Vol 11 Chapter 9 (1/2)

Happy Birthday

What exactly is this, reality or dreamland? - There were so

Right when he woke up, he thought about this He had just had a drea impression, and his drowsiness seemed rather deep

In other words, he welco of the second day in the worst condition

But, however he looked, it resembled a dream

Why was he Layfon Alsief, eh? He didn't understand the reasons But, if perhaps he weren't Layfon Alsief, he had no idea who he was

So, ht as well assume he was Layfon Alsief

”Ah-”

The confused Layfon Alsief got out of bed, opening the curtains The strong sunlight stimulated his eyes, and also stimulated his chaotic sense of awareness

Even if it wasthat the sunlight was directly entering his room The most important factor was that the city had just entered suhtly faain He didn't knohy, but his body today seemed like it was in poor condition

Layfon didn't really like this kind of uncertain feeling Even if he felt annoyed at the fact that he was Layfon Alsief, he still had to honestly receive it, and had to si life Growing up as a Grendan Military Artist, and beco a Heaven's Blade Successor Due to some situation he had to hand back the Heaven's Blade, and afterwards came to the Academy City Zuellni

He didn't have parents, nor did he even knohether any blood relatives of hi childhood, and was then raised in an orphanage Even though he had never thought he was an unfortunate person, it was because till this day he still had not seen any other relative of himself - that was the reason Layfon told hier no matter what

”Ah-”

Layfon turned over on the bed, and stared at the ceiling with an expression of loss However, his expression did not show any distress towards his real life

Reality would not develop according to his thoughts; he had becoh he was usually very spirited when he woke up, but occasionally, there were these kinds of situations where his body was off In an urgent situation, perhaps he had no choice but to suppress this kind of phenoency, soued

Layfon believed this was a signal that his body was searching for rest But his body was not particularly weak, or had any bad o such conditions or so like that

”Guess I'll sleep-”

That was it

That noreration) loosened, and closed lips flared in a ”Fnyaaah fnyaaah” (snoring sfx)

If this were at Grendan, Leerin would definitely have burst open the door and yelled ”Get up already!”, and afterwards would have kicked him and his brothers awake one after another

However, this was the Academy City Zuellni, and moreover a male dorm Not to mention he was alone in a two-person room Not only could the childhood friend who had always taken care of him not enter this room, but someone who could hinder his sleep didn't exist at all

Today there was no class, nor was there cleaning of the Mechanical Departh the entire day, no one had reason to blame him

No one had reason to blame him?

”Ah!”

He thought of it

Layfon who had been snoozing in his room the previous second hurriedly clied into proper clothing and afterwards promptly left

◇

The situation should be traced back several days

”Party?”

Hearing these plans from the Psychokinetic flake, Sharnid turned his head

The location was the fourth-year dore tank Above Sharnid as lying down, floated a petal-shaped Psychokinesis flake, whose light radually into the sun's

The voice that was heard from the flake was Nina's

Nina was currently in the second-year school building, or more accurately, in the central court of the second-year school building This place had vending s had lots of benches

Next to her was Felli

In Felli's hand was restored a Light Dite, and flakes were floating around

”Oho~~ I like parties very much”

”Let me say this, this party is definitely not intended for you”

”It's not bad to do that once in a while! That kind of big surprise”

”Isn't it needless for you to say so?”

”Ah, I guess”

”Then, what kind of party is it?”

The one who opened histhat bored conversation was Harley, as in the lab at the Alche

”It's to celebrate Layfon and Leerin's birthday!”

”Uwah! At this age, and still doing birthday parties!”

”Ah? Before I came to Zuellni I held one every year!”

This new voice was Dalshena's

”I as well!”

Nina also showed her approval, and afterwards Sharnid's bored voice sounded

”I can't take it, the thoughts of little girls”

”What did you say!?”

”Well~~ okay Anyhy did you suddenly start this topic? And why use this kind of secret ?”

”If it were in the Military Arts building, Layfon would definitely be there Also, isn't it pretty tough to gather you all together?”

Nina stared at the flake Felli at her side put on a sort of ”nothing to do with me” expression, and afterwards fro inally, she also wanted to listen to Naruki's opinion But she and Layfon were in the sa detected by Layfon was too difficult, so there was no way to let her join this discussion

”Ah, enough!”

In order to reverse the at the reasons for the situation

The beginning was during the previous few days when they were chatting in a dornificance stumbled upon it

No birthday

Layfon and Leerin had no birthday It wasn't because they were orphans, it was because they didn't even knoho their parents were

Although it wasn't like the city's society was free of abandon cities were a type of enclosed societies Who lived in your surroundings, what kind of status It was probably only the Acadeet these kinds of things, but in the majority of the cities, personal information was easily accessible Even if there were abandoned babies, the surrounding neighbors could notice changes, and in many cases the parents of the abandoned baby were ascertained In this case, the child would either return to the parents, or be sent to an adoption facility Usually in these kinds of cases, the orphan's birthday could be roughly approximated

But Layfon and Leerin were not like this They had been picked up together, and sent to Derek's orphanage So even until now they had not been able to accurately ascertain who their parents really were

”At home ould hold a celebration on the first day of the new year, but there wasn't anything we particularly wanted to do”

However, as said after was the main cause of the decision

”But this year, we encountered some problems so we couldn't hold a celebration”

Because other students were in the dorure out what Layfon meant by ”some problems”

Because Layfon's ”soer be the hero of the orphans And as for Leerin who acted as Layfon's advocate, it seeanized gatherings

”Well um, that kind of situation is a bit difficult to talk about”

The member of the seventeenth platoon who knew of the reasons for the situation also used vague words

”So you want to secretly hold a birthday party, huh?”

Towards Harley's question, Nina nodded her head to reply

”Leerin already knows about this, and I guess nothing can be done about that Also, I hope that we can hold this quickly, how does next weekend sound?”

”No problem, but won't it be a little rushed?”

”This isn't anything that needs long-ter”

”Ah, that's fine!”

The rest of thereed

”What about Felli?”

Only Felli by her side reht?”

The Psychokinesist sitting by Nina kept a stern expression However, it see mixed in

Towards the answer that was finally made to the question, Nina sharply nodded her head

”Afterwards I will notify Naruki and her friends The location will be our dorm Our dorm usually bans male students, but this time we have the supervisor's permission I hope we can put forth effort ourselves for the purpose of laying out the venue,food”

”Ahh, so for war?”

”It's not that!”

She strongly denied this point, but the response of the rest of the with Felli and the others, Nina waited until class ended to go to the City Police headquarters to discuss with Naruki She also had no objections, and her sworn followers Meishen and Mifi would also be active to help Nina recognized the two: one was the good cook Meishen, and the other was the lively Mifi Having the two of them there would better the at in the Military Arts building, Nina walked on the road back to her dorm

-Birthday

Usually, this wasn't a word that required any sort of care However, Nina had always been in a position where she had her birthday celebrated by others The only ones who celebrated her birthday were her sister and brother, along with her childhood friend Harley However, all she had done was discuss with her sister about what food to choose, ould then act as the Antalk fanificance of a birthday was that it was a special day with regard to oneself The whole family, friends, and Antalk relatives had athered for that day

But after her Military Arts training had been fored the way she looked at her birthday

Most people, especially the people who had contact with the Antalk family, were not there to visit Nina They only came to the birthday party to show friendliness to the Antalk blood Once Nina realized this, her expectations and enthusiasm towards birthdays cooled down

However, before this she was very happy Her parents, sister, and brother, as well as Harley, the blessings they gave on her birthday would not change So the joy she felt had not changed, even through this day

That kind of feeling, would Layfon and Leerin be able to feel the same? No, Nina understood that she couldn't coardless of motive, people had at the end come to celebrate her birthday For orphans, there were those who didn't even accurately know their own birthday like Layfon They wouldn't feel the saht have sonificance

(In ay is it different?)

On the hot su sunset Nina gazed afar at the sky that revealed a deep red color left behind

Those who didn't grow up in the same conditions as I did, in ay do they see their own birthdays, and how do they depict them?

◇

I don't know about my own birth-

Derek Psyharden was also like this

Not to say that he didn't remember his life experiences, but he didn't have an established faate father, beco a Military Artist

When he was yet unborn, his father had died in battle As a Military Artist of Grendan, he was expected to receive overnment If his mother relied on that money, it would be very difficult to raise an unweaned child It wasn't what y of Military Artists, but thethe baby However, her body couldn't handle it, and she also died

The one who guided this Derek was at that tirown up in the Psyharden-e, and had practiced Military Arts in the dojo Learning skills along with many other companions, he stood at the position to inherit the Psyharden name

It wasn't that he didn't know But, he could find no trail from the infor was the sa his own birth

Now

After the numerous people ere sent to this dojo to learn Military Arts returned ho a practice sword He had taken off the top half of his practice clothing, revealing his seely reinforced body A slim body without an ounce of fat A quick observation would see that that body lacked sophistication, and all over the body were surgical scars

These were left over after Gahard Baren's surprise attack More accurately, he had been possessed by a filthDerek's body to be coinning To prorowth of his Kei and e

This was quite wonderful, or was that truly the case? During the ht profoundly about the essential ideas of Psyharden froret towards Layfon's situation

Afterwards, he entrusted the Dite to Leerin

The Katana Dite already held no significance towards Layfon - Derek had thought about that kind of possibility That fore ten Now, he wasn't sure if a Steel Dite could hold one-tenth of Layfon's total Kei

However, Derek firnificance

Derek stopped his pondering, beginning his repeated drills of the PsyhardenThe timber that surrounded the dojo was all special wood It was anic protective layer, able to withstand Military Artists' powerful actions The practice sword that was slashed around sent out waves of Kei which made the air vibrate, and the walls and floor that was tra

When there were a good nu their Military Arts, this building was cal Derek's first practice

”Long ago, there was a Heaven's Blade who lived to be one hundred and forty years old”

During as almost his last movement, he heard this voice by his ears

He followed the voice

In the center of the auditoriu a walking stick He was looking towards that direction with great interest

The long beard that stretched froently waved in the air

”Could you be referring to the Spina Noiran Zuolay-sa the old man who had suddenly appeared, Derek put the practice sword to the side and took a proper sitting posture

”I am For his whole life he was an active Heaven's Blade, and fought as a Heaven's Blade on the battlefield until his brain died Other than his brain and Kei vein, his whole body had been replaced His bones were replaced with Dite, and his flesh was carefullyhappened, his new body ht now and him have soain?”

”I still haven't reached that extent Only, I have a feeling of yearning”

As Derek said this, the old ris-sama”

”The little devil's becorown quite a few years again!”

That old rinned and laughed

”Thank you very e business”

”Politics have their lag, and presumably even the queen doesn't have any sort of , she doesn't understand the situations of the weak Although that's not too bad well, even if it's not too good, this old ize”

”Then, you?”

Although on the purpose they were recognized as friends, there wasn'tthe tiris had been at his peak He had several experiences of fighting filth roup

The iant standing bow in his hand didn't match his manner now as if he would be bloay by the wind, the former was extremely heroic No matter what kind of situation, no e The Kei of the arrow he shot shone with a radiance, but in truth, it held a huge destructive power In uncountable battlefields he had not broken his posture, and was honored by people as the ”Immovable Heaven's Blade”

”I have a small matter from the past to inquire about But without tea to drink, it's no good to start a chat!”

”My apologies”

Derek rapidly put on his upper clothing, ushering Tigris deep into the dojo

”Then, I'd like to inquire about the past ris let out a full breath, beginning the topic

”The past matter?”

”The Meifar Stadt event That is the name on the record It was an event that happened before you retired!”

Hearing this name, Derek's expression showed alertness

”It's notup so more Moreover, that course of events has already finished, and regarding the concerned people as well, even if things are exposed no one can understand Also, that event's happening, isn't it that little devil's mistake?”

”You could say that”

To Derek as reluctant to discuss, Tigris was scraping together the past The kind old man opened his slender eyes

S What Derek saas the pair of demon eyes from the battlefield

”This old man has no interest toward that little devil However, I ation into that event So, this old man had to come here to listen to your words”

”Certainly!”

Derek quickly reacted to the current at in his back, and his whole body began sweating

”It's already been fifteen sixteen years since At that time, what exactly happened at that place? Can you tell me?”

◇

The Meifar Stadt event

In Grendan's official records, this event's na with a filththe normal encounters of flocks of filth monsters and the Grendan that had abnored phase filth otten However, this kind of event, with a situation where filth monsters invaded the city, was very rare in Grendan's history

Meifar Stadt was the name of a person, the name of the extremely unfortunate first victim That person was not a citizen of Grendan, but was a wanderer

It was said that it was this person who brought the filthbus station, it was this city's only point of contact with the outside world Following the roa information about the outside world But simultaneously, news of the city leaked out to the outside world

However, what that ht was not only news of the outside world, what he brought was in fact not at all good

Misfortune and disaster acco bus's arrival and hit

As soon as Derek had received this command, he had already realized the situation of this event

Derek Psyharden, almost fifty Even if he were only the head of a snified body, letting his surrounding people feel that he was not to be underesti a yellow colored battle suit, Derek and several others earing battle suits arrived at the scene

All the mens' suits were the same color and style But on Derek's shoulders, his shoulder straps were light green In a group battle, this was the color that only the commander of a unit could possess

(A flow of filth monsters into the city has already been confirht by the Psychokinetic flake He was already able to confirm this bit without his eyes

The problee of the city, outside of where people were sheltered In this area that was encircled by a tall ring fence, the roa bus station, Equips separated froazed towards the Accos rose a slass s, black s with the raging madness of the fire on that floor

”Any survivors?”

(It's been thirty an In that ti froe of an area”

(When this event was just beginning, there were already responses of filth monsters detected fro to the Psychokinesist's report, Derek showed a dignified expression The rest of the Military Artists already arrived at their targets, and the whole zone had been completely surrounded

At the salass of several s shattered fleards Fla out in a whirl

Frole person had escaped! No, in the first place this city did not havebuses visit, therefore it was very likely that there were not that many people in that place But no le person had been inside

Right now, the people inside must be entirely in despair But if no one had survived, the people ere ordered into co to worry about

But for now, Derek and the others had not received that kind of order

In this kind of situation which was not terribly urgent, the movement of the city's residents into shelters had not yet finished To protect the city's people, there was a good chance that Derek and the others were to si this place and to prevent an invasion of the urban area, thus they were intentionally stationed here If that were the case, then this zone ought to be sacrificed

(Our opponents are a yet unrecognized category of filththe Psychokinesist's new report, Derek's expression becaain

In other words he had thought this, that the current situation was not nored phase?”

If it were a normal filthwith larvae; otherwise if it had been able to fly through the air with a pair of giant wings, that giant body of a male filth monster would have been seen in the sky No, if a male filthbefore

But if it were the aged phase which ht have morphed into one of many different fore current state of affairs

If an aged phase were seen, Heaven's Blade Successors would be sent forth

If it were really this the people ere in this zone had been abandoned In a battle between aged phases and Heaven's Blade Successors, the aftered area

However, if they just continued waiting here, wouldn't that be the sa inside?

What was the truth of the situation!?

(Well, currently there's still no way to distinguish)

”What exactly is Delbone-sauous words leaked out of Derek's reatest protector of Grendan, every footprint in Grendan belonging to a filth monster of this world could be found

Derek was not the only one confused, the other Military Artists were the same way

The order to attack still did not arrive Derek and the others could do nothing other than stand on top of the high wall looking at the Accoan to be detectable anic smell of the smoke that floated by To the Military Artists who had been in battle, even if they didn't want to they knew that it was the shtened their faces, putting on their helmets

Derek slowly focused his awareness, continuously verifying the situation

In the grirasp the situation, one could only rely on his own abilities to gather infors, and the black s into the sky was added to at every moment

Towards the base of column of black sht voice

”Psychokinesist!!!”

(What happened?)

The Psychokinetic flake softly replied to Derek's call Though it was supposed to only be used for handling a large number of reports and plans rather than unnecessary emotions and voices, this ti

”Confir confirmation Yes, there are no survivors)

”Then, what is that sound?”

Derek mentioned that he had heard a sound In his kind of state of mental focus, it was easy to catch it

It was the sound of babies crying

He had heard that kind of sound in the orphanage, the grieving call for others to protect it

(Can't confirm if there are any people, this side has no way to check if that sound exists Perhaps it's a specific function of a filththe last words, Derek waved his ar the rest of the unit instructions to continue staying on standby, and rushed towards the Accomodations Facility alone - because he could not autocratically drag the rest of the unit into this

The Psychokinesist wasn't able to discover the noise Derek had no way to negate the idea that eed in his mind that it was a possibility that ”this is a trap” But, he already couldn't stop his steps That infant's sorrowful call, did it have that much power?

No, it was because Derek had been in this kind of circu!

The flake passed on voices telling hi hi a Kei burst to open a hole in the fire-enveloped Equiph it

Because of the big fire, the surrounding lack of oxygen es caused by the coen threw his Kei flow into disarray Derek put on his helht block the sound of the crying infant, but fortunately this was not the case

During the ru, the infant's noise could still be heard

”Where is it?”

While he was focusing on his hearing, he heard an unexpected noise

It was a s on charcoal

Even in the surrounding swirl of noise, the focused mind of Derek had not missed this sound

From his back caht and quality in his hand gradually expanded, reshaping In the next moment, Derek commanded the Dite in his hand upwards

Because of the light from the fire, the Steel Dite in his hands shone dully With a strong swipe of his ar black smoke in the area was suddenly carried off Derek felt that that thing was looking down on hih it had the shape of a human, however you looked at it, it didn't resemble a human

It was taller than three h hand it held a black sword that seereat pressure Its entire body fros, but they were not garments meant for battle Between the joints, bunches ofwas similar to the form of the larvae that researdless of how you considered it did not look like so that a human hand would hold It see function or rationality, full to the bri

That face seeanism's body - a place that a person could reach out with his hands and touch it It was alike blood, and the rest of it covered by cracks In the area for thethat looked as if it had been hacked open Occasionally, its flesh would give off sound The tattereddown from the mouth, and a few scattered teeth could be seen

”Filththe pressure applied by that thing, Derek said painfully

It was a filth ed phase? But if were an aged phase, Derek should have been dead in ato near human size caused their power to decline, thatthe strike of an aged phase - this was synonymous with death for Military Artists

”Haaah!”

His Kei density increased Right after came the sound of friction between the swords, and the black sas pushed back In the moment i his left hand released a burst of Kei

External-type burst Kei - Nine Bullets

Bullets of compressed external Kei attacked cracks in the are beast only shook it's body, and afterwards charged at Derek through the smoke of the explosions

Without a basis, without techniques the strange beast seee sword raised high above its head, hacking doards However, the power that it had was on the same level as Derek's Military Arts No, it should be more powerful than even Derek's hidden ability